Hidden Secrets Finally EXPOSED! - Larry Ragland

1
00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:03,680
Me and you talk. I'm gonna tell you what I think about you right now.

2
00:00:03,680 --> 00:00:08,800
And I just begin to tell God things that I never thought I'd ever say to God.

3
00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:14,080
How could you do this to me? I have given you everything. I have sacrificed everything.

4
00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:18,640
I have done without. I have not been able to do what other people do because of you.

5
00:00:18,640 --> 00:00:22,320
And I've given everything to you. And here I am. You won't even heal me.

6
00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:25,280
I preach healing. I preach deliverance. I preach prosperity.

7
00:00:25,280 --> 00:00:31,920
You've forsaken me. And I heard the Lord say to me, now are you done telling me about me?

8
00:00:32,880 --> 00:00:34,000
Let me tell you about you.

9
00:00:34,640 --> 00:00:40,160
Pastor Larry Ragland, it's great to have you here on Charisma. We had the opportunity to meet at

10
00:00:40,160 --> 00:00:46,560
the Armed Media Conference and so many people were talking about what you were doing on your

11
00:00:46,560 --> 00:00:51,440
YouTube channel, which is a part of your podcast. And all of this is really the big picture.

12
00:00:51,440 --> 00:00:56,800
But you've been pastoring for many years. We're gonna talk about that story and that journey.

13
00:00:56,800 --> 00:01:02,960
But it's great to be able to have you here on Charisma because God has highlighted you.

14
00:01:02,960 --> 00:01:07,760
And now we get to learn about why that is. So welcome to Charisma.

15
00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:13,600
Well, John, it is such a great honor. Of course, I've always respected Charisma.

16
00:01:13,600 --> 00:01:17,040
I've, like you said, I've been in the ministry now. I've been preaching now for 35 years,

17
00:01:17,040 --> 00:01:23,200
planted our church and been pastoring it for 30 years right now. And so we followed everything.

18
00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:29,440
And I'm thankful for a Christian media company that didn't stick to just the printed material,

19
00:01:29,440 --> 00:01:34,960
but then saw where God was moving. And when I looked over and I saw Charisma at the Armed

20
00:01:34,960 --> 00:01:38,960
Media Conference there, I thought, man, this is amazing because this is what the body of Christ

21
00:01:38,960 --> 00:01:44,560
needs. Voices like Charisma saying, hey, wherever the cloud is moving, the pillar is moving,

22
00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:50,000
the glory is moving. I want to move with it. So what a great honor it is to be on Charisma

23
00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:54,080
and to be with you, John. Thank you so much. Well, I'm honored to hear you say that.

24
00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:58,480
Wherever the cloud is moving, then that's where we want to be. And if you're seeing that in us,

25
00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:03,280
that is an answer to prayer, brother. We thank you. So I want to hear how the cloud has been

26
00:02:03,280 --> 00:02:08,720
moving in your life because being a pastor for 30 years, starting a church and now you're

27
00:02:08,720 --> 00:02:13,120
celebrating your 30th year, but you've been pastoring a little bit longer than that too.

28
00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:20,480
I know there has got to be supernatural stories in this. So tell me about the church and how God

29
00:02:20,480 --> 00:02:26,240
has led you for these last 30 years here. What are some supernatural things that God has happened?

30
00:02:27,040 --> 00:02:33,120
Wow, man, we need about three or four hours to talk about all that God has done. It's amazing.

31
00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:38,880
As you said, we started our church 30 years ago. We're claiming 30, of course, that's the age

32
00:02:38,880 --> 00:02:43,920
that Jesus began his ministry, the age of the priesthood. So we're really saying to our church,

33
00:02:43,920 --> 00:02:49,360
hey, we're just getting started. Just like Jesus was operating sort of in stealth mode.

34
00:02:49,360 --> 00:02:54,880
And all of a sudden he came on the scene and in three and a half years, literally changed the world.

35
00:02:54,880 --> 00:02:59,840
And we're not equating ourselves with that, but we're saying, hey, we are just beginning.

36
00:02:59,840 --> 00:03:04,160
And I believe the body of Christ is just beginning. And then you look around and you see the condition

37
00:03:04,160 --> 00:03:09,200
of the world. And as a believer, you just shake your head and you're like, I just don't see how

38
00:03:09,200 --> 00:03:15,120
anything could get any worse than it is. But the truth is there's a remnant and what we are going

39
00:03:15,120 --> 00:03:20,880
through right now as we've preached about, prophesied about, yet once more, the Lord said

40
00:03:20,880 --> 00:03:25,040
in the book of Hebrews chapter 12, I will shake everything, heaven and earth, and everything that

41
00:03:25,040 --> 00:03:29,280
can be shaken will be shaken, that which cannot be shaken remains. So when I look at our church,

42
00:03:29,280 --> 00:03:35,280
I thank God that we have been through so many shakings. We've gone through five building

43
00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:42,160
programs along that journey. My wife and I have had miracle after miracle after miracle happen in

44
00:03:42,160 --> 00:03:48,800
our lives. In each building that we've got, I just recently wrote a book and I detailed in that book

45
00:03:48,800 --> 00:03:53,920
the stories of the miraculous of how these things came to pass. They were just incredible.

46
00:03:53,920 --> 00:04:00,720
And then I get all the way to, I'm a pop all now, I'm very, very excited to be a grandparent.

47
00:04:00,720 --> 00:04:07,520
I have two grandbabies. And of all things, John, here we are, we're coming up on, at that time

48
00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:11,440
it was about 28 years into the church and miracle after miracle after miracle. And I thought,

49
00:04:11,440 --> 00:04:17,520
I'm going to slow down. I got my grandkids, we just decided to do this crazy thing, build a house

50
00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:22,480
in the middle of the pandemic. And so I don't know what we were thinking. And I was like,

51
00:04:22,480 --> 00:04:27,440
I don't know what we were thinking, but we finally did and got it finished. I'm sitting on the back

52
00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:31,760
porch and I'm thinking about what you're talking about, all the things that we've lived through,

53
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:37,600
all the hard times, all the miraculous God pulling us out at the last minute. And I said,

54
00:04:37,600 --> 00:04:41,440
you know, God, I'm just going to settle down and I'm going to enjoy my grandkids. I'm going to enjoy

55
00:04:41,440 --> 00:04:45,920
this new house. I'm going to watch the sunset. And that's when the Lord just sort of laughed a

56
00:04:45,920 --> 00:04:51,280
little bit at me and said, no, no, no, no, you're just now getting started and you're about to be

57
00:04:51,280 --> 00:04:56,640
crazier, busier than you've ever been. So that's how we got to where we're at right now. So we give

58
00:04:56,640 --> 00:05:03,520
God the praise. It has been miracle after miracle after miracle of what God has done. And, you know,

59
00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:08,320
we can break some of those down, but it's just too many to pull out of top of my head right now.

60
00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:14,640
Yeah. So I, it's always amazing whenever we tell God our plans and our ideas, and we hear that,

61
00:05:14,640 --> 00:05:21,520
that Holy Spirit laugh in our, in our ears, but in our hearts too. And brother, you said something

62
00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:27,360
earlier about the, the, the year of the priesthood. Okay. So you're in your 30th year of your church.

63
00:05:28,080 --> 00:05:34,560
And as you were talking about that, this verse just kind of played in my spirit where the Bible

64
00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:41,760
says that Jesus grew in wisdom and stature and favor with God and man. And so like, as you said,

65
00:05:41,760 --> 00:05:48,400
the 30th year is when Jesus began his public ministry, brother, you got a wild ride ahead.

