By Any Means Necessary.

You only have to be involved with drugs for a short time to recognize the title of this blog as the addict’s mantra. I also think it’s safe to say, that this commitment to the wrong cause compounds every negative result that lifestyle produces. The story I’m about to tell you is a humorous tale of how God wastes nothing.

I am not a reader. Not something I enjoy. This fact has kept me from making an audiobook for six years. I had my mother, my daughter, and my sister-in-law read sections of my book in hopes of having them record it. They are all good readers but something about it just didn’t sit well with me.

One afternoon, I randomly opened my book to the section labeled, To the African-American. I began to read out loud. This page ends by saying, “Thanks to all the friends and family I’ve gained on my journey through the projects. Wouldn’t trade it for nothin’.” My immediate thought was—no one else can read this. No one can say this the way I can. No one will mean this the way I do. I have to do this myself.

How in The Heck?

My audio editor walked me through several procedures and I sent countless samples to him that were unacceptable. Too close, too far, too loud, too soft, too much vibration, echo, and/or background noise, and so on. But I continued problem-solving…

A foam mic cover. Nope!

Three diﬀerent types of microphone isolation shields—still not right. A pop filter, a dual-layered windscreen shield, a high density this, a sound absorbing that, and on and on. All to no avail.

Finally, I discovered a collapsible sound booth on Amazon for $500. Reading the description of this very expensive item gave me an idea. What if I try the same thing using a blanket that is similarly quilted? So, I hooded my head, desk, and chair, the microphone, and my computer as well. And began to read.

It worked, but not until I turned oﬀ my air conditioner, dehumidifier, and fan. In addition, I had to do it at 4 a.m. before the birds got up. Guess that was a good thing because I could barely complete a single chapter before sweat began to blur my vision. Remember, I live in Florida and it was summertime.

One chapter a day—five days a week—unless I was traveling. It took me about three months. But I did it. In my voice and with the drama and insistency only one who has lived this life can interject.

Now What?

Then my mom had knee surgery and complications. Then my audio editor and I thought sure it was going to be impossible to create the same sound for edits—a tragic, horrible, frightening, process. Then my father had knee surgery and complications. Then my three-month-old MacBook Air crashed. And on and on and on. Must be an important project because everything has tried to keep it from happening. But God, David Brower, and I kept going. Most audiobooks end with a list of people to be thanked. The above three names are the only people to be thanked in this production. And I’m proud to say it’s fabulous.

The audio version of Deep in the Heart of Texas will be accessible on 250,000 US prison tablets TODAY, and one million tablets by year-end. And, it’s the only audio story available on the EDOVO app. Both things make this a remarkable feat. Think of the inmates who do not enjoy reading, cannot read, or understand English but do not read it. Then there are those who think no one can relate to them and others who’ve just given up hope altogether. This version will increase my incarcerated audience by at least 50%.

I hope to have the audio version for sale at aradicaldiﬀerence.com/store any day now. If you have ever believed in this ministry please do me the favor of ordering your copy as soon as it becomes available. Even if you never listen to it you can consider it a donation to this ministry because every penny goes towards getting content into more facilities.

Being directly involved in God’s plan is such an honor. He’s transforming lives and using my story to start this process. I hope you all appreciate what God is doing in and through the incarcerated church because, in my opinion, these are the exact people who will be the most powerful end-time leaders. Why? Because the behavior that landed them in prison is the exact thing that taught them how to get things done.

And they know how to do that—By Any Means Necessary.

I love you guys,
Texas