Latest / Karl and Crew / Being Prepared for the Unexpected with Kathi Lipp; Preparing for Jesus' Return with Dr. Winfred Neely; and Highlighting Powerful Stories of Women in the Bible with Kelli Worrall

Transcript

Being Prepared for the Unexpected with Kathi Lipp; Preparing for Jesus' Return with Dr. Winfred Neely; and Highlighting Powerful Stories of Women in the Bible with Kelli Worrall · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
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  S1: and crew.
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  S2: Come as you are an experienced guide, overcome what seems
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  S2: impossible and live as you never imagined.
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  S1: Start your morning with a laugh.
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  S2: Cold spaghetti's. Great. Okay.
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  S3: Okay, I disagree. I guess not. No, certainly it is not. No. Okay. Well, man,
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  S3: I'm going back.
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  S2: To my bachelor days. I guess I thought cold spaghetti
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  S2: was universally loved.
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  S4: I've never been known for, like, high levels of coordination.
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  S4: That's just. It feels like.
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  S2: I've never been known for high levels of coordination.
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  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
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  S4: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
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  S4: and you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
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  S4: that would make it worth it.
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  S5: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
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  S5: the life source, which is God.
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  S6: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
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  S6: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
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  S6: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
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  S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
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  S1: and crew.
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  S4: Ready to honor and celebrate the mom and mom figures
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  S4: in your life this weekend.
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  S5: Woo hoo! I hope so, because it's Friday and Mother's
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  S5: Day is on Sunday.
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  S4: Mother's day gets a lot of love.
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  S5: As it.
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  S4: Should. Fair and super die. I know you feel this.
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  S4: Do you still. Did you still save some of those
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  S4: little those little gifts you got? Of course.
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  S6: The little handmade, the macaroni necklaces, the little handprints in
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  S6: the in the clay. The pictures. Yeah, for sure you do. Right?
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  S4: Yeah. You know, little the little cards, those cards, the
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  S4: just folded piece of paper. Yeah. Lots of lots of
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  S4: color markers that bled through the page. I've got a
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  S4: little a little necklace that has like a thumb print
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  S4: that was in a like kind of a clay, a
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  S4: a circle clay that has a thumb print in there.
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  S4: Got a coaster one year that was really cute with
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  S4: a drawing. My kids, my my son in particular was never,
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  S4: never has been much of an artist. And so it's
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  S4: always interesting to see what my daughter would spend some
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  S4: time on the, on, on at least attempting to draw things.
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  S4: But he was never he was never that into it.
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  S6: It's one of those this is such a beautiful picture, honey.
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  S6: I'm so glad you drew it. And then you kind
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  S6: of try to get it out. What is it? You know,
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  S6: but you don't want to say that.
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  S4: Jonathan, you've already started displaying one of your daughter's first
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  S4: piece of artwork, which I have to admit, it's it
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  S4: has a really, um, it's very modern.
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  S5: It's abstract.
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  S3: It's abstract.
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  S4: Yes, yes. And she's only two. So this was this
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  S4: is a sticker placement thing, right?
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  S5: Yes. It's a, it's got like a, the outline of
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  S5: a dog. Then you're supposed to. You're supposed to put
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  S5: the stickers. You know where the eyes go and where
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  S5: the mouth goes. Um, with all the love in my heart,
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  S5: not not many of the things are in the right place.
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  S4: Well, I looked at that so many times walking by
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  S4: your desk and I'm like, what is this?
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  S5: I've gotten many questions.
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  S6: I thought it was a yellow chick. I didn't know
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  S6: what a little chick. Yeah. And then I'm like, no.
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  S5: Yeah. I've got I've gotten some questions about it. Usually
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  S5: people who come in here go and what just what
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  S5: is this? And I say, well, it's my daughter's first
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  S5: sticker art. And so my wife has one, uh, framed
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  S5: up on her desk in her office. And I've got
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  S5: the same and I love it.
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  S4: Yeah, it's it's super sweet. Wait till you get that
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  S4: first hand drawn one.
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  S3: Oh my goodness. That will.
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  S5: It's my, my favorite thing is because she is only two.
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  S5: And so you know, she colors but it's just scribbles.
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  S5: And she will take a little crayon on a piece
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  S5: of paper and she'll do a little scribble. And she goes,
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  S5: That's Dada. And she does one. And then she goes,
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  S5: that's mommy. And then a little one. And she goes,
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  S5: and that's me.
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  S3: And.
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  S5: And I'm like, oh my goodness. Like she's already drawing
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  S5: us to the best of her ability.
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  S3: And it makes me happy.
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  S4: I accidentally yesterday, last night opened what was. It was wait,
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  S4: I was expecting I ordered something that had. I got
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  S4: a notice that this shipment had been delivered of something
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  S4: that I had ordered. Okay. And so I came home
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  S4: and there were two boxes and I was expecting two
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  S4: boxes for this. This I had ordered some luggage, a
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  S4: new luggage piece. And so I opened the first box
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  S4: and it was exactly what I expected, this new carry
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  S4: on luggage. And then I opened the second box, expecting
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  S4: the second piece of luggage, but I opened the box
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  S4: and I said, honey, did you order? And then I said.
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  S4: And he's like, well, Happy Mother's Day. I was like,
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  S4: oh no. So in I was opening what I thought
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  S4: was the second piece of what I ordered. And I
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  S4: accidentally opened last night, the Mother's Day surprise that he
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  S4: ordered for me.
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  S5: This is the problem with like shared Amazon accounts. So
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  S5: between wife and husband. So my wife and I have
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  S5: separate Amazon accounts.
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  S3: Oh, okay.
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  S5: So that when I order something, it just comes in
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  S5: my name. That way, if I get her a gift
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  S5: because she orders things for work off Amazon sometimes. And,
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  S5: and so a lot of packages come to our house
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  S5: under her name.
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  S4: So you only open packages that come to your house
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  S4: in your name.
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  S5: Yeah.
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  S3: Really? Yeah.
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  S4: Oh, I open everything.
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  S5: Oh, that's your first problem is that you can't do that.
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  S6: Well, well, well, I.
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  S4: Definitely spoiled my Mother's Day surprise, but I. So I
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  S4: quickly just repackaged.
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  S6: It's a great story, though.
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  S4: Close the box.
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  S3: It was like, I'm so sorry.
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  S4: I thought that that was something else. But yeah, I'm
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  S4: gonna I'm gonna to reopen it on Mother's Day. Okay.
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  S4: With delight.
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  S3: Act surprised.
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  S4: There you.
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  S6: Go. Just what I needed.
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  S4: Coming up here on Carl and crew. As we talk
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  S4: about mothers, we're celebrating women. We've had some different conversations
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  S4: this week. We've got Kelly Worrell coming up, pierced and
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  S4: embraced seven life changing encounters with the love of Christ.
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  S4: One of the things I think is one of the
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  S4: hallmarks of Christianity that often gets overlooked is how Jesus
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  S4: dealt with women.
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  S3: No doubt.
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  S4: So when people will say things like, Isn't Christianity, fill
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  S4: in the blank, racist, sexist, and then a lot of
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  S4: other ists.
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  S3: Yeah.
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  S4: Game changer are so not true. And a little bit
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  S4: of study reveals that Jesus, the heart of compassion that
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  S4: he had for women and how countercultural it was. You're
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  S4: going to meet some women from scripture and introduced and
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  S4: maybe and maybe a new way. Plus, how to live
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  S4: in the fullness of the love that Jesus has for you. Man. Woman. Child. Black. White.
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  S4: Everyone is welcomed in. When we turn to him. Coming
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  S4: up here on Carl and crew.
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  S1: The gospel changes everything.
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  S4: Where else am I going to find peace, joy, eternal
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  S4: life not found in anyone else.
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  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
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  S4: As we head into Mother's Day weekend. We wanted to
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  S4: highlight some different resources that really honor and celebrate women.
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  S4: We've got an author with us this morning, Kelly Worrell.
