July 4, 2025 • 47 mins
Can God still use us in spite of a painful past? Counselor and family therapist, Dr. Sabrina Black will talk about the practical work of living confidently and finding God's grace to heal the broken places of our lives. We'll also hear the story of God's grace over the life of Senate Chaplain, Admiral Barry Black. Don't miss this special edition of Equipped with Chris Brooks!
Featured resources:
Live Right Now by Dr. Sabrina Black
From the Hood to the Hill by Chaplain Barry Black
July thank you gift:
Surrendered Sexuality by Juli Slattery
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:15):
Please enjoy this encore edition of equipped with Chris Brooks.
Hey there folks, welcome to another exciting edition of equipped
with Chris Brooks. I am so glad you tuned in today.
I hope you are enjoying the beauty of God's creation
(00:36):
and celebrating the goodness of God in your life for
allowing you to see another day. And why did he
allow you to see another day? Because this is the
day that he has made for you and I to
rejoice and be glad in it. And I know there's
a lot of trouble around us, but let's remember he
is still Emmanuel and this is still our father's world.
(00:57):
So I greet you with the words of the Apostle Paul,
rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice.
With that I welcome you into what will be hopefully
a very healing addition of equip. I have two guests
who are going to join me today, and what we're
going to really zero in on and hopefully Address are
those of you who may be convinced that because of
(01:20):
the brokenness of your past, either pain that was inflicted
upon you, or maybe even the consequences of your own
sin patterns, bad decisions, and choices that somehow you are
disqualified from your future. That somehow God cannot use you.
And some of you may feel that very explicitly, very tangibly.
(01:42):
You may be very aware of it. Others of you,
there may be this gnawing kind of hidden or secret
doubt that you have because I'm an out-of-wedlock mother, or
because I'm a divorcee, or because I was abused, or
because I was unloved in some way. And you know what?
I believe that God's grace wants to shout loudly to
(02:06):
us today. I believe that God, the great artist of heaven,
wants to remind us that he's creating a beautiful portrait
out of our lives and that he can use, even
though strokes of paint that may feel like they're displaced.
You know, if you've ever seen an artist do their work,
there are times when you look at them splashing the
(02:26):
paint on the canvas or strokes with their brushes and
you say, how does that fit? And that seems to
be out of place. But when they're all said and done,
you see this beautiful picture that says, wow, God, you
really were at work. And I believe that God, the
greatest artist the universe has ever known, is making a
masterpiece out of you and out of me. And today,
(02:46):
to help me to discuss this, I've brought along a
few friends. First off is going to be Doctor Sabrina Black.
She is an international speaker and columnist. Sabrina has been
in private practice at Abundant Life and needs to talk
as a family therapist and life coach, providing counseling services
to individuals for over 20 years. She's also the president
(03:08):
of National Biblical Counseling Association. She is, um, an author
of over ten books. She's a friend. She's a missionary.
She's one of those things where she's all things to
all people. And I get a chance to call her
friend Sabrina Black. How are you today?
S2 (03:26):
I'm great, pastor Brooks. It's so good to be on
the line and to be able to share with the
listening audience just how to move forward. No matter what
is going on in your life. I'm doing great.
S1 (03:36):
And so much of it is about that moving forward.
I just want to reference your book. We have been
proud to promote it throughout Moody Radio. Once again, we
are encouraging people to get a copy of the book
live right now. Honest Answers to Life's Toughest Questions. We'll
have a link to our website for folks to be
able to connect with you personally, as well as to
(03:57):
get a copy of the book. If they would like
to secure and purchase that copy at our website, equip radio.org.
But as we talk about moving forward, I just want
to go back for just a moment, uh, to you
to in a very personal way, because, as I say,
all of these accolades, I want you to think about
your upbringing. If we were to visit you in in
(04:19):
your adolescent years, what we have predicted all of these things.
S2 (04:25):
In my adolescent years, you would have predicted that I
was going somewhere. You wouldn't have known where I was going. Exactly. But.
But I was always the person who was a go getter,
an overachiever. I wanted to excel. I wanted to do
great things for the kingdom without even knowing about the
kingdom at the time. But I knew there was something
more than what I was doing, and I wanted to
(04:45):
be a part of whatever it was. But I think
along the way, depending on when you would have caught me,
probably later, uh, late teens, early 20s, when I was
coming out of high school, college, during that phase of
life where I think a lot of young people struggle,
I had lost my way in terms of knowing God.
I grew up in the church, I knew about God,
(05:06):
but I never really had a true relationship with him.
And because I didn't have that firm foundation. I wandered
from him. And in that wandering, you would not have
predicted all those accolades you would have wanted. Who is
this person? Where is she going? And will she even survive?
Because I tell you, it's only the grace of God
that I've made it. Because I was involved in some
(05:26):
things that probably shouldn't even speak of. But. But God
brought me out of all those dark places. And when
I think about where I am now, I tell you, Chris,
I never want to go back to the darkness. I
am so thankful to be in the marvelous light. I
want people to just keep seeing the light and seeing
the light, because there is so much devastation and so
much despair in those dark places. Even though it seems
(05:49):
like fun in the moment, it's dying a slow death.
S1 (05:53):
You know, you talk about the darkness not wanting to
go back and and we all know why you say that.
Because every single one of us, what is true about
all of us is that we have all visited there
at some point in our lives, some to a greater
degree than others. But what we do know is the
silver lining, if there is a silver lining, is the
testimony of being able to say, I've been to hell
(06:15):
and back and I'm able to tell the story. Now
there's two. To me, there's two reasons why we go there.
One is because of what happens to us, and then
the other is because of what happens to us, because
of our own decisions. I want to talk about that
person who may have experienced abuse, neglect, the lack of love, um, mistreatment. Uh,
(06:39):
not not all of our lives are the story of
people encouraging us doing what's right by us, the right
people loving us. Sometimes the opposite is true. What do
you say to that person, and how has that played
out in your own life to be able to overcome
mistreatment in opposition?
S2 (06:58):
Yeah, and I think that's the reality for most people
is that at some point we've all been mistreated, we've
all been stabbed in the back, we've all been lied on,
talked about, or whatever the case may be. We've had
some bad things happen to us, and that's because of
the evil of men's hearts. And so maybe you didn't
do anything wrong, or you weren't in the wrong place
at the wrong time, but life just happened to you.
(07:18):
And I think that's what we have to realize is
that life does happen, but it's how we respond to
the things that have happened to us that allow us
to move forward. You know, when we get stuck in
places and just have pity parties about the fact that
it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, it shouldn't have happened.
I didn't deserve this and nobody deserves it. You know,
when we get stuck there and just keep playing that
(07:39):
tape over and over and over again, we don't get
to move forward. And so at some point, we have
to write a new script. We have to write a
new ending to our own story. You don't want your
story to end with, I was abused or my husband
left me, or I had a child out of wedlock.
That's not the end of the story. That's still in
the middle of the book somewhere. And so you have
to continue to say, and what happens next? And so
(08:01):
I was abused as a child. And, you know, the
people who I should have trusted, I should have been
able to trust and depend on weren't there for me.
How do I move on? How do I learn how
to trust people again? And how do I not stay
stuck in a place at 14 or stuck in a
place of 17? One of the things that encourages me
is definitely the Word of God. And and there's a
(08:21):
text in Philippians, Philippians 112 where Paul is saying, my brothers,
I want you to know that what has happened to
me has made more people know about the gospel of
the good news. And so, you know, we have this
opportunity that no matter what happens to us, especially when
we come out of it, we can say that despite
what I've gone through, despite what I've been through, God
(08:41):
kept me in the midst of it and God brought
me out of it. And so even while you're there
to realize that you didn't die in it because God
kept you. And so because God allowed you to live
through it, what is the testimony that now comes out
of that? And how can you use that testimony to
not only be a blessing to yourself and to people
around you, but to others, because God kept you for
a purpose? And you have to realize that there's purpose
(09:03):
in whatever pain you've You've endured. What's the purpose?
S1 (09:06):
There's a lot of areas of brokenness that you get
into in your book. Relationships is a big one of them.
And I just want you to spend a few moments
talking about or talking to, rather that person who's been
relationally abandoned. Um, how do you get up off the
mat after a divorce or after someone's walked out on you,
(09:26):
or even the loss of a loved one? And it
just seems like the wind has been knocked out of you.
S2 (09:32):
You know, when you feel like the wind has been
knocked out. Sometimes all you can do is whisper the
name of Jesus. You know that that's all you can
say sometimes. Like Jesus. Jesus. Lord, help, help! And that's
a good place to begin. Just crying out to God
and asking him to help. But you know, after you've
cried out to God and after you've prayed and after
you've cried some more and you've prayed some more, then
(09:54):
becomes the challenge of, Lord, how do I move forward?
What do I do now? What do I do next?
And so you know, Isaiah 43 reminds us to remember you,
not the former things neither consider the things of old.
But behold, I am doing a new thing, and it's
going to spring forth, and shall you not know it?
So we have to realize that God says he's going
to make a way, even in the wilderness, and he's
going to make rivers of refreshing, even in the desert.
(10:16):
And so I'm coming out of this place where I've
been abandoned, where, um, I'm left alone, whether it's through
death or divorce or somebody just walking out on me
and it's like, God, what am I supposed to do?
