March 24, 2025 • 44 mins
Billy Livingston's transformation from a self-proclaimed "devil's protege" to a devoted follower of Christ stands as one of the most profound testimonies of God's redemptive power I've ever witnessed.
The journey begins with a 13-year-old boy from a broken home who, lacking paternal guidance, quickly descended into drug addiction, violence, and crime. Billy's path led him through juvenile detention, multiple prison sentences, and a lifestyle defined by hatred and violence. By his own admission, he accumulated over 30 assault charges (many against law enforcement), trafficked drugs, worked as an enforcer for criminal organizations, and embraced white supremacist ideologies.
What makes Billy's story extraordinary isn't just the depths from which he came, but the miraculous way God intervened. After being awake for days on methamphetamine, Billy unexpectedly found himself on his knees in his garage, crying out to God for forgiveness. In that moment, he experienced divine intervention that instantly delivered him from decades of addiction. As he describes it, "I walked out of that garage sober as the day I was born," and has remained free from all substances since that day.
Two weeks later, while preparing to drive his wife to church, Billy heard God's voice reminding him of his promise to serve Him. That Sunday, he didn't just attend church—he enthusiastically surrendered his life to Christ with both hands raised high. The transformation was immediate and complete. The man who once embodied hatred now radiates peace; the enforcer who hurt people for money now helps those same people "cross the street."
Billy's testimony parallels Paul's Damascus road experience—a dramatic divine intervention that completely redirects a life headed for destruction. It reminds us that no one is beyond God's reach and that authentic transformation is possible regardless of one's past.
Have you been running from God or struggling with addiction? Billy's story shows that freedom and forgiveness are just one surrender away. Join us at Christ Family Outreach Church in Amelia, Virginia, Thursdays at 7pm or Sundays at 10am, to experience the same life-changing power that transformed Billy Livingston.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week With your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey, good morning everybody.
Welcome to another episode ofBeyond Sunday.
I'm Pastor Lee and, as always,I've got sitting here at the
table with me Pastor Jim, and weare the pastors of Christ
Family Outreach Church, locatedin Amelia, virginia, and just
want to take a minute and say ifyou have not visited with us
yet on a Thursday RechargeChurch service at 7 pm or on a
(00:45):
Sunday morning at 10 am.
We want to see you, we want toget to know you, we want to meet
you, so we encourage you tocome out and be a part of what
God is doing in the house of theLord.
Today's going to be a littledifferent.
We've got a special guest withus, a dear, dear brother in the
Lord.
His name is Billy Livingstonand Billy's going to be with us
(01:06):
today sharing his testimony.
So, billy, how you doing,brother, doing pretty good, amen
, amen.
We're going to jump right intothis thing and, billy,
eventually we're going to workour way to that night in your
garage when you'd been high onmeth for three or four days and
God showed up.
He totally cleaned you in onetouch.
(01:26):
But before we get there, I wantto share with the listeners
what all God bought you out ofwhat he delivered you from,
because I'm believing that thisinterview and I know Pastor Jim
is as well we're believing thatthis interview is going to be
shared with many people who needthe encouragement okay, but
it's also going to be sharedwith people who need to hear it,
(01:46):
because they're going through alot of the same things that you
struggle with and that you weretempted with.
So let's dig right into it.
Take us back, billy, to whenyou were just a teenager, at 13
years old.
What does life look like for13-year-old Billy Livingston?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh, wow, Thirteen.
I was a child of divorce.
My mom stayed, my dad left andwith her having to work and just
to feed eight kids you knowthere's eight of us all together
.
My oldest sister's in awheelchair from birth, you know.
So it was a struggle for her,so she didn't have time to watch
(02:22):
us.
Yeah, so it was just run rapid.
You know the streets hit thestreets and just be wild as you
want to be and do everything youcan to to just make up for lost
.
You know what you lost and youknow I searched for what I lost
for a long time and didn't findit till a year ago yeah, and,
and I know you had said that, um, you were 13,.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
At the age of 13, it's when you did your first
juvenile sentence.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I started doing drugs hard drugs, methamphetamine and
cocaine.
When I was 13 years old,drinking I mean, I remember
being sick vomiting out ofwindows, you know, at 13 years
old, from vodka.
You know drinking and that ledto you know the wrong thing, you
know, to stealing, fighting.
I went to a juvenile systemwhen I was 13 for my first
(03:11):
sentence, for, you know,stealing a car, you know
shoplifting, whatever I could do, it's just everything that was
out there.
I was doing it, yeah.
So, yeah, 13,.
I was supposed to do like afour-month program.
It was it set up to.
Where good behavior.
You know if you go in there youact right and you know they
score you.
(03:31):
They got a little score wherethey sit around and watch you.
And if you're doing okay, everyweek you go in front of a
counselor.
Yeah, you're doing good, you'redoing good, you're right on
course.
But that didn't work for me.
I was just, I was violent.
I wanted to fight all the timeand cuss out the counselors.
I didn't, I just didn't care.
Yeah, you know, I had nothingthat I cared about.
Yeah, so when you do that, youscore low.
(03:53):
And when you score low, theyadd time.
Yeah, and until you adapt totheir program.
You, just you're, you're beinghoused.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Gotcha, and I heard you say before in a previous
time of hearing your testimony,that you began to learn to take
that system and you began tomanipulate that juvenile system.
And so I have a question abouthow maybe you said that your
father was absent and I justwonder, like because I've heard
a lot of stories about how alack of father figures it seems
(04:22):
to create like a void, and doyou think that that made you
more susceptible to trying tomanipulate the system?
Or do you think it was moreabout maybe just simply the
thrill of defying authority?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
It was a little of both.
You know, not having a fatheraround, you have no direction.
You know, especially when yourmother has to make up for what
was lost, when the father leaves, right, you know she can't be.
You know mother, father, andyou know, especially when your
mother has to make up for whatwas lost, when the father leaves
, right, you know she can't be.
You know mother, father, andyou know caregiver, yeah, you
know.
So try to fill that void.
You know, looking for someone,you know I guess I didn't know
what I was looking for, but that, and you know, just defiance,
(04:57):
just being whatever I wanted tobe and anything against
authority, because I guess myauthority figure was my father.
So, against authority, becauseI guess my authority figure was
my father.
So when he left I had noauthority figure.
So that to me was just straight, just okay, I'm going to defy
all authority.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, yeah, I know, as Christians, you know and we
see what the word of God saysabout like means for divorce.
You know there's unfaithfulnessin the marriage or maybe there
needs to be a break.
Somebody's got to step awaybecause it's an abusive
situation at home betweenspouses, so I'm not saying that
(05:32):
there can't be reasons fordivorce.
What I'm going to ask you to dofor a minute, though, Brother
Billy, is talk to the parentsout there today that you know
they're thinking about getting adivorce.
They're thinking aboutseparating, not because of
adultery, not because of anabusive situation, but just
simply because they can't get ittogether.
You know they're not willing todo the hard stuff and fight it
(05:55):
out, they're not willing to workthrough it, so they're just
thinking that the only fix isjust to separate and start over.
So what would you say to a momor to a dad, to parents, who are
considering a divorce and theydon't want to try to work it out
?
What would you say to them?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I'd say do everything humanly, spiritually possible
to save that marriage, to savethem children, because a lot, a
lot of children that I,everybody I knew in the systems
throughout my life, every one ofthem that I've talked to, come
from a divorced family, a brokenhome.
So if you I mean just whateveryou have to do, you do it, you
(06:33):
sacrifice, you know you do whatis necessary to save that home
and recreate that love.
I mean you got married for areason because you loved each
other, you know, and thatshouldn't just disappear.
Things make it disappear.
So you have to get rid of thoseunholy things.
Yeah, and the biggest thingI've learned now is you got to
(06:54):
have, you have to have faith inGod in your marriage, absolutely
.
If you don't, you're not goingto make it.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, yeah, Because the world's throwing so much at
marriages nowadays that you knowyou're right.
If you've not got Christ at thecenter of it, it pretty much is
destined for failure.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Me and my wife now have been married 16 years, been
together, 18.
Amen.
And right now we were on theverge of divorce.
What saved our marriage, savedmy life again, was God.
You know, if God wasn't thecenter of our marriage now, we
would not be together.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Do you think that some of the anger you held on to
affected your relationship withGod?
Or maybe there was a time whereyou didn't even believe in God,
but do you think that maybeyour anger affected like where
you believe in him and yourrelationship even now, like this
sense of running away fromanything that he could offer you
(07:47):
?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Oh, yeah, it did and, like I said, about the
authority problem, in my growingup my mom was a very faithful,
very godly woman and I learnedearly on about God.
But I've rebelled against thattoo, because he was the ultimate
authority figure and the way Iwas rebelling against authority,
that was the biggest one that Irebelled against.
That too, because he was theultimate authority figure Right,
and the way I was rebellingagainst authority, that was the
biggest one that I rebelledagainst.
(08:08):
Like, if he's the ultimate one,that's the one I want to, you
know, rebel against wholly, witheverything in my heart, to go
against it.
I was an atheist for a longtime and it's like in my
testimony it states you know, Ihated it, didn't want to hear it
.
I mean, I've cussed outpreachers.
I was an atheist.
I mean I just I would arguewith anybody that wanted to
(08:28):
argue and I had no clue what Iwas really talking about.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, yeah, you know, your your first, your first
sentence at 13 years old, andbecause of violence, that four
month program turns into a year.
But your next sentence wouldcome at the age of 15.
And how long did that end uplasting, and why so long?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Again.
It was supposed to be if I'mnot mistaken, it was like an
eight-month program same deal,you know good behavior.
But it was more of a juvenilepenitentiary and it was full of
people like me you know theworst of the worst kids and they
sentenced me straight to thereand it was all violence and it
was that's where I learned howto be a racist the first time it
(09:12):
really was.
I grew up in a project, so, butonce you got inside of those
type of places, you kind of hangwith your own, you know, and
it's black against white, whiteagainst Mexican, mexican against
black, and if you didn't hangwith your people, you got beat
up, yeah, so everybody kind ofbacked each other, and those
(09:33):
type of places just taught me tobe even angrier.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, yeah.
