WEBVTT - Bringing Jesus Back into the Culture 0:00:00.380 --> 0:00:04.430 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.460 --> 0:00:08.510 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio with me. 0:00:08.510 --> 0:00:11.540 This morning, doctor Chris Fabry. How are you doing, doc? 0:00:11.630 --> 0:00:12.680 You gave me a PhD. 0:00:12.830 --> 0:00:15.770 Yeah. Oh, I love conferring things. I get up early. 0:00:15.800 --> 0:00:17.360 On Monday, I get a PhD. 0:00:17.390 --> 0:00:19.489 I like what are you doing up so early? I couldn't. 0:00:19.489 --> 0:00:21.889 Sleep last night because I'm so excited about what's going 0:00:21.890 --> 0:00:22.280 on this. 0:00:22.280 --> 0:00:25.040 Week. We're here in the grapevine, and I'm not talking 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.160 the one that goes from Central Valley over into the 0:00:28.190 --> 0:00:32.060 Los Angeles Bowl. We're hearing grapevine, Texas, and we're broadcasting 0:00:32.060 --> 0:00:34.610 live this week. From here. We're going to be just 0:00:34.610 --> 0:00:37.430 loaded up with guests the majority of this week. This 0:00:37.430 --> 0:00:40.159 morning we've got a great start. We just get to 0:00:40.190 --> 0:00:43.460 be with you boom crew. And we're thrilled about it. Chris, 0:00:43.550 --> 0:00:47.840 as you think about listeners, what are the greatest observations 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:50.180 you've made in your how many years of broadcasting, by 0:00:50.180 --> 0:00:50.330 the way? 0:00:50.360 --> 0:00:51.980 You know, I was thinking about it because I when 0:00:51.979 --> 0:00:55.550 I checked in yesterday, Kerby Anderson was right behind me. 0:00:55.550 --> 0:00:58.490 I met Kerby Anderson 40 years ago, almost. 0:00:58.520 --> 0:01:00.840 Was Kerby in a Was he standing upright? 0:01:00.870 --> 0:01:03.510 He was? Yeah. He and his wife were there. Probe 0:01:03.510 --> 0:01:08.700 ministries took over for Marlin Maddox with with his program 0:01:08.700 --> 0:01:12.000 point of view. And you know, there's there's a lot 0:01:12.030 --> 0:01:15.780 in in religious broadcasting quote unquote. There's a lot of competition. 0:01:15.810 --> 0:01:18.809 You know, we're going for this group or we're going 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:21.630 to do this. And and what I saw in that 0:01:21.630 --> 0:01:24.510 line with Kirby was we were all in this together. 0:01:24.540 --> 0:01:27.990 We're all doing the same thing. Those whose hearts are, 0:01:27.990 --> 0:01:32.190 are pointed toward Christ. Yeah. So I think one of 0:01:32.190 --> 0:01:36.000 the things that that I've learned through those years is 0:01:36.030 --> 0:01:40.170 get your heart tuned to him. Yeah. And then do 0:01:40.170 --> 0:01:42.840 what he asked you to do and let everything go. 0:01:42.870 --> 0:01:46.169 Yeah. No, I believe that 100%. You know, it's interesting 0:01:46.170 --> 0:01:49.740 here we when we think about broadcasting and there's going 0:01:49.770 --> 0:01:51.510 to be a slew of people here. Boone crew. You 0:01:51.510 --> 0:01:53.130 kind of got to get a feel for this here. 0:01:53.130 --> 0:01:56.130 We're in this, uh, what would you call this little suite? 0:01:56.130 --> 0:01:58.770 And there's all kinds of chairs and In tabletop setup. 0:01:58.770 --> 0:02:00.960 And there's going to be folks in here this morning, 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:04.650 many of whom are listening to Moody Radio, some doing 0:02:04.650 --> 0:02:06.780 a deeper dive on what are you doing? Do we 0:02:06.780 --> 0:02:08.970 want to pick up what you're doing and put it 0:02:08.970 --> 0:02:13.889 on our network or on our station? So there's syndicators, 0:02:13.889 --> 0:02:17.790 small and large, and the opportunity is huge. How important 0:02:17.790 --> 0:02:20.190 is it for a clarion gospel? Are you what? Are 0:02:20.190 --> 0:02:22.410 you feeling different. Ah, yeah. This is what I want 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:24.510 to know from you. What? Are you feeling different now 0:02:24.510 --> 0:02:27.389 than you were, say, 20 years ago in radio? 0:02:27.419 --> 0:02:30.510 Okay, I'll go even further back than that to. 0:02:30.900 --> 0:02:33.510 Trying to be. Yeah, I'm trying to be kind. 0:02:33.630 --> 0:02:37.020 I was just thinking last night, you know, how much 0:02:37.020 --> 0:02:40.740 striving there was for me when I was younger. And 0:02:40.740 --> 0:02:43.020 I really want to, you know, make a name and 0:02:43.020 --> 0:02:45.660 do the thing and get the numbers and get the 0:02:45.690 --> 0:02:48.930 guests and, you know, jockey for position and all that, 0:02:48.930 --> 0:02:51.960 and all of that has pretty much with maturity or 0:02:51.960 --> 0:02:55.169 with some age has gone away. And it's like, talk 0:02:55.169 --> 0:02:57.910 to the people who are struggling. And I'll say that 0:02:57.910 --> 0:03:00.070 to those who are listening right now who are part 0:03:00.070 --> 0:03:02.590 of the boom crew, you be praying for the people 0:03:02.590 --> 0:03:05.290 who walk in here, who have stations, who say, you know, 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.600 we need something going on in the morning, and maybe 0:03:07.630 --> 0:03:09.940 Carl and crew. Maybe that would be something you'd be 0:03:09.940 --> 0:03:13.030 praying about. That. Or for those who are thinking about 0:03:13.030 --> 0:03:17.350 Chris Fabry live or Janet Parshall or whatever. Yeah. Um, 0:03:17.350 --> 0:03:19.870 you know, be praying that there would be people not 0:03:19.870 --> 0:03:22.150 so that we could build our kingdom, but so that 0:03:22.150 --> 0:03:25.990 God could use us and steward well what he's given 0:03:25.990 --> 0:03:29.140 to us. So I want to go away from the striving. Yeah. 0:03:29.169 --> 0:03:33.730 And and really rest and wait patiently on what he's doing. 0:03:33.940 --> 0:03:36.880 Yeah. It's a it's an interesting thing. I wish it 0:03:36.880 --> 0:03:40.570 hadn't taken me as many years as it has, because I'm. 0:03:40.570 --> 0:03:45.040 By God's grace and by his mercy, I'm really at 0:03:45.040 --> 0:03:48.340 a good place in life. And that is my chief 0:03:48.370 --> 0:03:51.490 aim is to help people really take their next step 0:03:51.490 --> 0:03:52.330 with Jesus when they're. 0:03:52.360 --> 0:03:55.090 I think listeners sense that, too. I think they sense 0:03:55.090 --> 0:03:58.330 because you look, let's be honest. You've got some intensity 0:03:58.330 --> 0:04:00.580 to you, Carl. You know, I'm a pretty chill. 0:04:00.610 --> 0:04:01.780 I'm a pretty chill guy. 0:04:01.870 --> 0:04:04.630 To be honest. You got some intensity to you, but 0:04:04.630 --> 0:04:08.230 it's focused on what he's doing in you and through 0:04:08.260 --> 0:04:10.420 you then. And that's what people pick up and what 0:04:10.420 --> 0:04:11.440 they're responding to. 0:04:11.470 --> 0:04:14.020 Well, coming up here in a moment, we're going to 0:04:14.050 --> 0:04:16.360 ask you a question, and I want you to text 0:04:16.360 --> 0:04:20.740 it right now. Why do you come here to this show? 0:04:20.770 --> 0:04:25.360 Why are you here? That's that. Why are you here? 0:04:25.510 --> 0:04:27.430 We're going to get some response from you. We got 0:04:27.430 --> 0:04:28.599 somebody in the house. 0:04:28.630 --> 0:04:29.380 Good morning. 0:04:29.380 --> 0:04:31.719 We got Young Thunder in the house. Hey, hey. We 0:04:31.750 --> 0:04:34.390 got Ali holding down the fort back. Back yonder. 0:04:34.420 --> 0:04:35.140 Ali? 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:38.050 Is she in studio there? 0:04:38.260 --> 0:04:40.180 She's there. That's okay. We'll get her in a minute. 0:04:40.210 --> 0:04:42.640 Yeah, we'll get her in a minute. But we are 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:47.530 overjoyed that we're here in Texas. And they've got big 0:04:47.529 --> 0:04:49.780 Ole burgers. You can't get a burger. That's not a 0:04:49.779 --> 0:04:52.000 double patty here, I'll tell you. Coming up here in 0:04:52.000 --> 0:04:53.680 a moment, we're going to break it down and we're 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.620 going to take texts from you right now. Young Thunder, 0:04:57.620 --> 0:04:58.340 how did they do that? 0:04:58.370 --> 0:05:03.410 My man, just text us at 800 555 78, 98. 0:05:03.440 --> 0:05:06.860 Text US 800 555 7898. 0:05:06.890 --> 0:05:09.169 Why are you here? What are you here for? I 0:05:09.170 --> 0:05:11.719 want to hear about it right now. What's what in 0:05:11.720 --> 0:05:17.270 the world? What? What causes you to tune in here? 0:05:18.410 --> 0:05:21.560 And us knowing that we'll even do a better job? 0:05:21.710 --> 0:05:24.890 He's a sports fanatic with a stent for anything you 0:05:24.890 --> 0:05:29.150 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:05:29.150 --> 0:05:31.669 Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:05:31.850 --> 0:05:34.609 We're getting some good responses here, aren't we? Of what 0:05:34.610 --> 0:05:36.380 in the world people come here for? 0:05:36.410 --> 0:05:39.830 I really like this question because I'm loving seeing so 0:05:39.830 --> 0:05:41.960 much of your response. You want to be pushed. You 0:05:41.960 --> 0:05:46.190 want to be encouraged. Encouragement in your faith 9299 let's 0:05:46.190 --> 0:05:48.950 see to listen and learn more about Jesus. Simple but 0:05:48.950 --> 0:05:54.890 well put. Encouragement and inspiration. 