Latest / Karl and Crew / Made to Maginify with Morgan Krueger & Filling Your Kids Free Time with Purpose with Dr. Elizabeth Smith

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Made to Maginify with Morgan Krueger & Filling Your Kids Free Time with Purpose with Dr. Elizabeth Smith · 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.
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  S2: Come as you are an experienced guide, overcome what seems
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  S2: impossible and live as you never imagined.
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  S1: Start your morning with a laugh.
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  S2: Cold spaghetti's. Great. Okay.
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  S3: Okay, I disagree. I guess not. No, certainly it is not. No. Okay. Well, man,
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  S3: I'm going back.
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  S2: To my bachelor days. I guess I thought cold spaghetti
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  S2: was universally loved.
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  S4: I've never been known for, like, high levels of coordination.
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  S4: That's just. It feels like.
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  S2: I've never been known for high levels of coordination.
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  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
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  S4: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
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  S4: and you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
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  S4: that would make it worth it.
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  S5: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
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  S5: the life source, which is God.
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  S6: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
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  S6: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
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  S6: 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.
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  S4: Have you ever wanted to be a treasure hunter.
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  S5: A treasure hunter?
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  S4: Do you ever. Yeah. You kind of.
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  S6: Look for something. Yeah.
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  S5: Yeah.
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  S3: You ever.
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  S4: Watched? I was, uh, stuck in a hotel recently. We
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  S4: had gone to for a basketball tournament, and then my
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  S4: son ended up getting sick the first day. So we spent, like,
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  S4: the next, like, 36 hours, kind of confined to one room.
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  S4: And so the movie National Treasure was.
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  S3: It's been a long time.
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  S4: We ended up watching like one and two and wow,
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  S4: we had a lot of time. And so, you know,
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  S4: it's this like this quest to find like hidden meaning
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  S4: and like all these different, they're looking for symbols and
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  S4: they're hoping it eventually leads them to this great.
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  S5: This great treasure. Yeah. That the the Founding Fathers hid
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  S5: or something like that.
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  S4: And I'm curious about like real life treasure hunting because
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  S4: that's like really a thing I learned this morning about
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  S4: what's called the holy grail of shipwrecks. So it's this,
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  S4: this boat that, uh, was shipwrecked off the coast of Colombia.
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  S4: And so it's still on the ocean floor. And the
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  S4: value of what was on that ship modern day, get
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  S4: this $17 billion, mostly in like these valuable gold coins.
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  S5: Jewels. Yeah.
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  S4: Coins.
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  S5: Wow.
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  S4: $17 billion worth of, I guess.
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  S5: Gold.
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  S4: Bounty.
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  S6: That's a lot of.
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  S4: Treasure just on the ocean floor.
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  S5: Just sitting there waiting.
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  S4: Sitting there waiting. And it's so, you know, obviously that's
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  S4: kind of hard to retrieve because of the location.
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  S5: Exactly. You're gonna have to have a lot of money
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  S5: to go get that. You know, you can't just be
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  S5: a swimmer and like, I'm gonna go get that treasure.
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  S4: And it was only located in 2015, so that was
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  S4: when it was found.
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  S5: Wow.
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  S4: So that thing has been.
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  S5: So they know where it's at.
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  S4: They know exactly where it is.
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  S5: Wow. But they just can't get the stuff out of it.
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  S4: Yeah.
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  S5: Wow.
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  S4: And so, Jonathan, you can do some more checking on this. It's, it's,
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  S4: it's called the San Jose. So you can do some
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  S4: more checking so that we can find out more about this, this,
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  S4: this great bounty. But you know, my, my brother is
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  S4: he's one of those he's younger than me and I
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  S4: still in my mind, he's 16 years old, but really,
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  S4: he's in his 30s now. But he will always be
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  S4: 16 years old. And he was the kind of kid
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  S4: he loved. He had an engineering mind. He loved to build,
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  S4: he loved to explore. And so one year, one of
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  S4: the things that he got as a gift was a
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  S4: metal detector. Oh.
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  S6: I bet he enjoyed that.
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  S4: And so he could go out and like, those are
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  S4: a big deal for a.
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  S6: Long.
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  S4: Time, you know, and I was I was just texting
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  S4: with this morning, like, did you ever find anything with
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  S4: that metal detector like that you that you would go
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  S4: out with? And he said, no. I mean, he found
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  S4: some like random bottle caps. And he said one time
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  S4: he found like a mesh, like kind of like mesh wiring.
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  S4: That was like part of something bigger. He goes, I
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  S4: started to unearth it, but then I realized like, as
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  S4: I got part way through, I don't know if I
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  S4: know how to do this. And I also don't know
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  S4: what I'm going to pull up if I continue. So
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  S4: he kind of like walk.
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  S5: Away, I'm gonna leave it.
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  S4: I'm gonna walk away from this. But there is, I think,
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  S4: this sort of intrigue when it comes to treasure hunting.
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  S4: Like you, the old treasure map where you're X marks
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  S4: the spot and you get to there and maybe you
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  S4: open up some big chest and there's just this overflowing
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  S4: amount of treasure and jewels and precious metals. Did you
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  S4: find anything else on this shipwreck?
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  S5: Yeah. So I found out that there's there's actually some ongoing, like,
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  S5: fights about who gets this treasure. So Colombia claims ownership
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  S5: because it lies in the waters of Colombia. Spain says
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  S5: it should be theirs because it's a sovereign vessel of Spain,
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  S5: or it was at the time. And then the U.S. firm,
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  S5: Sea Search Armada claims they should get a right to
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  S5: the share because of the discovery. And so three different places.
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  S5: The people who have the waters, the people who owned
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  S5: the ship, and the people who discovered it all say
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  S5: they they deserve it. Ah, Colombia has begun retrieving some
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  S5: items out of it. But for scientific study aimed at
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  S5: displaying them in in a museum, a future museum. But
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  S5: rather than engaging in a full scale salvage of all
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  S5: the treasure.
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  S4: Interesting. So a little bit of a fight to see
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  S4: who owns it. Perfect setup. You know, when you think
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  S4: about buried treasure, we've been talking all this week about
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  S4: what are you looking for? So what do you do
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  S4: when you find the treasure? That shipwreck that's under sea,
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  S4: under this, the deep waters. Or you use that metal
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  S4: detector and you discover there is something valuable. You found
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  S4: what you were looking for. How bad do you want it?
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  S4: Doing a little treasure hunting this morning. You think about
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  S4: the buried treasure. The treasure? That's the shipwreck off the
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  S4: coast of Colombia. $17 billion worth of bounty.
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  S5: Come on, I say, let's get a Carl and crew
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  S5: group down there. Let's go get it.
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  S4: It's so easy to see the value of something that
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  S4: can be measured in dollars.
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  S5: Yes.
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  S4: Right.
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  S5: Absolutely. It can be quantified on earthly measures and scales.
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  S4: And it doesn't take a lot of convincing to get
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  S4: people to go out and search for that. Like their
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  S4: life depends on it.