So evil breeds evil, right?
Dark breeds dark.
So you get this eight-monthsentence and it goes to how many
years from eight months,whenever I was 15, it got out
when I was 18.
Okay, all right.
So due to just rebelling evenmore?
Yes, you know, we've stretchedthis out and maybe our listeners
(09:58):
today kind of can relate tothat day, kind of can relate to
that.
You know, the more we rebelagainst authority, the more
we're disobedient.
When God expects obedience, itcauses us to be in longer
seasons in life in order tolearn lessons that maybe we
didn't have to go through andlearn if we'd have just done
things God's way to begin with.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yep, it surely was, and if I feel if God had been in
my life, then it might havebeen different.
But that was the last thing Iwanted in my life, because
rebelling at that age it'sexciting, it's fun, and when you
have nothing else, that's allthere is.
Your home's gone, so you justdo whatever you want.
(10:37):
You're just wild.
You were never taught anybetter.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Because of your age.
You were in programs rightbecause you were younger.
So you're thrown into thejuvenile system, but eventually
you're going to have to servereal jail time, right.
So talk about the bitternessand anger you had towards the
world because of all the painyou were dealing with as a
teenager.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I came out of that at 18 years old and that's where
the party began, the real party.
I mean, I'm an adult, nobodycould tell me anything.
I started dealing drugs.
I fought for a living, I wasfighting in alleys, I learned I
could fight and I was good at it.
It was an outlet.
(11:20):
It was the only thing I had, ifthat makes any sense, and I
know it really don't, but to meit did at the time.
Yeah, so, and my wholereputation through life up until
I was 30-something years oldwas you know, don't mess with
that guy right there, he'll hurtyou.
Yeah, you know it was a, youknow the big bad boy reputation,
you know.
And I thrived off of it insteadof walking away from it.
(11:41):
And I thrived off of it insteadof walking away from it, I just
fed into it more and more andmore and more until ultimately,
you know, it took me back toprison, yeah, to state prison.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
When did you so?
You got out at 18 of thejuvenile system.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
When was it that you went back into the Between 18
and 30, I went to jail just tocounty jails and stuff you know
on and off a few times, butafter that I wound up getting a
state prison term for two and ahalf years when I was 30.
And I was out.
I got out after that and I wasout for 11 days when I was
(12:19):
indicted on federal drugtrafficking charges.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
It's crazy to think about how quickly after getting
out just kind of, that lifestylecontinues and evolves.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, because I didn't know it, but I was being
investigated, while before thestate charges, I was being
investigated by the federalgovernment.
The ATF and the DEA werewatching us and it was a sealed
deal.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Now, was there ever any fear of those consequences?
Or, at this point, are you justnumb to all of it?
I'm just numb.
And I didn't.
It was a sealed deal.
Now, was there ever any fear ofthose consequences?
Or, at this point, are you justnumb to all of it?
I'm just dumb.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I didn't care.
I laughed at him.
You know I I've cussed judgesout.
I'd look at the judges.
I called a couple of judgesidiots.
I didn't.
I didn't care at the time, Ihad nothing to care about.
You know, my life was full offun and partying and hanging out
at different bars.
I was bouncing, I wasbodyguarding for people, I was
(13:10):
dealing drugs.
I was an enforcer for druggangs.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I was into all of it, so drugs probably felt like an
old friend, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I've been doing it all my life and that was
something that was just alwaysthere, always part of it Now.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
do you think that the addiction was more about escape
, or do you think it was justsomething that you had become so
used to that you couldn't livewithout it?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, that's.
It wasn't ever an escape for meto get away from my reality or
to ease the pain, because I fedinto the pain.
And what I mean by fed into thepain is I used the pain I was
having to hurt others formonetary value.
I had my own apartment.
I had a race car, twomotorcycles at 19 years old.
(13:55):
Who wouldn't want more of thatat that age if you got nothing
else in your life?
So that just existed.
It was always there.
The drugs were just part ofthat lifestyle.
Yeah, and before I knew it itwas just, it had to be there.
It went from just being thereto having to be there.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, I know that part of your testimony is that
by the time you received yourfirst prison sentence, you had
racked up over 30 assaultcharges, and many of them
against law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yes, At that time I'd get in fights.
Cops would come, you know, hey,you know you're under arrest.
No, I'm not, you know, andretaliate against them.
And you know, there was timeswhere, you know, I thought I'd
won, until you know, I woke upin a jail cell, you know.
Well, I got that guy but I'msitting here in custody.
(14:50):
I got him no, I didn't, youknow.
But yeah, I didn't settle downbecause the police pulled up.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I got excited.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, Now you mentioned the federal government
was doing some investigating onyou while you were locked up.
After doing two years in stateprison for assault and malicious
wounding, you were out 11 daysand that's when you're indicted
on these federal charges fordrug trafficking.
And you did roughly eight moreyears.
(15:22):
Eight more years for that andso like, as you say, you would
think that one would learn bythen.
No Right, but that's nothappening, Not yet, anyway at
this point.
And then you know God hadalready spared you from death
quite a bit, Yep, but even atone point you had died in a car
crash running from the police.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Talk to us about that , I was at a bar one night, made
a couple friends and I wasdriving a little hot rod.
I built a little Camaro, a 70split pump Camaro, you know, hot
rod, and we were in one of thebars and got all drunked up and
leaving there.
And I left there sideways, youknow, just rolling all over the
car, you know, just lighting thetires up.
The cops got behind meinstantly and they chased me
(16:06):
down the road and the boy thatwas with me, that was riding
with me, he asked me.
He said hey, man, that's thecops behind him.
I said no, it's not, that's ourescort home.
Buckle up and I just drilledinto it and I ran into another
car at a stoplight at 131 milesan hour.
Wow, ripped the car in half.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Wow, when you almost died in that car crash, did you
ever stop to think maybe this isGod trying to get my attention?
Or did you just keep pushingthat out of your mind and say
I'm going to keep rolling?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I woke up the next morning in the hospital room my
whole chest was black from whereI hit the stairwell, where they
hit me with the paddles.
I learned later on, I learnedactually in court, that I was
actually dead for 91 seconds,did not have a heartbeat.
They brought me back and atthat time I did not realize.
I thought it was just medical.
(16:52):
You know that brought me back.
I know today differently.
I know it was God.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Amen.
Hallelujah, brother, hallelujah.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
And I got up in the hospital and looked around, seen
my clothes on the thing.
I put my clothes back on and Isnuck out to the hospital
because I knew the cops werestill after me.
You know I wasn't ready to giveup on anything.
I thought this was all a game.
It was not.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, and you know there could be some people
listening to this testimonyright now that know exactly
where you're coming from.
But rather than running fromthe law or maybe some of them
are they're also running fromthe law, or maybe some of them
are they're also running fromthe ultimate authority figure,
and that's God.
And they know God's knocking attheir door.
They know God's chasing themdown.
They're not ready to surrenderyet.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Not yet.
And like I said in my testimonyyou know where I said that I've
been.
I died in that car accident.
It was brought back.
I've been shot a couple times.
I've been stabbed in the chestwith an ice pick.
You know I've been stabbed.
And all that still just, I wasstill just not knowing where I
was going, still didn't wake youup.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Not a bit.
Did your mother ever tell youyou had a hard head?
Every single day.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And my mother, being a godly woman, you know she
always told me she said you'llfind him someday, and I never
knew what she meant by that.
And my mom, she died while Iwas in prison.
I never got to see that part ofit, which I think that was
another knock on the side of thehead from God.
I ignored.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
The Bible tells us that when one sinner comes to
repentance, the angels in heavenrejoice, and I don't believe
there's any wasted praise inheaven, you know.
So I personally believe thatevery time a sinner comes to
accept Jesus Christ andrepentance and receive him as
Lord and Savior, I believe thatwhen the angels in heaven
rejoice, all of heaven knowswhat that uproar is about and
(18:46):
they can participate in thatrejoice.
All of heaven knows what thatuproar is about and they can
participate in that.
And so I, my personal belief is, is that when, when you got
saved and heaven rejoiced uh, Ibelieve your mother knew, and
man I, what I would give just tosee the look on her face you
know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Both brother, I'll tell you what I I I think about
it and it just makes me.
You know it gets me veryemotional, you don't know it.
Knowing now I get to see mymother again.
Yeah, think about it and itjust makes me.
You know it gets me veryemotional, you know.
Knowing now I get to see mymother again.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yeah, think about it, because now she knows, praise
God, now she knows she's goingto see you again and she doesn't
have to be in heaven wonderingabout.
Well, I wonder if my son, youknow, is ever going to get saved
.
You know, she knows, because ofthat uproar in heaven that day,
when you came forward in churchand accepted Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior, that was a bigbig day for me.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
It was a powerful moment for all who were in
witness to it.
I mean, I don't know that I'llever forget that Sunday.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I know I won't.
Sunday May, the 5th Sunday.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
May 5th, amen, amen, up to the point before the two
prison sentences that you had.
You know you've died in thiscar crash.
You're running from the cops,the medics bring you back.
I know, I know at one pointyou're you're, you've mentioned
you're dealing drugs, you'reusing drugs, but you've also
touched a little bit about howyou were working for several,
(20:04):
several local gangs.
You know, touch on that just atad.
Like what does that mean forseveral local gangs?
Touch on that just a tad.
What does that mean, workingfor local gangs?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
You had gangs of guys that sell drugs, outlaw
motorcycle clubs.
They hired me as an enforcer togo collect their money If
somebody wouldn't pay them.
Instead of doing it usually doit themselves.
The reputation I had all I hadto do was go knock on somebody's
door, yeah, and they was likehere it is.
(20:32):
You know, they didn't want nomore trouble, yeah, so they paid
me a certain amount of money togo over there and get it, and
if they wouldn't give it up,then I took it in any way.
Shape or form means necessary,yeah, you know before means
necessary.
