WEBVTT - God Can Take the Bad and Turn it for Good 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:04.360 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.080 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.600 --> 0:00:10.559 If you've lived any length of time at all, you 0:00:10.560 --> 0:00:14.440 know that you're going to hit some bad patches in life, right, guys? Yes. 0:00:14.520 --> 0:00:15.080 Of course. 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:19.160 Choices that you make for yourself. Um, I have those. 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:21.000 Ali doesn't have those. 0:00:22.480 --> 0:00:23.560 Of course not. 0:00:25.040 --> 0:00:28.000 Ali. Uh, we had a live audience in studio yesterday, 0:00:28.000 --> 0:00:30.800 and she said, uh, you know, I was the kind 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.640 of the goody two shoes kid. But it's true, Ali. 0:00:34.640 --> 0:00:37.920 Even the goody two shoes kids, their their problems, their 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:42.120 messes that they make for themselves are sometimes even more complex. Oh, yeah. 0:00:42.200 --> 0:00:43.360 They're in secret. 0:00:43.400 --> 0:00:46.440 Yeah. Because it's it's quiet. Because there's it's quiet. There's 0:00:46.440 --> 0:00:50.680 an outward, real high level of compliance with rules. There's 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:55.560 a high level of performing for people, but inside all 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.360 kind of things can be going on. 0:00:57.360 --> 0:00:59.480 And that must be pressure, huh? 0:00:59.720 --> 0:01:01.600 Oh, yeah. I mean, when you when you put the 0:01:01.600 --> 0:01:05.240 pressure on yourself to always be good. And I use 0:01:05.240 --> 0:01:07.720 that in air quotes because we know that Scripture says 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:11.080 no one is good. But if you feel that pressure 0:01:11.080 --> 0:01:14.640 to always be the good kid, to not get in trouble, 0:01:14.640 --> 0:01:18.199 to not disappoint teachers or parents, well, then you just 0:01:18.200 --> 0:01:19.559 start hiding stuff. 0:01:19.959 --> 0:01:24.200 Yeah. I, on the other hand, am out there. There 0:01:24.200 --> 0:01:26.640 was no pretense of goody two shoes for me. I 0:01:26.640 --> 0:01:28.919 think I wanted to put on a good front with 0:01:28.920 --> 0:01:29.640 Mom and Dad. 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:30.479 Sure. Yeah. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:33.160 By and large, I was out there kind of living it. 0:01:33.760 --> 0:01:37.120 But whether you make the bad yourself and you'll understand 0:01:37.120 --> 0:01:39.039 why I'm using the word bad. I mean, that can 0:01:39.040 --> 0:01:42.280 be a pretty generic term. Whether the bad that you're 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:47.320 experiencing is self-inflicted or if it's others inflicted. And those happen. Man, 0:01:47.319 --> 0:01:49.280 we live in a world right now that I was, 0:01:49.320 --> 0:01:51.360 I was telling a group of men in Arizona over 0:01:51.360 --> 0:01:55.120 the weekend when you're breaking free from sin. I said, 0:01:55.120 --> 0:01:59.400 listen to me. Make sure that you find people that 0:01:59.400 --> 0:02:01.800 you can trust. I even told them I said, doesn't 0:02:01.800 --> 0:02:03.480 mean that you go into a small group and tell 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:06.080 everyone in that group, this is what I'm battling with. 0:02:06.280 --> 0:02:09.880 I sometimes that's okay because you can trust everyone in 0:02:09.880 --> 0:02:11.680 the group. You got to find people you can trust, 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:15.239 because sometimes things that you share with people today can 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.840 be used as a knife hanging out of your back tomorrow. 0:02:18.320 --> 0:02:20.600 So be wise even in how you do that. But 0:02:20.600 --> 0:02:24.320 pain from others is real. Sometimes you're in the bad 0:02:24.320 --> 0:02:27.160 suit because of something that someone did. It could be 0:02:27.160 --> 0:02:31.840 from childhood. Those things ravage our soul. And the question is, 0:02:32.320 --> 0:02:34.560 can God turn it around? And that's what we're focused 0:02:34.560 --> 0:02:37.120 on today. And I just want you to I'm going 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:40.760 to give you the payoff punchline right now. According to 0:02:40.800 --> 0:02:44.200 Romans 828. And this is why context is so important. 0:02:44.200 --> 0:02:47.520 I was talking to my right hand man at 180 Chicago, Christopher, 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.919 and I said, man, we need to the the epistles. 0:02:50.919 --> 0:02:53.480 We need to read the entire book and have full 0:02:53.480 --> 0:02:57.360 context to understand what's going on, he said. Carl. Every 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:02.120 book of the Bible, you can really only understand these letters, 0:03:02.120 --> 0:03:05.040 these works, when you understand the broader perspective and the 0:03:05.040 --> 0:03:10.040 broader perspective of Romans. Quick flyby is we're on this 0:03:10.040 --> 0:03:13.040 highway to hell, and apart from God intervening, who knows 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.160 what we're going to do? Romans one lays it all 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.720 out that creation is screaming at us, but we got 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:19.560 our backs to God and we're going a new way. 0:03:19.560 --> 0:03:23.440 But by faith, the father of all who believe Abraham 0:03:23.440 --> 0:03:25.799 displayed that we put our full faith and trust in 0:03:25.800 --> 0:03:29.880 God with no assurance of what's going to happen. And 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.800 then Paul moves into, but we got this problem called 0:03:32.800 --> 0:03:38.080 sin in our life. We do bad stuff, we create messes. 