0:00:15.041,0:00:16.589
My name is Mark.

0:00:16.589,0:00:18.687
40 years old.

0:00:18.687,0:00:21.249
Been saved now for about 10 years.

0:00:21.249,0:00:22.689
I'm just thankful to God

0:00:22.689,0:00:24.584
for such a great salvation

0:00:24.584,0:00:27.840
that we have in Jesus Christ.

0:00:27.840,0:00:29.403
I just want to share my testimony

0:00:29.403,0:00:35.493
of what the Lord God did in my life.

0:00:40.381,0:00:43.960
Man, I always go back to this because it's amazing.

0:00:43.960,0:00:46.253
I think about how many times I went to church

0:00:46.253,0:00:48.603
with my mom, my grandmother,

0:00:48.603,0:00:49.825
and we went to church

0:00:49.825,0:00:53.771
Sunday, after Sunday, after Sunday.

0:00:53.771,0:00:57.836
But no change in our lives.

0:00:57.836,0:00:59.784
Do you know how many people right now

0:00:59.784,0:01:02.791
are sitting in church are going to hell?

0:01:02.791,0:01:06.404
Literally. Sitting in church, going to hell.

0:01:06.404,0:01:09.122
Don't buy that lie neither.

0:01:09.122,0:01:10.377
Rappers do that too.

0:01:10.377,0:01:11.569
They're real big with that.

0:01:11.569,0:01:13.146
They go out to those churches

0:01:13.146,0:01:14.534
and they sit on the front row

0:01:14.534,0:01:16.769
and they give their big gifts.

0:01:16.769,0:01:20.694
Don't buy the lie.

0:01:20.694,0:01:22.184
You can go to church

0:01:22.184,0:01:24.020
Sunday after Sunday.

0:01:24.020,0:01:27.567
Unless a man repents of his sins

0:01:27.567,0:01:30.104
and receives Jesus Christ;

0:01:30.104,0:01:32.916
have Christ;

0:01:32.916,0:01:37.033
that man is lost.

0:01:37.033,0:01:38.732
I got baptized.

0:01:38.732,0:01:40.944
I thought I was right with God.

0:01:40.944,0:01:43.485
You know, your parents are smiling...

0:01:43.485,0:01:45.221
"My baby got baptized today!"

0:01:45.221,0:01:46.981
You've got on the white little suit.

0:01:46.981,0:01:49.951
You feel all good. Everybody's taking pictures.

0:01:49.951,0:01:54.684
The pastor is holding you up in the air.

0:01:54.684,0:01:57.960
On your way to hell.

0:01:57.960,0:01:59.837
Grandma - on her way to hell.

0:01:59.837,0:02:04.062
People don't think that the God of heaven and earth

0:02:04.062,0:02:07.872
will cast an old lady into hell, but He will.

0:02:07.872,0:02:09.353
It doesn't matter.

0:02:09.353,0:02:15.661
It's the same way across the board.

0:02:15.661,0:02:19.678
As I got older and began to be in high school,

0:02:19.678,0:02:23.257
life made a drastic change.

0:02:23.257,0:02:25.721
I started hanging around some guys,

0:02:25.721,0:02:28.398
and the rap music scene came around.

0:02:28.398,0:02:32.395
We were very interested in rap music.

0:02:32.395,0:02:36.015
So we tried to pursue someone to invest in us

0:02:36.015,0:02:39.380
and help us to become rappers.

0:02:39.380,0:02:40.602
The next stars.

0:02:40.602,0:02:42.598
During that time, everybody was rapping,

0:02:42.598,0:02:46.820
so we had an interest in being some rappers.

0:02:46.820,0:02:48.901
No one would help us.

0:02:48.901,0:02:50.364
They felt like there were people out there

0:02:50.364,0:02:52.805
that were better than us,

0:02:52.805,0:02:57.802
so I had this wild thing that I would just do it myself.

