S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step
S2: with Jesus. Well, I've got converted to hallmark movies.
S3: Converted? Uh, how long did that take? Yeah, really?
S2: It took a little while. I mean, it took a
S2: while for her to get me around the corner. My
S2: bride did, though, and now I actually enjoy these things.
S4: Okay, so, um, what's your. Do you have a favorite one?
S4: Not that there's there's much difference.
S2: The the beauty with hallmark movies is if you've seen one,
S2: you know, the plotline. Yeah. In fact, in the first
S2: five minutes, it's a precious movie, so I don't want
S2: to denigrate it. In fact, I'm going to use it
S2: for launching off to an interview that we have with
S2: Erwin Lutzer coming up here. But it's a classic situation.
S2: It's it's always a theme where either the girl or
S2: the guy. Usually the girl kind of moves back to town.
S4: Oh, yes. Yeah.
S2: And kind of marries high school sweetheart or something like that.
S2: She leaves the big hustle and bustle of the city
S2: and her architectural firm and all that, and comes back
S2: and does the thing. But it's not. What was really
S2: cool about this one was I was blown away. The
S2: setting is at Grace Community Church in some fictional town somewhere. Huh.
S2: That's kind of. Oh, yeah. Scriptures on the wall and everything.
S2: And I'm like, for crying out loud, what's going on here? Okay.
S2: And the girl that's featured in this movie, it was
S2: really done. It's done well, and I'm only halfway through it,
S2: but I know how it's going to end, right? Because
S2: I've watched hallmark films. So she's. She's a heartbroken girl
S2: who's an artist, and she keeps flashing back to the
S2: times that for four years of marriage, when she had
S2: her man with her and they were doing art and
S2: studio in a studio together, and it actually got me
S2: choked up at one point. And I'm like, oh, for
S2: crying out loud! But she was heartbroken over the loss
S2: of her husband, and she started going to a grief
S2: recovery group at this Grace Community Church. Are you guys
S2: with me on this? This is on like hallmark. So
S2: I'm like, I'm blown away by this. But it it
S2: led me to a universal conclusion and that is that
S2: no one and this is you two this morning, wherever
S2: you are, nothing inside us wants to stay stuck experiencing
S2: too little. God has put within our beating heart a
S2: desire for more. That's why the whole world's on this,
S2: on this chase. Either getting platformed or, you know, getting
S2: enough money or driving the right car. And the guys
S2: commuting in this morning, man, they are driving way too fast.
S4: Well, you think about every sort of product you buy
S4: from toothpaste to a new car. The advertisement appeals to
S4: your desire.
S2: To.
S4: Have more. Do you want whiter teeth?
S2: By the way, how am I looking?
S4: Good.
S3: Looking good.
S4: Could your smile be brighter?
S2: Could it be brighter? Could the wrinkles go away?
S4: Could your car get better miles.
S3: Per.
S4: Gallon? I mean, everything appeals to your desire. Am I
S4: am I getting everything I could out of. Yeah. Fill
S4: in the blank.
S2: Yeah. And. And here's the beauty of this. And I want.
S2: I want to put a stake in the ground. And
S2: I want to put a vision in the air. Hi.
S2: For you. Our God is a God of abundance. And
S2: you might hear that. And you might think. I don't
S2: know if it's for me. Something has you stuck. Something
S2: has you held back. And you don't have to go
S2: far in the Word of God to find abundance everywhere.
S2: And it's not even just in the New covenant of
S2: the New Testament. It's throughout the Word of God. The
S2: blessing of God is there. Look at the book of Joshua.
S2: You meditate on these words day and night you will
S2: have success and prosperity wherever you go. Psalm one one
S2: through three. Favorite three verses for me in the Psalms. Man,
S2: you get away from fools, mockers, scoffers. You meditate on
S2: this word and you will have success in fact. Your
S2: leaves will never wither. You'll be like a tree planted
S2: by streams of water. Your leaves will never wither in
S2: all you do. You will prosper. Okay, so you got that.
S2: And then you go to John 1010 and you find
S2: that he came our Savior to give abundant life. The
S2: thief comes to steal and kill and destroy. And by
S2: the way, quick curveball here. The thief there is not
S2: primarily Satan. It's shepherds that have came before him. Impostors,
S2: false prophets, false teachers, religious people that put all kinds
S2: of weights on people, but they didn't really want them
S2: to have liberty. And then you go to John 15
S2: and you find, wow, Jesus teaching. I'm the vine, you're
S2: the branch. If you abide in me, you will bear
S2: much fruit. Get this. It's to God's glory that you
S2: bear much fruit. And it's easy to get stuck, isn't it, Ali?
S2: And to almost forget the promises of God.
S4: Because as much as we look at product commercials and
S4: desire more, sometimes we overlook the more that's possible in
S4: our spiritual life. Yeah. And we stop even longing for that. Yeah.
S2: I feel prompted out of the blue to pray. I'm
S2: going to do it right now. Father, I pray that
S2: anyone listening today that feels like they've been in a
S2: rut sometimes ten years, 20 years, going through spiritual motions,
S2: some some stuck in the pain of loss of a
S2: loved one, some heartbroken over a wayward kid. Some are angry,
S2: some are wanting some hope somewhere. But Lord, all of us,
S2: you've etched in our heart that there is more. And God,
S2: I praise you that your word is just replete with
S2: evidence that you are a God of abundance. And so, God,
S2: we don't want to get all whacked out on some
S2: pursuit that's in our own strength, but we really do
S2: want to take hold of what you have for us,
S2: and we pray it. In the name of Jesus. We
S2: pray it. Amen. We're going to have Pastor Lutzer coming
S2: up not too long.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Well, C.S. Lewis said it. It would appear that we've
S2: settled for too little. And when we say those words,
S2: it's almost hard to get your mind around, because I
S2: think most Christ followers would say, oh, I'm wanting too
S2: much from God. C.S. Lewis says, no, we've settled for
S2: too little. That is irony, but I think he's spot on. Ali.
S4: You know, and you think about it. Yes. How could
S4: we ever ask too much of God? That premise doesn't
S4: even make sense. But we live like it. Like, somehow
S4: we could overextend God.
S2: Yeah, and if you look at the, as C.S. Lewis
S2: called it, the unblushing promises of God like abundance, they're everywhere.
S2: Pastor Erwin Lutzer, what do you say about the promises
S2: of abundance? Have we settled for too little?
S5: Well, you know, as you introduce the subject, I'm reminded
S5: of a woman who said to her, pastor, should I
S5: just ask God about the big things in my life
S5: and not the small things? And the pastor wisely said,
S5: you have to understand for God, your big things are
S5: very small things.
S2: I love.
S5: It. So yes, of course, oftentimes we are in a
S5: situation where we simply don't ask God for enough. But,
S5: you know, you think of the abundance of the promises.
S5: You think, for example, the words of Jesus in John
S5: chapter ten, I am come that they might have life
S5: and that they might have it more abundantly. And in
S5: that context, what Jesus talks about is being a shepherd
S5: and how that his sheep follow him. So we need
S5: to enter into these promises, Carl, in such a way
S5: that we learn that we can abide in Christ. We
S5: can be fruit bearers even in the midst of a desert.
S4: Doctor Erwin Lutzer, our guest right now, pastor emeritus of
S4: Moody Church. He's host of Running to Win. Now, as
S4: we look at this passage in John ten, there is
S4: the contrast between the thief who comes only to steal,
S4: kill and destroy, and then the good shepherd who comes
S4: that we would have life and have it abundantly. Talk
S4: about the set of opposites one takes and one comes
S4: to give. Somehow we don't take hold of all that
S4: we could.
