Latest / Karl and Crew / Experiencing God in Everyday Life with Richard Blackaby & How to Talk About Jesus with Dr. Andy Bannister

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Experiencing God in Everyday Life with Richard Blackaby & How to Talk About Jesus with Dr. Andy Bannister · 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 is 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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  S3: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
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  S3: the life source, which is God.
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  S5: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
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  S5: be taken from you. Christ love can't. And he went
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  S5: 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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  S2: You know, one of the things we talk about around
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  S2: here is that information alone cannot change anyone. And we
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  S2: would all agree with that, right? Yes. Correct. Because information
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  S2: without application, when it comes to the truth of God's
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  S2: Word is worse than stagnation. There's nothing actually, there's nothing there.
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  S2: And this and you can build a case. Look, if
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  S2: it was about Bible knowledge, the Pharisees would have had
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  S2: ribbons hung around their neck for being the most close
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  S2: to Jesus. Guys walking, but they were the furthest away. Now.
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  S2: They were super knowledgeable. And by the way, a lot
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  S2: of them meant well. Pharisees get a bad rap a
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  S2: lot of times, but what came out of it was anger. Resentment.
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  S2: So knowledge gained without being applied can actually create a
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  S2: real kind of funky bitterness inside you, because that's what
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  S2: Self-focus always does, right?
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  S4: Yeah. I mean, and you think about anything that you
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  S4: accumulate information on. I mean, you can study all of
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  S4: the mechanics of, of exercise, the latest trends, the things
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  S4: that are supposed to work to make your body healthy.
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  S4: And you can know a lot about exercise, but without application,
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  S4: it's not helping you in any sort of way.
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  S2: That is so true. That is so true. But I
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  S2: just felt prompted by the spirit to hit one little
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  S2: nuance on this thing. And it's this. We are not
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  S2: celebrating the absence of information. That's not what we're celebrating here.
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  S2: And I want to be cautionary on that and here's why. Ali,
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  S2: I had the most cool time with my bride last night.
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  S2: She is famous for at least with me, famous for
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  S2: finding these documentaries. And we love learning stuff. Well, shock
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  S2: of all shocks. I knew about indulgences. I knew what
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  S2: led to the Reformation. I did not know specifically. Pope
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  S2: Julius was over Rome when they were really selling indulgences,
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  S2: and I did not know that those indulgences actually paid
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  S2: Michelangelo to paint the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, that without them
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  S2: they would not. That would not have been painted. Now,
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  S2: here's what's fascinating. And this is I'm still fired up.
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  S2: Can you tell I'm still lit up? Here's what's fascinating
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  S2: about that. There was a right sense in which this
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  S2: is horrible. Martin Luther came into Rome. He saw the debauchery.
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  S2: He saw the church spending gazillions of dollars on paintings
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  S2: and self-aggrandizement. And here's the irony. Let's take a little
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  S2: bit further. I'm going through a lot of history here quickly.
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  S2: So Pope Julius dies, I think. Who was the next pope?
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  S2: Somebody help me. I want to say, Leo. I don't
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  S2: think that's true, though. But the next pope comes along
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  S2: and Michelangelo sees what's going on, and now he starts
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  S2: getting sickened by the very thing that he's been working on.
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  S2: And the nation now has an uprising because Protestantism is
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  S2: blowing through the through the winds. Martin Luther, who was
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  S2: staunchly committed to all these things, now says, we've lost
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  S2: God in all of this stuff. And lo and behold,
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  S2: there was a sacking of Rome where 50,000 people were killed.
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  S2: And what's horrific about this is that a lot of
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  S2: those people were so angry at what was going on
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  S2: spiritually at the Catholic Church at that time, so angry
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  S2: that they justified their anger. What do we find in first, Peter?
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  S2: We found and what do we find in Romans? You
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  S2: can't use your freedom as justification to go out and sin.
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  S2: Hurt people, hurt yourself, whatever. So the beautiful thing with
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  S2: gaining information. I'm so lit up about this. I got
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  S2: to talk to Erwin Lutzer. I did not know some
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  S2: of these blanks. You know what I'm saying? I didn't
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  S2: know indulgences were paying for the Sistine Chapel, all that painting.
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  S2: And that took him four years, by the way, craning
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  S2: his neck and painting those masterpieces. But when you start
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  S2: getting information that enlivens your heart and then you begin
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  S2: to go, whoa, we can't be Christians. That pendulum swing
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  S2: in reaction to these things in a way that betrays
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  S2: the very freedoms that we do have in Christ. Isn't
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  S2: that rich? Ali?
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  S4: Yeah. I mean, this sounds like a really interesting documentary.
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  S2: It's it's. Ali. It is so fascinating. But I gotta
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  S2: tell you guys, we're we're talking freedom all week here.
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  S2: And here's what I want to say. Number one, get information,
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  S2: but apply that information rigorously by the power of the
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  S2: spirit so that you don't take your freedom as a, uh,
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  S2: justification for hurting yourself or others. This is where we've
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  S2: got to be very careful with this. Isn't that fascinating, Ali?
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  S4: You know, because you think about what freedom, what things
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  S4: people can do in the name of freedom, you know? Yeah.
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  S4: And when you when you take that worldview all the
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  S4: way out, I mean, it's a terrifying thing. Think of
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  S4: think about the crimes that are committed in the name
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  S4: of freedom, that I should have the right to do
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  S4: whatever I want to do. And even simple things like theft.
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  S4: If I walk into a store and think, well, I, I,
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  S4: there's things that I want here and maybe I can't
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  S4: afford it. So I'm going to take what I want
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  S4: because I have the freedom to do what I want.
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  S4: I'm going to do what's right in my own eyes.
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  S2: And, and you can. There's no end to the list
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  S2: of justifications you can.
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  S4: Make, because if it's just about the freedom to do
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  S4: what you want, oh.
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  S2: That's really good. So on this Freedom Friday, even later
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  S2: on in this hour, we're going to be taking your
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  S2: calls on freedom, how Jesus has really set you free.
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  S2: I mean, really set you free to walk in righteousness,
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  S2: not your righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ. It's
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  S2: an absolute beautiful thing. Oh my goodness. What a morning
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  S2: we're having here Ali.
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  S4: Yeah. Already off to a great start.
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  S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
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  S1: to Carl and Crew.
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  S2: Well we've been in first Peter and it has been
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  S2: an incredible week. I hope you found a freedom nugget
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  S2: that you can take and walk with, not only today,
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  S2: but for the rest of your life. There's so many
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  S2: little nuggets in first. Peter. My goodness, Sally, it doesn't end.
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  S4: I know we've just scratched the surface picking just some
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  S4: of those best of passages.
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  S2: Andy Bannister is with us right now. Andy, it's good
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  S2: to have you with us this morning, my man. I
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  S2: duck into a little passage here that I know is
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  S2: near and dear to your heart. He said, be ready
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  S2: to make a defense to anyone who asks you for
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  S2: a reason for the hope that is in you. But
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  S2: it says, yet do it with gentleness and respect. And.
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  S2: And I think that's often left out, isn't it, Andy?
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  S6: It is. And by the way, even the way that
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  S6: passage begins, right? It's implying that there's something about your
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  S6: life that is different, such that people would ask, and
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  S6: it's not saying, go out there and bang your friends
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  S6: and neighbors and colleagues over the head such that they go, oh,
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  S6: for goodness sake, what's going on? They should see something
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  S6: different in you when you live that way. People are
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  S6: going to go, what is going on? And then you
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  S6: can explain and do that with gentleness and respect. So
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  S6: the whole thing is sandwiched in character, right?
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  S2: Yes.
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  S4: Doctor Andy Bannister with us this morning. He's the director
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  S4: of Solace speaking and teaching regularly throughout the UK, Europe,
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  S4: Canada and the US. He addresses audience of both Christians
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  S4: and those of all faiths or none, on issues related
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  S4: to faith, culture, politics and society. You know, this idea
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  S4: of even giving a reason for the hope you have.