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  S7: No, not at all.
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  S5: That is very.
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  S4: Correct. Think about it. What about the Kingdom of heaven?
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  S4: Why is the Kingdom of heaven compared to treasure? Matthew
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  S4: 1340 for the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden
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  S4: in a field which a man found and covered up.
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  S4: Then in his joy he goes and sells all that
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  S4: he has and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of
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  S4: heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who,
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  S4: on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold
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  S4: all that he had and bought it. You know, I've
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  S4: been thinking about this lately. Just my own personal life.
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  S4: This idea of treasure. Because we know that our heart
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  S4: is always linked to what we treasure. And I think
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  S4: sometimes if we are honest with ourselves, it's not it's
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  S4: not that we don't know what we're looking for. It's
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  S4: not that we don't have enough discipline. Sometimes it's that
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  S4: we don't treasure what we have enough.
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  S5: That's true.
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  S4: It's a treasure problem.
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  S5: Yeah. I hold something else first.
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  S4: Because what's occupying the space in my heart isn't isn't
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  S4: him right? If sometimes, if we're honest with ourselves that
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  S4: we don't view this as treasure. And so these two
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  S4: short little parables and I'm talking one. This is one
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  S4: parable that's one verse long, and then another parable that's
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  S4: two verses. These don't occupy a lot of a lot
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  S4: of space in Scripture, but they are part of a
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  S4: series of parables that Jesus is telling to help explain
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  S4: to his disciples what the kingdom of heaven is like.
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  S4: And in both of these short little parables, the finder
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  S4: realizes the value of what they've discovered, and they will
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  S4: go to any lengths to get it. And so this
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  S4: is not about buying. It's about valuing it so much
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  S4: that it doesn't matter what it takes. I have to
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  S4: have what's there.
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  S5: Yeah. I find it interesting too, that the the treasure
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  S5: is specifically something that has to you have to invest in.
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  S5: You have to give up of one thing to retrieve it. Uh,
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  S5: you know, it's like, it's like earthly treasure. If I
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  S5: was gonna go be a treasure hunter, I'd have to
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  S5: give up the, the life that I have, probably the
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  S5: money that I currently have in order to invest going
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  S5: to get something bigger. This treasure is the same thing.
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  S5: I've got stuff right now, but compared to that treasure,
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  S5: it's worthless. But in order to attain that treasure, I
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  S5: have to give it up.
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  S4: And it's like, well, so what do we give up?
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  S4: And you know, I, I actually, when I was kind
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  S4: of studying this out, um, just in my own personal
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  S4: devotion time, I actually was reading about the rich young
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  S4: ruler and I never really linked these two together. Um,
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  S4: but when, when you think about the rich young ruler
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  S4: who goes and says, what can I do to inherit
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  S4: eternal life? And, and Jesus tells them a couple of
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  S4: the different commandments. And then he says, okay, well, one thing,
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  S4: what do I lack? Sell all you have and come
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  S4: follow me. And he turns away and he walks away. Sad.
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  S4: And I thought, it's not because he didn't realize what
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  S4: he asked a question. What must I do to inherit
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  S4: eternal life? He wanted it and Jesus told him the
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  S4: cost of following him. He didn't want to pay that
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  S4: cost because he valued what he had more.
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  S5: Right? His. The treasure he currently owned.
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  S4: He had was more valuable to him. So he walked
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  S4: away sad. And I thought, you know what? He was
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  S4: honest about that he was how sad. But he was
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  S4: actually honest in that moment. And it wasn't. It was
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  S4: never about the money. It wasn't about the money with
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  S4: the rich young ruler. It's not about the money in
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  S4: this passage either. It's always about what's most valuable, what's
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  S4: most treasured. And that's why the kingdom of heaven is
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  S4: like treasure hidden in the field.
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  S5: Absolutely. Because there's a lot of people on earth who
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  S5: have far, far less than the rich young ruler had,
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  S5: but are still equally unwilling to give it up.
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  S4: So what will it cost us? Well, you know, Carl
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  S4: often says Scripture interprets Scripture. We take up our cross
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  S4: and follow him daily. So it costs us our will.
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  S4: It costs us our life. It costs us self. Sometimes
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  S4: it costs earthly comfort. There are times when it costs
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  S4: us financially.
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  S5: Absolutely it.
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  S4: Does. Right. So the cost can look a lot of
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  S4: different ways. But the, the the point isn't the cross,
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  S4: it's the the cost, it's the treasure. And the parable
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  S4: drives home that the treasure was so valuable. They sold
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  S4: all that they had. Whatever it takes, I have to
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  S4: find what's I have to take hold of what's hidden
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  S4: in that field. And, you know, I was talking to
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  S4: my husband about this last night, and I thought I
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  S4: was talking just about the things that you can treasure.
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  S4: And he goes, oh, it's easy for me, it was basketball.
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  S4: And my husband played professional basketball for 14 years. And
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  S4: he said that there was a time when what he
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  S4: treasured more than anything else was basketball. And he was
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  S4: like that. It was easy. That's an easy answer. Like
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  S4: he was. That was what he valued most. That's what
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  S4: he would have done. Anything, whatever the cost, to take
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  S4: hold of what basketball. And so, you know, on this
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  S4: Freedom Friday, I'd love for you to wrestle with this
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  S4: question too. When you look at your own story, your
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  S4: own journey with the Lord, what did you once treasure
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  S4: most before you realized he was the one to treasure?
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  S4: What did you once treasure most? Let's go to Terry.
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  S4: First time caller from Lowell, Indiana. What? What did you
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  S4: once treasure most?
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  S8: Good morning Ali. I think what I treasured most was self-worth.
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  S8: I wanted the approval of people. I needed to feel
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  S8: good about myself. And it wasn't until I found Christ
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  S8: that I realized it wasn't about me. It was about him.
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  S8: And he was the only one who could give me worth.
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  S4: Yeah, man. Terry. First time caller from Lowell, Indiana. That
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  S4: is phenomenal insight. And it's that treasuring self. I mean,
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  S4: that's a that's not an obvious one. But I think
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  S4: as soon as you hear that, you go, oh, yeah, absolutely.
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  S5: Yeah. I think that we don't often categorize it that
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  S5: way when we talk about living for the approval of
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  S5: other people. But that is that is treasuring our self worth.
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  S5: We want it. We want our self-worth to be at
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  S5: this certain spot that we do whatever we need to,
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  S5: to get that affirmation from people. And so we can
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  S5: feel a certain way about ourselves. And I mean, all
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  S5: of us do that at some point or another.
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  S4: And when we realize that what we, what we have
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  S4: in Christ is our identity, our value, our worth, our purpose, clarity, guidance,
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  S4: that all of those things are found in him. That's
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  S4: the treasure. And so the question is, are we willing
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  S4: to take hold of it? Are you willing to take
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  S4: hold of the treasure today, no matter the cost. That's
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  S4: what I want you to wrestle with. We'll talk a
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  S4: little bit more about that coming up in this next
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  S4: half hour here on Carl and Crew.