0:03:38.760 --> 0:03:41.160 And then he says, but praise be to the Lord 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:45.520 Jesus Christ. So all of that leads up to Romans eight, 0:03:46.000 --> 0:03:48.920 where we find these words, and we know that for 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:55.240 those who love God, all things work together for good 0:03:55.640 --> 0:03:59.480 for those who are called according to his purpose. We're 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:01.680 going to illustrate that this hour. But this you need 0:04:01.680 --> 0:04:06.200 to know right now. Whatever bad you're going through, God 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:09.200 can turn to good. I've seen it. Ali seen it. 0:04:09.200 --> 0:04:13.080 Super die, young thunder. We've all seen it. Yeah, it's 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:18.040 not saying that it's all roses, but it's redeemed. God 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:22.760 does that. So I'm asking you today to love God. 0:04:22.760 --> 0:04:25.839 Those are not words. Those are not little, you know, 0:04:25.920 --> 0:04:30.680 hallmark sentiments. This is an abandonment of yourself to the 0:04:30.680 --> 0:04:35.000 lordship of Jesus Christ. Give him control of everything. Our 0:04:35.200 --> 0:04:38.960 God will turn it to good. And someone needed to 0:04:38.960 --> 0:04:43.359 hear that today. And we go right to the foot 0:04:43.360 --> 0:04:44.280 of the cross. 0:04:44.680 --> 0:04:47.720 He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:52.040 can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's 0:04:52.040 --> 0:04:54.240 Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:04:55.000 --> 0:04:58.280 Every time I have found myself in the soup of 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.760 bad stuff, wanting to see God turn it to the good. 0:05:02.160 --> 0:05:05.560 Every time there is no help and healing in Carl, 0:05:05.560 --> 0:05:08.440 wringing his hands and trying to get fancy with his footwork. 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:10.159 I'm here to admit it today. 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.520 And the hope that we have as Christ followers that 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:19.839 that Jesus can redeem and does. I mean, that's a 0:05:19.839 --> 0:05:22.320 powerful hope, O ally. 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:27.240 It is. And it's a hope based. It's not some 0:05:27.279 --> 0:05:33.200 fanciful notion like, oh yeah, butterflies for Jesus memes. This 0:05:33.200 --> 0:05:38.359 is about our God took to the cross, our sin. 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:42.159 The tomb is empty. We're living in resurrection power till 0:05:42.200 --> 0:05:44.320 still today. Do you know Easter? Still going on? 0:05:44.360 --> 0:05:44.840 Yes. 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:46.040 Amen. Amen. 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:51.690 Come on man. So our guy can turn it all around. Well, 0:05:51.690 --> 0:05:53.810 every now and then I get fired up about something 0:05:53.810 --> 0:05:57.690 around here, boy. But there has to be a certain 0:05:57.690 --> 0:05:59.890 reason why I get fired up about this thing. 0:06:01.850 --> 0:06:02.490 Okay. 0:06:02.650 --> 0:06:03.729 Is there a good reason? 0:06:03.890 --> 0:06:06.930 Thinks I'm nuts. She does. She don't you? You think 0:06:06.930 --> 0:06:08.330 I'm certifiably nuts? 0:06:08.370 --> 0:06:09.489 Not every day. 0:06:11.650 --> 0:06:13.170 I don't even know what that means. 0:06:13.570 --> 0:06:16.010 We'll just let that one sit as is, I think. 0:06:17.570 --> 0:06:19.850 Hang on. Three minutes. You'll find out why. 0:06:20.370 --> 0:06:23.089 She was trying to earn her way to God. But 0:06:23.089 --> 0:06:26.570 God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in 0:06:26.570 --> 0:06:29.970 the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:06:30.529 --> 0:06:33.210 What a golden opportunity we have today. And I just 0:06:33.210 --> 0:06:35.890 got some info that I'm so giddy about. Ali kind 0:06:35.930 --> 0:06:40.969 of knows what I'm giddy about here. I gotta tell you, 0:06:41.210 --> 0:06:43.370 there's going to be a lot of people out there 0:06:43.370 --> 0:06:48.089 today that are beckoning you. Come on. Own. I have 0:06:48.089 --> 0:06:51.089 not realized how big the uptick is, Ali, on this. 0:06:51.089 --> 0:06:54.810 There's a lot of people leveraging a day like today 0:06:55.410 --> 0:06:59.170 in a powerful way, and we've got some juice for 0:06:59.170 --> 0:07:04.409 incentive that is unparalleled. Rarely will you find this. There's 0:07:04.410 --> 0:07:06.770 my setup. I'm going to let you take it away. Ali. 0:07:06.810 --> 0:07:08.730 Okay. Well, before I tell you what it is, let 0:07:08.730 --> 0:07:11.210 me tell you what it is. It's giving day here 0:07:11.210 --> 0:07:16.850 at Moody Bible Institute. 139 years of God's faithfulness to 0:07:16.890 --> 0:07:20.250 Moody Bible Institute. Yeah. We are inviting you to partner 0:07:20.250 --> 0:07:22.730 with us, but I want to bring in doctor job 0:07:23.210 --> 0:07:27.250 giving day 139 years. Connect the dots. What is this? 0:07:27.730 --> 0:07:30.610 Well, you know, it's a great idea. I didn't really 0:07:30.610 --> 0:07:34.210 realize it until I started here. That it's a really 0:07:34.210 --> 0:07:37.810 a day of celebration of the faithfulness of God. You know, 0:07:37.850 --> 0:07:41.690 Moody Bible Institute next year will be 140 years. 0:07:41.930 --> 0:07:42.130 Yeah. 0:07:42.170 --> 0:07:45.090 It's amazing that students have been coming to the campus 0:07:45.130 --> 0:07:49.170 of in Chicago at Moody Bible Institute, being trained and 0:07:49.170 --> 0:07:51.850 sent all over the world. And so this is one 0:07:51.850 --> 0:07:57.170 day where the entire institute sort of celebrates God's faithfulness, 0:07:57.170 --> 0:08:03.690 his resources. Because Moody is tuition sponsored. Students that come, 0:08:03.690 --> 0:08:05.850 they they pay for their room and board if you're 0:08:05.850 --> 0:08:09.090 full time on campus, but the tuition is paid by 0:08:09.690 --> 0:08:12.130 generous people, really, from all over the world that say, 0:08:12.130 --> 0:08:14.330 I believe in the mission that we need to train 0:08:14.330 --> 0:08:17.130 the next generation. So it's a day of celebration. 