S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Carl and crew leading into a big Ole weekend here.
S2: Not long, but big.
S3: It's a big weekend. 4th of July weekend.
S4: Cue the patriotic music.
S2: Yes, absolutely.
S4: Sparklers.
S2: One thing that I'm thrilled about with my son in
S2: law is he is one of the most patriotic guys
S2: on the planet.
S4: Really?
S2: Oh my God. It's. It's funny, isn't it? How sometimes,
S2: you know, you think of patriotism and you think of
S2: Vietnam vets, World War Two vets, people that have people
S2: that have given their lives for freedom. And and boy,
S2: that resonates. But when you find a kid from new
S2: Jersey that loves to fly a flag, it's funny. He
S2: was coming to our home here. What was that? Oh, some. Oh,
S2: it was was it Veterans Day or something recently? Anyway,
S2: he was rounding the corner, coming to our home with
S2: my daughter, of course. And our grandchild. Yes. Little Kate. And, uh,
S2: he was just saying to Muriel, our daughter. I wonder
S2: if your dad's got his flag out yet. They round
S2: the corner, and there I am, putting it in the
S2: slot at that very time, and they just started chuckling.
S2: They said, there he goes. Oh my goodness. There's it's
S2: it's going to be super. I've got a couple of
S2: rescue cats that one of them in particular. Man they
S2: are not. They don't like 4th of July fireworks right. Yeah. Freaks,
S2: freaks this big boy out. He's a Norwegian forest cat,
S2: and he's a. Oh, I can get choked up thinking
S2: about this guy when we got him. You know, I
S2: don't know why I said yes, but, you know, when
S2: my bride's calling me from from the the rescue center
S2: and says, we got a guy here, he's wheezing. He's
S2: he's beautiful, but he's lame. He's got one foot that's broken.
S2: He can only walk on three. I'm like, all right,
S2: bring him home. There's gonna be a hospital for cats
S2: around here. And he brought that big old boy home,
S2: and we thought he was stuck on one floor for
S2: the longest time. We're like, oh, no. And then I'm
S2: in my own heart. I didn't tell my bride this.
S2: I'm like, oh, no, we're going to have to have
S2: we're going to have to have food on this level
S2: and food and water on that level. And oh, because
S2: we got this townhouse situation that goes straight up in
S2: the air. It's about five feet wide and 49 stories
S2: tall is what it feels like. So I'm like, oh no,
S2: and praise God this guy got healed up and now
S2: he runs around on all four legs.
S4: But he's not a fan of the fourth.
S2: No, the 4th of July freaks him out, man. Even.
S2: And so last night some of these guys are getting
S2: warmed up. Oh get going early.
S3: The warmups.
S2: That all.
S3: The warm up is the worst.
S2: It's like, what are we doing, guys? It's not even
S2: dark outside. It's like, what? Do you hold on to
S2: these things? Wait till it gets dark. You can't see.
S2: All you hear is bang. That's all you.
S3: Get. It's true.
S2: It's the bang. But man, I'm telling you, that big
S2: old boy, you could see it on his face. He's like, oh, no.
S2: It's that time of year again.
S4: Did we just do this?
S2: Did we do this at New Year's? What's going on? Oh,
S2: bless his heart. But yeah, it's it's it's an awesome
S2: thing to see him get healed up. But the point is,
S2: we've got this three day weekend coming up, and it
S2: it really gets me cogitating on this idea that vacations
S2: can be the least restful thing on the planet.
S4: Long weekends, days off.
S2: Isn't it wild how you can come back from a
S2: vacation desperately needing a vacation?
S3: Yes. Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
S2: Why is that, Ali? I want to know. Explain what's
S2: going on.
S4: Well, what I've experienced is that you gear up for it.
S4: And if you're, let's say from my perspective, I'm a
S4: I'm a mom of two. And so leading up to vacation,
S4: I got to make sure everybody has the right clothes,
S4: that we are packed, that we have the itinerary, that
S4: we've handled all of the organizational aspect of it. So
S4: then we get to vacation and then I'm trying to
S4: figure out, okay, we need to do this and we
S4: need to do this. So then I'm trying to fill
S4: the days with activity, wrangle teenagers. And then by the
S4: time I come home from that, I go, well, that
S4: wasn't very restful. Maybe we saw a couple things. Got
S4: some nice pictures for the album, but boy am I tired.
S4: That's just my perspective.
S2: You proved the point so well. I'm exhausted listening to you.
S2: I'm exhausted listening.
S4: Maybe it's fun, but it usually doesn't feel like it
S4: was particularly restful.
S2: Yeah, it's just wild how that is. And and I
S2: think it has to do with you're breaking your routines
S2: a little bit. Your sleep patterns are broken up differently.
S2: And sometimes the days go long and you're exhausted. But
S2: it's fun. And then that day before you come back,
S2: you're like, uh oh, right.
S3: I gotta take a day. I gotta take a day
S3: recovering from my vacation before I feel good enough to
S3: go back to work.
S2: I don't know that I've ever heard. Well, I haven't
S2: heard too many people that come back going, woo! I'm
S2: refreshed and ready to rumble.
S3: Yeah, it doesn't happen often.
S2: It's usually not complaining. It's usually had a good break. Oh,
S2: but we're we're bushed. We're exhausted.
S4: True. And I think that sometimes we put a false
S4: expectation on it. I mean, we we want something out
S4: of it that, let's be honest, it really can't deliver.
S4: I mean, many people kind of live for that two
S4: weeks of the year. However much you get that that's
S4: going to be the time that my soul is refreshed.
S4: I look forward to that. If I look forward to that,
S4: it's got to deliver some sort of payoff. So I
S4: think from a kind of a taking it a layer deeper,
S4: we're we're putting something, a weight on it that it
S4: can't deliver, even in the best circumstances.
S2: Boy, you are full of profundities today. So it's the
S2: logistics and all the stuff. And then we put expectations
S2: on it that a vacation can't deliver.
S3: It cannot.
S2: Boy, did you set us up here. Ali. Uh, what's
S2: on your heart?
S3: I was going to say, I think just one final
S3: thing is that we mistake what real rest is. You know,
S3: we think it's. I'm gonna go and sleep all day. Or.
S3: Because sometimes I sleep all day, and then I'm more
S3: tired at the end of the day than I would
S3: have been if I was running around, you know, like,
S3: so we mistake what what rest and recovery is supposed
S3: to be.
S2: Boom! You guys are nailing it. So I had an
S2: experiment on our last vacation that my bride and I
S2: were on. And I just, in my heart of hearts said, Lord,
S2: I want to come back so refreshed coming up here,
S2: I'm going to give you the secret sauce. And I
S2: and I really mean this bedrock ways to come back
S2: from your little mini break. And some of you are
S2: in the middle of it right now, and you're driving
S2: somewhere and you're listening to us going, yeah, we're bushed already.
