Creflo Dollar - Grace: The Miracle Survivor
Our guest today was initiated into the 19th Street Crips and he lived the street life. He sold crack, stole cars, and robbed people at gunpoint. He also maintained a gram a day heroin habit since the age of 19 and it was common for him to see his friends overdose and die in front of his eyes. His name is Terrell and he lived this way until he was 32 years old and then his life changed forever. There is no earthly reason that our guest isn't dead in a coffin like so many of his friends. I want you to hear this man's story today. I want you to sit a loved one in front of the TV right now who might be going through their own troubles or dealing with their own mistakes. I want you to learn that a total life transformation is possible, no matter what you've done or how you messed up. I'm Creflo Dollar and this is "Your World".
Creflo: Our guest today is blessed to be alive. Ladies and gentlemen, you have to hear his story of growing up in the prominent 19th Street Crips gang, living the life of a thief, drug-dealer, hustler, and a junkie. And then I want you to hear what happened to him next. Please welcome to "Your World" Terrell Jones.
Creflo: I'm looking so forward to this. I had a chance to read your testimony and it really blew my mind and really gave me a greater appreciation for the grace of God and how God can be so involved in our lives when we have no idea that he has us in his hands. So I'm gonna do a little different today. We call it "Your World". And you're gonna invite us into your world. You and I together are gonna preach this sermon and we're gonna provide an instrument that will bless so many people. It's gonna blow your mind the number of people that God will have tuned in today to hear what you have to say that's gonna change their lives. So let's start at the very beginning. Bring us into your world. Start off with the circumstances around your birth and we'll just travel together down this journey and see if we can spot the areas where God's grace intervened every single time.
Terrell Jones: Okay, so originally there's five of us. I have a brother and three sisters. My mother was on heroin really bad. She was addicted to that and a lot of other drugs. It was so bad that when me and my little sister were born, we almost died at birth. I remember my family telling me that the doctors told them, "Hey, listen, if they do any drugs or, you know, anything to that nature, it's a possibility that they can die". Because we were so consumed with it. It should have been seven of us. We had two twin brothers, Lucky and Chucky, died at birth because of her heroin addiction. So by the grace of God I was able to come out alive and withstand that.
Creflo: And you mean, physically, you guys as babies were so consumed with the drugs and stuff? And I don't know if a lot of people recognize that but to be born so consumed with it and then to get involved with it yourself could probably have a bigger risk than just a normal person who wasn't born... is that correct?
Terrell Jones: Exactly.
Creflo: So you're born this way. Were you ever warned or told that there were certain issues you might have to be aware of besides the drug use?
Terrell Jones: Not actually because when... our auntie actually raised us. She didn't inform us of a lot of the things when we were young. I think she was trying to preserve, you know, how we were thinking about it so she told us, you know. 'Cause my mother, she got murdered. In fact, she had robbed two men that were part of the Mafia and they murdered her. Shot her five times in the head and two between the eyes. My auntie didn't really want us to understand that but me, as a kid, as being as inquisitive as I was, I found the death certificate and I found out how she actually died. So we didn't know the majority of our childhood life 'til it was actually... I found out and I asked. And that's what she told us, so it really wasn't brought to our nature or understanding about what she did until we got a little bit older.
Creflo: Yeah, how old were you? Do you remember?
Terrell Jones: When?
Creflo: When you found out.
Terrell Jones: Probably about 13, 14, yup.
Creflo: Did that have any impact on your life? Would you say that information itself was somewhat traumatic? How did it affect you emotionally to find out how she died?
Terrell Jones: It had some effect. I mean, being that I never really knew my mom. I don't remember her much. I just remember the stories. But it did have an impact 'cause I thought why wouldn't you tell us the truth about how she died? You know, I was just wondering why. But, you know, as you find out, you kind of gotta just accept it 'cause she was already gone so I couldn't change that. But I just had to accept the way she went.
Creflo: So being raised by your auntie, you're growing up, you're getting into school and high school. Tell us about how was life like in high school?
