Ron:  Hello my friends, it is so good to be with you today! 
What would you do if a life-changing encounter with God pulled you back from the brink of a destructive path? For Tommy Lettson, that's precisely what happened. In a powerful story of redemption and restoration, From living on the edge with drugs, alcohol, and women to multiple arrests and jail sentences, Tommy's transformation has been miraculous. Hear him share the pivotal moment when he was sentenced to life in prison with 25 years added on and how it set him on a new course. In addition, Tommy and I discuss the power of prayer, the importance of relying on God for strength and guidance, and his advice for others who feel lost or disconnected from their faith. This inspiring testimony highlights the hope, redemption, and power of God's grace., Tommy Lettson. Good morning, Tommy. How are you? 

Tommy: I'm blessed and highly favored, despite myself. It just beats all I've ever seen. 

Speaker 1: Amen. Hey, so before you tell your story. Is God good? 

Tommy: He is gooder than good. He is better than good. It's the only thing I've ever seen. 

Speaker 1: Well, before you knew God was good. You were running with the devil; You were in his playground, you were in his toy box, you were all over the place. Tell the listeners a little bit about who Tommy Lettson was. 

Tommy: Well, I have to use that word was in there because I'm no longer, and it's not by anything that I've done; it's all that he did in my life. I started doing drugs and drinking alcohol when I was 13 years old. I started at that time looking for something. I was trying to feel something inside of me just to change the way. I thought I would be mad at my mom and I'd be mad with my dad, and my dad and mom had got that divorce when my sister and I were really young. So I started looking for other things to run around with a lot of people that were a lot older than myself because I was always pretty large for my age as far as heights go, and so I just kind of fell in with the wrong crowd. We would camp out at night when we were kids, and we would go to the bootleggers, and we'd get stuff to drink. And then pots came into my life, and you couldn't really smell it on my breath and stuff, and so I went to use marijuana at that time. Well then, as I got older, I got into some people down in. My dad lived in South Florida, my mother lived in Conyers, Georgia, and I would get mad at my mom and go live with my dad. So when I went to South Florida, I just followed the same kind of people that I was following up in Georgia, And it was kind of like on steroids. That's where all the stuff was coming from, and I met a lot of important people down there that were bringing stuff in and around, so I just fell right in with it. It humbles me today that I'm not that person anymore, God had transformed me. 

Tommy: I was 60 years old when I found this man called Jesus. Jesus spoke to me in a club in South Beach, Miami. We had just done one of the largest dope deals that I had ever been a part of, and everything went real smooth. The drivers were on time, the money was right, the weight was a little over, and everything went so perfectly that I thought it was a bust, but it wasn't. So after it all went down and done, we went to this club. A buddy of mine had a club there, And we were doing drugs and stuff right off the table. Now I had heard of God, but I wanted no part of him because I was running from him and didn't even realize it until I really met the real Jesus, the God that I knew, was setting up on a cloud with a spear and was waiting for me to mess up and hit him and, bam, he was going to take me out. That's what I thought it was, but it really wasn't. 

Tommy: When we were doing the drugs and stuff and the alcohol in this club, the band was playing, the music was blasting, everybody was coming by the table, and I was everybody's friend because I had the dope on the table And I heard this voice. I really call it a hum. I can't really say it was a voice, but it was a voice. It was words. I had never experienced anything like it. And I heard it, and it said I love you. And when I heard that I just started like what was that? And so the two girls that I was with at the table with me at that time I said did you hear that? And so they were laughing and drinking and doing the things that you do in a club And they said how can you hear anything in here with all this commotion, the van playing, lights flashing, people dancing, hooping and hollering? And I said I? So I done me another line of cocaine and done me another shot of schnapps. 

Tommy: And a few minutes later ever how long it was between that time I heard that voice again And it said I love you That home, just I just like. And I didn't say a word, i just kind of pushed back from the table and Jen said to me she said, tommy, are you okay? Are you all right? Your whole composure is changing. And I said did you? you didn't hear that. She said, tommy, are you hearing voices? She said it might be a word from the Lord And God forgive me for this. But I said I am the Lord. I need nobody else. God is for weak people. He don't exist. It's not real. She said, tommy, slow down, you've done enough. So I done another line of cocaine and done another shot of snops. 

Tommy: And a few minutes after that ever how long it was from the other two times that I had heard that voice I heard that voice again And that voice small still, just it was louder than anything in there, but softer, so I couldn't understand it. And it said I love you again. And so she looked at me and she said Tommy, your whole composure, you're scaring me. And I said okay, god, if this is a word from the Lord, let me know how I hear your voice and all this calamity. 

Speaker 2: And that same voice that those other three times count in that time said, Joseph, my name is Joseph Thomas. He said Joseph when you hear the world, you hear the world from the outside in through your ears. When I speak to you, you hear me with your heart from the inside out. I said, oh my God, this dude is real. What am I going to do now? And now I'm going to be held accountable for all this stuff that I've been doing. And I knew it. I just knew it. I could tell it in my inner fiber of myself. And Jen said Tommy, Tommy, since you said y'all come over here and help me get, we got to get him out of here. Something's happening to him; look at it. 

