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S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl

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S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide. Overcome

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S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. Start

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S1: your morning with a laugh.

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S2: Practical from the Bible. Tips and tricks to kill. Not

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S2: tricks but tips and tricks.

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S3: Tips and tricks to kill. Tips and tricks.

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S1: Delivering the truth daily.

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S4: All of my attempts to, you know, prop myself up

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S4: with achievement in good works. Well, God wasn't impressed by that,

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S4: even if other people were.

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S2: The gospel changes everything.

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S5: Freedom in Christ. Man, it's like that backpack of cement

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S5: just falling to the ground.

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S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl

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S1: and crew. Hey, it's Carl and Crew here. Um, there

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S1: are a lot of people in the world today That

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S1: might dare to believe God for hope that would manifest

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S1: itself in a way that's. Hey, all of a sudden

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S1: we're freed now from religious persecution. Maybe it's a desire

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S1: to be experiencing some hope rising in their life because, uh,

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S1: kids that they love or spouses or friends that are

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S1: taking a bold stand for Jesus are not always in

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S1: harm's way. And that would be beautiful. But I think

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S1: the kind of the litmus test for real hope is

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S1: that it supersedes and exceeds circumstances, doesn't it, Ali?

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S4: Absolutely. Because if it's just about circumstances, well, that can

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S4: change in a heartbeat.

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S1: Yeah. And I think the coolest thing about authentic faith

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S1: that we learn as we talk to people from around

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S1: the globe all the time, we learn this, is that

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S1: they aren't even praying, oh, prosper me with some stuff

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S1: or get me out of this situation. The. The constant

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S1: refrain is pray for us while we're in it. And

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S1: that stuns me. I've said this to our both of

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S1: our church campuses. I think if you try to predict

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S1: that I'm going to have that kind of faith when

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S1: I'm in that kind of situation, you can't.

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S4: Know.

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S1: Right? But God will deposit that grace when we need

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S1: it most. Boy, have we got a story like that

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S1: coming up. Lana Silk, one of our favorites here. And

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S1: here's what's important. Lana has a perspective. Having been born

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S1: in Iran and having a ministry that ministers back into

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S1: Iran and having connections with believers, followers of Jesus in Iran.

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S1: She has a perspective that, frankly, you aren't going to

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S1: hear anywhere else. And I don't even know what's coming

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S1: up here, because a lot has developed in Iran in

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S1: the last few weeks. So where do we stand in Iran?

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S1: What is Lana hearing and how can we pray for

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S1: them today? Hang on, Lana, Silk straight ahead.

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S6: She was trying to earn her way to God, but

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S6: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in

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S6: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

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S1: Well, I guess you'd have to be kind of under

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S1: a rock to not know what's going on in Iran

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S1: at some level. But herein lies the problem, Ali, because

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S1: you were in journalism professionally for years. Man, it's hard to.

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S1: And I'm not knocking journalists. You can't hit every aspect

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S1: of a geopolitical conflict like this in a 22nd soundbite.

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S4: Right. And so the interesting thing, you said it would

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S4: be impossible to not know what's going on. But at

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S4: the same time, most people have an awareness that something's

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S4: happening but are hard pressed to really explain the what

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S4: and the why and what does it mean and how

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S4: should I feel about this?

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S1: Yeah. Lana Silk is with us right now. And before

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S1: we just jump right in, Ali, let's, let's make sure

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S1: everybody understands kind of where she's coming from and what

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S1: her ministry is.

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S4: Yeah. Alana Silk, our guest, president and chief executive officer

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S4: with Transform Iran. She was born and raised in Iran

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S4: before emigrating to the UK, where she completed her education.

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S4: She has a passion for seeing the church grow and

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S4: flourish in the nation of Iran.

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S1: Lana, so good to have you with us today. Last

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S1: time you were with us, I don't know, a week,

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S1: two weeks ago. You were confident then that there would

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S1: ultimately be a regime change and that some of this

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S1: heavy handed, uh oh, it's more than heavy handed, this brutal, uh,

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S1: the brutality of the regime for which a lot of

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S1: the upper layers have been eliminated since we spoke, that

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S1: you thought that this would be toppled. Where do we

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S1: stand today with this cease fire and all? Do you

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S1: still feel like it's coming?

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S7: Karl, the cease fire has been.

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S8: Very disheartening news the last couple of days. Yeah, This

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S8: is not good. Not a good turn of events. I'm

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S8: actually at a conference this week, and it's just been

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S8: this constant backdrop at the back of my mind thinking, Lord, what?

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S8: What are they doing? It's bad.

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S1: Yeah. And I hear this from the UAE and from

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S1: some of these other countries that are not radicalized. They

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S1: basically let's let's have some peace in our countries. My

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S1: understanding from some great geopolitical analysts is that they're really

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S1: disappointed that we agreed to this cease fire. I'm not

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S1: we're not taking sides here at all. I'm just going

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S1: with the facts. Is that what you're understanding as well?

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S8: Oh deeply disappointed. Yes. That was my immediate reaction. And

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S8: the more I tried to wrestle with it and try

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S8: to rationalize it in my head. Oh, maybe this could

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S8: do this, maybe this, and there's no way around it.

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S8: This is this is a bad next step. It's bad

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S8: for the Iranians. It's bad for the Americans. It's bad

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S8: for the Middle Easterners. The. There's no way that good's

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S8: going to come out of this. The Iranian government is

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S8: not one to play nice. They've never been committed to

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S8: healthy negotiations. And right now, this is giving them a

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S8: breather to regroup, to focus in. As soon as the

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S8: ceasefires were announced, a top judicial minister in Iran announced

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S8: that it was time to accelerate the execution of all

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S8: of the inmates that they had.

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S9: From the protests.

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S8: It's I mean, it's serious. They are they've imported fighters

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S8: from outside the country. We have people from Afghanistan, from Lebanon,

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S8: from other regions coming into Iran, from Iraq. And our

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S8: people have been reporting to us. They're riding around on motorcycles,

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S8: shouting Allahu Akbar and inciting fear and just making sure

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S8: the people of Iran know that this is not over.

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S1: This is heartbreaking, actually.

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S4: Ali Anna Silk, our guest right now from Iran. You know,

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S4: when most people hear ceasefire, they think, how could that

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S4: be a bad thing? How could the stopping of the fighting?

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S4: Because I think we have a bent toward not wanting war.

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S4: Understandably help give some context for why you touched on

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S4: it a little bit. But why is the ceasefire not

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S4: helpful for anyone?

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S10: Well, I think the.

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S8: Starting point really is to try to understand the actors

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S8: in this war. We are not dealing with another party

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S8: who have similar ideals and similar objectives to us. If

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S8: we were fighting a country like Britain or France or Germany,

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S8: then a ceasefire literally means we're going to stop fighting.

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S8: We're going to lay down our arms and we're going

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S8: to come up with a peaceful way to move forward

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S8: with a country like Iran whose objectives are entirely in

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S8: conflict with ours. They're not looking for that kind of peace.

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S8: They do want peace. But in their version of peace,

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S8: it's domination that they will suppress us and we will

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S8: fall in line with the Shiite Sharia law, that they

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S8: want to expand to the nations. And they've made no

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S8: secret of that. So all we've done for them is

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S8: give them an opportunity to regroup. Their ideals haven't changed.

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S8: Their objectives haven't changed. There's no way that long term

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S8: we're going to have peace with Iran.

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S1: Lana Silk, right now, our guest. You know, I've had

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S1: a question in my mind, and maybe you can answer this.

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S1: I mean, the layers of leadership that have been taken out,

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S1: you would think in some regimes, boy, that's enough. But

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S1: we know that it runs deep in the Revolutionary Guard.

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S1: Real deep. How can you possibly displace a government when

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S1: it's kind of permeated all of that Revolutionary Guard through

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S1: many layers? Was it pie in the sky to begin with?

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S1: Is it close to toppling a regime? Where are we

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S1: at from your vantage point? Lana.

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S10: That's a fair question. It is.

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S8: This is not a straightforward regime change. It's not like

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S8: a mafia family at the center. You take out the

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S8: family and suddenly you have a. You've lost all authority.

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S8: For those you know, for that side, it is harder.

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S8: I you know, I've heard some of the announcements about

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S8: how we have successfully changed the regime in Iran. Definitely

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S8: not the case. We have not changed regime in Iran

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S8: at this point in time. We have weakened. This is

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S8: the first time that I would say, yes, we've actually

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S8: made a significant dent. They don't have a supreme leader

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S8: who can unite all parties and move forward strategically. It's fragmented.

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S8: You know, we have all kinds of different people in

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S8: play now who have different motivations, and not all of

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S8: them are religious or ideological. So it's just a case

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S8: of taking out enough of the people who feel they

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S8: have some kind of holy mission, and then you're left

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S8: dealing with people who are motivated by greed or selfish ambition,

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S8: and then those people are easier to turn. I have

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S8: been wondering if with that ground force, we really are

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S8: ever going to fully achieve it. But I don't know

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S8: if this goes into the realms of your expertise, which

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S8: I don't have.

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S1: Yeah, yeah. But you do know people and you do

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S1: know that government? I think a question I have here is, Lana,

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S1: there's some people listening who do not understand the brutality

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S1: of the current regime and even a few layers down.

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S1: And those that are negotiating. I think it's important for

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S1: people to understand just how brutal Iran leadership has been.

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S1: Could you please give us some some high points here

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S1: that people need to soberly understand?

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S10: Oh, Karl.

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S8: Where do I begin without traumatizing your listeners? Yeah. Um,

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S8: this is a regime where really there is no line

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S8: that they will not cross. Children, women, the elderly. No

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S8: one is exempt. They arrested the nurses who had been

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S8: helping the victims of the protests. They brutally raped them

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S8: so badly that they created internal injuries all the way

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S8: up their internal organs. And these women were in such

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S8: terrible States.

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S10: That.

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S8: They had to have surgery, and we have accounts of

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S8: women begging their surgeons to kill them on the operating

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S8: table because they couldn't face to wake up to what

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S8: had happened to them. It's it's evil. It's it's unthinkable.

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S8: And I'm actually only telling you, I'm not even telling

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S8: you the worst of it because I don't even know

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S8: how to use words to describe just the wickedness, you know?

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S8: It's intentional torture. They're trying to break people down so

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S8: that they will never, ever dare again rise up and

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S8: question their governments. They're instilling fear on purpose. They've increased

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S8: all the checkpoints. They've recruited 11, 12 year old boys

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S8: that they've forced into fighting. And these are the front

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S8: lines of their checkpoints. You know, there's just mothers grieving

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S8: their children being told you can't have the body of

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S8: your child without selling your house, or you will burn

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S8: this body. It's just it just goes one after the other.

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S8: It's on purpose. Breaking down the nation to make sure

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S8: that people understand the consequences aren't just death.

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S4: Anna Silk, I know you're listening. You are shocked and

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S4: horrified and maybe had no idea. I certainly had no idea.