Terrell Jones: Well, I never even made it there. When my mother got murdered, this was five of us. My auntie took us on. Took us from, we were in the projects at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. We moved to Saint Louis at that point. She had three kids of her own. And her husband ended up dying of cancer. So she had eight kids by herself. I'm gonna tell you, Dr. Dollar, I was bad. Ha, ha, me and my brother, we were bad. In fact, I remember, you know, sneaking out at night. My auntie was tough on us. She was, like, "Terrell, if you wanna stay out there and sneak out, you stay out there. Find somewhere to go". And I just started enjoying that life and I took the decision of running away from home at 12 and I just felt like I was grown, you know, and that's when I got into the gang culture, learned about the gang culture 'cause that's just at that time, that's what I was around. I was a product of that environment. And once I got a part of it, it just consumed me. It took me over.
Creflo: So take us through that transformation from, you know, the 12-year-old kid staying with your aunt to the engagement with the streets. You're basically deciding, "Well, I'm gonna just be grown". Take us there. How did I get from here, running away, to here, being engaged in relationships that were outside of the home?
Terrell Jones: Well, again, since it was a lot of us, you know, we probably didn't get as much care and love as we would have liked. But she did the best she could. And, you know, when you get in the streets you think people love you. You think they have your best interest in mind. So I guess I was searching for something I never could find out there. And, again, you know, my little mind was so advanced at the time, I thought I was grown. I wasn't. So when I got out there in the streets, I quickly, I start selling drugs, I start smoking weed, I start drinking, I start robbing. I start doing anything it took for me to survive. I remember living in crack houses, sleeping in the back of cars. And I remember asking, I didn't really know God at that time but I felt like I was different, like, I remember seeing kids with their parents and I'm, like, "Why I can't be like that? Why I can't have a father or a mother"? You know, I guess I was searching for something I would never find. But at that time that's just all I knew. And I did everything they did out there in those streets.
Creflo: How prevalent do you think that is today, in today's society, where you can look in our society and find people who are going through the same thing that you've had to go through?
Terrell Jones: I think it's very prevalent. I think in society nowadays, that's what 80% to 90% of these kids are exposed to, you know? The street life. And it can grab you once you're out there in it. It grabbed me. It grabbed me quickly too. And I did everything you can think of out on those streets, everything.
Creflo: So were you looking for, of course, these are basic human needs. Are were you looking for significance, acceptance, family, connection to someone that you feel like would have my back who, you know, your interpretation of love, how you would interpret those things? We're in the streets but we're still in search of significance. We're in the street, we're still in search of, you know, love and care and relationships. Talk to us about that.
Terrell Jones: Yeah, so I grew up around a lot of the, what they call the OGs in the 'hood and I can say some of the things that they taught me, you know, I'll never forget, you know? I remember, you know, them telling me always look your best, you know, even if you only got a dime, always look your best. And a lot of the things that they taught me, some of 'em did have, you know, my best interest in their mind. So that kind of gravitated me towards them even more 'cause I wasn't getting it for anything. And you're right, I was looking for love. I was searching for these things but, obviously, that can never last.
Creflo: You know, when I... and I know we're going in this conversation. I'm always thinking about the practical things and I want those who are watching this program to hear this, I mean, we're talking about basic physiological needs, you know, water, food, things you need to live and survive, that mostly will be provided by a caring mother and father and family, but you were out on your own and you are now responsible for whether or not you live or die, whether or not you eat or don't eat, whether or not you have a roof over your head, as a kid, really. What was the decision you had to make because we're talking about survival, right? This is survival. Take us through that.
Terrell Jones: I remember a time, Dr. Dollar, when literally I had to go through a shopping center, Shop 'n' Save, and walk around and eat. And, like you said, you know, when you're a child you having to figure out where you're gonna sleep, what you're gonna eat, it was tough. But by the grace of God, he always made a way, always. Whether it was staying with this person, staying with that person. I remember staying with one of my friends. He was also in the gangs. He was a Grape Street Crip. His auntie used to feed me 'cause she felt sorry for me, you know? So having to search for food, search for places to live. I remember sleeping outside in the woods, just in the grass, looking up at the sky, you know? And it rained that night so it was some tough times, having to figure that out on my own with my mind not being that well advanced to understand how to do that.
