WEBVTT - Finding Our Identity in Christ 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.080 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:11.040 All right, I got to go to Alaska. Come on. 0:00:11.640 --> 0:00:13.119 I got to get to Alaska. 0:00:13.680 --> 0:00:14.160 Me, too. 0:00:14.920 --> 0:00:17.160 Got to get some. Got to get some Alaska music here. 0:00:17.200 --> 0:00:18.080 Give me two seconds. 0:00:18.360 --> 0:00:20.479 Where are we going? Where in Alaska are we going? 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.239 Well, we're going to go to. We're going to go 0:00:22.239 --> 0:00:26.759 to big city. The big city? The biggest city in Alaska. Anchorage, 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:28.920 250,000 people. 0:00:29.080 --> 0:00:32.120 The state that stands alone. There's a dog race run 0:00:32.120 --> 0:00:33.720 from Anchorage in Nome. 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:34.960 It's my favorite one. 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:37.320 And it's a grueling race with a lightning pace with 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.520 the chilly winds. Do well beneath the northern lights cross 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:42.840 snow and the ice. And it's called the Iditarod Trail. 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:45.120 The event was warming up for the Iditarod. 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:46.320 It's warming up. 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.080 Two years prepping for it. The story I. 0:00:50.080 --> 0:00:50.400 Have. 0:00:51.560 --> 0:00:52.640 49. 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.480 When I'll get back to my home. Hey, I can 0:00:55.480 --> 0:00:58.600 tell my tale. I did, I did, I did, I 0:00:58.600 --> 0:00:59.160 did it right. 0:00:59.690 --> 0:01:04.330 Okay? Yeah. Back in 1979, when I was two years old, 0:01:04.330 --> 0:01:05.490 I ran that race. 0:01:06.290 --> 0:01:09.089 Is that actually a song that people in Alaska listen to? 0:01:09.130 --> 0:01:13.850 Well, they did really well. I mean, for the Iditarod, 0:01:13.890 --> 0:01:16.170 let's put it that way. It was played in the 0:01:16.170 --> 0:01:19.090 bars in Nome, Alaska, let's put it that way. How 0:01:19.090 --> 0:01:21.090 about the bar in Nome, Alaska? 0:01:21.130 --> 0:01:23.210 Yeah, because it's like a town of like, five people. 0:01:23.410 --> 0:01:25.289 Well, no, there's more than that. There must be at 0:01:25.330 --> 0:01:28.970 least 2000. 3000. Oh, okay. Anyhow, so I'm preparing for 0:01:28.970 --> 0:01:31.729 the Iditarod. I've now got a team of five dogs. 0:01:32.090 --> 0:01:35.610 The only time to go train these things was nighttime. 0:01:35.850 --> 0:01:38.650 And sun goes down early in Alaska in the middle 0:01:38.650 --> 0:01:41.250 of winter. So I went out on a training run, 0:01:41.250 --> 0:01:43.729 but I didn't have my dad with me. Mom was 0:01:43.730 --> 0:01:47.289 the one that braved it. We had a a great 0:01:47.330 --> 0:01:50.530 rig that towed a trailer and that had all my 0:01:50.570 --> 0:01:53.050 dog kennels on it and dog sled, and so we 0:01:53.450 --> 0:01:57.450 went down to a place called Tudor Track. It's really 0:01:57.450 --> 0:02:00.830 cold out. Not a breath of wind, though. And I 0:02:00.870 --> 0:02:03.670 hook up. My team told mom I'll be back in 0:02:03.710 --> 0:02:08.350 about 45 minutes. I said, you hang right here. She's like, okay, well, 0:02:08.750 --> 0:02:12.110 she's hanging right there. Little did she know, I'm on 0:02:12.110 --> 0:02:16.030 the back stretch of what's called Campbell Airstrip, going through 0:02:16.030 --> 0:02:18.549 these moguls. And all of a sudden I lost my 0:02:18.550 --> 0:02:20.950 balance and the dog team threw me off the sled. 0:02:20.950 --> 0:02:21.750 Oh, no. 0:02:22.470 --> 0:02:27.470 Kaboom. And I thought, oh, they'll stop. And they didn't stop. 0:02:27.510 --> 0:02:27.790 Oh, no. 0:02:27.790 --> 0:02:31.070 And the more I yelled, the faster they went. And 0:02:31.070 --> 0:02:33.669 I'm like, oh no, here I am standing there, I've 0:02:33.669 --> 0:02:36.430 got a headlamp and I don't know what to do 0:02:36.430 --> 0:02:40.030 because they're going to get back somehow. Maybe. So. I 0:02:40.030 --> 0:02:41.790 didn't know what was going on. I didn't know that 0:02:41.790 --> 0:02:43.829 they'd get in a few tangles before they got back, 0:02:43.830 --> 0:02:47.150 but I thought, I have got to get back quicker 0:02:47.150 --> 0:02:51.870 than running another five miles in my polar gear, right? 0:02:51.910 --> 0:02:52.669 Because that's. 0:02:53.110 --> 0:02:53.750 Heavy stuff. 0:02:53.790 --> 0:02:58.360 Heavy stuff. So I decided to take a shortcut. So 0:02:58.360 --> 0:03:02.000 I cut through. I'm young guys. I'm thinking back about 0:03:02.000 --> 0:03:05.600 this going. This is crazy. It's cold out, man. I mean, 0:03:05.600 --> 0:03:08.400 I got I got no weapons if I run into 0:03:08.400 --> 0:03:13.080 moose on the trail and it's dicey. So I'm. I'm 0:03:13.120 --> 0:03:17.360 taking a shortcut back, which makes me walk back, jog 0:03:17.360 --> 0:03:24.880 back slow, jog on the outbound trail, because that was 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:28.760 the shortcut. So take the shortcut, and when I get back, 0:03:29.800 --> 0:03:34.480 there's my dog team. But my mom is gone, and 0:03:34.480 --> 0:03:37.440 I'm like, what is going on? Well, I put two 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:43.480 and two together and, uh, well, what happened was the 0:03:43.480 --> 0:03:46.360 dog team came in and she's cheering for me like crazy. 0:03:46.400 --> 0:03:48.160 All right, man, this is a good time. 0:03:48.200 --> 0:03:49.240 And then you're not. 0:03:49.240 --> 0:03:51.000 They're not on the sled. 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:54.839 Oh, boy. Nothing worse for a mom to experience. 0:03:54.880 --> 0:03:56.000 Wow. Kidding. 0:03:56.100 --> 0:04:00.580 I'm not on the sled. So mom goes out walking 0:04:00.580 --> 0:04:06.100 out the inbound trail. I'm walking in the outbound trail. 