Episode 236

Join us on this episode of the Removing Barriers podcast where hosts McG and Jay sit down with John Crandall to hear his testimony of God’s saving work in His life. John is a long-time faithful soulwinner and servant of Christ, but it was not always this way. He and his five siblings grew up without a gospel witness in the home or any external gospel witness to speak of. A small gospel seed was planted in his heart as a teenager when a group of Christians were witnessing at a mall, but John did not receive Christ as his savior until he was an adult. Having gone along with the cultural tide of a life fueled by the flesh, the Lord opened his eyes to the emptiness of the world and brought him to a saving knowledge of Him. Just like that, almost everything about him changed and he hasn’t stopped witnessing since. Join us on this new installment of the How Were Your Barriers Removed series to hear of God’s marvelous and faithful work in John Crandall’s life and be encouraged!

[John]

And I was living at it, but there was something empty in my life. And I was living with five other guys. There were three guys living upstairs, my brother Mark, two guys, and three of us living downstairs. And there was a book called by Hal Lindsay. He’s a prophetic guy. He’s the one that did the late Great Planet Earth. And there was a book called The 1980s Countdown to Armageddon there. And I started reading it, and it really encouraged me to go further and further into that. And eventually, I got tired of the lifestyle.

[Jay]

Thank you for tuning in to the Removing Barriers Podcast. I’m Jay and I’m MCG. And we’re attempting to remove barriers, so we can all have a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

This is episode 236 of the Removing Barriers Podcast. And this is the 41st in the series of How Were Your Barriers Removed? And in this episode, we’ll find out how John’s barriers were removed when he came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.

[Jay]

Hi, this is Jay. MCG and I would like for you to help us remove barriers by going to removingbarriers.net and subscribing to receive all things removing barriers. If you’d like to take your efforts a bit further and help us keep the mics on, consider donating at removingbarriers.net slash donate. Removing barriers, a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

John, it is indeed a pleasure. Welcome to the Removing Barriers podcast.

[John]

Well, I’m glad to be here. We’ve been trying to get this together for a while. We’ve been busy church doing things, but we finally worked it out. So very good to be here.

[MCG]

Thank you. All right, well, let’s jump into it. Tell us what state or country you were born in.

[John]

Well, I’m right here in the state of Virginia. I was born in some of the old timers, if people know, this is Arlington Hospital, but now I think it’s called Virginia. Medical Center, but I was born in Arlington, Virginia.

[MCG]

Yeah, you’re one of those unicorns that were born in the area and stay in the area.

[John]

There you go. Yeah, there’s a few.

[MCG]

Most people move to the area for jobs, but…

[Jay]

Or for military, and then they move out. Right. But you were born and raised.

[John]

Yeah, born and raised. You might say I’ve seen the changes a time or two.

[Jay]

Yeah. Well, tell us about your family. What kind of family were you born into?

[John]

Well, we could park here for a good while, and I could explain a lot of things, but I was the youngest of 6, And I grew up in Falls Church, so the next city from Arlington. So I grew up in Falls Church.

[MCG]

Basically about 15 miles from D.C.?

[John]

Yeah, yeah. So I was the youngest of six. I have three older brothers and two older sisters. And my mom and dad, they moved down from upstate New York. Well, you can, due to foreknowledge of it, he was 17 and she was 18. And they moved down here and they moved in the Washington, D.C. area. And like I said, I grew up in Falls Church. And they lived in D.C., but it sounds okay. you have three older brothers, two older sisters. But after that, basically after I was born, my father left my mother when I was about six months old. And to this day, I only got to meet my dad one time for about 5 minutes. It only felt like about 5 minutes when I was like 21 years old. So all my childhood years, I never knew him and never got to know him. So hard times, but good times too. There’s some hard times with my mom. Now you’re talking about 1960. So the divorce rate in Perth, 1,000 people in America then was only 2%. Wow. So it was different. I’m sure maybe you’ll watch Leave It to Beaver or A Father’s New Best or these TV shows. We’re not that old, Joe. Oh, well, so she likes it or somebody likes it. But it’s on old TV shows. Anyways, but… That’s when the mother would stay at home and the father would go out and work and the mother would be there and she’d have cookies and milk for the children and whatnot. But I didn’t get to experience that and my mom had to go to work. So this was 1961, I believe it was. It was a store called. Back then, I’m dating myself, but back then it was called Super Giant. As is Giant right now, but back then, They sold records and clothes and shoes and all that. It’s like, maybe like a super Walmart or Walmart.

