S1: Coming to you live from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. It's Carl
S1: and crew helping.
S2: You take your next step with Jesus. And I'm running
S2: home to eternity. And I ran back home to see you.
S2: Boom crew. Because I love you. That week away, though. Ooh, nelly.
S3: Back from vacation.
S2: Do I feel good? No joking. That was the most
S2: refreshing week I've had in a long, long time. Getting
S2: getting a week away, spending time with the Lord. It's
S2: a beautiful thing. Talking identity this week. Why is identity
S2: so important?
S3: Well, who you are or who you believe yourself to
S3: be is going to make a huge impact in how
S3: you live. I mean, you think about people who live
S3: from an identity of something, things that have been told
S3: to them. Maybe you were told you're never going to
S3: make it so you do or you're never going to
S3: amount to anything. So you do 1 or 2 things.
S3: You start to live into that identity because you believe that, man,
S3: I'm never. My life's never going to amount to anything
S3: because that's what I was told. Or you try to
S3: outrun that. You live to prove people wrong. I'm not
S3: going to be my father. I'm not going to be
S3: what my teacher said. I I'm going to prove all
S3: of them wrong. And that can be a an okay motivation,
S3: I guess, if it motivates you to try to be better.
S3: But it ends up being very hollow because instead of
S3: living into something, you're running away from something.
S2: How what do you guys think? How many people who
S2: are in Christ Jesus think about their identity often?
S3: Few.
S4: Few. I would probably say, Max.
S2: If you put a.
S4: 15 to 20%.
S2: Really?
S4: Yeah.
S2: That's why every time we mention this topic, we hit
S2: paydirt here because it's a big deal. Yeah. The interesting
S2: thing about your identity is that one of the ways
S2: that we can get lulled to sleep is that we
S2: almost get a ticket punched mindset that says, okay, well,
S2: I've been born again and now I'm just going to
S2: go live my life. And I don't think anyone who's
S2: no one who's been truly born again just Calculatedly says,
S2: is that true? Let me check that. Do people say
S2: who have been truly born again? I'm just going to
S2: go out now, live like I'd like? I don't believe so.
S3: I don't think no, I don't think anyone says that.
S3: I think it's the subconscious sort of acting into that
S3: where you haven't decided that you're just going to go
S3: now and live your life any kind of way, but
S3: you also haven't decided, like in a different direction. So
S3: that's kind of the default.
S2: Yeah. And then you can get into this weird mindset
S2: to that, because then when you head that way, when
S2: you aren't really locked into who you are in Christ,
S2: You can begin to get compromises in your life. And
S2: then you lean back on that great salvation and you go, well,
S2: good thing I'm saved.
S4: Yes, absolutely. Absolutely. I also think, you know, sometimes we
S4: we talk about the enemy giving us identity that leads
S4: to like a negative view of self. And I think
S4: sometimes the enemy gives us something where it's like, no, remember,
S4: you got Grace. You can go and just do this
S4: stuff and it's fine. And and you don't think much of,
S4: you know, hey, I'm consciously not going to go follow Jesus.
S4: But you say, hey, you know what? It doesn't really matter.
S4: I'm saved either way. And that can be a really
S4: dangerous spot just the same.
S2: So the question is, now what? Now that we're born again,
S2: truly in Christ. Now what? Hang on. Special guests, coming up.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Carl and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus.
S2: So now what? You've been born again. And the danger
S2: without knowing some of the most simple things about what
S2: we do now is that we can find ourselves living
S2: as the author of a great little blog says, living
S2: on the wild side. Wild doesn't always mean crazy, does it, Ali?
S3: No, I mean wild could mean just sort of like
S3: a self-led life.
S2: Yes. That boom, boom, boom boom. That's the issue. Because
S2: wild can manifest itself in a lot of ways. It
S2: can manifest itself in male passivity. A man living on
S2: the wild side, not knowing the grace of God. That
S2: is not permission to live as you like, but the
S2: privilege to live as you never could before. You can
S2: miss what it is to love your wife as Christ
S2: loved the church like a broadside of a barn. You've
S2: lived long enough to see this, haven't you? Doctor Michael Melnick.
S5: Yeah, I've been around.
S2: Death doesn't mean money. It can mean clear, can't it? Michael.
S5: That's actually my my real hope in writing that blog
S5: and the stuff I have written about walking with the Lord.
S5: Try and make it as simple and clear as possible
S5: in terms of what we are expected to live like.
S5: And I think it's simple and clear about the perseverance
S5: of the Savior. You know, a lot of people believe
S5: in the perseverance.
S2: Of the saints.
S5: Of the saints. It relied on me. I'd be in trouble.
S5: But the perseverance of the Savior is much stronger.
S2: Hold it. Hold me! Stop the buses, everybody. I want
S2: us to linger on that one. Perseverance of the saints
S2: is the P of tulip. If you're a Calvinist or
S2: understand what tulip is, we won't get into that. But if.
S2: Perseverance of the Savior. Michael, I'm going to steal that
S2: from you. That is beautiful. I want you to expound
S2: on that for a second before we jump into this blog.
