Liz talks with Juan Martinez about his new book – Prison Break: 21 Days to Spiritual Freedom. After experiencing the realities of a physical prison cell, Juan Martinez has made it his mission to help others find freedom in every way possible—spiritually, culturally, emotionally, psychologically, and physically. His new 21-Day devotional, Prison Break, provides daily, biblical encouragement to embrace a new life in Christ. Facing near death through his experiences, his life has completed changed through the power of the Holy Spirit, and he reminds readers of God’s unconditional love, but that we are also a new creation in
This is Liz Renzel with Crawford Media Group in Denver and today our guest is Juan Martinez, author and lead pastor of Get Rapped Church and founder of Love Live Lead Ministries. We’ll be talking about his new book titled Prison Break. It’s a 21-day devotional to spiritual freedom. Welcome to our program one. Hey how’s it going? I’m so grateful to be with you. We’re so thankful you’re here. One, first tell us a little bit about yourself and what led you to write this book. Oh absolutely. You know, I’m what are we going to be from Hoboken New Jersey and so you know the classic story of the dad left, parents get the force. You know interesting enough I was raised in religion. You know shut out to my Catholic brothers and sisters but you know it introduced me to God but it really didn’t do what I’ve experienced in life today. Like growing up around that I kind of saw people go to church and then they did whatever they wanted to do in the weekend. At least my family I can speak about. We did whatever we wanted to do so I continued that. I didn’t really read my word. I do one prayer and it was the our father who wanted heaven. I’ll be the name that came to come and when I would say that it was like I hope you hear me when I pray this prayer and I hope you answer me but it wasn’t a certainty of him entering me when I prayed and I joke around with you I’ll go finally at 36 at the 23 years of 10 years of physical incarceration and 23 years of being incarcerated with the bars I have placed around my heart. I get saved and you know everything changes for me. I wind up getting saved and I joke around with people I go man when I first started talking to God he was probably like finally because I sounded like a broken record for 35 years. Our father who I have an album he’s like you know at some point he’s probably like finally you’re talking to me you’re having a conversation with me and so that’s kind of most of my life when Jonah gets spit out of the mouth of the whale I got spit out of the mouth of the jail and I started going to all these places where it’s so darkness and I started sewing light and today I’m a pastor God fully restored all my my kiddos marriage everything just I don’t know groupful and more than I could ever hope think we’re imagined it’s kind of where I’m at in life right now author of a book traveling around the globe preaching the gospel and that’s kind of in a nutshell my life story my life story is that you know they say beliefs drive behavior my life story was that I had taken a bite of the apple the life is not the problem it’s when you believe the life whether it’s culturally environmentally the parents you know I had all of these things the friends you picked out right like I you know I would go to church and I’d hear these messages and then I would go to the street and a loving father loving family all these things I didn’t see and but what I did see is what I would hear in the rap music and what I saw of the people in the streets and when I saw these things they that all the light looked like true so I adopted a lot of those things a lot of those beliefs as true and my behavior was moved by or empowered by my beliefs right and I encountered Jesus Christ I my exchange what I my will for his will and I changed it at the cross and I totally start believing what he says and my behavior is different did you find did you find him were you saved while you were incarcerated or was that did that happen afterwards I got saved in a cell no worship theme no one preaching I’m a character I had a about a few events I had a near death experience you know I’ve been in 11 gun incidents near this experience almost died bad didn’t change me and one day I’m in a car before I get incarcerated I’m in a car and I am sitting there I never read the Bible before I got all this drugs that I’m transporting I’m sitting in a car and like you know I don’t know if you the baptism of Holy Spirit when you just start talking in tongues it all kinds of stuff starts happening and you know there’s this evidence that happens that you can’t explain it well what happened in my life is I’m in this car and I’m looking at the clouds one day and I could probably count on my two hands house the sober I was in 23 years okay so I’m sitting in the car and I’m sober that day and I’m just sitting there and all of a sudden it’s like a faucet turned on I just start crying and while I’m looking at the clouds actually TBM did a whole reenactment video of this whole thing and I’m sitting there and I’m crying in the girl’s yelling what do you do we’re gonna go to jail what’s going on and I’m just crying crying and in my soul I can hear God speak to me now I didn’t know that and I was a little bit like what was that but I can hear why are you killing sitting in the showing the lives I’m giving people you’re turning these people into drug addicts and prostitutes and you’re breaking up homes and you’re doing all these things and all of a sudden it’s like the faucet turned off I stopped crying and I’m like she you know the girls yelling you all right and I’m just like I started telling people man I think I’m hearing God and a lot of them were laughing and saying man you know they told me they go hey I think you’re getting you’re too high right fast forward when I get saved and I go and I do my first outreach is over over a thousand fifteen hundred people that show up I didn’t even know how to do it I just invited a bunch of people to the park because they all remembered that I said God was speaking to me and now I’m there delivering the gospel amazing and that brings us to your book the book that are prison break title prison break in 21 day devotional to spiritual freedom tell us about that absolutely well I’m excited I have my brother John who wrote the forward you know great deliverance minister I believe he’s like one of the generals out