[Jay]

Okay, I did not know that.

[John]

All right. So it was called Super Giant. But after a while, I think they weren’t making as much, so they went to the food section. So she worked 23 years for a Giant. Oh, wow. Yeah, she worked there. And that’s, I’m still partial to Giant. And I worked there as a teenager. I did too. And a couple of my siblings, a couple brothers and sister and stuff.

[Jay]

Did you have any religious background in your family or was your family upbringing atheistic? What was it like in terms of spiritual upbringing in your family?

[John]

Really not much spiritually. Like I said, when a woman back then trying to raise six children by herself, we didn’t have that. And, you know, there was times we struggled to meet. food bills. And I remember the Mormons came by a couple times and they helped us with some food. And my mom did go, one of the neighbors went to a Mormon church and I think I went a couple times and I went to a few of them, but spiritually nothing, but physically they helped us with food and stuff like that. But growing up like that, it was hard. The heat would be turned off, the water was turned off, and things like that. Not a lot of food, I can still remember. And I just talked to my brother. I remember he said he’d be hanging out with some of his friends around lunchtime so we could get some extra food or something because we didn’t have a whole lot growing up. But thank the Lord, he helped us through it until I eventually got saved. But they were hard times sometimes, but good times. One embarrassing moment I had being a fatherless child, I remember being, I think it was like in 3rd grade and it was like Christmas time and all the kids were writing, mom and dad, Merry Christmas and all like that. And I said, what am I going to do? I don’t have a dad. I don’t have a father. So what am I going to? But my mom had a boyfriend. So I just said, mom and dad. See, because I was embarrassed. I mean, you know, yeah, you’re kind of embarrassed, you know, around all the kids that have that and you don’t have that. But so that’s basically some things about my dad. I didn’t know. I heard some stories that weren’t too good. But some things I heard that I could relate to him. And just like in this book, I had this book about echoes from a small country town out of upstate New York. I heard a lot of stories about my uncle, I mean my dad, but there’s one paragraph here that I underlined. It says, this is the author of the book. He said, My first introduction to competitive intercholastic athletics was gained as a member of the basketball and baseball teams. Starting with my freshman year, so this is the author of the book. And he said, along with Audie Jordan and John Bartlett, so that was my uncle, John Bartlett, that’s who I’m named after. Billy Crandall, that was my dad. Louis Nottavan and others were excellent athletes. And that’s, I think, where I get some of it. He was a very good athlete. I knew that. And I kind of take a little bit after. I love sports. A lot of people, why do you always talk? Well, it’s kind of inherited him with me, but growing up, that’s what I thought I was going to do. I remember telling my mom, I was about 8 years old, I said, mom, I’m going to make $1,000,000. I’m going to be a professional baseball player so we don’t have to live like this or something. So all through my childhood years, I played sports. Baseball, I love baseball. Sorry to hear, sorry to hear what I just heard, that baseball is #4th sport in America now. Soccer overtook baseball. Can you believe that? Wow.

[Jay]

What’s #1? Is that football?

[John]

I think it’s football.

[Jay]

Okay, yeah, that just makes sense. Okay.

[John]

Then soccer overtook me. Boy, but when I was growing up, I got you guys by years, but that was America’s pastime. And I played it, my brothers replayed it, and I just thought I was going to do that. I did have one big moment, a few good moments, but I did a Macklin inning one time. So that means.

[Jay]

Yes, please do explain.

[John]

Immaculate inning is mean that you threw nine straight strikes. You struck everybody out.

[Jay]

Oh.