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  S4: She is a professor of communications here at Moody Bible
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  S4: Institute and the field chair for the Music and Media
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  S4: Arts Division. Her book pierced and embraced seven life Changing
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  S4: Encounters with the Love of Christ. Kelly the way that
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  S4: Jesus loved women in Scripture was often complex. Talk a
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  S4: little bit about the overarching theme of this book. These two.
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  S4: The pierced and embraced.
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  S7: It is a powerful, powerful way in which he loved
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  S7: women in Scripture. And this book came out of a
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  S7: very personal journey where I came out of a season
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  S7: of kind of loss after loss and wrestling with pain
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  S7: and some anger and so on, and knew I needed
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  S7: to go back to the Gospels. And as I was
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  S7: just reengaging and sitting with Jesus as I read the Gospels,
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  S7: I think these were stories of women and their encounters
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  S7: with him that I had known for many years individually.
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  S7: But as I started to think of them collectively, the
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  S7: picture that they painted was was even more powerful, I think,
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  S7: taken as a whole, because he did. He met each
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  S7: of them where they were, and they came to him
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  S7: with a variety of needs. Some of them were sick
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  S7: and needed physical healing. Some of them were grieving. Some
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  S7: of them were wrestling with shame. Undoubtedly, the woman at
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  S7: the well, you know. She came with a physical thirst and.
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  S7: But also an emotional and a spiritual and relational thirst.
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  S7: And so he didn't belittle them for these needs, that
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  S7: they had these very deep needs and longings. But instead
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  S7: he addressed them and he met them in that place,
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  S7: and he healed them, and he provided for them and
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  S7: respected them, uh, even elevated them, uh, gave them a
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  S7: voice and ultimately invited them into relationship with himself.
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  S4: Now, as you were doing study for this, did you
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  S4: notice that there was a way that Jesus dealt with
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  S4: women differently than he did with men?
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  S7: Yeah, I think it was most pronounced for me. Even
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  S7: early in John, when I one of my favorite side
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  S7: by side passages is John three, where Jesus meets with
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  S7: Nicodemus and they have an interesting conversation. And of course,
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  S7: Nicodemus is a religious leader, and yet he comes to
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  S7: Jesus under the cover of night to have this theological
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  S7: conversation and to try to understand who Jesus is. And
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  S7: Jesus is pretty direct with him and even a little
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  S7: bit confrontational. You know, you're a leader. How do you
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  S7: not know? How do you not understand these things?
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  S4: Right?
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  S7: And then the very next chapter is John four, where
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  S7: he meets with the woman at the well in the
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  S7: middle of the day, out in the open. Um, and
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  S7: instead of confronting her, he does, he does bring up
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  S7: her sin. You know, he raises this fact that she's
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  S7: had all of these men, all these husbands and so on.
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  S7: So he doesn't shy away from truth, but it's a
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  S7: much more gentle and gracious invitation into conversation that he
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  S7: has with her. And I think it's just a really
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  S7: interesting combination, those side by side accounts.
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  S4: Yeah. You know, let's talk about some of the specific
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  S4: women that you wrote about. Uh, I was intrigued by
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  S4: there's three different Marys. We've obviously Mary, the mother of Jesus,
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  S4: but there's also Mary Magdalene and Mary of Bethany. Let's
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  S4: start with Mary, the mother of Jesus. What did you
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  S4: see as you studied? That maybe you hadn't seen before?
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  S7: Yeah. When I came to Mary, his mother. Again, we
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  S7: know her. Um, and I think I knew the individual
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  S7: accounts of of her life, but. When you kind of
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  S7: take them as a whole, you're like, what does scripture
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  S7: tell us about her? Uh, and it starts, of course,
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  S7: with the angel's visit to her and her incredible submission.
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  S7: She does have some questions. How can this be? But yet,
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  S7: when the angel explains the call of God on her life,
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  S7: she says, let it be to me as you have said.
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  S7: And so she walks into that with utter obedience and surrender.
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  S7: But then the the accounts that we have of her
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  S7: and Jesus throughout the Gospels are actually moments of tension.
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  S7: Most of them, when he's only eight days old. They
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  S7: take him to the temple. And Simeon prophesies that for
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  S7: her personally as Jesus mom, a sword would pierce her soul.
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  S7: This was going to be a journey for her that
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  S7: was not going to be easy and was going to
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  S7: have its struggles and its personal piercings for her. And
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  S7: we see that played out. When Jesus is 12, you know,
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  S7: he's giving her some grief a little bit. The fear
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  S7: that she must have had, that she had lost him
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  S7: when when he stays behind at the temple in Jerusalem. And,
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  S7: and when they finally found him, you know, he asks her,
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  S7: did you not know that I would be here about
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  S7: my father's business? And there's a little bit of tension there.
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  S7: And similarly, at the wedding of Cana. Uh, and she
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  S7: suggests that perhaps he could address the, the lack of wine.
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  S7: And he asks her like, what does this have to
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  S7: do with me? My time has not yet come. And
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  S7: I just find that fascinating. You know, their mother son
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  S7: relationship that we see played out in these scenes. And
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  S7: then Luke eight, there's another one where Mary and Jesus
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  S7: siblings go to find him. They're concerned about him, and
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  S7: they are going to kind of take him away. They
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  S7: think like, we're going to we need to kind of
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  S7: rescue him from this situation. And he sends a message
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  S7: back that my mother and brothers, who are my mother
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  S7: and brothers, are those who hear and obey. And there's
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  S7: sort of a distancing from them as his human family
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  S7: into his calling. And so her journey, I find her
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  S7: journey fascinating. But of course, Jesus loves her dearly. And
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  S7: from the cross, you know, one of his concerns is
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  S7: that she is cared for by John. And that's such
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  S7: a beautiful picture.
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  S4: Yeah. Wow. Love, love pulling out some of those details
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  S4: that when you put that all together, it gives you
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  S4: a picture that maybe just looking at each one of
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  S4: those in isolation doesn't. We've got Kelly with us this
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  S4: morning talking about the book Pierced and Embrace seven Life
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  S4: Changing Encounters with the love of Christ, the Mary Magdalene.
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  S4: Talk a little bit about her story.
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  S7: Yeah. She also had an interesting journey that was not
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  S7: always easy. You know, she came to Jesus with demons.
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  S7: And so he had rescued her from that. And she
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  S7: became just a very devoted disciple of his, a follower
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  S7: who cared for him throughout his ministry. She shows up
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  S7: a few times. But then, of course, the prominent narrative
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  S7: that I love so much is at the tomb when
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  S7: she comes in John 20 to anoint his body, and
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  S7: she comes early in the morning, one of the first
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  S7: ones there to care for him, and finds that the
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  S7: tomb is empty. So she runs to find the disciples
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  S7: and tell them, and, you know, there's some anxiety. What's happened?
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  S7: Who took his body? Peter and John run to the
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  S7: tomb ahead of her, and then they depart. But she
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  S7: she stays there. She can't bring herself to leave. And
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  S7: she's in her grief and her confusion and that moment where, well,
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  S7: the angels appear first and. And ask her why she's crying.
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  S7: And she said, I don't. They've taken my Lord, and
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  S7: I don't know where they've laid him. And then that
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  S7: beautiful moment when Jesus speaks her name.
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  S3: Yes.
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  S7: It's so personal and brings me to tears, chokes me
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  S7: up every time I think about it. And then he
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  S7: sends her out. He sends her as the first one
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  S7: to go and tell what she has seen. Uh, and again,
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  S7: women elevating her to that position that was, that was
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  S7: unique and a bit countercultural to send a woman with
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  S7: that news and give her such a status to communicate that.
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  S4: Yeah. And final woman, I want to highlight Mary of Bethany,
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  S4: maybe her, her appearances in Scripture I find fascinating as well,
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  S4: and sometimes maybe over overlooked of the other Mary's.
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  S7: Yeah. Mary and Martha. And the passage I focus on
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  S7: is the John 11 passage where their brother Lazarus has died. And, uh,
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  S7: they send the message. You know, we we believe that
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  S7: this family was very close to Jesus. He loved them dearly.
