S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step
S2: with Jesus. We've got. We got a day to day, man.
S2: I'm going to start this thing out of the chute. Hot.
S2: You guys ever had piece ripped off from you or
S2: feel like it's elusive?
S3: Yeah, absolutely.
S4: Of course.
S2: What are the situations in your life? What are the
S2: situations in your life that seem to rob peace from you?
S2: I'm not wanting gory details. I don't need you guys
S2: to do that. But generally speaking, what can rob peace?
S5: Family situations.
S2: Family's huge, isn't it?
S5: Big?
S3: Big? Yeah I think, uh, identity anxiety. Yeah.
S5: Work.
S2: What do you mean by that?
S3: So I think that there's a lot of anxiety about
S3: that out there about who we are. I, you know,
S3: I'm so messed up from this. You know, I've experienced this,
S3: and it affects me today. We don't know who we are,
S3: and it makes us anxious.
S2: Yeah, we can look at our life and we can
S2: see things that have happened in the past. And we're like,
S2: who just could be, in our own estimation, a trail
S2: of tears. It's unredeemable. How in the world is God
S2: going to pull anything out of the ashes here?
S3: Or someone spoken a word to you that that is
S3: horrible and untrue, and now you can't get that word
S3: out of your head and they go, oh, that person
S3: was right. I am this. And it's like, no.
S2: Yeah, we can face issues at work, at home, even
S2: in the neighborhood that it's like, boy, there's a situation
S2: dangling out here. I don't know what to do with it.
S2: And sometimes it's a situation beyond our control. Yes. And
S2: it's something being foisted on us. And it can just
S2: rob us of peace, rip us off. One of the
S2: biggest peace robbers I ever had in my life hit me.
S2: Just blindsided. I can't get into too many details except
S2: to say it was about oh goodness sakes, I've been
S2: saying 15 years ago now forever, but probably 16, 17
S2: years ago. And it was it was one of the
S2: most brutal piece robbers you can ever have in your life. And,
S2: you know, the interesting thing about betrayal is that the
S2: guy on the street can't betray you, right?
S3: Yeah.
S2: Because only someone who has close proximity can betray you, right?
S2: Somebody out on the street can say something about you.
S2: The way you look, the way you walk, the way
S2: you talk. Whatever. But that's not betrayal.
S3: No, there's no trust.
S2: There's no trust that's been built in order for betrayal
S2: to happen. But I went through a season where a
S2: couple of guys that I really put my full faith
S2: and trust in. And by the way, some of you
S2: might say, well, there's the problem. You got to put
S2: your full faith and trust in God. Yes and no.
S2: We may put our trust in people all the time
S2: for partnerships, for marriage, totally. For teachers of our kids
S2: at school, we put our trust in them. I mean,
S2: government officials wink, wink. We put our trust in them.
S5: A certain degree, of.
S2: Course. So we entrust ourselves to people all the time
S2: or trust people all the time. In fact, there's a
S2: there's a key word there. Who do we entrust ourselves to?
S2: It has to be God. And that's part of the solution.
S2: But we put a level of trust in people. And
S2: then when you find that something you shared or something
S2: that you've lived or that something is that is said
S2: about you is untrue, and you got a fork hanging
S2: out of your back. One day when you wake up,
S2: oh my goodness, it can steal peace. When a friend
S2: does you wrong with someone you've trusted, truly does you wrong.
S2: It can really Rob you of peace can steal it.
S2: The myth we want to debunk today is I can't
S2: find peace. Peace can seem so elusive, and it's always
S2: going to be at risk. There's no way there aren't
S2: peace robbers out there waiting for you today. It's in
S2: the world system that we live in. Yep. Things can
S2: rob us of peace. It's in our own flesh. Things
S2: that we do that can steal peace from us. That's
S2: where we look at ourselves going. Oh, man, I'm so.
S2: I'm such an idiot. I'm never going to break loose
S2: from these patterns in my life. And Satan's constantly setting
S2: traps and saying things to you that rob peace left,
S2: right and center today. And I don't know how much
S2: ground we're going to make in any segment, one segment
S2: or half hour today, but we're going to cover some ground.
S2: There are three conversations that can change the course of
S2: your life and give you peace. Three conversations, three conversations.
S2: And it covers every aspect of life, these three conversations.
S2: And I'm not overpromising. It comes right from the book
S2: of Philippians. It's one of the most beautiful aha moments.
S2: And you might have come here today and very candidly,
S2: you feel like, man, Carl, peace is so elusive for me.
S2: I mean, God promises peace, but it seems so far away.
S2: Peace is a fruit of the spirit, and I'm abiding
S2: in Christ. But where's the peace here? We're just going
S2: to focus on peace. Because when peace is missing, everything
S2: seems to be falling down. Isn't peace one of the
S2: greatest commodities we can possibly have in this world? Give
S2: me a little peace. Yeah, we'd buy it, wouldn't we?
S5: Oh, absolutely. And especially in some situations when you have
S5: that peace. Others come up to you and go, well,
S5: I don't get it.
S2: Especially if they know a situation you're going through.
S5: Is very heavy. Exactly. Like, how are you dealing with how.
S2: How does that.
S5: Happen? Yeah.
S2: Yeah. Coming up here, we're going to talk about the
S2: first conversation that can change the course of your life
S2: and bring you peace. Some of you are down a
S2: path that just is robbing peace from you at every corner.
S2: What if I told you Scripture is clear that there
S2: are three conversations that can change the course of your life,
S2: and you don't have to say any longer, I can't
S2: find peace. We're going to be breaking it down for
S2: you this morning. And I know some of you did.
S2: You came here today going, boy. Carl, if I could
S2: just find a little bit of peace here, life would
S2: be so much different. It can be. God's word is
S2: just loaded with hope. Hang on.
S1: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
S2: One of the key things to experiencing peace is understanding
S2: who in the world you are in Christ, your identity.
S2: There's a lot of discussion about identity in this world
S2: that we live in today, for sure, and a lot
S2: of people think that they can't choose or settle in
S2: on their true identity, but that's simply a falsehood. God
S2: wants you to get anchored in who you are in
S2: Jesus later on this hour. J Warner Wallace is going
S2: to be with us here. Cold case, homicide detective, turned
S2: full blown theologian, theologian, apologist and radical Jesus follower.
S5: You can't even write that.
S2: I mean, what a great dude, huh?
S5: Right.
S2: What a great.
S5: Man. Good friend of the show.
S2: I mean, been on Dateline, so you're going to hear
S2: his voice and go, I've heard that voice. Yeah, you've
S2: heard it before. Imagine those spending all your time doing
S2: cold case detective work.
S5: That's heavy. Heavy talk about peace. Talk about peace in
S5: your head.
S2: Yeah. This is why his radical transformation. Not as a
S2: young man or in Sunday school, but later on in life,
S2: proved to be one of the biggest transformative things that
S2: he could have ever imagined. And he's going to be
S2: here with us today. I can't find peace. Is that
S2: myth that needs to be debunked? You may not have
S2: it for a moment, so I want I don't want
S2: to diminish the lack of peace. Anxiousness is a very
S2: real thing. And the reason we know it's going to
S2: be real, even for followers of Jesus. And praise God,
S2: we don't have to paste on the fake fruit of peace.
S2: Have you ever tried to do that where it's like
S2: you're going through an anxious moment and like, give me
S2: a plastic banana of peace over here.
