December 10, 2024 • 15 mins
In an inspiring segment, we hear from Jeff, a former online pornographer whose life has been radically altered by the boundless grace of Christ. Jeff's story is a testament to the power of redemption, reminding us all that no pit is too deep for God's love to reach. #Jesus #grace #forgiveness
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, welcome back to the Words for Change podcast
here on December 10th, man.
We have a wonderful podcast foryou today.
We have a topic today that'sgoing to be awesome.
We're going to talk about God'sgrace, how God transforms us in
the darkest moments of our life.
If you're new to the podcast,my name is Lionel.
Today's episode is a powerfulreminder of what God's
(00:20):
redemption.
No matter where we are, nomatter where we have fallen, god
can redeem us.
So let us start off with thisquote from St Augustine.
It's a very powerful quote.
It says this there is no saintwithout a past and no sinner
without a future.
There's no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.
Hey, this is a beautifulreminder of what God says in 2
Corinthians 5, 17.
Therefore, if anyone is inChrist, he is a new creation.
(00:42):
The old is gone and the new hascome.
So these words are critical tothis whole concept and idea, and
today we're going to share astory with you from a man named
Jeff, a man whose journey fromdeath to brokenness shows us how
far God can reach to grab us.
So buckle up, here we go.
What time is it, y'all here?
(01:05):
On december 10th man, we have alot going on in the news.
Reverend bishop t jakes wentunder major icu surgery after
having what some would call aserious medical situation.
During a sermon that hepreached at his church, jakes,
(01:27):
according to the news, faced alife threatening calamity and
was rushed to the ICU forimmediate surgery.
Later on he came and gave amessage to his congregation from
social media Instagram heposted a video saying that he
(01:47):
was grateful for God's goodnessand mercy.
And to his local church hespoke this, but to also his
global ministry.
As we all know, td Jakes is aglobal pastor, minister to many,
and so he's in good spirits.
He continues to say that he'sfeeling no pain.
He's at peace and tranquility.
(02:07):
He said his job is torecuperate, according to a
statement he put on x, and toreflect on god's protections.
I owe it to my congregation andfamily.
He said to rest and ruminate ashe gets restored to god's grace
and service.
So please keep Bishop TD Jakesin your prayers.
(02:27):
Man, we have a lot going onoverseas as well.
One of the Middle East's mostbrutal and long-lasting
dictatorships, the Assad regime,has fallen.
Syria's streets were filledwith jubilation as people
celebrated the overthrow ofpresident bashar asad.
As he has fallen.
(02:48):
President joe biden said thisregime brutalized and tortured
and killed literally hundreds ofthousands of innocent syrians.
So some say this revolution ithappened to regain our legal and
constitutional and human rightsSituation over in Syria.
Please pray for them.
The scripture says we shouldpray for all people at all times
(03:11):
and seek peace in the world.
All right, one more story Iwant to share with you as we
approach Christmas.
Actually, during Christmas time, church attendance varies.
So you know, protestantsantsattend church.
57 percent of protestants, 56percent of catholics and those
of other religions about 53percent are more likely to
(03:33):
attend church than the 21percent of unaffiliated
individuals.
So 71 percent basically attendchurch during christmas times.
At christmas, uh, those whoalready attend church during
Christmas time so Christmas,those who already attend church
on occasion, surprisingly aremore likely to show up for
services around that time.
So about once a week, that's 76percent of those who attend
(03:55):
church once or twice a month aremore inclined to attend church
during Christmas time.
Why do I bring this up?
Because it's a wonderful timeto invite your friends and
neighbors to church to hear thegospel of Jesus Christ.
As we know, we have a mission.
We don't just get up thismorning to go to a job, but we
actually have a mission from God.
(04:15):
So I've been thinking aboutthis scripture verse and the
(04:46):
quote that I started off withfrom St Augustine that says but
there is no saint without a pastand there is no sinner without
a future.
There's no sin without a past.
There's no sinner without afuture.
I was doing research about thisguy named Jeff.
This guy had dreams, hadambitions and had potential.
(05:06):
He wanted to do great things,but he was filled with
insecurities and unresolvedpains that led him to a
destructive path.
Now let me tell you guys aboutJeff.
This is a story that I read anddid research on, because it is
important.
When we think about God's grace, we think about our text today.
That's coming from Romans,chapter 5, verse 20.
(05:28):
He says and the law came inthat transgressions might
increase.
In other words, our awarenessof what's right and wrongly
increased.
But where sin abounds, graceabounds all the more.
Where sin abounds, graceabounds all the more.
