S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: There is a notion running around out there in circles
S2: of disciples and I mean disciples. People who love God
S2: have been radically altered by Jesus, and they suspect I
S2: need to change my life. Let me give you one statement,
S2: and then we'll shut down the show for today. And
S2: we're done.
S3: Okay. This replay, this three minutes for. Wow.
S2: No you don't. That's God's work. I want you to
S2: think about what you're up against today. When I say
S2: up against, I'm not talking about external forces of opposition.
S2: I'm talking about the internal battles that you have going
S2: on in your mind, in your body. Addictive cycles that
S2: need to be broken. And those come in a lot
S2: of different forms. Don't don't go to the. Oh, yeah,
S2: those cocaine snorters like old Carl was back in his
S2: young 20s. No, no, I'm talking about those behavioral things
S2: that range from lack of time control. So you're wasting
S2: great hours in the day that God wants to redeem
S2: in your life, and you know it. Don't beat yourself up.
S2: Let's just have a touchpoint here to that common thing
S2: you do when your cup gets bumped and anger just
S2: splashes out to the ones that you love the most,
S2: to your a serial gossiper and you can't seem to
S2: shut the trap up. You've tried over and over again. To.
S2: I am chronically given toward sullenness, and I let my
S2: sullenness be seen by everybody, hoping that that will give
S2: me some comfort, but I know God wants to change
S2: my sullenness. He goes on and on. Right, guys?
S3: Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Absolutely. There's I mean, if you
S3: allowed yourself to look at all the things that you
S3: quote unquote need to work on, then you can just
S3: become overwhelmed because you're like, oh, man, there's just so
S3: many things. And every time I take care of one
S3: quote unquote, there's like three more that pop up.
S2: Oh yeah, man, it's I love spiritual. Whack a mole
S2: is a great illustration for this.
S3: It is a great, great term.
S2: But the funny thing about spiritual whack a mole is
S2: you're right, young thunder. You whack one. And that's not
S2: like one more comes up. It's like 2 or 3.
S2: It's like, oh, for crying out, pick. And you can't
S2: get your hand working fast enough.
S3: No you can't. And you just get tired and then
S3: you probably get frustrated and say, I'm done playing.
S2: Yeah. And you know, that is what happens. We feel
S2: this overwhelming need to change our life. And then exhaustion
S2: creeps in. And then we wave a white flag. And
S2: you know what we believe. Well, some things will never change.
S2: That really ticks me off. For you, it really does.
S2: I'm not mad at you because I live just like
S2: you do. We're all the same. There's no such thing
S2: as sinless perfection. No one's claiming this. But these cycles
S2: that we feel like when we look at our life.
S2: And it can be any way under the sun. I mean,
S2: the the patterns that are destructive to our life can
S2: manifest themselves in every layer imaginable. And I think Satan
S2: does a pretty good job of trying to. It's kind
S2: of like, you know, the the big game in Africa.
S2: We've determined the big stuff. This is how Recovery Ministries
S2: got going. And I'm going to remind you again. I
S2: love Recovery Ministries and they give me an upset tummy
S2: as a pastor. And I genuinely mean this because it
S2: casts this, this notion over the body at large. That, boy,
S2: we got this recovery group over there. Look at those guys.
S2: You see them over there. Oh my goodness. Bless their hearts.
S2: They're in recovery. Yeah boy. And then we forget we're
S2: all in recovery. Every one of us. No one no
S2: one's not right, Ellie.
S4: Right. And it's so often the people who come to
S4: the end of something and show up at a recovery
S4: group are actually the ones best positioned to actually change.
S2: Boom. And then the follow up question is, why is that?
S2: And you got to ask that question. Why do you
S2: hear such stories of breakthrough from Recovery Ministries? And could
S2: it be that God could do that in me? And
S2: the answer is absolutely. So coming up here, I'm going
S2: to give you the single most secret sauce to changing
S2: your life that you will ever find or hear about
S2: the single most important thing. Money back guarantee. Money back guarantee.
S4: I'm really curious. Like, I'm trying to think of what
S4: you're going to whittle it down to, and I'm actually
S4: not sure.
S2: That's good.
S4: We're gonna we're gonna have a little competition between the
S4: team here. We're. None of us know exactly what you're
S4: going to say, but we're all going to come up
S4: with a guess of what that one thing might be,
S4: and we'll see who gets closest to it.
S2: The single most important factor that will begin to give
S2: you breakthrough in your life. And I'm going to give
S2: one away because some of you are guessing, oh, Carl's
S2: big on humility. It's humility. Nope.
S4: Nope. That was my guess. Okay, check.
S5: Yeah. Me too. Throw that one out the window. I
S5: want humility.
S4: Not humility.
S2: Humility is right on this one's heels. But this one
S2: is the single most important factor. You learn to celebrate this,
S2: things will start to change in your life. Yeah. So
S2: fired up. I can barely stand it.
S1: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
S1: Carl and crew.
S2: I'll tell you when I praise God. And I'm doing
S2: it this morning. When you have a touch point of
S2: truth that you're like, boom! That. That is so true.
S2: You know what I'm talking about, guys. You read through
S2: the Bible, you see a truth, and you go.
S6: Whoa! Where the world has this been?
S4: Mind blown emoji.
S2: It's just so great. So here's the question because the
S2: myth is I need to change my life. And here's
S2: the truth. You can't do that. Which is somewhat freeing
S2: because you beat your head against the wall over something
S2: in your life. And I want to make sure that
S2: we're not letting anyone escape the orbit of what we're
S2: talking about here today. So what are some of the
S2: little things that we kind of give a pass to,
S2: that need to change in our life, that we can
S2: maybe benefit greatly by going, no, no, no, let's not
S2: let's not give that a pass. What are some of
S2: these things that are kind of accepted in evangelical circles,
S2: if you will?
S3: That's a good question.
S4: A big one we hear often from people is lack
S4: of time management.
S2: It's big, isn't it?
S4: So like an unproductive time wasting.
S2: Yeah. And full confession here I feel like I leverage
S2: time as well, or better than almost anyone that's in
S2: my sphere of influence around me. I really work at that.
S2: Can I tell you something, guys? It is an 24
S2: hours is a lot of time. I know you're you
S2: got a lot going on. You're raising kids. Ali's got this. Um,
S2: I mean, she's shuttling kids to basketball games when she
S2: gets off air and does a bunch more work than
S2: she goes home. And here goes mama. Commuter engine. She's
S2: flying all over. I get it, but I'm telling you, it's.
S2: Let's just pressure test this. Ali, there's still moments in
S2: your day that could get unredeemed. And of course, I
S2: don't want to put words.
S4: No, no, no, I mean, that's 100%. And we get
S4: so programmed to kind of say, well, I'm so busy.
S4: And kind of the flip side is so I sort
S4: of deserve to kind of like veg out or and
S4: they're talking about relaxation because relaxation is purposeful, right?
S5: There's spiritual rest for sure. And promote.
