Sid's Story; Discovering Answers to Life's Questions.

Speaker 1: 0:01

It's time now to get the hell out of your life. A weekly broadcast with real people sharing real struggles and offering real hope. Today's show will encourage, inspire and empower you to face life's challenges with a bold confidence and renewed hope. Now let's join our host, ron Myers. The promoter.

Ron Meyers: 0:22

Hello, my friend, it is so good to talk to you today. First thing I want to do is say thank you. Thank you for listening, thank you, god, for waking me up today and thank you for today's show. Do you have all the answers? You know, there was a time in my life I didn't have an answer for anything. I was winging it. I was as the song Bon Jovi said. I was living on a prayer and I didn't even know what the prayer was. It was just I don't know what this life is about. And then one day I found the answer. My life changed forever, and this show Get the Hell Out of your Life is about talking with people that were just like me and maybe even you just wandered through life and did whatever we had to do to survive. I'll go into a little more detail in the final thought segment today. My guest today you're going to love him. He's got some answers for you. Sid, welcome to the studios now.

Sid: 1:24

I'm right here in Gulfport, over by Milner Stadium. I'm a true native.

Ron Meyers: 1:29

Were you an active in sports? Were you always this big or always this fit?

Sid: 1:35

Well, I have always worked physically. You know, I was a long showman for about 10 years and I had to carry sacks and banana boxes and all kinds of physical labor. So actually my job has required me to be physical and I worked for Hammett's Auto Electric for 30 years and worked as a mechanic in the electrical field and still it's a lot of physical work.

Ron Meyers: 1:59

In your younger days were you a wild guy.

Sid: 2:02

Oh, yes, All of that stuff. Man, I was a partier now and it was on, like I said, on weekends. I'd work hard during the week, you know, but come the weekend, it was my time to go partying. And it's just, I'm one of those Elvis Presley fans, you know, and all these rock and roll people, and it was just, you know, as a sinner, I was having fun, you know, even the Bible says that sin is fun for a season. But and then then there's a wreck. You know. Reckoning, there's a reckoning, reckoning for all that, you know.

Ron Meyers: 2:35

So is that what happened to you? What was the transition in your life?

Sid: 2:39

Well, what happened was my wife got born again and Just for the listeners that we hear that term born again. What do you mean, born again?

Sid: 2:49

Born again is kind of like a baby, you know in a natural being born again, and then that baby has to grow up, you know and be taught, you know how to function in the world. But being born again of God is being born again in the Spirit. And when you're born again in the Spirit then there's a big difference because you're just like that natural baby. You got to learn, you got to grow and it takes some time, you know. The Bible says that. You know, when a person receives Christ, they become a new creature. The whole old things have passed away, all things become new. So I'm a new creature in God and you know, if you don't change, if there's no repentance, then you're not born again.

Sid: 3:38

I mean, that's my opinion you know, but that's the Word of God. Yeah, that's what the Word of God says. That's right.

Sid: 3:50

So your wife was having an effect on you. Amen, she's the one that really got me to go into church. It was on our 25th anniversary, she said. I said, well, what do you want for your anniversary? You know, I thought maybe silver, because silver is the 25th you know anniversary. And she said well, I want you to go to church with me. I said, oh, I wasn't born again yet. So anyway, I said, well, if I go to church with you, I'm not going to take you out to eat.

Sid: 4:13

Because I was trying to get out of going, you know.

Sid: 4:16

Well, let me ask you this so you were married 25 years, Right? So 25 years. She went to church, but you didn't go to church.

Sid: 4:24

Oh no, it was that same year. She was born again about a year before me, but she was going to church and she was doing this and that. You know religious things. You know what have you?

Ron Meyers: 4:35

Did you see a difference in her?

Sid: 4:39

Oh yeah, definitely, definitely. She got touched by the Holy Spirit and it was just amazing. You know, she got touched by the Holy Spirit and it was just amazing.

Ron Meyers: 4:45

But even seeing that it didn't make you curious that maybe I need to go check this out.

Sid: 4:51

Well, going to church with her is what took off, because once I got in church and I got under the Word, these guys were preaching this and that. And just one Sunday I told my wife. I said you know what? I ain't going to go for you, I'm going to go for me today.