0:02:57.802,0:02:59.656
So we really got caught up into a

0:02:59.656,0:03:00.933
whole bunch of drugs,

0:03:00.933,0:03:04.308
to not only be able to gain things

0:03:04.308,0:03:06.007
materialistic things in this world,

0:03:06.007,0:03:08.438
but to become rappers.

0:03:08.438,0:03:12.056
So fast forward, that's what happened.

0:03:12.056,0:03:15.723
Ended up in selling drugs and rapping,

0:03:15.723,0:03:18.848
ended up with a lot of cars, houses,

0:03:18.848,0:03:24.295
girls, jewelry, cash...

0:03:24.295,0:03:27.907
I thought I was having a whole bunch of fun at that time.

0:03:27.907,0:03:30.525
Drunk every night.

0:03:30.525,0:03:33.091
Waking up in the streets, in my front yard.

0:03:33.091,0:03:36.360
Just horrible, wicked life.

0:03:36.360,0:03:38.558
I never really considered at that time,

0:03:38.558,0:03:41.941
that if I would have died,

0:03:41.941,0:03:44.493
I would have been damned to hell.

0:03:44.493,0:03:48.915
Eternally separated from the One that created me.

0:03:48.915,0:03:50.812
That's a sad thing.

0:03:50.812,0:03:52.900
But it's a joy to know that

0:03:52.900,0:03:56.492
the God that created the heavens and the earth,

0:03:56.492,0:03:59.549
before even the foundations of the world,

0:03:59.549,0:04:03.743
before we even see what we see now,

0:04:03.743,0:04:05.482
He chose me.

0:04:05.482,0:04:07.410
He called me to Himself out of darkness

0:04:07.410,0:04:09.724
into His marvelous light.

0:04:09.724,0:04:10.892
And it's no greater thing,

0:04:10.892,0:04:13.216
I tell people all the time,

0:04:13.216,0:04:14.625
I say, man, you really don't know that

0:04:14.625,0:04:16.687
there's no greater thing than to

0:04:16.687,0:04:18.713
have a relationship with Jesus Christ.

0:04:18.713,0:04:21.449
There is absolutely no greater thing.

0:04:21.449,0:04:24.100
And I don't think people understand it.

0:04:24.100,0:04:27.070
But as I look back, I know why they don't understand it.

0:04:27.070,0:04:28.435
They're blinded.

0:04:28.435,0:04:29.464
They can't see.

0:04:29.464,0:04:32.877
They're still chasing drugs, alcohol,

0:04:32.877,0:04:34.714
women, money,

0:04:34.714,0:04:38.424
all of these little gods of the world.

0:04:38.424,0:04:42.444
They can't bring true satisfaction.

0:04:42.444,0:04:46.770
There's only one God.

0:04:46.770,0:04:49.183
Christ is wonderful.

0:04:49.183,0:04:50.505
He's a mighty God.

0:04:50.505,0:04:52.154
And He's worthy.

0:04:52.154,0:04:56.115
We were created for His glory.

0:04:56.115,0:04:59.334
To bring glory to Him, He did that.

0:04:59.334,0:05:02.483
He created us.

0:05:02.483,0:05:05.259
Throughout the Bible,

0:05:05.259,0:05:08.403
there's a call for man to repent,

0:05:08.403,0:05:11.454
and to place their faith and trust in Christ.

0:05:11.454,0:05:13.039
There's no other way.

0:05:13.039,0:05:18.800
You have to come to the Lord on His terms.

0:05:18.800,0:05:20.209
And it's only through Christ.

0:05:20.209,0:05:23.062
Jesus said, "I am the Way, and the Truth, and the Life.

0:05:23.062,0:05:26.603
No man comes to the Father, but through Me."

0:05:26.603,0:05:27.861
No other way.

0:05:27.861,0:05:29.988
Not by your good works.

0:05:29.988,0:05:34.169
Not by trying to reform yourself.

0:05:34.169,0:05:38.695
Not by praying to Mary.

0:05:38.695,0:05:41.929
Only through Christ.