3647 47 says 0904 Carl, 0:05:54.890 --> 0:05:56.330 what do you think about this one? To help keep 0:05:56.330 --> 0:05:59.330 the devil away. Does listening to Christian radio help keep 0:05:59.330 --> 0:06:00.320 the devil away? 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.700 Yeah. If you can build a biblical case with music, 0:06:04.760 --> 0:06:08.240 when you see David ministering to Saul with a harp 0:06:08.240 --> 0:06:11.299 and the demonic spirits flee. So, yeah, you can build 0:06:11.300 --> 0:06:15.560 a case for that. My wife's a big believer in that, right? Babe, 0:06:15.560 --> 0:06:18.230 I'm speaking to her back in Chicago right now, and 0:06:18.230 --> 0:06:21.650 she can listen to me. Uh, but yeah, it can. 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.080 It can do that. Before we lose. You give your 0:06:24.080 --> 0:06:26.240 word of encouragement this morning for the troops. 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.580 My word of encouragement to you is, no matter how 0:06:28.580 --> 0:06:32.750 many times you feel like you have failed as a husband, 0:06:32.779 --> 0:06:34.970 as a wife, as a father, as a mom, as 0:06:34.970 --> 0:06:37.520 a friend, as a child of God, you feel like 0:06:37.550 --> 0:06:41.210 you've failed so many times. His mercies are new every morning. 0:06:41.210 --> 0:06:45.110 Great is his faithfulness. Do not let past failures keep 0:06:45.110 --> 0:06:48.020 you from going for it with God today. 0:06:48.170 --> 0:06:54.060 Boom boom. That's right on, because God's got the grace 0:06:54.060 --> 0:06:55.950 to do a mulligan, right, Ali? 0:06:55.980 --> 0:06:56.730 Absolutely. 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.789 He does. Yeah. Chris Faber, you're up. 0:06:59.790 --> 0:07:02.490 I was thinking of Don Cole being here at National 0:07:02.490 --> 0:07:08.670 Religious Broadcasters and his statement, I've just, uh, woke up 0:07:08.670 --> 0:07:11.430 thinking of this struggle is not a sign of failure. 0:07:11.460 --> 0:07:14.010 Struggle is a sign of life. So if you are 0:07:14.010 --> 0:07:17.310 struggling today, if there's something that's going on that you 0:07:17.310 --> 0:07:21.690 are trying to overcome the killing sin. ET cetera. Struggle 0:07:21.690 --> 0:07:23.850 is not a sign that God is not at work. 0:07:23.850 --> 0:07:27.090 It's a sign that he is at work. So trust 0:07:27.090 --> 0:07:27.900 in him. 0:07:27.930 --> 0:07:31.710 You know, people ask me often, you know, is there 0:07:31.710 --> 0:07:34.080 a chance I've lost my salvation? I say the mere 0:07:34.080 --> 0:07:37.680 fact that you're questioning that tells me you haven't. Yes. 0:07:37.710 --> 0:07:44.160 And plus the acknowledgement of that is. My goodness. By 0:07:44.160 --> 0:07:47.760 the way, the only unpardonable sin is to deny the 0:07:47.760 --> 0:07:53.220 deity of Jesus Christ. That's the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. Now, 0:07:53.220 --> 0:07:56.280 don't be worried about that, people. Don't. Don't do that, 0:07:56.280 --> 0:07:58.560 super guy. What's your word of encouragement today? 0:07:58.590 --> 0:08:01.080 My encouragement is that you're waking up and whatever you 0:08:01.080 --> 0:08:03.900 may be facing today could be work related, health related. 0:08:03.900 --> 0:08:05.670 You may be waking up and you know what? You 0:08:05.670 --> 0:08:08.250 have to attend a funeral today. You don't know what 0:08:08.250 --> 0:08:12.180 you're facing today. I love Second Chronicles 2017. Do not 0:08:12.180 --> 0:08:16.290 fear or be dismayed. Go out and face the day, 0:08:16.290 --> 0:08:19.920 for the Lord is with you. You are not alone today, friend. Wow. 0:08:19.950 --> 0:08:22.320 Good word. Good word. Man. We need to do this 0:08:22.350 --> 0:08:24.000 more often. Young Thunder, what do you got? 0:08:24.030 --> 0:08:27.600 Yeah. Today God brought to my mind Exodus 1414. When 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:30.330 Moses and the Israelites were about to cross the Red sea. 0:08:30.330 --> 0:08:32.070 But before they knew they were going to cross the 0:08:32.070 --> 0:08:34.500 Red sea and their backs were up against the against 0:08:34.500 --> 0:08:37.170 the water, and the and the Egyptians were coming after them. 0:08:37.170 --> 0:08:39.270 And Moses goes to God and says, God, what do 0:08:39.270 --> 0:08:42.540 we do? And Lord says, the Lord will fight for you. 0:08:42.570 --> 0:08:45.179 You need only to be still. We don't need to 0:08:45.210 --> 0:08:47.729 try to muster up our way of escape. We don't 0:08:47.730 --> 0:08:50.740 need to try and figure it out ourselves. Be still. 0:08:50.770 --> 0:08:53.500 Seek God and let him do the fighting for you. 0:08:53.530 --> 0:08:57.460 Boom! That's good. Want some encouragement? You got it today. 0:08:57.490 --> 0:09:00.460 We got a lot of encouragement for you today. Boom, crew. 0:09:00.460 --> 0:09:02.829 And we're overjoyed that you're with us. As a matter 0:09:02.830 --> 0:09:04.480 of fact, I want to give you a heads up. 0:09:04.510 --> 0:09:09.550 In fact, be praying. Would you pray? Pray that God 0:09:09.550 --> 0:09:13.480 would move this year in share unlike ever before. And 0:09:13.480 --> 0:09:16.359 I've got some great news for you that's going to 0:09:16.390 --> 0:09:18.160 blow your mind to that end. But we're going to 0:09:18.160 --> 0:09:22.210 do a one hour kind of blitz share at the 0:09:22.210 --> 0:09:25.420 top of this next hour. And I want you to 0:09:25.450 --> 0:09:27.400 be in prayer that God would move in the hearts 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.310 of people. And I got some fuel for the fire. Man, 0:09:30.309 --> 0:09:32.980 we're going to put some birch logs on this thing, 0:09:33.010 --> 0:09:35.050 and you're going to be blown away with what God 0:09:35.050 --> 0:09:38.440 is up to coming up here in a little bit. 0:09:38.470 --> 0:09:41.079 I'm going to tackle a question that has to do 0:09:41.080 --> 0:09:46.150 with finances in marriage. And I want to warn you 0:09:46.150 --> 0:09:51.680 of Financial infidelity. We'll get into that coming up here. 0:09:51.710 --> 0:09:57.500 This is Brandon Lake. Hard fought. Hallelujah. Love what Brandon's 0:09:57.500 --> 0:10:01.700 writing these days. Good stuff. Guys, let's go follow Jesus today. 0:10:01.730 --> 0:10:04.609 The tomb is empty. Our God is alive. And you 0:10:04.610 --> 0:10:05.600 are as well. 0:10:05.660 --> 0:10:10.610 She's a choreographer extraordinaire. And everything is Greek to her. 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:14.600 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:10:14.630 --> 0:10:16.130 on Moody Radio. 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:18.920 It's Carl and crew mornings. You hear Super Die talking 0:10:18.920 --> 0:10:20.300 in the background and everything is. 0:10:20.300 --> 0:10:21.020 Because my equipment. 0:10:21.020 --> 0:10:27.679 Around. We're at DNB, which stands for National Relationship with 0:10:27.679 --> 0:10:29.990 the one who can Save broadcasters. 0:10:30.020 --> 0:10:30.530 Amen. 0:10:30.740 --> 0:10:31.310 Amen. 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:33.710 That's what I'm going with. I keep changing that. You do? 0:10:33.950 --> 0:10:36.110 I like the changes, though. You're keeping it creative. Yeah. 0:10:36.140 --> 0:10:38.690 It's better than religious. Yeah. 0:10:39.020 --> 0:10:41.990 Because there's a difference between religion and relationship. 0:10:42.020 --> 0:10:43.670 Yeah, and I don't want to get too crazy on 0:10:43.700 --> 0:10:46.610 that because James, the half brother of Jesus, did say 0:10:46.610 --> 0:10:47.990 there is true religion. 0:10:47.990 --> 0:10:48.470 No doubt about. 0:10:48.470 --> 0:10:50.660 That. And he wasn't talking about genes. 0:10:51.710 --> 0:10:52.550 Wow. 0:10:53.540 --> 0:10:54.500 That was good. Good call. 0:10:54.590 --> 0:10:56.990 Make sure we're right here. We got it. On a 0:10:56.990 --> 0:10:59.179 serious note, we've got some great people that are going 0:10:59.210 --> 0:11:01.550 to be coming through here all week, and I want 0:11:01.580 --> 0:11:05.330 to set this topic up with something that is absolutely heartbreaking. Uh, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:10.189 goodness sakes, I might cry. Yeah, my bride told me yesterday. 0:11:10.250 --> 0:11:13.280 Was it yesterday? Two days ago? She said, bub, have 0:11:13.280 --> 0:11:17.420 you heard the word coming out of the Congo? Uh, 0:11:17.420 --> 0:11:21.559 there were 70 of our brothers and sisters, men and women, 0:11:21.559 --> 0:11:25.730 boys and girls, that were rousted out by radical Islamists. 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:32.870 The Congo is notoriously very Christianized, but the Islamic radicals 0:11:32.870 --> 0:11:36.860 are really wreaking havoc. And they rounded 70 men and women, 0:11:36.860 --> 0:11:39.110 boys and girls out of their homes, took them into 0:11:39.110 --> 0:11:45.150 a church and took off their heads. And it was 0:11:45.150 --> 0:11:48.089 five days later that the militants allowed their loved ones 0:11:48.090 --> 0:11:52.140 to even bury their bodies. The amazing thing is that 0:11:52.140 --> 0:11:55.110 they did not renounce their faith when they had, from 0:11:55.110 --> 0:11:59.910 what I understand, an opportunity to open doors, shared that story. 