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  S4: It's become a kind of a personal, individualized thing. This
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  S4: is what I sometimes encounter, is that people will say,
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  S4: how great you've found something that works for you. I'm
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  S4: so happy for you that you've found this personal, this
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  S4: personal truth, this personal religion. And people tend to be
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  S4: okay with that. Uh, maybe in the name of tolerance,
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  S4: which from my reading of your recent writing, you're not
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  S4: a big fan of the word tolerance.
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  S6: No. Let's start there. I don't like the word tolerance
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  S6: because actually, when you think about it, it's one of
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  S6: those words that sounds great firstly. But then when you
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  S6: think about, well, what do we tolerate? We tolerate things
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  S6: that are a bit beneath you, right? The dog wees
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  S6: on the couch for the third time in the month.
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  S6: We tolerate it. You know, you tolerate the small child
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  S6: in your life when they draw on the wall with crayon.
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  S6: You tolerate that, so. But an adult who's like your
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  S6: equal tolerating sounds really? It's a bit like it's a
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  S6: bit superior, really. We should be respecting one another, listening
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  S6: to one another. So I don't like the word tolerate
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  S6: straight away. Let's just like chill out and hear each other.
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  S6: But your question is a good one. I think people
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  S6: sometimes use that alley as a defense. It's a way
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  S6: of going, oh, I'm not sure I want to go
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  S6: there because they're a bit nervous. So one thing when
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  S6: I hear that is I think try and defuse it
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  S6: slightly to go, you know, say, well, that's very, very
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  S6: kind of you to say that, but hey, what's working
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  S6: for you? Tell me your story. What's your spiritual journey
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  S6: look like? Because if you flip it around and listen
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  S6: to them and genuinely listen and genuinely, genuinely ask questions,
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  S6: they're going to be more ready when you say, hey, well,
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  S6: let me tell you a bit more about why Jesus
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  S6: means what he does to me. If you've listened to
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  S6: them for 1015 minutes, they're going to be far more
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  S6: open to listening to you versus I think their fear
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  S6: is they're going to get Bible bashed. So yeah, the
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  S6: way that you respond to that is really important.
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  S2: You know, the interesting thing of first Peter, the context
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  S2: is the dispersed these were persecuted people, primarily Greeks, some Jews,
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  S2: for sure. But what's fascinating is that they're asked to
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  S2: defend their faith in the face of persecution or death.
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  S2: Let's just cut to the chase here. Yeah. Andy, this.
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  S2: And yet the. The hope in this text is that
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  S2: some will see your behavior in the way you defend
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  S2: Jesus Christ as the Messiah coming up against Greco-Roman gods.
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  S2: The Jews still waiting for the Messiah. This is. This
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  S2: is a hot bed of suffering. And yet they're called
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  S2: to speak. Wow.
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  S6: Yeah. I always find that challenging. Right? And it's a
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  S6: bit like if you look at the persecuted church today,
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  S6: you know, what is it? 370 million Christians live in
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  S6: daily kind of threat of persecution for their faith. You know,
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  S6: all across the Middle East, China, North Korea. And I
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  S6: look at those men and women and go, oh my word,
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  S6: it's quite sobering, right? Because however tough it is being
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  S6: a Christian in the UK for me or the USA
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  S6: for you, you're not going to lose your life. You're
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  S6: not going to be arrested, um, or any of those
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  S6: things for your faith. The worst that will happen is
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  S6: someone might be rude to you. You might say something
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  S6: and feel a bit stupid, and we've allowed those fears
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  S6: to shut us down. So you're right about Peter. It's
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  S6: quite challenging and a really challenging question to ask yourself
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  S6: is what is my faith cost me? You know, what
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  S6: does it actually cost me to follow Christ? And if
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  S6: the answer is not a lot, I don't mean financially,
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  S6: by the way. I mean sort of personally. And I
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  S6: know if the answer is not a lot, then maybe
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  S6: we need to be very careful that we're not taking
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  S6: the easy door out here and go, well, I'm not
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  S6: going to have that conversation because it might just be
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  S6: a bit awkward. So yeah, I'm with you. I find
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  S6: first Peter really, really challenging, but also really encouraging because
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  S6: there are Christians living out today. So don't be discouraged.
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  S6: Go and check out their stories. Check out an organization
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  S6: like Open Doors that does amazing work with persecuted Christians
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  S6: around the world. You'll be really blessed and challenged at
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  S6: the same time.
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  S4: You know, going back to this verse, there's two themes
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  S4: the preparation and making a defense. Let's first talk about
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  S4: the preparation. How can we be prepared to speak about
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  S4: the hope that we have? Our own story is a
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  S4: good place to start, but where? Where is the next
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  S4: place that we should focus on preparation.
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  S6: Yeah, your story is a good place to start. Ali,
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  S6: just to expand that slightly, don't just think about how
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  S6: you became a Christian. Think about why. Why you wanted.
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  S2: That.
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  S6: Yes. Because if your testimony is 30 years ago, I,
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  S6: you know, I had a colleague at work who I played,
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  S6: you know, baseball with, and they were a Christian. Well, hey,
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  S6: that's 30 years ago. And B, if you played baseball
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  S6: with them when they were a Muslim, presumably the implication
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  S6: is you'd be going to mosque now. So go beyond
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  S6: just how it started. Talk about what Jesus is doing
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  S6: in your life today, and then bring it up to
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  S6: date with why. Why you're a Christian. But yeah, start with,
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  S6: start with your story and then move into the reason
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  S6: for the hope that you have and hear the preparation.
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  S6: By the way, Ali, I have always thought the best
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  S6: thing here is two things. Number one, what's your style?
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  S6: I think you talked about that in the in the
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  S6: intro piece that you guys did. You know, not all
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  S6: of us are great word people. If you're more of
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  S6: a sort of heart and hands person, well, okay, think
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  S6: about how can I serve my friends and neighbors and colleagues?
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  S6: And when they ask, why don't cop out? You say
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  S6: it's because I'm a Christian. I want to show that
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  S6: people love me. They'll probably ask you more at that point. Um,
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  S6: so first thing is think about your style and how
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  S6: God can use the way that you are naturally. Secondly,
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  S6: what are the people you're hanging out with? If most
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  S6: of your friends are New Agers, or if most of
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  S6: your friends are Muslims, or if most of your friends
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  S6: are atheists, the approach is going to be different. So
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  S6: maybe pray and go, Lord, who have you brought across
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  S6: my path? What are my friends and family and colleagues like?
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  S6: And then think about how do I do some preparation, perhaps,
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  S6: you know, listen to a podcast, read a book, find
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  S6: other people who are sharing their faith with people like
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  S6: that and learn from them. Because I think we forget
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  S6: sometimes evangelism is a skill. Don't feel bad that you
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  S6: don't know how to do it straight away. You can
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  S6: get better with practice and prayer and and learning from others.
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  S2: What are the top three vital elements beyond your story
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  S2: that we need to be equipped and prepared with, just
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  S2: from a a big picture standpoint, what would those be?
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  S6: Andi yeah, I think from a big picture standpoint. A
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  S6: couple of things. Firstly, it all comes back to the
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  S6: uniqueness of Jesus. Everything ultimately does. The question that Ali asked,
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  S6: you know, if someone says it's good for you, but,
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  S6: you know, not necessarily for me if you're encountering people
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  S6: in other faiths. So number one, make sure you know
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  S6: and understand who Jesus is and how to explain what's
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  S6: unique about him. And first, Peter says this right in
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  S6: your hearts, set apart Christ as Lord. This verse begins, um,
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  S6: so understand what it means that Jesus is Lord. Why
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  S6: he is who he claimed to be, that kind of stuff. Um,
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  S6: you know, sort of slightly, I suppose apologetics to use
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  S6: that word. 10101 and there's great books you can read
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  S6: on that. Secondly, I think be aware of the questions
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  S6: that people are asking because they change over time, right?