Creflo: That's so crazy to me. I mean, I saw that picture of a kid sitting, you know, outside looking up at the sky. It's raining and where do you turn? Hopefully, you can imagine the emotional trauma and you can see the childhood trauma which, if not dealt with, is gonna, you know, consequences of it showing up in the adult life. Let's talk about your walk into this addiction, into drugs, into that whole scene.
Terrell Jones: Sure, so it started off with weed and drinking liquor, say now, all types of beer. And it's true, that does lead to other things. And I remember I used to do cocaine heavy, heavy. And I never forget the first time I did heroin, you know, my friend was, like, "Hey, man, any time you wanna come down, do this". And I remember the first time I tried it. It felt as if it was... it felt so normal. Like, I tried it and I was, like, "Wow," you know? I didn't have the same effect 'cause I did every drug you could name: PCP, crack, ecstasy, heroin, everything, weed. So when I first did the heroin, it grabbed me just like that. Because, remember, it was in my system, when I was in my mother's womb and it just took flight from there. Heroin is a physical drug. It is the worst drug you can do. You have to have it. It's a physical drug. And if you don't have it, your body won't function, you know? You have to have it to eat, you have to have it to wake up, 'cause if you don't, your whole body shuts down and it grabbed me from the first time I had it.
Creflo: And, like you said, because you were born with that already in your system, how long did that addiction last?
Terrell Jones: Twelve years. I had a gram a day habit. Gram a day. And, like I said, I remember days when I didn't have it. Imagine sweating and freezing at the same time, hot and cold chills. Imagine your back going out, can't eat, can't get up. It got so bad that I had to have it just to feel normal like we are today. That's how bad it is.
Creflo: That was in your testimony that I read. Now you're getting into the addictions but also now you're building relationships with people who are responsible for, you know, the drug supply, the whole business, the movement of it. Let's talk about your relationships with those. I read where I think it was, correct me if I'm wrong, one of your kids who was kidnapped?
Terrell Jones: No.
Creflo: It was you?
Terrell Jones: I was kidnapped.
Creflo: You were the one kidnapped. And for your mom, somebody owed some money?
Terrell Jones: So my mother owed one of her dealers some money. And I was kidnapped and held for ransom. I remember my auntie telling me the story. They actually saw the guy with me and she said, "I knew it was you 'cause I bought that outfit". She said, "You had a sailor suit on and your hat came off," and they actually chased the guy. And then that's when they found out they weren't playing. They were threatening to kill me. And then my auntie actually came up with the money to get me back and that happened before my mother was murdered.
Creflo: You know, this is a situation where you're born from traumatic drug use of your mother, you're born into this situation, you're kidnapped. You got all this stuff. You got trauma going on around you before you even have the ability to comprehend what it is that's going on around you. Like I said before, I've read testimonies and interviewed people with testimonies but not quite like this because it just seems like when a person would look at your life and think, "Oh, well, he didn't have any chance," but they don't recognize that the whole time that God had you the whole time. That's the thing that I have to hold myself on this seat because every time you say something to me, I'm thinking, "Look at God. Look, it's like how in the world are you even here today except by the grace of God". Brother, you ain't got nothing else to preach but the grace of God. You got nothing else but the grace of God, you know, to preach in it. And I'm so being blown away right now, emotionally, to see God's love and his grace and his power in your life. Let's talk about these relationships with the people and the drug-related relationships and situations you got yourself into and jail. Let's go to that side now.
Terrell Jones: Okay, so when I ran away from home, it lasted for about... 'cause they put a warrant out for my arrest because I wasn't supposed to be out there. So she put a warrant out for my arrest. They finally caught me when I was about 14 and they took me to juvenile. I spent time at juvenile. Then they released me to a boys' home. You know, boys' homes are people who either their parents are dead, their parents are locked up, strung out on drugs, and I'll never forget the boys' home. It was called Father Dunn's Boys' Home. I think it was a Catholic boys' home in Saint Louis, Missouri. One thing I can say about the boys' home. They teach you. They had "classes" called Independent Living where they actually paid you to go to those classes. And they had levels, levels that you could be on far as, you know, what you can do and I was a top level, level 4. So they authorized me to do a lot of things. But when you're dealing with boys' homes, they're human too and sometimes they come in, you know, they're caring after us every day and they have their issues too. And I remember when I was level 4 and the lady's name was Ann Pentegrass. She came in, she must have had a bad day. She said I had forgot to clean my room and it was just a few things that was wrong. And she just took away all my authority. Took me down to a level one. I mean, I couldn't go home for the weekend. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't go to the movies. I was just restricted to that boys' home for, you know, until they let me off. So I had to work my way all the way back up and I was mad about that. I said, "You know what? I'll tell you what". I called my little girlfriend, I said, "Come get me". And at 16 I hopped out that window, "See you". And I never looked back.
