Latest / Karl and Crew / Celebrating 100 Years: Billy Graham’s Lasting Legacy with Anne Graham Lotz & When God’s Truth Moves from Head to Heart with Dr. Michael Vanlaningham
Transcript
- 0:00S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
- 0:06S1: and crew.
- 0:07S2: Come as you are an experienced guide, overcome what seems
- 0:11S2: impossible and live as you never imagined.
- 0:15S1: Delivering the truth daily.
- 0:17S3: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available.
- 0:21S3: And you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
- 0:25S3: that would make it worth it.
- 0:26S4: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
- 0:29S4: the life source, which is God.
- 0:32S5: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
- 0:36S5: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
- 0:39S5: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
- 0:44S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
- 0:48S1: and crew.
- 0:49S2: You know, you start journaling the goodness of God. And
- 0:52S2: if you sat down with pen and paper and you
- 0:55S2: really began to look at everything in your life that
- 0:58S2: you can point to and say, God is good for that.
- 1:00S2: And I mean, getting down to the point where you
- 1:02S2: look at silverware that you're using to scoop up the
- 1:08S2: eggs in the morning. There's so many little things that
- 1:11S2: we just take for granted that a lot of people
- 1:13S2: around the globe don't have. And I, I, I love
- 1:17S2: the discipline of taking the time to journal and thank
- 1:22S2: God for all the things that we can really give
- 1:25S2: him praise for because he is good. And it's often
- 1:30S2: the little stuff that we overlook or the routine blessings
- 1:34S2: of God that we begin to not see any longer.
- 1:37S2: You know what I mean, guys?
- 1:39S3: And it's I mean, it's often seen by contrast. I mean,
- 1:42S3: anybody who's ever traveled anywhere else in the world where
- 1:46S3: things are more challenging, you usually come back with fresh perspective.
- 1:50S3: That often happens on missions, trips or any place. I mean,
- 1:54S3: we don't often realize how Many good things we have.
- 2:00S3: But here's my question for you, because sometimes that can
- 2:03S3: get a little wonky. You know, people will often say, well,
- 2:06S3: think about, you know, all of the people in the
- 2:08S3: world who don't have food or think about the people
- 2:10S3: who have sometimes the think about people who have it
- 2:14S3: worse off than you, I don't know. To me, it
- 2:17S3: feels a little strange. Do you think that should be
- 2:19S3: the source of our gratitude that there that there's always
- 2:22S3: somebody who has it worse? It's true. But should that
- 2:25S3: be the reason why we're grateful?
- 2:27S2: No, no, but it is certainly a good reminder for sure.
- 2:32S2: The goodness of God, our gratitude. It's kind of like,
- 2:36S2: you know, us being faithful to something. We might say,
- 2:39S2: oh man, we're being faithful to something. Well, if we
- 2:44S2: really understand our theology, God is faithful. He gave us
- 2:49S2: the heart that beats correct any faithfulness that we might display.
- 2:54S2: Even God gets glory for that.
- 2:56S4: Oh yeah. And I think about the situation you're talking
- 2:58S4: about Ali and looking and saying, oh, this person has
- 3:01S4: it worse or they have it way worse over here. Well, eventually,
- 3:04S4: if you follow that logic, you're going to get down
- 3:06S4: the line where someone goes, no one has it worse
- 3:08S4: than me and that person. And I say this with trepidation,
- 3:15S4: with hesitation, because I know I'm not in this situation,
- 3:18S4: but everybody can look and notice the goodness of God
- 3:23S4: because he is good to all. And if they are
- 3:27S4: his child, they experience it even on a more different level.
- 3:31S4: And so, so we can't just look and say, well,
- 3:34S4: the only reason I can say God is good is
- 3:35S4: because someone has it worse than me. Because there's someone
- 3:38S4: out there who has it worse than anybody. But God
- 3:41S4: is good to them still, too.
- 3:42S2: Yeah. I think what we find in Philippians four isn't that, uh,
- 3:47S2: there is there's no evidence that Paul is calling us
- 3:50S2: to compare and contrast. It's just looking at all that
- 3:55S2: we have that is good and excellent and worthy of praise.
- 3:58S2: Anything like that. And give them thanks. And it's a
- 4:03S2: it's a great discipline for sure. There's so many blessings
- 4:07S2: from God. I mean, I, I gotta tell you, I've
- 4:10S2: got a, I've got a card that I just delight in, man.
- 4:17S2: We got this thing. Oh, when did we get it?
- 4:19S2: Probably 2015. And it's, it's a, it's a souped up Toyota.
- 4:25S2: It's a Lexus Rx350 SUV. And so it's a 2013.
- 4:33S2: I ain't getting rid of this car. This thing. All
- 4:36S2: you do is change the oil in this car. Now,
- 4:39S2: I did have to get some brakes and stuff, and
- 4:41S2: I had to get some things redone and some oil
- 4:44S2: pan gaskets replaced and a few little things like that.
- 4:48S2: But my goodness, I every time I get in it now,
- 4:52S2: I love it more now than I did when I
- 4:55S2: got it, because it just keeps on ticking. And I
- 5:00S2: thank God for that. I thank God for a car
- 5:02S2: that doesn't break down every other block, you know what
- 5:05S2: I mean?
- 5:05S5: Sure, every morning, get in the car and go. Thank you, Lord,
- 5:08S5: it turns over. Thank you Lord. Yeah, seriously.
- 5:10S2: He turns over, man. Super nice. She's flexing the fact
- 5:14S2: that she knows the shop talk. It turns over. Yeah,
- 5:19S2: it turns over. Isn't that cool?
- 5:20S5: Here we go.
- 5:21S2: Yeah. I mean, I was watching a really good one
- 5:24S2: of these series flicks from, like, a timeline. 1843 and
- 5:30S2: it's got it's got those older actresses. I don't know
- 5:33S2: their names. Somebody helped me with it. They one of
- 5:35S2: them played in Downton Abbey. She was the grandma. I have.
- 5:38S4: No idea.
- 5:39S2: She passed away. She's super famous in England and stateside here. Anyway,
- 5:45S2: she's like one of these famous actresses. But it was hilarious, man.
- 5:49S2: So they've got this. It looks like a model T,
- 5:53S2: but whatever it is, you got to crank start this sucker. Oh, wow.
- 5:57S2: So these two women are in this car and she's
- 6:00S2: cranking it and she's she looks up at her friend
- 6:03S2: and she goes, do you have the choke out? And
- 6:07S2: she says, I don't know if I have the choke out.
- 6:09S2: So she walks around. Yeah. And so they pull out
- 6:12S2: the choke lever so that you can get fuel into
- 6:16S2: the carburetor or whatever it was back in the day. And,
- 6:19S2: and then she comes back to the front and cranks
- 6:22S2: that sucker again. Now it's all relative because my bride
- 6:25S2: and I looked at each other, we're laughing and we're like,
- 6:27S2: that was that was you were in some good man
- 6:34S2: when you even had a car to crank. Now consider
- 6:38S2: that today if we'd get out and crank a car
- 6:40S2: this morning.
- 6:41S4: That's crazy bro. I remember being inconvenienced by the cars
- 6:46S4: that we had growing up, where you had to crank
- 6:47S4: to roll the window down like, oh, Inconvenient goodness. I mean,
- 6:53S4: I had both. I had one car that had the
- 6:55S4: power windows. I had one car that had the crank windows.
- 6:57S4: And I was like, I prefer the power windows, please.
- 7:00S2: Of course.
- 7:00S4: Yeah.
- 7:01S2: I mean, but we had a Renault and.
- 7:04S4: I've never heard of that before.
- 7:05S2: Yeah. You haven't heard of Renault, huh? European brand. And, uh,
- 7:10S2: the windows in short order didn't crank down. They just
- 7:15S2: stopped working.
- 7:16S4: Oh, no.
- 7:17S2: And my dad said once they go up, leave them because.
- 7:21S4: You don't want to get them stuck down.
- 7:24S2: I mean, super dry. And I at least can relate
- 7:26S2: to this.
- 7:27S3: No, I mean, there's definitely something about having a car
- 7:30S3: that has character. Yes. You know, like every. Yes. I
- 7:34S3: feel like you, at some point in time in your life,
- 7:36S3: you need to own a car that has like a story. Yes. I.E.
- 7:40S3: a series of things that have to be done to
- 7:42S3: get it to start or to keep it going. My
- 7:44S3: dad had this huge beat up red pickup truck and.
- 7:48S6: I love it.
- 7:49S3: You had to do like a series of things to
- 7:51S3: get it going, like pump the brakes six times and like,
- 7:55S3: turn this like it was just, it was like a
- 7:58S3: but it had character. I love cars that have a
- 8:00S3: little bit of character, but I am very grateful now
- 8:03S3: to have a car that's kind of boring. It just
- 8:05S3: starts and it stops, and it doesn't have a series
- 8:08S3: of things that you need to do. Yeah, there's no surprises.
- 8:12S2: Oh my goodness. My favorite little car that I had,
- 8:15S2: I think one of the favorite I had was the
- 8:17S2: little brown turd that Volkswagen.
- 8:19S3: What.
- 8:19S2: I called it, the little brown turd it was, and
- 8:22S2: that we affectionately, everyone in the family said, are we
- 8:25S2: going to take the turd dad? And so it was a.
- 8:28S3: That.
- 8:29S4: It's awesome.
- 8:29S2: It was an awesome.
- 8:30S5: Did it have the little triangle window in the front?
- 8:32S5: The split window in the front seat. Remember the driver
- 8:36S5: passengers used to.
- 8:36S2: This was a Volkswagen Diesel kind of little Ford. It
- 8:40S2: was four doors, but you couldn't sit in the back.
- 8:43S2: I mean, there was no. I mean, unless you prop
- 8:45S2: your feet up on the seat. I mean, you couldn't
- 8:48S2: sit in the back, but I think I bought it.
