Latest / Karl and Crew / Encountering God Who Wants to Redeem Your Past with Micah Davis & Biblical Identity and Sexual Wholeness with Gary Ingraham
Transcript
- 0:00S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
- 0:06S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide, overcome
- 0:10S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined delivering
- 0:16S1: the truth daily.
- 0:17S2: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available.
- 0:21S2: And you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
- 0:25S2: that would make it worth it.
- 0:26S3: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
- 0:29S3: the life source, which is God.
- 0:32S4: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
- 0:36S4: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
- 0:39S4: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
- 0:44S1: Now, from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
- 0:48S1: and Crew. Welcome aboard. It is Freedom Week coming off
- 0:52S1: the big 4th of July, and we're going to ride
- 0:54S1: this one through this week. Uh, you know, when you
- 0:57S1: look at 250 years of a nation. Uh, freedom is
- 1:03S1: one of the key words, man. I mean, that's what
- 1:05S1: sets our nation apart from almost any nation in the world.
- 1:09S1: I mean, freedom of speech, some of the stuff that
- 1:11S1: drives you flat out crazy. You need to be glad
- 1:14S1: you have so that we can do it as well.
- 1:17S3: That's true.
- 1:18S1: It's really true. It's really true. Uh, but one of
- 1:22S1: the great dangers with freedom is that we misunderstand how
- 1:25S1: to use it, especially in the spiritual realm. And yesterday
- 1:29S1: we were tackling this reality that sometimes we're free and
- 1:33S1: we don't know it. I mean, it's like blaze. Love
- 1:36S1: this guy. It's leash popped out of my hand and
- 1:39S1: that handle was bouncing along the the asphalt. And he
- 1:45S1: heard something behind him. And I'm just going, whoa. And, uh,
- 1:50S1: gingerly walk up, grab that handle. And he's looking at
- 1:53S1: me like I missed an opportunity, didn't I? In, in
- 1:57S1: a in a very real sense, yeah, he did, he
- 2:00S1: could have boogied. He could have headed off and gone
- 2:03S1: his own way. Thankfully he didn't. But on a positive side,
- 2:09S1: we are off the chain when it comes to condemnation.
- 2:14S1: And yet we find ourselves sometimes stepping in it as
- 2:18S1: followers of Christ and we can get stuck in a
- 2:21S1: shame loop. Now, one of the greatest dangers with shame
- 2:25S1: is that it gets us thinking I'm a loser. I'll
- 2:28S1: never be okay. It becomes our identity. And I've seen
- 2:34S1: this in a couple of different ways. So let me
- 2:38S1: just take men that cheat on their wives here. How
- 2:41S1: about that to open our our. Let's just take men
- 2:44S1: that cheat on their wives. What do you guys imagine
- 2:47S1: are a couple different responses that I get from that?
- 2:50S3: Oh, man. Uh, that coincide with shame. Yeah, man. Uh. well,
- 2:57S3: I'll never earn this trust back again, so not why
- 3:02S3: even try? But but I it's just not possible for
- 3:07S3: me and living in that kind of mentality of, of
- 3:10S3: maybe even subconsciously not trying and not working towards earning
- 3:14S3: trust back because you've shamed yourself into thinking it's not
- 3:17S3: coming back ever. Yeah.
- 3:19S1: Yeah. And that can leave you hopelessly stuck, right?
- 3:21S3: Yeah. 100% leaves us feeling, I mean, it leaves us
- 3:25S3: completely impotent because we're not tapping into the redemptive work
- 3:28S3: of Jesus.
- 3:30S1: Totally. What do you say, super day?
- 3:32S4: There's probably shame in a couple of factors of the
- 3:34S4: fact that, you know, it'll never go back to what
- 3:37S4: it was. They'll never forgive me. This this whole relationship
- 3:40S4: will never be reconciled. But then also to being in
- 3:44S4: that pit of shame, Satan attacks the enemy, attacks even harder.
- 3:47S4: And it's like, well, it's not my shame. I, you
- 3:50S4: know that you turning it around. It wasn't my fault.
- 3:52S4: It was their fault. Or if they hadn't done that,
- 3:54S4: I wouldn't have done that. So you're not owning it.
- 3:56S4: You're not in that place of owning it and true repentance.
- 4:00S1: Yeah. Okay.
- 4:01S3: Beautiful big one.
- 4:02S1: You guys hit both sides of the high ridge of
- 4:06S1: How to Handle shame. You guys nailed it. Because one
- 4:10S1: side of shame says. And I'm dealing with this with
- 4:14S1: someone right now. I'm a loser and I'm stuck. And
- 4:21S1: I'll be forever branded this way. And there's no way
- 4:25S1: God can use me again. That's one voice of shame.
- 4:30S1: And ironically, the other one is I'm going to kind
- 4:37S1: of get out of my shame by. Blaming someone else
- 4:44S1: for why I even got here. You nailed it. Super.
- 4:47S3: Yeah. It's the it's the response of Adam in the garden.
- 4:50S3: You can tell in my mind, I don't it doesn't
- 4:53S3: say shame specifically in the Bible, but I can tell
- 4:56S3: he was going through shame because he was afraid and
- 4:59S3: he hid. He felt a level of shame.
- 5:02S1: You can absolutely tell he's in shame. Yeah, he tried
- 5:05S1: to hide from God. Where are you, Adam? He knew
- 5:08S1: where he was.
- 5:08S3: Yeah, of course he did. But then as.
- 5:09S1: Soon as here. I'm the guy behind the fig leaf
- 5:11S1: that can barely cover me up.
- 5:13S3: But as soon as he gets confronted where he has
- 5:16S3: to have a response towards it, he blames. He blames Eve,
- 5:20S3: and he blames God in one sentence. And, and it's
- 5:23S3: a feeling of this shame is too great for me.
- 5:26S3: I'm gonna fight it. I'm not gonna crumble underneath it.
- 5:28S3: I'm gonna fight the shame and say it's not my fault.
- 5:32S1: Yeah, man, it's two sides of this thing. I'm telling you,
- 5:35S1: this high Ridge principle, guys, I find it everywhere in
- 5:39S1: the Scripture. And when it comes to adultery, the reason
- 5:44S1: I like to talk about that was, well, Jesus did
- 5:47S1: in John eight, and there was a woman that was
- 5:50S1: caught in adultery. So did she have adultery? Did she
- 5:56S1: have an adulterous relationship? Oh yes she did. It's not
- 5:58S1: a trick question. She did. She did. So she did.
- 6:04S1: And what does Jesus say? Anyone remember? What does he
- 6:09S1: say to that woman?
- 6:10S3: He says, uh, where are those who were going to
- 6:15S3: condemn you? I'm paraphrasing a little bit. And then they said,
- 6:17S3: they're not here, Lord. And he said, well, neither do
- 6:19S3: I condemn you. Now go and sin no more.
- 6:22S1: Now go and sin no more. In in one fell swoop.
- 6:26S1: What did he say? Don't be marked and identified by
- 6:31S1: being a peddler, by sleeping around on your husband. Don't
- 6:37S1: be marked and identified that by that. And go and
- 6:42S1: don't diddle anymore.
- 6:44S3: Those are the. It's it's it's one and the same.
- 6:47S3: They are connected. And I think we talked with drew
- 6:51S3: Dick about this yesterday with the, the, the brain science
- 6:55S3: of the feeling of a fresh start when you realize
- 6:59S3: that you are not condemned by God and you have
- 7:03S3: received a fresh start by him, it gives us a
- 7:07S3: new feeling and it's a Holy Spirit powered thing to
- 7:10S3: go and sin no more. We are actually empowered to
- 7:14S3: find freedom in him because of the lack of condemnation
- 7:17S3: that exists for us.