0:12:00.360 --> 0:12:06.060 And you think about that kind of persecution. And because 0:12:06.059 --> 0:12:09.000 I've been to Africa so many times, I feel like 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:15.420 I can see some faces. And it's heartbreaking. In Bujumbura, Burundi, 0:12:15.450 --> 0:12:19.680 the poorest country, that's the capital, Bujumbura. But in Burundi, 0:12:19.710 --> 0:12:24.839 guy's poorest country on the planet, poorer than Sudan. And 0:12:25.110 --> 0:12:29.460 now you won't know this because mainstream media is not 0:12:29.460 --> 0:12:32.010 talking about it because there's so much I'm not saying 0:12:32.010 --> 0:12:34.410 they're complicit. I'm just saying there's so much in the news. 0:12:34.410 --> 0:12:38.520 But there is the Hutu and Tutsi uprising is going 0:12:38.550 --> 0:12:42.180 again here. They've been, what, 20 years clear of a 0:12:42.179 --> 0:12:44.520 civil war. And now here we go again. 15 years, 0:12:44.550 --> 0:12:50.010 I guess. What do we do? And when we see 0:12:50.010 --> 0:12:53.339 ourselves in the public square and get some hostility. It 0:12:53.340 --> 0:12:58.620 seems very small, comparatively. Doesn't Natasha? Natasha Crane with me 0:12:58.650 --> 0:13:00.810 right now? That seems pretty small, doesn't it? 0:13:00.840 --> 0:13:01.559 It does. 0:13:01.590 --> 0:13:04.200 It does. What's that? What's that feel like when I did, 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.480 you know, about what was going in the Congo with 0:13:06.480 --> 0:13:09.150 those people that have lost their lives in the most 0:13:09.179 --> 0:13:09.960 horrific way? 0:13:09.990 --> 0:13:12.179 Yeah, I've seen that. I mean, it's a whole different 0:13:12.179 --> 0:13:13.949 level than anything that we talk about when we talk 0:13:13.980 --> 0:13:16.199 about hostility in the US. Of course. 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:19.920 How does someone stand up to hostility? Apart from the 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:22.380 grace of God? The answer is we don't, do we? 0:13:22.620 --> 0:13:24.599 Yeah. I mean, we have to rely on the Lord, 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:26.760 and we have to be so convicted that all truth 0:13:26.760 --> 0:13:30.089 is God's truth and that it matters that we stand 0:13:30.090 --> 0:13:32.459 up for truth. Yeah, that that that's how we do it. 0:13:32.490 --> 0:13:35.880 If we're not convicted that Christianity is actually true, then 0:13:35.880 --> 0:13:37.679 we're going to shrink back as soon as there's any 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.230 little bit of hostility. You know, we're not facing anything 0:13:40.230 --> 0:13:42.220 in the US like what our brothers and sisters are 0:13:42.220 --> 0:13:44.590 facing in other places. And still so many Christians are 0:13:44.590 --> 0:13:47.170 afraid to speak up and speak truth because they don't. 0:13:47.200 --> 0:13:48.820 They don't want to be attacked in any way. 0:13:49.450 --> 0:13:54.760 Is it a need for more grace? Is it? What 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:58.449 causes that fear of man? And I don't want to 0:13:58.450 --> 0:14:01.000 Pooh Pooh that, because, I mean, some of the greats 0:14:01.000 --> 0:14:03.790 that we find in Scripture. When the fire got hot, 0:14:03.820 --> 0:14:07.810 it some buckled. Peter's a great example, but he ultimately 0:14:07.809 --> 0:14:11.050 stood and was resolved as he was filled with the 0:14:11.050 --> 0:14:15.220 Spirit at Pentecost. I mean, what you've studied this, you've 0:14:15.220 --> 0:14:19.780 researched it. What is the secret spiritual source that gives 0:14:19.780 --> 0:14:22.420 us the stuff that lets us persevere? 0:14:22.990 --> 0:14:25.570 Well, I don't know if there's one secret sauce thing, 0:14:25.570 --> 0:14:28.540 but I will say that according to the research, about 65% 0:14:28.540 --> 0:14:30.970 of people in America say that they're Christian. So that's 0:14:30.970 --> 0:14:33.340 just a self-identified number. But people can call themselves a 0:14:33.340 --> 0:14:34.390 Christian for any reason. 0:14:34.420 --> 0:14:36.250 We are big believers of that, and a lot of 0:14:36.250 --> 0:14:38.140 people call them. But are they really? 0:14:38.170 --> 0:14:40.810 That's exactly right. And so other research that's looking at 0:14:40.810 --> 0:14:44.830 what people actually believe. In particular, the worldview inventory that 0:14:44.830 --> 0:14:47.440 comes out of Arizona Christian University's Cultural Research Center, which 0:14:47.440 --> 0:14:49.780 is headed by Doctor George Barnett. When they look at 0:14:49.780 --> 0:14:52.660 the percent of people who actually have a biblical worldview, 0:14:52.690 --> 0:14:55.630 meaning they see all of reality through the lens of 0:14:55.630 --> 0:14:58.660 what the Bible teaches, they find that it's only about 4% 0:14:58.660 --> 0:15:01.030 of Americans. So just think about that gap for a minute, 0:15:01.030 --> 0:15:03.460 where you have 65% of people saying, hey, yes, I'm 0:15:03.460 --> 0:15:07.270 a Christian in America, and only 4% who actually believe 0:15:07.300 --> 0:15:09.610 the core truths of what the Bible teaches. Of course, 0:15:09.610 --> 0:15:11.200 we're not going to see a lot of Christians standing 0:15:11.200 --> 0:15:13.750 up for what's true, because they don't actually adhere to 0:15:13.780 --> 0:15:15.489 what the Bible teaches or believe it. 0:15:15.520 --> 0:15:18.310 We've been using that data for two weeks now on 0:15:18.310 --> 0:15:22.330 our morning show. That is a sobering forecast from George 0:15:22.330 --> 0:15:26.350 Barna and 4%. So what's that gap? There's a big 0:15:26.350 --> 0:15:31.630 chunk that have a cultural Christianity which is not biblical Christianity. 0:15:31.630 --> 0:15:33.910 They aren't born again, so they claim the name of Jesus. 0:15:33.940 --> 0:15:37.060 What else fills that gap? What? What's in that gap? 0:15:37.090 --> 0:15:38.770 Well, I think that there and I don't see that 0:15:38.770 --> 0:15:41.420 Barna has actually done this specific research to break it out. 0:15:41.420 --> 0:15:43.040 So this is kind of based on my experience of 0:15:43.040 --> 0:15:45.440 what I've seen. But there are those who don't know, 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:47.930 they don't have a biblical worldview, and there are those 0:15:47.930 --> 0:15:50.450 who don't claim to have a biblical worldview. So they 0:15:50.450 --> 0:15:53.540 would say they're a Christian, but they would not say 0:15:53.540 --> 0:15:55.520 that they believe in the authority of Scripture, for example. 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:56.840 So if you don't believe in the authority of Scripture, 0:15:56.870 --> 0:15:58.970 obviously you're not going to it for your source of truth. 0:15:58.970 --> 0:16:01.250 You're not going to see the world through the lens 0:16:01.250 --> 0:16:04.190 of what the Bible teaches. Others are just confused. Others 0:16:04.190 --> 0:16:05.750 say they're a Christian and they say, yes, the Bible 0:16:05.780 --> 0:16:07.340 is God's Word, but when you really get down to 0:16:07.370 --> 0:16:09.200 it and ask them about their beliefs, they don't actually 0:16:09.200 --> 0:16:11.030 line up with what the Bible teaches because we're not 0:16:11.030 --> 0:16:14.030 reading the Bible enough. As Christians, we're not in God's Word, 0:16:14.030 --> 0:16:16.280 so we don't actually understand what it teaches. 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.460 So you get a passion for this because you've written 0:16:19.490 --> 0:16:21.530 on it extensively, and we're going to be promoting a 0:16:21.530 --> 0:16:23.870 great resource coming up here in a little bit. Boom crew. 0:16:23.870 --> 0:16:27.590 But what do you do when culture hates you and 0:16:27.590 --> 0:16:31.040 you want to just coach us up? Right now? There's 0:16:31.040 --> 0:16:34.010 a gap between do I believe it and am I 0:16:34.040 --> 0:16:37.760 willing to stand up for it? How does knowledge of 0:16:37.760 --> 0:16:42.440 a worldview. Build fuel for that fire to stand when 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:43.580 the fire gets hot. 0:16:43.610 --> 0:16:46.040 Yeah, that's a great question. When when you have the 0:16:46.070 --> 0:16:49.400 knowledge based on what God has revealed, that means that 0:16:49.400 --> 0:16:52.520 you have the conviction of knowing who God is and 0:16:52.520 --> 0:16:55.760 who man is and what our relationship is. And when 0:16:55.760 --> 0:16:58.100 you have that, then you're actually relying on what you 0:16:58.100 --> 0:17:00.680 know to be true about reality. It's not just a, 0:17:00.710 --> 0:17:03.350 you know, kind of pie in the sky guess about, well, 0:17:03.350 --> 0:17:05.449 I think this is what God would want in the 0:17:05.450 --> 0:17:07.490 public square. I think this is what God would want 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.100 for other people and and for me, you know, because 0:17:10.100 --> 0:17:12.230 you've gone to Scripture and you've said, this is what 0:17:12.230 --> 0:17:14.420 the God of the universe has said. He's the creator 0:17:14.420 --> 0:17:16.489 and sustainer of all things. And this is what he's 0:17:16.490 --> 0:17:20.000 told me about what's good for people? Objectively good. Not just, hey, 0:17:20.000 --> 0:17:23.060 I feel like this is good, but what's objectively good. 0:17:23.090 --> 0:17:25.700 So that knowledge translates into action when you're convicted that 0:17:25.700 --> 0:17:28.040 it's God who has revealed it, and not just something 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:28.970 I've come up with. 0:17:28.970 --> 0:17:33.320 So it's below the waterline. It's that stuff that matters most. 0:17:33.320 --> 0:17:39.300 And I'm convinced I'm convicted that the the essence of 0:17:39.300 --> 0:17:43.740 biblical Christianity is not out here. It's not what everyone sees. 0:17:43.740 --> 0:17:48.239 It's not us jumping pews and and even utilizing our 0:17:48.240 --> 0:17:51.330 gifts or giving our money. It's what is embedded in 0:17:51.330 --> 0:17:55.380 our heart the truth of God's Word. 50 Promises in 0:17:55.380 --> 0:17:58.020 Psalm 119 just about getting God's Word in our heart 0:17:58.020 --> 0:18:00.150 and what it's going to do for us. That's where 0:18:00.180 --> 0:18:03.449 worldview generates this confidence in Christ. 