Skip to content From New Believer To Seasoned Veteran May 21 · 28 min ...more
From New Believer To Seasoned Veteran
May 21, 2026 · 28 min
Series Pray TV May 21, 2026 · 28 min · Pray TV
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0:01 In this episode, we're taking a cruise of 67 Corvette Stingray conference of Corvette Mike with Isley Duarte, a new Christian who's totally ignited. That Susan0:12 Mio's story of losing her husband to cancer is guaranteed to ignite your life. Hi. I'm Barry Maguire, a car guy, a businessman, and an ignited Christian having0:23 fun moving everyone every day closer to Jesus. Though small in numbers and without Bibles or churches, early church Christians turned their world upside down. We want to0:35 ignite your life by showing you what early church Christians looked like today. I'm picking up high schooler, Isley0:47 Duarte, who's excited for sharing her faith puts us all to shame. Hey. Hi there. You found us alright. Yeah. Welcome to Corvette Mike's.0:56 Thanks.0:57 Pretty cool cars around here, And we got a very special car for it. Tell you about it inside. This is a this is a Corvette Stingray. You've heard of that name before. Pretty famous cars. So come on. Let's let's let's go1:07 for a ride.1:10 Thank you.1:12 Are you ready for this? Whoo. What's that sound? Here we go. We're good. Alright? We're good.1:24 So thanks to Corvette Mike. You're in a very rare Corvette. It's a Corvette Sigra, you know. So cool. Goes back 19 67. 435 horsepower. Wow. This1:36 is this is the last of this model, and there's a few Corvettes that just rear view ring the chime for car guys, and you're in 1 of them today. So hope you enjoyed this ride. Yeah. Wow. You're a new1:48 Christian. Yeah. I mean, this is you're so spiritual and pure being a new Christian. I wanna get into that. Go back. I mean, yeah, you're growing up days and I mean, this is this is such a story.2:00 Going back, I did have a religious family. My family is religious. Yeah. But I was very young when I first started questioning, like, what am I what are we exactly, like, praising? What are we talking2:11 about? And that was probably when I was 9 years old. I questioned. It started with, like, with the Yeah. Yeah. I was 9. And when I was 10 is when I was, like, okay. Like, God's not real.2:21 And then Yeah.2:22 By, like, middle school, I was able to put a a label to it, which was atheist. So from the time that I was 10 to the time I was 17 years old, and I just turned 18 in December2:32 Come on.2:33 I was an atheist. Come on. And I was very open about it too. I always believed, like, I need to be a a good person, a kind person, but if I really don't believe that there's any, like, reason, then then why? What's the2:44 risk?2:45 What are2:45 the consequences? So that's another thing is like Wow. My own beliefs were contradicting themselves. There was a little bit of a hole, you know?2:52 Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It wasn't quite fitting together. It was sorta.2:55 Exactly. Yeah. You know?2:56 See, I understand that. I had a daughter Mhmm. And at age ages of, like, 9 and 10 Mhmm. At 11 o'clock at night, she'd ask me some of these things that she was just struggling with, you know. But3:08 fortunately, I had the time, you know, and I would I would sit down on her bedroom floor. And if it would take an hour or whatever it took, I answered her questions, and I did that. You3:20 can talk to Michelle. I mean, some of our great memories today. She's 50 years old now. And back when she was 9 and 10 years old, she had those kinds of questions, but she had a dad who could had some of the answers.3:31 You know? Yes. Exactly. And luckily for me, I I have an incredibly supportive family. My grandma who is a Christian and my grandpa was a Christian who is, like, the reason for so many of the blessings in my life now, I3:42 told her, grandma, I don't believe in God. And she instead of like shutting me in like what I thought was gonna be the situation, she instead like nurtured me and and was there for my questions and wanted to answer them.3:53 And I literally asked her about God for 7 years straight. Every time I saw her every Thanksgiving, every like3:59 That was your grandma.4:00 Trip. That's my grandma. And I always I always went to her for my questions. So it it's incredible when you have a spiritual mentor that's Yes. Just consistent in your life.4:08 Yeah.4:08 So the how it all happened is I I always say that I did not know I was gonna