66
00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:54,320
I just feel it. So tell me about some of these things where God has been preparing you and growing

67
00:05:54,320 --> 00:06:00,720
you in wisdom and favor with God and man. It is so amazing that you just brought this story,

68
00:06:00,720 --> 00:06:05,840
because that is what I've literally been preaching on that. Cause that was the story of when he was

69
00:06:05,840 --> 00:06:09,920
12 years old, when they found him, when he was 12 years old, they found him in the temple. I call

70
00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:13,680
it, you know, I talk about the movie home alone. You remember when she's leans back on the plane,

71
00:06:13,680 --> 00:06:18,800
she goes, come on, you know, I just like, you know, Jesus, you know, he's back there. He's left

72
00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:24,000
behind. He's instead of home alone, I call it temple alone. And he, he's back in the temple

73
00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,320
doing his thing at 12 years old and Joseph and Mary both think that each one of them has them.

74
00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:33,520
And then they realized they've left him behind. And so they go back and they, you know, like Jesus,

75
00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,480
you know, the Kevin moment and they go back and they find Jesus there and they, and they say,

76
00:06:38,480 --> 00:06:41,760
what are you doing? What have you done to us? We were worried sick about you. And he said,

77
00:06:41,760 --> 00:06:45,360
did you not know I'd be about my father's business? And then it says from that point,

78
00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:51,520
Jesus grew in stature and in favor with God in man. And one of the most powerful things

79
00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:57,680
when you begin to realize is that inside that 12 year old, inside that baby that was in the womb

80
00:06:57,680 --> 00:07:04,480
of the Virgin Mary, inside that young man that was approaching into his twenties, moving his way to

81
00:07:04,480 --> 00:07:09,840
the thirties is the word of God. He is God, the creator of the universe, the one that, that,

82
00:07:09,840 --> 00:07:15,440
that made everything. But on the outside, it was a body. And, and, and the Bible says that,

83
00:07:15,440 --> 00:07:19,200
and I like to say it this way, everything that Jesus did, and I might be get,

84
00:07:19,200 --> 00:07:24,560
get a little pushback on this, but hear me out from the moment of the conception in the womb of

85
00:07:24,560 --> 00:07:29,760
the, of his mother to the point that he said it is finished and he knew no sin became sin so that we

86
00:07:29,760 --> 00:07:35,760
might be saved. Everything in between those moments, Jesus did as a man who happened to be God,

87
00:07:35,760 --> 00:07:42,000
not as God who happened to be man. And, and therefore what he did, he did it for not only

88
00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:48,400
so that he could move towards the point of dying for our sins, but to teach us by example. And if

89
00:07:48,400 --> 00:07:56,720
Jesus had to grow in stature, if Jesus had to have favor with God and with man, then who are we to

90
00:07:56,720 --> 00:08:03,120
not think that we have to have that? And the great Dr. John Maxwell says, you know, leadership is

91
00:08:03,120 --> 00:08:08,560
influence, nothing more, nothing less. So what, what I've learned from the great leader, Jesus,

92
00:08:08,560 --> 00:08:15,760
is that life is all about building influence, beginning to build relationships. You think about

93
00:08:15,760 --> 00:08:22,560
the conversations that Jesus had to have had with his disciples, the relationships that he probably

94
00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,400
had with them. This is the gospel according to the lay because it's not in scripture, can't prove it.

95
00:08:26,400 --> 00:08:31,040
But I just don't believe that Jesus, like we see in the movies, just this random guy walking along

96
00:08:31,040 --> 00:08:35,520
the sea of Galilee and says, Hey, you out there in the boat, walk away from your business, walk away

97
00:08:35,520 --> 00:08:39,760
from your family and follow me and I'll make you a fisherman. Oh yeah, who's this guy? Yeah, I want

98
00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:45,520
to follow him. No, they already had relationships. So Jesus had probably already had multiple

99
00:08:45,520 --> 00:08:51,680
conversations to getting to know Simon, getting to know his family, earning that trust. And I

100
00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:56,480
believe that's what the word of God meant when he said he grew in favor with God and with man,

101
00:08:56,480 --> 00:09:01,840
because favor is open doors to people's hearts. And that's what we're, that's what things like

102
00:09:01,840 --> 00:09:06,160
this is, is, you know, if, if people don't feel like they can trust you, if people don't feel like

103
00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,560
that they can relate to you, you can't speak into their life. And if you can't speak into their life,

104
00:09:10,560 --> 00:09:14,000
you have no influence. And if you have no influence, you are not a leader. You know,

105
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:17,280
John Maxwell says, look behind you, is anybody following you? If nobody's following you,

106
00:09:17,280 --> 00:09:22,560
you're just taking a walk. You know, you're not influencing anybody. So these are the things that

107
00:09:22,560 --> 00:09:27,760
I've learned from that. And I, and I just, I say it humbly, I received what you said. I praise God

108
00:09:27,760 --> 00:09:33,920
for that. And I've told God, whatever you want to do in my life, I'm ready. I don't, I don't have a

109
00:09:33,920 --> 00:09:41,200
desire to retire. I want to serve you and preach the gospel until you call me home. And so Lord,

110
00:09:41,200 --> 00:09:45,840
you know, whatever we've been doing for 30 years to prepare us for that moment, then, you know,

111
00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:51,920
we say, here we are Lord, use us and speak through us. Yeah. You know, Larry, we were just talking

112
00:09:51,920 --> 00:09:58,480
about, you know, when Jesus was left at the temple and Mary and Joseph went. And so you said something

113
00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:05,120
where they left Jesus behind. And I know in our pre-interview here, you started talking about a

114
00:10:05,120 --> 00:10:14,080
time in 2007, where you might've left Jesus behind, but you had this realization of you got, you knew

115
00:10:14,080 --> 00:10:18,480
that you knew that you had to go back and get them. What was happening in your life? And tell me about

116
00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:27,120
that story. Okay. So in 2006, I was the, the typical preacher, because you, we, you know, we,

117
00:10:27,120 --> 00:10:33,120
we look at numbers and things like that. We knew that the year 2007 was coming. So just like every

118
00:10:33,120 --> 00:10:37,440
preacher in the world, we were preaching the year of the Holy spirit, the year of perfection, the

119
00:10:37,440 --> 00:10:43,680
year of completion is coming, the year of the Lord 2007. And I looked at the calendar and I realized

120
00:10:43,680 --> 00:10:50,640
that July the seventh, 2007 was going to be on a Sunday. I mean, we were really promoting it, man.

121
00:10:50,640 --> 00:10:56,000
We're going to have a big service that day, seven, seven, seven, and all of this. So I kept saying

122
00:10:56,000 --> 00:11:00,480
that seven was going to be the greatest year of my life. And I was preaching fire. I was,

123
00:11:00,480 --> 00:11:05,920
God was blessing the sermons and the, and the service and we were having tremendous,

124
00:11:05,920 --> 00:11:11,760
and we were just building towards 2007. Well, in 2006, as I'm building towards that, I was preaching,

125
00:11:11,760 --> 00:11:16,080
you know, on the road a couple of places and I, and I just got through preaching this message

126
00:11:17,120 --> 00:11:21,680
with my two young children were with me and my wife and we were sitting in a subway. I'll never

127
00:11:21,680 --> 00:11:25,440
forget this late at night. We're the only ones in the restaurant that get ready to close down. And

128
00:11:25,440 --> 00:11:30,000
we just had a great service. And we were talking about this building program that we were in,

129
00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:35,840
that we were just, it was just amazing what God was doing. And I thought, man, everything that

130
00:11:35,840 --> 00:11:40,480
I've dreamed that God would do in my life, he's doing it now. We've got this new building,

131
00:11:40,480 --> 00:11:45,760
doors are opening for us. We're sitting at subway and I'm just going on and on and on. And my wife

132
00:11:45,760 --> 00:11:51,280
is just looking down at, at the table and I said, what's wrong with you? And she just started crying.

