Start Here: My Salvation Testimony

July 2022, I received the forgiveness of sins. This is my full testimony.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Grace and peace, everybody. Welcome to the Gospel of 420 Podcast. I'm your host, Chris Chakari, aka the Cushman. Thank you for tuning in. Don't forget to like, subscribe, share, comment, follow the podcast page, whether Apple, Spotify, or iHeartRadio, or any platform on YouTube. Yeah, turn on notifications, leave a rate and review, and you know, let's get into it. So today's gonna be a little different. Actually, before we launch the first episode of the Gospel of 420 podcast, to know where I stand at, to know really the foundation, you know, I started this podcast four years ago, actually. Close to four years, starting August 2022. But, you know, I never really shared my testimony. Now, it marks four years since I've been saved. Now, those who are listening, those who know me, you might be thinking, you know, I thought you were saved. How how did this happen? So, for this episode, when you hear everything, we hear the messages, even the last previous messages that I've dropped in the last couple, because the last episode I dropped was February 2026, and the episodes before that, literally you can see a shift from literally from the episode I started first off to now, you can see there's a growth in spiritual maturity and understanding of the Bible. And you're wondering, like, how did this happen? So, this is gonna be an episode sharing my testimony on how I received salvation. This is gonna be a little lengthy, so we're gonna share. I'm gonna share with you guys my testimony. So, me, I was born on a Sunday, I'm a miracle child. A miracle child, a pastor prayed over my mom, my mom's womb. There was some difficulty, and then I was born. And then, next thing you know, I was born on a Sunday, August 12, 2001. So, I had a foundation. I was you know, a foundation in a Christian home. I was born in a Pentecostal church. Pentecostalism is in my blood, it's in my DNA. I love Pentecostalism. And I was dedicated as a baby. I was a church, literally, I wasn't a PK, I was a CK, not a Charlie Kirk, a church kid, not a preacher's kid, but a church kid. Not a PK, but a CK. And the CK does not stand for Charlie Kirk, you know, it stands for church kid, you know, so that's a you know a little throw a little humor, but um yeah, I'm a church kid. I'm literally a church kid from the core. So I was born and raised in the Pentecostal church, that's my foundation, and it's been a trend ever since. Since then, uh my dad worked at times, but I was always at church, even though my dad went to work most of the time, my mom always took me to church. Literally, my setting was in church. So I'm a kid that's churched out. Literally. I went to physical church, then I had Sudanese church, then I had television church, you know, TBN, smile of a child, church channel, the word network. I had all of that. Love world, emmanual TV. I had that foundation. Christian music. I literally every but you know, I had a great childhood. I literally had a great childhood. Like, I don't know, those who know, those who church kids, smile of a child was a banger. And they need to bring that back, honestly. Smile of a child was a hit, you know, and that and it was a great balance because not only I grew up on smile of a child, I grew up, you know, PBS Kids, Cartoon Network, JetX, Disney XD, Disney Channel. But it was like a perfect balance. I grew up with Christian television, I watched TBN, I watched Church Channel, I had Smile of a Child, all the OG shows I grew up watching. Bible Man, Kobe's Clubhouse, David and McGee, Davy and Goliath, Papua Huey Island, I shine, Hermian Friends, Friends and Heroes, Bangers. I had that. I literally had the best childhood ever. Balance, you know, balance the secular with the spiritual. Doesn't sound right, but you get what I'm saying. So I had a I literally had a great foundation. Born in a Christian home. Christian television, Christian music, grew up on Hill Songs, TV, you know. I watched Church of God and Christ on TV. I had all the preachers on television watching them from childhood. Those who people deem as false and got criticized. These are the people I grew up watching. They had a I had a I'm not gonna lie, I had a great foundation. Now, not to brag or to, you know, be boastful, but it got to the point like, you know, a lot of those, you know, who started going to church, they didn't have like that test that type of growing up, that childhood that I have, you know, that they were in church, or even like during their teen years or their college years, some of them were in the world, you know, doing stuff, and then they received salvation. Now I can't say I had that experience, but mine is a testimony regardless. So literally, I had everything. I even went to a Baptist daycare. I'm like literally church kid to the core. I love the church. So literally, from my childhood to even high school, but I'm like, let me start off from the childhood, from kindergarten from preschool to I'll say for the sake of the timeline, I would say from preschool to elementary school, I'll say that. I was already there, I was established preaching at a year. I was preaching. I used to like copy preachers off TV, wear the suits, the Bible, used to preach to my parents, used to preach to my cousins, all of that stuff. I even even, you know, I was a big Bible man fan growing up. So I used to have like the uh Bible man costume. Me and my cousins, you know, we had them lightsabers, you know, like Star Wars. Yeah. So literally from childhood to I say around elementary school, and I wouldn't say high school yet, but from childhood to, you know, elementary, around elementary, right? I was already preaching, praying, I was in the youth choir, Sunday school, I did soul winning. Actually, soul winning, that was until like middle school, high school-ish. I was in Bible quizzing, Bible quizzing. I memorized scripture like nobody else. Bible quizzing. I like studied scriptures. Let me tell you, I knew scriptures a long time ago. I was water baptized, Acts 238 way baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. I spoke in tongues, I listened to Christian radio music, and you know, all the classic bangers, you know, Toby Mack, Mandisa, make God rest your soul, you know, 10th Avenue North, uh, Big Daddy Weave, uh, Mercy Meh Jamie Grace. I had I literally had almost everything. I literally had the best music playlist, Britt Nicole, Josh Wilson, News Boys, King and Country, Jeremy Camp, Already Said Hill Songs, Casting Crowns, Sanctus Real, Switchfoot, Matthew West. Woo! I'm telling you, I had Brandon Heath, literally, Phillips, Craig, and Dean, Skillet, Sidewalk Prophets. I had all of it. I had that foundation, Chris August, Francesca Battistelli. These are like the man, I had that literally foundation, Christian movies, you know, watching Left Behind, Fireproof, you know, movies about the Bible, you know, movies I I played on TBN. Great movies, great movies. I literally had that great, great, great foundation. I was not too religious, too spiritual. Even in fifth during my fifth grade year, like when I was in fifth grade, a couple days ago, I was sick. I was literally had a cold. Like I was sick to the point that like my leg, my right leg started loose, like it started like feeling numb, and then I started dropping. And I was like, what's going on? And next thing you know, like even to the point