S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Man, I love these songs. Meant to help you take
S2: your next step with Jesus. And they're so encouraging. Speaking
S2: of encouraging. Look who's back in town, man. Yes.
S3: I'm back in the saddle again. Allie's back out where
S3: a friend is a friend. Where the longhorn cattle feed
S3: on the lowly jimson weed.
S2: Yes, she was out in these.
S3: Parts in the saddle again, riding the range.
S4: Once I was riding the range.
S3: Totin my old 44.
S2: 44, 44.
S3: Where you sleep out every night. And the only law
S3: is right. Yeehaw! Back in the saddle.
S2: Thank you, Gene Autry. Appreciate you reintroducing Allie to the
S2: whole team here.
S5: Two days I was gone Friday and Monday.
S2: Oh, no. That's a its four day weekend.
S5: It feels like a more appropriate. If it was like
S5: a two week vacation.
S2: You got to have some fun though. It's good to
S2: have you back. It's a good time away.
S5: Yep, it was explored. The great state of Iowa.
S6: You explored it. Would you explore?
S5: Well, I saw a lot of the I saw actually
S5: a lot of hills. I was really surprised someone texted me. Yes,
S5: Iowa has a lot of hills. I was expecting total flatland.
S6: Well, yeah, it's next to Illinois. And Illinois is one
S6: of the flattest land you can find.
S5: I drove to a small town called Waukee, Iowa. Never
S5: heard of Milwaukee, but just take off the mill and
S5: it's just Waukee town, Waukee, Iowa. My my son, who's
S5: like a little stat man. He likes to find out
S5: demographic information on the places that we're going.
S6: That's awesome.
S5: Like, this is the population of this city that we're
S5: going for a big, uh, girls basketball tournament that lots
S5: of games, lots of time spent in a in a
S5: gym watching.
S2: Oh, yeah.
S5: Watching my daughter and.
S2: Those gyms still smell all the same, right? Well, this this.
S5: Was a really I mean, Waukee has a like this
S5: gym facility was really one of the nicest I have
S5: ever been to. Brand new. I think this was the
S5: first tournament and you could tell it was new because
S5: they had just put sod down everywhere on all of
S5: the landscaping around. So there was all these keep off
S5: the grass signs and it was.
S2: Like.
S5: Literally like patches of grass that had just been put down.
S5: So this was like fresh. You could hear the sneakers
S5: squeaking on the floor. It was brand new. So it
S5: was a it's a nice trip.
S2: Here we go.
S5: There you have it.
S2: It's good to have you back here.
S5: Good to be back.
S2: Uh, got a question for you. What's the most recent
S2: search you've done on AI? Whether your platform is ChatGPT
S2: or grok or what are the other AI platforms out
S2: there right now? All I know is grok.
S5: I mean, I use ChatGPT.
S6: I use ChatGPT as well. Yeah.
S2: Or if you're going old school. Isn't that funny? Google's
S2: old school.
S6: Yeah, Google is old school now.
S2: Most recent search that you have if you can share it.
S6: Oh man I'm gonna have to.
S5: Look to.
S2: See 805 five five 7898. What say you boom crew.
S2: Most recent search. If you're hands free right now, if
S2: you do not need them to drive, please be safe.
S2: What's most recent search you've got on ChatGPT or Google?
S2: What do you have, young Thunder?
S6: Well, I know that general question. I don't have an
S6: account with ChatGPT, so it doesn't tell me what my
S6: my previous questions were, so I don't remember exactly. But
S6: as a new parent, I get freaked out about a
S6: lot of stuff. And so and if I go to Google,
S6: Google will say, oh yeah, everything's wrong. You got to
S6: go to the doctor right away because they just do that.
S6: And but ChatGPT gives me a little more nuance. And
S6: so I'm like, hey, chat, can you this happened. How
S6: likely is it like, you know, maybe she's a little
S6: a little overtired today. Is that a problem or should
S6: I take her to the doctor? Is she probably fine? And?
S2: And they said she's probably okay, right?
S6: She's probably. Probably okay. And I go, okay, cool. I
S6: don't need someone to tell me that there's, like, a
S6: chance of things going wrong. I just need to know
S6: she's probably fine. And then I go, okay, she's probably fine.
S6: And then I let it go. So that's helpful.
S2: Yeah. Okay. This is great. We got the first 2
S2: in 855, five, 78, 98, 805 five, five, 78, 98.
S2: The most recent question that you feel comfortable sharing with
S2: us here on ChatGPT AI platform of any kind, or
S2: Google load them up. Um, mine was, uh, Kierkegaard in theology,
S2: kind of a boring guy. Soren Kierkegaard I was wanting
S2: to know some stuff about what Kierkegaard had said with
S2: regard to some theological points. So there you go. Uh,
S2: did the Cubs win yesterday.
S6: For six.
