TESTIMONY
The New Life of Joseph Stallings
By Lori Stewart
The 700 Club
CBN.com
– Joseph Stallings: Everybody thought my money was coming from being a mortgage broker because there was a lot of money in it. So, at daytime I’m in a button-up shirt with a tie, looking all GQ going to work. I’d go home, get dressed, and we’d go to the clubs. By the time we got to the clubs, people were calling us and saying they wanted drugs.
I thought I was gonna be some kingpin drug dealer. I did one line of cocaine and got hooked. That’s when everything really started going downhill. I thought I was either going to be dead by the time I turned 25 or I was going to be in jail.
My mom she called me, and she was like, “You need to come back to church.” Why do I need to come back to church? There’s nothing there for me. She was like, “Well, you might find a nice woman.” I said, who? She’s like, “Madeline.” I’m like, “What?” So I started going back to church. I’m playing [in the church worship band], and nobody really knows everything, yet.
Madeline Stallings: He was partly honest, but I never really got the whole truth from him. He only gave me what I needed to know.
Joseph: So I’m going to church, playing the piano. I’m not singing at that time really. My brother and sister are leading worship. As soon as church gets out, I’m gone. That night I’m back in the streets.
The way my parents felt about me doing worship in church and in this lifestyle, they told me, “Go ahead and play. We’re gonna pray for you. Don’t think that we condone it.” God told them that “his deliverance was in his praise.” And I’m thinking, ‘Ya’ll have no clue how deep I am.’
Madeline: He hid it so well. I was really surprised, because you go to church every Sunday. You play the keyboard.
Joseph: Nobody could tell that I was on drugs. I was really good at hiding it. You couldn’t tell.
Madeline: I didn’t know I married a drug dealer. I really didn’t.
Joseph: One day I was just like, I’m gonna tell her, and I could see the devastation on her face. She was really upset. It really hurt her.
Madeline: I remember one day driving home banging on the steering wheel saying, “God, why did You give me this person? Why? I don’t deserve this.” Clear as day, He said, “Because I needed you to make him better.” There was a lot of nights I stayed up, and I couldn’t sleep. I just prayed for him, just asked God to protect him.
Joseph: I was in this house. I’m going upstairs to sell this guy drugs, and his gun drops out of his pants. He apologizes, and I’m like, “What are you doing?” He throws it in his room and closes the door. We go in this other room, and we start weighing out the drugs. I leave, and two weeks later I get this call. One of my friends got shot in the head by the guy that I just sold drugs to. God tells me, “That should have been you.” I hear it so clearly. Right there, when that situation happened, that’s when I began to start praying again. He just began to show up. He began to show up and wrap His arms around me, love me and tell me that I can do this.
My sister used to tell me, “Can you come play for me?” I’ve got to sing with Gordon at this class, and God would move. He’d move, and I could see the things that were going on. I could feel the anointing, and sometimes I would just cry. I could do nothing else but cry.
Madeline: I’m so excited for what God’s doing right now. It’s amazing to see this strong bull-headed person in the streets turn his life over to Christ and be used with his same personality but for the kingdom of Heaven. I’m so proud of him.
Joseph: Then I start going to minister’s class at my parents’ church, got my minister’s license, started preaching at the church, and then preaching at the Spiritual Gifts Webcast.
Madeline: He loves with his whole heart. He’s not mean. The love of God has really changed the mean, angry “J” or “J-Boogey” as they used to call him in the streets. He’s no longer that person. He’s totally sold out for Christ, and it’s an honor to be his wife.
Joseph: I’m enjoying life. I’m enjoying God. I’m enjoying my wife. I’m enjoying my family. I’ve just got so much joy now. In my old pictures, I wouldn’t even smile. They’d be like, “Who is this?” Now I’m smiling all the time.
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