I've done some really evilthings to people just to get the
money back out of them and it'ssad now to even think about it.
(20:52):
It upsets me knowing the harmI've done to people and it's not
just to myself but to otherpeople and there's no way I can
make it up to them Except tolive the godly life that I live
now and to try to help all thepeople.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Amen, Amen, Amen.
And that's what we're doinghere today.
You know, you said and Ithought this was really
interesting you said that it wasin prison that you learned how
to be a racist.
You saw the divide based off ofpeople's skin color?
Uh, based off of people's skincolor?
Um, and part of your testimonyis is that before Jesus rescued
(21:31):
you, uh, you were, you were partof a white supremacist group?
Um, and you know, it's gotta bea, it's gotta be a feeling of
freedom when Jesus comes intoyour life and sets you free from
all of this.
Because me, knowing you on thisside right, Like I didn't know
you prior to you coming toChrist, so me knowing you on
(21:52):
this side, I can definitelytestify to our listeners that
you are a changed man of God,you know.
So I can't even imagine, buttalk about it.
If you can even put it intowords, what is it to go from
being in such bondage to all ofa sudden being cut loose from
that way of living, that way ofthinking?
I mean the freedom that you'vetasted and seen must just be
(22:15):
incredible.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
It's unbelievable, it is 180 degrees.
I mean I went from having oneof the most hard hearts you
could have I mean I could hurt aperson and roll over and put my
head on and use them as apillow and sleep it wouldn't
bother me a bit To now I helpthe same guy cross the street or
something.
It's a relief.
It's knowing that all this,everything I've done, is washed
(22:41):
away by God.
Yes, you know to know in myheart, because I've been accused
by my wife early on of havingno empathy whatsoever for
mankind whatsoever.
I just I didn't care nothingabout another person's life, I
didn't have no compassion.
And I've learned in this lastalmost a year what it's like to
(23:03):
have a heart Thanks to God.
You know, all praise go to Godbecause he brought me out of
this.
He brought me out of that comathat I was in, that hate.
It was just 100% hate, andbeing in that white supremacist
group just gave me anotheravenue to hate.
Yeah, yeah, Just another reasonright.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Just another reason.
It's a true testament ofEphesians 5, where the Bible
talks about the light being shedon you, you receiving the light
and becoming illuminated by thelight and then going out.
So you are in this place ofdarkness Very very dark.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Me and Lee have talked about it before my life
verse in the Bible is John 3, 19through 22.
You know, the things you seethat you do are in the light
there, in the sight of God.
Yeah, and you do it in thedarkness because you don't want
people to see your evil deed.
That's right.
So now everything I do is seenin the light of.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
God, Amen.
I love that Amen.
You know you, during all thisripping and running, uh, you,
you had a daughter during thistime, and you know.
Question I have for you is didyou ever stop and think that you
were becoming a product of theenvironment that you were raised
up in and that you were notbeing present for your daughter,
(24:23):
the way that your dad was notpresent for you Because I know
that part of your testimony goes, you know, to the direction of
you weren't there for her in herearlier years, prior to being
an adult.
Do you think it's because yougrew up without that dad?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, it is this generational curse that we all
talk about, that is so hard forpeople to break.
Generational curse that we alltalk about, that is so hard for
people to break, you know.
But you know, I was so wound upin myself that I didn't take
the time realizing, by doing allthese things, going to prison
and everything what I wasmissing out on.
Yeah, because I spoke earlierof a non-existent father for me
(25:02):
and that's exactly what I wasdoing to my daughter.
Yeah, fortunately, god putsomebody in her path, her
stepdad that stepped in and didthe right thing for her and he
was an amazing man.
He still is.
Amen.
And fortunately now, you know,me and my daughter have a great
relationship.
I left it up to her.
You know, when I come home fromprison, you know, do you want
(25:24):
this relationship with mebecause I wasn't there for you?
You know it's up to you and sheforgave me for that.
Oh, praise God.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Now, what do you say to the man who says I can't be
the only one who doesn't knowwhat to do, right, I've
experienced generational curses.
I didn't have a father to showme what it was like to be a
father.
What do you say to the manwho's there right now and
they're saying I don't know howto raise these kids.
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
You do know how to raise them.
You just don't want to.
It's hard to say that Right nowI would scratch claw, fight
everything in my being to beable to raise my daughter.
You know been there for her andraise her, and I see people
struggle with, you know, divorceand everything every day.
(26:17):
And to that person that says Ican't be the only one fighting
the struggle, you're not.
You're not alone, you know.
All you have to remember isyou're not fighting it alone.
You know God is watchingeverything you do.
God saved my life all theseyears for this purpose.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, you know, eventually you meet your wife,
robin, but the troubledlifestyle for you was not over.
But the troubled lifestyle foryou was not over.
You say there's about another17 or 18 more years of trouble.
And I was talking to you andRobin after church a couple
(26:56):
weeks ago and I was just tellingher, like Robin, I was just
telling my wife about you guys,and I was like Erica, I don't
know how Robin can take it, man,like, how's she not exploding
with such joy, you know?
And so I looked at Robin and Isaid, sister, you know, I don't
know how you can withstand it.
You know, here your husband hasbeen so dramatically changed,
(27:19):
for the glory of God, you know.
And she looks at me, pastor Jim, she looks at me and she starts
jumping up and down.
She says I do a lot of this, Ido a lot of this, you know,
because she's just so full ofjoy that this man that she's
loved so much and who she saw inso much pain and she saw just
doing a tailspin and sinking anddrowning in that quicksand of
trouble, she now sees.
(27:41):
For the glory of God, herhusband has been transformed
completely, by the way, into anew creature in Christ.
Not only did you not wantanything to do with God or
religion, but you mentionedearlier that you were a
dedicated atheist.
(28:02):
You didn't want anything to dowith anything.
You didn't want anything to dowith church.
You didn't want anything to dowith a preacher, a pastor.
You don't want, you don't wantto hear the word of God.
You don't want anything to dowith God.
Now that you've tasted and seenthat the Lord is good, you know
.
Have you?
Have you ever sat back andthought, man, just how much have
(28:23):
I missed.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
I think about it every day, about every
opportunity I had to change mylife through God, and I put it
away.
I just I shoved it away, Ipushed it away, I hated it away,
and I don't even think I'veever said this before, but I
feel now that the reason I wasso heavy against the Lord,
(28:47):
against God, against preachers,everything, I think it was
because I knew the truth.
I didn't want to face it.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah, now that's a great point.
At one point in your testimonyyou actually say that your life
was so crazy, you were living sorecklessly that you actually
considered yourself to be thedevil's protege 100%.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I mean I was in it so deep.
I mean just the drugs, thealcohol, I mean the women out in
the strip clubs where I worked,and I mean it was just you
watch all these movies about allthis kind of stuff and I would
laugh at them guys because I waslike y'all don't have a clue
what it really is.
You know, it's worse than that,you know.
(29:34):
And I was.
I mean I was hurting people formoney, you know, for I mean it
was they pay me just to go hurtthis person because they didn't
like this person or that person.
That was my job.
My job was hate and the devilwas all over me and I knew about
(29:57):
God and I knew the differencebetween right and wrong.
My mother instilled in me rightand wrong.
I just didn't care.
Mother instilled in me rightand wrong.
Yeah, I just didn't care.
Yeah, you know, and to walkhand in hand with the devil it's
.
It seemed like a good time,yeah, but I didn't know the
destruction that I was doing,that I was capable of.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, yeah, you know, we we wanted to.
We wanted to mention all ofthis part of your testimony to
our listeners, not because we'reglorifying sin.
We wanted to let people knowjust what you came out of so
that if there's other people outthere that are in that type of
situation, they can realize thatif it was possible for you,
it's possible for them.
(30:38):
So we're not glorifying the sinfolks by any means, but what
we're doing is we are lettingyou know just how bad it was, so
that we can point to God andgive the Father, who is holy and
righteous and loving andmerciful, and grace, and he
offers the forgiveness so freely, so we can give God credit.
So let's get to that night,right?
(30:58):
Let's get to that night whereyou're in the garage.
It's the moment when Godchanged everything in Billy
Livingston's life.
Praise the Lord.
Walk us through that night.
Why were you in the garage?
Speaker 3 (31:13):
That was my spot.
That's where I hid everythingfrom my family, from my wife,
from myself.
That's where I went and gotdone.
Now, the drugs turned into afull-on, 100% blown addiction.
I had to have them, it know it.
It it was more than me, thanfood, you know.
And that's where I went and hidand escaped and thought nobody
(31:35):
knew.
You know, I was wrong.
There too, everybody knew, youknow.
Um, that particular night thatwe're talking about, I had
already been up for three, four,maybe more days.
I'd lost count how many daysI'd been up.
You know, smoking, meth,snorting, meth snorting, cocaine
drinking, and I was by myselfand I was just so far out that I
(32:01):
didn't even know what I wasdoing anymore.
And I felt it.
And I didn't even know what Iwas doing anymore.
And I felt it, and I didn'teven know it.
I opened my eyes and I was onmy knees, crying, begging God
for forgiveness.
And I didn't do that.
I didn't put myself on my kneesand start begging God because I
(32:23):
was still rebelling.
You know, god, put me on myknees.
Come on, god, hit me with.
I like to say it with a two byfour.
You know, hey, it's time foryou to wake up.
I've been there for you allthis time.
Yeah, it's your time.
Yeah, let's get your lifestraight.
And at that moment, I don'tknow, I can't describe it, but I
(32:51):
was shown such a moment, just aglimpse of what glory could be.
And at that moment I was sober.
I was sober and I told God atthat point that if he delivered
me from this life of sin andevil and addiction, that I would
(33:13):
devote my life to him.
I made God that promise and Godsaved me.
And I walked out of that garagesober as the day I was born,
sober as the day I was born.
Come on, and I have not had apull towards addiction for
alcohol, drugs or anything elsesince.
And that's being truly set free.
(33:34):
Set free.
And I was still hesitant.
Yeah, yeah, for all those yearsof being such a knucklehead, I
was still hesitant.