become a Christian until the moment I became a Christian.4:17 Okay.4:17 It was not something I was thinking about or like I was like4:20 You weren't seeking4:21 Yeah. I wasn't seeking it. I wasn't really like feeling anything. So my 3 best friends, Noah, Ashley, and Abby, invited me to the Harvest Crusades,4:33 the 20 18 Harvest Crusades in Los Angeles, the Angel Stadium. I had only heard of Harvest. I had no idea what it was. I had no idea what I was in store for. I didn't know who Great Glory was.4:44 I knew who Great Glory was. I know.4:45 I love4:46 Great Glory. Musical festival or something.4:49 Like a music festival where they threw t shirts at you with the t shirt cannon and everyone went home. You know? So I told Noah, like, okay. Fine. I'll go. As long as you buy me Chipotle, that's literally what got me to5:01 go. And I'm sitting in the back of Noah's car with my Chipotle thinking about the last week of my life. I just started my senior year. I was, you know, in AP I'm in AP IB classes. I'm doing the the5:12 plays and the musicals and I'm really involved in our theater troupe and like that's my passion. But I was sitting in the back of Noah's car, and all of a sudden, I just felt like, what am I doing? Like, I'm an atheist5:23 on the way to the Harvest Crusade, and I was really uncomfortable for the first hour I was there. I did not stand. I did not even speak.5:29 Really? Didn't even feel my breath. Going on?5:31 I just sat there.5:32 And you sat.5:33 I didn't see you. Seriously. Like an hour and a half went by, and I was getting more into it, more comfortable. I actually stood up and started dancing with my friends. And then, like, there was, like, 10 minutes left of5:41 music, and then Greg Laurie came and he spoke. And if he hadn't said exactly what he said that night, I don't think I would have become a Christian. He said exactly what I needed to hear. Really?5:51 Like he was speaking5:52 to you? And it's not like he could have known what to say, but I guess it's just universal. A lot of the things that I was feeling that I'm not alone in those those feelings and that void like6:00 Yeah. The crying of the heart is we're all different type people. It's that same base basic need for purpose of where am I.6:08 Right? Yeah. Exactly. Precisely. It was like I I'd also just like came across this idea of purpose and I hadn't thought about purpose. I thought about happiness. So I wanna be happy. Yeah. Well, happiness is just like6:19 sadness and that it's situational, it's circumstantial, and it's nothing to build a foundation on. And I realized that happiness shouldn't be the goal. There was something there's something bigger, something deeper,6:30 something6:31 Happiness comes and goes.6:32 Yes. But6:33 then you have joy.6:34 Yes. Yes. Precisely.6:37 Joy is there regardless of what happens for the day. You have And6:41 it's in you. It's exactly6:43 I think all of us hunger to have joy to be joyful to do that. You know what I mean? Yeah. And even if you don't know it, you need you need it. Right?6:52 Yes. Exactly.6:53 Uh-oh. Uh-oh. That's what I was dreading. So funny thing happened, by the way, the 4 of them were this really cool Corvette Stingray. It's a 47:05 27, 4 35 horsepower. This rare car7:09 Mhmm.7:10 And what were we saying about Jay Leno's comment about7:13 it doesn't matter if how of how fast you get there. It's just if you get there at all.7:16 Yeah. For old car guys, it's not a matter of how fast you get there. It's a matter of do you get there at all. In this case, we're not getting there.7:23 No. We're not getting there. I'm afraid.7:25 This is real TV. And bless your heart. We broke down the intersection, and she says, I'll get out and push. I mean, God, he he made sure that that my guess for the moment was a7:36 sport. That was game for anything. And I I love your passion and everything. So it's getting dark, we're gonna we're gonna take advantage of the light and keep on talking. We don't care. There must be a reason. Right?7:47 I fully agree.7:48 What's the reason? There's some reason why we're doing this here.7:50 Absolutely.7:51 Okay. Maybe somebody we're gonna teach somebody along the way.7:54 Yep. Some somebody already stopped and complimented the car, and nobody was asking you7:57 about that. You never know. Down first, and I always say if you're a car guy, the car happened to be so great. If you're a car guy, you break down within 5 minutes, another car guy or somebody help you. Did that help? It8:07 happened. They