WEBVTT - Shedding the Old for the New with Jesus 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.080 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.720 --> 0:00:13.280 In Christ, we have a new identity. Our old self 0:00:13.280 --> 0:00:16.520 is crucified. Do you have that verse up, Jonathan? Out 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:17.479 of Romans six, I do. 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:20.439 Yeah. Romans six six and seven. We know that our 0:00:20.440 --> 0:00:23.000 old self was crucified with him in order that the 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:25.600 body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that 0:00:25.600 --> 0:00:28.400 we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one 0:00:28.400 --> 0:00:30.680 who has died has been set free from sin. 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:35.120 What percentage of people do you think live with some 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:36.160 level of regret? 0:00:36.200 --> 0:00:38.400 All of them. 100%. 0:00:39.040 --> 0:00:39.680 You think so? 0:00:39.960 --> 0:00:42.639 I think it's up there. Probably, what, 80%? 0:00:42.840 --> 0:00:46.280 I've seen a couple different stats. I saw 90% this. 0:00:46.320 --> 0:00:50.920 This stat says research shows most people, 72% feel regret 0:00:50.960 --> 0:00:54.400 related to their ideal self as opposed to their ought self. 0:00:54.440 --> 0:00:57.920 So this, uh, this regret. For many people, the regret 0:00:57.960 --> 0:01:02.819 relates to what I thought I would be versus what 0:01:02.820 --> 0:01:06.940 I actually am. Yeah, yeah. And maybe actions that I 0:01:06.940 --> 0:01:10.900 didn't take that would have gotten me there. Right. So 0:01:10.900 --> 0:01:12.860 you have the regret of like, oh, if I would 0:01:12.900 --> 0:01:15.380 have taken that job. Yeah. Or you have some people 0:01:15.380 --> 0:01:17.580 who have a regret of, you know, I like to 0:01:17.580 --> 0:01:21.820 read I want this is okay. Fun fact I really 0:01:21.819 --> 0:01:23.500 love reading advice columns. 0:01:24.220 --> 0:01:24.780 Okay. 0:01:25.420 --> 0:01:27.220 In the like in the in the newspaper. 0:01:27.260 --> 0:01:27.740 Like still. 0:01:27.780 --> 0:01:32.700 Okay. I love it. I mean, I read, like, the 0:01:32.700 --> 0:01:36.420 advice columns every day. I love it because I'm so 0:01:36.700 --> 0:01:39.179 intrigued by the questions that people ask. 0:01:39.220 --> 0:01:39.580 Okay. 0:01:39.980 --> 0:01:42.580 And the advice that's offered. So I'm talking like your 0:01:42.580 --> 0:01:46.619 dear Abby. Yeah. Um, the Chicago Tribune has one called 0:01:46.660 --> 0:01:50.260 Ask Eric. And I love them. I really do read 0:01:50.260 --> 0:01:53.020 them every day. Okay. And it's amazing to me how 0:01:53.020 --> 0:01:58.250 many people write in with this kind of a question. In. 0:01:58.850 --> 0:02:02.850 So I was on Facebook and I came across a 0:02:02.890 --> 0:02:06.650 guy or a gal that I dated when I was 0:02:06.650 --> 0:02:10.370 in high school, and I'm wondering, I feel like I 0:02:10.370 --> 0:02:13.850 still have feelings for this person. I've been married for 0:02:14.650 --> 0:02:17.889 X amount of years, but I'm really not happy in 0:02:17.889 --> 0:02:21.889 this marriage. So what do you think I should? I 0:02:21.889 --> 0:02:26.330 reach back out and just to see how they're doing. 0:02:28.169 --> 0:02:32.050 This question comes a lot of, I mean, the details 0:02:32.050 --> 0:02:35.730 of it different, but the amount of people, particularly in 0:02:35.730 --> 0:02:39.050 the area of romantic relationships, who look back to some 0:02:39.050 --> 0:02:44.489 past failed relationship and ask for advice. Should I revisit 0:02:44.490 --> 0:02:49.450 it now because maybe I missed out on something, maybe 0:02:49.450 --> 0:02:50.690 I should go back. 0:02:50.970 --> 0:02:54.850 You know, I think this is something that a great 0:02:54.850 --> 0:02:57.170 word of wisdom that my wife says all the time, 0:02:57.169 --> 0:02:59.550 and I love it, she says. The grass isn't greener 0:02:59.550 --> 0:03:01.750 on the other side. The grass is greener where you 0:03:01.750 --> 0:03:02.110 water it. 0:03:02.150 --> 0:03:02.830 It's very true. 0:03:02.870 --> 0:03:05.390 If you're horrible at tending grass and you look at 0:03:05.389 --> 0:03:07.190 that grass over there and it looks really green, and 0:03:07.190 --> 0:03:08.750 you go, I'm gonna go over there. But then you're 0:03:08.750 --> 0:03:11.630 horrible at tending grass. It ain't gonna look so good. 0:03:12.070 --> 0:03:15.829 The tendency is to look at the life I have 0:03:15.870 --> 0:03:22.910 now and wonder what could have been. Yeah, right. And 0:03:22.910 --> 0:03:25.910 so I, I'm, I'm fascinated by the number of times 0:03:25.910 --> 0:03:31.630 that this question comes up for people and wisely like surprisingly, 0:03:31.630 --> 0:03:35.470 these are not none of these are Christian per se. They're, 0:03:35.590 --> 0:03:37.710 you know, people who would consider themselves like kind of 0:03:37.750 --> 0:03:45.790 wise or learned experts and things. But almost always they say, no, no. 0:03:46.070 --> 0:03:46.750 Don't do that. 0:03:46.790 --> 0:03:51.470 Don't do that. And why? Because the the the solution 0:03:51.470 --> 0:03:56.070 to your regret or to you, your discontent with where 0:03:56.070 --> 0:03:59.690 you're at in life now is never going to be 0:03:59.690 --> 0:04:03.690 to look up an old flame on Facebook and see 0:04:03.690 --> 0:04:05.570 if you can get that thing going again. 0:04:05.770 --> 0:04:07.810 It's not going to solve it. It's not going to heal. 0:04:08.050 --> 0:04:09.690 It's not going to heal, you know. 0:04:10.290 --> 0:04:14.730 But what else do people often look to to manage regret? 0:04:14.890 --> 0:04:19.050 That's a great question. Uh, sometimes substance, if you don't 0:04:19.050 --> 0:04:21.170 feel like you can do anything about it, sometimes it's 0:04:21.170 --> 0:04:22.450 just better to be numb. 0:04:22.490 --> 0:04:24.610 What do you think he took? 0:04:25.490 --> 0:04:27.930 Whether it was drugs, alcohol, food, whatever it may be, 0:04:27.970 --> 0:04:30.290 it's definitely a substance. I think at the time. 0:04:30.330 --> 0:04:33.610 We talk about midlife crisis. You know, midlife crisis usually 0:04:33.610 --> 0:04:35.490 stems from the fact of I'm almost. You mean I'm 0:04:35.490 --> 0:04:38.330 halfway through my life, and and this is where I'm at. 0:04:38.370 --> 0:04:40.050 And so, you know, you go out and you buy 0:04:40.050 --> 0:04:43.210 the new car or you get all these things. So materials. 0:04:43.210 --> 0:04:45.690 I think spending money is a big way. 0:04:45.730 --> 0:04:47.250 Other bad relationships. 0:04:47.290 --> 0:04:47.690 Other bad. 0:04:47.690 --> 0:04:50.529 Go to another one. Another one and another one. Yeah. Yeah. 0:04:50.570 --> 0:04:53.210 And you know, regret is such an interesting thing because, 0:04:53.210 --> 0:04:58.679 I mean, the stats don't say 100%, but I think anybody, 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:02.960 any honest person would say that there are some things 0:05:02.960 --> 0:05:04.200 I would do differently. 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:09.760 Yeah, absolutely. If you don't, it's a it's more scary 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:12.000 than anything else. If you said, I've gone through my 0:05:12.000 --> 0:05:14.640 entire life and there's nothing that I ever would have 0:05:14.640 --> 0:05:16.680 done differently, I'm a little afraid. 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:19.839 I stand by every decision I've ever made. 0:05:19.880 --> 0:05:22.240 That's a red flag right now. The ones I. 0:05:22.240 --> 0:05:25.200 Made when I was 18. Stand by all of those. 0:05:25.720 --> 0:05:26.080 Coming. 0:05:26.080 --> 0:05:28.080 Up, though. We're going to look to the Word of God. 