S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Dancing on the grave I once lived in. I got
S2: a that's a new song to me. I have not
S2: heard that one before. Uh, it's it's good. And it
S2: just provokes something inside me that I'm going to ask
S2: you right now. Boom crew, to respond to what is
S2: the grave that you once lived in. What was going
S2: on there? What did God set you free from? I
S2: know it's not Freedom Friday, but every day is Freedom
S2: Day when we're in Christ Jesus. What's that grave that
S2: God set you free from? You know, I tell my
S2: story here often, and, um, one of the reasons that
S2: I do is that story is one of the greatest
S2: portals to see what in the world God can do.
S2: When you hear somebody else's story, you go, whoa, that's awesome.
S2: So we're going to go around the horn here just quickly, um,
S2: and we're just going to say just little shots of
S2: what did God set us free from. And then I
S2: want to hear your text message. You know what? Call
S2: in right now. 800 555 7898. Right now, give us
S2: a call 800 555 7898. What are you praising God for?
S2: You're dancing on the grave that God set you free
S2: from 800 555 7898. Give us a call right now.
S2: You know, it's interesting for me. Oftentimes you might look
S2: at my cocaine addiction or my pretty serious addiction to alcohol. Really.
S2: It was an addiction to filling that void. And I
S2: think at the end of the day, all of us
S2: are just trying to fill that void that Pascal spoke
S2: so eloquently about, that god-shaped void that only he can fill.
S2: And so for me and my colleagues, I can speak
S2: for all of us. It was self. I mean, at
S2: the end of the day, no doubt self. Right? Yeah.
S2: It just manifests itself in different ways. So around the
S2: horn Super-d self, what are you dancing on the grave of?
S3: Um, hatred. Revenge. Yeah.
S2: Wow. Yeah. It's one thing to get beat up. It's
S2: another thing to want retribution.
S3: Absolutely. You know, and to carry that around, like I said, like.
S3: Like you've got an and, you know, like cement in
S3: your backpack.
S2: Yeah. It's heavy. Young thunder.
S4: Yeah. I'm dancing on the grave of secrets. Hiding. I
S4: was really good at living a double life. And I
S4: don't have to anymore.
S2: It's a powerful statement. That's a powerful statement, Ali.
S5: Um. Dancing on the grave of self-righteousness and performance.
S2: What a powerful thing, huh?
S5: Yeah.
S2: What a powerful thing. Isn't. Isn't that funny? I think
S2: we talk about stories, and we get to almost too
S2: fixated on the manifestation of self. But if we boil
S2: it all down, it's just at the center of our
S2: problem was super die young Thunder Alley Ali and Carl.
S4: Yeah.
S3: There you go.
S2: At the center of our problem, it was us.
S4: Well, I mean, that's why. That's why Jesus talks about
S4: dying to self taking up your cross. It doesn't mean
S4: you have to literally go on one. But we have to.
S4: Our old selves need to be crucified. Yeah, man.
S2: It's powerful. Taking your phone calls right now. What are
S2: you dancing on the grave of? Give us a call.
S2: Let's go. Come on, let's go. Boom! Crew, this is
S2: your show. What are you dancing on the grave of 805, 55, 78, 98,
S2: 805 five, five, 78, 98. What a cool little thing.
S2: Sometimes we want to respond to these songs around here
S2: because they aren't like we're doing content. And then we
S2: throw in a song because we got to let Young
S2: Thunder go to the restroom or something. That's not what
S2: we do around here. Wow. We're just grooving along here today. 805, 55, 78, 98.
S2: What's the grave that you're dancing on today. It ultimately
S2: goes back to self. But what is it? Let's get
S2: a smattering of these. Let's get them in Lightning Round
S2: and let's go 800 555 7898. Let's stand and testify.
S2: If you've been redeemed by God, I want to hear
S2: it far and wide all across the United States right now.
S2: 800 555 7898. Thinking of folks right now, by the way,
S2: we can do multiple things at one time in the
S2: Nashville Brentwood area. I just texted a friend of mine,
S2: Al Henson, who's down there. The big front went through
S2: about 40 minutes ago, so they're on the tail end
S2: of it. But boy, there is a swath of devastation
S2: going on right now. They're expecting generational flooding in that
S2: whole region. I think little Rock all the way up
S2: kind of angling northeasterly. And it's a big band, big tornadoes.
S2: Category three. They call them Cat three. I don't think
S2: they're called Cat three. Four Tornadoes?
S4: Yeah, I don't think so.
S2: What the right lingo is for that. It's not a
S2: category that's a hurricane. But yeah, figure. Figure out what
S2: the bigger yes is there, guys? 800 555 7898 800
S2: 555 7898. Let's go. Boom! Crew. I know it's early,
S2: but there are thousands upon thousands of you listening right now,
S2: and we're needing you to go lightning round. In fact,
S2: let's go. Let's light up these phone lines. I'm asking
S2: you to testify. What are you praising God for today
S2: that he set you free from? Let's go. We've got to.
S2: This is very important. We gotta get our chops kind
S2: of dialed in on this thing. We got to get
S2: to the point where we're saying, man, I'm ready to
S2: testify at the drop of a dime here. 805. Five. Five. 78. 98.
S2: Waiting for the phone lines to light up. I'm going
S2: to keep it right here, man. I'm an old preacher.
S2: I don't mind pregnant pauses or waiting a little bit.
S2: Doesn't matter to me a bit. 800 555 7898. What
S2: are you praising God for? What did he set you
S2: free from what died in you so that you could
S2: have eternal life. 800 555 7898. Waiting for these phone
S2: lines to light up. This is fun. While I'm waiting.
S2: Take it away.
