S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio coming out.
S2: Hot on this beautiful. What day is it? Tuesday. What
S2: day is today? Okay.
S3: July 1st.
S2: It's July 1st, everybody.
S4: Can't believe it.
S2: Doesn't that mean, like summer just showed up? Or is
S2: that a few days ago? That was nine days ago.
S2: Sorry about that. I'm not doing well this morning on
S2: my markers in life. Sorry, but I know this for sure.
S2: It's gonna be hot in Chicago. How about where you
S2: are today? I don't know what it's going to be, but, boy,
S2: we've had a hot streak here in Chicagoland. It's Carl
S2: and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus
S2: this whole week long. And this is why I wanted
S2: to do this. We're coming to a weekend that you
S2: know what weekend vacations can do.
S4: What's that?
S2: They can discourage you thoroughly. Why? They can be so.
S4: No, I love them.
S2: I love them, too. Two. I love them too. But
S2: have you ever come back from a vacation either exhausted,
S2: sideways with a family member, or feeling like you're behind
S2: in life altogether? Well, you know what I'm saying? It's
S2: like it's either like, I've gotta take a break from
S2: this break. Yeah. Uh, something came up with a family member,
S2: and now I got to sort that out, and I'm
S2: so behind. I don't know how to get caught up.
S4: That's fair.
S2: The third one's a big one for me.
S4: Yeah, yeah. And then on a on a very slightly
S4: long weekend, you know, it's still too short of a
S4: break to get any of that stuff resolved. And now
S4: you're tired from the, the conflict of the weekend, and
S4: then you're back in it.
S2: So I promise you, Thursday I'm going to tell you
S2: how to vacation. Not with a.
S3: Purpose.
S2: But I'm going to tell you how to vacation in
S2: a way I shouldn't be tongue in cheek in this,
S2: I shouldn't I should be more serious. I'm going to
S2: tell you really what the Lord taught me. On my
S2: last vacation. I had the best vacation, Haitian and I
S2: really mean this ever. And it all had to do
S2: with spiritual refreshment. And so on Thursday I'm going to
S2: try to break that down for you. Anyhow, it's going
S2: to be fun. I love it. Ellie got back in
S2: the wee hours of the morning. I told her, take
S2: a rest, young lady, but she is so fired up. Guys,
S2: she was in a location we still cannot disclose, and, uh,
S2: hopefully she'll be able to, but either way, um, she
S2: had an incredible trip abroad. That's all I got. Just incredible.
S2: And she said truly life changing were the words she said.
S4: That's awesome.
S3: Awesome.
S2: So we're going to hear back from Ali, God willing, tomorrow.
S2: Who knows? She might have had such a good time
S2: overseas or wherever she was that she just leaves and
S2: goes back.
S4: Gets right back on that plane.
S2: Never, never jumps in here again. I don't.
S3: Know. I could see that.
S2: You just never know. I mean, you just don't know.
S2: It's crazy. Christ followers these.
S3: Days.
S2: It's crazy. Crazy grace followers these days? Okay, coming up
S2: here in a moment. Here's what we are wanting to
S2: do this week. Give you bedrock, rock solid truths that
S2: can lead into this incredible weekend. And there's something about
S2: getting on the rock and then applying things so that
S2: we can truly build our life on the rock. That
S2: changes everything. So we're trying to give you some core
S2: truths that are going to help you today, this weekend,
S2: and in this journey ahead. You know, I don't know
S2: what you are up against today, but this I know
S2: for sure. Giving God praise is incredibly powerful. So powerful
S2: that we wanted to get Sam Storms in here to
S2: talk about it. Hang on.
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: There is power in praise. And oftentimes we think, yeah,
S2: you're right. There is power in praise. And it's for
S2: the glorification of God. But what if it's not only
S2: for the glorification of God, which is everything, but for
S2: the good of we who stop to give him praise?
S2: With me right now, Doctor Sam Storms. Sam is the
S2: founder and president of Enjoying God Ministries and serves on
S2: the Council of the Gospel Coalition. Prolific author, great preacher
S2: and a heart as big as a bucket for the
S2: things of God. Praise Sam. Talk to me about it.
S2: It's vital, isn't it?
S5: It is. It is absolutely vital. Unfortunately, I think that
S5: some Christians, and obviously a lot of non-Christians struggle with
S5: it because we look at the Bible where God says,
S5: praise me. Tell me how great I am. And we think,
S5: my goodness, that sounds a rather egotistical, rather selfish God
S5: constantly telling us to praise him. And yet we read
S5: more in Scripture and we find this to be true
S5: and confirmed in our experience that when we praise God,
S5: he communicates his presence to us. He comes to us
S5: in power. There are numerous examples of this in the Bible,
S5: both Old and New Testament. I was just reading the
S5: other day a very famous passage. I think most everybody
S5: listening to this knows the story of Jehoshaphat in Second
S5: Chronicles 20.
S2: Great story.
S5: He is faced. Yeah, he's faced with the ammonites, the Moabites, and, uh,
S5: doesn't really know what to do. And he puts the
S5: choir in front of the army and basically says, just
S5: say this. Give thanks to the Lord, for his steadfast
S5: love endures forever. And the next verse is stunning. It says,
S5: and when they began to sing and praise the Lord,
S5: he set an ambush against the men of Ammon, Moabite,
S5: and others. So it wasn't until they praised that God's
S5: power was released in their midst to defeat their enemies.
S5: So it's remarkable. Yes, we are extolling God. We are
S5: exalting him. But when we do that, God goes to
S5: work on behalf of his people. He draws near to us.
S5: We experience his presence, intimacy with him. And there's also
S5: the release of his power into our lives to help
S5: us do what we otherwise couldn't do.
S2: Sam, you're not wrong. I'm just going to cite a
S2: few here. Boom. Crew praise invites God's presence that's found
S2: in Psalm 22 three. Praise shifts our focus from ourselves
S2: to him. Psalm 34 one and two. It breaks chains
S2: and brings deliverance that's found in acts 16. It strengthens
S2: faith and defeats fear. That's in Psalm 28 seven and
S2: it goes on and on, confuses the enemy, cultivates joy
S2: and peace. You know you hit something, Sam. I don't
S2: know that we have apprehension as much as we've not
S2: had good information about what praise can do.
S5: I think you're exactly right. Praise is the consummation of
S5: our joy in Jesus. Uh, we talk about enjoying God.
S5: We talk. That's the name of my ministry. We talk
S5: about delighting in him, but that is never fully consummated
S5: until we give expression to it in worship. I tell
S5: people all the time, try to think of that which
S5: you enjoy most in life, and then try to keep
S5: it to yourself. It's it's painful. It's hard. We just
S5: instinctively want to give, vent to and voice to the
S5: things that we value most and treasure most. And that
S5: especially applies in our relationship with God. He is the
S5: most valuable being in the universe, the greatest prize, the
S5: greatest treasure. And to know that and then not be
S5: able to give expression to it in worship, it's stunted.
S5: Our joy is not allowed to come to its consummate expression.
S5: So if we want to enjoy God to the fullest,
S5: we need to praise him regularly, daily, moment by moment.
S2: There is something about the posture of praise. The irony
S2: is we can get more fired up about a three
S2: pointer at the buzzer or a field goal in overtime
S2: than we can about God. What's going to break us
S2: free from that funky mess? It is misconception. It's a
S2: little bit of apprehension. What have you learned will break
S2: people free, Sam?
S5: Well, first of all, is a greater grasp of the
S5: glory and the greatness and the beauty and the majesty
S5: of God. I think people have a very stunted and
S5: limited view of who God is and what he's done
S5: for us in Jesus. I think, secondly, we have to
S5: help people overcome their fear. They're afraid of doing something
S5: that might draw attention to themselves. They're afraid that somebody
S5: might think, oh, they're just showing off, or they're afraid
S5: that somebody will accuse them of being overly emotional. And
S5: I just think we need to stop and just basically
S5: push delete on all of our fears concerning what other
S5: people think. My only concern when I worship is what
S5: does God think? How can I honor him? Let me
S5: give you one other verse that that I've always found
S5: really important in this regard. It's in acts 13, when
S5: Paul and Barnabas were at the church in Antioch. And
S5: it says while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting,
S5: the Holy Spirit said, set apart for me Barnabas and Saul,
S5: for the work to which I've called him. Now think
S5: about this. Prior to that moment, Paul had not gone
S5: on a missionary journey. He had not planted a single church.
S5: He hadn't written a single one of his letters. And
S5: yet it was in the midst of a worship service.
S5: And it's again, while they were worshiping at the moment,
S5: they were exalting God. The Holy Spirit invaded the meeting
S5: and said, set apart these men for the ministry to
S5: which I've called them. That changed the course of world history.
S5: That worship service and the in-breaking, as it were, of
S5: the Spirit's voice in commissioning Paul and Barnabas. The whole
S5: world is different as a result of that one worship service.
S5: And it happened while and I even like to say,
S5: because they were worshiping and praising the Lord.
S2: That can get lost on us quickly. So you would
S2: say not to stretch it, stretch it, but direct application. Oftentimes,
S2: praise will unlock the direction that God has for the
S2: glorification of his name through our lives.
S5: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. I'm sure Paul and Barnabas were wondering.
S5: You know, Paul had been commissioned, been saved for I
S5: don't know how long before they arrived in Antioch, but
S5: really at that time had no direction as to where
S5: they should go, what they should do. And it was
S5: in the midst of a worship service. They were exalting
S5: the Lord, celebrating him, acknowledging and extolling his greatness and
S5: his glory that God drew near. I mean, it's the
S5: principle of James four eight draw near to God and
S5: he will draw near to you. When we draw near
S5: to God and worship, he promises he will draw near
S5: to us, whether in power, to help us overcome struggles
S5: with sin or giving us guidance as to what we
S5: should do and how we should carry out ministry. But
S5: even more than that, he'll draw near to us in
S5: intimacy and love, and enable us to feel the affection
S5: that he has for his children. And all of this
S5: happens in the context of worship and praise and celebration
S5: of who God is.
S2: Sam, there's habitual things that we do. Some habitually go
S2: into a, let's just say, a worship service. Let's say
S2: it's 1110 and there's a, a song that's being performed
S2: that gives glory to God. But habitually, that person that's
S2: listening right now has never gotten their hands out of
S2: their pockets or from their sides. Others habitually raise their hands.
S2: Both can be habitually kind of off, as it were.
S5: Sure.
S2: So how do we break the habits and really have
S2: a right response to God as we posture ourselves in worship?
S5: Well, obviously, I mean, you identified it. People who are
S5: exuberant and physically expressive, as well as those who are
S5: silent and look like dead statues. They can all dishonor
S5: the Lord. It's a question of the motivation of our hearts.
