S1: Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. I got
S1: up early this.
S2: Morning earlier than early.
S3: I was going to say, as opposed to this kind
S3: of comes with the job getting up early.
S2: Oh my goodness. I was wrestling with God. I've shared
S2: my story so many times, and I was in a
S2: battle man and not really wrestling with God. I think
S2: that there was a spiritual attack afoot. In fact, young Thunder,
S2: I told him early when we came in here, I said, man,
S2: it's a battle raging and there always is. Especially if
S2: you think about the apex of the gospel of Jesus
S2: Christ and what it's done in a person, there's going
S2: to be a battle there. So I pour out my
S2: heart to you today in absolute humility and asking God
S2: to use it as he would see fit. And father,
S2: I'm asking you to move empower here as I just
S2: open up my heart and share with some friends that
S2: I've not even met yet. Many of them, but that
S2: you would move in a powerful way In the name
S2: of Jesus, I pray. Amen.
S3: Amen.
S2: You know what, guys? I was, uh, I was raised
S2: in a far off place. I was raised in Alaska,
S2: and I was born in Homer, Alaska, and I was
S2: raised by a mom and dad that had me in
S2: church constantly. And they loved the Lord. My dad, just
S2: a big grace guy, a big guy, big Swedish dude, man. And, uh,
S2: a great man of God. And my mom, a great
S2: woman of God. But my dad had huge impact in
S2: my life. Still resounds to this day in my heart.
S2: Got a picture of him nearby here and I. I
S2: did the whole deal like young Thunder. If you weren't
S2: here yesterday. And here it is. Story. I mean, I
S2: was raised in church and baptized as a young guy
S2: and I knew all the songs, memorized verses one huge
S2: candy bars for memorizing verses, the oversized ones, man. And
S2: that was great inspiration. Um. Even as a young boy,
S2: I remember wrestling with a lot of identity issues. I,
S2: I didn't suck a thumb when I was a kid.
S2: I sucked 2 or 3 fingers, looked like I sucked
S2: a fist because I had huge buck teeth hanging out
S2: the front of my face. And I had I had
S2: an electric orange hair. And that brought as a young
S2: boy some insecurity. If it wasn't the fact that I
S2: was a leader and I was a fast kid and
S2: sprinting and things like that use a lot of things
S2: to deflect things that were going on inside my heart.
S2: But I, I didn't have, even as a young man
S2: raised in church and baptized and walked aisles, I didn't
S2: have a living, breathing, personal relationship with Jesus Christ. And
S2: when you're lacking that, you go on a quest to
S2: find something to fill that void. And I did, man.
S2: 15 years old, I was listening to the broadcast of
S2: the finish of the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race. It
S2: had only been going a few years at that point,
S2: but for some reason I got this cockamamie, to use
S2: my dad's word idea that I'm going to compete in
S2: this thing when I turn 18. And I set my
S2: heart to it, and I began to train for two
S2: years in high school, struck a deal with the vice
S2: principal at a school, high school. I was going to,
S2: he said. If you keep your grades a B, you
S2: can keep training for the Iditarod. In fact, he was
S2: all fired up. He's like, go for it, man. We'd
S2: love to have a Wasilla warrior. That was my high school.
S2: We'd love to have Wasilla Warrior complete that race. That
S2: would be awesome. So I trained, came to the starting
S2: line first Saturday in March, 18 years old, and took
S2: off on that race. My dad actually stopped me before
S2: I headed out and there were dog teams all around me,
S2: dogs yelping and people just getting their gear on their
S2: sleds and everything. And he said, I want to pray
S2: with you. And I'm like, oh boy, pray in front
S2: of all these tough dudes that I'm competing against. This
S2: is awkward, he said, I want to pray for you.
S2: And he prayed with me and he actually told me
S2: that day. He said, I've. I want you to know something.
S2: There's a lot of rumors about whether or not you're
S2: going to make it to Nome because you're young. He said,
S2: I want you to know I already bought my ticket
S2: to Nome. I'll see you when you get there. That's
S2: a powerful move of a dad.
