S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I want to thank you at the top of this hour.
S2: For all of you that have jumped in to be
S2: part of the prayer warriors. I mean, what's the best?
S2: What's the best description? Ali.
S3: Oh, boy. I mean, it's an army. It's a prayer army. Yeah. Yeah.
S3: I mean, they're on mission. They're marching orders. Instructions committed
S3: to one goal.
S2: Yeah. We're going to resource you, give you insider peak.
S2: We want to give you. In fact, you know, there's
S2: things that come up during share, which starts in earnest
S2: next week that are obstacles that we want to overcome,
S2: kind of insights that we're gaining. And we want to
S2: give you an insider's perspective of what's going on and
S2: then be shoulder to shoulder with you in prayer so
S2: that when you grab your half hour slot for prayer,
S2: you've got prayer points that we're going to give you
S2: real good guidance. And we're even going to give you
S2: scriptures to be leaning into as you pray. You can
S2: do this on a walk. You can do this truly.
S2: If you've got a commute where you can just lean
S2: into God. You can pray with your eyes wide open. Guys,
S2: I do it all the time. You got a prayer closet?
S2: You can go there as well, but we're asking you
S2: to jump in and be a part of share in
S2: the most important way. Would you grab a half an
S2: hour of prayer? And if you've got a gift of
S2: this praying, fill them in, man. Grab a couple of slots.
S2: Grab a friend. Call a friend. This is something that
S2: you can do together. Ten people per half hour slot.
S2: Where are we at here, super guy? What's our count?
S2: How many do we have to go yet?
S4: Let me do one more update just to make sure
S4: I've got the right count. We actually need 400. Even
S4: we are at 200 already.
S2: All right. Yeah, we got 400 slots to fill. Let's
S2: get let's get 40 of those right now. Let's just
S2: get 40 of them right now.
S3: We got an easy sign up link for you if
S3: you text the word crew c r e w to
S3: 800 555 7898. Text crew to 805 five five 7898.
S3: You'll get a link back from us. Just click. Click
S3: on it and scroll down and pick the 30 minute
S3: slot that works for you. You don't have to come here.
S3: Like Carl said, you can pray on your commute. You can.
S3: I like pray prayer walking like that's a that's a
S3: great way to do it. You're outside. Hopefully you get
S3: some nice weather in a little bit of sunshine. But
S3: a prayer walk or prayer drive, a prayer sit, a
S3: prayer kneel, you pick the place that works for you.
S3: Just commit to the time. We'll send you the reminder
S3: and some prayer points. Text crew to 805, five, five, 78, 98.
S2: And somebody needs to take a risk there. Like on
S2: the bubble. I'm asking you to jump over and grab
S2: it right now. That's you. Yeah. I'm talking to you, friend. Yeah. Oh, busted.
S2: Text crew to 800 555 98. Big difference between going
S2: to church and being the church. And we're breaking it
S2: down all week long. And boy, what a way to
S2: kick it off with our York. More smoke on the water.
S3: Like you smoke.
S2: Smoke on the water like Ali likes to say.
S3: Definitely Carlism.
S2: Oh, that's an alias right there. Ali. Go girl. Woo!
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carlin
S1: crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Be the church. As opposed to what Carl? As opposed
S2: to going to church. Now, going to church is a
S2: great thing. Don't hear me wrong on this one, right?
S2: Super die. We got to get there in order to
S2: be there.
S4: Yes. Don't hear us wrong. You've got to go to
S4: be as you just said. But what do you.
S2: Say, young thunder difference for you from going to church
S2: and being the church?
S5: Well, going to church I did for years. You show up,
S5: you sit in the pew or the chair and you
S5: listen to the sermon. Maybe you say hi to a
S5: couple people and then you're out and and that's your
S5: kind of your time with the people of God. That's
S5: your time with his community. That's your time in his word.
S5: And then you just come back next week. Maybe you
S5: don't even come back next week. Maybe it's just a
S5: couple times a month. Being the church is saying, I
S5: understand that I have been affected by the love of
S5: Jesus so greatly that now I am going to live
S5: that in my life. That's how I interact with brothers
S5: and sisters in Christ. That's how I interact with with
S5: people who don't know Christ yet. And that's inside the church.
S5: That's outside the church. It's not confined to walls.
S2: I've got York more with me right now. He's going
S2: to spike that young thunder revivalist, gifted communicator, great leader,
S2: president and CEO, national evangelist of the coalition for Christian Outreach.
S2: What do you say, York? How do we move from
S2: going to church to be the church, my man.
S6: Well, it's great to hear your voice again, Carl. You know,
S6: it really is everything. You know, when Jesus calls us
S6: to follow him. He calls us into all of life.
S6: And that doesn't just mean a nice Sunday service. And
S6: there's nothing wrong. Like you said, there's nothing wrong with
S6: attending a church service. But our faith is supposed to
S6: be a Monday through Sunday faith. And really, the best
S6: part of following Jesus is actually when we're out in
S6: the world, you know, 99% of Christians live 99% of
S6: their lives in the workplace. And so being the church
S6: on mission really does happen oftentimes in a place of work.
S6: And so the Coalition of Christian outreach, we're discipling students,
S6: we're disciple making movement, and we're discipling students with this
S6: arc toward occupation, toward work. And so oftentimes we sit
S6: in that Sunday morning pew or the bench or the chair,
S6: as you said, and we hear a message about how
S6: to have good marriages, or we hear messages about, you know,
S6: forgiveness and all of that's very important. It's all very important.
S6: But I think oftentimes being the church on mission with
S6: Jesus is more about what it looks like to actually
S6: be functionally in the world with non-believers, rather than how
S6: to have a better inner life, or how to have
S6: a better prayer life or these kinds of things. And
S6: so God is sending us into all of life, whether
S6: it's the workplace I just got back from vacation. And
S6: vacation is something that oftentimes we leave Jesus back at home.
S6: But Jesus wants to be the Lord of every square
S6: inch of our lives, every moment of our lives, Monday
S6: through Sunday, not just Sunday morning.
S2: I love it. York Moore, our guest. We're going to
S2: have a link, guys, with some great resources that he produces.
S2: York when we think about going versus being, what's going
S2: on at a heart level there, I know that there's
S2: a grand illusion of salvation for many who go to church.
