Latest / Karl and Crew / From Bread Baking to Discipleship Making with Stefano Fehr & Iran’s Children, Women, and the Church with Lana Silk
Transcript
- 0:00S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
- 0:05S1: and crew.
- 0:06S2: Come as you are an experienced guide, overcome what seems
- 0:11S2: impossible and live as you never imagined.
- 0:14S1: Start your morning with a laugh.
- 0:16S2: Cold spaghetti is great. Okay.
- 0:19S3: Okay, I disagree, I guess. No, no, certainly it is not. No. Okay. Well, man,
- 0:26S3: I'm going back.
- 0:26S2: To my bachelor days. I guess I thought cold spaghetti
- 0:29S2: was universally loved.
- 0:31S4: I've never been known for, like, high levels of coordination.
- 0:34S4: That's just. It feels like.
- 0:37S2: I've never been known for high levels of coordination.
- 0:42S1: Delivering the truth daily.
- 0:44S4: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
- 0:48S4: and you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
- 0:52S4: that would make it worth it.
- 0:53S5: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
- 0:56S5: the life source, which is God.
- 0:59S6: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
- 1:02S6: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
- 1:06S6: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
- 1:10S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
- 1:15S1: and Crew discipleship.
- 1:17S2: As simple as having Jesus in front of us, having
- 1:23S2: the Word of God open, seeing the way he lived.
- 1:28S2: And by the way, just parenthetically, some of the ways
- 1:32S2: he lived, we don't feature enough in modern Christianity. We
- 1:37S2: just don't. And one of the things that he's noted
- 1:40S2: for over and over again is rising early, going to
- 1:44S2: a quiet place, withdrawing from crowds, spending time alone with
- 1:51S2: the father who sent him. And, you know, it's it's
- 1:56S2: it's easy to see a lot of what he proclaimed
- 1:59S2: and even what he told us to do. But we
- 2:01S2: got to look at those disciplines that are in the
- 2:04S2: kind of the the boiler room of the soul of
- 2:07S2: a person and see what he modeled. One of them is.
- 2:10S2: He got away. He got away to quiet places. He
- 2:13S2: rode away from crowds at times, many of whom needed
- 2:16S2: some healing. And the reason I mention that is I
- 2:20S2: truly believe that all of the. And their good. Going
- 2:26S2: to small groups serving. Identifying your gifts, going on short
- 2:29S2: term missions, giving financially. All those things are great things.
- 2:34S2: But the fuel of the boiler room of the soul
- 2:38S2: that makes those dynamic is connectivity with our father. Connectivity.
- 2:44S2: Connectivity by means of hearing what the Holy Spirit's saying
- 2:49S2: in our life and then walking it out. And oftentimes
- 2:52S2: those get lost in the whole heap of everything that
- 2:55S2: we're doing. And by the way, that's easy to happen.
- 2:58S2: That's why the book of Galatians is so powerful. Who
- 3:00S2: has bewitched you that that you began in the spirit
- 3:02S2: while you were working out in the flesh? This is
- 3:05S2: why it's like Paul talking to the Corinthian church saying
- 3:08S2: it's you're not taking communion. This isn't the Lord's Supper.
- 3:10S2: This is your party. You got different groups of you
- 3:13S2: getting together, and some of you are getting hammered drunk
- 3:16S2: off your keester before you can even begin to acknowledge
- 3:21S2: really what the Lord's Supper is all about. So it's
- 3:26S2: it's a call constantly to come back to those quiet
- 3:30S2: still moments where we're letting God search our hearts. Why?
- 3:34S2: Because we don't see ourselves rightly. And if you think
- 3:37S2: you do. Oh, boy. We got to get sobered up
- 3:42S2: enough to to realize that, wow, this, this life that
- 3:47S2: I live is sometimes motivated by some funky stuff, and
- 3:50S2: it's okay. I don't get beat up by that. We
- 3:53S2: just go. All right. God, look at me now. What's
- 3:57S2: going on? What's motivated me yesterday? We're talking with Jim daily.
- 4:00S2: It's like, what's the why behind what I do? Why
- 4:04S2: am I, why am I doing why did I say
- 4:06S2: that at that meeting?
- 4:08S3: Why do it's so important to ask, you know, why.
- 4:11S2: Do I say that?
- 4:12S5: Because sometimes it feels like it's hard to identify where
- 4:16S5: that's coming from. But the Holy Spirit will let us
- 4:19S5: know those things if we talk to him and investigate
- 4:22S5: it with him. And then, I mean, don't feel shame
- 4:26S5: about that. We have all experienced it.
- 4:28S2: Oh my goodness.
- 4:29S3: Yes.
- 4:30S5: But take those motives, take those motives to the Lord
- 4:32S5: and say, Lord, I recognize that I said this at
- 4:34S5: this meeting. Or, you know, maybe I threw this idea
- 4:38S5: out there more to glorify myself than to glorify you. Uh,
- 4:41S5: I give that to you, Lord, and I'm sorry.
- 4:43S2: Or I didn't say something because I'm in this heap
- 4:46S2: of insecurity, right? Is that where you were going?
- 4:49S3: Going. All right, well.
- 4:50S2: I'm sorry about.
- 4:51S3: That. No, no, no.
- 4:52S6: We got it out there.
- 4:54S2: But it's that's often the case. We fall off on
- 4:56S2: two sides of this thing.
- 4:57S5: Oh, yeah.
- 4:58S2: Especially when it comes to public interactions, when it comes
- 5:02S2: to any kind of public interactions. And I'm saying public
- 5:05S2: is anything beyond you yourself and you, whenever we get
- 5:09S2: into a exchange or an opportunity to speak up, we
- 5:14S2: can fall off on two sides. And that is we're
- 5:18S2: speaking motivated by stuff that maybe isn't right at all,
- 5:23S2: or we're not speaking motivated by stuff that isn't right
- 5:26S2: at all. And so this is why really connecting with God,
- 5:31S2: by the way, that's an interesting point. We often feature
- 5:34S2: the stuff that gets said. That's dumb, but how about
- 5:37S2: the stuff that doesn't get said? That's righteous? Yeah, that
- 5:41S2: would be a great contribution to a meeting, an interaction
- 5:46S2: with a child, whatever. Sometimes fear can hold us back.
- 5:50S2: Or who am I to say anything?
- 5:53S5: Well, I mean, that was the that was kind of
- 5:56S5: the sin of Adam. Uh, you know.
- 5:58S3: Not kind of.
- 5:59S5: I mean, it is, it is. And Eve ate the apple,
- 6:03S5: but the instructions came to Adam first and and then
- 6:08S5: Eve brought that to Adam, and he didn't say anything.
- 6:12S5: And he ate the apple when he had been clearly
- 6:15S5: told not.
- 6:16S3: To.
- 6:16S2: Until he blamed God. And even one.
- 6:18S3: Sentence. Yeah, right.
- 6:19S5: It's the wife.
- 6:20S3: You gave.
- 6:21S2: This woman you gave.
- 6:23S3: Me. Yeah.
- 6:24S7: This woman.
- 6:25S3: That's pretty.
- 6:26S5: That's pretty bold.
- 6:28S3: It is bold.
- 6:28S5: And not a good.
- 6:29S3: Way.
- 6:30S2: You know, and and we just gotta, we just gotta
- 6:32S2: remember this, guys. We just stop. Slow down for a second. Go.
- 6:36S2: All right. I'm heading into a day here, a Friday
- 6:39S2: heading into a big weekend. Why do I do what
- 6:42S2: I do? Why am I going to say what I say?
- 6:44S2: Why do I not say what I need to say? Okay, Lord,
- 6:50S2: now I'm totally identified with you. You are my leader.
- 6:56S2: I am your child. I'm totally secure in your arms,
- 6:59S2: so I've got nothing to prove. I've got nothing to gain,
- 7:04S2: nothing to lose. So. Okay, Lord, here's, here's the thing.
- 7:07S2: You're at work in me. It is the chief end
- 7:11S2: of man to glorify God by enjoying him forever. So
- 7:17S2: that chief end is going to drive what I say.
- 7:21S2: And I'm asking by the power of your spirit, to
- 7:24S2: prompt me with how to even speak to my spouse,
- 7:29S2: my children, my grandchildren, the guy at the dry cleaner.
- 7:34S2: Why do I mention that all the time, I don't know.
- 7:36S2: I run in the same couple every time I'm there.
