Latest / Karl and Crew / Saved From Cultural Christianity

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Saved From Cultural Christianity · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
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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
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  S2: tricks 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. But 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.
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  S6: It's Carl and crew on this Freedom Friday. And freedom
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  S6: in Christ is an interesting thing. It's it's not just
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  S6: freedom from all authority, it's actually submission to God's authority.
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  S6: Find this here in Mark chapter eight, verse 34. And
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  S6: calling the crowd to him and his disciples, he said
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  S6: to him, to them, if anyone would come after me,
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  S6: let him deny himself and take up his cross and
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  S6: follow me, for whoever would save his life will lose it.
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  S6: But whoever loses his life for my sake and the
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  S6: gospel's will save it. For what does it profit a
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  S6: man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?
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  S6: It's a great question. For what can a man give
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  S6: in return for his soul? Then he goes on to
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  S6: say this in verse 38, for whoever is ashamed of
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  S6: me and my words in this adulterous and sinful generation
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  S6: of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed
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  S6: when he comes in the glory of His father and
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  S6: with the holy angels? This is a watershed moment. Jesus
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  S6: is speaking here. The watershed moment is, if you look
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  S6: at the metaphor, we got to remember this. This is
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  S6: an important picture here. Take up your cross and follow me.
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  S6: It's not a Jewish metaphor at all. It's a Roman metaphor.
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  S6: And this is what criminals took when they were under
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  S6: the authority of the thumb of the Roman Empire. That's
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  S6: what it's about. And so when Jesus is saying, let
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  S6: him take up his cross and follow me, it means
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  S6: to follow Jesus Christ means that you have come to
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  S6: the point where Christ is your authority. That's all that means.
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  S6: A lot of times we try to read meaning into it,
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  S6: but the meaning is it's just at face value. It's saying, yeah,
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  S6: much like those that have nothing and are under the
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  S6: authority of Roman rule. Those who are really in Christ
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  S6: Jesus have taken up the cross and are following Christ
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  S6: and Him alone. If anyone would come after me, let
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  S6: him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
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  S6: You know, we talk a lot around here about what
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  S6: passages of Scripture highlight what it looks like to be
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  S6: born again. Nothing is more clear than this passage. It's
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  S6: denial of self. It's full surrender to Jesus Christ and
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  S6: following him as your highest authority and Savior. And on
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  S6: this Freedom Friday, we're going to go through several different
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  S6: passages today that illustrate for us over and over again
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  S6: passages that we've not looked at more than Matthew seven,
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  S6: more than Matthew 25, more than first Corinthians 11. We're
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  S6: going to look at passages that raise the stakes of
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  S6: what real discipleship looks like. And why do we talk
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  S6: about discipleship and not Christian guys?
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  S4: You know, I think the word Christian. Well, one, we
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  S4: don't see that that's not the most common term even
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  S4: used in Scripture to describe followers of Jesus. Christian is
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  S4: not the word, it's follower or disciple. But also, I
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  S4: think the way we use it in culture has made
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  S4: the term Christian not clear for people. I think people oh, okay.
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  S4: Does that mean you go to church? Does that mean
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  S4: you are affiliated with a certain political party? Does that
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  S4: there's a lot of different answers that people might give you,
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  S4: but most of them don't have anything to do with
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  S4: the gospel.
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  S6: Yeah, yeah, that's exactly the point. And again, just simply stated,
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  S6: to be a Christian in the first century had a
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  S6: presence of persecution that we can't even imagine. So the
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  S6: threat of losing their head, their life was ever present.
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  S6: So the three times we see it used, if you
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  S6: look at an ESV version, you realize, wow, The cost
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  S6: of discipleship. The cost for calling yourself Christian. Let's just
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  S6: put it at straightforward language here. The cost of calling
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  S6: yourself Christian in the first century Roman world was enormous.
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  S6: The cost of calling yourself Christian in the West is
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  S6: not high. So the question is, is it a convenient word?
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  S6: And the answer is, yeah, absolutely. It can be. But
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  S6: the word disciple or follower use 260 times in the
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  S6: New Testament. What's on your heart, young Thunder?
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  S2: Yeah, I'm just thinking about Jesus's focus, like Ali said,
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  S2: was on discipleship because that's where he changes our life.
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  S2: We can. It's easy to walk around saying, I'm a Christian.
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  S2: I'm a. We have a name for it. It's nominal, Christian,
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  S2: Christian by name only because that is a life that
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  S2: people live. Saying, I'm gonna, I'm gonna live under this group,
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  S2: but I'm not going to live like I'm under this
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  S2: group under Jesus. But Jesus is focused on taking steps
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  S2: with him, having a relationship with him, walking with him,
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  S2: following him. And if he's focused on that, then that
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  S2: means it's really important for us to be as well.
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  S6: So a question on this Freedom Friday, when did you
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  S6: move from Christian in name only to Christ's follower coming
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  S6: under the authority of Christ?
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  S1: It's Carl and Cru on Moody Radio.
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  S6: Simple question on this Freedom Friday, when did you move
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  S6: from Christian in name only to genuine disciple? Follower of
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  S6: Christ comes right out of this text. This is a
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  S6: tough one. This could be one of the most important
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  S6: central passages for helping people break free from a cultural
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  S6: Christianity than any other passage. I mean, you can look
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  S6: at Matthew seven, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord,
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  S6: and they were spiritually active people. You can go to
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  S6: the the bridesmaids out of Matthew 25, that great parable
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  S6: five had their lamps filled with oil, the filling of
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  S6: the Holy Spirit. Five others did not have their lamps
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  S6: filled in. Jesus stark warning is real, man. He's like
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  S6: when the Son of Man comes. Listen, there won't be
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  S6: time to get your lamp filled. It's a sense of
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  S6: urgency to make sure that you're not just Christian in
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  S6: name only. When did you move from Christian in name
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  S6: only to genuine disciple or follower of Christ? Ali, let's
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  S6: go to the phone lines, sister.
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  S4: Let's go to Michael calling in this morning right here
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  S4: in Chicago. Michael, what's your story?
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  S7: Well, this is an amazing topic. I would say in
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  S7: the last decade, God has really started to piece things
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  S7: together for me as it relates to, you know, pouring
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  S7: myself out as a drink offering. Really. I'm here to serve.
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  S7: But what Carl said, um, has really kind of hit
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  S7: home for me is that the cost I pay in
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  S7: America is totally different than the cost that was paid
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  S7: in ancient days or even in right now in other
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  S7: parts of the world. You know, to say that I'm
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  S7: a Christian, you know, and I have yet to be
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  S7: properly tested to that standard of what could happen if
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  S7: I said that I'm a Christian. It's really taken for
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  S7: granted in many parts of where we are now to
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  S7: say that with the freedom and the lack of fear,
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  S7: anxiety about that because no one's you're not challenged on that.
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  S7: So yeah, thank you for putting that on my heart today.
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  S6: Yeah, I appreciate that, bro. Um, this is, this is
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  S6: a good thing to wrestle with and it's good. Michael,
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  S6: thank you for calling in. It's good to be honest
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  S6: with this. That Christian in name in the West is
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  S6: unlike it's not close to the potential cost or real
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  S6: cost that was paid for followers of Jesus Christ. I mean, it's,
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  S6: it's so disparate, so disconnected from first century Christians that
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  S6: it's not even close.
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  S2: Yeah. I mean, I could walk down the street right
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  S2: now and about 90, 95% of the people I see,
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  S2: if I walked up to him and said, hey, did
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  S2: you know I'm a Christian? They would say, that's cool. Yeah,
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  S2: good for you. And then they'd walk away. You know
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  S2: that there are places around the world right now where
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  S2: people cannot walk and say, I'm a Christian at any
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  S2: time to anybody in their community, sometimes even family members,
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  S2: because of how hostile it is towards Christ.
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  S6: Yeah, it's really true. Let's go back to the phone
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  S6: lines here, Dennis in South Florida. What's your story?
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  S8: Hey. Good morning. Thank you so much for everything you
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  S8: all are doing. So appreciate you. Thank you. And the
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  S8: team and the and the boom crew. It's an honor
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  S8: to be part of that. Hey, I'm down in South Florida. Um,
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  S8: you were just expounding on a whole nother topic. So, um,
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  S8: I would say that if people in America are, haven't,
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  S8: haven't chastised you or turned or said something bad about
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  S8: your faith to you or belittled you, or you missed
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  S8: a business contract because of your faith and your faith,
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  S8: your testimony is not loud enough. That's what I would
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  S8: say in America, because I get it all the time. Uh,
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  S8: you know, uh, but but to answer the question, to
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  S8: answer the question, I was 17 out of the house. Uh,
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  S8: rightfully so. Um, because I couldn't, you know, obey the rules, uh,
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  S8: at 20 years old. Uh, I made a profession of
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  S8: faith to the best of my ability when I went
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  S8: to a local Baptist church, because that's what some people
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  S8: I knew did. Walk the aisle. You know, made the decision.
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  S8: Believer's baptism at that time, that was back in 1990.
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  S8: And then I had two older retired men. One was
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  S8: a Vietnam vet. Uh, the other, the other swam the
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  S8: swamps of South Florida. And lei, lei lei telephone poles for, uh,
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  S8: FP and L Power company down there. And they spent
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  S8: four years of their time just as a, as a
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  S8: young 20 something year old, uh, hanging out with me,
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  S8: pouring into me. And that's when I really decided, I
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  S8: decided to become a disciple of Christ. And I just
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  S8: really got convicted by by their time they spent with me.
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  S8: I just got really got interested. Even though they were
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  S8: older than me and everything else, it was really neat.
