Pastor Thompson on mind, prison, homelessness, music

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Jesus on the main line. Call him up like what it do. Read through the Bible, find out everything. Okay, Awesome God, Indeed by Ola Shea Banjo and his group, Young Grimy and Her Face. Welcome to the Conrad Report. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. My name is Melvin Ishmael Johnson. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome author of the great book, Victory Over the Mind. Pastor Thompson, welcome to the Coon Brown Report. Well, good evening to you, my brother. Yeah, before we get into an in-depth discussion, can you introduce our guest that we have sitting with us? Oh, amen. I'd like to say I brought some very exciting people with me, people that God has brought in the midst of Sanctified Army Ministry. And I'll start, first of all, from my right. I have someone that's very special with me. I have Lydia Kinney, which is the number one person in my life. Amen. God bless you. And also I have one of our lead singers, Sanctified Army Ministry Praise Team, Sister Edwina. And a man next to her I have on guitar, and also one of our lead vocalists, that incredible Minister Peter Crawford. Amen. And also we have Brother Kenton, a man that you'll hear a lot from over the upcoming months. We're in the process of doing a, contemporary gospel album. He's doing some lead vocals. Amen. And right next to him, we have someone else with us special. That's a former country and Western singer. She's done some incredible things. God has brought her our way. Sister Evangelist Maria Thomas is with us. And that's the team I brought out here with me this evening. So we can all have a wonderful time this evening. Amen. Amen. Okay. And we got Bobby Bucks. Oh, yeah. Bobby Bucks is something, you know, I didn't mean to leave you off, Brother Bobby. Bobby's renowned in itself. So I just want to know Bobby Bucks is doing incredible things. Amen. And matter of fact, on the book, Victory Over the Mind, when you pick up a copy, you'll notice the great picture on the front. It's actually, Bobby's the photographer there. Amen, Bobby. Oh, yeah. I did a little something. Okay. Yes. Thank you. Yeah, you're welcome. Okay, let's start off. Can you tell our listening audience a little about your background? Well, you know, how far I want to go back. Sometimes I want to go way back. But I'll kind of expedite it by saying that I was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and a Bible belt out there. And my mother and father took me to church as a little boy. And I learned some precepts that have stuck with me throughout the course of life. And it's why I'm here where I am now, based on the fundamentals of how my family raised me. But I'm from New Orleans, Louisiana, and I'm out here in California now. And we're doing wonderful things in ministry. We're in ministry. We're in music ministry. Amen. Okay. All right. Now, tell us how and when did you become a minister? Okay. Well, I wanted to kind of talk about the progression of my music career, because actually God called me out to entertainment industry. I had accomplished three albums on CBS record label, came out of group war, then progressed into General Kane. And during the height of my career, I saw some other things that I was unaware of. And I got caught up in the drug culture and that caused me to deviate from the patterns of life I set out on. And in that, in my struggle, I remember the teachings that I learned from a little boy as a reference point to get my life back on track. And so about 18 years ago, I heard the call of God upon my life and I answered. So I began to preach and teach the gospel. And I'm doing the same today. But I started that about 18 years ago. So I started that about 18 years ago. 18 years. Now, this great book, along the title, Victory Over the Mind in Control or Out of Control. Can you how did this book come about? Well, as I said, growing up in the South and learning the word of God as a little boy, I began to question my own life and walk with God because on many avenues of my life I saw defeated. Nevertheless, I had a proclamation of being a Christian. So I had to seek what was the problem or the difficulty for me being victorious in life as a Christian, because I know a Christian is not purposefully lived a defeated life, but a victorious life. So God showed me some fundamental principles in his word to take authority over our thought life, which is our mind. So not only by the transforming of the mind, that's a process that must take place for anybody to be victorious. Right? Right? Right? Right? Mm hmm. Mm hmm. And it's simple as the title say victory over the mind in control or out of control If you don't have authority over your mind, that means your life is out of control Because inevitably there are negative influences that come against our mind on a daily basis So the question is how do we have victory over the negative influences is actually by gaining and learning victory over the mind And that's accomplished by biblical precepts and spiritual laws That's in the Word of God Is that like the main theme of the book? Yes it is If I can get into this because it's a process but let me say this to you In a born again experience from a biblical perspective It's a quickening of the inner man, the spirit of a man But at the same time once he has that quickening and getting to a fellowship with God He still have the process of transforming his mind Because remember there's nothing you're going to do or say in life Unless it's first filled with through your mind So