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S4: Coming up, let's talk about the church in Iran. Hope

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S4: rising has been our theme this week, and it's hard

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S4: to even think that hope could exist in such a context.

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S4: But we know that we serve a God who is

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S4: the same yesterday, today, and forever as we just talked about.

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S4: Is there hope? Where can we find it? Coming up

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S4: more with Lana Silk.

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S6: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.

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S4: Got Lana Silk with us this morning. Very sobering. Difficult

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S4: topic as we discuss what's going on in Iran, things

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S4: that haven't made the headlines. She's the president and chief

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S4: executive officer with Transform Iran in the midst of such hardship, heartbreak, horror.

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S4: How is the church in Iran?

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S8: Oh, Ali, you know, we hold on to the hope

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S8: of Jesus, just as you said. It's. These are hard

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S8: days for sure. Everyone that I speak to that has

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S8: family or colleagues or churches back in the country, it's

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S8: always the same. I'm struggling to get hold of them.

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S8: I just have to trust that they're still okay. We

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S8: believe that God has a good plan for Iran. You know,

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S8: as Christians, when we face situations that we don't understand,

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S8: we have to hold on to what we do understand.

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S8: And that's the nature of our God. You know, Jeremiah 29,

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S8: I know the plans I have for you. They are

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S8: plans to prosper you, not to harm you, to give

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S8: you hope and a future. And this is what we

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S8: know is true, and we speak it continuously over our

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S8: own hearts. You know, when David tells himself, wake up,

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S8: my soul. Praise God. We have to almost command ourselves

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S8: to remember what is true, to speak it over our nation,

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S8: to keep prophesying it over our nation and believing that

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S8: God is in control, knowing. He's in control on his

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S8: throne and praying according to that. We can't allow the

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S8: current events to guide our peace and our hope and.

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S8: That's that's the spiritual fight that we're in right now.

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S1: Yeah. I mean, you would look at what's going on

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S1: in Iran and the persecution primarily of Christ's followers, because

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S1: if you dare to. And you shared with us, I mean,

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S1: these people that dared to bring safe haven for people

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S1: that had been out on the street simply standing in

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S1: the streets saying, please give us freedom, give us economic hope.

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S1: And if they were injured, then they came in and

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S1: hunted them down. It seems like, why in the world

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S1: would anyone surrender to Christ in such radical adversity? But

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S1: you still hear stories, don't you, Alana?

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S11: We do. It is incredible.

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S8: Honestly, I shouldn't be surprised knowing what God is capable of.

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S8: And yet, in current times I'm thinking, wow, people understand

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S8: what it is to be spiritually dead and to need

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S8: to live. And people are holding on and fighting for.

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S8: For the life that really matters. And we do have.

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S8: Those people are struggling to. Contact us, contact us hard.

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S8: But we have put measures in place, including our. AI

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S8: tool where they can just go ahead and have those

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S8: conversations without having to make a phone call to. Outside

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S8: the country and we're watching and seeing those who don't

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S8: know Jesus come and have an interaction. Talk about how

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S8: they have lost all hope, or perhaps even the awful

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S8: things that have happened to them. And look for meaning

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S8: and kairos. This tool is able to guide them with

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S8: scripture and point them back to Jesus. It's it's wonderful

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S8: to see what God is doing.

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S1: Yeah. And it's good because here I'm, I'm been in

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S1: first Peter the first two verses and, and it's God

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S1: who calls. We don't choose God. So there's prevenient grace

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S1: underway in Iran right now, raising people up to be

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S1: God fearing. Giving them sober minded common sense. since looking

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S1: at the regime going, this is evil on steroids. Take

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S1: me to your leader, to the Christians that are their neighbors.

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S1: It's so overwhelming to know that our brothers and sisters

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S1: in Christ are standing strong there. Lana. Uh, we're going

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S1: to point people to a prayer guide here in just

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S1: a moment. I was curious about one thing. I saw

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S1: a clip. And sometimes I get so frustrated with media

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S1: because it was a clip of a woman in Tehran

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S1: championing the current regime, saying she wants to sing over

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S1: because the regimes, in her estimation, was good. What's your take?

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S1: What do you think the average person on the streets

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S1: of Tehran and other cities across Iran, huge country. By

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S1: the way, what is their take out of ten people?

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S1: How many people want this regime gone, Christian or not?

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S8: Oh nine plus, there may well be one or, you know,

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S8: very few minorities who are genuinely in support of the regime.

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S8: I would be surprised if there are any that aren't

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S8: personally connected with the regime. That would be pro-regime. But

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S8: I've got to tell you, Karl, there are actors who

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S8: are being put on these screens to profess allegiance and

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S8: to lament the attack of America and Israel. And we

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S8: know this because we can see the same people in

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S8: different situations, different news clips. Suddenly this woman's lost a child.

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S8: Suddenly this woman, you know, her house has been hit.

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S8: You just think, oh, hang on, didn't we just see

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S8: the same woman in an interview two weeks ago? They

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S8: are using actors and they're using AI. We've also seen videos,

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S8: particularly when they were marking the anniversary of the Islamic

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S8: Republic in February. There were videos of, you know, marches

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S8: and joyous celebrations of this glorious regime. And if you

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S8: look closely, their legs suddenly disappear. Or I mean, it's.

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S9: Just, yeah.

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S8: It's all fake news.

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S1: Oh my goodness, it's sobering. Ali.

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S4: It is. And so what do you do? Well, we

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S4: want to help you pray. There's a prayer guide on

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S4: the Transform Iran website that you can look through and

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S4: be focused in your prayer, because sometimes you the challenges

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S4: can seem so great you don't even know where to start.

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S4: Text transform to 800 555 7898. Just text that one word.

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S4: Transform 800 555 7898.

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S6: Want to hear that again? Just download the kernel and

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S6: Cru podcast wherever you like to stream.

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S1: You talk about hope, rising freedom in Christ. I mean,

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S1: at the end of the day, the freedom that we

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S1: find in Christ takes you from slavery to sin into

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S1: this new hope, new life, new creation, new world. Blues

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S1: are bluer. Greens are green, greener sounds more clear. I mean,

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S1: it's it's an epic thing. It's a reality. Welcome aboard

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S1: on this Freedom Friday. I hope you're doing well in

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S1: this second hour of our program today. And man, we're

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S1: just grateful. We're coming off of a tough interview with

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S1: Lana Silk and ah, it's sobering and there's so much

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S1: to pray about. And yet the amazing thing about the

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S1: persecuted church around the globe is that they just pray

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S1: for ask you to pray for more of Jesus in them. Ali.

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S4: Yeah. You know, and you hear the kind of story

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S4: that she shared some of the details and she said

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S4: she's not even sharing the worst because it would be

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S4: difficult to even use those words on radio. And you think, how,

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S4: how in the world do people survive in that kind

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S4: of context? How can you have faith in that kind

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S4: of context?

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S1: Yeah, it's it's so brutal. I mean, these guys running

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S1: around on mopeds and motorcycles that they're bringing in now

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S1: from other countries, you know, you don't, you don't get

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S1: that detail. Uh, but they're yelling Allah Akbar. They're their

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S1: threatening lives there. Some of what's going on over there,

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S1: it's just got it's a it's a life of terror.

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S1: If you dare to take a stand against the regime,

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S1: any speech at all, and your life's going to be

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S1: snuffed out and, and displayed for everyone to see. Uh,

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S1: it's it's hard, man. I, I, I have a hard time.

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S1: I have a hard time with that. And I'm usually

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S1: pretty tough in my gut, but this is brutal. This

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S1: is absolutely. Does this make me cry?

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S2: Yeah. I think that was at least in my mind

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S2: for me, the toughest interview that that I've heard here

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S2: on the show, just the reality of it is, is

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S2: so somber. It's so horrible.

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S1: Yeah, it's, it's hard to get your head around. It's

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S1: just hard to get your head around. It really is. Uh, Ali,

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S1: would you pray for Iran and our brothers and sisters

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S1: around the world in harm's way? Come on, let's go.

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S4: Yeah. God, we come to you with heavy hearts. But

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S4: knowing God that you see all you know all. You

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S4: are a God of justice. You're a God of mercy.

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S4: And God, you are grieved over what was described as

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S4: well God. No one is grieved more than you, God,

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S4: because these are image bearers, people created in the image

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S4: of a holy God and Lord. That kind of wickedness.

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S4: God is such an affront to your character. But God,

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S4: we know that we need not worry or fret because God,

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S4: you are on the throne. Yeah, and you are mighty. Yeah,

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S4: over all of it. God, that there's there's no power

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S4: more powerful than you. God. No regime more powerful. So God,

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S4: even in our arrogance, when we think that we are

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S4: in control, God, we bow our knee, Lord. And I

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S4: just ask for the people who are in Iran and

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S4: in other persecuted places around the world. God, that you

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S4: would strengthen our brothers and sisters in Christ. That you

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S4: would give them. God the ability to hold on to you. Lord,

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S4: give them the strength to continue to seek you, Lord.

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S4: And Lord, we pray that you would thwart the plan

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S4: of the evil one. Lord, wherever evil is being planned

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S4: this morning, God, would you frustrate the plan of the enemy? God? God,

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S4: would you remove from power? God. Wicked leaders and we

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S4: leave that for you to decide. God. We don't judge

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S4: rightly all the time, but you do God. Lord, we

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S4: are in your hand and we just ask for your

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S4: mercy for our brothers and sisters. Give them mercy. Give

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S4: them strength, God, give them comfort. Oh Lord Jesus, give

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S4: them hope this morning. In Jesus name, Amen.

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S1: Amen. You know, as you were praying, I. I was

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S1: just thinking, this is how this is how open theism,

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S1: which is a very narrow, sliver, doctrinal kind of position

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S1: that says that God set in motion, uh, the, uh,

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S1: the free will and, uh, the, the ability to choose

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S1: evil and open theism kind of holds a position that

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S1: God is ultimately not sovereign over these things. Yeah. This is,

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S1: this is how open theism gets born because in our

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S1: human mind, we don't understand how in the world can

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S1: God allow this stuff to happen?

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S2: Totally.

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S4: Right.

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S1: This is how it gets born.

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S2: That thought process without faith in God makes sense because

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S2: you look at it and it's it is so atrocious.

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S1: Well, faith in God makes sense. But open theists would

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S1: say they have faith in God, but they have no

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S1: faith in man. And they, they, they would say that

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S1: this is classic evidence that I mean, because how could

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S1: a loving God allow this to happen. Yeah, that's how

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S1: open theism is born. And frankly, after you hear Lana, it's.

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S1: Is it any wonder people are open theists? No. Now, I,

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S1: on the other hand. Believe that God is still sovereign

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S1: over these things and that he puts in mechanisms like

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S1: shock and all these cool things that we're learning about that,

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S1: that help insulate us a bit. But does it keep

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S1: us totally from the pain of affliction? No, no. And

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S1: I don't know how this whole, this whole thing gets

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S1: sorted out, but I know it does because you read

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S1: the back of the book. I was cogitating with my

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S1: wife last night about the New Jerusalem and how the

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S1: earth will not be annihilated. It's going to be restored.