S5: We don't. And C.S. Lewis, I'm just struck by what
S5: you read. He said it's so properly, namely, that we
S5: don't expect from God the fulfillment of his promises. You know,
S5: since we're talking about the abundant life, I have to
S5: tell you that recently I've done a bit of a
S5: study on the 17th chapter of Jeremiah. I know that
S5: we go from John to Jeremiah, but Jeremiah says this
S5: cursed is the man who trusts in man. He shall
S5: be like a shrub. And then he says this blessed
S5: is the man who is planted by water, for he
S5: shall bear fruit in his season. It's almost like Psalm one.
S5: But here's the thing if we want to have the
S5: abundant life that we're talking about, we need to be
S5: planted in the right place where there is water. Not
S5: only that, but we have to be planted to the
S5: right depth so that we're able to access this water.
S5: And then we have to bear the proper fruit. No
S5: matter where you look in the Scripture, you have the
S5: very same truths over and over again, which we frequently
S5: have to hear over and over again. Namely, that we
S5: can access available strength from God in the midst of
S5: our situation, and we can be like an oasis in
S5: the midst of the desert that is around us. And that's,
S5: of course, the calling of every believer.
S2: Love it. Doctor Lutzer is our guest right now. Coming
S2: up here, pastor, I want us to tackle the definition
S2: of abundance. And we go to John 15. We find
S2: it's to God's glory that we bear much fruit. I
S2: wonder if we even know what that fruit is coming
S2: up with. Pastor Lutzer.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super dei is in the crew. It's Colin Crew on
S1: Moody Radio.
S2: Doctor Erwin Lutzer is our guest right now, pastor emeritus
S2: of Moody Church right here in Chicago and loved across
S2: the nation. Running to win is his show that you
S2: have a privilege to listen to wherever you are, and
S2: we're grateful that you're with us today. Pastor Lutzer I,
S2: as a young follower of Jesus, looked at John 15
S2: and I saw a couple of things stood out to me.
S2: Apart from him, we can do nothing, but it is
S2: to God's glory that we bear much fruit. No apologies necessary,
S2: but it's almost like we redefine or need definition of
S2: what that fruit is. What do you say?
S5: I want to comment on Hudson Taylor's take on John 15.
S5: He said to himself, if I could only abide in Christ,
S5: how do I get into him so that I can
S5: abide in him? And then suddenly he had this revelation
S5: that as a believer, he was already in Christ. He
S5: didn't have to worry about how to get into Christ.
S5: He was already in Christ. What he had to do
S5: is to learn to abide in Christ. And that abiding
S5: takes an attitude of total dependence. As you mentioned, without
S5: Christ we can do nothing. It takes an attitude of
S5: total dependence upon God daily. You know, even as I
S5: sit at my computer, as I was doing a few
S5: moments ago, I'm continually dependent on God for what I write.
S5: And that's the way in which we ought to live
S5: in all areas of life. And what is the fruit? Well,
S5: the fruit is love, joy, peace, long suffering, gentleness, goodness.
S5: And you remember in that passage, Jesus goes from bearing
S5: fruit to bearing much fruit for the glory of God.
S5: And so what an exciting life. We have resources that
S5: we don't access them. And one of the things that
S5: we have to do to be able to access them
S5: is to deal seriously with those issues that are keeping
S5: us from the privilege of abiding, namely, sinful issues. And
S5: we need to deal with that ruthlessly. We need to, well,
S5: to use an expression, we need to kill sin. I
S5: mentioned that because I've recently read the book that you
S5: wrote entitled Killing Sin, and you know it is sin
S5: that really hinders us from that abiding life. So I
S5: say to all those who seem to be in a
S5: wilderness today, you can bear fruit where you are. If
S5: you access the resources that God has given to us
S5: in Jesus Christ.
S2: Amen.
S4: Doctor Erwin Lutzer, our guest right now, you know, for
S4: many people listening right now, they've heard that verse. They've
S4: maybe taught on that verse if they're in some sort
S4: of leadership capacity. But what I feel to ask you
S4: is to give an encouragement to those who have grown weary.
S4: They've been at it a while, but they're tired. And
S4: so the slipping or the drifting that they're encountering, it's
S4: not some big major issue. It's that they're tired. Give
S4: an encouragement to those who are just tired today.
S5: Yes, I would say rest. The Bible says that we
S5: can rest in the Lord. And, you know, to all
S5: those tired Christians out there, and we've certainly all been there.
S5: What we need to do, like Jesus said to the disciples,
S5: you remember, let us go aside for a time in
S5: quietness and rest. And you know, there is such a
S5: thing as resting in God even when you work. Abiding
S5: in Christ, resting in God so that your heart is
S5: at peace, even though your body may be hard at
S5: work now, all of us fail. We're all on a journey,
S5: and so what we have to do is to say
S5: we need time for God, but also we need to
S5: make sure that our dependence is totally on him. And that,
S5: I think, may speak somewhat to the question that you
S5: are asking, which of course has been our experience and
S5: is our experience even now, as we are inundated with
S5: so much to do. But God helps us, and there
S5: is a rest for the people of God, and that
S5: also is connected with abiding in Christ.
S2: Love it. Pastor, I got one last thought here. In
S2: the last few years, the Lord has really impressed upon
S2: my heart and I've been been exercising this a bit
S2: that the cry of David is one of the great
S2: spiritual disciplines that's lost. It's that quiet discipline. I know
S2: we can go to Bible reading and study and service
S2: and giving and all the other disciplines. Those are really
S2: the outflow pastor of this resting. It's that introspection, it's
S2: quietness before God. Just speak to that for a moment.
S2: It feels like it's a lost discipline to even be
S2: quiet and rest before the Lord.
S5: Yes. And of course, with social media and a thousand
S5: other things that impinge upon us, we are really driven
S5: by other forces. Unless we consciously take time to rest
S5: in the Lord and to refresh ourselves in him. You know,
S5: everybody knows the life of Mueller in England, who began
S5: so many different orphanages just by prayer. But you know
S5: what he said the chief responsibility of the Christian is,
S5: he said, the first responsibility of the Christian is to
S5: find happiness in God. So he said he began every
S5: morning reading, meditating, praying, and would not leave until his
S5: soul was happy in God. And that's the way he
S5: approached his day. Is it any wonder that he opened
S5: so many different orphanages and had such a great ministry?
S2: That is powerful.
S4: Doctor Erwin Lutzer, thank you so much for being with
S4: us this morning. Always appreciate your time and your wisdom.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Well, if you look at the scriptures, guys, they are
S2: loaded with promises, are they not?
S4: Absolutely, yes.
S2: Chuck, from.
S6: Start to finish.
S2: From start to finish. Tears wiped away. Rev 21. I mean,
S2: then you go backwards. It's kind of like a pert chart.
S2: You know what, a pert chart. Anyone know what a
S2: pert chart is?
S6: I have no idea what that is.
S2: Pert pert p e pert chart.
S4: No.
S2: Okay. All right. There's a couple of. There's a couple
S2: of us old senior guys out there. Know what a
S2: pert charge chart is? A cool way of organizing any
S2: kind of planning you're doing. You begin with the end
S2: in mind. So you paint a vision for this is
S2: what we want to have happen. And then you work
S2: backwards from there. In a lot of planning you start
S2: at this front. You go forward. But a Pert chart
S2: actually the scriptures a Pert chart. You go to revelation,
S2: you look at that and you go, whoa, look at
S2: what we're destined for here. This is cool. And then
S2: you back up. And in true form, it's just dawning
S2: on me whether you go to the epistles or then
S2: you go to the Gospels. Well, let's not miss the
S2: book of acts in the core theology of Romans. But
S2: then you go to the Gospels, then you go to
S2: the prophets, minor and major, and then you back up
S2: from there, and you start seeing narrative of the way
S2: God worked in the nation of Israel and great stories
S2: of great women of faith, great men of faith. All
S2: you see are all these people through history in time,
S2: journeying toward this great thing. And I think sometimes we
S2: banked on this great thing that's coming, you know, and
S2: we call it heaven, or I love to call it
S2: what it is, the New Jerusalem. And that's going to
S2: be an incredible day. But what about today? I mean,
S2: isn't that the point? What about today?