0:08:17.130 --> 0:08:20.330 That's beautiful. Mark, one of the things that we hear 0:08:20.370 --> 0:08:24.650 constantly from our boom crew is that they're so grateful 0:08:24.650 --> 0:08:27.330 that we're not weak in the knees, we're not wobbly 0:08:27.330 --> 0:08:30.410 on the gospel. We're going gospel. We're not going to 0:08:30.450 --> 0:08:32.690 start getting weak on this. I want you to pour 0:08:32.690 --> 0:08:36.050 out your heart. Why, as the leader of MBI, this 0:08:36.050 --> 0:08:38.490 is so important to you. And what are we doing 0:08:38.530 --> 0:08:41.210 to stay strong in a culture that can sometimes get 0:08:41.290 --> 0:08:43.689 weak in the knees? About what the truth really is? 0:08:44.530 --> 0:08:48.890 Yeah. You know, a week ago this past Monday, we 0:08:48.929 --> 0:08:55.930 celebrated 170 years of the conversion of a 17 year 0:08:55.970 --> 0:08:59.770 old boy whose father was an alcoholic, who grew up 0:08:59.770 --> 0:09:04.130 in poverty, who people would have just discarded this guy. 0:09:04.330 --> 0:09:09.730 He's comes from a broken family, toxic poor, was working 0:09:09.730 --> 0:09:13.090 at a shoe store, and a Sunday school teacher came 0:09:13.090 --> 0:09:16.570 in and shared the gospel with him. His life was 0:09:16.570 --> 0:09:22.610 forever changed his night. His name was D.L. Moody and 0:09:22.809 --> 0:09:26.170 he became a passionate evangelist. And and really, the school 0:09:26.170 --> 0:09:31.250 was started because the gospel does change everything. Out of 0:09:31.250 --> 0:09:34.929 a passion to get the gospel to the nations. And 0:09:35.170 --> 0:09:40.170 I don't know why specifically, but in a very supernatural way, 0:09:40.210 --> 0:09:43.250 God has had his hand on this institute and kept 0:09:43.250 --> 0:09:47.330 it anchored in the truth, grounded in the Word of God. 0:09:47.530 --> 0:09:50.090 In spite of how culture has changed, because I look 0:09:50.090 --> 0:09:53.090 around the landscape of America and so many schools started 0:09:53.330 --> 0:09:57.610 sort of like moody, but they have gone way off course. 0:09:58.290 --> 0:10:00.970 God has had his hand on this place in a unique, 0:10:00.970 --> 0:10:04.450 powerful way and kept this place grounded. So every student 0:10:04.450 --> 0:10:07.330 that comes here is going to get Bible courses, no 0:10:07.330 --> 0:10:10.170 matter what their degree is. They're going to get Bible courses, 0:10:10.170 --> 0:10:13.850 systematic theology, survey of the New Testament. They're going to 0:10:13.850 --> 0:10:16.050 be in chapels. They're going to be going they're going 0:10:16.050 --> 0:10:20.050 out into Chicago doing practical Christian ministry. In fact, I 0:10:20.050 --> 0:10:23.530 was taking a walk yesterday. Uh, it was a nice night. 0:10:23.530 --> 0:10:27.449 I was downtown on Michigan Avenue and there was some 0:10:27.450 --> 0:10:29.850 street preachers there, so I went up to encourage them. Hey, 0:10:29.850 --> 0:10:32.490 thanks for sharing the gospel. That's great. And you know what? 0:10:32.530 --> 0:10:35.970 And and I found out two things. One of the guys, 0:10:36.010 --> 0:10:39.810 he said, hey, uh, I go to one of your campuses. So. 0:10:39.809 --> 0:10:41.890 So he was one of, uh, goes to one of 0:10:41.890 --> 0:10:44.170 our campuses, one of our new life. But a young 0:10:44.170 --> 0:10:46.730 guy came up to me and says, I'm a moody student. 0:10:46.730 --> 0:10:49.530 And here it was out in Chicago sharing the gospel. 0:10:49.530 --> 0:10:52.170 And I thought, wow, I love that that I ran 0:10:52.170 --> 0:10:55.130 into Moody Student out in the streets of Chicago sharing 0:10:55.130 --> 0:10:55.890 the gospel. 0:10:56.250 --> 0:10:59.250 With this tuition sponsored model. Whenever you give to something, 0:10:59.250 --> 0:11:02.050 you like to know where that money goes. And obviously 0:11:02.050 --> 0:11:04.929 it goes to help sponsor the education of a moody student. 0:11:04.929 --> 0:11:07.250 But talk about some of the alumni. Where does that 0:11:07.250 --> 0:11:11.170 money ultimately go in terms of where these students are sent, 0:11:11.210 --> 0:11:12.970 what they do after they graduate? 0:11:13.010 --> 0:11:19.089 Yeah. So we have 50,000 living alumni. And as I 0:11:19.090 --> 0:11:23.090 travel around the world speaking in different places, I'm always 0:11:23.090 --> 0:11:27.689 amazed to run into people. Some of them that lead great, 0:11:27.730 --> 0:11:30.570 you know, big ministries and some of them that are 0:11:30.610 --> 0:11:34.370 in faithful spots. You would never know their name, but 0:11:34.370 --> 0:11:37.530 they are just faithfully serving in very difficult parts of 0:11:37.530 --> 0:11:42.810 the world. And I'm talking about close countries. I'm talking about, um, 0:11:42.850 --> 0:11:47.810 inner cities. I'm talking about, uh, just every nook and 0:11:47.809 --> 0:11:50.490 cranny that you can imagine. There's moody students that are 0:11:50.490 --> 0:11:54.610 serving God. I'm so encouraged when, uh, people come back 0:11:54.610 --> 0:11:57.490 to campus and they tell me, hey, for 50 years, 0:11:57.490 --> 0:12:01.770 I've been pastoring a little rural town in, you know, Montana. 0:12:01.770 --> 0:12:04.410 Or they come back and say, I've been leading an 0:12:04.410 --> 0:12:08.610 orphanage in Africa or I've been, uh, you know, leading 0:12:08.610 --> 0:12:13.490 a non-for-profit. That's that's helping to mentor inner city youth 0:12:13.490 --> 0:12:18.490 in Detroit. Uh, it's just amazing that these alumni go 0:12:18.490 --> 0:12:21.490 all over the place. Um, some of them end up 0:12:21.490 --> 0:12:24.650 in other places outside of what we would call traditional 0:12:24.650 --> 0:12:27.970 vocational ministry. Like there's a congressman that, you know, I 0:12:27.970 --> 0:12:31.050 talked to recently that's a moody grad. And I said, 0:12:31.090 --> 0:12:33.490 are you sort of sad that you went to Moody? 