I remember, uh, my dad gave me remembrance that I was preaching to him uh from my Bible quizzing pamphlet because you know this the uh church I used to go to, we had this Bible quizzing, and it was really good. Let me tell you, that really set me up. Having knowledge of the Bible really set me up. Having not like the thing is, even though I did all this Bible quizzing, I just memorized it, I just said it, but it didn't really like steep into me. But I knew it very well, I knew it very well. And I go went run around the states, national Bible quizzing, travel with the church, great time, great, great time. First place, second place, we was locked in. Literally, I had that, I literally had that foundation. Even in fifth grade, so like fifth grade, I was like, you know, preaching for my Bible quizzing material, and then it got to the point that my leg, my right leg started going numb. And my dad gave me remembers that I was preaching to Psalms 19. It was like he was at he was saying he said at least it was either Psalm 17, 18, or 19. And I looked at Psalm 19, I remember Psalms 19. Because Psalms 17 and 18, they weren't on my Bible quizzing pamphlet, but Psalms 19, definitely on my Bible quizzing pamphlet. And since they were on the Bible quizzing pamphlet, oh man. Man, I was like preaching to him. Next thing you know, my leg started going numb. My whole body. Literally, it was it was a spiritual attack. I'm telling y'all. It it was it was definitely the devil trying to stop me. My leg, and last thing I screamed, I was like, dad, no, and then I can't say how I looked, but I remember once I was shaking, once I like my body turned numb, like I was shocked by electricity. Literally, my face was ugly, like it was a bad sight. I literally my I was my eyes were open. And I last thing I saw was my dad screaming, no, Jesus! And I see my mom just standing there calm. And then I'm like passed out, like, what's going on? And it's like a white, bright light hand. Placed his hand, I got up, I was on the couch. I wake my dad, I was like, dad, dad. I was like looking at him. And then he prayed for me. We went outside, we went outside, and I'm literally outside. It's sunny outside. And I'm literally looking up in the sky, and I'm telling y'all, I'm telling y'all, no BS. I literally see the Lord standing tall from heaven to earth, the Lord Jesus. Like tall from heaven to earth, white long garment, white robe, bright, couldn't see his face, bright, bright as the sun. That's what I saw. I went to Wolfson Children's Hospital. They did tests, they ran tests. What's interesting, now yes, I was sick. They explained what happened. They said, was it a seizure? Was it a seizure? And to know, the doctor says there was no actually no signs of seizure. Because it has to be, there's like a lot of signs that prove, you know, people have seizures. That was not a seizure. So if it wasn't a seizure, it was an attack from the enemy. But what God, you know, what people meant for evil, God meant it for good. So that's what happened. I had that experience. And then my years at Pentecostal church, uh remember, I grew up in a Pentecostal church. The music, the dress code, the lifestyle, the conduct. And don't get me wrong, I had a great time at that church. We had great time. I have friends there I still can be in contact with. I love them, I love them. They friends. We still cool. We know we all grown. We all go our separate ways. But it was all love, it was all love there. Great time, great fellowship, great activities. Even the uh the pastor's wife, the first lady, may she rest in peace. Yeah, she passed away a couple months ago. May she rest in peace. Yes, she literally dedicated me as a baby. She carried me, she's one of the first people that carried me as a baby. I literally had that foundation. The church foundation. And then I left that year. Then I went to another church. Then, next thing you know, I switched to I went from uh public school to a charter school, and then I seventh grade, I went to a Christian academy called Harvest Christian Academy. I was there from seventh grade to my junior year of high school. It was technically under a Baptist church, Harvest Baptist Church. It's renamed after something else. And then it was under the program, it was under the college, Pensacola Bible College. And yeah, I wasn't a Baptist, but I went to that Christian academy and it was under a Baptist church. But I did a lot of things with the Baptist. I still held on to Pentecostal beliefs, but I went to a Baptist church. I had a Christian education. Thank God for that. Absolutely. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. The coursework I did, we did he we had this thing called Paces where it was like self-learned and we go to our teachers. But great, great foundation. I I had that. I had that. We went soul winning, field trips, great memories. Great memories with friends. Went with a couple of my cousins. Had that foundation set already. Remember, I'm a church kid. Grew up on TV preachers, you know, Charles Stanley, David Jeremiah, Joel Osteen, Kenneth Copeland, Jesse DuPlantis, I don't know if I said Cruffle O'Dollar, T.D. Jakes, Fred Price Sr., Fred Price Jr. Dr. Miles Monroe, and we're gonna get to him soon. I had all these OG foundations. Now, regardless of how people feel about them or what they taught back then, to their credit, I'm not gonna lie. I wouldn't be where I am if it wasn't for those guys. Whether, you know, they said something that's crazy or not, I wouldn't be there if it wasn't for them. Steven Furtick, Brian Houston, Joyce Meyer. You know, I I can get controversial. Benny Hinn? Benny Hinn? Yeah. Yeah. Church kid. I had I had TV church. Paul and Laura Crouch. OGs. Man. I had all I literally had even the VHS and DVD tapes. I had Hillsong worship, Hillsong Kids worship. Man, I had the best of the best. Literally. I wouldn't trade it for nothing. And hopefully, you know, when I have and by God's great, when I have kids, I'm gonna put them to the same things I was put on as a kid. I had I literally had everything. Even the African TV, you know. It was Pastor Chris Oyakalome, T B Joshua, the late T B Joshua. I had all of that. I know I skipped, you know, I went pa times past, but yeah, middle school from seventh grade to 11th grade. I had all of this. You know, soul winning. We went to Wednesday services, even to the point that, you know, I was I wasn't a Baptist, but I went to the church sometimes. I went to the school. I was there even till the day it closed down. Until they did the pastor switch and everything. Things, you know, started going down. I played basketball. We I traveled with them. Great experience. Great experience. One of the youth pastors at that time, uh, his name was Chris Jenkins. He was in Bible before he went to Bible college. I went to this place called Camp Tracy. Great time. And you know, he passed away uh back in 2021, around 2021. May he rest in peace. Literally. I had that set setting, church setting, vacation Bible school, Sunday school, preaching as a little kid, prayers, Christian television. I had all of that. Great time. And then around high school, I went back to my I went back to my Pentecostal church. And you know, same as old. And then 11th and senior year, I went to another Christian academy. My senior great time. Pre-COVID, pre-COVID graduate, class of 19, the best class. I had I had the foundation. The youth pastors, the pastors I had back then, growing up. I had all of that. I was settled. I