S6: Yeah. Our our God says he is present in all
S6: of it. So we can't just say, okay, I'm saved,
S6: I'm good. I wait till heaven. Everything around here is
S6: kind of unchanged and the way it is. No. God
S6: wants to change your today.
S2: Yeah. This. Get your ticket. Fire insurance as some call it.
S2: I never did enjoy that term. No, because I'm convinced
S2: of this too. And we're going to be dealing with
S2: this next week. This fire insurance. Christianity is no Christianity
S2: at all. No. In fact, I don't know. I leave
S2: some room for the fact that God can, in fact,
S2: use the fear of the future to regenerate hearts. But
S2: by and large, people are broken over their sin, not
S2: the prospect of horrible things to come. That's how God
S2: calls us. But once we're called out of darkness into light,
S2: we light. We got this golden opportunity to lean into
S2: a relationship with God that takes hold of promises that
S2: are just flat out amazing. And I think if there's
S2: one thing that we'd love for you to get today
S2: is a greater vision of look what God has for
S2: me and not settle for too little.
S4: What do you think causes us to settle for too little?
S4: I mean, because we've all done it from time to time.
S2: It's a great question. I think there's a couple of things, Ali.
S2: I think that there's we're functional atheists, so we do
S2: get a kind of a basic idea of that God
S2: loves us and he's got good things for us, but
S2: we need to get the Word of God opened and
S2: get a visual heart picture of what that is that
S2: God has for us. We've already hit him today. This
S2: I came to give you life and life more abundant. Guys,
S2: we got to get that life. Zoe Greek word for abundance.
S2: I came to give you life and life more abundant.
S2: It goes into John 15. I'm the vine. You're the branch.
S2: You abide in me. You will bear much fruit. Ready
S2: for this? It's to my father's glory that you bear
S2: much fruit.
S4: So if you reverse that, then a lack of abiding,
S4: a lack of being in the word.
S2: I think a lack of being in the word and
S2: knowing those promises is one. And then the the. We're
S2: in a constant spiritual war. Satan's trying to kick us
S2: in the teeth and drag us into the mud of
S2: not believing those things. Right, guys? Every day, every day,
S2: there's a classic quote and I got to read this
S2: to you. This is maybe one of my most people,
S2: I think, that have read C.S. Lewis would say this
S2: is their quote. In fact, can you take it away, Ali?
S2: I might get too emotional here.
S4: It says if we consider the unblushing promises of reward
S4: and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels,
S4: it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not
S4: too strong, but too weak. We are half hearted creatures,
S4: fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite
S4: joy is offered us like an ignorant child who wants
S4: to go on making mud pies in a slum, because
S4: he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of
S4: a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.
S2: Boom!
S4: Wow!
S2: Is that rock? Anyone else?
S4: Far too easily pleased. We're satisfied with too little mud pies.
S2: Normal's not enough guys. That's the point. If we look
S2: at the landscape of Christianity, especially here in the West,
S2: all we have to do is look around and go.
S2: Hold it a second here. There's a whole lot of
S2: people going to church, but is the quality of their
S2: life taken hold of the promises of God, or are
S2: we doing mud pies? How do you call it? Mud
S2: pies in a slum?
S4: Mud pies in a slum?
S2: Are we really taking hold of what God has for us?
S2: And here's the kicker. I want you to know this.
S2: Some of you are held back from what God has
S2: for you. Because there's some deep pain in your life,
S2: a betrayal, loss. You got a wayward kid that's just
S2: kicking you in the teeth. It just breaks your heart.
S2: You ever notice that things like that can actually hold
S2: you back?
S4: Very much so.
S2: For some of you, you've let some stuff settle into
S2: the shadows of your life, and you're getting kicked in
S2: the soul, man. Satan's got you. He dangled the bait,
S2: and now he's beating the snot out of you. Pornography. Gossip. Anger. Self-righteousness.
S2: Lack of good time. Redemption. Not saying that to beat
S2: anyone up. Sometimes you got to identify those things so
S2: that we can deal with them by the grace and
S2: power of God, and go get some promises that he
S2: has for us. Man, we want you to win, don't we, Ellie? Yeah.
S4: Yeah.
S2: We want it for us. We want it for you.
S2: We are far too easily pleased. Do you believe? That's right.
S4: Yes.
S2: It's true, isn't it?
S6: Yeah. It's why we can, you know. And I speak
S6: as one who does this, too. Sometimes it's it's why
S6: we can sit down in front of a TV for
S6: five hours and let time go by because we're we're
S6: too pleased with the things that really don't do it
S6: for us.
S2: Yeah. And the interesting thing is, it's not necessarily a
S2: five hour.
S6: Netflix doesn't have to be.
S2: It could be a one hour.
S6: Could be.
S2: Because it can that one hour that God says, I
S2: want to redeem this in a better way.
S6: Yeah. And we say, no, I'm good with this.
S2: Or we sit in the pain of that loss that
S2: we have, and we sit there and it's like the
S2: hallmark film that I'm halfway through with my bride, the girls,
S2: and she's wrestling so well because she's wrestling with the
S2: loss of a husband and my heart. I'm getting wrapped
S2: up and I know how the hallmark films going to end,
S2: because it always.
S4: Ends the same way.
S2: It always ends the same way. The guy that showed
S2: up in the first five minutes, I knew, I said,
S2: there's the guy that's going to fill the void down
S2: the road here.
S7: That's so good.
S2: But God has so much more.
S7: Amen.
S2: And sometimes it's right under our nose. I want to
S2: tell you about that coming up here. Sometimes it's right
S2: under our nose. It can be the word of God.
S2: It can be the promises of God that just need
S2: to be peeled back a little bit to see what
S2: he has for you. We're going to paint a picture
S2: coming up.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Sometimes we find ourselves dancing on the grave that we
S2: once lived in, celebrating. And it's right. The victory over
S2: sin and death, which is powerful. But there is there more.
S2: That's really the question.
S4: And there's the kind of a hard wired desire to
S4: you think you think about some of the existential questions
S4: of life. One of the big ones is, is there more?
S2: Is there more? And everybody's asking, is.
S4: This, is this it? There's got to be more.
S2: Every flick, every movie, every product sold, every fill in
S2: the blank is cast in a vision for something more.
S4: That there has to be more than what I'm currently experiencing.
S2: Sometimes it's right there and we just got to see it.
S2: So I got to take you to Alaska. I'm a
S2: little kid. I was born in Homer, Alaska, raised in Anchorage, Alaska.
S2: Even ran a thing called the Iditarod Trail Race when
S2: I was 18 years old. If you've ever heard of
S2: the Iditarod. Crazy people do that who have a lapse
S2: of judgment for long enough to get a dog team
S2: together and then compete in this crazy thing. But when
S2: I was a young man, I was an outdoorsy guy,
S2: and I ran with guys that were outdoorsy guy. If
S2: you're not outdoorsy in Alaska.
S4: You say, is anyone in Alaska not.
S2: You're in the wrong place. So we went up to
S2: Mount McKinley or Mount Denali, however you call it now.
S2: And we went. Not with the intention of climbing that thing.
S2: I've got a few friends that have summited Mount McKinley.
S2: I never have, but to just get up there and
S2: do some camping. And I was young. How how old
S2: was I? Probably 11. 12 years old. Something like that.
S2: Pretty young.
S7: What grade?
S2: What grade in school is that?
S7: Sixth grade. Sixth grade.