Now, jeff was the most prolificonline pornographer in the
(05:50):
country.
He ran over a million imagesand over thousands of hours of
videos feeding into the sexindustry that thrives on
exploitation and addiction.
So, hey, let me just say thisIf you have kids around, you
probably want to save thisepisode for later.
Right, we're going to say a fewthings that may be a little
(06:14):
touchy, nothing too explicit,but I do not advise for kids.
But Jeff was in the pornographyindustry and he was taking in
millions of dollars in thisindustry.
You all know today that thepornographic industry is.
I don't have the stats on itand I've actually thought about
(06:36):
bringing a guy in on to mypodcast who specializes in
helping people get away frompornography.
But this guy, jeff, on thesurface he was making millions
of dollars and he was doing alot of things in that industry.
He was a headliner in thatindustry.
I'm not going to give his lastname because and it is a true
(06:56):
story I'm not going to give hislast name for his own identity
sake, but he no longerparticipates in that.
But he seemed like he was doingwell, but his soul was
unraveling, see.
So money doesn't solveeverything.
No matter where you are today,you're rushing to get to that
job and you're rushing to doeverything you can so you can
pay your bills and get ready forthe Christmas season.
(07:17):
Hey, I respect that, but moneydoesn't solve everything.
Okay, that's something you needto keep in mind and I know you
know that right.
But Jeff described his lifethink about this, after all the
money he was making.
He described his life as aprison with golden bars.
He was trapped in it and hecouldn't get away from it.
(07:40):
He wasn't just running thebusiness.
He was trapped by it and hecouldn't get away from it.
He wasn't just running thebusiness.
He was trapped by his ownaddictions.
That was full of drugs, alcoholand desperate attempts to fill
the void in his heart that wasconsuming his life.
Here's the thing Sin neverdelivers on this promise.
(08:00):
It promises freedom, butslaving is always around the
corner.
It promised satisfaction, butit never leaves us fulfilled.
It leaves us empty, and thiswas what Jeff was dealing with.
This brother eventually hit rockbottom.
Right, he was.
He was filled with drugs,alcohol and all kinds of things,
as you can imagine, and then heled to a drug bust and his
(08:22):
empire came apart.
Okay, he lost everything, asthe weight of sin does, right,
it causes us to lose the thingsthat are most important to us,
like our morality.
He was in the weight of thisemptiness.
Overnight, he was caught up ina situation and he tried to take
(08:44):
his life.
He attempted suicide.
We call it in my industry anattempt on suicide but God had
grace on him.
Yes, I say God had grace on himbecause he woke up the next
morning.
How many people who tried.
I remember standing beside abedside of a young, 23 year old
man young boy, I would say andhe tried to take his life.
(09:07):
And the thing he said to me hesays you know what, pastor, he
said I didn't want to wake upand see your face.
That's what he told to me.
I did not want to wake up andsee your face, your face.
Ok, so the first miracle inthis situation was what?
That God wasn't done with him.
(09:28):
God could have let him lose hislife, but he didn't Right.
And so here's what this guy didnext he drove to a Christian
camp when he realized thatsomething wasn't right because
he should have died.
He walked into the camp,surrendered his heart to the
Lord.
He heard the music from aChristian camp that he was
(09:49):
familiar with and went there,gave his heart to God right and
told God that he would doanything, because he realized
the power of God's grace in thatmoment.
So he found God's embrace.
He found the church communityRight.
Just like many people walk downthe aisle.
(10:09):
You see it on Sunday afterSunday People you've never met
before and give their life toChrist for the first time.
You never know where thesepeople coming from.
That's why you shouldn't judgepeople.
But this brother went throughhis criminal proceedings.
He was then surrounded by afamily of God, the children of
God.
He got through counseling.
(10:31):
He kept going throughcounseling for years.
He confessed his sin, he soughtforgiveness and he allowed God
to do the impossible in his life.
God took the mess of his lifeand created something beautiful.
We like to say God will takeyour mess and make it a message.
(10:51):
This brother discovered hisunique skill set could be used
in another way.
Instead of spreading darkness,now he could spread light.
So he began creating content toshare his story of redemption
and testimony.
It became a lifeline for othersin that industry.
(11:12):
So his story isn't just abouttransformation, ok, it's about
what it reveals, about God, see.
So no matter who you are, nomatter what you came from, god
can touch you.
So think about that child, orthink about that spouse, or
think about that family memberwho's wayward I was a wayward
(11:35):
child.
I shared my testimonies.
Go check that out on my YouTubepage.
It's called Lloyd Talks.
What's it called?