S5: Eight, seven? Oh 4289. Was looking for job interview You
S5: questions 43, 43, 85 looked up. What's the difference between
S5: an apostle and a disciple?
S2: Oh, good.
S5: I wonder what came up on that one.
S2: Oh, I wonder if it came up right.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: You know, it would be great if we get transformed
S2: by the power of God. And then all of our
S2: questions are answered. It's just like we got. We got them.
S2: Everything's handled. Ali, wouldn't that be great?
S5: It would be, but yet it seems impossible. So many
S5: questions remain.
S2: Uh, we got a man right now that's going to
S2: clear the fog. Alex McFarland, give us his, uh. What's
S2: his pedigree here? Ali.
S5: Doctor Alex McFarland is a Christian apologist, author, evangelist, religion
S5: and culture analyst. You pay a lot of attention to
S5: what's going on in the world around us. Ten questions
S5: that every Christian is asking or soon will be. Where
S5: did you come up with that? How did you identify
S5: these ten as the big ones?
S7: You know, I've been doing a lot of traveling for
S7: like 25 years, and I've just kept journals of the
S7: questions people ask. And, you know, the good news is,
S7: for one thing, let me say, when people have questions
S7: and they're searching for truth, I think God's okay with that.
S7: Because like the Bible says in Isaiah 118, God says,
S7: come now, let us reason together. And so when people
S7: have spiritual questions, questions about life, questions about integrating Scripture
S7: into our life, you know, that's a wonderful opportunity to grow.
S7: And so there are answers. The good news is there
S7: are answers to the questions. And my wife and I,
S7: our journey has been to help people find those answers.
S2: What are some of the biggest questions you had as
S2: a young follower of Jesus? What are they?
S7: You know, for me personally, it took me a while
S7: to really have assurance of my salvation. I became a
S7: Christian when I was in college. I was 21 years
S7: old and I really for like a year, was on
S7: this treadmill of thinking that maybe I wasn't really saved
S7: because I had grown up. I was really into like
S7: the Ouija board and magic and trying to learn even,
S7: you know, spell casting and things like that. I mean,
S7: I had a very unhealthy interest in the occult, and
S7: I was afraid that I was unsavable and that I was, like,
S7: too sinful for God to really love me. And what
S7: really got me sorted out was Scripture. Guys, I think
S7: that's really a reason that the Bible is so near
S7: and dear to my heart, for one thing. And I'll
S7: be brief, but I was reading first John 513 and
S7: it says of Scripture, these things are written to you
S7: who believe in the name of the Son of God,
S7: that you may know you have eternal life K-n-o-w know.
S7: And I later looked that word up. And it means
S7: to know something with certainty. And for me and this,
S7: this may not be where many people are, but I
S7: just I had to give myself permission to trust that
S7: Jesus really could love me as as bad, as sinful
S7: as I was. Yeah. I think about a quote by
S7: John Piper is really cool. John Piper said, the bad
S7: news is you're a whole lot worse sinners than you
S7: think you are. But the good news is, God's a
S7: whole lot bigger Savior than you think he is. That
S7: was my deal, was assurance of my salvation.
S2: You know. And that brings us to one of ten
S2: questions that you say most followers of Christ are going
S2: to have. Or if they don't, maybe next week they will.
S2: And we have this here, Alex. We've had thousands of
S2: people surrender to Christ on this morning show that we've
S2: sent follow up material to about 7000, maybe more in
S2: just a few years. But one of the things that
S2: I see that breaks my heart and actually chokes me
S2: up right now, and you answer this question how do
S2: I overcome memories of my sinful past? I was a
S2: cocaine snorting, crown royal drinking fool, and and sometimes I
S2: get bombarded with the past. Not so much lately, but
S2: for the first few years of my spiritual life, I
S2: think I had a notion like you. It's like, did
S2: God really change me? I was such a horrendous sinner.
S2: Why is it so important to overcome, and how do
S2: we overcome memories of our sinful past?
S7: This is where really biblical worldview truth, I believe, can
S7: be so transformative. Because when we put our faith in Jesus,
S7: our identity changes in the eyes of God, Almighty God.
S7: And these are the promises of His word that we
S7: are in Christ. And while we as humans, obviously we
S7: remember stuff, you know, but in a very legal sense,
S7: not only are we not guilty of those past sins,
S7: they've been absolved, forgiven, washed away in Jesus. But even
S7: more than that, Romans chapter four says that the righteousness
S7: of Christ has been attributed or accredited to us. Now
S7: here's the deal. To get to heaven, you've got to
S7: be righteous. You say, what does that mean? Well, righteousness
S7: means as holy as God. And you say, Uh-Oh. I'm
S7: not as holy as Almighty God. And you can't buy it.
S7: You can't earn it. So what do you do? Romans
S7: four says, if we put our faith in Jesus, that
S7: Jesus is the Son of God, and he died on
S7: the cross for me and for you and for everyone.
