WEBVTT - What Is Pulling Me Away From God and Update about Iran 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.120 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.440 --> 0:00:10.879 Helping you take your next step with Jesus. Come as 0:00:10.880 --> 0:00:14.640 you are. Come as you are. Experience God overcome what 0:00:14.640 --> 0:00:17.520 seems impossible and live as you never imagined. That's a 0:00:17.520 --> 0:00:19.880 little creed that I have in my heart for you, 0:00:20.160 --> 0:00:21.759 and we want that for you in a big way. 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:24.240 This whole week we're talking about going under the hood 0:00:24.560 --> 0:00:27.160 and under the hood is a metaphor very similar to 0:00:27.200 --> 0:00:31.080 the root system of a tree. It's the unseen things 0:00:31.080 --> 0:00:35.600 that matter most in the spiritual life. Oftentimes we lead with, 0:00:35.800 --> 0:00:38.760 let's get into a small group. Let's join this effort 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:41.720 over here. Let's use our gifts. They're all those are great. 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:45.559 Those are great. Those are great. But if the engine 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.639 room of our soul, if the root system of our 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:52.000 soul is unattended, those can turn into, uh, painful things. 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:53.800 You ever been in a small group and you're like, God, 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.560 deliver me. Carl. 0:00:58.240 --> 0:01:00.900 That's really funny. Oh my goodness. 0:01:01.220 --> 0:01:03.340 Come on, let's get out of here. You ever been 0:01:03.340 --> 0:01:05.420 in a small group and it's God. Deliver me. 0:01:05.459 --> 0:01:07.100 Yes, there's a moment. Yes I have. 0:01:07.580 --> 0:01:12.260 Deliver me. God. How many more weeks? Four more weeks. 0:01:12.300 --> 0:01:13.300 How many more chapters? 0:01:13.740 --> 0:01:14.100 Oh. 0:01:14.900 --> 0:01:15.180 Yeah. 0:01:15.860 --> 0:01:17.140 I'm feeling something. 0:01:17.140 --> 0:01:17.780 Are you okay? 0:01:18.300 --> 0:01:20.220 Well, know what you can do is you can miss 0:01:20.260 --> 0:01:21.420 two of them with a cold. 0:01:21.819 --> 0:01:22.139 Oh. 0:01:22.420 --> 0:01:23.180 Can't miss all of them. 0:01:23.580 --> 0:01:25.539 I mean, let's just let's just break it down and 0:01:25.540 --> 0:01:28.539 get honest here. Yeah, sure. Sometimes you signed up for something. 0:01:28.540 --> 0:01:31.420 It's like. Yeah. I felt a weak moment, and I 0:01:31.459 --> 0:01:36.540 signed up for children's ministry. Now I'm enslaved to the children. 0:01:38.260 --> 0:01:39.259 I'm stuck coming. 0:01:40.660 --> 0:01:41.259 Phoebe. 0:01:42.819 --> 0:01:44.860 Phoebe is coming, by the way. But. Yeah. 0:01:45.300 --> 0:01:48.340 Oh, no. VBS is awesome. I love VBS, VBS in 0:01:48.340 --> 0:01:50.860 Alaska was great. We would, we would. 0:01:51.380 --> 0:01:52.540 Oh, I can imagine. 0:01:52.580 --> 0:01:55.420 Oh, VBS in Alaska was the greatest thing. I mean, 0:01:55.460 --> 0:01:58.060 it involves shooting things. I mean, that's. 0:01:58.100 --> 0:02:00.270 That sounds like a fun VBS to me. 0:02:00.590 --> 0:02:01.190 Oh, yeah. 0:02:01.590 --> 0:02:04.630 I mean, I remember one VBS, it's like, bring your 0:02:04.630 --> 0:02:06.870 20 twos 22 caliber guns. 0:02:06.910 --> 0:02:08.710 No, really. Bring your own. Oh, yeah. 0:02:09.150 --> 0:02:12.389 Oh, yeah. Everybody had them. Bring your 20 twos. We've 0:02:12.389 --> 0:02:15.030 got the bullets and we're going to do target shooting. 0:02:15.030 --> 0:02:15.430 Oh man. 0:02:15.470 --> 0:02:17.870 And everybody knew how to handle their guns. So to 0:02:17.910 --> 0:02:20.470 be fair, it's not like you're handing a weapon to 0:02:20.470 --> 0:02:22.070 a kid that knows nothing about it. 0:02:22.110 --> 0:02:22.669 Sure. Yes. 0:02:22.710 --> 0:02:23.470 Very different. 0:02:23.470 --> 0:02:25.590 Scenario. Exactly. Yeah. So scary. 0:02:26.070 --> 0:02:29.870 I bought my first I bought my first 22. And 0:02:29.870 --> 0:02:33.950 I got the thing for, I think $18, and I. 0:02:33.990 --> 0:02:37.110 And I found it in the ads of the newspaper. 0:02:37.150 --> 0:02:38.870 Do you know what ads are, young Thunder? 0:02:38.870 --> 0:02:39.990 I know what ads are. 0:02:40.110 --> 0:02:41.550 No, you don't know what ads are. 0:02:41.590 --> 0:02:44.109 Well, isn't it the just the section of the newspaper 0:02:44.110 --> 0:02:48.030 that that has like little, little slips of like, advertisements. 0:02:48.030 --> 0:02:48.190 You. 0:02:48.190 --> 0:02:50.070 Know, how do you know that young soul? 0:02:50.110 --> 0:02:52.830 Well, I mean, magazines have those types of things. And 0:02:52.830 --> 0:02:54.990 my dad used to have newspapers. I would assume I'd 0:02:54.990 --> 0:02:55.829 seen those, but yeah. 0:02:55.870 --> 0:02:58.770 So I guess. Yeah. So we used to take out 0:02:58.810 --> 0:03:00.769 ads and you could take out ads. I think back 0:03:00.770 --> 0:03:02.210 in the day, you know, you didn't want to go 0:03:02.210 --> 0:03:04.170 over three lines and it got into big dollars. 0:03:04.530 --> 0:03:07.690 250 oh, right. Or half a page full page ad. 0:03:07.730 --> 0:03:08.250 Oh no no. 0:03:08.290 --> 0:03:11.210 No no no. I'm talking about in the classified sections. 0:03:11.210 --> 0:03:14.490 You didn't want to go past three lines. Oh no way. 0:03:14.530 --> 0:03:17.450 It was three lines. You know, you're grunting basically in 0:03:17.450 --> 0:03:17.770 an ad. 0:03:17.810 --> 0:03:19.770 You got to get the cheap stuff, the. 0:03:20.050 --> 0:03:21.890 Cheap table like new. 0:03:25.130 --> 0:03:29.170 Um, that's pretty good Shaker design. There you go. 0:03:29.210 --> 0:03:31.410 No, you couldn't even use design. No, you just have 0:03:31.410 --> 0:03:32.170 to go Shaker. 0:03:32.530 --> 0:03:33.210 People knew. 0:03:33.490 --> 0:03:35.330 $25. Come and get it. 0:03:35.330 --> 0:03:36.050 That's awesome. 0:03:36.730 --> 0:03:38.490 Yeah. And then you had your phone number in there. 0:03:39.450 --> 0:03:40.290 Oh. That's crazy. 0:03:40.290 --> 0:03:40.610 That is. 0:03:40.610 --> 0:03:41.970 Crazy. Yeah, yeah, yeah. 0:03:42.010 --> 0:03:45.130 Nowadays were great days, huh? But I digress. 0:03:45.170 --> 0:03:45.650 Yes. 0:03:45.930 --> 0:03:49.850 Sometimes we find ourselves in situations that we're like, oh 0:03:49.970 --> 0:03:55.770 my goodness, what is going on? And and the, the 0:03:55.870 --> 0:04:01.630 thing that you're serving at. I mean, there's some of 0:04:01.630 --> 0:04:05.150 you are like our teams for 180 Chicago. I pastored 0:04:05.150 --> 0:04:07.550 church here in Chicago. We got two campuses. Both of 0:04:07.550 --> 0:04:12.990 them are still we are our newer campus, obviously, but 0:04:12.990 --> 0:04:15.390 we're meeting in rented space. You know what that means? 0:04:15.390 --> 0:04:18.150 You back up trailers and you got a team and 0:04:18.150 --> 0:04:21.550 you grind it out. And my heart for these guys 0:04:21.550 --> 0:04:24.109 always is that they don't lose the joy of the 0:04:24.110 --> 0:04:27.270 Lord in that thing, that it doesn't become something where 0:04:27.270 --> 0:04:30.190 you're like, God, deliver me from. We call them the crew. 0:04:30.470 --> 0:04:34.830 Deliver me from the crew. We don't want that. And 0:04:34.830 --> 0:04:37.630 so the question is, what is it that's under the 0:04:37.630 --> 0:04:45.510 hood that's going to really keep our soul stoked with 0:04:45.510 --> 0:04:49.630 passion for Jesus? What is that? And there's several things there. 