S5: You know it's cool. Yesterday we had a staff meeting
S5: and we meet regularly just as a whole moody team
S5: and just discuss all the stuff going on. And something
S5: new we started was sharing testimonies. And yesterday Jonathan was
S5: the first up and got a chance to share in
S5: depth his testimony with the team. And obviously we've all
S5: gotten to hear bits and pieces of it here on air,
S5: but it was so encouraging. There's something so powerful about
S5: hearing what somebody set free from that. It gives you
S5: fresh hope. When you look at your life and you think, man,
S5: God can deliver you from that and God can deliver
S5: you here. And so there's so much power in that.
S5: And that was just a highlight for us yesterday, was
S5: getting to hear from from Jonathan, who shared really honestly
S5: with the whole team. And I don't know about everyone else,
S5: but I was like, whoa, this is so cool.
S2: Yeah, it was so cool.
S4: I'll just say from the sharers perspective of it, too,
S4: it's it's a great reminder of what God has done
S4: in your life, you know, to be able to share
S4: your testimony because we all know our testimonies. But to
S4: sit and think about it and say, this is how
S4: I'm going to bring it out. And then as you're
S4: bringing it out, it's just like God was faithful here.
S4: He was faithful here. His hand was moving here and
S4: in such a beautiful thing.
S2: Yeah, yeah. Phone lines beginning to warm up. But we
S2: just lack you right now as God's maybe prompting your heart.
S2: As Ali and Young Thunder were just sharing that (800) 555-7898.
S2: Let's go! Let's dance on the grave. That's not mocking.
S2: It's just a genuine celebration that God has set you free.
S2: 800 555 7898.
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: We're coming to that day when we're going to celebrate
S2: that our sins have been nailed to the cross. What
S2: an amazing thing it's found in Colossians. And what a
S2: joy that we have this morning to celebrate here, just
S2: for a moment, the fact that we're dancing on the
S2: grave of what God by His Son Jesus Christ, and
S2: the power of the Holy Spirit has given us victory
S2: over it's real man. At the end of the day,
S2: all these are manifestations of self at the center. And
S2: that's what was holding us back. Just good old fashioned self.
S2: But what do you say? Let's go to the phone
S2: lines here.
S5: Let's go to Georgina. First time caller from Alabama. Georgina,
S5: tell us God set you free. From what?
S6: From addiction. From all kinds of, uh, emotional bondage. And
S6: it's just. It's hard for me to express how the freedom.
S6: It's just. It's such a beautiful thing. God has been
S6: so good to me.
S2: Yeah. Georgina, he sure has. He sure has. We love you, sister.
S2: How long have you been?
S6: Oh, wow. I, I lost everything. Um, in my whole life.
S6: It was just so. I have been free for ten years.
S7: Wow. Wow. Wow.
S6: And it has just been just the the wildest, most beautiful,
S6: precious ride that I have ever taken.
S2: That's beautiful.
S6: And even to this day, it is still so emotional
S6: for me to talk about because he's just he has
S6: just given me a new life and has set me free.
S6: And I'm just so thankful.
S7: Yeah.
S6: Georgina, that he's done in my life.
S2: Georgina, do So be aware of something. You calling in today?
S2: Don't stop calling. Don't stop sharing. I mean, it's. We
S2: saw Young Thunder in our meeting yesterday get all teared up.
S2: And it's awesome because real men cry, great women cry.
S2: It's an awesome thing. Georgina, stay on the horn. You
S2: didn't call in for this, but you're getting a call
S2: and crew prize pack today, sister. Love you. Christina. First
S2: time caller right here in Illinois. What do you say?
S2: What's your story?
S8: Hey, good morning, Carl and crew. I so enjoy listening
S8: to you guys on a daily basis. I always say mine.
S8: I love Georgina's testimony. Mine is somewhat common, and I've
S8: been delivered from just relying on the opinions of others
S8: as far as criticisms and relationships and, you know, people
S8: having negative things to say about me or not liking
S8: me in certain ways. So it's been a lonely life
S8: as far as friendships, but I've been really just relying
S8: on God to the utmost, and it's been such a
S8: such a deliverance for me from those past hurts. And
S8: like even growing up and experiencing some not so kind,
S8: you know, relationships and friends. So God is really like,
S8: you know, I've really put my trust in kind of
S8: connection and comfort in him. You know, just me and him.
S7: Yeah.
S2: Christina. Isn't it awesome? And, Ashley, I want you to
S2: weigh in and affirm our sister here. It's so awesome
S2: when we get freed from the the the bondage to
S2: other people's opinion of us.
S8: Yes.
S5: Man. Christina. I'm right there with you. I'm nodding my head.
S5: I'm affirming like, yes. That feeling of man. What are
S5: they thinking? What are they saying? What? The criticism that
S5: someone makes one comment that feels critical. And you? For
S5: five years, you can still be thinking about that. That's
S5: a beautiful thing to say. I've got freedom from that.
S5: Who I am in Christ is what I look to.
S5: Good stuff. Thank you. Christina, caller from Illinois.
S2: Stay on the horn. Christina. You didn't call in for
S2: a prize pack either, but you're getting one. We got
S2: time for a few more. 805, 55, 78, 98. You're
S2: dancing on the grave of what God set you free.
S5: From lots of texts coming in from you. I set
S5: free two years clean and sober and set free from
S5: an abusive relationship. Set free from selfishness, from addiction, from
S5: alcohol and sexual addiction. From trying to save my own soul.
S5: From self reliance. Thank you so much for your feedback
S5: by text. Still can take a couple calls. Dancing on
S5: the grave comes off of a song we heard this morning.
S5: We said we got to hear. What is that you've
S5: been set free from? You're dancing on the grave of what?
S5: 800 555 7898?
