WEBVTT - In the Midst of Adversity, We Have God 0:00:00.350 --> 0:00:04.430 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.460 --> 0:00:09.950 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio crew broadcasting. 0:00:09.950 --> 0:00:15.110 Live from NTB. National relationship with the living God who 0:00:15.110 --> 0:00:20.030 is setting captives free broadcasters. That's what it is. National 0:00:20.210 --> 0:00:23.750 relationship with Jesus Christ, who loves the world so much 0:00:23.750 --> 0:00:26.870 that he came to redeem us of sins, regenerate our 0:00:26.870 --> 0:00:28.940 soul by the power of the Holy Spirit, and give 0:00:28.970 --> 0:00:30.500 us new life, that we can walk in it. And 0:00:30.500 --> 0:00:32.600 by the way, I was reading this morning, second Peter 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.230 chapter three, final words of Peter. But grow in the 0:00:36.229 --> 0:00:39.650 grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 0:00:39.680 --> 0:00:42.739 To him be the glory both now and to the 0:00:42.740 --> 0:00:46.250 day of eternity. That interesting thing, Ali. Grow in the grace. 0:00:46.250 --> 0:00:49.280 It's not that grace would grow, but that we would 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:50.690 grow in the grace. 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:52.100 In the grace. That's a. 0:00:52.100 --> 0:00:55.130 Huge distinction. We don't have to say, Oh God, give 0:00:55.160 --> 0:00:58.220 me your grace. He's he's lavished his grace on us. 0:00:58.430 --> 0:01:00.370 Now we just have to. Isn't that great? With the 0:01:00.370 --> 0:01:01.990 help of the Holy Spirit. Grow. Yeah. 0:01:02.020 --> 0:01:02.800 Grow in it. 0:01:02.830 --> 0:01:03.310 Grow in it. 0:01:03.340 --> 0:01:05.800 It's there. Are we going to grow in it? It's 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:07.000 like going into this. 0:01:07.030 --> 0:01:08.020 Womb. 0:01:08.050 --> 0:01:11.140 World of power. What a beautiful thing. Okay, guys, we 0:01:11.170 --> 0:01:13.840 got a lot going on here today. We got voice 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:16.030 of the martyrs. This is timely. There's a lot going 0:01:16.060 --> 0:01:18.580 around this world right now, but really quickly here. I've 0:01:18.580 --> 0:01:21.970 got an event on Saturday, and yes, we may get 0:01:21.970 --> 0:01:25.180 outside the boundaries of Chicagoland, but, ally, Saturday is going 0:01:25.209 --> 0:01:27.310 to be a fun time for your friend Carl. 0:01:27.340 --> 0:01:29.860 For those of you in the Chicagoland area, I want 0:01:29.860 --> 0:01:32.620 you to know about this March 1st out in Villa Park. 0:01:32.650 --> 0:01:35.620 Carl's going to be doing a book signing for his book, 0:01:35.620 --> 0:01:38.590 Killing Sin Conquer the one Thing That's Defeating You. If 0:01:38.620 --> 0:01:41.470 you want the details for this event this Saturday morning 0:01:41.470 --> 0:01:44.800 out in Villa Park, which is the western suburbs. Text 0:01:44.830 --> 0:01:53.080 the word book to (800) 555-7898. Text book to (800) 555-7898. Yeah. 0:01:53.080 --> 0:01:55.900 And when you grab that link, you might want to 0:01:55.930 --> 0:02:00.480 scroll down. Because down there buried in the bowels of 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:04.950 the lake is a really cool thing. There's additional details 0:02:04.950 --> 0:02:09.030 that are really cool. Secret. It's there's some secret stuff 0:02:09.030 --> 0:02:12.750 in there. We need music. I know you almost need 0:02:12.750 --> 0:02:15.780 some bed music. Okay. Coming up, we're going to. Yeah. 0:02:15.780 --> 0:02:17.580 So text the word book to our number here. I 0:02:17.580 --> 0:02:19.679 don't even have the number up. Yeah I do 800 0:02:19.710 --> 0:02:23.670 555 7898. I'm all right. That's it. That's correct. You 0:02:23.669 --> 0:02:27.600 got it. Okay. We're going to roll here again broadcasting 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:31.200 live from NB in Texas. And we've got a just 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.810 a raft of great people coming on board, not least 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:37.919 of which is Todd Nettleton. So keep it pinned right here. 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:42.390 Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. 0:02:42.419 --> 0:02:46.410 Super die is in the crew. It's curl and crew 0:02:46.410 --> 0:02:47.820 on Moody Radio. 0:02:48.000 --> 0:02:50.910 I think oftentimes we think and get in our mind 0:02:50.940 --> 0:02:53.970 a picture of an I'm walking in this great liberty, 0:02:53.970 --> 0:02:56.250 but the liberty that we have in Christ is some 0:02:56.280 --> 0:03:02.110 some oftentimes constrained by chains of earth, but unshackled spiritually. 0:03:02.110 --> 0:03:04.930 And I mean, that's the reality. We have this great 0:03:04.930 --> 0:03:08.680 American experiment going on, and yeah, Canada, you've got it too, 0:03:08.710 --> 0:03:13.840 where we're pretty immune to persecution, to the degree to 0:03:13.870 --> 0:03:16.359 which our brothers and sisters have it around the world. 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:19.000 But we have to be careful that we don't somehow 0:03:19.000 --> 0:03:22.600 think that that's the normal experience for Christians globally. I 0:03:22.600 --> 0:03:25.090 want to bring in a special guest right now, Todd Nettleton, 0:03:25.090 --> 0:03:28.660 vice president of message integration for The Voice of the martyrs. Well, 0:03:28.660 --> 0:03:31.270 it's easy to live in the in the West and 0:03:31.270 --> 0:03:35.080 think that persecution that was a thing of of Bible days. 0:03:35.110 --> 0:03:38.830 And obviously, if you are aware of things happening globally, 0:03:38.830 --> 0:03:41.560 especially what's been in the news recently. Just give us 0:03:41.560 --> 0:03:43.000 what's on your heart this morning. 0:03:43.030 --> 0:03:45.250 You know, one of the countries that is on my 0:03:45.250 --> 0:03:47.320 heart is Syria. We've seen a lot of change in 0:03:47.320 --> 0:03:49.330 Syria in the last three months, and some of it's 0:03:49.330 --> 0:03:52.300 very good. There have been church bells ringing that haven't 0:03:52.300 --> 0:03:55.420 rung for a decade. There have been churches gathering in 0:03:55.420 --> 0:03:57.760 their buildings that haven't gathered for a decade. Boy, that's 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:01.000 great news. I talked to a Syrian pastor last week, though, 0:04:01.000 --> 0:04:03.250 and he said what the pastors are hearing around the 0:04:03.250 --> 0:04:06.400 country in multiple places, what they're hearing from the government 0:04:06.400 --> 0:04:08.050 is not what the government is telling the rest of 0:04:08.050 --> 0:04:09.400 the world, like the government is telling the rest of 0:04:09.400 --> 0:04:11.620 the world, oh, we want freedom, and we want to 0:04:11.620 --> 0:04:14.320 have a place for all religions. And what they're telling 0:04:14.320 --> 0:04:17.169 the pastors in Syria is just, just wait. Wait till 0:04:17.170 --> 0:04:19.029 we get established. Wait till we get our feet on 0:04:19.029 --> 0:04:21.580 the ground. Then we're going to come for the Christians. 0:04:21.580 --> 0:04:24.250 And so the Christians there are like, okay, what does 0:04:24.250 --> 0:04:26.410 this mean now? Obviously they know what it's like to 0:04:26.410 --> 0:04:30.099 live under persecution, but they're hearing a very different story 0:04:30.100 --> 0:04:32.470 from the new leadership of Syria than what the rest 0:04:32.470 --> 0:04:33.490 of the world is hearing. 0:04:33.520 --> 0:04:37.270 Yeah. Abu Mohammad Al-julani is the new leader of that country, 0:04:37.270 --> 0:04:39.669 and he's got a $10 million bounty on his head 0:04:39.670 --> 0:04:40.630 back from. 0:04:40.930 --> 0:04:42.460 From his al Qaeda days. 0:04:42.490 --> 0:04:46.599 Yeah. I mean, one plus one is still two, isn't it, Todd? 0:04:46.839 --> 0:04:48.700 It is. But the rest of the world doesn't want 0:04:48.730 --> 0:04:50.560 to necessarily pay attention to that math. 0:04:50.589 --> 0:04:53.620 Yeah, so we know that. So we can bemoan that 0:04:53.620 --> 0:04:57.080 stuff all day long. But how do you help equip? Oh, boy, 0:04:57.140 --> 0:04:59.300 get choked up thinking about it. How do you equip people? 0:04:59.300 --> 0:05:01.729 Can you imagine living in a country where you know 0:05:01.730 --> 0:05:05.419 what's coming? Think about that. If you stand up for Christ, 0:05:05.450 --> 0:05:08.869 you know what's coming. That's brutal. Todd, how do you 0:05:08.870 --> 0:05:10.159 equip them? What do you. What are you. 0:05:10.160 --> 0:05:12.200 Doing? You know, one of the one of the great 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:15.320 things about that, though, is when suffering comes, you're not 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:18.140 knocked off course by it. Like sometimes in America, if 0:05:18.140 --> 0:05:20.990 we suffer, we're like, Lord, how could you let this happen? 0:05:21.020 --> 0:05:24.050 I'm not supposed to suffer. I'm following you in a 0:05:24.050 --> 0:05:27.170 place like China or Syria. When you follow Christ, you 0:05:27.170 --> 0:05:29.690 know you're going to suffer. So it's not a surprise 0:05:29.690 --> 0:05:32.870 to you when it happens. How do you get people ready? 0:05:32.900 --> 0:05:35.750 I think there's a couple ways. One is helping them 0:05:35.750 --> 0:05:39.620 drive deep roots into the Scripture, into God. The other 0:05:39.620 --> 0:05:43.070 thing is the stories of persecuted Christians. They hand down 0:05:43.070 --> 0:05:46.310 those stories within their countries. Oh, you know, this pastor 0:05:46.310 --> 0:05:48.200 was put in prison and he came out and he 0:05:48.200 --> 0:05:51.830 was still faithful, still following Christ. Oh, that person was beaten. 0:05:51.830 --> 0:05:53.920 And they showed up at church the very next week. 0:05:53.920 --> 0:05:59.229 They didn't care. And so those stories strengthen me and 0:05:59.230 --> 0:06:01.870 you and our brothers and sisters who live in hostile 0:06:01.870 --> 0:06:04.690 and restricted nations to get ready to face persecution. 0:06:04.720 --> 0:06:06.040 You know, when you think about it, I was thinking 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:07.780 about this the other day with news coming out of 0:06:07.779 --> 0:06:11.740 the Democratic Republic of Congo, the slaughter of Christians. And 0:06:11.770 --> 0:06:15.040 you know about just this, the simplicity of the gospel 0:06:15.040 --> 0:06:20.739 message that's so offensive, the cross that's so offensive. Isn't 0:06:20.740 --> 0:06:23.050 that interesting? You know, just and I don't know why 0:06:23.050 --> 0:06:26.860 that struck me afresh, but, man, that there's so much 0:06:26.890 --> 0:06:29.230 opposition to the cross. 0:06:29.260 --> 0:06:32.440 Yeah. Well it's like, why does it bother you that 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.890 I follow Jesus? Like, why should that bother you at all? 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:39.010 But it is it is so offensive. And it's it's 0:06:39.010 --> 0:06:42.640 such a threat to these governments and these terrorist groups 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:45.430 and these because they see how Christ changes lives. Yeah. 0:06:45.460 --> 0:06:47.800 If young people follow Christ, they're not going to follow 0:06:47.800 --> 0:06:51.280 the terrorists. And so if you're recruiting, that's a problem 0:06:51.279 --> 0:06:54.760 for you. So it's partly it's a power thing. Like, 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:57.640 God's power is so great that every other power is 0:06:57.640 --> 0:06:58.330 threatened by it. 0:06:58.330 --> 0:07:00.850 I think we sell it short. We call it evil 0:07:00.850 --> 0:07:02.890 and this and that. At the end of the day, 0:07:02.890 --> 0:07:07.930 there's a massive demonic force at work. You can explain 0:07:07.930 --> 0:07:09.880 it in another way, because what Ali is saying is true. 0:07:09.880 --> 0:07:12.820 It's like, hold it, let's think about this. If you 0:07:12.820 --> 0:07:16.780 take any spiritual equation out, who would be against families 0:07:16.780 --> 0:07:21.070 staying together, growing, being happy, sharing their food with one another? 0:07:21.370 --> 0:07:23.650 But there it is. It sounds. 0:07:23.650 --> 0:07:25.810 Really dangerous, doesn't it, when you describe it. 0:07:25.810 --> 0:07:27.700 That way. Wow. Coming up in a few minutes. All right. 0:07:27.700 --> 0:07:29.650 Let's get some facts and figures from around the world. 0:07:29.650 --> 0:07:31.239 Can you do that for us, Todd? Let us know 0:07:31.240 --> 0:07:33.160 what's going on in just a couple of minutes. We're 0:07:33.160 --> 0:07:34.600 going to break it down for you. 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.930 It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:07:39.220 --> 0:07:45.670 Broadcasting from grapevine just outside Dallas here in Texas for NRB. 0:07:45.670 --> 0:07:49.270 And we've got Todd Nettleton with us, VP of Message integration, 0:07:49.270 --> 0:07:50.440 voice of the martyrs guys. 0:07:50.440 --> 0:07:53.900 Incredible ministry that serves persecuted Christians in the world's most 0:07:53.900 --> 0:07:56.570 difficult and dangerous places to follow Christ. You said you 0:07:56.600 --> 0:07:59.030 got a story you heard recently out of the Middle East. 0:07:59.060 --> 0:08:01.730 Can't give any more specifics, but tell us what grabbed 0:08:01.730 --> 0:08:02.780 your heart about this story. 0:08:02.810 --> 0:08:05.360 I just sat down with a former missionary. They don't 0:08:05.390 --> 0:08:07.010 they don't use that word in that part of the world. 0:08:07.010 --> 0:08:09.800 But former missionary in the Middle East who was arrested 0:08:09.800 --> 0:08:12.500 and took him off to jail. His wife didn't know 0:08:12.500 --> 0:08:15.170 what had happened to him. She actually took their kids 0:08:15.170 --> 0:08:17.000 and left the country because she's like, I don't I 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:18.650 don't know what's going on, but I want to get 0:08:18.650 --> 0:08:21.080 my kids out of here. And he was in jail. 0:08:21.110 --> 0:08:23.510 Ended up being there for 13 days, which, you know, 0:08:23.540 --> 0:08:26.180 in the scope of things, not a huge jail sentence, 0:08:26.180 --> 0:08:28.520 but hard when you're the one in jail, when you're 0:08:28.550 --> 0:08:30.890 the one sitting there. He said two things made a 0:08:30.890 --> 0:08:33.740 huge difference, he said. One, he was arrested with two 0:08:33.740 --> 0:08:37.040 other believers and they were allowed to stay together. So 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:38.900 there were three of them in the fire instead of 0:08:38.900 --> 0:08:41.569 just one, he said. That was huge, having brothers with 0:08:41.570 --> 0:08:43.400 him in jail. Wow. The other thing he said, he 0:08:43.400 --> 0:08:46.100 said on day three they decided to have communion. He said, 0:08:46.100 --> 0:08:48.170 we didn't have, you know, juice, but we had water. 