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  S7: He spent a lot of time with them, uh, when
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  S7: he was ministering in and around Jerusalem. So they were
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  S7: close to him and they know that they were confident
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  S7: of his love. So they send the message when Lazarus
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  S7: is sick, you know, the the one you love is sick. Uh,
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  S7: and of course, they're expecting Jesus, I'm sure to come immediately.
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  S7: And we know that Jesus, he hears their message. The
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  S7: passage makes it clear he heard them. Uh, he heard
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  S7: that message, but he didn't hurry. He didn't rush to
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  S7: the scene. He waited. And awaiting has been such a
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  S7: theme in my life in different seasons. And we don't
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  S7: like to wait. And I can't even imagine. This is
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  S7: a life and death situation. And so when he finally
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  S7: does come, a few days later, they both say to him,
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  S7: if you had been here. My brother wouldn't have died,
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  S7: you know, if you had come quicker, this would have
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  S7: gone differently. But Jesus makes it clear that his goal
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  S7: is is beyond what they had in mind, beyond keeping
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  S7: Lazarus from dying. He, uh. His goal is ultimately the
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  S7: glory of God. And he says that multiple times and
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  S7: the glory of God that would lead then to people's
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  S7: belief in him. And so that is accomplished, of course,
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  S7: with the miraculous resurrection of Lazarus, even more so, not
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  S7: long after his own death on the cross and his
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  S7: own resurrection.
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  S4: You know, when we think about these different, uh, Scripture
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  S4: accounts and the love that Jesus showed for women, how
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  S4: can we personalize that? You know, we it's sometimes we
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  S4: think that somehow when the people in the biblical times
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  S4: are so much different or but that that desire to
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  S4: be known and to be seen and to be loved,
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  S4: That kind of longing for acceptance and purpose hasn't changed.
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  S4: It's hardwired in us. How do how do we, um,
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  S4: especially going into this Mother's Day weekend where there can
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  S4: be complex emotions for a lot of different reasons? How
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  S4: do we lean into what we know to be true
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  S4: about Jesus and his character? Uh, that can allow us
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  S4: to feel that love.
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  S7: I think, I think each of these women and each
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  S7: of the women in the book kind of teach us
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  S7: something different, like give a different nuance or a different, uh,
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  S7: sort of angle that we can experience Jesus love, you know,
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  S7: for Mary, his mother, you know, being able to walk
• 18:08
  S7: out our obedience and our faith as we know his
• 18:13
  S7: love for us so we can obey and walk confidently
• 18:16
  S7: in faith. The Samaritan woman again, she came with so
• 18:20
  S7: many longings.
• 18:21
  S3: Yeah.
• 18:21
  S7: Um, and, and Jesus met those above and beyond. And
• 18:26
  S7: so going to him with our longings, with our desires,
• 18:30
  S7: with our thirst, not just physically, but emotionally. And we
• 18:34
  S7: know she had been probably shunned relationally. And, you know,
• 18:38
  S7: we have those longings too. We that longing for just
• 18:42
  S7: emotional satisfaction, for relational closeness. But ultimately, he wanted to
• 18:47
  S7: give her eternal satisfaction and satisfy those longings. And so
• 18:53
  S7: going to him with our longings, honestly seeking him, the
• 18:57
  S7: one who has the living water. Mary and Martha, I
• 19:01
  S7: think as we again, he loved them. He was very
• 19:04
  S7: clear about his love for them, but their struggle was trust.
• 19:08
  S7: And so I think as we lean into his love
• 19:11
  S7: and trust in his love, trust him for his timing.
• 19:15
  S7: I think we see in that story trust that he
• 19:18
  S7: is working out the glory of God. Uh, and desiring
• 19:22
  S7: our belief, asking for our belief. Uh, whether it looks
• 19:26
  S7: like we think it should or not. It often doesn't.
• 19:30
  S7: And so trusting in his power, trusting in his eternal perspective,
• 19:36
  S7: and trusting in his love for us. And then with
• 19:39
  S7: Mary Magdalene, I think she walks out her love for
• 19:42
  S7: Jesus and knowing his love for her by proclaiming the
• 19:46
  S7: truth of who he is and, and worshipping in that
• 19:49
  S7: way and sharing him with others. I think, um, as
• 19:53
  S7: we know his love for us, so we can love
• 19:57
  S7: others and communicate his love to them.
• 20:00
  S4: Kelly, thank you so much for being with us this morning.
• 20:03
  S4: The book Pearson embraced seven Life Changing Encounters with the
• 20:07
  S4: Love of Christ. Just text Pearce to 800 555, 78, 98.
• 20:12
  S4: We'll send you the details. Just text Pearce to 805 557898.
• 20:19
  S1: Your shot of hope to get you through the day.
• 20:22
  S6: You are so, so loved. God does not want you
• 20:25
  S6: to stay in your past, and I want you to
• 20:27
  S6: know and believe that today.
• 20:29
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 20:31
  S4: You know, we've been talking about preparation all week long.
• 20:34
  S4: And one of the major themes in Scripture as it
• 20:38
  S4: pertains to preparation is being prepared for the day of
• 20:42
  S4: the Lord, being prepared for the return of Christ. And
• 20:47
  S4: I want to read just a couple of verses to you.
• 20:50
  S4: This is this is the this is all over Scripture.
• 20:53
  S4: Matthew 2513 watch therefore, for you know neither the day
• 20:57
  S4: nor the hour. Matthew 2432. Therefore stay awake, for you
• 21:02
  S4: do not know on what day your Lord is coming.
• 21:04
  S4: Luke 1240. You must. You also must be ready. For
• 21:08
  S4: the Son of Man is coming at an hour. You
• 21:10
  S4: do not expect. First Thessalonians five two for you yourselves
• 21:14
  S4: are fully aware that the day of the Lord will
• 21:16
  S4: come like a thief in the night. One more for you.
• 21:19
  S4: First Thessalonians five six. So then, let us not sleep
• 21:23
  S4: as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
• 21:27
  S4: It would not be responsible to tackle a theme like
• 21:31
  S4: preparation and not talk about this one, right?
• 21:37
  S3: I don't.
• 21:37
  S5: I don't think we would have been prepared as we
• 21:39
  S5: should have been if we didn't have this as one
• 21:41
  S5: of the topics.
• 21:42
  S4: And so what we've brought in a guest who's going
• 21:44
  S4: to help us talk about this theme, and then a
• 21:46
  S4: specific parable that I wanted to ask him to dive into.
• 21:50
  S4: Doctor Winfred Neily joining us this morning. He is professor
• 21:54
  S4: here at Moody Bible Institute for many years, also a
• 21:57
  S4: pastor for many years. First of all, just this theme
• 22:00
  S4: of preparation. As I read just a couple of the
• 22:03
  S4: verses where this is captured, just speak to it in general.
• 22:07
  S4: The call to be sober minded, to be alert, to
• 22:10
  S4: be watchful, to be ready, to be waiting. Just speak
• 22:13
  S4: to that a little bit.
