Latest / Karl and Crew / Is God Really Who You Think He Is with Todd Isberner & Stewards of God’s Grace with Dr. John Mabus

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Is God Really Who You Think He Is with Todd Isberner & Stewards of God’s Grace with Dr. John Mabus · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. Its cast
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  S1: and crew come as you are, an experienced guide, overcome
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  S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined delivering
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  S1: the truth daily.
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  S2: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
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  S2: and you're forfeiting your soul, there's no amount of gain
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  S2: that would make it worth it.
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  S3: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
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  S3: the life source, which is God.
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  S4: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
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  S4: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
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  S4: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
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  S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
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  S1: and crew. Winter metaphors to illustrate spiritual gifts. Looks like
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  S1: it's metaphor day all the way around. Jonathan's going to
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  S1: be up and get your stories ready for him. We've
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  S1: had a fun day here, man. Okay, so I use
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  S1: this metaphor early on here. Hour, hour and a half ago,
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  S1: something like that. That in cross-country skiing you've got. So
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  S1: all these skis are cambered or bent, right? So cross-country
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  S1: skis are bent so that when you put your pressure
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  S1: down on one foot, you get traction with that ski.
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  S1: If you have something called kicker, underneath that kicker is
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  S1: a wax and you have different waxes, blue, green, orange,
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  S1: and then you even get into something called klister that
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  S1: looks like you're putting almost like jelly, a really stiff
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  S1: jelly on the bottom of your skis. Isn't that interesting?
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  S2: So is this like, if you are into this sport,
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  S2: is this common like that? This is what you're talking about.
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  S1: Everybody uses it. Everybody uses it. If you're doing classical ski,
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  S1: cross country, ski racing, you have to have both glide wax.
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  S1: That gives you the ability to flow freely down a
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  S1: hill or across the flat and kicker right underneath your foot.
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  S1: So when you put your pressure down to climb a hill,
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  S1: let's say there's traction there. So it's yeah, it's universally
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  S1: known for anyone cross country skiing for sure, which isn't
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  S1: a lot of people listening. But if you are, you're,
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  S1: you're smiling with me because you know what kicker is?
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  S1: That's cool. So something a little more universal from winter is,
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  S1: have you ever been stuck on the side of a road?
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  S1: And the only thing that's going to get you out
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  S1: is a set of chains. Well, that happens a lot.
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  S2: Oh, yeah.
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  S1: And chains are critical, man. You got to have them
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  S1: in some cold regions of the United States and Canada
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  S1: for sure. And now, you know, you got high tech
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  S1: studded tires are still used in some colder regions. And for,
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  S1: for some of you in Florida, you never seen a
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  S1: studded diary in your life, but these are real implements
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  S1: that help us get traction when otherwise we wouldn't have it.
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  S1: The church, by and large, has had about anywhere from
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  S1: 50 to 60% of people that are spinning out. They
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  S1: really love the Lord, but they don't know or even
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  S1: utilize their spiritual gifts. And we are watching God do
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  S1: something amazing this week. Ali.
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  S2: It really it's been really fun. A big part of
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  S2: this week has been this assessment that Drew Dickens worked
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  S2: with AI. To come up with that just very clearly,
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  S2: succinctly allows you to go through a series of questions
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  S2: that help identify what are my primary spiritual gifts. There's
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  S2: about 25 questions in this little assessment, and it has
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  S2: been taken far and wide, thousands of you discovering your
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  S2: spiritual gifts or maybe confirming what you already knew.
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  S1: Yeah. And I mean, two days ago, it was 8000
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  S1: and change. And that was the day that it was released.
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  S1: This is staggering, which is so encouraging because you, the
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  S1: boom crew, you want to know what spiritual gifts were,
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  S1: were I given? What what did God give me and
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  S1: how do I utilize him now? What he did with
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  S1: this is he did something. And Young Thunder, you got
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  S1: a kick out of this part of the tool. He
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  S1: gave some ideation for how in the world you might
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  S1: be able to use this thing in the body of Christ?
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  S3: Yeah. I thought this was really cool. It had it
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  S3: had both uses inside and outside the walls of the church.
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  S3: And so I thought this was really great because yeah,
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  S3: sometimes you, you feel pretty confident in what your gift
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  S3: is and how it might be used. But there are
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  S3: times where, you know, for me, I was surprised about
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  S3: one of the gifts. It told me that I was
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  S3: strong in. I didn't know that one. And it said, hey,
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  S3: here's how you could use this. And that was really
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  S3: exciting to me because I'm learning something new for the
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  S3: first time. It wasn't just, hey, here's this thing, now
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  S3: go out and do something with it. Yeah. It was, hey,
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  S3: here's some things you can do with this.
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  S1: What was that one? Do you mind if I.
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  S3: Yeah. It was exhortation. Um, and I didn't know that
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  S3: that was one of my gifts and, but it made
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  S3: sense to me when I saw it and it said, hey,
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  S3: outside the walls of your church, maybe you can be
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  S3: the person who's texting, encouraging scriptures at the right time
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  S3: to people in your circle. And I was like, oh,
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  S3: that makes a lot of sense. I that sounds like
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  S3: something I would enjoy doing.
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  S1: Yes.
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  S3: And so I, I think that that's a really cool
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  S3: thing that God can work through. And at the end
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  S3: it says, For God's glory and your joy. I love
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  S3: that on the, on the assessment after each gift, it says,
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  S3: For God's glory and your joy, just giving you kind
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  S3: of a little, a little charge, a little encouragement to
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  S3: jump into that gift because it's for God's glory and
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  S3: it's for your joy.
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  S1: Yeah. Just love this guys. I mean, so we've had
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  S1: over ten 000 of you download this and actually use
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  S1: it that that's a bunch more have already downloaded it
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  S1: and not used it. But over 10,000 of you have
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  S1: gone to this tool and used it. It is free.
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  S1: There's no spamming, there's no passcode, there's no give me
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  S1: your email. It's just come and get it. How cool
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  S1: is that, Ali?
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  S2: Just text drew to 805 557898. We're happy to send
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  S2: it to you. Just text drew DREW to 805 557898.
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  S5: It's Carl and crew on Moody radio.
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  S1: So is God really who you think he is now?
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  S1: A lot of us, because of what culture thinks, we
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  S1: forget what God says and why it matters for you.
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  S1: But pinning this down, who is God and does it
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  S1: really matter? Todd is a friend and a guest here
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  S1: with us right now. Todd. This matters, doesn't it?