S7: And he rose from the dead. So you say, Lord,
S7: I trust you. I believe in you. And please save me. Well,
S7: according to Romans four and five, this is utterly unique
S7: in the pantheon of world religions. God says of the believer,
S7: I count you as righteous as Jesus. In other words,
S7: the holiness.
S2: That's so.
S7: Good, the Son of God is accredited or attributed. The
S7: technical word is imputed to you. And so if you say, oh,
S7: you know, I'm such a bad sinner. God, if he
S7: were here, God would say, I'm sorry. I don't know
S7: what you're talking about, because I look at the believer
S7: and I see the believer as holy as my own son.
S7: Now we don't get arrogant. We're like, oh, I'm. I'm
S7: as holy as God. It's a gift. It's his grace.
S7: It's his mercy. But honestly, and I want to say
S7: to everybody out there and guys, I was on a
S7: radio show last week and weekend, a woman called in
S7: just profusely crying, and she had prayed to accept Christ
S7: a thousand times. But she had had an abortion years
S7: ago and she said, can I go to heaven? And
S7: I said, absolutely. We prayed with her on the air
S7: and I said, look, sin is serious. We're all sinners.
S7: I'm a sinner. We're all sinners. But God loves to
S7: forgive sinners. I mean, that is the joy of the
S7: heart of God is to say we're good. Yeah, my
S7: son paid it all. And God looks at us no
S7: matter who you are. Maybe there's even somebody listening right
S7: now and they're incarcerated. We hear from so many people
S7: that are serving time in the eyes of God. You're clean,
S7: you're new, and so don't let the accuser, Satan, keep
S7: you in the bondage of shame and guilt in the
S7: eyes of the Lord. If you're a believer, you're set free.
S5: Doctor Alex McFarland, our guest right now, Christian apologist, author, evangelist.
S5: You know, we want that assurance of salvation for ourselves.
S5: We want to be free from the memories of our past.
S5: But as a parent, I would say you want it
S5: even more so for your children. You have this desire
S5: for your children to know the Lord. One of the
S5: questions you tackle, which is a big one that people
S5: are asking, how can I help my kids care about Jesus? Yes,
S5: they're going to church. They're doing the things their youth group,
S5: Sunday school. But man, are they getting it.
S7: I think all of us that have raised kids resonate
S7: with that. You know, the good news is there's a real,
S7: real desire among the part of young people to know truth.
S7: Bible sales. For the last five years, Bible sales have
S7: been increasing 14 to 20% a year. And the number
S7: one purchaser of the scriptures are people 18 to 30,
S7: so they skew kind of young. I was on a
S7: show just recently, and they were showing the bookshelves in
S7: one of the major national retailers, and the Bible shelves
S7: were like 90% empty. And this bookstore manager, he was like, yeah,
S7: we're selling Bibles as fast as we can get them in.
S5: Wow.
S7: So kids have a spiritual hunger, and that's a wonderful thing.
S7: But I would say what young people are looking for, really,
S7: they might not verbalize it this way, but they want
S7: to see authenticity in the lives of the adults around them,
S7: especially mom and dad especially, you know, the youth pastor
S7: and pastor that if we as the grown ups, if
S7: we talk about Jesus, we should live it. You know,
S7: it ought to be real. So they're looking for authenticity,
S7: consistency and accessibility. And I want to say to moms
S7: and dads, be the person that your kids are going
S7: to come to you when they've got the big questions.
S7: Try not to have the deer in the headlights look.
S7: They want to see that this Jesus thing is real
S7: in your life.
S2: Yeah. It's beautiful. Alex McFarland, our guest. I got one
S2: more for you. And this relates to everyone listening right now.
S2: Why does God sometimes seem so far away? I think
S2: what's so encouraging is that he's near to the brokenhearted, right? Alex?
S2: I mean, isn't that beautiful? So. But take it away.
S2: What do you say, my man?
S7: The two big things. One is like the problem of
S7: pain and suffering. You know, if God is good, why
S7: are there bad things in the world? But the other
S7: is the apparent sometimes. Not always, but the hiddenness of God.
S7: Sometimes God seems distant because we have drifted away. Yeah.
S7: And then other times, like any good parent or any
S7: good teacher, sometimes God is allowing us to go through
S7: something that is going to teach us Purge and cleanse us.
S7: Mature us. I will tell you this in all of my,
S7: you know, dark nights of the soul. I learned things
S7: about the faithfulness of God. Yeah. Now, it took a while.
S7: I look back retrospectively, and I see how faithful God was.
S7: I see how he did answer the cries of my heart.
S7: And so to the question, Why is God sometimes apparently hidden? Well,
S7: God is at work. I can promise everyone here by
S7: a dozen scriptures and a lot of testimony. God has
S7: not abandoned you. God has not gone off to do
S7: other things. God is very often silent, but he is
S7: at work. And be patient. Please and know that Almighty
S7: God will not harm you. Almighty God, will not abandon you.