[John]

The first batter, the second batter, the third batter. You didn’t throw a ball.

[Jay]

Wow. Okay, gotcha.

[John]

Pat on the back for you. But after that, you know, I thought I was going to be a baseball player. When I was 12 years old, they wanted me to cut my hair and said, well, no, I’m not going to do that.

[Jay]

So that’s where it ended for you? They wanted you to cut your hair and you said, no, that was it.

[John]

Well, no, I started again when I was 14. I played Babe Ruth.

[Jay]

Oh, okay.

[John]

Was still there, but I was playing baseball. So back then they say that’s okay. And then I went to high school and I played my first year and the JV baseball team at Marshall High School over in Falls Church.

[Jay]

Okay.

[John]

And so I played, the coach left. If anyone remembers the movie Remember the Titans, that was a TV about T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria, Virginia. He was my JV baseball coach and that was Ed Henry. And that was Marshall High School that played T.C. Williams in the movie. But he left, so I gave up my wooden baseball bat for a pair of wooden drumstick when I was 16 years old. That’s when I got my first set of drums. Oh wow. Yeah. And for the next four years, eat, drink, slept, music.

[Jay]

Okay. Yeah. So all of that time, no real relationship with the Lord, no idea what the gospel is. Just growing up in the, well, now it’s old time America back when baseball was the past time.

[John]

That was it.

[Jay]

Right. Okay. So spiritually, nothing happening at that point. Okay, gotcha.

[John]

It was really the world. The Bible says in what, Proverbs 22:6, Chain up a child in the way that he should go, and when he’s old he would not depart from it. But see, people always see that on the spiritual side, all you keep chaining is child, he’ll come back to it or something. But if you train up a child in the worldliness, the flesh, immorality, drunkenness, And if a child sees that his whole life, it says when he’s old, he’s not going to depart from it, except how, what’s going to happen? He needs to get saved.

[Jay]

We also don’t think about that.

[John]

Yeah, I know.

[MCG]

So tell me, how did you internalize not having a father as you got older? Because somewhat similar in my life, I didn’t grow up with my father in my life. So as you get older, maybe, you know, nine, 10, and then into your teens and realize what a family should be and Not having a father. How did you internalize that? How did that come out in your everyday life?

[John]

It affects people differently now. I have a brother. It made him really me angry and in life circumstances. And he kind of fought and he did. He fought a lot. And that’s how we grew up. I mean, and I always tell the rest of our family, he could still be in a wheelchair. And I still wouldn’t fool with him because I’ve seen in my eyes what he used to do to people. I’ve seen them. So some people take it, you get angry and bitter. When I grew up, growing up in junior high or in high school, all my buddies were the same way. The Lindemoo family, there were five in that family, no father. The Swift family, their father was gone. There were six kids. They saw them a little bit, but no family.

[MCG]

So the norm around you was broken homes.

[John]

Yes, it was. And kids, they can flock together. You can see, oh, that kid’s acting up. And it kind of draws you to them. It drew me to them. And the other family, the Michelle family, He’s the guy that played the guitar with me and I never saw his father. My girlfriend, that a girl I was dating, there were six kids. I never saw his father. And here I am dating his daughter, but he wasn’t there. He was gone. So yeah, so as you said, you kind of clean together. You hang out with people that you associate with and then you get in trouble. A lot of trouble though, because you don’t have. The Bible says, you know, a child left to himself, what, bringeth his mother to what? Shame. Shame. Yeah. And that’s what happened to us.

[MCG]

That’s interesting because, you know, you mentioned the 1960s, the low divorce rape. That’s the same decade of LBJ where he basically encouraged black people to, as Larry King say, divorced their husband and married the state. And you also saw the divorce rate. started in the 60s, started falling because you go back to the 60s, you know, 75% of black families were, you know, husband and wife, father in the home. And I imagine it would be same for the white families. But it’s interesting that you say that because we saw a drastic decline, one with no fault divorce and also with LBJ, basically the wealthiest state begin, basically in the 60s. And also you have the sexual revolution in 60s. The 60s was a decade of cultural change in the US. And I think you being raised in the 60s kind of highlight the mix of that change.