was straight. So that just shows to tell you how grateful I am. How grateful I am. I had a foundation. I had a childhood. I had the word of God. I had literally the television, the radio. Literally, I had these great things instilled in me in my youth. And again, I'm not gonna, I don't, it's not about, you know, again, the gospel is about what Christ has done. And because of that, since in my foundation, no, I don't want to brag or boast and anything, but like I stay, I you know, those people on TV, the radio, the television, those things that kept me from trouble. Stayed away from drugs, alcohol, partying, all fornication, those things. So even though those were good, it will I'm not saying like we should avoid that. We should stay away from those things. But I never had that experience from my high school, from literally from my childhood to high school years. Not even college, you know, to an extent. So think about it. I had all of these things, but yet, if I were to die, if I were to like die, you know, pre-COVID, you know, pre-COVID. And not even pre-COVID, I'll say you know what, we're not there yet. But throughout those years, from childhood to my ear my early two college years, freshman year and sophomore year of college. Yes, freshman year when I was in community college, right? Through those periods of time, right? Those first uh I'll say 19 years, 18 to 19 years, even though I had all these foundations. Again, I had I could say I had all these knowledge. I had the zeal. Actually, I had a zeal, but not according to knowledge. It got to the point that I was confessing my sins, you know, quote unquote repenting of my sins. I used to have a prayer altar in my house where before I wake up, I go in there. When I come back from school, I go in there when I go to sleep. Before I go to sleep, I go in there. I had to use a prayer shawl. I had this anointing oil, anointing water, spraying it, you know. Crying, trying to like prayer, you know, crying hard, yelling loud in prayers, staying, had to set a timer, one and two hours in that altar, praying in tongues, asking God to forgive me every day, purge my iniquities, Old Testament prayers, especially the Psalms prayers. I try to cleanse myself. I thought I, you know, I sought repentance through listening to gospel music and listening to sermons, trying hard not to sin, making, you know, listening to spiritual warfare prayers against Satan and you know demonic entities when I sleep, praying them. Even Sundays, you know, when I come back from church, I literally like lay my hands on the TV when they do those prayers. I lay my hands. I did all these extra stuff. I did all of that. Literally, I even even my family we used to have like posters of like pastors we watched. So, like, you know, whenever we leave the house, though they can, you know, watch over us while we're gone, that type of thing. That like that mentality, and then you know, we had a you know, obviously a picture of Jesus, you know, all that extra stuff. And then, you know, did all these things, right? And then COVID hit, and then COVID-19 hit. I didn't go to any church, even got to the point I was I thought I was I was too too spiritual, too religious, too zealous. I literally went to three churches at once. I went to an 8 a.m. service, I went to a 10 a.m. service. After that, I had to go to another service, actually, four churches. Crazy. I'm like going around, I'm like listening to one different thing than another different thing. I'll churched out. Churched out like crazy. I wanted to live the old testament life. So then COVID, I went to soul, you know, seeking for knowledge, seeking truth. And then I ran into on YouTube the holiness movement, you know. Them holiness churches, apostolic faith, you know, modesty, you know, long hair is a sin, makeup is a sin, nail polish is a sin. Uh you know, a lineup is a sin. Getting twists in your hair is a sin. Uh wearing shorts was a sin. Earrings were a sin. Tattoos are a sin. Celebrating Christmas is a sin. Celebrating Easter is a sin. Man, they were legalistic to the core, and they used scriptures like crazy. They were too too spiritual, too holy. Too holy that they they literally had it right, that they were right, everybody else is wrong. I I followed that trend. Into the point my mom was like, my mom, I was like, Mom, you better wear. I told them if you don't wear head covering to the church, you're disrespecting God. Oh man, I will tell you, I was legalistic. I was ignorant. But again, we soul searching. And then next thing you know, I started following, you know, these deliverance ministers and prophets. Even during the um, after like during COVID, when Trump, you know, Trump was going up against Biden. I seen pro I followed these prophets and saying how, you know, the Lord said Trump was gonna win, or if Biden wins, it's gonna be the sign of the Antichrist, Jesus coming, Kamala represents the beast, and you know, the modern-day Babylon system, the you know, Revelation 13, 17, all that. I was following that trend. And I try to be so obedient, so holy. And actually, even before that time, even before that even happened, actually, even before that, um, as I, you know, found quote unquote holiness, apostolic doctrine, which was legalistic. That's when, you know, I always grew up, I always heard about Dr. Miles Monroe. I remember one time at church they announced Dr. Miles Monroe when he passed away in the plane crash, and he brought on TBN. I told my dad, and you know, he had the books. But then I listened to his messages about the kingdom of God. No one he knew the his concepts, his biblical concepts on the kingdom of God was so in depth. I said, Wow, I'm a citizen of the kingdom of God. And I was established. I was like, I had it there. Dominion, let them have dominion. That's technically what the podcast, this podcast is based off the kingdom of God, the gospel of the kingdom. So and then, you know, they had the riots, you know, the George Floyd, Black Lives Matter. That was when, like, the period, because you know, a lot of injustice going on within America, you know, the innocent, you know, black, innocent people getting killed by the police. And then protest, but then like 2020 was really like that deal, like, okay, now you now y'all messed up. And then it was worldwide protest, crazy. And whether how y'all feel about George Floyd or not, whether what he did was bad or not, that was unnecessary. That was act that was an act of evil. That literally majority of even the lead the you know, church, they said that was wrong. This is absolutely unacceptable. Peaceful protest. And it got to the point that, you know, I was into, you know, black liberation in the sense. And let me tell you something. I was born, I'm a black, I'm a proud black man. I'm a proud black man. I've I was born in America. I may be, you know, my parents are Nubian folks, but I was born, raised in America, proud to be a black person. So that was literally that time, that George, that incident that happened with George Floyd, and really studying black history, African American history, because I also studied it in college. Also, this was during COVID. Studying that, that kind of convinced me to go to the number one public HBCU in the nation, Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University. So that's what that's what drew me in. That's what drew me in. Like learning, learning about African American history and what black people went through and how black people contributed