Faith Walk / William Carroll
Faith Walk / William Carroll
Ep. 42 : Checked Out, Discovering Why I Had Been 7 Years in a Spiritual Famine
Embark on a journey that transcends the mundane and touches the divine, as I, William Carroll, guide you through an exploration of faith's deepest realms. This week on Faith Walk, we encounter the transformative power of empathy and spirituality, inviting you to see the world through the compassionate eyes of Jesus Christ. Witness the impact of chronicling your personal faith experiences and learn how documenting answered prayers can affirm God's presence in your life. Reflecting on the early Christians' awe-inspiring accounts in Acts, I challenge you to harness the Holy Spirit's power in becoming a beacon of hope.
Venture into my past as I unveil a narrative of redemption akin to Gideon's victory over the Midianites. Through my post-divorce struggles, discover the unexpected solace found within a biker church in Shreveport, Louisiana. These moments of connection highlight the importance of community and the clear voice of God urging us to witness His work within us. Whether it's the rumble of motorcycle engines or the quiet hum of a prayerful service, these experiences are testaments to the pivotal turns that can reignite one's purpose and faith.
Concluding this episode, we're transported to a Love's truck stop for a poignant exchange with a freewheeler rooted in druid and pagan beliefs. Even as we navigate conversations across diversified spiritual paths, the resilience of hope and the potency of prayer emerge triumphant. Delve into the scriptures with me to understand the role of Jehovah Rapha in healing and the urgency of living a gospel-driven life. As we tackle life's hurdles, including the sanctity of marriage and the heartache of divorce, I extend a heartfelt invitation for you to join our Faith Walk community. Together, we affirm that with faith at the core, God will indeed provide the way.
Well, good morning and welcome to Faith Walk. I'm your host, william Carroll, and on this podcast I'm talking about how God put me in a faith walk. When I believed in him, got radically saved, I started learning his word, speaking his word, believing his word and walking out his word. See, you're maybe the only Jesus that somebody sees. See, jesus is in heaven. He said it at the right hand of the Father. He sent his Holy Spirit unto us, you know, so that we might be his hands, his feet, his mouth. You know I start every day with this prayer Lord Jesus, open my eyes to see as you see. Open my ears to hear as you hear. Open my heart to feel as you feel. And then open my mouth, lord, to speak as you speak. You see, I want to see people as Jesus sees them. I want to hear what's going on and what people not so much what people are saying, but I want to hear what God hears, because God listens to the heart. See, we see the outward man so many times, the fleshly man, but God looks at the inward man, at the heart, and I want to feel. I want to feel what God feels in my heart. You know, I'm going to tell you and I want to speak what he speaks Listen, listen.
Speaker 1:When you start praying that prayer every day, it's going to change your life. You're going to start seeing people in a different way. You're going to start seeing the drug abuser. You're going to start seeing the prisoner. You're going to start seeing those you know in a different light. Yes, it's hard sometimes. I'm going to tell you. It's very hard sometimes because you want to revert back to the flesh. You want to judge according to the flesh and not according to the spirit. But when you pray that prayer, god's going to start opening up your eyes, opening up your ears, that you hear as he hears. Here's what he hears and you feel what he feels. Now, when you pray that prayer, you're going to become a crier. If you're not a crier now, you will, because you're going to feel what God feels. God cries over his people. You know God has a broken heart. Listen, he knew the world was in sin and he sent Jesus to pay the price, to take away the sin, that we might not have to deal with that sin. You know he knew we couldn't do it on our own. It's not of works. We can't work our way into heaven. You can't be good enough to work your way into heaven. It's by grace and grace, by faith in Christ Jesus. See it's by grace and grace. By faith in christ jesus. See it's by grace, not of works, least any man should boast. And that's ephesians, chapter 2, and it says by grace you are saved through faith through christ. All right, so listen. So so we're. We were talking.
Speaker 1:I just want to tell you, start your faith walk. If you've been been born again, if you're born again, if you're saved, do you have a faith walk? You should. You should have a history of a faith walk. Get a journal, start writing down the things that God done in your life, the things you pray for and the way he answered the prayers. Start writing it down. I don't care how old you are. You may be 70, 80, 90 years old and you've never done it before. Start now. You may be 70, 80, 90 years old and you've never done it before. Start now. You may be 20, 16, 18. I don't know, but you know, start it now. Start your faith walk, because that's what God has put us in.