S2: They've never been in Christ. That's a reality here in America.
S2: And there's other issues of derailed disciples. What's your take?
S2: You've seen it a lot. What's going on in the
S2: pew and in the chair.
S6: Well, my entry into the church was a very unusual one,
S6: but it was very telling. So I grew up as
S6: an atheist. We were homeless on the streets of Detroit.
S6: We had a sign on the front of our home
S6: when we weren't homeless the moors, the atheists. We had
S6: a barrel for burning Bibles. I was not raised in
S6: the church. I had a radical come to Jesus born
S6: again experience while I was a university student at the
S6: University of Michigan, and I started attending church in my
S6: 20s for the first time. And what I experienced was
S6: initially just a set of confusing feelings and observations as
S6: I watched many Christians, not all, but many Christians, believing
S6: that they were on mission and following Jesus simply because
S6: they could check the Nicene Creed, or they attended church
S6: and tithed, or those kinds of things. But again, there,
S6: Monday through Sunday, faith wasn't really integrated, right? So they
S6: had this idea that following Jesus was really about attending
S6: a church service. And when you look at the difference
S6: between somebody who's truly on mission, where Jesus is the
S6: Lord over every square inch of their lives, qualitatively there's
S6: no comparison. So when Jesus calls us to be disciples,
S6: that's what he's talking about. He's talking about. Yes. It's important.
S6: Don't neglect the gathering of yourselves together, as is the
S6: habit of some. We understand that gathering in the local
S6: church is important. It's a command, in my opinion. It's
S6: where the life of a believer should be lived out.
S6: But it's in the going that we actually are formed
S6: into disciples. So I tend to think of the church
S6: service on a Sunday morning as not necessarily just a
S6: pit stop. It's where I go to connect with other
S6: people who have made this commitment to be on mission
S6: for the rest of the week, and for the rest
S6: of their lives with Jesus.
S2: What's the sticking point? What's got people stuck? My conviction
S2: as a pastor here in Chicagoland is that there's hints
S2: of want to, but then they run up against barriers.
S2: What are those barriers to move from nominal Christianity into
S2: being a disciple of Christ? Carl, I'm.
S6: Going to say something that I hope doesn't offend you
S6: or offend other pastors who might be listening, but I
S6: think the problem is really us. It's Christian leaders. We've
S6: built this metric of success that revolves largely around how
S6: many butts are in the seat, how many baptisms are
S6: in the building. And we, unfortunately, I think, have drank
S6: a little bit of our own Kool-Aid. And we've given
S6: the church largely this idea that success looks like growing
S6: numbers in the building, growing, giving units, growing baptisms. All
S6: of that's good. Don't hear me wrong. I want as
S6: many people in the building as I possibly can get,
S6: but at the end of the day, it's about how
S6: many of those people are actually leaving that building and
S6: going into all of life with this passion and this
S6: mission to join Jesus in making all things new, not just,
S6: you know, having a devotional each morning, which is important.
S6: I had mine this morning in Second Kings. It's not
S6: just praying over a meal. All of that's important, but
S6: we should actually be measuring the success of the local
S6: church by how many people are actually leaving those doors
S6: after a Sunday service, committed to living every square inch
S6: of their lives as a form and expression of worship
S6: and devotion to Jesus York.
S2: This is so right on. This is so right on.
S2: And it hits hard. And I've been on this journey.
S2: The primary metric in most churches is how much money
S2: is given and how many people are attending. You're right.
S2: It's butts and bucks and yeah, we can do better
S2: coming up here in a moment, I want you boom
S2: crew to get York Moors vantage point. What he's seeing
S2: the transforming of college students. What can we learn from
S2: what God is doing on college campuses, and how does
S2: that translate to you and me? I know, let that
S2: boiling want to build right now. God wants to meet
S2: you there today.
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: With me right now is York Moore. Our York Moore.
S2: It's fascinating because you're doing some great work on college
S2: campuses and you're seeing young people and we're hearing stories.
S2: Ohio State, UCLA, if I'm not mistaken, campuses across the country.
S2: Tell us what you're seeing and what can we learn?
S2: Many people here who you're speaking to today are not
S2: in that age bracket any longer. What can we learn?
S6: Well, I think the number one thing people need to
S6: hear is God's not dead and God's not finished with
S6: this generation. God is very much alive and at work
S6: on our college campuses. We tend to look at the
S6: rioting and the protests, whether it's a Palestinians or over
S6: sexual identity. You know, our college campuses are hotbeds of
S6: of activity very much reminiscent of the 60s, early 70s.
S6: It's very, very different. Carl. What we're actually seeing is
S6: that the largest generation in American history, Gen Z, the
S6: largest unaffiliated generation in all of American history. Gen Z's largely, uh,
S6: non-affiliated when it comes to any religious affiliation, but 84%
S6: of Gen Z are open to talking about Jesus and
S6: the gospel. They're looking for transformative community. They are hoping
S6: for mentoring relationships with an adult. We call that discipleship.
S6: This is an opportunity like we've never seen before. I've
S6: been in college ministry now for 30 years, 27 years
S6: as the national evangelist with a ministry called InterVarsity Christian Fellowship,
S6: and now the president of the coalition for Christian Outreach.
S6: And I've never seen the amount of openness in this
S6: generation like what we're seeing right now. We'll have thousands
S6: come every February to downtown Pittsburgh for a conference we
S6: call Jubilee, and we're discipling students into machine learning and
S6: algorithms and botany and agriculture and IT 72 seminar or seminars, rather,
S6: workshops that are all geared toward integrating faith into work.
S6: But we see hundreds of people coming to faith at
S6: this conference, and this is just one of many, many conferences.
S6: We know every single college campus in America. We know
S6: who is ministering on those campuses and across the country.
S6: You've mentioned UCLA, you've mentioned Ohio State. The list could
S6: go on and on and on. We're seeing a move
S6: of God on the college campuses like we've never seen before.
S6: And many of us, myself included, we believe that this
S6: is the beginning of a wave of spiritual activity that's
S6: actually going to accelerate. And that's exciting. God is at work.
S6: He's moving in power. Students are responding to the gospel.
S2: Are York more with me right now? So how should
S2: we then live? What the average person listening right now,
S2: I think we got to get a fuel in our belly.