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  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
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  S4: The kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a
• 13:50
  S4: field which a man found and covered up. Then in
• 13:52
  S4: his joy he goes and sells all that he has
• 13:55
  S4: and buys that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is
• 13:58
  S4: like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on
• 14:00
  S4: finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all
• 14:04
  S4: that he had and bought it. Sometimes we find what
• 14:08
  S4: we are looking for. But the question is, are we
• 14:11
  S4: willing to do what it takes to take hold of it?
• 14:14
  S4: It will cost you your will, your life. Uh. But
• 14:19
  S4: what did you once treasure most? You know, we're all
• 14:23
  S4: treasuring something because our treasure is always linked to our
• 14:26
  S4: heart affections. Phillip from Aurora answering our question this morning.
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  S4: What did you once treasure most before it was Jesus?
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  S4: I want to hear your answer on this one, No one.
• 14:35
  S4: A little bit of your story.
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  S9: Oh my word. I, I, I cherish fame, fortune, adoration
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  S9: more than anything at all. I wanted to be known
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  S9: as the, the best, the best actor in Chicago, one
• 14:49
  S9: of the best actors in the country. I wanted all
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  S9: the the acknowledgment from people that didn't even care about me.
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  S9: He chased it for years.
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  S4: You know. And your story, for those of our listeners
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  S4: who are, aren't, aren't familiar, you you've been on with
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  S4: us before. You, you got to a pretty successful place
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  S4: in terms of your career. Uh, got some pretty significant
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  S4: acting roles. Is there a moment that stands out where
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  S4: you realize, like, I've got a lot of these things
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  S4: that I once that I treasured and it is empty.
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  S4: Is there a moment that stands out where that really
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  S4: became clear to you?
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  S9: Oh my goodness. Yes. I was telling a super guy
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  S9: on the call that I would get to opening nights
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  S9: and I'd be completely empty. I would be devastatingly empty.
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  S9: It didn't mean anything. I would land roles. I remember
• 15:44
  S9: landing a role in the television series The Shy. And
• 15:48
  S9: I remember sitting in my dressing room thinking, you know,
• 15:50
  S9: I didn't really even want the role, really. I wanted
• 15:54
  S9: the notoriety that came with the role. Yeah. And that
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  S9: was it. It was sad and empty, but it also
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  S9: there's that gnawing thing inside of me knowing that I
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  S9: was supposed to seek first the kingdom of God and
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  S9: his righteousness, and everything else was going to be awarded
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  S9: to me. You know, and I, I had forgotten that.
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  S9: And it took moments like that. And that was just
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  S9: one moment. But there were other moments when I would
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  S9: realize that all this adoration, you know, people would say, oh,
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  S9: there he is, there's Phil, you know, and he's hardest
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  S9: working man in Chicago. And I was a wreck. My
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  S9: my life was in shambles. Yeah. You know what? Let
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  S9: me down the road to addiction. And then that's, you know,
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  S9: it was it was not good.
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  S4: Yeah. Phillip, thank you so much. Always appreciate talking to you.
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  S4: Phillip from Aurora right here in Illinois. Let's go back
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  S4: to the phones. We've got Crystal calling in this morning.
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  S4: First time caller from Pompano Beach, Florida. What did you
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  S4: once treasure most before it was Jesus.
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  S10: Uh. Good morning. Um, you already said it. It was
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  S10: my free will. Um, my ability to do what I
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  S10: wanted to do, to say what I wanted to say,
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  S10: to go places where I wanted to go, uh, to
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  S10: listen to any kind of music I wanted to listen to,
• 17:05
  S10: to watch whatever I wanted to watch on TV. But
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  S10: once I got serious about God and got into his will,
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  S10: certain places I cannot go, certain places, certain things I
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  S10: will not do, certain words I just cannot say anymore. And, um,
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  S10: you know, certain music. I just cannot listen to certain
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  S10: things I cannot do with my body keeping myself. So, uh,
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  S10: when I got into God's will, a lot of that
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  S10: stuff that I used to be comfortable doing and wanting
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  S10: to do, I no longer want to do and I
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  S10: don't feel comfortable doing anymore.
• 17:40
  S4: Crystal, first time caller from Florida. Thank you so much.
• 17:43
  S4: I love your call. Because, you know, when we think
• 17:46
  S4: about treasure, I think it's so this is I've just
• 17:50
  S4: been wrestling with this in my own life because our
• 17:54
  S4: heart reveals what we treasure.
• 17:56
  S5: Yeah.
• 17:57
  S4: Right.
• 17:57
  S5: 100%.
• 17:58
  S4: And so did you. Were you going to say something? Diana.
• 18:02
  S6: Jesus said it, so. Yeah.
• 18:03
  S4: Yep. Where your treasure is, your heart will be also. Yeah.
• 18:06
  S4: And when you start to see it, it's everywhere. And
• 18:08
  S4: it's always about the heart. And so what we want
• 18:11
  S4: to ask the Lord to help us with is to
• 18:13
  S4: truly see the value of what we have in him,
• 18:17
  S4: in the same way that we can clearly see the
• 18:19
  S4: value of $17 billion worth of coins and precious metals
• 18:24
  S4: buried off the coast of Colombia in one of the
• 18:27
  S4: world's largest, most expensive shipwrecks. Yeah, $17 billion. You say
• 18:33
  S4: that number if you were to put a pin on
• 18:35
  S4: a map and give a location, do you know how
• 18:37
  S4: many people would sell it all to go and try
• 18:41
  S4: to take hold of that?
• 18:42
  S5: The waters would be crowded right now with people trying
• 18:44
  S5: to get it.
• 18:45
  S4: Think about the gold rush. The California gold rush. Would
• 18:48
  S4: people value something? They'll move heaven and earth. They go
• 18:52
  S4: to try.
• 18:53
  S6: And the sad thing is, is when they put something
• 18:55
  S6: of that put. Take something like that and put it
• 18:58
  S6: at such a high value, they devalue so much else
• 19:01
  S6: around them. I mean, people hurt each other to get
• 19:03
  S6: to the gold rush.
• 19:04
  S4: Because because.
• 19:05
  S6: Destroyed families to get to the gold rush.
• 19:07
  S4: Because the treasure, is that worth it to.
• 19:09
  S5: Them, right? It was the treasure was more to them
• 19:11
  S5: than any any of the other things that they cast
• 19:14
  S5: away in order to get it.
• 19:15
  S4: So this parable, this one little two, three little verses
• 19:19
  S4: buried it right there in Matthew 13. That's what the
• 19:22
  S4: kingdom of heaven is like. Treasure hidden in a field.
• 19:26
  S4: That valuable where no matter what it takes, you do
• 19:32
  S4: what you got to do to take hold of it. Yeah.
