Latest / Karl and Crew / Understanding Passover with Dr. Michael Rydelnik & Holy Week for Persecuted Christians with Todd Nettleton

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Understanding Passover with Dr. Michael Rydelnik & Holy Week for Persecuted Christians with Todd Nettleton · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
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  S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide. Overcome
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  S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. Start
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  S1: your morning with a laugh.
• 0:17
  S2: Practical from the Bible. Tips and tricks to kill. Not
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  S2: tricks but tips and tricks.
• 0:25
  S3: Tips and tricks to kill. Tips and tricks.
• 0:28
  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
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  S4: All of my attempts to, you know, prop myself up
• 0:33
  S4: with achievement in good works. Well, God wasn't impressed by that,
• 0:36
  S4: even if other people were.
• 0:38
  S2: The gospel changes everything.
• 0:41
  S5: Freedom in Christ. Man, it's like that backpack of cement
• 0:44
  S5: just falling to the ground.
• 0:46
  S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
• 0:50
  S1: and Crew. So I wake up this morning.
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  S6: With a little bit of a bug. Just a little something,
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  S6: you know what I'm saying? When you got a little something.
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  S4: Yeah.
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  S6: And then I get this, uh. Memory. And I get
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  S6: this from time to time when I have a little. Something.
• 1:09
  S6: And I don't have many sick days at all. Very many.
• 1:13
  S6: But nothing. Like my dad's standard. So I was thinking
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  S6: about this, and I decided to text my big sister
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  S6: early this morning, which is late at night in Brisbane, Australia.
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  S6: So I texted her this one. You guys will get
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  S6: a kick out of this. This is a story about
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  S6: my dad. I said to the best cheer and to
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  S6: the best of my recollection, dad took a half day
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  S6: of sick leave in his whole career in education, like
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  S6: 40 years. Guys, if you remember anything different, let me know.
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  S6: But I do remember that he was sick one morning
• 1:45
  S6: and by noon he headed back in. I think that
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  S6: was when he was a principal at Rabbit Creek Elementary.
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  S2: That's crazy.
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  S6: That's what he texted my big sis. She got back
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  S6: to me and she said, that's my memory, too. And
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  S6: later in life, after many a surgery. This is like
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  S6: in his 80s and 90s when the docs said don't
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  S6: start walking for 24 hours. He started in 12 or
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  S6: maybe eight. What an amazing, what an amazing human. I
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  S6: miss him so often. A crazy hard worker willing to
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  S6: try anything and a man who truly knew Ginosko knowing.
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  S6: There's my big sis using a little Greek there. The
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  S6: grace of God that was my dad. So dad, in
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  S6: the cloud of witnesses. I'm going to suck it up, buttercup.
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  S6: And I'm going for it. Dad, we're going to go
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  S6: for it.
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  S7: There you go.
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  S6: Is that is that cool? My dad took a half
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  S6: day of sick leave in 40 years. I'm sorry, but
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  S6: that's that's crazy.
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  S7: That's wild.
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  S2: Crazy.
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  S3: It's crazy.
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  S6: That is crazy. No, he didn't live that long. He
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  S6: only went to 95, but.
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  S2: Oh, yeah. No.
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  S6: If it hadn't been for those crazy surgeries he had
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  S6: down the stretch. He'd have been stroking strong into 100.
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  S6: Welcome aboard, boom crew. It's good to have you here.
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  S6: If you got a little bug coming on, we're going
• 3:07
  S6: to get through it. We're going to get through it.
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  S6: It's just that time of year in Chicagoland. The weather,
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  S6: it doesn't know what it wants to.
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  S7: Do.
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  S6: From 78 to 32.
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  S7: Oh, I know, I know, it's ridiculous here in the city.
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  S7: I mean, we just completely dropped. We're 38 degrees. We
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  S7: were close to 70 yesterday morning. Come on. Yeah.
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  S6: It's a it's a weird deal, man.
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  S7: I want to swing back tomorrow again.
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  S6: Yeah. It's going to it's going to swing back and forth.
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  S6: My bride always tells me because I get fired up
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  S6: about marches in Chicago. And she's like, bub, easy now
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  S6: marches back and forth.
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  S7: It's a.
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  S3: Weird.
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  S6: About.
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  S7: That for sure.
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  S2: Yesterday the high was like 72 and I was outside
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  S2: playing with my daughter and we went outside like an
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  S2: hour later and it had dropped 20 degrees and I
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  S2: did not understand that. Did you guys feel that yesterday?
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  S6: Oh yeah. Man, that's called a front.
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  S3: What was that?
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  S6: Comes through.
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  S7: What was that?
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  S6: What was that all about?
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  S2: It's wrong.
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  S4: And so it's like if you're not actively checking the weather,
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  S4: you will definitely be caught off guard. Because if you
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  S4: if you wake up in the morning and think, oh, well, yesterday.
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  S4: And so I'm glad I checked the forecast quickly before
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  S4: walking out the door this morning, because I wasn't armed
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  S4: with my winter coat until I went, oh wow, the
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  S4: feels like temperature is 23. Yeah, I better grab that
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  S4: coat that I put away.
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  S6: It's so funny, isn't it? And so I know there's
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  S6: those of you in Miami that are looking at your forecast.
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  S6: I get it. And you're going to have 80 degrees
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  S6: on Sunday. I get and it's 80. I'm looking at
• 4:43
  S6: the app right now for you in Miami. All of
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  S6: our listeners in Miami, you got 79, 79, 80, 80, 80, 80, 80, 77, 76, 75.
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  S3: Geez, that's what's coming up.
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  S6: So you're consistently unlike Chicago and we're not bitter.
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  S4: Not at.
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  S7: All. No, no.
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  S4: Enjoy.
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  S6: We're happy for.
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  S3: You.
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  S4: Enjoy.
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  S7: Cleveland feels as though.
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  S6: Cleveland's with.
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  S3: Us. Michigan.
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  S6: Yeah they're with.
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  S3: Us.
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  S4: Indy.
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  S3: Oh yeah.
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  S6: Indy is with.
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  S3: Us.
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  S4: Yeah, yeah. All you Midwesterners.
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  S6: Tennessee. How's it looking down there for the weekend? Tennessee.
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  S6: Come on.
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  S7: Enjoy.
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  S6: I love you guys. Boom crew, wherever you are today.
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  S6: And we have people listening far and wide. And some are.
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  S6: Some are shouting from Turks and Caicos going. It's beautiful
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  S6: here this morning.
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  S7: Oh, I'm sure the thought of it.
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  S6: Oh man, we are in Holy Week and what a
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  S6: week this has been and we aren't done. My goodness,
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  S6: when you think of Holy Week, the one thing that
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  S6: you can't pass over is the Passover. You just can't
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  S6: pass it over. It's Passover time and there's a lot
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  S6: of discussion about. In fact, tomorrow, just a little forecast here.
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  S6: We're going to have a discussion from a pro on
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  S6: Flavius Josephus, the first century historian. And there's been some
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  S6: recent discoveries about his work, wars and antiquities. One paragraph
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  S6: in particular, book 18 in antiquities. I know you probably
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  S6: don't have one on your shelf there, but I do,
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  S6: and it's an awesome little paragraph claiming the Deity of
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  S6: Jesus by Flavius Josephus, and it's been discounted forever. Well,
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  S6: we've got a guest coming in tomorrow who's going to
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  S6: say hold the train? There's been some big research done
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  S6: on this. There's some thrilling stuff breaking that we can
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  S6: get our feet on that rock, right?
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  S4: Oh, yeah. I'm looking forward to that.
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  S6: Oh, really cool.
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  S4: It's a unique a unique conversation for sure.
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  S6: So don't pass over the Passover doctor. Michael Riedel coming
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  S6: up straight ahead. This is Holy Week a week for
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  S6: us to do a holy reset, a mulligan, a start
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  S6: over on Sunday. Let's aim for it, guys.
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  S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
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  S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
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  S1: Moody Radio.
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  S6: You know, it's amazing. Sometimes we head right into Good
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  S6: Friday and then Resurrection Sunday, and we forget. One of
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  S6: the most central elements of this whole thing is that
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  S6: Jesus is the Passover lamb for the atonement of sins.
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  S6: You can't detach the messiahship of Jesus from the Jewish
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  S6: teachings of Passover and ultimately the Exodus with us right now.
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  S6: Doctor Michael Riedel. Boy, we missed the original plotline here, Michael,
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  S6: at times.
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  S8: Well, you know, it's not just, uh, an accident. It's.
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  S8: It was a deliberate decision made at the Council of Nicaea. Whoa.