Speaker 1:Listen, we're still in the Acts of the Apostles. They call it the Acts of the Apostles, but it was the Acts of the disciples, it was the Acts of the men and women of God. We just happen to have, a lot of times, the apostles' versions of what happened. You know we don't have what the common man, the common Christian, was walking through. You know there wasn't just 12 people up in that upper room, or 11, since Judas betrayed Jesus. You know, there was 120 in the upper room. What did they do? Well, in the upper room, god says go into all the world, preach the gospel.
Speaker 1:Once the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you will receive power. You'll be endued with power, power, dunamis, dynamite, miracle working power to be witnesses of me unto all the world. Do you have that power? Well, you need to ask God for that power. You need to ask God for the power. Just being saved is not all there is. When I started crying out to God and saying, hey, if this is all it is, what good does it do me, her or another? Just to be saved, to try to be good, to go to church. And then I received the power of the Holy Ghost in my life, which made me a witness unto all the world. All right, so that's another time, another day We'll talk about that power. But ask God for it. You know, ask God for it.
Speaker 1:God Jesus said I'll baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire. Do you really have the fire that Jesus baptized the apostles with? We've seen them deny Peter, deny him three times. Right, we saw him deny him before the cock crowed. And then we turned around and we seen Peter stand up in the midst of everybody and said this Jesus, who you crucified, had healed this man, the leper, sitting at the gates of the timber I mean, not the lame man, not the leper, but anyway. And we see the acts of the apostles, we see the things that happened in there and we saw them going into the world.
Speaker 1:But you know, the first thing they did was build a church. They built a church, the church of the upper room. Yeah, they did, they really did. The church of the upper room, that's where they stayed, that's where they prayed, you know. And of course, they were sent out to the Jews. You know, paul was sent to the Gentiles, to the Jews. You know, paul was sent to the Gentiles. The ministry had changed after the Holy Spirit and after Paul came in and Barnabas, and anyway, persecution made the church get out of the church and be the witnesses that God wanted them to be. You know, and the church now is kind of like the church of the upper room a lot of times we're afraid to talk about our relationship with God.
Speaker 1:We're afraid to talk about anything at work. Oh, we can't say it at the schools, we might be sued. So what Jesus said, when they bring you before councils, you will proclaim me before men. Well, anyway, listen, I got on a roll right there. I hope you're blessed today. I hope you're blessed today. I hope you have a faith walk. I hope you're starting to take Jesus out of the box that religion puts him in and I hope that you're starting to have a relationship with him.
Speaker 1:You know, if you feel like you need to pray for something, if you ask somebody hey, can I pray for you for that, for whatever the need they have? Don't wait and go home and pray. Can I pray for you for that, for whatever the need they have? Don't wait and go home and pray, pray right then Pray the word of God. The word of God is true. The word of God works. God will move to keep his word, all right. So listen, so, vernon, I prayed for Vernon. Vernon had passed away. I didn't get to go to the funeral.
Speaker 1:I started riding with a bunch of guys and gals, you know, and we went to New Orleans, we went all kinds of different places and we were riding, you know, and at the whole time, at the same time, you know, I knew there was an emptiness in my life and I kept trying to repent. I'd go to church and I'd feel my heart string and I'd repent and I'd say Lord, forgive me. You know, I desire that relationship I had with you before the divorce. Well, you know, seven years, seven years, the Midianites, I said, and Gideon, go back and read that story in Judges. Seven years, you know, I just felt like the devil was stealing everything that that I had. I had the relationship I had worked for with, with Christ, you know, and I didn't know, I didn't know this, but I'm going to tell you I was mad and what happened was after seven years, right at the end of seven years, right at the start of eight years, you know, god raised up Gideon to deliver the children of Israel from the Midianites. Well, the same with me. Seven years, eight years, god raised me up.
Speaker 1:You know, one morning I woke up and I said, man, I'm going to go to a new church, I'm going to go to a different church this morning. I don't know where I'm going to go, but I'm going to go to. And, man, I had an expectancy of God doing something in my life that day. You know that I hadn't had when I went to church before, but I felt an expectancy, and so so I got up and, man, I grabbed the phone and I looked on Facebook and I said, oh, look, here there's a community biker church, um gathering in Shreveport, louisiana. And uh, they were meeting at O'Reilly's and they were going to, uh, to a church right down the road on, on, um, uh, uh, west 70th street and, uh, right off Pines down there, not too far. And I said, man, you know what? I think I'm going to go to that, that, that biker service.