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  S6: You know, there was a time when, when atheism was
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  S6: the biggest alternative out there. Now, I think particularly from
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  S6: younger people, Carl, it tends to be questions around suffering
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  S6: and meaning and, and hope. You know, the world is
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  S6: going mad. You know, everything seems in chaos and the
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  S6: questions are changing. So take the time to figure out
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  S6: what the questions are that your friends are asking. That's
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  S6: the second most important thing. And then thirdly, I think
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  S6: realize that most people's journey to faith these days, if
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  S6: they're coming from a background where they're not Christians, can
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  S6: be a journey. It takes time. So don't feel bad.
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  S6: If after one conversation with your friend, you feel it's
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  S6: only gone a slight way, it hasn't gone all the way.
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  S6: That's okay. Most people come to faith now over a
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  S6: period of time, over multiple conversations. So be praying and going. Lord,
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  S6: can you create some opportunities for me? Help me be
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  S6: faithful in those, but also be relaxed. If actually, you know,
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  S6: I've started the conversation and then someone else, another Christian,
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  S6: later interacts with that person and completes the journey. Don't
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  S6: make it all about you.
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  S4: Yeah. Doctor Andy Bannister with us this morning. You know,
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  S4: you kind of live in these spaces where you have
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  S4: a lot of dialogue with Christian audiences, with non-Christian audience.
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  S4: I'm curious if there's an exchange that comes to mind
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  S4: for you. A memorable one where the exchange of ideas
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  S4: and really listening and sharing really led to a changed
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  S4: mind and a changed heart for somebody. Maybe not on
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  S4: the spot, but is there an exchange that comes to
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  S4: mind for you that is particularly memorable? Maybe kind of
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  S4: your why you do this?
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  S6: Yeah. Well, we do two very quickly because they're very different.
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  S6: So one would be I've done lots of Muslim Christian
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  S6: dialogues and there's a very well known Muslim apologist. A
• 17:48
  S6: communicator lives in Canada called Shabir Ali, very well known
• 17:51
  S6: as a, as a, as a debater for Muslims, for
• 17:54
  S6: the Muslim faith. And he and I did a dialogue
• 17:56
  S6: in Canada about 7 or 8 years ago, during which
• 17:59
  S6: he actually, I got him to admit on, on stage
• 18:01
  S6: that he thought that the presentation of Jesus in the
• 18:04
  S6: Bible was more than just a man. He doesn't think
• 18:06
  S6: Jesus is God, but we got him to. I think he.
• 18:09
  S6: The Bible at least, is very clear that Jesus is
• 18:12
  S6: more than a prophet. Now, that doesn't sound a lot,
• 18:14
  S6: but that's a big step. That's a. That was a
• 18:15
  S6: big step. And we're still praying for Shabir. You know,
• 18:19
  S6: he's still a Muslim, but lots of us have had
• 18:21
  S6: those kind of interactions. So that was a real wow.
• 18:23
  S6: To get him to admit that in front of 300 people.
• 18:26
  S6: And then some people listening to this go, well, that's
• 18:28
  S6: all right for you, Andy. You do this. I don't
• 18:29
  S6: so much closer to home, next door neighbors. I remember
• 18:33
  S6: the excitement when we invited our next door neighbors to
• 18:36
  S6: a Christmas carol service about two years ago, and it's
• 18:39
  S6: a single mom lives next door to us with her kids. She.
• 18:41
  S6: She came. Really enjoyed it, and in the car on
• 18:44
  S6: the way home, her teenage daughter picks up a leaflet
• 18:48
  S6: at the church for the Alpha Course. That's a course
• 18:50
  S6: that helps people think about the Christian faith. And she's like, oh,
• 18:52
  S6: what is this? So we told her and she went,
• 18:55
  S6: can I come? So she literally invited us. We were like, yeah, yeah, actually,
• 19:00
  S6: it's designed for people like you.
• 19:02
  S3: She did your.
• 19:02
  S2: Work for you, Andy.
• 19:03
  S6: I know, and that tells me, Carl, the initial nervousness. Oh,
• 19:07
  S6: we're gonna invite the next door neighbors. What if they
• 19:08
  S6: say no? And so often we worry about the no.
• 19:11
  S6: And actually, we forget the fact there might be a yes.
• 19:14
  S6: So it started with inviting him to church at Christmas, which,
• 19:16
  S6: you know, I know we're six months off, but those
• 19:18
  S6: kind of things are easy wins. So yeah, invite someone
• 19:20
  S6: to church. The worst they'll say is no. The most
• 19:23
  S6: exciting thing they'll say is going, oh, do you know what? Yeah.
• 19:26
  S6: I'll come with you. So try the easy things. Too.
• 19:29
  S6: Low hanging fruit.
• 19:30
  S2: I don't know how true these stats are, but we've
• 19:32
  S2: heard stats and repeated them here.
• 19:34
  S6: 34.3% of all statistics are made up on the spot.
• 19:37
  S2: Yeah. Well, here's one I want. Let me bounce this
• 19:40
  S2: one off you. There is rumor that north of 80%
• 19:45
  S2: of people that have invited to come to a service
• 19:49
  S2: would say yes, that they they wouldn't be opposed to it.
• 19:53
  S2: Are there are there more people that are under prevenient
• 19:56
  S2: grace that are God fearing and just need a fair
• 20:01
  S2: shot at the Savior Jesus to hear about him? Andy.
• 20:04
  S6: Gosh, that's a remarkably long, long, long word. Well done. And, um, yes,
• 20:09
  S6: so I think there is that going on. I think
• 20:12
  S6: God is at work out there in ways that we
• 20:14
  S6: don't we don't appreciate. He's well ahead of us. And
• 20:16
  S6: our job is to kind of keep up with what
• 20:18
  S6: he's doing. But that stat, I can't give you the
• 20:20
  S6: stat for the for the, the USA. That's your context.
• 20:23
  S6: But I can tell you the UK, there are surveys
• 20:25
  S6: now that show just 13% of under 25 are atheists. 87%
• 20:30
  S6: believe in some kind of spirituality. There you go. Lots
• 20:33
  S6: of anecdotal evidence of this. Like our next door neighbors.
• 20:35
  S6: I told you about a friend who's a pastor in
• 20:37
  S6: the town where I live. He's had people just walk
• 20:39
  S6: into church on a, on a Sunday morning with no
• 20:41
  S6: background at all. They've just come to try it out.
• 20:43
  S6: And then there was a survey done a few years
• 20:45
  S6: ago here in the UK called The Talking Jesus Report.
• 20:48
  S6: And the stat I took from this car, this is
• 20:50
  S6: a this is mind blowing. I forget the numbers, but
• 20:53
  S6: more people in the UK want to hear about Jesus
• 20:57
  S6: than Christians are willing to talk about it. There was
• 20:59
  S6: about a 4% difference. So you talk to people in
• 21:02
  S6: the church, they're like, oh, I'm a bit nervous about
• 21:03
  S6: talking about my faith. People don't want to hear outside
• 21:06
  S6: the church. Um, people are like, yeah, I want to hear.
• 21:09
  S6: And the massive jump, by the way, if you ask people,
• 21:11
  S6: do I want to hear about Jesus? You get I
• 21:13
  S6: think it's like the mid 20s over here. If you
• 21:15
  S6: say if you if it was from a Christian who
• 21:18
  S6: would be willing to listen to you and give you
• 21:20
  S6: lots of opportunity to talk, you know, they made it
• 21:22
  S6: clear it was far more interactional. That number jumped into
• 21:25
  S6: certainly the mid 60s, because I think once people realize
• 21:29
  S6: you're not going to try and strong arm them, that
• 21:31
  S6: you're willing to listen and engage and yes, talk about Jesus,
• 21:34
  S6: but also listen to them. People are far more open. Um,
• 21:38
  S6: so yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if for the USA
• 21:40
  S6: because you've got a bit more of a Christian background
• 21:42
  S6: still than we have. It could well be into the 80s,
• 21:44
  S6: but hey, even if it's 10%. Oh come on, invite
• 21:47
  S6: ten people to church. One. 1 in 10 is going
• 21:49
  S6: to come. So invite ten people.