- 7:39S2: They own this place and I have great conversations with them,
- 7:43S2: but every conversation is an Opportunity. So then you got
- 7:50S2: to ask the question. This is probably your this is
- 7:51S2: probably more in your wheelhouse. Why don't I say what
- 7:55S2: I could say? Right?
- 7:56S6: Absolutely. You kind of want to kick yourself afterwards and
- 7:58S6: you're thinking the prompting and it's like the Holy Spirit's going, um, hello?
- 8:02S3: Hello?
- 8:03S6: You didn't show up there. What's going on here? Um,
- 8:06S6: but yeah, but don't let it, like, drop you back
- 8:10S6: five paces again, okay? You missed it. Learn. Move forward
- 8:14S6: with that. Be more attuned next time. Don't let it
- 8:17S6: make you fall backwards on that.
- 8:18S3: Yeah.
- 8:19S2: Yeah. Have you ever missed an opportunity to encourage someone
- 8:22S2: where somebody did something or they or, or to console
- 8:25S2: someone and you walk away going. All I had to
- 8:30S2: do was put an arm around that shoulder and say,
- 8:33S2: you know, let's pray right now. Yeah, that's all I
- 8:35S2: had to do.
- 8:36S5: And for some reason we don't.
- 8:38S2: But super dives, right? You can kick yourself in the
- 8:41S2: teeth yourself. You can reach that big old foot up
- 8:43S2: there and bam, bam, bam, kick yourself in your own teeth.
- 8:47S2: And it's like, no, we just learn and assess, adjust,
- 8:53S2: go forward, and we get a shot at that opportunity.
- 8:57S2: Usually it's right around the corner. You get another shot,
- 9:00S2: an opportunity like that, and God shows us, yep, you
- 9:03S2: can trust the Holy Spirit. You can trust the spirit.
- 9:07S2: The father says it's to your advantage and you can
- 9:12S2: keep walking. Oh, big general question today, what is your big,
- 9:18S2: bold next step with Jesus? What is that? I just
- 9:21S2: want you to think about that. What is that big,
- 9:23S2: bold next step? What is that discipleship move that you're
- 9:27S2: making with your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ? I don't know,
- 9:33S2: let me think about this one for a second here.
- 9:36S2: I don't I don't believe that God will necessarily give
- 9:42S2: you something new every day. That's a new step. But
- 9:47S2: at minimum, it's a reaffirmation of a step that he
- 9:51S2: called you to take a day ago or a week
- 9:53S2: ago or something like that. So it's either a new
- 9:56S2: step of faith walking with Jesus, or it's a reaffirmation
- 10:00S2: of something that he showed you a week, a month
- 10:02S2: ago or something like that. And you're just boom, boom, boom, boom,
- 10:06S2: you're carving that path. You're walking the road less traveled.
- 10:09S2: Pretty cool stuff. I don't know what it is for
- 10:11S2: you today, guys, but on this Freedom Friday, we are
- 10:15S2: no fool to keep in step with Jesus. Man, that's
- 10:20S2: the wheelhouse. And then he'll guide us. What to say,
- 10:24S2: what not to say. How to move.
- 10:29S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
- 10:33S1: You're listening to Cast and Crew.
- 10:35S2: It's cast and crew here on this Freedom Friday. Let's
- 10:38S2: keep in step with God. And one of those ways
- 10:40S2: that we do that is we begin to look outside ourselves.
- 10:46S2: One of the greatest ways to keep in step with
- 10:48S2: God and to be a follower of Jesus. If you
- 10:52S2: notice the life of Jesus, he was always looking for
- 10:56S2: opportunities to minister to people. Now, he didn't exhaust himself
- 11:00S2: on that hill, but he looked for opportunities. One of
- 11:03S2: the greatest things we can do is in this, especially
- 11:06S2: in this digital age, get all the information we can
- 11:09S2: glean so that we can know how to pray for
- 11:11S2: people that are in harm's way. Getting a Iran update
- 11:16S2: coming up here, man, it is dicey in the Middle East.
- 11:19S2: My goodness, they want peace, but they're lobbing drones everywhere,
- 11:22S2: for crying out loud. So what's going on with the
- 11:26S2: church in Iran? Hang on.
- 11:28S1: Take your next step with Jesus. Today you're listening to
- 11:32S1: Carl and Crew.
- 11:34S2: The stakes in Iran are way higher than uranium dust.
- 11:40S2: Way higher than oil through the Strait of Hormuz, and
- 11:44S2: one of the biggest ones is near and dear to
- 11:47S2: our heart. Every one of you listening, you just get
- 11:51S2: sickened by child sex slavery. Now, I don't think I'm
- 11:56S2: making a reach here at all. But for 40 plus
- 11:59S2: years since the Shah was deposed in Iran, the age
- 12:03S2: of consent for marrying has dropped from 18 years old
- 12:07S2: down to nine years old. Now, their ruling is that
- 12:12S2: somehow it needs the consent of a guardian or a father.
- 12:15S2: But what they're doing is in poverty. Bless their hearts, man,
- 12:18S2: I get it. But they're selling these children, in essence,
- 12:23S2: to men. These girls. Lana, I think one of the
- 12:28S2: greatest reasons that we need regime change is not just
- 12:32S2: for persecution, but for the lives of little ones. I'm
- 12:35S2: not reaching here, am I, sister?
- 12:37S8: No, you're not at all, Carl and I hate to
- 12:41S8: bring even worse statistics.
- 12:42S3: To.
- 12:43S8: You, but we have seen reports of children as young
- 12:45S8: as five being married. The legal age. Minimum age. For
- 12:50S8: a girl to be married without the consent of a
- 12:52S8: parent is 12. But there is no legal minimum if
- 12:54S8: the parent consents.
- 12:56S2: Ooh. Hold it. So they don't even need parental consent.
- 12:59S2: 12 on and I had heard the number was nine
- 13:03S2: with parental consent. But you're saying it's going younger than that.
- 13:06S2: I mean Lana. Lana silk. My guest right now, she's
- 13:09S2: president and chief executive officer of Transform Iran. I mean,
- 13:13S2: that's reason enough to pray and appeal for an overthrow
- 13:19S2: of this regime, isn't it, Lana?
- 13:21S8: Oh, yes. Carl. It's horrific. I mean, it really is
- 13:24S8: not an overstretch to say that the Iranian people are
- 13:27S8: traumatized people these days. You know, this is 90 million
- 13:31S8: people who are living with every kind of trauma you
- 13:34S8: can imagine. There's obviously the economic strain. But just in
- 13:37S8: every way. The human psyche, you know, the the control,
- 13:41S8: the repression, the silencing, the abuse. You know, there's I
- 13:45S8: don't know if I've told you before in our chats
- 13:47S8: about the legal system of Syria, the temporary marriage, if
- 13:51S8: I explained that to you.
- 13:52S3: Before.
- 13:52S2: Know, what is that all about?
- 13:54S8: Um, so in Islam, they, uh, you're not allowed. Well,
- 13:57S8: in Shiite Islam, in Iran, a man can only have
- 14:00S8: one woman. He can only have sex with one married woman. Okay.
- 14:04S8: But in this, uh, I think there are exceptions for
- 14:07S8: having multiple wives, but they have to be married, uh,
- 14:10S8: in order to get around that law. They have a
- 14:13S8: law that is called Syria, which is a temporary marriage.
- 14:16S8: So in that case, a man can take a female.
- 14:19S8: And I use that word deliberately because it could technically
- 14:22S8: even be a baby. They can take a female of
- 14:25S8: any age to an Islamic cleric and have a temporary
- 14:29S8: marriage blessed. And this temporary marriage could even be a
- 14:33S8: matter of hours. Or it could be days or weeks
- 14:36S8: or months. And of course, that is basically legalizing rape.
- 14:40S8: And it happens constantly. Women are victim victims of Syria
- 14:43S8: up and down the country. And many of the women
- 14:45S8: that we minister to were having to deal with the
- 14:47S8: aftermath of having experienced something like that.
- 14:50S2: Making me sick to my stomach. Lana. Oh. It's awful.
- 14:55S3: Mhm.
- 14:57S2: Okay, so what's going on here? I think it's important.
- 15:00S2: I don't know that we've gotten into the weeds of this.
- 15:02S2: So we got radical clerics and then we've got governmental officials.
- 15:07S2: It seems that the Republican Guard, radical clerics, almost have
- 15:12S2: more stroke in Iran right now than any of the
- 15:16S2: on TV presidents and those that are communicating on behalf
- 15:20S2: of the government. It seems like we're dealing with two
- 15:22S2: different heads of a monster here.
