WEBVTT - Serving Others 0:00:00.380 --> 0:00:04.430 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.460 --> 0:00:08.270 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.300 --> 0:00:10.400 I don't know what you're up against today and what 0:00:10.400 --> 0:00:12.950 kind of mountains need to fall, and what rivers need 0:00:12.980 --> 0:00:16.370 to dry up in your life. But there is a 0:00:16.370 --> 0:00:20.060 body of evidence from the life of Moses to the 0:00:20.060 --> 0:00:23.630 life of Peter, uh, especially at Pentecost, when he preached 0:00:23.630 --> 0:00:30.890 that powerful message. He moves from being pretty cowardly, pretty braggadocious, 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:34.790 wielding swords, lopping off ears, to denying Christ in front 0:00:34.790 --> 0:00:37.760 of a girl in little campfire going there. I mean, 0:00:37.760 --> 0:00:41.180 it's a tough scene to being so filled with the 0:00:41.180 --> 0:00:44.809 Holy Spirit that he's preaching the gospel. 40, 50,000 people, 0:00:44.840 --> 0:00:48.169 probably on the day of Pentecost. And the question is, 0:00:48.170 --> 0:00:50.150 how does that happen? Well, it's all about God. And 0:00:50.150 --> 0:00:52.820 that's what Patrick Mayberry is singing about. Watch what God 0:00:52.820 --> 0:00:55.670 can do. As you're getting up going on this Monday morning, 0:00:55.700 --> 0:00:58.340 you might need to hear that today. Watch what God 0:00:58.340 --> 0:01:02.030 can do. Our God is able man. Moses faced it. 0:01:02.060 --> 0:01:04.520 He's got Pharaoh's army coming out after him. He's got 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.039 a bunch of grumbling kids standing around him going, why'd 0:01:07.040 --> 0:01:11.899 you drag us out here, knucklehead? And he's like, God, 0:01:11.900 --> 0:01:16.039 what in the picking world is going on here? He says, 0:01:16.069 --> 0:01:21.590 be quiet, be still. Just put that staff right there. 0:01:22.790 --> 0:01:26.450 Watch what God can do. It's all about God, guys. 0:01:26.510 --> 0:01:29.449 Your fancy footwork and all of your attempts to try 0:01:29.450 --> 0:01:32.360 to square away situations. I'm not saying that we aren't responsible. 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:34.670 And you don't have to have tough conversations, or maybe 0:01:34.670 --> 0:01:37.160 have to get a budget built or you name it, man. 0:01:37.160 --> 0:01:39.320 For any situation, there might be things that God is 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:41.120 saying you need to do, but at the end of 0:01:41.120 --> 0:01:44.149 the day, it's his work. Let him have it today. 0:01:45.560 --> 0:01:49.940 I got up this morning and it really began Friday, 0:01:49.940 --> 0:01:53.720 I guess, for me, so humbled. So with a oh 0:01:53.750 --> 0:01:56.780 my goodness kind of mentality, I'm like, oh my word 0:01:57.370 --> 0:02:01.030 And I can't get over it. Cher was epic and 0:02:01.030 --> 0:02:05.350 we are listener supported station and our theme is and 0:02:05.350 --> 0:02:07.780 has been here for a few of our shares. The 0:02:07.810 --> 0:02:10.780 gospel changes everything and the amount of people, whether it's 0:02:10.780 --> 0:02:18.429 $25 or 365 or $10 a month, or 1000 or 0:02:18.430 --> 0:02:23.440 $20,005 and a few one dollars. It never ceases to 0:02:23.470 --> 0:02:26.530 amaze me, and frankly, it is so humbling. Ali. And 0:02:26.530 --> 0:02:27.940 we just want to say thank you. Right. 0:02:27.970 --> 0:02:30.609 We do in the spirit of, of of your gifts, 0:02:30.610 --> 0:02:33.310 because we could see in the comments was that Moody 0:02:33.340 --> 0:02:36.820 Radio has has meant something in your walk with the Lord, 0:02:36.820 --> 0:02:39.760 whether it's how you came to faith in Jesus Christ, 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:42.520 whether it was a family member who heard or you 0:02:42.520 --> 0:02:44.950 heard something that you were able to share with someone else. 0:02:44.980 --> 0:02:48.220 Like all of the different ways that this tapestry is 0:02:48.250 --> 0:02:51.520 woven of of of how God uses Christian radio, the 0:02:51.520 --> 0:02:55.300 gospel proclaimed through the airwaves to people at different moments 0:02:55.330 --> 0:02:57.310 in the Holy Spirit works out how all of that 0:02:57.310 --> 0:02:59.260 works out. You hear a verse when you need it, 0:02:59.260 --> 0:03:01.089 you hear a topic when you need it. 0:03:01.270 --> 0:03:02.260 And it's wild how that works. 0:03:02.290 --> 0:03:06.190 And so the spirit of the giving was this means something. 0:03:06.190 --> 0:03:09.040 And I want to make sure that more people get 0:03:09.040 --> 0:03:13.210 to hear and grow and be saved the way I was. 0:03:13.300 --> 0:03:17.590 It was it's unbelievable. Somebody wants to give virtual hugs 0:03:17.590 --> 0:03:20.889 if not physical. Oh yeah. To every person out there. 0:03:21.100 --> 0:03:24.310 So get in line on Wells Street, fly here to O'Hare, 0:03:24.340 --> 0:03:28.450 get on Wells Street, and, uh, she'd do it. If 0:03:28.450 --> 0:03:31.930 there's one event I'd show up is a thank you 0:03:31.960 --> 0:03:35.170 hug line. So I'd be at the front of that thing, man. 0:03:35.200 --> 0:03:38.260 I oh. Hands down. Yes, yes. 0:03:38.290 --> 0:03:40.300 Pretty cool. What do you what do you say, young Thunder? 0:03:40.300 --> 0:03:41.140 What's on your heart? 0:03:41.170 --> 0:03:44.110 No. I'm just I mean, I'm so grateful because we 0:03:44.110 --> 0:03:46.810 do talk about you guys. Boone crew all the time. 0:03:46.810 --> 0:03:47.620 Behind your back. 0:03:47.650 --> 0:03:50.860 Behind your back. About how amazing you are. Because you 0:03:50.860 --> 0:03:54.090 are amazing. We. I don't think I've ever seen a 0:03:54.090 --> 0:03:57.720 group of people so on fire for what God is 0:03:57.720 --> 0:04:01.860 doing and and wanting to see God move more in 0:04:01.860 --> 0:04:04.620 the lives of people, you guys are on fire for that. 0:04:04.620 --> 0:04:08.310 And you show it every year in how you support 0:04:08.310 --> 0:04:12.000 us and how you support your local church. You're generous, 0:04:12.030 --> 0:04:16.110 you're giving, and many people are coming and coming to 0:04:16.140 --> 0:04:19.590 Christ and growing in Christ because of you. So thank you. 0:04:19.620 --> 0:04:24.719 It's really cool. Um, I say this just because it's 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:28.140 good information, but we we came up 10% shy of 0:04:28.140 --> 0:04:31.410 our goal. Are we anyone wringing their hands in there? 0:04:31.440 --> 0:04:33.419 No no no no. Don't say. 0:04:33.420 --> 0:04:33.900 It. No. 0:04:34.860 --> 0:04:39.420 No one's wringing their hands. Nor is God. By the way. 0:04:39.540 --> 0:04:41.430 Very true, very important. 0:04:41.460 --> 0:04:43.589 But we wanted to give you that information because we 0:04:43.620 --> 0:04:46.170 came up 10% shy of our goal. And the reason 0:04:46.170 --> 0:04:50.820 I mentioned that is last week was crazy town for 0:04:50.820 --> 0:04:52.620 a lot of people. They had to get kids on 0:04:52.620 --> 0:04:57.239 planes or in cars, trains, automobiles, and they headed off 0:04:57.240 --> 0:05:00.660 down the road and boom, they were on spring break. 0:05:00.690 --> 0:05:06.120 And you might have totally missed last week. And if 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:10.049 you are of the mind that it's like, oh man, 0:05:10.050 --> 0:05:11.550 I missed it, and you want to be a part 0:05:11.550 --> 0:05:14.070 of this, we just offered that up to you. There 0:05:14.070 --> 0:05:16.740 is zero arm twisting here, but we just say if 0:05:16.740 --> 0:05:18.240 you missed it and you want to be a part 0:05:18.270 --> 0:05:22.320 and you hear we're 10% shy of our goal and 0:05:23.700 --> 0:05:25.440 we'd love for you to be a part. Right, Allie? 0:05:25.560 --> 0:05:31.469 You can still call (800) 600-9624. If you missed it, 800 0:05:31.500 --> 0:05:36.719 696 24. You can also go online to Moody radio.org. 0:05:36.750 --> 0:05:41.670 Yeah. And just humanoid. Is that a word? Humanoid. 0:05:41.700 --> 0:05:42.900 It can be. It is now. 0:05:42.930 --> 0:05:47.610 Should be a humanoid. Thank you to everyone. Thank you. 0:05:47.640 --> 0:05:51.720 The story's epic. I mean, we could sit here and. Well, 0:05:51.720 --> 0:05:54.539 how fun would it be? Be horrible radio. But we 0:05:54.540 --> 0:05:57.029 could scroll through every one of those comments that we 0:05:57.060 --> 0:06:00.510 got when people were giving gifts. It was just outstanding. 