0:04:06.220 --> 0:04:07.100 Oh, man. 0:04:07.140 --> 0:04:10.900 And so I missed her. And she goes out to 0:04:10.940 --> 0:04:15.820 Campbell Creek. That's open, and it's running pretty good. And 0:04:15.820 --> 0:04:19.420 she was absolutely convinced in her mind, the only place 0:04:19.420 --> 0:04:22.339 I fell off and got lost and couldn't get back 0:04:22.339 --> 0:04:23.860 up was I fell in the river. 0:04:24.060 --> 0:04:24.540 Oh, no. 0:04:24.580 --> 0:04:27.100 And she is yelling my name. Karl. 0:04:27.220 --> 0:04:30.060 Karl! Karl. 0:04:30.620 --> 0:04:36.180 And she's thinking I'm gone, guys. So I'm standing there 0:04:36.180 --> 0:04:38.380 with the dog team, and now I see my mom 0:04:38.380 --> 0:04:43.179 walking in the inbound. And she sees me and she 0:04:43.180 --> 0:04:47.140 starts jogging. And she's got all of her gear on, 0:04:47.140 --> 0:04:48.980 and she gave me a big old hug, and we 0:04:49.020 --> 0:04:52.140 talked about what went down. Went home that night, she 0:04:52.140 --> 0:04:54.710 made me some of her famous four alarm chili, Chile, 0:04:55.110 --> 0:04:58.830 which that's the that's the spice level. And trust me, 0:04:59.589 --> 0:05:02.029 it's like you got fire alarms in your belly for 0:05:02.029 --> 0:05:07.230 a week. It's awesome. And we just had a great 0:05:07.270 --> 0:05:11.630 mom son time. It was just beautiful. And mom kept 0:05:11.630 --> 0:05:13.869 rehearsing the story for me. I thought you were gone. 0:05:13.870 --> 0:05:15.750 I thought you were in the creek. I thought you 0:05:15.750 --> 0:05:16.830 were poor. 0:05:16.830 --> 0:05:17.070 Mom. 0:05:17.070 --> 0:05:19.390 She didn't want to say. I thought you drowned because 0:05:19.390 --> 0:05:21.310 she couldn't get it out of her mouth. But she said, 0:05:21.310 --> 0:05:24.589 I thought you were gone. And I'm like, oh, mom, 0:05:24.589 --> 0:05:28.270 thanks for being so good to me. And she was 0:05:28.270 --> 0:05:33.029 a good mom. You know what? Moms are something else, 0:05:33.029 --> 0:05:33.870 aren't they, guys? 0:05:34.470 --> 0:05:35.350 And they aren't. 0:05:35.470 --> 0:05:38.109 They? None of them are perfect. And some of you 0:05:38.150 --> 0:05:42.150 have gone through some hard stuff with your mom. Hard stuff. 0:05:44.550 --> 0:05:47.990 But we got an opportunity for you to cheer for 0:05:48.029 --> 0:05:51.190 and honor your mom and maybe win her something. And 0:05:51.190 --> 0:05:53.270 what's great about this? See, we're getting you way ahead 0:05:53.270 --> 0:05:56.000 of the curve here on something. That's what's. 0:05:56.000 --> 0:05:58.520 Awesome. This is our Mother's Day giveaway and we're really 0:05:58.520 --> 0:06:00.760 excited to share this with you. You have an opportunity 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.919 to win something for a mom in your life, maybe 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.680 a mom figure who stepped in, or if you're a mom, hey, 0:06:06.680 --> 0:06:09.840 you can enter to win this for yourself. $550 worth 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:11.599 of prizes. This is going to be a spa gift 0:06:11.600 --> 0:06:15.279 certificate or restaurant gift certificate that we will customize for 0:06:15.279 --> 0:06:18.480 wherever you are located. We know we have listeners across 0:06:18.839 --> 0:06:23.360 the country. We will customize this for you or for 0:06:23.360 --> 0:06:26.440 your mom. Text the word mom. We'll get you signed up. 0:06:26.440 --> 0:06:31.400 Text mom to 800 555 7898. Got an entry form 0:06:31.400 --> 0:06:33.560 that also gives you an opportunity to cheer for your 0:06:33.560 --> 0:06:35.440 mom a little bit. Tell us the story of what 0:06:35.440 --> 0:06:38.599 makes her unique, special, one of a kind text mom 0:06:38.600 --> 0:06:41.920 to 800 555 7898. 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.960 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.800 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:06:49.040 --> 0:06:51.640 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:06:52.200 --> 0:06:55.700 So, Ali is doing some planning for a message. Uh, recently, 0:06:55.700 --> 0:06:57.740 in fact, we covered this a little bit on air, 0:06:57.860 --> 0:07:02.500 a little bit of the difference between didactic learning and 0:07:02.500 --> 0:07:05.339 Socratic learning. Remember when we were having that discussion? 0:07:05.339 --> 0:07:06.340 I do, I do. 0:07:06.380 --> 0:07:09.380 And it was fun because we're talking about the early 0:07:09.380 --> 0:07:12.180 church was very Socratic in the way that they learned. 0:07:12.180 --> 0:07:14.340 They get around and huddle up. And then a few 0:07:14.380 --> 0:07:19.700 hundred years into this new incredible movement of the church 0:07:19.740 --> 0:07:22.740 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, things change. And 0:07:22.740 --> 0:07:24.980 we got a guy up front. Now it's becoming didactic. 0:07:24.980 --> 0:07:29.020 Everybody's talking at you rather than you processing together. Well, 0:07:29.020 --> 0:07:32.100 what came out of this was something really interesting. I 0:07:32.100 --> 0:07:34.940 started doing a deep dive on Socrates, and I'm like, 0:07:34.940 --> 0:07:38.180 he's a foregone conclusion in this world today. Like, everybody 0:07:38.180 --> 0:07:42.180 believes in Socrates. Here's the stunning thing. The guy keeled 0:07:42.180 --> 0:07:46.940 over dead for 99 BC and he never wrote anything 0:07:46.940 --> 0:07:50.580 that lasted. The only evidence we have of Socrates is 0:07:50.580 --> 0:07:53.390 that Plato repeated over and over again what he taught. 0:07:53.430 --> 0:07:57.150 Being one of his proteges, J. Warner Wallace, I was 0:07:57.150 --> 0:08:01.750 blown away. There are more people on Socratic bandwagon than 0:08:01.750 --> 0:08:05.470 there are of Jesus, and there's no evidence that he 0:08:05.470 --> 0:08:08.150 even existed. J Warner, do you feel what I'm feeling, 0:08:08.150 --> 0:08:08.790 my man? 0:08:08.830 --> 0:08:10.510 Yeah, I think what it is is, let's face it, 0:08:10.510 --> 0:08:14.430 there's no supernatural claims related to Socrates. None. I mean, 0:08:14.470 --> 0:08:16.830 it's not as though that anyone ever said he did miracles. 