Creflo: And you were on your own as far as taking care of yourself financially, food, and all that stuff, again, right?
Terrell Jones: At 16.
Creflo: Did you find yourself back in jail again?
Terrell Jones: I went here and there for a lot of different things, you know, whether it was, you know, drugs or... I remember a time that I actually had a lot of heroin on me and it's, back then, heroin used to be tar form. It wasn't synthetic like it is now. But I had it in this dormin bottle and I remember the police... I was walking. He stopped me and he took the bottle out of my hand and shook it. It didn't feel like nothing was in there, and put it back in my pocket. So then, that was one of the steps that start to wake me up a little bit, like, I could have went to jail for a long time 'cause there was a lot in that bottle. But, again, it didn't weigh. So when he shook it, he just put it back in my pocket, so.
Creflo: There was a situation where... and you talking about the power of God's grace, where you were confronted at gunpoint by, I don't know if he was a close friend or just an associate. Tell us that story, where, really, you know, everybody else would think, "Yeah, you should have died that day". But what happened?
Terrell Jones: There are several of 'em but the first one...
Creflo: Talk to us, brother.
Terrell Jones: The first one.
Creflo: I wanna see this in a movie.
Terrell Jones: So the first one, one of the guys, his name is Mark, I've known him all my life. He was a Grape Street Crip and, you know, Grape Street's 19s and 60s, they were all family. He used to shoot heroin. I never shot. I used to snort it. And I had a lot of it at the time 'cause when you're on heroin, you gotta sell it 'cause you gotta keep supplying your habit. So I figured if I sold it, I can always have it and I can stay high. 'Cause again, I gotta stay normal. He came to buy some. At this time, I was living with my child's mother and my son and her daughter, we had a little house in Castle Point. He came in and bought some, then he called back. He left. Called back like ten minutes later, and he said, "I wanna buy some more". So I let him in my house. When he came in, I'm still on the table, you know, I'm whipping everything up 'cause we used coffee blenders. You put dormins in there and you mix it up together. And he pulls out the gun. He's, like, "Give it up". I'm like, "Man, stop playing". Pow, shot it past my head. I'm like, "He's not playing". And he took the drugs and he said, "Now, snort it". He made us get high with him. Then he put it to his head. He was crazy. "I'll kill myself". 'Cause then he start thinking about, "This my boy". But again the heroin had him. Pow, shot it again. Right past my head. You could see the bullets in the walls. And I knew he wasn't playing at that point. By the grace of God, the kids were asleep so they didn't really hear anything. So I gave him everything I had, the money in my pocket. Pow, he shot it one more time. "That ain't it. Where's the rest of it"? I had a pound of weed under the bed and $1000. I said, "Look, man". I took 'em, gave him all that. I'm like, "That's it, brother. That's it". And he ended up leaving and that was another situation that kind of woke me up, like, "I could have just died". 'Cause he shot three times close to my head but it didn't hit me.
Creflo: Yeah, like, what goes on in your mind when you think, "I'm facing death, I'm looking at it right in the eye, and it didn't happen". Was there any type of anything that came up on the inside of you that dealt with God or your relationship with God or is there a God or all that kind of stuff?
Terrell Jones: I knew about God and it wasn't as intense 'cause, remember, I'm high too. So the signs were there and I'm, like, it just keeps happening 'cause by his grace I escaped death so many times. And it was a little bit in there but, again, the heroin had me so attached to it, I couldn't really recognize that he was delivering me outta all of that.
