The following is a take interview with Pastor Raul Rees of Calvary Chapel, Golden Springs, and Associate Pastor John Fraterola.

Good morning, Raul. Good morning, John. How are you? Good. How are you doing? Great. Just to let our listening audience know that today is Thursday morning, November 10, 1994, and we're here in your study, and it's raining outside. I guess an appropriate day to reflect on the past, huh?

Yep. You were telling me last night after the study, our Wednesday night study, you went to visit with your dad who's been ill all the last six months or so. Why don't you just tell us a little bit about that and we'll get into it.

Well, last night we gave him communion because he feels that his days are numbered. And I thought of the scripture, John, in Luke 43:25. It says, "I, even I am he who blots out the transgressions for my own sake." And I will remember your sins, and I will not remember your sins anymore. Put me in remembrance, and let us contend together. State your case, that you may be acquitted.

Since the first father sinned, and you have mediators have transgressed against me, therefore I will profane the princesses or the leaders of the sanctuary, and I will give Jacob the recurrence of Israel to reproach him.

And I thought how the grace and the mercies of God are so tremendous. And going back and reflecting now in my past, I was sitting there with my father last night. And I've seen... Was communicating to me things from the past because you know he's in and out, you know, and sometimes he says things that make you kind of laugh because he talks about his mom, he talks about his dad, he talks about people that he knew in the past, and then all of a sudden he'll be clear-minded and he'll talk to you, you know, and it's kind of weird when you see somebody that was so strong, yeah, and then when the time is coming to the end.

You Know, the peace and the love and the mercies that God has given to them, but also the reflection that they have in their own life. And so it makes me think, it made me think about my own life, what I've been through.

Now, you know, in your earlier life, you and your dad butted heads quite a bit there. Oh, yeah. A lot of stuff. But now, now in seeing him, it's just pretty amazing how the love of Christ has come in and removed all of that, huh?

Yeah, when you look at what God has done in the last 15 years. By giving you a second life with your dad. Right? It's like, I mean, it's like a second life. And, I mean, you know, a man that was angry and violent and abusive.

And not to see such tenderness, you know, and such love, and such mercy that he has, it just totally amazes me that I know for a fact that it was the power of God in his life at Kingston. Wow.

Well, his own life as a young boy was pretty rough to begin with. Why don't you tell us a little bit about your family's background?

Yeah, one of the things, John, that I wanted to share is that I was born in Mexico City on August 30th, 1947. And the way it came about is that my parents had met in Mexico City.

Just to give you a little bit of background, my father, my grandfather was born in Hamburg, Germany. And at this particular time... So that was your dad's dad, right? That was my dad's dad. At this particular time, he was visiting in New Orleans where my grandmother, which is from Mexico City, was... Singing opera.

And they met. And I guess they fell in love with each other. And then they went to Mexico City and they got married. And my grandfather lived there for about 10 years because through that, my father came, a Raul Christian Rees Sr. That was his name.

And my grandmother was Catholic. And so what happened is they got married. And then on getting married, my grandfather... Was German and during the Nazi conflict. He actually made artificial arms and artificial legs.

The Germans came and they were after him. And my grandmother said they came and they took him away and he never was ever seen again. So this is when they made it like the late 30s or so? Late 30s, yeah.

And my father was about 10 years old, 9 years old, something like that. And my father never ever saw his father again. And my grandmother received some letters, but that was it, you know? And we don't have those letters. I wish we had them.

So you know brothers or sisters on your dad's family? We know we have family in Germany, in Hamburg, because we've done a little retracing back, but we don't know how many brothers or sisters he had. You know, he was a pretty quiet person, you know?

But it's amazing to see how, you know, here's my grandfather and my grandmother. And they meet and they get married. And then my father is born to this. And then he grows up as, you know, with a single parent, you know, my grandmother.

And he begins to, you know, to smoke and to drink at the age of 11 and 12 and 30. And it follows up a life that is not really good, you know what I'm saying?

And my grandmother, really hardworking woman to keep the home and to keep my dad in line.

You know, my dad is his own boss because he's no brothers, no sisters, you know. And so he grew up in a very violent life and drinking and becoming very abusive.