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  S8: As a young 20 something mid 20s to have men
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  S8: spend time with me and I really got turned on
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  S8: to being a disciple of Christ and trying to implement, implement,
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  S8: following Christ, being a Christ follower in my life, not
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  S8: just not just being baptized. And at the church I
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  S8: was going, it was perfectly fine just to be young
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  S8: 20 year old, make a decision for Christ. You know,
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  S8: you were kind of popular, but but you know, the
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  S8: everyday day to day life skills and following Christ were
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  S8: modeled by two men that gave a rip and gave
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  S8: time to me. Hey, I'm 55 now, and I've buried
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  S8: both of those men. Been at their, been at their
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  S8: celebration services. So this has been going on now for
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  S8: a number of decades. And I'm so grateful for that pattern.
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  S8: That one disciple discipled another. And I was one of
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  S8: the I was one of the others.
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  S6: It's beautiful. Dennis, thank you for calling in today. You know,
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  S6: Dennis brings up a really good point and we've luded
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  S6: to it. I don't know that we've ever put it
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  S6: down like this, but there are every group has a
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  S6: kind of cultural vibe, right?
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  S4: Who's in every group? What do you mean?
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  S6: Like, I don't care if it's Four-h or Boy Scouts
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  S6: or whatever it is. They've all got a cultural vibe,
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  S6: and there can be a hipness for kids that are
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  S6: growing up in the church that you believe in Jesus
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  S6: and you get baptized. In fact, to not there was.
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  S6: If I look back at it, I'm honest, there was
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  S6: a cultural pressure to definitely get baptized in the church
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  S6: that I was raised in a cultural pressure. Sure, no
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  S6: one said that, but it was kind of part and
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  S6: parcel of the whole deal.
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  S4: Within the church.
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  S6: Yeah, this is what you do in this church. It
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  S6: was kind of the given, but the cost of following
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  S6: Jesus was neither. It was not a price that had
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  S6: to be paid in Anchorage, Alaska, at Sand Lake Baptist
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  S6: Church just because it was still pretty hip to be
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  S6: a Christian in the culture. But it was certainly hip
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  S6: to be going through the motions in that church. And
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  S6: so I was baptized, but I was lost and I
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  S6: sang all the songs, but I was lost. And sometimes
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  S6: we just got to break this down really simply. It
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  S6: was it's relatively easy, relatively is the word easy to
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  S6: be Christian in name only and not be a genuine
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  S6: follower of Christ? You might say, why do we hit
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  S6: this so often here? In fact, to be honest, we
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  S6: don't hear that a lot. In fact, ever, ever, we
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  S6: have people going, thank you for hitting this because genuine
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  S6: disciples of Christ know how intoxicating cultural Christianity is.
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  S4: Yeah, I mean, it definitely. And I think I think
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  S4: the culture's changing. I think that this is becoming less
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  S4: and less common with younger generation because more and more
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  S4: people are unchurched altogether. But certainly if you are in
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  S4: your 20s, 30s and up, this is pretty prevalent.
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  S6: Yeah, you're right Ellie. When did you move from Christian
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  S6: in name only? Name only to genuine disciple. Follower of Christ. Uh, Kenda,
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  S6: come on in here from Florida. What do you say?
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  S9: Well, I think the thing that came to my mind.
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  S9: Thank you for taking my call was, um. I was
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  S9: dating unequally yoked people in my 20s and 30s. And
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  S9: just that conviction that I had. And the Lord, just
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  S9: the Holy Spirit, just so gently spoke to me and
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  S9: reminded me of his, his plan and his purpose and
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  S9: his best for my life. And I was very convicted
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  S9: and probably in my early 30s, decided that I was
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  S9: no longer going to even just be alone with a
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  S9: man like in my home. And although I'm still single,
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  S9: I've been able to be abstinent for years now. And, um.
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  S9: I'm waiting for God's best. But just the freedom that
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  S9: that has brought in my walk with Christ and, and
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  S9: how my church family has really like, become so deep.
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  S9: And the intimacy is the most beautiful intimacy you can
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  S9: have as far as like walking with the Lord and,
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  S9: and crying out to him and calling out to him
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  S9: and him being that, um, when I was searching for
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  S9: in other, another way kinda.
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  S6: That's so beautiful. And I'll tell you why. Putting on
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  S6: my pastor hat for you here a second sister, one
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  S6: of the greatest evidences of genuine discipleship of Christ for.
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  S6: And I'm going to say this for single women is
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  S6: that there is a holy unsettledness with just settling for
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  S6: a guy that says, yeah, I'm Christian and there's a
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  S6: commitment to wait in a posture of holiness that says,
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  S6: I'm going to wait for the right guy. I'm going
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  S6: to wait for the man who's genuinely a follower of Christ.
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  S6: Because you know, as you've read the scripture, that that
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  S6: man is the only man. That kind of man is
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  S6: the only man that can love you as Christ loves
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  S6: the church. And kinda here, here, sister. Way to go.
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  S6: Thanks for holding on. When did you move from Christian
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  S6: in name only to genuine disciple. Follower of Christ and
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  S6: Christian in name only. Here. Ali. We gotta be honest.
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  S6: Those people at Christian in name only. They're not born
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  S6: again according to the word correct.
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  S4: And you may have been raised in a church, been
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  S4: in a home that considered a Christian home. I mean,
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  S4: this is a story that we hear over and over
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  S4: again and is reflected in a lot of ways in
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  S4: all of our stories. Raised in a in a Christian
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  S4: home but didn't really know Jesus.
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  S6: Yeah. In different ways. All four of us had this,
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  S6: I mean, and that that's kind of a cautionary tale
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  S6: right there, isn't it? Sure. Got four hosts of a Christian.
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  S6: I'm using air quotes. Really? We should call it Disciples
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  S6: of Christ radio show here. And we all suffered from this.
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  S6: This is why it's our passion, guys. It's why it's
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  S6: our passion.
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  S1: Your shot of hope to get you through the day.
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  S5: You are so, so loved. God does not want you
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  S5: to stay in your past, and I want you to
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  S5: know and believe that today.
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  S1: You're listening to Carl and Crew.
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  S6: Got a question for you on this Freedom Friday. When
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  S6: did you move from Christian in name only to disciple
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  S6: or follower of Jesus Christ comes right out of Mark
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  S6: 834 and calling the crowd to him with his disciples,
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  S6: he said to them, if anyone would come after me,
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  S6: let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me,
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  S6: For whoever would save his life will lose it. And
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  S6: whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
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  S6: And then he goes on to say, what does it
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  S6: profit a person, man or woman, to gain the whole
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  S6: world and forfeit his soul? Now, that's a sobering question,
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  S6: isn't it?
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  S4: Yeah.
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  S6: And what's what's implied there, Ali? What's implied?
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  S4: Well, I mean, you think about a rhetorical question is
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  S4: always a question that's used to make the point. Yeah.
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  S4: And so the there, there. What does it profit a
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  S4: man to gain the world? But lose his soul will
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  S4: mean the answer is built in nothing.
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  S6: Nothing.
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  S4: Nothing.
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  S6: Meaning we can actually go out having an A words
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  S6: coming out of our mouth saying one thing, but a
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  S6: life that if we're honest to God in ourselves, really
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  S6: exhibits something else and be missing the mark? Totally. When
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  S6: did you move from Christian in name only to being
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  S6: a disciple or follower of Christ. Joe, first time caller, Indianapolis.
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  S6: What do you say, Joe?
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  S10: Hey, thanks for taking my call. Appreciate it. Uh, so, uh,
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  S10: I grew up in a Christian home. My dad's actually
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  S10: a pastor, but, uh, it took I and I grew
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  S10: up in Nevada, but it took a ministry group from
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  S10: all places Alabama that came out to Nevada, did a service.
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  S10: And I was 20, 21 years old and I had
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  S10: an encounter with these guys. And I had, I saw
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  S10: something different in their eyes. And, uh, after the service,
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  S10: it bothered me for for months, like I couldn't sleep.
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  S10: Long story short, I packed, I packed up everything and
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  S10: I moved to Alabama for three years. And, uh, I
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  S10: was a part of a discipleship ministry called Master's Commission.
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  S10: And that, uh, laid the foundation for me. I never
• 19:12
  S10: saw Christianity up close. You know, I only saw the
• 19:14
  S10: Sunday service performance type thing, but I got to get
• 19:18
  S10: around some people. We, you know, we, we ate together,
• 19:21
  S10: prayed together, went to the gym together. Just, you know,
• 19:24
  S10: did life together. And, uh, that really changed everything for me.
• 19:29
  S6: Let me ask you, Joe, um, when you were being
• 19:31
  S6: raised in that church, did you go through a lot
• 19:33
  S6: of those Bible memory routines and then baptism and all that?
• 19:37
  S6: Did you go through all that as a kid?
• 19:39
  S10: Yes, I recall I was probably like 7 or 8
• 19:41
  S10: when I got baptized. But, you know, I just, I
• 19:44
  S10: had no, I didn't know Jesus until I was like 21.
• 19:48
  S6: Yeah.
• 19:48
  S10: I that's when I, that's when I was born again,
• 19:50
  S10: I would say.
• 19:51
  S6: Yeah, yeah. Joe and Joe, here's what I need you
• 19:53
  S6: to do. And I want to champion this right now. Joe,
• 19:56
  S6: be a man that is super clear about when you
• 20:00
  S6: were born again, not a date, but at least a
• 20:04
  S6: season because that awareness is going to help others break
• 20:09
  S6: free from this great deception. Because it's real, isn't it, Joe?
• 20:14
  S10: Absolutely.
• 20:14
  S6: Yeah, man. I love you, bro. Thanks for calling in
• 20:18
  S6: this morning. Roger. Let's get you in here. First time caller. Lafayette, Indiana.
• 20:22
  S6: What do you say?
• 20:24
  S11: Good morning, and thanks for taking time. Um, you know,
• 20:28
  S11: when I was 15, I was looking for something all
• 20:31
  S11: my life, and I was, uh. I thought I had
• 20:33
  S11: seen something in someone at that age, and I was
• 20:35
  S11: invited to church camp, uh, just out of the blue. Uh,
• 20:39
  S11: no spiritual relation to anything or anyone except for through
• 20:43
  S11: a friend. When I got to camp on that Wednesday, uh,
• 20:48
  S11: I received Jesus as my Savior. And I wept like
• 20:51
  S11: a baby. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And then Saturday we
• 20:55
  S11: went home from camp. That was my point of salvation.