- 15:24S8: Yeah, that is true, though. In truth, the political arm
- 15:28S8: in Iran, the certainly the president has been more of
- 15:31S8: a puppet figure, um, in this regime, then the, you know,
- 15:36S8: the real power has been the clerics and the IRGC
- 15:40S8: certainly are a very powerful entity. The IRGC also has
- 15:43S8: businesses all around the country that have economic interests. Some
- 15:46S8: estimate even a third of Iran's economy is controlled by them.
- 15:50S8: So they are certainly one of the most, if not
- 15:52S8: the most powerful entity in Iran today.
- 15:56S2: Where is this going to go? I feel like the
- 15:58S2: current regime is probably sabotaging themselves here by lobbing drones
- 16:03S2: into the UAE and what are supposed to be their allies.
- 16:08S2: I don't know what's going to happen here these next
- 16:10S2: few days and weeks. This is it, isn't it? Lana.
- 16:13S8: I really hope so, Carl. I mean, what we don't
- 16:15S8: want to see is months and heaven forbid, years of
- 16:19S8: drawn out struggle like this. I don't know how long
- 16:21S8: the people trapped within the country of Iran are going
- 16:25S8: to be able to survive that kind of prolonged suffering. Uh,
- 16:29S8: but yes, I mean, what the way it looks to
- 16:31S8: me is an increasingly angry, wounded enemy, lashing out, making
- 16:37S8: irrational decisions and acting out in fear and in anger. Uh,
- 16:41S8: so they are certainly isolating themselves across the Middle East.
- 16:45S8: They they were never the most popular in the Middle
- 16:48S8: East to start with because of the Sunni Shiite divide.
- 16:51S8: But these last few months have really seen them increasingly isolated.
- 16:55S8: And they're going to be more and more volatile as
- 16:58S8: time goes by until they can be. Um, I don't
- 17:01S8: want to say put down. That's the only word coming
- 17:03S8: to my head.
- 17:03S3: Yeah. No, I'm with you.
- 17:04S8: You know, put in their place.
- 17:06S2: Yeah. Put down is a good, good term. Yeah. Uh,
- 17:10S2: Lana Silk, my guest right now, president and CEO of
- 17:13S2: Transform Iran, by the way, you're trilingual. Are you English?
- 17:17S2: Farsi and I'm guessing Arabic or is it something else?
- 17:20S8: Armenian.
- 17:21S3: Armenian.
- 17:22S8: Armenian. It's an ethnic minority. Yes. Iran? Yes.
- 17:25S2: So you're communicating in, uh, heart language as much as
- 17:29S2: you can. Have you had much communication? Do you have
- 17:31S2: any pipeline to know what's going on with this brother?
- 17:35S2: Our dear brothers and sisters. That number in the millions,
- 17:39S2: I guess. Now in Iran. What's going on?
- 17:41S8: Yes, we have been getting updates, Carl. You know, it
- 17:44S8: is so awe inspiring the way the Iranian believers continue
- 17:49S8: in faith, in hope, in courage. I really marvel it's
- 17:54S8: a testament to the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit
- 17:58S8: and what happens in our lives when we really do
- 18:00S8: put Jesus first and and rely on him as the
- 18:04S8: source of our joy and our hope and our peace,
- 18:06S8: because then that's unshakable. And that's what's been happening in Iran.
- 18:10S8: As I'm hearing the testimonies, people are traveling, our pastors
- 18:13S8: are traveling to minister to those who are isolated because
- 18:17S8: of these internet crackdowns. There have been multiple weeks where
- 18:20S8: certain believers have been completely cut off from their support network.
- 18:24S8: And so our pastors have decided to go and visit
- 18:27S8: with them. And this is, of course, a great risk.
- 18:29S8: And the testing is coming through. There was this one
- 18:32S8: lady not so long ago who had been really isolated, struggling,
- 18:37S8: and her prayer had been that maybe one day a
- 18:39S8: Christian would visit her in her home. And, you know,
- 18:41S8: this is an outlandish prayer for her. And then soon after,
- 18:45S8: she has this pastor visiting, totally overwhelmed. And they bring aid.
- 18:49S8: We send them funds from the support that our generous
- 18:52S8: partners give us. So they were able to take aid
- 18:55S8: to this family as well, who've been struggling to feed
- 18:57S8: their kids and just a wonderful time of ministry. But
- 19:01S8: the beautiful extra that came out of it was her husband,
- 19:04S8: who had been close to the gospel for some time,
- 19:06S8: finally had that moment where he really saw the love
- 19:09S8: of Jesus in action and chose to follow Christ. So
- 19:12S8: we're seeing some cool, some cool things happening because the
- 19:15S8: Christians are not being silenced.
- 19:17S2: That is so beautiful. Are Christians? Are. Are they? Is
- 19:23S2: it is it? I know everyone, they're under inflation over there.
- 19:26S2: Everyone's paying the price right now, but are Christians less
- 19:30S2: able to be gainfully employed because of where they stand
- 19:34S2: with Christ, or how does that work?
- 19:37S8: There is an element of that, but I don't think
- 19:40S8: the current circumstances have made it worse. Um, there's always
- 19:44S8: a risk if you knowingly employ a Christian, and if
- 19:47S8: the government knows that someone is a Christian, they make
- 19:49S8: it harder for them to get employment through multiple other
- 19:52S8: means as well. But that's been ongoing for years and
- 19:55S8: decades in the current circumstances. If anything, there's a little
- 19:59S8: bit more solidarity amongst the people. So I don't think
- 20:02S8: people would be, um, you know, regular employers would be
- 20:06S8: taking note of someone's faith as much as the fact
- 20:08S8: that they're all in this together against this awful regime.
- 20:11S3: Yeah.
- 20:12S2: Lana. Lana, we're with you, sister. We're with you here.
- 20:15S2: And and we've got a lot of great people in
- 20:18S2: what we call the boom crew. And we got people
- 20:21S2: that pray and this these prayers. Listen, let's let's keep
- 20:25S2: knocking on heaven's door here, guys. I'm I'm reminded in
- 20:29S2: second Kings seven that things looked utterly dire in the
- 20:32S2: city of Samaria. And in 24 hours, God turned the
- 20:38S2: entire economy and situation around 24 hours. What seemed absolutely impossible.
- 20:45S2: God did. And we need to pray believing boom crew,
- 20:49S2: I want you to be a part of this effort
- 20:51S2: if you can. If you feel prompted by God. Uh,
- 20:54S2: you know, what's great is that the Holy Spirit will
- 20:56S2: guide and direct, but you might have boom, a little
- 20:58S2: prompting from the spirit right now. That's like, let's go
- 21:01S2: just text the word transform. You heard the word, uh,
- 21:05S2: you partner up with transform Iran and you can be
- 21:09S2: a part of helping even feed our brothers and sisters, pastors,
- 21:13S2: leaders that are in harm's way and really need to
- 21:16S2: keep the gospel cooking in Iran right now. And what
- 21:20S2: an opportunity. What an open door text. Transform to 805 557898.
- 21:27S2: Transform to 805 557898. Go to that website. You'll find
- 21:34S2: prayer prompts as well. Guys. Godspeed.
- 21:37S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
- 21:41S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
- 21:45S1: Moody radio.
- 21:46S2: All right, guys. Uh, what a sobering conversation with Lana Silk.
- 21:54S5: Yeah. No kidding.
- 21:55S2: Oh my goodness. You hear stuff like that and it's like,
- 21:58S2: you gotta be kidding me, man. I mean, it's reason
- 22:01S2: enough for regime change. So we sex slavery is. I mean,
- 22:07S2: I went to India, remember when I went to Mumbai
- 22:10S2: and went over there for the purpose of seeing these
- 22:14S2: brothels and getting these girls rescued from that situation, girls
- 22:18S2: and women. But so these pimps in this brothel in Mumbai.
- 22:24S2: They keep these girls either drugged up or liquored up
- 22:30S2: and get them addicted. But what's worse is they get
- 22:34S2: them paying for their little cubicle that they're that they
- 22:38S2: call home, but it's where they have to do their
- 22:40S2: work whenever they're demanded to do their work. And they
- 22:46S2: get so indebted to these pimps that you can't get
- 22:48S2: out of this thing unless somebody. Yeah, you can't get out.
- 22:52S2: And it's, it's, it's so I mean, sickening isn't even
- 22:56S2: a good word, right? I mean.
- 22:59S5: I don't think there is a word good enough to
- 23:01S5: describe it.
- 23:01S3: But.
- 23:02S2: I mean, I guess the best word is godless.