a lot to this country. So not only I was, you know, I found holiness and the kingdom of God, I learned the truth about our, you know, black, black history. And African leaders like Kwame Nkrumah and Patrice Lumumba and all like revolutionists. Like, you know, I've already knew about Malcolm X, I already knew about Dr. King. I learned more about the Black Panthers because, you know, growing up I learned like Malcolm X and the Black Panthers were bad people. They were radicals, but nah. Even the Black Panthers, you know, what they did wasn't it was it was no problem. Simple. Just treat us. And they worked a lot with a lot of communities. Even one of them I look up to, you know, Fred Hampton, was able to unite the people. So I was in really that era. I was there literally in that season, you know, combining holiness with the kingdom of God, with a little bit in a sense of black liberation. I'm not talking about like, oh, trying to be, oh, you know, black man this, the black man that maybe a little bit. But I was like, in my my mindset at that time was imagine all of that umbrella coming uniting under the gospel. And then I was following aware. People talked about, oh, Jesus, you know, he stood against oppression and injustice. I didn't, I really wasn't sure about who Jesus was. Not in the like, yeah, I had a comment, yeah. Jesus died for our sins, he washed our sins away, this and that, like common, but I didn't really it didn't really like blend in for me. And also, even to the point that I was depending on like we my family, and like all of like, you know, a lot of African folks when we grow up in the church, and like those in the charismatic setting, we grew up with you know, prayer cloths, prayer shawls, anointing water, anointing oil, or water from Israel, oil from this area. Oh, it will bless you. Oh, these Bibles prayer against demonic warfare and financial blessings and all this stuff. It was used like a drug, like the heavy, so heavily dependent, dependent on people's visions and dreams and all this extra stuff. Because people said make right predictions and accurate prophecies that oh they were sent by God. Literally, I was early 2020 to early 2022, y'all. I was in mad confusion. I was in crazy confusion, y'all. And then it literally got to the point that you know I remember I forgot to say this, but every I went to almost every I'll I attended conferences like daily. Crying, speaking in tongues, having spiritual, you know, encounters, spiritual encounters. My priority at that time, like in the Pentecostal church, it wasn't a matter of were they saved or not, this and that. It was about speaking tongues, baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. Water baptism in the name of Jesus Christ. You know, receiving the gift of the Holy Literally, literally, we the way we the way I you know we portrayed Acts 238 is literally repent of your sins, be baptized in water in the name of Jesus Christ. Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, you know, and you will receive the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in tongues as the Spirit gives utterance. That's how we you know define Acts 238, and we follow the apostolic doctrine. And let me tell you something, I am still apostolic till this day. You know, practices, religious, spiritual practices. I did all these things, I was in confusion, but yet at that time, I took it serious. I thought I could lose salvation, I had to conduct myself with good behavior, which we ought to do, which number one, we ought to do, but in the context of what I'm saying here is that for salvation. Like, if I have a certain hairstyle, I will go to hell. If I celebrate a certain holiday, I will go to hell. If I do a certain sin, I will go to hell. If I do sit, you know, if I do wrong, I will go to hell. If I'm guilty, literally go to hell. That's why I repent of my sins, confess them daily, purge myself by listening to sermons, weep and wail, watch Christian movies, Bible movies. So, you know, just in case Jesus comes, that I'm doing something, that I'm a faithful servant, that like I'm I'm listening. Like the last thing I did was listening to Christian music, listening to Christian radio, listening to a sermon, praying, you know, doing all this, listening literally. Wanting to make sure that when God comes, he sees me do good. Because I didn't want to lose my salvation. I was I was so scared of judgment day. You know, you see those YouTube videos. Oh, is this name written in the land's book of life? No, all these videos, and they list out the sins you did back then, and if you repented of them, I had that fear-based tactics. I was so worried, I was so frightened, I was so shocked. I thought I could lose salvation. I was worried that Jesus would tell me, Depart from me, you work of iniquity, I never knew you. But then at the same time, it's like I call myself holy. You know, I thought holiness was what I do, you know, what I have to do, how I dress, how I talk to people, even to the point I started like, even to like my cousins and stuff. Oh, if y'all don't do this, y'all will go to hell. We need to start re-we need to get rebaptized. You know, the Trinity is the doctrine of devils. I s I said all of that. And then, oh, you know, I did, but it's like I wasn't even sure myself. I didn't have full assurance. I was trying hard. I thought I could do it. And then it was the rise, also that era was the rise of quote-unquote discernment ministries. Where a lot of pastors I grew up got criticized for doctors. Now, don't get me wrong, some of the stuff I like listened to after like I learned what they said was like, yeah, they crazy. That's trip. They tripping. This and that. And then literally all the verses I hear, mark and avoid, you know, have no fellowship with unfruitful, unfruitful works of darkness. Expose them, you know, antichrist. Don't welcome them into your house, kick them out of the church when they commit sins and all that. Literally, like the scripture I had, the scriptures I used, what I learned from, I use it. I thought I thought it made me more spiritual. And I shared it with everybody. I shared it with everybody. I tried to be so legalistic. Tried to be so, you know, literally, I don't know what I was on. And then I left, you know, the Pentecostal church for you know reasons not to be spoken of. And then I think I was online church. I don't know what I was doing, but yeah, just online church searching, watching videos of like people getting exposed for their you know doctrines and stuff like that. And then 2021. I yeah, I was working at Fidelity from October 2020 to August 2021. Literally, I thought I was gonna go to I was supposed to 2021, I was supposed to go to Fam U. But then uh family and I, we decided, you know, I'll go to UNF. I went for two semesters. I didn't like it, so I called Famu. I was like, you know, I want to I want to come to Fam U 2022. So I did all of that. And then what's interesting. I mean, I still went to the church, not consistently, but I went at times, you know, because COVID was still kind of, you know, people, you know, regulations we had to wear masks, like it was slowly going back, you know, when Biden was here. And then 2022, that was really when things started to change. Uh my late grandfather, he's a who was a pastor, he took my uncle to a conference. It was like a pastor's conference, you know, because we went to our local like uh Sudanese church congregation. Still go there. And uh my uncle called me