How am I supposed to go on? And who can
I ever trust? And to realize that I have to
deal with the fact that I've been wounded and not
pretend that it doesn't hurt, because it does hurt. When
(10:36):
you've been left behind, you have to, you know, deal
with those unresolved issues and those unmet needs and, and
talk through what do I do now and next. And
that's where the counseling. And so a lot of things
you can't just fix over the radio. You got to
be able to go in and sit down and talk
through the issues and talk about what were you like
before and what is it that God wants you to
(10:57):
become even now, as God is doing this new thing
in your life, what's the debris that you need to
clean away? And so sometimes people try to build without
getting help, and you can't just be restored without healing first.
And so you have to clear away the painful past
and process what has happened to you in order to
be able to take the next steps for building. Because
otherwise people will do is build on a faulty foundation
(11:19):
and then it'll crumble all over again.
S1 (11:21):
I love.
S2 (11:21):
The.
S1 (11:23):
I love what you're saying because I think a lot
of us, Sabrina, have a Timex theology. We take a
look and keep on ticking. Right. And we. And we
think suppression is deliverance, that somehow suppression is victory. And
what we've simply done is continue to pack deeper and
deeper pains and hurts from the past. And so I
(11:46):
fully affirm the need for counseling and being in a
church that can teach right theology. Sometimes it's just faulty
ways of thinking. Listen, that music means we have to
take a short break. When we come back, I'm going
to talk to Doctor Black. About what? What if our
brokenness is of the physical nature and we're experiencing physical brokenness, sickness,
(12:07):
and pain in our bodies mentally and physically and then self-image?
How do we get a vision of ourselves that's based
off of the way God sees us? So much more
to come. Don't change that dial. I promise you the
best is yet to come, so stick and stay. Next
up on equip. The word apologetics often creates an immediate reaction.
(12:31):
For some, they wonder what are we apologizing for? But
for those who know, it's a means to make Christianity
clear by answering the important questions on people's hearts. In
his book Beyond Opinion, the late Ravi Zacharias challenges us
to go deeper and to defend the faith we live
for and love. Request a book. When you support, equip
with a financial gift today, call 888644 4144 or visit
(12:55):
Equip Radio. Org. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's
program is prerecorded and we won't be taking your calls.
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks having a wonderful
conversation with my guest, doctor Sabrina Black. She's my first
of two guests. Don't change that dial after our next break,
because coming up after this, I'll be talking to the
(13:17):
62nd chaplain of the US Senate, Rear Admiral Barry Black.
He's going to be joining me. No relation between Sabrina
and Barry, at least not that we know of. Maybe
there is somewhere down the family tree. But you come
from the Miri clan. So we'll have to do some investigation.
But we're talking about Sabrina Black's book, doctor Sabrina Black's
(13:39):
book live right now. You can get a copy of
this by ordering it. You can go to our website.
Moody radio has been so proud of this relationship. So
go to our website at Equip radio.org. That's equip radio.org.
I promise you, when we come back, when we came
back that we would talk to those of you who
know what it is to deal with physical illnesses more
(14:02):
than just the common cold. More than just a flu.
More than just a temporary setback. But for those who
have to live with chronic pain, with ongoing, debilitating, debilitating
conditions that just seem stuck in their calling because of it,
and then akin to that, Sabrina will be those who
have to deal with the lingering realities of battles with
(14:23):
anxiety or depression or other types of forms of mental illness.
What do you say to those individuals who feel like
something's faulty in my body that's hindering me from what
God has called me to do?
S2 (14:36):
You know, one of the things I often think about
is how when we are going through whatever it is
we're going through, whether it's physical or emotional or spiritual
or relational, we feel like God can't use us and
that there's no hope for us in ministry and being
involved in the things of the kingdom. And and God
uses who you are with what you have. So God
takes all of our brokenness and he uses it for
(14:57):
his glory. You know, that's what the word reminds us,
that he'll bestow upon us a crown of beauty for
ashes and the oil of joy, instead of mourning the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And when
you have pain in your body, or you have emotional
anxiety or depression, you just feel like I can't be
used by God. And you can. That is a lie
from the enemy. God wants to use you, whoever you
(15:17):
are and whatever condition you are. I think about my
own physical limitations, and I don't talk about them much
because I just do what I can do. Most people
wouldn't even believe I had any. You know, but I
live with chronic pain. I'm. My back is constantly in pain.
I have weak knees and those kinds of things. And
I know there's a school of thought that says, you know,
don't profess that. But the reality is I'm in pain.
S1 (15:38):
So, you know.
S2 (15:39):
I'm not claiming the pain. The pain is real, whether
I'm claiming it or not. It's still there. But I
do know that on my good days, I live life
to the fullest. And on those days when I can't
do as much, then those are the days I pray
more and I read more. And I meditate on the
scriptures day and night because my physical limitation is there,
but I don't live with just the limitations. And so
(15:59):
as you mentioned earlier, I do missions around the world. And,
you know, and I've gotten on planes with crutches and
I've been in wheelchairs through the airport. And I do
what I got to do to keep moving forward. I
don't stop and talk about what I can't do. I
always think about what can I do? And that's what
I would encourage those who have pain to think about.
What can you do? You know, maybe you can lead
a Bible study from your home if you can't get
(16:21):
out as often. Or maybe you can do editing and
help write books or something. But what can you do?
Don't think about all the limitations. Think about all the possibilities.
S1 (16:29):
And for those who are.
S2 (16:31):
Go ahead.
S1 (16:32):
Yeah, I was just going to say that's great. And
I think that what it does is it really turns
upside down the framework that we often operate from, this
faulty framework, that our weaknesses are in opposition to our calling,
or somehow they're a hindrance to our calling. What I
hear you saying, in a very glorious way, is what
if your weakness was central to your calling, and so
(16:56):
many have missed out on ministry opportunities to the very
group of people that they would relate to the best.
Who better to minister to somebody who's going through chronic
illness than somebody who has been in that journey? Who
better to deal with the issue of serving God while
(17:16):
living with a mental illness than those who have walked
that way? And there's a taboo around these things that
often and you just mentioned it comes from the peer
pressure of bad theology that causes a person to feel like,
I could never admit that I struggle with depression, or
that I struggle with an anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder,
(17:39):
or I can never admit my physical limitations. But what
if that was central to your calling? And what if
you embraced what you could do instead of allowing the
enemy to beat you up over what you could not do? Now,
Doctor Black, I got to gotta admit that one of
my favorite quotes and I'm just going to give you
two of my favorite quotes from your book. One is
from the chapter on self-image, and it comes from and
(18:02):
you quote Edgar Guest here. And he simply says, I
have to live with myself. And so I want to
be fit for myself to know. And I just laugh
every time I see that. It's like I got to
be good for myself. Well, talk about this whole world
of self-image and how important it is for us to
ignore the wrong voices and embrace God's voice.
S2 (18:23):
You have definitely got to ignore the wrong voices, and
you've got to know the voice of God and not
only know the voice of God, but know what the
voice of God is saying to you. I mean, because
you are precious in his sight and he loves you
and he wants a relationship with you. He wants great
things for you. And he's a good, good father. And
so when you think about it, he's a good father
and you're his child. That's what you have to remind
(18:45):
yourself of. How beautiful. Because God says I'm beautiful, not
because the world says I'm skinny enough to be beautiful
or I'm light skinned enough. be beautiful. I got long
hair enough where I got blue eyes or whatever the
standard of beauty may be. And that's the thing. The
standard of beauty changes in the world, in our culture,
and it changes around the world. And so in other
parts of the world, being a big boned girl is beautiful.
(19:06):
And if you are a little skinny girl, you're malnutrition.
You know, in certain parts of being dark skinned, black,
blue is beautiful. And if you're too light, they figure
that the Lord has not shined on you. And so again,
depending on where you are culturally or in the world,
that's the standard of beauty. But our standard of beauty
as a Christian, and my personal standard of beauty, is
that God says I'm beautiful, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made,
(19:29):
and I can know that, right? Well, God says that
he loved the inside of me, the character of me.
You know, I think as I get older, I learn
more and more that this outward frame is just that.
It's an outward frame, but the flesh is just that.
It's temporal. It's a spirit man that that God sees
is so beautiful. And so I want my character to
be right, because the character is what makes you beautiful.
(19:50):
I remember when I was growing up, my mother used
to say, pretty is. It's pretty done. And so when
you act, you act right. That's what people see. And
so you can see people who are not that comely
on the outside, but they have the joy of the
Lord flowing from them. They have a beautiful smile, and
people are drawn to them, not because of the outer beauty,
but because of the inner beauty. And the inner beauty
makes you look good on the outside. And so that's
(20:12):
what's important.
S1 (20:13):
Okay. I want you to help us get our theology right,
in particular in the area of grace. You know, I
think grace is something that he lives on the extremes.
Either people are graceless and they don't don't know about
it at all. Or people have now embraced this hyper grace. Right? Where, um,
no matter how you live, it doesn't matter. Get ready
(20:35):
to sin consciousness and all of those things. Not even
acknowledging why Jesus had to die. But I think it
is healthy for us to have a proper understanding of
God's redemptive work in spite of us, that the glory
is not because of us, but because of him. What
is Sabrina Black's? Understanding of grace? And how does that
play into us being able to live right now and
(20:56):
overcoming the brokenness of our past?
S2 (20:59):
Um. It's amazing. I tell you, I'm just thankful. Thankful, thankful.