133
00:11:51,280 --> 00:11:57,360
And she said, Larry, I can't, I can't stay silent anymore. I can't, I can't do this. And I was like,

134
00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:06,160
can't do what? And she said, I don't know who you've become this, you're one man on the platform.

135
00:12:06,160 --> 00:12:12,720
He said, you're, she said, you're a good man, but you're not the man that's sitting across from

136
00:12:12,720 --> 00:12:18,400
this table that I fell in love with, that I, that I risk it all for some way along the way,

137
00:12:18,400 --> 00:12:22,560
you've lost who you are. And I'm just sitting there going, what are you talking about?

138
00:12:22,560 --> 00:12:28,000
We've never seen success like this ever. And she goes, I'm just going to cut to the chase,

139
00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:32,160
man. I'm getting emotional right now. It's been that long and it's still wrecks me. She said,

140
00:12:32,160 --> 00:12:35,600
I love you, Larry, but I'll be honest with you. I don't know if I'm in love with you anymore.

141
00:12:35,600 --> 00:12:42,240
And she's like, I hate to do this to you tonight, but I just can't do this anymore. I'm in one year,

142
00:12:42,240 --> 00:12:47,520
one year, I'm giving you one year. If something doesn't change by this time next year, I will

143
00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:52,400
hate to do it. But, but Larry, I'm, I will leave you. I can't, I can't stay, I can't stay in this

144
00:12:52,400 --> 00:12:57,280
life because you, you're quiet. You don't talk to me. We are miserable. Have you not noticed that we

145
00:12:57,280 --> 00:13:03,200
are miserable? Have you not noticed that we don't talk anymore? All we do is ministry and is, I feel

146
00:13:03,200 --> 00:13:08,400
like I've been forgotten. I was stunned. I was just like, I do not know what you're talking about.

147
00:13:08,400 --> 00:13:12,640
And I started trying to do my thing, trying to stop the conversation. She said, you're doing it

148
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,800
again. You're deflecting this. I'd rather not talk about it anymore. Just, I had to get that out.

149
00:13:17,440 --> 00:13:23,360
So I drive home that night. We are just, I mean, we're just totally quiet. My kids are laughing,

150
00:13:23,360 --> 00:13:28,480
trying to talk to me and I don't want to talk to anybody. And brother, and just, it was, that was

151
00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:34,800
the latter part of 2006. And in 2007, I promise you, this is like a movie. What I'm about to tell

152
00:13:34,800 --> 00:13:40,880
you, my birthday is January the eighth. Well, January 7th was a Sunday. I preached on January

153
00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:46,160
7th, on 2007, which I had prophesied for a year was going to be the greatest year of my life.

154
00:13:46,160 --> 00:13:52,240
I'm now into that year that if I don't change, everything's over. And on June, on January 7th,

155
00:13:52,240 --> 00:13:58,240
2007, approximately at 7 PM, I hit the floor in my, in my, in my living room and the worst pain

156
00:13:58,240 --> 00:14:04,720
I'd ever had in my life. And my wife was upstairs. She had, she had already sort of dozed off. My

157
00:14:04,720 --> 00:14:08,960
kids were in the basement and I was by myself and I just started screaming in pain. And she came

158
00:14:08,960 --> 00:14:12,080
down there and says, what is it? What is it? I said, I don't know. I've never felt pain like

159
00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:18,320
this in my life. And my stomach was just reeking in pain. I was sick. I laid on the couch and I

160
00:14:18,320 --> 00:14:22,240
laid there all night long. And then that morning on my birthday, on January 8th, I went to the

161
00:14:22,240 --> 00:14:26,000
emergency room and when I went there, they did every test in the world on me. They stuck tubes

162
00:14:26,000 --> 00:14:30,400
down my throat, all this kind of stuff. They sent me home with Nexium. They sent me home. They said,

163
00:14:30,400 --> 00:14:34,800
you've got stomach acid. Well, I went home thinking I had stomach acid and I laid there and I got

164
00:14:34,800 --> 00:14:41,440
sicker and sicker and sicker. And in a matter of days, I was, my temperature was 104 consistently.

165
00:14:42,240 --> 00:14:47,280
I went back in and they tested my gallbladder and said, you have gall, your gallbladder is infected.

166
00:14:47,280 --> 00:14:52,400
It needs to come out. So I'm in surgery, I'm getting ready in pre-op to have a same day

167
00:14:52,400 --> 00:14:56,480
surgery, have my gallbladder out. And my doctor comes in there and says, who told you you had

168
00:14:56,480 --> 00:15:01,120
gallbladder problems? I said, well, I don't know who it was. And he said, listen, I just did an MRI

169
00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:05,600
on you and you have enough poison in your body right now to have already killed five men. And

170
00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:10,400
he looked at my wife and he said, I can't even talk to you right now. I can just say right now,

171
00:15:10,400 --> 00:15:14,960
if you are praying personally, you need to pray for your husband. And they pulled me out basically

172
00:15:14,960 --> 00:15:21,040
and took me to the emergency room, I mean, to the operating table and left my wife there,

173
00:15:21,840 --> 00:15:26,240
wondering what was happening to me. But what had happened was my appendix had ruptured

174
00:15:26,240 --> 00:15:30,240
and it had completely ruptured and they had looked out, they didn't even know it.

175
00:15:30,240 --> 00:15:35,360
And the poison had spilled through all, all through my body. Well, when I woke up, I woke

176
00:15:35,360 --> 00:15:41,440
up in intensive care and I stayed in intensive care for several days. I got out and that was

177
00:15:41,440 --> 00:15:46,480
January of 2007. The infection kept coming back and coming back in the last, and right in the

178
00:15:46,480 --> 00:15:51,440
middle of all of that, you stop me anytime, John, but right in the middle of it, about the fourth

179
00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:57,440
month into those seven months, my house caught on fire. And so my kids were alone in the house when

180
00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:02,720
it got caught on fire. And I ran trying to find my kids as I'm going inside the house, I couldn't

181
00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:07,440
find my kids and they were outside screaming. And I found my oldest daughter, but my youngest

182
00:16:07,440 --> 00:16:12,240
daughter, I couldn't find. And she screamed at me and said, she's at the neighbor's house, dad. And

183
00:16:12,240 --> 00:16:17,520
she was just panicking. And I ran, I'd only been out of surgery now, major surgery, which they had,

184
00:16:17,520 --> 00:16:22,320
by the way, to back up, they had found out that the infection had killed my colon. They had removed

185
00:16:22,320 --> 00:16:27,680
a foot of my colon and a foot of my small intestine. And I was recovering from the surgery of that. And

186
00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:33,520
I jumped over a barbed wire fence trying to find my daughter. And when I did, I ripped my large

187
00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:39,200
intestine inside of me and didn't know it. And the poison began to spill into my body. Well,

188
00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:46,720
so my house had burned. I had been in the hospital at that point for the first five months of the

189
00:16:46,720 --> 00:16:52,320
year. And then later on, I started getting sepsis and I started losing my sight. I was basically

190
00:16:52,320 --> 00:16:58,400
going blind. And they put me in the hospital and they said, there's so much poison, you got more

191
00:16:58,400 --> 00:17:03,680
poison now in your body than you did when you're a appendix rusher. And they stuck a tube in my stomach

192
00:17:03,680 --> 00:17:10,240
and drained it. And I stayed in the hospital for 28 days. It would not heal. And on the 28th day

193
00:17:11,120 --> 00:17:16,720
of 31 days in the hospital, I called my wife, she was at home and I could hear my kids in the

194
00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:23,440
background playing. And I laid there and I just said, that morning, that morning before I called

195
00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:29,600
them, I'd say, God, I have went in hospital room after hospital room. I have laid hands on people

196
00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:35,360
who were dying of cancer. I've seen cancer tumors disappear. I've seen the lame walk.

