S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I don't know what you're up against today and what
S2: kind of mountains need to fall, and what rivers need
S2: to dry up in your life. But there is a
S2: body of evidence from the life of Moses to the
S2: life of Peter, uh, especially at Pentecost, when he preached
S2: that powerful message. He moves from being pretty cowardly, pretty braggadocious,
S2: wielding swords, lopping off ears, to denying Christ in front
S2: of a girl in little campfire going there. I mean,
S2: it's a tough scene to being so filled with the
S2: Holy Spirit that he's preaching the gospel. 40, 50,000 people,
S2: probably on the day of Pentecost. And the question is,
S2: how does that happen? Well, it's all about God. And
S2: that's what Patrick Mayberry is singing about. Watch what God
S2: can do. As you're getting up going on this Monday morning,
S2: you might need to hear that today. Watch what God
S2: can do. Our God is able man. Moses faced it.
S2: He's got Pharaoh's army coming out after him. He's got
S2: a bunch of grumbling kids standing around him going, why'd
S2: you drag us out here, knucklehead? And he's like, God,
S2: what in the picking world is going on here? He says,
S2: be quiet, be still. Just put that staff right there.
S2: Watch what God can do. It's all about God, guys.
S2: Your fancy footwork and all of your attempts to try
S2: to square away situations. I'm not saying that we aren't responsible.
S2: And you don't have to have tough conversations, or maybe
S2: have to get a budget built or you name it, man.
S2: For any situation, there might be things that God is
S2: saying you need to do, but at the end of
S2: the day, it's his work. Let him have it today.
S2: I got up this morning and it really began Friday,
S2: I guess, for me, so humbled. So with a oh
S2: my goodness kind of mentality, I'm like, oh my word
S2: And I can't get over it. Cher was epic and
S2: we are listener supported station and our theme is and
S2: has been here for a few of our shares. The
S2: gospel changes everything and the amount of people, whether it's
S2: $25 or 365 or $10 a month, or 1000 or
S2: $20,005 and a few one dollars. It never ceases to
S2: amaze me, and frankly, it is so humbling. Ali. And
S2: we just want to say thank you. Right.
S3: We do in the spirit of, of of your gifts,
S3: because we could see in the comments was that Moody
S3: Radio has has meant something in your walk with the Lord,
S3: whether it's how you came to faith in Jesus Christ,
S3: whether it was a family member who heard or you
S3: heard something that you were able to share with someone else.
S3: Like all of the different ways that this tapestry is
S3: woven of of of how God uses Christian radio, the
S3: gospel proclaimed through the airwaves to people at different moments
S3: in the Holy Spirit works out how all of that
S3: works out. You hear a verse when you need it,
S3: you hear a topic when you need it.
S4: And it's wild how that works.
S3: And so the spirit of the giving was this means something.
S3: And I want to make sure that more people get
S3: to hear and grow and be saved the way I was.
S2: It was it's unbelievable. Somebody wants to give virtual hugs
S2: if not physical. Oh yeah. To every person out there.
S2: So get in line on Wells Street, fly here to O'Hare,
S2: get on Wells Street, and, uh, she'd do it. If
S2: there's one event I'd show up is a thank you
S2: hug line. So I'd be at the front of that thing, man.
S3: I oh. Hands down. Yes, yes.
S2: Pretty cool. What do you what do you say, young Thunder?
S2: What's on your heart?
S5: No. I'm just I mean, I'm so grateful because we
S5: do talk about you guys. Boone crew all the time.
S2: Behind your back.
S5: Behind your back. About how amazing you are. Because you
S5: are amazing. We. I don't think I've ever seen a
S5: group of people so on fire for what God is
S5: doing and and wanting to see God move more in
S5: the lives of people, you guys are on fire for that.
S5: And you show it every year in how you support
S5: us and how you support your local church. You're generous,
S5: you're giving, and many people are coming and coming to
S5: Christ and growing in Christ because of you. So thank you.
S2: It's really cool. Um, I say this just because it's
S2: good information, but we we came up 10% shy of
S2: our goal. Are we anyone wringing their hands in there?
S3: No no no no. Don't say.
S6: It. No.
S2: No one's wringing their hands. Nor is God. By the way.
S5: Very true, very important.
S2: But we wanted to give you that information because we
S2: came up 10% shy of our goal. And the reason
S2: I mentioned that is last week was crazy town for
S2: a lot of people. They had to get kids on
S2: planes or in cars, trains, automobiles, and they headed off
S2: down the road and boom, they were on spring break.
S2: And you might have totally missed last week. And if
S2: you are of the mind that it's like, oh man,
S2: I missed it, and you want to be a part
S2: of this, we just offered that up to you. There
S2: is zero arm twisting here, but we just say if
S2: you missed it and you want to be a part
S2: and you hear we're 10% shy of our goal and
S2: we'd love for you to be a part. Right, Allie?
S3: You can still call (800) 600-9624. If you missed it, 800
S3: 696 24. You can also go online to Moody radio.org.
S2: Yeah. And just humanoid. Is that a word? Humanoid.
S7: It can be. It is now.
S2: Should be a humanoid. Thank you to everyone. Thank you.
S2: The story's epic. I mean, we could sit here and. Well,
S2: how fun would it be? Be horrible radio. But we
S2: could scroll through every one of those comments that we
S2: got when people were giving gifts. It was just outstanding.
S5: It was.
S2: Just outstanding. So huge props. Huge thanks from all of
S2: us to you. We love you. And if you want
S2: to close that gap and you feel like, man, I
S2: want to get a I want to be a part
S2: of that, I totally missed it. And I know how
S2: that rolls. (800) 600-9624. (800) 600-9624. Or Moody radio.org. Boy, have we
S2: got a guy that's peeling back the paint and getting
S2: real honest with a compelling need out there, right, Ali?