S5: What is my intent? What am I doing here? Am
S5: I just singing a song? Because that's what we do
S5: every week. Or I'm singing this song from memory because
S5: I've heard it so many times before in years past.
S5: Or are we captivated by the majesty and the splendor
S5: of who God is and all that he is for
S5: us in Jesus? Just getting back to the whole issue
S5: of raising of hands, I had a man come to
S5: me one time and he said, Sam, why do you
S5: raise your hands in worship? And I said, well, why
S5: do you assume that the proper posture is for your
S5: hands at your side or in your pocket? You don't
S5: have a single text of Scripture that tells you to
S5: do that. I've got a dozen or more that tell
S5: me to lift my hands in gratitude and praise and thanksgiving.
S5: He just kind of stood there stunned. He said, well, yeah,
S5: I never thought about that. Why do we just assume
S5: that God wants us to stand there stiff like a flagpole?
S5: Rather than extolling. And we're supposed to worship God with
S5: our bodies, not just our our hearts and our minds.
S5: I mean, Paul says in Romans 12, present your bodies
S5: to the Lord as a sacrifice of praise and honor
S5: and worship.
S2: Wonderful. Doctor Sam Storms our guest right now. Sam, it's
S2: it's an interesting thing. We aren't even getting into dancing
S2: before the Lord with all your might, as David did.
S2: We aren't even going there right now. We're just talking
S2: about let's get our posture rightly responding to God. I
S2: was at a Promise Keepers event. I think it was
S2: the first time I was kind of jarred loose from
S2: some of my early childhood spiritual moorings. Somebody that raised
S2: their hand in the church where I was at in Anchorage, Alaska,
S2: for a lot of years, and they were good saints
S2: in that church. Don't get me wrong here. There's no
S2: denigration here. But somebody who lifted their hands was a visitor, Sam.
S2: I mean, that's what they were. And I remember thinking, boy,
S2: could I ever get the courage of the brand new
S2: follower of Jesus? Could I get the courage to lift
S2: my hands and praise? And we were at this Promise
S2: Keepers event at Texas Stadium before they tore it down.
S2: And God was on the move and a wave of
S2: hands began to go in the air. And, you know,
S2: it was the most natural response to what God was
S2: doing in that moment. And when I lifted my hands
S2: before God, between me and him alone, it was like
S2: there was a new sense of freedom. Now, this is
S2: not about getting your hands in the air, right, Sam?
S2: This is about glorification of God and a right response
S2: to what he's done. Final words? Absolutely.
S5: Yeah. And one other topic. I don't want us to
S5: end this without addressing this is the relationship between our
S5: worship and spiritual warfare. Let me just give you one example.
S2: Okay.
S5: You mentioned David back in first Samuel 16. You remember him.
S5: Saul had fallen into idolatry and sin, and an evil
S5: spirit came upon him to torment him. And when David
S5: came in and played his lyre or his harp or
S5: whatever the ancient equivalent of a guitar would be, it says,
S5: the spirit lifted off of Saul, and I find that
S5: every time David would play, it would lift. When he
S5: would stop, it would come back. Demons hate our worship.
S5: They hate it when we extol the Lord. They hate
S5: it when they see we are wholly committed to him.
S5: Whether soul, mind, spirit, body will all of our affections
S5: and they run for cover. So sometimes when we're being
S5: attacked by the enemy, people say, what should I do?
S5: I said, well, obviously there are a lot of things
S5: you can pray, you can read scripture, but spend an
S5: hour today just silently by yourself, not silently, but by
S5: yourself worshiping the Lord. Or go to a corporate worship service.
S5: The enemy hates it because the one thing he wants
S5: to do, he wants to short circuit and undermine our
S5: extolling of God and are drawing attention to Him and
S5: His glory. So when we worship, when we give expression
S5: in song and in our bodies and in every other way,
S5: it drives the enemy mad. And that's that is something
S5: people need to keep in mind. Just really do think
S5: you know. Revelation 12 talks about they conquered him by
S5: the word of their testimony. Well, that's not just spoken word,
S5: it's sung word. It's singing as well as speaking. That's
S5: what conquers the enemy.
S6: Boy, this is powerful, Sam.
S2: This is powerful. We had a guy text in one
S2: time to our show, and he wasn't. He went years
S2: without being born again. He said something profoundly simple. He
S2: said I just got bad information. He said now that
S2: I've got good information, I've surrendered my life to Jesus.
S2: And we've given you boom crews some good information here,
S2: and I want you to build on this. You want more?
S2: Sam storms, phenomenal author. Great blog posts, great resources. One
S2: stop shop. Text the word storm to our number here
S2: 800 555 7898. Storm to 800 555 7898.
S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
S1: and crew.
S2: What a day for praise. What a day for praise.
S2: Coming off that interview with Sam Storms, if you're just
S2: joining us, bottom of the hour here we are giving
S2: rock solid truths this week that you can take to
S2: the spiritual Bank. One of them is praise. There's something
S2: about praise that just lifts your heart. It reorients you
S2: when you have a a gratitude journal. You with me
S2: on this one?
S4: Oh, goodness.
S3: All the.
S2: Way. I mean, just a gratitude journal alone, where at
S2: least somewhere in your day, you're taking time to mark
S2: down these things I give God praise for. It can
S2: give you perspective because the black dot is easy to see.
S2: The cumulus nimbus cloud, that big one that's over there
S2: is easier to see than all the rest of the
S2: blue sky.
S4: Mhm.
S2: And there's so much to give God praise for. I
S2: want to do something really different here today. I want
S2: to enter God's gates with thanksgiving and his courts with
S2: praise this morning.
S3: Amen.
S2: I want to be thankful unto God and bless his name.
S2: For the Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting, and
S2: his truth endures for all generations. I want to praise
S2: the Lord. I want to praise God in his sanctuary.
S2: I want to praise him in the firmament of his power.
S2: Praise him for his mighty acts, praise him according to
S2: his excellent greatness. And I want to tell you what
S2: I want to praise God for this morning. I have
S2: a word of praise. I want to praise God for
S2: all of you that are new to Carl and crew.
S2: Or should I say, we are new to you?
S4: Yeah.
S2: I want to praise him that God has arranged things,
S2: that he has God's kids so teed up for change.
S2: So willing to flex by the power of the Holy
S2: Spirit that you have been gracious to us. I praise
S2: God for your kindness. I praise God for your words
S2: of encouragement. I praise God that you've battled well through
S2: changes in life. I praise God for you, boom crew.
S2: I don't think I've ever done that in ten years
S2: where I've been this bold.
S4: No, but I think it's good.
S3: That was great. Yeah.
S2: I don't you guys. Are you with me on this one?
S4: Of course. Of course.
S3: 110%.
S4: I mean, we, you know, we're we're talking about it.
S4: So change is difficult and it's hard and it's not
S4: it's not easy to deal with all the time and
S4: and listen, I we got an email yesterday from someone who,
S4: who was listening and and they said, you know, we
S4: underwent the change and, and we stopped and we prayed.
S4: We prayed that that God would just give us an
S4: open heart. And I mean that that just makes me
S4: sit back in my chair, humbled the to to sit
S4: there and say, God, would you just let me hear
S4: and be open to what you're doing? I mean, that
S4: is that is a heart that inspires me to move
S4: closer to God. That's the heart you have. Boom crew.
S2: Yeah, it's it's an awesome thing to behold. It really is. I,
S2: I am so filled with praise this morning. I mean,
S2: my heart is overflowing with joy. I don't know you,
S2: but God does. And if God is our father, we
S2: are brothers and sisters in Christ, and we are on
S2: this path less traveled. And we're on this narrow way.
S2: And we're being shaped and molded by the power of
S2: the Holy Spirit to be men and women. Young people.
S2: I'm blown away, too. I want to give God praise
S2: for the 20 somethings that listen to this program. Blows
S2: my mind. Just blows my mind. I want to thank
S2: God for the 90 plus year olds that listen here,
S2: and when they call in, we get testimonies that they're
S2: still submitting themselves to God for his power to change them. Still,
S2: I praise God for that.
S4: Yeah.
S2: We praise God for that. My goodness. What are you
S2: praising God for today? I want you to be a
S2: gratitude journal on air. We're going to open up phone
S2: lines right now. Little bursts of praise. And you know what?
S2: I'm not, I am absolutely not asking you to praise
S2: God for what we're doing here today. I want you
S2: to look around at the things in your life and
S2: give God praise. It is so healthy. It is. And
S2: Philippians four what do we find Paul saying? Whatever is
S2: worthy of praise, whatever is true, whatever is good. Put
S2: your eyes on these things. It's easy to see the trials.
S2: Some of you are going through it today. But the
S2: backdrop behind all these trials, and beside all these trials
S2: and challenges, is the goodness and greatness of God. So
S2: let's give him praise today. We're going to open up
S2: phone lines, little bursts of praise, but we're asking you
S2: to just call in with bursts of praise. What are
S2: you praising God for today. Lift up his name. It's
S2: so healing to the bones, man. Think about it.
S1: You're listening to Curl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Danielle, first time caller in Florida. What do you say? Danielle?
S7: Hi there. Good morning guys. Um, I am just so grateful. Um,
S7: we've had a very stressful, um, week, and God has
S7: provided a reprieve in the church member opening up their
S7: home to us while we're having that issue in our home,
S7: and which has been such a beautiful testimony of God's
S7: goodness just using the body and also him working in
S7: the lives of everyone in our family.
S2: Yeah. It's beautiful. Danielle. Danielle, I hear your voice cracking
S2: there a little bit, sister. And I rejoice with you.
S2: It's through the pain that sometimes God shows his glory
S2: the most. And you are spot on, sister. The body
S2: of Christ. Spiritual gifts. Loving one another. Bearing one another's burdens.
S2: It's a beautiful thing. Way to give him praise, Danielle.
S2: Caroline in Florida as well. What do you say? Caroline.
S8: Yes. Hi. Good morning. I am extremely grateful. The fact
S8: that God's breath in my lungs. He woke me up.
S8: My state of mind. To the point where I can just.
S8: I'm so gracious and grateful. I can just praise his
S8: holy name. Because without him, I would not be able
S8: to see another day today. So that I'm very thankful
S8: and extremely grateful to my Heavenly Father for her.
S2: Isn't it great breath in our lungs this morning? Caroline
S2: from Florida. Thank you for calling in taking your phone
S2: calls this morning. What are you giving God praise for?
S2: Praise him in the sanctuary. And you know what's amazing
S2: about this term? Sanctuary from Psalm 100 and Psalm 150.
S2: In both of them we are the temple of God.
S2: We praise him in the sanctuary in ourselves. Yes, we
S2: are indwelled by the Holy Spirit, these old tents. I
S2: know they they aren't much. You might look at your
S2: bod and go, wow, this is the temple of. It's
S2: the temple of God. And we give him praise today.