S3: I gave you such confidence that he so believed that
S3: you could do it.
S2: Yeah. It wasn't until two years after the Iditarod was
S2: over that it dawned on me I might not make it.
S2: How about that?
S4: You're done with it for years. You're like, oh, wait,
S4: I could have died out there.
S2: Yeah. So I'm out on that race. And I saw
S2: God reach out his hand to me once in a snowstorm,
S2: going from, I mean, there was every turn of the
S2: Iditarod I could see, looking back, God's mercy. I was
S2: still far from God. Thought I knew him, but I
S2: didn't finished that race 21 days, eight hours, 12 minutes
S2: and 32 seconds. And I had the most awesome and
S2: awful feeling. I had the elation of finishing this race
S2: in the emptiness of oh no, that didn't fill the void.
S2: And it was crushing to me. To be candid with you.
S2: I've never cried about that part of the story, but
S2: I was one lonely, hurting, 18 year old kid. It's
S2: a horrible feeling when you feel like everyone's looking at
S2: you going, wow, you made it to Nome. And I'm
S2: saying to myself, yeah, big deal. I made it to Nome.
S2: Why am I so hollow inside? And there's some of
S2: you chasing things in life. And you're hollow inside. And
S2: you can be like me. Go to church and know
S2: verses in your hollow inside. Because you had a problem
S2: like I had. And I didn't discover it for a while.
S2: I walked out onto the sea ice in Nome, Alaska.
S2: I put on my mukluks. I put on my socks, mittens,
S2: beaver hat, wolf rough, pulled it over my head and
S2: walked out alone and lonely into the night. Sleep deprived
S2: but so wired. Just wondering where do I go now?
S2: And I heard the voice of God clearly calling me
S2: to himself. But I was a reckless young man, and I.
S2: I was going my own way. And for the next
S2: several years, I made a mess of my life. And
S2: I thank God that I made a mess of it,
S2: because I don't know if I'd have snapped out of
S2: it if I could have kept it under control. There's
S2: some of you that have made a mess of your life,
S2: but it's not quite messy enough for you to hear
S2: the voice of God. That's a bummer, but maybe God
S2: will use my story to help you today. It was, uh.
S2: It was crazy because I was a good kid. I
S2: was a good church kid. And now I'm finding myself
S2: in the oil field to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, making a
S2: couple thousand a week after taxes. Back in the day.
S2: That was a lot of money then and now, and
S2: I started. I just went down a path, man. I
S2: couldn't even imagine myself. I got hooked on cocaine. Bad
S2: to the point where I had a gram in one
S2: pocket and a few hundred dollars in the other everywhere
S2: I went. And it got so bad, this addiction that
S2: I wanted to fund it and not pay my own
S2: money to have to feed my habit. I found a
S2: connection in Southern California. The second little shipment. I wasn't
S2: a big dealer, but I'd cut it up and send
S2: it out to guys that were going to bars just
S2: to pay for my own addiction. And the second package
S2: I had shipped to Alaska was busted by the feds
S2: with my name on it. And sometimes when you're running
S2: from God and you might be running from God right now.
S2: And you are. You're blown away if you look back
S2: and you might look back today and go, man, I've
S2: been running from God, but he's been extending mercy to
S2: me the whole time, and God allowed me to avoid
S2: picking up that package. If I'd have picked it up,
S2: I'd have done a lot of years. 15 to 20
S2: in prison would have never met my bride. I wouldn't
S2: know the children that I have now, let alone my
S2: precious granddaughter. But God saved my soul. And let me
S2: tell you how he did it. My dad loved me
S2: so much that he knew my life was out of control,
S2: and I was out at their home, sitting on a
S2: hearth in the very house that dad and I built
S2: together when I was 16. And mom had found a
S2: money order for Western Union for thousands of dollars. And
S2: it would. It was the receipt that I had sent
S2: this drug dealer. I will leave his name out, but
S2: I had sent him some money, and they knew I
S2: wasn't buying used cars in Southern Cal. And, um, dad
S2: walked around the corner and he had tears coming down
S2: his face. I'm like, oh no, no, no. Here comes
S2: the come back to church talk. And he said, you
S2: know what? Son wrapped his arm around me. He said,
S2: I'm no longer praying. I mean, tears are flowing off
S2: of his face, man off of his chin. And he said,
S2: I'm no longer praying that you come back to church.