S4: Promotes rest. But what happens to me often is I'll
S4: just kind of like get into like a funk of like, okay, well,
S4: I'm tired, so I think I'm just going to scroll
S4: or I'm just going to like sit here and like,
S4: but it's not purposeful rest. It's just like unproductivity. And
S4: then you don't feel good about it. You don't feel
S4: any better. You feel worse.
S2: I love your term, purposeful rest. That's the line of demarcation.
S2: That's what delineates good rest from slothfulness. I mean, let's
S2: use the word right. It's not just slothfulness. There's other
S2: things that get a pass. There's things like and we
S2: almost we didn't go here because there were some pastors
S2: that were pretty big gluttony That that I remember as
S2: a kid thinking as a kid going, because I heard
S2: this word gluttony in Sunday school class. And I thought,
S2: I wonder why we don't talk a lot about that.
S3: And you're right. We don't.
S2: And that's a hard one.
S3: It's a hard one.
S2: And I've always said this here. Easy for you to say, Carl.
S2: You've got challenges in your life, and and weight is
S2: not one of them. But in the. The bummer about
S2: gluttony is that it is. So there's a lot of
S2: tentacles to it. A lot of this stuff is is
S2: a place of self-protection because of things that have happened
S2: in the past. But even in that if you pressure
S2: test it, God wants to give us victory even there.
S3: Yes.
S2: Even their hard fought hallelujah.
S3: And it's not about, you know, it's not about the eating.
S3: It's about what you get from it almost. You know,
S3: I feel like there's a, a deeper thing that comes
S3: with it. You know, I've tried to make some changes
S3: of of eating healthier and, and having specific days where
S3: I can, I can have a snack or something that
S3: I really like. And I, I noticed at the beginning
S3: of it sometimes now that, hey, I'm a little I'm
S3: a little more upset on the days where I can't
S3: have the snack because. Because maybe I was trusting in
S3: that a little too much to make me feel good
S3: after a stressful day.
S2: All right. Gluttony. Confession. I'm going to come in right
S2: behind you. I'm going to tell you what it is.
S2: I've actually had to get this under control. By the
S2: power of the spirit. I'm going to make a confession
S2: to you here. This is. This might sound goofy to you,
S2: but it's a spiritual thing to me. So I used
S2: to love Cheez-Its when I was a kid, but my
S2: wife told me those things are just jammed full of chemicals.
S2: We got to get you something different here. And so
S2: she got me on to these things. They're called bunnies.
S2: I think that you get them at healthy kind of
S2: places and they're like, you know, made with, you know,
S2: they strip out all.
S4: The cheddar.
S5: Bunnies.
S2: Yeah, they're like cheddar bunnies.
S4: Oh, the cheddar bunnies. Okay.
S5: Yeah. Oh, yeah.
S2: Well, you know what I do get a box. I
S2: have been known to eat the entire box in one sitting.
S3: I love it.
S2: Entire box of cheddar.
S3: Bunnies. That's real.
S2: And then I get up. Oh, why'd I do that?
S2: I ate the whole box. Should I even tell my wife?
S2: Should I? Should I put the empty box up in
S2: the cabinet? Or should I throw it in the trash
S2: and then have her say to me, what's going on
S2: with the cheddar bunnies, man? You went on a cheddar
S2: bunny binge.
S3: It's so good.
S2: I'm serious about this, guys. Let's cut it to you straight.
S3: No. That's real.
S2: Let's be real here. Well, I digress. I don't care
S2: if it's cheddar bunnies gossiping in the lobby. Kind of
S2: an addiction to sullenness. You know what I mean? Guys,
S2: we can all get into that funk. It's kind of
S2: like o b o b o b. Oh.
S6: Yeah.
S2: Things. Things aren't very good over here.
S4: Oh, woe is me.
S5: Sort of outlook on life.
S2: Yeah. Victim mode. We can all get there. We're all
S2: in recovery. Here's the secret sauce. Here is the secret
S2: sauce to your life changing one word weakness and learning
S2: to celebrate that you are too weak to change your life.
S2: Apostle Paul said it. He said, man, it's thorn in
S2: the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan,
S2: to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Reading
S2: from Second Corinthians 12. But look at the many verses here.
S2: Is it the money verses? Verse eight. Three times I
S2: pleaded with the Lord about this, that I that it
S2: should leave me. But he said to me, my grace
S2: is sufficient for you. Oh, no, not just sufficient. There's
S2: a comma. For my power is made perfect in weakness.
S2: Back to Paul writing here. Therefore I will boast all
S2: the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power
S2: of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ,
S2: then I am contentment with my weaknesses, even insults and hardships,
S2: persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I
S2: am strong. Oh my goodness! How great is God's word!
S4: Here's my question for you though. So does this mean
S4: that I can boast in the weakness of, let's say,
S4: unproductivity and time management say, well, that's the thorn in
S4: my flesh, and I'm okay with that because weakness is good.
S2: Great question. Let's tackle that straight ahead.
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: The crazy economy of God's world, as we find in Scripture,
S2: is so inverted, upside down and backwards to the world
S2: that we live in. I mean, we live in a
S2: world that screams at you. You need to overcome something.
S2: You need to get bowed up. You need to get strong.
S2: You need to get over this thing. You can do it.
S2: I mean, how many posters were in the 70s that said, inspiration,
S2: you can do this thing. And the reason people got
S2: sick of those after a while is guess what? They
S2: can be a real black hole.
S5: It's exhausting.
S2: It's exhausting. And you know, this is another topic for
S2: another time. But I'm absolutely convinced of this. I had
S2: a great discussion a number of years ago with my son.
S2: We were talking about tech founders that he was working with,
S2: and he said, man, there's a there's a black hole
S2: with a lot of tech founders. He goes, they're they're
S2: on Adderall to get their day started, and they're on
S2: weed to shut down the day. And he says, I've
S2: seen a couple of these guys get off one or
S2: the other or both. But the conclusion was they pick
S2: up some other kind of vice or thing because, wow,
S2: what are we left when we have nothing at all?
S2: The interesting thing, Ali asked a great question. And that is,
S2: do we kind of revel in the thorn in the flesh?
S2: I mean, is that thing that keeps us weak? Restate
S2: that question.
S4: Yeah. I mean, you read the passage out of Second
S4: Corinthians about boasting in the weakness so that the power
S4: of Christ may rest upon me. Does that mean that
S4: we accept whatever it is? I keep using the lack
S4: of time management or time wasting slothfulness and say, okay, well,
S4: that's the thorn in the flesh. That's how I am.
S4: This is my weakness. And so then I'm not going
S4: to do anything about it because of Second Corinthians 12.
S2: Yeah, that's a that's a good point here, because the
S2: malady that that Paul struggled with was something that he
S2: desperately wanted to overcome. The general overarching thing here that
S2: we find in Isaiah 40. And I'm going to give
S2: this to you in just a moment, because it's classic,
S2: is that weakness is to be celebrated because it forces
S2: us to rely upon the grace of God to get
S2: through and overcome things in our life. We find this
S2: over and over again. I have two appeals that I'll
S2: have on this one. One is blessed are the poor
S2: in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. When
S2: we are bankrupt emotionally, spiritually, relationally, when we realize we've
S2: got nothing, Jesus says, now you've got everything. Okay, so
S2: the way up is down. You want to go to
S2: the front of the line, go to the back of
S2: the line. Everything in God's economy is different than what
S2: we're told in our youth. And here in Isaiah 40.