S5: It's fine.
S2: You guys nailed it, man.
S3: Yeah, it's fine, it's fine. Don't worry about it. Just
S3: push it off. Yeah. Don't think about it.
S5: Just keep swimming.
S2: You guys never do that, do you?
S3: No, never. Of course. Yes, I do it.
S5: No. I'm fine, I'm good. Yeah. Never.
S2: It's a dangerous thing. Three conversations we want to cover
S2: this morning. I don't know, let's cover one of them
S2: right now. Spend some time here before the bottom of
S2: the hour. Really covering something here. Three conversations that can
S2: change the course of your life and really bring you peace.
S2: It's a fascinating storyline here in Philippians four, he got
S2: he got two ladies in Philippi who are at odds
S2: with one another. And this is what Paul says. I
S2: entreat Euodia and Syntyche to agree in the Lord. How
S2: in the world did they make it into this letter?
S2: I'm going to explain that in just a moment. Yes.
S2: I ask you also, true companion, help these women who
S2: have labored side by side with me in the gospel,
S2: together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers
S2: whose names are in the book of life. So Paul's
S2: interrupting this incredible book to really talk about as we're
S2: going to unfold here today, three conversations that can change
S2: the course of life and give you peace. So the
S2: backstory on Aotea and Syntyche is that we don't know
S2: much at all.
S5: Yeah, no.
S2: Because they're introduced right here.
S5: And then out of nowhere.
S3: And it's gone pretty quickly.
S2: Yeah, it's in and out. So here's the cool little
S2: insight that we can get. Euodia and Syntyche were obviously
S2: partners in the gospel at such a level that if
S2: they didn't have peace in their relationship, it was going
S2: to have ripple effects throughout the church of Philippi.
S5: Right? You see that and feel that.
S2: And there's another player here, and we don't even know
S2: who it is. Yes. I ask you also, true companion,
S2: help these women who have labored side by side with
S2: me in the gospel. We don't know who this is.
S2: We don't know if this is Timothy. We don't know
S2: if we don't know if this is Luke. We don't
S2: know who in the world this is. All we know
S2: is that these women are at odds with one another. Now,
S2: if you do a deeper dive on Scripture, I'm absolutely
S2: convinced that this wasn't a big deal that had caused
S2: a divide here, because if it was, it had been
S2: a theological issue, something of substance that it would have
S2: been it would have been much different for Paul. He
S2: would have been writing.
S5: Oh, he'd been right there.
S2: One of you or one of you are writing heresy
S2: or speaking heresy, and or both of you have bailed
S2: on the truth of the gospel. No, he's just saying,
S2: I entreat Euodia, and I entreat Syntyche. So he's entreating
S2: them both. This is very interesting. By the way, I'm
S2: talking to you both here to agree in the Lord. Yes.
S2: I ask you also, true companion, help these women who
S2: have labored side by side with me in the gospel,
S2: together with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers
S2: whose names are in the book of life. What's he
S2: helping them to do? He's helping them to find peace.
S2: There is something that has caused a divide. And here's
S2: the amazing thing about relationships that rob peace from you
S2: and cause you to say, I can't find peace with
S2: this person. I can't find peace with someone, particularly in
S2: the body of Christ, because this is why it's so important.
S2: The body of Christ are closer relationships than even our
S2: blood relatives. That's what Jesus said. Who's your sisters? Brothers? Mothers? Fathers? Who? Aunts? Uncles?
S2: Who are they? Aren't they of the household of faith? Yes. Why?
S2: Because we are knit together. Not by common earthly blood,
S2: but by spiritual blood. The blood of Jesus Christ. He
S2: brings us together so that unity is almost more important
S2: than getting sideways with family. Even though family can wreck
S2: your heart. We're going to talk about that today. So
S2: it was probably a little thing. And this is just
S2: like marriage. And you might be in a marriage right
S2: now where you're going. We don't have peace. So the
S2: application point here is real for you as well. If
S2: you got two people that are in the Lord and
S2: you're finding a wall between you, here's what I've found
S2: many years of ministry. It's usually not the big things
S2: that divide. It's a little brick, little brick, little brick
S2: of little stuff that creates a wall of divide. That's
S2: what does it. Coming up here in three minutes. What
S2: in the world is the principle here that we find
S2: in this text that peace seems elusive for you now
S2: with someone. What does it mean to find peace in
S2: the Lord? Let's break it down. Straight ahead.
S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
S1: Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Today we're tackling the myths. I can't find peace. And
S2: sometimes the biggest peace robbers are in relationships, even those
S2: in the body of Christ. This is a big one. Why?
S2: Because we need each other in Christ more than almost
S2: biological family. That's very true. We know what it is
S2: to lack peace with regard to where our kids are at,
S2: where a spouse is at, and all these different relationships
S2: that we have. And we're going to get into that today.
S2: But one of the three conversations that can bring peace
S2: to you and change the course of your life is
S2: this talk with your brothers and sisters in ways that
S2: bring unity. It doesn't mean that whatever caused Euodia and
S2: Syntyche to not have agreement, you just kind of brush
S2: that under the rug. It's the bigger yes. You know,
S2: there's a character trait in Scripture that we're called to
S2: use constantly, and that is forbearance. Forbearance says just because
S2: you do something differently than me, just because you set
S2: up the info kiosk differently than me at church, just
S2: because you put the sugars by the coffee's a little
S2: bit differently than I would. Doesn't mean we need to
S2: have a problem here.
S3: That's very correct. And I think sometimes we can miss that.
S5: It's fairly true to.
S2: The things that divide us in spiritual relationships are usually
S2: not big theological things. They're usually stylistic more than they
S2: are substantive.
S3: Yeah. Yeah, I would agree because I mean, largely in
S3: your faith based community, there are going to be the
S3: majority of people who theologically agree with you on the
S3: most important things, the the dogma, which is the gospel. Uh,
S3: you know, the things that cannot be changed or disagreed
S3: upon and still be okay. So every most people agree
S3: on those things in your community. However, preferential stuff is
S3: the stuff that sometimes we feel the most emotionally charged
S3: to because we have this grip on it, this hold
S3: on it, that it has to be this way or
S3: I like this the best. And we kind of interpret
S3: that as it has to be this way.
S2: It's my way or the highway, brother or sister. And
S2: here's what Paul says to Euodia and Syntyche. He says,
S2: I entreat you both to agree in the Lord, and
S2: you've got to ask, what in the world is that?
S2: I think there's forbearance there, for sure, but all you
S2: have to do is look back two chapters. And when
S2: I was doing a deep dive on this text a
S2: couple of weeks ago, this is what you find. Have
S2: this mind among yourselves which is yours in Christ Jesus, who,
S2: though he was in the form of God, did not
S2: count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but
S2: emptied himself by taking the form of a servant being
S2: born in the likeness of man and being formed. Being
S2: found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient
S2: to the point of death, even death on the cross.
S2: The preeminent characteristic that can bring some peace into your
S2: life is to begin to have conversations with brothers and sisters.
S2: In a way that makes Christ central. Agree in the Lord.
S2: You notice what Paul's saying here. He doesn't say, come
S2: to agreement about all the details of what's got you
S2: all messed up, ladies?
S3: Yeah, one of you better submit and agree to the
S3: other person's opinion.
