S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: The interesting thing about. About music is that it grabs
S2: our soul. It really does. And it's going to take
S2: you one way or another.
S3: There's the catch.
S2: That's the that's the deal, isn't it?
S3: Absolutely. That's the bull's eye. You hit it.
S2: The interesting thing about music, and this is why we
S2: love interspersing, uh, especially songs that enthrall our minds with God,
S2: is that it can capture us in a big way.
S2: I mean, there's a whole hymnal in the scriptures.
S4: The book of Psalms.
S2: The Book of Psalms, which were sung. You know, I
S2: was in Jerusalem on one of our visits there, and
S2: I was with our guide, Omer Eshel, and we began
S2: to open up the songs of ascent, and he and
S2: I arm in arm with the Bible open, put music
S2: to the song of ascent as we climb the steps
S2: into Jerusalem.
S4: Oh wow.
S2: Isn't that.
S4: Fun? Must have been an awesome experience.
S2: Had me crying.
S4: Oh boy. Had me crying about it.
S2: Oh, isn't that something? So they can they they are
S2: used mightily of the Lord to to capture something that's
S2: just beautiful. You know, I had a thought early this morning,
S2: and it is early, but early for us is earlier
S2: than early. So. And you know, you're the boom crew.
S2: Let me tell you what that means. It means that
S2: we took this word boom. Because I had this crazy
S2: habit of going boom when people would call in and
S2: share testimonies. It's just an affirmation. It's even more than
S2: a modern day Amen. It's just a yes. Let's go.
S2: What a what a great thing you've just shared. And
S2: we try to we try to boom you if it's
S2: if it's crazy out of the blue nutso. We give
S2: what's called a.
S4: A boom.
S2: A triple.
S4: Boom. It's like a three exclamation point. Yes.
S2: So it's and it all revolves around a few key things.
S2: So let me give you an analogy from Commercial Fishing.
S2: I used one of these yesterday. I spent eight seasons
S2: commercial fishing in Alaska. And one of the things you
S2: need to know if you're going the objective of commercial
S2: fishing in Alaska. I was on a driftnet boat. It's
S2: called a limited entry. There's only so many permits that
S2: are given for Bristol Bay on the west coast of Alaska.
S2: The waves are always pretty strong at times. There's times
S2: there's just absolutely flat ocean, but those are rare days
S2: and everybody's just like pumped up. But it's it's rocky.
S2: It it can be a bit dangerous at times. But
S2: if the objective is to get fish on the boat
S2: and that is the objective as many red salmon or
S2: sockeye salmon as we can, there's a couple key things
S2: that you want to do. One is you want to
S2: get the net down in the right place. Make sense?
S4: Yeah. So to go where the fish are.
S2: Gotta thank you. Ali. She's. Boy, she's a commercial.
S4: Fisherman, yes I am.
S2: You got to go where the fish are. And and
S2: you want to make sure that you're caring for those
S2: fish as you bring that net in. And what that
S2: means for us in radio is very simple. There's a
S2: couple key messages that are going to allow us to
S2: do Christian radio. And I've got that in air quotes,
S2: because Christian radio can be a lot of different things.
S2: But there's a couple key things that we have observed
S2: that God has put into our heart that are absolutely essential.
S2: One is, if we're going to put our nets down,
S2: we got to put our nets down in the waters
S2: of clarity of the gospel. The gospel has been lost
S2: for a lot of years here in the Western world.
S2: Really lost. It's been dumbed down. What do I what
S2: do I mean when I say that?
S4: I mean, I think it's been when you think about
S4: the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ, it's been
S4: reduced to church attendance, church membership, even, um, doing or
S4: not doing certain things even. I mean, you think about
S4: today's climate, even having a certain political position or affinity
S4: or not.
S2: Yeah. So it can be that and but generally speaking,
S2: wouldn't you say people define themselves as Christians very culturally,
S2: whatever those drivers are.
S4: For all of the above reasons.
S2: Yeah, for all of the above. And so you get
S2: what is commonly called christers, right, which is Christmas and
S2: Easter attenders. And by the way, I happen to be
S2: of the mindset I have no knock on that. I'm like,
S2: if they're coming twice a year. Let's go. Let's be
S2: clear with the gospel. I'm not one that says let's
S2: target them, but let's be clear when they're there. Yeah.
S2: What's what's going on? And let's cast that net. So
S2: there's a lack of clarity about what the gospel really is,
S2: and then there's lack of clarity around what sanctification is
S2: and how we get there. Fair enough guys.
S5: Fair enough.
S2: Those are two huge places that we try to lower
S2: our nets around here. And what we've seen is an
S2: incredible harvest. And it's humbling. And I want you to
S2: know that I am convinced that God and this is
S2: for you. God never elevates the messenger. He always elevates
S2: the message, which is huge.
S4: Because God can use anyone.
S2: He proves it all the time with us.
S4: Anyone? I mean, you think about a donkey spoke truth? Yes.
S4: So true. It's all about the message.
S2: And I mean, look at what Jesus said. Let the
S2: little ones or the children come to me. And that
S2: word for children is Nepos. It means one without words.
S2: God is pleased to have someone come to him and
S2: use them, when they all they have is open arms
S2: and lifted hands, saying, I can't even form a word. God,
S2: here I am. And he loves to use that. So
S2: I want to clarify what that means coming up. And
S2: then this half hour, we're going to ask a question
S2: out of that. That's going to open up phone lines
S2: today in a fun way. Sound good.
S4: Friday. So that's what we do.
S2: Yeah. And we're going to hear your freedom stories.
S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: So we want to be lowering our nets where the
S2: fish are using a little commercial fishing metaphor from Alaska.
S2: We had a spotter pilot back in the day, and
S2: that was a 180 or a Super Cub that was
S2: flying above the fishery that we were in, covering a
S2: good amount of square miles. And at times they would say,
S2: go south, go south. And I remember one afternoon the
S2: sun baking down must have been 60 degrees out.
