S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. Carl and crew.
S2: And we are debunking myths all week long. So many. Funny,
S2: I was actually dreaming about some of those myths we
S2: were talking about. Were you? Which one? Uh, the crazy
S2: watermelon seed one. And a couple of the other silly ones.
S2: And there's a couple I was thinking about. It's like. Yeah,
S2: that's right. Like you don't. It's not about having your
S2: head covered and heat escaping that caused you to catch
S2: a cold. It's a virus. As Ali said yesterday, it's
S2: cold virus that you catch. Yeah, I guess you can
S2: get your immunity system down enough where you can be
S2: more susceptible. For sure. For sure.
S3: That's the. That's the catch. And infants, apparently they do
S3: lose more heat through their head. I wonder if that's
S3: because they're bald, but that's another story. But for the
S3: rest of us, um. No more heat does not escape
S3: through your head. Also, the Great Wall of China cannot
S3: be seen from space. Have you heard that one? That
S3: the Great Wall of China is visible from space? Yeah,
S3: that is not true. It's also not true that that
S3: a mama bird will abandon the baby birds if the
S3: human touches the nest. Also not true.
S4: That's good.
S3: I thought that one for sure.
S4: I mean, still don't touch the nest.
S3: Still don't mess with the nest. But, um. Yeah, it
S3: does not call a cause. Have you heard that one, Carl?
S2: Oh, yeah. Yeah, I've heard that one. I didn't I
S2: didn't know that was not true. See, miss getting debunked
S2: left and right here. Yeah, and I want I want
S2: to give you. The world is not round. It is flat.
S2: The earth is flat.
S4: Well, now we know.
S2: Flat. Yeah. Okay.
S3: Well.
S2: Thank you. Even even from space. You see it? It's
S2: just a flat surface. You can see it right there.
S2: It's a flat earth.
S4: I feel like we should make a distinction. No. We shouldn't.
S2: I'm joking.
S4: Yes.
S2: There are actually people that do believe in flat earth.
S2: They need to get out a little more, maybe get
S2: on a plane and look at horizons and see things like,
S2: what are you laughing about, Young Thunder? You can't just
S2: chuckle under your breath there.
S4: You're just. You're being honest about it. Well, come on,
S4: I think it's I mean, yes, it's good, it's fair.
S4: You have to.
S2: The last thing I'm going to do is open up
S2: phone lines for flat earthers to call in here and
S2: debate this thing.
S3: Thanks.
S2: What a classic response. Thanks.
S4: Oh that's good.
S5: Just saying. Yeah, I needed this. Oh. Oh, goodness.
S3: You know which one? That always. That always cracks me
S3: up because.
S2: Change the topic quickly. Yes. What do you got?
S3: You know, because people love to use this one sort
S3: of as inspiration. You know, Michael Jordan, we're here in Chicago,
S3: so Michael Jordan's still a big name. You know, people
S3: will say, well, you know, Michael Jordan was cut from
S3: his high school team. You know, people always say that. Oh, yeah.
S2: So is that not true?
S3: Well, it's kind of. He was he was not able
S3: to play varsity. He was put on JV. So which
S3: to me is quite a bit different.
S2: I mean but I will but I will say he
S2: was a JV in in sophomore or. Yes.
S3: You know his sophomore year I believe.
S2: Okay. Yeah. So you're right Ellie. So because there's a
S2: lot of guys on JV and sophomore.
S4: Yeah.
S3: So it's I guess it's kind of inspirational, but it's
S3: also like it doesn't have the same impact as, like.
S4: It's just normal. It's.
S2: But I will say this. Nobody picked him to be
S2: the goat of all of basketball forevermore when he was
S2: even in college, right? Or. Yeah.
S3: I mean, by the time he got. So when he
S3: was a sophomore, he was only 511, which tall for
S3: like regular life, but not tall for basketball. So he
S3: hadn't quite hit that growth spurt. So he was not
S3: yet the, you know, the six six imposing presence that
S3: he would become when he got a little bit older.
S3: So it's just but it's one of those things that
S3: it the lure of it, the appeal of it to
S3: motivate that kid.
S6: It just sounds so much better.
S3: You still got a shot, kid, because Michael Jordan got
S3: cut from varsity.
S4: Which is normal.
S2: Unless you're a child prodigy. Most kids, I mean, my
S2: son played a lot of ball. I don't I don't
S2: know ball like Ali does. Ali's going to die with
S2: a scent of gym on her body. I mean, there's
S2: no way she can scrub it out because she'd been
S2: in so many gyms. But it's it's funny because the
S2: unless you're a child prodigy and really had a growth
S2: spurt beyond everyone else and actually could handle your body growth,
S2: even the best players were playing JV.
S3: You're going to spend some time on the younger teams
S3: before they just make that jump to varsity. I think
S3: that's I think that's a pretty normal progression.
S2: Oh, boy. We got somebody weighing in here. LeBron was
S2: on varsity all four years. Just proves that. Just proves
S2: the point.
S3: LeBron was a physical specimen.
S2: Yeah I mean I.
S4: Mean he was he he was a 25 year old
S4: playing high school basketball. Yeah there's that.
S2: Yeah I mean I ran track against a guy when
S2: I was in like eighth grade who had a full beard.
S2: And I'm like, who?
S4: That was so scary when you're like in middle school
S4: and there's a guy walking around with a beard, like,
S4: you're not meant to be here.
S2: I didn't even have peach fuzz, and this guy's got
S2: a full beard. My pits were doing nothing crazy. And
S2: he's got a full beard. Yeah. I mean, it was
S2: it was crazy. Uh, coming up here in a moment,
S2: I want to talk about something very important here today.
S2: This is really important. Talk about a myth to debunk.
S2: So much so I think I've been prepping my whole
S2: life for this one, wouldn't you say, Ali?
S3: I think so, yeah.
S2: Yeah, this is a big one. In fact, I'm going
S2: to give you the myth. I've been a Christian my
S2: whole life. It's a myth. And we got to get
S2: into the weeds of that and break it down. Pull
S2: it apart. But I want to tell you, this myth
S2: is so profound that I'm going to call it a
S2: bait of Satan. It's a bait of Satan. And I
S2: really mean this. This is something Satan is working overtime on.
S2: Because if he can keep this issue clouded, he can
S2: keep many on a highway to destruction when God wants
S2: to truly set them free. So we had a little
S2: bit of a rat problem in our garage.
S3: Rat.
S2: Yeah we did. Oh boy. Problem. And I know, yeah,
S2: I know your reactions. Like my wife. Oh, boy. And
S2: so they were. They were not. The reason I found
S2: out is they as they were nibbling on some birdseed
S2: and they'd found a hole in these sneaky little buggers.
S2: I didn't know it until I pick up this bag
S2: and the seeds start to go out the back end
S2: of it, I'm like, Uh-Oh. And these guys have been
S2: having a feast on sunflower seeds. Just a feast. So,
S2: you know, you can wish those things away all day long.
S2: But there's one sure way to get rats. So I
S2: got these cool little devices called rat traps and open
S2: those claws up. And I've got myself some good old
S2: fashioned cheese. Set it down in that trap. I went
S2: out the next morning. Snap, snap, snap. Three of them
S2: were gone. Went out the next day. Reset some traps.
S2: Got two more. So had five of those boogers and
S2: sure enough, it cleaned up things. Here's the crazy maker.
S2: Satan is constantly setting traps. He's got different baits. It's
S2: a different bait for someone who's truly born again to
S2: keep us from growing up in our relationship with God.
S2: It's the bait of satisfaction and security and significance. Those
S2: three big S's that we find in the sermon on
S2: the Mount, in The Temptation of Jesus, by the way,
S2: we find them as well, where Satan's trying to tempt
S2: with all those things of this world, and Satan tries
S2: to bait us away so that we won't be fully
S2: fruit bearing men and women of God. Fair enough guys?