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  S8: Up until.
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  S6: Up here. Is that right?
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  S8: Yeah. I was in the Council of Nicaea that they
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  S8: made the change. Up until then, the resurrection was always
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  S8: celebrated as part of Passover. And so the death and
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  S8: resurrection of Messiah was part of it. Uh, Constantine said,
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  S8: I want to separate ourselves from the odious company of
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  S8: the Jewish people. And so they changed the date of
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  S8: the resurrection. So now it just so happens that we
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  S8: we recognize the resurrection. We celebrate the resurrection on the
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  S8: dates that, uh, was decided by the Council of Nicaea.
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  S8: And occasionally they come out at the same time, like
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  S8: this weekend. But generally speaking, it was a deliberate decision.
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  S3: Wow.
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  S8: Separate.
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  S6: I didn't know Constantine pulled that. Oh my goodness. Okay.
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  S6: In all the chat and we've done I've we've never
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  S6: talked about the Council of Nicaea, Constantinian law. Oh my goodness. Uh,
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  S6: professor emeritus Jewish studies here at Moody Bible Institute and
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  S6: the host and Bible teacher of open line doctor Michael
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  S6: Riedel is with us. I we got to stop here,
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  S6: don't we? Ali, that's a big deal, isn't it?
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  S4: Absolutely. Help us. I think first get a baseline because
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  S4: we're using starting to use terms that maybe some people
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  S4: are not familiar with. So can you from the most
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  S4: basic understanding, what is Passover?
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  S8: Passover is the celebration of the exodus from Egypt. Jewish
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  S8: people have been celebrating it in obedience to the book
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  S8: of Exodus since 1406 BC. That's when the the Exodus
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  S8: took place. So for 3400 years, that's been part of
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  S8: the of Jewish life. There have been times where Jewish
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  S8: people obviously didn't, uh, keep it as faithfully, but that's
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  S8: been the annual celebration and it celebrates that. Do you
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  S8: remember the story? If you've read the Bible? Uh, let
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  S8: my people go ten times. The the 10th plague was
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  S8: the slaying of the firstborn, and then Israel left. They
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  S8: said God told them if they put the blood on
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  S8: the doorpost of their house of a Passover lamb, of
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  S8: a pure, spotless lamb, God would over would pass over them.
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  S8: And then we celebrate this every year that God delivered
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  S8: the people through the Lamb.
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  S6: How many people. The difference between Hosanna Palm Sunday as
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  S6: we classically know it and those the handful of people
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  S6: that were there following Jesus at the cross. I mean,
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  S6: there was a reduced crowd. It wasn't it wasn't nearly
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  S6: as enormous. On that entry into Jerusalem as Flavius Josephus
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  S6: might have framed it, but there was still a scripture's clear.
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  S6: There was a large group of people. Um, how much
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  S6: of a cost would have been attached at that time
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  S6: to claim Jesus as the atonement for sin that he
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  S6: has come? What would that felt like in that culture,
• 10:49
  S6: we know that there was cost attached to it. All
• 10:51
  S6: you have to do is read your Bible. But what
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  S6: would have take us there, Michael?
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  S8: Well, of course, John nine, we have the the example
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  S8: of the man born blind who is healed. And they
• 11:01
  S8: come to his parents and they were concerned about being
• 11:04
  S8: put out of the synagogue. So there was already pressure
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  S8: from leadership that Jesus isn't the Messiah. Uh, and don't
• 11:12
  S8: don't follow him. But I do think that when you
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  S8: look at early acts, a lot of us forget about, uh, how,
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  S8: how many trusted the Lord, thousands, thousands. And then a
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  S8: few days later more. And it talks about how many
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  S8: believed in the book of acts. And, and so I
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  S8: think that there were a lot of Jewish believers and
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  S8: there were some, uh, pushback, there was some problems like that.
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  S8: But you do realize, of course, that most the, the
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  S8: Sanhedrin followed Gamaliel's advice.
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  S3: Yeah.
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  S8: You know, and said, let let this play out. Yeah. And,
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  S8: and so I think that there was a significant movement
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  S8: among Jewish people in the first century.
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  S3: Yeah.
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  S6: You know, if we look at pure percentages and you
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  S6: look at the account in acts of a few thousand,
• 12:04
  S6: knowing that that's probably a head count of men, male
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  S6: leaders of homes, the percentage of Jewish people that truly
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  S6: did see Jesus as the Messiah, as the atonement, as
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  S6: the Passover lamb. That's quite a good number, isn't it, Michael?
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  S8: Oh, yeah. Yeah, it was a big deal. And it
• 12:22
  S8: was considered one of the major sects of the Jewish people.
• 12:27
  S8: A lot of people don't realize this in Judaism was
• 12:29
  S8: sectarian in the first century. You had Pharisaic Judaism, Sadducean Judaism,
• 12:34
  S8: Essene Judaism. You had, uh, zealot Judaism. At this time.
• 12:40
  S8: There were many, many sects. And it was only after
• 12:43
  S8: the destruction of the temple, the great revolt against Rome,
• 12:46
  S8: that failed, that it really consolidated into one kind of Judaism.
• 12:52
  S8: And every every sect seemed to lose their credibility except
• 12:57
  S8: for one. And that was pharisaic. And that became rabbinic Judaism,
• 13:02
  S8: which obviously didn't believe in Jesus. But up until A.D. 70,
• 13:05
  S8: there were many, many sects and and the Nazarenes, as
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  S8: the Jewish followers of Jesus were called, was just one sect.
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  S4: Doctor Michael Rudnick, our guest this morning. Coming up, let's
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  S4: talk about how Passover connects to the future and how
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  S4: should we celebrate it practically coming up here on Karlin crew.
• 13:26
  S1: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to
• 13:30
  S1: Carl and crew.
• 13:32
  S4: Doctor Michael Riedel, our guest this morning, host of Open Line,
• 13:35
  S4: which you hear Saturday mornings right here on Moody Radio.
• 13:38
  S3: Open line.
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  S4: We are talking about Passover. How does Passover connect us
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  S4: to the future, doctor? Right. And what's the what are
• 13:47
  S4: common ways of of commemorating or celebrating it?
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  S8: Well, I think it's really important to remember that Passover
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  S8: is a celebration of the past, not before we even
• 13:56
  S8: think about the future. We have to remember the past.
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  S8: I heard a really interesting rabbi speak about this, and
• 14:04
  S8: he started by talking about there's a story of a
• 14:07
  S8: man named Brady who. You remember that?
• 14:10
  S7: Oh, yes. Yes, yes.
• 14:11
  S4: Here's the story of a man named Brady. Got it.
• 14:14
  S8: And he talked about how every time that program opened
• 14:18
  S8: The Brady Bunch, it told the whole story. Same thing
• 14:20
  S8: with The Beverly Hillbillies. Come listen to a story about
• 14:23
  S8: a man named Jim Wright.
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  S6: Okay. How do you connect this one?
• 14:26
  S3: I see where you're going.
• 14:27
  S8: Every time he told the origin story. And then what
• 14:31
  S8: God said is every year at this time. Retell your
• 14:35
  S8: origin story where you came from. And it's so important
• 14:40
  S8: never to forget the origin, because God is the one
• 14:43
  S8: that brought this about. And I thought that was a
• 14:46
  S8: really great insight. And it's so important because when we
• 14:49
  S8: celebrate the Lord's Supper, it comes right out of the Passover.
• 14:54
  S8: And what we are doing when we celebrate the Lord's
• 14:56
  S8: Supper is we're celebrating our origin story. It's not just some, oh,
• 15:01
  S8: that's just a memorial. It's not important. It is crucial.
• 15:04
  S8: It is vital, and it's why we need to do it.
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  S3: Michael.
• 15:07
  S6: It's the exodus. It is the liberty from slavery to
• 15:13
  S6: bondage to sin, and death is conquered. I mean, sorry
• 15:17
  S6: for getting so animated here, but if we leave that out,
• 15:20
  S6: we've left out the punchline. Michael.
• 15:23
  S8: Yeah, I agree. Listen, my parents were both slaves. They,
• 15:26
  S8: they were in concentration camp. And May 8th, 1948, is
• 15:31
  S8: burned in my memory as the day of their liberation.
• 15:34
  S8: How is it? And we celebrated it. We remembered it
• 15:37
  S8: every year as I was growing up. May 8th, 1948. Uh,
• 15:42
  S8: now I'm sorry, 1945, May 8th, 1945. They were liberated. Uh,
• 15:47
  S8: so the point is, we remember our liberation. We remember
• 15:52
  S8: our redemption. And that's how I think it's so important.