• 22:15
  S8: I, you know, I'm glad you all are dealing with
• 22:17
  S8: this topic. First of all, for a number of reasons,
• 22:20
  S8: because I do wonder, honestly, whether the church in the
• 22:26
  S8: West gives this much consideration. I think I remember when
• 22:32
  S8: I was in graduate school many years ago, I was
• 22:35
  S8: studying the book of Isaiah with a wonderful professor, the
• 22:38
  S8: late Herbert Wolf. And he mentioned that a lot of
• 22:41
  S8: people who live in the suburbs where he lived at
• 22:45
  S8: the time give very little thought to the second coming
• 22:48
  S8: of Christ, because they are well off financially. Their children
• 22:53
  S8: are in good schools. They have well manicured lawns, and
• 22:58
  S8: life on earth, frankly, was good for so many in
• 23:03
  S8: those communities and in other places. To the extent where
• 23:07
  S8: any kind of expectation, any looking for the second coming
• 23:13
  S8: of Jesus, any eschatological, that's just a fancy word for
• 23:18
  S8: the future and the kind of future hope of the
• 23:21
  S8: second coming of Christ seems to have been put on
• 23:24
  S8: the back burner because of prosperity and life being so
• 23:30
  S8: wonderful in many respects for many people. You know, in
• 23:33
  S8: those kinds of communities, not this is not to say
• 23:36
  S8: that people not having personal problems, but I do think that, uh,
• 23:40
  S8: being prepared spiritually, being watchful, being mindful of the fact
• 23:46
  S8: that this world is not our home, uh, is, and
• 23:50
  S8: yet we have a responsibility here. And being able to
• 23:54
  S8: manage that tension between the now and the not yet,
• 23:58
  S8: and to engage my life in the service of Christ
• 24:02
  S8: in light of his light, of his coming, is one
• 24:05
  S8: of the marks of a healthy church. And if we
• 24:08
  S8: are not doing that, uh, we are not living in
• 24:12
  S8: accordance with the teachings of the New Testament. So that's
• 24:15
  S8: kind of my high level take on this. I think
• 24:18
  S8: it was someone who said, I think it was the
• 24:20
  S8: late F.F. Bruce, who said every generation of Christians should
• 24:25
  S8: be living as if his or her generation is the
• 24:28
  S8: last one. So this is the New Testament teaching about
• 24:32
  S8: the character of the church in every age, while our
• 24:36
  S8: Lord terrorist and we wait and expectancy for its coming.
• 24:39
  S4: Doctor Winfred Neily with us this morning. Retired vice president
• 24:43
  S4: and academic dean of Moody Theological Seminary. You know, implied
• 24:47
  S4: in these passages of Scripture is that there's a there's
• 24:51
  S4: a sleepiness that is will naturally happen. We are going
• 24:56
  S4: to be prone to get sleepy, not be on alert,
• 25:00
  S4: not be fully aware, to not be ready. Otherwise the
• 25:04
  S4: call wouldn't be so strong to do the opposite. Right.
• 25:08
  S8: Yeah. I mean, we have a lot of things to,
• 25:11
  S8: to distract us today, you know, binge watching Netflix, for example.
• 25:17
  S8: It's just a case in point. You know, our devices,
• 25:22
  S8: our iPhones, we have so many things today in life
• 25:25
  S8: that distract us, uh, that they didn't have in the
• 25:28
  S8: first century. But it is a, irrespective of the theological
• 25:33
  S8: state of a culture or society, the human heart, even
• 25:39
  S8: the saved regenerate heart, if not careful and watchful, is
• 25:43
  S8: prone to wander from God. I think remember the hymn
• 25:48
  S8: that says, prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone
• 25:52
  S8: to leave.
• 25:53
  S3: The.
• 25:54
  S4: God I love.
• 25:55
  S8: Leave the God I love. That's a propensity. That's a
• 25:59
  S8: tendency that that we that we have to watch.
• 26:03
  S4: Doctor Winfred Neeley with us this morning. You know, I
• 26:06
  S4: want to make sure that we are clear with our
• 26:09
  S4: listeners and without getting to the different kind of theological positions.
• 26:13
  S4: But when we read the day of the Lord, the
• 26:16
  S4: day of the Lord. No one knows the day or
• 26:17
  S4: the hour. What in the world are we talking about
• 26:20
  S4: when we say the day of the Lord? Let's just
• 26:22
  S4: get a foundational understanding here.
• 26:26
  S8: Well, what you know, that's a very good question. And
• 26:33
  S8: and it would take let me just let me let
• 26:35
  S8: me say, let me let me say it. Let me
• 26:37
  S8: just put it this way. The second coming of Christ
• 26:40
  S8: for his church is imminent. That could happen at any moment.
• 26:46
  S8: It could happen today. There's anything that has to happen
• 26:50
  S8: before the second coming of Jesus. The church still need
• 26:54
  S8: to be in readiness and in preparation. There is the
• 26:59
  S8: the day of the Lord, which is really the second
• 27:02
  S8: coming of Christ and judgment, depending on how you look
• 27:05
  S8: at it. But the second coming of Christ and judgment,
• 27:07
  S8: he's going to come. He's going to set up his kingdom.
• 27:09
  S8: This is after the great tribulation. And. But the point
• 27:14
  S8: here is, even though we have these distinctions in terms
• 27:19
  S8: of the timing of our Lord's Second Coming, the principle
• 27:24
  S8: is still the same. We need to be watchful and
• 27:27
  S8: we need to be prepared.
• 27:30
  S4: So coming up, I want to get into a specific
• 27:32
  S4: parable that caught my attention recently the parable of the
• 27:36
  S4: ten virgins. How do we understand this? And what does
• 27:40
  S4: being ready look like coming up here on Carl and crew.
• 27:45
  S1: Helping you take the next step in your walk with Jesus?
• 27:49
  S2: God longs for us today to seek him and ask
• 27:53
  S2: him to move in ways that we never could.
• 27:55
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Crew.
• 27:57
  S4: Well, of all the ways that we are called to
• 28:00
  S4: be prepared, and we've talked about quite a bit of
• 28:02
  S4: them this week, the most common theme as it pertains
• 28:06
  S4: to preparation deals with being watchful, being prepared for the
• 28:10
  S4: day of the Lord, for the second coming of Christ.
• 28:13
  S4: I want to take you to Matthew 25. There's an
• 28:15
  S4: interesting parable. It's the parable of the ten virgins. I'm
• 28:18
  S4: going to give you just a quick summary. It starts
• 28:20
  S4: with Jesus saying, the kingdom of heaven will be like.
• 28:23
  S4: And then he goes on to describe ten virgins who
• 28:27
  S4: have taken their lamps to go and meet the bridegroom.
• 28:29
  S4: Five are described as wise, five are foolish. The difference.
• 28:33
  S4: The wise brought oil along with their lamps, while the
• 28:35
  S4: foolish did not. Everybody goes to sleep. And then at
• 28:39
  S4: midnight there's a cry announcing the arrival of the bridegroom.
• 28:43
  S4: It's time to come out and meet him. So the
• 28:45
  S4: foolish virgins scramble. They're not prepared. They even ask the
• 28:49
  S4: wise virgins, can we have some of your oil? Then
• 28:53
  S4: they try to go out and buy some last minute
• 28:55
  S4: and I'm going to pick it up. This is Matthew
• 28:56
  S4: 25 verse ten. It says, and while they were going
• 28:59
  S4: to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready
• 29:02
  S4: went in with him to the marriage feast, and the
• 29:05
  S4: door was shut. Afterward, the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord,
• 29:09
  S4: open to us. But he answered, truly I say to you,
• 29:12
  S4: I do not know you. Watch, therefore, for you know
• 29:16
  S4: neither the day nor the hour. Doctor Winfred Neilly. So
• 29:20
  S4: gracious enough to join us this morning. Okay, let's break
• 29:23
  S4: this parable down a little bit first. And we know
• 29:26
  S4: that parables usually have one main point to take away.
• 29:31
  S4: And sometimes if we get too lost in the details,
• 29:33
  S4: we can miss the big idea. What is the big
• 29:36
  S4: idea first from this parable.
• 29:38
  S8: The big idea is to be ready. You know, in
• 29:42
  S8: terms of, you know, one's personal relationship with the Lord
• 29:45
  S8: Jesus Christ. Otherwise you will be lost for all eternity.
• 29:48
  S8: I mean, he said, I never knew you. Um, which
• 29:51
  S8: is which is a devastating commentary. I never was in
• 29:56
  S8: a personal relationship with you. I never knew you. Now,
• 30:00
  S8: of course, the background behind the parable is the way
• 30:06
  S8: Jewish Weddings and weddings were conducted among Jewish people in
• 30:11
  S8: the first century. And, you know, for some time before that,
• 30:15
  S8: the bridegroom would have a party with him and he
• 30:19
  S8: would process through the streets going to the home of
• 30:24
  S8: the bride, typically where the marriage would take place. And
• 30:28
  S8: usually when people would see the bridegroom coming, they would
• 30:32
  S8: cry out, behold, the bridegroom comes. Behold, the bridegroom comes,
• 30:38
  S8: and he would go to the um, you know, to
• 30:40
  S8: the home of the bride. Mhm. The wedding would take
• 30:44
  S8: place there and they would process back up the street
• 30:49
  S8: to the home of the bridegroom, where the wedding feast
• 30:55
  S8: would occur. And this would typically took place for about seven,
• 30:59
  S8: several days, seven days in some contexts, because this is
• 31:03
  S8: how important marriage between a man and a woman was. um, uh,
• 31:08
  S8: before God among the Jewish people, they were celebrated for
• 31:11
  S8: a whole week, what we call the the wedding feast.