- 8:51S2: I want to get this right. I think I bought
- 8:53S2: it for 300 bucks in little Rock, and it had
- 8:57S2: a coat hanger to pop the hood, of course. And
- 9:00S2: and then my infamous if you're new listening here, this
- 9:04S2: is new to you. But I had my infamous was
- 9:07S2: a screwdriver and it was a stubby screwdriver. So it
- 9:12S2: didn't have a long one. So it fit in there
- 9:14S2: nicely is what I'm trying to say. So I put
- 9:17S2: the little stubby flathead screwdriver in there and that was
- 9:20S2: my ignition key in the in the coolest. I love
- 9:24S2: telling the story, but we went to I was speaking
- 9:26S2: of family life weekend, remember conference at a really nice
- 9:29S2: hotel in Memphis. And I've got to drive from little
- 9:32S2: Rock to Memphis, and I've taken my son because we
- 9:36S2: got room service. It's all you can eat kind of
- 9:38S2: a thing, you know, that's what the speakers get. So
- 9:40S2: I said, hey, I'm going to bring along my son.
- 9:42S2: And so he must have ordered 42 burgers that weekend
- 9:45S2: and sat there. Who knows what in the world is
- 9:48S2: going on, but he's just chowing down. But on the
- 9:50S2: way there, uh, didn't have good suspension in this rig,
- 9:53S2: so I had to hit a little bit of a pothole.
- 9:55S2: In fact, it didn't even need to be a pothole.
- 9:57S2: Just a seam in the asphalt.
- 9:59S7: Seemed to.
- 10:00S2: Just kick my hubcaps off that I had went, I
- 10:04S2: went and got these hubcaps for like 4 or 5
- 10:06S2: bucks and a used place, and they were really nice.
- 10:09S2: So they made the car look a little bit better.
- 10:12S2: And I lost two hubcaps on the way to Memphis.
- 10:16S3: Oh, no, two hubcaps.
- 10:17S2: So I roll into this really nice hotel valet parking,
- 10:23S2: you know, up in the front, because that's where I
- 10:25S2: was supposed to go. And I was a little bit embarrassed,
- 10:29S2: but also a little bit giddy, thinking, how is this
- 10:33S2: going to go down? This is going to be fun.
- 10:35S2: So I roll up. And so I imagine this little
- 10:38S2: brown turd missing two hubcaps, not looking good. Diesel Volkswagen.
- 10:44S2: It was a Volkswagen rabbit, diesel and I wheel in
- 10:49S2: and the valet says, welcome, sir. And you could tell
- 10:52S2: the valets are smirking, like, wow. And I said, yeah,
- 10:56S2: my name is Karl Clausen. Oh, you're one of the
- 10:57S2: speakers this weekend. I said, yeah, I am, here's here's
- 11:00S2: my key. And I hand him the screwdriver.
- 11:04S5: His expression. I would have liked to have had a camera.
- 11:06S2: Actually, this kid, this kid was really cool. He goes,
- 11:10S2: that's your key.
- 11:11S4: I'm sure he.
- 11:12S2: Said, yeah, try it out, man. He says, I will.
- 11:14S2: I'm gonna drive it around the corner. I said, it works, slick, man.
- 11:17S2: Don't lose it. I said, I'm going to need that
- 11:20S2: thing when I go home.
- 11:21S4: Or go to Ace Hardware. If you do lose it.
- 11:25S2: Oh, but it's just it's just great. Um, I want
- 11:29S2: to focus on the goodness of God, though not in
- 11:31S2: the little stuff, but in the big stuff. In the
- 11:34S2: 31st Psalm, we find this verse, and you can't even
- 11:40S2: get the emphasis of it in the English. But in
- 11:42S2: the Hebrew language, it's over the top. Powerful. Oh, how
- 11:45S2: abundant is your goodness? David says, which you have stored
- 11:50S2: up for those who fear you. Very interesting. Right? So
- 11:53S2: those who fear God, there will be some abundance in
- 11:59S2: God's goodness and work for those who take refuge in you.
- 12:04S2: Isn't it interesting how many times we're called to take
- 12:06S2: refuge in God?
- 12:07S3: I love, I love that. I love that.
- 12:10S2: Why do you love that?
- 12:11S3: I just when I think about God and I, I
- 12:13S3: find myself thinking about running into him, taking refuge in
- 12:18S3: him and that for some reason, that imagery has just
- 12:22S3: captures my heart.
- 12:23S2: Yeah, it's so cool. Then it goes on and work
- 12:26S2: for those who take refuge in you, in the sight
- 12:30S2: of the children of mankind. So here's what he's saying.
- 12:34S2: There's some goodness from God that is a reward for
- 12:38S2: the God fearing and for the refuge taking that is
- 12:42S2: so bodacious. Other people go look at God blessing that guy.
- 12:49S2: And so I want to ask you a question. Boom. Crew,
- 12:52S2: have you seen the goodness of God amaze you? I mean,
- 12:56S2: very evidently that's from God. And it's like, wow, wow.
- 13:06S2: Because David's saying here, oh, how abundant is your goodness?
- 13:11S2: 805 five, 578, 98. Give us a call right now
- 13:15S2: 805 five, five, 78, 98 and think about it, team.
- 13:21S2: We can all point to those things in our life,
- 13:22S2: can't we?
- 13:23S3: Absolutely. Sure. Absolutely.
- 13:25S2: Isn't it wonderful? We'll talk about it coming up here.
- 13:29S2: You've seen God's goodness amaze you. Give us a call
- 13:31S2: 805 557898.
- 13:35S1: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
- 13:39S2: Sometimes when we see those blessings, the goodness of God
- 13:42S2: that amaze us. And that's what we find here in
- 13:44S2: Psalm 3119. Oh, how abundant is your goodness. And we've
- 13:48S2: all been around people who come up and they share
- 13:50S2: something and they just like, look what God did. Look
- 13:55S2: at what God did. And it's a beautiful thing, number one,
- 13:58S2: that you recognize it. Number two, it's a powerful thing
- 14:01S2: to cheer for it. Because what David goes on to
- 14:03S2: say is the children of God need to see other
- 14:06S2: children of God being blessed by God and talking about it.
- 14:10S2: Isn't this cool?
- 14:10S3: It's very true when people. You can feel the excitement when.
- 14:14S3: Whether you're in a small group or you're in a
- 14:17S3: large church setting or just a group of people, and
- 14:19S3: someone shares something that God has done for them in
- 14:22S3: a way that they've been amazed, you can feel everybody
- 14:24S3: kind of joining in. Everybody's smiling a little bit like
- 14:27S3: because it's exciting. You're going, wow, okay, yeah, tell me more.
- 14:31S2: Yeah. When we were young marrieds, man, we went off
- 14:34S2: to Africa for a year. And when you're young marrieds,
- 14:37S2: I mean, we we were just man caution to the wind.
- 14:40S2: We went down with a little a little sun. And
- 14:44S2: we had a daughter on the way. Didn't know that
- 14:47S2: back in the day. Uh, but we had a daughter
- 14:50S2: on the way. And so my bride, as I look
- 14:52S2: back about that. What a trooper, man she gets. We're
- 14:56S2: going to Africa. And then we have a baby down there.
- 15:01S2: And even getting to the hospital was crazy. But we
- 15:04S2: come back from Africa and we're so broke we can't
- 15:07S2: pay attention. I kid you not, guys, we didn't have
- 15:10S2: a plug nickel and I wanted God was clearly calling
- 15:15S2: us to Denver Seminary in Colorado, and we got nothing.
- 15:20S2: And I'm sitting at my in-laws home and I look
- 15:25S2: at my bride and I said, babe, I want to
- 15:28S2: go do one more season of commercial fishing. I want
- 15:31S2: to get us out of this ditch. She goes, oh, bub,
- 15:33S2: it's so dangerous. I said, just give me one shot.
- 15:37S2: I promise I'll be super safe and give me one shot.
- 15:40S2: We'll we'll we'll see what God does. She goes, okay,
- 15:45S2: but just be safe. And so I flew to Alaska,
- 15:48S2: got on a commercial fishing boat for a couple months.
- 15:51S2: And the first couple of months, guys, Ali, I gotta
- 15:53S2: tell you, it was so discouraging because it was just
- 15:57S2: the fish were not coming in. It wasn't a big year.
- 16:00S2: And I had made a good chunk already because you
- 16:04S2: make you can make some good cheddar. And I had
- 16:06S2: probably made 15 K, but on par that wasn't great.
- 16:10S2: And I didn't have a house. I didn't have anything.
- 16:13S2: In Denver. We had no wheels, we had no wheels,
- 16:16S2: we had no car. We had nothing. I mean nothing.
- 16:20S2: We we were scraping to get diaper dough. I mean,
- 16:23S2: it was rough. So old sea captain of mine was
- 16:28S2: season's winding down. He says, hey, you want to stay
- 16:30S2: around for a couple of weeks, do some scratch fishing?
- 16:33S2: Scratch fishing means there ain't many fish around, but let's
- 16:36S2: just go see what we can find Anyway, I'm like,
- 16:40S2: all right, let me call my wife. Get up on
- 16:42S2: a dock, call her up, bring her up on a landline.
- 16:46S2: Said I'm gonna hang out for a couple more weeks, babe,
- 16:49S2: if that's all right. She said, no, the kids are great.
- 16:51S2: How are you? Great. You know, we couldn't talk very often.
- 16:55S2: I said, I'm going to give it a couple weeks ago.
- 16:57S2: Would you pray that God would bless us? She said,
- 17:00S2: I will, Bob. We leave Naknek, the dock in Naknek.
- 17:04S2: We go past Egegik, go all the way down to
- 17:07S2: the region of Ugashik. These are all native Alaskan names
- 17:11S2: for regions of Bristol Bay, which is part of the
- 17:14S2: Bering Sea. We're doing scratch fishing. It's like 1000 £1,500
- 17:21S2: a day. So that's a few hundred bucks a day.