S2: We got some vision for what God is doing and
S2: we need to fill that gap. Because what you alluded
S2: to is a lot of these students, they're only want.
S2: They're only want is someone that can point the way,
S2: what do we do?
S6: Well, let me back it up a little bit to
S6: our conversation we were having about how easy it is
S6: to be lulled into a state of complacency, you know,
S6: in the church where and I'm guilty of this as well.
S6: So I'll just put my cards on the table. It's
S6: very easy to go to church and not be the church.
S6: It's very easy to go to church and sit in
S6: the pew and receive the goods and services to reflect
S6: on it just a bit, just enough, and then to
S6: go home and live our lives basically as functional atheists.
S6: That's how many Christians are living their lives today in America.
S6: It's functionally atheism. You know, we indulge in materialism and
S6: we doomscroll, and we watch just as much Netflix as
S6: the person next to us who doesn't have a relationship
S6: with Jesus. Now don't hear me wrong. There's nothing wrong
S6: with with scrolling on social media. There's nothing wrong with
S6: watching Netflix. But here's the difference. When we who have
S6: the hope of heaven live in a way that's indiscernible
S6: from those people who are on their way to a
S6: crisis eternity. Something is wrong. And my hope and prayer
S6: for myself is that God would give me holy discontent,
S6: that he would give me the unction of the Spirit
S6: of God, a fire in my belly, that I might
S6: not just give in to the easy way of life.
S6: And let's just admit it, it's easier than ever to
S6: live life in 2025. Regardless of what our economic situation is,
S6: there are more things to distract us, to dissuade us
S6: from being passionate followers of Jesus than ever before. Yeah,
S6: and my prayer is that God light a fire in
S6: the belly of the church in North America, that we
S6: would rise up and be the people of God?
S2: Seems that we're going to have to abhor what is
S2: evil in order to cling to what is good. And
S2: I take Paul's words literally. That there's things that we're
S2: going to have to say no to in order to
S2: say yes to the greater good. York I mean, that's discipleship,
S2: isn't it, my friend? I mean, and it's not I'm
S2: not going to watch TV. It could be I'm not
S2: going to watch an extra hour, or I'm not going
S2: to scroll for two hours. When I get down that
S2: rabbit hole, I'm going to set a timer and I'm
S2: going to do 15 minutes, and I'm going to spend
S2: more time in humble consecration in the morning. Five minutes
S2: of that can go so much further than a Netflix
S2: even one hour episode can do, right, York?
S6: Yeah. You know, it's interesting that you bring this up.
S6: I just preached several messages to a couple of different places,
S6: and I think, here's what happens when we actually make
S6: the invitation to follow Jesus about a high and holy calling,
S6: a sacrifice, uh, living as peculiar people and being strangers
S6: in this land. When we make it actually hard, we
S6: call people to something difficult. They take it more seriously.
S6: You know, I think gone are the days where we
S6: give a call to faith when we're calling people to
S6: just give Jesus a try to see the Jesus boost
S6: will make their lives just a little bit better. No,
S6: you know, what I do is I make the Lordship
S6: of Christ high and heavy on the hearts of people
S6: who are hearing the gospel, and I make it difficult
S6: for them to respond. Oftentimes, I'll say, don't come forward
S6: unless you're willing to give every segment of your life
S6: to Jesus. Don't come forward unless you're willing to repent of.
S6: And then I list many of the ways in which
S6: we are living lives of sin and complicity when we
S6: do that. What I've noticed over 30 years of evangelism
S6: is that more people respond more sincerely, and they have
S6: a conversion experience that is authentic and transformative and goes
S6: on to transform the world.
S2: You know, I wonder if we've actually how do I
S2: capture this? Sold. Short. Short. Armed. The real gospel and
S2: people with a watered down gospel might say, well, I've
S2: tried self-help. That doesn't really appeal to me. When if
S2: we put the true gospel before them, you know, humility
S2: isn't the pinnacle of discipleship. It's the gateway to. Unless
S2: a man humbles himself, denies himself, and follows me, you're
S2: not fit for the kingdom of God. Is that call,
S2: that clarion call to renounce oneself not for the sake
S2: of denigrating oneself, but to glorify God and ultimately bring
S2: great joy to yourself. Is that the missing link today, York?
S6: I think it's part of it. I would throw into
S6: this conversation, Carl, the idea of beauty and the the
S6: exalted glory of the Lord. You read sermons from the
S6: great preachers and Spurgeon and and others, and how much
S6: time they spent exalting the Lord, having him high and
S6: lifted up. Yeah, we've reduced oftentimes the gospel in Jesus
S6: to some kind of medical, you know, life boost. And
S6: when we actually help people see the glory and the
S6: otherness of God and how he's high and lifted up,
S6: you know, when I preach the gospel, I have this
S6: mental ritual in my mind as if Jesus is actually
S6: sitting right next to me on the stage, and I'm
S6: introducing people for the first time to an actual person
S6: rather than a set of propositional truths. And as I'm
S6: doing that, I myself are caught up in the beauty
S6: and the glory and the weight of his presence. And
S6: people can sense that, you know. Now, that's not a
S6: good formula for building your next megachurch. But at the
S6: same time, when people actually catch a glimpse of the
S6: beauty and the glory of the Exalted one that creates
S6: a qualitatively different kind of convert. A convert who is
S6: enraptured not with their own need for self-help, but enraptured
S6: with the glory of God and His reign and rule
S6: over all of life.
S2: Yeah, you're right on our York Moor. Oh, goodness, brother,
S2: we got to get you back more frequently. This is
S2: exactly what the Lord has been doing in my life now,
S2: for I don't know how long, guys, I don't know,
S2: five years. And it just keeps getting deeper and deeper.
S2: You know the interesting thing? One last word here. You
S2: see this decline into a increased humility on Paul's part.
S2: It's an interesting thing. He calls himself least of the apostles,
S2: then least of the saints. And then finally, in his
S2: final letter to Timothy, he says, I'm the chief of sinners.
S2: Isn't it weird? Isn't it wild that with that growth,
S2: he was more aware of his need for God. You
S2: get the final word on that.