S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and
S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
S2: Stephanie, first time caller in Florida. What do you got, Steph?
S9: I am so grateful. And I'm praising God because my
S9: son's father, who was shot over the weekend, made it
S9: through the night. We're taking this thing one day at
S9: a time, and I'm praising God that he survived another night.
S2: That was your dad?
S9: No, my son's father.
S2: Your son's father. Oh my goodness. Stephanie. Sister, we're praising
S2: God with you. God's got a reason that this man
S2: has breath in his lungs. Be looking around. Live with
S2: your head on a swivel and see what God's doing there, sister.
S2: Way to go, Steph in Florida. First time caller. Thank
S2: you for that, Joe in Illinois. What do you say, Joe?
S10: Uh. Good morning. I just want to praise and thank
S10: God for his healing touch and his work in, um,
S10: helping my wife battle blood cancer for the last two
S10: and a half years. She's doing great. I just praise
S10: and thank God for his healing touch and his guidance
S10: and navigating and just sustaining us through this challenging time.
S6: Way to go.
S2: You're a good man, Joe. You're a good husband, Joe.
S2: Giving God praise. Happy for your wife, man. Happy for her.
S2: And we give him praise today. Way to go, Joe
S2: in Illinois, Jake, first time caller in Ohio. What are
S2: you praising God for today?
S11: So I came to a roadblock a year ago in
S11: my life and didn't know what to do or where
S11: to go, And, uh, he pretty much uplifted my whole life.
S11: Changed it in one year. He blessed me with a house.
S11: My first house. I bought a new fiance. I'm getting
S11: ready to marry and, um, a new job with Christian people.
S11: I'm just blessed to have that today.
S6: And give him.
S2: Praise today, Jake. And you're making a left turn there.
S2: I can hear the clicker, my man. You're ready to
S2: go left. Oh, sweet word from Jake in Ohio. First
S2: time caller. What are you praising God for today? Think
S2: about that. You know, it's one thing to think to yourself.
S2: It's one thing to kind of consider what you're going through.
S2: It's another thing to stop and look for those things
S2: that we can give God praise for today. You know,
S2: praise is one of the most therapeutic things that we
S2: can do. And it's a God glorifying thing. We lift
S2: up our voice to God. It gives us new perspective
S2: on the day. So I don't know what you're going through,
S2: what you're up against, but I know this for sure.
S2: Our God, he's worthy of praise. And I'm asking you
S2: to give him praise today. Gary, first time caller in Indiana.
S2: What do you say, Gary?
S12: I'm just giving God praise for the lung surgery. I
S12: just came through. Um, my, uh, men's group that prayed
S12: me through. My church family that I was prayed through,
S12: and just the family in Christ I have. Everywhere I go,
S12: I get to give the testimony.
S2: Way to go, Gary.
S12: In my life.
S2: Way to go, Gary. I appreciate you, man. First time
S2: caller from Indiana. Good word, my man. Keep spreading the word.
S2: Matt in Grand Rapids. What do you say, Matt?
S13: I am thankful for salvation through Christ Jesus. That I
S13: don't have to face the wrath to come, and that
S13: my mercy I can share with others the amazing love
S13: God has for the lost.
S2: Amen. Amen. Matt from Grand Rapids. Uh, that's good theology, man.
S2: Because there is going to come a day when we
S2: are going to be called to account. Did we look
S2: at creation Romans one and see God? And what did
S2: we do when we saw that? It's a beautiful thing
S2: to give God praise for. I want to take you
S2: to a passage of Scripture that shows the power of praise.
S2: In Second Chronicles, chapter 20, after the Moabites and the
S2: ammonites and all these conflicts, some men came and told Jehoshaphat,
S2: A great multitude is coming against you from Edom from
S2: beyond the sea. They're coming. Jehoshaphat was afraid, and he
S2: set his face to seek the Lord, and proclaimed a
S2: fast throughout all of Judah and Judah assembled to seek
S2: help from the Lord from all the cities of Judah.
S2: They came to seek the Lord. Josephat stood in assembly,
S2: and a man came to him and actually said to him,
S2: put the worship leaders out in front, and they put
S2: the worship leaders out in front. They put the choir
S2: in the front. And you know what happened? God delivered.
S2: The story that we find from this battle in Second
S2: Chronicles 20 is an epic story of the power of praise.
S2: The Lord did their fighting. Give him praise today. I
S2: know you're up against tough stuff, but put the choir
S2: out in front and watch God get the victory in
S2: your life. He can do it. Burt, right here in Illinois.
S2: What are you praising God for, Burt?
S14: Hey, here is an awesome thing. For two months, I
S14: had back pain a couple months ago. Went in to
S14: get it checked out. They found out I've got stones.
S14: Kidney stones. Right? That's happening. I still have them today.
S14: They also found in there taking blood all this stuff.
S14: You look like you might have prostate cancer. I was like,
S14: the devil's a liar. I do not have prostate cancer.
S14: I'm standing on the word. I am beautifully and wonderfully made. God,
S14: you're going to deliver me from this? No weapon formed
S14: against me shall prosper. That happened then they said your
S14: body's producing too much calcium. Brother. Something's wrong with your parathyroid.
S14: Which you just look it up. And I was like,
S14: what is going on? But I stood in God's word
S14: and I'm journaling. You said this a minute ago, Carl.
S14: It's important to journal because go back to what's happening
S14: on a daily basis, if you can, or whatever you
S14: need to do, and trace it and follow it. But
S14: I'm praising God. I said, God, I'm beautifully, wonderfully made.
S14: If you don't dissolve these stones. And I still have
S14: the stones. I'll do surgery. I'm still praising you.
S2: Because.
S14: The praise is the weapon against the enemy. You've got
S14: to raise your hands. You got to open your mouth
S14: because they cannot. It's like being in an NBA game.
S14: Like the finals. You know how they get. So one
S14: team gets so far ahead, the other team just looks dejected.
S14: That's what's happening. That's what's happening with the enemy. So
S14: you got to praise. The praise absolutely has to. You
S14: have to worship a God. He loves us too much.
S14: So I'm praising God today.
S2: How's your.
S14: Pain?
S2: How's your pain?
S14: Okay, so I forgot to tell you the most important part.
S14: I prayed to God. Even if you don't dissolve these,
S14: whatever you're going to do, however you're going to heal me.
S14: I just don't want to feel the pain. And so
S14: I'm going into the doctors. They're like, these things are
S14: huge and they're not passing. How are you? Not in
S14: my office, in the fetal position, laying on the floor crying.
S14: I've seen men with the size, and I've got them
S14: on both. On both kidneys. I've seen men with these
S14: sized stones balling in my office. And In all I
S14: told my doctors was, I don't know what else to
S14: tell you.
S15: Chalk it up to God.
S14: I serve a God. I serve a god.
S2: Yeah. Burt, thank you for calling in my man. Good word.
S2: Good word. Taking your calls right now. Let's load them up, guys.
S2: Maureen in Akron, Ohio. What do you say, Maureen? What's
S2: your what are you praising God for today?
S16: I'm praising God for this radio station. I've been a
S16: listener of Wkar's out of Cleveland. We're in Akron for
S16: 54 years, and we've had some hard changes with things.
S16: And every morning I get up, you've got something on
S16: there that blesses me. And I'm talking to other older
S16: people and telling them, you've got to get on the program.
S16: It's really good. So I'm praising God for CRF and
S16: for you guys being faithful and for God always meeting
S16: our needs.
S2: Maureen, you made my day. Thank you for Macron. Thank
S2: you for that. Appreciate you. Maureen. Go back to the
S2: phone lines here. What are you praising God for today?
S2: Meena in Illinois. What do you say, Meena?
S17: Yeah. Good morning. Thank you all for having me. Um,
S17: so I'm praising God for two things. Number one, my
S17: father's surgery. He had a bad arthritis for years and
S17: he was scared to have surgery. But finally he did.
S17: And now he's able to walk well. So I just
S17: want to give God all the glory for no complications.
S17: And then I'm thanking God for the success of my wedding.
S17: This year makes it six years of marriage with three
S17: beautiful children. So I'm so grateful for all of that.
S17: So thank you all so much. I'll bless the Lord
S17: at all times. His praise will continue in my mouth. Hallelujah!
S2: Amen. You broke away there, but we know the passage.
S2: The praise will continually be in my mouth. Give him praise.
S2: Peace is right. Coming in the door. Right behind that
S2: word of praise. Roberta in Chicago. What do you say, Roberta?
S2: What are you praising God for?
S18: Oh, hi. How are you? I've been listening to you forever.
S18: I'm in Chicago, okay. And I call in sometimes write
S18: my emails. But going back five years ago, I just
S18: happened to call it. I can't remember what the topic was,
S18: but at any rate, I called in for something else
S18: and I said, by the way, today is my 80th
S18: birthday and you guys saying happy 80th birthday to me
S18: on air. Well, in a couple more weeks I'm going
S18: to be 85. Praise you Jesus. And I'm just as
S18: healthy as ever running around.
S2: Roberta, you sound you sound like you're 33.
S18: Well, I, you know, run around a lot, but my
S18: mom was like that, too. She passed away at 94,
S18: and she was a contemporary lady. And, I mean, she
S18: just lived every day. It's. It could be as basic
S18: as just what I do is get up in the morning,
S18: raise my arms and say, oh, my gosh, thank you
S18: so much. It's like somebody said, I got a birthday
S18: card the other day, said, happy birthday. And they said, congratulations,
S18: you're still alive.
S2: It's beautiful. Roberta, thank you for calling in today. 85
S2: years young. Let's go to Dave in Wheeling. What are
S2: you praising God for today, Dave?
S19: Light is the first thing made in creation. It's a
S19: beautiful thing this morning. Um, we had a great Bible
S19: study with your friend Freddy Velasco on Saturday, and we
S19: were praising John one, where he is the light in
S19: the darkness. And the darkness didn't understand him. And he's
S19: the promise and the hope of Christ. It's a beautiful thing.
S2: Yeah, it is beautiful, Dave. Light is beautiful. Dave. In Illinois.
S2: Right here. Way to go, my man. What do you say, Abigail?
S2: First time caller from Florida. What are you praising God
S2: for today?
S20: Hi, guys. I just want to say that I've been
S20: a believer my whole life. My mom didn't play that.
S20: She really raised us the right way. But recently, I
S20: became closer to God. And every single day, I really,
S20: really thank him for Jesus Christ. He is the most
S20: biggest historical figure that people literally need to know about.
S20: He was truly sent as a messiah and to this day,
S20: places where he walked and talked are being guarded. And
S20: I just really thank God for Jesus Christ, my family,
S20: every person that's pushing the gospel. Thank all of you guys.
S2: Amen. Abigail, first time caller from Florida. It's true Messiah. Deliverer.
