WEBVTT - Biblical-Based Faith vs. Culture 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:04.440 Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. 0:00:04.720 --> 0:00:08.120 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:00:08.960 --> 0:00:11.799 I'm excited. I'm fired up this whole week. I feel 0:00:11.800 --> 0:00:14.239 like I'm getting more thrilled about this morning show with 0:00:14.240 --> 0:00:19.880 every passing month. Amen. I came in here, remember when 0:00:19.880 --> 0:00:22.440 I walked in and we had a we had a 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:25.440 pretty good hour. I forget what was going on. And 0:00:25.440 --> 0:00:28.600 I said, finally, we're doing good radio. And now he goes, 0:00:28.640 --> 0:00:30.280 you are something else, man. 0:00:31.320 --> 0:00:33.159 You used to say that all the time. 0:00:33.200 --> 0:00:35.599 Yeah, it's kind of a catchphrase. My first. 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:39.440 Year here, every day. Every good day, you would say, 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.559 we're finally doing good radio. 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.520 And good radio for me is getting out of God's way. 0:00:45.560 --> 0:00:47.000 I mean that from the bottom of my heart. 0:00:47.000 --> 0:00:47.680 That's what it is. 0:00:47.680 --> 0:00:50.840 Getting out of God's way. And let him drive the bus, man. 0:00:51.200 --> 0:00:53.519 All right, I got a wingnut idea for you guys. 0:00:53.560 --> 0:00:54.000 Oh. 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:55.880 I'm a little nervous, but sure. 0:00:58.360 --> 0:01:00.029 Super die. You're gonna be to be muttering under your 0:01:00.030 --> 0:01:01.190 breath after this one. 0:01:01.310 --> 0:01:02.030 Great. 0:01:02.790 --> 0:01:05.030 No, it's not that bad. I think we need to 0:01:05.030 --> 0:01:09.790 take this CRC 2025 trends outlook, and I think we 0:01:09.790 --> 0:01:11.870 need to make a link and send it to the 0:01:11.870 --> 0:01:14.029 peeps to all of our boom crew. 0:01:14.390 --> 0:01:14.789 That's not. 0:01:14.790 --> 0:01:15.550 Crazy. That's not. 0:01:15.550 --> 0:01:16.509 Crazy. I think that's. 0:01:16.510 --> 0:01:16.790 Okay. 0:01:16.990 --> 0:01:18.630 It's a lot of pages, man. 0:01:18.750 --> 0:01:19.149 Oh, how. 0:01:19.150 --> 0:01:22.870 Many pages in this sucker? Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Seven 0:01:22.870 --> 0:01:29.110 pages of of single spaced, small font. It's worth reading, though. 0:01:29.630 --> 0:01:31.630 I mean, if you just read the first couple of pages, 0:01:31.630 --> 0:01:33.950 you got enough. But this is good content. 0:01:34.230 --> 0:01:36.350 It is, it is. We will. Let's work on that 0:01:36.350 --> 0:01:37.630 and we'll get that. 0:01:37.790 --> 0:01:40.149 So cherry, pick a couple of hot items off their 0:01:40.150 --> 0:01:42.430 alley that have really driven us this week here. 0:01:42.870 --> 0:01:46.670 Well, this this CRC, the cultural research center out at 0:01:46.670 --> 0:01:50.910 Arizona Christian University. They do these kind of world view 0:01:51.110 --> 0:01:54.550 research where they they look at different trends. And so 0:01:54.710 --> 0:01:57.990 this bar with George Barna, they're describing faith and cultural 0:01:58.150 --> 0:02:00.430 trends likely to emerge in this year, so one of 0:02:00.430 --> 0:02:04.950 them deals with discipleship. Unfortunately, how discipleship, even though many 0:02:04.950 --> 0:02:09.350 churches talk about it, um, very few go beyond just 0:02:09.350 --> 0:02:13.750 encouraging personal Bible reading, uh, attendance at church, maybe note 0:02:13.790 --> 0:02:18.269 taking through sermons. It also looks at this idea of syncretism, 0:02:18.310 --> 0:02:23.150 where only 4% of adults have a Christian, a actual 0:02:23.150 --> 0:02:29.550 biblical worldview. But many more 92% of people are doing 0:02:29.550 --> 0:02:33.430 what's called syncretism, where they sort of customize their own 0:02:33.430 --> 0:02:36.190 version of faith, where they're blending lots of different ideas. 0:02:36.190 --> 0:02:39.750 Taking a little bit from here, basically a God of 0:02:39.750 --> 0:02:42.430 our own making, making God into what we would like 0:02:42.430 --> 0:02:45.389 him to be, and then kind of having developing that 0:02:45.389 --> 0:02:47.829 as a worldview. Like, I like that God is love. 0:02:48.150 --> 0:02:50.230 I don't like really like the judgment part. So let's 0:02:50.230 --> 0:02:54.710 borrow some other philosophy and put that in. And that's 0:02:54.710 --> 0:02:56.860 how I form my worldview. Interesting stuff in stuff in 0:02:56.860 --> 0:02:57.380 this study. 0:02:57.660 --> 0:03:00.460 Good recap. Yeah. The one thing that stuck out to 0:03:00.500 --> 0:03:02.700 me that you alluded to here, but I'm going to 0:03:02.700 --> 0:03:07.139 quote it, thousands of the of the nation's Christian churches 0:03:07.139 --> 0:03:10.820 say they are committed to discipleship, but strikingly few do 0:03:10.860 --> 0:03:15.220 much beyond encouraging note taking during sermons. Independent Bible reading 0:03:15.220 --> 0:03:20.460 during the week in attendance at church initiated small groups, 0:03:21.700 --> 0:03:28.420 which research indicates are generally ineffective at making disciples. Ooh! 0:03:29.700 --> 0:03:30.660 That hurts. 0:03:30.900 --> 0:03:33.220 It does. It does. 0:03:33.260 --> 0:03:36.220 It's true. But. But the numbers don't lie. This is 0:03:36.220 --> 0:03:38.620 why I like to measure the important stuff in life. 0:03:39.420 --> 0:03:42.500 So anyway, we're going to get a link made up 0:03:42.500 --> 0:03:45.260 for you guys, and we'll have it for you. I 0:03:45.260 --> 0:03:48.020 promise you, it'll be later on this hour. We'll have 0:03:48.020 --> 0:03:50.180 a link. I know that's a wing nut thing to 0:03:50.260 --> 0:03:52.340 throw on you guys there, but I think this is 0:03:52.340 --> 0:03:54.940 good because we got a lot of thinking people in 0:03:54.940 --> 0:03:57.970 the in the boom crew who want to go. All right. 