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A Life in Law Enforcement

Thomas is a retired police officer with over 15 years of sworn service, a 9/11-related stage four cancer survivor, a lifelong martial artist and black belt, a devoted pit bull rescue dog dad, and the author of the powerful new book: “A Life In Law Enforcement: A Police Memoir — The Good, The Bad, The Corrupt.” If you hunger for truth and testimonies of God’s sustaining grace, Thomas's story will encourage your spirit and remind you of His faithfulness.

Thomas Carchidi

Retired Police Officer, Author, 9/11-Related Stage Four Cancer Survivor, Pitbull Advocate & Dad, and Martial Artist & Black Belt

These are Thomas's favorite scriptures...

Could you share the moment or experience that inspired you to write your book, A Life in Law Enforcement, and tell your story?

I realized shortly into my law enforcement career that working in places like Baltimore City as a police officer was an eye-opening experience. Approximately, I did some research; only about 0.2% of Americans, U.S. citizens, can work in a sworn law enforcement capacity in their lifetime compared to the population, and even less than that work in dangerous, violent, and deadly areas of Baltimore and New York in the 70s and 80s, with crack and AIDS, parts of Chicago, Detroit, and certain areas of LA. I truly wanted people to understand the reality of how things work, cutting through the superficiality often portrayed in media like television and Hollywood, and to grasp the day-to-day operations and share stories of what I experienced. Everybody who works in a sworn law enforcement capacity, whether they work a week, a year, or 40 years on the job, has their own unique experiences that they take from it, and I don’t think anybody gets out unscathed.

Having witnessed both integrity and corruption in policing, how has that shaped your understanding of justice, mercy, and the role of faith in leadership?

I learned early on that wearing a badge, or saying you’re a politician, being a law enforcement officer, or being a politician working for the government doesn’t mean much, to be honest with you. When I was growing up, I always thought it was black-and-white. I thought the government and police were the good guys, and the criminals were the bad guys. Now I realize things were a lot different. There was a lot of gray area and overlap in the government and law enforcement systems. I saw that people with power in the government and police are human, just like you and me, and that means the police make mistakes. They use good and bad judgment and commit crimes like the rest of us. We’re all flawed because we’re all human beings, and no one’s perfect—there’s only one perfect ‌being, and that’s God. I know I’m not. I don’t judge people when they come to me and say, “I’m a lawyer,” “I’m a doctor,” “I’m a police officer,” or “I’m a politician.” That means nothing to me. I have to get to know the person. I don’t care if you’re a plumber, a garbage man, or a civil servant. There’s good and bad in everything, and I try to get to know the person. Until I know the person, I don’t care what you do—it doesn’t matter to me. Because you do something for a living doesn’t mean you’re a good person or a bad person. Yeah, correct. There’s good and bad in everything. And I’ve realized that. Yeah, it takes a while to get to know people.

You survived an unimaginable battle with stage four cancer connected to 911. What did God teach you in that season that still shapes the way you live today?

So we never know where cancer comes from, right? Is it biological or genetic? Is it environmental? You know, there’s a ton of cancer on Long Island. You never really know where you get cancer from. I believe 911 happened on a Tuesday, and I volunteered on Thursday and Friday as I was in between law enforcement jobs. I just felt the need to help. It was a crazy and surreal experience, and I can’t even say you’re going to see it once in your lifetime; I think things like that very few people see, like 911—you think of things like Pearl Harbor; you think of national disasters on that level. It was such a big event; what took place was horrible, devastating, and nightmarish.

I constantly ponder life's meaning and purpose. There are so many things I don’t understand about my life‌. All I know is that without God, we have nothing; I have nothing. I want and need to believe in a higher power. You know, I love believing that when our time on earth is up, when we’re done, essentially, there will be a higher power; we’re going to meet our maker. God will wait for us. And that’s where it gets a little hazy for many people. I believe in that. I believe in Christianity.

I believe in good and bad, so to speak. I believe in the afterlife. But I also believe that Jesus will not come back the second time as the sacrificial lamb. If you read Revelation, it’s a very scary story,‌ but there’s hope at the end. I make so many mistakes in life, but I always try to learn from them and never make the same mistake again. I think that’s why I’ve gotten where I’ve gotten in life, because I never quit. One day, I believe with all my heart, we will meet our maker and face judgment. And if we mess up, most of us are going to get the boot and are going to go somewhere we don’t want to go. My longing is for salvation and to be with God eternally. I desire peace for my mind and body. My desire is for all that heaven holds, and God gives.

One thing I’ve learned throughout this entire process I’ve been through, you know, the cancer battle, which was a nightmare I can’t even describe, two years of torture, is never give up. Always keep pushing through; keep grinding. Once we're gone, that's it; and that’s it—I want to be judged in a good light. I want to be favored in God’s eyes. I don’t want to live in eternal damnation—you think Earth is bad.

I try to live the way God would want me to live. This is how I live my life. I was so super sick with stage four cancer for almost two years. Thank God I’m in full remission. I'm back to training in martial arts, and my strength and size have returned. I’m in the gym again, but I know I’ll never be quite the same. Currently fifty years old, I'm not in my twenties or thirties and am dealing with multiple health concerns. During my last cancer treatment, I received CAR T-cell therapy—a newer type of treatment. It involved using an exceptionally large needle, almost like a super-sized gauge. I have a high pain tolerance. I don’t care about stuff like that. They stick it in, and they take your T-cells. They take your blood, and they extract your T-cells, and they manufacture a fighting agent, a cure for the lymphoma cancer, for the disease you have, and there’s a super high percentage to cure certain blood cancers now, like lymphoma and leukemia. But it’s all worth it. It’s a minimum 23-day process, and I was in the hospital for 23 days, sick as a dog.