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.060 That's right. And if we as Christians took our Bible 0:18:06.090 --> 0:18:08.340 study more seriously, I mean, the research also shows that 0:18:08.340 --> 0:18:10.949 we're not doing it deeply and consistently. So if we 0:18:10.950 --> 0:18:13.320 took it more seriously, imagine how we could actually change 0:18:13.320 --> 0:18:15.840 the world for the Lord and shining light in this 0:18:15.840 --> 0:18:17.219 dark culture, I believe it. 0:18:17.250 --> 0:18:20.130 Our guest right now, Natasha Crane, she's got a new 0:18:20.130 --> 0:18:25.140 resource when culture hates you, persevering for the common good 0:18:25.140 --> 0:18:28.470 as Christians in a hostile public square, we're going to 0:18:28.470 --> 0:18:30.659 feature that coming up in just a minute. Keep it 0:18:30.660 --> 0:18:34.080 pinned right here, helping you take your next step with Jesus. 0:18:34.470 --> 0:18:37.870 You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio. 0:18:38.740 --> 0:18:40.990 How do you persevere in the public square when the 0:18:40.990 --> 0:18:43.990 square thinks we're square? I'm old enough to remember when 0:18:43.990 --> 0:18:48.040 square was a denigrating statement. Anyone else out there? Anyone 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.830 remember when? When we were kids? Yeah. 0:18:50.859 --> 0:18:52.240 I'm so square. 0:18:52.270 --> 0:18:55.960 Yeah. That was that was a very hippie statement. 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:57.520 And you put the fingers to it, too. When you 0:18:57.520 --> 0:18:59.380 did it, you kind of made that square in front 0:18:59.380 --> 0:19:00.490 of you. Yeah. 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.610 For sure. It's all right. I'll be square for the gospel. Uh, 0:19:03.609 --> 0:19:07.810 when culture hates you, persevering for the common good as 0:19:07.810 --> 0:19:13.210 Christians in a hostile public square. Hostility is an interesting word. 0:19:13.210 --> 0:19:16.510 It's starting to kind of show itself a bit. I 0:19:16.510 --> 0:19:19.510 think I'm more focused on how do we stand strong. 0:19:19.540 --> 0:19:22.659 Natasha Crane is with me right now. You've written a 0:19:22.660 --> 0:19:24.340 whole book on this. How in the world do we 0:19:24.340 --> 0:19:28.000 stand strong? We get. We've already just established that we've 0:19:28.000 --> 0:19:30.340 got to have a biblical worldview, which means we've got 0:19:30.340 --> 0:19:32.830 to get in the word and get the word into us. 0:19:33.310 --> 0:19:36.940 Give us another thought on that. Why is that so vital? 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:40.330 Well, I think that it resets our expectations. When we 0:19:40.330 --> 0:19:43.149 understand what Scripture teaches, then we don't expect for culture 0:19:43.150 --> 0:19:45.430 to like us. We don't expect that. Oh, you know, 0:19:45.460 --> 0:19:47.380 as long as people think I'm nice, then I must 0:19:47.380 --> 0:19:50.410 be doing the right thing because Jesus warned his disciples, 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:52.209 you know, if the world hates you, know that it 0:19:52.210 --> 0:19:56.110 has hated me before. It hated you. So if we 0:19:56.109 --> 0:19:58.840 actually know Scripture, then we're going to understand when people 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:00.700 cut us off, which is happening a lot today. I 0:20:00.730 --> 0:20:03.400 hear from people more and more about family members cutting 0:20:03.400 --> 0:20:05.890 them off and friends cutting them off, even losing jobs 0:20:05.890 --> 0:20:08.320 over it. I think when we start to see that 0:20:08.320 --> 0:20:10.149 and we start to look at Scripture, we say, well, 0:20:10.150 --> 0:20:14.050 this is what we knew to expect. So resetting our expectations, 0:20:14.050 --> 0:20:15.580 I think, is an important part of this. 0:20:15.609 --> 0:20:18.820 That's great. Natasha, you know, I was thinking about that. 0:20:18.820 --> 0:20:20.979 And people talk about, you know, losing loved ones and 0:20:20.980 --> 0:20:24.340 family members and friends and that is so accurate and 0:20:24.340 --> 0:20:27.340 it's so difficult. I also think about kind of the 0:20:27.340 --> 0:20:30.130 other side of the pendulum here instead of not speaking truth. 0:20:30.130 --> 0:20:33.320 Maybe sometimes speaking truth in a way that isn't helpful, 0:20:33.320 --> 0:20:36.740 isn't kind, isn't upbringing to people. We kind of turn 0:20:36.740 --> 0:20:41.450 ourselves into angry evangelicals, you know, people that where we're 0:20:41.450 --> 0:20:43.220 saying the truth of God, but we're not saying it 0:20:43.220 --> 0:20:45.379 with the love of God, you know, and it kind 0:20:45.410 --> 0:20:47.449 of turns people off and turns people away from us, 0:20:47.480 --> 0:20:49.550 kind of makes us look like a jerk. How do 0:20:49.550 --> 0:20:51.740 we how do we speak the truth? Or when do 0:20:51.740 --> 0:20:54.680 we speak the truth so that we don't sound like 0:20:54.680 --> 0:20:56.450 an angry evangelical? 0:20:56.480 --> 0:20:58.910 Yeah, that's a really great point. I think that, you know, 0:20:58.940 --> 0:21:00.889 it's one thing to say we can't gauge whether or 0:21:00.890 --> 0:21:03.770 not we're being truthful by people's responses to us, but 0:21:03.770 --> 0:21:06.020 if someone is saying, hey, you are being a jerk 0:21:06.050 --> 0:21:08.000 about this, you're not you're not being loving in the 0:21:08.000 --> 0:21:09.859 way you said that it's important that we take a 0:21:09.859 --> 0:21:12.169 look at ourselves and say, what's my motivation for speaking 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:13.880 truth right now? I always want to bring it back 0:21:13.880 --> 0:21:16.460 to that. If your motivation is that you love God 0:21:16.460 --> 0:21:19.100 and therefore you love others, then that is going to 0:21:19.130 --> 0:21:21.590 lead you into a position of speaking truth with grace. 0:21:21.590 --> 0:21:23.690 And if you mess up, we're humans. If you mess 0:21:23.690 --> 0:21:25.399 up and you say something in a way that maybe, 0:21:25.430 --> 0:21:27.560 you know, you could have done it better, then say that. Say, hey, 0:21:27.590 --> 0:21:29.300 you know, I said something today, I don't I don't 0:21:29.300 --> 0:21:30.380 like the way that I said that. Let me take 0:21:30.380 --> 0:21:32.910 a step back and say this. So yes, we absolutely 0:21:32.910 --> 0:21:35.669 have to speak truth in love, but we can't judge 0:21:35.670 --> 0:21:38.460 whether or not we have been loving only by people's 0:21:38.460 --> 0:21:40.679 responses to us because the gospel is offensive. 0:21:40.710 --> 0:21:43.860 Yeah, and what's strange? And it's so hard to get 0:21:43.859 --> 0:21:48.060 your head around this, but we're born as enemies of 0:21:48.060 --> 0:21:51.930 the cross, and we talk a lot about this, and 0:21:51.930 --> 0:21:56.010 that feels like, hold it. But if we're born with 0:21:56.010 --> 0:21:58.500 our backs to God, we're born as enemies of the cross, 0:21:58.500 --> 0:22:01.650 and only the blood of Jesus Christ can regenerate our 0:22:01.650 --> 0:22:04.949 soul and get us reconciled with him. We need to 0:22:04.950 --> 0:22:09.959 remember that people's predisposition is going to be against truth, 0:22:09.960 --> 0:22:15.210 mainly because it bumps up against their inborn worldview. 0:22:15.240 --> 0:22:18.480 Yeah, that's exactly right. When we speak truth to people, 0:22:18.480 --> 0:22:21.000 they they are enemies of the cross, like you're saying. 0:22:21.030 --> 0:22:22.740 I mean, Scripture makes it clear that people are either 0:22:22.740 --> 0:22:26.100 children of God or children of Satan. And that sounds that. 0:22:26.100 --> 0:22:28.470 Sounds so harsh. 0:22:28.500 --> 0:22:30.060 It does. It sounds so harsh. But this is what 0:22:30.090 --> 0:22:32.370 Scripture teaches that you are either of the world or 0:22:32.369 --> 0:22:34.320 you are of God, and those who are of the 0:22:34.320 --> 0:22:37.230 world are slaves to sin. Those who are of God 0:22:37.230 --> 0:22:39.510 are slaves to righteousness. So of course, those who are 0:22:39.510 --> 0:22:42.000 slaves to sin are going to hate when those who 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:45.180 are children of God are shining light on the works 0:22:45.180 --> 0:22:47.550 of evil. And yet that's what Scripture says is to 0:22:47.580 --> 0:22:50.669 take no part in it, but to expose the deeds 0:22:50.670 --> 0:22:51.420 of darkness. 