AlongTheWay
AlongTheWay
I Am Unconquered - Adam Davis AlongTheWay 119
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I used to get an adrenaline rush when I'm driving 120 miles an hour of high speed chase or in a foot pursuit or in a fight, you're drilling goes through the roof. I get some kind of a rush when somebody says, your willingness to be vulnerable, created a moment for me, where I'm now changed forever.
John Matarazzo:Welcome to along the way. I'm John matter as your host and fellow traveler, thank you for joining me along my way as I've tried to become more like Jesus every day. The goal of along the way is to identify the moments in life that Jesus really is walking with us and trying to get our attention. But just like the disciples along the way to amaze us, we are missing those moments that our hearts are burning within us. I want us to be able to identify those moments, learn from others and apply those lessons to our lives so that we don't miss the blessings that God has for us along the way in our life journey. former police officer Adam Davis was prepared to commit suicide and ended all when he was dramatically saved in the front seat of his patrol car. In this interview, you will hear how God's call on his life has now helped 1000s of first responders on the brink of giving up his books like behind the badge, bulletproof marriage and prayers and promises for first responders bring encouragement to people battling fear, justice, peace, sacrifice, and many more topics. I'll get to our conversation in just a moment. But as always, I want to thank you for listening to along the way. I hope that you like what you hear and that you subscribe, please rate and review along the way on Apple podcasts or wherever you're listening. All of my contact information is in the show notes. And you can check out all of my episodes, and please join my email list through my website along the way dot media, I would love to hear from you. Also, I have a Patreon page if you'd like to help me to continue to put out these along the way episodes. If you'd like to become a patreon supporter, simply go to patreon.com/along the way and select the level. The link to become a supporter is also in my show notes. And now here's my along the way conversation with Adam Davis. Well, Adam Davis, it is a pleasure to have you on along the way we connected a little bit ago with a charisma news story that I was really touched by the things that you were sharing when you were you were really talking about a book, a devotional and kind of a God's promises book that you had written. And as you were sharing more about your story and how that came about, I decided that I needed to have you on along the way to get the full story about how God has been moving in your life. So Adam, it's great to have you on along the way. Thanks for being here.
Adam Davis:Oh, absolutely. John, thank you for having me on. And I'm really looking forward to our time together today.
John Matarazzo:Yeah. So just as a way of introduction, I know you were a former police officer, and now you've written several books. And we were talking about the prayers and promises for first responders book that you wrote. And I just want to hear more of your story. So Adam, how did God bring you to where you are today kind of paint the picture of your life and where God brought you from and what you're doing today?
Adam Davis:Yeah, appreciate it. John, you know, there's two ways we overcome the overcome the enemy, blood of the lamb and the word of our testimony. And, and today, this is a punch in his mouth. It starts back when I was a little boy, around five years old, of parents divorced. And I was left in the care of an older male who was not a family member not related. And in the NHS Care, I was exposed to a really hardcore pornography, and eventually become the sort of guinea pig I guess, for him to practice all the things that he watched. And so you know, a lot of abuse and a lot of things along those lines. It's just really evil straight from the pit of hell and parents remember when my mother remarried, she remarried a preacher so I grew up going to church now, I always joke about it and say I was in church 1213 days a week. There all the time, grew up, you know, Pentecostal and in then at 15, I was left in the care of a married woman who was more than twice my age, married with children and she was one of the worship leaders of the church and she would make me you know daiquiris with alcohol and
John Matarazzo:as a teenager
Adam Davis:as a 15 year old while I was in her care, better home, and then we had a physical sexual relationship that lasted for, I guess around a year or so. I was snowed under it sounds impossible to, you know, to be deceived and manipulated and something like that. And when you're told that it's God's plan for, you know, that God sent you to be a part of their healing and blah, blah, blah, you know, it's, I look back. And I see where I was being sort of, I guess you could say groomed. And in sort of desensitized to things, and even though like, I guess the thing that really got my attention was down the road and be just like something clicked, and I'm like, it doesn't matter. What's going on this, this is not right. This is, you know, this is wrong. It's just times of change. You know, if you brought it up now, and it's a 15 year old boy was in that situation, now the woman will go to prison, then they slap your high five and tell you good job and brush it under the rug, and nobody talks about it. And you know, and then at 18, I got married, and I don't regret getting married at 18, this fall will be 22 years we've been married. But at 18, I was, I was really messed up my perspective of relationships of what godly and healthy sex look like, what trust means, you know, I was just, I was really messed up. And I didn't realize I mean, I look back now and realize that then. Sure. So we fast forward a few years, and I had a lot of bitterness. I mean, I had a lot of hatred in my heart, you know, for what happened to me on both instances. And shortly before our first son was born, who was graduating from high school this year, shortly before he was born. I just recognized hate in my heart and bitterness, and, and I felt like, if I was going to be a good dad, you know, I had to address the hate and, and the bitterness and just the the, it was just straight from the pits of hell, the emotion that I felt. I wanted to kill the dude that hurt me when I was a little boy, I felt like he robbed me of a childhood, of normal childhood, right. And so I just call out to God, that we've been pretty accustomed to trying to carry my burdens on my home, which is a really stupid move. I'll try it though, Vishal. We have some is already paid for. We all do. But I started the process. And it started with something