S2: Yeah. So needless to say, we didn't drive. Somebody drove
S2: for us. No, we were with we were with a
S2: couple of, uh, couple of men. One was my buddy
S2: Calvin and his dad and a couple other guys, and
S2: we just took our fly fishing rods and our spin
S2: cast rods and all of our gear, and we drove
S2: off the highway into the park all the way to
S2: Wonder Lake and Wonder Lakes, the last campground nearest to
S2: Mount McKinley. Now, guys, I gotta tell you something. Mount
S2: McKinley is unbelievable. I mean, it's it's such a big mountain.
S2: It creates its own storms.
S7: That's wild. Crazy.
S2: It's just behemoth 20 plus thousand feet. So we're fishing
S2: at Wonder Lake, and we're, you know, we're doing a
S2: little bit of catch and release, but not much. And
S2: so what are a couple of young kids to do?
S2: We take off and we said we looked at each other.
S2: Cal looked at me. He says, Carl, let's go. Let's
S2: go explore, see if we can find some rivers out there. Now,
S2: I don't advise this. If you go camp at Wonder Lake,
S2: don't do this because there's a lot of bears out there.
S2: And we weren't packing a gun or anything. We didn't
S2: even have bear spray. So we're walking through this tall grass.
S2: Now imagine this. It's like 830 in the morning. The
S2: sun is coming up. It's coming up over Mount McKinley,
S2: and we're walking through this tall grass and we're making noise. Hey! Singing,
S2: whacking whatever we.
S7: Can to keep the bears away.
S2: Keeping the bears away. And they don't want to attack you.
S2: But you don't want to stumble up on a cub
S2: that's sleeping. And because mama's going to be happy.
S7: Very unhappy with Mama Bear, for sure.
S2: So we're whacking away at this thing, and we're walking
S2: and walking and walking toward the base of Mount McKinley.
S2: You feel that with me? Oh, I'm feeling it myself.
S2: I remember it like yesterday and I'm making a step
S2: and instinctively I'm like, whoa! And here's this creek in
S2: the middle of this huge prairie at the base of
S2: Mount McKinley. And I'm like, wow, there's a creek here.
S2: And you couldn't even see it because the grass was
S2: growing up now, and it's so tall, it's starting to
S2: lay down over the creek. So we start pulling the
S2: grass back, and we're kneeling down beside this creek. And, guys,
S2: it is crystal clear about a foot and a half,
S2: two feet wide, cut out of bedrock, about six, eight
S2: feet deep. And I mean pristine clear water. And I
S2: look at Cal, I said, Cal, there might be some
S2: grayling in here. Grayling are kind of a variation of
S2: a trout. They got a big, tall dorsal fin. They're
S2: beautiful fish. So I pull out a fly, a dry
S2: fly and I tie that thing on. And how are
S2: you supposed to fly fish in a stream that's a
S2: foot and a half wide? You don't stand back 20ft
S2: and try to drop it on the.
S6: No, not so much.
S2: You know what.
S7: You.
S2: Do when you're a little kid. You straddle the stream.
S2: You got one foot on one side and one on
S2: the other. So we're standing there with our legs split wide.
S2: And I dropped this dry fly on this creek. Pick
S2: it up. Drop it again. Pick it up. Drop it again. Bam!
S2: Out from the shadows in this little clear creek comes
S2: this huge grayling. And grayling don't get big. So I'm
S2: not talking something that could eat you I'm talking something
S2: like pan fry, like ten, 12in long. But it was
S2: a good sized grayling. We had the best time. We
S2: did catch and release for probably an hour and a half.
S2: And we're just catching these grayling, taking those little flies out,
S2: releasing them back into the river or creek. It's not
S2: a river. It's just barely bubbling down the down the stream.
S2: And we're. And then Cal man he'd get one on
S2: and man, we're cheering together. This is great. We're far
S2: enough away from camp. They can't hear us. But all
S2: the bears within the county. They heard.
S7: Us.
S2: So they're all away. It came time to head back
S2: to Wonder Lake, to the camp and we turned, got
S2: our tackle boxes, got our stuff together, and I got
S2: my fly rod. And I turned to head back and
S2: I stopped and I could cry thinking about it. I
S2: looked down, not to many ten, 11, 12 year olds
S2: are this aware, and I certainly wasn't, except that God
S2: made himself so clear to me. I said, Cal, come here.
S2: He said, what's going on? I said, kneel down here
S2: on this side of the creek with me and guys
S2: in that little foot and a half to two foot
S2: stream on that pristine, clear, ice cold water, absolutely smooth
S2: water was a reflection of 20 plus thousand feet of
S2: Mount McKinley reflected back to us.
S7: How beautiful!
S2: I said, look at that, Cal. He said, Carl, that's amazing.
S7: Huh? Wow.
S2: The promises of God. If you stop to kneel, ponder
S2: and consider are so robust, so huge, so powerful, so mighty.
S2: And I want you to stop today. And don't be
S2: in a hurry. Going through the thickets of life, fending
S2: off the brown bears around you, so to speak, that
S2: you miss the grandeur, the the hugeness. Can I make
S2: up words here? The the bigness of God.
S8: Because he's here.
S2: And that God loves.
S8: You.
S2: He loves.
S8: You.
S2: Don't be too easily pleased. Stop and consider the goodness
S2: and the greatness of God. He wants to meet you.
S2: He wants to minister to you. He wants to heal you.
S2: And he wants you to walk places you haven't believed
S2: him for. And he wants that begin afresh today.
S1: You're listening to curl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Unspoken. What he says about you. It's everything, guys. Matter
S2: of fact, I'm wondering if we ought to do it.
S2: I wonder if we ought to give that truth. Blog.
S2: Hang on here a second. It's Carl and crew helping
S2: you take your next step with Jesus. Let me paint
S2: a picture for you, and then we're going to go
S2: back to this. Why? What God says about you is
S2: so important. Your spiritual identity. I'm talking. This is top shelf.
S2: Got to have it. We're too low shelf. When we
S2: think in terms of the spiritual life and vitality, and
S2: how are we going to take hold of all that
S2: God has for us? You know, if I could put
S2: our morning show into a creed, if I could just bang,
S2: just kind of whittled it down. Because when we talk
S2: about helping you take your next step with Jesus, we
S2: got to take a we got to get a snapshot
S2: of where in the world are we going? So we're
S2: taking our next step to where. Sure. So I would
S2: say the gospel is this come as you are and
S2: experience him. Anyone glad that we don't have to get
S2: all cleaned up? Scrubbed up?
S6: I'd never get there if I had to get cleaned
S6: up first.
S2: Anyone glad for for God calling tax collectors and sinners and.
S9: Amen and amen.
S7: Yeah.
S2: And I mean the woman at the well who was
S2: absolutely ostracized from the community. Anyone else glad that God
S2: calls the people that don't have their act together.
S7: The outcast.
S2: Woo! We got four of us in here saying that.
S2: Super die. Are you glad for that, grace?
S7: Beyond glad. Gracious.
S9: I'm just grateful and grateful.
S2: Just doing a spot.
S7: Check.
S2: Here. Young Thunder, are you glad for that?
S6: You know, I think I'm pretty glad about that. Yeah,
S6: I'm one of them, so I probably should be pretty glad.
S2: And, Ali, I know she's glad. We're all glad that
S2: God just called us out of this mess as we are.
S2: So come as you are. Experience God. Overcome what seems impossible.
S2: Do you believe it?
S7: Yes, yes.
S6: I've seen it.
S2: But do we believe it? I mean, sometimes we get
S2: weak in the knees.
S6: That is true. That is true. And it's funny because,
S6: like I said, I've experienced the impossible being done in
S6: my life. But there are some times where maybe it's
S6: a couple years down the road and a new, quote
S6: unquote impossible comes into my life. And I go, yeah,
S6: I don't know about that one. And it's it's a
S6: need to be reminded again and again that our God
S6: is powerful enough to take care of every impossible. Not
S6: just this one over here or that one over there.
