Latest / Karl and Crew / Bible and Christian Walk Q&A with Dr. Ronald and Sue Sauer

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Bible and Christian Walk Q&A with Dr. Ronald and Sue Sauer · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond its cast
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  S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide. Overcome
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  S1: what seems impossible and live. As you never imagined. Start
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  S1: your morning with a laugh.
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  S2: Practical from the Bible. Tips and tricks to kill. Not tricks,
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  S2: but tips and tricks.
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  S3: Tips and tricks to kill. Tips and tricks.
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  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
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  S4: All of my attempts to, you know, prop myself up
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  S4: with achievement in good works. Well, God wasn't impressed by that.
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  S4: Even if other people were.
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  S2: The gospel changes everything.
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  S5: Freedom in Christ. Man, it's like that backpack of cement
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  S5: just falling to the ground.
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  S1: Now, from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
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  S1: and crew the whole week.
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  S6: Ask the experts what a week this has been, Ali.
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  S4: It has been an incredible week. I mean, I feel
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  S4: like we've been able to benefit from the godly wisdom
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  S4: of so many different people who have God's gifted in
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  S4: individual areas, and that's been such a blessing.
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  S6: Yeah, it really has been. We've got a really great
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  S6: man of God with us here today with his bride, Sue.
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  S6: He's Doctor Ronald Sauer, and I'm going to bring him
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  S6: in in just a little bit here. But I kind
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  S6: of want to set this up. You know, the Lord
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  S6: hit me with a reminder. I mentioned this a couple
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  S6: of weeks ago. I've got this new Alaskan husky. His
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  S6: name's blaze. He's quite a guy. Love him. Boy, I
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  S6: love this guy. And the story that I shared a
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  S6: couple of weeks ago, um, was about this Rottweiler that
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  S6: tried to bust through. He was body slamming a bay window,
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  S6: trying to get at blaze while we're walking just down
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  S6: a quiet path. And it's it's a powerful metaphor because
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  S6: he got off that leash straight out and instead of
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  S6: running away, he actually looped back around, got in behind
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  S6: my legs and got me between that Rottweiler that's trying
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  S6: to bust through a bay window and himself. No, which
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  S6: was a beautiful picture. But what's really amazing is that
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  S6: that wasn't when that bond with blaze was formed. I
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  S6: want to remind you of when it was formed. So
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  S6: I went and got him in Alaska when he's eight
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  S6: weeks old and he's a precious guy. He could fit
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  S6: in the underneath the seat in front of me. Kind
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  S6: of a thing. Just a little guy. So I'm starting
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  S6: to train him. I'm out of my own bed. I'm
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  S6: down in the basement bed beside a dog kennel. Imagine that. Right.
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  S6: So here I am, hunkered down in a dog kennel, uh,
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  S6: beside my dog. And. And the goal is hear him stirring,
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  S6: and I wake up and get him out and start
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  S6: to train him to pee and poop outside. That's the goal.
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  S6: One morning I woke up to not a sound, but
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  S6: I woke up to a smell.
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  S4: Oh.
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  S6: And it was something else. I didn't have to see
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  S6: it to know what was going on. Pulled back the sheets,
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  S6: got out of bed, walked up to his kennel, looked
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  S6: in the door and I saw it. He had gone
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  S6: all over the place and those little paws had it
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  S6: mashed in.
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  S7: Oh, okay. Okay, okay. Thank you.
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  S6: Hang, hang with me here, guys. It was. It was
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  S6: worse than that because he thought, well, I, I pooped.
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  S6: Might as well pee. And it was a mess. It
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  S6: was a mess. I don't know why I did this,
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  S6: but this is the part of the story that really matters.
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  S6: As I looked at him, even that little guy now
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  S6: just a few months old, hung down his head like
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  S6: I screwed up. Dad. I opened up that kennel door
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  S6: and I don't know what he was expecting some kind
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  S6: of punishment, but I knew that's not what he needed
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  S6: in that moment. And I said, come here, blaze. And
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  S6: I sat cross-legged on the floor. It's going to make
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  S6: me cry just thinking about it, guys. Yeah. I sat
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  S6: cross-legged on the floor and he crawled up into my
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  S6: lap with. Yep, all that stuff all over him. Yep.
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  S6: So I knew I was maybe ruining some pants and
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  S6: a shirt, but it was worth it. And he slowly
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  S6: stepped into my lap and he craned his head and
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  S6: he looked up into my eyes and I said, I
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  S6: love you, buddy. It's okay. We're going to get this
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  S6: worked out. You know, it might be odd. It's very
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  S6: small compared to what Jesus has done for us through
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  S6: the love of God. But that's the love of God,
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  S6: isn't it? We don't need to get cleaned up, do we? Ali?
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  S4: No. And we can't. And we usually make more of
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  S4: a mess trying to clean ourselves up.