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.880 What do you do with the regret, with the desire 0:05:30.880 --> 0:05:34.479 to be a better version of yourself in Christ? We 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:39.080 actually can be new, but something has to die first. 0:05:39.520 --> 0:05:43.320 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 0:05:43.560 --> 0:05:47.400 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:48.480 Moody Radio. 0:05:48.800 --> 0:05:52.359 Well, because of the cross of Jesus Christ, you don't 0:05:52.360 --> 0:05:56.180 have to live. I don't have to live with the 0:05:56.180 --> 0:06:01.860 regret and the shame of my past. Thankfully I can't 0:06:01.860 --> 0:06:05.900 change it per se. I can't go back and undo 0:06:05.900 --> 0:06:08.420 some of the bad decisions I made my freshman year 0:06:08.420 --> 0:06:11.219 of college. When I went away to a different state 0:06:11.220 --> 0:06:13.700 as a 17 year old knucklehead who thought I knew 0:06:13.700 --> 0:06:18.380 everything and made some bad decisions, which I won't get 0:06:18.380 --> 0:06:23.580 into right now. I'd like to change some of those things. 0:06:23.620 --> 0:06:24.020 Sure. 0:06:24.140 --> 0:06:26.980 Because it wasn't a great part of my life, but 0:06:26.980 --> 0:06:31.780 I can't. No, I can't go back. And for some 0:06:31.779 --> 0:06:35.940 of you, there are parts of your life that haunt you, 0:06:36.460 --> 0:06:40.419 and that's not a misuse of the word. You can't 0:06:40.420 --> 0:06:45.780 get past what you were, who you were, the anger, 0:06:45.820 --> 0:06:49.540 the addiction, the rage. Or maybe that's where you still are. 0:06:50.940 --> 0:06:55.480 I want to remind some of you and for others 0:06:55.480 --> 0:06:58.440 of you, maybe tell you for the first time that 0:06:58.440 --> 0:07:03.040 you actually can put to death who you once were, 0:07:03.080 --> 0:07:06.640 even if you can't change the past. New life in 0:07:06.640 --> 0:07:10.520 Christ is offered to us, if only we would take 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:12.760 hold of it. Let's talk about it coming up. 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.679 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:19.200 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:07:19.200 --> 0:07:22.520 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:07:23.120 --> 0:07:26.880 Well, there's nothing sweeter than a nickname, right? That nickname 0:07:26.880 --> 0:07:28.440 that you can't seem to out. 0:07:28.480 --> 0:07:30.040 Sometimes there's something sweeter. 0:07:30.160 --> 0:07:30.800 Sometimes. 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:35.720 Sometimes there's nothing more annoying. 33,204 says my name is Melanie. 0:07:36.080 --> 0:07:42.680 I'm still called Melanie Belly. I'm 50. Oh, here's a 0:07:42.680 --> 0:07:47.120 fun one. My nickname is Crayola. The Crayola part is 0:07:47.120 --> 0:07:49.800 from leaving my box of crayons in the hot car 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:53.140 when they melted. Oh, the D is my middle name 0:07:53.140 --> 0:07:56.860 still today. My brother will still sometimes call me Crayola D. 0:07:57.500 --> 0:08:01.380 Another sweet one 5942 says that my youngest brother is 0:08:01.380 --> 0:08:03.660 ten years younger than the rest of the siblings, so 0:08:03.660 --> 0:08:06.060 whenever there was a children's message at church, we would 0:08:06.060 --> 0:08:08.100 all lean over and look at him to remind him 0:08:08.100 --> 0:08:09.780 it was time to go up in front with the 0:08:09.780 --> 0:08:12.700 little kids. We continued to do that when he was 0:08:12.700 --> 0:08:15.340 a teenager, and even now that he's in his 30s, 0:08:15.380 --> 0:08:17.260 can you imagine? They're all sitting at church and they 0:08:17.260 --> 0:08:21.140 look down and go, hey, it's children's church time. 0:08:21.260 --> 0:08:22.300 Not letting it go in. 0:08:22.300 --> 0:08:25.860 Front when you're the youngest by ten years. I think 0:08:25.900 --> 0:08:28.340 maybe there's a little or maybe a lot of that 0:08:28.380 --> 0:08:29.460 ribbing from your older. 0:08:29.460 --> 0:08:30.180 Siblings. 0:08:30.460 --> 0:08:33.340 Coming up, though. Let's talk about what it looks like 0:08:33.340 --> 0:08:37.500 to have a new identity. Sometimes it's painful how much 0:08:37.500 --> 0:08:42.340 we feel like we can't outrun, outlive, outgrow what we 0:08:42.340 --> 0:08:46.260 used to be. Only in Christ can we actually be new. 0:08:46.540 --> 0:08:48.620 How do we take hold of it? You know, it 0:08:48.620 --> 0:08:52.610 must be hard wired in us to want to continue 0:08:52.610 --> 0:08:56.970 to be a newer, better version of ourselves, you know? 0:08:57.010 --> 0:08:57.890 Yeah, absolutely. 0:08:57.929 --> 0:09:02.090 You want to outgrow the parts of you that, to 0:09:02.130 --> 0:09:04.890 borrow a phrase that's pretty common right now, no longer 0:09:04.890 --> 0:09:08.090 serves me. Yeah. This part of my life is not 0:09:08.090 --> 0:09:11.130 who I am anymore. And so people go to great 0:09:11.130 --> 0:09:15.890 lengths sometimes to separate themselves from their past. 0:09:16.170 --> 0:09:16.610 Absolutely. 0:09:16.650 --> 0:09:18.809 Or parts of their past that they don't like. 0:09:18.850 --> 0:09:22.570 Yeah. Sometimes it's straight up moving. You know, Carl talks 0:09:22.570 --> 0:09:25.449 about from his story and he shared it when when 0:09:25.450 --> 0:09:29.290 he was set free from cocaine addiction and alcoholism, that 0:09:29.330 --> 0:09:32.890 he moved states to get away from the people that 0:09:32.890 --> 0:09:34.689 he knew would be a problem. 0:09:35.050 --> 0:09:38.370 And even before you're in Christ, sometimes people will move 0:09:38.690 --> 0:09:41.770 to get away from, I can't live in this small 0:09:41.770 --> 0:09:45.849 town anymore. I can't be who I want to be here. 0:09:46.250 --> 0:09:50.470 People sometimes will do dramatic appearance changes to try to 0:09:50.510 --> 0:09:53.470 not be. You know, a lot of times if you 0:09:53.510 --> 0:09:57.110 are someone who maybe struggled with your weight or some 0:09:57.150 --> 0:10:00.190 aspect of your physical appearance, you see people go to 0:10:00.230 --> 0:10:04.069 great lengths to try to prove to everybody that that's 0:10:04.070 --> 0:10:07.030 not who I am anymore. Yeah. The teasing that you 0:10:07.070 --> 0:10:11.990 used to subject me to the gossip, the bullying, that's 0:10:11.990 --> 0:10:16.270 not me. And I think we're hard wired to want 0:10:16.270 --> 0:10:20.030 to improve ourselves. Every January 1st, people decide that this 0:10:20.030 --> 0:10:24.110 is the year that I'm going to be something that 0:10:24.110 --> 0:10:27.189 I haven't been before. But the reality is it's it 0:10:27.190 --> 0:10:29.030 becomes a hamster wheel, right? 0:10:29.070 --> 0:10:29.550 Oh, yeah. 0:10:29.590 --> 0:10:35.150 Because you find yourself frustratingly so kind of back where 0:10:35.590 --> 0:10:36.710 you always were. 0:10:36.870 --> 0:10:37.230 Yeah. 0:10:37.270 --> 0:10:39.709 Even if you look different, live in a different state. 0:10:39.710 --> 0:10:41.830 It's like I can't seem to outrun me. 0:10:41.870 --> 0:10:44.910 I'm not breaking this thing. And sometimes, you know, you 0:10:44.910 --> 0:10:48.030 just you say, oh, man, I, I keep ending up 0:10:48.030 --> 0:10:50.490 in the same place I once was, or I'm out 0:10:50.530 --> 0:10:53.410 of that place. But I can't forget the things who 0:10:53.450 --> 0:10:55.370 of who I once was. I can't go back and 0:10:55.370 --> 0:10:59.130 change things now. I'm stuck with just the memories of regret. 0:10:59.170 --> 0:11:04.650 Why can't I be the person I want to be? Yeah, well, 0:11:05.130 --> 0:11:08.210 take us to Romans six. Jonathan. 0:11:08.250 --> 0:11:08.770 Yeah. 0:11:08.809 --> 0:11:12.569 We can be in Christ a new person. But explain. 