197
00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:41,440
I've had preachers lay hands on me. God, I've given my life to you. Why can't I get out of this bed?

198
00:17:41,440 --> 00:17:46,400
Why can this not heal? I don't understand. And I just said, I'm just going to call my wife. And I

199
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:51,120
was just depressed and I called her. And then we got to keep in mind, I'm in that year that I'm

200
00:17:51,120 --> 00:17:56,640
supposed to change. And I hear my kids in the background and they screamed, daddy, when are you

201
00:17:56,640 --> 00:18:03,200
ever coming home to us? And she said, I'm sorry, Larry. I'm sorry that they said that. And I said,

202
00:18:03,200 --> 00:18:09,120
no, it's okay. I said, I'm okay. I'm going to let you go. And I got off the phone and John,

203
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:16,400
I'm going to tell you what happened. I looked at phone down and I said, me and you talk,

204
00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,640
I'm going to tell you what I think about you right now. And I just began to tell God

205
00:18:21,120 --> 00:18:24,640
things that I never thought I'd ever say to God. How could you do this to me?

206
00:18:24,640 --> 00:18:29,200
And many, many are watching right now. You know how I feel. I was like, I have given you everything.

207
00:18:29,200 --> 00:18:34,560
I have sacrificed everything I have done without. I have not been able to do what other people do

208
00:18:34,560 --> 00:18:39,440
because of you. And I've given everything to you. And here I am. You won't even heal me.

209
00:18:39,440 --> 00:18:45,120
I preach healing. I preach deliverance. I preach prosperity. You forsaken me. Look at what you've

210
00:18:45,120 --> 00:18:51,200
done. Look at what blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And I heard the Lord say to me,

211
00:18:52,160 --> 00:18:56,240
now are you done telling me about me? Let me tell you about you.

212
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,000
And he began to systematically, John, break me down. I detail it all in my book. And it was

213
00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:07,920
very difficult to even write about it. He began to reveal the real me. And at that point, I cried

214
00:19:07,920 --> 00:19:14,800
out to God and I said, God, what have I done? What have I become? How did I forget you? How did I

215
00:19:14,800 --> 00:19:23,280
forget my first love? How did I turn this into what I've turned it into? And brother, I laid

216
00:19:23,280 --> 00:19:28,000
there for I don't even know how long and nobody checked on me. Nobody checked my vitals. I wept,

217
00:19:28,000 --> 00:19:35,680
I cried, I repented. And when I felt the peace of God come on me, like I had not felt since I was

218
00:19:35,680 --> 00:19:40,640
first a believer, it was like a new, fresh anointing come on me. The door opened and that

219
00:19:40,640 --> 00:19:47,200
nurse came in and she said, Mr. Raggan, I'm so sorry. There was a mix up on the exchanges of the

220
00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,600
duties of the people we thought you were being taken care of. We had no idea that you'd been

221
00:19:51,600 --> 00:19:56,320
in here for almost an hour. Nobody checked on you. I looked at her, I said, ma'am, you didn't do that.

222
00:19:57,120 --> 00:20:02,960
My God isolated me to get me right. Two days later, I walked out of that hospital. It healed.

223
00:20:03,840 --> 00:20:09,600
It was incredible. The doctor was amazed. My marriage was restored. My children were restored.

224
00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:17,440
I rebuilt my house. And I'm telling you, 2007 was the greatest year of my life, but I had to go

225
00:20:17,440 --> 00:20:24,240
through something that I never thought I would ever have to go through to wreck me. And my marriage

226
00:20:24,240 --> 00:20:31,360
is who it is to my grandkids, my life, my ministry. I had to hit the bottom in order to become the

227
00:20:31,360 --> 00:20:38,800
man that she needed me to be. And long answer, but that's what happened to me. That is a powerful

228
00:20:38,800 --> 00:20:44,800
answer. Pastor Larry, as you were talking about this, I can just tell right now that people that

229
00:20:44,800 --> 00:20:53,200
are watching this, you can relate to what he did in that bed, crying out to God saying, I did this

230
00:20:53,200 --> 00:21:00,000
for you. I did this for you. I forsook everything else to serve you. And just putting all this on

231
00:21:00,000 --> 00:21:06,480
God. And then God just answered, are you done yet? There's so many times where in my own life,

232
00:21:06,480 --> 00:21:10,480
I have done that where things haven't gone my way. And I said, God, I've done this for you. I've

233
00:21:10,480 --> 00:21:16,720
done this for you. Why aren't things happening for me the way that they should? And God often does

234
00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:24,400
that. Are you done yet? Are you done yet? I want to get into more of your story in just a moment,

235
00:21:24,400 --> 00:21:29,440
but there is a holy moment right now. And Pastor Larry, I'm going to ask you to pray

236
00:21:30,000 --> 00:21:35,520
for people that are watching that are touched by that part of your story. We're going to continue

237
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:41,600
on with this story in just a moment, but there is something powerful right now. And you're watching

238
00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:49,680
this, put in the comments, that's me. That story was connecting with me. That's me. We want to pray

239
00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,480
for you. And Pastor Larry, would you just pray for people right now that are going through that?

240
00:21:55,040 --> 00:21:59,920
Father God, right now, Lord, we've all been there. And God, whoever's watching, whoever's listening

241
00:21:59,920 --> 00:22:04,720
to this right now, God, I can feel in my spirit, Lord, that you are breaking them down and you are

242
00:22:04,720 --> 00:22:10,000
showing them right now, God, that you are not finished with them. And that Lord, many of the

243
00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:16,320
things that we have blamed you for, God, we have to take responsibility for. And that God, we're

244
00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:21,200
thankful that through your grace, you didn't abandon us, that you didn't throw us away like trash

245
00:22:21,200 --> 00:22:26,400
when we were abusing your grace and when we were abusing your calling that's on our life,

246
00:22:26,400 --> 00:22:32,160
or we were doubting your word that you spoke over us. Lord, we repent right now, God. We just,

247
00:22:32,160 --> 00:22:37,040
I just pray right now that whoever that person is, that they would begin the process of healing

248
00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:40,000
through the greatest thing they could ever do. And that's what I had to do in that bed,

249
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:46,720
is I had to just repent. I just had to go back to my first love. I had to say, God, I'm sorry for

250
00:22:46,720 --> 00:22:53,680
what I've become. I'm sorry for what I've turned you into. God, it's not fair what I've done to you.

251
00:22:53,680 --> 00:22:59,200
And I'm so thankful. And listen, I want you to understand, be thankful that we have a God that

252
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:04,080
can take it. He can take what you've said to him and he didn't throw you away when you said it.

253
00:23:04,080 --> 00:23:09,520
There is a purpose and a destiny for you. You know, I live by the principle of the big picture.

254
00:23:09,520 --> 00:23:13,360
When God dropped something in my spirit and he said to me, he said, Larry, you need to understand

255
00:23:13,360 --> 00:23:19,520
the principle of the big picture. My perspective of who you are, my perspective of who the world is,

256
00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:24,800
is so much bigger than what you can comprehend. And I'm saying this to the viewer and to the

257
00:23:24,800 --> 00:23:32,000
listener. You are channeling your pain through the funnel of your eyes and your senses. I pray right

258
00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:40,240
now that God supernaturally allows you to filter your pain and your situation through the grace and

259
00:23:40,240 --> 00:23:46,320
the mercy of God. I believe that God is touching you right now and he is honoring your repentance.

