Wednesday Night Service 7PM -

God, I just thank you so much that no matter what fails in our life, and everything will, God, you are the one thing that will always be standing before us, waiting for us to bow back down to you. I just thank you for loving us so much. You guys can have a seat for these next two songs if you'd like.

Praise you again and again, because you've got a lot. It's all that I have is a heart.

Amazing grace, how sweet a wretch. Life once was lost, but now it's my fears. Really precious did that grace appear. His ransom to shine. Lord, I just thank you for hearing our praises. God, I just pray that it has been a sweet sound to your ear. Lord, I just pray that as we hear from your word this evening, Lord, that you would just speak in your name.

Well, good evening. Welcome to Calvary Chapel. I'm glad that you've joined us this evening. So I am so excited to have my good friend share with us, but I've got to give you a little introduction to him first, okay? So about two or three years ago. I'll be nice, I promise. Maybe three years ago, I think. Ish, something like that. I meet these two guys in a coffee shop, right?

And their names are Seven and MC. And so we're chatting it up, and we're talking about Jesus. We're talking about ministry. And they're like, bro, we should do some ministry together sometime. I'm like, that's a fantastic idea. Let me get your numbers. And so I get ready to enter their numbers in my phone. I'm like, can I call you guys Seven and MC? Because I don't know if you realize this.

I don't have an incredible amount of street cred. And MC goes, no. I'm like, I know it's the vibe that I put off, but I really don't. I don't. I don't have an incredible amount of street cred. And they're like, yes, you can absolutely call us that. Well, in the past three years, I have not gained any street cred yet. But I have gained an incredibly good friend in MC.

And his testimony is fantastic, and I just love him as a person. So MC, if you guys would please welcome him.

Thank you, my brother. Thank you. Thank you. Hey, before, I said we were going to start that, but let's pray in one time. Thank you all for having me. I just got my glasses on one time so I could see who's here. If I start rapping. We're talking. They're going to fog up. So if I'm looking at you like I don't know you, it's the reason why. Heavenly Father, we just want to lift you up today, Lord.

Thank you for this opportunity, Lord. This is totally about you, 100%. My prayer is that if there's somebody that's been teetering on the edge, not really sure who you are, that tonight somehow, someway, something will move them, that you will draw them closer to you, Lord, and that they'll commit to you. It's such a beautiful thing. And for anybody that's already.

Like my brother prayed earlier, just that you're fortified in what you already know and that you press in harder than you've ever pressed before as our time is short. So I pray for this. I thank you guys for having me. Jesus might in there. Go ahead, run that.

You know you got to turn me up, right? You guys like low rap music? Or are you like, ah. Hey, but if they blow out the system, I can't afford that, just so you know. He's forgiven. Thank you, Lord, for forgiveness. Thank you, Lord, for all of my sin. How'd I end up in this spot I'm in? Life in prison, I accepted false doctrine. Now I'm living with this mask, can't be myself.

Every move I make ain't for me, but for someone else. Politicians keep the yard cracking, active on these level falls. Thought I was pressing, repping hard, but I was just a devil's whore. Games stay rotating, but we don't ever settle scores. These metal balls incarcerate the mind, body. And the soul, I never thought I'd get to see the light of day. Never knew a savior existed who could light the way.

But by grace, I was saved, and my life was remade. In the image of his son, what a price that he paid. Sanctification, yep. In the beginning, cut loose all them girls, and I committed to my woman. Then I focused on my character, polished up my crown. But it's hard to be uplifting when they keep pulling you down, down, down. Don't forsake me, Christ. You can take me.

This life right now. Sinful man with a simple plan. Forgive me, God. Take me as I am. Don't forsake me, Christ. You can take this life right now. Sinful man with a simple plan. Forgive me, God. My weakness was his strength as he replaced all these traits. I adopted as a thug while I was searching for my place. Kept working on my faith. Then he added unto me the type of faith that allows me.

I walked on stormy seas, still no one sees the struggles in my heart. When he was putting me together, they kept pulling me apart. But my God is greater, Bonnaroo. My God's a tailor, greater than any hater, faker or salt shaker. He takes the broken vessel, the very thing you despise. What you perceive as nothing is not an apple of his eye. In your mind, it's justified as you judge what you see.

But in time, you won't see. He won't judge you like me. Time, 25 on the line. That's what it took for us. Sinner to get close to the divine. Now I'm hooked to his vine. And I'm walking on the yard. I ain't worried about no wars. I ain't tripping on no guards. Cause he's forgiving me. Don't forsake me, Christ. You can take this life right now. Sinful man with a simple plan.

Forgive me, God. Take me as I am. Don't forsake me, Christ. You can take this life right now. Sinful man with a simple plan. Don't forsake me, God. Take me as I am. I got my weapon in my hand. Holy roller, Bible toter. A seven deuce. I'm just trying to make it out the smoker. And all my years of riding, they never hit me with the poker. And I ain't that good of lucky.

All praise to Jehovah. If you don't get it, I get it. Cause you ain't live it. I'm just thankful for this life. And I'm just grateful for forgiveness. They hate on God. But they just caught up in their feelings. Even atheists call God when somebody come to kill them. February 9th, 2017. God, open up the gate. Don't forsake me, God. Take me as I am. Don't forsake me, God.

Take me as I am. Even atheists call God when somebody come to kill them. February 9th, 2017. God, open up the gate. And he set the captive free. A quarter century in prison. Living in the prism of hate, war and death, and spiritual circumcision. He released me for the great commission. That's why I'm spitting. One cross, three nails. What that equal? Forgiving.

Yeah. Yeah. One cross, three nails. What that equal? Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. Forgiving. don't forsake me Christ you can take this life right now simple man with a simple plan forgive me God to be as I am don't forsake me Christ you can take

this life right now simple man with a simple plan forgive me God take me as I am

You know that last part of the video I had already accepted Christ and I was still being sanctified and working things out But how prophetic that was just in my own life that I when I gave it to him, I ended up walking off 10 years straight and he set me free. And it's a beautiful thing, you know. So with that said, let me introduce myself and thank you all for coming. It's amazing to see a lot of familiar faces. Again, grateful to be up here.

I know how dangerous it can be to give somebody a mic sometimes. So it's definitely appreciated. My name is Matthew Conan. I'm a big old nobody, man. A big old nobody, man. I was born I was born in Ohio. I was adopted. I don't know the reason behind my adoption. Never knew my biological parents, but a white family adopted me. And I say white only because it's pertinent to the story later. I don't see color like that.

