Latest / Karl and Crew / When Overwhelm Points to Deeper Pressure with Dr. Deb Gorton & Distraction, Discouragement, and Spiritual Warfare with Daniel Henderson

Transcript

When Overwhelm Points to Deeper Pressure with Dr. Deb Gorton & Distraction, Discouragement, and Spiritual Warfare with Daniel Henderson · 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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  S3: I'm.
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  S2: I'm telling you right now, I'm going to make a
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  S2: prediction that if anyone on our team is alert to
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  S2: being outwitted by someone who is that someone I'm referring to?
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  S5: Alert to being alert to.
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  S3: Being.
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  S2: Outwitted by someone.
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  S7: I'm lost. Yeah. Catch.
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  S3: So what?
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  S2: What does outwitted mean?
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  S5: To be outsmarted?
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  S2: Yeah. You kind of get that. Somebody gets the angle
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  S2: on you who's most alert to that stuff?
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  S7: Ali?
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  S3: Yeah, Ali.
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  S2: Ali Ali's alert to this.
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  S7: Okay, well.
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  S4: What's the what's the point here?
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  S2: No, there's. I'm not going to get to the point yet.
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  S2: I'm going to milk this one for a second. No, Ali,
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  S2: you're alert to this. So let me ask this, okay?
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  S2: Why are you alert to being outwitted?
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  S4: Um, I some of it's sort of my personality, I guess.
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  S4: I mean, I think I'm hardwired to be, I don't
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  S4: want to say suspicious.
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  S7: I don't want to say suspicious.
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  S2: Let's do say it. Let's do say.
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  S3: It.
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  S4: I am a bit suspicious sometimes.
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  S7: That's so good. Oh. Of what?
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  S2: What's the point?
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  S4: Okay.
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  S3: Yeah. Yeah. What is it?
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  S2: And by the way, I applaud that. I think it's biblical.
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  S4: It's biblical. And I mean, I live in a big
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  S4: city and I feel like some of it is just
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  S4: you got to have your head on a swivel if
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  S4: you live in Chicago. I mean, you just do.
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  S2: Oh my goodness, when I, you know, I don't know.
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  S2: I don't it's not cynicism. I think it's just the
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  S2: reality of life. I mean, sometimes when I go shopping
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  S2: for stuff and somebody's trying to put the sales job
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  S2: on me, I'm like, so alert to that.
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  S3: I'm like.
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  S2: It almost makes me less inclined, you know what I'm saying?
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  S4: I know, and, you know, you get these calls like
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  S4: I get so many spam calls on my cell phone.
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  S3: Oh, sister.
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  S2: What is.
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  S3: That about?
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  S4: It's like, this is so and so. And I was wondering,
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  S4: do you own the property at such and such address?
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  S4: And I am wondering if you're interested in selling, you know,
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  S4: and I try to be like polite but really firm.
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  S4: And so I always say thank you so much for calling.
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  S4: I really appreciate your time, but I'm not going to
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  S4: take this call right now. Thank you. Bye. I just
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  S4: but I try to be I try to be polite before,
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  S4: like in as few words as possible before I hang
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  S4: up on them because I'm not taking these calls.
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  S2: Have you called that service yet that you can block
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  S2: spam calls?
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  S4: No.
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  S2: Yeah, I've done that.
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  S4: Oh, does it work?
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  S3: Does it.
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  S2: Help? Oh yeah. It works really well. It eliminates a
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  S2: lot of them. There's a national number you can call.
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  S2: I don't know.
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  S3: What you get.
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  S4: On like the do Not call.
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  S3: List. Yeah, but I.
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  S4: Got.
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  S3: That.
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  S2: But somebody breaking through that list.
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  S3: Oh, sure.
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  S4: You get calls from all kinds. You're you have you
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  S4: renewed your car warranty? Have you considered selling your house?
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  S4: Do you need a new appliance? No, no and no.
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  S5: My dad had a Chevrolet Impala that some scammer called
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  S5: on him. They got the information that he had a
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  S5: Chevy somehow, and they said, we're calling to discuss a
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  S5: problem with your warranty on your Chevrolet. And he said, no,
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  S5: you're not. And they were like, what do you mean?
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  S5: He said, you called it a Chevrolet. He goes, you
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  S5: do not know what you're talking about. He says, I'm going,
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  S5: I'm gonna go away now. And like, I was like, oh,
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  S5: that's a good one.
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  S2: How about the texts that you get? They're getting more creative.
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  S2: It's like, man, it's been a while, Carl, since we've
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  S2: caught up.
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  S3: Oh, yeah. Yeah. And hey, how you doing? Yeah.
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  S2: It's gonna be longer.
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  S3: Yeah. Right. And and I.
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  S2: Do the delete and report on those all the time. Oh,
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  S2: I'm with you.
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  S4: Yeah. So you're a little suspicious yourself, then?
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  S2: Well, I'm picking up on suspicious. I've worked with you
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  S2: long enough now. I'm. I don't want to be outwitted.
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  S4: Question everything.
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  S5: So what is Alli? What is. What is she specifically
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  S5: being suspicious of that made you think of this?
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  S2: Well, no. What made me think of it is the
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  S2: central passage of Scripture.
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  S5: Ah.
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  S2: And then I thought, oh, Alli's doing this, kid. Um,
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  S2: in second Corinthians chapter two, the apostle Paul is talking about, uh,
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  S2: forgiving someone and really hanging with it. And if you forgive,
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  S2: I forgive them. And we're all going to forgive them.
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  S2: And then it says this interesting thing here that is
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  S2: an attack of Satan that we don't often refer to.
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  S2: And it's found in verse ten. I'll back verse 11.
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  S2: I'll back up verse ten. Anyone whom you forgive, I
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  S2: also forgive. Indeed, what I have forgiven, I have forgiven.
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  S2: Anything has been for your sake, in the presence of Christ,
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  S2: so that we would not be outwitted by Satan, For
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  S2: we are not ignorant of his designs. Satan selling stuff. He's.
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  S2: This is a. You. We don't often refer to this passage,
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  S2: do we? For spiritual war?
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  S4: No.
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  S2: And this is a big.
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  S4: One, and I'm so glad that you set it up
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  S4: that way, because everybody knows the feeling that you. You
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  S4: wonder if you're being scammed. Is this for real? It
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  S4: sounds too good to be true. And we know what
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  S4: that feels like in real life. But sometimes we can.
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  S4: Our our spidey senses go way down when it comes
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  S4: to being outwitted by the enemy. It's like, why don't
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  S4: we see that this is not real, that this is
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  S4: not from God, that that suggestion, that that impression that
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  S4: that thought that's not from the Lord.
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  S2: Yeah. And the direct context here is pretty weighty. It's,
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  S2: it's implying that Satan wants to outwit us by not
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  S2: forgiving someone who we're called to forgive.
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  S4: Wow. Interesting. The direct context there.
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  S2: Isn't that something? Then I mean, so he's an accuser
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  S2: and he's a deceiver. And this deception Satan is attempting
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  S2: to outwit us with regard to us standing solidly on
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  S2: biblical principles that have impact on the relationships around us. Now,
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  S2: I want to put a qualifier here. Forgiveness does not
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  S2: mean forgetting. Forgiveness does not mean now you can come
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  S2: into my home, so to speak, as a metaphor for you.
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  S2: You get back into my, you know, innermost thoughts and
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  S2: what's going on with me here. That's not what's going
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  S2: on here. But it's a fascinating thing to see. In
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  S2: second Corinthians chapter two, you can look at it yourself,
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  S2: verse 11, that Paul is keenly aware that Satan's trying
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  S2: to outwit. For we are not ignorant of his designs. That's.
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  S2: We don't hit that passage.
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  S4: No.
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  S2: No. Very often. But there it is. Right there. Is
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  S2: the battle real? Are we in a constant spiritual war?