• 19:34
  S4: And so I want to pause here because I want
• 19:36
  S4: to speak to you here this morning. You've not taken
• 19:39
  S4: hold of the treasure that's found in him. And I
• 19:43
  S4: want to tell you it's more valuable than anything you
• 19:47
  S4: could possibly imagine. There's no amount of riches, there's no
• 19:52
  S4: amount of gold. There's no amount of wealth or earthly
• 19:55
  S4: thing that you will find that's more valuable than your sins.
• 20:00
  S4: Forgiven than me. Being made right with God than having
• 20:04
  S4: your eternal future secure. There's nothing more value valuable, right?
• 20:10
  S5: Correct.
• 20:11
  S4: And so we but we have to be honest about
• 20:14
  S4: the cost. It's a free gift, for sure.
• 20:16
  S5: Absolutely. You don't have to. You can't do anything to
• 20:18
  S5: earn it.
• 20:19
  S4: You don't have to sell it all. You don't have
• 20:21
  S4: to go and liquidate all of your assets today in
• 20:23
  S4: order to take hold of fate of freedom in Christ.
• 20:28
  S5: I think of it like this. I, you know, let's
• 20:32
  S5: say in my living room, my my parents give me
• 20:38
  S5: this nice new big couch. It's a free gift. But
• 20:42
  S5: in order for the couch to fit, I gotta get
• 20:45
  S5: some other stuff out of there. There's a cost to it.
• 20:50
  S5: It's completely free. I didn't do anything to earn it.
• 20:52
  S5: They just gave it to me. But all the other
• 20:55
  S5: stuff I have cluttered up in my house. I gotta
• 20:58
  S5: get rid of that in order for that couch to fit.
• 21:02
  S5: It's the same way with the gospel. It is a
• 21:04
  S5: free gift, but we got to get some stuff out
• 21:07
  S5: of the way. Yeah.
• 21:09
  S4: And so what do you do? How do you take
• 21:10
  S4: hold of this treasure in Christ? Well, you have to
• 21:13
  S4: acknowledge what is true about you. You have to admit
• 21:16
  S4: that you are a sinner, that you are not. This
• 21:19
  S4: idea that we're somehow good people. No one can meet
• 21:23
  S4: God's perfect standard. We've all sinned and fallen short of
• 21:26
  S4: the glory of God, so you have to admit that
• 21:28
  S4: you are a sinner and that as a sinner, what
• 21:31
  S4: you deserve is death. The wages of sin is death.
• 21:35
  S4: And so that's what you deserve. That's what I deserve.
• 21:39
  S4: Apart from Christ, do you understand that Christ died for
• 21:43
  S4: your sins and my sins, and that he rose from
• 21:46
  S4: the grave? That's how we take hold of eternal life. Lastly,
• 21:50
  S4: you have to put your trust in Christ as your
• 21:53
  S4: Savior to accept this gift. It's a trust. It's a faith.
• 21:57
  S4: It's a surrender of your will. It's not a. I
• 22:01
  S4: think that all paths lead to somewhere the same, the
• 22:05
  S4: same place. Like, no, no, no, no. You have to
• 22:08
  S4: acknowledge that it's Jesus. He's the way, the truth, the
• 22:13
  S4: only way to right standing with God is through the son.
• 22:17
  S4: And that's Jesus Christ. So if today maybe that's making
• 22:20
  S4: sense to you in a way that it hasn't before.
• 22:24
  S4: And you sense that by the power of the Holy Spirit,
• 22:27
  S4: because this isn't even an act of your own will.
• 22:30
  S4: This is a surrender to the God who's already been
• 22:32
  S4: drawing you by His Spirit. So if today you want
• 22:36
  S4: to take hold of the treasure that's found in Christ,
• 22:39
  S4: I want to pray for you. You can honestly admit
• 22:42
  S4: I'm a sinner. I know that I deserve death, I
• 22:45
  S4: know Christ that you died for my sins and that
• 22:48
  S4: you rose from the grave. And today I put my
• 22:50
  S4: trust in you as Savior. Have that honest conversation with God.
• 22:53
  S4: And then I just want to pray for you, Lord,
• 22:56
  S4: for this person. Maybe there's one. Maybe there's many. God,
• 22:59
  S4: I pray that you would make clear by the power
• 23:02
  S4: of your of your spirit exactly what's taking place today,
• 23:06
  S4: that it's as real as real can be, and that
• 23:08
  S4: the treasure that we have in you, God, is more
• 23:12
  S4: than we could ever take hold of here on earth.
• 23:15
  S4: That it doesn't matter what the cost is, God, it's
• 23:17
  S4: worth it. So I pray that you would make that clear,
• 23:20
  S4: that you would fill the person today who's surrendering to
• 23:23
  S4: you for the first time. Lord, fill them with joy,
• 23:26
  S4: joy unspeakable. Lord, that's only found in you, God. And
• 23:30
  S4: I pray that you would bring them quickly to a
• 23:31
  S4: place where they can be nourished, where they can take roots,
• 23:34
  S4: where they can grow. God, thank you that you, by
• 23:37
  S4: your mercy, you call us out of darkness into the light,
• 23:41
  S4: that you take us from death into new life with you.
• 23:45
  S4: I thank you for that today. For my friend. In
• 23:48
  S4: Jesus name, Amen. If that's you, I want to invite
• 23:52
  S4: you to just text one little key word that's going
• 23:54
  S4: to allow us to follow up with you. Just text
• 23:56
  S4: new to 805 557898. If today you are on a
• 24:01
  S4: treasure hunt and you know what, X marks the spot
• 24:04
  S4: and you found it, the treasure is him. Just text
• 24:07
  S4: new to 805 557898, text new to 805 557898.
• 24:17
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 24:20
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 24:23
  S11: Well, if you were to ask your kids or your grandkids.
• 24:26
  S4: The kids in your life, what they are looking for,
• 24:28
  S4: as we've been tackling this question all week long, what
• 24:32
  S4: do you think that their answer might be? Are they
• 24:35
  S4: looking for adventure? Are they looking for something to do?
• 24:39
  S4: Or are they looking for primarily something else? Doctor Elizabeth
• 24:43
  S4: Smith joining us right now program head for Moody Online
• 24:46
  S4: as well as children and family ministry for Moody Bible Institute.
• 24:50
  S4: Interesting insight when it comes to what kids this generation
• 24:54
  S4: is looking for primarily. Explain that to me.
• 24:58
  S12: If you ask a group of kids anything from elementary.
• 25:01
  S12: But especially your middle schoolers and high schoolers and even
• 25:04
  S12: college on up, what they're going to tell you is,
• 25:07
  S12: how can I live a life that doesn't have any stress?
• 25:10
  S12: How can I live a life where I'm doing nothing?
• 25:13
  S12: I want to I want to focus on the moment
• 25:15
  S12: where I can just sit down and do nothing or
• 25:18
  S12: do whatever I want to do, like pull out the phone.
• 25:21
  S12: And that's what they are pursuing. But the problem is,
• 25:25
  S12: if that is truly what we're pursuing, then we're pursuing
• 25:28
  S12: the wrong goal because ultimately you won't be at rest.
