S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: It seems like technology has upside and downside. Last night,
S2: I was watching a little something with my bride and
S2: all the hallmark movie. And, I mean, you know how
S2: old it was. Ali.
S3: How old?
S2: It was so old. They had payphones.
S3: You're kidding.
S2: Now, if you're listening right now and you don't know
S2: what a payphone is, well.
S3: Google.
S2: Google. Yeah, you don't have to Google it anymore. That's
S2: the beautiful thing. You don't have to Google it at all.
S2: You don't have to get.
S3: Those.
S2: Crazy ads. Boy, is it a changin. Yes. Watching this thing.
S2: And what's the upside of not having cell phones?
S3: I love not having cell phones. Yeah.
S4: Being more aware and present around.
S3: You with the people around you.
S2: Being present.
S3: Fewer distractions. Yeah. Calls are intentional. I remember, like, we
S3: couldn't wait till the phone rang and you hung on.
S3: You talked for 30 minutes on the phone. No one
S3: has a conversation anymore.
S4: No.
S2: Not much. Not.
S4: Yeah. Phone calls give you anxiety.
S2: Maybe because I'm old school, but I still have some
S2: long conversations. I need to not lie about that. But, yeah,
S2: I mean, it's wild. You know, one thing. I think
S2: it's great to know where your kids are at, but
S2: cell phones have enabled helicopter parents to hover. I mean, morning,
S2: noon and night.
S4: Absolutely.
S2: So it's a it's a wild there's there's kids aren't
S2: getting outside as much. Very true. That going on.
S5: But then there's the the convenience factor. So my son
S5: got invited to an event and the invitation said snappy casual.
S5: And I thought, what in the world does snappy casual mean?
S5: So I went to ChatGPT and I said, show me
S5: some examples of outfits that are snappy casual for a
S5: 12 year old boy going to a bar mitzvah.
S3: Okay.
S5: And so it showed me these outfits that were snappy casual.
S5: So it means it's like casual but turned up a notch.
S5: So you can do khakis and a nice shirt, but
S5: then do some cool sneakers. I got a whole picture
S5: graph of outfits for my son that were snappy, casual,
S5: that were it was very helpful for me to dress.
S3: I remember that on its way. Snappy casual, snappy casual.
S2: I preach snappy casual.
S3: Yeah.
S5: You live snappy.
S4: Casual fast snappy casual.
S5: You're a snappy casual guy.
S2: Well, snappy casual.
S5: There you have.
S3: It.
S2: See, technology can make you feel a little bit better
S2: when you're on yourself, when you're down on your wardrobe.
S4: Oh, man.
S2: That's really funny, by the way. That's something that's changed
S2: over the years, hasn't it? I mean, I used to
S2: preach in Joseph Abboud suits.
S4: Oh, yeah.
S2: And it wasn't that long ago. go.
S4: No, no, no, the suit thing changed. You know, I mean,
S4: pretty recently.
S5: For many churches, I mean, some churches still are.
S3: Yeah. No there's.
S2: Some. Yeah, there's some that are still breaking suits.
S4: It's not a requirement though anymore. It used to be
S4: a requirement. Yeah. Had to wear one or expectation.
S3: Yeah.
S2: It was kind of seen that way but yeah. Technology's
S2: a funny thing because it's like any innovation there's good
S2: and there's bad. There's good and there's lousy. And I
S2: don't know what outweighs what with what's going on right now.
S2: I got a I'm an optimist. Would you say I'm
S2: an optimist?
S4: Yes.
S2: Yeah. I'm not bullish on modern technology being good for
S2: us over being bad for us. I'm kind of on
S2: the we've gotten to a point right now where it's
S2: kind of I'm not sure about this.
S4: I think there's fairness to that. Obviously there's really good things,
S4: but there are really, really difficult things. Really hard or
S4: bad things that That they way back and forth a
S4: lot sometimes.
S2: Yeah. I mean, they just I mean, I don't want
S2: to get down in the dumps here, but the accessibility
S2: of pornography and the here's what's amazing is bullying used
S2: to be in person on the playground. Yeah. Now, I mean,
S2: I'm watching data and studies that are saying online bullying
S2: has exponentially increased because it's online.
S3: Yeah.
S5: And that's and even that is probably, I would say
S5: ten years ago was when people were talking a lot
S5: about online bullying. And even that has shifted. Now it's
S5: even more nuanced like that. People can create a fake
S5: profile and impersonate you. So there's like these layers to
S5: it where it becomes easier and easier for people to
S5: get away with things to, you know, identity theft and
S5: more than just like stealing your credit card information, but
S5: someone actually pretending to be you online.
S2: Yeah. I mean, it's it's crazy. There's that going on.
S2: And then I saw this crazy article that the online
S2: bullying has shifted, because now there's some code for kids
S2: so that adults didn't don't know it unless they know
S2: the code. Like there's emojis that are bully emojis and
S2: there's little keywords that are bully keywords.
S4: It doesn't surprise me.
S2: No. I mean, it's a it's a whole subculture.
S5: Platforms like Snapchat where supposedly things disappear.
S2: But they don't. Right. Because you can.