S2: Some of you want to come back next week refreshed.
S2: And by the way, this doesn't change when you're retired.
S2: I don't care how old you are. Sometimes you come
S2: back just because of events. It might be a staycation,
S2: but you got so much going on. You're chopping up
S2: the taters for the potato salad and you got potato salad.
S2: It's the best. This might be the best feature of
S2: 4th of July is potato salad.
S5: That's hilarious coming from you.
S4: No agreement there. No agreement. Agreement. Oh! Come on.
S2: Celery and.
S4: Onions. Take us off.
S2: Okay, so coming up here, we're going to talk about
S2: how to come back refreshed. And I have got the
S2: secret sauce for you. I do it's bedrock truth on
S2: how to do this.
S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
S1: and crew.
S2: Oh, I want for you to get a taste of it.
S2: A little mini taste this weekend. Some of you are
S2: in the throes of a little bit of a break
S2: right now. You might be listening to us, and you
S2: feel in your heart what I was just sharing. And
S2: that is we can sometimes go away on a vacation
S2: and find ourselves getting out of rhythms, getting into logistics.
S2: We have expectations on vacations that vacations can't provide. That's
S2: that's really powerful. Ally, when you said that we have
S2: an expectation on vacations that they inherently can't deliver. Yes.
S2: And that could sound like we're here to discourage you today.
S4: But not.
S2: At all. Not. We're really not. I want to build
S2: a little. Why, how and what? This is a cool
S2: little paradigm to think through. Oftentimes we talk about what
S2: we're doing, and then you talk about, oh, maybe how
S2: to do it, but you got to get down to
S2: the why. So let me begin with the why of
S2: what you want coming out the pipe of your vacation.
S2: It comes right out of Psalm 139. It's a prayer
S2: by David who knows that God knows him intimately. And
S2: these are the final two verses of this incredible psalm.
S2: Search me, O God, and know my heart. Try me
S2: and know my thoughts, and see if there is any
S2: grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
S2: That's the why that I want to give you this morning.
S2: The the kind of the, the chief end of man
S2: is to glorify God by enjoying him forever. That's a
S2: knockoff little twist. Uh, Piper ized of the Westminster Confession
S2: and its powerful truth. The way we do this is
S2: we never check out of conversation with God. Fair enough. Guys.
S5: Right?
S3: Absolutely.
S2: We stay locked in with them. And that prayer of
S2: David is one of my go to prayers. Psalm 139,
S2: verse 23 and 24. It's powerful. Then I want to
S2: go to the how, and then I'll go to the what.
S2: All right, here's the how. Very early in the morning,
S2: while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house,
S2: and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.
S2: Mark 135. That's the how that gets to the why.
S2: So now I'm going to back up. And here is
S2: the what? Be still and know that I am God.
S2: That's Psalm 4610. So if you think about this in
S2: really practical terms, I want to encourage you today. Oftentimes
S2: we start with the what? Be still and know that
S2: I'm God. But without the scream and why we really
S2: we we don't we don't have it. All we've got
S2: is a really what we've got is a ritual, right?
S2: We've got a religious action. Be still and know that
S2: I'm God. Well, what's the why? The why is what
S2: we're aiming at. And that is see if there'd be
S2: any way in me that's leading me away. And lead
S2: me back onto the way everlasting. Now, if you put
S2: the how in there, right in the middle and we're
S2: going to, we're going to have a link for you
S2: here that's going to break this down so you can
S2: take it to the bank very early in the morning,
S2: while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the
S2: house and went off to a solitary place where he prayed.
S2: That's the how. And the payoff is what we find
S2: with with David. Here's the point. On our last vacation,
S2: I went away aiming to come back really refreshed. And
S2: this was the three part discipline that I exercised. Every
S2: morning I got up early. I spent time alone with
S2: the Lord. I talked with him and I asked him,
S2: set my day on a course that's going to give
S2: you glory and me joy. Lead me in the way everlasting.
S2: I'm not saying it's some magic sauce. I'm saying it's
S2: a spiritual discipline that if you linger there long enough
S2: and it doesn't take a lot of time, I was
S2: probably doing 20 to 30 minutes. Just one morning, I
S2: got on my knees and I said, Lord, this day
S2: is your day. Even as we're buzzing around doing vacation stuff,
S2: I want to be mindful of you, and it set
S2: the course of my day to hear his voice, to
S2: go his way. It brought refreshment and I came back.
S2: Here's my testimony. I came back so refreshed from time away.
S2: I think you guys might remember that I came back.
S5: I do very much so.
S2: Oh, yeah, it was. It was awesome. And so the
S2: proposal this three day weekend or for some of you,
S2: you've stretched it out 4 or 5 days. Grab that
S2: early morning time and watch what God can do. The what,
S2: the how and the why. Keep the keep the why
S2: in mind. Try me. Know me. Are there any thoughts
S2: that are wiggy here today in practically speaking, am I
S2: am I trying to please family on the 4th of July?
S2: Am I trying to? Am I a people pleaser here?
S2: Has my priority structure gotten screwed up? Am I trying
S2: to get something out of vacation that it can't provide?
S2: That's a great insight, Ali. We look to vacations to
S2: provide something that only God can provide.
S4: Yeah, very much so.
S2: And say, Lord, I'm going to go away. What? To
S2: a silent place, a quiet place. Be still and know
S2: that I'm God. The how is. I'm going to talk
S2: with you early this morning, and I'm going to watch
S2: you do something powerful in my life. I love this stuff. Ali,
S2: it's so good to come back refreshed.
S4: It is. We've got a key word for you. If
S4: you want these three little points, just text vacation to
S4: 800 555 7898. Text vacation to 800 555 7898. We'll
S4: also have this up on our Facebook and Instagram page.
S4: Just search Carl and crew mornings.
S2: Yeah, what a sweet time when you go away for
S2: a few days. Get up early in the morning. Spend
S2: that time alone with the Lord. Why? To get the
S2: whole day in your life aligned with him. It can
S2: change everything, I promise you that. Up.
S1: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Just a reminder, Grace, if you want to pass a
S2: course in seminary, you call it unmerited favor. But the
S2: real fleshing out of the word grace is not only
S2: unmerited favor, it's unlimited power. It's the power of God.
S2: It's the grace that saves and the grace that trains.
S2: You want a couple of passages. You want one passage
S2: that kind of anchors us around here. Never forget the
S2: day even mentioned this in a message. Now, I mentioned
S2: this at T7, our power pack. Last Saturday we did
S2: a discipleship half half day morning. Uh, for we had
S2: about 42 folks there. It was a dynamite time. Young Thunder,
S2: you were there, man. It was a it was a
S2: sweet time.