I was adopted into a. Family. I have four brothers, one sister. My dad was a doctor. My mom was a nurse. We lived in Ohio, but by the age of and I grew up with love. I love my family to death. I don't talk about it about them enough. A lot of times when I'm sharing my testimony, it boils down to the darker side of where God came in and and brought me out of that darkness.

And I don't really get to share about my family, but my family is amazing to this day. But my parents got divorced. And at the age of. Four. My mom took us to California, and so my dad stayed behind and he ended up having a new family. I'm kind of going to speed along because I don't want to share the whole story right now. I don't have enough time for that, but.

Growing up, we moved out to California. So I grew up in Orange County, California, and we moved into a predominantly white community and it was beautiful. A five bedroom house. I had the latest greatest to I never wanted for nothing. There was never no lack. There was no cockroaches. There was no lights going out. There was no lack of heat. I had everything I needed. But as I grew and I looked out into my community.

I didn't have an identity. I looked out. I couldn't see anybody that looked like me. And looked in the mirror. I couldn't see my mama's face, you know, her eyes or my daddy's nose or lips. And so not knowing how to express this not really have an identity, something to ground in on I started rebelling in in little ways, you know, not doing the trash and then that led to not going to school and it just it parlayed and by the time I was 11 I made my first trip to Juvenile Hall, and it was my mom who called the police on me.

And so here I am thinking, man, my parents didn't want me My adopted dad left us for another woman and started another family and in my mom called the police on me. So I had these abandonment issues. And I didn't know where I fit in. And so when they sent me to Juvenile Hall, I'm already angry. I'm already mad. I'm already thinking everything is against me.

So when I'm walking down this hall and these dudes are looking at me left and right through the window I mask up just like I said in the video I put my mask on and I told myself, this is the worst that they can do to me, bring it. Because I was a rebellious soul. The average person would have been like, I don't want to live like this. It would have been something that would Detour them. It's enough to see enough to be in for you not to want to be there before a person like me. It was just another challenge. And with that one thought

I literally prepared myself for a lifetime of incarceration because I didn't fear the four walls. So then throw me in it was nothing. It was just something that I could add to a page this fake page of stripes that I was trying to get And so I ran through 1112 13 years old 14 years old started having sex drinking. Fighting just rebellious and I had a million Ryan's reach out to me a million joy fries reach out to me and put their hands because they saw something in me that I couldn't see him myself because I had no identity to really stand on. I didn't know who I was

And this story ain't so new unique, you're going to see color has nothing to do with prison has nothing to do with it. You're going to see by the end of this that it simply has to do with identity. And I can guarantee you any problem that you have in this life, whether you overeat, whether you on drugs, whether you on whatever your case, whether you gang banging It all falls back to identity because if you knew who you were and who you was, you would know that you're not supposed to be part of that praise God. And so unfortunately a night came And this is after. Thank you.

And this is after Many Thank you. This is after many days and nights. And it's going to sound corny, but we all do it in our own way of practicing my wall. Practicing my dress code learning to be better at being bad. Of trying to be stronger. So nobody can whoop me and I built this character. And it meant something to me because in this character. Even though it was so.

Flawed and so troublesome and so something that people should be afraid of not that I was Billy bad, but I was just stupid enough to do something to you. This character took over my life and on the night. Of December 29 1992 I shot and killed somebody. He did something to a friend and I had to come through and I didn't even know him. I didn't have a problem with him.

We probably could have been best friends. And they're in under any other circumstance. But on that on that night on that night, my friends were my friends. So he was the enemy and I fired three shots that day. And I killed him and I shot his brother in the leg, but I didn't become a killer that night. I had a gun that night I shot and killed somebody that night, but I became a killer to all these years back here that I refuse to check my behavior, a series of unchecked behaviors that snowballed into the taking of a life.

This story can be incredible. Whoa, dude did 25 years straight from the age of 19 to 44. Yeah, that's it is wild. It is like a Hollywood story. Like, dude, you did that. But I deserve number one. I deserved every bit of it. Even more. I know I shouldn't be out here. According to man's law. I know I don't deserve that chance. So I found myself in prison.

You know, Being who I am today. I hate it more than I could ever tell any of y'all, man. I hate it. I run a youth group. I know This lady borders child raised him put him through school did everything to do to keep him out of trouble. What it was driving the McDonald's and bucketing up and getting them home and then here I come. And just take everything from because he did something to my life and I can't stand it anymore.

Because he did something to my homeboy. I hate that. I thank God I'm forgiven because if I didn't know I was forgiven it probably drive me crazy. I thank God for second, third, fourth, fifth hundred chances. It took a long road to get here. I went to prison jumped off the bus at Folsom State Prison 19 years old, two months after my 19th birthday. This is not a sob story. I don't need no tears for me.

It's a God story. He dropped me off. He gave me two rows of toilet paper in the far soap appointed to a seller said survive I wouldn't know Crip I wouldn't know blood I was in Bay Area. I was a 415 I know you guys don't talk about but I wasn't getting affiliate. I had no homies. So it's equivalent to me walking in this church, but all you are potential threat and violent and angry and here for something and me not knowing one of you and trying to figure it out. I deserved it. And so I did what I knew how to do.

On the streets. I knew was get high fight I got good at fighting I wasn't always fat freedom is a cold thing some good food out here but you know I studied the art of war and what I'm about to share now is in the bragging story it's so I can get to a point to show you something else I worked out I got in the boxing program I got good with my hands anybody did something to me Bing Bing quick I said an example and then that became more of a last start of seeing that respect me that's MC from Orange County where's he from he don't gang bang but he's solid and I was something of an anonymous anomaly if I'm telling the truth because the non-affiliate somebody without a gang using in level four prisons which I

was in the whole time it's not gonna survive but I got in my fights I did my things I started going up the ladder and then I started beating up police and then I got an attempted murder on the police and then I went to Pelican Bay shoe and then I went to Corcoran shoe and then I had a BMU program behavioral management unit indeterminate shoes and it went on and on and I ended up over the series of my 25 years doing eight years in solitary confinement and they had this paperwork and on this paperwork it would say MC from Orange County non affiliate in for murder has an attempted murder on the police weapon charges melees fights and and this thing was a saving grace as crazy as it sounds because I will pull up to somewhere like who's this do it like

oh he would the business and so I did more and more to add to this list man to keep people at bay and it was really fear And I didn't know who I was or whose I was. And so I was the guy that could be whoever you needed me to be in this moment. And then I could slide over here to this building and be whoever you needed me to be this moment. Or whatever I needed to be to survive.

