Crossroads Live at 10:00 a.m.

[Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] do [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] hello and welcome to crossroads we are so thankful that you have chosen to join us for today's experience in just a moment our band will come out and lead us through a time of worship and then we will hear a powerful message rooted in god's word all together we'll be in this experience for just about an hour and if this is your first time with us we would love the opportunity to connect with you if you're online all you have to do is text new to 55757 and if you're here with us in person you can scan that qr code on the seat back in front of you all just to say thank you for worshipping with us today we would like to buy you a cup of coffee but once again from all of us here at crossroads thank you for joining us let's get ready to worship he's been such a good guy man if you know that he's been a good guy come on put your hands together [Music] and if you know it sing with us i give you glory for all you brought me through and now i'm ready for whatever you wanna do [Music] and now i'm ready for whatever you want come on everybody [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] the cross before [Music] and in you jesus [Music] is [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] [Applause] come on we want you to invite him in let him come in like never before amen [Music] i know breakthrough is [Music] and it won't stop now [Music] i know i know [Music] i know [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] come on join me and sing with us your presence is [Music] no [Music] jesus is faithful amen whether we are on the mountaintop right now or we are in the valley let him find us praising his name with everything we have no matter what comes amen let's continue to worship this morning [Music] [Music] you keep i hope you'll find me without your mercy so i keep praising your name [Music] is [Music] why would i assume you'd be somebody i know you're gonna be there every day [Music] [Music] is [Applause] [Music] i hope [Music] [Applause] [Music] without your mercy so i keep praising your name at the top of my lord [Music] [Music] jesus when [Applause] amen i don't know about you but i need jesus all day long anybody else need him all day long amen we're so grateful for him and we're so grateful that his mercy is new every morning we woke up to it this morning and he's the king of our heart so we're going to continue to worship together [Music] and let the king of my heart be the mountain where i run the fountain i dream from [Music] you're good [Music] [Music] you are good [Music] inside my sails [Music] [Music] is [Music] [Music] days [Music] you are good [Music] [Music] you're never gonna lie you're never gonna let me down sing it like you believe it he'll never do it you're never gonna lie you're never gonna let me down [Music] oh [Music] you're [Music] [Music] you're good [Music] let me down [Music] you're never gonna go [Music] oh [Music] you are good [Music] come [Music] are on just need a reminder that he never stops [Music] let's thank him for his goodness we can smile no matter what we're going through because of his goodness amen thank you lord good morning crossroads will you pray with me heavenly father we love you because you first loved us thank you for the privilege of worshiping you today help us approach this time of communion with reverence and father we are just so grateful to be here in your presence and we just are are so wonderfully appreciative of everything that you have done as we remember jesus sacrifice on the cross for us may we honor you as we take the bread that represents jesus body the juice that represents his blood that was poured out for us thank you for loving us through jesus and may we love you back with everything we've got father for those watching online and those here on campus who haven't heard of the message of salvation i pray father that they take that first step of faith so they too can claim heaven as the eternal home thank you for your promises and the hope that we have all because of your great love for us and help us keep our focus on you this week thank you in your son's precious name jesus amen [Music] [Music] so [Music] you know when i think about the blessings of god usually i associate that with receiving something except jesus said that it is more blessed to give than to receive you know right now we have an opportunity to experience the blessing of giving back to jesus i hope you'll join me in that you know if you're online today you can give at crossroadschristian.org give any of us in the room you can scan the seat back in front of you scroll down to the give button or you can give the old-fashioned way in a giving box in the back of the room no matter how you choose to give i hope you will experience the the blessing of giving today let's pray together for today's offering lori thank you for giving us a place to come and to worship you god i thank you for jesus for for the sacrifice that he made on the cross for us god i thank you for for the opportunity to be blessed by giving back to you now we know that you bless us in so many different ways but lord right now i pray that that we would give back that we would further your mission here at crossroads and your mission globally furthering the the kingdom to go to spread the gospel to people that they need to hear god i pray that that you be in the rest of this service today lord that you would use michael's testimony to draw us back closer to you that you would challenge us in ways that we might not have been challenged before lord to take those steps of faith towards you well we thank you for jesus and this is in his name we pray amen [Music] i was hopeless i knew i was [Music] for lost only songs i needed someone to come rescue me and mercy hurt [Music] thank you jesus [Music] what your mercy did for me [Music] you gave me beauty for my guilty and now i'm living every day by his grace so excuse me if i have to give my praise cause i know i know that i'm safe [Music] thank you jesus [Applause] that's what your mercy did for me [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] me