Lloyd Talks Media New YouTubepage is all based around helping
people who don't know Christcome to the message of Jesus
Christ.
Right, I want people to comethrough the doors.
I don't care who you are, justcome through the door.
(11:57):
So.
So God turned his mess into amessage, and I don't care where
you are.
Maybe you have a messy past.
Maybe you feel things are tooheavy or too messy or too
complicated Right, but God'sgrace is bigger than your sin.
His love can reach you, right.
There is therefore Romans 8once is there is no condemnation
(12:19):
for those who in Christ Jesus.
Right, this is what Jeffexperienced.
He experienced the power of Godgrace.
It's a promise that isavailable to everyone.
Ok, so here's what we can learnfrom this story.
It's a reminder that God's loveisn't just for the perfect,
(12:42):
it's for the broken.
Jesus says I came for those whohad need of a physician.
When we surrender ourbrokenness to him, he can do
incredible things with us.
When we surrender ourbrokenness, god can do
incredible things with us.
Jeff's story helps us to moveforward.
It shares the power of God'sgrace, what God can do to help
(13:04):
other people.
Now here's what I need you to do.
If this episode right here,it's meant to be quick and to
the point and it's a gospelepisode, I want you to share
this with someone who you thinkmay need a reminder of God's
grace, so that they don't forgetthat God has a purpose for them
.
The people you're looking atand the people you're crying
(13:25):
about, and the people thatyou're calling out to God about,
this could be the message thatGod wants them to hear, and God
wants you to deliver to them.
Okay, so that's what I want youto do.
This is what I need you to do.
During this time of Christmasseason, the best thing you can
do is help someone.
(13:46):
Number one, you can showforgiveness, but help someone
experience the grace of God.
If you're watching, listen tothis podcast for the very first
time.
Don't forget to subscribe tothe Words for Change podcast.
Give us a five-star rating ifyou're listening to us on Apple
and you'll never miss a story ofhope, you'll never miss a story
(14:06):
of transformation and you'llget all the latest of what's
happening today.
Listen before I go.
I want to leave you with thisyour past doesn't define you.
In God's hands we are.
We are Our story.
In God's hands is the soilwhere we can grow into our
(14:27):
future.
Hey guys, thanks for listeningon this day.
Blessings to you.
May the Lord bless you, keepyou.
May the Lord cause His face toshine upon you and you
experience peace from this timeand evermore.
I'm signing off until I see youagain.
Peace.
I'll talk to you soon.
Thank you.
Hey, welcome back to the Words for Change podcast
here on December 10th, man.
We have a wonderful podcast foryou today.
We have a topic today that'sgoing to be awesome.
We're going to talk about God'sgrace, how God transforms us in
the darkest moments of our life.
If you're new to the podcast,my name is Lionel.
Today's episode is a powerfulreminder of what God's
(00:20):
redemption.
No matter where we are, nomatter where we have fallen, god
can redeem us.
So let us start off with thisquote from St Augustine.
It's a very powerful quote.
It says this there is no saintwithout a past and no sinner
without a future.
There's no saint without a past, no sinner without a future.
Hey, this is a beautifulreminder of what God says in 2
Corinthians 5, 17.
Therefore, if anyone is inChrist, he is a new creation.
(00:42):
The old is gone and the new hascome.
So these words are critical tothis whole concept and idea, and
today we're going to share astory with you from a man named
Jeff, a man whose journey fromdeath to brokenness shows us how
far God can reach to grab us.
So buckle up, here we go.
What time is it, y'all here?
(01:05):
On december 10th man, we have alot going on in the news.
Reverend bishop t jakes wentunder major icu surgery after
having what some would call aserious medical situation.
During a sermon that hepreached at his church, jakes,
(01:27):
according to the news, faced alife threatening calamity and
was rushed to the ICU forimmediate surgery.
Later on he came and gave amessage to his congregation from
social media Instagram heposted a video saying that he
(01:47):
was grateful for God's goodnessand mercy.
And to his local church hespoke this, but to also his
global ministry.
As we all know, td Jakes is aglobal pastor, minister to many,
and so he's in good spirits.
He continues to say that he'sfeeling no pain.
He's at peace and tranquility.
(02:07):
He said his job is torecuperate, according to a
statement he put on x, and toreflect on god's protections.
I owe it to my congregation andfamily.
He said to rest and ruminate ashe gets restored to god's grace
and service.
So please keep Bishop TD Jakesin your prayers.
(02:27):
Man, we have a lot going onoverseas as well.
One of the Middle East's mostbrutal and long-lasting
dictatorships, the Assad regime,has fallen.