• 20:59
  S11: That's when I understood. And I was cleansed and washed
• 21:03
  S11: and just felt so good and free. Anger and everything
• 21:07
  S11: like that was gone in the name of Jesus. Yeah,
• 21:10
  S11: but it was later on that year when I learned
• 21:14
  S11: what every believer should go through. And I believe that
• 21:18
  S11: that is surrender. That's when I came to the point
• 21:21
  S11: of the name of Christian, to a disciple, to where
• 21:25
  S11: everything in my life, I surrendered to him. You know,
• 21:29
  S11: at 16, and I learned what it meant to be
• 21:34
  S11: a Christ follower, a disciple, somebody who has been changed.
• 21:39
  S11: And you know that that year when I went back
• 21:42
  S11: to school after that summer camp, people would look at
• 21:45
  S11: me and they would say, you know, there's something different
• 21:49
  S11: about you. And and that point of surrender in every
• 21:54
  S11: believer's life, I believe, is when we choose to really
• 21:57
  S11: lay our will down and follow him.
• 22:00
  S6: Yeah, I love it. Roger. First time caller from Lafayette, Indiana.
• 22:04
  S6: You know, this is intriguing because I want to wrestle
• 22:06
  S6: with something obvious at face value here. You hear a
• 22:10
  S6: couple of different takes on this one. Do I believe
• 22:15
  S6: that there are people that because of lack of good
• 22:18
  S6: information or mentoring, have been genuinely born again, washed clean,
• 22:23
  S6: as Roger just said, by the blood of Jesus and
• 22:26
  S6: yet never understood what it is to be a follower
• 22:28
  S6: of Christ. Yes. But are there a vast, larger number
• 22:35
  S6: of people like myself, like young Thunder? Like who'd we
• 22:39
  S6: just have in here? Goodness sakes, Joe. Um, who were
• 22:43
  S6: raised in by Christian in name only, even baptized. Memorize
• 22:47
  S6: verses doing the whole thing and yet never born again.
• 22:52
  S6: So you have to have enough spiritual integrity to say
• 22:57
  S6: both of those things can be true. But there's one
• 23:00
  S6: thing that we all need to agree on. There must
• 23:04
  S6: come a point in time when we understand the best
• 23:09
  S6: descriptor of someone who is authentically born again, is that
• 23:14
  S6: we are taking up our cross and following Jesus day
• 23:18
  S6: by day, stumbling, bumbling, scraping our knees, hitting our lips.
• 23:24
  S6: Little gasher here and there. Right, Ali?
• 23:26
  S4: Yeah, definitely.
• 23:27
  S6: But that we're following Jesus. This is why parents don't
• 23:31
  S6: settle for your kids having a spiritual event back here
• 23:38
  S6: and not following Jesus here. The most loving thing to
• 23:42
  S6: do is to pray, not to try to find justification
• 23:46
  S6: for your own parenting style, but to find evidence that
• 23:50
  S6: your kid is truly in Christ Jesus. It's a tough one,
• 23:53
  S6: but it's a good one. Now I feel prompted by
• 23:57
  S6: the Holy Spirit. Just pause here for a moment. We're
• 23:59
  S6: going to tackle this one together. Guys. There's someone right
• 24:03
  S6: now driving or walking or listening in some location around
• 24:09
  S6: the world who's listening to this? And the Spirit of
• 24:13
  S6: God is telling you you've been Christian in name only.
• 24:17
  S6: Now let me go back here to this text, because
• 24:19
  S6: in it we find two distinct characteristics of a real
• 24:23
  S6: disciple of Christ. If anyone, Jesus said, would come after me,
• 24:27
  S6: let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
• 24:33
  S6: Denial of self is the result of a recognition that
• 24:38
  S6: I don't have what it takes to save myself. Otherwise,
• 24:42
  S6: why in the world would you follow Jesus? Right, guys?
• 24:44
  S4: Right.
• 24:45
  S6: Why in the world? There's no need to deny yourself.
• 24:49
  S6: If you think in yourself, you've got enough to get
• 24:53
  S6: by in life.
• 24:54
  S2: That's really true.
• 24:56
  S6: If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself,
• 24:58
  S6: take up his cross and follow me. So what does
• 25:01
  S6: that imply? Here's what this implies. This biblical reality. We
• 25:05
  S6: are born with our backs to God, and only when
• 25:09
  S6: God in his grace Convicts us of our sin. So
• 25:14
  S6: we deny ourselves, take up our cross. Turn around and
• 25:19
  S6: follow Jesus. Only then are we born again. So I
• 25:24
  S6: just want to ask you, what does it profit you
• 25:28
  S6: to gain the whole world and lose your soul? What
• 25:31
  S6: does it profit you for you to fly under the
• 25:35
  S6: radar of detection, of whether or not you're born again
• 25:38
  S6: by people in your Christian culture and lose your soul.
• 25:42
  S6: What does it profit you? And the answer is nothing.
• 25:46
  S6: So if today you're willing to admit I'm denying myself
• 25:51
  S6: I'm a sinner, I need a savior. Wow. That's great.
• 25:56
  S6: That's a revelation from God. He loves you that much.
• 26:00
  S6: And today, Karl, I am turning around and I am
• 26:05
  S6: following Jesus. I'm putting everything I have into his hands.
• 26:13
  S6: I'm trusting him. I'm surrendering all that I am. And
• 26:16
  S6: I'm asking you. Are you surrendering all that you are
• 26:22
  S6: to Jesus? And here's the beauty of it. God is
• 26:25
  S6: catching you at a moment this morning when you have
• 26:28
  S6: a moment of sobriety. Shoot, I've been Christian in name only.
• 26:31
  S6: Oh my goodness. I've never acknowledged fully I'm a sinner.
• 26:35
  S6: I need a savior. But today I'm doing that and
• 26:41
  S6: I'm repenting. I'm turning around and I'm following Jesus Christ.
• 26:48
  S6: That's you. Today is your day of salvation. No fanfare,
• 26:53
  S6: no music playing. Today. The Spirit of God is cutting
• 26:57
  S6: through that dark, cold heart. You've been warmed to the
• 27:02
  S6: culture of Christianity, but you've been cold, relatively cold to Christ.
• 27:06
  S6: But today he's turning your life around. And if that's you,
• 27:11
  S6: I want you to text the word new right now.
• 27:14
  S6: We want to help you in your first steps with Jesus.
• 27:16
  S6: Just text the word new to 805 five, five, 78, 98.
• 27:21
  S6: Just one word. New to 800 555 7898.
• 27:27
  S1: Helping you take the next step in your walk with Jesus.
• 27:30
  S6: God longs for.
• 27:32
  S1: Us.
• 27:32
  S6: Today to seek him and ask him to move in
• 27:35
  S6: ways that we never could.
• 27:37
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Cru.
• 27:40
  S6: Ryan Stevenson That's what it's all about. With lifted hands.
• 27:43
  S6: I give you all that I am. It's Carl and
• 27:46
  S6: Cru this morning. Going to go to Cheyenne, our first
• 27:48
  S6: time caller in Murfreesboro. What's your story? Shaina?
• 27:51
  S12: Um, hi. Um. Good morning. Good morning. At the age of.
• 27:54
  S12: At the age of 16, I was baptized. Well, I
• 27:58
  S12: could say I was forced to be baptized because I
• 28:01
  S12: knew then I wasn't ready to be a Christian, but
• 28:05
  S12: my parents made me get baptized anyway, so I did.
• 28:09
  S12: But at the time I tried to be the best
• 28:11
  S12: Christian I can be. Like, I was raised in church,
• 28:14
  S12: so I knew God. But that's. But there's a difference
• 28:17
  S12: to know about God and to know him for yourself.
• 28:20
  S6: Hey man.
• 28:22
  S3: Sister.
• 28:24
  S12: So at the at the age of I can say
• 28:27
  S12: 26 to 28. Okay, I, I just try to live
• 28:31
  S12: the best life I could for God. But I can
• 28:33
  S12: say I was still a sinner. I really wasn't a
• 28:36
  S12: Christian then, but at the age of 26 or 28,
• 28:40
  S12: I was living with my grandmother. And that night my
• 28:42
  S12: chest hurt real bad and I had the biggest fear
• 28:45
  S12: over my life that I have never felt before. I
• 28:48
  S12: went to my grandmother because she raised us and she
• 28:51
  S12: raised us to teach us about God. So I knew
• 28:54
  S12: the difference from right and wrong wrong. And I said, my.
• 28:57
  S12: I told my grandma, I said, grandma, I don't want
• 28:59
  S12: to die. She looked at me. She said, baby, you're
• 29:01
  S12: not going to die. But to be honest, I knew
• 29:04
  S12: if I died, I was going to hell, just to
• 29:07
  S12: be honest. Yeah. So I went in. I went in
• 29:10
  S12: her room and I got on my knees. And every
• 29:12
  S12: time I think about this, it makes me cry. I
• 29:15
  S12: asked God to come into my life and to save me.
• 29:19
  S12: And when I got up from my knees, I knew
• 29:21
  S12: that I was a different person. The things, the things
• 29:24
  S12: that I hated. I loved the things that I loved,
• 29:28
  S12: I hated. And I can say my grandma used to
• 29:30
  S12: say this and I can say this was my testimony.
• 29:33
  S12: I used to live on Broadway, but now I live
• 29:35
  S12: on straight street. So I'm a different person from inside
• 29:39
  S12: and out. And I knew that God came into my
• 29:41
  S12: life because it was a difference in me. I loved
• 29:45
  S12: to read about the word. I love to share the gospel,
• 29:48
  S12: and I can say that I will never, ever, ever
• 29:51
  S12: give my life back to Satan. My life to the
• 29:54
  S12: day I die is for Christ. Because everything that I do,
• 29:57
  S12: I cannot do anything without him.