S4: Ali sounds delightful. That's way too.
S2: Cold. It was actually really warm that day for Alaska
S2: temperatures in the summer. And they were like, go south,
S2: go south, and we're on VHF radios. And and I'm
S2: hearing the through the squawk box on the flying bridge
S2: where my captain is and, and we're going south, and
S2: I'm watching nets that have fish that are coming into them.
S2: And I'm like, man, we got to throw it out, Marvin.
S2: And then the spotter and he's saying, spotter pilots saying,
S2: go south. And I'm like, ah, man, we're we're driving
S2: right past paydays here. Well we went further south, further south,
S2: further south. And then, then the pilot of the 180
S2: who was flying up in the sky and we saw
S2: him up there. He said, throw it out. There were
S2: no boats around us and we threw it out. And
S2: it's called smoke on the water. In the commercial fishing grounds,
S2: we put out 300 yards of net, and as we
S2: laid that net into the water, we have corks on
S2: the surface of the water, but we would see that
S2: cork line just surge with hundreds of salmon, hit it,
S2: and then we would see splashes of tails and heads
S2: up and down the whole thing. And we're just celebrating going,
S2: look at this. And he said, I told you I'd
S2: put you on him. I heard him in the squawk box.
S2: Told you I'd put you on him. And what God
S2: is doing here, even this week, is is putting us
S2: on him. What is that? We want to go where
S2: the fish are. There's a couple key messages that God
S2: has called us to hear with Carl and crew, and
S2: we're so grateful that you're along for the ride. But
S2: one of them is we want to be super clear
S2: with the gospel. Why I'm going to touch on this
S2: quickly next week. We're going to unpack it totally. Matthew
S2: seven Jesus spoke to the people and he said, many
S2: will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord, and
S2: he's going to say, I never knew you. And these
S2: are not people bellied up to a bar at happy hour.
S2: I know we want to think in our minds, well,
S2: those that God's going to say I never knew you.
S2: It's like they've been far from him. No, the hallucination
S2: of salvation is real. These are people who preached in
S2: Jesus name and cast out demons in his name, and
S2: did mighty works in his name, and that might make
S2: you a little bit wiggy in your heart right now.
S2: You could say, oh, Carl, my goodness, what's going to
S2: what's happening here? If you are asking the question, how
S2: can I know that? I know you can. And we're
S2: going to we might even give a resource out today
S2: so that people can know they stand with God, and
S2: he stands with you, because that's very important to know. Yesterday,
S2: in just a 35 minute span, we saw 117 people
S2: surrender to Christ across the United States of America and Canada. Incredible, incredible.
S2: And those are just the ones that that texted in
S2: a link to get new, uh, new follower material that
S2: have surrendered fully to Jesus. But that that that salvation
S2: experience is the total surrender of oneself to the lordship
S2: and leadership of Jesus Christ. So that's where we want
S2: to lower our nets here constantly. The other one is
S2: what happens after God harvests those. And and then we
S2: work in partnership with God to say this big fancy
S2: word here, sanctification, which just means growing up in Jesus Christ,
S2: is all about a vision of what we've been hitting
S2: this week. Bearing fruit 30, 60, 100 fold. The abundant
S2: life that is promised in John 1010. I came to
S2: give you life and life more abundant. It's found in
S2: Psalm one one through three. Man, you walk away from fools, mockers,
S2: and scoffers, but you hang out with the Word of
S2: God and you meditate on it, and you're going to
S2: be like a tree planted by streams of water. Your
S2: leaf will never wither in. All you do will prosper.
S2: The promise was to Joshua from God Himself. He said, listen,
S2: you're going across the Jordan. Young man, listen to me.
S2: Here's what you got to know. You camp out on
S2: the Word of God. You meditate on it day and night,
S2: and you will have success and prosperity in all that
S2: you do. Our God is a God of abundance. And
S2: so that's the blue sky vision. And here's the interesting thing.
S2: Ali was in Romans six yesterday as we were praying
S2: about how God would craft today and a huge epiphany
S2: that we find everybody's bearing some kind of fruit. Right, Ali?
S4: Absolutely. And you think about the questions that you start
S4: to ask in life, whether it's a midlife crisis or
S4: much earlier, you start to look at what's the fruit
S4: of my life? Even if people don't use that language,
S4: people take stock of what have I produced? What is
S4: my life produced? And sometimes people have great grief over
S4: looking at a life that has produced fruit that doesn't
S4: benefit anyone.
S2: Yeah, and that's okay. That's okay. Because here's what we
S2: find as as we look at Galatians, you find a contrast.
S2: You got fruit of the spirit, which is a result
S2: of the abiding life in Christ. And then you've got
S2: deeds of the flesh. Here's what we have in our life.
S2: The question isn't will we have fruit? The question is,
S2: what kind of fruit will we have?
S4: Kind of fruit are we bearing?
S2: Yeah. Now, God doesn't do that to freak us out.
S2: He loves us so much, he's allowing us to look
S2: at Galatians five and go, boy, what's coming out of
S2: my life? Now here's the beauty. When you catch a
S2: vision of what God wants to do in your life,
S2: and you begin to cultivate this abiding life in Christ,
S2: as we've been talking from John 15 all week, the
S2: promise is that you will bear much fruit and glorify God.
S2: And so we got a really cool question for you.
S2: And we're going to open up phone lines. And I'm
S2: asking you, as you are led by the Spirit of God,
S2: just call in with your story.
S4: You know, you experience a change of heart when you're
S4: new in Christ, but you also experience a change of fruit,
S4: the result, the consequences of how you're living. So we
S4: want to know from you this morning on this Freedom Friday,
S4: what was the biggest change of fruit that you noticed
S4: when you experience new life in Christ. Maybe you went
S4: from anxiety to peace. Maybe you went from lust to
S4: all of a sudden you produce the fruit of self-control.
S4: What was the biggest change of fruit you noticed in
S4: yourself when you became new in Christ? 800 555 7898
S4: 855 57898.