Every time you ask me a question, I just think,
thank you, God. Thank you that I know your word,
that I know you. And that's the first thing that
you can live in peace and live with grace when
you know the word, because you understand the framework that
you're living by. And so as soon as you said
the word grace, how we take God's grace for granted,
(21:21):
the first thing that came to mind is, is Romans
chapter six. And that's something I learned when I was
being discipled and growing up in the faith. You know,
what shall we say then? Do we continue in sin
that grace may abound? Absolutely not. God forbid. And so
we have to realize that God is not mocked. We
don't just get to do whatever we want to do
and say, well, God knows my heart. God knows. God
knows my intentions. God give me grace. God's going to
(21:44):
pardon me. You know, God says that he gives us
room for repentance. He gives us plenty of room to
get it right before we experience the judgment. And the
judgment is just as real as the grace is, you know.
And that's why when we see people seem like they're
getting away with stuff, don't worry about what the wicked
is doing. You know, the wicked won't troubled always. The
wicked will end up in the just end. And so
(22:04):
we have to know that God has called us as
his people to live right? Because we bear his name.
As Christians, we say we are Christians. I'm living Christ's life,
and to live Christ like is to be obedient to
His Word. And so God gives us grace, and that
he gives us plenty of room to live right for him.
And I'm so thankful for that. But grace is not
to be used with wild abandon, saying, we can do
(22:26):
whatever we want to do because he's going to give
us grace.
S1 (22:29):
Yeah, so Grace isn't a license to sin. And on
the other hand, grace is the story of every person
who's ever made it. Because the story of the gospel
is not our perfection, is it right?
S2 (22:40):
Absolutely, absolutely. It's great that Paul talks about it in
Second Corinthians four, when he talked about the fact that
you can be troubled, you can be perplexed, you can
be persecuted and cast down. But you ain't got to
be distressed. You don't have to be in despair or
feel like you're forsaken or be destroyed. And so that's
God's grace that you can be in trouble and not distress.
I mean, when I think about the things that people
(23:01):
are going through, the word is reminding us that you
can have trouble, but you don't have to be anxious.
You don't have to be worried. You don't have to
be fearful. You can be perplexed, but you ain't got
to be depressed about it because you got to know
that God's got you. God has a plan for your life,
and as long as you're walking in obedience to His
Word and you're following close after him, that plan is
going to be fulfilled. You don't have to worry about
(23:21):
all the stuff that's going on all around you. You
can't control none of that. The only thing you can
do is exercise self-control to be obedient to the word.
S1 (23:29):
Every single listener. Right now, I'm telling you, I know
what they're thinking. They're thinking, I wish I had a
friend like Sabrina Black. And I'm telling you right now,
I'm blessed to be able to have a friend called
Sabrina Black. But you can too. And part of the
way you can too, is through her book live. Right now.
She really is a coach and a friend. She's one
(23:50):
of those friends that, if you haven't figured it out
by now, is that person who tells you the truth
whether you want to hear it or not. But she's
going to do it from a biblical perspective. That's why
we want you to get a copy of the book.
But we want to encourage people today. Because here's the thing, folks.
I talk about the Christian worldview all the time. And
and if we're not careful what we'll think, what you
(24:12):
might be tempted to think I'm referring to is our
ability to just defend our faith, defend the tenets of
our faith. But really, when I say the Christian worldview,
what I mean by that is the way we view
the world ourselves, God, creation, others. And I think of
the Christian life like this Doctor Black, I think of
(24:33):
the Christian life as Jesus's invitation to us to take
off the lenses through which we've been seeing the world,
and to put on his lenses. It's almost like Jesus
is saying to us, you need corrective lenses in your
prescription has been wrong. And so that's why you see
people as trees. That's why you see yourself in a
(24:55):
distorted way. That's why you're discouraged. But if you put
on my lenses, you'll see that I have a wonderful
purpose and plan for your life. You'll see my grace.
You'll see my salvation. And I think part of putting
on those lenses is having conversations like this with people
who have lived it out. Uh, as I got to
let you. As we got to run because of time,
(25:17):
I'd be remiss if you did not say a concluding thought.
S2 (25:22):
If people want to get in touch with me, you know,
for some people, I can be their friend. Others I
can be their coach and or counselor. They can give
me a call at (313)Â 201-6286, or they can go to
the website. Doctor Sabrina black.com. But you know I'm here
to help. And that's what I want to be able
to do for people.
S1 (25:40):
Well, and if you didn't remember any of that and
you say my pen doesn't write fast enough. Go to
equip radio.org. I promise you we will have her contact
information there. Equipped radio.org will direct people your way. Doctor
black and encourage people to connect with you. Thank you
so much for being a friend and for being with
me on equip. Folks. Don't change that dial. Uh, Rear
(26:01):
Admiral Barry Black, the 62nd chaplain of the US Senate,
is going to be with us after this break. So
you don't change that dial, stick and stay. The best
is yet to come. Next up on equip. Chris Brooks
here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded. While we
won't be taking calls, we do want to connect with
(26:22):
you on social media. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks.
I hope you've been enjoying the conversation. We've been talking
about God's ability to use us in spite of our past,
our brokenness and our weaknesses. And I couldn't think of
a better example, a real life example and testimony of this.
(26:42):
Then my next guest. You know, we need to talk
about God's grace more than just as a doctrine, more
than just as a theory. But we need living examples
of that grace. And one of those shining examples is
Barry Black. He is the 62nd chaplain of the US Senate.
Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Chaplain Black served as
(27:04):
in the US Navy for over 27 years, ending a
distinguished career as the Chief of Navy Chaplains. And he
has written a phenomenal book. It's just fascinating. Uh, and
that's the exact word that Rick Warren Pastor Rick Warren
used to describe it. It's entitled From the Hood to
the Hill A Story of Overcoming. Chaplain black, thank you
(27:25):
so much for joining us.
S3 (27:27):
It's my honor to be with you.
S1 (27:30):
What a blessing you are. And and I think before
we get into the full story of this wonderful book
of your life, I just want to for a moment,
just ask you, what is it like being in your
role when tragic moments strike? You've been there in terrorist attacks.
You've been in there with domestic violence. You've been in
(27:52):
there with economic downturns. What is what is your role
in those moments?
S3 (27:59):
Well, my role is to be an instrument in the
hands of God, to glorify him in those circumstances. Romans
828 says, in everything, God is working for the good
of those who love him, who are the called according
(28:20):
to his purposes. So nothing can happen that we can't
see the hand of God in. So it is my
responsibility to let people know that no matter how difficult
the challenge may be, God is in it. James Russell
Lowell put it this way. Truth. Forever on the scaffold. Wrong.
(28:43):
Forever on the throne. Yet behind the dim unknown. Standeth
God within the shadows. Keeping watch above his own. My
responsibility is to help people during tragic situations. See the
God who is in the shadows.
S1 (29:04):
And you do it so well. But yet, in many ways,
it's a miracle of God's grace that you are where
you are. You did not start out in Capitol Hill.
You didn't start in the white House. You started in
a carpetless cement floor house. Um, uh, roaches there, um,
sparsely furnished place. And you talk in your book about
(29:27):
Miss Jenkins, and I don't know if you remember her,
this social worker who came to visit your house. Talk
about your upbringing and just the unlikely journey to where
you are.
S3 (29:37):
Well, I grew up in Freddie Gray's neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland.
Those of you who remember the name Freddie Gray. So
it was an environment of toxic pathology, and I should
have just been a statistic. I should have been killed
probably before I reached puberty. There was domestic violence. There was.
(30:00):
There were homicides there. There was all kinds of environmental challenges. But,
you know, we serve a God who is able, according
to Ephesians 320, to do immeasurably abundantly above all that
(30:20):
we can ask or imagine. And that's the God that
we need to be looking to in our nation and
world today. And when I was eight years of age,
my mother brought home a record that the lady for
whom she worked, my mother was a domestic $6 a day,
and the lady for whom she worked gave my mother
(30:41):
a record and I played it. It was a narration
record until I had memorized it. It was the voice
and the sermon of Peter Marshall, the 52nd chaplain of
the United States Senate. In fact, I have that album
framed in my office at home, and I memorized the
(31:01):
sermon of the 57th chaplain of the United States Senate
when I was eight years of age. I probably couldn't
even spell chaplain at the time. I would have spelled
it without the A like Charlie Chaplin, and God had
a plan for my life. Jeremiah 2911 God speaking says,
I know the plan that I have for you plans
(31:23):
to prosper you, to give you a future, to give
you a hope, to bring you to an expected end.
So God already had an expected end for my life.
And in that roach Infested, rat infested tenement. He already planned,
I believe. For me to be a successor to Peter Marshall.
(31:43):
I'm the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. And
he was doing it to someone who whom you wouldn't
expect that that would happen to a African-American. There had
never been an African-American chaplain of the United States Senate.
A career military officer, no career military officer had ever
been appointed to this responsibility. So the poet had it right.
(32:07):
God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, he
says in Isaiah 59 eight and nine, my ways are
not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
thoughts higher than your thoughts, and my ways higher than
your ways. And I'm certainly glad about it.
S1 (32:30):
Well, you know, I recently, about a year ago, I
read the book by the wonderful sociologist Malcolm Gladwell called
David and Goliath. And I would encourage everyone to read that.
And he talks about seeing disadvantage as advantage. Rethinking. Reframing
how we see things like pain and affliction. And I
immediately thought of you. Uh, we often see affliction as
(32:53):
the devil's work and only tending towards hindrance and holding
us back. But you say there's a blessing in affliction.
Discuss that for a moment.
S3 (33:02):
Well, one of the great blessings in affliction is that
it enables us, after we receive comfort from God to
comfort others. It enables us to know what other people
are going through because God brought us through similar circumstances. Uh,
(33:22):
second Corinthians one three and four says the God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions. Why,
That we may comfort others with the comfort wherewith we
have been comforted. So when people tell me about the
depravity of their backgrounds, the poverty and the pathology they
(33:45):
had to wade through, hey, they're talking to a brother.