S3: Yes, absolutely.
S2: The bait of Satan, though that is most dangerous, in
S2: my opinion, is the bait of cultural Christianity. And it
S2: is devastating. The impact on our church across North America
S2: and the world today is significant. The myth that we're
S2: debunking today is, I've been a Christian my whole life.
S2: I want to give you some verses that illustrate the
S2: fact that that's theologically impossible. Can't be done in Romans
S2: five verse 12 it says, Paul writing says, sin entered
S2: the world through one man and death through sin. And
S2: in this way death came to all people because all sinned.
S2: We can't be a Christian our whole life. Ephesians two
S2: undergirds this you were dead in your transgressions and sins.
S2: By nature, deserving of wrath. Piper says about this humanity's
S2: natural state is spiritual death, hostile to God and under
S2: wrath until regenerated by faith. Whew! Super clear. I could
S2: go on and on, because Scripture is loaded with evidence
S2: that we were born with our back to God. The
S2: great myth is that I've been a Christian my whole life.
S2: Now I know what's in that. What's layered in that
S2: is that from my earliest remembrance, I've been a Christian. And,
S2: you know, here's the truth. There are people who surrender
S2: to Christ at a young age and have that cultivated.
S2: And when I say cultivated, I mean this belief was
S2: a great man of God. And he did a great
S2: little booklet on how to steward his parents. That little faith,
S2: the reason that this is so important is there can
S2: be an exuberance of I follow Jesus, and that's great.
S2: But especially at the age of accountability, when kids begin
S2: to understand abstract thought, to draw them back into that
S2: awareness that I'm a sinner who needs a Savior. Yes,
S2: I affirm that. Very important to shepherd kids into that.
S2: But what can often happen is we get a cultural
S2: Christianity that actually gives people what I call a hallucination
S2: of salvation. And it all comes some variation of this myth.
S2: I've been a Christian my whole life. This is why
S2: you often hear things right here. If you hear testimonies,
S2: you hear them over and over again where kids are
S2: saying and they even have a hard time wrestling with
S2: the words that come out of their mouth. Right, Allie?
S2: Because they talk about I've, you know, they they speak
S2: in terms of I was a Christian, but now I'm
S2: really committed to Christ. Right. And.
S3: Right, right. And we noticed this a lot of times
S3: when people will call in and share their testimony and,
S3: and they'll try to have language for those early years
S3: and people will say, well, I've been a Christian my
S3: whole life. Um, I went to church every week. I
S3: was raised in a Christian home. My parents were Christian.
S3: And then oftentimes people will say, but then I got
S3: to a point in my, my late teens or my
S3: 20s and my young adult years, and it's like my
S3: faith became real to me. And that's usually one of
S3: those ones that we lovingly try to try to help
S3: them process through that. It's it's entirely possible that what
S3: you thought you had in your younger years was not actual,
S3: genuine saving faith. You had a cultural awareness. You had
S3: a religious understanding. You had some things that you did
S3: by that point in time where you kind of describe
S3: as my faith became real to me. May very well
S3: be the moment of salvation.
S2: Boom, boom coming up here. What is the bait of Satan?
S2: What does he try to get people in a Christian
S2: culture to believe that keeps them from being born again?
S2: Hang on. Jesus went to great lengths to expose the
S2: bait of Satan. The bait of Satan is a cultural Christianity.
S2: It's lethal. It's deadly. It's a deep delusion. I call
S2: it a hallucination. You see something in yourself that is
S2: not there. You see something in your kids that is
S2: not there. Very possible. In fact probable, especially in our
S2: Christian culture in North America. But not just here. I
S2: just did a 30 minute teaching last night that I
S2: sent to a dear friend in Burundi. Here's the poorest
S2: country in the world. And when I was sharing this
S2: with some spiritual leaders, pastors in Burundi, Bujumbura, Isaiah, this
S2: great man of God said to me, pastor, would you
S2: please do a 30 minute teaching and send it back
S2: to us when you get back home? This is my heart, guys.
S2: And he sees the same issue in the poorest country
S2: in the world. Isn't that doesn't that drop you a
S2: little bit, guys?
S3: It does. But then. But then you remember that the
S3: the Bible wasn't written specifically to Americans. Sometimes we can
S3: read an Americanized version of it. And so clearly this
S3: is something that's present in People, not just in our country.
S2: Yeah. And that's that was something that was good for
S2: me going to Burundi because I was like, rattled with
S2: this global impact of this issue that Jesus spoke of
S2: 2000 years ago. Here's the bait of Satan. The bait
S2: of Satan is to get us in a Christian culture
S2: and not be born again, thereby believing I've been a
S2: Christian my whole life. The second to last teaching in
S2: the sermon on the Mount is jaw dropping. Jesus says,
S2: not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter
S2: the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the
S2: will of my father who is in heaven. On that day,
S2: the day of judgment, many will say to me, Lord, Lord,
S2: did we not prophesy in your name and cast out
S2: demons in your name, and do many mighty works in
S2: your name. And then I will declare to them, I
S2: never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness! Whoa!
S2: We gotta let that sink in. Many will take the
S2: bait of Satan and presuppose that all of their spiritual
S2: activity is evidence of spiritual life, and it's not so.
S2: And we could go on and on with our stories
S2: here to prove this to you. That's my story. For
S2: Pete's sake, it's young, young thunder story. You made it
S2: into my teaching buddy down in Burundi that I filmed
S2: last night. You made it in there? Yeah. And I'm
S2: going to give your story quickly. It's kids raised in
S2: a Christian home, raised by a good man. A pastor
S2: came to Moody Bible Institute, graduated from Moody Bible Institute,
S2: married a committed Jesus follower. I was in a meeting
S2: with her yesterday. This girl's rock solid for Jesus.
S4: Yeah.
S2: And then young thunder was broken under the weight of
S2: Matthew seven and born again. That's powerhouse.
S4: Yeah.
S2: That's powerhouse. I was so thrilled to hear your bride
S2: tell me yesterday. She goes, I didn't I wasn't going
S2: to talk him out of that story. She said, I
S2: told my husband, I'm so happy that you're in Christ.
S4: Yeah. She's good to me.
S2: She felt empathy for what it must have felt like
S2: for you, trying to toil, living this Christian life. Yeah.
S2: Without having the power of God.
S4: Mhm. It's impossible. And it's tiring.
S2: It's tiring, isn't it?
S4: Mhm.
S2: So it leaves a question and that is what in
S2: the world does it mean to be born again. There's
S2: a lot of evidences of this. There's a hunger for
S2: the Word of God, and the Word of God begins
S2: to make incredible sense. There's also a fruit bearing ness
S2: about you 30, 60 and 100 fold. That's authentic faith
S2: no longer choked out by the worries of this world,
S2: the deceitfulness of wealth, the desire for other things. But
S2: there must come a time, according to Matthew 16, and
S2: I'm just going to turn there because this is beautiful.
S2: We often look at denial of self as kind of
S2: high road Christianity. Whoa. Those are the ones that man.
S2: I mean, they sell stuff and go all in and
S2: hit the mission field. No, listen, what Jesus said. He
S2: told his disciples if anyone would come after me. Following
S2: Jesus is the evidence of being born again. If anyone
S2: would come after me, let him deny himself, take up
S2: his cross and follow me. Let me just stop there.
S2: Self-denial is saying no to all pursuits that I have
S2: on this broad path that leads to destruction. All the satisfaction, status, security,
S2: significance I can find on this path, saying no to
S2: all of that, considering that as dung, to take hold
S2: of the grace and power that is found in Jesus Christ.