But the way it happened is my mother... Was on vacation my mother was born in New York City in Long Island and her parents my grandfather and my grandmother had met in New York they were both from Spain from Galicia and they had met there and they got married and they had my mother and my aunt Connie you know which was her sister and through that my mother was visiting Mexico City

And on the way to Mexico City on vacation, she met my dad and father. My dad was so handsome and good looking, you know.

And they got together and they got married. And they got married and she never went back to New York, you know. They stayed in Mexico. And during that time, my grandmother and my grandfather moved from New York to Mexico.

And my father was a hotel owner. He had hotels all over Mexico, you know. He was a business guy. I remember staying in hotels all the time.

But they had a lot of money, you know, on that side. And at the same time, you know, all this was going on.

And at the particular time, when they had me and I was born, then my brother also was born, you know, my brother Xavier. And he's like two years behind me. He was probably born, I think, in 1950 he was born.

And what was really neat about that is that as we started growing up, we began to see, I remember, I don't know if I was four or five, but I remember. Ever since I was a little kid, the yelling and the screaming and the verbal abuse and the fighting that would go in the home as my father would come drunk home every night.

And that was really, really heavy because, you know, when you're a little kid, you're expecting a fun and you're expecting a really better life, you know.

But I remember my mother yelling and screaming and weeping and crying and suffering tremendously as my... Father would come home, and sometimes he would come home with a church full of blood, where he had been fighting, you know, on the streets and stuff.

And my father was really, really a tough guy, you know. And so what happened is that my father began, as his elder son, to take me everywhere he'd go. He liked to show me off, you know.

And he took me everywhere. And I remember going to these nightclubs, and while he was inside drinking, I was outside. He would leave me. You know, like in a newspaper stand with the people, and he'd give me money, and he'd bring me my food and stuff, and I would be out there like three, four, five, six hours.

How old were you at this time? I was, I think, about five or six. Wow. Real small, I remember that, you know.

And I used to sit there just kind of wondering, man, when are we going to go home, you know, okay?

And he would be inside having a ball, and I was outside totally bored, you know.

And then we would get on this little scooter that he had, and we'd ride home, and we'd be weaving back and forth on the road, you know.

And lucky that we didn't, you know, we sold out one time, you know, and I mean, nothing happened to us. But I mean, you know, I mean, now I can see why, you know what I'm saying?

But I mean, this whole thing, then when he'd get home, man, he'd get in a huge fight with my mom and stuff, and then he'd pass out.

And then the next morning, it started all over again. And this just went on.

Now, would he be apologetic in the morning? Would he remember any of this? Some he remembers, some he says he didn't remember, you know what I'm saying?

But we can see that all these things were leading to a more violent life. At that particular time, also, a sister was born, my sister Sonia.

And then a little brother that died on Christmas Eve. He was like three months old when he died.

Uh, we thought we think not a script that you know he died but um it was amazing because as continuing on in my life there growing up in Mexico City the first 10 years it was just totally hell on earth because my father was just so violent it was kind of like a repetitious life and saying everything he did was drinking verbal and physical abuse.

And sometimes, you know, he would punish me and he would hit me and stuff. A little heavy.

And I remember that my whole life was when I would grow up, I would kill my dad. That was all of my heart. Hatred in my heart, man. Hatred in my heart, man.

And I remember in 1957... After all the 10 years of abuse, then my mother finally had it.

And so what we did is she went ahead and my grandfather and my grandmother had sold their hotels and they had moved to California and they had moved to Los Angeles with my aunt Connie.

And they had written and told my mom that, hey, why don't you leave your husband and why don't you come and live with us in Los Angeles.

My mom never told us anything but told us that we were going on a trip.

And so that night when my dad came home and did his thing again and he passed out.

My mother woke us up about five in the morning, and we got dressed. My brother, my sister, Sonia, and myself.

And I took a taxi, and we headed out to the airport.

You didn't know where you were going? No, until we got to the national airport in Mexico City.

And then we asked my mother, where are we going? She said, we're going to trip the way we're going to trip.

She still didn't want to tell us, you know?

And we got on this plane in 1957, and we flew from Mexico City to Tijuana, where the plane landed.

And there my grandmother and my grandfather at my end were waiting for us.

And my uncle at that time, Manuel, was waiting for us.

And that's your mom's family, right? That's my mom's side, yeah.