Yeah, and all those years ofbeing such a knucklehead, I was
still hesitant.
Yeah, you know, and I justdidn't know what to do at that
point.
Yeah, how do I fulfill mypromise to God?
(33:56):
He fulfilled his Amen.
When God speaks, it's fulfilled.
Yeah, you know.
So he showed me what it wouldbe like for me.
Yeah, and I was still hesitant,and I know I was hesitant
because I was scared First timein my life.
I ain't never been scared ofanything that walked this earth.
I was scared then, wow, becauseit was the unknown.
(34:18):
I'm this little child now Inthe eyes of God, I'm back, and I
just didn't know where to gofrom there.
Yeah, until I had to take mywife to church two weeks later.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Well, you know you.
You, you mentioned something.
You mentioned something that Iwant to touch upon.
You said it wasn't you to putyou on your knees.
You know you're.
You're in that moment whereyou're just high out of your
mind, right?
You know?
The Bible talks about how, youknow, we can't save ourselves.
It says that we can't even cometo God unless the Spirit of God
draws us unto Him.
(34:55):
And personally, brother, afterlistening to your testimony, I
personally believe that that'swhat was happening in that
moment God was drawing you untoHimself.
In that moment, he puts you onyour knees.
Next thing, you know, you wakeup and, as you give this promise
to God that, if he gets youright, you will serve him with
the rest of your life.
And I have seen you do that,man, and I'm so proud of you
(35:16):
surrendering to God to work inand through your life.
You know, as God has gotten youto this place, in this moment,
in this garage floor, on yourknees, you said something that I
want to point out to thelisteners In that moment, when
you understood all that wasgoing on, you were sober.
You go from being high out ofyour mind to sober, you know,
(35:39):
and I could see how that couldbe a little scary for a man who
used to be in control ofeverything, or at least thought
he was.
I thought I was a little scaryfor a man who used to be in
control of everything, or atleast thought he was, I thought
I was.
Yeah, now, all of a sudden, youknow you've had this moment
with the authority figure thatyou've been bucking the system
against for so long, that you'vebeen defying and you've been
(35:59):
pointing your finger, if youwill, and shaking it in his face
.
And yet here, god's not angrywith you.
At this night in the garage,god is offering mercy and grace
and forgiveness of your sins,and God just washes over you.
And there comes a point whereyou say that you remembered that
you had promised God that you'dserve him.
(36:21):
So your wife needs a ride tochurch, sister Robin needs a
ride to church and you weregoing to take her.
Walk us through that.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
I got up that morning because I knew she needed a
ride to church.
She was dealing with somevertigo issues and I told her
I'd give her a ride.
You know I'd drop her off andI'd come back and get her While
I was getting dressed to get upand take her walking down the
hallway.
A lot of people are not goingto believe this the
non-believers.
Anybody who believes willbelieve this.
(36:49):
God spoke to me.
Amen brother, I heard his voiceclear as I hear yours right now,
hallelujah.
And what I heard was two words,three words.
Remember your promise, amen,come on.
Walking down the hallway, therewas that two by four again.
Yeah, you know, there was thattwo-by-four again.
Yeah, you know.
Wham, wham.
And as I watched Robin gettingready, I walked up to her and I
(37:10):
said how does this look?
And she said well, you're justdriving me off.
I said no, I'm not.
And she almost hit the floor.
Yeah, she just.
I seen a smile on that woman'sface I hadn't seen in a long
time.
Come on, you know, woman's faceI hadn't seen in a long time,
you know.
And I walked into church thatday and my pastor, pastor Lee,
you know, I was sitting throughthat sermon.
(37:32):
I'd never watched anybodyworship and praise God before
and it was all alien to me and Iwas like a long-haired what do
they call it?
A long-tailed cat in a roomfull of rocket chairs.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
I was on the edge, you know, and at the end of the
sermon, when you asked anybodyif they had, you know, not been
saved, you know, I just didn'traise my hand.
I mean, I jumped up with bothhands in the air Shoot, come on.
And at that moment, I felt likeI was picked up out of my seat.
You know, and glory to God.
(38:09):
He saved me once again and Iwas saved that day and I've been
with God ever since.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
So good.
I think it's incredible thatRobin stuck by you.
Me too, you know like if you,after hearing this testimony,
that woman was there through itall.
I say it right there.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
I don't know why, how she was able to deal with that.
She seen something in me, knewthat I could be a better person,
which I never proved to her atthat time.
You know that I could be, so tothis day I still have.
I know why now, but I stillthink about it.
You know how could she haveheld on that long?
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Because you couldn't prove it, but she believed and
had hope and faith in the onewho did prove it, and that's God
, and that's God.
Yeah, I love that.
And you know, when I hear yourtestimony, especially about you
being in your garage, it remindsme so much of Paul and that
road to Damascus experience,right when God just showed up in
Paul's life.
He was in the middle of killingpeople, he was in the middle of
(39:11):
living a life that wascompletely not in line with what
we know that life to be, andthen, all of a sudden, god shows
up and it was right there, inthat moment His life was
transformed forever.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
And I kind of lead towards that part of scripture
too, because I could relate tothat story, to where he was
killing other Christians.
You know, he was hating andjust everything about
Christianity and in a momenthe's one of the most faithful
servants for God that there everwas.
Just like that man, Just likethat.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
You know I had a question to ask you, but you've
already answered it and I knewthe answer anyway, because the
answer is found in the word, andthat was going to be what
changed you, and the answer issimply this God.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
God, 1,000%.
God's mercy, God's grace, god,I feel and I know.
Now I don't feel.
I know that God kept me aliveduring all this craziness and
evil for a purpose.
Yeah, he has a plan and apurpose for every one of us.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Yes, he does, yeah, so walk us through that man.
You're coming through thehallway in your house.
God faithfully reminds you of apromise you made him that night
in your garage you come tochurch.
I remember that day, man, youdidn't just come up front to the
altar, you, you were willing tocome up on stage and surrender
your life to Jesus.
There is a true countenancechanged in your life, man, like
(40:36):
when I see you like it.
It's just, it's this lightnessthat you carry around, it's a
peace, um, and I think that Ithink that the reason that
you've completely sold out tothe peace of the Lord is because
you've known all along that'swhat you've needed is peace.
You know it's not what you'vehad growing up, and now you also
know that you've got somethingelse you didn't have when you
(40:58):
were growing up, and that's afather figure.
You've got a heavenly father,amen.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
You've got a provider .
I have the largest father ofthem all.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Amen, brother.
You've got a provider.
Amen, brother.
You've got a provider in yourlife.
You've got a redeemer, you'vegot a savior.
So, through it all, through itall, god has rescued you and God
has transformed you.
I want to just kind of leavewith this verse right here.
(41:25):
Romans 6.23 says leave withthis verse right here.
Romans 6.23 says for the wagesof sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in ChristJesus, our Lord and my friends.
That gift was presented toBilly.
It was also presented to myself, to Pastor Jim.
That free gift of life from Godthrough Jesus Christ is
presented to every single one ofus.
So, no matter how far you'vebeen running, no matter how long
(41:48):
you've been running, all you'vegot to do right now, in this
moment, is turn around and justsimply surrender and trust God.
So if you'd like that, today Iwant to lead you through a
prayer.
If you're saying, you know what, I'm tired of running, I'm
tired of spinning circles, I'mtired of filling my life with
enjoyment that quickly fades,then I invite you right now to
(42:10):
accept Jesus Christ as the Kingof all kings and Lord of all
lords in your life, as yourSavior.
Would you say a prayer likethis Lord Jesus, I am a sinner
and I ask you, lord, to forgiveme of my sins.
I recognize, jesus, that youdied on the cross so that I
(42:30):
could be forgiven, and I ask younow to come into my life,
rescue me, redeem me and save mysoul.
I want to follow you witheverything that I've got.
Teach me how to be faithful andobedient In Jesus' name and
blood.
Amen, amen, amen.
(42:51):
Guys, we want to thank you forlistening to this episode of
Beyond Sunday.
You know, this time with ourbrother Billy has been so rich.
It's been so blessed.
Hopefully, you can come tochurch Thursday or Sunday and
say hey to us and also meetBilly.
He's there every Thursday, he'sthere every Sunday faithfully,
(43:11):
and we're excited to introduceyou to a brother in the Lord
that truly is changed for theglory of.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
God and Billy, I just want to say thank you.
You know, oftentimes ourtestimonies can be hard to tell.
You know, oftentimes ourtestimonies can be hard to tell,
but when you look at ourtestimonies and how they are
just like the gospel in thatthey present and point everyone
to the cross.
They point everyone to thetransformation that Christ has
in our lives and for our lives.
(43:40):
I really do want to say thankyou for being willing to come
here and just give us yourtestimony and being raw.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
No, there's no, and just give us your testimony.
And being raw.
So thank you, there's noproblem there.
I'm blessed to do it and withthe testimony, I feel that if
one person is saved from havingto go through everything that I
went through, then every momentI went through that was well
worth it.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Amen, me and Pastor Lee say that often.
If just one person shows up tochurch, they're going to hear
the gospel.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Yeah, absolutely Real quick.
Before we sign off here, tellus in just a few words what does
life look like going forwardfor Billy and Robin Bright
brother bright Amen In the light.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
God has got plans for us.
I don't know what they are.
I just know I'm going to bethere to follow them and be and
have my faith and walk in his,in his glory.
And I don't know what he has instore, but I'm looking forward
to it Amen.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
All right guys.
That's a wrap on today'sepisode of beyond Sunday.
God bless you.
Share this link with someonebecause it can impact their life
forever.
Welcome to Beyond Sunday, the podcast that takes
you deeper into the Word of Godthroughout your week With your
hosts, pastors Lee and Jim.
It's time to inspire, upliftand dig deeper.
Beyond Sunday starts now.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
Hey, good morning everybody.
Welcome to another episode ofBeyond Sunday.