0:22:51.450 --> 0:22:53.580 There's got to be a story behind why in the 0:22:53.580 --> 0:22:55.380 world you wrote this book, and we're going to give 0:22:55.380 --> 0:22:58.590 you a link here. When Culture Hates you, Natasha is 0:22:58.590 --> 0:23:02.430 a podcaster. She's got a lot going on. There's got 0:23:02.430 --> 0:23:06.240 to be something inside you. A story that said, I 0:23:06.240 --> 0:23:07.560 got to write this thing. 0:23:07.590 --> 0:23:10.260 Well, the catalyst really was that when I get out 0:23:10.260 --> 0:23:12.629 and I do conferences and speaking events of various kinds, 0:23:12.630 --> 0:23:16.290 and I meet people everywhere who have been cut off 0:23:16.290 --> 0:23:19.949 by family members. And it's just really this tragic trend 0:23:19.980 --> 0:23:22.710 right now. I mean, everywhere I go, I am greeted 0:23:22.710 --> 0:23:25.260 by people who say, I don't know what to do. 0:23:25.290 --> 0:23:27.689 My adult children won't talk to me anymore because of 0:23:27.690 --> 0:23:30.300 my views on this issue or that issue. And so 0:23:30.300 --> 0:23:33.180 when they do that, it's just heartbreaking because I feel 0:23:33.180 --> 0:23:34.770 like there's a lack of understanding in the church about 0:23:34.770 --> 0:23:38.070 why the culture is hostile, why are these things taking place? 0:23:38.070 --> 0:23:40.170 And so I really wanted to write a book that 0:23:40.170 --> 0:23:42.600 would help to shed light on that, to say, hey, 0:23:42.600 --> 0:23:45.360 this is why the culture hates us. In a lot 0:23:45.390 --> 0:23:48.810 of cases, when you understand that hostility, it's going to 0:23:48.810 --> 0:23:50.310 give you a little bit more strength. It's not going 0:23:50.340 --> 0:23:52.199 to be easy, but it's important so that we can 0:23:52.230 --> 0:23:54.630 better engage with the culture and then be the light 0:23:54.630 --> 0:23:57.030 that we're called to be in spite of that hostility. 0:23:57.060 --> 0:24:00.750 How do you not let your positions be politicized? What 0:24:00.750 --> 0:24:04.139 I mean by that is how do you distance? Because 0:24:04.140 --> 0:24:09.180 sometimes a certain position can instantly be politicized. We don't 0:24:09.180 --> 0:24:11.640 want to do that. As Christ followers. We're way we're 0:24:11.640 --> 0:24:15.720 supposed to rise above the fray of political discourse. Sometimes 0:24:15.720 --> 0:24:18.660 you can't miss it because it's there. But how do 0:24:18.660 --> 0:24:21.810 you distance that in a loving way from going, hold it, 0:24:21.840 --> 0:24:24.930 time out. I don't want you to leap to this 0:24:24.930 --> 0:24:27.940 is a political view, but rather this is a truth 0:24:27.940 --> 0:24:29.830 of scripture. How do you do that? 0:24:29.859 --> 0:24:32.290 Well, that's a huge topic. And I think it comes 0:24:32.290 --> 0:24:35.469 back to how somebody defines politicized or political. So in 0:24:35.470 --> 0:24:37.450 the book, I give a definition of the political as 0:24:37.450 --> 0:24:40.240 just being that the way in which people who are 0:24:40.240 --> 0:24:42.550 living in community make decisions about how they're living together. 0:24:42.580 --> 0:24:44.709 So if we kind of strip away all the baggage 0:24:44.710 --> 0:24:46.390 that can come along with that word, and we just 0:24:46.390 --> 0:24:49.330 think it's about how do we make decisions as a nation, 0:24:49.330 --> 0:24:52.510 then of course, Christians should participate in that, but not 0:24:52.510 --> 0:24:55.510 because we are adhering to one political party or the other, 0:24:55.510 --> 0:24:58.810 but because we're driving our views from Scripture itself, because 0:24:58.810 --> 0:25:01.960 we're saying this is what Scripture teaches about the nature 0:25:01.960 --> 0:25:04.330 of human life. This is what Scripture teaches about the 0:25:04.330 --> 0:25:06.969 purpose of human beings. When we start to get those 0:25:06.970 --> 0:25:09.430 things right, then we're coming back to the Bible for 0:25:09.430 --> 0:25:11.410 our views and not saying, well, I believe this because 0:25:11.410 --> 0:25:13.750 this party says so, or that party says so. So 0:25:13.750 --> 0:25:15.790 it always starts with the Bible pointing us in the 0:25:15.790 --> 0:25:18.370 direction that we're going to advocate for the common good. 0:25:18.400 --> 0:25:22.240 Somebody opens up your book and they start on page one. 0:25:22.630 --> 0:25:24.669 How do you want them to be different by the 0:25:24.670 --> 0:25:27.130 time they get to the last page in the book. 0:25:27.640 --> 0:25:30.700 I want them to understand that Christianity is not a 0:25:30.700 --> 0:25:33.040 private faith. It's not something where we just sit in 0:25:33.040 --> 0:25:36.190 our living room and only have a relationship with Jesus. 0:25:36.220 --> 0:25:38.260 Of course, we have to start with a relationship with Jesus, 0:25:38.260 --> 0:25:42.460 but from that relationship is going to flow all kinds 0:25:42.460 --> 0:25:45.040 of other implications about how we need to shine light 0:25:45.040 --> 0:25:48.369 in the darkness. There is so much darkness in our culture. 0:25:48.369 --> 0:25:50.800 This is a culture that is in deep rebellion against 0:25:50.800 --> 0:25:53.410 its creator. Yes, and we need to be the ones 0:25:53.410 --> 0:25:55.060 if we're not going to do it. Who is? Who 0:25:55.090 --> 0:25:58.000 is going to be out there sharing God's truth? So yes, 0:25:58.000 --> 0:25:59.980 it all starts with our personal relationship with Jesus, but 0:25:59.980 --> 0:26:02.440 it's got to go to the next step also to 0:26:02.470 --> 0:26:04.419 be the light that we are called to be, to 0:26:04.450 --> 0:26:05.649 shine the light on the works of. 0:26:05.650 --> 0:26:08.110 Darkness, I love it. You know, there's we were touching 0:26:08.109 --> 0:26:11.949 base on this one here, I think it was last Friday. 0:26:11.950 --> 0:26:16.419 But there's there's three distinct barriers to authentic faith in 0:26:16.420 --> 0:26:19.449 Jesus Christ. One is rebellion, the other one's blindness. The 0:26:19.450 --> 0:26:21.730 God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. 0:26:21.730 --> 0:26:23.949 And the other one is deception. People that are in 0:26:23.950 --> 0:26:25.970 the church who are going to say, Lord, Lord, and 0:26:25.970 --> 0:26:29.359 he's going to say, I never knew you. This whole worldview, 0:26:29.660 --> 0:26:33.439 there's there's something about it that's going to embed confidence 0:26:33.440 --> 0:26:36.230 in your relationship with Jesus. When you begin to get 0:26:36.230 --> 0:26:38.270 in the word and the word gets into you. 0:26:38.300 --> 0:26:40.760 That's right. Because then it becomes this objective knowledge. It's 0:26:40.760 --> 0:26:43.040 not just I feel this because I've always been a 0:26:43.040 --> 0:26:44.960 Christian or I always grew up in a Christian home, 0:26:44.960 --> 0:26:47.689 but it's I know this is true. I know this 0:26:47.690 --> 0:26:49.700 is true. Even if at any given time I feel 0:26:49.700 --> 0:26:51.500 like God's not there, I can come back to the 0:26:51.500 --> 0:26:55.070 objective knowledge that this is truth, that God's Word is 0:26:55.070 --> 0:26:56.540 true for all time. 0:26:56.570 --> 0:26:58.520 Guys, I want you to check it out. If the 0:26:58.520 --> 0:27:00.920 Spirit of God is prompt in your heart when culture 0:27:00.920 --> 0:27:04.790 hates you, persevering for the common good as Christians in 0:27:04.790 --> 0:27:07.430 a hostile public square, and you know who this is for? 0:27:07.460 --> 0:27:09.380 This is my heart for you right now. You got 0:27:09.380 --> 0:27:15.199 a wayward kid that maybe went to university and you're like, 0:27:15.200 --> 0:27:19.460 what in the world happened? This kid was raised in church. 0:27:19.460 --> 0:27:22.520 Just because they're raised in church doesn't mean they're in Christ. 0:27:22.910 --> 0:27:25.369 And we don't need to talk him back into getting 0:27:25.369 --> 0:27:29.540 in church. Maybe we need to be real salt and light. 0:27:29.540 --> 0:27:34.399 Light to our kids. Light to our loved ones, it says. Hey, 0:27:34.670 --> 0:27:40.490 I've got a well-grounded faith. It's not. It's not meme faith. 0:27:40.490 --> 0:27:43.550 It's real faith. And let me talk with you about 0:27:43.550 --> 0:27:47.270 core issues. Hang on. We got a resource for you. 0:27:47.300 --> 0:27:51.230 Text the word culture right now. Text the word culture 0:27:51.230 --> 0:27:53.390 to our number right here and we'll get a link 0:27:53.420 --> 0:27:59.420 out to you. Culture to 800 555 7898. Just text 0:27:59.450 --> 0:28:06.170 culture to 805 five five 7898. We'll get this into 0:28:06.170 --> 0:28:12.860 your hands, wherever you are. Canada. Alabama. Chicagoland. Where we 0:28:12.859 --> 0:28:16.460 originate from or beyond. Come and get it. Text culture 0:28:16.460 --> 0:28:21.350 to 800 555 7898. I want to thank you from 0:28:21.350 --> 0:28:24.570 the bottom of my heart. Natasha, we not only do 0:28:24.570 --> 0:28:27.930 we have common stomping grounds for a little bit. Tustin, California. 0:28:27.930 --> 0:28:32.820 That's a funny story. Little podunk place called Tustin, and 0:28:32.820 --> 0:28:34.950 my wife and I spent a year there, and that's 0:28:34.950 --> 0:28:37.380 where you reside. Thank you for being salt and light 0:28:37.380 --> 0:28:39.630 in our culture today. And thank you for writing this. 0:28:39.630 --> 0:28:41.490 Thank you so much. It's great talking with you. 0:28:41.520 --> 0:28:51.450 Text culture to 800 555 7898. Culture to 800 555 7898. Oh, man. 0:28:51.480 --> 0:28:54.120 You're grabbing up this resource left and right. Boom! Crew. 0:28:54.150 --> 0:28:56.550 Way to go, guys. We love you. Let's go, let's 0:28:56.550 --> 0:29:00.570 go do it. Let's radiate the truth of God in 0:29:00.570 --> 0:29:01.800 this culture today. 