One thing this treatment does is ‌literally erase your cognition. For two days, I didn’t know where I was or who I was. I couldn’t make a sentence. It’s crazy because I’m back in law school now. You know, thank God I just finished up my third year. At one point, I was really, really messed up. And so I go for this T-cell therapy. I lost about 30 pounds. I was in the hospital for like 13 days, or 14 days. Then, in a hospital setting, almost like a little rehab center. I felt as though I was losing my mind with anxiety, depression, and anger. It was a nightmare mentally, physically, and emotionally. And then I lost like 30 pounds. I finally get out on the 23rd day. They tested me, and I’m cancer-free. Thank God. We had a little celebration at the hospital, and they’re like, “It’s time to go home,” so they cut the catheter out of me, and I’m weak. I lost 25 or 30 pounds. They let me go. It was Wednesday afternoon, around 3:30, and by 7:30 pm, I was in Jiu Jitsu training. That’s how I live my life. I don’t stop, give up, or make excuses.

You know, life involves many challenges, and believe me, I have faced many of them, but you must not just give up and fade away. And that’s how I live my life. I don’t regret many things. I have an amazing family. My mom—my parents are the best, my extended family, cousins, aunts, uncles, and my grandparents when they were around. I graduated from college and have a master’s degree. Recently, I concluded my third year of law studies. I’ve practiced martial arts my whole life and have authored a book. Some people don’t have food; they may live on the street, and I’m grateful to have a beautiful house on Long Island. You know, some people are living on the street, and I’m blessed, and I can’t complain about my life. I’m retired from the police department and have a pension; I have benefits. So yeah, did I go through a lot? Yes, but I’m blessed in so many ways, and I got to thank God for that.

How did you become a pit bull rescue advocate and a dad?

I love pit bulls and have three of them. When I moved to Maryland after college and graduate school, living in Baltimore County and working in Baltimore City, there were pit bulls all over the place. I guess that’s a beloved dog in the city. I never really had much experience with them in Long Island, and I got to know them and spend time with them through friends. And a girlfriend of mine 25 years ago had a pit bull, and it was the most affectionate and amazing dog, and I was hooked and became an advocate by rescuing them and helping them out. And now I have three pit bull mixes at home: two females and a male. I’ve been rescuing them for 25 years. I have Nala, who’s three; Kimora, who’s nine; and Rugby, who’s 10. Two of them I actually rescued off the street. They were running around the streets as puppies. Well, Rugby was a little older. Rugby was about a year old when I found him, but they were running around the street, both of them, in Coney Island, Brooklyn, when I was working for the Seagate Police Department, and I just fell in love with them. I was going to bring them to the shelter because I already had dogs, but I knew what would happen to them—they would put them down and not get adopted, so I took them home.

You’re a lifelong martial artist and a black belt. How did that discipline, mentally and spiritually, prepare you for the hardest moments in your life?

I am. I don’t know where it came from because my mom and dad came off the boat from Italy, and Italians really aren’t into martial arts. But ever since I was a kid, around eight years old, I’d been obsessed with Kung Fu Theater on Fox Five Saturday afternoons, all the martial arts movies, Bruce Lee, Chuck Norris, and the rest of these people—I just loved every second. I’ve trained all my life pretty much, but I got really serious about it around 17 or 18. I’m an American combat karate black belt, then Tai-Zen American combat karate, and into Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. So I’m a black belt in American combat karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. I’ve always loved it. And to tell you the truth, martial arts are beneficial in so many ways that we could just talk for days about martial arts, but they definitely keep your mind sharpened because it’s like mathematics for the mind and body, like Jiu Jitsu—they call it the smart man’s martial art. Like, it’s super technical and hard. You’ve got to string movements and techniques together. A lot of people stay away from Jiu Jitsu because it is very difficult, but once you get it, I think it’s the most beautiful martial art, the most devastating single martial art. If somebody told me I had only one choice, to train in kickboxing, regular boxing, wrestling, and Jiu Jitsu, I would train in Jiu Jitsu because it’s like cross-training everything. I think it’s just such an amazing art, and it’s so street applicable for self-defense and sport in martial arts competitions. Martial arts strengthen you mentally and physically. It’s like a microcosm of life. I believe that martial arts are really a coping mechanism for life and a microcosm of what you see out in everyday life.

Thomas, you overcame many traumas, corruption, cancer, and hardship. What message of hope do you want people to walk away with after hearing your testimony tonight?

Never give up–Never let anyone keep you down–Never let someone tell you that you can’t do something. There are a lot of haters out there. Many people are jealous. There’s a lot of nepotism and corruption. If I had given up because of problems along the way, I would never have become a law enforcement officer and received 30 awards in law enforcement for saving people. I would have never fulfilled that dream. If you listen to people and allow them to, so to speak, keep their foot on your neck, you will not fulfill your dreams. So I just say, don’t worry about what people say or what people do. Do what you feel is right and what God would want you to do, what your family would want you to do; you know, the people you trust, and just keep moving forward. When your time is up, God will be in front of us, and he’ll judge us, but while you’re here, never give up or settle for mediocrity. As long as you give whatever you’re doing a hundred percent, your best, that’s all anyone can ask of you. And that’s all God wants—do your best with what He has given to you. It’s important to remain humble and always remember that we’re here because of God, and we’re nothing without Him, and we are to love Him with all our hearts, souls, and minds, and love others. Matthew 12:30-31. Love God, follow Him, and trust Him even if things get crazy here. There’s going to be an afterlife—honor Him in all you do.

Thomas's Website

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22Jan

Lifted from Shame: Trauma to Redemption

Louise Sedgwick grew up in a home where her parents were church leaders, but behind closed doors, she endured abuse and trauma. She gave her life to Christ young, but carried anger and shame for years. Slowly, God brought healing through the cross, and she found redemption as she served others, helping them experience freedom from shame.