S2: Jesus goes on to say, for whoever would save his
S2: life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for
S2: my sake will find it. For what does it profit
S2: a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits
S2: his soul? I need you to hear my heart. There's
S2: some of you right now that are under the weight
S2: of conviction that you've been a cultural Christian, and I
S2: praise God for that. We're exposing the bait of Satan
S2: for you today. And Satan is at work. The God
S2: of the sage. Paul said in Second Corinthians four. Has
S2: blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see
S2: the light of the gospel. You know what Paul is
S2: saying there? He's saying, these are the ones who are
S2: going to say, all my spiritual activity, all the mighty
S2: works I did in your name, all these things he's
S2: saying Satan blinded you. The bait of cultural Christianity has
S2: blinded you to knowing Christ personally. That's hard, but it's
S2: beautiful because when the blinders come down just through the
S2: Word of God as we read it to you, you
S2: know what God's doing to you. He's saying, come to me.
S2: I'm the way, the truth, and the life. Turn around
S2: from that broad path. Follow me today. And so I
S2: simply want to ask you today. Have you been caught
S2: in a myth that is debunked by God's Word. Have
S2: you taken the bait of Satan? You've had a lot
S2: of Christian activity, but the Holy Spirit. This is what's beautiful.
S2: We aren't revealing this to you. The Holy Spirit is
S2: revealing to you right now. I've been Christian in name only.
S2: I've never denied myself, taken up the cross and followed
S2: Jesus Christ. But today, Carl, I want to go all
S2: in with Jesus. Praise be to God. Oh, my heart
S2: just beats fast for you right now. And you say, well,
S2: what do I do? You know, it's super clear in
S2: Scripture if you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord,
S2: that means he is the brand new leader of my life.
S2: Nothing of significance, satisfaction, and security on this broad path
S2: that I've been chasing that is dung compared to knowing
S2: Christ Jesus my Lord. That revelation in your soul that
S2: I need to turn around and follow Jesus. Repent and
S2: follow him. That's the pathway to liberty. That's the gateway
S2: to a 30 6000 fold life, my friend. I am
S2: the truth, Jesus said, embracing the truth. And I mean
S2: swallowing hard and saying, I'm a sinner who needs a Savior.
S2: All of my Christian culture can't save me, but what
S2: my Christian culture can't do, Jesus Christ did. Oh, he
S2: did it. He died for my sins. Is that the
S2: cry of your heart right now, friend? Please. Pride caused
S2: Satan to fall from the presence of God. Don't let
S2: pride keep you nibbling on the bait of Satan. Don't
S2: let stubbornness, partial blindness, keep you from the living reality
S2: of what Jesus told Nicodemus. You must be born again.
S2: And if today is the first day ever that you
S2: are turning from your broad path the significance, the security
S2: and the satisfaction of all these things in this world,
S2: and you're turning your life to Jesus today. Praise God.
S2: If you're embracing the truth that you're a sinner, praise God.
S2: We want to help you today. Allie's going to give
S2: you a link. I know we've kept you here a while,
S2: but this is important stuff. Allie's going to give you
S2: a link right now, so I want you to get
S2: your phones out because we're going to help you. It's
S2: a mystery, but God in his goodness pulls back the
S2: veil of darkness and allows you to see your need
S2: for Jesus. Today he's calling you into a brand new
S2: life no matter how long you've been in cultural Christianity
S2: today you are born again and we want to send
S2: you something. It's going to encourage you just some words
S2: and next steps to take. And and then I'm going
S2: to pray for you. But I want you to get
S2: your phones ready right now. Ali, we've got brand new
S2: followers all over North America this morning.
S3: I'm convinced if that's you, just text the word new
S3: to 800 555 7890 8NEW just one word. New to
S3: 800 555 7898. What you're going to get back from
S3: us is an auto reply. That's going to give you
S3: some practical next steps, some tips on what to do next.
S3: Just text new to 800 555 7898.
S6: Yeah, yeah.
S2: You're breaking free and you're running home. Today's a brand
S2: new day. I'm going to pray for you. but don't
S2: delay if the Spirit of God's calling you. Don't harden
S2: your heart today. Don't do it. Don't let pride of
S2: all that you've done in the name of Jesus keep
S2: you from Jesus. Don't do it, friend. Today's a new day.
S2: Surrender your heart to Jesus today. Come to him today.
S2: Many responding. Just text the word new to 800 555
S2: 7898 right now. Today is your day of salvation. Today
S2: is the day. Text new to 800 555 7898. Father,
S2: I thank you in the name of Jesus that you
S2: are working miracles this morning. You're pulling down the blinders.
S2: You're exposing the bait of Satan. It's a miracle. You're
S2: turning hearts toward home. You're causing men and women to
S2: be born again today. And I give you praise. There's
S2: no one like you. God. I thank you for humble
S2: hearts that are receiving you today. Seeing their sins, seeing
S2: themselves for what they are, and seeing you for who
S2: you are. In Jesus name, Amen.
S5: Amen.
S2: I'm going to spin a song here in a moment,
S2: but we want to shout out last four numbers of
S2: those of you that are responding new this morning. Ali,
S2: if you could reach down there and just cite them,
S2: that'd be great.
S3: Yeah, I want to. Welcome to the family. 6203 2744.
S3: These are the last four digits of your phone number 92, 89, 23, 41, 81, 26.
S3: Welcome to the family. 7991 5011 76, 2242, 46, 74.
S3: 70 or 74. 71. 76. 22. 42. 46. 74. 81.
S3: Zero three. Zero three. 23. 28. 39. 93. Oh one. 20. 25.
S2: Welcome to the family. Welcome to the family. It's not
S2: too late to respond to Jesus today. If today is
S2: the day that you are saying no any longer to
S2: the bait of Satan, and today you're surrendering your life
S2: in total to Jesus Christ. Man. Welcome to the family.
S2: Welcome to the family. Just text the word new to
S2: 800 555 7898. Some of you are getting to the
S2: side of a road, getting to a safe place. Welcome
S2: to the family. 8930 7636 welcome to the family. Why
S2: is this so important? Ali, before we spin a record here,
S2: what's on your heart?
S3: Oh, this is so important because it's the Word of God.
S3: And this is I know that this is an uncomfortable
S3: one to talk about. It's it was uncomfortable for me
S3: to talk about because you think, what do I do
S3: with this? You know, what do I what do I
S3: do with this information? But it's in the word of God.
S3: And so even though I don't think it's talked about
S3: enough in church, it's all over Scripture. So we have
S3: to wrestle with this reality that it's possible to be
S3: in church, to be spiritually active, but to not know Jesus.
S3: And so we have to look at the Word of
S3: God and wrestle with it. That's why it's important.
S2: That's why it's important. 9463 whosoever will may come, whosoever
S2: will may come. What a good God we have. He
S2: makes all things new. Guys, welcome to the family 6562.
S2: Welcome to the family. I never get tired talking about this.
S2: This thing of illusion, of salvation. It is so profound.
S2: And it's in Matthew seven and Ali, you know it
S2: by heart. What are the three big kickers for people
S2: that they're often stuck with thinking, well, this must prove
S2: I know Jesus, right?
S3: Yeah, that we've done things in his name that we've prophesied.
S3: Or yes, you could think about the things that you
S3: do spiritually that make you active, but you could actually
S3: be spiritually active and not know Jesus big time.
S7: Jesus will say, depart from me. I never knew you.
S7: And the fact that those are spiritually, like you say,
S7: active people. Mind blowing. J louder with us right now.
S7: He's been featured on CNN, ABC, NBC, Daystar, Discovery Channel.
S7: How did God get you onto those networks, my man?