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S1: In fact, the New Jerusalem will come down and we

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S1: will dwell with him. And it's it's going to be

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S1: an amazing day when we see revelation 21 uncorked, unveiled.

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S1: Wiping away tears. Man. And it's going to be a

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S1: new day. Mhm. And so we walk on, uh, you know,

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S1: there's a couple of things on my heart. This morning

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S1: I was talking with my right hand man. Our two

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S1: campuses here in one city, Chicago, in Chicagoland. I'm a

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S1: pastor of a church filled with people that just love

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S1: the Lord. And you know what this young man told me?

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S1: It's so good. He said, you know, he said, Carl,

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S1: you're big on talking about not just hearing the Word

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S1: of God and applying it. He says, that is so

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S1: right on. We've got to champion this in our in

443
00:24:59,190 --> 00:25:02,590
S1: a discipleship oriented church, for sure. But he said, one

444
00:25:02,590 --> 00:25:07,790
S1: of the great dangers that I see coming from India

445
00:25:07,830 --> 00:25:10,629
S1: with kind of fresh eyes looking into this culture here,

446
00:25:10,630 --> 00:25:14,430
S1: is he said, and I don't want this to become me.

447
00:25:14,770 --> 00:25:18,690
S1: But he says there seems to be a plateauing rather

448
00:25:18,690 --> 00:25:22,850
S1: than an ongoing. Becoming who we are in Jesus. He

449
00:25:22,850 --> 00:25:25,649
S1: says there seems to be a point at which people

450
00:25:25,690 --> 00:25:30,650
S1: begin to plateau and. And cease to say to God,

451
00:25:30,650 --> 00:25:34,010
S1: search me, know me, try me. And we settle in

452
00:25:34,010 --> 00:25:38,369
S1: with a few issues that he's not making judgment calls

453
00:25:38,369 --> 00:25:42,810
S1: on people's character, just trajectory spiritually. And there's some truth

454
00:25:42,810 --> 00:25:45,490
S1: in that. And one of the great dangers is that

455
00:25:45,490 --> 00:25:50,290
S1: we can read or hear and apply. And pretty quick,

456
00:25:50,290 --> 00:25:53,330
S1: if we're not careful, we kind of cordon off certain

457
00:25:53,330 --> 00:25:56,890
S1: areas of our life that we're like, okay, um, I'm

458
00:25:56,890 --> 00:26:01,290
S1: going to learn and apply certain truths to certain areas

459
00:26:01,290 --> 00:26:04,770
S1: of my life. But, but there's some that can tend

460
00:26:04,770 --> 00:26:09,050
S1: to little corners of our heart that can plateau. And

461
00:26:09,250 --> 00:26:14,190
S1: I appreciate his observation on that because my goodness, I'll

462
00:26:14,190 --> 00:26:17,230
S1: be the first to confess. It is easy to plateau

463
00:26:17,230 --> 00:26:18,430
S1: in the spiritual life.

464
00:26:18,590 --> 00:26:19,350
S4: Oh, totally.

465
00:26:19,350 --> 00:26:22,149
S1: Like this area is good enough, right, Ali?

466
00:26:22,190 --> 00:26:26,590
S4: And I think particularly in a context where there's not

467
00:26:26,590 --> 00:26:31,629
S4: a lot of opposition that to your face.

468
00:26:31,910 --> 00:26:32,910
S1: Yeah, yeah, yeah.

469
00:26:32,950 --> 00:26:36,950
S4: And I mean, and that's not to say that overall

470
00:26:37,390 --> 00:26:41,389
S4: the culture isn't hostile to the Christian worldview. That's absolutely

471
00:26:41,390 --> 00:26:47,350
S4: the case. But as far as individual personal cost, persecution,

472
00:26:48,230 --> 00:26:51,710
S4: just in this culture, we just don't see a lot

473
00:26:51,710 --> 00:26:56,190
S4: of that. And that's a God's mercy for a time.

474
00:26:56,190 --> 00:26:58,670
S4: We don't know how long that will last. But I

475
00:26:58,670 --> 00:27:01,949
S4: think that what happens even let's take it when you

476
00:27:01,990 --> 00:27:04,669
S4: get hit with a personal crisis, nothing to do with persecution,

477
00:27:04,670 --> 00:27:08,510
S4: just something knocks you down sideways. Some phone call that

478
00:27:08,510 --> 00:27:12,050
S4: you weren't expected, some unexpected diagnosis or loss or something

479
00:27:12,050 --> 00:27:16,090
S4: that totally turns your world upside down. And very quickly

480
00:27:16,130 --> 00:27:19,330
S4: things become clarified as far as what really matters and

481
00:27:19,330 --> 00:27:20,330
S4: what doesn't.

482
00:27:20,530 --> 00:27:20,970
S2: Yeah.

483
00:27:21,490 --> 00:27:23,730
S4: And I think that that's a taste of it.

484
00:27:23,930 --> 00:27:27,850
S2: Yeah. I, you know, my, my daughter has this toy

485
00:27:27,850 --> 00:27:30,490
S2: called kinetic sand. I didn't have it as a kid,

486
00:27:30,490 --> 00:27:33,010
S2: but it's this sand. It's not really sand. It's you

487
00:27:33,050 --> 00:27:34,969
S2: can play with it safe in the house, but I

488
00:27:35,010 --> 00:27:37,209
S2: love playing with it. You form it and as you

489
00:27:37,210 --> 00:27:38,970
S2: form it, it can get solid and it can do

490
00:27:38,970 --> 00:27:40,530
S2: a lot of great things and look like a lot

491
00:27:40,530 --> 00:27:43,210
S2: of different things. As soon as you stop forming it

492
00:27:43,210 --> 00:27:44,970
S2: and you just let it sit there, it all starts

493
00:27:44,970 --> 00:27:48,050
S2: to crumble apart in your hand. And I was thinking

494
00:27:48,050 --> 00:27:51,330
S2: about that with the Christian life, and it's very much

495
00:27:51,330 --> 00:27:55,490
S2: so the same that formation is so important to what

496
00:27:55,490 --> 00:27:58,410
S2: we do. And, and a lot of our brothers and

497
00:27:58,410 --> 00:28:01,609
S2: sisters in Christ around the world and persecuted countries don't

498
00:28:01,609 --> 00:28:04,530
S2: have the option to stop being formed because of what

499
00:28:04,530 --> 00:28:08,330
S2: they're facing externally. But here, like you said, Carl, it

500
00:28:08,330 --> 00:28:10,990
S2: can be easy to say, oh, I'm done in this area.

501
00:28:11,030 --> 00:28:13,430
S2: I'm going to stop growing over here. When we make

502
00:28:13,430 --> 00:28:16,390
S2: those choices to get stagnant or to stop growing, then

503
00:28:16,390 --> 00:28:18,270
S2: we can kind of lose it all together. We have

504
00:28:18,270 --> 00:28:20,990
S2: to allow ourselves to keep being formed at all times.

505
00:28:21,030 --> 00:28:24,109
S1: Yeah, yeah. It's that keep being formed. Yeah. And I

506
00:28:24,150 --> 00:28:31,550
S1: don't think we cognizant we almost declared God. All right,

507
00:28:31,550 --> 00:28:33,950
S1: I'm going to stop growing in this area.

508
00:28:34,030 --> 00:28:35,070
S2: Totally, totally.

509
00:28:35,230 --> 00:28:38,070
S1: You know, but we by virtue of the fact and

510
00:28:38,110 --> 00:28:41,630
S1: it's true, Ali, with the absence of persecution, direct hits

511
00:28:41,630 --> 00:28:46,150
S1: on our life, we probably tend to not examine things

512
00:28:46,150 --> 00:28:51,110
S1: as much. You know, boom crew, if you have not

513
00:28:51,150 --> 00:28:53,750
S1: if you did not hear Land of Silk, that interview

514
00:28:53,790 --> 00:28:55,350
S1: with her, we're going to put that at the front

515
00:28:55,350 --> 00:29:00,070
S1: end of our show cast today because it's it's sobering.

516
00:29:00,430 --> 00:29:03,750
S1: And I think what's sobering is what she left unsaid,

517
00:29:05,070 --> 00:29:09,610
S1: what was unsaid Because she couldn't bear to say it

518
00:29:09,610 --> 00:29:11,450
S1: or it wouldn't be right to say it on air.

519
00:29:12,010 --> 00:29:16,130
S1: But get the show cast today if you never have.

520
00:29:16,130 --> 00:29:23,410
S1: Listen to Lana Silk. I think if you have this, I.

521
00:29:23,450 --> 00:29:26,450
S1: I truly believe if the Spirit of God indwells you,

522
00:29:26,490 --> 00:29:30,330
S1: it will jar you. I don't even think you have

523
00:29:30,330 --> 00:29:32,690
S1: to have spirit of God to be jarred by it necessarily.

524
00:29:32,690 --> 00:29:34,410
S1: We can, as you said. Ali, you can just be

525
00:29:34,410 --> 00:29:39,370
S1: an image bearer of God. That's okay. But if the

526
00:29:39,370 --> 00:29:42,250
S1: Spirit of God indwells you, I think it will cause

527
00:29:42,250 --> 00:29:45,530
S1: you to say, wow, how? How shall I then live?

528
00:29:45,890 --> 00:29:48,330
S1: I really believe that. So text the word show to

529
00:29:48,330 --> 00:29:59,570
S1: our number 800 555 7898 800 555 7898. I'm going

530
00:29:59,610 --> 00:30:01,570
S1: to shift gears coming up here. I was going a

531
00:30:01,570 --> 00:30:04,210
S1: different direction, got some content and everything, but I'm going

532
00:30:04,210 --> 00:30:05,690
S1: to shift gears here a little bit. I'm going to

533
00:30:05,790 --> 00:30:08,550
S1: honor my buddy Ajit this morning. I'm going to ask

534
00:30:08,550 --> 00:30:14,510
S1: a question. Have you do you have a time recently,

535
00:30:14,510 --> 00:30:18,630
S1: recently where you had plateaued in a certain area spiritually

536
00:30:18,630 --> 00:30:21,790
S1: and this could be any number of areas, right? I mean,

537
00:30:21,870 --> 00:30:27,430
S1: this could be marriage. This can be, uh, seeking the Lord.

538
00:30:27,430 --> 00:30:31,470
S1: It can be getting a little squishy with finances. It's

539
00:30:31,470 --> 00:30:35,110
S1: like I've got 90% things oriented, but I'm kind of

540
00:30:35,150 --> 00:30:38,950
S1: got 10% that I know that are, you know, this

541
00:30:38,950 --> 00:30:41,670
S1: area of my life. It could be just straight up stewardship.