Louise Sedgwick

Author, Teacher, and Podcaster

Your childhood story is both heartbreaking and powerful. How did your experiences shape your faith and your understanding of God? Can you share about your childhood?

Yes, I can do that. Sharing my childhood story is always painful, even though I’ve told it many times; it never gets easier. My parents raised my siblings and me in the Midwest and took us to church every time the doors were open. My parents were visible church leaders and respected in the community. But what happened at home was very different. My father sexually abused me throughout my entire childhood and sold me to other men—now they call it trafficking. They didn’t call it that when I was young—they just sold me, and we had to participate in child pornography. It was a very severe abuse and evil. And so you can imagine the conflict and confusion for me as a little girl, who was at conservative evangelical churches, where I heard the gospel, and I accepted Jesus as my Savior when I was little. Still, the turmoil of the double life that we lived was very confusing.

When I went to church camp as a junior high schooler, I gave my life to Christ fully and said, “God, use me big for your kingdom purposes. I will be yours for the rest of my life.” And so here I was, having this desire to honor God with my life, serve Him, and be about His kingdom. And yet I had this literal terror going on at home, every day, every night, and I didn’t know that you could live without terror. Not just fear, but terror for my life. I loved Jesus with all my heart, but I had another thing going on in me–now I know it’s called trauma responses, but that was unknown and unresearched. I had a horrific problem with anger. And not just a little. I mean rage, like with the veins sticking out of your neck rage. Now, I know it was the fight, flight, or freeze response. It was a fight response of mine, trying to feel powerful when I felt absolutely powerless and hopeless. Shame overwhelmed me, and I felt like raw sewage. I believed that only someone worthless would receive such treatment.

So, I felt like raw sewage, but I was really arrogant because I learned to be a perfectionist to survive. After all, my father would always say that he was going to abuse me because of some infraction I had committed, so I tried really hard to be perfect and never make a mistake. I felt I needed to perform to stop my father from abusing me. Of course, I learned later that no matter how perfectly I performed, it wouldn’t have stopped him, but that was my strategy as a child.

When I was a really high-performing child and teenager, I thought I was better than other people. So I had both things going on: arrogance and deep, deep shame. And so I was judgmental and critical, and it was really messy, and I was a perfectionist. So here I was, loving Jesus and wanting to serve Him and have my life be all about His kingdom and honoring Him, but I was struggling with so much sin that I couldn’t control, and that made me feel so terrible about myself, and on top of that, I just didn’t believe that God loved me.

I started teaching even as a teenager in my church because it was one of my gifts and part of the design of my life. I would teach all these things that were true about scripture because I’d studied scripture and gone to doctrine classes and all those things, and so I was doing all these teachings, all this truth. I knew a lot of truth, but I didn’t believe it for me–it was in my head, but there was a 12-inch gap between my head and my heart that was disconnected because I didn’t trust God, because how could I trust a God who allowed me to go through what I was going through. I was on an ongoing journey where I was trying so hard to be perfect and get my sin under control to stop being judgmental and critical, stop raging, and I just couldn’t get it under control because we can’t control our sin. But the teaching that I received was wonderful in so many ways. Still, it was missing the fullness of the gospel of how we live, not just by God’s grace for our salvation, but God’s grace for our ongoing journey as believers. I was unsure how to live. I felt awful about my failures as a Christian and what happened to me. And so when I was in my early 20s in college, I told God, “So far, everything you’ve taught me about the Christian life is a crock because I’m doing everything I was taught to do, and it’s not making any difference.” And I said, “God, if you are real and if your word is true, will you take me to a place where they can teach me a new way?” It was the turning point for me when God brought me to that place to teach me a new way.

You mentioned a trauma response, and that’s for protection, like when fighters get in the ring, they put their fists up. So, you had a trauma response of anger, and that was a way to protect yourself.

Yeah. Because you think about it, when you see somebody who’s raging, you want to back away from them because it’s powerful. And so if I’m the one who’s raging, I don’t feel small or weak. I feel powerful and big. And it’s an illusion, of course; it’s not the truth, but it’s the feeling that it gave me. I didn’t love what it did, and I didn’t have an understanding for a long time of how my rage affected the people around me. I just knew it helped me feel stronger and safer.

What was the turning point when you experienced real healing and freedom?

Well, it was a process. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily a point, but it was a process. The healing began when I started attending 12-step groups for adult children of alcoholics, even though my father never drank, but he had a sexual addiction, so I was with other people whose parents had addiction issues. I began to understand the dynamics of a home where that is true. It took away some of the confusion for me to say, “Oh, this is common. These behaviors are common. The manipulation, the pouting, and the lies are common for someone in a home where there’s addiction present,” and so that was helpful. But then, as I said a little bit earlier, when God took me to a place where I could learn a new way to do the Christian life, He took me to a church here in Phoenix where I learned about God’s grace. Not just grace for my salvation, but God’s grace for my everyday life. And I came to understand, even though I’d been to Bible college and taken theology classes, I never fully understood the reality of what Jesus accomplished for me at the cross and resurrection. And that I was no longer a slave to sin according to Romans 6. I had lived my life as a slave to sin because I had repented and repented and said the words of repentance for years about my anger and my judgmental criticism and my perfectionism. But I couldn’t stop because it was stronger than me. And when I learned that not just by reading it, I learned how to live as though I was no longer a slave to sin—how to repent in a way where God does the work in me. Because even when I was in college, I said, “God, take me to a place where I can learn a new way.” I said to Him, “As far as I’ve been doing in trying to deal with my sin, God, I’ve been the one doing all the work. And if there is victory over sin in a believer’s life, there has to be something supernatural involved. You have to do something about my sin, not just me trying to control my sin.” And so when I learned about this new church through God’s grace, I learned how it is that it’s the Holy Spirit in me, Christ in me by the Holy Spirit, that is stronger than sin. Christ in me, by the Holy Spirit, can forgive. Christ in me by the Holy Spirit doesn’t have to hang on to shame and can trust God. And I had never heard that. I missed it if someone taught it to me. But that’s what began to change my life, to say I didn’t have to make it happen. I could believe that God could make it happen. The Holy Spirit could make it happen in me. And that changed everything for me. He's faithful to hear our prayers and remember them even when we've forgotten them and to answer them in His perfect time. I'm grateful for His mercy and grace toward me.

