WEBVTT - Best of NRB Week 0:00:00.380 --> 0:00:04.430 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.460 --> 0:00:08.360 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.840 --> 0:00:11.930 Not to disappoint. I got my good friend, Doctor Erwin 0:00:11.930 --> 0:00:13.790 Lutzer with us here in just a couple of minutes. 0:00:13.790 --> 0:00:16.040 I want to just spike something. I'm going to I'm 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:18.739 going to be at an event that I'm really thrilled 0:00:18.739 --> 0:00:21.739 that I get to shake your hand. Boom! Crew, give 0:00:21.770 --> 0:00:23.900 us some of the details on this young thunder. Yeah. 0:00:23.900 --> 0:00:26.060 This is for those in our boom crew who are 0:00:26.060 --> 0:00:29.300 in the Chicagoland area. For now, we're looking at expanding 0:00:29.300 --> 0:00:30.680 this event. Yeah, we're other places. 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.410 We're getting response from Nashville. And so we may be 0:00:33.440 --> 0:00:35.150 we may be coming to Nashville. 0:00:35.360 --> 0:00:35.690 And. 0:00:36.110 --> 0:00:37.460 Who knows, maybe Spokane. 0:00:37.490 --> 0:00:40.040 Yeah. But if you are in the Chicagoland area right now, 0:00:40.040 --> 0:00:43.519 this Saturday, March 1st at 9 a.m., Villa Park, it's 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:45.920 going to be at Premium Motors right in Villa Park. 0:00:45.979 --> 0:00:47.930 And we're going to be doing a book signing on 0:00:47.930 --> 0:00:50.990 his new book, Killing Sin Conquer the One Thing That's 0:00:50.990 --> 0:00:54.380 Defeating You. We want you to know all about this. 0:00:54.380 --> 0:00:56.240 And if you want to know all about this, we've 0:00:56.240 --> 0:00:58.370 got the information for you in just one place. Just 0:00:58.370 --> 0:01:02.880 text the word book to 800 555, 78, 98. That's 0:01:02.880 --> 0:01:06.750 book to 805, 55, 78, 98. When you click on 0:01:06.750 --> 0:01:09.479 the link we send you, make sure to check additional 0:01:09.480 --> 0:01:11.760 details on the event page. There's a little surprise there 0:01:11.760 --> 0:01:13.500 we have waiting for you. We do not want you 0:01:13.500 --> 0:01:13.860 to miss it. 0:01:13.890 --> 0:01:17.490 Yeah, yeah, it'll be a surprise for sure. And I 0:01:17.490 --> 0:01:22.140 really extend a heartfelt thank you for you being in 0:01:22.140 --> 0:01:25.290 the crew. And if you're in Chicagoland, I'd love to 0:01:25.290 --> 0:01:27.779 see you there. Just text the word book to 800 0:01:27.810 --> 0:01:32.010 555 78, 98. It's good to shake hands, isn't it, pastor? 0:01:32.010 --> 0:01:34.350 With folks. It really is. And it's good to be 0:01:34.380 --> 0:01:37.169 able to look them in the eye. There's one thing 0:01:37.170 --> 0:01:40.110 about speaking to a crowd, but there's nothing like speaking 0:01:40.140 --> 0:01:44.399 to an individual like I'm speaking to you right now. Carl. Yeah, 0:01:44.430 --> 0:01:48.960 we are separated by a relatively small table and we're 0:01:48.960 --> 0:01:52.260 looking at each other. Yeah. And regarding your book, would 0:01:52.260 --> 0:01:55.110 this be a good time for me to comment on it? 0:01:55.200 --> 0:02:00.450 You certainly may. I may You're giving me permission. All right. 0:02:00.450 --> 0:02:04.920 I want to ask people a question. Why is it 0:02:04.920 --> 0:02:09.359 that so many people don't witness to the faith? A 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.580 survey was done, and you think it's. Oh, we don't 0:02:11.610 --> 0:02:15.570 know how or we don't know enough or, you know, this, 0:02:15.570 --> 0:02:17.850 that and the other thing, you know what the primary 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:22.320 thing was? They were struggling with a sin that they 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:25.530 could not overcome, and they felt that they did not 0:02:25.530 --> 0:02:30.840 have the integrity to represent Christ to somebody else if 0:02:30.840 --> 0:02:34.110 it didn't appear as if he was working for them. 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.080 So the reason that I think that this book is 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:42.270 so critical is instead of just talking about sin in general, 0:02:42.270 --> 0:02:47.850 this is conquering the one thing that defeats you. And 0:02:47.880 --> 0:02:50.549 of course, you know, if we're honest, we all struggle 0:02:50.550 --> 0:02:53.760 with sin. Yes. And we all have to recognize that 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:57.400 it is a constant battle now, Carl, what I would 0:02:57.400 --> 0:02:59.920 like to do is to say that there are two 0:02:59.919 --> 0:03:03.940 ways we fight this. One way is intellectual. That is 0:03:03.940 --> 0:03:07.810 what we know, and we apply what we know, Scripture 0:03:07.810 --> 0:03:12.580 and so forth. But the other is it's a real battle. 0:03:12.910 --> 0:03:15.130 And if you ask me what the problem with the 0:03:15.130 --> 0:03:18.340 church is today, I would say this. We're no longer 0:03:18.340 --> 0:03:22.660 battling the world. We don't fight the culture because we 0:03:22.660 --> 0:03:25.210 are the culture. And you know what we think? We 0:03:25.210 --> 0:03:30.340 think we're free and we're bound. And so I'm so 0:03:30.340 --> 0:03:36.100 glad for your signing. The title of the book, Killing Sin, 0:03:36.130 --> 0:03:40.780 published by Moody Publishers and written by Carl Claussen. I 0:03:40.780 --> 0:03:44.380 encourage people to go, and if you can't make it, 0:03:44.650 --> 0:03:48.130 I assume, of course, that this book is available in 0:03:48.130 --> 0:03:52.690 many different ways where all fine books are sold. Yeah, yeah. 0:03:52.720 --> 0:03:55.839 We're using it as a sheer premium for the spring shares. Oh, good. 0:03:55.870 --> 0:03:58.090 Isn't that a blessing? Yes. Right. You know what? Let's 0:03:58.090 --> 0:03:59.950 keep going here. We're not going to. We're not going 0:03:59.980 --> 0:04:02.260 to go to a song. I just want to I 0:04:02.260 --> 0:04:05.590 want to pick up and go. That was captured by 0:04:05.620 --> 0:04:08.650 a statement deep in your book, The Eclipse of God. 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.340 Doctor Erwin Lutzer is my guest right now. We're broadcasting 0:04:12.340 --> 0:04:16.420 live from NB. I like to call it national relationship 0:04:16.420 --> 0:04:20.050 with the one who can set the captives free. And 0:04:20.050 --> 0:04:23.740 the tomb is empty today. Broadcasters. That's my longer version 0:04:23.770 --> 0:04:28.990 of NB, I love it. Uh, Pastor Lutzer, there's a 0:04:28.990 --> 0:04:30.909 couple of paragraphs in here that are so good I'm 0:04:30.910 --> 0:04:33.880 going to read them. Let us never forget we represent 0:04:33.880 --> 0:04:36.640 Christ to a confused world. We must return to the 0:04:36.640 --> 0:04:41.080 teachings of Paul. When reviled, we bless. When persecuted, we endure. 0:04:41.080 --> 0:04:45.340 When slandered, we entreat, we have become and are still 0:04:45.339 --> 0:04:48.310 like the scum of the world, the refuse of all things. 0:04:48.310 --> 0:04:51.700 First Corinthians 412 to 13. Then you go on to say, 0:04:51.730 --> 0:04:56.000 our model is Christ. When he was reviled, he did 0:04:56.000 --> 0:04:58.940 not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, 0:04:58.940 --> 0:05:04.520 but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. Let 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.909 us your words now. Let us not react with anger, 0:05:07.910 --> 0:05:13.130 but with compassion, brokenness, and humility. It is tragic when 0:05:13.130 --> 0:05:17.060 people are swept up with obvious delusions, but for them 0:05:17.060 --> 0:05:20.090 it can appear as truth. And as we learned in 0:05:20.089 --> 0:05:23.510 the previous chapter, we must stand up for the truth, 0:05:23.510 --> 0:05:29.120 even as we are compassionate toward those who have been 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.409 caught up by lies. That's the thing, isn't it? You know, 0:05:33.440 --> 0:05:36.260 I love to share because it's a tragedy when we 0:05:36.260 --> 0:05:39.800 become angry evangelicals. How do we live in this tension 0:05:39.800 --> 0:05:44.420 of standing for truth without being mean? Well, one thing 0:05:44.420 --> 0:05:46.730 we could do to help ourselves is stay off of 0:05:46.730 --> 0:05:50.960 social media. Yeah, there's so much. I mean, I could 0:05:50.990 --> 0:05:55.190 give illustration after illustration where there is a lot of vengeance, 0:05:55.190 --> 0:05:58.700 and vengeance is perfectly acceptable as long as it is 0:05:58.700 --> 0:06:02.029 called a quest for justice, and as long as it 0:06:02.029 --> 0:06:06.919 makes headlines in some circles. Give us an example of that. No, 0:06:06.920 --> 0:06:09.469 I don't want to. Oh, really? It will draw people 0:06:09.500 --> 0:06:13.729 to the very example that I give. Ah, because I 0:06:13.730 --> 0:06:17.990 see this because of I, because there are people out 0:06:17.990 --> 0:06:21.500 there who want to blog and you know that you 0:06:21.500 --> 0:06:24.320 can't do that unless you have a sensational headline and 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:29.420 a sensational story. And so what's happening is oftentimes we 0:06:29.450 --> 0:06:32.029 are undercutting each other. Now, I do think that there's 0:06:32.029 --> 0:06:36.200 a place for discernment, and sometimes false doctrines have to 0:06:36.200 --> 0:06:41.270 be exposed, but we just can't keep shooting at ourselves 0:06:41.270 --> 0:06:45.409 the way in which we are. We're a circular firing squad. 0:06:45.440 --> 0:06:51.599 And yeah, that's wise. Let's not give fuel to that feud. Yeah, 0:06:51.630 --> 0:06:56.130 right to that anger. Yeah. And how much? Paul's clear. 0:06:56.130 --> 0:06:59.250 We need to leave room for God's vengeance when we 0:06:59.250 --> 0:07:02.340 take it on. That can be dangerous territory. You know, 0:07:02.370 --> 0:07:06.419 I'm not saying that people shouldn't seek justice for certain situations. 0:07:06.420 --> 0:07:09.090 And certainly we see that where there's been abuse and 0:07:09.089 --> 0:07:13.230 so forth. All that may be legitimate, but we're living 0:07:13.230 --> 0:07:16.380 at a time when nobody wants to leave anything up 0:07:16.380 --> 0:07:21.840 for Jesus to judge. Yeah, we will judge ourselves, and 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:27.630 we will make sure that whoever has said the wrong thing, 0:07:27.630 --> 0:07:31.620 the wrong sound bite, or this, we'll make sure that 0:07:31.620 --> 0:07:35.760 we judge them well. We should, you know, the Bible. Hey, 0:07:35.760 --> 0:07:37.950 by the way, I wrote a book entitled Who Are 0:07:37.950 --> 0:07:41.010 You to Judge? Learning to distinguish between truths and half 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:44.430 truths and lies. I didn't expect to give a commercial 0:07:44.430 --> 0:07:47.100 for it, but it just came to mind. So yes, 0:07:47.100 --> 0:07:53.010 we judge, but my we do so carefully. Yeah, because 0:07:53.010 --> 0:07:57.930 we are playing with forked lightning if we slander somebody 0:07:57.930 --> 0:08:02.340 or misrepresent them. And so it has to be done. 0:08:02.340 --> 0:08:05.280 But it has to be done with brokenness and humility. 