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  S6: There's so many of you that I think you underestimate
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  S6: the love of God and the power of God to
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  S6: take you just as you are. Uh, conventional wisdom is
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  S6: I gotta get cleaned up. And those of you that
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  S6: are truly born again, you. You've made a mess a
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  S6: time or two and you're like, oh my goodness, I
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  S6: don't even want to get out of the kennel, let
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  S6: alone crawl up into his lap. And you know what?
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  S6: Jesus says, come on over here. We're still working on you.
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  S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
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  S1: to Carl and crew.
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  S6: So blaze walks out of that little kennel and a
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  S6: few months old, having a mess all over him. He
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  S6: knew that we were trying to get him trained up
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  S6: to pee and poop outside, and he couldn't hold it.
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  S6: So what did he think? He probably thought there was
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  S6: scolding coming his way, and he hung his head in
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  S6: shame and took a couple of steps out of that kennel,
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  S6: and I sat cross-legged. He crawled up into my lap
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  S6: with stuff all over him. And I said, you're a
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  S6: good boy, blaze, I love you. And he looked up
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  S6: at me and his little puppy eyes at three months,
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  S6: couldn't hardly believe it. You love me? You gotta be
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  S6: kidding me, dad. It's a beautiful picture. Ron Sauer with
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  S6: us right now, doctor Ron Sauer. We'll give an ID
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  S6: here in a moment. But, Ron, God's love, man, we
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  S6: we have this notion that we got to clean ourselves
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  S6: up to come to him for salvation and even for sanctification.
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  S6: And the amazing thing of God's love is he says,
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  S6: come to me even though you're a mess. Right, Ron?
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  S8: You're correct about that. I'm thinking about Mark chapter five
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  S8: with that woman with a hemorrhage of blood for 12
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  S8: years was prohibited by the Mosaic law from touching anybody.
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  S8: She was so desperate to be healed, she came up
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  S8: behind Jesus and touched his cloak, saying, if I touch
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  S8: his cloak, I'll be healed. Yeah. She was half right.
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  S8: She was correct in thinking, here's somebody can help me.
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  S8: But her faith was theologically incorrect in thinking she had
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  S8: to touch him. She wasn't supposed to touch him. And
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  S8: when she was touched, Jesus knew that power had gone
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  S8: out from him into her. And he didn't rebuke her.
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  S8: In fact, he called her daughter. Daughter, your faith has
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  S8: healed you. That is, your faith touched, appropriated my power.
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  S8: My power cleansed you. And Jesus showed us that he
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  S8: welcomes ill, sick, sinful people to come to him. In fact,
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  S8: I really appreciate Jesus remark in Matthew 11. Come to me.
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  S6: Yes.
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  S8: And he demonstrates that he is the Lord over our impurity,
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  S8: as sinful as we are, and we are sinful, his grace,
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  S8: his power to forgive are greater.
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  S4: Doctor Ronald Sauer with us this morning. He's a retired
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  S4: professor of Bible and Greek from the Moody Bible Institute,
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  S4: currently an adjunct professor. He's been at Moody for quite
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  S4: some time. He was on with us recently, and so
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  S4: many of you had such great feedback and enjoyed hearing
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  S4: from him. We heard about his podcast, Quiet Time with
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  S4: Doctor Ron Sauer. If you have a question, this can
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  S4: be on a lot of different issues. Maybe it's an
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  S4: assurance of salvation question, maybe it's a question about shame,
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  S4: or you're facing a decision and trying to get some
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  S4: godly discernment. Give us your questions. You can call open
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  S4: phone lines up for you. You can also text 800
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  S4: 555 7898 800 555 7898.
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  S6: Understanding the love of God, Ron, is, um, it's it's
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  S6: more than knowledge. Um, as in, uh, knowledge brokering? There's
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  S6: an experiential ness to it. How do people take hold
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  S6: of that love, Ron.
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  S8: By accepting in faith the declarations of scripture. My favorite
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  S8: verse is first John 410. This is sort of my
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  S8: translation from the Greek. This is the epitome of love.
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  S8: Not that we have loved God, but that He himself
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  S8: loved us and sent His Son Jesus to be the satisfaction,
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  S8: the payment for our sins. Love it.
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  S6: There's a lot of you listening today that you feel like, ah,
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  S6: I've messed up again. The beautiful thing about the love
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  S6: of God is that it leads us into this discipleship
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  S6: relationship with the Savior, that he can square away what
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  S6: seems unsolvable. Right, Ron?
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  S8: That's correct.
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  S6: Explain that for us. How does that process work?
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  S8: I like, uh, Psalm 103. I'm turning to it now. Uh,
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  S8: Psalm 103, which says, and I'm looking for my verse here, uh,
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  S8: Psalm 103 and verse 13, just as a father has
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  S8: compassion on his children, so the Lord has compassion on
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  S8: those who fear him. He himself knows our frame. The
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  S8: Hebrew word frame refers to our bones. That is the hardest,
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  S8: most enduring part of our physical makeup. He is mindful
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  S8: that we are but dust. So God knows that physically
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  S8: we are very weak. Morally. We are even weaker. And
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  S8: what this passage is saying is that God is very
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  S8: aware of our infirmities, our weaknesses, our failures, and that
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  S8: those those mistakes that we make and we all make
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  S8: them do not cause God to be disgusted with us.