S2: I'm praying that you would finally have a relationship with
S2: Jesus Christ, or that God would take you out of
S2: this world because you're killing yourself anyway. And I'd seen
S2: my dad's prayers answered regularly for 20 years plus. And
S2: on that day, God, by his grace, set in motion
S2: a series of events that kicked every crutch out from
S2: under Carl, every crutch. And in one cold winter in Alaska.
S2: February 11th. Under the influence of Crown royal and cocaine.
S2: But sober as can be. Empty young man driving down
S2: a cold road I'll never forget it. I know the
S2: stretch of road when I've been back a time or two.
S2: I drive down that stretch and I almost can't make
S2: it without crying. And God just said to me, are
S2: you done yet? And on that day I said, God,
S2: I'm so done. And I drove to my big sister's home,
S2: who was just down the road and knocked on her door,
S2: and she saw me sobbing and she said, what's going on?
S2: I said. She said, what's wrong? And I said, nothing's wrong.
S2: Everything's right. Sharon, today I gave my life to Jesus Christ.
S2: And I just I want you to know because in
S2: my heart aches for people who are in the church
S2: or have been churched or are measure in their life
S2: by who knows what, but you're trying to cram something
S2: into a God shaped void, and only God belongs there.
S2: And I just if Paul did this for people in
S2: the scriptures, I'm going to do it with you. Now,
S2: I beg you, be reconciled to God. And I want
S2: to ask you one question, one question that the Spirit
S2: of God asked me. And I'm praying that the Spirit
S2: of God uses my words to speak into your heart.
S2: Are you done yet? Are you done yet? On February 11th,
S2: the power of the spirit set me free from addictions.
S2: And he put my feet on a path and a
S2: journey that I had heard about, but I had never
S2: tasted until that day. And he made me brand new.
S2: And what's amazing is, is that I'm more fired up
S2: about my faith in Jesus Christ today. If it's possible,
S2: than I was even then. Do I have battles? Oh,
S2: big ones and my perfect. Far from it. Follow me
S2: for around for a week, you'll see that. But it's
S2: the grace of God. Transform me! Oh you betcha. And
S2: I just want to ask you, are you done yet?
S2: I don't care. I don't care what your substitute God is. Today.
S2: I'm asking you, please know that you know you've been
S2: saved by the power of God. And this is how
S2: I want you to repent right now. Just cry out
S2: to God. Say I'm turning around. I'm done. I'm turning around.
S2: Today I give my life to Jesus. Today I confess
S2: to you that you are King of Kings. And I'm
S2: making you the leader of my life. And today, right now,
S2: I embrace the truth that I'm a sinner and I
S2: need a Savior. And it's a cry of the heart.
S2: I didn't pray a fancy prayer. I did what you
S2: just did right now. And if that's you, I want
S2: to help you right now. I want you to text
S2: the word new because God is making all things new
S2: for you. Today, I just want you to text the
S2: word new right now, wherever you are, to 805 five, 578, 98.
S2: Come on. I'm ready for some new brothers and sisters
S2: in Christ, come on into the family. Takes the word
S2: new to 800 555, 7898. Today is the day. Don't wait.
S2: Today is the day of your salvation. Come one, come all.
S2: Text new to 800 555 7898.
S1: He was running from God. But God's love brought him home.
S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
S1: Moody Radio.