S6: Well, you know, I just actually lost my mom. She
S6: passed away from lung cancer in my arms just a
S6: couple of months ago. Sorry. And I appreciate that. So
S6: I'm I'm feeling the weight of eternity in its nearness
S6: and the reality of our own mortality more than ever.
S6: And I think even though I'm still a young man
S6: by many people's standards, at the age of 55, the
S6: reality is that this life is short and as we
S6: live it, and if we're honest with ourselves, all of
S6: the bravado that comes with our accolades and our accomplishments
S6: of our younger years, we begin to realize, you know what?
S6: Maybe I wasn't so great. Maybe I wasn't so charismatic.
S6: Maybe it was the favor of the Lord that accomplished
S6: these things. And we begin to have a more sober
S6: perspective on who we are and what we've done. At
S6: least that's that's what maturity should look like, right? Oftentimes,
S6: a lot of people get to the end of their
S6: life and they haven't faced that. Paul, I think you're right,
S6: is our great model that as we actually grow closer
S6: to heaven, as that veil gets thinner and thinner, we
S6: have a more sober perspective on who we are and
S6: just how much the grace of the Lord played a
S6: part in making us who we are and helping us
S6: to accomplish the things that we've done for him.
S2: York more, our York more. I want you to come
S2: and grab a link. I know you are going to
S2: flock to this one. Text the word York to our
S2: number right now. York to 800 555, 7898. Great resources here.
S2: Text the word York 800 555 7898.
S1: Do you feel stuck or paralyzed with victory just out
S1: of reach? Here are your questions answered. It's time for ask,
S1: Pastor Carl.
S2: Every Monday, Bottom of the hour tackling your questions and
S2: we'll give you a link. Where to send those in
S2: to me. Keeping your ID confidential here. Grateful for these
S2: questions that are pouring in. And this is a good one.
S2: Pastor Carl, how can we know for sure? When I
S2: meet Jesus face to face that he will say, well done,
S2: good and faithful servant verses I never knew you. The
S2: letter is making reference to two different passages of Scripture.
S2: One is Matthew seven. Depart from me. I never knew you.
S2: And that is indicating that there are people who are
S2: spiritually active. We use this passage often because it helps
S2: reveal an illusion of salvation. People who are preaching in
S2: the name of Jesus, baptizing in the name of Jesus,
S2: casting out demons, doing mighty works in the name of Jesus.
S2: Is it possible to be spiritually active and not be
S2: born again? The answer is yes, that is possible. There's
S2: a lot of people that are busy doing good things,
S2: but have never been connected with Jesus Christ, the good Savior,
S2: and calls him friend. They don't know where they really
S2: stand with God. That is possible. Conversely, you go to
S2: Matthew 25, the passage that this writer is making reference to.
S2: Well done, good and faithful servant. Now that comes out
S2: of the parable of the talents, and it's a story
S2: that's told that the master goes away on a trip,
S2: and he leaves behind four three servants, indicating those that
S2: are presumed to be in Christ. And I'll clarify that
S2: five talents, two talents and one talent. Now, a talent
S2: is a big deal. Guys, this is humongous. One talent
S2: would have been 20 years. One talent would have been
S2: 20 years for a working man's wage. Wow. So this
S2: is a big thing. They've been entrusted with a lot,
S2: especially the five talent guy. My goodness, he's got 100
S2: years of runway with the gifts that he's been given.
S2: It's just enormous amount of money. And the metaphor goes
S2: on when Jesus returns, because that's how the metaphor goes.
S2: And by the way, let's be very clear here. This
S2: is speaking of the second coming of Christ. Matthew 25
S2: is dealing with the second coming of Christ. And here's
S2: what is going to happen. Jesus is going to look
S2: to see what we've been given and how we handled it,
S2: for evidence of whether or not we are truly born again.
S2: This is going to be hard for some of you
S2: to hear, but the one talent guy, the story goes,
S2: he buried his talent out of fear for what's going
S2: to happen. The five talent guy invested it. He's given
S2: all that and more. The two talent guy invested it.
S2: He was given all that and more. There's a lot
S2: of debate theologically about what in the world are these talents,
S2: and a lot of times it gets preached as money.
S2: It's not money. It's the totality of all that we've
S2: been given in God. And whether or not we are
S2: leveraging the grace of God in a way that reveals
S2: that we are one of God's kids. Many believe that
S2: one talent person must be a carnal person. I and
S2: many people would agree that it is not. This is
S2: a lost person who thinks they're saved. That kind of
S2: raises the stakes here, doesn't it, guys? Yeah. And by
S2: the way, moody Bible commentary nails that point. The one
S2: talent person is a person with illusion of salvation, and
S2: I think it's best seen by the fact that there
S2: was a fear of the master rather than a confidence
S2: in relationship with the master, so he buried that one. See,
S2: when we come into authentic relationship with Jesus Christ, he says,
S2: I no longer call you servant. I call you friend. See,
S2: our Scripture interprets scripture here. It's a beautiful thing. So
S2: here's something that we need to hit that's going to
S2: help answer this. And then I'm going to give you
S2: a link that is very important in just a moment.
S2: Works are not a means to salvation. What you do
S2: with what you've been given is that's not the deal. James,
S2: the half brother of Jesus, says, faith without works is dead.
S2: What does that mean? It means if you claim to
S2: have faith but have no outworking of that, you may
S2: not have faith at all. So the question persists, pastor Carl,
S2: how can I know for sure? When I meet Jesus
S2: face to face that he will say either well done,
S2: good and faithful servant versus I never knew you. Here's
S2: the beauty of the Word of God, and this is
S2: what I want you to hear right now. Scripture is
S2: replete with evidence of what truly born again people do.
S2: They don't do to get they do out of friendship.
S2: There's no longer a master servant kind of analogy going on.
S2: It's friend to friend. So those servants, although they were servants,
S2: they had a connection with the master that the one
S2: talent guy didn't have. Baptism is an a public declaration
S2: of an internal transformation, utilizing our lives to the glory
S2: of God and investing the totality of all. He's given
S2: us all the graces of God. It's just a reflection
S2: of us being touched at a heart level by the
S2: grace of God. We're no longer enemies of the cross.
