Latest / INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living / A Page from Jesus’ Journal, Part 2

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A Page from Jesus’ Journal, Part 2 · INSIGHT FOR LIVING: Biblical Wisdom For Everyday Living

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Speaker 1: Have you ever paused to read a page from someone's
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Speaker 1: private journal? Someone who's already gone on before you? There's
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Speaker 1: something captivating about entering another person's world through their own words.
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Speaker 1: Today on Insight for Living, Chuck Swindoll invites you to
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Speaker 1: tear a page from Jesus' journal, the Gospel of Mark,
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Speaker 1: Chapter 1. and watch a Savior move from one scene
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Speaker 1: to the next in almost nonstop fashion. What you'll discover
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Speaker 1: is a Savior filled with compassion, meeting the broken exactly
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Speaker 1: where they are.
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Speaker 2: Chuck begins with prayer. We remember the words of the prophet,
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Speaker 2: Our Father, in quietness and confidence you will gain strength.
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Speaker 2: Teach us to value the presence of silence, even solitude.
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Speaker 2: In a world filled with noise, from the moment we
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Speaker 2: rise till the last waking moment of our day, the
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Speaker 2: world is busy about us and easy to be caught
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Speaker 2: up in the maddening pace of this endless noise. sound, words,
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Speaker 2: so much of it meaningless and empty. We come today
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Speaker 2: to pull this page from our Savior's journal and learn
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Speaker 2: again what it means to pace our lives, to choose
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Speaker 2: our priorities well, to find time for solitude and prayer,
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Speaker 2: to meet needs with hearts of compassion, to help those
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Speaker 2: who hurt, to reach out to those who are broken
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Speaker 2: and have lost their way. Show us, our Father, how
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Speaker 2: to measure our days and how to mark them well,
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Speaker 2: that we may live not busy lives but deep. We
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Speaker 2: might pause and let the wonder in on those occasions
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Speaker 2: when you are obviously at work. When we suffer, it
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Speaker 2: is easy to lose our way, and there are many
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Speaker 2: today in this place who are in pain. Pain of heart,
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Speaker 2: pain of body, the pain of grief, ministering to those
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Speaker 2: they love who are set aside, pains of disability, discouragement.
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Speaker 2: Remind us, our Father, that you have never met a
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Speaker 2: disability or disease that you cannot handle. Show us the
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Speaker 2: value not only in your yes, but also in those
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Speaker 2: unexplainable no's. or wait and deepen us through those journeys
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Speaker 2: as well. For we are quickly caught up in our culture,
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Speaker 2: easy to take our cues from those about us who
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Speaker 2: act as though they have answers, but they have none.
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Speaker 2: Show us the value of the eternal, even as we
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Speaker 2: live out our temporal lives. And may we not be
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Speaker 2: uneasy with moments of celebration and joy, but may we
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Speaker 2: keep it all in perspective, knowing that you are our
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Speaker 2: sovereign guide and God. Today, we surround ourselves with the
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Speaker 2: presence of the Lamb of God, who has taken away
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Speaker 2: the sins of the world. In the name of the Jesus,
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Speaker 2: who has revealed himself as the Lamb of God, we
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Speaker 2: pray and we give. And everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 1: You're listening to Insight for Living. To dig deeper into
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Speaker 1: the gospel according to Mark, be sure to purchase a
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Speaker 1: copy of our Searching the Scriptures Bible Study Workbooks. by
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Speaker 1: going to insight.org slash offer. Shut title today's message, A
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Speaker 1: Page from Jesus' Journal.
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Speaker 2: When evening came, after the sun had set, they began
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Speaker 2: bringing to him all who were ill, those who were demon-possessed.
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Speaker 2: Look at verse 33. The whole city had gathered at
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Speaker 2: the door. The whole village of Capernaum, he had once
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Speaker 2: been in a synagogue, And now he is in the
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Speaker 2: home of Peter and Peter's family, and the others are there,
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Speaker 2: and they begin to hear the noise outside through the afternoon.
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Speaker 2: And then by evening, there's a cacophony of sound. It
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Speaker 2: is all over, and they push the door open, and there,
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Speaker 2: as far as the eye can see, there are people
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Speaker 2: in need all around the area. And he healed many
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Speaker 2: who were ill with various diseases and cast out many
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Speaker 2: demons and was not permitting the demons to speak. because
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Speaker 2: they knew who he was. Jesus says to them, you
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Speaker 2: be silent. Don't speak, and they did not speak. It
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Speaker 2: must have been magnificent. He didn't come for the purpose
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Speaker 2: merely to heal and to impress people. He came to
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Speaker 2: preach the good news of the truth. But this corroborated
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Speaker 2: that he was not simply another spokesman. He was from God.