S3: Coming up, when you think about global care, orphanages around
S3: the world, there's a picture maybe, that you have in
S3: your mind. But our guest wants to dispel some myths
S3: that actually are not helping families. We'll explain. Coming up.
S1: She's a choreographer Are extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: Fascinating that the half brother of Jesus tackles the issue
S2: of what real religion looks like. And in the first
S2: chapter of James, this is epic. You almost wonder how
S2: in the world does this go together? He said. If
S2: anyone thinks he's religious but does not bridle his tongue
S2: but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. And
S2: then it appears it just shifts religion that is pure
S2: and undefiled before God the Father is this to visit
S2: orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself
S2: unstained from the world. It appears the age old thing
S2: is real. Ali.
S7: You can.
S2: You can talk it all day long. But sooner or
S2: later you got to put shoe leather to it.
S7: When you look at the issues facing children globally, it
S7: feels like one of those problems that's so big and
S7: kind of what how do I even begin to help?
S7: Brandon Stiver joining us right now, a respected leader in
S7: the field of global care for children. You have a
S7: passion to help children thrive in loving families. First, give
S7: us a little bit of your backstory of why orphan
S7: care globally is so is such an issue you're so
S7: passionate about.
S8: So for me, I mean, it started when I felt
S8: God call me to actually go run an orphanage in
S8: Africa and actually pursued that, and it landed me in
S8: northern Tanzania. And that was really a great spot for
S8: my own discipleship, because God taught me a whole lot. And,
S8: you know, in pursuing that global orphan care space, I
S8: realized that, you know, a lot of the kids in
S8: the nice Christian run orphanage that I was working at,
S8: most of the kids had families. Most of the kids
S8: probably could be with their families. If there was some
S8: sort of family support that would be provided to them.
S8: You know, I love the passage from James that was
S8: just read. What's interesting is we often kind of gloss
S8: over the fact that it's orphans and widows. So what
S8: we're talking about is, you know, fatherless children and single mothers.
S8: And one of the things that I learned a lot,
S8: and kind of how God has guided me within this
S8: space is to realize, and the best way to do
S8: orphan care is to help kids not be orphans anymore.
S8: And there are actual paths towards that, through.
S2: That.
S8: Reunification and through adoption. And and that's what God's been
S8: teaching me. And I've been involved in this space for, yeah,
S8: about 15, 20 years now.
S7: Brandon Stiver with us right now. He's principal and chief
S7: community builder at Canopy International, which is a community of
S7: nonprofit professionals, missionaries and leaders from around the world.
S2: Yeah. Brandon, I want to take you back to Tanzania,
S2: because you must have. I mean, when you land boots
S2: on the ground, you must have had preconceived ideas. And
S2: then some of those were confirmed, but about a bunch
S2: of them were blown out of the water. What did
S2: you learn initially? That's what I want to know about.
S8: Well, again, I can't separate it from my own discipleship.
S8: I really kind of feel like a huge thing that
S8: I came to realize was almost a savior type of
S8: mentality that I was probably well know most certainly had
S8: succumbed to myself. And there's a lot of it's a
S8: humbling experience to live cross-culturally and to minister. And God
S8: was very gracious to me. So I think some of
S8: the blinders started to come off, um, especially when, you know,
S8: we were there and serving who we knew and understood
S8: to be orphans. Um, and yet there was a little
S8: bench outside, you know, the orphanage where family would come
S8: and visit and you see stuff like that, and you
S8: start to realize, oh, wait, these kids have family. You know,
S8: it could be a mom, it could be a dad,
S8: it could be an extended family member. But why aren't
S8: we doing anything to actually just help them live there?
S8: Because I grew up in a family. I assume you
S8: guys grew up in a family? Most people, most children do. Um,
S8: and I think a huge learning for me was just
S8: recognizing again that, yeah, these kids have families. They could
S8: go to family. And to be honest, even if they're
S8: not able to reunify with their family of origin, which
S8: sadly happens to actually pursue domestic adoption, to walk alongside
S8: some of these churches and pastors and congregants that that
S8: were in our community that were local Tanzanians. How do
S8: we help them, you know, bring in the child that
S8: needs a family, right, to help that orphan not be
S8: an orphan any longer. So, yeah, these were some things that,
S8: you know, I was in Tanzania for eight years overall,
S8: so it was a long journey. But we also saw
S8: God move as we tried to align ourselves with his word.
S7: So my big question is kind of the why. So
S7: I mean, I think when most people think about an
S7: orphan or by definition, you think of a child who
S7: no longer has living parents. But you mentioned that many
S7: children living in these orphanages, you discovered actually did have
S7: living at least one parent. So why aren't they living
S7: with their families?
S8: Part of it comes from the misconceptions that we have.
S8: We'll hear the UN say something like, there's 150 million
S8: orphans worldwide, and we don't realize that they're also including
S8: single orphans, which just means they've only lost one parent. Right.
S8: So the vast majority of what we assume or think
S8: of orphans like Oliver Twist or Little Orphan Annie or whatever,
S8: that's not actually these kids experience. Most of them are
S8: already living in families.
S2: So it's economic in nature.