0:08:05.370 --> 0:08:12.480 And how do we exercise judgment without being judgmental as 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:17.580 a hallmark of who we are? I think the judgmental 0:08:17.580 --> 0:08:23.160 people are usually people with a lot of self-righteousness and pride. 0:08:23.310 --> 0:08:27.210 So you may have a person who's doing it right 0:08:27.210 --> 0:08:29.910 and a person who's doing it in the wrong way. 0:08:29.940 --> 0:08:32.940 They may actually agree that this is an issue that 0:08:32.940 --> 0:08:40.080 needs to be exposed. It's the attitude. Are we approaching 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.780 this with a sense of humility and saying, boy, I'd 0:08:42.780 --> 0:08:45.030 better get this right because I don't want to slander 0:08:45.640 --> 0:08:50.199 A brother or sister? Or are we doing it with 0:08:50.200 --> 0:08:56.170 a sense of self-righteousness that we make sure that we are, 0:08:56.200 --> 0:09:00.040 of course, above the fray? There's no possibility that we 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:04.120 could be wrong about anything. And so the question is, 0:09:04.120 --> 0:09:06.190 I think a lot of it has to do Carl 0:09:06.190 --> 0:09:10.420 with attitude. Yeah, I want to get into that a 0:09:10.420 --> 0:09:12.700 little bit more. So coming up in a couple of minutes, 0:09:12.700 --> 0:09:15.370 because we live in a day to day that is 0:09:15.370 --> 0:09:19.360 so polarized. Have you ever seen it more polarized? No, 0:09:19.360 --> 0:09:22.989 I don't think so politically. Of course, racially and in 0:09:22.990 --> 0:09:27.160 every other way, people have staked out their claim and 0:09:27.190 --> 0:09:32.290 we are all taking our positions and making sure that 0:09:32.290 --> 0:09:37.090 we are right about everything. Blessed are the peacemakers, not 0:09:37.090 --> 0:09:41.590 the peacekeepers. The UN has a hard time keeping peace, 0:09:41.590 --> 0:09:44.410 but we're called to be peacemakers. Coming up in a 0:09:44.440 --> 0:09:48.520 few minutes. Dear friend, Doctor Erwin Lutzer here with me 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:54.670 in Texas. National religious broadcasters. And we're going to talk 0:09:54.670 --> 0:09:59.080 about that. I know as you're listening right now, rancor 0:09:59.110 --> 0:10:03.940 can fill your mind. And sometimes you just think, I've 0:10:03.940 --> 0:10:08.140 got to say something. Possibly. But how you do that 0:10:08.140 --> 0:10:15.459 will either be peace makers or peace wreckers. The former 0:10:15.490 --> 0:10:18.280 is the better. How do we do that? Coming up. 0:10:18.880 --> 0:10:22.090 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:10:23.650 --> 0:10:27.580 Broadcasting live from NTB. We've got some folks in the 0:10:27.580 --> 0:10:30.970 audience here. We got some Erwin Lutzer fans out there, 0:10:31.000 --> 0:10:35.260 don't we, this morning? Yes we do. Doctor Erwin Lutzer 0:10:35.260 --> 0:10:37.990 is with me right now. Most recent book. I guess 0:10:37.990 --> 0:10:41.260 it's the most recent, The Eclipse of God. Yes. Um, 0:10:41.260 --> 0:10:43.109 but let's I want to go back to the words 0:10:43.110 --> 0:10:47.370 of Jesus. Blessed are the peacemakers, not the peacekeepers. Peacemakers. 0:10:47.370 --> 0:10:51.059 That's an effort, isn't it, pastor? It really is. And 0:10:51.059 --> 0:10:53.670 we have forgotten, as I may have mentioned in the 0:10:53.670 --> 0:10:57.090 last segment, that the Christian life is a fight. What 0:10:57.090 --> 0:11:00.180 we have decided to do is we've asked ourselves the question, 0:11:00.179 --> 0:11:03.449 how much can we be like the world and still 0:11:03.450 --> 0:11:07.170 be a witness? And actually, we've lost our witness sometimes. 0:11:07.170 --> 0:11:09.809 And yet there are those who want to separate in 0:11:09.809 --> 0:11:14.280 a legalistic way, and it doesn't affect their heart. So 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.170 what we need to do. But if I might just 0:11:16.170 --> 0:11:20.370 make a comment about the eclipse of God. Yes, Carl, 0:11:20.370 --> 0:11:23.400 Americans don't mind saying that they believe in God, just 0:11:23.400 --> 0:11:25.230 as long as they get to choose the God in 0:11:25.230 --> 0:11:28.890 whom they believe. And what you find today is there 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.370 are people who say, oh, I'm into spirituality, but I 0:11:32.370 --> 0:11:36.030 don't believe in anything specific. I have a chapter on 0:11:36.059 --> 0:11:37.679 that in the book, and one of the things that 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.959 I show is that God turns out to be their 0:11:39.960 --> 0:11:43.550 own consciousness. Yeah. And one of the problems that we 0:11:43.550 --> 0:11:49.130 have is understanding the biblical God. Now, in the Old Testament, 0:11:49.130 --> 0:11:51.770 people were stoned, of course, and you have the killing 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:54.679 of the Canaanites. And this is all based on an 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:57.800 article that was in The Economist that says nobody believes 0:11:57.800 --> 0:12:01.130 in the mighty almighty of the Old Testament, and it 0:12:01.130 --> 0:12:04.010 says God is becoming more liberal. He's agreeing with us 0:12:04.010 --> 0:12:06.620 about everything. And it even had the nerve to say, 0:12:06.650 --> 0:12:08.870 instead of saying, thy will be done on earth as 0:12:08.870 --> 0:12:11.240 it is in heaven, we should pray thy word, thy 0:12:11.240 --> 0:12:13.429 will be done in heaven, as we are doing on earth. 0:12:13.460 --> 0:12:15.950 Oh my word, can you believe that? Oh my word. 0:12:15.950 --> 0:12:19.730 So to write those words. Yes. And so the online 0:12:19.730 --> 0:12:23.690 article was nearer my God, to me. In other words, 0:12:23.690 --> 0:12:27.020 he's becoming like I am. Well, I'm answering that, but 0:12:27.020 --> 0:12:30.800 I'm also answering the question, why don't we stone people today? 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:33.170 And one of the longest chapters is, Is God more 0:12:33.170 --> 0:12:36.589 tolerant than he used to be? I mean, Old Testament. 0:12:36.590 --> 0:12:38.780 I mean, is it safer to sin in the New 0:12:38.780 --> 0:12:41.340 Testament than it was in the old in the Old Testament. 0:12:41.370 --> 0:12:44.579 Of course, they frequently dealt with sin in a very 0:12:44.580 --> 0:12:48.449 different way. So how do we navigate that? So this 0:12:48.450 --> 0:12:53.160 is a defense of the biblical God and what my 0:12:53.160 --> 0:12:56.340 burden is. We have to get back to God as 0:12:56.340 --> 0:12:58.380 he is. As a matter of fact, the last chapter 0:12:58.380 --> 0:13:03.329 is entitled Getting Back to the God of Wrath and Grace, 0:13:03.360 --> 0:13:07.410 not the God of Unconditional love. Everybody thinks you know 0:13:07.440 --> 0:13:12.030 God loves everybody unconditionally. Well then you are really canceling 0:13:12.030 --> 0:13:16.229 the wrath of God against sinners. So in the midst 0:13:16.230 --> 0:13:18.780 of this, what I try to do, Carl, is to 0:13:18.809 --> 0:13:24.090 show the amazing grace of God. And we don't understand 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:28.350 grace until we understand sin, until we understand the wrath 0:13:28.350 --> 0:13:32.340 of God. It is then that grace becomes truly amazing 0:13:32.340 --> 0:13:36.780 because to use a quote, grace is not sweet until 0:13:36.780 --> 0:13:41.400 sin becomes bitter. And what we've done in society is 0:13:41.429 --> 0:13:44.250 we've told people to believe on Jesus, which of course 0:13:44.250 --> 0:13:47.880 is wonderful, but they're not sure exactly why. Yeah, because 0:13:47.880 --> 0:13:51.660 they are not convicted of their sin. So on the 0:13:51.660 --> 0:13:54.900 one hand, we have to preach hard truths. As a 0:13:54.900 --> 0:13:57.330 matter of fact, I didn't say this, but somebody else did. 0:13:57.330 --> 0:14:00.150 I kind of liked it. It says it is better 0:14:00.150 --> 0:14:04.020 to be slapped with truth than to be kissed with lies. Yeah. 0:14:04.050 --> 0:14:06.750 So what we have to do is to tell the truth. 0:14:06.750 --> 0:14:10.199 But it has to be preached with a sense of brokenness, 0:14:10.200 --> 0:14:14.610 recognizing our own sinfulness and cleaving to the wonder of 0:14:14.610 --> 0:14:17.640 God's grace. Now, in the midst of this, I have 0:14:17.670 --> 0:14:21.390 a chapter. Well, we could go on about truth. You know, 0:14:21.420 --> 0:14:24.840 I try to explain and help parents to understand why 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.570 is it that when I send my child to university, 0:14:27.840 --> 0:14:31.980 he comes back thinking differently than I do? Yes, he 0:14:31.980 --> 0:14:36.640 sure does. But could it be that syncretism has crept 0:14:36.640 --> 0:14:40.690 into this, quote, evangelical system. Barna came out with a 0:14:40.690 --> 0:14:44.380 report here the end of January, forecasting what he sees 0:14:44.380 --> 0:14:49.810 in 25. And with 4% of Americans only 4%, having 0:14:49.810 --> 0:14:54.640 a biblical worldview. He says, we have in the church 0:14:54.730 --> 0:14:58.780 what we consider to be strong evangelical people. We've got 0:14:58.780 --> 0:15:02.260 a syncretism where we've almost got a mish mash of 0:15:02.260 --> 0:15:06.280 American Dream, as it were, kind of overlayered onto God's 0:15:06.280 --> 0:15:09.310 vision for our life. How do we separate those out 0:15:09.310 --> 0:15:13.720 where we get down to the core essence of God's grace, 0:15:13.720 --> 0:15:17.350 his mercy, his sovereignty, his plan for us? No matter 0:15:17.350 --> 0:15:21.130 what our political alliances are, we have to explain to 0:15:21.160 --> 0:15:25.900 people we do not kiss the, um, the Democratic. What 0:15:25.900 --> 0:15:32.050 is it? The, uh, the Democratic donkey or the Republican elephant? 0:15:32.200 --> 0:15:34.990 Politics is very important. You could have me on the 0:15:34.990 --> 0:15:38.800 show sometime talking about that, but we must always see 0:15:38.830 --> 0:15:45.370 Christ above that. And we must proclaim Christ to Democrats, 0:15:45.370 --> 0:15:48.670 to Republicans, to. And both of them are going to 0:15:48.700 --> 0:15:52.300 hell unless they believe on Christ. So what we need 0:15:52.300 --> 0:15:55.510 to do is to keep that priority and then recognize 0:15:55.510 --> 0:15:58.210 that these other issues are important. But they are not 0:15:58.210 --> 0:16:04.150 all important. They are not consumingly important. And we heard 0:16:04.150 --> 0:16:08.050 this last night, actually from Jack Hibbs. There are more 0:16:08.050 --> 0:16:12.940 people who are excited about the last election than they 0:16:12.940 --> 0:16:16.930 are excited about Jesus. That's a problem. And the triumph 0:16:16.930 --> 0:16:23.290 of Jesus eventually over the nations, over sin and so forth. So, boy, 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:26.680 keeping all that balanced in the midst of such loud 0:16:26.680 --> 0:16:30.610 voices and screaming on both sides of the issue. But 0:16:30.610 --> 0:16:32.350 we need to do is to look at it and 0:16:32.350 --> 0:16:36.830 to say, we still recognize that God reigns. One quick illustration, 0:16:36.830 --> 0:16:40.580 and I know that time goes so fast on this program. 