the question is I'll say this Why are some people victorious in life and why other people are defeated in life? It's all talked about in the Word of God And let me just throw this in right fast It goes back from the beginning of things Sometimes we come in on the middle of a story or on the end of a story But expect to get a good understanding of the story So to go back to the beginning if you look at the Bible And you find the first thing that God created With the principle of life within itself To reproduce after its own kind was the seed family So the mind capacity is like a garden And thoughts and imaginations are like seeds So the question is what kind of thoughts and imaginations that represent seed Have been planted in your mind It tells us a lot about the way you live And every garden no matter how beautiful it is It grows weeds So that means every garden has to be de-weeded Like every mind needs to be de-weeded So the Bible says that every mind needs to be de-weeded And that's the Bible And my book talks about those types of precepts Okay I want to play in a minute I want to play a little clip I had a couple months ago I had Reverend Frank Wolf Who is a pastor at the university University United University Church on the campus of USC And we talked about a very controversial issue Among not just the Christian faith But the Islamic faith and the Judaism faith And the Jewish faith And the Jewish faith And the Christian faith But especially among the Christian faith And that's same-sex marriage And I want to play a clip And then we'll come back and comment on that Okay One of the most debated topics Among the three major religions Is same-sex marriage Yep How do you deal with that as a minister? Especially when you have a diverse congregation Well we do have several We do have several Lesbian, gay members Bisexual, even transgender members of the church And they're an important part of our congregation And this church made a decision Years before I arrived That it was going to be a church A congregation that welcomed Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people Into its midst And so they became What in the Methodist denomination Is called a reconciling congregation They became what in the Presbyterian world Is called a more like congregation But they both mean the same thing That we're a church that welcomes Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender people We admit them into full membership We admit them into the leadership of the church People are fully integrated into the life of the congregation And part of being fully integrated into the life of the congregation Is being able to receive the ministry of the church And one of those ministries is the solemnization of marriage So even before I arrived at this congregation The decision was made that we would perform holy union service And that's what we're doing And that's why we're doing this Because we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church And we're doing this for the church to preside at same-sex weddings. And I've made my own conscientious decision that I will preside at same-sex weddings. I think what really binds a relationship together is the love that exists between people and that the other stuff is our details that we squabble a lot about. But really, when Jesus talked about what was most important, he didn't talk about the different rules and the divisions and the differences between people. When we read through the scriptures, he basically focused on our power to love each other. So the greatest of all commandments is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and then to love our neighbors as ourselves. I see it as part of my ministry. My congregation sees it as part of its ministry to extend that love to all people, and that includes same-sex couples. So, yeah, we'll do that. Okay, can you comment? And what are your thoughts on, um, same-sex marriage? Um, it's very interesting. And what happens with me, I so often get in trouble with a multitude of people, um, regarding some issues in society versus what the Word of God teaches about righteousness. And I'll say this, um, when it comes to same-sex marriage, I kind of agree with a portion of what the pastor was talking about, and this is a portion I believe in. You cannot clean a fish before you catch it. So therefore, whoever and however persons live, um, you cannot clean a fish before you catch it. So therefore, whoever and however persons live, we catch them with the love of Christ, and we bring them into the house of God, we begin to have the Lord of God clean up their lives according to the Word of God. So if a person is practicing a way of life that's contrary to what the Word of God teaches, that's not an offense to us because Jesus said he came for the sick and the lost. So in many ways, we're all sick and lost in many ways. But once we come into the house of God because of the love, the grace, and the mercy of God, now here's the time to be cleaned up before God to live a life of righteousness. to live a life that's righteous before him. So in regards to same-sex marriage, I vehemently oppose same-sex marriage, but I don't oppose the fellowship with someone that practiced something like that because it's about extending the love of Jesus Christ. And within the extension of that love, hopefully that person that's practicing something that's contrary to the Word of God, the love of God will draw them in a point of humility to receive the truth about the way they're living. Mm-hmm. Okay. Beautiful. Beautiful answer. And I was going to ask you your thoughts on the same-sex