me [Applause] [Music] you healed me [Music] thank you jesus [Music] [Applause] [Music] is [Music] that's what your mercy did for me [Music] [Music] that's what your mercy for [Music] well it's been me amazing weekend at crossroads how many of you were at one of the breakfasts yesterday men or women look at that wow it was amazing i think uh i think we started something yesterday with women's breakfast it was uh amazing amount of people who came and and what a privilege to have michael and camille francis with us um michael was here back and i think 2018 and for some reason we became friends and communicate on a regular basis and there's a number of times when i i'll text him or call him or something and ask him a question and he's always gracious and it's just been fun to have him here and i've heard him i've heard him speak a number of times now even on youtube if you're not following him on youtube you need to check him out we're close to 700 000 people follow him on youtube there's a reason why he's become a great voice for jesus christ i want to encourage you to do that but you can also get a copy of their book we have some of these books left this book if you love mob stories you want to know the truth and not not just some made-up deal you'll want to get this book and his wife's book this thing of ours we've almost sold out of these but as soon as this service is over if you want to go to the grand hall and uh michael and camille they'll be on they'll be glad to sign those for you we want i want to encourage you to get those you'll love them i also want to tell you that i've heard him speak a number of times last hour's message may be the most powerful message ever preached from this platform so you're in for an incredible blessing this morning but before michael comes and when he comes let's give him an amazing crossroads welcome okay but before he comes watch the screens and then there was pete the killer who was sally balls's brother and you had nikki eyes what's up guys and mikey franchisee michael franzis was not just a soldier but a couple in the notorious colombo crime family he spent the better part of a decade in federal prison on charges including tax fraud racketeering and parole violation i grew up in new york where there are five organized crime families my dad sonny francis was the underboss of the columbo family back in the 1960s i went to see my dad in leavenworth in the visiting room and i said dad i'm not going to school anymore and he said okay son but if you're going to be on the street then i want you on the street the right way his mind the right way was to become a member of his life he said go home somebody be in touch with you do whatever you're told that's how it started for me he was a made member of organized crime his main forte was making money for the mob in a very short period of time he made over one billion dollars for the colombo organized crime family you're by far the most lucrative business i got involved in was the wholesale gasoline business and in a nutshell we devised a way to collect the taxes not pay the government the taxes and i was there to be in business and to make money real money life magazine called him the mob's young genius the government calls him one of the biggest money earners in the history of organized crime handsome and high living young man as rich as royalty and royal he is a prince of the mafia made millions live the flashy life and came to be known as the yuppie dawn did you fix any games in college absolutely he says he doesn't have 14 million dollars he doesn't he has about 50 million how do you know that because i personally delivered it to him i was notorious infamous maybe sophisticated at times but i was a criminal eventually you realize it's a life built on treachery and that money and power are the driving forces and i began to question the life and my commitment to the life at that time making the most money for the mob since al capone michael was the youngest person listed on fortune magazine's 50 most wealthy and powerful mob bosses now as one of the only guys from that list still alive michael has transitioned from powerful mob boss to now speaking in front of thousands of people each week a lot has changed these past 20 years but it's safe to say that michael franzis is a man on a mission [Music] thank you all very much thank you thank you appreciate that thank you very much you're all so kind in this church i really appreciate it yeah for some reason after i came here in 2018 barry and i uh we just became great friends and we've communicated quite a bit and he's been a you know a brother for me and i try to return that whenever i could and just been great so it's great to be back here how many enjoyed the men's group yesterday bunch of us okay how many enjoyed the ladies breakfast yesterday guys i'm a little bit upset you a little bit upset because my wife did outdraw me yesterday and i never heard the end of it all night long but that was great no she was terrific and i i really appreciate all of you uh that showed up for her but you know it really is great to be here again you know i've been over uh probably 1600 churches and ministries throughout the past 20 some odd years and for some reason you just gain an affection for a few that really stand out and crossroads has been one of them so it's great to return i really appreciate you having me again and you know i have a very tough job here this morning it was even tougher in the first service because my time is a little bit more limited but i have a very tough job because what i have to do right now is in the next 30 minutes let you understand the magnitude of what the lord has done in my life and i always say this i can give my testimony in six minutes six hours or six days you give me the time i'm ready to go but it's hard when you only have this little bit of time because you need to understand how gracious how wonderful how merciful and how blessed you know the lord has been in my life and the reason i say that because any of you i don't know any of you here this morning but i know some of you have come in with heavy hearts you're struggling about something you're going