0:03:58.250 --> 0:04:01.570 What are the numbers? What are they telling us? Okay, 0:04:01.610 --> 0:04:03.370 coming up here, we got a special guest, though. We're 0:04:03.370 --> 0:04:04.810 talking faith and culture rally. 0:04:04.810 --> 0:04:07.850 So let's get a faith and culture analyst to join 0:04:07.850 --> 0:04:10.050 us to come in on some of these trends coming up. 0:04:10.290 --> 0:04:14.130 He was running from God, but God's love brought him home. 0:04:14.290 --> 0:04:18.130 Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on 0:04:18.130 --> 0:04:19.169 Moody Radio. 0:04:19.529 --> 0:04:23.890 Well, if we're going to make faith not get dominated 0:04:23.890 --> 0:04:27.130 by culture as we're talking about this week, we got 0:04:27.130 --> 0:04:30.490 to drill down on what the word is faith here anyway. Ali. 0:04:30.529 --> 0:04:32.210 What do you mean, what is faith? 0:04:32.250 --> 0:04:32.450 Yeah. 0:04:32.450 --> 0:04:35.250 What's faith? I think that's what we got to surmise here. 0:04:35.250 --> 0:04:37.930 What in the world is faith? What is it to 0:04:37.930 --> 0:04:40.890 have a biblical worldview? We've been doing some deep dives 0:04:40.890 --> 0:04:41.650 on that, haven't we? 0:04:41.650 --> 0:04:43.930 Let's bring in our special guest to weigh in. Doctor 0:04:43.930 --> 0:04:49.250 Alex McFarland. He's an apologist, author, evangelist, religion and cultural analyst. 0:04:49.290 --> 0:04:51.969 Is our understanding of the word faith. Do you think 0:04:51.970 --> 0:04:55.410 that that has changed in terms of how people use 0:04:55.410 --> 0:04:56.130 the word. 0:04:56.170 --> 0:04:59.370 You know, the word faith really means trust. And in 0:04:59.370 --> 0:05:03.090 terms of the Christian faith, we're believing what God said 0:05:03.089 --> 0:05:06.730 about Jesus, the Son of God, who rose from the dead. 0:05:06.970 --> 0:05:10.170 You know, the book of Hebrews tells us that faith 0:05:10.170 --> 0:05:13.370 is hope and evidence. You know, the hope that we 0:05:13.370 --> 0:05:16.170 put in the Lord. The evidence, the proof of our 0:05:16.170 --> 0:05:20.370 relationship with him. So humans, throughout history, we have a 0:05:20.410 --> 0:05:23.490 God shaped hole in our heart, and only Jesus can 0:05:23.490 --> 0:05:26.530 fill that hole. So, you know, the culture changes, but 0:05:26.529 --> 0:05:29.450 we still need to put our faith in Christ. And fortunately, 0:05:29.450 --> 0:05:31.729 I think more people than ever are doing that. 0:05:31.770 --> 0:05:34.370 We've been looking at a Barna report that's forecasting where 0:05:34.370 --> 0:05:38.490 we're going here. It's been sobering. I mean, 4% of 0:05:38.490 --> 0:05:41.370 the population in America has a Christian worldview. A lot 0:05:41.410 --> 0:05:46.490 of synchronization is going on there synchronizing the gods of 0:05:46.490 --> 0:05:49.770 this world. And and Ali is big on this. It's 0:05:49.770 --> 0:05:52.839 not new age anymore. It's new thought. But there's a 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:56.120 lot of spiritual talk. You know what I mean? And there's. 0:05:56.160 --> 0:05:59.640 And even the word faith. You ask people, what's your faith? 0:06:00.160 --> 0:06:03.000 And it's a system by which they believe in. But 0:06:03.000 --> 0:06:07.760 it's certainly not entrusting themselves to someone very often speak 0:06:07.760 --> 0:06:08.599 to that, Alex. 0:06:08.880 --> 0:06:12.120 Well, the greatest thing for our faith, the thing that 0:06:12.120 --> 0:06:15.840 will give us strength and spiritual nutrition, is the Word 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:18.120 of God. You know, I think for a lot of people, 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.359 you know, I meet a lot of people that they'll say, well, 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:23.120 you know, I'm really spiritual. And I'll say, well, what 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:25.719 does that mean? And if you died and stood before 0:06:25.720 --> 0:06:28.720 God and God said, why should I let you into heaven? 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:33.880 What would you say? It's this kind of amorphous, fuzzy hope. 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:37.000 And I understand that. But at the same time, the 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:40.159 Bible tells us that we can know where we stand 0:06:40.160 --> 0:06:43.760 with God. The Bible tells us that we can have certainty. 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.720 That's first John 513. So I would just encourage people 0:06:46.720 --> 0:06:52.630 to not just have maybe some vague faith or wishful thinking. 0:06:52.670 --> 0:06:56.350 Now put your trust in the Lord Jesus who loves you. 0:06:56.390 --> 0:06:59.669 Jesus is as close by as a prayer. And that's 0:06:59.670 --> 0:07:01.950 the kind of faith that will change your life and 0:07:01.950 --> 0:07:03.910 give you stability in your soul. 0:07:03.950 --> 0:07:06.430 Doctor Alex McFarland with us right now. You know, last 0:07:06.430 --> 0:07:08.870 time we had you on with us, we talked about 0:07:09.070 --> 0:07:14.270 this Bible sales booming in 2024. A surprising statistic given 0:07:14.550 --> 0:07:17.870 what we're talking about. 4% of people have a biblical worldview. 0:07:18.030 --> 0:07:22.870 There's declining church attendance, but a 22% increase in Bible 0:07:22.870 --> 0:07:28.150 sales in 2024. Is that the spiritual sort of interest? 0:07:28.150 --> 0:07:30.750 That's maybe driving people to open the Word of God, 0:07:30.790 --> 0:07:32.670 even if they're not yet a believer? 0:07:32.950 --> 0:07:36.670 Yeah. I mean, people just it's part of the human experience. 0:07:36.670 --> 0:07:40.110 They want some solid ground on which to stand. And 0:07:40.110 --> 0:07:42.710 I am very encouraged that so many people are reading 0:07:42.710 --> 0:07:46.950 the Bible. More and more people are spiritually open. So 0:07:46.990 --> 0:07:51.350 what we churches have, you know, pastors, churches, uh, church members. 