S5: I mean, you can screenshot it. It notifies you that
S5: it's that someone's taking a screenshot, but in the way
S5: kids use it, they think this image is going to disappear.
S2: Boy, I'm going to have to. Could you coach me
S2: up on Screenshotting because Young Thunder thinks he's getting away
S2: with murder when he's bullying me with Snapchat.
S3: So I.
S4: Need.
S3: Snapchat. You know, Carl.
S4: And.
S3: I are.
S4: On Snapchat every day.
S2: I don't even I've never been.
S3: On so disruptive during the show. So disruptive.
S2: Yeah. During the show, the show is going.
S3: More of the in-person variety.
S2: The show's going great in Young Thunder's blasted me here
S2: behind the scenes.
S4: Sending him selfies.
S3: Hurts.
S4: Oh, man.
S3: Yeah.
S2: You get teased about that stuff because it's happening.
S4: Yeah.
S3: It's happening. Yeah, yeah.
S2: Okay. Coming up, we're talking about this this morning guys.
S2: It's tough out there. But what's it leading us to
S2: understand and do. And we're going to have a good
S2: morning here. And what if you need to return to
S2: the Lord. Today we're covering a lot in this hour.
S2: Hang on.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: You truly loved by God today. Somebody needs to hear that.
S2: Is that you? You're loved by God today. Please don't
S2: forget that as you are. He doesn't want to leave
S2: you as you are. We're going to be talking about
S2: returning to the Lord. Some of you may look around
S2: your life and you see little patterns of destruction, or
S2: things that are getting gobbled up by modern day locusts
S2: and you're like, ah, what's going on? Sometimes it can
S2: be the circumstances of the world around us. Other times
S2: it it can be because we've wandered away from God.
S2: And God's got an answer for that today. Well, we're
S2: talking technology. Technology has upsides and downsides. And. Oh, have
S2: we got an expert, Ali?
S5: Yeah. Imagine sitting down and your assignment is to interview.
S5: I kind of like Siri. Hey, Siri. Let's have a
S5: whole conversation. Just you and me. Kind of strange.
S2: Only here's the problem. I have a I have an
S2: easier time talking with a robot if I know it's
S2: a robot. If it sounds like a robot, when it
S2: sounds like a neighbor, that's a problem. Or is it?
S2: Hang on.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio, and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I have a huge celebration moment. You guys ready for it?
S3: Okay, ready.
S2: I no longer Google anything. I'm a Crocker.
S5: Oh.
S3: What?
S2: I'm a Crocker, not a Googler. Yeah, I, I am
S2: blown away by it, and I've checked it out. It's crazy. Ali,
S2: I don't know how it happens. And I've got a
S2: friend who's an absolute brilliant guy in Alaska. I was
S2: talking with him and he's like, how does I spit
S2: out this stuff? Like instantly in full sentence form? And
S2: they just heard the question. It's almost scary. Well, with us,
S2: we got an AI expert when he got his PhD
S2: in this, I don't think he knew what was coming
S2: his way. Ali.
S5: Or maybe he did.
S3: Maybe he.
S5: Did. Doctor Drew Dickens joining us right now. Did you
S5: anticipate that this is where we would be with AI?
S6: Boy, that makes me some kind of creepy. Like doctor
S6: up in a tower right there. Wild hair, sparks flying everywhere.
S6: And no, by the way, I had no clue. I
S6: couldn't get a return phone call six years ago when
S6: OpenAI hadn't even been launched yet. And. And now all
S6: of a sudden, it's like, now I'm on with you
S6: guys talking about it. So it's amazing and just incredibly fast.
S6: Every day, a couple of times a day. I was
S6: listening to a podcast the other day, and they they
S6: actually had to interrupt halfway through because there was an
S6: update of what they had already started talking about. So
S6: it's moving incredibly fast and it's just it's just amazing. Hey,
S6: let me respond to your, uh, your friend in Alaska
S6: who was asking those questions. You know, the spookiest answer
S6: to that question is no one knows. So Geoffrey Hinton, um.
S2: Was.
S6: Was the AI kind of creator at Google? Um, and
S6: it's still around. Uh, he's a professor up in Canada,
S6: and he'll tell you flat out he invented what's called
S6: the neural network, which he basically created the architecture on
S6: how AI thinks. And he'll tell you he doesn't know why.
S6: He doesn't know how it does it. So, yeah, the
S6: spookiest thing is there's no one behind this thing. It's
S6: easy to say, hey, it's made by man, so it
S6: must be now. It's on its own.
S5: Doctor Drew Dickens, he's a visionary leader, AI expert, scholar.
S5: Tell us about a recent podcast episode you recorded. Speaking of.
S5: Kind of spooky. Tell us about.
S3: It.
S6: Yes. Most definitely. So I've got this podcast, AI and spirituality.
S6: And the first, I don't know, 7 or 8 episodes
S6: are just kind of catching people up on what's going on. Uh,
S6: and not to be afraid, but just to kind of
S6: start putting your toe in the water. So the first
S6: episodes are just about, uh, you know, what is an algorithm?