0:08:16.830 --> 0:08:19.830 I think if somebody claimed that he rose from the grave, well, 0:08:19.830 --> 0:08:21.750 now you would see the kind of skepticism you see 0:08:21.750 --> 0:08:24.710 in a culture that rejects anything supernatural to begin with. 0:08:24.750 --> 0:08:28.430 And we are so committed to our philosophical naturalism that 0:08:28.430 --> 0:08:32.190 we refuse to even entertain the possibility that somebody could 0:08:32.190 --> 0:08:35.350 do something outside of space, time, matter, physics and chemistry. Right. 0:08:35.350 --> 0:08:38.230 This is what we believe governs the universe. And Socrates 0:08:38.270 --> 0:08:41.150 fits within that worldview. Just another guy who came and 0:08:41.230 --> 0:08:44.030 lived and died and maybe had some special insight into 0:08:44.030 --> 0:08:47.030 the way the reality really functions. But he never claimed 0:08:47.030 --> 0:08:48.390 to do anything supernatural. 0:08:48.390 --> 0:08:52.170 Supernatural. The thing that stunned me is we take Socratic 0:08:52.170 --> 0:08:56.290 learning as a method. Just we just take it. And 0:08:56.290 --> 0:09:00.090 yet there's more evidence of the teachings of Christ. Forget 0:09:00.090 --> 0:09:03.809 the miracle of his resurrection than there is of of Socrates. 0:09:03.809 --> 0:09:07.010 And yet Socrates gets a pass and Christ goes through 0:09:07.010 --> 0:09:09.850 this grid. Why does Christ go through such a heavy grid? 0:09:09.890 --> 0:09:12.810 Is it because of strictly the claims of the supernatural, 0:09:12.809 --> 0:09:15.450 or do they need to chip away at his existence 0:09:15.490 --> 0:09:16.449 in total? 0:09:16.850 --> 0:09:19.010 Yeah, I do think it is the claims. Here's why 0:09:19.010 --> 0:09:21.329 I say that. So if you take the most aggressive 0:09:21.370 --> 0:09:24.250 skeptic of Jesus and you were to just kind of 0:09:24.290 --> 0:09:27.330 give them a thought experiment. If the gospels, if the 0:09:27.330 --> 0:09:31.290 ancient texts described a simple preaching rabbi in the first century, 0:09:31.290 --> 0:09:33.610 just a guy who came and lived and preached, kind 0:09:33.650 --> 0:09:35.890 of like Socrates had some things to say about loving 0:09:35.890 --> 0:09:38.089 people born of a virgin. Didn't rise from the dead, 0:09:38.130 --> 0:09:40.490 never worked a miracle, never walked on water. All the 0:09:40.809 --> 0:09:43.570 the miraculous stuff was removed. There wouldn't be a single 0:09:43.570 --> 0:09:47.250 skeptic on planet earth who would doubt the historicity of Jesus, 0:09:47.250 --> 0:09:50.260 given the man believed that evidence? Absolutely. There's no better 0:09:50.260 --> 0:09:54.420 attested ancient in the history of ancients than Jesus of Nazareth. 0:09:54.420 --> 0:09:58.059 But you insert one miracle and suddenly everyone's like, no, 0:09:58.420 --> 0:09:59.900 this has all got to be garbage. Well, what is 0:09:59.900 --> 0:10:03.420 that about? It's not about the manuscript evidence or how 0:10:03.420 --> 0:10:07.100 we're even evaluating the manuscript evidence, or how much we have, 0:10:07.220 --> 0:10:10.059 or how much impact this person has had on history. 0:10:10.059 --> 0:10:14.140 It's all about the insertion of supernatural elements. Now, suddenly, 0:10:14.140 --> 0:10:16.900 skepticism is a high peak. This shows you that the 0:10:16.900 --> 0:10:19.140 issue is not about the evidence. The issue is about 0:10:19.140 --> 0:10:23.300 a presuppositional bias, a presuppositional bias against the supernatural. Now, 0:10:23.340 --> 0:10:26.620 there's one more thing here. Socrates never called you to 0:10:26.660 --> 0:10:30.420 live a certain way to bend your knee, and Jesus 0:10:30.420 --> 0:10:34.500 clearly does so. So that's another huge issue. It really 0:10:34.500 --> 0:10:38.059 is about kind of our foundational worldview in the 21st century, 0:10:38.059 --> 0:10:41.940 plus our foundational desire to be our own God in 0:10:41.940 --> 0:10:43.219 the 21st century. 0:10:43.380 --> 0:10:45.700 J Warner Wallace, our guest right now, he's a Dateline 0:10:45.700 --> 0:10:48.910 featured cold case homicide detective. If you were thinking, he 0:10:48.950 --> 0:10:52.990 kind of sounds like a detective. You're absolutely right. National speaker, 0:10:52.990 --> 0:10:57.670 podcast host. Author. Now, you. Your passion is helping people 0:10:57.710 --> 0:11:01.590 become Christian case makers. Give us in. Just just in 0:11:01.590 --> 0:11:05.189 a nutshell, how you got to this. You were 35 0:11:05.230 --> 0:11:08.270 years old. You'd been an atheist. No background in church. 0:11:08.270 --> 0:11:10.830 You went to church because your wife thought it would 0:11:10.830 --> 0:11:14.270 be nice to raise the kids with some form of religion. 0:11:14.470 --> 0:11:17.590 And as a detective, you took on this challenge. I've 0:11:17.590 --> 0:11:20.270 started the story for you. You take it from there. 0:11:20.670 --> 0:11:22.830 Well, yeah, I just I just didn't have anybody in 0:11:22.830 --> 0:11:25.550 my family who was a believer that could, you know, 0:11:25.590 --> 0:11:28.390 it wasn't part of my upbringing. I wasn't around anyone 0:11:28.390 --> 0:11:30.430 who told me they were a believer growing up or 0:11:30.429 --> 0:11:32.910 ever invited us to church. And my dad is still 0:11:32.910 --> 0:11:35.790 a very committed atheist. He's 85. I keep on praying 0:11:35.790 --> 0:11:38.310 that at some point he's going to have an epiphany moment, 0:11:38.309 --> 0:11:40.190 but I can tell you it's not happened yet, and 0:11:40.190 --> 0:11:42.949 I don't think he's that close. That's just who I was. 0:11:42.950 --> 0:11:44.429 That's how I was raised. You know, I became a 0:11:44.429 --> 0:11:46.970 detective the same way he became a detective. I actually 0:11:46.970 --> 0:11:50.570 closed one of his old unsolved murders. You know, I 0:11:50.610 --> 0:11:53.490 kind of followed in his footsteps, and my atheism also 0:11:53.490 --> 0:11:56.530 followed in his footsteps. But when I examined the Gospels, 0:11:56.530 --> 0:11:59.450 using the same skills we use to examine