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  S2: And the answer is unequivocally yes. And so don't be
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  S2: outwitted today. Now the answer is how do you deal
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  S2: with that? You get firmly anchored in the Word of God.
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  S2: Let your yes be yes and your no. Be no
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  S2: and stand there even if it's forgiving someone.
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  S1: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and Crew.
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  S2: So it all sounds great. You get the title Prince
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  S2: of Preachers. Metropolitan Tabernacle, London. C.H. Spurgeon was the preacher
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  S2: used powerfully of God, a little known reality. C.H. Spurgeon
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  S2: struggled a lot with discouragement. His wife had to talk
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  S2: him off the ledge often and get his feet back,
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  S2: grounded himself back on the rock. Spiritual warfare was immense,
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  S2: and he is known to have said whenever he's in
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  S2: a massive spiritual war, he knows that breakthrough is right
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  S2: around the corner. Daniel Henderson, Spiritual war why didn't we
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  S2: learn more about that in Bible college and seminary? My man.
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  S8: Well, obviously, Carl, there's a lot of hope in the gospel,
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  S8: but sometimes the way we present it allows people to think, well,
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  S8: if I accept Jesus, life will be a cakewalk and
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  S8: all will be well. But that's when the war begins
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  S8: because the enemy hates the gospel. He hates our Savior,
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  S8: and he hates people who are ready to live in
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  S8: victory for Jesus Christ. And so the war begins.
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  S4: Daniel Henderson with us right now. He's the founder and
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  S4: president of Strategic Renewal International, which is which coaches, pastors
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  S4: and offers renewal events across North America. Also, he's the
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  S4: global director of the six for fellowship. You are all
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  S4: about helping pastors to thrive and to flourish despite sometimes
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  S4: shaky times. Are we too slow to to call out
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  S4: spiritual warfare. Sometimes we know it when we see it, right?
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  S4: I mean, we go through difficult times. We there are
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  S4: things that come at us, particularly leaders who are on
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  S4: the front lines. Are we too slow to name it
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  S4: for what it is?
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  S8: I think we certainly are. And, you know, social media,
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  S8: of course, doesn't help. Nobody posts their down days, their brokenness,
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  S8: their battles. It's always the the wonderful stories of a
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  S8: happy life. And I think that creates false expectations for
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  S8: all of us. But certainly those in ministry and the
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  S8: ones who are profiled, obviously God blesses. They got a
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  S8: great platform, but that's not the reality of day to
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  S8: day ministry in life. It is war. And the reason
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  S8: Jesus taught us to pray every day lead us not
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  S8: into temptation, but deliver us from evil or deliver us
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  S8: from evil in some cases, but is because there is
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  S8: a constant battle for our spiritual well-being and the glory
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  S8: of Christ through our lives.
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  S2: He's the accuser. He's the deceiver, And I think sometimes, Daniel,
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  S2: we invite people into ministry. And one of the things
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  S2: that I've learned after a lot of years is when
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  S2: you invite people into ministry, you need to have a
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  S2: little asterisks here and saying, you're going to have great
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  S2: joys and there's going to be great opposition. I'm inviting
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  S2: you into a bull's eye, almost more than a path.
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  S2: What's your perspective on that? How do we orient people
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  S2: around this spiritual war without discouraging them or frightening them?
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  S8: Well, we have to begin with a full trust in
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  S8: the sufficiency of God through Christ and His Spirit to
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  S8: sustain us, uh, to give us endurance. And one of
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  S8: my favorite passages, Carl, second Corinthians one, where Paul begins
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  S8: praising the God of all comfort in everything. He comforts us.
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  S8: And then he said, but, you know, there was a
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  S8: season when I didn't think I was going to make it.
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  S8: I despaired of life, right? I was dead, I was
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  S8: down for the count. But I love what he says.
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  S8: Carl says that was to teach us not to rely
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  S8: on ourselves, but God who raises the dead. So, you know,
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  S8: even Paul had to be kind of pulled away from
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  S8: self reliance in order to experience the fullness of relying
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  S8: on God who raises the dead. And that's the journey.
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  S8: It's a hard one. But man, the choice is so good.
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  S8: I can either depend on myself or I can depend
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  S8: on the resurrection power of Jesus and experience his comfort
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  S8: in all of its fullness.
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  S2: I'm so glad you're in Corinthians. I'm going to go
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  S2: to one of my favorite passages, this one, when I
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  S2: first read it, Daniel, I'm like, yes, no. And it's
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  S2: first Corinthians 169, and he's and Paul's talking about, look,
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  S2: I want to come see you, but I'm going to
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  S2: hang on here in Ephesus. And then verse nine is
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  S2: for a wide door, for effective work has opened to me.
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  S2: You're praying, Oh God, let there be a period. No,
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  S2: there's a comma and there are many adversaries. Oh my goodness, Daniel,
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  S2: comment on that.
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  S8: Well, obviously, again, there is such a a spiritual battle
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  S8: going on that we don't see, and the enemy's target
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  S8: is ultimately Christ, and we're the means by which he
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  S8: tries to dishonor Christ and undermine the gospel. So there's
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  S8: always going to be opposition. And, you know, if you're
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  S8: not feeling any sense of pushback from the enemy, you
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  S8: may not be a threat. So the reality is, the
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  S8: more serious we get about the gospel, the more severe
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  S8: I think the battle becomes for us.
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  S4: Daniel, talk a little bit about your ministry to pastors.
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  S4: I mean, it's hard to draw vast conclusions based on,
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  S4: you know, a lot of different individual stories, but what
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  S4: are you seeing that is, are some of the things
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  S4: that pastors are battling with in the context of ministry today?
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  S8: Yeah, one of the biggest obstacles I think today to
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  S8: spiritual well-being and ministry. It may sound simple, but it's
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  S8: so important as distraction. I tell pastors all the time
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  S8: that the devil doesn't have to destroy you. He only
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  S8: has to distract you. And if we get distracted with
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  S8: things other than what God's called us to do, we're
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  S8: going to dilute our passion and ultimately find ourselves destroyed.
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  S8: And so the big thing, it sounds so simple. We
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  S8: just keep calling pastors back to what God has already
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  S8: promised to bless. And that was the conviction of acts
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  S8: six four. We'll devote ourselves to prayer and the ministry
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  S8: of the word. We're going to believe the Lord can
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  S8: solve this widow feeding program through some others that God
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  S8: raised up. But we're going to stay focused on what
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  S8: produces spiritual health for us and allows us to truly
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  S8: have supernatural ministry to advance the gospel in the church.
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  S8: So we're really calling them back to focus, priorities, wholeness,
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  S8: and fruitfulness, uh, and away from the distractions that can
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  S8: be so destructive to ministry today.
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  S2: One of the best proof texts, I think, for this
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  S2: distraction factor is found in, in the story of Nehemiah,
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  S2: when he's called to go back and rebuild. And there's
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  S2: these two guys, Sanballat and Tobiah, that are trying to
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  S2: pull them away from this work, and they're trying to intimidate.
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  S2: And he's like, no, I'm not messing with you guys.
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  S2: How do you delineate between distraction and calling?
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  S8: Well, again, I think the scriptures are clear about what
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  S8: our calling is. And unfortunately, again, we reference social media
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  S8: and all the the wonderful examples of sorts that we
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  S8: see about successful pastors. And I think we begin to
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  S8: do ministry by imitation rather than by rather than by inspiration. Uh,
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  S8: we're trying to wear someone else's ministry clothes that never fit.
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  S8: And that's not our calling. Right? We need to stay
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  S8: focused on what does the scripture really tell me to do,
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  S8: and then I can trust God for the results in
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  S8: my life and not have to compare myself with others
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  S8: or compete with others. Because when I get to heaven,
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  S8: he's just going to ask me, why wasn't the best
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  S8: version of who he called me to be, rather than
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  S8: me trying to be like someone else?