0:06:00.510 --> 0:06:01.170 It was. 0:06:01.290 --> 0:06:06.869 Just outstanding. So huge props. Huge thanks from all of 0:06:06.870 --> 0:06:08.760 us to you. We love you. And if you want 0:06:08.760 --> 0:06:10.890 to close that gap and you feel like, man, I 0:06:10.890 --> 0:06:12.390 want to get a I want to be a part 0:06:12.390 --> 0:06:14.490 of that, I totally missed it. And I know how 0:06:14.490 --> 0:06:25.020 that rolls. (800) 600-9624. (800) 600-9624. Or Moody radio.org. Boy, have we 0:06:25.020 --> 0:06:27.450 got a guy that's peeling back the paint and getting 0:06:27.450 --> 0:06:30.450 real honest with a compelling need out there, right, Ali? 0:06:30.480 --> 0:06:34.080 Coming up, when you think about global care, orphanages around 0:06:34.080 --> 0:06:36.839 the world, there's a picture maybe, that you have in 0:06:36.839 --> 0:06:40.620 your mind. But our guest wants to dispel some myths 0:06:40.620 --> 0:06:45.030 that actually are not helping families. We'll explain. Coming up. 0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:50.060 She's a choreographer Are extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:06:50.089 --> 0:06:54.050 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:06:54.080 --> 0:06:55.430 on Moody Radio. 0:06:55.460 --> 0:06:59.690 Fascinating that the half brother of Jesus tackles the issue 0:06:59.690 --> 0:07:03.050 of what real religion looks like. And in the first 0:07:03.050 --> 0:07:06.440 chapter of James, this is epic. You almost wonder how 0:07:06.440 --> 0:07:08.480 in the world does this go together? He said. If 0:07:08.480 --> 0:07:11.240 anyone thinks he's religious but does not bridle his tongue 0:07:11.240 --> 0:07:15.110 but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. And 0:07:15.110 --> 0:07:18.140 then it appears it just shifts religion that is pure 0:07:18.140 --> 0:07:21.890 and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit 0:07:21.890 --> 0:07:25.730 orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself 0:07:25.760 --> 0:07:29.420 unstained from the world. It appears the age old thing 0:07:29.420 --> 0:07:30.200 is real. Ali. 0:07:30.230 --> 0:07:30.620 You can. 0:07:30.890 --> 0:07:32.840 You can talk it all day long. But sooner or 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:34.820 later you got to put shoe leather to it. 0:07:34.850 --> 0:07:38.690 When you look at the issues facing children globally, it 0:07:38.690 --> 0:07:41.750 feels like one of those problems that's so big and 0:07:41.750 --> 0:07:45.290 kind of what how do I even begin to help? 0:07:45.290 --> 0:07:47.780 Brandon Stiver joining us right now, a respected leader in 0:07:47.780 --> 0:07:50.300 the field of global care for children. You have a 0:07:50.300 --> 0:07:55.040 passion to help children thrive in loving families. First, give 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:57.800 us a little bit of your backstory of why orphan 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:00.980 care globally is so is such an issue you're so 0:08:00.980 --> 0:08:01.940 passionate about. 0:08:01.940 --> 0:08:05.270 So for me, I mean, it started when I felt 0:08:05.300 --> 0:08:08.360 God call me to actually go run an orphanage in 0:08:08.360 --> 0:08:12.140 Africa and actually pursued that, and it landed me in 0:08:12.140 --> 0:08:15.860 northern Tanzania. And that was really a great spot for 0:08:15.860 --> 0:08:18.770 my own discipleship, because God taught me a whole lot. And, 0:08:18.800 --> 0:08:21.920 you know, in pursuing that global orphan care space, I 0:08:21.920 --> 0:08:24.290 realized that, you know, a lot of the kids in 0:08:24.290 --> 0:08:27.740 the nice Christian run orphanage that I was working at, 0:08:27.770 --> 0:08:30.800 most of the kids had families. Most of the kids 0:08:30.800 --> 0:08:32.780 probably could be with their families. If there was some 0:08:32.780 --> 0:08:36.050 sort of family support that would be provided to them. 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:38.239 You know, I love the passage from James that was 0:08:38.240 --> 0:08:41.900 just read. What's interesting is we often kind of gloss 0:08:41.900 --> 0:08:44.830 over the fact that it's orphans and widows. So what 0:08:44.830 --> 0:08:48.340 we're talking about is, you know, fatherless children and single mothers. 0:08:48.340 --> 0:08:50.860 And one of the things that I learned a lot, 0:08:50.860 --> 0:08:53.560 and kind of how God has guided me within this 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:55.780 space is to realize, and the best way to do 0:08:55.809 --> 0:08:58.660 orphan care is to help kids not be orphans anymore. 0:08:58.660 --> 0:09:01.000 And there are actual paths towards that, through. 0:09:01.210 --> 0:09:01.420 That. 0:09:01.450 --> 0:09:04.929 Reunification and through adoption. And and that's what God's been 0:09:04.929 --> 0:09:07.510 teaching me. And I've been involved in this space for, yeah, 0:09:07.540 --> 0:09:09.160 about 15, 20 years now. 0:09:09.190 --> 0:09:11.470 Brandon Stiver with us right now. He's principal and chief 0:09:11.470 --> 0:09:15.010 community builder at Canopy International, which is a community of 0:09:15.010 --> 0:09:18.040 nonprofit professionals, missionaries and leaders from around the world. 0:09:18.070 --> 0:09:21.280 Yeah. Brandon, I want to take you back to Tanzania, 0:09:21.309 --> 0:09:24.220 because you must have. I mean, when you land boots 0:09:24.220 --> 0:09:28.329 on the ground, you must have had preconceived ideas. And 0:09:28.330 --> 0:09:31.330 then some of those were confirmed, but about a bunch 0:09:31.330 --> 0:09:33.400 of them were blown out of the water. What did 0:09:33.400 --> 0:09:36.040 you learn initially? That's what I want to know about. 0:09:36.070 --> 0:09:39.309 Well, again, I can't separate it from my own discipleship. 0:09:39.309 --> 0:09:41.380 I really kind of feel like a huge thing that 0:09:41.380 --> 0:09:44.590 I came to realize was almost a savior type of 0:09:44.590 --> 0:09:48.400 mentality that I was probably well know most certainly had 0:09:48.400 --> 0:09:50.980 succumbed to myself. And there's a lot of it's a 0:09:50.980 --> 0:09:54.760 humbling experience to live cross-culturally and to minister. And God 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:57.880 was very gracious to me. So I think some of 0:09:57.880 --> 0:10:01.120 the blinders started to come off, um, especially when, you know, 0:10:01.150 --> 0:10:04.870 we were there and serving who we knew and understood 0:10:04.900 --> 0:10:07.810 to be orphans. Um, and yet there was a little 0:10:07.840 --> 0:10:10.750 bench outside, you know, the orphanage where family would come 0:10:10.750 --> 0:10:13.450 and visit and you see stuff like that, and you 0:10:13.450 --> 0:10:17.140 start to realize, oh, wait, these kids have family. You know, 0:10:17.170 --> 0:10:18.400 it could be a mom, it could be a dad, 0:10:18.429 --> 0:10:20.890 it could be an extended family member. But why aren't 0:10:20.890 --> 0:10:23.140 we doing anything to actually just help them live there? 0:10:23.140 --> 0:10:25.720 Because I grew up in a family. I assume you 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:29.469 guys grew up in a family? Most people, most children do. Um, 0:10:29.470 --> 0:10:31.300 and I think a huge learning for me was just 0:10:31.300 --> 0:10:34.809 recognizing again that, yeah, these kids have families. They could 0:10:34.809 --> 0:10:37.960 go to family. And to be honest, even if they're 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:41.380 not able to reunify with their family of origin, which 0:10:41.380 --> 0:10:46.840 sadly happens to actually pursue domestic adoption, to walk alongside 0:10:46.840 --> 0:10:49.750 some of these churches and pastors and congregants that that 0:10:49.750 --> 0:10:52.510 were in our community that were local Tanzanians. How do 0:10:52.510 --> 0:10:54.400 we help them, you know, bring in the child that 0:10:54.400 --> 0:10:56.890 needs a family, right, to help that orphan not be 0:10:56.890 --> 0:10:59.740 an orphan any longer. So, yeah, these were some things that, 0:10:59.770 --> 0:11:02.590 you know, I was in Tanzania for eight years overall, 0:11:02.590 --> 0:11:05.020 so it was a long journey. But we also saw 0:11:05.050 --> 0:11:08.380 God move as we tried to align ourselves with his word. 0:11:08.380 --> 0:11:11.140 So my big question is kind of the why. So 0:11:11.170 --> 0:11:12.880 I mean, I think when most people think about an 0:11:12.880 --> 0:11:15.970 orphan or by definition, you think of a child who 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:18.550 no longer has living parents. But you mentioned that many 0:11:18.550 --> 0:11:21.760 children living in these orphanages, you discovered actually did have 0:11:21.760 --> 0:11:25.720 living at least one parent. So why aren't they living 0:11:25.720 --> 0:11:27.219 with their families? 0:11:27.220 --> 0:11:30.280 Part of it comes from the misconceptions that we have. 0:11:30.309 --> 0:11:33.310 We'll hear the UN say something like, there's 150 million 0:11:33.340 --> 0:11:37.540 orphans worldwide, and we don't realize that they're also including 0:11:37.540 --> 0:11:40.990 single orphans, which just means they've only lost one parent. Right. 0:11:41.020 --> 0:11:43.840 So the vast majority of what we assume or think 0:11:43.840 --> 0:11:47.740 of orphans like Oliver Twist or Little Orphan Annie or whatever, 0:11:47.740 --> 0:11:50.290 that's not actually these kids experience. Most of them are 0:11:50.290 --> 0:11:51.309 already living in families. 0:11:51.309 --> 0:11:53.050 So it's economic in nature. 