What are some practical ways people can find hope and healing through Jesus, even in the midst of deep pain?

Well, I think for me, one of the big shifts that helped me was I knew that Jesus had died for my sins, but I didn't comprehend or grasp that Jesus didn't just die for my sins. He died for the sins that were done to me, so I could have healing for the sins that were done to me, because otherwise, there would be all this abuse that I had endured from my childhood that was lying in me, and I didn't know how to give it back to my parents. I was holding on to it, and I was holding on to the shame from it. And so, I didn't have any idea that my way out, my way toward healing, was to come to understand and live out the truth that Jesus died for the sins done against me. That I could forgive my parents because their debt was paid by Jesus. I could have hope that all these things didn't define me because Jesus paid the debt for those sins. He paid for the shame of those sins done against me, and it lifted my face toward heaven to say, "Oh, you love me that much that you would die for what somebody else did for me so that I could be free. Wow! Wow!"

A lot of times when we’re going through things, if we get our focus off ourselves and our issues and we start serving others, it helps our healing process a lot. So, when you first began serving others while still healing yourself, what was it like to see God use your story to bring hope to someone else?

Oh, it was the truth that I had learned as a child that Jesus is our redeemer. It became my reality because He redeemed my soul. He redeemed my life from the pit, as it says in Psalms 40:1-3. He lifted me out of the pit. He redeemed me so that others could experience Christ through me and the healing of Jesus through me because I had experienced it myself, and I knew what it meant, and I knew what it looked like, and I knew how to help other people because I had learned it for myself. Psalm 40:1-3, “I waited patiently for the Lord, and he reached down to me and heard my cry. He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the mud. And he set my feet on a rock, making my footsteps firm. He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and will trust in the Lord.” I felt that I was in the pit for so many years, and I tried to claw my way out by myself, but He lifted me out of it through Jesus and what Jesus accomplished for me on the cross. And I’m so grateful.How did your perspective on forgiveness, both of yourself and others, change as you walked through your journey of healing?Well, in the beginning, honestly, I did not want to forgive my parents. I wanted them to suffer. If I can be this bold, I wanted them to be in hell. I did not want them to heal. I did not want them to be forgiven. And in the beginning, I knew I needed to forgive my parents, but I didn’t want to. And I had never truly forgiven anyone in my life. I didn’t know how to. I could say the words, but I didn’t mean that I had let it go. There was a debt to be paid, and a debt that was owed. And I didn’t want to forgive my parents until they owned up to what they did. And so it was a journey for me to come to understand forgiveness. I could forgive because Jesus had paid the debt. But I also had an even harder time forgiving myself because my anger and rage were present when my children were growing up. And I raged a lot at my husband, and my children witnessed it, and my judgmental criticism and my perfectionism deeply, deeply injured my family. I had a lot of self-hatred for the sins; they were trauma responses, but they were also sins for what I had done to my family and the damage that I had done. My prayer had always been that I wouldn’t hurt my children, especially the way my parents had hurt me. While I didn’t inflict the same pain on them as my parents did on me, I still caused my family to suffer. And so I had just so much self-contempt for years and regret, deep regret for what I had done. And so, learning to forgive my parents was the first step. But the second step was getting to a place where I could forgive myself and receive God’s grace for me.

My husband and I were going to confront my parents because they were in positions of church leadership, and my pastor at my church was going to go with us to confront them. He told me that I had to forgive my parents before I could confront them, so that was my motivator, not in any Christlike way, but because I wanted my parents exposed. I wanted them out. It wasn’t from a heart desiring reconciliation whatsoever that I was in the forgiveness process. But I just had to ask God to help me forgive because I wasn’t willing to forgive, nor was I willing to be willing to forgive. And so I had to pray three times, willing–God helped me to be willing to be willing to be willing to forgive. I prayed every day for months because it wasn’t in my willingness to forgive my parents—it was not going to come from anything in me—it had to be Christ in me that could forgive them.

How has Psalm 34:4-5 touch your heart and life?

My heart is to walk with people so that they would know the healing of Jesus from the shame that they feel for what they’ve done or the sin done to them. I always say that if God can heal me, He can heal anyone because it’s about Him and His power. The scripture from Psalm 34:4-5 is precious to me because it’s the calling of my life to share with others how we can be lifted from shame through Jesus and His grace.

Psalm 34:4-5

I sought the Lord, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears. Those who look to him are radiant; their faces are never covered with shame.

This scripture says, I sought the Lord, and He answered me and delivered or rescued me from all my fears. I went from being a woman who felt worthless and unlovable. I didn’t have what it takes. I couldn’t measure up. I believed I was unwanted, but now, because of all that God and Jesus have done in me, I feel loved, known, cherished, and beloved—all of it. I can look to God and not feel shame. I can feel His delight in me. I know I’m treasured by Him and that through Him I have what it takes. That is a complete transformation. Not that I don’t or can’t feel shame now and again because I live in a sinful world, but it does not own me like it used to. He’s not only a redeemer for me, but He’s a redeemer for everyone who chooses Him.

Looking back on your journey of redemption, what advice would you give to somebody who feels trapped by their past or ashamed of their story?