I know what that's all about. And the same God
who brought me through it can bring anyone through it.
The Hymnists put it this way. It is no secret
what God can do, what he's done for others, he
(34:05):
will do for you.
S1 (34:07):
What about, um, adversity in the form of, uh, those
who oppose you and those who aren't supportive? Everybody, I'm assuming,
along the way has not been a fan of Barry Black.
Satan does put people in our pathway. How have you
handled that type of opposition?
S3 (34:25):
Well, when you are faced with opposition, the the wonderful
joy for a person of faith is to know, according
to Romans chapter eight, that you are already more than
a conqueror. Moreover, God promises in Isaiah 5417, no weapon
(34:47):
formed against you will be able to prosper. It doesn't
say that you will not face a weapon. The enemy
opposition haters, people who envy you because favor isn't fair.
So you'll face opposition. The weapon will be formed. The
weapon will come against you. But God has promised that
(35:09):
it will not ultimately prosper. And I have found time
and time in my life that the opposition I had
to face, the weapons that have come against me, they
have not prospered. That is why Matthew 544 tells us,
love your enemies, Bless those who curse you. Pray for
(35:33):
those who despitefully use you. And Jesus says in the
sermon on the Mount in Matthew five, again, happy are
you when people revile you, persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely. That's a critical qualifier,
falsely for my sake. It goes on to say, rejoice
(35:55):
and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted they the prophets
who were before you. So there's a joy, a fellowship
of suffering that Paul talks about in Philippians 310. So
you know that the enemy must be worried about you
when he brings persecution and affliction your way. Second Timothy
(36:18):
312 says, all those who live godly will suffer persecution
that second Timothy 312. If you're not getting some pushback,
maybe you need to check up on how you're living.
S1 (36:31):
I love it, I love it, I love it. May
that be an encouragement to those of you who are
facing opposition. Maybe on the work front, maybe in your
own home, maybe in your community. If you're not getting
any type of pushback, maybe you need to check whether
or not you're truly on mission with God. We got
to take a short break, but I promise you it
will be short and we will come back with the
(36:52):
conclusion of the matter. Can God use you in spite
of a past of brokenness, affliction, poverty, and pain? The
answer is an affirmative yes. When we come back, we're
going to talk to Chaplain Black about the power of family.
He's had some key people in his life along the way,
but maybe none more important than the family God has
(37:14):
given him. Don't change that dial. The best is yet
to come. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks. What
is equipped with Chris Brooks at its core. This program
is just real people who are trying to deal with
(37:36):
real life and looking for biblical answers. Tune in every
weekday and that's what you'll hear. But none of this
is possible without the generous monthly support of our Equippers.
You can join the growing family of supporters today and
begin receiving special benefits when you call 888644 4144. Or
if you prefer to automate your gift, simply go online
(37:58):
to equipped radio.org. Welcome back! Having a fascinating conversation with
Chaplain Barry Black of the US Senate. From the hood
to the Hill A Story of Overcoming. This is our
last segment, Chaplain Black. And there's two points that I
(38:19):
want to hit. The importance of traveling the road or
the path less traveled, and how that plays a role
in us being what God has called us to be.
Not choosing easy Street. But before we get to that,
I just want you to have a word about Pauline.
Your your mother, about, uh, the the wonderful people God
(38:40):
has given you who fall up under this moniker of family.
What is the the importance of the family structure?
S3 (38:47):
Well, someone said it's an African proverb. It takes a
village to raise someone. And I had a wonderful village
of people of faith. First my mother, who gave my
siblings and me $0.05 for every Bible verse we memorized.
S1 (39:04):
And what by getting.
S3 (39:06):
By getting Scripture into us, she inoculated us against the
pathology of our environment. I think of Mrs. Ada Thornton,
a lady in Baltimore who used to give me $0.50
big money in those days to scrub her steps because
she knew that that $0.50 would provide a a monetary
(39:27):
incentive for me not to join the gangs. I think
of Mrs. Alberta Brown, a lady from Jamaica, and this
beautiful lady used to let me come over to her home,
and she would feed me when I didn't have food
in the home of my family of origin. I think
of Mrs. Ethel Cox on Eutaw Place in Baltimore, Maryland,
(39:50):
who used to let me clean her house on Sundays.
She'd let me clean her house and give me $15. Now,
my mother is a domestic, was only making $6 a day,
and she would quickly confiscate most of what Mrs. Cox
gave me. But nonetheless, these people knew. These people knew
(40:11):
that they could contribute and invest in a life that
might be marginalized were it not for their intervention. So
we are a part of a family, Martin King said.
We are wrapped in a blanket of mutuality, tied to
a single garment of destiny. And I would not have
(40:32):
gone from the hood to the hill without the contribution
of many people of faith who believe. Don't just lay
up for yourselves treasures on earth, but invest in someone
who can be a companion with you in eternity. Lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
S1 (40:54):
You know, when I think about you, I think about
the word and admonishment from Scripture that the just shall
live by faith. Romans 117 the righteous shall live by faith. Um,
so much of that is required if we're going to
be who God has called us to be. Uh, you
have a chapter in here about the path less traveled.
(41:16):
Why is that so important? And speak to the person
who's on that path. And everybody looks at them and says,
who do you think you are that you could aspire
for for this role?
S3 (41:26):
Well, Matthew chapter seven, Jesus said, broad is the way
that leads to destruction, and many are on that path.
But difficult is the way, and narrow is that road
that leads to life. And few there be that find it.
It is the difficult path, the road less traveled, that
(41:48):
leads to glorifying God. Robert Frost penned the words two
roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry, I could
not travel both and be one traveler long. I stood
and stared down, one to where it bent in the undergrowth.
I shall be telling this with a sigh. Frost concluded,
(42:11):
two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I. I
took the road less traveled, and that made Eat. All
the difference.
S1 (42:24):
I want to take you back. Just last question, and
then we'll be done. I want to take you back
to the first day you stood before the Senate as
now their chaplain. What was that day like? Because there's
a lot of folks who know what it's like to
have to fight, have to scratch and claw to get
to a dream. But it's a totally different thing. Once
(42:45):
you're walking in your calling. There's a difference between fighting
to get there versus being there. What have you learned
from being there in the center of God's calling for
your life?
S3 (42:58):
Chris, I believe when I stood before the Senate for
the first time, making history as the first African-American chaplain
of the Senate, I knew that I was fulfilling my destiny.
My mind flashed back to that time when I was
eight years of age, and memorizing. The morning sun had
(43:18):
been up for some hours over the city of David,
Peter Marshall with his Scottish accent. And I thought to myself,
so God, this is what it was all about all
the time you were in it, after all. And I
thought about Jeremiah 2911, where God says, I want to
(43:38):
bring you to an expected end, to a desired destination.
And as I stood behind the mic, I thought to myself,
now that's what I'm talking about.
S1 (43:52):
God is good and he's been good to you. I
cannot have Chaplain Barry Black on without asking him to
close us in prayer. Can you say just a short
prayer for us?
S3 (44:03):
Let us pray. Challenge us, oh, God, when we are
too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams come true,
simply because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely,
simply because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Challenge us. Oh, God, when we fail to join you
(44:26):
in your messianic thrust. To bring deliverance to captives, the
recovery of sight to the blind. And to set at
liberty those who are bruised. Challenge us, oh, God, to
fulfill your purposes for our lives. By daring more boldly.
(44:46):
By venturing on wider seas where storms will show your mastery.
Where losing sight of land we will find your stars.
Continue to do in our lives immeasurably, abundantly above all
that we can ask or imagine. According to your power
(45:11):
working in and through us. We pray this in the
name of him who said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Amen and amen.
S1 (45:24):
You'll be hard pressed to find a more thoughtful, dignified,
and humble leader than Barry Black. And it's been my
joy to have you on, sir. Thank you, and may
God bless you. And may he bless our nation and
our leaders as you help to lead them in God's
call for our nation. God bless.
S3 (45:40):
God bless you, Chris.
S1 (45:42):
What a great joy it is to have Chaplain Barry
Black be with us. Again, the book is From the
hood to the Hill. When I think about what Sabrina
Black shared with us, and I think about what Doctor
Chaplain Barry Black shared with us, there's one thought that
comes to mind whether you are from West Baltimore, Maryland,
in the hood there, or Detroit, or whether you have
(46:03):
been born in a place of privilege and and prominence.
We all need God, and we all need a Savior,
and we all will face challenges. What is ubiquitous and
unique among humanity? What is universal among all of us
is that we will face challenges that are more daunting
than our ability to overcome. We will face obstacles, and
(46:25):
we will experience brokenness not only because of what happened
to us, but because of our own sin and bad choices.
But through it all, the Word of God still echoes
that he is a forgiver and Redeemer of man, that
he knows his thoughts concerning us, and that if we
turn towards him, he will not only forgive us, but
he will cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Trust that God
(46:48):
can use you in spite of your past, in spite
of your brokenness. Hey, if you want to learn more
about the book from the Hood to the Hill, Chaplain
Black or Sabrina Black, go to our website equipped radio.org
that's equipped radio.org. Well, it's always good to be with
you until we're together again next time. Remember, equip with
Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry
of Moody Global Ministries.
Please enjoy this encore edition of equipped with Chris Brooks.