S8: Then there is an economy to it, including, if you
S8: look at where these orphanages are placed, they're placed in
S8: high tourism areas because they attract tourist dollars, unfortunately. For
S8: an example, I lived in Moshi, Kilimanjaro, Tanzania. If I
S8: say Kilimanjaro, you think, oh, the big mountain. Yeah, we
S8: get a lot of people that go and climb the mountain,
S8: and then they want to visit an orphanage because they've
S8: heard of HIV Aids and they want to help. And
S8: all of that is, you know, altruistic enough. However, if
S8: you go to other areas of Tanzania that have the
S8: same amount of aids, the same amount of poverty, you
S8: don't find any, you don't find any orphanages because there's
S8: no economy for it, as you said. So the reason
S8: that we find kids going into orphanages, we tend to
S8: say it's poverty plus something else. Poverty is often ubiquitous,
S8: so in and of itself it's not necessarily enough. But
S8: when you add, you know, a desire for an education
S8: or a child with a disability or a loss of
S8: a primary caregiver, or abuse or neglect or something that
S8: took place in the family that you can actually address and,
S8: you know, functioning child welfare systems will address those other issues.
S8: If you can solve that, then you don't have to
S8: remove the kid, because once they are growing up in
S8: an orphanage, there's just enhanced trauma. There's attachment disorders that develop,
S8: and it's just not good in terms of adult outcomes
S8: for those children.
S2: This is stunning. I think I'm learning a lot here
S2: in a in a very short amount of time. So
S2: there's a almost a tourism mystique to this thing called orphanages.
S2: And yet this comes back to your heart for this thing.
S2: You want to try to keep these families together, as
S2: opposed to try to get these kids farmed out to
S2: loving homes. How's that working?
S8: Well, we want to see just kids and family. And
S8: to do that, we really need a range of options.
S8: A menu of options, if you will. No good child
S8: welfare system is just going to be stuck in a
S8: dichotomy of bad options, right. So we recognize that there
S8: is adversity in homes. And sometimes kids can be abused
S8: or neglected. And we do not want to leave kids
S8: in that spot. We need to apply child protection. We
S8: also don't want to say, and the only other option
S8: is for you to spend your whole childhood separated from community,
S8: separated from family, living in a residential children's home. Right.
S8: So what we need to do is we need to
S8: build out a whole menu of options. Okay? Kid can't
S8: safely live with their parents. You know, in one of those. Now,
S8: most of the time they can't. Right. We have loving
S8: moms that put their kids in orphanages because they want
S8: their kids to receive, you know, food and shelter and education.
S8: All of those things are good, but their vulnerability is
S8: not that they don't have a family. So why would
S8: we call them an orphan? Right. So first we look
S8: at that prevention piece. But if they do need to
S8: be removed. Then you look okay. Is there an anti?
S8: Is there a grandparent that could care for them? If not,
S8: is there a pastor. Is there a teacher? Is there
S8: a mentor? Is there someone in their life that could
S8: care for them if they're not? Are there safe and
S8: loving foster families? Hopefully that we, you know, partnered with
S8: a local church to find. So all of these would
S8: be other placement options that would, you know, mitigate kids
S8: needlessly going into orphanages. And unfortunately, in the global South,
S8: you'll see kids as you know, that are days old
S8: sometimes end up in orphanages. And that's just not an
S8: indicator of anything that's functioning well. And we want to
S8: see kids in safe and loving families.
S7: So let's talk action steps. A couple stats for you.
S7: Us Christians give about 2.5 billion to orphanages annually. 21%
S7: of Christians who have gone on a mission trip have
S7: visited an orphanage. But you're saying this some of this
S7: support for orphanages could actually be redirected to support for
S7: family based care. Tell us what that looks like.
S8: Yeah. So if there is, you know, a listener out
S8: there that is thinking, well, gee, I support an orphanage.
S8: What should I do? I would encourage you to reach
S8: out to those people that you're supporting. Ask them, do
S8: you provide family based services? What are the long term,
S8: you know, projected outcomes for these kids? The orphanage that
S8: I used to work at, they just stopped talking about
S8: the kids that go off the rails. Ask them, why
S8: don't you talk about little Sammy anymore? Right. Ask them
S8: some of those hard questions and really kind of vet
S8: that out. And yeah, we do need to do some divestment.
S8: We need to redirect those funds. Look, in the United States,
S8: we do not allow kids to just go into residential care.
S8: Our foster care system has a lot of flaws, and
S8: yet it's predicated on family, right? So we also need
S8: to do the same. The private sector is the one
S8: that's going to fund a lot of the child welfare
S8: in the global South. There just simply isn't the government infrastructure.
S8: So we as the private sector, as the donor countries
S8: need to actually reinvest towards family based care. So if
S8: that is repurposing the orphanage you're currently supporting, get them
S8: to transition to family care. That's great. That's great. Keep
S8: supporting that same organization because it seems like they do
S8: have the kids best interest in mind. However, if they
S8: are really kind of set like, no, we're just going
S8: to keep kids boxed up and, you know, not able
S8: to be with their family and in a community, then
S8: it's completely okay. I'm a donor myself. It is completely
S8: okay to redirect your funds towards something that you do
S8: believe in. And I do think that family, especially for
S8: us as Christians, I do think that family is one
S8: of those things that we should be passionately investing in.
S2: Yeah. Brandon Stivers, our guest, we're going to give you
S2: a link because you're listening to this guy going, whew, okay.
S2: He took an honest look at what's going on globally
S2: and locally and is spitting out the pits and swallowing
S2: the meat, so to speak. How did you hold on
S2: to what was good and not get jaundiced along the
S2: path here?
S8: Brandon, I think and I know I've alluded to this
S8: multiple times, but I think there's a reason why Matthew 28,
S8: talks about making disciples my own discipleship journey, understanding that
S8: it is a journey. I could have received that word
S8: that I felt God tell me on Father's Day in 2007,
S8: in a church, go run an orphanage in Africa. And
S8: I could have taken that and said, hey, this is
S8: my place and time. I'm going to arrive at this spot.