S7: And if we wait and trust, that trust is always validated.
S7: It really is.
S2: Yeah. Those dark nights of the soul. I mean, they
S2: are real. Um, but I think all of us here
S2: on our team, Super Die Young, Thunder Alley and myself,
S2: can attest to the fact that oftentimes that that meeting,
S2: that appointment with God in the dark night of the
S2: soul can be one of the most transformative, you know,
S2: boom crew. You're listening to Amanda and Alex, who has
S2: put together a resource, and it's titled ten Questions Every
S2: Christian is Asking or Soon Will be. That's true, isn't it, Alex?
S5: It is. And we've got it for you, along with
S5: some other information from his website, including an upcoming speaker series,
S5: Conversations That Matter. You've got it all in one link.
S5: Just text 10 to 800 555 7898. Spell it out, please.
S5: T e n 10 to 805, 55, 7898.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
S1: curl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Okay, we got a big one for you. Some really
S2: big news usually coming in here on Wednesday. And we
S2: don't want to mess up your circadian rhythms or your
S2: sleep schedules or anything by this, but we just thought
S2: it's probably better to give it to you today rather
S2: than not have it tomorrow. What am I speaking of?
S2: I'm speaking of the phenomenal time that we have with
S2: Ali around here. And tomorrow's going to be a day
S2: and Thursday set aside for some Uber special that's super die,
S2: by the way, is super fired up about.
S5: Uber.
S8: Fired up about.
S2: All right. So it's going to bump out jokes tomorrow.
S2: And Ali came in and said Ali we got to
S2: give the people what they need.
S5: That's such a such an oversell.
S2: No, we got to give the people what they need, right?
S2: All I need is one text right now. Going? Yes.
S2: If we don't have jokes tomorrow, we need them today. If.
S2: If no one wants them, that's okay. But if you
S2: want the jokes today because we can't get them tomorrow,
S2: just say we want the jokes so to.
S5: So. If even one person wants the jokes on a Tuesday,
S5: you'll go for it.
S2: Well, yeah. I mean, if we'll see which one comes
S2: in first. No, we can pass on the jokes or
S2: give me the jokes. 800 555 7898 800 555 7898.
S2: But I thought I came in with a heart of
S2: compassion because we're going to be talking about that here
S2: next few minutes. And oh, there we go. Yes jokes.
S6: Yes. Jokes.
S2: 9658 said it. So here we go.
S1: Making herself laugh. No matter who joins her, it's time
S1: for Ali thinks it's funny.
S4: Little fun.
S2: Amount of.
S4: People that are saying yes jokes. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
S4: What happened? Oh my goodness. They're, like, demanding the jokes.
S4: It's like okay.
S6: Hey, mom.
S4: Oh my goodness.
S2: It's an.
S4: Angry mob.
S5: Okay, well I'm encouraged.
S4: Okay.
S5: The people have spoken. First joke up today. Fun fact
S5: for you. Anyone enjoy French fries?
S4: Love em. Yes, I love French fries.
S6: French fries.
S5: Side note I tried those air fryer French fries.
S4: From.
S5: Sweetgreen.
S4: You didn't like.
S5: Garlic.
S4: Sauce? Yes.
S5: Whoa.
S4: Was that good? Oh, are those awesome or what?
S5: I thought Carl was not lying.
S8: You just made Carl very okay.
S6: So try him today.
S5: Back to. Back to the joke. First French fries. Did
S5: you know they were not actually cooked in France? The
S5: first French fries were not actually cooked in France.
S6: I didn't know this.
S5: Fun fact. They were cooked in Greece. Yes.
S4: Okay.
S5: Super die. Come on. That was for.
S4: You. Super die. That's me. Yeah.
S5: They were cooked in Greece.
S4: Okay.
S5: I was watching a beehive the other day. There's a
S5: beehive near one of my kids schools. That is a fact.
S5: And it was just one be just one bee. The
S5: rest of his compadres. I don't know where they were,
S5: but this one bee. He kept going into the hive,
S5: and then he would pop right back out, and then
S5: he'd go back in the hive. And this went on
S5: for maybe a good 2 or 3 minutes. It's like
S5: he couldn't make up his mind. What do you call
S5: a bee who can't make up his mind?
S6: I don't.
S8: Know.
S5: A maybe. Oh, you.
S4: Gotta give me points.
S5: At least for the setup on that one.
S4: Oh. Come on.
S6: I'll give you points for the genuine excitement that was
S6: on your face. Maybe. Oh, I.
S4: Know I.
S5: Was itching to give you that punchline. That one man,
S5: that one.
S4: Slaps text jokes.
S5: To (800) 555-7898. Text jokes to 805 Oh.
S2: Those are good.
S4: Glad you enjoyed it.