S2: We are ready, aren't we, guys?
S3: Absolutely. Yeah. It's freedom Friday.
S2: 800 555 7898.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: All right, let's go right to the word of God.
S2: Paint a picture here.
S4: You know, when you look at Galatians five, you see
S4: two different lists here. I want to read to you
S4: starting with verse 16. But I say to you, walk
S4: by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires
S4: of the flesh. For the desires of the flesh are
S4: against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are
S4: against the flesh. For these are opposed to each other
S4: to keep you from doing the things you want to do.
S4: But if you are led by the spirit, you are
S4: not under the law. Then here it comes. Verse 19.
S4: Now the works of the flesh are evident sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy,
S4: fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and
S4: things like these. I'll stop there. That's fruit.
S2: Yeah.
S4: That's the fruit of a life lived apart from God.
S2: Yeah. And what's what's amazing about what Paul does here.
S2: If you notice, he's got orgies in fits of anger
S2: in the same list. Yes. And I think sometimes we
S2: want to almost spiritualize or somehow dumb down some of
S2: those things. But here's the power of this contrast. When
S2: we are abiding in Christ, the Spirit of God is
S2: filling us up and what comes out of our life
S2: becomes this fruit that we can't take credit for.
S4: No.
S2: It's all God.
S4: No. Then you jump down to verse 22. But the
S4: fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
S4: Against such things there is no law. Your life is
S4: producing fruit. It's just a question of what kind of
S4: fruit are you producing?
S2: So bang, that's the point. We're all producing some kind
S2: of fruit. Yes. In fact, Jesus said this. You can
S2: tell a tree by the fruit that it bears, which
S2: means you can also tell what root system that tree has.
S2: So as we get grounded and rooted in Jesus Christ,
S2: and that's that's where we lower our nets around here
S2: with Carl and crew helping us know that we are
S2: truly born again. And then what that abiding, empowering life
S2: looks like by God to bear fruit in keeping with
S2: being disciples of Christ. Got a really cool question for
S2: you this morning asking you to call in as the
S2: Spirit of God leads. What was the biggest change of
S2: fruit you noticed when you experienced new life in Christ?
S2: Come on, break it down right now. Just one word
S2: or a sentence or a paragraph of testimony. Call in
S2: right now. What was the biggest change of fruit you
S2: noticed when you experienced new life in Christ? 800 555 7898.
S2: That's why we call you the Boom Crew. This is
S2: your show. Call us right now. 800 555 7898 800
S2: 555 7898. What's the biggest change of fruit?
S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: We are asking a question right now. That is Freedom Friday,
S2: and Freedom Friday is an opportunity for you to stand
S2: up and testify to the goodness and the power of
S2: God in your life. All week long, we've been talking
S2: about the beautiful promise of Jesus to His disciples and
S2: to us. Today. I am the vine. You're the branch.
S2: You abide in me. You will bear much fruit. Now
S2: here's the aha moment. If you look at Romans six,
S2: you will find out that we are all bearing fruit.
S4: Yes, Romans 621 says, but what fruit were you getting
S4: at that time from the things of which you are
S4: now ashamed? For the end of those things is death.
S4: But now that you have been set free from sin
S4: and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get
S4: leads to sanctification and its end eternal life. So there's
S4: fruit everywhere you look at the fruit of your life.
S4: What is your life producing when you are new in Christ?
S4: What was the biggest change of fruit that you noticed?
S4: 800 555 7898.
S2: Princess in Illinois. First time caller. What was that fruit
S2: that changed when you were in Christ?
S6: Hi. Good morning. My fruit is joy, peace, and that
S6: peace that surpasses all understanding. You know, I'm dancing on
S6: the grave that I once lived in. Well, yes. And
S6: you know. So I am so grateful to God that
S6: I am set free.
S2: Isn't that amazing, Princess? Thank you for calling in Sister Boom.
S2: This is why we call you the boom crew. Mark
S2: in Florida. What do you say, man? Hello, Mark. We
S2: got you. We're trying to get you loaded up. There
S2: we go. Mark in Florida. What do you say?
S7: Uh, when Christ came into my life, I started to
S7: experience peace for the first time in a long time. Um,
S7: and I just touch base with you guys for some reason.
S7: This is like the third day I've listened to you
S7: since y'all Joe went nationwide and it's awesome. Thank you.
S2: Mark. Thank you. First time caller from Florida. Love you man.
S2: Mark that that is what happens. That's the boom moment
S2: when Christ takes over our soul. Maybe the one one
S2: of the greatest evidences is peace. And that's the result
S2: of of Jesus's promise. Come to me, all who are
S2: weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. And
S2: it's like, oh my goodness, I've been looking for it
S2: my whole life. And there it is, found in Jesus Christ.
S2: It's amazing. Let's go back to the phone lines here, Marcia.
S2: First time caller in Indiana. What do you say, Marcia?
S8: Um. My temper.
S4: Mhm.
S8: It was, it was, um, when I, when I found Jesus,
S8: I prayed, let me do whatever it takes to make
S8: me like Jesus.
S2: Ah, beautiful. You know, Marcia, here's the cool thing. One
S2: of the fruits of the spirit is self-control. Has it
S2: been awesome for you to witness God get that temper
S2: under control? Marsha?
S8: Yeah, he's under control for several years now.
S2: That's beautiful sister.
S3: That's awesome.
S4: And you think about, like, how do you how do
S4: you do that?
S2: We don't.
S4: We don't.
S2: That's the see, this is this is the point bootstrapping
S2: Christianity that says, okay, let's just say I've been born again.
S2: I was at a point of absolute abandonment to the
S2: Lordship of Jesus Christ. The great misnomer in Western Christianity
S2: is then I got to get up and I got
S2: to go. Please, God. Yes and no. Yes, we honor God,
S2: but the way, the manner in which we do it
S2: is by utter dependence. Still, the posture in which God
S2: saves you is the same posture in which God will
S2: grow you. I was at a men's conference a few
S2: years ago, and I got on my knees and I said, gentlemen,
S2: this is where you are born again. Full stop. Jesus
S2: said it. Blessed are the poor in spirit. Theirs is
S2: the kingdom of heaven. Spiritual bankruptcy, emptiness, dependence, full surrender
S2: is where we are born again.