S2: It's an amazing thing. Verse 29, he gives power to
S2: the faint and to him who has no might, he
S2: increases strength. What an amazing thing to he who has
S2: no might. He increases strength. So what's going on there?
S2: It's like, hold it. He increased his strength. How? By
S2: embracing the fact that apart from him, we can do nothing. Nothing?
S7: Not a thing.
S2: And then he goes on. This is classic. You probably
S2: you just didn't know that verse. But you know, verse 30,
S2: a lot of you do. Even youths shall faint and
S2: be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted. But they
S2: who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength. They
S2: shall mount up with wings like eagles. They shall run
S2: and not be weary, and they shall walk and not faint.
S2: What a beautiful thing! Those who wait on God's power.
S2: So here's the deal. Do you need to change your life? No.
S2: That's God's work in you. Bottom line, it's God's work
S2: in you. And he can do it. And it is
S2: a beautiful thing. It is beautiful. Let him have his
S2: way in you today. We're going to be talking about
S2: this all morning. Big myth we're debunking. I need to
S2: change my life. No. First reliance upon God's power.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: It's one of the greatest discoveries that we can find
S2: wherever you go in God's word. I mean, consider my
S2: favorite king. I can you can go anywhere in the
S2: Bible to find people that walk in victory. And there
S2: is this one key. It's more than an emotion. Help
S2: me with this word. It's the awareness that I am
S2: too weak to do anything about this situation. It's what
S2: got the tax collector Matthew out of the tree to
S2: follow Jesus. It's the this the stunning response of the
S2: woman at the well. It's it's Lydia, the the seller
S2: of purple who just saw her need to then bring
S2: in these guests that were preaching to her. It's it's
S2: the list goes on and on and on. It's Moses,
S2: It's Moses faced with a sea in front of him
S2: and Pharaoh's army coming after him. God, what do we do?
S2: It's it's it's over and over. Isn't it amazing, guys,
S2: that when you look at the Hall of Fame, of
S2: faith from Genesis to Revelation, when you look at the
S2: Hall of Fame of faith, you see this deep river
S2: of perceived weakness in themselves and a and a desire
S2: to lean into God.
S4: I think the thing is that keeps us stuck is
S4: that so often we live with the illusion that for
S4: this thing, I just need to keep trying harder, or
S4: that there's some tactic that I haven't tried. I think
S4: we get it, that there's nothing we can do when
S4: we're faced with something that feels out of our control,
S4: some sort of diagnosis, something that's that truly we had
S4: nothing to do with per se. But when it's like
S4: those daily habits and hangups, we kind of live with
S4: the illusion that I'm just not trying hard enough.
S6: Yeah.
S2: Absolutely. Ali.
S3: I think we our big mistake is that we live
S3: as unqualified people constantly trying to qualify ourselves.
S2: That's a great way to put it, young Thunder.
S3: We are we.
S2: Unable people that try to be able.
S3: Yeah. And it's just the way it is. We will
S3: always be unqualified. The victory and the success comes when
S3: we acknowledge, when we're aware of our inability to be
S3: qualified on our own, and the fact that it's all God.
S3: God does the work when we let him have it.
S3: He gets the glory and he uses us.
S2: So what do you do when you realize your weakness,
S2: your inability to change your life? Do you sit there
S2: because you could sit there and just go, yeah, I
S2: can't do it. Or does that move us into a
S2: relationship with the Holy Trinity that positions us for God's power?
S2: Hang on.
S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and
S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
S2: Okay, here's the beauty. And I want to. I want
S2: to tackle this quickly. And I've done it again. She
S2: did it again. She's coming up with a cool little
S2: hot link that all you're going to do is text
S2: a keyword, and we're going to shoot it back to you. Bang!
S2: You don't even have anything to open up. It'll be
S2: right there before you. This proves how incredibly how incredibly.
S2: I almost want to use the word simple. Yeah, simple,
S2: but not easy. God's solutions are for our life. They're
S2: not easy, but they are very simple. God made the
S2: gospel so relatable to all of us. This is why
S2: he says, let the children come to me. Let the
S2: children come to me. The gospel is relevant for all ages, stages,
S2: and no matter what you're up against today, the first
S2: thing that needs to be celebrated when you realize you
S2: can't change something in your life is that you are
S2: utterly weak and you rejoice in it, as Paul did
S2: as Isaiah tells us. In our weakness he is strong.
S2: He gives power to the faint, says Idea Isaiah. And
S2: to him who has no might, he increases strength. Is
S2: that amazing? I mean, how how beautiful is God's Word
S2: and how beautiful is God.
S3: It's the upside down kingdom.
S2: It's the upside down kingdom.
S3: I think that that's one of the best ways to
S3: explain the kingdom of God, because it's the stuff that
S3: you wouldn't, you wouldn't think by worldly terms is what's
S3: going to move you closer to him, what's going to
S3: make you stronger. But it's true. Weakness is strength.
S2: Let me just give it to you quickly if you
S2: want real change. First and foremost, embrace Race. Your utter
S2: inability to change yourself. That's number one. That then ushers
S2: you into an awareness for where real change happens. And
S2: it's all related to the Trinity. It's found in humility
S2: before God. You humble yourself under God's mighty hand. He
S2: will lift you up. It's proximity to Jesus. You be
S2: a branch that abides in the vine. You will bear
S2: much fruit. And it's also found in the liberty of
S2: the Holy Spirit, raising the sails of your soul and
S2: allowing God to absolutely rock your world. This is such
S2: an important. This is such an important kind of paradigm shift.
S2: I love what you just said, Young Thunder. How did
S2: you say that again? The kingdom is.
S3: It's the upside down kingdom. The. The things that the
S3: world tells us are what we need to be strong
S3: or what we need to have it all is is just.
S3: It's the opposite in the Kingdom of God. It's blessed
S3: are the poor in spirit, for they shall receive the
S3: kingdom of heaven. It's Jesus saying, whoever is first will
S3: be last, and whoever is last will be first. It's
S3: God lifts up those who are weak. It's, you know,
S3: it's it's.
S2: The upside down kingdom. How good is that? The upside
S2: down kingdom.
S4: It's so true.
S2: You know, I don't know what you're up against today,
S2: but I know this for sure. A myth that many
S2: of us have believed. And. And by the way, do
S2: we have to fight this off in here? Can we
S2: just all.
S5: Yes, yes. Hands raised. Hands raised.
S2: Can. I've got both hands in the air right now.
S2: And can we just all say that this is one
S2: of the greatest baits of Satan?
S3: Yeah.
S2: When you hear that notion rattling around in your brain, boy,
S2: you need to change your life. The conviction Is possibly
S2: from God that something needs to change in your life.
S2: The deception is that you need to do it, and
S2: it's deadly. Scripture is loaded from beginning to end. Every
S2: time somebody wandered out into the wilderness of thinking, I
S2: got to. I got to fix this. I've got to
S2: get us across this river. I've got to. You've filling
S2: in the blank. I don't care what it is. I've
S2: got to fight this war. Jehoshaphat said, I've got this.
