P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

Hello, I’m Connie Jeffery, and I’m Lonnie Melashenko.

CONNIE: Lonnie, I understand that you were born up in a small town in Canada.

LONNIE: Well actually I grew up in Saskatchewan, and it was before electricity, kind of like Abraham Lincoln’s days maybe. I lived in the shadow of a schoolyard where my dad was the teacher, and we had some cows and cats and dogs and chickens, even outhouses, but to me it was bliss.

CONNIE: Have you ever had a chance to go back there, as an adult and see the old homeplace?

LONNIE: Yes, our entire family, five brothers and wives and kids and parents went back on the 40th anniversary of my folks in 1985, and we found some of the old familiar landmarks, but everything had been raised. It was now a wheat field, there was the old poplar tree over there in the corner, but basically nothing. Everything was gone.

CONNIE: Well, you know the old saying, “You can’t go home again.” I guess that’s basically what it means--that the places we all remember as being home change through the years, just like your place did, the people change, the places we remember aren’t the same anymore. There’s no way to just turn back the clock and go back to the way things were.

LONNIE: And that’s sometimes sad, but Connie, as we look at the book of Deuteronomy today, we’re going to notice that with God you can go home again--no matter how bad things have gotten, how far you’ve wandered from Him, how many mistakes you’ve made, He will welcome you back home.

CONNIE: You were talking with a well-known actor about that recently, weren’t you?

LONNIE: That’s right, recently I interviewed Clifton Davis, best known for his role as Reuben Gregory on the sitcom Amen. Clifton’s had some ups and downs in his spiritual journey, and he was candid in sharing, but he especially focused on God’s willingness to always receive us back.

CONNIE: Let’s listen.

LONNIE: A household name across North America and around the world in the world of television is Clifton Davis. Welcome Clifton.

CLIFTON: Thank you Lonnie.

LONNIE: That sounds like Pastor Reuben Gregory from “Amen”.

CLIFTON: Yes, Amen!

LONNIE: You’re currently the host though on Lifestyle Magazine.

CLIFTON: Right, syndicated around the country. Health oriented issues, and we’re excited about it with Tammy McGroo, my
Co-host.

LONNIE: Clifton many people don’t know your personal,
Spiritual life journey, but you kind of went through a wilderness till you came to meet the Lord. Tell us a little bit about that.

CLIFTON: Absolutely! When I had walked away from my Christian background as a child, I spent 17 years as an adult ignoring the biddings of God, and I ignored Him until I just about destroyed my life back in 1980, and I finally heard His voice when I was at a crossroads in life. I was abusing drugs, and pretty much had wasted myself away, but God reached me and He was my only hope, and I reached out to him and He transformed my life. And it was a rapid transformation, and He put my feet on a solid rock, He gave me hope, He gave me promise, and He gave me a new reason to live.

LONNIE: And that is a very dramatic story, I wish we had time to go through the whole thing, but He really did turn you upside down and inside out and empowered you.

CLIFTON: He really did, it was an amazing experience.

LONNIE: Clifton, many, many who embrace the Christian life kind of assume, “Well that’s it, there’s no more problems, it’s into the sunshine forever, but the reality is, and the Bible is very clear on this is that we will have our down times, or is it in fact always up for you ever since then?

CLIFTON: The fact is Lonnie is that there has been many down times, and struggles and difficult moments in my life since 1980 when I accepted the Lord. Yes there were many years of very positive times with just the normal life struggles, just coping with the ups and downs of everyday existence. However, in a spiritual sense I’ve had some mountaintops, and I’ve had some valleys. Of course a mountaintop one would have to say was Amen, where I had a chance to reach out to so many people, to witness in all the great publications to God’s transforming power, to God’s activity in my life in a very positive way. Yet the challenges of compromise of my faith, compromise of my walk, the justifications of some of us make in our minds to allow us to do anything we want to do is really the enemy trying to work his magic of disobedience when God is wanting us to commit to Him, to obey, and of course you’re talking about Deuteronomy, the book of Deuteronomy, during this period. And wasn’t that the case with the Children of Israel. The law was given and of course it was hell for a moment, and then life came in and eroded its foundations from the people, so their behavior did not emulate that law.

LONNIE: Oh, they had some humungous setbacks.

CLIFTON: Well I had some too. The reality is, I didn’t raise up any golden idols, but in a way we all raise up idols in our lives that those things that become more important, than worship, praise, and service to God. And I’m guilty; I’m extremely guilty. Mine became the career; the career suddenly became the icon of my existence rather than spiritual achievements, rather than home and family.

LONNIE: How have you personally experienced God’s restoration, that desire to want to obey again, how did that come about?

CLIFTON: Well of course I had a bitter divorce I’ll tell you very frankly, but I found that as my children grew they understood that I loved them despite of the divorce. They began to understand in their own way that God loves us even when we are making mistakes and He shows His love for us by disciplining us, by guiding us, by not cursing us forever. And God has said to me over the years, I’m not angry with you anymore. If you will obey me, I will restore you.

LONNIE: That’s so precious.