S8: Really? I came to Christ at 21 years of age,
S8: and people started wanting me to share my story, and
S8: one thing led to the other, and I got invited
S8: here and got invited to there and really just stemmed
S8: from my call, my passion to try to help reach
S8: other people, just like someone reached me.
S7: Yeah, but what causes a network like. I'm so curious.
S7: Does ABC call you up and go? I heard you
S7: were raised in church and lost as a goose. Come
S7: tell us about it. There's got to be an angle.
S7: God's using here, right?
S8: Oh, well, I mean, we've spoken into a lot of
S8: different things, but one of them is we had a
S8: television show that was really geared at reaching out to
S8: people that are on the fray. And so, um, it
S8: was broadcast on, on all the major networks. It was
S8: a late night show that came on Friday and Saturday nights.
S8: It's a 30 minute program, but it wasn't your typical
S8: Christian programming. I mean, it was people, former strippers and
S8: former addicts. Wow. Yeah, it was targeted a specific group
S8: of people that were coming in late after a night
S8: of partying.
S7: That'll get the world's attention, for sure.
S3: Your heart is for people on the fray, as you say.
S3: Because although you were raised in the church, as soon
S3: as you could make your own decision, you stopped going
S3: and your life took a pretty dangerous path from there.
S3: Tell us a little bit about your testimony of what
S3: it took for God to really get Ahold of your heart.
S8: I did grow up in church, and my mom taught
S8: Sunday school, and when I graduated high school, I did
S8: what a lot of young people did, and I just
S8: abandoned the church. The reason I abandoned the church was
S8: I didn't have a relationship with Christ. And quite frankly,
S8: most of the people that I grew up with and
S8: knew were a lot like me. You know, they went
S8: out on weekends and partied, and then their parents drug
S8: them to church on Sunday. And then at church, they
S8: sit on the back row and talked about it. And
S8: so I walked away from the church for several years,
S8: went off to college. And, um, anyway, the reason I
S8: ended up going back to a church, which was really
S8: going to be a one off, was because I had
S8: attempted suicide and there was a guy that had been
S8: brought into our area. I went to hear him really
S8: hoping to get some tools that I could, I could
S8: employ to help me escape some of my suicidal thoughts.
S8: I didn't go to hear the gospel, I can tell
S8: you that. And I sure didn't go to hear anything
S8: about Jesus. So that was the intent. The challenge with
S8: that was he didn't tell anything about his story, which
S8: I thought he was going to do. Instead, he shared
S8: the gospel. And that night, I came to the realization
S8: that I had a religion, but I didn't have a relationship,
S8: that I knew all about Jesus, but I didn't know
S8: him personally. And as the speaker said, I was one
S8: of those people that one day were going to wake
S8: up in a godless eternity singing amazing Grace.
S7: Wow, what an amazing story. Jay, what brought you to
S7: that point, do you think? What was it? Just the
S7: emptiness of trying to find something to fill what Pascal
S7: calls that God shaped void? I mean, what was going
S7: on there?
S8: Well, that was certainly part of it, but it wasn't
S8: all of it. I mean, there was a lot of depression.
S8: There was some mental health issues. Some of it was situational, too.
S8: I was 21 years old, and at that time, I
S8: had lost my job, my car, my girlfriend. I dropped
S8: out of college. And so there was kind of a
S8: gumbo of things that had happened where my life was
S8: falling apart. I was on government unemployment, faking government documents
S8: because I couldn't work, because I had an addiction. So
S8: my life was was really I mean, it was unraveling fast.
S3: Jay, what do you think needs to happen in in
S3: church today to kind of stem the tide of, of this?
S3: I mean, if we acknowledge that there are many people
S3: who may be self-deceived and think they have something that
S3: they don't, what can we do about it?
S8: Well, I think the problem really starts with leadership. I mean,
S8: it's ironic. I've been in full time evangelism for 20 years,
S8: and I've spoken in every mainline denomination church, and you'd
S8: be surprised how many times that I have seen people
S8: come to Christ that have been in church like me
S8: their whole life. Yeah. You know, it reminds me of
S8: that passage in Second Timothy when it says, in the
S8: last days it says chapter three, verse five. One of
S8: them says, in the last days it will be people
S8: that have a form of godliness but deny its power.
S8: And then it goes on. Two verses later it says,
S8: there will be people who are ever learning and never
S8: able to come to a knowledge of the truth. And
S8: here we live in this society where biblical truth and
S8: theology is accessible anytime, any, place, anywhere. And yet many
S8: people are ignorant of spiritual truth. And again, in a
S8: lot of churches, the gospel's never really preached. I mean,
S8: there are denominations that I've been to that people have
S8: never heard a clear presentation of the gospel in their life.
S8: So I think that plays a huge role in it.
S8: And then I also would say that another aspect of
S8: that is we can't deny the fact that spiritual darkness,
S8: that one of the chief goals of the enemy is
S8: to keep people in darkness. You know, Christ is light,
S8: the enemy is dark. And you can do a lot
S8: of things that won't bother him. But if you don't
S8: know Christ, his main objective is to keep you in
S8: the dark and not knowing Christ.
S7: Yeah. This is great. Jay, louder. Our guest right now. Jay,
S7: we know because we do this, especially on Fridays here
S7: called it Freedom Friday. But I want you to spike
S7: for us here if you could, in the most clear terms.
S7: Spirit of God's got someone here that's been in church
S7: their whole life. They could have been an elder. They
S7: could be a pastor. Right, brother? I mean, come on,
S7: let's get honest here. And yet they don't know Jesus personally.
S7: Pour it out. What's on your heart? What's the Spirit
S7: of God bringing to mind right now?
S8: Well, the first thing I would say is everybody should
S8: go get a checkup. And people do that physically. And
S8: the Bible actually tells us to examine ourselves, whether we
S8: be in the faith that's found in Second Corinthians 13 five,
S8: and we're to prove our own salvation. And there needs
S8: to be a red flag that goes up. There needs
S8: to be a warning signal when we claim to live
S8: something that we don't practice. And I'm not talking about
S8: a level of perfection, but something's wrong when you only
S8: know Christ and name when it doesn't change the way
S8: you live, when you don't have a concern for other
S8: people that don't know Christ, and so do a spiritual checkup,
S8: you know, is the evidence there? Can you extract from
S8: your life the evidence that Christ lives within you, not just,
S8: you know, like I said, that you were sprinkled or
S8: you were baptized or you joined a church or, you know,
S8: you pray every time you get in trouble. But is
S8: God real to you? Is there a supernatural hunger to
S8: follow him? Is there a supernatural hunger to obey him?
S8: Does he answer your prayers? Is he a priority in
S8: your life? I mean, again, that's not a conclusive list,
S8: but those are some things that should be very real
S8: indicators of whether or not a person has a genuine
S8: relationship with Christ. You know, you mentioned that there are
S8: people literally and I've seen this, I mean, pastors or
S8: Sunday school teachers. I mean, I was preaching not long ago.
S8: This is a true story. No exaggeration. The guy working
S8: the soundboard came forward to give his life for Christ.
S8: He had been working the soundboard for 12 years. The
S8: lead worship leader in the same service came forward to
S8: give her life to Christ and eventually the pastor's wife.
S8: So this isn't a one off. This isn't an anomaly.
S8: There are multitudes of people that have been deceived by
S8: the forces of darkness to keep them from knowing Christ.
S7: God bless you. J. Louder! My goodness, my man. Boom! Crew!
S7: You're listening to this right now, going, man, I bet
S7: this guy's got some resources. Boy, does he. We want
S7: to point you to him right now.
S3: Text j j a y to 805 55 7898. Just
S3: type out that one word j a y to 855
S3: five 7898.
S2: A holy fear of God is a great thing and
S2: allows us to approach His word and go, how am
S2: I doing? Well, if there's traps that are set by Satan, boy,
S2: does he bait them. And there are traps of inauthentic
S2: faith that can keep us far from God. I've been
S2: looking forward to this, doctor. You're with us right now, Jed.