Creflo: Give me two other times where you faced death.
Terrell Jones: Okay, so here's a story. I worked at "Shop 'n' Save," a meat cutter. I was working as I was slicing meat. And I was so high I came in one day and I'm cutting meat and I cut my finger off. Sliced it off. I was so high at the time, I didn't feel anything. I mean, there was blood everywhere, everywhere. All over the meat, all over the floor. And I was so high at the time, I'm like, "What should I do"? Now I'm thinking in my head, I'm like, "They're gonna drug test me". But they didn't. So they took me to the hospital, patched me up. As I was going to see the doctor, it got infected and they had to go in and cut more off 'cause it was cut, like, right here but then they had to go and cut some more off so this ended up happening. So I ended up getting a settlement for that, like $6000. Obviously, I'm on drugs. First thing on my mind was, "Let's buy some more heroin". First, I got me a car. I was like, "I gotta look good". And I remembered the OG teach you to look good out there. So I remember buying a car, putting some rims on it. There I go to the heroin dealer. I think I bought, like, it was, like, about a ounce. And that same night that I bought it, I went back home and I had my son and his little cousins with me. And in St. Louis, they have these long driveways where you can take the driveway past the side of the house, so I was taking them, I was putting it up, and I'd put them in the car and I forgot something out the side door. So I went back in the house and when I came back out, there's three men in ski masks. Two of 'em had them at gunpoint and the other one had me at gunpoint. I never forget it, like it was yesterday. And I remember him saying, "Give it up," and I froze. And I'm like, "Wh.".. and I just froze. He said, "You think I'm playing"? "And, Pastor, I'm telling you, I know it was a revolver. You could see the bullets in the revolver. He pulled the trigger. When he pulled it, it surprised him. He looked at it like, "What's going on"? It gave me enough time. I shut that door and I'm thinking about, "They still got the kids at gunpoint. What should I do at this point"? So I went to the front door and when I tell you, Pastor, those feet was running. God stopped that bullet. God stopped that bullet 'cause I know he tried to kill me but it wasn't my time.
Creflo: I'm gonna follow up before he shares the last one. When God has a plan for your life, nobody, nothing, no devil, will be able to stop what God has predestined to happen in your life. No way, no how. And you know, I often hear this story about, "Well, you know, you've gotta be this good in order for God to use you". And, "Oh, you can't have done that for God to use you". You've got to understand something. God uses whoever he wants to use and we need to cut out with all of these qualifications for God to use you. God always calls somebody that's not qualified and then he turns around and qualifies them so at the end of the day, nobody gets the glory but him. And to have something like that to happen is just showing God's goodness. It's showing God... Terrell, how else is he here except God decided that I got something for him to do and nothing's gonna stop me. It reminds me of when Jesus was on that boat. He said, "We're going to the other side". So why do I need to get afraid of a hurricane or the wind or how much water gets in the boat when Jesus said we're gonna go to the other side, you're going to the other side. All hell can come but it won't stop 'cause once he has put his stamp and a purpose on your life, nothing can stop it. When God puts purpose in your life, it cannot be stopped come hell or high water so we need to begin to thank God for the purpose and the grace that's been released in our lives. I mean, Terrell, he weren't in no seminary school to prepare him from all of this. He's just living life the best way he knew how and God was still stirring in his nest. And so I'm seeing God's grace throughout his testimony and throughout his life. I'm so stirred up right now. You have that really cool ending to this story right here. I want you to share one more with me and then I wanna talk about, you know, where you are right now and what's God been saying to you and you know, you remember the Baptist churches where people used to start screaming and shouting and everything. We thought they were having some kind of fit. I feel like having a fit. But share one more with us and then I wanna talk to you about your God encounter, the moment where you and God engaged and you began to seek after him and so forth. But let's share one more. Your testimonies, they're really good testimonies because it testifies of the goodness of God. And you see just the goodness of God and this is so powerful. One more.