CLIFTON: And He has done that. He has restored me in my career, but now of course my priorities are in place. Now my career is not the most important thing, Christ is the most important thing. You know I was working on a movie with Whoopi Goldberg this week, and we were in a scene in a church, and in one of the pews in the church in the scene was a Bible. Sitting behind me was Jada Pincket Smith, Will Smith’s wife. Well Jada opened the Bible, and somebody walked up and said, “Girl you’re not reading that Bible for real are you, that’s a prop right.” And she said, “No I’m reading.” She was in 1 Samuel and she said, “Yes, I’m interested in David’s life and Solomon.” And I said, “Well you’ll find that material also in Kings, but if you really want a promise turn to Deuteronomy 28.” And I flipped over to Deuteronomy 28 and I said I want you to see what blessings God will give to you if you obey Him. And she sat and she read Deuteronomy the 28th chapter, verses 1-14, and she was revived. God has done it over and over, and opportunities like this happen in everyone’s life everyday. We need to listen to God’s voice. Obey Him. Continue to obey, and share the joy of His love with others.

LONNIE: Clifton Davis, Thank you for a powerful testimony, and sharing it here on our Voice of Prophecy radio broadcast.

CLIFTON: It’s a pleasure.

CONNIE: Clifton certainly has a great testimony of God’s patience and redeeming grace--and it’s fascinating that he was able to share encouragement from the book of Deuteronomy.

LONNIE: That’s right, Connie. Actually there’s a lot more to the story, but we had to shorten the interview a bit. Clifton’s been through some rough times, but through it all he’s come to see the grace of God more clearly.

CONNIE: A thought that’s expressed beautifully in our first song today: A New Name in Glory.

“A New Name in Glory”, Melashenko Family Singers, from Step Into the Water CD, Track 3

CONNIE: Lonnie, is it just possible I heard your voice in that song?

LONNIE: Well, yes it is. That song’s taken from a CD my family and I recorded last year, called Step Into the Water.

CONNIE: And listeners no doubt can find out more about it on our web site at www.vop.com.

LONNIE: As always, and we like to encourage people to stop by our website often, to see what’s new.

CONNIE: We also like to invite folks to call or write, and we have a great book for those who call in and request it. It’s called Outrageous Grace and it picks up on the theme of our program—Finding God’s Grace In The Stories In The Bible.

LONNIE: The number to call to request a free copy of Outrageous Grace is 1-800-872-0055.

CONNIE: It’s not always easy to see how God’s grace is at work in every situation--even in the stories in the Bible--as our producer, Ken Wade, and I were discussing recently. Ken, you were telling me that preparing this program focusing on the book of Deuteronomy was a bit of a problem for you at first.

KEN: Yes, I guess I’d have to admit that it was. You know, it wasn’t like it was the first time I’d ever read through or studied the book. But this time through there were a couple of things that troubled me.

CONNIE: Did it have something to do with the picture you were getting of God?

KEN: I guess that would be a good way to put it. The book is made up of several sermons that Moses preached just before he died. Here’s this man who’s spent the last 40 years communicating directly with God and leading the people of Israel like a gigantic flock of sheep, and here’s his swan-song, so to speak--his last message to his people. And I guess I began to think--What would I want my last message to God’s people to be?

CONNIE: I’m guessing that you’d want it to be a strong message about God’s love for His people.

KEN: I think that’s where I’d tend to focus--because I’ve experienced so much of God’s love in my own life.

CONNIE: I take it that’s not what you found Moses talking about.

KEN: Well, at first it didn’t seem like he had much of a love focus. In fact, there are parts of Deuteronomy that are very harsh. Moses speaks to the people he’s led for forty years and basically tells them that God’s about to give them everything He promised them, but then he goes on to tell them that they’re going to blow this great opportunity. They’ll be rebellious, they’ll turn to other gods, they’ll be taken captive, and they’ll be marched out of the Promised Land naked, enslaved, and bereft of all comforts. He doesn’t give them a sugarcoated picture of their future.

CONNIE: And unfortunately, all of the negative things he predicted did come true eventually.

KEN: Unfortunately, yes. But do you know what I found hidden in these awful predictions?

CONNIE: What?

KEN: Another wonderful prediction--basically God was telling His people through Moses, “I know all about you. I know how rebellious and disloyal you are. I know I can’t trust you to be faithful to me. But that doesn’t matter. I’m still your friend. When you get into trouble, you can always turn back to me, and I’ll accept you, continue to love you, and bless you.”

CONNIE: I’ve heard it said that “a friend is someone who knows all about you and likes you anyhow.

KEN: That’s a good definition of a friend, and that’s the kind of friend God reveals Himself as in Deuteronomy.

CONNIE: It’s good to know that wherever you are, whatever you’ve done, no matter how many mistakes you’ve made, there’s a God in heaven who “knows all about you, and likes you anyhow.”
Now, here’s Lonnie with today’s message, “Deuteronomy, Divine Reminders.”
SERMON
Deuteronomy: Divine Reminders

LONNIE: Perhaps you read the story of Ugly the Cat that circulated around the Internet a few months ago. It was written by someone named Jennie Moss. She tells the story of a disgusting looking cat that lived on the streets near her apartment.