S2: These traps, they're deadly, aren't they? My man.
S9: They are deadly. And one of the things that makes
S9: them so deadly is how deceptive they are. The manner
S9: in which they come to us is that they seem
S9: like the way of life, but oftentimes they're the way
S9: of death. And so that's why I think Jesus sounds
S9: the alarm so intensely like he does.
S3: Doctor Jed Coppinger, our guest right now. Okay. So start
S3: to break these down for us. You come at this
S3: from a pastor's perspective. You've been in ministry for quite
S3: a while. How have you seen this play out both
S3: in your own life, but then in the life of
S3: those you've pastored?
S9: Yeah, I've seen this play out. It's been so surprising
S9: to me because the things you think you need to
S9: watch out for are for those those big sins in
S9: the culture, which of course, we need to stand against.
S9: But Jesus sounds the alarm for something much more subtle,
S9: something much more hidden. That's that's in our own hearts
S9: that we need to be aware of, that we can
S9: actually be the the kind of people he's talking about
S9: who honor him with their lips, but really have a
S9: heart that's far from him.
S2: What's interesting is that it's this grand, oh, the God
S2: of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.
S2: Let's just start there. If the if the God of
S2: the age, the prince and power of the air. Satan
S2: himself has blinded minds. How how does the veil come down?
S9: Well, it's a miracle when it comes down, right? God says,
S9: let there be light. Second Corinthians four says this every
S9: time there's a regeneration, every time there's there's that new life.
S9: But we have a role to play in that. And
S9: I think one of the things that I found in
S9: my own life as someone who was a fake Christian.
S9: Up until I was 20 years old. I knew the
S9: right answers. I had all the truths in my head,
S9: but I had a heart that was far from him.
S9: I was like those whitewashed tombs that Jesus talked about
S9: in his final public message there on the Tuesday of
S9: Easter week, where he said everything looked good on the outside,
S9: but it was filled with dead men's bones. I had
S9: a zeal for God, kind of like Paul talked about,
S9: but not according to knowledge. And and so one of
S9: the things you got to do is you got to
S9: keep coming back to the Word of God and saying,
S9: am I a Christian or am I an American cultural Christian,
S9: which is someone who says, I've been a Christian my
S9: whole life, but it doesn't really make any big difference
S9: in my life, except for maybe in a really scary moment.
S9: That's why I think that quote by John Piper is
S9: so important. He says, you know, New Testament Christianity isn't
S9: just about new decisions, it's about new affections. Are you
S9: alive to God. Do you enjoy God? Do you enjoy
S9: walking in the word? Like James says, not being just
S9: a hearer of the word, but a doer of the word?
S9: Because if you're just a hearer, you're deceiving yourself. The
S9: the New Testament teaches us that no one lies to
S9: us more than ourselves, and the only way to get
S9: out of that trap is by walking in the truth.
S9: The truth is found in the Word of God.
S3: Jed, what caused you to confront this in your own life?
S3: You mentioned coming to genuine saving faith at age 20
S3: after years of of fake Christianity. What caused you to
S3: see the difference?
S9: You know, from a human perspective, I got to experience
S9: the emptiness of success. I got all the things that
S9: I wanted. Sometimes we come to Christ in a really
S9: tough time, and we realize we need someone to pull
S9: us out of the ditch another time. Other times, and
S9: this is the case for me, is that we finally
S9: get to the bottom of the broken cistern and we realize, man,
S9: there's got to be something more to life than this success,
S9: whatever the success might be for a person. For me,
S9: it was basketball. It was the party life. It was
S9: all those kinds of things. And I had all of
S9: it that I kind of had oriented my whole life around.
S9: And I was just empty, and I wasn't experiencing the
S9: fullness of what Jesus talks about is alone in his presence,
S9: fullness of joy, eternal pleasures. He's calling us to more,
S9: not to settle for what the world offers. And so
S9: I gave my life to him on August of my
S9: junior year in college.
S2: You know, Pastor Jed, I got to tell you, if
S2: you look at John 16, we've looked at this one
S2: little passage here. I'm just going to do it from
S2: my heart here. Jesus says, if anyone would come after me,
S2: let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
S2: You got to lose your life to gain it. And
S2: then he says, what does it profit a man to
S2: gain the whole world and lose his soul. The interesting
S2: thing here is that we've looked at self-denial as like
S2: pinnacle Christianity. Wow, you're really rocking with Jesus when you're self-denial.
S2: Jesus says self-denial is the. It's the threshold of salvation.
S2: It's the gate by which we pass. Pour out your
S2: heart on that, Jed.
S9: Yeah, it's it's it is absolutely a critical part of it.
S9: What Jesus is trying to do there is to try
S9: to get us to die to these things that will
S9: never give us life anyways, right? He says, for what
S9: does it profit a man to gain the whole world
S9: and forfeit his soul? I, I like the way that, uh,
S9: the comedian Jim Carrey put it one time. He says,
S9: I wish everyone could get rich and famous and everything
S9: they ever dreamed of so they could see. It's not
S9: the answer. And I think that that's a something that
S9: Jesus is trying to highlight for us. But the enemy
S9: wants us to understand, wants to keep us trapped and
S9: and keep us far from God. And the way that
S9: he does that is by is by that It's crazy
S9: lie that we're all tempted to believe, which is, you know,
S9: what's going to bring you satisfaction just a little bit more,
S9: just a little bit more at work. Just a little
S9: bit more money. Just a little bit. Another trip, more applause,
S9: more affirmation. Whatever the thing might be, it's never going
S9: to be enough. Be enough. That's what Jesus says. The
S9: way to salvation isn't by keeping going down the path
S9: you're going down. It's by turning. It's repenting and dying
S9: to that old way and receiving by faith the life
S9: that he has purchased for you by your blood, by
S9: his blood. Not something that you could earn, only something
S9: you can receive by faith. And when you receive that
S9: gift by faith, it changes you.
S2: You know, I gotta tell you. Um, going back to Piper,
S2: he spoke in Atlanta with Louie Giglio a number of
S2: years ago now to about 30, 40,000 students. And he
S2: made the statement, there are millions and millions and millions
S2: of people who go to great Bible preaching churches every
S2: weekend and are lost as can be. What do you
S2: say to that?
S9: I would say that's a very biblical perspective. Jesus in
S9: Matthew chapter 23, which is what my book is primarily
S9: based on. He's talking to people who have Old Testament
S9: books memorized, like the ones that we're tempted to skip over,
S9: right in the, in the Old Testament in our Bible reading.
S9: Some of those guys had those things memorized, and still
S9: they missed it. They missed the truth of what it
S9: was all about, which is looking to Jesus and placing
S9: our faith in Him and His work, not in us thinking,
S9: you know what? I'm going to do this. I'm going
S9: to do this. I'm going to avoid that. And you
S9: know what? I've got a good chance in heaven. I
S9: think I'm going to be good enough. It's someone that
S9: looks at Jesus and says, Jesus, you alone are my
S9: only hope for salvation, and you alone are my only
S9: guide for life. You're my saviour, you're my lord. And
S9: you're my greatest treasure. And I'll leave everything. Whatever it
S9: is that you call me to do. Because as long
S9: as I have you, I have everything. That's what I
S9: said on that. That night in August of my junior
S9: year in college, I just remember thinking, man, I've wasted
S9: everything that you've given me, Lord. But whatever I have now,
S9: it's all yours. All my sin. All my. You say,
S9: come to me. All you who are weary and heavy laden.
S9: I'm collapsing in your arms of grace. And I'm trusting you.