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  S8: He never turns his back on us. Washes his hand
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  S8: and walks away. Just the opposite. Our weaknesses bring out
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  S8: God's compassion for us. As a father has compassion on
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  S8: his weak child. Yeah. Our son Joseph. When he was
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  S8: a little boy, he had trouble, uh, overcoming, wetting the
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  S8: bed at night. And I spoke to him a couple
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  S8: of times, and I said, Joseph, your older sister has
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  S8: already conquered this challenge. Your younger brother has conquered it,
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  S8: and you need to conquer it. So I want you
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  S8: to try real hard. And he said, okay, dad, I will.
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  S8: He went three weeks without reading the bed. And then
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  S8: in week four, he woke up in a wet puddle,
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  S8: called his mother, and Sue went in there to change
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  S8: his sheets and pajamas and rinse him off. And I
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  S8: went in there and at first I was very upset
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  S8: with him until I saw his face. He looked so
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  S8: disappointed in himself that touched my heart. And I said, Joseph,
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  S8: that's okay, son, you did so well For three weeks now. Tonight.
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  S8: You messed up. You're. You're making progress. You just keep
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  S8: trying and you're going to come out of this. My
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  S8: point is, when I saw his disappointment in himself, my
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  S8: fatherly heart was touched with compassion. That's God. I was
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  S8: that way because I made in the image of God.
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  S8: And God sees our failures. He knows we're trying. We
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  S8: want to do better in the Christian life, and we
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  S8: will if we just continue to walk with the Lord.
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  S8: The Holy Spirit grows us, matures us. He helps us
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  S8: learn how to overcome sin. Resist it better. But God's
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  S8: heart is full of compassion for us. Our mistakes bring
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  S8: out his compassion for us.
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  S4: We are taking your questions this hour. Our guest, expert
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  S4: Doctor Ron Sauer. And coming up, we're going to introduce
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  S4: you to his bride, who's accompanied him in this morning.
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  S4: Sue Sauer, you're going to hear from both of them
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  S4: coming up. Get your questions in. Then 805, five, five,
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  S4: 7898 (800) 555-7898.
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  S1: Get your info from a source you can trust. It's
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  S1: Ask the Experts week with Carl and crew.
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  S6: Oh, have we got experts in here? Doctor Ron Sauer
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  S6: and his wife Sue are with us this morning. We
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  S6: are opening lines wide open right now. Call in or
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  S6: text your question. 800 555. 78. 98. You might say, well,
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  S6: what are the boundaries around it? Pretty wide open here.
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  S6: 805 five five 7898. I think the best thing when
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  S6: you've got someone like Ron and his wife Sue with us,
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  S6: is that we've got a lot of years of sacred scars,
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  S6: a lot of learning, a lot of bumping, a lot
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  S6: of growing, a lot of learning about God's goodness. I
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  S6: don't know what you're up against today, but get your
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  S6: question in right now. 800 555 7898. You know, Ron,
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  S6: I was struck a number of years ago. Oh, probably
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  S6: 30 now. I heard little Piper ism on John Piper
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  S6: speaking about the will of God. Somebody asked, how in
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  S6: the world do I know the will of God? I
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  S6: think it's first Thessalonians four three. This is the will
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  S6: of God, your sanctification, the context. There is sexual issues
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  S6: that were going on, but it suffices to say that
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  S6: is the will of God, that we would grow up
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  S6: in him. And then we find in Romans 12 two
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  S6: that we can approve of God's will by having our
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  S6: minds renewed. Uh, speak to the sanctification process and the
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  S6: renewal of the mind to discern how we go and
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  S6: how we move in life. Ron.
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  S8: Well, as Romans 12 one and two say, um, do
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  S8: not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by
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  S8: the renewing of your mind. And how is our mind
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  S8: renewed by the by the Holy Spirit through the Word
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  S8: of God? but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Why?
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  S8: Here's the purpose for it, so that you may prove
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  S8: what the will of God is, that which is good
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  S8: and acceptable and perfect complete. So God has. I believe
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  S8: the Scripture teaches that God has a plan, a specific
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  S8: plan and purpose for every Christian. I see in the
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  S8: Bible that God had a plan for Abraham, for Moses, uh,
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  S8: for Paul, for the disciples. And sometimes people say, yes,
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  S8: he did have a specific plan for them, but they
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  S8: were special. I agree they were special. But you and
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  S8: I are just as special on the end of your
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  S8: fingers or prints. Nobody else in the world has. God's
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  S8: going to a lot of trouble to give us fingerprints
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  S8: that are unique just to ourselves. If he does something
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  S8: like that, surely God goes a step further and designs
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  S8: a plan, a purpose, a specific task for us to
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  S8: perform in life. And you remember Jesus said, I have
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  S8: finished the work you gave me to do. Paul said
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  S8: a similar thing. I have finished the course that was
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  S8: laid out before me. And how do we find it?