0:29:02.070 --> 0:29:06.600 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:29:06.600 --> 0:29:10.500 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:29:10.530 --> 0:29:14.370 All right, guys, we're rolling here. We are broadcasting live 0:29:14.370 --> 0:29:17.910 from NB. You know what that stands for? What's that 0:29:18.270 --> 0:29:23.320 national Relationship with Jesus, the King of Kings and the 0:29:23.320 --> 0:29:26.110 one who sets us free and causes us to be 0:29:26.110 --> 0:29:29.200 salt and light in this world till today. Hold on. 0:29:29.200 --> 0:29:32.380 I'm not done. Broadcaster. Oh thank you, thank you. Important 0:29:32.380 --> 0:29:34.690 NB I got to get the broadcast right. 0:29:34.870 --> 0:29:35.770 Otherwise it's just an hour. 0:29:35.800 --> 0:29:38.800 My goodness. All right, I'm going to bring a man 0:29:38.800 --> 0:29:42.310 in here. I have known him from afar for a 0:29:42.340 --> 0:29:46.900 lot of years. Phil Cook, you're a wild man for Jesus. 0:29:46.930 --> 0:29:49.150 Well, I'm kind of that's. I've never been introduced that way. 0:29:49.150 --> 0:29:51.670 But it works. That works. That really does. 0:29:51.730 --> 0:29:54.100 There's a lot of firsts around here, Phil. 0:29:54.130 --> 0:29:55.360 I can see that. 0:29:55.480 --> 0:29:57.430 Uh, it's great to have you with us. Give us 0:29:57.430 --> 0:30:00.490 your background. Uh, tell us your spiritual story. 0:30:00.640 --> 0:30:02.770 I'm a preacher's kid from Charlotte, North Carolina. 0:30:03.220 --> 0:30:04.480 And you're in recovery. 0:30:04.510 --> 0:30:06.190 I am recovery. You know what? I've grown up. I 0:30:06.220 --> 0:30:08.530 spent my life behind the scenes in church. I've mowed 0:30:08.560 --> 0:30:12.430 the church. Cemetery. Growing up, I filled a million communion cups. 0:30:12.460 --> 0:30:16.060 I did church bulletins in the mimeograph machine. Oh, no. 0:30:16.090 --> 0:30:18.790 Yeah, I remember those machines. They got ink all over 0:30:18.790 --> 0:30:19.510 your fingers. 0:30:19.630 --> 0:30:22.960 Exactly. I have nightmares, and no, I loved it. And 0:30:22.960 --> 0:30:25.330 I've never had a calling to be a pastor. But 0:30:25.330 --> 0:30:27.940 I've always seen that. You know what? We don't project 0:30:27.940 --> 0:30:30.040 the best image out there to the general culture. Very 0:30:30.070 --> 0:30:32.380 often we the way we tell our story, the way 0:30:32.380 --> 0:30:35.950 we engage the culture. So somehow God pulled me into 0:30:35.950 --> 0:30:39.460 this media, television, film arena. And I've been producing films 0:30:39.460 --> 0:30:42.580 and television programs, and we focus mostly on how to 0:30:42.610 --> 0:30:44.860 engage the culture with the gospel. And we just want 0:30:44.890 --> 0:30:47.200 to help churches use media more effectively. 0:30:47.230 --> 0:30:49.630 All right. I'm gonna do something totally different. You want to. First, 0:30:49.630 --> 0:30:52.210 I want you to tell me, what are the high 0:30:52.240 --> 0:30:55.870 points of your career in Christ, that you go, man? 0:30:55.900 --> 0:30:57.490 God showed up right here. 0:30:58.120 --> 0:30:59.950 Oh, gosh. Where do I start? I think, you know, 0:30:59.980 --> 0:31:02.380 when I getting into this business was a powerful way 0:31:02.380 --> 0:31:04.690 to do it. I started college as a piano major. 0:31:04.690 --> 0:31:06.640 My dad was a pastor, so that's what I that 0:31:06.640 --> 0:31:08.020 was my job description at the time. 0:31:08.590 --> 0:31:10.540 Now it would be guitar, but it was piano. 0:31:10.570 --> 0:31:12.550 It was piano back then, and I enrolled as a 0:31:12.550 --> 0:31:15.219 piano major, and I had made little super eight movies 0:31:15.220 --> 0:31:17.170 in high school with a group of my buddies and 0:31:17.170 --> 0:31:19.970 took them to college, discovered a friend across the hall 0:31:19.970 --> 0:31:22.010 in the dorm that could edit films, and I didn't 0:31:22.010 --> 0:31:23.690 even know you could cut film. And he showed me 0:31:23.690 --> 0:31:26.870 how to do it. The professor saw one of them said, man, 0:31:26.870 --> 0:31:28.700 I've got students that have been taken for years that 0:31:28.700 --> 0:31:30.170 can't do this well. Can I show this to my 0:31:30.170 --> 0:31:32.750 class tomorrow? So I said, sure. So I went in, 0:31:32.780 --> 0:31:34.880 sat in the back of the row, you know, during 0:31:34.880 --> 0:31:36.800 the class the next day, he showed my little movie 0:31:36.800 --> 0:31:39.770 and they discussed it, and I had this crystal clear 0:31:39.770 --> 0:31:42.620 moment of revelation I don't think I've had before since 0:31:42.620 --> 0:31:44.570 that if I could do something with a camera that 0:31:44.570 --> 0:31:46.640 makes people talk like this, this is what I'm supposed 0:31:46.640 --> 0:31:49.490 to do with my life. God completely changed the trajectory 0:31:49.490 --> 0:31:52.490 of my life at that moment, and I've never looked back. 0:31:52.490 --> 0:31:55.640 It's been, what, 40, 45 years? I've never looked back. 0:31:55.760 --> 0:31:58.220 You've got a unique vantage point on the church. 0:31:58.220 --> 0:31:58.880 I do, yeah. 0:31:58.910 --> 0:32:02.330 And it gives you a level of objectivity that's helpful. 0:32:02.360 --> 0:32:06.200 Yeah. It's interesting. It is the intersection of media and culture. 0:32:06.230 --> 0:32:09.080 You know, media is the language today's culture speaks. And 0:32:09.080 --> 0:32:11.570 I think as Christians, if we don't use media effectively, 0:32:11.570 --> 0:32:13.250 we're going to we're just going to drop out of 0:32:13.250 --> 0:32:16.370 the conversation. And we wonder why Christianity is disappearing from 0:32:16.370 --> 0:32:18.410 the culture. I think a lot of it is because 0:32:18.410 --> 0:32:20.660 we don't speak the language of today's culture. 0:32:20.690 --> 0:32:27.710 Coming up, Phil Cooke with us here, filmmaker, thinker, PhD, 0:32:28.850 --> 0:32:32.720 and helping us understand what really matters is the church 0:32:32.750 --> 0:32:36.860 on trial. Phil Cooke says, yes, the church is on 0:32:36.860 --> 0:32:40.160 trial and that's what we're going to break down coming 0:32:40.160 --> 0:32:41.480 up here straight ahead. 0:32:41.960 --> 0:32:46.010 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 0:32:46.010 --> 0:32:49.970 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 0:32:50.000 --> 0:32:51.320 Moody Radio. 0:32:51.440 --> 0:32:55.910 Interesting thing here. What a setup. Sometimes we are ashamed 0:32:55.910 --> 0:32:59.120 and that keeps us in trouble. All right, I'm going 0:32:59.150 --> 0:33:01.400 to cut to the chase. We got Phil Cook here. 0:33:01.400 --> 0:33:03.680 How in the world did you write a book? Church 0:33:03.710 --> 0:33:06.140 on trial. And what are we on trial for? 0:33:06.170 --> 0:33:08.840 You know, it's so often if you've seen the headlines lately, 0:33:08.840 --> 0:33:10.400 in the last couple of years, you've seen a lot 0:33:10.430 --> 0:33:11.900 of scandals in churches. A lot of it. 0:33:11.900 --> 0:33:15.020 Seems like it's it was like two decades, three decades ago. 0:33:15.020 --> 0:33:16.960 It was a rash of them and now it's coming 0:33:16.960 --> 0:33:17.560 back again. 0:33:17.800 --> 0:33:20.440 It does. And over the years, I'm a media producer. 0:33:20.440 --> 0:33:22.780 I'm not an attorney or a counselor. But early in 0:33:22.780 --> 0:33:26.770 my career, I started getting calls from churches, pastors, leaders saying, look, 0:33:26.770 --> 0:33:28.540 we're going through a crisis. Can you help us? What 0:33:28.540 --> 0:33:30.340 should we do? How do we tell the congregation? How 0:33:30.340 --> 0:33:32.560 do we tell the public? Do we release a statement? 0:33:32.560 --> 0:33:35.469 Just a lot of communication related questions. Yeah. So I 0:33:35.470 --> 0:33:37.720 stepped in and started working with quite a number. And 0:33:37.720 --> 0:33:40.570 after all these years and seeing all these headlines, I decided, 0:33:40.570 --> 0:33:42.790 let's put it into a book. So a pastor, an 0:33:42.790 --> 0:33:45.610 executive pastor, board members can have it on their desk 0:33:45.610 --> 0:33:47.650 in case a crisis happens. Okay. 0:33:47.680 --> 0:33:54.850 What what is it that causes churches to handle things poorly, 0:33:54.850 --> 0:34:01.300 whether it's outside conflict with the culture or internal compromise? 0:34:01.330 --> 0:34:03.400 Yeah, I think a lot of things. A big part 0:34:03.400 --> 0:34:06.190 of it is they mean well, they're trying to protect someone. 0:34:06.220 --> 0:34:08.200 Maybe they're trying to protect a family in the church 0:34:08.200 --> 0:34:10.779 or protect the pastor. Very often if the pastor is 0:34:10.780 --> 0:34:13.750 accused of something, we we tend to circle the wagons 0:34:13.750 --> 0:34:15.960 and protect him at all costs. Not thinking about the 0:34:15.960 --> 0:34:18.540 victim or the alleged victim. And so I think a 0:34:18.540 --> 0:34:20.400 big part of this is we want to do the 0:34:20.400 --> 0:34:22.650 right thing, but we're just not sure what they do. 0:34:22.710 --> 0:34:25.140 What to do. So they often cover things up or 0:34:25.140 --> 0:34:27.419 just not mention certain things or try to hide things. 