542
00:30:41,670 --> 00:30:43,470
S1: I'm going to be bold as a pastor here. It

543
00:30:43,470 --> 00:30:46,270
S1: could be that you're tipping God and you've come up

544
00:30:46,270 --> 00:30:48,870
S1: with all kinds of reasons for it. It's like, ah,

545
00:30:48,910 --> 00:30:51,750
S1: you know, I feel like I can spend it better

546
00:30:51,750 --> 00:30:54,350
S1: over here or there. And I mean, it can be

547
00:30:54,350 --> 00:30:57,350
S1: all kinds of different things, but is there an area

548
00:30:57,350 --> 00:31:00,070
S1: of your life where you had plateaued and the Holy

549
00:31:00,070 --> 00:31:04,570
S1: Spirit in mercy showed you something that needed to change.

550
00:31:05,250 --> 00:31:08,010
S1: And this is this is going to be generally for

551
00:31:08,010 --> 00:31:10,330
S1: people that have been in Christ for a while. Right. Ali?

552
00:31:10,370 --> 00:31:12,690
S4: Absolutely. So if you want to call in this morning

553
00:31:12,730 --> 00:31:17,650
S4: 800 555 7898. If you're willing to tell us there's

554
00:31:17,650 --> 00:31:20,850
S4: an area in your life that you have had plateaued.

555
00:31:20,890 --> 00:31:23,610
S4: We're looking for the breakthrough aspect of this, right, Carl?

556
00:31:23,650 --> 00:31:26,770
S4: You're on the other side of it. Yeah. Okay, 800

557
00:31:26,770 --> 00:31:29,290
S4: 555 7898.

558
00:31:29,330 --> 00:31:35,010
S1: Yeah, 800 555 7898. You know, this is one of

559
00:31:35,010 --> 00:31:37,770
S1: those vulnerable questions where you call in and go, yeah,

560
00:31:37,810 --> 00:31:40,370
S1: this is real of me. If you need to stay anonymous,

561
00:31:40,370 --> 00:31:41,690
S1: that's cool. Give us a call.

562
00:31:42,330 --> 00:31:45,330
S6: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then

563
00:31:45,370 --> 00:31:49,730
S6: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl

564
00:31:49,730 --> 00:31:51,410
S6: and crew on Moody Radio.

565
00:31:51,810 --> 00:31:54,090
S1: It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step

566
00:31:54,090 --> 00:31:59,570
S1: with Jesus. You know, plateauing is an interesting thing. And

567
00:31:59,570 --> 00:32:04,670
S1: in true spiritual form, It's it's if you look at

568
00:32:04,670 --> 00:32:09,390
S1: a plateau. So imagine walking through a open space and

569
00:32:09,390 --> 00:32:12,870
S1: you see a rise and it's flat on top. So

570
00:32:12,870 --> 00:32:16,030
S1: you climb and you send that. There's challenges to get

571
00:32:16,030 --> 00:32:20,710
S1: up there, right? Sure. Which is the spiritual life. And

572
00:32:20,750 --> 00:32:22,830
S1: then you get to the plateau and you kind of

573
00:32:22,870 --> 00:32:25,870
S1: things kind of even out, you're kind of kind of

574
00:32:25,910 --> 00:32:31,110
S1: hang there. But the spiritual life is the issue of

575
00:32:31,110 --> 00:32:35,310
S1: becoming is that we never fully become, I mean, until

576
00:32:35,310 --> 00:32:38,510
S1: we get this glorified body and our glorified mind and

577
00:32:38,510 --> 00:32:43,390
S1: our glorified lives, we got opportunities for growth. The richest

578
00:32:43,390 --> 00:32:46,910
S1: among us never say they've arrived or even consider that

579
00:32:46,910 --> 00:32:50,350
S1: for a moment. So plateauing can be dangerous because in

580
00:32:50,350 --> 00:32:53,870
S1: the spiritual life, in fact, when you think you've plateaued,

581
00:32:53,870 --> 00:32:56,910
S1: you're actually set up for a bit of a descent.

582
00:32:57,150 --> 00:33:00,770
S1: That's the problem. That can be a real rub. so

583
00:33:00,770 --> 00:33:02,490
S1: we don't have any calls coming in. So let me

584
00:33:02,530 --> 00:33:06,370
S1: set it up this way. I had a really discouraging

585
00:33:06,370 --> 00:33:09,450
S1: day a few days ago. Like big time physically, spiritually,

586
00:33:10,010 --> 00:33:13,930
S1: just emotionally. And I'm, I'm an Alaskan dude. So to

587
00:33:13,970 --> 00:33:18,250
S1: say that is that's a reach, but that's reality. And

588
00:33:18,250 --> 00:33:21,290
S1: I want to tell you what God did. I have

589
00:33:21,290 --> 00:33:24,610
S1: these times with my bride where we sit down face

590
00:33:24,610 --> 00:33:27,490
S1: to face and we just look at each other. No

591
00:33:27,490 --> 00:33:32,250
S1: phones opened up, nothing on our laps, not eating, just

592
00:33:32,250 --> 00:33:37,050
S1: looking at each other, just talking. And I poured out

593
00:33:37,050 --> 00:33:39,810
S1: my heart to my bride. And I don't normally do that.

594
00:33:39,810 --> 00:33:43,010
S1: I think more often I'm wanting to hear her because

595
00:33:43,010 --> 00:33:46,650
S1: I'm I'm a big believer. Men are initiators. Women are responders.

596
00:33:46,650 --> 00:33:51,170
S1: Initiate toward your women. Men. It's a good thing. Crack

597
00:33:51,210 --> 00:33:54,610
S1: them open. Let them speak, hear their hearts. Beautiful thing

598
00:33:54,650 --> 00:33:58,570
S1: gives them great freedom. But on this morning, a few

599
00:33:58,630 --> 00:34:01,830
S1: mornings ago. I said, I need to talk to you.

600
00:34:02,750 --> 00:34:04,790
S1: I just poured out my heart. She just sat there

601
00:34:04,790 --> 00:34:09,670
S1: and listened. And I won't give you all the details

602
00:34:09,670 --> 00:34:12,230
S1: about it because it's too private. But it was really

603
00:34:12,230 --> 00:34:15,750
S1: cool at the end of that time. Man, it was

604
00:34:15,750 --> 00:34:19,549
S1: well with my soul because I had a buddy, my

605
00:34:19,550 --> 00:34:24,390
S1: bride of 38 years coming up on 39 who didn't

606
00:34:24,430 --> 00:34:28,510
S1: try to fix anything, but she just listened, empathized, gave

607
00:34:28,510 --> 00:34:31,550
S1: me some truth where I had maybe broad brushed something

608
00:34:31,550 --> 00:34:36,390
S1: in my life that wasn't going well, gave me some perspective,

609
00:34:37,710 --> 00:34:40,750
S1: and I got up from that time with her. And man,

610
00:34:40,750 --> 00:34:44,110
S1: it changed the trajectory of my life in that day. Wow.

611
00:34:44,270 --> 00:34:45,390
S1: It was so cool.

612
00:34:46,190 --> 00:34:47,710
S4: So, I mean, there's a couple of things. It was

613
00:34:47,910 --> 00:34:50,150
S4: her support her.

614
00:34:50,190 --> 00:34:51,350
S1: That's the biggest thing.

615
00:34:51,390 --> 00:34:52,790
S4: Her presence with you?

616
00:34:52,830 --> 00:34:56,350
S1: Yeah. Just knowing that I got someone other than God

617
00:34:56,350 --> 00:34:57,650
S1: with me on this thing.

618
00:34:58,210 --> 00:35:01,450
S4: Was there anything specific that was said that and you

619
00:35:01,450 --> 00:35:03,250
S4: don't have to share what it was, but was there

620
00:35:03,250 --> 00:35:07,290
S4: a statement or a truth that was particularly encouraging, or

621
00:35:07,290 --> 00:35:10,290
S4: was it really more what was just kind of her

622
00:35:10,290 --> 00:35:13,410
S4: being with you and knowing that she was supportive? That

623
00:35:13,410 --> 00:35:14,969
S4: was most helpful.

624
00:35:15,410 --> 00:35:21,090
S1: Probably just being there with me. That was really good. But, um,

625
00:35:21,210 --> 00:35:24,850
S1: she deposited a few words that, you know, when we're

626
00:35:24,850 --> 00:35:26,890
S1: getting to a funk, we can broad brush in the

627
00:35:26,890 --> 00:35:29,010
S1: whole world begins to look gray, right?

628
00:35:29,050 --> 00:35:29,690
S2: Oh, sure.

629
00:35:29,730 --> 00:35:30,050
S1: Yeah.

630
00:35:30,250 --> 00:35:31,410
S2: So everything's horrible.

631
00:35:31,410 --> 00:35:35,649
S1: Having someone that can point out some blue sky for you, uh,

632
00:35:35,650 --> 00:35:39,209
S1: that's a blessing. And it's funny because you were talking

633
00:35:39,210 --> 00:35:41,489
S1: about this as just a couple of days ago. Ali,

634
00:35:41,489 --> 00:35:43,130
S1: you're like, ah, I can get into this point where

635
00:35:43,130 --> 00:35:45,210
S1: it's like, oh, I'm not a good mom. I'm not

636
00:35:45,210 --> 00:35:47,010
S1: a good, not good on radio.

637
00:35:47,050 --> 00:35:48,370
S4: I'm a loser.

638
00:35:48,489 --> 00:35:51,130
S1: I'm a loser all the way around. And, and I

639
00:35:51,130 --> 00:35:53,209
S1: had one of those moments and those are rare for me,

640
00:35:53,210 --> 00:35:56,350
S1: but I had one of those moments where it's like, ah, man,

641
00:35:56,350 --> 00:36:01,110
S1: I suck at everything. Little King James there. So I mean,

642
00:36:01,510 --> 00:36:07,230
S1: it was like, man, this is horrible. Uh, but here's

643
00:36:07,230 --> 00:36:10,190
S1: what's cool about that, man. It was hope rising for

644
00:36:10,190 --> 00:36:15,390
S1: me because we all need that. And you might say, well,

645
00:36:15,390 --> 00:36:19,790
S1: isn't Jesus enough? Yeah. But Jesus in his providence and

646
00:36:19,790 --> 00:36:24,510
S1: God in his goodness and the spirit in his all knowingness, uh,

647
00:36:24,550 --> 00:36:28,029
S1: allowed us to rub shoulders with other people who can

648
00:36:28,030 --> 00:36:33,790
S1: help us. And it's just good. It's good. And you

649
00:36:33,790 --> 00:36:36,630
S1: know what that did for me? Because I was stuck

650
00:36:36,630 --> 00:36:39,870
S1: in a couple areas. It, it took that lot of

651
00:36:39,910 --> 00:36:43,630
S1: little plateau that I was on and it bumped me

652
00:36:43,670 --> 00:36:47,750
S1: up in every area of my life, even to this morning.