S2: Father, we're grateful for the power of your spirit that
S2: reaches in and grabs hearts and changes them. It's been
S2: an overwhelming week, and we're thankful that as we march
S2: on today, that you are. We're following Jesus and you're
S2: in front of us, and your spirit gives us the unction,
S2: the filling to keep in step with you. And I
S2: praise you for that God. We couldn't do this crazy
S2: show without you, Lord. And we're grateful for your guidance
S2: and your direction and your love. It's awesome. God and
S2: I give you thanks. In the name of Jesus I pray. Amen. Amen.
S2: It's good. Good to have you guys with us today.
S2: It's I just got done in the last hour sharing
S2: my story. And one thing dawned on me. I'm asking
S2: people to text the word new to our number here,
S2: and it's awesome. So many of you did. And yet
S2: I want to explain why we send you that link
S2: in that link, when you text the word new and I,
S2: we got some one off comments from people saying I'm done, man. Uh,
S2: somebody said, I'm tired of letting my job define me.
S2: Somebody said, I'm I'm giving up. I'm giving it up
S2: to Jesus today. But the reason we send you this
S2: link is that we do everything we can here to
S2: help you take your first steps with Jesus when you're
S2: a new follower of Christ. And so if that is you,
S2: why we ask you to text the word new, it's awesome.
S2: You're putting a flag in the air going, that's me.
S2: But it's so much more than that, right, Ali?
S3: Absolutely. And so we always want to provide content that's
S3: going to help you take that next step.
S2: Yeah. And the content in this link new has three
S2: things embedded in it. This is why we want you
S2: to text it to us. When you surrender for the
S2: first time in your life to Christ, it's got a
S2: I put a blog in there of how to find
S2: a church with people that are going to help you
S2: grow up in Jesus, because we don't presume everybody's in
S2: that or experiences that you may be, but you may
S2: not be. So it's also got a link for a
S2: good we. I went through and found a good collection
S2: of Bible links so that you can grab a Bible.
S2: I'm blown away in this day. How many folks maybe
S2: don't have them? And there's not a lot of Christian bookstores,
S2: but we got links for you to find one right there.
S2: And then the third one is a link that you'll click.
S2: We're going to ask you to just fill out your
S2: home address. We won't spam you. We're not going to
S2: harass you. Nothing like that. We're here to help you,
S2: but we'll send you a resource that will show you
S2: how to now walk in God's power and no longer
S2: bootstrap it with self-help. So if you're surrendering your life
S2: to Jesus today for the very first time, just text
S2: the word new to (800) 555-7898. It's more than just putting
S2: an arm in the air going, I'm new. It's we're
S2: helping you take your next step. What an amazing week
S2: we're having here. Ali, what's on your heart this morning?
S3: You know, and this conversation I think is so important.
S3: And when you start thinking about cultural Christianity, what does
S3: it mean to be saved? I know sometimes that can
S3: feel a little bit uncomfortable, and it doesn't get talked
S3: about much in the church, and I'm not sure why
S3: that is.
S2: That's a good question. I think that's an interesting question.
S2: And having been a pastor for a lot of years
S2: and a pastor right now in Chicago, by the way,
S2: we got a campus downtown in the South Loop and
S2: one out in the burbs. Um, you know, it's it's
S2: an interesting things. We have been inoculated by our heritage.
S2: We've been inoculated by our heritage. And what I mean
S2: by that is that we've had three great awakenings in
S2: our nation. And what came out of that was a
S2: great movement of God. I mean, all my ancestors came
S2: from Sweden. I mean, D.L. Moody had a huge audience
S2: in America. His second largest audience was in Sweden.
S3: I didn't.
S2: Know that. Isn't that cool? Wow. And so all of
S2: my grandparents and great grandparents, they had heard or not heard,
S2: they read the written material of D.L. Moody. And so
S2: when they came here to Chicago, when they immigrated, a
S2: lot of them were here. And what what happens is
S2: we're living kind of in the fumes of what was
S2: an awakened church. And it creates this culture of Christianity
S2: without the power of God, a form of godliness, but
S2: without the power thereof. And that's the danger, isn't it, Ali?