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  S2: You know, we alluded to this there's no divide between
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  S2: spiritual and secular, not in God's economy. We're all ministers
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  S2: of the gospel, and I know that there is an
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  S2: added weight to those that are equipping the saints to
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  S2: do the work of ministry. I'm in that, I get it.
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  S2: We're in spiritual war constantly. My bride and I discuss it.
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  S2: I would guess at least once or twice a week.
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  S2: The reality is spiritual war. But in many ways, there's
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  S2: a lot of people that really the the when they
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  S2: begin to exercise their spiritual gift, opposition will come. I
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  S2: think knowing that is half the battle to persevere, is
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  S2: it not? Daniel.
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  S8: It is. Yeah. You know, false expectations can create some
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  S8: great disappointment and discouragement. We have to expect that. Again,
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  S8: we're in a spiritual warfare. And the more I remember
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  S8: Bill bright back in the day I interviewed him years ago,
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  S8: he said, every soul is precious, but not every Christian
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  S8: is strategic. And I love that. Every soul is precious.
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  S8: But when we begin to be strategic in the kingdom, uh,
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  S8: as we've noted already, there's going to be a level
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  S8: of spiritual pushback and we become a threat to the
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  S8: enemy and his kingdom of darkness. But again, the Lord
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  S8: is sufficient. That's why we are clothed in the armor
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  S8: of Christ. And as we said earlier, God's going to
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  S8: give us all the comfort and encouragement we need to
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  S8: continue to persevere and finish well.
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  S4: Daniel Henderson, he's the founder and president of Strategic Renewal International.
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  S4: He's the global director of the Six four fellowship, also
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  S4: one of the books, one of his many books, Never
• 17:03
  S4: Shaken Finding Your Footing When the World is Sliding Away.
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  S2: Good title.
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  S4: Yeah, that's a good.
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  S2: One, man.
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  S4: Text shaken to 805 557898. Shaken 805 5578. 98.
• 17:19
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 17:23
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 17:26
  S2: Who we run to when the pressure builds is something
• 17:30
  S2: that grows over time. And I think any notion that
• 17:36
  S2: you blow it when the pressure's building, you don't really.
• 17:40
  S2: What what comes out of you. Doesn't show faith in God.
• 17:44
  S2: I'm going to say something very unusual here. Give yourself
• 17:49
  S2: a break. Yeah, I'm going to say it. Give yourself
• 17:52
  S2: a break. A faith journey grows over time. That is
• 17:59
  S2: a that is truth. When you're born again, you don't
• 18:03
  S2: all of a sudden have this robust faith. It's like, oh,
• 18:07
  S2: my theology is cleared up. I've got it all figured out. Yeah.
• 18:13
  S2: It just doesn't work that way.
• 18:15
  S5: You know, we had, uh, Pastor Leonard tanks in with
• 18:18
  S5: us last week or two weeks ago, and he was
• 18:20
  S5: talking about the discipleship process and how he was discipled.
• 18:24
  S5: And then about a year into his faith process, he
• 18:27
  S5: started discipling another young man who had just come to faith.
• 18:30
  S5: And he said, the good thing was, was that he
• 18:32
  S5: was still being discipled. So the person who was discipling
• 18:35
  S5: him and had been in the faith for longer could
• 18:38
  S5: kind of help. Correct course if he made a mistake
• 18:42
  S5: or said something wrong. And I love that because it's
• 18:44
  S5: just so real and it's so human. Like when we're
• 18:47
  S5: early on, we're still new at this and God's still doing.
• 18:50
  S5: I mean, he's always doing great works in us, but
• 18:52
  S5: he's still getting some things out of our life and
• 18:54
  S5: changing some patterns and, and teaching us some new things
• 18:57
  S5: that we had never gotten before. And that's normal. Yeah.
• 19:01
  S2: It's right here in Mark four. This the scene is
• 19:03
  S2: set here. It's it's right on the heels. By the way, Mark.
• 19:06
  S2: First gospel written Mark four early on in the gospel
• 19:10
  S2: and he's gone through. We find in chapter three parable
• 19:13
  S2: of the sower parable, the purpose of the parables. Everything's
• 19:16
  S2: being illuminated here. And then they get out onto a lake.
• 19:18
  S2: After he's done some more parables about the kingdom of God,
• 19:22
  S2: they get out on the Sea of Galilee, Sea of Galilee,
• 19:24
  S2: not the Lake of Galilee. I will say, though it's
• 19:26
  S2: a small sea for sure. So they get on the
• 19:29
  S2: Sea of Galilee, and there's a storm, and they're taking
• 19:34
  S2: on water, and Jesus is asleep on a cushion. I
• 19:38
  S2: love the fact that he's on a cushion. I love
• 19:41
  S2: that I'm pro.
• 19:42
  S5: Gotta get comfy. Can't just fall asleep on a wood plank.
• 19:45
  S4: No.
• 19:46
  S2: Let me tell you, having been a commercial fisherman, there
• 19:49
  S2: is no joy in getting banged around out on the
• 19:54
  S2: ocean when you're laying on a deck of steel or wood.
• 19:57
  S2: And I've done it before and I've. I've also drug
• 20:00
  S2: out cushions. I didn't use Mark four as my proof
• 20:02
  S2: text for it, but it's right here. Jesus is on
• 20:05
  S2: a cushion. He's crashed out and they're taking on water.
• 20:09
  S2: And he's like, they're, they're like, hey, wake up. Do
• 20:15
  S2: you not? And here's the key word. Do you not care?
• 20:18
  S2: So they knew he was able. Now they're wondering, do
• 20:20
  S2: you not care? Which is a great insight, isn't it?
• 20:23
  S9: Mhm.
• 20:23
  S2: And then he goes on, Jesus says, peace be still.
• 20:26
  S2: The wind ceased and there was great calm. And he
• 20:30
  S2: said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you
• 20:33
  S2: still no faith? And they were filled with great fear,
• 20:37
  S2: and said to one another. Who then is this, that
• 20:40
  S2: even the wind and the sea obey him? The disciples
• 20:43
  S2: had been with him for some time. They had seen
• 20:47
  S2: some radical things that validated his deity, but they hadn't
• 20:51
  S2: grown to the point where they could be in the
• 20:53
  S2: middle of a storm, even with him on board and go,
• 20:57
  S2: we're good. There's a growth trajectory in this thing of faith,
• 21:01
  S2: but the more we experience God in those pressure points,
• 21:06
  S2: the more we see him come through and the greater
• 21:09
  S2: our faith grows still. And the faith is not our faith. Oh,
• 21:14
  S2: let me be clear here. Faith is not what we
• 21:17
  S2: conjure up. It's the object of our faith that saves us,
• 21:22
  S2: not the amount of our faith. So when we get
• 21:25
  S2: it centered on Christ and that he alone can deliver
• 21:30
  S2: us from these points of pressure, boom! Everything changes.
• 21:34
  S4: So what would you say taking this, uh, this That's
• 21:38
  S4: described in Mark four, starting in verse 35. So they
• 21:41
  S4: kind of are panicking a little bit. Teacher, do you
• 21:43
  S4: not care that we are perishing? Let's say they're in
• 21:46
  S4: this same situation. A storm hits a boat a year later.
• 21:51
  S4: What would growth look like for the disciples? What would
• 21:54
  S4: a growth response that would show that they trust him more?
• 21:58
  S4: A year from this moment, I'm just kind of creating
• 22:01
  S4: a scenario than they do here.
• 22:02
  S2: Yeah, I think that's that's a really good question. So
• 22:06
  S2: let me put a caveat on this one. They didn't
• 22:09
  S2: really get it until he rose from the dead. Right.
• 22:13
  S2: And showed up. Let's be really fair there. So they
• 22:16
  S2: didn't really get it. But I think what what we
• 22:19
  S2: do find is that when they got it, I think
• 22:23
  S2: the natural response would be if if there was an
• 22:28
  S2: occasion where their faith is growing, I think there would
• 22:33
  S2: have been less panic. I think it would be tapping
• 22:35
  S2: them on the shoulder going, hey, you're here, you got this.