any set 0:11:59.450 --> 0:12:01.970 of eyewitnesses, that's the only way I knew to do it. 0:12:02.090 --> 0:12:04.610 You know, what is the criteria for reliable eyewitness in 0:12:04.610 --> 0:12:07.569 the state of California? I'm in Los Angeles County. Okay, well, 0:12:07.730 --> 0:12:10.050 there's a certain criteria in the jury instructions. If I 0:12:10.050 --> 0:12:13.410 apply that criteria to the gospel authors, would they pass? Well, 0:12:13.450 --> 0:12:15.370 aside from the fact that they make a claim of 0:12:15.370 --> 0:12:19.210 supernatural activity, everything else about them will pass. Now, you 0:12:19.210 --> 0:12:20.770 go to the question, what do you do with that? Then? 0:12:20.809 --> 0:12:22.650 You know, to be honest, I knew there was something 0:12:22.690 --> 0:12:25.569 outside of space, time and matter. But that means there's 0:12:25.570 --> 0:12:28.490 something outside of space time and matter that is the 0:12:28.490 --> 0:12:31.609 cause of space time and matter according to the science. 0:12:31.890 --> 0:12:34.090 So you already know there's something out there. The only 0:12:34.090 --> 0:12:37.090 question is, is it personal? Because if it's personal, you know, 0:12:37.130 --> 0:12:39.450 the biggest miracle in the scriptures is not in the 0:12:39.450 --> 0:12:43.330 New Testament. It's in Genesis one, everything from nothing. If 0:12:43.330 --> 0:12:45.569 you can do that, you can certainly walk on water. 0:12:45.940 --> 0:12:47.860 So I think you just have to have an open 0:12:47.860 --> 0:12:50.820 hand at least about the issue of supernaturalism. And then 0:12:50.820 --> 0:12:53.420 you will start reading the scriptures differently. And that's what 0:12:53.460 --> 0:12:56.300 helped me to kind of overcome my own biases. You know, 0:12:56.340 --> 0:12:58.819 you said something interesting a minute ago when you're talking 0:12:58.820 --> 0:13:01.620 about the ways that we teach. You know, I was 0:13:01.620 --> 0:13:04.500 talking to my son, who's now 36, and he was 0:13:04.500 --> 0:13:07.580 an avid comic book reader growing up. And it's interesting, 0:13:07.580 --> 0:13:09.940 if you asked him today, he would probably tell you 0:13:09.940 --> 0:13:14.179 that his moral formation was grounded as much in those 0:13:14.179 --> 0:13:17.500 old superheroes as it was in the teaching of Scripture, 0:13:17.500 --> 0:13:19.459 because I became a Christian when he was about eight. 0:13:19.820 --> 0:13:21.660 So he kind of came along with me, but he 0:13:21.660 --> 0:13:25.180 would tell you that it was storytelling. Yeah. Because you 0:13:25.179 --> 0:13:28.460 you find yourself not just learning about an issue. You 0:13:28.460 --> 0:13:31.900 find yourself living in the story and wanting to be 0:13:31.900 --> 0:13:34.660 part of this story. And I'll bet you that's happening 0:13:34.660 --> 0:13:37.420 for a lot of young people, which means that we 0:13:37.420 --> 0:13:39.980 have to not just tell them what's true, but we 0:13:39.980 --> 0:13:43.540 have to start creating stories that embody what is true. 0:13:43.580 --> 0:13:46.120 Perfect setup. Coming up, we're going to tell you about 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:49.640 one of those stories that J. Warner Wallace, our guest, 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.800 paired up with his son to create a graphic novel. 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:56.880 This is something that's one of the first of its kind. 0:13:56.920 --> 0:13:58.760 We're going to tell you all about it coming up. 0:13:59.160 --> 0:14:02.199 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:14:02.200 --> 0:14:06.440 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:08.720 Karl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:12.040 Well, if you are a graphic novel fan, this is 0:14:12.040 --> 0:14:14.440 for you. You're going to love this full color graphic 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:18.959 novel for adults. Highly engaging. It's called Case Files Murder 0:14:18.960 --> 0:14:22.880 and meaning J. Warner Wallace, the author with us right now. 0:14:23.240 --> 0:14:24.800 Tell us about this. For those of us who have 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:28.160 no familiarity with graphic novels, what is this? 0:14:28.200 --> 0:14:30.400 Well, basically a large comic book. So it's more like 0:14:30.440 --> 0:14:34.440 5 or 6 comic books bound together as one overarching story. 0:14:34.640 --> 0:14:36.560 I always knew that, you know, I've written a lot 0:14:36.600 --> 0:14:39.480 about nine books that are nonfiction, but I knew eventually 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:42.000 we would move toward fiction. But my son being a 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:44.650 fan of comic books. And so when we saw that 0:14:44.650 --> 0:14:48.170 our publisher for several of our early books was purchasing 0:14:48.170 --> 0:14:50.410 a comic book, well, we knew this was something that 0:14:50.410 --> 0:14:52.970 we could reach people with. We wrote a book that 0:14:52.970 --> 0:14:56.330 I think will be a really fast reading comic book. 0:14:56.370 --> 0:14:58.210 And it's probably something you'll read halfway through and not 0:14:58.210 --> 0:15:00.570 even realize it's a Christian comic book. But in the end, 0:15:00.730 --> 0:15:04.250 we want to examine at least one apologetics issue. And 0:15:04.250 --> 0:15:07.530 in this first book, it's about the value of human life. 0:15:07.570 --> 0:15:10.770 Like what determines human value? Most of us will put 0:15:10.770 --> 0:15:14.970 our value in our achievements and our financial status in 0:15:14.970 --> 0:15:17.410 our family structure where we live. These are things that 0:15:17.410 --> 0:15:19.930 we typically say, this is who I am. But it 0:15:19.930 --> 0:15:23.010 turns out that those things usually are exposed when you 0:15:23.010 --> 0:15:26.130 think deeply about your life, especially as you get older. 