S8: And then that's fulfilling my calling. And the reality is,
S8: that's just not how it is. It is a discipleship journey.
S8: It's about learning. It's about God getting our feet moving
S8: and then continuing to say, hey, you know what? I
S8: did pursue that. And what God told me got me
S8: to get going. But when we, as I believe as
S8: Maya Angelou, that says, when you learn better, you do better.
S8: And so I think that that's helped me keep grounded.
S8: I'm an adoptive parent as well, so I know this
S8: space very intimately on that front as well. And I
S8: do think that, you know, being one with my wife
S8: and tapping into our church community, all of those things
S8: strengthen us to work in what can be very challenging
S8: situations within child welfare, again, both globally and domestically.
S7: Our guest this morning, Brandon Stiver. He is principal and
S7: chief community builder at Canopy International. They are working with
S7: missionaries leaders from around the world on this issue. If
S7: you want more information or want to get connected with
S7: ministries that you can support, just text the word care
S7: to 800 555 7898. Text care to 800 555 7898.
S7: Get the link. Explore the website. And then, Brandon, you're
S7: inviting them to reach out to your ministry or your
S7: organization directly if they want some more. Next steps. Correct?
S8: Absolutely. Yep. Just hit the contact Us button and we'll
S8: get back to you and any number of ways that
S8: we can support and direct and help you.
S9: Do you feel.
S1: Stuck or paralyzed with victory just out of reach? Here
S1: are your questions answered. It's time for ask, Pastor Carl.
S2: Got a lot of different kind of emails. This one's
S2: more of a comment with request. A question asking me
S2: to do something and that is to pray. I'm going
S2: to use this as a teaching opportunity here today. This
S2: is a beautiful story. I'm just going to grab excerpts.
S2: It's quite long, but woman texted me about 20 year
S2: old son been a drug addict for two and a
S2: half years, recently became homeless. Their younger son looks like
S2: he's about 18 or so. Who's a Christ follower. We
S2: were going to take him out to breakfast and asked
S2: him if he wanted to go to rehab, so they
S2: drove by to go pick him up off the street,
S2: and they pick him up and they throw him in
S2: the car and they're heading to a breakfast joint and
S2: he just passes out, sound asleep. She felt compelled by
S2: the Holy Spirit to keep driving for 3.5 hours. They
S2: drove all the way to the city that had the rehab.
S2: I was at this point reading this thing, getting a
S2: little dicey on this thing, but it goes on. It
S2: gets good. He woke up and he was ticked off,
S2: but the younger son started talking with his big brother
S2: and calmed him down and decided to go in and
S2: get a bite to eat. Younger son showed him the
S2: video of the place that they were looking at for him. Oh,
S2: this almost makes me cry. Our younger son asked if
S2: he could pray for his 20 year old brother. The
S2: brother said yeah. After prayer, Big Brother looked at the
S2: younger son and said, you think I should go? Our
S2: younger said, yes, I think you should go. And when
S2: we got to the place, she says he was really happy.
S2: He was there for 28 days. Now he started at
S2: another place yesterday that goes even deeper in their relationship
S2: with God. God has been answering prayers left and right
S2: pretty much daily. He goes on. She goes on to
S2: explain his name and what it means. I'm going to
S2: leave that out. Up to this point in time, this
S2: could be any number of thousands of people out there.
S2: Will you pray that the hounds of heaven will go
S2: after him, and that he would dig in to go
S2: full on with Jesus? What a great cry of a mama!
S2: He dedicated his life to God just a few days
S2: ago and he's doing really well. That's a huge praise.
S6: Wow.
S2: So of course I'm going to pray here in just
S2: a little bit for your son. I want to use
S2: this as a teaching moment. You know, a lot of
S2: you have wayward kids or you know about wayward kids,
S2: and the tendency is to try to rescue. But it's
S2: a fine balance, because if you look at the story
S2: of the wayward sons in the Gospels, what you find
S2: is a father that went ahead and let that son
S2: go get his full appetite of the big city living.
S2: And it wasn't until that sun was broken and headed
S2: home that we find God in a hurry to go
S2: rescue him. There was a brokenness. There was a point
S2: in time when the sun was done, and it's a
S2: fine balance because he wanted to go to breakfast and
S2: talk about rehab. And but I think this mom struck it. Well.
S2: Number one, she was listening to the Lord as she
S2: was driving. In fact, she said in this letter here,
S2: if the Lord had told me at any point to
S2: turn around, I was ready to go. But she kept
S2: driving while her sons passed out cold in the back seat. Notice, too,
S2: that the mom took a back seat and let the
S2: little brother do all the talking to the big brother.
S2: She felt like, this is not mommy time. This is
S2: brother to brother time. Precious man. So I think the
S2: tendency is to look at this and think, I'm going
S2: to go get my wayward kid and get him off
S2: to drug rehab. I think there's an element in this
S2: story that you see that a son was nudging toward.