S3: It is. And so these conversations do we is this
S3: all we do on our show? No, no, this is
S3: we're focusing it on it this week. We do talk
S3: a lot about it from time to time. But no,
S3: this is not what we do every single day of
S3: our show. We want to cover as much of Scripture
S3: as we can, and the Bible talks about lots of
S3: other things too. But this in particular is is part
S3: of our heart and part of what we feel like
S3: is our mission.
S2: Yeah. I mean, our brand promise here is to help
S2: you take your next step with Jesus. But here's what
S2: I've learned as a pastor. It's hard. No, let me be.
S2: Let me be accurate. It's impossible to disciple people who
S2: are bound by culture, cultural Christianity, and have never been
S2: born again. It's impossible. And I've talked with a lot
S2: of pastors about this guys, and it's it's one of
S2: these aha moments when pastors realize, whoa, we're trying to
S2: help people take their next step who have never stepped
S2: into relationship with Christ. Yes, that's that's impossible to do.
S2: And so we're wanting to clear the decks this week
S2: and just go, here's where we're at. This is our heart.
S2: These are our stories. This is our song. Praising our
S2: Savior all the day long. Man, now I'm going classic
S2: on us here.
S3: And I want to give you an exercise to do.
S3: And I've actually done this with my own kids to
S3: sometimes surprising results. If your kid has been raised in church,
S3: ask them what they believe it means to be saved
S3: or to be a Christ follower. Just ask them and
S3: see what they say. And I've asked my kids this,
S3: and at times have been surprised by areas where they're
S3: a little foggy and they've been in church for their
S3: whole lives, and there has been some messaging that they've
S3: absorbed in an awesome church in an awesome Christian culture.
S3: But there's some areas of confusion that I realized that
S3: they had that I'm like, okay, I want to know
S3: what it is that you think it means, and then
S3: let's talk about it. So try that exercise with your
S3: kids if they're old enough to kind of have a
S3: general understanding. Talk with them about it. Ask them. So,
S3: you know, we go to church every week. What do
S3: you think it means to actually be saved, to actually
S3: be a disciple of Jesus? Open that. That opens the
S3: door to a conversation. Try it.
S2: It's good. And here's why. The truth will set you free.
S2: Absolutely not. Half truths, not Cultural Christianity truths. The truth
S2: will set you free. Oh, you know, I'm feel prompted.
S2: I'm going to do it, father. Open hearts today. Bring
S2: us to this raw. I mean, strip the veneer off
S2: of our lives and help us to live so power
S2: packed by your spirit that we're being honest with you.
S2: Honest with ourselves, honest with our kids, honest with what's
S2: going on in our world today and responding appropriately. I
S2: pray it in the name of Jesus. Amen. And let
S2: it be. Well, coming up, one of our favorites, Doctor Sam,
S2: storms the fact that Sam has makes time to come
S2: on here is awesome. Yes.
S3: So let's talk about what some of those foundational understanding.
S3: What is salvation? How do we talk about it? You'll
S3: hear more from him coming up.
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.
S5: The reality is we have great gospel preaching churches that
S5: people flock to are filled or half filled with well-meaning
S5: people every weekend, Ali, some of whom are going to
S5: possibly experience this, not a well done and good and
S5: faithful servant, but I never knew you. And even saying
S5: those words out of Matthew seven, it grips our heart,
S5: doesn't it, Ali?
S3: Absolutely. But the reality is, in a Western mindset where
S3: cultural Christianity is so prevalent, it can be confusing. Are
S3: you born into a Christian family? Are you a Christian
S3: because your mom and dad and your grandma were, and
S3: you went to church your whole life? No.
S5: And are you Christian? Because you're spiritually active, you're doing
S5: mighty works. You're even baptizing in the name of Jesus.
S5: And then you add to it, the God of this
S5: age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving. And we've
S5: got a spiritual battle. sand storms with us right now. Sam,
S5: we're in a war for souls, aren't we? My man.