• 31:14
  S8: We see that in John chapter two. So while we
• 31:17
  S8: don't have all of the details of what's happening in
• 31:19
  S8: this parable, so apparently the wedding has already taken place.
• 31:26
  S8: And these ten virgins, no doubt associated with the bride,
• 31:30
  S8: are supposed to meet the bridegroom on the way back
• 31:35
  S8: to the wedding feast, right where the wedding feast is
• 31:40
  S8: going to take place. And that's the background behind this.
• 31:44
  S8: So apparently while the bridegroom came, they didn't, um, you know,
• 31:49
  S8: they'd rather go get sleep. They don't have enough oil.
• 31:52
  S8: They go and buy some. But by the time they
• 31:55
  S8: come back, uh, the procession is completed. They're in the
• 31:59
  S8: middle of the wedding feast and the door is shut.
• 32:02
  S8: They are excluded. And the Lord then uses that picture,
• 32:06
  S8: that image, to communicate something very profound about watchfulness and
• 32:11
  S8: the necessity to be in relationship with the Lord Jesus
• 32:14
  S8: Christ right now, so that when he does return, we
• 32:18
  S8: are prepared with him to go in and participate in
• 32:22
  S8: the marriage feast of the Lamb.
• 32:24
  S4: You know. And this in the parable, the separator between
• 32:28
  S4: the wise and the foolish. Foolish was whether or not
• 32:30
  S4: they had oil. Everybody had a lamp. Everybody went to
• 32:34
  S4: sleep because it was midnight. They knew he was coming,
• 32:37
  S4: but clearly they didn't know. When one group had oil,
• 32:40
  S4: the other group did not. What's the. I know that
• 32:44
  S4: there's some different kind of ideas, but what do you
• 32:47
  S4: think the oil represents here?
• 32:49
  S8: Well, I mean, there are different texts for where the
• 32:53
  S8: oil represents the Spirit of God. The oil represents the
• 32:58
  S8: Holy Spirit. But I think what what what Jesus is
• 33:04
  S8: saying here is that it was irresponsible for them to
• 33:11
  S8: have a lamp, that you have to put oil on
• 33:15
  S8: the wick in order to keep it bright and burning,
• 33:18
  S8: and not to have oil with you. Yeah, that is unwise.
• 33:24
  S8: And it it was it's an irresponsible thing to do.
• 33:28
  S8: I mean, it's like trying to drive from Chicago to
• 33:32
  S8: New to New York with only half a tank of gas.
• 33:35
  S8: I mean, I mean, it's you're going to run out.
• 33:38
  S8: You know, it's just it's just not going to work.
• 33:40
  S8: And so it's an irresponsible thing to do. But and,
• 33:43
  S8: and so Jesus is going to take that to highlight
• 33:47
  S8: this irresponsibility. This indifference is also an indicator in a
• 33:54
  S8: in a higher holier level that this person, these persons
• 33:59
  S8: are not in relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. They
• 34:03
  S8: they they. If I can say it this way, they
• 34:05
  S8: are not saved. They don't know God. And I think
• 34:08
  S8: I'm honest with you. I think that's a problem. I
• 34:11
  S8: think we've got people in our churches, in our pews, even. Indeed,
• 34:16
  S8: and even in some of our Bible institutions and seminaries
• 34:21
  S8: who do not know God at all. They are religious.
• 34:25
  S8: They have a they know the language. They can tell
• 34:28
  S8: you a date of conversion. They have a confession of faith,
• 34:33
  S8: but they don't possess Jesus. The Spirit of God has
• 34:36
  S8: never entered into them and regenerated them and sealed them
• 34:40
  S8: with the spirit of. Sealed them with his life. And, uh,
• 34:44
  S8: it's crises that brings out this stuff. People start making
• 34:49
  S8: bad decisions and, uh, and it indicates then that they
• 34:53
  S8: are not ready and that they do not know God.
• 34:56
  S8: And if there's anybody on that's listening this morning, you're
• 34:59
  S8: in that situation. I'm asking you all of my heart
• 35:02
  S8: to repent. Stop what you're doing, get on your knees
• 35:05
  S8: and trust Christ as your personal Lord and Savior. I mean,
• 35:07
  S8: you ask God with all your might and faith to
• 35:10
  S8: save you, to regenerate you, to give you new life
• 35:13
  S8: in Christ so that you will be ready.
• 35:15
  S4: Yeah. I'm, and I'm so glad that that you made
• 35:18
  S4: that appeal. That is our heart here on Carl and crew.
• 35:20
  S4: Carl talks often about that. And ultimately it comes down
• 35:24
  S4: to not the, the things that we are doing or
• 35:27
  S4: not doing the works that we've done. We know that
• 35:30
  S4: the work of Christ in us will produce good works,
• 35:33
  S4: but ultimately it's that. Do we know him? Are we
• 35:37
  S4: in a relationship with Jesus or not? That's the preparation, right?
• 35:41
  S4: Do we know him or not?
• 35:43
  S8: And out of knowing him comes a life that's lived
• 35:47
  S8: for him. Um, you know, I was I just got
• 35:51
  S8: back from, uh, Croatia a couple of days ago. I
• 35:54
  S8: was over there leading a retreat for missionaries. It was
• 35:57
  S8: an immense blessing. And one of the things I was
• 35:59
  S8: saying to them is that fruit, you know, Jesus talks
• 36:02
  S8: about the fruit of the spirit bearing fruit, so forth.
• 36:05
  S8: It's interesting that he doesn't say result. He doesn't say
• 36:08
  S8: that because a machine can can give you results, but
• 36:11
  S8: only the Spirit of God can give you fruit because
• 36:13
  S8: fruit is organic. It is an indicator of supernatural life.
• 36:17
  S8: And this is what Jesus is getting at here. Preparedness
• 36:21
  S8: indicates that there is something supernatural, something divine. The spirit
• 36:27
  S8: empowered work in a person's life. It expresses itself in
• 36:33
  S8: being prepared. And when that's not there, when that's not there,
• 36:37
  S8: there's only one conclusion. Jesus does not know them. Jesus
• 36:42
  S8: does not know them.
• 36:43
  S4: Yeah. And so I don't want to leave that hanging
• 36:47
  S4: there for the person who's listening, Doctor Neeley, who, uh,
• 36:50
  S4: maybe they've been in church, maybe they've been active in ministry,
• 36:54
  S4: but as they're listening this morning, they go, Maybe. Maybe
• 36:57
  S4: I don't know him. Maybe I'm not counted as one
• 37:01
  S4: who's in Christ. Maybe someone's listening and they're listening for
• 37:05
  S4: the first time. They've never been in church. They have
• 37:07
  S4: no illusion that they might know him. But for both groups,
• 37:10
  S4: today is the day where they can, right?
• 37:14
  S8: Yeah, absolutely. And again, I cannot emphasize enough. This is
• 37:19
  S8: no joke. This is a very serious matter. And if
• 37:24
  S8: a person is not sure, they should not give themselves
• 37:28
  S8: rest until they find out and know for sure that
• 37:33
  S8: they are in a personal relationship with God, apparently John Wesley,
• 37:38
  S8: apparently John Wesley was a missionary, went to Georgia, came
• 37:41
  S8: back and still didn't know Jesus. Is that Aldersgate where
• 37:46
  S8: he has his conversion experience? And he said, I felt
• 37:50
  S8: my heart strangely warmed because it's the intervention of the
• 37:55
  S8: Spirit of God in his life, giving him the assurance
• 37:58
  S8: of salvation. And God will do the same thing for
• 38:00
  S8: any person who trusts Christ as their personal Lord and Savior.