S5: Maybe a maybe in Greece.
S2: Super.
S9: That was for you.
S5: She tried. She tried to.
S4: Give.
S6: It her best.
S4: I cheered. Oh my goodness.
S5: Way to go, Ali. Keep telling those little jokes.
S6: Golf clap.
S2: I'm still bummed that the sequels to My Big Fat
S2: Greek Wedding were so lame.
S4: Oh, okay. I'm still.
S2: Bummed about.
S4: That. Like super dying.
S6: Oh, okay.
S8: They were.
S4: They just weren't that good.
S5: I mean.
S4: Isn't.
S5: That mostly true of sequels?
S2: I don't know, I'm not a big sequel guy.
S5: Oh, yeah. I mean, it's always the original. And then
S5: you try to recreate what made it great.
S8: And there are a couple of.
S6: A couple of instances where the sequel is better. Really? Yeah.
S6: Star Wars Empire Strikes Back is known as being better
S6: than A new Hope, which was the first and second
S6: movie that came out.
S5: Hmm.
S2: I don't know, man. That first one. I remember where
S2: I was sitting.
S6: Do you really?
S2: Yeah, yeah. One theater. I mean, we're in Wasilla, Alaska, man.
S2: And the guy that ran the place was the grumpiest
S2: old guy. And I made it my job to make
S2: him laugh, and I could get him going, but, boy,
S2: he was grumpy.
S6: That's great.
S2: He's a grumpy old guy. He owned and operated the
S2: whole thing. I think his wife was taking tickets, you know.
S2: That's back when. I mean, come on, you got cash tickets?
S4: Yeah, yeah.
S5: Oh. Can I. Can I go back to the jokes
S5: for a second? Yeah, sure. 1155 just gave me an
S5: alternate punchline to my joke. Oh, and I love this one.
S5: This one? Oh, this rivals the so the maybe so.
S5: A bee that can't make up his mind. Could be
S5: a maybe. They also said it could be bewildered.
S4: Oh that's good that is. 1155 I had to give
S4: you a shout out there.
S5: If you are co-writing jokes with me.
S8: I am.
S5: Appreciative. Giving me alternate.
S4: Like I've seen your ending.
S2: I've seen alternate punchlines come in several.
S4: Times for some of these over the years.
S6: That's good.
S5: You could also answer it this way. Thank you for that.
S2: Okay. Text jokes to 800 555 7898. You too can
S2: drive someone crazy today.
S5: And write your own ending.
S2: Yeah. Tremendous stuff, man. Maybe. Okay. Uh, got a question
S2: for you. It's a serious one. We're going to get.
S2: We're going to whiplash here. How has someone else's compassion
S2: led you to trust God? I want you to think
S2: about this a moment. It's built on the premise of
S2: Holy Week that Jesus put on display the heart of God.
S2: Because what you see Jesus do. You've seen the father.
S2: How how has someone's compassion been the thing that God
S2: used to lead you to God? How did that work?
S2: Text or phone calls? In fact, let's get some phone
S2: calls in here. Someone's compassion led you to trust God
S2: And it could be for saving faith or to trust
S2: him more fully. And it was just like transformative. Let's
S2: just use that kind of a general bucket. It was
S2: someone's compassion really changed your life. (800) 555-7898 taking phone calls.
S2: Let's light them up. Boom. Crew if you can. If
S2: you can text for jokes, you can call for compassion. Yes.
S5: I love this question. How did someone else's compassion lead
S5: you to trust God? Maybe more. Or maybe for the
S5: first time. (800) 555-7898 phone lines officially open. 800 555 7898.
S1: She was trying to earn her way to God, but
S1: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
S1: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Got a question for you. And it flows right out
S2: of Holy Week. Jesus rode into To Jerusalem on a donkey.
S2: And then he went in and he flipped over tables,
S2: and then he flipped over conventional wisdom because the blind
S2: and the lame, they came to him and children started
S2: crying out, Hosanna to the Son of David! And the
S2: Pharisees were indignant. They're like, come on, what's going on?
S2: Do you hear what they're saying? Jesus said to them, yeah.
S2: Have you never read out of the mouth of infants
S2: and nursing babies? You have prepared praise. Wow. What a statement.
S2: So here's what Jesus flipped upside down. His kingship, his authority.
S2: His deity was grounded in compassion. How powerful is that, guys?
S6: It's the most important thing. It's so good because it
S6: draws us to him. And it also gives us the
S6: blueprint as to how to present him to others. Yeah.
S2: Vivi in Illinois. What do you say, Vivi? What's your story?