And it went on and on. I don't even want to keep talking about prison. But it went on and on. Only till one day on my like 15th, 16th year, I was sitting in the cell for an assault on a police. And they just happen to not have, be packed in the hole where they put you. They pull you, it's the jail inside of the jail. And I was in some dingy brown boxers. Probably thousands of other inmates wore.

And some shower shoes. I had nothing else in the cell. And the walls closed in on me. And there was an old man that told me one time, he said, Youngster, the walls is going to close in on you one day. And I'm like, man, ain't nothing going to close. I can do this time standing on my head. And brushed him off. And I was like 21 years old. I don't know who this dude was.

I don't know why I remembered that. But in this moment, 15 years later in the cell, that thought came to my mind. Like, this is what he was talking about. And simultaneously another thought came from another dude. Like two years later when I was 23, he said to me, he posed the question. He said, if you died today, what proof would you have of your existence?

And I sucked him off. I know I was probably running around making the spot. Hot doing some stew. I'm like, man, it's all that philosophical stuff. I ain't trying to hear that. And pushed on. But in this moment, those two things came to mind. Praise God. Because when I thought about what proof do I have of my existence, and I pose it to you. You don't got to answer right now, but think about it.

I look back, bro. And it was just, I opened a couple doors for some old ladies. I won some trophies. It was a nice guy here and there. But I mean, it was the assault I was in the hole for. All the stuff I did on the yards. Year after year. Prison after prison. The attempted murder. Sending the police on a lifelight. It just went on and on. To the murder that put me in there.

The stuff I didn't get caught with on the streets. The beating. The bottles over the head. I did an insurmountable amount of damage and destruction. Because I was so angry. And when I looked at it like that. I knew I needed something bigger. I came out of that hole. And I walked into the first chapel that I walked into since I was probably eight, nine years old.

And it was a Muslim service because in California, everything's racially divided. And so I went to where the blacks were. And when I walked in there, man, the first thing I heard the email was up there. He said, the blue-eyed devil's got his foot on our neck. I said, man, he's just as mad as me. This ain't going to work. This ain't going to work. Hey, I'm keeping it 100.

This is how it happened for me. This ain't going to work. And I know there's some nice Muslims out there. I don't agree with their theology. And I know they're not all violent like that. But I ended up a couple weeks later going into a Protestant. I found my way up into a Protestant service. I didn't know what fruits are. But now, today, I can tell you. That's what got me.

I walked in there, like slid in there. I didn't want anybody, any of the homies to see me. I slid up in there. And I got hugs. There was a ray of color of people like there is here. And I got love and hugs. And this word right here made sense. And I ain't turned back from it since, man. I was baptized in 2010 in a horse trough of water on a prison yard. And it was one of the most beautiful days of my life.

You know what I'm saying? And so, me being out here, there's a lot more to it. Matter of fact, what is my time so I don't? Amen. Amen. Well, in that case, you shouldn't have said that. You said, I can talk, bro. No, but for real. I will add something I wasn't because of that. And this is good for all of us. Things are going to happen in your life. You're going to do things.

You're going to make mistakes. There's going to be consequences. I'm a devout man of God. I served all my time. I've been out of prison eight years. I've been blessed to be a part of Hogmont Ministries and a new ministry. We just created Checkered Past Ministries that goes into prisons. I'll get to that later. But I've been able to travel. I've been able to see things.

I've been able to go all around the world. I've been able to travel all around the United States, pretty much, and in those travels my point, what I'm trying to get my point is, forgive me, in those travels, I've made countless brothers and sisters in Christ, strong, positive representatives, but even in those people that I've met, including myself, I still pay for those the consequences of my actions. You know, as much as I try to do, and not toot my own horn, but as much as I try to be everywhere and share with people and talk at the high school and do a youth group and travel and go to prisons and go to jails and be kind to my neighbors and have talks in Walmart and everything else, there's still consequences.

I still suffer from my past decisions. But I don't let them thwart me. But there was a time when I complained a lot, and I didn't understand that there was a consequence. And even though I've changed, and even though I view things different, and even though my heart is renewed, and even though I love God and I love my people, I'm still going to be judged. I'm still going to be frowned upon.

I feel it. And this ain't sympathy thing. I feel it when I walk into certain buildings in the city. I know everybody doesn't like me, but I'm not out for everybody to like me.

But I got to push what I got to push. And when I think about the consequences. I want. I want y'all to think about it, too. I don't have time. I don't have the luxury to complain about the consequences of my actions. You know, and I some of my people know this. This first, this got me through a lot in prison. This lamentations, a book that I think is probably thoroughly overlooked a lot of the time.

But in chapter three, and you can grab your Bible if you want to read along. I. I started studying in K. G. K. J. And King Shams. Um, but this is the Bible that got me through prison, man, and it's an NIV and it's worn torn and it's graffitied up and saved my life, man. So I'm still holding on to it. But in this chapter, man, it's important because. Well, let me ask a question before I go on with this.

How many people in here have done a life sentence? Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. Nobody. No. Nobody.

And they really weren't from the streets. I'm just kidding. I'm kidding. I'm kidding. Okay, well, we'll leave that question to go. But what I want to see here. Lamentations three. Check this out so Jeremy, Jerusalem Israel, for that matter. Defiance, and here it is. There they've been suffering the ramifications of decisions or lack of decisions that they made.

Or they pick it up somehow. And in chapter 3, he says, I am a man who has seen affliction by the rod of his wrath. He has driven me away and made me walk in darkness rather than light. Indeed, he has turned his hand against me again and again all day. He has made my skin and my flesh grow old. He has broken my bones. He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.

He has made me dwell in darkness like those long dead. He has walled me in so I cannot escape. He has weighed me down with chains. Even when I call out or cry for help, he shuts out my prayer. He has barred me. He has blocked my stone. He has made my path crooked. Has anybody ever felt some of these things? I know some of the terminology they use in this old, you know what I'm saying?

But has anybody ever felt like that? He's not listening. I can't see him. The world's against me. Everything has gone bad. He keeps going on, though. That's not good enough what he said. He keeps going on. He said, like a bear lying in wait. Like a lion in hiding. He dragged me from the path and mangled me and left me without help. He drew his bow and made me the target for his arrows.