• 25:32
  S12: You'll be bored. And when you are bored, you are
• 25:36
  S12: putting yourself in a position of going to get in trouble.
• 25:39
  S12: Doing nothing should not be the goal of any season
• 25:42
  S12: of our life.
• 25:43
  S4: Why do you think that this is such a prevalent
• 25:45
  S4: thing is. I mean, because I this is where the
• 25:47
  S4: the younger is going to look at the older, maybe
• 25:50
  S4: with an eye roll and maybe say that we just
• 25:52
  S4: don't get it. But is there something different about this
• 25:55
  S4: generation where the pursuit of ease and rest has been normalized,
• 26:00
  S4: maybe in a way that it hasn't been before?
• 26:03
  S12: Welcome to one of the challenges provided by streaming services,
• 26:08
  S12: social media, and some of the shows that are out
• 26:11
  S12: there supposedly to entertain us. The idea of sitting back
• 26:15
  S12: in a luxurious lifestyle and doing nothing except whatever you
• 26:18
  S12: want to do is kind of now the American dream.
• 26:22
  S12: It's not the dream to work hard and to accomplish.
• 26:25
  S12: It's much more. The only reason I'd work hard and
• 26:27
  S12: accomplish is so I can sit down and do nothing.
• 26:30
  S12: And a lot of times it becomes very self-focused. And,
• 26:33
  S12: you know, on top of that, when you pick up
• 26:35
  S12: your phone, some of the games and some of the
• 26:37
  S12: things they might engage in, there's so many dopamine hits
• 26:39
  S12: in our brain when we're watching those kind of high
• 26:42
  S12: energy active things. But you're sitting there doing nothing as
• 26:45
  S12: you're letting your brain, uh, be rewarded and entertained with
• 26:49
  S12: actually very little input from yourself. You become an audience
• 26:54
  S12: that gets a lot of rewards for absolutely doing nothing, really.
• 26:58
  S12: So that is a, it puts us in a position
• 27:00
  S12: to say, hey, then that's my happy moment, doing nothing
• 27:03
  S12: but getting a lot of reward. I'm just going to
• 27:06
  S12: sit there. Um, and yeah, as long as what we
• 27:08
  S12: see and then actually what we do on that phone,
• 27:10
  S12: I think is the context that that kind of leads
• 27:13
  S12: into this idea that doing nothing is the ultimate aim.
• 27:17
  S4: So how do we help our kids with this? I mean,
• 27:19
  S4: summer is fast approaching. I have a 16 and a
• 27:22
  S4: 13 year old and you know, they are awesome kids.
• 27:26
  S4: And they and at the same time, they are kids.
• 27:28
  S4: They are teenagers who, like you described, sometimes get I
• 27:33
  S4: get pushback when I say, hey, I see that you're
• 27:36
  S4: sitting there and you seem to have some free time.
• 27:39
  S4: Why don't you unload the dishwasher or sweep the sweep
• 27:43
  S4: the floor? And that's met with like, but I'm, but
• 27:46
  S4: I'm relaxing right now. Like, this is my, this is
• 27:49
  S4: my chill time. So there's definitely.
• 27:52
  S12: Much of that. Mom, you don't understand. I just need
• 27:56
  S12: so much of me time. Well, this is what's great
• 27:59
  S12: about having teenagers, I think is the conversations that we
• 28:02
  S12: can initiate even outside of those moments. So we kind
• 28:05
  S12: of prepare them for those moments and to say, look,
• 28:07
  S12: boredom isn't just a feeling of nothing to do. And
• 28:10
  S12: the idea of relaxation, of nothing to do just sitting here.
• 28:13
  S12: It's when you actually feel that and when they're pursuing that,
• 28:16
  S12: it's actually a neurological signal in your brain telling you
• 28:19
  S12: that you're understimulated and you actually need more of a
• 28:22
  S12: challenge or some novelty or pursuing purpose in your life. Um,
• 28:26
  S12: is it wrong to rest occasionally? Absolutely not. We are
• 28:30
  S12: told to rest, but even in Scripture, if we were
• 28:33
  S12: to read Psalm 4610, it says, be still and know
• 28:37
  S12: that I am God. Within that stillness, it talks about
• 28:40
  S12: what we are doing. Um. In Galatians 513, Paul tells
• 28:44
  S12: us we were called to be free, but do not
• 28:47
  S12: use your freedom to indulge the flesh. Rather serve one another.
• 28:51
  S12: So in our discretionary time, the free time, the first
• 28:54
  S12: ultimate choice cannot and should not always be that relaxation.
• 28:59
  S12: But when do we talk about that? What is your
• 29:01
  S12: brain telling you? What really is the purpose or the
• 29:03
  S12: aim of life? Where can that relaxation actually get you
• 29:07
  S12: in trouble? Undefined time is not always a good thing
• 29:11
  S12: to have an abundance of. Have those conversations in the
• 29:14
  S12: car when you're driving them to soccer or basketball or
• 29:17
  S12: wherever they're going, having. At dinner time. Read articles and go, hey,
• 29:21
  S12: I found out about this. How did God make our
• 29:24
  S12: brains and when does it surface best? And pull from
• 29:27
  S12: some of the studies that are out there on how
• 29:29
  S12: bad boredom can be, as well as too much free time?
• 29:34
  S12: And then also certainly go to Scripture. You know, Colossians
• 29:38
  S12: tells us whatever you do, work at it with all
• 29:40
  S12: of your heart as working for the Lord. Remember who
• 29:42
  S12: we're living for. Remember in Proverbs 19 Slothfulness casts us
• 29:46
  S12: into a deep sleep. An idle person will suffer. There
• 29:52
  S12: is a danger to that. And if we make it
• 29:55
  S12: too attractive, we don't challenge the societal norm that that
• 29:58
  S12: is the goal of life. That is normal. We're missing
• 30:02
  S12: those opportunities to have formative conversations because the rest of
• 30:05
  S12: their life, teenage world ends. You will need to work.
• 30:09
  S11: So what are.
• 30:10
  S4: Some ways that families can build in some challenge, some
• 30:14
  S4: healthy stimulation this summer that can make it kind of
• 30:18
  S4: fun for everyone?
• 30:20
  S12: Yeah. This is where thinking of as we're doing something together,
• 30:24
  S12: let's do something together that challenges us. So if we're
• 30:27
  S12: going and it's certainly something that's physical. So there's so
• 30:30
  S12: many outdoor activities you can do take a bike ride,
• 30:32
  S12: take a walk, think about different adventures in the area.
• 30:35
  S12: There are this is how to use apps. There are
• 30:37
  S12: some good apps out there that will even tell you
• 30:39
  S12: adventures and creative things to do within your own community.
• 30:42
  S12: Things that you can do, treasure hunts. You can go
• 30:44
  S12: find things that are hidden throughout, like in the Chicago area.
• 30:47
  S12: There's so many things you can do that are are
• 30:50
  S12: curious and novel. Go to a museum, um, do something
• 30:53
  S12: that in general, most everybody would like whatever your family likes.