Syria's streets were filledwith jubilation as people
celebrated the overthrow ofpresident bashar asad.
As he has fallen.
(02:48):
President joe biden said thisregime brutalized and tortured
and killed literally hundreds ofthousands of innocent syrians.
So some say this revolution ithappened to regain our legal and
constitutional and human rightsSituation over in Syria.
Please pray for them.
The scripture says we shouldpray for all people at all times
(03:11):
and seek peace in the world.
All right, one more story Iwant to share with you as we
approach Christmas.
Actually, during Christmas time, church attendance varies.
So you know, protestantsantsattend church.
57 percent of protestants, 56percent of catholics and those
of other religions about 53percent are more likely to
(03:33):
attend church than the 21percent of unaffiliated
individuals.
So 71 percent basically attendchurch during christmas times.
At christmas, uh, those whoalready attend church during
Christmas time so Christmas,those who already attend church
on occasion, surprisingly aremore likely to show up for
services around that time.
So about once a week, that's 76percent of those who attend
(03:55):
church once or twice a month aremore inclined to attend church
during Christmas time.
Why do I bring this up?
Because it's a wonderful timeto invite your friends and
neighbors to church to hear thegospel of Jesus Christ.
As we know, we have a mission.
We don't just get up thismorning to go to a job, but we
actually have a mission from God.
(04:15):
So I've been thinking aboutthis scripture verse and the
(04:46):
quote that I started off withfrom St Augustine that says but
there is no saint without a pastand there is no sinner without
a future.
There's no sin without a past.
There's no sinner without afuture.
I was doing research about thisguy named Jeff.
This guy had dreams, hadambitions and had potential.
(05:06):
He wanted to do great things,but he was filled with
insecurities and unresolvedpains that led him to a
destructive path.
Now let me tell you guys aboutJeff.
This is a story that I read anddid research on, because it is
important.
When we think about God's grace, we think about our text today.
That's coming from Romans,chapter 5, verse 20.
(05:28):
He says and the law came inthat transgressions might
increase.
In other words, our awarenessof what's right and wrongly
increased.
But where sin abounds, graceabounds all the more.
Where sin abounds, graceabounds all the more.
Now, jeff was the most prolificonline pornographer in the
(05:50):
country.
He ran over a million imagesand over thousands of hours of
videos feeding into the sexindustry that thrives on
exploitation and addiction.
So, hey, let me just say thisIf you have kids around, you
probably want to save thisepisode for later.
Right, we're going to say a fewthings that may be a little
(06:14):
touchy, nothing too explicit,but I do not advise for kids.
But Jeff was in the pornographyindustry and he was taking in
millions of dollars in thisindustry.
You all know today that thepornographic industry is.
I don't have the stats on itand I've actually thought about
(06:36):
bringing a guy in on to mypodcast who specializes in
helping people get away frompornography.
But this guy, jeff, on thesurface he was making millions
of dollars and he was doing alot of things in that industry.
He was a headliner in thatindustry.
I'm not going to give his lastname because and it is a true
(06:56):
story I'm not going to give hislast name for his own identity
sake, but he no longerparticipates in that.
But he seemed like he was doingwell, but his soul was
unraveling, see.
So money doesn't solveeverything.
No matter where you are today,you're rushing to get to that
job and you're rushing to doeverything you can so you can
pay your bills and get ready forthe Christmas season.
(07:17):
Hey, I respect that, but moneydoesn't solve everything.
Okay, that's something you needto keep in mind and I know you
know that right.
But Jeff described his lifethink about this, after all the
money he was making.
He described his life as aprison with golden bars.
He was trapped in it and hecouldn't get away from it.
(07:40):
He wasn't just running thebusiness.
He was trapped by it and hecouldn't get away from it.
He wasn't just running thebusiness.
He was trapped by his ownaddictions.
That was full of drugs, alcoholand desperate attempts to fill
the void in his heart that wasconsuming his life.
Here's the thing Sin neverdelivers on this promise.
(08:00):
It promises freedom, butslaving is always around the
corner.
It promised satisfaction, butit never leaves us fulfilled.
It leaves us empty, and thiswas what Jeff was dealing with.
This brother eventually hit rockbottom.
Right, he was.
He was filled with drugs,alcohol and all kinds of things,
as you can imagine, and then heled to a drug bust and his
(08:22):
empire came apart.
Okay, he lost everything, asthe weight of sin does, right,
it causes us to lose the thingsthat are most important to us,
like our morality.
He was in the weight of thisemptiness.
Overnight, he was caught up ina situation and he tried to take
(08:44):
his life.
He attempted suicide.