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Speaker 2: And he was able to heal at will. under the
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Speaker 2: power of the Spirit who filled him. They have never
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Speaker 2: seen anything like it. Where do we find him within
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Speaker 2: a matter of hours? Well, first of all, he's got
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Speaker 2: to get some sleep. So between verses 34 and 35,
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Speaker 2: he finds a place in the home where he can
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Speaker 2: lie down. He's resting. But I love the beginning of 35.
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Speaker 2: In the early morning, while it was still dark, Jesus
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Speaker 2: got up, left the house, and went away to a
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Speaker 2: secluded place and was praying there. Isn't that magnificent? Remember,
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Speaker 2: he is the theanthropic person. He is the God-man, undiminished deity,
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Speaker 2: at the same time, true humanity. Deity never gets tired,
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Speaker 2: but humanity can be exhausted. Deity never needs sleep. Humanity
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Speaker 2: needs rest. And in his humanity, he is exhausted from
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Speaker 2: the day before. However, he has the wisdom, he has
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Speaker 2: the discipline to rise early in the morning, and he
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Speaker 2: gets along with the Father, and there he prays. Now,
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Speaker 2: back at the house, Peter wakes up, James, John, Andrew,
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Speaker 2: The mother-in-law is ready to fix a great breakfast. She's healed.
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Speaker 2: She's got energy. And everybody's there but Jesus. They see
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Speaker 2: the little part of the floor where he had slept.
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Speaker 2: The covers are pushed back, and he's gone. So Peter
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Speaker 2: sets out to find him. In the meantime, the crowds
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Speaker 2: are coming. Remember, if there's healing one day, there certainly
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Speaker 2: could be healing the next. And as the word travels,
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Speaker 2: can you imagine the size of the crowd that had
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Speaker 2: begun to gather. Peter works his way from that out
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Speaker 2: into the wilderness, verse 36. Look, Simon and his companions
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Speaker 2: searched for him and they found him and said to him,
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Speaker 2: everyone is looking for you. Literally, the Greek reads, all
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Speaker 2: seek you. They're all seeking you. Jesus. I mean, forgive
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Speaker 2: me here. You're famous.
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Speaker 1: Jesus.
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Speaker 2: Jesus, look at the crowd. I mean, they've come out
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Speaker 2: from under the rocks. They're all around the house, Jesus.
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Speaker 2: What a chance for you to, for us, to minister.
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Speaker 2: Jesus said to them, let's go somewhere else, to the
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Speaker 2: towns nearby. Don't you love it? I mean... The word
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Speaker 2: Peter brought, the crowds are there. Believe me, that's music
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Speaker 2: to most preachers' ears. They'd give their firstborn to have
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Speaker 2: a crowd like this, anywhere near where they're preaching, or
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Speaker 2: at least half their library. Why? Because most preachers want
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Speaker 2: to be popular. They want to be known. Not saying anything, usually,
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Speaker 2: though some have the audacity to do so, They crave
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Speaker 2: a crowd. They crave numbers. I thought of this and
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Speaker 2: was saddened when I when I read Leighton Ford's account
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Speaker 2: of days gone by. Listen carefully. In his book, Transforming Leadership,
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Speaker 2: Billy Graham's faithful associate for many years, Leighton Ford, wrote this.
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Speaker 2: Several years ago, I had lunch with Richard Dortch, who
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Speaker 2: had just been chosen to become the executive vice president
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Speaker 2: of the PTL Club, a multimillion dollar religious televangelism network.
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Speaker 2: Dortch had headed his denomination's work in Illinois and had
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Speaker 2: an outstanding track record. I was frankly very impressed, writes Ford,
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Speaker 2: with what he had to say and with his seeming
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Speaker 2: sincerity and competence. He planned to recruit a strong finance
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Speaker 2: director and several MBAs to establish some fiscal sanity. It's
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Speaker 2: going to be like turning the Queen Mary around with
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Speaker 2: a teaspoon, he said. It won't be easy, but I
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Speaker 2: plan to do it. I wished him well and then
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Speaker 2: watched from a distance. Eventually, Jim Baker, the head of PTL,
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Speaker 2: resigned in disgrace over a sexual liaison and its cover-up.
