S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Give him praise this morning. It's Carl and crew helping
S2: you take your next step with Jesus. Most nerve wracking
S2: thing in my life right up there. Top five. Absolutely
S2: gut wrenching. Nerve wracking.
S3: Okay. Oh my goodness I know right?
S2: I'm at Mariner's Church in Southern California preaching. I have
S2: no notes. Ah. And I'm scrambling to they're there in
S2: the green room. It's a big old church there in
S2: the green room. And I thought, don't go get em.
S2: Just get up there. You got it on your heart.
S2: And I got up there and everything got jumbled. And
S2: I'm crying out to God. I have my opening illustration
S2: and I'm crying out to God, and I'm like, this
S2: is horrible. And I get into the first point and
S2: I totally botch it, and it's totally different than anything
S2: on the screen.
S4: And I'm in awe because he had slides. Yeah.
S2: And the central passage of Scripture that I go to
S2: has nothing to do with my outline. Nothing. And I
S2: am dying in a pile, and then I wake up.
S4: Oh, are. You can't do that. That was good.
S2: It happened to me.
S3: What?
S2: There is nothing more stressful nor relieving than waking up
S2: from a dream.
S3: Yes.
S2: My goodness that you can't get yourself out of.
S3: Yes.
S2: You know what I'm saying?
S3: Yes. Mine are usually related to. Not my job here.
S3: But back in the day, one of my one of
S3: my first real adult jobs was working in a television newsroom.
S3: And television newsrooms are really high stress places. Everybody's on
S3: a deadline. You're trying to work on a story for
S3: the five or the six or the 10:00 newscast. And
S3: so I have this reoccurring dream that I am not
S3: going to make my deadline for my story. And I'm like,
S3: running through the newsroom back in the day when you
S3: actually had a physical tape. And then I wake up,
S3: like out of breath, like it's been 15 years. The
S3: newscast is over. Everything is okay.
S2: I'm in a new place. I'm in a new time,
S2: and everything's fine. Stress is going to come at us
S2: sometimes in the middle of the night. You might have
S2: one on your heart right now going. Oh, you can't
S2: believe what I dreamed last night. And I'm so glad
S2: when I woke up, it didn't happen.
S3: Or I've got something I'm facing that I wish were
S3: just a nightmare. That I could wake up from what.
S5: I was thinking.
S2: That's the point. Because some stuff comes at us and
S2: comes at us as fast. Hang on. We got a
S2: treat for you. Because if you felt any stress in
S2: your life, we got a man with a plan.
S1: She was trying to earn her way to God, but
S1: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
S1: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: So, Ali, uh, what stresses you out other than me? No.
S2: You can't.
S6: Oh, I know I should. I should back this whole
S6: train up here for a second. I just set myself up.
S6: But what stresses you out?
S3: Oh, what stresses me out? Um, sometimes feeling overextended, like
S3: there's so many things to get done in a day.
S3: And it feels like I can sometimes never quite catch up.
S2: How about traffic? When radio starts in a half an hour.
S3: Traffic stresses me out. I have a 15 year old
S3: who's learning how to drive.
S2: Oh, that's all you got?
S3: In downtown Chicago. And so sitting in the passenger seat
S3: really stresses me out as I'm trying to help her
S3: learn how to drive. What about you?
S2: Oh, what stresses me out? I think, um, because I'm
S2: a leader, I get stressed out when I feel like
S2: there's key slots in any organization that aren't filled rightly.
S2: That's an indicator right there that that starts to bump
S2: my cup a little bit. Doctor Charles Stone, what stresses
S2: you out? You're an expert on stress. What stresses you out?
S7: Well, actually, I just got stressed when Ali shared about
S7: teaching her kids to drive. It took me back to
S7: those early days, right? And I am really stressed now.
S7: Thank you. Ali.
S3: Doctor Charles Stone, our guest right now, you have spent
S3: an extensive amount of time studying this. You studied more
S3: than 400 ministry leaders. You consulted more than 500 research studies,
S3: articles and books on stress resilience. Tell us why this
S3: topic became such a passion project for you.
S7: Well, yeah, it actually started on a vacation. My wife
S7: and I were on a vacation where they have buffets everywhere.
S7: I love buffets, so it was just great. But there
S7: was a problem. Wi-Fi was everywhere, and it was just
S7: prior to when Covid hit. And I told my wife
S7: I was serving in a church in Canada at the time.