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  S8: By the Word of God. By being submissive to the
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  S8: Holy Spirit. By seeking God's will. By getting good advice
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  S8: from the godly men and women around us.
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  S4: Doctor Ron Sauer, our guest this morning, taking your questions.
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  S4: If you'd like to get a question, you can call
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  S4: or you can text us (800) 555-7898. (800) 555-7898. Also in studio
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  S4: with us this morning is his bride, Sue Sauer. Now,
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  S4: the cool thing, although she did not work here at
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  S4: Moody for 25 years, she would come here on her
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  S4: day off and she would disciple women here, women students
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  S4: at Moody Bible Institute. So they would do this tag
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  S4: team for many, many years, her background in education and music.
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  S4: She taught a couple of years in the public school system. Carl,
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  S4: they've been married this June. They will celebrate 55.
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  S6: Oh, they got me by 20 years. They're about.
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  S4: So if you are a young woman and you have
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  S4: a question. Uh, doctor, doctor Sauer and his bride, Sue
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  S4: are ready to take your calls. 800 555 7898. I
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  S4: had a question that came in, um, from. Oh, I
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  S4: just lost it. Okay. Someone I would like to ask
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  S4: the doctor, what is the best way to start a
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  S4: 40 day fast?
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  S8: Oh, um, if if that person will allow me, I
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  S8: will defer that to my wife because she's much more
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  S8: skilled and knowledgeable in fasting than I am.
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  S6: That's a good man.
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  S3: Okay, Sue.
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  S4: What do you say to someone who's maybe new to
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  S4: fasting and wants to get a start?
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  S9: Well, a 40 day fast is an extraordinary thing. You
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  S9: need to start out with smaller days of fasting just
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  S9: to see how your body responds. And, um, by the
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  S9: third day you will feel at least I always feel, um,
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  S9: throbbing through the stomach because the blood and everything is
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  S9: looking for food there. And when it doesn't find food
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  S9: after the third day, then it goes to your fat cells,
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  S9: which is great. And you never want to fast without
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  S9: pure water. Um, drinking not too much of it, but
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  S9: a good amount through the day. I serve notice on
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  S9: my body every morning with about three cups of pure water.
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  S9: And then, um, you know, then your body knows it's
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  S9: ready for the day or something. I, I have not
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  S9: been able to fast past ten days, just water fast, and, um, I,
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  S9: I think it's a supernatural thing to do. 40 days.
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  S9: There are partial fasts where you can eat one meal
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  S9: a day and make sure it's the right kind of
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  S9: fuel for your body. You need to know your body
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  S9: whether you you can take oils or not. You know, um, um,
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  S9: some people like me don't have a gallbladder, so you
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  S9: don't have what you need to take care of oils.
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  S9: Or some people have more of an acidic stomach, so
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  S9: they need to, um, add some. Um, uh, let's see.
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  S9: What is it?
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  S4: You know what? You've given us a good start, so
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  S4: no worries. I'm not grabbing that word, but you've given
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  S4: us a great start. Thank you for that question. If
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  S4: you have one for Doctor Sour or for Sue, just
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  S4: give us a text or call (800) 555-7898. (800) 555-7898.
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  S1: You've got questions. They've got answers. It's Ask the Experts
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  S1: week with Carl and crew.
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  S6: What a week. Ask the experts. And we've got Doctor
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  S6: Ron Sauer and his wife Sue with us right now.
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  S6: Phone lines, text lines wide open. 855 five 7898 (800) 555-7898.
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  S6: Wealth of wisdom here with these two. And we're so
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  S6: grateful that you're with us today. Got a question here
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  S6: that oh, boy, does this capture a ton of folks
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  S6: where they are today? My 35 year old son is
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  S6: a believer, comma. Not walking with the Lord as closely
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  S6: as he should. A lot spoken right there, by the way. Um,
• 20:26
  S6: he's upset about some geopolitical things that are going on. Um,
• 20:33
  S6: in this case, Iran. But I want to broaden this out.
• 20:36
  S6: We've got a whole generation that was raised in church.
• 20:40
  S6: They may have never been in Christ. I'm going to
• 20:42
  S6: go to you first, Ron, when we hit these things,
• 20:45
  S6: a lot of parents that are in Christ Jesus don't
• 20:49
  S6: know how to wrestle with them, and they find themselves
• 20:52
  S6: alienating their children. What's your wisdom on this friend?
• 20:56
  S8: I really appreciate what the Lord said in Isaiah one.
• 21:00
  S8: The ox knows its owner and the donkey its manger.