• 22:38
  S2: But we want to let you know we're in a
• 22:40
  S2: storm rather than going, do you not care? Yeah. I
• 22:44
  S2: think what they would grow in faith in is knowing
• 22:47
  S2: out of this. They would know he cares. But see,
• 22:52
  S2: they were still blown away by this because they're like,
• 22:56
  S2: who is this guy who can tell the waves to stop? Yeah.
• 23:01
  S2: I mean, that's what they were doing. So he's in
• 23:03
  S2: the stern of the boat. And, and their discussion is
• 23:08
  S2: and he can hear him because I've been on those boats.
• 23:11
  S2: These are small little boats. He can hear them and
• 23:14
  S2: they're saying, who is this guy? And they, you know,
• 23:18
  S2: probably they would have been looking at him. I really
• 23:23
  S2: believe this. It would have been looking at him and
• 23:25
  S2: looking at each other going, who is this guy? They
• 23:27
  S2: might have been laughing. We sometimes don't humanize these stories enough,
• 23:32
  S2: because I'm telling you, if I'm on that boat with
• 23:34
  S2: these guys, I'm looking at Jesus going, who is this guy?
• 23:38
  S4: Well, and it's interesting that they were still they were
• 23:41
  S4: afraid when the storm hit. They were also afraid after
• 23:45
  S4: the wind ceased. And there was great calm because the
• 23:47
  S4: verse 31 says they were filled with great fear. So
• 23:49
  S4: his power over the storm was also I mean, it's
• 23:53
  S4: scary to them just in terms of their mind had
• 23:56
  S4: no way of computing, like what just happened? Who is
• 23:59
  S4: this guy?
• 24:00
  S2: Yeah, yeah. Have you have you ever prayed for something
• 24:03
  S2: and you prayed believing and then you got it and
• 24:07
  S2: you're like, whoa, whoa.
• 24:08
  S4: Yeah.
• 24:09
  S2: And we had my bride and I had that happen
• 24:11
  S2: in Togo. We prayed for a guy that had a
• 24:14
  S2: massive malady that it's like, oh my goodness. And when
• 24:18
  S2: we prayed, we prayed. It was it was a bad situation.
• 24:23
  S2: We prayed believing that God was going to heal this
• 24:25
  S2: guy in that moment. And he didn't in that moment.
• 24:27
  S2: But we had such a sense that he was when
• 24:30
  S2: God provided the way to heal this guy. And he did,
• 24:33
  S2: we're like, whoa. So you're right. Ali it's funny because
• 24:39
  S2: you have a what are we going to do? And
• 24:41
  S2: then when God delivers.
• 24:42
  S4: What.
• 24:43
  S2: Happened? What just happened?
• 24:45
  S5: You know, something I find. So I find this really cool, actually.
• 24:48
  S5: And I think it shares some of the kind of
• 24:50
  S5: the fear and amazement of the of the disciples is
• 24:53
  S5: that water and nature in and of itself. But water
• 24:56
  S5: specifically was known as this kind of chaotic, uncontrollable thing
• 25:03
  S5: in nature. And you see it in Genesis one, the
• 25:06
  S5: first verses of Genesis one. It says, in the beginning
• 25:08
  S5: God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was
• 25:10
  S5: without form and void, and the in darkness was over
• 25:14
  S5: the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God
• 25:15
  S5: was hovering over the face of the waters. Water was
• 25:18
  S5: there and it was formless. It was void. It was
• 25:20
  S5: an abyss. It was chaotic. And God brings order into
• 25:26
  S5: that chaos. And so now you have this raging sea,
• 25:29
  S5: this uncontrollable mess, and Jesus just gets up and says, okay, enough,
• 25:35
  S5: and it listens to him. And so the most chaotic,
• 25:38
  S5: uncontrollable thing in the physical world to them, he just
• 25:42
  S5: had to speak to it and it would listen. And that's,
• 25:45
  S5: that's a part of their amazement and their fear out
• 25:47
  S5: of it is they got a glimpse of something that
• 25:50
  S5: no one can do. And he did it.
• 25:53
  S2: Yeah. I've look, I've commercial fished enough to tell you
• 25:56
  S2: straight up guys, the time it takes for a storm
• 26:00
  S2: to move through and the waves to go away. Is
• 26:05
  S2: not in an instant. We're talking hours when a storm
• 26:10
  S2: moves through the waves. Calm down. It doesn't happen instantly. It's.
• 26:16
  S2: It's hours. So, yeah. Would it freak him out? Hey,
• 26:21
  S2: we need your help. Whoa! What? Now you're really freaking
• 26:28
  S2: mind blown.
• 26:29
  S4: Literally.
• 26:30
  S2: Yeah, that's our guide, guys. that is our God.
• 26:34
  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 26:37
  S2: So I didn't know anything about this, nor do I still.
• 26:42
  S2: I'm not a big baker. I'm certainly not a chef.
• 26:46
  S2: I'm not. I'm not even that short line guy that
• 26:48
  S2: can put, you know, the bacon on the on the eggs.
• 26:51
  S2: But I have watched it and I've talked to my
• 26:54
  S2: wife about this. I didn't know how important it is
• 26:57
  S2: to sift flour.
• 26:59
  S4: I didn't either. Okay. What's important to bake? So.
• 27:02
  S2: Well, I mean, there's a certain amount of sifting of
• 27:04
  S2: flour that you got to do in order for it
• 27:06
  S2: to do its thing. And that analogy works with life
• 27:11
  S2: in general. If we don't sort through what we're thinking about,
• 27:15
  S2: we can start believing lies. We get chunks of wrong
• 27:19
  S2: thoughts going into our not only our mind, but it
• 27:22
  S2: directs the way we live. Guys, some of the pressure
• 27:25
  S2: that we're feeling is because we we got to sort
• 27:28
  S2: the bad chunks out. You know what I mean?
• 27:30
  S4: Yeah. Doctor Deb Gordon we're going to ask you to
• 27:33
  S4: explain a little bit more because as a clinical psychologist
• 27:36
  S4: you are the founder and CEO of Sive Counseling and Consultation.
• 27:40
  S4: It's your counseling and training practice right here in Chicago. Consultation.
• 27:45
  S4: So explain the your use of the word sive.
• 27:48
  S10: It's like a sieve, but it's the phonetic pronunciation. I
• 27:50
  S10: got it from Amos nine nine where God said, I
• 27:53
  S10: will sift the nations. I think it's like what we
• 27:55
  S10: do in mental health. It's this idea that we all
• 27:57
  S10: bring something into our lives that shouldn't be there, right?
• 28:01
  S10: It's not how God designed us. And yet, do we
• 28:03
  S10: ever really take a moment to stop and think about
• 28:05
  S10: what am I holding? What am I believing? What am
• 28:07
  S10: I carrying that I shouldn't be carrying, believing, or holding?
• 28:11
  S10: And so in our practice, we work to sift that
• 28:14
  S10: out through a sieve and refine who God truly created
• 28:17
  S10: you to be. And I think we do that when
• 28:18
  S10: it comes to things like pressure and thoughts and what
• 28:21
  S10: we carry in the world, too.
• 28:23
  S2: How much pressure on a percentage scale from 0 to 100%.
• 28:29
  S2: How much pressure is because we haven't sifted out big
• 28:35
  S2: chunks of flawed thinking.
• 28:38
  S10: You know, I honestly would say a good chunk. I
• 28:40
  S10: could say for some people, it could be pressing upwards
• 28:43
  S10: in like the 75 to 80%, honestly. And here's the thing,
• 28:47
  S10: like we hear pressure and we immediately assume that's bad,
• 28:52
  S10: but God designed us to be motivated to grow and
• 28:55
  S10: to build resilience under pressure. So a healthy amount of
• 28:58
  S10: pressure is actually good.
• 29:01
  S4: So how do you differentiate between unhealthy pressure and healthy pressure?
