Sid Roth - Jesus Came to Ask Me a Question That Will Wreck You
Sid Roth: Pastor Eddie Turner, I've been looking forward to this interview but more important than even me, this interview is going to dramatically touch every believer and non-believer in the Messiah that's watching us right now. It's got to do with a subject that you wrote a book on, "Conquering The Chaos in your Mind". What do you mean? I know what chaos is, and maybe all of you do. But what do you mean by chaos in the mind?
Eddie Turner: Sid I'm talking about, racing thoughts, tormenting thoughts. The inability to shut your mind off. In this season in which we're living, mental health professionals are seeing a deluge of people that are coming, that are needing help. People can't get their minds to quiet down. Stress, anxiety, fear is consuming them more than ever before.
Sid Roth: Well, in your life you had an encounter that no one should have. You’re so to speak, minding your own business. And all of a sudden, a voice says to you what?
Eddie Turner: I was driving down the road Sid and minding my own business as you said, everything was good in my life. I was pastoring a little church, I was younger. And all of a sudden, out of the clear blue, the thought came into my mind, "You must be demon possessed". I'd never thought that before. Never entertained that before.
Sid Roth: That's almost a clue. It's coming from the enemy, if it's something you weren't even thinking.
Eddie Turner: It surely wasn't the Lord telling me I was demon possessed.
Sid Roth: Of course.
Eddie Turner: And that thought stung me for just a second. But I was able to kick it out, like most thoughts. But over the next two or three weeks, that thought kept tormenting me, coming back. Within three months, that thought had me, it had me paralyzed. I got where I couldn't sleep, I got where I couldn't concentrate. Sid...?
Sid Roth: How bad was it, really?
Eddie Turner: It was continual hell, torment, to the point I didn't want to see people...
Sid Roth: But it didn’t start that way.
Eddie Turner: No.
Sid Roth: It started with a thought.
Eddie Turner: Little by little. Just little by little, first a thought. Just innocent, crazy, silly thought. And I didn't know how to take that captive. I didn't know I was supposed to take that thought captive, and it built into a tsunami that eventually tore me down. And that thought paralyzed me. And then with it, other thoughts. "God doesn't love you". "You're going crazy". "Your family had a problem with mental illness. It's now on you. It's your lot in life". But then my wife begged me after being in the house, paralyzed for weeks, she said, "I want you to get out. Please try to get out and go to breakfast with us". So I went on a Saturday morning. When we were sitting in the restaurant, all of a sudden, the thoughts started. "People are looking at you. They know you're crazy. They're calling the police. You're demon possessed. They're going to come put you in a straight jacket".
Sid Roth: It's almost machine gun.
Eddie Turner: It was a machine gun every moment of every day. And I ran out of the restaurant. She finally came in to the car and drove me home. She went on to the grocery store. I ran into the house, totally defeated, hopeless. I thought I was going crazy. This was it. I might as well end my life. I fell face first into the carpet, crying, weeping. I screamed out, "Oh, God, you've got to come help me. I'm losing my mind". And I probably laid there for a minute or two just in the quiet, weeping. And suddenly I sensed somebody, I sensed a presence in the house, and that's when I looked up. And I saw the feet of a person. And then I looked up and I saw the face of Jesus.
Sid Roth: Had this ever happened before?
Eddie Turner: Never had, I was young in the ministry. I'd read the Bible, I'd read stories of other people, but I've never had an experience like this.
Sid Roth: Now, did He look real or shadowy, or?
Eddie Turner: It was like you and I talking. In fact, I first thought, man, I've died. I have died, and I've gone to Heaven. I thought I'm having hallucinations. But I looked around and there was my recliner. I looked around, there was my couch. I knew I was in the den and the Lord Jesus, His hair touched His shoulders. His eyes were gleaming bright and He looked at me and He said, "Eddie, what would you have me do for you"? And at that moment, when you're in the middle of warfare Sid, the only thing you think about is the bullets coming at you, it's survival. Because I've thought a thousand times Oh, I wished He'd asked me that again. I wish He’d show up again. I've got a list of things, I would for Him...