• 21:04
  S8: But my people don't know me. The Holy One of Israel,
• 21:08
  S8: in fact, they despise me. Go back to the Garden
• 21:11
  S8: of Eden. God created a perfect son, gave him a
• 21:13
  S8: perfect wife, put him in a perfect home. And they
• 21:16
  S8: still rebelled against God. Do we blame God for that rebellion? No.
• 21:21
  S8: He's the perfect father. He did everything right. God, when
• 21:25
  S8: a couple does a commendable job raising their child, that's
• 21:29
  S8: no guarantee that that child is going to walk with
• 21:32
  S8: the Lord. It makes it more likely they will. Now
• 21:36
  S8: we sue. And I had our own prodigal. In fact,
• 21:39
  S8: Jeffrey is 42 years old now. He calls himself an
• 21:44
  S8: ex prodigal, and he was raised right. He was raised
• 21:47
  S8: in the church. We took him all over the world
• 21:49
  S8: doing Christian ministry, um, with him. And, um, yet he
• 21:55
  S8: he was influenced by the world and lived and walked
• 21:58
  S8: away from God for some years. For our part, we
• 22:01
  S8: kept loving him, uh, living out the Christian life before him.
• 22:05
  S8: So he saw our sincerity and integrity. And the best
• 22:08
  S8: thing we did for Jeff was pray, pray, pray. God
• 22:11
  S8: heard those prayers. And in the back of a police
• 22:14
  S8: car being arrested, Jeffrey found Christ. Or rather, he puts it,
• 22:19
  S8: Christ found me in the back of a police car.
• 22:21
  S8: So don't give up. God remembers our prayers for our
• 22:25
  S8: prodigals and he responds to them.
• 22:29
  S4: Doctors Ron Sauer and his wife Sue in studio with
• 22:32
  S4: us this morning. And I want to ask you, uh,
• 22:35
  S4: you both spent a lot of time discipling and mentoring
• 22:37
  S4: students here at Moody Bible Institute. Uh, what were some
• 22:41
  S4: of the biggest things that came up consistently in those
• 22:45
  S4: conversations patterns. Obviously, every story is unique, but I'll go
• 22:50
  S4: to you, Sue. What were some of the main buckets
• 22:54
  S4: that the questions that the women would come to you
• 22:57
  S4: fell in?
• 22:58
  S9: Um, I think one of them is how will I
• 23:01
  S9: know when the right man comes? And I always encouraged
• 23:07
  S9: them to to, uh, develop their own list of negotiables
• 23:12
  S9: and non-negotiables. Take a good look at their parents, what
• 23:17
  S9: they want to repeat, what they don't want to repeat.
• 23:20
  S9: Look at, um, couples. Look at. Look at guys. I
• 23:25
  S9: think the, the big problem is that they, they focus
• 23:30
  S9: in on one guy, and they, they think they've got
• 23:33
  S9: to be faithful to him, just like they're married to him,
• 23:35
  S9: but they're not. So this is the only time before
• 23:40
  S9: marriage that you can really look at your brothers. So
• 23:43
  S9: Spend brother time. Find out what they're like. Um, you know,
• 23:48
  S9: don't don't just go surface level, uh, and put all
• 23:52
  S9: your hopes on one guy. Um, you need that experience.
• 23:58
  S9: You need. You need to focus on the Lord.
• 24:02
  S4: What about you, Doctor Ron?
• 24:04
  S8: Well, here are my list of the of the things
• 24:06
  S8: that people brought to me. Number one, how to walk
• 24:09
  S8: with God. How to better live the Christian life. Number two, temptations.
• 24:13
  S8: How to overcome them. How, how to not fall into
• 24:17
  S8: them so often. Number three romance and marriage. Number four,
• 24:20
  S8: the will of God. How can I know God's will
• 24:22
  S8: for my life? Number five what I call quiet times
• 24:25
  S8: in Bible study. Uh sixthly. When dealing with moody students, uh,
• 24:30
  S8: trouble with my parents? Seventhly doubt about the validity of Christianity.
• 24:35
  S8: And then, number eight, assurance of salvation. Those are the
• 24:38
  S8: top topics that students brought to me, Ron.
• 24:41
  S6: Those are right on the top of your head. So
• 24:43
  S6: I want to go with door number two. Let's tackle temptation.
• 24:46
  S6: I think that was number two because we get people
• 24:48
  S6: here constantly feeling like I'm on this sin, shame, repent,
• 24:53
  S6: repeat cycle. And they are frustrated beyond belief with how
• 24:58
  S6: to break that cycle. What do you say, Ron?
• 25:01
  S8: I just appreciate the godly men who wrote Psalm 119. Um,
• 25:06
  S8: he's quite honest now. He has a passion for the Bible.