0:04:49.670 --> 0:04:54.849 The hidden disciplines. It's it's a heart that is quiet 0:04:54.850 --> 0:04:59.170 before the Lord. It's silence. It's solitude, it's prayer. That's 0:04:59.170 --> 0:05:02.169 why Jesus said, go into the closet. Why private prayers? 0:05:02.170 --> 0:05:04.930 What God sees in secret, he will reward. There's something 0:05:04.930 --> 0:05:08.290 about that honest thing that has no performative element in 0:05:08.290 --> 0:05:11.530 it at all, that is just really attractive to God. 0:05:11.570 --> 0:05:18.609 It's beautiful. It's absolutely beautiful. And the question then has 0:05:18.610 --> 0:05:23.010 to become, if you really go under the hood, is 0:05:23.010 --> 0:05:27.930 there something else that needs to constantly be on the 0:05:27.930 --> 0:05:32.810 forefront of our mind to even keep those hidden disciplines 0:05:33.050 --> 0:05:38.250 in place? And there is. I want to talk to 0:05:38.250 --> 0:05:40.210 you coming up about two men who were cheating on 0:05:40.250 --> 0:05:44.690 their wives. Two men that were cheating on their wives 0:05:46.610 --> 0:05:51.570 came into my office. One had one response, the other another. 0:05:52.050 --> 0:05:53.050 And what happened? 0:05:53.300 --> 0:05:56.059 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 0:05:56.060 --> 0:05:59.540 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:05:59.540 --> 0:06:02.980 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:06:02.980 --> 0:06:04.900 So I want to tell you a tale about two men. 0:06:05.700 --> 0:06:07.979 And having been a pastor for a lot of years, 0:06:07.980 --> 0:06:10.300 it's not just twice that I've run into this. And 0:06:10.300 --> 0:06:12.020 it's not just men, but I want to give you 0:06:12.020 --> 0:06:15.220 these two men that are a great juxtaposition of choices 0:06:15.220 --> 0:06:20.419 that are made. I've gotten word from a really desperate 0:06:20.420 --> 0:06:24.940 wife that her husband was cheating on her. I called 0:06:24.940 --> 0:06:28.340 him up. He was the CEO of a pretty good 0:06:28.380 --> 0:06:30.300 sized company. And I said, hey, I need you to 0:06:30.300 --> 0:06:32.260 come into my office, man. We need to have a chat. 0:06:32.260 --> 0:06:36.779 And he said, I figured you'd call. And he came 0:06:36.779 --> 0:06:39.779 into my office and sat down and I said, what's 0:06:39.779 --> 0:06:44.300 going on? He said, I'm going to leave. My wife said, 0:06:44.300 --> 0:06:47.340 what do you mean you're leaving your wife? What's causing this? 0:06:48.180 --> 0:06:51.219 He said, oh, Carl, I love this new woman. I 0:06:51.220 --> 0:06:53.719 have a love for her like I never had for 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:58.919 my wife. And I said to him. You're lying to yourself. 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:06.240 I saw the love you had for your wife. He said. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:10.320 He insisted. He's like no man. Honestly, Karl. I the 0:07:10.320 --> 0:07:13.120 the the the love that I have for this woman. 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.880 I said, bro, that's that's lust that's self-serving stuff going on. 0:07:16.920 --> 0:07:19.800 That's what you're needing right now. That's not love, bro. 0:07:21.120 --> 0:07:22.920 And I said, listen to me right now. You're going 0:07:22.960 --> 0:07:25.000 to walk out of this office, and I'm appealing to 0:07:25.000 --> 0:07:28.160 you to return to the love of your wife. But 0:07:28.160 --> 0:07:31.520 if you don't, it's going to cost you dearly. You're 0:07:31.520 --> 0:07:34.720 going to lose all credibility with your family, friends. You're 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.120 going to be isolated from God. It's going to be 0:07:37.120 --> 0:07:40.440 painful because you're not going to greener grass, baby, that 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:45.880 is astroturf. And it hurts when you hit it. He 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.840 went off and did it. And everything I predicted came 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:51.700 to pass. Not because I'm some prophet, but because the 0:07:51.700 --> 0:07:56.620 Word of God is clear. It was painful. About a 0:07:56.620 --> 0:07:59.980 year later, another brother came into my office. Same kind 0:07:59.980 --> 0:08:04.900 of circumstances. Got caught, came in, and I looked at 0:08:04.900 --> 0:08:07.140 him and I go, man, what's going on? You're sleeping 0:08:07.140 --> 0:08:13.060 around on your wife. He said, I am. I said, 0:08:13.060 --> 0:08:15.060 listen to me. You got to return to that love 0:08:15.060 --> 0:08:17.300 that you had with your wife, and you've got to 0:08:18.180 --> 0:08:20.420 do an about face right now. You got to turn around. 0:08:20.420 --> 0:08:25.140 You got to repent. He wrestled a little bit with 0:08:25.140 --> 0:08:29.740 the emotions that he was feeling. But ultimately, said, Carl, 0:08:29.740 --> 0:08:34.860 I'm going to turn around today. And he broke. See, 0:08:34.860 --> 0:08:36.700 there were no tears from the first guy, but the 0:08:36.700 --> 0:08:39.380 second guy, man, there were tears galore. Oh man, it 0:08:39.380 --> 0:08:42.380 was awesome. I bet we sat there and I joined 0:08:42.380 --> 0:08:45.620 them in tears. I bet we went through a half 0:08:45.620 --> 0:08:48.700 a box of Kleenex just pulling them out. 0:08:48.750 --> 0:08:49.350 Good. 0:08:50.030 --> 0:08:53.189 Repentance is a beautiful thing. When you got both nostrils 0:08:53.350 --> 0:08:59.030 vacating everything that's in there. It was beautiful to see. 0:08:59.070 --> 0:09:01.350 And this man ultimately went back to his wife. And 0:09:01.350 --> 0:09:05.110 they've got a legacy today like you can't believe. Perfect. No. 0:09:05.590 --> 0:09:08.590 Intact rolling with God. You better believe it. Here's the 0:09:08.590 --> 0:09:11.190 issue for for both of these guys. Here's the issue 0:09:11.190 --> 0:09:15.910 for both of these guys. They weren't sleeping around on 0:09:15.910 --> 0:09:21.110 their wives. First and foremost. They were sleeping around on God. 0:09:23.630 --> 0:09:26.309 I want to give you a principle here that is 0:09:26.309 --> 0:09:32.030 found everywhere in Scripture. When the nation of Israel would 0:09:32.030 --> 0:09:36.870 walk away from God, you know what it was called? Adultery. 0:09:38.230 --> 0:09:39.189 That's what it was called. 0:09:39.230 --> 0:09:41.030 We don't often think about it like that. 0:09:41.030 --> 0:09:45.069 No. Do you know what James half brother Jesus called it? 0:09:45.670 --> 0:09:49.130 He's talking about you're coveting. You're wanting other stuff. You 0:09:49.130 --> 0:09:51.850 don't have it. You ask and don't receive because you 0:09:51.890 --> 0:09:54.809 ask with wrong motives. And then he says, verse four, 0:09:54.850 --> 0:09:58.770 chapter four. And James, you adulterous people. What? 0:09:59.929 --> 0:10:00.810 There's the word. 0:10:03.490 --> 0:10:05.650 Don't you know that friendship with the world is enmity 0:10:05.690 --> 0:10:16.650 with God? And the risk for. Radically transformed people to 0:10:16.690 --> 0:10:23.010 wander away from their first love is profound. That's what 0:10:23.010 --> 0:10:27.490 happened to the church of Ephesus. They left their first love. 0:10:29.250 --> 0:10:31.089 And what the consequence is going to be is their 0:10:31.090 --> 0:10:34.130 lampstand was going to be removed. Now they were going 0:10:34.170 --> 0:10:36.209 to church and they were opening their Bibles, and they 0:10:36.210 --> 0:10:39.570 were testing apostles that were coming in, whether or not 0:10:39.570 --> 0:10:41.930 they were teaching the truth, but they were sleeping around 0:10:41.929 --> 0:10:47.630 on God. Isn't that wild? And I think sometimes we 0:10:47.670 --> 0:10:50.670 kind of sanitize this thing and we call it backsliding. 