Terrell Jones: Things got really bad and it got to the point where my sister, she came to St. Louis and she said, "Terrell, did you know that I came in the store and I saw you and you didn't even know who I was"? I didn't even know who my own sister was, I was so high. So, the notion came in me to leave St. Louis and I called her and I asked her. She didn't want me there and I... who could blame her? Look how much crap I had following me. And at that time, her husband's brother-in-law... well, my brother-in-law convinced her. He was like, "Let Terrell come down to Atlanta. Get him away from there. Do you wanna see your brother dead"? 'Cause if I would have never moved out of St. Louis, Dr. Dollar, I'd be dead or locked up. And she agreed to it. So when I came to Atlanta, that's when the cleaning started to happen, you know, withdrawals. I'm talking about nightmares, hot and cold chills at night. The process started, but it was so difficult 'cause, remember, I didn't get any treatment or anything. I just did it. One of the best ways... when people ask, "How did you get away from it"? You gotta get away from the environment. You gotta get away from the people. And when I moved to Atlanta, she let me live with her and as I'm, you know, cleaning myself up, her husband had a going-away party and they invited me and when I got there I started drinking at that time. I got so drunk that I ended up trying to fight the whole house 'cause I was withdrawing and I was angry. I missed it. You know what I'm saying? And I tried to fight the whole house. I cussed everybody out. And I'll never forget when I go outside, the guy in the house got so mad he pulled a gun on me. And my sister jumped in front of the gun. It was like, "This ain't happening today. You ain't doing this to my brother". And the guy wasn't playin'. And then everybody came outside. It stopped. So it's another time where, again, another gun is pulled on me but he didn't allow it to happen.
Creflo: Mm-hm, mm-hm, he didn't allow it to happen, wow. So let's talk about that detox process. It obviously, ha, ha, was a program that God ordered but let's talk about your engagement with the Lord and that whole process of getting to know who he was.
Terrell Jones: Sure, so I started watching you on TV and...
Creflo: Moi?
Terrell Jones: Yeah. Yes, yes. I start watching you on TV. We were raised as Seventh Day Adventists and I remember I was, like, "Something ain't right about this," 'cause every time I would try to keep the law, it would get worse. And when you were preaching on the law at that time, and it just made so much sense and I was at the end of my ropes, there, Pastor. And I remember, in my sister's basement, I said, "Lord, I need you. Help me. I accept you as my Lord and Savior. Help me". And I'll never forget the transformation that happened at that time. I know we don't live by emotions but, Pastor, I felt that thing. I just felt a transfer happened and, from that point on, I watched you so much. I started taking notes, I started getting in the Bible, and I started seeing things change, you know. He started doing things for me that I couldn't believe he would do and it just took off from that point. Total transformation. Now, obviously, I still had issues and things I was working on but he started changing my desires, changing my pleasures. I started to want him more than anything. I wanted him like the heroin.
Creflo: Oh, ha, ha. Oh, oh, God, hold me down, Jesus. Oh, my goodness. My goodness. You've shared with us how strong your desire was for the heroin. But for God to change those desires and to make the desire for him stronger than the desire you used to have. That's what the Scripture says. He says, "I will give you the desire and the power," to do what pleases him. And if there has ever been an example of the power of God's grace working in somebody's life, I don't think I've ever met anybody that so clearly, line upon line upon line, can give testimony to the power of God's grace like what you just shared. It blesses me. I'm, like, "Dude, if there was a rope I'd be like Tarzan on top of that thing right now". You know, you have to understand it does something to me, you know, I got blessed today. Something happened on the inside of me. I got blessed today because I wonder sometimes, "Are we doing enough"? I wonder sometimes what else can you do? You do all you know to do. Is anybody listening? Is anybody paying attention to it? Is this making sense? I'm doing everything I can to get this gospel out and people are, like, you know, "Yeah, it doesn't work". And here you are, you know, the prayer, the most powerful thing you could do, you just told us. You said, "God, help me. I need you". It's the most powerful prayer you can pray. It doesn't require a lot of hermeneutics and a lot of technical language to approach God but the one that he hears and will respond to is "I need you. Help me". Now you may be watching this program right now and you can relate to Terrell's life testimony. And you're wondering, "Well, how can I get God to help me like he helped Terrell"? "Help God. I need you". And then begin to feed his self not on a plan of what he could do to get God to do it, but more and more understanding that God's goodness and God's love and God's mercy and God's grace. So God comes into your life, he's changing your desires, he's giving you the want-to to want him and to do what pleases him. So what does that lead you to do? Where does that take you from? He's doing the transformation, you're getting in the Word, you're studying. C'mon, bring us on up where we are today.