S2: We're born again. We've been changed. There's two things I
S2: want to do here right now. I hadn't planned on this,
S2: but there's some of you right now that are cut
S2: to the heart by the Holy Spirit. And you've never
S2: had friendship with God. And today you can have friendship
S2: with God. And this is how. Turn around. Repent of
S2: your sin. Hold nothing back. You might have just been
S2: with us here as we were having a conversation with
S2: York Moore. I would be in spiritual malpractice if I
S2: did anything but tell you that you must be born
S2: again to turn away from the broad path onto the
S2: narrow path means that you're giving everything to God. You're
S2: enthralled with his goodness, his grace. And in this moment,
S2: the Holy Spirit is saying, it's you, my friend. You're
S2: the one talent person. But today you can be born
S2: again by an act of faith. The cry of your
S2: soul right now. No fancy prayers, just a heart that
S2: is cut deeply. You say, I have not surrendered all
S2: to Jesus, but today I give my life away completely.
S2: Holding nothing back. So let me just ask you right now,
S2: do you believe today as never before, that Jesus died
S2: for your sins? And that out of that recognition you're
S2: turning away from your own way and you're going to
S2: follow Jesus and you're holding nothing back. You're not holding
S2: on to your identity, to your money, to your to
S2: your position in life, to even holding on to your
S2: insecurities or your pride. You're letting that all go. Today, Jesus,
S2: we'll call you friend. And if that's you right now,
S2: you'd say, that's me, Carl. I just want you to
S2: text new, and we're going to send you a resource
S2: that's going to help you with your first steps with Jesus.
S2: If that's you, just text new to 800 555 7898.
S2: When confronted with passages like Matthew 25 and Matthew seven,
S2: the Holy Spirit can cut down to the bottom and go, kid,
S2: you've been in church, but you've never been in me.
S2: You've been trying to live a good life, but you've
S2: you've never realized that. I want to call you friend.
S2: We've had an arm's length relationship, but today I want
S2: to give you a hug. If that's you, just text
S2: the word new right now. If today is a day
S2: of faith for you, that you surrender all to Jesus,
S2: knowing he died for your sins and there's no life
S2: apart from him. Text. New right now. Right now to
S2: 800 555 7898. This is your day of salvation. This
S2: is your day. This is your day. 65 oh 6506
S2: 4955 welcome to the family. This is your day. And
S2: we've got a link that you can click that link.
S2: And there's embedded links in there that are going to
S2: help you in your first steps with Jesus. And we say,
S2: welcome to the family right now. Grateful for every one
S2: of you right now. And it's an overwhelming thing when
S2: you get confronted with the reality of what authentic faith
S2: really is, and you can begin a journey today, that is,
S2: it's never going to be the same again. 6872. Welcome
S2: to the family. And then coming up here in a moment,
S2: I want to offer up a link for many of
S2: you Who have been wondering, how can I know? Because
S2: the question from this great person who sent me this
S2: vulnerable question can be answered when we look at the
S2: totality of Scripture and look at the evidences of those
S2: who truly have friendship with God. But we're grateful so
S2: many of you surrender in life to Jesus today never
S2: ceases to amaze me. 4727 08852624 this is serious biz.
S2: And this is here's what's awesome about this. God brought
S2: you here today to allow the Holy Spirit to work
S2: in your life in ways that you never would have imagined,
S2: and it's beautiful. Grateful for you. If today is your
S2: day of surrender before, you've never fully surrendered to Jesus,
S2: but today is your day. Just text new to 800
S2: 555 Five, 7898. He no longer calls you servant, but
S2: he calls you friend. Hold nothing back, my friend. Give
S2: it all to Jesus today. Okay. Got a question here.
S2: And boy, did some deep thinking on it. And I'm like, oh,
S2: there's really two answers for this. So hang on. I
S2: want to make sure that we understand this clearly. The
S2: enemy is attacking me with doubt and fear, and I
S2: feel like I am losing the battle. First off, it's
S2: not the first time it's ever happened to someone. Thank
S2: you for that little extra mustard of music there, young Thunder,
S2: I appreciate it.
S5: I'm here for you. Yeah?
S2: Yeah, man. Um, this is this is a heartbreaking one
S2: because I, I know this, and I've experienced this. You
S2: get filled with doubt and fear. My goodness. Of course.
S2: Here's what I'm going to say. Something's broken. And there's
S2: two primary things that can possibly be going on. And frankly,
S2: I'm going to start tackling the latter one a whole
S2: lot more than I have in the past. The former
S2: one is something's broken in your thinking, and you've got
S2: to get your thinking aligned with who you are in Christ.
S2: If you've been born again and you find yourself struggling
S2: with fear and doubt. My bride, my goodness. She's right
S2: on with this one. I stole it years ago. I
S2: heard her talking to a few ladies and she said,
S2: you got to wallpaper your mind with truth, because what
S2: you are thinking today is going to dictate how you're living.
S2: Fear and doubt can be a direct result of something
S2: being broken, and you need to get your thinking right.
S2: Now we give out this link a lot, but if
S2: you haven't read it in a while or you've never
S2: read it, get it because it will retrain your mind, right, Ali? Yes.
S2: We just got to do it. Yeah.
S3: Are you ready for it?
S2: Let's go. Okay.
S3: Text truth to 805 Five five, five, 7898. If you
S3: need some reminders of who you are in Christ, your identity,
S3: what the Word of God says about you. Text truth
S3: T.r.u.t.h to 800 555 7898.
S2: And this might be exactly what God would have for
S2: you today. Just grab this link text truth to 800
S2: 555 7898 and let the Word of God soak over
S2: you because something's broken in your thinking. Now I'm using
S2: this broken metaphor because I got to give you Iditarod
S2: illustration here today, because it's kicking off today and my
S2: heart is in Alaska today. Sorry about that, but I've
S2: got a couple of friends. I don't know them all anymore,
S2: but Mitch Seavey, who's a 4 or 5 time winner,
S2: check that out for me, man. How many times is
S2: Mitch Seavey won the Iditarod? 4 or 5, something like that.
S2: And he's back in it today. I sent him a
S2: text last night not knowing if he'd even have time
S2: to see it. I thought for sure he'd have that
S2: phone turned off trying to get some shut eye, but
S2: he sent word back after I told him I was
S2: praying for him one four times. Is that right? Young thunder?
S5: That's correct. One four times.