0:15:26.130 --> 0:15:29.130 And they are certainly exposed in murder investigations. Because I'll 0:15:29.130 --> 0:15:31.210 tell you what, there's a bunch of murders are happening 0:15:31.210 --> 0:15:33.770 right now as we speak. And no one's even going 0:15:33.770 --> 0:15:36.810 to cover them in the news media unless the right 0:15:36.810 --> 0:15:39.850 person gets killed. And then it'll be a national headline. 0:15:40.250 --> 0:15:42.860 Why do we think that that person is worthy of 0:15:42.860 --> 0:15:46.340 our attention, but the others aren't. What gives one person 0:15:46.340 --> 0:15:48.780 value when you think others don't have it? We actually 0:15:48.780 --> 0:15:51.140 think that's a false notion as Christians. But how do 0:15:51.140 --> 0:15:52.940 we communicate that? Well, we've got a story about a 0:15:52.940 --> 0:15:57.100 serial killer who is targeting people of increasing cultural value 0:15:57.260 --> 0:15:59.220 just to bring the issue to light. And we've got 0:15:59.220 --> 0:16:02.060 a bunch of detectives who are trying to understand their 0:16:02.060 --> 0:16:04.500 own value as they chase this killer. 0:16:04.820 --> 0:16:07.660 This is a fascinating project to me because you take 0:16:07.700 --> 0:16:10.740 you and your son, your background as a cold case 0:16:10.740 --> 0:16:14.820 homicide detective. You take the genre of graphic novel. You 0:16:14.860 --> 0:16:19.100 kind of have this murder meaning mystery going on and 0:16:19.100 --> 0:16:23.060 somehow apologetics, the gospel is woven in. How in the 0:16:23.060 --> 0:16:25.420 world does this all come together? 0:16:25.660 --> 0:16:28.020 Well, that's the trick, right? So I think that there's 0:16:28.060 --> 0:16:30.700 a fair criticism that often we are a little bit 0:16:30.700 --> 0:16:34.180 too aggressive and ambitious with every Christian project. Right? Like 0:16:34.220 --> 0:16:35.700 at the end of this thing, at the end of 0:16:35.700 --> 0:16:38.100 this movie, everything's got to end well and everyone's going 0:16:38.100 --> 0:16:40.260 to get saved and it's going to be pollyannaish. And 0:16:40.260 --> 0:16:42.760 that's just not the way that life is. So we 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.840 wanted to write a story that was real. And people 0:16:45.840 --> 0:16:47.640 most of the early reviews will say, yeah, this is 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:51.520 a very realistic book because the conversations between cops at 0:16:51.520 --> 0:16:54.440 death scenes are conversations we've had. So we know what 0:16:54.440 --> 0:16:56.880 those conversations sound like. And we all know people in 0:16:56.880 --> 0:16:58.760 the industry because we work with them. We could talk 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.600 about Jesus with them till we're blue in the face, 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:02.920 and it's going to sometimes feel like a conversation that's 0:17:02.920 --> 0:17:05.760 just going into the ether, and we want to portray 0:17:05.760 --> 0:17:08.879 it this way. Our main characters are not Christians. There's 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:11.919 just one character, a minor character that even holds a 0:17:11.920 --> 0:17:14.239 Christian worldview, and his voice is not going to be 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:16.400 respected by the others. Because to be honest, if you're 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.760 in a law enforcement agency, that's probably you. If you're 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:21.600 the Christian in your organization, it's just not a dominantly 0:17:21.600 --> 0:17:25.680 Christian industry. It's a dominantly pessimistic industry where people get 0:17:25.720 --> 0:17:29.560 jaded and that jaded nature helps us solve crimes. So 0:17:29.560 --> 0:17:32.560 it turns out you're a glass half empty view actually 0:17:32.600 --> 0:17:35.240 serves you well in this industry. And that's what we 0:17:35.240 --> 0:17:37.760 wanted to capture in this book. Not every plane is 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:40.450 going to land safely. Not everyone's going to end up saved. 0:17:40.490 --> 0:17:43.450 It's a very realistic view of what the industry looks 0:17:43.450 --> 0:17:46.729 like and what human nature looks like, right? So I 0:17:46.770 --> 0:17:48.609 just wanted something that you would read at the end 0:17:48.609 --> 0:17:50.530 and you would say that was satisfying on a couple 0:17:50.570 --> 0:17:53.770 of levels, and was not this pollyannaish kind of Christian 0:17:53.770 --> 0:17:55.210 story that you might expect. 0:17:55.250 --> 0:18:00.290 But definitely raises some good questions for further investigation. J 0:18:00.330 --> 0:18:03.209 Warner Wallace with us right now. This is something I 0:18:03.210 --> 0:18:05.010 think you're going to want to check out. Maybe this 0:18:05.010 --> 0:18:07.770 isn't for everyone. Maybe you don't like graphic novels, but 0:18:07.770 --> 0:18:10.050 there's probably someone in your life who does. So I 0:18:10.050 --> 0:18:13.090 want you to check this out. Text case to 800 0:18:13.090 --> 0:18:17.690 555 7898. You can also explore a host of other 0:18:17.690 --> 0:18:21.129 books and great resources on the website. Text case to 0:18:21.170 --> 0:18:24.730 800 555 7898. 0:18:25.250 --> 0:18:29.770 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:18:29.770 --> 0:18:33.450 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:18:33.730 --> 0:18:37.490 Guess what we didn't forget. No, we're right on time. 0:18:37.940 --> 0:18:39.300 Right on time. 0:18:39.340 --> 0:18:42.419 Yeah, we're right on time. That's that from that album 0:18:42.420 --> 0:18:44.460 Black Box Hits. That thing is so good. 0:18:45.020 --> 0:18:46.179 From 1990. 0:18:46.220 --> 0:18:47.580 That was so good though. 0:18:47.619 --> 0:18:50.420 Every tune on that album, but I digress. It is 0:18:50.420 --> 0:18:53.500 the bottom of the hour on this Wednesday morning. Take 0:18:53.500 --> 0:18:54.660 it away, young thunder. 0:18:54.980 --> 0:18:58.500 Making herself laugh no matter who joins her. It's time 0:18:58.500 --> 0:19:00.580 for Ali thinks it's funny. 0:19:01.900 --> 0:19:03.820 Anyone in here? Play a little tennis? 