• 29:05
  S10: I would say healthy pressure stays in the pressure realm
• 29:09
  S10: when it becomes unhealthy. It kind of shifts into burnout.
• 29:12
  S10: So think about a tire right? So pressure is like
• 29:16
  S10: the air and the tire. We all need air in
• 29:18
  S10: our tires. We need healthy, you know, pumped up tires
• 29:21
  S10: to go anywhere. But burnout is like driving on a
• 29:24
  S10: tire or riding a bike on a tire that's either overinflated, overloaded,
• 29:28
  S10: or never maintained. And if you've ever done that, what's
• 29:32
  S10: going to happen? The tire is going to pop.
• 29:34
  S2: Yeah, that's a good analogy. Okay. What are the biggest
• 29:38
  S2: pressure points right now in our society today? Have you
• 29:41
  S2: seen a shift in the last 1015 years?
• 29:44
  S10: Well, I think we can always go back to social
• 29:46
  S10: media and the comparison game. Right. And so as we
• 29:50
  S10: get more and more quote unquote information thrown at our
• 29:53
  S10: faces about how we should be living our lives, how
• 29:56
  S10: we should be successful in our workplaces, how we should
• 29:58
  S10: be functioning in our families. I mean, even how we
• 30:01
  S10: should be functioning as Christ followers in the church. A
• 30:05
  S10: lot of pressure is, I mean, I would say the
• 30:08
  S10: majority of pressure is self-imposed as a result of the
• 30:11
  S10: comparison game. And then you've got the pressure from other
• 30:14
  S10: people that starts to trickle down as a result of that.
• 30:18
  S4: Doctor Deb Gordon with us, clinical psychologist, author of the
• 30:21
  S4: book Embracing Uncomfortable Facing Our Fears While Pursuing Our Purpose.
• 30:25
  S4: How does somebody know when the pressure that they're feeling
• 30:28
  S4: or the you mentioned like that tire that's ready to
• 30:32
  S4: pop when people come to you, what is it usually
• 30:36
  S4: that's prompted them to go, okay, this is now crossed
• 30:39
  S4: into a point where I think I need some help
• 30:42
  S4: working through this.
• 30:44
  S10: Yeah, I hear one word more consistently than anything else.
• 30:48
  S10: I am overwhelmed. That's the word I hear so often.
• 30:52
  S10: And then I want to dig deeper into that because
• 30:55
  S10: what does that actually mean? Right. And so if I
• 30:57
  S10: start to hear things like, oh, I noticed that I'm
• 31:00
  S10: just short fused, I don't have any patience. I have
• 31:04
  S10: a hard time sleeping. I can't shut my mind off.
• 31:07
  S10: That's a big one. I'm feeling kind of emotionally cut
• 31:10
  S10: off or numb. I'm not enjoying things that I used
• 31:13
  S10: to enjoy anymore. Um, I noticed that I'm thinking kind
• 31:16
  S10: of catastrophically, like, oh my gosh, the rug is going
• 31:19
  S10: to get pulled out from underneath me. Or a big
• 31:22
  S10: one too is I'm pulling away from my relationships.
• 31:25
  S2: Have you found, Deb, that a lot of people feel
• 31:27
  S2: pressure and they can't put a finger on exactly why.
• 31:30
  S10: That can absolutely happen. You know, there's this saying, we
• 31:33
  S10: can't see the forest for the trees. Even for me
• 31:36
  S10: as a psychologist, I need good people around me to
• 31:39
  S10: speak into my life and to tell me what they see.
• 31:41
  S10: Because when I'm in the midst of it, it can
• 31:43
  S10: be really hard to figure out what's impacting me, how
• 31:46
  S10: I'm reacting to it. So I certainly get a lot
• 31:48
  S10: of people that walk into our offices and they know
• 31:51
  S10: something is off, but they can't quite pinpoint what it is.
• 31:54
  S10: And so I think that's actually one of the most
• 31:56
  S10: valuable things about counseling and wise counsel is you have
• 32:00
  S10: a perspective that's not in the middle of all your junk.
• 32:03
  S2: You know, some of this a quick story here. I've
• 32:06
  S2: got a good friend who's one of our campus directors now,
• 32:10
  S2: and he gladly says this, so he grants me permission
• 32:14
  S2: to share this as well. But he, he was missing
• 32:17
  S2: the mark. His focus for a lot of years in
• 32:20
  S2: life was focused on the wrong stuff. And it was.
• 32:24
  S2: And he would look back and say, yeah, I was
• 32:27
  S2: missing the mark, which is the term for sin. How
• 32:30
  S2: do you sort through what is something that we're missing
• 32:32
  S2: the mark. We're literally sinning versus we're feeling pressure, not
• 32:38
  S2: because it's I'm going to Hebrews 12 in my mind
• 32:41
  S2: here right now, not just the sin, but the other
• 32:44
  S2: stuff that entangles us. It seems to me as a counselor,
• 32:47
  S2: you want to help delineate between this is something that
• 32:50
  S2: you're absolutely getting wrong. You're focus is wrong, or this
• 32:54
  S2: is something that's entangled you. It's not sin, but it's
• 32:57
  S2: just holding you down.
• 32:59
  S10: That word entangled in your question is the key piece there,
• 33:03
  S10: because pressure becomes really unhealthy when it becomes chronic. And
• 33:08
  S10: when things become chronic chronic, it becomes so much more
• 33:10
  S10: difficult to recover from it. So I think that piece
• 33:13
  S10: of being entangled and ruminating and getting stuck in that
• 33:17
  S10: place and really struggling to, to step out and to say, okay,
• 33:22
  S10: how do I need to surrender this to God? What
• 33:24
  S10: do I need to trust that God is doing in
• 33:26
  S10: my life? And more importantly, where am I allowing pressure
• 33:30
  S10: to drive my identity? And I think that's a key piece.
• 33:33
  S10: A lot of people really struggle to see, like, your
• 33:37
  S10: actions are actually motivated by a false understanding of your
• 33:40
  S10: identity versus reacting in a way in which God designed
• 33:45
  S10: you and gifted you and resourced you and placed you
• 33:47
  S10: in this season and environment for the time that you're in.
• 33:51
  S4: You know, I don't know that I've ever heard more
• 33:54
  S4: about self-care and doing what serves me and eliminating certain
• 34:00
  S4: things that are no longer working for me. So I
• 34:03
  S4: hear a lot of language around this, which has the
• 34:06
  S4: appearance of cultivating sort of a healthier sense of mental health.
• 34:11
  S4: But I'm not sure it's working. What does true, like
• 34:15
  S4: healthy mental health habits look like? What is biblical self-care?
• 34:21
  S10: Here's the thing. I think a lot of People. The
• 34:24
  S10: first thing that they neglect or drop is care of
• 34:27
  S10: the self. And we like to use this term self
• 34:30
  S10: stewardship because I agree with you, this idea of self
• 34:33
  S10: care has become a terminology that doesn't actually mean what
• 34:37
  S10: biblically I think it's supposed to mean. You know, Jesus
• 34:39
  S10: is a great example. He not only felt pressure, I mean,
• 34:43
  S10: he said, you know, before the cross, my soul is
• 34:46
  S10: overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. He knew
• 34:48
  S10: what it was like to be under pressure and he
• 34:50
  S10: modeled self stewardship. You know, he stole away to quiet
• 34:54
  S10: moments in the desert. He spent time with the father.
• 34:56
  S10: We just tend to, unfortunately put that at the bottom
• 34:59
  S10: of the barrel, which honestly, and I can speak from experience,
• 35:04
  S10: reflects our lack of trust that God is going to provide.
• 35:07
  S10: And so biblical self stewardship is modeling the discipline that
• 35:11
  S10: Jesus modeled for us. You know, I always think of
• 35:14
  S10: the 23rd Psalm. How am I actually allowing God to
• 35:17
  S10: lead me into quiet spaces along, you know, the path
• 35:22
  S10: of still waters. To lie down in the green grass.