Sid Roth: I’m sure you do.
Eddie Turner: But all I said is, "Lord Jesus, these thoughts, they're killing me". And He reached down to the side of my head. And He said, "Eddie, I told you thoughts are as vapors, they have no power". And He reached down to the side of my head, and He pulled out what appeared to be a banner. And on this banner, it said, "You are demon possessed". And He blew it. And it went away. Just like a vapor. He reached down again and pulled out a second banner that said on it, I could read it. It said, "God does not love you," because that's the thought that Satan had put in my mind that I couldn't get rid of. And He blew it...
Sid Roth: And both were lies.
Eddie Turner: They were lies. They were vapors. But they had become a stronghold in my life, because I didn't know how to get rid of them. And then He said something to me that changed my life forever. He pointed to the corner, and He said, "Eddie, there's your problem". And I look to the corner, and I saw two monkey looking creatures huddled in the corner. And I immediately, I don't know how I knew it, but I knew they were demons, and they were shivering in fear. And every time Jesus would look at them, they would shrivel in fear. He’d looked at me, and there would be great peace. But He looked at the devils and they shivered in fear. And since that day, anytime I've dealt with fear, anytime I've dealt with anyone who was bound by fear, or evil spirits, I'm reminded of how really in the presence of Jesus who dwells in us, the devils are really the ones that are fearful, not us.
Sid Roth: What happened to those demons?
Eddie Turner: Well, He said, "There's your problem". And then He looked back at me, and He sweetly smiled. And the next thing I know, He's gone. I look to the corner where the demons were, they're gone. And that visitation was over. For the next three days, I could hardly talk. I cried constantly but the battle didn't end there.
Sid Roth: Okay, hold that thought. The machine gun precision of oppressive and fearful thoughts did not end. Be right back.
Sid Roth: Now pastor Eddie Turner had an amazing encounter with Jesus and he was set free and you would think that would have been it. But he still had good days and bad days. Tell me about a particular bad day.
Eddie Turner: It was several months past that visitation with the Lord Jesus and I had some great days, a lot more great days than I had before. But my thoughts started slipping back again. The thoughts, the same harassing, tormenting, accusatory, condemning thoughts. And one day I was sitting in my office and I heard these words Sid, "Just give in. You're a victim. This happened with your grandmother. It happened with your father. It happened in your family, it runs in your family. And they were good people, they loved Jesus, they went to Heaven when they died. So it's just your lot to bear in life. Just giving in". And can I tell you Sid that for a moment that brought me some peace, because all of a sudden, it's not my fault. I'm a victim. And it brought me peace because I thought, the fight is over. And then suddenly, from on the inside, I heard these words, that didn't come from me. And I knew that to be the Holy Spirit. And suddenly, I realized Satan had changed its tactic. At first, he was accusing me, "You’re demon possessed, God doesn't love you". Suddenly, now he changes his tactics. "Don't fight no more, you're a victim". And over the years, the hundreds and hundreds of people I've ministered to, many of them have bought that lie. "You're a victim". And that is Satan's tactic to keep us from fighting the fight of faith. And then all of a sudden, when the Spirit of God said, "That didn't come from me that came from outside, it didn't come from inside". I said, "I will not receive it". And as soon as I said that, suddenly, I felt myself lifting up. I remember saying, oh, like gravity had lost its hold on me. And when I opened my eyes, I was in Heaven.
Sid Roth: Had this ever happened?