S2: All right, be cogitating on it. Some of one person
S2: here has an impossible thing that God's grace and power
S2: got you past. But let's talk about those impossible things.
S2: What are they? While someone is being prompted of the spirit.
S2: And I know he's working in your heart here, but
S2: what are those impossible things that we face in life
S2: that we go, man, I don't know if God can
S2: overcome that.
S4: I mean, a lot of times it's some sort of diagnosis.
S7: A diagnosis.
S4: Challenge.
S2: It's a big.
S7: Deal.
S4: Addiction crisis.
S2: Addiction, huge.
S4: Wayward kid.
S2: Wayward kid. Huge.
S6: Maybe it's not an addiction, but it's something as simple
S6: as gossiping. You know, a sin struggle that that feels like, oh,
S6: that's been there forever. I don't I don't know if
S6: I can resist that urge.
S2: Somebody saying, well, you could have left that one alone.
S2: Young thunder, super die. What do you.
S7: Say? I say just past trauma.
S9: Childhood trauma that even carries into adulthood.
S2: Betrayal in adulthood.
S9: Big time.
S7: Yeah.
S9: Big time.
S6: I'll tell you what God has done in my life.
S6: The impossible. One of the many impossible things he's overcome
S6: for me is before Christ. I was a liar. I
S6: was really good at it, too. Uh.
S2: Which is? Hold on. Time out.
S7: So.
S2: Bulletin. Bulletin here. Young Thunder cannot. He dragged me out.
S2: Do you remember last week when he comes in and says.
S2: I need to talk to you? Do you remember that
S2: when he came.
S7: In.
S2: Here? So we go marching out. Walk around the corner
S2: into the call screener room, and he sits down and
S2: he goes, I got something to tell you. And it's like,
S2: all right, bro, you're okay.
S7: I mean.
S2: If Young Thunder hints at maybe I kind of shaded
S2: the truth, it's like, shut her down. We got to
S2: get this cleared out. Anyway, you had a you were
S2: really good at lying.
S6: Yeah, I was really good at lying. I was I
S6: was born into a Christian home, but I was living
S6: a double life, so I was really good at looking
S6: like a Christian to people who went to church. And
S6: I was really good at not looking like a Christian
S6: to people that didn't and did it did.
S2: Exhausting living that.
S6: Way. No it didn't.
S2: You had it mastered.
S6: I had it mastered. I mean, it didn't. It really
S6: didn't bother me at all. Yeah. There were some times
S6: where I felt some anxiousness that I might get caught,
S6: but I never felt bad about what I did or
S6: what I said because I was like, well, this is
S6: what I have to say to get what I want.
S6: And so it didn't matter to me. There was no
S6: consciousness objection to what I was doing. But through the
S6: power of Christ and being saved by him, Carl is correct.
S6: When I cannot tell a lie, it it bothers me
S6: to my core.
S7: Wow.
S6: And and I have to make it right if I.
S6: If I have done it, if I say something that
S6: maybe I've extended the truth a little bit or I
S6: exaggerated something, I usually end up coming back and going, okay, hey,
S6: you know what? I said this. That wasn't quite accurate.
S6: I want to adjust that a little bit because God's
S6: done that in me, and through his grace I don't
S6: lie anymore.
S2: All right, I gotta double down on this. I got
S2: a buddy of mine that was overcoming constant stretching stories,
S2: not fabricating a lot, but just embellishing.
S7: Just embellishing stories.
S2: Sure, it's the constant. It's the proverbial. The fish was
S2: this big story. Um, so he was so convicted that
S2: he's asking the Lord what to do in the Spirit
S2: of God. He felt just told him, you got to
S2: start confessing this the minute you do it. So he
S2: was in one meeting with a group of guys, like
S2: a business meeting. And this is at his workplace, and
S2: he walks out of the meeting. Spirit of God says, yeah,
S2: you were totally stretching the truth there, man. He's like, oh, man.
S2: Turns around, walks back in and says, hey, guys, I
S2: just need to say something I was just telling you about.
S2: I forget what the issue was. I was telling you
S2: about this issue and I just need you to know something.
S2: I stretched the truth and I never want to do
S2: that again. So here's the truth about the situation. I said,
S2: what was the room like? He said, Stone quiet.
S7: Don't even know. Stone quiet.
S2: And here's why. There's a few other stretchers.
S7: In the room. Yeah, sure.
S2: So come as you are, experienced guy, to overcome what
S2: seems impossible. Can God overcome the impossible? Yes, yes he can.
S2: And by the way, what do we have to do
S2: with that?
S6: Nothing.
S2: Nothing.
S9: Not a thing.
S2: Apart from him. We can do.
S7: Nothing.
S2: And then live as we never imagined. We want that
S2: for you. God wants that for you. If you consider
S2: what God says in Scripture over and over again, I mean,
S2: it's just vision after vision for let's go live this way.
S2: And that's a beautiful thing coming up here. We're going
S2: to anchor it in Scripture, and we're even in this hour,
S2: we're going to have Rob West here. And if you
S2: don't know Rob West, he's going to help us identify
S2: things that can hold us back.
S6: Yeah, he's really good at that one.
S7: Very good.
S2: One. Big one in particular. We're going to break it down.
S4: We're also going to give you that resource. Oh you mentioned.
S7: It.
S2: All right.
S7: We got a resource coming up.
S2: Yep. Hang on. We'll give it to you.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: We made a promise early on here, and we want
S2: to fulfill this. But before we give this link. And
S2: by the way, one of the things that we love
S2: to do here you are, the boom crew. This is
S2: Carl and crew. You're the boom crew, meaning this is
S2: your show. And we do everything we can to help
S2: encourage you in your walk with Jesus Christ. Now we
S2: see a lot of people surrender to Christ here on
S2: this program, which is awesome, by the way, a cool
S2: little stat you need as you're going through your life today.
S2: You ready for this? Estimates are over 30% of the
S2: people listening to this show at any time are in
S2: the shadows spiritually. They don't know and experience the love
S2: and the grace and the power of Jesus Christ. Meaning
S2: they're not yet born again, but in the last, I
S2: don't know. I'm trying to get the numbers right here.
S2: I don't want to be the bigger fish guy.
S7: Sure.
S2: So I would say, realistically, in the last four years
S2: we've seen, well, we know thousands of people have surrendered
S2: to Jesus Christ, and probably now upwards of 4 or
S2: 5000 people. Big numbers of folks have surrendered to Christ
S2: here in the last number of years, which is awesome.
S2: And we give links out to people who surrender to Christ.
S2: And it's one of the most awesome things, because then
S2: we find out six months later, two years later, five
S2: years later, we get stories back going, God called me
S2: out of darkness during the morning show.
S7: Yeah.
S2: Which is so awesome. But that's not it alone. Because
S2: once you've been born again, now you're on this journey.
S2: And I tell people all the time, when God calls
S2: you out of darkness into the light, There's a whole
S2: new fight coming your way, and it's big. And one
S2: of the ways that we want to help you is
S2: give you links to resources that are going to anchor
S2: you in truths that it's like, man, I got to
S2: hold on to that. Boy, have we got one for
S2: you now.
S4: It's our truth blog. This is one of our most
S4: popular resources and it is just right from the Word
S4: of God bullet points. Who are you in Christ? What
S4: is the Word of God say about you? I am
S4: loved as much as anyone has ever been loved. I
S4: repeat that so many times. Do you to my son,
S4: usually before bed. And he's like, is that from that
S4: thing that Carl wrote?
S7: Tell him it's from the Bible, the Word of God.
S7: But yes, it's.
S4: From that resource. He actually asks, are we doing that? Yep,
S4: we're doing it again. If you want this resource, read
S4: it over your kids. They'll love it. They'll start to
S4: repeat it themselves. Just text the word truth to 800
S4: 555 7898. Print it out. Do whatever you need to do.