• 21:51
  S2: Yeah.
• 21:51
  S4: Doctor Andy Bannister this morning. Phenomenal resources. He's got blog.
• 21:56
  S4: He's a podcaster. Uh, a couple of different books. One
• 21:59
  S4: we're featuring. Have you wondered finding the everyday clues to meaning,
• 22:02
  S4: purpose and spirituality. Text wonder will get you linked up
• 22:06
  S4: wonder to 805 557898. Great preparation to give the reason
• 22:12
  S4: for the hope you have. Text wonder to 805 557898.
• 22:18
  S1: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
• 22:22
  S1: Carl and crew.
• 22:24
  S2: When we think about the freedom that we found in Christ,
• 22:28
  S2: there can be a lot of situations like mine where
• 22:31
  S2: I was driving down the road and God simply asked me,
• 22:34
  S2: are you done yet? Oh goodness. Hadn't planned to get
• 22:38
  S2: choked up. So there can be moments like that. But
• 22:46
  S2: if you reel it back just a bit, you find,
• 22:49
  S2: like I do in my life, the Dave Churchill's in
• 22:52
  S2: my story, who loved me enough to walk across a
• 22:56
  S2: raucous party 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle in
• 22:59
  S2: oil field camps and saw me standing over there and
• 23:05
  S2: he's with he, with my dad and a few other families,
• 23:10
  S2: launched a church plant in my hometown, and now I've
• 23:13
  S2: got a guy that's on the elder board who's standing
• 23:18
  S2: across the party, walking my way. And I tell my friend,
• 23:22
  S2: hold my beer. As if he didn't see it in
• 23:25
  S2: my hand. And I'm wondering, oh boy, what's Dave going
• 23:30
  S2: to say to me? Boy did he love me well.
• 23:34
  S2: Music blaring. Put his arm around me. Carl, it's rough
• 23:39
  S2: up here on the slope. You ever need a friend?
• 23:42
  S2: I'm here for you. And I just want to tell
• 23:44
  S2: you I love you. And you have a good time
• 23:45
  S2: at this party tonight, okay? And I'm like, yeah. Okay. Great.
• 23:49
  S2: Just ruined the party for me, Dave. But that little act,
• 23:54
  S2: I can't wait to get to heaven until. Dave you
• 23:57
  S2: don't know what that did for me, man. That non condemnation,
• 24:01
  S2: but a clear invitation that if I ever need a
• 24:03
  S2: shoulder to cry on, that you were the man. All
• 24:08
  S2: of these little things God uses to walk us into freedom.
• 24:15
  S2: On occasion, there's some that search independent of any one
• 24:19
  S2: else and find Jesus or he finds them. But in
• 24:26
  S2: most cases, there is someone who helped lead us into
• 24:30
  S2: the freedom that we have in Christ. And on this
• 24:31
  S2: Freedom Friday, that's what we want to go after, don't we?
• 24:36
  S4: Yeah. We want to ask you what did what or
• 24:38
  S4: who did God use to walk you into freedom in Christ?
• 24:42
  S4: I want you to think about the interactions that you
• 24:44
  S4: had with Christ followers that were instrumental, those gospel conversations.
• 24:49
  S4: Maybe it didn't all happen in one fell swoop where
• 24:52
  S4: a Christian shared the gospel and you got saved. But
• 24:55
  S4: who did God use to help walk you into freedom
• 24:58
  S4: in Christ? We'd love to hear your story this morning. (800) 555-7898.
• 25:05
  S1: Your shot of hope to get you through the day.
• 25:08
  S5: You are so, so loved. God does not want you
• 25:11
  S5: to stay in your past. And I want you to
• 25:13
  S5: know and believe that today.
• 25:14
  S1: You're listening to cast and crew.
• 25:17
  S2: When you walk in freedom. It's an amazing thing because
• 25:20
  S2: you begin to get almost tantalized when you look at
• 25:24
  S2: the Word of God about what this eternity is going
• 25:26
  S2: to be like with our with our God, our Savior,
• 25:29
  S2: our Lord. And it's going to be beautiful, guys. It's
• 25:32
  S2: going to be beautiful. While we're here, we have freedom.
• 25:37
  S2: And oftentimes that freedom that we found God used someone
• 25:41
  S2: in our life.
• 25:42
  S4: Yes, he uses people. So who did God use to
• 25:45
  S4: help walk you into freedom in Christ? 805 557898. Patricia
• 25:52
  S4: calling in this morning our first caller from Lakeland, Florida.
• 25:55
  S4: Tell us, who did God use?
• 25:59
  S7: Hi. Yes. Um, so I was in the hairdresser salon
• 26:04
  S7: and it was my hairdresser that just told me because
• 26:08
  S7: she knows how much I love music. And she told
• 26:11
  S7: me how soulful and wonderful the music was at her church.
• 26:17
  S7: So she invited me to church. At the time, I
• 26:19
  S7: had a mentally ill daughter, was constantly wanting to commit suicide,
• 26:24
  S7: and I. I desperately needed Jesus to help me as
• 26:28
  S7: a mother through that, to help her. And, um, that
• 26:32
  S7: really began my journey. So it was something as simple
• 26:37
  S7: as her understanding who I am and just inviting me to,
• 26:44
  S7: you know, to gently just come to church one time.
• 26:48
  S7: She made it very simple. And, um, and that was,
• 26:53
  S7: that was the beginning of a love relationship with my Jesus.
• 26:59
  S2: Well that's beautiful. And here's what's cool. I mean, she
• 27:03
  S2: picked up on the fact. All right, she loves music.
• 27:06
  S2: Come check out some music that I think you'll enjoy.
• 27:09
  S2: How awesome is.
• 27:10
  S4: That? I mean, it's thinking back to Andy Bannister, like
• 27:13
  S4: that finding kind of being willing to listen. You have
• 27:16
  S4: to listen to understand where there's a need so that
• 27:19
  S4: you can kind of meet it with the right approach.
• 27:22
  S4: So I love that. Thank you. Patricia from Florida.
• 27:24
  S2: Who did God use to help you walk into freedom
• 27:28
  S2: in Christ? Who did God use to help you walk
• 27:31
  S2: into freedom in Christ? Light up the phone lines 805
• 27:35
  S2: 557898 805 557898 Catherine West, Palm Beach, Florida. What do
• 27:44
  S2: you say?
• 27:46
  S8: Hey, I love your show. Um, my father, who became
• 27:49
  S8: a Christian late in life, he found his faith. He
• 27:52
  S8: was a marine colonel, retired, been through some really horrible things.
• 27:55
  S8: Wife left him good man. But his staunch faith and
• 28:01
  S8: what he had found during that affliction, going from church
• 28:03
  S8: to church in Pensacola. Because they say there's a church
• 28:07
  S8: on every corner. Um, basically he was desperate. He was looking, searching,
• 28:15
  S8: and he found the Lord. And that that overwhelming joy.
• 28:18
  S8: I saw a change in him that I could not refute.
