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CONNIE: It's the stuff worst nightmares are made of--you've been caught in the act--red-handed. Your life is in tatters, your dreams for the future a fading mirage. Then you hear those ten magical words… Giving God's trumpet a Certain Sound for more than 70 years, this is the Voice of Prophecy.

CONNIE: Hello, I'm Connie Jeffery,

LONNIE: and I'm Lonnie Melashenko. Connie, today we're going to be looking at ten words of Jesus, and the power they have to change lives.

CONNIE: If you've ever been caught red-handed, or even had one of those nightmares where you've done something really bad and got caught at it, you know the feeling. Dread. Ruin. Wondering what the future holds.

LONNIE: If it's just a nightmare, you can at least wake up from it and feel a sense of relief. But there's something else that can "spell" relief, too. It's forgiveness. Or an understanding, non-condemning attitude on the part of those you've offended, disappointed, or let down. Don't misunderstand--I'm not suggesting that we should always take a laissez-faire attitude toward sin and never condemn people for doing wrong. But if we'll follow Jesus' example in dealing with those who have fallen into sin, we're likely to see people's lives transformed rather than ruined. That will be the focus of my message later in the program. So, whether you're the one who's been caught red-handed, or the one who's deciding how to treat someone who has done wrong, I hope you'll stay tuned as we consider how Jesus handled sticky situations.

CONNIE: One woman whose life is a testimony to what the transforming love of God can do is Cheri Peters. She grew up on the mean, drug-infested streets of Los Angeles, but was rescued by a woman who determined to love her and treat her as Jesus would, in spite of Cheri's coarse attitudes. We've talked with Cheri before on our program, about her background. Today Ken Wade speaks with her about the ministry she now has for at-risk young people, and some of the successes, but also the challenges she faces as she tries to pass along the love she received.

KEN: Cheri Peters, so great to welcome you to the program again, and to speak with you again.

CHERI: Thank you! I love being on this show, and I love your ministry.

KEN: Well thank you Cheri. Lets just bring people up to speed a little bit. We talked a few months ago about your background coming off the streets of LA, being raised in a very drug infested environment, but than something happened in your life that transformed that.

CHERI: Well, you know, I was on the streets for ten years. From the age of twelve to twenty-three, and before that was raised by people that were addicted themselves. And so I was one of five kids actually, and when I was twenty-three years old I was going to kill myself, and I was really tired. I was tired of life, and I was tired of everything. And in the process of trying to find a way to kill myself, God came down and said, "You know what?" "I'm crazy about you", and my life has been different ever since.

KEN: You encountered someone who gave you that unconditional love that you needed to bring you out of that, and the thing that thrills my heart, Cheri, is to know that now you are involved. You have started a ministry, "True Step Ministry" that is reaching out to kids who are being raised in an environment like what you experienced.

CHERI: Well you know, Ken, when I met God the most amazing thing to me was, He showed me who I was in His eyes. And what was incredible is that I was so clean and beautiful, and healthy. And I kept crying like I've never done that, and He said, you've never not done that to me. And I think what I want to do is to show these people who are at risk, these children, that you know what? God does not see us as damaged. He sees us as His children, and that's what He wants to create in us. So I would do anything, anytime, anywhere to bring that message to people.

KEN: And you're doing a great job of it and today as we look at the story of Mary Magdelene in our program, we're looking at the fact that Jesus took this woman who was very damaged goods. Out of whom He had to cast seven demons, probably at seven different times. And yet He continued to minister to her and she finally was delivered. Now you were telling about a young lady who you are working with right now that might kind of fit into that picture.

CHERI: It's incredible! She has been through so much in her life. She was an adopted kid out of a foreign country and she came to this country, and was then molested by her pastor from age three to age ten…

KEN: Oh my! Her pastor?

CHERI: …and then she joined a gang. In this gang she has shot people, actually blown their kneecaps out, and she was facing twenty-seven years in prison for a drive-by shooting, and then she finds God. Ken it was amazing to watch her transform, because she found God and she kept telling me, "Are you sure He forgives me?" And I said, "You know, I'm not sure why, but He forgives us". He loves us, and I watched this girl go from a hardened gang member to this incredible Christian.

KEN: I believe I met her once, there in Idaho.

CHERI: She is incredible! She is writing music for God, and she is just an incredible kid.

KEN: But it hasn't been an all up hill path for her has it?

CHERI: It has been horrible for her just because people think, Ok you meet God and your life should change, everything should change, and it does because you have that hope and you believe that and there are things that God helps you to almost drop off right away. But you've got years of distrust, years of manipulation, years of hatred, years of anger and rage, and all that…

KEN: She's dealing with a lot.

CHERI: Exactly, and when those get triggered you can fall back in easily, and that's for a lot of people in recovery fall frequently and luckily Jesus is there every time saying, Please, please stand back up again, please trust me again.

KEN: And so you've watched this happen over and over again, and I know that you've experienced it in your own life and I guess we all have. Where we will have a great spiritual experience with the Lord and yet something you said, triggers, trigger points come along.

CHERI: Exactly, and some of the trigger points may be, like for a molested kid that you might run into a perpetrator that approaches you in a way that reminds you of a previous molestation. Some triggers can last two weeks, two months, even two years depending where you are at spiritually. And what I try to do with the kids that I work with is teach them to trust God. God is not condemning, and will teach you how to walk through those trigger points, because the world is still a mess. You find God but the world is still a mess. You're still going to come up with those prejudices. Your still going to come up with somebody judging your background, or a perpetrator in the room, and how do you trust God through all that? And it's not easy, and my prayer for the people in the church is, please don't condemn them when they fall, help them stand back up because that's exactly what Jesus does for us.

KEN: Well that's what Jesus did. So you found that with this young lady, even though she has had some real difficulties and has fallen back a number of times. What happens when she turns her face back towards Christ?

CHERI: God just loves her. You know Christ loves her and, what is really amazing to her is she will sit there in tears, because it shouldn't be. He shouldn't love me, look what I just did. She came back the last time, she has gotten pregnant and now she has a child…
KEN: Wow!

CHERI: …so her life is even more complicated. You know why does God accept me back again? Because He loves us, and it takes so long to get that, and I think He wants us to get it enough where nothing can settle us down again. I know that God loves me no matter what anyone does, or says, or whatever I have to struggle with. That I am not letting go of His hand; I'm not letting go of that ever again. I think that's what Mary Magdalene did, because there was a point where she said, you know what? I am loved by God.

KEN: And praise the Lord for that testimony, and for the transformed lives, and you're own transformed life and the lives that are being transformed through your ministry. Thank you so much Cheri for sharing with us.
CHERI: It's been great.

CONNIE: Amen! That was our good friend Michael J. Harris singing the Gospel classic "Amazing Grace."