0:12:33.490 --> 0:12:35.210 I don't know how that equipped you. He said, no, 0:12:35.210 --> 0:12:37.490 the best thing I did in my life was get 0:12:37.490 --> 0:12:41.530 biblically grounded. And he said, I view my position in 0:12:41.530 --> 0:12:46.010 Washington as a ministry to people in Washington, and I thought, 0:12:46.010 --> 0:12:47.210 I love it. Wow. 0:12:47.370 --> 0:12:51.650 That's beautiful. Okay. Huge news when I heard this, this 0:12:52.370 --> 0:12:55.050 this will put fuel in your belly. Mark, I'm going 0:12:55.090 --> 0:12:57.810 to let you share this. We've got either a person 0:12:57.809 --> 0:13:01.650 or persons who stepped together and have done something pretty extraordinary. 0:13:01.690 --> 0:13:04.490 We've got a do I have this right? A dollar 0:13:04.490 --> 0:13:07.890 for dollar match until 9 a.m. on any gift given today. 0:13:07.929 --> 0:13:12.010 On any gift given. Any gift given until 9:00. We've 0:13:12.010 --> 0:13:16.650 had some, um, generous donors that really believe in what 0:13:16.650 --> 0:13:20.810 we're doing here, and and they're willing to double whatever 0:13:20.850 --> 0:13:24.090 you give. $100, it turns into 200. Give 500, turns 0:13:24.090 --> 0:13:27.530 into 1000. And, you know, yesterday I was with some 0:13:27.530 --> 0:13:33.530 students talking to them about their story, and two of 0:13:33.530 --> 0:13:37.930 them happened to be international. One was from Portugal and 0:13:37.929 --> 0:13:42.050 the other one was from Kyrgyzstan. And they came here 0:13:42.050 --> 0:13:45.170 to get trained and have a passion to go back 0:13:45.170 --> 0:13:49.250 to their nations as well. And, um, we have a 0:13:49.250 --> 0:13:52.970 thousand students that live here on the campus. We train 0:13:52.970 --> 0:13:55.050 a lot more than that, but a thousand that live 0:13:55.050 --> 0:13:58.210 in the heart of Chicago, coming from all over the world. 0:13:58.770 --> 0:14:02.170 Sit down and hear their story. And how some of 0:14:02.170 --> 0:14:05.730 them got here is literally a miracle. I talked to 0:14:05.770 --> 0:14:08.770 one student a little while back. He's from Pakistan and 0:14:08.770 --> 0:14:10.890 his dad's a pastor there, and he was telling me 0:14:10.929 --> 0:14:16.050 how people pelt their building. And his dad, pretty much. 0:14:16.370 --> 0:14:18.810 He was telling me his dad pretty much scraped up 0:14:18.809 --> 0:14:22.690 everything he could get to to send him to Moody 0:14:22.690 --> 0:14:25.490 Bible Institute. And I thought, wow, that is who you're 0:14:25.490 --> 0:14:27.690 investing in those kind of students. 0:14:27.850 --> 0:14:30.690 You know, I met a young man on just on 0:14:30.690 --> 0:14:33.730 Easter Sunday. We were singing in the choir together. I'd 0:14:33.730 --> 0:14:35.730 never met him, I said, and I asked him his name. 0:14:35.730 --> 0:14:37.170 He said, my name is Tom. I said, where are 0:14:37.170 --> 0:14:38.770 you from? He said, I'm from Kenya. And I said, 0:14:38.770 --> 0:14:40.810 how did you get here to Chicago? He goes, well, 0:14:40.810 --> 0:14:42.730 I wanted to come to Chicago and I wanted to 0:14:42.730 --> 0:14:45.370 come to a Bible college. So I looked online and 0:14:45.370 --> 0:14:48.730 I found Moody Bible Institute. So I came here to 0:14:48.770 --> 0:14:51.890 go to Moody Bible Institute to be trained up. Young 0:14:51.890 --> 0:14:54.730 man from Kenya. Tom. Carl. Go ahead. 0:14:54.770 --> 0:14:57.290 Yeah. This is big guys. I'm asking you to jump 0:14:57.290 --> 0:15:00.570 in right now. Every gift of any size is doubled 0:15:00.570 --> 0:15:02.730 right now. And we're asking you to do this. Do 0:15:02.730 --> 0:15:05.930 this for the Tom's from Kenya. Do this for those 0:15:05.930 --> 0:15:09.850 from that have come from all around the globe, some 0:15:09.850 --> 0:15:13.730 of them overcoming huge obstacles to put it all on 0:15:13.730 --> 0:15:16.370 the line. And some of them are standing on street 0:15:16.370 --> 0:15:19.410 corners preaching the gospel. Would you be a part of 0:15:19.410 --> 0:15:26.490 this today? Text the word give right now to 805, 55, 78, 98. 0:15:26.490 --> 0:15:30.210 Just text the word give. Every gift of every amount 0:15:30.330 --> 0:15:31.050 is doubled. 0:15:31.370 --> 0:15:32.770 What do you love that. 0:15:33.410 --> 0:15:36.690 I love that. Well, the reason I love that is 0:15:36.690 --> 0:15:41.250 it's every part in God's greater family that's doing their 0:15:41.290 --> 0:15:43.610 what they can handle. And we've got some folks that 0:15:43.610 --> 0:15:46.170 have stepped up and said, let's, let's make this a 0:15:46.170 --> 0:15:52.130 phenomenal day. Text the word give to 800 555 7898. 0:15:52.170 --> 0:15:58.810 Give to 800 555 7898. Mark, thanks for ducking in here, man. 0:15:58.810 --> 0:16:00.650 We appreciate you doing this today. 0:16:00.690 --> 0:16:03.730 Absolutely. Thank you again and God bless you. And again, 0:16:03.730 --> 0:16:07.450 thank you, listeners, for praying for us and for your generosity. 0:16:07.490 --> 0:16:08.250 God bless. 0:16:08.290 --> 0:16:11.890 It's a beautiful thing. Text that word. Give to 800 0:16:11.930 --> 0:16:19.330 555 7898. Give to 800 555 7898. 0:16:19.850 --> 0:16:22.770 You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:16:23.610 --> 0:16:25.650 Crazy questions, because that's what I do. 0:16:26.170 --> 0:16:27.010 You're good at those. 0:16:27.370 --> 0:16:30.930 Have you ever had a detergent or cleaner that you 0:16:30.930 --> 0:16:33.530 just bragged about to someone? 0:16:33.610 --> 0:16:34.730 A detergent. 0:16:34.770 --> 0:16:38.250 Detergent or cleaner? Think about it right now. Super dry. Obviously. 0:16:38.290 --> 0:16:40.530 Her default is Windex. I mean, come on. 0:16:40.570 --> 0:16:40.930 Yes. 0:16:40.970 --> 0:16:41.850 Come on. Duh. 0:16:42.410 --> 0:16:43.930 She's Greek. Don't you know? 0:16:44.450 --> 0:16:44.770 Of course. 0:16:44.810 --> 0:16:48.250 That was the best flick ever. I laughed so. 0:16:48.410 --> 0:16:51.370 Hard. You know, it's one of your favorites. My big 0:16:51.410 --> 0:16:53.530 fat Greek wedding. Yeah, you got it. 0:16:53.570 --> 0:16:55.690 If you. If you. Part one, the other ones leave 0:16:55.690 --> 0:16:58.570 them out. They tried to churn some dollars off the 0:16:58.570 --> 0:17:00.770 first good one. That was. 0:17:00.770 --> 0:17:01.530 Disappointing. 