- 23:04S5: Yeah.
- 23:05S2: There's no compass whatsoever left in these guys. Yeah. And
- 23:09S2: and it's so heartbreaking. And and the question is, can
- 23:13S2: we all get desensitized to areas in our life that
- 23:17S2: are anything but godly? And the fact is, yeah, but
- 23:22S2: we need to keep our eyes wide open and our
- 23:25S2: spirits sensitive to what in the world is going on
- 23:27S2: in this world and just in Iran. And by the way,
- 23:30S2: I did a search on this. This is not the
- 23:32S2: only country that marries off nine year olds or does
- 23:37S2: this thing that they somehow justify.
- 23:39S5: Goodness gracious.
- 23:39S2: No, it's there's multiple countries that do this. But one
- 23:46S2: of the greatest reasons for regime change is, look, I'm
- 23:50S2: sure the Shah of Iran was a knucklehead and he
- 23:53S2: was probably looting the treasury, like left and right. And
- 23:56S2: he had French Riviera palaces and all that, because all
- 24:00S2: these guys do all these all these guys, they've all
- 24:03S2: got French Riviera palaces.
- 24:05S3: Yep.
- 24:06S2: It's just crazy.
- 24:07S5: Well, the rest of the country starts.
- 24:08S2: Yeah, well, the rest of the country is starving, but there,
- 24:13S2: there is a case for lesser of two evils. And
- 24:16S2: give me the Shah that married off girls at 18
- 24:20S2: and below it you were. You were called a rapist.
- 24:22S2: You know what I'm saying?
- 24:23S5: 100%.
- 24:25S2: You were classified as a rapist. It's hard to even
- 24:27S2: say these words on air. I mean, so there's a
- 24:32S2: bunch of Christ followers in Iran, and they're going for it.
- 24:36S2: I mean, they're there. They're sharing their faith in what's
- 24:40S2: I the irony is that you would think that their
- 24:43S2: prayer would be, could somebody get me sponsored to immigrate
- 24:47S2: to America? Right.
- 24:48S3: Give me.
- 24:48S6: Out. Give me out.
- 24:49S3: Yeah.
- 24:50S2: Yeah. Could somebody get me out of here? Nope. I've
- 24:52S2: never heard that from any of these interviews. They're like, now, man,
- 24:55S2: would you would you pray that God would give us
- 24:58S2: spiritual fortitude to stand strong for Jesus? And, you know,
- 25:02S2: have you ever in your mind, tried to put yourself
- 25:04S2: in that situation so that you can empathize even more?
- 25:08S2: Kind of, I don't know, maybe you're not like me,
- 25:10S2: but I'll visually put myself like, okay, I'm there. I'm
- 25:13S2: in that. Can you see it? You can't do it.
- 25:17S5: No, we don't have a concept of it.
- 25:19S3: No, you you.
- 25:20S2: Can't you can't put yourself in that thing.
- 25:23S3: Mhm.
- 25:25S2: But we can we can just think about it long
- 25:31S2: and hard enough to imagine a little girl. You get
- 25:36S2: a little girl in your mind's eye and let's just
- 25:40S2: say she's 11. She's got no ability to. Choose the
- 25:48S2: destiny of her life. On that day, he got a
- 25:53S2: little 11 year old girl. And the best way to
- 25:56S2: understand this? Just look at a little 11 year old
- 25:59S2: girl here stateside. Just think of a girl that's, you know, ten, 11,
- 26:03S2: 12 that age. And then no choice of her own.
- 26:08S2: She's handed over to someone or taken. Yeah.
- 26:20S5: Come, Jesus.
- 26:21S3: Come.
- 26:21S2: Yeah, man.
- 26:23S3: Yep.
- 26:26S2: Got a question for you today. Because you know what?
- 26:29S2: Stories like this can be a catalyst for us to say.
- 26:32S2: I am no longer going to rest on the laurels
- 26:36S2: of my great salvation. I am pursuing sanctification with Jesus.
- 26:45S2: I'm sorry. Super. I got you crying in there. I'm sorry.
- 26:49S3: Kiddo.
- 26:49S9: No, don't be sorry. Don't be sorry.
- 26:55S2: When we get back, we're going to talk about how
- 26:59S2: this can motivate our discipleship of Christ, how this can
- 27:03S2: really catalyze our forward movement with Jesus.
- 27:09S1: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and crew.
- 27:13S2: It's Carl and crew here. You know, you get off this.
- 27:18S2: We've had a sobering morning here talking with Lorna Silk.
- 27:21S2: No way around it. It's just tough. And you look
- 27:26S2: at that and you go, man, what can I do?
- 27:28S2: I mean, you can use resources to help where you can.
- 27:32S2: That's for sure. But one of the most low hanging
- 27:37S2: fruit opportunities we have is to be a disciple of Jesus.
- 27:42S3: Yeah.
- 27:43S2: And not squander the grace that has been given you today.
- 27:48S2: But to take a next step and let's go be
- 27:51S2: disciples of Jesus Christ, man.
- 27:53S5: Mhm.
- 27:54S2: I mean, let's go.
- 27:55S5: Yeah. I mean, take take these little girls, for instance,
- 28:00S5: since we've been talking about it, imagine processing this type
- 28:07S5: of reality with no Jesus.
- 28:11S3: Yeah.
- 28:12S5: We have an opportunity to share Jesus with people who
- 28:15S5: are hurting, with people who are going through the most
- 28:17S5: unimaginable things.
- 28:20S2: That's gone through.
- 28:21S5: Or gone through and and now are left with the rubble.
- 28:26S5: Let's give him Jesus. He's the only one who can
- 28:28S5: fix anything.
- 28:29S2: Yeah, it's for real. It's for real. So I just
- 28:33S2: want to ask you, practically. I'm not going to call
- 28:35S2: out your number or your. I can't see your name.
- 28:38S2: But what is the Spirit of God saying to you today?
- 28:43S2: And it's and I'm not talking about, oh, I'm going
- 28:46S2: to give to go help them. That might be. But
- 28:48S2: the vast majority of us. This is the call in
- 28:50S2: our life today, in light of this grace of God
- 28:54S2: that he's shown us, who works in us. There's one
- 28:57S2: who began it will carry it on to completion until
- 28:59S2: the day of Christ Jesus. We don't want to be
- 29:03S2: just saved as by fire. We want to be robustly
- 29:08S2: walking into the kingdom, hearing, well done, my good and
- 29:10S2: faithful servant. So what is that step of discipleship that
- 29:16S2: Jesus is telling you to take today? And it's so practical.
- 29:21S2: Let me tell you how practical it is. You want
- 29:22S2: a weird one? Here's a here's a wild one.
- 29:24S3: Go for it.
- 29:25S2: I have so I'm, I'm pastor here and I've got.
- 29:31S2: I don't even like to call myself lead pastor. I'm
- 29:33S2: probably the lead pastor. But we've got incredible staff around
- 29:37S2: us and pastors. But we got two campuses here in Chicago.
- 29:41S2: And you know what? The Lord spoke to me. It's
- 29:43S2: so cool. And I've done this in the past. But,
- 29:47S2: you know, we sometimes put our worship sets at the
- 29:49S2: front edge of the, of the service, right?
- 29:52S3: Yeah.
- 29:53S2: So people come in and that's awesome. By the way,
- 29:55S2: no knock on anything here. You just this is what
- 29:58S2: the Lord's doing in me. And and you come in
- 30:01S2: and man, you're going and it's awesome. And you break
- 30:04S2: open the word and then God, by his spirit brings
- 30:08S2: unction into those words. And God's people, many of whom
- 30:13S2: are just sensitive to the Spirit's leading and get changed.
- 30:16S2: Or something happens in their life and it's beautiful. But
- 30:21S2: I was introduced to this by a young man a
- 30:23S2: number of years ago, and he called it revelation and response.
- 30:26S2: And I'm like, tell me about that. And he was like,
- 30:29S2: you know, Karl, what if we back loaded all of
- 30:32S2: our worship so that people who heard the truth could
- 30:38S2: hear the truth, and then spend enough time worshiping that
- 30:41S2: truth into them. So let's put worship sets at the
- 30:45S2: back end of the service.
- 30:46S5: I like that.
- 30:47S2: Well, we're doing that starting this week on both of
- 30:50S2: our campuses. So by the way, if you're in Chicago
- 30:52S2: and you happen to go to 180 Chicago, you're going
- 30:54S2: to get a surprise this weekend because here's what you're
- 30:56S2: going to see. You don't want to be late because
- 30:58S2: we're going to be cracking open the Word of God
- 31:00S2: after one worship song.