Eddie Turner: Never happened. I had read books about that. And I'd heard other people tell stories like that. And I'd say, oh, come on, that probably really didn't happen. But it happened to me. And I was standing in front of the Lord Jesus. Sid can I tell you? That his eyes glisten with beauty, like a breeze across a lake. The colors in Heaven, we have no colors to compare to the colors in Heaven. Colors in Heaven don't even have names down here on Earth. There was movement. I was so fixated on Him, that I could see movement behind him, but I couldn't tell if it was angels or our loved ones who had gone on before. I don't know. I was just fixated on Him. And He looked at me and He said, "Eddie, I love you". And then He hugged me. When He hugged me, Sid, love like I've never experienced went through me. I remember moaning "Oh," and then He started to pull away. And He said, "You've got to go back". And I remember saying, "I don't want to go back". And He said, "But you must go back". I said, "I don't want to go back". He said, "But you must go back for your wife, and your little boy". And I said, but I don't want to. And He said, "And you must go back for them". And He pointed to the side, and I saw thousands, what appeared to be thousands of, best I can describe it as army cots, empty. And He said, "You must go back for them". Sid as I saw those cots, I realized they were for the wounded and that's the reason I was sent back to help wounded, broken, tormented people. Just like me.
Sid Roth: You're probably asking, "What about me? Jesus never visited me. I've never been to Heaven. How do I get free? Wonderful for Eddie, but how do I get free"? Next.
Sid Roth: Now, Pastor Eddie you provoked me to jealousy and you're doing exactly what the Bible says you're supposed to do. Do you know why? I'm Jewish. And the Bible says the Gentile believer is to provoke the Jew to jealousy. But why did God show you those what appeared to be army cots all over?
Eddie Turner: The exact reason why and I didn't know it at the time, I thought it was crazy, just to be honest with you. It didn't make sense to me. But within two weeks of that visitation in Heaven, all of a sudden, people started coming. "Can you help me? Can you help me? My mind won't stop". Pastors started coming, unloading on me, downloading.
Sid Roth: Tell me about one.
Eddie Turner: It was two weeks after I'd had that visitation in Heaven and a pastor called and he said, "Can we have lunch"? And I said, "Sure". I knew him, but we'd never talked anything serious, personally, just general pastoral talks. And we had lunch. And during the lunch, "He said, do you have a few minutes, I'd like for you to go back to my office". And I said, "I'll be happy to". I thought he wanted to show me some project he had going or some new room he was doing at his church. And we got to his office. Sid, he began to download and unload all of the hell, he was going through in his mind. He said "I can't tell my board. I can't tell my people in the church. They don't want a pastor who might be losing his mind". And immediately he talked, the Spirit of God said on the inside of me. "He's one of the ones in the cots". And since that day, dozens, hundreds and now thousands of people who are tormented, who are perplexed, who are dealing with anxiety. Who are dealing with fear and paranoia, who can't stop their mind will come from hundreds of miles, they line up in our conferences, to be prayed for. Whether they were children, teenagers or adults.
Sid Roth: This was really and truly why God sent you back.
Eddie Turner: That's why He sent me back. That is our mission.
Sid Roth: But then it’s really getting big. You got to the point where you spoke at a meeting for 800 pastors.
Eddie Turner: 800 pastors.
Sid Roth: Tell me about that.
Eddie Turner: In a major city in our in our nation, a conference with 800 pastors. And they asked me to teach on the "Thought Life". So the last night of the conference, I taught on the "Thought Life and the Chaos of the Mind". And I gave an altar call. I thought, maybe I don't need to give an altar appeal. This is pastors, I mean.
Sid Roth: Right.
Eddie Turner: There was 800 registered, 800 there. The sanctuary was packed and over 400 they tell me lined up. My wife and I prayed for over 400 pastors that night. And I realized they are the warriors who are being tormented and perplexed by these thoughts. Evil tormenting thoughts that are keeping people from experiencing everything God wants them to experience.
Sid Roth: You may be saying to yourself, well, I've never had a visitation from Jesus, I have never been to Heaven. What about me God, can I be set free of fear? Can I finally be set free of fear? And you have an answer for them?