• 28:22
  S8: And I've been searching and mom had never raised us
• 28:25
  S8: in a household with. So I have a pastor for
• 28:27
  S8: a grandfather who was an amazing man. I never really
• 28:30
  S8: got to know the Lord except for when I lived
• 28:32
  S8: with him a few times when dad was overseas. So God,
• 28:36
  S8: what the enemy meant to take away from me and
• 28:39
  S8: to make me think that all Christians were, you know,
• 28:42
  S8: this and that and the other. And I did see
• 28:43
  S8: a lot of hypocrisy in the Catholic Church. A lot
• 28:47
  S8: of schools I went to were Catholic just because that's
• 28:49
  S8: the way it was. A lot of private stuff. And, um,
• 28:52
  S8: even Campus Crusade for Christ, which I love the organization
• 28:55
  S8: so much, but there's people that are well-meaning that, you know,
• 28:58
  S8: they're not patient with you. You weren't raised in a
• 29:00
  S8: home where they talked about born again. So that's my story. Um,
• 29:04
  S8: he died in a car accident in 2003, sadly, but somehow,
• 29:07
  S8: even as a non-believer, about three years later, I was saved. I.
• 29:10
  S8: I found my faith to other people. God is amazing.
• 29:14
  S8: He brings other people into your life to to point
• 29:17
  S8: you there.
• 29:17
  S4: Yeah.
• 29:17
  S2: Beautiful. Catherine. Boom. Sister. That's why we call you the
• 29:20
  S2: boom crew, guys. How powerful is that?
• 29:23
  S3: Wow.
• 29:24
  S2: And daddy went home to be with God, not knowing
• 29:28
  S2: his daughter. Catherine is going to join him. Oh. How sweet.
• 29:33
  S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Cast and
• 29:36
  S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
• 29:39
  S2: Who did God use to help walk you into freedom
• 29:43
  S2: in Christ? 805 557898 James in Noblesville, Indiana. Thanks for
• 29:50
  S2: holding on. What's your story, man?
• 29:53
  S9: Uh, yeah. I grew up in the church and I
• 29:55
  S9: thought I was a Christian and started my early career
• 29:58
  S9: in 1990. And I got introduced to Randy, a coworker, uh,
• 30:03
  S9: and he took me on a tour of the plant
• 30:06
  S9: The large plant and we must have a half mile
• 30:08
  S9: walk with. And 35 people knew Randy. He asked them
• 30:12
  S9: about their families, their grandparents, their favorite sports team. Whatever
• 30:15
  S9: it is, Randy. Randy knew him. He just brought joy.
• 30:18
  S9: And after eight years, I came to know the Lord.
• 30:21
  S9: And Randy was just very influential in walking, walking, walking
• 30:26
  S9: joy through the plant.
• 30:28
  S2: That's beautiful. James. That is beautiful. And what's really beautiful
• 30:31
  S2: in here yet again is James. You thought you were
• 30:35
  S2: a Christ follower, but not until seeing the life of
• 30:37
  S2: a coworker did you realize. Hold it. I don't know
• 30:40
  S2: the real Jesus here. That's powerhouse. Let's go back to
• 30:43
  S2: the phone lines.
• 30:44
  S4: We got Nancy from Algonquin, Illinois. Who did God use
• 30:47
  S4: to help you walk into freedom in Christ? Nancy.
• 30:50
  S8: Um, so.
• 30:52
  S7: We moved into a neighborhood and, uh, a neighbor invited
• 30:56
  S7: me to a midweek service and I went and I
• 31:00
  S7: loved it. And I went back on my own. And
• 31:02
  S7: the funny story behind it is that my daughter was
• 31:06
  S7: already going to a youth group there on Saturday mornings,
• 31:09
  S7: and every time I'd have to drive her, I would
• 31:11
  S7: complain that I didn't want a driver. It was too far,
• 31:15
  S7: blah blah blah. And here it ends up that that's
• 31:19
  S7: the church that I attended. And, um, my whole family
• 31:25
  S7: ended up going there.
• 31:26
  S4: Wow.
• 31:27
  S2: That's an awesome story.
• 31:29
  S4: Complain no more, right? Nancy.
• 31:33
  S2: Tremendous boom. That's beautiful guys. Maria. West Palm, Florida. What
• 31:37
  S2: do you say, sister?
• 31:41
  S10: Christian radio.
• 31:43
  S2: Really? Tell us a little bit more.
• 31:46
  S10: Okay. Um, I grew up in the Caribbean and I
• 31:49
  S10: did church just about every time the church opened, I
• 31:53
  S10: came here wanting. I came to the States, wanted something more.
• 31:56
  S10: I just needed to be fed better and turned on
• 32:00
  S10: the radio and just found found Christ and started walking
• 32:05
  S10: and never stopped.
• 32:06
  S3: Wow.
• 32:06
  S2: Maria. Again. Again. I want to stress this boom crew.
• 32:10
  S2: She was going to church. She was, you know, in
• 32:13
  S2: the groove. But she wasn't in Christ. Beautiful stories, guys. Beautiful.
• 32:19
  S2: Let's try to get another one in here.
• 32:20
  S4: Ali, we've got Scout. First time caller from Sun City, Florida.
• 32:24
  S4: Hope I got that right. Go ahead.
• 32:27
  S9: Yes, Scott. How y'all doing? Um, I was just going
• 32:31
  S9: to say I, I'm. I was saved at the age
• 32:34
  S9: of 60. Um, I'm 62 now. My wife's always been
• 32:38
  S9: a longtime believer. And when we moved to Florida, she
• 32:41
  S9: started going to a small church here. And the pastor
• 32:44
  S9: and the deacons came by and gave me a visit, um,
• 32:48
  S9: which got me started thinking. And I was always the
• 32:51
  S9: doubting Thomas. And, um, that really got me thinking. And
• 32:55
  S9: then I started listening to moody radio and I just
• 33:02
  S9: listening to all the great pastors on Moody Radio. I
• 33:04
  S9: love listening to JD Greer and Jeremiah Colin Smith. Um,
• 33:09
  S9: all of them. And it just. And then I read
• 33:11
  S9: the book by Lee Strobel. And finally I was like, hey,
• 33:14
  S9: you know what? And there's really something to this.
• 33:18
  S2: So you surrendered it all to him. Way to go, Scott.
• 33:22
  S2: First time caller, sin City, Florida, two years old in
• 33:25
  S2: Jesus Christ. How cool is that?
• 33:28
  S4: That's beautiful.
• 33:29
  S2: Oh my goodness, guys. You know, and if you have
• 33:33
  S2: a chance today, if this person who God used to
• 33:37
  S2: help you walk into freedom in Christ is still with
• 33:40
  S2: us on earth, and they haven't gone on to their reward,
• 33:43
  S2: give them a call and tell them I was just
• 33:46
  S2: jogged in my thinking here today. And that jog led
• 33:50
  S2: me to call you up and say thank you.
• 33:52
  S4: And you know, the encouragement. Think about the categories of
• 33:55
  S4: people you've heard, you heard a stranger, a neighbor, a coworker,
• 34:00
  S4: a family member. I mean, that covers a lot of life,
• 34:04
  S4: doesn't it? Yeah. It means in every walk of life,
• 34:07
  S4: every sphere of influence that we have, there are opportunities.
• 34:11
  S4: It's sometimes it's cool to hear like real life examples
• 34:13
  S4: of how that worked out.
• 34:15
  S2: Yeah. It's so good. Uh, Kamila in Ohio really quick.
• 34:18
  S2: We just got a second for you. What do you got, sister?
• 34:22
  S11: Hi. I've been raised in church, but I end up leaving, like,
• 34:26
  S11: in my 20s. You know, when you sit on your
• 34:28
  S11: own and I'm standing outside and a stranger walks was
• 34:32
  S11: walking by, and he just stops and says, God wants
• 34:35
  S11: more than a song from you. And and kept walking.
• 34:40
  S11: I've always sang songs, you know, even on praise team
• 34:44
  S11: leaders and all. But I had left church that sent
• 34:46
  S11: me back to church. And that's where God wants more
• 34:50
  S11: from me.
• 34:51
  S4: Oh, wow.
• 34:52
  S2: Beautiful. Camila. Yeah. Isn't that amazing? Now that's another wrinkle.