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  S6: Oh man. Charles, thanks for having me on. Absolutely. It
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  S6: matters because your relationship with God is, uh, is going
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  S6: to determine everything else in life. And so how you
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  S6: view God is going to determine how you relate to
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  S6: God and with God. And so here's, here's been my concern,
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  S6: and I'm sure yours as well as we see this,
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  S6: the growing impact of the culture upon our view of God.
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  S6: The culture has got its own views, and little by
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  S6: little we're absorbing those same views without even knowing it.
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  S6: And it started to scare me when I started hearing
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  S6: about people deconstructing their faith. And I mean, why are
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  S6: they doing that? Well, they're doing that because they don't
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  S6: believe anymore in the God that they were told exists.
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  S6: They wanted instead to make up a version of God
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  S6: that was more comfortable for them. So as I started
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  S6: to look at this, I realized, man, every one of
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  S6: us are are susceptible to this if we're not careful.
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  S1: Yeah. And it's, that's an interesting phenomenon. My take on
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  S1: this one, Todd, is I think you're right. I think
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  S1: that they're deconstructing a God that doesn't exist in Scripture.
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  S1: And therefore, most of these people, quote, deconstructing got the
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  S1: air quotes going. There are really not deconstructing authentic faith.
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  S1: They're deconstructing an impotent God that isn't even a god
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  S1: of the scriptures. What do you think?
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  S6: That's exactly right. And the reason they don't any longer
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  S6: view the God of the scriptures because they don't like
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  S6: that God or that's part of it. The other part
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  S6: of it is they're just life circumstances have dealt them
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  S6: some blows that they don't understand. And they thought God
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  S6: was going to protect them from all of that. Or
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  S6: they have been very devout and performance based in their faith,
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  S6: doing all the right things, thinking this will earn God's approval,
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  S6: and then it doesn't come through for them the way
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  S6: they want or expect it to. And now they begin
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  S6: to question, well, who is this God anyhow? And you
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  S6: see that surface often, uh, people who go through pain
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  S6: and suffering and want some answers, like why, God, why
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  S6: are you allowing this? And if they don't get the
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  S6: kind of answers that satisfy them, they begin to reinterpret God,
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  S6: and that can go in all kinds of different directions.
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  S6: And the culture reinforces that every single day of our lives.
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  S1: Todd, is burner my guest right now. Todd, here's let's
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  S1: get into the deep water here. There is a perception
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  S1: of God that God is loving. He is. He is
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  S1: absolutely loving. But that that love extends to encompass any proclivities, whims, desires,
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  S1: idols that I have, that he's content with those things.
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  S1: And it's manifested in a lot of ways. We've seen
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  S1: a big sexual revolution. Now, it's not about free sex.
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  S1: It is still there, but it's about distorted sexuality, sexual identity, uh,
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  S1: under identity. This is tough because I think we've been
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  S1: so inundated with angry evangelicals in the church. Two things
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  S1: need to happen. Number one, we need to love people,
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  S1: but we can't embrace all of these idols of our day.
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  S1: How do we delineate between those? Because a lot of
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  S1: people want a God that's good with anything they do.
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  S6: MM. Yeah. The all accepting, you know, all approving, non-judgmental. God,
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  S6: that's the God we want him to be. Why? Well,
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  S6: that way it can justify my behavior. I get to
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  S6: be in control of what I believe are good morals
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  S6: for me. And that might be completely different than what
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  S6: you think, Carl, but it doesn't really matter because I
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  S6: get to say in this because after all, God gets me.
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  S6: He understands me. He knows where I'm coming from. Those
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  S6: are the lies that go through our head, meaning God
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  S6: is not going to judge me. God is only going
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  S6: to accept and love me because he promises he's the
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  S6: God who's got this unconditional love. So we really get
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  S6: that mixed up. And again, the culture reinforces that all
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  S6: the time. Like you're not to be judgmental, you're to
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  S6: be all accepting. And that way you get to determine
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  S6: what's best for you. Don't worry about anybody else. Just like,
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  S6: what do I decide is good for me? And the
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  S6: problem is that we've drifted away from who God says
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  S6: he is. He is all loving, but he's also very
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  S6: clear about his purity and his holiness and the requirements
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  S6: on us to live a life of godliness. And when
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  S6: we drift away from that, we're drifting away from the
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  S6: God who really is, rather than the God we want
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  S6: him to be.
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  S1: You know, I've said now for years, every precept, every commandment,
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  S1: every teaching that you find in the scriptures is inextricably
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  S1: linked to greater joy that is found in this world
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  S1: and in God. How do we pitch to people who
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  S1: want to umbrella God over all their. Let's just use
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  S1: the word idols, the idolatry in their life. How do
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  S1: we pitch to them a God who's not narrow, but
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  S1: a God who has commands that are good for us?
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  S6: I think the the clearest, most vivid example of who
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  S6: God is in that regard is to look at Jesus.
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  S6: I mean, let's just read the Gospels and find out
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  S6: who Jesus really is and what he says about that.
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  S6: You know, Jesus talks about hell more than anywhere else
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  S6: in the Bible. Yes. You can't get the average person
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  S6: today to even believe in hell anymore. So that means
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  S6: then I don't believe what Jesus said. Why don't I
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  S6: believe what Jesus said? Well, because maybe I don't really
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  S6: believe the scriptures are real. And that's where the problem
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  S6: comes in. If we want people to really get back
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  S6: to the basics and experience the relationship that God wants
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  S6: with us and for us, we have to go to Jesus.
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  S6: We've got to understand who Jesus is, why he came,
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  S6: what it has to do with me, and how now
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  S6: I'm able to enter into a relationship with God that
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  S6: is far more intimate, far more satisfying, and I can
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  S6: literally feel the embrace of God around me when I
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  S6: walk in the truth of who he is based on
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  S6: who Jesus revealed him to be.
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  S1: Do you believe that the average disciple of Christ. So
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  S1: I'm talking genuinely born again person. Do you believe that
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  S1: their thoughts of God are are too shaped by what
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  S1: culture thinks? And if so, what do we need to
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  S1: do about that?
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  S6: Yeah, absolutely. First and foremost, we need to be honest
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  S6: about it. Stop fooling yourself that somehow culture isn't affecting you.
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  S6: I mean, look at everything else in life. You've accepted
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  S6: cultural standards or rules or behaviors or lifestyles without even knowing.
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  S6: I've got a smartphone sitting in front of me. I
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  S6: didn't have a vote on whether or not I was
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  S6: going to accept the smartphone into my life. Culture said,
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  S6: this is the way it is. So we all have
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  S6: smartphones and it's a cultural adaptation. I oftentimes think if
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  S6: we really are serious about not wanting to get polluted
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  S6: by culture, we're just we're never going to be honest
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  S6: with ourselves. It's like putting a white shirt on, walking
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  S6: into a coal mine and saying, well, I can go
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  S6: through here and come out on the other side without
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  S6: any smudges. Really? No, you're exposed to the cultural influence.