653
00:36:47,950 --> 00:36:51,190
S1: It's like, wow. In fact, I texted my bride. She

654
00:36:51,230 --> 00:36:53,190
S1: had gone out for a long walk and I had

655
00:36:53,190 --> 00:36:55,290
S1: a meeting, but I texted her. I said, man, that

656
00:36:55,290 --> 00:36:57,529
S1: was really good for me, she says. Bob, that was

657
00:36:57,530 --> 00:37:03,130
S1: good for me to put some heart emojis. It's good,

658
00:37:03,969 --> 00:37:06,609
S1: it's good. It's good to not just sit there on

659
00:37:06,610 --> 00:37:07,930
S1: a plateau, isn't it, guys?

660
00:37:07,969 --> 00:37:08,490
S4: Oh yeah.

661
00:37:08,530 --> 00:37:10,530
S2: It is. And I think that that just that story

662
00:37:10,530 --> 00:37:15,210
S2: highlights the importance of community that God puts people in

663
00:37:15,210 --> 00:37:18,690
S2: our lives to do this walk together. We're called parts

664
00:37:18,690 --> 00:37:21,489
S2: of the body. If I'm the finger man, I got

665
00:37:21,489 --> 00:37:24,049
S2: to be connected to the rest of it. Otherwise I'm

666
00:37:24,050 --> 00:37:27,450
S2: just laying there. Yeah, you know it. We we need

667
00:37:27,489 --> 00:37:30,330
S2: each other. God gives us each other. And I think

668
00:37:30,330 --> 00:37:32,210
S2: that's a big way. He helps us get out of

669
00:37:32,210 --> 00:37:33,810
S2: plateaus is other people.

670
00:37:33,810 --> 00:37:36,129
S1: Yeah. And I mean, we're members of one another. And

671
00:37:36,130 --> 00:37:40,690
S1: it's a bummer when everybody's suffering from paralysis. So a

672
00:37:40,690 --> 00:37:45,049
S1: hands just sitting there. You know what? No, seriously. You're right.

673
00:37:45,090 --> 00:37:48,130
S1: I mean, if we have willful paralysis in the body

674
00:37:48,130 --> 00:37:51,410
S1: of Christ, ain't nobody getting helped here.

675
00:37:51,550 --> 00:37:54,390
S4: What do you. What do you mean by willful paralysis?

676
00:37:54,430 --> 00:37:58,310
S1: If we know that we are the body of Christ theologically,

677
00:37:58,350 --> 00:38:02,310
S1: but functionally, we're not being the hands and feet of

678
00:38:02,310 --> 00:38:08,190
S1: Jesus to help support one another. We're missing an opportunity.

679
00:38:08,230 --> 00:38:10,029
S2: And it's a part of the body not operating.

680
00:38:10,070 --> 00:38:13,150
S1: Yeah. I mean, when you have a foot that goes

681
00:38:13,190 --> 00:38:17,149
S1: numb or willfully numb, don't just sit in there. You

682
00:38:17,150 --> 00:38:19,830
S1: ever tried to step out of bed on a dead foot?

683
00:38:20,030 --> 00:38:20,590
S2: The worst.

684
00:38:20,630 --> 00:38:23,350
S4: Yeah. Like what's asleep a little bit.

685
00:38:23,390 --> 00:38:28,350
S1: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, I've done that a time or

686
00:38:28,350 --> 00:38:30,989
S1: two where you wake up from. It's usually a nap.

687
00:38:31,030 --> 00:38:33,029
S1: It's not where you wake up from a nap when

688
00:38:33,030 --> 00:38:36,310
S1: you've gone into full coma and you wake up and

689
00:38:36,310 --> 00:38:38,310
S1: you sit down on the floor and it's like, whoa,

690
00:38:38,590 --> 00:38:43,110
S1: can't walk. We need each other. Guys don't have any

691
00:38:43,110 --> 00:38:47,029
S1: willful or passive paralysis. We need each other in a

692
00:38:47,030 --> 00:38:49,150
S1: big way. Got a question? We might be able to

693
00:38:49,150 --> 00:38:51,210
S1: get 1 or 2 of you in here. Just. Just

694
00:38:51,210 --> 00:38:52,689
S1: a quick one. Ali, what do you got?

695
00:38:52,730 --> 00:38:55,450
S4: Yeah, we're asking if you can remember a time recently

696
00:38:55,450 --> 00:38:59,650
S4: where you plateaued in an area area spiritually, and the

697
00:38:59,650 --> 00:39:03,850
S4: Holy Spirit showed you what needed to change. 855 five

698
00:39:03,890 --> 00:39:08,250
S4: 7898 (800) 555-7898.

699
00:39:09,170 --> 00:39:12,250
S6: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

700
00:39:13,370 --> 00:39:15,610
S1: Yeah. Just a quick question for you here. Boom crew

701
00:39:15,650 --> 00:39:18,609
S1: are asking you, did you have time recently where you

702
00:39:18,610 --> 00:39:22,410
S1: plateaued in any area spiritually? What an insight from a J.

703
00:39:22,410 --> 00:39:24,090
S1: Christopher right. My right hand man.

704
00:39:24,610 --> 00:39:29,890
S4: Observing that he sees that a lot coming from another context. Culturally,

705
00:39:30,330 --> 00:39:35,010
S4: seeing here, it seems like people stop growing spiritually and

706
00:39:35,050 --> 00:39:36,210
S4: just kind of settle in.

707
00:39:36,810 --> 00:39:39,250
S1: You know, there becomes this growth pattern and then all

708
00:39:39,250 --> 00:39:43,450
S1: of a sudden, without us knowing, without being continually placed

709
00:39:43,450 --> 00:39:47,290
S1: on the potter's wheel, we can take ourselves off that

710
00:39:47,330 --> 00:39:50,350
S1: wheel and be somewhat content with kind of where we're at.

711
00:39:50,390 --> 00:39:53,469
S1: Could be dangerous. Greg in Indiana, man. What do you

712
00:39:53,469 --> 00:39:59,230
S1: say you plateaued a little bit, my man. Hello, Greg.

713
00:39:59,230 --> 00:40:01,070
S1: You're on with Carl and crew. You got us.

714
00:40:02,590 --> 00:40:03,590
S12: I got you, Carl.

715
00:40:03,630 --> 00:40:05,469
S1: Hey, man, tell us your story. We just got a

716
00:40:05,469 --> 00:40:06,030
S1: minute here.

717
00:40:07,070 --> 00:40:11,350
S12: No problem. Yeah, my wife and I are on vacation, and, uh, uh,

718
00:40:11,350 --> 00:40:15,390
S12: two nights ago, I was compelled to get off my

719
00:40:15,790 --> 00:40:19,230
S12: backside and go down and try out one of the

720
00:40:19,270 --> 00:40:23,790
S12: yellow bikes for rent. And no sooner had I gone

721
00:40:23,790 --> 00:40:27,830
S12: under an overpass along the bay than I heard a

722
00:40:27,830 --> 00:40:33,350
S12: man coughing. And the Holy Spirit within me said, Greg

723
00:40:33,350 --> 00:40:38,750
S12: noticed this and brother, I kept on rolling and uh.

724
00:40:39,550 --> 00:40:43,509
S12: 10s later the Lord allowed the chain to come off

725
00:40:43,510 --> 00:40:45,950
S12: the bike. I kid you not, and I had to stop.

726
00:40:48,210 --> 00:40:50,890
S12: And I took four minutes and put that chain back

727
00:40:50,890 --> 00:40:55,930
S12: on the bike. And I said, Lord, I'm going to

728
00:40:55,969 --> 00:40:58,330
S12: intercede for that man. That must be what you want.

729
00:40:58,969 --> 00:41:03,569
S12: And I kept on going. And the next morning, yesterday morning,

730
00:41:03,570 --> 00:41:05,930
S12: I got up and I knew that as soon as

731
00:41:05,930 --> 00:41:12,690
S12: I was in my reading where, uh, Eli told Samuel

732
00:41:12,730 --> 00:41:18,370
S12: to speak. Lord, for your servant is listening. I don't

733
00:41:18,370 --> 00:41:21,210
S12: know why at that moment, honestly, Karl, I stopped, but

734
00:41:21,210 --> 00:41:26,129
S12: I stopped the audio, and immediately the Lord reminded me

735
00:41:26,130 --> 00:41:30,690
S12: that in order to not plateau and quench His Spirit's move,

736
00:41:30,730 --> 00:41:35,129
S12: he desires and demands that we walk in obedience, not

737
00:41:35,130 --> 00:41:37,850
S12: because he can't do something without us. He doesn't need

738
00:41:37,850 --> 00:41:44,710
S12: me or you to work a miracle in a man's life,

739
00:41:45,230 --> 00:41:50,910
S12: physically or spiritually. He just demands our hearts and our obedience.

740
00:41:50,910 --> 00:41:54,950
S12: And the precious thing about this is that I shared that,

741
00:41:55,270 --> 00:41:58,190
S12: like you were sharing about your wife with my family

742
00:41:58,190 --> 00:42:01,990
S12: and a Marco Polo and my 37 year old adult

743
00:42:01,989 --> 00:42:07,550
S12: daughter came back and reminded me that God is pleased

744
00:42:07,550 --> 00:42:11,750
S12: with us as his image bearers and desires relationship, not

745
00:42:11,750 --> 00:42:13,870
S12: our deeds, as I have preached to her on a

746
00:42:13,870 --> 00:42:18,350
S12: number of occasions. And it was a sweet time similar

747
00:42:18,350 --> 00:42:20,950
S12: to what you were talking about, where my my daughter

748
00:42:21,670 --> 00:42:26,109
S12: reminded me of what is true. And, um, it's just

749
00:42:26,110 --> 00:42:28,270
S12: how we can plateau if we refuse to walk in

750
00:42:28,270 --> 00:42:34,430
S12: obedience and sensitivity to the spirit, not just hearing, but obeying. And, um,

751
00:42:35,270 --> 00:42:40,230
S12: that I just, it was a perfect illustrative scenario compared

752
00:42:40,230 --> 00:42:42,890
S12: to what you were talking about this morning. We must

753
00:42:42,890 --> 00:42:47,210
S12: walk in obedience, and then we walk from obedience to obedience,

754
00:42:47,690 --> 00:42:50,170
S12: and we do not plateau that way.

755
00:42:50,210 --> 00:42:53,490
S1: Yeah. It's beautiful. Greg, thank you for calling in, man,

756
00:42:54,090 --> 00:42:57,410
S1: and Godspeed on your vacation. What a cool thing. Yeah,

757
00:42:57,610 --> 00:43:01,130
S1: what a cool thing. He's listening this morning. Yeah, it's

758
00:43:01,130 --> 00:43:04,290
S1: an amazing thing. So you hear that cough next time?