- 7:18S1: Boom. So there's this is another classic case where you
- 7:26S1: can fall off on both sides of this thing in
- 7:28S1: Jesus buttoned it up in one thing, hey, look, where
- 7:31S1: are those that are condemned? Yeah, okay. All those guys,
- 7:34S1: they have sin too. Don't get stuck here. I don't
- 7:39S1: condemn you. Now go and sin no more. He doesn't
- 7:43S1: say I don't condemn you. It's like dysfunctional parenting, dysfunctional
- 7:47S1: parents go, oh, Johnny, you didn't mean to. No, Johnny did.
- 7:51S3: He meant to.
- 7:51S1: Yeah, Johnny.
- 7:52S5: Did, he did.
- 7:53S1: He's an idiot. Johnny's an idiot. We've all raised Johnny's.
- 7:57S1: We all are. Johnny's? Yes. So. No. Johnny. Yeah, you
- 8:01S1: did it. It doesn't have to mark you, but don't
- 8:04S1: go do that again. Yeah. How awesome is this, man?
- 8:08S3: Oh, man, it's so good.
- 8:10S1: It's so.
- 8:11S3: Relevant. It's so relevant to us.
- 8:13S1: So I don't know what you're stuck in today, but
- 8:15S1: I know this. You are not forever marked by it.
- 8:18S1: No way, no how. No. And you know what Jesus says,
- 8:24S1: don't go do it again. Both.
- 8:29S3: And that's a beautiful, beautiful thing. We often take the
- 8:34S3: the go and sin no more part and attach that to, well,
- 8:37S3: I must be being shamed right now. That's not true.
- 8:42S1: Because what he said earlier.
- 8:43S3: Because of what he said. I am not shaming you.
- 8:46S3: I am not condemning you for your actions. Yet I
- 8:49S3: desire so much more for you. Now walk in freedom
- 8:52S3: into that.
- 8:53S5: Yeah.
- 8:54S1: And don't, don't, don't go on the wild side and
- 8:58S1: don't go on the condemnation side.
- 9:00S3: Mhm.
- 9:01S1: Let's just get up on this high ridge and walk.
- 9:04S3: And it's so much better there.
- 9:06S6: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
- 9:10S6: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
- 9:14S6: Moody Radio.
- 9:15S1: So when it comes to shame, we've already concluded by
- 9:17S1: John eight. If you didn't hear that, get the show
- 9:19S1: cast six show to 800 555, 78, 98. Because we
- 9:23S1: just broke it down briefly. It's real cool passage woman
- 9:26S1: caught in adultery. What did Jesus say to her? Guys,
- 9:29S1: what did he say?
- 9:31S3: I do not condemn you. Now go and sin no more.
- 9:34S1: Now go and sin no more. So there's no condemnation
- 9:37S1: for those who are in Christ Jesus. And don't dink
- 9:40S1: around like that anymore. Don't cheat on your husband. What?
- 9:44S1: How practical is.
- 9:46S3: That? It's beautiful.
- 9:48S1: But what's it look like in everyday life? Micah Davis,
- 9:52S1: a young guy man in Indianapolis. He's doing it right.
- 9:55S1: And he's got a heart for this. And he ministers
- 9:58S1: in an area where people can, like everyone, get stuck
- 10:02S1: in a shame cycle. Like, I'll never get out of
- 10:04S1: this or begin to kind of go, yeah, I'm going
- 10:08S1: to use God's grace to go out here and padiddle again.
- 10:12S1: Hang on. Micah Davis, straight ahead.
- 10:15S6: Take your next step with Jesus. Today you're listening to
- 10:19S6: Carl and crew.
- 10:20S1: All you got to do is crack open the word.
- 10:22S1: You go to John eight and here's what you find.
- 10:24S1: Uh oh. Woman caught in adultery. All right. That's right.
- 10:29S1: She cheated on her husband. Bunch of religious zealots. Trot
- 10:33S1: her out. Jesus. By way of some profound. We can't
- 10:38S1: break into it right now, but with some profoundly wise conviction,
- 10:44S1: whittles away on her accusers to the point where he says, look,
- 10:48S1: there's no one standing here any longer. I don't condemn you.
- 10:52S1: But he says this as well. Go and sin no more.
- 10:55S1: I got a guest right now, Mike Davis. He's pastor
- 10:58S1: of Teaching and vision at the Sanctuary in Indianapolis, Indiana.
- 11:02S1: And I know enough about this guy to know he's
- 11:05S1: the real deal. Mike, I want to begin right here
- 11:07S1: with this John eight passage. The interesting thing is, and
- 11:12S1: I'm so glad Jesus used adultery because with that one,
- 11:16S1: it's kind of a sin that can pigeonhole you. You
- 11:18S1: can live with, I'm a marked adulterer the rest of
- 11:21S1: my life. Jesus said, no, I, I don't condemn you.
- 11:24S1: I'm not condemning you. But he also says this go
- 11:28S1: and sin no more. And it seems like we fall
- 11:30S1: off on two sides of this. You know what I mean, Mike?
- 11:33S1: It's either like, oh, I'm stuck in this shame cycle
- 11:36S1: or we find excuses to keep dipping our toe into
- 11:40S1: the sin that we were in. What do you say, Micah?
- 11:44S7: Yeah. You know, that story in John eight is really
- 11:46S7: fascinating for a couple of reasons. You know, backing up
- 11:49S7: all the way. Why is the woman brought out? Where's
- 11:51S7: where's the man? You know, adultery takes.
- 11:53S8: Two to tango. Yeah. Yeah. You know, so.
- 11:55S7: There's already like a, an interesting aspect to that story.
- 11:58S7: But the second piece in that, in that John eight passage,
- 12:01S7: it says, starting with the oldest, they dropped their stones
- 12:04S7: and walked away. And I've always found that really fascinating
- 12:07S7: because I wonder if there's a connection tied to wisdom.
- 12:11S8: Wisdom.
- 12:11S7: Length of years lived and, you know, number of sins
- 12:14S7: that someone has done over the course of their life.
- 12:17S7: You know, maybe the light bulb went on the quickest
- 12:19S7: for the oldest there, but it's a really interesting passage
- 12:22S7: of both truth and grace, as you mentioned, that Jesus, uh,
- 12:26S7: mentions to the woman woman who has condemned you and
- 12:29S7: she says, no one, sir. And then he finishes with
- 12:31S7: that beautiful line, go now and leave your life of sin.
- 12:34S7: And I think that's the journey of forgiveness. It's offering
- 12:37S7: both truth and grace. It's not sidestepping what's been done wrong,
- 12:41S7: but it's also not holding that person in a prison
- 12:45S7: of offense for the rest of their life, either.
- 12:47S1: Yeah. And you can look at this practically and maybe
- 12:49S1: understand it a little bit more. If you just look
- 12:52S1: at parenting, you find the parent that, uh, kid screws
- 12:55S1: up and dad says, you screwed up, you are a
- 12:59S1: screw up. And that's just who you are, right? And
- 13:02S1: those words echo with us forever. And then you find
- 13:05S1: a parent that goes, oh, my Johnny can do no wrong.
- 13:07S1: You know, everything's good here. And but those are two
- 13:11S1: dysfunctional sides of this high ridge of what really a
- 13:16S1: shame free life looks like. Micah, what do you think?
- 13:18S7: That's right. Absolutely. You know, I think this is so
- 13:21S7: beautifully demonstrated, actually, all the way back in the Garden
- 13:24S7: of Eden. Most people don't catch this, that after Adam
- 13:27S7: and Eve sinned, they're hiding. And God asks that age
- 13:31S7: old question, where are you? And most people think that
- 13:34S7: that question is being asked in a sort of like, gotcha.