0:10:50.670 --> 0:10:53.110 The problem with the word backsliding is that it's nowhere 0:10:53.110 --> 0:10:54.270 in the New Testament. 0:10:54.590 --> 0:10:55.510 This is accurate. 0:10:55.550 --> 0:10:59.150 It's not in the Greek language. It's nowhere. Backsliding is. 0:10:59.190 --> 0:11:01.270 And I'm just. I love you enough to tell you this. 0:11:01.270 --> 0:11:03.110 I know this is a hard topic today, but we 0:11:03.150 --> 0:11:06.910 got to go here. But backsliding is a sanitized way 0:11:06.910 --> 0:11:10.030 of saying my love and eyes for God have been 0:11:10.030 --> 0:11:13.709 distracted by a love for something or someone else. That's 0:11:13.710 --> 0:11:19.150 all it is. And when you when you talk about 0:11:19.150 --> 0:11:22.910 getting under the sheets with something or someone else in 0:11:22.910 --> 0:11:26.110 your love for God fades, most people that are born 0:11:26.110 --> 0:11:29.350 again can immediately go boom. This is what's pulled me away. 0:11:30.630 --> 0:11:34.189 This is my new affection. And it can come in 0:11:34.190 --> 0:11:38.630 so many different forms. Now I want to forecast something 0:11:38.630 --> 0:11:41.230 for you. We're going to have two days that have 0:11:41.230 --> 0:11:43.910 the potential to be incredibly powerful. We could see an 0:11:43.910 --> 0:11:46.800 awakening across this nation. For all of you, our listeners. 0:11:47.720 --> 0:11:50.280 And I believe this because I see it in Scripture 0:11:50.600 --> 0:11:55.040 and it's overwhelming for me. Tomorrow we're going to talk 0:11:55.040 --> 0:11:57.280 about how to return to your first love, and I'm 0:11:57.280 --> 0:12:00.040 going to have and I'm going to have a resource 0:12:00.040 --> 0:12:03.720 for you that is going to give you a biblical 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:13.560 path back to your first love. But I just want 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:18.120 to ask you what was going on when you weren't 0:12:18.120 --> 0:12:21.640 sleeping around on God. Just think about that a moment here. 0:12:22.120 --> 0:12:25.520 And let's not be careful here because it's easy to 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.880 sanitize sleeping around. Right, guys? 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:28.520 Oh, it's. 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:28.720 Easy. 0:12:28.720 --> 0:12:31.800 To do. Well, absolutely. I think that's why we maybe 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:35.080 came up with the term backsliding because. Because sleeping around 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:37.880 sounds really harsh. It sounds really uncomfortable. 0:12:38.000 --> 0:12:39.560 And so we softened it. 0:12:39.559 --> 0:12:41.760 No one wants to admit to have done it. So 0:12:41.800 --> 0:12:42.720 we soften it. 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.780 And here's the thing. Rub a dub. We're all in. 0:12:45.820 --> 0:12:47.860 We can all be in this tub. And this is 0:12:47.860 --> 0:12:53.059 why this call to intimacy and practicing God's presence daily 0:12:53.059 --> 0:12:56.140 is so vital. Because there are any number of things 0:12:56.140 --> 0:12:58.500 that Satan is baiting us with constantly saying, come on 0:12:58.500 --> 0:13:03.780 over here, fall in love over here. I think the 0:13:03.780 --> 0:13:06.980 reason God uses adultery is because we all feel that 0:13:06.980 --> 0:13:09.619 one together. It's like, oh boy. 0:13:09.660 --> 0:13:12.660 Yes, everyone knows what it means. Everyone's uncomfortable by it. 0:13:12.660 --> 0:13:17.100 Everybody knows the fallout. Everybody gets it. But what if 0:13:17.100 --> 0:13:19.540 we came back? Here's a question I have for you. 0:13:22.260 --> 0:13:26.020 What are the things that pull us away from a 0:13:26.020 --> 0:13:29.700 love for God? Begin to list them. I want you 0:13:29.700 --> 0:13:32.220 to text in what are those things that pull you 0:13:32.220 --> 0:13:35.180 away from God? You, not someone else. This is for 0:13:35.179 --> 0:13:37.420 us to do some soul work together under the hood 0:13:37.420 --> 0:13:40.940 with God. Because, see, here's the thing. Even the power 0:13:40.940 --> 0:13:44.280 of prayer in secret, even the power of solitude, the 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:48.400 power of silence, the power of reading the Bible. It's 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:54.199 all baked in with having that first love. So churches 0:13:54.400 --> 0:13:58.720 Ephesus was was warned about mere button down. Man, you're 0:13:58.720 --> 0:14:00.720 going to church every Sunday. You got it going. You're 0:14:00.720 --> 0:14:02.960 bored again, there's no doubt about it. But boy, you 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:07.320 have left your first love. And I know this sounds raw, 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.320 but it's biblical. When we're sleeping around on God, our 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.520 witnesses compromise, our life is compromised, our witness to our 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:19.000 kids and grandkids is just so compromised. All we got 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:23.640 to give them is dead orthodoxy. But when we come home, Katie, 0:14:23.640 --> 0:14:25.440 bar the door. Want to ask you a question? I 0:14:25.440 --> 0:14:27.080 want you to wrestle with it. And I want you 0:14:27.080 --> 0:14:29.720 to be honest to God. I'm not going to shout 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.840 out your phone number. I don't know your name. You. 0:14:32.880 --> 0:14:36.440 This is totally anonymous, but I want you to ask 0:14:36.440 --> 0:14:40.960 God right now what has pulled you away from your 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:45.420 first love. What affection have you fallen more in love with? 0:14:46.940 --> 0:14:52.620 It could be. It could be an adulterous relationship for 0:14:52.620 --> 0:14:56.340 a percentage of you. But it could be any number 0:14:56.340 --> 0:14:57.820 of things. And you know what it is? I don't 0:14:57.820 --> 0:15:00.860 even need to prime the pump text in right now. 0:15:01.580 --> 0:15:05.420 Make this a holy moment. What has pulled you away 0:15:05.420 --> 0:15:07.140 from the love of God? Now, here's the hope in 0:15:07.140 --> 0:15:10.220 this when you begin to identify it. Katie, bar the door. 0:15:10.300 --> 0:15:13.500 We know the path back. And tomorrow we're going to 0:15:13.540 --> 0:15:19.460 absolutely ink it for you. What is the affection that 0:15:19.460 --> 0:15:24.900 has pulled you away from your love for God? Remember 0:15:25.460 --> 0:15:37.540 when you were in Fuego for Jesus? What pulled you away? 855. Five. 78. 98. 0:15:37.580 --> 0:15:42.190 In one word or a phrase or one sentence. No 0:15:42.190 --> 0:15:45.390 more than one sentence. Just give it to me right now. 0:15:45.390 --> 0:15:47.830 I'm going to read them on air. Remain totally anonymous. 0:15:48.590 --> 0:15:51.590 Make this an act of worship this morning. Maybe God's 0:15:51.590 --> 0:15:55.310 Spirit is telling you, man, I've left my first love 0:15:55.310 --> 0:15:57.750 and I don't want my lampstand gone. I don't want 0:15:57.750 --> 0:16:01.310 my witness compromised. I know you don't want that. See, 0:16:01.310 --> 0:16:02.990 this is the beauty of the power of the spirit. 