- 17:23S2: And it's just me and one sea captain. So I'm
- 17:25S2: getting 25% crew share, which is really good, by the way.
- 17:29S2: Really good. So I'm like, and he probably just took
- 17:32S2: pity on me. He knows I got nothing, man. So
- 17:35S2: he's just like, yeah, how about 25%? I'm like, yeah,
- 17:37S2: how about it? Let's go. So we're when they were
- 17:41S2: just the there's no, there are barely a ripple on
- 17:46S2: the water. I mean, it looks like we're on a lake,
- 17:48S2: but we're on the ocean. And on the horizon, I
- 17:53S2: start to see a, a fish jump. And then I
- 17:56S2: see more. And then I see more. And now the
- 18:00S2: fish are popping, popping, popping. Now, mind you, there is
- 18:03S2: not a boat around us in the prime of the season.
- 18:07S2: There's boats everywhere. There's no one around us. We got
- 18:12S2: 300 yards of gill net out the stern of the boat,
- 18:14S2: big boy, 300 yards away. We're perpendicular to the beach.
- 18:18S2: We're probably, oh, I'd say quarter, half a mile off
- 18:22S2: the beach. And we're just sitting there in about 30ft
- 18:26S2: of water and I'm yelling, Marvin! I start to yell, Marvin, Marvin,
- 18:30S2: he says, I see him. I said, Marvin. He said,
- 18:34S2: this is crazy. And guys like a wall. Those salmon,
- 18:39S2: late arriving red salmon. Two years in the ocean. And
- 18:43S2: they came back late. Now did God bring them back
- 18:47S2: for me? I don't know. All I know is that
- 18:50S2: God was good that day. They stormed that net, and
- 18:54S2: it was like it was prime time in the middle
- 18:57S2: of the hottest season going. I think my cut on
- 19:01S2: that one haul was like five grand. $5,000.
- 19:06S5: And back then.
- 19:08S2: That was huge back then.
- 19:09S7: Yeah.
- 19:11S2: And we stayed on for a couple more days. And
- 19:13S2: and it was a late run of salmon that year.
- 19:16S2: Nobody anticipated it. And you can't know because nobody you
- 19:20S2: can't track the fish. You know what I'm saying.
- 19:22S7: You don't know when they're going.
- 19:23S2: To show up. And we crushed it. And I cried
- 19:30S2: in the stern of the boat, I cried, I'm like, God,
- 19:35S2: you saw me. A poor kid coming back from the
- 19:38S2: mission field. Got a bride at home, and God enabled
- 19:43S2: us to that year by an 800 square foot home.
- 19:49S2: That to me was a mansion man. It was a mansion.
- 19:55S2: And it was such a blessing from God that I'm
- 19:58S2: amazed to this day, all these years later. Isn't that cool, guys?
- 20:04S4: It's incredible.
- 20:05S2: So I got a question for you. How have you
- 20:07S2: seen the goodness of God just flat out amaze you
- 20:10S2: where you go? God, you you sent those fish. You
- 20:15S2: sent those fish. We were the only net down there.
- 20:21S2: We got them all. You sent him God. It wasn't
- 20:27S2: fish for you, but it was something. 805, five, five, 78, 98.
- 20:32S2: Give us a call.
- 20:33S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stand for anything you
- 20:36S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
- 20:40S1: curl and crew on moody radio.
- 20:44S2: Sometimes the goodness of God just blows your mind.
- 20:46S7: Right, guys? Yes.
- 20:47S3: Love it when that happens.
- 20:50S2: And it's not all the time.
- 20:51S7: No.
- 20:52S2: And usually the mind blowers are the most unexpected ones, right?
- 20:57S4: Oh, 100%. But I think we can be our mind
- 21:00S4: can be blown with more, you know, over time with him.
- 21:04S4: Like for me, this last like in two weeks time,
- 21:08S4: my wife and I had three major car issues. We
- 21:11S4: had a cracked windshield that needed to be completely replaced.
- 21:14S4: We had a tire that blew out on the highway
- 21:17S4: and had to be pulled over on the shoulder and
- 21:20S4: windshield wiper rubber that literally peeled off in the middle
- 21:23S4: of like one of the biggest storms that we've had
- 21:26S4: in a while here. All of them happening within like
- 21:28S4: a week's time. And God provided in every single one.
- 21:33S4: The last one, the wipers. I was on the phone
- 21:35S4: with my seven month pregnant wife when it happened. The
- 21:39S4: rubber just peeled off and she like, I can't see anymore.
- 21:42S4: I can't see the wipers, not doing anything. And I said, okay,
- 21:45S4: just pull over. I'm getting ready, thinking I'm gonna have
- 21:47S4: to get in the car and go get her. And
- 21:49S4: I said, just pull over, find the next spot. The
- 21:51S4: next stop she pulled over was was a car shop
- 21:54S4: where she pulled in. They gave her the thing and
- 21:58S4: they put it on for her. And she got back
- 21:59S4: in the car in like five minutes and was on
- 22:01S4: her way. Wow. The goodness of God is evident everywhere.
- 22:04S2: Yeah. It's good. All right. We're gonna get some callers
- 22:06S2: in here really quickly. Mike. Uh, Lakeland, Florida. Just got
- 22:09S2: a second here. What? How did God show this amazing
- 22:13S2: goodness to you?
- 22:15S8: Hey. Good morning, it's Mika. Mika. Um, the goodness of
- 22:18S8: the Lord. That's okay. The goodness of the Lord. Um.
- 22:21S8: My mom, we were living in a home and a tree,
- 22:25S8: you know, kind of wrecked the house, and we didn't
- 22:27S8: have anywhere to go. We lived in a hotel for
- 22:30S8: a couple of months, but a friend of my mom's
- 22:33S8: got us, you know, into a home that we were renting.
- 22:37S8: And the landlord favored my mom, which out of the blue. Right? Yeah,
- 22:41S8: he sold us that home for ten bucks.
- 22:45S9: Oh. What? Oh, what?
- 22:49S8: Homeless and home owners for ten bucks.
- 22:52S9: Oh my goodness.
- 22:53S5: Huh?
- 22:54S9: Oh, Mika.
- 22:56S5: What?
- 22:57S2: See? See, I'm telling you, man.
- 22:59S4: That's God's.
- 22:59S2: Favorite. And you've got it. You gotta shout it when
- 23:02S2: you see it.
- 23:03S9: Yeah.
- 23:03S2: And that was God fearing people who found refuge in God.
- 23:07S2: And God saw. And he chose to bless at that time. Jeremy, Tampa, Florida.
- 23:12S2: Get you in here real quick. What do you say, Jeremy?
- 23:15S10: Hey. Good morning. When I was in college, I was
- 23:17S10: diagnosed with testicular cancer. So I had to leave college,
- 23:21S10: come home and do all the treatment in the Tampa
- 23:23S10: Bay area. And, um, my parents only had major medical
- 23:27S10: insurance for me at the time because I was in college,
- 23:29S10: so I couldn't have the regular insurance and I owed
- 23:34S10: over $100,000. When I was done with all my treatment,
- 23:37S10: and I had it in a box next to my bed.
- 23:40S10: And I just kept praying about it, you know? I mean,
- 23:43S10: at 23 years old, it felt like a mortgage. And
- 23:45S10: I just would look at this box and feel a
- 23:48S10: little bit of stress and, you know, angst. And, uh,
- 23:51S10: one day I got a letter and it, um, it
- 23:55S10: just said, your debt has been forgiven with the Moffitt Center.
- 23:58S10: And I owed $0.
- 24:00S2: Jeremy.
- 24:01S10: Phenomenal. Jeremy. Amazing.
- 24:04S2: How good is God? How old are you now, bro?
- 24:07S10: I'm 46. I have two beautiful children and a wife.
- 24:12S6: Yeah.
- 24:13S2: You know what, Jeremy? 23 years later, you're still singing
- 24:17S2: the praises of God, bro.
- 24:19S10: Yeah, absolutely.
- 24:21S2: How good is.
- 24:21S10: God? Oh, he's so good. He's so good.
- 24:25S2: So sweet. Thank you guys. We can't get to everyone today,
- 24:29S2: but wow. Stories of God's goodness. Sally.
- 24:31S3: I I'm just blown away. I feel that with each
- 24:35S3: of our callers, like you feel like there's a debt
- 24:38S3: you can't pay. You feel like there's a house, there's
- 24:41S3: no possibility. And then God provides. And when he does
- 24:45S3: in these amazing ways, like you said, we don't see
- 24:47S3: that every day. But when you do, when you hear
- 24:49S3: about it, you go, man, God, you're good.
- 24:52S2: Shout it, man, shout it.
- 24:54S1: Wanna hear that again? Just download the Curl and Crew
- 24:57S1: podcast wherever you like to stream. What a treat.
- 25:02S2: To bring in a man that can go into the
- 25:04S2: sticky pages of scripture and find truth there.
- 25:07S3: Ali doctor Michael Van Landingham joining us this morning, retired
- 25:11S3: professor of Bible at the Moody Bible Institute. You can
- 25:15S3: hear him frequently afternoons with Michael, reading and answering Bible
- 25:19S3: questions on Chris Fabry live and on Open Line on
- 25:22S3: Saturday mornings.
- 25:23S2: Good to have you, doc. Okay. so Jeremiah, what a
- 25:27S2: tough gig. He gets called as a young man to
- 25:29S2: speak on behalf of God. And then God tells him,
- 25:31S2: by the way, nobody's going to listen to you. What
- 25:34S2: a crazy thing that is, huh? Michael.
- 25:36S11: What a great calling. You know, every once in a
- 25:38S11: while I run into people who say, well, I am,
- 25:40S11: I'm a prophet, or I intend to be a prophet.
- 25:42S11: And I'm thinking, go read through Jeremiah and let me
- 25:45S11: know if that's something you really want to do.
- 25:48S9: Yeah.
- 25:48S11: Because it's not an easy calling.