S2: You know what he's saying? It's the greater good. It's
S2: the bigger. Yes, it's the yes. And some of you
S2: right now when I'm saying this, you're going, oh, boy,
S2: you're right. I'm all hung up on the handlebars of
S2: a stylistic thing or a way they do something, or
S2: the way they didn't talk to me or the way
S2: they did talk to me. What if, instead of me
S2: getting piece robbed, I have a conversation that says, let's
S2: come back to the Lord and maybe you don't say
S2: it to the other person. You just exhibit it and say,
S2: I'm going to take the posture of humility. It's not
S2: my way or the highway. I know there's differences in
S2: the body of Christ. Have you ever noticed how different
S2: we are, guys?
S3: Very. I mean, we're all unique people.
S5: For a purpose and a reason.
S3: You got a family of six and you got six
S3: completely different people. It's a bigger. It's a bigger group.
S2: And their family is six. You at least have same
S2: family of origin kind of issues that you can all
S2: relate to. But when you've got like we have downtown,
S2: our downtown campus has 22 languages spoken at it. Do you.
S5: Know beautiful.
S2: Do you know how much potential there is for conflict?
S2: Goodness sakes. Cultural differences. But when we agree in the Lord,
S2: we're taking on a posture of humility. It's not my
S2: way or the highway, and I just appeal to you today.
S2: One conversation that can give you peace and change the
S2: course of your life is talked with your brothers in
S2: a way that bring unity, and it's usually through humility.
S2: Choose it today. And I'm telling you, peace is right
S2: around the corner. Think about that person or persons you
S2: felt something for. A little forbearance goes a long way.
S2: Humility takes it over the top. Live it today, guys.
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.
S2: The tongue is a powerful thing, isn't it? Oh, boy.
S3: Man. No doubt.
S2: What we speak, what we say matters. The most comprehensive,
S2: the most comprehensive teaching in all the scriptures on the
S2: tongue is in the book of James, chapter three, verses
S2: one through 13. I'm almost inclined to read this whole thing.
S2: Let me grab let me grab chunks of it here.
S2: Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for
S2: you know that we who teach will be judged with
S2: greater strictness. So here's the deal. James says, we all
S2: stumble in many ways, and if anyone does not stumble
S2: in what he says, he's a perfect man, able to
S2: bridle his whole body. If you can get the tongue
S2: under control, you got everything cooking here. He goes on.
S2: If we put bits into the mouths of horses so
S2: that they obey us, we guide their whole bodies as well. Boy,
S2: that's a great metaphor. Look at the ships also. I've
S2: seen some big boys, Though they are so large and
S2: driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very
S2: small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. It's
S2: true guys, I've seen some of the. When I commercial
S2: fished in Alaska for eight seasons, we would go deliver
S2: our salmon to tenders. Okay, so if you've ever seen
S2: the crabbers on The Deadliest Catch. Yeah. So like high
S2: spirits and all these different boats, I've been in the
S2: kitchen galley. That's what they're called of a good number
S2: of those boats on Deadliest Catch. Those boats have been
S2: around a long time. And those boats in crab season,
S2: Deadliest Catch, they're out there in the high seas of
S2: the Bering Sea, just getting tossed about to and fro.
S2: But in the summer months, they come in and they collect.
S2: They're the intermediary between our little 32 foot gillnetters, and
S2: we're putting anywhere from 5 to £25,000 pounds of salmon
S2: on our boat, and then we go deliver them. And
S2: they're in big trailers. They're called their big old nets.
S2: When you pull up alongside these tenders, they gather them up,
S2: pick it up. And that's this is the fun part
S2: because there's a scale at the bottom of the picking hook.
S2: Oh cool. So it's a big digital scale. And they
S2: pick up that trailer. And I would always guess how
S2: many pounds are in those trailers. They'd be 2 to 3, three,
S2: £4,000 of fish in one day.
S5: Wow.
S2: One net. So they pick it up and it's like £3,200. Yes.
S2: And I'm doing the math in my head because that
S2: was that was big dollars for a kid.
S3: Pounds to dollars.
S2: Oh, it was big, big dollars. But then those tenders
S2: would take those fish from that tender to a larger ship.
S2: And these were they were called Trampers. They were converted
S2: World War Two ships that the Japanese had. So these
S2: were ships that were used against us once upon a time.
S2: Now they're converted into refrigeration processing ships. So then the
S2: the the fish get taken from those tenders in huge
S2: batches over to these Japanese trawlers. And here's these guys, man.
S2: They it was great. I got invited up on one
S2: one time and this was before I was saved. So
S2: they introduced me to Saki, which is bad news. It's
S2: just poison. Clear poison is what it is. Oh my goodness.
S2: And seaweed and all kinds of goodies. And I couldn't
S2: speak their language, but we spoke the language of food
S2: really well.
S5: Something was spoken there for sure.
S2: So. But here's what's funny. The the tides were so
S2: huge in Bristol Bay that at times these huge Japanese
S2: trawlers would get beached and the waters would go out.
S2: And here's the entire ship on a beachhead out of
S2: the water. And then you'd look down and the point
S2: is you'd look down at the rudder and you're like, man,
S2: I mean, the rudder is big, but when you've got
S2: a ship that's 350ft long and I don't know how
S2: many tons, and you've got a piece of metal that's
S2: like six feet by eight feet. That's steering it, right.
S3: Oh, it's tiny comparatively to the ship.
S5: Yeah, well, that controls it. Exactly.
S2: Yeah. Now, Paul didn't see the same ships I did,
S2: but he's or James, the brother of Jesus. But they
S2: still had that going on.
S3: Absolutely.
S2: And so he goes on, he says, man, these ships
S2: are guided by very small rudder where wherever the will
S2: of the pilot directs. So also is the tongue a
S2: small member? Yet it boasts of great things. And then
S2: it goes on to talk about forests set ablaze by
S2: a small fire. In this this tongue is a fire,
S2: a world of unrighteousness. And he goes on to explain
S2: this with it we bless our Lord, and with it
S2: we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.
S2: And then he says these words in verse 13, who
S2: is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct,
S2: let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom,
S2: meaning wise people get their tongues under control. This morning
S2: we're talking about three conversations that can change the course
S2: of your life and give you peace. And for some
S2: of you, the myth that we're debunking today is very pointed.
S2: I can't find peace, Carl. I can't find peace. Coming
S2: up here, I'm going to tackle the second conversation that
S2: can change the course of your life. It's all hinges
S2: in God's providence, omnipotence, and sovereignty. We'll give you the
S2: whole thing straight ahead.
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Sometimes we start believing this myth that I just can't
S2: find peace. I can't find it. I don't want you
S2: to beat yourself up. Sometimes the absence of peace is
S2: the presence of incredible heartache. God's not asking you to
S2: wave a magic wand over your life, but really, conversations
S2: that we have, three of them that we're covering here
S2: today can bring peace when it seems elusive. And I
S2: promise you that I do. You know. You ever see.
S2: Now you're talking. We all do, don't we? Now you're.
S5: Talking. Oh, yeah.
S2: Isn't that a common phrase? Let me. Let me tell you.
S2: Let me tell you. When I say now you're talking.
S2: Let me give you a couple. When my bride says,
S2: let's go to Napoli, I'm like, now you're talking. Yeah.
S2: Napoli has got the real pizza. Real pizza is thin
S2: crust from Sicily, I think. Right.