S5: Sure. In John ten it says that the Lord Jesus
S5: has us in one hand, the father has us in
S5: the other, and nothing's going to take us out of
S5: his hand. And he said in John 637 through 40,
S5: I've come not to do my will, but the will
S5: of him who sent me. And this is the will
S5: of him who sent me. Of all that he has
S5: given me, I lose not one of them. And so
S5: the security that we have as believers isn't because I'm
S5: resting in me.
S2: Yes.
S5: It's him. He is the one that holds me. And
S5: I think that sometimes people say, well, that means you
S5: can just live any way you like. And that's why
S5: I wrote that blog. Now what do I do? I
S5: had been writing for several weeks in that blog about
S5: the perseverance of the Savior, and how secure we are
S5: and how safe we are. And then I think a
S5: lot of people criticize this view because it says that,
S5: you know, you can okay, just go live any way
S5: you like. Live on the wild side, as we just said, right? Yeah,
S5: but that's not the case. Now, what do I do now?
S5: What should I do now that I am secure in
S5: the Savior? Now that I have this new identity, that
S5: I belong to him? He's never going to let me go.
S5: He's never going to let you go. Which, by the way, Carl,
S5: I would if I were him, but no, he even
S5: promised you. Yeah, he's got you, right? He definitely let
S5: go of me. You know, if there was someone that
S5: didn't deserve it, he'd let go of me. But he's
S5: got me. So what do I do? That's where I.
S5: I thought, well, I'm going to give us a little motivation. What?
S5: What's expected of us now that we're secure, now that
S5: we're safe now that he'll never let us go. Nothing
S5: will separate us from his love. Okay. So what? Well,
S5: the very first thing that I believe we ought to
S5: remember is that since we have this great high priest,
S5: it says in Hebrews 414, let us hold fast to
S5: what we believe. Uh, some versions say, let us hold
S5: fast to our confession of faith. We have to hold
S5: fast to what we believe. There's going to be all
S5: sorts of ups and downs, doubts and difficulties. And when
S5: we face them, what we face them with. With a
S5: confidence that I'm holding on, even if I have questions,
S5: if whatever's going on, I still hold fast to what
S5: I believe. Now I have a friend. She had all
S5: these doubts and she abandoned her walk with the Lord.
S5: And she kind of gave up her faith. And just
S5: recently she said, you know, I've come back to my faith.
S5: And I said, why? She said, well, I don't have
S5: all the answers, but I know I need him. And
S5: then I thought she thought that she was talking to
S5: someone that had all the answers. I'm like, welcome to
S5: my world. I don't have all the answers, but I
S5: need him. And that's that's what we know about the disciples. Remember,
S5: everyone else left the Lord. All these people who had
S5: superficial nothing faith. They all left. John six. Where's the bread?
S5: We wanted bread. You're talking to us about the bread
S5: of life, right? And the Lord says to his followers,
S5: those guys that were with him all the time, where
S5: are you going to go? Are you going to leave, too?
S5: And they said, to whom shall we go? You alone
S5: have the words of eternal life. Hold fast to what
S5: we believe.
S3: We're talking about what the now. What now that I
S3: am secure in Christ, my eternal future is secure. How
S3: now shall we live? That first one. Hold fast. Coming up,
S3: let's move on to part two, three and four of
S3: how we shall live.
S1: This is Colonel and crew on Moody Radio.
S3: Doctor Michael Riedel, our guest right now. Now that I'm
S3: in secure in Christ, what do I do? The temptation,
S3: Doctor Reidel was explaining, is to maybe kick back on.
S3: My eternal future is secure. I've got my ticket punched
S3: to heaven, so now I can live however I want
S3: to live. Doctor Reidel, nothing could be further from the truth.
S3: You just outlined. Are the call to hold firm to
S3: our faith. What's the next call?
S5: We have to live holy lives. It's the most natural
S5: expression of who we are is to live a holy life.
S5: We have been declared holy by God. He declares us righteous,
S5: and now we have to live like we are. It
S5: says in Romans six, what shall we say? Should we
S5: continue in sin so that we might get more grace
S5: or that grace may multiply? Then he says, how can
S5: we who die to sin still live in it? That's
S5: what the answer is. We have a new identity. We
S5: have to live according to that. New identity is who
S5: we really are. I think that's something that we forget
S5: if we have that new identity, when we try to
S5: live outside of it, it's going to torture us.
S2: Yeah. What shall we say, then? Phrase I don't know
S2: the second time the verse exactly, but I was reading
S2: through Romans six here recently. It's in verse one, and
S2: then it's halfway through that chapter. It's like he uses
S2: that as, as a, a tool to get people kind
S2: of jarred going, hey, what do you say then, if
S2: this grace is this powerful, how in the world do
S2: we live? Uh, third response to our security in the
S2: Messiah is that we now need to focus on doing
S2: good works for him. Now, this can get squiggly because
S2: even Martin Luther had a bit of a challenge with this.
S2: He looked at the book of James and said, it's
S2: not look, this is not a works based thing, but
S2: works are the fruit of faith. Explain how we do that.
S5: Root of our salvation is faith. By grace are ye
S5: saved through faith, not of works. So that's the root,
S5: but the fruit of it. What will come out is
S5: that we have been created in the Messiah, Jesus for
S5: good works. He's created them for us, and we're to
S5: walk in them. Uh, he's made the good, good works.