0:07:51.630 --> 0:07:54.550 What we have is an opportunity. But, you know, LifeWay 0:07:54.550 --> 0:08:00.270 research and many other organizations show that almost 90% of 0:08:00.270 --> 0:08:03.190 all the people around us, it's in the high 80s. 0:08:03.230 --> 0:08:06.990 But they said that they would strongly consider going to 0:08:07.030 --> 0:08:08.710 church if somebody invited them. 0:08:08.750 --> 0:08:10.670 I know, that's just shocking. 0:08:10.670 --> 0:08:11.750 Isn't that awesome? 0:08:11.790 --> 0:08:12.510 Yeah it is. 0:08:12.510 --> 0:08:15.750 Let's build relationships because, hey, you know, it's like, um, 0:08:15.750 --> 0:08:17.830 if you buy a set of weights, that's great, you're 0:08:17.830 --> 0:08:20.150 going to work out. But it helps to have a 0:08:20.150 --> 0:08:24.790 fitness coach. Well, the church, good churches that believe the 0:08:24.790 --> 0:08:28.430 Bible and teach it, they're like our spiritual fitness coach 0:08:28.630 --> 0:08:30.790 and it's great to buy a Bible. I encourage people 0:08:30.790 --> 0:08:33.910 to read it. The Holy Spirit will help people read 0:08:33.950 --> 0:08:38.070 the Word of God. But church, we need that community. 0:08:38.110 --> 0:08:42.510 It's an opportunity for service, but also good teaching and 0:08:42.550 --> 0:08:46.430 the ministry of the word churches help us grow in 0:08:46.429 --> 0:08:51.140 terms of discipleship. So I encourage everybody, if you're spiritually searching, 0:08:51.300 --> 0:08:54.059 find a good church. Yeah. If somebody's listening, if you 0:08:54.059 --> 0:08:58.860 are a Christian, be an inviter. Be a habitual inviter. 0:08:58.860 --> 0:09:02.300 Because nearly 90% of all the people around us that 0:09:02.300 --> 0:09:05.660 don't have a Christian background are saying, I want to 0:09:05.700 --> 0:09:08.300 know more if somebody would just reach out and invite me. 0:09:08.460 --> 0:09:10.339 All right. I'm going to pin you down, Alex, because 0:09:10.340 --> 0:09:14.580 you're an evangelist. You've spoken over 2200 churches throughout just 0:09:14.580 --> 0:09:19.380 North America. Do you think we have a rebellion? Kind 0:09:19.380 --> 0:09:23.220 of Romans one people shaking a fist at God issue? 0:09:23.220 --> 0:09:26.620 Or is it more of a searching? But no one's 0:09:26.620 --> 0:09:32.740 taken me there issue because the stats you're giving us 80% 0:09:32.740 --> 0:09:35.740 of the alley, does that blow your mind a little bit? Yes. That, 0:09:35.740 --> 0:09:37.260 if invited, would come to church. 0:09:37.300 --> 0:09:37.819 Yes. 0:09:37.860 --> 0:09:39.939 What's going on here? I think a lot of us 0:09:39.940 --> 0:09:42.100 in the church look at the world and go, oh, man, 0:09:42.140 --> 0:09:45.900 they're just shaking their fist at God. Your stats say no. 0:09:45.940 --> 0:09:48.730 They might not have had a fair shot at the gospel. 0:09:48.929 --> 0:09:52.290 There is Romans one. I realize that, but I think 0:09:52.330 --> 0:09:54.610 our culture is much more like in the book of acts. 0:09:54.650 --> 0:09:59.490 Remember Philip met this Ethiopian eunuch and the Ethiopian man 0:09:59.490 --> 0:10:03.250 was reading Isaiah. Philip says, do you understand what you're reading? 0:10:03.490 --> 0:10:07.050 And he goes, I don't know. How could I unless 0:10:07.050 --> 0:10:10.770 somebody would teach me. And I truly think, because, I mean, 0:10:10.770 --> 0:10:14.130 I'm with people all the time, you know, once a 0:10:14.130 --> 0:10:18.050 year I'll meet somebody who's, you know, angry at God 0:10:18.090 --> 0:10:23.610 and shaking their fist in God's face. But every single day, literally, 0:10:23.650 --> 0:10:26.890 we get emails from people saying, I know I need 0:10:26.890 --> 0:10:29.809 to get right with God. Uh, I'm not sure how 0:10:29.809 --> 0:10:33.290 to even find a church, but wow, what does it mean? 0:10:33.490 --> 0:10:37.410 In fact, I've got one staff member full time and 0:10:37.410 --> 0:10:41.370 then another person part time, simply helping me with the 0:10:41.370 --> 0:10:45.290 daily slew of emails of people that basically what they're 0:10:45.290 --> 0:10:47.530 what they're saying is, how do I know that I 0:10:47.530 --> 0:10:50.770 really have Jesus in my life? And you know, the 0:10:50.770 --> 0:10:54.569 Lord said, the fields are white unto harvest. And guys, 0:10:54.570 --> 0:10:58.770 I think that's true in any generation but relationships, you know, 0:10:58.809 --> 0:11:03.329 psychologists tell us that a true relationship has trust, honesty, respect. 0:11:03.370 --> 0:11:07.130 And I have found, look, with people that are very 0:11:07.130 --> 0:11:10.929 far away from Christ in their worldview. If you build 0:11:10.929 --> 0:11:16.969 a relationship and there's trust, honesty, respect, you can share 0:11:17.370 --> 0:11:21.090 even the hard truths of God's Word. And people will 0:11:21.090 --> 0:11:23.810 respond because they know that you care about them. 0:11:23.850 --> 0:11:27.610 Doctor Alex McFarland with us right now. Apologist, author, evangelist, 0:11:27.610 --> 0:11:30.610 religion and culture analyst. Coming up, I got a tough 0:11:30.610 --> 0:11:34.530 question for you. The label of evangelical or even Christian 0:11:34.530 --> 0:11:37.010 is taken a bit of a hit as of late. 0:11:37.050 --> 0:11:40.450 We've seen public scandal. We've seen lots of things linked 0:11:40.450 --> 0:11:42.610 to that word that may or may not be true. 0:11:42.809 --> 0:11:46.920 How do we Reclaim the word and even describe or 0:11:46.960 --> 0:11:50.480 even separate ourselves from some of the things that people 0:11:50.480 --> 0:11:53.360 assume to be true about us. That may not be 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:55.880 true at all. Let's talk about it coming up. 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.520 He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then 0:11:59.559 --> 0:12:03.880 he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:05.599 and crew on Moody Radio. 