I'm Pastor Lee and, as always,I've got sitting here at the
table with me Pastor Jim, and weare the pastors of Christ
Family Outreach Church, locatedin Amelia, virginia, and just
want to take a minute and say ifyou have not visited with us
yet on a Thursday RechargeChurch service at 7 pm or on a
(00:45):
Sunday morning at 10 am.
We want to see you, we want toget to know you, we want to meet
you, so we encourage you tocome out and be a part of what
God is doing in the house of theLord.
Today's going to be a littledifferent.
We've got a special guest withus, a dear, dear brother in the
Lord.
His name is Billy Livingstonand Billy's going to be with us
(01:06):
today sharing his testimony.
So, billy, how you doing,brother, doing pretty good, amen
, amen.
We're going to jump right intothis thing and, billy,
eventually we're going to workour way to that night in your
garage when you'd been high onmeth for three or four days and
God showed up.
He totally cleaned you in onetouch.
(01:26):
But before we get there, I wantto share with the listeners
what all God bought you out ofwhat he delivered you from,
because I'm believing that thisinterview and I know Pastor Jim
is as well we're believing thatthis interview is going to be
shared with many people who needthe encouragement okay, but
it's also going to be sharedwith people who need to hear it,
(01:46):
because they're going through alot of the same things that you
struggle with and that you weretempted with.
So let's dig right into it.
Take us back, billy, to whenyou were just a teenager, at 13
years old.
What does life look like for13-year-old Billy Livingston?
Speaker 3 (02:02):
Oh, wow, Thirteen.
I was a child of divorce.
My mom stayed, my dad left andwith her having to work and just
to feed eight kids you knowthere's eight of us all together
.
My oldest sister's in awheelchair from birth, you know.
So it was a struggle for her,so she didn't have time to watch
(02:22):
us.
Yeah, so it was just run rapid.
You know the streets hit thestreets and just be wild as you
want to be and do everything youcan to to just make up for lost
.
You know what you lost and youknow I searched for what I lost
for a long time and didn't findit till a year ago yeah, and,
and I know you had said that, um, you were 13,.
Speaker 2 (02:44):
At the age of 13, it's when you did your first
juvenile sentence.
Speaker 3 (02:47):
I started doing drugs hard drugs, methamphetamine and
cocaine.
When I was 13 years old,drinking I mean, I remember
being sick vomiting out ofwindows, you know, at 13 years
old, from vodka.
You know drinking and that ledto you know the wrong thing, you
know, to stealing, fighting.
I went to a juvenile systemwhen I was 13 for my first
(03:11):
sentence, for, you know,stealing a car, you know
shoplifting, whatever I could do, it's just everything that was
out there.
I was doing it, yeah.
So, yeah, 13,.
I was supposed to do like afour-month program.
It was it set up to.
Where good behavior.
You know if you go in there youact right and you know they
score you.
(03:31):
They got a little score wherethey sit around and watch you.
And if you're doing okay, everyweek you go in front of a
counselor.
Yeah, you're doing good, you'redoing good, you're right on
course.
But that didn't work for me.
I was just, I was violent.
I wanted to fight all the timeand cuss out the counselors.
I didn't, I just didn't care.
Yeah, you know, I had nothingthat I cared about.
Yeah, so when you do that, youscore low.
(03:53):
And when you score low, theyadd time.
Yeah, and until you adapt totheir program.
You, just you're, you're beinghoused.
Speaker 1 (04:01):
Gotcha, and I heard you say before in a previous
time of hearing your testimony,that you began to learn to take
that system and you began tomanipulate that juvenile system.
And so I have a question abouthow maybe you said that your
father was absent and I justwonder, like because I've heard
a lot of stories about how alack of father figures it seems
(04:22):
to create like a void, and doyou think that that made you
more susceptible to trying tomanipulate the system?
Or do you think it was moreabout maybe just simply the
thrill of defying authority?
Speaker 3 (04:35):
It was a little of both.
You know, not having a fatheraround, you have no direction.
You know, especially when yourmother has to make up for what
was lost, when the father leaves, right, you know she can't be.
You know mother, father, andyou know, especially when your
mother has to make up for whatwas lost, when the father leaves
, right, you know she can't be.
You know mother, father, andyou know caregiver, yeah, you
know.
So try to fill that void.
You know, looking for someone,you know I guess I didn't know
what I was looking for, but that, and you know, just defiance,
(04:57):
just being whatever I wanted tobe and anything against
authority, because I guess myauthority figure was my father.
So, against authority, becauseI guess my authority figure was
my father.
So when he left I had noauthority figure.
So that to me was just straight, just okay, I'm going to defy
all authority.
Speaker 2 (05:11):
Yeah, yeah, I know, as Christians, you know and we
see what the word of God saysabout like means for divorce.
You know there's unfaithfulnessin the marriage or maybe there
needs to be a break.
Somebody's got to step awaybecause it's an abusive
situation at home betweenspouses, so I'm not saying that
(05:32):
there can't be reasons fordivorce.
What I'm going to ask you to dofor a minute, though, Brother
Billy, is talk to the parentsout there today that you know
they're thinking about getting adivorce.
They're thinking aboutseparating, not because of
adultery, not because of anabusive situation, but just
simply because they can't get ittogether.
You know they're not willing todo the hard stuff and fight it
(05:55):
out, they're not willing to workthrough it, so they're just
thinking that the only fix isjust to separate and start over.
So what would you say to a momor to a dad, to parents, who are
considering a divorce and theydon't want to try to work it out
?
What would you say to them?
Speaker 3 (06:10):
I'd say do everything humanly, spiritually possible
to save that marriage, to savethem children, because a lot, a
lot of children that I,everybody I knew in the systems
throughout my life, every one ofthem that I've talked to, come
from a divorced family, a brokenhome.
So if you I mean just whateveryou have to do, you do it, you
(06:33):
sacrifice, you know you do whatis necessary to save that home
and recreate that love.
I mean you got married for areason because you loved each
other, you know, and thatshouldn't just disappear.
Things make it disappear.
So you have to get rid of thoseunholy things.
Yeah, and the biggest thingI've learned now is you got to
(06:54):
have, you have to have faith inGod in your marriage, absolutely
.
If you don't, you're not goingto make it.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
Yeah, yeah, Because the world's throwing so much at
marriages nowadays that you knowyou're right.
If you've not got Christ at thecenter of it, it pretty much is
destined for failure.
Speaker 3 (07:13):
Me and my wife now have been married 16 years, been
together, 18.
Amen.
And right now we were on theverge of divorce.
What saved our marriage, savedmy life again, was God.
You know, if God wasn't thecenter of our marriage now, we
would not be together.
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (07:26):
Do you think that some of the anger you held on to
affected your relationship withGod?
Or maybe there was a time whereyou didn't even believe in God,
but do you think that maybeyour anger affected like where
you believe in him and yourrelationship even now, like this
sense of running away fromanything that he could offer you
(07:47):
?
Speaker 3 (07:47):
Oh, yeah, it did and, like I said, about the
authority problem, in my growingup my mom was a very faithful,
very godly woman and I learnedearly on about God.
But I've rebelled against thattoo, because he was the ultimate
authority figure and the way Iwas rebelling against authority,
that was the biggest one that Irebelled against.
That too, because he was theultimate authority figure Right,
and the way I was rebellingagainst authority, that was the
biggest one that I rebelledagainst.
(08:08):
Like, if he's the ultimate one,that's the one I want to, you
know, rebel against wholly, witheverything in my heart, to go
against it.
I was an atheist for a longtime and it's like in my
testimony it states you know, Ihated it, didn't want to hear it
.
I mean, I've cussed outpreachers.
I was an atheist.
I mean I just I would arguewith anybody that wanted to
(08:28):
argue and I had no clue what Iwas really talking about.
Speaker 2 (08:32):
Yeah, yeah, you know, your your first, your first
sentence at 13 years old, andbecause of violence, that four
month program turns into a year.
But your next sentence wouldcome at the age of 15.
And how long did that end uplasting, and why so long?
Speaker 3 (08:49):
Again.
It was supposed to be if I'mnot mistaken, it was like an
eight-month program same deal,you know good behavior.
But it was more of a juvenilepenitentiary and it was full of
people like me you know theworst of the worst kids and they
sentenced me straight to thereand it was all violence and it
was that's where I learned howto be a racist the first time it
(09:12):
really was.
I grew up in a project, so, butonce you got inside of those
type of places, you kind of hangwith your own, you know, and
it's black against white, whiteagainst Mexican, mexican against
black, and if you didn't hangwith your people, you got beat
up, yeah, so everybody kind ofbacked each other, and those
(09:33):
type of places just taught me tobe even angrier.
Speaker 2 (09:36):
Yeah, yeah.
So evil breeds evil, right?
Dark breeds dark.
So you get this eight-monthsentence and it goes to how many
years from eight months,whenever I was 15, it got out
when I was 18.
Okay, all right.
So due to just rebelling evenmore?
Yes, you know, we've stretchedthis out and maybe our listeners
(09:58):
today kind of can relate tothat day, kind of can relate to
that.
You know, the more we rebelagainst authority, the more
we're disobedient.
When God expects obedience, itcauses us to be in longer
seasons in life in order tolearn lessons that maybe we
didn't have to go through andlearn if we'd have just done
things God's way to begin with.
Speaker 3 (10:17):
Yep, it surely was, and if I feel if God had been in
my life, then it might havebeen different.
But that was the last thing Iwanted in my life, because
rebelling at that age it'sexciting, it's fun, and when you
have nothing else, that's allthere is.
Your home's gone, so you justdo whatever you want.
(10:37):
You're just wild.
You were never taught anybetter.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
Because of your age.
You were in programs rightbecause you were younger.
So you're thrown into thejuvenile system, but eventually
you're going to have to servereal jail time, right.
So talk about the bitternessand anger you had towards the
world because of all the painyou were dealing with as a
teenager.
Speaker 3 (10:58):
I came out of that at 18 years old and that's where
the party began, the real party.
I mean, I'm an adult, nobodycould tell me anything.
I started dealing drugs.