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  S6: You will be smudged by the cultures thinking, so where
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  S6: do we start? We go right back to the scriptures. Yeah.
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  S6: You know, for those who who don't believe the scriptures
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  S6: are the Word of God from God. Well, that's the
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  S6: dividing point. That's where the separation is going to take place.
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  S6: And I'm constantly arguing for the veracity of God's word
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  S6: because people just like, I don't understand it, I don't
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  S6: like it, I don't, I don't want it. Okay, well
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  S6: then how are you going to really, truly know who
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  S6: God is? So, I mean, that's the first and foremost thing.
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  S6: We've got to go back to Scripture, and we've got
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  S6: to ask God for the Holy Spirit. And that only
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  S6: comes after we repent and truly repent and are cleansed
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  S6: by what Jesus did for us on the cross.
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  S1: Amen. Todd is my guest right now. Todd, what are
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  S1: some of the foundational things about what Scripture says God
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  S1: is that we need to be anchored by. Give me
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  S1: a top few that we've got to be anchored right here.
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  S6: Well, again, culture has told us that God is distant.
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  S6: He's impersonal. He's really not involved in our everyday lives. Yes,
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  S6: cosmic force out there. He's the universe. And I can
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  S6: tap in only when I want something. But I don't
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  S6: have a personal relationship. The Bible is the complete opposite,
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  S6: the revelation of who God is. God says he's closer
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  S6: than the air we breathe. You can't read Psalm 139
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  S6: and come away thinking, oh my goodness, Lord God, you
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  S6: are everywhere. I cannot escape his presence. Now you might say, well,
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  S6: I don't feel his presence. Well, oftentimes we don't feel
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  S6: his presence because we have a separation between us and
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  S6: God because of our sin. So it's like God can
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  S6: be it's like me sitting in a room in a
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  S6: waiting room with somebody I've got absolutely nothing in common with.
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  S6: We start a conversation that can go nowhere because we
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  S6: have nothing in common. God is everywhere. But we might
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  S6: not sense his presence because right now we're separated because
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  S6: of our sin. But that doesn't mean he's not there.
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  S6: He's there. And the fact that we want to believe
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  S6: that God is this all accepting, he will just take
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  S6: me as I am. I don't really need to change.
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  S6: That's not what you find in the Bible. You find
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  S6: that God is wanting a transformation within us so that
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  S6: we can experience all that he has for us, that
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  S6: we can be useful and fulfilling our purpose. And you
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  S6: can't do that if you keep believing that. Well, he
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  S6: doesn't really require anything of me. There isn't really anything
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  S6: I really need to change unless I want to change it.
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  S6: How about we go back to God's Word and see
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  S6: what he wants and what he knows is best for us?
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  S6: Because after all, he created us, so he ought to
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  S6: know what's best for us, right? There's one more I
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  S6: got to hit on, because this one hits me all
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  S6: the time that God is this this transactional deal maker.
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  S6: He's kind of like a spiritual vending machine. I put
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  S6: in my tokens of good behavior or lots of faith
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  S6: and prayer. And I expect that God's going to give
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  S6: me what I want. That's not who you find in
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  S6: the Bible. God does not make deals. He is a
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  S6: God of grace. He's a God of restoration. He's a
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  S6: God of unlimited love and purpose for you. But you
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  S6: don't make deals with God. God is God, and we
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  S6: don't go into a transactional relationship. God is interested in
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  S6: a real relationship based on his grace, his mercy, and
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  S6: his love.
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  S1: Many people in our culture today are rejecting God because
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  S1: they would look at the lives of Christians and say,
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  S1: your outcomes or your situations or your calamities are no
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  S1: different than the average guy on the street. Why would
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  S1: your God, who you claim is personal, allow just as
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  S1: many bad things to happen to you as to me?
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  S1: Why would I need to get close to him? If
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  S1: you go through the same stuff I'm trying to avoid.
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  S6: Yeah. There's no escaping trouble in the world. That's just
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  S6: the way it is. It's a it's a sin filled,
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  S6: fallen world where we're all getting hit by the consequences.
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  S6: So I can blame God for that. Uh, if I
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  S6: don't trust God. And that's oftentimes where people end up like,
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  S6: I don't get it. I don't understand it. You're going
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  S6: through the same junk I'm going through. You claim to
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  S6: go to church and know God and read the Bible
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  S6: and all that, but I don't see any difference in that. Well,
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  S6: that's basically because we really think we somehow can figure
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  S6: out all the answers to what are always going to
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  S6: remain mysteries. You're never going to have the solid, clear
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  S6: cut answer that you want for why sin and consequences
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  S6: and suffering take place in your life. But there is
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  S6: an answer to that. And the answer is Jesus Christ.
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  S6: Because if I can get my eyes off of my
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  S6: conditions and onto Jesus Christ, I'm going to see something
• 18:34
  S6: completely different. I'm not going to have to have this
• 18:37
  S6: demand for answers to know exactly why this stuff is happening.
• 18:41
  S6: Years ago, I was in church with my adult daughter
• 18:44
  S6: and she was going through a really miserable time for
• 18:48
  S6: kids as a single mom. And she turned to me
• 18:50
  S6: and said, dad, I just don't get it. I mean,
• 18:53
  S6: I is God punishing me? Have I done something wrong
• 18:56
  S6: that I just, you know, I've lost favor with God.
• 18:59
  S6: We're not going to answer that in a few seconds.
• 19:00
  S6: But you can say God loves you and. Honey, we're
• 19:04
  S6: not going to have all the answers for this, but
• 19:05
  S6: we can pull in from the grace of God, his
• 19:08
  S6: strength to get through it. He's right here with us.
• 19:11
  S6: He'll walk through it with us. We may not have
• 19:13
  S6: an answer as to why all of it is happening,
• 19:15
  S6: but we have to believe that God is trustworthy. He's
• 19:19
  S6: got purpose and plans in all of this that we
• 19:22
  S6: can't see clearly right now. But it will become clear someday.
• 19:25
  S6: And in the meantime, are we willing to trust the
• 19:27
  S6: God who says he loves us?
• 19:29
  S1: Was your daughter able to go down the path to stretch,
• 19:32
  S1: look back and see his hand?