0:16:03.030 --> 0:16:11.430 He can call you back home today. What's pulled you away? Oh, 0:16:11.430 --> 0:16:16.230 they're coming in right now. This is beautiful. 800 555, 78, 98. 0:16:16.230 --> 0:16:19.390 I'm going to read them out when we get back. 0:16:19.430 --> 0:16:22.230 800 555. 78. 98. 0:16:22.470 --> 0:16:25.190 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:16:25.230 --> 0:16:29.109 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:16:29.310 --> 0:16:31.710 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:16:31.750 --> 0:16:35.630 Phenomenal responses coming in, asking you questions. Tough one. Today 0:16:36.030 --> 0:16:37.670 you go to the Word of God and you look 0:16:37.710 --> 0:16:40.330 at life and you go, wow. What caused the church 0:16:40.330 --> 0:16:43.970 of Ephesus to leave their first love? And here's the point. 0:16:44.210 --> 0:16:48.530 It's another affection that's captured our heart. It's just that simple. 0:16:49.010 --> 0:16:50.850 And the beauty of it is. And the hope is 0:16:50.890 --> 0:16:54.410 we can return to our first love. We can return. 0:16:54.930 --> 0:16:57.690 And the lampstand, the light of our life. The intimacy 0:16:57.690 --> 0:17:01.050 and power of God can be restored in in amazing ways. 0:17:01.050 --> 0:17:03.850 Some of you. Some of you have a wayward kid. 0:17:03.850 --> 0:17:05.889 You know the greatest gift you can give to them. 0:17:11.369 --> 0:17:16.090 Let loose of any false affections any. And let them 0:17:16.130 --> 0:17:19.649 see your heart burning hot for Jesus Christ. It's the 0:17:19.650 --> 0:17:21.649 best gift you can give them. You guys believe me 0:17:21.650 --> 0:17:22.290 on that one? 0:17:22.330 --> 0:17:23.290 Absolutely. 0:17:23.850 --> 0:17:25.210 I mean, honestly. 0:17:25.850 --> 0:17:28.489 Yeah, it's the best gift we can give anybody in 0:17:28.490 --> 0:17:29.090 our lives. 0:17:29.090 --> 0:17:30.010 Any witness. 0:17:30.690 --> 0:17:33.970 I ask you a question. A lot of your very 0:17:33.970 --> 0:17:36.730 courageous in texting in this morning, I asked the question, 0:17:36.730 --> 0:17:40.790 what is the affection that has pulled you away from 0:17:42.150 --> 0:17:45.670 a love for God and their candid here? I'm just 0:17:45.670 --> 0:17:54.230 going to read them out. Pornography, pride. Sexual addiction, the world. 0:17:54.230 --> 0:17:56.510 Let me explain the world. Because that is that is 0:17:56.510 --> 0:17:59.430 a real one. The world is all the world's systems, 0:17:59.430 --> 0:18:02.270 and it can manifest itself in us getting more political 0:18:02.270 --> 0:18:03.510 than we are spiritual. 0:18:03.550 --> 0:18:03.990 Sure. 0:18:04.030 --> 0:18:04.629 Oh yeah. 0:18:05.910 --> 0:18:10.070 Frustrations of life. Yeah. You can get frustrated with life 0:18:10.070 --> 0:18:12.550 and pretty quick that becomes your focal point rather than 0:18:12.550 --> 0:18:13.670 the goodness of God. 0:18:13.710 --> 0:18:14.110 Yeah. 0:18:14.910 --> 0:18:30.390 Food, work, sleep, laziness, my job. People, material things, lust, 0:18:31.630 --> 0:18:35.190 cell phone addiction, comfort. What a. 0:18:35.230 --> 0:18:35.590 Great. 0:18:35.760 --> 0:18:36.600 Observation. 0:18:36.640 --> 0:18:37.480 Wow. That's great. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:42.600 What a great observation. Beer? Yeah, you were sipping it. 0:18:42.640 --> 0:18:50.119 Now it's sipping you, man. Sexual addiction. Alcohol again. Porn lust. 0:18:50.960 --> 0:18:54.680 More money. Better paying job. Yeah. To aspire to. That's great. 0:18:54.680 --> 0:18:57.440 But when that affection takes us away from a love 0:18:57.440 --> 0:19:06.720 for God. Oh, my goodness, we're sleeping around on God. Okay, 0:19:06.720 --> 0:19:09.080 here's the deal. And I want to give you hope today. 0:19:10.440 --> 0:19:12.600 The Spirit of God that indwells you can turn you 0:19:12.600 --> 0:19:16.159 around from those affections. Bang! Now, tomorrow, we're going to 0:19:16.160 --> 0:19:18.120 spend the whole time. I'm going to have a resource 0:19:18.119 --> 0:19:21.480 for you that's going to tell you how to regain 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.120 that love for Jesus that you once had, and make 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:27.840 it singular again. Somebody just texted in the American dream. Oh, 0:19:27.920 --> 0:19:30.000 my friend, don't get me on a soapbox now. 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:31.520 It's real. 0:19:32.520 --> 0:19:35.620 American Dream can be one of the greatest distractions from 0:19:35.619 --> 0:19:38.980 God's vision for our life that you can imagine. Facebook. 0:19:39.020 --> 0:19:44.659 Social media. Somebody just came in with. Yep. It can 0:19:44.700 --> 0:19:47.180 bite us all, man. It can be an infection that 0:19:47.180 --> 0:19:52.100 can pull us away. I just here's all I want 0:19:52.100 --> 0:19:54.940 you to do with that substitute God that you've put 0:19:54.940 --> 0:19:58.940 in place that's got you. As James says, it's so 0:19:58.940 --> 0:20:01.179 hard to hear. And it's like, man, so early in 0:20:01.180 --> 0:20:09.780 the morning we got to hit this stuff. You adulterous people, 0:20:09.780 --> 0:20:14.939 James wrote. You're out looking for everything in this world 0:20:15.580 --> 0:20:21.540 you covet. You're trying to get something. You ask and 0:20:21.540 --> 0:20:26.540 your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling because. It's it's 0:20:26.540 --> 0:20:29.020 so hard to say, but adulterous people just means you're 0:20:29.020 --> 0:20:32.020 sleeping around on God. In the church of Ephesus was told, 0:20:32.020 --> 0:20:35.800 return to your first love. and you can just humble 0:20:35.800 --> 0:20:39.639 yourself under God's mighty hand today and watch what he 0:20:39.640 --> 0:20:44.040 can do to restore you. This is Katie Nicole. My 0:20:44.040 --> 0:20:48.919 God can lift a palm before the Lord and just say, 0:20:48.920 --> 0:20:51.240 this is what I've had for an affection. 0:20:51.560 --> 0:20:56.199 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:20:56.600 --> 0:21:00.320 Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:21:00.359 --> 0:21:01.560 on Moody Radio. 0:21:01.600 --> 0:21:03.359 You know, if you're just catching us right now, we're 0:21:03.359 --> 0:21:06.040 midstream of some heavy work we're doing. We're talking about 0:21:06.040 --> 0:21:08.600 identifying those loves that have pulled us away from our 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:12.320 first love. Scripture is clear. It's hard to hear, but 0:21:12.320 --> 0:21:15.840 anything that we find ourselves loving more than God is 0:21:15.840 --> 0:21:19.520 an adulterous relationship or sleeping around on God. You don't 0:21:19.520 --> 0:21:21.440 have to go just in Hosea. You can go all 0:21:21.440 --> 0:21:24.879 the way back to Deuteronomy. You go to James chapter four, 0:21:24.920 --> 0:21:27.400 verse four. You can see it right there for yourself. 0:21:27.640 --> 0:21:29.639 And it's a hard one to hear. But I love 0:21:29.640 --> 0:21:34.740 how graphic God is because it's that honesty without kind 0:21:34.740 --> 0:21:38.379 of dumbing it down that allows us to see something 0:21:38.380 --> 0:21:40.699 in us that's pulled our affection away from God. And 0:21:40.700 --> 0:21:42.860 we can go, yes, I'm coming back to you, God, 0:21:43.420 --> 0:21:46.220 coming back to you. And if the Spirit of God 0:21:46.220 --> 0:21:48.860 is calling you, turn your heart toward home today. Tomorrow, 0:21:48.859 --> 0:21:52.380 on Freedom Friday, call your friends, neighbors, family. I'm serious. 