Sid: 5:08

So when I went, somehow or another, the Word of God affected me and I kept walking all over the place, all over the church, and I didn't know what to do. So finally I said, oh to hell with it, I'm going to go down to the altar. So I went down to the altar and I asked God, I asked the preacher, in fact what should I do, what should I say? And he told me what to say and I said it. And that's when I felt like God had lifted off 200 pounds of sin.

Ron Meyers: 5:32

Well, you know, the title of this show is Get the Hell Out of your Life.

Speaker 4: 5:37

It sounds like you went down to the altar and put all the hell in your life on the altar Amen.

Sid: 5:43

Exactly. That's exactly what happened, man. I'll tell you what. It was awesome, what was the feeling like? It's just like I don't know. It's just euphoria, like getting high. Maybe I was high on God, wow, you know, it's better than a high on marijuana or dope or whatever. I mean that's a good high. I mean it's an everlasting high.

Ron Meyers: 6:05

When you tell people you're 81 years old, what's their reaction?

Sid: 6:09

Oh, they don't believe me, they don't believe me at all. And I tell them, I said, well, let me tell you what happened, you know. So I'll get an opportunity to witness to them, because they take me for like 61, 62, and what have you. And I tell them them look, uh, what god has done is I'll give them a bible verse which says be not wise in your own eyes, fear the lord and depart from evil, and it will be healthy flesh and strength of your bones. And I am living proof. And so when they I have an opportunity in the gym to tell these people that and and I say that's why I'm young- and you know that's a powerful testimony because you are living proof.

Ron Meyers: 6:52

When they see you, your physical fit, you look like Jack LaLanne's twin brother and in your bench pressing this heavy weight. What's your average bench press?

Sid: 7:02

Well, the other day actually, uh, I was going for 303 pounds. I should have went a little lighter because I missed it. But, uh, at 65 I had bench press 425 pounds and that was a state record. Wow, and I also.

Ron Meyers: 7:19

I also hold the national record for 80 year old so you come across people that say you and this Christian stuff, you know what? You guys are just a bunch of holy rollers and I I've never been able to get into that. How do you respond to that, sid Well?

Sid: 7:38

most of the time I don't have a whole lot of trouble with people because I guess, because of my size and, uh, ugly, you know, maybe a little bit ugly, and they don't say much, you know. But uh, you know, it doesn't bother me, because I got so much of jesus in me and I'm always asking god to give me to speak his word with clarity, with boldness and with love. You know, I'll tell anybody about j, it don't matter who it is, you know. So as time goes on, I get bolder and bolder about it. You know, amen, it doesn't matter, because they, if they don't have, if they're not born again, going to hell, you know, and there's a lot of people out there like that and a lot of people say they're saved, but they don't know what born again is. I'm thinking, man, something wrong there you know, I always tell people.

Ron Meyers: 8:25

They ask me what was the change in my life? And I said well, I went from a knowledge of Jesus to a relationship. And there's a lot of people that go to church, to the traditions which I did. I mean, I grew up in a Catholic family. We did this, we did that, we, you know, did our confession on Friday night. We stood up, sit down, said our fathers or Hail Marys, but I was, I didn't have a relationship, and one day I was hungry. I was hungry because my life was so empty. And that's when I met Jesus as a personal savior and began that relationship.

Speaker 4: 9:03

Does that make sense to you? Amen, it sure does.

Sid: 9:05

Because you know, when you have a relationship, you need a relationship, not religion, and religion is just going to send you to hell. You know, because you're trying to do things good, you know, but that's not good enough.

Ron Meyers: 9:22

Well, you know, Sid, how long have you been married? Good, you know, but that's not good enough. Well, you know, Sid, how long have you been married? 61 years, so 61 years. So if I was to ask you what your wife's favorite color was, you probably could answer that right. I don't know, but your favorite dessert, or you could almost probably complete a sentence If she started one. You almost know what she's going to say.

Sid: 9:46

Yeah, oh yeah, yeah, we've met together so long.

Ron Meyers: 9:49

Well, and see, there you go. This is the point I'm trying to make. Right, you didn't know that when you first met her? Oh no, and you had to spend time with her and develop a relationship.

Sid: 10:00

Amen.

Ron Meyers: 10:07

And the relationship with God is basically the same way. You have got to spend time day in and day out with Jesus, with prayer, reading the Word of God, and you understand what makes Jesus happy, what makes him not happy. The point being is, when we have that relationship with God, we get to know him more, and the more we know him, the more we want to please him.

Speaker 4: 10:27

Amen, that's right.