S2: He is the deliverer. And although we're raised in a
S2: Christian context, that faith needs to become our own way
S2: to go. Abigail. Ron. First time caller in Florida. What
S2: are you praising God for? Ron.
S21: I got so many things to praise for that I couldn't.
S21: It would take up too much time. But a person
S21: is 74 and 79 years old with a wife of
S21: 55 years. I am totally thankful for the caring people
S21: that are around us in different places, but starting off
S21: for the entire book of the Bible with everything that's
S21: in it from the beginning to the end, all the
S21: wonderful words of life that are expressed throughout the Bible
S21: that are meaningful on a daily basis. But as of
S21: the moment, you know God has blessed us in our
S21: work overseas for over 20 years and 26 countries, and
S21: protected us in many cases with many examples of near misses.
S21: But what is the most important thing now? My wife
S21: has been discovered with lung cancer that spread to her
S21: spine and spread to her brain. But we have a
S21: wonderful team of doctors that have come together that we
S21: believe were were brought together with the help of Jesus Christ.
S21: That's the only thing I can say. Doctor. Amen. They
S21: are there. The mechanics, the equipment is there. The medicine,
S21: the the blessings that God has provided in the kind
S21: of medicines that are out there. And then at our
S21: church where we are connected, caring friends who are praying
S21: for us.
S2: That is beautiful, Ron. Ron, first time caller from Florida.
S2: When you have something that you're up against like that
S2: and then bang, God shows up in power, a team
S2: of good caregivers, and then a church to support you.
S2: It is huge. Let's get a couple more in here.
S2: Is it Sukhwani? Did I get that right or is
S2: that off? Szechuan. Szechuan? Szechuan from Indiana. What do you say? Szechuan?
S17: Yes.
S9: I am so grateful for God, grace and his mercy
S9: and his faithfulness. Like throughout my seasons, his faithfulness has
S9: been always true. Um, times when I just felt like,
S9: you know, things may not be going well, and then
S9: I turn to God and I'm like, you know what, God,
S9: you have been faithful in every season and I trust
S9: you in this season. And also his grace and his mercy.
S9: Lord have mercy. My my faith has been tested so
S9: strongly these last couple of weeks. But you know what?
S9: God great that his mercy, the way that he loved us.
S9: And he said, look, I give you grace. You give
S9: other people grace because people do not know what I
S9: am doing inside of you. And what I need you
S9: to do is show up as who I am designed
S9: for you to show up as. And so I just
S9: thank God for it because Lord knows he is so good.
S2: Yeah, that is so good. Shaquan. That's great. You go
S2: by Queenie too. I'm going to go with Queenie. I'm
S2: going with that. Yeah, I love nicknames. Yeah. Way to go, sister.
S2: Thanks for calling in here today.
S1: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
S1: Carl and crew.
S2: The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer.
S2: My God, my rock in whom I take refuge. My
S2: shield and the horn of my salvation. My stronghold. Psalm
S2: 18 two. Give God praise for that. And I'm so
S2: intrigued by the metaphor of rock used most powerfully in
S2: the sermon on the Mount. Jesus said these words, everyone
S2: who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, application,
S2: not just information becomes a person who survives storms. You
S2: want to be a storm survivor. God's hardwired you for victory,
S2: even through difficulty. So what are some bedrock truths? Three
S2: of them in particular that every disciple of Christ needs
S2: to stand on. Greg Dempster is with me right now.
S2: He's a man that has mentored, coached, helped provide wise
S2: counsel to a lot of pastors that feel burned out
S2: and have lost their way. What are you learning, Greg?
S22: The symbolism of rock is dead on. That's where my
S22: heart was this morning. Psalm 27 that you can. The
S22: one thing that David asked for, and the one thing
S22: that he sought, was to dwell in the house of
S22: the Lord all the days of his life, to gaze
S22: upon the beauty of the Lord, and to seek God
S22: where he could be found. And the result, then, that
S22: he expected that he'd be put high up on a rock.
S2: Yeah.
S22: When we're thinking about three core truths to base our
S22: lives on, that's one of them. That. Why try to.
S22: Why waste our lives trying to protect ourselves when God
S22: so clearly wants to protect us?
S2: Yeah. And it's it's an amazing thing because we're afforded
S2: that opportunity. Everyone listening right now can make that adjustment,
S2: that shift, even a moment of repentance to get back
S2: on that rock. Right. Greg, it's that we have a
S2: binary choice today.
S22: Well, you said hardwired. That's exactly it. We're hardwired to
S22: turn to to Jesus for help. I mean, that's Jeremiah 213, right?
S22: That the nation of Israel had committed two grievous sins.
S22: They had forsaken the fountain of living water in their thirsting,
S22: in their living. They turn from God as their supply,
S22: and they tried to do it on their own. God's
S22: wired us to turn to him, and that might be
S22: where a lot of your audience is today, man. They've
S22: been trying it on their own for a long time,
S22: and they feel like they're out in the the flats. Man.
S22: With the tide coming in and the tide rushing out.
S22: In fact, a lot of us feel are totally embarrassed
S22: when the tide goes out because everything that's buried in
S22: our lives shows up on the sand there, all the
S22: old tires, all the old mess of our lives, and
S22: we just want to keep it covered. Yeah. And so
S22: we wear masks. We strive, we try to perform, gain approval.
S22: And God just wants us to turn this moment, turn
S22: to him and just say, I'm done, man. I can't
S22: do it myself. I need you come and draw me
S22: to yourself.
S2: And that discipline of coming back to God. This isn't
S2: a one and done. We're disciples of Christ. There are
S2: such things as derailed disciples. Disciples that find themselves in
S2: a ditch off the path, off the rock. So get
S2: back to the rock. His name is Jesus. All right.
S2: Second bedrock truth. What do you got, Greg?
S22: Psalm 139. Man, that there's nowhere we can go where
S22: he's not present. And we need to begin practicing the
S22: nearness of God. The question that we've got to ask
S22: ourselves is, where is our gaze set? Because where our
S22: gaze set, our life will follow. In Psalm 139 opens
S22: up this phenomenal reality that that God, there's nowhere I
S22: can flee from God's presence. And God would desire for
S22: us to begin to live in a sense of that nearness,
S22: as the sense of the rock being right before me,
S22: the rock being right behind me, the rock being never
S22: leaving me. And so the idea that number one, that
S22: I learned to trust in his protection. But number two,
S22: that I'm learning that I'm never alone, that God is
S22: always with me. That God will never reject me, never
S22: forsake me. And accessing his help and his power is
S22: just a matter of stopping right now. Turning my attention
S22: to him.
S2: And.
S22: Asking him to fill me with himself.
S2: David is so clear. Where can I go from your spirit?
S2: You're everywhere. Yeah. It's so beautiful. All right, third bedrock truth.
S2: Every disciple needs to stand on what's on your heart, Greg.
S22: I would say Augustine. Augustine says that our hearts are
S22: perpetually restless until they find their rest in him. And
S22: and so we need to realize, I mean, even going
S22: back to Jeremiah 213, where God reveals that he's the
S22: fountain of living water. Every thirst that you have today,
S22: every hunger or desire that you have growing in your heart,
S22: is something that God wants to move into and fill
S22: you with himself to satisfy that. Sometimes we develop these
S22: these habits, these appetites around wayward and broken things. But
S22: at the root, you need to understand that you're thirsting
S22: isn't bad. God's just surprised. He's not surprised that you
S22: have thirst. He's surprised that you're turning to anything else
S22: to get that thirst quenched. And so wherever you are,
S22: if you're turning to pornography today to get thirst quenched,
S22: let me just say there's a way better way to go.
S22: And that is the fountain of living water. That's a
S22: God who who desires for you to leave restlessness and
S22: move towards being deeply satisfied in him.
S2: Yeah, the Jeremiah's passage that is so powerful there we
S2: forsake these these living waters, and then we hew out cisterns.
S2: These are these water reservoirs that can't hold water. Greg,
S2: what do you say to someone that is hewed out
S2: a cistern and they come in a lot of forms.
S2: It can be in the food that we eat, the
S2: porn we watch, the 401 K that we're carving out
S2: for ourselves. And the amazing thing is whether it's emotional, financial,
S2: relational cisterns that were digging out their leaky and and
S2: God says, I want to give you a drink, and
S2: I want to build your reservoir so that when times
S2: are lean, you got something to dip into. What's on
S2: your heart with that? Greg.
S22: Wherever you are right now, if you've got a Bible
S22: on your phone, just open it up to Jeremiah 213.
S22: If you look at the end result of that small
S22: portion of scripture, you see that you've only got two options.
S22: You've got the fountain of living water who will supply everything,
S22: everything that you need. The other option is intense labor
S22: and total failure. That's where it goes, either the fountain
S22: of living water or intense labor. Total failure. Last time
S22: I checked, the ancient world didn't dig cisterns out of dirt.
S22: They dug them out of solid stone. And that's the
S22: metaphor that the prophet Jeremiah is giving to us. Either
S22: backbreaking labor and in the end, failure, or the fountain
S22: of living water. When failure, intense labor, and total failure
S22: is in front of me. And I know that investing
S22: in the independent life going my own way is going
S22: to lead to that end. It causes us to take
S22: a step back. Yeah, it's like that three second pause
S22: on radio, right? It gives us that three second pause
S22: to say, no way, I've tried this road. It's a
S22: rip off. I'm going to move towards the fountain of
S22: living Water.
S2: Greg Dempster, my guest right now, he's the founder and
S2: director of Christ's Life Ministries. He's been a dear friend
S2: for a lot of years. We've been in ministry together
S2: in the past, running shoulder to shoulder, watching God do
S2: amazing things. What he's talking about is real. And you
S2: want that today. Greg, I'm going to ask you to
S2: pray right now. We got a lot of people right
S2: now that have forsaken living water. They've stepped away from
S2: the rock, our fortress, our our mighty protector, and they
S2: have opted for digging out cisterns that can't hold water.
S2: You're right. They've they've opted to try to carve out
S2: a life for themselves in the dirt. And it's leaky.
S2: I want you to pray right now that God would
S2: bring us home back to that rock. Would you do
S2: that right now?
S22: God, I just I'm just asking for a great grace.
S22: Your grace is you doing something for us that we
S22: can't do for ourselves? Over all the thousands and thousands
S22: of listeners right now, I'm asking for a great grace.
S22: Would you. Would you just lift them up? Would you?
S22: Would you give them a hand up? Lord? Would you
S22: lift them out of all of their self-effort and their
S22: inability and all their brokenness and all this just slamming
S22: into the wall over and over and over again. And
S22: would you give them a great hope? Would you allow
S22: your hope and your deliverance to rise like, like the
S22: sun rising over the mountain and just asking for your
S22: freedom for these people that that you would allow great wisdom,
S22: a great sense of your presence to to fill their lives,
S22: and that you would break every chain to the independent life.