S3: It really was.
S2: But if if there is a passage of Scripture that
S2: captures the grace of God both for saving and training,
S2: it's the one that Ali whispered into my ear one
S2: time we were sitting in the studio and she goes
S2: on a break. She goes, hey, listen, I found this passage.
S2: You know you love to talk about the grace of
S2: God that saves you, and then the grace of God
S2: actually grows you. Have you looked at Titus 211 and 12?
S2: And I go over there and I look at it
S2: and I'm like, how have I not seen this before?
S2: It's awesome. It is. Ali, do you have that thing handy?
S2: Talk about bedrock truth. Titus 211 and 12. Somebody pull
S2: it up. Yeah, this. This is the consummate passage on
S2: the grace of God and his favor and his power
S2: to change everything in us.
S5: Yeah.
S2: And and it's beautiful. What do you got?
S4: For the grace of God has appeared. Bringing salvation for
S4: all people. Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions
S4: and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in the
S4: present age.
S2: Amazing passage. I scared her half to death. I read
S2: it and I'm like, yes, this is.
S5: It.
S4: It's the study Bible that I was was reading at
S4: the time. It it talked about it as saving grace
S4: and training grace. And I just loved that.
S2: It's it's so spot on. And I've used that now
S2: for years as the central passage that illustrates the power
S2: of God. Any temptation to bootstrap it with regard to training?
S2: Let it go to the backdrop, man, that is not it.
S2: Grace is not against effort, but it is against earning.
S2: So you want a passage? Titus 211 and 12. You
S2: want to commit something to memory. It's beautiful. Give us
S2: that training excerpt. Just that piece there. Ali, listen to what?
S2: Listen to what is said right here.
S4: Training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions and to
S4: live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives.
S5: Oh.
S2: So training is to get rid of all this junk.
S5: Yep.
S2: And how to live upright. Self-controlled, which is a fruit
S2: of the.
S5: Spirit.
S2: In this present age. Sometimes God's Word just makes me
S2: want to scream and shout. It's just so liberating. Speaking
S2: of liberating, if you're on a vacation this weekend heading somewhere,
S2: maybe you're just going to do a staycation, but you
S2: want to come back refreshed. We have got a resource
S2: for you. We just super die and Ali teamed up
S2: and they took just a little sharing from the word
S2: on the what, the how and the why of having
S2: a bedrock vacation. Three bedrock truths for you. And we've
S2: got it in one text and we don't even send
S2: you to a link, do we?
S5: Ali.
S4: Right. This is just one little text. Just text. Vacation
S4: to 855 five 7898. Vacation to (800) 555-7898.
S2: Yeah, this is the way to vacation right here. I
S2: think it's self-explanatory. Look at those three little passages of Scripture,
S2: and it will set the course for your day in
S2: a beautiful way. I promise you that. I don't care
S2: where you are in this world. Just grab this little resource.
S2: I truly believe it'll help you. Text vacation to 800
S2: 555 7898. This little three bedrock truth brought me back
S2: from my last vacation so refreshed. I'm never going to
S2: take a weekend like this weekend. I'm never going to
S2: go on vacation the same again. And I want that
S2: for you. Just text vacation to 855 five 7898. What
S2: I love about super I invented this here just a
S2: week or so ago. She's like, yeah, let's just build
S2: a little mini, little mini post that nobody has to
S2: link to. Anything else. They got it right there.
S5: Yes.
S2: Good work.
S5: Super day. Well.
S6: The Holy Spirit and it's thing is, that's what we
S6: want to do. We want to help people take their
S6: next step. And let's make it as easy and and
S6: just again we want to just share our resources. And
S6: so I'm just yeah, I'm very excited to do that.
S6: And thank you, by the way, for sharing it.
S2: Yeah it's great. Okay. Speaking of bedrock. Boy, you look
S2: across the scripture, you find rocks and boulders and ceremonies everywhere,
S2: don't you, Ellie?
S4: And stones. Stones, says Doctor Jim Coakley.
S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
S7: When I say the word, do you remember? You probably
S7: come up with an Earth, wind and fire song.
S5: I didn't know if that's what you were going with it,
S5: but I was like, honestly.
S4: Do you.
S5: Remember? See.
S7: It's amazing how music can bring things to mind. Yeah,
S7: but when I think about, do you remember if I
S7: isolate it to the word of God, there's two things
S7: that I go to.
S5: Okay.
S7: Right out of the chute. First Corinthians 11. Do this
S7: in remembrance of me. The Apostle Paul is citing the
S7: Lord's Supper. I got chills right now. Oh my goodness.
S7: And then I go back to the Joshua narrative. And
S7: they go through the Jordan. And the Jordan drives up
S7: and they grab 12 stones. That would be a monument
S7: of memorial to tell your kids and your grandkids and
S7: those kids all of the goodness of God. Remembering is huge,
S7: isn't it? Doctor Jim Coakley.
S8: Yes, it sure is. And we have a tendency why
S8: we have to remember because we have a tendency to forget.
S8: And so we need these kind of memorials. We need
S8: these kind of reminders. We need these object lessons. And
S8: that's why we do. The Lord's table is because the
S8: bread and the cup, they symbolize very meaningful things. And
S8: they cause us to look back, to look inward, to
S8: look upward, to look around us. And again, it's a
S8: great teaching aid. I'm a teacher and I love the visuals.
S8: It's powerful.
S7: Now we got a problem. I've been to the Jordan
S7: multiple times. Yes, I have not seen the stack of stones. No.
S7: So what do you think? How long did they last?
S8: Well, I kind of wonder if they lasted at least
S8: until the New Testament time. And the reason why I
S8: say that is I think there's actually two stacks of stones.
S8: There's one in the middle of the river that are there,
S8: but then there's one that they put a little bit
S8: inland at Gilgal. Yes. And so they have one that
S8: they can kind of go to on dry land, and
S8: one that's in the middle of the river. Now, when
S8: I read about what happened with John the Baptist, this
S8: is what's fascinating, because in Matthew chapter three, here's what happens.
S8: So he's doing the baptism in the Jordan River, which
S8: is where these stones were originally applied. But I think
S8: you'll love this. Listen to what he says as he
S8: says this about the thing he says, therefore bring forth
S8: fruit in keeping with repentance. Do not suppose that you
S8: should say to yourselves, we have Abraham for our father.
S8: For I say to you, God is able from these
S8: stones to raise up children to Abraham these stones. Now
S8: where is John the Baptist? Yeah, he's in the Jordan River.
S8: These stones he's talking about.
S7: I've never seen that before.
S8: Listen to what? Again. You talk about this, and the
S8: axe is ready to fall. But he goes on to say.