Sid: 10:28

It's. You know Jesus is the Word and the more that we have our hearts and minds and spirit into the word, we know it. You know, I've read the word of God for probably 25, 30 times, I mean all the way through, and that's not enough, that's not enough. That's not enough. You know, and not only that you got to take. There has to be action behind that, where you know, where it talks about in James, where faith without, without worse, is dead. You know, dead faith. I don't have dead faith, I got live faith, you have live faith you know I love to talk.

Ron Meyers: 11:06

My assignment, I believe from the lord, is to encourage people, to empower people to pursue their god-given purpose, their destiny. I believe all of us have a specific plan, an assignment here on Earth. What's Sid Sissom's assignment?

Sid: 11:25

Well, I believe, kind of like evangelism. You know, I feel free to talk to people. I don't meet any strangers hardly, and of course I'm known by a lot of people on this Gulf Coast. You know, I've been here a long time so people know who I am. You know, they know who I was and who I am today, and it's great to you know to meet people. And they say, hey, sid, you know. And I said, well, where do you know to meet people? And they say, hey, sid, you know. And I said, well, where you know me from? He said, well, hammett's, in a gym here and there, you know. So it's all over the place. It's all over the place, all over the place, you know. So they know who I am, you know, and I am a son of.

Ron Meyers: 12:09

God, sid, somebody out there listening. They want to know God more, but they've had some bad experiences, maybe with church or family members, and so they have this little distant relationship. But then they hear you and something kind of lights up inside of them. What would you tell that person if they met you today over at Starbucks?

Sid: 12:40

you today over at Starbucks. Well, for one thing, you have to be open to whatever you know, whatever a person is saying. A lot of times people, when you talk about Jesus, they want to just get away from you. But I kind of hold on to them, you know. But anyway, if you ever have that experience, you know and you want to be a better person, you've got to have Jesus in your life, there's no other. You can't be good unless you've got Jesus in your life.

Sid: 13:05

And when I'm talking about good, I'm talking about like bad was created by good and you know the devil was good but then he turned bad. That's where bad was created. Was was by the devil, not god. God's good. I got that from cw lewis, but uh, anyway, you got to want to change and the word says that. But the natural man received not the things of the spirit of god, for they are as foolish as unto him, and neither can he know them, because they're spiritually discerned. So unless a person truly has Jesus in their heart, there's going to be no change. There's not going to be.

Ron Meyers: 13:43

He's not going to know, he don't understand, and until you're born again, you will not understand Well as you said when we started talking, when you come to relationship with God through his son, when you come to relationship with God through his son, jesus, we are born again. We are a new creation and a lot of people find this hard to believe because their past is so bad. They find it hard to believe that God will totally forgive your past, throw it in the sea of forgetfulness. But he start. He gives us a new slate, a new opportunity to do the things he's called us to do, so we don't have to walk around with guilt Isn't that awesome Amen.

Sid: 14:26

I had to. After I was born again and really was growing in God, I had to go to all my children and tell them to forgive me what I had done to them in the past, because I was strict and I was, you know. I'd beat their behinds and what have you? Maybe too much sometimes and maybe not enough other times, but all of my children have turned out truly workers. Not all of them are born again, but I'm in faith. I'm waiting for them to come on into that relationship with Jesus.

Ron Meyers: 14:56

What was their response when you went to them to apologize?

Sid: 15:00

Oh, they was happy. I mean they look up more to me now than then, than before, because I guess they kind of feared me because I put the fear in them. But anyway, they truly love me now. You know more, more. So not I'm sure they loved me before, but since I have Jesus in my life it's, uh, it's more apparent. You know that they, they trust in me and have faith in me and and really truly love me.

Ron Meyers: 15:29

So, Sid, what's one of the what? What's a favorite thing that you like to do with life? You are just a vibrant young, 81 years old. What's a favorite thing that you like to do with life?

Sid: 15:40

You are just a vibrant, young, 81 years old. What's a favorite thing? What do you like to do? Well, I have like 15 acres of property that the Lord blessed me with and I stay busy in my yard. I cut grass, I do anything that's physical. I love to be physical.

Speaker 4: 15:51

You got little animals, little goats or chickens.

Sid: 15:55

No, I've had all that. I don't need anybody to take care of. I take care of my wife and what have you? I work on cars for other people, being retired. I'm retired but I work on some cars. Here and there pick up a little cash and just fellowship. People that know me call me and want to know if I work on their cars. I say, well, if you can leave it and bring it to me, you know I'll take care of it and I just stay active. You got to stay active.