260
00:23:47,520 --> 00:23:54,560
He said, call unto me and I will answer thee and show you great and mighty things. If my people

261
00:23:54,560 --> 00:23:59,760
would turn, call unto me, turn from their wicked ways. So right now, as you are calling on Jesus

262
00:23:59,760 --> 00:24:07,200
right now, I believe he is, I speak, he is restoring you. He is rebuilding you. He is reminding you

263
00:24:07,200 --> 00:24:13,040
that he is not finished with you. And no matter what you've done, no matter what you've said,

264
00:24:13,040 --> 00:24:20,800
God says to you today, I can take it. I heard it. Listen, it doesn't change how I feel about you.

265
00:24:20,800 --> 00:24:27,600
Now get up, shake the dust off and understand that not only am I not through with you today,

266
00:24:28,240 --> 00:24:34,080
I want you to know I'm just now beginning to use you because it took you getting to this point

267
00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:41,120
before you would finally surrender to God in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. Amen. You know,

268
00:24:41,120 --> 00:24:46,960
if you related with what Pastor Larry just said and just prayed and you believe that there is a

269
00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:51,680
new beginning, right? New beginnings in the comment. Like I had, this is my new beginning.

270
00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:57,600
This is my new today. And we want to celebrate with you. We want to pray with you. And so just

271
00:24:57,600 --> 00:25:03,360
let us know that, you know, Pastor Larry, I think it was really interesting how you were prophesying

272
00:25:03,360 --> 00:25:11,280
in 2006, that 2007 was going to be your best year. And all intents and purposes, the first half was

273
00:25:11,280 --> 00:25:17,600
absolutely not the best year, but it set you up for the best year. I'm sure there was times where

274
00:25:17,600 --> 00:25:25,440
you were just wrestling with that prophetic word that God had given you. Tell me about that,

275
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:32,240
wrestling with the prophetic in that timeframe. Well, I go back to, I'm a creature of habit and I

276
00:25:32,240 --> 00:25:37,280
go back to certain things that I always, God dropped in my spirit. And just as I spoke of

277
00:25:37,280 --> 00:25:42,960
a while ago about the big picture, the big picture, one of the things that God taught me was the big

278
00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:47,360
picture in that, you know, I would answer the phone during those times. You know, I remember standing

279
00:25:47,360 --> 00:25:53,120
outside watching my house burn, you know, while poison was pouring into my body and my pastor

280
00:25:53,120 --> 00:25:58,880
called me and cause I'd called him to tell him, pray my house is on fire. And I had got, he was

281
00:25:58,880 --> 00:26:04,240
in the middle of something. So he called me back and I just laughingly answered, this is pastor Jobe.

282
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:09,520
Can I, can I help you? And he was like, what? I was like, yeah, I'm just standing here. I've got

283
00:26:09,520 --> 00:26:14,880
the anointing of Jobe on me. And he, and I began to tell him, and I just was laughing to keep from

284
00:26:14,880 --> 00:26:19,920
crying as I'm watching the fireman trying to put the fire out of my house. And, and so the big

285
00:26:19,920 --> 00:26:24,960
picture of Jobe is that, you know, Jobe couldn't see that got Jobe, Jobe couldn't see where it was

286
00:26:24,960 --> 00:26:30,720
going to end, but, but our God did. And, and, and the premise of the big picture is, you know, where

287
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:37,680
I live in Alabama, for several years, I lived in a place where a train would come through. And many

288
00:26:37,680 --> 00:26:41,440
times I would be in a hurry and I'd be, you know, there's something on the other side that tracks,

289
00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:46,320
I needed to get to. And I think most people know where I'm going. And as I'm going, I hear the

290
00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:52,320
sound. I ding, ding, ding, ding. I'm like, Oh no, no, not now. And I was stopped by that train.

291
00:26:52,320 --> 00:26:58,160
And in the terrain of Alabama, it's not like out West where it's just flat. You can see forever

292
00:26:58,160 --> 00:27:03,520
in Alabama, there's, there's mountains and hills and trees. So when a train comes, you literally

293
00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:08,160
never have any idea when it's going to end. All you have to do is just sit there and wait.

294
00:27:08,960 --> 00:27:15,360
And, and there's car after car after car after car, and, and, and you can't do anything. But if you

295
00:27:15,360 --> 00:27:19,760
were able to just sort of like back to the future car, the DeLorean, and just sort of lift up,

296
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:24,720
and at some point your perspective would change and you'd be able to look out the window and you

297
00:27:24,720 --> 00:27:31,120
could see the caboose. But so, so what I learned through the big picture is the big picture is all

298
00:27:31,120 --> 00:27:37,200
about who has, who has the perspective to see the beginning and the end. It's only the alpha and the

299
00:27:37,200 --> 00:27:42,720
omega, the beginning and the end. So every, every time you ever get stalled by that train,

300
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:48,640
and the Bible says, he that waits upon the Lord shall renew their strength. So you're sitting

301
00:27:48,640 --> 00:27:52,480
there waiting. It is in that waiting moment. That's what I had to learn in that moment.

302
00:27:52,480 --> 00:27:57,760
That's what I learned about. Maybe God didn't really say no, what do you, because the answer

303
00:27:57,760 --> 00:28:03,920
is the Lord, yes and amen. What he really said was, I need you to sit there and wait. The answer is

304
00:28:03,920 --> 00:28:09,120
still yes, but you're not ready for the yes. You're not ready for it. Because if I was to drop that

305
00:28:09,120 --> 00:28:13,440
revelation, if God were to drop some of the revelations that he began to drop in my life

306
00:28:13,440 --> 00:28:20,960
post 2007, I would have abused it, John. I would, I would have turned it into a catchy sermon title.

307
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:26,640
I would, I would have, I wouldn't have let it impact me and it would not, when it don't impact

308
00:28:26,640 --> 00:28:34,720
me, I can't impact anyone else. But out of 2007, my whole perspective of ministry and life change.

309
00:28:34,720 --> 00:28:40,640
Now, when I go into a hospital bed and a room and someone is being called me to be there,

310
00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:45,840
I'm still going to pray the prayer of faith, but I have compassion for that person in that room

311
00:28:45,840 --> 00:28:49,760
where I used to say in the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk, come on, get up, get up right now,

312
00:28:49,760 --> 00:28:55,840
get up. Well, well, I remember people telling me to get up and I couldn't get up. So, so I still

313
00:28:55,840 --> 00:28:59,680
pray that prayer of faith, but I've been moved with compassion. And I think about Jesus being

314
00:28:59,680 --> 00:29:04,160
our example again, you know, Jesus was watching the funeral go by and the Bible says nobody's

315
00:29:04,160 --> 00:29:10,400
doing anything full of faith. Nobody was speaking faith words that, that moved him. The Bible says

316
00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:18,560
he was moved with compassion for the woman who had lost her son and her husband. And so, so 2007

317
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:26,080
taught me that the most powerful revelations you'll ever get from God is in the waiting and in the

318
00:29:26,080 --> 00:29:32,320
pain. And I became the man that God needed me to be, the father, the husband, and of course,

319
00:29:32,320 --> 00:29:38,160
one day the grandfather and the pastor. And I believe even what God's doing in my life right now,

320
00:29:38,160 --> 00:29:43,200
to be on with you on Charisma Magazine's podcast, I'd be honest with you, I'm being real with you,

321
00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:49,600
John. If this door would have opened to me in 2006, I would have, it would have become such a

322
00:29:49,600 --> 00:29:53,600
prideful thing. I'm on Charisma Magazine, all this kind of stuff, look what God is doing.