S2: Yeah. So he's back in it. Here's what happened to me.
S2: I had something broken on the Iditarod. And and this
S2: is my metaphor for for fear and doubt. Uh, on
S2: a dog sled, when the runners that you're standing on
S2: two runners, you know about shoulder length apart when they
S2: sweep up in the front. Right. And the goal of
S2: that is to go up and over snow and ice
S2: and berms. They aren't just straight. In fact, they're way
S2: more tipped up than a ski tip because the terrain
S2: is a lot more dicey than anything. You're going to
S2: run into skiing on a downhill slope, so there's a
S2: big upturn. Well, I had a broken runner heading into
S2: the village of Golovin. I was about 200 miles from
S2: the finish line and my my runner had broken. I
S2: had hit a berm or a stump. Something in the
S2: trail just absolutely smash that runner and what it made,
S2: what it caused is my right runner to not have
S2: that upturn. It was just this almost nearly a blunt edge.
S2: So I was going along fine and then whammo, I'd
S2: hit something that was a little bit too sharp in
S2: an upturn, and my runner couldn't get over the top
S2: of it, so I was having to stand on the
S2: left runner, and if I'd see a bump coming, I'd
S2: pick up the right runner. And I mean, it was
S2: here I am, exhausted, and I'm like, oh, I got
S2: something broken here. Some of you have fear and doubt
S2: because you've got a broken runner that you're standing on.
S2: You got a broken runner. And that can be flawed
S2: thinking for sure. But you know what else it can be?
S2: It can be something that has crippled you, that is
S2: causing fear and doubt. Sometimes fear and doubt comes in
S2: because we find ourselves missing the mark repetitively in an
S2: area of our life. And when we miss the mark.
S2: It's the term for sin. Nothing deals a blow to
S2: our confidence, and nothing rattles us more than having something
S2: that constantly comes back and defeats us. You with me
S2: on this one, guys? Yeah, it it really can rattle us,
S2: can't it, Ali?
S3: And you're. It kind of becomes the the thing that's playing.
S3: Have you ever had like, music that's playing in the
S3: background and you can after a while you don't even
S3: hear it anymore. It becomes kind of the soundtrack that's
S3: in the background. But then you're constantly reminded something will
S3: remind you of it. And you just you don't feel
S3: confident in sharing your faith. You don't feel confident in
S3: ministry because you feel like there's this underlying thing that's like, ah.
S2: And it's just there and it haunts you and it
S2: taunts you, doesn't it, Ali? Yeah. And then it defeats you.
S2: And then you get fear and doubt. You're like, how
S2: could a child of God do something like this? Well,
S2: children of God can do stupid people tricks, I'll tell
S2: you that. Trust me.
S3: Have you read the Bible and read about all the
S3: people who did stupid things?
S2: But God doesn't want to leave you there. And this
S2: is the hope that I have for you. That deep
S2: yearning you have to get rid of. Fear and doubt
S2: could be an indication that something's broken and God wants
S2: to heal it. Now, this is this is the other one.
S2: And I'm never going to go back on this. We're
S2: going to keep mentioning this because trying to overcome fear
S2: and doubt, while you've got something broken, a repetitive issue
S2: in your life that keeps kicking your booty. I don't
S2: care if it's gossip. I don't care if it's some
S2: kind of addiction. I don't care if it's something done
S2: in the secret places of your life and no one
S2: knows about it. Or maybe a couple of people do.
S2: Those things are real and they hurt and they ding us, man.
S2: And they rip us off. And here's what we've got.
S2: We've got something really cool this year for sure. For
S2: any gift of any amount. We're sending a book called
S2: Killing Sin Conquer the one thing that is defeating you.
S2: And that defeat is real, and it results oftentimes in
S2: fear and doubt because you're like, oh man, if I
S2: can't get victory over this thing, I must be, you know,
S2: who knows? Did I do the unpardonable sin? No, because
S2: you just wanting to get over it shows that you
S2: haven't blasphemed the Holy Spirit by denying Jesus Christ. And
S2: that's the only unpardonable sin. So you have not committed it,
S2: my friend. But to conquer fear and doubt, sometimes we
S2: need to just go. God, I got a broken runner
S2: and I'm going along smooth. And then bam! Oh, it
S2: hits me again. And it feels like my whole spiritual
S2: team stops dead in its tracks in the trail. And
S2: we want to give you victory over that. And we're
S2: not in sheer week, but we are in pressure. And
S2: what a cool thing that you can go right now
S2: and get some freedom, because some of you, you're resonating
S2: with going, yep, I can read all day long about
S2: who I am in Christ, but my runner's broken and
S2: my problem isn't that I'm not thinking rightly, it's that
S2: I'm not living rightly. And I got to get this
S2: squared away right now. Yes.
S3: Yeah. And this book, Killing Sin, is going to be
S3: our gift to you for a gift of any amount.
S3: This is pre share. This is during share. They'll even
S3: continue this if you give after the live portion is continued.
S3: So help me out here. What are we texting. Share here. Yes. Okay.
S3: Text share to 800 555 7898. Text share to 800
S3: 555 7898.
S2: Yeah. Gift of any amount. It's going to be sent
S2: to you. Broken runners spiritually happen, don't they? Ally?
S3: They do. And it's good to identify it because that's
S3: the first step.
S2: Yeah, it really is. So come and get it. Share
S2: hasn't even begun. But you can do it right now.
S2: Text share to 800 555 7898. When you give online.
S2: And that's the best way to do it right now.
S2: I don't know if we got people in the call center.
S2: You can just give online. Be sure to click the
S2: box that says, I want the book, and we'll get
S2: it out to you. And then and then how cool
S2: is this? You get to take part in helping us
S2: reach people with the gospel, and we're helping you fix
S2: broken spiritual runners. I mean, this is just a sweet opportunity.
S2: So just text share to 800 555 7898. Give online
S2: and click the box. Get killing sin and I'm into
S2: fixing runners right Ali? Yes, it's hard to go through
S2: life with a broken runner.
S3: Yeah, I the runner thing. I know I've not done
S3: the the outdoor sports, but but I'm with you on it.