Sid: 16:20

You got to stay active, active Right Exactly, no matter what you do.

Speaker 4: 16:24

Yeah, and never slow down to tune the things that God calls us to do, because we're all only one heartbeat away from eternity, amen, amen, only one heartbeat away from eternity, amen, amen.

Sid: 16:39

I run a men's group in my garage, in your garage. Yes, sir, no-transcript drugs, wow. And he cried and cried. And I'm telling you what I could feel the Holy Spirit in that garage, I mean it was awesome, it was awesome.

Ron Meyers: 16:57

So, sid, if somebody wants to reach out to you they just feel a connection through this broadcast Can they contact you directly?

Speaker 4: 17:05

Do you have an email my?

Sid: 17:06

email is let me think about it mightyMan519 at gmailcom.

Ron Meyers: 17:14

MightyMan519 at gmailcom. Right, right. And so if somebody just wants to talk to you, maybe they connected with you through here, or maybe they just would say will you pray for me, sid, I'm ready, I'm ready. Maybe bring them up to your garage. Amen.

Speaker 4: 17:29

Give them a tune-up, tune them up with Jesus. Amen, amen, well.

Sid: 17:33

I'll tell you what. Give them a tune-up. Tune them up with Jesus, amen.

Ron Meyers: 17:35

Before we go, Sid, will you pray?

Speaker 4: 17:38

for the listeners. Amen.

Sid: 17:40

Father, god, I just want to bring up all these listeners to my voice today and ask God that you would open their eyes to see and ears to hear what says the Spirit of God to them. And, lord, we know that there's a lot of hurting people out there, god, those that are on dope. They're drug addicts, they have addictions in these casinos. They have so many problems, lord, but we know that you're a problem solver and if they could just get you, jesus, in their life and have that relationship, all this would go away in time. It takes time to grow, but he will deliver you and you won't have to worry about it anymore.

Sid: 18:21

God has delivered me and I don't want that stuff anymore. I want more of him and I'm telling you he's your only peace and he is your salvation. He is God and he is the Lord, our Savior, and I just want to bless you, people out there, and if you have any questions or you want to ask me, feel free to call and ask me and I'll definitely answer you. And just may the Lord bless everyone out there and also bless Ron Myers, this man that is a man of God and he's putting it out there, and also bless Ron Myers, this man that is a man of God and he's putting it out there. We all have our job and he is doing his job in Jesus name Amen.

Ron Meyers: 19:05

When I return. How do you find the answers for life?

Speaker 1: 19:10

You're listening to Get the Hell Out of your Life with your host, ron Myers. Real stories, real struggles and real hope.

Speaker 5: 19:21

Here's a refreshing word today from the book of Galatians, chapter 6, verse 2. Bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Ron Meyers: 19:34

If you need something more out of life than what you've already experienced and so fulfill the hold of God.

Speaker 5: 19:38

It's not about earning points by being good. It ain't about some boring church. It's not about working your way to heaven.

Speaker 1: 19:56

Finding God is not about following some group who claims to be the only way to God. It's not about being religious. It's not about religion. It's all about God's only son. It's all about Jesus.

Speaker 5: 20:05

It's all about Jesus.

Ron Meyers: 20:14

It's about Jesus Christ. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life.

Speaker 1: 20:18

No one comes to the Father, but by me. Well, someday, when I stand before God and he asks me, why should I let you into heaven? All that's going to matter is if I knew Jesus or not, and that's what it's all about. Welcome back listeners. Sid Story Get the hell out of your life. Get the hell out of your life.

Ron Meyers: 20:53

Welcome back listeners. Sid's story. What a great story. We should all strive to be forever young.

Ron Meyers: 21:01

I said in the beginning that there was a time in life that you know I had no answers. I was winging life. My parents didn't really teach me anything. I was really a burden to my mom. Never was going to amount to anything.