S22: And I thank you in Jesus name. Amen.
S2: And let it be. You know, Greg has got a
S2: very unique ministry right now ministering to a lot of
S2: spiritual leaders. A lot of spiritual leaders. What's the common
S2: thread that you see that leads people to digging out
S2: their own muddy cisterns? Greg. What? What is that? What?
S2: Because if we can identify that, we can. We can
S2: unwind that thing. What is it?
S22: I think prior to Christ. All we have is the
S22: independent life, right? It's what I bring to the table.
S22: My own intellect, my own ability, my own strength. When
S22: we surrender our lives, when we transfer ownership of our
S22: lives to Christ, all of a sudden we have a
S22: new experience, and that is that we die in Christ,
S22: lives in us. And there's the sanctification process. And the
S22: process of changing is the process of me relinquishing control,
S22: allowing me becoming less and allowing Christ to become more.
S22: And in that process, a lot of these governing ideas
S22: that drive our lives rise to the surface. And a
S22: lot of the leaders that I work with are driven
S22: to perform in order to be valued. They're driven by approval.
S22: They're driven by the needs that they have for for
S22: acceptance or importance. They have, as Dallas Willard would call them,
S22: these governing ideas that drive their lives, and that what's
S22: true for these pastoral leaders is also true for everyone
S22: who's listening today. The question that we've got to ask is,
S22: what really are my primary motives, what drives my life?
S22: And can I identify those and move them into the
S22: presence of the true Jesus and ask him to to
S22: make the swap? Really? God loves to take the trash
S22: of our lives and replace it with gold. That's what
S22: he does. He loves to take the broken things in
S22: us that just don't work and replace it with himself.
S22: And so for most of the pastoral leaders I'm working with,
S22: there are guys that are there. Some of them are
S22: leading churches of 20, 25,000 people. And and so getting
S22: set free from the things that empower our flesh is
S22: a key aspect of, of moving forward towards Christ.
S2: Man, I love you, Greg. This is good stuff. You
S2: might want to learn a little bit more about what
S2: Greg's up to with Christ's Life Ministries, and we're going
S2: to in the coming days, weeks and months here. We're
S2: going to bring on Greg, and we're going to walk
S2: through this journey of identifying those, what do you call
S2: those things, those thoughts of origin, what do you call it?
S2: What's that term you use?
S22: Yeah, actually the term is a Dallas Willard term as
S22: governing ideas. But the other way to talk about it
S22: is our core distortions. What are what are the distortions
S22: that drive my life. We've got to uncover those. That's
S22: part of the sanctification or the the journey towards Christ
S22: is uncovering those flawed areas of thinking and inviting God
S22: to change our perspective.
S2: Yeah, it's so true. One of the things I love
S2: to say here that is just a it's almost a
S2: scary reality, but what we're thinking about today will be
S2: lived out in our life by high noon. Here, Greg.
S22: It's where we fix our gaze, man. Where our gaze
S22: is fixed, our lives are going to follow. And Jesus
S22: is inviting us to lift our gaze unto him.
S2: It's great stuff. Greg Dempster everybody, if you want to
S2: learn more about what Greg's up to, just take a peek.
S2: You're going to be blown away. And we're going to
S2: bring him on. He's he is he is taking what
S2: he's been mentoring now for many years. These spiritual leaders
S2: at a very high level, leaders that have just gotten
S2: off the path. And we're going to be walking through
S2: some of that content here. It's going to be a
S2: lot of fun. You're going to want to keep it
S2: pinned here with Carl and crew. And Greg can be
S2: found by texting the word life. Just the word life
S2: to 800, 555, 78, 98. You might want to take
S2: a look at that link and go look at some
S2: of those resources at Christlife Usa.org. Just text the word life.
S2: We'll get you a link. Life to 800 555 7898 Eight.
S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
S2: Just had Greg Dempster with us here and this just
S2: got my fires cooking here. Uh, I'm going to ask
S2: you a crazy question here in just a moment, but
S2: let me set it up. I'm going to linger here
S2: in Jeremiah two for a moment. When God's people went
S2: away from him, they tried to carve out a life
S2: for themselves. This is what we do. You can be
S2: radically altered by Jesus Christ. And some of you might say,
S2: I don't know if I've been radically altered. If you
S2: have been saved by God, you've been radically altered. You're
S2: born with your backs to God. We are born as
S2: enemies of the cross. I know that's hard to get
S2: your head around, but it's true. Let me give you
S2: another truth that we often don't embrace. We are not
S2: born children of God. We are born again to be
S2: children of God. Got to get our theology straight. This
S2: is really matters.
S4: It does.
S2: And in Ephesians one, we're were sealed in the Holy Spirit.
S2: God's gifts and callings are irrevocable. No one can snatch
S2: you from the hand of God. You cannot lose genuine salvation.
S2: No way, no how. How is that true? Because we
S2: did not earn it. Therefore we cannot lose it. If
S2: you have an idea that you've somehow earned God's favor, well,
S2: that's not salvation. That's a works based, salvific approach that
S2: ends in heartache. But when we're born again by God,
S2: he has brought us into this new life. Now, Jeremiah
S2: two is very relevant for the Christian life, even though
S2: it's an Old Testament passage, because, hey, even Abraham was
S2: justified by faith. He believed God and it was credited
S2: to him as righteousness. So these Old Testament saints put
S2: their full faith and trust in God. Now this is amazing.
S2: The people of Israel tried to carve out a life
S2: for themselves, these empty cisterns. I'm going to read that
S2: in just a moment. So God sent a prophet, Jeremiah,
S2: and he didn't hold back. He told people what he
S2: heard from God. And we love to quote Jesus, the
S2: truth will set you free. But I got some news
S2: for you. Tradition holds that the truth got the prophet
S2: Jeremiah stoned to death. Guys. It seemed any time that
S2: Jeremiah dared to speak truthfully, he was falsely accused, beaten, imprisoned,
S2: or thrown into a cistern himself and left for dead. Now,
S2: Jeremiah's words might not have gotten him killed today, but
S2: for sure he'd have been silenced. Listen to what he says.
S2: Be appalled, O heavens, at this. Be shocked. Be utterly desolate,
S2: declares the Lord. For my people have committed two evils.
S2: My people. They are his people and they've committed two evils.
S2: They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and
S2: hewed out or carved out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns
S2: that can hold no water. The metaphor is super clear
S2: here for those people, then, and it is for us today.
S2: You can go anytime. If you go to Israel, you'll
S2: find cisterns, ancient cisterns. They're cut out of bedrock. They
S2: don't leak because they're in the right material. But they
S2: had dug out cisterns out of clay, out of soil.
S2: And the metaphor is that they've done their own digging,
S2: not where God wanted them to build their life, but
S2: they tried to carve out a life for themselves, their
S2: own way. Jeremiah nailed it, and his words ring true today.
S2: It is true that we can abandon the Abandoned the
S2: guide who wants to fill our lives and dismantle our
S2: self constructed cisterns that can hold water. We build systems
S2: for ourselves that can't deliver what we'd hope for or
S2: what we need. They leak. They come up empty. And
S2: I've got a simple question for you today. Where have
S2: you been? Carving out a life for yourself that the
S2: Holy Spirit is saying no more? Where have you been
S2: digging to get yourself validated, to find security. But it's
S2: not in God. As I say those words, a lot
S2: of different things come to your mind. And I'm not
S2: even going to fill in the blank. I'm going to
S2: let you do that for me. You can call in anonymously.
S2: You can call in with your real name. You can
S2: call in. But I'm wondering, do we have 1 or
S2: 2 of you this morning that are willing to say, Carl,
S2: I've been carving out a life for myself that's not
S2: grounded in God. It's not in the bedrock of my identity,
S2: of who I am in Christ Jesus. I'm trying to
S2: get my validation, my security, my elevation from something or
S2: someone else. Where have you been digging that God is
S2: saying no more today? Where is that? Who's got the
S2: courage to call? Get up on a soapbox and say,
S2: this is what God is revealing to me in my
S2: life right now. 855 five 7898. The real test for
S2: a cistern that we dig out in our lives is
S2: the dry season. There's no more the runoff water. It's done.
S2: And we look down and we go, man, this thing
S2: is dry hole. There's nothing here. There's no reservoir to
S2: pull out of. What have you been digging in? Trying
S2: to carve out a life for yourself. And it's coming
S2: up empty. And God's telling you it's time to build
S2: your life on Christ again. Moses in Florida. What do
S2: you say, Moses?
S23: God bless you. Thank you for your message. I just
S23: realized that within that message, it's been 40 years with
S23: my ministry. I've been pastoring and I have an outreach
S23: ministry called Feed Our Children. We've been giving food for
S23: hundreds and hundreds and giving water. But I realized I
S23: haven't given the bread of life, haven't given them the
S23: water that lasts forever. They keep coming back for food
S23: and food. And we've been serving and serving and serving.
S23: And I said, Lord, how many have I given back
S23: to you? And I said, you know that's what you say.
S23: Let your good be evil spoken of. It's been good,
S23: but it hasn't been good enough because the bread of
S23: life has not been given.
S2: Moses, what? What a humble pastor you are. And that
S2: is so good. It is so easy to do good things,
S2: but it's a great thing. It moves from good to
S2: great when you attach that to the gospel. And I
S2: don't know how God's going to give you wisdom to
S2: do that. But Moses, I want to confess something with you.
S2: A number of years ago, we were giving out backpacks
S2: loaded with winter gear for homeless people in Alaska, and
S2: one of our elders came to us at a meeting
S2: that we had before we launched these things. And he said,
S2: what are we doing? Not to not to make it
S2: something difficult for people, but to make sure that they
S2: receive this backpack in the name of Jesus so that
S2: we they know what motivates us and where life is
S2: really found. And we went to work on that stuff.
S2: Moses and I got to tell you, man. God gave
S2: us a vision for what to do. And Moses is
S2: what I'm believing. As you bow your head in prayer
S2: with your leadership, God's going to make this food ministry
S2: into a gospel ministry as well. Are you with me,
S2: my man?
S23: Oh, yes. Yes, yes.
S2: He's going to do it. Moses. And I love you, man.
S2: Thank you for calling in. You're a good pastor. That
S2: takes humility to admit that that's powerful. What about you?
S2: What's this life you've been carving out for yourself? But
S2: it doesn't hold water. And you get it. Joshua, first
S2: time caller in Ohio. What do you say, Josh?