0:19:04.980 --> 0:19:06.740 Uh, I've tried and failed. 0:19:06.740 --> 0:19:07.740 Yeah, yeah. 0:19:08.500 --> 0:19:12.260 It's a that's a that's a tough sport. 0:19:12.500 --> 0:19:13.260 It's a tough sport. 0:19:13.300 --> 0:19:15.139 You gotta you got to get in a lot of reps, 0:19:15.140 --> 0:19:18.180 I feel. But yeah, I've tried. 0:19:18.260 --> 0:19:19.859 You're good at it or you're. 0:19:19.900 --> 0:19:20.700 No no. 0:19:21.060 --> 0:19:22.060 No I mean I. 0:19:22.380 --> 0:19:22.660 Got. 0:19:22.700 --> 0:19:27.180 One summer. I got pretty good at it. But good 0:19:27.180 --> 0:19:28.260 is relative, Ali. 0:19:28.340 --> 0:19:29.740 Anyway. Go ahead. Okay. 0:19:31.140 --> 0:19:34.460 Okay. So there's no professionals. That's okay. You still might 0:19:34.460 --> 0:19:36.939 know the answer to this question. Uh, what do you 0:19:36.980 --> 0:19:40.439 call a girl standing in the middle of a tennis court? 0:19:40.640 --> 0:19:42.880 The middle of the tennis court. There's tennis courts by 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:45.159 my house. There's a girl who just hangs out there. 0:19:45.200 --> 0:19:48.480 She's just standing in the middle. I found out her name. 0:19:48.880 --> 0:19:49.280 What? 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:50.320 Her name is Annette. 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.560 So bad. That was bad. That was bad. 0:19:57.720 --> 0:20:01.480 Low down. So bad. It was almost. 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.760 Good. Thank you, thank you, I appreciate that. Next up 0:20:04.760 --> 0:20:05.000 for you. 0:20:05.040 --> 0:20:07.399 Because I always do two and hope at least one 0:20:07.400 --> 0:20:12.760 of them lands. Little bit of an awkward situation. Scientists. 0:20:12.760 --> 0:20:18.360 I have a scientist friend, but he has bad breath. 0:20:18.640 --> 0:20:19.240 Oh, no. 0:20:19.800 --> 0:20:23.280 What do you give a scientist with bad breath? 0:20:24.240 --> 0:20:28.000 Oh, this would be fun to guess at an experiment. 0:20:34.600 --> 0:20:35.600 She's laughing. 0:20:35.600 --> 0:20:35.879 So. 0:20:36.010 --> 0:20:37.010 Hard, it's like. 0:20:38.210 --> 0:20:38.970 Here's a little. 0:20:38.970 --> 0:20:40.530 Experiment for you. 0:20:41.090 --> 0:20:46.290 Use it liberally. Text jokes to 800 555 78. 98. 0:20:46.290 --> 0:20:51.970 Jokes to 800 555 7898. I like to keep preparing. 0:20:51.970 --> 0:20:54.010 Prepared for all situations. 0:20:54.290 --> 0:20:59.570 Oh my goodness. Oh my goodness. Okay. 0:20:59.690 --> 0:21:02.129 By the way, talk about awkward moments when somebody offers 0:21:02.130 --> 0:21:04.330 you a breath mint. Would you like one of these? 0:21:04.369 --> 0:21:06.730 You have to assess. Are they being kind? 0:21:07.130 --> 0:21:07.449 Are they. 0:21:07.490 --> 0:21:10.650 Being gracious? They're really insisting. No, really. 0:21:10.690 --> 0:21:12.129 Would you like a breath mint? 0:21:13.090 --> 0:21:15.970 Awkward when they foisted on you. And then, you know, 0:21:15.970 --> 0:21:19.210 there's a bigger issue going on? No, really, I think 0:21:19.210 --> 0:21:20.290 this would be good. 0:21:20.410 --> 0:21:24.810 For you to take. They're so good. Please try one. 0:21:24.850 --> 0:21:25.969 Experiment. 0:21:26.010 --> 0:21:27.610 It's real life stuff, right? 0:21:28.290 --> 0:21:31.290 Oh, boy. You want those jokes, don't you? 0:21:31.330 --> 0:21:35.270 Text jokes to 800 555, 78. 78.98. 0:21:35.310 --> 0:21:38.470 Oh! Goodness sakes. Well, today, one of the topics that 0:21:38.470 --> 0:21:41.270 we want to tackle with you is the beauty of 0:21:41.270 --> 0:21:47.070 living from your identity with Christ, and not for the 0:21:47.070 --> 0:21:50.190 approval of others. It's a big deal, isn't it, guys? 0:21:50.230 --> 0:21:51.470 It is because. 0:21:51.510 --> 0:21:54.190 Living for the approval of others. Well, man, you don't 0:21:54.190 --> 0:21:55.830 need to fill in too many blanks to know how 0:21:55.830 --> 0:21:56.629 that goes. 0:21:56.670 --> 0:22:00.030 Well, what what what does it do in you? It's exhausting. 0:22:00.070 --> 0:22:02.830 Yes. What else does it do? You never stop running, 0:22:02.830 --> 0:22:04.550 so it's absolutely exhausting. 0:22:04.590 --> 0:22:07.550 You never hit the mark. No, you never hit the mark. 0:22:07.590 --> 0:22:11.550 It's stressful because you're afraid. You're. You're thinking, what are 0:22:11.550 --> 0:22:15.630 these people thinking about me? It's fickle because it changes 0:22:15.630 --> 0:22:17.030 all the time. Yeah. 0:22:17.430 --> 0:22:21.949 It's not good, Matthew. Truth be told, we're going to 0:22:21.950 --> 0:22:23.550 break it down for you to give you a resource 0:22:23.550 --> 0:22:24.189 coming up. 0:22:24.430 --> 0:22:29.030 She's a choreographer extraordinaire, and everything is Greek to her. 0:22:29.430 --> 0:22:33.189 Super dei is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:22:33.190 --> 0:22:34.439 on Moody Radio. 0:22:35.119 --> 0:22:36.840 You know, we want to help you take your next 0:22:36.840 --> 0:22:41.400 step with Jesus. But it is really difficult to navigate 0:22:41.400 --> 0:22:46.040 this world to understand how secure you are in Christ, 0:22:46.040 --> 0:22:49.000 that you've got a genuine purpose and that you aren't 0:22:49.000 --> 0:22:52.800 living for the approval of others unless you are living 0:22:52.800 --> 0:22:58.200 from your identity in Christ. And that identity, I think, 0:22:58.200 --> 0:23:00.560 is best illustrated, and this is what I love about 0:23:00.560 --> 0:23:05.400 Jesus's teaching. He gives stories from everyday life to illustrate 0:23:05.400 --> 0:23:09.000 hard to understand spiritual truths. He does it all the time. 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:12.000 And so let me give you a story. I've got 0:23:12.000 --> 0:23:13.600 a couple of them. I'm going to go back to 0:23:13.640 --> 0:23:16.960 Moon Barrett though. He's so good. Moon Barrett was my 0:23:16.960 --> 0:23:19.600 manager at Carrs grocery store. In fact, I think he 0:23:19.600 --> 0:23:22.360 was the GM. He had a lot of hats that 0:23:22.359 --> 0:23:27.080 he wore, but he oversaw all 32 box boys. Now, 0:23:27.080 --> 0:23:29.240 this was intense. This was back in the day. I 0:23:29.240 --> 0:23:31.840 don't know if y'all are old enough to remember this, 0:23:31.840 --> 0:23:34.889 but when we hauled out groceries, we'd take them out 0:23:34.890 --> 0:23:38.369 in these big carts that they were kind of vertical carts. 