S4: Yeah.
S2: Full stop. Here's the irony. You ready for this? That's
S2: how we grow in that posture of utter dependence on God.
S2: There's no other way around it. It's a beautiful thing.
S2: When we fully surrender to our Lord.
S4: And we experience a change of heart, but also a
S4: change of fruit. So we're asking you, what was the
S4: biggest change of fruit you noticed when you experienced new
S4: life in Christ? The results, the consequences of your life
S4: were different. rent. Let's go back to the phones. Let's
S4: go to Michael in Illinois. What was the change of
S4: fruit that you noticed?
S7: You know what?
S9: My compassion kind of like, multiplied by tenfold. I started
S9: looking at men as trees. Um. And I couldn't judge
S9: anybody's situation. You know, it's like if it was not
S9: for God's grace. There go I.
S2: Yes.
S9: And it just it just gives you a different perspective. Um,
S9: as to, you know, why, where someone is in their
S9: current state and how the compassion that you have to
S9: have for that person because they just don't know God
S9: like you do and they're on their way and you
S9: need to participate and do something about it. But that's
S9: that's probably the biggest change.
S2: Michael. Boom, brother. That is spot on when you get
S2: knocked over by the grace of God, that judgmental spirit,
S2: that whole idea, when you're truly knocked over by grace,
S2: you look around and you say, but for the grace
S2: of God, there go I. Now you have a whole
S2: new perspective on even caring for people around you. Boom!
S2: This is why we call you the Boom Crew. Christ
S2: is alive and well, and he's working in you. Coming up,
S2: we've got a real treat for you. We got Chip
S2: Ingram that's going to be coming in here talking about
S2: what Joy really is and how to take hold of
S2: it today on this Freedom Friday.
S1: She was trying to earn her way to God, but
S1: God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in
S1: the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: It's Carl and crew. The beauty of the gospel is
S2: that we can come as we are, overcome what seems
S2: impossible and live as we never imagined. And it's all
S2: about God. You know, happiness is an interesting thing, but
S2: happiness is really linked to happenings. Things that are going
S2: on around us, right?
S4: Yes.
S2: So happiness can be fickle. You can have a happy
S2: moment at high noon, and by 3:00 things can be
S2: going south.
S3: So happy.
S2: But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, joy, joy, joy.
S2: Chip Ingram going to unpack it for us coming up
S2: here in three minutes.
S1: You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't
S1: take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: What a promise. What a vision. All you got to
S2: do is look at John 15, and you see some
S2: of the very final words of Jesus as he's making
S2: his way to be the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.
S2: And he tells his disciples, look, guys, it's to my
S2: father's glory that you bear much fruit. And there's a
S2: lot of ways to look at that fruit, but it's
S2: a joy completed, according to Jesus himself in John 15,
S2: that we would have this abiding relationship, close connection with
S2: with Christ our Savior. And then the fruit of that,
S2: all you got to do is go to Galatians five
S2: and you see love and joy and multiple other attributes
S2: of those that have this abiding relationship with Christ. We
S2: got a man with us right now that knows and
S2: wants for you to experience this in a big way. Chip. Joy.
S2: I mean, come on. Talk about an attribute of being
S2: filled with the power of God. That's got to be
S2: one of the hallmarks, right?
S10: Yeah, I think after love, I mean, all these are
S10: an expression of the spirit working inside of our heart
S10: as we're connected to Jesus by the power of the
S10: Holy Spirit. But I love C.S. Lewis's quote that joy
S10: is the serious business of heaven. It's really a byproduct
S10: of that abiding that gives us incredible strength in the
S10: midst of very challenging times.
S4: Chip Ingram, our guest right now, pastor, author, teacher for
S4: more than three decades. You know the title of this book,
S4: I choose Joy. Many people would get behind that. I
S4: spend some time on social media, and I often see
S4: language around things like choosing joy, choosing happiness, choosing to
S4: see your circumstances with a certain set of eyes. And
S4: it's not all biblical. This is something I think most
S4: people would embrace, even if they don't know what the
S4: root is. But what do we miss in that messaging
S4: of simply choosing to be joyful or choosing to be
S4: happy in spite of sometimes what we're going through?
S10: Well, I think the focus often there is that we
S10: have this power and we can choose this and we
S10: can choose that. And I think that part of the
S10: choosing is important. We have a decision. But the fact
S10: of the matter is, is that it is supernatural, abiding
S10: presence of Jesus in us. The Apostle Paul is literally
S10: waiting possible execution. And as you study Philippians chapter one,
S10: he teaches us how to have God's perspective and to
S10: be connected in the midst of the worst of circumstances.
S10: And so it's something that God does. We participate. We choose.
S10: We're not victims. But at the same time, that perspective
S10: only comes when you see life circumstance and challenges through
S10: the lens of an eternal perspective and what the spirit provides.
S2: Now Chip Joy has some meat to it. It's got
S2: some substance that actually sets itself apart from happiness. Help
S2: us delineate between those two.
S10: Well, happiness by and large. And by the way, I
S10: think it's a wonderful thing to be happy. Sure, but
S10: even the word it's based on happenings, good happenings, you're happy,
S10: bad happenings or circumstances, you're not very happy. Joy supersedes that.
S10: Joy in the midst of the most challenging times allows
S10: us not necessarily always to be, oh, life is wonderful
S10: and great and happy, but there's this sustaining presence of
S10: God that gives you a perspective. As you look at
S10: Philippians one, which is the the whole book is based
S10: on that. You know, Paul's focus is upward on God
S10: and outward on people while his circumstances are. I mean,
S10: he's in prison. He's chained. It's that perspective that produces
S10: the byproduct of joy.