S8: As for me, of course I baptize you with water
S8: for repentance. But he was coming after me is mightier
S8: than I. And I am not fit to remove his sandals. Uh,
S8: and so the idea here is that, uh, he's going
S8: to baptize you with fire. Uh, Holy Spirit and the fire.
S8: But it's really so that you get the fear of
S8: the Lord in. And so again, that's why we need
S8: to be reminded. And so these stones, I think, were
S8: present even up until the time of John the Baptist.
S4: Now, I love this idea that children are mentioned here.
S5: Yes.
S4: That the thought is for the future generations that you
S4: can reference these stones to your kids. Talk a little
S4: bit about that. The significance of going from one generation
S4: to the next.
S8: You know, in a sense, remember they were not always literate.
S8: So they didn't have hand copies of the Word of
S8: God with them. And so they had to have these
S8: object lessons. And of course, Deuteronomy talks about, you know,
S8: when you lie down, when you get up, when you're
S8: on the way, Underway. And certainly then these memorial stones
S8: would be a great field trip. Storytelling parent to take
S8: their children to. Let me tell you what happened. Years
S8: ago and why we are to fear the Lord. And
S8: so again, it's a great teaching aid. It's a way
S8: for them to kind of I'm a visual learner. I mean,
S8: these kind of things are really fit to that kind
S8: of learning style. And so it is a wonderful teaching
S8: tool to use it as a prompter to talk about
S8: spiritual truth.
S2: All right. Let's get practical. So someone's going through life
S2: and there are some things that God wants them to remember.
S2: How do the stones in that application that we find
S2: in Joshua four and beyond, how does that relate to today?
S5: So what?
S8: Yeah. Well, you're taking something from the past to inform
S8: the present. And so this is where we always have
S8: to kind of be looking for. How is it that
S8: I can keep these things in the front of my mind?
S8: And so coming up with some type of memorial kind
S8: of stones or places. Typically they're associated with the place.
S8: I can envision right now. In my mind, when our
S8: kids were growing up, we went to Acadia National Park
S8: on top of Mount Cadillac. There's this huge round boulder.
S8: I mean, if anybody of our listeners have been there,
S8: you've probably been to that rock. We have pictures of
S8: our kids on that rock. And then when we took
S8: our grandchildren there a couple years ago, we put our
S8: grandchildren on that rock. And we say, this is where
S8: your mom sat years ago and how we enjoy family time.
S8: And it was a kind of a memento, but also
S8: a way to kind of let the past inform the
S8: present and how we firm family values and being together
S8: and loving one another. And it's all based on a rock.
S2: You know, we had at least two excursions with our
S2: kids when.
S5: They were growing.
S2: Up where we made memorial.
S5: Stones.
S2: One was a joyful experience. One was tragic.
S5: And they.
S2: To this.
S5: Day, remember those.
S2: Experiences. There's something about.
S5: Ceremony, isn't there, guys?
S8: Yes there is. And that's the thing with these rocks
S8: in Joshua is a good memorial about God bringing them
S8: across where the Ark of the covenant was, where the
S8: Lord is going to be with them. But also in
S8: the book of Joshua you have rocks to remind them
S8: of disobedience. Achan is stoned and they have a pile
S8: of rocks. Where to remember that? But then you also
S8: end kind of as a bookend to the book of Joshua.
S8: You have these memorial stones, but at the end you
S8: have this covenant renewal ceremony at Shechem, and there's a
S8: rock there. And I've actually been only one time to
S8: Shechem in all my tours to Israel. But this standing stone,
S8: this rock is still there. It's kind of been cut
S8: off a little bit, but it's almost as if you
S8: can go visit that same rock where the Word of
S8: God was recited, and it's a witness against the people
S8: to keep faithful to the words of the Lord. And
S8: so those are pilgrimage sites, so to speak, to again
S8: cause you to remember Joshua four.
S4: I'm going to read it to you now that you
S4: have this context. Take a listen. Starting at verse four.
S4: Then Joshua called the 12 men from the people of Israel,
S4: whom he had appointed a man from each tribe. And
S4: Joshua said to them, pass on before the ark of
S4: the Lord your God into the midst of the Jordan,
S4: and take up each of you a stone upon his shoulder,
S4: according to the number of tribes of the people of Israel,
S4: that this may be a sign among you. When your
S4: children ask in time to come, what do these stones
S4: mean to you? Then you shall tell them that the
S4: waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark
S4: of the covenant of the Lord. When it passed over
S4: the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off.
S4: So these stones shall be to the people of Israel
S4: a memorial forever.
S5: When you experience.
S2: Any movement of God in your.
S5: Life.
S2: And especially those ones that.
S5: Stand.
S2: Out as particularly.
S5: Significant.
S2: Remember.
S5: Them, mark them.
S2: Go back to them. Take loved ones with you.
S5: That's our bottom line, isn't it, guys?
S8: It sure is.
S5: You know.
S2: I want to tell you something. My bride loves Jim Coakley.
S2: He's one of our elders at our church. He loves.
S2: She loves his handle on the Word of God. She
S2: loves that teaching gift. But she will tell you that
S2: 14 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Bible, written by Jim Coakley,
S2: is the book that has helped her more to understand, catalyze,
S2: and energize her Bible study than any other book. That's
S2: a weighty statement.
S4: Yes it is.
S2: And we don't often do this here. We love to
S2: give away free stuff. But today I'm giving you a
S2: link to something that could possibly change. As my bride
S2: has experienced the way you read the Word of God.
S2: 14 Fresh Ways to Enjoy the Bible by Doctor Jim Coakley.
S4: If you want the link, just text fresh to 855
S4: five 7898. Text fresh to 800 555 7898.
S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
S1: Moody Radio.
S2: I'm just wired this way. I need to apologize before
S2: I even confess.
S9: It to you. What's. What's happening?
S2: I'm just wired this way. I'm just wired this way.
S2: When when I. When I get a new toy, I
S2: got to tell everyone about it. And I got to
S2: use it as much as possible.
S3: Okay.
S10: What does this mean?
S2: Allie's freaking out.
S11: I know.
S4: I don't know. I'm super, super diagnose.
S2: Well, I've been ever since super died. Did this little
S2: mini blog on this keyword bucket don't. You don't have
S2: to send that right now. And then this morning we
S2: went a little mini. When I say mini blog, I
S2: mean so short we just text it back to you.
S2: You have no link or anything like that. And we
S2: did vacation that in that last song I said to
S2: Super Die, man, I got to do one for Grace.
S2: I mean, it's God's grace saves us. God's grace trains us. And.
S2: And then I got a text back from someone. Here
S2: he goes. Oh, man, that passage is so good. I've
S2: got a wife and six kids, and we're going to
S2: memorize Titus 211 through 12.
S4: Oh, I love that.
S2: How awesome is that?
S3: That's great.