0:11:53.050 --> 0:11:57.010 Then there is an economy to it, including, if you 0:11:57.010 --> 0:11:59.920 look at where these orphanages are placed, they're placed in 0:11:59.920 --> 0:12:05.080 high tourism areas because they attract tourist dollars, unfortunately. For 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:08.290 an example, I lived in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. If I 0:12:08.290 --> 0:12:11.079 say Kilimanjaro, you think, oh, the big mountain. Yeah, we 0:12:11.080 --> 0:12:12.850 get a lot of people that go and climb the mountain, 0:12:12.850 --> 0:12:15.189 and then they want to visit an orphanage because they've 0:12:15.190 --> 0:12:17.199 heard of HIV Aids and they want to help. And 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:20.560 all of that is, you know, altruistic enough. However, if 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.480 you go to other areas of Tanzania that have the 0:12:22.480 --> 0:12:24.850 same amount of aids, the same amount of poverty, you 0:12:24.850 --> 0:12:28.030 don't find any, you don't find any orphanages because there's 0:12:28.030 --> 0:12:30.790 no economy for it, as you said. So the reason 0:12:30.790 --> 0:12:33.520 that we find kids going into orphanages, we tend to 0:12:33.520 --> 0:12:37.559 say it's poverty plus something else. Poverty is often ubiquitous, 0:12:37.559 --> 0:12:40.740 so in and of itself it's not necessarily enough. But 0:12:40.740 --> 0:12:43.559 when you add, you know, a desire for an education 0:12:43.559 --> 0:12:46.440 or a child with a disability or a loss of 0:12:46.440 --> 0:12:49.620 a primary caregiver, or abuse or neglect or something that 0:12:49.620 --> 0:12:53.070 took place in the family that you can actually address and, 0:12:53.100 --> 0:12:56.940 you know, functioning child welfare systems will address those other issues. 0:12:56.940 --> 0:12:58.800 If you can solve that, then you don't have to 0:12:58.830 --> 0:13:01.410 remove the kid, because once they are growing up in 0:13:01.410 --> 0:13:06.540 an orphanage, there's just enhanced trauma. There's attachment disorders that develop, 0:13:06.540 --> 0:13:09.120 and it's just not good in terms of adult outcomes 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:10.050 for those children. 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:13.860 This is stunning. I think I'm learning a lot here 0:13:13.860 --> 0:13:17.490 in a in a very short amount of time. So 0:13:17.490 --> 0:13:23.370 there's a almost a tourism mystique to this thing called orphanages. 0:13:23.370 --> 0:13:26.429 And yet this comes back to your heart for this thing. 0:13:26.429 --> 0:13:30.030 You want to try to keep these families together, as 0:13:30.030 --> 0:13:33.360 opposed to try to get these kids farmed out to 0:13:33.390 --> 0:13:35.570 loving homes. How's that working? 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.240 Well, we want to see just kids and family. And 0:13:38.240 --> 0:13:40.520 to do that, we really need a range of options. 0:13:40.550 --> 0:13:44.179 A menu of options, if you will. No good child 0:13:44.179 --> 0:13:46.220 welfare system is just going to be stuck in a 0:13:46.220 --> 0:13:50.390 dichotomy of bad options, right. So we recognize that there 0:13:50.390 --> 0:13:53.720 is adversity in homes. And sometimes kids can be abused 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:56.150 or neglected. And we do not want to leave kids 0:13:56.150 --> 0:13:59.030 in that spot. We need to apply child protection. We 0:13:59.030 --> 0:14:01.190 also don't want to say, and the only other option 0:14:01.190 --> 0:14:04.189 is for you to spend your whole childhood separated from community, 0:14:04.220 --> 0:14:07.760 separated from family, living in a residential children's home. Right. 0:14:07.760 --> 0:14:09.230 So what we need to do is we need to 0:14:09.230 --> 0:14:11.960 build out a whole menu of options. Okay? Kid can't 0:14:11.960 --> 0:14:14.449 safely live with their parents. You know, in one of those. Now, 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:16.850 most of the time they can't. Right. We have loving 0:14:16.850 --> 0:14:19.220 moms that put their kids in orphanages because they want 0:14:19.220 --> 0:14:22.610 their kids to receive, you know, food and shelter and education. 0:14:22.610 --> 0:14:25.070 All of those things are good, but their vulnerability is 0:14:25.070 --> 0:14:26.930 not that they don't have a family. So why would 0:14:26.930 --> 0:14:29.390 we call them an orphan? Right. So first we look 0:14:29.420 --> 0:14:32.330 at that prevention piece. But if they do need to 0:14:32.330 --> 0:14:34.580 be removed. Then you look okay. Is there an anti? 0:14:34.610 --> 0:14:37.460 Is there a grandparent that could care for them? If not, 0:14:37.490 --> 0:14:39.320 is there a pastor. Is there a teacher? Is there 0:14:39.320 --> 0:14:41.120 a mentor? Is there someone in their life that could 0:14:41.120 --> 0:14:43.610 care for them if they're not? Are there safe and 0:14:43.610 --> 0:14:46.790 loving foster families? Hopefully that we, you know, partnered with 0:14:46.790 --> 0:14:49.370 a local church to find. So all of these would 0:14:49.370 --> 0:14:52.850 be other placement options that would, you know, mitigate kids 0:14:52.880 --> 0:14:56.780 needlessly going into orphanages. And unfortunately, in the global South, 0:14:56.780 --> 0:14:59.600 you'll see kids as you know, that are days old 0:14:59.600 --> 0:15:02.630 sometimes end up in orphanages. And that's just not an 0:15:02.630 --> 0:15:05.690 indicator of anything that's functioning well. And we want to 0:15:05.690 --> 0:15:07.640 see kids in safe and loving families. 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:10.130 So let's talk action steps. A couple stats for you. 0:15:10.160 --> 0:15:15.860 Us Christians give about 2.5 billion to orphanages annually. 21% 0:15:15.860 --> 0:15:17.690 of Christians who have gone on a mission trip have 0:15:17.690 --> 0:15:21.350 visited an orphanage. But you're saying this some of this 0:15:21.350 --> 0:15:25.640 support for orphanages could actually be redirected to support for 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.550 family based care. Tell us what that looks like. 0:15:28.580 --> 0:15:31.670 Yeah. So if there is, you know, a listener out 0:15:31.670 --> 0:15:35.870 there that is thinking, well, gee, I support an orphanage. 0:15:35.870 --> 0:15:38.000 What should I do? I would encourage you to reach 0:15:38.000 --> 0:15:40.490 out to those people that you're supporting. Ask them, do 0:15:40.490 --> 0:15:43.580 you provide family based services? What are the long term, 0:15:43.610 --> 0:15:46.610 you know, projected outcomes for these kids? The orphanage that 0:15:46.610 --> 0:15:48.800 I used to work at, they just stopped talking about 0:15:48.800 --> 0:15:51.800 the kids that go off the rails. Ask them, why 0:15:51.800 --> 0:15:54.950 don't you talk about little Sammy anymore? Right. Ask them 0:15:54.950 --> 0:15:56.870 some of those hard questions and really kind of vet 0:15:56.870 --> 0:16:00.410 that out. And yeah, we do need to do some divestment. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:03.440 We need to redirect those funds. Look, in the United States, 0:16:03.440 --> 0:16:06.950 we do not allow kids to just go into residential care. 0:16:06.980 --> 0:16:10.910 Our foster care system has a lot of flaws, and 0:16:10.910 --> 0:16:15.320 yet it's predicated on family, right? So we also need 0:16:15.350 --> 0:16:17.780 to do the same. The private sector is the one 0:16:17.780 --> 0:16:19.880 that's going to fund a lot of the child welfare 0:16:19.880 --> 0:16:23.060 in the global South. There just simply isn't the government infrastructure. 0:16:23.060 --> 0:16:26.510 So we as the private sector, as the donor countries 0:16:26.540 --> 0:16:29.740 need to actually reinvest towards family based care. So if 0:16:29.740 --> 0:16:33.250 that is repurposing the orphanage you're currently supporting, get them 0:16:33.250 --> 0:16:36.010 to transition to family care. That's great. That's great. Keep 0:16:36.010 --> 0:16:38.440 supporting that same organization because it seems like they do 0:16:38.440 --> 0:16:40.750 have the kids best interest in mind. However, if they 0:16:40.750 --> 0:16:42.730 are really kind of set like, no, we're just going 0:16:42.760 --> 0:16:45.220 to keep kids boxed up and, you know, not able 0:16:45.220 --> 0:16:47.410 to be with their family and in a community, then 0:16:47.410 --> 0:16:50.680 it's completely okay. I'm a donor myself. It is completely 0:16:50.680 --> 0:16:53.020 okay to redirect your funds towards something that you do 0:16:53.020 --> 0:16:55.900 believe in. And I do think that family, especially for 0:16:55.900 --> 0:16:58.660 us as Christians, I do think that family is one 0:16:58.660 --> 0:17:01.360 of those things that we should be passionately investing in. 0:17:01.390 --> 0:17:04.000 Yeah. Brandon Stivers, our guest, we're going to give you 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.640 a link because you're listening to this guy going, whew, okay. 0:17:06.640 --> 0:17:08.920 He took an honest look at what's going on globally 0:17:08.920 --> 0:17:12.550 and locally and is spitting out the pits and swallowing 0:17:12.580 --> 0:17:16.000 the meat, so to speak. How did you hold on 0:17:16.030 --> 0:17:20.260 to what was good and not get jaundiced along the 0:17:20.260 --> 0:17:20.770 path here? 0:17:20.770 --> 0:17:23.770 Brandon, I think and I know I've alluded to this 0:17:23.770 --> 0:17:26.440 multiple times, but I think there's a reason why Matthew 28, 0:17:26.470 --> 0:17:31.120 talks about making disciples my own discipleship journey, understanding that 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:34.030 it is a journey. I could have received that word 0:17:34.030 --> 0:17:37.330 that I felt God tell me on Father's Day in 2007, 0:17:37.330 --> 0:17:40.000 in a church, go run an orphanage in Africa. And 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:41.800 I could have taken that and said, hey, this is 0:17:41.800 --> 0:17:44.350 my place and time. I'm going to arrive at this spot. 0:17:44.350 --> 0:17:47.050 And then that's fulfilling my calling. And the reality is, 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.570 that's just not how it is. It is a discipleship journey. 