S24: It's just the lifestyle of drugs and, um, women and
S24: stuff like that. That's my past that's haunting me. And, um,
S24: I'm ready to. I'm going back. I'm going to sober living. Um,
S24: I've been going through a rough patch. And, um, I'm
S24: grateful my grandma has cancer and stuff, and I've been
S24: out on bond, and, um, God told me to, uh,
S24: everything in my heart told me to go to sober
S24: living before her, and I just started working. Well, um,
S24: I have some stuff going on, and I'm going to
S24: Sober living next week, so hopefully everything works out with that.
S24: But just the.
S2: Life.
S24: I live, it's following me.
S2: Yeah. Joshua, I need you to hear my heart here
S2: for a second, bro. And I want you to listen
S2: really closely to me. When you get out of prison
S2: and you're out on bond right now, we've got an
S2: amazing opportunity. God's put a Y on the road for
S2: you and Joshua, I know you, I don't know you,
S2: but I, I know you. I've been there. I'm an
S2: old cocaine addict from the early 20s of my life.
S2: I gladly say that because I know the God who
S2: delivered me. And I want you to hear me, Joshua.
S2: Right now. Listen closely to me. I want you to
S2: find a man somewhere at a church or this ministry
S2: that you're going to. Whatever. And I want you to
S2: tell him what you just told me. That things have
S2: to change. And I want you to fully surrender all
S2: that you are to Jesus. What's amazing is you've been
S2: kicked hard. You've had to pay a price for some
S2: foolish stuff. But all that can be turned away from
S2: as you repent and give your life totally and completely
S2: over to Jesus, begin to reorient the friends around you.
S2: Begin to reprioritize what matters, and believe that God can
S2: break the addictions of your past. Joshua, do you hear
S2: me speaking to you right now?
S24: Yes, yes I do. I've done that. That's what I've
S24: been going through, actually, for the past two years. I've
S24: done that and I've been doing great. It's just this
S24: little hiccup in the road right now. That.
S2: That's awesome.
S24: I have to deal with, you know.
S2: Yeah. And you know, the little hiccup. I want you
S2: to take that to the Lord. I don't know what
S2: that hiccup is, but I want you to take that
S2: to the Lord as well. Satan's trying to derail you again.
S2: Don't let him do it. Joshua. First time caller in Ohio. Man,
S2: it's easy to carve out a life for yourself that
S2: doesn't hold water. It's easy, but God's got more. So
S2: much more. Dana, first time caller in Florida. What do
S2: you say, Dana?
S25: I, um, have been blessed to be raised by a
S25: pastor and have been a Christian from a very young age. Um,
S25: but we did not have very much growing up. And
S25: I have been holding on to my finances, even tithing
S25: and giving. Um, I've been blessed in the stage of life,
S25: and God got me through nursing school, which was the
S25: hardest thing I've ever done. I just feel that he's
S25: possibly calling me to something else. I don't know what
S25: it is. Yeah, my heart's broken for my children and
S25: my grandchildren and ministering to them. And I feel like
S25: all I'm doing is working and making money. Um, I
S25: feel like I need to give that portion over to him.
S25: And I know that we are created in his image.
S25: I know that he is sovereign over my life. I
S25: trust him, I bring him glory and honor in everything
S25: from being able to pass school. But I'm finding my
S25: security and satisfaction and performance in that area. And I
S25: have not given that over to him.
S2: Yeah, Dana, you're a precious. It's a real.
S25: Struggle.
S2: Here's what I want you to do, Dana. I want
S2: you to listen to me. I want you to go
S2: tell one person who is rich in faith today. This
S2: other than me. Okay? I want you to go find
S2: a sister who is rich in faith. And I want
S2: you to make that break today because finances is great
S2: until it becomes a god, right?
S25: Yes.
S2: That's the problem.
S25: Yes.
S2: Yeah. Dana.
S25: Yeah.
S2: Dana, it's a new day to day. Go find a sister.
S2: Get on your knees, physically. Get on your knees. Let's
S2: break ties with this thing that's been binding you up,
S2: and you're going to walk in freedom, sister. Thank you.
S2: Dana from Florida. First time caller. Way to go.
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: Well, I guess first you got to answer. Where in
S2: the world are we aiming our kids? We want to
S2: aim them for success. Where are we aiming them, Arlene?
S2: Where are we aiming? Kids? What is the goal for success?
S2: For kids?
S26: Well, that's a good question, right? And it's something that
S26: we can be like, where are we? Are we going
S26: like academic success, sports success, you know, kind of merit.
S26: We are aiming for kids who love God, who have character,
S26: who are going to be good people as they grow up,
S26: who will be adults, who can be independent of us,
S26: who will actually know what to do when they become adults.
S26: I think that is really what we are aiming for.
S2: That's a that's an awesome thing. Arlene Pelikan, speaker, author,
S2: host of Happy Home Podcast. She is truly a marriage
S2: and parenting expert and she's written some amazing books Growing
S2: up social, calm, cool, and connected. That's a cool title.
S2: Parents rising screen kids Grandparenting Screen Kids. So really, what
S2: we want to talk about here today is relevant not
S2: just for parents, but for grandparents. But getting those kids
S2: aimed at something rock solid is real. But what I
S2: wanted to pitch to you today, and I'm having some
S2: fun with this. Give me three rock solid A bedrock
S2: truths that set kids up for success. What do you say?
S26: Yeah. Number one, I think fear God, not man. So, like,
S26: as you are parenting, you know, sometimes we have the
S26: fear of man. Oh my goodness, I have to put
S26: my kid in this. And everyone else is doing this.
S26: And Instagram tells me to do this. It's like, wait, no,
S26: wait a minute. The fear of the Lord is the
S26: beginning of wisdom and and respect God. Honor God. Think
S26: of like what you know. Make that the the center
S26: so God not Google. You know, we've talked about this before. Yes,
S26: you may use Google. Yes, I guess you may use AI,
S26: but those are not really your parenting tools. Your biggest
S26: parenting tools are God, I'm going to fear you. God,
S26: I'm going to seek you. I'm going to pray. I'm
S26: not going to think of the fear of man. And really,
S26: a lot of that has to do with with our kids.
S26: Are they more connected to you, to God, or are
S26: they more connected to their iPad, to their video game?
S26: You know, if do they cry more when they say
S26: goodbye to you? Or do they cry more when it's
S26: like you take away their tablet? Okay, so we just
S26: have to connect to God and not to devices and
S26: what our devices are going to teach you. The fear
S26: of man. Like, okay, what do people say about me?
S2: Let me let me ask you something here. Something just
S2: dawned on me. It seems that a really healthy parenting
S2: tactic is that when the fear of people disappoints, they
S2: get betrayed by a friend. They get let down by this.
S2: It comes up empty. Aren't those great teaching moments right
S2: there to go right here? Not to rub it in
S2: their face, but isn't that a golden opportunity to say,
S2: look at this. This is what I told you. Now
S2: you're getting burned by it. Let me cry with you here.
S2: But isn't that. Aren't those the moments that God gives us?
S26: Arlene, there's a friend that sticks closer to you than
S26: a brother, right? So that when you have a team
S26: that was like, oh my goodness, I thought these were
S26: my friends and this is what they're saying about me
S26: or whatever it is that just like you're saying, you're commiserating,
S26: you have empathy, but you're like, you know what? In
S26: your mind, instead of rushing to fix it, to, like,
S26: erase it to, you know, whatever snow plow it. Let
S26: them feel those things and let them experience the comfort
S26: of the Holy Spirit so that they are building that
S26: relationship with God. Yeah, that's so good. Yeah, I love that,
S26: I love that, that's good. Okay, so fear God, not man.
S2: Yeah. And and by the way, and here's the beauty.
S2: And I just want to spike this. We're we're all
S2: big kids now. Sometimes that's God's dinner bell for us
S2: when the world disappoints. And he's saying, come back here.
S2: Come on, let's fear me. It's it's beautiful. Okay. Second,
S2: rock solid truth that set kids up for success. What
S2: do you say?
S26: Build a home of joy so that your house has
S26: smiles and laughter and fun. And when your kids think
S26: of God, they smile. they say like, wow. That's because
S26: look at our look at Jesus. He is a God
S26: of joy. Children come to him at the right hand
S26: there is fullness of not like rules or meanness or,
S26: you know, passivity or whatever. It's joy. There's fullness of joy,
S26: pleasures forevermore. So I think as you are parenting your kids,
S26: be in that position, right? That you're that you're experiencing
S26: the joy of God that's overflowing out of your life
S26: to your kids. And when you go to church, it's
S26: not like a death sentence. It's like, okay, guys, it's Sunday.
S26: Get in the car. Let's go. Let's open up the Bible.
S26: You know, we gotta do this, you know? Oh, you're
S26: not allowed to do that because God doesn't like that.
S26: You know that we are parenting from this place of like, no,
S26: we know this is where the joy is. And that
S26: when other families look at your family, they would say, wow,
S26: they have fun together. They laugh together, they do things together.
S26: So really like, like work on that. Jesus. When he's
S26: talking to his disciples, he's about to face the cross
S26: and he's telling him, you have sorrow now, but soon
S26: your heart will rejoice and no one's going to take
S26: away your joy. So joy is so crucial to the
S26: faith and make your house a house of fun so
S26: that you're really laughing together. You're not just sitting in
S26: a room together, you know, just coexisting. You are having fun.
S2: A quick note on that joy is a fruit of
S2: the spirit, and one of the things that I have
S2: told and challenged people from John 15 is Jesus's great metaphor.
S2: I am the vine. You're the branch. You abide in me.
S2: You'll bear much fruit. Now here's the kicker with this
S2: the fruit that's borne is fruit of the spirit. It's
S2: not our own. And joy, if it's not coming from
S2: the Lord. Some parents could do a mad scramble. And
S2: what we find ourselves doing is trying to manufacture facture
S2: something that only God can give us. And what's crazy
S2: is we put fake fruit on our life. Arlene and
S2: those closest to us, our kids and grandkids, know it
S2: for what it is. What does a parent do that
S2: feels like, um, you know what? Joy sounds great, but
S2: if I try to muster that, it's going to be
S2: fake fruit. What? What does a parent do, I guess?
S2: Bottom line, we got to get back with God here, right, sister?
S26: Yes, it's Lord. Fill me by your Holy Spirit having
S26: that faith that God, I just have this teeny tiny
S26: mustard seed of faith. And I'm giving it to you.
S26: And I'm asking you, will you bring back the joy
S26: of my salvation? Will you renew my spirit, Lord, and
S26: trust and look at those things? And then, you know,
S26: it's as simple as smiling in the morning when you
S26: don't even feel like it, and just kind of working
S26: with the Holy Spirit. That's like, okay, Lord, I need
S26: you to fill me. And then I'm going to physically
S26: try to smile and and you will start smiling. Be thankful.
S26: Look for things to to be thankful for. Cultivate that
S26: gratitude in your life as that's often very connected to joy.