They were there to pick us up and to bring us across the border and to go to Los Angeles because my mom was an American citizen, you know.

And so we got to Los Angeles up on 3rd Street and Huntley Drive. I'll never forget that.

And we lived so beautifully there with my grandmother and my grandfather.

You know, it's a whole new life.

There was no screaming, no yelling. I mean, there was a real peace, you know, where now I was enjoying life.

And I thought, man, this is so great. We're in America, man. Totally a different land.

And now we're going to have a beautiful life.

But then as time went on, my father began to write to my mother that he wanted to change and that it was changing and that he wanted a second opportunity, that he wanted to come and live in the United States with her.

And so my mom, because my mom loved my dad, believed him and allowed him to come.

You didn't trust him, though, huh? No, I didn't trust him. I begged my mom not to let him come, you know?

I begged my mom, please, mom, don't bring him. We don't want him. We hate him. We don't want to be with him.

But my mom went ahead and, you know, being merciful, allowed my dad to come to the United States.

And when he came, everything was okay for a while. But then...

Rob, let me ask you, when your dad first came to the United States after that time, what were your thoughts and the feelings in your heart when you saw him again after being apart from him?

I was mad. I hated it. I hated it because... I knew that sooner or later something was going to happen, you think? Because if he did, he started buying a six-pack, and he started drinking, and then he started abusing, and then verbal, and here it is again, you know, this whole thing all over again.

And so after living in Los Angeles, we decided in 1959, we decided to move to Montebello.

And we bought a home. Actually, no, we didn't. We rented a home from a friend of my dad's that he met here.

And we rented this home in Montebello.

And I went to Greenwood Unified, you know, the grammar school in Montebello. I went fifth grade, sixth grade.

And then I went to Montebello Junior High School, seventh and eighth grade.

And, you know, I was a very athletic person. I was playing baseball. That was my favorite sport.

I was playing Little League and I was playing, you know, Pony League.

And at the same time, while I was doing all this and going out for sports in Montebello Junior High School,

And becoming a letterman and getting lettered, you know, in baseball and stuff and track and all these football and everything.

I was, you know, trying to do the right things, but I had all this hatred in my heart.

Now, as a young boy in grammar school and junior high, you weren't violent then at that point, huh? As far as fighting, as you did when you got older? Right. It was beginning.

These feelings now were coming about. But it wasn't... Like that, because it wasn't until I came to Bowen Park High School in 1962.

We made the move and we bought a house here in Bowen Park.

And it was a brand new house that we bought. My father was so proud, you know, and so happy because he worked so hard.

And my mom was working too for the Union Bank.

And so through that both incomes, we were able to buy a brand new house.

And at the same time, going and now joining Bowen Park High School.

I began to meet, you know, guys like Louie Vega, Dale Goddard, David Shorter, Bill D. Graffin-Reed.

I mean, so many. Roger Punchabinski, Albert Hernandez, Champ Boxer, Paul Smith, Mike Atkinson. All these guys that became my friends, you know.

And they were all, you know, a lot of guys were surfers, you know.

We didn't hang out with gangs. As a matter of fact, we beat up the gang members, you know.

But they were there at that time. There were not many, you know. But we actually ruled, you know.

And it was kind of like a scene in the 60s where we were going down to San Clemente, Doheny, Huntington Beach, and we would be into the surf scene.

But we loved to fight. We just loved to fight, man.

And what happened, by beginning that lifestyle of fighting, I began to find a release in my life.

You know, what was going on in my home, the anger, the hate, and all these things, on the weekdays and on the weekends, I would totally release it on somebody else.

And that was real heavy. Because then, you know, I got a reputation, you know, the police department in Bonaparte began to know me as a troublemaker, even though I was athletic and I was in trouble in school all the time.

I was on the vice principal and principals every day, you know, for not behaving and getting fights in the hallways.

At brunch and at lunch, you know, and after school, and we would go to other schools and choose on everybody. That's how we used guns. Carried on, you know, from the ninth grade, I'd see us, and we used bats, you know, our entire... I was full of rage.

I was a good old fight, you know what I'm saying? But it just carried... I could control myself, but I was out of control. By the time I became a senior, man, I was full of anger.