S2: So much. So put the worship team out in front
S2: of that story. It's. It's an amazing paradigm shift embrace.
S2: Let me just boil this down. Embrace your weakness. When
S2: we are weak, then he is strong. Embrace it. And
S2: then go after this humility before God. You humble yourself
S2: under his mighty hand, he'll lift you up. Proximity to Jesus.
S2: You abide in the vine. You will bear much fruit.
S2: One of those fruits is self-control. Something you've been kicking
S2: your tail. You're like, I have no self-control and you
S2: don't have to produce it. That's the fruit of the spirit.
S2: And liberty of the Holy Spirit. Raise the sails of
S2: your soul. Let the Spirit of God remind you of
S2: truth that's going to carry you into God's power and
S2: into change. It's an awesome thing. And super. I did
S2: it again for us.
S5: Yes she did.
S4: She put together these quick little points just in a
S4: key word for you to grab. It's just a power
S4: packed little statement. But man, there's scripture attached to it,
S4: so spend some time with it. Just text change to
S4: 800 555 7898. Just text change to 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah. What a what a thrill. And I think what's
S2: so great about the Word of God is that it
S2: is not easy, but there's no complexity. God is very
S2: simple with this. Embrace your weakness, my friend. And then
S2: let's go on this ride. Trust in God. Text the
S2: word change to 800 555 7898. Just change to 800
S2: 555 7898.
S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
S2: Alex, got a question for you. You exhausted yourself trying
S2: to change yourself, and then you cried out to God.
S2: And you've got a story of deliverance. In our weakness,
S2: he is strong. We are ready for your calls right now.
S4: 800 555 Five, 7898 (800) 555-7898.
S2: This is a big one, isn't it? Because it's it's
S2: the point at which we realise I can't do this,
S2: that God shows up. Why do we keep thinking I
S2: need to do this in my strength? What keeps us there? Ali?
S4: Well, it's that dangling carrot. I think we are hard wired.
S4: I mean, every January 1st, most people, whether they make
S4: a specific resolution or not, most people have some sort
S4: of idea that this is going to be a year
S4: that X, Y, or Z happens. This is going to
S4: be the year that's different. People have like dry months
S4: where they if they feel like they're too dependent on alcohol,
S4: people will do dry January and try to give up
S4: drinking for a month, or I'm going back to the
S4: gym because we're hardwired to want to be better.
S3: I this is something that God's been putting on my
S3: heart a lot recently, and I'm finding a lot of
S3: areas where it comes up, So it's convicting for me.
S3: But I think that we either don't trust to experience
S3: God in this kind of way, that he's going to
S3: handle it for us or or we just have assumed like, ah,
S3: God doesn't really show up in lives like that anymore.
S3: You know, I think about the way the apostles experienced
S3: Jesus because they were with him and they had this
S3: relationship with him. And even when he left, they were close.
S3: They had these encounters of the Holy Spirit. And there's
S3: this quote that I heard recently that really has stuck
S3: with me saying, you know, the the apostles had this
S3: life changing experience with, with Jesus, but it wasn't because
S3: Jesus loved or attended to them more than he does
S3: to us. It's because they loved and attended to him
S3: more than we do. And and I think that's a
S3: big deal when it comes to this, that we we
S3: tend to go on our own because we go, oh,
S3: God doesn't God doesn't show up in lives like that.
S3: But if we allow ourselves to experience him and spend
S3: time with him and love him, then he does.
S2: Yeah. And here's one point I want to I want
S2: a nuance to this is all you have to do
S2: is look at the apostles life and the struggle that
S2: they had with this very thing. Look at Peter. Sure enough,
S2: he denied Christ. And all you got to do is
S2: look at Peter and go, hold it a second here. Okay.
S2: We're all in a process. Yep. Do you think they
S2: got weak in the knees and tried to trust in
S2: their own strength when they were taking the gospel around? Undoubtedly, guys. Yeah. Undoubtedly.
S2: That was a battle.
S3: I mean, Paul even talks about in Galatians how he
S3: had to confront Peter because Peter was was getting a
S3: little more afraid of what people thought of him than
S3: what the gospel really was. And he was sticking around
S3: with maybe some of the the Jewish believers who were the, the,
S3: the over legalistic type of followers and and he was
S3: not sitting with the Gentile crowd. And I mean, they
S3: they did that. They struggled with the same stuff.
S2: Yeah. Good question Ali. You exhausted yourself trying to change
S2: yourself and then you cried out to God. We're looking
S2: for some testimonies in here today. Come on, get on
S2: the soapbox and share what God did in your life
S2: when you came to the end of yourself. In our weakness,
S2: he is strong. Life change happens when we embrace our
S2: weakness and God's strength. Phone lines wide open. I'm asking
S2: you to call in right now and testify your story.
S2: Someone needs to hear it. 800 555 7898 800 555 7898.
S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day you're listening to Carl
S1: and crew.
S2: The single most important emotion that we can have when
S2: we really want to see change in our lives is
S2: when we embrace our utter weakness to make it happen.
S2: Sounds crazy, but it's true. In our weakness, he is strong.
S2: We find it all over Scripture. Check this out Isaiah 40.
S2: He gives power to the faint and to him who
S2: has no might. He increases strength. How much might know.
S3: Might know.
S5: Might, might.
S3: It's so good.
S2: It's so powerful. When you embrace your weakness now you're
S2: positioned for the God of all power to do a
S2: work in your life. We're asking you a question. You
S2: exhausted yourself trying to change yourself, and then you cried
S2: out to God. What stories do you have today?
S4: 800 555 7898. Let's go to Nikki. First time caller
S4: from Florida. Nikki, tell us your story. You exhausted yourself
S4: trying to change yourself.
S8: So a little over a year ago, I was having
S8: a really bad, Intrusive suicidal thoughts. And I kept telling
S8: myself that, you know, I just have to change my
S8: way of thinking. I had to go to a therapist,
S8: go to a counselor, just, you know, change the way
S8: I was doing things. And after months of failing and
S8: the intrusive thoughts were getting worse, I dropped to my knee.
S8: I was a lukewarm Christian before all this also, and
S8: I dropped to my knees and I just. I begged
S8: Jesus for help and, you know, just opened my heart
S8: to him. And immediately those intrusive thoughts disappeared. And they
S8: haven't been back since then.
S5: Wow.
S2: Yeah. And, Nikki, this is not this is not some
S2: cheap fix. You were you were truly desperate, and you
S2: embraced weakness in a very practical way and cried out
S2: to God. It's just that must have been a beautiful
S2: moment of emptying yourself and realizing, God, you got to
S2: do this, Nikki.
S8: It was. And, you know, I remind my family all
S8: the time, like, you know, you just have to open
S8: yourself up because, you know, my my family worries about stuff.
S8: They're like, oh, bills and know this and know that.
S8: And I'm just like, that's not. Yeah. You just have
S8: to let God let it be and let God.
S2: Amen. Nikki, there's so much truth in that. It's the
S2: large and the small stuff. It's horrible thinking suicidal thoughts
S2: to I've got to get this to do list done today.