S10: Well, Carl, I just come back from missions in Africa
S10: at 18 and in Africa my face got covered in pimples,
S10: almost like it looked like volcanoes were erupting all over
S10: my face. And I was so ashamed. I was so
S10: ashamed as an 18 year old girl. And I went
S10: to Oral Roberts University and heard pastor Bill Wilson of
S10: what is now Metro World Child speak about ministering to prostitutes,
S10: and it touched me so much. So afterwards I went
S10: to meet him and he had had his face disfigured
S10: as a child. He had a prostitute mother. She was
S10: an alcoholic and was born with a disfigured jaw. And
S10: he reached out. When he saw me, he saw my
S10: my shame from my face. And he reached out. He
S10: took my face in his hands, and he looked deeply
S10: into my eyes. And I could see that he understood
S10: my shame, and he was accepting me and reaching out
S10: and touching me just as Jesus touched the leper. And
S10: that kindness drew me closer to God and to understanding
S10: the love of God.
S2: That's a great story, sister. Thank you so much. How
S2: real is that alley, man?
S5: And you feel that, like those teenage years, you can
S5: still feel the things that you felt about yourself that
S5: made you unlovable. Unacceptable.
S4: Yeah.
S2: Taking your calls right now. How is somebody's act of
S2: incredible compassion drawn you closer to God? Might have saved
S2: your life. God used that. Possibly 805 five. I got
S2: it here. 800 555 7898. Give us a call. Let's go.
S2: Let's light them up. How is someone's compassion drawn you
S2: closer to God? 800 555 78. 98.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: You ever have someone see or hear of you doing
S2: something that could be somewhat embarrassing. And instead of kind
S2: of jumping on with the embarrassment factor, they go a
S2: totally different direction with it and it's like, oh, thank
S2: you for that compassion, man, I needed that. I ran
S2: a half marathon that to this day. Uh, I trained
S2: on flat ground and in Portland, Oregon, and I'm a
S2: newlywed and I'm getting ready for this half marathon. And
S2: I'd been a sprinter in high school, and I should
S2: have known. Maybe I'm reaching beyond my capacity here. How?
S2: I'm naturally wired. But I started training. It was getting pretty.
S2: It's getting pretty good. I was breaking through some walls, actually.
S2: It was getting. It was getting good. Did a couple
S2: of ten mile runs. So I was getting ready for
S2: this half marathon I signed up for. I should have
S2: known by the name of the half marathon it was
S2: going to be a problem. It's called the Goat Mountain Gallop.
S4: So maybe.
S8: No. Say that one more time, please.
S2: Goat mountain gallop.
S4: Thank you.
S2: Isn't that.
S4: Something? What a name.
S2: Well, I didn't know two things. I didn't know how
S2: many hills would be out there, and it was. I mean,
S2: the whole thing was up and down, up and down.
S2: But the first mile wasn't that way. The first mile
S2: was pretty good. But what piled there were a couple
S2: of school buses showed up, and these guys get off
S2: and they've got on track and they are prepping. I mean,
S2: these are no joking. Kenyans, Ethiopians prepping for like Olympic
S2: trials and stuff. And I didn't know that because Portland's
S2: a big running area, you know what I'm saying? I mean,
S2: it's a big runner's Paradise. Well, I didn't know this
S2: was like a warm up meet for these guys. And
S2: the only thing going through my head is make sure
S2: the first mile is slow. Make sure the first mile
S2: is slow. Don't. Over. Well, that didn't last long. The
S2: gun goes off, and here I go. And at the
S2: one mile mark. No joke. I was at fifth or
S2: sixth in the whole pack, and there was 150, 200
S2: runners out there. And I was where I should not
S2: have been. It was probably the fastest mile I've ever
S2: run in my life, which is not what you do
S2: when you've got another dozen to go. And it was
S2: bad news. And immediately then after that first mile, we
S2: start to go into some mountains, as in Goat Mountain. Gallup.
S2: Carl boy speaking to younger Carl now. And it was horrible.
S2: And I went up that first hill. And you guys
S2: have heard of stitches there.
S6: Oh yeah. Absolutely.
S2: And you're when your abdomen muscles and I had them
S2: so bad that right below my rib cage. Why am
S2: I feeling my rib cage right now? Right below my
S2: rib cage. Right where it gets. You know, there's no
S2: more bone there. Those things swelled up so thick and tall.
S2: I was pulling muscles in my abdomen that were just, like,
S2: almost dangerous. And they were cramped up so bad. But
S2: I was still wanting to compete. So I'd walk a
S2: little bit, and then I'd jog a little bit, and
S2: then I'd walk, and then I'd have to stop. And
S2: I had guys coming by me. A couple guys chuckled.
S2: One guy said, stitches, huh? And and I'm like, I
S2: didn't even know what they were, by the way, that's
S2: how novice I was to any distance running. And. But
S2: a couple guys patted me on the shoulder and said,
S2: you got this. That's what's cool about runners, right? You
S2: get some guys that go, you got this, man.
S6: It feels like a team sport.