S2: Yeah, we were actually talking about that in the first
S2: hour of The Power of Praise, because there's some people
S2: you don't need to manufacture joy. You can look around
S2: with a gratitude journal today and go, wow, there's some
S2: things to praise God for, and I need to look
S2: at those, not the big cumulus cloud hanging over our
S2: home today. Yeah. Good stuff. Okay. Number three third rock
S2: solid truth to set kids up for success. What say you, Arlene?
S26: This one comes out of one of the chapters of
S26: Parents Rising. And it's parents Call the shots. So, my friends,
S26: that the parent. You go be the parent. It used
S26: to be maybe a generation ago that the parent was
S26: too big and the child's real small, and the child
S26: never says anything. He's afraid to say anything, right? So
S26: big parent, very small child. Now we have the very
S26: big child and the very scared tiny parent. That's like, okay,
S26: if you want that after, you know, your fifth screaming thing,
S26: I will buy that for you. You know, we're afraid now.
S26: So it's so important for us to realize, oh, I
S26: am the adult in the room. Honor your father and
S26: mother so it will go along with you. It's not
S26: honor your children. It's honor your father and mother. Train
S26: up a child. You know Proverbs 22 six that we
S26: have that responsibility of training. So don't blame. Don't blame like, oh,
S26: it's the school system. Oh, it's the government. Oh, it's
S26: the peer pressure. Oh, it's the phone. Oh, it's the
S26: video games. Know that. We say, wait a minute, I'm
S26: the parent. Whether I have a two year old or
S26: an 18 year old that we say, wait, I still
S26: have influence. And for the 18 year old, you have
S26: a lot of influence. For the two year old that
S26: I will be the parent. I will be the leader.
S26: You know, in our neighborhood, we we had we watched
S26: all these dads and their kids would be riding around
S26: without helmets like bike helmets. And so my husband would
S26: ask the dad once, like, why doesn't your kid wear
S26: a helmet? And he's like, I just can't get him
S26: to wear the helmet. I mean, the kid's like five
S26: years old, right? And we had the experience that our
S26: kid in first grade literally got hit by a car
S26: in our neighborhood. But he was wearing a helmet. He
S26: went to the hospital. Everything. But he was fine. And
S26: so my husband, James would say, you know, our motive
S26: was was hit on this street with wearing a helmet.
S26: Really helped him. And yet no change. So for parents
S26: to realize. Wait a minute. You know, the Proverbs four
S26: tells us, my children, listen, when your father corrects. Pay
S26: attention and learn. Good judgment. So really taking that role of.
S26: Wait a minute. I'm supposed to help my child have
S26: good judgment? I am really crucial in training this child.
S2: And a big, big underlying thought here. I can feel
S2: it with thousands of parents right now. And grandparents is
S2: what if my kid doesn't like me? Arlene.
S26: I know it's like, oh, no, this is like you.
S26: Because we have to have friends that we have to
S26: have friends that do like us. So when our kid
S26: looks at us and either tells us I hate you
S26: or I don't like you, or acts in that way,
S26: that we can say, I really don't care, like I
S26: obviously I do care. I do care that I want
S26: my children to like me, but to realize that's not
S26: my role. My role is to help you, to guide you,
S26: to correct you. And nobody really likes that person that's
S26: correcting you. But you have a child who's uncorrected and
S26: you have a wild child that's not going to be
S26: very happy later when they have to have all these
S26: difficulties later in their life. So, so be okay with
S26: not being liked and realize that your child down the
S26: line will grow to like you again. So it's not
S26: a permanent thing, but just you just have to weather
S26: that moment of, okay, I'm not here to be popular.
S26: I'm not here for adoration. I'm here to actually be
S26: your parent.
S2: Yeah, we laugh about that. But there's a lot of
S2: parents that are hooked on an addiction of affirmation back
S2: from their kids. And we've got to break that tie,
S2: don't we?
S26: We do. We do. And honestly, and I'm not joking
S26: about have a friend. If you're married, your spouse like
S26: someone else, give you that stability and be okay with it. Hey,
S26: I'm not always going to say the popular thing with
S26: my kid, and that's okay.
S2: That's good. Arlene Pelikan, let me ask you a crazy
S2: one here. Kind of philosophical slash culture. Watch what's going on.
S2: What are parents up against today? That's. It. Seems like
S2: even with AI, everything is moving. It's like Satan never
S2: stops angling to get his way into our home. What's
S2: going on right now?
S26: Well, literally what you just said, I. I think that
S26: is the big thing that we are not ready for
S26: as parents. Like if we thought, wow, this whole video
S26: games and Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, you know, this kind of
S26: variety was really getting to our kids. I mean, what
S26: what's coming down the pike. So I think the connection
S26: to people and not device like understanding the difference of
S26: this is what's happening in the real world. This is
S26: the virtual world. And then the real world is better
S26: because all the persuasive design is going to get better
S26: and better and better. And that AI chatbot that your kid,
S26: if your kid's used to texting and now they've got
S26: this AI chatbot. Believe me, they're going to like that
S26: chatbot more than any other person because it's going to
S26: know them inside and out. It's going to compliment them.
S26: It's going to feed them what they like. There will
S26: be no problems with them there, you know, with real people.
S26: You know, you get conflict. You get correction. You get
S26: to say you're sorry. Like this is going to be huge.
S26: So the way that kids grow up, the way what
S26: they know and learn, and instead of learning that they say,
S26: I don't have to learn that my I will do
S26: that for me. Like that's going to be a problem.
S2: It's it already is. Yeah, it already is.
S26: It's just going to get bigger.
S2: You know. Interesting. Arlene, I think, um, it's. We live
S2: in a weird world right now, and it's. And knowledge
S2: is increasing on steroids, by the way, which is predicted
S2: to come in Matthew when the end is near. I'm
S2: not saying the end is near, but, boy, there's so
S2: much geopolitically in family, in church, in government structure around
S2: the globe, not just stateside here, we're not the focal
S2: point of end times prophecy. In fact, we're absent, which
S2: is eerie. But the interesting thing is that we find
S2: ourselves in a world today that is so inundated with
S2: fake gods. Yeah. And my question is, how do you
S2: help a kid? And if your grandparents, you're kind of
S2: co-coaching if those parents have granted you that opportunity and authority,
S2: how do you how do you coach kids without them
S2: feeling deprived? How do you help them see that? No,
S2: this phone isn't yours right now. No, you're not going
S2: to be five years old and have a smartphone or
S2: ten or whatever age, but how do you give them
S2: a bigger yes without them resenting you? Because that's a yeah,
S2: whatever it is, through the ages, that's always been the challenge.
S26: Yes. Yeah. And I think we're actually could be at
S26: an inflection point here where more parents are realizing this
S26: whole device based childhood is not good for children. And
S26: getting back to a play based childhood that that is
S26: good for children and for kids, like, think of it
S26: as a kid. If they're given the choice, like, hey,
S26: I get to run around and like be crazy and
S26: like jump off of things and like, build things. Like,
S26: I think they would like that better than I'm going
S26: to sit stock still for eight hours every day of
S26: my life and look at a screen and not move.
S26: So I think that as we embrace as parents like,
S26: oh no, we're taking this back, we're going to give
S26: our kids fun, that you won't have that, that, um,
S26: you know, I think about my own children. I have
S26: one now who is post college and working. I have
S26: a college student and I have a high school student.
S26: I know. How did this happen, Carl?
S2: How did it.
S26: Happen? You know, how did this happen? And they didn't
S26: get phones, smart phones in high school. You know, they
S26: did all the and they had a real childhood and
S26: they don't resent us. They're like, hey, this this was good.
S26: This worked out real good for us. We have skills
S26: and we have hobbies, and we play instruments and do
S26: sports and do art like they like it. So I
S26: think if you as a parent approach it not like, oh,
S26: woe is us, we're like these Luddites and we can't
S26: do anything. No, but you say, hey, we're kind of
S26: smarter than everybody else because we're actually doing things and
S26: you're healthy. You're not you're not sedentary all the time.
S26: You're doing things. And the thing is, think of all
S26: the times a kid has a device in their spare time,
S26: and they go to the device when the kid does
S26: not have a device. Guess what? They get bored. They create,
S26: they talk to God. They learn how to be more patient.
S26: They learn how to wait for things, and it's way,
S26: way better for them.
S2: That's so much better. It's not even close. It's not
S2: even close. It's not even. It's not even a close call.
S2: You know, if I couldn't have built stuff, broken stuff,
S2: and fallen out of trees when I was a kid, I.
S2: It wouldn't have been a great childhood. And I, and
S2: I thank God that I was raised in the woods
S2: and that we built stuff and created. And I want
S2: that for your kids and grandkids, guys. And Arlene's got
S2: some great truths. You just the podcast amazing but tons of.
S26: And you you were my guest on the happy podcast
S26: and when I yes when I have to wake up
S26: early because I'm in California to be on this show,
S26: my daughter Lucy, who edits the podcast, is like, oh,
S26: Mister Carl, killing sin. Like, of course you have to
S26: do that with Mister Carl. He's the best. Like he's.
S2: That's encouraging. We had a sweet time together, for sure. Um,
S2: this this landing page that we're going to get you
S2: to is chock filled with resources, and you're going to
S2: want to check it out. Just text the word happy.
S2: You're going to get in touch with Arlene Pelikan. She's
S2: in our frequent flyer club here. Means that we call
S2: her up and we say, would you come on again?
S2: And she happily says, okay, so text the word happy
S2: to 800 555 7898 800 555 7898 just that word
S2: happy and Arlene. Thank you sister. You are such an
S2: encouragement and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
S2: Thanks for being with us today.
S26: Thank you so much, Carl.
S2: Again, that word is happy to 800 555 7898. Get
S2: those resources today.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
S1: Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: All right, my man, we are having some fun. Boy,
S2: what a day we've been having, huh?
S4: It's been a great day, Sam storms.
S2: Greg dempster, Arlene Pelikan. You listen to anything you hear here.
S2: And somebody. This is so funny. We get these texts
S2: every now and then. Sorry for bumping my microphone there.
S2: Every time you bump your mic, it goes like that.
S2: That's a bump mic. Uh, somebody said I won't give
S2: you the name. They said they called out someone's name.
S2: They texted us and said, I couldn't help but think
S2: of you when I heard this on my Christian radio
S2: station this morning. I know you have a lot of resources,
S2: but here's one that that's really special, I think. So
S2: we've got to let this person know. I think you
S2: meant it for someone else, but how cool that there
S2: are people getting hold of friends going. Get a hold
S2: of this resource. Now, we've been given instructions par excellence,
S2: and we're going to do a crash course on it
S2: right now. If you have not gotten our showcast yesterday.
S2: Young Thunder took two minutes. You're fired up. Aren't you ready? Okay,
S2: so yesterday Young Thunder took two minutes to tutor everyone
S2: on how to download the show cast, so that you
S2: never have to text the word show again.