- 13:37S7: Oh goodness, here comes God type of way. But I
- 13:40S7: see that question more through the lens of curiosity. Like
- 13:43S7: beyond that, he says, where are you? And then when
- 13:45S7: they step out, he says, who told you that you
- 13:47S7: were naked? It's this, you know, this father whose heart
- 13:51S7: is broken like, oh, who who told you? And then
- 13:54S7: the very next line we read this, that God clothed
- 13:57S7: Adam and Eve. Most scholars believe it's actually the very
- 14:00S7: first animal sacrifice that takes place. The Hebrew word there
- 14:03S7: is cojones. It represents it's the same word that Jacob
- 14:07S7: actually closed Joseph with with his, uh, multi-colored robe. It's
- 14:11S7: this beautiful, ornate skin that God clothes. And so even
- 14:15S7: in that aspect, God is locating the human beings. Where
- 14:19S7: are you come out from your life of sin. But
- 14:21S7: he's also clothing them in righteousness and forgiveness. And I
- 14:24S7: think that's what any good parent does.
- 14:26S1: Wow. You know what? You're bringing up something that I
- 14:28S1: had never heard, and I thought I'd heard it on
- 14:32S1: that creation account. Your contention, Micah, is that that that's
- 14:38S1: not a disrobing of Adam. Like, who told you, buddy?
- 14:43S1: Come on. It's a hold it here. You screwed up.
- 14:47S1: It's it's already a restoration process. Beginning there is what
- 14:50S1: you believe, right, Micah?
- 14:51S7: That's right. Absolutely. In that passage, we see God already
- 14:55S7: working out his redemption narrative. Of course, you know, right
- 14:58S7: after that comes the curse for, uh, that the ground
- 15:02S7: and over the snake. But that's where that prophecy is given.
- 15:05S7: You know, that he will strike your heel, but you
- 15:08S7: will crush his head. And that's the redemption story already
- 15:11S7: starting out right there in Genesis three.
- 15:13S1: Micah Davis, my guest right now teaching pastor and pastor
- 15:18S1: of vision at the sanctuary, looks like, man, you got
- 15:22S1: a multicultural kind of ministry going on, don't you, my friend?
- 15:27S7: We do. Yeah. We'll celebrate three years as a church
- 15:30S7: and actually in just a few months. And so God's
- 15:32S7: been really kind. We started with 11 people in our neighborhood.
- 15:36S7: And over the last couple of years, God has brought
- 15:38S7: together this beautiful contingent of sinners, saints and skeptics alike
- 15:43S7: to learn how to practice the way of Jesus together
- 15:45S7: for the sake of the world around us.
- 15:46S1: That's so sweet. Let's stay on this because you've written
- 15:50S1: on it extensively and I love the title Three Strikes
- 15:54S1: You're Forgiven. I, I think that people get grace after
- 15:59S1: the first strike, and I think they might get Grace
- 16:02S1: after the second strike. But I think we begin to
- 16:06S1: not get Grace any longer after the third strike. Speak
- 16:10S1: to that, Micah.
- 16:12S7: Yeah. I mean, it's the age old axiom, you know,
- 16:14S7: fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame
- 16:16S7: on me. Notice there's no fool me three times, right?
- 16:19S8: Right.
- 16:19S7: And so whether we realize it or not, we are
- 16:22S7: culturally conditioned to believe three strikes. You're out. And I
- 16:25S7: think that's what's so, so beautiful that, you know, Peter
- 16:28S7: comes before Jesus and says, Lord, how many times shall
- 16:30S7: I forgive my brother? Seven times. And that that number
- 16:34S7: seven is very symbolic in the scriptures. We don't have
- 16:36S7: time to get into all of it. But essentially Peter's
- 16:38S7: being a bit of a teacher's pet here. He's saying, Lord,
- 16:41S7: you know, in that culture, even the rabbis would teach
- 16:44S7: that three, three strikes, you're out that three times you
- 16:47S7: could offer forgiveness. And so Peter doubles. That adds one
- 16:50S7: and gives the holy number seven, seven times, Lord. And
- 16:52S7: of course, Jesus says no 77 times or 70 times seven,
- 16:56S7: depending on your translation and this repetitive call for forgiveness.
- 17:00S7: It's not literal. It's symbolic to basically say, hey, God
- 17:03S7: has established unending, undeserving grace on you. In turn, you
- 17:08S7: are to give undeserving, unending grace to your brother or sister.
- 17:13S1: So let's talk to someone right now who let's just
- 17:17S1: let's just go through a few of the big boys.
- 17:20S1: Then some of them don't get identified, but, uh, adultery
- 17:25S1: with someone. All right. Um. Addiction repetitive. And they've promised
- 17:29S1: God 49 gazillion times, I'm not going to drink anymore. Uh,
- 17:33S1: I'm not going to smoke dope. Uh, gossipers. And there's
- 17:39S1: a lot that don't get pricked at a conscious level
- 17:41S1: with that, but there's some that listen right now that go, yeah,
- 17:44S1: I am a chronic, I am a like serial gossiper
- 17:49S1: to the person who feels like I'm in this funky
- 17:52S1: pattern of sinning. And for a lot of people, they're
- 17:57S1: just living out family history or peer peer history, right?
- 18:01S1: I mean, they've, they've got this the flesh, the sarx,
- 18:04S1: they've got this old man that although we have new
- 18:09S1: freedom in Christ, that old, those old patterns still need
- 18:12S1: to be broken. Micah. Yeah. Give some hope to the
- 18:16S1: person who feels like I'm a repeat offender. I suck
- 18:20S1: at this thing.
- 18:22S7: Yeah, yeah. You know, I think it's Pete Scudero Who says,
- 18:26S7: Jesus may live in your heart, but grandpa lives in
- 18:28S7: your bones. I think that's.
- 18:31S8: Such a that is so good.
- 18:33S7: And so that is the truth, Carl, that, um, you know,
- 18:36S7: it's often the sins of our past that that often
- 18:39S7: most trigger us in the present. And so how do we,
- 18:41S7: how do we handle that? What do we do? I
- 18:43S7: think it's important to recognize, um, one of my mentors
- 18:46S7: says it this way. Forgiveness is a solo sport. Reconciliation
- 18:49S7: takes two to tango. And so if you find yourself
- 18:52S7: sort of in like the victim aspect of this relationship,
- 18:56S7: you know, to use your iterations if, if someone has
- 18:58S7: cheated on you or if they lied repetitively to you,
- 19:01S7: I think it's important to note that, um, you know,
- 19:04S7: forgiveness can be instant, but trust in healing takes time.
- 19:07S7: And so just because you forgive someone just because you're
- 19:10S7: releasing them. And that's what Jesus says, that even if
- 19:12S7: your brother sins against you seven times in a day,
- 19:15S7: you must forgive them. What he's not saying is that
- 19:17S7: you should be ignorant to the fact that they are
- 19:20S7: continually sinning, and open yourself up to being continually sinned against.
- 19:24S7: What he's saying is if they repent, that's the qualifier there.
- 19:27S7: If they come to you and they're broken and they say,
- 19:29S7: I'm sorry, then the impetus is to forgive them. But
- 19:32S7: that doesn't mean that you have to trust them with
- 19:34S7: your bank account or with your Social Security number or
- 19:37S7: with your children, right? Like there are implications regarding these
- 19:40S7: really complex relationships. But if you find yourself on the
- 19:43S7: other end and maybe you're the perpetrator, again, it's just
- 19:46S7: remembering that there is grace upon grace. You know, the
- 19:49S7: Apostle John says in first John one that if we
- 19:51S7: confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
- 19:54S7: us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. That's
- 19:57S7: the beauty of the gospel. That's the profound hope that
- 20:00S7: we have, that in the end, we all will be
- 20:02S7: welcomed to the great resurrection feast that's described in revelation 21,
- 20:07S7: that we will all be welcomed to the table of
- 20:10S7: reconciliation together.
- 20:11S1: Yeah, I love it. Mikey Davis, my guest right now.