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: So when were you blown away by something you have
S2: been following? Jesus. Let's just take a scenario. You've been
S2: following Jesus for a year or 2 or 10 or
S2: 40 or 90. Let's just go there and you're following
S2: God and you're trucking down this path, and and he's
S2: been so good to you. And then. Shazam! Out of
S2: the blue, you realize something about God's character, his nature
S2: and the way he works that you did not know
S2: until now. And it's like, whoa, I didn't know that,
S2: but now I do. This is beautiful. Pop quiz for
S2: my team. What is it for you guys?
S4: I think for me, I have made the mistake in
S4: the past of of not living in God's truth, of
S4: him being slow to anger. You know, if I made
S4: a mistake or I was, I was I was slow
S4: to following him. I always was kind of like, oh,
S4: he's so mad at me right now. The the longer
S4: it takes for me to get it together, the more
S4: angry with me he's gonna be. And I gotta get
S4: it right now. And so pressurized.
S2: So his predisposition is God's ticked. And you better keep
S2: it in line here, buddy, because he's gonna snap at
S2: the drop of a hat.
S4: Basically, it's like a needle. It's like happy, happy, happy mistake, upset,
S4: you know? And it's like, fix it right away or
S4: it's immediately angry. And so, you know, it was is
S4: very fickle. But he's not.
S7: Yeah.
S2: So he's forbearing. He's good. He's not quick to judge.
S2: He gives us a lot of mulligans, boy. God's gracious. Okay.
S2: What do you say, Ali?
S5: You know, this is maybe an obscure one, but I
S5: remember noticing in Scripture how Jesus never like he seemed to.
S5: He never begged people to follow him. And although he
S5: his desire was that everyone would, he made the bar
S5: higher and was okay if people left.
S7: OU.
S5: And I always thought that, I thought that's kind of strange.
S5: Like he would almost like make sure that they knew
S5: what like count the cost, like.
S7: Yeah, you're right on.
S5: And he was okay if people left and I thought, huh,
S5: I don't know why that that was so fascinating to me,
S5: but it was it was this realization that, like, we
S5: can have the same approach. I mean, we we can't
S5: beg and arm twist people in either, and that not
S5: everybody's going to follow Jesus. And even Jesus was okay
S5: with that as much as it grieved him. He wasn't
S5: going to lower the bar or bend over backwards or
S5: plead with people?
S7: No.
S2: You know the alley. I mean the sermon on the Mount.
S2: I go to this. You have heard it was said,
S2: Jesus says over and over again, citing Old Testament law.
S2: And he says, but I say to you, and with
S2: each I say to you. He raised the bar higher.
S7: Yeah, yeah.
S2: He didn't lower.
S7: It.
S2: It's a huge one. Super high. What do you say?
S3: For me, it's the power of redemption. I mean, I'm
S3: a mess to begin with, but God can take any
S3: of the messes within our life. The pain, the affliction.
S3: You think you're going through a valley. A valley so
S3: deep you don't even think you can climb out of it.
S3: And what God can do in the tapestry that he's making,
S3: you can't even fathom. And and to watch it and
S3: to look back and see where he's brought you and
S3: what he's done with those situations is amazing to me.
S3: And just aspiring.
S2: The nature of God to pull us out of a
S2: mess and redeem what we have screwed up is truly
S2: a profound thing. You know, I have so many of these.
S2: Probably one that comes to my mind right now is
S2: vengeance is mine, I will repay. I've got this, Karl.
S2: Take your hands off of the proverbial person's throat spiritually.
S2: Sure don't have it on there physically, but man. God,
S2: I better take care of this. God says stand back.
S2: Make way for me. There's a reason why we're asking this.
S2: Because there's things that you find out about the character
S2: of God that you go.
S7: Whew, I didn't know that.
S2: So just teeing it up here. What is it about
S2: the character of God? And we're taking text messages. Ali's
S2: going to shout them out here in just a moment.
S2: Won't call out names. Last four numbers of your telephone number.
S2: That's all we're going to cite here. What have you
S2: discovered about the character, nature and the way God works
S2: that you're like, wow, that's a big deal. 800 555 7898.
S2: Let's go! Boom! Crew. 800 555 7898.
S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire, and everything is Greek to her.
S1: Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
S1: on Moody Radio.
S2: What about God's character? The way he works in this
S2: world today? Did you not get. You might have read it.
S2: You might have heard it, but all of a sudden
S2: it's clicked. It's like, boom! This is what I've learned
S2: about God. Ali, let's go through some text messages here.
S5: Yeah, this came in by text message from 7002 that
S5: he's gentle and lowly. He mourns with us. He suffers
S5: with us. He loves us more than we can comprehend.
S5: 1930 says that there's redemption even for a man like me. 2996.
S5: He relentlessly pursues my heart. He's never given up on me.
S5: Good stuff.
S2: Yeah, there's so many things that we can look at
S2: and we find them in Scripture. We go, wow, look
S2: at this.
S9: I didn't know.
S2: This about the character of God. Ruth in Illinois. What
S2: do you say, Ruth, if you could turn us down
S2: in the background there, Ruth, we're going to get you
S2: in here. Otherwise it's going to confuse us all. Ruth,
S2: let's try it again. What do you say, Ruth?
S10: Okay. God never came to condemn us. The same kind
S10: of delight that we have as parents when our child
S10: begins to walk. God has that same kind of delight
S10: at us. He loves us, and he. He just applauds us.
S10: He encourages us. He did not come to condemn us,
S10: but to save us.