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Speaker 2: Both he and Dortch were convicted for the misuse of funds. How,
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Speaker 2: I wondered, could a man with such seemingly good intentions
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Speaker 2: go so wrong? So I read with interest a later
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Speaker 2: interview in which he, Dortch described how the managers of
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Speaker 2: PTL came to define success. It is all tied to
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Speaker 2: how many stations we have on our network or how
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Speaker 2: big our building is. It is so easy to lose control,
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Speaker 2: to compromise without recognizing it. At PTL, there was not
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Speaker 2: time taken for prayer or family because the show had
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Speaker 2: to go on. We were so caught up in God's
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Speaker 2: work that we forgot about God. He also talked about
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Speaker 2: the impact of television on preachers. I quote, a television
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Speaker 2: camera can change a preacher quicker than anything else. Those
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Speaker 2: who sit on the sidelines can notice the changes in
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Speaker 2: people once they get in front of a camera. It
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Speaker 2: turns a good man into a potentate. It is so
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Speaker 2: easy to get swept away by popularity. Everybody loves you.
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Speaker 2: Ears are waiting for you. Cars are waiting for you.
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Speaker 2: You go to the head of the line. That is
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Speaker 2: the devastation of the camera. It has made us less
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Speaker 2: than what God had wanted us to become. If you
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Speaker 2: will allow me, Peter thinks, Jesus, you could be on TV, man.
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Speaker 2: Let's go somewhere else. That's the man I want to follow.
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Speaker 2: That's a man worth following. There is a remarkable self-restraint
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Speaker 2: in Jesus' words. He must have frowned, realizing once again, Peter,
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Speaker 2: you have such a long way to go. May I
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Speaker 2: say to you who are very gifted, very competent, If
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Speaker 2: not now, soon to be very successful. Be careful about
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Speaker 2: your own clippings. Please. Please. Solomon writes, let another man
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Speaker 2: praise you and not your own mouth, a stranger and
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Speaker 2: not your own lips. Peter was to learn that. Jesus
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Speaker 2: knew it. So the lesson, let's all write it down.
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Speaker 2: In solitude, he prayed and gained the right perspective. In solitude,
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Speaker 2: he prayed and gained the right perspective. Cut solitude and
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Speaker 2: silence out of your life and you're a goner. I
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Speaker 2: say to the young men and women at the seminary,
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Speaker 2: Dallas Seminary, when I have the opportunity to speak in
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Speaker 2: their chapel, the ones I'm most concerned about who fill
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Speaker 2: this chapel today are you who are most gifted, who
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Speaker 2: can just handle the text with ease, who have this splendid,
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Speaker 2: winsome personality, I get scared for you. I get nervous.
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Speaker 2: How important accountability is. And Jesus is accountable to his Father,
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Speaker 2: and they've just talked it over. No doubt the Father whispered,
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Speaker 2: move on, son, move on. So he says, let us
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Speaker 2: go somewhere else to the towns nearby so that I
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Speaker 2: may preach there also for that is what I came for.
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Speaker 2: Don't you love it? He doesn't even mention healing. Healing
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Speaker 2: always draws a crowd because the broken lives are more
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Speaker 2: known to people than broken minds and broken hearts. Everybody
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Speaker 2: wants relief from physical pain. But he says, I'm not
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Speaker 2: called here to do that primarily. I'm called to preach
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Speaker 2: the truth. That's my ministry. He's come to seek and
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Speaker 2: to save those who were lost. Keep the perspective right.
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Speaker 2: That's how he gained it in solitude. And so we read,
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Speaker 2: he went into their synagogues throughout all Galilee, preaching and
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Speaker 2: casting out the demons. Lesson learned, staying focused, he pressed on.
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Speaker 2: Staying focused, he pressed on. Now, what does all of
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Speaker 2: this say to you and me as we tear this
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Speaker 2: page from the journal and take a look at it
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Speaker 2: and do a little analysis? Well, I think it says
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Speaker 2: four things, at least, allow me. The first is this,
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Speaker 2: has to do with compassion. Compassion encourages us to care
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Speaker 2: for those who hurt. Compassion encourages us to care for
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Speaker 2: those who hurt. Joseph Parker used to say to young preachers,
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Speaker 2: Preach to broken hearts and you'll never lack for a congregation.