• 25:09
  S8: He knows the Word of God, and yet he says,
• 25:11
  S8: oh Lord, please don't let me stray from you. He
• 25:15
  S8: had a sinful heart, as we all do, and I
• 25:20
  S8: find temptations very attractive and appealing. And I find myself
• 25:26
  S8: wanting to indulge in those temptations and remember what Jesus said,
• 25:30
  S8: pray that you do not fall into temptation. Now. He
• 25:34
  S8: said that on the day that he was going to
• 25:36
  S8: be arrested, he was telling his disciples, you have a
• 25:39
  S8: test coming, a temptation. You're going to be tempted to
• 25:41
  S8: abandon me now. The way to avoid falling into that
• 25:45
  S8: and abandon me is spend time in prayer. They didn't.
• 25:47
  S8: They spent time sleeping in Gethsemane. So when the test came,
• 25:51
  S8: they folded like a house of cards. Um, and so
• 25:55
  S8: we're going to be tempted now as we grow in
• 25:58
  S8: the Christian life. God sharpens our skills. He increases our moral, uh, power.
• 26:04
  S8: And so we we fall into temptation less and we
• 26:08
  S8: overcome it more.
• 26:09
  S4: Doctor Ron Sauer and Sue Sauer in studio with us
• 26:12
  S4: this morning. Let's go to another one that caught my
• 26:15
  S4: ear assurance of salvation. Uh, you know, for a student
• 26:18
  S4: at Moody Bible Institute to come to you and utter
• 26:22
  S4: those words, I'm not really sure where I'm at with God.
• 26:25
  S4: I don't know if I'm saved. That probably had to
• 26:27
  S4: be maybe kind of a scary conversation to start. What
• 26:31
  S4: did you what did you say to some students who
• 26:34
  S4: I'm sure were genuinely saved but struggling, and then others
• 26:38
  S4: who maybe never really known Christ at all?
• 26:43
  S8: One of the first things I say to them is
• 26:45
  S8: it is normal to doubt our salvation. I suspect most
• 26:51
  S8: Christians at some point wonder whether or not they're saved.
• 26:55
  S8: Our 12 year old son Joseph said when he was
• 26:59
  S8: 12 years old, dad, how can I be sure I'm saved?
• 27:01
  S8: And I said, why are you why are you asking
• 27:04
  S8: that question? And he said, because salvation is so important,
• 27:06
  S8: I can't afford to make a mistake. Now he was
• 27:08
  S8: right at 12 years of age. So in my time,
• 27:12
  S8: 35 years here at Moody, I have seen not a
• 27:14
  S8: few students doubt their salvation. And so they come to
• 27:19
  S8: me and pour out their heart about it. And I'll
• 27:21
  S8: let them know there are. The New Testament has given
• 27:24
  S8: us a number of means by which we can know
• 27:28
  S8: whether or not we're saved. One is the Word of God.
• 27:31
  S8: John 318 he who believes in Christ shall not be condemned.
• 27:38
  S8: Now who's saying that God is? We need to take
• 27:41
  S8: him at His Word. The Holy Spirit will will witness
• 27:45
  S8: with our spirit and assure us that we're safe. Also perseverance.
• 27:50
  S8: Continuing to walk with the Lord. Not even when we backslide,
• 27:54
  S8: we repent and come back to the Lord is a
• 27:57
  S8: sign of salvation. And what I've seen is this, that
• 28:00
  S8: there are there are times when I have seen, uh, students, uh,
• 28:04
  S8: just struggle intensely with it. And at some point God
• 28:09
  S8: steps in and he says enough, and he begins to
• 28:13
  S8: assure them of their salvation and bring them out of
• 28:17
  S8: that doubt.
• 28:18
  S4: Doctor Ron Sauer and Sue Sauer are with us this morning.
• 28:21
  S4: If you have a question that you would like to ask,
• 28:24
  S4: just text us or call us (800) 555-7898. Just text us
• 28:30
  S4: or call us with your question. 805 578 98 (800) 555-7898.
• 28:38
  S1: When you don't know who's better to ask than an expert.
• 28:42
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 28:44
  S6: I've got some great questions coming in here. I want
• 28:46
  S6: to tackle this one first. Doctor Ron Sauer with us
• 28:49
  S6: all week long. Ask the experts. We're going to have
• 28:52
  S6: a link to a podcast here in just a moment.
• 28:54
  S6: That is going to put you into a wealth of wisdom. Uh, Ron,
• 28:59
  S6: let's go to you first. What do you do if
• 29:02
  S6: you want to be discipled, how do you find a
• 29:04
  S6: discipler and how do you find someone to disciple? What
• 29:07
  S6: a good middle ground there on here, Ron.
• 29:09
  S8: Okay, here's what I would say. Uh, it's a healthy
• 29:13
  S8: sign when a person wants to be discipled, we, I
• 29:16
  S8: tell students, do not invent the wheel. It's already been invented.
• 29:20
  S8: Stand on the shoulders of others and learn from them.