because he was he was invited by a pastor at the time, by a Korean pastor. And he told him about, you know, he came one time, visited us. I was like, I didn't really take regards of it. My uncle told me they had like this um event, like technically it's separate, separate. It's like, you know, they had like games, squid games, they had like these activities, learning to cook, learning the language, like academies, learning. So I'm like, you know, I'll check it out. I went, I went, it was cool. I was like fun. They had mine education, and then they had like a summer trip to Korea. I was like, wow. So I went to that Sunday service. I went to the Sunday service, it was surprising because it was like a Baptist setting, like less than 10 people, old people, hymn books, piano. I was like, what type of church is this? I'm a Pentecostal, this ain't my style. There's no there's no youth here. So, but then my parents went, and you gotta understand, we was like, literally, before then, we were like church hopping. We went from church to church to church to church, things happened, things didn't go our way, we left. Things don't go right, we gone. But then the church I went to was like, hmm, this ain't my style. I'm a Pentecostal, I don't know why I'm here. They even had a Bible seminar and they had like fellowship, and I thought I knew everything. And the pastor was like, You want to go to Korea? I was like, Man, I'm about to start college, I'm about to go August 2022, prepare. So I didn't go to Korea that year, but he said there's a camp in Orlando. I went to Orlando summer camp. I went, and literally, four years ago today. Four years ago, July. I think it was like a week or two, I went to this camp. And I was like, man, I don't know. This is a Korean camp, you know. I don't I was gonna see a bunch of Koreans, I ain't interested. I went to Orlando, I went to Orlando, it was literally black people, Africans, you know, other Asians, Hispanics. I said, what type of what type of church is this? What type of camp is this? The only ones that are Korean are like the pastors, the pastors' wives, and like the the kids. What type of camp is this? And then I went. And I see every I see everybody and they and they normal. I'm thinking like they're goody goodies, but nah, they they they crazy, they wild. They wild. I'm like, what type what type of people are they? Are they they just these these they don't know about holiness? Like, I was a little like, see, one thing about me, I'm open-minded. I am open-minded about anything. I may disagree, but I'm open-minded about everything. Most of the time I'll be like, I can tell if it's a cult or like if something is tripping or something's off, or this is this is some BS. I could tell. I wasn't I wasn't even sure. But that camp, I'm telling you guys. I had the not I had the greatest time. Summertime, because it was so bad. Literally, that it was so depressing. It was just a bad summer. Just a lot of things didn't go my way. Because for years, like I'm let I'm like looking, you know, soul searching, looking for other problems, even to the point that one that like the year my junior year, I think I was like depressed because something happened. And then I went to this um African church and I laid this hand on this prophet, this lady. I had to like bow down, place my hands on her feet and all that. They had to pray for me. It was there, we was there until like 4 or 5 a.m. I was like, what? We depended literally conferences depending on all these pastors and all that extra stuff. But I'm like, but think about it. Throughout those years, my first 20 years of my life, I said I had the gospel, I memorized the scriptures, I had I had a church foundation, I had the lyrics, I had the songs, I had the sermons, I had all these things, I have the notes, but I didn't have assurance. I didn't have full assurance, I didn't have confidence. I didn't have confidence. There were some things I did say, but I'm still trying to be like, am I lukewarm? Do I still have to fight for my etern eternity? That camp I went to in Orlando opened my eyes. There was a pastor. A pastor named, I mean, I don't know his last name, but I just know Pastor Tommy from New York. He's in New York. And before he was a before he got saved and was a pastor, he was a he was a gang banger. He was a crip. I don't know if he was you know on the West Coast, but he was a Crip. He was gangbanger. He preached. He preached the sermon. It was kind of like, you know. But there was that one sermon. I mean, all the sermons were great, but that one sermon he preached from was from Genesis chapter 50. In Genesis 50, it was talking about Joseph, right? We all know the story of Joseph. Joseph. You know, Jacob loved Joseph more. You know, he's born Rachel. He was born. His mom was Rachel, right? Jacob's wife was Rachel. Then Joseph was given cold of many colors. His brothers were jealous of him. Joseph had dreams. You know, we know the dreams of people bowing down to him. We know about brothers, threw him in the pit. They sold him into slavery. Joseph worked under Potiphar's house. You know, Potiphar's wife accused him of, you know, the R allegations. He went in prison, interpreted dreams. He became governor. He interpreted the Pharaoh's dreams. He forgave his brothers. All of that. We knew that's the common part. That was like the common part. That's where I only knew the story of Joseph, really. And you know, Joseph, and you know, technically, uh Jacob, Jacob um prophesying to his sons. But there was that was 49. But chapter 50 was really well from where he preached that. That's what I really locked into. And he was preaching about. So technically in Genesis 50, the story goes, Joseph, his father died. Joseph, the brothers, their father died. Their dad, Jacob, died. And was buried, right? And the brothers, their hearts was now remember, Joseph already forgave them. But then Joseph brothers were worried about, wait a second, you know. They they knew once they knew their dad was dead, their heart was like, uh-oh, Joseph's gonna hate us. He's gonna he's gonna pay us back for what we did to him. You know, they were worried about like, did Joseph only say that because our dad's alive? Like, what's going on? They were sus, they didn't really trust in his forgiveness. To the point they sent someone, a messenger is like, hey, can you tell Joseph to forgive us? Just please, please forgive us, forgive us, please forgive our trespasses. And they said, Joseph heard that. Joseph heard that. He wept. He wept when they spoke to him. And they bowed down, they still all that stuff. And they still, they still they didn't look at themselves as you know, forgiven, or that we're your brothers, we're brothers, or we're still in the family. They called themselves, see, I didn't even let me read Genesis 50, because I just saw this right now. Genesis 50, verse 15 15 to 19. And when Joseph's brethren saw that their father was dead, they said, Joseph will peradventure hate us, and will certainly requite us all the evil which we did unto him. And they sent a messenger unto Joseph, saying, Thy father did command before he died, saying, So shall you say unto Joseph, Forgive, I pray thee now, the trespass of thy brethren and their sin, for they did unto thee evil. And now we pray thee, forgive the trespass of the servants of the God of thy father. And Joseph wept when they spake unto him. And his brethren also went and fell down before his face, and they said, Behold, we be thy servants.