0:17:49.570 --> 0:17:52.090 It's about learning. It's about God getting our feet moving 0:17:52.090 --> 0:17:55.450 and then continuing to say, hey, you know what? I 0:17:55.450 --> 0:17:58.090 did pursue that. And what God told me got me 0:17:58.090 --> 0:18:00.940 to get going. But when we, as I believe as 0:18:00.940 --> 0:18:04.450 Maya Angelou, that says, when you learn better, you do better. 0:18:04.630 --> 0:18:07.000 And so I think that that's helped me keep grounded. 0:18:07.030 --> 0:18:10.090 I'm an adoptive parent as well, so I know this 0:18:10.090 --> 0:18:12.790 space very intimately on that front as well. And I 0:18:12.790 --> 0:18:16.390 do think that, you know, being one with my wife 0:18:16.390 --> 0:18:19.690 and tapping into our church community, all of those things 0:18:19.690 --> 0:18:22.930 strengthen us to work in what can be very challenging 0:18:22.930 --> 0:18:26.580 situations within child welfare, again, both globally and domestically. 0:18:26.609 --> 0:18:29.340 Our guest this morning, Brandon Stiver. He is principal and 0:18:29.340 --> 0:18:33.119 chief community builder at Canopy International. They are working with 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.869 missionaries leaders from around the world on this issue. If 0:18:36.869 --> 0:18:39.480 you want more information or want to get connected with 0:18:39.480 --> 0:18:43.200 ministries that you can support, just text the word care 0:18:43.200 --> 0:18:51.179 to 800 555 7898. Text care to 800 555 7898. 0:18:51.180 --> 0:18:53.909 Get the link. Explore the website. And then, Brandon, you're 0:18:53.910 --> 0:18:56.370 inviting them to reach out to your ministry or your 0:18:56.369 --> 0:18:59.639 organization directly if they want some more. Next steps. Correct? 0:18:59.670 --> 0:19:02.280 Absolutely. Yep. Just hit the contact Us button and we'll 0:19:02.280 --> 0:19:04.260 get back to you and any number of ways that 0:19:04.260 --> 0:19:06.240 we can support and direct and help you. 0:19:06.270 --> 0:19:07.080 Do you feel. 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.560 Stuck or paralyzed with victory just out of reach? Here 0:19:10.560 --> 0:19:15.180 are your questions answered. It's time for ask, Pastor Carl. 0:19:17.820 --> 0:19:20.639 Got a lot of different kind of emails. This one's 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:23.820 more of a comment with request. A question asking me 0:19:23.820 --> 0:19:26.219 to do something and that is to pray. I'm going 0:19:26.220 --> 0:19:29.010 to use this as a teaching opportunity here today. This 0:19:29.010 --> 0:19:32.220 is a beautiful story. I'm just going to grab excerpts. 0:19:32.220 --> 0:19:35.879 It's quite long, but woman texted me about 20 year 0:19:35.910 --> 0:19:38.879 old son been a drug addict for two and a 0:19:38.880 --> 0:19:43.980 half years, recently became homeless. Their younger son looks like 0:19:43.980 --> 0:19:49.020 he's about 18 or so. Who's a Christ follower. We 0:19:49.020 --> 0:19:52.380 were going to take him out to breakfast and asked 0:19:52.380 --> 0:19:56.340 him if he wanted to go to rehab, so they 0:19:56.340 --> 0:19:58.830 drove by to go pick him up off the street, 0:19:58.830 --> 0:20:00.629 and they pick him up and they throw him in 0:20:00.630 --> 0:20:02.669 the car and they're heading to a breakfast joint and 0:20:02.670 --> 0:20:07.170 he just passes out, sound asleep. She felt compelled by 0:20:07.170 --> 0:20:10.560 the Holy Spirit to keep driving for 3.5 hours. They 0:20:10.560 --> 0:20:14.580 drove all the way to the city that had the rehab. 0:20:16.230 --> 0:20:18.240 I was at this point reading this thing, getting a 0:20:18.240 --> 0:20:20.129 little dicey on this thing, but it goes on. It 0:20:20.130 --> 0:20:25.570 gets good. He woke up and he was ticked off, 0:20:27.250 --> 0:20:30.580 but the younger son started talking with his big brother 0:20:30.609 --> 0:20:33.129 and calmed him down and decided to go in and 0:20:33.130 --> 0:20:36.820 get a bite to eat. Younger son showed him the 0:20:36.820 --> 0:20:39.670 video of the place that they were looking at for him. Oh, 0:20:39.700 --> 0:20:43.449 this almost makes me cry. Our younger son asked if 0:20:43.450 --> 0:20:46.899 he could pray for his 20 year old brother. The 0:20:46.900 --> 0:20:51.730 brother said yeah. After prayer, Big Brother looked at the 0:20:51.730 --> 0:20:57.609 younger son and said, you think I should go? Our 0:20:57.609 --> 0:21:02.920 younger said, yes, I think you should go. And when 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:06.370 we got to the place, she says he was really happy. 0:21:07.210 --> 0:21:10.090 He was there for 28 days. Now he started at 0:21:10.090 --> 0:21:13.750 another place yesterday that goes even deeper in their relationship 0:21:13.750 --> 0:21:16.810 with God. God has been answering prayers left and right 0:21:16.810 --> 0:21:21.859 pretty much daily. He goes on. She goes on to 0:21:21.890 --> 0:21:23.899 explain his name and what it means. I'm going to 0:21:23.900 --> 0:21:25.880 leave that out. Up to this point in time, this 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.669 could be any number of thousands of people out there. 0:21:30.590 --> 0:21:32.600 Will you pray that the hounds of heaven will go 0:21:32.600 --> 0:21:34.340 after him, and that he would dig in to go 0:21:34.340 --> 0:21:37.250 full on with Jesus? What a great cry of a mama! 0:21:37.400 --> 0:21:40.460 He dedicated his life to God just a few days 0:21:40.460 --> 0:21:44.270 ago and he's doing really well. That's a huge praise. 0:21:44.300 --> 0:21:44.840 Wow. 0:21:45.590 --> 0:21:47.150 So of course I'm going to pray here in just 0:21:47.150 --> 0:21:48.890 a little bit for your son. I want to use 0:21:48.890 --> 0:21:52.220 this as a teaching moment. You know, a lot of 0:21:52.220 --> 0:21:55.310 you have wayward kids or you know about wayward kids, 0:21:55.310 --> 0:21:58.130 and the tendency is to try to rescue. But it's 0:21:58.130 --> 0:22:02.420 a fine balance, because if you look at the story 0:22:02.420 --> 0:22:05.780 of the wayward sons in the Gospels, what you find 0:22:05.810 --> 0:22:09.740 is a father that went ahead and let that son 0:22:09.770 --> 0:22:15.290 go get his full appetite of the big city living. 0:22:16.369 --> 0:22:20.149 And it wasn't until that sun was broken and headed 0:22:20.150 --> 0:22:23.960 home that we find God in a hurry to go 0:22:23.960 --> 0:22:27.140 rescue him. There was a brokenness. There was a point 0:22:27.140 --> 0:22:30.649 in time when the sun was done, and it's a 0:22:30.650 --> 0:22:34.790 fine balance because he wanted to go to breakfast and 0:22:34.790 --> 0:22:38.930 talk about rehab. And but I think this mom struck it. Well. 0:22:38.930 --> 0:22:40.879 Number one, she was listening to the Lord as she 0:22:40.880 --> 0:22:43.459 was driving. In fact, she said in this letter here, 0:22:43.460 --> 0:22:45.350 if the Lord had told me at any point to 0:22:45.380 --> 0:22:48.440 turn around, I was ready to go. But she kept 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:55.160 driving while her sons passed out cold in the back seat. Notice, too, 0:22:55.190 --> 0:22:57.169 that the mom took a back seat and let the 0:22:57.170 --> 0:22:59.780 little brother do all the talking to the big brother. 0:22:59.930 --> 0:23:02.270 She felt like, this is not mommy time. This is 0:23:02.270 --> 0:23:09.830 brother to brother time. Precious man. So I think the 0:23:09.830 --> 0:23:11.750 tendency is to look at this and think, I'm going 0:23:11.780 --> 0:23:13.550 to go get my wayward kid and get him off 0:23:13.550 --> 0:23:16.000 to drug rehab. I think there's an element in this 0:23:16.000 --> 0:23:19.149 story that you see that a son was nudging toward. 