• 30:00
  S6: Thank you sister. First time caller from Murfreesboro, Tennessee. That's
• 30:04
  S6: the gospel. Wow. And I just want to make sure
• 30:06
  S6: that you get this right now. I need you to
• 30:08
  S6: hear me. There's someone that's listened to Shaina's story. There's
• 30:13
  S6: someone that's listening. What we're saying this morning and what
• 30:16
  S6: Jesus spoke 2000 years ago. He called the crowd to himself,
• 30:20
  S6: and he said, if anyone would come after me, let
• 30:24
  S6: him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.
• 30:29
  S6: Whoever would save his life will lose it. Yeah, that
• 30:32
  S6: life that you've built, you're letting go of it today, friend.
• 30:35
  S6: And whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
• 30:39
  S6: For what does it profit you to gain the whole
• 30:41
  S6: world and lose your soul? You know what the answer
• 30:43
  S6: to that is? Nothing. And for some of you today,
• 30:46
  S6: you've only been Christian in name only. But today is
• 30:50
  S6: a day of salvation. And I just want to be
• 30:54
  S6: straightforward here in terms of this little story that Jesus tells,
• 30:59
  S6: these truths that he gives. To deny yourself means that
• 31:03
  S6: you've come to the end of yourself and you say gladly,
• 31:07
  S6: I'm a sinner. God save me. Thank you for sending
• 31:10
  S6: Jesus to die for my sin. Reject Christian in name only.
• 31:18
  S6: Today is the day to be born again. Changed, new.
• 31:26
  S6: And then he goes on to say. When you follow
• 31:32
  S6: me and take up your cross. Meaning when you turn
• 31:36
  S6: around you have a change of heart, change of direction,
• 31:42
  S6: and you surrender all you are to Jesus and say,
• 31:45
  S6: today I'm following Jesus. I give everything. I'm holding nothing back.
• 31:50
  S6: If that's you, friend, today you are born again. It's
• 31:54
  S6: a cry of the soul that says today Jesus is
• 31:58
  S6: my Savior. Today I turned my life around and over
• 32:01
  S6: to Jesus Christ. There's no other gospel. It's not about
• 32:05
  S6: getting baptized. Baptism comes after you're truly born again. It's
• 32:11
  S6: about you saying I'm no longer Christian in name only.
• 32:15
  S6: Today I'm a follower of Christ. And if that's you,
• 32:20
  S6: just text us the word new right now to (800) 555-7898.
• 32:25
  S6: We're going to help you in your first steps with Jesus. God,
• 32:28
  S6: use stories this morning from listeners like you and God's
• 32:32
  S6: working in you today. And today is a brand new day. Friend.
• 32:35
  S6: I don't care how long you've been in church. Text
• 32:38
  S6: new to (800) 555-7898. And we're going to help you with
• 32:42
  S6: a little link in your first steps of Jesus. And
• 32:45
  S6: we rejoice with you, don't we?
• 32:46
  S4: Absolutely.
• 32:48
  S6: Welcome to the family.
• 32:51
  S1: The gospel changes everything.
• 32:54
  S13: Where else am I going to find peace? Joy. eternal
• 32:57
  S13: life not found in anyone else.
• 33:00
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 33:03
  S6: I'll tell you how much we love you. This is
• 33:05
  S6: your show, and you're proving it today. Asking you a question.
• 33:08
  S6: When did you move from Christian in name only to
• 33:10
  S6: genuine disciple. Follower of Christ? Caroline, we're going to get
• 33:14
  S6: you in here real quick. Sister, what's your story?
• 33:16
  S14: Um, I was a raised in a Christian home, and
• 33:20
  S14: I was one of those good, compliant kids and thought
• 33:23
  S14: I was all good. And during my senior year of
• 33:25
  S14: high school, my family moved me to another state. And
• 33:30
  S14: I went through a very ugly, rebellious time where I
• 33:33
  S14: was sure I was going to punish God for moving me. Um,
• 33:37
  S14: I was still claiming to be a Christian. Um, but
• 33:40
  S14: I definitely wasn't following the Lord. And through that, I
• 33:44
  S14: became overwhelmingly convicted of myself being a sinner before God.
• 33:49
  S14: And I just had this overwhelming conversion because I just
• 33:53
  S14: never saw myself as needing him and I finally needed
• 33:57
  S14: him other than just have him.
• 33:58
  S6: Yeah. Yeah. If you go to Luke 15, Caroline, what
• 34:01
  S6: you were, as all of us are in one or
• 34:04
  S6: both of the wayward sons conditions, one was the victim
• 34:08
  S6: of his passion, the other one was a victim of
• 34:10
  S6: his pride. And you had a little bit of both
• 34:13
  S6: mixed in there, Caroline. But today you're born again. Way
• 34:16
  S6: to go, sister. Uh, Mark, first time caller from Florida.
• 34:20
  S6: What do you say, Mark? Give us your story.
• 34:22
  S15: Yes. Hey, thanks for taking my call. Um, I grew
• 34:25
  S15: up in a Christian home. Um, very legalistic, a lot
• 34:30
  S15: of do's and don'ts. When I went to church and,
• 34:32
  S15: you know, thought I was a Christian my whole life. And, um,
• 34:36
  S15: one of those situations where you kind of know, I'm
• 34:38
  S15: really not that good, you know, within yourself. So it's like,
• 34:43
  S15: I think I'm a Christian, but am I a good
• 34:45
  S15: enough Christian? Yeah. And, um, you know, growing up and
• 34:49
  S15: then having kids in the family and attending a church
• 34:53
  S15: that preached grace. Yes, it was just amazing to realize
• 34:58
  S15: it's not about me. It's about him. He's done it.
• 35:02
  S15: And that changed everything. When you realize it's not me. Yeah,
• 35:08
  S15: it's not how good I am, but it's what he's
• 35:10
  S15: already done for me. Changed my whole life.
• 35:13
  S6: Yeah. Real quick. Mark, is that when you were born again,
• 35:15
  S6: when you were already married and a dad, and that's
• 35:18
  S6: when you were saved?
• 35:20
  S15: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. Let me throw one term at you
• 35:23
  S15: real quick.
• 35:24
  S6: Real quick. We just got a second here.
• 35:26
  S15: When the coin dropped, do you remember the old soda machines?
• 35:29
  S15: When you finally hear it drop things? You know, I
• 35:34
  S15: get it. Yeah. Thank you, thank you. Jesus.
• 35:36
  S6: Yeah. Mark. Beautiful man. First time caller. This is. This
• 35:39
  S6: is why this is so important. I did not know
• 35:43
  S6: how consequential this would be this morning, I didn't. All
• 35:46
  S6: we had was a central passage, but that's all we needed.
• 35:51
  S1: This is Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
• 35:55
  S6: It's really funny. Boom. Crew. I want to tell you something. Someday,
• 35:59
  S6: when we're in the New Jerusalem. I want to tell
• 36:01
  S6: you about this morning on this Freedom Friday, how it
• 36:03
  S6: all got started and kind of what we had in
• 36:06
  S6: our hands and how God worked. It's pretty cool. Had
• 36:09
  S6: a time of prayer here before we went live an
• 36:11
  S6: hour ago. And I'm like, all right, Lord, you know
• 36:15
  S6: what we got here today? We got your word. And
• 36:19
  S6: it's powerful. We don't really need to add to that.
• 36:24
  S6: Just read the word. We've been asking a question this
• 36:27
  S6: morning that I think Satan tries to tell me at times.
• 36:32
  S6: And I really believe this man. You're talking too much
• 36:35
  S6: about that. Hey, you don't need to bring that up.
• 36:38
  S6: You bring that up all the time. Karl. That certainly
• 36:41
  S6: isn't the voice of God.
• 36:43
  S2: No.
• 36:45
  S6: Not not in a four hour show. It's not. But
• 36:50
  S6: we're dealing with this great problem that we have here
• 36:55
  S6: in the West. And so the question we have to
• 36:59
  S6: illustrate it, and boy, has it been illustrated today, Ali,
• 37:02
  S6: is when did you move from Christian? And let me
• 37:05
  S6: change this one word from move to change. When did
• 37:08
  S6: you change from Christian in name only to genuine disciple
• 37:15
  S6: slash follower of Jesus Christ? I want to rehearse some
• 37:19
  S6: ground that we've covered. Word Christian first century meant something,
• 37:24
  S6: didn't it, Ali.
• 37:25
  S4: Yes. I mean, there was a cost attached to it.
• 37:27
  S4: It was certainly not the popular thing to do. So
• 37:32
  S4: the it was much less likely that you would sort
• 37:34
  S4: of be swept up into the movement kind of unintentionally
• 37:38
  S4: or casually.
• 37:39
  S2: It also wasn't a name they gave themselves. They were
• 37:42
  S2: called Christians.
• 37:44
  S6: You know, that's a great observation. They were. It was
• 37:48
  S6: actually a term of derision. They didn't give it to themselves.
• 37:51
  S6: And that. Thank you for that. You reminded me of that.
• 37:54
  S6: So it's used three times. If you look at the
• 37:56
  S6: ESV New American Standard, I think maybe has it's either
• 38:01
  S6: 2 or 4. Uh, but there's three times in the
• 38:04
  S6: English Standard version that it's used in each of those times. Yeah.
• 38:08
  S6: They were labeled by others. They didn't self-declare. They were
• 38:12
  S6: labeled by others as little Christs. Christian. So we've adopted
• 38:17
  S6: that name and we've made it part of a cultural fabric.
• 38:21
  S6: And the question is. Are you a follower of Christ?
• 38:27
  S6: That's what disciple means. And Jesus. There's no clearer place
• 38:33
  S6: in the Scripture than in Mark eight, verse 34. Listen
• 38:36
  S6: to this calling the crowd to him with his disciples,
• 38:40
  S6: he said to them, these are the words of Christ.