- 31:01S3: There you go.
- 31:02S2: What? We're going to come in, have a big rousing
- 31:05S2: call to worship, and then we're going to bust open
- 31:07S2: the Word of God, and then we're going to linger
- 31:10S2: with the Lord. Revelation, response. That's kind of cool, huh?
- 31:14S3: I love it. I like.
- 31:15S2: That. But that's my keeping step with the Lord from
- 31:18S2: that area of my life. And I don't know what
- 31:23S2: Jesus is calling you to do, but I'm just curious.
- 31:26S2: What's what's the Holy Spirit calling you to do to
- 31:29S2: keep in step with the Lord today? This can be
- 31:31S2: anything from cleaning out a closet to reorganizing worship sets,
- 31:37S2: to getting out of a partnership, to opening the Word
- 31:41S2: of God again. I mean, it can be anything. What's
- 31:44S2: the Spirit of God saying to you right now? What's
- 31:47S2: he saying to you? Wow. What a what a fun
- 31:52S2: question because he's speaking 800 555, 78, 98. What's he
- 31:59S2: saying to you? Never texted us before. Be bold. What's
- 32:02S2: he saying to you? I won't know who you are.
- 32:04S2: You can remain totally. You will remain totally anonymous. 805 557898.
- 32:12S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
- 32:15S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
- 32:20S2: Got a few spreads. We don't have a lot more
- 32:22S2: of these in here right now. A lot of you
- 32:23S2: may be thinking about it. Not thumbing it into a
- 32:26S2: text might take too long, but that's cool. But I'm
- 32:29S2: very thankful for seeing how diverse the responses are here.
- 32:34S2: The question I had for you is simply, what is
- 32:36S2: God calling you? To do in obedience to what the
- 32:44S2: Spirit of God has prompting you to do as a
- 32:46S2: disciple of Christ? What is. What are the steps God's
- 32:48S2: calling you to take? And they can be so varied
- 32:52S2: I love this. I'm 76 and just returned from my
- 32:54S2: fourth mission trip to Uganda since retirement. God is asking
- 32:59S2: me to take better care of my body so that
- 33:02S2: I can continue doing his will to the fullest. It's beautiful.
- 33:06S3: Guys.
- 33:07S5: That's a big deal.
- 33:08S3: That's.
- 33:08S6: That's beautiful.
- 33:10S2: What do you say? 805. Five. Five. 78. 98. I'm
- 33:14S2: being called to disciple my 24 year old son as
- 33:17S2: he is discipled doing this. Live here. Oh, he just
- 33:21S2: recently caught fire for Jesus. That's awesome. Uh, he's daily
- 33:26S2: in the word. He's in the word daily. And all
- 33:29S2: of a sudden, it's just happening. I couldn't be happier.
- 33:32S2: That's tremendous.
- 33:33S3: I love that.
- 33:34S2: Investing in that kid is beautiful. God is telling me
- 33:37S2: to clean my windshield. And by the way, that's a metaphor.
- 33:40S2: So that's great, I get it. You got to see
- 33:42S2: more clearly what's out in front of you. God is
- 33:44S2: telling me to get into the secret space and spend
- 33:47S2: more time in his presence. Beautiful God saying, stay on course.
- 33:52S2: That's great.
- 33:54S5: Sometimes we feel like we want to jump ship on
- 33:56S5: something and God says, no, I want you to stick
- 33:58S5: with it a little longer.
- 33:59S2: Oh, this one came in. The Holy Spirit is calling
- 34:02S2: me to repent and serve.
- 34:04S3: Amen. Wow.
- 34:05S2: Way to go. So what's what is your discipleship move?
- 34:09S2: That the Spirit of God is clearly and it's totally
- 34:11S2: aligned with Scripture. It's not some new revelation. What is
- 34:14S2: he calling you? What is he calling you to do?
- 34:19S2: What is he calling you to do? (800) 555-7898. Just text
- 34:24S2: them in if you get a chance. Here. What do
- 34:25S2: you got, young Thunder?
- 34:26S5: This is something that's new for me. I've never really
- 34:28S5: done it before, but it's God's been calling me to
- 34:31S5: power stuff down at 30 minutes before bed and spend
- 34:34S5: time with him and, and focus that time for him.
- 34:39S5: You know, power my brain down from the screens, from
- 34:41S5: the technology, all that stuff.
- 34:43S3: That's a big deal.
- 34:44S5: It is a big deal for me. It's not something
- 34:46S5: I'm used to doing, but, uh, I, I tried it
- 34:49S5: last night and I slept better. I slept fuller, uh,
- 34:53S5: because I wasn't, I wasn't staring at my phone for
- 34:55S5: a straight half hour before I went to sleep. And,
- 34:58S5: and I got time with Jesus. And that made me happy.
- 35:01S2: Holy spirit melatonin right there.
- 35:03S3: That's right.
- 35:04S2: Now, there's a lot of truth in that man. Holy
- 35:08S2: Spirit's given me specific people. Oh, to give a resource
- 35:12S2: to that's going to help them get victory over sin.
- 35:15S2: That's really cool. It's really cool. I don't know what
- 35:20S2: the Holy Spirit is calling you. The Holy Spirit's going
- 35:23S2: to convict, direct comfort guide. But the Holy Spirit will
- 35:30S2: guide you into being a more robust follower of Jesus. Why?
- 35:37S2: So you give up something. Notice that you take hold
- 35:39S2: of so much more. Now we're getting a lot of
- 35:41S2: feedback in. I won't be able to cover them all,
- 35:43S2: but just thumbing it in can be super illuminating and
- 35:49S2: just liberating for you. So do it today. Walk in
- 35:53S2: the power of the spirit.
- 35:56S1: Standing on the rock each and every day. You're listening
- 36:00S1: to Carl and crew.
- 36:02S2: Well, the plan was, I'm going to go to Lebanon
- 36:04S2: and I'm fired up. And I still wanted to go.
- 36:07S2: As a matter of fact, probably inclined to go right now,
- 36:10S2: but it's not the safest time to be there. Stefano
- 36:13S2: Fehr is with me right now. And I love this man.
- 36:16S2: President of call of Hope Ministry among Muslims. For over
- 36:20S2: 120 years, they've been doing it. But boy, they got
- 36:23S2: a good humble servant at the helm. Stefano has done
- 36:25S2: this now, for how many years you've been at the
- 36:27S2: helm there, my man?
- 36:29S10: Well, full time. I do this now, since 26 years.
- 36:32S2: Wow, 26 years. You haven't lost that fire in your
- 36:36S2: belly for this at all?
- 36:38S10: No, I mean, it's because the Lord is stirring that
- 36:42S10: up in my heart. You know, this is it and
- 36:44S10: it's getting more and more.
- 36:46S2: It's beautiful. You know, I want to get to Lebanon
- 36:49S2: so badly, I really do. Stefano. And we were getting
- 36:54S2: at that point. Yeah, we need to go. We didn't
- 36:56S2: get a ticket yet. And then, boom, here we go again.
- 36:59S2: Lebanon's a powder keg. It still is. I'm seeing I'm
- 37:03S2: watching a lot of reports and a lot of people
- 37:05S2: don't see. But Beirut, there's been bombs going off there. Uh,
- 37:09S2: we know that in other regions of Lebanon, Israel's had
- 37:12S2: incursions in trying to take out Hezbollah, correct?
- 37:17S10: Absolutely. Yes.
- 37:18S2: Okay. What's going on geopolitically? Do you think this is
- 37:21S2: going to calm down anytime soon? Do you have any
- 37:24S2: insider information or. No?
- 37:26S10: It's a very fluid situation. You know, this can change
- 37:29S10: every hour. Uh, yesterday evening, I was talking to some
- 37:33S10: people in Lebanon and nobody knows. I mean, we are
- 37:36S10: talking about the ceasefire, but maybe you heard just now
- 37:40S10: Hezbollah said, no, we are out of the ceasefire. We
- 37:43S10: don't care. I feel that during the next few days
- 37:47S10: it's going to be worse. This is what I think. Yeah.
- 37:52S10: What do I think? Doesn't matter. You never know. you know.
- 37:55S10: And next hour, things can be different. But Hezbollah has
- 38:01S10: just this country now under control somehow. The people don't
- 38:05S10: want it. The Lebanese are against it, the majority. But
- 38:10S10: they are taking this country hostage. And, um, it is
- 38:15S10: so bad for the normal people on the road.