0:08:48.170 --> 0:08:50.460 And Jesus can turn water into wine. So? So we 0:08:50.460 --> 0:08:52.440 took our water and we took a little bit of 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.170 our dinner roll bread and we had communion. And he 0:08:55.170 --> 0:08:57.930 said when they had communion on that third day in prison, 0:08:57.929 --> 0:09:00.270 he said it was like Jesus walked in. He took 0:09:00.270 --> 0:09:03.270 all the fear and all the frustration and all the upsetness, 0:09:03.270 --> 0:09:05.130 and he just took it out of the room like 0:09:05.130 --> 0:09:07.140 it wasn't there anymore. Wow. And he said, from that 0:09:07.140 --> 0:09:09.839 point on, they had communion together three times a day 0:09:09.840 --> 0:09:12.570 while they were in prison. And every single time it 0:09:12.570 --> 0:09:14.640 was like Jesus walked in the room and said, I 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:16.950 got this. I'll take care of this. 0:09:17.940 --> 0:09:21.059 It's overwhelming when you hear those stories. You know, I've 0:09:21.090 --> 0:09:25.110 often wondered, do we know ahead of time that we're 0:09:25.110 --> 0:09:27.449 going to have the grace to go through that? You 0:09:27.450 --> 0:09:29.670 know what I'm saying, Todd? You know, you're. Yeah. We 0:09:29.670 --> 0:09:32.610 don't we can't say, oh, I can, I can, I 0:09:32.610 --> 0:09:35.070 can stand strong because it's not about us. It's about 0:09:35.070 --> 0:09:37.800 them being filled with the the power of God. 0:09:37.830 --> 0:09:39.900 I had a chance to sit down with Hanley Greenwald, 0:09:39.900 --> 0:09:43.110 whose family was killed in Afghanistan, and I asked her 0:09:43.110 --> 0:09:45.720 that question. I said a year before this happened, would 0:09:45.720 --> 0:09:47.400 you have said, oh, yeah, I'm strong enough to go 0:09:47.400 --> 0:09:50.720 through losing my family. She said no, in a million years, 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:53.990 I never would have said that. She said the grace 0:09:53.990 --> 0:09:55.700 to go through that and she compared it and I guess. 0:09:55.730 --> 0:09:58.670 Corrie ten boom said this first. She said the grace 0:09:58.670 --> 0:10:00.980 to go through that is like a boarding pass. You 0:10:00.980 --> 0:10:02.990 get to get on an airplane, you don't get your 0:10:02.990 --> 0:10:04.910 boarding pass a year before the flight, you get your 0:10:04.910 --> 0:10:06.920 boarding pass when you go to the airport and check in. 0:10:06.950 --> 0:10:08.900 And she said, God gave me the grace to go 0:10:08.900 --> 0:10:12.380 through that. Even in the hours right before my our 0:10:12.380 --> 0:10:14.810 home was attacked, right before my family was killed. 0:10:16.190 --> 0:10:18.680 You've got a unique vantage point because you're in this 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:21.860 all the time. What do you want people to know 0:10:21.860 --> 0:10:23.330 that we don't know? 0:10:24.140 --> 0:10:28.939 First pray, pray pray pray, pray, pray, pray. That's what 0:10:28.940 --> 0:10:30.709 persecuted Christians ask us to do. 0:10:30.740 --> 0:10:33.410 Second, now hold on. Second, that's what they asked for. 0:10:33.440 --> 0:10:34.310 That's what they asked for. 0:10:34.340 --> 0:10:35.750 They don't ask for. 0:10:35.780 --> 0:10:36.739 Not money, not. 0:10:36.740 --> 0:10:38.090 Money, not saved. 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:41.600 Money. That's it. They asked us to pray. The second 0:10:41.600 --> 0:10:46.610 thing is, don't picture persecuted Christians as these depressed, downtrodden, 0:10:46.690 --> 0:10:49.690 sad people that have just gone through so much and 0:10:49.690 --> 0:10:53.920 they're just barely scraping through life. They are joyful. They 0:10:53.950 --> 0:10:56.980 are excited about what God is doing. And yes, they 0:10:56.980 --> 0:11:00.250 know that their suffering involved in that, but they are 0:11:00.250 --> 0:11:04.809 excited and joyful. Don't picture them as sort of depressed 0:11:04.809 --> 0:11:06.699 and beaten down by these things. 0:11:06.730 --> 0:11:08.290 That's a good perspective shift. 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.140 It really is. How would you what do you tell 0:11:11.170 --> 0:11:15.429 people who live not under persecution? Certainly here in the 0:11:15.429 --> 0:11:20.590 West there's a growing intolerance for the Christian worldview. But 0:11:20.590 --> 0:11:24.010 absent persecution, sometimes you go because we know that faith 0:11:24.010 --> 0:11:27.700 thrives in under persecution. How do we live? How now 0:11:27.700 --> 0:11:31.030 shall we live? As Chuck Colson said, in the absence 0:11:31.030 --> 0:11:34.000 of it. But knowing that that could change at any time. 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:36.280 You know, I think a couple of things we need 0:11:36.280 --> 0:11:40.210 to exercise our faith muscles. Most of us live in 0:11:40.210 --> 0:11:44.290 biweekly reliance on our paychecks. We don't live in daily 0:11:44.290 --> 0:11:47.400 reliance on God. Our brothers and sisters in hostile and 0:11:47.400 --> 0:11:50.069 restricted nations. They live in daily reliance on God. They 0:11:50.100 --> 0:11:51.809 wake up every morning and say, God, if you don't 0:11:51.809 --> 0:11:53.880 show up today, I don't know how it's going to go. 0:11:54.390 --> 0:11:57.179 We don't have to do that. And so we don't. 0:11:57.510 --> 0:12:00.150 So so we have to figure out ways to exercise 0:12:00.150 --> 0:12:03.060 our faith on a day by day. Learn to hear 0:12:03.059 --> 0:12:06.420 the voice of God. Hey. Do this. Hey! Turn left. 0:12:06.420 --> 0:12:10.380 That kind of relationship with God, and it doesn't. I 0:12:10.380 --> 0:12:12.720 don't think it comes naturally to us because we're not 0:12:12.720 --> 0:12:15.929 forced to live that way. Whereas our brothers and sisters 0:12:15.929 --> 0:12:18.000 who could go to jail today, they live that way 0:12:18.000 --> 0:12:21.120 all the time. But when you exercise those muscles, they 0:12:21.150 --> 0:12:24.150 grow strong. And you wake up every morning thinking, wow, 0:12:24.179 --> 0:12:26.100 I can't wait to see how God's going to show 0:12:26.100 --> 0:12:29.070 up in my life today. We need a little practice 0:12:29.100 --> 0:12:30.270 to kind of live that way. 0:12:30.300 --> 0:12:33.660 I was talking with a guy who's overseeing a bunch 0:12:33.660 --> 0:12:38.250 of church plants, tens of thousands, and it's I asked him, 0:12:38.250 --> 0:12:40.380 I said I called him a couple of weeks ago, 0:12:40.380 --> 0:12:43.439 and it had that tone that I'm calling out of country. 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.859 Beep. Beep. 0:12:45.890 --> 0:12:48.980 That's a dial tone. When you're. When someone's abroad. That's 0:12:48.980 --> 0:12:52.040 the dial tone. I'm the ring tone. And I left 0:12:52.040 --> 0:12:53.809 a message. They said, hey, when you get back stateside, 0:12:53.809 --> 0:12:55.670 give me a call. And he did. I said, hey, 0:12:55.730 --> 0:12:59.780 all right, what's the difference? What's the difference between saints? 0:12:59.780 --> 0:13:03.560 They're saints here. And he said, you know, boil it 0:13:03.559 --> 0:13:06.740 down to this. He said, the way we're making disciples 0:13:06.740 --> 0:13:09.740 and the ones that are really rocking and rolling and 0:13:09.740 --> 0:13:15.950 surviving storms is they have a great spirit of obedience, 0:13:15.950 --> 0:13:18.650 he said. When they read the word and it says 0:13:18.650 --> 0:13:23.630 to do it, they do it. Unlike American or Western Christians. 0:13:23.630 --> 0:13:24.380 What do you say to that? 0:13:24.380 --> 0:13:27.140 Todd, my boss at voice of the martyrs, Cole Richards, 0:13:27.140 --> 0:13:32.000 our president, talks about the knowledge obedience gap. We American 0:13:32.000 --> 0:13:35.059 Christians often have a lot of knowledge, but a low 0:13:35.059 --> 0:13:38.210 level of obedience. Our brothers and sisters, that you go 0:13:38.210 --> 0:13:41.600 into a village in Laos where somebody has very low knowledge, 0:13:41.600 --> 0:13:44.280 like like maybe they just have heard the gospel in 0:13:44.280 --> 0:13:47.610 the last two weeks, but they are 100% obedient to 0:13:47.640 --> 0:13:50.940 everything they know about it. We have to close that gap. 0:13:50.940 --> 0:13:53.160 We have to bring our obedience up to the level 0:13:53.160 --> 0:13:54.179 of our knowledge. 0:13:54.210 --> 0:13:57.060 And we can, by God's grace. Amen. And, you know, 0:13:57.330 --> 0:13:59.550 it's an interesting thing because the last couple of days 0:13:59.550 --> 0:14:01.620 we've been here, there's been a theme. I was on 0:14:01.620 --> 0:14:04.949 a panel with Chris Fabry and Michael Ray and, uh oh, 0:14:04.980 --> 0:14:08.370 for crying out loud. Oh, Ron Hutchcraft. And we were 0:14:08.370 --> 0:14:12.059 talking about, you know, what needs to happen here in 0:14:12.059 --> 0:14:15.780 our lives. And it's that early morning personal introspection where 0:14:15.780 --> 0:14:18.240 you go, all right, what's really causing me to go 0:14:18.240 --> 0:14:20.850 here today? And I was getting ready to come down 0:14:20.850 --> 0:14:23.550 here to NRB, and, you know, I was having some 0:14:23.550 --> 0:14:26.490 time with the Lord, and I thought about, okay, we're 0:14:26.490 --> 0:14:28.020 coming down. You know, when you come into a room 0:14:28.020 --> 0:14:30.750 with a lot of new people and you're wondering about you. 0:14:30.990 --> 0:14:34.980 If I'm going to confess what everyone else does. We 0:14:34.980 --> 0:14:37.380 all think about, well, you know, what do I wear? 0:14:37.410 --> 0:14:40.350 How am I going to be perceived? And then you 0:14:40.350 --> 0:14:43.220 get in those environments and your jockeying and who's telling 0:14:43.220 --> 0:14:46.010 what stories. And it is a freeing thing when the 0:14:46.010 --> 0:14:48.530 Lord says, you got nothing to prove. You got nothing 0:14:48.530 --> 0:14:50.360 to gain. You got nothing to lose. Just go be 0:14:50.360 --> 0:14:52.760 you in me and we're going to be okay. That's 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.840 a freeing thing. Amen. And it's that early morning consecration 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.090 where you get your. In fact, I forget. I think 0:14:59.090 --> 0:15:03.410 it was Ray who said in really humble tones, it's like, 0:15:03.410 --> 0:15:06.680 this is where we've got to start early in the morning, 0:15:06.680 --> 0:15:11.780 just going slow down. I am God's kid. And you 0:15:11.780 --> 0:15:15.410 know what's amazing? The people you're ministering to, they do 0:15:15.410 --> 0:15:18.979 that every morning. They do out of desperate need. 0:15:19.490 --> 0:15:21.860 And that's how you learn to hear God's voice. Like 0:15:21.860 --> 0:15:25.160 in that quiet time, daily, every day, some some days 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:27.530 you don't hear anything. But the days he speaks. Boy, 0:15:27.530 --> 0:15:28.880 you want to be ready and you want to be 0:15:28.880 --> 0:15:29.450 there to hear it. 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:30.020 Yeah. 0:15:30.050 --> 0:15:32.600 Todd Nettleton, the voice of the martyrs. If you want 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:40.130 more on this incredible ministry, just text voice to 800 555, 7898. Text. 0:15:40.150 --> 0:15:44.800 voice to 805, 55, 7898. 0:15:44.830 --> 0:15:47.500 I got to tell you, man, I saw the proof 0:15:47.500 --> 0:15:52.240 of this. I was at a funeral recently, just a 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.510 few weeks ago, for a precious woman. Man, she was 0:15:55.510 --> 0:16:00.040 from Romania. She was led to Christ by Richard Wurmbrand, 0:16:00.070 --> 0:16:02.320 the founder of voice of the martyrs. When she was 0:16:02.320 --> 0:16:03.010 a teenager. 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:04.390 Which is amazing, she. 0:16:04.390 --> 0:16:07.870 Was absolutely far from God. Had a friend invite her 0:16:07.870 --> 0:16:10.210 into this Bible study and she's like, what in the 0:16:10.210 --> 0:16:12.820 cat hair is this all about? She didn't say cat hair, 0:16:12.820 --> 0:16:16.450 but she goes into this thing and Richard shared the 0:16:16.480 --> 0:16:19.150 gospel with her, and there were just a few girls 0:16:19.150 --> 0:16:24.760 in this meeting. And then. Sabina. Sabina? Yeah. So his wife, um, 0:16:24.760 --> 0:16:28.690 came alongside, and I got chills right now. This woman 0:16:28.690 --> 0:16:31.270 began to grow and go with God. Now her her 0:16:31.270 --> 0:16:36.010 sons had to run from the bullets of Ceausescu's regime 0:16:36.010 --> 0:16:41.880 into Czechoslovakia. And they escaped. and they ultimately brought mama stateside. 0:16:42.210 --> 0:16:46.320 But to hear the stories and the legacy of this 0:16:46.320 --> 0:16:50.580 woman who were radically impacted by voice of the martyrs, 0:16:51.300 --> 0:16:53.670 it was just, I got chills all over my body 0:16:53.670 --> 0:16:55.620 right now. I mean, I was going to stay there 0:16:55.620 --> 0:16:57.840 for a half an hour because Romanian funerals are like 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:02.040 2.5 hours. I stayed 2.5 hours because I'm like, this 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.280 is epic. I mean, it was just story after story 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.670 after story, and it was open casket. And the and 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.300 my friend who's in our church in Chicago and his brothers, man, 0:17:12.330 --> 0:17:15.150 they're they're just patting mom on the head. They're going, 0:17:15.180 --> 0:17:18.870 she's not here. But there she is. And oh, man, 0:17:18.869 --> 0:17:20.970 I'm telling you, man, it was one of the most 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:27.180 awesome things what God can do to change, I mean, generations. 0:17:27.180 --> 0:17:29.160 And you've been a part of that for a lot 0:17:29.190 --> 0:17:31.650 of years with voice of the martyrs. You guys, I 0:17:31.650 --> 0:17:33.689 got to tell you, um, Ali said it. This is 0:17:33.690 --> 0:17:36.600 a great ministry. I want you to get content here. 0:17:36.600 --> 0:17:38.899 We've got a link that's going to getting in the 0:17:38.930 --> 0:17:41.300 know on this stuff. That's half the battle. Voice of 0:17:41.300 --> 0:17:43.880 the martyrs has publications that they'll send to your home 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.310 and even digitally. So I want you to get this 0:17:46.310 --> 0:17:52.340 link right now. Text the word voice. Voice to (800) 555-7898. 0:17:52.369 --> 0:17:58.609 Text the word voice to (800) 555-7898. Now, I want to 0:17:58.609 --> 0:18:00.320 thank you, brother, for being here today. 