Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. In John 14:6, Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” The goal of Anchored by Truth is to encourage everyone to grow in the Christian faith by anchoring themselves to the secure truth found in the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God.

Script Notes:

For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.

The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18, verse 20. New Living Translation

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VK: Hello! Welcome to Anchored by Truth brought to you by Crystal Sea Books. I’m Victoria K in the studio and today we have a very special episode of Anchored by Truth. Today we’re going to hear the story of someone whose life is a true testimony to the saving power of Jesus and the Bible and to the power the Bible brings to our lives. As Anchored by Truth listeners know we believe that there are four lines of evidence that demonstrate that the Bible is the inspired, inerrant, and infallible word of God. First, the Bible is historically reliable. Second, the Bible displays a remarkable unity for a book that was composed by over 3 dozen human authors who wrote over a span of 1,500 years. Third, the Bible gives evidence of supernatural origin especially through a large body of fulfilled prophecy. And the 4th line of evidence is that the Bible has resulted in an untold number of lives that have been positively changed by its transcendent message.

So today we’re going to hear the story of one of those lives. In the studio today we have Jay Ammerman. Jay has his own deliverance business. Jay delivers homeowners and businesses from nuisance critters that can be as destructive as they are cute. But Jay does so humanely by trapping them and transporting them far enough into the countryside where they won’t be a bother to people any more. But beyond Jay’s successful business Jay is in the final stage of finishing seminary because he has strongly felt the call of the Lord to full time service. And as you will hear it is a call that began early for Jay and persisted despite a life that would have its twists and turns. So let’s welcome Jay Ammerman, the owner of Black Thumb Services to Anchored by Truth. Jay, your story is frankly amazing. So let’s just jump right into it. What do you remember about your very first encounter with Jesus?

Jay: Thanks for inviting me to join you on Anchored by Truth.

- Introductory comments - From recording on June 9th

VK: How old were you when that happened?

Jay: Comments about being terrible with dates - From recording on June 9th.

VK: That’s both common and wonderful that you associate your first encounter with Christ with your grandmother. Too many people don’t realize what a powerful influence for Jesus that parents and grandparents can be. So what happened next in your walk with Christ?

Jay: Comments about high school and “comic book” Bible - From recording on June 9th. (That young man had the bull by the horns.)

VK: I think a lot of us can sympathize with that feeling. Young believers especially can get caught up in that early ecstasy of finding salvation and believing that God is calling them to something great. But as Jesus said “in this world we will have tribulation.” And that tribulation can be humbling. What happened next?

Jay: Comments about playing football. (I wasn’t going to be the man he wanted me to be.)

VK: How did that work out?

VK: At some point during that period of your life you became a opiate addict. How did that happen?

Jay: Comments about developing opiate addiction (He Baker acted me with that statement)

VK: Some listeners may not know that the Baker Act is the Florida law that permits someone to be involuntarily committed to an institution for purposes of determining whether they are a danger to themselves or others. So, where did they send you?

Jay: Comments about developing being sent to the hospital under Baker act. (Where am I now?)

VK: Well, you’re at a pretty amazing place. You went into a mental hospital with an opiate addition and now you’re out without one. All due to God’s amazing grace. That’s just, well, amazing. What happened next?

Jay: Comments about coming home to the family. (He did it for us in a big way.)

VK: So, what did God do in response to your prayer to have a family come into the neighborhood?

Jay: Comments about Bumps and feeling the call. (proclaim his word to anyone who would listen.)

VK: And that is a feeling many of us have had. Certainly, Crystal Sea’s founder RD Fierro felt that when he launched Crystal Sea. Of course, the path to which God leads us may be different. What path did God choose for you?

Jay: Comments about being called to the seminary

VK: That is a truly amazing story. Do you have any final thoughts for our audience before we close?

Jay: Crystal Sea endorsement

VK: We’d really like to thank Jay Ammerman for being our guest on Anchored by Truth today. I think we can all be inspired by the kind of faith Jay has displayed. Jay came to a saving knowledge of Christ Jesus through his grandmother’s inspiration and her pastor’s preaching. But as so often happens that was only the beginning of the story. And while we don’t all have the same kind of story Jay does all it takes to have a saving relationship with Jesus is to acknowledge our sin and acknowledge our need for a Savior. Jay’s life after her conversion has yielded a bountiful harvest for the Lord and continues to yield blessings to a great many even today. Jay’s story is just one more example of how sacred scripture –the Bible – continues to demonstrate its supernatural nature through lives that are changed for the better for all eternity by its saving power. Today for our closing prayer, let’s listen to a prayer for combatting addiction. As in Jay’s case the best approach to seeking to slay any giants that seek to destroy us are to turn to Christ and seek His saving power. Christ can and does deliver his children by the power that He alone possesses.

---- PRAYER FOR COMBATTING ADDICTION

VK: We hope you’ll be with us in the future when we’ll continue our discussion with Jay. And we hope you’ll take some time to encourage some friends to tune in too, or listen to the podcast version of this show.

If you’d like to hear more, try out crystalseabooks.com where “We’re not perfect but our Boss is!”

(Bible Quote from the New Living Translation)