Hey there folks, welcome to another exciting edition of equipped
with Chris Brooks. I am so glad you tuned in today.
I hope you are enjoying the beauty of God's creation
(00:36):
and celebrating the goodness of God in your life for
allowing you to see another day. And why did he
allow you to see another day? Because this is the
day that he has made for you and I to
rejoice and be glad in it. And I know there's
a lot of trouble around us, but let's remember he
is still Emmanuel and this is still our father's world.
(00:57):
So I greet you with the words of the Apostle Paul,
rejoice in the Lord always. And again I say, rejoice.
With that I welcome you into what will be hopefully
a very healing addition of equip. I have two guests
who are going to join me today, and what we're
going to really zero in on and hopefully Address are
those of you who may be convinced that because of
(01:20):
the brokenness of your past, either pain that was inflicted
upon you, or maybe even the consequences of your own
sin patterns, bad decisions, and choices that somehow you are
disqualified from your future. That somehow God cannot use you.
And some of you may feel that very explicitly, very tangibly.
(01:42):
You may be very aware of it. Others of you,
there may be this gnawing kind of hidden or secret
doubt that you have because I'm an out-of-wedlock mother, or
because I'm a divorcee, or because I was abused, or
because I was unloved in some way. And you know what?
I believe that God's grace wants to shout loudly to
(02:06):
us today. I believe that God, the great artist of heaven,
wants to remind us that he's creating a beautiful portrait
out of our lives and that he can use, even
though strokes of paint that may feel like they're displaced.
You know, if you've ever seen an artist do their work,
there are times when you look at them splashing the
(02:26):
paint on the canvas or strokes with their brushes and
you say, how does that fit? And that seems to
be out of place. But when they're all said and done,
you see this beautiful picture that says, wow, God, you
really were at work. And I believe that God, the
greatest artist the universe has ever known, is making a
masterpiece out of you and out of me. And today,
(02:46):
to help me to discuss this, I've brought along a
few friends. First off is going to be Doctor Sabrina Black.
She is an international speaker and columnist. Sabrina has been
in private practice at Abundant Life and needs to talk
as a family therapist and life coach, providing counseling services
to individuals for over 20 years. She's also the president
(03:08):
of National Biblical Counseling Association. She is, um, an author
of over ten books. She's a friend. She's a missionary.
She's one of those things where she's all things to
all people. And I get a chance to call her
friend Sabrina Black. How are you today?
S2 (03:26):
I'm great, pastor Brooks. It's so good to be on
the line and to be able to share with the
listening audience just how to move forward. No matter what
is going on in your life. I'm doing great.
S1 (03:36):
And so much of it is about that moving forward.
I just want to reference your book. We have been
proud to promote it throughout Moody Radio. Once again, we
are encouraging people to get a copy of the book
live right now. Honest Answers to Life's Toughest Questions. We'll
have a link to our website for folks to be
able to connect with you personally, as well as to
(03:57):
get a copy of the book. If they would like
to secure and purchase that copy at our website, equip radio.org.
But as we talk about moving forward, I just want
to go back for just a moment, uh, to you
to in a very personal way, because, as I say,
all of these accolades, I want you to think about
your upbringing. If we were to visit you in in
(04:19):
your adolescent years, what we have predicted all of these things.
S2 (04:25):
In my adolescent years, you would have predicted that I
was going somewhere. You wouldn't have known where I was going. Exactly. But.
But I was always the person who was a go getter,
an overachiever. I wanted to excel. I wanted to do
great things for the kingdom without even knowing about the
kingdom at the time. But I knew there was something
more than what I was doing, and I wanted to
(04:45):
be a part of whatever it was. But I think
along the way, depending on when you would have caught me,
probably later, uh, late teens, early 20s, when I was
coming out of high school, college, during that phase of
life where I think a lot of young people struggle,
I had lost my way in terms of knowing God.
I grew up in the church, I knew about God,
(05:06):
but I never really had a true relationship with him.
And because I didn't have that firm foundation. I wandered
from him. And in that wandering, you would not have
predicted all those accolades you would have wanted. Who is
this person? Where is she going? And will she even survive?
Because I tell you, it's only the grace of God
that I've made it. Because I was involved in some
(05:26):
things that probably shouldn't even speak of. But. But God
brought me out of all those dark places. And when
I think about where I am now, I tell you, Chris,
I never want to go back to the darkness. I
am so thankful to be in the marvelous light. I
want people to just keep seeing the light and seeing
the light, because there is so much devastation and so
much despair in those dark places. Even though it seems
(05:49):
like fun in the moment, it's dying a slow death.
S1 (05:53):
You know, you talk about the darkness not wanting to
go back and and we all know why you say that.
Because every single one of us, what is true about
all of us is that we have all visited there
at some point in our lives, some to a greater
degree than others. But what we do know is the
silver lining, if there is a silver lining, is the
testimony of being able to say, I've been to hell
(06:15):
and back and I'm able to tell the story. Now
there's two. To me, there's two reasons why we go there.
One is because of what happens to us, and then
the other is because of what happens to us, because
of our own decisions. I want to talk about that
person who may have experienced abuse, neglect, the lack of love, um, mistreatment. Uh,
(06:39):
not not all of our lives are the story of
people encouraging us doing what's right by us, the right
people loving us. Sometimes the opposite is true. What do
you say to that person, and how has that played
out in your own life to be able to overcome
mistreatment in opposition?
S2 (06:58):
Yeah, and I think that's the reality for most people
is that at some point we've all been mistreated, we've
all been stabbed in the back, we've all been lied on,
talked about, or whatever the case may be. We've had
some bad things happen to us, and that's because of
the evil of men's hearts. And so maybe you didn't
do anything wrong, or you weren't in the wrong place
at the wrong time, but life just happened to you.
(07:18):
And I think that's what we have to realize is
that life does happen, but it's how we respond to
the things that have happened to us that allow us
to move forward. You know, when we get stuck in
places and just have pity parties about the fact that
it wasn't right, it wasn't fair, it shouldn't have happened.
I didn't deserve this and nobody deserves it. You know,
when we get stuck there and just keep playing that
(07:39):
tape over and over and over again, we don't get
to move forward. And so at some point, we have
to write a new script. We have to write a
new ending to our own story. You don't want your
story to end with, I was abused or my husband
left me, or I had a child out of wedlock.
That's not the end of the story. That's still in
the middle of the book somewhere. And so you have
to continue to say, and what happens next? And so
(08:01):
I was abused as a child. And, you know, the
people who I should have trusted, I should have been
able to trust and depend on weren't there for me.
How do I move on? How do I learn how
to trust people again? And how do I not stay
stuck in a place at 14 or stuck in a
place of 17? One of the things that encourages me
is definitely the Word of God. And and there's a
(08:21):
text in Philippians, Philippians 112 where Paul is saying, my brothers,
I want you to know that what has happened to
me has made more people know about the gospel of
the good news. And so, you know, we have this
opportunity that no matter what happens to us, especially when
we come out of it, we can say that despite
what I've gone through, despite what I've been through, God
(08:41):
kept me in the midst of it and God brought
me out of it. And so even while you're there
to realize that you didn't die in it because God
kept you. And so because God allowed you to live
through it, what is the testimony that now comes out
of that? And how can you use that testimony to
not only be a blessing to yourself and to people
around you, but to others, because God kept you for
a purpose? And you have to realize that there's purpose
(09:03):
in whatever pain you've You've endured. What's the purpose?
S1 (09:06):
There's a lot of areas of brokenness that you get
into in your book. Relationships is a big one of them.
And I just want you to spend a few moments
talking about or talking to, rather that person who's been
relationally abandoned. Um, how do you get up off the
mat after a divorce or after someone's walked out on you,
(09:26):
or even the loss of a loved one? And it
just seems like the wind has been knocked out of you.
S2 (09:32):
You know, when you feel like the wind has been
knocked out. Sometimes all you can do is whisper the
name of Jesus. You know that that's all you can
say sometimes. Like Jesus. Jesus. Lord, help, help! And that's
a good place to begin. Just crying out to God
and asking him to help. But you know, after you've
cried out to God and after you've prayed and after
you've cried some more and you've prayed some more, then
(09:54):
becomes the challenge of, Lord, how do I move forward?
What do I do now? What do I do next?
And so you know, Isaiah 43 reminds us to remember you,
not the former things neither consider the things of old.
But behold, I am doing a new thing, and it's
going to spring forth, and shall you not know it?
So we have to realize that God says he's going
to make a way, even in the wilderness, and he's
going to make rivers of refreshing, even in the desert.
(10:16):
And so I'm coming out of this place where I've
been abandoned, where, um, I'm left alone, whether it's through
death or divorce or somebody just walking out on me
and it's like, God, what am I supposed to do?
How am I supposed to go on? And who can
I ever trust? And to realize that I have to
deal with the fact that I've been wounded and not
pretend that it doesn't hurt, because it does hurt. When
(10:36):
you've been left behind, you have to, you know, deal
with those unresolved issues and those unmet needs and, and
talk through what do I do now and next. And
that's where the counseling. And so a lot of things
you can't just fix over the radio. You got to
be able to go in and sit down and talk
through the issues and talk about what were you like
before and what is it that God wants you to
(10:57):
become even now, as God is doing this new thing
in your life, what's the debris that you need to
clean away? And so sometimes people try to build without
getting help, and you can't just be restored without healing first.
And so you have to clear away the painful past
and process what has happened to you in order to
be able to take the next steps for building. Because
otherwise people will do is build on a faulty foundation
(11:19):
and then it'll crumble all over again.