0:18:00.350 --> 0:18:00.800 Thanks for. 0:18:00.800 --> 0:18:03.830 Having me. Yeah. What a sweet time, guys. Text. Voice 0:18:03.830 --> 0:18:09.830 to 800 555, 7898. And it's good to stay informed, 0:18:09.830 --> 0:18:12.229 because that information of what's going on with our brothers 0:18:12.230 --> 0:18:14.690 and sisters around the globe, much like the epistles, would 0:18:14.690 --> 0:18:17.480 be writing back and forth. Right? Yes. Same. Same kind 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:20.210 of thing. You're getting node up. Then you can stay 0:18:20.240 --> 0:18:22.970 humble and dependent on the Lord, if nothing else, just 0:18:22.970 --> 0:18:25.040 to honor them. For crying out loud, what a great 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:28.940 motivation to get on your face before Jesus today. Text. Voice. 0:18:28.940 --> 0:18:31.790 Have I said it yet? Voice did I get voice yes, 0:18:31.790 --> 0:18:36.900 that's the word. Voice to 800 555 78. 98. 0:18:36.930 --> 0:18:39.810 She was trying to earn her way to God, but 0:18:39.810 --> 0:18:43.320 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:18:43.320 --> 0:18:46.890 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:49.710 Well, I one of the craziest things that ever happened 0:18:49.710 --> 0:18:52.500 to me. And I don't know what happened. Have you 0:18:52.500 --> 0:18:56.280 ever had a short term addiction? Just a short term 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:58.350 addiction where you're like, you get on to something and 0:18:58.380 --> 0:18:59.400 you got to have it? Yes. 0:18:59.430 --> 0:19:02.340 Sheet, sheet pans of brownies. When I was eight months pregnant. 0:19:02.460 --> 0:19:03.660 Okay. There you go. 0:19:03.690 --> 0:19:04.740 Well, a short term addiction. 0:19:04.770 --> 0:19:07.680 I had a crazy thing where I had to run 0:19:07.680 --> 0:19:11.340 to an ice cream joint. And you know me with sugar, right? No, 0:19:11.369 --> 0:19:13.140 you're not a sugar guy. No, but I went through 0:19:13.140 --> 0:19:17.160 a crazy phase about seven years ago for about a month, 0:19:17.190 --> 0:19:20.700 where it's like I had to have this fix. And 0:19:20.700 --> 0:19:22.590 one day I said, what time is it to my bride? 0:19:22.619 --> 0:19:24.270 She goes, it's the same time. I said, I got 0:19:24.270 --> 0:19:26.909 five minutes. Go with me. Let's go. We got five minutes. 0:19:26.940 --> 0:19:29.970 They're going to shut the joint down. And I got 0:19:29.970 --> 0:19:33.119 there just in the nick of time, and my bride 0:19:33.900 --> 0:19:37.100 was like, you are absolutely crazy for this stuff. Well, 0:19:37.100 --> 0:19:39.290 we got a man here that's got people around the 0:19:39.290 --> 0:19:41.330 globe that are crazy for this stuff. 0:19:41.359 --> 0:19:45.950 Ricky Dixon, recently retired CEO of Blue Bell Creameries, bestselling 0:19:45.950 --> 0:19:48.109 author of One Scoop at a Time Lessons from fear 0:19:48.109 --> 0:19:51.080 to Faith. Give us the story behind Blue Bell Creamery 0:19:51.080 --> 0:19:52.459 started here in Texas, right? 0:19:52.490 --> 0:19:53.240 That's correct. 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:55.459 And thank you, first of most for allowing me to 0:19:55.460 --> 0:19:58.609 be on this morning. This this is awesome. An addiction. 0:19:58.609 --> 0:20:01.730 I've had mine for about 43 plus years, so I'll 0:20:01.730 --> 0:20:05.000 still call that a short term addiction, no question about it. 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:08.180 But the book and the inspiration behind the book, one 0:20:08.180 --> 0:20:11.060 scoop at a time, it talks about my journey on 0:20:11.060 --> 0:20:13.310 how God moved me from high school to college. I 0:20:13.310 --> 0:20:15.500 wrote a paper on Blue Bell while I was at Baylor, 0:20:15.500 --> 0:20:17.570 and from that I went back and I thought, you know, 0:20:17.600 --> 0:20:19.970 that that looked like a real fun company to work for. 0:20:20.000 --> 0:20:22.970 And so therefore I'm going to put an application in. 0:20:22.970 --> 0:20:26.270 And so my journey took off, and the book kind 0:20:26.300 --> 0:20:29.359 of goes through those steps. But really the heart and 0:20:29.359 --> 0:20:32.270 soul of the book is how do you have the 0:20:32.270 --> 0:20:34.990 peace that passes all understanding when you go through adversity 0:20:34.990 --> 0:20:38.830 or stories and lessons, turning fear into faith. But most 0:20:38.830 --> 0:20:41.260 importantly in the storm. Not when the storm is over, 0:20:41.260 --> 0:20:43.629 but how do you get to the point where you really, 0:20:43.630 --> 0:20:46.780 truly just have the peace that no matter what? God, 0:20:46.780 --> 0:20:48.490 I know you have this and I'm just going to 0:20:48.520 --> 0:20:50.500 walk and follow where you're taking me. 0:20:50.500 --> 0:20:52.929 I know you've got some stories of adversity, but time 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:57.250 out a second here. You didn't inherit this thing. You 0:20:57.250 --> 0:21:01.090 filled out an application for Bluebell, put your name in 0:21:01.090 --> 0:21:04.810 the hat and Rose. How'd you come on here? There's 0:21:04.810 --> 0:21:08.200 a couple of subplots. How did God rise you through 0:21:08.200 --> 0:21:11.350 the ranks of Bluebell to becoming CEO? Let's. And I'm 0:21:11.350 --> 0:21:14.530 asking you seriously, how in the world did this happen? 0:21:14.560 --> 0:21:17.949 It definitely is a God thing. There's no question about it. 0:21:18.100 --> 0:21:20.590 My journey took me all you know, from I started 0:21:20.590 --> 0:21:23.320 here in Dallas when Dallas Fort Worth, San Antonio, a 0:21:23.350 --> 0:21:26.860 couple of stops in Oklahoma, Oklahoma City, Tulsa, Kansas City, 0:21:26.859 --> 0:21:29.320 back to Tulsa. But there was a defining moment in 0:21:29.320 --> 0:21:31.780 my career when they had asked me to move to Oklahoma, 0:21:31.780 --> 0:21:34.619 that I was really thinking this was a new position, 0:21:34.650 --> 0:21:39.210 a promotion, and in that moment, thinking that it got 0:21:39.210 --> 0:21:42.209 real quiet. And finally, when the phone call came and 0:21:42.210 --> 0:21:44.010 they sat me down, all of a sudden we were 0:21:44.010 --> 0:21:47.909 having a review going the different direction and things I 0:21:47.910 --> 0:21:51.510 wasn't doing that they saw that I was doing before, um, 0:21:51.540 --> 0:21:55.080 things that I needed to be doing that I wasn't doing. Oh, and. 0:21:55.109 --> 0:21:55.770 Honest with that. 0:21:55.800 --> 0:21:58.469 Yes. And so I remember going back to the hotel, 0:21:58.500 --> 0:22:01.200 sitting on the bed and saying, God, I thought you 0:22:01.200 --> 0:22:04.740 moved me here for for this new region and this this, 0:22:04.770 --> 0:22:08.880 you know, to take bluebells into Oklahoma and beyond. And 0:22:08.880 --> 0:22:11.940 in that moment, in my spirit, I heard God say, 0:22:11.970 --> 0:22:15.150 I didn't move you here for a promotion. I moved 0:22:15.150 --> 0:22:18.570 you here for my purpose. And I realized at that point. 0:22:18.570 --> 0:22:18.869 I had. 0:22:19.410 --> 0:22:22.530 I left sinner, I had drifted away. And so I thought, 0:22:22.560 --> 0:22:24.720 you know, I could either leave or I can get 0:22:24.720 --> 0:22:27.120 serious about what he's doing. And I know it's ice cream, 0:22:27.119 --> 0:22:29.879 but it's so much more. And so I read really 0:22:29.880 --> 0:22:32.179 just my whole attitude and my direction. Not that I 0:22:32.180 --> 0:22:36.380 wasn't praying beforehand, but now I had a direction. So, um, 0:22:36.380 --> 0:22:40.700 I just felt like I better, uh, get serious about this. 0:22:40.700 --> 0:22:43.130 And through my journey, the next thing I knew, about 0:22:43.130 --> 0:22:45.680 five years later, I'm running our ice cream plant in 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:51.080 Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, and then they moved down to Texas. And, um, 0:22:51.260 --> 0:22:54.260 as I would say, when 2017 came and they asked 0:22:54.260 --> 0:22:57.140 me to be president, the rest was history. And I 0:22:57.140 --> 0:22:59.359 knew that this was a God thing. The most humbling 0:22:59.390 --> 0:23:01.280 thing ever in my whole life. 0:23:01.280 --> 0:23:04.010 Rickey Dixon, our guest right now, recently retired CEO of 0:23:04.010 --> 0:23:06.889 Blue Bell Creameries, bestselling author of One Scoop at a 0:23:06.890 --> 0:23:09.530 Time Lessons from Fear to Faith. Coming up, he's got 0:23:09.530 --> 0:23:12.200 a story of a little bit of fear, a little 0:23:12.230 --> 0:23:14.720 bit of crisis and how God used that to move 0:23:14.720 --> 0:23:17.810 him toward faith. More coming up here on Carlin Crew. 0:23:18.470 --> 0:23:21.859 This is Carlin Crew on Moody Radio. 0:23:22.550 --> 0:23:27.170 Broadcasting live from NRB National Religious Broadcasters Convention this week. 0:23:27.290 --> 0:23:30.340 Ricky Dixon, our guest right now, recently retired CEO of 0:23:30.340 --> 0:23:33.100 Blue Bell Creameries, is about ten years ago on a 0:23:33.100 --> 0:23:36.250 Friday night, you got a phone call, thought what could 0:23:36.250 --> 0:23:39.250 this be? A work call on a Friday night? Usually 0:23:39.250 --> 0:23:40.930 not a good thing. Tell us about it. 0:23:40.960 --> 0:23:45.250 Yes. And right before Valentine's on top of that. So, yeah. 0:23:45.250 --> 0:23:47.290 You know, when I got the phone call, I knew 0:23:47.320 --> 0:23:49.810 that this was probably not the norm. And we had 0:23:49.810 --> 0:23:53.230 just been notified that the product that we had produced 0:23:53.260 --> 0:23:56.560 had we had had found listeria in the product. And 0:23:56.560 --> 0:23:58.359 so obviously it was a game changer. 0:23:58.390 --> 0:24:00.669 Is that a death sentence for a company like yours? 0:24:00.700 --> 0:24:03.909 Well, you know, obviously, you know, ice cream is a 0:24:03.910 --> 0:24:07.000 very low risk product. It's not supposed to be in there. 0:24:07.000 --> 0:24:09.250 You take a, you know, a product, you pasteurize it 0:24:09.250 --> 0:24:11.800 and then you put it in a -20 environment. So 0:24:11.800 --> 0:24:13.840 it should be safe, kill everything. It's supposed to be there. 0:24:13.840 --> 0:24:16.900 And so at the same time, yes, you're exactly right. 0:24:16.930 --> 0:24:18.790 It's it's not supposed to be there, I should say. 0:24:18.790 --> 0:24:21.910 And so, you know, over the course of the next 0:24:21.940 --> 0:24:24.459 few months, we got to the point where we we 0:24:24.460 --> 0:24:27.580 shut our plants down. We literally took all the equipment 0:24:27.580 --> 0:24:29.510 out of the room. We tore the floor up. We 0:24:29.510 --> 0:24:33.830 took the walls down the ceiling and really rebuilt the 0:24:33.830 --> 0:24:37.760 inside of our company. And we did that with the 0:24:37.760 --> 0:24:42.229 help of microbiologist and outside agencies. We looked even outside 0:24:42.230 --> 0:24:45.080 the ice cream industry. How can we make this an 0:24:45.080 --> 0:24:49.490 incredibly safe environment, even though maybe going too far? But 0:24:49.670 --> 0:24:51.560 the way we looked at it is no, you can't 0:24:51.560 --> 0:24:54.379 go too far. And so today we test every single 0:24:54.380 --> 0:24:56.660 thing we make, and we wait till the tests come 0:24:56.690 --> 0:24:58.760 back before we put it out in the market. That way, 0:24:58.760 --> 0:25:01.340 we have the assurance that everything we we've done on 0:25:01.340 --> 0:25:03.710 the front end makes its way through the product. 0:25:03.710 --> 0:25:05.990 What did you learn about God in that season? Because 0:25:06.020 --> 0:25:08.180 you're talking to a lot of people right now. They 0:25:08.180 --> 0:25:10.910 don't have listeria breaking out in their home, but they've 0:25:10.910 --> 0:25:12.740 got some kind of adversity going on. 0:25:12.890 --> 0:25:16.160 Absolutely. And, you know, in life, if you live more 0:25:16.160 --> 0:25:18.350 than a minute, you're going to have at some point, 0:25:18.380 --> 0:25:21.080 adversity in your last segment was just incredible to listen 0:25:21.080 --> 0:25:23.990 to what's happening all over the world. Yeah, but but 0:25:23.990 --> 0:25:26.960 back here at home, adversity can come in so many ways. 0:25:26.960 --> 0:25:30.500 And what I learned is we're going to have it. 0:25:30.500 --> 0:25:32.480 So how do you prepare? And I love Mark for 0:25:32.480 --> 0:25:34.520 where he, you know, the disciples get on the boat 0:25:34.520 --> 0:25:36.770 with Jesus. He goes up to the front, goes to sleep, 0:25:36.770 --> 0:25:38.990 and then the waves come. And while they're trying to 0:25:39.020 --> 0:25:40.880 bail the water out on their own, they finally go 0:25:40.880 --> 0:25:43.580 and wake him up. And when he wakes up, he 0:25:43.580 --> 0:25:45.500 they they ask the question, do you not care that 0:25:45.500 --> 0:25:47.990 we're going to die now? They're talking to Jesus, and 0:25:48.290 --> 0:25:51.140 what does he first do? He calms the storm, and 0:25:51.140 --> 0:25:53.060 then he looks and says, oh, ye of little faith. 0:25:53.060 --> 0:25:57.410 And and I take that as if Jesus can sleep 0:25:57.410 --> 0:25:59.690 in the middle of a storm on a boat. That 0:25:59.690 --> 0:26:01.340 when I get to that point in my life where 0:26:01.340 --> 0:26:03.440 I think I've done everything I can do, which is 0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:06.560 probably a lot longer than I should, that I rest 0:26:06.560 --> 0:26:10.129 with Jesus and and that finding that peace in the 0:26:10.130 --> 0:26:13.130 middle of the storm, knowing that even the storm still 0:26:13.130 --> 0:26:17.119 going around me inside you have that calmness and the 0:26:17.119 --> 0:26:19.730 waves have stopped. And when you get at that point, 0:26:19.730 --> 0:26:21.859 I call it my second wind. If you're a runner, 0:26:21.890 --> 0:26:23.450 you get to the point where you want to quit 0:26:23.480 --> 0:26:25.730 running and all of a sudden you have that second wind. Well, 0:26:25.740 --> 0:26:27.960 to me, that's the peace that passes all understanding. 0:26:27.990 --> 0:26:29.070 A beautiful story. 0:26:29.190 --> 0:26:31.980 Well, you've written this book. One scoop at a time. 0:26:32.190 --> 0:26:35.250 Stories and lessons from fear to faith. And I'm sure 0:26:35.250 --> 0:26:37.649 you don't write this as an expert who's arrived and 0:26:37.650 --> 0:26:40.320 who never battles fear and always stays in a posture 0:26:40.320 --> 0:26:41.430 of faith, right? I mean. 0:26:41.700 --> 0:26:45.270 These battles maybe he has. Ali, I don't want to assume. 0:26:45.300 --> 0:26:47.520 No words in your mouth, but I mean you. 0:26:47.520 --> 0:26:50.220 I'm sure you as you, even as you're writing, you're 0:26:50.220 --> 0:26:51.420 living this, right? 0:26:51.450 --> 0:26:56.040 That's right. Absolutely. You know, what you do is you do. 0:26:56.520 --> 0:27:00.359 But at a lot more concentrated effort. You're on your 0:27:00.359 --> 0:27:02.880 knees in the morning every day. But at the same time, 0:27:02.910 --> 0:27:06.660 there's a tendency to drift. And I'm just being very transparent. 