0:23:19.150 --> 0:23:22.300 I need help, you know what I'm saying here, guys? Yeah, 0:23:22.330 --> 0:23:27.490 he's nudging toward I need some help. But there was 0:23:27.490 --> 0:23:30.820 never any strong arming. It's that one question that big 0:23:30.820 --> 0:23:33.250 brother asked. Little brother, should I do this? What do 0:23:33.250 --> 0:23:36.219 you think? Yeah, I think you should go. It's one 0:23:36.220 --> 0:23:40.450 of the most precious things going. Got a lot of 0:23:40.450 --> 0:23:43.240 wayward kids out there right now. But as hard as 0:23:43.240 --> 0:23:47.860 it is, you got to let them hit bottom. And 0:23:47.859 --> 0:23:50.320 it might be a little bit nuanced because I've pastored 0:23:50.320 --> 0:23:52.689 a ton of years now. I've seen a ton of 0:23:52.690 --> 0:23:56.920 these situations. Thousands. And there is that time when they're 0:23:56.920 --> 0:24:00.070 nudging toward, I think I'm at the end of myself, 0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:05.379 and we can't become ambivalent to those wayward kids until 0:24:05.380 --> 0:24:08.169 they show up at church on Sunday. It might mean 0:24:08.170 --> 0:24:10.540 that they just want to do breakfast with you. Slash 0:24:10.540 --> 0:24:13.420 hear about rehab, you know? But we need to be 0:24:13.450 --> 0:24:18.070 ready and available and allow God to use us if 0:24:18.070 --> 0:24:22.389 the time is right. You know, caring for people that 0:24:22.390 --> 0:24:25.810 are far from God or that have absolutely destroyed their lives, 0:24:25.810 --> 0:24:28.960 or who knows, it could be wayward and homeless. It 0:24:28.960 --> 0:24:33.490 could be wayward and climbing corporate ladders, praying that their 0:24:33.490 --> 0:24:35.710 heart would be troubled and that they would get their 0:24:35.710 --> 0:24:38.950 full of whatever they're chasing so that they could see 0:24:38.950 --> 0:24:42.790 that life without God is hopeless. That's a great prayer 0:24:42.790 --> 0:24:46.510 to pray. But living on that fine edge of letting 0:24:46.510 --> 0:24:51.190 them break enough where, yeah, they're there and being there 0:24:51.190 --> 0:24:55.690 when it's just a breakfast. It was a risky thing 0:24:55.690 --> 0:24:59.620 for that mom. She knew it. She felt it. The 0:24:59.619 --> 0:25:01.750 reason she's asking the Holy Spirit. Tell me if I 0:25:01.750 --> 0:25:04.540 should turn around is she was. She was not. I'm 0:25:04.540 --> 0:25:07.420 going to get my son into rehab. She's going. I 0:25:07.450 --> 0:25:10.510 am going to listen to God to see if this 0:25:10.510 --> 0:25:13.000 is the time for rehab, but we're going to park 0:25:13.030 --> 0:25:16.119 it in front of that place. And notice in this thing, 0:25:16.119 --> 0:25:18.550 there was a sense of if that son had said, no, 0:25:18.580 --> 0:25:21.280 take me back to Chicago, put me on the streets, 0:25:21.280 --> 0:25:25.510 she would have done it. You got to hold these 0:25:25.510 --> 0:25:27.940 kids that are wayward with an open hand like that. 0:25:29.560 --> 0:25:31.450 I promised I'd pray, and I'm going to do that 0:25:31.450 --> 0:25:36.430 right now. Father, this son is doing well right now. 0:25:36.760 --> 0:25:40.810 We ask for your protection around his heart. I ask 0:25:40.810 --> 0:25:43.750 you that you would gather around him people that are 0:25:43.750 --> 0:25:48.459 just really on fire for you. I want you to 0:25:48.490 --> 0:25:52.450 protect him from shame and allow him to understand quickly 0:25:52.450 --> 0:25:55.600 his identity in Jesus Christ. And it's such a rejoicing 0:25:55.630 --> 0:25:59.050 that email that the son is on the right path. 0:26:00.640 --> 0:26:03.730 I know this mama's probably holding on, going, oh God, 0:26:03.730 --> 0:26:07.270 please let it be real. But Lord, we do cry 0:26:07.270 --> 0:26:09.550 out to you and we say, please let it be real. 0:26:09.570 --> 0:26:14.250 Make yourself real to him. And thank you that he's 0:26:14.369 --> 0:26:17.580 getting clean, coming clean, and that it's because of the 0:26:17.580 --> 0:26:21.090 power of Christ that's at work in him. And the 0:26:21.090 --> 0:26:24.300 fact that this young man wants to live out his name. 0:26:24.300 --> 0:26:28.530 And what it means is beautiful, man. That's beautiful. That's 0:26:28.530 --> 0:26:32.010 your work to God. So our heart goes out to 0:26:32.040 --> 0:26:35.400 this family with rejoicing. My heart goes out to many 0:26:35.430 --> 0:26:37.649 who are listening right now that do not have a 0:26:37.650 --> 0:26:42.690 breakfast date set with their kid births, but God, you 0:26:42.690 --> 0:26:48.209 can set that up. Break the wayward right now, God, 0:26:49.230 --> 0:26:52.950 bring him to the end of themselves. Show him that 0:26:52.950 --> 0:26:57.300 they're living with in a very real spiritual sense, pigs. 0:27:00.270 --> 0:27:03.390 And that life in the kingdom is so much grander. 0:27:04.140 --> 0:27:09.630 And I pray it in Jesus name. Amen. What a story, huh, Ali? 0:27:10.050 --> 0:27:13.229 Wow. I mean, that one. I know many people feel 0:27:13.260 --> 0:27:18.270 deeply because so many parents can relate with their young 0:27:18.270 --> 0:27:22.379 adult or older adult children. If you've got a question, though, 0:27:22.410 --> 0:27:26.340 if along any lines of spiritual growth transformation, if you're 0:27:26.340 --> 0:27:30.090 feeling stuck, you've got one of those questions for Pastor Carl. 0:27:30.090 --> 0:27:35.340 Just text pastor to 800 555 7898. We've got a 0:27:35.340 --> 0:27:37.620 link for you. You can just submit your question. We'll 0:27:37.619 --> 0:27:41.040 keep it anonymous. We don't use names. Just text pastor 0:27:41.040 --> 0:27:45.000 to 800 555 7898. 0:27:46.590 --> 0:27:50.220 Yeah. Isn't God good, guys? 0:27:50.250 --> 0:27:50.910 Amen. 0:27:51.540 --> 0:27:53.669 Aren't you almost in that car with them as they're 0:27:53.700 --> 0:27:54.810 driving down the road? 0:27:55.200 --> 0:27:56.010 Yes. 0:27:56.700 --> 0:28:00.090 Wondering, should I turn it around, Lord? Do I keep going? 0:28:00.119 --> 0:28:05.430 Hour after hour after hour. Young son, probably talking to mom, going. 0:28:05.430 --> 0:28:09.530 We're doing the right thing? Oh, man, I'm in that 0:28:09.530 --> 0:28:10.190 seat with them. 0:28:10.220 --> 0:28:10.850 Yeah. 0:28:12.109 --> 0:28:15.500 Yeah. Text me your questions. Love to answer them. Bottom 0:28:15.500 --> 0:28:22.100 of the hour every Monday. Really? The questions related to discipleship. 0:28:23.359 --> 0:28:26.119 Save all those. How many angels can fit on the 0:28:26.119 --> 0:28:29.150 pin of a needle? Save those for Michael Ray Dolnick. 0:28:29.270 --> 0:28:30.350 One Saturday's. 0:28:30.380 --> 0:28:31.760 Fair. Fair. 0:28:31.790 --> 0:28:35.840 Questions about discipleship. Your spiritual growth. If you feel stuck 0:28:35.840 --> 0:28:41.630 in some area, just text pastor to 800 555 7898. 0:28:42.140 --> 0:28:43.010 Do you feel. 0:28:43.010 --> 0:28:46.490 Stuck or paralyzed with victory just out of reach? Here 0:28:46.490 --> 0:28:51.110 are your questions answered. It's time for ask, Pastor Carl. 0:28:53.210 --> 0:28:55.670 I got one of these questions that any pastor just 0:28:55.700 --> 0:28:56.960 loves to hear. 0:28:56.990 --> 0:28:57.229 Uh oh. 0:28:57.260 --> 0:28:59.030 This is a great one. Oh, this is this is 0:28:59.030 --> 0:28:59.750 actually a good one. 0:28:59.780 --> 0:29:00.230 Okay, good. 0:29:00.440 --> 0:29:03.890 Yeah. This is someone who has been working in the 0:29:03.920 --> 0:29:08.450 school district. School system, public school system, for goodness sakes. 0:29:08.780 --> 0:29:13.640 Better part of 17 years and they've been doing she's 0:29:13.640 --> 0:29:18.680 been her words the lunch lady for 17 years and 0:29:18.680 --> 0:29:21.740 a school bus driver now for 13 years. Dozen. Both guys. 0:29:21.770 --> 0:29:22.310 Wow. 0:29:22.340 --> 0:29:23.420 That's amazing. 0:29:23.450 --> 0:29:24.890 That's a lot of kids. 0:29:25.040 --> 0:29:28.760 Incredible. Exactly what I was. Incredible servant's heart. That's a 0:29:28.790 --> 0:29:30.680 lot of kids. That's exactly. 0:29:30.710 --> 0:29:34.790 And, you know, there's there's some subplots in here. One 0:29:34.790 --> 0:29:38.450 is that. And this happens, man, we're in a spiritual war. 0:29:38.660 --> 0:29:43.400 She says she's been, uh, moved in the lunch line 0:29:43.400 --> 0:29:46.490 because she loves to interact with the kids, and the 0:29:46.490 --> 0:29:51.530 kids love to interact with her and whoever her director 0:29:51.560 --> 0:29:55.760 doesn't like. And this happens this way. Doesn't like that 0:29:55.760 --> 0:29:59.360 she's mixing it up so well with the kids. Sometimes 0:29:59.360 --> 0:30:00.200 there's envy. 0:30:00.230 --> 0:30:00.860 Yes. 0:30:01.190 --> 0:30:02.570 What? Kids think you're hip. 0:30:02.570 --> 0:30:03.380 And yeah. 0:30:03.410 --> 0:30:07.790 Who thinks, you know, it gets dicey. So they moved 0:30:07.790 --> 0:30:11.570 her to the cash register so that she'd she's actually 0:30:11.570 --> 0:30:14.510 cordoned off from the kids and can't see them now 0:30:14.630 --> 0:30:16.760 as much and can't interact with them, and it breaks 0:30:16.760 --> 0:30:20.330 her heart. Yeah, but she's like, so here's the bottom line. 0:30:20.330 --> 0:30:23.180 Number one, you're in a spiritual war. Pray in a 0:30:23.180 --> 0:30:26.330 new director. That's what I'd say. Number one, no doubt. 