turn right on down, they're gonna give us a push because they're car guys. So car guys is really special. Anyway, let's go Where were we? Where were I brought8:20 you here. Yes. So you can talk about sharing your faith and it just comes out. I mean, anybody looks at you just says, I want what you have. I mean, you you're so you're just full of the Lord. I mean, I I want some of8:31 what you got. Okay? How does that happen when you go from a new not every new Christian is where you are spiritually in 5 months. Right? September, October, 5 It's amazing. How did that happen?8:43 I don't know. I think it we talked about this yesterday about when when you follow the 2 rules of of love God Yeah. Above everything8:53 Yeah.8:54 And love your neighbor as yourself8:55 Yeah.8:55 You don't even have to think about the rest of the commandments because if you truly love the other another person Yeah. Like you love yourselves you truly love God, there's no motivation concept. How do you9:07 know that? How do you know that? It's true, but how do you know that?9:10 I I mean, I I did a lot of studying, a lot of reading, and I You must have. I mean, like, I my atheist beliefs were along the lines of things are logical, science. So I was just kind of logically inclined, first of all.9:22 But then I translated that into9:23 how can I say You really wanted to know?9:25 Oh, yeah. I guess you could say my audience, even though it's not really an audience, are other teenagers because, mean, I'm part of that group. I'm a senior in high school, so I'm still everyday in school. And my9:34 friends and I, when I became a Christian, we picked up because I told you liked to study, and my mom gave me this book. It's Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life Yeah. 40 day devotional book. I started it with my friend9:43 Abby, and then it turned into my other friends joining and then we were doing it at lunch at school. Yeah. Like sitting in the theater just Yeah. Talking about God, fellowshiping, getting prayer requests and different9:53 kids would like sit in with us. They wouldn't even talk, they just sit and listen. Like there was like 10 of us in 1 room at once and it was like and I was just like, you know, like, okay, everyone anyone can join. Mean,10:02 it's not I'm not I'm not making a big deal, but like, if you wanna sit in, totally. Got questions, I'll answer them. So, basically, me, it started with studying. I wanted to know Yeah. The Bible. You you know, it's like10:12 You had a thirst. And when you go to him, he comes back to you.10:16 Right? Or more than10:18 God's way.10:18 You're as close to God as you choose to be. Yeah. As much as you lean into him, is as much as you lean back10:23 into Isn't amazing? Yes.10:25 And it's so true because when you, you know, you you gave us analogy yesterday about when you become Christian, join the team. So you join the the baseball team. But if you but some people just spend their whole life on10:36 the bench. And I did not wanna spend my whole life on the bench.10:39 No. You're not10:40 a bench I had position to play10:42 and a10:42 role to play and I needed to go fill it.10:45 Here we are. The flat bed has arrived. Know, it's just exciting. Have you ever had a more exciting interview10:51 in your Never. Never. I'll never have another 1 like it.10:54 Okay. You've got so many stories. Yeah. And we can't keep they wanna load the car on the flatbed and all that. Can you give me just 1? Yes. Just 1 Yes. Spontane yeah. Bet you asked so many. Give me give me just 111:05 spontane well, you didn't expect it. It just just happened.11:08 So it was actually with my brother's girlfriend, and she I came home from rehearsal. It was, like, 9 o'clock at night. So it's it's late. I'm tired. I'm ready to go to bed. Yeah. I just had a long, long day of rehearsal11:19 and school, and I usually make food, go to bed. But something kinda compelled me to reach out to her and see if she was okay. And she's like, actually, I'm not. And we ended up talking for, 3 hours. Wow. Sitting on the11:29 kitchen floor, nothing fancy, just talking. And I basically was like I told her she asked me why I became a Christian. She asked me why, what I was doing. Yeah. And I told her all about it. And I told her that there was11:41 a father who loved us and accepted us and wanted a relationship with us. Yeah. That she was so loved, and and that that changed her life. And ever since then, she just told me, guess, like 3 days ago she wants to be11:53 