• 38:05
  S8: But they got. You got to really mean it. I mean,
• 38:07
  S8: you got to really mean it. Uh, you trust him
• 38:10
  S8: in faith. You take him at his word. You believe
• 38:12
  S8: that Jesus died on the cross for all of your sins,
• 38:15
  S8: and that he's risen literally and bodily from among the dead.
• 38:19
  S8: You're willing to entrust your life to him. There is
• 38:21
  S8: repentance involved. Lord, take my life. Do not make me
• 38:26
  S8: the man and woman you want me to be. I
• 38:29
  S8: trust you, I'm yours, God and God will save that person.
• 38:34
  S8: You save that person for all eternity.
• 38:36
  S4: Doctor Neeley, I want you to pray for the person
• 38:39
  S4: who today is turning to Jesus. And that's an honest
• 38:42
  S4: conversation that you have, you listening with you and God,
• 38:46
  S4: where you confess that you were a sinner in need
• 38:48
  S4: of a Savior. You repent, you turn and you go
• 38:51
  S4: a new way. And by the power of the Holy Spirit.
• 38:54
  S4: Today begins your walk with the Lord. Doctor Neely, would
• 38:57
  S4: you pray for maybe one, maybe many?
• 39:00
  S8: Yeah. Lord, I, I come this morning in the name
• 39:03
  S8: of Jesus, and I'm praying for that person who is
• 39:07
  S8: not sure. I'm praying for that person who is religious
• 39:11
  S8: but has never been born again, or the Spirit of God.
• 39:14
  S8: I'm praying for that person who may be a student
• 39:17
  S8: in a Bible college or seminary and study the Bible
• 39:20
  S8: every day, but they that do not have a personal
• 39:23
  S8: relationship with the God of the Bible. And I want
• 39:26
  S8: to pray, Oh God, that you will speak to them,
• 39:29
  S8: that you will convict them. God help them to see
• 39:32
  S8: their lost condition. And I pray that they will say
• 39:35
  S8: yes to Jesus. They will trust you, trust you, Jesus,
• 39:39
  S8: as their personal Lord and Savior, and know what it
• 39:44
  S8: means to be born again of the Spirit of God.
• 39:47
  S8: To be regenerated for real. To have God the Holy
• 39:52
  S8: Spirit come down and take up residence in my heart
• 39:56
  S8: and mind and give me new life in Christ. I
• 39:59
  S8: want to pray for the fruit of the spirit and
• 40:02
  S8: that all of us, God, will take these matters seriously
• 40:05
  S8: and live lives that indicate that we are prepared for
• 40:09
  S8: the second coming of the Lord Jesus, which could take
• 40:12
  S8: place today. Yeah, we thank you in the almighty name
• 40:15
  S8: of Jesus. Amen.
• 40:17
  S4: Amen. Doctor Neeley, thank you so much for your time
• 40:20
  S4: this morning. I want to speak directly to you. If
• 40:22
  S4: that's you and you're listening and you're going, man, that
• 40:26
  S4: that was for me. And today I am new in Christ.
• 40:29
  S4: For the first time I am born again. Just text
• 40:32
  S4: the word new to 805 557898. Text that one word
• 40:37
  S4: new 805 557898. We just want to send you a
• 40:43
  S4: quick link, it's going to give you the opportunity to
• 40:45
  S4: get some follow up. Get to get a Bible if
• 40:48
  S4: you don't have one to get a member of our
• 40:50
  S4: team across the country to follow up with you directly.
• 40:54
  S4: So if that's you today, just text new to 805 557898.
• 41:00
  S4: Just text that one word new. And I want to
• 41:03
  S4: make sure that you know where we've been this morning.
• 41:05
  S4: Matthew 25, that parable of the ten virgins is what
• 41:09
  S4: we just spoke of, that conversation with Doctor Neely. It
• 41:12
  S4: was an extended one, but it will be in its
• 41:15
  S4: entirety in our show cast so that you can get it.
• 41:17
  S4: You can listen to it again. There was a lot
• 41:19
  S4: to unpack there. So if you want that, just text
• 41:21
  S4: show to 805 557898, just text that one word show
• 41:26
  S4: will be available around 1030 central time. Just text show.
• 41:31
  S1: Celebrating the unstoppable gospel.
• 41:34
  S5: It's not that I've got to fill in these check boxes,
• 41:36
  S5: so he's okay with me, but it's that I get
• 41:38
  S5: to stand close to him so that I can experience
• 41:41
  S5: the life that he has for me.
• 41:43
  S1: You're listening to cast and Crew.
• 41:46
  S4: Well, just coming off a weighty conversation with doctor Winfred Nealy.
• 41:50
  S4: But such an important one. And if you missed it, um.
• 41:55
  S4: Text show to 805 557898. Maybe you tuned in midway through. Uh,
• 42:01
  S4: well worth the listen. Just text show to 805 5578, 98.
• 42:07
  S4: You know, I'm a part of a church that has
• 42:09
  S4: a vibrant prayer meeting. And every Sunday morning, they say
• 42:13
  S4: they invite people to the most important meeting of the week.
• 42:17
  S4: I've heard this every Sunday for 14 years.
• 42:24
  S3: I love the commitment to that.
• 42:26
  S4: The most important meeting of the week. And everybody's sitting
• 42:29
  S4: there on Sunday. So for new for people who are
• 42:31
  S4: new to the church, it's like, huh? It's not this.
• 42:34
  S4: It's Tuesday night prayer. That's awesome. And that has been
• 42:37
  S4: something that they've said consistently from the very beginning. And
• 42:41
  S4: I remember one prayer meeting in particular. It's the words.
• 42:47
  S4: The simple statement that this young woman prayed has stuck
• 42:51
  S4: with me for it's been at least let me count
• 42:55
  S4: the years, at least 6 or 7 years since this
• 42:59
  S4: particular Tuesday night prayer meeting, because we weren't even in
• 43:02
  S4: the same building that we're currently.
• 43:04
  S3: Oh, wow.
• 43:05
  S4: But I remember she was praying on the microphone. She
• 43:07
  S4: was a young woman. She probably was in her early 20s,
• 43:10
  S4: really a young woman of prayer, of high character. And
• 43:15
  S4: she prayed, Lord, help us to not live like you're
• 43:20
  S4: not coming back.
• 43:21
  S5: Ooh.
• 43:23
  S4: And it was just, it was spontaneous. It was off
• 43:25
  S4: the cuff. She hadn't planned in advance, but that's what
• 43:28
  S4: came out of her mouth as part of her prayer.
• 43:30
  S4: And that one sentence has stuck with me for seven years.
• 43:34
  S5: That's really.
• 43:34
  S3: Good.
• 43:35
  S4: Help us to not live like you're not coming back.
• 43:38
  S4: And I thought, oh, my, it is so easy to
• 43:42
  S4: live like he's not coming back, as Doctor Neely said,
• 43:46
  S4: particularly in a context where life is comfortable. Not that
• 43:52
  S4: life is problem free, but when things are okay, it's
• 44:00
  S4: easy to just not think about it.
• 44:02
  S3: Yeah.
• 44:02
  S5: To kind of drift into the malaise of life that,
• 44:06
  S5: you know, like, like Doctor Neely said, you know, binging
• 44:10
  S5: Netflix and spending way too many hours on that. Maybe
• 44:14
  S5: it's passing by your neighbor's every day and never even
• 44:18
  S5: thinking about how to talk with them about Jesus. And,
• 44:23
  S5: and that's all important because if Jesus is coming back
• 44:28
  S5: and he is, then everything I do here matters and
• 44:33
  S5: has a time limit on it.
• 44:35
  S4: Yeah. And it's just, you know, it's talking to my
• 44:37
  S4: kids this week. Somehow I don't I don't know what
• 44:40
  S4: had happened, but something brought up the subject of death, heaven, hell.