0:16:40.970 --> 0:16:47.510 When Isaiah was had his vision in Isaiah six, you 0:16:47.510 --> 0:16:50.420 will recall that in the year, in the year that 0:16:50.420 --> 0:16:53.900 King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord. Yea, Uzziah was 0:16:53.900 --> 0:16:56.300 a king. I think he reigned for about 52 years, 0:16:56.330 --> 0:17:00.110 a pretty good king. And now suddenly the throne of 0:17:00.110 --> 0:17:04.790 Israel was empty. And lo, I saw the Lord high 0:17:04.790 --> 0:17:08.780 and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. What 0:17:08.810 --> 0:17:13.670 God was saying is, Isaiah the throne of Israel is empty, 0:17:13.670 --> 0:17:18.800 but the throne in heaven is very well occupied. And 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:21.770 when we see the topsy turvy and of course we 0:17:21.770 --> 0:17:24.649 know the election went one way, there could be a 0:17:24.650 --> 0:17:28.430 pendulum swing next time to go the other way. When 0:17:28.430 --> 0:17:30.860 we see all this, what we have to do is 0:17:30.859 --> 0:17:36.830 to keep our bearing and remember that ultimately God does rule. 0:17:36.830 --> 0:17:41.480 And so we keep going. We keep doing it. Now 0:17:41.510 --> 0:17:44.450 here's another illustration that comes to mind that is related 0:17:44.450 --> 0:17:47.540 to what you've said, though perhaps not directly speaking of 0:17:47.540 --> 0:17:50.689 false prophets within the church, in the book The Eclipse 0:17:50.690 --> 0:17:52.969 of God, I have the story of Hitler who had 0:17:52.970 --> 0:17:56.690 a marvelous idea. It was this that what you do 0:17:56.690 --> 0:18:01.310 is you take dead allied soldiers, take their uniforms, put 0:18:01.310 --> 0:18:04.580 them on German soldiers, and then the Germans could go 0:18:04.580 --> 0:18:07.580 behind the lines. And so all kinds of discord and 0:18:07.580 --> 0:18:10.070 false rumors and so forth. It didn't work too well 0:18:10.100 --> 0:18:13.580 because the Germans still had a German accent. But isn't 0:18:13.580 --> 0:18:18.889 that brilliant? Yeah, false prophets wear the uniform of Christianity, 0:18:18.890 --> 0:18:23.720 but they're actually working for the other side. And we 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.320 certainly see that today in some churches where there has 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:31.260 been a total concession to the culture? Yes. Whether it 0:18:31.260 --> 0:18:35.070 has to do with, you know, sexuality and so forth. 0:18:35.100 --> 0:18:40.020 A total concession to the culture. And yet God is 0:18:40.020 --> 0:18:45.600 calling us to remain firm, but to do so recognizing 0:18:45.600 --> 0:18:50.460 that the people who we oppose are really captive, oftentimes 0:18:50.460 --> 0:18:53.310 to Satan, we have to see them as captives, not 0:18:53.310 --> 0:18:57.240 just as enemies. Jesus said, love your enemies. That's pretty 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.990 hard to do, but that's our calling. It all comes 0:19:00.990 --> 0:19:03.270 back to the grace of God, God's power to do 0:19:03.300 --> 0:19:05.910 in us what we can't do in ourselves. How does 0:19:05.910 --> 0:19:10.530 a person today who's has a confession in their heart 0:19:10.530 --> 0:19:19.590 that says, I've been held captive by a political victory? 0:19:19.619 --> 0:19:25.139 I've been held captive by a fight. I'm winning at work. 0:19:25.980 --> 0:19:32.250 How do we Deconstruct anger. You mean a fight that 0:19:32.250 --> 0:19:35.280 you're losing at work could be winning or losing? You're 0:19:35.280 --> 0:19:39.840 in the fight and it's the wrong battle. In the morning, 0:19:39.840 --> 0:19:42.960 when you get out of bed, spend enough time with 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:47.189 God until your heart is at rest. Amen. There's no 0:19:47.190 --> 0:19:51.030 easy answer. There's no quick fix, you know. And what 0:19:51.030 --> 0:19:53.040 you have to do is to realize that the battle 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.310 is going to be won in your heart. Yeah. And 0:19:56.310 --> 0:19:59.850 when you recognize that God is in charge, you begin 0:19:59.850 --> 0:20:02.850 to relax and you begin to say, no matter which 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:06.540 way this wind blows, I'm going to accept it. Not 0:20:06.540 --> 0:20:10.020 from the hand of man, but from the hand of God. 0:20:10.920 --> 0:20:14.310 Pastor Lutzer, his most recent book, The Eclipse of God. 0:20:14.310 --> 0:20:21.119 Wonderful work, thorough, and one that will, I think, put 0:20:21.119 --> 0:20:24.060 something below the waterline in your life. It's the unseen 0:20:24.090 --> 0:20:28.060 things that matter most. It is. It always is. I 0:20:28.060 --> 0:20:30.340 want you to text the word win. This will give 0:20:30.340 --> 0:20:34.450 you a link to all of Pastor Lutzer resources. The 0:20:34.450 --> 0:20:37.869 eclipse of God. One of them text win to our 0:20:37.869 --> 0:20:45.970 number here 800 555 7898. Win to 800 555 7898. 0:20:46.000 --> 0:20:49.990 Pastor thank you this morning. Thanks, Carl. Incredible time. Text 0:20:49.990 --> 0:20:54.310 win to our number 805 5578 98. 0:20:54.880 --> 0:20:59.830 She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. 0:20:59.859 --> 0:21:03.820 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:21:03.850 --> 0:21:05.290 on Moody Radio. 0:21:05.320 --> 0:21:11.800 Broadcasting live from Dallas, Texas. National religious broadcasters. A big 0:21:11.800 --> 0:21:15.220 event here, and we've got the opportunity to connect with 0:21:15.220 --> 0:21:18.639 some incredible people. And boy, have we got a fine 0:21:18.640 --> 0:21:19.659 young lady right now. 0:21:19.690 --> 0:21:23.950 Lana Silk with Transform Iran or the chief executive officer 0:21:23.980 --> 0:21:26.359 here in the U.S.. Iran is one of the world's 0:21:26.359 --> 0:21:29.899 most hostile countries to the gospel. But you're seeing the 0:21:29.900 --> 0:21:33.920 church grow rapidly. I feel like I've heard that story before. 0:21:33.950 --> 0:21:36.230 Tell us a little bit about what's going on. Yes. 0:21:36.260 --> 0:21:38.720 Ali, thank you for having me. The church in Iran 0:21:38.720 --> 0:21:42.590 is thriving. It's thriving. It's growing, it's strong. There are, 0:21:42.619 --> 0:21:47.540 of course, um, battles with discouragement. But when they see 0:21:47.540 --> 0:21:50.119 the way God is moving, it constantly stirs them on 0:21:50.119 --> 0:21:52.520 for more. And it's exciting to be part of it. 0:21:52.550 --> 0:21:54.050 Give us a story, Lana. 0:21:54.230 --> 0:21:57.410 So we were just talking earlier about God's supernatural work 0:21:57.410 --> 0:22:00.649 in Iran, weren't we? He is constantly working through that country, 0:22:00.650 --> 0:22:02.600 and you know, God is doing his own thing. He 0:22:02.630 --> 0:22:05.120 is wooing people to himself, and he is so generous 0:22:05.119 --> 0:22:07.310 in allowing us to partner with him. But he can 0:22:07.310 --> 0:22:10.160 do it without us. Yeah. So here's an example. This 0:22:10.160 --> 0:22:12.770 is one of our pastors now in our churches. She 0:22:12.770 --> 0:22:15.650 was part of a muslim family. She was forced into 0:22:15.650 --> 0:22:18.290 marriage at 12. She had three kids through her teens. 0:22:18.290 --> 0:22:21.679 And then around her 20th birthday, her husband, her brother 0:22:21.680 --> 0:22:23.900 and her father were murdered by the government. She's part 0:22:23.900 --> 0:22:26.630 of an ethnic minority group in Iran, where there's some 0:22:26.630 --> 0:22:31.850 political activities which led to their death. So she took 0:22:31.850 --> 0:22:33.470 that as a sign that she wasn't a good enough 0:22:33.470 --> 0:22:36.740 Muslim and decided to really press hard into her Islamic faith. 0:22:36.740 --> 0:22:39.950 She was praying more, fasting more wanting to please Allah 0:22:39.980 --> 0:22:43.100 better so that kind of judgment would fall on her again. 0:22:43.100 --> 0:22:46.100 And as she began doing that, Jesus began appearing to her. 0:22:46.100 --> 0:22:48.859 So he would stand in the doorway in her room 0:22:48.859 --> 0:22:51.560 and put his arm out to her and say, trust me, 0:22:51.590 --> 0:22:53.659 come and follow me. Or he would appear to her 0:22:53.660 --> 0:22:55.399 in a dream and he would take her flying on 0:22:55.400 --> 0:22:59.780 these adventures that she described to me and saying, you know, I, I, 0:22:59.780 --> 0:23:02.780 I'm trustworthy, you can follow me. And it would just continue. 0:23:02.780 --> 0:23:04.820 And then she started to notice that when she was 0:23:04.820 --> 0:23:07.610 praying her Islamic prayers, when she would go to say Muhammad, 0:23:07.640 --> 0:23:10.550 the word Jesus would come out by accident. And so 0:23:10.550 --> 0:23:13.100 she would catch herself and think, wow, I need to 0:23:13.100 --> 0:23:16.939 redo this. This is wrong. Try to pray again and again, involuntarily. 0:23:16.940 --> 0:23:20.540 Instead of Muhammad, she would say Jesus. So over the 0:23:20.540 --> 0:23:23.040 period of time as this is happening. Of course, we 0:23:23.040 --> 0:23:25.409 know the power of the name of Jesus. He began 0:23:25.410 --> 0:23:27.180 to really touch her heart and she ended up giving 0:23:27.180 --> 0:23:29.160 her life to him. But now it's dangerous for her. 0:23:29.190 --> 0:23:32.100 She's in a muslim family, and they're very strong in 0:23:32.130 --> 0:23:34.709 their faith, and they're not. It wouldn't be good for 0:23:34.710 --> 0:23:35.460 her if they knew. 0:23:35.490 --> 0:23:37.740 Has has she? Oh, so they don't know. 0:23:37.770 --> 0:23:39.780 They don't know if they know, they would likely turn 0:23:39.780 --> 0:23:42.480 her in or kill her themselves. So she describes a 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:44.070 period of time when she tried to keep it hidden. 0:23:44.070 --> 0:23:46.679 She would go hide in the bathroom and read her 0:23:46.680 --> 0:23:48.419 Bible there. That was the only place where she could 0:23:48.450 --> 0:23:50.850 have a little bit of privacy because, you know, in, 0:23:50.850 --> 0:23:55.679 in Iran, the the male nearest male relative effectively owns 0:23:55.680 --> 0:23:58.109 the woman. So now her husband is dead. Her father 0:23:58.109 --> 0:24:01.530 is dead. That means her husband's family take authority over 0:24:01.530 --> 0:24:04.680 her and her children, and she's probably living with them, 0:24:04.680 --> 0:24:06.720 and she has them in and out of her life constantly. 0:24:06.720 --> 0:24:09.270 She's got to be careful. But you know, when Jesus 0:24:09.270 --> 0:24:12.090 transforms your life, it's hard to hide it. Wow. 0:24:12.119 --> 0:24:15.420 Talk a little bit about the the Ministry of Transform 0:24:15.420 --> 0:24:17.760 Iran and your commitment to it. 0:24:17.790 --> 0:24:21.510 Yes. Well, the ministry is about reaching our country, reaching 0:24:21.510 --> 0:24:24.150 our country with Jesus's love and power, up and down 0:24:24.150 --> 0:24:26.790 the country. The men, the women, the children, the illiterate, 0:24:26.820 --> 0:24:30.359 the educated women like this lady whose story I'm telling you. 0:24:30.480 --> 0:24:33.810 Why is this such a passion point for you? 