- 25:50S2: No it isn't. But here's what's amazing. So, um, Jerusalem
- 25:54S2: gets sacked. 586 BC temple gets burned. I mean, we
- 25:59S2: had a little bit of a generation spirit with Josiah,
- 26:02S2: but his sons come in and it's a mess. So
- 26:05S2: they get hauled off to Babylon. And then we find this.
- 26:09S2: And I want your take on this in the middle
- 26:11S2: of all this affliction. And nobody's listening to him. He writes,
- 26:16S2: the steadfast love of the Lord never ceases. His mercies
- 26:20S2: never come to an end. They are new every morning.
- 26:25S2: Great is your faithfulness. Now it goes on to him rehearsing,
- 26:30S2: speaking to his soul and his soul. Meeting with God. Michael,
- 26:34S2: there's some meat here, isn't there, my friend?
- 26:36S11: There is. And it's really important to understand that God
- 26:41S11: is good all the time. And even when things are
- 26:43S11: difficult for us, it doesn't mean that his good has
- 26:46S11: been suspended or anything like that. And in fact, God's
- 26:49S11: goodness and his sovereignty. So if God is sovereign, and
- 26:53S11: by that I mean that he oversees superintendents, governs everything
- 26:59S11: that happens in the universe, including sin, evil, or suffering.
- 27:03S11: If he doesn't have some sort of sovereignty over that,
- 27:06S11: then he's not much of a god, frankly, because there's
- 27:08S11: a lot of that in the world. So if he
- 27:10S11: is sovereign that way, and if he is good and loving,
- 27:16S11: then everything that happens to us comes through the grid
- 27:20S11: of his sovereign love. And so when we have difficulty
- 27:25S11: and hardship, as counterintuitive as it seems, that's part of
- 27:29S11: God's loving design for our life. That was true in Jeremiah.
- 27:34S11: That's true for us today. And if we don't have
- 27:36S11: God's sovereignty in that connected to his goodness and love,
- 27:40S11: then there's very little hope for us.
- 27:42S3: I think when we think about God's goodness. You know,
- 27:45S3: God is good. You said God is good all the time.
- 27:48S3: And I'm sure many people wanted to say and all
- 27:50S3: the time, God is good, good.
- 27:52S11: Good, right?
- 27:52S3: There's a certain extent that every person, whether they believe
- 27:56S3: in God or not, experiences a taste of his goodness
- 28:00S3: because that's who he is. Speak to that a little bit.
- 28:03S11: I mean, it says in Matthew that God causes the
- 28:07S11: rain to fall on the fields, both the righteous and
- 28:10S11: the unrighteous. God has caused people who will never come
- 28:13S11: to Christ to be born into families where they're reared,
- 28:16S11: taken care of, taught, fed, clothed, and they get jobs
- 28:20S11: with which they can have the resources to purchase things
- 28:22S11: they need. All of that comes from God. All of
- 28:25S11: that is a sign of his goodness. And so, yeah,
- 28:28S11: there's there's a sense in which every single one of
- 28:30S11: us on the planet are recipients of his goodness.
- 28:33S2: Do we associate the goodness of God, Michael, with, um,
- 28:39S2: good times. And that's the predominant interpretation of God's goodness
- 28:45S2: is the good stuff, the good things, the good people
- 28:48S2: around us and the good events of life. Are we
- 28:52S2: more inclined to see that because that's our human nature,
- 28:56S2: or that we haven't executed the Bible enough to reveal
- 29:00S2: for people that God is good? I think of Paul.
- 29:04S2: I can do all things through him who strengthens me.
- 29:06S2: But we got to remember it's in the context of
- 29:08S2: whether I have suffering, need, or whether I have much.
- 29:11S2: I can do all things through him. So the giants
- 29:13S2: of the faith understood the goodness of God and good
- 29:16S2: and bad. The rain falls. Sometimes it doesn't. Is that
- 29:20S2: because we struggle with biblical literacy, or is it because
- 29:23S2: it's a nature thing, or is it a little bit
- 29:26S2: of both?
- 29:26S11: Before you say it, a little bit of both, I
- 29:28S11: was going to say, yes, it is both. Yeah it is,
- 29:32S11: it is both nature. I mean, not a one of
- 29:34S11: us doesn't want to have an easy life. We don't
- 29:37S11: want to have to suffer or go through hardship. Any
- 29:39S11: of us Christian or non-Christian. But I think also, especially
- 29:42S11: for believers, we don't know the scriptures very well. We
- 29:46S11: don't know some good, solid, basic Christian theology, and we
- 29:49S11: don't know quite to put God's goodness and love in
- 29:53S11: with our suffering. But it's interesting in job. Anybody ever
- 29:57S11: heard of job? Did that guy suffer? Yeah, maybe.
- 30:00S2: Yeah.
- 30:01S11: In job chapter 42, verse one and verse one and two,
- 30:04S11: and job answered the Lord and said, I know that
- 30:07S11: you can do all things, and that no purpose of
- 30:10S11: yours can be thwarted, no purpose. And then it says
- 30:15S11: in verse 11 of chapter 42, than all his brothers
- 30:19S11: and all his sisters, and all who had known him
- 30:21S11: before came to him. And they ate bread with him
- 30:24S11: in his house. And they consoled him and comforted him
- 30:28S11: for all the adversities that the Lord had brought on him. Wow. Wow. See,
- 30:35S11: we want to blame. In the first chapter of job,
- 30:38S11: you find Sabaeans and and Chaldeans and a wind from
- 30:44S11: heaven and some other things that come and destroy all
- 30:47S11: of job's holdings, all of his family. And Satan is
- 30:51S11: involved in that mix as well. But what does job say?
- 30:54S11: End of the chapter. The Lord gives and the Lord
- 30:58S11: takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord. Even
- 31:01S11: though it was Satan, even though it was the sabaeans,
- 31:03S11: even though it was acts of nature, as we would
- 31:06S11: call them, he ascribes the ultimate providence over all of
- 31:10S11: these things to God, and doesn't sin in the process.
- 31:13S11: That is, it wasn't a mistake for him to say
- 31:15S11: that what he said wasn't a sinful thing. He himself
- 31:18S11: was able to maintain an attitude at that point of
- 31:21S11: reliance and trust in the Lord. And so we have
- 31:25S11: to sort of, I think, shift our thinking, many of
- 31:27S11: us evangelicals, so that we can understand that God is
- 31:31S11: good to us. He's sovereign, even the hard things he superintends. Listen,
- 31:35S11: if he's not sovereign, then how can Romans 828 be true? Yeah,
- 31:40S11: we know that God causes all things to work together
- 31:42S11: for good to those who are called according to his purpose.
- 31:45S11: If he's not sovereign at the front end of our sufferings,
- 31:49S11: that is when they begin, then he's not going to
- 31:52S11: be sovereign at the end of our sufferings to bring
- 31:55S11: good out of it. If you want to have him
- 31:57S11: be sovereign enough to bring good out of it, then
- 32:00S11: you've got to have him sovereign all the way through it.
- 32:02S11: And a lot of times we don't want to actually
- 32:04S11: look at God that way, but we must. I think
- 32:06S11: otherwise we don't have much hope, I don't think.
- 32:10S3: Doctor Michael Van Landingham, our guest right now is the
- 32:13S3: co-editor of the Moody Bible commentary. Obviously you have done
- 32:17S3: a lot. You've done a lot of research. You are
- 32:19S3: deep in theology. How do you handle when your own
- 32:22S3: life you get hit with something totally unexpected? How do
- 32:26S3: you take all of the truth that you've studied and
- 32:28S3: that you've learned? And practically, how do you sit down
- 32:31S3: with all of that in the midst of pain and grief,
- 32:34S3: and apply it as much as you can bring us
- 32:37S3: into your own process? What do you do?
- 32:40S11: I've had a fairly vanilla life. Praise the Lord. I
- 32:43S11: have had cancer three times from which I've recovered and
- 32:46S11: I'm in remission.
- 32:47S2: That's not vanilla.
- 32:48S11: No. I got laid off at Moody Bible Institute, along
- 32:51S11: with 33 of my friends on the same day. And
- 32:53S11: I loved my job, loved it, loved it, loved it,
- 32:55S11: loved it, and I got laid off. Then I got
- 32:58S11: laid off at Harvest Bible Chapel as well, and I.
- 33:01S11: At that point, I could and I did retire. So
- 33:04S11: in all of those circumstances, you know, up here I
- 33:07S11: have floating around theology related to things like the sovereignty
- 33:13S11: and the goodness and love of God. I have to
- 33:15S11: be very honest, especially when I got laid off at Moody.
- 33:19S11: It took a while for that to go from here
- 33:22S11: to here. Now I'm pointing at my heart. So I
- 33:25S11: knew that. But it took me several weeks. I would
- 33:29S11: have to say probably. I wish it could have been faster,
- 33:31S11: but it took me several weeks, probably to get to
- 33:33S11: the point where I just figured out, you know, somehow, God,
- 33:36S11: God's in control of this. God's ordained this, and somehow
- 33:39S11: he's going to bring good out of it because he's
- 33:41S11: sovereign and he's good, and he promises to do so.
- 33:44S11: And I think he did, you know, in some really
- 33:45S11: remarkable ways, some tangible ways I could put my finger
- 33:48S11: on which we don't need to go into right now.
- 33:51S11: But that's just how God works, you know? And so
- 33:53S11: it's not easy. But for me personally, the knowledge of
- 33:58S11: God's sovereign governing rule over all the world and his
- 34:02S11: love is an enormous comfort to me. On the times
- 34:06S11: that I have struggled that way.
- 34:08S2: I so appreciate your vulnerability, Michael. And I want to
- 34:11S2: talk about that gap because it's in that gap that
- 34:13S2: I've both done it correctly and I've done it wrongly,
- 34:17S2: because in that gap can be fodder for gossip. It
- 34:20S2: can be fodder for resentment, unforgiveness, it can be fought
- 34:25S2: for all these different emotions and actions. It can also
- 34:29S2: be a time of waiting. And I don't know that
- 34:31S2: anyone gets those perfectly. But how should we navigate that
- 34:36S2: gap between that truth moving its way from our head
- 34:39S2: to our heart? Because it could be a week or two,
- 34:42S2: or a month or more.