0:30:27.830 --> 0:30:31.700 Go full imprecatory prayer. God, take this bastard I've got 0:30:31.730 --> 0:30:33.860 that didn't want me interacting with kids in a healthy way. 0:30:33.890 --> 0:30:35.960 Get them out of here. And she went on to say, 0:30:35.960 --> 0:30:39.229 and the truth is, I was the fastest server in 0:30:39.230 --> 0:30:42.110 the line. Even though I'm talking with these kids because 0:30:42.110 --> 0:30:44.600 you can be slamming down some black beans in a 0:30:44.600 --> 0:30:47.390 little tin, you know, and still having a great conversation. 0:30:47.390 --> 0:30:48.440 That's true. Sure. 0:30:48.470 --> 0:30:49.250 I mean, come on. 0:30:49.490 --> 0:30:49.730 You ever. 0:30:49.730 --> 0:30:52.130 Been through a Chipotle line and the guy's carrying on 0:30:52.130 --> 0:30:55.550 a convo and he's stacking up everything just beautifully. You 0:30:55.550 --> 0:30:57.650 get down to the end, feel like you know the guy, 0:30:57.680 --> 0:31:00.050 but you got your, you know, you got your bowl. 0:31:00.070 --> 0:31:01.060 Everything's good. 0:31:01.090 --> 0:31:01.570 Yes. 0:31:01.570 --> 0:31:04.870 So she's kind of that way. And I get a 0:31:04.870 --> 0:31:07.390 little bit of Pastor Carl vibe. I want to go 0:31:07.420 --> 0:31:11.170 meet this. I won't go down there, but it gets 0:31:11.170 --> 0:31:13.540 me a little bit defensive, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah. 0:31:13.570 --> 0:31:16.900 So her question, though, goes on. She goes on to 0:31:16.930 --> 0:31:19.600 ask Pastor Carl, what should I do? I feel like 0:31:19.600 --> 0:31:21.400 I want to go deeper with these kids. I feel 0:31:21.400 --> 0:31:23.560 like I got a kid connection big time. But I 0:31:23.560 --> 0:31:26.260 want to go deeper, and I want to find myself 0:31:26.260 --> 0:31:29.500 in areas where I can have more direct spiritual influence. 0:31:29.530 --> 0:31:32.469 Two things. One is you're having huge spiritual influence where 0:31:32.470 --> 0:31:32.770 you are. 0:31:32.800 --> 0:31:33.280 Yes. 0:31:33.310 --> 0:31:35.800 You're letting your light shine. And trust me, the Holy 0:31:35.800 --> 0:31:39.520 Spirit can absolutely draw the line between your love for 0:31:39.520 --> 0:31:42.850 Jesus and them and the power of God. Holy spirit 0:31:42.850 --> 0:31:47.320 has an amazing ability to connect those strings like big time. 0:31:47.590 --> 0:31:51.850 That's number one. Number two, I don't I don't fault 0:31:51.850 --> 0:31:53.350 you at all for want go a little bit deeper 0:31:53.350 --> 0:31:57.430 and the question is, should I go to Moody or 0:31:57.430 --> 0:32:02.290 another Christ following school possibly kind of bolster my education, 0:32:02.290 --> 0:32:04.630 get more geared up toward mentoring. There's two things I 0:32:04.630 --> 0:32:08.350 want to say here. Oftentimes, we move to more formalized 0:32:08.350 --> 0:32:14.410 education when we don't need to. The greatest equipping I 0:32:14.410 --> 0:32:18.280 ever received in my life was not at Bible college 0:32:18.280 --> 0:32:23.980 or seminary, got great knowledge, great understanding, had phenomenal professors 0:32:23.980 --> 0:32:27.489 not diminishing that, nor Bob Moody Bible College. But the 0:32:27.490 --> 0:32:29.950 greatest influence on my life was a mentor that took 0:32:29.950 --> 0:32:33.550 me under his arm for five years, and I still 0:32:33.550 --> 0:32:36.040 kick things around with him today. His name is Robert Lewis. 0:32:36.070 --> 0:32:40.510 Brilliant guy. The education I got from this guy, watching 0:32:40.510 --> 0:32:43.180 him work, being in meetings with him and then him 0:32:43.180 --> 0:32:47.920 having weekly meetings with me, coaching me up. Oh my word. 0:32:47.920 --> 0:32:51.250 So here's an idea I've got for you. Find a 0:32:51.250 --> 0:32:53.800 ministry like gripped. Is that right? 0:32:53.830 --> 0:32:55.330 Grip, grip, grip. 0:32:55.360 --> 0:32:58.030 Find a ministry like Grip or one of these other 0:32:58.030 --> 0:33:02.140 ministries that got hands on experience with kids, spiritual mentoring 0:33:02.140 --> 0:33:05.500 and maybe go volunteer there. I know you got a 0:33:05.500 --> 0:33:09.070 lot on your plate, but maybe go volunteer there, or 0:33:09.070 --> 0:33:11.920 at least get a coaching session with one of the 0:33:11.920 --> 0:33:15.130 directors down there. And trust me, if you call up saying, 0:33:15.130 --> 0:33:17.260 this is my situation in life, I want to go 0:33:17.260 --> 0:33:20.080 to the next level and invest in kids spiritually. They 0:33:20.080 --> 0:33:22.090 will give you 30 minutes over the phone, and that 0:33:22.090 --> 0:33:25.150 30 minute talk might be better than 40 hours of classes. 0:33:25.150 --> 0:33:27.730 No joking. Because they're going to they're going to give 0:33:27.730 --> 0:33:29.890 you guidance that I can't give you here because some 0:33:29.890 --> 0:33:33.850 of these folks are just unbelievable experts at coaching kids spiritually. 0:33:34.060 --> 0:33:39.010 Second thing I'd say is, if you're coming to Moody, 0:33:39.040 --> 0:33:42.520 I would interview the profs that are directly related to 0:33:42.550 --> 0:33:44.200 the area of learning you want to go after to 0:33:44.230 --> 0:33:46.750 make sure this is the right thing for you. I 0:33:46.780 --> 0:33:50.320 am a big believer in Moody Bible Institute, big believer 0:33:50.320 --> 0:33:53.800 in this thing here, mainly because of the quality of professors. 0:33:54.690 --> 0:34:00.300 No joking. You know, it's not didactic. Learning only. That's 0:34:00.300 --> 0:34:04.050 very Socratic. They get into discussions. And how do how 0:34:04.050 --> 0:34:06.240 does this worldview work its way out, and how are 0:34:06.240 --> 0:34:09.720 we going to get equipped to, in your case, really 0:34:09.750 --> 0:34:15.960 a spiritually invest in this next generation. So your heart 0:34:15.960 --> 0:34:18.450 is right on, sister. That's why I started with any 0:34:18.450 --> 0:34:22.049 pastor that has a pulse is like, come on, this 0:34:22.050 --> 0:34:24.779 is great stuff. Yeah. And that leads to a third 0:34:24.780 --> 0:34:26.790 thing that I want to give you, and that is 0:34:26.790 --> 0:34:30.000 go to the pastor of your church and make that 0:34:30.000 --> 0:34:33.089 your first point of contact, because it could be that 0:34:33.090 --> 0:34:35.910 right under your nose at church, there might be something 0:34:35.910 --> 0:34:37.650 going on with students. There might need to be something 0:34:37.650 --> 0:34:39.390 that needs to be started. And God's given you a 0:34:39.390 --> 0:34:42.029 leadership to get that going. I don't know, but go 0:34:42.030 --> 0:34:45.120 talk to your pastor about it. Pastors love it when 0:34:45.120 --> 0:34:48.810 people come to them saying, you know, I'm dying to 0:34:48.810 --> 0:34:51.570 give my life away more around here. Do you have 0:34:51.570 --> 0:34:52.740 anything for me? 0:34:54.090 --> 0:34:54.930 And they sure. 0:34:54.930 --> 0:34:59.490 Will. Good. Yeah. Really? Uh, yeah. 0:34:59.670 --> 0:35:02.370 Here's an offering. And they pull out all the flyers 0:35:02.370 --> 0:35:06.060 for everything under the sun that's not fully equipped. Um, 0:35:06.060 --> 0:35:10.140 so we want a pastor wants to hear from you. 0:35:10.350 --> 0:35:13.800 So three things. Find a mentor, maybe get some good 0:35:13.800 --> 0:35:17.610 formal education. I would interview the profs in the emphasis 0:35:17.610 --> 0:35:20.100 of learning that you'd be taking at Moody, even before 0:35:20.100 --> 0:35:22.710 you come here, make sure it's the right thing to do. 0:35:22.739 --> 0:35:25.590 There's nothing like grabbing a phone and making a call, 0:35:25.590 --> 0:35:28.590 or getting an email and setting a zoom appointment. I 0:35:28.590 --> 0:35:32.610 promise you, the profs here in any emphasis of learning, 0:35:32.610 --> 0:35:34.860 would love to spend a few minutes with you on 0:35:34.860 --> 0:35:36.690 zoom to tell you what they're trying to do here 0:35:36.690 --> 0:35:40.350 and how they do it. I promise you that I'm 0:35:40.350 --> 0:35:42.299 signing you all up for it, by the way, right now. 0:35:42.300 --> 0:35:45.810 But I promise you they'd do that. So there's three 0:35:45.810 --> 0:35:47.279 things that I want you to do. But more than 0:35:47.280 --> 0:35:50.310 anything else, I want you to hear. Way to go, sister. 0:35:51.350 --> 0:35:54.560 The fact that you're hungry to invest in kids and 0:35:54.560 --> 0:35:59.300 you're for 17 years, you've not grown weary in lunch 0:35:59.300 --> 0:36:02.690 lines and bus driving. And the other thing I want 0:36:02.719 --> 0:36:04.339 to know is what kind of vitamins do you take? 0:36:04.340 --> 0:36:05.960 Because that's that's. 0:36:05.960 --> 0:36:07.819 One of the most astounding things I've ever heard. 0:36:07.850 --> 0:36:12.140 No doubt bus driving and lunch lady are dealing with 0:36:12.140 --> 0:36:13.640 kids at the most critical junctures. 