[John]

Yeah that and then the 60s I was more the 70s but 70s. The 60s springboarded in the 70s was a lot worse than people thought about. Right, because of the effect of the 60s. Yeah, I mean, more divorce rates were really high and stuff like that. And in 1965, if we talk about Lyndon Baines Johnson, they started the Head Start program. That was for children that would live in poverty or something. And they allowed children to go to schools or whatever and get a meal. And so I was the first class to be in the Head Start. That was a head start for poorer kids and underprivileged children. And they give them a meal and whatnot and try to give them a start. Because they didn’t have the opportunities as other children did. Yeah, but in the 60s, but then 70s started. And like I said, you leave a child to himself and he’s, I know it’s talking about discipline, but that’s morally too. You leave a child and you don’t have any authority, then that’s what we did. Yeah. I mean, and I’m not bashing anything, but that’s how we as teenage boys, that’s what we did. Yeah. And so.

[MCG]

Why don’t you describe the first time you heard the gospel?

[John]

We were at Tyson’s Corner. A bunch of my friends, we were just hanging out at Tyson’s Corner. I just remember a lot of people just sitting around and they were praying or something, but it really didn’t. It didn’t change me. I mean, it didn’t do anything for me, but that might have planted a seed. That might have.

[Jay]

There are people just outside.

[John]

I think they were witnessing. No, inside the mall.

[Jay]

Oh, in the mall?

[John]

I think maybe passing out cracks, but we were just doing it sarcastically. We went up and stuff too. They might have planted a seed for future down the road or something.

[Jay]

Certainly all these years you still remember.

[John]

Yeah, I do remember that. But I mean, it didn’t really take effect at all.

[Jay]

When would you say that you heard the gospel and it really took effect on you? What were the circumstances there?

[John]

Well, I mean, we know the Bible says that there’s, in Romans, it says there’s pleasure in sin for a season. And I was living that, but there was something empty in my life. And I was living with five other guys. There were three guys living upstairs, my brother Mark, two guys, and three of us living downstairs. And there was a book called by Hal Lindsay. He’s a prophetic guy. He’s the one that did The Late Great Planet Earth. There was a book called The 1980s Countdown to Armageddon there. I started reading it, and it really encouraged me to go further and further into that. Eventually, I got tired of the lifestyle. What are we going to do tonight? Where are you going to go tonight? What are you going to do? I sold my drums. I thought I could be a professional baseball. I was just a kid. I thought I had opportunities, but I was a bad drummer. I thought I could have moved. But anyway, I thought, but there’s fun in it for a while, but you get tired of it. And then the Lord knew I was searching and I found that book. And eventually I got another book. And I remember going downstairs in that house with the other guy. And I just prayed the sinner’s prayer and said, prayed the prayer. Wow. Asking the Lord to save me. And I had to get it resettled at the old church on Braddock Row. But I know I got saved then because the Bible says, whosoever shall call upon the name.

[Jay]

Call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. Amen.

[MCG]

Were you ever part of a band or anything? Or it was just…

[John]

Well, I remember I had an audition with a band over in McLane, Virginia. And I just, I remember I came home that night when I was living in that house with the other guys. They said, you know, I’m done. The very next day, I think I went and sold my drums and just wanted to do something different, you know?

[MCG]

What kind of music were you into?

[John]

Well, it wasn’t Sunday School music, I could tell you. Every big band that came around, I was into it. There was a number of them just passed away, like a guy named Ozzy Osbourne or Gene Simmons and Kiss, all that, we were all into that. We’d go to the shows and concerts, but you know, that’s the flesh. And I didn’t mention, plus I had a daughter by then too. Melanie was born, I was 18, I just turned 19 the next day, so I had a daughter. And then I got tired of it. But her mother was younger, but again, that’s how we grew up. That’s how you grew up. So, I mean, you see that, and I’m not here to justify it, but that’s, do you get trained that way? And I have no hard feelings about it. That’s what it is. I mean, you don’t have any instruction. You’re gonna feed the flesh, as we heard the pastor preach it sometimes, you know, fueling the flesh. And that’s what we did until I got saved.