0:11:12.610 --> 0:11:16.850 I mean, this is this is so important because Romans 0:11:16.850 --> 0:11:19.450 six six says, we know that our old self was 0:11:19.450 --> 0:11:22.410 crucified with him in order that the body of sin 0:11:22.410 --> 0:11:24.809 might be brought to nothing, so that we would no 0:11:24.809 --> 0:11:28.490 longer be enslaved to sin. And then continuing in verse seven, 0:11:28.490 --> 0:11:31.130 for the one who, for one who has died, has 0:11:31.130 --> 0:11:36.770 been set free from sin. So in our life there 0:11:36.770 --> 0:11:39.969 are sins that we do. There are decisions that we 0:11:39.970 --> 0:11:42.570 make that we regret, that we look back and we say, 0:11:42.570 --> 0:11:45.330 I don't want to be that person. I don't want to. 0:11:45.330 --> 0:11:47.880 I don't want to live like that anymore or I'm 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:50.000 not living like that anymore. But I hate that I 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:52.280 did at one point in my life and I just 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:57.080 can't forget it. The amazing thing is that Christ sets 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:59.920 us free through his death on the cross, that when 0:11:59.920 --> 0:12:03.000 we believe in him, those decisions that we've made, that 0:12:03.000 --> 0:12:05.000 person that we don't want to be, maybe you're still 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:09.160 that person that you don't want to be. Uh, when 0:12:09.160 --> 0:12:11.640 we come to him, he takes that part of us. 0:12:11.640 --> 0:12:14.439 He takes the sin off of our shoulders, and he 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:17.400 nails it to the cross. It dies just like he did. 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:20.760 Except it doesn't rise again from the grave. He does. 0:12:21.200 --> 0:12:24.040 And we are with him. We don't have to be 0:12:24.040 --> 0:12:27.480 identified by those things from our past. We don't have 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:30.760 to be identified by the things that maybe were just 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:34.800 changing from today. We're identified by Christ and His righteousness. 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:36.920 What does that look like in your life? You've shared 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:38.480 pieces of your testimony, but. 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:38.880 This. 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.520 This passage in particular really resonates with you. 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:45.560 Yeah. It does. So my story, I, I grew up 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:47.300 in a in a in a Christian home. My dad's 0:12:47.300 --> 0:12:49.460 a pastor. I went to Moody Bible Institute and I 0:12:49.460 --> 0:12:52.459 worked at Moody Radio. And then I got saved. I 0:12:52.500 --> 0:12:55.540 thought I knew Jesus, I thought I, I was all 0:12:55.540 --> 0:12:57.340 good to go, and that's kind of how I looked 0:12:57.340 --> 0:12:59.460 at it was all good to go, not really having 0:12:59.460 --> 0:13:01.740 much of a relationship with him, but I got my 0:13:01.740 --> 0:13:04.980 box checked and I'm good. I'll. I'll see you up there. Uh, 0:13:04.980 --> 0:13:06.939 now I'm going to go do what I want to do. Uh, 0:13:07.260 --> 0:13:09.620 you know, God was telling me, putting it on my 0:13:09.620 --> 0:13:11.860 heart from the teaching here on Carl and crew that 0:13:11.860 --> 0:13:15.260 that wasn't that wasn't right. That wasn't good enough. Just 0:13:15.260 --> 0:13:17.580 checking a box. But he wants my whole heart. And 0:13:17.580 --> 0:13:20.300 I wasn't giving it to him. So I came to Christ. 0:13:20.300 --> 0:13:23.300 I surrendered to him. I gave him my life. I 0:13:23.300 --> 0:13:24.540 told him I was going to follow him. I have 0:13:24.540 --> 0:13:28.420 a relationship with him. But there have been many times 0:13:28.420 --> 0:13:31.740 in my life that wall the last, what, six years now? 0:13:31.740 --> 0:13:35.620 It's been almost six years since that happened. And sometimes 0:13:35.620 --> 0:13:38.300 I'll just be out walking my dog. I'll be by myself. 0:13:38.300 --> 0:13:40.980 And a memory of the life I used to live 0:13:40.980 --> 0:13:43.860 comes to mind. And I hate it. I get filled 0:13:43.860 --> 0:13:45.840 with fear. I get filled with shame. I get filled 0:13:45.840 --> 0:13:49.560 with regret because I didn't live a good life. To 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:54.359 some people, you know, my parents, uh, the people at church, 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:56.880 they would have never realized that I wasn't living a 0:13:56.880 --> 0:13:59.559 good life. But I was really good at hiding things. Uh, 0:13:59.559 --> 0:14:03.720 I was a deceiver. I was a liar, I was mean, 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.960 I was a jerk. I was very and I was. Yeah, 0:14:07.000 --> 0:14:09.560 I was very mean to people. Uh, I wanted to 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:14.559 fit in in high school, and I was willing to 0:14:14.679 --> 0:14:17.440 make other people not fit in so that I could 0:14:17.440 --> 0:14:19.160 fit in so that I didn't have to be in 0:14:19.200 --> 0:14:21.800 that group of people who didn't fit in. And and 0:14:21.800 --> 0:14:24.720 I said horrible things to people that I regret. I 0:14:24.720 --> 0:14:27.400 made them feel bad. And now I look back at 0:14:27.400 --> 0:14:30.520 my life and I'm like, man, some of those kids 0:14:30.520 --> 0:14:34.720 went home with the words that I told them, you know, 0:14:34.880 --> 0:14:37.280 some of those kids sat in their room by themselves, 0:14:37.960 --> 0:14:40.480 and all they had were the things that I said 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.390 to them, and that's horrible, and I hate it. And 0:14:44.390 --> 0:14:46.270 there are plenty of other things that come to my 0:14:46.270 --> 0:14:49.270 mind of regrets that I wish I didn't. I wish 0:14:49.270 --> 0:14:51.430 I didn't do I wish I didn't make this decision 0:14:51.430 --> 0:14:53.630 over here, I wish I. I didn't try so hard 0:14:53.630 --> 0:14:57.190 to fit in and do this over here. Uh, you know, 0:14:57.510 --> 0:15:01.350 they come to my mind all the time, but I 0:15:01.350 --> 0:15:04.670 know that that's not who I am. That person. It's 0:15:04.670 --> 0:15:07.310 not even like, oh, I've made some changes in my life. 0:15:07.350 --> 0:15:09.030 I'm a better version of myself now. 0:15:09.070 --> 0:15:09.550 No, it's. 0:15:09.550 --> 0:15:09.910 Not, it's. 0:15:09.910 --> 0:15:14.030 Not. It's a completely different person. I'm not. I'm not 0:15:14.070 --> 0:15:18.510 that Jonathan anymore. That Jonathan got nailed to the cross. Uh. 0:15:18.550 --> 0:15:22.190 He's dead. I don't have to worry about him anymore. 0:15:22.230 --> 0:15:24.310 I'm new in Christ. Do I still sin? And do 0:15:24.310 --> 0:15:29.190 I still struggle? Absolutely I do, but I'm identified in Christ. 0:15:29.190 --> 0:15:32.710 I identify areas of my life that he's changed completely. 0:15:32.990 --> 0:15:36.430 And even though I still do sin, I recognize the 0:15:36.430 --> 0:15:39.350 fact that God put my future sins up on the 0:15:39.350 --> 0:15:42.310 cross too, and so I don't have to be identified 0:15:42.310 --> 0:15:44.490 by those. I look at those and I say, God, 0:15:44.490 --> 0:15:46.530 thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that you died 0:15:46.530 --> 0:15:50.130 for me. Thank you that I don't have to be 0:15:50.130 --> 0:15:52.370 identified by that. And then I walk forward with him 0:15:52.370 --> 0:15:54.530 and I leave those in the dust as well. And 0:15:54.530 --> 0:15:57.250 so life is different now. Do I still get hit 0:15:57.250 --> 0:15:59.970 with the regret? Sometimes? Yeah. But I go back to 0:15:59.970 --> 0:16:02.210 Scripture because my God tells me I don't have to. 0:16:02.250 --> 0:16:03.570 I don't have to hold it anymore. 