S3: I can follow along even though I have it. Text
S3: shared 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah, we're grateful for you guys. Grateful? You know this
S2: issue of fear and doubt, there's a lot of reasons
S2: for it. But two primarily something broken in our life
S2: that continues to haunt us and taunt us, that needs
S2: to be healed and wrong thinking. And we're here to
S2: help you in any way we can. We love you guys.
S2: We really do, don't we? Man, it's so good to
S2: connect and hear and and see and hear stories of
S2: transformation and witness God at work in you. And we
S2: just want you to know we love you, man. We
S2: love you. And that's from Jesus. Ally, how do people
S2: get questions into me?
S3: Oh great question. Just text pastor if you want to
S3: submit a question for ask Pastor. Pastor Carl text pastor
S3: to 800 555 7898. Pastor to 805 five five 7898. 98.
S3: Just send it. You'll get instructions on how to send
S3: an email, and although Carl sees the email, we keep
S3: your name and information confidential.
S2: Yeah. Totally confidential. Oh, I love this question. I gotta
S2: quit saying that. Oh, I love this question, but it's
S2: so good. Pastor Carl Jesus asked someone if they believe.
S2: They said yes. Help me with my unbelief. Is the
S2: same possible with forgiveness? If I said I forgave someone
S2: but prayed for Jesus to help me with my unforgiveness.
S2: Am I the only one or is this a common problem?
S3: Okay, I'm with you on this. I love this question.
S2: We forgive in our heads our minds, but not our hearts.
S2: Help me please. Okay, brother. Here we go. That's all
S2: I'm going to say, by the way, is it's a brother.
S2: There is a scene in Braveheart that captures the need
S2: to reaffirm forgiveness over and over again. Now you don't
S2: even have to have seen Braveheart, but it's an awesome
S2: it's a dude flick all the way. My bride loves
S2: it as well. But William Wallace married a beautiful young lady,
S2: and by marrying her, he swept her up into a
S2: mess that cost her her life in the most horrific way.
S2: There's a scene where they're burying the daughter. William Wallace's wife.
S2: William Wallace, his father in law, is standing right behind
S2: him in. William Wallace's father in law reaches out with
S2: his hand and it's shaking, and he wants to grab
S2: William Wallace by the back of the neck, and you
S2: can feel it with him. He loves him, but he's ticked.
S2: Marrying this man's man cost his daughter her life, and
S2: he's Is hot in the in the music builds in
S2: that hand is shaking and quivering and you wonder, is
S2: he going to grab him and take this guy down?
S2: Is he going to rip his throat out? And the
S2: father reaches reaches closer and his hand is shaking and
S2: quivering and pretty quick. He releases the tension in that
S2: hand and he drops it down to his side. That's
S2: how forgiveness is. You can forgive a person today, and
S2: you can have a clenched, quivering fist tomorrow going, I
S2: just want a piece of them.
S3: That's so true. Help my unforgiveness.
S2: Yeah. Here's here's the key. And I'm just going to
S2: break it down for you. I've had to re forgive
S2: people in a couple of cases over and over again.
S2: And what you're doing is just reaffirming God's providence, his sovereignty,
S2: that if there is any right that needs to be
S2: made wrong because it could be in one situation I have,
S2: somebody came and asked for forgiveness and they said, what
S2: can I do to make amends? And I told them
S2: what to do, and they were too cowardly to make amends.
S2: You know what I get in my heart sometimes about
S2: this guy? I get a quivering hand on the back
S2: side of his neck, and I'm like, you know, I
S2: want to rip his throat out. Okay, I'm going to
S2: reaffirm my forgiveness of this brother. Why? Especially when someone
S2: has come to you and asked for forgiveness. It can
S2: be easy to rehearse the pain again and get that
S2: quiver in hand, reaching for a neck. And all I'm
S2: telling you is, my friend, let God be God. And
S2: do you have to do it? Sometimes. Multiple times? Yeah.
S2: Take it from your friend Carl. Sometimes you have to
S2: go back there 70 times seven. Saying I forgive you again.
S2: It's hard, isn't it, guys?
S3: It's hard. It's hard as you, you. Your mood can
S3: shift you just thinking about it. Thank you for giving them.
S3: And then start to think about what they've done to you.
S2: And my boy. Oh, boy. Yeah it's hard my brides
S2: classic on this one because this guy in our life
S2: and it's no. One in Chicagoland. So don't be freaking
S2: out if you think, oh no, is that me? Um.
S2: And no one listening. And my wife's like, is that it?
S2: Is that it? This guy gets to wander back into
S2: our life and he asks you for forgiveness, but he
S2: didn't ask me or the kids, and he affected all
S2: of us. And I'm like, I'm sorry, babe, do you
S2: want me to double back? She goes, no, that's not
S2: what I need you to do, but what are you
S2: going to do? And this is what she says. I'm
S2: going to bundle them up and put them back at
S2: the foot of the cross. She gets out wrapping paper,
S2: metaphorically in her mind, and she bundles them up. And
S2: some of these. She doesn't take a lot of time.
S2: Packaging don't need a pretty package, but she wraps them
S2: up and puts them right down at the foot of
S2: the cross and she goes, all right, God, you take
S2: care of this thing. And the reaffirming of forgiveness is
S2: one of the most powerful things you can do today,
S2: because sometimes you've forgiven someone. Sometimes when they've come and
S2: asked for forgiveness and you're like, I've got the.
S7: Quivering hand around the back of their neck and I
S7: just get a piece of them, God.
S2: And he says, leave room for me. I got this.
S2: Is it hard? Shoot, yeah. It's hard. I've found that
S2: every time I've waded in and grabbed a scruff of
S2: the neck, it never ends well anyway. Let God be God.
S2: William Wallace, father in law. Did he have the right
S2: to be angry? Yep. Did he have the responsibility to
S2: take it into his own hands to set wrongs right? Now,
S2: he realized in that moment. What's that going to do?
S2: It's going to exhaust me, complicate things, make what is
S2: bad worse. You got to quivering hand out today, metaphorically.
S2: And you're like, man, I just want a piece of him. Carl,
S2: I'm telling you. Set down your hand and bundle them
S2: up and put them at the foot of the cross.
S2: God can deal this with this thing far better than
S2: you can. It's that easy. And it's that hard. So
S2: do we need to forgive? Shoot. Yeah. Many times.
S3: And asking for help. Because it's impossible to do in
S3: our own strength. That's a really good prayer.