• 38:43
  S6: If anyone would come after me. Let him deny himself,
• 38:50
  S6: take up his cross, and follow me, for whoever would
• 38:56
  S6: save his life will lose it. What's that mean? It
• 38:59
  S6: means that the life that you've built for yourself. When
• 39:04
  S6: you're ready to give that up, then and only then
• 39:10
  S6: are you a follower of Jesus. And then Jesus asked
• 39:13
  S6: this question, and I want to ask you this morning,
• 39:16
  S6: for what does it profit a man or a woman
• 39:19
  S6: to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? And,
• 39:22
  S6: you know, gain the whole world? Do you know what
• 39:24
  S6: Jesus would do? And there he was, just casting this
• 39:26
  S6: big bucket vision for what's it profit you to retain
• 39:30
  S6: your reputation as Christian, but really you're lost and on
• 39:34
  S6: a highway to separation eternally. Hell. What? What's a profit? You.
• 39:41
  S6: And if you stop and think about it for a moment,
• 39:43
  S6: it's like, Holy smokes, what a stupid thing to do
• 39:50
  S6: to be so concerned about my image in my church. Okay.
• 39:55
  S6: My image in my church, my image with my family
• 39:59
  S6: that I'm Christian in name only. And yet I've not
• 40:02
  S6: yet denied myself taking up the cross and followed Jesus Christ.
• 40:07
  S6: I we're just being just friends here this morning. We're
• 40:11
  S6: just there's no notice. There's no great music playing in
• 40:15
  S6: the background. Nothing. Carl's not too amped and some days
• 40:19
  S6: I'm amped and it's right on. But today it's a
• 40:22
  S6: little chill. And we're just saying on this Freedom Friday,
• 40:26
  S6: do you really know Jesus? You got up this morning
• 40:30
  S6: and you didn't know the Spirit of God was going
• 40:33
  S6: to invade your soul and convict you of the fact
• 40:35
  S6: that you are Christian in name only. But today Jesus has.
• 40:39
  S6: And it is an awesome thing when the Spirit of
• 40:42
  S6: God says, what does it profit you? For you to
• 40:47
  S6: gain the whole world? And what are the ways that
• 40:50
  S6: gain in the world manifests itself? It is reputation, culture,
• 40:53
  S6: even Christian cultural reputation. But what else?
• 40:56
  S4: Sure, I mean wealth, popularity, achievement. I mean to gain
• 41:01
  S4: the whole world. Do you think if it were possible
• 41:03
  S4: to have every worldly gain available, the best house, the
• 41:07
  S4: best car, the best family, the best.
• 41:10
  S6: Reputation.
• 41:10
  S4: The best reputation, the best job you. If it were
• 41:14
  S4: even possible to gain all of those things and you're
• 41:18
  S4: forfeiting your soul, there's no amount of gain that would
• 41:22
  S4: make it worth it.
• 41:23
  S6: None. And so I'm going to just talk to you
• 41:29
  S6: about a word that has been. It might freak you out, even,
• 41:32
  S6: but I'm going to tell you the truth. Jesus 13
• 41:35
  S6: times warned great men and women just like you. Don't
• 41:40
  S6: go to hell. Now, hell is a Greek word, Gehenna.
• 41:45
  S6: And you know where Gehenna comes from? Valley of Hinnom
• 41:48
  S6: and the Valley of Hinnom was this ugly place so
• 41:52
  S6: close to the city of God. Jerusalem. 300ft, guys, is
• 41:56
  S6: where the valley of Hinnom starts. I've stood there. There's
• 41:59
  S6: a little road between the wall of Jerusalem and Valley
• 42:03
  S6: of Hinnom. There's a little two lane road. That's it. Alley.
• 42:06
  S6: So this little two lane road and what what God
• 42:09
  S6: was saying is you can be so close to the
• 42:12
  S6: city of God and absolutely separated from him for eternity.
• 42:18
  S6: The valley of Hinnom was a place of death. It
• 42:21
  S6: became a garbage dump. It was a place of flames.
• 42:25
  S6: See how the word comes together now? So what does
• 42:29
  S6: it profit you to be so close to the city
• 42:31
  S6: of God, the place of peace, and lose your soul?
• 42:35
  S6: And the answer is Nothing. So you're going to let
• 42:40
  S6: some people who think you're Christian hold hold you back
• 42:42
  S6: from Christ? Are you going to let your ladder leaning
• 42:47
  S6: against the wall of prosperity when really you go to
• 42:50
  S6: church on Sunday? But really, that's where your ladder is leaning.
• 42:53
  S6: You're going to let that keep you from eternity with Jesus. Really?
• 42:58
  S6: Come on friend. God brought you here this morning. I
• 43:02
  S6: just want to give the very clear gospel right from
• 43:04
  S6: Jesus's words. He says this if anyone would come after me,
• 43:09
  S6: here's what you gotta do. Deny himself. What? You know
• 43:13
  S6: what this acknowledges? There is nothing in myself that can
• 43:17
  S6: save myself. I am, I'm sorry. God. And today I confess.
• 43:25
  S6: I'm a sinner. I need a savior. Thank you, Jesus,
• 43:28
  S6: for dying for me. Wow, what a humbling thing. It
• 43:33
  S6: goes on to say, let him deny himself, take up
• 43:35
  S6: his cross and follow me. So I want to ask
• 43:38
  S6: you today, friend, are you willing to admit I'm a
• 43:42
  S6: sinner and today are you repenting, turning around and following Jesus?
• 43:49
  S6: Today you're turning and you know what that means for you.
• 43:54
  S6: It means all that you are, all that you hope
• 43:56
  S6: to be, all the life that you've made for yourself,
• 43:59
  S6: even your reputation, your image. Like Ali just said, all
• 44:02
  S6: these things you're saying that doesn't matter anymore. I'm following Jesus.
• 44:07
  S6: What a beautiful thing. And if that's you today, it's
• 44:11
  S6: a cry of the soul. That's why we don't have
• 44:13
  S6: you repeat a prayer with us. We just have little
• 44:16
  S6: declarative statements of I'm a sinner. I need a Savior.
• 44:21
  S6: His name is Jesus. And today I'm giving all that
• 44:24
  S6: I am to Jesus. And I'm following him for the
• 44:27
  S6: first time in my life. And Carl, I can tell
• 44:31
  S6: you for sure that I don't even care what people
• 44:33
  S6: say because I know what Jesus is saying in my
• 44:36
  S6: heart right now. And if that's you, I want you
• 44:39
  S6: to text the word new and we're going to help
• 44:41
  S6: you because that missing piece in your life has been
• 44:44
  S6: you didn't have a relationship with Jesus. Just text the
• 44:48
  S6: word new. We're going to help you get an auto response.
• 44:51
  S6: It's going to go out to you. Just text the
• 44:53
  S6: word new to 800 555, 78, 98. Just new to
• 45:00
  S6: 800 555 7898. Man, the word of God is powerful,
• 45:07
  S6: isn't it, Ali?
• 45:08
  S4: There's nothing like it.
• 45:09
  S6: Nothing like it. Wow.
• 45:13
  S1: This is Curl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 45:17
  S6: Hadn't planned on this. Didn't know that God was going
• 45:20
  S6: to go here. But already this morning. But what an
• 45:23
  S6: awesome thing to look at this. If anyone, Jesus said
• 45:26
  S6: would come after me, let him deny himself, take up
• 45:30
  S6: his cross and follow me. for whoever would save his
• 45:34
  S6: life will lose it. And whoever loses his life for
• 45:39
  S6: my sake and the gospel's will save it. Wow. That's heavy,
• 45:43
  S6: isn't it? You want. If you want to live, you
• 45:45
  S6: gotta die to yourself.
• 45:48
  S4: It's the upside down kingdom, right?
• 45:50
  S6: It's the upside down kingdom all over again. And then
• 45:53
  S6: it says, for what? Does it profit a man or
• 45:56
  S6: a woman to gain the whole world and forfeit their soul?
• 46:02
  S6: And the answer is not a thing, man. Ali, take
• 46:06
  S6: it away. Who do we have?
• 46:06
  S4: We've got Kerry. First time caller from Mineral City, Ohio. Kerry,
• 46:11
  S4: when did you change from Christian in name only to
• 46:13
  S4: genuine disciple of Jesus Christ?
• 46:17
  S16: Okay. I found Jesus when I was a teenager and Napa.
• 46:22
  S16: I did not become a follower of Jesus Christ until.
• 46:28
  S16: Until I lost my grandson and a very tragic way.
• 46:33
  S16: I ended up having to resuscitate him and that. And
• 46:38
  S16: my grandson passed away. And I was so, so angry
• 46:43
  S16: with God. And I was like, Lord, why did you
• 46:46
  S16: do this to me? You know, why did you put
• 46:48
  S16: me through this? You know, why did you take my
• 46:51
  S16: grandson and that? And I just felt God's presence. He
• 46:56
  S16: literally wrapped his arms around me and he said, Sherry,
• 47:00
  S16: I lost my grandson, too. And that right there, I
• 47:04
  S16: just surrendered and that. And I was like, Lord, you're right.
• 47:08
  S16: You lost your son for me and that. And at
• 47:14
  S16: that moment, I just surrendered and followed him. And through
• 47:19
  S16: the pain and through the grief, Jesus has been there
• 47:24
  S16: for me.
• 47:24
  S6: Yeah. Carrie, thank you for calling in first time caller
• 47:27
  S6: Mineral City. It is very easy to be culturally Christian
• 47:31
  S6: in name only and then hit a. And here's the
• 47:34
  S6: reality I don't think anyone is following Jesus today for
• 47:39
  S6: the first time. And we've had a large number of
• 47:42
  S6: you that are surrendered. Most, I would say 70% of
• 47:47
  S6: you texting new and following Jesus today have never texted
• 47:50
  S6: our program before. Ever. And that means that God providentially
• 47:54
  S6: brought you here. And the Spirit of God is working
• 47:56
  S6: in your heart today. And that's beautiful. But Christian in
• 48:00
  S6: name only is so easy until we hit a point.