• 34:56
  S2: My goodness, a stranger. God wants more than just a
• 34:59
  S2: song from you.
• 35:00
  S4: Wow, that's a timely word.
• 35:02
  S2: Oof oof! Duh. Little Swedish affirmation there. Wow. What an
• 35:08
  S2: amazing thing that God is doing, guys. What an amazing thing.
• 35:12
  S2: Great evidence of God at work through others.
• 35:15
  S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
• 35:19
  S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
• 35:23
  S1: Moody Radio.
• 35:24
  S2: There are some of you that the prospect of freedom
• 35:29
  S2: and the reality that Jesus said, come to me, all
• 35:33
  S2: who are weary and heavy laden, and I'll give you rest.
• 35:36
  S2: Take my yoke upon me. The freedom is not a
• 35:41
  S2: freedom to go on your own, making your own way.
• 35:44
  S2: It's to come under partnership with Jesus Christ. He becomes
• 35:50
  S2: the one who says, come here. Let's go. I want
• 35:54
  S2: to give you a life like you've never seen before.
• 35:57
  S2: You may have heard some stories of people that walked
• 35:59
  S2: into freedom in Christ. You may be a person like
• 36:02
  S2: you maybe just heard. Maybe you didn't. Maybe you're just
• 36:05
  S2: tuning in. And let me just remind you, we had
• 36:08
  S2: some folks calling in here that were in church. I
• 36:11
  S2: think three of them were in church for many years,
• 36:13
  S2: but never in Christ Jesus. I don't know where you
• 36:16
  S2: are today, but I'm telling you, God's got his arms
• 36:19
  S2: open wide for you, friend. And you say, Carl, how,
• 36:23
  S2: how do I find this Jesus? How do I, how
• 36:26
  S2: do I climb up into the lap of a God
• 36:28
  S2: who loves me that much, that sent his son to
• 36:31
  S2: die for me? That by believing in him I may
• 36:35
  S2: have life? You know it's the work of the spirit,
• 36:40
  S2: without a doubt. But the Spirit of God may well
• 36:45
  S2: be working in you right now. You have a deep
• 36:48
  S2: sense that is deep, is calling to deep inside your
• 36:51
  S2: heart and you're alert like never before to a couple realities.
• 36:55
  S2: One is, you're a sinner who needs a savior. It's
• 36:58
  S2: a sobering, humbling thing when you come to that point.
• 37:02
  S2: It's a beautiful thing when you recognize, oh, my greatest
• 37:06
  S2: problem on earth is staring me in the mirror. Who
• 37:11
  S2: can rescue me from this body of sin and death?
• 37:15
  S2: His name is Jesus. If you confess that Jesus Christ
• 37:21
  S2: is Lord, that he is not only the one who
• 37:24
  S2: can save you, but he's the one who can lead you.
• 37:27
  S2: You will be born again, and he will, by his
• 37:31
  S2: grace and power, turn you around from this broad path
• 37:35
  S2: that leads to destruction that Jesus describes, and on to
• 37:38
  S2: the narrow path that leads to life. And the miracle
• 37:42
  S2: is that God, by His Spirit, reaches in to a
• 37:46
  S2: hard heart and he begins to soften. It is that you?
• 37:51
  S2: And if it is, I want to tell you how
• 37:53
  S2: you can know Jesus today. If you confess with your mouth,
• 37:58
  S2: Jesus is now the Lord of my life in this moment,
• 38:02
  S2: meaning you are no longer your highest authority. You surrender
• 38:06
  S2: all that you are the dreams, the life that you've
• 38:09
  S2: built for yourself, the life that you've wrecked. If you
• 38:15
  S2: surrender it all to Jesus today and say, you're my Lord,
• 38:18
  S2: you're my leader, I repent. I turn around by your power,
• 38:22
  S2: and today I give all I am to you. You
• 38:25
  S2: will be born again. You will be born again. And
• 38:32
  S2: this is the work of grace. We don't have anything
• 38:35
  S2: to boast about in real salvation. Fake Christianity says, I
• 38:41
  S2: know something real Christianity says I knew nothing but God's
• 38:47
  S2: grace and I'm asking you to become a real Christian today,
• 38:52
  S2: a disciple of Jesus Christ. I urge you, surrender your
• 38:57
  S2: life today. And what does it profit you to hold
• 39:01
  S2: on to your reputation of being a church attender or
• 39:04
  S2: being a a corporate executive, or a a great mom
• 39:11
  S2: and lose your soul. And the answer is it profits
• 39:15
  S2: you nothing. But today is the day of salvation. And
• 39:21
  S2: for all of you that are crying out to God
• 39:23
  S2: today saying, Jesus, save me from myself, Jesus, I surrender
• 39:27
  S2: my life to you, I repent, I turn around and
• 39:30
  S2: I give you everything that I am. Count the cost
• 39:33
  S2: right now. Don't say it frivolously, but if you're really
• 39:37
  S2: ready to say, Jesus, I'm the problem with my life.
• 39:42
  S2: There's other problems. But I am the problem. I stand
• 39:46
  S2: in the way I confess to you, I'm a sinner.
• 39:50
  S2: Just say it out loud. I confess to you, I'm
• 39:52
  S2: a sinner. I need a Savior. Yeah. Thank you for
• 39:57
  S2: your arms open wide. Today I repent. I leave the
• 40:00
  S2: broad path. I come with lifted hands. Open heart before
• 40:06
  S2: you today and say. I give you my life. And
• 40:09
  S2: if that's you, it's a cry of the soul. It's
• 40:12
  S2: not about walking an aisle. You may be driving right now.
• 40:15
  S2: You may be mopping up tears. You may. I don't
• 40:18
  S2: know where you are or what God's doing, but he sees.
• 40:24
  S2: And as soon as you can get your phone out
• 40:26
  S2: right now, if today is a day of radical rebirth
• 40:29
  S2: and the blues are bluer, the greens are greener, the
• 40:32
  S2: everything has changed. We want to help you in your
• 40:35
  S2: first step with Jesus. We want to help you get
• 40:40
  S2: that phone out right now, wherever you are. Ali, let's
• 40:43
  S2: give that key word. Boy, we got a really cool opportunity.
• 40:47
  S2: Someone's going to connect with these folks even. Isn't it great?
• 40:50
  S4: Yes. If that's you, just text the word new to
• 40:53
  S4: 800 555, 78, 98. If today is the day of salvation,
• 40:58
  S4: you are turning to Jesus Christ, leaving your old ways behind,
• 41:02
  S4: not by your power, but by the power of the
• 41:04
  S4: Holy Spirit. Text new to 805 557898NEW to 805 557898.
• 41:15
  S4: And as Carl mentioned, there's going to be someone from
• 41:17
  S4: our team here nationally at Moody Radio is going to
• 41:20
  S4: follow up with you. Opportunity to get a Bible, help
• 41:22
  S4: you get connected to a church new to 805, five, five, 78, 98.
• 41:27
  S2: Yeah, yeah. And don't let self-will or any ounce of
• 41:33
  S2: pride hold you back from the kingdom of God today.
• 41:36
  S2: Just text new as soon as you can. Some of
• 41:38
  S2: you are grabbing your phone for the first time, never
• 41:40
  S2: texted before to our show or maybe anywhere. Just text
• 41:44
  S2: the word new to this number 805 557898.
• 41:52
  S1: He was running from God. But God's love brought him home.
• 41:56
  S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
• 42:00
  S1: Moody Radio.
• 42:01
  S2: So on this Freedom Friday boom crew, we've been talking. First, Peter, uh,
• 42:06
  S2: all week long. And guess what? First Peter is loaded with,
• 42:10
  S2: in fact, bookended by obedience in the first couple of verses.
• 42:15
  S2: And it's in the last few. So we can conclude
• 42:18
  S2: then that the way to walk with God is open
• 42:22
  S2: the word, see what he says to do. Do it
• 42:24
  S2: and you will experience life. It should be just as
• 42:28
  S2: easy as that. Ali.