marriage, but you gave it to me. Now, what do the Scriptures say about same-sex marriages? And did Jesus teach anything about that? Well, marriage from the beginning, and like I said so often, remember the Bible is 66 books compiled into one. And when you read the Scripture, you have to understand that Scripture in the context of what the Bible teaches as a whole. So in the beginning, we see God is the orchestrator that has brought in the constitution of marriage. And we see that God brought to Adam a woman, not a man. So he set the structure in order that he purposed for the humanity that he created. So we follow pursuit. But within the progression of life, we see a man becoming more industrious and also more innovative, but unfortunately drawing farther away from the Word. Mm-hmm. And that's the promises of God. Mm-hmm. Now, how do you minister to those who identify themselves as gays? How would you... What I simply do on many occasions, and I like to emphasize this, is I'm not the authority on life, and I tend not to lean to my own understanding about life, but I'm pretty much a stickler to go according to what the Word of God teaches. Therefore, I know, I've done what I've been instructed to do by the Word of God in my relationship with God and also the inspired Word of God. And I'll just say this. The Bible teaches that all scriptures are given by inspiration of God. So if you want to answer for life, a lot of people don't know this because they don't have an in-depth study of the Word of God. But there's nothing in life that you can deal with that the Word of God does not address in some aspect on some level. Mm-hmm. Now, I would like for you to repeat again. You know, we had a lot of... Mm-hmm. We had a little conversation earlier, and you mentioned the whole concept about the individual who asked the minister about being born gay. And can you tell... Oh, okay. Well, I'm also on a ministry roster at the Los Angeles Mission, and we were there maybe a year or two ago, and we were in ministry, and one young man came up, and he was practicing a homosexual lifestyle. And this is the proclamation he told us. He said, well, here's the problem. I was born gay. And so we wanted to dispute about whether a person is born gay or is it a learned or practiced behavior. So what happened is we assured him, if you were born gay according to the Word of God, that's the evidence that you need to be born again. Amen. Bless God. So that's the whole thing. However you're born, and we know the Bible said we're all born with a fallen nature, so we all need to repent and under the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the remission of sin, therefore we are reconciled. We are reconciled to a right position with God once again. Okay. Let's do another clip, and then I want to come back and talk a little about the prisoners and all of that. Amen. Another important issue, especially around here in Los Angeles, but really all over the United States, is what they call the prison industry complex. Right. You know, with so many prisons and people getting out of prisons, can you talk a little about what is Jesus' teachings in relationship to prison? Well, Jesus called in Luke chapter 4, it was very clear, the Spirit of the Lord God is upon me because God has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He sent me to proclaim release to the captives, recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty the oppressed, and to announce the year of God's favor. I'm going to focus on, release to the captives. You know, that Jesus' teaching is that prisoners, no less than anyone else, people who are not imprisoned, are children of God. And you can go to the most hardened criminal in the most secure prison in the state of California, you can look into that person's eyes, and if you look carefully enough, you're going to see the face of God. And Mother Teresa used to say, the reason she ministered to the dying on the streets of Calcutta is because she looked into their eyes and she saw Jesus. And I would say the same thing about prisoners. You look into their eyes, you're going to see Jesus, if you look hard enough. You're going to see the Spirit of God, you're going to see the face of God, because that's how they were made. And however much they might have been twisted by the circumstances of their lives and the bad decisions that they made, that image of God is still going to be there. And so there is a, so Jesus' teaching is not about, punishing the prisoner. Let's get that, let's get that out of our minds. And I dare anyone to show me where it says that Jesus' primary function is to punish the prisoner, just not there. Jesus says that our primary function is to bring liberty to the prisoner. Liberty to the prisoner. That's not just a liberty of body. You know, it's not just, it's not just breaking them out of, from behind bars. It's also this liberty of the mind, it's this liberty of the spirit, it's this liberty, it's this liberty of the soul. Helping people to get out of this prisoner mentality and be able to live their lives, lives with dignity. I think Jesus would be ashamed of the prison industrial complex in this country. Okay, can you comment on that? Yes, it's very interesting. When you go out and purchase the book Victory Over the Mind, you'll hear my testimony and you'll also learn that I spent a long year in course of, in incarceration myself. And I learned many things and I had many days to reflect on the things I was taught as a child and a progression of my life, becoming a male factor and getting involved in drugs. But the time that I spent in