S2: And it's a short but powerful. I think everything of
S2: grace is best embodied. I mean, you go to Galatians. Yeah,
S2: you get grace fleshed out and that long letter. But
S2: if you want to capture it in two verses, it's
S2: Titus 211 and 12, and the new toy is I
S2: fired a little, just a little snippet of that that
S2: really reveals for you that grace is God's unmerited favor
S2: and it's power without boundaries. It's it's amazing. So we
S2: put it all right there for you. So what I'm
S2: saying is, Ali, we got another little mini blog for you.
S9: We do?
S4: Okay, I missed that.
S9: It's a good one.
S2: It's a good one. What is it? Super dei? And
S2: what does it say?
S6: Well, again, it's unpacking that. Titus 211 through 12 and
S6: really just hitting home that, you know, grace is your
S6: access to God, who alone, just him alone, can rescue you.
S6: So you have to lean into the grace of God today.
S6: And we want to send you this friendly reminder. So
S6: text the word grace. The word is grace and the
S6: number is 800 555 7898. Be encouraged. Text the word
S6: grace 800 555 7898.
S2: Yeah, grace is your access to God who alone can
S2: rescue you. And here's the kicker change you. And I
S2: think most of us get that first half, don't we? Yeah,
S2: we know, we know that it's the grace of God
S2: that saved us because we were blowing snot out of
S2: both nostrils or at the end of ourself. And we're like,
S2: I can't do this.
S4: We do not save ourselves.
S2: But then who trains us? And this is one of
S2: the things that we have to fight here. Can I
S2: just confess to you that I'm with you on this one?
S2: For some reason, in the West we adopted a perspective
S2: on sanctification, which is growing up in God, which leaned
S2: heavily on our own strength and wisdom as a person.
S4: What we can try to do for ourselves.
S2: Yep. And what have we learned about that? Jesus reminds
S2: us in John 15 apart from him, we can do nothing. Nothing.
S2: So you want to get another? They're going out like crazy.
S2: We are having some fun here with these little. What
S2: do we want to call these little mini blogs? I mean, what,
S2: they aren't blogs.
S6: Yeah, we need to.
S9: We gotta come up with.
S2: Yeah, Allie's the namer around here.
S9: We gotta get.
S2: To name this.
S9: Thing. Her journalistic. Yeah, she's.
S2: Just get it. And. And this would be worth memorizing.
S2: Titus 211 through 12. But a little quick hit on
S2: what grace is unmerited favor and unlimited power. Come and
S2: get it. Grace to 805 At 55, 78, 98. Just
S2: that keyword grace to 800 555 7898.
S1: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
S1: Carl and crew.
S2: If you've never worried, everything we're about to talk about are,
S2: you've already got it.
S4: So won't apply to you.
S2: But I got a hunch. Just a hunch. Haven't been
S2: a pastor for a few decades. And a radio host
S2: here for a short time. Yeah, Ali. Worrying happens, doesn't it?
S9: It does.
S4: You. You walk through life and maybe things are going okay,
S4: and then something pops up that causes you to be fearful,
S4: to be anxious. And you know that the scriptures tell
S4: us not to worry. But how do we not worry?
S9: Yeah.
S2: I want to tackle three bedrock truths for the worrier.
S2: Doctor Neely, you've never worried a day in your life, right?
S12: No, sir. I have absolutely no idea or notion or
S12: inkling of what's involved in worry. I love you. Oh
S12: my goodness, man.
S2: Oh. All right, give us, give us, give us one.
S2: And then and then Ali's going to properly introduce you.
S2: But give us the first bedrock truth for the warrior today.
S12: Understand the difference between, uh, concern and worry. I think
S12: that's the big one. Um, you know, um, we have
S12: to be concerned about what's going on in life. You know,
S12: I retired, I retired recently, and I had a lot
S12: of low level anxiety about that. And one of the
S12: things that I had to do was, you know, make
S12: sure that I had all of my, you know, that
S12: I was actually ready for retirement in terms of plans
S12: and things like that. Uh, but that was that was
S12: some anxiety about it. Uh, and I had to remind
S12: myself that, uh, I'm not here alone. I'm not doing
S12: this in my own strength. I need to be concerned
S12: about stepping into this next season of my life. But
S12: I don't have to be losing sleep over it. I
S12: don't have to think before God that I have to
S12: navigate this in my own strength and power, with my
S12: own wisdom. That's the worry side of this. So I
S12: think understanding that that there's a difference between the two
S12: is really important, that when Scripture says be anxious for nothing,
S12: this is not a call for us to be apathetic
S12: or indifferent or to disengage from life. What it is
S12: saying is that we engage life, all of life and
S12: faith and trust in wisdom based on the Word of
S12: God and the power of the Holy Spirit. But we
S12: don't do it in our own strength, because when we
S12: attempt to do it in our own strength, with our
S12: own wisdom, under our own steam, that's when we fall
S12: into the slimy pit of anxiety and Worry.
S4: Doctor Winifred Neely, our guest right now, he mentioned he's
S4: a newly retired vice president and dean here at Moody
S4: Theological Seminary. He's an author. He has been a pastor
S4: for many years. Okay, so I can see someone hearing this. Okay, okay.
S4: I'm not worried about my son or daughter who's away
S4: from the Lord, but I'm very concerned about it. It's
S4: almost seems like a, like semantics. How do you take
S4: that and really grab on to this truth of concern
S4: versus worry? Dig a little deeper there.
S12: Well, I think, uh, one, uh, my children fundamentally belong
S12: to God. They're they're his gifts to me. And I
S12: do what I can to to love them, to, uh,
S12: continue to model Christ before them. Uh, but I also
S12: am not losing sleep over them. And what I mean
S12: by that, Ali, is that I'm not I'm not trying
S12: to figure out what I need to do in my
S12: own strength, with my own wisdom, uh, to, uh, get
S12: them to walk with God. I continue to love. I
S12: continue to listen, uh, you know, we do meals together.
S12: We laugh, we cry, we, you know, and I pray
S12: for them. And that just that difference has helped me
S12: and and understand that it takes time sometimes. Sometimes we
S12: have children who will walk away from the Lord Jesus Christ,
S12: and it may be years before they return to the Lord.
S12: Or if we see them return, uh, while we're alive,
S12: we may be dead and gone. And, uh, then a
S12: child may repent and come to know Christ or rededicate
S12: their lives to the Lord Jesus. But I have found
S12: that anxiety actually gets in the way of healthy relationships
S12: with our kids, who are no longer walking with God.
S12: I hope that makes sense.
S9: Yeah, very.
S4: Very much so. Understanding the difference between concern and worry.
S4: That's that first truth. Give us the second bedrock truth
S4: for the warrior.