[Jay]

Praise the Lord.

[MCG]

So you came to a full realization of your sin at 19.

[John]

I know before, I knew the life that I was living was not right, the things that I was doing. And I kind of swept it under the rug. But when I was 20, I got saved in the summer of 1980. I had enough of it. It’s fun for a while.

[Jay]

Do you think that maybe all of those fleshly things in the world and all that, do you think those were barriers keeping you from salvation? Or was it just that you hadn’t heard up until that point or maybe a little bit before? What do you think the barriers were that were keeping you from salvation?

[John]

Well, the flesh and my music, my music, my friends, my buddies right then, and not living the best kind of a lifestyle with my girlfriend, but I knew I was sinning, but I kind of just put it under the rug for a while. But then, the Lord just kept knocking and knocking. And finally, I had enough and I was able to get saved and believe in him. Amen.

[MCG]

So, a curious question, John. You became a father at an early age, you say, 18, a day before your 19th birthday. How does not having a father in your life affected how you view fatherhood?

[John]

Well, there were a lot of mistakes I made, some with Melanie, but I was there for her. But you got to admit, my age and my girlfriend was younger, but then we never did get married. We didn’t get married, but I had an involvement with my daughter. Matter of fact, she’s a member of FBT. She got baptized when she’s 14, but I was there for her. I didn’t live with her, but I’d pick her up. I hope I wasn’t so much of A Disney dad. I hope I wasn’t, but you know, I maybe get all the excitement why they do most of some of the dirty work, but I was there for her. I did things for her. She played softball, did a lot of things. She was on the bus routes with me when we had it at the church and a lot of things. But so I just took it seriously. I could have done better in a lot of areas, but I did do my part, I think.

[Jay]

I don’t think there’s a parent on the planet that would say that they parented perfectly, that they didn’t make any mistakes. I think every parent would have said the same thing where you look back and you know you’ve made some mistakes or you didn’t do everything perfectly. And there’s so much that we don’t know about parenting. I mean, we just started, technically just started. And there are days where I sit What an amazement, like, what in the world am I doing? How did I end up with these kids and what am I supposed to do now? But the Lord is merciful and his promises are ever true. We can trust in them.

[John]

Yeah, but I appreciate what you guys do, you know, with your four boys. And I never remember my dad ever being in my house. I never woke up and saw my dad face to face. He never came by and threw a baseball with me. He never called me on a telephone. He never came and said, I love you, helped me tie my shoes or learn how to tie a tie. But it is what it is. I mean, it’s not an open scar anymore. It’s just a covered wound. It’s something you do not get over, I can tell you. But the Lord’s taken away. Just the other day, I was over by the church. I saw a man out there with this boy kicking the soccer ball in the thing. I said, man, I never experienced that, you know. But, you know. The Lord heals, and you go on, it’s for a reason, and you see, I’m guarantee there’s a lot of kids in the inner cities and having a lot worse than I am.

[Jay]

Oh, I’m sure, I’m sure.

[MCG]

All right, well, why don’t we go on a little bit of break, and then we’ll come back on the other side and continue to learn about your testimony. You’re listening to the Removing Barriers podcast, we’re sitting down with John, and we’re learning how were his barriers removed. We’ll be right back.

[Jay]

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[MCG]

All right, John. So 2 Corinthians 5:17 says, Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he’s a new creature. All things are passed away. Behold, all things are become new. After salvation, what changes were evident in your life? Besides the fact that you cut your hair?

[John]

Well, I did do that. It took a while. It took a while, but I was…

[MCG]

You didn’t tell us how much year you had. Tell the listener how much year you had.

[John]

Oh, no, I wasn’t… I just, you know, don’t… There was a song years ago called Hair, and it was shoulder length and longer. So anyway, mine was shoulder length and longer. I can say that.

[MCG]

Don’t admit back.

[John]

No, Okay.