S5: I mean, careful.
S2: No, I'm going to go for it all, you deep crushers.
S2: Uh uh, all the thick pi pi people, all that stuff. No,
S2: I'm a Napoleon patootie. I get a diavola with extra diavola,
S2: which is just a classic pepperoni pizza. I love it.
S2: It's so good I can polish off one whole thing myself.
S2: No problem. So when my bride says, want to go
S2: to Napoli, I'm like, now you're talking.
S3: Came from Naples, Italy.
S2: Naples. Okay, there we go.
S3: Not Florida. Italy?
S2: Yes.
S5: Thank you.
S3: Just making sure.
S2: Maybe there's a pizza joint in Naples, Florida.
S3: There probably.
S5: Is.
S3: There's a Little Caesars.
S5: A good one. Oh, no.
S2: Don't even get me going there. I'm not even going
S2: to go there. Okay. So when do you say. Now
S2: you're talking. Come on.
S3: Oh, man. Uh, now I'm talking. Probably.
S2: Now you're talking. Yeah. So someone else says something to you.
S2: You go. Now you're talking.
S3: Uh, so the food thing. Definitely. My wife says, hey,
S3: you want to get chick fil A tonight? That would
S3: be mine.
S2: Oh my word.
S3: Oh, yeah. You're. Now you're talking.
S2: You're easily pleased.
S3: That's good. I am easily pleased.
S2: Uh, chick fil A is good, though.
S3: Or, uh, you know, when when the bears quarterback throws
S3: a deep touchdown pass. That's probably my. Yeah. Sports related
S3: for me. That's that's a big one.
S2: You two. Super day.
S5: Yeah. Sports related. That kind of thing with the Cubs.
S5: Now you're talking. Come on. Yeah.
S2: When the Cubs. Sorry, I'm in Chicago here for all
S2: you fans everywhere else. When the Cubs management before the
S2: trading deadline gets three new pitchers. Yes. Two relievers and
S2: one one starter. Now you're talking. They haven't done it yet.
S2: But I'll be. I'll be doing it. I'll be saying.
S2: Now you're.
S5: Talking. That's right.
S2: Now you're talking. That's right. It's it's funny because what
S2: we say matters.
S3: Yes.
S2: And there's three conversations that can change the course of
S2: your life and give you peace covering the second one. Now,
S2: talk with God in ways that release you from anxiousness.
S2: Look at what Paul says here. Rejoice in the Lord always.
S2: Again I will say, rejoice. Let your reasonableness be known
S2: to everyone. The Lord is at hand. Do not be
S2: anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication
S2: with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
S2: And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will
S2: guard actually a better word. Translated there is garrison. It's
S2: not just guard. It's not like you got a little
S2: foam thing up in front of you here. It's like
S2: there's this fortress of God's power. It will guard your
S2: hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. So what does
S2: this mean? I mean, what's it mean? Well, this conversation
S2: with God, talking with God in ways that releases you
S2: from anxiousness is embedded right here. We'll break it down
S2: straight ahead.
S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
S2: Covering three conversations that can change the course of your
S2: life and bring deep peace. We're in the second conversation.
S2: Talk with God in ways that release you from anxiousness.
S2: There's a peace in this. Before I get into who
S2: in the world we're talking to, because I think prayer
S2: sometimes is feeling like I've got to speak some words
S2: about something that stealing peace from me. And if I
S2: speak these words, then the magic sauce is then I'm
S2: going to have peace. And we sometimes wonder, well, what's
S2: the gap? And this is where we got to understand
S2: who we're talking to. But there's one aspect in here
S2: of thankfulness that you want to spike Young Thunder.
S3: Yeah, I love this because I think back to my
S3: time where I was in the church but didn't know Christ.
S3: And if I read this verse at this time, I
S3: would have thought something because, uh, Paul says here in
S3: verse six, do not be anxious about anything, but in
S3: everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
S3: be made known to God. So we're talking to God
S3: about what makes us anxious, asking him for what we need,
S3: but also in thanksgiving. And I would have read that
S3: and probably thought like, that's a weird kind of power
S3: trip thing that like, oh, I've gotta, I've gotta make
S3: sure I say my thank yous to God. Otherwise, you know,
S3: he's not going to hear my stuff or hear my requests.
S3: And and that's not what this is about at all.
S3: God is is telling us to talk to him in
S3: thankfulness for our benefit. Because I was thinking about this, um,
S3: gratitude allows us to remember what God has done for
S3: us in the past and his faithfulness for us today.
S3: So I thought about it.
S2: It's not a weird oh, thank you.
S3: You better.
S2: That's in a void of any experience.
S3: No. Absolutely not. And I think about it this way.
S3: My wife does so much for our family. Uh, a
S3: little synopsis of her day is that she gets up
S3: early in the morning, uh, 640, 7:00, and immediately my
S3: daughter is up and she's taking care of my daughter.
S3: So it's immediate sacrifice playing with her, feeding her, taking
S3: her on a walk. And then once she gets her
S3: down for her afternoon nap, I come home from work
S3: and she starts work. Then she works through the afternoon.
S3: And once she's done working, she gets to making dinner. And.
S3: But my daughter hasn't seen her all day. So now
S3: she wants. My daughter wants her to hold her. So
S3: she's holding my daughter and making dinner at the same time. Hey, dad.
S3: Can't take Ellie away from from her mom. That's just
S3: not gonna happen. And so. So she's doing all this,
S3: and then. And then we go out on a walk together,
S3: and we're doing family time, and then we put our
S3: daughter down, and it's a couple hours together before I
S3: gotta go to bed and wake up early the next day.
S3: But she's focused on me. And how can she connect
S3: with me? How can she take care of me? Because
S3: I've had a long day and she wants to do
S3: that if I don't thank her, I will in my own,
S3: in my own human nature, forget all of the things
S3: that she's done for me in a day. But when
S3: I say, you know what, Shannon, thank you so much
S3: for how you've served today. I remember everything, and and
S3: that's what God wants. He says, thank because you will
S3: remember how I've been faithful to you, and then you
S3: will know and be able to trust that I will
S3: be faithful to you again in what you're asking me
S3: for right now.
S2: Awesome. Beautiful. Now. Shannon has great capability.
S3: Yes.
S2: She's an amazing woman of God. I love your bride.
S2: But even Shannon comes short of God.
S3: Of course. Right? Yeah.
S2: When we're talking with God, there's three things I want
S2: you to remember. God's providence, his omnipotence, and his sovereignty.
S2: Providence of God means that he is actively involved in
S2: governing details of the universe in your life to fulfill
S2: his purposes, and they're always good and wise. Boom! Anchor it.
S2: He's providential. He's omnipotent. His power is infinite. His ability
S2: to create, sustain, and act in any way miracles of redemption.
S2: All these things that he orders in our life. And
S2: he works outside the sphere of humankind so he can
S2: rearrange things that are not bound by the limits of
S2: what we can do. That's his power. And then his sovereignty.
S2: He has supreme authority over everything. Nothing happens outside his control.