He pierced my heart with arrows from his quiver. I became the laughing stock of my people. They mocked me in song all day long. He has filled me with bitter herbs and sated me with gall. He has broken my teeth with gravel. He has trampled me in the dust. I have been deprived of peace. I have forgotten what prosperity is. So I say my splendor is gone and all that I hope for from the Lord.

I live that every day. Woe is me. Why me? As I've added and compounded to my badness with write-ups and assaults and all these other things. I know somebody can relate to this. And we're not talking about prison, even in your regular life. I know so. Can I get an amen? Come on now. But in all that he went through, he needs to be reminded that it was. It was a decision that they made and everything that I went through 25 years and even the stuff that happened before then, because I spent most of my youth in juvenile hall in group homes in a YGC in all these places because of my my actions, but bro, when he, when he remembers, when he remembers who he is, this, he went into.

18 lines. 18 verses before he mentioned L-O-R-D, but when he do, watch how the transformation starts to change that he starts to remember who he is, that he start recalling some of that identity that we've been missing because I'm not the only one that lost his identity. I'm not the only one that I'm not chasing it now. There's somebody in this room right now that's doing what I did.

They're still chasing their identity. They're still looking for someone else. Somewhere else, just one more promotion, just one more car, just one more story added to my house, just one more thing is going to make me so right, but it's not, it's not, you can chase it all day, and even if you are blessed enough to get it, if you want to call it blessed without Christ, it don't mean nothing. It's that piece of paper.

You're chasing the same piece of paper. I saw that I got out of prison and I found out I couldn't even buy my dog a can of dog food with the paper. With 25 years of trying. Trying to put in work. I can't do nothing with none of that stuff I did.

So we got to remember whose we are. The dude asked me, what proof do you have of your existence? I had nothing to show. I wasn't okay with that. It's not okay. So as we go on, man. 19. He says, I remember my affliction and my wandering the bitterness and the goal. I remember them. My soul is downcast within me. Yet this I call to mind. Therefore, I have hope.

Because of the Lord's great love, we are not consumed for his compassions never fail. There are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. I say to myself the Lord is my portion. Therefore I will hope in him. And when I read this, it gave me something to stand on because we serve a God that can't lie. can't lie he doesn't lie his promises and his vows go on for eternity no matter where we at

and I know this man and he said that he's my portion you know sometimes we got a dad or a mom and they give us some of us some of them they give us this part of them and this part but there's pieces missing and they're human just like me and you and they're trying to do what they do but the Lord said he is my portion not a sliver not a piece the entirety of who he is and so if I'm his it all comes with it it's a full inclusive package and so I find myself in prison I asked y'all one question does anybody remember what that question was say it a little louder and everybody said no but guess what my people some of y'all been doing life in depression some of y'all been doing life in addiction

some of y'all been doing life in insecurity I just happened to be in a prison that had walls not every prison has four physical walls and so tonight man as we go on my hope is that you look within because until you look within and and remember whose you are and I'm gonna break free from these these bonds that hold you you know I mean and and it's everywhere the Bible tells us in in James 1 13 through 15 when tempted no one should say God is tempting me for God cannot be tempted by evil nor does he tempt anyone but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil excuse me desire and enticed then after desire you think about it after you think about going to that girl's house and committing fornication after

after you think about these things you give birth to it then after desires conceived it gives birth to sin and sin when it's full-grown gives birth to death what are the wages of sin okay so we have to war against sin right getting quiet on me no hey that could be a good thing that may be a good thing that could be a good thing that could be a good thing that could be a good thing that means you're contemplating and you're thinking you know but at some point man I just want to turn this now do you have a little bit of background I've been in the city like five years me and my wife moved out here I had a really good job in California I kind of could just swipe I didn't

really have to look at prices it was a cool position to be in but that job changed and they started and and this ain't to offend nobody but if you're offended forgive me but they started asking us to you know use pronouns on our emails and started including some things and I'm not what's what they call it homophobia I'm not none of that you know but I'm not gonna play along with the game either because it's not something I believe in and so I decided to leave and I came out here on a retreat a whole mob retreat and let me see let me let me go a little further with that real quick with the homosexual thing and all that I don't hate anybody we're called to love people somebody was gay in here and I knew it they'd get the same hug I'd give pastor ride

it's not about that but if it's a come as you are but you can't stay as you are if you up in here and that goes for everybody that don't just mean gay people it doesn't it means everybody I if I say hey man it's wrong to be gay because the Bible says it and I show you where how can you be mad at me how can you say I'm a hater because I'm telling I go into prisons and I tell people to stop killing am I a killer hater I tell people don't do this because it's don't lie am I a liar hater now do I got lyophobia no I'm trying to follow the Bible so I'm getting off track but I just wanted to say that because if somebody in here is gay you are loved somebody in here is hitting killings in their pocket you know I I pray that you change that identity you know

if somebody's a liar I hope you start seeking truth that's what this is about but I I came out here on a retreat in our city I gotta tell you man I didn't know what this this is just ignorance talking so don't take offense I'm like man I want to I want to move out here man I came back I'm like no when I was out there like I talked to like this dude at the gas station for like a half hour we uh you know people are waving at me every five minutes I get flipped off every other block in Cali you know what I'm saying and so I was like this kind of cool and and God moved her too you know and I met Mike Mike's agree was one of the reasons man he was really cool we came out here

he lives out here I was like man we have some people that we met that are cool that we can function with and so we we made the jump I gave a two-week warning I have a job out here I have a place to stay seven just happened to have a duplex I moved in and and started working in Creekstone but the idea in moving here was not that that I or hog mob or Mike or any of us have this God complex where you know we're here now we're going to save the world but I said I wanted to move somewhere where I could pour into the community I could love on the community try to be the best that I can be in this community and see if we can change it not that it was just worse but you want to add to anything that you you were part of

and so we moved out here and we've been trying and dipping and dodging and and showing up and showing out and trying to be what we can be but I want to encourage you guys man and thank you I see faces Luke I'm blind I see Kim I see if I'm missing you man my bad but I mean I see a lot of faces that I know and that have gave me a fair swing at being me at being what I knew me not not not the dude that did all those things and because of that love and because of that exception I I feel like I feel like I'm at home you know what I'm saying and I'm comfortable with who I am and I appreciate each and everyone of you and so I want to encourage you this life ain't never going to stop life in it's always going to be struggle there's always going to

be people that are pulling you away from what you feel your Destiny is or what God and you, you know, it's just never going to stop. The Bible tells us, you know, the devil just hanging out by our heels by the front door just waiting, you know what I'm saying? And if we give him a little foot room, man, he's going to slide in. But I want to encourage you guys, man.