0:23:38.369 --> 0:23:41.250 You'd stack all these bags in them, not these little 0:23:41.250 --> 0:23:43.489 handy dandy jobbies that you walk through the store in. 0:23:43.490 --> 0:23:47.330 And then we had different carts for carrying out groceries. Okay. 0:23:47.369 --> 0:23:51.090 And so you could stack like maybe 12, 15 bags 0:23:51.090 --> 0:23:53.810 in these things. They were huge. You'd tip them back 0:23:53.810 --> 0:23:56.930 so they they looked like a hand truck. Only it 0:23:56.930 --> 0:23:59.410 had it looked like a hand truck with shelves. That's 0:23:59.410 --> 0:24:00.010 what it looked like. 0:24:00.050 --> 0:24:00.369 Okay. 0:24:00.410 --> 0:24:04.210 So big shelves. And I loved working with this team. Man. 0:24:04.210 --> 0:24:07.850 I'm 14 years old, got the job at cars and 0:24:07.850 --> 0:24:11.649 loved it. Poor dad and mom because nobody's driving. Guess who? 0:24:11.890 --> 0:24:14.449 Guess who shuttled you down to Carrs grocery store and 0:24:14.450 --> 0:24:15.649 picked you up every day? 0:24:15.770 --> 0:24:16.210 Yep. 0:24:16.890 --> 0:24:19.090 I never did pay gas money to them for that. 0:24:19.090 --> 0:24:21.570 By the way. It just dawned on me that was 0:24:21.570 --> 0:24:22.850 a gracious thing they did. 0:24:22.890 --> 0:24:24.090 I think they were okay with that. 0:24:24.130 --> 0:24:26.969 Yeah, yeah. So we were busting it. I think I 0:24:26.970 --> 0:24:32.390 was making $3.25 an hour, and we were I was in. 0:24:32.430 --> 0:24:32.910 Woo. 0:24:33.230 --> 0:24:37.630 Man hog Evan. I was making jingle. So I started 0:24:37.670 --> 0:24:39.750 busting my tail because dad taught me how to bust 0:24:39.750 --> 0:24:44.150 my tail. And I mean, I'm busting it. First few 0:24:44.150 --> 0:24:46.990 months of working, I'm starting to get promoted. And then 0:24:46.990 --> 0:24:49.350 I got to the point where I was team lead. 0:24:49.670 --> 0:24:51.830 So I'd have this whole team underneath me, and I 0:24:51.830 --> 0:24:54.350 was supposed to make sure that guys were scattered throughout 0:24:54.350 --> 0:24:58.430 the registers properly, and we everybody's groceries were bagged. But 0:24:58.470 --> 0:25:02.109 immediately I could see I had a problem here, and 0:25:02.150 --> 0:25:03.790 I had some guys on the team that had been 0:25:03.790 --> 0:25:06.630 around a while. I've been around a while. They were 0:25:06.630 --> 0:25:08.950 old men to me. A couple of them were 16 0:25:08.990 --> 0:25:09.350 and I'm. 0:25:09.350 --> 0:25:10.629 14 men. 0:25:11.310 --> 0:25:13.109 And no. But when you're 14, a. 0:25:13.109 --> 0:25:13.949 16 year old. 0:25:14.390 --> 0:25:15.469 You're like, that's a grown man. 0:25:15.510 --> 0:25:18.430 That's like grandpa right there. This guy probably has four kids. 0:25:18.630 --> 0:25:22.270 I mean, it's just it felt so and the power 0:25:22.310 --> 0:25:26.710 differential was so strong that I started I moved my 0:25:26.710 --> 0:25:30.879 whole mindset moved from, I'm here working for moon. Now 0:25:30.880 --> 0:25:33.520 I'm here working for these guys, and I was trying 0:25:33.520 --> 0:25:36.240 to work to get their approval, and I couldn't get it. Guys, 0:25:36.240 --> 0:25:39.639 it was painful. I thought if I work hard, harder 0:25:39.800 --> 0:25:42.359 than all of them. No, that didn't work. So I 0:25:42.359 --> 0:25:45.280 thought if I work at their pace and that didn't work, 0:25:45.480 --> 0:25:48.200 go back to the break room. If I joke around 0:25:48.200 --> 0:25:51.160 with them, that didn't work. So I'm like, odd man out. 0:25:51.160 --> 0:25:55.040 And now I'm miserable hating this new position that I've 0:25:55.040 --> 0:25:59.080 been given. Moon saw this one day. Moon was quite 0:25:59.080 --> 0:26:01.199 a guy, man. Big old boy. And he stood in 0:26:01.240 --> 0:26:04.919 the in the tower. The tower is where the manager stood. 0:26:04.960 --> 0:26:07.399 You know, it wasn't a big step up, but it 0:26:07.400 --> 0:26:09.760 was a foot. And so they're looking down at everyone. 0:26:09.760 --> 0:26:11.960 And he shut down the whole line. He said, boys 0:26:11.960 --> 0:26:15.879 shut her down. Told all the mainly women at the 0:26:15.880 --> 0:26:18.320 cash registers. A couple other guys were in there. But 0:26:18.359 --> 0:26:20.600 I mean, these were lined up. These were there was 0:26:20.600 --> 0:26:23.000 no self checkout. I mean, it was just lined up. 0:26:23.480 --> 0:26:25.560 He said, you guys got to bag your stuff, took 0:26:25.560 --> 0:26:27.480 all of us back to the break room. He said. 0:26:27.480 --> 0:26:29.900 In about two minutes, he said, let me be clear. 0:26:30.340 --> 0:26:33.659 Carl is a team lead. Start treating him like it. Carl, 0:26:33.660 --> 0:26:37.140 don't let these guys. And I mean, he's back in 0:26:37.140 --> 0:26:40.780 the day. Even managers got colorful in language when 14 0:26:40.820 --> 0:26:42.939 year olds were around. It's just the way it rolled 0:26:42.940 --> 0:26:46.180 back in the day. And he was colorful. And I 0:26:46.180 --> 0:26:52.140 walked out of there feeling so authorized. And what happened 0:26:52.140 --> 0:26:57.140 was it changed everything because he he took the time 0:26:57.140 --> 0:26:59.900 to identify for these guys in a few seconds. I 0:26:59.900 --> 0:27:03.940 chose Carl for this position. He's got my stamp of 0:27:03.940 --> 0:27:08.300 authority on him, and he does not need to prove 0:27:08.300 --> 0:27:13.139 to you that he's okay. That's basically what he said. Now, 0:27:13.140 --> 0:27:18.180 how this relates spiritually is when we've been born again 0:27:18.180 --> 0:27:22.140 by the Holy Spirit into a relationship with Jesus. We're 0:27:22.180 --> 0:27:25.260 new creations. The old is gone. The new has come. 0:27:25.500 --> 0:27:30.190 We're fully forgiven. We're adopted as God's children. He's put 0:27:30.190 --> 0:27:32.270 the big hat on us. He says, you're my kids. 0:27:32.270 --> 0:27:37.070 Not for braggadocio, but for authority. We've got new authority. 