• 19:35
  S6: She did. You know, it took it took some ups
• 19:36
  S6: and downs along the way. But little by little she
• 19:39
  S6: soaked herself in the truth of who God is as
• 19:42
  S6: he revealed himself in His Word. That's what strengthened her
• 19:46
  S6: faith and allowed her to go through it without having
• 19:49
  S6: to have the answers as to why this is happening. Instead,
• 19:52
  S6: she grew to a place of saying, God, you are God,
• 19:55
  S6: and I trust you, and you made me, and I
• 19:57
  S6: know that you'll help me get through this. That's where
• 19:59
  S6: she came to, and I'm so proud of her. She's
• 20:02
  S6: raised some incredible kids, I'll tell you that.
• 20:04
  S1: You know, there's it's an interesting thing because we live
• 20:07
  S1: in a world today that we have our own takes
• 20:11
  S1: on God. I hear this in good Bible preaching churches
• 20:14
  S1: all the time. We have we have hot takes on
• 20:17
  S1: God that are not consistent with Scripture. And it would
• 20:23
  S1: seem to me, Todd, that maybe the best gift we
• 20:27
  S1: can give people is this notion that we can fly
• 20:32
  S1: by the seat of our pants isn't going to cut it,
• 20:34
  S1: but we're going to have to get into the study
• 20:37
  S1: of the character and the qualities of God in order
• 20:41
  S1: to get through those tough things in life. We got
• 20:44
  S1: to get bedrock on that, don't we?
• 20:46
  S6: Yeah. You're so right. You know, A.W. Tozer is one
• 20:49
  S6: of my favorite authors. You've, I'm sure, read his books
• 20:51
  S6: as well. He's got a couple volumes on the attributes
• 20:54
  S6: of God, and I've probably have read them several times.
• 20:57
  S6: And I still sit in absolute awe of how big
• 21:01
  S6: God is. And our problem is that we've, we've tried
• 21:04
  S6: to shrink God into an image that we want him
• 21:06
  S6: to be rather than acknowledge the God that he is.
• 21:09
  S6: He's so much greater, so much bigger, and his attributes
• 21:14
  S6: are so worthy of being studied and looked at and trusted.
• 21:19
  S6: And so again, I say, let's go back to the
• 21:21
  S6: word and take a look at who he says he
• 21:23
  S6: really is. And as we do, our our faith is deepened,
• 21:27
  S6: our trust grows stronger. Uh, our awareness of who he
• 21:31
  S6: really is begins to expand beyond us. And it starts
• 21:34
  S6: to spill over to others. And we don't have to
• 21:36
  S6: have all the answers. We just need to believe God
• 21:40
  S6: is who he says he is. He is the God
• 21:42
  S6: of love. He's the sovereign God in control of everything,
• 21:45
  S6: whether I like it or not, or whether I understand
• 21:47
  S6: it or not.
• 21:48
  S1: Yeah, Todd is my guest. Now I've got something really
• 21:51
  S1: cool for you. Boom. Crew. Todd's brand new book is
• 21:54
  S1: God really Who You think He is? What culture thinks,
• 21:59
  S1: what God says? Why It Matters for You has just released. Now,
• 22:03
  S1: here's what's really cool. When you go to this link
• 22:07
  S1: I'm going to give you. Todd is a gracious man.
• 22:11
  S1: There's some of you that have the means to plop
• 22:13
  S1: down 2030 bucks. Some of you don't have means at all,
• 22:19
  S1: but every one of you can grab a book today. Yep.
• 22:22
  S1: Whatever you can give, Todd is going to send you
• 22:26
  S1: a book. How cool is that? So I just want
• 22:29
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• 22:35
  S1: Todd to 805 557898. And you're going to find a
• 22:40
  S1: link there. And if this is something that you need
• 22:43
  S1: to get your feet on the rock regarding the character
• 22:46
  S1: of God, who he really is, get this resource. Text
• 22:51
  S1: Todd to 805 557898, one word. Todd to 805 557898.
• 23:01
  S5: You're listening to Carl and Crew on Moody Radio.
• 23:05
  S1: Well, if we want to get an overview and fly by,
• 23:07
  S1: we got to get some guns in here for looking
• 23:10
  S1: for St Peter here.
• 23:11
  S2: Ali doctor John Davis is joining us this morning, associate
• 23:14
  S2: professor of applied theology and church ministries here at Moody.
• 23:18
  S2: He served as a Navy chaplain for the past 14 years,
• 23:22
  S2: sharing the gospel and caring for people in the context
• 23:24
  S2: of military life.
• 23:26
  S1: Wow. You got to give us a story about that.
• 23:28
  S1: What's that all about?
• 23:30
  S7: That's a great I love the military. Still in the
• 23:32
  S7: Navy as a reservist serving our our Marines and sailors.
• 23:35
  S7: And actually we're talking about first, Peter, this was the
• 23:38
  S7: last sermon series I did in my last deployment with
• 23:41
  S7: Marines and sailors was on First Peter. We were stuck
• 23:43
  S7: on a ship in the middle of Covid in the
• 23:46
  S7: Red sea, and we thought, well, how do we think
• 23:48
  S7: through faithfully about living for the gospel, even when you're
• 23:51
  S7: stuck in a hard place? And so, wow, we were
• 23:54
  S7: preaching through first Peter, and it was really a wonderful
• 23:56
  S7: thing to see how God used his word during that time.
• 23:59
  S8: Oh, what's the.
• 24:00
  S1: Receptivity of sailors on a ship when they're stuck at sea?
• 24:03
  S7: Well, during that time we couldn't go to port or anything,
• 24:06
  S7: so we, uh, we just.
• 24:08
  S1: Had a captive audience.
• 24:09
  S7: Captive audience. And when many churches were closing, we had
• 24:11
  S7: more chapel services and more folks coming to chapel. So
• 24:13
  S7: it was, it was really a neat, a neat opportunity.
• 24:16
  S2: Wow. What's been the most rewarding thing for you these
• 24:19
  S2: past 14 years in this role?
• 24:21
  S7: Yeah, you know, I, I think simple things like breaking
• 24:25
  S7: God's Word open with individuals and in unique places, whether
• 24:28
  S7: that's on a ship in the middle of Iraq or Afghanistan,
• 24:31
  S7: in a small village with some Marines and sailors, just
• 24:35
  S7: letting them see how God's Word can meet them in
• 24:38
  S7: those really unique and hard places.
• 24:40
  S1: Tell us about Afghanistan. Did you get any word of
• 24:43
  S1: the underground church there? Did you have any hint of
• 24:45
  S1: that at all what God might be doing there? I
• 24:47
  S1: know you were in a totally different context, but anything.
• 24:50
  S7: Right? Yeah. I mean, we we did hear of things
• 24:52
  S7: of how God was moving and, um, you know, that
• 24:55
  S7: gave us for believers that were working even in the military,
• 24:58
  S7: a sense of purpose for why we were there to
• 25:01
  S7: create space for people to be able to be faithful
• 25:04
  S7: to the gospel in their own lives.