S7: They're going to shut us down. Sure, as the world
S7: we got back, we were shut down for months, and
S7: I had to realize that I was now going to
S7: have to lead a church of a thousand through a
S7: tiny pinhole camera on my computer. About that time, I
S7: was diagnosed with prediabetes. And listen, I eat my vegetables
S7: and exercise. I was diagnosed with an AFib. That's when
S7: your heart flutters, when it shouldn't. And I was diagnosed
S7: with cancer. And the irony was I was doing a
S7: research dissertation PhD project on, you guessed it, stress. So
S7: I became the lab rat. Uh, along with that. So
S7: out of those experiences, I began to write, and I
S7: delve into this whole thing of stress.
S2: Yeah. The interesting thing about stress is there is a
S2: good stress and it's called you stress and you stress
S2: is a type of stress that's motivating. Short term, performance enhancing.
S2: Emotionally positive. I've been studying this a little bit lately,
S2: so it's great that we're having you on here today.
S2: I mean, God created us with emotion. So some stress
S2: actually activates us to move in directions that can really
S2: give God glory. But the vast majority of stress is
S2: not good. I mean, this is why being anxious for nothing,
S2: and I think a lot of people look at their
S2: stress and they think that they're disobedient or bad children
S2: of God. What do you say, pastor?
S7: Well, stress actually comes in two flavors. You mentioned one.
S7: You stress. It's also called acute stress. And then there's
S7: a chronic stress. Now you stress or acute stress is
S7: like when I was preparing for our time on the radio,
S7: I was making sure, do I have the right thing
S7: plugged in or the knobs and everything just right? So
S7: my stress raised a bit, but it calmed down when
S7: I kind of got everything together. Chronic stress is when
S7: that stress event out there is there, and we don't
S7: respond in a healthy way. Therefore, many days are beyond
S7: and when that happens. Oh boy. It affects our brains.
S7: It affects our bodies, our relationships, our walk with God.
S7: But you made a great point. Just because you feel
S7: this stress response, because there is a stress event we
S7: have no control over, then the stress response is how
S7: God wired us to respond to that. Just because we
S7: have some of these natural, immediate responses to stress events
S7: does not mean we're less of a Christian. It's the
S7: way God designed us to respond to demands and threatening situations.
S3: The stress is something that as soon as you say
S3: that word, I think every person listening has an idea
S3: of what that means in their own life. But as
S3: you walking through your own personal, stressful life experiences and
S3: just kind of surveying so many different ministry leaders, what
S3: did you find that was sort of a common thread
S3: through all of it.
S7: Well, studying a lot of these ministers, it was interesting
S7: that during Covid, like over 40% of pastors felt like
S7: leaving the ministry because of stress. And of course, that
S7: was the height of Covid. Now we're past Covid, but
S7: still over a third of pastors are thinking about quitting
S7: the ministry. So stress is real in the ministry. It's
S7: really everywhere. I live in southern Mississippi and this is
S7: like high pollen season. There's like a yellow coating over everything.
S7: Stress is like that. It is like everywhere. Here's a
S7: simple definition. Stress is the way God designed us. It
S7: is our natural response to real or perceived threats or demands.
S7: Let me give you an example. You go camping, you're
S7: in a tent and you hear some movement outside and
S7: your mind goes like, oh no, it's a grizzly. He's
S7: going to eat me up. So you don't sleep at
S7: all that night. But in the morning when the sun
S7: comes up, you peek out and you realize, oh, that
S7: wasn't a bear. That was a raccoon eating those Cheetos
S7: I left on the table. So this stress response happens
S7: whether it's real, a real bear, or whether it's perceived
S7: just a raccoon.
S2: Yeah, I love this. This is really good. Doctor Gerald
S2: Stone is our guest right now, and we're going to
S2: have a link for you in just a moment. It's
S2: a self-test, actually. Subtle signs of stress. Four of them
S2: in your life. He's written a blog on it and
S2: also written how to get relief from this. You know,
S2: you look at Philippians four and Paul's writing from prison
S2: and he says, don't be anxious about anything. But in
S2: everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
S2: be made known to God. And the peace of God,
S2: which surpasses all understanding, will guard. My dad used to
S2: highlight garrison is a stronger word there that should be
S2: used your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. How
S2: does that move from being just a verse to a
S2: lived experience? Doctor?