759
00:43:04,290 --> 00:43:08,090
S1: And it's like, Lord, are you speaking? And and yet

760
00:43:08,090 --> 00:43:12,730
S1: at the same time, it's it doesn't paint us with

761
00:43:12,730 --> 00:43:16,089
S1: the broad brush that, oh, we're missing everything. We're led

762
00:43:16,090 --> 00:43:18,170
S1: by the spirit in these things. If we stay on

763
00:43:18,170 --> 00:43:21,009
S1: the potter's wheel of the Spirit's guidance. Katie, bar the door.

764
00:43:21,050 --> 00:43:25,930
S1: Look out! It's going to be beautiful. Wow. I'm going

765
00:43:25,930 --> 00:43:28,290
S1: to get Gary in here really quickly. Gary. First time

766
00:43:28,290 --> 00:43:30,610
S1: caller from Indiana. We just got a second here, bro.

767
00:43:30,610 --> 00:43:31,130
S1: Go ahead.

768
00:43:32,250 --> 00:43:33,930
S12: Hey, uh, the.

769
00:43:34,130 --> 00:43:39,050
S13: Lord has prompted me. I'd gotten away from prayer time and, uh,

770
00:43:39,690 --> 00:43:42,989
S13: mainly just you. just for about the past 20 years,

771
00:43:42,989 --> 00:43:47,469
S13: I've kind of become a little bit of a survivalist

772
00:43:47,670 --> 00:43:50,350
S13: and you see the craziness. So you just kind of

773
00:43:50,390 --> 00:43:53,509
S13: focus on being a man as you was talking with

774
00:43:53,510 --> 00:43:55,590
S13: your wife, you being a man, you want to be

775
00:43:55,870 --> 00:43:58,310
S13: the warrior, you want to be the protector, you want

776
00:43:58,350 --> 00:44:02,430
S13: to be the supplier. And we find ourselves kind of

777
00:44:02,469 --> 00:44:05,870
S13: falling in the trap that we we turn something off.

778
00:44:06,469 --> 00:44:06,950
S1: Yep.

779
00:44:07,070 --> 00:44:10,670
S13: But most recently, I'd gotten to a point that I desired.

780
00:44:11,710 --> 00:44:14,870
S13: Seeing how crazy things are, I've been like, Lord, the

781
00:44:14,870 --> 00:44:17,470
S13: only thing that's going to fix this is a revival.

782
00:44:18,590 --> 00:44:22,030
S13: And then I picked up a little book called Why

783
00:44:22,070 --> 00:44:24,830
S13: Revival Tarries from Leonard Ravenhill.

784
00:44:24,870 --> 00:44:26,950
S14: Yeah, that's a phenomenal book, man.

785
00:44:28,110 --> 00:44:32,150
S13: Oh my gosh, that book hit me. It literally says,

786
00:44:32,150 --> 00:44:35,790
S13: it says half the people will fall to their knees

787
00:44:35,790 --> 00:44:38,870
S13: and pray. The other half will close this book and

788
00:44:39,210 --> 00:44:42,290
S13: almost take the notion that I am, you know, I'm

789
00:44:42,770 --> 00:44:46,130
S13: this is terrible grim. I I'm in the presence of God.

790
00:44:46,170 --> 00:44:49,890
S13: This is terrible and horrible. But it was just such

791
00:44:49,890 --> 00:44:50,930
S13: a beautiful thing.

792
00:44:51,250 --> 00:44:51,730
S1: Yeah.

793
00:44:51,770 --> 00:44:55,810
S13: And my, my prayer time now is so much sweeter

794
00:44:56,850 --> 00:45:01,770
S13: because he is, he's, he's I was never that far

795
00:45:01,770 --> 00:45:04,530
S13: from the father. And I was never that far from

796
00:45:04,530 --> 00:45:10,530
S13: the shepherd, but I didn't realize what I was giving

797
00:45:10,530 --> 00:45:14,170
S13: up and finding that hunger again. It's just been so

798
00:45:14,210 --> 00:45:15,290
S13: wonderfully sweet.

799
00:45:15,330 --> 00:45:20,970
S1: Wow. Beautiful bro. Gary. First time caller. Boom, brother. Oh,

800
00:45:21,130 --> 00:45:22,690
S1: these are real men calling in here.

801
00:45:22,690 --> 00:45:24,850
S4: And I love the way Gary put that, that he

802
00:45:25,130 --> 00:45:27,930
S4: realized what he was giving up because I think we

803
00:45:27,930 --> 00:45:31,050
S4: can have a kind of this mentality of, oh, I've,

804
00:45:31,050 --> 00:45:35,170
S4: I've been neglecting prayer. I'm not doing my good duty

805
00:45:35,170 --> 00:45:37,549
S4: as a Christian. That's what we can think of is.

806
00:45:37,590 --> 00:45:38,550
S1: That it can get spun.

807
00:45:38,590 --> 00:45:41,189
S4: Yeah. I've not performed to the level that God would

808
00:45:41,190 --> 00:45:44,910
S4: want me to, but no, I am missing out on

809
00:45:44,910 --> 00:45:48,550
S4: what God has for me because I'm neglecting to commune

810
00:45:48,550 --> 00:45:49,190
S4: with him.

811
00:45:49,390 --> 00:45:53,509
S1: Totally. Ali. Great words guys. It's why we call you

812
00:45:53,510 --> 00:45:55,549
S1: the Boom crew. Let's get a couple news. Hits you

813
00:45:55,550 --> 00:45:56,110
S1: on Thunder.

814
00:45:58,950 --> 00:46:01,830
S2: Vice president J.D. Vance has arrived in Pakistan ahead of

815
00:46:01,830 --> 00:46:04,350
S2: the U. S Iran peace talks. The US team of

816
00:46:04,350 --> 00:46:07,310
S2: negotiators will meet with Iranian negotiators on Saturday for the

817
00:46:07,310 --> 00:46:09,750
S2: first high level meeting between the two nations since the

818
00:46:09,750 --> 00:46:15,150
S2: Islamic Revolution of 1979. U.S. negotiators will include Vance, U.S.

819
00:46:15,190 --> 00:46:18,150
S2: envoy Steve Witkoff and Trump's son in law Jared Kushner,

820
00:46:18,150 --> 00:46:22,350
S2: and Pakistan will be mediating the talks. The crew of

821
00:46:22,350 --> 00:46:25,630
S2: the Artemis two lunar mission are on their way home.

822
00:46:25,630 --> 00:46:28,310
S2: The Orion spacecraft carrying the four astronauts will splashdown in

823
00:46:28,310 --> 00:46:31,230
S2: the Pacific Ocean tonight off the coast of California. The

824
00:46:31,270 --> 00:46:33,989
S2: USS John P Murtha will recover the crew at about

825
00:46:33,989 --> 00:46:37,980
S2: 5:07 p.m. Pacific Time near San Diego. NASA says the

826
00:46:37,980 --> 00:46:41,899
S2: spacecraft will reach a top speed of nearly 24,000mph as

827
00:46:41,900 --> 00:46:44,580
S2: it re-enters the Earth's atmosphere. It will be slowed down

828
00:46:44,580 --> 00:46:48,220
S2: by parachutes shortly after hitting the water. Five bright airbags

829
00:46:48,219 --> 00:46:50,820
S2: will deploy to keep the capsule upright while the astronauts

830
00:46:50,820 --> 00:46:53,380
S2: are collected. The Orion spacecraft will then be hoisted onto

831
00:46:53,380 --> 00:46:56,700
S2: a recovery ship. I'm Jonathan. That's your quick update.

832
00:46:57,100 --> 00:46:59,500
S1: Yeah. Coming up here in a moment. The beat goes on.

833
00:46:59,500 --> 00:47:01,339
S1: We're talking about hope rise. And we're going to get

834
00:47:01,380 --> 00:47:04,300
S1: one of our favorites in here. You know I gotta

835
00:47:04,300 --> 00:47:09,660
S1: tell you. Prof. Neely. What's great about this guy is

836
00:47:09,660 --> 00:47:13,660
S1: that this is a man who I, I don't want

837
00:47:13,660 --> 00:47:16,859
S1: to tell his story, but I mean, he's he's always

838
00:47:16,860 --> 00:47:20,180
S1: at the ready to say, this is where I, without

839
00:47:20,300 --> 00:47:22,779
S1: using these words is where you can plateau. This is

840
00:47:22,780 --> 00:47:25,299
S1: where I plateaued. And this is what God wants to

841
00:47:25,300 --> 00:47:28,299
S1: do right here. Yeah. You know, he's that forthright.

842
00:47:28,340 --> 00:47:32,940
S4: Absolutely. He's a man of great faith, a man of wisdom.

843
00:47:32,940 --> 00:47:35,799
S4: He has served so faithfully for so many years here

844
00:47:35,800 --> 00:47:39,200
S4: at Moody. He's also pastored. We'll give him a formal

845
00:47:39,200 --> 00:47:40,520
S4: introduction coming up, but.

846
00:47:41,480 --> 00:47:43,600
S1: Yeah, we're going to pitch him some. I'm going to

847
00:47:43,600 --> 00:47:45,319
S1: come with one out of the chute here. That's going

848
00:47:45,360 --> 00:47:47,200
S1: to catch him off guard, but he can handle it.

849
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:51,000
S1: Good morning boom crew. Let's beware of any plateauing in

850
00:47:51,000 --> 00:47:52,600
S1: our life and give it to God.

851
00:47:53,400 --> 00:47:56,400
S6: This is Curl and crew on Moody Radio.

852
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:01,360
S1: It's Freedom Friday. Boom crew. And it's Carl and crew.

853
00:48:01,360 --> 00:48:03,880
S1: And we're helping you take your next step with Jesus.

854
00:48:03,920 --> 00:48:07,680
S1: We've been surprised by the spirit this morning. And, uh,

855
00:48:07,680 --> 00:48:11,360
S1: I want to tee it up. Doctor Winfred Neely, retired

856
00:48:11,360 --> 00:48:14,359
S1: vice president. Now, he's not retired. He's just he just

857
00:48:14,360 --> 00:48:17,120
S1: rebooted in a whole nother sphere. This guy's never going

858
00:48:17,160 --> 00:48:20,200
S1: to retire. Are you kidding me? No way. Right, Doc?

859
00:48:20,239 --> 00:48:21,400
S1: You're not going to retire?

860
00:48:21,960 --> 00:48:25,160
S15: No. No, sir, I'm not going to retire. I'm planning

861
00:48:25,160 --> 00:48:28,040
S15: to walk with God and serve God until I breathe

862
00:48:28,040 --> 00:48:31,279
S15: my very last breath. Boom. On the shores of glory.