0:27:06.690 --> 0:27:08.609 Appreciate it. But but when you get to that point 0:27:08.609 --> 0:27:11.219 where you're especially now a couple of years later when 0:27:11.220 --> 0:27:14.490 they asked me to become president and CEO, knowing that 0:27:14.670 --> 0:27:17.129 not just the 3500 employees and their families, but the 0:27:17.130 --> 0:27:19.500 consumer that's out there, that's been behind you, that stood 0:27:19.530 --> 0:27:22.860 beside you and waited until we came back. You want 0:27:22.890 --> 0:27:25.250 to make sure you do it right, but you're exactly right. 0:27:25.280 --> 0:27:29.179 You know, the fear is. There it comes. But that's where. Scriptures. 0:27:29.210 --> 0:27:33.199 You know, I love John at the end of John 16, 0:27:33.230 --> 0:27:35.870 where he's talking to the disciples. He's getting ready to leave. 0:27:35.869 --> 0:27:37.910 But I'm going to bring you're going to get a comforter. 0:27:37.910 --> 0:27:39.860 And then he goes in John 17 with this long 0:27:39.859 --> 0:27:42.889 prayer about not just himself, but then you're going to 0:27:42.890 --> 0:27:45.830 have problems. But I've overcome the world. I think it's 0:27:45.830 --> 0:27:49.640 John 1633 that says, don't worry, I've overcome it. And 0:27:49.640 --> 0:27:52.370 so if we can anchor to that, and I love 0:27:52.369 --> 0:27:55.040 that word I say in there when the waves get high. 0:27:55.070 --> 0:27:57.649 What are you anchoring? What are you anchoring to? And 0:27:57.650 --> 0:28:01.190 that's to Christ. So yes, fear is definitely there. But 0:28:01.190 --> 0:28:02.780 getting to the point where you get to the peace 0:28:02.780 --> 0:28:07.310 that passes understanding, it's an incredible feeling. No matter how 0:28:07.700 --> 0:28:09.470 dark it seems, it's around you. 0:28:10.040 --> 0:28:12.709 All right. You're good on vulnerability. So I'm going to 0:28:12.710 --> 0:28:15.860 go here. What did you do as a young man 0:28:15.859 --> 0:28:18.470 that God grew you up and you didn't do as 0:28:18.470 --> 0:28:21.859 a more wise, seasoned man? Oh, wow. 0:28:21.859 --> 0:28:25.810 That's a great question. I think that and I shared 0:28:25.810 --> 0:28:28.540 a little bit about this earlier. I go to fast 0:28:28.540 --> 0:28:32.680 pace and always have, maybe sometimes faster than allowing God 0:28:32.680 --> 0:28:35.200 to do what he has planned to do. I think 0:28:35.200 --> 0:28:39.520 patience in my mind when I've talked about my story, 0:28:39.550 --> 0:28:42.280 my wife says, you. You talk about patience like you 0:28:42.280 --> 0:28:43.900 have a lot and you don't. 0:28:44.650 --> 0:28:47.860 Oh, hold it a second. You got a great you 0:28:47.860 --> 0:28:51.250 got a bride. That's a sister to mine. She speaks truth. 0:28:51.280 --> 0:28:54.460 Absolutely. No. You know, and she's usually here. This was 0:28:54.460 --> 0:28:55.990 a little early, but I love her to death. And 0:28:55.990 --> 0:28:58.450 I said, I've got this one. You know, you get ready. 0:28:58.450 --> 0:29:01.600 But no, she's she's been my my biggest cheerleader. But 0:29:01.600 --> 0:29:06.219 she's very honest with me. And you know, so often 0:29:06.220 --> 0:29:08.320 that's the problem that we try to get ahead of 0:29:08.320 --> 0:29:10.240 God or we try to get ahead of life. And 0:29:10.240 --> 0:29:14.830 patience is probably the one thing that I could, I 0:29:14.830 --> 0:29:16.990 could have used a lot more of. You know, God, 0:29:16.990 --> 0:29:19.390 please give me patience. Just give it to me right now. 0:29:20.350 --> 0:29:23.570 As soon as possible. Please give it right now. That's 0:29:23.570 --> 0:29:27.410 a great line. Boom! Crew. You know, I'm sitting here thinking, 0:29:27.410 --> 0:29:32.600 who's this for? It's for everyone. But I specifically believe 0:29:32.630 --> 0:29:34.610 that there's some of you that you're running a mom 0:29:34.610 --> 0:29:37.940 and pop. You're an executive. You're a leader in some way, 0:29:37.940 --> 0:29:41.780 shape or form. This book is going to be peppered 0:29:41.780 --> 0:29:45.920 with principles that leaders especially can take away here and go, whoa, 0:29:45.950 --> 0:29:48.890 this is wisdom here. You know, there's nothing like hearing 0:29:48.890 --> 0:29:52.550 from somebody that's been there, done that. And Ricky's been 0:29:52.550 --> 0:29:55.370 there and done that. I love your name, Ricky, by 0:29:55.370 --> 0:29:58.730 the way. That's a cool thing. I mean, I wish 0:29:58.730 --> 0:30:01.370 my mama. Ricky. Yeah, that's a great name. 0:30:01.400 --> 0:30:04.160 Well, back in the 70s, it was Ricky and Lucy. Yeah. Yeah. 0:30:04.160 --> 0:30:07.580 That's right. I usually have a Ricky, and then I 0:30:07.580 --> 0:30:09.800 have a Lucy. Here's what I want you to do. Boom! 0:30:09.800 --> 0:30:13.730 Crew right now. Uh, text the word scoop. Get a 0:30:13.730 --> 0:30:17.060 link to this book. One scoop at a time, Ricky Dixon. 0:30:17.720 --> 0:30:22.180 Text the word scoop to 805 Five. Five. Five. 78. 98. 0:30:22.210 --> 0:30:29.110 Another great resource here. Scoop to (800) 555-7898. 0:30:29.410 --> 0:30:32.469 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:30:32.470 --> 0:30:36.760 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. Its 0:30:36.760 --> 0:30:39.820 curling crew on Moody Radio curling crew. 0:30:39.820 --> 0:30:43.510 Broadcasting live from NB here in Dallas, Texas. And we've 0:30:43.510 --> 0:30:46.660 got a tremendous man of God with us right now. 0:30:46.690 --> 0:30:49.660 I love Collin, and I want to just say this. 0:30:49.660 --> 0:30:53.320 This is so great. 15 can I read some numbers here? 0:30:53.320 --> 0:30:57.020 This is the absolute breaking radio rules right now. 15 0:30:57.020 --> 0:31:00.190 million lives touched globally by Open the Bible in the 0:31:00.190 --> 0:31:06.700 last 12 months. 15 million. Wow. 230 plus countries reached 0:31:06.700 --> 0:31:11.710 through this global ministry. 650 radio stations that air the 0:31:11.710 --> 0:31:17.200 daily program and 2.5 million estimated weekly radio listeners. And 0:31:17.200 --> 0:31:18.880 guess what? Before we're done here, we're going to tell 0:31:18.880 --> 0:31:21.570 you about how this message of the gospel is going 0:31:21.600 --> 0:31:25.590 to be going into other languages, just in time for 0:31:25.590 --> 0:31:29.340 this great resurrection celebration that we have coming up? Okay. Well, 0:31:29.340 --> 0:31:30.990 let's do the right intro here, Ali. 0:31:31.020 --> 0:31:33.750 Pastor Colin Smith is founder and teaching pastor of the 0:31:33.750 --> 0:31:37.590 national radio program Opened the Bible, joins us in Dallas 0:31:37.590 --> 0:31:40.020 right now. We come all the way from the Chicago. Yeah, here. 0:31:40.020 --> 0:31:43.260 We are to reunite in Dallas. Come on, man, you 0:31:43.260 --> 0:31:45.630 can drive five miles and go get a cup of coffee. 0:31:45.660 --> 0:31:48.150 It's worth coming a long way to be with you. 0:31:49.350 --> 0:31:52.710 Okay. Quick question. What's God doing in your life? What's 0:31:52.710 --> 0:31:54.270 the guy doing? Uh, God is. 0:31:54.270 --> 0:31:57.270 Giving me a great sense of peace. Is the first 0:31:57.270 --> 0:32:00.660 thing that comes to to to to my mind. I 0:32:00.690 --> 0:32:04.080 am so grateful for the team that the Lord has 0:32:04.080 --> 0:32:07.470 placed around me. Um, as years go by, you realize 0:32:07.470 --> 0:32:11.280 how much you owe to to others, and God's kindness 0:32:11.280 --> 0:32:14.850 comes to us in so many ways through other people. 0:32:14.850 --> 0:32:17.790 And I am so very, very thankful for the team 0:32:17.790 --> 0:32:19.760 that the Lord has placed around me at the orchard, 0:32:19.790 --> 0:32:22.070 the church that I serve, and the team that the 0:32:22.070 --> 0:32:24.560 Lord has placed around me at Open the Bible. I 0:32:24.560 --> 0:32:27.140 just have a profound sense of thanksgiving for that. 0:32:27.290 --> 0:32:31.580 You know, I've heard recently, just anecdotally a couple different times, 0:32:31.580 --> 0:32:35.600 people reiterating that biblical illiteracy is a real problem in 0:32:35.600 --> 0:32:37.730 the church. I don't have any numbers to back that up, 0:32:37.730 --> 0:32:40.070 but I've heard it a couple times recently. One of 0:32:40.070 --> 0:32:43.490 your passions is to help us not just read, but 0:32:43.490 --> 0:32:47.030 also understand the Bible. Bible sales we saw in the 0:32:47.030 --> 0:32:50.750 last year up 22%, but there still is this sort 0:32:50.780 --> 0:32:52.910 of gap between I have a Bible in my house, 0:32:52.910 --> 0:32:54.950 maybe I have one in my hand, but either I'm 0:32:54.950 --> 0:32:57.410 not opening it or I'm not understanding at all what 0:32:57.410 --> 0:33:00.020 I'm reading. Give us your heart on that. 0:33:00.050 --> 0:33:04.520 You know, 20 years ago, I was absolutely convinced that 0:33:04.520 --> 0:33:10.160 Bible illiteracy was the great problem. Today, I'm absolutely convinced 0:33:10.160 --> 0:33:13.760 that Bible illiteracy is the great opportunity, because we're at 0:33:13.760 --> 0:33:17.260 a place where there is a new generation of people 0:33:17.260 --> 0:33:21.280 who really, really do not know the God of the Bible. 0:33:21.310 --> 0:33:25.510 And that's a very, very different kind of a situation 0:33:25.510 --> 0:33:28.660 from people who think that they. Know the God of 0:33:28.660 --> 0:33:31.240 the Bible and have decided to walk away. And that's 0:33:31.240 --> 0:33:36.640 been largely true of many, many people, um, in recent years. 0:33:36.640 --> 0:33:40.090 But I think that there is a turning of the tide. 0:33:40.120 --> 0:33:45.280 Bible sales are significantly up. Um, in many cases it's 0:33:45.280 --> 0:33:48.880 people buying the Bible for the first time. Younger people 0:33:48.880 --> 0:33:53.290 are interested in exploring what they realize they don't know, 0:33:53.290 --> 0:33:56.620 and secularism has been feeding answers to people for such 0:33:56.650 --> 0:34:00.520 a long time. At some point, people come to the realization, 0:34:00.550 --> 0:34:03.160 you know, what I've been promised isn't delivering, and maybe 0:34:03.160 --> 0:34:06.820 it's time to look at something else. So to encourage people, 0:34:06.820 --> 0:34:11.859 to encourage believers to to open the Bible, um, with 0:34:11.860 --> 0:34:14.290 someone who needs to know the God of the Bible 0:34:14.290 --> 0:34:16.640 is the great passion of my life. I just keep 0:34:16.670 --> 0:34:20.239 asking Abby the question, who is there in your life? 0:34:20.239 --> 0:34:22.520 Who needs to know the God of the Bible and 0:34:22.520 --> 0:34:25.640 just might be interested in opening the Bible with you 0:34:25.640 --> 0:34:27.830 if you were to ask them? And I think that 0:34:27.830 --> 0:34:29.870 that's the great opportunity of our day. 0:34:29.900 --> 0:34:32.930 Colin Smith with us right now, he is founder and 0:34:32.930 --> 0:34:38.060 teaching pastor of the great program Open the Bible. When 0:34:38.060 --> 0:34:43.190 you consider, as Ali was just alluding to, the numbers 0:34:43.190 --> 0:34:45.440 are staggering. Barnett just came out with a report the 0:34:45.440 --> 0:34:48.710 latter part of January forecasting trends. He says that we 0:34:48.710 --> 0:34:52.040 have 4% of the nation with a biblical worldview and 0:34:52.040 --> 0:34:56.870 relatively little. And what little is out there is ineffective 0:34:56.870 --> 0:34:59.870 in disciple making. I don't know if you've seen that research. 0:34:59.900 --> 0:35:04.190 It's quite staggering. You've got a great vantage point, both 0:35:04.190 --> 0:35:07.970 globally and locally. What are the things that the the 0:35:07.969 --> 0:35:10.730 person listening to us this morning who has a big 0:35:10.730 --> 0:35:13.790 furnace of want to boil in in them, but they 0:35:13.790 --> 0:35:15.910 want to close that gap between. Oh, I got chills 0:35:15.910 --> 0:35:18.400 right now. Getting chills all morning. Um, they want to 0:35:18.400 --> 0:35:23.049 close that gap between want to and realizing many of 0:35:23.050 --> 0:35:26.020 these promises that God has in his word. What's in 0:35:26.050 --> 0:35:27.940 that gap, Pastor Colin? 0:35:28.000 --> 0:35:32.529 Well, the gap, um, in regards to realizing the promises 0:35:32.530 --> 0:35:35.740 of God is clearly faith. But then the first thing 0:35:35.739 --> 0:35:40.660 is that we need to know what the promises actually are. Um, so, um, 0:35:40.660 --> 0:35:45.969 you know, in speaking, Karl, about 4% have a Christian worldview. 0:35:46.000 --> 0:35:50.830 How is a Christian worldview actually formed? That's the question. Yeah. 0:35:50.860 --> 0:35:57.250 And I've been persuaded by the example of pioneer missionaries, 0:35:57.250 --> 0:36:01.330 folks who've gone to unreached people groups, people who know 0:36:01.360 --> 0:36:04.480 absolutely nothing about the God of the Bible. And what's 0:36:04.480 --> 0:36:08.200 their strategy? Their strategy historically has been to tell the 0:36:08.200 --> 0:36:11.980 Bible's story, because the way that God introduces His Son 0:36:11.980 --> 0:36:16.650 to us is by a progressive, unfolding story in which, 0:36:16.650 --> 0:36:19.710 step by step, the building blocks are actually put in place. 0:36:19.710 --> 0:36:23.370 Who is God? Who? Who am I? Why is the 0:36:23.370 --> 0:36:25.950 world as it is? What is the human problem? What 0:36:25.950 --> 0:36:28.020 is needed in order to put it right? All of 0:36:28.020 --> 0:36:32.400 these things are progressively unfolded in the Bible's story, going 0:36:32.400 --> 0:36:35.219 from Genesis to Revelation. So that's why the big project 0:36:35.250 --> 0:36:39.060 of my life is to try and to provide resources 0:36:39.060 --> 0:36:43.950 that will help people grasp the unfolding story of the Bible, 0:36:43.950 --> 0:36:46.380 and then introduce other people to it and share it 0:36:46.380 --> 0:36:47.160 with them. 0:36:47.219 --> 0:36:49.980 Coming up, one of those resources is going to be 0:36:49.980 --> 0:36:54.120 available a week before Easter. This is an exciting one 0:36:54.150 --> 0:36:56.549 man play that you are going to love. You're going 0:36:56.580 --> 0:36:58.830 to want to watch it yourself and share it. It's 0:36:58.830 --> 0:37:00.719 going to be in multiple languages. We'll tell you all 0:37:00.719 --> 0:37:02.879 about it. With special guest Colin Smith coming up. 0:37:03.090 --> 0:37:06.450 You're listening to Kirtland Crew on Moody Radio. 0:37:06.660 --> 0:37:10.440 Broadcasting live from NRB in Dallas, Texas. We've got special 0:37:10.440 --> 0:37:13.670 guest Colin Smith, founder and teaching pastor of Open the Bible. 