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:08.920 We've got a religion and culture analyst to Doctor Alex 0:12:08.920 --> 0:12:10.959 McFarland with us right now. You know, when you tell 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:14.440 somebody these days that you are a Christian or an 0:12:14.440 --> 0:12:18.439 evangelical Christian, they are likely going to make a lot 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:22.440 of assumptions about you, about me that may or may 0:12:22.440 --> 0:12:26.720 not be true. This can make conversations a little bit 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:31.760 more challenging. How do we navigate the terms evangelical Christian? 0:12:31.760 --> 0:12:33.439 That's become pretty loaded? 0:12:33.480 --> 0:12:36.720 Yeah, there is baggage around the word evangelical right now, 0:12:36.720 --> 0:12:41.120 and that's unfortunate because evangelism is telling the good news. 0:12:41.160 --> 0:12:46.790 And an evangelical Christian has traditionally meant one that believes 0:12:46.790 --> 0:12:50.510 in the Great Commission telling people about Jesus. You know, 0:12:50.550 --> 0:12:53.190 there was a time they used the word soul winner 0:12:53.190 --> 0:12:57.429 or just one. That's a witness for Christ. Now, in 0:12:57.429 --> 0:13:00.589 the last 25 years, the word evangelical in the minds 0:13:00.590 --> 0:13:04.830 of many people has, you know, become a politically charged word. 0:13:05.110 --> 0:13:08.109 It's not that there's anything wrong with the word evangelical, 0:13:08.110 --> 0:13:11.950 but people have so many misconceptions that I really just 0:13:11.950 --> 0:13:16.550 tend to use the word Christian or, you know, Christ follower. 0:13:16.590 --> 0:13:18.949 But I think that one of the ways we get 0:13:18.950 --> 0:13:22.670 around the misconceptions people may have is just to show 0:13:22.670 --> 0:13:28.830 that we are authentic. This consistency validates authenticity, and when 0:13:28.830 --> 0:13:32.709 people see that, it's not just talk that the Lord 0:13:32.710 --> 0:13:37.670 Jesus Christ is the absolute foundation of everything we are 0:13:37.830 --> 0:13:41.990 and we do share truth. And we live God's Word 0:13:41.990 --> 0:13:45.030 and we are people of integrity, and we are people 0:13:45.030 --> 0:13:47.830 that we're not in the business of using people, but 0:13:47.830 --> 0:13:52.030 of loving people and loving people enough to tell them 0:13:52.070 --> 0:13:55.230 the saving truth of Scripture. You know, whether or not 0:13:55.230 --> 0:13:59.550 we rebuild the word evangelical doesn't matter to me so much, 0:13:59.590 --> 0:14:03.390 but maintaining the purity of the word Christian, I think 0:14:03.390 --> 0:14:05.950 that should be every Christian's priority. Really? 0:14:05.990 --> 0:14:09.390 Yeah, I'd love that. Doctor Alex McFarland is our guest 0:14:09.390 --> 0:14:10.710 right now. We're going to have a link for you 0:14:10.710 --> 0:14:12.510 in just a moment, but I want to give you 0:14:12.510 --> 0:14:15.230 the floor. You want to riff? I know your heart 0:14:15.270 --> 0:14:19.190 is family. What are we going to do? And here's 0:14:19.190 --> 0:14:22.030 here's the big rub. My bride and I have a 0:14:22.070 --> 0:14:26.150 list of ready for this. People that we know whose 0:14:26.150 --> 0:14:31.550 kids were raised in church. Good kids, great parents. Not 0:14:31.870 --> 0:14:36.390 not Pharisees. I mean imperfect, but going for it with God. 0:14:36.750 --> 0:14:41.780 Whose kids left high school? left the home and they've 0:14:41.780 --> 0:14:44.700 walked away from the church. Most of whom now look 0:14:44.700 --> 0:14:47.260 back and go, these kids were never born again. How 0:14:47.260 --> 0:14:50.660 do we bust through cultural Christianity and get this family 0:14:50.660 --> 0:14:55.540 unit back on track with discipleship in the Lord Jesus Christ? 0:14:55.860 --> 0:14:59.260 A lot of prayer and a lot of consistent living. 0:14:59.580 --> 0:15:05.060 You know, the divorce rate among professed Christian families is 0:15:05.100 --> 0:15:08.340 at or maybe even higher than the divorce rate of 0:15:08.340 --> 0:15:12.060 the unchurched world, and that's a tragic thing. And, you know, 0:15:12.100 --> 0:15:15.940 we are in the lives of 1200 teenagers every summer. 0:15:15.940 --> 0:15:18.660 And I can really tell you, the state of the 0:15:18.660 --> 0:15:23.820 family really does shape the spiritual outcomes in the lives 0:15:23.820 --> 0:15:27.500 of so many young people. So I would say this now, 0:15:27.540 --> 0:15:31.180 having been married myself for 36 years and having counseled 0:15:31.220 --> 0:15:34.380 a lot of couples, I know marriages go through seasons 0:15:34.380 --> 0:15:38.890 and rocky spots. I would just implore everyone listening If 0:15:38.930 --> 0:15:42.650 you were married, the marriage that God wants to bless 0:15:42.650 --> 0:15:45.290 and save is the one that you're in. And I 0:15:45.290 --> 0:15:48.370 would just encourage husbands and wives, you know, don't be 0:15:48.370 --> 0:15:52.810 looking for greener pastures. Really believe God to save the 0:15:52.810 --> 0:15:57.290 marriage that you're in. If Jesus can resurrect the dead, 0:15:57.290 --> 0:16:02.250 he can resurrect relationships. But in terms of the hand off, 0:16:02.290 --> 0:16:05.450 for one, I realize that there are godly moms and 0:16:05.450 --> 0:16:09.130 dads and they do everything right, and their kids sometimes 0:16:09.130 --> 0:16:14.010 wind up in atheist humans, have free will and even look, even, 0:16:14.010 --> 0:16:17.850 you know, the first family ever. You know, Cain and Abel. 0:16:18.050 --> 0:16:21.530 Cain killed his brother. So the first human family ever. 0:16:21.530 --> 0:16:23.970 And we've got a homicide on our hands. You know, 0:16:24.010 --> 0:16:26.890 we're sinners. That being the case, I will say this. 0:16:26.890 --> 0:16:30.890 I want to make a plea to men, have a 0:16:30.890 --> 0:16:35.170 daily devotion with your wife, and let your kids see 0:16:35.170 --> 0:16:39.090 that it is absolutely Real. It's not just a perfunctory, 0:16:39.130 --> 0:16:42.530 you know, hour or two on Sunday morning, once a month, 0:16:42.570 --> 0:16:46.330 but that you are a Jesus man. And I thank 0:16:46.330 --> 0:16:50.890 God for Christian moms. Thank God for the the godly women. 