First, I would say I understand. I’ve been there. I lived it. And this is why Jesus came. He came to set the captives free. He came to seek and to save those who were lost. And I remember crying out to God and saying, “That’s me. I’m lost. I don’t know how to do life. I am lost. You came for me. Show up for me, Jesus. Show up for me. I’m lost.” And He did. He did show up for me. More than just show up for me. He healed my soul. He transformed my life. He redeemed my life from the pit. Jesus wants to do that for you. You are not ineligible. While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He doesn’t expect us to have it all together because nobody does.

My pastor at the church where I served for all those years, my favorite line that he said was, “There are no together people, just people who dress better.” And I believe that. No, nobody’s got it all together, but we can live in confidence of our worth and value because of Jesus. And that frees our hearts and allows us to stand in who He designed us to be. And when we live out who He designed us to be, we have a confidence and a joy and a peace that comes from Him. We don’t have to compete with anyone. We can trust that He’s going to open the doors for us, and we just have to walk through them. And that’s been my life. I dreamed I always wanted to be in full-time Christian ministry, and I felt completely ineligible because of how broken I was and how I overreacted to things. I was socially awkward sometimes. I raged. I was so judgmental and critical. And I thought, “Nope, God could never use me,” but He qualifies the called, as that old saying goes, that when we allow Him to do His work in us with open hands of surrender, saying, “You do it in me, God,” and we believe that He can do it—He will absolutely move in our lives, and it’s a miracle; my life is a miracle 100%.

These are Louise's favorite scriptures...

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15Oct

Reviving Faith Today

Jeremiah shares about his evangelistic tent ministry, his growing media outreach, and the importance of being a good Berean with a strong biblical worldview. His mission is to bring revival, inspire believers to stand for truth, and boldly proclaim the Good News of Jesus Christ. Through his ministry, Jeremiah powerfully demonstrates how God’s Word speaks to the real-life challenges people face today. His stories and testimonies of faith remind us that Jesus still transforms lives and calls His followers to live boldly in a world that desperately needs hope. May Jeremiah's testimony encourage you to strengthen your faith, grow in biblical understanding, and walk confidently in your calling to share Christ with others.

Jeremiah James

Founder of United To Revive Ministries and the Truth B Told Podcast

These are Jeremiah's favorite scriptures...

Can you share your testimony and how God began to put United to Revive Ministries and the Truth B Told YouTube channel on your heart?

Yeah, absolutely. I was a high school science teacher for nine years before any of this happened. But when I was 17 years old, I encountered Jesus by His Spirit in a very real and experiential way, and I sought Him with all my heart, confessed my sins, confessed my belief in Him, and decided to live for Him. He radically transformed my life by becoming an experience in my heart and in my life. A lot of people can look at church, the Bible, and hear sermons and think it's just all head knowledge. And it's for another time you die, and then you experience heaven. But I'll tell you what, when I was 17 years old, the Lord poured heaven upon my life through the Holy Spirit. And because of that experience, I believe everything has taken place because of it. But truly, I mean, my path through college, early life, marriage, and as a teacher, I just grew in my calling as I read the Word, as I spent time in prayer, and began to ask the Lord to use my life.

And so I want to encourage anybody listening that, regardless of what I've done or even what Dawn-Marie has done, it really starts in prayer. It really begins by asking Him — He will speak to you and change your life. So, with United to Revive, I was the Fellowship of Christian Athletes huddle coach here in a small town called Bunker Hill, Illinois, while coaching and teaching. And during the whole COVID epidemic and all the things that were going on with COVID, I really felt in my heart that there are so many students who were masked and no one was allowed to be near anyone. And after school, they're told that, basically, if you hang out with one another, you're bad and you're wanting to hurt people, because socializing with others in a time when it’s dangerous. And even if you don't have symptoms of COVID, you still probably have COVID anyway. So you can't be around any person. I was listening to a podcast on our way back from Atlanta about how we are seeing rises in depression, anxiety, suicide, and thoughts of suicide, and they're linking it to this isolation experience that we put students through. Oh my goodness. It broke my heart, and more students were hospitalized; they weren't coming to school, and I was noticing cuts on their arms, cuts on their legs, you know, people were just lost and sad because of what was going on. And it broke my heart.

So during this time, I just began praying, seeking the heart of God, and asking Him, "What can I do?" In that moment, I was crying intensely in prayer with my face on the ground. And I'm just asking God, "What can we do? You know, I will do whatever it takes to be a witness in these dark times for these students." And instantly, He asked me to open up my house. It was very, very noticeable, His voice at this time. The first person I called was someone with whom I've done ministry in the past. She was all about it and said, "Let's go!" You've got to remember that during this time, if you're open, especially as a science teacher in a small town, you know, if you were to hear, "Hey, the science teacher and FCA coach is opening up their houses for youth when everyone else is told to stay home," there are no open churches, and no youth groups going on. Can you imagine the kind of criticism that I could face in that moment, but I didn't care. I didn't care. And then, in the first week, we had 25 students show up, and the following week and the weeks to come, we never had fewer than 30. It’s incredible what we witnessed: even that small group of 30 students — every one of them received Christ after the first four weeks — and it just kept growing and spreading. We never had any “super spreader” events or whatever you want to call them—No one got sick, and nothing like that happened. But the gospel was proclaimed, and we're still here.

I’m going to jump forward because there’s a lot to this. I think we did this for about 1.5 to 2 years, but around this time, we got plugged into a church that saw what we were doing because we were also serving. I love to serve. Half of my testimony is just me serving and loving on people. We are made to grow and serve. We grow in our relationship with God, and then we use that to love others and point them to Jesus. But I got plugged into a church. I never thought I would be a pastor, but I got asked to be a youth pastor at a church. I said no at first because I would consider myself an evangelist more than a pastor. But I accepted the call. And, you know, within a year, the church started doing park services. They asked me to preach. That’s where I learned how to organize bigger events out in parks. I was knocking on doors. We’re praying for people. We’re inviting them back. We fed every person. At these park services, many people experienced salvation and baptism, and these events transformed their lives. Shout-out to Restoring Hope Church of God in Wood River for taking me along on this journey, because I know God used them to get me to where I am today. So around this time, I started feeling like I needed to quit my job. The Lord was literally telling me to leave my teaching career because I’m spending all my time talking about ionic bonds, covalent bonds, vectors, velocities — you know, all these great things. But I want to talk about Jesus. You know, like, we can talk all day about this science, but whenever you’re struggling at home and you have no one to go to, whenever you’re struggling.