323
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:58,080
That ain't where I'm at right now. I'm just like, wow, thank you, Lord. Thank you Lord for just a,

324
00:29:58,080 --> 00:30:03,840
another opportunity to talk about you. I'll do whatever you want me to do. And he had to crush

325
00:30:03,840 --> 00:30:07,840
me in that moment. And I say to the Lord, thank you. Thank you for the crushing.

326
00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:14,080
Yeah. Thank you for the crushing Lord. That's a hard thing to say, but as in Psalm 46 says,

327
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:19,920
God is our refuge and strength and ever present help in trouble. Therefore I will not fear,

328
00:30:19,920 --> 00:30:22,880
though the earth give way and the mountains will fall into the heart of the sea.

329
00:30:23,600 --> 00:30:29,120
And the later on in that chapter, he says one of the famous things. And I know this is really what

330
00:30:29,120 --> 00:30:35,360
we were just talking about where, yes, the Lord says yes and amen, but as it promises, but sometimes

331
00:30:35,360 --> 00:30:43,120
he says, be still and know that I am God. And, uh, you, your story has just exemplified that,

332
00:30:43,120 --> 00:30:48,720
you know, pastor Larry, you've been a pastor now for 30 years of your own church, 35 years in total,

333
00:30:49,280 --> 00:30:54,320
from what you said earlier, but now God's called you into a different type of media as well. So

334
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,760
you're, you're launching into this new season where you're busier than ever.

335
00:30:59,760 --> 00:31:05,360
And you've got a lot of stuff going on. Um, I want to hear about that, but how are you also making

336
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:10,000
sure that you don't fall into what was going on where your wife had that conversation with you in

337
00:31:10,000 --> 00:31:17,280
late 2006? Yeah. Well, one of the, the quick answer to that is what we're doing is I made sure that,

338
00:31:18,000 --> 00:31:21,520
uh, when God told me that my back porch, you know, you're going to start a YouTube channel

339
00:31:21,520 --> 00:31:25,920
called the big picture and you're going to be as you've ever been. And, and then he said,

340
00:31:25,920 --> 00:31:30,080
and you're going to love it because this is what you're called to do. But I knew what that meant

341
00:31:30,080 --> 00:31:36,000
was, okay, now go in the kitchen and tell your wife what the Lord just told you. So I walked in

342
00:31:36,000 --> 00:31:39,600
there and I told my wife, I said, you ain't going to believe what the Lord just told me. She's like,

343
00:31:39,600 --> 00:31:42,720
what, you know, here we are, we just finished building a house during the pandemic, you know,

344
00:31:42,720 --> 00:31:45,920
and she's wanting to slow down a little bit. I said, the Lord just told me, I'm going to start

345
00:31:45,920 --> 00:31:49,920
a YouTube channel and call it the big picture. And I'm a busy than I've ever been in my life.

346
00:31:49,920 --> 00:31:56,160
And I said, but not going to do this unless you come with me. I said, because I can't do this on

347
00:31:56,160 --> 00:32:01,200
my own. And she said, well, you know, I'll be Larry. This is the, she knew immediately. She's

348
00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:06,400
like, I know that this is what God has called you to do. You're 100%. I'm on board, but what she

349
00:32:06,400 --> 00:32:10,800
didn't realize what I'd already knew. And I, and in the same way with, you know, patients, sometimes

350
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:15,440
you got to wait until it's the right time. I didn't want to tell her what I heard. And that was that

351
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:21,120
she was going to do it with me. And my wife is, is, is an introverted, not an introvert. She's not

352
00:32:21,120 --> 00:32:25,200
the introvert. She's not going person, but she's just not the person that would ever get on camera.

353
00:32:25,200 --> 00:32:30,880
You know, she's just not that person. She's the behind the scenes. And if she needs to speak in

354
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:35,760
the church, she will very powerfully. But the thought of her ever been on YouTube was no,

355
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:41,040
that ain't never happened. But I knew, I knew in my spirit that God was promoting her. So yes,

356
00:32:41,040 --> 00:32:46,800
along the way I knew that and, and I, I made sure I involved her in everything that we're doing.

357
00:32:46,800 --> 00:32:51,200
I wanted her to know everything. I wanted her to see what I was learning, how I was learning it,

358
00:32:51,200 --> 00:32:55,360
the late nights that I would be sitting up training myself on how to do these things.

359
00:32:55,360 --> 00:33:00,720
I would make sure she saw me doing that, that she knew what I was doing. And at some point I said,

360
00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:06,000
Hey, you need to come on the show with me one night. And she came on the show when she did,

361
00:33:06,000 --> 00:33:11,760
it just clicked. And now, you know, our, our biggest viewership and our, we've built a family

362
00:33:11,760 --> 00:33:17,120
all over the world through our YouTube channel is the ones that me and her cohost together. So it's

363
00:33:17,120 --> 00:33:24,480
the greatest joy of my life to, to sit in the studio beside her and see God using her and expanding

364
00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:30,240
her boundaries and, and just enlarging her territory. So, so yeah, the way we've sort of

365
00:33:30,240 --> 00:33:33,440
covered that is we've done it together. Amen.

366
00:33:33,440 --> 00:33:39,600
Doing it together is, is really powerful. And I love that you saw greatness in her this time.

367
00:33:39,600 --> 00:33:45,680
Yes. But earlier on, you started telling me about when she saw greatness in you and that's the,

368
00:33:45,680 --> 00:33:50,640
that's the name of your, of your book. I see greatness in you. Can you tell us this,

369
00:33:50,640 --> 00:33:55,440
this story and encourage the viewers that God has just positive greatness in them as well?

370
00:33:55,440 --> 00:33:59,600
Okay. Okay. I've never been able to successfully tell this in public without crying. I want to say

371
00:33:59,600 --> 00:34:05,120
if I could fill this one off today, but a real quick backstory on the book, I see greatness in

372
00:34:05,120 --> 00:34:13,520
you and the title is I am in my late fifties at this point, and it's still, you can see when you,

373
00:34:14,800 --> 00:34:19,280
when you hear me talk about it and know that I'm being genuine when I say this, that I'm still

374
00:34:19,280 --> 00:34:24,240
affected by it to this day. And one of the things that I'm driven by is trying to help people who

375
00:34:24,240 --> 00:34:29,600
had, did not have a father, a father figure in their life, because I was raised in a, in a very

376
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:37,760
abusive home by a man that beat me physically injured me several times. One of the stories

377
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:42,160
that I detailed in the book when I was 10 years old and my mom was as many times had threatened

378
00:34:42,160 --> 00:34:48,880
to leave him. He went into the next room and brought a double barrel, 12 gauge shotgun into

379
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:55,680
the room and loaded the two shells in it in front of me. It was the kind that has the two levels,

380
00:34:55,680 --> 00:35:01,760
the two triggers, pulled them both back, grabbed me and stuck both barrels into his mouth and put

381
00:35:01,760 --> 00:35:06,480
my 10 year old finger on the trigger and started screaming, pulled the trigger, pulled the trigger

382
00:35:06,480 --> 00:35:11,360
and in me now, in me now. And I was screaming out, I'm not doing, I'm not going to do that dad.