[Jay]

Yeah, but you can’t drum properly if your hair is going to be a bit back. I’m just teasing.

[MCG]

Yeah, Did you braid it or anything?

[John]

Or you just let it come thick and curly or something, but…

[MCG]

And no, you still let it out.

[John]

Now it’s just great, now it’s just great, but that’s okay. But the things that change, of course, my music, my habits, the things I drank, maybe…

[MCG]

Tequila.

[John]

Oh, probably so. Or no, no, not really. I don’t know, but just that.

[Jay]

Sure.

[John]

You know, those things. You need water, no? Yeah, water or my Dr. Pepper. I gotta have a Dr. Pepper.

[Jay]

Dr. Pepper.

[John]

Yeah, what’s that?

[Jay]

It’s Mountain Dew.

[John]

Mountain Dew. Okay, okay.

[Jay]

So Dr. Pepper was your drink of.

[John]

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, that, yeah. But just things like that. You know, I gave that things up and I found a church and. start reading my Bible and praying and things like that and get involved in the ministry. Amen. Yeah. You know, I like what you were saying as we were talking, you know, 1 Corinthians 6:9-7 says, Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God, and be not to deceive neither fornicators, nor adulterers, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkard, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God. Then Paul says, he’s talking to church people. He’s talking to the Corinthian church. Listen to what he said. Sounds like the 21st century church. He said, and such were some of you, but you are washed, you are sanctified, but you are justified in the name of Jesus and by the Spirit of God. So I always got to remember, and such were some of you. And that’s what happened in 2 Corinthians 5:17. But that’s Sunday going church people, and he’s saying, were. You’re not that anymore, but you were like that.

[Jay]

Yeah.

[John]

Thank God that, you know, he changes you. Amen. Praise God for that.

[Jay]

Yeah. Absolutely. Do you think that the way that your barriers were removed would be effective for in reaching people today? Like, for example, you said that the Lord just… just showed you how empty the life following after the flesh was. And he drew you to himself. And you slowly, one by one, gave up those things, those barriers that were keeping you from the cross. And you also mentioned that a little seed here, you know, folks witnessing at the mall, a little seed here, a little bit there, and the Lord was drawing you. And do you think he’s still doing that in the lives of people today?

[John]

Yeah, you know, those barriers were removed. And I think I can relate to a lot of people nowadays with that. Remember, I think in Ecclesiastes 1.9 says, what, There’s nothing new under the sun. There’s nothing new under the sun. Sin is sin. It may be more prevalent now. You got the internet and you got all this other stuff, but those were barriers that I face, and I think I can help remove some barriers to other people because of the lifestyle. And just those barriers, sometimes I had fear and anxieties and stuff, 7 says that, For God has not given us the spirit of fear. but of power, love, and of a sound mind.

[Jay]

You mean fear and anxieties in terms of like talking to people about them?

[John]

Yeah, I know just some things about going on in my life. What’s going to happen here? What’s going to happen there? You know, we are like a hooked generation. Everybody’s on something. You know, so many people are depressed, mental or emotional needs or something. And I have… had some of those barriers, but I think we use some of these verses that God can help us with that. He took the barriers from me. I know he can work on others.

[Jay]

Yeah, the Bible talks about how the Word of God is living and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword. And it seems today we’re even more, like you mentioned, everybody’s on something, whether it’s medication or an illicit drug, or we’re addicted to our phones or, you know, but the Word of God can cut through all of that. And as Christians, we should really be making an effort to talk to the people in our spheres, whether it’s at the grocery store or door to door or whatever, because like you said, John, God is still reaching people in these meager ways that a lot of Christians says, no, door to door witness. God doesn’t do that anymore. Why do I need to talk to people? They could go online. Well, there’s nothing like someone like you where the Holy Spirit is living in you. He’s changed you. He saved you reaching out to someone else and saying, hey, let me tell you what the Lord has done for me. And so Christians really to not be afraid to reach out and talk to people because people are hurting. People need the gospel. People need the Lord, the song says.

[John]

Yeah, absolutely.

