Sid: I have a couple that is red hot for the Messiah I’m speaking to them at their home and office in Coconut Creek, Florida Bob and Joan Nast. In 1980 Bob it looked like it was the end of the world for you actually were involved in counterfeiting 6 million dollars?
Bob: Yes Sir.
Sid: It sounds almost like something you’d watch on TV you don’t talk to real people that are doing that. How in the world did you get into that?
Bob: Well I guess the spirit of greed come all over me this was of course before I was saved. And I got involved with some people we had some situations up in New York and I was always very legal and I just felt like the system let me down and I was about to do it on my own.
Sid: Well a miracle happened I mean an absolute miracle happened. You were supposed to get up to 60 years in prison.
Bob: Yes.
Sid: What were your thought were you like well I just accepted this or what was going on inside of you you weren’t a believer in Jesus at the time? But your family is now going to be almost widowed and orphaned what was going on inside of you?
Bob: A lot of turmoil I was confused I didn’t know really what to do. But you know God is so honorable and he is so wonderful he had our 14 year old daughter that was saved and praying for us and they had our church praying for us. And one day one Sunday my 3 children and my wife and myself we were sitting in the bedroom which we always had a very good relationship with our children we always told them everything that we did right or wrong. And Sid we were sitting there and I was going on telling them that this Thursday we’re going away I’m going to the hearing because we had plead guilty and we’re going for sentencing. And Sid the television was on and all of a sudden I heard this man, and I found out later who it was I think his name was Hal Lindsey and he was talking about “The Late Great Planet Earth.” And I looked at the television and I looked at my kids and what’s he talking about hear what he just said? He said “Jesus is coming back to this earth and he told and he told about his book “The Late Great Planet Earth.” And after I got finished with it he says you know he says “I would like anybody out there that would like to go when Jesus comes back or to go and be in heaven and have and have every lasting life.” And I said “You know I don’t know what he’s saying but we have to say this prayer.” So all of us said this prayer, me not knowing what I was saying my wife didn’t know and my 2 boys but my daughter knew what we were doing because she had been praying for the last year for us. And after we said the sinners prayer and I didn’t realize I mean I didn’t have any you know I didn’t have any great things happen at that time I mean I mean no bells to whistles went off but we said the prayer. And then Hal Lindsey pointed his finger out at the television and said “There’s a man out there that’s going through a lot of situations and he’s in a lot of trouble.” I looked at the television like “Sure, there’s a lot of people out there like that that’s what came through my mind.” He said “But you’re going to hear the words I don’t know why I’m doing this and he said just remember those words” he said “Because they’re right from…there straight from the throne room of heaven.” So that was it and I didn’t think anymore of it.
Sid: So you went for the hearing and what did they sentence you to?
Bob: Well we went to the hearing and I was first and I stood before the judge and the judges everybody calls them the hanging judge because he looks like Judge Roy Bean because he has the handle bar mustache.
Sid: Oh just what you need (Laughing.)
Bob: I mean I looked at that and I said “Oh brother.” And all of the attorneys…the attorneys thought I would wind up with about 20 years. Which at that time 20 years it’s so confusing I didn’t even think how long 20 years is but when I look back my Lord 20 years is a long time.
Sid: It’s a lifetime.
Bob: It is and so I stood the before the judge and he read off the charges and he had…because we counterfeited 6 million dollars we didn’t counterfeit it all but that’s what we were going to do. We had sold to a secret servant agent one of the partners that were involved…
Sid: Well if you’re going to mess up you might as well mess up all the way I mean sell your counterfeit money to secret service agent (Laughing.)
Bob: (Laughing) This is the one time we’ll take the first shot and you know we’ll never do this again. But that’s not true.
Sid: Sure.
Bob: It’s just like the drug people up there they think they’re going to make their millions and then say well that’s it for the rest of their life. No it’s a spirit of greed that gets in there and money becomes their God and they’re ruined.
Sid: So what was your sentence?
Bob: So standing there in front of the judge and he read off the charges and I pled I guess I said “I guess I’m guilty.” So he looks down and he reached…you know they do an investigative report when you go for sentencing. I had some situations in New York and some problems and he was going through this file and going through this file and sees all of these other things. All of a sudden he closes the file and he looks into my eyes and he said “I get so choked up about this every time (crying), he looks into my eyes and says I don’t know why I’m doing this but I feel like you’ve been through enough he said I’m going to give you 6 months in the federal penitentiary of your choosing.” Everybody was blown away. The attorney’s mouth dropped open.
Sid: Why did he do that?
Bob: I don’t know all I know is it was the power of God that was going through him and had won favor with God and that’s why there was no other explanation.