0:05:41.929,0:05:45.995
And I'll never forget one time I was staying

0:05:45.995,0:05:49.265
in a house and I was laying in my bed

0:05:49.265,0:05:52.803
and it was nighttime,

0:05:52.803,0:05:54.855
and I'll never forget, I was thinking,

0:05:54.855,0:05:56.714
man, what is wrong?

0:05:56.714,0:05:59.380
Something ain't right.

0:05:59.380,0:06:01.769
I'm not satisfied.

0:06:01.769,0:06:04.423
I know that every time I get that feeling,

0:06:04.423,0:06:06.610
I would get something, go do something,

0:06:06.610,0:06:09.949
let's go out and have some drinks,

0:06:09.949,0:06:13.703
or let's go out and start some trouble,

0:06:13.703,0:06:16.825
or just do something to kill that.

0:06:16.825,0:06:18.305
Well, this particular time,

0:06:18.305,0:06:19.419
it wouldn't go away.

0:06:19.419,0:06:20.824
It was like there was a major problem.

0:06:20.824,0:06:22.201
Something's not right.

0:06:22.201,0:06:24.831
You've got this house.

0:06:24.831,0:06:26.703
And you're just not satisfied.

0:06:26.703,0:06:27.947
The fact of the matter is

0:06:27.947,0:06:31.015
every man has a conscience.

0:06:31.015,0:06:33.823
And only God can fill that void

0:06:33.823,0:06:37.578
that's in a man's heart.

0:06:37.578,0:06:39.890
Me not knowing it at the time,

0:06:39.890,0:06:41.693
I just knew it was a problem.

0:06:41.693,0:06:42.770
So I'll never forget,

0:06:42.770,0:06:48.564
I met a girl that had actually been staying with me.

0:06:48.564,0:06:53.164
I wanted to follow her,

0:06:53.164,0:06:55.312
and she began to go to a church,

0:06:55.312,0:06:57.064
so I would follow her to the church.

0:06:57.064,0:06:59.422
Not thinking anything about the church in particular.

0:06:59.422,0:07:01.399
Just really wanting to follow her.

0:07:01.399,0:07:03.080
So, I'd sit there sometimes listening,

0:07:03.080,0:07:04.245
sometimes not.

0:07:04.245,0:07:06.124
But immediately when it was over,

0:07:06.124,0:07:08.546
I'd always go back to what I was doing:

0:07:08.546,0:07:09.552
Wickedness.

0:07:09.552,0:07:12.031
Every single time.

0:07:12.031,0:07:15.228
And I'll never forget one day I walked in there,

0:07:15.228,0:07:20.166
and the Lord opened my ears and my eyes.

0:07:20.166,0:07:22.021
He made me to where I'd pay attention

0:07:22.021,0:07:24.566
to what was actually being spoken that day.

0:07:24.566,0:07:27.715
And I really did, and I'll never forget how

0:07:27.715,0:07:32.179
he began to talk about man's sin,

0:07:32.179,0:07:36.003
and how we could have life in Jesus Christ.

0:07:36.003,0:07:40.573
And if man would repent of his sins,

0:07:40.573,0:07:43.148
that he could have salvation in Christ.

0:07:43.148,0:07:47.845
Well, I left there that day with that thought on my mind.

0:07:47.845,0:07:54.895
I thought, wow, I'm in trouble.

0:07:54.895,0:07:57.078
For one, I don't have a relationship with God.

0:07:57.078,0:07:59.127
All that time, I thought I was in church

0:07:59.127,0:08:00.847
and everything was alright,

0:08:00.847,0:08:04.126
but I really don't have a relationship with God.

0:08:04.126,0:08:07.949
There's a problem in my life.

0:08:07.949,0:08:10.649
And so, in that I guess you could say

0:08:10.649,0:08:12.283
I began to call on the Lord,

0:08:12.283,0:08:15.036
asking the Lord, "Save me, Lord."

0:08:15.036,0:08:18.834
"Forgive me, Lord."