Dale Goddard could tell you this, boldly graph and anger, you know what I'm saying? Where no longer I could control those feelings, and they would literally have to... Wow.

So it fed on itself. Oh, yeah. I mean, I would go wacko. That's one day.

I tell you, as all my friends know me, where I used to get in a fight, you know, it would become totally crazy, you know, after guys, you know, because I just lose it completely.

It's a little bit to feel pretty good. I couldn't drink because if I drank, man, I really would. I didn't like it, but I think just a little.

You know, separated me from those things.

I smoked maybe marijuana a couple of times, and I said, if you take drugs, your brain would actually get into drugs heavily, man.

And that just totally stuck with me. Yeah, it was really, because my father had told me years and years past that if my friends, you know, shoot up, I want to totally destroy you.

And that kept me going.

Everything you can do, what my dad told me, and I listened to that.

And so I watched... We're up to your senior year, and that's where you take reds and whites, and I watched them take LSD. We were into sex. We were...

And it destroyed their

Here is the cleaned and formatted sermon transcription:

G to have to go, you know, I would not only get disciplined, or I would have to go into the military. Now, Vietnam was... I knew that if I go to the military, I would never... You know what? Every one of our friends think that I would like to do. We all wanted to go to Vietnam. You had no worry about that? No, you know what? You know, and we felt that we had to fight for our countries. We wanted to go to Vietnam, believe it or not. We were kids in school, you know what? You know what? We were Americans, man. You know, and we felt we grew up in the cities. And we were really, this is what we were taught since we were kids and still do. And saying, this is the land today. But you can talk to anybody that actually grew up in it. I would go and take this and say, we really believe speaking for, I still do this whole thing, you know, to get ready for that. And so when I told the judge that I would go at a particular time on graduation, he did that. They gave me this whole thing in high school. And so I graduated. And at that particular, I kind of liked it. I had, you know, known this girl, Sharon, in high school. Right, right. Trying to pick up on her, you know. Somebody else, she had another boyfriend, you know. And we sat there and we, you know, kind of made, you know. Cute. You can tell. Right, right. You know, because we kind of built a little relationship. At the senior party, I picked up on her and it was kind of neat, you know. You know, I kind of forgot about her and I smooched, you know. And I mean, you know, it was kind of neat. 1966, man. But then after the senior party, You know, gave me my test. I took the original thing, and July the 4th, 1960, they put me in a Greyhound bus, and they shipped me. It was Monday, and they gave me the I-passed everything one day. I'm going to the Marines, man. So I called my grandma. I said, Grandma, my mom's mom. See you later. Boom. I'm not coming home today anymore. I'm dependent on my life, you know, because we will see them in September at graduation time. Me and my dad had gone in such and I got on the bus and I left, you know. I was really dependent on beautiful German Shepherd. When I was a sophomore in high school, I destroyed and killed her. Then I got on a fight and my mom had given away my beautiful heart to L.A. And when I got to the end, I was so mad at her, man. I wanted... I took a ticket to San Isidro on a bicycle, and I rode it from here, from Bonaparte, and I hitchhiked all the way to the bus. I sold it for $10, and I took a ticket. And on my way, I crossed the border with this mother and some kids to cross the border, and I was working my way through Mexico City. I ran away. I was so ticked, you know, and my mom and dad. And we hit this horse, and Mexico City, I was on the Greyhound bus. They picked me up, and we hit them full power, and it came close to Mexico, about 10 hours from Mexico City.