0:36:14.000 --> 0:36:16.790 What supplements are you on? I for me to get 0:36:16.790 --> 0:36:19.040 a busload of kids behind me, and I'm responsible for 0:36:19.040 --> 0:36:22.160 driving them down the road, and I'm a pretty good driver. Yeah, 0:36:22.190 --> 0:36:24.980 that is enough. My day is done at the end 0:36:24.980 --> 0:36:27.140 of that bus trip, let alone going to the lunch line. 0:36:27.650 --> 0:36:32.779 That's eight hours of work in one. I mean, I'm done. 0:36:33.080 --> 0:36:35.720 But I applaud you now on this moody piece. I 0:36:35.719 --> 0:36:37.879 want to drill down on this for a second because 0:36:37.880 --> 0:36:40.940 we've got a link for you. But there's some of 0:36:40.940 --> 0:36:45.500 you that definitely feel like, man, I wonder if I 0:36:45.500 --> 0:36:47.690 should dig a little bit deeper here. This is one 0:36:47.690 --> 0:36:50.600 of the most affordable educations you're going to get if 0:36:50.600 --> 0:36:54.560 you're if you're maybe you've been in a new career 0:36:54.590 --> 0:36:56.750 slot for years or you've got a kid coming out 0:36:56.780 --> 0:36:58.489 of high school, there's a lot of you in different 0:36:58.489 --> 0:37:04.100 situations in life. Moody might be a just a phenomenal opportunity. Now, 0:37:04.100 --> 0:37:05.660 I want to tell you, before you get signed up 0:37:05.660 --> 0:37:08.000 to come here, the goal coming out of Moody is 0:37:08.000 --> 0:37:10.640 that you're going to leverage what you've learned in the 0:37:10.640 --> 0:37:13.520 marketplace or in direct ministry, either in the church or 0:37:13.520 --> 0:37:17.060 on the mission field, marketplace, church or ministry on the 0:37:17.060 --> 0:37:24.140 mission field. So I'm really wanting to encourage you because 0:37:24.140 --> 0:37:27.710 I think if there's anything Satan wants to do is 0:37:27.710 --> 0:37:30.800 keep us from spiking the fact that Moody Bible Institute 0:37:30.800 --> 0:37:37.520 is training the next generation of D.L. Moody. That's what's happening. Um, 0:37:37.520 --> 0:37:41.960 Mary Bethune, next generation of those. We're asking you to 0:37:41.989 --> 0:37:44.960 consider being a part of this. And for some of you, 0:37:44.989 --> 0:37:47.890 you're like, man, I wonder if I need some moody education. 0:37:47.890 --> 0:37:50.590 I've never recommended this before on air, but I do 0:37:50.590 --> 0:37:52.299 it personally all the time. So now I'm going to 0:37:52.300 --> 0:37:56.260 do it on air. Get the application process going, but 0:37:56.260 --> 0:38:00.550 then interview the point people or two that are in 0:38:00.580 --> 0:38:03.609 that area of emphasis and just double check. Is this 0:38:03.610 --> 0:38:06.340 for me? Is this going to fit the situation that 0:38:06.340 --> 0:38:09.640 God's calling me into? So Ali's got all the goods there. 0:38:09.640 --> 0:38:12.040 You want to add anything to what I shared there, Ali? 0:38:12.070 --> 0:38:14.500 No, I think that's great. We've got the link for you. 0:38:14.530 --> 0:38:19.900 You can text Moody to 800 555 7898. Text Moody 0:38:19.930 --> 0:38:24.490 to 800 555 7898. And a cool thing that we 0:38:24.489 --> 0:38:27.040 have for the boom crew is there's a promo code 0:38:27.040 --> 0:38:29.560 that we have included in there that allows you to 0:38:29.590 --> 0:38:32.560 waive the application fee. So just text Moody to 800 0:38:32.590 --> 0:38:34.839 555 7898. 0:38:34.870 --> 0:38:39.040 Pretty cool. And I love getting these questions by the 0:38:39.040 --> 0:38:43.120 way I really do. And Ali's going to give you 0:38:43.120 --> 0:38:45.040 a link here in a moment. But the questions that 0:38:45.040 --> 0:38:48.190 I want to deal with are not related to how 0:38:48.190 --> 0:38:50.770 many angels can fit on the pin of a needle. 0:38:50.770 --> 0:38:54.609 That's Michael Wright downlink on Saturday mornings. Mine are all 0:38:54.610 --> 0:39:00.520 discipleship oriented. I'm stuck. I've got an addiction. I've got 0:39:00.550 --> 0:39:04.150 a problem from the past in my life that I 0:39:04.150 --> 0:39:07.120 can't seem to shake. Whatever is holding you back from 0:39:07.150 --> 0:39:09.279 taking your next step with Jesus, I want to be 0:39:09.310 --> 0:39:13.420 able to answer those questions on air Monday mornings at 0:39:13.420 --> 0:39:16.450 the bottom of the hour, and this one isn't far 0:39:16.480 --> 0:39:18.520 afield from this at all. This is in the wheelhouse 0:39:18.520 --> 0:39:21.279 because you're taking your next step. I love these and 0:39:21.280 --> 0:39:23.530 the fact that I get to do this with you, 0:39:23.560 --> 0:39:27.370 young lady who sent me this email. Everybody remains anonymous, 0:39:27.370 --> 0:39:29.680 by the way, when they send me emails like this 0:39:29.680 --> 0:39:32.410 of any kind, and I've gotten tough ones like infidelity 0:39:32.410 --> 0:39:36.969 and everything else, I want to tackle those questions on air, 0:39:36.969 --> 0:39:38.859 as many of them as I can get. And now 0:39:38.860 --> 0:39:40.240 he's got a link for that as well. 0:39:40.239 --> 0:39:42.759 So if you want to submit a question for the 0:39:42.790 --> 0:39:46.630 Ask Pastor Carl segment on Monday. Just text pastor to 0:39:46.660 --> 0:39:54.730 800 555 7898. Text pastor to 800 555 7898. 0:39:54.760 --> 0:39:59.920 Yeah, what a cool opportunity. The the various questions I 0:39:59.920 --> 0:40:02.650 get aren't they run the gamut don't they? 0:40:02.680 --> 0:40:06.160 Yes, yes. I mean, I don't typically get to see 0:40:06.160 --> 0:40:08.050 them in advance. So I'm hearing them for the first 0:40:08.050 --> 0:40:11.080 time and I'm always drawn in going, oh boy. Okay. 0:40:11.110 --> 0:40:12.430 I'm thinking in my mind. 0:40:12.460 --> 0:40:12.820 Like. 0:40:12.850 --> 0:40:14.860 How would I answer this one? 0:40:16.150 --> 0:40:18.189 It's pretty cool. And I do want to hit that 0:40:18.190 --> 0:40:21.070 mentoring one one more time, because some of you have 0:40:21.070 --> 0:40:25.330 an aspiration to go do something, find someone who's doing 0:40:25.330 --> 0:40:30.010 it well and ask them for 15 minutes. That's it. 0:40:30.040 --> 0:40:32.739 Just ask them for 15 minutes. It'll blow your mind. 0:40:32.770 --> 0:40:34.900 All right. Coming up here in a few minutes. Speaking 0:40:34.900 --> 0:40:36.580 of a mind blown. 0:40:37.960 --> 0:40:40.300 We're there, we're there. 0:40:40.330 --> 0:40:42.150 We'll give you details coming up. 0:40:42.570 --> 0:40:45.480 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 0:40:45.480 --> 0:40:48.960 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:40:48.960 --> 0:40:52.590 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:40:53.040 --> 0:40:59.820 Okay. Had a mind blowing, really humbling experience here last 0:40:59.820 --> 0:41:02.969 week during share, and I've been ruminating on it over 0:41:02.969 --> 0:41:09.300 the weekend, just in awe of people who graciously and 0:41:09.300 --> 0:41:17.160 joyfully plopped down $25, $10 a month, 50 bucks, a thousand, 0:41:17.190 --> 0:41:26.189 $20,000 and just humbled by it. Seeing people that doubled down. 0:41:27.060 --> 0:41:30.000 They were still listening throughout the week, and they're like, 0:41:30.000 --> 0:41:33.360 you know what? I was listening, and one guy, one 0:41:33.360 --> 0:41:35.969 guy made a comment when I was it was late 0:41:35.969 --> 0:41:39.299 in the hours of Friday and he said, you know, 0:41:39.360 --> 0:41:41.969 I gave a gift earlier this week in the Spirit 0:41:41.969 --> 0:41:44.940 of God has just been telling me there's more there. 0:41:44.940 --> 0:41:48.000 And so I give it to you today and I'm like, 0:41:48.030 --> 0:41:52.020 oh my goodness, it's just epic to watch what God 0:41:52.050 --> 0:41:53.160 does during the year, right? 0:41:53.520 --> 0:41:56.279 It really is. We had one guy give for the 0:41:56.280 --> 0:41:58.799 very first time. His name is Andy and he left 0:41:58.800 --> 0:42:00.690 a comment. He told us he was a new listener 0:42:00.690 --> 0:42:04.350 and he said, I'm trying to rebuild my relationship with Jesus. 0:42:04.350 --> 0:42:07.920 I'm done trying to find my way on my own. 0:42:07.920 --> 0:42:12.240 And so his gift was to what is helping him 0:42:12.239 --> 0:42:16.110 as he's trying to figure out life. And he's finding 0:42:16.110 --> 0:42:19.410 here that he's being encouraged and that he's starting to grow. 0:42:19.410 --> 0:42:23.040 And the fact that even after listening for not very long, 0:42:23.040 --> 0:42:26.040 he decided this is important. And so I'm going to 0:42:26.040 --> 0:42:28.350 give to it. So the fact that there were people 0:42:28.350 --> 0:42:32.129 like Andy Brand new to us, but going, I'm trying 0:42:32.130 --> 0:42:34.650 to figure things out and this moody radio is helping me. 0:42:34.680 --> 0:42:35.580 It's huge. 0:42:35.760 --> 0:42:36.270 It's a blessing. 0:42:36.300 --> 0:42:39.290 Uh, there's one other name in my mind right now. 0:42:39.320 --> 0:42:41.270 Do you remember what that one is? Young thunder. 0:42:41.300 --> 0:42:42.500 Uh. Stephanie. Right? 0:42:42.530 --> 0:42:43.160 Yes. 0:42:43.160 --> 0:42:44.450 You better tell the whole story. 