Ron: So you ran from God. Your party was about to change, and it was,

Speaker 2: I was on steroids from then on after, I mean, I was uh, I had been to jail several times during this voyage up to this point in my life and been to prison a couple of times, but when I got on these steroids and just started just going sure enough crazy. 

Speaker 1: Tommy, when you say steroids, what do you mean? Real steroids? You were taking steroids, No real. 

Tommy: I mean I was just wide open like I was on steroids because I went. I went into more sin than I had ever been in my life And and I knew I was running from God And I figured I could, if I could, put enough dope and enough alcohol and enough women in my, in that hose, whatever was missing inside of me that I was trying to fill it with all this stuff. And so I went at it, doing more dope than I'd ever done, drinking more than I'd ever drank, more women than I'd ever had because I was everybody's friend because I had the dope. 

Speaker 1: So, Tommy, um, we've got to take a break, and when we come back, we want to continue with that, but then we want to hear about your escapades in prison and the life sentence. So we're going to take a break, and, listeners, I'll be back with Tommy Lettson in just a minute, a man that was sentenced to life in prison with 25 years added onto it. We're going to hear about that story and what God's plan was for him right after the break. 

Ron 1: Let's just welcome back on the phone with me as Tommy Lettson, a man that was on a wild train of drugs, cocaine, everything, heard the voice of God, but instead of running too God, he ran from God. And, Tommy, before the break you were just saying that you were just about ready to go to prison. Now, what did you go to prison for? for the one where you got the life sentence with 25 years added to it. 

Tommy: I got that sentence because I had multiple trafficking charges and smuggling charges that I had. I was buying and selling drugs and just doing all kinds of stuff. Well, they told me if I played guilty that, they would give me a life sentence. They said if I played not guilty, they were going to give me life in 25. So what's the difference? So I went to a jury trial, I got found guilty. I was guilty, and I went to prison, And when I got to prison, I was doing the same thing in prison that I was doing on the streets pretty much, but it was just a different situation and stuff. 

Tommy: I got in there and Georgia Prison System. Then they stopped you from smoking. You couldn't smoke cigarettes in there anymore, And so you could make more money selling tobacco than you could go. Really, you know, because old people in there were live sentences and stuff which I was in all level five counts. All they had to do was drink coffee and smoke cigarettes. That's what they live for. So I just fell into that. Well, I had got in trouble for selling tobacco and stuff and fighting, and I had got put into the hole. I was in the hole, and a guy had got locked up that was selling tobacco for me in the prison, and so I was mad at him. They put him in the cell next to me, and I was fussing at him, and so I draw back, and I kick the Bible. And when I kicked the Bible, it hit the wall, and it opened up, and I was using the pages of the Bible to roll up cigarettes. 

Tommy: God forgive me, 

Ron: wait, wait just a minute, I'm going to get this. I get this straight. You were taking the pages of the Bible and using that as rolling paper, and so you were smoking the word of God. 

Tommy: I was smoking the word of God in a literal sense. But I, and this is what's so amazing about this, I call this my transitional scripture because this is where my walk with the Lord started when I kicked that Bible, and it went to the wall, and it mounts back, and it opened up to the book of Romans, Romans 8, 18. And it's the King James Version and King and the King James version, Romans 8, 18. And I just looked at the book, and it was like it just opened up, and the pages flip, like it just, you know, something moved it. And when I looked down, the first thing I saw was Romans 8 and Romans 8, 18. And it said far I reckon. 

Tommy: And that word reckon just blew off the page like panoramic, like sitting in a theater, like reckon. And I was like what in the world? And I rubbed my eyes and I looked at it again And it said far I reckon. And the word reckon just blew off the page again. I said, oh Lord, i'm having flashbacks, i'm losing my mind. You know, i'm going crazy. What is going on? And so it threw me like into a self inventory of my life And I remembered that world word reckon, my mother. Like I said, my mom and daddy got a divorce early in my life and stuff, and so my grandmother did most of the raising. You know, when I was at home in the county of Georgia And all of a sudden, when I that word reckon, i remember when I was a small, small child she'd say I reckon you better get in this yard, boy, i reckon you better clean your room, or I reckon you better go cut me a switch, which I heard a lot of that back in my younger days. 

Tommy: So that word reckon brought something to you, and you felt God, the God was. Yes, he was coming, So that was the point. Then you finally surrendered to God.  That's when I started surrendering. The scripture says boy, I reckon that the suffering of this present time is not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. And I thought, oh my goodness, you know. And I spoke this. Now I said, oh my goodness, I'm speaking this out loud in the hole. And I said what did I call my grandmother Mama Jack? And friends called her Jack, and her real name was Nettie, nettie Young, but they called her Jack, so I called her Mama Jack. I said, what if Mama Jack knew all the horrible things I have done and where I was? Wow, and that same voice that I heard in South Florida, sitting in that club that I was running from, said she does. 