S2: I need help, you know what I'm saying here, guys? Yeah,
S2: he's nudging toward I need some help. But there was
S2: never any strong arming. It's that one question that big
S2: brother asked. Little brother, should I do this? What do
S2: you think? Yeah, I think you should go. It's one
S2: of the most precious things going. Got a lot of
S2: wayward kids out there right now. But as hard as
S2: it is, you got to let them hit bottom. And
S2: it might be a little bit nuanced because I've pastored
S2: a ton of years now. I've seen a ton of
S2: these situations. Thousands. And there is that time when they're
S2: nudging toward, I think I'm at the end of myself,
S2: and we can't become ambivalent to those wayward kids until
S2: they show up at church on Sunday. It might mean
S2: that they just want to do breakfast with you. Slash
S2: hear about rehab, you know? But we need to be
S2: ready and available and allow God to use us if
S2: the time is right. You know, caring for people that
S2: are far from God or that have absolutely destroyed their lives,
S2: or who knows, it could be wayward and homeless. It
S2: could be wayward and climbing corporate ladders, praying that their
S2: heart would be troubled and that they would get their
S2: full of whatever they're chasing so that they could see
S2: that life without God is hopeless. That's a great prayer
S2: to pray. But living on that fine edge of letting
S2: them break enough where, yeah, they're there and being there
S2: when it's just a breakfast. It was a risky thing
S2: for that mom. She knew it. She felt it. The
S2: reason she's asking the Holy Spirit. Tell me if I
S2: should turn around is she was. She was not. I'm
S2: going to get my son into rehab. She's going. I
S2: am going to listen to God to see if this
S2: is the time for rehab, but we're going to park
S2: it in front of that place. And notice in this thing,
S2: there was a sense of if that son had said, no,
S2: take me back to Chicago, put me on the streets,
S2: she would have done it. You got to hold these
S2: kids that are wayward with an open hand like that.
S2: I promised I'd pray, and I'm going to do that
S2: right now. Father, this son is doing well right now.
S2: We ask for your protection around his heart. I ask
S2: you that you would gather around him people that are
S2: just really on fire for you. I want you to
S2: protect him from shame and allow him to understand quickly
S2: his identity in Jesus Christ. And it's such a rejoicing
S2: that email that the son is on the right path.
S2: I know this mama's probably holding on, going, oh God,
S2: please let it be real. But Lord, we do cry
S2: out to you and we say, please let it be real.
S2: Make yourself real to him. And thank you that he's
S2: getting clean, coming clean, and that it's because of the
S2: power of Christ that's at work in him. And the
S2: fact that this young man wants to live out his name.
S2: And what it means is beautiful, man. That's beautiful. That's
S2: your work to God. So our heart goes out to
S2: this family with rejoicing. My heart goes out to many
S2: who are listening right now that do not have a
S2: breakfast date set with their kid births, but God, you
S2: can set that up. Break the wayward right now, God,
S2: bring him to the end of themselves. Show him that
S2: they're living with in a very real spiritual sense, pigs.
S2: And that life in the kingdom is so much grander.
S2: And I pray it in Jesus name. Amen. What a story, huh, Ali?
S3: Wow. I mean, that one. I know many people feel
S3: deeply because so many parents can relate with their young
S3: adult or older adult children. If you've got a question, though,
S3: if along any lines of spiritual growth transformation, if you're
S3: feeling stuck, you've got one of those questions for Pastor Carl.
S3: Just text pastor to 800 555 7898. We've got a
S3: link for you. You can just submit your question. We'll
S3: keep it anonymous. We don't use names. Just text pastor
S3: to 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah. Isn't God good, guys?
S3: Amen.
S2: Aren't you almost in that car with them as they're
S2: driving down the road?
S6: Yes.
S2: Wondering, should I turn it around, Lord? Do I keep going?
S2: Hour after hour after hour. Young son, probably talking to mom, going.
S2: We're doing the right thing? Oh, man, I'm in that
S2: seat with them.
S6: Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Text me your questions. Love to answer them. Bottom
S2: of the hour every Monday. Really? The questions related to discipleship.
S2: Save all those. How many angels can fit on the
S2: pin of a needle? Save those for Michael Ray Dolnick.
S2: One Saturday's.
S6: Fair. Fair.
S3: Questions about discipleship. Your spiritual growth. If you feel stuck
S3: in some area, just text pastor to 800 555 7898.
S9: Do you feel.
S1: Stuck or paralyzed with victory just out of reach? Here
S1: are your questions answered. It's time for ask, Pastor Carl.
S2: I got one of these questions that any pastor just
S2: loves to hear.
S6: Uh oh.
S2: This is a great one. Oh, this is this is
S2: actually a good one.
S6: Okay, good.
S2: Yeah. This is someone who has been working in the
S2: school district. School system, public school system, for goodness sakes.
S2: Better part of 17 years and they've been doing she's
S2: been her words the lunch lady for 17 years and
S2: a school bus driver now for 13 years. Dozen. Both guys.
S6: Wow.
S5: That's amazing.
S2: That's a lot of kids.
S6: Incredible. Exactly what I was. Incredible servant's heart. That's a
S6: lot of kids. That's exactly.
S2: And, you know, there's there's some subplots in here. One
S2: is that. And this happens, man, we're in a spiritual war.
S2: She says she's been, uh, moved in the lunch line
S2: because she loves to interact with the kids, and the
S2: kids love to interact with her and whoever her director
S2: doesn't like. And this happens this way. Doesn't like that
S2: she's mixing it up so well with the kids. Sometimes
S2: there's envy.
S6: Yes.
S2: What? Kids think you're hip.
S6: And yeah.
S2: Who thinks, you know, it gets dicey. So they moved
S2: her to the cash register so that she'd she's actually
S2: cordoned off from the kids and can't see them now
S2: as much and can't interact with them, and it breaks
S2: her heart. Yeah, but she's like, so here's the bottom line.
S2: Number one, you're in a spiritual war. Pray in a
S2: new director. That's what I'd say. Number one, no doubt.
S2: Go full imprecatory prayer. God, take this bastard I've got
S2: that didn't want me interacting with kids in a healthy way.
S2: Get them out of here. And she went on to say,
S2: and the truth is, I was the fastest server in
S2: the line. Even though I'm talking with these kids because
S2: you can be slamming down some black beans in a
S2: little tin, you know, and still having a great conversation.