- 20:14S1: I want to go after this a little bit. Um,
- 20:16S1: I find a lot of people kind of have an
- 20:18S1: old Sunday school approach to forgiveness and that is you
- 20:22S1: just forgive everyone forgetting the fact that it's a it's
- 20:25S1: a real relational term. And it. In fact, people say, well, well,
- 20:29S1: God forgave us. Well, he only forgives the repentant. The
- 20:33S1: truth be told, he only forgives the repentant. So how
- 20:37S1: do we be in waiting for someone that has sinned
- 20:42S1: against us? And how do. How do we be in
- 20:47S1: waiting in a way that keeps us healthy and not bitter?
- 20:52S7: It's a great question. You know, I heard recently one
- 20:55S7: of my mentors preached on Matthew 18, and he preached
- 20:58S7: on it in a way that I hadn't heard before.
- 21:00S7: If you're familiar with Matthew 18, it's the idea of,
- 21:03S7: you know, how do we reconcile with someone who sinned
- 21:05S7: against us? And so the gist of it, for those
- 21:07S7: who aren't familiar, is you go to them 1 to 1.
- 21:09S7: If they don't repent, then you bring another, you know,
- 21:11S7: 2 or 3 witnesses. If they don't repent, you bring
- 21:13S7: it to the elders and the church and you share
- 21:16S7: their sin publicly. And if they still don't repent, you
- 21:18S7: cast them out. That's sort of what the scriptures imply.
- 21:21S7: And my my mentor, when he was teaching on this,
- 21:23S7: he said, you know, how does God treat prodigals? How
- 21:26S7: does he treat people who have been cast out, who
- 21:29S7: have been cast aside? He goes after them. He's the
- 21:32S7: great shepherd who leaves the 99 sheep and goes after
- 21:34S7: the one. And so I think for those of us
- 21:36S7: who are waiting, I've always read and interpreted that passage
- 21:40S7: as I'm supposed to forget about them. I'm supposed to
- 21:43S7: not forgive them. I'm supposed to be bitter towards them.
- 21:45S7: But actually I've been challenged to think, no, I'm actually
- 21:48S7: supposed to pray for that person. I'm supposed to pray
- 21:51S7: and ask God that he would wake that person up
- 21:53S7: and bring them back to repentance. Repentance. Metanoia literally means
- 21:57S7: to turn around that, like the prodigal son, they would
- 21:59S7: be sitting in the field with the pigs, and they
- 22:01S7: would wake up, come to their senses, and want to
- 22:04S7: return home. And when they make that decision, uh, we
- 22:08S7: welcome them with open arms as the, as the father
- 22:10S7: of the prodigal son did.
- 22:12S1: Yeah, I, I love that, Mike. I think you're right on.
- 22:15S1: I think we throw around forgiveness pretty willy nilly, not
- 22:19S1: recognizing that the forgiveness that we're called to extend is
- 22:24S1: relational in nature. And it requires someone coming to us saying,
- 22:29S1: I messed you up. Would you forgive me for this?
- 22:32S1: And waiting for that? Not in bitterness, but reaching out.
- 22:36S1: I love that. I think that's a hot take on that.
- 22:38S1: Mike Davis, my guest. Guys, I got to tell you something.
- 22:41S1: He has got a brand new workout that is dynamite.
- 22:44S1: It's called three strikes. You're forgiven. Encountering a God who
- 22:48S1: wants to redeem your past, restore your present, and transform
- 22:53S1: your future. I'm going to give a key word here
- 22:55S1: in a moment. But, Mike, give us give us a word,
- 22:59S1: one word to someone right now who feels like I
- 23:02S1: am hopelessly stuck in patterns. You guys don't know how
- 23:06S1: stuck I am. And whether it's pornography, whatever. What do
- 23:10S1: you say to him, Micah?
- 23:12S7: Yeah. You know, I think a great place as we
- 23:14S7: land the plane here is to think about. We talked
- 23:17S7: about First John, that if we confess our sins, he
- 23:19S7: is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and
- 23:21S7: to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. So we confess our
- 23:24S7: sins to God, and in return, God forgives us, mercifully
- 23:26S7: cleanses us to return into right relationship with him. That's
- 23:29S7: the gospel. That's a beautiful paradigm of relationship with God.
- 23:32S7: But the Apostle James puts it this way. He says,
- 23:35S7: therefore confess your sins to one another and pray for
- 23:39S7: one another, so that you may be healed. For the
- 23:41S7: prayer of a righteous person is both powerful and effective.
- 23:43S7: And I want to note that distinction here. Carl John
- 23:46S7: writes that if we confess our sins, presumably to God,
- 23:48S7: he is faithful to forgive us. Right? Right. But James
- 23:51S7: writes that if we confess our sins to one another,
- 23:54S7: we are healed. And I believe that's really intentional because
- 23:57S7: in our privatized, individualized, hyper therapeutic way of life, many
- 24:01S7: of us are walking around forgiven but wounded. We're wholly
- 24:04S7: but hurting because we've normalized confession to God in private,
- 24:08S7: but have avoided confession to one another in public at
- 24:10S7: all costs. And in doing so, I believe that we're
- 24:12S7: missing out on opportunities to discover healing and reconciliation and restoration.
- 24:17S7: And so to anyone who finds themselves in that place today,
- 24:20S7: I would encourage them to find just one trusted person.
- 24:24S7: It could be your pastor. It could be a counselor,
- 24:26S7: it could be a friend or a family member. And
- 24:28S7: be honest with them. Confess your sins so that you
- 24:31S7: may be healed, because what is not named God will
- 24:34S7: not heal.
- 24:35S8: Amen.
- 24:36S1: This is powerhouse Mikey Davis, first time with us here
- 24:39S1: with Carl and crew, and we're going to get him
- 24:41S1: on the frequent flyer list texts. The word strike right now.
- 24:44S1: Strike to 805 five, five, 78, 98. I want you
- 24:48S1: to take a look at this book. You heard the man.
- 24:51S1: You know his heart. You can imagine the words on
- 24:55S1: a page. Text the word strike to 805, five, five, 78, 98.
- 25:03S6: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
- 25:07S6: You're listening to Carl and crew.
- 25:10S1: Yeah. I want to just do a quick banner ad
- 25:14S1: here that I feel this even more than I ever
- 25:19S1: have in the past. We've got something coming up a
- 25:21S1: year from now, and I know it's a big investment,
- 25:24S1: but sometimes investing in your soul is a good move.
- 25:29S1: I want you to think about that for a moment.
- 25:31S1: I want you to think about what we're going to
- 25:33S1: tell you about here a year from now as an
- 25:35S1: investment in your soul. I do believe, and I've seen
- 25:40S1: it happen in my own life and in many others,
- 25:43S1: that when you really get away and get saturated in
- 25:49S1: the truth of God's Word, and in this case, take
- 25:51S1: in the beauty of God's creation, change the rhythms of
- 25:54S1: life that have had you stuck in certain patterns over
- 25:57S1: and over again. Sometimes the greatest thing you can do
- 26:01S1: is have an extended time, a day or two or
- 26:05S1: a week where you go, boy, I want to get
- 26:08S1: I want to get free from something. I want to
- 26:11S1: walk in greater dependence on God. I want to have
- 26:14S1: a fresh revolution in my heart where I love the
- 26:18S1: Lord my God with all my heart, my soul, my mind,
- 26:21S1: and my strength. Mark 1230. I want you to reframe
- 26:26S1: a cruise to Alaska in that way, because Michael, Ray, Dominik,
- 26:29S1: and myself were going to be busting open the Word
- 26:31S1: of God. Micah Tyler is going to be leading worship,
- 26:34S1: and I want you to invest in your spiritual life.
- 26:37S1: I know it's a chunk, I get that, but I
- 26:40S1: want you to consider it at least. And it's a
- 26:42S1: year from now. Give us the details. Super day. What are.
- 26:45S4: They? Yeah, those dates are June 5th through the 12th
- 26:48S4: of 2027, June 5th through the 12th. And write powerful
- 26:52S4: preaching times of worship. You've got Carl with his wife,
- 26:55S4: Doctor Michael Rudnick, his wife, as well as Carl just mentioned,
- 26:58S4: Micah Tyler will be leading the worship, all with the
- 27:01S4: beautiful backdrop backdrop of Alaska. This is the cruise to
- 27:04S4: Alaska with moody radio details. We got them for you.