0:08:18.834,0:08:20.881
And He did.

0:08:20.881,0:08:24.191
The Lord not only granted me repentance,

0:08:24.191,0:08:27.745
but He granted me faith in Jesus Christ.

0:08:27.745,0:08:31.762
Man, how thankful I was at that time!

0:08:31.762,0:08:35.598
Not knowing that getting saved is a

0:08:35.598,0:08:38.135
drastic change.

0:08:38.135,0:08:39.922
I didn't have any biblical knowledge.

0:08:39.922,0:08:43.163
I didn't know for sure that if any man be in Christ,

0:08:43.163,0:08:44.287
he's a new creature.

0:08:44.287,0:08:46.173
I just knew, man, something is strange.

0:08:46.173,0:08:49.437
I'll never forget going to a nightclub with my friends

0:08:49.437,0:08:52.998
after that, I was still in the music business at that time.

0:08:52.998,0:08:55.604
And I'll never forget going in the nightclub,

0:08:55.604,0:08:57.773
and we were in there, and I had such

0:08:57.773,0:08:59.980
a weird feeling.

0:08:59.980,0:09:02.584
And I looked over at my buddy, and I said,

0:09:02.584,0:09:04.172
"I got to get out of here."

0:09:04.172,0:09:07.688
"I don't know what it is, but I've got to go."

0:09:07.688,0:09:10.934
And that was many years ago,

0:09:10.934,0:09:12.388
and believe it or not,

0:09:12.388,0:09:14.960
I've never been back in the nightclub since.

0:09:14.960,0:09:17.283
The Lord took that away from me,

0:09:17.283,0:09:20.786
where I didn't have the desire to want to be

0:09:20.786,0:09:22.517
in that type of environment

0:09:22.517,0:09:25.783
or to do those type of things anymore.

0:09:25.783,0:09:28.154
He took a lot of things from me

0:09:28.154,0:09:32.934
in my life that was detrimental to me,

0:09:32.934,0:09:35.007
but most of all, He gave me Christ.

0:09:35.007,0:09:36.422
He gave me salvation.

0:09:36.422,0:09:39.279
Now, in moving around, I had a peace.

0:09:39.279,0:09:42.400
It really didn't matter if I had

0:09:42.400,0:09:45.640
cars or girls or friends.

0:09:45.640,0:09:48.769
I just knew that I'm a friend of God now.

0:09:48.769,0:09:52.396
I'm not an enemy of God.

0:09:52.396,0:09:56.342
And what I thought I was missing, [br]

0:09:56.342,0:10:00.195
I really had now in Christ.

0:10:00.195,0:10:01.869
And, so if you speed it up,

0:10:01.869,0:10:05.399
I'll never forget from my previous wickedness,

0:10:05.399,0:10:08.770
running around, I'd been saved for awhile,

0:10:08.770,0:10:14.959
and I'd married this girl that I was with.

0:10:14.959,0:10:17.277
All of a sudden, I found out I had a

0:10:17.277,0:10:20.489
warrant for my arrest,

0:10:20.489,0:10:25.123
because that sin that was so fun at the time,

0:10:25.123,0:10:27.926
it was time to pay the price for it.

0:10:27.926,0:10:32.255
So I ended up doing three and a half years in prison.

0:10:32.255,0:10:35.455
I'll never forget the Lord teaching me His Word.

0:10:35.455,0:10:38.814
And He gave me that time to just meditate on His Word;

0:10:38.814,0:10:42.100
to run across the path of many people

0:10:42.100,0:10:44.169
with many different beliefs.

0:10:44.169,0:10:47.605
All of these type of things...

0:10:47.605,0:10:50.175
God kept me all those times.

0:10:50.175,0:10:51.693
He kept me.

0:10:51.693,0:10:53.307
He let me know that, "I'm with you."

0:10:53.307,0:10:57.357
"I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you."

0:10:57.357,0:10:58.815
Don't die without Him.