S5: And so it's not like we're saying, oh, boy, now,
S5: now I'm going to earn my salvation. No, no, no,
S5: now we're going to live out our salvation, and it
S5: will affect how we live. And it will make us
S5: focus on doing what is good to honor him. That's
S5: why we're doing it, not because we want to draw
S5: attention to ourselves. Matthew six. People will see the good
S5: works we do and give glory to our father in heaven.
S5: It's to point to him. That's the point of doing
S5: good works. It's not for ourselves. And then after you
S5: do good works, of course, one of the great passages
S5: or principles of the New Testament is that we look
S5: forward to that great reward. You know, some people think
S5: that's mercenary. And I know the parable that the Lord
S5: Jesus taught. We're only unworthy servants. Only doing that which
S5: is required. But over and over the Bible teaches that
S5: we're going to be rewarded. And I think the most
S5: important reward that we're going to get is when we
S5: stand before him and he says, well done, well done,
S5: good and faithful servant. Matthew 25 and you know, the
S5: Bible says that we're going to get crowns. You know,
S5: I don't know if that's literal or what, but we're
S5: going to take those crowns, toss them at his feet
S5: because he earned it, not us. But the most important
S5: thing I can tell you is hearing those words. Well done. Uh,
S5: you know, I have, uh, I have a Sheltie and
S5: a boxer.
S6: I didn't know that. I didn't know you had a sheltie.
S2: Shelton, a boxer.
S7: I've got a Sheltie.
S5: And a boxer. And I'm telling you, when you just
S5: say you're a good boy, I'm telling you, it brings
S5: the light to their lives. They're so grateful that they're
S5: recognized for being obedient dogs. And they are good and
S5: obedient dogs. And I think if that's how my dog is,
S5: how much more will I feel it when the Lord
S5: Jesus himself looks at me and says, well done, well done.
S5: And so I look for that. I long for that.
S3: Doctor Michael Melnick joining us right now. Now, in light
S3: of these four truths that you just outlined, do you
S3: think that this is something that once as a, as
S3: a believer, you take hold of this, you get it?
S3: Or is this something that you have to kind of
S3: keep reminding yourself of from time to time? Can you
S3: slip back into sort of a passive sort of approach
S3: to faith that says, yeah, I'm glad I'm going to heaven?
S3: Let me kick back.
S7: Well, I think what it is.
S5: One of my big principles of life, is to be
S5: in the word every day. I know, Carl, you and Ali.
S5: You both teach that, right?
S7: Yeah.
S5: And I try to live it myself. And here's what
S5: happens when you're in the word every day. Each of
S5: these principles will come up from time to time.
S6: Uh.
S7: You know.
S5: Someone once said that we should be talking to ourselves
S5: more than listening to ourselves. And when I read the word,
S5: I talk to myself about these things. I constantly remind myself.
S5: I keep forgetting I am shallow, I am easy to forget.
S5: And so I stay in the word. And just periodically,
S5: each of these principles, they come up, they remind me.
S5: And that's why I think we need to be in
S5: the word every day. Uh, it's it's the because we're
S5: very forgetful.
S2: Michael, I got to tell you, I just came back
S2: from a week break, and I really decided. I told
S2: my bride, I said, I'm going to lean into the
S2: Lord almost more than vacation. And it made for. I'm
S2: getting choked up right now.
S6: Goodness sakes.
S2: It made for the greatest week of vacation I've ever
S2: had in my life. And I kid you not, Michael,
S2: I was up early. I spent long periods of time
S2: in the word and it was so stinking rich. It
S2: just was. The overflow of it just made everything, including
S2: snorkeling go better. I know that sounds crazy, but it
S2: made everything go better. Michael, you know I'm going to
S2: throw in a bonus here for everyone that's listening. It
S2: was a year and a half ago. I called Michael
S2: and I said, hey, why haven't you told me? What
S2: my new discovery. Hagar, this great word about meditation that
S2: actually means speak, mutter, moan, shout, sing. And you said,
S2: I've been saying this forever, Carl. And I said, well,
S2: you haven't been saying it loudly enough. Explain that quickly.
S2: Why that's so important that the Word of God needs
S2: to get off of our lips. And that was. That's
S2: what they're doing at the Wailing Wall without the Spirit
S2: of God. But that's what they're doing, Michael.
S7: Well, yeah, there's.
S5: This kind of talking. Talking to ourselves? Yes, with the
S5: word of God. I think when we speak it, it
S5: has greater impact on our lives than just reading it silently.
S5: I think reading it silently is critical. We have to
S5: do that. But then we mutter it, we speak it,
S5: we meditate on it. That word, by the way, was used.
S5: This is an interesting thing. Other usages of it. It's
S5: of a cow chewing. It's cut. And so what do
S5: we do? We bring it up, we chew on this word,
S5: we mutter about it, we talk about it, then we
S5: swallow it. And it starts to impact our lives, to
S5: affect our lives, to change how we live. And I
S5: think that's why the principle of meditation is so critical. And,
S5: you know, I'm not really good at that, but I'm
S5: married to a wonderful meditator. She's always telling me what
S5: she's reading and talking about it with me, and we
S5: meditate on it and it motivates me to talk with her,
S5: even though we meditate on our own. It's that reminder
S5: to tell each other and talk with each other about
S5: what's going through our head as we read the word.