- 38:18S3: Yeah.
- 38:18S2: It's so hard. How many Christ followers are in Lebanon?
- 38:23S2: Is it? Where are we talking? A half of 1%.
- 38:26S2: What are we? Or even less than that. Do we
- 38:28S2: have any idea?
- 38:29S10: See, that's really hard to say. Lebanon was a Christian country.
- 38:33S10: Not not long ago, maybe 40 years. And now they
- 38:38S10: are in a minority situation where maybe 30% belong to
- 38:42S10: a Christian church. Of course, that doesn't mean Christ followers.
- 38:45S10: Right around 30%. And maybe evangelicals out of this three 4%. Okay,
- 38:54S10: so that's pretty high. Yeah, but lower than one of
- 38:58S10: the whole people of Lebanon would be Christ followers. But
- 39:01S10: still they are there and they are a testimony. And yeah.
- 39:05S2: Does their freedom in Christ get the ire of the Hezbollah?
- 39:09S10: Yes. You know, the problem is you can live as
- 39:13S10: a Christian in Lebanon without any big issues, as long
- 39:18S10: as you don't share your faith with Muslims. Okay. The
- 39:22S10: moment you do, of course, is police after you. And
- 39:26S10: I mean, there are also other Sunni groups. The moment
- 39:28S10: you share your faith, you are in danger. Very clearly.
- 39:33S2: What's happening in these refugee camps I know that you've
- 39:36S2: got from bread baking. That's one of the most touching
- 39:40S2: stories going to just outright evangelism going on. How are
- 39:45S2: these refugee camps different than Beirut proper.
- 39:50S10: You know, refugee camps. Some of them are just tented camps,
- 39:55S10: as we know from television news. Others are that people
- 39:59S10: just live in a room, that people live in a flat.
- 40:02S10: I know of rooms which contain more than 25 refugees.
- 40:08S10: You know, we talk about a regular room and 25
- 40:11S10: people live there. The issue is that at the moment,
- 40:15S10: out of this 5 million Lebanese, around 1 million are
- 40:19S10: on the run from the south, from the north, from
- 40:22S10: the west, and most of them are in the Bekaa Valley,
- 40:26S10: where we also work. So. So just think about everywhere
- 40:30S10: there are these refugees. They are in the camps. They
- 40:33S10: are on the road. They are in the parks. They
- 40:35S10: are everywhere.
- 40:36S2: How receptive are these refugees to the gospel of Jesus
- 40:40S2: Christ today?
- 40:42S10: Many of them are receptive when they understand that we
- 40:47S10: show them the love of Christ. It's not that you
- 40:51S10: go there and tell them, hey, I need to tell
- 40:53S10: you about Jesus. You go there and you say, hey,
- 40:55S10: I care about you. And, uh, we really want to
- 40:58S10: help you. And hey, here is some bread and here
- 41:01S10: is some whatever. And then they will look at you
- 41:03S10: and say, you're a Christian, right? Yes. Why do you
- 41:06S10: help us? We are Muslims. We hate you. Why? Well,
- 41:09S10: you are in the middle of an evangelistic conversation and
- 41:13S10: and you share. And then many of them are extremely
- 41:17S10: open because they see this is different to Islam and
- 41:21S10: Islam at the moment. They just see violence. You know,
- 41:24S10: this is what they see Hezbollah and ISIS and other
- 41:27S10: groups violence. And now these Christians come and they show love.
- 41:31S10: They do not only talk about it, Muslims might also
- 41:34S10: talk about it, but they don't show it. But the Christians,
- 41:38S10: they feel the love of the Christians. So that makes
- 41:41S10: the difference. And then they are so open. I mean, Carl,
- 41:46S10: until today, just one of our coworkers was able this
- 41:51S10: year to baptize more than 30 Muslim background believers refugees
- 41:58S10: until now, beginning of June. The Lord is really at work.
- 42:02S3: Yeah.
- 42:03S2: Tell us about this bakery.
- 42:05S10: Yeah, the bakery is a wonderful project. Um, blind kids
- 42:11S10: learn how to bake bread. They are there in the morning.
- 42:15S10: They bake bread. By the way, during all this wartime,
- 42:19S10: this bakery was open. Our school was opened. The kids come,
- 42:23S10: they bake bread and then they go out and they
- 42:27S10: distribute the bread. You know, some time ago, a guy
- 42:32S10: came to our bakery. His name is Hassan and Hassan,
- 42:38S10: 11 years old. His father is a Hezbollah commander. So
- 42:43S10: you might ask yourself, why on earth would they take
- 42:46S10: this guy to a Christian school and bakery. Well, uh,
- 42:51S10: Hassan lost his eyesight. Maybe you remember the thing where Israel, uh,
- 42:59S10: sent some pages into Hezbollah commander's hands. And Hassan had
- 43:05S10: it in his hand when it exploded. And he is
- 43:10S10: blind today. So the parents were totally desperate. What to
- 43:13S10: do with this kid? They sent him to Beirut, to
- 43:16S10: a school for the blind of Hezbollah. And he was
- 43:19S10: so unhappy there. He was so unhappy. So they thought,
- 43:22S10: what do we do? They heard about this Christian school,
- 43:25S10: our school. So the dad said, okay, for 2 or
- 43:29S10: 3 days he can come, you know, just just to
- 43:32S10: see how it is. When he came, our coworker Michel
- 43:35S10: asked Hassan. Hassan, would you like to learn how to
- 43:38S10: bake bread? And he said, hey, yes, I would like to.
- 43:42S10: So he learned how to bake bread At the third day,
- 43:46S10: his first baguette breads came out of the oven, and
- 43:51S10: in the afternoon his dad was scheduled to come. So
- 43:55S10: now Hassan told Michelle, hey, um, please don't talk to
- 44:01S10: my dad because when my dad knows I'm baking bread,
- 44:03S10: I don't I don't know, he's a Hezbollah guy. I
- 44:05S10: don't know what he thinks. Okay. The dad comes, Michelle
- 44:08S10: doesn't talk about it, but he gives Michelle a baguette
- 44:12S10: to try. And this guy takes it, eats it, and says, okay,
- 44:17S10: that's the best bread I ever had. Who is baking
- 44:21S10: these things? Then Hassan, his blind son, comes around the
- 44:26S10: corner and says, dad, I was doing it. I was
- 44:29S10: the one. I made this bread. Look, Hassan was so
- 44:33S10: thankful and happy, but the dad also his son, now
- 44:37S10: was able to produce something to do something. So he said, hey, listen,
- 44:42S10: if this is the case, then Hassan is free to
- 44:45S10: join the school and he can come every day. Hassan
- 44:49S10: sits now every day in our devotion and hears about Jesus.
- 44:53S10: I met this guy. Hassan very clearly gave his life
- 44:57S10: to Christ and and Hassan now is an ambassador for Jesus.
- 45:01S10: You know, at Palm Sunday, he was walking together with
- 45:06S10: Michelle and a group through this city. And they were
- 45:11S10: shouting for Jesus. They were singing for Jesus. And one
- 45:15S10: of the spectators on the road was Hassan's father. You know,
- 45:20S10: Hezbollah commander, seeing like his son is shouting, Jesus is Lord.
- 45:26S10: I mean, these are stories only the Lord can do.
- 45:30S2: That's so overwhelming, Stefano. That is so overwhelming. That is
- 45:35S2: the power of a changed life.
- 45:37S10: Yes, absolutely. Yes.
- 45:39S2: My goodness. In just a minute. I feel prompted to
- 45:43S2: do something that we don't often do here, but I'm
- 45:45S2: going to do it because you, the boom crew, are
- 45:47S2: going to go, let's expand that bakery. Oh my goodness.
- 45:51S2: How many kids are serving at the bakery right now?
- 45:54S10: Around 25.
- 45:56S2: 25 kids. You know, I was actually I'm so glad
- 45:59S2: I saw a video of this thing because I was thinking,
- 46:02S2: oh my goodness, you got blind kids. You're asking them
- 46:04S2: to bake bread. We got ovens. We got all this
- 46:06S2: stuff there. They're like machines. They know exactly what they're
- 46:10S2: doing in every phase of baking that bread. Stefano.
- 46:13S10: Absolutely. And you see, there are also other guys with
- 46:18S10: some other disabilities they see, but they have other disabilities.