through something if you're not going through it now you went through it yesterday or god forbid maybe tomorrow that's just life things happen and some of us you know we just believe that we're just too far gone god can't help us he doesn't have a purpose in our life and i'm here specifically to talk to all of you and for those of you that are not going through that will understand we can never get too much of the lord so you got to listen up you got to understand that god is always at work in people's lives so selfishly i want all of you to walk out of here a little bit differently than when you walk in i take ministry very very seriously god has done amazing things in my life and it's my obligation to share it it's all of our obligations to share mark 16 15 tells all of us that believe in the lord go out and preach and share the good word with all of creation and that's all of our obligation i take mine very very seriously because of what god has done in my life and realize this i'm just a messenger here this morning when we come up here it's not about us it's about what the lord has done in our lives and realizing that i'm just a messenger i know that god wants to touch your heart here this morning somebody's going to be impacted no doubt about it i'm going to be at the book table somebody's going to come over to me it happens every service and say mike i really needed to be here it happened this morning the message really touched my heart now it might be one person might be 10 might be everybody in the room i don't know and i don't worry about that that's god's deal my prayer is always lord let me be effective let me be passionate enough in delivering the message so that you can reach out and touch the heart that you want to touch in here this morning and that's what my prayer is every time i step on the stage so that's it for this morning now i want you to know those of you that might be struggling please listen up because what god has done in my life i take no credit for because i ran from it i didn't want any part of it i didn't believe it at first but god doesn't let us go he just won't when he's got a plan and a purpose for us and he does for every single one of us he's going to fulfill it and the only way he won't is if you don't allow him to and that's the deal and remember this your purpose in life might be to bring one person to the lord but if that's your purpose that's your purpose and remember all of heaven rejoices when one person comes into the kingdom so if that's your purpose you and i are on equal standing we fulfill it that's it so please listen to the message i am going to tell you a mob story but don't focus on that you want to see me in the mob stuff i'm all over youtube documentaries go watch the godfather goodfellas ladies don't watch your goodfellas a little bit offensive but guys you can handle it it's okay all right but the mob stuff is all over the place what you need to focus on is what how god used a very dark time in my life to bring me to where i am today and remember this people okay it's no greater a message than in my life what the enemy meant for bad god will turn around and use for his glory no matter what you've been through in your life no matter how bad it was no matter how terrible it was god can turn that around and use it for his glory remember that and if anything i'm an example of that my dad sonny francis was the under boss of the colombo family back in the 1960s very powerful position in that life you have a boston underboss a copper regime a captain and a soldier many of you have seen the godfather there is a position called consolieri robert duvall played that role played it brilliantly i might add but in the godfather it was fictional because in order to be a sworn made member of that life and take the oath you do take an oath your father must be italian mom can be of another descent but dad must be italian my dad in terms of law enforcement investigation media attention very high profile always under investigation always a major target of law enforcement i grew up i'm sure quite differently than everybody in this room i grew up hating the police i hated them i hated law enforcement i hated the government and not because my dad taught me that way he was smart he taught me to respect the law but it was really because of what i witnessed as a kid growing up their tactician techniques against organized crime were very different back in my day than they are today today everything is very covert undercover informants high-tech surveillance equipment today a guy can be under investigation not really know about it until it's too late back in my day when they were under investigation they wanted you to know about it for a period of about 10 years when i was a kid growing up first in brooklyn later long island my dad was under investigation seven or eight different agencies fbi irs queen detective brooklyn d.a nassau county you name it they are on him every one of these agencies had a car parked around my house 24 hours a day seven days a week they had us surrounded on all sides i was one of seven kids whenever we as a family would leave to go anywhere we had a parade of law enforcement vehicles following us everybody knew when we were coming into town and i had many run-ins with them i witnessed some things that were very unpleasant i'm a kid 10 years old playing ball in the street we lived on kind of an incline a guy throws a ball my friend throws a ball it goes over my head rolls down to where two agents are sitting in the car guy on the driver's side gets out he's a big burly guy right he stops the ball with his foot i walk up to him i said sir can i have my ball back please and he looks at me he had a suit jacket on pulls the jacket aside had a gun in there and he said this is for your old man one day kind of scary when you're a 10 year old kid you know i had a lot of incidents like that with them so i didn't like them very much back then but i want to make this very clear right now especially to all the young people here i do not feel that way anymore i finally realized in my life that they were the good guys we were the bad guys at least most of the time look any walk of life anybody