I fought for a living, I wasfighting in alleys, I learned I
could fight and I was good at it.
It was an outlet.
(11:20):
It was the only thing I had, ifthat makes any sense, and I
know it really don't, but to meit did at the time.
Yeah, so, and my wholereputation through life up until
I was 30-something years oldwas you know, don't mess with
that guy right there, he'll hurtyou.
Yeah, you know it was a, youknow the big bad boy reputation,
you know.
And I thrived off of it insteadof walking away from it.
(11:41):
And I thrived off of it insteadof walking away from it, I just
fed into it more and more andmore and more until ultimately,
you know, it took me back toprison, yeah, to state prison.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
When did you so?
You got out at 18 of thejuvenile system.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
When was it that you went back into the Between 18
and 30, I went to jail just tocounty jails and stuff you know
on and off a few times, butafter that I wound up getting a
state prison term for two and ahalf years when I was 30.
And I was out.
I got out after that and I wasout for 11 days when I was
(12:19):
indicted on federal drugtrafficking charges.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
It's crazy to think about how quickly after getting
out just kind of, that lifestylecontinues and evolves.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Yeah, because I didn't know it, but I was being
investigated, while before thestate charges, I was being
investigated by the federalgovernment.
The ATF and the DEA werewatching us and it was a sealed
deal.
Speaker 1 (12:43):
Now, was there ever any fear of those consequences?
Or, at this point, are you justnumb to all of it?
I'm just numb.
And I didn't.
It was a sealed deal.
Now, was there ever any fear ofthose consequences?
Or, at this point, are you justnumb to all of it?
I'm just dumb.
Speaker 3 (12:49):
I didn't care.
I laughed at him.
You know I I've cussed judgesout.
I'd look at the judges.
I called a couple of judgesidiots.
I didn't.
I didn't care at the time, Ihad nothing to care about.
You know, my life was full offun and partying and hanging out
at different bars.
I was bouncing, I wasbodyguarding for people, I was
(13:10):
dealing drugs.
I was an enforcer for druggangs.
Speaker 1 (13:15):
I was into all of it, so drugs probably felt like an
old friend, oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
I've been doing it all my life and that was
something that was just alwaysthere, always part of it Now.
Speaker 1 (13:24):
do you think that the addiction was more about escape
, or do you think it was justsomething that you had become so
used to that you couldn't livewithout it?
Speaker 3 (13:33):
Yeah, that's.
It wasn't ever an escape for meto get away from my reality or
to ease the pain, because I fedinto the pain.
And what I mean by fed into thepain is I used the pain I was
having to hurt others formonetary value.
I had my own apartment.
I had a race car, twomotorcycles at 19 years old.
(13:55):
Who wouldn't want more of thatat that age if you got nothing
else in your life?
So that just existed.
It was always there.
The drugs were just part ofthat lifestyle.
Yeah, and before I knew it itwas just, it had to be there.
It went from just being thereto having to be there.
Speaker 2 (14:16):
Yeah, I know that part of your testimony is that
by the time you received yourfirst prison sentence, you had
racked up over 30 assaultcharges, and many of them
against law enforcement.
Speaker 3 (14:29):
Yes, At that time I'd get in fights.
Cops would come, you know, hey,you know you're under arrest.
No, I'm not, you know, andretaliate against them.
And you know, there was timeswhere, you know, I thought I'd
won, until you know, I woke upin a jail cell, you know.
Well, I got that guy but I'msitting here in custody.
(14:50):
I got him no, I didn't, youknow.
But yeah, I didn't settle downbecause the police pulled up.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:56):
I got excited.
Speaker 2 (14:58):
Yeah, Now you mentioned the federal government
was doing some investigating onyou while you were locked up.
After doing two years in stateprison for assault and malicious
wounding, you were out 11 daysand that's when you're indicted
on these federal charges fordrug trafficking.
And you did roughly eight moreyears.
(15:22):
Eight more years for that andso like, as you say, you would
think that one would learn bythen.
No Right, but that's nothappening, Not yet, anyway at
this point.
And then you know God hadalready spared you from death
quite a bit, Yep, but even atone point you had died in a car
crash running from the police.
Speaker 3 (15:43):
Talk to us about that , I was at a bar one night, made
a couple friends and I wasdriving a little hot rod.
I built a little Camaro, a 70split pump Camaro, you know, hot
rod, and we were in one of thebars and got all drunked up and
leaving there.
And I left there sideways, youknow, just rolling all over the
car, you know, just lighting thetires up.
The cops got behind meinstantly and they chased me
(16:06):
down the road and the boy thatwas with me, that was riding
with me, he asked me.
He said hey, man, that's thecops behind him.
I said no, it's not, that's ourescort home.
Buckle up and I just drilledinto it and I ran into another
car at a stoplight at 131 milesan hour.
Wow, ripped the car in half.
Speaker 1 (16:21):
Wow, when you almost died in that car crash, did you
ever stop to think maybe this isGod trying to get my attention?
Or did you just keep pushingthat out of your mind and say
I'm going to keep rolling?
Speaker 3 (16:32):
I woke up the next morning in the hospital room my
whole chest was black from whereI hit the stairwell, where they
hit me with the paddles.
I learned later on, I learnedactually in court, that I was
actually dead for 91 seconds,did not have a heartbeat.
They brought me back and atthat time I did not realize.
I thought it was just medical.
(16:52):
You know that brought me back.
I know today differently.
I know it was God.
Speaker 2 (16:56):
Amen.
Hallelujah, brother, hallelujah.
Speaker 3 (17:00):
And I got up in the hospital and looked around, seen
my clothes on the thing.
I put my clothes back on and Isnuck out to the hospital
because I knew the cops werestill after me.
You know I wasn't ready to giveup on anything.
I thought this was all a game.
It was not.
Speaker 2 (17:15):
Yeah, and you know there could be some people
listening to this testimonyright now that know exactly
where you're coming from.
But rather than running fromthe law or maybe some of them
are they're also running fromthe law, or maybe some of them
are they're also running fromthe ultimate authority figure,
and that's God.
And they know God's knocking attheir door.
They know God's chasing themdown.
They're not ready to surrenderyet.
Speaker 3 (17:35):
Not yet.
And like I said in my testimonyyou know where I said that I've
been.
I died in that car accident.
It was brought back.
I've been shot a couple times.
I've been stabbed in the chestwith an ice pick.
You know I've been stabbed.
And all that still just, I wasstill just not knowing where I
was going, still didn't wake youup.
Speaker 2 (17:55):
Not a bit.
Did your mother ever tell youyou had a hard head?
Every single day.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
And my mother, being a godly woman, you know she
always told me she said you'llfind him someday, and I never
knew what she meant by that.
And my mom, she died while Iwas in prison.
I never got to see that part ofit, which I think that was
another knock on the side of thehead from God.
I ignored.
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
The Bible tells us that when one sinner comes to
repentance, the angels in heavenrejoice, and I don't believe
there's any wasted praise inheaven, you know.
So I personally believe thatevery time a sinner comes to
accept Jesus Christ andrepentance and receive him as
Lord and Savior, I believe thatwhen the angels in heaven
rejoice, all of heaven knowswhat that uproar is about and
(18:46):
they can participate in thatrejoice.
All of heaven knows what thatuproar is about and they can
participate in that.
And so I, my personal belief is, is that when, when you got
saved and heaven rejoiced uh, Ibelieve your mother knew, and
man I, what I would give just tosee the look on her face you
know what I mean.
Speaker 3 (19:00):
Both brother, I'll tell you what I I I think about
it and it just makes me.
You know it gets me veryemotional, you don't know it.
Knowing now I get to see mymother again.
Yeah, think about it and itjust makes me.
You know it gets me veryemotional, you know.
Knowing now I get to see mymother again.
Speaker 2 (19:10):
Yeah, think about it, because now she knows, praise
God, now she knows she's goingto see you again and she doesn't
have to be in heaven wonderingabout.
Well, I wonder if my son, youknow, is ever going to get saved
.
You know, she knows, because ofthat uproar in heaven that day,
when you came forward in churchand accepted Jesus Christ as
Lord and Savior, that was a bigbig day for me.
Speaker 1 (19:29):
It was a powerful moment for all who were in
witness to it.
I mean, I don't know that I'llever forget that Sunday.
Speaker 3 (19:36):
I know I won't.
Sunday May, the 5th Sunday.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
May 5th, amen, amen, up to the point before the two
prison sentences that you had.
You know you've died in thiscar crash.
You're running from the cops,the medics bring you back.
I know, I know at one pointyou're you're, you've mentioned
you're dealing drugs, you'reusing drugs, but you've also
touched a little bit about howyou were working for several,
(20:04):
several local gangs.
You know, touch on that just atad.
Like what does that mean forseveral local gangs?
Touch on that just a tad.
What does that mean, workingfor local gangs?
Speaker 3 (20:10):
You had gangs of guys that sell drugs, outlaw
motorcycle clubs.
They hired me as an enforcer togo collect their money If
somebody wouldn't pay them.
Instead of doing it usually doit themselves.
The reputation I had all I hadto do was go knock on somebody's
door, yeah, and they was likehere it is.
(20:32):
You know, they didn't want nomore trouble, yeah, so they paid
me a certain amount of money togo over there and get it, and
if they wouldn't give it up,then I took it in any way.
Shape or form means necessary,yeah, you know before means
necessary.
I've done some really evilthings to people just to get the
money back out of them and it'ssad now to even think about it.
(20:52):
It upsets me knowing the harmI've done to people and it's not
just to myself but to otherpeople and there's no way I can
make it up to them Except tolive the godly life that I live
now and to try to help all thepeople.
Speaker 2 (21:10):
Amen, Amen, Amen.
And that's what we're doinghere today.
You know, you said and Ithought this was really
interesting you said that it wasin prison that you learned how
to be a racist.
You saw the divide based off ofpeople's skin color?
Uh, based off of people's skincolor?
Um, and part of your testimonyis is that before Jesus rescued
(21:31):
you, uh, you were, you were partof a white supremacist group?