like this. And this is really complex. Okay, this is really complex. This is this is how this is how my journey started. It has been going on over 18 years now. I forgive them. Yeah, I didn't feel any different. The first time. I didn't, you know, I don't feel like I forgave him. But looking back, it was a step of faith in obedience in response to what God has called us to do. And so I began the forgiveness process and after game after game, and I forgave him, and I forgave him. And somewhere around 2008 ish Manish applied to become a law enforcement officer. And how old were you? Oh, my goodness, see, 18. Late 20s weren't quite 30 yet. And so, start my career in law enforcement. And I start off on night shift, patrol. And you know, when I go, when I went through the academy, I got injured. There's a muscle that runs from the side of your hip down to your knee along the side, and I tore that, and a little crutches, man, I thought my faith was solid. I grew up going to church all the time. Sidenote, going to church doesn't make you a strong believer, going to church doesn't fill you with the power of the Holy Ghost. In order church doesn't cultivate the gifts of the Holy Spirit, you want a church is, it should be a time of celebration with people who are family. That's where they're supposed to be. That's not your feeding place. And so anyway, I thought I had just this whole jacked up perception. And the only person ever fat for me, was my dad. You know, going through all that stuff. And I look back. And I think that, you know, the more that I've shared these, these points of pain for me these experiences, the more that it's helped other people that have been carrying stuff for four or five, six decades, talking about unforgiveness, talking about resentment. So anyway, I started my career in law enforcement. I really felt like that was where I was going to be the rest of my life. I started off on that shift patrol was moved to Asia patrol moved to traffic homicide became FBI trained hostage negotiator, eventually moved to criminal investigations were handled different types of property crimes, and then was eventually put over a number of sex offenders. And my job was to keep them in check. And I enjoyed hunting sex offenders. Sure, I enjoyed hunting six predators, and it was probably the highlight of my career, frankly, but I've never mistreated them. But I showed them zero grace and zero mercy. Because I was wants that little boy. And pill, the law did my job. But somewhere along the way, I guess I lost myself, you know, and that's maybe hard for some people to understand. Because I grew up with what I thought was a pretty solid, moral compass, and I have the air quotes going up. But I was I was trying to perform good for God, I was trying to be good for God, I was trying to live up to a set of rules and regulations and laws. And it was in the burdens were too heavy, nobody walked me down. And I started drinking pretty heavy every night, and was unfaithful to my wife. And I never did anything as a cop to dishonor the badge other than, you know, basically being an alcoholic and an adulterer. And I found myself separated from my wife, and my kids got to know she was my best friend. But I become completely and totally emotionally numb. No conscious, I was seeking that rush. Like everybody tries to seek, you know, at different different ways, you know, and it led me to a Sunday was working overtime and pull over to a parking lot of an abandoned gas station, just south of town, my uniform marked patrol car, black and white lights, everything. I pulled out my assault arm, I laid it on my leg. And I said, Hey, I don't know where you're at. I don't know if you can hear me. But I'm tired of interrogating you. I'm tired of the fatten. I'm tired of the burdens. I'm tired of feeling hopeless. I'm tired of feeling helpless. I'm done. This is it. But if you have something if you can do anything with my life, if you can do anything with me, you can have it. Otherwise I'm out. And we got around in the chamber. And the way the farm functions, there's not a there's not a safety and you know, cockpit or anything, I just ran through one of the chambers good. And I'm gonna tell you something. Have a hug. My wife and my children have felt the embrace of friends and family. All across this country. I have been in church services from a very young age, but nothing, nothing compared to the love that embraced me in that patrol car that day. And I think too often we get caught up in saying a short prayer on Sunday, and then go on to deal with the devil on Monday. Instead of equipping ourselves, and understanding I'll go back to this. One of those nights I was drinking this was this was like a this was a tugging process is a little drawing and a wooing and a luring this very graphic and I'll try to be clean. But I was I drank a lot and I was going to total it vomiting. And and there was this little voice that said, there's nothing you can do to change my love for you. There's nothing you can do to change my love for you. And I'd had two dreams prior to this moment in the car because I was interrogating God that's that's a really arrogant thing to say, I get that it's like, probably worst of the worst. It wasn't on his existence. It was you know, are you really good? And are you really love that you know what love is? Do you see the same things that I'm seeing? And I think you know, I was I was raised and taught not to ask God why and not to question God. But the more I've you know, sort of boldly lay those things out before him the more I've discovered that He is a God who was very gracious, and he is kind and he is good. And he has perfect love. And he is big enough and strong enough to handle our most absolutely ignorant questions so that we can come up with. And but it's in the asking in the seeking that I discovered a perfect love. And it was in my moment of absolute complete and total brokenness, that I discovered a living God who cared about me more than I could ever love myself, because I didn't love myself, and I become totally numb. And you know, that day, something drastically changed. Everything wasn't made perfect that day, there wasn't like, you know, the, the clouds didn't clear in the sunshine through there were still things to deal with. But I thank God, they restored my marriage, and that He redeemed me. And but something clicked that day. And instead of drinking from that point forward, I went home, and I sat down, and I began to write. And I would just dump everything that was in my head from that day, I would just lay it all down. And, and one night, shortly after the events of Ferguson, Missouri, we were, we were getting hammered pretty bad with calls and different things. And it was it was really rough at one point, but
John Matarazzo:where were you? At that time?