- 27:08S4: Just text the word cruise. That word is cruise to
- 27:12S4: 805 557898. The word is cruise and text it to
- 27:17S4: 805 557898.
- 27:21S1: Yeah. Really cool. I look forward to seeing you. I
- 27:25S1: know not everybody can get there for lots of reasons,
- 27:27S1: but consider taking a bite and really investing in yourself.
- 27:35S1: And I know that sounds wild, but I really mean
- 27:38S1: that taking some time to invest in your spiritual life
- 27:41S1: and get in a way to get it together could
- 27:44S1: be incredibly powerful. The word is cruise to 805, five, five, 78, 98. Well,
- 27:52S1: coming up, we are tackling this issue of shame, and
- 27:55S1: there's freedom on the other side of this for you
- 27:58S1: and those you love.
- 27:59S6: Hang on your shot of hope to get you through
- 28:02S6: the day.
- 28:03S4: You are so, so loved. God does not want you
- 28:06S4: to stay in your past. And I want you to
- 28:08S4: know and believe that today.
- 28:10S6: You're listening to Carl and crew.
- 28:12S1: One of the heartbreaks in our culture today is that
- 28:14S1: people are shocked into thinking, I'll never change, or I'm
- 28:20S1: marked by that, or they look at what they're in
- 28:24S1: and they find justification for it. They say, I'm going
- 28:28S1: to stay in it. What happens when a guy says,
- 28:32S1: I'm not gay? I am a child of God. I
- 28:39S1: know my identity. What happens when someone who is transgender says, boy,
- 28:49S1: forgot who I really was? But Jesus has set me free.
- 28:53S1: Can people really get free from that kind of shame?
- 28:57S1: And how do we minister to people? And some of
- 29:00S1: you right now are going, Carl. That's my kid. Carl.
- 29:04S1: That's my brother, Carl. That's my sister. How do we
- 29:09S1: live in such a way that we cast a vision
- 29:13S1: for a shame free and future sin free life for
- 29:17S1: people with homosexuality, with messed up sexual identity. How do
- 29:25S1: we do that? We're going to meet it head on
- 29:27S1: with Gary Ingram straight ahead.
- 29:29S6: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
- 29:34S6: to Carl and Crew.
- 29:35S1: Well, one of the, uh, like the untouchable discussion of
- 29:39S1: the day is what do I do if I'm gay
- 29:43S1: or what do I do if I've, I've lost clarity
- 29:47S1: about my sexual identity. We're bold enough here to go
- 29:51S1: after those topics. And we've got an expert with us today,
- 29:54S1: Gary Ingram. He's the founder with his Bride of Love
- 29:59S1: and Truth Network. But believe it or not, boom crew.
- 30:02S1: It's a national ministry that equips pastors and leaders to
- 30:05S1: help restore relational and sexual wholeness and biblical identity. Wow, Gary,
- 30:12S1: you got a calling to some tough issues, don't you,
- 30:14S1: my man?
- 30:15S9: Well, in many ways, yes, but also a lot of
- 30:18S9: joyful issues. It's amazing to see how lives can be changed.
- 30:21S9: And that's what God did for me. So love giving
- 30:24S9: it back.
- 30:25S1: I love this man. I gotta tell you something, Gary.
- 30:28S1: I was raised in a time when people weren't talking
- 30:32S1: about this stuff, and I had a dear friend when
- 30:35S1: I was in high school, and her brother, uh, was
- 30:39S1: my friend as well. And he struggled with his sexuality
- 30:45S1: big time. And he got victory. But it was on
- 30:49S1: his deathbed here in Chicago. But my folks were holding
- 30:53S1: him in their arms. And it's a beautiful story, but
- 30:58S1: there wasn't a place for my friend John to process
- 31:02S1: any of that back in the day. How are we
- 31:06S1: doing on that right now in the church today?
- 31:09S9: Yeah, so that's a beautiful story and I'm sure a
- 31:12S9: painful story. And those things are not mutually exclusive. Right? So.
- 31:15S8: Right.
- 31:15S9: Uh, yeah. So what you were talking about, uh, it
- 31:18S9: was kind of my experience as well. There wasn't much
- 31:21S9: room for that. And unfortunately, now the pendulum has swung
- 31:25S9: so far the other direction. You know, we have professional
- 31:28S9: organizations that would love to make it illegal for counselors
- 31:32S9: and others to even broach the topic that somebody's coming
- 31:36S9: to them, uh, bringing their right of self-determination and saying,
- 31:40S9: you know, I experienced same sex attraction. I'm dealing with
- 31:42S9: gender dysphoria. I don't believe this is what God has
- 31:45S9: for me. I don't want it for my own life.
- 31:47S9: I would love your help in so many organizations, so
- 31:49S9: many political organizations too, would love to make that illegal
- 31:53S9: to even go down that road. So you're really it's
- 31:55S9: funny you hear the phrase conversion therapy. And I think
- 31:58S9: it's it's happening, but in the opposite direction that everyone's
- 32:01S9: assuming it's you're only allowed to promote LGBTQ identity issues,
- 32:07S9: not allow people to explore those to see this really
- 32:11S9: isn't for me. So the church has gotten better in
- 32:14S9: many ways at, at opening up the conversation, but unfortunately,
- 32:19S9: they've embraced mercy, which is really good. But the reason
- 32:22S9: we named our ministry Love and Truth Network is you
- 32:24S9: can't take love out of truth or truth out of love,
- 32:28S9: and have either one of them. And so we have
- 32:31S9: to still hold on to truth while we're being loving
- 32:33S9: and merciful. And that's where churches, I think, struggle the most.
- 32:37S1: Gary Ingram. My guest right now, Gary, give us your story.
- 32:41S1: 300 zero foot. What did God do in your life?
- 32:44S9: Well, eventually I grew up in a Christian home, and
- 32:47S9: I'm grateful for the truth that was poured in. I
- 32:49S9: wish it had been of equal measure, truth and compassion
- 32:52S9: and mercy. But eventually the Lord got a hold of
- 32:55S9: my life at the age of 23, after I had
- 32:57S9: I'd embraced homosexuality, left Bible college, and just felt like,
- 33:00S9: you know, when I finally came into the LGBT world,
- 33:02S9: this is this is me. This is what I've been
- 33:04S9: looking for. But that very quickly faded to, you know,
- 33:09S9: revolving door of relationships and one night stands, all this
- 33:12S9: other stuff that I never wanted. And eventually I just
- 33:15S9: broke at the age of 23. And the Lord, I
- 33:18S9: often think of him with me as a fish on
- 33:20S9: the line, just letting me go out, drawing me back in,
- 33:23S9: letting me go out, just letting me, him, me basically
- 33:25S9: wear myself out to the point of finally recognizing, oh
- 33:29S9: my goodness, what have I? I've said all the right
- 33:31S9: things about the, the Romans Road prayer of salvation, but
- 33:34S9: the one ingredient that was missing my entire life was surrender.
- 33:37S9: And finally, I was ready to do that.
- 33:39S1: You know, Gary, I want to I think sometimes we
- 33:42S1: isolate certain sins. And I got air quotes going above
- 33:46S1: me here, but there is no one that's fit for
- 33:50S1: the kingdom of God. I had to come to the
- 33:51S1: end of cocaine and carousing. And I mean, I was
- 33:54S1: a mess. And it could be homosexuality, it could be
- 33:59S1: gender dysphoria, but it can be alcohol, it can be pride,
- 34:03S1: it can be climbing the 401 ladder. It could be
- 34:06S1: just good old fashioned. I mean, Gary, we've all got
- 34:12S1: to get to that point of brokenness. It's not. I
- 34:15S1: hate it when we have these little sin pockets that
- 34:18S1: we identify. We're all in that, aren't we, Gary?