• 44:46
  S4: And so they had some questions, some of which I
• 44:49
  S4: could answer and some of which I didn't know. It
• 44:52
  S4: was like, let's, let's check into that. But as we
• 44:55
  S4: were talking about it, they were kind of like, this
• 44:58
  S4: is this feels like kind of scary. Like I get that.
• 45:02
  S4: I mean, when you start thinking about eternity, my daughter
• 45:05
  S4: was like, that is just like it, like it gets
• 45:09
  S4: it's terrifying to start just, just the concept of eternity.
• 45:12
  S4: And I'm like, yeah, because our minds can't really conceive.
• 45:15
  S3: It, can't comprehend it.
• 45:17
  S4: So we or comprehend. That's the word I'm looking for.
• 45:19
  S4: So we do this, this, this thing that, and Scripture
• 45:22
  S4: is so, so relevant because the all of the commands
• 45:26
  S4: to be watchful and to stay sober and to stay
• 45:29
  S4: alert and not to be lulled to sleep are because
• 45:32
  S4: that's exactly what happens. Cares of life. The distractions, the
• 45:36
  S4: day to day needs the to do list. All of
• 45:39
  S4: those things can have a very numbing effect of like, living,
• 45:44
  S4: like he's not coming back.
• 45:46
  S5: Yeah. You know, I think about for my first daughter, uh,
• 45:51
  S5: you know, when when my wife was pregnant with her,
• 45:55
  S5: it was all running around and making sure everything was ready.
• 45:58
  S5: You know, we all we did was we get home
• 46:00
  S5: from work and we'd prep and we'd get the room
• 46:03
  S5: ready and we'd get the house ready and all this
• 46:04
  S5: stuff waiting for her to come. Our second daughter is
• 46:08
  S5: is on the way. And now that my first daughter
• 46:13
  S5: is here and I have so much more to focus on,
• 46:16
  S5: I've told my wife, I'm like, this pregnancy is going
• 46:19
  S5: by so fast because I don't have time to just
• 46:21
  S5: sit and think about her coming. I so I can't
• 46:25
  S5: just get ready and have that all because I'm doing
• 46:27
  S5: this and I'm doing this and I'm doing this. And
• 46:29
  S5: I think the same way with life, we can get
• 46:31
  S5: so distracted with all these different things in life that
• 46:34
  S5: sometimes we fail to prepare for Jesus to come back.
• 46:37
  S4: And the reason why this has been the theme for
• 46:41
  S4: this week because as I was, you know, when Carl's
• 46:44
  S4: going to be out, I try to see like what?
• 46:49
  S4: Sometimes we're picking themes together, but at least for me,
• 46:51
  S4: because I don't host all the time, sometimes I'm just like, okay, Lord,
• 46:55
  S4: what have you been showing me lately? And so this
• 46:59
  S4: theme of preparation has been highlighted in my own life lately.
• 47:03
  S4: And this particular passage that we just went over is
• 47:05
  S4: one of the one of the big ones. And I've
• 47:07
  S4: just been thinking about just day to day life and
• 47:10
  S4: how it's easy to be prepared for the things that
• 47:14
  S4: feel so urgent. Like both of my kids have basketball
• 47:17
  S4: tournaments this weekend.
• 47:19
  S3: Mhm.
• 47:20
  S4: And so I've been making sure uniforms are washed and
• 47:25
  S4: water bottles are set out and snack bags and, and
• 47:29
  S4: that's there's nothing wrong with that. I'm, I'm trying to
• 47:32
  S4: be a responsible, diligent mother.
• 47:34
  S3: That's what you're supposed to.
• 47:35
  S4: Have a clean jersey when it's time for the game.
• 47:38
  S4: And that's all great. But I'm like, man, but I
• 47:41
  S4: don't want to. In the midst of the day to
• 47:43
  S4: day preparations for life, running a household, being a a mom,
• 47:48
  S4: maybe for you, being an employee, being a dad, being
• 47:51
  S4: a this, being a that, that we miss and somehow
• 47:55
  S4: are lulled to sleep with the most important preparation.
• 47:58
  S3: Yeah.
• 47:59
  S5: I agree completely.
• 48:00
  S3: Yeah.
• 48:00
  S5: And I think some I think there's something to say
• 48:04
  S5: about maybe even making those day to day life moments
• 48:10
  S5: about prepping for Jesus's coming. How, how can I, how
• 48:14
  S5: can I show my kids I love them because Jesus
• 48:17
  S5: loves me through how I prep them for their tournaments,
• 48:20
  S5: because he's coming back like they are. Our little moments
• 48:24
  S5: don't have to be. We often do separate them because
• 48:27
  S5: I don't think we always realize the connection, uh, that
• 48:31
  S5: can be made there. But, but even in the little
• 48:34
  S5: moments going to work, uh, you know, handling this stuff
• 48:38
  S5: for the kids, like all of this can be prepping
• 48:41
  S5: for Jesus to come back depending on how we look
• 48:44
  S5: at it.
• 48:44
  S4: You mean doing everything as unto the Lord?
• 48:46
  S3: Exactly.
• 48:47
  S4: I think there might be a verse.
• 48:49
  S5: There's something about.
• 48:49
  S3: That.
• 48:50
  S6: Sounds familiar.
• 48:51
  S3: Sounds.
• 48:52
  S4: Sounds strangely familiar. I wonder.
• 48:54
  S6: Who.
• 48:54
  S4: Came up with that idea. Wasn't me. And it wasn't Jonathan.
• 48:58
  S3: No.
• 48:58
  S4: Not me. Wasn't super di. Thanks for listening here on
• 49:02
  S4: this Freedom Friday, this is Carl and crew.
• 49:06
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 49:09
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 49:12
  S4: Well, you've heard the phrase expect the unexpected, which we
• 49:15
  S4: all know that at any time there could be something
• 49:18
  S4: that happens that upends our day or our week or
• 49:22
  S4: our year. It could come in the form of a
• 49:24
  S4: phone call or a natural disaster, or something that happens
• 49:28
  S4: where we have to respond quickly. Are we prepared? We've
• 49:33
  S4: been talking about Preparation all week long. Really practical conversation
• 49:37
  S4: we're going to have here with Kathie Lee. She's got
• 49:39
  S4: a book called Ready for Anything Preparing Your Heart and
• 49:42
  S4: Home for Any crisis, big or Small. Kathy, tell me
• 49:47
  S4: how this has hit for you. When did you realize, oh, boy,
• 49:50
  S4: I need to be prepared for this?
• 49:53
  S9: Yes. Well, we had a bit of a disaster that
• 49:57
  S9: just showed the multitude of ways we were not prepared.
• 50:01
  S9: Both my husband and I were working at home one day,
• 50:04
  S9: and we heard a knock, like a pounding on our
• 50:08
  S9: door and somebody screaming, fire, fire, fire! And both of us,
• 50:13
  S9: we got out, we grabbed the dog, and we got
• 50:16
  S9: downstairs out on our grass, along with everybody else, and barefoot.
• 50:22
  S9: We were both barefoot. We had the dog, but no leash.
• 50:26
  S9: And then as we're standing around talking, we asked each other, hey,
• 50:32
  S9: Jeremy isn't home today. That's our son. It was the
• 50:35
  S9: first day of college and we weren't 100% sure of
• 50:39
  S9: his schedule. So Roger runs back into our house only
• 50:44
  S9: to discover that Jeremy is asleep upstairs.
• 50:47
  S3: Oh, my.
• 50:48
  S9: I know, crazy, right? And so he's like, what? What?
• 50:53
  S9: And you know how teenage boys are. Yes. We got downstairs,
• 50:56
  S9: but it just highlighted all the ways. It's like it
• 51:02
  S9: could have been a disaster. It was a disaster for
• 51:04
  S9: our neighbor. Two doors down. We lived in townhouses at
• 51:07
  S9: the time, and they lost their entire house. And fortunately,
• 51:11
  S9: everybody was okay. But I just realized, oh my goodness,
• 51:16
  S9: it could have been so much worse. And I'm so grateful,
• 51:19
  S9: but it highlighted everything we did wrong. And so we
• 51:23
  S9: doubled down on learning how to be prepared.