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:37.830 Well, I was born and raised in Iran. I love Iran, 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:40.649 that's my country. That's my home. Eventually I'll get to 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:44.070 go back and see it again. And I. You know, 0:24:44.100 --> 0:24:46.170 God loves Iran even more than me. I think we 0:24:46.170 --> 0:24:48.120 only have a glimpse of his passion for the things 0:24:48.119 --> 0:24:51.270 that he puts on our heart. And I live for that. 0:24:51.900 --> 0:24:54.929 When we come back, Lana, we want to talk about 0:24:54.930 --> 0:24:58.230 how widespread is the underground church and how does it 0:24:58.230 --> 0:25:02.580 even operate and what is the what are the faith 0:25:02.580 --> 0:25:05.669 stories you're getting out of there? We'll get that straight ahead. 0:25:06.330 --> 0:25:09.750 This is Curling Crew on Moody Radio. 0:25:10.440 --> 0:25:14.010 We're broadcasting live from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention this week. 0:25:14.010 --> 0:25:16.320 We've got special guest Lana Silk with us right now 0:25:16.320 --> 0:25:20.350 with Transform Iran. born and raised in Iran before emigrating 0:25:20.380 --> 0:25:23.679 to the UK. The growth of the church in Iran 0:25:23.680 --> 0:25:27.370 has been unbelievable. Tell us a little bit about the 0:25:27.369 --> 0:25:30.310 the the information that you do have about the numbers 0:25:30.310 --> 0:25:32.650 and just how accelerated it's been. 0:25:32.680 --> 0:25:35.979 Yes, well, before the revolution in 79, we think there 0:25:35.980 --> 0:25:38.379 were maybe three, 4 or 500 at the most Muslim 0:25:38.380 --> 0:25:41.950 background believers in Iran. A few years ago, a research 0:25:41.950 --> 0:25:45.040 organization in Holland did some extensive research to try to 0:25:45.070 --> 0:25:47.209 ascertain the numbers. They think it was well over a 0:25:47.210 --> 0:25:50.020 million at that point. So and people were saying Iran 0:25:50.020 --> 0:25:52.179 is the fastest growing church in the world. So if 0:25:52.210 --> 0:25:54.070 we're if that is the case, we're probably one and 0:25:54.070 --> 0:25:55.989 a half, maybe closer to two. And that's just in 0:25:55.990 --> 0:25:57.070 the last 50 years. 0:25:57.070 --> 0:25:59.230 How does the church grow? I mean, how does it 0:25:59.260 --> 0:26:02.500 you don't you don't set up rent a building on 0:26:02.500 --> 0:26:04.629 the corner and hey, put up the sign. 0:26:04.660 --> 0:26:05.230 Flyers. 0:26:06.520 --> 0:26:08.979 Flyers. No. That's right. You know, the church grows in 0:26:08.980 --> 0:26:11.199 the way. It probably should. Yeah. Through the lives of 0:26:11.200 --> 0:26:14.409 people who are transformed by God's love and who are 0:26:14.440 --> 0:26:17.500 themselves bursting with Jesus in their life and want to 0:26:17.500 --> 0:26:19.720 tell people. Other people then get saved. And it sort 0:26:19.720 --> 0:26:21.490 of it's fruitful, you know, in the way that I 0:26:21.520 --> 0:26:22.330 guess it should be. 0:26:22.359 --> 0:26:26.110 What are so those stories where someone is now transformed 0:26:26.109 --> 0:26:30.160 by the power of God, they're living as light, they're 0:26:30.160 --> 0:26:35.139 bearing fruit. Somebody sees it, they ask him a question. 0:26:35.260 --> 0:26:38.410 Now you got a choice. Yes. Do I tell them 0:26:38.410 --> 0:26:41.710 who's buttering my bread? You know what I'm saying? 0:26:41.740 --> 0:26:45.310 Exactly right. You know, they are so courageous and so 0:26:45.340 --> 0:26:49.180 inspiring in the way they are excited for those opportunities 0:26:49.180 --> 0:26:51.400 to bring Jesus to the people around them. And bear 0:26:51.430 --> 0:26:53.500 in mind, Iran is a country of people who are 0:26:53.500 --> 0:26:56.500 really under trauma, like just the oppression, the brutality of 0:26:56.530 --> 0:26:59.200 their government. So, you know, when you love a people 0:26:59.230 --> 0:27:01.930 group and you see that they are hurting, you know, 0:27:01.930 --> 0:27:04.690 you have the answer for their problems, you can't help 0:27:04.690 --> 0:27:06.460 but share it, even if it's going to cost you. 0:27:06.609 --> 0:27:10.240 What can the American church learn from the church in Iran? 0:27:10.420 --> 0:27:13.239 That's a great question. I think all of us who 0:27:13.240 --> 0:27:16.760 live in a free context can be inspired by the passion, 0:27:16.790 --> 0:27:20.119 the zeal, the sold out nature of the faith, the 0:27:20.119 --> 0:27:23.000 people who live in countries like Iran. When we live 0:27:23.000 --> 0:27:26.240 in a free world, it's very easy to get comfortable, 0:27:26.270 --> 0:27:29.210 to pick and choose, become a consumer really of our faith. 0:27:29.240 --> 0:27:31.699 You know which church is more fun? Which worship do 0:27:31.700 --> 0:27:33.500 I like more? Which Bible do I want to pick 0:27:33.500 --> 0:27:35.449 up or put down? When you're in a context where 0:27:35.450 --> 0:27:38.330 you're persecuted, all of those sort of extras go away, 0:27:38.330 --> 0:27:42.139 then it's all in, sold out, whatever it takes. 0:27:42.170 --> 0:27:45.139 How are you getting resources to the underground church? How 0:27:45.170 --> 0:27:47.840 are we getting Bibles? I mean, how does that work? 0:27:47.869 --> 0:27:50.330 There are ways to take physical things in, and we 0:27:50.330 --> 0:27:53.750 have our secret ways, which we do. But most of 0:27:53.750 --> 0:27:57.950 it honestly is digital. Digital media is very powerful and effective. 0:27:57.980 --> 0:28:02.090 It's good quality and it's easier to hide. So we 0:28:02.090 --> 0:28:05.150 use satellite TV, radio, social media, but we also have 0:28:05.150 --> 0:28:09.500 an app where people can download Bibles, discipleship materials. So 0:28:09.500 --> 0:28:11.180 that's probably the most predominant way. 0:28:11.180 --> 0:28:13.370 So let's say there's a million and a half followers 0:28:13.369 --> 0:28:17.479 of Jesus in Iran. How many of those have a 0:28:17.480 --> 0:28:20.989 physical Bible or even risk that? I mean, that's a 0:28:20.990 --> 0:28:23.389 huge risk, isn't it, to have a Bible in your 0:28:23.420 --> 0:28:24.409 on your person? 0:28:24.410 --> 0:28:27.199 It is. It is a risk. Um, it wouldn't be 0:28:27.200 --> 0:28:29.810 the majority. I would I would love to know myself, 0:28:29.810 --> 0:28:31.790 but I would guess it would be less than half 0:28:31.790 --> 0:28:33.380 that would have a physical Bible. 0:28:34.490 --> 0:28:37.369 This is an awe inspiring. You know, it's the Spirit 0:28:37.369 --> 0:28:39.740 of God has hit me with is the children. Yeah. 0:28:39.770 --> 0:28:41.870 What are the stories about the children? I feel like 0:28:41.870 --> 0:28:43.190 I need to ask you that. Yeah. 0:28:43.370 --> 0:28:44.660 You know what? I think that might have been the 0:28:44.660 --> 0:28:47.600 Holy Spirit prompting you that the children are really high 0:28:47.600 --> 0:28:50.450 on our focus this year. We've been thinking a lot 0:28:50.450 --> 0:28:55.190 about how do we empower and strengthen the Christian children first? 0:28:55.220 --> 0:28:58.100 Imagine the context in which you have an Islamic education. 0:28:58.100 --> 0:29:00.530 You can't tell your schoolteachers you're a Christian. Your whole 0:29:00.530 --> 0:29:03.350 family would be outed. You have to play this game 0:29:03.350 --> 0:29:06.470 of being a muslim. You're being forced to study the Quran, 0:29:06.470 --> 0:29:08.780 to recite the namaz, and all of that is going 0:29:08.780 --> 0:29:12.900 on at school. Then you go home and the same people. Moses, Abraham, Noah, 0:29:12.930 --> 0:29:15.180 have a different story and a different truth that you 0:29:15.240 --> 0:29:18.330 are presented with at home. So that's a struggle. Imagine 0:29:18.330 --> 0:29:21.600 a five, six, seven year old having to navigate that. 0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:23.760 So we're putting a lot of resources together now in 0:29:23.760 --> 0:29:26.640 helping the children just get strengthened in their faith and 0:29:26.640 --> 0:29:28.170 then through them reach their friends. 0:29:28.200 --> 0:29:34.740 I mean imagine our kids having to go somewhat incognito. Yeah. 0:29:35.730 --> 0:29:38.820 And yet they're growing up in their relationship with Jesus. 0:29:38.820 --> 0:29:40.770 They see it in their mom and dad. Yeah, they 0:29:40.770 --> 0:29:42.780 see it in the underground church. Are they meeting house 0:29:42.810 --> 0:29:44.910 to house? Do they gather together? Yes. 0:29:44.910 --> 0:29:47.310 House to house in small numbers. And as they grow, 0:29:47.340 --> 0:29:49.860 which they do, then we encourage them to split up, 0:29:49.860 --> 0:29:53.790 to keep the numbers small so they're not detected so easily. 0:29:53.820 --> 0:29:57.420 Some of you wonder right now or have wondered, oh, 0:29:57.450 --> 0:29:59.430 what's going on with those people? And you've heard some 0:29:59.430 --> 0:30:02.430 stories here today. You think about those children, and I 0:30:02.430 --> 0:30:05.580 want that to be an impetus for you to say, 0:30:05.580 --> 0:30:07.470 I want to grab a link. I want to help. 0:30:07.470 --> 0:30:11.010 This is a tangible way. Talk about return on investment. 0:30:11.160 --> 0:30:12.210 My goodness. 0:30:12.480 --> 0:30:16.530 The ministry is transforming Iran. Just text transform to 800 0:30:16.560 --> 0:30:20.700 555 7898. We'll get you a link to their website. 0:30:20.730 --> 0:30:26.070 Text transform to (800) 555-7898. 0:30:26.160 --> 0:30:28.320 Lon. I want to thank you. I feel prompted to 0:30:28.320 --> 0:30:29.310 pray right now. 0:30:29.310 --> 0:30:30.540 Thank you, I appreciate that. 0:30:30.570 --> 0:30:32.970 Father, in Jesus name, we thank you for our brothers 0:30:32.970 --> 0:30:35.910 and sisters in Iran and the children right now. Lord, 0:30:35.910 --> 0:30:38.550 we pray your protection over them and we thank you 0:30:38.550 --> 0:30:42.120 for their witness. I pray, Lord, that you would provide 0:30:42.120 --> 0:30:44.790 for them in every way that they're crying out for, 0:30:44.790 --> 0:30:48.420 and even surprise them today as we pray with your 0:30:48.420 --> 0:30:51.420 abundant grace, which is so rich and I give you 0:30:51.420 --> 0:30:55.770 praise today in Jesus name, Amen. And as we pray, 0:30:55.770 --> 0:30:58.110 the Spirit of God goes to work and you might 0:30:58.110 --> 0:31:00.300 be prompted to join in to this effort. I want 0:31:00.330 --> 0:31:01.740 to encourage you to do it right now. 0:31:01.770 --> 0:31:07.650 Text transform to 800 555 7898. Just text that one word. 0:31:07.680 --> 0:31:13.060 Transform to 800 555, 7898. Get the link. Click it. 0:31:13.090 --> 0:31:14.800 Use it as the Lord leads. 0:31:14.830 --> 0:31:18.190 Yeah. Lana. Thank you, thank you. You're an inspiration. Thank you. 0:31:18.190 --> 0:31:18.820 Appreciate it. 0:31:19.330 --> 0:31:22.510 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:31:22.510 --> 0:31:26.800 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:31:26.800 --> 0:31:29.200 curling crew one moody radio. 0:31:29.230 --> 0:31:33.070 Okay, we need some prayers. We're we're we're needing to 0:31:33.100 --> 0:31:36.070 partner with you. And if you can carve out 30 0:31:36.070 --> 0:31:39.040 minutes during share, and there's a huge roster to pick 0:31:39.040 --> 0:31:45.250 from starting Tuesday. Uh, week from Tuesday, week from Tuesday. 