Again, not that I'm somebody, not that I'm doing big things, but I'm doing what I can. And I want to encourage you that you don't have to be a part of Hog Moth. You don't have to be a Ryan and run a Calvary church. You don't have to be in a Fortune 500 company. Just in your circle of influence, man, what are you really doing? Because too often we play church, and I'm not trying to diss.

I'm not even assuming that you're playing church. I'm speaking in the general forum. You know, a Wednesday Bible study, beautiful. Sunday congregation service. Totally awesome. But if that's the extent of your walk, I'm worried for you. But I also want to encourage you. Because you have a circle of influence, man, even if it's just Katie at the lunchroom. Bro, if Ryan teaching to you all week long, and then you see Katie in the lunchroom, the snack room,

and you can tell she's going through it, you always hear her on her phone griping and complaining, stuff's going wrong, but you ain't got a word for her? You ain't got something that you shared? What you doing? And so that's all I try to do all day long, man. I don't know if any of y'all ever see me, or maybe I open the door, but I'm a door-opening fool. I'm a complimenting fool.

Like, I like them shoes. Good hair. I want to get my beard as long as yours. And I mean these things, because we don't hear it enough. We come around each other, and it's time to break out of that, man. This church ain't nothing but a pit stop, bro. For the real race. The track is out there. Quit running circles in here. We all need to get out. And so it doesn't matter, man.

Look what I did, man. Look what I did. The stuff I didn't even get caught for. Goes on and on. Look what I did. But look what he made. You feel me? Look what he made. Not that I don't mean that like I'm someone special. But I'm saying, created me a new heart. Bro, that would never happen. I would never be in front of nobody talking this 15, 20 years ago. None.

I wouldn't. And so who in here by a show of hands can say, I know we're not all doing 100%. You can't do 100% all the time. But by a show of hands, who in here could do more?

I see some hands down. That's kind of mind-blowing, but it's all right. It's all right. Maybe you were just tired of your shoulder hurt. I don't know. You've been doing push-ups all day. You know? I'm going to pretend. But I say that again. Bro, I don't ever come up on this podium, man, and want somebody to leave depressed with their head down. There may be moments where I say something and it hits you and it's sticky and it should.

That's conviction. It should. But what are you going to do with that conviction? I want you to walk out of here invigorated, inspired to do something. Because, bro, if you step out on your porch, I don't care where you live in our city. If you step out on your porch and you tell me. You can't see that this world needs help. You blind and you lost. I'm serious, man.

Let's just keep it 100. And maybe not directly outside your porch. You guys know what I'm saying. But you've got to really ignore this to realize that God needs you, man. And you youngsters right here, my guys over there, we need you more than you can imagine. And you're going to get caught up in the same identity, young ladies as well, of trying to figure out.

Who you are, whose you are, but if you listen to Ryan, if you listen to the one, if you listen to me and you take it for what it really is, what you'll find is that as you grow and he adds to your character and he adds these traits and he gives you courage and confidence that the people that are really holding you down, they'll start falling off because they're not going to like the new you and they're actually doing you a favor. One of the hardest things to do when I didn't have God in my life was to cut somebody loose because I felt like I'm not. Being a loyal homie, man, I ride or die to the end with you, homie. How stupid that sounds.

I'll ride with your and your dumb thoughts all the way to a dirty grave. Come on. So I have no problem cutting them off and I have no problem being Christlike. And if they see something in me they don't like, Lord, thank you for showing me that snake in the grass. He was way too close to me. Thank you, Lord. And keep it pushing. Because what I hope happens in the end, it's not a hostility thing that this dude will leave me or this girl.

We'll leave you, your girlfriend, your homies. But over time, they're going to see your shine. They're going to see something about you that's admirable. It doesn't have to do what kind of truck you drive or what kind of jeans you wear. That's how we do it. We become infectious by it. They'll cut themselves off. We start making better choices. We start protecting this square that God gave us because we all only have one square.

What are you letting in? Because when I was in prison, anybody could run up to me and say, hey, MC, that dude over there, he's a sucker. But they wouldn't talk like that. It's all cuss words. He's a buster. He's woof, woof, woof. I'd be like, yeah, yeah, yeah, screw that dude. I don't know nothing about him. Screw that dude. All right. But then I learned, like, hold on.

You know what I started doing to people in prison? Hey, that dude over there, MC, what dude? Dude right there in the blue shirt? Hey, blue shirt, come here, man. Tell him what you just said. Oh, it's funny. It's funny. And I could do it because I felt like if he tripped on me, I got hands. So I ain't worried about him. But I would do that. And it's a whole different ballgame.

All that gossip. When I come into high school and talking about people. Kids, you got four years. I'm switching real quick. In my life, I could get that job back that I got. I could get the challenger that I pulled up in the Arc City with that I sold. I could get that back. There's a whole bunch of stuff I can get back. You know what I can't get back? Four years of high school.

Think about this. I thought Glee Club was, that's gay. I thought Chess Club, that's weak. I thought this, that. Everything wasn't good enough for me. I'd do anything to go be part of all that stuff now. Because it's four years I'll never get back. And I know it would have been a launching pad into something. I didn't cherish my friendships. I gave away so much and gained so little.

That's what I'm telling you, man. Don't let this just be the black dude that came in and talked and got the weird beard and all that. And you forget about it tomorrow. Take this home, man. Figure out what it's going to take to get back on the A-list. Figure out what it's going to take to change your circle. Figure out what it's going to be for you to be the leader in your peer group, bro.

Don't be a follower. Challenge your people. The worst thing is this, man. We sit here and we say, and I know this doesn't have a huge game culture. But it's something similar. If your homie's in it, you're in it. You know what I'm saying? I get that. But what if you flipped it on your homie? Like, bro, how you doing school today? Mean mug him, too. Make it seem serious.

How you doing school today, fool? You do your homework? Bro, we trying to get to college, homie. Oh, you playing, huh? No, we ain't hanging with you this weekend until you get your grades up, homie. Whoa, what if we did that? What if we? Banged for our friends the way we banged for the silliness. Ladies. Yeah, especially you. No. I'll never know what it's like to be a woman.