0:34:27.450 --> 0:34:29.520 I'm working with the church right now that they just 0:34:29.520 --> 0:34:31.739 believe that if we don't mention it, it's going to 0:34:31.739 --> 0:34:35.310 go away eventually. Well, in today's digital social media world, 0:34:35.310 --> 0:34:37.740 it will not go away. It just gets worse. 0:34:37.739 --> 0:34:40.410 And I'm not sure that it should. It seems to 0:34:40.410 --> 0:34:42.930 me that we ought to bring this out, but at 0:34:42.930 --> 0:34:45.719 what level do you bring it out? I'm a big believer. 0:34:45.719 --> 0:34:48.420 I heard a story again here recently, where a young 0:34:48.420 --> 0:34:51.390 couple was trotted up on stage in front of people 0:34:51.390 --> 0:34:54.930 that they never knew. I know that people think pastors 0:34:54.930 --> 0:34:58.410 think this is church discipline done right. It's done wrong, right? 0:34:58.440 --> 0:35:02.129 Because you're shaming people instead of trying to restore people. 0:35:02.160 --> 0:35:07.440 How do we go forward being restorative without being punitive? 0:35:07.469 --> 0:35:08.190 How do you do that? 0:35:08.219 --> 0:35:10.319 There's a number of ways. My book doesn't cover the 0:35:10.320 --> 0:35:13.450 idea of being restored back to ministry. That's a whole 0:35:13.450 --> 0:35:15.640 different subject, a whole nother subject. Maybe it's time to 0:35:15.670 --> 0:35:17.710 go work at Home Depot for a while if you've 0:35:17.710 --> 0:35:20.020 had a long while. Yes, a long while. But I 0:35:20.020 --> 0:35:22.690 do think that we need to tell the truth, that 0:35:22.690 --> 0:35:24.879 we know we don't have to go into gory details. 0:35:24.880 --> 0:35:26.890 We don't have to trot people up on stage and 0:35:26.890 --> 0:35:29.350 humiliate them in front of the congregation. But I think 0:35:29.350 --> 0:35:31.780 when people in the church are asking when there's questions, 0:35:31.780 --> 0:35:34.689 if we're not honest, people start to speculate, they start 0:35:34.690 --> 0:35:37.240 to ask questions on social media, and it can blow 0:35:37.239 --> 0:35:38.230 up in a pretty big way. 0:35:38.260 --> 0:35:40.450 Okay. Coming up here in a few minutes, we're going 0:35:40.480 --> 0:35:42.819 to break down some of those ways that we tackle 0:35:42.850 --> 0:35:44.380 these things. And I want to give you a heads 0:35:44.380 --> 0:35:47.649 up right now I am asking you to grab this 0:35:47.650 --> 0:35:50.410 resource today for one reason. Are you ready for this, 0:35:50.410 --> 0:35:53.080 to give it to a pastor or a spiritual leader 0:35:53.080 --> 0:35:59.800 or a board member? Yeah, that that religious not for 0:35:59.830 --> 0:36:04.239 profit that those leaders because this is a resource that 0:36:04.239 --> 0:36:07.960 I'm going to pack with me as a pastor in Chicagoland, 0:36:07.989 --> 0:36:13.180 because how we handle crises when they arise is everything. 0:36:13.180 --> 0:36:15.219 So we're going to break down just a little bit 0:36:15.219 --> 0:36:16.900 of the process straight ahead. 0:36:17.530 --> 0:36:20.920 This is Curling Crew on Moody Radio. 0:36:21.489 --> 0:36:27.399 Broadcasting live from NB. What that stands for is national 0:36:27.400 --> 0:36:33.160 relationship with Jesus that transforms a sinner into a saint 0:36:33.160 --> 0:36:36.190 and doesn't make us perfect, but gives us all the 0:36:36.190 --> 0:36:40.239 grace we need to walk in abundance. Broadcasters. That's what 0:36:40.239 --> 0:36:43.450 it stands for. NB. Amen. All right. It is a 0:36:43.450 --> 0:36:46.690 joy to have Phil Cook here. I've known of you 0:36:46.690 --> 0:36:49.840 and followed you from afar. And my goodness, you're right 0:36:49.840 --> 0:36:51.220 here in front of me, my man. 0:36:51.250 --> 0:36:51.790 This is fun. 0:36:51.820 --> 0:36:54.819 This is great. This is great. Okay. Church on trial. 0:36:54.820 --> 0:36:59.920 How to protect your congregation, mission and reputation during a crisis. 0:36:59.920 --> 0:37:02.920 How do we prevent? How do we get proactive? How 0:37:02.920 --> 0:37:04.719 do we get out in front of this as a 0:37:04.719 --> 0:37:05.469 church culture? 0:37:05.500 --> 0:37:06.880 You know, one of the things I suggest in the 0:37:06.880 --> 0:37:10.189 book is being transparent. You know, as leaders, Christian leaders especially, 0:37:10.190 --> 0:37:13.490 we should always be transparent. I even go down in 0:37:13.489 --> 0:37:15.919 the book. I even outline a church in the Chicago 0:37:15.920 --> 0:37:19.730 area that was remodeling their office building. And the pastor said, 0:37:19.730 --> 0:37:21.950 you know what? I want to take away any opportunity 0:37:21.980 --> 0:37:23.990 for people to stumble. And he put a window and 0:37:23.989 --> 0:37:25.700 a glass door in every office. 0:37:25.850 --> 0:37:27.259 Boom, boom. I'm a big believer. 0:37:27.290 --> 0:37:29.450 And people will often say, well, if they want to 0:37:29.450 --> 0:37:32.300 have a relationship, they'll they'll do it somewhere else. Actually, 0:37:32.300 --> 0:37:35.930 in my experience, 90% of all illicit, you know, immoral 0:37:35.930 --> 0:37:38.810 relationships like that start in the office. Maybe we're working 0:37:38.840 --> 0:37:40.760 too late. Maybe you're, you know, a pastor and his 0:37:40.760 --> 0:37:44.359 assistant or spending. That's the time. It is. Really is. 0:37:44.390 --> 0:37:46.520 And so being, you know, in my office, I'm not 0:37:46.520 --> 0:37:48.890 even a pastor. I'm a media producer, but I've got 0:37:48.890 --> 0:37:51.469 three people in my office that have access to my email. 0:37:51.530 --> 0:37:53.839 Have they have access to my calendar? It'd be hard 0:37:53.840 --> 0:37:57.200 for me to arrange a inappropriate rendezvous with someone with 0:37:57.200 --> 0:37:59.900 all these people eyeballs looking at what I'm doing. So 0:37:59.900 --> 0:38:02.720 I think being transparent in so many areas like that, 0:38:02.719 --> 0:38:05.780 I think is critical. Another thing that's big is red flags. 0:38:05.780 --> 0:38:07.670 I don't think as Christians, you know, we want to 0:38:07.700 --> 0:38:10.290 think the best of each other. But very often we 0:38:10.290 --> 0:38:13.230 need to be more aware of red flags in the church. 0:38:13.260 --> 0:38:16.290 Does it mean we become behaviour cops because false accusations 0:38:16.290 --> 0:38:19.650 can destroy lives? But if we were more give you 0:38:19.650 --> 0:38:22.200 an example, the executive pastor that just comes in in 0:38:22.200 --> 0:38:25.530 the morning strangely looking like he's got a hangover. Maybe 0:38:25.530 --> 0:38:27.810 that youth leader that's spending a little too much time 0:38:27.810 --> 0:38:31.290 with one minor girl in the youth group. Just being 0:38:31.290 --> 0:38:33.840 aware of those things could stop it in the bud. 0:38:33.870 --> 0:38:35.970 Nip it in the bud, as Barney Fife used to say, 0:38:36.330 --> 0:38:39.270 long before it ever could blow up into a real scandal. 0:38:39.270 --> 0:38:40.800 And I think that, you know, at the airport, they 0:38:40.800 --> 0:38:43.140 say if you see something, say something. I think we 0:38:43.140 --> 0:38:45.210 should train our teams. I'll give you a good example. 0:38:45.210 --> 0:38:47.220 One church, while I was writing the book, had a 0:38:47.219 --> 0:38:50.580 visitor come one Sunday. Nice guy, young man, you know, 0:38:50.610 --> 0:38:54.840 super nice meeting everybody. Um, and a couple elders. Really 0:38:54.840 --> 0:38:57.900 sharp or. Excuse me. Ushers just noticed he was looking 0:38:57.900 --> 0:39:00.810 at kids an awful lot. So they went over to him, 0:39:00.810 --> 0:39:03.390 introduced themselves, got his name, went back to the office, 0:39:03.420 --> 0:39:06.570 looked on the sex registry list, sex offender list. There 0:39:06.570 --> 0:39:08.700 he was. And so they had to have that sit 0:39:08.730 --> 0:39:10.650 down meeting with, you know, we want you to come 0:39:10.650 --> 0:39:12.990 to church. We want Jesus to transform your life. But 0:39:12.989 --> 0:39:14.070 there's got to be boundaries. 0:39:14.100 --> 0:39:17.520 You know, when I was in Bible college, in seminary, 0:39:17.520 --> 0:39:20.370 I had one man in particular that took me aside 0:39:20.370 --> 0:39:23.610 and he lovingly said to me, never meet with a 0:39:23.610 --> 0:39:27.420 woman alone. And if there is a crisis, have a 0:39:27.420 --> 0:39:30.480 secretary or someone outside the door and the door cracked 0:39:30.480 --> 0:39:33.540 open or glass. And I've done that. And you know what? 0:39:33.540 --> 0:39:37.170 It is good. On the issue of finances. Yes, I 0:39:37.170 --> 0:39:39.960 have a policy in our church in Chicagoland with our 0:39:39.960 --> 0:39:42.870 elders that we put in place that doesn't give me 0:39:42.870 --> 0:39:46.080 or staff the latitude to go spend willy nilly at all. 0:39:46.110 --> 0:39:49.890 There's a limit, and then there's constant checks, and even 0:39:49.890 --> 0:39:53.250 third party goes through our books to report back to 0:39:53.280 --> 0:39:56.640 our elders what's going on? It seems that if we 0:39:56.640 --> 0:40:00.060 just did some preventative things, we'd keep our turkey out 0:40:00.060 --> 0:40:00.810 of the squisher. 0:40:00.810 --> 0:40:03.630 Phil, you know, a church in Alabama had a secretary 0:40:03.660 --> 0:40:06.640 who ran their finances. Come to find out, she'd embezzled 0:40:06.640 --> 0:40:08.680 more than a half $1 million over ten years from 0:40:08.680 --> 0:40:11.080 a church, and she'd paid off her house. She'd paid 0:40:11.080 --> 0:40:12.580 her for a couple cars. She'd paid for a kid 0:40:12.580 --> 0:40:13.450 to go to college. 