- 34:21S9: We're all in need of the cross. And in that sense,
- 34:24S9: no one is above anybody else. That's absolutely true. What
- 34:27S9: I do get a little concerned about evangelical churches conflating
- 34:30S9: this idea that all sin is the same and it's
- 34:33S9: the same in the sense that what you just described.
- 34:35S9: Absolutely true. But the idea that Christians, the reality that
- 34:38S9: we still struggle with sin as Christians, yes, we're saints
- 34:41S9: that now struggle with sin. We're not primarily sinners in
- 34:44S9: our identity, but there's a world of difference between doing
- 34:48S9: what I did in terms of giving myself over to
- 34:51S9: sin and living in that space even later on as
- 34:54S9: a genuine believer for a while, living in some addiction
- 34:58S9: and confusion and.
- 34:59S8: All of that.
- 34:59S9: There's a world of difference between that and the person
- 35:02S9: who struggles with sin but gets up and goes to
- 35:04S9: the cross, obeys James 516 of confessing our sins to
- 35:07S9: one another and praying for each other that we might
- 35:09S9: be healed. Those two experiences are radically different, and I
- 35:12S9: hear them conflated all the time.
- 35:14S1: Yeah, I love it. You know, quick thought. We do
- 35:16S1: have a lot of mainstream churches, different denominations, even some
- 35:21S1: that claim to preach the gospel that are getting so
- 35:24S1: weak in the knees, it's like they're afraid of culture.
- 35:29S1: And I think they're afraid because they think, what happens
- 35:33S1: if I speak the truth? Your contention is if we
- 35:36S1: handle homosexuality, gender dysphoria, and other issues in that stream
- 35:43S1: with love and truth, my goodness, we can't get weak
- 35:46S1: in the knees there. Why are so many starting to
- 35:50S1: really actually cave into the cultural pressure.
- 35:54S9: Well, there are lots of churches, I'm convinced, that call
- 35:57S9: themselves churches and use a lot of the same language
- 36:00S9: of gospel and grace and things like that. I mean, honestly,
- 36:03S9: my antenna goes up when I hear the word grace.
- 36:05S9: It's a powerful word. It's sad that this is the case.
- 36:08S9: It's an essential truth of the scriptures, but I hear
- 36:11S9: it oftentimes abused as license for sin. And so. Right.
- 36:16S9: I think that we are leaning too much now on
- 36:19S9: emotion and something that is supposedly compassion. But when you're
- 36:23S9: being compassionate to people, like I've often said, if I
- 36:26S9: grew up in a progressive church or wound up in
- 36:29S9: a progressive church, people out of the best intentions would
- 36:32S9: have been patting my butt right into hell because I
- 36:33S9: was not surrendered to Christ. And yet they would tell me,
- 36:36S9: I can have all this sin in my life, and
- 36:38S9: I'm fine. And so that is the least compassionate thing
- 36:41S9: that someone could do, even though their motivations may have
- 36:43S9: been right. We have to get the truth of the
- 36:46S9: Scripture and our understanding of doctrine. We have to get
- 36:49S9: that right. Otherwise, we're going to be preaching and teaching
- 36:53S9: false doctrine, which, of course, the Bible warns us about,
- 36:55S9: both in the Old Testament and the new.
- 36:57S8: Yeah.
- 36:57S1: And I mean, Paul tells the Galatian leaders, look, you've
- 37:01S1: deserted God and you're giving another gospel, and it ain't
- 37:03S1: no gospel at all. My guest right now, Gary Ingram. Gary,
- 37:07S1: we got a lot of people listening right now, I
- 37:09S1: would estimate. I'm just going to just open site estimate.
- 37:14S1: We might have thousands of people listening right now that
- 37:17S1: have a son or daughter, a brother or sister, a spouse,
- 37:21S1: somebody that is struggling with sexuality and gender dysphoria, you
- 37:26S1: name it. Oh, what do you say to him right now?
- 37:31S9: Well, the first thing I would say is, you know,
- 37:33S9: out of the thousands listening, there are thousands who are
- 37:37S9: dealing with their own sexual brokenness. There are very few people,
- 37:41S9: unless they've gone through some real healing and walking with
- 37:44S9: Christ that aren't sexually broken. And so our ministry isn't
- 37:47S9: just dealing with LGBT issues, but the far bigger heterosexual
- 37:50S9: brokenness that's alive and well and we see as a
- 37:52S9: stage for cancer in the church of just this hidden
- 37:56S9: sexual immorality of a heterosexual nature. And so what I
- 38:00S9: would say is, regardless of the brokenness, people are lost,
- 38:05S9: whether they're LGBT or they're, you know, opposite sex oriented,
- 38:09S9: but they're apart from Jesus. And so we have to
- 38:12S9: treat this as a really as a holistic issue on
- 38:15S9: the same playing field and minister to one another out
- 38:18S9: of that space. People who are dealing with same sex attraction,
- 38:21S9: gender dysphoria, any number of those things, they need Jesus
- 38:25S9: like everybody else does. And those who are caught up
- 38:28S9: in hookup culture, who may have prayed a prayer once
- 38:30S9: when they were a kid, and yet their life has
- 38:32S9: been kind of lived like hell ever since. Yeah. You know,
- 38:35S9: there's no evidence that they've actually come into the kingdom.
- 38:39S9: They're not Christ's followers. And so we need to kind
- 38:41S9: of wake up and recognize we're talking about the same issue.
- 38:45S9: And I think treating that as such and talking about
- 38:48S9: within the church, talking about sexuality, let's not just call
- 38:51S9: out the LGBT and shine a spotlight on those folks.
- 38:55S9: Let's start with the much more expansive issue of heterosexual brokenness,
- 38:59S9: porn addiction in the church, in the pulpit, even, and
- 39:02S9: start being honest about that and include the conversation about LGBTQ.
- 39:06S1: So in 30s, let's throw a net around the whole thing.
- 39:10S1: If the whole thing is sexual dysfunction, where do we begin?
- 39:14S1: Forget what side it's on. Flaming heterosexuality included pornography, you
- 39:20S1: name it. Where do we begin to get healed?
- 39:22S9: The two things I would say our obedience to Christ,
- 39:26S9: God's love language is obedience. That is a massive issue,
- 39:29S9: but secondarily and oftentimes missed. The first is often talked about,
- 39:33S9: but oftentimes missed is we are relationally starving people. Even
- 39:37S9: in the church, we don't know one another. Everyone's hiding
- 39:39S9: from one another. We know all kinds of facts about
- 39:42S9: each other, but we don't know what's really going on
- 39:44S9: with the heart of one another. And what we're struggling with.
- 39:47S9: Everybody is posing, putting their best foot forward, so to speak.
- 39:50S9: But in doing that, we're creating this false image for
- 39:52S9: everybody to know and love. And we are not experiencing
- 39:55S9: that love because we know if they only knew us,
- 39:58S9: they wouldn't have anything to do with us. Or we
- 39:59S9: think some refrain like that. And so it comes back
- 40:02S9: to we have to be relationally full. And when you're
- 40:06S9: relationally full, yes, there's still temptation. Yes, there's still lust.
- 40:09S9: But it's a lot easier to say no to sexual
- 40:11S9: sin because it's so mimics authentic intimacy. It's a lot
- 40:15S9: easier to say no to sexual sin when we are
- 40:17S9: relationally full. And the church has a long way to
- 40:20S9: go on really developing that.
- 40:23S1: You know, I think, Gary, not only are you spot
- 40:26S1: on with everything you're sharing here this morning, I think
- 40:29S1: sometimes we neglect the need for relationship. We often focus on,
- 40:35S1: let's say, a healthy marriage, but the broader context of community.
- 40:39S1: I'm not talking about getting up front, standing at a
- 40:41S1: podium and sharing all your dirty laundry. But more than
- 40:44S1: just your spouse, more than just the person you're dating,
- 40:48S1: other people need to know what's going on. It's protection,
- 40:52S1: isn't it, Gary?