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Speaker 2: There is one in every pew. While I was a
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Speaker 2: part of the installation of Mark Young up in Denver,
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Speaker 2: Denver Seminary, the new president, we were all so happy
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Speaker 2: to be there to applaud this wonderful promotion for Mark
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Speaker 2: and he very graciously has taken the responsibility of leadership. Well,
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Speaker 2: there's an installation service and a part of it was
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Speaker 2: a The night before, there was a banquet, wonderful banquet.
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Speaker 2: And they brought in some graduates from Denver Seminary who
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Speaker 2: would share. And it was great to hear each one
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Speaker 2: of them. One especially stood out. He is involved now
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Speaker 2: in a compassionate ministry, and he serves the public. I
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Speaker 2: will not name it or him, except to say his
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Speaker 2: words were just, I just hung on every one of them.
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Speaker 2: He told a wonderful story. Understand, the Denver Seminary really
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Speaker 2: got on the map through Dr. Vernon Grounds, faithful years
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Speaker 2: of ministry as president there. Dr. Grounds, known for his
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Speaker 2: heart as well as his mind, his scholarship. And while Dr.
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Speaker 2: Grounds was the president of Denver Seminary, this particular man,
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Speaker 2: many years younger, was a student there at the school.
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Speaker 2: And he said, one dark day in my first year
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Speaker 2: I was so low and I kind of stumbled into
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Speaker 2: the chapel and it was one of those chapel services
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Speaker 2: where everything was clapping and singing and smiling and jumping
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Speaker 2: and having a great time. He said, I didn't feel
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Speaker 2: like slappy, clappy, happy. I just felt like crying. So
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Speaker 2: I walked out of the chapel and walked into the
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Speaker 2: kitchen which in the old building was adjacent to the
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Speaker 2: chapel and he said, I poured myself a cup of
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Speaker 2: hot water to make tea and I'm not sure if
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Speaker 2: he said he ever got the bag into it or not.
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Speaker 2: He just burst into tears and just broken. He said,
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Speaker 2: I just slid down the kitchen cabinet and sat on
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Speaker 2: the floor and finally just lay down in the kitchen
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Speaker 2: all alone. I'd come to the end. Finally, he said,
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Speaker 2: I was able to push myself up on one elbow
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Speaker 2: and sunk my head in my hands and I felt
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Speaker 2: an arm around me. Another man had sat down by me.
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Speaker 2: I felt the warmth of his body next to mine,
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Speaker 2: and he pulled me over and whispered, I don't know
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Speaker 2: what it is that's broken you, but I want you
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Speaker 2: to know I care, and I'll stay right here till
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Speaker 2: you get up. And he said, I opened my eyes
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Speaker 2: and looked. It was Vernon Grounds. In my address to Dr.
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Speaker 2: Young at the charge to the president I looked at
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Speaker 2: him and said, keep sitting on the floor with the students.
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Speaker 2: When's the last time you sat down on the floor
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Speaker 2: by someone who's down there? You will minister to them
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Speaker 2: as in no other way. Or the time that you
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Speaker 2: hardly had enough but you reached into your wallet and
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Speaker 2: thought that person could sure use this 10 bucks better
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Speaker 2: than I. And you press it into their hands and say,
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Speaker 2: I want you to have this. It may help you
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Speaker 2: right now. Just a word of encouragement. Compassion encourages us
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Speaker 2: to care for those who hurt. My prayer for Stonebriar
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Speaker 2: Community Church is that we will not lose our compassion
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Speaker 2: because when we lose our compassion, we lose our ministry.
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Speaker 2: We lose our way. The second lesson I learned is
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Speaker 2: humility energizes us to stay gracious. You see, when we
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Speaker 2: are compassionate, we become humble. We don't become the star
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Speaker 2: of the show. There's one star and he wouldn't even
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Speaker 2: see himself as that and that's the Savior. But when
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Speaker 2: you reach out to other people, there's humility involved and
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Speaker 2: that humility energizes us to stay gracious. To stay gracious
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Speaker 2: with those in need. The third lesson, solitude and prayer
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Speaker 2: empower us to restrain our own ambitions. Solitude and prayer
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Speaker 2: empower us to restrain our own ambitions. Believe me, the
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Speaker 2: crowds won't restrain your ambitions. They'll fan the flame. They'll
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Speaker 2: tell you how great you are. But how fickle a
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Speaker 2: crowd can be, it's easy to forget that the ticker
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Speaker 2: tape today become the brickbats of tomorrow. How quickly the
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Speaker 2: crowd turns. Many of these same people in a matter
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Speaker 2: of a few years are saying, crucify him! Crucify him!