863
00:48:31,980 --> 00:48:34,460
S1: Okay, I got I got one for you. You're going

864
00:48:34,500 --> 00:48:38,580
S1: to love. So my right hand man at our two campuses,

865
00:48:38,580 --> 00:48:41,620
S1: his name's Ajit. He's a young man. Godly kid. I

866
00:48:41,620 --> 00:48:44,060
S1: love him so much, man. He's like a spiritual son

867
00:48:44,060 --> 00:48:47,900
S1: to me. I'm going to get choked up here. Um,

868
00:48:48,460 --> 00:48:52,299
S1: he was sharing with me yesterday in all humility. We

869
00:48:52,300 --> 00:48:55,500
S1: were talking about discipleship and he said, hey, Carl, I

870
00:48:55,500 --> 00:48:58,540
S1: know that you're you're big on hearing and applying and

871
00:48:58,540 --> 00:49:01,020
S1: I'm so with you. But he said a nuance to

872
00:49:01,060 --> 00:49:06,060
S1: this is coming from India, where a lot of persecution

873
00:49:06,060 --> 00:49:09,540
S1: for Christians there and it's rising. He said, I, I,

874
00:49:10,020 --> 00:49:12,060
S1: I feel like there's something and the only way I

875
00:49:12,060 --> 00:49:15,259
S1: can describe it is a spiritual plateauing with people that

876
00:49:15,260 --> 00:49:18,260
S1: have been in Christ for a lot of years. And

877
00:49:18,260 --> 00:49:22,660
S1: then that plateauing, we need to encourage people that there's

878
00:49:22,660 --> 00:49:27,620
S1: more in this becoming process. Speak to that plateauing. That's

879
00:49:27,620 --> 00:49:29,860
S1: a real risk, isn't it, pastor?

880
00:49:30,920 --> 00:49:35,720
S15: It is a very big risk because it's a form

881
00:49:35,760 --> 00:49:39,440
S15: we become. You know, you walk with God, you get breakthroughs,

882
00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:43,400
S15: and you get to a certain place and you become

883
00:49:43,760 --> 00:49:50,279
S15: a static. You cease to make progress in your in

884
00:49:50,320 --> 00:49:54,479
S15: your you don't you don't make any further advances. And

885
00:49:54,480 --> 00:49:59,760
S15: you're right, Carl, that this becoming this becoming more and more, uh,

886
00:49:59,800 --> 00:50:05,400
S15: like Jesus is something that we never exhaust in this life.

887
00:50:05,800 --> 00:50:08,640
S15: And if we get to and it's so it's easy

888
00:50:08,640 --> 00:50:13,440
S15: to get there because of the significance of the victories

889
00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:16,440
S15: and the breakthroughs that the Lord and his great mercy

890
00:50:16,440 --> 00:50:19,799
S15: has granted to us. We can we can get to

891
00:50:19,840 --> 00:50:24,319
S15: the point where we think this is enough. And in

892
00:50:24,360 --> 00:50:29,140
S15: the process of that, we've actually found ourselves regressing.

893
00:50:29,180 --> 00:50:31,820
S16: Yeah, you may not even be aware of it.

894
00:50:31,860 --> 00:50:34,660
S1: On that plateau. There's these little divots. That's what's wild

895
00:50:34,660 --> 00:50:35,219
S1: about that.

896
00:50:35,260 --> 00:50:38,859
S15: Yeah yeah yeah yeah. You know, it's so, you know,

897
00:50:38,940 --> 00:50:41,580
S15: I was just, I was I'm teaching a class now

898
00:50:41,580 --> 00:50:45,260
S15: at Moody Bible Institute on, uh, central themes of contemporary

899
00:50:45,260 --> 00:50:47,859
S15: church history. And one of the things that came up

900
00:50:47,900 --> 00:50:50,020
S15: that we can learn from the history of the church,

901
00:50:50,380 --> 00:50:55,380
S15: depending on what the particular emphasis was, some were emphasizing justification,

902
00:50:55,540 --> 00:50:58,859
S15: which is really, really important. Others were emphasizing, no, we

903
00:50:58,860 --> 00:51:01,020
S15: need to continue to grow. We need to continue to

904
00:51:01,020 --> 00:51:04,580
S15: make progress. And we need both of those to those

905
00:51:04,580 --> 00:51:08,540
S15: perspectives that we're justified by faith in Christ for all eternity.

906
00:51:08,940 --> 00:51:12,700
S15: But we also called upon to continue to walk with God,

907
00:51:12,700 --> 00:51:18,020
S15: to become more and more like Jesus as we as

908
00:51:18,020 --> 00:51:21,260
S15: we walk with God. It's a never ending process of becoming.

909
00:51:21,260 --> 00:51:23,540
S15: And that should always be our goal. If we get

910
00:51:23,540 --> 00:51:27,319
S15: to the point where we are not doing that. We

911
00:51:27,320 --> 00:51:30,520
S15: need to have somebody, you know, like your like your brother.

912
00:51:30,520 --> 00:51:34,680
S15: You mentioned to remind us that we just don't want

913
00:51:34,680 --> 00:51:37,200
S15: to be on these plateaus. We need to continue to

914
00:51:37,200 --> 00:51:38,080
S15: make progress.

915
00:51:38,560 --> 00:51:42,120
S4: Doctor Winfred Neely, our guests right now, retired vice president,

916
00:51:42,120 --> 00:51:46,200
S4: academic dean of Moody Theological Seminary. He has pastored several

917
00:51:46,200 --> 00:51:48,840
S4: churches in the Chicago area, also served as a missionary

918
00:51:48,840 --> 00:51:52,240
S4: pastor to Senegal, West Africa for a number of years.

919
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:54,920
S4: When someone comes to you in your role as a

920
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:58,480
S4: pastor or just a spiritual mentor leader and says, you know,

921
00:51:58,520 --> 00:52:01,000
S4: I just feel like I'm stuck a little bit, or

922
00:52:01,000 --> 00:52:03,760
S4: I'm not growing or I don't have the, the zeal

923
00:52:03,760 --> 00:52:06,080
S4: that I once did. What do you what do you

924
00:52:06,120 --> 00:52:09,560
S4: counsel a person who, who is humble enough to acknowledge

925
00:52:09,560 --> 00:52:12,000
S4: that there's some plateauing in their spiritual life? What do

926
00:52:12,000 --> 00:52:12,880
S4: you tell them to do?

927
00:52:13,880 --> 00:52:16,600
S15: Well, first of all, I remind them that they are

928
00:52:16,600 --> 00:52:20,600
S15: not the first one. They're not the only one. And

929
00:52:20,600 --> 00:52:23,920
S15: I think that's important because usually when we get to

930
00:52:23,960 --> 00:52:27,180
S15: that place, Sometimes we have the strange notion that I'm

931
00:52:27,180 --> 00:52:28,620
S15: the first person in the history of.

932
00:52:28,620 --> 00:52:30,779
S16: The church to be at this place, and I'm all

933
00:52:30,780 --> 00:52:32,739
S16: by myself and so forth and.

934
00:52:32,739 --> 00:52:36,620
S15: So on. Well, no, you're not the first one. And

935
00:52:36,660 --> 00:52:41,460
S15: I would also encourage them, be careful about trusting your

936
00:52:41,460 --> 00:52:47,180
S15: feelings and your subjective experiences of God. That does not

937
00:52:47,180 --> 00:52:50,420
S15: necessarily mean that you have plateaued. I think it was

938
00:52:50,420 --> 00:52:55,340
S15: in The Screwtape Letters where C.S. Lewis points out that

939
00:52:55,660 --> 00:52:58,900
S15: the Christian are arguing from the evil ones point of

940
00:52:58,900 --> 00:53:02,299
S15: view that the Christian is most dangerous when he or

941
00:53:02,340 --> 00:53:06,020
S15: she determines to walk with God independent of their feelings.

942
00:53:06,020 --> 00:53:09,340
S15: And they feel nothing. They just take God at His Word.

943
00:53:09,500 --> 00:53:12,900
S15: You just continue to trust. You continue to, uh, to

944
00:53:12,940 --> 00:53:16,060
S15: walk with God. You continue to pray. You continue to

945
00:53:16,100 --> 00:53:20,940
S15: seek him. And eventually, eventually, we will have those those

946
00:53:20,940 --> 00:53:27,280
S15: wonderful spirit empowered moments again. But that's really that's important.

947
00:53:27,280 --> 00:53:29,920
S15: But I think we got to be real careful about

948
00:53:29,920 --> 00:53:34,640
S15: being too dependent upon our feelings and our subjective experiences,

949
00:53:35,080 --> 00:53:37,960
S15: because we can actually get into trouble with that.

950
00:53:38,000 --> 00:53:39,560
S16: Yeah, because that becomes.

951
00:53:39,560 --> 00:53:41,600
S15: The criteria instead of scripture.

952
00:53:41,640 --> 00:53:41,839
S16: Yeah.

953
00:53:41,880 --> 00:53:43,560
S15: And this is what I would, I would try to

954
00:53:43,560 --> 00:53:44,920
S15: encourage people to do.

955
00:53:45,080 --> 00:53:48,040
S1: Yeah. Good words man. Okay. Coming up here in a moment.

956
00:53:48,040 --> 00:53:51,960
S1: We're talking hope rising all week long. And, uh, Pastor Neely,

957
00:53:51,960 --> 00:53:56,200
S1: Doctor Neely has brought in a central passage of scripture

958
00:53:56,200 --> 00:53:58,040
S1: he wants to share with us. And I can't wait.

959
00:53:58,040 --> 00:53:59,800
S1: So we'll get to that here in just a moment.

960
00:53:59,800 --> 00:54:03,400
S1: Because sometimes you crack open the word and you go, oh, whoa.

961
00:54:04,880 --> 00:54:08,280
S1: That's where my hope is found. Hang on.

962
00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:13,200
S6: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to

963
00:54:13,239 --> 00:54:14,320
S6: Carl and crew.

964
00:54:14,960 --> 00:54:24,260
S1: Well, if hope becomes circumstances, situations raises Benefits kids doing perfect. Boy,

965
00:54:24,260 --> 00:54:26,060
S1: that hope's gonna fly fast.

966
00:54:26,100 --> 00:54:28,180
S4: Oh, you're always going to be living on the edge

967
00:54:28,180 --> 00:54:30,780
S4: of what's going to. What's going to knock me back?

968
00:54:30,780 --> 00:54:33,700
S4: Because it doesn't. Life doesn't go perfectly.

969
00:54:33,739 --> 00:54:36,140
S1: Yeah. Doctor Neely is our guest right now. And we're

970
00:54:36,140 --> 00:54:38,540
S1: going to have a link to because some of what

971
00:54:38,540 --> 00:54:41,700
S1: keeps us stuck is just good old fashioned garden variety worry.

972
00:54:41,739 --> 00:54:44,460
S1: And he's got an epic book on this that if

973
00:54:44,460 --> 00:54:47,180
S1: you haven't gotten yet, it's a short but powerful read.

974
00:54:47,180 --> 00:54:51,460
S1: There's no wasted words. But first, Doctor Neely, hope is

975
00:54:51,460 --> 00:54:54,420
S1: a person. Pour out your heart. Where is hope rising?

976
00:54:54,420 --> 00:54:55,460
S1: Where is it found?