S3: Jed, you break it down pretty practically in this book
S3: I'm looking at some of these chapter titles. Fake Christianity
S3: fails to practice what it preaches, mandates higher standards for others,
S3: is motivated by human attention and affirmation. Those are the
S3: first three chapters. Pick one and and break it down
S3: a little bit.
S9: I found that the motivation for human attention Jesus says
S9: that they expanded their phylacteries and prayer shawls and different
S9: things like this. He says they did this to be
S9: seen by others. He's letting us know that it's easy
S9: for us to do the right thing in the wrong way,
S9: that we can slip into a performer's mentality and to
S9: be motivated to buy human attention and affirmation. And Jesus
S9: says he wants us to be motivated with a servant's heart,
S9: to be helpful and to bring glory to him and man.
S9: It is easy to slip into that. I remember early
S9: on in my ministry, I was getting ready to preach
S9: a message on a passage that was really an easy
S9: passage to preach on, but I was so anxious and
S9: as I examined why it was, I was so anxious,
S9: I realized it wasn't because I was worried I would
S9: get the truth of scripture wrong. It was because I
S9: was worried that I wouldn't be thought of as a
S9: good preacher, and without even realizing it, my heart had
S9: slipped into a performer's mentality. I wanted to be seen
S9: affirmed by others for doing these things. Jesus calls us
S9: to something more, to be a servant, to bring him glory,
S9: to be consumed with that kind of approach. And that's
S9: the place of freedom. That's the place of peace.
S2: Beautiful man. I gotta tell you, pastor, this is some
S2: good stuff here. And I when I saw that this
S2: book came out, I'm like, Katie, bar the door. We
S2: got to get Pastor Jed in here. And you. You
S2: crushed it, my man. Name of the book is Fake
S2: Christianity ten traps of an inauthentic Faith. This is good
S2: for you. I want you to check it out. Text
S2: the word fake. Text the word fake. You might not
S2: want to have anyone looking over your shoulder when you
S2: text it. Just text the word fake to 800 555 7898.
S2: Just that one word fake to 800 555 7898. Before
S2: I let you go, I got one question here revolves
S2: around parents. There's an epidemic and I've been a pastor. Now.
S2: I'm not a radio guy. I just stumbled into this
S2: in the last ten years. Know God called me into it.
S2: Let's get that right. But I've been a pastor for
S2: a lot of years, and I've seen this in our
S2: church campuses here in Chicago alone. We have my wife
S2: says now, 41 kids that were raised in church in good, imperfect,
S2: but good Christian homes who are far from God. There's
S2: a tendency, though, for a lot of moms and dads
S2: to find validation in where their kids are, and so
S2: they don't even pray for their kids rightly. They're praying
S2: for them to get back to church when the prayer
S2: needs to be God, get them in you. Would you
S2: pour out your heart on that one?
S9: Yeah. I mean, nothing shows us more than anything about
S9: the need for a prayer life than parenting, because it
S9: reveals to us I'm at a family camp right now
S9: talking to folks about this issue right here, because it's
S9: so critical, because you cannot control outcomes. You can only
S9: cultivate them just like a farmer. You can do the
S9: work in the soil, but you need God to send
S9: the rain. And that's why we want to be a
S9: people that pray. And our prayer lives show that we
S9: believe God is is loving enough and powerful enough to
S9: work in our kids lives. And also it shows that
S9: we are humble enough in a stage where we need it.
S9: Pride doesn't pray. That's why Jesus points us to a
S9: father child relationship. At this stage where our child needs
S9: help with daily bread to show us, this is what
S9: I want you to think about when you think about prayer,
S9: that pride doesn't pray. So let's fight that pride with
S9: our prayer lives. Let's pray our problems. Let's pray our fears.
S9: Let's pray our tears. All the things that you're dealing
S9: with with your kids. Let's pray that God sends the rain.
S9: That he sends the fire, that he awakens hearts and
S9: stirs them. We don't just want kids who are moral,
S9: which is great. That keeps you out of jail. We
S9: want kids going to heaven and that's why we need
S9: to pray for regeneration.
S2: Amen. Good stuff guys. Grab it takes the word fake
S2: to 800 Five, 55, 78, 98. It'll give you a
S2: link to fake Christianity. Ten traps of inauthentic Faith. Pastor,
S2: thanks for being with us today. Appreciate you so much,
S2: my man. When you encounter the love of God, it
S2: just overflows. And we've had some guests on here before
S2: that have some powerful ministries and you're like, whoa, look
S2: at what God's doing through these crazy yahoos. Yahoo!
S3: Where did that come from?
S2: It came from my pastor way back in the day.
S2: Called us all yahoos. So some of these yahoos come
S2: in here and you're like, man, look at what God did.
S2: But then you peel it back and peel it back
S2: and peel it back and you go, oh, they're blown
S2: away by the grace of God. Because much like what
S2: we're talking about today, they had this grand hallucination of salvation.
S2: And then God, by his grace, pulled down the blinders. Who,
S2: the God of this age has blinded the minds of
S2: the unbelieving. And then they see. Phil, we'll talk about
S2: your ministry at the end of this, but we got
S2: to talk to you first about your story. You were
S2: in that, weren't you, my man?
S10: I was, and I appreciate you having me on this morning.
S2: Yeah. All right, let's break it down a little bit. Phil.
S2: Give us your pedigree from a from a religious standpoint,
S2: what did Satan use to kind of pull the wool
S2: over your eyes? That you had a relationship with God,
S2: but you didn't. What was going on in your childhood
S2: and upbringing?
S10: First of all, I was raised in a Christian home
S10: and my parents were believers. And, um, I went to
S10: Christian school basically all my life, and I just figured
S10: I was a guy who basically, I realized at the
S10: end of the day, went through the motions. You know,
S10: I went to church on Sundays, but the rest of
S10: my life I was not living for the Lord. So
S10: there was really not a heart change or a mind
S10: change that was there. Um, but I thought I was good,
S10: I thought I was in and, um, it wasn't until
S10: I graduated high school, and, you know, I was a
S10: person who had a very strong will. Whatever I put
S10: my mind to, I wanted to accomplish that task. And
S10: so for me, I wanted to get a scholarship to
S10: pay for school in college. And so I ended up
S10: getting an athletic scholarship and ended up out of my
S10: parent's home. Went through a lot of depression, a lot
S10: of struggle, a lot of, uh, you know, abusing things. And, um,
S10: you know, I really just did not my heart was
S10: not set on the Lord, but I didn't realize it.
S10: And my mom would always send me these notes and
S10: these letters and just say, hey, Phil, we're praying for you.
S10: And then eventually, I ended up flunking out of school
S10: my junior year because I had I was living the
S10: wrong kind of life, and I ended up transferring schools.
S10: And then I met this girl. Uh, her name is Carrie. And, uh,
S10: there was the first time I met her. I knew
S10: there was something different about her. She was a Christian.
S10: She said she was a Christian. But her life and
S10: my life, we did not line up at all. We
S10: couldn't have been farthest from the truth. But she was beautiful.
S10: And the day I saw her, I thought, that's the
S10: girl that I want to marry. And, um, you know,
S10: I am married to her now, 19 years.
S3: Wow. So, Phil Zylka, our guest right now, founder and
S3: executive director of Phil's friends. We'll get there in a minute.
S3: But first, we got to know. What did you do? Like,
S3: so see you meet Kerry and you go, huh? She
S3: says she's a Christian, too. We should have that in common.
S3: But why does it feel like we're two totally different lives?
S3: What did you do with that?
S10: Well, first of all, I didn't handle it very well.