• 15:56
  S8: Believers are like, well, why, why do we celebrate the
• 15:58
  S8: Lord's Supper? Why is it connected to Passover? It's because
• 16:01
  S8: of that great memorial. The nation remembered their redemption on Passover.
• 16:07
  S8: And then the Lord Jesus inaugurated this celebration to remind
• 16:13
  S8: us of our redemption, our liberation from sin and bondage.
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  S8: It's it's just so crucial. And so it's it's more
• 16:21
  S8: of a memorial feast there. All the feasts obviously have
• 16:24
  S8: a prophetic significance, but this prophetic significance was pointing to
• 16:28
  S8: the death of the Messiah, the ones in the fall
• 16:31
  S8: feast point. Further, much more towards the return of the Messiah.
• 16:36
  S8: But this one, prophetically, was pointing to the coming of
• 16:40
  S8: the Messiah and His redemption.
• 16:42
  S6: How do we take back some ground here? Michael, what
• 16:44
  S6: do you recommend people do in this season?
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  S8: One of the things that I've spent my life doing is,
• 16:52
  S8: is going to churches, and I did this at Moody
• 16:56
  S8: for many years. We'll be doing it on April 7th
• 16:59
  S8: again at Moody with the student body is celebrating a Messiah,
• 17:03
  S8: Messiah in the Passover celebration, a Seder, a messianic Seder
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  S8: which not only celebrates deliverance from Egypt, but deliverance from
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  S8: the bondage of sin. And I think it's really important.
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  S8: Churches sometimes think, how important is it for us to
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  S8: remember this? I think it's a real help to see
• 17:20
  S8: the connection between the Passover and our deliverance from sin.
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  S8: It's that's what it was intended to do. That's why
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  S8: Paul writes, Messiah, our Passover has been sacrificed for us
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  S8: in First Corinthians five. We need to remember that. And
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  S8: and that's what we should do. I think.
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  S4: You know, it's so interesting that you talk about an
• 17:38
  S4: origin story and using those funny kind of TV examples,
• 17:41
  S4: but it's true. Everybody knew exactly what they were watching,
• 17:45
  S4: even if they caught episode 12 or 25, because it
• 17:50
  S4: was all rehashed very quickly in the beginning. You know,
• 17:53
  S4: should we, when we think about Holy Week and our
• 17:56
  S4: preparation in the, you know, many people have Holy Week
• 17:58
  S4: devotionals that they're reading through. Should we go back to Exodus?
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  S3: Exodus?
• 18:03
  S4: Should we be rereading Exodus?
• 18:05
  S8: Absolutely, absolutely. Because Exodus is the background for the Last
• 18:09
  S8: Supper and the Last Supper is the background for the
• 18:11
  S8: establishment of the Lord's Table, the Lord's Supper. I mean, obviously,
• 18:16
  S8: it's crucial to go back to that. And by the way,
• 18:19
  S8: this is the most important aspect of it. What does
• 18:22
  S8: it say when we celebrate the Lord's Supper, we celebrate
• 18:25
  S8: the Lord's death until he comes.
• 18:27
  S3: Until he comes.
• 18:28
  S8: Obviously, it means that he's raised from the dead or
• 18:31
  S8: he wouldn't be returning. And so the resurrection, it's it's
• 18:34
  S8: what it's all about. We're looking for his return, and
• 18:38
  S8: that's the future. We celebrate the Lord's death. We remember. Remember, remember.
• 18:43
  S8: Because we're looking forward to his return. His return, his return.
• 18:47
  S6: Beautiful.
• 18:47
  S3: So.
• 18:48
  S6: Michael, in this day and age, and we've talked a
• 18:51
  S6: lot about this, and I'm not going to belabor it,
• 18:53
  S6: but when we've got people on every political spectrum that
• 18:58
  S6: is running away from Israel, not just politically, but spiritually, uh, this,
• 19:04
  S6: this is a time that we need to keep flying
• 19:06
  S6: this flag high. And as long as I have breath,
• 19:08
  S6: I'm going to keep dragging you in here early in
• 19:10
  S6: the morning to do that. We love you.
• 19:12
  S8: I'm glad to do it. Thank you for having me.
• 19:14
  S6: Yeah. Beautiful stuff. Guys. We've got a link for you
• 19:17
  S6: because some of you are wondering how should I even
• 19:19
  S6: think about Israel in these times?
• 19:21
  S4: Just text Israel to 800 555, 78, 98, text Israel
• 19:27
  S4: 800 555 7898.
• 19:30
  S6: Yeah, get that link guys, and get a devo going.
• 19:33
  S6: In Exodus, it will bring the resurrection to life.
• 19:38
  S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
• 19:41
  S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 19:45
  S6: Carl and crew. And we're going to get to the
• 19:48
  S6: voice of the martyrs a little bit later on, and
• 19:51
  S6: we're going to get connected with them. We're going to
• 19:53
  S6: hear really today what we need to know, especially in
• 19:57
  S6: this sobering week of Holy Week. Those that are taking
• 20:00
  S6: a stand for the resurrected Jesus. Looking forward to getting
• 20:04
  S6: caught up on that. You know, there's a statistic out there.
• 20:08
  S6: We cited this on our campuses Sunday and it's almost whoa, breathtaking.
• 20:14
  S6: When you think about it, 80% of people that are
• 20:17
  S6: non-churchgoers that if invited by an acquaintance or a friend,
• 20:21
  S6: somebody that they know at some level would join them
• 20:27
  S6: for Christmas or Easter, 80%.
• 20:30
  S4: Wow.
• 20:32
  S6: That is that strike anyone as a large number?
• 20:35
  S2: Yeah. Because when I'm thinking about it doesn't feel like
• 20:36
  S2: it's going to be 80% of people would say, okay,
• 20:39
  S2: feels like 0% when I'm thinking about it getting ready.
• 20:42
  S2: I'm like, no one's going to say yes to this.
• 20:44
  S2: Everyone's going to be creeped out by me asking. There's
• 20:46
  S2: gonna there's no, you know, it scares me, but to
• 20:49
  S2: know that 80% of people would say, yeah, I'll go. Yeah,
• 20:52
  S2: that's a big number.
• 20:53
  S6: So I've got a crazy question for you. Have you
• 20:57
  S6: invited anyone to go with you to an Easter service?
• 21:01
  S6: And how did that go? How about that for a question?
• 21:05
  S4: Oh, so in Easter's past Easter or Christmas or past or.
• 21:09
  S3: Yeah, past.
• 21:10
  S6: Or ideally present, but in past. How did that go?
• 21:14
  S6: They weren't they, they weren't just like somebody that was
• 21:17
  S6: checking your groceries at, you know, a grocery store, but
• 21:22
  S6: someone and maybe it is because you've got enough of
• 21:25
  S6: a relationship with them. I, I remember back in the day,
• 21:28
  S6: you'd go to a line, you got the same person
• 21:30
  S6: over and over again.
• 21:31
  S4: Really?
• 21:31
  S3: Yeah.
• 21:32
  S6: I've had that happen even recently where it's one woman
• 21:35
  S6: in particular where we shop from time to time, and we've.
• 21:39
  S6: It's amazing what kind of a relationship you can forge
• 21:42
  S6: with someone over. Just like five trips to the grocery
• 21:45
  S6: store when you're really chatting it up with them.
• 21:47
  S2: That's true. Well, especially if you're, if you're a conversationalist,
• 21:50
  S2: because they're gonna remember that most people just go, thank
• 21:52
  S2: you and then leave.
• 21:53
  S6: Oh, and I pitch crazy questions.
• 21:55
  S2: I'm sure you.
• 21:56
  S3: Do.
• 21:56
  S6: Just crazy questions. So it's fun to just break that
• 21:59
  S6: down a little bit. But if you've got a relationship
• 22:01
  S6: with someone and you invited them to a Easter service,
• 22:06
  S6: maybe this one, and whether they said yes or no,
• 22:10
  S6: how did that go? So if the stats are true,
• 22:13
  S6: we might be shocked by how many phone calls we
• 22:16
  S6: get here where it was like, hey, this is actually
• 22:20
  S6: a phenomenal opportunity that can't be missed here. So let's
• 22:23
  S6: just go. We're going to open it wide open 800
• 22:26
  S6: 555 7898 calls only on this one. You can text,
• 22:30
  S6: but we want to hear your voice. 800 555, 78, 98.
• 22:36
  S6: You took a risk. How did it go? 800 555 7898.
• 22:43
  S6: Give us a call.
• 22:44
  S1: Helping you take the next step in your walk with Jesus.