• 25:06
  S1: You know, that chokes me up. That's a powerful thing, John.
• 25:09
  S1: That's really powerful. Where did you get your doctorate from?
• 25:12
  S7: Gordon-conwell.
• 25:13
  S1: Oh, man. You got it from the preacher's school. That's right.
• 25:16
  S1: Was had was heading Robinson president there when you were there?
• 25:19
  S7: He was one of my professors when I was a
• 25:22
  S7: MDiv student there. So yeah. Yeah. Loved, loved having him
• 25:26
  S7: teach us how to preach.
• 25:27
  S1: He was a dear friend of mine. Yeah. And what
• 25:29
  S1: a preacher. Okay. All right, let's jump into it, shall we?
• 25:33
  S1: Come on. You're getting in the deep weeds here of
• 25:35
  S1: First Peter four seven through 11. It begins with the
• 25:39
  S1: end of all things is at hand. Ali reads this
• 25:42
  S1: little portion of scripture.
• 25:43
  S2: This is first Peter four seven through 11. It says,
• 25:46
  S2: the end of all things is at hand. Therefore, be
• 25:49
  S2: self-controlled and sober minded for the sake of your prayers.
• 25:53
  S2: Above all, keep loving one another earnestly. Since love covers
• 25:57
  S2: a multitude of sins, show hospitality to one another without grumbling.
• 26:01
  S2: As each has received a gift. Use it to serve
• 26:04
  S2: one another as good stewards of God's varied grace. Whoever
• 26:07
  S2: speaks as one who speaks oracles of God, whoever serves
• 26:11
  S2: as one who serves by the strength that God supplies
• 26:14
  S2: in order that in everything God may be glorified through
• 26:17
  S2: Jesus Christ. To him belong glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
• 26:21
  S1: Oh, what a passage! How rich. Now, doc, here's the deal.
• 26:25
  S1: The dispersed who Peter was writing to could not have
• 26:29
  S1: imagined that 2000 years later, we'd be breaking this down
• 26:33
  S1: here today.
• 26:34
  S7: Absolutely.
• 26:34
  S8: So what was going on?
• 26:36
  S1: Let's be honest, exegetes hear of God's word. What's going
• 26:40
  S1: on in the in Peter's mind and in the listener's mind?
• 26:44
  S7: Yeah. You know, it's a real significant theme throughout this
• 26:47
  S7: whole book. Is this word suffering? You know, Christians who
• 26:50
  S7: are trying to be faithful in their daily lives for
• 26:52
  S7: Jesus when the society around them, even the leaders politically
• 26:57
  S7: around them, may be threatening them physically or verbally imprisoning them, potentially.
• 27:02
  S7: And so how do they look to Jesus as an
• 27:05
  S7: example to navigate that really challenging suffering? How do they
• 27:09
  S7: entrust their lives to a God who can sustain them
• 27:11
  S7: through that?
• 27:12
  S1: You know, it's intriguing. Rome hadn't burned to the ground
• 27:15
  S1: yet when this was written, but it was about to.
• 27:18
  S1: And Nero would take that, I believe, as an opportunity.
• 27:21
  S1: He didn't even suspect the Christians burned Rome to the ground.
• 27:25
  S1: But he took that as an opportunity to take persecution
• 27:28
  S1: from one level to the next, and it became horrific.
• 27:31
  S1: This was a amazing letter then written considering the timeliness
• 27:35
  S1: of all those events.
• 27:36
  S7: Yeah, absolutely. It's when they're questioning what's next and who
• 27:40
  S7: do they trust when all of these threats are around them,
• 27:43
  S7: this letter meets them right in the midst of that.
• 27:45
  S2: The idea that self-control and sober mindedness for the sake
• 27:50
  S2: of your prayers, what's the link between the two? Like
• 27:54
  S2: how how are our prayers affected by our self-control?
• 27:58
  S7: Yeah, I love these. You know, when he says the
• 28:00
  S7: end of all things is near at hand, it's like
• 28:03
  S7: things are serious. We need to be ready. And when
• 28:06
  S7: you are ready for things, especially as you prepare yourself
• 28:09
  S7: for Jesus's return, where are your thoughts during those times?
• 28:13
  S7: And these two words are really powerful. Self-Controlled and sober minded.
• 28:17
  S7: They both have an idea of our thoughts. Sometimes we
• 28:21
  S7: have to think about are our thoughts in safe and
• 28:23
  S7: sound places? That's that first word self-controlled. So am I
• 28:27
  S7: thinking about what I'm letting shape my thoughts? And then
• 28:31
  S7: the next word, they're sober minded, is really more like
• 28:34
  S7: this idea of being free from outside distractions. And so
• 28:38
  S7: my prayers in hard times are shaped a lot of
• 28:43
  S7: by what I'm thinking about and what I'm not allowing
• 28:45
  S7: to shape my thoughts. And so Peter says, for the
• 28:49
  S7: sake of your prayers, keep your minds free from distractions
• 28:52
  S7: and deceptions that could draw you away from the Lord.
• 28:55
  S7: And keep your minds on things that are are of
• 28:58
  S7: saving worth, that are safe and sound. The actual word
• 29:00
  S7: there is as a way of translating that word.
• 29:03
  S1: Do you think the persecuted church had a challenge with hospitality?
• 29:07
  S1: Because he goes on, you know what I'm saying? You
• 29:10
  S1: would you would think it would kind of be an
• 29:12
  S1: open door policy. But he goes on to talk about,
• 29:14
  S1: you know, be loving one another and be sure to
• 29:16
  S1: be hospitable. And I guess hospitality doesn't come naturally in
• 29:21
  S1: any environment, right?
• 29:23
  S7: You know, when you are feel like you're under threat. Well,
• 29:25
  S7: this is probably true for us in any area of life.
• 29:26
  S7: But when we're under threat, we feel vulnerable. We often
• 29:30
  S7: hunker down versus open up. And so when Peter says
• 29:33
  S7: something like this beautiful word for hospitality, like family love
• 29:37
  S7: towards outsiders. That's kind of what that word really means.
• 29:40
  S7: And it's this idea of being willing to open up
• 29:42
  S7: as God has opened up to us, even when we
• 29:44
  S7: may feel threatened, when we feel exposed and vulnerable. And
• 29:49
  S7: so Peter says, if you're going to be ready for
• 29:51
  S7: the time is at hand, open up your lives with
• 29:53
  S7: the gospel and even towards those who are outsiders and
• 29:56
  S7: different than you.
• 29:57
  S2: And then it touches on the gifts. These would be
• 30:00
  S2: the spiritual gifts that each believer would have received and
• 30:04
  S2: how to use them. Speak to that.