S7: You know, I think the apostle Paul was like the
S7: original neuroscientist. It's amazing how neuroscience and sciences are catching
S7: up with what the Bible said. The apostle Paul innately
S7: understood some of these struggles that we had. In fact,
S7: he even said a couple of times that he was
S7: feeling anxious. So there's this thing of the biochemical, the hormones, the, uh,
S7: the molecules that course through our body and brain when
S7: we experience a stressful situation. But one of the things
S7: that believers have that is so powerful now there's God
S7: expects us to cooperate. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling
S7: in us.
S2: Amen.
S7: The Holy Spirit gives us power. The Holy Spirit gives
S7: us wisdom. Now, again, it's a cooperative effort. Holy Spirit's
S7: a gentleman. He's not going to push his way in.
S7: So we have this power source to be able to
S7: act wisely, behave wisely, to be able to think appropriately.
S7: Think Philippians four eight, but also how to be able
S7: to deal with this tension like, okay, I feel anxious,
S7: I'm trusting the Lord, but I still feel anxious. You know,
S7: a lot of that is simply your body. These chemicals
S7: that create these feelings. Does it mean you're less of
S7: a Christian? Does it mean you have less faith? But
S7: the Holy Spirit is the one that empowers us to
S7: be able to respond well to stress events.
S3: So coming up, let's get practical. What are some habits
S3: guided by the Holy Spirit that can help us respond
S3: and stress less, more with our guest, Doctor Charles Stone,
S3: coming up.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Karl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S3: Do you have any stress in your life?
S2: No, I'm stress free over here.
S3: I think every single person would answer definitively yes. I've
S3: got some stress in my life. Is it a chronic
S3: issue for you? Are you stressed out? More than not.
S3: Doctor Charles Stone, our guest right now, give us some
S3: of these habits that you've outlined in this book that
S3: can really help us as believers, guided by the Holy Spirit.
S3: Stress less.
S7: Yeah, I actually, in my research came up with nine
S7: practices that I included in the book Stress Less and
S7: one of the easiest ones. In fact, the first practice
S7: is what I call seize and breathe. You know, you
S7: look at Scripture and you see breath throughout Genesis. God
S7: breathed into Adam. He became a living being. Jesus in
S7: the New Testament, he breathed on that early church. The
S7: Holy Spirit came. There's a very interesting neuroscience insight. And
S7: here it is. Deep breathing activates a particular nerve that
S7: actually slows our heart rate and dampens the stress response.
S7: And here's a practical way to do that. It's called
S7: the sniff breath. You know, we breathe in. We breathe out.
S7: We breathe in, we breathe out. But as you breathe in,
S7: just imagine breathing in and then taking one more sniff
S7: of breath and then slowly breathe out through your nose
S7: and making that outbreath a little longer than the time
S7: it took you to breathe in. Do this two or
S7: 3 or 4 times, and it's amazing how it calms
S7: the stress response. And I have an acronym called stop
S7: to help you remember when you're in stress situation. S
S7: stands for stop. T stands for take a breath. O
S7: stands for observe. You know what's going on in my mind.
S7: What's really going on here? P stands for pray. Lord,
S7: I need your help here. And the second P added
S7: an extra P means proceed. So stop. But the breath
S7: is just something that is a very powerful tool you
S7: can take anywhere. And it's very effective in dealing with stress.
S2: It's so funny that you mentioned this because my son,
S2: who's got a startup in Miami, he was about two
S2: months ago. He said, dad, I found the best thing.
S2: I'm not breathing rightly when I'm feeling stressed and you're
S2: spiking it. He said, yeah, long, deep breath in, longer exhale.
S2: Really good stuff. We're going to have a lot of
S2: hits on this because you know better than us. It's
S2: everywhere right now.
S7: Oh, you know, this week the stock market it is
S7: making everybody unsettled. So appropriate topic.
S2: Yeah. All right. Let's get a couple more. Another couple
S2: habits from the word and brain science that builds resilience
S2: and reduces this stress anxiety. What do you say?
S7: One of the other ones that is just really, really
S7: helpful is something I call grow gratitude. You know, we
S7: see that often in the New Testament. There were to
S7: be grateful. Well, again, scientists have learned that when we
S7: are grateful, it releases these positive brain chemicals. That helps
S7: dampen the stress response. And here's a little practical thing
S7: anybody can do. It's called three good things before you
S7: wake up and you wake up in the morning before
S7: you put your feet on the floor. Think of three
S7: things you're grateful for. Could be small. Could be large.