0:16:03.610 --> 0:16:08.410 And that our old self Romans six verse six, we 0:16:08.410 --> 0:16:12.170 know that our old self was crucified with him in 0:16:12.170 --> 0:16:14.690 order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, 0:16:14.890 --> 0:16:18.570 so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 0:16:18.850 --> 0:16:21.410 So many of you hear Jonathan's story, and you can 0:16:21.650 --> 0:16:24.330 we can all relate. Whether it was you were mean 0:16:24.330 --> 0:16:29.210 to people, or maybe you were promiscuous, or maybe you 0:16:29.250 --> 0:16:33.370 were a thief, or maybe you were whatever. And there 0:16:33.370 --> 0:16:36.170 are thoughts that still haunt you, memories that you can't 0:16:36.170 --> 0:16:38.090 seem to shake. Here's what I want us to do 0:16:38.090 --> 0:16:42.030 this morning. I want us to declare our new identity 0:16:42.030 --> 0:16:44.110 in Christ in a kind of unique way. I'm going 0:16:44.110 --> 0:16:46.070 to ask you to fill in the blank as you 0:16:46.110 --> 0:16:50.989 call and share in your story. I used to be blank, 0:16:51.430 --> 0:16:55.870 but in Christ I am not anymore. Young Thunder, you start. 0:16:55.870 --> 0:16:58.030 I used to be what. 0:16:58.910 --> 0:17:03.190 I think the most prominent thing for me was deceiver. 0:17:03.230 --> 0:17:06.510 I used to be a deceiver. But in Christ, I'm 0:17:06.550 --> 0:17:07.590 not anymore. 0:17:07.710 --> 0:17:08.150 Yeah. 0:17:08.710 --> 0:17:13.870 What is it for you? 800 555 7898. We're going 0:17:13.910 --> 0:17:16.430 to put to death once again what's already been put 0:17:16.430 --> 0:17:19.310 to death. But we're going to be reminded that these 0:17:19.310 --> 0:17:22.470 old identities, these old sins, have been put to death. 0:17:22.470 --> 0:17:27.430 Our old self was crucified with Christ. Now we live 0:17:27.430 --> 0:17:29.790 in a new identity because of him. I used to 0:17:29.790 --> 0:17:33.870 be fill in the blank, but in Christ, not anymore. 0:17:34.150 --> 0:17:42.460 855 five 7898. 855 578 898 Freedom Friday. Let's get 0:17:42.460 --> 0:17:43.180 your story. 0:17:43.580 --> 0:17:48.179 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:17:48.580 --> 0:17:52.340 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:17:52.340 --> 0:17:53.580 on Moody Radio. 0:17:54.220 --> 0:17:57.700 You know, there's a quote, and I. I who said 0:17:57.700 --> 0:17:59.740 it escapes me at the moment. So someone will have 0:17:59.740 --> 0:18:02.260 to look this up for me. But it's essentially that 0:18:02.460 --> 0:18:05.060 what you think about when you think about God is 0:18:05.060 --> 0:18:10.060 the most important thing about you. And it's so true. 0:18:10.300 --> 0:18:12.260 If you were to really boil it down and you 0:18:12.260 --> 0:18:15.300 have a conversation with with any person that you would 0:18:15.300 --> 0:18:20.020 meet on the street in the grocery store, what they 0:18:20.020 --> 0:18:22.540 think about when they think about God is going to 0:18:22.540 --> 0:18:26.220 tell you more about them than anything else. In a moment, 0:18:26.220 --> 0:18:27.980 you'll be able to know a little bit about where 0:18:27.980 --> 0:18:31.820 they're at spiritually. Yeah. Is it? Yeah. I think that, 0:18:31.859 --> 0:18:35.540 you know, God is there's something bigger than us out there. 0:18:36.740 --> 0:18:39.100 Or when I think about God, I think about a 0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:42.359 higher power. Or I think about what are some other 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:45.080 things that people might say that they think about when 0:18:45.080 --> 0:18:46.080 they think about God. 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:49.600 Yeah, I've heard the well, I think that there is 0:18:49.600 --> 0:18:51.280 a God out there, but I don't think that he's 0:18:51.280 --> 0:18:53.240 very interested in what we're doing down here. 0:18:53.400 --> 0:18:57.240 Yeah. If there's a God, maybe there is. I don't 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.320 think he's interested in me or I don't think there 0:19:00.320 --> 0:19:02.200 is a God at all. Yeah, you're going to get 0:19:02.200 --> 0:19:06.760 a variety of responses, but God you are if you 0:19:06.760 --> 0:19:10.280 if you can pin that down, that Jesus man, you 0:19:10.280 --> 0:19:14.280 are Savior. You are Redeemer, you are deliverer. You are 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:19.280 a friend. You are a Savior, man that gets you 0:19:19.280 --> 0:19:21.720 on the right path. This morning, Freedom Friday here on 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:26.040 Carlin Crew. Here's the question. What were you? It's basically 0:19:26.040 --> 0:19:27.880 what we're going for. And I'm asking you to kind 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:30.960 of fill in the blank. I used to be. Then 0:19:30.960 --> 0:19:34.040 you fill in the blank, but in Christ, I'm not anymore. 0:19:34.080 --> 0:19:35.600 I'm going to go through some of what's coming in 0:19:35.600 --> 0:19:37.840 on text message. I love the text messages, but boy, 0:19:37.840 --> 0:19:40.460 I'd love a phone call more than a text. 800 0:19:40.500 --> 0:19:45.179 555 7898. I used to be self reliant, but in 0:19:45.180 --> 0:19:48.020 Christ I'm not anymore. I came in by text message. 0:19:48.020 --> 0:19:51.340 I used to be unforgiving. I used to be selfish. 0:19:51.460 --> 0:19:54.060 I used to be an addict. But in Christ, I 0:19:54.100 --> 0:19:56.860 am not anymore. Glory to God. What do you say 0:19:56.859 --> 0:20:06.260 this morning? 800 555 7898. (800) 555-7898. Super die. What would 0:20:06.260 --> 0:20:09.340 you fill in the blank with? Obviously, you can't capture 0:20:09.340 --> 0:20:12.859 a whole story in a word, but I used to be. 0:20:14.140 --> 0:20:17.020 This is hard to say. Um. I used to be 0:20:17.180 --> 0:20:23.940 very vindictive. Very vindictive. Um, there was a jealousy base 0:20:23.940 --> 0:20:26.859 to it, a jealousy foundation. Like anybody who had a 0:20:26.859 --> 0:20:30.060 sweet story, a sweet family story, whatever the case may be. 0:20:30.060 --> 0:20:34.060 But just anybody who kind of crossed my path, that 0:20:34.060 --> 0:20:37.689 wasn't what I thought in my mind. Was kind or 0:20:37.690 --> 0:20:40.210 did something to me, and even from my past. Like 0:20:40.210 --> 0:20:45.930 I carried that vindictiveness with me, like I didn't never 0:20:45.930 --> 0:20:48.530 let go. Forgiveness that, you know, put that all in 0:20:48.570 --> 0:20:50.850 that same bag. And that's what I was carrying. 0:20:51.170 --> 0:20:53.250 But in Christ, in Christ. 0:20:53.770 --> 0:20:56.050 In Christ, but God. 0:20:56.210 --> 0:20:58.690 Well, and the we always say this when we hear 0:20:58.970 --> 0:21:01.810 a little bit of super nice story when we hear 0:21:01.810 --> 0:21:06.690 that there, the anger, the vindictiveness. It's so hard to 0:21:06.730 --> 0:21:10.290 even fathom. Right, Jonathan? I mean. 0:21:10.770 --> 0:21:13.970 Oh, yeah, when you think of somebody, you're like, there's 0:21:14.010 --> 0:21:17.530 absolutely no way that you were sitting there and and 0:21:17.570 --> 0:21:20.650 being mean or vindictive to people or bitter towards people. 0:21:20.690 --> 0:21:22.649 I mean, Diana is one of the most loving people 0:21:22.650 --> 0:21:24.369 that you've ever known. It comes off in the way 0:21:24.369 --> 0:21:26.290 she speaks on radio, but then you see her in person, 0:21:26.290 --> 0:21:28.210 you're like, oh yeah, that's the same person. Absolutely. 0:21:28.410 --> 0:21:32.050 And the power of Christ. Oh, right. To change? Yes. 0:21:32.090 --> 0:21:34.890 To where? You know, because. Because in your past, so 0:21:34.890 --> 0:21:39.190 much of your AI identity does get wrapped up in 0:21:39.190 --> 0:21:41.189 in in sin. Honestly. 0:21:41.550 --> 0:21:42.909 Oh, absolutely. 0:21:42.910 --> 0:21:46.710 And it's because it's hard to separate it. Because without Christ, 0:21:47.550 --> 0:21:49.270 you know you're loved by God. 0:21:49.310 --> 0:21:49.710 Yes. 0:21:50.270 --> 0:21:53.950 But you're not a child of God apart from Christ. So, 0:21:54.350 --> 0:21:57.830 so much of how you live is is rooted in sin. 0:21:58.310 --> 0:21:59.429 If you just call it what it. 0:21:59.430 --> 0:22:00.070 Is, absolutely. 