unknown 47:16

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 47:17

Now you gotta understand, the first time Joseph forgave them, they didn't even ask for it. They didn't even ask to be forgiven. Joseph just says, I am your brother. They were shocked, they were like, then, like, what? And he said, Don't even worry, I've forgiven you. See, they didn't even ask for forgiveness. Joseph already forgave them. Joseph already forgave them. But yet they didn't have faith in his forgiveness to the point that they had to ask to they had to ask his forgiveness and say, you know, I'm your servant. And literally, Joseph was like, Fear not. I'm not in the place of God to judge. And he was talking about, you know, how Jesus, we don't have faith in Jesus' forgiveness. Because Jesus is the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. And they read Matthew 1.21. His name is Jesus. What? He will save his people from their sins. I'm listening to this. I'm like, what? Jesus will save people from their sins. He's the Lamb of God which takes away the sins of the world. And he talked about how sin, sin was an identity. It's not an action, it is an identity. Because sin entered the world through Adam. And it's Adam's disobedience. All of us were made sinners. And I'm learning this. I'm like, what? Like, think about it. In years, in my years of Bible quizzing and you know, Sunday school and all these things, I never how come I never paid attention? Because I thought I knew everything. I thought I was gonna go there. I knew everything. Oh nah, I did it. And then I took pictures. And then the he and then they talked about how sin is like a cold. See? The cold, when you have a cold, it represented death, which is the flesh. And the cold, the symptoms of cold is what? Fever, cough, headache, snivel, chill. All of these are symptoms of what? A cold. And then sin. Now remember, Satan, remember Adam listened to Eve listened to Satan, and technically Adam disobeyed God. Satan to Adam. Because Adam Adam's sinned, sin entered to the world, and by sin, death, and Adam experienced a spiritual death. And that sin manifested into hatred, lie, theft, adultery, jealousy, whispering. And then Satan, he's literally the father, literally, source of sin. Right? Satan sinned, right? And his sin turned into like personality, it it uh manifested to personality or appearance. So like law, murderer, morality, conscience. So like sin, so technically, sin affected our conscience, our morality, our view, our law, status, religious, you know, it took things like crimes. You know, that that chart wasn't clear, but that's what I remember. And then he showed, remember, the Lamb of God would take away the sin of the world. And literally, when John laid his hand on Jesus, it literally was to fulfill all righteousness. So literally, John is transferring all sins of all people in the world to Jesus. John the Baptist was the delegator of all humans, later on Jesus, because to fulfill all righteousness. He talked about a tabernacle in heaven, about how the temple on earth, the tabernacle, was temp was a literally the one on earth was a temporary cleansing of sin. And then he read in Hebrews 9.11 about Christ beingcome a high priest of good things to come by a greater, more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, that is to say, not of this building. And then he talked about the kingdom of heaven is an eternal kingdom, forgiveness of sins is forever cleansed. I'm lit, I'm seeing this, I'm like, what? I'm like, wow. I'm listening to this so clearly. I said, What? I was so engaged. The way he preached, his style was he read the scriptures, he tells a the most funniest, he was a hilarious dude. He told like his funniest stories of all. And then when he got to the preaching, he he was serious, he locked in. I was locked in. He talked about like even though the same way Joseph brothers didn't have faith in his forgiveness, we don't have faith in God's forgiveness of Christ. I said, huh? And then he read Romans 3.23. I knew I knew Romans 3.23 my whole life. I always knew Romans 3.23. That was in my Bible quizzing manual. But then verse 24. Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. I said, justified, all have sinned. Everybody in the world has sinned, fell short of God's glory. Everybody, whether saved or not. And he says, being justified, they were justified freely by his grace. Through the redemption. And it says, by the blood of Jesus Christ, we have obtained eternal redemption. I said, I said, no way. We have obtained eternal redemption. And he read Hebrews 10, that we are sanctified by the offering of the body of Jesus one time. And in verse 4, Hebrews 10 14, for by one offering he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. He said we always call ourselves sinners, but yet Jesus made us righteous. And he read Romans 5 19. So by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. I call myself sinners. I said the sinner's prayer. God, I'm a sinner. I keep saying I have sins. And I look at Hebrews 10. It says, I've been perfected. Forever. Sanctified. And it says, your sins and iniquities I'll remember no more. I said, like I read these verses, but I never really, it never really grasped into my heart like what that meant. I said, what? I am. I'm like, how come I never learned this my first 20 years? How come I never had this understanding? I was like, wow. I was shocked. I'm like, there is no way. And then he talked about like the horn on the altar. Like there's our sins written on the horn of the altar. It's written with a pen, an iron pen. The sins of Judah, horn on the altar. And you know, the sacrifice, the sin offering, and how the blood was laid on that altar, forgive atoning us for our sins once a year. But yet Jesus came eternal redemption, a perfect sacrifice. Took away the sin of the world, justified by his grace. I'm listening to that. He literally, Jesus, he will save his people from their sins. We are no longer sinners. We are righteous. And for years, I always knew 1 Corinthians 6, verse 9 and 10. You know, the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God. Fornicators, you know, drunkards, homosexuals, all that. I learned that covetous thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God. But then verse 11. I've always read verse 9 and 10. I never read verse 11. And remember, now you gotta understand. Before I went to this camp, I thought you could lose salvation. I thought people use grace as a license to sin. Even though I saw the messages, I'm like, that's true, that's true. Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. But it's like, what? This is heresy. Like some of the grace, like, oh, they're using hyper grace, it's a false doctrine. You know, we need to, I didn't like not keeping the law, but we gotta work our salvation, this and that. We have to be baptized, water baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. You're not water baptized, you're not saved. If you don't speak in tongues, you're not saved. If you don't have a dream, a vision, if you don't have those spiritual type experiences, you're not saved. So I'm like, how come? I that's what I thought. And then literally, I went literally that camp. Verse 9 and 10, I know these people don't inherit the kingdom of God. Verse 11, such were some of you, but you are washed, sanctified, justified. And once he talked about that, that we have been forgiven, literally, the blood, I literally the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed me forever. I no longer have sin. He took away my sin. I've been made righteous forever. Have peace with God. Oh man. It was freedom. I experienced true freedom. I got saved. I had full assurance of salvation. It was not what I did, but what Jesus