Adam Davis:I was saying department, South Alabama. And and so in that moment, like, I was sick of seeing all the hate on the news, against law enforcement. And I sat down to write that night. And literally, same way I was on a patrol car, I said, Hey, how are ya? I don't know if you can hear me. But who's going to help us? Who's gonna speak to us who's gonna love us? And that same voice that said, you can learn nothing you can ever do to change my love for you said, write a book. And I thought that maybe that was a result of something that I had eaten within the past 24 hours. And so again, I went back to this argument interrogating God and I was like, you know, you've got the wrong guy. had been on the job. 35 years, I've been here for six, or whatever it was at the time. I don't have a PhD amount of chaplain, not a pastor, not a preacher. You got the wrong guy. But because of my previous experience of interrogating, and wrestling, and all that wonderful, absolutely idiotic thing that did. I had learned to tap out earlier. And so I wrote it. And I self published a book. And I designed the cover and I learned how to design it. And I learned how to do all the things and I'm not going to mention the name of it, because bless its heart. I did what I knew how to do it. But it got the attention of a publisher that was released in 2015. I believe. I left law enforcement in the fall of 2015. We got my first major book deal. That book released in May of 2018. So I got the deal in early 2017. And that book was was the one that all publisher said nobody is going to buy because it's two matches for cops, nobody can buy. And it's still ourselves. Every other book that I've done, how like, significantly, it's reached somewhere in the neighborhood of 60,000 labs that I'm aware of like that I can count for Jesus for His kingdom, and it's led a lot of people to him. And we've written a book on marriage called bulletproof marriage and spiritual warfare called spiritual combat. I've co authored with a force recon Marine throughout a daily devotion for military called behind the lands that helped him tell his story, a book called fat for us published by Nelson books, and then just prayers and promises released about six months ago, and just finished my book, which released early next year called unconquered. And so this has all led me to a place where I look back and you know, there's days I feel really guilty for leaving law enforcement. But at the end of the day, this is an eternal mission. This is something that's a really a lot bigger than myself and continuing to learn every day because I'm a really slow learner, that he admits it when he said, bring your burdens bring me the weight that you carry, that even means childhood trauma, or adulthood trauma, that means all types of trauma. That means your past sins, that means the burdens you carry, that means the guilt, the shame, that means everything you know, and and there's been so many more pieces to that puzzle, but the greatest breakthrough I ever found was in a place of surrender and obedience to Him. You can have all the things in this world but a few Don't live surrendered to Him, it's a waste so true. I mean, there's really no reason to live except for him. And if we're not doing things daily that have an eternal, you know, impact, we're really wasting the time that we have. And it's really short. Ben. So I've put out I think there's nine books out now and speak across the country, mentor law enforcement officers and other first responders coach them and been able to touch 1000s of marriages, and helps save 1000s of marriages. I don't know how many suicides have been, you know, stopped, and how many law enforcement officers stayed on the job. I know that we've reached around 100,000 for his kingdom, since May of 2018, that I can count that's, you know, that I can count just in books. And my goal is, is 5 million over the next five years, I think we're about to hit a, a place where it's, it's going to begin to exponentially grow. I mean, you know, and, and it's, it's one of those things where I've had so many guys say, Dude, I wouldn't share I wouldn't share everything that you've shared. But here's the reason why I do it. Because just like share and the abuse from childhood, teenage years, my sins as an adult, when I talk about how I overcame that, and how God redeemed me and how I over you know, work through that it sets people free man, because there's people living in in isolation because of their ceiling. And that's what the enemy wants, he wants to ask, select your show, he can destroy you. And, but, you know, pray to God that, uh, that He delivered me from from, from alcohol, needing it every single night just to feel somewhat normal. That He redeemed me and reconciled my marriage and, and then it gave revealed to me a gift that he'd used to touch others. So out of pain came purpose and in tremendous power. And so I'm on a mission to touch as many people as I can with with their gospel and to lead them to a laugh. That's really and truly than unconquered laugh that you understand that you never lose. When you're on his side.
John Matarazzo:Amen. Amen. You know, Adam, the, you talked about growing up, and this dealing with the sexual abuse and how that was a huge, huge thing that you just had to deal with growing up and then then you've got to be on the other side of it, where you weren't the abuser, but you were then going after the abusers as a police officer, you know, you had this, this pain and this this wound in your life? How did God heal you of that? Can we can we talk about that a
Adam Davis:little bit. It's, I don't know how to put it into words. I didn't talk to a therapist at all. Until one of the first time I ever talked to a block of lessons. Legit trauma therapist was last year. Wow, almost almost 40 years old. So. And her exact words, she's spirit field believer, she literally at the end of our session, she said it is a testament to the faithfulness and goodness of God, how he has preserved you because you are a miracle. It is a miracle that you're able to function and to do what you're doing. There's like, I know a lot of people that have been through this, and they're not in as good a place as you are. So I'm gonna be honest with you. I wish that I wish that I knew. You know, I know. I know a number of things in those. I don't know exactly how He healed me. But I do know this. I know that it required me to acknowledge that there was pain. Because I tried to pretend the techniques didn't exist. And I think that's normal for most people, maybe especially men. But I tried to pretend it didn't exist. So I had to acknowledge the pain. Because ignoring it didn't make it get any better. It just made it get worse, just like an infected wound. And I had to begin to seek Him. Not for the healing, but for who he is. I learned that I couldn't control what people had done to me. But I could control how I responded going forward. Right? And then I can no longer live trying to control and manipulate all the circumstances and orchestrate my life to do what he's given me to do in this moment. Take the next step and surrender everything else to him. You know, and if he's a lot of my life, he's he owns every step in the orders or steps he owns. Man, you know, those are just the first three thing that you know that's there's 10 things that I call the unconquered code, and they are all they're all born out of. That's what the new book that's coming out next year is based on Is my testimony, but it's based on these principles. And it's, I look back in January, I'm writing the book and I would write my testimony, write the story and finish the book. I'm like, man, there's just, there's something missing, like, you making a meal and you taste it, you're like, what is missing? In short, I'm sitting here, it was like, one of those clear screens popped up where you could see the white chalk going across it, or white ink or whatever it is. And it was unconquered code, and bam, there they were. And the number one thing is acknowledged pain, okay, I'm hurting, and I don't understand it. You don't have to understand that. Acknowledge that you're hurting, acknowledge the pain, acknowledge there's a trauma, there's an experience of how you respond to it. And all right, I'm gonna seek Him and ask Him to guide me down this path. And it really became a place of intimacy with the Father, and not seeking him for no financial provision, not seeking Him for opportunities, not seeking Him for any other thing except, Hey, show me who you are. reveal Yourself to me. Because in the revealing, the healing just happens. Right? When you when you see who he is, in that moment in the revealing things just happen. And it just like the peace that surpasses all understanding, there's a healing that takes place. But healing sometimes is it takes time. And I think that I'm still on a on this path of healing. I don't think it'll ever change. Because I think that every time that I share my testimony, I think that every time I go, it's speaking in front of an audience. Every time that I get to coach somebody, or talk to somebody one on one, I think that that is part of their healing. And I think writing this book on Concord that comes out early next year, is I say that because I wanted to get confused for prayers and promises. at all, you know, I think that's a major stepping stone. And sort of closing that chapter. And, and I think the enemy wants to silence us when we're hurting, he wants to isolate it. He wants to discourage us. You know, he comes to kill, steal, destroy, but he does show up and do it all at once. Most of the time. He's very strategic about he's very tactical about it. And when you understand how the enemy works, and some of his strategies and tactics, then you can better recognize them in your own life, you can see that he's trying to discourage you. Here you can see how he brings about anxiety and how he gets you into a state of depression. And you can also see how the worship brings you into a place of complete peace. It brings you into a place of joy, it brings you into a place of abundant life, you know, it's just getting our eyes focused in the right place. And so the healing man has taken time, it's taken time and it happened through surrender, in the break in the brokenness of them beautiful, which was birthed. I'm just really classy redneck from South Alabama. I'm not a theologian. I don't have a Masters of divinity. I'm just, it's a childlike faith. I don't understand what's going to happen next. I don't know what's gonna happen next. I just know to trust him with every step.