[Jay]

And I’m grateful for your example. Every single week, whenever you can, you’re out there and you’re talking to people and you’re knocking on doors and your demeanor, every time I see you, you’re just joyful. I’m trying, yeah, you’re right.

[John]

But I always thought.

[Jay]

People see that and they’re like, hey, man, what’s that about?

[John]

I’ve always thought if I can watch a football game for three hours, if I can go play pickleball for 2 1/2 hours, I can go out and do something. for the Lord. I mean, just because that’s a command. Is it not? It’s a command. Your husband, he leads it up, but it’s a command. We have time to do other things. What’s going to happen for two hours or more?

[Jay]

On that note, John, every single time I look at my phone, at the end of the week, it’ll say, you spent this much time on your phone, or you spent this many more minutes more or less than last week. And when you look at the number of minutes or hours that you spent on your phone, you’re like, good night. Where did all that time go? You know, if we have time to be on our phones that long, we can take a few minutes to go talk to someone, just like you said. appreciate your faithfulness in that area. It’s an encouragement to me because you’ll find people even within the church that’ll say, you know, I would go, but it’s not really effective anymore. You know, maybe we should, you know, why do we really need to talk to people? It’s uncomfortable. And I can understand that because in the flesh, you’re like, ooh, what if that person rejects me? Or, ooh, what if that person says something mean to me? But then when you look at the spiritual repercussions of not telling them, that kind of overrides, see, there’s that word of God piercing and dividing asunder under there where you realize, hey, this isn’t just about my comfort or this is our eternal lives that we’re talking about, someone’s eternal life we’re talking about. Yeah.

[MCG]

All right, why don’t we go into a little bit of fun section to find out some of your favorites. Let’s start with your favorite scripture verse.

[John]

Okay, I did second Timothy 1.7. I like Philippians 2.4. Paul was telling to the Philippians church and there’s a lot of deep scriptures, but he says, fake thought every man on his own self also, but every man on the things of what? Others.

[Jay]

Others.

[John]

Yeah. We get so caught up in ourselves and I gotta admit, I’ve done it. Oh, woe was me. I got this broad. But he said, don’t think about yourself. I think if you keep thinking about yourself and not others, then you’re going to lose some of that fire or something. So I know the boys, you got everything, but we got to think about others.

[Jay]

You’re absolutely right.

[John]

Yeah.

[Jay]

What is your favorite historical biblical account? They call them Bible stories, but we don’t like to call them that because, you know, it sounds like, oh yeah, that’s just a story, didn’t really happen. But what’s your favorite biblical historical account?

[John]

I really like Matthew 5 through 7, the Sermon on the Mount. We always had time, and we just heard it last night of your priorities need to be right, but the Lord on the Sermon on the Mount, blessed are the peacemakers, or they that are, and all these other on and on about what he said. I just like those, because the Lord always took time to explain it and the historical account, what he did on the Sermon on the Mount. And I just think what he did in Matthew 5-7. And after chapter 7, he goes out. He taught them, but then he lived it. I mean, as soon as he comes off that, There’s people around him everywhere. I mean, he’s always doing something, healing somebody, forgiving somebody, delivering somebody, encouraging somebody. And for me, I just like the historical about the Sermon on the Mount and what the Lord taught us and how he set that example for us.

[Jay]

Amen.

[John]

Yeah.

[MCG]

Amen. What would you say is the most convicting scripture passage to you?

[John]

I think I had it written down. 44, 1 Peter 1:16, God says, Be ye holy, for I am holy, you know? And I have issues with that, especially around in this world that we got to live in and the things that we got to see and trying to be holy. And I come short so many times, but holiness is the standard of what we need to be, a script or verse that is that, you know.

[Jay]

Yeah, Leviticus 1144 says, for I am the Lord your God, ye shall therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy, for I am holy, neither shall ye defile yourselves with any manner of creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. Yeah. What would you say is your most comforting scripture verse?