S7: Even better if you diary write those three things in
S7: your diary. Even better, do the same thing before you
S7: go to bed. The very fact that we think of
S7: those three things and we focus on them with gratitude,
S7: it actually sets our day up to think on those
S7: things that the Scripture tells us to think about. So
S7: grow gratitude. That is an easy one and a really
S7: effective one.
S3: Okay, give us one more. We've got time for one more.
S3: Doctor Charles Stone, our guest. Right now.
S7: The last practice is Sleep Smart. More and more scientists
S7: are finding out the importance of sleep. If someone says
S7: in peace, I will lie down in sleep. And over
S7: a third of Americans at any point in time are
S7: struggling with sleep. A couple of simple things to do
S7: to sleep better is make sure the room you're in
S7: is cool. Mid 60s. I know my wife and I
S7: disagree on that. She has a heating blanket that keeps
S7: her warm, but so we worked that out mid 60s. Secondly,
S7: reduce the amount of blue light through screens that you
S7: have at night. Because blue light actually dampens the hormone melatonin.
S7: That is the all called to our body. Time to
S7: go to bed. So we need to get our noses
S7: out of the iPads and iPhones before we go to bed.
S7: So sleep smart is a big one.
S2: I got to tell you, doc, it's really funny you
S2: mentioned this blue light thing I've grown so convicted about
S2: it that I got a pair. You guys are going
S2: to crack up at me. You ought to see the
S2: picture I sent. I'm going to send my team a
S2: picture of this. But I have these glasses over glasses
S2: that block 99.5% of blue light. And I put them
S2: on every night at 7 p.m..
S7: You get an A plus. For that I have those,
S7: you get an A plus.
S2: Well, it's helping because we were not designed our circadian rhythm.
S2: God did not design us to have these screens in
S2: front of our mug until we try to turn in.
S2: So good stuff.
S3: Doctor Charles Stone, last question for you. After going through
S3: all this writing the book, you mentioned some of your
S3: health challenges that you've gone through. Can you say that
S3: you do stress less? Maybe. That's a tough question.
S2: That's a fair question.
S3: Does this work?
S7: It really does. Absolutely. I'm more chill now. Does that
S7: mean that when some stress event comes up, it's big
S7: or a surprise? I don't feel those things and I'm
S7: still in process. But for me, I've learned that stress
S7: does not have to define me. It can define me.
S7: And that there is hope that I, your listeners, can
S7: absolutely manage the effects of the stress response with some practical,
S7: biblically based, science supported practices. So. So yeah, it really
S7: is effective.
S2: Doctor Charles Stone has been with us. And we've got
S2: two things for you in one link that we're going
S2: to send you. One of them is for subtle signs
S2: that you're stressed I loved it, they're simple and profoundly
S2: spot on. And then also a link to his book,
S2: Stress Less nine Habits from the Bible and Brain Science
S2: to Build Resilience and Reduce Anxiety. I got a hunch
S2: we got some links going out here, like cordwood today.
S3: For our guest, Doctor Charles Stone. Just text Stone to
S3: 800 555 7898. Text stone to (800) 555-7898.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super dei is in the crew. It's Carl and crew.
S1: On Moody Radio.
S2: God is on the move and he wants to work
S2: through you. Action changes outcome. How do we know that
S2: to be true? Young thunder, come on, let's go.
S4: We know that to be true because we see it
S4: in the book of Esther. You know, we've been talking
S4: about Esther all week, and the culmination of the story
S4: comes at the end, where she is going to try
S4: to save her people group. Haman, the right hand man
S4: of the king of the Persian Empire, says, I'm going
S4: to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire. It
S4: would have been a lot of Jews. The first Holocaust
S4: is how we've been describing it all week. And and
S4: he says, I'm going after all of them. And he
S4: would have been able to do it. There was a
S4: law that was going to go out that would have
S4: made this happen. Esther said, you know, I might die
S4: going before the king unauthorized, but I'm going to go
S4: before the King unauthorized, because I feel like it's what
S4: God's calling me to do. She goes, the king spares her,
S4: hears her, and she tells him everything that's going on.
S4: And he's furious because she's a Jewish woman. So she
S4: would be included in that and because of her faithfulness.
S4: Standing in faith, he kills Haman, the man who was
S4: in control of of it all. And the the Jewish
S4: people are spared.