0:31:45.250 --> 0:31:50.440 We've got like seven hours every day Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, 0:31:50.440 --> 0:31:53.140 and then a couple hours on Saturday that we'd love 0:31:53.140 --> 0:31:54.520 for you to get a half an hour slot and 0:31:54.520 --> 0:31:57.310 pray with nine other people. If you've got really the 0:31:57.340 --> 0:32:00.100 gift and the time for prayer, I want you to 0:32:00.130 --> 0:32:02.650 get more than one slot. Come and grab them. And 0:32:02.650 --> 0:32:06.220 what do we have left to die? About 400 slots left. 300. Uh, 0:32:06.280 --> 0:32:11.860 almost about 480. Oh, we got a long way to go. Okay, 0:32:11.860 --> 0:32:14.590 we started with 600. We got 480. Okay. The time 0:32:14.590 --> 0:32:15.790 is now. The time is now. 0:32:15.820 --> 0:32:18.100 So you grab a 30 minute slot and scroll all 0:32:18.100 --> 0:32:19.690 the way down. You do not have to fill them 0:32:19.690 --> 0:32:21.730 in order. You pick a 30 minute slot that works 0:32:21.730 --> 0:32:23.830 for you, and then you pick the location. You do 0:32:23.830 --> 0:32:26.440 not have to come to Chicago. If you live outside 0:32:26.440 --> 0:32:29.200 of Chicago. You come and you go to wherever you 0:32:29.200 --> 0:32:30.640 want to be. You want a prayer walk. You want 0:32:30.670 --> 0:32:33.250 a prayer drive. You want to be in your closet. 0:32:33.370 --> 0:32:36.370 You pick the place. You pick the time. We're so grateful. 0:32:36.370 --> 0:32:38.410 We'll send you some prayer points, some behind the scenes 0:32:38.440 --> 0:32:40.390 sort of updates so you have a good sense of 0:32:40.390 --> 0:32:45.910 what to pray for. Text crew to 800 555 7898. 0:32:45.910 --> 0:32:49.930 Just text crew to 800 555 7898. 0:32:49.960 --> 0:32:51.700 Okay, we're at a point right now. We need to 0:32:51.730 --> 0:32:55.300 call all all prayers. We're just asking you. Come on, 0:32:55.300 --> 0:32:58.570 let's go, let's go. So Ali said it. Text crew 0:32:58.570 --> 0:33:03.580 to 805 five five, 7898. I got to get that 0:33:03.580 --> 0:33:04.840 boiler room filled with prayer. 0:33:05.480 --> 0:33:07.160 Do we need Jonathan to call the prayers? 0:33:07.430 --> 0:33:10.130 Yeah. Do it. If he's asking for it. Yeah. 0:33:10.160 --> 0:33:11.960 Right now. All right. For those of you who are 0:33:11.960 --> 0:33:14.030 in meetings in this room, I apologize, but let's do it. 0:33:14.060 --> 0:33:15.440 Let's call those prayers. Come on. 0:33:15.680 --> 0:33:23.480 Sir. Sir. Come on. Prayers. Time to pray, sir. That's it. 0:33:23.480 --> 0:33:26.090 That's how we call him. That's what we needed. It's 0:33:26.090 --> 0:33:28.160 just what needed to happen. The best part about that 0:33:28.160 --> 0:33:29.570 is that Ali asked for it. 0:33:29.630 --> 0:33:31.490 I know that was the shocking part. 0:33:32.150 --> 0:33:33.560 I don't know where that came from. Look at em. 0:33:33.560 --> 0:33:36.200 They're coming in right now. There they go. Text Cru 0:33:36.200 --> 0:33:39.560 to 805 five five, 78, 98. And here's the promise 0:33:39.560 --> 0:33:41.210 I'm going to make you. We're going to have we're 0:33:41.210 --> 0:33:43.070 going to have Young Thunder on one of those updates. 0:33:43.070 --> 0:33:45.830 One of those mornings. We're going to have him thank 0:33:45.860 --> 0:33:52.190 the prayers with the sewee. Northwest Arkansas Razorbacks call. Okay. 0:33:52.220 --> 0:33:54.410 That's what we're going to do. Sounds good to me. Okay. 0:33:54.500 --> 0:33:57.020 Are you just red in the face because it expended 0:33:57.020 --> 0:33:58.130 a lot of energy? Huh? 0:33:58.160 --> 0:34:00.229 Well, no, I don't usually. 0:34:00.230 --> 0:34:04.130 Do it in front of a crowd. I'm sorry. Jonathan. 0:34:04.430 --> 0:34:04.970 That's okay. 0:34:04.970 --> 0:34:07.400 I do it on the radio, so I shouldn't be embarrassed. 0:34:07.430 --> 0:34:10.310 More embarrassed. Look at him. He's blushing. Bless his heart. 0:34:10.400 --> 0:34:12.710 Bad people in this room with us. Yeah. Oh, I 0:34:12.710 --> 0:34:15.469 don't know. Oh. It's fun. Oh. 0:34:15.980 --> 0:34:20.509 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:34:20.510 --> 0:34:24.470 in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:34:24.830 --> 0:34:28.940 And crew broadcasting live from NB. Looks like everybody's tucked in. 0:34:28.940 --> 0:34:29.690 Where's everybody. 0:34:29.690 --> 0:34:35.240 At? Hey, where's everybody at? Yeah, that's you guys faking it? 0:34:35.239 --> 0:34:37.850 Like we got a big studio audience here today. 0:34:37.880 --> 0:34:39.140 Yeah, they're all sleeping right now. 0:34:39.170 --> 0:34:41.120 Man, that was pretty weak. Two young thunder. You can 0:34:41.120 --> 0:34:43.400 give us a little more mustard than that this time around. 0:34:43.430 --> 0:34:45.859 Hey, that was spontaneous. I'm trying to be honest and 0:34:45.860 --> 0:34:47.600 just letting people know how many people are in the room. 0:34:47.719 --> 0:34:50.090 The room is a little empty in this early hour. 0:34:50.090 --> 0:34:52.219 But it'll fill up. It's great. We've got a great 0:34:52.219 --> 0:34:54.859 guest with us here. Here's the topic we want to tackle. 0:34:54.860 --> 0:34:57.350 This is so important. My goodness, we live in this 0:34:57.350 --> 0:35:01.219 digital age. And how are we going to reach people. 0:35:01.219 --> 0:35:03.780 And the the sky's the limit when you got an 0:35:03.780 --> 0:35:07.050 uptick of Bible sales 2024. We've been saying this a 0:35:07.080 --> 0:35:10.230 lot only because it's such great news. 22% uptick of 0:35:10.230 --> 0:35:16.440 Bible sales. Incredible. Come on. All right, Jonathan Griffiths, let's go. 0:35:16.469 --> 0:35:18.540 How are we going to reach people I want answers, 0:35:18.540 --> 0:35:19.739 I want them now. 0:35:19.980 --> 0:35:22.020 Well, I don't know that I got all the answers, 0:35:22.020 --> 0:35:24.270 but we got huge opportunities before us, don't we? Because 0:35:24.270 --> 0:35:27.480 the digital age opens up so many doors of opportunity 0:35:27.480 --> 0:35:31.169 to get good Bible content into people's hearts and minds. 0:35:31.170 --> 0:35:33.210 And that's that's a wonderful thing. But it's also a 0:35:33.239 --> 0:35:37.830 jungle out there. And as as those who are receiving 0:35:37.830 --> 0:35:41.130 and imbibing Bible content, we need to learn some discernment. 0:35:41.130 --> 0:35:42.870 And we need to be really careful, don't we? Because 0:35:42.870 --> 0:35:44.970 we can access so much, but we can access the 0:35:44.969 --> 0:35:47.430 good and the bad. Yeah, and there's just a huge 0:35:47.430 --> 0:35:49.560 need for all of us who are hungry for the 0:35:49.560 --> 0:35:52.650 Word of God to be learning that discernment between the 0:35:52.650 --> 0:35:54.900 good and the bad. And I think we learned that, 0:35:54.900 --> 0:35:57.180 first of all, in the local church, you know, each 0:35:57.180 --> 0:35:58.950 of us, as we grow in Christ, we need to 0:35:58.950 --> 0:36:01.440 be really well grounded in a local church. 0:36:01.469 --> 0:36:02.460 Boom, brother. 0:36:02.489 --> 0:36:05.610 Don't we? I mean, yes, yes, where we are. Where 0:36:05.610 --> 0:36:08.430 we are being taught to understand the scriptures and to 0:36:08.460 --> 0:36:11.520 discern between true and false and good and evil. And 0:36:11.520 --> 0:36:15.300 if we are only independent consumers of content, and we're 0:36:15.300 --> 0:36:17.040 not embedded in the life of the local church, we're 0:36:17.040 --> 0:36:18.960 going to we're going to go astray and we're going 0:36:18.989 --> 0:36:21.150 to be led astray. So I think that's I think 0:36:21.150 --> 0:36:24.569 that's number one. I think that's absolutely crucial. And I'd 0:36:24.570 --> 0:36:26.700 love to give that encouragement to anyone listening today. If 0:36:26.700 --> 0:36:28.920 you don't have a local church where you are grounded, 0:36:28.920 --> 0:36:32.370 where you are involved, where you have accountability, where you 0:36:32.370 --> 0:36:34.319 have people feeding into your life and you're feeding into 0:36:34.350 --> 0:36:36.270 other lives, you're going to be impoverished. 0:36:36.300 --> 0:36:37.259 Find it. Yeah. 0:36:37.290 --> 0:36:40.379 Jonathan Griffiths, our guest this morning. He serves as lead 0:36:40.380 --> 0:36:43.109 pastor of the Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa, Canada. He 0:36:43.140 --> 0:36:45.720 sits on the Council of the Gospel Coalition. Canada gives 0:36:45.719 --> 0:36:51.270 leadership to the Timothy trust exists to promote expository Bible ministry. 0:36:51.270 --> 0:36:55.110 There is no shortage of, as you mentioned, biblical content available. 0:36:55.110 --> 0:36:57.690 You can go on TikTok or Instagram and you can 0:36:57.690 --> 0:37:02.150 get in 15 seconds of somebody telling you something about 0:37:02.150 --> 0:37:04.580 the Bible, but I imagine you have a thought or 0:37:04.580 --> 0:37:08.660 two as to why that can be good and bad. 0:37:08.690 --> 0:37:10.670 Well, it can be good and bad, and there's good, 0:37:10.700 --> 0:37:12.560 bad and everything else in between out there in the 0:37:12.560 --> 0:37:15.260 Christian media marketplace. I mean, one of my great passions 0:37:15.290 --> 0:37:18.800 is training up the next generation of gospel workers. Right on. And, 0:37:18.950 --> 0:37:22.819 you know, for for those, um, to lead in the church, 0:37:22.820 --> 0:37:24.530 to do that well and faithfully, they need to be 0:37:24.530 --> 0:37:27.589 grounded in the truth themselves. And and that takes some 0:37:27.590 --> 0:37:30.170 time of study and that takes some education. And I 0:37:30.170 --> 0:37:32.840 know in the world of Moody Global Media, I'm talking 0:37:32.840 --> 0:37:35.390 to the choir here because there's there's a commitment here 0:37:35.390 --> 0:37:38.750 to training up gospel workers for the global church. But 0:37:38.750 --> 0:37:40.790 we really need that. And and one of the things 0:37:40.790 --> 0:37:44.600 that's really changed, even post-Covid, just in the last five 0:37:44.600 --> 0:37:47.900 years or so, is that the whole world of seminary 0:37:47.900 --> 0:37:51.380 education has been just turned on its head because we're 0:37:51.410 --> 0:37:55.790 we're wanting to be able to access education and substance, 0:37:55.820 --> 0:37:57.970 you know, from our living room without having to go anywhere. 0:37:57.969 --> 0:38:01.359 And so there's been a huge movement away from people, 0:38:01.390 --> 0:38:02.739 you know, saying, I'm going to take 3 or 4 years, 0:38:02.739 --> 0:38:04.090 I'm going to go to seminary, I'm going to move 0:38:04.090 --> 0:38:05.800 my family there, and I'm going to have a time 0:38:05.800 --> 0:38:08.830 of study and get really grounded. That's all changed. And 0:38:08.830 --> 0:38:12.460 I think all of us involved in Christian education and 0:38:12.460 --> 0:38:15.219 Christian leadership need to really be thinking about how we 0:38:15.219 --> 0:38:18.580 enable people to access good education so they can step 0:38:18.580 --> 0:38:21.430 into Christian leadership and do that in some flexible ways, 0:38:21.430 --> 0:38:24.399 because the world's really changed and models of education have 0:38:24.400 --> 0:38:25.480 been transformed. 0:38:25.510 --> 0:38:27.910 You know, I got a passion for something because I'm 0:38:27.910 --> 0:38:31.180 a churchman at heart. That's my first and primary passion. 0:38:31.840 --> 0:38:36.490 What would it look like if Bible college seminaries got 0:38:36.520 --> 0:38:40.450 way more proactive, partnering with the local church, almost making 0:38:40.450 --> 0:38:43.270 those extensions? So here's what I want to do coming 0:38:43.270 --> 0:38:45.460 up in a few minutes. Let's explore that a little bit. 0:38:45.460 --> 0:38:48.550 I'd love to. Um, and just what would it look 0:38:48.550 --> 0:38:52.210 like if fill in the blank? We began to partner 0:38:52.210 --> 0:38:57.140 with churches in a way that puts the almost the onus. 0:38:57.290 --> 0:39:00.560 Responsibility and authority puts the big hat back on the 0:39:00.560 --> 0:39:03.770 local church, so to speak. It's it's let's kick that around. 