incarceration was an invaluable time in terms of the things I lost, the things I learned. But there was many people also that were going through similar experiences. I'd like to say this to you, is that first of all, a person that's in prison, they were caught as a male factor of the law. A lot of other people would be there if they were only caught because mankind violate the laws in many ways and it's not just the person that has been caught as a male factor of the law. And in prison, there's a lot of people that break the law every day that should be in prison that just haven't been caught yet. But let me also say this to you. It's a very valuable time because a person has the time to do some soul searching and find out where their life has gotten off course and how to get it back on course. And in that, a lot of strong men come out of the judicial system with a better perspective of life. Now, we have a ratio with that. I'm not saying everyone, but if you look at the Bible, God used many men and women that came from a male factor type of background because the Bible talks about we overcame him, meaning the enemy, by the blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. So everybody that's right with God and in position with God should have a testimony. And a person that comes out of prison is no different than anyone else that has a testimony. Whether a person is a male factor of the law and get caught in prison versus a person that maybe that commits adultery, break the law, steal or murder, we are all in a position of repentance before God. But the people that's coming out of prison, I thank God that there's ministries that take the time to go into the prison system and begin to teach the men redirection to their life. When I say men, I also mean men and women. So it's a good time because sometimes when you find yourself in a hardship in life, it's a better time in life. Sometimes we're just going and we are running and we are running, but sometimes we take incidents in life to slow us down. Therefore, we can do introspection of our life to find out that we need to make some revisions in our lives. Okay. Yeah, I'm talking to Pastor Alger Thompson, who is the author of this great book, Victory Over the Mind, In Control or Out of Control. He is the pastor of the Sanctified Armory Ministry Incorporated. Amen. Now, what are your thoughts on helping prison integrate back into the community? How can the church do that? Well, I'm associated with a renowned brother, Fred Walker. That's the reentry person for a prominent nonprofit organization. So they have a system set up that they go and they talk to men in the prison system before they're paroled. Therefore, they talk to them about a wholesome living environment. Therefore, when they come out of prison, remember they primarily have lost their jobs, their home, and a lot of other valuable things. So it's starting all over virtually with nothing. So actually, they're not in a most, most efficacious position. So what happens is they do need some kind of assistance to help them get back on track. So I know it's vital for the church to become active and the people that's talking about embellishing humanity to be in contact with these people before they are released from prison to help direct them into a wholesome living atmosphere to begin to learn different trades and also get back on track with their families. Therefore, they have a fair share of the people that are in prison. Therefore, they have a favorable beginning once again. I always want to say for the most part is that if this doesn't happen, the recidivism rate is very high because if a person is not taught anything different than they knew before they went in, the recidivism rate is in place that they're most likely to return. So yes, it's very vital and monumental to begin to have a positive communication to teach some precepts and some trades and some skills. Therefore, one could gain some stability in their lives that they won't return back to the same type of lifestyles. Okay, now I know you come out of the music world. I want to ask you this. What are your thoughts on the influence of music on our young people? You know, that's great. Music is the passion of my life. Coming from the entertainment industry, doing three albums on CBS record label, playing with some of the major artists like the Godfather of Soul and Rick James and some of the other people out there, I'll tell you that the concept of music is changing with respect to the message in the music. The music is not the problem as much as the lyrics are the problem that sends the message. So I'm learning that, and some of the young folks now, they're not in the essence of the message. They're just pretty much into a message. I don't know if they're sitting down and really listening to the music. I don't know if they've really thought about what they're really subscribing to and what they're teaching other people in their song. So I would say that the music is great. I would say a lot of artists should revise the lyric concepts to send a different message. And what are your thoughts on rap music and hip hop? Can you, is, do you, especially coming out of the music world, you know, because I think about when you had James Brown and when you had Aretha Franklin, Kurt Angle, you know, when you had Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield, you go down the list. You know, they always, they had great lyrics that had positive, you know, I can't remember these great artists talking about whores and bitches and whatever like that as a creative platform. Correct. You know, can