0:21:52.380 --> 0:21:54.700 We are going to have a day of freedom where 0:21:54.700 --> 0:21:58.820 we are going to give you practical tools about how 0:21:58.820 --> 0:22:02.140 to return to your first love, how to identify the 0:22:02.140 --> 0:22:05.980 love that's kind of supplanted God, not kind of, but 0:22:06.020 --> 0:22:08.580 has supplanted God and how you can get back again. 0:22:08.940 --> 0:22:13.420 Hormoz Shariat is the Billy Graham to Iran. No joking. 0:22:13.540 --> 0:22:17.340 7 million people weekly he is speaking to via the 0:22:17.340 --> 0:22:22.379 internet and pumping television into the underground church and underground 0:22:22.380 --> 0:22:27.379 seekers all across Iran. There is something happening in Iran 0:22:27.820 --> 0:22:31.949 and could it be linked to Jeremiah 29? Could it be? 0:22:32.230 --> 0:22:34.110 Hang on. Details are going to be coming up. This 0:22:34.109 --> 0:22:36.590 is Jordan Feliz. Praise God for that. 0:22:37.190 --> 0:22:40.190 He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then 0:22:40.230 --> 0:22:44.550 he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl 0:22:44.550 --> 0:22:46.189 and crew on Moody Radio. 0:22:46.230 --> 0:22:49.189 Well, it's not lost on you. There's a lot going 0:22:49.190 --> 0:22:54.030 on in the Middle East, primarily Iran. And an attempt 0:22:54.030 --> 0:22:59.750 from Israel with an assistance from the United States to 0:22:59.790 --> 0:23:04.830 thwart Iran's ability to get nuclear weaponry. We got the 0:23:04.830 --> 0:23:07.950 right guy with us, doctor Hormoz Shariat with us. He's 0:23:07.950 --> 0:23:12.830 the founder and president of Iran Alive Ministries broadcasts into 0:23:12.869 --> 0:23:20.230 Iran with daily listeners, viewers of 7 million people. How 0:23:20.270 --> 0:23:21.790 are you doing this morning, Hormoz. 0:23:22.030 --> 0:23:25.270 Hey, good morning Carl. A lot is happening, so we're 0:23:25.270 --> 0:23:27.230 busy serving the people of Iran. 0:23:27.270 --> 0:23:30.130 Give us an update from your perspective. We know from 0:23:30.130 --> 0:23:34.210 the news generally what's happening from a geopolitical standpoint, but 0:23:34.210 --> 0:23:36.409 can you shed more light on that? Are you getting 0:23:36.410 --> 0:23:38.250 news from boots on the ground there? 0:23:38.490 --> 0:23:41.530 Sure. You know, we broadcast, but we have on the 0:23:41.530 --> 0:23:46.050 ground churches. We have many leaders inside Iran serving the country, 0:23:46.090 --> 0:23:48.930 serving through the media. So yeah, I'm in touch with 0:23:48.930 --> 0:23:51.730 them daily. The situation when you look at from the 0:23:51.770 --> 0:23:56.730 physical point of view, political economy, I mean, the war suffering, 0:23:56.770 --> 0:23:59.570 that looks really bad. And looking at it from a 0:23:59.570 --> 0:24:03.050 spiritual point of view, it continues to be good. The 0:24:03.050 --> 0:24:07.609 Lord is continuing to save millions of Iranians already. They have. 0:24:07.650 --> 0:24:11.129 And even more openness. So looking at the situation, it's 0:24:11.130 --> 0:24:14.930 really desperate. And right now they have pain, but they 0:24:14.930 --> 0:24:18.010 have joy also the pain of the war. It's very 0:24:18.010 --> 0:24:20.609 hard to live in a war, but at the same time, 0:24:20.650 --> 0:24:23.290 I see joy or hope in the hearts of the 0:24:23.290 --> 0:24:24.330 people of Iran. 0:24:24.530 --> 0:24:26.730 All right, let's back up a little bit. Doctor Hormoz 0:24:26.730 --> 0:24:30.750 Shariat is our guest right now. Give us your backstory 0:24:30.750 --> 0:24:33.109 and try to give it at 30,000ft. How in the 0:24:33.109 --> 0:24:37.149 world did you land in Southern California broadcasting the gospel? 0:24:37.150 --> 0:24:39.230 They call you the Billy Graham. I know you don't 0:24:39.230 --> 0:24:42.790 even necessarily love that name, the Billy Graham of Iran, 0:24:43.070 --> 0:24:45.470 but how did you land there? What's going on? Give 0:24:45.470 --> 0:24:46.630 us a quick flyby. 0:24:46.910 --> 0:24:49.910 Yeah, I was on the streets of Tehran 79, as 0:24:49.910 --> 0:24:53.189 a young student. As I came to us a PhD 0:24:53.350 --> 0:24:58.070 in artificial intelligence and Southern California, University of Southern California. 0:24:58.070 --> 0:25:00.350 And then I got interested in spiritual things. I want 0:25:00.390 --> 0:25:02.750 to be a good Muslim. So I said, I'm going 0:25:02.790 --> 0:25:05.870 to read Quran and really dedicate my life to Islam. 0:25:05.869 --> 0:25:08.629 But when I read Koran one more time, it didn't 0:25:08.670 --> 0:25:11.869 really satisfy my soul. I said, I'm an open minded person, 0:25:11.869 --> 0:25:14.350 I'm going to read the Bible also. And that's when 0:25:14.390 --> 0:25:18.550 things started happening. Reading the Matthew and reading about Jesus, 0:25:18.590 --> 0:25:21.470 I went through several months of which one is true, 0:25:21.510 --> 0:25:24.950 which one is true? Both cannot be true. And eventually 0:25:24.950 --> 0:25:28.560 I prayed a simple prayer inviting Jesus into my life 0:25:28.560 --> 0:25:33.840 and amazing, miraculous change happened inside of me first and 0:25:33.840 --> 0:25:37.320 then my marriage. So I said, this is a powerful message. 0:25:37.520 --> 0:25:41.160 I'm selfish if I keep this to myself. I started 0:25:41.160 --> 0:25:44.359 sharing the gospel with other Muslims and one by one 0:25:44.400 --> 0:25:48.960 they came to Christ, planted churches in Northern California, started 0:25:49.000 --> 0:25:52.280 a broadcast after nine over 11, and we have been 0:25:52.280 --> 0:25:56.720 doing 24 over seven satellite broadcasts the last 15 years. 0:25:57.119 --> 0:25:59.480 People come to Christ. We take care of them. We 0:25:59.480 --> 0:26:04.359 disciple them. We plant underground churches. We plant churches. So 0:26:04.400 --> 0:26:08.600 broadcast is a tool, satellite broadcast to go over the 0:26:08.600 --> 0:26:13.000 heads of the mullahs into people's homes and tell them 0:26:13.000 --> 0:26:16.159 about Jesus. The real hope. The real Savior. 0:26:16.200 --> 0:26:20.080 Amen. Doctor Hormoz Shariat is with me right now. Let's 0:26:20.080 --> 0:26:22.560 get into it. We've been talking all week here on 0:26:22.560 --> 0:26:26.500 our morning show about the need to deal with the 0:26:26.500 --> 0:26:29.859 unseen things in our life, the disciplines of prayer and 0:26:29.859 --> 0:26:35.180 solitude and fasting and Bible study in secret in those 0:26:35.180 --> 0:26:39.220 quiet places that aren't seen. That's what keeps the church 0:26:39.220 --> 0:26:42.020 really alive in Iran. Talk to us about what God's 0:26:42.020 --> 0:26:42.940 doing hormoz. 0:26:43.340 --> 0:26:45.659 Well, this is a miracle in the making in the 0:26:45.660 --> 0:26:48.700 last 40 years. It took him 40 years to come 0:26:48.700 --> 0:26:51.620 to this point, that Islam is not the way Islam 0:26:51.619 --> 0:26:53.820 is their source of the problem, and they need to 0:26:53.859 --> 0:26:56.260 get rid of it. So that's why we see such 0:26:56.260 --> 0:26:59.780 a high number of conversion. Amazing. The last few years, 0:26:59.820 --> 0:27:03.220 even this year, we see an exponential growth of number 0:27:03.220 --> 0:27:06.060 of people coming to Christ. And the reason is, on 0:27:06.060 --> 0:27:09.139 the one hand, they know Islam is not the way 0:27:09.180 --> 0:27:11.940 they're done. They're done with Islam. They've been set free 0:27:11.940 --> 0:27:14.619 from that spirit of Islam, by the way. It's so strong. 