can get out of hand nobody's perfect but you know people it's amazing how god can uh not only transform a heart and i know you can do he can do that but how he can transform a mind how this whole distorted view i had growing up where good was bad and bad was good god's been able to fix that and today some of my dearest friends are in law enforcement all over this country and not because i share information i don't do that i didn't put anybody in prison we're just friends many of us brothers and sisters in christ and i learned through this experience that we really are all one in the kingdom of god all of us we really are all one we have that common bond of jesus christ we really are all one and it was different back then but i love my dad i didn't care what people said about him what i read in a newspaper great father great husband to my mother i idolized my dad growing up and um he got in some very real trouble back in the 60s he was indicted several times three times in the state of new york twice for grand larceny once for homicide went to trial on all three of those cases eventually he was acquitted found not guilty 1966 he's indicted in federal court for masterminding a nationwide string of bank robberies after a lengthy trial he's convicted in 1967 he's sentenced to 50 50 years in prison longest sentence for a bank robbery conspiracy case ever given up to that point 1970 he loses all his appeals they ship them off to leavenworth penitentiary to do his time i was a pre-med student at hofstra university my dad didn't want this life for me wanted me to go to school be a doctor stay off the street son get a get an education that's what it was all about but i'm a pre-med student when dad went in he was 50 years old when he went in figured 50 years on top of that my dad would die in prison i was devastated devastated my whole family was joe colombo at that point in time the boss of my family kind of took me under his wing started meeting a lot of my dad's friends mike what are you doing going to school if you don't help your old man out he's going to die in prison people i want to tell you this i went to a prison for a crime that i was guilty of i pled guilty i did my time my dad did a lot of bad things no doubt in his life but that particular crime that he did all that time for my dad did 40 years on that 50. my dad was innocent enough he was no bank robber i'll take that to my grave i investigated that case thoroughly we spoke to every witness that testified against them they recanted their testimony we gave them lie detected tests proved that they lied at the trial we could never get the conviction overturned went up to the supreme court can never get it overturned what does that show you it's what i tell all the young people i have a great young people prison ministry i visit them in juvenile halls i speak to these gang bangers i have a heart for kids i got seven of my own six grandchildren i don't want to see these kids go astray met too many of them in prison that were suffering long prison sentences because they came out of bad situations i get it and i tell them straight out the system is not always fair you put that bull's-eye on your back you keep doing the wrong thing you hang around with the wrong people eventually you're going to go down it's not always fair that's it the best way to stay away from it stay away from it don't get involved in that stuff surround yourself with the right people i tell these young people you are who you hang out with in this world hang with the wrong crowd you're going to be influenced in the wrong way you're going to go in the wrong direction of course they'll influence you you know people when i came to christ i didn't get a lobotomy i don't forget the 20 some odd years i put on the street i get off a plane in new york somebody looks at me the wrong way hey man what's up it's like boom it goes right back i'm the mob guy again like that but i've been so blessed surrounding myself with the right people people that want to see me do the right way i nourish myself in the morning okay i keep this kind of jesus conscious so i don't screw up during the day we have to surround ourselves with the right people with god-loving people that want to see us do right that's the message i give young kids so people i go to universities i go to high schools if i do come don't worry i give the kids the right message and like i said i love my dad and i got very influenced by the guys i go see him in leavenworth penitentiary dad i'm not going to school if i don't help you out you're going to die in here he was upset no son i don't want this for you we kind of argued a little bit i was a head strong kid he knew my mind was made up he said okay son but if you're going to be on the street i want you on the street the right way in his mind right way was to become a member of his life he said go home somebody will be in touch with you do whatever you're told that was it he didn't prepare me he didn't tell me anything about the life obviously i grew up in it but that's a secret life you're not supposed to talk about that life with anybody outside of it and if my dad was anything he was a good soldier he wouldn't violate that code even with me his own son you just knew i had it in me go home do what you were told that was it you know what i didn't question my dad i loved him so much i had blind faith in whatever my dad wanted me to do okay dad point me in that direction if it's going to help you i'm ready and you know this meeting was very significant for me obviously my dad was proposing me into a criminal lifestyle but more than that because of this meeting when i came to christ i didn't go easy i challenge god i say hey god wait a second man i trusted my father more than anything i followed him blindly into this life and look where it got me got me in a very bad place i'll get to that take it a step further in my life i took a blood oath i surrendered my life to cause an oyster people you give it up you get into that life you got to give it up body mind and soul or you don't survive i said i did this twice in my life god and look where it got me i can't do this again if you really are god if this bible was written