S6: That's true. Sure.
S2: I mean, come on.
S5: You ever.
S2: Been through a Chipotle line and the guy's carrying on
S2: a convo and he's stacking up everything just beautifully. You
S2: get down to the end, feel like you know the guy,
S2: but you got your, you know, you got your bowl.
S4: Everything's good.
S6: Yes.
S2: So she's kind of that way. And I get a
S2: little bit of Pastor Carl vibe. I want to go
S2: meet this. I won't go down there, but it gets
S2: me a little bit defensive, you know what I mean? Oh, yeah.
S2: So her question, though, goes on. She goes on to
S2: ask Pastor Carl, what should I do? I feel like
S2: I want to go deeper with these kids. I feel
S2: like I got a kid connection big time. But I
S2: want to go deeper, and I want to find myself
S2: in areas where I can have more direct spiritual influence.
S2: Two things. One is you're having huge spiritual influence where
S2: you are.
S6: Yes.
S2: You're letting your light shine. And trust me, the Holy
S2: Spirit can absolutely draw the line between your love for
S2: Jesus and them and the power of God. Holy spirit
S2: has an amazing ability to connect those strings like big time.
S2: That's number one. Number two, I don't I don't fault
S2: you at all for want go a little bit deeper
S2: and the question is, should I go to Moody or
S2: another Christ following school possibly kind of bolster my education,
S2: get more geared up toward mentoring. There's two things I
S2: want to say here. Oftentimes, we move to more formalized
S2: education when we don't need to. The greatest equipping I
S2: ever received in my life was not at Bible college
S2: or seminary, got great knowledge, great understanding, had phenomenal professors
S2: not diminishing that, nor Bob Moody Bible College. But the
S2: greatest influence on my life was a mentor that took
S2: me under his arm for five years, and I still
S2: kick things around with him today. His name is Robert Lewis.
S2: Brilliant guy. The education I got from this guy, watching
S2: him work, being in meetings with him and then him
S2: having weekly meetings with me, coaching me up. Oh my word.
S2: So here's an idea I've got for you. Find a
S2: ministry like gripped. Is that right?
S6: Grip, grip, grip.
S2: Find a ministry like Grip or one of these other
S2: ministries that got hands on experience with kids, spiritual mentoring
S2: and maybe go volunteer there. I know you got a
S2: lot on your plate, but maybe go volunteer there, or
S2: at least get a coaching session with one of the
S2: directors down there. And trust me, if you call up saying,
S2: this is my situation in life, I want to go
S2: to the next level and invest in kids spiritually. They
S2: will give you 30 minutes over the phone, and that
S2: 30 minute talk might be better than 40 hours of classes.
S2: No joking. Because they're going to they're going to give
S2: you guidance that I can't give you here because some
S2: of these folks are just unbelievable experts at coaching kids spiritually.
S2: Second thing I'd say is, if you're coming to Moody,
S2: I would interview the profs that are directly related to
S2: the area of learning you want to go after to
S2: make sure this is the right thing for you. I
S2: am a big believer in Moody Bible Institute, big believer
S2: in this thing here, mainly because of the quality of professors.
S2: No joking. You know, it's not didactic. Learning only. That's
S2: very Socratic. They get into discussions. And how do how
S2: does this worldview work its way out, and how are
S2: we going to get equipped to, in your case, really
S2: a spiritually invest in this next generation. So your heart
S2: is right on, sister. That's why I started with any
S2: pastor that has a pulse is like, come on, this
S2: is great stuff. Yeah. And that leads to a third
S2: thing that I want to give you, and that is
S2: go to the pastor of your church and make that
S2: your first point of contact, because it could be that
S2: right under your nose at church, there might be something
S2: going on with students. There might need to be something
S2: that needs to be started. And God's given you a
S2: leadership to get that going. I don't know, but go
S2: talk to your pastor about it. Pastors love it when
S2: people come to them saying, you know, I'm dying to
S2: give my life away more around here. Do you have
S2: anything for me?
S5: And they sure.
S6: Will. Good. Yeah. Really? Uh, yeah.
S2: Here's an offering. And they pull out all the flyers
S2: for everything under the sun that's not fully equipped. Um,
S2: so we want a pastor wants to hear from you.
S2: So three things. Find a mentor, maybe get some good
S2: formal education. I would interview the profs in the emphasis
S2: of learning that you'd be taking at Moody, even before
S2: you come here, make sure it's the right thing to do.
S2: There's nothing like grabbing a phone and making a call,
S2: or getting an email and setting a zoom appointment. I
S2: promise you, the profs here in any emphasis of learning,
S2: would love to spend a few minutes with you on
S2: zoom to tell you what they're trying to do here
S2: and how they do it. I promise you that I'm
S2: signing you all up for it, by the way, right now.
S2: But I promise you they'd do that. So there's three
S2: things that I want you to do. But more than
S2: anything else, I want you to hear. Way to go, sister.
S2: The fact that you're hungry to invest in kids and
S2: you're for 17 years, you've not grown weary in lunch
S2: lines and bus driving. And the other thing I want
S2: to know is what kind of vitamins do you take?
S6: Because that's that's.
S2: One of the most astounding things I've ever heard.
S5: No doubt bus driving and lunch lady are dealing with
S5: kids at the most critical junctures.
S2: What supplements are you on? I for me to get
S2: a busload of kids behind me, and I'm responsible for
S2: driving them down the road, and I'm a pretty good driver. Yeah,
S2: that is enough. My day is done at the end
S2: of that bus trip, let alone going to the lunch line.