0:27:14.660 --> 0:27:18.540 It's so strong. Muslims are not allowed to question Islam 0:27:18.540 --> 0:27:21.940 and look, but the people of Iran are looking, they're comparing, 0:27:21.980 --> 0:27:24.420 they're studying, they're reading, and many of them are coming 0:27:24.560 --> 0:27:27.880 to Christ. So the great miracle has been that the 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:32.159 Prince of Persia, the spirit over Iran, have been defeated 0:27:32.160 --> 0:27:36.120 and weakened, and the captives are being set free by Jesus. 0:27:36.359 --> 0:27:40.040 You know, you speak to it being a place of 0:27:40.080 --> 0:27:43.240 Christian revival and awakening and you appeal to. Last time 0:27:43.240 --> 0:27:46.320 we had you here was Jeremiah 49. And I read, 0:27:46.320 --> 0:27:49.760 and I will set my throne in Elam, which is Iran, 0:27:50.040 --> 0:27:53.800 and destroy their king and officials, declares the Lord. But 0:27:53.800 --> 0:27:56.639 in the latter days I will restore the fortress of Elam, 0:27:56.640 --> 0:27:58.720 declares the Lord. Now, I've done a lot of study 0:27:58.720 --> 0:28:01.000 on this one in the last couple of weeks. I 0:28:01.000 --> 0:28:05.120 know that there's great theologians that hold to this is 0:28:05.119 --> 0:28:09.000 a future fulfillment, but many hold to this was fulfilled 0:28:09.000 --> 0:28:13.000 in 600 BC. Where do you stand on this prophecy 0:28:13.000 --> 0:28:14.000 of Jeremiah? 0:28:14.280 --> 0:28:17.560 Yes, I've studied it very deeply. I've read all those 0:28:17.560 --> 0:28:22.480 historical documents. For example, Jeremiah 4934, he says, I will 0:28:22.520 --> 0:28:25.810 break the bow of Iran, the base of power. Israel 0:28:25.810 --> 0:28:29.930 will attack Iran and will destroy its military bases, the 0:28:29.930 --> 0:28:33.730 nuclear sites and all that. But what is in those 0:28:34.090 --> 0:28:39.530 verses is happening right now that Iran is losing the 0:28:39.530 --> 0:28:41.930 base of its power. This base of its spiritual power 0:28:41.970 --> 0:28:45.970 is Islam. It's gone now. Nuclear sites are gone. Missile 0:28:45.970 --> 0:28:48.930 sites are gone. So then after that, you read in 0:28:48.930 --> 0:28:53.050 Jeremiah 49 that Iranians will go to a suffering, and 0:28:53.050 --> 0:28:56.850 that's what's happening and will happen, continue to happen. But 0:28:56.890 --> 0:29:00.530 not many people know that God promises that. He said 0:29:00.570 --> 0:29:04.010 he will set his throne in Iran. People know Jeremiah 0:29:04.010 --> 0:29:07.250 317 that God says he will set his throne in Jerusalem. 0:29:07.250 --> 0:29:10.290 But not many people know God will set his throne 0:29:10.290 --> 0:29:13.930 in Islam. Also, what that means is that Iran will 0:29:13.930 --> 0:29:16.290 be a Christian nation. You know, when I say that, 0:29:16.290 --> 0:29:19.170 people say, are you crazy? Iran will be a Christian nation. 0:29:19.210 --> 0:29:21.450 Where did you get that idea? And I tell him, hey, 0:29:21.450 --> 0:29:24.510 I stole that idea. Where did you get it? I 0:29:24.550 --> 0:29:29.190 stole it from Jeremiah 4938. Because God promises that Iran 0:29:29.190 --> 0:29:31.710 will be saved as Israel will be saved. 0:29:31.750 --> 0:29:34.790 You know, it's interesting in acts two, when Peter preached 0:29:34.830 --> 0:29:38.630 on that day of Pentecost, among those who had the 0:29:38.670 --> 0:29:43.150 gospel translated into their language were Elamites. So those are 0:29:43.150 --> 0:29:48.910 Iranian born again Christians. This dates back 2000 years ago, 0:29:48.950 --> 0:29:53.310 that God was already doing a work of evangelism in Iran. 0:29:53.310 --> 0:29:54.910 Speak to that one Hormoz. 0:29:55.430 --> 0:30:00.110 You know Cyrus is the only one God calls him 0:30:00.110 --> 0:30:04.550 besides Jesus. He calls him my Messiah and Isaiah 40. 0:30:04.750 --> 0:30:08.830 So what we see in Genesis 12, God says, I 0:30:08.870 --> 0:30:12.870 will bless those who bless Israel. That's a promise. And 0:30:12.870 --> 0:30:17.310 in the Bible, it's only Persia and Cyrus that qualifies 0:30:17.310 --> 0:30:20.930 for that blessing part. So there is a favor on Iran. 0:30:20.970 --> 0:30:23.930 God is blessing Iran because Iran blessed Israel. 0:30:24.330 --> 0:30:28.290 Hormoz Shariat. My guest right now, what are you seeing 0:30:28.330 --> 0:30:33.530 practically that are the spiritual disciplines in the life of 0:30:33.530 --> 0:30:39.730 the Iranians that makes them strong at the threat of persecution, 0:30:39.770 --> 0:30:43.090 even martyrdom? What is going on is their prayer movement, 0:30:43.090 --> 0:30:47.130 is their introspection, is their repentance, is their all the above. 0:30:47.130 --> 0:30:48.250 What is God doing? 0:30:48.890 --> 0:30:51.050 It is all of the above, and it's a move 0:30:51.050 --> 0:30:53.610 of the spirit. When we talk about the move of 0:30:53.610 --> 0:30:58.330 the spirit Iran, we think conversion, conversion, conversions, yes, of course, 0:30:58.330 --> 0:31:00.850 but the work of the Holy Spirit does not stop 0:31:00.850 --> 0:31:05.010 at conversion. He continues to work in the hearts of Iranians. 0:31:05.010 --> 0:31:10.330 They love Jesus. You know, Carl, when you come from darkness, 0:31:10.370 --> 0:31:13.930 you appreciate the light even more. They have come out 0:31:13.930 --> 0:31:17.770 of darkness, the oppression of that spirit. And now they 0:31:17.810 --> 0:31:21.390 have come to know Jesus. They have come to know 0:31:21.390 --> 0:31:24.710 God that God is love. God is not hatred. God 0:31:24.710 --> 0:31:28.070 is not violence. So they fall in love with Jesus. 0:31:28.390 --> 0:31:32.750 Number two, the Holy Spirit. After conversion, they have taken 0:31:32.750 --> 0:31:35.950 away the spirit of fear. The spirit of fear is 0:31:35.950 --> 0:31:39.910 taken away. What is it? What does it replace it? Love, 0:31:40.190 --> 0:31:44.710 power and sound mind. So we see the Holy Spirit 0:31:44.710 --> 0:31:48.190 working among Iranians. According to that verse, he has not 0:31:48.190 --> 0:31:51.590 given us the spirit of fear. So we see a love. 0:31:51.910 --> 0:31:56.830 Iranian Christians are known for their love and people. Muslims 0:31:56.830 --> 0:31:59.550 are attracted to the love in the hearts and the 0:31:59.550 --> 0:32:04.190 actions of Iranian Christians. So many conversions are coming because 0:32:04.390 --> 0:32:07.750 family member comes to Christ and the rest is saying, hey, 0:32:07.790 --> 0:32:10.510 what happened to you? Now you have love, you have joy, 0:32:10.550 --> 0:32:13.110 you have peace. We want that. We want that. So 0:32:13.150 --> 0:32:14.630 it's an amazing thing. 0:32:15.070 --> 0:32:18.280 Doctor Hormoz Shariat with us today and we've got a 0:32:18.280 --> 0:32:21.600 link for you to learn more about this incredible work 0:32:21.600 --> 0:32:24.360 and really get some context so that you can pray. 0:32:24.400 --> 0:32:30.480 Text alive to 800 555 7898. Just the word alive 0:32:30.480 --> 0:32:34.000 to 800 555 7898. 