S5: That kind of forces us both into a meditation on
S5: the word, to speak it, not just to read it.
S2: Yeah, I love it. Yeah. Michael, I was blown away
S2: when I first saw in my favorite Psalm one one
S2: through three that your leaf will not wither and all
S2: you do, you will prosper. And then you pop over
S2: to Joshua one, I believe, verse eight, meditate on the
S2: law day and night, and you will have success and
S2: prosperity wherever you go. What an amazing promise. We could
S2: go on Hagar forever, but what a great what a
S2: great word. Michael. I love you, buddy. Thank you for
S2: being in here. Deep water, but not muddy alley. Not
S2: at all. But not muddy.
S3: We've got this resource for you. We've been pulling from
S3: this blog, this great blog by Doctor Michael Riedel. If
S3: you want to check it out, text secure to (800) 555-7898.
S3: Just write out that one word. Autocorrect I think will
S3: help you secure to 800 555 7898.
S2: Always good to get Doctor Michael right in here. Great
S2: little blog. Great little blog. Text. The word secured 800
S2: 555 7898.
S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and
S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
S2: Well, getting back from a week of vacation was one
S2: of the most refreshing times, and I feel like it's
S2: going to have a long tail. I'm going to be
S2: in the saddle here for a while, until I head
S2: off to Burundi, here for a few day trip, and
S2: doing some discipling of about 400 pastors down there, and
S2: it's going to be a sweet time. But I learned
S2: a lot this week away. You know, I always ask
S2: the Lord to give me opportunities to share my faith.
S2: And I love talking with people. And I learned something
S2: again on this trip that I just wanted to share
S2: with you. Boom crew. I had an opportunity to be
S2: around a lot of people in a enclosed area. Some
S2: of you might be guessing what this is For a
S2: long period of time, and it was a sweet it
S2: was a sweet experience because I got to meet people
S2: from all over the world, every kind of walk of
S2: life you can imagine. And it gave it just it's
S2: like God kept teeing up opportunities for me to share
S2: what Jesus Christ has done in my life. And I,
S2: I share this with you because I think a lot
S2: of us are missing out on one of the greatest
S2: blessings there are. And this is not pressure at all.
S2: It's an invitation to step into sharing your story of
S2: what Jesus has done and what he's doing in your life.
S2: In fact, I while I was away, I did a
S2: bit of a deep dive and one of the things
S2: I came away with is I want us to be
S2: talking more and more around here about not only what
S2: Jesus saved us from, but what he saved us into,
S2: and this experience that we now have in our relationship
S2: with Jesus Christ. How it's quantified. What does it look like?
S2: How is that working in my life? But I want
S2: to give you three responses that I found to witnessing.
S2: And it's pretty sweet. I found that some people were
S2: for sure a couple, not too many, uh, just kind
S2: of turned off. Three turns here. A couple of them
S2: were like, nah, didn't feel like there was a receptive audience.
S2: That's going to happen, right?
S3: Oh, yeah. And I'm curious when you say there were
S3: opportunities teed up, what did that what do you mean
S3: by that?
S2: Oh, when you start talking about anything about life and
S2: I love to ask people, where are you from? Tell
S2: me your story. And then invariably that turns around where
S2: they're asking you about your story. Okay. And I'm not,
S2: I'm not I'm not playing a game to try to
S2: get in there. I genuinely love hearing people. Right? Yeah,
S2: I love I love people. I mean, I love hearing stories.
S4: I think that genuine curiosity about other people gives you
S4: the credibility to then be able to share your own
S4: story when the questions asked. So it doesn't feel like, oh,
S4: this dude was just trying to get me to ask
S4: him so he could tell me stuff. Yeah, no, I
S4: love the curiosity part.
S2: And invariably I'm sitting around a table and we had
S2: an occasion to sit down with four people that I
S2: didn't know any of them, and my bride knows my
S2: story well enough. She actually told part of it. So
S2: we sit down and the waiter comes up and he says,
S2: what would you like to drink tonight? And I said,
S2: I'm going to have water, give me some lemon wedges.
S2: And he said, okay. And and I forget what came up.
S2: But my bride was able to say, well, my husband here,
S2: and she didn't have anything to drink either. But she
S2: spoke up for my story, and she said he drank
S2: his entire quota in about a five year period of time.
S2: And boy, that got some discussion going.
S8: Sure.
S2: So she said he was knocking them back left and
S2: right in his youth. And the question came up. Well. Well, what?
S2: What happened? Well, good grief, I was able to pour
S2: out my heart. You know what's interesting? So on some
S2: of those encounters, some people were turned away. But in
S2: this one, there were four people there that had varying degrees.
S2: And I would say two of them I think were
S2: probably born again. Uh, but the conversation around that table
S2: up to that point in time hadn't been anything close
S2: to this, but I saw what happened as I shared
S2: my story. All of a sudden, stories began to start
S2: percolating about their relationship with God and what they wanted
S2: for their life and what God had done in them.