383
00:35:11,360 --> 00:35:14,720
I'm not going to do that. I love you. I love you. He goes, you might as well, because if you don't

384
00:35:14,720 --> 00:35:19,440
pull it, just be a man because you either pull the trigger now or you leave with your mother and I

385
00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:22,480
pull the trigger, but either way that you live the rest of your life knowing that you killed your

386
00:35:22,480 --> 00:35:27,120
father. So you might as well just be a man and do it. I was 10 years old and those are the kind

387
00:35:27,120 --> 00:35:31,920
of things that I went through over and over and over again and it scarred me. And for those that

388
00:35:31,920 --> 00:35:36,800
were raised in an abusive home, you can relate to what I'm saying is that, you know, you don't know

389
00:35:36,800 --> 00:35:41,680
this at the time, you learn it later on, but people will teach you that you will become the

390
00:35:41,680 --> 00:35:47,040
one that you hate. And it is true without God, you become that because he gets in your DNA.

391
00:35:48,000 --> 00:35:54,320
So he was a master manipulator, master liar. He had convinced everybody other than my family that

392
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,680
he was the greatest man in the world, but he was a terror and he was a liar. And I did not become

393
00:35:59,680 --> 00:36:04,720
violent like him, but I became the master manipulator. I became the master liar and I

394
00:36:04,720 --> 00:36:09,600
lied my way all the way through high school. I became the jock of kids, I became the

395
00:36:09,600 --> 00:36:13,680
way through high school. I became the jock of captain, the football team, popular guy,

396
00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:19,440
looked like I had everything going for me, but I was miserable. I was a fake. I was a fraud.

397
00:36:19,440 --> 00:36:24,720
And I had somehow convinced this girl that I was this guy that she's supposed to be with. I was

398
00:36:24,720 --> 00:36:29,600
going to church where she went. I was playing the game. I was not serving God. I'd been raised in

399
00:36:29,600 --> 00:36:35,680
church, but I backslid. I was really there just for her to get her because she was just so beautiful

400
00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:41,120
and all this. I was pretending to be whatever she needed me to be. I genuinely loved her.

401
00:36:42,320 --> 00:36:47,600
And she obviously genuinely loved me, but she would love a fake and a fraud. And so she said

402
00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,920
yes to marry me. She was 18 years old. She had just graduated high school. She'd only been on

403
00:36:51,920 --> 00:36:57,200
high school for maybe two months. And I got arrested for one of the stupidest things anybody

404
00:36:57,200 --> 00:37:02,800
could ever get arrested for. It's just insane. But as I'm standing in our hometown, our hometown,

405
00:37:02,800 --> 00:37:08,160
where we grew up, I was standing before the judge in that hometown. And he looked at me and just

406
00:37:08,160 --> 00:37:13,280
said, I cannot believe that you're standing here doing this. And she's standing outside waiting on

407
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:21,040
me. And as I'm walking outside, I'm like, okay, everything my dad said about me is true. I'm never

408
00:37:21,040 --> 00:37:29,120
going to have anything. I'm a bum. I had one shot at happiness and I just blew it. So it's over.

409
00:37:29,120 --> 00:37:33,040
And everything he said, I'm going to be, I'm going to probably die or be in prison. I walked

410
00:37:33,040 --> 00:37:36,320
out there and I said, Sandy, I want you to do one thing, turn around and walk away.

411
00:37:37,680 --> 00:37:42,160
Keep the ring and find you a man that deserves you because it's not me.

412
00:37:43,760 --> 00:37:50,160
Because if you stay with me, I'm going to ruin your life. And she said, Larry,

413
00:37:51,280 --> 00:37:57,760
I'm not leaving you. And she grabbed my hand, John, and she said, I'm not leaving you. I said,

414
00:37:57,760 --> 00:38:05,360
I said, please walk away because you don't deserve this. Everything you believed about me

415
00:38:05,360 --> 00:38:11,200
is a lie. You now know the truth. That is not me. She said, I'm not leaving you.

416
00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:16,560
I said, why would you stay with somebody like me now that you know the truth?

417
00:38:16,560 --> 00:38:20,480
And that little 18 year old girl looked at me and said, because when I look into your eyes,

418
00:38:20,480 --> 00:38:28,240
I see greatness in you, Larry. I see greatness in you. It's in there. It's in there. And I'm

419
00:38:28,240 --> 00:38:38,640
not leaving you because I'm going to help you see it. So come on, let's go. She took my hand.

420
00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:45,840
And I was just like, I just froze. And I was like, don't do this. She goes, come on, I'm not

421
00:38:45,840 --> 00:38:54,400
leaving you. Let's go. She stayed with me, John. And at that moment, I realized what God was doing.

422
00:38:55,200 --> 00:38:59,840
God used her because she told me, she said, I didn't say that, Larry. God said that through me.

423
00:39:00,560 --> 00:39:09,200
God used me to say that to you. Just a few days later, I was in the altar. I was giving my life

424
00:39:09,200 --> 00:39:14,880
to God. I had recently dedicated my life to God. A few months later, we got married with no

425
00:39:14,880 --> 00:39:21,040
desire for ministry whatsoever. We had never had one discussion of, you think we'd ever be in the

426
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:26,800
ministry? Nothing. We just wanted to live our lives together, serve God, American dream, go to church

427
00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:31,920
and serve God. We got married in May of 89. By August of 89, God said, you're a youth pastor.

428
00:39:32,960 --> 00:39:38,320
And by 91, I had planted my first church. And then in 94, I planted this church. But I take it all

429
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:45,200
the way back to God using an 18-year-old girl to look at me for the first time in my life

430
00:39:46,400 --> 00:39:52,160
to speak that there was something good inside of me. No one had ever said that to me before.

431
00:39:52,160 --> 00:39:56,800
And it set me on a journey to do that for others. And that's why we call the book, I say,

432
00:39:56,800 --> 00:40:01,520
Greatness in You, but the subtitle is One Man's Story, But Everyone's Journey, because everybody's

433
00:40:01,520 --> 00:40:06,240
been broken. Everybody's been dropped. Even if you had a great father and a great mother, someone

434
00:40:06,240 --> 00:40:12,160
has wrecked you. It's all about identity. Think about what the world is right now. The whole world

435
00:40:12,160 --> 00:40:18,000
is about identity. Who do you identify as? What do you identify as? It goes all the way back to the

436
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:25,040
Garden of Eden. It's always been about identity, because if the enemy can confuse you about who you

437
00:40:25,040 --> 00:40:32,400
really are in the sight of God, then it's impossible for you to ever do what God has called you to do.

438
00:40:32,400 --> 00:40:36,880
So God may use an 18-year-old girl to look into your life and say, I see greatness in you.

439
00:40:37,760 --> 00:40:44,560
God may use a podcast to ignite something in you. The opening chapter, the opening introduction

440
00:40:45,040 --> 00:40:51,440
of it is called A Note from Sandy. And she basically lays out why she said what she said,

441
00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:55,840
and it's riveting. And in the introduction of the book, I say this, John, I say,

442
00:40:55,840 --> 00:41:00,320
everybody don't have a Sandy. And I'm fully aware of that. Everybody is not blessed to have a Sandy

443
00:41:00,320 --> 00:41:06,160
like me. So I wrote the book to be your Sandy, because by the end of that book, the same thing

444
00:41:06,160 --> 00:41:12,000
that happened to me with Sandy is going to happen to you. And it's going to ignite that God has

445
00:41:12,000 --> 00:41:17,280
called greatness in every single one of us. You say, well, I'm not great. Only God is great. I get

446
00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:21,520
it. I get where you're coming from. But the reason we call it I see greatness in you is because

447
00:41:21,520 --> 00:41:29,200
you were created in the image of God. And when you finally see who you are, you unlock a greatness

448
00:41:29,200 --> 00:41:33,760
that's in you that is beyond anything you could ever do in the natural. And it can only happen

449
00:41:33,760 --> 00:41:39,280
through the supernatural. You unlock the God DNA that's within you. And that's what it's about.