The staircase and the main power man and i was right there in the front when the horse was doing and all the glass and all the yeah i was cut between god protecting me at that time i remember and i was crushed and and nothing happened to god you know this whole thing listen the horse was all over me and nothing happened to me and here i am You Know, it's amazing how the hand of God. Another bus trip? Yeah, another bus trip. Back up the path was there. Well, they go and we're going through these gates from LA to MCRD. And you're thinking about another thing. And they have these guys at the gates. Here I am, you know. And all of a sudden we get down to San Diego. In their fatigue, you know. I'll never forget these wide gates, man. And then saluting the bus, you know, the whole thing. And we're guards, you know, these Marines, man. In there. And all of a sudden the bus stops. We're standing there. And they were waving at the barbershop and there's a guy walking in there and we go, wow, look at this place, you know, outside. And you're wondering, where are you from this barbershop? You know, and you look outside and this guy comes with hundreds of yellow footprints. Like a bulldog, man. What the heck is that, you know? And I was on the door open. Nice blues. Comes walking up with a smoky hat, you know. And he looks, stripes, you know, sergeant stripes. And he has his beautiful, you know, and cussing and calling us with his brown shirt and tie, you know, and nice. And now your butt belongs in all his medals. And he starts yelling and for the next 12 weeks, man, guards and girls, man. And he's telling us how nice and everything. And I'm going to get you now, he says. You know, you belong to me now. I'm going to make you a Marine. He says, you know, your mommy and your daddy and your granny. And he's literally kicking us. And you're the best way I can. I'm going to break you. And I'm going to. And we're sitting there. I don't even know. And then he started kicking us out of the bus, man. Kicking us. No fear, huh? No fear. Funny not, man. And we're starting to yell with footprints. and the smell, and it takes a long time, man. And anybody that would say that's the difference. Even because you develop a sensitive ear, it's somebody walking down. Everything in Vietnam when you're in war. That's the end. My ears are tuned in today. You know, hey, I can sleep and I can hear things. I am now. I'm in the jungles with outside noises because I tuned in.

We go up north to Kaysom consensus. And so it's been incredible because here I am. Operation Arizona. I go to Chulai. We go to Fubai. We go, you know, so many people die. Down to Da Nang, and we're doing all these things. The story of watching, man. All these things were, we watched, you know, heart. You were wounded twice in action. And this is in my mind, you know, completely. You were hit by that. So many died. Now, you received two purple hearts. I was sitting on a die at 47, and I was hit with a booby trap. Now, when you were the... The guy that shot from the AK-47, you were wearing your flag jacket. I was on my right shoulder at an angle. In the rice paddy? Yeah, in the rice paddy. And it burned my skin and bounced off, man. Shot behind me and hit me in my right. At that time, I didn't know. And then the second hit my flag gear and I reflected back. All of it was burned. I mean, what were your reflections? You got knocked. I mean, now I know why. You know what I'm saying? I laughed. I mean, at the second time, this guy from Texas. Let me stop you there. I lost all. fear to the ground by the shot, right? I laughed. Survival of the fittest, man. When I got to Vietnam, John, I started going, that's the way I thought. You know what I'm saying? In a sense of death. It was survival. The second time I got hit, they said, it's not going to be me, it's going to be them. That 18-year-old kid from Texas, I was breaking him. And so all these things were in my mind, you know what I'm saying? I got 19, right? I got 19 years old, 30 days to. Well, the next time I got hit, this village in the morning, nobody to the point. We went to this village. And you were an old man of 19, right? We went to an ambush that evening. But here I am. We're coming in. Okay? To the gates, there's trip wires. In the evening, they booby trap everything. So we're walking back to set up a clicket. And then that's the end of us. To the camp, I told the guy, slow down. When you come to the gate, he's green. He doesn't know. He goes, very fine trip wires. If you don't watch it, you'll click the second gate. I told him to slam. Okay? So I'm dumb. But he doesn't listen. He's young. He's green. Well, he trips the wire. So I skate perfectly. executed. Second trap explodes. And we fly. Boom! He kicks it. I see the flash, you know. The fire opens up, man. We're ambushed him. By the time I push him, the booby trap acts his right arm, loses both of his... Actually, we find ourselves flying through the air. And we fire. Totally bloody mess. He's hit. The young kid loses his... My endurance is really... Legs up to his thighs up here. I mean, all I remember is, I don't even know that I'm hit, but I'm hit. And I'm calling the medevacs, and the docks are flowing, and we're in a firefight, and they didn't come down. It was at night. Just being there for such a long time, and everything. And all of a sudden, men coming up and taking care of the wounded, and the helicopters couldn't even remember. It's being on the helicopter, being medevaced. They couldn't come down because of the firefight. You could see the traces of them being taken to the U.S. gaff. I collapsed. The next thing I remember, I had shrapnel behind my route to the Nang. And from the Nang, I had shrapnel in back of my days. What was the nature of your wounds in that one? That went through my back next to my right knee. And then I, you know, I mean, in my back. Believe it or not, a huge piece of shrapnel. They took me to the fill of my lung. And it's still there today. They couldn't remove it. I got so blown away, John. God, this blew me away.