[John]

I think it’s John chapter 20. We see all the disciples, it says, you know, in John chapter 20, they were fear of the Jews, they were fear of the Romans, and before the Lord rose again, they were all huddled together, and they said they were afraid. And then Jesus Jesus walked in the midst of them and says, Peace be still. He said that three times in that one chapter. Jesus said in verses 19, 21, and 26. He said, Peace be unto you. And all the disciples, they were afraid, they were shaken, they were what was going on in Jerusalem, and the Lord appears to them, and he said, You know what? I’m gonna give you peace. Even you know about Peter, how Peter was, and all the other disciples, but they were afraid. But Jesus walked in the midst and said, Peace be unto you, I’m here for you.

[MCG]

What would you say the preferred hymn of the faith?

[John]

I think I got, well, what’s the Bible, what’s to say? We shall sing a new song unto the Lord. Yeah, and sing a new song unto the Lord. And they have a lot of good new songs and, you know, a lot of new good songs. I like the words. I don’t go for all this. contemporary rock music, I can’t go for that. But some of the words are really good, but the music style, the beat, you can put that away. But I like the hymn satisfied. Satisfied is the old hymn. It says, all my life I had panned it for a drink for some cool spring that I hoped that would quench the burning of the thirst that I felt within. Then it says, hallelujah, I have found him whom my soul so long has craved. Jesus satisfies my longings through his life. I now am saved. So satisfied. I was panting and a lot of people were panting out there and we can be satisfied and hallelujah. Now I am saved. So, you know, yeah.

[Jay]

You know, when you think about what they say, they say that this generation is some of the most depressed, the most medicated, the most unhappy generation in the world. maybe even ever, they say, maybe even ever. Perhaps we can make it a point to share with them the gospel so that they can be satisfied in the Lord as well. Last one, who is your favorite giant of the faith from the scriptures?

[John]

I looked at it a little bit. I would just say, everyone talks, about David and stuff. I think with Joseph, Joseph had an impeccable life. I mean, he still had sin, but, no matter what he went through, he kept serving the Lord, with his brothers. Then he was in Potiphar’s house. He walked with God. I think they said he was a teenager or something when he went something. And if I looked at my life and what I was doing then, but what Joseph did, he fled away from it. He didn’t let it get to him. He was thrown in prison and he was in prison, but eventually God edified him or declared him that he went to the palace. I think Joseph was one up top, Joseph’s the way he served God no matter what.

[Jay]

You imagine like your own brothers, do you win, and then you pay for something that you didn’t do in jail, and you still come out serving the Lord. That’s incredible. That’s incredible.

[John]

But it’s just like our lives. Sometimes we think things are, they meant it for evil, but what did God, God meant it for good. So sometimes we go through things, oh, why did this happen? But if we keep our eyes on the Lord, it’s going to be for the good. I’m hoping that I’m crying.

[MCG]

Definitely. How would you say barriers can be removed in the life of others? Just imagine there are other John growing up without any father in the home. not having enough food, and you meet that young man at 16, 17, how would you tell him that his barriers can be removed?

[John]

Really, you know, he may have some physical issues, emotional issues, but the number one pride is the spiritual one. You know, his barriers can, it’s a right relationship with God. And turning from that life, it’s just believing what the Lord did on the cross for him. That’s how you can get your barriers removed. God made us… He’s given us an intellect, he’s given us an emotion, but he’s given us a will to choose. But I think you got to have that will to turn to God and break those barriers is going to be the way that you can do it. The first is having a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And all these things will be added unto you if you do it. Yeah.

[MCG]

All right, John, it was indeed a pleasure. Thank you for joining us on the Removing Barriers podcast.

[John]

Glad to make it. Thank you.

[MCG]

Great.

[Jay]

This is the Removing Barriers podcast. If the podcast or the blog were a blessing to you, leave us a rating and a review on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to share the podcast with your friends. Removing Barriers, A Clear View of the Cross.

[MCG]

Thank you for listening. To get ahold of us, to support this podcast, or to learn more about Removing Barriers, go to removingbarriers.net. This has been the Removing Barriers podcast. We attempted to remove barriers so that we all can have a clear view of the cross.