S6: That's eight hours of work in one. I mean, I'm done.
S2: But I applaud you now on this moody piece. I
S2: want to drill down on this for a second because
S2: we've got a link for you. But there's some of
S2: you that definitely feel like, man, I wonder if I
S2: should dig a little bit deeper here. This is one
S2: of the most affordable educations you're going to get if
S2: you're if you're maybe you've been in a new career
S2: slot for years or you've got a kid coming out
S2: of high school, there's a lot of you in different
S2: situations in life. Moody might be a just a phenomenal opportunity. Now,
S2: I want to tell you, before you get signed up
S2: to come here, the goal coming out of Moody is
S2: that you're going to leverage what you've learned in the
S2: marketplace or in direct ministry, either in the church or
S2: on the mission field, marketplace, church or ministry on the
S2: mission field. So I'm really wanting to encourage you because
S2: I think if there's anything Satan wants to do is
S2: keep us from spiking the fact that Moody Bible Institute
S2: is training the next generation of D.L. Moody. That's what's happening. Um,
S2: Mary Bethune, next generation of those. We're asking you to
S2: consider being a part of this. And for some of you,
S2: you're like, man, I wonder if I need some moody education.
S2: I've never recommended this before on air, but I do
S2: it personally all the time. So now I'm going to
S2: do it on air. Get the application process going, but
S2: then interview the point people or two that are in
S2: that area of emphasis and just double check. Is this
S2: for me? Is this going to fit the situation that
S2: God's calling me into? So Ali's got all the goods there.
S2: You want to add anything to what I shared there, Ali?
S3: No, I think that's great. We've got the link for you.
S3: You can text Moody to 800 555 7898. Text Moody
S3: to 800 555 7898. And a cool thing that we
S3: have for the boom crew is there's a promo code
S3: that we have included in there that allows you to
S3: waive the application fee. So just text Moody to 800
S3: 555 7898.
S2: Pretty cool. And I love getting these questions by the
S2: way I really do. And Ali's going to give you
S2: a link here in a moment. But the questions that
S2: I want to deal with are not related to how
S2: many angels can fit on the pin of a needle.
S2: That's Michael Wright downlink on Saturday mornings. Mine are all
S2: discipleship oriented. I'm stuck. I've got an addiction. I've got
S2: a problem from the past in my life that I
S2: can't seem to shake. Whatever is holding you back from
S2: taking your next step with Jesus, I want to be
S2: able to answer those questions on air Monday mornings at
S2: the bottom of the hour, and this one isn't far
S2: afield from this at all. This is in the wheelhouse
S2: because you're taking your next step. I love these and
S2: the fact that I get to do this with you,
S2: young lady who sent me this email. Everybody remains anonymous,
S2: by the way, when they send me emails like this
S2: of any kind, and I've gotten tough ones like infidelity
S2: and everything else, I want to tackle those questions on air,
S2: as many of them as I can get. And now
S2: he's got a link for that as well.
S3: So if you want to submit a question for the
S3: Ask Pastor Carl segment on Monday. Just text pastor to
S3: 800 555 7898. Text pastor to 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah, what a cool opportunity. The the various questions I
S2: get aren't they run the gamut don't they?
S3: Yes, yes. I mean, I don't typically get to see
S3: them in advance. So I'm hearing them for the first
S3: time and I'm always drawn in going, oh boy. Okay.
S3: I'm thinking in my mind.
S6: Like.
S3: How would I answer this one?
S2: It's pretty cool. And I do want to hit that
S2: mentoring one one more time, because some of you have
S2: an aspiration to go do something, find someone who's doing
S2: it well and ask them for 15 minutes. That's it.
S2: Just ask them for 15 minutes. It'll blow your mind.
S2: All right. Coming up here in a few minutes. Speaking
S2: of a mind blown.
S3: We're there, we're there.
S2: We'll give you details coming up.
S1: She was trying to earn her way to God, but
S1: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
S1: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Okay. Had a mind blowing, really humbling experience here last
S2: week during share, and I've been ruminating on it over
S2: the weekend, just in awe of people who graciously and
S2: joyfully plopped down $25, $10 a month, 50 bucks, a thousand,
S2: $20,000 and just humbled by it. Seeing people that doubled down.
S2: They were still listening throughout the week, and they're like,
S2: you know what? I was listening, and one guy, one
S2: guy made a comment when I was it was late
S2: in the hours of Friday and he said, you know,
S2: I gave a gift earlier this week in the Spirit
S2: of God has just been telling me there's more there.
S2: And so I give it to you today and I'm like,
S2: oh my goodness, it's just epic to watch what God
S2: does during the year, right?
S3: It really is. We had one guy give for the
S3: very first time. His name is Andy and he left
S3: a comment. He told us he was a new listener
S3: and he said, I'm trying to rebuild my relationship with Jesus.
S3: I'm done trying to find my way on my own.
S3: And so his gift was to what is helping him
S3: as he's trying to figure out life. And he's finding
S3: here that he's being encouraged and that he's starting to grow.
S3: And the fact that even after listening for not very long,
S3: he decided this is important. And so I'm going to
S3: give to it. So the fact that there were people
S3: like Andy Brand new to us, but going, I'm trying
S3: to figure things out and this moody radio is helping me.
S4: It's huge.
S5: It's a blessing.
S2: Uh, there's one other name in my mind right now.
S2: Do you remember what that one is? Young thunder.
S5: Uh. Stephanie. Right?
S4: Yes.
S2: You better tell the whole story.
S5: Yeah, this one is great. So Stephanie gave a gift
S5: just before share started. And when she gave a gift,
S5: she left a comment saying I was saved through listening
S5: to Moody Radio. She said she had the illusion of salvation,
S5: and that now she tells other people to listen to
S5: Moody Radio as well. And then she ended with this.