S6: What is a language model? But after that, I start
S6: every week kind of intentionally exploring a new launch or
S6: a new feature. And there was a company called Sesame,
S6: and they're inventing, um, glasses that, that we'll be able
S6: to wear and look at things and, and be able to,
S6: to interact. And they decided, you know, what we need
S6: is a, a companion When you wear the glasses, they'll
S6: be able to talk to you and interact with you
S6: as you're walking around with these glasses on. So they've
S6: put a lot of time into this companion. And there
S6: are two of them. There's Maya and Miles. And so
S6: the other day on an episode, I decided, you know what?
S6: Maya and I are going to have a conversation about spirituality.
S6: And it was mind blowing. It is so real. The interaction,
S6: the the emotion in her voice. And and she's got
S6: a super dry sense of humor. She'd be a great host,
S6: by the way. Great sense of humor, very sarcastic. And
S6: she and I just had a blast talking about just
S6: the deeper things of life.
S2: Okay, this is freaking people out. Yeah, not least of
S2: which is me. And I'm pretty open to this stuff.
S2: And I'm and I'm benefiting greatly from grok. And I
S2: think Christians are sometimes late adopters on this. How do
S2: you navigate the world where you don't know why I
S2: can respond so quickly, and where we're going forward? How
S2: do you interact with this?
S6: You know, I came across a great term. I don't know,
S6: maybe ten years ago, I was always been very active
S6: up in Silicon Valley and, and involved in a couple
S6: of different startups and whatnot. And there's a phrase that
S6: they use, uh, kind of a critical one, but they'll just, uh,
S6: quite often programmers will just look at each other and go, hey,
S6: go touch grass. And I love the idea of just
S6: all of us pausing periodically and just going outside and
S6: take your shoes off and walk through the grass is
S6: to get grounded again. And that's what I think is
S6: going to creep up on us, and already is creeping
S6: up on us, where we begin to rely on this
S6: more and more grok, Claude or these other language models. And, uh,
S6: I love that you've kind of navigated towards grok. I'm
S6: more of a Claude guy, which to those listening, is
S6: another language model like grok. Um, but it's easy to
S6: get wrapped up in this or Maya and really kind
S6: of forget, you know, what is going on right now.
S6: And I need to get back to this, like what
S6: you and I are doing right now, what the three
S6: of us are doing. I need to get back and
S6: look people in the eye and listen to conversations and
S6: and just walk through the grass sometimes. So that's one
S6: of the things I'm, I'm really touching a lot on
S6: lately is encouraging people to step away and to kind
S6: of re-engage with creation, uh, re-engage with the creator.
S5: We've got Doctor Drew Dickens with us right now. So
S5: speaking of Touch and Grass, you've written a book to
S5: help people re-engage with spiritual discipline. Hearing from the father.
S5: It seems like it couldn't be further apart from your
S5: work with I, but kind of talk about these two
S5: things that you have a hand in.
S6: First off, just acknowledging that there's a separation between the
S6: two and and it's easy to get lost in whatever
S6: technology media. I don't mean to to trash all that,
S6: but it's easy to get lost. And especially as you
S6: said earlier, when they respond so quickly. I coined a
S6: term a couple of years ago about AI is incapable
S6: of not answering. Rare use of a double negative there,
S6: but it can't not answer. And so it can't say boy,
S6: good question I don't know. And so you've got something
S6: that will always answer your questions and answer them quickly.
S6: And boy that that's addictive. In in our world where
S6: we're just constantly looking for answers or direction or guidance.
S6: And so it's easy to get lost in that. And
S6: I don't fault I don't shade anybody for that because
S6: I get lost in that. And so I thought, man,
S6: we need to find some way in in Scripture. I
S6: just love the story. It's how I started the book.
S6: We look for him in the thunder, right? We look
S6: for him in the earthquake. We look for him in
S6: the the loud voice. But it's his whisper that we
S6: really need to learn to stop and just again walk
S6: through the grass and just stop and and look up.
S6: We were at a church service in New York. Beautiful church,
S6: beautiful ceilings, and you couldn't help the entire service. But
S6: look up. And that's, I think architecturally, what they were
S6: looking to do is just put yourself in a place
S6: where you're constantly looking up and being reminded of creation.
S6: And that was my heart. In writing, whispers of the
S6: spirit is to man engage in the technology. It's not
S6: going away. It's only getting better every day. It will.
S6: It will never be any worse than it is today.
S6: So engage in that. Learn it. But don't forget to
S6: listen to the whispers of the spirit.
S2: I got a hunch. My hunch is that you're touching grass.
S2: Moment is this whispers of the spirit. And you must
S2: feel at times. I'm not going to put words in
S2: your mouth. Doctor. Drew Dickens is with us right now.
S2: He's got a PhD in this stuff called I before
S2: it was even popular. But there must be a sense
S2: in which this is almost the cry of your soul
S2: to save us from ourselves on I. Am I going
S2: too far there? I mean.
S6: Wow, man, I'm going to steal that phrase. Thank you. That.
S2: Well, I mean, but really this is scary stuff. I
S2: where it's going and you're saying let God still be God.