Not to be graphic, menstruation, shaving legs, wearing a purse. Bro, this girl give me something to hold for five minutes. I'm like, if you don't take this thing back, man. Wearing a purse all day. You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You always got to be a 10. The makeup always got to be right. The hair always got to be. Do you see how we put the real identity of who we supposed to be is so flooded with worldly expectations.

We're all chasing our tails and painting our faces and yoking up to do nothing. Your beauty isn't found by cover girl. Your beauty was instilled when before you even creation when he knew who you were in your mother's womb. He created you perfectly. Right? And we were believers.

So nobody has to go the route. I went. Nobody has to go the route you went. But how would they know if we don't talk about it? How will they know if we ain't bold enough to share the love of God whose mercies are new every day? And he said that every bit of him is yours. Every covenant, every promise. He lied about nothing.

And you know what?

I heard a family. I went through periods where I was like. Especially once I started to know God, because if I'm honest, in the beginning, forgive me, right? I was like, I don't know that. Niggas. Excuse my language, but just a moment of clarity and people say, what you in for a shot, some food and always dehumanize them. So I didn't have to face the fact that this was a real life that I took.

Who are you doing that to? And then even got to the point where I was like. When I started growing in Christ. And I started calling him by his name, and I'm not going to say his name out of respect for his family. But when I started saying his name and making him a human. And I started wondering, like, Lord. Did I make somebody his mama turn from Christ? God, if you're real, how could you take my baby?

Can I call somebody to run from Christ? Did I turn the dad into an alcoholic? Did I turn the brothers into like turnt up gangbangers? Because the waves in the pond start to ripple out. And it affected so many people, and I'm sitting in prison. I want to go home. I'm watching shows and, you know, the caravan commercial, all the kids piling in the caravan. I'm like, and I want to do that.

That'd be cool. And then God started hitting me. So what if he want to do this? So what if he that man? I mean, I deserve that. I'm just glad I was smart enough to listen to it, let it affect my character enough to really delve in and and do do the work that I had to do internally. And it was hard because I was in a situation you saw what I was in. I was in a situation trying to change in an environment where nobody's trying to go in that direction with me.

But I did it. And so I say that to say to you and your peer group in high school and your girls group, whatever you're doing in your adult group, in your old people Bible study. Nothing wrong with being old. Nothing wrong being old. Why y'all laughing? I'm trying to get old. Come on. But my point is this. I know you're not laughing. Yeah, you know, I was talking about you, don't you?

But I don't forgot my point.

Anyway, I literally forgot my point. I'm known to do that. Yeah, right.

But my point is basic. Even if I forgot my point, my point is, man, step it up. Like, do more. I think you keep saying that you're going to put off. I'm talking about biblical stuff, man. And you're going to fix your bird nest. That's cool. You can do that any time. But what I'm saying is those those character things that keep hitting you like I shouldn't do that.

I shouldn't keep talking to her like that. I shouldn't treat him like that. Stop.

Like, and don't look at the big picture. Me getting out of prison was not some, OK, here's the grand plan. That's what I'm going to do every day. I said, OK, I'm going to go to Wednesday. I'm going to go to a going to work out. We'll go to that writer's class. Boom. Stay out the way. Next day. Whatever the itinerary next day and all of a sudden I had 45 certificates and I could sit in front of the board and articulate who I was, why I did what I did, why I would never do what I did, what my relapse plan is and where I'm going.

We got to do work on ourselves, man. You have to reflect. The Bible tells us in Joshua 1, 1 through 9 about examining yourself daily. And, you know, these are verses. First, I read the day. The verse I just said. There are verses that I repeat all over the place wherever I go. You would think maybe that's all he knows in the Bible. But I say it because it's so true.

Your gods, just like Jeremiah, just like, yeah, boy, I'm losing my mind up here. Joshua, not Jeremiah. Joshua. I knew I was a J. Just like Joshua. He has a plan for you. And it's not some plan where you're a king saw and you're taking over a nation. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan.

It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's a plan. It's an individual plan in your life where he has a direction where he's trying to take you. And in that verse, he's trying to tell us like he told Joshua, have faith that where I plant your foot, just be strong and courageous.

Go. Because me breaking out of the chains of bondage of prison and all the things that held me captive to that life, it took steps. And it was fearful. Because when you change in there, it's different now here. It's like, well, you ain't with the business no more. Because there came a point where I was now a Christian. I had a job. I'm a tear tender. If you know what that means, that's the dude that's outside of the cell when everybody's

locked in and I get to sweep and mop. But along with sweeping and mopping, everybody wants me to pass their dope, their hair on their needles, their knives, their drugs, their phones, their kites, and commit felonies all day long. And don't nobody care about me. You the one out there. But I was bold enough. In a level four prison, a non-affiliate with no real backup, AMC, yeah, you the only one

out there. Will you pass this phone? No. They look at me like, with cuss words on their face, though, like, I can find somebody. He look like he don't care about his life. You want me to go get him? I'll say stuff. For real. I'll go get one of these dummies for you. You know what I'm saying? But as I did this, these were the same people that in my previous personality, you know,

I was like, you know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? You know what I'm saying? Loved and respected me. They respected my paper. They knew I was with the business. So now they're like, who's this dude? But listen to this and take this with you, man. If you're serious about this and you're authentic about it and you consistent about it, they're going to have to accept it.

Period. Because I'm not giving no leeway. There's not sometimes I'll pass a knife and sometimes I won't. I'm done, dude. And the same way I was willing to fight and jump over barriers and run through bullets and seeing grass patches fly up like we in Viet Cong somewhere and they shooting live rounds and we getting cracking, how I'm going to be a weenie on this side?

How I do all that rah-rah and come over to this side with God and I'm weak and whimpering and soft and timid and afraid? That ain't the God we serve. So man, be bold in this change. Find something. Chip away at it. It took time. I had to show. I had to retrain people. You're going to have to retrain some people in your life because they got a picture of you, who they think you are and what you should do.

And they always trying to influence it on you every time you step a little bit out of it. Oh, you think you good. You think you someone special now, huh? Oh, you goody two shoes. Yeah. Yeah. Say it with a smile. Yeah. Yeah. Don't go back to that. Have courage. Be strong and courageous through one through nine. He mentioned strong and courageous probably five times.