For instance, we had a girl call us at 11:30 pm. She cut herself so badly, and she was bleeding out, and she wanted us to take her to the hospital. Do you know why? Because her dad was drunk on the couch, passed out, and she couldn’t wake him up. And even if she did, that wouldn’t be a safe ride to the hospital. So we took her to the hospital. And that’s again, a whole other story. I just felt this pull from the Lord. It really feels like a fire I want to get out of and share the truth. I desire to speak about Jesus in a real way—someone who transforms lives and sets people free. And so I told my wife, and we prayed on it for over a year. And man, there was one time in a meeting at school at Bunker Hill High School here in Illinois, I remember sitting in this meeting and, you know, they’re trying to figure out all these issues with students. And they’re talking about programs, social work, more counseling, obviously more medication, more this, and more that. I’m like, it’s just empty. I know what they needed to drink from the well of living water—these students needed their Savior and a release from bondage. And although I love our teachers and what they’re trying to do—I’m not saying that’s bad—personally, it was my time to leave. So I went home. I told my wife, and honestly, no plan at all; I did not know any of this was going to happen. I quit my job, and when you leave your job in faith, you’d better be praying and believing that God will use your life.

There are a lot of people and coincidences involved in this story; that’s not coincidences. I remember being with my wife at her work one day, and in my mind, I thought I would start a ministry called Truth B Told. And I thought that was going to be an in-person ministry, where I would go from church to church and hold revival meetings and preach the gospel. I want to see people saved. I want to see the church revived. But God had other plans. So I was with my wife one day at her work, writing sermons, preparing my heart and my mind, and studying. And I get a phone call from a businessperson I had never met before, out of nowhere—and to this day, I don’t know how he got my phone number. So he called me, introduced himself, and said, “I heard about what we were doing at the park and wanted to talk about starting a tent ministry.” And I was like, “Okay, Lord, what are you saying here? Is this from you?” I had never been to a tent meeting or to a large tent or tent revival in my life. But I think that if you’re following God’s will, you must be able to see and hear what he’s leading you to. And so I started praying and discerning. Well, watch this. I had a breakfast meeting with the one person I spoke with as a mentor before I quit my job, after this conversation with the business owner about a tent meeting. And I looked at him and I said, “Tom, I’ve got a phone call from a businessperson in town about starting a tent ministry, and I’m discerning if this is from the Lord. I believe it is, and I asked him to pray with me about this.” And he literally looks me in the eye, and he says, “Jeremiah, I have a 40 by 80 tent sitting right now in my warehouse, not being used, and it’s yours. You can have it.” We started crying, you know, because in that moment, it was like the atmosphere around us changed, and we felt God was present in a very, very real way. It was like God joined us on this mission. Tom had a tent. God gave me this vision. And that’s when United To Revive was born.

I want to speak on the fact that it’s called United To Revive, not Jeremiah James, not Jeremiah James Ministry, not JeremiahJames.org, and not seek Jeremiah James because of whatever—this is about all of us. We have over 100 volunteers now, as young as 15 and as old and wise as 91, from different backgrounds and denominations, and we’ve been all over the region—it’s all of us together as one. John 17:20-23 says… “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. And the glory which You gave Me I have given them, that they may be one just as We are one: I in them, and You in Me; that they may be made perfect in one, and that the world may know that You have sent Me, and have loved them as You have loved Me.”

It’s this Scripture that we named the ministry United To Revive. Before we formed United To Revive, I saw this in prayer. It was just like the prayer in my prayer closet, but this was a prayer on my back deck. I’ve had two visions in the last five years, and the first one led to the youth starting in the basement, which led me to here. But the other one was the vision that we believe we’re on this mission to fulfill this prayer. My friend, you are reading a prayer from Jesus. This is a prayer from Him. And He’s praying for us to fulfill something that only we can, and when I look at the world, I see it not being fulfilled. I see the enemy winning because he has created so much division in the church amongst denominations—denominations that preach Christ. Still, they don’t want to unify on Him because they want power. They want control. They want the spotlight. They want tithing. They want money. They believe that their sheep are their sheep and not His sheep. And so they’re afraid that they’re going to lose their sheep to somebody else—it’s mudslinging, and it’s not good. But Jesus prayed for us to be one. May they be one as we are one. You know, He’s speaking to the Father. He says that they may all be one as your Father is in me and I in you, that they also may be one in us.

This is spiritual. This is deep. This is why, later, if we get into it, I speak a lot about meditating on Scripture, slowing down your thoughts, and going into your heart to listen to God, because He calls us to be one with Him. I want to be one with my Father. And there’s only one way to be one with Him. It’s through Jesus Christ. We have access to the Father through Christ.

It’s been a wild three years. But it’s not because of me. We have been in prayer for three and a half years every Monday. Like I said, with different denominations, backgrounds, and ages, we have been praying as one. We take communion every single Monday, and we seek the face of God in actual prayer. I don’t stand up, give a sermon, and then pray for everybody. We all pray. Everyone has a voice. If the Lord gives you a scripture, we read it. If he gives you a prayer, you pray it. And we’re praying for this region with precision and focus. Faith is coming alive. Churches are on board, and we’ve had about 150 meetings and 200 prayer meetings in the last 3 years across 11 local cities.