you, what do you see and how can, how can we change what we hear now coming out coming out of this rap world, not all of it, but definitely the majority of it. You know, it's interesting. I have a dual perspective on that, and I'll kind of say this before I get directly to answering your question, is that I learned at my age, if I'm 50 years old, I cannot teach a 20-year-old young man to act like he's 50. And why I'm saying that is because sometimes we want the younger generation to mimic, duplicate what we've done, but that's not going to happen. Here's the problem, is that from a Christian perspective, or disembellishing humanity, a lot of the principles and the precepts of the young folks that create music, what they're being taught at home, and what they subscribe to at home is going to be reality, what filters out for the most part in their music out in the public. So we have to get to a point, again, that the Christian community or our parents have to get to a point where teaching the young folks direction, teaching them a substance and a message that they're sending, it's not just something they're doing, but it has a greatest purpose because people are listening, they're meditating, and they're mimicking what they're listening to. So therefore, it goes back to the fundamentals of good home etiquettes and things that talks about building true character in an individual. Mm-hmm. Because one thing that I think about all the time is most of your great, a huge majority of your great artists, especially African American artists, this is what I'm speaking of, because they laid the foundation for what you call original American music over here with their gospel, blues, jazz, and all like that. But the majority of it, and I think about it all the time, come up out of the church, you know, had their roots in there. And when you look at hip hop, you look at rap, you know, none of that's, the roots is not coming out of any kind of spirit or base of the church. It's coming straight from the community. And I think that's one of the major difference. And to me, that's one of the major danger, you know, until, because, you know, we are creative people. We can create what we want to. But I think we're going to have to look at that very closely on why our music is no longer coming out of the church. As a matter of fact, it seems as if, you know, this outside music is beginning to influence the church music. You know, they're trying to make church music, rap, and bring all of these elements without realizing that all of these elements come out of the church music, starting with the gospel music. Can you comment on that? And then I want to have you guys do a song for it before we go to the community council. All right. Yeah, because, you know, I really love the music ministry of Sanctified Army Praise Team. We do a great job. We thank God for that. Let me say this to you, that the Bible talks about do not rebuke an elder. So I'm going to start off as a premise to respond to your question, is that the younger generation is really not paying attention to the elders. For instance, a lot of young people believe that what they're doing is something new. Yeah. It's not anything new. The Bible said there's nothing new under the sun. So if they're being rebellious and the type of lyrics they're singing, that does not get respect to the women, does not get respect to their parents, that does not get respect to their children, then they're not really learning that from the elders or from the folks that once was recording music, such as Curtis Mayfield, as you mentioned, some of the other folks like maybe Earth, Wind & Fire, people that had positive lyrics in their song. They're not learning from the elders. They're pretty much living rebellious lifestyles. And I'm not saying that to be condescending. They're just missing your mark because they're looking in the wrong direction. And if you're looking in the wrong direction, you're going to learn the wrong thing, and you're going to say and do the wrong thing. So it takes them humbling themselves to listen. I'll just say this to you. When I was out there playing music and secular music, for the most part, our lyrics were not detrimental in terms of being violent, but the lyrics were very provocative. And in terms of our message. But thank God now I'm into gospel music and contemporary gospel. Therefore, the lyrics glorify God and send a positive message. So we have to pray for our young folks, and we just have to communicate with them and have them change their perspective of how they see a lot of things and send a different message. Okay. Now, what are we getting ready to hear here, Obeem? Well, I'm not sure what Sanctified Army Ministry praise team is going to say. They're going to sing for you. Emmanuel? Oh, I understand they're going to sing Emmanuel. Bless the Lord. Amen. That's one of my favorite songs. Now, this is what I mean by a positive message. Amen. Bless the Lord. Hallelujah. Are you guys ready? All right. Let's go. Oh, come. Come, let us adore him. Kneel down before him. Worship and adore him. Emmanuel. Emmanuel. Do you know him? Yeah. Emmanuel. His name is Emmanuel. His name is Emmanuel. Oh, Emmanuel Oh, Emmanuel Oh, Emmanuel Emmanuel I love you, yeah Emmanuel Oh, Emmanuel Oh, we worship you We worship you We worship you in everything that we do We worship you Oh, hallelujah Thank you, Emmanuel We worship you We worship you We worship you All right, Emmanuel We'll be coming back to have him do another song in the summer in the second part of the show At this time, let's take a little break while Community Calendar