S2: And so some will be turned off, some will be
S2: turned around even in discussion. And then the third thing
S2: that I observed was some people were turned up. They
S2: were already on fire for the Lord, but boy, they
S2: were turned up. And I benefited from a couple of
S2: conversations that were so incredibly rich where people are in
S2: Christ Jesus going for it with the Lord. And it
S2: was awesome. It was just awesome to witness. And then
S2: I had an opportunity to touch back with these people,
S2: base again on a couple of them. One man in particular,
S2: I could tell he was going through a difficult, difficult time.
S2: And as God would have it, God had me run
S2: into him no less than 3 or 4 more times,
S2: which was a God thing. In fact, my bride told
S2: me after I told her that I'd run into him again,
S2: she said, you know, I was praying that you would.
S2: And I said, babe, it was so beautiful because by
S2: the time we got done talking, just standing, just passing, um,
S2: he had tears in his eyes. Wow. And he was
S2: so encouraged in his faith. And I think sometimes when
S2: we head into witnessing, we're thinking about, oh, I've got
S2: to turn someone on to Jesus. Well, it could be
S2: that the response is that people are turned off, and
S2: that's okay. That's okay. It's not the time for them,
S2: but for some they're turned around. Maybe they've been far
S2: from the Lord for a while. And your story and
S2: you just conversing about the goodness of God can help
S2: turn them around. And for others, they're on fire for
S2: the Lord. And maybe they're from another place, another world,
S2: another background, so different than yours. But the power of
S2: God is clearly at work in their life, and then
S2: you get mutually encouraged with that person as you discuss
S2: the goodness of God. It's a beautiful thing. Also find
S2: that when you even go away into a corner of
S2: an area and a bunch of people come into a
S2: dining setting and you got your Bible open, it will
S2: attract some discussion.
S3: Yes. Sure. Yeah. It really does. An open Bible nowadays
S3: really attracts attention and not. And when you're not trying to.
S3: But people notice there's something about this book. They know
S3: what it is, and they see someone reading about it
S3: and it attracts attention.
S2: It really does. And then when that attention leads to discussion,
S2: it can lead to some incredible stuff. It was awesome.
S2: I know that there was one couple looking in as
S2: I was praying with a with a gentleman who ultimately
S2: plopped down across from me, and we were just talking
S2: a little bit. And then I prayed with him and
S2: I looked up after we were done praying and he
S2: walked away. And this couple was so confused by me.
S2: I mean, they were so confused. They're like, what in
S2: the world? But I always pray that that intrigue will
S2: learn to will turn to personal discovery and questions that
S2: they ask themselves. But the world is not nearly as
S2: adversarial to the gospel as I think we believe they
S2: are at times. And I think there's a lot more
S2: fruit out there than we might imagine. So I leave
S2: that with you today to say. look at what God
S2: can do through your story today. And when God opens
S2: the door, puts t ball up there for you. Take it,
S2: take it. Somebody asks you tell me about yourself. Make
S2: sure to weave in the grace of God and His
S2: goodness in your life. It's amazing what a story can do.
S2: Absolutely amazing. Coming up here, we're talking identity all week long.
S2: Who are you in Christ. And boy, knowing who you
S2: are is critical.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: You know, knowing who you are, not who you were,
S2: not where you were born, but who you are really
S2: can keep you out of a world of hurt and
S2: keep you safely at home. A crazy thing happened many
S2: years ago now. You guys know how much I love
S2: my grandpa, Axl Johnson. Boy, talk about a big old Swede. He's.
S2: He's the guy. He's the man who left home at 16,
S2: said goodbye to his dad knowing that he'd never see
S2: him again. Most probably. And they shed some tears, gave
S2: each other hugs. My my grandpa Axl Johnson got on
S2: the boat from Stockholm, headed for America for the great
S2: new dream, right? And he he's quite a guy, man.
S2: He was in Chicago for a lot of years, and
S2: then he went out to Southern California, started Atlantic Richfield
S2: Company gas stations, got a about four of them going
S2: in Los Angeles area. Years go by. Grandpa's getting older,
S2: moved to Kingsburg. I started doing shuffleboard when I'd visit
S2: down there with my grandpa. Shuffleboard is like required activities
S2: for older people. Apparently.
S4: You got to get you got to get into that
S4: no matter what.
S2: Yeah. You got to have cornmeal down. So he had
S2: a beautiful you got to have cornmeal down. You got
S2: those little discs and shoot those down there. I had
S2: a hard time beating grandpa, man. He was good. He
S2: was good. He was so good at that. But he
S2: was just a great dude. Just a giant of a man.
S2: I mean, he he was he just had a great
S2: sense of humor. He had a couple of neighbors over.
S2: We sat in the backyard, had some tea. It was
S2: hot out, and we were in Kingsburg. And and he
S2: says with that great Swedish accent, let me introduce you to.