• 30:06
  S7: Yeah, I love this. It comes right at it's interesting.
• 30:09
  S7: It comes right after that little phrase about hospitality. Do
• 30:11
  S7: this hospitality without grumbling. And then he says, as each
• 30:15
  S7: has received a gift. Really, as each of you has
• 30:17
  S7: received God's grace to you. And this gift of grace
• 30:21
  S7: has a purpose and it has a stewardship. I love
• 30:24
  S7: that word he says. You are called to be stewards
• 30:27
  S7: of God's gracious gift to you and some really particular ways,
• 30:32
  S7: ways in which we speak to one another out of
• 30:34
  S7: God's Word. Ways that we serve each other, even in
• 30:39
  S7: ways that we don't feel like we've got the strength
• 30:41
  S7: or competency to do it. We serve one another. As
• 30:44
  S7: with I love that phrase by the strength that God supplies.
• 30:47
  S1: You know, it's interesting. This is almost it sounds very Pauline.
• 30:51
  S1: It sounds, doesn't it? How are we going to get
• 30:53
  S1: this challenge fixed? I estimate I'm a pastor of two
• 30:59
  S1: campuses here in Chicagoland, and I would estimate we're doing
• 31:04
  S1: better than most, which is a very dangerous phrase. Better
• 31:07
  S1: than most can be really dangerous. I would say we've
• 31:11
  S1: got probably 40% of our people have identified spiritual gifts,
• 31:17
  S1: but the majority I don't know that have could say
• 31:21
  S1: if I walked up to him. What spiritual gift has
• 31:23
  S1: God given you? Was that way more common? I mean,
• 31:27
  S1: there's an assumption here by Peter that they almost know
• 31:29
  S1: the gift, right? Mhm.
• 31:31
  S7: Yeah. I mean, there's it seems to be that the
• 31:33
  S7: way he talks about it is that there's some of
• 31:35
  S7: you that are going to speak, and then some of
• 31:38
  S7: you are going to serve. But the word he gives
• 31:40
  S7: before that is you're going to you're all going to serve.
• 31:42
  S7: So it's like, you know, you serve the body of
• 31:45
  S7: Christ in these particular ways that God's gifted you. But,
• 31:48
  S7: you know, I think one of the things that sometimes
• 31:50
  S7: we may struggle with is this question of why. Why
• 31:53
  S7: do people why do we talk to them about spiritual gifts?
• 31:55
  S7: What's the point? And I love in this passage, it
• 31:58
  S7: does sound like something Paul would say, but he says,
• 32:01
  S7: in order that in everything God may be glorified through
• 32:04
  S7: Jesus Christ. The purpose of our spiritual gifts is not
• 32:08
  S7: just so we feel a sense of personal fulfillment, but
• 32:11
  S7: it actually is because as as Peter says throughout this letter,
• 32:15
  S7: so that people would see your acts and glorify the father.
• 32:18
  S7: So this big question of why? Why do we talk
• 32:21
  S7: about spiritual gifts? Because it's something about our lives or
• 32:23
  S7: about us, something bigger than just our own story. They're
• 32:25
  S7: about God's big story.
• 32:28
  S1: You know, Ali, how rich is this time right now?
• 32:31
  S2: This is this is wonderful.
• 32:33
  S1: And you've got such a pastoral vibe. Doc, it is
• 32:37
  S1: so cool to listen to you talk. What do you say?
• 32:42
  S1: Let's go full pastoral to the people, vast majority of
• 32:46
  S1: which love the Lord. They love the Lord. They know
• 32:50
  S1: that God's unmerited favor and unparalleled power has been displayed
• 32:54
  S1: in their life. But many. And I think it's because
• 32:58
  S1: we've created a spectator Christianity rather than a participation. Christianity
• 33:03
  S1: started about 300 A.D., right? Right. Um, but what do
• 33:07
  S1: we do now to the person that feels like, shoot,
• 33:10
  S1: I would really love to know my gift and use
• 33:12
  S1: it in a way that glorifies God doesn't because you're right.
• 33:16
  S1: The big aim oftentimes with gifts is self-fulfillment, but God
• 33:20
  S1: glorifying use of gifts. How does someone go find their gifts? Yeah.
• 33:25
  S7: You know, I think this context, right, that we've see
• 33:28
  S7: right before, this is a helpful reminder very tangibly. And
• 33:32
  S7: let me just say this. It says in these, like,
• 33:35
  S7: for instance, he just talks about hospitality. When God invites
• 33:38
  S7: you to open up your lives towards other people around
• 33:40
  S7: you that are different, the way in which you interact
• 33:44
  S7: with them, and the way the Lord strengthens you to
• 33:46
  S7: interact with them, will often expose or show you the
• 33:49
  S7: giftings that the Lord has given to you. Whether that's
• 33:52
  S7: God particularly gifts you with a word of encouragement to
• 33:55
  S7: that neighbor who is really down this week. And you know,
• 33:58
  S7: you don't really even think much of it. You're just
• 33:59
  S7: praying for them. And the Lord seems to prompt you
• 34:01
  S7: to say something across the fence to them. You know,
• 34:04
  S7: that's a wonderful example of you're not overly thinking about it.
• 34:07
  S7: You're just walking with the spirit. You're trying to be
• 34:09
  S7: faithful in prayer. This idea of loving one another, earnestly stretching, stretching,
• 34:15
  S7: love where I'm saying, okay, who are the people in
• 34:17
  S7: my life? The Lord has called me to love and
• 34:19
  S7: forgive this week. And you know what I. I wrote
• 34:22
  S7: them a note and I said, you know, I'm praying
• 34:25
  S7: for you. I'd love to sit down and talk with
• 34:27
  S7: you this week. These basic things that we do in
• 34:29
  S7: our relationships often are the places where our spiritual gifts
• 34:33
  S7: start to get lived out. Sometimes we make the spiritual
• 34:37
  S7: gifts so mystified that we think, well, it's got to
• 34:39
  S7: be up front at church or it's got to be
• 34:42
  S7: in a particular program. But usually it's the interpersonal relationships
• 34:47
  S7: that we begin to see those spiritual gifts lived out.
• 34:49
  S7: And then as the church has a need, we begin.
• 34:50
  S7: Oh yeah, I've seen that in my life. There's a
• 34:53
  S7: great place for that to work itself out. And that
• 34:55
  S7: means also us as pastoral leaders. Often the places we're
• 34:58
  S7: going to see these giftings are less in our formal
• 35:01
  S7: structures as in our interpersonal relationships, which we're meeting with
• 35:04
  S7: people and loving with them. We say, oh wow, you
• 35:07
  S7: have such a word of encouragement to that person. You
• 35:09
  S7: act and serve behind the scenes. I've never seen that before.