Um, and you know, it's gotta bea, it's gotta be a feeling of
freedom when Jesus comes intoyour life and sets you free from
all of this.
Because me, knowing you on thisside right, Like I didn't know
you prior to you coming toChrist, so me knowing you on
(21:52):
this side, I can definitelytestify to our listeners that
you are a changed man of God,you know.
So I can't even imagine, buttalk about it.
If you can even put it intowords, what is it to go from
being in such bondage to all ofa sudden being cut loose from
that way of living, that way ofthinking?
I mean the freedom that you'vetasted and seen must just be
(22:15):
incredible.
Speaker 3 (22:17):
It's unbelievable, it is 180 degrees.
I mean I went from having oneof the most hard hearts you
could have I mean I could hurt aperson and roll over and put my
head on and use them as apillow and sleep it wouldn't
bother me a bit To now I helpthe same guy cross the street or
something.
It's a relief.
It's knowing that all this,everything I've done, is washed
(22:41):
away by God.
Yes, you know to know in myheart, because I've been accused
by my wife early on of havingno empathy whatsoever for
mankind whatsoever.
I just I didn't care nothingabout another person's life, I
didn't have no compassion.
And I've learned in this lastalmost a year what it's like to
(23:03):
have a heart Thanks to God.
You know, all praise go to Godbecause he brought me out of
this.
He brought me out of that comathat I was in, that hate.
It was just 100% hate, andbeing in that white supremacist
group just gave me anotheravenue to hate.
Yeah, yeah, Just another reasonright.
Speaker 1 (23:23):
Just another reason.
It's a true testament ofEphesians 5, where the Bible
talks about the light being shedon you, you receiving the light
and becoming illuminated by thelight and then going out.
So you are in this place ofdarkness Very very dark.
Speaker 3 (23:40):
Me and Lee have talked about it before my life
verse in the Bible is John 3, 19through 22.
You know, the things you seethat you do are in the light
there, in the sight of God.
Yeah, and you do it in thedarkness because you don't want
people to see your evil deed.
That's right.
So now everything I do is seenin the light of.
Speaker 2 (24:00):
God, Amen.
I love that Amen.
You know you, during all thisripping and running, uh, you,
you had a daughter during thistime, and you know.
Question I have for you is didyou ever stop and think that you
were becoming a product of theenvironment that you were raised
up in and that you were notbeing present for your daughter,
(24:23):
the way that your dad was notpresent for you Because I know
that part of your testimony goes, you know, to the direction of
you weren't there for her in herearlier years, prior to being
an adult.
Do you think it's because yougrew up without that dad?
Speaker 3 (24:40):
Yeah, it is this generational curse that we all
talk about, that is so hard forpeople to break.
Generational curse that we alltalk about, that is so hard for
people to break, you know.
But you know, I was so wound upin myself that I didn't take
the time realizing, by doing allthese things, going to prison
and everything what I wasmissing out on.
Yeah, because I spoke earlierof a non-existent father for me
(25:02):
and that's exactly what I wasdoing to my daughter.
Yeah, fortunately, god putsomebody in her path, her
stepdad that stepped in and didthe right thing for her and he
was an amazing man.
He still is.
Amen.
And fortunately now, you know,me and my daughter have a great
relationship.
I left it up to her.
You know, when I come home fromprison, you know, do you want
(25:24):
this relationship with mebecause I wasn't there for you?
You know it's up to you and sheforgave me for that.
Oh, praise God.
Speaker 1 (25:32):
Now, what do you say to the man who says I can't be
the only one who doesn't knowwhat to do, right, I've
experienced generational curses.
I didn't have a father to showme what it was like to be a
father.
What do you say to the manwho's there right now and
they're saying I don't know howto raise these kids.
What do I do?
Speaker 3 (25:54):
You do know how to raise them.
You just don't want to.
It's hard to say that Right nowI would scratch claw, fight
everything in my being to beable to raise my daughter.
You know been there for her andraise her, and I see people
struggle with, you know, divorceand everything every day.
(26:17):
And to that person that says Ican't be the only one fighting
the struggle, you're not.
You're not alone, you know.
All you have to remember isyou're not fighting it alone.
You know God is watchingeverything you do.
God saved my life all theseyears for this purpose.
Amen.
Speaker 2 (26:36):
Yeah, you know, eventually you meet your wife,
robin, but the troubledlifestyle for you was not over.
But the troubled lifestyle foryou was not over.
You say there's about another17 or 18 more years of trouble.
And I was talking to you andRobin after church a couple
(26:56):
weeks ago and I was just tellingher, like Robin, I was just
telling my wife about you guys,and I was like Erica, I don't
know how Robin can take it, man,like, how's she not exploding
with such joy, you know?
And so I looked at Robin and Isaid, sister, you know, I don't
know how you can withstand it.
You know, here your husband hasbeen so dramatically changed,
(27:19):
for the glory of God, you know.
And she looks at me, pastor Jim, she looks at me and she starts
jumping up and down.
She says I do a lot of this, Ido a lot of this, you know,
because she's just so full ofjoy that this man that she's
loved so much and who she saw inso much pain and she saw just
doing a tailspin and sinking anddrowning in that quicksand of
trouble, she now sees.
(27:41):
For the glory of God, herhusband has been transformed
completely, by the way, into anew creature in Christ.
Not only did you not wantanything to do with God or
religion, but you mentionedearlier that you were a
dedicated atheist.
(28:02):
You didn't want anything to dowith anything.
You didn't want anything to dowith church.
You didn't want anything to dowith a preacher, a pastor.
You don't want, you don't wantto hear the word of God.
You don't want anything to dowith God.
Now that you've tasted and seenthat the Lord is good, you know
.
Have you?
Have you ever sat back andthought, man, just how much have
(28:23):
I missed.
Speaker 3 (28:24):
I think about it every day, about every
opportunity I had to change mylife through God, and I put it
away.
I just I shoved it away, Ipushed it away, I hated it away,
and I don't even think I'veever said this before, but I
feel now that the reason I wasso heavy against the Lord,
(28:47):
against God, against preachers,everything, I think it was
because I knew the truth.
I didn't want to face it.
Speaker 2 (28:54):
Yeah, now that's a great point.
At one point in your testimonyyou actually say that your life
was so crazy, you were living sorecklessly that you actually
considered yourself to be thedevil's protege 100%.
Speaker 3 (29:12):
I mean I was in it so deep.
I mean just the drugs, thealcohol, I mean the women out in
the strip clubs where I worked,and I mean it was just you
watch all these movies about allthis kind of stuff and I would
laugh at them guys because I waslike y'all don't have a clue
what it really is.
You know, it's worse than that,you know.
(29:34):
And I was.
I mean I was hurting people formoney, you know, for I mean it
was they pay me just to go hurtthis person because they didn't
like this person or that person.
That was my job.
My job was hate and the devilwas all over me and I knew about
(29:57):
God and I knew the differencebetween right and wrong.
My mother instilled in me rightand wrong.
I just didn't care.
Mother instilled in me rightand wrong.
Yeah, I just didn't care.
Yeah, you know, and to walkhand in hand with the devil it's
.
It seemed like a good time,yeah, but I didn't know the
destruction that I was doing,that I was capable of.
Speaker 2 (30:17):
Yeah, yeah, you know, we we wanted to.
We wanted to mention all ofthis part of your testimony to
our listeners, not because we'reglorifying sin.
We wanted to let people knowjust what you came out of so
that if there's other people outthere that are in that type of
situation, they can realize thatif it was possible for you,
it's possible for them.
(30:38):
So we're not glorifying the sinfolks by any means, but what
we're doing is we are lettingyou know just how bad it was, so
that we can point to God andgive the Father, who is holy and
righteous and loving andmerciful, and grace, and he
offers the forgiveness so freely, so we can give God credit.
So let's get to that night,right?
(30:58):
Let's get to that night whereyou're in the garage.
It's the moment when Godchanged everything in Billy
Livingston's life.
Praise the Lord.
Walk us through that night.
Why were you in the garage?
Speaker 3 (31:13):
That was my spot.
That's where I hid everythingfrom my family, from my wife,
from myself.
That's where I went and gotdone.
Now, the drugs turned into afull-on, 100% blown addiction.
I had to have them, it know it.
It it was more than me, thanfood, you know.
And that's where I went and hidand escaped and thought nobody
(31:35):
knew.
You know, I was wrong.
There too, everybody knew, youknow.
Um, that particular night thatwe're talking about, I had
already been up for three, four,maybe more days.
I'd lost count how many daysI'd been up.
You know, smoking, meth,snorting, meth snorting, cocaine
drinking, and I was by myselfand I was just so far out that I
(32:01):
didn't even know what I wasdoing anymore.
And I felt it.
And I didn't even know what Iwas doing anymore.
And I felt it, and I didn'teven know it.
I opened my eyes and I was onmy knees, crying, begging God
for forgiveness.
And I didn't do that.
I didn't put myself on my kneesand start begging God because I
(32:23):
was still rebelling.
You know, god, put me on myknees.
Come on, god, hit me with.
I like to say it with a two byfour.
You know, hey, it's time foryou to wake up.
I've been there for you allthis time.
Yeah, it's your time.
Yeah, let's get your lifestraight.
And at that moment, I don'tknow, I can't describe it, but I
(32:51):
was shown such a moment, just aglimpse of what glory could be.
And at that moment I was sober.
I was sober and I told God atthat point that if he delivered
me from this life of sin andevil and addiction, that I would
(33:13):
devote my life to him.
I made God that promise and Godsaved me.
And I walked out of that garagesober as the day I was born,
sober as the day I was born.
Come on, and I have not had apull towards addiction for
alcohol, drugs or anything elsesince.
And that's being truly set free.
(33:34):
Set free.
And I was still hesitant.
Yeah, yeah, for all those yearsof being such a knucklehead, I
was still hesitant.
Yeah, and all those years ofbeing such a knucklehead, I was
still hesitant.
Yeah, you know, and I justdidn't know what to do at that
point.
Yeah, how do I fulfill mypromise to God?