• 35:24
  S10: Get out in nature. I often take those things as
• 35:27
  S10: like once everything else is done, then I'll do that.
• 35:30
  S10: And God's like, no, no, no, you got to start
• 35:32
  S10: with me first. And there's no other way to do
• 35:34
  S10: that than to do it in a disciplined way. And honestly,
• 35:37
  S10: I would also say to bring people around you for accountability.
• 35:41
  S2: You know, I've been teaching through first Peter, and it's
• 35:45
  S2: really interesting because there's some implications in that letter that
• 35:50
  S2: are just amazing. And one hearkens back to the great commandment,
• 35:54
  S2: love the Lord your God with all our heart, soul,
• 35:56
  S2: mind and strength. That's Mark 1230. And love your neighbor
• 36:01
  S2: as yourself. I wonder kind of piggybacking on what Ali
• 36:05
  S2: is going after here, how much of the self care.
• 36:08
  S2: I'm not saying neglect self care, but how much of
• 36:11
  S2: the stuff that we make huge begins to fade away
• 36:15
  S2: when we start engaging with other people. I know you've
• 36:20
  S2: spoken with us before. Sometimes you counsel people. You need
• 36:23
  S2: to get outside of yourself. That's the best self-care you
• 36:26
  S2: can do.
• 36:27
  S10: Yeah. I mean, again, it's not the idea of neglecting
• 36:30
  S10: what you know to be true in your mind and
• 36:32
  S10: your body and your spirit, right? We need to do
• 36:35
  S10: that really wise, discerning self-assessment to say, hey, I'm feeling
• 36:39
  S10: this way. I've had this experience. All of that is valid.
• 36:43
  S10: And bringing it to other people to get wisdom and
• 36:47
  S10: wise counsel. So I think part of it is asking yourself,
• 36:50
  S10: who do you surround yourself with versus getting out of yourself?
• 36:53
  S10: I get what you're saying there, but really being able
• 36:56
  S10: to go, okay, hey, here's where I'm at. How can
• 36:58
  S10: you hold me accountable to this? How can we experience
• 37:01
  S10: joy together? How can we actually take the time together
• 37:04
  S10: to practice the discipline of self stewardship in a way
• 37:07
  S10: that will encourage us to actually do it? And what
• 37:09
  S10: I find really interesting, I love how scientific research supports
• 37:14
  S10: biblical truth. That's just one of my favorite things. It is.
• 37:17
  S10: And when you look at studies on resilience Studies will
• 37:21
  S10: consistently say that one of the strongest protective factors against
• 37:27
  S10: pressure becoming burnout isn't just tough it out, it's actually connection.
• 37:32
  S10: And so when we feel supported as people even and
• 37:37
  S10: I would say, especially when we're under pressure, we actually
• 37:40
  S10: cope better.
• 37:41
  S4: Doctor Deb Gordon with us this morning. We have resources
• 37:44
  S4: for you. Just text heal HEAL heal to 805 557898.
• 37:51
  S4: Text heal to 805 557898.
• 37:56
  S1: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to
• 38:00
  S1: cast and Crew.
• 38:01
  S2: Let's get the latest young thunder before we bring in
• 38:05
  S2: our guest here. What's going on in Iran?
• 38:07
  S5: Yeah. So this was last night that the US ramped
• 38:12
  S5: up strikes again in Iran. Uh, Trump told Fox News. Uh,
• 38:16
  S5: as of last night that they had used 49 Tomahawk
• 38:20
  S5: missiles to strike targets up to as close as 40
• 38:23
  S5: miles from the capital city, Tehran. In response, Iran has
• 38:28
  S5: said that they have closed the Strait of Hormuz completely.
• 38:32
  S5: The U.S., you know, goes up against that and says
• 38:35
  S5: that's not quite true. But Iran has also started to
• 38:39
  S5: attack three different countries where U.S. bases are are centered,
• 38:43
  S5: which is Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain. Jordan says they've intercepted
• 38:47
  S5: 20 different missiles. In Bahrain, a young girl was reportedly
• 38:50
  S5: injured after intercepting Iranian drones. So things are ramping up.
• 38:56
  S5: Trump also told Fox News that if they don't agree
• 38:59
  S5: to a peace deal today, that we will just bomb
• 39:01
  S5: them again tonight. That's the latest.
• 39:04
  S2: Doctor. Share it with us right now. What's your takeaway?
• 39:07
  S2: What are you hearing her most?
• 39:09
  S11: Yes. I'm in touch with the people of Iran. As
• 39:11
  S11: you know, we have many people who have come to
• 39:14
  S11: Christ through us and also many leaders and many house churches.
• 39:17
  S11: So we are in touch with the people of Iran.
• 39:19
  S11: They're very desperate. They are very hopeless. War or without war.
• 39:23
  S11: They have lost hope. They know if the negotiations come
• 39:28
  S11: to pass and the agreements are written, they will have
• 39:32
  S11: a very miserable life because the government will continue to
• 39:35
  S11: kill them. But the other hand, they know if this
• 39:38
  S11: regime collapses, still they will have a very miserable life.
• 39:44
  S11: So right now, war or without war, they have lost
• 39:47
  S11: hope and people are prisoners in their homes. As you
• 39:51
  S11: may have seen every night, the government and their people
• 39:55
  S11: are about about 1 to 5 million people pro-government, about
• 40:00
  S11: 90 million against the government. That's 5 million are on
• 40:03
  S11: the streets every night celebrating. They're having parties and they're
• 40:08
  S11: waving their weapons like even women. Can you believe that
• 40:11
  S11: even women with hijab with covering are on the streets
• 40:15
  S11: of Iran every night with pink guns. They're waving pink guns,
• 40:20
  S11: telling the people who are prisoners in their homes, the
• 40:22
  S11: rest of the people, the 90 million who are at home.
• 40:25
  S11: If you come on the streets, we will be going
• 40:28
  S11: to kill you. So it's a very desperate time. And
• 40:30
  S11: what will happen in Iran? I have to emphasize what
• 40:33
  S11: will happen. Iran not just will impact Iran, but it
• 40:37
  S11: will impact the Middle East and it will impact the world. Iran.
• 40:41
  S11: Iranian government staying or not staying will have an impact
• 40:45
  S11: to the whole world.
• 40:46
  S2: Yeah. Shiri. Our guest right now is founder and president
• 40:49
  S2: of Iran Live Ministries. And, you know, it's interesting because
• 40:55
  S2: I know shame is a big factor here. And I
• 40:58
  S2: think we've tried to provide some off ramps. I don't
• 41:01
  S2: know that the current regime is going to take an
• 41:03
  S2: off ramp. If that means giving up nuclear material, enriched
• 41:07
  S2: nuclear material, or opening up the strait. How how do
• 41:12
  S2: you you know, your own people? How do how in
• 41:15
  S2: the world do you let this regime kind of an
• 41:19
  S2: off ramp and not lose face in this whole process?
• 41:22
  S11: Hermus you're so right. Not losing face. But also, if
• 41:27
  S11: they stay, this regime stays. They gain everything. They have
• 41:30
  S11: the power. They will have all the money, the oil
• 41:34
  S11: they will sell, they will continue a good life. But
• 41:37
  S11: if they lose this battle, they're going to lose everything.
• 41:40
  S11: The people in power in Iran, they will lose, of course,
• 41:44
  S11: the power. They will lose the money. All these billions
• 41:48
  S11: of dollars they have right now, and they're enriching themselves.
• 41:51
  S11: And most important, they will lose their lives. They know
• 41:54
  S11: if they fall, the people who are against them, they're
• 41:57
  S11: going to kill them. They have said the people of
• 42:00
  S11: Iran said, once you take over, we're going to kill
• 42:03
  S11: each one of you, the clerics on the streets. We're
• 42:06
  S11: going to hang you. So the regime, the current regime,
• 42:09
  S11: has everything to lose if they go and everything to
• 42:13
  S11: gain if they stay, that's why they're hanging on. And
• 42:16
  S11: they're hoping that by prolonging this war will force Trump
• 42:22
  S11: to end the war, because they know there's pressure on him.