• 48:04
  S6: And I'm convinced of this because of Jesus's words. Blessed
• 48:08
  S6: are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom
• 48:09
  S6: of heaven. Poor in spirit means spiritual bankruptcy. And when
• 48:14
  S6: you recognize, man, I'm broke spiritually. I've got nothing. Usually
• 48:19
  S6: through some kind of a crisis or crunch time. That's
• 48:23
  S6: when your heart is most tenderized to the truth of
• 48:27
  S6: God's Word and the good news of Jesus Christ.
• 48:29
  S4: Yeah. Let's go back to the phones. Geneva, thank you
• 48:32
  S4: for holding on. Holding on from Yorkville, Illinois. When did
• 48:35
  S4: that change happen for you? Christian. In name only to
• 48:38
  S4: genuine disciple of Jesus.
• 48:41
  S17: Yay! It was worth the wait. Well. Good morning. I
• 48:43
  S17: just wanted to share. Um, so I got sober from
• 48:47
  S17: alcohol and drugs in 2006, and I was 29 and
• 48:51
  S17: I had been raised with Christ. And I thought that
• 48:55
  S17: I knew him and I would go to him when
• 48:59
  S17: I was in trouble. But my actions, my actions did
• 49:03
  S17: not match, you know, the principles that you know that
• 49:07
  S17: he stands for. And so I came into recovery, a
• 49:11
  S17: 12 step program, and they suggested I seek a higher power.
• 49:14
  S17: And I didn't need to define this higher power as Christ.
• 49:18
  S17: I just opened it all up. And what ended up
• 49:22
  S17: happening was I was reading the Bible one day and
• 49:25
  S17: I realized that it was not me seeking Christ, but
• 49:31
  S17: that Christ had been seeking me.
• 49:34
  S3: Yes.
• 49:35
  S17: And he and he revealed himself, Jesus Christ, the God,
• 49:41
  S17: the one true God, revealed himself to me, and he
• 49:45
  S17: continues to reveal himself to me every single day. And
• 49:49
  S17: all I need is a little bit of willingness and
• 49:52
  S17: anybody can do it. A little bit of willingness. We
• 49:54
  S17: can ask Jesus, who are you? Show me who you are.
• 50:00
  S17: All the different things. And he will come. He will come.
• 50:03
  S17: And every day is such an amazing adventure because I
• 50:08
  S17: think about the verse and I don't know exactly what
• 50:09
  S17: one it is, but the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ
• 50:13
  S17: Jesus my Lord. Yeah. Um, so, you know, it's an
• 50:18
  S17: awesome thing to be sober. And this love affair that
• 50:22
  S17: I have with Christ now is everything. I was looking
• 50:26
  S17: in the alcohol and drugs times a billion, a billion,
• 50:30
  S17: a billion. So thank you for letting me share.
• 50:33
  S6: Now, Geneva. That's awesome. And let me tell you, sister, I,
• 50:36
  S6: I mean, I distinctly remember this, um, I don't even
• 50:40
  S6: think I've said this on the show, but Geneva, I
• 50:42
  S6: was absolutely loaded one night, uh, on a pretty serious
• 50:48
  S6: cocaine binge. And some of you are listening right now going,
• 50:52
  S6: hold it. What's hold on, you haven't listened to this
• 50:54
  S6: show very long and you're like, all the time out. Yeah.
• 50:57
  S6: Before I was called out of Darkness and into the light,
• 51:01
  S6: I had had this deep Christian culture that I was
• 51:04
  S6: raised in. So I knew what it was because I
• 51:07
  S6: heard people all the time talking about crying out to
• 51:09
  S6: God when I'm in trouble, and he meets me there.
• 51:12
  S4: Yeah.
• 51:13
  S6: And I'm on this cocaine runner and I'm not going
• 51:17
  S6: to tell you the incident that went down because it's
• 51:19
  S6: just it's not even okay for on air, but it.
• 51:23
  S6: And it wasn't illegal or anything weird like that. It
• 51:25
  S6: was just dark. And I remember crying out to God going,
• 51:29
  S6: God help me. And I remember the hollowness of. There
• 51:33
  S6: was no one talking back. Why? Because God wanted me
• 51:41
  S6: and he was calling me. And it was about two
• 51:44
  S6: months later after that incident that Jesus said, are you
• 51:47
  S6: done yet? And on that day, God called me out
• 51:50
  S6: of darkness and into the light. What did it take?
• 51:53
  S6: I recognized that Jesus was my Savior of my life. Meaning,
• 51:58
  S6: for the first time ever, I knew that I couldn't
• 52:01
  S6: do it without him. And I repented and I turned
• 52:04
  S6: around and it was hard because. And I remember how
• 52:07
  S6: hard it was saying goodbye to all my old partying buddies.
• 52:11
  S6: And I thought, oh boy, I'm going to miss them
• 52:13
  S6: and this and that. And then I realized something. They
• 52:15
  S6: didn't miss me at all.
• 52:17
  S4: Moved on quickly, huh?
• 52:18
  S6: Yeah, they were moving on quickly. In fact, a couple
• 52:20
  S6: of them were just glad I wasn't turning state's evidence
• 52:23
  S6: and turning them over to the feds for cocaine distribution.
• 52:27
  S6: So they were like, all right, don't call us, man.
• 52:29
  S6: We're good out of here, dude. Wow. But they I
• 52:35
  S6: found a whole new group of friends, people that were
• 52:38
  S6: genuine followers of Jesus. And you're right, Geneva. Jesus calls
• 52:43
  S6: us out of darkness. We don't go find him. And
• 52:47
  S6: someone's hearing his voice today. Ali, I want you to
• 52:50
  S6: give the gospel right now.
• 52:52
  S4: Yeah. You know, when you when we think about that,
• 52:54
  S4: Jesus came to seek and save the lost. And I
• 52:57
  S4: just was reading an article just yesterday that talked about
• 53:01
  S4: how we have to preach the good news. But sometimes
• 53:05
  S4: before we get to the good news, we people have
• 53:07
  S4: to understand the bad news. And and that really hit
• 53:12
  S4: home because sometimes people don't know that they need to
• 53:15
  S4: be saved because they don't realize that they're lost.
• 53:18
  S3: Yes.
• 53:19
  S4: And so it's the if you know today that you
• 53:22
  S4: are lost, you're lost in your sin, you're lost in
• 53:26
  S4: your pursuit of whatever it is you're chasing after to
• 53:29
  S4: try to find that fulfillment.
• 53:31
  S6: Even religion.
• 53:32
  S4: Religion, sometimes it's religion you're doing, going through the motions.
• 53:37
  S4: Jesus came to seek and save the lost. That's you
• 53:41
  S4: and that's me. And today, if you don't know Jesus,
• 53:44
  S4: maybe you've been in church for a lot of years.
• 53:46
  S4: Maybe you could share the gospel right back to me
• 53:49
  S4: because you've heard it that many times, but it's not
• 53:52
  S4: been real to you. You've not surrendered your life to him.
• 53:55
  S4: You've not taken up your cross. You've not denied yourself.
• 53:59
  S4: Today is the day. Don't waste any more time. Don't wait.
• 54:03
  S4: Don't let pride hold you back. Like Carl said, today
• 54:06
  S4: is the day of salvation for you. Yes, you. Who's
• 54:10
  S4: been religious, who was raised in a Christian home today.
• 54:14
  S4: Let today be the day that it's. That it's real.
• 54:18
  S6: And if that's you and what Ali just said, if
• 54:20
  S6: you confess Jesus, you're my savior. Today for the first time.
• 54:24
  S6: And today I'm turning around and I'm following you. And
• 54:27
  S6: I don't even know how I'm going to do it,
• 54:28
  S6: but I'm putting all my chips with you. God, if
• 54:32
  S6: that's you, we're going to help you in your first steps.
• 54:34
  S6: Just text the word new to (800) 555-7898. Just new to
• 54:40
  S6: 800 555 7898. Just that one word. So many surrendering
• 54:47
  S6: to Christ today. But you know what the time is
• 54:49
  S6: right now, friend. It's for you. And you're, you're hearing
• 54:52
  S6: me say that you heard you say this and you're like, God,
• 54:55
  S6: it's me today, isn't it? Today's my day and we're
• 54:59
  S6: going to help you in those first steps. Text one
• 55:01
  S6: word new to 800 555, 7898.
• 55:07
  S1: Celebrating the unstoppable gospel.
• 55:10
  S2: It's not that I've got to fill in these check boxes.
• 55:13
  S2: So he's okay with me, but it's that I get
• 55:15
  S2: to stand close to him so that I can experience
• 55:18
  S2: the life that he has for me.
• 55:19
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Crew.
• 55:22
  S6: Okay. This is one of these mornings that we're going
• 55:24
  S6: to look back at one day and almost laugh some
• 55:27
  S6: some day in the New Jerusalem Boom crew, all of
• 55:30
  S6: you who are born again, it's going to be fun
• 55:32
  S6: to be able to. We're going to have plenty of
• 55:34
  S6: time to just rehearse what's going on in these glorified bodies.
• 55:38
  S6: I we know for certain that we're going to be
• 55:41
  S6: able to rehearse the the wonders of God's grace here
• 55:44
  S6: on earth, and even some of the cool things he did.
• 55:48
  S6: A lot of people texting for the very first time.
• 55:51
  S6: You know, it's fascinating to. I remember the first time
• 55:56
  S6: I ever shared the gospel on air and asked for
• 55:59
  S6: people to surrender to Christ. Super dad, do you remember
• 56:02
  S6: that day who was in studio with me?
• 56:04
  S4: Doctor Erwin.
• 56:05
  S5: Lutzer.
• 56:06
  S6: Doctor, do.
• 56:06
  S5: You remember that morning? Yes.
• 56:08
  S6: And that was an epic day. Since that time, thousands
• 56:12
  S6: upon thousands have surrendered to Christ on air here. And
• 56:17
  S6: it's beautiful because there's something really different about us talking
• 56:21
  S6: to you over the air. Oftentimes, it was a captive audience.