John Matarazzo:You man, amen. And trusting him with every step is very important, especially in seasons of transition. And, you know, you talked about the fact that you were a police officer for six years, and I'm sure you didn't plan on being a police officer for just six years. It seemed like that was something that you really, really enjoyed doing. You felt called to deliver that? How was it that God called you out of that? And tell me about that process a little bit more? I know, you mentioned it briefly, in the earlier part of this interview. But, you know, for me, transitions have always been like, I need God to move and really show me that this is the right thing to do. Especially whenever you're leaving a season, that's not a bad season. No,
Adam Davis:absolutely. You know, and I put this out there most of the time, if you made a veteran, I was served in the military armed forces for whether it'd be four years, six years, 10 years or 20 years, you shake their hand and what do you say? Thank you, thank you for your service.
John Matarazzo:Thank you for your service.
Adam Davis:If somebody serves four years, six years as a cop, and they don't retire, because they think that I got in trouble or something bad happened, or, you know, I couldn't hack it or whatever I was, I was wanting to climb the ranks in whether that meant climbing the ranks within my department or go to a state or federal level. And I was making, I think, $45,000 my best year, and that was an average of about 55 hours a week. That was my regular duty time plus over time. My wife's homeschooled our kids for a very long time. So that's her full time job. And so that started after I wrote spirit and truth. I learned how I designed my website or learn how to do self publishing and learn how to do the books. I learned how to format them. And, and I had people start to reach out and say, Hey, can you help me with this? Can you help me with that? And I remember in the fall, early fall of 2015, I had nearly $30,000 In business waiting for me to get to it. Wow. And I had people ask me to come speak in different parts of the country, I had bookshelves rolling out. And then here I am. I'm like, I can't do all this. There's literally only 24 hours in a day. There's only seven days in a week, and I'm struggling to keep up. And somewhere deep down, I don't know how. But I knew that being a law enforcement officer would be for a season, I didn't know how long the season was, in my, in my mind, my heart, like my desire was that season would last 25 years, 30 years. I didn't know it was gonna be six years. You know, I gotta post Sunday morning, God had restored our marriage. And I remember waking up and putting on my uniform. And like, we're sitting here talking that same voice that said, there's nothing you can do to change my love for you said, today's the day. And I knew what it meant. My wife sat up in the bed and she said, Hey, today's the day. And I said, Oh, you heard it, too. She said, heard what. So I went and fill out the form and turned in my notice with tears running down my face, and received a lot of flack for walking away from a secure job with government retirement and great, great benefits. With a wife who doesn't bring any income in, she worked hard, and homeschooling our kids and taking care of them. But the very first month, my income was tripled. Wow, it's never been less than double what I made as a cop in a month. There, there's been hard times there's been feast or famine. But God has proven Himself faithful and good. Time and time and time and time and time again. And so I guess that it's in the obedience, it's in the willingness to take, the next step is in the willingness to cut, and prune and grow in even when you don't understand what's happening, or why or where you're going. You know, I've got events coming up. And I'm talking to different groups that are outside of my area of expertise. And I'm like, I don't get this, like, I don't know why they want me to come over here. But God has, you know, what I'm, I'm going, and I don't know what's in it, I don't know why I'm gonna go. And I'm gonna do it. And so it was in that transition. And of course, my wife was supportive, she was behind it. I've gone on to help. Probably 42 people across the country, and I've advertised it probably once or twice in a social media post. And at one time, I had a website for it, but I didn't, you know, there's no traction to it. But I've helped more than 40 people self publish their books. Some of them have gotten traditional publishing contracts afterwards, God's given me a very unique strategy to help people actually sell books. The average self published author sales, about 250 copies in the lifetime of the book. And the last one that released sold 1000. In the first probably 60 days. I've had some sale made 230 days and some even more than that. But being able to be a gatekeeper and help people get in that door, because I remember where I was at, I remember every literary agent that ignored me or rejected me every publisher that said, No, four dozen of them that said, No, or it's not a good fit or whatever. And, and then I remember the sharks and the predators that I came across, he wanted to charge me$50,000. And I was like, you know, what, if I can not only use my gift, but multiply it, that's what it means to be a good steward. And so I wanted to multiply the gift and help others, you know, exercise that you have to use it in the right way without being taken advantage of, and so that I don't know how many websites I've done, how many people I've spoken to and from platformed and in churches across the country, but I can tell you this childlike faith is the most powerful faith there is. And it's the the simplicity of the gospel is absolutely genius. Because there's so much that happens when we just surrender and and say I don't have to understand that with my intellectual mind. I just choose to believe that's what I said the car that day. As I said, I choose to believe now I understand that demons believe that the enemy knows the Scripture better than we do. So if we only believe and know scripture, what makes us different than the enemy of our soul, he has chosen to not surrender. So if you're living a life where you've not surrendered to Him, and you know, scripture, and you know, you believe in God, we're no different than the demons of hail. You walk in a powerless walk, you have a form of religion, there's no power behind it, there's no meat, there's no teeth. They're just a toothless lion roaring about with no power whatsoever. And so the real power comes in the daily surrender, there's not a there's not a prayer that you can pray, this is going to set you free. It is a lifestyle of communicating with a living God, it is a lifestyle of daily surrender to Him, it is a decision every single day to get up and walk in victory, because of who your king is, you know, and understanding that, yes, there's gonna