0:32:34.640 --> 0:32:37.560 You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:32:38.000 --> 0:32:40.120 Here's where we've been, and then we're going to pick 0:32:40.120 --> 0:32:43.320 it up with Gary Thomas coming up here in a moment. Listen, 0:32:43.320 --> 0:32:48.400 it's hard to hear, but any love that is redirected 0:32:48.400 --> 0:32:52.360 affection for anything other than God, and he's not looking 0:32:52.360 --> 0:32:54.520 for perfection. He's just saying at the very core of 0:32:54.520 --> 0:32:56.800 your soul, is there a love for God there, or 0:32:56.840 --> 0:33:01.560 are you? Well, here's the word committing adultery, sleeping around 0:33:01.560 --> 0:33:04.040 on God. And we've had a slew of you respond 0:33:04.040 --> 0:33:06.960 here from social media. It can be food, it can 0:33:06.960 --> 0:33:09.400 be the ladder you're climbing in the corporate world, it 0:33:09.400 --> 0:33:11.760 can be. I mean, fill in the blanks. Social media 0:33:11.800 --> 0:33:14.760 is huge, guys. There can be affections that draw us 0:33:14.760 --> 0:33:18.820 away and they come in any form. Satan does not 0:33:18.820 --> 0:33:21.900 mind what baits you as long as you're sleeping around 0:33:21.940 --> 0:33:25.940 on God. Gary. Thomas. You're here in my heart here 0:33:25.940 --> 0:33:29.380 this morning. We have got a big group of of 0:33:29.380 --> 0:33:32.900 Jesus followers listening to you right now. You and I, 0:33:32.940 --> 0:33:36.460 we've been pastors for decades. We've seen this happen. It's 0:33:37.020 --> 0:33:39.260 it's an amazing thing that we can go white hot 0:33:39.260 --> 0:33:42.820 from a relationship with Jesus and then find ourselves getting 0:33:42.820 --> 0:33:45.820 under the sheets with substitute gods. How does that happen, Gary? 0:33:46.180 --> 0:33:48.260 You know, I think God takes us through a process. 0:33:48.260 --> 0:33:51.340 I call it divine disillusionment. We're looking for our parents 0:33:51.340 --> 0:33:53.540 to love us like only God can love us, and 0:33:53.540 --> 0:33:56.540 they just can't. Then we think it's a romantic partner. 0:33:56.780 --> 0:33:59.500 Then we think it's a child. Because I can control that. 0:33:59.660 --> 0:34:02.580 I've had wives, young mothers. Tell me, Gary, is it 0:34:02.620 --> 0:34:04.739 possible for me to love my child more than I 0:34:04.740 --> 0:34:07.180 love God? And I'm like, well, God has a cure 0:34:07.180 --> 0:34:09.860 for that. It's it's called that adolescence. Just give it 0:34:09.900 --> 0:34:13.899 time and then even we'll go into the church. And 0:34:13.900 --> 0:34:16.799 all the while, God is waiting. You've been disappointed by 0:34:16.800 --> 0:34:20.080 your parents. You've been disappointed by your romantic partner. You're 0:34:20.080 --> 0:34:23.600 disappointed by your children. You're disappointed by your church members. 0:34:23.920 --> 0:34:27.640 Will you look to me? That's what we find in 0:34:27.640 --> 0:34:30.319 James four eight when he says, draw near to God 0:34:30.960 --> 0:34:33.200 and he will draw near to you. And clearly he 0:34:33.200 --> 0:34:37.400 is talking to believers when he says that, just take 0:34:37.400 --> 0:34:40.560 a step toward God and find that fulfillment that you're 0:34:40.560 --> 0:34:42.600 looking everywhere else to find. 0:34:42.960 --> 0:34:44.960 And here's the wild thing. I'm so glad you were 0:34:44.960 --> 0:34:47.680 in James four eight, which is so providential. I don't 0:34:47.680 --> 0:34:49.360 even know if you heard this. I've been in James 0:34:49.360 --> 0:34:53.399 four four because they're struggling with I want this, I 0:34:53.400 --> 0:34:56.440 want that, I want this, and their prayers are bouncing 0:34:56.440 --> 0:35:00.480 off the ceiling. Gary and and then James half brother 0:35:00.480 --> 0:35:06.560 Jesus says, you adulterous people. What? He's calling them spiritual adulterers, 0:35:06.560 --> 0:35:09.520 getting under the sheets with all their passions. And then 0:35:09.560 --> 0:35:12.160 you're right. He says, come back to me, draw near 0:35:12.160 --> 0:35:14.450 to God, and he will draw near to you. It's 0:35:14.450 --> 0:35:17.689 like Satan has this, I don't know. He's got this 0:35:17.690 --> 0:35:20.730 plethora of things that try to draw our affection away 0:35:20.730 --> 0:35:23.930 from that white hot love for God. And Gary, this 0:35:23.930 --> 0:35:26.290 can happen to pastors too, right, brother? 0:35:27.050 --> 0:35:31.050 Oh it can. I mean ambition, acclaim from others instead 0:35:31.050 --> 0:35:34.770 of appreciation from God and an affirmation from God. We 0:35:34.770 --> 0:35:37.890 can look everywhere else. But Carl, a lot of it, 0:35:37.890 --> 0:35:40.690 I think, is that Christians often don't know how best 0:35:40.690 --> 0:35:42.930 to connect with God. They don't know how to get 0:35:43.250 --> 0:35:45.210 their heart needs met. They don't know what it means 0:35:45.210 --> 0:35:48.410 to set their souls and their minds and their hearts 0:35:48.410 --> 0:35:51.770 on God. They're trying to one size fits all spirituality 0:35:51.770 --> 0:35:54.930 when God made us so different. He's a he's a 0:35:54.930 --> 0:35:58.050 creative God who created us to relate to him in 0:35:58.050 --> 0:36:01.049 different ways. And so sometimes it might just be the 0:36:01.050 --> 0:36:03.410 way that we're trying to meet with him that keeps 0:36:03.410 --> 0:36:06.770 us from finding that fulfillment and that joy and expectation 0:36:06.770 --> 0:36:07.690 in our worship. 0:36:07.850 --> 0:36:10.210 I love it. Okay, hang on, Gary, can you hang 0:36:10.210 --> 0:36:11.570 with me for a moment here, my man? 0:36:11.810 --> 0:36:12.489 Absolutely. 0:36:12.590 --> 0:36:15.029 Okay. Hang on. More with Gary Thomas coming up. And 0:36:15.030 --> 0:36:17.110 as a matter of fact, let's pick away at nine 0:36:17.110 --> 0:36:19.469 ways to connect with God. You might feel far from 0:36:19.469 --> 0:36:22.069 him this morning. God can bring you home, and it's 0:36:22.070 --> 0:36:26.270 a beautiful thing. Hold on to not the dream. Certainly 0:36:26.270 --> 0:36:29.670 not the American dream, but God's vision of a 30, 60, 0:36:29.710 --> 0:36:32.750 100 fold life. Abundant life. Hang on. 0:36:33.150 --> 0:36:35.910 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:36:36.190 --> 0:36:38.229 With me right now is Gary Thomas. I didn't even 0:36:38.230 --> 0:36:41.149 ID the guy. Poor guy. Teaching pastor at Cherry Hills 0:36:41.150 --> 0:36:45.190 Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. And he's the reason 0:36:45.190 --> 0:36:47.630 I brought you in here, Gary, is because I wanted 0:36:47.630 --> 0:36:49.910 to hear some thoughts. You've written a book called Sacred 0:36:49.910 --> 0:36:53.070 Pathways and and boom crew. We're not selling books here today. 0:36:53.070 --> 0:36:54.670 We're going to get a we're going to get some 0:36:54.670 --> 0:36:58.470 nuggets from this. But give me you got nine ways 0:36:58.469 --> 0:37:01.029 to connect with God. Give me the top two that 0:37:01.030 --> 0:37:04.549 you think would deal with this issue of spiritual adultery 0:37:04.550 --> 0:37:08.070 when we let other affections steal our love for God. 0:37:09.030 --> 0:37:12.250 Well, let me say first, a therapist friend of mine 0:37:12.250 --> 0:37:15.009 once told me, if you're not worshipping God, you're addicted 0:37:15.010 --> 0:37:18.970 to something. So when you're talking about adultery, you're entirely 0:37:18.969 --> 0:37:22.530 on we will worship. The question is, who will we worship? 0:37:22.530 --> 0:37:26.530 Or even what will we worship? And so the pathway 0:37:26.650 --> 0:37:29.970 is recognize there's different ways that we connect to God 0:37:29.969 --> 0:37:33.370 so that he fills our hearts. Naturalists are a common 0:37:33.370 --> 0:37:36.370 one when people get outdoors. Psalm 91 says, the heavens 0:37:36.370 --> 0:37:40.170 declare the glory of God. If you're a naturalist, whether 0:37:40.170 --> 0:37:42.970 it's the stars, whether it's the mountains, whether it's just 0:37:42.969 --> 0:37:46.529 the sand, you're just seeing the forest. You're just overcome 0:37:46.530 --> 0:37:52.290 by God's creative power, his beauty. Uh, a mountain climber 0:37:52.290 --> 0:37:54.049 once told me he was up on a mountain that 0:37:54.090 --> 0:37:56.169 probably nobody else had climbed that year. And there was 0:37:56.170 --> 0:38:00.049 this stunning flower. And it just hit him that God 0:38:00.050 --> 0:38:02.530 creates beauty for the sake of beauty. And that revealed 0:38:02.530 --> 0:38:07.170 to him who God is. Just a powerful way. Yes, 0:38:07.210 --> 0:38:10.009 there are activists that their heart is filled when they're 0:38:10.140 --> 0:38:14.340 fighting God's battles. Caregivers, their hearts are filled when they're 0:38:14.340 --> 0:38:17.340 caring for others. In Jesus name, it's they feel closest 0:38:17.340 --> 0:38:20.940 to God when they're providing care to someone. There's so 0:38:20.940 --> 0:38:23.580 many ways we could just find out when we give 0:38:23.580 --> 0:38:26.899 our hearts and minds over to meeting with God in 0:38:26.900 --> 0:38:29.660 these different ways, we're ruined to the world. We're ruined 0:38:29.660 --> 0:38:30.540 to the idols. 