S4: Post it on the refrigerator. Text truth to 800 555 7898.
S2: You never outgrow your need for it, and even sometimes
S2: authors need to reread their material.
S7: Oh boy.
S2: Do you know how many times I've had to go
S2: back to this? Go! All right. Boom! Anchored. Yes. I've been.
S2: I've been called out of darkness into the light. Made
S2: with the purpose to glorify God. Nothing can separate me
S2: from the love of God. Boom boom boom boom boom.
S2: So I'm telling you, grab this. I think I put
S2: at the bottom of this blog. An exercise. Is this
S2: the 121 days?
S7: Yes.
S2: Morning and.
S7: Evening.
S4: Two times a day for 21 days. And see what happens.
S4: Watch what will happen in your life.
S7: Yeah.
S2: Just grab it. Just text the word truth to 855 five, 78, 98.
S2: Wherever you are. Text truth to 855 five, 78, 98.
S2: We'll shoot this right out to you. Hang on.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, But you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Okay, here's the reality. When we are radically transformed by Jesus,
S2: and I like to use those descriptive words because nothing
S2: less than radical will do when it comes to being
S2: born again. You move from darkness to light. You're born
S2: with your back to God. He turns you around. This
S2: isn't about going to church. This is. This is not
S2: about going to church, man. Next week we're going to
S2: just hammer down on Matthew seven, Matthew 13, Matthew 25.
S2: We're going to see over and over again in Scripture
S2: this great hallucination of salvation. There are so many in
S2: the United States of America. Canada, beyond this Western world,
S2: is plagued with this great deception, thinking that spiritual activity
S2: equals spiritual new birth. And it doesn't, but I digress.
S2: We're going to get into that next week, and we're
S2: going to unpack it left and right and forward. but
S2: on this journey of faith that God calls us into,
S2: he casts before us this vision over and over again.
S2: I'm so grateful to God. It's my to my glory
S2: that you bear much fruit. John 15. It's you. Go
S2: to Matthew 13. Let me just go there. Parable of
S2: the four soils. You got hardpan soil, and Satan comes
S2: and grabs that seed, takes it away. You got a
S2: heart that receives that truth with joy and boom goes
S2: up for a little bit, and then boom, a little
S2: bit of opposition. Persecution comes. Falls over. Then you got
S2: another one growing in the thicket of thorny ground. The
S2: worries of this world, deceitfulness of wealth, desire for other things,
S2: make it unfruitful. And you could get discouraged. Except for
S2: here comes the roundhouse from Jesus. And he says, but
S2: some falls on these heart conditions that produce a crop
S2: ready for this 30, 60, 100 fold. Now, if you
S2: look at the promises of God. I miss C.S. Lewis.
S2: It would seem that we're far too easily pleased. But
S2: then the question is, is it that we're just too
S2: easily pleased, or that we're deceived, or that something's gotten
S2: in the way? Or all the above.
S4: All the above? I think at different times.
S2: What gets in the way, guys? What are some of
S2: the things that get in the way? And I don't
S2: want you to go where Rob West is going to go,
S2: because we're going to take him there in a moment
S2: here in this next half hour. But let's just let's
S2: just get after it. By the way, if you got
S2: some feedback here, let's go. If you got some thoughts 800, 555, 78,
S2: 98 just text us. What impedes our ability to journey
S2: on and take hold of all of God's promises? 855
S2: five 7898. You can text us. We can't read them
S2: all all the time, but we'll get as many as
S2: we can.
S4: You know, I think for me, it's sometimes looking too
S4: much at myself and not enough at God. And what
S4: those promises are, because I get sometimes I get so
S4: frustrated with myself, I feel like I should be further
S4: along by now. I shouldn't have this struggle anymore, and
S4: I can get so defeated in my spirit of feeling
S4: like that. Not that I can share, but just like
S4: feeling like I want to be better than I am,
S4: like I don't, I want to be better, I want
S4: to be better than I am. And I think that
S4: that can keep you kind of stuck.
S7: Yeah.
S4: Because you're like, you see this gap and you're like, oh,
S4: instead of looking at God, I'm looking at me.
S2: Yeah, yeah, a lot of us feel that way. The
S2: question is, are you willing to look at it and go, okay,
S2: two things exist. This thing in me is not glorifying God,
S2: and it's impeding my growth. And yet, rather than fixating
S2: on that thing that's impeding my growth, let's go for
S2: it with God.
S6: Yeah. I think something that I see in today's culture
S6: a lot, and it's so easy to fall into for
S6: every single one of us, myself included. Is is just
S6: distraction falling into distraction through specifically entertainment. You know, our
S6: living rooms are centered around and and kind of arch
S6: around the TV. I think everybody's living room does, or
S6: at least 99% funny.
S2: Yeah. It's like we've got our our own personal Molek
S2: or Baal right there.
S7: And by the way.
S2: I'm not that crazy.
S7: A.
S6: Guy. Oh, of course.
S2: Because there's great stuff to consume. But you're right.
S6: Yeah. And so I think that just like we center
S6: our living rooms around it, sometimes we center our lives
S6: around it, and we get so focused on on what
S6: we can be distracted with because it's fun and it
S6: feels good. But when we allow ourselves to be distracted
S6: to the point where we're missing out on what God
S6: has for us, then we fall into a bigger problem.
S2: Isn't it interesting how good things can become idols, and
S2: then they get in the way of God.
S7: Yeah.
S2: I mean, one of the greatest gifts that I have
S2: in my life is my bride. I've been married to
S2: her for a few decades, and she's an incredible gift.
S2: But two things can happen. I'm going to talk to
S2: you men right now. God can give you this incredible gift.
S2: And men are great hunters. We know what to say
S2: when we're dating, man. We're great at that. We know
S2: how to woo them. We know how to find a
S2: bouquet of flowers at a grocery store. And put some
S2: baby's breath in there and wrap it up with some cellophane.
S2: But sometimes we can go down this path and we
S2: can forget what an incredible blessing this person is. And
S2: believe it or not, presumption that, hey, she's been there.
S2: She's done that without looking back and going, boy, look at,
S2: look at the advantage I have in my life because
S2: of my bride. My bride has been my greatest life coach. Period.
S2: Full stop. My bride does not. What's the old term
S2: give you? Quarter or let's just be real. She didn't
S2: let me up for air. If she sees something in
S2: my life that needs to change, she'll flat call it out.
S2: And I've had to constantly come back to an appreciation
S2: for that because I've often thought, man, Lord, I've got one.
S2: Holy spirit, do I need another? But when the Lord
S2: works through my bride, it's a beautiful thing. But one
S2: of the things we can do is begin to neglect
S2: or ignore the people that God has in our life.
S2: We can forget how beautiful it is that God's brought
S2: people in our life that love us enough to tell
S2: us the truth. We can get resentful and pretty quick.
S2: There's barriers to our forward growth with God. I've never
S2: known growth with God. That wasn't difficult.
S4: Well, because growth usually happens when there's challenge.
S2: It's a fire man. It's a furnace. It gets hot.
S2: Do I like it when my wife confronts me and
S2: my bride was telling someone the other day goes, oh my,
S2: my my, my. She calls me bub and I call
S2: her bub. Receives what I say to him so well,
S2: I go, no, I don't.
S7: Come on, let's be real here.
S2: Because here's classic Carl and I'm going to be shoot
S2: it to you straight. She'll say something to me now, outwardly,
S2: in my first years of marriage, I would kind of resist. Now, inwardly,
S2: I resist. And it's like. And I'm wrestling. You know
S2: what I'm talking about.
S7: I'm wrestling.
S2: It's like, God, what about her?
S7: What about.