S2: When we begin to talk with God in ways that
S2: we know his providence, his omnipotence, his sovereignty, we can
S2: pray with thankfulness because we've seen him work back here,
S2: and he will work again. And all of a sudden
S2: when we lay it down at the foot of the cross,
S2: we go, I can have peace. Now, here's here's a
S2: big deal, guys, I want you to know that I
S2: haven't always prayed in a way that brings peace. What
S2: do I mean? Even for many years as a pastor,
S2: I saw prayer as far too perfunctory. It's just something
S2: we do. Being honest with you here. But when I
S2: began to pray, knowing God pulls the levers of things
S2: that are concerning me today, and then I truly, in humility,
S2: laid them down at the cross. And I began to
S2: see God work. And I listened to his spirit, and
S2: I began to watch. What in the world is he
S2: orchestrating here? Unbelievable. To the point where I know this
S2: is something that you want and I want to tell you.
S2: It can be yours. I pray with expectation, Confidence and
S2: peace like never before in my life. It's the craziest thing.
S2: I can look over this last week and I can
S2: see God's hand moving. Sometimes God's hand not moving. And
S2: the benefit of that.
S3: Yeah.
S2: And I don't know what you're up against today, but
S2: I want you to know our God is a God
S2: of providence. Our God is a God of omnipotence. Our
S2: God is a God of sovereignty. Our God moves. And
S2: when we pray, he takes it. And I don't know
S2: what you're up against today, but I know this for sure.
S2: Talk with God in ways that trust his providence. Trust
S2: his power, trust his sovereignty. And then I want you
S2: to live with your head on a swivel and look
S2: at what God is doing today. I am asking you
S2: taste and see that the Lord is good. Watch what
S2: happens today.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: I'm reminded of the fact that Jesus said, go talk
S2: to your father. He wants to give you good things.
S2: He knows your heart. He says, what kind of a
S2: earthly dad? If you ask for bread, he's going to
S2: give you a stone, right? Now, some of you have
S2: some horrendous upbringings, and I get that, and that taints
S2: your view of God. But take it from me with
S2: my dad, when I would ask my dad, I remember
S2: one time working on a go cart, I was driving,
S2: I was going crazy. I couldn't get the wheel on
S2: the axle, I couldn't get the keeper key to work
S2: or anything like that. And I said, dad, now this
S2: is what I said, hey dad, I'm in the garage.
S2: I got a problem with my go kart. And you
S2: know what he said? Oh, hang on, son, I'll be
S2: right now. And he comes down and he goes, well,
S2: let's look at this here. Let's pick this axle up.
S2: Let's put this here. And oh you got a little
S2: sticking point here. Grab that rubber mallet off the workbench.
S2: Grab that rubber mallet. He goes look at this. Bang
S2: bang bang. Tap that in. Let's get that keeper key
S2: right there. Okay, we got it I said thanks, dad.
S2: Now you know what Jesus said. If our father in heaven,
S2: you you being earthly, are so imperfect. Dads. What? Jesus
S2: says with absolute confidence. How much better is it to
S2: take these requests to God? And there's some of you that,
S2: as Sam Storms reminded us a couple of weeks ago,
S2: I remember this, he said, and I bottom lined him.
S2: I said, so, Sam, what you're saying is some things,
S2: some answered prayers are going to be left on the
S2: table here on earth because we've not given them to God.
S2: And he said, yeah, so I don't want you to
S2: leave things on the table. I want you to come
S2: and get these blessings from God. He's providential. He orders
S2: the affairs of this world. He's omnipotent. He has power
S2: to move in people or situations like you can't move
S2: and he's sovereign. He orders all these things. Nothing happens
S2: apart from his ultimate will. Even the attacks of Satan
S2: on your life. But God is greater.
S3: Yeah, and you know what? He cares. He cares about you.
S3: In this verse that we're reading from Philippians four verse six,
S3: you know, it says, do not be anxious about anything,
S3: but that's not the first part of the sentence. That
S3: first part of the sentence, actually in verse five where
S3: it says, the Lord is at hand. Do not be
S3: anxious about anything. Yeah. I've, I've done a little bit
S3: of research on this and that Lord is at hand.
S3: More likely means that the Lord is near. The Lord
S3: is near to you. Do not be anxious about anything.
S3: He's close. He wants to grab you up, hold you
S3: and hear what you have to say.
S2: Hand it to him.
S3: Hand it to him.
S2: Ask him for help.
S3: Yeah, he's right there.
S2: And I can't get into deep weeds. Of all the
S2: answered prayers that I've seen just in the last week.
S2: But I can tell you this right now. You pour
S2: your heart out before God and don't prescribe how it's
S2: going to go. But tell him, all right? This is
S2: the thing that's got me wigged out right now. God,
S2: could you come help me? And he's not going to
S2: throw a stone down the staircase. When you've asked for
S2: a loaf of bread, he's going to come down. He's
S2: going to say, let me help you on this one, kid.
S2: We got this thing. Here's what's beautiful about beginning to
S2: pray to a God who can move outside the sphere
S2: of human realm and reorder things. When you see God
S2: answer one prayer that you've truly released to him because
S2: he's near, you will now have an attitude of Thanksgiving
S2: because you've seen him move in the past and he
S2: will move again. I'm telling you, my bride and I
S2: are praying with expectation like never before, not presumption, but
S2: with expectation that he's going to move like never before
S2: in our lives. And I want you to begin to
S2: move that muscle of prayer. But it's got to have
S2: that backdrop of our God is good, our God is loving.
S2: He's at hand. He can move outside the realm of
S2: what you can see, touch and move. Think about that
S2: wayward kid that you have. Think about that wayward spouse
S2: that you have. Think about that wayward grandkid that you
S2: have right now. You want a real practical prayer. God,
S2: according to John 14, trouble their hearts to the point
S2: where they say, I believe in God. I believe in Jesus.
S2: Bring them. Give them no joy in being off in Antioch.
S2: That's parable, the wayward son. Give him no joy with
S2: the lights of the city and the stuff of this world.
S2: God let everything that they're tapping into and spending money
S2: on come up empty. Have I seen that prayer answered?
S2: You better believe it. It's almost eerie. My bride and
S2: I were at a Cubs game and she was talking
S2: with someone, and we got up and left the Cubs game.
S2: We'd been praying for this person. She goes, bub, we're
S2: walking out. She goes, bub, you won't believe it. I'm
S2: sitting there listening to this girl talk back to me.
S2: And she goes, that's an answered prayer. That's an answered prayer.
S2: That's she counted ten things that she said at this
S2: Cubs game. This girl is repeating back to her things
S2: that were answers to prayer.
S5: Wow.
S2: Directly from the hand of God. Believe it. Guys.
S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and
S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
S2: So there's three conversations that can change the course of
S2: your life. They are as real as real can be.
S2: They're right here in Philippians chapter four. We've been breaking
S2: them down for you today. We're on the third conversation.
S2: And this is this is a little bit wild, but
S2: it's absolutely true to the scriptures. Talk with yourself in
S2: ways that bring gratitude and peace. Look at what we
S2: find Paul saying here. Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever
S2: is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely,
S2: whatever is commendable. Boy, he's covering some ground here, huh?
S2: If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy
S2: of praise, think about these things. What you have learned
S2: and received and heard and seen in me. Practice these things,
S2: and the God of peace will be with you. Now
S2: it's more than just thinking the word for think. And
S2: just take this one for instance. The word Hagar in
S2: the Old Testament is often translated meditate. So you find
S2: Hagar in Psalm one one through three. Meditate on the
S2: law day and night and meditate on it, and you
S2: will be like a tree planted by streams of water.