We call it in my industry anattempt on suicide but God had
grace on him.
Yes, I say God had grace on himbecause he woke up the next
morning.
How many people who tried.
I remember standing beside abedside of a young, 23 year old
man young boy, I would say andhe tried to take his life.
(09:07):
And the thing he said to me hesays you know what, pastor, he
said I didn't want to wake upand see your face.
That's what he told to me.
I did not want to wake up andsee your face, your face.
Ok, so the first miracle inthis situation was what?
That God wasn't done with him.
(09:28):
God could have let him lose hislife, but he didn't Right.
And so here's what this guy didnext he drove to a Christian
camp when he realized thatsomething wasn't right because
he should have died.
He walked into the camp,surrendered his heart to the
Lord.
He heard the music from aChristian camp that he was
(09:49):
familiar with and went there,gave his heart to God right and
told God that he would doanything, because he realized
the power of God's grace in thatmoment.
So he found God's embrace.
He found the church communityRight.
Just like many people walk downthe aisle.
(10:09):
You see it on Sunday afterSunday People you've never met
before and give their life toChrist for the first time.
You never know where thesepeople coming from.
That's why you shouldn't judgepeople.
But this brother went throughhis criminal proceedings.
He was then surrounded by afamily of God, the children of
God.
He got through counseling.
(10:31):
He kept going throughcounseling for years.
He confessed his sin, he soughtforgiveness and he allowed God
to do the impossible in his life.
God took the mess of his lifeand created something beautiful.
We like to say God will takeyour mess and make it a message.
(10:51):
This brother discovered hisunique skill set could be used
in another way.
Instead of spreading darkness,now he could spread light.
So he began creating content toshare his story of redemption
and testimony.
It became a lifeline for othersin that industry.
(11:12):
So his story isn't just abouttransformation, ok, it's about
what it reveals, about God, see.
So no matter who you are, nomatter what you came from, god
can touch you.
So think about that child, orthink about that spouse, or
think about that family memberwho's wayward I was a wayward
(11:35):
child.
I shared my testimonies.
Go check that out on my YouTubepage.
It's called Lloyd Talks.
What's it called?
Lloyd Talks Media New YouTubepage is all based around helping
people who don't know Christcome to the message of Jesus
Christ.
Right, I want people to comethrough the doors.
I don't care who you are, justcome through the door.
(11:57):
So.
So God turned his mess into amessage, and I don't care where
you are.
Maybe you have a messy past.
Maybe you feel things are tooheavy or too messy or too
complicated Right, but God'sgrace is bigger than your sin.
His love can reach you, right.
There is therefore Romans 8once is there is no condemnation
(12:19):
for those who in Christ Jesus.
Right, this is what Jeffexperienced.
He experienced the power of Godgrace.
It's a promise that isavailable to everyone.
Ok, so here's what we can learnfrom this story.
It's a reminder that God's loveisn't just for the perfect,
(12:42):
it's for the broken.
Jesus says I came for those whohad need of a physician.
When we surrender ourbrokenness to him, he can do
incredible things with us.
When we surrender ourbrokenness, god can do
incredible things with us.
Jeff's story helps us to moveforward.
It shares the power of God'sgrace, what God can do to help
(13:04):
other people.
Now here's what I need you to do.
If this episode right here,it's meant to be quick and to
the point and it's a gospelepisode, I want you to share
this with someone who you thinkmay need a reminder of God's
grace, so that they don't forgetthat God has a purpose for them
.
The people you're looking atand the people you're crying
(13:25):
about, and the people thatyou're calling out to God about,
this could be the message thatGod wants them to hear, and God
wants you to deliver to them.
Okay, so that's what I want youto do.
This is what I need you to do.
During this time of Christmasseason, the best thing you can
do is help someone.
(13:46):
Number one, you can showforgiveness, but help someone
experience the grace of God.
If you're watching, listen tothis podcast for the very first
time.
Don't forget to subscribe tothe Words for Change podcast.
Give us a five-star rating ifyou're listening to us on Apple
and you'll never miss a story ofhope, you'll never miss a story
(14:06):
of transformation and you'llget all the latest of what's
happening today.
Listen before I go.
I want to leave you with thisyour past doesn't define you.
In God's hands we are.
We are Our story.
In God's hands is the soilwhere we can grow into our
(14:27):
future.
Hey guys, thanks for listeningon this day.
Blessings to you.
May the Lord bless you, keepyou.
May the Lord cause His face toshine upon you and you
experience peace from this timeand evermore.
I'm signing off until I see youagain.
Peace.
I'll talk to you soon.
Thank you.
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