S6: Look at our relationship with technology as, as Christians. I
S6: mean we can go back. Oh my gosh, we can
S6: go back, you know, thousand, 2000 BC when we have
S6: the ancient prophets of Scripture, them relying on the Ark
S6: of the covenant, them relying on, you know, casting of lots, uh,
S6: the Urim and Thummim in first and second Samuel, ah,
S6: was a device that the priests used to inquire of God.
S6: So we're used to, um, leveraging technology to encounter the divine.
S6: And we've always done that. Then fast forward, man. We've got, uh,
S6: we've got Gutenberg and we've got the printing press. And
S6: and so we've always leveraged, oh my gosh, the radio. Okay. Yeah.
S6: You go back to the Billy Graham Organization, which leveraged
S6: the power of this brand new medium to reach millions
S6: of people with the gospel like you do every morning,
S6: every day. So we have this relationship with technology to
S6: help us encounter God. So it's nothing new. I think
S6: what's unusual about this version of those things is, well,
S6: Boy again, as you touched on a moment ago, it's quick,
S6: it's instant. It seems to have a personality when we
S6: talk to it, when we engage with it, and it
S6: derives that knowledge from the entirety of human knowledge. So
S6: from Sumerian writings to, frankly, this broadcast this morning, it's
S6: consumed all that. So it can draw on that to
S6: give us instant answers, which isn't that unusual to forms
S6: of technology that we as believers have have sought and
S6: leveraged in the past.
S5: But what we're looking for is that deeper connection with
S5: the divine, which can often feel elusive when you have
S5: technology pulling at you, when there's distractions, when there's so
S5: much noise, what do you want the reader to gain?
S5: This 40 day guide to intimate prayer?
S6: You just touched on something I think really, really spot
S6: on is we long for that connection, and I think
S6: if we're not careful, we can find ourselves relying on
S6: this for divine inquiry. Divine guidance that was my dissertation
S6: was its effect on spiritual direction. So instead of talking
S6: to a pastor, talking to a spiritual guide, talking to
S6: someone in your circle that you trust in and can
S6: meet with and have you know what and have shared
S6: experiences with. They may not answer the phone call at
S6: 3 a.m., uh, or they may go, hey, you know what?
S6: This has been fun, but I got to go. This
S6: won't it won't say, hey, I'm bored, let's move on.
S6: And so I think there's going to be a time
S6: where we're looking for it to answer a calling in
S6: our life, uh, that it will be happy to provide
S6: to us. And I think we just need to learn
S6: to have others in our life and, frankly, be mindful
S6: of that in our life where we need to stop
S6: and go, okay, I need to we keep going back
S6: to this, but I need to go outside and walk
S6: in some grass. I love it. Um, and just be
S6: sensitive to that.
S2: It's really good. It's really good. It's freaky. Uh, I'm
S2: going to give it to you straight up. I mean,
S2: I'm I'm gobsmacked by what I'm finding as I do
S2: grok searches and I'm I'm leveraging it for tons of stuff.
S2: I mean, historical cultural study for message prep that I'm doing.
S2: I mean, it's it's crazy. Okay, Ali, we got a
S2: two for here because we got something really intriguing with
S2: this podcast, right?
S5: Yeah. You're interested in both, right? The whispers of the
S5: spirit of 40 Day Guide to Intimate Prayer. But also,
S5: you can't help but wonder. I wonder what that podcast
S5: sounds like. We've got links to the book and the podcast.
S5: Just text the word peace to (800) 555-7898. Text peace p
S5: a c e peace to 800 555 7898.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: You ever had a situation where you're looking at something
S2: in the Word of God and you go, why didn't
S2: I see this sooner? We've all had that.
S4: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
S2: Yeah. We go. Why didn't I see this sooner? This morning? Early? Actually,
S2: it was last week. I found this reference. I did
S2: a deep dive on it early this morning and boy
S2: is it powerhouse. This could be one of the most
S2: powerful moments in your life spiritually. And I'm not overstating it.
S2: I'm not overstating it. So let me set it up
S2: this way. There are a lot of reasons why things
S2: fall down around our lives. Fair guys?
S3: Yes.
S4: Very fair.
S2: And there are a lot of external forces at work.
S2: I mean, we've got demonic things that are going on.
S2: We've got people that are under the influence of the
S2: prince and power of the air, and that is Satan.
S2: And there are just there's natural things. Myanmar. I mean,
S2: look at what's going on with earthquakes. I mean, my goodness,
S2: there's so many things going on in this broken and
S2: fallen world that we look back and go, oh my goodness,
S2: look at what? Look at the fallout from this thing.
S2: Things are broken. So the danger is, is that as
S2: Christ followers, we miss one of the greatest gifts God
S2: gives to us. And that is looking for. Personal responsibility.
S2: No matter if it's a grain of sand compared to
S2: an a beach of external forces, that is our responsibility
S2: in this thing. And this can get so difficult because
S2: you've got Satan himself saying, don't look at the grain
S2: of sand of your responsibility, right? I mean, that's the
S2: way it rolls.
S5: It is. And there are so many things that have
S5: happened to us where we have zero fault in it. Yep.
S5: Zero fault. So you could have had a very traumatic background.
S5: That was zero.
S2: Sexual assault.