0:22:00.109 --> 0:22:02.790 You're in a trap. And there you are. You're stuck. 0:22:02.830 --> 0:22:05.710 We talked about, like, quicksand. Yeah. You're just sinking and 0:22:05.710 --> 0:22:07.550 sinking and sinking into that sin. 0:22:07.750 --> 0:22:10.070 I'm going to go back to our central passage for today, 0:22:10.070 --> 0:22:13.790 Romans six six and seven. We know that our old 0:22:13.790 --> 0:22:16.669 self was crucified with him in order that the body 0:22:16.670 --> 0:22:19.110 of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we 0:22:19.109 --> 0:22:22.149 would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who 0:22:22.150 --> 0:22:25.109 has died has been set free from sin. Here's the 0:22:25.109 --> 0:22:27.430 question this morning. It's a fill in the blank which 0:22:27.430 --> 0:22:32.190 which I really love. I used to be dot, dot, dot, 0:22:32.470 --> 0:22:35.650 but in Christ I am not anymore. I'm asking you 0:22:35.650 --> 0:22:38.330 to declare that this morning. Pin it down to a 0:22:38.330 --> 0:22:42.010 word or two. What were you. What did you used 0:22:42.010 --> 0:22:44.970 to be? That you are no longer now that you're 0:22:44.970 --> 0:22:49.929 in Christ? 805, 55, 7898. First time caller calling in 0:22:49.930 --> 0:22:54.490 this morning from Illinois. Leonard. Go ahead. I used to be. What? 0:22:56.250 --> 0:22:59.730 Yeah, I used to be a raging alcoholic. But in Christ, 0:22:59.730 --> 0:23:01.250 I am sober. 0:23:01.609 --> 0:23:03.889 Praise God. Uh, give us a little bit more of 0:23:03.890 --> 0:23:04.649 your story. 0:23:06.890 --> 0:23:09.090 Uh, I would say some 15 years ago or so, 0:23:09.130 --> 0:23:11.450 I was just, you know, making a lot of money 0:23:11.450 --> 0:23:13.490 and just thought that was the way of life and 0:23:13.490 --> 0:23:17.730 just drowning all my trauma and resentment, you know, from 0:23:17.730 --> 0:23:21.650 earlier life and previous relationships with alcohol, you know, and 0:23:21.650 --> 0:23:25.090 being in mortgage banking and real estate could be stressful 0:23:25.130 --> 0:23:28.050 and heavy, but it was always the bottle that I 0:23:28.050 --> 0:23:29.930 thought would, you know, help me calm. And it just 0:23:29.930 --> 0:23:34.270 caused more issues. And our good Lord, you know, bless 0:23:34.270 --> 0:23:36.950 me with a with a loving wife who's very well 0:23:36.990 --> 0:23:40.550 into the word and understanding of such. And the past 0:23:40.550 --> 0:23:43.070 eight years has just been such a joy. 0:23:43.150 --> 0:23:46.550 Wow. Leonard, first time caller from Chicago. Thank you so 0:23:46.550 --> 0:23:48.950 much for calling in and sharing your story on this 0:23:48.950 --> 0:23:53.270 Freedom Friday. I used to be, but in Christ I 0:23:53.310 --> 0:23:56.750 am not anymore. Mike, first time caller from Illinois. I 0:23:56.790 --> 0:23:59.030 used to be. What was it for you? 0:24:00.590 --> 0:24:05.709 Well, I was a, uh, a drug dealer. Drug addict? Uh, 0:24:06.270 --> 0:24:09.110 a lot of things I wasn't supposed to be. But 0:24:09.270 --> 0:24:12.510 most of all those things I'm glad I'm not is, uh. 0:24:12.510 --> 0:24:15.109 I'm glad I'm not a drug addict. You know, uh, 0:24:15.109 --> 0:24:18.910 strung out every day. The first thing on your on 0:24:18.910 --> 0:24:21.110 your mind when you wake up. And the last thing 0:24:21.109 --> 0:24:23.310 on your mind before you go to go to bed 0:24:23.310 --> 0:24:27.109 at night if you went to bed that night. So, man, uh, 0:24:27.510 --> 0:24:32.389 glory to God, man. He's who. Who I guess I get, 0:24:32.780 --> 0:24:35.460 I mean, I just get, uh, right now, I feel 0:24:35.460 --> 0:24:38.260 like chills going through me just talking about it, because 0:24:38.540 --> 0:24:42.140 there was some horror stories I remember. Not even, um, 0:24:42.700 --> 0:24:46.500 not even wanting to see the sunshine. Yeah, I used to. Yeah, 0:24:46.500 --> 0:24:49.699 I used to, you know, I didn't anything that was, uh. 0:24:49.700 --> 0:24:51.700 That was good, I hated it. I hate to see 0:24:51.740 --> 0:24:55.820 happy people, um, you know, because I wasn't happy, but, 0:24:55.859 --> 0:25:00.900 you know, um, God came, and he and he, you know, 0:25:00.940 --> 0:25:05.180 he saved me. He he, uh, you know, dusted me off. 0:25:05.220 --> 0:25:09.500 He shook me, and and, uh, he broke me and 0:25:09.500 --> 0:25:12.699 remade me until I. What he wants me to be. 0:25:12.940 --> 0:25:16.220 Amen. And, Mike, you know, he gave you new life 0:25:16.220 --> 0:25:21.100 in Christ. In Christ, you are free. We are declared 0:25:21.100 --> 0:25:24.420 righteous not because of our good works or our attempts 0:25:24.420 --> 0:25:27.700 to please him, but because of the blood of Jesus Christ. 0:25:27.740 --> 0:25:31.800 We stand in the righteousness of Christ. Coming up, let's 0:25:31.800 --> 0:25:34.600 talk about what that means for you this morning. If 0:25:34.600 --> 0:25:38.560 you are still stuck in your identity of sin, man, 0:25:38.560 --> 0:25:41.680 it's a good day to be free. This is Andrew Ripp. 0:25:42.160 --> 0:25:45.199 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:25:45.200 --> 0:25:49.440 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:25:49.440 --> 0:25:51.760 curl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:25:52.080 --> 0:25:56.320 Well, you know, before you're in Christ, your identity is 0:25:56.320 --> 0:26:01.480 really rooted in in your sin. Because we are identified 0:26:01.480 --> 0:26:04.000 as a sinner until we are identified as a child 0:26:04.000 --> 0:26:08.320 of God. That has to be that. That transformation only 0:26:08.320 --> 0:26:11.280 happens because of Christ. So we've been asking you this morning, 0:26:11.520 --> 0:26:15.080 what did you used to be before you were new 0:26:15.080 --> 0:26:18.840 in Christ? A couple more text messages. This one came 0:26:18.840 --> 0:26:21.800 in and I used to be floundering before I was 0:26:21.800 --> 0:26:24.359 in Christ. I used to be lost. I used to 0:26:24.359 --> 0:26:28.000 be self reliant. This one. I used to be wild 0:26:28.000 --> 0:26:33.980 and in unhealthy romantic relationships. Now I'm free and obedient 0:26:33.980 --> 0:26:37.060 in my singleness until God provides a spouse for me. 0:26:37.859 --> 0:26:42.580 I used to be a good little Pharisee. I'm still recovering. 0:26:42.619 --> 0:26:44.180 Pride is a sneaky sin. 0:26:44.380 --> 0:26:45.859 That's a horrible statement, man. 0:26:45.900 --> 0:26:47.379 It is a sneaky sin. But you know what? By 0:26:47.380 --> 0:26:49.220 the grace of God. Yeah, you've seen it. 0:26:49.260 --> 0:26:54.500 Can break that sin of pride, self-reliance, addiction. Let's go 0:26:54.500 --> 0:26:57.500 back to the phone lines. Aldo calling in from Chicago 0:26:57.540 --> 0:27:00.820 this morning. I used to be. What would you say? 0:27:02.580 --> 0:27:05.820 Hey, thanks for having me. Um, I used to be 0:27:05.980 --> 0:27:11.020 self righteous and. Yeah. And now I am no longer 0:27:11.020 --> 0:27:12.340 a fool through Christ. 0:27:12.380 --> 0:27:17.420 Wow. You know, Aldo, that that's my. That's the word 0:27:17.420 --> 0:27:20.020 I would use for my own story as well. What? 0:27:20.020 --> 0:27:21.660 What did that look like for you? 0:27:22.820 --> 0:27:28.620 Oh, man. Uh, where do I begin? Um, really? You know, 0:27:28.700 --> 0:27:31.610 I thought I was working hard. You know, I had 0:27:32.210 --> 0:27:37.609 I started having kids early and again through lack of self-control, 0:27:37.770 --> 0:27:40.489 you know, as a, as a teenager. But I'm like, 0:27:40.490 --> 0:27:42.330 I'm doing the right thing and I'm going to raise 0:27:42.330 --> 0:27:44.610 my family and we get married, right? And we end 0:27:44.609 --> 0:27:47.730 up having four kids, and I'm working hard going to school. 0:27:48.010 --> 0:27:53.050 But again, I'm inside. I'm just dying inside doing things 0:27:53.050 --> 0:27:56.410 I shouldn't be doing, hiding it from my family. Right? 