S2: Your leaf will never wither, and all you do, you
S2: will prosper. Joshua one. We find you going to the
S2: new land. You meditate on the law day and night.
S2: You will have success and prosperity wherever you go. You
S2: know what the the Hebrew word Hagar means? It means
S2: to mutter, moan, shout, scream, sing. Isn't that fascinating?
S5: I love.
S2: That. Oftentimes we just go, I'm just going to think
S2: about it. What if you spoke it out? And so
S2: here we find whatever is true, honorable, whatever is just,
S2: whatever is pure, whatever is lovely. This is so important.
S2: Here's the point. Talk with yourself in ways that bring
S2: gratitude and peace. And I just want to spike this
S2: with a really practical exercise that some of you can
S2: do today. And I want to give you permission. Turn
S2: off Carl and crew if you have to, because this
S2: is a good tool. For a number of years, my
S2: bride has done something that is so cool when I
S2: get up early in the morning. Early. My bride's up
S2: right behind me and she opens up a journal and
S2: she writes, you know what it is? It's a gratitude journal.
S6: I love that.
S2: She writes and writes and writes. And one day I thought,
S2: what in the world is she writing about? And then
S2: it dawned on me, oh, she's married to me. It's
S2: a joke. I thought, she's going on. I've even teased
S2: her like that. Boy, you must be writing about me again, huh?
S2: And she goes, knock it off, you crazy person. But she.
S2: She does.
S3: Sure.
S2: Write out gratitude. And here's what this has done. She
S2: went through a time where she says, man, I was
S2: suffering from deep, dark night of the soul. And she
S2: heard a great talk on brain science, how God's wired
S2: us and what gratitude can do to change all your circumstances.
S2: And here's the bottom line for you. You got to
S2: begin to talk with yourself in ways that bring gratitude
S2: and peace. I know you're going through something that's got
S2: you in the soup, but you know what? If you
S2: start going, huh? What's true, what's honorable, what's just, what's pure,
S2: what's lovely, what's commendable, what's excellent? Is there anything worthy
S2: of praise? Think about these things Paul says. Yeah. And
S2: you know what the peace of God will be with you.
S2: It's time to start having conversations with yourself about what's
S2: going good out there.
S3: Absolutely. And listen, you like you're talking about having the
S3: word in you to the point where you can speak
S3: it out. We can't think about what is good, honorable, pure,
S3: praiseworthy if we don't take it in. We have to
S3: take in the word. We have to take in what
S3: is good in order to have thoughts about what is good,
S3: and then in order to think about what is.
S2: Yeah. And practically speaking, you can get up this morning
S2: and you can look at yesterday. And by the way,
S2: you do these crazy gratitude exercises. What's wild about them
S2: is that we did this at Thanksgiving as a family
S2: one year, and it had us all in tears. We
S2: were going through a tough season, but we stopped to go,
S2: all right, what can we thank God for? We started
S2: going around the table, guys, pretty quick. We got tears
S2: of joy. All four of us son, daughter, mom, dad
S2: and we got tears coming down our face because we're like,
S2: you know, there's so much soup that's got garbage in it.
S2: But if you weed through it, get the shells out
S2: you go. Wow, look at this. Look at this, look
S2: at this. It'll change the whole perspective on your day,
S2: your life, and maybe the very course that you're carving here.
S5: Absolutely. And the thing is, you're thinking Journal. It can be.
S5: Just wake up this morning, think of three things. Just
S5: start small. Three things. I woke up this morning. I
S5: have provisions this morning. I got a warm bed this morning.
S5: Start there. Yeah.
S2: You might. And then some might say the bed was
S2: too warm. Make it colder tomorrow. But you had a bed.
S2: You had a you had a bed. Find something to
S2: give God praise for what is excellent that he has done.
S2: Bank on it. Sit on that one today. And the
S2: God of peace is going to guard your heart in
S2: Christ Jesus. Guys.
S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
S1: and crew.
S2: Gratitude is an amazing thing and it's a powerful tool.
S2: Apostle Paul goes to great lengths to illustrate how powerful
S2: this is. He says, listen, brothers, which, by the way,
S2: is the original Greek word there indicates it's anthropo, meaning
S2: brothers and sisters. Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true,
S2: whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure. But wait,
S2: there's more. Whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable. There's even more.
S2: If there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy
S2: of praise, think about these things. What you have learned
S2: and received and heard and seen in me. Practice these things,
S2: and the God of peace will be with you. Paul did.
S2: We can as well. It's a powerful discipline taking your calls.
S2: We've had some wacky doodle phone situations here. I know
S2: taking your calls and we had some of you even
S2: screened and we lost you. So give us a call,
S2: use the gratitude journal. And it's been changing your life.
S2: 800 555 7898 800 555 7898. Jeannie. First time caller
S2: in Florida. What's your story, Jeannie?
S7: Hi. Uh, yeah. So I've been doing a gratitude list
S7: for years. Every morning I'm in a 12 step program,
S7: and I learned to do this a long, long time ago.
S7: I share it with all my friends. I can't imagine
S7: going a day without it. Just like I can't imagine
S7: being in God's word first thing in the morning. Yeah,
S7: it's it's been amazing.
S2: That's beautiful. Janie. Janie. What was what happened the first
S2: time you started journaling? Gratitude. What? What shifted do you
S2: remember that day?
S7: Yeah, I remember that. I just had negative thoughts all
S7: the time. And I was advised to do five things
S7: to be grateful for every day and say, I am
S7: grateful for such and such. And then give the reason.
S7: Because such and such. And I used to do just five,
S7: even if it was having toothpaste for my toothbrush, and
S7: now it's just page after page after page, because every
S7: good and perfect gift comes from the father of the
S7: heavenly lights. And so I'm able to reflect every morning
S7: on the day before. Of all the gifts that God
S7: has given me. And the love of Jesus sister.
S2: Way to go. I'm proud of you. That is exactly right. Guys,
S2: there's so many things to praise God for. Way to go, Janie.
S2: First time caller from Florida. It's just a powerful discipline.
S2: Some of you are like, man, gratitude journal. This isn't
S2: a bad idea.
S3: Not at all. It's great.
S2: Nancy in Indiana. What do you say, Nancy?
S7: Um.
S8: So I was telling the girl that I was going
S8: through about ten years ago, I started what I call
S8: My Blessings journal. I was going through a divorce. It
S8: was mental health situation and I just started my blessings
S8: journal and just it was wonderful because it just focuses
S8: you on all the good things. And I haven't done
S8: it in a while, but I was telling her, yes,
S8: I need to get back to that.
S2: Yeah. There you go. There you go, Nance. Yeah. It's interesting.
S2: Here's what's funny. Nancy, bring up Janie. She's still with us.
S3: Yeah, Janie's still here.
S2: Janie and Nancy, you both get to chime in with
S2: me here. So you get to run the radio show today.
S2: Here's what's amazing when you start journaling, right, ladies? You
S2: start to see things. When you start to see 1
S2: or 2 things and you start lingering there, they start
S2: piling up, don't they, ladies?
S8: Yeah.
S7: Page after page.
S2: Yeah. It's it's sweet.
S7: The other thing I do is, um, there's some questions
S7: I ask myself every day I take an inventory. One
S7: of them is, what did I do good yesterday? What
S7: did I do for someone else yesterday? What happened yesterday
S7: that made me happy? That I had absolutely nothing to
S7: do with me. Which is which? We have to stay
S7: quiet and reflect. Because God has given you so many
S7: unexpected treats that you didn't had nothing to do with you.