S2: Yeah, I got to tell you, I'm granddad. I'm going
S2: to go full granddad here. Way to go, Ruth. Stay
S2: on the horn. You're getting Carl and crew prize pack. Um,
S2: my wife sent me a video last night. Beautiful. So
S2: not only is little baby Kate trying to mouth words,
S2: so she's at eight weeks in three days. Not that
S2: I'm tracking it or anything, but she's. So she's trying
S2: to talk to grandma back and she's got her mouth open.
S2: And you can see she's got Joe Clawson's grin. My dad.
S2: So her mouth is. Isn't it funny how some grins
S2: are just huge and they go all the way across
S2: the face? Yes, yes, she's got that. She's got Grandpa Joe,
S2: so she's got her mouth open and her tongue's waggling around,
S2: and you can see her trying to get the tongue
S2: to the cleft. And she doesn't know how to do
S2: that yet, but she's trying with all her might. And
S2: then last night, she's the jubes. My bride takes her
S2: feet and she's doing them like a bicycle. She's sitting
S2: there in her little whatever lounger thingamajiggy. And Janine's got
S2: the bicycle legs going right. And then she stops and goes.
S2: All right, Kate. And then Kate's trying to do the
S2: bicycle thing on her own with her legs, and it's
S2: just so precious. You know what? I never thought, oh,
S2: that crazy kid can't get it right. Can't get that
S2: word formed. Ruth's right on on this one. Ali?
S5: Yeah. And that's that one in particular. Depending on what
S5: your background was like growing up, maybe you had a
S5: an earthly father who was harsh and critical or absent
S5: or unkind, or maybe you grew up in a church
S5: tradition that preached a whole lot more about hell and
S5: the wrath of God and judgment, and didn't really give
S5: you much of a picture of the grace and the
S5: love of God. You can form these misconceptions about who
S5: he is and how he feels about you.
S2: You really can. Uh, Stacy, let's get you in here
S2: in Illinois. What do you say? Stacy.
S11: Uh, that it came from you actually opened my eyes, um,
S11: and showed me in the Bible. God opens the heart.
S11: When you were talking about Lydia, uh, a few weeks ago.
S11: And I almost had to pull over the car Because
S11: it really hit me. Um, my children are now adults. And,
S11: you know, that whole feeling of being, um, having it
S11: on our shoulders that we're the ones that have to save.
S2: Yeah.
S11: Our friends and our family. But when you said, you know,
S11: lifting that burden off of us and remembering that it's
S11: God that opens the heart.
S2: Isn't that beautiful? That's a beautiful passage. Lydia. Lydia in, uh,
S2: she's a seller of purple. She's on a business trip.
S2: She's in Philippi. And she is. And hearing the word.
S2: She hadn't planned this. She went to go do her
S2: little devotional time with some women in the city center.
S2: And God opened her heart. Isn't that freeing?
S5: Yes.
S2: Anyone who's raised a kid that is not clicking with
S2: Jesus not been born again yet. Who? At his liberty. Yeah. Liberty, man. Okay.
S2: Coming up here in a moment. Huge, huge thing. We
S2: got a lot of responses coming in, so we'll highlight
S2: some of those. But coming up here in three minutes
S2: I want to give you a. I guarantee you you
S2: have sold short what God wants to do with this
S2: one thing. We need to camp out on one reality
S2: of the nature of God when it comes to fasting. That,
S2: I guarantee you, is not top of mind, but it
S2: needs to be the first words off of our lips
S2: when we're thinking about what's God's posture toward fasting. Talking
S2: about it all week long, we got a cool one
S2: for you coming up.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Huge deal. Guys, uh, this is now going to be
S2: top of my list when it comes to fasting. Because
S2: when we think about fasting, we can come up with
S2: all the reasons why. But, ah, it's a binary choice.
S2: And this is one of the coolest discoveries you find
S2: in the sermon on the Mount by Jesus himself. He
S2: says you can aim for the rewards of man, or
S2: you can aim for the rewards of God. But fasting
S2: is rewarded by God. Come on. We just need to
S2: stop right there and say, whoa! God rewards those who
S2: withhold food from a meal to seek his face. That's
S2: one of those. Stop the train. Let everyone on right
S2: here it is.
S5: Because you think of it as something that I should
S5: not be trying to get something out of this.
S2: It's not true. It's not true. Come on. Let's talk
S2: about this for a second. Isn't this cool? It's Jesus's words.
S2: Rewards coming. Either we do it for the eyes of man,
S2: or we do it for the heart and the eyes
S2: of God. But God, God said we got a binary choice.
S2: But the binary choice both lead to a reward. If
S2: you do it for the eyes of man. Somebody sees
S2: you and they're like, oh, wow, aren't they hot? And
S2: that's the reward. somebody has a by the way, that's
S2: not much of a reward because they might think, ah,
S2: he's arrogant, but God, who sees what's done in secret.
S2: And by the way, you know, I was thinking about
S2: this because we called it fast at 180 Chicago for
S2: 40 days leading up to Resurrection Sunday. And you might think, well,
S2: that's not done. Yes, it's done in secret, because I'm
S2: well aware of the fact that everybody's not taking this trip.
S2: No one knows who's taking the trip and who's not.
S2: But God, who sees in secret, knows when you're skipping
S2: a breakfast, skipping a lunch, skipping a dinner.
S5: Okay. So I'm going to. Can I put you on
S5: the spot?
S2: Yeah.
S5: Okay. So a lot of people are familiar with lent,
S5: and we're not going to talk about lent, but what
S5: many people take from it, it's the idea of I'm
S5: giving something up so I can get something from God
S5: that can get a little squiggly, depending on how you
S5: approach it. How do you make sure that your motivation
S5: for the reward of God is with the right heart
S5: and not some sort of manipulative. If I do this
S5: for you, God, you better do this for me.