• 35:11
  S7: That is is a gift from the Lord.
• 35:13
  S1: Beautiful. Wow. This is really something. You know what? I'm
• 35:17
  S1: sitting here listening to this great man of God. I'm
• 35:21
  S1: sure he's got stuff that he's working on with you
• 35:24
  S1: and the Lord right all the time. But Doctor John
• 35:27
  S1: Mabus is one of the profs here, and I want
• 35:30
  S1: you to send your kids here to sit under this guy.
• 35:34
  S1: I want you to come as an adult to come
• 35:37
  S1: sit under guys like this. This is the kind of
• 35:39
  S1: quality props we've got around here. This is quite something,
• 35:43
  S1: isn't this morning?
• 35:44
  S2: It really is. So where we're going to point you
• 35:46
  S2: to is more about Moody Bible Institute. If you want
• 35:49
  S2: to learn more about an institute that offers teaching from
• 35:53
  S2: guys like Doctor John Davis.
• 35:54
  S1: Come on.
• 35:55
  S2: Just text Moody to 805 557898. Text Moody to 805 557898.
• 36:03
  S5: Walk in closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to
• 36:07
  S5: Carl and crew.
• 36:08
  S1: It is valid thing to pray for protection and to
• 36:12
  S1: renounce not in your name, but in the name of Jesus.
• 36:15
  S1: The Lord rebuke you, Satan. Some of you feel like
• 36:18
  S1: you're in a firestorm of spiritual assault from dark forces.
• 36:24
  S1: God wants to give you a measure of freedom and liberty,
• 36:29
  S1: even in that firestorm, and crying out to him today
• 36:33
  S1: would be a really wise thing, you know? Speaking of
• 36:36
  S1: crying out to God, I always listen to what the
• 36:39
  S1: Lord might be doing here, and I can't get it
• 36:41
  S1: out of my mind that we're going to pray that
• 36:43
  S1: these gifts would not only be discovered, but that they
• 36:46
  S1: would be used. In my conversation with Sam Storms earlier
• 36:50
  S1: this week, he just stressed that he said, these are
• 36:54
  S1: to be used used in the body of Christ. So, Ali,
• 36:59
  S1: if you would just offer up a prayer for folks
• 37:01
  S1: right now.
• 37:03
  S2: Lord, we thank you that the same God gives a
• 37:07
  S2: variety of gifts. Lord, it comes from you. It's not
• 37:10
  S2: of our doing. We don't earn it. You give it
• 37:12
  S2: to us freely and help us to use it. Lord,
• 37:16
  S2: help us to discover this week more about what you've
• 37:19
  S2: done in us for the building up of the body. Lord,
• 37:23
  S2: I pray that there would be great joy in the
• 37:25
  S2: using of our gifts that I pray against, discouragement or
• 37:28
  S2: against the feeling that maybe I'm not as gifted as
• 37:32
  S2: the next person. I pray that you would blow all
• 37:34
  S2: of that all out of the water, and that by
• 37:37
  S2: your power alone, we would be activated as a body
• 37:41
  S2: of Christ to step out, to use gifts, to take
• 37:45
  S2: steps of faith, and to experience joy while doing it.
• 37:49
  S2: In Jesus name, Amen.
• 37:51
  S1: Amen. And let it be. Wow.
• 37:53
  S2: You know, I just had a thought, Carl. You know,
• 37:55
  S2: when in sports, people often talk about someone's potential. And
• 38:00
  S2: one of the things that people often find frustrating is
• 38:03
  S2: when you see an incredible athlete who, for whatever reason,
• 38:06
  S2: does not fulfill the potential that everybody sees that they have,
• 38:11
  S2: you know, whether it's life choices or just hardship or
• 38:15
  S2: people often mourn wasted potential. And when you think about
• 38:18
  S2: the spiritual gifts, it's not us doing anything. But certainly
• 38:23
  S2: we can, by our own actions, squander what's possible through
• 38:29
  S2: the utilization of our gifts. Simply by being passive, by
• 38:31
  S2: sitting back. And so, I don't know, I just had
• 38:34
  S2: that thought. We do not want to create. We don't
• 38:36
  S2: want to waste the potential that that is possible because
• 38:42
  S2: of the gifts of the spirit at work in us.
• 38:45
  S1: Yeah. And so let me give you my hot take
• 38:49
  S1: on this one, because I've often heard it said, and
• 38:52
  S1: this can be really dangerous, but I'm going to put
• 38:54
  S1: a twist on this one. People say, oh, that person's
• 38:57
  S1: really gifted. I want to say this right now to you.
• 39:03
  S1: You are really gifted.
• 39:05
  S2: Yeah. Yeah.
• 39:07
  S1: You really are gifted. When Jesus ascended, he gave gifts
• 39:14
  S1: to men and women. You are really gifted. Now, the
• 39:20
  S1: only question is, are you really going to use that gift?
• 39:24
  S1: That's the only question, how sweet is that beautiful thing?
• 39:30
  S2: I mean, I'm encouraged we should all be thinking about
• 39:34
  S2: ways that we can step out even more because the
• 39:37
  S2: gift is there. The Holy Spirit is empowering us so
• 39:40
  S2: we can take a step.
• 39:42
  S1: We can. Get this. And now I'm going to ask
• 39:46
  S1: you to take it to the next level and give
• 39:48
  S1: it away. Give it away to your small group. Give
• 39:50
  S1: it to your pastor. Ask him if he wants to
• 39:52
  S1: use this text drew to 805 557898. This gifts assessment
• 39:59
  S1: is going to help identify for you your spiritual gifts.
• 40:05
  S1: Text drew to 805 557898.
• 40:09
  S5: Celebrating the Unstoppable gospel.
• 40:12
  S3: It's not that I've got to fill in these check boxes,
• 40:15
  S3: so he's okay with me, but it's that I get
• 40:17
  S3: to stand close to him so that I can experience
• 40:20
  S3: the life that he has for me.
• 40:22
  S5: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 40:23
  S1: Time for almost time for making a metaphor. I want
• 40:26
  S1: to clarify something. Some of you may wonder, does Young
• 40:29
  S1: Thunder get a heads up on these things? Don't you
• 40:31
  S1: tell them kind of what the story is going to be? No.
• 40:34
  S2: He doesn't get anything.
• 40:36
  S1: No, nothing.
• 40:37
  S2: He hears it for the first time. When you do,
• 40:39
  S2: whether it's our story or whether it's your story.
• 40:42
  S1: Yeah, we are ready to roll.
• 40:47
  S5: Finding nuggets of truth in everyday life.