So I spent 30 days in the American people. And then from the Philippines, when I was in the U.S., because there is where I saw 18 and 19-year-olds. I got so much hate for these guys at home that are being burned by napalm, you know. The war is of no value. When they see these eights up to the head, they're totally shaven. I watched this napalm center where they have toxin and comas. Some of these guys are burned to a script. You thought you were going home. No arms, some with no legs. And then we are in Vietnam. I'm back. And then they come to me and say, you're going back. And I'm saying, you know what? Going back to the ship. They take me back to Vietnam. 45 days to do. This is now late September. And I've seen short timers get killed. I'm not going out again. I only had like about 40 days. I'm staying here. I'm not, man. I'm a short timer, and I tell you what, I'll kill you before I'm Kormash. I go to the captain, I tell the captain, I'm not going out, man. It orders me to go to Da Nang. The captain says, you're going out, or you're going to be Kormash. I said, I take the Nang by helicopter.

And so he writes a piece of paper, a psychiatrist, and I'm sitting there and I'm talking to see a psychiatrist. So I'm on my way with that. I'm not going back. And they drop me off and, you know, the name, and I go through the stuff. You understand that? And he writes a piece of paper. He's trying to be a real nice guy. I said, let me put it this way. You're leaving tomorrow. I'm going home, and if not, I'm going to kill you. Great. I go back to the captain real fast, you know. He gives it to me. He says, go get your stuff. You're leaving now. Right? I pack all my gear. I'm on my way home. That's great. And I get to the airport by helicopter. And I tell him he's really ticked at me. He's really mad at me now. And they put me handcuffed. I say goodbye to all my friends, you know. And they strap me in. And what happens? The MPs take me to Travis Air Force Base. My feet. And they put me in the C-130. From there to the Naval Hospital.

La Nang, Vietnam, where all the crazy people are. There's a paddy wagon waiting for me there, and they transferred me for me. Just totally locked me up. Oklahoma Hospital, Project 49A, where I totally rebelled against everything. And they locked me up for six months, man. Did they have to seduce me? Yeah, they tell me I'm not going home. So I rebelled longer. But Synanon was actually a pity. And so what I do, I become real violent. So we talk about your problems. They put me in this program called Synanon, which is not in care. You see? It's not a place for therapy. You sit down with groups and you sit here. Man, you don't like anybody. You can everybody's better, man. You know, it's just so mad all the time, man. I'm putting it in for the son of a doctor. Dr. Wilson goes, you know what it means? Six months into Washington, D.C. Nobody likes you. I'm going to dismiss you. I'm going to give you this honorable Milton where I wait for my district. I don't care. Do it.

So they sent me to come back at this particular time. They take me from Oakland and they transfer me back to Camp Penelope. We fall in love with each other, with Sharon. And I'm waiting for my discharge to marry her. And so what happened? My wife, through Vietnam, by letters, we fall in love with discharge. Imagine that. So I'm in love with her, man. I'm thinking I'm going to marry her. I did what I was... As my discharge comes back with an honorable... I go to Sharon, Sharon, because of my... conduct in Vietnam, you know, before marriage. She's kind of back to this. They let me go. I go. Sweetest people. They never, ever. We go out. She gets pregnant. And so what happens at this particular time? Her mom and dad are the most baby. No abortions. Condemn me in any way. But they love me. My wife and I will become your husband. I take full responsibility for my actions. I will keep the baby. This particular luncheon is 20 and I'm. I will go to work. I will marry you. You will be married.

And full responsibility for my entrance. At the end of the war, I mean one. What happens? We get married. No rehabilitation at all. I mean, I'm thinking, man, this is a whole new life now. I'm out of the way west. That's the way. That's why it was. I don't talk about the war. I don't think about it. But you really had no. You're in the bush one day. And then you're in the night. You're in Vietnam. Next night, you're here. You're here. It's such a shocking thing to all of us. You know, you guys, you know, couldn't take it. You know what I'm saying? See the next day. Wow. What the heck happened? You're 32 hours. I'm worried. I'm angry. It's a total shock.