0:17:01.770 --> 0:17:04.250 But back to my cleaners thing. You ever had a 0:17:04.250 --> 0:17:11.050 cleaner product? House product. Counter. Scrubber. Granite washer. Stainless steel buffer. 0:17:11.170 --> 0:17:13.810 Some kind of cleaning product that you're like, um. Are 0:17:13.810 --> 0:17:15.690 you guys gonna leave me high and dry here? No 0:17:15.690 --> 0:17:16.730 one has a product. 0:17:16.770 --> 0:17:18.450 I mean, okay, what do you got? I don't think 0:17:18.450 --> 0:17:18.850 a lot about. 0:17:18.890 --> 0:17:20.410 Mine is a laundry product. 0:17:20.609 --> 0:17:21.050 Okay. 0:17:21.410 --> 0:17:21.650 Okay. 0:17:21.690 --> 0:17:22.489 Or you're not willing to. 0:17:22.530 --> 0:17:22.770 Say. 0:17:22.810 --> 0:17:25.490 Well, okay, so it's a laundry bar. It looks like 0:17:25.490 --> 0:17:29.859 a bar of soap. It's called Fels-naptha. It's it's very 0:17:29.859 --> 0:17:32.620 random looking, but it looks like a long bar of soap. 0:17:32.780 --> 0:17:36.820 But this thing can get stains out of anything. I mean, 0:17:36.820 --> 0:17:40.980 like grass stained baseball stained pants. You take it and 0:17:40.980 --> 0:17:45.900 you scrub it into the fabric. It gets anything out? 0:17:45.900 --> 0:17:47.540 It is not. Failed me once. 0:17:47.740 --> 0:17:48.500 What's it called again? 0:17:48.540 --> 0:17:50.220 You know what you have to do right now, or 0:17:50.220 --> 0:17:52.140 else we're going to get texts out the wazoo. 0:17:52.180 --> 0:17:52.460 I know. 0:17:52.500 --> 0:17:56.940 I am. This is a product that I love. I 0:17:57.020 --> 0:18:02.460 want to be careful. Fels-naptha is what it's called. It's a, uh. 0:18:02.660 --> 0:18:03.980 It's a laundry bar. 0:18:04.020 --> 0:18:06.780 I'm going to try it. Thank you. There you go. Yeah. 0:18:06.820 --> 0:18:09.580 Good grief. That's not even my department in my life. 0:18:09.580 --> 0:18:11.060 But I think I'm going to go get one. 0:18:11.100 --> 0:18:14.220 Like, maybe I got sold pants. I can go out 0:18:14.220 --> 0:18:14.580 and play. 0:18:14.580 --> 0:18:15.219 In the grass. 0:18:15.220 --> 0:18:16.540 Today just to try it out. 0:18:16.700 --> 0:18:19.700 Yeah, I'm going to go out. Well, here's. You know 0:18:19.700 --> 0:18:21.139 why you like that? 0:18:21.140 --> 0:18:21.780 Because it. 0:18:21.780 --> 0:18:22.460 Works. 0:18:22.460 --> 0:18:23.980 It works. 0:18:24.180 --> 0:18:25.659 It works really well. 0:18:25.700 --> 0:18:31.460 It works. And I I'm going to boil it down. 0:18:32.180 --> 0:18:36.060 That is the litmus test for any God you are following. 0:18:36.100 --> 0:18:38.180 And I believe there's one true God and that he 0:18:38.180 --> 0:18:43.060 can work to good, even the bad. And if it 0:18:43.060 --> 0:18:48.540 doesn't work, it's not worth using or following anything. Right, guys? 0:18:48.580 --> 0:18:51.060 Yeah, that's true, of course, but. 0:18:51.300 --> 0:18:53.540 I think the question is, how do you know? Like, 0:18:53.540 --> 0:18:55.780 what's the proof of whether or not it works? 0:18:56.580 --> 0:18:59.660 Yeah. That's. Yeah. And and how do we do this 0:18:59.660 --> 0:19:02.860 with God. Well, this is the claim that Paul has 0:19:02.859 --> 0:19:06.420 in Romans 828. And we know that for those who 0:19:06.420 --> 0:19:10.260 love God, all things work together for good, for those 0:19:10.260 --> 0:19:14.500 who are called according to his purpose. And it goes 0:19:14.500 --> 0:19:16.980 on in verse 29, for those he foreknew, he also 0:19:16.980 --> 0:19:20.700 predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, 0:19:20.700 --> 0:19:23.300 in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. 0:19:23.340 --> 0:19:28.460 Here's the point. I am absolutely convinced that some people 0:19:28.460 --> 0:19:32.980 aren't convinced that God can work all things together for good, 0:19:32.980 --> 0:19:34.940 even the bad stuff. And when I'm talking bad stuff, 0:19:34.940 --> 0:19:38.740 I'm talking self-inflicted bad, for which we all have that. 0:19:38.780 --> 0:19:41.500 Even ally goody two shoes ally, as she likes to 0:19:41.500 --> 0:19:44.179 call herself. But and we talked about that in a 0:19:44.180 --> 0:19:48.660 previous hour. But and I'm not making light of that 0:19:48.660 --> 0:19:52.140 because one of the great pains of, of people that 0:19:52.140 --> 0:19:55.700 are putting their best out front is you live with 0:19:55.700 --> 0:19:57.060 some pain inside that. 0:19:57.060 --> 0:19:57.540 Oh, yeah. 0:19:58.020 --> 0:19:58.700 It's hard. Right? 0:19:58.900 --> 0:19:59.260 Sure. 0:19:59.380 --> 0:20:02.100 And that's true for every. No one escapes it. 0:20:02.100 --> 0:20:05.820 No one escapes it. So the question is, can God 0:20:05.859 --> 0:20:10.180 turn what is bad? Self-inflicted. Others inflicted. Inflicted for good. 0:20:10.220 --> 0:20:14.820 That's the acid test of the gospel. Because if he can't, 0:20:15.820 --> 0:20:21.540 why follow him? Bottom line. Now the secret sauce is 0:20:21.540 --> 0:20:26.780 a full blown abandonment of self to the Lordship of 0:20:26.780 --> 0:20:29.500 Jesus Christ. It's Paul crying out, foolish man, that I 0:20:29.500 --> 0:20:30.820 am that which I want to do, I don't do, 0:20:30.820 --> 0:20:32.179 and that which I do, I don't want to do. 0:20:32.220 --> 0:20:34.460 Who will rescue me from this body of sin and death? 0:20:34.700 --> 0:20:38.700 Praise be to the Lord Jesus Christ. Coming up here 0:20:38.700 --> 0:20:41.180 in a moment, we're going to do it right. We 0:20:41.220 --> 0:20:45.659 are going to illustrate it by way of story. Hang on. 0:20:46.380 --> 0:20:48.139 He's in the boom crew. 0:20:48.660 --> 0:20:53.300 She's a choreographer extraordinaire, and everything is Greek to her. 0:20:53.700 --> 0:20:57.419 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:20:57.420 --> 0:20:58.700 on Moody Radio. 0:20:58.940 --> 0:21:00.900 Well, you're the boom crew, and this is your show, 0:21:00.900 --> 0:21:03.340 and we're going to prove it to you right now. 0:21:03.780 --> 0:21:06.460 Little show prep. Yesterday, I was pouring my heart out 0:21:06.460 --> 0:21:09.700 to my bride, and I said, Romans 828 God taken 0:21:09.700 --> 0:21:14.380 bad stuff and turning it to good. Self inflicted. Others inflicted. 