• 56:25
  S6: It's just you alone with the Word of God as
• 56:28
  S6: we read it, and then boom, the Holy Spirit begins
• 56:31
  S6: to move. It's one of the most powerful things about
• 56:34
  S6: radio is this unique medium where it's just you and
• 56:37
  S6: me or Ali and you. Yeah, it's just cool, isn't it?
• 56:41
  S4: It is. And so we don't get to see you.
• 56:44
  S4: But this connection that we get to have is really powerful.
• 56:48
  S6: Yeah. It is. And sometimes, I'll admit, I look here
• 56:51
  S6: at this foam piece in front of me and I'm like, hello,
• 56:55
  S6: to use the super hello.
• 56:57
  S3: Hello?
• 56:58
  S6: Anyone out.
• 56:58
  S3: There? Hello?
• 56:59
  S6: Is anyone there? And then all of a sudden we
• 57:02
  S6: get flooded with texts and resources and stories of life change.
• 57:05
  S6: When did you change from Christian in name only to
• 57:11
  S6: genuine disciple of Christ. Bert, first time caller, Tampa, Florida.
• 57:15
  S6: What's your story, Bert?
• 57:18
  S18: How are we doing today? God bless you.
• 57:20
  S6: Doing great. Bert. What's your story? My man.
• 57:23
  S18: My story is I've, uh, grew up basically in church, Pentecostal. And, um,
• 57:30
  S18: you know, as time wore on, you go through your journeys.
• 57:36
  S18: But there was a time when I finally moved to Florida,
• 57:39
  S18: and I really started trying to find out what my
• 57:43
  S18: relationship with the Lord was. And one time I was
• 57:45
  S18: reading in John 1426, and it impacted me in such
• 57:49
  S18: a great way where the Lord Jesus himself speaking, saying
• 57:53
  S18: where he's going back to the father, and he's going
• 57:55
  S18: to send one who's the comforter, the Holy Spirit, who
• 57:57
  S18: will be the one to teach us and remind us
• 57:59
  S18: of all that the Lord has taught us. And that
• 58:02
  S18: hit me in such a way where it reminded me
• 58:06
  S18: that I need to be reading my Bible. Being led
• 58:10
  S18: by the Holy Spirit, showing me and teaching me the
• 58:13
  S18: truth of God's Word. And who else better to do
• 58:16
  S18: it than God himself? There's no confusion. There is no
• 58:21
  S18: back and forth. It's just being obedient, subservient to the Lord,
• 58:26
  S18: and letting the Holy Spirit lead you, guide you. And
• 58:28
  S18: ever since then, I've been walking. And the great work
• 58:31
  S18: today is surrender. We have to completely surrender to the
• 58:36
  S18: Lord completely not worrying about this physical thing that's only temporary,
• 58:41
  S18: but focusing on the spiritual things of God that's eternal.
• 58:45
  S6: So let me get everything. So let me get this right, Bert.
• 58:49
  S6: So although you were raised in church and went through
• 58:51
  S6: all the rituals and all the stuff and everything, it
• 58:54
  S6: was the text in John 1426, which is all about
• 58:58
  S6: the power of the Holy Spirit, by the way, that
• 59:00
  S6: convicted you of your need for God to lead your life,
• 59:03
  S6: is that when you move from Christian in name only
• 59:06
  S6: to being a disciple of Christ?
• 59:08
  S18: Yes, because I have been a man who's always wanted
• 59:12
  S18: and needed truth in my life. Yeah. And there's nothing
• 59:16
  S18: in this. Everything in this world is nothing but deception
• 59:19
  S18: and lies.
• 59:19
  S6: Boy, you got that right.
• 59:21
  S18: The only thing that is real and true in this
• 59:24
  S18: world is God. And if we walk in spirit and
• 59:27
  S18: in truth, everything is going to be okay. Being led
• 59:30
  S18: by the Holy Spirit, then letting him guide us, not
• 59:33
  S18: worrying about our financial needs, our physical needs. Nothing about
• 59:38
  S18: this world that is temporal, but just focusing on letting
• 59:41
  S18: the Holy Spirit leading us, guiding us daily. Yeah, looking
• 59:45
  S18: and focusing on what he has in store for us
• 59:48
  S18: for his will. And then we're going to live in
• 59:50
  S18: true joy, which is Jesus, others and then yourself.
• 59:54
  S6: Yeah, yeah. You might be listening, Bert, right now. And
• 59:57
  S6: thank you, Bert. Boom, brother. I haven't been booming you
• 59:59
  S6: guys today, so let me put a blanket boom, boom, boom,
• 1:00:03
  S6: triple boom over the whole last hour and a half.
• 1:00:04
  S6: There we go. Got it covered. Uh, call you the
• 1:00:07
  S6: boom crew. Because the stories like Bert and. It never
• 1:00:15
  S6: ceases to amaze me. Every time we give the gospel here,
• 1:00:18
  S6: how many people respond. And I got a lot of
• 1:00:23
  S6: questions for God when I get to heaven. And that
• 1:00:25
  S6: is one of them is going to be. Now, how
• 1:00:27
  S6: did this work? Did you just bring people at certain times?
• 1:00:30
  S6: And I know what he's going to say. Well, not
• 1:00:32
  S6: everybody was broken on the same day, or else I
• 1:00:35
  S6: would have brought them all in. And then you just
• 1:00:36
  S6: go talk about how to grow up in this relationship
• 1:00:39
  S6: with Jesus. But as we sit here from day to day,
• 1:00:42
  S6: week to week, we have to debunk myths. And one
• 1:00:47
  S6: of them is that being Christian in name is somehow
• 1:00:51
  S6: transformative itself. Being raised in a Christian church, even walking
• 1:00:55
  S6: an aisle, getting baptized saves you. And we've had story
• 1:00:58
  S6: after story this morning debunking that myth.
• 1:01:01
  S4: Ali, do we have all morning long.
• 1:01:04
  S6: Yeah. I mean, it doesn't it doesn't end. All right,
• 1:01:07
  S6: young Thunder, I'm going to give you a shot at
• 1:01:09
  S6: this man. Gospel is really clear. Chapter eight verse 34.
• 1:01:14
  S6: Give it to us, my man. Yeah. Let's go.
• 1:01:17
  S2: Absolutely. The gospel is really clear. We cannot find God
• 1:01:24
  S2: on our own. We need Jesus. God sent His son
• 1:01:30
  S2: to live a life we couldn't live, and to die
• 1:01:34
  S2: a death and pay a price that we couldn't pay.
• 1:01:39
  S2: He calls us to believe and have faith in what
• 1:01:42
  S2: he's done for us, and it's our faith that makes
• 1:01:45
  S2: us righteous. And he also calls us to follow him in.
• 1:01:51
  S2: Mark 834 says, then he called the crowd to him
• 1:01:54
  S2: along with his disciples, and said, whoever wants to be
• 1:01:56
  S2: my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross
• 1:01:59
  S2: and follow me. The natural production of faith is surrender.
• 1:02:07
  S2: When we believe in what Jesus has done for us,
• 1:02:11
  S2: our response, our our response that comes from that belief is, God,
• 1:02:17
  S2: I give you everything because I'm incapable of anything. God,
• 1:02:24
  S2: take my life, take my desires and change them, form them.
• 1:02:28
  S2: And God walk with me through this life because I
• 1:02:30
  S2: don't want to just say I believe in you and
• 1:02:34
  S2: then go live how I want to live. I did
• 1:02:38
  S2: that for a long time and it's really unfulfilling. Lord,
• 1:02:44
  S2: I believe in you and I want to follow you
• 1:02:47
  S2: because I want you to change my every fiber of
• 1:02:51
  S2: my being. We put our trust in him, and when
• 1:02:55
  S2: we follow him, we find true salvation, true fulfillment that
• 1:02:59
  S2: God shaped hole can be filled.
• 1:03:01
  S6: So two things come right out of Mark eight. If
• 1:03:04
  S6: anyone would come after me, let him deny himself. It's
• 1:03:07
  S6: saying I no longer live, but Christ who lives in me.
• 1:03:11
  S6: I accept the salvation, the life that was paid on
• 1:03:14
  S6: the cross for my sins. I'm a sinner. I need
• 1:03:17
  S6: a Saviour. Secondly, take up his cross and follow me.
• 1:03:22
  S6: It means saying goodbye to all the image that you have.
• 1:03:26
  S6: And why would I say that? Because Jesus goes on
• 1:03:29
  S6: to say, what does it profit a man to gain
• 1:03:30
  S6: the whole world and lose his soul? You know what's funny?
• 1:03:32
  S6: Some of us, some of us are going to have
• 1:03:35
  S6: to turn our backs on the wealth that we've built,
• 1:03:37
  S6: the reputation that we've built. And sometimes that reputation is
• 1:03:42
  S6: with people that are in the church and we're like,
• 1:03:45
  S6: we can't admit we didn't. Are you kidding me? What
• 1:03:47
  S6: does it profit you to gain and retain your reputation
• 1:03:52
  S6: of being a Christian when you aren't? Right? That's his point,
• 1:03:55
  S6: as I can be. What does it profit you to
• 1:03:59
  S6: retain your reputation of being a Christian when you're not
• 1:04:03
  S6: a Christ follower? Whoa! And the answer is nothing.
• 1:04:07
  S4: Nothing, nothing.
• 1:04:09
  S6: You're going to lose your soul for eternity. So if
• 1:04:13
  S6: today is a day of repentance, today I'm turning around.
• 1:04:16
  S6: Today I recognize my need for a Savior. And there is.
• 1:04:19
  S6: And that is true of you. And there's nothing holding
• 1:04:22
  S6: you back. God is turning your life around today. Just
• 1:04:26
  S6: text the word new and we're going to help you
• 1:04:28
  S6: in your first steps. Just text new to (800) 555-7898. Just
• 1:04:33
  S6: that one word. New to (800) 555-7898. We're going to help
• 1:04:39
  S6: you in these first steps with Jesus. Cool little resource
• 1:04:43
  S6: coming your way. It's got links, how to even look
• 1:04:45
  S6: for a church with people that are on this new
• 1:04:48
  S6: path with you. Yeah, it's just dynamite. And you know what?