S2: Yeah, it really is. And so you might need to
S2: say something like, God, I'm reaffirming today the forgiveness that
S2: I afforded this person. Would you help my unforgiveness? And
S2: if you listen closely, you'll hear his voice crying out
S2: to you, saying, I got you, kid. I got you.
S2: Want to get your questions in to me right now?
S3: Just text pastor to 800 555 7898. Text pastor to (800) 555-7898.
S2: Yeah. Grateful for that honest vulnerability on all your parts
S2: that are sending in questions.
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: Yeah, we haven't talked forgiveness in a long while. That
S2: just felt like the right moment, man. Someone needed it.
S2: Someone needed it. Maybe as much as I did. You
S2: know what's great about these questions that I get to
S2: Pastor Carl? They are so I can relate to every
S2: one of these. Well, most of them. I mean, some
S2: of these things are some of these things are incredibly painful.
S2: Next Monday I'm going to tackle a really tough one.
S2: I really tough one woman had a marriage of many years,
S2: and the dude left and hooked up with a gal
S2: 17 years his junior, and she's like, ah, I want
S2: a piece of this guy. I don't blame you. I
S2: don't blame you. What we're going to tackle those can't
S2: get to all of them. And I try to collapse
S2: some of these together when they're common topics. But man,
S2: grateful for all these questions. Forgiveness is a big one.
S2: And grabbing up that person after you've forgiven them, you
S2: walk free and you're like, man, thank you. And maybe
S2: you had the benefit of that transactional word of forgiveness,
S2: which is someone acknowledging so that you can grant that
S2: to him. And then a week later you're like, I
S2: don't know that we plumbed the depths of that. What
S2: a piece of that guy. We feel we've all felt
S2: that that is so common. It's like, ah, that sucker.
S7: He didn't own every bit of it. That one thing.
S7: Should I go back? Sometimes.
S2: Maybe. Yes. Most often. No. It's just like, let God
S2: deal with it. Leaving room for God can be tough though, right, Ali?
S3: It can, it can. Because in our minds, we want
S3: to we want to be able to kind of get
S3: the retribution. Now we want to see the kind of
S3: the scores settled. But sometimes forgiveness feels so unsatisfying because
S3: it lets them off the hook, but it also lets
S3: us off the hook of carrying that.
S2: It does. It does. You're just dragging that old carcass around, man.
S2: Don't let them hold you back any longer. Let them go. Okay.
S2: Coming up here in a moment. We. Have you ever.
S2: Have you ever witnessed God answer prayer? And you were
S2: right in the kind of the center of that thing,
S2: and you're like, oh my goodness, did my prayer actually
S2: do something? Yeah. Tell you how you can be a
S2: part of that coming up.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: Oh, I shared this a little bit ago and I
S2: think all my tears are out of me, so now
S2: I can do it without losing it here. But it
S2: was a little over three years ago. Know quite a
S2: bit over three years ago, three and a half years ago,
S2: that my bride and I were out for a date.
S2: We'd gone to a flick and then we went to
S2: a dinner. We went classic date that night, right? Dinner.
S2: You know, dinner and a movie. Dinner. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
S2: We went classic that night. We don't do that a lot.
S2: But we did it that night and we're sitting down.
S2: We got the entrees, just landed on the table, and
S2: my wife's phone rings and she goes, mhm. It's call
S2: from the doctor. Her doctor said I'll be right back.
S2: She went out into the lobby and she got some
S2: tough news. When a doctor calls you on a Friday
S2: night it ain't it's not usually good guys. And some
S2: tests had been run, some pictures had been taken and
S2: they found a significant mass that turned out to be
S2: ovarian cancer. She comes back to the table and she said,
S2: got some tough news. Doctor wants to talk to you.
S2: She sees me beginning to really kind of lose my bearings.
S2: And she actually says to me, reaches out with her hand,
S2: puts it on me. She actually didn't. I think she
S2: might have just said it's okay. And my goodness guys.
S2: We went into a stretch in our life that was brutal.
S2: Remember standing in the entry to our home? And it
S2: was the only time that I heard my wife, she
S2: she shed one tear. That was it. Through this whole thing,
S2: one tear. And it was right there. And the tear
S2: was coming down her face down to her chin. And
S2: I wiped it away, and I put my arms around her.
S2: And I just called out to God, and I said, God,
S2: I'm asking you to spare my bride. And I rehearsed
S2: his sovereignty and his goodness and his providence and my bride.
S2: And I hugged after I was done praying. And she said,
S2: God's got this, bub. I said, I know he does.
S2: We clung to him, and our story may not be yours.
S2: She was healed. It was confounding to the surgeon. It
S2: was mind blowing. But I had a front row seat.
S2: To this day, she's cancer free. I praise God for that.
S2: We have no guarantees about tomorrow. And I had a
S2: front row seat to watch God answer prayer. Was he good?
S2: Even if it.
S8: Hadn't.
S2: Been the same outcome, yeah, I'd have still had that
S2: front row seat. I just straight up inviting you into
S2: a front row seat. Some of you need a front
S2: row seat to God. Watch God do something. Is it
S2: his will that we would reach as many people as
S2: possible with the gospel? Oh, yeah. It's his will, right? Absolutely.
S3: And so we are inviting you to be a part
S3: of our prayer crew for share what you're doing. Partnering
S3: with us is is a sacred Responsibility. You're not just
S3: praying that we would reach a budget, that we would
S3: have enough money. That's the practical aspect of it. But
S3: you're praying for souls that are linked to those dollars.
S3: You're praying for lives and transformations and families that are
S3: impacted just as you have been, just as I have been.
S3: And so that's what we're inviting you into, to take
S3: a front row seat to be a part of this.
S3: So if you want to grab a 30 minute slot,
S3: just text crew to 805, five, five, 78, 98, text
S3: crew to 800 555 7898. What you're going to get
S3: back from us is a link. Click on it. You
S3: can scroll all the way down. There's lots of slots available.
S3: I think last check was around 400 slots broken up
S3: in 30 minute segments. Tech crew text crew to (800) 555-7898.
S3: Thank you in advance for praying with us. Crew to
S3: 800 555 7898.
S2: From the bottom of our heart. Thank you. Come on in.