S2: But I didn't have it. And my wife's at the
S2: finish line waiting for me to come in, and she's
S2: seeing all these people come in. And now really slow
S2: runners are coming in. And people that she thought maybe
S2: he should have been in front of these folks and
S2: I'm wiped out. So I was out on that race course.
S2: No joke. In half marathon for four hours. Absolutely. Battling
S2: in agony, walking, stopping, laying down. It was brutal. And
S2: I got Ahold of my buddy, Mark Donner. I'll never
S2: forget this. I got Ahold of him and I said, hey, Mark,
S2: I ran a Goat Mountain gallop. And he said, how'd
S2: it go? And he was in Alaska. And I said, well,
S2: I told him the story. You know what he said?
S2: He said, four hours. Man, that's a long time battling.
S2: I'm proud of you. And I'm.
S4: Like.
S6: Oh, that's.
S8: Great.
S5: Oh.
S2: You know what I'm saying?
S8: Yeah.
S6: What a beautiful thing man.
S8: Wow. My eye.
S2: And Mark. Mark is a great distance runner, but he
S2: didn't put it in my face. He. He went. He
S2: flipped it the other way around. Compassion's like that, it
S2: does something inside us. And that's what Jesus put on
S2: display in Holy Week when he said, come on, children,
S2: you can come to me. And he said to the
S2: lame and to the blind, he said, well, he had
S2: said for three years, by the way he lived. Come on.
S2: Come on in here. Compassion's powerful guys. Uh, let's go
S2: back to the phone lines. Jack in Indiana. Thanks for
S2: holding on. How did compassion move you? Closer to God?
S11: I remember when I went to, uh, kids camp, uh,
S11: upon all the activities that we did, they shared the
S11: gospel to us. And I had this big emotional response.
S11: I felt the weight of my sin and God's love.
S11: And of course, tears started rolling down my eyes. And, uh,
S11: a youth counselor or, uh, or kids counselor at that
S11: time pulled me to the side. Seeing the response that
S11: I had and sat next to me and guided me
S11: to the prayer of salvation and and what I was
S11: feeling and what I was experiencing in that moment. I
S11: will never forget the person, maybe the name I forgot,
S11: but I was 1011. Uh, but yeah, she led me
S11: to the Lord that day, and I've been serving him
S11: ever since.
S4: Wow, how.
S2: Cool is that? How cool is.
S4: That? Wow. I love that.
S6: Compassion of a camp counselor.
S2: Compassion wins the day. That's what Jesus put on display
S2: in Holy Week. You know, it's pretty cool. I love this.
S2: The blind and the lame came to him in the temple.
S2: You know why? The word was on the street. No
S2: one's held at arm's length from Jesus. And if we
S2: could be that today, can you imagine.
S5: If we could be the kind of people who other
S5: people thought. Oh, yeah, go talk to her. Go talk
S5: to him.
S4: Yeah.
S2: Power, man. You know, we're disciples of Christ. And in
S2: this Holy Week, we're going to get an opportunity to
S2: look at these cool little snippets of what Jesus did,
S2: how he lived. And I'll tell you one thing for
S2: sure compassion is victory. We don't even know the outcome
S2: of it, but it's victory. God wants you living with
S2: compassion today. Be that arm around for someone else.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I don't know if we maybe shoot too high or
S2: miss the mark with regard to what we think. Kind
S2: of the essence of what our faith is going to
S2: look like. But I think Jesus makes, uh, what's the term?
S2: I'm reaching for outreach. I guess I think when we
S2: think of outreach, we think of an event, a speaker,
S2: a bold witness, something like that. Right?
S4: Yes.
S2: It's interesting, but Jesus flips everything upside down. Pardon the pun,
S2: but he just walked into the temple and he took
S2: the money changers table, and he flipped that upside down.
S2: But that's not the only thing he flipped upside down
S2: because he comes in as the King of Kings, and
S2: immediately he starts acting not like a king, not in
S2: the common world, but as King eternal. And by Jesus's actions,
S2: we get a reflection of our Heavenly Father and a
S2: model for how in the world we can express outreach
S2: to the world around us. I think sometimes we think, oh,
S2: I'm not equipped. I've got to get apologetics. I've got
S2: to have few verses pinned down. I've got to. What
S2: if it was way more accessible than that? Boy, have
S2: we got a passage of Scripture here. Ali, pick it up, sister.
S5: This is Matthew 21, starting with verse 14. And the
S5: blind and the lame came to him in the temple,
S5: and he healed them. But when the chief priests and
S5: the scribes saw the wonderful things that he did, and
S5: the children crying out in the temple, Hosanna to the
S5: Son of David! They were indignant. And they said to him,
S5: do you hear what these are saying? And Jesus said
S5: to them, yes. Have you never read out of the
S5: mouth of infants and nursing babies? You have prepared praise.
S2: Yea it's beautiful. And here's here's the point. Notice that
S2: the blind and the lame came to him. Jesus, in
S2: three years had put on display that he was accessible
S2: and that no one was below him. How powerful is that, guys?