- 34:44S11: Or a decade.
- 34:45S2: Or a decade.
- 34:45S11: Or two decades. It could be a long time. But,
- 34:48S11: you know, I'll speak for myself, and I think this
- 34:51S11: may be helpful for some. I had this stuck in
- 34:55S11: my head already. I had the theology there, and when
- 34:58S11: I went through the hardship, my immediate thought was actually,
- 35:03S11: God's still good. He's sovereign. This is part of his
- 35:06S11: loving design for my life. I thought that and I
- 35:08S11: knew that, but I have to say, it took a
- 35:11S11: while for my emotions to catch up to that. That's
- 35:13S11: what I mean. It went from my head to my heart.
- 35:15S2: Sure.
- 35:16S11: In the meantime, while I was waiting for my emotions
- 35:19S11: to be able to get connected to that theology, you
- 35:22S11: just trust God. You just sort of hang on. You
- 35:25S11: don't become bitter against him. You decide in advance. I
- 35:28S11: am not going to think ill of God in the
- 35:31S11: midst of all of this. Scripture doesn't really point in
- 35:33S11: that direction. I should never do that. And so I
- 35:36S11: don't understand what's going on. I know the theology God's
- 35:39S11: sovereign and loving. And right now that doesn't really seem
- 35:42S11: to help very much, quite frankly. But I'm going to
- 35:45S11: hang on and trust him to help me get there.
- 35:48S11: And that's what I did. And I think that's what
- 35:50S11: a lot of folks do.
- 35:51S2: This is one of the most important conversations we've ever had.
- 35:55S2: This is one of the most important ever. Ali.
- 35:59S3: I mean, I know, I know what I think, but
- 36:02S3: why do you say that?
- 36:04S2: Because we're peeling back a layer of real life that
- 36:07S2: we don't often get down to. We don't have a
- 36:10S2: guest that says, let me give you an example of
- 36:12S2: how it can get pressure tested. But there's something about
- 36:16S2: hearing a man of God. We're sitting here talking behind
- 36:19S2: your back while you're sitting here. There's something about hearing
- 36:22S2: a man of God talk about that wrestling that makes
- 36:25S2: the theology of the goodness of God even through lost tragedy, pain, hardship, whatever.
- 36:31S2: For me, it makes it way more palpable and way
- 36:34S2: more real.
- 36:35S3: Yeah. I think the common struggle, you know, people will
- 36:37S3: look at like a moody Bible Institute and the great
- 36:40S3: professors we have even a moody radio. Yeah. And can
- 36:43S3: almost feel like it's a layer removed from like, somehow
- 36:47S3: that the like that there's not real people here who
- 36:51S3: both study theology and then go home and get a
- 36:53S3: phone call that, you know.
- 36:54S6: You're laid off.
- 36:55S3: Exactly. Yeah. And so I think kind of I'm with you,
- 36:59S3: peeling back the layers a little bit, I think is
- 37:02S3: really deeply helpful for people.
- 37:05S2: What do you say, Michael, to the person who, because
- 37:09S2: we got every kind of person listening. Loss can produce
- 37:13S2: anger and blame and finger pointing in its most base form.
- 37:18S2: It can go there with genuinely regenerate people. By the way,
- 37:22S2: can act like they've lost their minds for a season.
- 37:25S2: And the only reason I know that is I've done that. Thankfully,
- 37:27S2: it was more in my youth. But what do you
- 37:31S2: say to a person that is just gone through loss
- 37:34S2: and they want to get there. They want to. They
- 37:39S2: don't want it to be a decade. They want it
- 37:42S2: to be a month. How do you sit in that?
- 37:46S11: We have to know scripture. We have to believe it.
- 37:49S11: If we're struggling, our struggle needs to be a struggle
- 37:52S11: that is ultimately leaning toward trust in God, rather than
- 37:58S11: leaning away from God in anger and bitterness. Okay, so
- 38:03S11: we might go, God, I just don't understand this. And
- 38:05S11: so as a result, I'm never going to spend any
- 38:08S11: more time with you or go to church ever again.
- 38:09S6: Yeah.
- 38:10S11: That's wrong. It's God. I don't understand this. Why did
- 38:14S11: my child just die? Why did my husband just die
- 38:17S11: in a traffic accident? I don't understand this. I don't
- 38:21S11: see how any good could come out of this. Well, Lord,
- 38:24S11: I'm going to hang on to you. I'm going to
- 38:26S11: have you walk me through this. And I'm going to
- 38:29S11: lean on you and your people and prayer and scriptures
- 38:32S11: and the church, and I'm going to trust you to
- 38:35S11: get me through this. It seems to me that that's
- 38:37S11: those are some of the basics of what we need
- 38:39S11: to do in order to get through.
- 38:41S3: Michael Van Landingham rich conversation. And I know that you're
- 38:45S3: going to want to know where you can find more.
- 38:46S3: Just text van to 805 557898VAN. Just text van to
- 38:53S3: 805 557898.
- 38:57S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
- 39:01S1: and crew.
- 39:02S2: Alli. Can God do a miracle at a Chinese restaurant?
- 39:06S5: Yes he can.
- 39:08S2: Just making sure. Your thumbs up on that one.
- 39:11S3: The answer to can God do a miracle is yes.
- 39:14S3: No matter where you are.
- 39:16S2: There was a lecture by Doctor Wayne Grudem at Fellowship
- 39:20S2: Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas. I was on staff
- 39:22S2: there with Robert Lewis at the time, and as God
- 39:25S2: would have it, we had the privilege, my bride and I,
- 39:27S2: to go out to dinner with Doctor Grudem, and we
- 39:31S2: took him, the three of us, to cheese Chinese. And boy,
- 39:34S2: that was some good eating, let me tell you. Up
- 39:36S2: on a hill, and it was some good food. And
- 39:39S2: when we were there, Jeanine began to share her story
- 39:43S2: a little bit, and a story of incredible grace and
- 39:45S2: overcoming some health challenges. She had a real sticking point
- 39:48S2: with some autoimmune stuff, and Doctor Wayne Grudem said, well,
- 39:53S2: let's just take a moment here right now and I'll
- 39:56S2: never forget it. Where exactly we were sitting in that restaurant.
- 39:59S2: And what happened next was a prayer of healing for
- 40:02S2: Jeanine that resulted in healing for my bride, Janine.
- 40:05S9: Oh.
- 40:06S2: And she's hearing this right now, and she's probably rocked
- 40:09S2: at a core level. And she's hearing me introduce Doctor
- 40:12S2: Wayne Grudem. Wayne, I'm so grateful that you're here with
- 40:15S2: us today. I remember when I got my two leatherbound
- 40:18S2: copies of ESV Study Bible from you. What a great treat.
- 40:22S2: You know, you've learned a lot. You've run a lot
- 40:24S2: of laps in this race of faith. What what have
- 40:29S2: what have you learned most? What's on your heart today?
- 40:31S2: I'm going to leave it wide open for you right
- 40:33S2: now before we get some specific questions. What's the Spirit
- 40:36S2: of God prompting you to say to our listeners across
- 40:38S2: North America this morning, Wayne.
- 40:40S12: I think I'm in a period of time where the
- 40:43S12: Lord wants me to be more aware of his presence
- 40:46S12: and to, uh, recognize his presence with me throughout the day,
- 40:51S12: to know him and fellowship with him. And that's something
- 40:55S12: I think we always can grow in, grow deeper in.
- 40:58S3: Doctor Wayne Grudem, our guest right now serves as distinguished
- 41:01S3: research professor of theology and biblical Studies emeritus at Phoenix
- 41:05S3: Seminary in Arizona. And Carl also mentioned his work with
- 41:09S3: the ESV Study Bible, which I. My copy is weighs
- 41:13S3: about £50, I feel like. But boy do I love
- 41:17S3: and rely on the Word of God. Specifically the ESV
- 41:20S3: Study Bible. When we think about the church, both the
- 41:23S3: visible and the invisible church, can you make that distinction? How.
- 41:28S3: How should we understand the invisible and the visible church?
- 41:31S12: Well, you just think of a church building on Sunday
- 41:33S12: morning where the people are walking in and coming, sitting
- 41:36S12: in the pew. That's the visible church. That's the people
- 41:38S12: we see that are attending the church and participating in
- 41:41S12: its activities. But we don't see the the spiritual side
- 41:46S12: of people. We don't see what's going on in their hearts.
- 41:49S12: We don't see what's going on with the Holy Spirit
- 41:51S12: working in their lives. And we don't see that some
- 41:54S12: of them really haven't come to know God through Jesus Christ.
- 41:58S12: And they're maybe just visiting for the first time or
- 42:01S12: for the 10th time, curious about what's going on, but
- 42:04S12: haven't made a commitment to Christ. Wondering what about? What
- 42:08S12: should I do about trusting Christ or not? Well, they
- 42:11S12: are not part of the spiritual church, the invisible church.
- 42:16S12: The church as God sees it. They're part of the
- 42:18S12: visible church, as we, as the church, as we see it.
- 42:21S12: And we can see some evidence in people's lives one
- 42:25S12: way or another. But we're not sure. But God knows
- 42:28S12: who is is. And so there are people in every
- 42:31S12: church who, um, who know and love Jesus Christ. And
- 42:35S12: then there are others who aren't there yet. And we
- 42:38S12: pray for them and hope they come to Christ, but
- 42:40S12: they're not in the church as God understands it. Counting
- 42:44S12: the people who are born again.
- 42:45S2: Yeah. You know, Wayne Grudem, doctor Wayne Grudem is our
- 42:48S2: guest right now. Wayne, when we look at Matthew seven.