- 46:22S10: So the guys who see can tell the blind people
- 46:27S10: who can operate the machines what to do. It's just
- 46:31S10: really something when I'm there and I see how they
- 46:35S10: do it, it's crazy, but it works. And we got
- 46:38S10: the machines from Italy. We had a German master baker
- 46:41S10: there for some time who really showed them how to
- 46:43S10: do it. And I tell you, when you are there,
- 46:46S10: one day you will enjoy and love the croissants and
- 46:50S10: the baguettes for sure.
- 46:51S2: I got to get there. I've got to get there.
- 46:54S2: So the minute we have a lull in the danger
- 46:57S2: zone there, could you please. I got to get there. Okay.
- 47:00S10: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely.
- 47:03S2: Okay. Uh. My goodness. Real quick question on discipleship. How
- 47:07S2: do you disciple these kids and these adults in these
- 47:11S2: refugee camps, whether it's tented areas or in flats or Hassan,
- 47:17S2: what's the strategy for discipleship? What can we learn here stateside?
- 47:21S10: You know, for the kids, it's pretty easy because as
- 47:24S10: I said, we have a daily devotion. So they hear
- 47:28S10: about Jesus, they sing, they are discipled on a daily basis.
- 47:33S10: And I was there last November when I talked to them.
- 47:37S10: You feel how much they trust Jesus. And every time
- 47:40S10: I come there, they trust Jesus more because they are
- 47:44S10: really discipled for the adults. We take them out in groups.
- 47:50S10: We have men groups. We have female groups. Our other coworker,
- 47:55S10: Pastor Tumor, he runs a church now, all Muslim background believers.
- 48:02S10: You know, it's hard to tell you this sentence, but
- 48:06S10: Pastor Tumor, he disciples these people and then he says
- 48:12S10: a sentence. This is hard for us in the West.
- 48:14S10: But he says, in our church there is no place
- 48:18S10: for lazy believers. Wow. Okay. But he says the moment
- 48:23S10: they actually become Christians, they are also missionaries. So it's
- 48:29S10: not only that they come to church. He has theological classes. Yes,
- 48:34S10: many of them come every week. They are really trained.
- 48:38S10: And when I sometimes preach in this church, sometimes you
- 48:42S10: feel you don't need a Bible. You tell them the
- 48:46S10: Bible reference and these guys know it by heart. I mean,
- 48:51S10: that never happens to me somewhere in the West, really.
- 48:53S10: When you are there and you preach, you have to
- 48:55S10: try it. They know it. They are discipled. You know,
- 49:00S10: every day we run a discipleship class or women's class
- 49:06S10: in this church, and it is a small building. Now
- 49:11S10: we need to expand it, build a new one. It's
- 49:13S10: a small building. It has space for, let's say, 110 people.
- 49:17S10: And regularly we have every day 250 there. I mean,
- 49:22S10: I always hope that no fire is breaking out, you know,
- 49:25S10: but the Lord is giving this hunger for His word
- 49:31S10: into the heart of this people, and they are discipled
- 49:35S10: on a daily basis.
- 49:37S3: Ah!
- 49:38S2: That's beautiful. Okay. Boom crew. Here's what I want to do.
- 49:40S2: You've heard the story about this bakery. You've heard about discipleship.
- 49:43S2: You know, lives are changing. I want you to know
- 49:47S2: that $25 and they didn't ask me to do this,
- 49:51S2: but $25 can fund half of a bakery scholarship for
- 49:56S2: one of these blind kids who is following Jesus and
- 50:00S2: is now a missionary. That's what's going on. 50 bucks
- 50:04S2: sponsors a student for a full six week curriculum. $200
- 50:10S2: blesses four bakery students with scholarships. Now this link I'm
- 50:15S2: going to give you is going to take you straight
- 50:17S2: to this page for this bakery. I want you to
- 50:20S2: read about it. It's not just a giving page right
- 50:23S2: up front. It's got the video of these kids doing
- 50:25S2: this thing. It's got the whole thing right there. You're
- 50:28S2: going to love this boom crew. And if God's Spirit
- 50:30S2: is prompting your heart, saying, this is return on investment.
- 50:34S2: It is text the word hope right now to 805 557898.
- 50:40S2: Hope to 805 5578, 98. Let's get behind these kids.
- 50:46S2: Let's do for the least of these what God is
- 50:50S2: calling us to do. No more, no less. Text hope
- 50:53S2: to 805 557898.
- 50:57S1: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
- 51:01S1: Carl and crew.
- 51:02S2: Okay, I've had something on my heart and, uh, I'm
- 51:05S2: actually working on a project. Your stories are going to
- 51:08S2: help me a lot here. Um, so here's the deal.
- 51:12S2: We talk about this a ton around here because it's
- 51:14S2: an epidemic. People that are raised in church but are
- 51:18S2: not in Christ for many years. And then all of
- 51:20S2: a sudden, bang, whoa. We've heard things like, I got
- 51:23S2: bad information. We had a guy named Ed, 77 years old,
- 51:27S2: was thought he had a relationship with Christ. I got
- 51:30S2: that in air quotes in 1977. And God called him
- 51:37S2: out of darkness and he said, I now know what
- 51:39S2: salvation is. I remember that morning when he. That was
- 51:42S2: probably months ago now, that editor texted in here. But
- 51:45S2: here's my question for you right now, and we're going
- 51:47S2: to need to get calls in here quickly because we
- 51:49S2: got a lot going on today. But if you are
- 51:51S2: that person that you were raised in church, but you
- 51:54S2: were not in Christ and you thought you were, you
- 51:56S2: had an illusion of salvation. You had a hallucination, you
- 52:01S2: saw something in yourself that wasn't there, and you found
- 52:03S2: out later, man, I was never born again, but I
- 52:06S2: am now. Give me a call right now. Really quick story.
- 52:10S2: Just want to get a couple of you in here
- 52:12S2: just as quick as you can get on that phone,
- 52:14S2: even if you've called before with this story. There's some
- 52:17S2: method to this madness here this morning, but I'm asking
- 52:20S2: you to just call in right now 800 555, 7898.
- 52:26S2: God uses these kind of stories to kind of catalyze
- 52:29S2: something in people, right, guys? I mean, that's.
- 52:32S3: What he uses. Absolutely. That's why.
- 52:35S2: Yeah. So if that's you, you had an illusion of salvation.
- 52:38S2: You were raised in the church, but you were not
- 52:40S2: in Christ or you had a lot of experience with
- 52:42S2: the church, but you were not in Christ. And then
- 52:45S2: you were. Give us a call (800) 555-7898.
- 52:50S1: She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her.
- 52:55S1: Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew
- 52:59S1: on Moody radio.
- 53:00S2: You know, that word belief is an interesting thing. Even
- 53:03S2: the demons believe and they tremble. But there's a belief
- 53:06S2: that says, I believe you. And we put our full
- 53:09S2: faith and trust every square inch of who we are
- 53:12S2: into the hands of Jesus Christ. This great illusion of
- 53:16S2: salvation spoken of in Matthew seven, Matthew 25, first Corinthians
- 53:21S2: it's warned of in some of the pastoral epistles. It's
- 53:25S2: warned over and over again. Be careful man, there's some
- 53:27S2: people that are twisting the gospel, and it can create
- 53:31S2: this grand illusion that I walked an aisle, I prayed
- 53:34S2: a prayer. I mean, no one was looking. I slipped
- 53:36S2: my hand up. But you weren't born again. And then
- 53:39S2: you found out, wow, I was never saved. I was
- 53:43S2: in church, but I was not in Christ. Taking your
- 53:45S2: stories right now 800 555, 78, 98. Andy in Greenfield, Indiana.
- 53:51S2: What do you say, my man? First time caller.
- 53:55S11: Hey. Um, so yeah, I, uh, grew up in the
- 53:58S11: church from a really young age. Mom taught Sunday school, uh,
- 54:02S11: kind of in my late teens, had emotional conversions surrounded
- 54:06S11: by friends and, you know, just a lot of kind
- 54:08S11: of persuasion. Um, and it wasn't really until my early
- 54:12S11: 20s where I was just on this journey to really
- 54:15S11: figure out what, what the gospel was, who Christ was.
- 54:19S11: And through just this kind of logical, thoughtful, purposeful journey,
- 54:26S11: I just, I just realized that I wasn't saved before,
- 54:30S11: but I knew that I was saved in because I
- 54:33S11: just really knew who Christ was and really knew what
- 54:35S11: the gospel meant.
- 54:36S2: Yeah. Yeah. It's an amazing thing when you realize, hold it.
- 54:40S2: This isn't about some emotional moment, which, by the way,
- 54:43S2: is one of the parable of the soils. It's the
- 54:46S2: second soil. It got all fired up and shoots up,
- 54:49S2: but there's no root in authentic connection with Jesus Christ.