So that means that we’ve gone into a city and we’ve hosted large-scale, massive tent revivals where hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people gather from all walks of life to hear the gospel and to see Jesus lifted high. We had hundreds of volunteers from every denomination and background, and I’m so thankful for them, who came from a 50-mile radius across this entire region. It is so fun! We fed 6,250 people free food and a free dinner. That doesn’t include our homeless outreach. If you show up at one of our events, we’ll make sure you eat, and you don’t have to pay for anything. We’ve reached over 10,000 people in person with the gospel. Also, we have seen many hundreds of people give their lives to Christ, get baptized, and rededicate their lives. Now, I don’t count numbers. We try to get people plugged into a church afterwards. Jesus called us to make disciples, not converts. It’s challenging, but we pray that the Holy Spirit will lead different people, such as pastors, who join our events. If you belong to a church, invite someone to church. We need to do this naturally, because if you try to make it feel like a program, it just comes across as rigid and unnatural. We get salvation commitment cards from people, and every person receives a birth certificate when they get baptized.

We’ve reached many people in this region, and we are seeing church growth throughout the region. Many churches are actually growing in numbers, and pastors are being lit on fire for Jesus. We have one pastor who came out of depression. No one knew it except his wife, but he was in full-blown depression. But whenever we came into town, we locked arms because we’re here for each other. It’s so good. This pastor then wrote me a letter about how, when we went out on the street and started serving the homeless, and then we went through the tent revival, it literally lit a fire in him that he had not felt in 5 to 10 years.

We’ve had two ministries that have started or been born out of this one, and they are on the ground now, serving the homeless multiple days a week and helping get homeless people off the streets—should they choose that path—by feeding them and loving them. And seeing other people like me and you being used by God, just regular people. You’re talking to people who go to work and are nurses, teachers, accountants, lawyers, and go on the street. They learn how to serve and love those that, unfortunately, society and even the church sometimes reject, but when you begin to love your neighbor, like Jesus told us to, you come alive; your faith, your life, and everything become so much stronger and more fulfilling because you’re doing what He told us to do, which is to love. And that’s what we do, and I love bringing people into those circumstances to do things they’re not used to doing, or maybe they’re afraid to do, because once you break that fear barrier in faith, like I said, you come alive.

I want to share a testimony of someone whose life was changed and give you an idea that you don’t know what’s going to happen—you walk in faith and trust God. Before we did our big Alton tent revival this year, we were on the streets ahead of time, feeding people. Some would donate food to us, and we would bring it to the homeless and meet them where they are. One particular one that really stands out is when we went to a person who was sitting next to a gas station outside a bar, and we asked them, “Hey, do you want some food? We had hamburgers there, and they responded, “Oh yeah, yeah.” And he then asked, “Are you with the church? And we’re like, “Well, kinda. We don’t all go to the same church.” There was a group of us, and we shared Jesus with them and prayed for them. And then when we invited them to the tent revival, well, one of them came, and his name was Michael. The first few days, he was outside the tent. He had a knife on his staff, wore necklaces with cult symbols, and had tattoos all over his face; he was also addicted to meth. Many brothers and sisters were loving on this person—love will break down barriers. A couple of people in love said something to him about the necklaces, and he became convicted because they had cult symbols on them. By night three, he ripped those suckers off and threw them right into the river. And then, before long, he was in the tent and worshiping the Lord. He decided that he wanted to travel with us to our next stop in Kampsville, Illinois, on the Illinois River. It’s a town of about 200 people, and he camps out with us. He was there the first night, and he gave his heart to Christ. But what I didn’t know at the time was that he brought some meth and needles with him to the tent revival. The Lord convicted him the next morning. I was in my trailer after we had just finished this excellent time in the Bible and the Word, and we were camping at this spot on the Illinois River. He knocks on my door, and he hands me a bag with his meth and a syringe. And he says, “I’m done. “I’m done!”—he completely gave it up and surrendered everything to the Lord. That’s repentance and confession. I didn’t judge him or scold him for bringing it—nothing like that. I hugged him. We cried, we prayed, and then I brought him outside, and more of us prayed for him, and we were celebrating. And Michael got baptized that night—he’s no longer homeless, has a job and a license, and is entirely different. No more meth. He’s on fire for the Holy Spirit. Jesus went for the one, and he brought him home.

We also know of men who used to call themselves female names, but no longer do. They no longer want to live that lifestyle —they want to date a woman, not be one. Alcoholics are sober now. Meth addicts are no longer meth addicts. People are getting off the streets. Families are now restored. We're talking about brothers and sisters who haven't spoken for years and are now restored to one another. I want to repeat it–This is not because of Jeremiah James—This is because of the unity of believers—This is what happens when we lay down our pride. We wash each other's feet, humble ourselves for one another, and allow God to use us as individuals. He will make it happen.

We are to humble ourselves and make Him known. How can we do that? Not everyone is gifted in evangelism, so how can we show His love in our everyday lives or learn to evangelize?

Well, there's a fun little quote by C.S. Lewis that says, “Humility is not thinking less of yourself, but thinking of yourself less”. We need to stop thinking about ourselves so much and think more about God, our Savior, and believe in Him and what He wants to do in our lives. And so, how do we do that? The first thing is we have to let the Word of God dwell in us richly. We need to know what the Word actually says about us—it says some amazing things about you whenever you come to Christ and become a new believer. If you're not a Christian right now, I'm telling you that you’re never gonna find satisfaction in this world, no matter what you do. No matter how many people you date, you get married, have kids, take the drugs, get the career, make the money, you will always want more. I know there are also Christians out there who are Christians, and they're not fulfilled. It's because you're not living out the life that you've been called to do. You don't know who you are yet. Learn and come to know what the Word of God says about you.

Jeremiah shares some scriptures that teach us who we are in Christ and our purpose. It’s important to know who you are in Christ, your purpose, and gifts to give Him glory and make disciples.

How did Truth B Told come to be?