• 40:50
  S9: It's a metaphor.
• 40:51
  S10: It's just a metaphor, dude.
• 40:52
  S11: That's a metaphor.
• 40:53
  S12: It's a metaphor. I know it's a metaphor.
• 40:56
  S5: It's time for making a metaphor with young thunder.
• 41:00
  S2: One fun fact about young thunder is he has a
• 41:03
  S2: knack for finding the spiritual application in just about anything
• 41:07
  S2: you could imagine. It is really something, man. So we
• 41:12
  S2: made a segment out of it.
• 41:13
  S3: I'm so nervous for the day you say this and
• 41:15
  S3: then I get stumped and don't know what to do.
• 41:17
  S1: It's okay if you do one day and it comes
• 41:20
  S1: out and you're like, that's a stinko metaphor. It's all right.
• 41:24
  S13: It's all right.
• 41:25
  S2: Bravely praise and trust the Lord to lead him as
• 41:29
  S2: we or you, share a story. Joshua, you get the
• 41:33
  S2: story today from Chattanooga, Tennessee. Tell us the story. Just
• 41:37
  S2: the story. And then Jonathan gets to make it a metaphor.
• 41:42
  S14: Okay. Thank you. Um, yeah, I had two trucks stolen
• 41:45
  S14: from me in the past month.
• 41:48
  S3: Oh, man, I'm so sorry to hear about that.
• 41:50
  S1: Hold on, hold on. Now, that's a short story. Did you?
• 41:54
  S1: So let me let me get some more content to it.
• 41:57
  S1: Did you get them back?
• 42:00
  S14: No, I don't know. They're I, I, a friend of
• 42:04
  S14: mine was borrowing one truck.
• 42:08
  S1: And he just took off with it.
• 42:11
  S14: Yeah. And I saw him at a bar, which I'm
• 42:16
  S14: quitting drinking, by the way.
• 42:19
  S1: Um, you can't lend your truck to the guys that
• 42:22
  S1: still are.
• 42:24
  S14: I know, I know, I know, I know.
• 42:29
  S1: Joshua. You're killing me, man. All right. What happened to
• 42:32
  S1: the other truck? The one guy, the one got ripped
• 42:34
  S1: off by a guy that has a bad drinking problem.
• 42:36
  S1: All right, what happened to the other one?
• 42:39
  S14: Well, the other one is my friend who is female. And, um, actually.
• 42:50
  S14: She said that someone stole the keys out of it.
• 42:53
  S1: Okay, so. But you got.
• 42:55
  S14: It's very confusing.
• 42:56
  S1: All right. Well, yeah, it's confusing to me, but you
• 42:58
  S1: got two trucks stolen. Uh, what do you say, Ali?
• 43:01
  S2: So. Joshua. So this how has this made you feel?
• 43:05
  S2: Obviously you're are you, are you feeling like what in
• 43:08
  S2: the world is going on? Because this has happened now
• 43:10
  S2: two times in a row. Is that kind of where
• 43:11
  S2: you're where you're at?
• 43:16
  S14: Well, honestly, I would say that, um, this has brought
• 43:22
  S14: me closer to God.
• 43:24
  S1: Hey, man.
• 43:25
  S3: Amen.
• 43:25
  S1: It's awesome. You might have stolen the metaphor here, but
• 43:28
  S1: what do you say, Jonathan?
• 43:29
  S3: No, actually. So I was thinking about this. The first
• 43:32
  S3: truck was was a friend who obviously was not a friend. Uh,
• 43:37
  S3: someone who, who looked like they were trustworthy, uh, was
• 43:42
  S3: very obviously not trustworthy. And it created a lot of trouble.
• 43:46
  S3: It created a lot of strife and a lot of
• 43:48
  S3: damage to life and physical property. Uh, you know, Jesus
• 43:53
  S3: tells us about the thief in John ten, John 1010.
• 43:57
  S3: The thief comes only to kill or to steal, kill
• 44:00
  S3: and destroy. I came that you may have life and
• 44:02
  S3: have it abundantly. The thief. We often attribute the thief
• 44:06
  S3: to being Satan. The thief is not Satan. The thief
• 44:09
  S3: here is false teachers or. And you know what? The
• 44:13
  S3: thing about teachers in our life is that usually we
• 44:16
  S3: have some type of relationship with them. Uh, people who,
• 44:20
  S3: who look trustworthy, people whom we may have had some
• 44:24
  S3: type of relationship with. But at the end of the day,
• 44:27
  S3: they're creating damage in us because they're leading us farther
• 44:32
  S3: away from Jesus. When you look at the people in
• 44:35
  S3: your life that are instructing you spiritually, do not look
• 44:39
  S3: at the personal relationship with them that you have, the
• 44:43
  S3: friendship that you may have grown, how friendly they may seem.
• 44:47
  S3: Always look back to the Word of God. Be a Berean.
• 44:52
  S3: Take what they say and look back at Scripture and
• 44:56
  S3: is what they're saying comporting with Scripture.
• 45:00
  S1: Boom.
• 45:01
  S3: Then you can find, because there are people out there
• 45:04
  S3: that look friendly, that look like they have your best
• 45:07
  S3: interest at heart, but their inward intentions are to steal,
• 45:11
  S3: kill and destroy. There is no other way to figure
• 45:15
  S3: that out 100% than by taking what they say and
• 45:18
  S3: holding it up to the Word of God. So that's
• 45:21
  S3: how you find trustworthy teachers in your life.
• 45:23
  S1: Boom. That is tough to hear, but spot on.
• 45:27
  S3: Absolutely.
• 45:28
  S2: Make it a metaphor. Thursday's the bottom of the 630
• 45:32
  S2: or bottom of the 6:00 hour, bottom of the 8:00
• 45:34
  S2: hour central time. Well done Jonathan.
• 45:37
  S3: Yeah. And thank you so much, Joshua, for sharing your story.
• 45:39
  S3: I'm really sorry about what happened. Yeah, yeah.
• 45:42
  S15: My heart.
• 45:42
  S3: Praying for you, bro, because that's really.
• 45:45
  S1: Close to the Lord. Two trucks in a month. My goodness. Okay. Uh, who,
• 45:52
  S1: by the way, I gotta say it again. That was beautiful.
• 45:56
  S1: Way to go, my man. Praise God. What do you
• 45:59
  S1: think about God? What do you imagine him to be?
• 46:03
  S1: Could it be shaped more so by the culture or
• 46:07
  S1: those around us than the Word of God? Our guest
• 46:11
  S1: believes so, and he wants to set this thing right.
• 46:14
  S1: When you understand who God is truly, you can worship
• 46:19
  S1: him in spirit and in truth.