S2: Okay. Great question Ali, and I love it when you
S2: do that because that's good. Don't ever shy away from
S2: pinning it down. I think the in Jesus's words in
S2: the sermon on the Mount, we've got to remember that
S2: everything hinges on his opening line. Blessed are the poor
S2: in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I
S2: really believe this from the bottom of my heart. And
S2: then you go through all the beatitudes and you see
S2: those are blessed are you when you're persecuted for righteousness sake, right?
S2: Not for self righteousness sake. So there's a I see
S2: a holy hush. And the reason he was heard, and
S2: I've been at that location or thereabouts where he would
S2: have been speaking, there would have been a holy hush. See,
S2: he leveled the playing field, so to speak. You know
S2: what I'm trying to say here? Yeah, he kind of
S2: leveled it all out, going, whoa! When you realize your
S2: spiritual bankruptcy. The Kingdom of God is yours. Now let
S2: me tell you about the way the kingdom economy works.
S2: When you take a heart that knows I've got nothing
S2: apart from the grace and power of God, I am
S2: bankrupt apart from him. And I go into a fast
S2: for a meal. And that's your heart posture. Dang, you're
S2: going to be rewarded. Now isn't that awesome? Does anyone
S2: else get fired up about the prospect that we can
S2: tell people? When you fast before God with a heart
S2: that realizes your spiritual bankruptcy and you're going to him
S2: as a child that says, dad, you got it all.
S2: I'm claiming nothing myself. And he's going to reward you.
S2: Come on. Yeah.
S4: It's so good. Because why would he tell us about
S4: it if he didn't want us to have it? If
S4: he didn't want us to want it? Because it's a
S4: good reward. It's a reward that's better than anything this
S4: world could offer. So let's go get the reward.
S2: It's epic. And so I wanted to give you a
S2: fasting hit today. And this is going to be really fast.
S2: But in Daniel nine, verses three through five. Then I
S2: turned my face to the Lord, seeking him by prayer
S2: and pleas for mercy with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Did
S2: Daniel know that God rewards? Yes, he absolutely did. Now,
S2: so let me give you the context for this passage.
S2: This is really cool. Daniel's an old man here at
S2: this point. So he came out of Babylon. He was
S2: a contemporary. He would have known Josiah. Guys, how cool
S2: is that? My favorite king. So he was a teenager.
S2: He was about 15 to 17 years old when he
S2: comes out of Babylon into exile. He is now reading
S2: because it says here in the first year of Darius,
S2: the son of of the descendant of the Mede. He's
S2: part of the Chaldeans. He he's reading, he perceived in
S2: the books the number of years according to the word
S2: of the Lord, that Jeremiah the prophet was speaking, that
S2: there would be 70 years of this exile. Here's what's trippy.
S2: You ready for this? Daniel did the math. He read
S2: Jeremiah 25 and 28, and he did the math. And
S2: he's like, hold it here. This is 66 years into
S2: the exile. And he fell on his knees and said, God,
S2: we got four years to get our act together here.
S2: And God heard his prayer. He fasted and prayed, and
S2: God heard his prayer. Isn't the scripture awesome, guys? Anyone
S2: else get fired up about this stuff?
S4: It's so good. So many examples of what it looks
S4: like to walk closely with God, and how good it
S4: is to walk closely with God.
S2: Yeah, and how this translates to today. Look, we don't
S2: know when the end is coming. So it's it's different
S2: in that sense. So he could do the math and
S2: go 70 years. Let's see. So at this time, by
S2: the way, how old would he have been? Ooh. 80 ish. Yeah,
S2: in his 80s. So Daniel would have been about 80.
S2: Get the exact math here. Yeah, he'd have been in
S2: his 80s. So Daniel was in his 80s. He's looking
S2: at the math. He's reading Jeremiah 25, and he goes,
S2: we got four years left. We got four years left. Okay.
S2: So here we go. God, we've been far from you.
S2: Bring us back. And I think the cool thing in
S2: this new covenant, this day that we're living in, I
S2: have a personal conviction that we're in. We're nearing the
S2: seventh day. Meaning 2000 years, 2000 years, 2000 years of
S2: the New Covenant. And I think we're here. I think
S2: we're close. We don't know for sure what the day
S2: or the hour is. We do not know. But we
S2: do know what's coming. And there will be a day
S2: when God will call his children home, either by natural
S2: death or by the rapture of the church. And one
S2: thing we can pray with confidence and be rewarded. God.
S2: Bring revival to your church today. I'm getting choked up
S2: thinking about it. Bring revival to your church today. God.
S2: Because we can look in your book and we can
S2: see that the time is drawing close. And would you
S2: move in power? So as you go skip a meal
S2: today or just just know this, maybe you're in the
S2: middle of a long, fast, total fast from food for
S2: a period of time. Maybe you've never fasted before. You
S2: can go before the Lord skipping a meal today and
S2: know with confidence God rewards those who seek him with
S2: a whole heart. It's a beautiful promise. It's a beautiful,
S2: beautiful thing. Oh my goodness. Don't stop getting fired up
S2: about the Word of God. I'm up early this morning
S2: just powering through this, looking at the historical context of
S2: Daniel and reading Jeremiah. And I'm like, oh man, I
S2: remember that from seminary. But boy, it's alive today like
S2: never before. So sweet. Seek the Lord with the whole heart.
S2: He sees you there and he will reward you.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Okay. What was your dream, guys, when you were a kid?
S2: If I could just do this one thing, I will
S2: have made it. You know, you get these images in
S2: your brain. If I could just achieve this. So mine
S2: was clearly 16 years old. And by the way, I
S2: was thinking about this the other day when I was 16,
S2: the Iditarod Trail Race was four years old.
S3: That's that's crazy to think.
S9: I know.