baptized. And she was going to church with me now. And, like, this whole thing11:57 So she accepted the Lord. Now she wants to be baptized.12:00 Yes. And, like12:00 And that night wasn't supposed to happen.12:02 No. No. It was12:03 And you were tired.12:03 I was so tired. I don't know how I care12:05 about home and you were so tired and you had that experience. Were you tired after that experience?12:10 Nope. I was like, alright.12:12 What's next? It's like, yeah. You know, it energizes you. Yeah. People are tired and we could be energized by just doing this. Absolutely. You're a superstar. You're is she a rock star or what? I love this guy. Like to12:23 hang with her all the time. Actually, yeah. We gotta go. We've got people mad at They're gonna load this incredible, very rare Corvette Stingray under that flat bed right now.12:32 Oh my gosh.12:33 Blessings on you. Thank you. You're so sweet. You're so sweet. God has big plans for12:37 you. Yeah.12:37 Okay. Alright. I thought I had pleasure till I met Aisley. Wow. She's over the moon with her love for God. Up next, Susan Meehl reveals how when we live for God's12:49 purpose, God uses pain and even death to bring us and everyone watching us closer to Jesus.13:01 Susan was actually excited for her husband when he completed his first week in heaven. That's the gold standard for all of us. Susan, I it's such an important time to have you here. I know it's a little difficult.13:13 You lost your husband, Didier. How many years you married? 35 years?13:17 35.13:18 35 years. I've never seen a love affair anymore Wonderful and refreshing than yours. I mean, you're devoted to each other. And yet, you went through a year of, I would say hell. I mean, you you went through it. Mhmm.13:29 About as difficult a times I've ever seen any couple go through it. And, we finally lost him a little more than 2 months ago. I was with Susan a little while back and she was telling her story through her tears. And I13:41 thought, this story needs to be told. And, for all you who are facing serious health issues or have a mate or a child or a friend and you wonder where God is. He's right13:52 there. And, Susan understood that and and he reaffirmed that, didn't he, to you over and over. We wanna have just a few moments here, but I wanna capture this story. Because I'm closer to God because of what you14:04 just went through. Can you relive that for for a couple minutes?14:09 Absolutely. They were looking at different tests for something completely unrelated to the battle we ultimately faced. When they saw spots, know14:20 little things on his lungs that they wanted to take further looks at.14:25 It was lung cancer.14:27 It was lung cancer after the first lung surgery. They removed, that was the biggest 1, that was the scariest 1. They weren't quite sure what type of cancer it was. So they wanted to tackle14:39 that 1 first. And that 1 was the longest, that was the hardest day that I went through. Because I had a lot of company that day at the hospital. As comforting as that seems like it would14:51 be, I need alone time with God. Mhmm. I need just he and I. Mhmm. Mhmm. Just being together. And I didn't get any. Okay. Wonderful godly people with15:02 me all People can give you strength. Thank God for friends. Right?15:05 Absolutely. And you would think they would have built me But I felt like I'd been entertaining all day. I was drained. The waiting room has been closed now. I'm back in the lobby of the hospital. The hospital's15:16 closed.15:17 Oh, my.15:17 You can leave, but no 1 can come Oh, my. I'm sitting where he asked me to sit, which is it's a dead tuna. It's a sculpture of a dead tuna. And I'm waiting for the surgeon,15:29 I'm thinking That15:30 was inspiring.15:31 What's wrong with this picture? So he finally comes through those doors and the news that he gives me seems very bad. And so then I15:43 wait to go see my husband because he's still in recovery. So by the time I get home, it's probably 1 o'clock. Wow. And and I remember walking in the15:54 house. Wow. And going over.15:57 Spent.15:58 Totally spent. Yeah. And going over to the refrigerator because I thought, am I hungry? I haven't eaten anything. And I and I was16:09 standing in front of the refrigerator and I just crumbled. And I met the Lord on the floor and I said, don't let me16:21 lose my faith. I can go through anything, but I can't lose my faith. And that's when he reassured me, you're not16:33 sweetie, you're not gonna lose your faith.16:35 You