0:21:14.500 --> 0:21:16.820 Some of you going through some tough things right now 0:21:16.820 --> 0:21:18.700 and you're like, how in the world is God going 0:21:18.900 --> 0:21:23.340 to turn this around? I don't care how many locusts 0:21:23.340 --> 0:21:26.220 came to the years or seasons of your life, that 0:21:26.220 --> 0:21:29.219 is the promise of God. And sometimes you got to 0:21:29.220 --> 0:21:33.300 hear a story to just bank it. Somebody in the 0:21:33.300 --> 0:21:35.940 boom crew that we love have actually had a chance 0:21:35.940 --> 0:21:37.580 to go out and get a bite of breakfast with. 0:21:37.580 --> 0:21:41.699 This man is Phillip, and he has got a walking 0:21:41.700 --> 0:21:44.820 banner ad for God turning bad stuff into good. How 0:21:44.820 --> 0:21:45.660 you doing, Phillip? 0:21:46.340 --> 0:21:49.700 Good morning, my brother. I'm blessed beyond measure. How are you, man? 0:21:49.740 --> 0:21:53.220 Doing great. Um, I gotta tell you, Phillip, I. We're 0:21:53.220 --> 0:21:56.500 going to cut you loose here. Give us your story. 0:21:56.859 --> 0:22:01.100 High level. What? What? This thing got off the rails here, 0:22:01.100 --> 0:22:03.300 my man. Let's get honest. Your life was a train 0:22:03.300 --> 0:22:05.140 wreck on steroids, right, Phillip? 0:22:05.780 --> 0:22:07.820 Absolutely. It was. I mean, I was lost, I was 0:22:07.820 --> 0:22:09.980 chasing my tail. I was so lost in sin. But 0:22:10.020 --> 0:22:12.940 you know something? During all that time, oftentimes our Lord 0:22:12.940 --> 0:22:15.220 and Savior Jesus Christ will allow you to go just 0:22:15.220 --> 0:22:18.139 as far as he needs you to go in order 0:22:18.140 --> 0:22:20.740 for you to reach what is going to be your end, 0:22:21.140 --> 0:22:23.700 the end of yourself. And that's what happened to me. 0:22:24.100 --> 0:22:26.220 Philip Van Lier is our guest right now, a part 0:22:26.220 --> 0:22:29.340 of the boom crew. He's a graduate of Moody Theological Seminary. 0:22:29.380 --> 0:22:33.379 He has a 40 year career as a professional actor director, presenter. 0:22:33.619 --> 0:22:35.260 We know him as Philip from Aurora. 0:22:35.619 --> 0:22:37.460 Which is a suburb of Chicago. 0:22:38.180 --> 0:22:40.460 You've probably seen him on small screen or big screen 0:22:40.460 --> 0:22:42.020 because he's done a lot of stuff, right? 0:22:42.340 --> 0:22:42.940 Yes, he has. 0:22:42.940 --> 0:22:47.100 He most prominent roles in Prison Break, Chicago Code, Meet 0:22:47.100 --> 0:22:50.899 the Browns, Holiday Heist, My Dog, The Space Traveler. That 0:22:50.900 --> 0:22:53.859 sounds interesting. He's appeared regularly on stage here in the 0:22:53.900 --> 0:22:58.740 Chicago area as well. Philip, you you got into acting? 0:22:58.740 --> 0:23:01.260 Was that what you thought this was going to spend? 0:23:01.260 --> 0:23:03.460 I'm going to spend my whole life on the stage 0:23:03.460 --> 0:23:06.140 in front of the screen. Was that your passion? 0:23:06.420 --> 0:23:09.340 Oh, from the time I was in seventh grade, I was, 0:23:09.380 --> 0:23:11.979 as you can imagine, a rambunctious child. I guess I 0:23:11.980 --> 0:23:15.180 can just say it that way. I had a teacher, 0:23:15.220 --> 0:23:18.660 Vincent Popolizio. God bless him. And he said, you know, 0:23:18.660 --> 0:23:20.540 young man, we've got to find an outlet for you. 0:23:20.580 --> 0:23:23.660 So you use that energy in a positive fashion. He 0:23:23.660 --> 0:23:26.180 turned me on to theater and that's all it took. 0:23:26.540 --> 0:23:30.260 You know, Philip, I want to get as as honest. 0:23:30.380 --> 0:23:34.700 You're very honest guy. But what led to this spiral 0:23:34.700 --> 0:23:38.300 downhill that God ultimately pulled you out of? And give 0:23:38.300 --> 0:23:41.260 us some of the give us some of the low points. 0:23:41.420 --> 0:23:43.780 And let's just pour it out here right now. 0:23:44.380 --> 0:23:47.780 The greatest sin, as we know, is pride and believing 0:23:47.780 --> 0:23:50.700 that we are our own gods. And I, I grab 0:23:50.700 --> 0:23:52.900 hold of that with both hands. I had made it 0:23:52.940 --> 0:23:55.420 a determination back in the early 70s that I was 0:23:55.420 --> 0:23:58.900 going to be the greatest actor to come out of Aurora, Illinois. 0:23:59.140 --> 0:24:01.340 And I was going to do whatever it took. And 0:24:01.340 --> 0:24:03.020 I went for it with all the gusto. But it 0:24:03.020 --> 0:24:06.020 also meant I went for all the things that the 0:24:06.020 --> 0:24:13.260 world had to offer regarding that business. Uh, women, drugs, alcohol, Home. Uh, 0:24:13.300 --> 0:24:20.980 just the most, uh. The most, uh, Colonel, uh, segment 0:24:20.980 --> 0:24:25.300 of that business that I could find. And as oftentimes 0:24:25.300 --> 0:24:29.020 the enemy does, he latched on to those weaknesses in me. 0:24:29.380 --> 0:24:34.340 I did find fame. I found fortune, but unfortunately, what 0:24:34.340 --> 0:24:37.219 tripped me up is that I didn't recognize the folly 0:24:37.540 --> 0:24:38.940 when it fell into my lap. 0:24:39.619 --> 0:24:43.619 So, Philip, did you reach a a breaking point was 0:24:43.660 --> 0:24:47.260 obviously there's the fleeting pleasures of sin, or else we 0:24:47.260 --> 0:24:50.380 wouldn't go back to it. As you're seeing success in 0:24:50.380 --> 0:24:54.419 your acting career, you're living the life and the pleasures 0:24:54.420 --> 0:24:57.660 of sin. What brought you to a point where you go, 0:24:57.700 --> 0:25:00.900 this is this can't continue. Did you make that decision 0:25:00.900 --> 0:25:03.260 on your own, or did God absolutely break you? 0:25:04.420 --> 0:25:06.820 The decisions I made on my own allies, but got 0:25:06.820 --> 0:25:11.340 me into that place. So absolutely. You know, I was 0:25:11.340 --> 0:25:14.540 I made my own mess. But but, you know, as 0:25:14.580 --> 0:25:17.980 as the fame increased and I was, you know, doing 0:25:17.980 --> 0:25:20.659 show after show on stage here in Chicago, you know, 0:25:20.660 --> 0:25:24.380 I was doing television and film. I was working with 0:25:24.380 --> 0:25:28.700 three major corporations and presenting all over the world. But, 0:25:28.740 --> 0:25:31.340 you know, there was this as we know, Pascal told us, 0:25:31.340 --> 0:25:33.660 this God sized hole in my heart where I knew 0:25:33.740 --> 0:25:37.300 that I had walked away from the faith of my family. 