S5: It is because you think about like the boldness to
S5: approach Jesus. But they knew enough about him.
S4: To.
S5: To believe that maybe they'd have a moment with him,
S5: an audience with him, that he would not turn them away.
S5: I mean, how that took a step of faith on
S5: their part. But also, have you ever not approached someone
S5: because you thought there's no way they'd want to talk
S5: to me?
S4: Sure.
S5: Have you ever, like, shied away from a conversation? Maybe
S5: it is. It wasn't even with someone who was like,
S5: super important. Maybe, like, you're don't even approach your boss
S5: because you're like, yeah, they don't really they don't want
S5: to hear from me. This is Jesus. And they're like.
S4: Yeah.
S5: Yeah, let's go talk to him. Maybe he can help us.
S2: And the word on the street with the little kids
S2: apparently was, hey, Jesus is a good guy. He's good
S2: with kids. And we know that because he told the
S2: disciples on multiple occasions, let the little ones come to me.
S2: And now he's having to duke it out with the
S2: Pharisees who are saying, hey, these kids. And here's we
S2: got to remember this historically, up to this point in time,
S2: children were discarded. They were exchanged. They were sold. They
S2: were left for dead. I mean it he Jesus revolutionized
S2: not just the calendar, not just the monetary system, but
S2: all of life. That's the cool thing about our Savior.
S6: Yeah, I, I love that Jesus made these reputations for
S6: himself so that when he came to Jerusalem this time
S6: it was so known about him. Hey, we the kids
S6: can come to him, the sick can come to him,
S6: the poor can come to him. And it makes me
S6: think of the reputations we build for ourselves. Or how
S6: are we building our reputation? Or am I known as compassionate?
S6: Am I known as approachable? That someone can come to
S6: me and I'm not just going to shirk them off?
S6: You know, that's important for us to remember.
S2: Yeah. If you think about people who are approachable, there
S2: is just something about them where you feel like, oh man,
S2: I if I. Here's the beauty. When you feel like
S2: I've got something to share I've got a need. I've
S2: got a concern. Yeah, I can go to this person.
S2: What a great attribute. And I think sometimes we put
S2: ministry on this high bar of apologetics, and we've got
S2: to have everything kind of pinned down theologically. We've got
S2: to know a certain number of scriptures. What if Jesus
S2: put on display in Holy Week what real ministry looks like?
S2: And that's to have compassion for everyone, especially those that
S2: the world says we got no place for you. What
S2: a ministry.
S5: And when you think about just historically, the impact of
S5: Christ followers like we would not have what hospitals if
S5: it wasn't for Christ's followers. You think about all of
S5: the good innovation. And I'm not talking about just like
S5: progress in terms of inventing things. I'm talking about care
S5: for the poor, care for the sick, the way we
S5: treat people. Any sort of ethos that is inclines towards
S5: compassion is because of Christians.
S4: Yeah.
S2: Yeah, it's because of this template that God put down
S2: here 2000 years ago. I mean, Ali's right, guys. I
S2: went through that whole riff. Remember that a few years ago,
S2: I had a whole outline of all the things that
S2: changed as a result of the coming of Christ. Now
S2: he's right. Hospitals, orphanages, child care. It's just a beautiful thing.
S2: And here's here's what's awesome about this passage of Scripture.
S2: It tells us today that we can follow Jesus by
S2: being people of compassion. Compassion is victory in God's economy.
S2: Compassion is victory. Oftentimes in the evangelical world, we we
S2: get notches on our belt for how many people get saved,
S2: how many people get baptized? What if I told you
S2: God measures it by how many people you're compassionate to today?
S2: And you know what's awesome about that? Everyone needs that
S2: up and outers down and outers. We all need it.
S2: So Jesus was breaking the mold of what ministry looked
S2: like when he came. And I just want to challenge
S2: you today. Would you break the mold today? Would you
S2: break the mold? Would you be the person that asks someone,
S2: how are you doing? Is there something I can do
S2: for you? If you see someone who is apparently struggling
S2: at work or at home, you say, can I pray
S2: for you? You know, it's the wildest thing I have.
S2: Yet never once have I been turned down when I've
S2: asked someone who and I don't go up asking random
S2: strangers this. But if someone's hurting at. I mean, a
S2: clerk at a store, um, someone that I see on
S2: a plane. I've prayed with people on a seat next
S2: to me on a plane who it was very obvious
S2: they were going through some pain. When I ask, would,
S2: would you be okay if I prayed with you? I've
S2: never been turned down. Everyone needs this, right?
S5: Everyone needs compassion. We know that we need it. And
S5: so today, look for opportunities to extend compassion. Maybe it's
S5: somebody who comes across as pretty rude, pretty mean. Maybe
S5: you respond like Jesus would with compassion.