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Speaker 2: How quickly they turn. Without solitude, you'll lose your way.
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Speaker 2: How valuable it is to let solitude restrain our ambitions.
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Speaker 2: Fourth and finally, discipline enables us to continue reaching out
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Speaker 2: to the lost. Jesus said, let's go to those in
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Speaker 2: other parts of Galilee. Let's go there. My friends at
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Speaker 2: Stonebriar Church, wrapped in the cocoon of this building, if
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Speaker 2: we are not careful, we can build our own little
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Speaker 2: world and forget that two blocks away or less, there
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Speaker 2: are those who've never heard the name of Jesus Christ once.
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Speaker 2: Not clearly. They've never heard the gospel of grace. May
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Speaker 2: God remind us that it isn't just about being here
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Speaker 2: and all the great things, as wonderful as they are,
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Speaker 2: and certainly we are to enjoy them, but may he
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Speaker 2: remind us over and over, we take what we get
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Speaker 2: here and we release it. We give it. I challenge
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Speaker 2: you this week to share with at least one person
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Speaker 2: the story of Jesus and the gospel. Just one person.
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Speaker 2: I challenge you. Just one person. Beginning to do that
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Speaker 2: regularly will transform your life. It'll take discipline. You've got it.
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Speaker 2: Just apply it. May we bow together. Now we have
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Speaker 2: a few moments of our own solitude. How necessary it is.
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Speaker 2: You've listened so well. May I ask, are you certain
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Speaker 2: that you know Christ? Are you absolutely sure That the
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Speaker 2: Savior lives in you? If you're not sure, this is
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Speaker 2: a moment to make sure. He who has the Son
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Speaker 2: has the life, but he who does not have the
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Speaker 2: Son of God does not have the life. Simple prayer
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Speaker 2: is all it takes. Father, I'm lost. God, you and
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Speaker 2: I are at a distance. I'm a sinner. I want
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Speaker 2: to be born into your family. Thank you for Christ
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Speaker 2: who died for me and has been raised for me.
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Speaker 2: I take him personally now. I take the gift. Our Father,
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Speaker 2: we thank you for what we have heard and how
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Speaker 2: Jesus has ministered to us today. Thank you for his
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Speaker 2: model of magnificent humility. Thank you that he never sought
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Speaker 2: a crowd. Thank you that he never looked to himself
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Speaker 2: but always to you, always putting others first. Teach us
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Speaker 2: how to do that. In Jesus' name, everyone said, Amen.
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Speaker 1: Allow this moment to sink in. A Savior who never
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Speaker 1: sought the spotlight, never looked to himself, but always put
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Speaker 1: others first. And if you prayed that simple prayer along
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Speaker 1: with Chuck Swindoll, if you accepted the gift of salvation
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Speaker 1: for the very first time, we would love to know.
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Speaker 1: That decision is the most important one you'll ever make,
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Speaker 1: and you don't have to walk it out alone. You
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Speaker 1: Box 5000, Frisco, Texas 75034. As you may know, we
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Speaker 1: on your own, just as Chuck did to prepare this
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Speaker 1: sermon series on Mark. This study is no exception. In fact,
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Speaker 1: because of the scope of Mark's gospel, Chuck has divided
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Speaker 1: this book is filled with fascinating stories, told as only
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Speaker 1: Chuck can tell them. He describes how a stuttering young
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Speaker 1: boy spent his childhood in the shadow of World War II.
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Speaker 1: He describes his decision to attend seminary. And most importantly,
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Speaker 1: Chuck shares how God was working out his purposes, preparing
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Speaker 1: him for a lifetime of public ministry. To purchase Chuck
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Speaker 1: Swindoll's personal memoir, Awakened by Grace, call 800-772-7000. I'm Bill Meyer.
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Speaker 1: Join us when Chuck Swindoll continues his verse-by-verse study through
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Speaker 1: the gospel according to Mark, Thursday on Insight for Living.
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Speaker 1: The preceding message, a page from Jesus' journal, was copyrighted
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Speaker 1: in 2010 and 2026, and the sound recording was copyrighted
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Speaker 1: in 2026 by Charles R.
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