Terrell Jones: Sure, so I remember hearing this "Fisher of men," and I didn't understand it at first. But then as I start progressing, he told me. He said, "I've called you to minister," and the name "apostle" came in Bible school. Now I understand apostle isn't a title but it's a calling. And he said, "I wanna reveal some things to you nobody else has heard these, this revelation". And I just ended up moving to... well, I was in Atlanta, and he was, you know, giving me the desire to join a church. And when I finally did that, it just took off. I ended up going to pastorial school which I just graduated last year and...
Creflo: And not only did he, you know, he just graduated but when they graduated from school and they do outstanding work, those names come to my office and you've gotta understand this is the first time I've sat down to talk to him, heard of him, and said, "Oh, that's Terrell. That's the Terrell. Oh, that's the guy". I think I saw you, you were somewhere, in men's convention maybe in New York. I said, "I gotta talk to you," you know? So from finishing pastorial school to operating as a vision keeper, the most powerful ministry first starts off in the area of servants and you can't go nowhere without bumping into Terrell. And some of the people you don't even know, they say, "Well, who's Terrell? Show them your picture. Oh, him. I love his smile. Every time I see him, he's smiling, just serving". And you think you have a déjà vu. I'm in another city and he's somewhere serving. And I'm, like, "Well, what's going". And so I started getting confused. Are there two people that look like him or is he the same one that keeps showing up? So as a result of everything that the Spirit of grace has done for your life and has literally bought you from the pit to the palace, and has a call of God on your life, and has a plan of God for your life, and the things that you are about to do and get involved in, I need you to do one more thing for me. The old you is on the other side of that camera. There are people from all over the country on the other side of that camera. They're trying to figure out how to get it together. You got it.
Terrell Jones: So the same thing I did. Ask him. He's there with love and everything that you need is in him. Ask him for his help. Ask him to come into your heart. Get to know him 'cause once you get to know him then you can show him. He's there with open arms, wide open, saying, "Come to me. I love you. I got you". He will transform you, he will change you. He will give you the best life possible. I'm a walking miracle of it. So make that choice today. Find him, get to know him. He's there, waiting for you right now. He got you.
Creflo: Y'all appreciate our guest today? And five weeks ago, maybe, you got a special job somewhere. Where?
Terrell Jones: Yes, so, oh, this is another testimony 'cause they're prevalent in my life. So I was working at NCR and it was one of the worst situations I was a part of. And I kept hearing, "Stay, stay". And I was, like, "It's getting worse here". So you know, I was obedient. I stayed. And then I get a phone call from one of my friends, say, "Hey, your resume is in my manager's hands, you know, you been", 'cause I was asking him about it for a few years. And they called me and I went and interviewed and they offered me a position to do data storage and artificial intelligence. A gang member from the 'hood is now studying to sell data storage and artificial intelligence to top Fortune 500 companies.
Creflo: All I got to say is like they said in the Baptist Church, "Won't he do it"?
Terrell Jones: He's already done it.
Creflo: Could you... yeah, let's just give God and Terrell a big old hand clap. Man, he is so worthy of your praise.
Oh my goodness. Well, obviously, God has a plan for Terrell's life and through God's grace, Terrell overcame his heroin addiction and his life was completely transformed from gang member to church leader, from hopelessness to happiness. Now, you or someone you love may be dealing with past mistakes or current hardships. Whether it's an addiction to alcohol or drugs or something less obvious, just know that you living in bondage to your past or living in your mistakes, they are not a part of God's plans for you. Because Jesus who is grace in human form is bigger than sin in any and all forms. Grace is God's unmerited, unearned favor, and he loves us so much that he sent his grace from heaven down to us. That means when you choose to accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior and believe the promises made to us in the Scriptures, then your sin, those bad habits, those addictions, whatever has you in bondage, will have no more power over you. Get addicted to God's Word. God's grace can make the difference in your life.