To start with, he had only one eye, and where the other should have been was a gaping hole. He was also missing his ear on the same side, his left foot appeared to have been badly broken at one time, and had healed at an unnatural angle, making him look like he was always turning the corner.

His tail had long ago been lost, leaving only the smallest stub, which he would constantly jerk and twitch.

Ugly would have been a dark gray tabby striped-type, except for the sores covering his head, neck, even his shoulders with thick, yellowing scabs. Every time someone saw Ugly there was the same reaction.
"That's one UGLY cat!!"

Aside from his ugliness, the one thing that everyone noticed about Ugly was how much he craved love. He longed for someone to pick him up and pet him. He would rub up against legs whenever he got a chance, purring his heart out.

When children played outside, he would approach them and bump his head against their hands, hoping for a little pat, or that a youngster might be able to overlook his lack of beauty and rub behind his ears.

But mostly he didn’t get much affection. Mostly he got soaked by water hoses as adults tried to chase him away. Or he found himself dodging rocks that mean boys threw at him.

Still this ugly, maimed creature clung to hope, always coming back to give a person a second chance to love him.

But then one day Ugly offered his love to the wrong dog, and Jennie Moss tells what happened next, but before I share that story with you, let me just ask you a question.

Do you ever feel unwanted, unloved, perhaps just as ugly and undesirable as that poor old tomcat? Have you ever been rejected--spurned by someone you only craved love from? Have you ever made mistakes or committed sins that made you feel unworthy of God’s love or anyone else’s?

Then let me tell you about the book of Deuteronomy.

You might think that’s an odd book for me to point you to. Deuteronomy means “second law” and its title refers to the fact that God, through Moses, gave Israel His law a second time, just before they entered the promised land.

How can a law book help you when you’re feeling discouraged or unworthy? Do I really think that a bunch of rules and regulations are going to help you?

But hold on--it’s the story behind the book that makes it so precious. You see, Deuteronomy would never have been written if it hadn’t been for the failures and sins of God’s people.

The book is a collection of three sermons that Moses preached to the people of Israel as they prepared to move into Canaan after forty years of wandering in the wilderness.

In these sermons Moses shares God’s laws with the people, but before he does that, he takes time to remind them of their history--particularly of how they have failed to have faith and obey God’s law in the past. He reminds them of all the goodness that God has bestowed on them, but also reminds them that they haven’t responded to God particularly well in return. They’ve rebelled. They’ve tried to do everything their own way. They’ve been downright UGLY toward God.

But God has been patient with them. He hasn’t abandoned them. He’s continued to live among them and lead them. He’s fed them manna, and He’s even taken care of their clothes and shoes so that they didn’t wear out for forty years!

And now He’s giving them a second chance. He’s sharing His laws--His rules for successful living--with them once again.

Oh, yes, the book of Deuteronomy is full of laws--lots of them--some of them a bit hard for us to understand or apply in the 21st century.

But it’s also full of grace. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that the grace is sometimes a bit hard to spot in the midst of all those laws. Some of the laws demand harsh punishment for sin, others seem to let a person off with a slap on the wrist for things we consider abominable today.

But after you finish reading through all those laws and pronouncements, please notice one thing.

As the apostle Paul points out in the New Testament, it is “through the law [that] we become conscious of sin” (Romans 3:20). The law is like a mirror that God holds up in front of us, so we can look at ourselves and see how far from perfection we are. It allows us to see the wounds from old battles, the yellow scabs of sin festering on our souls.

God uses the law to help us realize how unworthy we are of His mercy. In Deuteronomy He minces no words in telling His people just how badly they’ve failed, and even predicting how miserably they’ll stumble in the future. But listen, friend, to what He says after all that:

[W]hen you and your children return to the LORD your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, then the LORD your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you. . . . He will bring you to the land that belonged to your fathers, and you will take possession of it. . . . Then the LORD your God will make you most prosperous in all the work of your hands and in the fruit of your womb, the young of your livestock and the crops of your land. The LORD will again delight in you and make you prosperous, just as he delighted in your fathers.

(Deut. 30:2-10,NIV)
In short, God says to His people: I know all about you. I know how weak you are, how easily you fall into sin. I see down into your hearts and see the ugliness of selfishness there. But I love you anyhow. I know that your misdeeds will lead you into trouble and captivity. But I won’t forget you. Wherever you are, when you turn back to Me, I’ll be there for you.

Friend, He still says the same to you today. Wherever you are, how ever rebellious you’ve been. He’ll still be there for you if you’ll return to Him.
Jennie Moss’s story of Ugly the Cat has a sad, but poignant ending. One day the cat got too close to a couple of dogs, and they beat him up really badly. Jennie heard his screams, and ran to his rescue--but too late. She scooped him up in her arms, carrying him to her apartment to render first aid. //And he looked up into her eyes with love, and with his last breaths . . . began to purr out his adoration and appreciation for her.

Friend, however badly life has beat you up, you have a God who wants to run to your rescue. Won’t you look up to Him and tell Him how much you love Him, right now?