• 22:47
  S3: God longs for us today to seek him and ask
• 22:51
  S3: him to move in ways that we never could.
• 22:54
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Cru.
• 22:56
  S6: So 80% is the number of people that are not churchgoers,
• 23:01
  S6: that if invited by a friend or pretty close some
• 23:06
  S6: kind of a relationship there, they will come with you
• 23:11
  S6: to a Christmas or Easter service. Have you done this
• 23:14
  S6: or are you doing this? And what was the response?
• 23:17
  S6: Give us a call right now. Light them up. We're
• 23:19
  S6: going to go lightning round here 800 555 7898.
• 23:23
  S4: Let's go to Margaret calling in this morning from Illinois. Margaret,
• 23:26
  S4: tell us, have you invited someone to church for Easter
• 23:29
  S4: and how did that go?
• 23:31
  S9: Yes, I did. I have a group of ladies that
• 23:34
  S9: there's 12 of us when we go hiking pretty much
• 23:37
  S9: every Saturday, Sunday, and I go to sunrise service on
• 23:42
  S9: Easter Sunday at 7:00. So I invited them to come in.
• 23:46
  S9: Six of them said yes, so we're going to go
• 23:48
  S9: to Sunrise.
• 23:48
  S6: Service.
• 23:49
  S9: And then we're going to go hiking afterwards.
• 23:52
  S4: I love that.
• 23:53
  S6: Wow, way to go, Margaret. You're you're being you're being
• 23:57
  S6: a child of God, girl. You're doing it. Way to go.
• 24:00
  S6: Proud of you. Uh, that's called the boom crew right there, guys.
• 24:04
  S6: Six of the 12. Are you kidding me?
• 24:06
  S4: I love that and going hiking afterwards. So tapping into
• 24:10
  S4: the thing that they already do together.
• 24:12
  S6: So. Great.
• 24:12
  S4: Let's go to Lisa calling in this morning from Illinois. Lisa,
• 24:16
  S4: tell us, have you invited someone to Easter service?
• 24:20
  S10: Well, I invited them to Christmas service. Um, but they
• 24:24
  S10: have been at every Easter since and um, I'm a
• 24:28
  S10: preschool teacher and I had a little student and I
• 24:33
  S10: invited his grandma to church, and then he invited his
• 24:37
  S10: grandpa to come on Christmas Eve. And, um, he took
• 24:42
  S10: his grandma and grandpa right to the first front row.
• 24:45
  S10: The first time they. Were there and they all got saved.
• 24:49
  S10: The whole family is still serving God. The little boy
• 24:53
  S10: is now 14. He's our bass player in our worship team. Oh,
• 24:57
  S10: and his grandma. His grandpa is known as front Row
• 25:00
  S10: Phil from Rossville.
• 25:04
  S6: Okay, guys, this is outstanding. Lisa, were you nervous to
• 25:08
  S6: invite them or was this just the Holy Spirit just
• 25:11
  S6: prompted you and you're going, I gotta do this?
• 25:14
  S10: Well, I, I never done it before. And there was
• 25:18
  S10: something about the grandma and I stopped her in a
• 25:21
  S10: parking lot and of the school and asked her if
• 25:24
  S10: she happened to be a Christian or something because it
• 25:27
  S10: was so drawn to her. And um, so then we
• 25:33
  S10: talked and everything and she said she kind of asked me, well,
• 25:38
  S10: can I come to your church? And I'm like, sure.
• 25:41
  S10: And then the little boy, his name is Timothy. He, um, uh,
• 25:48
  S10: invited them to Christmas Eve service and they've been there
• 25:53
  S10: ever since.
• 25:54
  S6: That's one of the.
• 25:55
  S10: Coolest joy to watch him grow in the Lord and,
• 25:58
  S10: and be able to be his teacher and a Sunday
• 26:00
  S10: school teacher. And now he plays the bass.
• 26:03
  S6: How's front row Phil doing? Is he growing up in
• 26:05
  S6: the Lord?
• 26:06
  S10: Yes, he he sure has. He's now on the church
• 26:11
  S10: board and he's a very active member.
• 26:14
  S7: Wow.
• 26:15
  S6: Okay. That's one of the coolest stories I've ever heard.
• 26:19
  S2: That makes any fear and trepidation of asking people to
• 26:23
  S2: go to church. Not important, because that could happen.
• 26:27
  S6: Guys, the amount of people here I go again, back
• 26:29
  S6: to prevenient grace. The amount of people that God has
• 26:33
  S6: already primed the pump. You look at Lydia, you look
• 26:38
  S6: at Cornelius, you look at the thief on the cross,
• 26:41
  S6: all three. Either they set it or it was spoken
• 26:44
  S6: of them. They was it was spoken of them with
• 26:46
  S6: all three. They were God fearing people. Wow. Just think
• 26:54
  S6: about how many neighbors, friends, acquaintances, people that you go
• 26:57
  S6: hiking with, people that you watch, NASCAR with, people that
• 27:01
  S6: you fill in the blank guys, this is astounding stuff here, Ali.
• 27:05
  S4: You know, and I'm already thinking in my mind, okay,
• 27:08
  S4: who am I? Who do I need to invite to church?
• 27:11
  S4: And because I think it's something, it's so simple that
• 27:13
  S4: we can overlook it or feel like I'm sure they're
• 27:17
  S4: not interested in going. They haven't. Maybe they haven't shown
• 27:20
  S4: any interest in the past. But I think you're right.
• 27:23
  S4: There are many people who there's the Lord's already at
• 27:25
  S4: work in their hearts big time. He's already doing something,
• 27:29
  S4: and so why not throw it out there and give
• 27:32
  S4: them a safe place to land? If the Lord's already
• 27:36
  S4: been working.
• 27:38
  S6: You know what we're going to do right now? Ali,
• 27:40
  S6: would you pray that God would prompt every person listening
• 27:44
  S6: with who that person is or persons that they need
• 27:47
  S6: to invite?
• 27:48
  S4: Yeah.
• 27:48
  S6: Let's go.
• 27:49
  S4: Lord, I thank you that you are already, by your spirit,
• 27:52
  S4: bringing to mind specific people to for many, many people
• 27:57
  S4: listening right now. God, I pray that you would give
• 28:00
  S4: us the grace and the power to follow through with
• 28:02
  S4: this unction of your spirit, Lord, and that you would
• 28:06
  S4: that the right people would walk through those doors. Some
• 28:09
  S4: maybe for the first time, maybe some who've been away
• 28:12
  S4: for a while. God, let this be a great harvest
• 28:16
  S4: this Easter. Lord, this resurrection Sunday we celebrate as those
• 28:20
  S4: who are already in Christ. But Lord, bring awakening, bring revival.
• 28:24
  S4: Bring many more to you, Lord Jesus, and help us
• 28:27
  S4: to be to play our part, starting with an invite, Lord,
• 28:31
  S4: in Jesus name, Amen.
• 28:32
  S6: Amen. That's one of the coolest calls.
• 28:38
  S7: Yeah.
• 28:39
  S4: Wow.
• 28:41
  S6: Man, that'll fire you up.
• 28:43
  S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
• 28:47
  S1: and Cru.
• 28:49
  S6: Sobering. It's tough to hear it at times, but it's
• 28:51
  S6: good to hear the voices of our brothers and sisters
• 28:55
  S6: around the globe and what they're going through. The cost,
• 28:59
  S6: the price, taking up their cross and following Jesus. It's
• 29:03
  S6: not as easy as we might imagine. And for the
• 29:07
  S6: joy set before him, they're enduring a lot of pain
• 29:11
  S6: with us right now. Todd Nettleton. Todd, thank you for
• 29:14
  S6: being with us here today. Voice of the martyrs has
• 29:16
  S6: done a great work for how many years now?
• 29:19
  S11: Uh, we are coming up on 60 years. Uh, 20,
• 29:23
  S11: 27 will be our 60 year anniversary.
• 29:26
  S6: Okay. What are you hearing from around the globe? How
• 29:28
  S6: can we be praying, my man?
• 29:30
  S11: Well, this is an important week to pray, because Easter
• 29:33
  S11: is often a time when Christians are targeted and unfortunately,
• 29:37
  S11: we didn't have to wait for Easter this year. We
• 29:39
  S11: saw attacks over the weekend in northern Nigeria as well
• 29:42
  S11: as in Syria. Already, Christians in northern Iraq and Syria
• 29:46
  S11: have said they're going to abbreviate or be more quiet
• 29:49
  S11: in their Easter celebrations because of the threat. So just
• 29:53
  S11: really a strategic time to pray for Christians in places
• 29:56
  S11: where they're persecuted. Because, you know, if you if you
• 29:59
  S11: don't like the gospel, what better day to make a
• 30:02
  S11: statement about how much you don't like the gospel than
• 30:05
  S11: the day Christians are celebrating the resurrection of Christ.