450
00:41:39,280 --> 00:41:44,160
John Bellen And God definitely has a track record of taking people that are unlikely and making them

451
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:48,960
and calling out the greatness in them. I can think of Gideon right now where God told him,

452
00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:56,480
you're a mighty man of valor. You know, and also David, who was a backwoods shepherd boy,

453
00:41:56,480 --> 00:42:03,600
the seventh son of, you know, and forgotten about. And he's anointed to be king. And God takes Larry

454
00:42:03,600 --> 00:42:10,080
Ragland, who's standing before a judge. And you're thinking everything that my dad has said about me

455
00:42:10,080 --> 00:42:18,080
is true. But really, the react the the honest truth is everything that your father said about you

456
00:42:18,080 --> 00:42:25,360
is true. And he spoke that through this 18 year old girl. And Larry, as we're wrapping up here,

457
00:42:25,360 --> 00:42:29,920
would you just speak to that person that's watching that has stayed with us this whole time,

458
00:42:29,920 --> 00:42:35,200
that they don't believe that there's greatness in them, but their father sees greatness in them?

459
00:42:35,200 --> 00:42:40,720
Larry Ragland Yeah, I want to tell you that I walk around sometimes with a shirt on the on the front

460
00:42:40,720 --> 00:42:44,960
of the shirt that says I see greatness in you and he'd be surprised and it breaks my heart. How many

461
00:42:44,960 --> 00:42:49,760
people will look at me and say, what do you mean? I see greatness in you. There's nothing. There's

462
00:42:49,760 --> 00:42:55,680
nothing great about me. And it always is the conversation starter. And I'll say, well, okay,

463
00:42:55,680 --> 00:42:59,040
were you creating an image of God? Let's start there. Were you? Of course. Everybody always

464
00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:03,280
says, yeah, yeah. I said, well, then watch this. You are creating the image of a great God.

465
00:43:03,280 --> 00:43:07,040
And I said, yeah, I get where you're coming from. We've all made mistakes. We've all sinned and come

466
00:43:07,040 --> 00:43:13,520
short of the glory of God. We've failed God. We've dropped the ball. We have hurt people. We have done

467
00:43:13,520 --> 00:43:17,440
things that we are ashamed of. Many of many of that are watching this list and this can't even

468
00:43:17,440 --> 00:43:22,320
look themselves in the mirror. They hate themselves because of what they've done. And then many more

469
00:43:22,320 --> 00:43:28,720
are so injured by what was done to you. I mean, I'm almost 60 years old. Do you understand? I still

470
00:43:28,720 --> 00:43:35,200
cry when I think about what my father did to me. It's, I want so bad to have a great memory

471
00:43:35,200 --> 00:43:42,640
of a father and I don't have one. I don't have the great memory of a father in my life. I think

472
00:43:42,640 --> 00:43:46,640
about the book, I had no father with God. And I think about, you know, being a father to the

473
00:43:46,640 --> 00:43:53,600
father, he came into my life and he brought people into my life that became the voice that took the

474
00:43:53,600 --> 00:43:58,960
place of that horrible experience that I had. And maybe you're injured by what somebody said about

475
00:43:58,960 --> 00:44:04,240
you. Maybe, maybe you're injured by what you said about others. Maybe you're a parent and you have

476
00:44:04,240 --> 00:44:09,920
so many regrets and you're like, how could I ever look my kid in the face? How could I ever believe

477
00:44:09,920 --> 00:44:16,400
that God could ever use me? You know, I think about one time I heard this man of God talk about he was

478
00:44:16,400 --> 00:44:24,000
walking down this aisle in Jerusalem and a man had some vases that he had made. It was a potter.

479
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:29,440
And he knew the industry and he said, do you have any, I see all this, but do you have any chosen

480
00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:32,720
vessels? And he goes, I don't know what you're talking about. He said, yes, you do. Do you have

481
00:44:32,720 --> 00:44:37,280
any chosen vessels? And he goes, okay, so you know your stuff, come with me. And he took them back

482
00:44:37,280 --> 00:44:41,600
in the back and there was a cabinet and he opened up the cabinet and the cabinet was filled with

483
00:44:41,600 --> 00:44:48,080
deformed vases and cups and cups that was just unusable. And he called them chosen vessels.

484
00:44:48,080 --> 00:44:52,560
And the reason he called them chosen vessels is because they had all been on the same tray as all

485
00:44:52,560 --> 00:45:00,960
the other cups and all the other plates and had been made from the same clump of a lump of clay.

486
00:45:00,960 --> 00:45:06,320
But when they were put in the fire, there was something in that particular piece of clay

487
00:45:06,320 --> 00:45:13,440
that was not like what was in the others and the heat caused it to deform and cause it to set into

488
00:45:14,160 --> 00:45:21,600
unusable place. So that potter knew that some people only collect the chosen vessels because

489
00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:26,640
they're one of a kind. And he says, how much are they? He goes, well, you're going to have to just

490
00:45:26,640 --> 00:45:31,120
make me an offer because they're priceless to me. I feel like that some of you, I feel like some of

491
00:45:31,120 --> 00:45:35,760
you have just been in the cabinet, you've been in darkness and you've thought I'm distorted,

492
00:45:35,760 --> 00:45:40,560
I'm broken, I'm unusable. But what you didn't realize, and maybe this podcast is going to help

493
00:45:40,560 --> 00:45:47,440
you realize, is that the fire maybe caused something in you right now to be revealed,

494
00:45:47,440 --> 00:45:53,120
to be a chosen vessel that God's about to restore and to set out. I believe God is calling the

495
00:45:53,120 --> 00:46:00,080
remnant to rise. And maybe you feel like you don't fit in. Maybe you feel like, how can I ever come

496
00:46:00,080 --> 00:46:03,600
out of this pain? Well, the first step, as we've already said, is repentance. But then the next

497
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:09,440
step is to stand up and to cry out to God right now and say, God, here I am. Use me, I'm ready.

498
00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:14,960
I don't know how I'm going to do it. But God, I need you to restore the joy of the Lord in my heart.

499
00:46:14,960 --> 00:46:19,440
Because if you can restore joy, you can restore peace, then you can do anything in my life.

500
00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:25,360
So in the name of Jesus, I declare that today is the day of the restoration of everything

501
00:46:25,360 --> 00:46:32,160
the enemy has taken from you. In Jesus' name. In Jesus' name, amen. Amen. Pastor Larry Ragland,

502
00:46:32,160 --> 00:46:36,720
thank you so much for joining us today here on Charisma. How can people find you? You've got

503
00:46:36,720 --> 00:46:42,560
your The Big Picture show, different places. Just tell us real quick how people can find you.

504
00:46:42,560 --> 00:46:48,320
All right. Easiest ways to go to LarryRagland.com or.tv, either one, LarryRagland.com. But if you're

505
00:46:48,320 --> 00:46:52,240
on YouTube, just search for The Big Picture with Larry Ragland. Subscribe to our channel. We're

506
00:46:52,240 --> 00:46:57,680
also on Faith TV, which is a Christian television network. We're all over Europe, America, if you

507
00:46:57,680 --> 00:47:02,720
have DirecTV. We're already on there. Or you can download the Faith Now app and you can watch us

508
00:47:02,720 --> 00:47:08,000
live there. Our church also streams there live on the Faith Now app, Solid Rock Church, the church

509
00:47:08,000 --> 00:47:14,640
our pastor here in Birmingham. But the easiest way to find all of it, LarryRagland.com. Amen.

510
00:47:14,640 --> 00:47:18,720
Pastor Larry, thank you so much for joining us today on Charisma. Thank you so much for

511
00:47:18,720 --> 00:47:28,560
having me, John. It's been a great honor.