Ron: Wow, so here you are, and Tommy, that was what six years ago, seven years ago. 

Tommy: It was yes, yes. 

Ron: And you are. Now you are. We were running short on time, so we want to tell listeners right now. Tell listeners what life has been like for you. Now that you are free and living your destiny, what's your life like? 

Ron: Everything that was upside down is right side up. I thought everything that was upside down was right then, but then, once the Lord came into my life, when I got out of prison, i went straight back into that same lifestyle. The last two years that I was in prison I got a reducing as they lowered it down to 60 and I got to make parole. They turned around and my mother died, my daddy died, an uncle who was just like my daddy died. My sister, half sister, susan, overdosed and died, and my wife got killed, coming to see me in prison on visitation day. So a drunk driver hit her head, only killed her, and so when I got out of prison, i had nothing. I had nobody. I didn't know what to do. This God thing was in me, i was feeling peace and I was wanting to search him out. But I got out and started doing the same thing again, and then all of a sudden I called a ping, a light, come on, or something, and I said I'm on parole for the rest of my life. Now, if I get called and I will get called eventually then I'm gonna spend the rest of my life without the possibility of parole, if I ever go back to prison for this stuff again. 

Tommy: So I went into a place called Seven Springs Ministry, a rehab here, and I got banned from the state of Georgia. One of the conditions of my parole was that I would leave the state of Georgia and not return, which has been redone now. I can go back there now, believe it or not, god praised Jesus for that, turned around, and went in there, and it was a year program. So I went through the year program. I graduated, and they asked me to stay on staff I became staff, stayed there for a couple of years after that, And then left there and went with a company called Self Recovery, picking people up and carrying them to detox when we would carry them there, detox five to nine days, And if they wanted to go into aftercare, we would help them get into aftercare. I did that for a year, And then now I'm at a place called our father's Arms, Bob McLeod's place here in Jacksonville, Alabama, and working with recovering addicts.

Ron: That is awesome. That is awesome, Tommy, is there redemption there for anyone that has done bad things in their life? Does God? can God still use them? 

Tommy: God can use them. We through much suffering when we enter in. He takes all that garbage. In Revelation 12 of 11, it says by the blood of the lamb and the word of your testimony is how they overcome. It takes the broken to lead the broken to compound the wise. Been there, done that, got a t-shirt. God is real, god is love And I'm happy You are. 

Speaker 1: You are happy, you are a happy camper. One last thing before I let you go How do you get the hell out of your life? 

Ron : How do you get the hell out of your life? 

Tommy: You trust in him, you read your words and you let him love the hell right out of you So well put. 

Ron 1: Tommy Lettson, thank you for taking some time and sharing your story with us today. God bless your brother and we'll have to come back and do a follow-up because your story is absolutely fascinating. Thank you, brother.  

Tommy: I appreciate y'all so much. I'm humbled at the opportunity to share my story. 

Candy: Hi, this is Candy Anderson-Farris bringing you a message of hope. One of my favorite verses that speaks to God's forgiveness is found in Romans. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because, through Jesus Christ, the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. No matter what you've done, jesus died for you As his child. You and I are forgiven.   There was a precious example, one of those that will preach moments. That happened several years ago when my twin grandbabies were just little itsy bitsy things. Bodie had hit his sister, tegan, and she just stood him up, put his face in her hands and said look at me, what did you do to me? She said again what did you do to me? And he said I hit you. And she said that's right Now, are you sorry? And he said yes. And at that very moment she took him in her arms, wrapped him up and said I forgive you. While we were yet sinners, christ Jesus died for us. His grace, his forgiveness, his mercy is unfailing. He knew we were sinners, he knew we were depraved people, but yet he died for us and he takes us in his arms and he wraps us up in his precious grace If we confess our sins. He is faithful and he is just to forgive us of all our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Remember today you are forgiven. 

ANNOUNCER: Would you like to get out of your life? Would you like to live a life with peace and purpose? We can help you. Simply go to our website, thepromoterorg, and download your free copy of The Power of Faith.  This free resource will encourage, empower and inspire you to become the person God created you to become. It's time to get the hell out of your life and discover your divine destiny. Now back to Ron. 

Ron: Well, listeners, my time is up and I will see you next week. And remember, a copy of today's show is on my website at thepromoter.org. Help me spread the word about the real Jesus and share this program with someone who needs some hope. Until next week, this is Ron Myers, inviting you to discover your destiny and get the hell out of your life. 

ANNOUNCER: Today's show was produced by Ron Myers Ministries, a listener-supported ministry. For a copy of today's broadcast, please visit our website, thepromoterorg, and would you prayerfully consider making a tax-deductible donation so that we may continue to share stories of God's amazing grace with the world. And join us next week for another broadcast of Get the Hell Out of Your Life Real people sharing real struggles and offering real hope.