S5: For you to own in that. What it can produce
S5: in you is a is a is a bitterness and
S5: anger that starts. You start to carry into other situations
S5: in your life where you show up in your workplace,
S5: and maybe because of some trauma in your background, you
S5: react to people poorly. You don't trust people.
S3: You snap at.
S2: People.
S5: And so you had zero ownership in the thing that
S5: happened to you. But what it produced in you causes
S5: you sometimes to then sin against other people. And you
S5: have to own the sin where you can own regardless
S5: of you've got nothing to own. And what happened in
S5: your background?
S2: Yeah, it's the council. My bride got from her mentor
S2: named her daughter after her. She was so wise. Some
S2: of the best counsel I've ever received was from my mouth.
S2: The mouth of my bride. After she had met with
S2: Muriel one afternoon, way back in the day, nearly 40
S2: years ago. For crying out loud in Marilyn, Ford looked
S2: at Jinan and said, as difficult as it is whenever
S2: you face fallout in your life if there is 10% ownership.
S2: And so let's break this down 20%, 50%, 70%, 0.05%
S2: that you can own. And I want to restate, are
S2: there issues out there that people have gone through that
S2: have zero response? Yes. But Allie's right too on this
S2: one because what that can create is a downstream impact.
S2: That's like, okay, that thing back there was. And let's
S2: just take sexual assault that had nothing to do with me. Childhood.
S2: Not even going to go for any little ear warnings here.
S2: But you know what I'm talking about. Boom crew. But
S2: carried forward if if it begins to cloud everything around
S2: us and we then find ourselves saying, God, help me
S2: to separate that from this. That's a powerful growth opportunity.
S2: And oftentimes, here's what we miss. I know I've done it.
S2: It's easy to do in marriage. It's easy to do
S2: in business partnerships. It's easy to do with your co-hosts
S2: on Carl and Crew. Morning. It's easy. It's easy. It's
S2: easy to point. How long has it been said? You know,
S2: when you got one finger pointing forward, you got, you know,
S2: what do they say?
S5: Pointing back at you.
S2: Or three and a half. I never could get my thumb.
S4: The thumb can't go backwards.
S3: Yeah, we got it. We got it.
S2: Three and a half.
S4: Yeah.
S2: And that's the point. Now, some of you have things
S2: that it's like. If I'm honest with God. Carl. Yeah,
S2: A man. There's no question in my mind. I got 100%
S2: ownership in this one thing. And some of you guys
S2: got 70%. I can own some 40%, some 30%, some 10%.
S2: You know, getting into percentages can be dicey, too, because
S2: you can say, I got 0.0123. That's pretty small to own.
S5: And it's really hard to own your 1%. If you
S5: feel like the person who's 99% needs to own it won't.
S5: And that can get you stuck, too. I've been there.
S3: But do.
S5: You see how much more at fault she.
S3: Is?
S2: Look at that sucker.
S3: God, she's not apologizing.
S5: To me for the 99%.
S2: Smoke em! God! Smoke em! I'm standing by and watching.
S2: I'm in the front row. Let lightning fall.
S3: Careful.
S2: Yeah. And here's why the prophet Joel said, there's so
S2: much that we're missing out on. And coming up here,
S2: we're going to break it down from the prophet Joel.
S2: We don't even know the exact time that it was written,
S2: but boy, is it relevant. No matter what time it
S2: was written. So I want you to have just a
S2: moment here of introspection and be willing to say, search me, God.
S2: Search me. Hang on.
S1: Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: The essence of discipleship is really not to go through
S2: just perfunctory motions. Spiritual disciplines are great, but there's moments
S2: of introspection, humble introspection that allow us to change radically.
S2: But I don't want you to head into this without
S2: the greater vision. So the prophet Joel, we don't know
S2: when this book was written. Exactly. There's a lot of
S2: strong opinions on both sides. Some say 800 A.D. excuse
S2: me BC, and some say it was during the Babylonian
S2: captivity in 536 or so BC. But it really doesn't matter,
S2: because it's a theme that's repeated over and over again
S2: for God's kids then and today. So it's really a
S2: timeless book. And the prophet Joel says these words, now
S2: you got to get the whole thing and the payoffs
S2: at the end here. Yet even now, declares the Lord,
S2: return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping,
S2: and with mourning, and rend your hearts and not your garments.
S2: Isn't that a funny statement, guys? Rend your hearts, not
S2: your garments. In other words, don't let this be a
S2: surface repentance. Go. Let it go deep. Return to the
S2: Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow
S2: to anger, and abounding in steadfast love. And he relents
S2: over disaster. And we love that, don't we? And that's
S2: the payoff. I love that that Hebrew word there for
S2: steadfast love is one Hebrew word, hesed. And it's a
S2: covenantal love. It means that we're coming under the umbrella.
S2: Remember that insurance company? I forget the name of it.
S2: You come under the umbrella. I forget what it is.
S2: But every time I saw that way back in the day,
S2: I thought, oh, these guys don't know anything about him.
S2: Umbrella insurance policies. The hesed love of God's got them
S2: all beat, baby.
S4: Amen.
S2: They got them all beat. So here's what's going on.