Bobby Bucks is going to do it for us This is the Community Calendar of March Save the date Tuesday, March 25th 2014 at 7pm Drama Stage Coomera Veterans Community Theater presents the documentary What's That? The all-day concert was part of Watts Summer Festival in 1972 MC by Young Jesse Jackson featuring Richard Pryor the Staples singer Isaac Hayes The Thing from the Shaft and many more This is a fundraising event Come out with your afro your bell bottoms your platform shoes and laugh, cry, sing, dance, shout This network suggests donations $5 Location The Vortex 2341 East Olympe Boulevard Santa Fe and Olympic For more info contact Drama Stage Coomeran1 at yahoo.com or 213-479-1764 Upcoming guests on the Coomeran Report Monday, March 17th 2014 and quarter Talking about corporations as people and Odell Ruffin Talking about his up-and-coming stage play The Meeting About Mackham and Martin If you have a community event that you would like announced on our program send the info to dramastage1 at yahoo.com Attention Earling Anthony Call in number for the show is 800-893-9562 Now back to our host Hey, thank you Bobby Buck Now it's a pleasure to be here I want to open up our discussion for a round table with all of our guests that we have here anybody that want to join in and the first thing that I want to throw out here to get some feedback on is what are your thoughts on the homeless in the Skid Row area You know Los Angeles is known as the homeless capital of the United States and so let's start off with that I think Evangelist Marie Thompson Marie Thomas would you like to talk to us about that sure I would love to first of all I'm thankful to be here I was homeless back in 2009 when I first came here and I shared a picture with the pastor and sister Lydia when I said it's a new image shelter with my daughter and it was kind of scary but you know what there is help out there you know no matter what no matter where you are at that time and place in your life as long as you continue holding on to that hope and you know and check out the resources there's a lot of resources out there but it's so overwhelming sometimes because you just feel so broken you know but there is hope I got out of there since 2009 so now I'm in my transitional home I actually have my own apartment now which was through the resources of the homelessness and shelters and meeting up with the different missions down on skid road you know so it's really helpful how can anybody you know feel free to chime in when you look at skid road you know skid road are the people that's laying in the streets the tents the elderly the veterans and all like that one thing that really sticks out in my mind is the fact that it's about 85% over 80% of the individuals on skid road are African Americans and when you look at Los Angeles probably what 9-10% if that of the whole population now is this an African American problem how can these churches how can these African American churches how can they get more involved in getting these people off skid road assisting these people in skid road well I like to say that I'm not a skid road person I like to address that someone to say that what respects to our church community is that I hope some of my brothers and sisters out there and my colleagues in ministry don't think of me too harshly when I say that we need to become more diligent in our labor meaning that we have to leave the edifice of our churches and begin to collectively get out into the highways and byways where people are hurting and in captivity from school and from school and from such lifestyles as homelessness but I also like to say I think there's a bit of social bureaucracy that takes part in the midst of all of this because we can make revisions positive revisions in the skid road homelessness but I think those people that are in position now don't have that primary thing in mind because I know we could do it but I'm not going to blame the political world or the state or anything like that I'm going to also go back to say what you're saying until the day I die I'm not going to blame the political world or the state or anything like that I'm going to also go back to say what you're saying until the day I die I'm going to also go back to say what you're saying because if the church community itself become more aware and get more involved in making a positive and a radical change then things are not going to change and I think it's an infrastructure issue that we have to get ourselves together and deal with this issue head on to make a remarkable and positive change I'd like to say something one of the visions of Sanctified Army Ministries one of the visions for Sanctified Army Ministries is to eventually have a facility first of all the mission is to unite church and what we mean by that is to rally the churches in these communities we talk about 10-15 churches in a block none of the people the people in the church don't know the people in the community the communities don't know anything about the churches the churches are half empty if the people in church would stop focusing on the being in church on Sunday only going back home come back Sunday but come together unite together to do the work that we're called to do to go out into the world if we came together we can do a lot we can have facilities that house the homeless that train them that give them life skills such as the precepts and concepts and victory over the mind many of the precepts many of the people need to learn who they are who they can be in Christ who God has called them to be many people have given up hope and they don't believe