S2: It's it's that real God's power. Is that real? Evelyn
S2: in Florida. Thanks for holding on. What's your story, Evelyn?
S9: Hi. Good morning. Yeah, I had been in alcoholic addiction
S9: for over 30 years, seeking help from recovery programs, from counseling,
S9: and nothing work. I would just get worse. And I
S9: remember sitting in my living room crying to God and
S9: asking him, God, why can't I do this? And he
S9: gave me a vision of what my life would be
S9: like if I didn't stop. And that day, um, he
S9: took me to a church and I surrendered myself entirely
S9: to God. And I've been three and a half years
S9: sober since then.
S6: Wow.
S2: Praise God. Were you born again on that day for
S2: the first time, Evelyn, or what was going on?
S9: I'm going to say I was because I knew who
S9: God was. But today I know who God is.
S6: Yeah, I.
S2: Knew who God was. But today I know who God is.
S6: Yeah.
S2: Are you kidding me? Quotable quotes. Evelyn. Way to go,
S2: Sister Cynthia. First time caller in Tennessee. What's your story,
S2: Cynthia Carle.
S10: Back in 1993, I was a young girl. Not having
S10: anywhere to live, found myself in a fornicating relationship, was
S10: there because mainly I needed shelter. But I heard the gospel.
S10: And the Holy Spirit, you know, just filled me up
S10: and and led me to understand that I can't be
S10: on both sides. So I wanted to serve God with
S10: my whole heart. But I knew that would call for
S10: me to give up the shelter that I had in
S10: the relationship. And six times I tried to come out
S10: of it on my own, tried my own strength, and
S10: kept failing miserably. And on the seventh time I said
S10: I went to church, went to the altar, I said, God,
S10: I have tried six times to come out of this
S10: because I want to serve you in truth. I said,
S10: but Lord, here I am again, broken. Can't do it
S10: on my own. I said, father, if you don't do it,
S10: it cannot be done. And I'm not taking myself out
S10: of this anymore. I'm letting you know I want to
S10: come out. So you're going to have to take me out.
S10: And I saw the power of God move in my life,
S10: removed me from that situation. And the rest is history.
S10: Gave me a husband like the following year. We were
S10: married for 20, almost 27 years when he passed away
S10: from Covid in in 2021. And I'm living the best life.
S10: Still serving the Lord. I can tell you stories upon
S10: stories about the miracles we have wrought in my life.
S10: From that one decision I made to choose him over
S10: a fornicating relationship.
S2: Oh, Cynthia. Oh, God bless you, sister. In the. And
S2: you know what the fruit of the spirit is pouring
S2: out of you? Just pouring out of you, Cynthia.
S10: Absolutely.
S6: Oh.
S2: Oh, what a tremendous word. And listen, if you're listening
S2: right now, you've got to. You got to know something.
S2: Cynthia's story can be your story. Guys, this is. This
S2: is why we do this here.
S6: Yeah.
S2: In our weakness, he is strong. There are hundreds of
S2: women and men listening to that saying, oh, God, let
S2: it be me. Fall to your face, my friend. Come
S2: right to the end of yourself. You got to get
S2: to the point where Cynthia got where she said, I
S2: got nothing here. God. I can't do this. Six times
S2: I've tried to separate myself. I can't do it. But
S2: God can. I mean. Some of the greatest evidence. Let's
S2: go back to the phone lines here. What do.
S5: We have.
S4: Cindy calling in? First time caller. Cindy, first time caller
S4: from Pennsylvania. Cindy. Go ahead. Tell us your story.
S11: Oh, so at 62, due to back problems, I became
S11: an alcoholic. And alcohol is in my family, so I
S11: knew the consequences, but I couldn't stop. I would get
S11: up in the morning and say, okay, I'm not drinking today.
S11: On the way home from work, I would stop at
S11: the state store. And so I found out about Celebrate
S11: Recovery and went to one of their meetings. And on
S11: the way home I just screamed at the Lord, who
S11: does that? And I said, Lord, I don't care what
S11: it takes. This has to stop and you have to
S11: do it because I can't.
S2: Amen.
S11: And I this is stupid, but I fell down the
S11: cellar stairs and broke my C-2, and by rights, I
S11: should have died or been a paraplegic. And I'm as
S11: normal as I ever was. That's not saying a whole lot.
S2: I hear that one. But the bottom line, Cindy. Bottom line, Cindy,
S2: is you cried out to God and he saved you
S2: right there. That is beautiful, Cindy. First time caller from Pennsylvania.
S2: I mean, this is awesome, man. We got barely time here.
S2: I got to get one more in. Heather, first time
S2: caller from Florida. We got a moment here. What's your story, sister?
S12: Uh, I am now clean and sober from drugs, cocaine
S12: and opiates and alcohol for 13.5 years. And in sobriety,
S12: I have also been pushed down to my knees by
S12: God with my face in the ground, crying, begging for
S12: help to take something that I was once again trying
S12: to control. And today I earn a living with my
S12: clothes on and I walk with my head held high.
S12: And I'm so grateful. And I get the opportunity to
S12: help other women do this journey as well.
S5: Wow.
S2: Heather, what a story. And I hear that other little
S2: thread in your story. Heather. And that is beautiful, sister.
S2: Ample evidence. We just got here. Allie.
S5: Right?
S4: Yeah. I mean, the common denominator is getting to that
S4: point where you're so sick and tired of being sick
S4: and tired, as the quote goes, and and you cry
S4: out to God and you finally get to the point
S4: where you go, I can't do this myself. And that's
S4: where you're best positioned to receive all of the grace
S4: and the mercy and the help that's available for gossip.
S2: For lack of time, redemption, discipline in your life. For
S2: horrible thoughts that keep coming back again and again. In
S2: our weakness. He is strong. Fall to your knees today, friend.
S2: I don't care what it is. Please don't whitewash it
S2: and shove it back into the shadows. Own it. Let
S2: God change you. He absolutely can. He absolutely can. Wow. Boom! Crew!
S2: You guys are awesome.
S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
S2: It's unavoidable. It's almost like a mantra. Even for Christ followers,
S2: I need to change my life. The question is, what
S2: do you do with that? And I think the operative
S2: word that needs to change is I. It's often a
S2: man centered gospel knowing that God alone saved us, and
S2: then we think it's on us to change us. David Gregory.
S2: That's a crazy maker, isn't it, my man?
S13: It is. Good morning, Carl and Ashley. So good to
S13: be with you again.
S2: Yeah. What's going on there? Um, how did we get this?
S2: It seems to not just be in North America as
S2: I traveled here recently to Africa. It's all over the world.
S2: Is it is Satan baiting a trap to get this
S2: thing called sanctification? Growing up in God, making it all
S2: about us?