S2: The nation of Israel had walked away from God. So
S2: he says, yet even now, declares the Lord, return to
S2: me with all your heart. Why? Because the locusts had
S2: eaten their stuff. So sometimes we've got stuff going on
S2: in our life that locusts have eaten, that are totally
S2: detached from us. I'm reminded of of why I love
S2: studying history and getting just snippets, and the Great Depression
S2: came so quickly that there were tycoons on ships in
S2: the Atlantic when they went from gazillionaires to paupers overnight
S2: because they couldn't get on land to trade stocks or
S2: dissolve them fast enough to save anything. That's a shocker,
S2: isn't it, guys?
S3: Wow.
S2: It's a shocker. Was that their doing? No. I mean,
S2: you could maybe go ah well they were speculating and
S2: they were, you know, they, they were reaching for more. Okay. Whatever.
S2: But the depression hammered everyone in this nation without respect
S2: to income level. It just hammered everybody. So there's things
S2: like that sexual assault of a child. Those things. Come on, man.
S2: Those those things. There's nothing attached to us. But there's
S2: so much stuff in our workaday world, everyday life. And
S2: it could be a company that you started that's beginning
S2: to crumble. And part of it is due to the
S2: fact that you've been far from God in this process
S2: of being an entrepreneur. And that's hard to hear. If not,
S2: for I'm abounding in steadfast love. I'm gracious and merciful,
S2: says God. Come on home. Return to me. You see,
S2: yesterday we were looking at the sermon on the Mount
S2: and that there's reward for fasting. The only question is,
S2: do you want to be rewarded by man, or do
S2: you want to be rewarded by God? And here Joel says,
S2: go into a quiet place. Don't tear the outer garments.
S2: Don't be surface level. Go right down to the core
S2: and just repent and go. God hears my heart and
S2: this and this is what you do. You have humility.
S2: You have introspection, you have consecration and you have restoration.
S6: Wow.
S2: Hallelujah. And I want you to know something I go first.
S2: Do I always know? Sometimes I'm teaching stuff here. Pouring
S2: out my heart about stuff. And I don't go first.
S2: But this morning I went first. And I tried to.
S2: I'd say if I'm putting percentages to things, I'd say 90%
S2: of the time I. I try to go first. I
S2: don't want to dish up stuff here that I'm not practicing.
S2: That would be there's warnings against those guys too. We
S2: got to be careful here, don't we? Alien team.
S3: Yeah.
S2: So what I want you to do is have a
S2: time of humble introspection right now. And look at something
S2: that locusts have eaten in your life and go, God,
S2: what percentage of this is mine? And then we're going
S2: to pray together of where you go from there. They're
S2: coming up.
S1: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Humility. Introspection. Consecration always leads to restoration. It's repeated over
S2: and over in Scripture. I want to stand up and shout.
S2: It's one of the most amazing things about God's goodness
S2: to us. And some of you are wondering this morning,
S2: have I wandered too far from God? I can't return
S2: to him. The journey's too long. He's right behind you. He's.
S2: That's the amazing thing about traveling far from God. In
S2: his mercy, he travels along with us so that when
S2: we repent, boom! We're there.
S4: Yeah.
S2: Isn't that beautiful?
S5: It's so beautiful. Because you think about, I mean, how
S5: much you can feel like you've blown it, and then
S5: you feel like I've blown it again and again and
S5: again and again, and then you start reading in the
S5: Bible and you realize, hmm, I'm not the first one
S5: to have blown it again and again and again. And
S5: God still had mercy and still had compassion and kindness.
S5: And he's the same yesterday, today and forever. So that's
S5: for me to.
S3: Yeah.
S2: So in case you just tuned in, let me recap this.
S2: And then Ali's going to pray for everyone. Big blanket
S2: prayer right now because some of you need to return
S2: to God. And the reason you know, it is the
S2: Holy Spirit that convicts the world of sin, righteousness and
S2: judgment is revealing to you things that are broken in
S2: your life, the equivalent of things that locusts have eaten.
S2: Little aspects, maybe not the whole enchilada, but there's something
S2: you can own somewhere. And the Holy Spirit is so good.
S2: I've found him to be inexplicably accurate in my life,
S2: inexplicably spot on. The only question is, will I linger there? Humility. Introspection.
S2: Real contrition. Real contrition. And restorations coming your way. Nation
S2: of Israel. They're like, ah, look at what the locusts
S2: have eaten. And Joel the prophet prophets were not popular.
S2: They were not popular. He said, even now, declares the Lord,
S2: return to me with all your heart, with fasting. Whoa! Why?
S2: Why fasting? Because withholding a meal today to say. Oh, God.
S2: I haven't been the husband to my bride like you've
S2: called me to be. I'm owning it. I haven't been
S2: the boss. I haven't been the coworker. I've been the parent.
S2: I haven't been filling the blank. You know the Holy
S2: Spirit's telling you. And then you begin to change. Why?
S2: Because the Lord loves you that much. And it is beautiful.
S2: Return to the Lord today. Ali. Let's pray.
S5: Lord, thank you that you invite us to return to you. God,
S5: that we are not too far gone. So for the
S5: person who's listening today. God, I pray that as you're
S5: at work by your spirit in their heart, that they
S5: would sense your nearness and presence in a fresh way.