And I think that's what a lot of these guys... I think that if anyone was going to... And so what happened is I don't talk about the Vietnam. I mean, I was protected by them. You just stayed away from them. You guys that are protesting, man. And I mean, in my mind, I don't want my wife to anybody. And I would have killed them. I know I would have. But I began not only to continue... Yep, I stayed away from the whole thing. Never talked about Vietnam to my wife. They married me. Then as time went on, we got married. I began to verbally abuse. I began to do my violence now.

But this beautiful woman, other women. See, she gives her life back to the Lord. The reason is because I'm training for my physical abuse. I begin to go out without that. And I'm training because I want to open. And this whole life of corruption begins in my life while my marriage is falling apart.

With Jimmy H. Wu, I want to be the best. And so four years go about school one day, and I become the best in what I'm doing. I have money. I have women. I have my lifestyle. You know, my whole life is going apart. I have nothing in my life. I'm totally.

I have my black belt. I have my dad at this time. I have no marriage. I have no wife. I'm away from them. My wife's the one that wanted to go empty. And how was your relationship with your mom and dad? And they treated her so rotten. She didn't get along. I mean, you know, we fought all the time. I mean, I stayed away from them.

But, you know, I said, we're not going to see them because she was a Christian and she wanted to love them. And I said, after four years of, you know what I'm saying? And I used to get so mad at that. My wife and me and the whole thing is in there again because every time we do it, we're in a big fight. But then the thing added, I'm going to leave. Of all this garbage, you know, from my parents and her bags are packed, it's Sunday, it's going on. I finally say, you know what? My wife says, I've had you. And I see

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription:

So war came over my life, man. That's when I'm weeping because I had done hunting for my wife and I couldn't find her. I even went to the church. She went to the door. She said no, I can't open the door. And so I came back home and I heard her inside crying. I opened it. I said, if you don't want me to keep the door that you're holding in, I'll do it. And I knocked on the door and I said, Sharon, open the door. I said, honey, I'm born again. You know, you're too violent. You're, you know, I'm not going to leave you. So finally she opened it. She opened the door with a latch when she really saw a man for two years. He closed the door right in my face. He didn't see me in a true conversion, like Paul the Apostle. He left me in the house, and it took about a year and a half to get me. I hungered and thirsted for His Word, which actually changed my life.

But you know what, John? I really had to take myself away from books. You can't do that because immediately God gave me nothing. Nothing at all. And you know what blew me away? It said He gave me not to keep me from reading the Bible. And prior to that, I didn't do anything. I went up to a store and I could buy a Bible. High school, nothing at all.

And you know what? I went inside and I saw these little bikes, hunger and thirst. And the first thing I did was get one of those big ones. And I found this lighthouse in Covina. I went and bought myself a Jesus Christ, God, Son, and Savior, and I had big Bibles, medium Bibles, and saw this big time. And I was like, you know, because I wanted people to know I was a Christian, and I saw this fish that goes over your neck with the...I don't care, you know what I'm saying? And so I didn't care, and a big old tuna, man, the biggest fish I could find to put on my neck. Shocked Sharon.

But she knew what, I didn't care, and they didn't make fun of me. I'll beat him up. So she was just waiting for it to wear off. I went full on for the Lord, man. And that's what really is way off, you know? It's just another thing. Whatever I was committed to, I was a fanatic. Like my Kung Fu, to see that I began. Whatever I did, man, I was full on.

So she said, well, this is going to work. And I began to spend time with her. So she watched. But she began to school. And it was something that I went back to my old heights. I loved her. And I began to love my kids.

And then he called the police on me. And Al Benzer, you begin to see that I went to my old high school. I thought God told me to go, you know. And I went, and Mr. Barnhol and Hollenbeck, you know, when they saw me, they came before me. And he opened the house, came, and they took me away, told me to get out of there, man.

I thought I began to share my testimony. I began to share it every week. And God told me, go back to your old high school. And God went to me, and God's word, and I got off his high school. And I began to share with the kids. I began consuming the word of God as I was going to Chuck Smith's church and was getting rooted and grounded.

And so as I began to share with the kids, I was just, man, consuming the word of God, man. I threw myself into it. I was learning. And I had this burning in my heart. Then one day God said, get up and speak to me. Six months later, they wouldn't listen. They began to not scream. I'm not screaming. I'm going to kill these kids.