• 42:25
  S11: So the government of Iran is trying, and they're trying
• 42:28
  S11: their best to stay and to take over. By the way,
• 42:31
  S11: this matches the prophecies in the Bible. Ezekiel 38, we
• 42:35
  S11: see Iran attacking Israel. So if this regime stays the
• 42:40
  S11: fulfillment of Ezekiel 38, he will be much closer than
• 42:43
  S11: we think.
• 42:44
  S4: Doctor Shariat, what does ministry look like in this context?
• 42:48
  S4: I know with Iran alive ministry, you've used satellite broadcasting.
• 42:51
  S4: You used the internet which is down for people. What
• 42:55
  S4: does ministry even look like?
• 42:58
  S11: The people, the Christians in Iran are under attack. They
• 43:01
  S11: also know that if this regime stays, there will be
• 43:04
  S11: a new wave of persecution. They're going to be in trouble.
• 43:07
  S11: So they're having a very miserable life. Of course, we
• 43:10
  S11: are helping our Christians and our leaders. We have a
• 43:13
  S11: campaign to, support them financially for three months. During this war,
• 43:19
  S11: groceries are so expensive they're even having a hard time
• 43:22
  S11: to buying eggs to buy bread to survive. And Christians
• 43:27
  S11: at the same time, this is the worst. But at
• 43:30
  S11: the same time, when I talk to leaders in Iran,
• 43:33
  S11: they are witnessing to people. They're sharing the gospel and
• 43:36
  S11: they're leading many people to Christ. Let me share this story.
• 43:39
  S11: One of our leaders and his brothers are arrested. They're
• 43:42
  S11: in jail right now. They are on death row. Please
• 43:45
  S11: pray for him. His name is Moe and his brothers,
• 43:48
  S11: they they they have arranged to execute them very soon.
• 43:53
  S11: So he is in jail, okay. And he might be
• 43:56
  S11: killed even today or any day. But in jail. He
• 44:00
  S11: is reporting to his sister. And we're hearing this through
• 44:03
  S11: his sister that he is witnessing to people. He's helping
• 44:07
  S11: the prisoners and he's leading prisoners to Christ. So this
• 44:10
  S11: is a good picture. Miserable life, even on death row.
• 44:15
  S11: But at the same time, Christians are sharing their faith
• 44:18
  S11: and letting other people come to Christ. Good and bad,
• 44:22
  S11: at the same time.
• 44:23
  S2: Inspiring is not even an appropriate word that is extraordinary.
• 44:28
  S2: And and we hear it over and over again. And
• 44:30
  S2: you can. The only way you can explain that kind
• 44:33
  S2: of resolute courage is God. That's the only way you
• 44:38
  S2: can do it. Ali, would you pray for Moe and
• 44:41
  S2: his family and the others that are in really in
• 44:45
  S2: harm's way right now? Let's just lift up Iran before
• 44:47
  S2: the Lord here this morning.
• 44:48
  S4: Yeah, Lord, we thank you that you have told us
• 44:53
  S4: that in this world that we would have trouble. You
• 44:55
  S4: let us know that in advance, but that we could
• 44:58
  S4: take heart because you've overcome the world. God, we can't
• 45:01
  S4: make sense of all that's happening right now. But God,
• 45:03
  S4: we know that you are sovereign and that you are good.
• 45:05
  S4: So we pray specifically for Moe and that you would
• 45:09
  S4: deliver him from his captors, Lord, that you would just
• 45:13
  S4: like you did so many times, God, that you would
• 45:15
  S4: blind the eyes of those who are keeping him captive. Lord,
• 45:19
  S4: that you would open prison doors. God that you would
• 45:21
  S4: provide a way of escape. God that other believers would
• 45:24
  S4: rejoice with him as they see your mighty hand at work.
• 45:28
  S4: Oh God, we thank you that ultimately you prevail. Lord,
• 45:31
  S4: light always wins over darkness. God, we don't know when,
• 45:36
  S4: but we know that it is a promise God. So
• 45:38
  S4: we just pray right now for their deliverance, Lord, that
• 45:41
  S4: and that they would be strong and courageous. God, knowing
• 45:44
  S4: you've not left them, you've not forsaken them. God, I
• 45:47
  S4: pray that many would come to know you through this. God,
• 45:50
  S4: we just pray for your sovereign will to be done
• 45:53
  S4: for your hand of mercy to be extended. God right now,
• 45:56
  S4: in the mighty name of Jesus. We just lift up
• 45:59
  S4: our brothers and sisters in Iran. Oh God, strengthen them,
• 46:03
  S4: fortify them. God, lift up their hands. God provide for
• 46:06
  S4: practical needs. Lord, would you do it by your power?
• 46:09
  S4: In Jesus name, Amen.
• 46:11
  S2: Amen. Hermas. I got one more question for you. And
• 46:15
  S2: what's really awesome is, as Ali praised, the Spirit of
• 46:18
  S2: God goes to work. We know that. We're confident in that.
• 46:22
  S2: And that's why we pray. On a practical level, how
• 46:26
  S2: many layers deep do you have to go in 5
• 46:29
  S2: million people to get a new regime? It's I don't
• 46:32
  S2: know how I don't know how that that is that
• 46:36
  S2: Republican Guard is extricated from their seat of power. Apart
• 46:41
  S2: from truly a miracle hand of God moving here. What
• 46:46
  S2: do you say, Hermas?
• 46:47
  S11: God can do all things. But one thing is clear, um,
• 46:52
  S11: that people are afraid to come on the streets and
• 46:55
  S11: the Iranian government in power. They have made it clear
• 46:59
  S11: we're going to kill you if you come on the streets.
• 47:01
  S11: One of the clerics said, if you have to kill
• 47:03
  S11: 1 million Iranians for us to stay in power, we
• 47:07
  S11: will do that. And as I said, on every night.
• 47:10
  S11: Even the women with these coverings, they have these pink
• 47:14
  S11: guns and machine guns in hand and and laughing and
• 47:19
  S11: eating and that, you know, and, and singing and they're saying,
• 47:23
  S11: we are in power and we're going to survive this
• 47:25
  S11: war and you cannot do it. So people are very
• 47:28
  S11: desperate that even coming on streets, will it really work
• 47:32
  S11: because they they lost 4000 people were killed in January
• 47:36
  S11: coming on streets. The government of Iran has no problem
• 47:40
  S11: just gunning them down. And many of them were even kids.
• 47:45
  S11: Teenagers were killed 40,000. Most of them were young people.
• 47:49
  S11: So unless God intervenes, there is no end. And this war,
• 47:54
  S11: this attack Israel and and us on Iran, it has
• 47:59
  S11: proven that just an aerial attack will not bring down.
• 48:03
  S2: The.
• 48:03
  S11: Government.
• 48:04
  S2: Yeah, I'm feeling it with you, Herman. Thank you for
• 48:07
  S2: ducking in here spur of the moment, giving us an
• 48:10
  S2: update and really a biblical perspective on this whole thing.
• 48:14
  S2: Appreciate it Hermas. Some of you feel prompted to the
• 48:17
  S2: spirit to help out some brothers and sisters. And we're
• 48:20
  S2: going to give you one link. Very simple here. Just
• 48:22
  S2: the word alive. You can go to that website, check
• 48:26
  S2: it out. You are the best possible people on the
• 48:31
  S2: planet and you guys love the Lord so much. You
• 48:35
  S2: love your brothers and sisters, and some of you feel
• 48:37
  S2: prompted to say, yeah, let's help out however we can.
• 48:41
  S2: In these months of real trial for men and women
• 48:44
  S2: of God in Iran. Text the word alive to 805 557898.