S4: Chip, was there something going on in your life that
S4: prompted you to explore the topic of joy?
S10: Yeah, it's, I guess, part embarrassing and part just real life.
S10: The quick story is over a period of the last
S10: 7 or 8 years, I had excruciating back problems, multiple surgeries,
S10: hardware in my back problems. After that, laying on my
S10: side during Covid for 21 days could not get in
S10: the hospital and being in pain all the time. Ice packs,
S10: everything you can imagine almost 24 over seven. And you know,
S10: it was a long journey and still have considerable pain,
S10: but nothing like it used to be. And my wife,
S10: one day I was doing one more rehab, learning to
S10: walk again in the backyard and shuffling around. And I
S10: sat down and she said, can I share something just honestly. Oh, yeah. Sure, honey.
S10: Go ahead. And she goes, do you realize how negative
S10: you've become?
S2: Oh, boy. That hurts.
S10: And I said, what? She said, honey, I love you.
S10: But I married a positive, upbeat, future oriented, filled with
S10: kind of faith. And these years, you've been through a lot.
S10: I understand, but when you get up, you groan and
S10: people ask a couple questions, and we're always talking about
S10: your back. And, you know, there's this internal, you know,
S10: publicly you're doing better. But around me, I see it
S10: more than others. And I remember, of course, my first reaction,
S10: because I'm so in tune with the Lord was no, no, no, no, no.
S11: Oh, man.
S10: And as those words were coming out of my mouth,
S10: I was like, oh, you're so right. And I literally
S10: it was probably three months later, I was to speak
S10: at the Billy Graham Conference Center, and it was going
S10: to teach on Philippians one. And as I studied through that,
S10: what I recognized Was I needed to choose joy. And
S10: this book is about going into training. This is not
S10: thinking positive thoughts, declaring you'll be joyful, not looking at reality.
S10: This is a journey and a process and a practice.
S10: And I went into training that came out of that
S10: passage to learn how to look at life through God's purpose,
S10: God's focus, my ultimate hope, and readjust expectations. Where Jesus
S10: met me by the power of the Holy Spirit to
S10: allow me, despite the circumstances, to really experience joy. That's powerful,
S10: and that is what it grew out of. And so
S10: a lot of the very practical sides of it are
S10: things that I've been doing for a number of years now.
S10: I still have a card right in the front of
S10: my desk that has a passage about rejoicing always. And
S10: then be thankful. Be positive. Choose. Don't complain. And then
S10: I have these four questions that flow out of that
S10: passage that have transformed my thinking and therefore my life.
S2: You know, Chip, I think your wife and my went to.
S2: The Great Wife Clinic together on how to have tough
S2: questions for their husbands.
S4: You mentioned those four questions. Can you give us a
S4: quick rundown on what they are?
S10: Sure. The first one is where's your focus when our
S10: focus is upward? You don't have to feel like it,
S10: but you choose to worship an outward you. You care
S10: and pray for other people. Versus your focus on yourself.
S10: Things change when the question is, what's my purpose? What's
S10: God's agenda in this challenging situation? Versus why me? This
S10: isn't fair. I hate this, I can't believe God will
S10: let this happen. And the third question is where's my hope?
S10: Is it in circumstances? Is it in this person? Is it?
S10: You know things are going to turn out right, is it?
S10: My marriage is going to completely get better. Is it that,
S10: you know, until God gives me a husband or a
S10: wife or until my finances? We play a game where
S10: we put our hope in places. And so when you ask,
S10: where's my hope? And you realize the only anchor of
S10: your hope can be the person of Christ and what
S10: he's promised. And then the last question has probably the
S10: most helpful is, what are my expectations toward the end
S10: of that passage in Philippians one, he says, while he's
S10: awaiting execution, he says to these Philippians, it has been granted.
S10: The word is grace. It has been granted to you
S10: not only to believe, but to suffer for his sake.
S10: And sometimes we get disillusioned because we're in difficult times.
S10: We think, God, I obey you, I love you, I'm
S10: following you. We unconsciously think if we do x, Y,
S10: and Z that somehow God is obligated to make our
S10: life wonderful and no problems and healthy. And the fact
S10: of the matter in a fallen world, part of the gift.
S10: And this is hard for Americans to hear, especially part
S10: of the gift of God, is the gift to believe,
S10: to be connected, to be forgiven, to have His Spirit
S10: taken up residence in us. And we go through suffering
S10: with us. That process in a fallen world is actually
S10: one of the key elements that allow us to become
S10: more and more like Jesus. It creates a dependency that
S10: can't happen any other way. He allows it to happen.
S10: God isn't angry. He's not punishing people. But suffering is
S10: a part of the journey. And if you expect it
S10: to be great all the time because you've done X, Y,
S10: and Z your expectations, you set yourself up to be
S10: very disillusioned with God, with life, and with other people.
S2: Yeah, and that's a performance metric rather than a proximity
S2: to Jesus metric. And it always fails us. On that note,
S2: we've been talking all week about the abiding life. I
S2: have this new conviction, having been a pastor and a
S2: leader for a lot of years. And sometimes I look
S2: back and go, Carl, why didn't you learn this stuff sooner?
S2: But the Lord's been gracious to me, and I feel
S2: like the church has put before people a bit of
S2: a hamster wheel of performance, and they're all good things.
S2: So it's. Read your Bible and pray and and give
S2: and find your gifts and use them. And those are
S2: all great. But I feel like we've neglected those abiding
S2: disciplines of silence, solitude, aloneness with God, uh, where we
S2: can cry out, search me, know me, try me in
S2: the darkness of the morning. And I've been doing this
S2: for goodness sakes, probably six months now, really regularly. And
S2: I'm finding that that's the fuel for this fruit producing life.
S2: It's it's him. It's his presence. It's not even activity.
S2: Speak to that chip.
S10: Well, I would have to say that I agree with you. And, um,
S10: I think we have a transactional perspective. I'm going to
S10: do these things. So. So that it's the so that
S10: that kills us so that my life will be better,
S10: my work will be better, my kids will turn out right,
S10: my finances will go up, my marriage if I have one.