0:25:37.340 --> 0:25:38.980 You know, I was raised in the church. You know, 0:25:39.020 --> 0:25:42.859 my my family footprint fingerprint was all over the church 0:25:42.859 --> 0:25:45.220 that I grew up in. But I had turned my 0:25:45.220 --> 0:25:47.820 back on it. But, you know, even though you may 0:25:47.859 --> 0:25:51.500 walk away the Holy Spirit, once you've given yourself to Christ, 0:25:51.500 --> 0:25:54.980 once you've received Christ into your heart, the Holy Spirit 0:25:54.980 --> 0:25:57.859 is dwelling in you. And as much as you try 0:25:57.859 --> 0:26:00.180 to push it away, it's still going to be pulling 0:26:00.180 --> 0:26:03.180 you back. And so I knew that. I knew how 0:26:03.180 --> 0:26:06.700 far I had fallen, and that what I was doing was, 0:26:06.740 --> 0:26:10.740 was killing myself, killing those around me. I had already 0:26:10.780 --> 0:26:14.420 torpedoed two marriages. I was on my third, and I 0:26:14.460 --> 0:26:20.340 had started to detonate that marriage as well. Um. But. But, God. Yeah, 0:26:20.380 --> 0:26:24.060 but God, finally. You know. Yes. Turned me around. 0:26:24.820 --> 0:26:27.699 Coming up, Phillip is going to share with us here, 0:26:27.700 --> 0:26:30.540 and we get to all take it in together. How? 0:26:30.540 --> 0:26:34.100 God takes the bad sometimes the mess we've made ourselves. 0:26:34.100 --> 0:26:37.460 And I'm talking ugly stuff and can turn this for 0:26:37.460 --> 0:26:41.580 good to those who love God. And that's the point. 0:26:41.780 --> 0:26:44.020 More with Phillip Van Lear straight ahead. 0:26:44.260 --> 0:26:46.979 You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't 0:26:47.020 --> 0:26:50.859 take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. 0:26:51.060 --> 0:26:53.619 It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:26:53.980 --> 0:26:58.940 Can God take what is bad? Self-inflicted. Brought on by others. 0:26:58.940 --> 0:27:01.700 And I mean ugly. Bad and turn it for good. 0:27:01.700 --> 0:27:05.020 That's the promise in Romans 828. But the key is 0:27:05.020 --> 0:27:08.540 for those who love him. It's that formation of the soul. 0:27:08.540 --> 0:27:11.860 That's everything. He was high flying, low living, blew up 0:27:11.859 --> 0:27:15.100 two marriages fixing to ruin a third. And God got 0:27:15.100 --> 0:27:16.940 a hold of him. His name is Philip, and we 0:27:16.940 --> 0:27:19.740 love him a bunch here. He's one of the boom crew. Philip, 0:27:19.780 --> 0:27:21.620 tell us what happened. I want you to take us 0:27:21.619 --> 0:27:25.380 to that moment. Moment of, I mean, snot blowing brokenness 0:27:25.380 --> 0:27:27.780 where you're like, this has got to end. 0:27:28.340 --> 0:27:31.659 No. Amen. Amen. You know, because rehab didn't work. Carl, 0:27:31.660 --> 0:27:33.859 I like rehab so much. I went three times. 0:27:37.500 --> 0:27:39.459 You and me, buddy. We must have gone to the 0:27:39.460 --> 0:27:40.300 same dive. 0:27:40.500 --> 0:27:43.900 Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. We have. Somehow we got the same reference. 0:27:43.900 --> 0:27:45.300 You know, I, you know, I wanted to get that 0:27:45.300 --> 0:27:48.220 that 90 and 90 chip. And then once I got one, 0:27:48.220 --> 0:27:50.500 I said, well let me go back and get two more. Yeah. 0:27:50.540 --> 0:27:53.460 But you know, but you know, that's the madness. That's 0:27:53.460 --> 0:27:57.459 the insanity of sin. But what really got it for me? 0:27:57.500 --> 0:28:00.340 Praise God for my lovely wife. You know, Heather, such 0:28:00.380 --> 0:28:03.620 a strong woman, been through so much. I so all 0:28:03.660 --> 0:28:06.540 kicked my coverage, but I remember it was May. It 0:28:06.540 --> 0:28:09.580 was May of 2012, and and I had just been 0:28:09.580 --> 0:28:12.139 on a bit of a bender. It had been five 0:28:12.140 --> 0:28:15.859 days of constant drug use. And Heather looked at me 0:28:15.859 --> 0:28:18.300 and she said, that's it, I'm done. Either you're going 0:28:18.340 --> 0:28:21.899 to get help or you're leaving. Now notice she didn't 0:28:21.900 --> 0:28:24.500 say she was leaving. She said no. She said she 0:28:24.500 --> 0:28:25.940 and the kids were going to stay in the house 0:28:25.940 --> 0:28:28.340 that we had just bought. She said, she said, but you, 0:28:28.340 --> 0:28:30.740 you are going to leave. And it was that moment, 0:28:30.740 --> 0:28:32.219 and maybe it was something in the tone of her 0:28:32.220 --> 0:28:34.419 voice or the look in her eye where I knew 0:28:34.420 --> 0:28:37.260 that she was serious, you know? And all this time 0:28:37.260 --> 0:28:39.900 I had been playing a church card and I had 0:28:39.900 --> 0:28:41.739 been going to church. And of course, it was a 0:28:41.740 --> 0:28:44.140 church that was a mess, you know, with the rainbow 0:28:44.140 --> 0:28:46.460 flag hanging over the altar and everything. So I was 0:28:46.460 --> 0:28:49.340 just going there because it itched my ears, you know. 0:28:49.380 --> 0:28:52.380 But finally I went and got help. And I remember 0:28:52.380 --> 0:28:55.300 the day sitting in that psychiatrist's office when she did 0:28:55.300 --> 0:28:58.220 an assessment of me, and she said after her assessment, 0:28:58.220 --> 0:29:01.540 she said, you are you're suffering from severe depression and 0:29:01.540 --> 0:29:05.350 severe anxiety. And the dam broke right there. The tears 0:29:05.350 --> 0:29:09.910 just flowed. Not because I had a miraculous conversion. No. 0:29:09.910 --> 0:29:12.950 I had already been saved by the grace and mercy 0:29:12.950 --> 0:29:16.270 of God. But at that point, I realized that all 0:29:16.270 --> 0:29:20.590 of this machismo, this macho thing, especially as a black man, 0:29:20.750 --> 0:29:22.470 that I could handle it, that I was going to 0:29:22.470 --> 0:29:26.430 be okay. That wall broke down. Praise be to God. Yeah. 0:29:26.470 --> 0:29:28.390 And I realized it was all right for me to 0:29:28.430 --> 0:29:31.910 ask for help, to seek help. I got help right then. 0:29:31.950 --> 0:29:34.870 The last day I used Praise Be to God was 0:29:34.870 --> 0:29:39.270 the 24th of May, 2012. Now, things were not all 0:29:39.270 --> 0:29:43.190 unicorns and rainbows after that because as we often know, 0:29:43.190 --> 0:29:46.790 as as as addicts, we'll replace one addiction for another. 