S12: Remember? Remember, we can pray to God about anything that's
S12: troubling us. I say, remember, because we have a tendency
S12: to forget. Now think about this. I wrote a book,
S12: little book on how to overcome worry. I preached this
S12: text many, many years. We've had altar calls where droves
S12: of people have come forward and I'm stepping into retirement.
S12: Do you realize I had to? I'm going to be
S12: honest with you getting ready for this. Getting ready for
S12: this interview with y'all reminded me when you can pray
S12: about everything, son. And so. And I just think of
S12: the providence of God. Carl. Yeah. You all didn't know
S12: I was going through all of that. And here I
S12: am this morning, 70 years old and still having to
S12: remember after all of these years that I can talk
S12: to my Heavenly Father about anything that's troubling me. And
S12: the thing is, it says. And so the big thing is,
S12: you got to think it through because it says, let
S12: your requests be made known to God. That presupposes that
S12: I have something specific and detailed that I'm bringing to God.
S12: I have thought it through. Lord, this is what I need.
S12: This is what the problem is. Would you give me
S12: wisdom or strategy, or plan to navigate this in a
S12: way that honors you?
S2: You know, this is so encouraging. Prof. And I'll tell
S2: you why. Because I think a lot of us kick
S2: ourselves because it's like, yeah, I. I wrote on that
S2: or I had memorized a verse about that or I whatever,
S2: you know, the goodness of God's grace is that the
S2: Spirit of God does knock on our hearts doors still. Prof.
S2: And he calls us back to these core truths. Boy
S2: they're beautiful.
S12: Well, you know, you know, I think it was someone.
S12: I forget the author, but someone said, God's people need
S12: to be reminded as much as they need to be
S12: informed who you know. Yeah, we need to be reminded.
S12: We suffer from spiritual amnesia. You know, so we, you know,
S12: we we need some what I call spiritual provision. I
S12: would say to your younger listeners may not even know
S12: what provision is. That's what people my age who have
S12: have to take stuff to keep the memory going. We
S12: need that. We need spiritual provision to remember. Yeah. The
S12: great truths of God's word. Yeah.
S2: And spiritual provision doesn't have paralysis as a side effect,
S2: so it's really good. Okay. Oh my goodness. Okay. Third
S2: bedrock truth for the warrior. What do you say?
S12: Uh, expect God's peace. And what I mean, what I
S12: mean by that. So I mean, we we we we've
S12: thought it through. We've we've devised a strategy, in the
S12: presence of God. We're not indifferent, we're concerned, we're not worried,
S12: but we are concerned. And the Lord will give us
S12: peace in the midst of life. And I think that's
S12: that's a big one, that the wholeness, the the well-being
S12: of God that that he grants to us to allow
S12: us to flourish in any in all contexts. We can
S12: expect that from him. It doesn't mean that life is
S12: going to be perfect. It doesn't mean that we're not
S12: going to have problems. Uh, but it does mean that
S12: we will have all the grace and peace from God
S12: to navigate any and all circumstances in life. And again,
S12: this is not to say that, uh, life is easy.
S12: Think things happen, you know, you, you know, and again,
S12: in my case, in my case, of course, Stephanie and
S12: I are older now and we are navigating this season
S12: of of life. Right. Yeah. But we have we have
S12: peace as we go through it.
S4: Doctor Winifred Neeley, our guest right now, Doctor Neeley. You know,
S4: this generation coming up behind us is, uh, maybe more
S4: anxious than any before. And, you know, there's nothing new
S4: under the sun. There's always been challenges. But it seems
S4: like for the younger generation, it's coming at them from
S4: every direction. It's through social media. It's through advertising. Everything
S4: that comes at them is telling them, you need to
S4: be worried. You need to be concerned. How do we
S4: help coach our kids through their anxious seasons of life?
S4: Speak to those with, particularly kids who are in the
S4: younger years, maybe even up to young adults.
S12: How about unplugging, you know, turn all of that stuff off?
S12: You know, it's interesting. I know Jill Briscoe. I heard
S12: her say once that when her grandchildren came to her
S12: home that every grandchild these are young kids had to
S12: drop the cell phone at the door. No cell phones
S12: here for these three days that we're going to be together.
S12: And I and I think, Ali, that we are so
S12: connected to social media to in all of these other
S12: platforms that we don't have the the objective distance from
S12: all of that stuff to hear from God. And this
S12: is one of the reasons why I'm an advocate, by
S12: the way, of the old Bible conferences or and what
S12: happens is when you get to these places, you spend
S12: concentrated time in the Word of God. You've got yourself
S12: unplugged just under the sound of the word and prayer
S12: for 2 or 3 days, and you hear from God
S12: and you step back into life better. So I that's
S12: one of the things that I would do, you know,
S12: just turn some, turn that off for a while, turn
S12: it off. And it's not rocket science. We're two. We.
S12: We're constantly getting these messages and all that kind of stuff.
S12: You know, when I lived in the suburbs of Chicago many,
S12: many years ago, I got so many negative messages about
S12: the city of Chicago that I, an African American from
S12: the south side of the city, was afraid to come
S12: to the city of Chicago because I was getting all
S12: of this stuff filtered through the news and the media,
S12: and everything else is absolutely crazy.
S13: I just. Can you believe?
S2: Then you get downtown. You go, well, this isn't near
S2: as bad as I. It was advertised.
S12: This is not as bad as it was advertised. And
S12: safety is of the Lord. Frankly, there is.
S13: No place on earth.
S12: That you can claim to be exempt from any kind
S12: of danger or anything like that. Safety is of the Lord.
S12: And so, uh, that's I hope that that's one of
S12: the things that I try to encourage folks, you know,
S12: just put your cell phone down, put your device down,
S12: turn your computer off. Um, stop binge watching Netflix and
S12: all of this stuff here and allow yourself to spend
S12: some time in the presence of God and hear from him,
S12: and you'll be better in the process.
S2: Yeah. You know, you mentioned this conference thing. I gotta
S2: tell you, Winfred, I have been noodling on the very
S2: same thing. About two weeks ago, the Lord hit me.
S2: It's like, you know what? We need to get a
S2: good old fashioned, 2 to 3 day conference where you
S2: just soak in the word because we're. There is. You're
S2: spot on. Well, I got to tell you, boom crew.
S2: Have we got a link for you? This is one
S2: of the most practical, powerful. And here's what's great. 95, 85%
S2: of books you get purchased never get read. You got
S2: a possibility with this one because it's compelling content and
S2: and it's short enough and digestible in relevant words. And
S2: I mean powerful statements all throughout this book. I've read
S2: it cover to cover. You want to check this out?
S2: We've got a link for you, don't we, Ali?
S9: We do.
S4: It's doctor Neely. Doctor Winifred Neely, the author. He's our
S4: guest right now. How to overcome worry. Experiencing the peace
S4: of God in every situation. Text worry to 800 555 7898.