0:27:56.650 --> 0:27:59.209 My wife and I were hiding it from from the 0:27:59.210 --> 0:28:01.810 kids as we were raising them. But everything that we're 0:28:01.810 --> 0:28:05.490 doing in front of them is, you know, righteous. It's 0:28:05.490 --> 0:28:07.530 the right thing to do. We're working hard, we're making 0:28:07.530 --> 0:28:12.290 a living, and we're just dying inside because, you know, 0:28:12.690 --> 0:28:16.490 there's sin all over the place. And I'm thinking, well, 0:28:16.530 --> 0:28:20.370 I'm justified, right? We're doing the right thing. I'm justified. 0:28:20.810 --> 0:28:24.010 And and we I just, you know, our marriage didn't 0:28:24.010 --> 0:28:28.010 last after 19 years, and and I just it all 0:28:28.150 --> 0:28:31.750 came to a peak and and I realized, you know, 0:28:31.790 --> 0:28:34.950 this something's got to give. And that's, that's really when 0:28:34.950 --> 0:28:37.950 I began, I didn't even that's not even my, you know, 0:28:37.990 --> 0:28:41.350 conversion there, but it's when, it's when Jesus really began 0:28:41.350 --> 0:28:45.590 to show me, like, dude, something's got to give. You 0:28:45.590 --> 0:28:47.630 said it yourself. What is that? 0:28:47.670 --> 0:28:52.590 Yeah. Aldo from Chicago. You know, it's so many layers 0:28:52.590 --> 0:28:56.110 to that and that this idea that we can somehow 0:28:56.150 --> 0:29:00.350 make ourself righteous. I mean, it's an expression that somebody 0:29:00.350 --> 0:29:02.830 self righteous. We think about somebody who kind of puts 0:29:02.830 --> 0:29:07.550 themselves above other people. Right? Kind of yeah. Based on 0:29:07.550 --> 0:29:11.510 whatever they have or have achieved or their ability to 0:29:11.550 --> 0:29:12.590 keep rules. 0:29:12.870 --> 0:29:13.510 I'm better. 0:29:13.550 --> 0:29:17.350 I'm I'm better. That's a self righteousness. But even if 0:29:17.350 --> 0:29:21.190 you wouldn't have described yourself as self righteous, any attempt 0:29:21.190 --> 0:29:25.710 to make yourself pleasing to God based on your own 0:29:25.710 --> 0:29:29.650 good works is a form of self righteousness because self 0:29:29.650 --> 0:29:31.810 is at the center always. And if you've listened to 0:29:31.810 --> 0:29:35.209 our show for any length of time, anything where self 0:29:35.210 --> 0:29:38.530 is at the center is going to be a losing battle. Yes. 0:29:38.570 --> 0:29:41.290 Yeah, absolutely. Well, Carl talks about it all the time. 0:29:41.330 --> 0:29:45.050 He says that, you know, humility is the birthplace of righteousness. Uh, 0:29:45.090 --> 0:29:47.810 but I think the opposite can be true, too, where 0:29:47.850 --> 0:29:51.450 pride is the birthplace of all unrighteousness. That, yes, that 0:29:51.450 --> 0:29:54.410 pride comes before the fall. Is is a really accurate 0:29:54.450 --> 0:29:56.930 text that I think we need to be careful of. 0:29:57.530 --> 0:30:00.450 You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:30:03.490 --> 0:30:08.090 What do you do when life takes an unexpected turn 0:30:08.090 --> 0:30:10.690 and you, you find yourself in a set of circumstances 0:30:10.690 --> 0:30:13.930 that you never expected to be in? What do you do? 0:30:14.290 --> 0:30:16.650 All of us have faced that to some degree. None 0:30:16.650 --> 0:30:19.330 of us have a life that panned out. Maybe exactly how. 0:30:19.330 --> 0:30:24.130 But for our guests today, Rachel Falkner Brown, twice widowed 0:30:24.290 --> 0:30:27.520 by the time you were in your early 30s. Tell 0:30:27.520 --> 0:30:29.560 us a little bit about your story before we get 0:30:29.560 --> 0:30:32.600 to your ministry. Incredible ministry to widows. 0:30:33.040 --> 0:30:36.440 I was widowed the first time. My husband was 27. 0:30:36.440 --> 0:30:39.840 The picture of health and had a massive aneurysm five 0:30:39.880 --> 0:30:44.800 days after September 11th. And, you know, I was 23. 0:30:45.320 --> 0:30:48.240 We had just started to talk about having a family. 0:30:48.280 --> 0:30:52.640 We'd been married three years and life was just upside down, 0:30:52.640 --> 0:30:57.520 and never, ever did I imagine I had buried a grandparent. 0:30:57.520 --> 0:30:59.760 I'd never had a friend pass away. So it was 0:30:59.760 --> 0:31:02.920 just the first, you know, experience I'd ever had with 0:31:02.920 --> 0:31:07.320 someone who wasn't supposed to die, I guess. You know, and, um, 0:31:07.480 --> 0:31:11.520 obviously devastating. I learned to worship. I would actually sit 0:31:11.680 --> 0:31:14.360 in my bedroom and listen to Fernando Ortega's Give Me 0:31:14.360 --> 0:31:16.840 Jesus every night. I didn't know what else to do. 0:31:16.880 --> 0:31:19.040 I mean, it was just like, I will say, I 0:31:19.040 --> 0:31:23.520 had the foundation that, you know, worship fixes a multitude 0:31:23.560 --> 0:31:26.380 of ailments, Right? And so I would just sit there 0:31:26.380 --> 0:31:28.340 and just sing at the top of my lungs when 0:31:28.340 --> 0:31:31.380 I come to die. When I am alone, give me Jesus. 0:31:31.380 --> 0:31:34.220 And you know, it healed parts of me. And I 0:31:34.220 --> 0:31:38.500 was able to move on a year later and remarried 0:31:38.540 --> 0:31:42.220 after dating Blair Faulkner, who's a fighter pilot in the 0:31:42.220 --> 0:31:45.340 Air Force. And we, um, were married for five years, 0:31:45.340 --> 0:31:48.860 two kids. And he went to fly on this beautiful 0:31:48.860 --> 0:31:52.180 April day. And he and his student pilot were killed 0:31:52.180 --> 0:31:54.980 instantly when their plane took off and the cable in 0:31:54.980 --> 0:31:58.940 the wing broke, and they both ejected from the jet 0:31:58.940 --> 0:32:02.220 and the jet. The ejection seat doesn't work below 1000ft. 0:32:02.220 --> 0:32:05.700 So they were both killed instantly on that beautiful day, 0:32:05.700 --> 0:32:09.380 and I was left widowed again as a 31 year 0:32:09.420 --> 0:32:12.060 old young mother with a five month old and a 0:32:12.100 --> 0:32:14.580 two year old. And to say that it was different 0:32:14.580 --> 0:32:18.620 the second time would be like the understatement of the century. Because, 0:32:18.660 --> 0:32:20.420 you know, I just remember looking in my rear view 0:32:20.460 --> 0:32:23.720 mirror and seeing those kids as I got the news 0:32:23.720 --> 0:32:25.960 from the chaplain, and he told me they were looking 0:32:25.960 --> 0:32:30.040 for me and just thinking, oh my gosh, like, this 0:32:30.040 --> 0:32:32.640 isn't about me anymore. You know, this is about those 0:32:32.640 --> 0:32:36.320 two little people who are going to be fatherless. And, 0:32:36.360 --> 0:32:38.800 you know, I couldn't believe it was my reality. I've 0:32:38.800 --> 0:32:42.440 kind of gotten my suffering card from, you know, I mean, 0:32:42.480 --> 0:32:45.560 I've paid the price, right, for this life, but in 0:32:45.560 --> 0:32:47.560 this world, we will have troubles. And there's just no 0:32:47.560 --> 0:32:51.640 guarantee that when bad things happen, that more bad things 0:32:51.640 --> 0:32:54.400 will happen. In fact, they will. That's just the reality 0:32:54.400 --> 0:32:56.959 of our life. But take heart, I have overcome. And 0:32:56.960 --> 0:32:59.000 if Christ is in me and he's the hope of glory, 0:32:59.000 --> 0:33:02.160 then then that's it, right? I mean, that's it. And 0:33:02.160 --> 0:33:05.760 somehow I knew that. But I was still in total shock. 0:33:05.920 --> 0:33:10.560 Yeah. Rachel Faulkner Brown with us right now. She has 0:33:10.560 --> 0:33:15.480 an incredible ministry. Never alone. Widows. How did your faith. 0:33:15.520 --> 0:33:18.840 I'm probably the biggest question that people would would wonder 0:33:18.840 --> 0:33:22.590 is how does your faith survive? I mean, how do 0:33:22.590 --> 0:33:27.150 you how do you survive two devastating, shocking losses like 0:33:27.150 --> 0:33:30.550 that and come out with a faith intact? 