0:37:13.700 --> 0:37:17.840 Something exciting coming just in time for Easter. The thief 0:37:17.840 --> 0:37:20.600 on the cross. First tell us. For those who aren't 0:37:20.600 --> 0:37:23.420 familiar with this passage of Scripture, give us the heart 0:37:23.420 --> 0:37:25.790 behind what this play is and then tell us about 0:37:25.790 --> 0:37:26.450 the play. 0:37:26.600 --> 0:37:29.719 Yes. Well, the story of the thief on the cross, 0:37:29.750 --> 0:37:33.739 to my mind, is the greatest story for explaining God's 0:37:33.739 --> 0:37:36.770 marvelous grace to someone who doesn't get it. Because I 0:37:36.770 --> 0:37:39.650 think an awful lot of people have the idea that 0:37:39.650 --> 0:37:41.719 if you're going to get into heaven, you'll get there 0:37:41.719 --> 0:37:44.509 by living a good enough life. And here's this man 0:37:44.510 --> 0:37:47.660 who obviously didn't do that and was out of time 0:37:47.660 --> 0:37:50.270 in terms of starting to do that. And Jesus says, 0:37:50.270 --> 0:37:52.400 today you will be with me in Paradise. So that 0:37:52.400 --> 0:37:57.470 just blows open people's minds as to, okay, on what 0:37:57.500 --> 0:38:00.140 basis then did he get into heaven? So it's a 0:38:00.140 --> 0:38:04.550 wonderful story to help people grasp the grace of the 0:38:04.550 --> 0:38:08.570 Lord Jesus Christ. And we have a one hour film 0:38:08.570 --> 0:38:12.580 of Stephen Baldwin performing The Story of the thief on 0:38:12.580 --> 0:38:15.730 the cross as a one man play. We've used it 0:38:16.060 --> 0:38:20.950 in Easter at Easter for several years now. What's new 0:38:20.980 --> 0:38:24.040 this year is not only are we making it available 0:38:24.040 --> 0:38:28.330 in English for free on the Open the Bible website 0:38:28.330 --> 0:38:32.050 the week before Easter, but it's also being translated into 0:38:32.050 --> 0:38:35.319 languages that cover about more than 60% of the world. 0:38:35.320 --> 0:38:38.230 So we're talking about Farsi. We're talking about Hindi, we're 0:38:38.230 --> 0:38:41.260 talking about Arabic, we're talking about Chinese. So we're saying 0:38:41.290 --> 0:38:43.120 to people all the time, who do you know who 0:38:43.120 --> 0:38:45.850 speaks Farsi? Give them a link to the Open the 0:38:45.880 --> 0:38:49.150 Bible page. And they can see in the week before 0:38:49.150 --> 0:38:52.810 Easter a presentation of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. 0:38:52.810 --> 0:38:56.890 It's a dramatic presentation. It's one hour. It's absolutely compelling. 0:38:56.890 --> 0:38:59.500 We think that it's a wonderful opportunity to reach out 0:38:59.500 --> 0:39:01.779 to friends and neighbors in whatever language. 0:39:01.810 --> 0:39:03.070 Okay, we're going to give you a link here in 0:39:03.070 --> 0:39:05.230 just a moment. So get your phones ready. But I 0:39:05.230 --> 0:39:09.180 want you to, without giving away all your message. Uh, 0:39:09.180 --> 0:39:11.940 what should I say? The big. The big points. All 0:39:11.940 --> 0:39:15.360 of them. What is the most surprising thing about the 0:39:15.360 --> 0:39:17.640 thief on the cross? As you were studying and preparing 0:39:17.670 --> 0:39:23.160 to communicate that incredible story that even surprised Colin? 0:39:23.340 --> 0:39:25.890 Well, the thing that was the aha moment for me 0:39:25.890 --> 0:39:28.860 was to realize that the thief on the cross died 0:39:28.860 --> 0:39:31.259 after Jesus. We know that because they had to break 0:39:31.260 --> 0:39:33.750 his legs and the Lord had already died. What that 0:39:33.750 --> 0:39:37.590 means is that he heard every single word that Jesus 0:39:37.590 --> 0:39:40.200 spoke from the cross. So not only did he come 0:39:40.200 --> 0:39:43.469 to faith, but then his faith was tested in the darkness. 0:39:43.500 --> 0:39:46.290 My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? And 0:39:46.290 --> 0:39:49.529 then he heard the words of triumph, it is finished. So, uh, 0:39:49.530 --> 0:39:53.100 seeing the cross and all that Jesus accomplished through the 0:39:53.100 --> 0:39:55.620 eyes of the thief on the cross was to me 0:39:55.620 --> 0:40:00.120 something very wonderful. He was up close throughout these entire 0:40:00.120 --> 0:40:03.390 six hours that were the six hours that changed the world. 0:40:03.510 --> 0:40:05.549 You know, you hit on something earlier. I want to 0:40:05.550 --> 0:40:10.840 go back to that. There is this pervading idea that man, 0:40:10.840 --> 0:40:13.569 if my good works could outweigh my my bad works. 0:40:13.570 --> 0:40:15.820 I hear that all the time. Just try to be 0:40:15.820 --> 0:40:18.370 a good person. And then when you're confronted with the 0:40:18.370 --> 0:40:22.660 holiness of God and the sinfulness of man, then you 0:40:22.660 --> 0:40:25.960 almost the flip, the script flips and you go from, okay, 0:40:25.989 --> 0:40:28.810 now it's not just good versus bad. I cannot be perfect, 0:40:28.810 --> 0:40:32.560 but the thief on the cross. My goodness, this is 0:40:32.590 --> 0:40:37.570 this story meets every single person where they're at, right? 0:40:37.600 --> 0:40:39.730 Is that why you mean tell us a story of 0:40:39.730 --> 0:40:42.609 how you've seen this be used already over the past 0:40:42.610 --> 0:40:43.450 couple of years. 0:40:43.480 --> 0:40:45.940 Oh, well, we've seen many people who've come to faith 0:40:45.940 --> 0:40:48.580 in the Lord Jesus Christ as a result of the story. 0:40:48.580 --> 0:40:51.310 And that's why we're encouraged to keep working with it 0:40:51.310 --> 0:40:54.069 and to encourage people to to say, take this and 0:40:54.070 --> 0:40:56.469 use it and share it, share it with a friend. 0:40:56.590 --> 0:41:00.250 It's interesting that the thief on the cross must have 0:41:00.250 --> 0:41:03.820 had some real knowledge of God, because he said to 0:41:03.850 --> 0:41:07.799 the other thief, do you not fear God? So there 0:41:07.800 --> 0:41:09.870 was something there was an assumption there. There was something 0:41:09.870 --> 0:41:13.950 in his background. My guess is that he had been 0:41:13.950 --> 0:41:16.500 brought up with the Ten Commandments, and that he had 0:41:16.500 --> 0:41:20.280 some awareness of them, but clearly he'd not practiced them. 0:41:20.280 --> 0:41:22.320 He'd gone off on his own way. He'd lived his 0:41:22.320 --> 0:41:24.180 own life, and it had been a life that was 0:41:24.180 --> 0:41:27.570 in obvious rebellion against the ways of God. But now 0:41:27.570 --> 0:41:29.730 he comes to the very end of his life. He's 0:41:29.730 --> 0:41:33.089 right on the brink of eternity, and he realizes that 0:41:33.090 --> 0:41:35.790 there really is a God, and that he is a 0:41:35.790 --> 0:41:39.240 few hours away from being in the immediate presence of God. 0:41:39.239 --> 0:41:42.060 He says to his friend, don't you fear God? And 0:41:42.060 --> 0:41:44.580 then he realizes that the only hope he has is 0:41:44.580 --> 0:41:47.670 the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Lord Jesus Christ gives 0:41:47.670 --> 0:41:51.930 him this marvelous grace. It's tremendous. You must have heard 0:41:52.380 --> 0:41:55.380 Jesus say, father, forgive them. They do not know what 0:41:55.380 --> 0:41:59.700 they are doing. And he entered into the forgiveness that 0:41:59.700 --> 0:42:01.980 Christ died to release for all of us. It's a 0:42:01.980 --> 0:42:03.149 wonderful story. 0:42:03.420 --> 0:42:06.650 Ali's right. The thief on the cross strips away so 0:42:06.650 --> 0:42:11.719 much religiosity, pretense, even the even the what can sometimes 0:42:11.750 --> 0:42:16.700 be distorted as the the grace of baptism, rather than 0:42:16.700 --> 0:42:19.520 a reflection of the grace of God. All those things 0:42:19.520 --> 0:42:22.549 are just. They just fall away. Yes. For the thief 0:42:22.550 --> 0:42:23.120 on the cross. 0:42:23.150 --> 0:42:25.910 It makes it so starkly clear. And that's why it's 0:42:25.910 --> 0:42:30.830 such a wonderful story. So we want to introduce people 0:42:30.830 --> 0:42:34.040 to the marvelous, free grace of God in which we 0:42:34.070 --> 0:42:38.540 find reconciliation, forgiveness through the Lord Jesus Christ. Here's the 0:42:38.540 --> 0:42:41.810 story to use, and I hope very much that this 0:42:41.810 --> 0:42:44.719 dramatic presentation will be something that people will say, well, 0:42:44.719 --> 0:42:47.930 now I could share that with a friend. Um, watch 0:42:47.930 --> 0:42:51.140 it with a friend. Um. You can. It's available for 0:42:51.140 --> 0:42:53.960 free download so you can invite some friends into your home. 0:42:53.960 --> 0:42:56.150 You can just give them the link. There's all kinds 0:42:56.150 --> 0:42:58.670 of ways in which people can use it, and we 0:42:58.700 --> 0:43:00.890 hope that it will be a real means of bringing 0:43:00.890 --> 0:43:02.000 God's grace to many. 0:43:02.030 --> 0:43:04.690 In the mission fields at our door here in America. Yeah, 0:43:04.719 --> 0:43:08.980 I mean, that's just absolutely true. So how many languages 0:43:09.010 --> 0:43:11.680 is it now? This this dramatic presentation? 0:43:11.710 --> 0:43:16.210 16 languages this year. And we're very excited about that. 0:43:16.210 --> 0:43:19.690 And that's being done in partnership with the Gospel Coalition 0:43:19.750 --> 0:43:22.989 in various countries. And it will be aired on different 0:43:22.989 --> 0:43:25.810 media platforms. But I think the thing that I'm most 0:43:25.810 --> 0:43:28.810 excited about is how many Christians will be able to 0:43:28.810 --> 0:43:32.140 give this to a friend and say, here's the link. 0:43:32.200 --> 0:43:34.690 Have a look at this and let's talk about it. 0:43:34.719 --> 0:43:35.410 Love it. 0:43:35.440 --> 0:43:40.509 Just text open to 800 555 7898 will take you 0:43:40.510 --> 0:43:46.600 right to that web page. Text open to 800 555 7898. 0:43:46.630 --> 0:43:49.540 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:43:49.540 --> 0:43:53.500 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:43:53.530 --> 0:43:56.230 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:43:56.260 --> 0:43:58.480 I want you to look for something that you can 0:43:58.480 --> 0:44:01.870 give God praise for. I got up this morning. Second Peter, 0:44:01.900 --> 0:44:05.670 the final words here in second, Peter and I just 0:44:05.670 --> 0:44:08.339 did a quick contemplation on this this morning early. And 0:44:08.340 --> 0:44:12.540 I thought, wow, this is phenomenal words, but grow in 0:44:12.540 --> 0:44:16.799 the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. 0:44:16.830 --> 0:44:20.130 To him be the glory both now and to the 0:44:20.130 --> 0:44:23.819 day of eternity. Amen. And let it be. Grow in 0:44:23.820 --> 0:44:27.239 the grace. Now this is what's important. Grace doesn't grow. 0:44:27.989 --> 0:44:31.830 Grace does not grow. Grace is what it is. And 0:44:31.830 --> 0:44:33.240 it's all we need. Yeah. 0:44:33.270 --> 0:44:36.210 And we can grow into it. Which is great. 0:44:36.239 --> 0:44:41.130 Yes, that's the point. Yes, we grow into it. Yeah. 0:44:41.940 --> 0:44:45.300 And how do we grow into it? We go low. 0:44:45.570 --> 0:44:46.620 Humility. 0:44:46.650 --> 0:44:50.940 Yeah, we go low. Okay. We got something. I am 0:44:50.940 --> 0:44:53.760 fired up Saturday morning. I'm going to be up with 0:44:53.760 --> 0:44:56.280 bells on. I might even get up extra early to 0:44:56.280 --> 0:44:57.600 get ready for the crew. 0:44:57.630 --> 0:44:59.490 You're always up extra early. 0:44:59.670 --> 0:45:00.690 Is there ever a time. 0:45:00.690 --> 0:45:02.260 What's sleeping in for you? 0:45:02.260 --> 0:45:07.420 430. That's dynamite. You Give Me 430. Man, I feel 0:45:07.420 --> 0:45:09.190 like a new man. Carl's going to. 0:45:09.190 --> 0:45:12.190 Sleep in till five on Saturday, and then he's going 0:45:12.219 --> 0:45:14.980 to be out at Villa Park. Yeah, starting at 9 a.m. 0:45:15.010 --> 0:45:17.560 to noon. Out in Villa Park for a book signing 0:45:17.560 --> 0:45:21.580 for his book Killing Sin. Oh, man. Hearing such incredible 0:45:21.580 --> 0:45:24.009 feedback on this book, I want you to get the 0:45:24.010 --> 0:45:27.190 details on the book signing. Just text book to 800 0:45:27.219 --> 0:45:31.900 555 7898. This is in the Chicago suburbs. I realize 0:45:31.900 --> 0:45:34.570 that's a bit of a commute for many of you, 0:45:34.690 --> 0:45:36.910 but if you are in the suburbs, text book to 0:45:36.940 --> 0:45:39.760 800 555 7898. 0:45:39.790 --> 0:45:42.910 Yeah, grateful for you guys. And you want to look 0:45:42.910 --> 0:45:44.680 down as you get this link opened up. You just 0:45:44.680 --> 0:45:46.900 scroll down there a little bit and you go, whoa, 0:45:46.930 --> 0:45:49.840 that's a cool little surprise. So just text the word 0:45:49.870 --> 0:45:52.060 book and I can't wait to see it. We're going 0:45:52.060 --> 0:45:55.390 to have the promotions team out there. Andrew is in 0:45:55.390 --> 0:45:57.100 the back of the room. Andrew, are you out there 0:45:57.100 --> 0:46:00.330 on Saturday with me? Oh, Andrew's out there with me, 0:46:00.330 --> 0:46:01.739 and we got a whole team of folks that are 0:46:01.770 --> 0:46:04.049 going to be out there. This is live radio. That's 0:46:04.050 --> 0:46:06.660 what we're doing. We got you guys bellowing from the back. 0:46:06.780 --> 0:46:09.870 Live radio every morning. But this today we are live. 0:46:09.989 --> 0:46:11.850 Yeah, I should say live with the crowd. We don't 0:46:11.850 --> 0:46:14.220 normally have that huddled around us like a room. 0:46:14.219 --> 0:46:15.150 Full of people. 0:46:15.180 --> 0:46:17.969 Yeah, so we're going to be out there textbook. And 0:46:17.969 --> 0:46:20.730 I'd love to see you if you're within striking distance 0:46:20.730 --> 0:46:24.750 to 805 5578 98. 0:46:25.530 --> 0:46:29.009 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:46:30.030 --> 0:46:32.310 A lot of times when we think about, he won't. 0:46:32.310 --> 0:46:34.320 Fail. 0:46:34.890 --> 0:46:38.640 And then we go, is that true? I mean, really, 0:46:38.670 --> 0:46:43.020 how faithful is God? And oftentimes we only discover that 0:46:43.020 --> 0:46:45.719 when it really gets hot in the furnace. 0:46:45.750 --> 0:46:47.759 Let's bring in a special guest right now. Just sat 0:46:47.760 --> 0:46:51.480 down at our table. Danette Joy Crawford, she's a speaker, author, 0:46:51.480 --> 0:46:55.859 TV host, evangelist. You said there is a joy. There's 0:46:55.860 --> 0:46:59.300 a joy that comes when life's going really well. There's 0:46:59.300 --> 0:47:02.089 a new grandbaby that's born, you get the new house, 0:47:02.120 --> 0:47:04.580 and then there's there's the joy that you have to 0:47:04.610 --> 0:47:08.719 fight for because life is so hard. Tell us a 0:47:08.719 --> 0:47:10.670 little bit about your story. 0:47:10.700 --> 0:47:11.450 Yes. 0:47:11.480 --> 0:47:14.450 You know, I accepted Jesus as my savior at the 0:47:14.450 --> 0:47:17.569 age of 17. I didn't grow up born again, grew 0:47:17.570 --> 0:47:20.270 up going to church, but didn't have a personal relationship. 0:47:20.270 --> 0:47:23.990 Accepted the Lord at 17. Started as a youth pastor 0:47:23.989 --> 0:47:27.530 at 19 and started traveling as an evangelist at the 0:47:27.530 --> 0:47:30.710 age of 21. So the last thing I ever expected 0:47:30.710 --> 0:47:33.650 to do was become a single mom did all the 0:47:33.650 --> 0:47:37.820 right things. I was nine months pregnant and five days 0:47:37.820 --> 0:47:40.489 before I delivered my daughter, my husband announced to me 0:47:40.489 --> 0:47:43.790 that he was leaving. So my whole world came crashing 0:47:43.790 --> 0:47:47.299 down and all I had was a great big God 0:47:47.300 --> 0:47:50.330 and a little teeny baby. And I learned that God 0:47:50.330 --> 0:47:53.330 and I together are the majority. But I have to 0:47:53.360 --> 0:47:58.180 make choices just because somebody else has made choices outside 0:47:58.180 --> 0:48:00.850 of the will of God or bad choices. What counts 0:48:00.850 --> 0:48:04.150 as my choices? And I had to choose not to 0:48:04.180 --> 0:48:07.030 be shaken out of my faith, out of my joy. 0:48:07.030 --> 0:48:09.430 And I had to make a decision to go forward. 