S13: Well, absolutely. And where it goes back to is us
S13: eating originally from the tree of the Knowledge of Good
S13: and evil, which puts us into a, um, a self
S13: sufficiency mode. And it's all up to me mode. And
S13: God has switched kingdoms on us and brought us into
S13: the kingdom of God. And now we're eating from the
S13: tree of life, which is a 100% grace mode. God
S13: does it, we receive it. And so what that means
S13: is that we are not the agent of change. The
S13: Holy Spirit is. And so our role is to receive
S13: it all by faith. You know, in in Romans one, uh,
S13: Paul says, the righteousness of God is revealed not from
S13: our effort to our effort, but from faith to faith.
S13: It's because the gospel is a gospel of grace. And
S13: that means that God does it and we receive it.
S13: And so that's that's the the realm in which we
S13: operate now. But learning to operate fully in that realm
S13: rather than this realm, it's it's it's a real transition.
S13: I mean, God has to teach us.
S4: David Gregory, our guest right now. Best New York Times
S4: best selling author. Tell us a little bit about your
S4: own journey. You were saved in college, but it wasn't
S4: until about ten years later that you made a pretty
S4: important discovery.
S13: Yeah, I, I went to a retreat that was taught
S13: by this guy named Dan Stone and ended up going
S13: to several retreats that he was teaching at. And through him,
S13: he was just a pastor that nobody knew almost from,
S13: from Kentucky. But God had revealed to him the reality
S13: of Christ in us and how Christ has come to
S13: live within us in order for us to trust him
S13: to be living his life through us. Which is exactly
S13: the way Jesus operated on the earth, trusting the father
S13: to be living his life through them. Through him. That's what, uh,
S13: is evident if you read the Gospel of John closely.
S13: And so Paul said, the primary message that God has
S13: given him to share with the church is Christ in us.
S13: It's not the forgiveness of sins. The forgiveness of sins
S13: is is obviously an essential message. But the primary message
S13: Paul said in Colossians one that God has given him
S13: is Christ in us. And when you think about it,
S13: if God Himself has come to live within us, shouldn't
S13: that change everything? And why am I trying to pull
S13: off the life of Jesus and to, uh, you know,
S13: emulate the life of Jesus when Jesus himself is living
S13: in us and he is perfectly able to live his
S13: own life. I can't duplicate the life of Jesus, but
S13: he sure he can surely live it. Yeah. And so
S13: that's why Paul says in Galatians 220, I've been crucified
S13: with Christ, and it's no longer I who live, but
S13: Christ lives in me. And the life which I now
S13: live in the flesh. I live by faith in the
S13: Son of God, who loved me and delivered himself up
S13: for me. And so Paul is saying, hey, I'm not
S13: even the one living this life. It's Jesus living in me,
S13: and all I'm doing is trusting him to do it.
S13: And so that is is the fullness of the gospel.
S13: When we really grab the reality that Jesus is the
S13: one who's living his life in us, and we are
S13: at rest in that reality, then the Christian life becomes
S13: exactly what Jesus said it was. He said, uh, my
S13: my load is is uh, is easy and my, my,
S13: my yoke is easy and my burden is light. That
S13: doesn't mean life is easy, but walking with Jesus is
S13: supposed to be easy because we're simply trusting in him.
S13: We're not trying to pull it off all through our
S13: Herculean efforts.
S2: Yeah, I love it. David Gregory, our guest right now,
S2: we're going to have a link for you in a
S2: little bit for more resources. This is a circuit breaking message,
S2: and my wife and I constantly say to one another,
S2: we we need to relearn this truth over and over
S2: again because there's a grooved swing, little golf metaphor here
S2: in our mind that says, I need to change my life.
S2: So I just I want you to respond to this
S2: because Ali and I use this passage here all the
S2: time out of Titus two, for the grace of God
S2: has appeared, bringing salvation for all people. And I think
S2: most people get that. We know that we didn't do anything.
S2: But there's a comma there. David training us to renounce
S2: ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright and
S2: godly lives in this present age. That is enormous, isn't it? David,
S2: isn't that central to this whole issue? God does it
S2: by his grace.
S13: Yeah. It's incredible. And that's what he. That's what he promised, uh,
S13: in the in the to his old covenant people that
S13: would happen under the new covenant. Uh, in Ezekiel and Jeremiah,
S13: God says, talking about the coming New covenant. He says,
S13: I will forgive you. I will cleanse you. I will
S13: remove your dead heart. I will give you a living heart.
S13: I will put my spirit in you, and I will
S13: cause you to walk in my ways. Well, how many
S13: of us are living in the daily reality of God
S13: is the one who causes me to walk in his ways,
S13: and my role is to receive that, and simply to
S13: rest in trusting in that reality.
S14: Wow.
S4: You know your book that you co-wrote with your mentor,
S4: the rest of the gospel? What are we missing when
S4: we miss the rest of it? I mean, I know
S4: you captured in the book, but for those who haven't
S4: read it, what does life look like when we're only
S4: living out the partial gospel?
S13: Yeah, the partial gospel is certainly contains a lot of truth,
S13: which is Christ died for the forgiveness of our sins.
S13: He he rose from the dead. We trust in him.
S13: We're forgiven. And one of these days we'll go be
S13: with him forever. But in the in between. How do
S13: we live this life? And the rest of the gospel
S13: is we can't live this life. The only one who
S13: can live it is Jesus, because it's his life. And
S13: he is the life. And so he's come to live
S13: within us. We're the vessels of his life, and he
S13: simply wants to live his own life through us. And
S13: so our role in that is faith. We receive that.
S13: We trust him to do it. And, uh, so we
S13: just go from one episode of Faith to the other,
S13: trusting that Christ in us is living through us and
S13: he is completely sufficient for every circumstance.
S2: David, I want to get into the real pragmatic end
S2: of this thing, because a lot of people then go, okay, well,
S2: what what in the world does this look like? Uh,
S2: this has been a great journey that my I say,
S2: my bride, she is just a great partner in really
S2: this knowledge and growth and the grace of God and
S2: the rest of the gospel was huge in our lives.
S2: I just need you to know that, David. Huge. It
S2: was like Epiphany central. It was beautiful. But if we
S2: look at how we relate even to God, humility is
S2: the one of the postures that allows us to live there.
S2: With regard to the son. Proximity. John 15 allows us
S2: to bear fruit. None. None of those are our work.
S2: It's just a posture before the father and the son,
S2: and then the liberty of the Holy Spirit, hearing his
S2: voice and going his way as he reminds us of truth.
S2: Get really pragmatic here. Somebody gets up. Let's just take
S2: let's just take an issue right now. Let's just take time. Redemption.
S2: A lot of people call in here and texting here going, I,
S2: I find I'm a sluggard. I can have I can
S2: work really hard. And then I waste four hours of
S2: the day. And then the common context is I need
S2: to change that about myself. David Gregory, coach us up.
S2: How do we live in the grace of God? How
S2: do we live in the rest of the gospel to
S2: see that change rather than our own self-help?
S13: Well, I think our problem in that scenario, just like
S13: any scenario you might want to throw out, is we
S13: believe something that's false. What we believe is what you've
S13: been talking about. God expects me to change myself.
S2: Yeah.