heard that?16:36 I did. And that made it a good night. It made the worst night of my life16:45 hopeful. Wow.16:46 It it made me able to sleep and face a new day with him in control. And that never16:58 ended throughout the whole journey. God always met me. He always met both of us. He never left us. And that rooted me and grounded me for the next year.17:09 Wow. Wow. So,17:12 that was a really important Your17:14 text to us on your worst days to the journey, No matter what. We were here in an emergency and now he's gonna stay the night, but God is good. You always had this17:26 uptick. You were surrounded by a lot of friends. Everybody waiting. Everybody praying. Lots of people praying. Waiting for the next and you had to tell us. But somehow,17:38 you lifted us. You ministered to us. How did that happen?17:41 Because God ministered to me. He ministered to us all the time. So, even though things were terrible, he sprinkled so much light. He sprinkled laughter. He sprinkled17:53 people in every situation that brought his joy into our hearts, that brought his love. And so, they were just texts from God.18:05 You're the role model. We've all talked all your friends have talked about it. This is what faith is all about. Our faith shines brighter in darkness. We say that all the18:16 time, but you've done it. Talk about DDA and how he ministered to all the doctors and nurses and knew all the names. Mean, he was such a light.18:25 So fabulous. I would come into the room. He'd know every attendant, everyone. If they just gave him his little sponge bath for the day, and he'd see him 2 days18:36 later. He'd remember their names. He'd remember facts about them. And we had nurses and doctors and attendants come into that room who weren't even on his18:48 floor that day just to say hi because they loved being around him.18:52 You did not have the normal room where somebody's dying. It was that normal.18:57 Mm-mm.18:57 People were not supposed to be that happy, you know. And and so they saw the Lord through you. They just did.19:04 They're right. Know so because he was there.19:06 Yeah. I mean, it was just Absolutely. Just amazing. And you're continuing that on. I I remember the 1 time that there's 4 of us guys. There was Doug, there's Bob, there's Hal and me. And19:18 we wanna come and lift you up. So we get outside the room. Before we get in your room, we pray. We wanna lift them up. I mean, it's really dire, but we wanna lift them up. And we walk in, you're both19:29 smiling. Yeah. You're like you're having a just a wonderful day. And this is not that long before we last did.19:36 Yeah.19:36 And you knew the seriousness.19:38 Yeah.19:38 And you lifted us up. There wasn't 1 doctor or 1 nurse that didn't know you're Christians and they're saying what Christians how Christians handle this. The the 4 of us came in that day.19:50 You19:50 remember that? And we're there to lift you up. And was actually talking and a nurse stepped. I'll never forget it. A nurse stepped in. We're talking about how you're lifting us up. And the nurse stepped in the door and20:01 she and she obviously know this is not a what she meets normally. And, she walks through that door and she looked in and I was talking to her. I just talked to her, hey, come on in. And, she looked and she20:13 looked at all of us and she just I know she felt the presence of God. She says, no. There's something good going on in here. I'm gonna leave you folks alone. I that exactly20:25 it. She knew there's something different going in that. There was light in that room. There was no darkness. Amazing. God said, how can I how can I use Susan and Didier20:37 to get the maximum number of people into heaven? And, you get crowned for that, you know. There's purpose. We're adding purpose to Didier's passing right now. There are a lot of people watching us right now that are20:48 being impacted by your smile and your tears. That brings purpose. You're you're giving purpose to Didier's passing right now.20:56 Well, this is by far the darkest valley I have ever been in. Yeah. I'm not living here. He's walking me out21:06 of here.21:06 And I am not going to spend 1 more minute here than he intends for me to And I'm not gonna miss a moment of purpose he has for me.21:15 So, then we get to the day of the funeral, and you're the the morning widow when you should be just in great distress thinking about what you've just gone through. But you said I hopeShow more
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