S4: Yes.
S2: Now this is really cool. Now our show cast is
S2: what our show.
S4: Our show cast is the best bits of every single
S4: day we have here. So you can go back and
S4: listen to a year worth of shows. We get all
S4: the songs out, all the underwriting. It's just our content
S4: and guests and calls.
S2: So today, Sam Storms. Yep. Greg Dempster, yep. Greg Dempster
S2: three bedrock things every disciple of Christ needs to bank on.
S2: I mean, the list goes on and on. And then
S2: Arlene Pelikan just crushed it with three rock solid truths
S2: that set your kids up for success. I mean, killer stuff. Now,
S2: you might want to hear it again. Or you want
S2: to pass it on to a friend. Bada bing, bada boom.
S2: Have we got it for you? Take it away, young thunder. Yeah.
S2: How does it work?
S4: It's great. So first just text the word show. Text
S4: the word show to 800 555 7898. When you do,
S4: it's going to send you back to links. If you
S4: have an iPhone or an Apple product, it's going to
S4: give you a link for Apple Podcasts. That's an app
S4: that's automatically downloaded onto your iPhone when you get it.
S4: So it's a little purple app. It'll open that up.
S4: Or if you don't have an iPhone or you just
S4: like to use it, Spotify, you get that app as well.
S4: Once you get those, those links are going to take
S4: you to them. Once you get those, it's going to
S4: take you right to Karl and Cruz page. You'll see
S4: all of our shows there that you can access. But
S4: up at the top of those pages there's going to
S4: be a button. And it's basically the same for both apps.
S4: It's a follow button. Click the follow button. That means
S4: every time you open up your Apple Podcasts or your Spotify,
S4: you'll be able to see new episodes of Karl and
S4: crew right there. You don't ever have to text show again.
S2: Now, I think some people, when they hear follow button,
S2: they're freaking out, going, uh oh, this means I'm going
S2: to get spammed or something. No, that doesn't happen that way, right?
S4: No, it's it's nothing. We're not going gonna text you
S4: anything or anything like that. It's. It's literally just letting
S4: the app know this show. I want to get updates
S4: of when they drop a new episode. So every time
S4: we drop a new episode, it'll either give you a
S4: notification on your phone or when you open the app,
S4: it'll just be right there at the top of the
S4: page saying, hey, Carl and crew dropped a new episode recently.
S2: And you might. Yeah, and you might go, huh, okay.
S2: And move on. Cooking bread or whatever you're doing driving
S2: down the road. Or you might go, I got to
S2: check that out or forward it on ahead. Okay. You
S2: got the goods. You know how to do it now.
S2: Text the word show. Let's get this show cast fired up.
S2: We want you to be, um, radiant lights. And sometimes
S2: some of the coolest things you can do is forward
S2: on resources. As God leads to people that you know
S2: and love, they could be radically committed Christ followers. Here
S2: you go. Oh, they've been battling with something. I know
S2: exactly what to do. Like we had a guy text
S2: in here just a moment ago. Thank you so much
S2: for that segment with Arlene. The past two days, I've
S2: been praying and asking God to show me how to
S2: navigate through a situation I'm having with my 16 year
S2: old son. I don't want my son to resent me,
S2: but I also don't want my son hanging out with
S2: the crowd he's been hanging out with. Tough situation, but
S2: thank you guys. Well thank you. Yeah, because we're in
S2: this thing together. All right. How do they get that link?
S2: Young thunder.
S4: Just text the word show to 805, 55, 78, 98,
S4: 805 five, five, 78, 98. The word show. Yeah.
S2: Oh my goodness. Okay, I got a crazy question for you.
S4: Okay.
S2: You and I got a crazy question for you. Crazy question.
S2: You guys ready for this one?
S4: We're ready.
S3: Okay.
S2: What is the craziest thing you did as a kid
S2: growing up that had nothing to do with a machine?
S2: No phone, no game, no Pac-Man, no Pac pack, mom.
S2: Did they pack? Mom?
S4: Uh. Miss Pac-Man.
S2: Pac-Man. Pac-Man. We'll see. I miss that one. Uh, they
S2: didn't have the Air Force thing. That was the big thing. After.
S2: What was the Air Force game? You had that.
S4: You mean Galaga?
S2: Yeah. See, there. Um, that shows you how much I
S2: was into those things.
S3: Jonathan.
S2: And how do you know that? For crying out.
S3: Loud.
S4: I'm a pro at Galaga.
S3: Oh, wow. Okay.
S2: Okay.
S3: So.
S2: What did you do as a kid? That was just crazy.
S3: Crazy town.
S4: Crazy.
S2: Come on. Crazy thing.
S3: I don't know if it's a good. Please don't do
S3: this at home. Can I just preface what I'm going.
S2: Okay. Go ahead.
S3: I mean, back in the day, uh, but we we
S3: would take off on our bikes. You know, you didn't
S3: have to be home to, like, street lights came on
S3: kind of thing. Right. But we would like, we would
S3: go to abandoned buildings and just kind of play hide
S3: and seek in these abandoned buildings. Now you've got these
S3: young kids in abandoned buildings. Hello.
S27: I love it.
S3: You blast. We played hide and seek. We played tag
S3: in these buildings.
S2: If you survive, you grow up well adjusted by going
S2: through abandoned building.
S3: There were holes in the floor. Sure, you just hopped
S3: over them. I mean, come on. But yeah, it's good stuff.
S2: Good stuff. See, she was raised in a Greek home. Uh,
S2: everybody had a bottle of Windex on their hip. Just
S2: like my Big Fat Greek Wedding. It was just great.
S2: And then she went to abandoned buildings on a bike
S2: and had to be home by dark. But we rarely
S2: made it home by dark, right? Oh, it was just
S2: at the.
S3: Nip.
S2: Right there.
S3: Bang! Oh, calling it close.
S2: Young thunder, what do you say, my man?
S4: Yeah. For me, I was, uh, I was really big
S4: into climbing trees. So when I was a kid, there
S4: was a tree in my yard that, you know, was
S4: probably about 30ft tall. And so I would just climb
S4: to the top of the tree, and I would sit
S4: up at the top and just chill out up there.
S4: I loved just being up high. It felt good. It
S4: felt nice. And and any tree you could give me
S4: that I could climb, I'd climb it.
S28: Make the world go away. While I sway in the branches.
S3: It's basically what it means a lost art. People do
S3: it anymore.
S2: I don't know, no tree climbing still happening.
S4: I feel like it's innate in kids.
S2: To sound, of sound of music. Like tree climbing. Sorry.
S2: Ali's not here today. She'd be fired up right now.
S2: All those kids up in the trees. Remember that.
S3: Scene? Film. By the way, everyone.
S2: Oh, yeah, she loves it. She's getting back from the
S2: mission field. She'll be here tomorrow. Uh, somebody texted in.
S2: I didn't even ask him. Said craziest thing I did
S2: as a teenager. Galloping across a golf course at night
S2: on my horse.
S4: Oh, yeah. On a horse.
S3: Wow.
S2: The grounds crew had been digging that.
S3: That's called.
S2: That's called divots. That's called divots for sure.
S3: Okay.
S2: Okay. I'm opening up phone lines right now. What's the
S2: craziest thing you did as a kid? Craziest thing you
S2: did as a kid? 805 five, five, 7898, 805 five,
S2: five 7898.
S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
S2: What's the craziest thing you did as a kid? David
S2: in Florida. What do you say, my man?
S11: Me and my friend tried to.
S21: Parachute.
S11: With a bed.
S21: Sheet.
S29: Off of his roof at the peak.
S4: That's awesome.
S2: I think most kids tried that. I tried to do
S2: it with spruce boughs taped to my arms. David, I
S2: tried to fly off of a garage. Didn't work. How
S2: did it work for you, David?
S29: Okay. Uh, well, the knots didn't hold, and we lost
S29: a grip on one end, and we both landed hard
S29: on our each individual attempts. Nothing broken, but we were
S29: sore for days. And then, of course, we're like moms.
S29: Why are you limping? Oh, I crashed on my bike
S29: or something.
S2: Yeah. You lied. Oh, goodness. David in Florida. Way to go,
S2: my man. Uh winnette. I think that's how I pronounce it. Uh,
S2: in Illinois. What do you say?
S25: Hi.
S18: Um, I'm still laughing from that last one.
S30: That was hilarious. Um, I grew up in front of
S30: a very large cemetery, and, like Young Thunder, I was
S30: a tree climber. So me and my friends would climb
S30: trees all over that cemetery because it was loaded with them.
S30: And occasionally we would get caught having to sit up
S30: there for quite a while because a funeral would come
S30: by and all the cars would stop underneath us, and
S30: so we had to wait it out.
S27: I did the leaves.
S30: I saw many a visitation or funeral.
S2: Oh, bless your heart. That is great. Winnette. Oh my word.
S2: All right. Taking your calls, we're going to go to
S2: Lightning Round here in three minutes. What's the craziest thing
S2: you did as a kid? Craziest thing you did as
S2: a kid? My bride. Do you know what she would do, guys?
S2: No joking. As a teenager, she would look in the
S2: Rockies at a peak, look at the peak and go,
S2: I'm going to go climb that mountain. And she'd go
S2: do it alone.
S4: Oh my goodness. How old was she?
S2: Teenager.
S4: That's crazy.
S2: She looks back and she goes, I don't know why
S2: I did that stuff alone. Matt and Grand Rapids, what
S2: do you say, Matt?
S13: Um, we took my dad to the state patrol car.
S13: State police patrol car for a drive. Me and my
S13: buddy as they went up to House Lake to vacation.
S13: But on the way back, I looked in the rear
S13: view mirror. And that's my dad and my siblings in
S13: the car with my mom just gazing at me. So
S13: that was the craziest thing I ever did. And I
S13: survived the beating. When we got home, um, so I
S13: wouldn't advise anyone to do that.
S2: So if your dad's a trooper, don't use his car ever.
S2: Oh my goodness. It's crazy what kids do. They think yeah,
S2: this looks like it could be fun.
S4: Looks fun.
S2: Oh my word. Dave, first time caller in Indianapolis. What
S2: do you say, my man?
S31: Oh, the craziest thing I've ever done was jumped off
S31: of an overpass onto the back of a moving semi,
S31: just to see if I could do it. My friend
S31: and I made it, and the driver didn't realize we
S31: were on top of the trailer until he was almost
S31: to Chicago.
S2: Okay, that is in a new category of crazy. Oh
S2: my goodness. People do not do this.
S4: We do not recommend.
S2: In fact, I should have put a teen ager warning.
S4: Yeah, that's true too.
S2: Do not take your dad's car if he's a state
S2: trooper and do not jump off overpasses. Talk about crazy stuff.