• 1:04:52
  S6: God knew you'd be here today. And I know what
• 1:04:55
  S6: you're feeling. Just like when God spoke to me and said,
• 1:04:58
  S6: are you done yet? You feel like, oh my goodness,
• 1:05:00
  S6: I am at the center of the universe. His bull's
• 1:05:04
  S6: eye is on me. Praise God. So when you're ready
• 1:05:09
  S6: to follow Jesus, admitting you're a sinner and repenting and
• 1:05:13
  S6: turning around and surrendering everything to Jesus, just text the
• 1:05:17
  S6: word new to 805 five, five, 78, 98. One word
• 1:05:22
  S6: new to 805, five, five, 78, 98. And we'll help
• 1:05:28
  S6: you in your first steps with Jesus. Let's go back
• 1:05:33
  S6: to the phones. Get Angela here in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. What's
• 1:05:36
  S6: your story? Angela?
• 1:05:38
  S19: Good morning. I was convicted when I was reading the
• 1:05:43
  S19: Sunday school lesson. It was coming up to Easter, and
• 1:05:46
  S19: the lesson was saying the part about Jesus. And they
• 1:05:49
  S19: mocked and they scourged. The Holy Spirit spoke to me
• 1:05:52
  S19: and said, Angie, you've done that. Said, when you live
• 1:05:56
  S19: a life that is not according to God's Word, doing
• 1:05:59
  S19: what you want to do, you are mocking and scourging Jesus.
• 1:06:04
  S19: And that convicted my heart. And I've changed ever since
• 1:06:07
  S19: I was in my young um, I was a young adult.
• 1:06:10
  S19: I'm 60 years old now and by the grace of God,
• 1:06:13
  S19: I'm growing and I'm growing more and more every day.
• 1:06:17
  S19: And I'm always a child. I'll never grow up.
• 1:06:19
  S3: Yeah.
• 1:06:20
  S6: Right on. And that's. Well, Angela, that's exactly what Jesus said.
• 1:06:24
  S6: Unless you become as one of these children, the Greek
• 1:06:26
  S6: word was NetBIOS. It means one without words. You're not
• 1:06:29
  S6: fit for the kingdom of God.
• 1:06:33
  S1: Want to hear that again? Just download the Kernel and
• 1:06:36
  S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
• 1:06:38
  S6: You're just boiling it down. We're just getting very non-dramatic
• 1:06:42
  S6: very straightforward. See, Christian in name only is so prevalent
• 1:06:47
  S6: in the West, but when did you change from Christian
• 1:06:51
  S6: in name only to genuine disciple of Christ.
• 1:06:54
  S4: Let's go to Linda calling in this morning from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Linda,
• 1:06:58
  S4: when did you change from Christian in name only to
• 1:07:00
  S4: genuine disciple of Jesus?
• 1:07:02
  S20: Um, good morning guys. Uh, not too long ago, actually, um,
• 1:07:07
  S20: I moved to Florida from Canada in, um, 2024. And
• 1:07:11
  S20: my whole life, I grew up as a Catholic and
• 1:07:14
  S20: I believed all the things that I was saved because
• 1:07:17
  S20: I went to church, I did good works. Um, I
• 1:07:21
  S20: didn't miss Sunday church. And when I moved to Fort Lauderdale,
• 1:07:25
  S20: I met a man. And I realized the more I
• 1:07:27
  S20: got into the Word of God, I realized I was sinning.
• 1:07:30
  S20: And one day I read a scripture that stood out
• 1:07:32
  S20: to me, uh, about the sin of, um, sex out
• 1:07:35
  S20: of marriage. And Chris Fabry had a guest speaker and
• 1:07:39
  S20: I was listening, I called in, they confirmed it, and, uh,
• 1:07:43
  S20: I called a Christian friend and she advised me to
• 1:07:46
  S20: go to a different type of church. And so I
• 1:07:48
  S20: went to my local. Well, it's not local. It's a
• 1:07:51
  S20: pretty big church here in Fort Lauderdale. Uh, and I
• 1:07:54
  S20: was saved on August 8th, and my relationship with the
• 1:07:58
  S20: Lord has only grown stronger. So I try to tell
• 1:08:01
  S20: my family what you've been told all your life about
• 1:08:05
  S20: having a relationship with Jesus is not true. Going to
• 1:08:09
  S20: church isn't going to save you. And, um, and being
• 1:08:12
  S20: a good person isn't going to save you. And so
• 1:08:15
  S20: I started my own business and it's based on trying
• 1:08:18
  S20: to bring more people closer to Jesus because that's awesome.
• 1:08:22
  S6: Linda, thank you. From Fort Lauderdale. That's tough. And for
• 1:08:27
  S6: some of you, that's tough to hear. But going to
• 1:08:30
  S6: church doesn't save you and being good doesn't save you.
• 1:08:32
  S6: And cultural Christianity doesn't save you. And being Christian in
• 1:08:38
  S6: name only is dangerous. And Jesus said it. Find it
• 1:08:41
  S6: in Mark eight. What does it profit a man or
• 1:08:44
  S6: a woman to gain the whole world and lose your soul?
• 1:08:46
  S6: I'll tell you the one that's been hitting me today. Ali,
• 1:08:49
  S6: is when you have Christian in name only. Sometimes the
• 1:08:53
  S6: cost is admitting to yourself and others. I wasn't a Christian.
• 1:08:58
  S4: Yeah.
• 1:08:59
  S6: That's the cost.
• 1:09:00
  S4: And that can be hard.
• 1:09:04
  S3: Yes.
• 1:09:05
  S4: I can really be hard.
• 1:09:06
  S6: I think that can be bigger. And I want to
• 1:09:09
  S6: be bold for you. With you for a moment here.
• 1:09:11
  S6: I want you to listen to me very closely. In
• 1:09:15
  S6: my young 20s, I was a cocaine crown royal addict.
• 1:09:19
  S6: And I'm going to make a major statement here that
• 1:09:22
  S6: I've never made on radio or preaching in my life.
• 1:09:25
  S6: I think it is more difficult for a person to
• 1:09:30
  S6: admit that they've been a good church attender, trying to
• 1:09:35
  S6: live a good life, being Christian in name only, admitting
• 1:09:40
  S6: that to people around them and surrendering to Christ than
• 1:09:44
  S6: it is for me to leave cocaine and Crown Royal
• 1:09:48
  S6: and come to Jesus. I think it is a greater challenge.
• 1:09:52
  S6: I do you know how I know it. I'm a pastor.
• 1:09:57
  S6: I see it every day of my life. It is.
• 1:10:05
  S6: There's something about the end of yourself. With my years
• 1:10:09
  S6: of coke and carousing that when I crushed at the
• 1:10:15
  S6: crash at the end, it was like no surprise to
• 1:10:18
  S6: anyone else that I needed Jesus, right?
• 1:10:20
  S4: Yeah.
• 1:10:22
  S6: But it's a shocker when you've been going through the
• 1:10:25
  S6: Christian in name only motions, and then you realize by
• 1:10:29
  S6: the power of the Holy Spirit, I've never been born again. Friend,
• 1:10:32
  S6: listen to me. Your Christian activity cannot save you. Your
• 1:10:38
  S6: this this little path that you're on, trying to be
• 1:10:41
  S6: good and do good. and you've got the songs. That
• 1:10:45
  S6: can't save you. And I'm going to tell you. What
• 1:10:47
  S6: can straight ahead.
• 1:10:50
  S1: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
• 1:10:53
  S6: All right. I'm going to do this quickly for you.
• 1:10:55
  S6: And I want you to listen closely. I do believe
• 1:10:58
  S6: one of the greatest demonic strongholds on a person's life
• 1:11:03
  S6: is Christian in name only. And when God reveals that
• 1:11:07
  S6: to you, you're faced with a really tough prospect. AM
• 1:11:10
  S6: I willing to swallow my pride and admit to people
• 1:11:13
  S6: in that Christian culture that I never knew Jesus, that
• 1:11:17
  S6: I was Christian in name only? It can be one
• 1:11:20
  S6: of the greatest challenges that. I got to ask you
• 1:11:23
  S6: one question. What does it profit you to gain the
• 1:11:25
  S6: whole world and lose your soul? The answer to that
• 1:11:27
  S6: is nothing. If you're holding on to your image of
• 1:11:31
  S6: being a Christian while you are not a follower of Christ,
• 1:11:35
  S6: that is deadly. And I'm asking you today to repent
• 1:11:39
  S6: of your sins, to turn around and follow Jesus And today,
• 1:11:42
  S6: for the first time ever to admit I'm a sinner,
• 1:11:45
  S6: I need a Savior. It's that simple. And you know what?
• 1:11:48
  S6: I don't even need to translate that the Holy Spirit's
• 1:11:51
  S6: doing it in your life. But we do want to
• 1:11:52
  S6: help you. And if today you are, for the first
• 1:11:56
  S6: time ever becoming a disciple of Christ, no longer Christian
• 1:12:00
  S6: in name only, we're going to help you right now,
• 1:12:03
  S6: and I want you to act on this.
• 1:12:04
  S4: So if that's you, just text new n e w
• 1:12:07
  S4: to 800 555 7898. Just text that one word new
• 1:12:13
  S4: to 800 555 7898. We're going to send you some
• 1:12:17
  S4: quick follow up materials just to give you some next steps.
• 1:12:20
  S6: Yeah. And welcome to the family. Welcome to the family.
• 1:12:24
  S6: Just the word new to 805 five five, 7898. Today
• 1:12:29
  S6: is your day of salvation. Today you're saying I'm a sinner.
• 1:12:32
  S6: I need a Savior. Today I'm turning everything over to
• 1:12:36
  S6: Jesus Christ and I'm turning my life around. Text us
• 1:12:39
  S6: and we will help you.