by men but inspired by you the blueprint for our life that's how i look at the bible it's god's word in our life and if you're telling me the only way to get to heaven through jesus christ well you know what god you got to prove it to me man you got to show me the evidence and people i know a little bit about evidence i've been to trial five times i've been to more grand juries than there are people in this section of the room i've been to more parole hearings than this section of the room i'm in front of the supreme court on constitutional issues i know the law evidence has played a major role in my life i think in terms of evidence i always say you're not selling me the brooklyn bridge when i'm paying attention i got to see the facts you got to prove it to me and i want to tell you this and i'm speaking specifically to the men when i finally opened up my heart and my stubborn mind and said show me god didn't get mad at me i think he said okay my son if you're ready to open up your heart mind i'm ready to show you because i am god and i do have the evidence and i will tell you this when i did that i found there is more evidence more rock solid evidence not any pastor trying to push something down my throat or anything else there is more evidence to prove that the bible is god's word and that jesus is my risen savior because i don't know about any of you i don't put my faith in anybody that's dead and buried in a tomb i learned long ago dead people don't help us there's more evidence to prove that than there is anything that exists in the world i did the work i could say this confidently and i'll tell you how i did the work and you know people you can't love somebody you don't know you can't truly believe in something that you don't know but it's incumbent upon you to do it god didn't make us robots he wants us to come to him willingly what does paul tell us test everything and hold on to the good do the work and i guarantee you'll come away the way i because the evidence is strong people strong so i left it that day two weeks later a captain in the family picked me up took me to see the boss i sat with the boss his name was tom de bella he's passed on now tom said to me i got a message from your father he said you want to become a member of our life is that true i said yes here's the deal from now on 24 hours a day seven days a week are on call to serve this family the colombo family that means if your mother is sick and she's dying and you're at her bedside we call you the service you leave your mother you come and serve us from now on we're number one in your life before anything and everything when and if we feel you deserve this privilege this honor to become a member we'll let you know people are mobs not a business it's a way of life it's a whole subculture from everything else that exists we affect everybody around us family friends people we do business with for the next two and a half years i was in kind of like a pledge period i was a recruit how to do anything and everything i was told to do to prove myself worthy could have been something very menial a lot of discipline in that life a lot of authority you had a meeting at eight o'clock you weren't there at 7 30. you were late can never be late in that life drive the boss to a meeting sit in a car four hours god forbid you walk out get a uh you know go to the restroom get a newspaper he comes out you're not there you're in trouble i know i did that once i paid for the i paid for it and i want to be really honest with you this morning because you need to understand where god has brought me in my life and this is not for me and it's not easy for me to tell you this but it's for all those of you that are struggling and say you know what god can never forgive me i've been so far away from his grace and mercy he can never help me i want you to hear this that life at times is very violent and if you're part of the life you're part of the violence and there's no escape and if anybody tells you differently they're either not being honest with you or they weren't a maid member that life and i think you all know what i mean and if you believe god has done a work in my life then what are you worried about after about two and a half years i proved myself worthy it was halloween night 1975 i was walked into a room with five other gentlemen that night we all took an oath became sworn made members of the colombo family i took that off very seriously back then i take it seriously this morning even though i don't consider myself a member of that life anymore coming to the life you don't sign a contract there's no retirement age can't say hey i'm done you know what they say they say when you leave that life either leaving a coffin or you join the government and enter a witness protection program obviously i've done neither solemn ceremony dimly lit room late at night the six of us walked in individually boss seated at the head of a horseshoe configuration under boss conciliary to his left and right and all of our copper regimes are captains were alongside of them we had about 15 in our family at that point in time walked down the aisle stood in front of the boss held out my hand took a knife right here cut my finger some blood dropped on the floor this is a blood oath i cupped my hands he took a picture of a saint a catholic altercard put it in my hands littered a flame it didn't hurt burnt quickly was merely symbolic and he said something to me that night i don't recall ever hearing in my life before and i grew up as a catholic catholic school from kindergarten right through high school an altar boy the whole bit but for some reason for me catholicism was like a subject in school i didn't understand that this whole life is about a relationship with jesus i'm not blaming catholics it just didn't work for me when he said this it was the first time i recall hearing it he said tonight michael francis you are born again into a new life and to cause an orchestra violate what you know about this life betray your brothers and you will die and you'll burn in hell like the saint is burning in your hands he said do you accept and i said yes i do serious commitment people life-changing commitment