• 42:29
  S4: So why do so many of us feel like it
• 42:33
  S4: doesn't seem that easy?
• 42:35
  S2: Yeah, I've got this great little graphic here. Richard Blackaby
• 42:39
  S2: is with us. It's not a straight line. I'm looking
• 42:42
  S2: at your graphic. We're going to steal this. And by
• 42:43
  S2: the way, use this online. But it's not a straight
• 42:46
  S2: line from God's Word. Obey it. Experience it. Why is
• 42:49
  S2: that the case?
• 42:51
  S12: Uh, well, people, we tend to complicate things when God
• 42:54
  S12: wants it to stay simple.
• 42:55
  S2: I'm going to jump into this graphic. You've got God's work. Yep.
• 42:59
  S2: We're called to it. But then you you actually detour
• 43:03
  S2: a little bit. You talk about relationship and invitation and
• 43:06
  S2: then God speaking and then a crisis of belief and
• 43:09
  S2: then adjustment and then obey and experience. Why do we
• 43:13
  S2: have to go around Macready's barn before we obey and
• 43:16
  S2: experience God?
• 43:18
  S12: Well, some of that reality, it looks more like a
• 43:21
  S12: process that all can happen so quickly together. But it's
• 43:24
  S12: what God does. He always gets it started. And then
• 43:27
  S12: he waits for a response. And the moment we we respond,
• 43:31
  S12: then that just triggers him to do what he's always
• 43:33
  S12: wanted to do in our life. And, uh, I'll tell
• 43:35
  S12: you what, the longer you walk with God, I mean,
• 43:37
  S12: the more you just want to make that delay as
• 43:39
  S12: as brief as possible. Yeah. The delay between what you
• 43:42
  S12: heard and what you do. You keep that tight so
• 43:44
  S12: that you can keep moving to the next thing God
• 43:46
  S12: has for you.
• 43:47
  S4: Doctor Richard Blackaby with us right now. He's the president
• 43:49
  S4: of Blackaby Ministry International, and we are featuring a great study,
• 43:54
  S4: a great resource experiencing God in everyday life, a journey
• 43:57
  S4: towards spiritual maturity. Now, just those last two words, spiritual maturity.
• 44:02
  S4: That's the aim of every believer. What is the main
• 44:05
  S4: thing that keeps us from spiritual maturity? Keeps us as
• 44:09
  S4: spiritual infants.
• 44:11
  S12: You know, we all start out as spiritual babies. There's
• 44:13
  S12: nothing embarrassing about that. But if you're still using a
• 44:16
  S12: spiritual pacifier 20 years later, it means that you've you
• 44:20
  S12: might have been going to religious activities. We kind of
• 44:23
  S12: celebrate length of, of attendance. So if you've attended church
• 44:27
  S12: for 20 years, we're impressed. But you could be spiritually
• 44:31
  S12: immature person 20 years. And there's nothing impressive about that.
• 44:35
  S12: It doesn't matter how long you've been a Christian, it's
• 44:37
  S12: how deep you've gone.
• 44:38
  S2: So what are the most important waypoints to move from
• 44:43
  S2: hearing the word to applying the word? How many times
• 44:46
  S2: have we been tackling this around here? Allie. My goodness,
• 44:48
  S2: it's Jesus's words in the sermon on the Mount. We
• 44:51
  S2: keep hitting it over and over again. It stuns me, Richard,
• 44:54
  S2: because Jesus is this simplistic. He says there are people
• 44:59
  S2: who hear the word never apply it like building a
• 45:03
  S2: house on a sand. There's those that hear the word,
• 45:05
  S2: put it into practice. They're built on a rock. So
• 45:09
  S2: practice is essential for this. But what keeps people stuck
• 45:13
  S2: in just being knowledge brokers and not knowledge appliers?
• 45:18
  S12: Well, I think oftentimes we're looking for the activity. What God,
• 45:21
  S12: what do you want me to do? And God's first
• 45:24
  S12: issue always is, what do you want me to be?
• 45:26
  S12: And he always works in us before he works through us.
• 45:28
  S12: And so there's lots of folks who they'll go through
• 45:31
  S12: the activity of attending church, reading their Bible, but they
• 45:34
  S12: never stop to say, but what does this mean for me?
• 45:36
  S12: So we look at the Bible so we can figure
• 45:38
  S12: out how our colleague at work needs to change, but
• 45:41
  S12: we don't read it, and then just lay our life
• 45:44
  S12: bare before God and say, and where do I fall
• 45:46
  S12: short here? My dad always said, whenever you see something
• 45:48
  S12: in the Bible, you ask two questions. One is, what
• 45:51
  S12: does this tell me about the heart of God? And secondly,
• 45:54
  S12: what do I need to do about it in response?
• 45:56
  S12: And if you'll always ask those two questions, you'll come
• 46:00
  S12: to know God better and you'll know yourself better along
• 46:02
  S12: the way.
• 46:03
  S4: You know, one of the challenges of that can be
• 46:05
  S4: that there are parts of Scripture that lend themselves more obviously,
• 46:10
  S4: to the application than there are large portions of the
• 46:13
  S4: Bible where maybe the application isn't as clear to people.
• 46:17
  S4: You know, there was a a young person in my
• 46:19
  S4: life a time ago, and, uh, I had the opportunity
• 46:23
  S4: to kind of mentor her a little bit. And one
• 46:24
  S4: of the things that she had a kind of a
• 46:26
  S4: habit of doing was she would only go to the
• 46:29
  S4: places in Scripture that kind of made her feel encouraged.
• 46:31
  S4: So she spent a lot of times in the Psalms,
• 46:33
  S4: but she was very reluctant to go to places in
• 46:36
  S4: the Word of God that felt like they were harder
• 46:39
  S4: or more challenging. What do we do with sometimes that
• 46:41
  S4: we can just default to our favorites? Or. There are
• 46:44
  S4: big parts of, particularly the Old Testament, where we go,
• 46:47
  S4: I don't understand the application here. I'm headed back to
• 46:49
  S4: the New Testament, or I'm sticking in the Psalms and
• 46:52
  S4: the Proverbs.
• 46:53
  S12: Yeah, I mean, that's common. And, you know, I always
• 46:55
  S12: tell people Christ didn't die on the cross. So we
• 46:58
  S12: would have a relationship with a book. He wants us
• 47:00
  S12: to have a relationship with him. And I mean, he's
• 47:02
  S12: going to use the Bible for sure. But let the
• 47:05
  S12: Spirit of God take charge of your Bible reading. We'd
• 47:08
  S12: like to pick and choose, but the Spirit of God
• 47:10
  S12: is going to direct us to some chapters or some
• 47:13
  S12: books that we'd never want to pick ourselves. And when
• 47:15
  S12: we get there, he knows what we need to hear
• 47:17
  S12: from it. You might read a whole long chapter somewhere
• 47:20
  S12: in Jeremiah, but God knows the verse that will just
• 47:23
  S12: nail you. That's right where you are right now. And
• 47:26
  S12: so I always just pray, spirit of God, I'm going
• 47:28
  S12: to open these pages. I'm not even sure where I
• 47:30
  S12: need to read what I need to see, but you do.
• 47:32
  S12: So just stop me. grab my attention, let me know
• 47:35
  S12: when I've hit that verse and I may never get
• 47:38
  S12: to the end of the chapter. I may just be
• 47:39
  S12: overwhelmed by this one verse. And my dad always said,
• 47:42
  S12: you kind of need to park your heart next to
• 47:45
  S12: verses that speak to you at the moment and just
• 47:47
  S12: stay there. And at first, it might not make sense
• 47:50
  S12: at first. You might not think, how does this apply?