0:48:09.430 --> 0:48:11.469 One step of obedience at a time. 0:48:14.530 --> 0:48:18.730 Trials come at us in every which way, shape and form. 0:48:19.360 --> 0:48:22.509 And even James said, consider it pure joy when you 0:48:22.510 --> 0:48:27.430 face trials of many kinds. Have we ever met anyone 0:48:27.430 --> 0:48:30.640 that grew without a trial and I mean a trial? 0:48:30.670 --> 0:48:33.370 Do we really grow? I don't know, I. 0:48:33.370 --> 0:48:33.970 Don't know. 0:48:34.000 --> 0:48:37.120 I don't think so. There's a knowledge that can be gained, 0:48:37.120 --> 0:48:39.790 but it's usually on the heels of something pretty heavy. 0:48:39.820 --> 0:48:41.529 What were the things that you learned? And, you. 0:48:41.530 --> 0:48:44.650 Know, the first part of that verse is consider it 0:48:44.770 --> 0:48:47.560 pure joy. So we focus on the joy, but consider 0:48:47.590 --> 0:48:50.980 it a real key is how are you considering it? 0:48:50.980 --> 0:48:53.859 The situation, circumstance? The first thing I was like, God, 0:48:53.860 --> 0:48:56.069 this is not fair. I've done all of the right 0:48:56.070 --> 0:48:59.490 things in life. You know all of this. Know? How 0:48:59.520 --> 0:49:04.290 were you considering it? I'm considering. God. You're still in control. God, 0:49:04.290 --> 0:49:07.560 you're still a good God. God, you're still faithful. That's 0:49:07.560 --> 0:49:11.190 how we have to. That's the beginning step. And making 0:49:11.190 --> 0:49:13.320 the choice to consider it. 0:49:13.440 --> 0:49:15.810 You know, because it's it's so easy to get stuck 0:49:15.810 --> 0:49:19.050 in that place of why in the world is this 0:49:19.050 --> 0:49:22.890 happening to self-pity, the self-pity and the and the big 0:49:22.890 --> 0:49:26.069 glaring why, that may or may not ever get answered 0:49:26.070 --> 0:49:29.549 this side of heaven. How did you reconcile all of 0:49:29.550 --> 0:49:31.860 the questions I'm sure you had? And then, as you 0:49:31.860 --> 0:49:34.739 begin to be a single mama raising a baby, the 0:49:34.739 --> 0:49:37.799 questions that I'm sure your little one had, how did 0:49:37.800 --> 0:49:40.620 you reconcile that? Okay, I might not get these answers, 0:49:40.620 --> 0:49:43.830 but I'm going to continue to choose joy and march forward. 0:49:43.830 --> 0:49:47.189 That is very key. And the Lord said, Danette, you 0:49:47.190 --> 0:49:52.050 have to understand that you don't have to understand, and 0:49:52.050 --> 0:49:55.840 the Lord will give you understanding Standing when he wants to. 0:49:55.870 --> 0:49:58.900 And it might be tomorrow. It might be in five years. 0:49:58.900 --> 0:50:00.850 It might not be to the other side when we 0:50:00.850 --> 0:50:04.839 get to heaven. But he said, everyone has a choice 0:50:04.840 --> 0:50:08.110 to make, and what's going to count is your choices. 0:50:08.110 --> 0:50:10.870 I had to choose to forgive. I had to choose 0:50:10.870 --> 0:50:14.890 not to get in a self-pity party pit, and I 0:50:14.890 --> 0:50:17.620 had to decide to go forward on what God had 0:50:17.620 --> 0:50:20.860 called me to do and choose joy every day. 0:50:20.890 --> 0:50:25.180 You know, I was talking to a man two nights ago, 0:50:26.050 --> 0:50:30.489 and I sensed in my spirit that he was trying 0:50:30.489 --> 0:50:34.419 to get out of the pain. And I applaud that. 0:50:34.420 --> 0:50:36.550 I pray to get out of pain constantly. And it's 0:50:36.580 --> 0:50:40.630 a it's a great prayer, but sometimes the way out 0:50:40.630 --> 0:50:43.240 is to go into it all the way and to 0:50:43.270 --> 0:50:45.880 feel it deeply and to not ignore it. I was 0:50:45.880 --> 0:50:52.600 reading last night, Psalm 13. Um, David embraced pain big time, 0:50:52.600 --> 0:50:54.480 and he went into it. Now, I don't know if 0:50:54.480 --> 0:50:57.750 I'm explaining myself rightly here, but there's a sometimes we 0:50:57.780 --> 0:50:59.940 want to skip across the top of it rather than 0:50:59.969 --> 0:51:03.450 go into the depth of it. Not for the purpose 0:51:03.450 --> 0:51:06.359 of becoming a victim, but for the purpose of finding 0:51:06.360 --> 0:51:09.540 God meeting us at where we're really honest with ourselves. 0:51:09.570 --> 0:51:09.900 It's called. 0:51:09.900 --> 0:51:12.149 Process. It's what I call the process. God's a God 0:51:12.150 --> 0:51:15.870 of process. You have to process it. It's like grief. 0:51:15.870 --> 0:51:18.720 Grief comes in stages, and I had to grieve the 0:51:18.719 --> 0:51:22.200 loss of my marriage, the loss of dreams and visions 0:51:22.200 --> 0:51:25.080 that I had. And you know, when you go through 0:51:25.080 --> 0:51:27.150 the grief, you have to go through the steps or 0:51:27.150 --> 0:51:29.580 you get stuck. You can get stuck in depression. You 0:51:29.580 --> 0:51:32.700 can get stuck in self-pity, you can get stuck in yesterday. 0:51:32.700 --> 0:51:36.960 But God wants us to embrace his grace, to embrace 0:51:36.960 --> 0:51:38.430 his grace today and go forward. 0:51:38.460 --> 0:51:41.549 Yeah. Jeanette Joy Crawford, our guest right now. Coming up, 0:51:41.550 --> 0:51:44.759 she has a a release out just in a couple 0:51:44.790 --> 0:51:47.520 of weeks. The power of joy for women. What she 0:51:47.520 --> 0:51:50.609 wants you to know about choosing joy today. Coming up. 0:51:51.060 --> 0:51:54.080 Your shot of hope to help you through the day. 0:51:54.080 --> 0:51:57.620 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:51:57.770 --> 0:52:01.730 Shot of Hope is right. We're broadcasting live from NB 0:52:01.760 --> 0:52:06.020 here in Dallas, Texas, and all across the United States, 0:52:06.020 --> 0:52:08.720 here and even into Canada. We're grateful for you being here. 0:52:08.719 --> 0:52:11.540 It's it's so sweet. Two days ago, Ali and I 0:52:11.540 --> 0:52:14.720 were asking listeners, why in the world do you come here? 0:52:14.719 --> 0:52:17.000 And that came out of the blue, that question. But 0:52:17.000 --> 0:52:20.750 the amount of response with one key word encouragement. 0:52:21.110 --> 0:52:24.649 Staggering encouragement, wanting to take steps forward in your walk 0:52:24.650 --> 0:52:26.690 with Jesus, we've got a guest who's helping us do 0:52:26.719 --> 0:52:31.010 just that. Danette Joy Crawford, a speaker, author, TV host, evangelist. 0:52:31.040 --> 0:52:35.240 You became a single mom unexpectedly five days before delivering 0:52:35.239 --> 0:52:38.840 your child. Your husband said, I'm leaving. You know, you 0:52:38.840 --> 0:52:41.180 could you could go two directions with that. You could 0:52:41.180 --> 0:52:43.969 put your head down. Just focus on I'm going to 0:52:43.969 --> 0:52:46.250 make sure I'm good, which maybe you did for a season. 0:52:46.250 --> 0:52:48.380 But then at some point you decided, I'm going to 0:52:48.410 --> 0:52:50.750 leverage this story that God's given me the one that 0:52:50.750 --> 0:52:53.810 maybe I didn't want to write, but he's writing, and 0:52:53.810 --> 0:52:55.910 I'm going to bring other people in and help other 0:52:55.910 --> 0:52:59.089 women choose joy. Talk about this devotional that you've got 0:52:59.090 --> 0:52:59.660 coming out. 0:52:59.690 --> 0:53:02.270 Absolutely. The power of joy for women. And you know, 0:53:02.300 --> 0:53:04.759 the joy, the power of joy is not just for women, 0:53:04.760 --> 0:53:08.930 but this is targeting women. And, you know, every day 0:53:08.930 --> 0:53:12.170 we need to tap into the joy. Nehemiah eight and 0:53:12.170 --> 0:53:15.380 ten says, the joy of the Lord is our strength 0:53:15.410 --> 0:53:20.750 and the midst of whatever situation or circumstance you're dealing with, 0:53:20.780 --> 0:53:24.170 you can find joy. And as we, our joy is 0:53:24.170 --> 0:53:27.590 rooted in the right relationship with God. As your heart 0:53:27.590 --> 0:53:30.439 is right with him and as you're trusting him, you 0:53:30.440 --> 0:53:34.100 can tap into an unshakable joy, a joy that's not 0:53:34.100 --> 0:53:37.160 shaken according to your situations and circumstances. 0:53:37.190 --> 0:53:40.040 Yeah, and joy. I think it gets a bad billing. 0:53:40.070 --> 0:53:44.090 Oftentimes it's translated or interpreted that it's some kind of 0:53:44.120 --> 0:53:48.500 giddiness that doesn't recognize, but it's really a depth of 0:53:48.500 --> 0:53:51.600 understanding of the character of God. You've found that, haven't you? 0:53:51.630 --> 0:53:54.509 Absolutely. And that is a really great way to explain it. 0:53:54.540 --> 0:53:57.930 It is a depth in understanding the character of God. 0:53:57.960 --> 0:54:01.380 God is a good God. God will bring you through 0:54:01.410 --> 0:54:05.040 in where you're at. It's not your final destination. You know, 0:54:05.070 --> 0:54:08.009 I had to make steps every day. I would set 0:54:08.010 --> 0:54:11.069 a goal. And in the beginning, there were months that 0:54:11.070 --> 0:54:12.870 my big goal was to get out of bed, to 0:54:12.900 --> 0:54:15.569 take a shower and put my makeup on because I 0:54:15.570 --> 0:54:18.150 was so devastated with my first child, the only child 0:54:18.150 --> 0:54:20.969 I'd ever had. None of my biological family was in 0:54:20.969 --> 0:54:25.080 the area. So, you know, set your goals and go forward. 0:54:25.080 --> 0:54:27.420 Get in the presence of the Lord. When we're in 0:54:27.420 --> 0:54:30.509 the presence of God, through worship, through prayer, through studying 0:54:30.510 --> 0:54:33.930 His Word, we can find out and be reminded and 0:54:33.930 --> 0:54:38.009 encouraged of who we are in Christ and your your destiny. 0:54:38.040 --> 0:54:42.029 Your call has not changed just because your circumstances have changed. 0:54:42.030 --> 0:54:44.759 God hasn't changed and neither has his call or plan 0:54:44.760 --> 0:54:45.480 for your life. 0:54:45.570 --> 0:54:47.580 You've got a book coming out. You also have a 0:54:47.580 --> 0:54:51.110 television program, Joy with Janet Crawford. You must get to 0:54:51.140 --> 0:54:55.219 hear stories of of women who, whatever their circumstances are 0:54:55.219 --> 0:54:57.950 in life, who have who have really been ministered to 0:54:57.980 --> 0:55:00.020 to give us a story that stands out. Kind of 0:55:00.050 --> 0:55:01.670 kind of one of your whys. 0:55:01.700 --> 0:55:05.720 Well, I'll tell you when I first started our outreaches, 0:55:05.719 --> 0:55:08.870 we have 23 community outreaches. And God said, get your 0:55:08.870 --> 0:55:11.330 eyes off of yourself. That's a key. Whatever you're going 0:55:11.330 --> 0:55:14.480 through today, get your eyes off of yourself. I took 0:55:14.480 --> 0:55:17.450 what little groceries I had, and I took my baby, 0:55:17.450 --> 0:55:20.960 and I went over to low income, subsidized housing that 0:55:20.960 --> 0:55:24.140 became our Bread of Life feeding program, where we do 0:55:24.170 --> 0:55:27.980 door to door deliveries for single moms in low income neighborhoods. 0:55:27.980 --> 0:55:31.400 I knocked on the door. Long story. This girl got 0:55:31.400 --> 0:55:33.830 saved and this is what she would call me. I 0:55:33.830 --> 0:55:36.919 had two nicknames in in the subsidized housing in the hood, 0:55:36.920 --> 0:55:40.520 the spunky white girl. And this is what she'd say. 0:55:40.520 --> 0:55:41.990 They would peek out their windows and they go, oh, 0:55:42.020 --> 0:55:44.930 here comes that spunky white girl. Ain't nobody can really 0:55:44.930 --> 0:55:48.600 be that happy. And then this girl got her life 0:55:48.600 --> 0:55:52.020 changed around. And her name was Tracy. All of her kids, 0:55:52.020 --> 0:55:54.930 she was living in an abusive relationship. Wasn't married to 0:55:54.960 --> 0:55:59.610 the guy. Long story. Everyone saved. She's leading worship in. 0:55:59.610 --> 0:56:02.700 So many people's lives were changed. Just because I got 0:56:02.700 --> 0:56:05.520 my eyes off of myself and went to bring encouragement 0:56:05.520 --> 0:56:06.360 to somebody else. 0:56:06.390 --> 0:56:09.510 Yeah, to the person that's listening right now going, How's 0:56:09.510 --> 0:56:12.510 God going to dig me out of this ditch? Well, 0:56:12.510 --> 0:56:16.950 you got the right question. How is God? Because you can't, 0:56:16.950 --> 0:56:21.510 but he can. And what an opportunity to feature something 0:56:21.510 --> 0:56:23.759 here that might be of huge encouragement to you. 0:56:23.940 --> 0:56:29.340 Just text the word joy to 800 555 7898. Text 0:56:29.370 --> 0:56:33.690 joy to 800 555 7898. 0:56:33.719 --> 0:56:35.669 Yeah. I want to thank you so much for being 0:56:35.670 --> 0:56:37.589 with us here this morning. It goes quick on drive 0:56:37.620 --> 0:56:38.730 time radio. Well, thank. 0:56:38.730 --> 0:56:40.799 You for having me. It's been a blessing and an honor. 0:56:40.830 --> 0:56:43.830 Yeah. Okay. We've got that keyword for you guys. 0:56:43.980 --> 0:56:50.390 Text joy to 800 555 7898. Joy to 805 five 0:56:50.420 --> 0:56:52.040 five 7898. 0:56:52.280 --> 0:56:55.760 You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:56:55.820 --> 0:56:58.910 Over a year ago, a lot of tragedy, a lot 0:56:58.940 --> 0:57:01.250 of pain, a lot of heartache, and yet a lot 0:57:01.280 --> 0:57:02.000 of redemption. 0:57:02.030 --> 0:57:04.700 Captain Guy Barak joins us right now. He's the Israel 0:57:04.700 --> 0:57:09.049 naval attache to the U.S. and military attache to the U.N.. 0:57:09.080 --> 0:57:12.319 You are here today or this week at NRB, representing 0:57:12.320 --> 0:57:16.160 the Israel or friends of the Israel Defense Forces, f IDF. 0:57:16.190 --> 0:57:18.020 Give us a little bit of an overview of what 0:57:18.020 --> 0:57:18.860 that is. 0:57:19.160 --> 0:57:21.169 Good morning. First of all, thank you for having me here. 0:57:21.200 --> 0:57:25.250 It's an honor and pleasure and feel all the support here. 0:57:25.340 --> 0:57:28.790 So f IDF friends of the IDF is the organization 0:57:28.790 --> 0:57:31.820 that is with direct contact with the Ministry of Defense 0:57:31.820 --> 0:57:35.209 in Israel and got directly our needs. The IDF needs 0:57:35.210 --> 0:57:38.000 the soldiers needs to support them during the wars and 0:57:38.000 --> 0:57:39.770 even before and after the war, of course. 0:57:39.800 --> 0:57:41.990 What are you seeing? Give us a story. Give us 0:57:41.990 --> 0:57:43.550 a story. What's on your heart? 