S2: Because now it's over 50 years that it's been right.
S9: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
S2: Just over 50 years it's been going. But I was dreaming, man.
S2: I'm like, if I can get my dog team from
S2: Anchorage to Nome. And at that time I had three dogs,
S2: four dogs. None of them were fit for the Iditarod.
S2: So I had some work to do. But I spent
S2: the next two years busting my keister to get a
S2: team together that could get me 1100 miles from Anchorage
S2: to Nome, and they did 21 days, eight hours, 12 minutes,
S2: 32 seconds. But it was a sobering thing to walk
S2: down Front Street in Nome at 3 a.m., sleep deprived,
S2: not old enough to go into a bar, not even interested.
S2: My life hadn't gone there yet, and to have that
S2: beautiful sense of elation, I made it to Nome and
S2: then this horrible sense of boy, that wasn't all I
S2: thought it would be. Can you imagine 18 year old
S2: Carl feeling like I made it? But I didn't make it.
S2: It didn't work.
S4: Makes sense. When we kind of make these things in
S4: our life, the the thing that's kind of holding up
S4: all of our happiness. And then we accomplish it. We
S4: realize it doesn't have the ability to do that.
S2: All right, let's go around the horn. What was it?
S2: Let's go guys. What were you thinking of when you
S2: were a kid?
S4: For me, I wanted to be an actor. And I
S4: was like, I'm going to be. I wanted to be
S4: a child actor.
S2: I don't think I ever heard that.
S4: No, I don't think I've shared it all that much. But, yeah,
S4: I wanted to be an actor. I was like, that
S4: would be so much fun. I was like, I'm gonna
S4: be famous. I'm gonna be rich. And I was like,
S4: I'm gonna. I'm gonna be on TV. This is perfect.
S4: And then, no, I mean, it didn't work out at
S4: all that way.
S5: I really, really wanted to be a high level athlete.
S5: I was a played volleyball, and I was I was
S5: a good high school player, and I really wanted to
S5: play at a big school, didn't end up getting an
S5: opportunity to play at a big school, played at a
S5: small school, and after two years of playing college volleyball,
S5: hung it up in kind of like a sense of
S5: this isn't going anywhere. I'm not good enough. Battling injuries.
S2: Ouch! I hurt for.
S5: You. It was. I mean, it was painful. It was
S5: a painful thing. Because that was the thing that I
S5: thought was making. It was being being a good college athlete,
S5: and it just didn't work out that way. And it
S5: was it was it hurt? It's I mean, it's one
S5: of those things that if I talk too much about it,
S5: I might start feeling it again. Oh, yeah. Like, oh, man,
S5: here I was 510. You know, I was like, at
S5: the time, that was tall. Now that's not that tall. See,
S5: these girls are six five but 510. I had the height.
S5: You know, I had a little bit of athleticism, but
S5: I just wasn't good enough. I was not good enough.
S2: Super die. Get us out of that one. What's yours?
S5: Sorry you asked.
S2: Oh, it's my heart. My heart hurts for you because we've.
S2: But we've all been there. What was yours?
S5: Super day.
S3: Um, just a very famous choreographer. I mean, I wanted
S3: to be on Broadway. High demand, win Tonys, all that
S3: good stuff. Yeah. Yeah. Very famous choreographer.
S2: Well, you're a great chorus. You choreographed something for us
S2: that we did around here?
S5: Yeah. We did.
S2: We all.
S5: Choreographed.
S2: We got to get a Tony for her. Yeah.
S5: It was. It was really good. She even got Karl
S5: and Jonathan able to dance.
S4: That's true.
S12: Hey, hey, hey. What do you mean? Goddess to dance?
S12: That's a good.
S5: Choreographer.
S12: Thank you.
S2: You know what? Here's what's funny. Coming up in a moment. It's.
S2: It's like we have these things in our childhood, and
S2: you'd think, well, that'll teach us, but then not as grandiose,
S2: but we still have subconscious or conscious aspirations for where
S2: we're going to go, what's going to happen and how.
S2: And even when we're born again, how God's going to
S2: use us. But what if what if we got a
S2: great dude coming up? What I love about him is
S2: he's got a great sense of humor, but he's also
S2: got a vulnerable streak that is willing to pour it
S2: out there.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: So there's a lot of aspirations that we have in life.
S2: The question is, what do you do when you get
S2: to that point when you thought, yeah, should be right
S2: and I'm not there? We've all had that feeling. Ali.
S5: Everybody, this is not what I thought my life would
S5: look like. Or this is exactly what I thought my
S5: life would look like. I've gotten everything I thought I wanted,
S5: and boy, do I still feel empty.
S2: It's a double edged deal. You know, it's interesting. So
S2: I just look at his bio here. Former managing editor
S2: of Leadership Journal. His work has been featured in USA today, HuffPo,
S2: Christianity Today, CNN. He's the acquisitions editor for Moody Publishers,
S2: now contributing editor for Christianity Today for pastors. He's the
S2: author of phenomenal books. I'm looking at all this. You
S2: must be fully fulfilled, drew. Everything's just fully cooking for you.
S2: And and you've hit. You've climbed every mountain. You've. I mean,
S2: what's it like to have arrived at all your dreams, buddy?
S13: Oh, thank you, thank you. I needed that question. That
S13: introduction makes me think I really should be more happy. Um. But. Yeah.
S13: Isn't that funny? Yeah. How often you reach that midpoint,
S13: you jump into your 40s and you realize you actually
S13: haven't done as much as you thought you would have done.