did. That was a liberating moment for me. Four years ago. Received salvation. Oh man. It was so great. And then but the thing is, one thing, I wouldn't say regret, but like one thing I wish I did was kept continued with that belief. Because that's when, you know, that next month I transferred to FanMu. I was like trying to look for a church. Opposite of what good news was preaching. Opposite of what they were preaching, man. And I went to these different Bible studies, and like I thought, you know, back then I thought if you the more you call out sin, the more you, you know, deal quote unquote deal aggressively with your sin and call them out that that you're you're awakening the church. You're giving the church like literally the first the five the top five things that's like we the like church culture overuse the OD is literally obedience, conviction, fruit, repentance, lukewarm backslide. They use it so loosely. I use it so loosely as well. I didn't know what it meant. So I said, Wow, I learned the truth, I've been forgiven, but yet I didn't really continue in that. And then I still, but then here's the thing like it took me three years to really understand. Like, I was saved July 2022. But then three years later, but then July 2025, when I traveled to Korea for a camp, that's when I became spiritually mature. That's when I started growing in the knowledge and grace and knowledge of Jesus. That's when I understood the Bible. That's when I really understood, like, yes, this is this is truth right here. Literally, one year ago, like, this is this is the truth, this is it. I've had it, but I didn't really mature into it. And then when I started the podcast, you know, I said some of the stuff I learned, I preached on it, but it was still, you know, you have to be water baptized, you have to keep your salvation. If you don't speak, speaking in, you know, if you don't speak in tongues, you're not saved, you're not baptized, if you're baptized by the Son, Holy Ghost, you're not saved. Literally, listen to the past, listen to my old podcast episodes. You can literally see the progression I've made. And I'm I'm not gonna lie, I'm thinking about like taking it out, but no, I want to leave it in there. Because when I like literally the start of the gospel of 420, now remember the inspiration for the name change was 1 Corinthians 420. Remember, it's based on the kingdom of God, for the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. So, I have those literally that three years gap, that three years, I still like I still head on to the message. I was saved, but I still was preaching old stuff, still holding on to old doctrines like Pentecostal doctrines and stuff I learned, like this and that. But literally, these things happen for a reason. These things this type of stuff happens for a reason. I wonder, and literally, it's like I asked God, like, God, why why? Why late? I I wish I wish I knew this long time ago. What what is the purpose? And then my pastor, one time, I think a couple months ago, he read Genesis 45. Read a verse in jerk verse 40 in Genesis 45, but there was a specific, but like there was a specific verse that got me. So I read Genesis 45. Now remember, this is the first time Joseph forgave his brothers. When Joseph he said he couldn't hold Joseph couldn't hold held it in. He couldn't hold it in. He said, Yo, he cried, he said, Look, I am your brother. How's my father doing? They were troubled, they were shocked. And then verse 5, this is what he read. This is what he read. Genesis, Genesis 45, verse 4 and 5. And Joseph said unto his brethren, Come near to me, I pray you. And they came near, and he said, I am Joseph, your brother, whom ye sold into Egypt. Now therefore, be not grieved, nor angry with yourselves that ye sold me hither. For God did send me before you to preserve life. See? And I learned that even me pre-salvation, like, I wish I learned this. Or like, if I had if I had that same belief I had, like maturity I have now, that I was able to preach to my friends at Fam U. Man, I was like, dang, I wish I wish I had it, man. I wish I had that type of passion. But then I read this verse, it says, but then when he read that, I learned that I don't need to be grieved, I'm gonna be angry at myself. Why? God allowed this. How do I know God allowed this? Let me read verse, let's continue. Verse 6. For these two years hath the famine been in the land, and yet there are five years in which there shall neither be earning, earring, nor harvest. And God sent me before you to preserve you a posterity in the earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance. So now it was not you that sent me hither, but God. And he hath made me a father to Pharaoh and Lord of all his house, and a ruler throughout all the land of Egypt. And then he says, Go tell my tell tell my dad, tell my brothers, tell them, tell them to come. Bring the children, bring the whole family. Bring them all. I'll take care of you. So you see right here, everything that happened in Joseph's life, God allowed it. God was the one who did that. My 20 years, even the three years of much understanding the gospel, God allowed that to happen. He allowed that to happen. That I don't need to grieve my, I don't have to grieve or be angry or be disappointed. That like, how come, how come at that church didn't teach me this? How come, how come they didn't say this? How come how come we didn't learn this sooner enough? I could have said that. But no, God allowed it. God allowed a lot of things. The same way God allowed Joseph to go through these things, He allowed me to go through those trials. Think about it. A church kid. I I ain't gonna lie, I probably had like, you know, like Martin Luther was in a church, Catholic church, all his life, until he read Romans, The Just Shall Live by Faith, he received salvation. John Wesley, a bishop, a pastor, preaching to people, wondering why it's not working. His brother got converted first. He was confused. Then John Wesley heard a sermon about the blood of Jesus Christ cleansed us from all sins. He got saved right on the spot like that. Charles Spurgeon, a church kid, grew up in the church, still spiritually burdened. He went to a Methodist church in a snowstorm, a random church, a pastor, he just looked at him and said, He reads Isaiah, look unto Jesus, look unto him, all ye ends of the earth, and be ye saved. He receives salvation. Apollos. I can say I'm probably like Apollos. When you read Apollos, that man was eloquent in scriptures, mighty, he knew scriptures well, like I did. But his only his knowledge was only based on John the Baptist. And he says, Aquila, Priscilla, they they greeted him, they took him aside, hospitality, friendship, and they expounded the way of God more perfectly to him. And because he received, he believed it and received the truth without arguing or debating, he was able, the Bible says he was able to show the Jews, to show them through the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ. Now, literally, now a year, now a year in, I can show people throughout the scriptures that you are righteous, that Jesus has forgiven you of all your sins, that the kingdom of God is in you, and that you are no longer sinners, you are righteous, and that you are justified, you are sanctified, you are perfected, you are perfect in the image of God. It's not by your works, it's not by what you do, but what Christ did. It's not about how well you obey, but his obedience that made you righteous. Now I have the confidence to share the message of the gospel like that. Literally, the years, the first 20 years, the years, fears of condemnation, worries, doubts, having half assurance, not being confident on if I went if I was gonna go to heaven. God, let me tell