S4: Text worry to 800 555 7898.
S2: You're always professor doctor Winifred Neely. To me, you can't
S2: retire out of that. It's like a marine brother. You're
S2: in there the whole way.
S12: Well, well, they won't let me go. I'm. I'm running
S12: for the for NBA in the fall, man.
S13: So I'm teaching three classes. Oh, well, you are retired.
S2: You're still in the saddle, my man.
S13: Oh, my.
S2: Yeah, you.
S13: Are all.
S2: Right.
S13: Text, text.
S2: Worry to 800 555 78, 98. Just that one word.
S2: Worry to 800 555 78, 98. Prof. Neely, thank you
S2: for being with us, my friend.
S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
S2: Sometimes you get your cage rattled, and it's one of
S2: the most beautiful things on the planet. And I don't
S2: know how this went down, except that we got this
S2: common friend named George. George cook.
S9: Okay.
S2: And George invited me out. He said, hey, Carl, you
S2: got to come listen to this guy. I'm bringing this
S2: guy in. You got to come listen to him. I'm
S2: going to be serving lunch. And so I'm like, ah,
S2: it's one of those meetings. You're like, all right, George,
S2: I'll show up. And when I got there, I'm like, God,
S2: this is why I'm here. So the back story is
S2: God had just broken me and brought me back to
S2: the beginning of it all. And that is pastors first
S2: and foremost. Calling is to make disciples. And then I
S2: run into this character, David Nelms, and I'm like, who
S2: is this guy? He talks funny. He's got an accent. Guys,
S2: I'm not saying he talks funny. He thinks we talk funny, okay?
S2: But his heart is so sincere. Sear. And it rocked
S2: my world. You remember that lunch, David, by chance? I
S2: don't know if you do or not.
S14: Yeah, Carl, I do. And and I'm sure glad George
S14: introduced us. It was a great day.
S9: Yeah, it was a great day.
S2: All right. We're going to start with something totally different here.
S2: Ali and I were rocked by something you said in
S2: this studio. Goodness sakes. A couple of years ago. Ali,
S2: take it away. You remember the statement?
S9: Yeah.
S4: Doctor David Nelms with the Timothy Initiative. You said that
S4: we are not called to plant churches. We are called
S4: to make disciples. And it was like all of a sudden,
S4: something became clear that had maybe gotten a little foggy
S4: with sometimes the model that is put forth. First of all,
S4: what's the difference between planting a church and making a disciple?
S4: Why are they not one and the same?
S14: Well, let me be clear planting churches is probably my hobby. Okay. Yeah,
S14: you'll be hard to find anybody more excited about planting
S14: churches than me, but I used to think I knew
S14: the Great Commission was to make disciples. I thought the
S14: best way to make disciples was by planting churches. But
S14: I came to realize that I had it backwards. Uh,
S14: more accurate would be the best way to plant churches
S14: is by making disciples for Jesus. The Great Commission Jesus
S14: did not say, go therefore and plant churches. He said,
S14: go therefore and make disciples. And so that should be
S14: our priority. Now if you make disciples who make disciples,
S14: you can't stop it from happening. The fruit of that
S14: will be churches will spring up. And so I'm not
S14: saying don't plant churches. I'm saying the best way to
S14: plant churches is by obeying the Great Commission, going and
S14: making disciples.
S4: Doctor David Nelms with the Timothy Initiative. It's a global
S4: movement that makes and multiplies disciples, churches and leaders. They're
S4: committed to getting a church in every village, everywhere around
S4: the globe.
S2: David, I want to go back to something before I
S2: brought you on air. I don't know if you heard
S2: what I was sharing, but there is a gravitational, I mean,
S2: force field that to get out of that orbit is difficult.
S2: And it's a lot of pastors and a lot of
S2: people listening right now struggle with. Yeah, we're validated by
S2: how many people are coming and how much money's given.
S2: How do you get out of that gravitational pull into
S2: a genuine heart for disciple making?
S14: For me, Carl. And let me let me say this
S14: to your listeners, I about the only thing I'm really
S14: good at is not being good. Okay.
S9: So with Paul and me. Yeah.
S14: Yeah. I don't see myself as as an example by
S14: any means. But, you know, I would define a disciple
S14: as someone who lives like Jesus and leads others to
S14: do the same. And Jesus reached thousands. He preached to
S14: thousands of people. But I don't think his motivation was numbers.
S14: I think his motivation was bringing glory to his father. Yeah,
S14: and the Great Commission, to me, first and foremost, it's
S14: about honoring God, bringing glory to God. And I think,
S14: as you said before, there's nothing wrong with counting our attendance.
S14: I certainly did for the many years I was a pastor.
S14: There's nothing wrong with that. But I don't think Heaven
S14: is impressed with the fact that we're running a hundred
S14: more this year than we were last year. I think
S14: what matters there is, you know, when we get to heaven,
S14: the rewards are going to be based on well done,
S14: good and faithful servant, where we faithful to do what
S14: God's called us to do. And his great commission is
S14: to make disciples who make disciples. So that needs to
S14: be the focus.
S4: Doctor David Nelms, talk a little bit about or explain
S4: for our listener what this looks like, the work that
S4: you're doing with the Timothy Initiative, this disciple making making
S4: disciples who make disciples.
S14: Much of the world is made up of what's called
S14: unreached people, groups and ethnicities that are very few, if any, believers.
S14: And we're talking about 40% of the world's population. 40% plus. Basically,
S14: it's your Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, animist parts of the world.
S14: And we're not a sending agency. We simply we have
S14: national teams who train pastors that we call the Pauls.
S14: The Pauls recruit members of their church that we call Timothy's.
S14: The Pauls train the Timothy's to share their story, share
S14: God's story out where they live, work, study, shop, play.
S14: And as those Timothy's lead new believers to Christ, the
S14: Timothy begins discipling the new believer. Don't bring them back
S14: to the Paul. The Paul is equipping the Timothy to
S14: do the work of the ministry, which, if it's anything,
S14: it's the Great Commission making disciples. And so as the
S14: Timothy begins discipling his or her Timothy, we call the
S14: Timothy's Timothy, Titus, just the next generation. Great. Then pretty
S14: soon that Titus says, hey, I got a husband, or
S14: I got a wife, or I want my mom to
S14: hear about this. And they begin bringing in their their oikos,
S14: their friends and family. And the next thing you know, wham!
S14: A little churches sprung up. And because, uh, multiplication is
S14: in the DNA, we're not focused on making disciples, but
S14: disciple makers. The goal is not to plant a church.
S14: It's to plant a church that plants a church. And
S14: so it just continues to move. And we're just seeing
S14: God do some, I mean, book of Acts type stuff.
S14: Incredible stuff.