- 42:51S2: It's one of the passages we go to hear often
- 42:53S2: because it's our conviction and we've seen it that there are.
- 42:56S2: And I agree with Louie Giglio, who said a number
- 42:59S2: of years ago at an event in Atlanta that there
- 43:02S2: are millions of people that go to. Great Bible preaching
- 43:05S2: churches every weekend who have yet to be transformed by
- 43:08S2: the power of God. And we find that in Matthew
- 43:10S2: seven many will say to me on that day I.
- 43:13S2: The amazing truth of that passage is that they preach
- 43:16S2: in Jesus name, prophesy in his name, cast out demons
- 43:19S2: in his name, and do mighty works in his name.
- 43:21S2: But they don't know him. What's going on there, Wayne?
- 43:24S2: How is it that we in the West have such
- 43:27S2: a deception of salvation? And what can we do to
- 43:31S2: see this changed? Because it seems to be widespread? Church
- 43:36S2: attendance Churchianity, as it's often called, is not the real thing,
- 43:40S2: but a living, breathing relationship with God is. What's your
- 43:44S2: heart on that matter?
- 43:46S12: Well, I understand it to mean there are times when
- 43:50S12: God answers the prayers of unbelievers, and, uh, they may
- 43:54S12: be teaching from the Bible. And the Word of God
- 43:59S12: in itself has power to touch people's hearts and change
- 44:03S12: people's lives. So it's even possible for someone to be
- 44:06S12: bringing others to church and seeing some people say genuinely
- 44:10S12: saved and maybe praying and having some prayers answered, but
- 44:15S12: they're not born again because God honors His word and
- 44:19S12: and sometimes answers the prayers of unbelievers. And so Jesus
- 44:23S12: can still say, that's the end of the passage you
- 44:26S12: mentioned in Matthew seven, I will declare to them, I
- 44:29S12: never knew you. Depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.
- 44:33S12: I think, Carl, also, there will be some evidence in
- 44:35S12: people's lives if they're unbelievers, though, there will be some
- 44:39S12: harmful or destructive or unhelpful fruit that will come from
- 44:42S12: their activities in their conversations, maybe stirring up strife in
- 44:47S12: the church, dissension and division, spirit of criticism, other things
- 44:51S12: that don't reflect a life that's transformed by the Spirit
- 44:54S12: of God.
- 44:55S9: Yeah.
- 44:56S3: Doctor Wayne Grudem, our guest right now. You know, when
- 44:58S3: we when we think about the church, the Bible uses
- 45:01S3: metaphors often to help us give a picture of what
- 45:04S3: the church is like. Uh, branches on a vine or
- 45:07S3: an olive tree. How do we take these metaphors to
- 45:10S3: really deepen our understanding of both the, as we mentioned,
- 45:13S3: the visible and the invisible church and how we are
- 45:15S3: to function in it.
- 45:18S12: Well, those different images or metaphors, uh, have different applications.
- 45:22S12: And that one that you just mentioned comes back to
- 45:25S12: the question of daily minute by minute, hour by hour
- 45:28S12: fellowship with Jesus in John 15. He says, I am
- 45:32S12: the vine, you are the branches. Whoever abides in me
- 45:35S12: and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.
- 45:37S12: For apart from me you can do nothing. Whoever abides
- 45:40S12: in me to abide, to rest, just remain in the
- 45:44S12: presence of Jesus. If we do that, we bring forth
- 45:47S12: much fruit in our lives. And so that metaphor of
- 45:50S12: the vine and the branches teaches us not to stray
- 45:53S12: away from Jesus, but to remain in his presence, something
- 45:58S12: that I'm seeking to learn better every day.
- 46:02S2: Seeking to learn better every day. Doctor Wayne Grudem with us.
- 46:05S2: If you can hold on my brother for just a minute.
- 46:08S2: When we get back, I want us to tackle the
- 46:11S2: power of the spirit, because it is the fruit of
- 46:14S2: the spirit that we find in Galatians five that we're
- 46:17S2: called to produce in our life, not deeds of the flesh.
- 46:21S2: How are we filled with the spirit? The spirit was
- 46:25S2: my lost God until maybe 1520 years ago. And now
- 46:30S2: I understand not only the need to be filled by
- 46:33S2: the spirit, but walking in the spirit. What does that
- 46:36S2: look like? More with Doctor Wayne Grudem straight ahead.
- 46:40S1: Celebrating the unstoppable gospel.
- 46:43S4: It's not that I've got to fill in these check boxes,
- 46:45S4: so he's okay with me, but it's that I get
- 46:47S4: to stand close to him so that I can experience
- 46:50S4: the life that he has for me.
- 46:52S1: You're listening to Carl and crew. Groove.
- 46:55S2: What a treat. Boom crew with us. Doctor Wayne Grudem,
- 46:58S2: a terrific man of God, very knowledgeable in the original
- 47:01S2: languages and humble, you know, Doctor Grudem the Holy Spirit
- 47:07S2: for me, I think if I backtrack through this, I
- 47:11S2: went to Multnomah Bible College, great school, and then on
- 47:14S2: to Denver Seminary. I wrote doctrinal statements on the power
- 47:18S2: of the spirit. But he was my lost God. I
- 47:21S2: think there was a reaction, an overreaction to abuses of
- 47:25S2: the spirit. And that caused a lot of what kind
- 47:27S2: of directed me. And a lot of the people that
- 47:29S2: I was even educated by and those that I hung
- 47:32S2: with my peers. But if you go to the scriptures,
- 47:35S2: you go to Galatians five, you go to Romans eight,
- 47:38S2: and I want to just sit on this one verse
- 47:39S2: for a moment here and have you comment on it.
- 47:42S2: For if you live according to the flesh, you will die,
- 47:45S2: says Paul. But if by the spirit, Holy Spirit, capital S,
- 47:49S2: you put to death the deeds of the body, you
- 47:53S2: will live. That is quite the promise, wouldn't you say, Wayne?
- 47:59S12: I think a lot of it has to do with
- 48:01S12: just pausing for a moment and be aware of what's
- 48:06S12: happening in your in your heart, in your soul, in
- 48:09S12: the nonphysical part of our existence. Are we sensing the
- 48:14S12: presence of the Holy Spirit? Are we resting in his presence?
- 48:17S12: Abiding in Christ is another way of speaking of it.
- 48:20S12: In John 15. But Paul says in Romans eight, as
- 48:25S12: you say, by the power of the spirit we put
- 48:26S12: to death the deeds of the flesh. We all are
- 48:29S12: making progress from one stage of growth in the Christian
- 48:34S12: life to the next, and it's by the Spirit's power
- 48:37S12: that we're able to make progress, not just our own
- 48:41S12: willpower or resolve or strength of determination, but resting in
- 48:46S12: the presence of the Holy Spirit who guides and leads us.
- 48:50S12: And I think if we just take a moment to
- 48:53S12: pause and say, now, what's going on in my heart?
- 48:56S12: What's going on in my spirit? We can often sense
- 48:58S12: the guidance of the Holy Spirit more frequently than we
- 49:01S12: generally have a habit of doing. I think we in
- 49:05S12: the Western society, tend to focus so much on externals,
- 49:10S12: on our actions and the things we can see and
- 49:13S12: hear and touch, and we're not as sensitive to the
- 49:17S12: invisible leading of the Holy Spirit in our hearts.
- 49:20S3: Doctor Wayne Grudem, our guest right now, a final question
- 49:23S3: I want you to give a charge to to the church,
- 49:26S3: to us as the body of Christ. You've seen a
- 49:29S3: lot over the years. You have been so intimately connected
- 49:32S3: with the Word of God. How now shall we live?
- 49:35S3: What's your charge to the church?
- 49:38S12: Be obedient to God's Word. Following after Jesus and doing
- 49:42S12: his will, seeking to follow him day by day. Understanding
- 49:46S12: that Jesus said in John 155, apart from me you
- 49:50S12: can do nothing. You're not going to accomplish any spiritual
- 49:52S12: good in this world unless we're following the guidance of
- 49:55S12: the Holy Spirit, being obedient to God and His Word, praying,
- 50:00S12: living in fellowship with other believers, worshiping, reading His Word,
- 50:04S12: just the ordinary disciplines of the Christian life.
- 50:07S2: You know, it's really funny, Wayne, because I so appreciate
- 50:10S2: you coming on. But at the end of the day,
- 50:12S2: you can explore all the scriptures from Genesis to Revelation.
- 50:16S2: It comes down to a simple few commitments. That humble
- 50:20S2: dependence on God, that awareness of what's going on inside
- 50:23S2: our spirit, as you said, and then walking with him.
- 50:26S2: Being led by him requires some quietness in the day,
- 50:30S2: some quietness in your heart. And I just want to
- 50:34S2: tell you, Wayne, how much I appreciate your ministry not
- 50:36S2: only to myself, but to many millions of others over
- 50:40S2: the years. And it's been rich, my friend, and I
- 50:42S2: appreciate you taking the time to come on today. You've
- 50:45S2: struggled with some health challenges, but you are soldiering on,
- 50:49S2: my friend. And you haven't lost your sense of humor yet,
- 50:51S2: have you? You've still got that intact?
- 50:55S12: I don't think so.
- 50:57S13: I, um.
- 50:58S12: I have a sense that you were hoping I could
- 51:01S12: impart to you some new spiritual secret that hadn't been
- 51:04S12: discovered yet.
- 51:07S13: I'm doing a thing.
- 51:09S12: I go back to the basics of the Christian life
- 51:12S12: Bible reading, prayer, waiting on the Lord, and just not
- 51:16S12: reading another verse, not saying another prayer request, but just
- 51:19S12: waiting and dwelling in his presence. Yeah, these things are
- 51:23S12: basic to the Christian life, and I don't think there's
- 51:25S12: any new hidden secret that we discover. We just practice
- 51:29S12: those old fashioned disciplines, and God will work in our
- 51:31S12: lives as he guides us, as we follow his guidance.