0:27:37.430 --> 0:27:40.149 All authority in heaven and earth has been given to you. Go, 0:27:40.190 --> 0:27:42.430 he says with even with the Great Commission. So he's 0:27:42.430 --> 0:27:48.990 authorized us. We're his workmanship, made with a purpose. And 0:27:48.990 --> 0:27:53.110 here's the problem. If you do not get that vision 0:27:53.109 --> 0:27:58.470 of what Scripture is replete with, that we can live 0:27:58.470 --> 0:28:04.070 from our identity in Christ, not for the approval of others. 0:28:04.070 --> 0:28:06.910 We're going to be on what I just said here 0:28:06.910 --> 0:28:12.070 a few minutes ago, this hamster wheel of exhaustion, not 0:28:12.070 --> 0:28:15.710 knowing which way to turn, how to dress, what to say. 0:28:15.910 --> 0:28:21.070 It's exhausting. It's defeating. And you know what? You never 0:28:21.109 --> 0:28:23.590 get on about living the joy filled life that Christ 0:28:23.590 --> 0:28:31.120 expects And enabled us to have. So the question is 0:28:31.119 --> 0:28:32.720 how do we do it? Well, we got a resource 0:28:32.720 --> 0:28:35.160 for you coming up in just a moment. And I'm 0:28:35.400 --> 0:28:38.160 telling you, some of you have received this before. Do 0:28:38.160 --> 0:28:40.600 not be ashamed that you need it again because I 0:28:40.600 --> 0:28:43.080 need it once a month myself. Hang on. 0:28:43.440 --> 0:28:46.160 Your shot of hope to help you through the day. 0:28:46.440 --> 0:28:49.560 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:28:50.080 --> 0:28:52.600 You know that walking closer to Jesus every day. What 0:28:52.600 --> 0:28:55.280 does that mean? At the end of the day, it 0:28:55.280 --> 0:28:59.320 can be very fanciful, almost hallmark card ish. Or it 0:28:59.320 --> 0:29:01.880 can get down to the point where you're hearing his voice. 0:29:01.880 --> 0:29:04.640 He's speaking to you from the pages of Scripture. He 0:29:04.640 --> 0:29:09.040 starts rerouting, kind of retraining your mind re wallpapering your 0:29:09.040 --> 0:29:14.440 mind to understand who you are in Jesus. Because when God, 0:29:14.440 --> 0:29:17.160 through His Son Jesus, puts the big hat on us, 0:29:17.160 --> 0:29:21.840 not big braggadocious hat, but that identity of new creation 0:29:21.840 --> 0:29:27.020 old is gone. Fully forgiven. Adopted as God's child, no 0:29:27.020 --> 0:29:30.900 longer a slave to sin. God's workmanship made with the 0:29:30.900 --> 0:29:34.500 purpose indwelt by the Holy Spirit. More than a conqueror 0:29:34.500 --> 0:29:36.660 through him who loves us. Those are just a few 0:29:38.220 --> 0:29:43.540 that begins to change everything about how we relate to people. 0:29:43.540 --> 0:29:49.820 We're no longer living for approval. We're living from our identity. 0:29:49.820 --> 0:29:51.260 And it's a game changer. 0:29:51.540 --> 0:29:56.300 And it gives us so much freedom, freedom to to 0:29:56.340 --> 0:29:58.700 really be focused on other people. 0:29:58.740 --> 0:29:59.180 Yes. 0:29:59.220 --> 0:30:00.940 And one thing that I've noticed about some of the 0:30:00.940 --> 0:30:03.660 women that I most look up to, women of faith 0:30:03.660 --> 0:30:05.980 who are a little bit more seasoned than I am, 0:30:06.020 --> 0:30:10.180 they've reached a place, they've lived enough life. They don't 0:30:10.180 --> 0:30:14.900 care what people think anymore. It's like, it's so sweet 0:30:14.900 --> 0:30:17.570 to me and all. There's like at least 3 or 0:30:17.570 --> 0:30:19.980 4 women that I can think of in particular. They're 0:30:19.980 --> 0:30:23.500 all in their late 50s, early 60s, and they are 0:30:23.500 --> 0:30:26.670 so intentional about ministering to other people. And one of 0:30:26.670 --> 0:30:29.190 the things that I've noticed that's consistent is that they 0:30:29.230 --> 0:30:33.310 are they're not self-focused anymore. They walk into a room 0:30:33.350 --> 0:30:36.230 not worried about who's there, what they're wearing, what people 0:30:36.230 --> 0:30:39.630 are thinking. They walk into their room looking to see 0:30:39.630 --> 0:30:42.750 how other people are doing. Who needs a word of encouragement? 0:30:42.790 --> 0:30:45.390 Who's a little down today? And so when your focus 0:30:45.390 --> 0:30:48.190 is not on you, what am I doing? Okay. Are 0:30:48.190 --> 0:30:51.990 people okay with me? You're more effective in your ministry. 0:30:53.070 --> 0:30:54.950 Yeah. This is. 0:30:54.950 --> 0:31:06.510 Huge. Understanding your identity when you come from your identity 0:31:06.790 --> 0:31:12.150 and don't live for the approval of others, everything changes. 0:31:14.910 --> 0:31:18.550 Do not kick yourself for where you're at today. Some 0:31:18.550 --> 0:31:20.430 of you can look back at Sunday. You can look 0:31:20.430 --> 0:31:23.650 back at work yesterday. You can look at family. No 0:31:23.650 --> 0:31:26.690 no no no no no. Get this. We're all learning 0:31:26.690 --> 0:31:29.170 and growing, and some of you know what it is 0:31:29.170 --> 0:31:31.170 to be so secure in Christ that it's like all 0:31:31.170 --> 0:31:33.970 those perceptions of people, it doesn't matter. But you can 0:31:33.970 --> 0:31:37.890 get back there again. We've got this tool I'm encouraging 0:31:37.930 --> 0:31:40.370 21 days morning and evening. Take it away, Alex. 0:31:40.410 --> 0:31:42.410 This is a great resource. It's our truth blog, one 0:31:42.410 --> 0:31:45.450 of our most popular. It's just powerful truth from the 0:31:45.450 --> 0:31:48.530 Word of God about who you are. Text truth will 0:31:48.530 --> 0:31:54.770 send it to you. T.r.u.t.h. Truth to 800 555 7898. Text. 0:31:54.810 --> 0:31:58.570 Truth to 800 555 7898. 0:31:59.130 --> 0:32:04.690 When our vision of who God says we are and 0:32:04.690 --> 0:32:07.930 how secure we are in Christ aligns with the truth 0:32:07.930 --> 0:32:12.770 of God, the pressure to live for the approval of 0:32:12.770 --> 0:32:22.130 others will evaporate. Get it? Text truth to 805 55, 7898. Man, 0:32:22.130 --> 0:32:22.770 what a freedom.