S6: Absolutely. Perhaps at an all time high, so to speak.
S6: I hate to compare ages or generations, but it seems
S6: as if the enemy is ratcheting up his attack on us,
S6: trying to delude us and confuse us about what salvation
S6: is and who Jesus is.
S3: Doctor Sam Storms, our guest right now founder and president
S3: of Enjoying God Ministries, serves on the Council of the
S3: Gospel Coalition. You've written extensively on a lot of different topics,
S3: but celebrating our salvation. One of your most recent blog
S3: posts that we're featuring today. You write that there's some embarrassment,
S3: some modern day embarrassment, even around using the term salvation
S3: or being saved. It seems outdated. Old fashioned to some.
S3: Talk a little bit about that.
S6: Yeah, it really does. And I think perhaps the reason
S6: for that is because we don't know what we're saved from,
S6: and we don't know what we're saved to. We've lost
S6: any sense really of the of the justice and the
S6: holiness of God. And we fail to realize that what
S6: I'm saved from isn't low self-esteem. It's not, you know,
S6: a warped view of myself. I'm not saved from some
S6: psychological disorder. We're being saved from the wrath of God.
S6: Delivered by God's love from the wrath of God. And
S6: I think we've lost that sense of God's transcendent holiness.
S6: And we just assume that as long as I, you know,
S6: pay my taxes and don't commit some scandalous sin, that
S6: I'm in good shape. And yet, as you mentioned a
S6: moment ago in Matthew seven, there will be a lot
S6: of people who are confused about that and who are
S6: convinced that because of all the great things they've done,
S6: that they are in good relationship with God. And Jesus
S6: said quite clearly, I never knew you. You are workers
S6: of lawlessness. So we need to recover the word salvation.
S6: It's everywhere in the New Testament and kind of redeem
S6: it for what God intended it to be and what
S6: he intended us to understand.
S2: We know that the spiritual war afoot here, Sam, and
S2: the God of this age, has blinded the minds of
S2: the unbelieving. The God of this age is Satan and
S2: all of his demonic forces. How do we intervene? There's
S2: a lot of people listening right now. Some are very
S2: secure in their salvation. Others are rattled a little bit
S2: this morning. Some are brokenhearted. For kids that were raised
S2: in church. Talk about an epidemic, Sam. That's everywhere. Kids
S2: raised in church but far from Christ. How do we
S2: deal with this spiritual war of blindness?
S6: The ultimate answer is with the truth of God's Word
S6: in the power of the Holy Spirit. Because my words
S6: are your words alone are. Listening to a radio program
S6: isn't ultimately the solution. What people need to do is
S6: they need to return to the the inspired and authoritative
S6: Word of God. They need to listen to the voice
S6: of Jesus through the New Testament authors, and to realize
S6: that real power, real purpose, only comes in a personal
S6: relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, you just
S6: mentioned there about people raised in the church and walking away.
S6: I've had two young ladies in the church where I
S6: used to pastor, who were vibrant, it seemed, and were
S6: very active in church and passionate worshipers. And now they
S6: have both walked away, and they I don't know if
S6: they use the word deconstruction, but they have lost confidence
S6: in the goodness of God and the the truthfulness of
S6: his Word. And basically, my response. I've reached out to
S6: both of them and I just say, look, let me
S6: talk to you about Jesus. If you saw something in
S6: church that offended you or you were hurt or manipulated,
S6: let's try to look beyond that to the person of
S6: Christ Himself, who will never manipulate, who will never lie,
S6: who will never fail to come through on his promises.
S3: Doctor Sam storms our guest right now. You know, when
S3: I was first presented with the gospel, I remember hearing
S3: a lot about hell. I remember watching a graphic presentation
S3: of Heaven's Gates and Hell's Flames. And so the idea
S3: of being saved from hell or the wrath of God
S3: was made clear to me. What wasn't made as clear
S3: to me was what I was being saved to. Talk
S3: a little bit about that.
S6: Really, we need to understand God's ultimate purpose in our salvation.