And then all of a sudden, they all sent the grass. One by the kids right now. Lunch on 2,000 kids. So I began to share with them the love of Christ. And what God had done for me, I'm calling you. Wow.

And then I gave an invitation. And 500 kids, you know, and it's just the beginning of blown away. And then the Lord confirmed to me, I'm calling. And then from my, and I knew it, man. So I told Chuck Smith, Kung Fu Studio, to the women's club, you know, what God did with seven people in the home.

And then to the Fox Theater, from my Kung Fu Studio, to my house, to my club. In 13 years there, and now Herman's Club in Bowman Park, and then back to the Comfort Springs, God has done so much theater, and then to Calvert Chapel, West Covina, so much in my life.

You know, here at Calvert Chapel, you know, Golden Springs. So now I never, ever thought that God would do so much. The whole picture of it, it just totally blows me away out. It's the Lord, man.

And even to that, it's kind of come full circle now. I could have gone to hell. I had a hand on my life, starting with my birth and so many other things, how God had his hand on me. And I just thank him for that. I've been in prison the rest of my life.

I could have done so much better than this best comes to teacher Jesus. God was there to meet me. And I teach her, Pastor Chuck Smith, for his grace. His love and His mercy for giving me the best of everything in truth. Giving me the best pastor, teacher. I thank God for that.

The second Spurgeon. And then, you know, the best in my life. Dr. Duff, which I got to meet Dr. Billy Graham. He's given me the best in all things in my life. Dr. Van Cleef, Dr. Orr, these men in my life. I mean, just incredible, incredible men of God.

Maybe wives who were a great influence in my life. And I thank God for these men. Husbands aren't walking with the Lord. For anyone that may be listening to this tape of God working in their lives. I was situations to Sharon, who's fully turned her whole life to the Lord. I mean, what do you have to say to them in the power of God? Sharon couldn't convert me.

With them, that they need to, you know, just really fully, you know, I can bite on those things, and then read, and the Lord to do a work, because, you know what, Sherry watched the love of Christ, she never did. She never put tracks on my sandwiches, so when I go to work, you know, I didn't like that, but she just prayed.

Like my Kung Fu, to see that I began. Whatever I did, man, I was full on. So she said, well, this is going to work. And I began to spend time with her. So she watched. But she began to school. And it was something that I went back to my old heights.

I loved her. And I began to love my kids. And then he called the police on me. And Al Benzer, you begin to see that I went to my old high school. I thought God told me to go, you know. And I went, and Mr. Barnhol and Hollenbeck, you know, when they saw me, they came before me.

And he opened the house, came, and they took me away, told me to get out of there, man. I thought I began to share my testimony. I began to share it every week. And God told me, go back to your old high school. And God went to me, and God's word, and I got off his high school.

And I began to share with the kids. I began consuming the word of God as I was going to Chuck Smith's church and was getting rooted and grounded. And so as I began to share with the kids, I was just, man, consuming the word of God, man. I threw myself into it. I was learning.

And I had this burning in my heart. Then one day God said, get up and speak to me. Six months later, they wouldn't listen. They began to not scream. I'm not screaming. I'm going to kill these kids. And then all of a sudden, they all sent the grass. One by the kids right now.

Lunch on 2,000 kids. So I began to share with them the love of Christ. And what God had done for me, I'm calling you. Wow. And then I gave an invitation. And 500 kids, you know, and it's just the beginning of blown away.

And then the Lord confirmed to me, I'm calling. And then from my, and I knew it, man. So I told Chuck Smith, Kung Fu Studio, to the women's club, you know, what God did with seven people in the home.

You know, here at Calvert Chapel, you know, Golden Springs. So now I never, ever thought that God would do so much. The whole picture of it, it just totally blows me away out. It's the Lord, man.

And I had this burning in my heart. Then one day God said, get up and speak to me. Six months later, they wouldn't listen. They began to not scream. I'm not screaming. I'm going to kill these kids.

You know, here at Calvert Chapel, you know, Golden Springs. So now I never, ever thought that God would do so much. The whole picture of it, it just totally blows me away out. It's the Lord, man.

And I had this burning in my heart. Then one day God said, get up and speak to me. Six months later, they wouldn't listen. They began to not scream. I'm not screaming. I'm going to kill these kids.