- 54:54S3: And so, I.
- 54:54S2: Mean, it just tumbles. But Andy, that's so cool, man.
- 54:57S2: First time caller from Greenfield, Indiana. How old are you now? Andy?
- 55:02S11: I'm 39.
- 55:03S2: Way to go, bro. It's isn't it an awesome thing
- 55:06S2: because you're like me. You're like young thunder. You're like Ali,
- 55:10S2: you're like super. All of us had this. Well, we
- 55:13S2: thought we were squared with God. And then to realize,
- 55:16S2: oh my goodness, this is what the abundant life in
- 55:19S2: Christ really means. Isn't that cool, Andy?
- 55:23S11: Oh, yeah. No. It's amazing. It's absolutely amazing.
- 55:27S2: Way to go! Stay on the horn, Andy. Stay on
- 55:29S2: the horn. I'm going to get you a car and
- 55:30S2: crew prize pack. Don't leave my man Dennis in Lakeland, Florida.
- 55:34S2: What's your story? Story?
- 55:37S12: Okay. Good morning. First, I love you guys. You're the greatest. Um,
- 55:41S12: a long time ago. About 30 years ago, I thought
- 55:44S12: I came to Christ. And you know what? It was
- 55:47S12: an emotional connection. And then I fell away. But I
- 55:51S12: always thought, you know, I said a prayer, and I
- 55:53S12: read the Bible. I went to church and all that.
- 55:56S12: And then in 2009, I almost passed away twice within
- 56:00S12: the course of three weeks. And I saw the demons
- 56:03S12: in the room. When I say demons in the room,
- 56:04S12: I mean hand on my Bible, I saw three demons
- 56:07S12: in the room. And then when I got out of
- 56:09S12: the hospital, I tried again because I was one of
- 56:12S12: those veterans. I was almost number 22, if you know
- 56:14S12: what I'm talking about. Yeah. Um, I saw them again.
- 56:17S12: And this is what scared me the most. The bigger
- 56:20S12: of the three demons got in my face. And, uh,
- 56:23S12: God is my witness. He said, you will be with
- 56:25S12: us forever. You'll never leave this place. After that, I
- 56:29S12: started walking with Christ and it's been a hard walk.
- 56:32S12: But I'll tell you, Hallelujah. Lord Jesus Christ, I've been saved.
- 56:36S12: I've been regenerated. I have evidence of conversion. There's a
- 56:39S12: surety of salvation. And if preachers today, if preachers today
- 56:45S12: would preach repentance and obedience, we would have a country
- 56:48S12: on fire for the Lord. Hallelujah. Lord Jesus. Hallelujah.
- 56:53S2: I can't argue with you, Dennis. I think the gospel
- 56:56S2: of repentance needs to be front and center, bro. Stay
- 56:58S2: on the horn. I'm going to get you a Carl
- 57:00S2: and Crew prize pack. Stay on the horn. Wow. Chuck
- 57:07S2: in Lewisburg, Tennessee. What's your story, man?
- 57:11S13: Uh. Good morning. Uh, raised in church, uh, all my life, uh,
- 57:14S13: 56 years old currently. And about five years ago, uh,
- 57:18S13: after a friend of mine had encouraged me the second
- 57:20S13: time to try Moody Radio. I switched my radio in
- 57:23S13: my truck to Moody, and after listening to some of the.
- 57:28S13: Who have become some of my favorite pastors and spiritual
- 57:31S13: mentors day after day, it just had a huge impact.
- 57:33S13: I think I've called you guys and shared before, but
- 57:35S13: it was yeah, you definitely had a hand in it.
- 57:38S3: Yeah.
- 57:38S2: That's beautiful man. It's an amazing thing when you come
- 57:41S2: face to face with the fact that I'm a sinner,
- 57:44S2: I need a savior. His name is Jesus. And that's
- 57:47S2: just powerhouse, man. Uh, there's, this is it's a really
- 57:53S2: important topic here, guys. It's really important topic. And I
- 57:59S2: want you to know from the bottom of my heart
- 58:01S2: that there is no the, the assurance of salvation, the
- 58:07S2: assurance of salvation is one of the greatest gifts that
- 58:12S2: God wants to give you. But we know in Scripture
- 58:16S2: that there is this grand illusion of salvation. Satan wants
- 58:19S2: to pull the wool over the eyes of people who
- 58:21S2: are cultural Christians. And the question that we find over
- 58:29S2: and over in Scripture is, examine yourself to see if
- 58:32S2: you're in the faith. Now. There are many evidences to
- 58:39S2: know that you're in the faith. You. There's. I put
- 58:42S2: in a blog nine Ways to Know you stand with
- 58:44S2: God and he stands with you. So whenever you want,
- 58:46S2: you can just text the word stand to our number
- 58:49S2: 805 557898. My goal isn't to freak anyone out here,
- 58:56S2: but it is to help us understand. Oh boy, I
- 59:01S2: might be missing something here. And some of you have
- 59:04S2: a story where you were raised in church or you
- 59:07S2: were really. You might have walked an aisle at a
- 59:10S2: evangelistic event. You had an emotional experience. And I and
- 59:14S2: I say this because the parable of the soils is
- 59:18S2: very clear. There's some that are hard hearted. They hear
- 59:20S2: the gospel, they're like, ah, whatever, don't need it. And
- 59:25S2: then the second soil is those that hear it are, yeah, man,
- 59:28S2: that's me. I'm all in. And I did that as
- 59:29S2: a kid growing up numbers of times, but that is
- 59:33S2: not saved heart condition. The third soil is the worries
- 59:38S2: of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desire
- 59:42S2: for other things come in and choke it out. But
- 59:44S2: that soil as well never had roots that went down
- 59:48S2: and connected with Jesus Christ. It had no room for
- 59:51S2: Jesus to be Lord of their life. It's a big deal, guys.
- 59:57S2: So I just want to ask you now, here's what
- 1:00:01S2: I want to tell you right now. Here's what I
- 1:00:03S2: want to tell you. If the Spirit of God is
- 1:00:06S2: prompting you that, oh my goodness, the reason that the
- 1:00:09S2: abundant life is so elusive for me and I can't
- 1:00:12S2: manifest love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and Faithfulness, self-control,
- 1:00:17S2: fruit of the spirit is because I have fake faith.
- 1:00:20S2: You can. By the power of the spirit, he. He's
- 1:00:23S2: regenerating you. Do you know that repentance is not our strength?
- 1:00:27S2: It's the Spirit of God that turns us but by faith.
- 1:00:31S2: Take hold of him right now and just say, Jesus,
- 1:00:33S2: I'm a sinner. I need a Savior. I'm just getting hit.
- 1:00:37S2: You're getting hit by this reality from the Holy Spirit. Shoot,
- 1:00:42S2: I've been doing this for a long time, but I've
- 1:00:44S2: never been in Christ. Not really. And if you cry
- 1:00:50S2: of your soul today is you're coming face to face
- 1:00:52S2: with the living God and the living reality that you're
- 1:00:55S2: a sinner. You need a Savior. Your problem is you.
- 1:01:00S2: And that through repentance in his power, you're going to
- 1:01:04S2: turn around. You're going to let go of all those idols.
- 1:01:07S2: No more of this trying to make room for Jesus
- 1:01:10S2: and the worries of this world, the deceitfulness of wealth,
- 1:01:12S2: and the desire for other things. you're going to. By
- 1:01:17S2: the power of the spirit. Turn and follow Jesus today
- 1:01:19S2: with open heart, empty hands, saying, I give you my
- 1:01:23S2: life completely. If that's you right now, if that's you.
- 1:01:26S2: But don't, don't, don't just do another little, um, something
- 1:01:31S2: to kind of put some Bondo over the dents of
- 1:01:33S2: your life. This is for real. You're surrendering all you
- 1:01:38S2: are to Jesus. If that's you, just text the word
- 1:01:41S2: new right now. If today is the day of salvation,
- 1:01:43S2: just text the word new wherever you are. NEW to
- 1:01:47S2: 805 557898. Excuse me, 805 557898. And we're going to
- 1:01:59S2: help you in your first steps of Jesus. You just
- 1:02:01S2: follow these links that you're getting right now. Wherever you
- 1:02:04S2: are in this world, our God loves you so much.
- 1:02:06S2: He brought you here today to hear stories from people
- 1:02:10S2: who thought they were in Jesus all these years, and
- 1:02:12S2: then only to find out, no, I wasn't.