S10: You know, I was still living my normal life where,
S10: you know, I was dating her, but I was still
S10: a guy that, um, did not deserve to be to
S10: be dating her. And so I was basically living two
S10: different lives, but there was something so attractive and different
S10: about her that I'd never noticed. It was this peace
S10: that passes all understanding that I had never, ever seen before, really,
S10: in my life. And I ended up being down on
S10: spring break in Florida with some of my college friends,
S10: and at that time she went to a retreat and
S10: she prayed and she said, Lord, uh, this is not
S10: going to work unless you change Phil. And so when
S10: I came back from my trip, I realized that I
S10: loved her, and now I was truly pursuing her. Um,
S10: in a way, you know, she let go of the situation,
S10: which is what God does in all our lives. And
S10: we let go. He steps in and we're able to
S10: move forward, um, in the way that he wants, and
S10: he's able to work in those situations again when we
S10: let go of ourselves. And so I went through that.
S10: But then by the time I turned 22 on our
S10: two year dating anniversary, I was diagnosed with stage four cancer.
S10: And that's when life really changed for me.
S2: What happened? Phil, when you get diagnosed with cancer, what?
S2: What did the doc say to you and what do
S2: you feel like in that moment?
S10: Oh, I felt absolutely horrible. My dad is the one
S10: who we had arranged for him to receive the news,
S10: because I had been in and out of the doctor
S10: for about a year, they didn't know what was wrong
S10: with me. Lost £40. Night sweats, hip pains, fevers. You know,
S10: all of it. My dad came home. I was laying
S10: upstairs in my bedroom and came home early from work.
S10: And he said, Phil, I don't know to tell you this,
S10: but I talked to the doctors. And you have cancer.
S10: And right there, my dad did something again as a believer,
S10: very important with me. He prayed with me and he said, Lord,
S10: I know that fills your child. No matter. No matter
S10: what happens in his life, no matter how long he's
S10: supposed to live. I just pray that he'll be a
S10: witness for you. And when he said Amen, I had
S10: just like this little thimbleful of peace. Like maybe we
S10: can do something about this, but it was still going
S10: to be a very long journey.
S3: Wow. So when did you when did you would you
S3: say you came to genuine faith in Christ? Was it
S3: was it as you were wrestling with this news of
S3: this diagnosis?
S10: No, I wasn't there yet. Again, I was a person
S10: with a strong will. So I thought, what I've put
S10: into sports and, you know, I learned a lot of
S10: great things through that. And given everything you have, I
S10: really thought, okay, now I'm going to put all my
S10: energy into getting better. And so I did six months
S10: of chemo, got better, started my first year as a
S10: fourth grade teacher. Fast forward a few months. I'm rediagnosed
S10: again and this time I'm yelling at God, you know,
S10: on the top of my lungs in the in the
S10: hospital room saying, I don't understand this. I thought I
S10: was doing what you wanted me to do, you know,
S10: type of thing. But again, it was still all about me.
S10: I hadn't fully surrendered. Went through. Fast forward for that
S10: next year did chemotherapy, a stem cell transplant. And it
S10: was that time when I was hooked up to tubes, uh,
S10: you know, for feeding. I was on oxygen. Too sick
S10: to have a sip of water because I had such
S10: bad sores up and down my esophagus. And that was
S10: the time when I finally hit my breaking point. And
S10: that's when I cried out to God, because I realized
S10: I was not going to get through this on my own.
S10: So I basically had to get over myself because that
S10: was the roadblock between me and God. And so I
S10: just cried out to him and promised. And I said, Lord,
S10: I believe Jesus died for me. Please take me to heaven.
S10: I don't want to be in this pain. I can't
S10: do this on my own. But if it's not my time,
S10: I promise you can have the rest of my life.
S10: And once I said Amen to that, it's like the
S10: whole situation changed. I realized I wasn't going through this
S10: so I could become a better person. Or, you know,
S10: those are kind of byproducts of it. But I was
S10: going through it because God had a real calling on
S10: my life to be able to help other people. He
S10: had shown me a real need, and now he wanted
S10: me to get out there and use all those things
S10: that I had before, the way he'd wired me of
S10: the strong will and all those things, but have that
S10: fully surrendered to him so that he could use that.
S10: And I'm telling you, once you get to that point
S10: in life, I mean, everything changes. Everything your outlook, your view.
S10: You don't want anything to go back. You can say
S10: things like, I am so glad I went through stage
S10: four cancer twice. Why? Because it got me to that
S10: point where I can surrender fully to God and he
S10: can use me.
S2: Yeah, Phil, there's a lot of people facing roadblocks right now,
S2: and they come in a lot of different forms, and
S2: they can have a ladder leaning against the wall of success.
S2: They can have they can have it. They can have
S2: a ladder leaning against the wall of addiction. There's so
S2: many things that get in the way, just mere religiosity.
S2: If I can just go to church more, if I
S2: can serve more. But they're lost as can be. I
S2: want you to give the gospel right now to everyone listening.
S2: I want you to tell them what needs to happen
S2: to be born again.
S10: To be born again. It's really putting your faith fully
S10: in Jesus Christ. It says the most quoted verse in
S10: the Bible, For God so loved the world that he
S10: gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him,
S10: whoever believes in him, will not perish but have eternal life.
S10: And it's getting to that point of surrender and saying, Lord,
S10: I can't do this anymore. I throw my hands up.
S10: I put my knees on the ground. Whether I'm in
S10: my hospital bed or wherever it is going through a
S10: family issue, depression, addiction. Get to that point and say, Lord,
S10: I cannot do this because we're all broken people and
S10: Jesus wants to heal us, not just physically. And we'll
S10: all get that physical healing one day in heaven. But
S10: most importantly, spiritually so we can be one with him.
S10: And once you have that, you're going to have all
S10: the fruits of the spirit of love, joy, peace and
S10: patience and kindness. And and that's really what was missing
S10: for me. I saw these people in my life carry
S10: others that God had strategically planted in my life. They
S10: had peace that passes all understanding. And I wanted that.
S10: I desperately wanted that, and the only way that I
S10: could get there was through the grace of Jesus Christ.
S7: Yeah, I'm going to do something really different.
S2: Phil, we're going to bring you back next week, actually,
S2: to banner AD your ministry. We're going to bring you
S2: back to banner ad the Ministry. But right now God's
S2: doing some work here in hearts. You with me, bro?
S10: I'm with you 100%.
S2: 100%. Um, right now some of you are saying that's me. Um,
S2: I have I've yelled at God. I've been confused about
S2: why God's not delivering me. And it's because you've been
S2: in the way. You're the roadblock. And God is right now, today, saying,
S2: surrender all to Jesus for the first time in your life.
S2: No matter. Forget your pedigree. Forget how many verses you know.
S2: Forget how much you've served. Forget all that stuff. What
S2: does it profit a man to gain all the accolades?
S2: I'm doing a little knockoff here of Matthew 16. What
S2: does it profit you? I'm asking you, this friend, to
S2: gain all the accolades and all the security of all
S2: the religious stuff you've been doing, and to lose your soul.
S2: And the answer is nothing. Nothing. And if today is
S2: your day of salvation. Feel. I Feel. I just want
S2: you to pray for all those surrendering right now, and
S2: then we're going to give a link out to them
S2: so that they can have their first steps with Jesus.
S2: I want you to just pray a prayer of salvation
S2: for everyone listening right now. Let's go.
S10: Dear Lord. You are a gracious father. You hold the
S10: whole world in your hands. You care for us physically, spiritually,
S10: more than we can ever ask or even think or
S10: even imagine. You love us so much. Yeah, Lord, no
S10: matter where we are right now, whether you feel close
S10: to us or far away right now, as we get
S10: down and surrender ourselves and pray. Lord, I'm sorry for
S10: my sins. I'm sorry for what I've done. I know
S10: that sin is what separates me from you and Lord Jesus.