0:16:51.170 --> 0:16:57.570 But so much of the spiritual outcome of children flows 0:16:57.570 --> 0:17:03.130 from the dads relationship with Christ. Role model it. And men. 0:17:03.130 --> 0:17:05.369 I want to say to the men out there, the 0:17:05.410 --> 0:17:08.010 best favor you can ever do your kids, is to 0:17:08.050 --> 0:17:11.570 love their mother and lay down your life for your bride. 0:17:11.570 --> 0:17:15.210 As Christ laid down his life for his bride, the church. 0:17:15.609 --> 0:17:19.330 Doctor Alex McFarland, our guest this morning. If you want more, 0:17:19.570 --> 0:17:22.730 he's got resources on his website. You can link to 0:17:22.770 --> 0:17:28.889 what's available. Just text Bible to (800) 555-7898. Just text Bible 0:17:28.930 --> 0:17:32.090 to 855 five 7898. 0:17:32.530 --> 0:17:37.200 A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is 0:17:37.200 --> 0:17:40.840 in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.040 Guess what? Bottom of the hour. You know what that 0:17:43.040 --> 0:17:44.000 signal is, young Thunder. 0:17:44.040 --> 0:17:45.440 Oh, you know I do. 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:49.480 Making herself laugh no matter who joins her. It's time 0:17:49.520 --> 0:17:51.560 for Ali. Thinks it's funny. 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.880 I applaud you, though. Laughing at your own material when 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:56.480 it's good. 0:17:56.520 --> 0:17:56.920 Yeah. 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.480 That's him. Play. You ever seen the stand up comedians 0:17:59.480 --> 0:18:01.840 that are pretty straight faced? But then they crack a 0:18:01.840 --> 0:18:04.920 good one and everybody's roaring, and they they they they 0:18:04.920 --> 0:18:06.240 just smile a little bit. 0:18:06.280 --> 0:18:08.639 It's like I actually kind of like that a lot. 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:10.960 The fact that they smile, it's like, okay, they know 0:18:10.960 --> 0:18:13.199 it's funny and it makes me laugh even more. 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:17.400 I'm working on my delivery guys. Is that what you're 0:18:17.400 --> 0:18:18.920 trying to say? No. No need. 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:19.120 To. 0:18:19.119 --> 0:18:20.720 Laugh. Laugh less? 0:18:20.760 --> 0:18:23.040 No, I'm saying no, no, no. You laughing at your 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:24.159 own jokes makes it funny. 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:25.120 Ah, okay. Got it. 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:25.360 Yeah. 0:18:25.359 --> 0:18:28.120 Got it. And dad, jokes are laughable if you're doing 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.919 stand up comedy and you started roaring your own stuff, 0:18:30.920 --> 0:18:33.000 I would call you down and go, sister, we gotta 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:33.800 change this. 0:18:34.270 --> 0:18:36.790 I do not have a future in stand up comedy, 0:18:36.790 --> 0:18:37.429 that is for sure. 0:18:37.430 --> 0:18:40.910 But dad jokes are a totally different category. All right, Ali, ready? 0:18:41.230 --> 0:18:42.830 Nobody wants to go to jail. 0:18:43.350 --> 0:18:43.909 Right? 0:18:44.150 --> 0:18:46.469 Nobody. The belt. 0:18:46.630 --> 0:18:47.270 I did. 0:18:47.670 --> 0:18:47.990 What? 0:18:48.030 --> 0:18:48.670 But anyway. 0:18:50.750 --> 0:18:53.350 Okay. It's another story for another day. 0:18:53.390 --> 0:18:54.030 Continuing. 0:18:54.030 --> 0:18:57.350 Ali, why did the belt go to jail? 0:18:58.030 --> 0:18:58.910 Huh? I don't know. 0:18:59.430 --> 0:19:02.710 Why did the belt go to jail? Was found guilty 0:19:02.710 --> 0:19:05.110 of holding up a pair of pants. 0:19:05.670 --> 0:19:05.990 Ha! 0:19:09.990 --> 0:19:14.430 That is really good. That's good. Wow. 0:19:15.070 --> 0:19:16.229 That's good, I like that. 0:19:16.390 --> 0:19:17.670 Oh, what do you mean, that's good? 0:19:17.710 --> 0:19:18.430 And you're sitting there. 0:19:18.430 --> 0:19:18.910 Groaning. 0:19:18.950 --> 0:19:21.670 Like what? No. It's good. I'm not groaning. That was super. 0:19:21.830 --> 0:19:23.869 Laugh out loud funny. That one was. 0:19:23.910 --> 0:19:25.350 I gave you a smirk. 0:19:25.670 --> 0:19:28.590 A pair of pants. Oh, that's a dad joke. And 0:19:28.590 --> 0:19:30.470 a half out. I'm crying in here. 0:19:30.510 --> 0:19:34.020 I got a little, uh, a little warning for you. Um, 0:19:34.140 --> 0:19:36.859 you got to be careful, because there's some fake spaghetti 0:19:36.859 --> 0:19:39.340 that's been making its way on the shelves. And you 0:19:39.340 --> 0:19:41.420 have to be careful that you're getting the real thing. 0:19:41.940 --> 0:19:44.300 What do you call this? Fake spaghetti? 0:19:44.340 --> 0:19:45.100 I don't know. 0:19:45.660 --> 0:19:59.300 An imposter. Okay. She is gone. We've lost Ellie for sure. 0:19:59.580 --> 0:20:09.420 Text jokes to 800 555, 7898. Text jokes to 800 555, 78, 98. 0:20:10.260 --> 0:20:14.300 You're welcome. You're welcome. Diana. Thank you. I know you 0:20:14.300 --> 0:20:16.060 especially look forward to this segment. 0:20:16.100 --> 0:20:17.060 Thank you. Yes. 0:20:17.260 --> 0:20:19.420 Just wait for my jokes. What's she going to come 0:20:19.420 --> 0:20:20.139 up with next? 0:20:21.100 --> 0:20:24.899 You should be roaring. That is funny. Get out! 0:20:25.140 --> 0:20:26.260 Impostor! 0:20:26.300 --> 0:20:27.620 Do you get it, di? Do you get. 0:20:27.619 --> 0:20:28.620 It? Yes. 0:20:28.660 --> 0:20:32.500 Thank you. Young thunder. Yeah. You're welcome. Oh, boy. The 0:20:32.500 --> 0:20:36.020 delivery says it all. I love it. I wish we 0:20:36.020 --> 0:20:38.420 had the visual of her telling these jokes. 0:20:38.900 --> 0:20:41.060 Come on, get this link. You two can torment. 0:20:41.060 --> 0:20:42.300 Your friends and family. 0:20:43.580 --> 0:20:44.540 Oh. That's funny. 0:20:45.820 --> 0:20:50.820 Text jokes to 855. Oh, let me do it again. 0:20:50.859 --> 0:20:57.139 Jokes to (800) 555-7898. That was. Those were two. Just. 0:20:57.460 --> 0:20:58.260 Boom. 0:20:58.300 --> 0:20:59.500 I, I think I. 0:20:59.500 --> 0:21:00.060 Was. 0:21:00.100 --> 0:21:01.140 Six for six today. 