S2: Her? And then the Lord, by his grace, calms me
S2: a little bit. And boom! If by his grace I
S2: can own what she's said to me, I'm a winner
S2: for it. So what gets in the way and impedes
S2: our ability to really grow and go with God? What
S2: impedes our ability to really take hold of God's promises.
S2: Don't settle for too little today. Bust through those barriers.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew, its
S1: curling crew on Moody Radio.
S2: So I went to a go kart track back in
S2: the day.
S6: I don't know if I could imagine you at a
S6: go kart track.
S2: Oh, yeah, you can.
S6: I guess.
S2: So. Can't you? Yeah, I was crazy. Go kart.
S9: I see that totally.
S2: And up in up in Alaska, where I was raised
S2: and lived. Born in Homer, raised in Anchorage, lived in Alaska,
S2: did a lot of Alaska stuff. We had great go karts.
S2: They were like, no regulations on the go karts. Oh, boy. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Down.
S2: Just went down here in the what we call the
S2: lower 48. A lot of regulations.
S4: Some for good reason.
S2: Well, yeah. Not good enough for us when we were kids.
S6: One of my least favorite things about go karts that
S6: they do is that they can slow you down from, like,
S6: a computer on the side.
S2: Most frustrating thing.
S6: And I'm like, I just got going, dude. Wait, let
S6: me keep going. Yeah, they.
S2: Can put a governor on you. So in which thwarts
S2: the ultimate purpose, which is to whack your friends so
S2: hard it puts him into a tailspin. Okay, so we're
S2: we're out there, and we get, get down to this
S2: go kart place. And I mean it. It's not anything
S2: like these go kart places nowadays that are indoors and
S2: well kept and everything, and even the outdoor ones are pristine.
S2: Ours look like it was something out of, I don't
S2: know who knows what. It was just. It was just.
S2: It was just a bumpy road and a bunch of
S2: guys out there that are spitting Copenhagen all over the
S2: ground that are firing up those go karts. They got
S2: grease all over their pants.
S10: They're like, I sit in there.
S2: But I loved it. We we'd get off work and
S2: we'd go down there and bam, we'd nail it and
S2: we'd get these coupons where you like, you get ten
S2: rides at a go and we'd go ten rounds. But,
S2: I mean, we're blasting one another, like almost causing injury.
S11: Oh, yeah. No joke.
S6: Well, that's why they have those governors now to slow
S6: you down so you don't do that.
S2: So go down there and walk away with my friends.
S2: We go down the road to get some pizza, and
S2: I reach for my wallet and it is gone.
S4: Uh oh.
S2: And guys, this is I'm old enough to remember when
S2: money didn't get transferred into accounts. It got. It was
S2: given to you in a cheque. Do you know what
S2: those are, young Thunder? Yes a.
S11: Cheque. Yeah. I used to check that.
S2: You go cash at a.
S11: Bank. Yeah, I used to. Okay. I'm just making.
S2: Sure you got it. I mean, he's young, so I
S2: call him Young Thunder. Um, so. Yeah, I go cash
S2: this thing. Guys, I have $420 cash in my wallet.
S2: Now it is.
S4: Gone. Oh, no.
S6: Oh that's horrible.
S2: I go, I'm panicked, man. I go back to the
S2: track and I'm scouring around and I'm yelling at the
S2: guys and going, guys in that car right over there
S2: and and, well, wouldn't you know what happened? One of
S2: my Copenhagen spitting pit crew buddies that worked there. I
S2: don't know who got it and I couldn't pin it
S2: on anyone, sure, but they saw it and they grabbed it.
S2: And I just said to him, look, if you have
S2: it handed in anywhere, you know, if you could reach
S2: out to me, I'd give him a home telephone number.
S2: But I knew that was never going to ring. And
S2: it was. My heart sank. Guys, that was all my cash.
S2: 400 plus.
S11: Dollars.
S6: Yeah, for a couple of weeks now. It's gone.
S2: Well, I think that was a week. Yeah, yeah, or
S2: something like that. But it was gone. And I was
S2: heartsick and I was broken about it. Now there's some
S2: realism in that. That is you got to pay for
S2: some other stuff, right. But it's amazing how money can
S2: become such a focal point that you don't even have
S2: to lose a big sum to be fixated on it.
S4: Oh, yeah. I mean, you think about the the amount
S4: of things that people do that are solely motivated by money?
S2: Yeah, and money is a great resource, but it makes
S2: a horrible God. It never works. It's bad to bow
S2: down to. And the question is, how do you take
S2: this resource called money and not let it consume you?
S4: That's the question is you whether you have a lot
S4: or a little. That desire, it's the desire in the
S4: driver of money that can become problematic.
S2: Yeah, man, even you can have a great budget and
S2: it can get out of whack. Rob West coming up.
S2: He'll get us straightened out.
S1: Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's curl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: By the way, have you seen the Faith fi app?
S6: This is awesome.
S2: The Faith fi app is the bomb.
S4: Do people still say that?
S6: I think so.
S2: I heard it yesterday.
S12: Carl just did.
S2: Of course, the guy was 82. Actually. No joking. I
S2: heard a message yesterday and the pastor said, that's the bomb. And.
S2: And I'm right. He was in he's in his 70s. Okay.
S2: So to be fair, Ali, what is the new hip bomb?
S4: I'm trying to think. Um.
S6: That's bussin.
S2: Bussin? That's old, isn't it?
S12: Is that old.
S9: Stigma?
S4: I hear a lot of words that my 15 year
S4: old and 12 year old use, and I don't understand
S4: a lot of them. I know that if you say
S4: something is no cap, you're questioning whether or not someone's
S4: telling the truth, right? If something's mid.
S12: It's a it's mediocre.
S4: Mediocre.
S2: But here's here's what's really cool. The word cool is
S2: still used everywhere.
S12: Cool is cool.
S2: Thank the Lord some things stick around. Rob West money
S2: is a great thing, but it is a battle to
S2: keep it from becoming a God, isn't it, my man?
S13: Oh, it is such a battle. Listen to what Paul
S13: David Tripp says. He says money is one of God's
S13: good creations. But this good thing becomes a bad thing
S13: for you when it becomes a ruling thing. And I
S13: think that's what we all encounter. Talked about the parable
S13: of the sower. We don't want to be the third
S13: soil people. Right. The weeds come in and choke out
S13: that 3060 hundredfold return. And then later the 12 are
S13: asking him, can you explain that? And he says, all right,
S13: here we go. So it's the what were they?
S2: There were worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth
S2: and the desire for other things, which all three can
S2: be related to money.
S13: Yeah. I mean, I don't want to embellish maybe two
S13: and a half, but. Okay. You know, but yeah.
S2: I.
S13: Mean, that's the point, you know, and and what we
S13: have to understand is that this thing can compete. It's
S13: it's going to be a rival for our hearts. Uh,
S13: the late Tim Keller, in his book Counterfeit Gods, he
S13: said the most common counterfeit god is money. He said,
S13: I've had every sin confessed in my office, save one.
S13: It was the sin of greed. And that's where we
S13: find ourselves. And it gets even more challenging when we
S13: have an abundance, when we have a lot of it.
S13: Here's what C.S. Lewis said. One of the dangers of
S13: having a lot of money is that you may be
S13: quite satisfied with the kinds of happiness money can give,
S13: and so fail to realize your need for God. If
S13: everything seems to come simply by signing checks, you may
S13: forget that you are at every moment totally dependent on God.
S13: And that's the truth.
S12: Wow.
S4: Wow. Rob West, our guest right now, host of the
S4: nationally syndicated program Faith and Finance Live Money can absolutely
S4: tell us to our need for God. But you can't
S4: live life without money. You can't.
S2: It's impossible.
S4: It's absolutely.