Sid: Alright so you’re off to prison now but you still have this daughter Joan that’s nagging you to go to church. But what was going on in your life at that time?
Joan: Well that previous year when we got in trouble my mother died and prior to that my sister of 25 years died. Bob’s father died 2 weeks after my mother and his mother died before that. We had actually 6 deaths the oldest person was I think 59 the youngest my sister was 25. My daughter was not well at the time she was having bleeding at the time she was having bleeding eternally and we couldn’t figure out why. I was depressed I was using cocaine every day drinking like a fish using every kind of drug from Quaaludes to speed to uppers and downers. I hated the world I didn’t want to live but I didn’t know how to die. I was depressed and because we hung out with a lot of people in the mafia I was very lonely because I had to separated myself from these people so I didn’t have anybody close to me. And when Bobby went off the depression got even greater because of all the loses in my family and getting separated from the people in the underworld I was dealing real estate but I had no one that I could talk to. And I didn’t think that God even wanted to hear me because of everything we had done wrong. And growing up Catholic when you do as many things wrong as we had done you were almost guaranteed you were going to hell. We didn’t know about forgiveness so every day my daughter would come home and say “Mom why don’t you come to church and get yourself right with God?” And you know I’m not going to watch you kill yourself it’s bad enough daddy’s in prison but I’m not going to watch. And I said “Leave me alone.” And she say “Come to…you know come and meet these nice people.” And I said “They’re a bunch of holy rollers and I don’t want to know them I’m different I’m bad, I take drugs, I don’t belong with those people.” And she would turn on TBN and I would turn it off every day we’d go through this. Finally one night I went to a health party with one of our very very rich friends at the time. And I don’t remember coming home I did drugs, I smoked pot I used cocaine and I drank and I had to drive maybe 15 – 20 miles and I do not remember even coming home. I got to my house I drove up on the lawn I lived up in the Country Club. I drove up on the lawn and I passed out right on the steering wheel. My kids heard the horn blowing they came down and they were 14, 16 and 17. They came out and they carried me into the house. They carried me to bed and they sat there with me. When I came to whatever time it was I got up and I guess it was accommodation of everything but I believe now that as I look back I was having a nervous breakdown. And the drugs did everything to start it off. I opened up the refrigerator and took everything out and threw it on the floor. I opened up my kitchen cabinets smashed every dish I had, coffee pots, emptied drawers out. I totally wrecked my kitchen and everything that was in there. My kids heard the commotion came out and the 3 of them my 2 sons and my daughter literally almost tied me up and put me in bed and sat there until I finally went to sleep. But when I got up in the morning I mean these wonderful kids of mine who had never done a thing wrong, never did drugs, never smoked, nothing like their parents, thank God but that’s prayer. And when I came down the whole kitchen was cleaned up and I couldn’t even…there was no coffee pot because my coffee pot was glass. And my daughter came out and she had her arms crossed and she looked at me and said “If you don’t get help right now I am running away from home.”
Sid: Hm.
Joan: And I said “Evette, Evette and I thought in my mind I could not take another lose. The boy in my dreams…my husband I been with since I was 15 years old the only man in my life was in prison with seemed like it could be forever. Even though it wasn’t going to be but it just seemed that way. Everybody else in my life was gone and I thought “My God my only daughter I couldn’t take that loss.” So she said “Come to church with me this week and I said “No, I’ll go to a drug center I’ll go to AA I’ll go anyplace but not to church any place but the church.” She said “Mom I’m telling you right now if you don’t go I’m running away and you’ll never see me again.” So she called her friends up and told them to call me to pick me up for church the following week. And I fought and I said I didn’t want to but I didn’t want to lose my daughter. So they convinced me that I was in sin…I said to the man that called me “I said Jim I’m a mess Bobby’s in prison we’ve hung out with the mob, I said “We’ve stolen, we’ve done illegal things, immoral things I’m such a mess how could I even walk into a church?” So he said “Joan” he said “You come to God like a filthy rag and you let Him clean you; if you wait until you clean yourself you’ll never get there.” And I said “But I’m this and that.” Anyway he convinced me that they would pick me up on Thursday. And that was December 7, 1980. So we went into the church called “Abundant Life Christian Center” we’ve been there 21 years and when everyone walked in I heard music like I’d never heard before.
Sid: Uh oh but now we’ve got the music called the theme music coming up we’ll pick up right here on tomorrow’s broadcast and you’re going to find out how God didn’t just save her didn’t just set her free but gave them a ministry that’s changing lives.
Tags: It's Supernatural, Sid Roth