Eddie Turner: I have an answer. And the answer is simply this, thoughts may come and thoughts may persist, but thoughts never spoken in word or deed will die unborn. Satan operates in the arena of thought, that's exactly how he gets every one of us. He doesn't show up in a red suit and a pitchfork and say, I'm going to tempt you. He shows up with a thought, just a single thought. And if you and I can learn to take those thoughts captive. Sid that's the reason when the Lord appeared to me in my den, it didn't immediately go away. Because if that was the answer to get our minds renewed, then we would all need a vision. But then that's not walking by faith, that's walking by sight. The Lord taught me in His Word, that if we take our thoughts captive, then that's where the spiritual warfare begins.
Sid Roth: He gave you a scripture to finally be free.
Eddie Turner: Yeah. "Finally, Brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever, things are lovely, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are of a good report," Philippians 4:8. "Think on these things". I told the Lord one day Sid, I was in prayer several months after this. And I was still, as long as I was praying, I had peace. Because Philippians 4:6 says, "In everything by prayer, supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known in to God and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus". And I told the Lord, I said, "Lord, Your word’s not working for me here". I said, "As long as I'm praying, the guard shows up. But as soon as I finished praying, the guard didn't show up". And it was in a time of prayer I heard the Spirit say, "Read the next verse". So I read the next verse. "Finally, Brethren, whatsoever things are true, lovely, pure". I said, that's a great verse. I love it, Lord. I said, "But Your guard keeps leaving. As long as I'm praying, the guard of peace is there, but as soon as I concluded my praying, He leaves". And all of the people listening, understand that because when we have something bothering us, and we pray about it, God's presence comes, God gives us an answer. And we'll do good for a couple hours, maybe even a couple of days or a couple of weeks. But then somebody will mention that situation, or we'll see something, and the worry comes back on us. So what do we do? We run back to our prayer closet, and what happens? The peace comes again. But how can you live a life where you continually maintain a peace of mind? And I said, "Lord, Your guard keeps leaving". And He said, "Read the next verse". When I started to read it again, verse eight, "Finally, brethren". And as soon as I said that word, finally, that word came off the page, went 3D right in front of my eyes. And the Lord Jesus said to me, "After you pray, you have one final thing to do. You've got to think right". And most of us, this is where we miss it and allow satan influence in our life. We pray good, we understand about praying, we understand about interceding. But most of us, when we conclude our praying, we have one final thing to do. We've got to think in line with the Word of God and when we do, His piece will guard our minds 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Sid Roth: And just as a thought could destroy you, a thought can jumpstart you into your destiny. I want you to be jumpstarted into your destiny. I want you to say this prayer with me to have your own experiential knowledge with God. It may not be going to Heaven or having Jesus come to you, but it'll be better. He's going to be inside of you. Repeat this prayer out loud. Dear God.
Eddie Turner: Dear God,
Sid Roth: I'm a sinner.
Eddie Turner: I am a sinner
Sid Roth: Against You.
Eddie Turner: Against You.
Sid Roth: And You alone.
Eddie Turner: And You alone.
Sid Roth: Have I sinned.
Eddie Turner: Have I sinned.
Sid Roth: And I'm so sorry.
Eddie Turner: And I am so sorry.
Sid Roth: I believe.
Eddie Turner: I believe.
Sid Roth: The blood of Jesus.
Eddie Turner: The blood of Jesus.
Sid Roth: Washes away my sin.
Eddie Turner: Washes away my sin.
Sid Roth: And I'm clean.
Eddie Turner: And I am clean.
Sid Roth: And I boldly proclaim.
Eddie Turner: And I boldly proclaim.
Sid Roth: You are my Lord.
Eddie Turner: You are my Lord.
Sid Roth: And my Savior.
Eddie Turner: And my Savior.
Sid Roth: And You live inside of me.
Eddie Turner: And You live inside of me.
Sid Roth: Oh, I'm so grateful.
Eddie Turner: Thank you, Lord.
Sid Roth: Amen.
Eddie Turner: Thank you, Lord. Amen.