S2: That's awesome.
S7: Way to go! How did I fall short? How did
S7: I fall short? Do I own amends? Am I closer
S7: or further from God? And then what about my actions
S7: and behaviors? It's a.
S2: Beautiful.
S7: Inventory.
S2: Yeah. That's beautiful. Janie. How about you, Nancy? Anything, dad. There, sister.
S8: Um, yes, I am. I do this journey of spiritual formation. Um,
S8: it's like a three year program. And there it's called
S8: Prayer of Examine, and it's what fills me today. What
S8: drained me today. What does God want me to learn
S8: on through there.
S2: That's beautiful. Way to go, Janey and Nancy. One from Florida,
S2: one from Indiana. And we're sitting in Chicago. And that's
S2: the way live radio rolls.
S3: Amen.
S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
S2: So this whole issue of identity, even discussing it can
S2: get a little unnerving. It's like, where do we go
S2: with this? And at the end of the day, I
S2: think the Christian mind needs to get anchored of, first
S2: and foremost, who we are in Christ. J Warner. Wallace.
S2: With me right now, God's been having you do a
S2: deep work on this identity issue. What have you been
S2: showing you? J Warner.
S9: Well, I mean, a lot of this is coming down
S9: to how we form identity, and we only form identity
S9: three ways, okay. And one of those three ways is
S9: a much more advantageous way to form identity. Let me
S9: show you what I mean. So you either form identity
S9: outside in. That's where you look outside yourself and you say,
S9: you know, I kind of like that group over there.
S9: The ancients did it this way. They look outside themselves
S9: and say, well, who is my clan? Who is my tribe?
S9: Who is my nation? Who is my village? What occupation
S9: do my parents hold? Oh, we're farmers, we're coal miners.
S9: We're whatever we reach outside ourselves to something that pre-existed us.
S9: And we say, yeah, I like that. I'm one of them.
S9: That's called Outside In. I'm calling it outside in identity formation. Good.
S9: Now there's another one that's much more current, and that's
S9: where you're inside out. Identity formation. That's where you decide
S9: based on the desires of your heart, based on things
S9: you may be good at or you think you're good at.
S9: And you say, I'm one of these, and I want
S9: all of you to recognize me as one of these
S9: from now on. This could be based on maybe your skill.
S9: Like if you've ever watched American Idol and you see
S9: people who think they're singers in the early rounds, okay?
S9: And they force all of us to identify them as singers. Okay.
S9: But it could also be it could also be your
S9: sexual desire, your sexual identity. You could find these things
S9: that you say, this is who I really am based
S9: on the desires of my heart. You now all must
S9: recognize me this way. This is called inside out identity formation. Now,
S9: let me just say one thing about this. I discovered
S9: this a long time ago, that when you suffer trauma,
S9: it causes you to shift the way you think of yourself. Yes,
S9: it's an identity shift. So, for example, I'm a healthy person. Well,
S9: now you get the cancer diagnosis. Oh, I'm a married man. Oh.
S9: Not anymore. Now you've been divorced. When we suffer a
S9: trauma in our lives, we end up changing the way
S9: we think about ourselves. Now, keep that in mind, because
S9: the opposite is also true. When you suffer an identity shift,
S9: you also suffer trauma. I experienced this for myself just
S9: when I retired as a detective. I had been a
S9: detective for so long, it was the only way I
S9: saw myself. And then as I moved away from that,
S9: I was like, well, who am I now? And it
S9: was traumatic for about, I'd say about five years. I
S9: had to get my feet again. Well, okay, so here's
S9: my point. Trauma causes identity shifts and conversely, identity shifts
S9: cause trauma. So if you wanted to reduce the amount
S9: of trauma in your life, I tell young people this
S9: all the time. Here's a hot tip simply pick an
S9: identity that doesn't shift. And that comes to the third
S9: form of identity formation, which is I call top side down.
S9: That's where you put your identity in something that is unshiftable,
S9: that is immutable, that is eternal, that is unchanging. And
S9: of course, what would that be? Well, of course, for
S9: us as Christians, we would say, well, our identity is
S9: in Christ. Well, we say that, but the truth of
S9: it is, even those of us who say our identity
S9: is in Christ, often it is not. And here's what
S9: I mean by that. Look, if you look at Scripture,
S9: you only see the Christians called Christians three times. Three
S9: times in.
S2: The.
S9: Bible. Yep. Yeah. Yep. Most of the time, Paul will say,
S9: it's those who are in Christ. You can make a
S9: strong argument that if your identity is not in Christ,
S9: you aren't actually a Christian. But what is your identity
S9: in really? Well, we say it's in Christ. As Christians,
S9: we even say that. But let me ask you, where
S9: are you spending your discretionary income? That's probably where your
S9: identity is. What are you spending your time on when
S9: you've got discretionary time, disposable income, disposable time, the freedom
S9: you have after you've done all the things you have
S9: to do, you're going to spend it doing something. You're
S9: standing in front of your idol. You're standing in front
S9: of your God. You're standing in front of whatever you worship.
S9: That is what you're going to place your identity in.
S9: And if you worship your achievements or you worship your spouse,
S9: or you worship your family, your kids, well, it turns
S9: out you now have got your identity over there. And
S9: that's going to shift because you're going to age. Your
S9: kids are going to grow up and leave. You're going
S9: to your job is going to you're going to retire.
S9: These are things that are going to be traumatic because
S9: you've chosen them to be traumatic, because you put your
S9: identity in them. Yeah. What is our object of worship?
S9: So for example, one quick way to find this is
S9: what is the thing that animates you or gets you
S9: mad quickly. Is it politics? Is it the culture that's
S9: around us? Well, I can tell you where your gods are.
S9: Like you're not living in Christ. You're living in the moment,
S9: in your identity that you've crafted for yourself based on
S9: all of your misplaced devotion?
S2: Yeah, and it's easy to get your identity in a
S2: 401 K, a political party, a football team, a baseball team,
S2: almost anything. J Warner. Wallace, my guest right now featured
S2: in Dateline. You might recognize that voice going, I've seen
S2: or heard this guy before. He was a homicide detective
S2: and a good one. And now he is an apologist
S2: and he is on fire. I want to unpack this
S2: with that second layer. I am intrigued by something. You
S2: say that trauma creates identity and we need top down.
S2: This might give us a whole lot more compassion for
S2: people who are struggling with sexual identity. When we understand
S2: the trauma of their childhood or youth. What say you?
S2: J Warner.
S9: Well, I think we got to be careful. Where. Look,
S9: if nothing else, if you were just being very practical
S9: about it, let's say you're not struggling with gender identity
S9: issues as much as you're just struggling with sexual issues.
S9: What is the thing you're worshiping? You you consider to
S9: be of primary importance. Now, remember, all of our misplaced
S9: devotion is put into things that God has actually created
S9: for our good. There's only three categories of that, by
S9: the way. It's sex, money, and power. So we put
S9: our identity in one of those three things that God
S9: has created for our good. But here's what we've done.
S9: We've made them the goodest thing instead of just a
S9: good thing. We've made them the God of our lives. Remember,
S9: whatever you are enslaved to, that is your object of worship.