S5: Thank you that you are gracious and merciful, slow to anger,
S5: and abounding in steadfast love. Thank you that we have
S5: a position in Christ that's secure, that we cannot be
S5: snatched out of your hand. So today we return to
S5: you in repentance, rending our heart and not our garment. Lord.
S5: So from the inside out we come back to you.
S5: I just pray for a great cleansing today, Lord. Cleanse
S5: us of our unrighteousness. Cleanse us of our sin. Wash
S5: us clean, Lord. Restore what the locusts have eaten. God.
S5: Allow us to experience the newness of turning back to
S5: you again. God, we appreciate you. We're so grateful because we.
S5: Where else can we go?
S2: Where do.
S3: We go?
S5: Where do we go if not to you? So thank
S5: you today for a fresh start for the person who
S5: needs it. Lord, beginning in this room. God in every
S5: area where we need it, we're grateful. So, Lord, we
S5: turn back to you today and we thank you in
S5: Jesus name. Amen.
S2: Amen. I'm convinced because I've seen it. The moment you
S2: turn toward God, you come under the umbrella of his love,
S2: that covenantal love. And please, keep the bigger why in mind.
S2: You don't repent to pay penance. You repent and return
S2: to God because he is slow to anger, abounding in
S2: steadfast love, and he relents over disaster and heartache and pain.
S2: Return to God today. Return to God today.
S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
S1: Moody Radio.
S2: You know what I think? Have we got Franklin in
S2: here right now?
S4: We do, we do.
S2: Let's get him in. Franklin. Graham. How are you, my friend?
S7: I'm doing good. I trust you're doing well.
S2: Yeah, I'm doing really well. So we're. We wanted to
S2: get you in here. Thank you for taking the time
S2: to do this. I know you got plenty going on, Franklin,
S2: but what's going on in Myanmar and all ultimately neighboring, uh, Thailand.
S2: What's what's going on?
S7: Well, we're responding to the crisis there in Myanmar. We've got, um.
S7: Today we're taking a hospital out of Calgary. One of
S7: our field hospitals, and we're flying it, uh, into, um,
S7: Rangoon or Yangon, they call it now. And then it'll
S7: be trucked up to the Mandalay area. And so it's
S7: a it's a 60 bed, uh, tier three hospital. Tier
S7: three means we got two operating rooms, uh, emergency room, uh,
S7: x ray, uh, laboratory, uh, everything that you need. And
S7: all of this is very modern equipment. It's the same
S7: equipment that the US military uses in their field hospitals. So, uh,
S7: that we've got that going, we'll have, uh, about 60
S7: people right now. Uh, that will be over there. Then
S7: we'll have, um, uh, probably build it up to a
S7: little over 100, maybe 120 people. And then you have
S7: to rotate your doctors and nurses out about every 4
S7: to 6 weeks. Uh, so, uh, these are doctors and
S7: nurses that have full time jobs, uh, other places, but
S7: they take a they, they take a break to work
S7: for us. But we've got to turn that that team
S7: over and keep it, keep the hospital up and running.
S7: But uh, and of course, with that Carl, you got
S7: all the supplies that the hospital needs. Uh, you just
S7: don't go run out and buy locally. You have to
S7: take it with you. And not only that, but we
S7: have to take our own generators, water purification system. Um,
S7: because the water systems there are compromised. Uh, your your generators.
S7: It's a different, uh, power grid. So we're on 110, uh,
S7: there I think is on 220. So we have to
S7: take we have to take generators to generate our own electricity.
S7: So it's it's a it's a complicated system, but it's, uh,
S7: but it works. And we've, we've used we've got one
S7: right now in Sudan, a maternity hospital. And we've set
S7: these up, uh, here in the United States, but around
S7: the world. And we keep about five hospitals in stock
S7: so that whenever there's a crisis, we're ready to go.
S2: Amazing.
S5: Franklin Graham. Our guest right now, he's the president and
S5: CEO of Samaritan's Purse, which is an international Christian relief
S5: and evangelism organization. That this disaster is the worst to
S5: hit the region in over a century. And as you
S5: have responded and been over overseeing the response of Samaritan's
S5: Purse over so many years, what what do you see
S5: when you when you arrive to such devastation? And there's
S5: people in need and there's crisis and you're you're providing
S5: practical care, but in the name of Jesus Christ, what
S5: does this look like on the ground in these first
S5: days and weeks and months?
S7: Well, it's very chaotic because the infrastructure of the country
S7: is is seriously compromised. Roads, trains, electrical grid, all of
S7: this is down. Uh, whole sections of cities are flat. Uh,
S7: when the earthquake first happened up in Mandalay, fires broke
S7: out and and just leveled level. Huge portions of the
S7: city by fire. So this is a this is a catastrophe. Uh,
S7: they're saying over 2000 some people have have died, but
S7: it's going to be we're afraid it's going to be
S7: in the many thousands. Uh, when all the numbers come in,
S7: they just don't have any. The, uh, we talked to
S7: local people today. Uh, and these are church partners that
S7: we have with Operation Christmas Child and that we've been
S7: working with for years in the country. And they they said,
S7: we don't know what to do, not only for our
S7: own people. We have no resources to help them, but
S7: we don't even know what to do for our own families. Uh,
S7: we need drinking water. We need mosquito nets. Uh, we need, uh, shelter. Uh,
S7: and they don't have any of that. And so, uh,
S7: that's some, some things that we'll be getting in in
S7: the next few weeks is, you know, uh, tarps. Uh,
S7: for people where, you know, they can cut a piece
S7: of plastic and at least make a makeshift shelter to
S7: keep out of the rain and. Mosquito nets. This is
S7: this is a big thing. So we're going to be busy.