S6: We read about that in Ephesians one where he says,
S6: we have been predestined us to adoption as children of God,
S6: being taken into the family of God, being given an
S6: insight and wisdom and understanding the beauty and the majesty
S6: of God. Although we have to make it clear that
S6: there are eternal consequences for unbelief and rebellion. We need
S6: to make clear that the greatest and most powerful, alluring
S6: factor in the Bible is the beauty and the transcendent
S6: majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. I often ask people,
S6: you know, if you could go to heaven and have
S6: every physical need met and get to walk on streets
S6: of gold and get to be reunited with your family
S6: and get to have a redeemed body? But Jesus wasn't there,
S6: would you be happy? And I hope they would say, well, no,
S6: because what we're being saved to is a captivating, enthralling
S6: vision and experience of the majesty and the beauty of
S6: the God who has Genesis one on his resume. I
S6: love that first Peter 318 which says that Jesus, the
S6: Righteous One, died for the unrighteous to bring us to God.
S6: That's the ultimate purpose. People need to realize that we're
S6: not primarily talking about setting them free from past behavior
S6: or moral failures, although that's important, but we're talking to
S6: them about the only way in which you can come
S6: and get God gaining the experience, the personal intimacy, the
S6: vision of the majesty of our great Triune God. That
S6: is what we are saved to. And that's what I
S6: think ultimately will captivate people and take their eyes off
S6: of the flesh in the world.
S3: You mentioned our adoption as sons and daughters of our
S3: Heavenly Father, which contrasts the popular notion that everyone is
S3: a child of God. Adoption. Where do we misunderstand this word?
S6: Well, you're exactly right. Everybody says, oh, well, we're all
S6: children of God. And of course, in one sense that's
S6: true in the sense that God made us all. We
S6: are his creatures. But that doesn't mean that you are
S6: a part of the spiritual family of those who will
S6: inherit everything that Christ has died to secure for us.
S6: And in fact, I would say, let me just kind
S6: of riffed on that just a moment. I would say
S6: that if there's one default belief among most people in America,
S6: maybe worldwide, it is universalism. Yes, I'm going to die
S6: and go to heaven because, well, that's what God does,
S6: or I haven't been that bad. Or maybe my good
S6: works have outweighed my bad. But this default view is
S6: and you see it all the time somebody died, a
S6: famous actor or athlete and say, well, he's up there
S6: looking down on me, or she's up there looking down
S6: on her family. Maybe not. Death does not qualify you
S6: for heaven. It's faith in the Lord Jesus Christ who
S6: has delivered us from death.
S7: You know, talk to the person right now who wrestles with,
S7: I have this fear of God's wrath, and yet I
S7: want to experience the love of God. How does a
S7: holy fear. Healthy fear, biblical fear of God really jive
S7: with the love of God? How do they come together?
S6: You know, I think the best answer to that is
S6: is right there in Romans chapter five where Paul says,
S6: if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God
S6: by the death of his son, how much more, now
S6: that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life?
S6: So we have to understand. Yes, we were at enmity
S6: with God because of our moral failure, our brokenness, our rebellion,
S6: our unbelief. But the love of God sent the Son
S6: of God to die for us, that we might become
S6: the children of God and be delivered from the wrath
S6: of God. So the wrath of God and the love
S6: of God are not mutually exclusive. God's love is precisely
S6: designed to deliver us from a well deserved wrath, a
S6: well deserved, eternal condemnation. So I think we just have
S6: to again come back to the reality of what God
S6: has done for us. You know, right there in that
S6: Romans five passage, he says, much more shall we be
S6: saved by him from the wrath of God. So Paul
S6: doesn't shy away from talking about wrath, but he says, look,
S6: God's love is greater still. God's mercy in Christ has
S6: made a way for all of us to be set
S6: free from that condemnation. So we can say in Romans
S6: eight one, there is therefore now no condemnation for those
S6: who are in Christ. We say, well, where did that
S6: condemnation go? It was laid on the Son of God
S6: at the cross. And if we will only lay hold
S6: of that by faith, we can live in the joy
S6: and the freedom that we know. There is no condemnation
S6: now or for all eternity.