• 30:08
  S7: Wow.
• 30:08
  S4: Todd Nettleton, vice president for messaging for voice of the
• 30:12
  S4: martyrs USA, host of The voice of the Martyrs Radio.
• 30:15
  S4: It's pretty telling that the day that represents I mean,
• 30:19
  S4: we think about the resurrection. All of the gospel hinges
• 30:22
  S4: on that. And those who oppose Christ know that as well.
• 30:26
  S4: If anything, it speaks to the power of the gospel
• 30:29
  S4: that the Easter message, Resurrection Sunday is in itself such
• 30:33
  S4: a threat.
• 30:34
  S11: It absolutely does. And if you you know, if you
• 30:37
  S11: kind of try to think from the terrorist perspective. So one,
• 30:39
  S11: you have more Christians gathered, so you have more potential targets,
• 30:43
  S11: you have more chance of creating fear through media coverage
• 30:47
  S11: because it is such a sacred day for Christians around
• 30:51
  S11: the world. And then you have that, that just that statement,
• 30:53
  S11: like you said, of, hey, they are celebrating the resurrection
• 30:56
  S11: of Christ. Um, if I don't like Christ, if I
• 30:59
  S11: don't like Christians, you know, what better day could I
• 31:03
  S11: sort of quote unquote, punish them for celebrating him? And so,
• 31:07
  S11: you know, we've seen in recent years, we've seen attacks
• 31:10
  S11: in Nigeria, in India, in Pakistan, 2019, three churches attacked
• 31:15
  S11: in Sri Lanka. So this is not just one place
• 31:18
  S11: this is happening. Easter is seen as a as a
• 31:21
  S11: day to attack Christians, unfortunately.
• 31:23
  S6: Yeah. You know, it's so interesting too, because I think
• 31:28
  S6: we have more rancor toward terrorists in stateside here then
• 31:34
  S6: even those that are under the threat of losing their
• 31:37
  S6: lives at their hands. And they have a better handle
• 31:41
  S6: on Ephesians six. Our battles not against flesh and blood
• 31:45
  S6: people are not the enemy. And it seems that those
• 31:49
  S6: under persecution have a better handle on the reality that
• 31:54
  S6: these people are really just being puppeteered by Satan and
• 31:57
  S6: demonic forces. What's your take on that? Todd?
• 32:00
  S11: I think that is so true. And I've, I've heard
• 32:04
  S11: persecuted Christians talk about their quote unquote enemies, but they say, hey,
• 32:08
  S11: those people are deceived. Hey, those people are trapped in
• 32:12
  S11: Islam that they can't get out. They're trapped in that mindset,
• 32:16
  S11: in that lifestyle. And so there is that ability, and
• 32:19
  S11: it is very much supernatural that God empowers them not
• 32:23
  S11: to hate their enemies, not to wish evil on those
• 32:27
  S11: who are attacking them, but really to have that supernatural,
• 32:31
  S11: Christ like love. And you know, that's what he called
• 32:34
  S11: us to do love those who persecute you. Um, that's
• 32:37
  S11: a really hard thing to do. The Holy Spirit has
• 32:40
  S11: to empower us to, to allow us to do that.
• 32:43
  S6: Okay. What are you hearing, Todd? What? What do we
• 32:46
  S6: need to know that we don't hear in the mainstream
• 32:48
  S6: media right now?
• 32:50
  S11: Well, I just got back from Southeast Asia and I
• 32:52
  S11: would couple stories that that really impacted me. We met
• 32:56
  S11: with a group of young people. They are in a
• 32:59
  S11: program where they have committed to share Christ with five
• 33:02
  S11: people every day. And, uh, I, you know, after hearing
• 33:06
  S11: that and they were kind of explaining it, they have
• 33:08
  S11: accountability on Sunday night. Hey, how did you do last week?
• 33:10
  S11: How many people did you talk to? They have training
• 33:13
  S11: to help them be more effective, but they are committed
• 33:15
  S11: five people every day. They're going to talk to you
• 33:17
  S11: about Jesus. And I looked at one of them and
• 33:20
  S11: these are 19, 20, 21 year old, what I would
• 33:23
  S11: say kids. And I said, so how, you know, how
• 33:26
  S11: long is this program? Is this like one year? Is
• 33:28
  S11: this two years? And she looked at me and said,
• 33:31
  S11: until we die. And I was like, oh, so, so
• 33:35
  S11: this is a lifestyle that you have committed to. They
• 33:38
  S11: are now leaving their home country. They're going to surrounding nations.
• 33:42
  S11: And actually, the three that we met had been detained
• 33:44
  S11: in one of those surrounding nations. They got interrogated for
• 33:48
  S11: two days at the Ministry of Religion. They got put
• 33:50
  S11: on a plane to go home. They actually thought they
• 33:52
  S11: were being taken to jail. Instead, they were taken to
• 33:55
  S11: the airport, put on a plane, and they said, you
• 33:57
  S11: cannot come back. For five years you've been blacklisted. And
• 34:00
  S11: these young ladies said, we are counting down the days
• 34:03
  S11: until our five years is up, because we're anxious to
• 34:06
  S11: go back and talk to people there about Jesus. Uh,
• 34:09
  S11: I was blown away and I was incredibly convicted by
• 34:13
  S11: their testimony.
• 34:15
  S7: Yeah.
• 34:15
  S4: Todd Nettleton with us right now, vice president for message
• 34:18
  S4: for voice of the martyrs. You know, I know that you,
• 34:21
  S4: along with other great ministries are kind of track what's
• 34:24
  S4: going on in terms of persecution around the world. Where
• 34:28
  S4: are you seeing persecution growing? That may be surprising. We
• 34:32
  S4: hear a lot about Nigeria, but what about some other
• 34:36
  S4: places where it's maybe not as, uh, reported on?
• 34:41
  S11: You know, I think one of the countries that that
• 34:42
  S11: always comes to mind when someone asks me that question
• 34:45
  S11: is Eritrea. Uh, right now there are several hundred Christians
• 34:49
  S11: in prison in Eritrea. Uh, some of them, there are
• 34:52
  S11: at least seven pastors that have been in prison more
• 34:54
  S11: than 20 years. Of all of those prisoners, none of
• 34:58
  S11: them has been even charged with a crime. Uh, they've
• 35:02
  S11: never had a trial. They never had a chance to
• 35:03
  S11: defend themselves. They just got arrested. They disappear into the
• 35:06
  S11: prison system. And like I say, seven of those pastors now,
• 35:09
  S11: 20 plus years in prison. And Eritrea is a country
• 35:13
  S11: for a lot of us. We we'd have to hunt
• 35:15
  S11: on a map to find it. Yeah, but it is
• 35:18
  S11: a place where there is so much suffering of our
• 35:20
  S11: brothers and sisters.
• 35:21
  S6: Yeah, it's in, the Horn of Africa and it's kind
• 35:25
  S6: of obscure. You're right about that. And remember, guys, I
• 35:28
  S6: was mentioning the story of this guy that was put
• 35:31
  S6: into a cargo van and allowed to swelter to death.
• 35:35
  S6: He they opened the door, let him have an opportunity
• 35:38
  S6: to renounce and recant his claim of being a Christ follower,
• 35:41
  S6: but he literally was baked to death. Todd in that
• 35:45
  S6: container van. And that's in that very country. It's. I
• 35:49
  S6: gotta tell you, man, I'm I'm so convicted, so inspired,
• 35:54
  S6: heartbroken for our brothers and sisters around the globe. How
• 35:57
  S6: do you I here's what's weird. I know the punchline here.
• 36:01
  S6: When people ask what. When you ask people, what can
• 36:05
  S6: we do? They always go back to prayer, don't they?
• 36:07
  S11: They always say, the first thing pray for us, pray
• 36:10
  S11: for us, pray for us. And you know, the the
• 36:12
  S11: thing that convicts me is it's not a prayer that
• 36:14
  S11: they won't be persecuted anymore. They're saying, hey, pray for
• 36:17
  S11: us that we can be faithful in the midst of persecution.
• 36:20
  S11: Pray for us, that we'll have opportunities to witness to
• 36:23
  S11: our persecutors or to our our guards at the prison.