(33:56):
He fulfilled his Amen.
When God speaks, it's fulfilled.
Yeah, you know.
So he showed me what it wouldbe like for me.
Yeah, and I was still hesitant,and I know I was hesitant
because I was scared First timein my life.
I ain't never been scared ofanything that walked this earth.
I was scared then, wow, becauseit was the unknown.
(34:18):
I'm this little child now Inthe eyes of God, I'm back, and I
just didn't know where to gofrom there.
Yeah, until I had to take mywife to church two weeks later.
Speaker 2 (34:34):
Well, you know you.
You, you mentioned something.
You mentioned something that Iwant to touch upon.
You said it wasn't you to putyou on your knees.
You know you're.
You're in that moment whereyou're just high out of your
mind, right?
You know?
The Bible talks about how, youknow, we can't save ourselves.
It says that we can't even cometo God unless the Spirit of God
draws us unto Him.
(34:55):
And personally, brother, afterlistening to your testimony, I
personally believe that that'swhat was happening in that
moment God was drawing you untoHimself.
In that moment, he puts you onyour knees.
Next thing, you know, you wakeup and, as you give this promise
to God that, if he gets youright, you will serve him with
the rest of your life.
And I have seen you do that,man, and I'm so proud of you
(35:16):
surrendering to God to work inand through your life.
You know, as God has gotten youto this place, in this moment,
in this garage floor, on yourknees, you said something that I
want to point out to thelisteners In that moment, when
you understood all that wasgoing on, you were sober.
You go from being high out ofyour mind to sober, you know,
(35:39):
and I could see how that couldbe a little scary for a man who
used to be in control ofeverything, or at least thought
he was.
I thought I was a little scaryfor a man who used to be in
control of everything, or atleast thought he was, I thought
I was.
Yeah, now, all of a sudden, youknow you've had this moment
with the authority figure thatyou've been bucking the system
against for so long, that you'vebeen defying and you've been
(35:59):
pointing your finger, if youwill, and shaking it in his face
.
And yet here, god's not angrywith you.
At this night in the garage,god is offering mercy and grace
and forgiveness of your sins,and God just washes over you.
And there comes a point whereyou say that you remembered that
you had promised God that you'dserve him.
(36:21):
So your wife needs a ride tochurch, sister Robin needs a
ride to church and you weregoing to take her.
Walk us through that.
Speaker 3 (36:28):
I got up that morning because I knew she needed a
ride to church.
She was dealing with somevertigo issues and I told her
I'd give her a ride.
You know I'd drop her off andI'd come back and get her While
I was getting dressed to get upand take her walking down the
hallway.
A lot of people are not goingto believe this the
non-believers.
Anybody who believes willbelieve this.
(36:49):
God spoke to me.
Amen brother, I heard his voiceclear as I hear yours right now,
hallelujah.
And what I heard was two words,three words.
Remember your promise, amen,come on.
Walking down the hallway, therewas that two by four again.
Yeah, you know, there was thattwo-by-four again.
Yeah, you know.
Wham, wham.
And as I watched Robin gettingready, I walked up to her and I
(37:10):
said how does this look?
And she said well, you're justdriving me off.
I said no, I'm not.
And she almost hit the floor.
Yeah, she just.
I seen a smile on that woman'sface I hadn't seen in a long
time.
Come on, you know, woman's faceI hadn't seen in a long time,
you know.
And I walked into church thatday and my pastor, pastor Lee,
you know, I was sitting throughthat sermon.
(37:32):
I'd never watched anybodyworship and praise God before
and it was all alien to me and Iwas like a long-haired what do
they call it?
A long-tailed cat in a roomfull of rocket chairs.
Speaker 2 (37:45):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (37:46):
I was on the edge, you know, and at the end of the
sermon, when you asked anybodyif they had, you know, not been
saved, you know, I just didn'traise my hand.
I mean, I jumped up with bothhands in the air Shoot, come on.
And at that moment, I felt likeI was picked up out of my seat.
You know, and glory to God.
(38:09):
He saved me once again and Iwas saved that day and I've been
with God ever since.
Speaker 1 (38:16):
So good.
I think it's incredible thatRobin stuck by you.
Me too, you know like if you,after hearing this testimony,
that woman was there through itall.
I say it right there.
Speaker 3 (38:26):
I don't know why, how she was able to deal with that.
She seen something in me, knewthat I could be a better person,
which I never proved to her atthat time.
You know that I could be, so tothis day I still have.
I know why now, but I stillthink about it.
You know how could she haveheld on that long?
Speaker 1 (38:47):
Because you couldn't prove it, but she believed and
had hope and faith in the onewho did prove it, and that's God
, and that's God.
Yeah, I love that.
And you know, when I hear yourtestimony, especially about you
being in your garage, it remindsme so much of Paul and that
road to Damascus experience,right when God just showed up in
Paul's life.
He was in the middle of killingpeople, he was in the middle of
(39:11):
living a life that wascompletely not in line with what
we know that life to be, andthen, all of a sudden, god shows
up and it was right there, inthat moment His life was
transformed forever.
Speaker 3 (39:22):
And I kind of lead towards that part of scripture
too, because I could relate tothat story, to where he was
killing other Christians.
You know, he was hating andjust everything about
Christianity and in a momenthe's one of the most faithful
servants for God that there everwas.
Just like that man, Just likethat.
Speaker 1 (39:41):
You know I had a question to ask you, but you've
already answered it and I knewthe answer anyway, because the
answer is found in the word, andthat was going to be what
changed you, and the answer issimply this God.
Speaker 3 (39:53):
God, 1,000%.
God's mercy, God's grace, god,I feel and I know.
Now I don't feel.
I know that God kept me aliveduring all this craziness and
evil for a purpose.
Yeah, he has a plan and apurpose for every one of us.
Speaker 2 (40:14):
Yes, he does, yeah, so walk us through that man.
You're coming through thehallway in your house.
God faithfully reminds you of apromise you made him that night
in your garage you come tochurch.
I remember that day, man, youdidn't just come up front to the
altar, you, you were willing tocome up on stage and surrender
your life to Jesus.
There is a true countenancechanged in your life, man, like
(40:36):
when I see you like it.
It's just, it's this lightnessthat you carry around, it's a
peace, um, and I think that Ithink that the reason that
you've completely sold out tothe peace of the Lord is because
you've known all along that'swhat you've needed is peace.
You know it's not what you'vehad growing up, and now you also
know that you've got somethingelse you didn't have when you
(40:58):
were growing up, and that's afather figure.
You've got a heavenly father,amen.
Speaker 3 (41:01):
You've got a provider .
I have the largest father ofthem all.
Speaker 2 (41:04):
Amen, brother.
You've got a provider.
Amen, brother.
You've got a provider in yourlife.
You've got a redeemer, you'vegot a savior.
So, through it all, through itall, god has rescued you and God
has transformed you.
I want to just kind of leavewith this verse right here.
(41:25):
Romans 6.23 says leave withthis verse right here.
Romans 6.23 says for the wagesof sin is death, but the gift of
God is eternal life in ChristJesus, our Lord and my friends.
That gift was presented toBilly.
It was also presented to myself, to Pastor Jim.
That free gift of life from Godthrough Jesus Christ is
presented to every single one ofus.
So, no matter how far you'vebeen running, no matter how long
(41:48):
you've been running, all you'vegot to do right now, in this
moment, is turn around and justsimply surrender and trust God.
So if you'd like that, today Iwant to lead you through a
prayer.
If you're saying, you know what, I'm tired of running, I'm
tired of spinning circles, I'mtired of filling my life with
enjoyment that quickly fades,then I invite you right now to
(42:10):
accept Jesus Christ as the Kingof all kings and Lord of all
lords in your life, as yourSavior.
Would you say a prayer likethis Lord Jesus, I am a sinner
and I ask you, lord, to forgiveme of my sins.
I recognize, jesus, that youdied on the cross so that I
(42:30):
could be forgiven, and I ask younow to come into my life,
rescue me, redeem me and save mysoul.
I want to follow you witheverything that I've got.
Teach me how to be faithful andobedient In Jesus' name and
blood.
Amen, amen, amen.
(42:51):
Guys, we want to thank you forlistening to this episode of
Beyond Sunday.
You know, this time with ourbrother Billy has been so rich.
It's been so blessed.
Hopefully, you can come tochurch Thursday or Sunday and
say hey to us and also meetBilly.
He's there every Thursday, he'sthere every Sunday faithfully,
(43:11):
and we're excited to introduceyou to a brother in the Lord
that truly is changed for theglory of.
Speaker 1 (43:18):
God and Billy, I just want to say thank you.
You know, oftentimes ourtestimonies can be hard to tell.
You know, oftentimes ourtestimonies can be hard to tell,
but when you look at ourtestimonies and how they are
just like the gospel in thatthey present and point everyone
to the cross.
They point everyone to thetransformation that Christ has
in our lives and for our lives.
(43:40):
I really do want to say thankyou for being willing to come
here and just give us yourtestimony and being raw.
So thank you.
Speaker 3 (43:46):
No, there's no, and just give us your testimony.
And being raw.
So thank you, there's noproblem there.
I'm blessed to do it and withthe testimony, I feel that if
one person is saved from havingto go through everything that I
went through, then every momentI went through that was well
worth it.
Speaker 1 (44:01):
Amen, me and Pastor Lee say that often.
If just one person shows up tochurch, they're going to hear
the gospel.
Speaker 2 (44:06):
Yeah, absolutely Real quick.
Before we sign off here, tellus in just a few words what does
life look like going forwardfor Billy and Robin Bright
brother bright Amen In the light.
Speaker 3 (44:18):
God has got plans for us.
I don't know what they are.
I just know I'm going to bethere to follow them and be and
have my faith and walk in his,in his glory.
And I don't know what he has instore, but I'm looking forward
to it Amen.
Speaker 2 (44:33):
All right guys.
That's a wrap on today'sepisode of beyond Sunday.
God bless you.
Share this link with someonebecause it can impact their life
forever.
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