0:21:01.260 --> 0:21:04.700 Ali was on. Don't you always think you're six for five. 0:21:04.859 --> 0:21:05.300 Six. 0:21:05.340 --> 0:21:08.820 Five for six. I, I sometimes they don't land. 0:21:09.020 --> 0:21:09.500 Well that's true. 0:21:09.540 --> 0:21:12.020 I still think they're funny, but I today I really 0:21:12.020 --> 0:21:14.300 think everybody should have thought they were funny. 0:21:15.820 --> 0:21:17.740 That's so good. What's wrong with you? 0:21:18.220 --> 0:21:20.580 Her public opinion is if you don't think. 0:21:20.660 --> 0:21:21.500 If you don't think they're. 0:21:21.500 --> 0:21:22.979 Funny, there's something wrong with you. 0:21:23.340 --> 0:21:24.300 It's your humor. 0:21:24.460 --> 0:21:26.820 I will, I will say it was a strong day. 0:21:26.859 --> 0:21:28.300 A strong day for Ali. Jokes. 0:21:28.340 --> 0:21:29.580 Thank you. Thank you. 0:21:29.970 --> 0:21:32.730 Somebody just texted. Can you please explain the Amazon. 0:21:32.730 --> 0:21:33.890 Chicken egg joke? 0:21:33.930 --> 0:21:36.170 I still can't figure it out. I love your. 0:21:36.170 --> 0:21:36.850 Jokes. 0:21:37.090 --> 0:21:39.850 Okay. I told a joke in one of the hours 0:21:39.850 --> 0:21:43.609 I said, I went on Amazon and ordered a chicken 0:21:43.609 --> 0:21:44.370 and an egg. 0:21:44.410 --> 0:21:44.850 Yes. 0:21:45.330 --> 0:21:48.530 I'll let you know. It took the team a minute. Apparently, 0:21:48.530 --> 0:21:49.409 it's taking others. 0:21:49.609 --> 0:21:51.290 It took me a minute. It took me. 0:21:51.290 --> 0:21:52.129 Think about it for a. 0:21:52.130 --> 0:21:52.690 Minute. 0:21:53.330 --> 0:21:54.210 The classic saying. 0:21:54.250 --> 0:21:54.850 Classic. 0:21:54.850 --> 0:21:57.330 What comes first? The chicken or the egg? So the 0:21:57.330 --> 0:21:59.650 joke is, I ordered a chicken and an egg off 0:21:59.650 --> 0:22:02.090 of an Amazon and off of Amazon. Then you pause 0:22:02.130 --> 0:22:06.169 and I'll let you know. Dot dot dot. Which comes first? 0:22:06.410 --> 0:22:08.010 That's a great that's a. 0:22:08.010 --> 0:22:08.450 Really. 0:22:08.490 --> 0:22:08.970 Is a good. 0:22:08.970 --> 0:22:09.250 Joke. 0:22:09.450 --> 0:22:10.490 That's intellectual. 0:22:10.930 --> 0:22:12.130 It's intellectual. 0:22:13.210 --> 0:22:14.090 That's generous. 0:22:14.490 --> 0:22:14.889 Oh, for. 0:22:15.050 --> 0:22:15.690 Goodness. 0:22:15.730 --> 0:22:16.090 Sakes. 0:22:16.090 --> 0:22:20.130 I got a stomachache from those two. Oh. That's good. Hey, 0:22:20.170 --> 0:22:22.090 you two can work your ab muscles and have a 0:22:22.090 --> 0:22:25.450 six pack. Listen to Ali every bottom of the hour 0:22:25.450 --> 0:22:29.440 on Wednesdays. You two will have a six pack before 0:22:29.440 --> 0:22:30.000 it's said and. 0:22:30.000 --> 0:22:30.440 Done. 0:22:30.680 --> 0:22:31.280 By June. 0:22:31.400 --> 0:22:32.680 Jokes by June. 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:34.600 6th. Pack by June. Just by listening. 0:22:34.720 --> 0:22:35.520 For the summer. 0:22:35.800 --> 0:22:39.760 Tex jokes 800 555 7898. 0:22:41.560 --> 0:22:45.040 Embarrassing. Going to the beach. Listen to Ali thinks it's funny. 0:22:45.080 --> 0:22:45.720 There you go. 0:22:46.160 --> 0:22:48.200 Get your summer bod ready with Ali. 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:49.120 Thinks it's funny. 0:22:49.160 --> 0:22:51.080 Right now we've. 0:22:51.119 --> 0:22:51.399 Gone. 0:22:51.440 --> 0:22:52.560 Off. Okay, see. 0:22:52.600 --> 0:22:53.639 Now, dude, that's a little too. 0:22:53.640 --> 0:22:53.800 Far. 0:22:53.800 --> 0:22:54.920 That was too far, Jonathan. 0:22:54.920 --> 0:23:00.000 Way too far. Okay. Went over the edge there. Sorry. Sorry. Apologize. Yeah. 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:00.840 Please forgive me. 0:23:01.240 --> 0:23:03.520 You got to tell the back story on that one because. 0:23:03.560 --> 0:23:06.840 Oh, yeah. So, Carl. Carl has this habit, and this 0:23:06.840 --> 0:23:09.760 is when we're off air. Carl has this habit of saying, 0:23:09.800 --> 0:23:12.439 saying things, crazy things. And he's getting us all riled 0:23:12.440 --> 0:23:15.879 up and going and laughing. And then someone adds something, 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:19.280 particularly when it's me. Adds something to the joke, and 0:23:19.280 --> 0:23:20.840 he goes, nope, you can't do that. It's too far. 0:23:20.880 --> 0:23:22.920 You you killed it. You're done. It's done. You can't. 0:23:22.920 --> 0:23:26.120 That's too far. You can't do that. And and he 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:27.120 goes so deadpan. 0:23:27.280 --> 0:23:28.560 Variably, invariably. 0:23:28.560 --> 0:23:29.399 Young thunder turns. 0:23:29.400 --> 0:23:30.080 Bright red. 0:23:30.119 --> 0:23:32.000 Oh, yeah. Yeah. Because the. 0:23:32.000 --> 0:23:33.360 Thought of I have done something. 0:23:33.359 --> 0:23:35.720 Wrong. The thought of I've crossed some type of line 0:23:35.720 --> 0:23:38.120 is like one of my, one of my painful. I'm like, 0:23:38.119 --> 0:23:40.600 oh no, I can't do it. I embarrassed myself in 0:23:40.600 --> 0:23:43.840 front of everybody. But Carl knows he can get me 0:23:43.840 --> 0:23:44.359 that way. 0:23:44.400 --> 0:23:46.919 Oh, I'm just dying. Oh, I. 0:23:46.960 --> 0:23:48.080 Love you, dude. You know that. 0:23:48.080 --> 0:23:48.400 All right. 0:23:48.440 --> 0:23:51.439 We got a important link coming up for you. 0:23:52.520 --> 0:23:55.560 This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:58.760 We have got a resource for you. I had a 0:23:58.760 --> 0:24:01.200 brainstorm here at the top of the hour, and I'm like, man, 0:24:01.200 --> 0:24:03.560 let's just get this content out. Now, this is, what, 0:24:03.600 --> 0:24:05.080 seven pages. Right, Ali? 0:24:05.119 --> 0:24:07.639 It's a it's a link to a website. So this 0:24:07.640 --> 0:24:10.560 will you can scroll through it probably a maybe a 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.120 5 to 7 minute read. I would guess if you 0:24:13.119 --> 0:24:15.920 want to take a look at these cultural trends likely 0:24:15.920 --> 0:24:23.200 to emerge in 2025, just text trends to 855 52898. 