S7: It's beautiful. Sam storms our guest. Sam, we're going to
S7: spike this blog that you wrote here not long ago
S7: celebrating our salvation. How can this be used both in
S7: the life of someone who can celebrate their assurance of salvation?
S7: It can also mirror back for someone. Boy, I might
S7: not know this savior. There's nothing really to celebrate. Speak
S7: to that.
S6: Well, again, it comes from the perspective that a person
S6: brings to the whole issue of the Christian faith. If
S6: we look at it exclusively as being delivered from judgment
S6: that we otherwise deserved, we will have a warped view.
S6: What we need to see is that God desires that
S6: his people experience him, enjoy him, delight in him, find
S6: their ultimate satisfaction in him. If you talk to a
S6: typical unbeliever today and you really press deeply, they will
S6: confess to being deeply unsatisfied, wandering with no sense of
S6: purpose or meaning or value, not sure of the reason
S6: for their existence and we need to present to them.
S6: Look the person of the Lord Jesus in his life,
S6: death and resurrection has provided for us a way to
S6: experience the greatest glory, the greatest joy that any human
S6: being could ever know. And that is seeing. Believing in.
S6: Trusting in knowing. Uh, resting. In being enthralled and captivated
S6: by the majestic beauty of Jesus Christ. We have to
S6: keep Jesus central in all of our discussion and dialogue
S6: with the unbeliever.
S7: Dynamite Sam Storms, our guest. He's written this great blog
S7: called Celebrating Our Salvation.
S3: This is a lengthy read, but totally worth it. There's
S3: a lot here. I want you to get it. We'll
S3: send it right to your phone. Just text the word
S3: storm to 800 555 7898. Just text storm to (800) 555-7898.
S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
S1: in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
S7: Well, guess what? It's the bottom.
S2: Of the hour and it is.
S7: Wednesday.
S2: It is time for Young Thunder. Take it away, my man.
S1: Making herself laugh no matter who joins her. It's time
S1: for Ali thinks it's funny.
S3: Here we go.
S8: Here we go. You're on kiddo.
S3: Wednesday mornings they cue the mic. They set up the stage,
S3: and I go up there and I tell jokes. Have
S3: you ever paid attention to the insect world?
S4: No. A little.
S2: Bit.
S3: Not really. Watched how spider moves or I don't know.
S3: What do you call those ones with all the. All
S3: the legs? Centipede.
S4: Centipedes.
S3: Those are the worst ants, though. We can learn a
S3: lot from ants. Yeah. The Bible even says. Consider. The
S3: ant can learn a lot from those little guys.
S8: Get up and get going. Man.
S3: Absolutely. Ants also rarely get sick. They're a remarkably healthy
S3: little bug. Do you want to know why that is?
S3: Why don't ants ever get sick?
S9: Why?
S3: Because they have little antibodies. Little antibodies that keep them
S3: from killing.
S8: I love that one. That one's very good. Young thunder.
S8: Not nary a grin. Young thunder.
S3: This next one, though, I think Young Thunder is gonna get.
S3: I've been excited to tell this one. So yesterday my
S3: husband asked me if I could clear the dinner table.
S3: Simple request. Right?
S9: Sure.
S3: I told him. The answer is no.
S9: Wow. Why?
S3: Even with a running start, I couldn't clear it.
S10: Ready? Ready. Ready. Ready. Ready to run.
S9: Clear the table.
S3: Oh, can you picture that?
S8: I actually can clear your brother. Your brother's a hurdler,
S8: and I don't think he can help you on that one.
S3: I don't know, my brother might be able to clear
S3: the dinner table, but definitely not me and definitely not
S3: at my age. Text the word jokes to 800 800
S3: 555 7898. If you want this morning's jokes, this our
S3: only text jokes to 800 555 7898.