S2: And he says that the two big wheels that live
S2: next to me here, he says I'm the axle between
S2: two big wheels, Carl. And he was just he was
S2: just great that way. He had a great sense of
S2: humor and just a just a man's man. Just a
S2: great dude. Well, the last time my grandpa ever drove
S2: a car was because Is it couldn't happen again. We're
S2: in Alaska and we get notified that grandpa has gone
S2: missing with his car. And where was he? Well, he
S2: was supposed to be in Kingsburg, but he's not going
S2: back home. Headed out in the morning, and grandma called
S2: my mom and said, your dad's gone, and I don't
S2: know where he is. She said, what do you mean
S2: you don't know where he is? Yeah, I don't know
S2: where he is. She said, well, you need to go
S2: down to his watering holes in downtown. She says, I've
S2: been down to all the watering holes, all the little
S2: places where he'd go to get a cup of coffee
S2: in the morning. And hardware store to hang out and
S2: talk with the fellas and things like that. He is
S2: nowhere to be found, and no one's seen him coming
S2: up here in a moment. It's important to know who
S2: you are. I'll prove it to you with grandpa Axl.
S1: Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: Grandpa Axl Johnson, quite a guy. Retirement years in Kingsburg, California.
S2: But he spent a lot of his years in Los Angeles.
S2: And so when they retired to Kingsburg, I mean, it's
S2: a totally different life for grandpa. He would commute a
S2: little bit back into LA, where he had spent some
S2: of his last years, but he was pretty anchored in Kingsburg,
S2: and one morning he gets up and heads out to
S2: go do his morning routine, and my grandma calls Alaska
S2: as if we're going to be able to help pin
S2: him down. Right, Ali? I mean, but your grandpa's gone missing.
S3: That's never what you want to hear.
S2: Grandma Fern calls my mom, and Fern says your dad
S2: is gone. And mom says, well, find the places where
S2: he goes and see if we can track him down.
S2: She says, I've been all over town. I can't find him. Well,
S2: now things get dicey because they can't find them. It's
S2: getting early afternoon, then late afternoon into the evening, and
S2: grandpa's not home. Guys, it's kind of scary. The next day.
S2: They got word from the Los Angeles Police Department that
S2: my grandpa had been found. My grandpa Axel had headed
S2: out and he was starting to slip. And he had
S2: a big slip that morning before. And when he headed out,
S2: somewhere in his mind, he needed to jump on the
S2: I-5 head all the way up over the grapevine, down
S2: into the LA basin. And he didn't know where he
S2: was going. Ali. And he wound up, landed in some
S2: neighborhood And thank the Lord. A sweet woman saw Grandpa
S2: Axel walking up and down the streets in a neighborhood
S2: and started asking him questions. Now what's funny is he
S2: knew everything about his childhood in Stockholm.
S3: Oh, wow.
S2: And he knew everything about coming to America. But he
S2: did not know who he was now.
S3: Mhm.
S2: And so they had to do some sleuthing around. And
S2: they found his car that was parked in the neighborhood.
S2: And they start looking at registration and they find out
S2: this is Axel Johnson who now lives in Kingsburg, California.
S2: And he's a long ways away from home. And the
S2: phone rings. My grandma Fern picks it up and says,
S2: we've got your husband here at a police department in
S2: Los Angeles. Could you come get him? She said, I'll
S2: be right there in about four hours. You know, guys,
S2: I they share with you that story because some of
S2: us are putting ourselves in a really perilous situation. Knowing
S2: who we are in Christ today can keep us close
S2: to home. And that's what God wants for us. And
S2: I don't know where it is that you got off
S2: track understanding who your identity in Christ is, but I
S2: want you to be secure today. I want you to
S2: know who you are in Jesus Christ so that you
S2: know who you are now, not what you were, not
S2: where you've been, not where you were born, but who
S2: you truly are in Jesus Christ. It's a game changer.
S2: And I think a lot of us almost go through
S2: life wondering. Or stating if someone were to ask us.
S2: We can talk about the jobs that we've had, where
S2: we've been, where we were born. But there is nothing
S2: more important than who we are today in our relationship
S2: with Jesus. It's that vital.
S4: Yeah.
S2: That identity of who you are in Jesus Christ is
S2: the thing that can keep you closest to home than
S2: any other thing. And it's that powerful.
S4: I think it can be pretty dangerous to live in
S4: the identity of yesterday. You know, whether it's the glory
S4: days of the past that keep you from living in
S4: the reality of today, or whether it's looking at the
S4: the person that you were before Christ and kind of assuming, oh,
S4: I was this awful person, I was horrible, and you
S4: can't stop thinking about it. You don't live in the
S4: truth and reality of who you are in Christ. A
S4: freed person who who has been broken of the chains
S4: and bondage of sin. I think that who we are
S4: today is so important, and we have to be aware
S4: of that reality. Otherwise, life doesn't get lived to its fullest.
S2: We're in a new place. You're right on Young Thunder.
S2: We're in a new place.
S4: A new place.
S2: We're new people. And knowing who you are in Christ
S2: is absolutely vital. You know, we give out this blog
S2: here often, but the reason we wanted to do this week,
S2: I don't know if you guys remember when we were
S2: planning this a few weeks ago? We were we were
S2: absolutely blown away because we were freshly inundated with people
S2: who so benefited from understanding who they are in Christ.
S2: Do we need to be reminded, as Ali was talking
S2: earlier with Doctor Michael Riedel? Do we need to be
S2: reminded all the time? Right.
S3: Ali we do, and we have this resource for you.
S3: Maybe you haven't looked at it in a while. Take
S3: a fresh look or a first look. If this is
S3: new to you, just text the word truth to (800) 555-7898.