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:27.430 Text trends to 855 555 7898. 0:24:27.830 --> 0:24:32.109 Okay. We want you to get that link trends. And 0:24:32.109 --> 0:24:34.990 this is this is good reading. Why? Why is this 0:24:34.990 --> 0:24:37.030 important to read? Would you say Ali. 0:24:37.070 --> 0:24:41.950 I think being aware of where I mean, no, research 0:24:41.950 --> 0:24:44.550 is perfect, but when you have a general sense of 0:24:44.550 --> 0:24:47.350 like take something like only 4% of people having a 0:24:47.350 --> 0:24:50.630 biblical worldview or the fact that many, many people have 0:24:50.630 --> 0:24:54.109 developed a worldview that blends a belief in God with 0:24:54.109 --> 0:24:57.870 a lot of other things, syncretism, then it affects how 0:24:57.869 --> 0:25:01.110 you view conversations. To be aware of that, that's going 0:25:01.109 --> 0:25:03.350 to be the predominant viewpoint, is a blend of a 0:25:03.390 --> 0:25:06.350 lot of different faiths. That's going to help guide how 0:25:06.350 --> 0:25:08.990 you talk to people when you talk about Jesus. 0:25:09.390 --> 0:25:11.389 Ali just built a good case. Come and get it. 0:25:11.430 --> 0:25:19.230 Trends to 855 five 7898 855 five 7898. Get this 0:25:19.270 --> 0:25:21.070 in hand. We're going to cherry pick a couple of 0:25:21.070 --> 0:25:22.389 these things coming up. 0:25:22.590 --> 0:25:27.300 She's a choreographer extraordinaire, and everything is Greek to her. 0:25:27.619 --> 0:25:31.340 Super die is in the crew. It's Carl and crew 0:25:31.380 --> 0:25:32.660 on Moody Radio. 0:25:34.140 --> 0:25:43.619 Yes. Yes. Yes, yes. She's Greek, she's crazy. She's fun, 0:25:43.619 --> 0:25:47.420 she's winsome. She's lost her mind at times. Oh, she 0:25:47.420 --> 0:25:51.340 is super die. Only because you're working with Ali. That's 0:25:51.340 --> 0:25:52.060 what you were. 0:25:52.060 --> 0:25:52.700 Perfectly. 0:25:52.700 --> 0:25:53.180 Normal. 0:25:53.220 --> 0:25:53.859 Until you. 0:25:54.460 --> 0:25:55.700 Started working with Ali. 0:25:55.700 --> 0:25:56.020 That's what. 0:25:56.020 --> 0:25:57.379 It was. Everything went south. 0:25:57.420 --> 0:25:59.260 That did it. Yep. 0:25:59.380 --> 0:26:02.659 Yeah. Well, I want to thank you for making this link. 0:26:02.660 --> 0:26:05.340 I'm blown away at how many people are grabbing this. Okay. 0:26:05.380 --> 0:26:08.260 We've we've been using some content, and we're not going 0:26:08.300 --> 0:26:11.700 to withhold it from you no more. Ali told me, Carl, 0:26:11.700 --> 0:26:14.620 we shouldn't give it to him. Actually, I shouldn't even. 0:26:15.100 --> 0:26:16.500 What? Wait wait, wait. 0:26:17.220 --> 0:26:19.940 Ali. Ali was right on with this thing, man. We 0:26:19.940 --> 0:26:22.900 gotta we. If we get this out to you, you're 0:26:23.060 --> 0:26:25.540 going to be able to have a way to look 0:26:25.540 --> 0:26:28.900 at our culture and then go, whoa, what's this mean 0:26:28.900 --> 0:26:32.020 about our faith? And and don't underestimate your power to 0:26:32.020 --> 0:26:36.060 influence culture. Don't underestimate it. The amount of the amount 0:26:36.060 --> 0:26:38.300 of movements of God that have started with a humble 0:26:38.340 --> 0:26:41.700 few are pretty staggering. So coming. Get this link. Spread 0:26:41.700 --> 0:26:44.020 it around. This is one of these things that when 0:26:44.020 --> 0:26:47.060 you when you read it, you'll have a now a 0:26:47.060 --> 0:26:49.820 new metric by which you can measure, how are we 0:26:49.859 --> 0:26:52.380 doing with faith in the culture in which we live? 0:26:52.580 --> 0:26:55.860 Text the word trend. You'll get the entire link here 0:26:56.100 --> 0:27:00.100 to CRC research. It's George Barnes's latest kind of really 0:27:00.100 --> 0:27:04.220 forecasting what's going on in 2025 based on current trends. 0:27:04.820 --> 0:27:13.420 Text trend to 855 five 7898. So what this causes 0:27:13.420 --> 0:27:17.419 us to do is think about, well, it's kind of 0:27:17.420 --> 0:27:22.530 the Francis Schaeffer question, how shall we then live? I 0:27:22.530 --> 0:27:25.410 had a great dialogue with Jim Coakley. I'd heard him 0:27:25.450 --> 0:27:27.410 say this. I forget when it was and when he 0:27:27.410 --> 0:27:30.290 said this supposition that I'm going to share with you, 0:27:30.290 --> 0:27:34.890 I'm like, wow, that's one of those insights that you've 0:27:34.890 --> 0:27:37.930 got to just hold on to and not lose, ever. 0:27:39.410 --> 0:27:43.369 And here's in a nutshell, here's what we find. The 0:27:43.369 --> 0:27:46.810 apostle Paul begins in Philippians three, and he starts talking 0:27:46.810 --> 0:27:50.250 about his kind of pedigree. And he said, I was 0:27:50.250 --> 0:27:55.810 a Hebrew of Hebrews. But as he gets older, things change. 0:27:56.970 --> 0:28:01.410 And it's Jim says it's four year increments chronologically following 0:28:01.410 --> 0:28:05.570 the letters. And then he says, I'm the chief of 0:28:05.570 --> 0:28:08.169 sinners of the apostles. And then he says, I'm really 0:28:08.210 --> 0:28:11.970 the the chief sinners of all the saints. And then 0:28:12.010 --> 0:28:15.730 in his letter to Timothy, he says, I'm just the 0:28:15.730 --> 0:28:22.360 chief of sinners, period. Which is an amazing thing. And 0:28:22.359 --> 0:28:24.960 you've got to ask the question, what is going on here? 0:28:25.440 --> 0:28:28.600 And Jim texting me early this morning, I'm so glad 0:28:28.600 --> 0:28:32.440 this doctor, Jim Coakley, my buddy, is up early because 0:28:32.440 --> 0:28:36.960 he's got some great content. He said in every one 0:28:36.960 --> 0:28:39.720 of those passages, the word grace is found. The more 0:28:39.720 --> 0:28:44.400 he understands grace, the less he thinks of himself. Then 0:28:44.400 --> 0:28:47.000 he goes on to say, This is Jim Coakley. Honestly, 0:28:47.000 --> 0:28:49.160 I'm not even sure it was intentional for him to 0:28:49.200 --> 0:28:52.480 do this. I just think it is a natural byproduct 0:28:52.480 --> 0:28:56.800 of humility and deeper understanding of grace, so that the 0:28:56.840 --> 0:29:04.640 wild thing about a deepening faith is obviously a deepening dependence. 