• 36:27
  S11: That's their number one request. And and I'm, I'm like you,
• 36:30
  S11: I'm convicted by that. Um, that sense of joyfulness, I
• 36:34
  S11: think that's the number one thing I would share with
• 36:36
  S11: people when they ask me, so what's it like to
• 36:38
  S11: sit down with persecuted Christians? Overwhelmingly, they are joyful. They
• 36:43
  S11: are excited about what God is doing. And sure, there's
• 36:46
  S11: suffering and sure, there's some hardship along the way. But hey,
• 36:49
  S11: let me tell you about this person I led to Christ.
• 36:51
  S11: Let me tell you how my church is growing. There
• 36:54
  S11: is a sense of joyfulness that that I'm convicted and
• 36:58
  S11: inspired by every single time.
• 37:00
  S4: Todd Nettleton, voice of the martyrs. You know, when we
• 37:04
  S4: look at what's going on in this country, you know,
• 37:07
  S4: and the climate certainly has become more there's more opposition
• 37:12
  S4: to Christian worldview, to anything that God teaches to be. Right. Well,
• 37:20
  S4: what do you say? I mean, because, you know, we
• 37:22
  S4: all we want to look at things from a global context.
• 37:25
  S4: And it's easier in this in this country to start
• 37:28
  S4: to use words like persecution. What's your take on it?
• 37:31
  S4: Where there's opposition, which is different from persecution? Tell us
• 37:35
  S4: what you think.
• 37:36
  S11: Yeah, I think certainly the cultural winds are not blowing
• 37:40
  S11: in favour of biblical truth in the United States right now.
• 37:44
  S11: I don't know what is the future holds for us,
• 37:47
  S11: but I know we need to be ready to face persecution.
• 37:50
  S11: And certainly as a parent and now a grandparent, I
• 37:55
  S11: think about, okay, how do we get the next generations
• 37:58
  S11: ready to endure victoriously in the midst of persecution? And
• 38:02
  S11: I think there's two things. I think there is the Scripture,
• 38:05
  S11: the Scripture, the Scripture, the scripture. And then the second
• 38:08
  S11: thing is the stories of Christians who've already been persecuted
• 38:12
  S11: and came through it victoriously, came through it with their
• 38:15
  S11: faith intact, as we know those stories, as we're inspired
• 38:19
  S11: by those stories. And I think every time we hear one,
• 38:22
  S11: we ask the question, okay, hey, what would I do
• 38:24
  S11: in that situation? And I think we all know the
• 38:27
  S11: answer we want to say, right? Like, if I was
• 38:29
  S11: in prison, I would stand up and preach the gospel. But,
• 38:33
  S11: but we have to kind of go to the Lord
• 38:34
  S11: and say, Lord, I know what the right answer is.
• 38:36
  S11: I know what I want to say. Help me to
• 38:38
  S11: be strong enough to really say that. Help that to
• 38:40
  S11: be true in my life. When hardship comes that I
• 38:43
  S11: see it as a chance to share the gospel, that
• 38:46
  S11: I see it as a chance to reflect your love
• 38:48
  S11: on the people around me. So Scripture and the stories
• 38:51
  S11: of persecuted Christians. And then we're ready. If persecution starts tomorrow,
• 38:55
  S11: we're ready. If it doesn't start for 25 more years,
• 38:58
  S11: we're still ready because we have chosen to prepare ourselves.
• 39:01
  S6: And what's amazing, Todd, is we're not just ready, we're stronger.
• 39:05
  S11: Yep.
• 39:06
  S6: I mean, we're stronger. We're on the we're on the rock.
• 39:09
  S6: And whether that is persecution or just your garden variety
• 39:13
  S6: trial that is bone crushing, we can stand up. That's
• 39:17
  S6: the beauty of it, Todd.
• 39:19
  S11: It is. It makes us better followers of Christ, and
• 39:23
  S11: it grows the church. When. When people see in the
• 39:27
  S11: midst of hardship that you have a smile on your face,
• 39:29
  S11: that you are faithful, that you're not crushed by these things.
• 39:33
  S11: They want to know why. Like, like, hey, I saw
• 39:36
  S11: that you were in prison and you still smiled. Or
• 39:38
  S11: I saw that you got a terrible medical diagnosis and
• 39:41
  S11: you still smiled. How can you do that? Well, that's
• 39:45
  S11: that's our opportunity to say, well, let me tell you how.
• 39:47
  S11: It's not because of me. It's because of Christ in me.
• 39:51
  S7: Yeah.
• 39:51
  S4: Todd Nettleton from voice of the martyrs. If you want
• 39:54
  S4: more on this great ministry, just text voice to 800
• 39:57
  S4: 555 7898. Text voice to (800) 555-7898.
• 40:04
  S6: It's sobering. Ali.
• 40:05
  S4: Very much so.
• 40:07
  S6: Text voice to 800 555 7898.
• 40:11
  S1: Celebrating the unstoppable gospel.
• 40:14
  S2: It's not that I've got to fill in these check boxes.
• 40:17
  S2: So he's okay with me, but it's that I get
• 40:19
  S2: to stand close to him so that I can experience
• 40:22
  S2: the life that he has for me.
• 40:24
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Crew.
• 40:26
  S6: We are in the middle of it. Some say a
• 40:30
  S6: day of silence, but we got a man who says
• 40:33
  S6: God is never silent. Jim Coakley, Doctor Jim Coakley, my friend, colleague,
• 40:38
  S6: fellow elder at a church and more than anything, brother
• 40:42
  S6: in Jesus Christ, walk in this path less traveled. How
• 40:45
  S6: are you doing this morning, my man?
• 40:46
  S12: I'm doing great. That's a lot of labels you gave me.
• 40:48
  S6: Yeah, I gave you a lot of them. And I
• 40:50
  S6: left a few out. Professor of Bible at Moody Bible Institute,
• 40:53
  S6: for instance, awarded faculty Citation award in 2025 for Founder's Week. Man.
• 41:02
  S6: And he's got an award winning book, See the Diet.
• 41:04
  S6: They just keep going on and on. But more than
• 41:06
  S6: anything else, Jim's a humble guy. As you go to
• 41:09
  S6: the Word of God, doesn't it have the tendency to
• 41:12
  S6: humble you when you really make discoveries, Jim?
• 41:14
  S12: Oh, it sure does. I mean, even this morning I
• 41:16
  S12: had several like aha moments. I said, how come I've
• 41:19
  S12: never seen that before? And I'm just. Isn't that wild?
• 41:21
  S12: It's it's so amazing. I said, Lord, it's a, it's
• 41:24
  S12: it's amazing that I get the privilege of starting to
• 41:27
  S12: unpeel away several layers that are there. I mean, we
• 41:31
  S12: got the big point. We know the gospel changes everything
• 41:34
  S12: and we got those things there, but it's so neat
• 41:37
  S12: in how it's not just the big points, it's even
• 41:40
  S12: in the setup, the stage, the, the surroundings that also
• 41:43
  S12: are so amazing.
• 41:45
  S6: You know, I got to tell you something, I use
• 41:47
  S6: some of your study techniques on drawing inference around context.
• 41:51
  S6: So let me I hadn't planned on doing this, but
• 41:54
  S6: if you go to Mark's gospel, which has a pretty tight, uh,
• 41:58
  S6: chronological layout of the chain of events on Holy Week, right, right.
• 42:03
  S6: It's a good one. Matthew's all over the place with it,
• 42:06
  S6: but Mark's got it pinned down. Well, in chapter 1238,
• 42:10
  S6: he's talking about beware of the scribes and the Pharisees.
• 42:13
  S6: And he says they devour widows? Yes. They devour widows, right? Right. Well,
• 42:18
  S6: then it goes on to go into the widow's mite. Right.
• 42:21
  S6: So these two copper coins clunked into this loud container
• 42:25
  S6: trumpet looking thing. And it would have been because there
• 42:28
  S6: were a lot of bigger gifts given by people. The
• 42:30
  S6: reason they knew that is it made more noise. So
• 42:33
  S6: you got these two copper coins clinking in. But here's
• 42:35
  S6: the big takeaway I had. And you tell me what
• 42:38
  S6: study tool I used of yours to help determine this.
• 42:41
  S6: I'm convinced now that equal to maybe not greater than,
• 42:46
  S6: but equal to the principle of she was a woman
• 42:49
  S6: of great sacrifice is Jim. She gave. While knowing good
• 42:55
  S6: and well these Pharisees are lining their pockets. The system
• 42:59
  S6: is broken. She gave everything she had because she gave
• 43:03
  S6: for the eyes of one, not the eyes of man.
• 43:05
  S6: That is a big takeaway from her story.