Speaker 1:So I hopped on my bike, man, and at this time my bike was two-tone. That's what I told my friend. It's two-tone red and chrome. And it was red and it was chrome. So I pulled up man, I had some pipes on that thing, you know and I came up and I pulled up my hair. Guy goes that looks like my friend William Carroll, is that my friend?
Speaker 1:And it was a turkey, and and man. I'm telling you, turkey was a great friend that I met, that I went to church with, I worked in the men's ministry with. He was a great cook, you know, and and, uh, and and his wife were good friends and and and and turkey had been part of the CMAs and he was over there at that deal and he said I thought that was you. He said when I seen that bike come across that bridge, he said it was two-tone, red and chrome. And I said, yeah, and so well, listen, we went to church, you know, and I met a whole bunch of people there. I met a whole bunch of people, some I knew, most of them I didn't know, most of them was in the CMAs or different biker ministries, you know, and Tribe of Judah, millennial Riders, god, I can't even remember all of them.
Speaker 1:Well, we gathered up there, we visited, you know, and we took off and we went to church and I was sitting there by Turkey and man, all these bikers is in there, you know, and all these, uh, you know, biker world calls your vest, you know, with your colors. They call them colors or cuts. I call them a mantle because when you're in the ministry it's like a mantle. Like the mantle Elijah threw on Elisha and Elisha said let me go. Let me go say goodbye to my parents.
Speaker 1:He said what do you got to do? I ain't got nothing to do for you. You know, I ain't calling you. That's between you and God. More or less that's what he said. You got to go back and read the story man you got to. If you don't know these stories, get in the word of God. Get in the word of God and read these stories. It'll minister to your heart, but anyway.
Speaker 1:So I'm sitting there and praise starts, you know, and I don't know a whole lot of these people and they got bandanas on Some. They got bandanas on Some of them looking rough, you know, some of them looking pretty rough. Some of them came out of the one percenters, you know, and came into the ministry, you know, and got saved and started riding with different biker clubs and biker ministries and it was so awesome, you know, and I was sitting there and the praise started and I stood up, you know, like I normally do in praise, and I felt the Spirit say raise your hand and I said, no, don't feel like it. Now, I didn't say it out loud, but I said it in my mind. See and listen.
Speaker 1:I've told you before, like when the hitchhiker and when God said not yet about my job, leaving my job, and when he wanted me, he said I got time for you, you got time for him and I picked up the hitchhiker. If you haven't heard those, go back and listen to those. God has spoken to my. God is always saying something he's. If you haven't heard him, then you need to get quiet and listen to him. Listen, the only time he's really ever spoken to me like that and this has been short conversations, I'm going to tell you but the only time it's ever happened is when I was about to miss something or God wanted to make a sure impact on my life.
Speaker 1:Okay, and so I'm sitting there and I said, and I just felt that the spirit said raise your hands. And I said no, don't feel like it. And I heard him say in my spirit listen. I heard him say in my spirit Turkey didn't hear it, nobody heard it there but I heard him say in my spirit you've been mad at me. I said nope, not mad at you. He said yes, he said you've been mad at me. He said said you were mad about the divorce, you're mad, you were mad about the depression. He said you were mad about Tommy dying and you were mad about Vernon dining. And he said you checked out.
Speaker 1:Now, when he said you checked out, I saw myself at the church, on the steps, walking down the conversation I talked about in the last one, where I said Lord, your word says you won't put more on me than I'm able to handle and that's all I can handle. And I got on my bike and I rode off. See, I didn't remember saying that. I remember it now because right then in that service, when he said you checked out, I saw it in my spirit. I didn't see it in my. I didn't see it in. I didn't see it in. I didn't see it. I didn't hear it. See it, I didn't hear it. It sounded like audible to me, but you wouldn't have heard it. Um and uh, so, so, anyway, so this is what happened. So this is what happened. Hold on, I'm getting a phone call. Okay, I can't take it right now, but anyway. So this is what happened. I heard it in my spirit. Okay, so let's go right back through that again. He said raise your hands. I said no, don't feel like it. He said you's mad at me. I said nope, not mad. And he said you checked out. And when he said you checked out because you're mad at me because of the divorce, the depression, tommy dying, Vernon dying, and you checked out. And when he said you checked out, I saw myself say and I saw myself looking at the bike and saying you said you wouldn't put more on me than I'm able to handle. Now we talked about that scripture last time. That scripture, inthians, chapter 10 and 13, says there hath no temptation taken you, but such as common to man. But god is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able, but will, with the temptation, make a way to escape that you may be able to bear it first. First Corinthians, chapter 10 and 13. Okay, so listen. So when he said that and I saw that it broke my heart, it broke my heart, I didn't know that I was mad. I didn't ever think I was mad at God.