• 30:57
  S12: But on the other hand, is this where I get
• 30:59
  S12: to talk about Moody online and the fact that maybe
• 31:00
  S12: taking a class is not a bad idea, right? Take something,
• 31:05
  S12: take a class on something and saying, hey, let's work
• 31:07
  S12: through this together. Let's learn. So finding ways to stimulate
• 31:12
  S12: our brains, having those conversations, puzzles, game night, um, those
• 31:15
  S12: kind of things. Um, ah, and then asking the kids themselves,
• 31:19
  S12: the teenagers, if we do a family activity outside of
• 31:22
  S12: doing nothing, what would you like to do? Get their
• 31:24
  S12: intake in it, get their ideas. They may surprise you.
• 31:27
  S4: Doctor Elizabeth Smith with us right now. She mentioned it.
• 31:30
  S4: Let's go there. Coming up, let's talk about what's available
• 31:33
  S4: through Moody Online. Maybe just the challenge your family needs
• 31:38
  S4: coming up.
• 31:39
  S1: Your shot of hope to get you through the day.
• 31:42
  S6: You are so, so loved. God does not want you
• 31:45
  S6: to stay in your past. And I want you to
• 31:47
  S6: know and believe that today.
• 31:49
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Crew.
• 31:51
  S11: Got Doctor Elizabeth.
• 31:52
  S4: Smith with us this morning. Program. Head for Moody Online
• 31:55
  S4: as well as children and family ministry here at Moody
• 31:58
  S4: Bible Institute. So Moody Online has so much to offer,
• 32:01
  S4: and every time we get to feature it, I get
• 32:03
  S4: excited because when people think about Moody Bible Institute, they think, oh,
• 32:07
  S4: I don't know if I can get to Chicago and
• 32:10
  S4: I've got a full time job and I live elsewhere.
• 32:12
  S4: Moody online is filling a very important gap. Give us
• 32:16
  S4: your best pitch.
• 32:17
  S12: Moody online, like any online school, allows you to study
• 32:21
  S12: what you want, where you're at so you don't have
• 32:23
  S12: to come to Chicago. You can do it right away
• 32:25
  S12: and for so many ages. So, for example, Moody Online
• 32:28
  S12: Academy is for our high schoolers, sophomores on up who
• 32:32
  S12: can take a course this summer online, right where they're at,
• 32:36
  S12: using their brain not to be bored. And it applies
• 32:39
  S12: toward their college and their high school and will help
• 32:41
  S12: them do that. Also, though, for for adults, you can
• 32:45
  S12: take a class like on New Testament survey, or you
• 32:48
  S12: might be interested in interpreting Romans for teaching as well
• 32:51
  S12: as other courses in counseling or in principles of management.
• 32:55
  S12: You can take a class right where you're at, learn
• 32:59
  S12: so that you are growing in the skills and the
• 33:01
  S12: knowledge that you need to, to fulfill the calling that
• 33:03
  S12: God has for you. Make learning a lifelong ambition. Pursue
• 33:07
  S12: a certificate or an associate's degree. Or you can go
• 33:10
  S12: into our non-degree program. You can take classes that aren't
• 33:13
  S12: necessarily toward a college degree, but you are learning in
• 33:17
  S12: a strong, biblically informed, theologically framed course that's going to
• 33:21
  S12: give you great information, great professors, great engagement with others,
• 33:25
  S12: and you are learning and growing. And I would have
• 33:28
  S12: to say, I think Moody Online does it better than anybody.
• 33:31
  S12: We pour ourselves into this in order to grow you
• 33:34
  S12: in what you know, what you do and who you
• 33:36
  S12: are as a Christ follower.
• 33:37
  S4: I love this, and specifically this new option for high
• 33:41
  S4: school students to earn dual enrollment credit that's going to
• 33:44
  S4: both help them in high school. And as they look
• 33:47
  S4: at college and give me a story of, of a
• 33:50
  S4: student who that has inspired you as of late with
• 33:54
  S4: their motivation as they've pursued continuing education through Moody online.
• 33:59
  S12: I can do two, I can do one. A high
• 34:00
  S12: schooler that just found out about our movie Online Academy
• 34:03
  S12: dual enrollment, and they've signed up and they are so excited.
• 34:07
  S12: They go to a public high school, but they're excited
• 34:09
  S12: to take an intro to literature, knowing they're going to
• 34:12
  S12: have an amazing professor from a biblical worldview. But they
• 34:15
  S12: will understand literature, which applies both to their high school
• 34:18
  S12: and college. And the parents wrote and said they weren't.
• 34:22
  S12: Their child wasn't so excited about learning and growing and
• 34:25
  S12: having a future for themselves, but now learning about Moody
• 34:28
  S12: Online Academy and being able to dive into this, their
• 34:31
  S12: love for learning has been reinvented, and they are just
• 34:34
  S12: beyond grateful for what it does for the heart and
• 34:37
  S12: soul of their child. And that was a beautiful story
• 34:39
  S12: to hear. The other is a dear student named Linda,
• 34:42
  S12: who is 75 years old, and she does not want
• 34:45
  S12: to stop learning about Jesus and discipling the women in
• 34:47
  S12: her church. Uh, no matter what age she is. And
• 34:50
  S12: she's like, I still have a lot of life in me.
• 34:52
  S12: I am still here on this earth pursuing Jesus. So
• 34:55
  S12: she took a class studying and teaching the Bible, um,
• 34:58
  S12: and is just excited to continue to to study and
• 35:00
  S12: take her classes so that she is more effective in
• 35:04
  S12: the ministry that she has right now in her life.
• 35:06
  S12: Not planning to go into a full time job. She's 75,
• 35:09
  S12: but she goes, hey, but I am still valuable to
• 35:11
  S12: the kingdom. So whether you're young or old or in between,
• 35:14
  S12: however you see yourself moody online has something for you
• 35:17
  S12: to offer. So call our admissions office. See what we have.
• 35:21
  S12: We would love to have you in our classes.
• 35:23
  S4: I love this. We've got an easy link for you.
• 35:24
  S4: Just text Moody to 805 557898. Maybe what you're looking
• 35:30
  S4: for is continuing education a challenge for your high school student?
• 35:34
  S4: Just text Moody to 805 557898.
• 35:39
  S1: Helping you take the next step in your walk with Jesus.
• 35:42
  S2: God longs for us today to seek him and ask
• 35:46
  S2: him to move in ways that we never could.
• 35:49
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 35:51
  S4: It's totally normal to be tempted to make much of
• 35:56
  S4: yourself to search for. As we've been talking about this week,
• 36:00
  S4: what are you looking for? To look for significance and
• 36:04
  S4: acclaim and success and achievement by getting a couple more
• 36:10
  S4: followers on your social media platforms, by getting your voice
• 36:14
  S4: out there a little bit more, by getting networked and
• 36:17
  S4: connected with the right people so that you can be seen,
• 36:20
  S4: so that you can be noticed, so that you can
• 36:23
  S4: be promoted on. And there is nothing inherently wrong with
• 36:28
  S4: wanting to live a life of impact that's actually hardwired
• 36:32
  S4: in us. But the challenge and the problem becomes it
• 36:35
  S4: becomes more about making much of self and less about
• 36:39
  S4: making much of the one who we are called to
• 36:42
  S4: serve and to magnify. Special guest joining us this morning,
• 36:46
  S4: Morgan Krueger. She's a wife. She's a mother. She's a speaker, author.