S2: Yeah. And I don't want people to get derailed by
S2: these numbers because they're so astronomical. But how many churches
S2: do you anticipate, by the way? These are churches visited
S2: twice to verify that there's leadership and that there's a
S2: a gathering that can that constitutes called out ones that
S2: meet together to grow up in a relationship with God.
S2: How many churches do you hope to plant here in 2025?
S14: As it looks right now, it looks like it's going
S14: to be somewhere between 40 and 45,000 churches this year.
S2: Is that staggering, guys?
S4: It is.
S9: Staggering.
S2: And they're verified. This is not just some pipe dream
S2: or numbers for numbers sake. It's just awesome. Okay. David
S2: Nelms so let's break it down here. David, what I
S2: want from you today is three rock solid truths of
S2: disciple making. And I just got a hunch these things
S2: are going to jar us a little bit, so let's go.
S2: What are they for? You, my man.
S14: Number one, I would say for me personally. Now this
S14: is for me. I would say the most important thing
S14: about the Great Commission or about making disciple makers, which
S14: is the Great Commission, is not what you do, but
S14: why you do it. I believe God is more concerned
S14: with why we do what we do than he is
S14: with what we do. Making disciples who make disciples. That's
S14: what we do. That's the Great Commission. But why do
S14: we do it? I think the why behind the what,
S14: the why behind the Great Commission is the great commandment.
S14: meant when Jesus was asked, what is the greatest of
S14: all the commandments? He did not say, go make disciples.
S14: He did say, Love God with all your heart. Love
S14: your neighbor as yourself. And what I have found is
S14: this Carl. I grew up being taught to keep the
S14: main thing, the main thing. Yep. And and what the
S14: pastor's always meant by that was the main thing was
S14: the Great Commission. They were right that we should keep
S14: the main thing. The main thing.
S9: But that's the what?
S14: Yes, that's the what. The main thing is loving God,
S14: loving people. And watch. If you love God, you're going
S14: to want to please him, honor him, obey him. I
S14: have a bunch of grandkids. I don't have any problem
S14: talking to people about my grandkids because I love my grandkids,
S14: and I want them to know about my grandkids. If
S14: I love God, I'm going to want people to know
S14: about my father. And if I love people, I'm going
S14: to want them to have to experience God's grace and
S14: his forgiveness and have joy and peace in their hearts
S14: and and be able to walk on gold one day
S14: for all eternity in heaven. So if you love God
S14: and love people, the Great Commission, it's no longer a
S14: duty or a command.
S9: Even sea outflow. Yeah.
S14: Yeah. So the main thing I think our problem, Carl.
S14: My problem. It's a love thing. Yes. When I love
S14: God with all my heart and I love people. The
S14: Great Commission is like taking candy from a baby bro.
S9: This is so spot on.
S2: I mean, come on, we could stop right there. Let's
S2: get two more, though. What are these rock solid truths
S2: of disciple-making? Number one, love God and the Great Commission
S2: will flow out of it. Number two, what do you say?
S14: Yeah. Really? Really. Be filled with the Holy Spirit in
S14: Acts one and verse eight, his last statement before he
S14: went back to heaven, his last words. And I'm going
S14: to paraphrase it. He said, I'm sending the Holy Spirit
S14: and he is going to give you the power you
S14: need to be my witnesses. I know the Holy Spirit
S14: has many ministries, is given for many reasons, but in
S14: our Lord's final statement, he directly connected the dots of
S14: the coming of the Holy Spirit with power to witness.
S14: And I believe, by the way, a witness is just
S14: simply someone who tells what they've seen, heard, know to
S14: be the truth. It's not techniques. It's not strategies. It's
S14: being filled with the spirit, and the spirit produces the
S14: fruit of the spirit in your life. And it is
S14: that love, that joy, that peace, that patience. It's all
S14: that fruit. That's what God uses to draw like a
S14: magnet people to Jesus Christ. And so I would say
S14: make much of the Holy Spirit every day. My first
S14: prayer in my life, every single day is, father, fill
S14: me with your Holy Spirit. And so, Carl, this is
S14: important to me because I grew up, uh, to me,
S14: the Holy Spirit was more of a doctrine.
S9: Uh, I'm with you.
S14: Yeah. And so, you know, see, God the Father, God
S14: the son, God the Holy Scriptures, as opposed to God
S14: the Holy Spirit. So when the Holy Spirit is alive
S14: in your heart and you're listening to him, and your
S14: desire is to be under his control again, the Great
S14: Commission just flows out of that.
S4: Doctor David Nelms, our guest right now, founder of the
S4: Timothy Initiative. Okay. In these last minute or two, give
S4: us that third. What's that third rock solid truth of
S4: disciple making.
S14: I would say it's understanding what's often called obedience based discipleship.
S14: Here in the States. Most of our discipling is knowledge based.
S14: It's just knowledge on top of knowledge, fact on top
S14: of fact. So we know it. But knowing it and
S14: doing it are two different things. The Great Commission passage
S14: Matthew 2820 Jesus did not say, teach those new believers
S14: Everything I commanded you. He said, teach them to observe
S14: or obey everything I commanded you. And so I heard
S14: somebody say once, there's no please in the Great Commission.
S14: It's not a request. It is a command. It's more
S14: than a command, but it is a command and understanding
S14: that it's not learning. It's not memorizing the Romans Road
S14: or the three circles, or the four spiritual laws, or
S14: even how to share your story. It's understanding that the
S14: King of Kings, the one with all authority, the one
S14: that snaps his fingers in heaven, jumps. He has told
S14: us to go out, share the gospel, make disciples. When
S14: we obey him, that is what brings him glory. So
S14: it's obedience based disciple making.
S2: This is so right on. You know, I actually called
S2: David guys here.
S9: Just, uh.
S2: What was this a couple months ago? I said, what's
S2: the game changer? You get this love guy. you get
S2: all this stuff cooking here and he goes, at the
S2: end of the day, we've got it. We got to
S2: get rid of this notion that calling for obedience is legalism.
S2: That's another thing that's happened here, David, is that we've
S2: we've reduced obedience, discipleship down to, oh, that must be legalism.
S2: That's not legalism. Legalism is foisting something on people that
S2: God never intended. Obedience is alignment of our life with
S2: God so that our lives change. And this is beautiful.
S2: I got to tell you, great Commission is the what?
S2: Here's the three really wise. You gotta ask, why do
S2: you do this, guys? That's what David just said. Love
S2: the Lord your God. Heart, soul, mind, strength. Be filled
S2: with the Holy Spirit. Yes, and obedience based discipleship. David
S2: Nelms I love you, hot dog. You are such a
S2: blessing and we're grateful to have you in here.
S4: If you want more, text disciple to 800 555 7898.
S4: Text disciple to 800 555 7898.