Speaker 1:Sometimes, with divorce happens, when the loss of a job happens, when sickness comes, when life's trials and tribulations come, we check out. I know a guy that was going through a divorce. Well, he was teaching Sunday school and his rifle ran off. He was teaching Sunday school, he was going to the jail ministry, he was doing all kinds of things and when that happened and they got a divorce, then he thought he had to stop and quit everything. And he checked out, he checked out. He never really quit everything. And he checked out. He checked out. He never really checked back in before he passed away. He checked out. See, and I'm not judging him, you know, I checked out and I said you said you wouldn't put this on me. But see, I didn't quote the whole scripture, I didn't go back and read and pray and seek God's face, I just checked out because I was mad. I didn't go back and read and pray and seek God's face, I just checked out because I was mad. I didn't even know I was mad.
Speaker 1:Listen, some of you listening to this are starting to realize that maybe you're mad at God because of the loss of a loved one, the loss of a job, the loss of a house, the loss of your money, the loss of your health, and you've checked out on God because it didn't turn out like you want it. I didn't want to go through that divorce but I had to walk through that divorce, you know. And when he said that, I started bawling and crying and slobbering it was ugly man, I'm telling you it was ugly and I was calling out forgive me, lord, you know, and I was repenting. And then God made me go tell somebody and I walked up to a guy that was there. I don't know why I picked him, I didn't even know, but I found out he was a pastor of international not youth, but a teen ministry. You know, worked for 18 to 22 internship go ministries and they went all over ministering and they taught ministry to these young people. And, and listen, I walked up to him and he was a, he was a member of the chariots of light, uh, motorcycle ministry. And I said I said, hey, I got to tell you this, I got to tell you what happened. I know you don't know me, and the whole time I'm blubbering, I'm bawling, I'm telling him what happened with the divorce, with Tommy, with the depression. And I said I checked out. And God told me today, I checked out, I was mad at him and I checked out and, uh, he's like he's just kind of okay, listen, we're great friends now. Uh, that's the motorcycle ministry.
Speaker 1:God laid on my heart to join the Chariots of Light, which, in earlier programs, me and Janie, my wife, have talked about that. Well, listen, I'm just going to tell you the truth. You know, from that time on, man God checked me back in. That's when he started opening the doors for me to go to some of the one percenter clubs. He gave me grace. He gave me grace, he gave me favor, he gave me the opportunity to pray for him. He gave me the opportunity to pray for Bandido's great ghost, some of the Bandido's presidents of certain clubs, and he just opened the door and gave me a grace.
Speaker 1:You know, and, of course, when I feel something on my heart, if you feel God lay something on your heart and you're following him and you're hearing him, and he and you feel like, wow, I need to go pray for them, you know you walk over and you ask, hey, listen, this is what I feel. I have been praying for you and God told me I need to pray for you and would you allow me to pray for you? And it's amazing how many times people will say yes, now have I asked people? I felt that God wanted me to pray for. Yes, I have.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you, there was a freewheeler here not long ago and we were on our way down to Lufkin and we stopped in at a Love's and there was a freewheeler in his vest. It was a beautiful day, it was about a year ago, and he was behind me in line and, man, I just got this, you know. I mean. I said hey. I said hey, you riding today? He said no, I'm not riding today. I'm going taking my mother to to her. Her, her sister had died and we're going to go to a funeral.
Speaker 1:I've lost my brother. I lost two brothers, I a two ants, and now we're going over here, and so then I had to pay and then I got out of there, so I waited on him and my wife come out and I said I'll be back. I said she said well, come on. I said nope, I said I'll be there in a minute and he come out and I said hey, brother. I said can I pray for you? I said I know you're.