0:39:03.770 --> 0:39:06.410 That's coming up in just a couple of minutes. Jonathan 0:39:06.410 --> 0:39:13.760 Griffiths here. He's from way up there. Cold country. Ottawa, Canada. Ottawa, Canada. 0:39:13.790 --> 0:39:17.960 Hang on it's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:39:19.580 --> 0:39:24.680 Equip the Saints to do the work of ministry. How 0:39:24.680 --> 0:39:27.320 do we do it? Got some crazy thoughts on this 0:39:27.320 --> 0:39:28.010 one this morning. 0:39:28.040 --> 0:39:31.400 Jonathan Griffiths with us right now. He's from Encounter the Truth, 0:39:31.400 --> 0:39:34.820 also the lead pastor of the Metropolitan Bible Church in Ottawa, Canada. 0:39:34.850 --> 0:39:37.549 You have a keen interest in this, Carl set up 0:39:37.700 --> 0:39:41.510 just before the break. The seminary, the role of seminary 0:39:41.510 --> 0:39:44.719 has changed the local church. We want to bring those 0:39:44.719 --> 0:39:47.660 two together more so that we're not losing people for 0:39:47.660 --> 0:39:50.390 four years as they disappear and go get trained and 0:39:50.390 --> 0:39:52.730 are away from the local church. How can we bridge 0:39:52.730 --> 0:39:54.170 that gap a little bit more. 0:39:54.200 --> 0:39:56.930 Well, I think there's been a really positive move. And 0:39:56.930 --> 0:40:00.920 somehow I think Covid sparked this for local churches to say, 0:40:00.950 --> 0:40:03.110 you know, we really want to get back involved in 0:40:03.140 --> 0:40:06.020 the in the training of our next generation of leaders. 0:40:06.020 --> 0:40:09.110 And I think as some people maybe, you know, weren't 0:40:09.110 --> 0:40:11.750 able to go away to seminary and have in-person training 0:40:11.780 --> 0:40:14.780 in the depths of Covid, the churches started to notice, hey, 0:40:14.780 --> 0:40:18.109 we love having our young people around, the people who 0:40:18.110 --> 0:40:20.180 are in training. We love having them here within the 0:40:20.180 --> 0:40:22.700 local church, serving within the local church while they're studying, 0:40:22.700 --> 0:40:24.590 and some of them doing that online and so on. 0:40:24.590 --> 0:40:27.589 And I think that's sparking some really big conversations between 0:40:27.590 --> 0:40:32.720 churches and denominations and seminaries about how we maybe envisage 0:40:32.930 --> 0:40:37.880 theological education keeping our our promising young people involved in 0:40:37.880 --> 0:40:40.580 the life of the local church while they're training, while 0:40:40.580 --> 0:40:43.430 they're studying so that they can be mentored by their 0:40:43.430 --> 0:40:46.040 pastors and their elders within their fellowship so they can 0:40:46.040 --> 0:40:49.549 actually be engaging in ministry, not not just having an 0:40:49.550 --> 0:40:52.500 ivory tower experience, but engaging in ministry all the time 0:40:52.500 --> 0:40:54.930 while they're training, and I think these conversations are great. 0:40:54.930 --> 0:40:56.490 I don't think we know where the dust is going 0:40:56.520 --> 0:41:00.180 to settle on seminary education for the next generation. But 0:41:00.180 --> 0:41:01.830 but the world is changing. 0:41:01.860 --> 0:41:09.360 Yeah, it's changing quickly. Um, worldview. 4% of Americans have 0:41:09.360 --> 0:41:12.420 a biblical worldview. I'm sure that's not much different in Canada. 0:41:12.450 --> 0:41:12.870 It's probably. 0:41:12.870 --> 0:41:13.350 Lower. 0:41:13.380 --> 0:41:16.200 Probably a little bit lower. Thanks for saying that. Um, 0:41:16.200 --> 0:41:20.730 it's so the worldview, though, there's four huge anchors of 0:41:20.730 --> 0:41:25.500 a worldview. Sovereignty of God, lostness of man. Regenerating power 0:41:25.530 --> 0:41:30.330 of Christ through the Holy Spirit and the sanctification process. 0:41:31.560 --> 0:41:34.860 When you get those four anchors in your soul, you 0:41:34.860 --> 0:41:39.509 can go somewhere. Yeah, it seems to me wondering if 0:41:39.510 --> 0:41:42.330 I'm under leveraging. So, I mean, I got a moody prof, 0:41:42.330 --> 0:41:44.550 one of our elders, and I've got one of the 0:41:44.550 --> 0:41:49.290 greatest Greek minds. He's my right hand man. But the 0:41:49.290 --> 0:41:52.600 weird thing about even getting worldview, it seems. It feels 0:41:52.600 --> 0:41:56.379 like it's taking us away from reaching people, but really, 0:41:56.380 --> 0:41:59.649 it's almost a delayed gratification if we can get embedded 0:41:59.650 --> 0:42:01.989 in our leaders. A biblical worldview, and that gets a 0:42:01.989 --> 0:42:04.839 boiler going in. What do you think about that? 0:42:04.870 --> 0:42:07.840 Oh, absolutely. But the way in which we shape biblical 0:42:07.840 --> 0:42:10.780 worldview is through just immersing ourselves in the word, in 0:42:10.780 --> 0:42:14.380 the Word of God, and being really grounded in the word. Yes. 0:42:14.410 --> 0:42:15.940 And I think one of the things we need to 0:42:15.940 --> 0:42:18.910 do unashamedly and come back to this in an unashamed 0:42:18.910 --> 0:42:21.969 way is, is to focus our education of young people 0:42:21.969 --> 0:42:24.400 who are preparing for ministry, to focus their education in 0:42:24.400 --> 0:42:27.549 the Word of God, to get them really grounded in Scripture. Because, 0:42:27.580 --> 0:42:29.980 you know, the Word of God is, is is the 0:42:29.980 --> 0:42:32.860 power of God for life transformation. And we need people 0:42:32.860 --> 0:42:36.129 whose minds are so shaped by Scripture that their whole 0:42:36.130 --> 0:42:39.700 view of reality is shaped by Scripture. Yes. And and 0:42:39.700 --> 0:42:41.500 I think we need to come back to a real 0:42:41.500 --> 0:42:44.260 focus of get people into the word, get them grounded 0:42:44.260 --> 0:42:46.210 in the word so that they are mighty in the 0:42:46.210 --> 0:42:49.360 scriptures and able to teach the scriptures. Yeah, And I 0:42:49.360 --> 0:42:53.230 want that simplicity to shape our Christian education. Really, at 0:42:53.230 --> 0:42:54.010 every level. 0:42:54.190 --> 0:42:57.310 You pastor in Canada, you are part of the Timothy Trust, 0:42:57.340 --> 0:43:00.970 which is all about the revitalization of the church in Canada. 0:43:01.000 --> 0:43:03.939 You mentioned you think in Canada, biblical worldview might even 0:43:03.969 --> 0:43:07.509 be lower than here in the States. What would you 0:43:07.510 --> 0:43:10.390 say are the unique challenges that you're seeing from your 0:43:10.420 --> 0:43:13.450 vantage point? Maybe that we're not even seeing. 0:43:13.480 --> 0:43:15.820 Well, you know, Canada and the United States share a 0:43:15.820 --> 0:43:18.910 lot in common historically and culturally, of course, but there 0:43:18.940 --> 0:43:22.629 there has been a faster movement away from our biblical 0:43:22.630 --> 0:43:25.900 moorings in Canada overall than there has in the United States. 0:43:25.930 --> 0:43:27.970 I mean, we're on the same trajectory, but I think 0:43:27.969 --> 0:43:29.770 it's been a little bit, a little bit quicker. 0:43:29.860 --> 0:43:31.360 You're a little European. We're a. 0:43:31.360 --> 0:43:33.820 Little European. We're a few years ahead. I mean, you're 0:43:34.239 --> 0:43:36.009 the United States is heading in the same direction, but 0:43:36.010 --> 0:43:38.080 we tend to get to some of the key markers 0:43:38.110 --> 0:43:41.200 a little bit quicker. That's been true historically with massive 0:43:41.200 --> 0:43:44.860 social change over the last 50 years. Each each negative step. 0:43:44.860 --> 0:43:47.750 Canada's been a few steps ahead of the United States. 0:43:47.750 --> 0:43:50.390 There are various reasons for that. You know, our church 0:43:50.390 --> 0:43:52.760 where I serve is on the border of Ontario and Quebec. 0:43:52.760 --> 0:43:56.600 So Quebec being French Canada, Quebec is the least reached 0:43:56.630 --> 0:44:00.590 region in the Americas. North south central Caribbean. Wow. With, 0:44:00.620 --> 0:44:04.790 you know, 2 or 3% evangelical Christian in Quebec. That's 0:44:04.820 --> 0:44:07.370 the that's the lowest you'll find anywhere in the Americas. 0:44:07.370 --> 0:44:09.469 And part of the history of that actually has been 0:44:09.469 --> 0:44:13.520 a very negative reaction in Quebec against a historically very 0:44:13.520 --> 0:44:17.810 repressive Roman Catholicism. That's just Quebec French history, but that 0:44:17.810 --> 0:44:22.400 has shaped our our region of Canada. There's a very strong, anti-Christian, 0:44:22.400 --> 0:44:27.920 very strong secularizing cultural move in that part of the world. 0:44:27.920 --> 0:44:30.560 And and you see that then represented in, in our 0:44:30.560 --> 0:44:32.900 politics and in the social direction of the country. So 0:44:32.900 --> 0:44:34.730 that's been a little bit of a unique factor in 0:44:34.730 --> 0:44:37.609 Canada that I think has moved things on a little 0:44:37.640 --> 0:44:40.489 bit more quickly. But but what I want to say is, 0:44:40.489 --> 0:44:42.920 despite all that, the reality on the ground in the 0:44:42.920 --> 0:44:44.660 churches is we're seeing people coming to Christ. That's what 0:44:44.660 --> 0:44:47.420 I was wondering. We're seeing young people. We're seeing young 0:44:47.420 --> 0:44:53.390 men come to Christ. It's really fascinating and loving expository 0:44:53.390 --> 0:44:56.239 Bible teaching, like teaching through books of the Bible, chapter 0:44:56.239 --> 0:44:59.120 by chapter, verse by verse. They're hungry for that. Our 0:44:59.120 --> 0:45:02.450 young adults group seem to be the hungriest for it. 0:45:02.450 --> 0:45:06.110 So we've got we've got hundreds of, you know, college 0:45:06.140 --> 0:45:09.110 aged students and young professionals coming to our church. And 0:45:09.110 --> 0:45:11.300 I tell you, if I gave up doing expository Bible 0:45:11.330 --> 0:45:13.670 teaching on a Sunday morning and I went all kind 0:45:13.670 --> 0:45:17.000 of light and fluffy and, and did kind of randomized 0:45:17.000 --> 0:45:19.700 topical teaching that wasn't grounded in the text, they would 0:45:19.730 --> 0:45:23.299 first complain and then they would leave. Wow. My my 0:45:23.330 --> 0:45:24.590 my my young adults. 0:45:24.590 --> 0:45:27.379 Awesome. That is that's encouraging. Yeah. Yeah. 0:45:27.410 --> 0:45:28.040 I love that. 0:45:28.070 --> 0:45:31.969 You know, we've we've seen that. Um, we're seeing that 0:45:31.969 --> 0:45:35.000 in Chicago. Are you? Yeah, we're seeing that. It's really 0:45:35.000 --> 0:45:38.540 a bizarre thing, but I'm seeing the greatest hunger for 0:45:38.540 --> 0:45:42.049 the word of God in our downtown campus, 30, 40 0:45:42.080 --> 0:45:46.350 of these young professionals, and they just they want the word. 0:45:46.380 --> 0:45:49.980 They're filling small groups. It's wonderful. They're busting open the word. 0:45:49.980 --> 0:45:54.180 They've got the word of God open constantly. Yeah. So 0:45:54.719 --> 0:45:57.330 we better make hay while the sun is shining, baby. 0:45:57.360 --> 0:45:58.379 You know what I mean? 0:45:58.410 --> 0:46:00.450 I think so. I think the Spirit of God is 0:46:00.450 --> 0:46:03.569 doing something. I think that there is a reaction against 0:46:03.570 --> 0:46:06.960 just the ridiculousness of what's going on in culture. I 0:46:06.960 --> 0:46:09.090 think I think young people are looking out at the 0:46:09.090 --> 0:46:09.930 cultural landscape and. 0:46:09.930 --> 0:46:10.830 Saying, this ain't working. 