• 29:22
  S8: What's taken them decades to find out. And if you
• 29:25
  S8: don't stand on those shoulders, it's going to take you
• 29:27
  S8: 40 years to find out. And as you're learning, you're
• 29:29
  S8: going to make unnecessary mistakes. So how do I find
• 29:32
  S8: somebody to disciple me? Four things. First of all, pray God,
• 29:35
  S8: I need some help. I don't want to invent the wheel.
• 29:39
  S8: Please bring me that older, that older person to disciple me. Secondly,
• 29:43
  S8: look around. Look at the people that you know, uh,
• 29:47
  S8: that you respect who seem to be healthy in their
• 29:50
  S8: Christian life. Number three, if you don't know anybody, go
• 29:53
  S8: ask your pastor. Pastor, I'm a young man. I really
• 29:56
  S8: need the input of an older Christian man in my life.
• 29:59
  S8: Can you suggest, uh, three men in your church that
• 30:03
  S8: you know are mature Christians, have a good Christian life
• 30:07
  S8: that I could go to and ask for help. And
• 30:10
  S8: so when you ask those people, number three, don't take
• 30:12
  S8: no for an answer. Some people, um, they're going to
• 30:15
  S8: be older people who have never done this before and
• 30:18
  S8: they don't know how to go about it. They think,
• 30:20
  S8: and they may feel, you've got me overrated. I'm not
• 30:23
  S8: the great Christian man you think I am. And some
• 30:26
  S8: people are afraid to disciple younger people because if I
• 30:29
  S8: let people get close to me, they're going to see
• 30:31
  S8: my warts and blemishes. Well, they need to see your
• 30:34
  S8: warts and blemishes. They're not perfect. You're not perfect, and
• 30:37
  S8: they never will be perfect either. Um, and I like, um,
• 30:42
  S8: Titus two three. Let the older women teach the younger
• 30:46
  S8: women how to love their husbands, how to love their children. So, um,
• 30:51
  S8: and then how do I find somebody to disciple? First
• 30:54
  S8: of all, uh. Look around. Do you see people, younger Christians,
• 30:58
  S8: less mature Christians, less knowledgeable than you that are struggling?
• 31:02
  S8: Draw near and offer a helping hand. Look for three
• 31:05
  S8: things in a in a potential disciple. He's hungry. He
• 31:10
  S8: wants help. Secondly, he's teachable. And thirdly, he will be
• 31:14
  S8: faithful with what you with what you pour into him.
• 31:17
  S4: Doctor Ron Sauer and Sue Sauer with us this morning
• 31:20
  S4: taking your questions. We had someone call in with this one.
• 31:23
  S4: Can you give me some pointers on how to dive
• 31:25
  S4: into the word more deeply and to take away something?
• 31:29
  S8: Okay. Um, if if you don't know how to swim, uh,
• 31:35
  S8: go to a swimming instructor. If you don't know how
• 31:38
  S8: to study the Bible, ask for help. Maybe begin with
• 31:41
  S8: your pastor. Ask him. Uh, can you give me some
• 31:45
  S8: pointers in Bible study? There are good books that you
• 31:48
  S8: can get that will teach you how to do Bible study. Secondly,
• 31:53
  S8: be faithful to read and study God's Word as best
• 31:57
  S8: you know how right now. Uh, and then be faithful
• 32:01
  S8: in doing so. Uh, the more we play the piano,
• 32:03
  S8: the better we get. The more we shoot basketball, the
• 32:06
  S8: better we get. The more we study the Bible, the
• 32:07
  S8: better we get. But I would suggest if you don't
• 32:11
  S8: know how to study the Bible, there are courses to
• 32:13
  S8: be had. Moody offers courses in Bible study, correspondence courses,
• 32:18
  S8: courses online in Bible study. We have no excuse for
• 32:22
  S8: not knowing how to study the Bible better.
• 32:25
  S4: I want to take this one. Uh, Sue, you might
• 32:28
  S4: be the best one to answer this one. As a
• 32:30
  S4: single mother of teenage children, how can I guard my
• 32:33
  S4: heart but also recognize the true pursuit of a Christian man?
• 32:37
  S4: So this is a single mom wanting to honor God
• 32:39
  S4: as she considers if maybe there's a man for her.
• 32:44
  S9: Well, first of all is to, um, hold this desire
• 32:49
  S9: in an open palm to the Lord. He's God. He
• 32:52
  S9: has the right to bring people into our life. He
• 32:55
  S9: has the right to take him out. Same way with, um.
• 32:59
  S9: She needs to hold her teenagers in an open palm
• 33:02
  S9: to God as well. And, um. Not worry, but to
• 33:07
  S9: trust God and pray into that particular man. All of
• 33:12
  S9: your non-negotiables. Um, ask the Lord to bless that person.
• 33:20
  S9: The Lord knows who that person is. And so if
• 33:25
  S9: you have your faith and your your sight on him,
• 33:28
  S9: on the Lord, he will bring that man. If he
• 33:32
  S9: wants you to have that man and and he will
• 33:35
  S9: give you eyes to recognize who that is. And then
• 33:38
  S9: take your time.