977
00:54:56,820 --> 00:55:00,660
S15: Oh, hope. Hope is in the Lord Jesus Christ. His

978
00:55:00,660 --> 00:55:05,380
S15: death on the cross and his literal body. Bodily glorious

979
00:55:05,380 --> 00:55:10,299
S15: resurrection from among the dead, and his present session at

980
00:55:10,300 --> 00:55:13,780
S15: God's right hand in glory. Our hope is in him

981
00:55:14,260 --> 00:55:17,380
S15: and Him alone. I think of the old deal with him.

982
00:55:17,420 --> 00:55:20,880
S15: My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood

983
00:55:20,880 --> 00:55:25,480
S15: and righteousness. You know, those those those great hymns of

984
00:55:25,480 --> 00:55:28,240
S15: the faith went all around. My soul gives way. He

985
00:55:28,280 --> 00:55:31,480
S15: then is all my hope and stay on Christ, the

986
00:55:31,480 --> 00:55:36,120
S15: solid rock I stand. And it is also our hope

987
00:55:36,120 --> 00:55:40,480
S15: is one of the benefits of being made right with God.

988
00:55:40,719 --> 00:55:43,880
S15: You know, in Romans five verse one it says. Now

989
00:55:44,000 --> 00:55:48,520
S15: it says, therefore, having been justified by faith, God justifies us.

990
00:55:48,520 --> 00:55:52,000
S15: When we trust Christ as our personal Lord and Savior,

991
00:55:52,000 --> 00:55:57,720
S15: we cannot justify ourselves. But faith is the means by

992
00:55:57,719 --> 00:56:03,319
S15: which this incredible justification is received from God. And out

993
00:56:03,320 --> 00:56:06,799
S15: of that, there are three benefits. There are more, but

994
00:56:06,800 --> 00:56:10,600
S15: there are three that are listed in Romans five one

995
00:56:10,600 --> 00:56:13,200
S15: and two. The first one is peace with God. So

996
00:56:13,200 --> 00:56:17,080
S15: that deals with our past. Hallelujah. Thank God we can

997
00:56:17,080 --> 00:56:20,620
S15: move beyond the past. Khalid.ali by the grace of God.

998
00:56:20,660 --> 00:56:24,060
S15: Thank God for that. And, uh, you know, I've said

999
00:56:24,060 --> 00:56:27,180
S15: to people, by the way, uh, which is, uh, that

1000
00:56:27,940 --> 00:56:31,580
S15: the effectiveness of your life and the present is dependent

1001
00:56:31,580 --> 00:56:35,980
S15: upon to a considerable extent, how you handle your past

1002
00:56:36,180 --> 00:56:40,020
S15: and the way and the cross gives us a new

1003
00:56:40,020 --> 00:56:43,420
S15: slate with God. That's the first thing. And then we

1004
00:56:43,460 --> 00:56:48,540
S15: have access, uh, obtained access by faith into this grace

1005
00:56:48,540 --> 00:56:51,180
S15: in which we stand. So the grace of God is

1006
00:56:51,180 --> 00:56:55,340
S15: the sphere now in which we, uh, our standing is

1007
00:56:55,340 --> 00:56:58,500
S15: in Christ. And that is what our present. And then

1008
00:56:58,500 --> 00:57:02,299
S15: it says, and we exalt in the hope of the

1009
00:57:02,300 --> 00:57:06,500
S15: glory of God. And this deals with our future. And

1010
00:57:06,500 --> 00:57:11,140
S15: right now we we have hope, not wishful thinking or

1011
00:57:11,140 --> 00:57:17,040
S15: unfounded optimism, but but assurances about the good things to come.

1012
00:57:17,440 --> 00:57:20,959
S15: The time will come when we will rejoice in hope

1013
00:57:20,960 --> 00:57:26,280
S15: of the glory of God, because we will be like Jesus. Uh.

1014
00:57:26,320 --> 00:57:30,200
S15: We will experience the glory of God for all eternity.

1015
00:57:31,120 --> 00:57:34,760
S15: I remember, I still remember my wife's, my wife's husband. Preach.

1016
00:57:34,800 --> 00:57:38,120
S15: My wife's grandfather preaching the late Theodore Williams, used to preach.

1017
00:57:38,440 --> 00:57:41,200
S15: He says, when you get to heaven and you experience

1018
00:57:41,200 --> 00:57:43,400
S15: the glory of God, and he would say, well, what's

1019
00:57:43,400 --> 00:57:47,920
S15: above glory? More glory. Much above that, more glory. It's

1020
00:57:47,920 --> 00:57:50,120
S15: just going to be an incredible experience.

1021
00:57:50,200 --> 00:57:51,080
S17: What a preacher.

1022
00:57:51,880 --> 00:57:54,960
S15: Yeah. And so yeah, we have hope right now. This

1023
00:57:54,960 --> 00:57:56,760
S15: is what keeps us from going crazy.

1024
00:57:56,800 --> 00:57:57,240
S17: Yeah.

1025
00:57:57,840 --> 00:58:00,640
S4: That's very well put doctor Winfred Nealy.

1026
00:58:00,880 --> 00:58:02,560
S3: I love that this is what.

1027
00:58:03,040 --> 00:58:03,920
S1: There's truth to.

1028
00:58:03,960 --> 00:58:06,840
S3: That so much. This is what keeps us from going crazy.

1029
00:58:07,120 --> 00:58:09,600
S4: Truth. Speak to that a little bit more because I mean,

1030
00:58:09,640 --> 00:58:12,160
S4: that's where a lot of people live though. Feels like

1031
00:58:12,160 --> 00:58:14,780
S4: the world is going crazy. There's nothing new under the sun,

1032
00:58:14,780 --> 00:58:16,780
S4: by the way. But it feels like we're living in

1033
00:58:16,780 --> 00:58:19,380
S4: a crazy time where you don't know what's up and

1034
00:58:19,380 --> 00:58:20,100
S4: what's down.

1035
00:58:20,580 --> 00:58:23,900
S15: Yeah, we are living in a crazy time, you know,

1036
00:58:23,940 --> 00:58:26,860
S15: and see. And there's been more of a focus on

1037
00:58:26,900 --> 00:58:30,660
S15: mental health, uh, especially since, uh, since the pandemic. We

1038
00:58:30,700 --> 00:58:33,500
S15: got on the other side of the pandemic and we are, uh,

1039
00:58:33,540 --> 00:58:36,820
S15: became very aware of just how fragile our mental life

1040
00:58:36,820 --> 00:58:40,860
S15: can be. But the grace of God, uh, and hope

1041
00:58:40,860 --> 00:58:44,180
S15: in Christ is what helps us get through the day.

1042
00:58:44,180 --> 00:58:47,020
S15: It helps us get through the night. And it literally,

1043
00:58:47,020 --> 00:58:49,820
S15: as I said, keeps us from going crazy. I will

1044
00:58:49,820 --> 00:58:52,460
S15: never forget, I stood up in chapel at Moody Bible

1045
00:58:52,460 --> 00:58:55,580
S15: Institute a couple of years ago and said to the

1046
00:58:55,740 --> 00:59:00,500
S15: to an entire group of undergraduate students, about 1500 of them.

1047
00:59:00,500 --> 00:59:03,780
S15: I think it's only by the grace of God that

1048
00:59:03,780 --> 00:59:06,180
S15: you haven't lost your mind. And the whole place broke

1049
00:59:06,180 --> 00:59:08,780
S15: out in applause. Yeah.

1050
00:59:09,060 --> 00:59:11,260
S17: Because they know it in their spirit.

1051
00:59:11,820 --> 00:59:14,840
S15: You better believe it. You better believe it, man. And

1052
00:59:14,840 --> 00:59:18,600
S15: sometimes we find ourselves walking on the edge. We really,

1053
00:59:18,600 --> 00:59:22,800
S15: really do. And. And God meets us in these places.

1054
00:59:23,000 --> 00:59:25,959
S15: He meets us at the at, at these low moments

1055
00:59:26,200 --> 00:59:30,320
S15: in life. And to remind us of his resurrection power.

1056
00:59:30,360 --> 00:59:33,720
S15: I mean, he meets me there just this, this resurrection Sunday.

1057
00:59:33,920 --> 00:59:37,800
S15: He meets Mary, uh, at the at the at the tomb.

1058
00:59:37,800 --> 00:59:41,520
S15: She's weeping. She's devastated, probably the lowest moment in her

1059
00:59:41,520 --> 00:59:44,000
S15: life because she thinks Jesus is dead and gone and

1060
00:59:44,000 --> 00:59:46,560
S15: it's all over. And all he did, he just called

1061
00:59:46,560 --> 00:59:47,600
S15: her name Mary.

1062
00:59:47,640 --> 00:59:48,160
S17: Mary.

1063
00:59:48,720 --> 00:59:51,360
S15: That's just Mary. And see, that's something else. See, it's

1064
00:59:51,360 --> 00:59:55,520
S15: more than just saying Mary. There was something about his voice.

1065
00:59:55,880 --> 00:59:59,320
S15: And can you imagine how when she heard her name

1066
00:59:59,320 --> 01:00:03,440
S15: from from the master, how it just resonated deep within

1067
01:00:03,480 --> 01:00:07,400
S15: the corridors of our heart and mind and brought stability

1068
01:00:07,400 --> 01:00:09,040
S15: and hope? You know.

1069
01:00:09,440 --> 01:00:10,480
S17: That's it's.

1070
01:00:10,700 --> 01:00:16,540
S1: It's overwhelming. It's overwhelming. Um. Oh my goodness guys. You know,

1071
01:00:16,580 --> 01:00:19,220
S1: here's what you're hearing. You're hearing a guy that is

1072
01:00:19,220 --> 01:00:25,660
S1: in in Doctor Neely just oozing, um, dependence. That's what

1073
01:00:25,660 --> 01:00:26,260
S1: he's using.

1074
01:00:26,300 --> 01:00:26,740
S4: Yes.

1075
01:00:26,740 --> 01:00:32,939
S1: He's using dependence on God and there's a river that

1076
01:00:32,940 --> 01:00:38,820
S1: runs through it. And here's what's sweet in that river moment.

1077
01:00:38,860 --> 01:00:42,580
S1: He wrote some words for all who might be worried today.

1078
01:00:42,700 --> 01:00:44,020
S1: And boy, are they powerful.

1079
01:00:44,060 --> 01:00:46,740
S4: The book is called How to Overcome Worry Experiencing the

1080
01:00:46,740 --> 01:00:50,740
S4: peace of God in every situation. Just text worry to

1081
01:00:50,780 --> 01:00:56,620
S4: 800 555 7898. Our guest, doctor Winifred Neely. Just text

1082
01:00:56,660 --> 01:01:00,900
S4: worry to (800) 555-7898.

1083
01:01:00,940 --> 01:01:01,220
S3: Yeah.

1084
01:01:01,260 --> 01:01:05,140
S1: Great book. I mean great work. It's short, quick read,

1085
01:01:05,140 --> 01:01:09,780
S1: but it'll change you. Text worry to 805 five five 7898.