S13: And so then we develop plans and programs and schemes
S13: to do all that and it ends up failing. And
S13: then we think, okay, well, God's disappointed with me. But
S13: our initial premise is completely wrong. God doesn't expect us
S13: to change ourselves because the Holy Spirit is the agent
S13: of change. And so what we do is we say, okay, God,
S13: I see this, this area of my life that seems
S13: like it. It could use some improvement, which is my
S13: time management. So I'm going to come before you. I'm
S13: going to wake up in the morning, I'm going to
S13: come before you and I'm going to say, God, how
S13: would you like me to be spending my time today?
S13: And I'm going to spend a little bit of time simply,
S13: quietly listening to what your Holy Spirit has to say
S13: to me. And when I hear what the Holy Spirit
S13: says to me, oh, work on this project today. Work
S13: on that project today. Do this with your kids today,
S13: whatever it may be. Then I say, okay, I hear
S13: that from your spirit, and I'm trusting Jesus that you
S13: are completely able to do that through me today. I
S13: present myself to you as the vessel for you to
S13: do that through. Here we go. Let's get up. Let's
S13: fix breakfast. Let's let's start going through the day. And
S13: I'm going to trust you to do what the Holy
S13: Spirit has said. Do this.
S2: Okay, David, I want or this is huge right now
S2: because the Holy Spirit was my lost God for two
S2: decades of my spiritual journey. He was at work, but
S2: I called it. Oh, I have a hunch. I have
S2: a prompting. You know, we kind of speak of it
S2: in terms like that. I am now absolutely convinced the
S2: Holy Spirit is speaking constantly, if we will but tune
S2: an ear to him. He is here. He's now he.
S2: We're sealed in the Holy Spirit. Ephesians one we're grafted in,
S2: and we need to raise the sales of our soul.
S2: To those that have never listened to the Spirit's voice.
S2: I want you to demystify this, and let's just make
S2: this rock solid right now. David.
S13: Well, we were made to communicate with God. I mean,
S13: that that's that's how God created human humanity in the
S13: first place. That is obvious from the Garden of Eden,
S13: how God and Adam and Eve were communicating constantly. I mean,
S13: there was an open flow of communication between them. And
S13: so that's how we were made. And so this idea
S13: that we actually hear from God and we not only
S13: speak to him in prayer, but we hear from him
S13: in prayer or just casually throughout the day, shouldn't be
S13: something that's that's strange to us at all. I mean,
S13: you go through the Gospel of John, and Jesus is
S13: constantly saying, I only speak what I hear from the father.
S13: I only do the things I see the father doing.
S13: I only I only say the things that that the
S13: father tells me to say I don't do anything by
S13: my own initiative. I only do what the father is doing.
S13: And so the father was not only living through him,
S13: but the father was constantly communicating with him through the spirit.
S13: And that's just the way we're designed to live. If
S13: we want to live like Jesus lived, that's how we live.
S13: We're in this constant communication with the father. And so
S13: that's something that we simply learn to do by letting
S13: the Holy Spirit teach us. And will we do it
S13: perfectly every time? Will we always know for sure? Okay, well,
S13: the Holy Spirit is saying this to me. Well, I
S13: think that's that's something that that he wants to train
S13: us to hear his voice. And so we just step
S13: out in faith. We take time to be with him
S13: and we just say, Holy Spirit, what are you saying
S13: to me right now? Yeah. And, uh, and we trust
S13: that that he's speaking to us.
S2: 30s on this one. How do you discern between an
S2: accusation of Satan? Um, a self-led hunch versus the Spirit
S2: of God.
S13: Well, God never accuses us of anything. And so that's
S13: never from the Holy Spirit. And I think in regard
S13: to trusting that it's the spirit. I think the best
S13: thing to do is just to realize we're on the
S13: same page as him. Our heart, our new heart, wants
S13: what he wants. And so he's not trying to overcome
S13: anything with us. We're already on the same page. And
S13: so if he nudges us in a certain direction, we
S13: take that as from him. Do we know 100%? Well,
S13: maybe not, but we learn. And it's that way with
S13: any communication. And so he's our trainer and he's very patient.
S4: David Gregory, if you want more resources to check out
S4: the website, some of the books just text David to
S4: 800 555 7898. For more on David Gregory, our guest
S4: this morning, text David to 800 555 7898.
S5: 898.
S2: Yeah. David, I want to thank you for being with
S2: us today. And this is this is not a one
S2: and done. You feel that with me, Ali? This is
S2: not like one conversation and we're done. And the only
S2: I think one of the the little things I'd add
S2: and I want you to kind of follow up quickly here, David.
S2: We're up against it. But if you're if you're feeling
S2: a hunch that we've got the word of God, that
S2: the Spirit of God is constantly reminding us with his words,
S2: that's the promise in John 14. John 16. We've got
S2: that as the kind of the failsafe to know if
S2: we're hearing from God and if it's confirmed in Scripture. Correct, David?
S13: Absolutely. I'm so glad you said that. I mean, the
S13: Scripture will never lead us in a direction contrary to
S13: God's Word. I mean, that's a given. And so, uh, yeah,
S13: we can, uh, that's why it's important to know God's word.
S13: And so we need to both know God's Word and
S13: to learn to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit.
S2: Amen. Love it brother. Thank you so much. Again, that
S2: keyword and how do they get it out?
S4: Text David to 800 555 7898. David to (800) 555-7898.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Uh, we love making sure that you are resourced in
S2: every way possible. And there is I mean, one of
S2: my great joys in life is Sunday morning on either
S2: one of the campuses at 180 Chicago here and watching
S2: God move through worship. It is awe inspiring. And boy
S2: have we got which Shane do we have here?
S5: We have.
S4: Shane Bernard.
S5: Oh, good.
S4: He's along with his friend Shane Everett. They have the
S4: group Shane and Shane, a Texas based contemporary worship music band.
S4: They are known for acoustic praise and worship. I'm a
S4: personal fan.
S2: I know.
S5: You are. I am.
S2: Yeah. And we're going to play. We're going to spin
S2: one of those in just a second here. Shane, how
S2: are you doing this morning? It's God at work in
S2: your life, my man.
S15: Oh, doing great this morning. You know, just trying not
S15: to forget all his benefits this morning. You know what
S15: I'm saying?
S2: Oh, absolutely. You know what I want to drill down on?
S2: You've already won. This has deep, solid theology. What does
S2: what caused you to write this song? And I want
S2: you to pour out your heart about the kind of
S2: the underbelly of that writing process. This is powerful truth
S2: that you sing about.
S15: Oh, man. You know, I mean, there's just there's just
S15: crazy truth that we live in a time where, um,
S15: you know, things are hard. And we might ask ourselves
S15: the question a lot like, God, I don't know what
S15: you're doing. I don't know what you're doing, because, I mean,
S15: but he he he's promised that this in this world,
S15: we'll have trouble. And I don't know when we when
S15: we travel around, we see people. We meet people where
S15: people are in a place where they're like, God, I
S15: don't know what you're doing, but there's a truth that
S15: he's given us through his Word. We are standing on
S15: the promise that he has won the victory, you know.
S15: And so we we know what he's done on the
S15: cross for us. And that's enough. That's enough. But because
S15: of his precious word, we know how the story ends.
S15: We know what's coming for those who are in Christ.