the other five guys walked in the room they all took the oath you come into the life you come in as a soldier i was motivated to do two things number one get my dad out of prison i did get him out after 10 years my dad was in and out five times on parole kept violating for associating with with another known criminal you can't do that when you're on federal parole he ended up doing 40 years on the 50. he got out of prison in 2017 at the age of 100 he was the oldest inmate at the system at the time of his release he passed away last year in february at the age of 103 the oldest living mobster in america for sure probably in the world i don't think anybody lived to that age but he had a rough last 50 years of his life trust me on that so secondly i wanted to make money my dad says in this life you make money translates to power not unlike the real world you saw the dvd no need to get into that i was fortunate knew how to use that life to benefit me in business i was very aggressive on the street brought some new things into the family hadn't been done before went on to make a very significant amount of money 1980 boss of my family come on percicle uh who died in prison two years ago he was convicted on the mob commission case by rudy giuliani got a 100 year sentence he said mike you're doing a great job for the family you want to make you a cop regime a captain that's an official position very powerful position and from 1980 until 95 i operated in that capacity and i want to tell you where i was in 1984 when i believe god started to make this transition in my life we didn't know it who knows what's happening right but here's what happened 1984 i'm a captain in the family they were grooming me to be the boss of the underboss my father that was his plan i think the boss was going along with it who knows i became a major target of law enforcement myself i was indicted five times i had two federal racketeering cases one brought on by rudy giuliani i beat every case i beat giuliani on that big case if i didn't i would be wouldn't be here today he would have given me at least 50 years i was arrested 18 or 19 times i was fortunate i had uh fortunate at that time i had devised a scheme to defraud the government out of tax on every gallon of gasoline i ran it for eight years russian mob guys were my partners height of my operation we're bringing in 8 to 10 million a week i have my own jet plane my own helicopter house in florida house of new york house in marina del rey california i had 300 guys under me ready to do anything i told him to do top of the world ma beat all of these cases got all this money going to be the boss of a major mafia family at the age of 31 32 top of the world then something happened among many things i was doing i was making movies i had a production company in l.a smokey robinson was is good friend comes to me with a uh uh screenplay for a breakdance movie a lot of music a lot of damn a lot of rap music but that's when you can listen to rap music on a radio not like today forget about this stuff today but back then it was cool sugar hill gang run dmc to fat boys curtis blog old school rap liked it i said smokey i'll make the movie let's film it in florida i got a house down here like the walmart the great we're filming it in florida i got to run through this a lot quicker than i would like to because this is this is kind of the highlight in many ways but anyway i bring casting crew from la to work in the movie i bring 17 professional dancers we had just finished pre-production we were into uh we're going to start principal photography on a monday sunday i throw a party for everyone in the back of the hotel i'm sitting by the pool minding my own business and this gorgeous 20 year old girl comes out of the water everything goes in slow motion was like a pepsi commercial guys you get this right make a long story short for those of you that know the story that young girl is now my wife of 37 years i felt very much in love with her young christian girl who had a mom that was the most godly woman i ever met in my life and between these two young women god got my attention and turned and transformed my entire life never underestimate the power of a christian woman i can tell you that vanity vanity fair magazine once wrote a story about the two of us and i had a picture of uh of my wife in there and under it it said uh the woman that changed the face of organized crime in america that's the power of god in someone's life here's what's happening people i fall in love with her and for some reason my love for her became more powerful than this lifelong bond this love this adoration i had for my dad more powerful than my blood oath now how do you explain this she wasn't the first beautiful woman i met in my life but there was something about her obviously that something was god so i realized these two women i was a direct contradiction to everything they believed in how's this going to work so i knew i had to make a change long story short they were indicting me on another big racketeering case i decided to take a plea do some prison time marry camille move out to the west coast get off on parole after i finish my time maybe the guys will forget about me i can't associate with them live out happily ever after in california with my wife that was my plan had nothing to do with god but god wasn't going to let me back door there she had a different plan for me so i take a plea 10-year prison sentence 15 million restitution gave up the plane to helicopter the whole bit married camille in july go off to prison in december we were married four months people i'm not the story here my wife is a story she's 21 years old she didn't have a clue she anything about the mob she's from anaheim california she's the dance in disneyland she had no clue who i was and she will tell you and she probably said this yesterday i love my husband but if god wasn't in the foundation of my marriage i would have never made it through contract of my life when i walked away serious my father went against me it was serious stuff people government all over me tried to turn me into a witness hard time in prison they would put me on diesel therapy move me to all