S9: Now keep in mind every one of us is listening
S9: to this right now. Is enslaved to something. Something your
S9: desires limit. What your choices are you. There are certain
S9: things you are willing to submit your life to. Paul
S9: says in the book, in many places in Scripture that
S9: he is a slave. The writers of the letters of
S9: the New Testament will often say, I am a slave
S9: to Christ Jesus. Well, not to mean that we are
S9: limited in a bad way. Jesus says, your burden is
S9: light over here, but you still have a burden because
S9: whatever it is you worship, whatever it is you think
S9: of as a primary importance, you've decided to voluntarily enslave
S9: yourself to that. We're saying is, hey, there's a better
S9: object of worship to which we could be completely devoted
S9: because it has our best interest in mind. It's not
S9: going to eat us up and spit us out. It's
S9: actually going to do something good for us. And that's
S9: why we want to readjust. If it's about sexual identity,
S9: if it's about job identity, again, sex, money and power.
S9: It's about money. It's about vacations. It's about hedonism, or
S9: it's about sexual relationships or just relationships in your family.
S9: Or it's about power, your authority, your position at your
S9: job that you've achieved things through your job. These are
S9: the things that control us.
S2: Yeah. J Warner Wallace, my guest right now. Okay. So
S2: let's I love this because this almost takes the whole
S2: identity issue because politically it's very charged. And we go
S2: down that one narrow sliver, which by the way has
S2: huge cost attached to that. You think about female swimmers,
S2: and that's been litigated already, even at the Supreme Court level.
S2: But then you get into the inner workings of our
S2: own heart, and you find out something I'll never forget.
S2: When it dawned on me, probably 20 years ago as
S2: a pastor. Oh my goodness, I don't need to teach
S2: people to worship their natural born worshippers. That's right. My
S2: calling is to help redirect their worship to the one
S2: and only true God. Speak to that, because a lot
S2: of people right now, this is the tragedy. We've been
S2: unpacking it all week. There's a huge delusion of salvation
S2: in the church. A lot of people call themselves Christian
S2: and are not because their identity truly is most anchored
S2: in things that are not of God. Some, though listening
S2: say r g Warner, I struggle, I know I love God,
S2: he is my King. He saved me. But I do
S2: struggle with my identity. How do we readjust to full
S2: on top down identity in Christ?
S9: I totally get it. This is the project I'm working
S9: on now. I'm starting to write another book on just
S9: this second chapter of The Truth and True Crime, which
S9: is on identity, because people ask me this all the time. Okay,
S9: it sounds easy, but it's not easy. No one does it. Well,
S9: I don't do it well. Remember these three steps of
S9: the Christian life that we talk about all the time, right? Justification, sanctification, glorification,
S9: justification has been described as that's the moment in which
S9: you are removed from the penalty of sin. Sanctification. You're
S9: removed from the overriding power of sin. Glorification. You're removed
S9: from the presence of sin. Okay, so there's the three steps. Well,
S9: it turns out that the justification is a moment in time.
S9: It's the moment you decide to trust Christ as your Savior.
S9: And glorification is another door you walk through instantly. It's
S9: the moment you are standing in front of a holy God,
S9: because you've passed from this life to the next. But
S9: that middle part sanctification.
S2: Path we.
S9: Walk a door.
S2: Not a door.
S9: Crooked hallway. And that hallway is filled with corners and
S9: sharp edges and slopes and bumps and bruises. And you'll
S9: find yourself taking one step forward and two steps back.
S9: I get it. And some people, by the way, don't
S9: even decide to walk down that hallway. The thief on
S9: the cross, for example. He went from first door to
S9: second door. There was no hallway for him. Okay. He missed.
S9: I can tell you this if you think you're going
S9: to have a straight hallway, it's probably like the thief
S9: on the cross. It's because you have a short life.
S9: You make a decision for Christ, and you die because
S9: anyone else who has time between the two doors is
S9: going to live in the crooked hallway. Are you willing
S9: to live in the crooked hallway because you can't take
S9: a picture, a snapshot, a Polaroid at some step in
S9: that hallway and and judge your whole walk based on
S9: that Polaroid. You have to keep walking because the picture
S9: is going to change. Now here's what I do know.
S9: If you aim at nothing, you hit it every time.
S9: So what we're going to do is get up every
S9: day and ask ourselves two things. Number one, it's really
S9: in the story of Nicodemus where Jesus quotes to him
S9: Ezekiel to tell him the truth about his identity. And
S9: what he says basically, is that you're going to have
S9: to wash out the water. Is the washing out of
S9: all of your idols, the same way that the prophet said,
S9: the nation of Israel has to be washed of its idols.
S9: You have got to figure out what is it now
S9: that you worship? You care about that you fret over
S9: that you dream about, that you spend your discretionary income.
S9: Your thought life is given to this. That has become
S9: your God. You got to wash that out first. You
S9: will not put your identity back in Christ as long
S9: as it's misplaced in some place else. And two, it's
S9: about humility, this spirit that comes and turns your heart
S9: of stone into a heart of flesh. Do you have
S9: the humility to bend your knee? Because almost all the,
S9: you know, the things we talk about sex, money and
S9: power that distract us, they're built on a pedestal of
S9: stupid called pride. It's pride that forces us in those directions. Well,
S9: if you find yourself not putting your identity in Christ today,
S9: it's because you pridefully think you've got a better way,
S9: and you've now misplaced it in one of those objects
S9: of false worship. So it's about every day. Number one,
S9: identifying where you're going wrong so you can focus on
S9: what you're doing right and not getting upset when you
S9: find that you've maybe only got ten minutes today when
S9: you were able to do it well, you're in the hallway.
S9: You're going to walk and bump into things, but don't
S9: be too hard on yourself. But if you aim at nothing,
S9: you will hit it every.
S2: Yeah, yeah, humility. I quote Andrew Murray here all the time.
S2: He said it is the one virtue that gives birth
S2: to every other virtue. In fact, he added in his book, humility, humility,
S2: the absence of humility is explanation enough for every character
S2: defect down that hallway, to use your metaphor of life.
S2: And here's the good thing about it it's a choice
S2: we can make. We have a binary choice. Am I
S2: going to be self-willed, prideful, or am I going to
S2: humble myself under God's mighty hand today? And that's the
S2: beauty of it. J Warner Wallace. Thank you, my man. Uh,
S2: you know, I got a crazy question. One last thing
S2: on your heart about identity. Give me one final shot.
S2: What's on your heart?
S9: Nothing matters more. This idea of humility is the key
S9: to human flourishing. It's a secret key that leads to
S9: every other aspect of human flourishing. Deeper relationships. Better at
S9: your job. Higher SAT scores earn more money. All of
S9: these things are dependent upon the one thing that Christianity
S9: uniquely offers. If you're listening right now, no other worldview
S9: that requires you to earn something produces humility. All it
S9: does is produce pride. That's a secular worldview because we
S9: have to earn our way. It's also every other religious worldview.
S9: Only Christianity is says, you can't do it. It's been
S9: done for you. That's why Christianity is true.
S2: Yeah, man is at the center of every other world religion.
S2: Christ is at the center of biblical Christianity and it's
S2: so freeing. J Warner Wallace, what a great guest. And
S2: if you want more simple text, the word case to
S2: 800 555 7898 text case, just that one word case
S2: c a s e to 800 555 7898.