you, God allowed that. God allowed that in my life. He allowed it. God's time is always the best time. I've always knew about Genesis 1 to 49, but really 50, I never paid attention. Everything that happened, God meant it for good. As they we would think, oh, they planned evil, but God meant it for good. To save. This was an act of salvation. See, we are the brothers, we are like Joseph's brothers. We have no faith in his salvation. Number one, Jesus died for us without us even apologizing or asking for his forgiveness, and then when When we do, it's like, do we have faith in his blood that we have obtained eternal redemption? Do we have faith that he is the author of eternal salvation? And think about it. I've always read John 3:16 so casually, but really, whosoever believes has eternal life. It is really by grace we are saved through faith, not of works. It's a gift of God. Lest any man should boast. Pure revelation of the truth. The revelation of who Christ is, what he has done, how the Old Testament, everything points to Christ, a shadow. Learning that, it brought me peace, it brought calm, it brought joy. Literally, I've experienced. Let me tell you something. I really truly experienced the kingdom of God. It's not meat and drink, but righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. I've experienced the kingdom of God. I said, wow. God worked in these 24 years. Soon to be 25. I thought I I thought I knew it all. Even now, now like the church I'm going to, I was like, I'm all I'm learning. It's like, wow, this is truth. I can share this. And one thing I like about this church is like they the stuff they share, they share with us. We can literally, we can cop we can literally what's it called? What's the word? What's the word? Not copyright. Yeah, copyright. Plagiarize. We can plagiarize. Literally, plagiarize their sermons for free. Because it must be shared. It must be preached to all people. Oh my man. I I'm telling y'all, I never had that comfort of the scriptures like that. Learning, learning that everything points to Christ. That it's only by faith we are made righteous. And that we are no longer sinners. We no longer have to confess our sins or weep or cry, do all this extra stuff. We have been forgiven. And you know how we have the truth? There are people that will be like, oh, it's a you're you're promoting a license of sin. The fact that freedom from sin, learning that Jesus saved us from sin equates to more sinning. It's knowing that you're the right thing is being preached. Even there's a verse I learned. The thought in Proverbs, it's like the thoughts of foolishness is sin. And a scorn is an abomination before men. So technically it's like a scorn is like they take what you said. You know, you did not say, you know, you can sin all you want. They know that's no, you know, that's not what you said. That isn't you know yourself, that is not what you're preaching. But they hear that, they twist it and mock it and to think, oh, this is antinomianism. This is oh, you're hyper grace. This is a license to sin. Number one, yes, it is hyper grace. It says grace is exceeding abundant, riches, the riches of his grace, exceeding riches, in whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins. Yes, grace, it is hyper grace. Jesus sits on the throne of grace. Let me tell you how grace technically let me all right. You know, you want me to be honest with you? Is grace a license to sin? Actually, yes. Because people that say, people that preach that, they have a grace is the reason people can preach that grace is a license to sin. That's that's a license to sin. For you to think that grace is a license to sin, thinking that Jesus' blood is not enough and that it's faith plus works, yeah. Sinning willfully, yeah, that's a license to sin. That grace allows you to do that. Because it's old testament, you're dead. And for years, I've always harped on Old Testament, like, you know, we always we always like, you know, we always like the message of love and grace and mercy. But if prophet Isaiah was there, if it was Jeremiah, if it was Amos, if it was Old Testament prophets, oh, the church will cancel them. Like, I learned that the gospel is not supposed to be making people mad. And we want, and I start to realize like the reason people are, you know, are don't you know are turning a blind eye on the gospel is because we think the gospel is to offend people. We think offending people and doing, you know, trying to be controversial is is we're bringing we're making God happy. No, that's foolishness, that's ignorant. It's not how it works. What is the testimony of Christ? He paid for your sins, he paid for all sins, he took away the sin of the world. There's no sin in the world. I said it. There's no sin in the world. Why? It's been laid on Jesus. All the sin of the world has been laid on Jesus. So if it's laid on Jesus, is there sin in the world? No. He took the Lord laid on him, he struck him with what? All of our iniquities. I I want y'all to realize. This is not a testimony from someone who used to like be a partier or a drunkard or this and that. This is from a church kid. A church kid hyper-religious, hyper spiritual, had a zeal, but not according to knowledge. Even trying to find my own right, instead of trusting in submitting myself into God's righteousness, I was trying to establish my own righteousness by my deeds and how I perform and how I do well and me helping God. It's not like that. Literally, this is a message of this is true freedom, peace. That is not me that's doing it. The life I live, I live by the faith of the Son of God. And that since God declared me righteous, I am righteous. Because where the word of the king is, there is power. And the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power. It's given the Holy Spirit is given to those who believe. It's not by works, it's not by water baptism, keeping the Ten Commandments, not following the law of Moses, all these things. It's literally faith in what Christ has done. Eternal redemption. We have received the forgiveness of sins. We are now made righteous. That is powerful. That is what keep that's what gives man eternal life. Faith in what Christ has done. When he receives, when he realizes what Jesus has done for him 2,000 years ago on the cross, how he obtained eternal redemption, how he remembers your sins no more without us even apologizing or confessing our sins. Why? Because Jesus did it all. Christ did it all. The blood definitely still works. And that right there, y'all, is my testimony. That's how I became free from sin. Because I realized Jesus paid it all. Jesus took away my sins. He doesn't remember them, he doesn't hold me accountable for them. Because he has because he was laid it on Jesus. That's my testimony, y'all. Yep. And this testimony is literally just the intro. See what's to come later with these podcast episodes. So this is the foundation. So this is how I got in the this is how I got saved. Church kid, not a preacher kid, but a church kid. Now fully have full confidence, full 100% assurance that I am 100% righteous, perfected, justified, washed by the blood of Jesus Christ. By his grace, by his mercy. Forever, forever saved. I have eternal life. Amen. Thank you for listening. I hope to see y'all. Again, we're gonna it's coming soon. It's coming soon. Just wait on it. We're almost there. We're almost there. Episode, the first episode of a new new podcast era, the new age. It's a new era now. That this testimony right here is the foundation of what you're gonna ex what you're gonna hear, what you're gonna expect to hear. So make sure y'all tune in. And may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the sweet fellowship of the Holy Ghost be with you all. Amen. God bless.