0:57:44.380 --> 0:57:48.760 So I'm serving the Israeli Navy for 26 years. Since 0:57:48.790 --> 0:57:51.490 October 7th. I'm sorry. Three years ago, I came to 0:57:51.520 --> 0:57:54.340 the US to represent the Israeli Navy here. And since 0:57:54.370 --> 0:57:57.190 October 7th, I represent the IDF. I was representing the 0:57:57.190 --> 0:58:00.100 IDF at the UN, which is another war zone. You 0:58:00.100 --> 0:58:03.580 can you can imagine. Yeah. Um, you know, Israel is 0:58:03.580 --> 0:58:07.090 a small country. October 7th touches almost, almost each and 0:58:07.090 --> 0:58:11.530 every family in Israel, including myself. Um, my wife's uncle 0:58:11.530 --> 0:58:14.680 was murdered in his house in Kibbutz Neros, in front 0:58:14.680 --> 0:58:19.240 of his wife's eyes. And she was, uh, been captured 0:58:19.450 --> 0:58:23.830 as hostages in his hostage in Gaza. We were lucky 0:58:23.830 --> 0:58:26.980 enough that she was released in the first hostages deal, 0:58:27.010 --> 0:58:30.580 but I can guarantee she's not the same person. Um, 0:58:30.580 --> 0:58:33.880 and I lost also friends during this war. And in 0:58:33.880 --> 0:58:39.850 October 7th itself. So, actually, the personal tragedy mixed with 0:58:39.850 --> 0:58:42.959 the national tragedy. And it basically goes to every house 0:58:42.960 --> 0:58:43.740 in Israel. 0:58:43.770 --> 0:58:46.110 Yeah, that's heartbreaking, isn't it? 0:58:46.830 --> 0:58:50.430 It is. But we are a strong nation. We are 0:58:50.430 --> 0:58:55.290 a strong people, and we keep on fighting until the victory. 0:58:55.530 --> 0:58:58.680 What are the primary needs that you're that you're seeing 0:58:58.680 --> 0:59:01.709 that the IDF is able to step in and meet? 0:59:03.210 --> 0:59:09.419 Uh, you know, IDF been during this war adjusting for 0:59:09.420 --> 0:59:13.770 our needs day to day. If it's a special ambulances 0:59:13.770 --> 0:59:17.250 for the field that we can use blood plasma in 0:59:17.250 --> 0:59:22.950 rough roads. Um, treating PTSD, many of our soldiers and 0:59:22.950 --> 0:59:29.340 civilians suffering from PTSD post-traumatic after October 7th, since October 7th, 0:59:29.430 --> 0:59:33.000 of course, supporting the widows and the orphans and many, 0:59:33.000 --> 0:59:37.560 many other needs to support both our soldiers and our society. 0:59:37.890 --> 0:59:40.290 Coming up here, we're going to have a link for you. 0:59:40.290 --> 0:59:43.670 Boom crew, a lot of you really do want to 0:59:43.670 --> 0:59:45.650 be a part of helping out where you can, and 0:59:45.650 --> 0:59:48.140 we're going to have a link for you. It's it's 0:59:48.170 --> 0:59:50.900 a sobering thing with the we talk a lot about 0:59:50.900 --> 0:59:54.230 news cycles and how quickly they come and go. And 0:59:54.230 --> 0:59:56.930 yet at the same time, some of the pain and 0:59:56.930 --> 1:00:01.040 the fallout from tragedies like October 7th linger on. And 1:00:01.040 --> 1:00:05.060 yet we can do something about it. That's the beauty 1:00:05.060 --> 1:00:07.190 of it. We'll talk about that straight ahead. 1:00:07.370 --> 1:00:11.450 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 1:00:11.450 --> 1:00:15.410 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 1:00:15.440 --> 1:00:16.760 Moody Radio. 1:00:17.120 --> 1:00:19.970 We were really encouraged when we put out a question 1:00:19.970 --> 1:00:21.710 to you, boom crew, asking you, why in the world 1:00:21.710 --> 1:00:24.320 do you tune in here? And we didn't say that. 1:00:24.320 --> 1:00:26.060 And you need to know or I think you know, 1:00:26.060 --> 1:00:28.940 our hearts. We sure don't say it for our benefit. 1:00:28.940 --> 1:00:32.689 But the word back was so for our benefit, and 1:00:32.690 --> 1:00:35.900 it was a resounding to be encouraged in my walk 1:00:35.900 --> 1:00:39.770 in my relationship with Jesus Christ. That's beautiful, isn't it? 1:00:39.800 --> 1:00:43.410 It is because, I mean, everyone put it in slightly 1:00:43.410 --> 1:00:49.290 different words. But that was the resounding, overwhelming consensus is 1:00:49.290 --> 1:00:52.050 that I want to be encouraged in my walk with Jesus. 1:00:52.230 --> 1:00:54.810 The encouraging words out of First John. And I'm going 1:00:54.840 --> 1:00:58.320 to build some context around this here, and it picks 1:00:58.320 --> 1:01:00.600 it up in verse five of the first chapter of 1:01:00.600 --> 1:01:03.510 First John. This is the message we have heard from 1:01:03.510 --> 1:01:06.030 him and proclaim to you. This is written by the 1:01:06.030 --> 1:01:11.250 only disciple that died in natural death, that God is light, 1:01:11.250 --> 1:01:14.460 and in him there is no darkness at all. Wow. 1:01:14.490 --> 1:01:16.170 Isn't that amazing? God is light, and in him there 1:01:16.200 --> 1:01:18.870 is no darkness at all. If we say we have 1:01:18.870 --> 1:01:23.160 fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we're. We're 1:01:23.160 --> 1:01:26.910 not practicing the truth. We're lying to ourselves. Whoa! 1:01:26.940 --> 1:01:27.600 It's a big deal. 1:01:27.600 --> 1:01:30.750 So it's one thing to have a claim to know 1:01:30.750 --> 1:01:33.900 that God is light. But if we claim that he 1:01:33.900 --> 1:01:36.720 is light and yet we walk in darkness. Oh, no, 1:01:36.720 --> 1:01:40.380 we're not practicing the truth. So how do we practice 1:01:40.380 --> 1:01:43.860 the truth this morning? If we walk in the light 1:01:43.860 --> 1:01:46.169 as he is in the light, we have fellowship with 1:01:46.170 --> 1:01:49.890 one another. Look at what happens. You know, sometimes that 1:01:49.890 --> 1:01:53.640 relational divide that we experience as a result of being 1:01:53.640 --> 1:01:56.640 in the shadows. So step into the light, will have 1:01:56.640 --> 1:01:59.580 fellowship with one another in the blood of Jesus. His 1:01:59.580 --> 1:02:03.150 son cleanses us from all sin. Now, if we say 1:02:03.150 --> 1:02:05.700 we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth 1:02:05.700 --> 1:02:09.060 is not in us. But if we confess our sins, 1:02:09.060 --> 1:02:11.910 he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins 1:02:11.910 --> 1:02:14.280 and to cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I want to 1:02:14.310 --> 1:02:17.970 encourage you today. I want to encourage you to take 1:02:17.970 --> 1:02:20.670 a moment to do some self-assessment. And you might say, 1:02:20.700 --> 1:02:22.770 oh man, you just told us you were going to 1:02:22.770 --> 1:02:27.630 encourage us. I am encouraging you because to know that 1:02:27.630 --> 1:02:34.350 God is light and to walk in the shadows is unwise. 1:02:34.500 --> 1:02:37.410 But to take a moment just to say, God, I 1:02:37.410 --> 1:02:40.690 just bring to you anything from the shadows in my life, 1:02:40.690 --> 1:02:42.820 and I confess it to you. You ready for this? 1:02:42.850 --> 1:02:48.760 Everything is scrubbed clean. We're washed. It's like that whiteboard 1:02:48.760 --> 1:02:52.570 that's got all that residue on it. God scrubs that clean, 1:02:52.570 --> 1:02:55.810 and he's writing a new story in your heart today, 1:02:55.810 --> 1:03:00.490 and you'll have connection with others around us. How sweet 1:03:00.490 --> 1:03:06.490 is that? And so I know it's so uncommon to hear. 1:03:08.740 --> 1:03:13.930 But that inspection, personal contrition before the Lord that says, God, 1:03:13.930 --> 1:03:18.280 search me, know me, try me. What a beautiful exercise today. 1:03:18.280 --> 1:03:21.010 As you're getting your day started, it will carry you. 1:03:21.040 --> 1:03:25.840 Well, that reminder to examine any areas of your life 1:03:25.840 --> 1:03:30.250 where there's shadows or darkness, where you've chosen the darkness 1:03:30.250 --> 1:03:33.490 over the light and to bring it into the light. 1:03:33.520 --> 1:03:34.180 Bring it into the. 1:03:34.180 --> 1:03:38.310 Light. And Carl, you're right, this is encouragement because although 1:03:38.310 --> 1:03:41.970 it's uncomfortable to bring things into the light, sometimes it's 1:03:41.970 --> 1:03:43.620 lonely to keep it in the dark. 1:03:43.770 --> 1:03:45.030 Oh, that's that's a big one. 1:03:45.030 --> 1:03:48.690 Everyone who is in Walking in darkness. Keeping things in 1:03:48.690 --> 1:03:52.830 the dark is lonely because they've got things that they're hiding. 1:03:52.830 --> 1:03:55.200 They've got things that they feel like they can't tell 1:03:55.230 --> 1:03:58.979 anybody about. And you just kind of shrivel up in 1:03:59.010 --> 1:04:01.200 that when you hold it to yourself. But when you 1:04:01.200 --> 1:04:03.720 walk in the light, you give it to God. You 1:04:03.720 --> 1:04:06.150 talk with God about it, but then you bring in 1:04:06.150 --> 1:04:08.880 community of the of of God, who you can trust. 1:04:08.910 --> 1:04:11.730 You say, my brothers, who can help me walk through this, 1:04:11.730 --> 1:04:16.140 my sisters who can help me walk through this? Now 1:04:16.140 --> 1:04:20.430 we've opened up the door to growth, to joy in 1:04:20.430 --> 1:04:22.470 the Lord. It's all better from there. Yeah. 1:04:22.470 --> 1:04:24.690 And the interesting thing here is in this text is 1:04:24.690 --> 1:04:27.810 this if you walk in the light, you will have 1:04:27.810 --> 1:04:29.880 fellowship with one another. Isn't that interesting? 1:04:29.910 --> 1:04:31.110 That is how it works. 1:04:31.230 --> 1:04:35.210 So you might feel alone. Step into the light of 1:04:35.210 --> 1:04:39.980 personal introspection, wipe the decks clean, and then God in 1:04:39.980 --> 1:04:43.940 His providence and goodness will you will find fellowship beginning 1:04:43.970 --> 1:04:47.060 to happen, maybe as never before. And what a great 1:04:47.060 --> 1:04:50.090 way to start your day. So there's some encouragement for you. 1:04:50.450 --> 1:04:55.010 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 1:04:55.010 --> 1:04:58.790 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 1:04:58.820 --> 1:04:59.510 We are Carl. 1:04:59.510 --> 1:05:03.350 And Crew mornings broadcasting live from NRP in Dallas, Texas, 1:05:03.350 --> 1:05:06.020 and we are having a sweet time this week having 1:05:06.020 --> 1:05:09.740 conversations around the power of God to change lives. But 1:05:09.740 --> 1:05:12.110 we did not forget. No, it's near the bottom of 1:05:12.110 --> 1:05:14.090 the hour, and it's that time. 1:05:14.540 --> 1:05:18.260 Making herself laugh. No matter who joins her, it's time 1:05:18.260 --> 1:05:20.540 for Ali thinks it's funny. 1:05:22.820 --> 1:05:24.830 Well, have you ever seen fish in a band? 1:05:25.820 --> 1:05:27.740 Fish in a band? Wasn't there. 1:05:27.740 --> 1:05:28.940 A band? Fish? 1:05:29.300 --> 1:05:30.740 No. No, no. Yeah. Go fish. 1:05:30.770 --> 1:05:31.550 Oh. Go fish. 1:05:31.580 --> 1:05:33.200 Okay, well, that's not what I'm talking about. Okay. 1:05:33.230 --> 1:05:34.260 Fish in a band. 1:05:34.470 --> 1:05:38.700 Just picture. Picture. Four little fish. They formed a band, 1:05:38.700 --> 1:05:41.580 but they do not use any musical instruments. Do you 1:05:41.580 --> 1:05:44.880 want to know why? Yeah. They have to sing acapella. 1:05:48.480 --> 1:05:52.620 That is outstanding. Wow. That is outstanding. 1:05:52.650 --> 1:05:53.940 My favorite jokes are the ones. 1:05:53.970 --> 1:05:56.190 Oh! Hold it! Ali was losing it before she got 1:05:56.190 --> 1:05:58.980 through the hole. Couldn't get through. She couldn't get between 1:05:59.010 --> 1:06:02.670 aqua and paella. She lost it. It's so good. I 1:06:02.670 --> 1:06:03.330 just I couldn't. 1:06:03.330 --> 1:06:04.260 Get it out. It was too. 1:06:04.260 --> 1:06:04.890 Funny. 1:06:05.220 --> 1:06:10.080 Next one. You know, everybody has house rules. Sometimes grandparents 1:06:10.080 --> 1:06:13.980 have house rules. Yeah. This one particular set of grandparents 1:06:13.980 --> 1:06:16.950 had a specific house rule that was a little unique. 1:06:16.980 --> 1:06:21.900 Grandma said to the grandkids, you cannot throw grandpa's false teeth. 1:06:21.930 --> 1:06:24.840 You just can't do it. You cannot throw them, and 1:06:24.840 --> 1:06:27.480 you definitely can't throw them at the vehicle. Do you 1:06:27.480 --> 1:06:28.350 want to know why? 1:06:28.380 --> 1:06:28.979 Gotta know. 1:06:29.010 --> 1:06:30.750 Because you might dent your car. 1:06:35.270 --> 1:06:36.170 Oh, look at it. 1:06:36.200 --> 1:06:40.550 Oh my goodness. The visual is so much more. Oh boy. 1:06:40.580 --> 1:06:43.400 So much more. Okay, I'm crying now. I really am laughing. 1:06:43.400 --> 1:06:43.970 Harder than I. 1:06:43.970 --> 1:06:44.780 Should. Wow. 1:06:44.810 --> 1:06:46.130 Blame it on Texas. 1:06:46.160 --> 1:06:50.510 Tech's jokes to 800 555 7898. 1:06:50.540 --> 1:06:55.070 Text jokes to 800 555 7898. 1:06:55.250 --> 1:06:59.150 Oh, Ali. Those were both so outstanding. You got to 1:06:59.150 --> 1:07:04.370 get them. Torment those around you today, folks. Text jokes 1:07:04.370 --> 1:07:09.620 to 800 555 7898. I commercial fished with the sea 1:07:09.650 --> 1:07:13.430 captain who, uh, he had dentures and he couldn't keep 1:07:13.430 --> 1:07:15.950 them in to save his neck. Oh, no. And when 1:07:15.950 --> 1:07:19.580 we'd wake up, like when it was a closure during 1:07:19.580 --> 1:07:22.400 our fishing, we'd wake up. And those those things were 1:07:22.400 --> 1:07:26.240 always sitting in a different spot. And so we'd sit 1:07:26.270 --> 1:07:27.380 on his teeth. 1:07:27.410 --> 1:07:28.160 Oh, no. No. 1:07:28.190 --> 1:07:31.240 I grabbed a cup of water one time, and thankfully 1:07:31.270 --> 1:07:33.190 I looked down and saw there at the bottom of 1:07:33.190 --> 1:07:33.970 the water. 1:07:34.000 --> 1:07:35.530 But you never dented a car, right? 1:07:35.530 --> 1:07:38.650 I never dented a car. You might dent your car. 1:07:39.100 --> 1:07:39.790 Jeez. 1:07:40.840 --> 1:07:46.120 Text jokes to 800 555 7898. Broadcasting live from NB. 1:07:46.120 --> 1:07:48.580 And we've got a guest coming up here in a 1:07:48.580 --> 1:07:50.770 moment that you're going to want to catch on the. 1:07:50.770 --> 1:07:53.650 Silk from transform, Iran is going to be joining us. 1:07:53.860 --> 1:07:58.810 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 1:07:58.840 --> 1:08:02.800 Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 1:08:02.830 --> 1:08:04.240 on Moody Radio. 1:08:04.240 --> 1:08:10.600 Broadcasting live from Dallas, Texas. National religious broadcasters. A big 1:08:10.600 --> 1:08:14.020 event here, and we've got the opportunity to connect with 1:08:14.020 --> 1:08:17.439 some incredible people. And boy, have we got a fine 1:08:17.439 --> 1:08:18.460 young lady right now. 1:08:18.490 --> 1:08:22.750 Lana Silk with Transform Iran or the chief executive officer 1:08:22.780 --> 1:08:25.150 here in the US. Iran is one of the world's 1:08:25.150 --> 1:08:28.720 most hostile countries to the gospel. But you're seeing the 1:08:28.720 --> 1:08:32.730 church grow rapidly. I feel like I've heard that story before. 1:08:32.760 --> 1:08:34.500 Tell us a little bit about what's going on. 1:08:34.530 --> 1:08:37.230 Yes. Ali, thank you for having me. The church in 1:08:37.229 --> 1:08:41.400 Iran is thriving. It's thriving. It's growing, it's strong. There are, 1:08:41.430 --> 1:08:46.320 of course, um, battles with discouragement. But when they see 1:08:46.320 --> 1:08:48.930 the way God is moving, it constantly stirs them on 1:08:48.930 --> 1:08:51.330 for more. And it's exciting to be part of it. 1:08:51.360 --> 1:08:52.860 Give us a story, Lana. 1:08:53.040 --> 1:08:56.220 So we were just talking earlier about God's supernatural work 1:08:56.220 --> 1:08:59.129 in Iran, weren't we? He is constantly working through that 1:08:59.130 --> 1:09:01.110 country and you know, God is doing his own thing. 