- 51:35S2: I love you, brother. Thank you for being with us,
- 51:37S2: Doctor Wayne Grudem. And we've got a link because there
- 51:40S2: is a ton of content here. You're going to want
- 51:44S2: to check this out.
- 51:45S3: Our guest doctor Wayne Grudem just text Wayne to 805 557898.
- 51:51S3: Text Wayne to 805 557898.
- 51:56S1: Tune in whenever you like. Check out the Carl and
- 51:59S1: Crew podcast wherever you like to stream.
- 52:02S2: February 21st, 2018. I got chills right now. Uh. Heaven
- 52:06S2: welcomed a giant. The presence of God welcomed a giant
- 52:10S2: Billy Graham. What an amazing man of God. And we've
- 52:14S2: got his daughter here right now, Ruth and Anne Graham
- 52:18S2: Lotz is with us right now. And, oh, we're going
- 52:22S2: to tell a story about the impact of your dad's
- 52:25S2: passing on Moody Radio on our morning show that I
- 52:28S2: think is going to really encourage you, but you got
- 52:31S2: to talk about the goodness of God to give you
- 52:33S2: a daddy like Billy.
- 52:36S14: You know, it's very humbling. And I think it was
- 52:39S14: Psalm 16 that says, my lines have fallen pleasant, places low.
- 52:43S14: I have a goodly heritage. And you're exactly right. God
- 52:46S14: gave me that. It wasn't anything I had anything to
- 52:48S14: do with, you know?
- 52:48S9: It just he just.
- 52:50S14: Placed me in that family. And, and I'm very, very grateful. And,
- 52:53S14: and one of the things I'm most grateful for, Carl,
- 52:56S14: is my father's faithfulness to the gospel all of his
- 53:00S14: life until the day he went home and I. I
- 53:03S14: know I've heard my mother and father both just appreciate
- 53:06S14: Moody so much for the fact that Moody Bible Institute
- 53:10S14: and Moody Radio have been faithful to God's Word over
- 53:13S14: the years. You know, sometimes, um, you know, an institution
- 53:16S14: tends to sort of drift away and they drift left.
- 53:20S14: And moody has stayed true. So I applaud you all
- 53:23S14: for 100 years of faithfulness to the Word of God
- 53:26S14: and proclaiming it to people all across the world.
- 53:29S3: Yeah. It's been it's been an incredible week and was
- 53:32S3: celebrating all week long this 100 year anniversary and culminated
- 53:36S3: on Tuesday with a big full day birthday celebration. But
- 53:40S3: we want to take you back. Carl, I'm going to
- 53:42S3: let you, uh, explain that moment of February of what,
- 53:46S3: 2018 when there was a real shift? It was a
- 53:49S3: defining moment. We call it our defining moment of the
- 53:52S3: morning show.
- 53:53S2: Yeah. And when we say defining moment, we mean this.
- 53:58S2: And your dad's passing charted a course for us that
- 54:02S2: has resulted in Jonathan, you want to venture a guess
- 54:05S2: how many people have been impacted since that day?
- 54:08S4: Uh, it's it's probably close to about 3000 who have made, uh,
- 54:14S4: commitments to Jesus Christ either for the very first time
- 54:18S4: in their life or recognizing I thought I had a
- 54:20S4: relationship with Jesus and I didn't, and I want to now.
- 54:23S2: That's been many. So February 1st, I brought in Doctor
- 54:28S2: Erwin Lutzer the next day, and he gave the gospel.
- 54:33S2: And we decided, no, let's not just give the gospel.
- 54:37S2: Let's give an active call to respond. And then we
- 54:40S2: are going to start caring for these people who respond
- 54:43S2: that day alone, 400 people responded to the gospel and
- 54:48S2: it's never stopped. We've seen thousands of souls saved here.
- 54:52S2: And one of the things we're committed to and is
- 54:55S2: being clear with the gospel. One thing I love about
- 54:58S2: your dad's ministry, not only was he clear about the
- 55:01S2: nature of man that were sinners, that were born with
- 55:04S2: our backs to God, but the call to repentance, and
- 55:08S2: then his commitment to clarity. Because every one of those
- 55:12S2: who came forward at a Billy Graham crusade was followed
- 55:16S2: up with, this wasn't just walk an aisle and then
- 55:19S2: see you later, boy. He was committed to really making disciples,
- 55:23S2: wasn't he?
- 55:23S14: And he was. And they had a plan in place.
- 55:27S14: They put people in churches and had Bible studies that
- 55:30S14: they would plunge them into their little following Christ. A
- 55:33S14: little packet that they gave them when they came down
- 55:36S14: just helped them get into God's Word that they would
- 55:38S14: understand the commitment they made. Because like you said, it's
- 55:41S14: not just a one off, you know, you don't just
- 55:44S14: sign a card, you just don't walk forward and think,
- 55:46S14: that's it. That's the first step. And then you have
- 55:48S14: to grow in your relationship with God. And he did that.
- 55:51S14: It was the head of the navigators that helped him
- 55:53S14: design that course. And, and, and it was very effective,
- 55:57S14: I think. I've traveled all over the world, and I
- 55:59S14: meet so many people who've put their faith in Jesus
- 56:03S14: and who've, you know, just not only put their faith
- 56:05S14: in Jesus, but then grown in their faith to the
- 56:08S14: point that then they're, they're sharing their faith with others.
- 56:10S2: Yeah. It's amazing. What do you believe is the unseen
- 56:15S2: part of your daddy's legacy?
- 56:17S14: He's been examined so closely, I'm not sure there is
- 56:20S14: an unseen part of my father's legacy, unless it's just
- 56:23S14: the Holy Spirit himself. You know, it's the Holy Spirit
- 56:26S14: that moves in people's hearts. Just when you say there
- 56:29S14: are 3000 people who've responded, that's evidence of the Holy
- 56:32S14: Spirit moving. And I do believe, Carl, that we're in
- 56:35S14: a harvest time right now. You know, it's amazing that
- 56:39S14: you see that on college campuses. You see it across
- 56:42S14: the globe. People are responding to the gospel. And I
- 56:45S14: think as the world situation melts down and we're in
- 56:48S14: such a very critically strategic, dangerous time in the world,
- 56:54S14: people get concerned, they get afraid, and they start looking up,
- 56:57S14: and God uses that to draw them to himself. And
- 57:01S14: it's up to people like you and Allie and myself
- 57:04S14: and others to proclaim the gospel clearly. So. So they
- 57:07S14: know where to find the answer, where to find peace
- 57:09S14: in their hearts and hope for the future.
- 57:11S3: You already started to touch on it, but I'm going
- 57:13S3: to ask you to go a little further. In light
- 57:15S3: of the days that we are living in. We're living
- 57:17S3: in a harvest time. A lot of times we talk
- 57:19S3: about that people are far more ready to hear sometimes
- 57:23S3: than we are to share. Prepared to share. How do
- 57:26S3: we live in this moment as believers? For every person,
- 57:29S3: whether you have a platform or not? How do we
- 57:32S3: live faithfully in these times and speak to our listener?
- 57:36S14: Well, you know, I think first of all, you need
- 57:37S14: to make sure that you're maintaining your personal walk with
- 57:40S14: the Lord. So, so this morning, I've already been up early.
- 57:43S14: I've had my prayer time and Bible reading, and one
- 57:45S14: of the things I asked the Lord was to give
- 57:47S14: me opportunities. Today I have a doctor's appointment. I have
- 57:50S14: some media things to do and just asking me to
- 57:53S14: be aware of the people around me so that he
- 57:56S14: would give me those divine appointments. And sometimes it's just
- 57:59S14: a nurse in the doctor's office who needs prayer. I
- 58:02S14: had a nurse this last time. She was facing a
- 58:05S14: cancer diagnosis, and I just put her arms around her
- 58:08S14: and prayed for her. Sometimes it's if you go out
- 58:10S14: for a meal and when the server comes, you just
- 58:12S14: ask how you can pray for them as you. You
- 58:14S14: pray your blessing over your meal. Is there something you
- 58:17S14: can pray for them? I've had so many servers stay there,
- 58:20S14: put their hands out and let me hold their hands
- 58:22S14: while I prayed over them before we prayed for the meal.
- 58:25S14: So just little things like that, asking God to make
- 58:28S14: you aware of the people around you. And then you
- 58:32S14: don't have to have a, you know, we don't have
- 58:34S14: to be trained or, but just what's in your heart
- 58:36S14: should come out in your mouth. You know, if you
- 58:38S14: love Jesus, if he's been good to you, if he's
- 58:40S14: answered your prayers, then just share with other people what
- 58:43S14: he's meant to you.
- 58:44S2: Ian Graham Lotz is with us right now, Billy Graham's daughter. And,
- 58:48S2: and I, I'm curious about this because I had a
- 58:51S2: daddy that was incredibly rich in faith. And one of
- 58:54S2: the things that he would constantly do is he'd say, oh, oh, Carl,
- 58:58S2: the grace of God is so good. And as a
- 59:01S2: matter of fact, I was I was far from God.
- 59:03S2: When my dad went to a Billy Graham training session
- 59:06S2: in George Beverly Shea was there. And I wasn't walking
- 59:11S2: with Jesus young 20s, very reckless, living in Alaska, far
- 59:14S2: from God. And I saw tears just streaming down my
- 59:17S2: dad's face. There were things about my dad that I
- 59:19S2: only saw in private. What was your daddy like when
- 59:22S2: he came back from these crusades? What was going on?
- 59:25S2: Give us a peek inside the man behind the scenes.
- 59:29S14: You know, the man behind the scenes was the same
- 59:31S14: as the man in public. Actually, Carl, you know, there
- 59:34S14: weren't two of them. And, um. But he loved to relax.
- 59:37S14: He loved his comfortable jeans and his old sweaters and
- 59:42S14: soft shoes. He loved to walk up on the mountain.