be trouble in this world. There's gonna be pain in this world, but there's one who has come and he's overcome the world. And so he, he blazed the path before you had given everything you need. And it gave us a comforter, in the form of the Holy Spirit. And so I think a lot of us stop this enough. But we stop at the point of praying a prayer of salvation, and we fail to walk into the power of the Holy Spirit, and the depth of the knowledge of His Word. And when we do those things, it really changes, it really changes the dynamics, because then you can be a really, really powerful force to be reckoned with. Inhale will know your name, I'd venture to say there's a lot of us that attend church that hell doesn't even have our name on the radar. I want to be on the most wanted list and Hill. And a buddy of mine said, I'd rather set up a triage at the gates of hell, then set up a triage in a church, I want to be the one that's going out into into the darkest, most violent places in this world reaching those who serve us with the gospel. You know, because I was cynical, I'm analytical by nature, that how he's made me. And it's in surrender, where everything has changed.
John Matarazzo:Amen, amen. You know, I love this whole thing of surrender that you've really focused on. And that's so true, you know, the demons believe that they're not surrendered. And that's a really good distinction between somebody that is walking with the Lord that knows the scriptures versus somebody that's not. And I'm just grateful that you are able to minister to our law enforcement officers, people that have served in, you know, first responders and military and you're able to speak from a position where there's more respect, because you've had that experience, you know, sometimes it's, it's easier to listen to somebody that you can say, oh, yeah, I respect them. They, they know what they're talking about, rather than somebody that's just read it in a book somewhere. And that's amazing that you have this opportunity, and God's given you this platform. And he's just, it seems like he's just opened up these amazing doors, I would like to hear some stories of I mean, the whatever you can about just how God has used you to bring a life change to somebody or has really encouraged them. Because you've said, You've had a lot of people that have, you know, they've gone, they've been restored, or just want to hear some of those stories.
Adam Davis:You know, most of this happens. I've gotten calls at 10 o'clock, 11 o'clock, midnight, on a Friday night or Saturday night, say, my wife or my husband have, you know, this has happened. And to this day, through circumstances, when most people would be divorced. Their their marriage is thriving. The ones who came to me and said, I came to hear you speak, to check off a box. But I had all intentions of turning into my gear tomorrow and walking away. And you reminded me, there's people were fighting for, I think probably, I have to think there's so many that stick out in my mind. And I want to respect their privacy, of course. But I think back some of the most powerful moments are right after I've finished speaking. And you know, I've got a book table set up at the back or whatever, and they come up and they say, Hey, can I talk to you? And I had one recently walk up to me and he said, can I talk to you in private? And I not eating lunch and not eat supper? I've been talking, talking and signing books for like four hours. And this guy walked up and he just started weeping. And he said, you hit a nerve with me. I said, Okay, so what is I still am a retired cop. Thank you. So what I'm about to tell you I've healed and for over 60 years, I've never shared this with the counselor, or the pastor with a chaplain, nobody, and began to talk about abuse as a child. And then how he felt it, to blame for that, to blame for the divorce to blame for the deaths of his partners on duty, the, to blame for all these things. And for an hour and a half, God allowed me the opportunity to minister to him, he walked with a totally different man, totally different man. Because he was rid of the shame. He was rid of the guilt. And he was set free by the power of Jesus. You know, and I think about the ones that have called me, the ones that have text me and, and I literally just give them a triage them right, a tree of spiritual triage, the ones that call and said, Hey, I've been medically retired. I'm not even 30 years old. This is all I know, what do I do? Where's my purpose? are the one who heard my story and said, Monday was the day for me. Monday was it, my wife's gonna be gone, we're getting ready to file for divorce. I'm in trouble at work. I'm done. Monday was the day. I've thought about it, and I'm ready to die in my life, but you said something today. To set me free. It reminded me that I have a purpose for living. And so I mean, really, ah, I gotta be honest, I get some sort of a rush. When stuff like that happens, man, like I used to give them a drill and rush when I'm driving 120 miles an hour of high speed chase, or in a foot pursuit or in a fight, you're drilling goes through the roof, I get some kind of a rush when somebody says, your willingness to be vulnerable. Created a moment for me, where I'm now changed forever. I remember being on a on a ranch I'm not gonna mention were very private, very large ranch. And there was a lot of very special men. They're very powerful, very dangerous man. And I remember this one guy walking up to me and and some of the most powerful men who walked this planet. And this guy walked up to me and he was drinking whiskey by the handle. Wow. And he said, Who are you with a few expletives entered? And I told him and he said, Why are you here? Who would like to hear that? I told him who invited me. And they said, What do you do? And I said, I'm just a writer. I'm a former cop, and I'm a writer. So what'd you say your name was? It came back and he was like, Don't you move? And then he goes to a room in the house where by stay in the cabin or whatever. It comes back. And he has my bulletproof marriage, really? And he was like, Would you mind sitting down with me and talking to me. And so with whiskey and beer flow and like water, we sat down, and we were able to talk and I was able to share with him and able, you know, I had the moment, you know, a brief moment to speak with some authority on the speed by which he was consuming alcohol, and the quantity by which you were consuming and volume. And so I don't always see the harvest. I know that I spoke in a place and a very large casino, a very large casino in the Northeast last year. At a place that wasn't it wasn't obviously not a religious event. It was not a faith based event. Sure. I spoke. Got a market ScotRail who's a dear friend of mine, he introduced me beforehand, and then I get up to speak
John Matarazzo:because they're lone survivor, right? Yeah. That's that's his book. Lone Survivor. Yeah, yeah.