• 51:26
  S4: Wow. Kathy Lipp, our guest this morning. I mean, praise
• 51:29
  S4: God that that did not go a different way when
• 51:32
  S4: it comes to unforeseen circumstances, depending on what part of
• 51:36
  S4: the country that you live in or the world that
• 51:38
  S4: you live in. There are natural disasters. I grew up
• 51:43
  S4: in an area that was pretty prone to tornado warnings
• 51:46
  S4: and watches, so I remember quite a few times being
• 51:49
  S4: huddled in the hallway at school or in somebody else's
• 51:52
  S4: being at a sleepover, and we're all lined up in the,
• 51:55
  S4: you know, in the interior rooms, hearts racing, hoping that
• 52:00
  S4: and praying that the tornado didn't touch down near us.
• 52:04
  S4: But what are some other things that we need to
• 52:06
  S4: be anticipating and preparing for in advance?
• 52:10
  S9: There are a few simple things that can help in
• 52:13
  S9: a variety of different circumstances. And so when I was
• 52:17
  S9: thinking through the chapters and everything like that, I wanted
• 52:21
  S9: to make sure we could touch on all of those
• 52:23
  S9: because I'm from earthquake country, which is very different than
• 52:27
  S9: what you were going through with tornadoes. But I've also
• 52:30
  S9: been in Texas during a hurricane, and so a few
• 52:33
  S9: different things are really helpful. One is to have $101 bills.
• 52:38
  S9: I know that seems like, well, what's that going to do?
• 52:41
  S9: But sometimes cash is what you need. And so to
• 52:45
  S9: have that cash on hand, to be able to pay
• 52:48
  S9: for water or something, you know, food, whatever, you might
• 52:51
  S9: need to repair a tire. Um, we had to do
• 52:54
  S9: that when we were in Lake Tahoe one time. So
• 52:57
  S9: having $101 bills and this is just the start of
• 53:00
  S9: what you need, but we all have to start somewhere.
• 53:03
  S9: Number two is to have a three day bag. And
• 53:08
  S9: so three day bag is anything that you would need
• 53:13
  S9: to survive, maybe in your car for three days if
• 53:17
  S9: you had to bug out, and then two weeks of
• 53:20
  S9: food and water at your house. So if you have
• 53:23
  S9: to shelter in place, and I wrote this book, you know,
• 53:26
  S9: when we were, you know, pandemic was big on our minds,
• 53:31
  S9: having that two weeks worth of food and water and
• 53:34
  S9: toilet paper and paper towels and wipes, Clorox wipes, that
• 53:39
  S9: kind of thing really gave us like, there was no
• 53:41
  S9: need to panic. And when I talk about the $101 bills,
• 53:45
  S9: that's just the beginning. What you want to, you know,
• 53:49
  S9: build up to is three months of an emergency fund
• 53:52
  S9: because not all disasters are natural. Sometimes it's losing a job.
• 53:58
  S9: Sometimes it is having to run across the country because
• 54:02
  S9: somebody is sick and you need to go take care
• 54:04
  S9: of them. So having these things in place can help you,
• 54:09
  S9: at least with the initial shock of that disaster, realize
• 54:14
  S9: you have things in place to take care of yourself
• 54:17
  S9: and the people you love.
• 54:18
  S4: Cathy Lipp. Our guest right now, we're featuring one of
• 54:21
  S4: the books she's written. Ready for anything. Preparing your heart
• 54:23
  S4: and home for any crises, big or small. What's a
• 54:27
  S4: five minute plan and why do you need it?
• 54:31
  S9: Yeah, a five minute plan is okay. Something happens. And
• 54:35
  S9: in the first five minutes, having roles for everybody in
• 54:39
  S9: your family. So with my kids, like one of the
• 54:43
  S9: things we said is, hey, if we find out that
• 54:47
  S9: there's a panic, we want you to go make peanut
• 54:49
  S9: butter and jelly sandwiches. Now, that sounds ridiculous, but one,
• 54:54
  S9: giving kids a job to do is critical so that
• 54:58
  S9: they're not in panic mode. And if they can help,
• 55:01
  S9: then they have power in that situation. For Roger, his
• 55:06
  S9: five minute plan was getting our money together. That's what
• 55:10
  S9: we needed to know. And then for me, it was
• 55:14
  S9: anything else that depending on the circumstance, what do I
• 55:18
  S9: need to do in the first five minutes? Well, I
• 55:20
  S9: probably need to gather more information. And so for everybody
• 55:24
  S9: to have a role to say, hey, we're all pulling together.
• 55:28
  S9: This is a great time for your kids to feel
• 55:30
  S9: empowered instead of terrified. And one of the kids, hey,
• 55:34
  S9: go walk the dog. Because whatever's going to happen, if
• 55:38
  S9: we have to pack the dog up in the car,
• 55:40
  S9: then you know, we need the dog to be walked.
• 55:43
  S9: We have the three day bag already that has everybody's clothes.
• 55:47
  S9: We have food for the dog, food for us. We
• 55:50
  S9: are ready to go.
• 55:52
  S4: You know, pretty recently I sent my husband a link.
• 55:56
  S4: I'm going to admit this for something that I found
• 55:59
  S4: online that was called bunker in a box. And I said, hey,
• 56:02
  S4: do you think we should go ahead and invest in this?
• 56:05
  S4: And he said, you know what? Let's think about that
• 56:08
  S4: a little bit more. Yeah. I don't know if I
• 56:11
  S4: want us to be doing things that are going to
• 56:13
  S4: cause us to trust in our preparation more than God.
• 56:16
  S4: And there's obviously we want our trust is in God,
• 56:20
  S4: but God does give us the ability to be good
• 56:23
  S4: stewards of things that he's given us. How do we,
• 56:27
  S4: I guess, stay on that high ridge where we don't
• 56:29
  S4: want to be, you know, stocking up 15 years of
• 56:32
  S4: toilet paper and canned beans? But we also don't want
• 56:36
  S4: to be kind of like head in the sand. Ah,
• 56:39
  S4: I'll just figure it out when I get there. I've
• 56:41
  S4: got God.
• 56:42
  S9: There is a balance, right? And so here's what I
• 56:45
  S9: would say. Preparedness is not the opposite of faith. Panic
• 56:49
  S9: is not faith, but neither is being passive. So preparedness
• 56:54
  S9: is one way we can take care of our family,
• 56:57
  S9: but also love our neighbors. You know, when the pandemic hit,
• 57:02
  S9: we had toilet paper that we could share with our neighbors.
• 57:06
  S9: And it wasn't because we had a bunker full, but
• 57:09
  S9: we just said, you know what? It's good to have
• 57:12
  S9: not just what we need for today, but also what
• 57:15
  S9: we need for next week. Now I am absolutely God
• 57:20
  S9: gives us manna for the day, right? Absolutely. But I
• 57:23
  S9: think that there were opportunities to say, how do I
• 57:27
  S9: love my neighbor? How do I take care of the
• 57:30
  S9: people I love? It's not having cans of food that
• 57:34
  S9: are going to go bad in 20 years in your rafters,
• 57:38
  S9: but it's saying, hey, I have enough food in my
• 57:41
  S9: pantry that is not going to go bad, that I
• 57:45
  S9: can also take care of my I've got, you know,
• 57:48
  S9: all the fixings for chili and we're going to be okay.
• 57:51
  S9: But also, does my neighbor need something? How can I
• 57:54
  S9: help them as well? So there is faith in this preparation,
• 57:59
  S9: but not putting our faith in the preparation.
• 58:03
  S4: Cathy Lipp, our guest this morning, the book is called
• 58:05
  S4: ready for Anything Preparing Your Heart and Home for any crisis,
• 58:09
  S4: big or small. Just text the word prep and we'll
• 58:12
  S4: send you a link. Text prep to (800) 555-7898. Just that
• 58:16
  S4: one word prep to (800) 555-7898.