- 59:45S14: He was very faithful, even as long as he could
- 59:48S14: be upright. You know, he walked on the mountain and
- 59:51S14: just exercised himself. He loved to sit in the chair
- 59:54S14: in the kitchen and talk to the people who would
- 59:56S14: come in to help with, whether it was with the
- 59:58S14: yard or with mother in the house or, you know,
- 1:00:00S14: he spent time on the phone and and he spent
- 1:00:03S14: time in his study, you know, preparing his messages. And
- 1:00:06S14: he was just he was at ease. He wasn't uptight.
- 1:00:09S14: I don't remember him coming home frustrated or uptight or
- 1:00:12S14: snapping at anybody or never. When he came, he was
- 1:00:17S14: he was thrilled to see my mother. It was really
- 1:00:18S14: sweet when when he walked into the room, she lit
- 1:00:20S14: up and he lit up. And, you know, they had
- 1:00:23S14: a really, uh, precious love relationship. And he was good
- 1:00:27S14: with us. And so he loved his dogs. He always
- 1:00:30S14: had a dog that he had either. As he got older,
- 1:00:33S14: the dog stayed in the room with him when he
- 1:00:35S14: was a younger mother wouldn't allow that. You know, she
- 1:00:37S14: made the dog stay outside. But he loved hiking the
- 1:00:40S14: mountain with the dogs, and he loved to feed them,
- 1:00:42S14: so he would take something from his plate. Goodness. I
- 1:00:45S14: remember when he had ribs and he would hand a
- 1:00:47S14: rib to one of the dogs, and or if he
- 1:00:49S14: had bacon in the morning, he would have people fix
- 1:00:51S14: extra bacon so he could feed the.
- 1:00:53S9: Dog, get some extra bacon.
- 1:00:55S14: Yeah. So, so he was, he was an animal person. He,
- 1:00:58S14: you know, and he just, he just relaxed. So I
- 1:01:01S14: had to have been a gift that God gave him,
- 1:01:03S14: that he could do the things he did and then
- 1:01:05S14: immediately come back and relax and, uh, shift gears.
- 1:01:09S3: And Graham Lotz, such a privilege to have you on.
- 1:01:12S3: It's been an incredible week. And because of the defining
- 1:01:16S3: moment of our morning show and how it evolved when your,
- 1:01:19S3: your dad's homegoing, and we appreciate you being on, on
- 1:01:21S3: this special week for Moody Radio and Graham Lotz. Just
- 1:01:24S3: text Graham if you want more on our website, free resources, devotionals, messages, study, prayer.
- 1:01:30S3: She's written extensively. Text Graham to 805 5557898 will get
- 1:01:36S3: you connected, just text Graham 805 557898.
- 1:01:42S1: This is Carl and Crew on Moody Radio.
- 1:01:45S2: Okay, it's that time of day. Here it is. That
- 1:01:48S2: time of day. Take it away, Ali.
- 1:01:50S3: Well, we have someone on our team. A k a
- 1:01:53S3: young thunder Jonathan Reinke, who has a knack for finding
- 1:01:57S3: the spiritual lesson in just about anything you can think of.
- 1:02:02S2: Oh, those are high stakes you're putting there.
- 1:02:04S3: That's what he does. It's called make it a metaphor.
- 1:02:08S1: Finding nuggets of truth in everyday life.
- 1:02:11S15: It's a metaphor. It's just a metaphor, dude. That's a metaphor.
- 1:02:14S15: It's a metaphor.
- 1:02:15S16: I know it's a metaphor.
- 1:02:16S1: It's time for making a metaphor with young thunder.
- 1:02:21S2: And our storyteller today is none other than super dime.
- 1:02:29S5: Well. Thank you. Well, this past Monday in the Chicagoland area,
- 1:02:32S5: we had some very severe storms come through. It's 2:00
- 1:02:35S5: in the afternoon. I'm driving home and it might as
- 1:02:37S5: well have been midnight. I mean, and debris is everywhere.
- 1:02:39S5: So I'm driving home, hands on the wheel. It's dark.
- 1:02:42S5: It's just so bad. And I have never had my
- 1:02:45S5: phone go off this many times before. I'm thinking, what
- 1:02:49S5: on earth? Scam scam scam keeps popping up. Unknown. I
- 1:02:52S5: know there had to be eight calls. Eight calls. And
- 1:02:54S5: I'm like. And normally there's on your screen, you can
- 1:02:57S5: hit this button. It says delete, get it out of there,
- 1:02:59S5: you know, kind of thing, but I couldn't. So everything
- 1:03:01S5: kept scrolling messages and I'm just because, you know, my
- 1:03:03S5: hands are in the wheel. So just with everything, it's
- 1:03:05S5: just aggravating. I finally get home. I pull, you know,
- 1:03:08S5: pull in, I take a breath, take a prayer. I'm like, okay.
- 1:03:11S5: And then I like, I think on my phone and
- 1:03:12S5: I grab it. I'm like, delete, delete, delete. I'm just
- 1:03:14S5: racing through all these like calls I came through just
- 1:03:17S5: aggravating me on the way home with this lovely commute.
- 1:03:20S5: And I go to press a button and just in
- 1:03:23S5: an instant I catch two words pet link. Now let
- 1:03:27S5: me back up a little bit. Super Bowl Sunday we
- 1:03:31S5: lost our long time pet. It got out. Our cat,
- 1:03:34S5: Percy accidentally got out of the door. They found Percy.
- 1:03:38S9: Oh. Super dog.
- 1:03:40S5: I bought the stress of the drive. The stress of everything.
- 1:03:44S5: I start bawling, I'm calling Pet Link. I got the
- 1:03:46S5: lady crying because she's. You know, she has to confirm
- 1:03:49S5: it to me. Whatever. Whatever. A three way call. We
- 1:03:51S5: get in touch. Even in the storm that night, I
- 1:03:53S5: pick up my son from work because this was his baby.
- 1:03:56S5: We got this cat during Covid. It was his baby.
- 1:03:58S5: We go to pick it up. Long story short, Percy
- 1:04:01S5: is home.
- 1:04:02S3: After how long?
- 1:04:03S5: Five and a half. It'll be. It'll be. It would've
- 1:04:05S5: been six months next week.
- 1:04:07S9: What?
- 1:04:07S4: That's incredible.
- 1:04:08S9: Percy.
- 1:04:08S2: Percy was.
- 1:04:09S3: Percy is home.
- 1:04:11S5: I took him to the vet, and he is in surprisingly,
- 1:04:13S5: you know, lost some weight, but in good shape. He
- 1:04:15S5: had a couple cuts, but nothing. He is.
- 1:04:17S9: In.
- 1:04:18S5: Even the vet was surprised how good of shape he
- 1:04:21S5: was in.
- 1:04:22S4: Man that's incredible.
- 1:04:24S5: We got Percy home.
- 1:04:26S9: Oh.
- 1:04:27S5: I almost deleted that message. And my friend's like, well,
- 1:04:29S5: they would have called you back. I said, but you
- 1:04:31S5: don't understand. That was the first message. That was the.
- 1:04:33S5: I almost deleted that first message of Percy coming back home.
- 1:04:37S2: Well, I'm so in awe over this story. I almost
- 1:04:38S2: forgot what we're doing here.
- 1:04:39S9: It's called.
- 1:04:40S2: A.
- 1:04:40S9: Metaphor.
- 1:04:41S2: With Jonathan. Jonathan, make it a metaphor, man.
- 1:04:44S4: Yeah. You know, I, I can't help but to think
- 1:04:46S4: of anything else other than Luke 15 verse. Starting in
- 1:04:49S4: verse four, Jesus says, suppose one of you has a
- 1:04:52S4: hundred sheep and loses one of them. Doesn't he leave
- 1:04:54S4: the 99 in the open country and go after the
- 1:04:56S4: lost sheep until he finds it? And when he finds it,
- 1:04:59S4: he joyfully puts it on his shoulders and goes goes home.
- 1:05:02S4: He calls his friends and neighbors together and says, rejoice
- 1:05:05S4: with me. I have found my lost sheep. I tell
- 1:05:07S4: you that in the same way there will be more
- 1:05:09S4: rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over
- 1:05:12S4: 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent. I
- 1:05:17S4: think that Jesus did the make it a metaphor today
- 1:05:20S4: because there is a joy in the lost being found.
- 1:05:26S9: Amen.
- 1:05:27S4: And God knows that, and he rejoices over us in
- 1:05:31S4: the same way. And as we're talking about the goodness
- 1:05:33S4: of God today, let's remember the days in which we
- 1:05:38S4: were lost, the days in which we were lost and
- 1:05:41S4: like super die. Jesus never stopped putting out the, the,
- 1:05:45S4: the EPA for us, the, the looking for us that
- 1:05:47S4: he's out on the move searching. And let's remember the
- 1:05:51S4: day he finally found us and the rejoicing that came
- 1:05:54S4: from that.
- 1:05:55S2: Percy and the sheep.
- 1:05:56S9: Wow, wow.
- 1:05:59S3: What a great story. What a great metaphor.
- 1:06:02S4: The parable of the lost Percy.
- 1:06:04S3: Leaves home unbelievable.
- 1:06:06S5: And he's very happy. He's very happy.
- 1:06:08S9: Sure he is. Sure. He's been out fighting.
- 1:06:11S2: For.
- 1:06:11S9: Food.
- 1:06:11S5: Well, they warned me that, you know, their personality. They
- 1:06:14S5: can change sometimes after that long, almost six months. They
- 1:06:16S5: don't know. But no, he acclimated instantly.
- 1:06:19S9: That's awesome.
- 1:06:20S4: He said.
- 1:06:20S9: I'm back. I'm.
- 1:06:21S5: I'm back.
- 1:06:22S2: I ain't going on no more runners.
- 1:06:23S9: No.
- 1:06:24S2: Next open door. I'm gonna.
- 1:06:26S9: Let.
- 1:06:26S4: That.
- 1:06:26S9: Thing.
- 1:06:26S2: Shut.