S3: Truth T.r.u.t.h. Just that word. Truth to (800) 555-7898. Grab this resource.
S3: Read it twice a day for the next 21 days,
S3: and see if you don't have a better understanding of
S3: who you are in Christ.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: We're going to do something really fun here. Our number
S2: here to text in is 800 555, 78, 98. This
S2: is what I want you to do. I want you
S2: to bring to mind right now something that you've seen
S2: God do in your life in the last few. Let's
S2: go from Saturday morning, from Saturday morning to right now,
S2: in this last weekend. What is something that you have
S2: seen God do? Now think about that a moment. Some
S2: of you haven't even thought, oh boy, that was God.
S2: He had his fingerprints all over that thing. But bring
S2: it to mind. What is that thing? And I'm going
S2: to show you. We're going to prove to you in
S2: just a moment here how you can leverage this big time.
S2: All I want you to do is give a sentence statement.
S2: If this is what God has done in my life
S2: since Saturday morning. Pick one thing that you know is
S2: from the hand of God. I don't care how trivial
S2: it may seem to you, how small it may seem.
S2: We're not talking about you went out, walked on water.
S2: We're talking about you met with God, and he showed
S2: up in something 855 five, 78, 98. We're going to
S2: prove to you how incredibly radiant what God has done
S2: in your life since Saturday morning till now, how relevant
S2: that is to the world around us. 800 555 7898
S2: what's that one thing that you've seen? God, that you
S2: look back, you go, boy, that was God's hand. Clearly
S2: 800 555 7898 we asked for text and you guys decided,
S2: call boy, we got phone lines lighting up here. But
S2: there's great responses here. Um, somebody said, God, in this
S2: last few days has shown me an area of pride
S2: in my life. How can that be used in witnessing
S2: just practically. Ali.
S3: Oh, boy. I mean, you share that with someone. That's
S3: that's a conversation starter in and of itself. People are
S3: so slow to share weaknesses or areas where they realize
S3: they're blowing it. Boom.
S2: That's exactly right. And but they're hungry for it, aren't they?
S2: When they see.
S3: It, tell someone, man, God showed me. I've really been
S3: prideful lately. That's going to record scratch. Tell me more.
S2: Love it. Uh, calls. Janet. How have you seen God
S2: move in the last few days?
S9: Got me through a really intense move. Okay. That's been rough.
S2: Well, that's that's beautiful. Janet. Now, I don't want you
S2: to lose that as an opportunity, because here's the deal.
S2: I go back to my dad. My dad saw God's
S2: hand of grace in everything. When he was changing brakes
S2: on a car. He saw the grace of God we got.
S2: I mean, every good and perfect gift comes down from
S2: the father of lights.
S3: Yes, yes.
S2: Every good and perfect gift. Chris in Wisconsin. What do
S2: you say, Chris?
S10: Hey, uh, I've been praying a lot for my wife
S10: to come back to church, and she came back to
S10: church yesterday without, I mean, on Sunday without me even
S10: knowing it, that she was going to stay there. And
S10: that kind of lifted my spirit up.
S2: Awesome. Yeah. And you know what? You got a story
S2: to tell. God moves hearts, Chris. That's what we're talking about.
S2: Ryan in Illinois. What do you say? Ryan?
S11: Hey, Carl, I'm cheating a little bit. I'm going back
S11: to Thursday. But God brought a perfect stranger into my
S11: life as I was driving on the road and, uh,
S11: poked me and said, hey, you need to stop and
S11: talk to her. And I fought it because all the reasons.
S11: But I stopped and wound up having an hour long
S11: conversation with this lady. I prayed with her, and then
S11: by the time we were done talking, I prayed with
S11: her a second time. And the first time in my
S11: whole life I have ever led anybody to the Lord.
S11: But it was unbelievable.
S12: Oh, wow. See, dude.
S2: Now don't let that stop there. That's a story to share.
S2: You just did it with thousands and thousands of people.
S2: Way to go, my man. What do you got, Ali?
S3: Let's go to Willie from Chicago. Willie, what do you say?
S13: Hey, I'm in my 70s. My wife is in her 60s,
S13: and she had to go to the doctor for a procedure.
S13: And we prayed together and the procedure came out zero.
S12: Wow.
S13: I was struggling with that all day Friday. All day Saturday.
S13: And we went yesterday for the procedure. All is well.
S13: All is well. You did it again.
S2: Willie. Thank you for calling in, man. And see, here's
S2: the thing. We we don't want to sit on those things. Right, Ali?
S3: Yeah. And the awesome thing is, you can share that
S3: story in many different ways. You can share the outcome,
S3: which is that God delivered my wife and everything's okay.
S3: But you can also share how the Lord helped you
S3: through that processing of a little bit of anxiety and
S3: the fear of having to sit and wait on those results.
S3: You can meet people in a couple of different ways
S3: with that story.
S2: I love it, man. Uh, somebody said texts in here 7912. Uh,
S2: God showed me this morning that rising from the dead
S2: wasn't the only huge thing that he did to overcome
S2: the world. He also lived a sin free life. Who
S2: else has done that? Defeating the sin nature from day one.