• 43:08
  S12: Oh, it sure is. And that's the, you know, the
• 43:10
  S12: beauty of characterization, again, knowing the whole backdrop. But I'll
• 43:13
  S12: even one up you. Okay. That context there in Mark's gospel,
• 43:17
  S12: you have. Then she gave the two mites. But right
• 43:20
  S12: before it says these are the. The leaders, the religious
• 43:22
  S12: leaders that devour widows houses. Right. And so as much
• 43:26
  S12: as this is a commendation of the widow for giving
• 43:29
  S12: all that she had, it's really also, at the same
• 43:32
  S12: time a condemnation of the rulers who are forcing this
• 43:36
  S12: system where she feels compelled to give her last two pennies.
• 43:40
  S6: And they joyfully took it. But what's wild to me, Jim,
• 43:43
  S6: just to loop back, she knew this was a scam.
• 43:47
  S12: Yeah.
• 43:48
  S6: There's no way she didn't see it. Jesus flipped the
• 43:51
  S6: tables because everybody knew it was it was a big
• 43:56
  S6: Ponzi scheme. Jim.
• 43:57
  S12: Yes. Oh, yeah. And that's the whole thing that the
• 43:59
  S12: the religious leaders showed their true colors in this whole
• 44:02
  S12: episode of the Holy Week. I was just reading this
• 44:05
  S12: morning again in John's Gospel and, you know, their you know,
• 44:08
  S12: their Pontius Pilate is saying, you know, you want me
• 44:11
  S12: to crucify your You're king. And they say, what do
• 44:14
  S12: the leaders say? We have no king but Caesar. And
• 44:17
  S12: it's like they were forced into a corner where they
• 44:19
  S12: had to admit probably the last thing in the world
• 44:21
  S12: they wanted to say. I mean, it's like crazy that
• 44:25
  S12: they had to get to that point. They were so
• 44:28
  S12: against Jesus that they had to go to the other
• 44:30
  S12: side of the spectrum to acknowledge Caesar as king.
• 44:33
  S6: You know, it's interesting. So broad view. Clearly, Jesus was
• 44:38
  S6: trying to highlight the distinction between religious phariseeism and authentic
• 44:43
  S6: relationship with him. I mean, because he was speaking it
• 44:46
  S6: over and over again, right?
• 44:47
  S12: Oh, it sure was. And that's you can see Pontius Pilate.
• 44:50
  S12: He's he's caught in a lot of things and he's
• 44:52
  S12: trying to get out. But then when the people he's
• 44:55
  S12: trying to to rule are basically trying to lead him
• 44:58
  S12: a certain way, he realizes he can't really he's kind
• 45:00
  S12: of forced. His hand is forced. But of course, he's
• 45:03
  S12: he's guilty of that. And again, we recite that, you know,
• 45:06
  S12: he suffered under Pontius Pilate in the, you know, Apostle's Creed. Uh,
• 45:10
  S12: and so these are things that get kind of stayed
• 45:14
  S12: in Memorial. And that's the kind of the widow's mite
• 45:17
  S12: is a good memorial of sacrifice. But Pontius Pilate again,
• 45:20
  S12: who knew what was truth but didn't follow and act
• 45:23
  S12: on it.
• 45:24
  S6: Okay, before we get into what can be in a
• 45:27
  S6: chunk of coal, I want to get to that. How
• 45:29
  S6: vital is it that the great commandment wasn't dished up
• 45:33
  S6: through three years of ministry until Holy Week?
• 45:37
  S12: Yeah, I mean, I think they're not ready. You know,
• 45:39
  S12: in a sense, even Jesus is praying for them. John 17,
• 45:43
  S12: the high priestly prayer. He's praying for them. They're not
• 45:45
  S12: ready yet. Even after he's resurrected and before Pentecost, they
• 45:49
  S12: still weren't ready. And he's got to breathe on them,
• 45:51
  S12: the Holy Spirit to give them that power. So there
• 45:54
  S12: is a sense that he has to stage it at
• 45:56
  S12: the right time for them to be able to then
• 45:58
  S12: have the power to be able to fulfill this great commission,
• 46:01
  S12: this great commandment.
• 46:03
  S6: I love it. Okay, what's an Olympic coal doctor, Jim
• 46:06
  S6: Coakley coming up. And we're going to have a link
• 46:08
  S6: to a book that my Bride calls the greatest book
• 46:14
  S6: for fueling your fires. To get into the Word of God,
• 46:17
  S6: you can read. That's what my bride says. She says,
• 46:19
  S6: bar none, and she reads a lot. So with that endorsement,
• 46:23
  S6: more with Doctor Jim Coakley straight ahead.
• 46:25
  S1: Walking closer to Jesus every day, you're listening to Carl
• 46:29
  S1: and crew.
• 46:31
  S6: Doctor Jim Coakley with us right now, professor of Bible
• 46:34
  S6: at Moody Bible Institute awarded faculty citation award and faculty
• 46:38
  S6: citation doesn't mean he got a ticket for speeding on
• 46:41
  S6: campus means that.
• 46:43
  S12: He only knew what I do on the local highways
• 46:45
  S12: here in Chicago.
• 46:47
  S6: It means he was an outstanding faculty for 2025. Really cool,
• 46:51
  S6: neat honor. And Jim, you have used study tools to
• 46:56
  S6: discover great stuff. One of them is what is in
• 46:59
  S6: a lump of coal. Take it away, my man.
• 47:02
  S12: Yeah. You know, this is Holy Week. And we think
• 47:04
  S12: about normally the chronology, we think about the different events,
• 47:07
  S12: and we could kind of focus on all those things.
• 47:09
  S12: And it's great that things. We've been unpacking a lot
• 47:12
  S12: of those lessons of this week, but one of the
• 47:13
  S12: things that I'm always looking for is I read the
• 47:16
  S12: Bible are the things that are not necessarily foregrounded, but
• 47:19
  S12: they're still part of the story. And there's a, an
• 47:23
  S12: object in John's Gospel where he uses it as a
• 47:27
  S12: device to kind of focus our thinking for very practical application.
• 47:31
  S12: And in John chapter 18, Peter, of course, has said
• 47:34
  S12: he's going to, you know, follow the Lord to his
• 47:37
  S12: death and all these kind of things. He's the apostle
• 47:39
  S12: with the foot shaped mouth. Uh, and so he.
• 47:44
  S13: He all the time. And I've never heard that before
• 47:46
  S13: in my life.
• 47:47
  S12: He always says opening mouth, inserting foot.
• 47:49
  S6: Hilarious.
• 47:50
  S12: Yeah. And so Peter is, is so gung ho. He's
• 47:54
  S12: so full of bravado. Uh, and yet what happens? Jesus
• 47:59
  S12: is arrested and he's now on trial. And John is
• 48:02
  S12: able to go right into where all these things are happening.
• 48:05
  S12: But Peter's outside. And in John chapter 18, it says
• 48:09
  S12: Peter was standing at the door outside and the other disciple,
• 48:14
  S12: who was known to the high priest, went out and
• 48:15
  S12: spoke to the doorkeeper and brought in Peter. The slave girl, therefore,
• 48:19
  S12: who kept the door, said to Peter, you are not
• 48:22
  S12: also one of his man's disciples, are you? He said,
• 48:24
  S12: I am not. Now the slaves and the officers were
• 48:27
  S12: standing there, having made a charcoal fire, a coal fire,
• 48:31
  S12: for it was cold, and they were warming themselves. And
• 48:34
  S12: Peter also was with them, standing and warming himself. And
• 48:38
  S12: so here we have Peter denying that he knows the Lord,
• 48:42
  S12: and it happens by this charcoal fire. Okay. Now, what's
• 48:45
  S12: unusual about this is this level of detail. I mean,
• 48:48
  S12: normally we don't have those kind of daily life experience.
• 48:51
  S12: Charcoal fire. Yeah. Why would I mean, charcoal fire? I mean,
• 48:54
  S12: kind of goes along with what I'm going to be.
• 48:55
  S12: Also stressing is you have to prepare charcoal ahead of time.
• 48:59
  S12: You're not just firing up some kindling and some, you know,
• 49:02
  S12: some firewood. You have to prepare it. It's got to
• 49:04
  S12: be there's a certain preparation system for getting charcoal. And
• 49:08
  S12: so this charcoal fire is ideal for hand. Warming at,
• 49:12
  S12: you know, at a at a palace, at a trial.