0:40:13.450 --> 0:40:16.750 Maybe without the opportunity that might have not gone down 0:40:16.750 --> 0:40:17.350 that path. 0:40:17.380 --> 0:40:20.529 No guardrails in place, no guardrails. And the church had 0:40:20.530 --> 0:40:23.140 to close. And that's what really breaks my heart, is 0:40:23.140 --> 0:40:26.620 when churches close because of a mistake by one person, 0:40:26.620 --> 0:40:30.040 or a stupid act by one person. The church ministry 0:40:30.070 --> 0:40:32.440 shouldn't have to shut down. But this one will because 0:40:32.440 --> 0:40:34.360 she has. She's supposed to pay it back, but she's 0:40:34.360 --> 0:40:35.590 never going to be able to pay that back. 0:40:35.620 --> 0:40:37.390 We don't like to talk about this stuff. 0:40:37.390 --> 0:40:40.570 No. It's awkward. You're right. In fact, you're bold. Let 0:40:40.570 --> 0:40:44.259 me say this. You're very bold. Because many radio broadcasters, 0:40:44.260 --> 0:40:48.070 television broadcasters, podcasters I've approached about the book will say, 0:40:48.100 --> 0:40:49.960 you know, Phil, that's really not a subject I want 0:40:49.989 --> 0:40:51.880 to talk about right now. I love the book, and 0:40:52.150 --> 0:40:54.100 I'm glad you wrote it, but it's just not something 0:40:54.100 --> 0:40:56.470 I feel comfortable with. And I'm thinking, wow, look at 0:40:56.469 --> 0:40:59.230 the headlines. How can we stop this from happening so much? 0:40:59.260 --> 0:40:59.950 It's interesting. 0:40:59.980 --> 0:41:06.460 Okay, so proactivity is key. Yellow flags. Red flags. How 0:41:06.460 --> 0:41:09.609 do you keep from becoming a cynic? Because you can 0:41:09.610 --> 0:41:13.420 look around and go, my goodness. 0:41:13.450 --> 0:41:15.520 Yeah, it's true. And I've seen a lot over the 0:41:15.520 --> 0:41:18.040 years and worked with major ministries big, some of the 0:41:18.040 --> 0:41:20.800 most effective, biggest churches in the country. And I have 0:41:20.800 --> 0:41:23.500 to say that my philosophy is God is bigger than 0:41:23.500 --> 0:41:26.560 whatever bonehead happens to be representing him in a given time. 0:41:26.590 --> 0:41:29.320 You know, I just think that God is bigger than all. 0:41:29.320 --> 0:41:31.750 This, and there's thousands that haven't bowed a knee to Baal. 0:41:31.780 --> 0:41:35.350 That's true, that's true. And you know, it doesn't excuse 0:41:35.380 --> 0:41:38.410 you know, it doesn't excuse sexual abuse. It doesn't excuse embezzlement, 0:41:38.410 --> 0:41:42.250 by the way, in financial embezzlement is in the millions 0:41:42.250 --> 0:41:44.770 and millions of dollars every year in churches in America. 0:41:44.800 --> 0:41:48.310 It's staggering when you look at the embezzlement statistics, people 0:41:48.310 --> 0:41:49.900 stealing money, it's staggering. 0:41:49.930 --> 0:41:53.860 So those stick on this money thing for a moment 0:41:55.540 --> 0:42:02.530 to do a basic parameters and accountability, prevent a windfall 0:42:02.530 --> 0:42:03.950 of garbage, right? 0:42:03.980 --> 0:42:05.989 Yeah, well, I think, you know, I'll tell you, one 0:42:05.989 --> 0:42:07.759 of the problems I see in the church is we've 0:42:07.760 --> 0:42:10.730 got this almost a joke that we hire quickly and 0:42:10.730 --> 0:42:13.460 fire slowly in a church. So we think, well, brother Bob, 0:42:13.460 --> 0:42:15.740 he's he volunteered. He's a good guy. Let's hire him. 0:42:15.739 --> 0:42:18.020 Put him on staff. We don't vet him very well. 0:42:18.020 --> 0:42:20.720 We don't take the time to really explore Bob's past. 0:42:20.719 --> 0:42:23.000 And then when we get Bob on staff, it takes 0:42:23.000 --> 0:42:25.520 us forever. And we find out he's not a good 0:42:25.520 --> 0:42:27.890 fit and he doesn't work. Takes us forever to cut 0:42:27.890 --> 0:42:29.870 him loose. So I don't think we should cut people 0:42:29.870 --> 0:42:32.330 to the curb, but let's help them find their purpose 0:42:32.330 --> 0:42:35.780 and destiny somewhere else. If they're causing problems in the 0:42:35.780 --> 0:42:38.029 church or ministry that we have now. So I do 0:42:38.030 --> 0:42:41.390 think vetting employees is so critical. We need to hire 0:42:41.420 --> 0:42:44.480 based on character more than ability. I'm glad you're a 0:42:44.480 --> 0:42:46.819 great video guy. I'm glad you're a great youth leader. 0:42:46.820 --> 0:42:49.400 But what about your character? Let's look at that. So 0:42:49.400 --> 0:42:51.529 if we just took that time, it would be it 0:42:51.530 --> 0:42:53.150 would make such a dramatic difference. 0:42:53.360 --> 0:42:56.029 You're talking to a lot of leaders right now. How 0:42:56.030 --> 0:43:01.489 does someone vet someone in a world today where And 0:43:01.520 --> 0:43:05.060 oftentimes as a pastor, I've run through this where you 0:43:05.060 --> 0:43:09.110 get names and references and they how do you dig below? 0:43:09.140 --> 0:43:12.379 What is, at first blush, right in front of you? 0:43:12.410 --> 0:43:15.800 There are a number of ministry safe type organizations vetting 0:43:15.800 --> 0:43:18.560 dotcom and a bunch of other organizations that focus on 0:43:18.560 --> 0:43:20.930 helping find out. Does someone have a criminal record? Have 0:43:20.930 --> 0:43:23.810 they done anything sketchy in their past? But, you know, 0:43:23.840 --> 0:43:28.010 a simple following up on references, looking at their social media? 0:43:28.040 --> 0:43:30.620 Just some little things like that can make a dramatic 0:43:30.620 --> 0:43:32.660 difference right off the bat. I'm amazed at the number 0:43:32.660 --> 0:43:35.120 of churches that hire people and never make those calls 0:43:35.120 --> 0:43:38.390 for their to their references, never even call anybody. And so. Well, 0:43:38.390 --> 0:43:40.400 we just believe, you know, Sam is a good guy. 0:43:40.430 --> 0:43:43.190 He seems to be really nice. Let's get him on. Well, 0:43:43.219 --> 0:43:45.650 maybe Sam's done some stuff that we're going to. I've 0:43:45.680 --> 0:43:48.410 actually I'm working with a church right now that they're 0:43:48.410 --> 0:43:51.080 really struggling with that they hired somebody they shouldn't have hired, 0:43:51.080 --> 0:43:53.060 and it's really coming back to bite them in a 0:43:53.060 --> 0:43:53.750 big way. 0:43:54.590 --> 0:43:57.350 He's got a book out, guys. It's called Church on 0:43:57.380 --> 0:44:02.489 Trial How to protect your Congregation. mission. That means 501 0:44:02.520 --> 0:44:07.739 C3 is right with religious designation. Totally and reputation during 0:44:07.739 --> 0:44:10.109 a crisis. What's good about this book is it tells 0:44:10.110 --> 0:44:12.239 you how to keep your turkey out of that squisher 0:44:12.239 --> 0:44:12.870 to begin with. 0:44:12.900 --> 0:44:17.670 Amen. Yeah. You know what I tell people don't think about, 0:44:17.700 --> 0:44:19.920 you know, it's not if we'll have a crisis, it's 0:44:19.920 --> 0:44:22.560 when we'll have a crisis. And this social media age, 0:44:22.560 --> 0:44:24.450 there's so many ways for someone in your staff to 0:44:24.480 --> 0:44:28.259 say something inappropriate, do something inappropriate, somebody to say something 0:44:28.260 --> 0:44:31.350 they shouldn't, that we just always should be ready. You 0:44:31.350 --> 0:44:34.109 just never know. So I wrote the book to help pastors, 0:44:34.110 --> 0:44:37.140 ministry leaders, staff be ready in case something happens. 0:44:37.140 --> 0:44:38.819 Here's what I want you to do. Boom crew, I 0:44:38.820 --> 0:44:43.050 want you to think about pastors and staff, and I 0:44:43.050 --> 0:44:47.609 want you to think about a pastor appreciation gift that 0:44:47.610 --> 0:44:50.790 you're going to buy now, because it's not October. Isn't 0:44:50.790 --> 0:44:54.060 that the month that we're supposed to be appreciating pastors? No, 0:44:54.090 --> 0:44:55.739 I want you to get it now. And I want 0:44:55.739 --> 0:44:57.690 you to do this because Phil Cook, I got to 0:44:57.690 --> 0:44:59.910 tell you, I don't think it takes courage for us 0:44:59.910 --> 0:45:02.400 to bring you on here. I just think it takes wisdom. 0:45:02.550 --> 0:45:06.330 We got to talk about this stuff. So here's the deal. 0:45:06.360 --> 0:45:09.450 It's called Church on trial. How to protect your congregation, 0:45:09.450 --> 0:45:13.800 mission and reputation during a crisis. I'm asking you to consider. 0:45:13.800 --> 0:45:17.640 Would you grab a copy or two and give this 0:45:17.640 --> 0:45:21.029 to a couple of spiritual leaders or missional leaders? You 0:45:21.030 --> 0:45:24.270 know that you're like, you know what? I'm not here 0:45:24.270 --> 0:45:29.129 calling you into question. I'm here to say, might there 0:45:29.160 --> 0:45:32.160 be something in here that would prevent something that would 0:45:32.160 --> 0:45:34.320 cause a bigger question down the road? 0:45:34.320 --> 0:45:36.120 Well said, well said. 0:45:36.150 --> 0:45:38.219 All you got to do is text the word trial 0:45:38.219 --> 0:45:42.239 and we'll get a copy right at your disposal here. 0:45:42.239 --> 0:45:44.490 You're going to have a link set up. Ready to go. 0:45:44.520 --> 0:45:52.080 Text trial to 800 555 7898. Text trial to 800 0:45:52.080 --> 0:45:57.360 555 7898. Phil, thank you for being with us. 0:45:57.390 --> 0:45:58.529 Thank you. I'm honored. This has been.