0:33:30.910 --> 0:33:34.790 Yeah, well, I didn't do it. Well, Ali, the reason 0:33:34.790 --> 0:33:37.270 I started the ministry is because I wanted people to. 0:33:37.310 --> 0:33:39.070 To do it better than I did it. Let me 0:33:39.070 --> 0:33:42.430 just say, because I really, you know, I think so 0:33:42.430 --> 0:33:45.510 many Christians just feel like they need to wave the 0:33:45.510 --> 0:33:49.750 banner of hope for Jesus, and they forget that lament 0:33:49.750 --> 0:33:54.230 and grief is just such a part of being a 0:33:54.270 --> 0:33:58.150 gospel centric person. And that was me. I was just like, 0:33:58.150 --> 0:34:02.390 I have to show the world that Jesus is enough. 0:34:02.430 --> 0:34:05.550 And I did that. I did that from a place 0:34:05.550 --> 0:34:09.630 of emotional bankruptcy, and I read Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, actually 0:34:09.670 --> 0:34:12.629 going to speak and share my story in Idaho. And 0:34:12.630 --> 0:34:15.430 I read that book on the plane and sobbed the 0:34:15.430 --> 0:34:18.630 entire way to Idaho because I was like, this book 0:34:18.670 --> 0:34:21.410 is my life. And I didn't know it. I was 0:34:21.450 --> 0:34:24.450 like spiritually in the heavenly realms. And yet emotionally, I 0:34:24.450 --> 0:34:27.089 couldn't tell you. Like the last time I had a 0:34:27.090 --> 0:34:29.330 feeling because I was just like, I've got to carry 0:34:29.330 --> 0:34:31.609 the banner. I've got to make Jesus proud. I've got 0:34:31.610 --> 0:34:34.930 to show all these people that he's enough. And he's like, girl, 0:34:34.969 --> 0:34:38.170 the work is rest. And I did not know that. 0:34:38.210 --> 0:34:40.170 I mean, I didn't know my head from a hole 0:34:40.170 --> 0:34:43.770 in the ground when it came to emotional healthiness. And 0:34:43.770 --> 0:34:47.009 he's like, I came to heal you in your, you know, 0:34:47.010 --> 0:34:50.969 your emotions, your mind, your will, your your heart, your body. 0:34:50.969 --> 0:34:53.370 And I didn't know that. I thought my emotions were 0:34:53.410 --> 0:34:56.690 getting in the way. And they don't need to lead, 0:34:56.690 --> 0:34:59.410 but you have to feel things to heal things. And 0:34:59.410 --> 0:35:02.250 I did not do that well, which is really why 0:35:02.250 --> 0:35:04.730 I started the ministry, to be very honest. 0:35:04.770 --> 0:35:08.210 Rachel Faulkner Brown, coming up, let's talk about this ministry 0:35:08.210 --> 0:35:13.170 out of her journey of of grief, of processing, of 0:35:13.370 --> 0:35:15.930 getting it wrong. Although I'm not even sure what getting 0:35:15.930 --> 0:35:19.450 it right looks like. More coming up. Her story has 0:35:19.450 --> 0:35:22.029 a very hopeful side that I think is going to 0:35:22.070 --> 0:35:23.990 encourage you coming up here on Carlin Crew. 0:35:24.710 --> 0:35:27.430 Your shot of hope to help you through the day. 0:35:27.710 --> 0:35:30.750 This is Carlin crew on Moody Radio. 0:35:31.670 --> 0:35:34.590 Got a special guest right now, Rachel Faulkner. Brown lost 0:35:34.590 --> 0:35:38.710 two husbands before she was 31 years old. Out of 0:35:38.710 --> 0:35:42.470 her grief, out of her healing. She founded the largest 0:35:42.469 --> 0:35:46.470 Christian widows ministry, 501 C3, in the country. It's called 0:35:46.469 --> 0:35:49.709 Never Alone Widows. You know, you mentioned that in those 0:35:49.710 --> 0:35:54.109 early stages of grief, after your second major loss, you 0:35:54.150 --> 0:35:56.750 tried so hard to hold up that banner that said, 0:35:56.750 --> 0:36:00.549 Jesus is enough for me. I'm doing okay. When did 0:36:00.550 --> 0:36:03.030 you get to the point where you realized, I don't 0:36:03.030 --> 0:36:04.950 have to do this? I don't have to try to 0:36:04.989 --> 0:36:09.310 put on this smile that says, Because I'm a Christian, 0:36:09.550 --> 0:36:12.150 this doesn't hurt as much as it actually does. 0:36:12.710 --> 0:36:14.989 Well, it's not a pretty story. I was actually in 0:36:14.989 --> 0:36:17.670 Kroger and a friend of mine happened to be with 0:36:17.670 --> 0:36:22.500 me and she watched me explode on this woman who 0:36:22.500 --> 0:36:24.980 was in front of the microwave popcorn. This is just 0:36:24.980 --> 0:36:28.780 the silliest story, but it's so real. And this woman 0:36:28.780 --> 0:36:31.620 was on one of those scooters. She had an oxygen tank, 0:36:31.660 --> 0:36:34.259 and she proceeded to tell me that I was going 0:36:34.300 --> 0:36:38.020 to get cancer from that microwave popcorn if I bought it. 0:36:38.060 --> 0:36:42.060 And the deepest wound in my soul was. And fear 0:36:42.060 --> 0:36:43.620 in my soul was that I was going to leave 0:36:43.620 --> 0:36:48.420 my children orphaned. And she poked the bear. Oh my goodness. 0:36:48.420 --> 0:36:51.740 And I lost my mind on this woman in Kroger 0:36:51.739 --> 0:36:54.700 and praised the Lord. My friend watched and we got 0:36:54.700 --> 0:36:57.700 to the car and she was like, Rachel, you need help. 0:36:57.739 --> 0:37:00.700 And I was like, no, I'm fine, I'm fine. I 0:37:00.900 --> 0:37:03.460 just she just she was wrong. And, you know, and 0:37:03.460 --> 0:37:06.859 the ultimate reality is I had deep, deep fears, but 0:37:06.860 --> 0:37:09.620 I didn't know it. I couldn't address it. And I 0:37:09.620 --> 0:37:12.219 ended up in therapy for two years. I had a secret, 0:37:12.260 --> 0:37:14.260 you know, I'd been abused when I was ten, 11 0:37:14.260 --> 0:37:16.460 and 12 by a distant family member. I'd kept that 0:37:16.460 --> 0:37:19.800 secret for 25 years. I was just a ball of 0:37:19.920 --> 0:37:25.200 shame and hiding and fear and just, oh my gosh, 0:37:25.239 --> 0:37:27.840 like you name it, I had it, but I looked 0:37:27.840 --> 0:37:32.080 so good from the outside. Ali. And that's so many 0:37:32.080 --> 0:37:35.759 Christian stories. We're just like little performers for Jesus. And 0:37:35.920 --> 0:37:39.239 until you implode and somebody sees it and I and 0:37:39.280 --> 0:37:41.840 I did praise the Lord and ended up in therapy, 0:37:41.840 --> 0:37:43.920 I did a ton of inner healing. And, you know, 0:37:43.960 --> 0:37:45.879 that was the crux for me is I learned to 0:37:45.880 --> 0:37:48.839 feel again. And that was such a huge process. I 0:37:48.840 --> 0:37:50.799 didn't know how to comfort myself. I didn't know how 0:37:50.800 --> 0:37:54.600 to comfort my children. And I really learned that Jesus 0:37:54.600 --> 0:37:57.360 wants to comfort all of us, and I wasn't letting 0:37:57.360 --> 0:37:58.480 him do that. 0:37:58.760 --> 0:38:02.400 So never alone. Widows as a widow, all of a 0:38:02.400 --> 0:38:06.120 sudden you're in this kind of this society of of 0:38:06.120 --> 0:38:09.600 loss and of grief. And what caused you to say, 0:38:09.600 --> 0:38:12.880 this is a need. We need to minister to women 0:38:12.880 --> 0:38:13.600 like me? 0:38:14.000 --> 0:38:16.279 Well, I think at the end of the day, you 0:38:16.280 --> 0:38:19.259 never know what you're really doing when you start a ministry. 0:38:19.260 --> 0:38:22.140 And I was just I was just like, I just 0:38:22.140 --> 0:38:24.980 want to help the younger version of myself. I mean, genuinely, 0:38:25.020 --> 0:38:27.739 like I said, that and a friend. There were nine 0:38:27.739 --> 0:38:30.379 widows who had all gone to Auburn University, and they 0:38:30.380 --> 0:38:32.779 lived in Birmingham. And a friend kind of gathered them 0:38:32.780 --> 0:38:34.259 and said, Will you come over and speak? And I 0:38:34.260 --> 0:38:37.420 was like, sure. And on the way home, I was like, 0:38:37.420 --> 0:38:39.819 we could do this, like on a bigger scale. Like, 0:38:39.820 --> 0:38:42.219 we could invite 20 widows from all over the country 0:38:42.219 --> 0:38:45.380 to come to Milton, where I live in Atlanta and, 0:38:45.420 --> 0:38:47.660 you know, put them up in my kids bunk beds 0:38:47.660 --> 0:38:51.660 and give them this amazing weekend and resource my friends. 