• 48:51
  S2: One word alive to 805 557898.
• 48:57
  S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
• 49:01
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 49:04
  S2: I love getting questions like this. We just got a text.
• 49:09
  S2: Nine nine, five, five. That's the last four numbers of
• 49:12
  S2: your telephone number. Love to hear that entire interview again.
• 49:16
  S2: Do you have a time stamp? Do you time stamp
• 49:18
  S2: your show cast so I can find this specific element? Oh, oh,
• 49:23
  S2: do we love that question.
• 49:24
  S12: I'm so glad you asked. Yes.
• 49:26
  S4: Not only do we have the show cast that's available
• 49:28
  S4: every day, so you can rehear our conversations and the interviews.
• 49:32
  S4: We also try to make it easier for you to
• 49:34
  S4: find exactly what you're looking for by putting the timestamps
• 49:37
  S4: in the show notes. So just text show to 805 557898.
• 49:43
  S4: Text showed 805 557898.
• 49:48
  S1: Finding nuggets of truth in everyday life.
• 49:51
  S13: It's a metaphor. It's just a metaphor, dude, that's a metaphor.
• 49:55
  S14: It's a metaphor.
• 49:56
  S15: I know it's a metaphor.
• 49:57
  S1: It's time for making a metaphor with young thunder.
• 50:01
  S4: Young thunder. Jonathan, who has a knack for being able
• 50:05
  S4: to spiritualize anything. So we give him a story that's hilarious.
• 50:10
  S4: Spiritualise anything? Wow. You're good. So we give him a
• 50:14
  S4: story from our everyday life. And his challenge is to
• 50:18
  S4: make it a metaphor.
• 50:19
  S2: Yeah. He will not sanctify sin, though I promise.
• 50:22
  S9: You that he.
• 50:23
  S2: Will not do that. Okay, Jonathan. So my bride and
• 50:26
  S2: I are sitting here at home. We weren't sitting and
• 50:28
  S2: we were actually walking around and I said, you see
• 50:30
  S2: this alert from com? It said that the power's going
• 50:33
  S2: out in three minutes because we got a problem in
• 50:35
  S2: our neighborhood. And I'm like, yeah, right. I'm thinking, sure.
• 50:42
  S2: I mean, at 36, 33 minutes on the nose later,
• 50:48
  S2: the whole thing shut her down. And I'm like, well,
• 50:52
  S2: we gotta go find out what's going on. So because I,
• 50:56
  S2: you know, and we're both kind of wired that way. Yeah,
• 50:58
  S2: let's go find out. So we're driving around looking for combinatorics,
• 51:02
  S2: never found a comment truck, and then we're getting alerts
• 51:04
  S2: while we're out instead of going to be out three hours,
• 51:06
  S2: it's going to be out 2.5 hours. We're like, okay,
• 51:08
  S2: that's better. And then a little while longer, we decided
• 51:12
  S2: to go out on a date and have a little adventure. Bummer.
• 51:15
  S2: We got word back now. We shaved another hour off
• 51:19
  S2: that thing. It's kind of disappointing, frankly, I love having.
• 51:23
  S2: I love the adventure of power outages.
• 51:26
  S4: Said no one ever.
• 51:29
  S5: Some power outages can be fun.
• 51:31
  S2: The only thing I. The only thing I checked out
• 51:33
  S2: was to make sure that my backup battery for my
• 51:36
  S2: sump pump was operational before we headed out of the
• 51:39
  S2: home because the last thing I want to do is
• 51:41
  S2: be coming back to scooping out water. So I checked
• 51:44
  S2: that thing. Was green light ready to go? Yes sirree. Bob,
• 51:48
  S2: we're ready to rumble here. And we never found a
• 51:50
  S2: comet truck. But we did have a good date. And
• 51:54
  S2: we came back and the power was on. All right,
• 51:56
  S2: if you can make that a metaphor. You're doing something,
• 51:59
  S2: my man.
• 51:59
  S5: All right, so the first thing I thought of was
• 52:03
  S5: the text you got ahead of time from ComEd saying
• 52:08
  S5: that your power was going to go out. You were
• 52:12
  S5: aware that something was coming beforehand, and that helped with
• 52:17
  S5: you and your wife being able to talk about, hey,
• 52:20
  S5: let's go do something. The power's out. Maybe if the
• 52:23
  S5: power went out and you didn't know it, it's going
• 52:25
  S5: to catch you by surprise. You waste a little time
• 52:27
  S5: going outside seeing if anybody else's power is out. Now,
• 52:30
  S5: you got to go and you got to check all
• 52:31
  S5: these things. Know you got to do all some of
• 52:33
  S5: this stuff ahead of time because you knew what was coming.
• 52:38
  S5: Jesus lets us know what is coming. John 1633 he said,
• 52:44
  S5: I've said these things to you, that in me you
• 52:46
  S5: may have peace. In this world you will have tribulation.
• 52:50
  S5: But take heart. I have overcome the world. Carl, you're
• 52:53
  S5: gonna know this verse. Uh, if Paul says it, I
• 52:55
  S5: don't have the chapter and verse in front of me
• 52:57
  S5: right now, and I can't look it up that quick. Uh,
• 52:59
  S5: but he says, uh, making good use of the time
• 53:02
  S5: because the days are evil. We have been warned ahead
• 53:07
  S5: of time. We got the text message notification ahead of
• 53:11
  S5: time that in this world we are going to have trouble.
• 53:14
  S5: We are going to have tribulation. So when the quote
• 53:16
  S5: unquote power goes out, we don't have to be surprised.
• 53:20
  S5: But we can make good use of the time. We
• 53:23
  S5: don't have to spend time worrying. We don't have to
• 53:26
  S5: spend time wringing our hands, asking around, who's are we? Okay?
• 53:31
  S5: Are we gonna make it? Is this going to be
• 53:32
  S5: a gigantic problem? We know what's here. It shouldn't surprise us.
• 53:37
  S5: And because Jesus has given us this warning ahead of time,
• 53:40
  S5: we are better equipped to make good use of our time.
• 53:44
  S4: Whoa. Okay, that's making it a metaphor. I that's I
• 53:49
  S4: have to say, I.
• 53:50
  S2: I tried to stump you on that one.
• 53:51
  S4: I'm impressed.
• 53:53
  S5: Well, praise God, all glory to the.
• 53:54
  S4: Praise God that making a metaphor.
• 53:57
  S2: That is dynamite. Ephesians four. Um, we're called to Look,
• 54:03
  S2: here's the deal. That was such a powerful thing. And
• 54:06
  S2: the forecast that in this world you're going to have
• 54:08
  S2: troubles and trials. That was powerhouse. I actually thought I
• 54:12
  S2: was brief enough, short enough where I could maybe stump
• 54:15
  S2: him on that one.
• 54:17
  S9: But no.
• 54:18
  S2: He came through in the clutch.
• 54:20
  S9: Praise God.
• 54:21
  S2: So, God, God's better than Clomid is, I guess, the
• 54:25
  S2: bottom line.
• 54:25
  S5: Amen. Amen. But you know what? It's it's nice. It's
• 54:28
  S5: funny because I'm actually learning as I'm talking there because
• 54:32
  S5: I don't think I've ever paired those two things together. The,
• 54:35
  S5: the Jesus warning us that we're going to have tribulation
• 54:37
  S5: and then also making good use of the time because
• 54:39
  S5: the days are evil, the days are evil. We've been
• 54:42
  S5: warned ahead of time that they're evil. So let's make
• 54:44
  S5: good use of them. Let's not spend time worrying and
• 54:48
  S5: being surprised, but let's make good use of them, and
• 54:51
  S5: we can have a lot of joy in store for
• 54:53
  S5: us in the midst of all the tribulation and the
• 54:55
  S5: hardship because of it.
• 54:56
  S2: Powerhouse man. Way to go, young thunder tearing it up.
• 55:01
  S2: Make it a metaphor.