- 40:53S9: Yeah, we talk all the time about every son of God.
- 40:56S9: Every daughter of God needs a band of brothers, a
- 40:58S9: band of sisters, 3 or 4 others that are doing
- 41:01S9: life with you. And even in our men's groups or
- 41:03S9: women's groups in the church, most are only going an
- 41:05S9: inch deep and, you know, a mile wide. We have
- 41:08S9: to go to the depths with some. And so teaching
- 41:11S9: that and helping people enter into those kinds of relationships
- 41:14S9: where you're really doing life together and fully known and
- 41:18S9: fully loved in that place of being fully known, regardless
- 41:20S9: of our struggles. That is an entire part of the
- 41:23S9: foundation of the church that seems to be missing in
- 41:25S9: terms of that depth knowledge, not getting up and sharing
- 41:28S9: all your stuff on stage, like you're saying, but where
- 41:31S9: we have three or 4 or 5 others in our
- 41:33S9: group that we're meeting with regularly, we're connecting with, we're
- 41:36S9: growing in relationship and love with. Those are vital. No
- 41:39S9: one's spouse can bear the weight of meeting all the
- 41:42S9: needs of their spouse.
- 41:43S1: Man, I gotta tell you something. You weren't born sharp,
- 41:48S1: but you're born again. Sharp. And God's put a razor
- 41:51S1: edge on you as a deliverer. System of God's truth.
- 41:55S1: Way to go, Gary. His name's Gary Ingram. He's got
- 41:58S1: a workout called am I Gay? Coming out of cultural
- 42:02S1: Christianity and LGBTQ plus identity into authentic faith in Jesus,
- 42:07S1: he covers a whole lot more. Grab this link. We'll
- 42:10S1: point you to a book and his Love and Truth
- 42:12S1: Network website. Text out one word out. OUT to 805 557898.
- 42:21S1: Out to 805 557898.
- 42:27S6: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
- 42:30S6: Carl and Crew.
- 42:32S10: It's Carl and crew. One of the things that God
- 42:34S10: wants to do in you is free you from shame Oh, sin. Yeah.
- 42:40S10: A guy can put a finger on something in our life.
- 42:42S10: We're going to see this in this phenomenal little story
- 42:45S10: told in John eight. Yeah. God can put a finger
- 42:49S10: on something in our life and go, yeah, that's not good.
- 42:51S10: That's conviction. But as you're going to see here in
- 42:54S10: a moment, the heart and the character of God, even
- 42:57S10: for some of those things that we're like, oh, that's
- 42:59S10: embarrassing is not to identify you as that conviction says,
- 43:07S10: I did something. James says, I am something God wants
- 43:11S10: to free you from the I am something some of
- 43:17S10: you have taken the bait of Satan, and you have.
- 43:22S10: You've you've just. You're judge and jury yourself. You've let
- 43:26S10: Satan tell you this defines who you are and there
- 43:31S10: is no one that can avoid this. It's unavoidable.
- 43:34S3: We've all faced it.
- 43:35S10: It's unavoidable. But we get this cool story in John eight,
- 43:43S10: and to be fair, the earliest manuscripts, the earliest manuscripts
- 43:47S10: do not include it. My my perspective on this is
- 43:53S10: that this is such a stark story. I really believe
- 43:59S10: there was an attempt to keep it out, but I'm
- 44:01S10: absolutely certain Jesus did this. So the story goes that
- 44:06S10: he had gotten done teaching and disciples go to their homes.
- 44:11S10: Jesus went to the Mount of Olives, which just when
- 44:13S10: you're just reading this story, you just gotta understand he
- 44:18S10: was going there to meet with God the Father for sure.
- 44:23S10: So he's like, you know what? I'm going to go
- 44:26S10: probably roll out.
- 44:29S1: A little bit of a sack up on the top
- 44:31S1: of Mount of Olives, and I'm going to hang out
- 44:34S1: with my father. He came back down the next day
- 44:37S1: to the temple. And the story goes that as he
- 44:41S1: goes in to teach, here come the scribes and the
- 44:44S1: Pharisees and what they're trying to do, to be fair
- 44:48S1: is we we got to be fair with the Pharisees.
- 44:54S1: There's a lot of zeal without real depth of knowledge
- 44:58S1: and wisdom, but there's a zeal to honor God that
- 45:00S1: is now run amok. So they're law abiders and so
- 45:03S1: they think, man, depending on how he answers this one,
- 45:07S1: this will tell us really what's going on. Because one
- 45:10S1: thing that concerned the Pharisees most is that Jesus was
- 45:13S1: a freedom fighter. He was a freedom fighter. He was egalitarian.
- 45:18S1: And this story would prove that in spades. Take it away,
- 45:23S1: young Thunder. Give me the story, man.
- 45:24S3: Yeah. So the scribes, the Pharisees, they bring this woman
- 45:29S3: who's caught in adultery to Jesus, and they say to him, teacher,
- 45:33S3: this woman has been caught in adultery. Now in the
- 45:34S3: law of Moses, it commands us to stone the woman.
- 45:37S3: What do you say? And as they say this, he
- 45:41S3: gets down on the ground and he starts to write
- 45:43S3: some things. It doesn't specify what he's writing now.
- 45:46S1: And there's a lot of conjecture about it, thinking he's
- 45:48S1: writing in, uh, pride, arrogance, uh, knowledge puffs up, you know,
- 45:58S1: things like things, things like that.
- 46:01S3: Yes.
- 46:01S1: That would have pointed the finger back at the Pharisees.
- 46:04S3: And so they continue to ask him because he doesn't
- 46:06S3: verbally answer at first, but then he gets up and
- 46:09S3: he says to them, let him who is without sin
- 46:11S3: among you be the first to throw a stone at her.
- 46:14S3: And then he gets back down and he continues to write.
- 46:17S3: And starting with the oldest in the group, they slowly
- 46:22S3: drop their stones and walk away, and Jesus turns to
- 46:25S3: the woman and he, after they've all left and says,
- 46:27S3: where are your accusers? Where are those who condemn you?
- 46:30S3: And she says they're not here anymore. And he says,
- 46:34S3: neither do I condemn you. Now go and sin no more.
- 46:37S1: Yeah. Two things spoken here by Jesus. You notice how
- 46:41S1: he handles this? It is so incredibly wise. It is
- 46:48S1: so just dripping with truth. Two sides here. Number one,
- 46:55S1: you sinned. Don't do it anymore. Two. I don't condemn you. Wow. Adultery. Now,
- 47:09S1: there's a lot of layers to this story. Where was
- 47:13S1: the dude on the adultery side?
- 47:16S3: That's a really good question.
- 47:21S1: But we're going to offer you something really healthy spiritually.
- 47:26S1: A discipleship moment. We're going to pray over you in
- 47:30S1: a little bit. I want to be clear about what
- 47:34S1: we're praying about here. There's an area in your life
- 47:40S1: of sin. There's a time in your life of sin.
- 47:45S1: There was something somewhere. And I do want to speak
- 47:51S1: out to the issue of adultery even before we wade
- 47:53S1: into this. The only real way for you to get free,
- 48:02S1: because if you notice, came out into the public, it
- 48:05S1: was publicly known that this woman had committed adultery. So
- 48:09S1: there was work that she would have to do. Relationally, confession,
- 48:19S1: admission of this. But there's no condemnation. Some of you
- 48:26S1: have committed adultery and you've confessed your sin to God,
- 48:31S1: but you've not done James five and gone to one another,
- 48:34S1: mainly your spouse. That's got to be done to wipe
- 48:37S1: the slate clean, because what God has brought together, let
- 48:41S1: no man tear apart. When there is a tear in
- 48:44S1: that covenant relationship, there's need for confession. You might say, oh,
- 48:50S1: it could end it all. I think there is more
- 48:53S1: of a miracle waiting on the other side. And there
- 48:55S1: is freedom for your soul by doing that, for sure.