0:46:10.830 --> 0:46:13.710 This ain't working, this is empty. What is something solid 0:46:13.710 --> 0:46:16.410 upon which I can build my life? Yeah. And. And 0:46:16.410 --> 0:46:17.969 there's a hunger for the word of God. And people 0:46:17.969 --> 0:46:20.610 are coming to Christ. So we rejoice in that. 0:46:20.640 --> 0:46:23.910 Yeah. Guys, can we just stop for a moment and say, 0:46:23.910 --> 0:46:24.690 Praise God? 0:46:24.719 --> 0:46:25.830 Praise the Lord. Yeah. 0:46:25.860 --> 0:46:29.340 Praise God. And what's wild about this is there seems 0:46:29.340 --> 0:46:32.339 to be this threshold. So things devolve, devolve, devolve. And 0:46:32.340 --> 0:46:36.630 then there's this little group that goes, this is crazy. 0:46:36.719 --> 0:46:40.590 Where's truth? Yeah. Where's absolute truth? Here? 0:46:40.620 --> 0:46:41.069 Exactly. 0:46:41.100 --> 0:46:44.400 And then that could be the beginnings of a bit 0:46:44.400 --> 0:46:47.040 of an awakening. And how cool would that be? That 0:46:47.040 --> 0:46:50.160 always comes through the students. It always comes through a 0:46:50.160 --> 0:46:50.880 youth movement. 0:46:50.910 --> 0:46:53.130 Often, and through the preaching of the Word of God. 0:46:53.160 --> 0:46:56.370 I mean, historically in church history, revival is sparked through 0:46:56.370 --> 0:46:59.040 the open proclamation of the Word of God, and the 0:46:59.040 --> 0:47:01.920 Lord uses that. And I mean, I'm daring to hope 0:47:01.920 --> 0:47:04.470 that we might see something of a revival in our generation. 0:47:04.500 --> 0:47:05.430 I mean, wouldn't that be wonderful? 0:47:05.460 --> 0:47:08.549 Oh, are you kidding me, man? God, please bring it on. 0:47:08.580 --> 0:47:12.210 All right, listen, you're listening to Guy going, who is 0:47:12.210 --> 0:47:14.700 this guy? We got a link for you. 0:47:14.730 --> 0:47:18.270 Just text local. Jonathan Griffiths, our guest. He is all 0:47:18.270 --> 0:47:20.580 about the local church. As you heard his heart. Text 0:47:20.610 --> 0:47:29.640 local to 800 555 7898. Local to 805 five five 7898. 0:47:29.670 --> 0:47:33.299 Jonathan, I love you, man. Your heart for the Lord. 0:47:33.300 --> 0:47:36.060 Your clarity of communication. It's inspiring. Thank you for being 0:47:36.060 --> 0:47:36.480 with us today. 0:47:36.510 --> 0:47:38.700 So great to be with you both. Thanks for having me. Yeah. 0:47:38.730 --> 0:47:43.180 What a joy. Grateful. Aren't we guys? Yes. Very much. Goodness, man. 0:47:43.210 --> 0:47:45.040 This will put fuel in your belly. What a way. 0:47:45.040 --> 0:47:45.580 To start the. 0:47:45.580 --> 0:47:48.610 Morning. What a way. Good morning. Boom! Crew helping you 0:47:48.610 --> 0:47:50.800 take your next step with Jesus. 0:47:50.830 --> 0:47:53.770 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:47:53.770 --> 0:47:57.730 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:47:57.760 --> 0:48:00.549 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:48:00.580 --> 0:48:03.339 Well, we get the call of God on our life 0:48:03.340 --> 0:48:09.459 is to go and reach. But Jesus did something really practical. 0:48:09.489 --> 0:48:12.489 He cared for the practical needs of people. You know, 0:48:12.520 --> 0:48:15.490 when I turn on my water system at home, it's 0:48:15.489 --> 0:48:20.500 great water. Got one of those home filtration systems. But 0:48:20.500 --> 0:48:22.660 the amount of people around the globe today that are 0:48:22.660 --> 0:48:25.840 just walking great distances, just to get a drink of 0:48:25.840 --> 0:48:30.130 water that isn't going to infect them with something staggering. 0:48:30.130 --> 0:48:33.520 The numbers are off the chart. What are those numbers, Chris? 0:48:33.550 --> 0:48:34.930 Do you have any idea what in the world is 0:48:34.930 --> 0:48:36.730 going on with water around the world? 0:48:36.760 --> 0:48:40.370 Yeah, there's 785 85 million people around the world that 0:48:40.370 --> 0:48:43.520 don't have access to something that most of us have 0:48:43.520 --> 0:48:45.650 taken for granted for most of our lives. 0:48:45.680 --> 0:48:46.370 Big number. 0:48:46.400 --> 0:48:51.319 So there's 331 million people in the US, so more 0:48:51.350 --> 0:48:55.730 than twice the population of the United States doesn't have 0:48:55.730 --> 0:48:57.890 access to clean, safe drinking water. 0:48:57.920 --> 0:49:01.460 We've got Christopher Bethe, founder of the Bucket Ministry, joining 0:49:01.460 --> 0:49:03.590 us right now. You got to tell this story, though. 0:49:03.620 --> 0:49:06.170 You this started for you. This was not something you 0:49:06.200 --> 0:49:09.140 were interested in. You were not interested in missions. You 0:49:09.140 --> 0:49:12.049 weren't even particularly strong in your faith. I've heard your story. 0:49:12.050 --> 0:49:14.299 So I know that you've told this before. But tell 0:49:14.300 --> 0:49:16.880 us about how this whole thing got started. You got 0:49:16.910 --> 0:49:19.790 roped into chaperoning a mission trip with your daughter. 0:49:19.790 --> 0:49:22.850 Went reluctantly. Oh, this is good. 0:49:22.880 --> 0:49:26.360 In 2012, my daughter came home from high school and 0:49:26.360 --> 0:49:28.549 said she wanted to go on this mission trip to 0:49:28.580 --> 0:49:32.480 the Brazilian Amazon. And, I mean, she'd been to South 0:49:32.480 --> 0:49:35.930 Texas before, but we thought it was a little bit further. 0:49:35.930 --> 0:49:38.690 So my wife and I said, hey, listen, if you're 0:49:38.690 --> 0:49:40.340 going to go on this trip, you got to raise 0:49:40.340 --> 0:49:43.430 all the money. So this was a reverse psychology move 0:49:43.430 --> 0:49:47.600 at this point. So a couple of weeks went by 0:49:47.600 --> 0:49:50.750 and sure enough, she raised 3500 bucks. So then we 0:49:50.750 --> 0:49:52.850 decided if she's going to go, one of us has 0:49:52.850 --> 0:49:56.239 to go with her. Yeah. And that became my job. 0:49:56.239 --> 0:49:59.420 And my only job, though, was to bring her home. 0:49:59.420 --> 0:50:02.150 I didn't go there because I had a love or 0:50:02.150 --> 0:50:06.440 compassion for the Brazilian people. I didn't go there because 0:50:06.560 --> 0:50:08.719 I thought I wanted to be the hands and feet 0:50:08.750 --> 0:50:12.620 of Jesus. I just went there to bring my kid home, 0:50:12.620 --> 0:50:15.680 and the things that I saw changed me at a 0:50:15.680 --> 0:50:20.420 core level. And really, um, God showed me why he 0:50:20.420 --> 0:50:21.620 had created me. 0:50:21.710 --> 0:50:23.240 What did he do in your heart? 0:50:23.390 --> 0:50:29.060 Well, uh, I saw things that I could not reconcile. 0:50:29.060 --> 0:50:32.719 I saw things that I never thought was possible prior 0:50:32.719 --> 0:50:34.550 to this. I didn't even know there was a world 0:50:34.550 --> 0:50:37.969 water crisis. I mean, I lived, like most of us live. 0:50:37.969 --> 0:50:41.180 If I was thirsty, I went to my refrigerator, put 0:50:41.180 --> 0:50:44.330 a cup underneath the filter and got a glass of water, 0:50:44.330 --> 0:50:47.509 or I bought a bottle of water. I never even 0:50:47.540 --> 0:50:50.090 thought people had to drink out of a lake, river, 0:50:50.090 --> 0:50:54.770 stream or anything like that. So when I saw that 0:50:54.920 --> 0:50:58.850 for the first time, I was crushed and I thought, 0:50:58.880 --> 0:51:01.790 with everything we have in the world, how is it 0:51:01.790 --> 0:51:06.169 even possible that people are drinking out of a river 0:51:06.620 --> 0:51:11.300 today and thinking that's normal? That was probably the biggest 0:51:11.300 --> 0:51:15.410 tragedy for me, is they thought that was normal. They 0:51:15.410 --> 0:51:19.219 thought that being sick all the time was normal. They 0:51:19.219 --> 0:51:22.730 thought that not naming their children for the first two 0:51:22.730 --> 0:51:25.279 years of the child's life, because they weren't sure the 0:51:25.280 --> 0:51:30.020 child was going to survive, was normal. So while I 0:51:30.020 --> 0:51:34.319 was in a house in the Amazon, a Brazilian woman 0:51:34.320 --> 0:51:36.810 asked me, are you thirsty? And I'm just this giant, 0:51:36.810 --> 0:51:40.320 sweaty American, right? And she she looks at me, she 0:51:40.320 --> 0:51:43.290 sees I'm sweaty. She says, are you thirsty? And I'm like, yeah, 0:51:43.320 --> 0:51:46.950 I'm thirsty. But I'm looking around her home and there's 0:51:46.950 --> 0:51:50.700 no refrigerator, there's no water cooler. So I'm thinking, where's 0:51:50.700 --> 0:51:53.520 she going to get this water from? She takes two 0:51:53.550 --> 0:51:57.030 cups from her kitchen. They were mismatched and they were cracked. 0:51:57.030 --> 0:51:59.700 And she goes out into this little dock area on 0:51:59.700 --> 0:52:03.899 the side of the river, bends down in the river 0:52:03.900 --> 0:52:07.140 and grabs two cups of water. And I'm standing in 0:52:07.140 --> 0:52:10.500 the doorway thinking, what is this crazy woman doing? I 0:52:10.530 --> 0:52:13.650 am not going to drink that. But sure enough, she 0:52:13.650 --> 0:52:15.359 comes and hands one cup to me. 0:52:15.390 --> 0:52:16.110 Oh boy. 0:52:16.140 --> 0:52:21.300 One cup to my interpreter. So now I have this decision. Yeah. 0:52:21.330 --> 0:52:23.940 Do I drink this because I just told her how 0:52:23.969 --> 0:52:26.880 thirsty I was. But if I don't, she's going to 0:52:26.880 --> 0:52:29.549 think I'm rude. So as I'm pondering this decision, my 0:52:29.550 --> 0:52:32.670 interpreter is wagging his finger. Don't do that. Do it. 0:52:32.670 --> 0:52:37.800 But now I realize the gravity of this. She thinks 0:52:37.800 --> 0:52:42.270 this is normal. Then, as I'm holding this, I heard 0:52:42.270 --> 0:52:46.350 something I'd never heard before, and I had at this point. 0:52:46.350 --> 0:52:48.600 I had only been walking with Jesus for about 3 0:52:48.600 --> 0:52:52.140 or 4 years. Didn't even really fully understand my own 0:52:52.140 --> 0:52:55.800 relationship with Christ yet. But as I'm holding this glass 0:52:55.800 --> 0:52:58.860 of water and there's things swimming in it, I heard 0:52:58.860 --> 0:53:03.989 something I'd never heard before. And prior to this day, 0:53:03.989 --> 0:53:06.989 if someone would have told me, hey, I got a 0:53:06.989 --> 0:53:10.739 word from God today, or God gave me some instruction today, 0:53:10.739 --> 0:53:11.040 you would have. 0:53:11.040 --> 0:53:12.510 Thought, that's kind of loopy. 0:53:12.540 --> 0:53:17.040 Yeah, I was skeptical. And if I'm just being completely honest, 0:53:17.040 --> 0:53:19.980 I would have thought really? He stopped his day to 0:53:20.010 --> 0:53:23.520 have a conversation with you. But as I'm holding this 0:53:23.520 --> 0:53:27.030 glass of dirty water, I heard two words and he said, 0:53:27.030 --> 0:53:30.850 help them. But it came with no other instruction. I 0:53:30.850 --> 0:53:32.680 didn't know what help them meant. Am I supposed to 0:53:32.680 --> 0:53:35.920 give these people 20 bucks? Am I supposed to repair 0:53:35.920 --> 0:53:37.989 their boat? Am I supposed to cook them dinner? I 0:53:37.989 --> 0:53:41.740 don't know what help them means. So that trip in 0:53:41.739 --> 0:53:45.220 the Amazon is where God showed me why he had 0:53:45.219 --> 0:53:46.210 created me. 0:53:46.480 --> 0:53:52.360 Wow, you're a storyteller. You know what you are? You're 0:53:52.360 --> 0:53:54.550 a guy that got hit deeply at a heart level 0:53:54.580 --> 0:53:56.800 by the Spirit of God. Amen. And you got a 0:53:56.800 --> 0:54:00.399 story to tell. Amen. Coming up. Where did it go 0:54:00.400 --> 0:54:07.120 from there? And what's happening today? Chris is with us. 0:54:08.350 --> 0:54:12.609 Just another follower of Jesus, dude, who God's working in 0:54:12.610 --> 0:54:13.960 his life. Hang on. 0:54:14.260 --> 0:54:17.290 Your shot of hope to help you through the day. 0:54:17.290 --> 0:54:20.830 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:54:21.250 --> 0:54:24.190 He was somewhere in the middle of the Amazon and 0:54:24.190 --> 0:54:27.370 he heard the words help them. That was the heart 0:54:27.370 --> 0:54:30.880 behind this ministry, the bucket ministry. What do you do 0:54:30.880 --> 0:54:33.040 with that? You said you didn't didn't come with instructions. 