that they can do anything different so even if you put them in a mission feed them for 90 days let them back out on the street or put them back out on the street what have they learned what have they gained they still don't have any more confidence in who they are but if the church would unite the people, the body of Christ and begin to unite with our funds unite with our skills our talents, our abilities God has gifted us with everything we need to meet the needs of society but we have to get outside of the four walls of the churches come together as a people and begin to plan we have all kinds of skills in the body of Christ we have people who can develop programs who can put together facilities who can, you know, non-profit foundations who can build a church who can build a church who can build a church who can build a church you know, pull together funds to build structures to house people to train people to give them what they need so they can get out on their own so they can move out and become productive members of society if the church would do as Christ says come together as a people and meet the needs of society meet the needs of the communities you know I believe there's much that can be done okay anybody else want to comment on that on that you know thinking about okay, well let me Bobby yeah, I like what you were saying because that's the way I've been thinking about it because like I say when I was homeless I was out there like I said, I kept seeing the false actions that were being done then I was getting mad at the people that worked in there then I had then I had to understand that not the people that work in there they're just getting paid so I was mad at them but it comes from higher up where it trickles down this thing but like I said the main thing is bringing people together like I said I was out there like when I was sleeping on the buses and stuff like that people getting out of jail people getting out of pen people getting kicked out of their homes or whatever I was mad I couldn't I didn't have no resources to send them to so I said I just want to have people who just want to work and do positive action to help me help people and that's the bottom line okay Brother Melvin I want to say this to the listening audience and those that are actually in the body of Christ remember, you know, I'm not saying that you're not a Christian but I want to say this to the listening audience that's a time of worship and fellowship that's not our labor it only equips us for the labor so if Sunday is the only way you express your relationship with God we need to come into a greater understanding not just to identify with the name of Jesus but identify also with the works of Jesus that means getting out on the highway and by the way and the Bible say feeding my sheep and closing the people and menacing direction healing to people and the Bible say in victory. Therefore, we could bring men and women back into the fellowship of their homes. They got too many men out there that are fathers, that are brothers and grandfathers that their family need them back at home. And it's the church obligation to go back and have these people reconciled to integral place of their home, which God has appointed them, not out and misplanned in the wilderness and idolatrous activity. But until the family of God get up off of our position of comfort and become true laborers, then we won't see a radical change. So the only way there's going to be a change is the change has to start in the infrastructure of the church by a radical movement to become true laborers in the vineyard. Amen. I like that. What Pastor was saying, my name is Mr. Kenton, is absolutely correct, but it's like Proverbs out of Africa that it takes a village to raise a child. You know, in the black community our villages have been destroyed through poverty, homelessness, lack of education and just learning from slavery to hate one another. And until we get those concepts realigned, we will always have that poor that Jesus speaks of being in our community. Now we are the essence of God, but we are on the bottom. And that's why in the book it said he would take the bottom rail and bring it to the top. So what we have to be united. Our unity is our greatest force. And we have none in our community. The church has failed, period. You know. And that's all religions have to grow up to be a better aid in redirecting the village. To be able to put these children in better perspective and concept of what is good and what is right and what they should be saying over the mics. Because they get millions and billions of dollars and they just saying anything. But we have a broken family due to the eights, fifties, welfare and the fathers run off in the communities across America. And now we have the broken family and then you have the now the children selling the dope. And then me and in the fifties, almost 60, we as baby boomers are the ones who the children should be listening to. But we have been destroyed ourselves. Yeah, baby boomers were targeted. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. that we had to deal with, the gentlemen of our age. And so our youth don't have great male figures to look up to in the community. And that's what we really suffer. They don't have a young, strong soldier to say, hey, you're doing that wrong. And so we have us, we have to get ourselves back in order so that they can listen to us and say, okay, he's a strong father figure or male figure that I can say, okay, I got it. Yeah, because we definitely need more. I'd like to see the church get involved in creating more after-school programs for our young people, especially the very young. Help teach them to read at an early age, help deal with these issues like bullying and all that kind of stuff at an early age, and also help create some jobs for our young people in the community. I think the church can take a lead on that. Let's listen. Let's do another song right quick. What's the other song? We got time for another song. What are we going to do? Well, we're going to sing Thank You, Lord, because I'm thankful to be here. Amen. For all the people that's listening, I know there's something that you're thankful for. Amen. I thank you. I thank you. Yeah. Yes, I thank you. I thank you. Come on. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you, Lord. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. I want to thank you Lord I woke up soon One morning I didn't have food on my table But I'm glad for this privilege To tell you that the man I serve He is able I want to thank you Lord Thank you Thank you My Lord I thank you Lord I just want to thank you Lord Jesus He blessed He blessed me once And then He blessed me twice He blessed me twice But when I stop And I think about it Oh, He is blessing me Every day of my life I want to thank you I thank you Lord Thank you Lord Thank you Lord He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin He touched skin Thank you I just want to thank you For dying for me And saving me I just want to thank you I just want to thank you, Lord Thank you, Lord Thank you, Lord Oh, yeah Yes, it's like we're going to church up in here Yeah, quickly before I have Pastor Thompson closes out With a closing comment and contact information Yes I'd like to hear from the two of you We haven't heard from Just a few words Your name, comment Your name, comment Well I'm Edwina Smith And I'm a PK kid And when I came to California And I saw all those homeless people I said, oh my God I said, what can I do? And I'm a PK kid And I'm a pastor Tell me, I'm taking everybody at sea So, you know, it's a great job It's a lot of work out there for us You know, but the only way it's going to get done Is we get out there and do it Amen So here I am All right Amen, my name is Brother Pete Glad to be here this evening And I've been homeless too, as a matter of fact I was like the prodigal son And I had to come to myself Amen And the way I did that was through the preaching of the gospel Believe it or not Amen I was ministered to by the missions Amen So all I can say from my perspective Is that Jesus is the answer For the problems that we've been talking about Amen Okay, thank you very much Okay, so Pastor You've got about a minute to give us Your closing comments Your contact information Amen Well, Brother Melvin I'd like to thank you very much For having us over tonight Amen To fellowship with us And talk with us about some of the pertinent issues In society that needs to be revised for sure I would like to say that Victory Over the Mind, In Control or Out of Control Is our new project Although we're in the studio now Working on an album But I'd like to say Victory Over the Mind Is a must read for every Christian Because if you don't have authority over your mind Which Jesus has given that position to us As kingdom children Because we're not going to be able to do that We're kings in his kingdom So therefore We're operating in authority So if you don't have authority over your own mind Then you're not in a position to operate in that authority I'd like to say You can purchase this book Sanctified Army Ministry Through the Word of Life Christian Bookstore At 6321 West Boulevard in Los Angeles Or you can pick it up from Sanctified Army Ministry website Which is sanctifiedarmy.org Or you can go to amazon.com And pick it up It's called Victory Over the Mind In control Out of control And thank you tonight For tuning in Therefore we can be blessed And receive a word To edify all our lives In Jesus name Okay Thank you I'd like to extend a special thanks To Pastor Alger Thompson And all these beautiful singers up in here Thank you Thank you Bobby Buck doing some double work here All right Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Thank you Listen to past shows of the Qumran Reports on iTunes, Stitcher, Tumblr, Google, and Skid Row.LA. Thank you for tuning in to the Qumran Reporting from your host, Melvin Ishmael Johnson. May the peace and blessings of the life-giving creative spirit be upon you and upon your family. And I leave you with Ola Shea Banjo and his group singing Awesome God Indeed. When I think about the mercy and your love and your grace, I thank you, Lord, that you brought me to this place where I can praise you every day of my life. You brought me through the stress. You brought me through the strife. I'm climbing high. It doesn't amount to for you, because, Lord, I love you for everything that you do, for who you are to me, my Savior and my Lord. Lord, you are really, you are awesome. Indeed, great and mighty. Mighty, you are awesome. Indeed, full of love and mercy. Awesome. My God is awesome, God. He helps me through the rain and the fog. Yeah, especially. When life gets hard, he holds my hand. Walk me through the dark. God is great. Can I get a witness? Specialized in loving and forgiveness. In poverty, stress and sickness. He on time, never late to handle business. You are awesome. Indeed, great and mighty. Mighty, you are awesome. Indeed, full of love and mercy. Yeah. Awesome. No matter what you're going through, pray it up, he's helping you. Jesus on the main line, calling them up like what it do. Read through the Bible, find out everything.