S13: And the funny thing is, or maybe the sad thing is,
S13: those of us who are more ministry minded are not
S13: exempt from this phenomenon because often we start out thinking, man,
S13: I'm going to do something really big for God. You know,
S13: I had that that sense in my 20s where I'm like,
S13: almost like, God's lucky to have me on his team
S13: because I'm going to do these awesome things. And I
S13: remember being in seminary and talking to my wife, and
S13: I'm like, you know what? I don't want the American dream.
S13: You know, someone else can can have the 2.5 children's
S13: children in the house in the suburb. We're going to
S13: do something radical. Maybe we're going to go overseas and
S13: be missionaries or start a nonprofit, but we're going to
S13: do something different. And she was right there with me. Well,
S13: it's a little embarrassing thinking about that now, because guess what?
S13: We live in the suburbs. We don't have 2.5 children.
S13: We have three. I drive a minivan.
S2: Yeah.
S12: You drive a minivan?
S2: Oh, no.
S13: Which is awesome, actually. I'm a big minivan fan. But
S13: then the question becomes, man, God, my life turned out great.
S13: I'm not complaining, but it's a little different than I
S13: thought it would. And then you realize, hey, you know,
S13: God's doing things in and through my life. I need
S13: to be grateful. Um, and sometimes it's actually, uh, a
S13: midlife crisis. And yet I'm grateful for it because it
S13: makes you focus on the things that actually matter rather
S13: than fulfilling some great dream for your own life.
S5: Drew Dick is our guest right now. So are you
S5: speaking about this in general terms, or is this from
S5: personal experience? Did you did you hit a point where We're.
S5: That's how you felt like I'm having a midlife crisis.
S5: Is that the words you would have put to it?
S13: Yeah, it's a little embarrassing, but after a while, this
S13: was kind of in my early 40s. It started to
S13: dawn on me, this just kind of sense of unease
S13: and dissatisfaction with where I've landed. Um, and and then
S13: I realized, yeah, this could be a midlife crisis. It's
S13: a little embarrassing to admit that it hit me, but
S13: I think it really did. And actually, it was my wife, Grace,
S13: who helped me, because I remember around that time she said, drew,
S13: can you list for me the people you most admire?
S13: And as I started listing people, I realized none of
S13: them were famous or big deals or had done these
S13: amazing historic things for God. You know, one was a
S13: small church pastor who who kept leading his church despite
S13: being diagnosed with a debilitating illness. And another one was
S13: this woman who fed the homeless kept doing that even
S13: after losing her spouse. And I realized, like, why do
S13: I admire these people? Because they were faithful. They kept
S13: showing up and serving God and loving people, even even
S13: when life kicked him in the teeth. And so then
S13: I thought, you know what? I need to adjust my expectations.
S13: I need to make faithfulness the, the, the goal that
S13: I'm aiming for, rather than some grandiose idea of the
S13: big impact I'm going to have for God.
S2: I appreciate you being vulnerable here. Drew Dick again as
S2: our guest right now. He actually was my acquisition editor
S2: for a book that I just wrote.
S13: And my biggest accomplishment right there, Carl.
S2: Working with me. Um, well, that's that's really cool. And,
S2: you know, I want us to go even a little
S2: bit deeper because there's a dark night of the soul
S2: when you sit there and you haven't resolved God is
S2: good all the time, and it's okay, but there's a woof.
S2: What is my life counting for here? What did that
S2: or what does it or what has it felt like, drew.
S2: I mean, let's just go there because there's a lot
S2: of people listening right now that go shoot, my life
S2: isn't what I'd planned here.
S13: Yeah, I think it's common. I think that's the first comfort, right?
S13: Is that you're probably not the only one going through
S13: something like that. Uh, you're not alone. I'm certainly there
S13: with you. Um, and I feel I talked to a
S13: lot of people, and they feel like God put me
S13: on the shelf. You know, they think what happened? They
S13: saw their life going one way. Uh, they they wake
S13: up somewhere around midlife and go. This isn't what I planned.
S13: Maybe they had challenges they didn't foresee, um, setbacks, you
S13: name it. Sometimes they're your own fault, and then you
S13: can really drop into a place of of shame and guilt. Um,
S13: but I think there are spiritual benefits to that, because,
S13: first of all, you're being faced with your mortality, right?
S13: That's part of a midlife crisis. You realize, wow, the
S13: the sands in the hourglass are halfway gone. And what
S13: have I done? But I think there can be a
S13: good side to that, because you realize that you're finite,
S13: that you can't do it all right, and that God
S13: doesn't expect you to. That's that's a good thing to
S13: face because God's infinite. We're not. And so we have
S13: to trust him to do with our life what he
S13: will do.
S5: We've got drew Dick Moore coming up. Let's talk about this.
S5: You've written a book about this. Sometimes the best thing
S5: you can do is not the big thing, not the
S5: grand gesture, not the big sacrifice for God. It's to
S5: just show up. Just show up. We'll talk about it
S5: coming up.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S5: Well, according to Psychology Today, a midlife crisis is a
S5: period of emotional turmoil and uncertainty typically occurring in middle age,
S5: 40 to 60 years old, where individuals question their life
S5: choices and purpose, often leading to a strong desire for change.
S5: Are Christians immune to this? We have the hope of
S5: Jesus Christ. Why? Still around 40 ish. Maybe 50. Maybe
S5: into your 60s, maybe beyond. Do you feel that sense of?
S5: Does my life count for anything? Drew Dick, our guest
S5: right now. This describes well where I think a lot
S5: of people land. You hit that stage where you're not
S5: a young buck anymore. Far from it. You're one of
S5: the older guys or the older gals, and you start
S5: to take stock of your life and feel like, does
S5: this mean anything? Does that describe it? Well? Do you
S5: like that description from Psychology Today? Drew.