S2: You know what? Here's the problem with money, Rob. It's
S2: kind of like food. So I've got friends that have
S2: challenges with food. And you know what? A couple of
S2: them said I got to eat. I don't, you know,
S2: that's my problem is I have to eat and we
S2: have to have some kind of currency. So how do
S2: you how do you slay this thing so that it
S2: doesn't slay you? Rob. Yeah.
S13: So it starts with an understanding that God owns it all.
S13: You and I are money managers for the King of Kings.
S13: That is a high calling. And so then we have
S13: to accept our role not as owners, but as managers,
S13: as stewards. We translate that word in the New Testament
S13: Oikonomos household manager. So we're walking into the home. Everything
S13: we see, we know it's not ours, it's his. And
S13: so our task is to be found faithful in managing
S13: the King's resources. So we have to know the king's heart.
S13: So we got to get into God's Word. And we
S13: realize that money is a good gift for us to
S13: give and even to enjoy. I think God smiles when
S13: we use money as a tool in a joyful celebration. Yes,
S13: but it's also to invest. But here's the other big
S13: idea is a rival for our hearts. It is dangerous
S13: and so we've got to put it in its proper place.
S13: God is our ultimate treasure. Money is a tool to
S13: accomplish God's purposes, and when we live within it, we
S13: save it appropriately. We hold it loosely. We give it generously.
S13: All of a sudden, it becomes a powerful force for
S13: good in our lives and the lives of others. But
S13: it's not easy.
S4: Rob West, our guest right now. Coming up, let's talk
S4: about what are the warning signs that money is not
S4: a tool.
S12: Anymore.
S4: But something maybe that's starting to rule me again. More
S4: coming up here on Carl and crew.
S1: She was trying to earn her way to God, but
S1: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
S1: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Sometimes you got to get out of the car, go
S2: around to the front and get that thing that's in
S2: the road that's impeding your ability to go forward without
S2: destroying your car and get it out of the road.
S12: Yes.
S2: Well guess what? As we journey down this road of faith, man,
S2: there's things that can get in the way. And what's
S2: wild is money can move from a great resource to
S2: a molek. A Baal, a god that gets in the way.
S2: Isn't that weird? Because one moment it's a resource. We
S2: know it's from God. Next moment, about a bang, we're
S2: getting wiped out by it.
S4: Rob West, our guest right now, host of Faith and
S4: Finance live. So how can you what are some warning signs,
S4: some indicators that maybe money has slipped out of its
S4: proper place in your life?
S13: I think one of the big ones is just a
S13: lack of margin. And, you know, interestingly, we know the
S13: data about how often money is that source of conflict
S13: in marriage. The studies say, though, the way we overcome
S13: that is, yeah, we got to communicate and yeah, we
S13: got to live within our means. But it was the
S13: biggest one was do we have margin? Do we have
S13: something left over at the end of the month? And
S13: if we're going beyond that, that leads to the second
S13: warning sign, which is debt. We're living outside of God's
S13: provision and we're taking on more and more debt. It's
S13: not sustainable, but I think a big one. Ali is
S13: the comparison trap. I mean, you know it well. Here,
S13: go with me for a second. Jesus hits this head on.
S13: You remember in Luke 12 he's traveling to Jerusalem for
S13: the last time before his crucifixion. There's thousands. Somebody steps
S13: out of the crowd and asks him to settle an
S13: inheritance dispute. And he doesn't take the case. But he
S13: addresses the heart of the matter, which is covetousness. Right?
S13: Another way to say the comparison trap. And here's his warning.
S13: Take care. Be on your guard against all covetousness, for
S13: one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions.
S13: Now that's a startling statement in his time and in now.
S13: And it begs the question, if material abundance isn't what
S13: makes life satisfying and full, what does? And we know
S13: the answer is in John ten, I am the door.
S13: If anyone enters by me, he will be saved. He
S13: will go in and out and find pasture. I am
S13: the good shepherd the good Shepherd, lays down his life
S13: for his sheep. So here's here's the bottom line. Here's
S13: the truth the Lord is the only source of true abundance,
S13: and not just the source of abundance, but the actual
S13: abundance itself.
S2: Yeah, and reining that in and bringing it under lordship
S2: to him and then talking with him about it is huge. Rob. Um,
S2: five years ago, I give credit to my bride on
S2: this one. I was the I was the dad that
S2: if a kid needed something, I'd flip him a 20
S2: and we were just busy. Ministry was cooking. We're seeing
S2: pastor in a church in Alaska and things are just
S2: on fire, and I'm just. I got no time, you know?
S2: So I'm doing this and this and this. And my
S2: bride came to me, and she is a phenomenal asset
S2: in my life. And she said, Bob, we got to
S2: get a budget. We got to get this reeled in.
S2: We don't know where it's going, what's going on. And
S2: we got on this old model where you get these
S2: envelopes and you put cash in it for every month.
S2: And at first I'm like, oh, this is the most
S2: constraining thing. And let me tell you something. Nothing is
S2: more liberated. Our ability as a couple to leverage resources
S2: toward kingdom stuff and to find joy in it, than
S2: having a budget that we could follow. And when I
S2: found out that Rob with Faith five built a budget
S2: that's basically a digital envelope system, I'm like, get me
S2: that tool. Right, Rob, remember that day we had that combo?
S13: Remember it? Yeah. And you said, hey, I've got all
S13: these envelopes and it's worked for us.
S2: But why does it work? Why does it work? Why?
S2: Why does it work?
S13: Because it's the only way to reign in your spending.
S13: You see, what so many people do is they create
S13: a budget on paper and they stick it in a
S13: drawer and they say, oh, we did it. And guess what?
S13: We made it balance. And then that's the last time
S13: they look at it. Or perhaps they wait till the
S13: end of the month and pull it out and say,
S13: how bad did we do? Well, it's too late. Then.
S13: You see, the envelope system, whether it's digital or physical,
S13: is the only way you make real time decisions during
S13: the money or during the month when you look into
S13: the eating out envelope or the entertainment envelope or, you know,
S13: I've got an envelope for my daughter Emma, who loves
S13: to buy new clothes. And when the money's gone, it's gone.
S2: Bless his heart. I want to take a love offering
S2: for Emma because daddy's cutting her short.
S12: No. I'm kidding.
S2: No, but. And you know what you're teaching Emma? And
S2: every kid needs this. All of God's kids need this.
S2: Some need to be given some latitude. So maybe Johnny
S2: needs to be told no, you can actually go get
S2: some new jeans, bro. Those are nasty. Yeah. And yet. Yeah,
S2: it's kind of. This is sweet.
S4: It's the Faith fi app. If you want more information,
S4: just text money to 800 555 7898. This will get
S4: you linked up. So you can check out that app
S4: available wherever you get your apps. So just text money
S4: to 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah, yeah. Do it would you? And this is a treat.
S2: And I know there's some people out there fearful right
S2: now because I know what this feels like. Rob. It's
S2: like do I. And I was there. Do I dare
S2: put myself under these constraints? What do you say to
S2: that word, Rob?
S13: Well, you've got to start somewhere. And here's the reality.
S13: Until you know where your money's going, you're going to struggle.
S13: And so that's the beginning point. Not trying to fix anything.
S13: I just need understanding. Where am I at today? And
S13: then you can start working on the changes. And if
S13: you're married you come together. The budget will be the
S13: instrument of peace. It doesn't have to be constraining. It
S13: doesn't have to rein you in. It just tells the truth.
S13: And it gives every dollar a job.
S2: It's beautiful. All right, Ali, let's get it.
S4: Takes money to (800) 555-7898. No emojis. I know there's lots
S4: available that you could use, but just write out that
S4: word and leave everything else out. Text money to 800
S4: 555 7898.
S2: Yeah. Our goal is to help you take hold of
S2: God's promises. God wants to do that. And sometimes you
S2: got to remove what's in the way. Don't let money
S2: become a God. Get God's help to get it under control.