• 47:52
  S12: But the longer that you stay in front of some
• 47:54
  S12: of those verses, when you get to know the heart
• 47:56
  S12: of God, the heart of God is always going to
• 47:58
  S12: apply to you. So just learn his ways and his
• 48:01
  S12: heart from whatever you read, and there's going to be
• 48:04
  S12: application for you in some way, for sure.
• 48:06
  S2: Richard Blackaby is our guest right now. Richard, I've had
• 48:10
  S2: an opportunity here in the last several years. I've done
• 48:13
  S2: a lot of overseas trips, but more recently a lot.
• 48:18
  S2: And I'm not casting aspersions at the Western church, but
• 48:21
  S2: there's some basic observations. One is we're pretty soft compared
• 48:26
  S2: to our sold out brothers and sisters that are even
• 48:29
  S2: in harm's way and have persecution coming at them pretty steadily.
• 48:34
  S2: What have you learned about this softness that we sometimes
• 48:37
  S2: experience in the West? Is it only a result of
• 48:41
  S2: the absence of persecution? What's really going on here? What's
• 48:45
  S2: on your heart?
• 48:45
  S12: Well, probably two things. And I agree with you. Sometimes
• 48:48
  S12: I'm appalled. I come back from overseas somewhere and it's
• 48:52
  S12: almost a culture reverse culture shock to come back into
• 48:55
  S12: the Western church. But I think two things. One is
• 48:58
  S12: that it doesn't cost us very much to be a Christian.
• 49:01
  S12: And what doesn't cost much, you don't value very much.
• 49:04
  S12: And so I think the higher the price you pay,
• 49:07
  S12: the more you're going to cherish it. But I think, secondly,
• 49:09
  S12: it's just a lot of the teaching out there today.
• 49:11
  S12: And I don't want to cast a lot of aspersions,
• 49:14
  S12: but but so much of the teaching and preaching just
• 49:16
  S12: keeps continually telling Christians in the West, it's all about you.
• 49:20
  S12: It's about your comfort. God wants you to be happy.
• 49:23
  S12: He wants you to be healthy and comfortable. And when
• 49:25
  S12: you hear that all the time, we just become these bloated,
• 49:28
  S12: self-centered Christians who think it's all about us? So I
• 49:31
  S12: blame a lot of the teaching that's just lead us astray.
• 49:34
  S12: We expect the wrong things from God, and then we're
• 49:37
  S12: disappointed when he doesn't give those to us. And so
• 49:39
  S12: I think we need to get some new discipleship teaching
• 49:42
  S12: that tells us, if you're going to be a follower
• 49:44
  S12: of Jesus, the first thing you do is you deny
• 49:46
  S12: yourself and you take up your cross, and then you follow.
• 49:49
  S12: And those first two steps, we pass those up. Now
• 49:52
  S12: just follow at your convenience when it fits on your calendar.
• 49:55
  S12: And that's not the way Jesus laid it out.
• 49:58
  S2: So a quick note on that. We have always thought
• 50:01
  S2: about denial of self as like pinnacle Christianity. That's like.
• 50:04
  S3: Pooh.
• 50:05
  S2: Right? Ali. We've talked, we've, we've discussed this a lot here.
• 50:07
  S2: It's like, yeah, man, when you're really in it, then
• 50:10
  S2: you Jesus said, self denial is the entry point to discipleship.
• 50:15
  S12: Well, yeah, you can't even be a disciple till you
• 50:17
  S12: deny yourself. When Jesus showed up by the fishing boats
• 50:20
  S12: of Peter and Andrew, he said, get out of your boat.
• 50:22
  S12: Follow me. My dad always said, there's a lot of
• 50:24
  S12: Christians who want to follow Jesus, but they don't want
• 50:27
  S12: to get out of their boat. They want to invite
• 50:29
  S12: Jesus into their boat and say, you come join us.
• 50:31
  S12: You bless our fishing business. You give me a good life.
• 50:34
  S12: But the denial says, no, I, I walk away, I
• 50:37
  S12: release everything in my life to him. He's in charge now.
• 50:40
  S12: If he tells me to get out of my boat,
• 50:42
  S12: I don't know how to do anything else. All I
• 50:44
  S12: know how to do is fish. I'm walking away from
• 50:46
  S12: my retirement. I don't even know where we'll spend the night.
• 50:50
  S12: But he just. He doesn't even answer all my questions.
• 50:52
  S12: He just says, you don't need to know. Just follow
• 50:54
  S12: me and I'll tell you what. That kind of discipleship
• 50:56
  S12: would scare most Westerners to death today.
• 50:59
  S4: Doctor Richard Blackaby with us experiencing God in Everyday Life
• 51:02
  S4: A Journey Towards Spiritual Maturity, co-authored with his sons, you
• 51:06
  S4: talk about some of the godly habits that can be
• 51:09
  S4: linked with daily routines, and that can help towards spiritual maturity.
• 51:14
  S4: Give us a few examples that you've found to be
• 51:16
  S4: particularly helpful, even in your own life or in those
• 51:19
  S4: you've discipled.
• 51:21
  S12: Yeah, people aren't always attracted to habits, but we all
• 51:24
  S12: have them. It's just a matter if they're helpful or
• 51:26
  S12: they're not helpful. But we all have habits. You don't
• 51:29
  S12: have to work hard to get a bad habit that
• 51:31
  S12: waste your time that's not healthy for you, but to
• 51:33
  S12: be intentional and to intentionally put good habits in your life.
• 51:38
  S12: It won't change your life in a day, but over
• 51:40
  S12: time it will. And so the kind of habits we're
• 51:43
  S12: talking about aren't even that. You have to add an
• 51:45
  S12: hour of fasting every day into your schedule that you
• 51:48
  S12: didn't do before. It's simply seizing time. Like if you
• 51:52
  S12: have to get up in the morning and push a
• 51:54
  S12: button to get your coffee dripping, why don't you make
• 51:56
  S12: a habit of thanking God for something while you stand
• 52:00
  S12: there waiting for your coffee?
• 52:01
  S2: That's a good.
• 52:02
  S12: Idea. As you're driving to work, you're commuting. What if
• 52:05
  S12: instead of just listening to whatever political podcast you listen
• 52:08
  S12: to at least once a week, you just you make
• 52:11
  S12: it a silent drive where you just begin to just
• 52:14
  S12: listen to what God might be saying. And you may
• 52:17
  S12: be praying about your colleagues at work that you're about
• 52:19
  S12: to join that day. Lots of people have have put
• 52:22
  S12: up a scripture on their their mirror in their bathroom
• 52:24
  S12: while they're blow drying their hair. They're shaving, they're they're
• 52:27
  S12: memorizing scripture. And none of those is adding any more
• 52:31
  S12: time to your day. It's stacking a godly habit onto
• 52:34
  S12: a habit you already have. And so all of a
• 52:36
  S12: sudden now you're memorizing scripture, you're praying, you're starting your
• 52:40
  S12: day off with Thanksgiving. And if you do that all
• 52:42
  S12: year long, you haven't added one minute to your your schedule.
• 52:46
  S12: You've just claimed wasted time that now is being used
• 52:49
  S12: to build you up into spiritual maturity throughout the year.
• 52:52
  S4: That is the goal of this resource.
• 52:55
  S2: Yeah. And I've been trying to tell my team, Richard,
• 52:57
  S2: for a long time when they're driving in, pray for me,
• 52:59
  S2: for crying out loud.
• 53:01
  S12: I can understand why it's not.
• 53:04
  S2: I can understand why that's even better. I love that. Oh,
• 53:07
  S2: that's so loving.
• 53:08
  S4: That book again. Experiencing God in Everyday Life A Journey
• 53:11
  S4: toward Spiritual Maturity. Doctor Richard Blackaby, our guest. Just text
• 53:14
  S4: experience to (800) 555-7898. We'll send you the details. Just text
• 53:20
  S4: experience to 805 557898.