S2: Yeah. Esther nine one is the payoff verse. You're right. Ali.
S3: Absolutely. Esther nine one says this now in the 12th month,
S3: which is the month of Adar, on the 13th day
S3: of the same, when the king's command and edict were
S3: about to be carried out on the very day when
S3: the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery
S3: over them, the reverse occurred. The Jews gained mastery over
S3: those who hated them.
S2: Powerful. You know what's wild about faith is it flies
S2: in the face of conventional wisdom every time. Yeah, right.
S4: That's why it's called faith.
S2: That's why it's called faith. I mean, there's so many
S2: layers to faith. But at the end. And by the way, here,
S2: let me give you a definition for faith. It's a
S2: confident trust, loyal commitment, an obedient response to God on
S2: who he is and what he has promised, even when
S2: those promises are not yet seen or fulfilled. We know
S2: from the back end of Hebrews 11 that those that
S2: were sawn in two, those that were mocked, scorned, stoned,
S2: they did not see the promise fulfilled, but they did.
S2: In fact, the writer of Hebrews clearly says that we
S2: are here in essence because of their act of faith.
S3: Yes, their faith is commended, not necessarily the outcome of
S3: their faith.
S2: So action changes outcome, and our commitment here is to
S2: help you take your next step with Jesus. So I'm
S2: asking you to light it up this morning. Let's go.
S2: What step of faith is God asking you to take?
S2: We don't need the outcome. You don't know it. But
S2: God's calling you to take a step of faith. And
S2: it's for his glory and for the good of others,
S2: because that's the established premise that we find all through
S2: the Hall of Fame of faith. You go to Hebrews
S2: 11 by faith, Moses by faith, Abraham by faith. The
S2: seas parted by faith. And the list goes on and on.
S2: And what do you see? God's glory and the good
S2: of others.
S4: I actually love this. I don't think I noticed this before.
S4: I just looked at Hebrews 11. The first person they
S4: mention is Abel. It said by faith Abel brought God
S4: a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was
S4: commended as righteous. When God spoke well of his offerings,
S4: and by faith Abel still speaks, even though he's dead.
S4: Abel died because Cain was jealous of him before for
S4: being righteous before God and he died. He didn't get
S4: to live forward, but his faith still speaks even though
S4: he's dead.
S2: Okay. That's huge. I I've read that. I've preached it,
S2: but slow down and give that to us again. We
S2: all need. That is epic.
S4: Absolutely. This is the first person mentioned in the Hall
S4: of Fame of Faith. It says by faith Abel brought
S4: God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he
S4: was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings,
S4: and by faith Abel still speaks even though he is dead.
S2: Boom! That doesn't fire you up. You got wet wood.
S2: Come on. No doubt. Okay, so he died at the
S2: hands of his bitter brother.
S4: And yet.
S2: And yet his testimony speaks today. Yeah. Whoo! What step
S2: of faith is God asking you to take? 800 555 78. 98.
S2: Come on, let's go. Boom! Crew, this is your show.
S2: Here we go. Light em up. 800 555 78. 98.
S2: Anything on your heart, Ali?
S3: You know, I like that you mentioned that. That, like,
S3: our faith speaks and faith outlasts.
S5: Yeah.
S3: Our time here on earth.
S8: It's got longer legs, man.
S3: I love that.
S8: Whoo! If you are fired up about the word of God,
S8: you got to get. Check your.
S2: Pulse.
S4: No doubt.
S8: Check your pulse.
S2: 800 555 7898. What step of faith is God asking
S2: you to take today? What is it? 800 555 7898
S2: it's glory to God and good of others.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Okay, it's Carl and crew. Never cease to be amazed
S2: what God's doing around us. Even in the small stuff.
S2: You know, steps of faith are crazy. Let me give
S2: you a simple one. This is going to sound nutso,
S2: but this is how I want you to understand faith.
S2: A lot of times we think faith is I'm going
S2: to go witness on 42 blocks today by faith. Well,
S2: maybe walk around Chicago, cover all 42 blocks. Every person
S2: you see is going to hear the gospel. The better chance.
S2: That's presumption. You might have heard from God, but faith
S2: is usually taking those opportunities God gives us. I mean,
S2: first Corinthians 16 nine Paul was delayed in going to
S2: see Corinth because wide door for effective work had opened
S2: to him. That's an interesting subplot of that passage. Verse
S2: nine A wide door for effective work has opened to me.