1:09:01.110 --> 1:09:03.509 He is wooing people to himself, and he is so 1:09:03.510 --> 1:09:05.969 generous in allowing us to partner with him. But he 1:09:05.970 --> 1:09:08.790 can do it without us. Yeah. So here's an example. 1:09:08.790 --> 1:09:11.220 This is one of our pastors now in our churches. 1:09:11.220 --> 1:09:14.250 She was part of a muslim family. She was forced 1:09:14.250 --> 1:09:17.100 into marriage at 12. She had three kids through her teens. 1:09:17.100 --> 1:09:20.490 And then around her 20th birthday, her husband, her brother 1:09:20.490 --> 1:09:22.710 and her father were murdered by the government. She's part 1:09:22.710 --> 1:09:25.439 of an ethnic minority group in Iran, where there's some 1:09:25.439 --> 1:09:30.660 political activities which led to their death. So she took 1:09:30.660 --> 1:09:32.280 that as a sign that she wasn't a good enough 1:09:32.280 --> 1:09:35.580 Muslim and decided to really press hard into her Islamic faith. 1:09:35.580 --> 1:09:38.790 She was praying more, fasting more wanting to please Allah 1:09:38.820 --> 1:09:41.910 better so that kind of judgment would fall on her again. 1:09:41.910 --> 1:09:44.910 And as she began doing that, Jesus began appearing to her. 1:09:44.910 --> 1:09:47.670 So he would stand in the doorway in her room 1:09:47.670 --> 1:09:50.370 and put his arm out to her and say, trust me, 1:09:50.400 --> 1:09:52.470 come and follow me, or he would appear to her 1:09:52.470 --> 1:09:54.360 in her dreams. He would take her flying on these 1:09:54.360 --> 1:09:57.150 adventures that she described to me and saying, you know 1:09:57.600 --> 1:10:01.620 I'm trustworthy, you can follow me. And it would just continue. 1:10:01.620 --> 1:10:03.630 And then she started to notice that when she was 1:10:03.630 --> 1:10:06.420 praying her Islamic prayers, when she would go to say Muhammad, 1:10:06.450 --> 1:10:09.360 the word Jesus would come out by accident. And so 1:10:09.360 --> 1:10:11.910 she would catch herself and think, wow, I need to 1:10:11.939 --> 1:10:15.750 redo this. This is wrong. Try to pray again and again, involuntarily. 1:10:15.750 --> 1:10:19.350 Instead of Muhammad, she would say Jesus. So over the 1:10:19.350 --> 1:10:21.870 period of time as this is happening, of course we 1:10:21.870 --> 1:10:24.210 know the power of the name of Jesus. He began 1:10:24.210 --> 1:10:25.979 to really touch her heart and she ended up giving 1:10:25.979 --> 1:10:27.970 her life to him. But now it's dangerous for her. 1:10:28.000 --> 1:10:30.910 She's in a muslim family, and they're very strong in 1:10:30.939 --> 1:10:33.519 their faith. And they're not. It wouldn't be good for 1:10:33.520 --> 1:10:34.299 her if they knew. 1:10:34.330 --> 1:10:34.689 Has. 1:10:34.720 --> 1:10:36.549 Has she? Oh, so they don't know. 1:10:36.580 --> 1:10:38.560 They don't know if they know. They would likely turn 1:10:38.560 --> 1:10:41.290 her in or kill her themselves. So she describes a 1:10:41.290 --> 1:10:42.880 period of time when she tried to keep it hidden. 1:10:42.880 --> 1:10:45.490 She would go hide in the bathroom and read her 1:10:45.490 --> 1:10:47.259 Bible there. That was the only place where she could 1:10:47.290 --> 1:10:49.660 have a little bit of privacy because, you know, in, 1:10:49.660 --> 1:10:54.490 in Iran, the, the male nearest male relative effectively owns 1:10:54.490 --> 1:10:56.920 the woman. So now her husband is dead. Her father 1:10:56.920 --> 1:11:00.340 is dead. That means her husband's family take authority over 1:11:00.340 --> 1:11:03.490 her and her children, and she's probably living with them, 1:11:03.490 --> 1:11:05.530 and she has them in and out of her life constantly. 1:11:05.530 --> 1:11:08.080 She's got to be careful. But you know, when Jesus 1:11:08.080 --> 1:11:10.900 transforms your life, it's hard to hide it. Wow. 1:11:10.930 --> 1:11:14.230 Talk a little bit about the the Ministry of Transform 1:11:14.229 --> 1:11:16.570 Iran and your commitment to it. 1:11:16.600 --> 1:11:20.320 Yes. Well, the ministry is about reaching our country, reaching 1:11:20.320 --> 1:11:22.960 our country with Jesus's love and power up and down 1:11:22.960 --> 1:11:25.599 the country. The men, the women, the children, the illiterate, 1:11:25.630 --> 1:11:29.150 the educated women like this lady whose story I'm telling you. 1:11:29.270 --> 1:11:32.630 Why is this such a passion point for you? 1:11:33.020 --> 1:11:36.650 Well, I was born and raised in Iran, I love Iran. 1:11:36.830 --> 1:11:39.470 That's my country. That's my home. Eventually, I'll get to 1:11:39.500 --> 1:11:42.860 go back and see it again. And I. You know, 1:11:42.890 --> 1:11:44.960 God loves Iran even more than me. I think we 1:11:44.960 --> 1:11:46.910 only have a glimpse of his passion for the things 1:11:46.910 --> 1:11:50.090 that he puts on our heart. And I live for that. 1:11:50.720 --> 1:11:53.750 When we come back. Lana, we want to talk about 1:11:53.750 --> 1:11:57.050 how widespread is the underground church and how does it 1:11:57.050 --> 1:12:01.370 even operate and what is the what are the faith 1:12:01.370 --> 1:12:04.460 stories you're getting out of there? We'll get that straight ahead. 1:12:05.120 --> 1:12:08.540 This is Curling Crew on Moody Radio. 1:12:09.229 --> 1:12:12.800 We're broadcasting live from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention this week. 1:12:12.800 --> 1:12:15.140 We've got special guest Lana Silk with us right now 1:12:15.140 --> 1:12:19.130 with Transform Iran. Born and raised in Iran before emigrating 1:12:19.160 --> 1:12:22.490 to the UK. The growth of the church in Iran 1:12:22.490 --> 1:12:26.170 has been Unbelievable. Tell us a little bit about the, 1:12:26.170 --> 1:12:29.110 the the information that you do have about the numbers 1:12:29.110 --> 1:12:31.450 and just how accelerated it's been. 1:12:31.479 --> 1:12:34.780 Yes. Well, before the revolution in 79, we think there 1:12:34.780 --> 1:12:37.570 were maybe three, four, 500 at the most Muslim background 1:12:37.570 --> 1:12:41.320 believers in Iran. A few years ago, a research organization 1:12:41.320 --> 1:12:44.290 in Holland did some extensive research to try to ascertain 1:12:44.290 --> 1:12:46.360 the numbers. They think it was well over a million 1:12:46.360 --> 1:12:48.939 at that point. So and people are saying Iran is 1:12:48.939 --> 1:12:51.280 the fastest growing church in the world. So if we're 1:12:51.310 --> 1:12:53.230 if that is the case, we're probably one and a half, 1:12:53.229 --> 1:12:55.090 maybe closer to two. And that's just in the last 1:12:55.090 --> 1:12:55.870 50 years. 1:12:55.870 --> 1:12:58.030 How does the church grow? I mean, how does it 1:12:58.060 --> 1:13:01.300 you don't you don't set up rent a building on 1:13:01.300 --> 1:13:04.060 the corner and hey, put up the sign flyers. 1:13:04.390 --> 1:13:04.690 Yeah. 1:13:05.229 --> 1:13:07.780 Yeah. No. That's right. You know, the church grows in 1:13:07.780 --> 1:13:10.030 the way. It probably should. Yeah. Through the lives of 1:13:10.030 --> 1:13:13.240 people who are transformed by God's love and who are 1:13:13.240 --> 1:13:16.300 themselves bursting with Jesus in their life and want to 1:13:16.300 --> 1:13:18.519 tell people, other people then get saved. And it sort 1:13:18.520 --> 1:13:20.290 of it's fruitful, you know, in the way that I 1:13:20.320 --> 1:13:21.130 guess it should be. 1:13:21.160 --> 1:13:24.930 What are so those stories where someone is now transformed 1:13:24.930 --> 1:13:28.950 by the power of God. They're living as light. They're 1:13:28.950 --> 1:13:33.960 bearing fruit. Somebody sees it, they ask him a question. 1:13:34.050 --> 1:13:37.200 Now you got a choice. Yes. Do I tell them 1:13:37.200 --> 1:13:40.500 who's buttering my bread? You know what I'm saying? 1:13:40.530 --> 1:13:44.130 Exactly right. You know, they are so courageous and so 1:13:44.160 --> 1:13:48.000 inspiring in the way they are excited for those opportunities 1:13:48.000 --> 1:13:50.189 to bring Jesus to the people around them. And bear 1:13:50.220 --> 1:13:52.290 in mind, Iran is a country of people who are 1:13:52.290 --> 1:13:55.320 really under trauma, like just the oppression, the brutality of 1:13:55.350 --> 1:13:58.020 their government. So, you know, when you love a people 1:13:58.050 --> 1:14:00.750 group and you see that they are hurting, you know, 1:14:00.750 --> 1:14:03.480 you have the answer for their problems, you can't help 1:14:03.479 --> 1:14:05.250 but share it, even if it's going to cost you. 1:14:05.400 --> 1:14:09.060 What can the American church learn from the church in Iran? 1:14:09.240 --> 1:14:12.059 That's a great question. I think all of us who 1:14:12.060 --> 1:14:15.570 live in a free context can be inspired by the passion, 1:14:15.600 --> 1:14:18.870 the zeal, the sold out nature of the faith, of 1:14:18.870 --> 1:14:21.450 the people who live in countries like Iran. When we 1:14:21.450 --> 1:14:24.290 live in a free world, it's very easy to get 1:14:24.290 --> 1:14:27.650 comfortable to pick and choose, become a consumer really of 1:14:27.650 --> 1:14:30.020 our faith. You know which church is more fun? Which 1:14:30.050 --> 1:14:32.000 worship do I like more? Which Bible do I want 1:14:32.030 --> 1:14:33.770 to pick up or put down? When you're in a 1:14:33.770 --> 1:14:36.559 context where you're persecuted, all of those sort of extras 1:14:36.590 --> 1:14:40.939 go away, then it's all in, sold out, whatever it takes. 1:14:40.970 --> 1:14:43.940 How are you getting resources to the underground church? How 1:14:43.970 --> 1:14:46.639 are we getting Bibles? I mean, how does that work? 1:14:46.670 --> 1:14:49.160 There are ways to take physical things in, and we 1:14:49.160 --> 1:14:52.550 have our secret ways, which we do. But most of 1:14:52.550 --> 1:14:56.750 it honestly is digital. Digital media is very powerful and effective. 1:14:56.780 --> 1:15:00.889 It's good quality and it's easier to hide. So we 1:15:00.890 --> 1:15:03.950 use satellite TV, radio, social media, but we also have 1:15:03.950 --> 1:15:08.300 an app where people can download Bibles, discipleship materials. So 1:15:08.300 --> 1:15:09.980 that's probably the most predominant way. 1:15:09.979 --> 1:15:12.169 So let's say there's a million and a half followers 1:15:12.170 --> 1:15:16.280 of Jesus in Iran. How many of those have a 1:15:16.280 --> 1:15:19.790 physical Bible or even risk that? I mean, that's a 1:15:19.790 --> 1:15:22.179 huge risk, isn't it, to have a Bible in your 1:15:22.210 --> 1:15:23.230 on your person? 1:15:23.229 --> 1:15:24.880 It is. It is a risk. 1:15:24.910 --> 1:15:27.670 Um, it wouldn't be the majority, I would I would 1:15:27.670 --> 1:15:29.500 love to know myself, but I would guess it would 1:15:29.530 --> 1:15:32.169 be less than half that would have a physical Bible. 1:15:33.220 --> 1:15:36.189 This is an awe inspiring. You know, it's the Spirit 1:15:36.189 --> 1:15:38.770 of God hit me with is the children? Yes. What 1:15:38.770 --> 1:15:40.780 are the stories about the children? I feel like I 1:15:40.780 --> 1:15:41.979 need to ask you that. Yeah. 1:15:42.189 --> 1:15:43.450 You know what? I think that might have been the 1:15:43.450 --> 1:15:46.389 Holy Spirit prompting you that the children are really high 1:15:46.390 --> 1:15:49.240 on our focus this year. We've been thinking a lot 1:15:49.240 --> 1:15:54.010 about how do we empower and strengthen the Christian children. First, 1:15:54.040 --> 1:15:56.920 imagine the context in which you have an Islamic education. 1:15:56.920 --> 1:15:59.320 You can't tell your schoolteachers you're a Christian. Your whole 1:15:59.320 --> 1:16:02.170 family would be outed. You have to play this game 1:16:02.170 --> 1:16:05.290 of being a muslim. You're being forced to study the Quran, 1:16:05.290 --> 1:16:07.599 to recite the namaz, and all of that is going 1:16:07.600 --> 1:16:09.910 on at school. Then you go home and the same 1:16:09.910 --> 1:16:13.000 people Moses, Abraham, Noah, have a different story and a 1:16:13.000 --> 1:16:16.000 different truth that you're being presented with at home. So 1:16:16.210 --> 1:16:18.519 that's a struggle. Imagine a five, six, seven year old 1:16:18.760 --> 1:16:21.470 having to navigate that. So we're putting a lot of 1:16:21.470 --> 1:16:24.260 resources together now in helping the children just get strengthened 1:16:24.290 --> 1:16:26.960 in their faith and then through them reach their friends. 1:16:26.990 --> 1:16:33.530 I mean, imagine our kids having to go somewhat incognito. Yeah. 1:16:34.490 --> 1:16:37.610 And yet they're growing up in their relationship with Jesus. 1:16:37.610 --> 1:16:39.590 They see it in their mom and dad. Yeah. They 1:16:39.590 --> 1:16:41.600 see it in the underground church. Are they meeting house 1:16:41.600 --> 1:16:43.280 to house? Do they gather together? 1:16:43.310 --> 1:16:43.700 Yes. 1:16:43.700 --> 1:16:46.100 House to house, in small numbers. And as they grow, 1:16:46.130 --> 1:16:48.680 which they do, then we encourage them to split up, 1:16:48.680 --> 1:16:51.500 to keep the numbers small. So they don't. They're not 1:16:51.500 --> 1:16:52.610 detected so easily. 1:16:52.640 --> 1:16:56.210 Some of you wonder right now or have wondered, oh, 1:16:56.240 --> 1:16:58.220 what's going on with those people? And you've heard some 1:16:58.220 --> 1:17:01.250 stories here today. You think about those children, and I 1:17:01.250 --> 1:17:04.400 want that to be an impetus for you to say, 1:17:04.400 --> 1:17:06.260 I want to grab a link. I want to help. 1:17:06.260 --> 1:17:09.830 This is a tangible way. Talk about return on investment. 1:17:09.950 --> 1:17:11.000 My goodness. 1:17:11.000 --> 1:17:15.350 Yeah. The ministry is transformed. Iran just transformed to 800 1:17:15.380 --> 1:17:19.510 555 7898. will get you a link to their website. 1:17:19.540 --> 1:17:24.910 Text transform to (800) 555-7898. 1:17:24.939 --> 1:17:27.100 Lon. I want to thank you. I feel prompted to 1:17:27.130 --> 1:17:28.120 pray right now. 1:17:28.120 --> 1:17:29.349 Thank you, I appreciate that. 1:17:29.380 --> 1:17:31.780 Father, in Jesus name, we thank you for our brothers 1:17:31.780 --> 1:17:34.719 and sisters in Iran and the children right now. Lord, 1:17:34.720 --> 1:17:37.360 we pray your protection over them and we thank you 1:17:37.360 --> 1:17:40.930 for their witness. I pray, Lord, that you would provide 1:17:40.930 --> 1:17:43.600 for them in every way that they're crying out for, 1:17:43.600 --> 1:17:47.230 and even surprise them today as we pray with your 1:17:47.229 --> 1:17:50.170 abundant grace, which is so rich and I give you 1:17:50.200 --> 1:17:54.580 praise today in Jesus name, Amen. And as we pray, 1:17:54.580 --> 1:17:56.920 the Spirit of God goes to work and you might 1:17:56.920 --> 1:17:59.110 be prompted to join in to this effort. I want 1:17:59.140 --> 1:18:00.550 to encourage you to do it right now. 1:18:00.580 --> 1:18:06.460 Text transform to 800 555 7898. Just text that one word. 1:18:06.490 --> 1:18:11.890 Transform to 800 555 7898. Get the link. Click it. 1:18:11.920 --> 1:18:13.930 Use it as the Lord leads. Yeah. 1:18:13.960 --> 1:18:16.479 Lana. Thank you, thank you. You're an inspiration. 1:18:16.479 --> 1:18:17.560 Thank you. Appreciate it.