We have to do this. We have to be renewed in our thinking is how we'll know he's good and pleasing. Well, my mama, man, I close a little something by my mom and then a friend of mine who's still in prison. Yeah. Yeah. Mothers are amazing. If your son daughter ain't told you, thank you for what you do. Yeah. But also hold on before you. Amen. I got something to add to that, though.

Not that easy. This isn't where I was going. It came on to me, though. Don't forget adults. What it was like being a kid. We get so grown in our responsibilities and what grown up. This is if that's a word we caused the disconnect between our children because we forget what it was like when I was struggling trying to figure out if I want to be a jock or if I

want to be a thug and you weren't there to help me. And when I wanted to do this and wanted to do that because you weren't there to help me because you were too busy worried about the fact that I didn't take the trash out. But you were so concerned about the trash, but you never asked me about my feelings. You were so concerned about my bed being made, but you never asked me how I felt about school.

And is everything all right? Am I lying? We forget. So remember that. But I remember my mom did a life sentence, bro. And she never committed the crime. She went up and down the state of California, visited me through glass after driving 10 hours. All I could do was put my hand in the glass. She took care of me, sent me books. I didn't graduate high school.

She sent me a bunch of books and made me worldly in a book sense. It gave me the vocab that I got. I'm not bragging. I don't mean that. But I mean, I could talk. And she instilled so many good things in me, man. And I always treated her like she was the enemy. The lady that took me from adoption could have been anywhere, man. I could have been in the foster system my whole life.

I could have been abused. We see it all the time. I could have been in the basement. But I was in Orange County in a five-bedroom house. And she loved me and she loved me. And she called the police on me. But that was love in her eyes because I had her at wit's end. Did she do everything perfect? No. But she never did anything intentionally to harm me. And so she did the whole time with me, man.

It was crazy. I remember my wife came and picked me up. Oh, Momo. Momo did nine and a half years with me in prison, faithfully. Yeah. We've been together like 18 years now. But my mama, I come home. Momo picks me up. And I get to spend some time with my mom. But even though this is the consequence thing, remember I said that I'm still suffering? Like, even here, I did 25 years.

I did everything it took to get out. They let me out. We go down to San Diego. I parole to San Diego, even though I'm from Orange County. And we go to the parole office. And he tells me then, you can't go to your mom's house. What do you mean? I'm free. He said the victim has the right to, as long as you're on parole, to not have you around them. And you can't go nowhere in their house that's a 50-mile radius.

And my mom lived in that 50-mile radius. And so I'm like, okay. Because I'm changed. I'm like, okay. This is part of my sentence then. But my mom goes off like crying. Like, what do you mean? He did his time. He can't come home? And no, I couldn't. And we walked out of there upset. But I started my road to ministry and went back into prison the year after coming out.

And I was down in San Diego doing food drives with my wife, gun buybacks. Just trying to be everything I wasn't. And I remember I called my mom, like, one day. I was working at Napa at the time. And I was just like, mom, what's up? What's happening? And she was pretty funny. But I said, mom, what's happening? I said, I just want to know, you forgive me for everything I did?

She's like, man, I couldn't be more proud of you. Just keep doing what you do. And little did I know three weeks later she would have a stroke, fall, hit her head and die on Valentine's Day. And I never got that home cooked meal from her. You know what I'm saying? And it's part of my sins, man. I can't be mad at it. It sucks. I love her so much. I wish I didn't do so much wrong.

But I'm grateful that she got to see who I became. You know what I'm saying? And so when I tell you, appreciate it. So when I tell you, man, when I share what I share, it's not because I know everything. It's because I care. Y'all don't have to go down this road, man. None of you youngsters. None of you adults. As long as you got breath, man, it's passions are new.

Compassions are new every morning. I'm a killer. When I woke up this morning, do you think I said I'm a killer? You know, I'm saying the world say I'm a killer. You think that's how I defined myself when I got out of bed this morning? I got a better son of God, a child of God. And I tell myself that all the time. And you got to remind yourself that because the world is going to beat you down, bro, sis.

My elders, my elders will testify, man. Some of them probably been saved 50 years and sin is still barking at their heels. They ain't never going to stop. The devil always going. That's what he do. That's all he do. Don't forsake the love of Christ. Don't forfeit your life to sin like I did. Don't lose out on these opportunities, whether it's in high school and these different peer groups or in your family group where you have the ability to love, man.

And quit being selfish. I was the most selfish dude, bro. If it wasn't something for MC or I was involved some way somehow, I wasn't about it, man. And so I know it's probably getting late. I'm going to close this off. But I pray that God spoke to you in some way. Somehow. Even though we were talking about prison and prison yards and gunshots and this and that, that you're smart enough to put your scenario into the same story.

Because at the end of the day, we're all chasing the identity. And if it's not rooted in Christ, it's not rooted in anything. It has no roots. It's going to wither away. So as believers, man, I pray that we'll go home tonight. And when we take off the mask that we all wear, some more than others, we take it off and we're really ourselves. Because I used to do that in prison.

It was like the only time I could be Matthew. At 9 o'clock when they locked us in and hit that last lock, boom. I take it off. I had a phone. I shouldn't have had one. I had a phone. I would call Momo and cry and share dreams and hopes and aspirations and all the real things that we hide all day long. Because we wake up and we put it on. We're not even ourselves, man.

How you doing? I'm good. How you doing? I'm good. Come on, man. So my prayer is that. That you do that. Lastly, and thank you for the extra time, brother. I got a friend named Mike. He's got two life without sentences. I did a lot of time with my brother, man. And he's innocent. I've seen his case. I've seen his paperwork. He recently got in court. And they even still found a way to deny him.

But anyway, long story short, as we were cellies, neither of us believed in God. And we were all about the prison politics and moving dope. And I did all the stuff, all the in-betweens, man. And we separated ways. And when we did, that's when God met me in that cell. And I came out and I was searching and I was going to church. And I got bold enough to walk on the yard with my Bible finally.

And then I got into the chapel. And then I worked in the chapel. And I was in the Word and saturated with it all day. And then Mike showed up on the yard. Boom. He's like, what's up, homie? I'm like, oh, what's up, bro? He's like, I heard you're a Christian now. I'm like, yeah. He's like, MC, for real, you a Christian? I said, yeah, bro. He's like, come on, walk with me, man.

And walk with me in prison can mean like walk and talk or it can mean walk and talk. And there's four dudes waiting until I get around there. And you don't know which floor it's going to be. And they pack you out and do whatever they do because they ain't feeling how you're living. You know what I'm saying? I'm like, yeah, come on, let's go. And he's like, you said we had this talk.