Adam Davis:And so here's my buddy, Adam Davis in the back of the room. He's got a book table. He's about to speak Ellis and what he's got to say. And for nearly an hour, 1300 cops from across the country sat on the edge of their seat and listened to every word. And I was told beforehand, don't share anything about your faith because they're going to devour you if you do. And somewhere something clicked inside of me. I've been offered deals north of one and a half million dollars for different programs I've created for different talks for different books, resources, whatever. If I would just remove any mention of Jesus any major of Scripture and make it universe and something rose up inside of me in that moment in front of nearly 1300 ops. And I said a lot of you probably wonder how they overcame these things. A lot of you probably wonder how I've gotten to where I am today. And I said, I have a best friend who's really powerful. And his name is Jesus. And I laid it out there. So there is no life without him. In the you know, we got Muslims in the room, we've got atheists in the room, we've got agnostics in the room, we've got Buddhists in the room, we've got pretty much a mix of every religion you can think of. And for seven hours, after I finished speaking that day, at 4pm, roughly, for seven hours, I shared the gospel with cops, one on one, gosh, I signed books, I took pictures, I shared the gospel, I coached and mentored I pour it just it was ministry. And I finished and I felt like you know, one of those wet rags after you rinse it out, you get all the water out, you just sling it down. I was done. I was done. But for seven hours, we planted seen, and I mean, to see the gods were real, real hope, real power. And there's been a lot of fruit that come out of that moment of bravery. And I think they're gonna let me go back and speak at the one in Tennessee coming early next year. So, you know, I could, I could we could spend all week, you know, I'm trying, trying to be vague on some of them just to protect the privacy, or somebody to hear their story on there. But there's, there's so many whether they've been shot the line of duty, and they reached out I had one that was in the shooting reached out to me the day after. And he's on a path to healing. He is at work in a big way. And it's beyond my ability to comprehend, understand or fathom. I don't want to I just want to be the guy that says yes to him every step of the way.
John Matarazzo:Amen. Being the guy that says yes, to him every step of the way. You know, the whole theme of this podcast is called along the way based around the Emmaus road story of how the disciples were along the way walking from Jerusalem to a May us, which is roughly some seven miles. And you know, they're walking along and they're the here comes this traveler along with them. And they're just walking step by step. And he comes, he's just asked him, Why, why are you downtrodden? They tell him, they just start talking with them. And he explains the scriptures to them about why the Messiah had to suffer why Jesus had to suffer and die. And they get to Emmaus, and the Bible says that he would have walked on, but they invited him. They invite him. And they sit down at the table. And it's Jesus in disguise. And they don't realize it until this moment where they sit down at the table, Jesus blesses the food, he breaks the bread, their eyes are open, and then poof, he's gone. And then Luke 2432, they turn to each other and say, weren't our hearts burning within us along the way as he was revealing the Scriptures to us? You know, you talked throughout this, this interview so far, just all these different steps that you've taken, and now God's led you. And now you're you just want to be taking those simple steps with him. And just being that guy that says yes. But as you look back at your life, and I'm sure there's, there's tons of moments. Where do you now see Jesus walking with you that you didn't see in that moment?