0:54:33.040 --> 0:54:35.049 The Lord didn't say how you were going to help them. 0:54:35.050 --> 0:54:37.360 So the first step was to discern. What do I do? 0:54:37.390 --> 0:54:40.090 They don't have access to clean water. But how could 0:54:40.090 --> 0:54:43.420 I possibly be involved in helping solve this? 0:54:43.750 --> 0:54:46.480 Yeah. You know, at the end of the day, I'm 0:54:46.480 --> 0:54:49.480 just an ordinary guy. I was a business guy. I 0:54:49.480 --> 0:54:54.490 really had no training in ministry. I had very little relationship, 0:54:54.489 --> 0:54:57.219 even with the church. At that point, I hadn't even 0:54:57.219 --> 0:55:00.520 been discipled. So we got home from that trip and 0:55:00.520 --> 0:55:05.020 just started researching the world water crisis. Tried to find 0:55:05.020 --> 0:55:08.680 out just how big the problem really is. At the 0:55:08.680 --> 0:55:12.670 end of the day, everywhere I searched, water was just 0:55:12.670 --> 0:55:17.109 such a major issue. And there's really two spaces within water. 0:55:17.110 --> 0:55:21.460 There's access to water, and then there's access to clean, 0:55:21.460 --> 0:55:27.350 safe drinking water. And, um, two really different issues. so 0:55:27.350 --> 0:55:30.080 started looking at what could be a solution in the 0:55:30.080 --> 0:55:35.150 Amazon basin. And we researched a variety of filters. We 0:55:35.150 --> 0:55:37.880 bought a variety of filters, tried to find a tool 0:55:37.880 --> 0:55:41.870 that would work, and finally my family and I were 0:55:41.870 --> 0:55:45.410 at Rei. It's a camping supply store here in Dallas, 0:55:45.410 --> 0:55:48.739 and I was in the water filter aisle for camping, 0:55:48.739 --> 0:55:51.740 and I stumbled across this filter by a company out 0:55:51.739 --> 0:55:56.330 of Tampa called Sawyer Products that attaches to a bucket 0:55:56.330 --> 0:55:59.660 and uses the gravity of water in the bucket to 0:55:59.690 --> 0:56:03.290 force that water through the filter. The filter captures all 0:56:03.290 --> 0:56:07.640 the debris, all the contaminants, and then yields 350 to 0:56:07.640 --> 0:56:12.290 500 gallons per day of clean, safe drinking water. So 0:56:12.290 --> 0:56:16.489 I thought, man, this is portable. This is simple. It 0:56:16.489 --> 0:56:20.060 doesn't require an engineer to operate it. And I think 0:56:20.060 --> 0:56:22.610 I could teach a seven year old or a 97 0:56:22.640 --> 0:56:26.719 year old how to use this tool. So we we 0:56:26.719 --> 0:56:29.960 bought about 80 of these filters and went back to 0:56:29.989 --> 0:56:33.410 the Amazon the next year. But again, in the beginning 0:56:33.410 --> 0:56:37.009 I only thought this was water. I didn't even understand 0:56:37.010 --> 0:56:40.130 the connection to the gospel. So we're in the Amazon, 0:56:40.130 --> 0:56:43.970 we're distributing 80 filters and I get done. I feel 0:56:44.000 --> 0:56:46.820 really good about myself and I thought this is what 0:56:46.820 --> 0:56:50.090 helped them. And then this Brazilian man comes up to 0:56:50.120 --> 0:56:52.669 me and he says, can you tell me how you 0:56:52.670 --> 0:56:55.280 got here? And I made a joke. And I said, well, 0:56:55.280 --> 0:56:57.950 that boat, that's how I got here. He's like, no, no, no. 0:56:57.980 --> 0:57:01.400 Of all the villages in the Amazon, how did you 0:57:01.430 --> 0:57:05.570 come to ours? I'm thinking, wow, that's a deep question. Uh, 0:57:05.570 --> 0:57:09.109 and I said, well, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. 0:57:09.110 --> 0:57:12.830 And we thought that we should bring you this gift. 0:57:12.830 --> 0:57:15.980 And the next thing he said changed everything for us 0:57:15.980 --> 0:57:21.410 and me personally. And this man says, who is this Jesus? 0:57:21.410 --> 0:57:22.700 So at this point. 0:57:22.700 --> 0:57:24.000 You're like, Whoa! 0:57:24.030 --> 0:57:26.400 Yeah. And again, at this point, I had only been 0:57:26.400 --> 0:57:29.370 walking with Christ about four years, so I'm looking around. Hey, 0:57:29.370 --> 0:57:32.520 where's the pastor? Somebody find the pastor. Get a pastor 0:57:32.520 --> 0:57:35.100 over here so they can tell this guy about Jesus. 0:57:35.100 --> 0:57:38.400 So there was nobody except for my interpreter. So now 0:57:38.400 --> 0:57:41.340 I'm like, oh, what do I do? So I just 0:57:41.340 --> 0:57:44.280 start sharing my testimony with this man, and I tell 0:57:44.280 --> 0:57:45.960 him about how my daughter and I were in a 0:57:45.960 --> 0:57:49.290 car crash, and I came to faith in a hospital 0:57:49.290 --> 0:57:53.130 and turned my life over and repented of my sins. 0:57:53.130 --> 0:57:57.300 And the next thing he said changed me at a 0:57:57.300 --> 0:58:00.570 wholesale level. He said, how can I? 0:58:00.600 --> 0:58:01.080 Oh my word. 0:58:01.110 --> 0:58:06.450 Have a friend that will never leave me. And I 0:58:06.450 --> 0:58:09.630 was like, oh my goodness, what just happened here? 0:58:09.660 --> 0:58:10.290 Changed everything. 0:58:10.320 --> 0:58:14.730 And then there's 30 people behind him. Brazilians, they're raising 0:58:14.730 --> 0:58:17.520 their hand and say, hey, we want that same gift too. 0:58:17.550 --> 0:58:20.490 Oh my word. So that's where we realized that the 0:58:20.490 --> 0:58:27.300 filter will save lives physically, but more importantly, it introduced 0:58:27.330 --> 0:58:30.330 introduces people to a relationship with Jesus. 0:58:30.360 --> 0:58:33.030 We just got a moment. Give us some facts and 0:58:33.030 --> 0:58:34.950 figures of where you are now. 0:58:34.980 --> 0:58:37.980 Yeah, we're working in about 20 different countries right now 0:58:37.980 --> 0:58:41.700 with most of our work happening, about 60% of our 0:58:41.700 --> 0:58:46.470 work happening in Kenya right now. We, uh, have probably 0:58:46.470 --> 0:58:51.360 served nearly 300,000 families in just the last ten years. 0:58:51.360 --> 0:58:55.560 And with the last year alone in 2024, we served 0:58:55.560 --> 0:59:03.780 41,000 families. We had about 22,000 salvations and, um, just 0:59:03.780 --> 0:59:06.540 significant work all around the world. 0:59:09.450 --> 0:59:13.860 This has God tracks all over it. Chris. 0:59:14.340 --> 0:59:15.030 Amen. 0:59:15.660 --> 0:59:17.820 You can't claim a stick of this, can you? 0:59:17.850 --> 0:59:21.670 No, no, this is this is so far beyond me, 0:59:22.330 --> 0:59:25.780 I really don't even recognize myself anymore. 0:59:29.290 --> 0:59:32.410 You know, here's here's a question. We're gonna do this 0:59:32.410 --> 0:59:34.870 quick because I want to give a link out here 0:59:34.870 --> 0:59:38.860 in just a moment. What do you say to the 0:59:38.860 --> 0:59:43.690 person who's just going through the grind, listening to you 0:59:43.690 --> 0:59:47.350 right now? What? You got to get on a ragged 0:59:47.380 --> 0:59:50.140 edge somewhere. Yeah. Got to get on a ragged edge, right? 0:59:50.170 --> 0:59:53.740 Man, I just hope that this story of an ordinary 0:59:53.740 --> 1:00:00.970 business guy, uneducated, untrained, just like the Sanhedrin, saw Peter 1:00:00.970 --> 1:00:01.540 and John. 1:00:01.570 --> 1:00:02.200 In the same way. 1:00:02.230 --> 1:00:07.450 413 I just hope that somebody hears this and says, well, 1:00:07.450 --> 1:00:12.670 if this ordinary, uneducated guy can be part of that solution, 1:00:12.670 --> 1:00:16.180 maybe I can do something. I hope this becomes an 1:00:16.210 --> 1:00:19.990 anthem for a person sitting on the couch at home, 1:00:19.990 --> 1:00:26.440 driving in their car, knowing that there's more so compelling. 1:00:26.470 --> 1:00:34.630 Ali. Just got to take a risk that's walking by faith. Amen. 1:00:34.690 --> 1:00:38.980 Just got to step out there. Oh my goodness. Boom crew. 1:00:41.380 --> 1:00:45.640 I want you to find out more. I think whether 1:00:45.640 --> 1:00:51.760 you give or just it fuels your soul and ignite 1:00:51.760 --> 1:00:54.130 something in you. Whatever the case, some of you are 1:00:54.160 --> 1:00:56.200 going to want to give some shekels, some a ton 1:00:56.200 --> 1:01:01.390 of shekels getting behind ministries like this. What a powerful thing. Ali. 1:01:01.390 --> 1:01:01.870 It is. 1:01:01.900 --> 1:01:05.470 This is called the bucket Ministry. Christopher Beth, the founder 1:01:05.500 --> 1:01:08.860 and director with us this morning. Text bucket. If you 1:01:08.860 --> 1:01:15.310 want more information, text bucket to 800 555 7898. Bucket 1:01:15.340 --> 1:01:18.980 to 800 Five five, five 7898. 1:01:19.010 --> 1:01:22.520 I kicked a song out because you're too compelling. So 1:01:22.550 --> 1:01:25.460 I want a one minute story. One minute. 1:01:25.730 --> 1:01:29.780 One minute. Uh, we have a member of our team 1:01:29.780 --> 1:01:33.920 in Kenya. Her name is Linda Okumu. Linda was orphaned 1:01:33.920 --> 1:01:40.460 at the age of 11, and she was without any 1:01:40.460 --> 1:01:43.190 family to care for her. And from the age of 1:01:43.190 --> 1:01:48.770 11 until her 30s, the only way she could survive 1:01:48.770 --> 1:01:54.440 was by selling her body. And we met her in 1:01:54.440 --> 1:01:59.120 her 30s. Uh, we delivered a water filter to her home, 1:01:59.120 --> 1:02:04.370 and she heard the gospel in her home. And after 1:02:04.370 --> 1:02:08.570 that day, she decided to follow Jesus. She was baptized, 1:02:08.570 --> 1:02:12.620 and she's now on our team of missionaries. Come on. 1:02:12.710 --> 1:02:16.310 Working in Kibera slum in Nairobi, Kenya. 1:02:16.340 --> 1:02:16.940 Come on. 1:02:17.030 --> 1:02:22.580 And she's our one of our most prolific missionaries. And 1:02:22.610 --> 1:02:26.330 just bragging on her a little bit. She tends to 1:02:26.360 --> 1:02:30.920 spend so much time with her recipients that she's just 1:02:30.920 --> 1:02:32.510 reproducing what she's heard. 1:02:32.540 --> 1:02:33.380 Unbelievable. Wow. 1:02:33.800 --> 1:02:39.650 You want more text? Bucket to 800 555 7898. More 1:02:39.650 --> 1:02:43.820 on the bucket Ministry. Incredible. Incredible work done around the world. 1:02:43.850 --> 1:02:47.930 Text bucket to 800 555 7898. 1:02:47.960 --> 1:02:52.100 Yeah. This is this is extraordinary, to say the least. 1:02:52.100 --> 1:02:54.590 I want to thank you for your heart, Chris. Thank you. 1:02:54.620 --> 1:03:02.090 Christopher Beth, founder, Chief Storyteller. Are you kidding me? Chief storyteller. 1:03:02.120 --> 1:03:06.500 Let me tell you what. Text bucket to 805 five 1:03:06.530 --> 1:03:11.270 five 7898. Let this fuel a fire inside you. God 1:03:11.270 --> 1:03:14.150 wants to do this in you today. There's no question 1:03:14.150 --> 1:03:14.660 about it.