0:42:44.480 --> 0:42:46.730 Yeah, this one is great. So Stephanie gave a gift 0:42:46.730 --> 0:42:49.730 just before share started. And when she gave a gift, 0:42:49.730 --> 0:42:53.149 she left a comment saying I was saved through listening 0:42:53.180 --> 0:42:56.480 to Moody Radio. She said she had the illusion of salvation, 0:42:56.480 --> 0:42:59.029 and that now she tells other people to listen to 0:42:59.060 --> 0:43:00.680 Moody Radio as well. And then she ended with this. 0:43:00.680 --> 0:43:04.910 She said, I believe the Holy Spirit is absolutely working 0:43:04.910 --> 0:43:08.210 through Moody Radio. And I love the heart. The heart is, 0:43:08.239 --> 0:43:10.730 you know, she came to Christ through listening to the 0:43:10.760 --> 0:43:13.819 gospel preached here. But then she's got such a heart 0:43:13.820 --> 0:43:16.160 for Jesus that now she wants to tell other people 0:43:16.160 --> 0:43:18.830 to listen to Moody Radio as well. And so the 0:43:18.860 --> 0:43:21.710 gifts don't go to just people like Stephanie. They go 0:43:21.710 --> 0:43:24.860 to people like Stephanie who know more Stephanie's, who can 0:43:24.890 --> 0:43:26.960 then tell people to come and listen to the gospel 0:43:26.989 --> 0:43:27.920 being preached. 0:43:29.360 --> 0:43:33.080 Stephanie's story is full circle stuff, man. 0:43:33.110 --> 0:43:33.620 Yeah. 0:43:33.980 --> 0:43:35.060 Yeah, it really is. 0:43:35.090 --> 0:43:38.089 While she was far from God. People are plunking money down. 0:43:38.090 --> 0:43:40.700 She's the guy who's been getting work in her heart, 0:43:40.700 --> 0:43:42.770 and she lands on her radio station and didn't even 0:43:42.770 --> 0:43:45.799 know what she's doing. Yeah, and next thing you know, boom. 0:43:46.310 --> 0:43:49.160 Breaking through the illusion of salvation is born again. And 0:43:49.160 --> 0:43:52.609 now growing strong with Jesus and now giving back to share. Wow. 0:43:53.630 --> 0:43:56.720 It's pretty amazing what God does and we are so 0:43:56.719 --> 0:44:00.650 grateful for you. So grateful. Super dies forming a line 0:44:00.650 --> 0:44:04.040 out on Wells Avenue right now. Oh, you're still here. Okay, 0:44:04.070 --> 0:44:05.450 I knew you were going to get down there soon. 0:44:05.450 --> 0:44:08.000 Yeah, they're getting the the the ticker tape and everything 0:44:08.000 --> 0:44:10.130 set up just to kind of cordon it off a 0:44:10.130 --> 0:44:12.140 little bit, and then she's gonna go out there and 0:44:12.140 --> 0:44:12.680 hug people. 0:44:12.710 --> 0:44:13.370 Absolutely. 0:44:13.400 --> 0:44:15.140 What's your heart on this one? 0:44:15.230 --> 0:44:16.400 That is it. That is. 0:44:16.400 --> 0:44:19.879 My heart. I mean, in all seriousness, if I could 0:44:19.880 --> 0:44:25.129 just hug everyone, I would, because it just touched my 0:44:25.130 --> 0:44:28.339 heart so deeply to see just the boom crew and 0:44:28.340 --> 0:44:31.729 people just reaching out, knowing the hope that they have 0:44:31.730 --> 0:44:34.940 in their new transformed lives because of the salvation of Christ, 0:44:34.940 --> 0:44:37.819 that they want others to know that same. Transformation and 0:44:37.820 --> 0:44:40.280 have that same hope. I mean, it was a very 0:44:40.280 --> 0:44:43.189 emotional share and the messages that were left. You shared 0:44:43.190 --> 0:44:46.460 a couple of them already. I mean, this share especially, 0:44:46.460 --> 0:44:48.950 just really stood out for me on a very high 0:44:48.950 --> 0:44:52.190 emotional level. And there are not not enough words to 0:44:52.219 --> 0:44:53.450 say thank you there. Not. 0:44:53.480 --> 0:44:56.510 So who do we want to thank? 600 prayer warriors. 0:44:56.540 --> 0:44:58.640 Oh yeah, 600 prayer warriors. 0:44:58.640 --> 0:44:59.180 My goodness. 0:44:59.180 --> 0:44:59.990 Thank no doubt. 0:44:59.989 --> 0:45:01.129 With us the whole time. 0:45:01.130 --> 0:45:03.290 No doubt. And faithful ones. 0:45:03.560 --> 0:45:04.760 Those of you. Yeah. Go ahead. 0:45:04.760 --> 0:45:06.410 I was gonna say there's also a group that I 0:45:06.440 --> 0:45:08.840 noticed specifically this year. I think we all did a 0:45:08.840 --> 0:45:13.040 little bit was people who are already giving a, you know, 0:45:13.070 --> 0:45:16.220 a certain amount a month here with Moody partnering with us. 0:45:16.219 --> 0:45:19.730 And then during share, they increased their monthly gifts. 0:45:19.730 --> 0:45:21.980 That was huge this year. Yeah. 0:45:22.010 --> 0:45:25.040 And and I'm so grateful for that because you have 0:45:25.040 --> 0:45:29.390 already been faithfully partnering with us. And then you felt 0:45:29.390 --> 0:45:32.320 the calling of God on your heart to partner more. 0:45:32.320 --> 0:45:35.530 And you did. And I mean, we already couldn't thank 0:45:35.530 --> 0:45:37.569 you enough for your original gift, but then you increased 0:45:37.570 --> 0:45:39.489 it and we my goodness, we're so grateful. 0:45:39.520 --> 0:45:42.879 Yeah, we really are. You know, there's we are getting 0:45:42.880 --> 0:45:45.790 some questions like, hey, did you guys hit the watermark? 0:45:45.790 --> 0:45:50.590 So here's the news. We did not this year. We 0:45:50.590 --> 0:45:54.460 landed at 90%, which is hold on a second. Let 0:45:54.489 --> 0:45:56.620 me check. Is anyone. Nope. No one here is wringing 0:45:56.620 --> 0:45:57.160 their hands. 0:45:57.160 --> 0:45:58.300 No, no. 0:45:58.330 --> 0:45:59.020 And let me. 0:45:59.020 --> 0:45:59.770 Check. Not at all. 0:45:59.800 --> 0:46:01.660 Yeah. God's not wringing his hands. 0:46:01.780 --> 0:46:03.730 No, everything's okay here. 0:46:03.940 --> 0:46:07.510 But I know that because of spring break and everything 0:46:07.510 --> 0:46:10.420 that's going on. My goodness, the streets of Chicago on 0:46:10.420 --> 0:46:15.160 the weekend were just crazy, man. Saint Patty's Day, bar 0:46:15.160 --> 0:46:16.660 crawls and everything that's going on. 0:46:16.660 --> 0:46:17.500 Downtown near. 0:46:17.500 --> 0:46:18.190 The green. 0:46:18.969 --> 0:46:19.209 River. 0:46:19.239 --> 0:46:22.419 Man, when was the. When was the Chicago River for 0:46:22.420 --> 0:46:24.550 Saturday morning? Chicago. They dye it green. 0:46:24.580 --> 0:46:25.150 Yeah. 0:46:26.260 --> 0:46:29.140 Because it doesn't matter how much more polluted it can be. 0:46:29.620 --> 0:46:30.339 It's already. 0:46:30.489 --> 0:46:30.759 Very. 0:46:30.760 --> 0:46:32.170 Much a Kelly green when they do it. 0:46:32.170 --> 0:46:33.880 Though. Oh man. So yeah. 0:46:35.050 --> 0:46:37.899 They dyed green. But, um, there's some of you that 0:46:37.900 --> 0:46:41.080 were gone. I spring break is in motion here. It's 0:46:41.080 --> 0:46:43.719 been a while since I've had kids that are in 0:46:43.719 --> 0:46:46.960 spring break, but spring break is in motion and you 0:46:46.960 --> 0:46:49.540 might have been gone and you feel like, shoot, I 0:46:49.540 --> 0:46:54.549 missed it, and God's Spirit might be just prompting you today. 0:46:54.550 --> 0:46:57.940 There is zero arm twisting here, but just an open 0:46:57.940 --> 0:47:00.549 door saying, we're not done yet. We can. We can 0:47:00.550 --> 0:47:03.610 take those gifts, receive them, and we'd be grateful we 0:47:03.610 --> 0:47:06.280 did come up 10% shy of the overall goal. And 0:47:06.280 --> 0:47:07.870 you know our heart. We don't want to hit a 0:47:07.900 --> 0:47:11.200 goal of numbers. We want to reach people. But we 0:47:11.200 --> 0:47:14.500 appreciate every gift that came in and we only spend 0:47:14.500 --> 0:47:16.990 what we get around here. We're good stewards with dough. 0:47:16.989 --> 0:47:19.630 But Ali, for those that missed out and say, shoot, 0:47:19.630 --> 0:47:20.920 I want to be a part of that. How did 0:47:20.920 --> 0:47:21.549 they do that? 0:47:21.580 --> 0:47:26.680 Easiest way. Just text the word share to 800 555 7898. 0:47:26.680 --> 0:47:32.250 Just text share to 805 five five 7898. You'll see 0:47:32.250 --> 0:47:35.339 the links to give the number to call, so just 0:47:35.340 --> 0:47:38.460 text share to 800 555 7898. 0:47:38.489 --> 0:47:41.190 Yeah, and if you love URLs you can go to 0:47:41.219 --> 0:47:45.510 Moody radio.org. So that's easy as well. But we're grateful 0:47:45.510 --> 0:47:48.899 for every one of these gifts that came in. And 0:47:48.900 --> 0:47:51.930 let me just do this right now. Father, thank you 0:47:51.930 --> 0:47:55.200 for the lives of those people who gave and those 0:47:55.200 --> 0:47:59.040 that couldn't, because they might have felt I'm just too strapped. 0:47:59.250 --> 0:48:03.360 But Lord, we're grateful for those that jump in, knowing 0:48:03.390 --> 0:48:07.800 that they know the gospel changes everything, and they gave 0:48:07.800 --> 0:48:11.130 from an overflow of gratitude to you, God. And only 0:48:11.130 --> 0:48:14.160 you can do that in us. I mean, we'd be 0:48:14.190 --> 0:48:17.580 out of our minds to give money to something that 0:48:17.580 --> 0:48:21.000 we're really not connected with at a heart level. But 0:48:21.000 --> 0:48:23.460 but we are, and we give you praise and thank 0:48:23.460 --> 0:48:27.180 you for every boom creator. In Jesus name, Amen.