Adam Davis:Oh, man, he's the one who has my back, when I have to face some dark hours, if there's a bad memory that comes up, or if something sort of sets off anxiety, or I remember going through trauma therapy. And the lady said, can you put a shape or a figure? Do you see the figure shape in in the pain that you feel in the thought so that said, it's just a silhouette of somebody? And it's, you know, it's just like, I can't see a color? It's just a dark silhouette? And she said, What do you feel? I said, absolute pure terror, evil. And so we went through a series of things. And then she said, what are you what are you here? I said, I hear the voice of my father. And she said, What is he saying? He said, Let's go. We got to deal with this. But I got your back. And he is my ultimate. He goes before me. It goes behind me. And he has protected me in literally, like literal ways, literal moments of danger. He's protected me from some really stupid decisions. He is my best friend. And moments where no one else reaches out or no one else knows. Something I'm going through or the close. This can become a very heavy burden to carry if you try to carry it on your own and Avoiding trying to make any of this about me, but he is my best friend. You know, he like as a cop. You wanted a great backup partner that was going to fight with you in a fight. And he's not only my great backup partner, he's the primary officer, the chief, the one who goes before me. And you know what he is the one sounds so cliche, but he makes the way for me. And I don't want to go to any place in this world, where he doesn't go before me, he is my shield. He is my salvation, He is my portion. And when I am in need, when I'm weak, he is everything. When I'm strong, he is everything. He is the foundation on which I stand. His Grace has sustained me through moments that most many people have already been destroyed. And I'm so grateful. And I'm not a deep theologian, if any of my words touch the soul of another human being, and prompt them to a closer relationship with my best friend in it, because the power of His Word is unchanging. It is because that he is a God who remains the same forever. And, you know, just like the strategies of our enemy, never change. And neither does our Victor, the king. He is a mighty warrior. A lot of people may see God as someone who who has his finger on a red button waiting to destroy you. Or maybe you see him as old feeble guy. But that's not who he is. That's not who he is at all. He's coming back. And when it comes back, he is not going to be it's not going to be a moment where you see some, you know, really old feeble, white haired white beard. He is coming back like a roar in line. And he loves you. And there's absolutely nothing you could do to change his love for you. And I'm going to tell you this, and I know you've we're running out of time, but I was talking to a friend of mine who's retired law enforcement officer out of California. And we were joking. He is cared for, for a family member who has severe dementia, like stage dementia and and I said, Dude, I was like, I don't want to ever be a burden to people out there. I mean, literally, if something like that happens, throw me into a pit a line for sharks or alligators. And he was like, but you can't as well. You mean, I can't just joke and he's like, No, you can't. He said, Jesus went all the way. When he could have called on a host of angels to rescue him out of that. He chose to go all the way to the finish line. He said, so if you end up prematurely, you haven't follow the steps of just the one you call Savior and Lord. And man that hit me like a ton of bricks. Yeah, who am I to cut short my journey when I wanted to. And that's the thing. I wanted to die more than I wanted to live. At the end, I wanted to die more than I wanted to live. And now I recognize that was the voice of the enemy of my soul. He didn't want me to live, he didn't want me to be married. And let me tell you something. If you're dealing with this stuff today, and you're listening to this, there's help there's hope. This is not the end for you. There is a God who loves you. He is ALIVE and He is well he is not weak. He is not passive about his love for you. And if you will call on him, I stand by the promise of His Word, He will not fail you if you will call on the name of Jesus, because the holy spirit is alive and well. And he will move he will not fail. He is not a respecter of persons. If you'll call on Him and give your life till he'll change everything. I'm thankful that he redeemed me. And I want you to know something. You gotta go all the way. You gotta go all the way to the finish line. And, and he'll give you strength when you're weary. He'll give you rest when you need it. He'll give you the opportunities he'll provide every need. If you'll call on him. He'll change everything about your so if I had one piece of advice for anyone, law enforcement, other first responders, anybody we live in perilous times. call on the name of Jesus. There are times where people will compromise for the sake of security for the sake of finances for the sake of opportunity. I'm going to tell you it even will even haven't been attacked for speaking truth. I'm going to tell you, there is no other way but Jesus. If you will call on the name of Jesus, He will not fail you If you will call on the name of Jesus, if you will be so desperate for Jesus, as you are, for a drink of water, for the next breaths, it will be so desperate for him as you are the things of this world that you have been, your life will be so changed that you won't even recognize where you're at. The person that I was 10 years ago was not the man I am today. A man is not and I thank God for that. Not thank God for that. So quite simply call on Jesus. Amen. Amen. He will respond and he will not fail you.
John Matarazzo:You know, Adam, at this point, and I normally ask people, the my follow up question of if you could go back in time and visit yourself and give yourself a piece of advice. From what you know now, what you would you go back in time and say, I'm going to hold off on that for just a second. Because I feel like right now is a holy moment. And you just been talking about calling on Jesus and calling out to him? Would you lead somebody in a prayer right now and just pray for people that, that what you've been saying during this almost hour has been really tugging on their hearts, I don't want to I don't want to let this moment pass by just because of some time. I want to give you the opportunity to pray with somebody to lead them. And yeah, just this is a holy moment right now. We'll get to that other question in a moment.
Adam Davis:Heavenly Father, I come before you today. And I'm so thankful for your Son, Jesus. I'm so thankful for the blood that he shed for me. I'm so thankful for your goodness for your love. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for sitting in the absolute best for me. And all those friends who are listening. You know, the desperation that I came to you with, and that I still come to you with. And I've told you so many times, I can't do this life without you. I know that there's people that put on a great show. But deep down, they're hopeless. Lord. I know that you're not a respecter of persons. I know that what you did for me, you'll do for anybody. And I'm just asking you today for that one, the one who's listening? Will you reveal your love to them in a way that will change them forever? If you can redeem a hard hearted, cynical, wretched man of a cop. You can touch anybody. And I know what I'm asking you today. Dispatch your spirit. There are people who are hurting. And there's one who hears these words and I pray that you will begin to stir in their heart. Stir in those emotions that have been experiencing pain for years. Stir up and intervene. interrupt those intrusive thoughts. Your words dance true. You never change. Father washed me with the blood of your son. Cover me before battle. Empower Me with your spirit. Cleanse me, forgive me. For all of my sins known and unknown. Satan, you're a liar. I know what you speak to people. I know the words you tell them for limitlessly. You speak into their ears, you whisper. You'd be better off dead. You should have never been born. You're such a burden, your mistake. You're worthless. Look at what you've done with your life. I know what you say to him. But you're a liar. And I don't know who all hears this. And I don't know where they're at and laugh but there's one. And I'm telling you, you're a liar. The truth of God's word stands the test of time. The blood of His Son Jesus covers their ears, their minds, their emotions, their lives, their families. They're covered by the blood. And as they call on the living God, as they call on the mighty king and the mighty warrior Jesus as the call on his power, the power of His Holy Spirit, the Comforter, you will have to flee. You were powerless. You were defeated. And you know it. Take your hands off those people. Take your hands off of their emotions. Take your hands off their eyes. Take your hands off their hearts, take your hands off their ears. You defeated foe and go back to where you came from. And take all your minions with you Not on my watch. Heavenly Father, I thank you today for victory in the hearts and lives of those that are dealing with hopelessness, that are dealing with worry that are dealing with anxiety that are dealing with depression, depression, or any other mental battle, spiritual battle, relational battle, financial battle, you are the victor, you are the hero of my story. And I asked you to rise strong and become the hero of theirs. Deliver victory. Stir up hope, once again, in the heart of every man and woman in this nation. Reza Rick, the church, the body in America, resurrect the burning fire of who you are in the heart of every man and woman, boy and girl, from school, house to courthouse, from playground, to bars, to jail houses to police departments and fire houses, in the cars on the way to work to home everywhere in between Holy Spirit begin to stir and move draw men and women to you. Because I believe following you should be the way and it is the way do what you do. I'll leave the rest up to you. In Jesus name. Amen. Amen.