S1 (11:21):
I love.
S2 (11:21):
The.
S1 (11:23):
I love what you're saying because I think a lot
of us, Sabrina, have a Timex theology. We take a
look and keep on ticking. Right. And we. And we
think suppression is deliverance, that somehow suppression is victory. And
what we've simply done is continue to pack deeper and
deeper pains and hurts from the past. And so I
(11:46):
fully affirm the need for counseling and being in a
church that can teach right theology. Sometimes it's just faulty
ways of thinking. Listen, that music means we have to
take a short break. When we come back, I'm going
to talk to Doctor Black. About what? What if our
brokenness is of the physical nature and we're experiencing physical brokenness, sickness,
(12:07):
and pain in our bodies mentally and physically and then self-image?
How do we get a vision of ourselves that's based
off of the way God sees us? So much more
to come. Don't change that dial. I promise you the
best is yet to come, so stick and stay. Next
up on equip. The word apologetics often creates an immediate reaction.
(12:31):
For some, they wonder what are we apologizing for? But
for those who know, it's a means to make Christianity
clear by answering the important questions on people's hearts. In
his book Beyond Opinion, the late Ravi Zacharias challenges us
to go deeper and to defend the faith we live
for and love. Request a book. When you support, equip
with a financial gift today, call 888644 4144 or visit
(12:55):
Equip Radio. Org. Chris Brooks here reminding you that today's
program is prerecorded and we won't be taking your calls.
Welcome back to equipped with Chris Brooks having a wonderful
conversation with my guest, doctor Sabrina Black. She's my first
of two guests. Don't change that dial after our next break,
because coming up after this, I'll be talking to the
(13:17):
62nd chaplain of the US Senate, Rear Admiral Barry Black.
He's going to be joining me. No relation between Sabrina
and Barry, at least not that we know of. Maybe
there is somewhere down the family tree. But you come
from the Miri clan. So we'll have to do some investigation.
But we're talking about Sabrina Black's book, doctor Sabrina Black's
(13:39):
book live right now. You can get a copy of
this by ordering it. You can go to our website.
Moody radio has been so proud of this relationship. So
go to our website at Equip radio.org. That's equip radio.org.
I promise you, when we come back, when we came
back that we would talk to those of you who
know what it is to deal with physical illnesses more
(14:02):
than just the common cold. More than just a flu.
More than just a temporary setback. But for those who
have to live with chronic pain, with ongoing, debilitating, debilitating
conditions that just seem stuck in their calling because of it,
and then akin to that, Sabrina will be those who
have to deal with the lingering realities of battles with
(14:23):
anxiety or depression or other types of forms of mental illness.
What do you say to those individuals who feel like
something's faulty in my body that's hindering me from what
God has called me to do?
S2 (14:36):
You know, one of the things I often think about
is how when we are going through whatever it is
we're going through, whether it's physical or emotional or spiritual
or relational, we feel like God can't use us and
that there's no hope for us in ministry and being
involved in the things of the kingdom. And and God
uses who you are with what you have. So God
takes all of our brokenness and he uses it for
(14:57):
his glory. You know, that's what the word reminds us,
that he'll bestow upon us a crown of beauty for
ashes and the oil of joy, instead of mourning the
garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. And when
you have pain in your body, or you have emotional
anxiety or depression, you just feel like I can't be
used by God. And you can. That is a lie
from the enemy. God wants to use you, whoever you
(15:17):
are and whatever condition you are. I think about my
own physical limitations, and I don't talk about them much
because I just do what I can do. Most people
wouldn't even believe I had any. You know, but I
live with chronic pain. I'm. My back is constantly in pain.
I have weak knees and those kinds of things. And
I know there's a school of thought that says, you know,
don't profess that. But the reality is I'm in pain.
S1 (15:38):
So, you know.
S2 (15:39):
I'm not claiming the pain. The pain is real, whether
I'm claiming it or not. It's still there. But I
do know that on my good days, I live life
to the fullest. And on those days when I can't
do as much, then those are the days I pray
more and I read more. And I meditate on the
scriptures day and night because my physical limitation is there,
but I don't live with just the limitations. And so
(15:59):
as you mentioned earlier, I do missions around the world. And,
you know, and I've gotten on planes with crutches and
I've been in wheelchairs through the airport. And I do
what I got to do to keep moving forward. I
don't stop and talk about what I can't do. I
always think about what can I do? And that's what
I would encourage those who have pain to think about.
What can you do? You know, maybe you can lead
a Bible study from your home if you can't get
(16:21):
out as often. Or maybe you can do editing and
help write books or something. But what can you do?
Don't think about all the limitations. Think about all the possibilities.
S1 (16:29):
And for those who are.
S2 (16:31):
Go ahead.
S1 (16:32):
Yeah, I was just going to say that's great. And
I think that what it does is it really turns
upside down the framework that we often operate from, this
faulty framework, that our weaknesses are in opposition to our calling,
or somehow they're a hindrance to our calling. What I
hear you saying, in a very glorious way, is what
if your weakness was central to your calling, and so
(16:56):
many have missed out on ministry opportunities to the very
group of people that they would relate to the best.
Who better to minister to somebody who's going through chronic
illness than somebody who has been in that journey? Who
better to deal with the issue of serving God while
(17:16):
living with a mental illness than those who have walked
that way? And there's a taboo around these things that
often and you just mentioned it comes from the peer
pressure of bad theology that causes a person to feel like,
I could never admit that I struggle with depression, or
that I struggle with an anxiety disorder or bipolar disorder,
(17:39):
or I can never admit my physical limitations. But what
if that was central to your calling? And what if
you embraced what you could do instead of allowing the
enemy to beat you up over what you could not do? Now,
Doctor Black, I got to gotta admit that one of
my favorite quotes and I'm just going to give you
two of my favorite quotes from your book. One is
from the chapter on self-image, and it comes from and
(18:02):
you quote Edgar Guest here. And he simply says, I
have to live with myself. And so I want to
be fit for myself to know. And I just laugh
every time I see that. It's like I got to
be good for myself. Well, talk about this whole world
of self-image and how important it is for us to
ignore the wrong voices and embrace God's voice.
S2 (18:23):
You have definitely got to ignore the wrong voices, and
you've got to know the voice of God and not
only know the voice of God, but know what the
voice of God is saying to you. I mean, because
you are precious in his sight and he loves you
and he wants a relationship with you. He wants great
things for you. And he's a good, good father. And
so when you think about it, he's a good father
and you're his child. That's what you have to remind
(18:45):
yourself of. How beautiful. Because God says I'm beautiful, not
because the world says I'm skinny enough to be beautiful
or I'm light skinned enough. be beautiful. I got long
hair enough where I got blue eyes or whatever the
standard of beauty may be. And that's the thing. The
standard of beauty changes in the world, in our culture,
and it changes around the world. And so in other
parts of the world, being a big boned girl is beautiful.
(19:06):
And if you are a little skinny girl, you're malnutrition.
You know, in certain parts of being dark skinned, black,
blue is beautiful. And if you're too light, they figure
that the Lord has not shined on you. And so again,
depending on where you are culturally or in the world,
that's the standard of beauty. But our standard of beauty
as a Christian, and my personal standard of beauty, is
that God says I'm beautiful, I'm fearfully and wonderfully made,
(19:29):
and I can know that, right? Well, God says that
he loved the inside of me, the character of me.
You know, I think as I get older, I learn
more and more that this outward frame is just that.
It's an outward frame, but the flesh is just that.
It's temporal. It's a spirit man that that God sees
is so beautiful. And so I want my character to
be right, because the character is what makes you beautiful.
(19:50):
I remember when I was growing up, my mother used
to say, pretty is. It's pretty done. And so when
you act, you act right. That's what people see. And
so you can see people who are not that comely
on the outside, but they have the joy of the
Lord flowing from them. They have a beautiful smile, and
people are drawn to them, not because of the outer beauty,
but because of the inner beauty. And the inner beauty
makes you look good on the outside. And so that's
(20:12):
what's important.
S1 (20:13):
Okay. I want you to help us get our theology right,
in particular in the area of grace. You know, I
think grace is something that he lives on the extremes.
Either people are graceless and they don't don't know about
it at all. Or people have now embraced this hyper grace. Right? Where, um,
no matter how you live, it doesn't matter. Get ready
(20:35):
to sin consciousness and all of those things. Not even
acknowledging why Jesus had to die. But I think it
is healthy for us to have a proper understanding of
God's redemptive work in spite of us, that the glory
is not because of us, but because of him. What
is Sabrina Black's? Understanding of grace? And how does that
play into us being able to live right now and
(20:56):
overcoming the brokenness of our past?
S2 (20:59):
Um. It's amazing. I tell you, I'm just thankful. Thankful, thankful.
Every time you ask me a question, I just think,
thank you, God. Thank you that I know your word,
that I know you. And that's the first thing that
you can live in peace and live with grace when
you know the word, because you understand the framework that
you're living by. And so as soon as you said
the word grace, how we take God's grace for granted,
(21:21):
the first thing that came to mind is, is Romans
chapter six. And that's something I learned when I was
being discipled and growing up in the faith. You know,
what shall we say then? Do we continue in sin
that grace may abound? Absolutely not. God forbid. And so
we have to realize that God is not mocked. We
don't just get to do whatever we want to do
and say, well, God knows my heart. God knows. God
knows my intentions. God give me grace. God's going to
(21:44):
pardon me. You know, God says that he gives us
room for repentance. He gives us plenty of room to
get it right before we experience the judgment. And the
judgment is just as real as the grace is, you know.