S2: That's overcoming the world to, you know, it's little things
S2: like that that if you just let those percolate. And
S2: what's wild is if you're open to let the Spirit
S2: of God use you, you don't know how they're going
S2: to manifest itself, but they do. That's the beautiful thing.
S2: How do you witness to the world let that percolating
S2: joy of the Lord overflow and begin to share with
S2: others around you how God is at work.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S3: Let's go to Gary calling in this morning from Illinois
S3: last 48 hours. Give it to us, Gary.
S14: Uh, Yesterday, I completed leading a four week study of C.S.
S14: Lewis's book, Mere Christianity at my church, and my pastor
S14: has told me that it was the best attended Sunday
S14: morning study they've ever had. And all I was was
S14: God's instrument. Ali. God worked through me, and we brought
S14: a whole lot of people into study of that wonderful book.
S3: Awesome, Gary, thank you so much for sharing that with us.
S3: Let's go to Mike. Also calling in from Illinois. Mike,
S3: tell us last 48 hours. What have you seen God do?
S15: Yeah, I've seen God really just reach out and just
S15: grab me by the shirt collar. Um, I've been struggling
S15: with sin and temptation in my life, and, um, I've
S15: just had this empty space. So I've been praying and
S15: calling out to God. And this weekend, um, he just
S15: happened to send missionaries to my neighborhood, and they they
S15: went to the wrong building, but it happened to be
S15: my building. And we crossed paths at just the right moment,
S15: and they invited me to church. And the message that
S15: was given in church service was just so pinpoint for
S15: me in the moment that I was at and where
S15: I'm at right now, that I just. I know that
S15: God's hand is all over it.
S2: Oh, this is great. Asking a question what have you
S2: seen God do in the last 48 hours that gets you?
S2: It builds a basis for a story that it. I'll
S2: show you how powerful popsicles can be. Okay, this is
S2: how powerful popsicles can be as a testimony to God's
S2: love and mercy. Got this text came in from 7002.
S2: I had a cool experience this weekend in the midst
S2: of frustration. My partner and I are homicide detectives. We
S2: were canvassing for witnesses and doing some videoing. A group
S2: of teens walked up to my partner and I and
S2: offered us popsicles. It was that little gesture that honestly
S2: brought me so much hope and brought tears to my eyes.
S2: I felt like it was such a God moment. He
S2: knew I needed now.
S12: Come on. Wow. Wow.
S4: That's pretty incredible.
S12: Come on.
S4: God can use it all.
S2: And now, listen to me. Homicide detective at 7002. I
S2: just shared your story. I want you to share that
S2: ten times today. Because that popsicle matters.
S12: Yes.
S2: All you got to do is walk in the room,
S2: and detectives can. And you tell them. Or who knows
S2: who you're running into. Can I tell you about how
S2: powerful a popsicle was in my life?
S3: Someone's going to ask you today how your weekend was.
S12: Yes. Okay. And there you go. Can I tell you
S12: about a popsicle? I got to tell you a story. Now,
S12: I'm a.
S2: Homicide detective, and I was discouraged. And I'm out canvassing
S2: for witnesses on this homicide case. I'm working. By the way,
S2: how cool are the people that listen here to Carl
S2: and crew?
S4: The coolest people, man, I love it.
S2: My goodness. All of those little graces of God that
S2: we see can be leveraged to say. And this is
S2: how God is at work in my life today. Boom!
S2: I'm so fired up. My goodness, Ellie, what else do
S2: we got?
S3: Yeah, let's go to Lacey. First time caller from Wisconsin. Lacey,
S3: how have you seen God at work in the last
S3: 48 hours?
S9: Hi, everybody. Can you hear me?
S3: Yes, we've got you. Go ahead.
S9: Um, my daughter's just graduating from college down in Chicago
S9: at DePaul, where I went. And it's time for her
S9: to move into her very first apartment without roommates. And
S9: it has been a very frustrating, frustrating search to find someplace.
S9: They're all nice places, but they're just not her. And
S9: they're not the price she can afford. And so Saturday,
S9: she was in tears in the back of the car
S9: because another place had fallen through, and I prayed for
S9: God to show us his will. And within an hour
S9: we were in contact with her now, landlord, uh, of
S9: what I think is going to be a great place
S9: for her.
S3: Wow, that's so awesome. Okay. Exactly what we're talking about.
S2: Lacey. God gave you one? It's teed up, sister. You
S2: got one. I mean, look at this. Look at these examples.
S2: One after another. Now they seem small, but they're huge
S2: in their real. People can relate to this stuff, right?
S3: Absolutely. You're going to get an opportunity to share with
S3: someone today. You don't have to go all the way
S3: back to the very beginning of your testimony. Sometimes it's
S3: better to go back to the last 48 hours.
S2: Yeah. All you got to do is look back. If
S2: the Apostle Paul can say this to Agrippa, God is
S2: working in you the same way God is helping me
S2: to this very day. Look, watch, see the grace of
S2: God and share it. I don't care if it's an
S2: apartment or a popsicle. Share that story with someone today, guys.
S2: It may open someone's eyes to receive Jesus. You just
S2: don't know. That's how powerful the grace of God really is.
S2: Share your story no matter what it is, and watch
S2: what God can do.