these prisons in the country trying to break me down we had a tough first five years in that prison i get out on parole 13 months big shot mob guy made all this money on the street i couldn't get anything going in la it was like a fish out of water after 13 months of hide and seek people coming out to hurt me me and my wife having to move it was a mess after 13 months like a fool i mean a fool i fall into a trap violate my parole i'm walking out of a bank 15 agents lock me up put me in a paddy wagon take me down go to my house with a search warrant cleaned us out told my wife quote your husband will never see the street again we're indicting him on a new racketeering case we've violated his parole he's done told me the same thing they threw me into that six i almost lost her then she couldn't come and see me for six seven weeks she was devastated thank god for her mom her mom and my church who held her up at that time i loved the church because they kept my marriage together people have believed in us and loved us and my mother-in-law prayed me to where i am today no doubt i'm in the hole the first night that sir francis we're done with you we don't want you to cooperate you will never see the street again we're indicting you on a new racketeering case we violated your parole you're done that first night people worst night of my life now i've experienced every emotion in life from ecstasy right down to grief everything in between i've lived a pretty full life but by far the worst emotion you could ever feel in your life is hopelessness when you feel it's all over nothing you can do to help yourself everything that's dear to you is gone i said i'm gonna spend the rest of my life in this six by eight cell they can't put me out on the yard i got everybody looking to hurt me i'm gonna spend the rest of my life here i used to demean people that were suicidal i call them weak how do you not face up to your troubles i don't do that anymore i wasn't suicidal that night but you know what i confess i want to lay my head on that cot and not wake up it was too painful to think of my future i said god just take me take me i can't deal with this rest of my life in a six by eight cell without a window no good take me i'm laying there and i just wanted to die call me weak whatever you want prison guard walks by my cell looks in france you don't look good are you okay i said get away from me man i don't want to see any of you guys tonight they were going to transport me back to brooklyn in the morning that man left he'd come back about a minute later pushes something through the slot on the door falls on the floor i hear a thump i'm kind of groggy i looked down was a bible i don't want a bible i wanted a bottle of prozac or something i'm telling you this i don't know feeling sorry for myself angry at the world i jumped off that cot i picked up that bible i slammed it against the cinderblock wall as hard as i could it's like everything came out of me took me another minute i said you know what i got nothing but enemies it's only me and god in this cell i believed in god to me it makes sense to believe in god i believe in intelligent design can't believe that all this came out of some bang and a piece of that makes sense god makes sense i picked up that book i looked up the ceiling and i said god if you're really up there you need to give me something to make me feel better i can't deal with this and i meant it i'm holding the book i never read the bible in catholic school you read the catechism priest reads the bible from the pulpit on sunday the gospel i didn't read the bible i'm holding i don't even know where to begin i didn't have to because i believe the holy spirit was in that cell with me it falls open to the book of proverbs coincidence i don't think so analytical guys show me the proof solomon was brilliant when god said to solomon in book of kings nobody before you will ever be his wise and nobody after you will ever be his wives with the exception of jesus had a little advantage he was god nobody was as brilliant as solomon i'm reading a book i'm starting to get a little bit forgetting what i'm going through there and then i come to a verse that stops me cold first time the lord spoke to my heart proverbs 16 7 when a man's ways are pleasing to the lord even his enemies are at peace with him you know what got me the enemies i had nothing but enemies and then all of a sudden it's like something brought me back and i got convicted when a man's ways are pleasing to the lord and i said to myself who are you kidding you're a mobster you're still a mobster you're in love with a christian but you are who you are i got convicted and people i've never seen i mean i've never heard the holy spirit of god speak to me audibly i've never seen him in a dream i don't have that gift some people do i don't but he speaks to my heart all the time because i have a relationship with him now first time he spoke that i listened why desperate caused me to read on a little bit more and it came to a verse it's become the verse of my life and i believe it should be the verse of everyone of your lives and i don't want to tell you what to do but i'm a former mob guy i have a tendency to do that proverbs chapter 3 verses 5 and 6 says trust in the lord with all your heart lean not on your own understanding because sometimes we don't have the answer i didn't have it that night in all of your ways all of your ways acknowledge him because he's god and he deserves it and catch this verse because i looked up the translation he will not he can or not he might he will make your path straight people that's the night i challenge god trusted my dad took a blood oath look where i am prove it to me god the big racketeering case they were bringing against me fell apart they gave me four years on the parole violation i spent 35 months and 13 days in prison 29 months and seven days in that hole six by eight cell 24 7 me and god people that's not easy i'm telling you right now we weren't meant to be solo creatures we were meant to be social at night when those lights went off a lot of moaning and groaning a lot of guys couldn't handle it me i dove into my bible you see my prison bible more