S7: But the most important thing is we do it in
S7: the name of Jesus Christ. Uh, this this, uh, government has, uh,
S7: has had difficulty with this church relations. And we hope
S7: that after all of this, it will improve the church
S7: relations with the government. And so just pray that we
S7: can be the hands and feet of the Lord Jesus Christ. Uh,
S7: in these next few months as we try to minister
S7: in his name.
S2: What keeps you going, Franklin? What what keeps this passion burning?
S2: Is it lives change, lives touched. What? What is it?
S7: Well, we're commanded to go into the world to make
S7: disciples of all on all, all nations. And listen, the those.
S7: Those are the orders from the King of kings and
S7: the Lord of lords. The those that those orders have
S7: not been rescinded. And so we're still under that mandate.
S7: And I just think when there's a crisis like this,
S7: this is a great opportunity to go in and help
S7: people and do it in Jesus name and make disciples
S7: as we go.
S2: Amen. Uh, you're listening to this right now. Ali, I'm
S2: going to ask you to pray here in a moment,
S2: but text the word Pierce. We've got some Franklin, as
S2: you know. And that's why I'm so grateful that you
S2: come on here. But we got some of the most
S2: generous people now across the nation. Carlos Cruz, Carl and
S2: crew has heard across the nation. Uh, I want you
S2: boom crew right now. If God is prompting your heart,
S2: let's throw some shekels to this ministry right now. Text
S2: the word purse. Just the word purse to 800 555, 78, 98.
S2: There's a lot of entities that are in there, but
S2: none or few like Samaritan's Purse that do it so
S2: strongly in the name of Jesus. Text purse to 800
S2: 555 7898. We're going to keep you here, Franklin. Ali,
S2: would you pray?
S5: Yeah. Lord, we thank you that you are sovereign. over
S5: all things, Lord. You are sovereign over storms, over earthquakes,
S5: over disaster. God. And we don't have answers. We we
S5: don't fully understand why things happen, but God, we trust
S5: in your goodness and your sovereignty. So we pray that
S5: you would comfort the afflicted God, that those who don't
S5: know you would turn to you as their source of hope,
S5: as their source of comfort, as the anchor for their
S5: souls in the days and weeks, and Lord, that eternity
S5: would be changed for so many people, God, as they
S5: turn to you. Lord, we pray for Samaritan's Purse, for
S5: the the doctors and the volunteers and the people who
S5: will be on the ground. Lord, we pray for their protection,
S5: for their safety. Lord Jesus, for the as they as
S5: they work and as they minister God, that there would
S5: be stories of transformation. God of healing, Lord of healing
S5: of bodies, healing of families, Lord, and ultimately healing of souls. God,
S5: we just ask that you would use this as you
S5: always do. God, you can take the worst thing, God,
S5: and you can use it and be glorified through it. Lord,
S5: we don't know how, but we trust you. So we
S5: just pray, Lord, over this entire region that your name
S5: would be lifted high, God, that your presence would be
S5: felt in tangible ways. Lord, that as they are looking
S5: for survivors, Lord, that those who are still clinging to hope, God,
S5: that they would cry out to you and you would
S5: be their rescuer. Lord, we pray for miracles out of this. So, God,
S5: we just ask for your sovereignty, for your mercy, and
S5: for your deliverance. In the mighty name of Jesus. Amen.
S2: Amen. And let it be.
S7: Amen. Thank you.
S2: Guys. Franklin. Franklin. Graham, thank you for being with us.
S2: Text the word Pierce to 800 555 7898. Just the
S2: word Pierce, and you'll get a link there. A lot
S2: of you wonder, and I get this question a lot.
S2: How do we care for needs in this area, that
S2: area when it comes to these kind of responses? Samaritan's
S2: purse is top of the list.
S8: Top of the list.
S2: Text purse to 800 555 7898. Godspeed, Franklin, we love you. Great.
S7: Thank you guys. God bless you.
S2: Yeah. God bless you, brother. Oof! That hits hard, huh?
S3: Yeah.
S2: Yeah. And him, I mean, recovery efforts. There are people
S2: flying in from all around the globe on recovery efforts,
S2: because in many of these countries, they don't have the
S2: kind of equipment needed to even sense, you know, they're
S2: out of that crazy. Sadly, they're out of that recovery zone.
S2: It's kind of that life zone where people can sustain
S2: life buried. So now it's moving into more of a
S2: recovery effort rather than rescue effort. But the amount of
S2: lives that are buried under rubble right now, it's horrific.
S2: And yet even after that, what you're doing now is
S2: ministering to family and friends and loved ones. And what
S2: a powerful ministry.