S2: That's what you're looking for. And then you walk through them.
S2: So what did he do? He stuck on in Ephesus because. Whoa,
S2: big old opportunity was open to me. Sometimes faith is
S2: just the stuff that God shows you in the simple
S2: little moments of life. I was deeply convicted by God.
S2: I've got to do resistance training, and I've been really
S2: faithful to it. And it's not because I want to
S2: be Hercules. Those days are gone. Even skinny kids like
S2: me can have those dreams. But those days are gone.
S2: I just want to be fit. And I don't want
S2: my bones falling in on me here. You know, I just.
S2: And so resistance training is huge.
S4: Trying to be healthy.
S2: Muscle retention and bone health. It's really important in cardiovascular,
S2: by the way. You can get a pretty good cardio
S2: workout if you keep moving through your sets. So yesterday
S2: was leg day and I didn't want to go every
S2: you ever woke up in the morning and the last
S2: thing you want to do is work out.
S3: Ah yes.
S4: Yeah about every time I go to work out.
S3: Yeah.
S9: So I want to do this.
S8: I'm like.
S2: God, I can't do this. So God got me to
S2: the gym. I went over to the squat rack, did
S2: my squats, pulled off four sets, pretty heavy weight for me,
S2: and did four sets of five, 4 or 5 reps
S2: per set. And it's awesome. And then I have to
S2: go to the leg press machine, and I'm looking at
S2: that thing, and that thing's mocking me like, you can't
S2: do this. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. I'm heading
S2: out of here. I started digging.
S8: I'm kind of.
S2: Turning. And then I prayed. I said, God, I gotta
S2: have energy. I mean, the music playing in the gym
S2: was so lousy. It was some thrash metal thing. I
S2: couldn't even understand the guy. And I'm like, that's reason
S2: enough to get out of here. And God's like, get
S2: on the press. So by an act of faith, I
S2: went over to the leg press and it's got a
S2: bunch of 40, several £45 plates, a couple on each side.
S2: I'm like, all right, I'm going to try to do this.
S2: And for some reason, man, God honored that step of faith.
S2: And I pulled ripped off that set and ripped off
S2: another set. And then I loaded a couple more £45
S2: plates on there. Don't don't cheer for me, Argentina. I mean,
S2: it wasn't anything too notable. It looks great, but it's
S2: a 45 degree incline, so it's not like you're pressing
S2: the world. Not like I'm doing Atlas thing or anything.
S2: But I got done with those sets and I'm like, yes,
S2: I did it. And I walked home and I told
S2: my bride, I said, God gave me the grace to
S2: do it, man. But action changes outcomes and there can
S2: be some immediacy of of gratitude in your heart because
S2: you're like, God got me to do that. Isn't that cool?
S3: Yes. And I love that because that's a small thing.
S3: But you know that it's a step of obedience to
S3: continue to take care of your health and your body.
S3: And when you don't feel like doing it, what do
S3: you go to? Well, it's a step of faith to
S3: continue to be obedient when you don't feel like it.
S2: Yeah. And then God proved to me. Isn't that cool
S2: about steps of faith? Oftentimes at the back end, God says, see,
S2: I told you I had you.
S3: Yeah. Yep.
S2: Told you I had you on this thing.
S3: And you always get that feeling after you're done. Whether
S3: it's stepping out to share the gospel with someone or
S3: you get asked to share your testimony and there's some, oh,
S3: I don't know if I can do this. And then
S3: afterwards you feel that sense, like, God, you had me.
S3: Thank you.
S2: It's so cool. Mhm. Come on in here from Illinois.
S10: Hi. Good morning. So I'm going to say that God
S10: is actually telling me through listening the third time for
S10: those members of Spirit of God. God is asking me
S10: to share the gospel and use every Opportunity to share
S10: the gospel.
S2: I love that, and you know what I love about that?
S2: Is that you're talking about God granting you opportunities. That's
S2: exactly what we find in first Corinthians 16 nine. A
S2: wide door for effective work and opportunity. It opened to me,
S2: and so I'm going to stay on here. Resolve that.
S2: That is awesome. Stay on the horn. You're getting a
S2: prize pack to fuel that step of faith, sister. Come on.
S2: See you there. How sweet is that? What step of
S2: faith is God asking you to take today? Lalita, thanks
S2: for holding on. First time caller in Wisconsin. What's God
S2: saying to you?