• 36:50
  S4: She's found her voice connecting with women, seeking biblical freedom
• 36:53
  S4: from the brokenness of shame. So much of our pursuit,
• 36:57
  S4: Morgan can become about. How can I make myself more significant?
• 37:01
  S4: How does this personally hit you?
• 37:04
  S13: Gosh, it hits me in every single way. Just as
• 37:06
  S13: you were sharing some of those examples, it was a
• 37:09
  S13: reminder to my own heart that I need the message
• 37:12
  S13: myself again and again and again. And I think that
• 37:15
  S13: the trouble comes when we start to put our identity,
• 37:19
  S13: even for a lot of us, into the good gifts
• 37:22
  S13: that God's given us. And we try to take a
• 37:24
  S13: little bit of that glory, a piece of the glory pie,
• 37:26
  S13: if you know what I mean. But what I have
• 37:28
  S13: found is that God is so much greater. And, you know,
• 37:33
  S13: to magnify just means to make great. And so when
• 37:35
  S13: we wake up this morning for everyone listening, we have
• 37:38
  S13: an invitation. We can wake up and make great our name,
• 37:41
  S13: or we can wake up and make great the name
• 37:43
  S13: of Jesus. There's a choice before us every single morning,
• 37:47
  S13: and I'm grateful for that. I'm grateful for those new mercies.
• 37:50
  S4: Yeah, Morgan. She's written a book made to magnify choosing
• 37:53
  S4: to live for Jesus when everything tells you to live
• 37:56
  S4: for yourself. Tell us a little bit more about who
• 37:59
  S4: you are and how and how you your journey brought
• 38:01
  S4: you to writing this book.
• 38:03
  S13: Well, like you said, as you intro'd me, I'm a wife,
• 38:06
  S13: I'm a mother. I'm just kind of your average girl
• 38:08
  S13: who has been impacted by a very, uh, incredible God.
• 38:11
  S13: And it was a couple years ago, I found myself
• 38:13
  S13: in a season where, um, I had seen the fulfillment
• 38:16
  S13: of so many things that I had prayed for. I had, um,
• 38:19
  S13: landed kind of my dream ministry job. I, I was
• 38:22
  S13: and still am in a wonderful marriage. There were so
• 38:25
  S13: many things in my life, um, that were just, uh,
• 38:27
  S13: good gifts from the Lord. Um, but I, if, if I,
• 38:31
  S13: if I'm honest, even as I walked with Jesus, um,
• 38:34
  S13: I drifted a bit into that kind of glory, uh,
• 38:37
  S13: that glory pie, trying to take some of that for myself.
• 38:40
  S13: And if I'm honest, I didn't even realize that until overnight,
• 38:44
  S13: almost a lot of things changed in my life. I
• 38:46
  S13: went through a job change. We changed cities. I had
• 38:49
  S13: a baby on the way. So all of these good
• 38:51
  S13: things that I once identified with were stripped away from me,
• 38:55
  S13: and it really revealed to me something that was going
• 38:58
  S13: on in my heart. Um, that, that idea that okay, wow.
• 39:03
  S13: Over time, I had started to put my identity in
• 39:06
  S13: the good gifts and not the giver. Um, and that
• 39:09
  S13: is when the Lord in that season sweetly brought me
• 39:12
  S13: to Luke one. And I just love that story of Mary.
• 39:15
  S13: You know, Mary had every reason to make the narrative
• 39:18
  S13: about herself, but she had her eyes so fixed on
• 39:21
  S13: God that when the world would have told her to
• 39:24
  S13: fear or to make the narrative about herself, she lifts
• 39:27
  S13: her eyes and she says, my soul magnifies the Lord,
• 39:29
  S13: and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior. And I
• 39:32
  S13: think whether we're on a mountain top or a valley,
• 39:34
  S13: what an invitation for all of us to lift our
• 39:36
  S13: eyes and say, the story is not about me. It's
• 39:39
  S13: about him. Let me live out this day with that
• 39:42
  S13: purpose in mind, which will bring so much more freedom
• 39:45
  S13: and joy than we ever even knew possible this side
• 39:48
  S13: of heaven.
• 39:48
  S4: You know, I'm glad that you shared a little bit
• 39:50
  S4: of your own story, because I think it's easy to
• 39:53
  S4: think that this is not a Christian problem. That somehow
• 39:58
  S4: the desire for likes and follows that. That's something that
• 40:02
  S4: once we find our identity in Christ, that that's that's
• 40:05
  S4: not something we would struggle. But it's easy to Christianize
• 40:08
  S4: our pursuit of glory or a piece of that glory
• 40:11
  S4: pie as, as you said, because the way that we
• 40:14
  S4: are set up, when you get a platform or you
• 40:16
  S4: get a ministry opportunity and you get a bit of
• 40:19
  S4: a following, that can be such a snare from the
• 40:23
  S4: enemy if we're not careful. AM I right?
• 40:25
  S13: Yeah. And doesn't he love to take kind of the
• 40:27
  S13: good gifts that God pours out on us and, and,
• 40:30
  S13: and convince us to distort them. You know, when we
• 40:32
  S13: go back to Genesis three, all of this that we're
• 40:34
  S13: talking about is so clearly laid out in Scripture. Um,
• 40:37
  S13: you know, the enemy tempted Adam and Eve to take
• 40:39
  S13: this good gift of unity and union with the father
• 40:43
  S13: of authority on earth, to work and to live and
• 40:46
  S13: to love and distorted it in a way to where
• 40:50
  S13: ultimately it came down to. They thought they were better
• 40:52
  S13: than God. They thought they knew better than God. And
• 40:55
  S13: that's what happens with us every single day. I think
• 40:57
  S13: that we have all these good gifts, these good plans
• 41:00
  S13: from the father laid out before us. But if the
• 41:02
  S13: enemy can kind of get his claws on us, it's
• 41:04
  S13: grip on us just a little bit. He's going to say, oh,
• 41:07
  S13: what if you took a little bit of that for yourself?
• 41:09
  S13: Just take one bite. But we know from that story,
• 41:12
  S13: and I think if we're honest, we know from our
• 41:14
  S13: life time and time again, anytime we try to take
• 41:17
  S13: the glory, anytime we try to take some of that
• 41:19
  S13: for ourselves, um, it leads us on the same path
• 41:23
  S13: as Adam and Eve to a place of hiding and
• 41:25
  S13: distance from the Lord. But again, if we reference that
• 41:28
  S13: scripture back in Genesis three, the story doesn't end with
• 41:30
  S13: our failure. The story ends with God's invitation to once
• 41:33
  S13: again return us back to him with a better covering
• 41:36
  S13: that we now know is in Christ Jesus.