S13: Dick I think that works. Yeah. And it's a little disorienting,
S13: especially I feel like that that move from like, you know,
S13: 25 to 40 say it's only 15 years, but you
S13: go from virtually being a kid in our culture to
S13: all of a sudden, wow, I'm middle age. Then you
S13: start taking stock of your life and going, what happened?
S13: Some of these goals didn't pan out. Uh, maybe my
S13: life went in a different direction, and it can be
S13: a little disorienting.
S2: Yeah. You know, you've written on this, drew, and this
S2: has to be the outflow of it, right? I mean,
S2: just show up. You wouldn't have written that in your
S2: 20s or 30s, bro.
S13: That's right. That that was a gift of a bit
S13: of a midlife crisis. Absolutely. Coming to that place and going, wow, okay.
S13: I thought I was going to have a different sort
S13: of life. I thought it was going to be a
S13: little more radical. Uh, and when your life looks a
S13: little more ordinary, and again, I am very grateful for
S13: the many blessings God has given me with a job
S13: and a house and a family. Uh, but then the
S13: question becomes, okay, how do I live this life that
S13: is a little more ordinary than I thought it would be.
S13: And man, for me, it's just, you know what, God,
S13: I'm going to show up to the next small step
S13: that you've placed in front of me. I'm going to
S13: take that. I'm going to maybe, you know, stop looking,
S13: taking stock of my entire life and and zoom in
S13: on every day and just go, how can I be faithful?
S13: How can I obey God in this day to the
S13: work that he's called me to do and to the
S13: people that he's placed in my life?
S12: Yeah, I think.
S2: Ordinary gets a bad rap because the ordinary. I think
S2: about Dave Churchill, guys, I've shared about him here before.
S2: You guys probably know Dave Churchill almost as well as
S2: I do. And you never met him. But Dave Churchill
S2: was a guy who was a former state trooper who
S2: was up 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle doing
S2: security for British Petroleum. And we had this huge company
S2: wide party alcohol flowing freely and everything. And he's on
S2: top of it all. He's planting a church with my
S2: mom and dad in Wasilla, Alaska, and I see him
S2: and he catches eyes with me and he's walking my way.
S2: And I tell some guys with me, hold my beer.
S2: I think I may be invented that term. So I said,
S2: hold my beer. And he just came alongside me and said,
S2: listen man, life is tough. Enjoy the party. But if
S2: you ever need anyone to talk to, I'm your man.
S2: Thank the Holy Spirit. Use that guy. Now, Dave doesn't
S2: even know. Well he did. I was able to let
S2: him know before he went on to his reward. That's
S2: pretty ordinary. But I remember Dave Churchill because God used
S2: that to call me out of darkness and into light.
S2: One of the primary figures in my life. I thought
S2: God loved me that much. ordinary gets a bad rap,
S2: doesn't it? Drew.
S13: Oh, isn't that true? I think most of us, when
S13: we think back, you think of your life, your childhood,
S13: whatever formative years and who had an impact on you.
S13: Usually it wasn't some big famous person. Uh, it was
S13: someone ordinary who who took the time to come alongside
S13: you to be there. Maybe in a tough time when
S13: you were really hurting too. And you can do that
S13: for other people, that is. I think it gets ordinary,
S13: gets a terrible rap because God, usually, yeah, they're the miracles.
S13: They're the high points, uh, where God comes in dramatically
S13: or someone comes in dramatically and does something, but it's
S13: through the ordinary that I think God does his best work.
S13: And that's a comfort when you're going through a midlife
S13: crisis and you're wondering if your life really matters, because
S13: you can look at the people that God's placed in
S13: your vicinity and ask yourself, how can I show up
S13: for them? How can I have that kind of steady,
S13: faithful impact in their life that they need? And that's exciting.
S5: Just a minute or two left here, drew, but go
S5: over some of the just a high overview. What are
S5: some of those? Simple, practical, just show up sort of
S5: steps that people can take today of just kind of
S5: plodding forward?
S13: Yeah, I think one thing to do is just take
S13: a bit of an inventory of your life and kind
S13: of go, how am I spending my time? You know,
S13: I've talked to a lot of people who maybe they're
S13: they're trying to have a large influence or impact in
S13: the world, and there's nothing wrong with that. But sometimes
S13: we can get so focused on that that we miss
S13: the people and opportunities that God's placed right under our nose.
S13: You know, people in our families that are hurting, that
S13: need help, people in our churches, in our neighborhoods. And
S13: like we've been talking about, your ordinary influence and presence
S13: in their life can be huge. And then, of course,
S13: just praying to God and going, God, what? What is
S13: it in this season of life that you want me
S13: to do? What is it? And then, you know, as
S13: you take some time to kind of really stay in
S13: that place asking God what he wants you to do,
S13: things are going to start to pop into your head
S13: and then to have the courage to go, God, I'm
S13: going to obey that. I hear what you're wanting me
S13: to do. I'm going to take that first step of faith.
S13: And it might not be a huge thing. It might
S13: just be kind of walking over and talking to my neighbor.
S13: It might be, you know, calling up a nephew or
S13: niece that I have. Whatever it is, obeying God and
S13: being in that person's life to make an impact on them.
S2: It's beautiful. I think one of the greatest evidences here,
S2: Ali and team that we get with drew is that
S2: we asked him for a resource and he linked to
S2: another author on a midlife crisis, a blog that's impacted
S2: him mightily. And we want you to get this link
S2: to get to this beautiful article, and also a link
S2: to drew Dick to grab his books and whatever God
S2: may lead you to. Take it away, Ali.
S5: Yeah, just text the word mid to 805 55, 7898.
S5: Mid mid to 855 five 7898. We'll get you linked
S5: up to Drew Dick's website as well as this resource.
S5: Mid 800 555 7898.