Ron Meyers: 21:15

I wanted to end my life at 12 years old but thank God, I had an intervention in the room by, I believe, guardian angel Jesus, something and 15, I moved out of the house and I've been searching for answers a lot of my life because I could never get them and I really didn't want to go to a church because it was something more for me to find the answers that are real. Because your denominations now they're not in the Bible. Man made up denominations by the interpretations of the scriptures. So which interpretation is right? So I didn't want to go through all that, so I began a search for Jesus. Are you real? Can you help me? I had believed that I had some divine help in the past, whether it be suicide or when my son Ryan had heart issues and my wife had cancer, breast cancer lots of things going on and I knew God was there, but at one time in my life it was tough. It was tough. I did things to medicate myself, to not face the pain. But you know, today the word that I started the show with, thank you is the most powerful word in my vocabulary. Thank you for another day. Thank you for helping me get the hell out of my life. Thank you for holding me up when I can't really stand up by myself. Thank you for your total forgiveness. Thank you for an opportunity to become whoever I am. I don't know who I am. I'm still discovering something every day. And, friends, you and I, I think we need to invest in ourselves. Who are we? What are we becoming? What do we want to become? Are we helping other people in life?

Ron Meyers: 23:12

I met a gentleman the other day. I won't even say the location because it might give out who the person was, but, absolutely positively no talk about God, no talk about Jesus. It was offensive to him, but I talked to him for about two hours and he said I've never had anybody talk to me. A Christian talk to me like you do. I said listen, I was winging things through life, just like you years ago, and I went to find some answers. And I found out that you know Jesus of the Bible, the real Jesus in scripture in the New Testament Testament, paul, james, john, timothy. That is a message of grace. That is the Jesus I discovered, the stuff that a lot of these churches are teaching.

Ron Meyers: 23:59

I don't get it. I don't understand it. It's not the Jesus that I know. Jesus is love, no shame, no condemnation. Jesus is my life and from the center of my life, jesus and I, we just kind of blossom out and do things in this world. I have peace, I have a direction and I have purpose. You know, that's my testimony of who Jesus is for me and it can be for you.

Ron Meyers: 24:25

If you call upon the name of Jesus, you can begin getting some answers in your life. Upon the name of Jesus, you can begin getting some answers in your life. Because, friends, life without answers well, it's like going sailing with a big hole in your boat. You're eventually going to sink. If you've listened to my guests for any length of time, you know that these guests never met Jesus until they were sinking. In fact, they're barely above water and that's when Jesus shows up, at the most important time, just when we think it's over.

Ron Meyers: 25:01

So, as I close out today, I want to just tell you this First of all, I don't know you, my friend, but I love you, I care for you. I want you to experience the goodness and the love and the kindness of God, because if you could just know the character and nature of God, you wouldn't run from God, you would run to God, and I pray for you every day because I want to see you one day in eternity. I want to see you in heaven and say, hey, there you are, ron. Yeah, I heard you on that radio. I heard you in a podcast. Thank you so much for telling me about Jesus.

Ron Meyers: 25:40

Now, if you're one of those people out there that love Jesus, tell someone about Jesus Now. Don't tell them about your church. Don't tell them about what you believe. Your church, don't tell them about what you believe. Tell them what Jesus did for you and then be quiet, period. They don't need to hear your interpretations. They just want to know what did Jesus do for you? Will Jesus do that for me? You know, friends, if we're faithful with that, little by little, what Zig Ziglar used to say, inch by inch is a cinch. Yard by yard is hard, something like that. So today, why not say thank you for my beautiful life and then tell someone what Jesus has taught you?

Speaker 5: 26:29

Ron, we'll be back in a moment to wrap up today's conversation. We want to encourage you today with God's promise to you. Ron, we'll be back in a moment to wrap up today's conversation. We want to encourage you today with God's promise to you. It comes from the book of Jeremiah, chapter 29, verse 11. For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future. That's God's promise to you when you choose to commit your plans and future to him Now back to Ron.

Ron Meyers: 27:01

Well, friends, my time is up. Check out my website, thepromoterorg. I would love to send you a copy of my story Until next week. This is Ron Myers, reminding you that I love you, Jesus loves you, and when you give Jesus your heart, you will begin to find the answers you're looking for.

Speaker 1: 27:21

Get the Hell Out of your Life is underwritten by the Christmas City Gift Show. We invite you to come shop with over 255 vendors from all over the United States from November 8th through the 10th inside the Coast Convention Center located on the beach in Biloxi, Mississippi. You can find more information at christmascitygiftshowcom. Thanks for listening, and if you would like to share your story of what God has done in your life or listen to previous episodes, please visit our website, thepromoterorg. Join us next week for another episode of Get the Hell Out of your Life Real stories, real struggles and real hope.