S10: And so that is what kills us, because God refuses
S10: to be a means to an end. And we don't
S10: have to wait till we get to heaven to be
S10: with him. The same spirit that raised Jesus from the
S10: dead dwells in us, and its intimacy with him that
S10: sustains you. It's intimacy that brings joy. And it's not.
S10: I've read my two chapters. I've prayed through these three things. Okay, God,
S10: here we go now. Make my life work. Yeah. It's
S10: the byproduct. The blessings. Every good and perfect gift, in fact,
S10: comes from him. But when the gifts get more important
S10: than the giver, that's where we get in trouble. You know,
S10: I've done a lot of counseling in my many, many
S10: years as a pastor, and people come with all kinds
S10: of problems and struggles, and I try to listen and
S10: lean in and ask questions and be very, very concerned.
S10: But I always get around to tell me a little
S10: bit about your own private worship. Tell me about your
S10: time Unhurriedly in God's Word and hearing from God and
S10: being connected to him. And how do you practice his
S10: presence throughout the day? And the correlation I've seen after
S10: these many decades, Carl, is this little time with God really,
S10: really big problems? I mean, the average follower of Jesus
S10: doesn't spend any time with Jesus. And as a result
S10: of that, they can't figure out why all the promises
S10: of Jesus they're not experiencing in their life.
S2: And joy is there.
S4: If you want more from our guest, Chip Ingram. He's
S4: a pastor, author, teacher, teaching pastor for living on the edge.
S4: Just text the word joy to (800) 555-7898. Text joy to
S4: 800 555 7898. You'll get to his website. You can
S4: see where to get the book. How to get a
S4: free download. Text joy to 800 555 7898.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S2: Well, let me give you a metaphor from commercial fishing
S2: that'll fit with why in the world we lower our nets.
S2: Where we do here we're called to be fishers of men, right? Yes.
S2: And by the way, fishing for men is not a
S2: conversion discipline alone. It's not like getting people converted. Really?
S2: Fishers of men is getting people on this path, which
S2: includes regeneration, salvation of soul. But then growing up in
S2: this relationship with God is. That's when the work begins.
S2: I mean, talk to any pastor out there, they will
S2: tell you. Yeah, it's easier to gather a crowd than
S2: it is to make disciples. Disciple making is hard work.
S2: But if, uh, let me take you to Alaska. Let's
S2: go north. Come on. The rush is on. Here we go. Um,
S2: so eight seasons I commercial fished in Bristol Bay, Alaska.
S2: It's on the west coast of Alaska. It's on the
S2: Bering Sea. 32 foot boats were the largest vessels that
S2: you could have. I'm sitting here thinking about this now,
S2: many years later, going now, why did they limit it
S2: to 32ft? I don't know. Those are small boats for
S2: some rough water, I'll tell you that. And I've known
S2: people that we lost in Bristol Bay. It's a dangerous.
S2: It's a dangerous fishery. There was one young man that
S2: was fishing in the Dillingham district. I had met him
S2: in King Salmon, Alaska. He was a young guy. We
S2: were all in our 20s back, way back in the
S2: day when I started, I was 19. Commercial fishing in Alaska.
S2: And he was a great kid, but he was on
S2: the bow of a boat throwing out an anchor. And
S2: one of the things you got to do is stay
S2: away from the lines. Stay away from the lines. And
S2: he got his foot into a half hitch. And that
S2: means that the the line is wrapped around your leg.
S2: And that anchor took him overboard. And we found him
S2: three days later. Washed up on a beach. Life comes
S2: at you fast in Bristol Bay. A he can. It's
S2: a very dangerous fishery, but there's great lessons that come
S2: out of tough stuff. Have you ever noticed that the
S2: best illustrations of life come out of tough stuff? Yeah.
S2: And one of the things that we learned commercial fishing
S2: in Bristol Bay. Number one, job one, get on the fish.
S2: You don't want to set a net out in the
S2: open ocean where there's no fish. And the other one
S2: is when you get them on board, care for them
S2: because there's nothing like. In fact, Ali and I were
S2: just talking here about wild caught Alaskan salmon. There's nothing
S2: like wild caught Alaskan salmon. But not all of them
S2: are cared for in the way that you might really
S2: make it palatable for, for you on your dinner table.
S2: And that kind of drives what we do around here.
S2: We want to get on the fish, so to speak,
S2: because we're called to be fishers of men, and we
S2: want to care for those rather than just be reckless
S2: with them when they come on board. And here's the
S2: beautiful thing about it. This is all God's work. He's
S2: the one that reels him in. He's the one that
S2: casts the net. We're just partnered with him in his
S2: greater ministry. And then we are charged with here in
S2: the morning show to help you not only be found
S2: in Christ, but then cared for as we grow and grow,
S2: and as we've been talking about this week, really bear
S2: fruit in Christ. One time we were on the west
S2: coast of Alaska. We were in the Ugashik district, so
S2: it was way south and east. And so we're out
S2: in high seas. We got big old sea swells, big
S2: rolling sea swells that come in from Russia, and these
S2: sea swells are just humongous. And then sometimes you'll get
S2: breakers in those sea swells. But we had our eyes
S2: focused on one thing. Let's get on the fish. Let's
S2: not worry about the weather. Let's get to those fish.
S2: And we had a 180, which is a small little
S2: plane that was had a spotter on board. So that spotter,
S2: it's an amazing thing because the vantage point and I've
S2: flown over those districts and seen fish from above, there's
S2: things that you can see from a thousand 2000ft that
S2: you can't see at water level. Boy, there's another analogy
S2: for life, isn't it?
S4: Our perspective is pretty limited, in fact.
S2: So I'm going to throw this in for free. This
S2: is why we talk with God every morning, because he
S2: is our ultimate spotter pilot. He can tell us, go south,
S2: go north, throw the net out. And this is what
S2: I want you to do here. God can do that
S2: for us. So the spotter pilot had us going south, south, south.