S10: I just ask that you'll come into my heart, into
S10: my mind, into my soul, and wash myself free. Thank
S10: you for going to the cross so that we can
S10: have eternal life. And Lord, we accept that salvation today
S10: and we come to you joyfully, leaving ourselves fully at
S10: the feet of your cross. And we thank you in
S10: advance for what you're doing right now, in this moment,
S10: and what you'll do with us in the future. And Lord,
S10: I also just ask that you'll surround surround each person
S10: who prayed this prayer this morning, uh, with someone who
S10: is a believer, with someone who can encourage them and
S10: place them in a great community. All this we ask
S10: in Jesus name. Amen.
S11: Amen. Amen.
S2: If you're right now responding to the Lord first time
S2: in your life that you've truly surrendered all to Jesus,
S2: God caught you at a moment of brokenness. It may
S2: not be laying in a hospital bed, but you're laying
S2: in the pain of a self-led life. Jesus is saying, come,
S2: and if this is you, I just want you right now.
S2: First time ever truly surrendering to Jesus. All of the
S2: actions before were empty compared to this moment. Just text
S2: the word new right now to 800 555 7898. Just
S2: text the word new right now to 800 555 7898.
S2: I want you to stay on the horn here. Phil.
S2: We're going to shout out some last four numbers of
S2: all the people responding to Jesus this morning all over
S2: North America and beyond. Right now, we've got some resources
S2: we're going to send your way to say welcome to
S2: the family. If right now, today, you are surrendering your
S2: life to Jesus, you know what went on before. But
S2: today is new. Just text the word new right now
S2: to 800, 555, 78, 98. Just that one word. New
S2: to 800, 555, 78, 98. It's amazing what God does
S2: to reach into the hearts of people. Called them out
S2: of darkness, into the light. And we are grateful for
S2: you today. Just text that one word new to 800
S2: 555 7898. We're going to. This resource is just loaded
S2: with good tools that are going to help you in
S2: your first steps with Jesus. So welcome to the family.
S2: I just got.
S7: In.
S2: My heart. Someone's chomping at the bit to tell someone
S2: you had bought the myth. The lie. I've been a
S2: Christian my whole life. And then you were born again.
S2: Might have been in your 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s. If
S2: that's you, I want to get you in here really quickly.
S2: The spirit of God's been telling you. Get ready. Somebody's
S2: about to ask this, and it's like, oh, boy. It's
S2: now 805, five, five, 78, 98. Got to get you
S2: in here quickly. Um, if that's you, we'd love to
S2: hear that story. 800 555 78. 98. Ali, you found
S2: something dynamite, sister, I love live radio.
S3: Well, this this resource on Desiring God, which is a
S3: great website. It's it is so spot on to what
S3: we're talking about. And I what I really love about
S3: this article is it it really drills down on the
S3: like what's missing. Because you could be you could be
S3: sitting there going, okay, so is it about how much
S3: I feel for God? Is it about how many you know,
S3: did I lift a hand at a certain time. And
S3: this drills down at really the difference between an authentic
S3: faith and authentic faith. And what it boils down to
S3: is obedience to the Word of God. Being a hearer
S3: of the word and a doer of the word.
S2: It's so.
S7: Good.
S3: It's it is really.
S2: It is.
S7: So.
S2: Good.
S7: That.
S2: What I love about it, it's titled.
S7: I.
S2: Never Knew You Fatal Dreams of the Religious lost. This guy,
S2: Greg Morris, we got to get him in here, but
S2: he's got three, three. Fatal dreams are correct. Doctrine is insufficient.
S2: Because here's the thing. The Pharisees have the right doctrine,
S2: but they didn't know Jesus. Okay, guys, I mean, doctrine
S2: can't save you. Emotions are inadequate. Sometimes you think, oh, man,
S2: if I lift my hands a little higher here. And
S2: activity can be deceptive. That's the big enchilada. I mean,
S2: they did so much. We prophesied in your name, cast
S2: out demons in your name, and did mighty works in
S2: your name. I love what this author has done. He's
S2: just broken it down. It's not a long read, but
S2: it's powerful. Ali, let's make sure folks get it right now.
S3: Yeah, just text the word found to 800 555 7898.
S3: If you want to read a really good I really
S3: highly recommend this article. It's a good read on this one.
S3: As Carl said, that won't take you, but more than
S3: a couple minutes just text found to 800 555 7898
S3: found to 800 555 7898. You know, the interesting thing
S3: is we've heard from an author, from a pastor, now
S3: an article. This is this is out there and it's everywhere.
S3: You know, lest you think that this is sort of
S3: an obscure thing that that isn't worth camping out on,
S3: it's everywhere in Scripture. And when we look at people's
S3: lived experience, this happens so often. This is not an
S3: obscure thing. That's the exception and not the rule.
S2: No, you're right on Ali. And what I've been stunned
S2: by lately is in for a long time. I'm going
S2: to be candid with you. I felt like, man, am
S2: I this. I didn't feel like a.
S7: Lone.
S2: Voice, like I'm some great man of God that has
S2: an angle on this thing. I just felt felt so
S2: convicted by it. And I started wondering, do other people
S2: have the same sense? You know what I'm saying? It's like,
S2: do other people feel this? Now I'm seeing this message
S2: of this great hallucination of salvation. It's everywhere. And I'm
S2: seeing I don't know if it's because that's in my algorithm,
S2: but on the access that I have to a couple
S2: of platforms, I'm getting pop ups constantly, preachers, young and old,
S2: that are just saying, boy, don't get this delusion thinking
S2: I'm in church. I've been raised in church. Therefore I'm
S2: born again. Don't let it happen. Don't let it happen. Well,
S2: I asked you to call in. We've got at least
S2: one in here. Ben from Illinois. What's your story? You
S2: were lost. And then God found you. And you were churched, right?
S2: My man?
S12: That's right. Our parents took us to church every week
S12: when I was young, and I loved the church. I
S12: had a bunch of affection for the songs and the
S12: potlucks and being with the church people, and I thought
S12: I was a Christian. But when I was 24 years old, uh,
S12: the Lord had really made it clear to me that
S12: I was not a Christian. I was trying as hard
S12: as I could to be good, and it wasn't working.
S12: And one of my uncles spent a couple months with
S12: me talking with me about the Lord. And, uh, this
S12: is not a textbook way to lead somebody to Christ.
S12: But what he did is he came to my apartment
S12: and he said, I'm not leaving tonight until you make
S12: a decision so you don't have to walk with the Lord.
S12: But I'm just praying that you'll choose to walk with
S12: the Lord. And after we prayed for a couple of hours,
S12: I got on my knees. And, uh, when I stood up,
S12: I knew I was a different man. And.
S2: Ben, that's so sweet, man. And it still gets you
S2: to this day. I think that's a noble thing because
S2: he asked you to make a decision. He was willing
S2: to hear you say, I'm going my own way. But
S2: you had to decide that night.
S12: Yeah. He knew I was a procrastinator and he'd been
S12: sharing the Lord with me. I quit smoking cigarettes and
S12: I was making changes. But he knew that I hadn't
S12: made the change. And so he really pressed. Really, really
S12: pressed me on it.
S2: Yeah. What? Another man from Illinois. Thank you for calling in, man. What?
S2: What another great deception, huh? That that we can get
S2: off something and kind of clean up a few things. Deadly. Uh,
S2: I want to make sure we get this link into
S2: your hand. A lot of them going out, but. Ali.
S2: Spike it.
S7: Sister.
S3: Yeah. Just text the key word. Found to 800 555 7898.
S3: Keyword found to 855 five 7898. This article, it's called
S3: I Never Knew You Fatal Dreams of the Religious Lost.
S3: A pretty provocative article, but definitely worth the read. Found
S3: to 855 five 7898.
S2: Yeah. What an important discussion here.