0:29:46.830 --> 0:29:47.270 Yes. 0:29:47.310 --> 0:29:50.350 And even though I was freed, praise God from that 0:29:50.350 --> 0:29:56.709 one addiction of cocaine and marijuana, I was freed from that. 0:29:56.710 --> 0:29:59.030 But yet the enemy said, okay, well, I got you 0:29:59.030 --> 0:30:00.670 over here. Come on over here, buddy. I got something 0:30:00.670 --> 0:30:04.550 for you. Yeah. And so then those other addictions, the, uh, 0:30:04.830 --> 0:30:10.630 the infidelity and the, uh, like the deceit, uh, those 0:30:10.670 --> 0:30:13.910 addictions kicked in. Now, praise be to God, man. I 0:30:13.950 --> 0:30:16.510 got connected with a great church out in Aurora, harvest 0:30:16.510 --> 0:30:20.150 Bible Chapel, the Aurora campus. And for the first time, 0:30:20.550 --> 0:30:23.030 first time in my life. And I've been a Christian 0:30:23.030 --> 0:30:26.630 since 19. What, 65? When I walked that aisle. But 0:30:26.630 --> 0:30:29.430 for the first time in my life, I had men, 0:30:29.430 --> 0:30:33.510 godly men who came around me that didn't shame me 0:30:33.670 --> 0:30:37.070 as much as I felt that shame from an absentee father. 0:30:37.110 --> 0:30:39.390 You know, as much as I felt that shame from 0:30:39.390 --> 0:30:41.950 other men that thought that I felt I was lesser 0:30:41.950 --> 0:30:45.990 in their eyes, seeking the glory of man, not of God. 0:30:46.350 --> 0:30:49.070 But for the first time I had men that loved 0:30:49.070 --> 0:30:52.630 me and held me to account, put my feet to 0:30:52.670 --> 0:30:55.510 the fire, and held me there and said, no, bro, 0:30:55.550 --> 0:30:58.990 we love you. But but you, you claim to be 0:30:58.990 --> 0:31:01.910 a child of God. But what are you doing? Yeah. 0:31:01.950 --> 0:31:05.350 You know, what fruit are you bearing right now? You know, 0:31:05.350 --> 0:31:08.670 and that that is when it began to change is 0:31:08.670 --> 0:31:11.870 when I. I realized that I was hurting my bride, 0:31:11.910 --> 0:31:14.510 the woman that had stayed with me through all of 0:31:14.510 --> 0:31:18.550 this mess. You know, she I was hurting her to 0:31:18.590 --> 0:31:20.230 the point where she was desperate. 0:31:20.270 --> 0:31:20.670 Yeah. 0:31:21.190 --> 0:31:24.150 Philip, tell me, how have you seen this? In about 0:31:24.150 --> 0:31:26.750 a minute left. How have you seen Romans 828? In 0:31:26.750 --> 0:31:28.950 your own life? We know that for those who love God, 0:31:28.950 --> 0:31:31.469 all things work together for good, for those who are 0:31:31.470 --> 0:31:34.230 called according to his purpose. You have walked a difficult road. 0:31:34.230 --> 0:31:37.230 Some of it, by your own admission, has been your 0:31:37.270 --> 0:31:40.469 own doing. But how have you seen God work things 0:31:40.470 --> 0:31:43.830 together for your good as one who loves him? 0:31:44.150 --> 0:31:46.430 You know when you come out of it and you 0:31:46.470 --> 0:31:49.709 start to realize that that God actually does love you 0:31:49.710 --> 0:31:52.110 and it's okay for you to love yourself. And and 0:31:52.110 --> 0:31:55.270 what I've seen is that even in the when we 0:31:55.270 --> 0:31:57.709 say we, we often misquote that verse and verse, and 0:31:57.710 --> 0:31:59.630 we think everything's going to be fine. You know how 0:31:59.630 --> 0:32:01.670 many coaches have told us, yo, all things can work. 0:32:01.670 --> 0:32:03.709 We're going to do this. No, no, that means that 0:32:03.710 --> 0:32:06.350 means that means everything. That means the good and the bad. 0:32:06.350 --> 0:32:10.070 That means my my glaucoma. You know, as I've lost 0:32:10.070 --> 0:32:13.110 my sight, it means, you know, my journey with cancer. 0:32:13.110 --> 0:32:16.070 When I had three tumors in my on my tongue 0:32:16.110 --> 0:32:18.430 and my throat and on my neck, you know, it 0:32:18.430 --> 0:32:22.550 means spinal fusion therapy. It means losing my agent, you know, 0:32:22.590 --> 0:32:26.710 and my professional career basically ending all of that worked 0:32:26.710 --> 0:32:29.870 for his good because what he did, he gave me 0:32:29.910 --> 0:32:35.310 opportunities to be a spokesperson for the Glaucoma Research Foundation. 0:32:35.350 --> 0:32:38.710 He gave me an opportunity to lead a men's ministry, 0:32:38.710 --> 0:32:41.990 to create a creative arts ministry at my old church 0:32:41.990 --> 0:32:44.950 city line. He he's given me opportunities to be able 0:32:44.950 --> 0:32:48.390 to speak to men on a real level because, as 0:32:48.390 --> 0:32:51.870 you know, the best witnesses are those witnesses who have 0:32:51.910 --> 0:32:54.710 who have been in the trenches or I should say, 0:32:54.870 --> 0:32:57.510 have been stuck in the muck and the mire because 0:32:57.510 --> 0:33:01.110 once God brings us out of that. Our story has 0:33:01.110 --> 0:33:04.590 much more validity to it, you know? It's because it's genuine, 0:33:04.590 --> 0:33:07.870 because we've lived it. And people can see in us 0:33:08.270 --> 0:33:11.550 the power of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Yes. 0:33:11.550 --> 0:33:14.190 And for those who love, you know, and when, when 0:33:14.190 --> 0:33:18.870 we profess, boldly profess Christ, proclaim Christ, and when people 0:33:18.870 --> 0:33:22.070 can see the love of Christ in us and in 0:33:22.070 --> 0:33:24.150 our eyes. Yes. Amen. 0:33:25.870 --> 0:33:27.790 Philip, I want to thank you from the bottom of 0:33:27.790 --> 0:33:30.310 my heart. There's a lot of you listening today. And 0:33:30.310 --> 0:33:33.950 your question is, can God do that for me? And 0:33:33.950 --> 0:33:40.270 the answer is he can. He absolutely can. Our God 0:33:40.270 --> 0:33:44.030 works together for good, even the bad, to those who 0:33:44.030 --> 0:33:47.150 love him, those that are called according to his purpose, 0:33:47.150 --> 0:33:51.870 those bowed low before God who are being made into 0:33:51.870 --> 0:33:54.750 the likeness of Christ. Bank it.