S2: And he's like, go south. And I'm hearing him on
S2: the squawk box. So we got this kind of open air.
S2: It's called a flying bridge where the captain is and
S2: he's up in the wheelhouse and there's there's sea waves
S2: coming over that bow, but he's in his rain gear
S2: and so he's taking whitewater over the front. Isn't that great?
S11: It's like a movie.
S3: I'm in an adventure.
S2: It is. It's called Deadliest Catch, and I used to
S2: deliver fish to all those boats that are in Deadliest Catch.
S2: I've been on board almost all of them. Not the
S2: newer ones, but I've been on the high spirits and
S2: all those. I've been cool. I've been in the kitchen
S2: and in the galley, having coffee with the captains. Isn't
S2: that wild?
S11: I love it.
S2: So we would deliver fish to them, though, in these
S2: off seasons for crab fishing. And it's just an amazing thing.
S2: A lot of whitewater, a lot of rough water. So
S2: he's yelling at us on the VHF radio, very high frequency.
S2: And he's saying, go further south, and we're going past
S2: boats that have their nets out 300 yards a gear,
S2: and there's little plunk in and you can see fish
S2: when they hit that net. And I'm like, Marvin we're
S2: we're on we're on them. Shouldn't we throw it out?
S2: And he said, he's telling me, keep going south and
S2: we're yelling over the waves. I mean, yeah, we're. Are
S2: you there.
S11: With me, guys? I'm on the boat. We're there.
S2: And finally we go south. And now we're going further south.
S2: Now we're away from any boats. And he says, throw
S2: it out and we get this buoy. At the end
S2: of the gear, big orange buoy. And I throw that
S2: thing out over the stern roller, and then out comes
S2: 300 yards of gear, one cork at a time. And
S2: the cork sit on the surface of the water. And
S2: I mean, immediately we got about one fathom of gear
S2: out and we call it smoke on the water. The
S2: fish started pouring in. We couldn't see it, but that
S2: spotter pilot put us right over the sweet spot of
S2: thousands of salmon that haul that day. We brought in
S2: in one set £10,000 of fish.
S3: Wow.
S5: I like.
S3: That you thought.
S5: You saw it before you saw it. You were like, hey,
S5: there's something over here. But the guy who saw the
S5: whole picture was like, just wait. Something better is coming. Yeah.
S5: Stay impatient.
S2: We were just going by faith. Yeah. Which great metaphors here, right, guys?
S3: He's got it coming.
S2: I mean, God often says to us, go further south.
S2: Go further south, a little further, a little further. And
S2: then God will say, slap it out, slap it out.
S2: So what we do here with Carl and crew is
S2: we're trying to get over. We're trying to get over
S2: the sweet spot of where God would have us. And
S2: so one of the two things that drives us here
S2: is we want to be able to give a clear
S2: gospel message so that we can make sure that we're
S2: doing everything to honor God, to be fishers of men.
S2: We believe that. So next week, we're going to be
S2: unpacking this incredible hallucination of salvation and and setting you
S2: free from fear of do I know? How do I know?
S2: I stand with God and He stands with me. And
S2: those are great questions, right?
S3: Yes.
S2: I mean, everyone is going to face those questions, even
S2: those of you that are born again. The other thing, though,
S2: is this whole dynamic of how in the world did
S2: we grow in Christ when God catches us, by the way,
S2: we don't catch God. Let's get the metaphor right here.
S2: God grabs us and he calls us out of darkness.
S2: He did that for me. He took a kid with
S2: a raging cocaine addiction and in his young 20s, raised
S2: in church. Pretty good kid. Lost my mind. Type A
S2: personality working in the oil fields of Alaska. Got a
S2: raging cocaine addiction and I was so far from God
S2: in my life. Was just a mess. And God said,
S2: are you done yet? And on that day he saved
S2: my soul. But here's what's awesome he not only saved
S2: my soul, he put me on this path, guys, and
S2: it's like he brought me on board his boat. But
S2: then he's caring for me and he's he's nurturing me
S2: and helping me grow. And and by the way, he's
S2: not condemning me. So I hit my lips about three
S2: weeks after I was born again and got my Tookie
S2: and a swisher. Big time. And I'll share with you
S2: next week that story, because that was a disaster. It
S2: even caused me to question. Did did God save me?
S2: And there's a lot of you that have that that
S2: have had that experience where you're you're called out of
S2: darkness into the light, you're truly born again. And then
S2: you're like, ah, I just did something so dumb. God
S2: must be fed up. God loves you and he's patient
S2: and he's forbearing. Then he gives us a vision. And
S2: this is the second part of what we want to
S2: do around here is be these nurturers of you that
S2: have been caught by the grace of God and brought
S2: on board into the kingdom of God and help you
S2: grow and go, and God with God. And this is
S2: why we've been talking about bearing fruit this week. This
S2: is why we've been talking about this. Because John 15
S2: is clear. And I'm sorry. Sometimes I come uncorked. And
S2: some of you may be new. Listening to us here
S2: might think, is this guy for real? I'm. My joy
S2: in the Lord. Started many years ago. But man, it's
S2: built with passion over the years and I'm more sold
S2: out to this thing called the sanctification process than ever before.
S2: And it's a big fancy word for growing up in Jesus.
S2: But what a promise. When Jesus looked at his disciples
S2: and said, guys, you've been brought on board. You're my kids. You.
S2: I caught you, by my grace. Now I want to
S2: grow you. And that's when he looked at those grapes
S2: and he says.
S12: That's what I want you to have. It's to my
S12: father's glory that you bear much fruit. Now, here's the kicker.
S12: With that.
S2: We've been exploring all week what it is to abide
S2: in Christ. Because we've we all know the pain of
S2: trying to produce fruit in our own power. Take it away, Ali.
S2: How painful is that?
S4: It is. I mean, when you're trying to do good.
S3: Things for God.