S15: And so, you know these two truths. We live in
S15: the middle right now, and we we can really stand
S15: on the hope that he is coming to make all
S15: things new. But he has forgiven of our sins and
S15: has has paid the price for us to enter into
S15: relationship with him. And he's promised to be with us
S15: even through it. And so that's where this song comes from.
S15: It's just like, man, we live in that place of
S15: the already, but not yet. You know, we know the
S15: truth and he has already saved us, but he has
S15: not yet wiped away every tear from our eyes. But
S15: but let me tell you something, believer. He is going to. Yes.
S15: And we don't even have a. We don't even have
S15: the mind to comprehend what is to come. Yeah. For
S15: those who are in Christ Jesus, it's it's going to
S15: be a good day.
S4: Shane. So from your vantage point as a worship leader,
S4: we know that obviously musicality is important. You got to
S4: be able to play the instrument or hold a tune.
S4: Those things are vital. But from your vantage point, what
S4: is often missing when it comes to what we put
S4: forth on a Sunday morning in worship?
S15: Oh, man. You know, like, I think as a as
S15: a person who, you know, has served the local church and,
S15: and we get to walk through an organization we started
S15: about ten years ago called the Worship Initiative with churches.
S15: We serve about 10,000 now on a weekly basis with resources.
S15: And what we found is there is a lot of well,
S15: I'll just say there's a lack of biblical knowledge and, and,
S15: and how the scriptures inform the songs that we sing.
S15: And so we're on a mission to get the Word
S15: of God in the mouths and the hearts of worship
S15: leaders all over this nation and the world and, and, uh,
S15: you know, if you're a worship leader. It's just like, man,
S15: it's just like, how do I get better? What? At
S15: what I do. How do I, you know, you can.
S15: You can learn your instrument, but know the word of God.
S15: Saturate your mind and your heart in it. We plagiarize
S15: the scriptures. You know, if you've ever listened to any
S15: of our music, you would realize that it's just like
S15: these guys have never written really anything on their own.
S15: And it's true, because we believe that the Word of
S15: God is the hey, it's the power of God to save.
S15: You know? So come on.
S2: Oh come on, we're big. We're big on this one here.
S2: And we don't do Christian bubble gum. Here we go
S2: right after it. And central to that is the word
S2: of God. I mean, we've been drilling down this morning
S2: on the. If we want our life to change, the
S2: first emotion we need to break is that we are
S2: utterly powerless. And in our weakness, our God is strong.
S2: And it's this biblical illiteracy. It seems to be a big,
S2: a big challenge across the Christian landscape in North America
S2: and beyond. How do you practically do this? We're about
S2: to spike a tool that you have for pastors, worship leaders,
S2: and members of worship teams, and you're going to be
S2: fired up to hear this. But before we get to that,
S2: how how important is this and how do you aim
S2: to equip people to be people that deliver the Word
S2: of God, not just music of God.
S5: Who.
S15: You know, I say this, I'll start with this. We've
S15: just done survey after survey after survey, specifically with pastors.
S15: And it's just like, what are your what are your
S15: deepest concerns for like the guys who lead on Sunday
S15: or your teams or what are the biggest holes that
S15: you you would like us to if you could help
S15: us with? And I think that a lot of it
S15: is leadership in discipleship in the Word of God. Like,
S15: how do we duplicate and how do we find leaders
S15: who are not just hungry for the Word of God,
S15: but have a desire to see the people of God
S15: understand the truths in Scripture? And so what we do
S15: is every day we get up and we create content
S15: and resources to say, here's how you do it, you know.
S15: And so from discipling teams to really getting into Bible studies.
S15: And so we build a lot of tools around like
S15: how do the scriptures inform the songs that we sing?
S15: A lot of people don't even know how rich some
S15: of these praise courses are in Scripture. And so what
S15: we try to do is just say, okay, this is
S15: where this come from. This is the concept. But like,
S15: here are tier ten verses that kind of inform this thought.
S15: Like implant those in your heart, implant those into people
S15: because it's just like, man, we're equipping people for the
S15: I mean, for the good work, you know. And so
S15: if you've got if you've got people that are sitting
S15: under you on Sunday and you've got 22 minutes, it's
S15: just like, what are we going to do with those
S15: 22 minutes, man? We want to inform these people of
S15: God and equip them for the good work. You know,
S15: of sharing the gospel of of being, realizing who you
S15: are in Christ. Like connecting with the heart of God.
S4: Born out of that passion. Shane and Shane started the
S4: Worship Initiative. It's a community of worship leaders and musicians
S4: from around the world committed to serving the church faithfully.
S4: Their support in just about every area. You can think
S4: about leadership, training and development, but also just the practical harmonies,
S4: strumming all of the things that go into a Sunday
S4: morning service. There's opportunities for you to take part of
S4: this individually or as a collective. Just text the word
S4: worship to 800 555, 7898. Text the word worship to
S4: 800 555 7898.
S1: Making herself laugh no matter who joins her, it's time
S1: for Allie thinks it's funny.
S4: Anyone have a dentist in their life? I hope everybody
S4: has a dentist in their life.
S5: In your life.
S2: Is kind of an interesting way of putting.
S5: It. You have a relationship.
S4: With the dentist, correct?
S3: Oh.
S2: Yeah. I don't like to get too close to my dentists.
S5: That's fair.
S4: What would we do without our favorite dentist? I have
S4: a favorite dentist I've been going to for at least
S4: ten years.
S2: Okay, quick, quick.
S5: Note on this.
S2: I know we'll get back to this, but I had
S2: a dentist friend who he was one of my elders
S2: years ago. In fact, he did a lot of work
S2: on my teeth and all that kind of stuff. And
S2: every time I got around him, I just felt the
S2: need to smile more.
S5: It was.
S2: Weird. And I noticed this and I said it one
S2: one day to him. I said, Paul, I feel so
S2: weird talking with you, even though we're comrades in ministry.
S2: I said, I feel like I have to check my
S2: teeth before we meet to make.
S5: Sure I floss.
S2: No groceries.
S5: In there.
S2: And then. And then I feel. And he laughed. He goes,
S2: everybody says that to me.
S5: That's so funny. Isn't that funny?
S4: So you got Paul. So I got a gift idea
S4: for you. What do you give your favorite dentist in
S4: your case, Paul? What do you give your favorite dentist
S4: at the end of the year? This is your way
S4: of saying thank you. You you give them a little plaque.
S5: Thank you. Great. Oh.
S2: Great.
S4: So I have a hobby that maybe you didn't know about.
S4: I like to do a little limbo. A little limbo.
S5: Wow. Yeah. I guess.
S4: So there's a stick that I keep in my garage
S4: that's specifically for limbo. And would you believe that about
S4: three nights ago, someone stole my limbo stick out of
S4: my garage?
S3: What a bummer.
S5: Yeah.
S4: I mean, how low can you go?
S16: Every little girl all around the limbo world.
S3: That was.
S16: Good. Limbo around. All around.
S5: Oh. That's great. If you love those jokes.
S16: Or.
S5: Sex jokes.
S4: To 800, 555, 78, 98. Text jokes to 800 555 7890.