there he wrote the forward for it John Ramirez John Ramirez yep and the picture in the front of the book is a brain and the change of breaking reason it’s called prison break it’s because the premise of the book I would even came out I finished reading this writing this up marriage book and I was talking to charisma and I started telling them about this idea and they were like this is incredible so that’s all the book came about but the book is that you know I everyone who’s ever been incarcerated or behind physical bars had looked at the bob wire and has always thought how do we get to the other side you know you sit around at the table and everybody thinks about breaking out right most people are thinking no this book you know is it just for inmates I’m like it has nothing to do with an inmate it’s just because it’s called prison break because fast forward and I become a pastor and I started to realize that there’s more people that sound like the guys that are sitting at the table going how do we get to the other side how do I how do I do this how do I do that that have been in church most of their lives and are not free you know Jesus says he came to set the captives free and I also be able to go down to the local jail and open the door he what did he set us free from he set us free from his lies from our lies the lies that we believe that’s what he’s setting the captive free from what’s holding this captive is the lies that you believe so the whole premise of the book you know when I go into the prisons and I tell the guys hey you think that when you walk out you’re going to be free because you walked out the door you’re not in this building but the truth is you were incarcerated before you got incarcerated before you got into the scene the one that you keep repeating that’s incarceration that you don’t bond is right you you keep in an eleventh-day trip takes you 40 years because of your unbelief you don’t even make it into the promised land so most of us we keep repeating and we see cycles and patterns we see all of these things and the book is designed as a look if the book is is Bible it’s just a bunch of Bible in it I just have the gift to make something complicated simple and so God has me doing you know you do these days you have some listening times and review time or quote you also learn how to pray there’s bonus chapters on praying and there’s bonus chapters on fasting the way the Bible says to do it not opinionated we have lost sight of the cross we have lost we we make the cross just a good Friday Easter thing and the weekends over next April next March you know but it’s a way of life well let’s talk a bit a little bit about that well yeah tell us how does a religious mindset hold people back explain that a little bit oh totally you know when you think about religion you know I feel like there’s a role in the responsibility when we talk about the word relationship one day you know I was praying and I felt like the Lord started to speak to me he said one you’re out there shouting from the rooftops have a relationship with Jesus have a relationship with Jesus he said everybody is and I go wasn’t that what was the most because yeah but you’re telling people to have a relationship who don’t know even what relationship means so we would have to understand the context of what a relationship means there are people who have a form of God in this in other words you can dress something up on the outside really well but it’s an inside job there has to be a connection there has to be communing there has to be roles and responsibilities right if we have a tenant in a landlord if the tenant don’t pay the rent he is not fulfilling his role in responsibility and they’re not going to have a good relationship and the and the same way vice versa right the guy has that provided a good place to live and all of that and in communing you see that word commune which is a beautiful word right it’s sharing it’s the sharing of everything you see it in acts you see it in communion you see it in community you see it in all these things I believe a lot of people are okay with having a form of you know you see people like doing a lot of stuff they don’t spend time in their word they don’t pray they don’t actually believe what they pray and you know we think prayer is a Mexican Pignata right I’ve asked out for a bunch of things you hit it and every all the candy falls out but prayer is an exchange of heaven and earth prayer is not just you you pray but when you pray where is that power they’re almost like the words that light up the lamp unto your feet so when you pray you can’t pray about health and not go jog right or stop slowly or stop slowly yeah absolutely but if there’s no continuation of you being in his word a progressive state of your soul accepting the word rooted in grounded right and construction terms foundationally becoming one with then you’ll never know the truth is he wants you to have knowledge of the truth right becoming one with the truth and so you can’t be okay without the cross without the cross there’s no resurrection you can’t be okay with just going to have a lot of church-yality no Christianity we’ve been visiting with Juan Martinez and we’ve been talking about his new devotional titled prison break one what would you like to leave our listeners with today about your book I want everyone to know one thing you know I always say why would I go to church and why would I do all this Christ up if I wasn’t gonna go all in won’t don’t you want to see just no I have seen you know air-dirt or god has read don’t you want to see your life being fruitful you know love joy peace patience kindness goodness into the state of the set self-control and you want to see these things there’s no way you can do that on your own everybody claims they want the truth you know yes tell our listeners where they can go to find out more about your ministry and also where they can get your book absolutely currently we have a church in Houston is called a www.getwrapj www.getwrapj we also have one martina is that TV you can find me anywhere on the one martina is doctor love and you get the book in amazon Barnes and Noble all the places you can possibly buy a book and you can get it there I encourage all of our listeners to get this book and start your 21 days to spiritual freedom thank you one for joining us today thank you so much Linda I appreciate your time thank you for all you do. 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