S2: How painful.
S4: Painful.
S2: And we know what it is to go. I can
S2: do it, I got this. And we know what it is.
S2: That in the 11th hour, God comes in and he
S2: can do more than we did in the prior ten.
S2: But here's what we're going to talk about on this
S2: Freedom Friday, because some of you have stories and they
S2: are mighty stories. We want to talk about measuring the
S2: fruit that you now have in Christ. It's been a
S2: change of fruit. Now, Ali was talking with me yesterday
S2: and she had a great insight came out of Romans six.
S2: Take it away.
S4: Yeah. Romans six, starting with verse 20. It says, for
S4: when you were slaves of sin, you were free in
S4: regard to righteousness. But what fruit were you getting at
S4: that time from the things of which you are now ashamed?
S4: For the end of those things is death. But now
S4: that you have been set free from sin and have
S4: become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to
S4: sanctification and its end eternal life. Our life is bearing fruit.
S4: It's producing.
S3: Something.
S2: Every everyone.
S4: Everyone's life is producing something. And sometimes people get it.
S4: Takes stock of it and go, what? What am I producing?
S3: Yeah.
S4: Anger. Am I producing fits of rage? Am I producing jealousy? Envy?
S4: You see a whole list in Galatians five. So we're
S4: asking you, when you experienced a change of heart, you
S4: were new in Christ. What was the biggest change of
S4: fruit that you noticed? You went from a change of
S4: heart to then a change of fruit. Tell us about it. 800, 555, 78, 98.
S4: We'll illustrate it with our own stories coming up, but
S4: we want to hear from you on this Freedom Friday.
S4: Biggest change of fruit you experienced when you experienced new
S4: life in Christ. 800 555 Five, 7898.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S12: It's a beautiful.
S2: Thing when you can stop for a moment to look
S2: at the fruit born in your life, and then you say, all,
S2: glory to God. I didn't do this. This is God
S2: at work in me. We're asking you a simple question
S2: today on this Freedom Friday, what's the biggest change of
S2: fruit you've noticed as you've experienced new life in Christ? Christina.
S2: Right here in Illinois. What do you say? Christina.
S13: Hey, Carl. I'm glad to speak with you guys. I
S13: would say the biggest change I've noticed so far is
S13: just the peace of knowing that I don't have to
S13: respond in a back and forth, argumentative way to people
S13: who bring offenses or criticisms to me, and just instead
S13: let God handle it because he says vengeance is his.
S13: And instead I just pray for that person because we
S13: don't know what kind of hurts they're experiencing to cause
S13: them to be that way. because I used to argue
S13: with them all the time and now I just pray
S13: for them.
S2: Christina. That is power, sister. That's why we call you
S2: the Boom crew. When you get released from that kind
S2: of slavery, when you feel like I've got to get
S2: my point across, I got to get them around the corner.
S2: When you can say, no, this is God. He's going
S2: to handle it. I'm going to let him fight my battles.
S12: That's fruit.
S4: That's a change of fruit. Thank you. Christina. You proved it.
S4: Let's go back to the phones. Elena calling in from Illinois.
S4: What was the biggest change of fruit you noticed when
S4: you had a change of heart?
S14: Forgiveness. I was in a 30 year abusive relationship, and
S14: I was able to forgive. I was set free.
S2: It's a big deal. And I want to bring some.
S2: That's powerhouse, Elena, and we need that. And I just
S2: want to say, boom, sister, you're in the boom crew.
S2: Some perspective on this one that I want to give
S2: to make sure that we're on with this one. This
S2: is we got to be accurate here. Forgiveness does not
S2: mean forgetting, and forgiveness does not mean that you are
S2: somehow reintroducing a person who betrayed you, hurt you, injured
S2: you back into your life. That's a twisted form of forgiveness.
S2: But a healthy forgiveness is allowing yourself to be off
S2: the hook of that person and dragging that offense around.
S2: And candidly, a spirit of forgiveness, although full forgiveness really
S2: would would benefit from an admission, a desire to make
S2: right what was wrong, a confession of that sin so
S2: that you can grant them that forgiveness is very transactional,
S2: that freedom that you find by saying, I'm not going
S2: to I'm not going to drag this dead carcass around anymore.
S2: That's liberty. That is liberty. Why is this so important, ally?
S4: You know, because when you think about what your life
S4: is producing, it is producing fruit. And I think it's
S4: good to take stock in a healthy way of what
S4: am I producing? And I think people get to a
S4: point in their life where they kind of grapple with that.
S4: This is why people go through midlife crisis is because
S4: they look back on their life and they don't see
S4: the kind of fruit they were hoping for. They don't
S4: see the kind of legacy building, and maybe they don't
S4: have words for it. If there's not been a worldview
S4: or a heart change. But people, everybody wants to leave
S4: the kind of legacy that the world is better off
S4: because of them, that their family is blessed because of
S4: the choices that they made. But a change of heart
S4: has to happen before we can have a change of fruit.
S2: So true. There's a guy, his name's Dore. He wrote
S2: a book called Measure What Matters. It's very popular. If
S2: you're a business leader or you've got an MBA or
S2: anything like that, you know of that book. But the
S2: principle from it is great. His contention is that businesses
S2: succeed or fail by one thing. They don't measure what matters.
S2: And if you measure your life, your spiritual life in Christ,
S2: by how many times you're going to church, wrong measurement.
S2: It's good, but it's a field from the right one.
S2: If you measure it by how many chapters you're getting
S2: through in a day in the Bible, that's good, but
S2: it's not the best measure. If you measure it by boy,
S2: am I using my spiritual gifts or how much money
S2: am I giving? Those are measures, but those are secondary measures.
S2: The primary measure is found in Galatians five is the
S2: fruit of the spirit. Being born in your life? Is
S2: God altering you? And everything we're doing here with Carl
S2: and crew is to help you see the need for God,
S2: for salvation, and the need for God, for sanctification. And
S2: the rest works itself out. How awesome is that?