And are you serious? Woo, woo, woo, woo. I said, yeah. He said, man, I got your back, bro. Do what you do. It was a beautiful thing, man. Mike saw me parole when I got out. I had like $34. It was the same amount of money that this Bible cost. And I went into Barnes & Noble. Sent him the Bible. And he started reading it. And the Lord transformed his life. And he started writing.

Yeah, man. He started writing curriculums and mentoring dudes and keeping dudes out of war and telling them the same way I was just telling some of you youngsters about school. Same thing in prison, man. Set up your program when you're not in the mix. Boom. But me and my wife wrote this song. And I'll end with this song. And it's just I just want you to remember.

We always talk about a role model. And some people are like, I ain't no role model. And a role model is typically somebody that's doing something positive. But whatever word you want to put it on it, people are watching you. Young and old. People are watching you. And you're going to affect somebody with how you act, how you walk, how you carry yourself, how you respond to stuff.

What kind of imprint do you want to leave? It kind of goes back to that question, if you died today, what proof would you have of your existence? You know? And so we wrote this song. And it was just a song that I did for Mike. And we sent it to his wife. It's me and Momo on this song. But it means a lot. And so I'm just going to share it with you, man. It's called Absence.

Yeah. Can you turn my mic up a little? After 25 years, hitting that gate was like one of the sweetest things, man. Even the air tasted different on the other side. But I also knew, man, in that beautiful day that I was leaving the country, that I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die.

I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. I was going to die. But I also knew, man, in that beautiful day, that I was leaving a lot of good people behind. A lot of brothers who just needed something, like the people that came and talked to me and changed my life, man. This goes out to my bro, Mike. We sort of tied together.

We went through the struggles. Until you were tested. How can you tell who's faking and who love you? We've been through the battles. we've been in the fields been in the rides battle was still fought for our lives and we made it let's feel i am not bragging see this is what happens when racers are hating it breaks into place too dark to imagine i wish you were here i hate that you there i wish i could reverse the calendar

take away all of those years cause you bigger than prison and you larger than life i pray and i pray that the lord take away all the darkness please flood him with life i look at your wife i see what she go through the struggle the stress and the strife she do it for love she just want to show you i ain't left you dog i never leave you dog loyalty honor respect love trust my head if you need me call and i'm here cause you're real remember that day we walked on the yard and i told you i'm taken on christ in my life and i'm changing my ways and you looked at me and i just looked at you and you said we're talking you when you set em see if you for real i got your back boy do what you do stomp down i love you for

that faith all in i'll never turn back try to be an example hope you see that pray do you see god got our back now i think you see it cause i see your changes i prayed in my absence god would send you some angels now i see new life and i see new life so alive so sublime and i see y'all struggling to do what's right y'all just keep on pushing don't stop believing when the lights look dim in the situation grim remember everything has a time and season my heart is torn happy cause i feel like i've been reborn sad cause i feel i left you in the storm and i can't reach back to unlock the door and just bring you home when i paroled that told me don't look back leave it all behind you take your time but you're still in there so i can never do that now

man i love you mike and i love your wife me and momo stop down the fullest and set you free don't be all doing life yeah so as we wrap this up man i just want you to remember that there's always somebody watching what are you gonna be what was jesus to us when he walked on this earth what example did he set for us to look at that's what we should be striving for you never know who you're gonna affect you never know who you can change you never know who you're gonna pull out of a dark place but how can you do it if you don't equip yourself man so my prayer is that we all equip ourselves drastically and fast michael this would be like 30 seconds mike mama yeah yeah y'all gotta move what oh your knee jacked up just

stay right there sorry hey so what i want to share on the way out is because of what i've been through what's up brother i have a real heart for prisoners man you know and i know that people some of them might feel like oh okay they're so responsible for their people they're just supposed to be there they're not they're evil they're just supposed to be there and you know i deserve to be there i don't think prisoners should get a free pass they commit crimes they got to do their sentences i i get that i'm okay with that but they're not disposable they're human just like us and some of us had we got caught on a bad day or took a left instead of a right would be up on that

hill in winfield so let's not forget that and so my passion is to go back and i've been going back to jails all over the united states since i've been out for the last eight years people like uh ronald rod and joy and a bunch of people have poured in and helped me to do these travels but with my buddy and of course my wife his wife as well jenny sagree we created a a non-profit called checkered past ministries and it's under the hog mob banner we're still 100 hog mob but this is strictly to go into these prisons and um mike jumped on board do you want to say anything at all i know it kind of put you on the spot all right but it's good to have a team no without standing if you guys know

mike you know he is an outstanding dude and he's got a heck of a testimony himself and my yeah amen and my wife she's an old square from delaware ain't never broke a law in her life and i love that she brings out the best in me but that's what we're about and so um as i leave forgive me for this um but i do have my autobiography out there which is you know a full story of my life life from now i mean from birth till about two years ago um i believe it can be helpful to anybody um it's out there and we have some shirts and clothes that that help us do what we do and continue to travel and share the gospel and the rich word of god so if you'd like to go out there we got cash card credit venmo this that whatever um oh see i'm blind krista where you at

she edited my book she killed it. She hooked me up. Thank you. I'm telling you, man, that is her. Let me see your hand. Is it good? I'd recognize the cast. But anyway, with that said, thank you. Keep us in prayer. We leave for Florida tomorrow. We'll be in three different prisons. Pretty dangerous situations. So just keep us in prayer in that situation as we continue to move forward.

Thank you, man. Thank you guys so much, man. Love you guys. If you ever see me in town and you need a prayer, holler. Any of us, please do. All right, let's pray. Father, we come before you, and Lord, I just thank you for these brothers. I love them so much, and I thank you that Father, that in the body of Christ, Lord, we are one. And so I just pray that as they go forward to

continue to do this work, I just pray that you would anoint them with the power of your Holy Spirit. Father, that you would move not only in their hearts and lives and protect them, but Lord, that you would move in the hearts and the lives of the prisoners that they go speak to, Lord, that you would set people free, Lord, set the captives free, and proclaim liberty to those who are in bondage. And so, Father, we just pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen.

Amen. Love you guys. I forgot to mention my boy Steve Shepard, too. So, yeah. Thanks, brother. Love you, man. Have a great night.

Sorry, bro.