I felt a pull from God to start this YouTube channel, Truth B Told. We started this channel with me just sitting on the couch interviewing regular people who came on the podcast, sharing their testimonies, so people can be encouraged and inspired, no matter where they are in their lives, to realize that it may feel hopeless now, but when God comes into your life, He can turn everything around. He uses what we go through for good and gives us a new direction. Lots of people prayed to unite, and that’s exactly what I was praying for. At first, I didn't know anything about YouTube. Honestly, I didn't even want to get on YouTube. I don't like being in the spotlight, but I think God will send someone else if you don't. You're in sin because you're disobeying God, or someone's going to do it that has wrong motives, someone who's going to be doing it that's really just trying to build a platform in the name of God, but they want to lift themselves. So I would rather see more genuine Christians out there who speak about Jesus and see what He does, because in my case, I had no idea we were going to be at 227,000 subscribers at the time of our broadcast interview—it's really just blown up in the last six months or so.

I want to speak about the importance of rest because we're so zealous for good works. We want to please God and live out this calling, but so many of us forget to rest. It's in these times of rest that God will not only strengthen you, but He'll speak to you and give you vision. It was in that time of rest that the Lord told me to start making videos to share world events and talk about Him, so I started praying about it, and then, you know, the next thing was that things started showing up in my path. I started learning here and there and making the videos I do today with a biblical worldview. I want to be honest, talk about my love for Him, and inspire people to read the Bible, pray, and be the Christians and children of God that God wants them to be.

What's the importance of Christians having a biblical worldview, being good Bereans, and having discernment, especially in the times we are in?

One of the most significant questions anyone could ever ask is the same one Pontius Pilate asked Jesus before He was crucified. And it's the question, what is the truth? What is the truth? And so I've been on a quest personally to seek that out. I have degrees in biology and chemistry, was a high school science teacher, and I desire to know the truth. Jesus said, "I am the truth." So I believe that if you're an honest seeker of truth in this world, it will ultimately lead you to Jesus of Nazareth—not the person of religion, not the person your church talks about, but the real historical person who literally walked 2000 years ago, named Jesus of Nazareth. All roads will eventually point to Him if you are honestly seeking the truth. So when it comes to a biblical worldview, it was satisfied in my mind when I started looking at science. When I started looking at the tough questions about where the universe comes from? How did the Earth form? How did people get here? Is evolution true? I just started asking all of these questions in my mind, and reading and seeking like crazy. I didn't even used to like reading, but once I started getting into this, I was like, "Man, I love reading." And so I was reading different authors and philosophers, and I started forming this biblical worldview that shows me that, yeah, Jesus is the real deal. He is who He said He was, He did what He said He would do, and He's coming back. Also, we have to get into the Word and discern, but man, don't be afraid to question; don't be scared to look into this, because the world is way more mysterious than meets the eye. We need to recognize that there's an enemy. A cosmic struggle has been going on since we rebelled against God by eating from the tree of life. Once we did that, sin entered the world, infecting our thoughts, emotions, and desires. And so now we're infected, but we also have this evil liar that is behind the scenes. Satan is not in hell, right? He's not hanging out in hell with a pitchfork waiting for people—No, he's on the earth literally now. And the Bible says that he goes throughout the earth, and puts the kings together to battle against the Lord and His anointed. We are in a cosmic spiritual war that actually exists right now. And if you finally take the Bible and look at it through the right lens—like, it's not separate from this world, but it is the world — it teaches about the world. It will make everything you see make sense. I don't get into politics. You won't get me to really get into politics unless the Lord calls me to do something in that realm, but like, I don't need to. This supersedes politics. A liar is pulling the strings of it all. And that's why you're never going to see unity in politics. You're never going to see anything good happen out of all this in the truest sense, because there's an enemy that's gathering the world's forces for a day of battle with the Antichrist and the false prophet. So, you know, you have sin, and then you have the world. That attacks our flesh and makes us want to rebel against God—all these things that rebel against God. And then you have the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly realms, as spoken of in Ephesians 6, chapter 12. So, when you realize you have an enemy and that you need saving, it'll always point you to Jesus. We need Jesus. We need Him. He's the only one who conquered the grave. He's the only one who has authority over satan, and He's handed it to us, His church, and that's why we need to wake up and see this for what it really is—a cosmic war—and He's called us to join it. So, a biblical worldview is the only worldview to have. Test everything by scripture. Don't even listen to me. Look at these things in the scripture for yourself, and the Holy Spirit will teach you as you submit.

Jeremiah shares some more scripture, and that we're all on a mission to make Jesus known so that everyone can believe.

Is there one more piece of encouragement you can give?

Many people have lost faith and hope, and they're having a hard time finding a solid biblical church. These days, I believe the Lord is calling back again what I've been calling the faithful no-names. Think about who Jesus originally called: regular people, not skilled in theology, not the Pharisees. He didn't call them. He called regular people. I know and believe that He's doing the same thing literally right now. The days are short. Many people are claiming that they're this or they're that. Prophets and false prophets are rising up. There are signs in the sky. The climate is crazy. There's all this tension and division worldwide. We have the rise of AI, all these different things, but we're not to fear. Be encouraged.He's coming back for us, and it's going to be better than ever. But He's called the faithful no-names to take their place and know who they are in Him. I want to encourage everybody: just because you're not known, just because you don't have a platform, doesn't mean you're not important. Live your life for an audience of one. Seek Him first. He loves you! He gave His life for you. And if you've been reading this, know He's giving you a new identity and a purpose—not to walk in weakness, but in absolute power, supernatural power through the Holy Spirit—to be His witness. John the Baptist said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” The more you let go and let your flesh be crucified and know that you’re not doing this on your own, you trust the Lord. Wow. Now you're walking in a new way. Oh my goodness gracious. God will do it — trust Him — seek Him; ask, and you'll find.

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