0:38:51.700 --> 0:38:53.660 You know, I knew all my friends would rally and 0:38:53.660 --> 0:38:55.580 they would be like, yes, of course we want to 0:38:55.580 --> 0:38:59.220 help widows. And that just turned into this nationwide ministry 0:38:59.219 --> 0:39:02.379 I'd never dreamed. I mean, you just you don't know 0:39:02.380 --> 0:39:04.460 what God is doing. But I will tell you, I 0:39:04.500 --> 0:39:08.380 have seen he is going to take care of his widows. 0:39:08.380 --> 0:39:12.020 And he passed the baton. Honestly, he was like, Rachel, 0:39:12.020 --> 0:39:15.100 you know the mandate in James 127, you thought this 0:39:15.100 --> 0:39:17.120 was just to help the younger version of yourself. But 0:39:17.120 --> 0:39:20.640 it's really to to help the kingdom advance, because widows 0:39:20.640 --> 0:39:24.160 have powerful stories that people want to hear. They're like, 0:39:24.200 --> 0:39:25.680 you know, the wreck on the side of the road. 0:39:25.680 --> 0:39:28.319 You got to look right. And I think at the 0:39:28.320 --> 0:39:31.080 end of the day, when they use and wield that 0:39:31.080 --> 0:39:35.480 power for his glory and his kingdom, oh my goodness, 0:39:35.520 --> 0:39:40.399 like unstoppable. They are so powerful and so resourceful and 0:39:40.400 --> 0:39:43.759 generous and yeah, it's amazing what God can do with 0:39:43.760 --> 0:39:46.000 a widow who's surrendered to obedience. 0:39:46.080 --> 0:39:49.600 You mentioned James 127 religion that is pure and undefiled 0:39:49.600 --> 0:39:52.040 before God the Father is this to visit orphans and 0:39:52.040 --> 0:39:55.399 widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from 0:39:55.400 --> 0:39:57.640 the world. What did you learn as a as a 0:39:57.680 --> 0:40:00.680 widow first in your own experience, then beginning to share 0:40:00.680 --> 0:40:04.400 your experience and minister to other women in a similar situation? 0:40:04.640 --> 0:40:07.560 What was missing from from the church? The way the 0:40:07.560 --> 0:40:11.000 church tries to minister to widows? 0:40:11.360 --> 0:40:14.710 Well, they don't know who the widows are in their church. 0:40:14.710 --> 0:40:17.509 That's part of the problem. And we don't wear badges 0:40:17.510 --> 0:40:20.190 that say, I'm a widow. So you've got to really 0:40:20.750 --> 0:40:23.310 there's a work, there's a work involved to find out 0:40:23.310 --> 0:40:27.030 who she is. And, you know, I love oil change ministries, like, 0:40:27.070 --> 0:40:30.310 you know, checking the box you're doing. That's great. But 0:40:30.310 --> 0:40:32.910 at the root of it all, she needs to feel 0:40:32.950 --> 0:40:36.190 seen and known and heard. And that's what we created 0:40:36.190 --> 0:40:39.710 with Never Alone as a pair of church ministry to say, hey, 0:40:40.230 --> 0:40:42.750 we know it's hard for a church to find these widows, 0:40:42.750 --> 0:40:45.070 but we can help you find them. And then we've 0:40:45.070 --> 0:40:48.590 got the curriculum to plug and play and get them 0:40:48.630 --> 0:40:51.469 the help that they need. Because the reality is, Ali, 0:40:51.469 --> 0:40:53.710 the reason they get there is because their husband died. 0:40:53.710 --> 0:40:57.110 But the reason they experience healing is because of something 0:40:57.110 --> 0:41:01.270 that happened in their childhood. 99% of the widows who come, 0:41:01.469 --> 0:41:04.510 they already had shame on board when their husband died, 0:41:04.510 --> 0:41:07.750 or they have a secret, or they are depressed, or 0:41:07.790 --> 0:41:09.790 they didn't have a good marriage and they don't know 0:41:09.790 --> 0:41:12.750 where to go with that information, and then their husband 0:41:12.750 --> 0:41:15.370 dies and he becomes this overnight hero when a lot 0:41:15.410 --> 0:41:17.890 of times he wasn't. I hate to say it, and 0:41:17.890 --> 0:41:19.850 they don't know what to do with that, but when 0:41:19.850 --> 0:41:22.689 they're in a community of people who are safe and 0:41:22.690 --> 0:41:26.930 have the same stories and can relate man, the honesty 0:41:26.969 --> 0:41:30.089 flows and that is what we create is honest, safe 0:41:30.090 --> 0:41:32.890 spaces for these weirdos to actually be healed. 0:41:32.930 --> 0:41:36.890 My goodness, what an incredible ministry. I'm curious, is it 0:41:36.890 --> 0:41:39.330 primarily for younger widows? Is that. 0:41:39.530 --> 0:41:39.770 Where. 0:41:39.770 --> 0:41:39.969 You're. 0:41:39.969 --> 0:41:44.170 Seeing most? We're everywhere. I mean, we've got 25 to 85. 0:41:44.210 --> 0:41:47.770 Typically they're over 50. Average age is 59 for a 0:41:47.810 --> 0:41:50.490 widow and 40, you know, 60 is the new 40. 0:41:50.530 --> 0:41:53.410 Let's be honest. So these women are vibrant and they 0:41:53.410 --> 0:41:55.810 don't look like widows that you you know, the gray 0:41:55.850 --> 0:41:59.850 haired ladies at church, like it's not that anymore. And so, yeah, 0:41:59.890 --> 0:42:03.130 our local groups are definitely, you know, 50 and up 0:42:03.130 --> 0:42:06.130 most of the time. There are definitely leaders. You know, 0:42:06.170 --> 0:42:08.130 a lot of times the groups look like the leader. 0:42:08.450 --> 0:42:11.330 All of our retreats are for widows with children. So 0:42:11.370 --> 0:42:13.830 those intimate retreats, we just feel like they have the 0:42:13.830 --> 0:42:15.989 hardest time healing because they're trying to take care of 0:42:15.989 --> 0:42:18.549 3 or 4 little hearts and themselves. And you know 0:42:18.550 --> 0:42:21.190 who loses in that? It's it's her. And then the 0:42:21.190 --> 0:42:23.509 conference is for any widow. And then the groups are 0:42:23.510 --> 0:42:26.430 for any widow believe or non-believer. We want everyone to 0:42:26.430 --> 0:42:26.990 be there. 0:42:27.030 --> 0:42:30.790 Wow. Incredible. Yeah. And now you've compiled or helped compile 0:42:30.790 --> 0:42:33.910 some of the stories in this little devotional widow's mite 0:42:33.910 --> 0:42:38.230 365 Days of Strength for Grief and Loss. Tell me 0:42:38.230 --> 0:42:41.110 about this resource and what it's intended to do. 0:42:41.310 --> 0:42:44.350 It is intended to be the hope in the dark 0:42:44.350 --> 0:42:48.950 because I mean, so many widows experience brain fog. Widow 0:42:48.950 --> 0:42:51.069 fog is what we call it. You can't read read 0:42:51.070 --> 0:42:53.790 in the Bible so hard. Every widow will tell you, 0:42:53.830 --> 0:42:55.350 oh my gosh, it's so hard. And you feel so 0:42:55.350 --> 0:42:59.069 guilty because your brain is literally scrambled. But you can 0:42:59.070 --> 0:43:02.790 read 225 words. And when it's somebody else's story and 0:43:02.790 --> 0:43:05.589 God did it for her, and I can read that, 0:43:05.590 --> 0:43:08.549 he can and I can feel and know that God 0:43:08.550 --> 0:43:12.259 is still good, even though my circumstances aren't good, you're like, well, 0:43:12.300 --> 0:43:14.460 maybe you can do that for me. And of course 0:43:14.460 --> 0:43:17.060 he does. And, you know, on my tombstone it's going 0:43:17.100 --> 0:43:20.500 to read she was a collaborator because I just love 0:43:20.660 --> 0:43:24.860 collaborating with 200 of my widow friends who said, yes, Rachel, 0:43:25.180 --> 0:43:27.580 we want to tell our story in the dark so 0:43:27.580 --> 0:43:30.379 that another widow can be healed and feel comfort and 0:43:30.380 --> 0:43:33.540 hope that she doesn't currently have. And it's so funny 0:43:33.540 --> 0:43:35.660 to watch people they'll, like, keep six of them in 0:43:35.700 --> 0:43:39.180 their car. It's unbelievable. When you are looking for widows, 0:43:39.420 --> 0:43:43.180 you will find them. They are everywhere. 2800 new a 0:43:43.219 --> 0:43:44.500 day a day. 0:43:44.900 --> 0:43:47.899 Wow. Rachel Falkner Brown. If you are interested in more 0:43:47.940 --> 0:43:51.540 about both the the resource and this ministry, just text 0:43:51.580 --> 0:43:54.739 the word strength will get you set up. Text strength 0:43:54.739 --> 0:44:03.980 to 800 555 7898. Text strength to 800 555 7898. Rachel, 0:44:04.020 --> 0:44:06.420 your love for the Lord, your love for other widows 0:44:06.420 --> 0:44:09.339 is contagious. Thank you so much for offering hope to 0:44:09.380 --> 0:44:10.460 so many this morning.