And that's why when we see people seem like they're
getting away with stuff, don't worry about what the wicked
is doing. You know, the wicked won't troubled always. The
wicked will end up in the just end. And so
(22:04):
we have to know that God has called us as
his people to live right? Because we bear his name.
As Christians, we say we are Christians. I'm living Christ's life,
and to live Christ like is to be obedient to
His Word. And so God gives us grace, and that
he gives us plenty of room to live right for him.
And I'm so thankful for that. But grace is not
to be used with wild abandon, saying, we can do
(22:26):
whatever we want to do because he's going to give
us grace.
S1 (22:29):
Yeah, so Grace isn't a license to sin. And on
the other hand, grace is the story of every person
who's ever made it. Because the story of the gospel
is not our perfection, is it right?
S2 (22:40):
Absolutely, absolutely. It's great that Paul talks about it in
Second Corinthians four, when he talked about the fact that
you can be troubled, you can be perplexed, you can
be persecuted and cast down. But you ain't got to
be distressed. You don't have to be in despair or
feel like you're forsaken or be destroyed. And so that's
God's grace that you can be in trouble and not distress.
I mean, when I think about the things that people
(23:01):
are going through, the word is reminding us that you
can have trouble, but you don't have to be anxious.
You don't have to be worried. You don't have to
be fearful. You can be perplexed, but you ain't got
to be depressed about it because you got to know
that God's got you. God has a plan for your life,
and as long as you're walking in obedience to His
Word and you're following close after him, that plan is
going to be fulfilled. You don't have to worry about
(23:21):
all the stuff that's going on all around you. You
can't control none of that. The only thing you can
do is exercise self-control to be obedient to the word.
S1 (23:29):
Every single listener. Right now, I'm telling you, I know
what they're thinking. They're thinking, I wish I had a
friend like Sabrina Black. And I'm telling you right now,
I'm blessed to be able to have a friend called
Sabrina Black. But you can too. And part of the
way you can too, is through her book live. Right now.
She really is a coach and a friend. She's one
(23:50):
of those friends that, if you haven't figured it out
by now, is that person who tells you the truth
whether you want to hear it or not. But she's
going to do it from a biblical perspective. That's why
we want you to get a copy of the book.
But we want to encourage people today. Because here's the thing, folks.
I talk about the Christian worldview all the time. And
and if we're not careful what we'll think, what you
(24:12):
might be tempted to think I'm referring to is our
ability to just defend our faith, defend the tenets of
our faith. But really, when I say the Christian worldview,
what I mean by that is the way we view
the world ourselves, God, creation, others. And I think of
the Christian life like this Doctor Black, I think of
(24:33):
the Christian life as Jesus's invitation to us to take
off the lenses through which we've been seeing the world,
and to put on his lenses. It's almost like Jesus
is saying to us, you need corrective lenses in your
prescription has been wrong. And so that's why you see
people as trees. That's why you see yourself in a
(24:55):
distorted way. That's why you're discouraged. But if you put
on my lenses, you'll see that I have a wonderful
purpose and plan for your life. You'll see my grace.
You'll see my salvation. And I think part of putting
on those lenses is having conversations like this with people
who have lived it out. Uh, as I got to
let you. As we got to run because of time,
(25:17):
I'd be remiss if you did not say a concluding thought.
S2 (25:22):
If people want to get in touch with me, you know,
for some people, I can be their friend. Others I
can be their coach and or counselor. They can give
me a call at (313)Â 201-6286, or they can go to
the website. Doctor Sabrina black.com. But you know I'm here
to help. And that's what I want to be able
to do for people.
S1 (25:40):
Well, and if you didn't remember any of that and
you say my pen doesn't write fast enough. Go to
equip radio.org. I promise you we will have her contact
information there. Equipped radio.org will direct people your way. Doctor
black and encourage people to connect with you. Thank you
so much for being a friend and for being with
me on equip. Folks. Don't change that dial. Uh, Rear
(26:01):
Admiral Barry Black, the 62nd chaplain of the US Senate,
is going to be with us after this break. So
you don't change that dial, stick and stay. The best
is yet to come. Next up on equip. Chris Brooks
here reminding you that today's program is pre-recorded. While we
won't be taking calls, we do want to connect with
(26:22):
you on social media. Welcome back to equip with Chris Brooks.
I hope you've been enjoying the conversation. We've been talking
about God's ability to use us in spite of our past,
our brokenness and our weaknesses. And I couldn't think of
a better example, a real life example and testimony of this.
(26:42):
Then my next guest. You know, we need to talk
about God's grace more than just as a doctrine, more
than just as a theory. But we need living examples
of that grace. And one of those shining examples is
Barry Black. He is the 62nd chaplain of the US Senate.
Prior to coming to Capitol Hill, Chaplain Black served as
(27:04):
in the US Navy for over 27 years, ending a
distinguished career as the Chief of Navy Chaplains. And he
has written a phenomenal book. It's just fascinating. Uh, and
that's the exact word that Rick Warren Pastor Rick Warren
used to describe it. It's entitled From the Hood to
the Hill A Story of Overcoming. Chaplain black, thank you
(27:25):
so much for joining us.
S3 (27:27):
It's my honor to be with you.
S1 (27:30):
What a blessing you are. And and I think before
we get into the full story of this wonderful book
of your life, I just want to for a moment,
just ask you, what is it like being in your
role when tragic moments strike? You've been there in terrorist attacks.
You've been in there with domestic violence. You've been in
(27:52):
there with economic downturns. What is what is your role
in those moments?
S3 (27:59):
Well, my role is to be an instrument in the
hands of God, to glorify him in those circumstances. Romans
828 says, in everything, God is working for the good
of those who love him, who are the called according
(28:20):
to his purposes. So nothing can happen that we can't
see the hand of God in. So it is my
responsibility to let people know that no matter how difficult
the challenge may be, God is in it. James Russell
Lowell put it this way. Truth. Forever on the scaffold. Wrong.
(28:43):
Forever on the throne. Yet behind the dim unknown. Standeth
God within the shadows. Keeping watch above his own. My
responsibility is to help people during tragic situations. See the
God who is in the shadows.
S1 (29:04):
And you do it so well. But yet, in many ways,
it's a miracle of God's grace that you are where
you are. You did not start out in Capitol Hill.
You didn't start in the white House. You started in
a carpetless cement floor house. Um, uh, roaches there, um,
sparsely furnished place. And you talk in your book about
(29:27):
Miss Jenkins, and I don't know if you remember her,
this social worker who came to visit your house. Talk
about your upbringing and just the unlikely journey to where
you are.
S3 (29:37):
Well, I grew up in Freddie Gray's neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland.
Those of you who remember the name Freddie Gray. So
it was an environment of toxic pathology, and I should
have just been a statistic. I should have been killed
probably before I reached puberty. There was domestic violence. There was.
(30:00):
There were homicides there. There was all kinds of environmental challenges. But,
you know, we serve a God who is able, according
to Ephesians 320, to do immeasurably abundantly above all that
(30:20):
we can ask or imagine. And that's the God that
we need to be looking to in our nation and
world today. And when I was eight years of age,
my mother brought home a record that the lady for
whom she worked, my mother was a domestic $6 a day,
and the lady for whom she worked gave my mother
(30:41):
a record and I played it. It was a narration
record until I had memorized it. It was the voice
and the sermon of Peter Marshall, the 52nd chaplain of
the United States Senate. In fact, I have that album
framed in my office at home, and I memorized the
(31:01):
sermon of the 57th chaplain of the United States Senate
when I was eight years of age. I probably couldn't
even spell chaplain at the time. I would have spelled
it without the A like Charlie Chaplin, and God had
a plan for my life. Jeremiah 2911 God speaking says,
I know the plan that I have for you plans
(31:23):
to prosper you, to give you a future, to give
you a hope, to bring you to an expected end.
So God already had an expected end for my life.
And in that roach Infested, rat infested tenement. He already planned,
I believe. For me to be a successor to Peter Marshall.
(31:43):
I'm the 62nd chaplain of the United States Senate. And
he was doing it to someone who whom you wouldn't
expect that that would happen to a African-American. There had
never been an African-American chaplain of the United States Senate.
A career military officer, no career military officer had ever
been appointed to this responsibility. So the poet had it right.
(32:07):
God moves in mysterious ways, his wonders to perform, he
says in Isaiah 59 eight and nine, my ways are
not your ways. My thoughts are not your thoughts. As
the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my
thoughts higher than your thoughts, and my ways higher than
your ways. And I'm certainly glad about it.
S1 (32:30):
Well, you know, I recently, about a year ago, I
read the book by the wonderful sociologist Malcolm Gladwell called
David and Goliath. And I would encourage everyone to read that.
And he talks about seeing disadvantage as advantage. Rethinking. Reframing
how we see things like pain and affliction. And I
immediately thought of you. Uh, we often see affliction as
(32:53):
the devil's work and only tending towards hindrance and holding
us back. But you say there's a blessing in affliction.
Discuss that for a moment.
S3 (33:02):
Well, one of the great blessings in affliction is that
it enables us, after we receive comfort from God to
comfort others. It enables us to know what other people
are going through because God brought us through similar circumstances. Uh,
(33:22):
second Corinthians one three and four says the God of
all comfort, who comforts us in all our afflictions. Why,
That we may comfort others with the comfort wherewith we
have been comforted. So when people tell me about the
depravity of their backgrounds, the poverty and the pathology they
(33:45):
had to wade through, hey, they're talking to a brother.