0:29:05.080 --> 0:29:07.280 But you got to ask the question why the dependence 0:29:08.120 --> 0:29:11.240 and the deepening dependence is a byproduct of a deepening 0:29:11.240 --> 0:29:13.760 awareness of what kind of a sinner I really am. 0:29:14.520 --> 0:29:15.720 Isn't that awesome, Ali? 0:29:15.760 --> 0:29:18.239 Yeah. I mean, you think about I have a I 0:29:18.240 --> 0:29:21.560 have this magnifying mirror that I use to to do 0:29:21.600 --> 0:29:25.960 my makeup in the morning, and sometimes like the when 0:29:26.000 --> 0:29:27.960 you can flip it. So there's the one side that's 0:29:27.960 --> 0:29:30.320 just like the regular mirror. But then when you flip 0:29:30.320 --> 0:29:32.880 it and you get closer to it and every everything 0:29:32.880 --> 0:29:36.320 is magnified, it's almost a little intimidating because you're like, whoa, 0:29:36.880 --> 0:29:39.120 that's there and that's there. And it's like. 0:29:39.280 --> 0:29:40.280 What a great. 0:29:40.520 --> 0:29:42.800 What a great analogy. It's like one of those things, 0:29:42.840 --> 0:29:43.760 I mean, in a lot. 0:29:43.800 --> 0:29:45.600 Of a lot of us ladies do, if you if 0:29:45.640 --> 0:29:47.760 you like to put a little, as Carl likes to say, 0:29:47.800 --> 0:29:51.560 paint on the barn, you use a nice magnifying mirror 0:29:51.560 --> 0:29:53.719 and you make sure that it goes on evenly and 0:29:53.720 --> 0:29:56.280 that it's blended super nice in here. Dying. 0:29:56.720 --> 0:29:56.920 Oh. 0:29:58.000 --> 0:30:00.320 No. No, it's in there. This is this is real stuff. 0:30:00.360 --> 0:30:03.360 It's like a it's like the magnifying mirror, like you, 0:30:03.400 --> 0:30:06.719 you you start to see more and it's, it's sometimes 0:30:06.720 --> 0:30:09.760 it's hard, but it's like the closer you get to God, you, 0:30:09.760 --> 0:30:12.400 it's like the magnifying mirror and you see more of 0:30:12.840 --> 0:30:16.160 the ickiness that's there. And, and it causes you to 0:30:16.160 --> 0:30:18.990 be more dependent on God because you know that you 0:30:18.990 --> 0:30:20.310 can't change yourself. 0:30:20.830 --> 0:30:23.190 Yeah, I looked at I used my wife's mirror one 0:30:23.190 --> 0:30:24.790 day and I'm like, wow, I don't need to do 0:30:24.790 --> 0:30:29.070 that again. I mean, good gracious, it looks like Mars. 0:30:29.630 --> 0:30:31.870 It's like, what in the world is going on with 0:30:31.870 --> 0:30:36.110 this lunar surface? But, you know, I'm with but you're. 0:30:36.150 --> 0:30:41.110 But the analogy is perfect, Ali. I mean, the closer 0:30:41.110 --> 0:30:43.510 you get to God, it's like the closer you get 0:30:43.510 --> 0:30:47.910 to the sun, the more impurities. Right? Get revealed. Pretty cool. 0:30:47.910 --> 0:30:48.870 What do you say, young Thunder? 0:30:48.910 --> 0:30:51.709 Well, I love seeing this progression from Paul, because I 0:30:51.710 --> 0:30:54.750 think that a lot of us err, sometimes in the 0:30:54.750 --> 0:30:56.990 way we think about what it means to move closer 0:30:56.990 --> 0:30:59.350 to God. Sometimes we equate moving closer to God with 0:30:59.350 --> 0:31:02.070 doing more spiritual things, and when that's kind of our 0:31:02.070 --> 0:31:04.910 equation to it, the more spiritual things we do and 0:31:04.910 --> 0:31:06.710 the more we measure ourselves based off of that, the 0:31:06.710 --> 0:31:09.390 more prideful we get. We don't get more humble. We 0:31:09.390 --> 0:31:12.550 get more prideful. And so I love seeing this progression 0:31:12.550 --> 0:31:15.710 from Paul saying, hey, the closer he got with Jesus 0:31:15.710 --> 0:31:18.140 and the and the more his relationship with him deepened, 0:31:18.180 --> 0:31:20.820 the more humble he got, the more he realized his 0:31:20.820 --> 0:31:24.380 need for Jesus. And I think that that's a great 0:31:24.420 --> 0:31:27.340 marker that let you know you're on the right path 0:31:27.340 --> 0:31:30.580 to moving closer with Jesus is that you genuinely recognize 0:31:30.620 --> 0:31:32.420 I need him so much. 0:31:32.900 --> 0:31:35.300 I mean, if you take what he says at face value, 0:31:35.340 --> 0:31:38.900 he begins with this progression of, all right, my pedigree 0:31:38.900 --> 0:31:40.860 is I'm a Hebrew of Hebrews, born in the tribe 0:31:40.860 --> 0:31:43.340 of Benjamin. With regard to the the law of God, 0:31:43.340 --> 0:31:46.260 I was faultless. Yeah. But then, you see, is this 0:31:46.260 --> 0:31:49.100 progression every four years he goes from, man, I'm the 0:31:49.100 --> 0:31:52.140 chief of sinners to the apostles, then I'm the chief 0:31:52.140 --> 0:31:56.060 of sinners and saints. Then it's the final one to Timothy. Dude, 0:31:56.060 --> 0:31:58.260 here's the deal. I'm the chief of all sinners. You 0:31:58.260 --> 0:32:02.540 know what spiritual maturity says? I see my sin more 0:32:02.540 --> 0:32:10.180 and more. Whoa, whoa. I see more blemishes. The closer 0:32:10.180 --> 0:32:14.140 I get to Jesus, the stronger I get in get 0:32:14.140 --> 0:32:17.740 in Jesus. The more I see my need for him. 0:32:18.020 --> 0:32:21.140 I mean, how beautiful is that? 0:32:23.020 --> 0:32:27.740 Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it's hard. It's beautiful and it's hard. 0:32:28.180 --> 0:32:32.700 It's hard. But if you can keep looking in that mirror, which, 0:32:32.700 --> 0:32:35.620 by the way, is a great metaphor, because that's exactly 0:32:35.620 --> 0:32:39.580 what we find James using. Don't walk away forgetting what 0:32:39.580 --> 0:32:46.020 you've seen. Mhm. I mean everything changes. It's this is 0:32:46.780 --> 0:32:50.180 one of these hidden gems in the word that the 0:32:50.180 --> 0:32:56.820 decline into humility was the evidence of Paul's spirituality. Man. 0:32:57.700 --> 0:33:00.180 Guys that will carry you today. I know we sometimes 0:33:01.780 --> 0:33:06.300 resist humility because it's like, oh, Carl, for crying out loud, 0:33:06.300 --> 0:33:11.180 I've been beat up enough. No, biblical humility lifts you up. 0:33:11.900 --> 0:33:14.180 First Peter five. Let's go guys.