of my notes than there is scripture i had my wife send me in every book i said honey i ain't taking this lightly i want to hear about every faith send me everything over 400 books i read about every faith and i came out concluding beyond any doubt not beyond a reasonable doubt which is our standard of proof in our criminal justice system here in america beyond any doubt that the bible is god's word and jesus is my risen savior and from the time i walked out of prison all he did was show me more proof not only in my life but in the lives of so many others that have incredible testimonies of what god has done in their lives because they allowed him to now i never thought i was going to be preaching the word i never knew any of this god took me by the hand and showed me through struggles and challenges this is my purpose in your life go out and do it and people we are all meant to be disciples every one of us have an obligation in today's world we are needed more than ever amen now i want to tell you how effective god was in my life and how effective he can be in your life so that you understand the power of god in someone's life my book blood covenant guys you want to read a mob story it's a mob story i don't sugarcoat anything ladies it's a love story story about me and my wife how we got together but really it's a story about how god can transform a life i just want you to read the inside cover when i walked away in 95 everybody predicted my death inside cover life magazine quote if he holds to what he has promised he'll mark the first time a high-ranking member of the mafia will publicly walk away from his past and live ed mcdonald head of the organized crime strike force my prosecutor went on national tv when i was released from prison in 95 it said quote i wouldn't want to be in michael franzisch's shoes i don't think his life expectancy is very substantial very diplomatic predicting my death bernie welch the fbi agent 25-year veteran of the street he got up there he followed it in the podium he wasn't diplomatic he said straight out michael francis will get whacked that was the information he had that was in 1995. 1975 i walked into a room with five other gentlemen we all took an oath today i'm the only one alive not one of them died in natural causes all five of them were murdered we had a big war in our family our family was constantly at war they were all murdered a little more proof that when god's got a plan nothing's gonna tangent fortune magazine written in 1986 50 biggest and most powerful mob bosses in the country huge article half the magazine they featured six of us i was one of the six out of the 50. they had a chart with the 50 of us on there according to rank wealth power i was number 18 on the list five behind john gotti my friend at the time he hadn't been made boss yet he was number 13. people don't ask me how they made that list they didn't ask for our tax returns it was stupid less believe me it's silly but uh sold a lot of magazines but you know what's not silly about that list out of that list of 50 today some 30 odd years later 48 of them are dead number 49 is doing life in prison and number 50 is here for one reason and one reason only to give praise and honor and glory to my lord and savior and my hero my hero in life jesus christ my hero for the man that he was the greatest man that ever walked the face of the earth and the savior that he is so what does this tell you it tells you that when god has got a plan and a purpose for you nothing is going to stand in the way no mafia no causing order no mob no gang no addiction no sickness not even death will stand in the way of our god fulfilling his purpose in our lives except for one thing you know what that is that's every one of us because remember this our merciful loving and gracious god is never an intruder on our lives she's always what an invited guest people if you haven't taken that step we aren't guaranteed one more second in this life it's been more obvious to me now than ever before in the world that we're living in so my prayer for you i'm going to let pastor come up now he's going to make her an offer you shouldn't refuse my prayer for you is that all of you walk out of here with the lord in your heart and accepting our savior god bless you all thank you thank you i want to encourage you that if god is working in your life today and you would like to make a decision you can either text the word next to 55757 or you can go ahead and connect with one of our hosts in the chat right now would you pray with me father we thank you for today's message we thank you for a church that believes in church online and a church that stands upon your word and father i pray that god if you've worked in our lives today and that you're convicting and encouraging us to step forward in our faith whether it's to accept jesus for the first time that father right now we will do just that father maybe we've ran off maybe we've tried to run away from you or run away from the calling you place upon our lives and father today we need to turn back around and come back to you and father today if we need to rededicate our lives i pray that we will connect with someone online one of the ministers and we will let them know our decision father today may be that we we've accepted jesus already but we've never showed the world around us we never showed our community we've never showed our family and today we need to make the decision to make our faith public through water baptism father whatever our decision is i pray that we will take a step forward in our faith and our journey with you it's in jesus name we pray amen once again if you've made a decision today as you're watching church online you can text next to 55757 or just go ahead and jump in the chat and engage with one of our hosts well thank you so much for joining us online today here at crossroads and we would love to see you either online or on campus next week at 8 45 10 or 11 30. thanks for joining us we'll see you soon you

Channel: Crossroads Christian Church

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Id: AW9eE2Qn2A4

Length: 84min 47sec (5087 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 05 2021