• 41:39
  S4: Morgan Krueger, our guest this morning coming up. So let's
• 41:41
  S4: talk about what this looks like practically. How can we
• 41:44
  S4: get out of the cycle of self and what does
• 41:46
  S4: it truly mean to magnify Jesus. What are. What does
• 41:50
  S4: that look like in practical, everyday life? More coming up
• 41:52
  S4: here on Carl and Crew.
• 41:55
  S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 41:59
  S4: You know, a couple.
• 41:59
  S11: Years ago.
• 42:00
  S4: I launched a a blog. And before you ask about it,
• 42:04
  S4: I have did it for a couple of years and
• 42:07
  S4: then kind of set it aside so I won't be
• 42:09
  S4: sending it out to you. But I remember the eve
• 42:11
  S4: of the launch, I had done a lot of preparation.
• 42:13
  S4: It was really a vision I believe, that the Lord
• 42:15
  S4: gave me for this particular project. I had shot a
• 42:18
  S4: promotional video and I was the night before, I had
• 42:21
  S4: this moment of panic because I was so excited about
• 42:25
  S4: this and I thought, oh no, what if this becomes
• 42:28
  S4: about me? And I'm so excited about this thing, but
• 42:31
  S4: what if this is about me excited about because of me?
• 42:33
  S4: And what if it's not? And I literally went into
• 42:35
  S4: this loop where I was so tempted to put the
• 42:39
  S4: whole thing aside to just throw it all away because
• 42:42
  S4: I thought, I don't want this to become something that
• 42:45
  S4: somehow I take some glory from Morgan Krueger, my guest.
• 42:50
  S4: You know, it can be tempting to want to, like,
• 42:53
  S4: opt out altogether so that this isn't a struggle to, like,
• 42:56
  S4: not do anything that would appear significant, to not take
• 42:59
  S4: on any sort of ministry role or platform, because the
• 43:03
  S4: temptation toward pride, toward glorifying self will always be there.
• 43:07
  S4: So couldn't we just opt out altogether?
• 43:12
  S13: What a real tension. I love that story because I
• 43:15
  S13: think for a lot of us, we hear this and
• 43:17
  S13: we can almost start to be afraid a little bit
• 43:19
  S13: and swing the complete opposite way. And like God, I'm
• 43:22
  S13: so afraid of any of that. But as you started
• 43:25
  S13: this conversation, I love the word that you use. You
• 43:27
  S13: use the word impact. We are created for impact. We
• 43:31
  S13: are created for purpose. And God has laid out just
• 43:35
  S13: like the body. He has laid out purposes and plans
• 43:37
  S13: for every single one of us in Christ. And so
• 43:41
  S13: I think the tension is some of us can kind
• 43:44
  S13: of go out looking for a strategy so that we
• 43:47
  S13: don't start to take a piece of that glory pie. Right.
• 43:50
  S13: But what I want to encourage us with this morning
• 43:52
  S13: is that the Word of God and the invitation from
• 43:55
  S13: Jesus to make much of him. It's not a strategy,
• 43:57
  S13: but it is formed in us as we sit and
• 44:01
  S13: develop character with Jesus. And I think that the King
• 44:05
  S13: David does this so beautifully throughout the Psalms. He just
• 44:08
  S13: wrestles with the Lord. He just enters into this inner
• 44:11
  S13: tension that you're speaking on right now that so many
• 44:14
  S13: people can relate with. And it kind of culminates in
• 44:17
  S13: Psalm 139. He just says, search me, O God. Try me,
• 44:20
  S13: know me, know my thoughts, and point out anything in
• 44:23
  S13: me that is grieving your heart and lead me down
• 44:25
  S13: the path of everlasting life and man, what a prayer
• 44:28
  S13: to borrow. So if anyone out there is listening, uh,
• 44:30
  S13: borrow those words and start to wrestle that out because
• 44:33
  S13: you were created for impact and the Lord has good
• 44:36
  S13: plans for you. But we get the invitation to submit
• 44:38
  S13: those to him daily.
• 44:40
  S4: Morgan Krueger with us this morning. The title of her
• 44:42
  S4: book is Made to Magnify Choosing to live for Jesus
• 44:45
  S4: when everything tells you to live for yourself. Now this
• 44:48
  S4: word magnify. I think about the magnifying mirror that I
• 44:53
  S4: have in my bathroom that helps me, you know, to
• 44:55
  S4: get ready in the morning when I'm kind of bleary
• 44:57
  S4: eyed and sleep deprived. But what does it look like
• 44:59
  S4: to magnify Jesus? What does that look like practically? What
• 45:02
  S4: did you learn in your study for this book?
• 45:04
  S13: The most simple definition that I could find as I
• 45:07
  S13: studied Scripture, and you know what David meant when he said,
• 45:11
  S13: come and magnify the Lord with me in Psalm 34.
• 45:13
  S13: And like we talked about in Luke one, the most
• 45:15
  S13: clear definition I could find is to make great. Now
• 45:18
  S13: I want to make the distinction we. On earth. It
• 45:20
  S13: is not our job to make God great. His name
• 45:23
  S13: is already great. He is a perfect, just, and holy God.
• 45:27
  S13: But what we have the invitation to do is to
• 45:30
  S13: almost pull heaven to earth and to illuminate and be
• 45:33
  S13: vessels for that greatness. And what I do want to
• 45:36
  S13: say to you is, I'm just an average girl. I
• 45:38
  S13: know you're just an average woman living her life. There's
• 45:40
  S13: so many people out there that are like, what does
• 45:42
  S13: this look like? I'm driving to work or I'm, you know,
• 45:45
  S13: with my kids this morning and I want to encourage you.
• 45:47
  S13: That is where it starts. Jesus has this really interesting
• 45:50
  S13: verse in Luke 16. He says, if you are faithful
• 45:52
  S13: with little, then you can be faithful with much. And
• 45:55
  S13: I think if we dive into that verse, we can
• 45:56
  S13: see that Jesus's invitation is for us to realize that
• 46:00
  S13: the little things are not little to him. Once we
• 46:02
  S13: can realize that the little things are what make a
• 46:04
  S13: big impact, we will start to be women who magnify
• 46:07
  S13: Jesus more and more and more. So that starts with
• 46:09
  S13: patience with our kids. It starts with kindness to the coworker.
• 46:13
  S13: It starts with, you know, not returning hate for hate online,
• 46:17
  S13: whatever it is for you and your context. I promise
• 46:20
  S13: you those little things that God is asking us to
• 46:23
  S13: be faithful with. They're not little to the heart of God,
• 46:25
  S13: and those little things can actually make a big difference
• 46:27
  S13: to the world around us.
• 46:28
  S4: The book made to magnify just text the word magnify
• 46:31
  S4: to 805, five, five, 78, 98. We'll get you the details.
• 46:35
  S4: Text magnify to 805 557898.