• 33:39
  S8: Let me piggyback on something she said. Parenthood is the
• 33:43
  S8: hardest thing I've ever tried to do in the Christian life.
• 33:45
  S8: Be a good dad. It's unusually challenging. But let's remember,
• 33:50
  S8: we don't do this by ourselves. It's God who formed
• 33:53
  S8: that child of ours in the womb. He is our co-parent.
• 33:57
  S8: He stands beside us and assist us in rearing our children.
• 34:02
  S8: So let's count on him. Depend on him.
• 34:05
  S6: Love it. Doctor Ron and his wife Sue are with
• 34:07
  S6: us right now on Ask the Experts. We're going to
• 34:10
  S6: have a link for a podcast. That is amazing. I
• 34:13
  S6: keep hearing over and over again how impactful this is,
• 34:16
  S6: and we want to get a link to you. Got
• 34:18
  S6: a question here that I asked ten days into my marriage,
• 34:23
  S6: and my wife probably asked it five days in. It's
• 34:27
  S6: a tough question, Ron. They say, what do you do
• 34:31
  S6: if you know you married the wrong person? What do
• 34:34
  S6: you say to that friend?
• 34:36
  S8: Um, Okay. You made a mistake. God is the Lord
• 34:41
  S8: over our mistakes. He's greater than our mistakes. So you
• 34:47
  S8: ask God God's help to do to make the best
• 34:53
  S8: that you can out of that marriage. Now, that's not
• 34:55
  S8: just theory. Uh, I just came back from, uh, spending
• 34:59
  S8: time with one of our graduates in Maryland. He's pastoring
• 35:02
  S8: a church, and, uh, he tells me that he and
• 35:06
  S8: his wife were told by God before they married. Do
• 35:09
  S8: not marry each other. You got the wrong one. But
• 35:11
  S8: they went ahead and did it. And they had struggles
• 35:13
  S8: in marriage. But they God healed their marriage. I was
• 35:18
  S8: in their home, in their church, uh, decades ago. And
• 35:22
  S8: I saw the good marriage. They had, the fruitful ministry
• 35:24
  S8: they had. And so, uh, they made a mistake there.
• 35:28
  S8: They admitted it. They cried out to God for help.
• 35:31
  S8: And God gave them a wonderful marriage of fruitful ministry.
• 35:35
  S8: Two fine sons.
• 35:37
  S4: Ron Sauer and Sue Sauer, with us this morning. And
• 35:40
  S4: just just have about a minute left. Doctor Sauer, you know,
• 35:43
  S4: we're going into share and our listeners have an opportunity
• 35:46
  S4: to jump in and be a part of it. Give
• 35:49
  S4: us your best 30s I know that's tight, but best
• 35:52
  S4: 30s on why is it a good investment to invest
• 35:54
  S4: in Moody Radio?
• 35:56
  S8: Uh, I would begin to answer that question by saying
• 35:59
  S8: it is wise, wise, wise to be generous with the Lord.
• 36:06
  S8: The world wants to hold on to its money to
• 36:08
  S8: ensure they have all their future needs met. That's a
• 36:10
  S8: good way to be needy and without what you need.
• 36:13
  S8: But to to give to the Lord to invest in
• 36:17
  S8: his work is the surest thing that we can do
• 36:20
  S8: that to have all that we need in the future.
• 36:24
  S8: Moody is a wonderful place. It's a unique school. We
• 36:28
  S8: train young people here how to better walk with God,
• 36:31
  S8: how to serve God, and then we send them out
• 36:33
  S8: all over the world to preach the good news about
• 36:36
  S8: Jesus Christ. When you support Moody, you are investing in
• 36:41
  S8: heaven and in the work of heaven, and the Lord
• 36:44
  S8: will wonderfully recompense you for doing so in this life
• 36:48
  S8: and in the next life.
• 36:49
  S6: So grateful for the experts that we've had in this week,
• 36:52
  S6: and we have got a phenomenal link for you guys.
• 36:57
  S6: And this. We're not joking here, young Thunder. You can
• 36:59
  S6: echo that, my man.
• 37:00
  S2: Yeah, I've been listening to this podcast every week and
• 37:03
  S2: it has helped grow me in my faith walk in
• 37:06
  S2: discipleship journey. So much so I'm grateful for it. And
• 37:08
  S2: I want you to listen to it.
• 37:10
  S6: All right, Ali, let's give the details here.
• 37:12
  S4: Yeah, it's the podcast. Moody radio has put it together
• 37:15
  S4: with Doctor Sauer. It's quiet time with Doctor Ron Sauer.
• 37:17
  S4: Just text quiet to 800 555 7898. Text quiet to
• 37:24
  S4: 800 555 7898. As you will see, it is available
• 37:28
  S4: on the podcast platforms, but also YouTube as well. So
• 37:32
  S4: just text quiet to 800 555 7898.