• 49:14
  S12: But there's one other time, that only time that word
• 49:17
  S12: is mentioned again. Is later on in John's Gospel, and
• 49:21
  S12: it's in John chapter 21 when Jesus says to his
• 49:24
  S12: disciples after the resurrection, hey, I'm going back home fishing. Uh,
• 49:28
  S12: and so he goes fishing. And of course, Peter, uh,
• 49:31
  S12: is out with the on the water. Jesus is there.
• 49:34
  S12: He doesn't recognize him yet. And so, uh, they catch
• 49:37
  S12: a great catch of fish. 153 by the way, which
• 49:39
  S12: is a strange, odd number, once again, to be that specific.
• 49:43
  S12: But then Peter recognized it's the Lord. And what does
• 49:46
  S12: the Lord have on the beach? He has breakfast on
• 49:49
  S12: the beach prepared for Peter, and it says it was
• 49:52
  S12: a charcoal fire. The only two times that Greek word
• 49:55
  S12: is used in all the New Testament is involving Peter.
• 49:59
  S12: First of all, denying three times by a charcoal fire
• 50:02
  S12: and now being restored with Jesus's loving questions. Peter. You know,
• 50:07
  S12: do you love me? Feed my sheep. And so the
• 50:10
  S12: three times is there mentioned both times. And it all
• 50:14
  S12: happens around a charcoal fire. And what happens though is
• 50:18
  S12: that the situation has been reversed. You think Jesus should
• 50:21
  S12: not be in control during this chaotic week of passion week,
• 50:25
  S12: but everywhere you look through the details, again, if you
• 50:27
  S12: read the whole passion narrative, you see Jesus is in
• 50:30
  S12: control down to minutia. You know, hey, you're going to
• 50:34
  S12: find this donkey and a colt tied up and you're
• 50:36
  S12: going to take them and they're going to say, hey,
• 50:38
  S12: what are you doing? And you say, well, the Lord
• 50:39
  S12: has need of it. He knows that Judas is going
• 50:42
  S12: to deny him. He has the upper room prepared for
• 50:45
  S12: the Last Supper. And all these things show Jesus. Even
• 50:48
  S12: in the pressure cooker, the crucible of the final week
• 50:52
  S12: is still orchestrating, still planning things and knowing things ahead
• 50:56
  S12: of time. And he knows because he even says to
• 50:59
  S12: Peter ahead of time, Satan is going to desire to
• 51:01
  S12: sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you. Uh,
• 51:06
  S12: now that's amazing when we think about it. I think
• 51:08
  S12: Jesus knew that Peter would deny him, but then I
• 51:11
  S12: think he was also preparing for his restoration. Yeah. And
• 51:14
  S12: that charcoal fire is the same place. And we talk
• 51:18
  S12: about memories of smell. You know, there's certain evocations of
• 51:22
  S12: memories that get triggered with certain smells. And I think
• 51:25
  S12: now that charcoal fire smell burrowing up into his nostrils
• 51:29
  S12: now is going to be a smell that's going to
• 51:31
  S12: stick with Peter for the rest of his days, that
• 51:33
  S12: he's here on earth.
• 51:34
  S6: Yeah. This is no accident, Jim. No. Bottom line.
• 51:37
  S12: No.
• 51:37
  S6: God is bringing him back to the fire again to
• 51:40
  S6: see if he's going to go through this testing and
• 51:43
  S6: come out refined as pure gold.
• 51:45
  S12: He's going back to the scene of the crime. And
• 51:47
  S12: so he's kind of saying, hey, I knew you were
• 51:49
  S12: there by the fire. Uh, and now here I am
• 51:51
  S12: by a fire. I'm going to give you a redo.
• 51:53
  S12: I'm going to give you a chance to, to kind
• 51:55
  S12: of just.
• 51:56
  S6: Like he gives the you and me. Jim.
• 51:58
  S12: Yes. He, I mean, that's, that's what's so amazing about this.
• 52:00
  S12: We see even in the crucible of this week, Jesus
• 52:05
  S12: is in full control, and he's already planning for Peter's restoration,
• 52:09
  S12: knowing that he's going to fail.
• 52:10
  S6: Wow, this is great. Okay, boom crew, listen to me.
• 52:14
  S6: When my bride says no book. Of all the books
• 52:17
  S6: with regard to study habits, study guides, you name it,
• 52:21
  S6: all those different tools that we've read, my bride over
• 52:24
  S6: the years, she says this and it's true. 14 Fresh
• 52:27
  S6: Ways to Enjoy. The Bible has done more to unlock
• 52:30
  S6: her understanding of the Word of God than any other
• 52:33
  S6: single book. It's a big deal. That's an endorsement from
• 52:36
  S6: my bride, mind you. And she's a good woman of God.
• 52:39
  S6: So we're going to give you a word. This will
• 52:42
  S6: give you a link not only to this book, but
• 52:44
  S6: also to an accompanying study guide. So text the word
• 52:48
  S6: fresh right now. Fresh. What a what a way to
• 52:51
  S6: freshen up. Holy week text fresh to 800 555 7898.
• 52:57
  S6: One word fresh to 800 555 78. 98.
• 53:05
  S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
• 53:09
  S1: in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 53:15
  S1: Making herself laugh no matter who joins her. It's time
• 53:18
  S1: for Ali. Thinks it's funny.
• 53:21
  S6: Yes.
• 53:23
  S4: You know, some kids are very, um, very industrious from
• 53:26
  S4: a very early age. Sure. Show a bit of an
• 53:30
  S4: entrepreneurial bent. Was that you, Karl?
• 53:33
  S6: I definitely.
• 53:34
  S7: I was.
• 53:35
  S6: I.
• 53:35
  S7: Was that was.
• 53:36
  S6: I had more businesses going by the time I was
• 53:39
  S6: ten than you could shake a stick at.
• 53:41
  S4: So in a way, this let's pretend that this is
• 53:43
  S4: a story about young Karl.
• 53:45
  S14: Oh, boy, young Karl.
• 53:47
  S2: This makes it better.
• 53:49
  S4: I'm just waiting for someone to bite on that one.
• 53:52
  S4: Young Karl out on the playground had a genius idea.
• 53:57
  S4: Some kids don't know how to tie their shoes yet.
• 54:01
  S4: Young Karl learned early, so he started a business tying
• 54:06
  S4: shoelaces for other kids. A little younger than him, out
• 54:09
  S4: on the playground.
• 54:10
  S7: Okay.
• 54:11
  S4: Young Karl started a not for profit.
• 54:19
  S2: I like that one. That's good.
• 54:26
  S7: Oh, no. Karl's bad. Sorry. Swig of water.
• 54:31
  S14: Get a swig of water. That is.
• 54:33
  S6: Outstanding.
• 54:34
  S2: That was.
• 54:34
  S7: Good.
• 54:35
  S14: Now, that's.
• 54:36
  S6: Not your typical dad.
• 54:37
  S7: Joke. Use that. I give it a little.
• 54:39
  S4: Mustard as I do for this next one. Yes. I
• 54:43
  S4: want to shift to a fine restaurant.
• 54:46
  S7: Ah, okay.
• 54:48
  S4: White tablecloths, waiters with gloves and an arm behind the
• 54:52
  S4: back bringing out food.
• 54:54
  S2: I've never been to one.
• 54:55
  S4: Of those on one of those silver trays with the
• 54:57
  S4: silver cover that they open it up. Yes, yes. Present
• 55:00
  S4: to you.
• 55:01
  S2: Only seen it in the movies.
• 55:02
  S4: Your dinner with a menu where the cheapest item on
• 55:06
  S4: the menu is too rich for your blood.
• 55:10
  S7: Amen.
• 55:12
  S4: And now I want you to picture a couple of cats.
• 55:15
  S4: They've gone out to dinner. They're going to treat themselves.
• 55:17
  S4: They're sitting at the table. They place their order. And
• 55:21
  S4: the waiter says, sir. Sir. Cat, how would you like
• 55:25
  S4: your steak cooked? And he says, rare.
• 55:31
  S7: Saw that one coming.
• 55:34
  S6: You saw it coming and you didn't laugh. That's outstanding.
• 55:37
  S2: That was incredible.
• 55:38
  S7: I ran out of music there. I went.
• 55:40
  S14: A little. No. It's great.
• 55:41
  S6: It was a pregnant pause. It was a.
• 55:43
  S14: Moment.
• 55:43
  S2: It needed, I needed it needed the the the dry,
• 55:47
  S2: no music behind it type of feel. That was.
• 55:50
  S7: Again.
• 55:51
  S2: The delivery that might have been the best one.
• 55:53
  S7: Text jokes 800 555 7898.
• 55:58
  S4: Text jokes to 800 555 7898.