S5: She said, I believe the Holy Spirit is absolutely working
S5: through Moody Radio. And I love the heart. The heart is,
S5: you know, she came to Christ through listening to the
S5: gospel preached here. But then she's got such a heart
S5: for Jesus that now she wants to tell other people
S5: to listen to Moody Radio as well. And so the
S5: gifts don't go to just people like Stephanie. They go
S5: to people like Stephanie who know more Stephanie's, who can
S5: then tell people to come and listen to the gospel
S5: being preached.
S2: Stephanie's story is full circle stuff, man.
S6: Yeah.
S5: Yeah, it really is.
S2: While she was far from God. People are plunking money down.
S2: She's the guy who's been getting work in her heart,
S2: and she lands on her radio station and didn't even
S2: know what she's doing. Yeah, and next thing you know, boom.
S2: Breaking through the illusion of salvation is born again. And
S2: now growing strong with Jesus and now giving back to share. Wow.
S2: It's pretty amazing what God does and we are so
S2: grateful for you. So grateful. Super dies forming a line
S2: out on Wells Avenue right now. Oh, you're still here. Okay,
S2: I knew you were going to get down there soon.
S5: Yeah, they're getting the the the ticker tape and everything
S5: set up just to kind of cordon it off a
S5: little bit, and then she's gonna go out there and
S5: hug people.
S6: Absolutely.
S2: What's your heart on this one?
S3: That is it. That is.
S10: My heart. I mean, in all seriousness, if I could
S10: just hug everyone, I would, because it just touched my
S10: heart so deeply to see just the boom crew and
S10: people just reaching out, knowing the hope that they have
S10: in their new transformed lives because of the salvation of Christ,
S10: that they want others to know that same. Transformation and
S10: have that same hope. I mean, it was a very
S10: emotional share and the messages that were left. You shared
S10: a couple of them already. I mean, this share especially,
S10: just really stood out for me on a very high
S10: emotional level. And there are not not enough words to
S10: say thank you there. Not.
S2: So who do we want to thank? 600 prayer warriors.
S6: Oh yeah, 600 prayer warriors.
S5: My goodness.
S6: Thank no doubt.
S5: With us the whole time.
S10: No doubt. And faithful ones.
S2: Those of you. Yeah. Go ahead.
S5: I was gonna say there's also a group that I
S5: noticed specifically this year. I think we all did a
S5: little bit was people who are already giving a, you know,
S5: a certain amount a month here with Moody partnering with us.
S5: And then during share, they increased their monthly gifts.
S6: That was huge this year. Yeah.
S5: And and I'm so grateful for that because you have
S5: already been faithfully partnering with us. And then you felt
S5: the calling of God on your heart to partner more.
S5: And you did. And I mean, we already couldn't thank
S5: you enough for your original gift, but then you increased
S5: it and we my goodness, we're so grateful.
S2: Yeah, we really are. You know, there's we are getting
S2: some questions like, hey, did you guys hit the watermark?
S2: So here's the news. We did not this year. We
S2: landed at 90%, which is hold on a second. Let
S2: me check. Is anyone. Nope. No one here is wringing
S2: their hands.
S6: No, no.
S2: And let me.
S6: Check. Not at all.
S2: Yeah. God's not wringing his hands.
S6: No, everything's okay here.
S2: But I know that because of spring break and everything
S2: that's going on. My goodness, the streets of Chicago on
S2: the weekend were just crazy, man. Saint Patty's Day, bar
S2: crawls and everything that's going on.
S6: Downtown near.
S10: The green.
S6: River.
S2: Man, when was the. When was the Chicago River for
S2: Saturday morning? Chicago. They dye it green.
S6: Yeah.
S2: Because it doesn't matter how much more polluted it can be.
S5: It's already.
S6: Very.
S10: Much a Kelly green when they do it.
S6: Though. Oh man. So yeah.
S2: They dyed green. But, um, there's some of you that
S2: were gone. I spring break is in motion here. It's
S2: been a while since I've had kids that are in
S2: spring break, but spring break is in motion and you
S2: might have been gone and you feel like, shoot, I
S2: missed it, and God's Spirit might be just prompting you today.
S2: There is zero arm twisting here, but just an open
S2: door saying, we're not done yet. We can. We can
S2: take those gifts, receive them, and we'd be grateful we
S2: did come up 10% shy of the overall goal. And
S2: you know our heart. We don't want to hit a
S2: goal of numbers. We want to reach people. But we
S2: appreciate every gift that came in and we only spend
S2: what we get around here. We're good stewards with dough.
S2: But Ali, for those that missed out and say, shoot,
S2: I want to be a part of that. How did
S2: they do that?
S3: Easiest way. Just text the word share to 800 555 7898.
S3: Just text share to 805 five five 7898. You'll see
S3: the links to give the number to call, so just
S3: text share to 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah, and if you love URLs you can go to
S2: Moody radio.org. So that's easy as well. But we're grateful
S2: for every one of these gifts that came in. And
S2: let me just do this right now. Father, thank you
S2: for the lives of those people who gave and those
S2: that couldn't, because they might have felt I'm just too strapped.
S2: But Lord, we're grateful for those that jump in, knowing
S2: that they know the gospel changes everything, and they gave
S2: from an overflow of gratitude to you, God. And only
S2: you can do that in us. I mean, we'd be
S2: out of our minds to give money to something that
S2: we're really not connected with at a heart level. But
S2: but we are, and we give you praise and thank
S2: you for every boom creator. In Jesus name, Amen.