S11: He's saying to trust. Trust him and trust his process
S11: that he has put me in with with my addiction.
S11: Like I'm afraid that I'm alone and I'm going to
S11: have to go through all this emotional pain alone.
S2: What are you addicted.
S11: To.
S2: Girl? What are you addicted to?
S11: Drugs and alcohol and food and. And emotional pain and stress.
S2: Okay, I want to. I'm going to pray for you
S2: here in a minute, Lolita. But I want to talk
S2: to you as. As a friend and as a pastor. Okay.
S2: I want I want you to hear my heart here.
S2: Number one, you're up against something that is common to
S2: all men and women. There are. There's the constant temptation
S2: to take the bait of Satan and to get that
S2: God shaped void filled up with a bunch of trash
S2: that's just hurting you, right? You get that, right, Lolita?
S11: Yeah.
S2: Okay, so here's what I want you to know, sister. You.
S2: There's no power in you to get victory here. It's
S2: only in God. And. The power of God's grace is
S2: unmerited favor. God is looking with favor upon you, Lolita.
S2: He's looking with favor on you. And Grace is not
S2: only unlimited favor, it's unlimited power. God has all the
S2: juice you need to get you free. What this is
S2: going to require of you. The only part you play
S2: in this is absolute humble, broken submission to God. I
S2: know you're there. Otherwise, why in the world would you
S2: call into a radio show? And I'm proud of you
S2: for that. I'm proud of you. Humble submission to God.
S2: Proximity to Jesus. Number two, this is abiding in Christ.
S2: And I'm going to be bold with you right now, sister.
S2: And I need you to listen to me. I need
S2: to be really clear on this one. I need you
S2: to separate yourselves from any fools, mockers, or scoffers. Here's
S2: what that means. It means that people that you've had
S2: around your life who are absolutely Counterproductive to where God
S2: wants to take you. Do you hear me, Lolita?
S11: Yes.
S2: And what this is going to require you doing is
S2: not going scorched earth on these people. But you're going
S2: to have to separate yourself from these folks, and it's
S2: going to be a discipline of the soul to do this.
S2: But you can do this. I'm going to give you
S2: something else. You've got to get into a community of faith,
S2: and you've got to let some people shoulder this burden
S2: with you. There are some lovely people that want to,
S2: in your church, shoulder this with you. All right, sister,
S2: and we're going to pray for you in just a moment.
S2: We're going to get a slew of folks. We're going
S2: to get thousands of people, tens of thousands all around
S2: the United States and Canada and the world beyond. Praying
S2: for you in just a moment. But I that's I
S2: need you to hear that. Okay, father, in the name
S2: of Jesus, we thank you for Lolita. Thank you for
S2: this step of faith that you're calling her to today.
S2: God bless her. I'm asking you to shower her God
S2: with your presence and power. Show her that your grace
S2: is enough. And by your power flexed through her life.
S2: As she abides in you. As she finds others to
S2: bear those burdens. As she separates herself from fools, scoffers,
S2: and mockers. God, give her one little victory today. Give
S2: her one little victory today and build on it tomorrow.
S2: God grateful for Lolita's step of faith today. What an
S2: awesome inspiration. And we give you thanks in Jesus name. Amen. Lolita,
S2: I want to tell you I'm going to send you something.
S2: I'm going to send you my new book, Killing Sin.
S2: And I'm going to. So what I need you to
S2: do is stay on the horn here. Okay, sister. And
S2: I want you to.
S11: Give.
S2: Give your snail mail address to Savannah. She's going to
S2: get it from you. And I'm. I'm going to I'm
S2: going to send you my my new book, Killing Sin,
S2: and we're going to get it out to you. Pretty cool. Lolita,
S2: what a great step of faith. Right, Ali?
S3: Yeah. You know, sometimes a step of faith is a
S3: step out of something that, you know, is is not
S3: good for you.
S2: Yeah.
S3: And that's. That takes a lot of courage.
S2: Oh. Come on. The kind of courage it took for
S2: her to get on the phone and even call in here.
S2: That's so commendable. I'm so proud of you, Lolita. And
S2: there's a lot more lolitas out there. Step in to
S2: a relationship with Jesus today. That's brutally honest. Step away
S2: from earthly relationships that are dragging you down. Tap God's
S2: grace through humility and proximity to Jesus, and God will
S2: get the victory. Way to go, Lolita!