John Matarazzo:Amen. Thank you so much, Adam. Absolutely. I really feel God's anointing on that prayer and covers so much right there. My question that I gotta I gotta wrap up here with is, you know, Adam, if you could go back in time and visit yourself at a younger age, knowing what you know, now, what advice would you give yourself? What's going on in your life at that time that you would want to receive that,
Adam Davis:I would go back and I would say, Adam, there's going to be people who hurt you in this world. There's going to be people who try to manipulate you in this world. And you may never see a devil with horns or a weird looking tail or a pitchfork. But He uses people, but in the very same manner. When people say yes to God, they become his hands and feet. So you may experience pain, you will experience trouble, people may do you wrong. But that is not a reflection of who God is. Keep your feet moving, no matter how bad the storm rages, keep your feet moving towards Jesus, call him when the pain becomes unbearable, call on him. When the thoughts seem to be crashing, you call on him. You can't control what other people do. But you can control how you respond one day, you won't be a little boy anymore. One day you will be a man. And when you become a man, you can fight back. And that's exactly what you're gonna do. Surrender yourself to human every moment. And prepare to fight.
John Matarazzo:Amen. Sounds like you've thought that out very well.
Adam Davis:No, I just happened to just happen.
John Matarazzo:Oh my gosh, that I could picture you talking to a younger version of yourself. Oh, man that just encapsulated everything that you've just been talking about.
Adam Davis:And I appreciate that, man. Thank you. I love how you said
John Matarazzo:you're going to deal with these things, you know, in the Bible Promises that in this world, you will have trouble. Take heart because I have overcome the world. That's what Jesus says. And if we align ourselves with him, we will be able to live unconquered 100%. You know, I want to just encourage people to check out your website, the Adam davis.com, as well as I am unconquered.com. And you can find all of his information there. You can get his books, prayers and promises for first responders behind the badge. Other books as well. You know, Adam, just tell me a little bit about living unconquered, as we're wrapping up here and why people need to take those steps. And those four pillars. Yeah.
Adam Davis:So I wanted to create something that I could take into government agencies. So I created something that is obviously based on my relationship with Jesus and my faith in God. But it was secular in nature. It was births flying out of Minnesota in early 2021. And a talk that I had entitled sheepdog and conquered, which is a topic for another day. But living in Concord doesn't mean you're not going to have scars. It doesn't mean you're not going to sustain some wounds along the way. It doesn't mean you're not going to fall. It doesn't mean that you're not going to give into temptation. It doesn't mean that you're not going to sin. It just means that when you do you continue to move forward towards Jesus, He is the center of it all, you understand that the pain is real. But so as the healer, you understand that you can't control everyone else, but you can take care of this right here. You know that you can't carry all the burdens in the world, but you can surrender to Him. And you know that in the power of the Holy Spirit, you can develop an uncommon resolve. Those are just four of the 10 and the unconquered code. It is important to realize this because I know that someone out there today is walking around saying I feel defeated, I feel beat down. Nothing I can do works. And I'm going to tell you something. His Word says that you're more than a conqueror. This is not talking about riches and lining your pockets, I'm going to tell you something, when you get this, and I'm pointing to my heart right here, when you get this squared away, and when this prospers, all the other things lined up, because when you seek Him first, all the other things come to you that you need. You'll never have to worry about a thing another day in your life. Because you know, he is in control. He is the one in control, and he's going to give you the opportunities you need. He's going to order your steps. God is faithful. I'm telling you, 110%, God is faithful. I don't know what you need. I don't know what your where your pain is. I don't know what you're struggling with. But there's a God who lives today. He has not in a grave. He lives today, and he's more powerful than you could ever imagine. And his love is more pure than you could ever fathom. And his peace is real. And so that's what living in Concord means. It means I may have been raped. I may have been abused. I may have seen a lot, but he lives and he lives in me and because of him, I can live eternally as well.
John Matarazzo:Amen, amen. And you can be unconquered to checking out I am unconquered.com, as well as the Adam davis.com. For more information, all those links will be in the show notes as well. Adam, thank you so much for taking the time and allowing me to join you along your way.
Adam Davis:Thank you so much. Appreciate you.
John Matarazzo:I hope that you enjoyed my conversation with Adam Davis. I'll be providing his information in the show notes. Thank you for listening to along the way. If you've enjoyed joining me along my way, please share this with a friend who you think will be encouraged by this podcast. Also, please rate and review along the way on iTunes. That helps more people discover along the way. And subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening. You can follow me on Facebook, Instagram and on my website along the way dot media. I hope that you've enjoyed this part of my journey and may you realize when Jesus is walking with you along your way. Along the way is honored to be part of the charisma Podcast Network. You can find tons of spirit filled content from their vast catalogue of podcasts, including my news stories with the charisma news podcast. Go to CPN shows.com To see the full list and latest episodes