- 48:59S1: I know this is hitting some of you, maybe a
- 49:01S1: good number of you really hard this morning. But that
- 49:06S1: is the secret sauce of getting free from some of
- 49:09S1: these things is going to someone else and saying, hey,
- 49:11S1: this is this is what I battled with. This is
- 49:14S1: what I did. But the truth remains, neither do I
- 49:19S1: condemn you. Now go and sin no more. So the
- 49:25S1: issue that we're going to deal with here is the
- 49:27S1: issue of shame. And it's the issue of not just
- 49:32S1: having sinned, but that now is your identifier and you're
- 49:37S1: not persisting in that, but it keeps hounding you. And
- 49:42S1: it might have happened 40 years ago, 50 years ago. Yeah.
- 49:46S1: Could have been that long ago. And you're like, oh, Carl,
- 49:51S1: I want to get free from this. We're going to
- 49:52S1: pray over you in just a little bit. So in
- 49:57S1: a word or three, what is it? What sin from
- 50:04S1: your past and past can be a week. What sin
- 50:09S1: from your past? Has Satan or others attempted to box
- 50:14S1: you into the box of shame? There's therefore now no
- 50:19S1: condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. We will.
- 50:26S1: We will not see your names and we will not
- 50:29S1: speak out numbers, but just text in in a word
- 50:34S1: or three. Boy, this is what I've been stuck in
- 50:40S1: this box of shame around this thing. And we're going
- 50:43S1: to pray over you coming up here in just a
- 50:45S1: few minutes. 805, five, five, 78, 98. Great opportunity for
- 50:51S1: you to walk free today. You've carried that mark on
- 50:57S1: your life too long. Satan's had a stronghold of shame
- 51:01S1: on you for too many years. And today we're going
- 51:05S1: to pray for freedom. 800 555, 78, 98. Just text
- 51:11S1: it in in a word or three. What is that?
- 51:15S1: 805 five, five, 78, 98.
- 51:20S6: The gospel changes everything.
- 51:23S2: Where else am I going to find peace, joy, eternal
- 51:25S2: life not found in anyone else?
- 51:29S6: You're listening to Carl and crew.
- 51:32S1: Yeah, man. There is some great opportunity here. This is
- 51:35S1: tip of the iceberg, and we have got so many
- 51:37S1: responding right now. We're going to pray for freedom. You
- 51:42S1: do not have to text in the issue that you
- 51:45S1: are stuck in a shame box over. You needed to
- 51:49S1: hear these words this morning. I don't condemn you. Jesus
- 51:54S1: said to the woman who was caught in adultery, caught
- 51:58S1: by the way, not confessed, but go and sin no more.
- 52:05S1: There are a lot of responses coming in here. You
- 52:07S1: can get time to get yours in, in a word
- 52:09S1: or three. Just what is it that has got you
- 52:12S1: boxed into shame? 805. Five. Five. 78. 98. We're going
- 52:18S1: to pray over you here in a moment. I'm going
- 52:20S1: to read some of these out because I want to
- 52:21S1: do some explanation here to some of these as well.
- 52:24S1: We got a lot of them. Let me just give
- 52:26S1: it a couple quick moments here guys. Okay. Adultery and
- 52:31S1: all the repercussions. Porn abortion. God does not condemn you.
- 52:40S1: Promiscuity in the past. God does not that does not
- 52:43S1: define you. It's a new day, friend. Lazy. Go and
- 52:47S1: sin no more. You are not identified. God does not
- 52:51S1: see you. Get up in the morning and see lazy person.
- 52:55S1: That's not the ID on you. It's a person with
- 52:57S1: potential because the tomb is empty. Wanting incessant approval from others.
- 53:06S1: Somebody again. Adultery. Just too much TV. You've been labeled.
- 53:11S1: You've been shamed that you're just a TV person. No,
- 53:15S1: you're a child of God. Adultery, divorce, remarried. Yeah. It's
- 53:25S1: good to go back. Maybe deal with some of that.
- 53:28S1: I do not know the particulars on a lot of
- 53:30S1: these stories. Go to a pastor, get some clarity. But
- 53:33S1: you are not boxed in by shame. Dependence on food,
- 53:38S1: not God. A God does not condemn you. Go and
- 53:42S1: sin no more. Abuse of alcohol and drugs. Lust, alcohol.
- 53:50S1: Failing to be a leader in my family. Go and
- 53:54S1: sin no more. God does not condemn you. Promiscuity. In
- 54:00S1: my late teens. Early 20s. God does not condemn you.
- 54:05S1: The tomb is empty. You have been set free. You
- 54:07S1: have a new identity. Fight with my husband. Lust since childbirth.
- 54:19S1: You're a new creation friend. Go and sin no more. Pornography.
- 54:25S1: Same sex attraction. Liar. These are great because when you
- 54:32S1: put your fingers on these, you can hear the voice
- 54:35S1: of God saying, go and sin no more. I do
- 54:38S1: not condemn you. Alcoholism. Adultery again. Lust. Self gratification. Boy,
- 54:50S1: they're just pouring in here. Guys, I can't cover all
- 54:52S1: of these. We see abortion a lot in here. Infidelity? Yep.
- 55:05S1: You know, the amazing thing about this story in John
- 55:07S1: eight is that what you've been boxed in by, I'm
- 55:12S1: convinced what landed in the pages of John eight, verse
- 55:15S1: one through 11 is, you know, what would be considered
- 55:19S1: a really serious thing, and that is adultery. And what
- 55:23S1: does Jesus say? Listen, you're a sinner. This has some
- 55:27S1: downstream impact, no doubt about it. But go and sin
- 55:30S1: no more. I do not condemn you. So this freedom
- 55:35S1: from shame is huge. And also the command of Jesus,
- 55:42S1: go and sin no more is your next step out
- 55:45S1: of this thing. When you walk free from that shame.
- 55:48S1: It's beautiful. I'm going to pray over you right now.
- 55:52S1: They're still pouring in here. Judgmental, critical spirit, gossip. Good man.
- 55:59S1: Credit card debt. Yeah. Go and sin no more. Debt
- 56:04S1: is not your identifier. By God, you're a child of God.
- 56:09S1: All of you are children of God. The tomb is empty.
- 56:13S1: Our God is alive. Father, right now I come before
- 56:16S1: you and with a great joy and anticipation, we just
- 56:22S1: pray over our brothers and sisters, those that texted in
- 56:25S1: and many thousands who did not, who need some healing. Father,
- 56:32S1: I pray in the name of Jesus that your Holy
- 56:35S1: Spirit will comfort that there will be a willingness and
- 56:41S1: an eagerness to be embraced by your arms, who are
- 56:45S1: saying to them, come to me, your weary and heavy laden.
- 56:47S1: You've been carrying an identifying mark on your life. That
- 56:50S1: is not who you are, not in Christ Jesus. And Lord,
- 56:57S1: for many, here it is. Go and sin no more.
- 56:59S1: And some are wondering, oh, how am I going to
- 57:01S1: get free? Father, I pray that there will be an
- 57:06S1: admission to you. Agreement with you. Confession? Yep. That's what happened.
- 57:17S1: And they will hear your voice say, let's go. Let's
- 57:22S1: go and sin no more. And I love you. I
- 57:30S1: love you, Lord. We thank you for your grace and
- 57:33S1: your power, your love, your goodness, the fact that you
- 57:38S1: see it all, but you love us still. And I
- 57:40S1: pray in the name of Jesus right now. And I
- 57:45S1: speak out to all forms of evil. The Lord rebuke you, Satan.
- 57:48S1: You have no authority over these children of God who
- 57:50S1: are coming clean with stuff that has been pounding them,
- 57:54S1: shaping them, and defining them too long. And we thank
- 57:59S1: you that you give freedom today. In Jesus name, Amen.
- 58:07S1: That is our God.