0:38:30.780 --> 0:38:37.060 Yeah. That's beautiful. Gary Thomas, my guest right now. You know, Gary, repentance. 0:38:37.100 --> 0:38:40.500 It has been so of Satan. He pulled a good one. 0:38:40.780 --> 0:38:42.700 He pulled it off with rainbows. He pulled it off 0:38:42.700 --> 0:38:46.460 with the word repentance. He is great at rebranding. Good words. 0:38:46.460 --> 0:38:49.820 Repentance isn't an angry word, is it, Gary? It means 0:38:49.820 --> 0:38:53.540 turn around. And there's some people right now that know 0:38:54.739 --> 0:38:58.899 they're sleeping around on God with some crazy, cheap substitute God, 0:38:58.940 --> 0:39:03.220 and they're addicted to it. And they wonder why their 0:39:03.580 --> 0:39:06.939 radiance has dried up, why their wayward kid doesn't find 0:39:06.940 --> 0:39:11.640 anything attractive in them. What does repentance look like in Scripture? 0:39:11.719 --> 0:39:12.800 Pour it out here for a second. 0:39:13.120 --> 0:39:13.680 Yeah, well. 0:39:13.880 --> 0:39:18.000 Repentance is a word of love. God was silent for 0:39:18.000 --> 0:39:20.960 400 years between the Old and New Testament. When John 0:39:20.960 --> 0:39:24.400 the Baptist came the first prophet to speak again. His 0:39:24.400 --> 0:39:28.080 first message was, people can look this up, repent, and 0:39:28.120 --> 0:39:30.400 you think, well, that's John the Baptist. He's kind of angry. 0:39:30.440 --> 0:39:32.960 He wore the animal skins. He ate bugs, right? 0:39:33.440 --> 0:39:34.879 He's he's crazy. 0:39:35.840 --> 0:39:41.399 Jesus's first message was really was literally repent because you 0:39:41.400 --> 0:39:43.759 say you're going the wrong direction. It is the the 0:39:43.800 --> 0:39:46.280 biggest word of love is somebody going the wrong direction, 0:39:46.280 --> 0:39:49.359 and that direction is taking them off the cliff. It 0:39:49.360 --> 0:39:51.040 is a word of love to say, hey, why don't 0:39:51.040 --> 0:39:53.959 you turn around? You don't have to fall. You don't 0:39:53.960 --> 0:39:56.760 have to destroy yourself. You don't have to keep looking 0:39:56.760 --> 0:39:58.960 in the wrong place. You've got to turn and look 0:39:58.960 --> 0:40:01.840 somewhere else. Is what you've been saying this morning? Turn 0:40:01.840 --> 0:40:06.640 from the idols because they're ruining you. It's. It's about compulsion. 0:40:06.880 --> 0:40:11.060 It's about being driven, not being fulfilled, not being loved, 0:40:11.060 --> 0:40:13.500 not being affirmed by God. You're just telling people to 0:40:13.500 --> 0:40:17.180 turn around. What you're doing isn't working. God offers something else. 0:40:17.180 --> 0:40:20.260 Draw near to God. He'll draw near to you. 0:40:20.300 --> 0:40:23.020 Yeah, you're right back at James four eight, aren't you, 0:40:23.020 --> 0:40:26.460 my man? Oh, isn't it good? Gary, here's what's great. 0:40:26.460 --> 0:40:28.140 When we strip it all down, get rid of all 0:40:28.140 --> 0:40:32.340 the religious pretense. We're all on this same battleground. We're 0:40:32.340 --> 0:40:34.940 all on the same turf, dude. No one avoids it. 0:40:34.980 --> 0:40:38.219 I mean, lead pastors. How much? And I was a 0:40:38.219 --> 0:40:42.940 lead pastor of a big old church in Alaska. And 0:40:42.940 --> 0:40:45.620 I'll tell you right now, Gary, you and I both 0:40:45.620 --> 0:40:49.819 know Satan is setting bait for pastors, that you find 0:40:49.820 --> 0:40:55.300 your validation in nickels and noses, brother. It's like a right. 0:40:55.500 --> 0:40:56.100 Come on. 0:40:56.100 --> 0:40:57.540 It is. Look, every. 0:40:57.580 --> 0:41:01.739 Heart is an idol factory. It really is. And we 0:41:01.739 --> 0:41:04.859 can't afford to lose our taste for God. And that's 0:41:04.860 --> 0:41:06.219 why I think it's so important to find out how 0:41:06.320 --> 0:41:09.920 we best connect with God because we're, as you are saying, 0:41:09.920 --> 0:41:14.360 we're constantly being lured away. And you develop spiritual tastes 0:41:14.400 --> 0:41:16.960 just like you develop taste buds. If people grew up 0:41:16.960 --> 0:41:19.239 in Japan, they would have a very different breakfast than 0:41:19.239 --> 0:41:20.800 if they grew up in Chicago. 0:41:21.200 --> 0:41:22.120 Because you just develop. 0:41:22.120 --> 0:41:25.200 What you're hungry for. Well, we can move our souls 0:41:25.200 --> 0:41:28.200 in that direction. We could train our souls to hunger 0:41:28.200 --> 0:41:28.960 after God. 0:41:29.160 --> 0:41:29.680 Boom! 0:41:30.040 --> 0:41:32.440 Gary, you're crushing it. Well, you're on the frequent flyer list. 0:41:32.440 --> 0:41:34.880 First time you've been here with me, but you're on 0:41:34.880 --> 0:41:37.600 the frequent flyer list. Here's what I want you to know. Boom! Crew, 0:41:37.640 --> 0:41:39.279 listen to me. He's got. I'm going to give you 0:41:39.280 --> 0:41:41.840 a link. He's got some most popular blog posts here 0:41:42.000 --> 0:41:44.760 and all kinds of resources. And yeah, you can get 0:41:44.760 --> 0:41:48.399 his book to Sacred Pathways. The key word is going 0:41:48.440 --> 0:41:49.879 to be sacred. But I want to tell you what's 0:41:49.880 --> 0:41:53.359 going on. How porn creates Angry Men, one of his 0:41:53.360 --> 0:41:57.520 most popular blog posts. God didn't tell you to marry 0:41:57.560 --> 0:42:00.880 your spouse. Another popular blog post. There's a ton of 0:42:00.880 --> 0:42:05.370 these really provocative what God asks of husbands killer stuff. 0:42:05.930 --> 0:42:08.489 So text the keyword sacred. We're going to get you 0:42:08.530 --> 0:42:11.770 hooked up with Gary. And this is powerful content here. 0:42:11.770 --> 0:42:13.890 All free content. There's a ton of it there. You 0:42:13.890 --> 0:42:16.690 can go buy a book as well, but check it out. 0:42:16.890 --> 0:42:26.850 Text sacred to 800 555 7898. Sacred to 800 555 7898. 0:42:27.090 --> 0:42:29.890 And we're going to watch God do something here today. 0:42:30.090 --> 0:42:34.450 You know, final word here, Gary got 30s. What's on 0:42:34.450 --> 0:42:36.170 your heart? What's the Spirit of God saying for you 0:42:36.170 --> 0:42:38.210 to urge people to do right now? Right now. 0:42:38.690 --> 0:42:41.810 There's no more exciting life than to worship God and 0:42:41.810 --> 0:42:45.169 to be used by God. And when you worship wrong things, 0:42:45.170 --> 0:42:48.210 you're living for yourself. The wonderful thing about being affirmed 0:42:48.210 --> 0:42:50.810 by God is that you're able to give yourself fully 0:42:50.810 --> 0:42:53.489 over to others, a pastor said, I figured this out. 0:42:53.489 --> 0:42:56.250 If I'm good enough for God, I'm good enough for others. 0:42:56.250 --> 0:42:59.530 And so it's receiving so that you can give. And 0:42:59.530 --> 0:43:02.090 that's the whole point is not just to be fulfilled, 0:43:02.250 --> 0:43:04.330 it's to have a life of reaching out to others.