I know what that's all about. And the same God
who brought me through it can bring anyone through it.
The Hymnists put it this way. It is no secret
what God can do, what he's done for others, he
(34:05):
will do for you.
S1 (34:07):
What about, um, adversity in the form of, uh, those
who oppose you and those who aren't supportive? Everybody, I'm assuming,
along the way has not been a fan of Barry Black.
Satan does put people in our pathway. How have you
handled that type of opposition?
S3 (34:25):
Well, when you are faced with opposition, the the wonderful
joy for a person of faith is to know, according
to Romans chapter eight, that you are already more than
a conqueror. Moreover, God promises in Isaiah 5417, no weapon
(34:47):
formed against you will be able to prosper. It doesn't
say that you will not face a weapon. The enemy
opposition haters, people who envy you because favor isn't fair.
So you'll face opposition. The weapon will be formed. The
weapon will come against you. But God has promised that
(35:09):
it will not ultimately prosper. And I have found time
and time in my life that the opposition I had
to face, the weapons that have come against me, they
have not prospered. That is why Matthew 544 tells us,
love your enemies, Bless those who curse you. Pray for
(35:33):
those who despitefully use you. And Jesus says in the
sermon on the Mount in Matthew five, again, happy are
you when people revile you, persecute you, and say all
manner of evil against you falsely. That's a critical qualifier,
falsely for my sake. It goes on to say, rejoice
(35:55):
and be exceedingly glad, for so persecuted they the prophets
who were before you. So there's a joy, a fellowship
of suffering that Paul talks about in Philippians 310. So
you know that the enemy must be worried about you
when he brings persecution and affliction your way. Second Timothy
(36:18):
312 says, all those who live godly will suffer persecution
that second Timothy 312. If you're not getting some pushback,
maybe you need to check up on how you're living.
S1 (36:31):
I love it, I love it, I love it. May
that be an encouragement to those of you who are
facing opposition. Maybe on the work front, maybe in your
own home, maybe in your community. If you're not getting
any type of pushback, maybe you need to check whether
or not you're truly on mission with God. We got
to take a short break, but I promise you it
will be short and we will come back with the
(36:52):
conclusion of the matter. Can God use you in spite
of a past of brokenness, affliction, poverty, and pain? The
answer is an affirmative yes. When we come back, we're
going to talk to Chaplain Black about the power of family.
He's had some key people in his life along the way,
but maybe none more important than the family God has
(37:14):
given him. Don't change that dial. The best is yet
to come. Next up on equip with Chris Brooks. What
is equipped with Chris Brooks at its core. This program
is just real people who are trying to deal with
(37:36):
real life and looking for biblical answers. Tune in every
weekday and that's what you'll hear. But none of this
is possible without the generous monthly support of our Equippers.
You can join the growing family of supporters today and
begin receiving special benefits when you call 888644 4144. Or
if you prefer to automate your gift, simply go online
(37:58):
to equipped radio.org. Welcome back! Having a fascinating conversation with
Chaplain Barry Black of the US Senate. From the hood
to the Hill A Story of Overcoming. This is our
last segment, Chaplain Black. And there's two points that I
(38:19):
want to hit. The importance of traveling the road or
the path less traveled, and how that plays a role
in us being what God has called us to be.
Not choosing easy Street. But before we get to that,
I just want you to have a word about Pauline.
Your your mother, about, uh, the the wonderful people God
(38:40):
has given you who fall up under this moniker of family.
What is the the importance of the family structure?
S3 (38:47):
Well, someone said it's an African proverb. It takes a
village to raise someone. And I had a wonderful village
of people of faith. First my mother, who gave my
siblings and me $0.05 for every Bible verse we memorized.
S1 (39:04):
And what by getting.
S3 (39:06):
By getting Scripture into us, she inoculated us against the
pathology of our environment. I think of Mrs. Ada Thornton,
a lady in Baltimore who used to give me $0.50
big money in those days to scrub her steps because
she knew that that $0.50 would provide a a monetary
(39:27):
incentive for me not to join the gangs. I think
of Mrs. Alberta Brown, a lady from Jamaica, and this
beautiful lady used to let me come over to her home,
and she would feed me when I didn't have food
in the home of my family of origin. I think
of Mrs. Ethel Cox on Eutaw Place in Baltimore, Maryland,
(39:50):
who used to let me clean her house on Sundays.
She'd let me clean her house and give me $15. Now,
my mother is a domestic, was only making $6 a day,
and she would quickly confiscate most of what Mrs. Cox
gave me. But nonetheless, these people knew. These people knew
(40:11):
that they could contribute and invest in a life that
might be marginalized were it not for their intervention. So
we are a part of a family, Martin King said.
We are wrapped in a blanket of mutuality, tied to
a single garment of destiny. And I would not have
(40:32):
gone from the hood to the hill without the contribution
of many people of faith who believe. Don't just lay
up for yourselves treasures on earth, but invest in someone
who can be a companion with you in eternity. Lay
up for yourselves treasures in heaven.
S1 (40:54):
You know, when I think about you, I think about
the word and admonishment from Scripture that the just shall
live by faith. Romans 117 the righteous shall live by faith. Um,
so much of that is required if we're going to
be who God has called us to be. Uh, you
have a chapter in here about the path less traveled.
(41:16):
Why is that so important? And speak to the person
who's on that path. And everybody looks at them and says,
who do you think you are that you could aspire
for for this role?
S3 (41:26):
Well, Matthew chapter seven, Jesus said, broad is the way
that leads to destruction, and many are on that path.
But difficult is the way, and narrow is that road
that leads to life. And few there be that find it.
It is the difficult path, the road less traveled, that
(41:48):
leads to glorifying God. Robert Frost penned the words two
roads diverged in a yellow wood, and sorry, I could
not travel both and be one traveler long. I stood
and stared down, one to where it bent in the undergrowth.
I shall be telling this with a sigh. Frost concluded,
(42:11):
two roads diverged in a yellow wood, and I. I
took the road less traveled, and that made Eat. All
the difference.
S1 (42:24):
I want to take you back. Just last question, and
then we'll be done. I want to take you back
to the first day you stood before the Senate as
now their chaplain. What was that day like? Because there's
a lot of folks who know what it's like to
have to fight, have to scratch and claw to get
to a dream. But it's a totally different thing. Once
(42:45):
you're walking in your calling. There's a difference between fighting
to get there versus being there. What have you learned
from being there in the center of God's calling for
your life?
S3 (42:58):
Chris, I believe when I stood before the Senate for
the first time, making history as the first African-American chaplain
of the Senate, I knew that I was fulfilling my destiny.
My mind flashed back to that time when I was
eight years of age, and memorizing. The morning sun had
(43:18):
been up for some hours over the city of David,
Peter Marshall with his Scottish accent. And I thought to myself,
so God, this is what it was all about all
the time you were in it, after all. And I
thought about Jeremiah 2911, where God says, I want to
(43:38):
bring you to an expected end, to a desired destination.
And as I stood behind the mic, I thought to myself,
now that's what I'm talking about.
S1 (43:52):
God is good and he's been good to you. I
cannot have Chaplain Barry Black on without asking him to
close us in prayer. Can you say just a short
prayer for us?
S3 (44:03):
Let us pray. Challenge us, oh, God, when we are
too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams come true,
simply because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely,
simply because we have sailed too close to the shore.
Challenge us. Oh, God, when we fail to join you
(44:26):
in your messianic thrust. To bring deliverance to captives, the
recovery of sight to the blind. And to set at
liberty those who are bruised. Challenge us, oh, God, to
fulfill your purposes for our lives. By daring more boldly.
(44:46):
By venturing on wider seas where storms will show your mastery.
Where losing sight of land we will find your stars.
Continue to do in our lives immeasurably, abundantly above all
that we can ask or imagine. According to your power
(45:11):
working in and through us. We pray this in the
name of him who said, I am the way, the truth,
and the life. Amen and amen.
S1 (45:24):
You'll be hard pressed to find a more thoughtful, dignified,
and humble leader than Barry Black. And it's been my
joy to have you on, sir. Thank you, and may
God bless you. And may he bless our nation and
our leaders as you help to lead them in God's
call for our nation. God bless.
S3 (45:40):
God bless you, Chris.
S1 (45:42):
What a great joy it is to have Chaplain Barry
Black be with us. Again, the book is From the
hood to the Hill. When I think about what Sabrina
Black shared with us, and I think about what Doctor
Chaplain Barry Black shared with us, there's one thought that
comes to mind whether you are from West Baltimore, Maryland,
in the hood there, or Detroit, or whether you have
(46:03):
been born in a place of privilege and and prominence.
We all need God, and we all need a Savior,
and we all will face challenges. What is ubiquitous and
unique among humanity? What is universal among all of us
is that we will face challenges that are more daunting
than our ability to overcome. We will face obstacles, and
(46:25):
we will experience brokenness not only because of what happened
to us, but because of our own sin and bad choices.
But through it all, the Word of God still echoes
that he is a forgiver and Redeemer of man, that
he knows his thoughts concerning us, and that if we
turn towards him, he will not only forgive us, but
he will cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Trust that God
(46:48):
can use you in spite of your past, in spite
of your brokenness. Hey, if you want to learn more
about the book from the Hood to the Hill, Chaplain
Black or Sabrina Black, go to our website equipped radio.org
that's equipped radio.org. Well, it's always good to be with
you until we're together again next time. Remember, equip with
Chris Brooks is a production of Moody Radio, a ministry
of Moody Global Ministries.
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