Speaker 1:You saying you're going to a funeral and you've lost your brother, and all I said he said well, no. He said, uh, no, I don't, I wouldn't like that at all. He said because I I'm a druid, druid, druid and I'm a pagan. I said, oh, okay, and I said well, I said listen. I said I understand. I said I understand, but I said I will tell you that I will be praying for your mother. He said okay, and I started to walk off and he said hey, man. He said I want to really thank you for asking, I want to thank you for asking to pray for me. I said well, okay. And I said, well, you know what, I am going to be praying for you. And he said, okay, you know, but he wouldn't let me pray for him there. Now.
Speaker 1:Listen, I've been praying for that guy, lord, open up his eyes, open up his hearts, lord. Lord, turn him around. Let him see the truth, lord, let him see the gospel, let him receive your son, jesus Christ, before it's too late. That he not split hell wide open, but that he would come to live with you in glory. That he not split hell wide open, but that he would come to live with you in glory. All right, so listen, I'm just going to tell you I got to sign off here. It's wrapping up. I'll pick this back up again at another time. But I want to tell you Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you.
Speaker 1:Jesus has said, he said I am the truth, the life and the way. And no man, no man comes to the Father except by me. So it doesn't matter what you think, where you've been, you know. If you call out to him, if you say, lord Jesus, forgive me of my sin, come into my heart, be the Lord of my life, holy Spirit, come and fill me, teach me, lead me and guide me. I surrender my life to you in Jesus' name, then you shall be saved. So pray that prayer.
Speaker 1:If you haven't prayed that prayer, if you have prayed that prayer, say Holy Spirit, begin to teach me, teach me the word of God, teach me, lord, teach me your word, your will, your way. Teach me, lord, to be bold. Lord, that I might proclaim your gospel to those that I work with. That I might proclaim your gospels in the street, in the supermarkets, in the stores. Lord, just let me be bold, that when you lay something on my heart, I do it.
Speaker 1:See, when God lays something, I told my wife I said listen. When she first, when we first started going to these rallies and different things, I said listen. I said, baby, if I just up and take off, I said I just can't tell you. I said I can't tell you. But when the spirit of God pricks my heart to do something, I do it. Right. Then I don't have time to turn around and tell you what I'm going to do, where I'm going to go. Just know that I'll be back, but I'm on a mission from God and I'm going to do what the Lord says. That's the way we all should be. We should be on a mission from God, not all the time, but when God lays it on your heart, wherever you are, be bold to reach out your hand and pray for those.
Speaker 1:If you run into a friend or a family member and they say I'm sick, you need to, you need to get in the word of God, don't? You know? A lot of people say, well, let's pray, it be God's will. No, get in the word of God and find out what God's will is. God set up healing all the way in Exodus, chapter 26. He said I am Jehovah Rapha. You know, be quick to pray for him. Lord, you know you can't heal nobody, I can't heal nobody, but God can, and God is able to above and beyond, more than we ask or think. And listen, I've got to go. I love you, listen, share this. If you know somebody that's going through a trial, a tribulation, a divorce or something, share it so I can let them be encouraged that they need to get in the word and they need to pray and they need to ask the spirit to show them what they need to do.
Speaker 1:You know, there is forgiveness after divorce. God does forgive and it says when he forgives our sins, he puts them as far as the east is from the west in the sea of forgetfulness, never to remember them anymore. So we got to let that go. We got to let that go. You know, we got to let that sin go. And sometimes it is divorce. And you know, sometimes I'm going to say this right quick, before I get off here Sometimes God has to get something out of your life, to get something that he wants in your life.
Speaker 1:Sometimes he has to remove chaos out of your life to get peace in your life. But if you are married, work on that marriage, pray, pray together. If you can pray together and work it out together, that is the ultimate thing. That is the ultimate thing that God wants not separation or divorce. Well, listen, until next time you start your faith walk. You can email me at faithwalk1960atoutlookcom. Faithwalk1960atoutlookcom. You hit the subscribe button, hit the little bell, hit the like button. You know, if you want to donate donations, I think start at $3 if you want to. If you don't, that's okay, god will provide. I don't have to have it. But if you feel like you want to sow into a ministry that is going to reap a harvest for God, feel free to sow Until next time. This is William Carroll on Faith Walk. Start yours today.
