Latest / Karl and Crew / A Compelling Faith in a Comprising Culture with Mike Tatlock & When Suffering Produces Hope with Susie Larson
Transcript
- 0:00S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
- 0:05S1: and crew.
- 0:06S2: Come as you are, an experienced guide, overcome what seems
- 0:11S2: impossible and live as you never imagined.
- 0:14S1: Start your morning with a laugh.
- 0:16S2: Cold spaghetti is great. Okay.
- 0:19S3: Okay, I disagree. I guess not. No, I guess certainly
- 0:22S3: it is not. No. Okay. Well, man, I'm going back.
- 0:26S2: To my bachelor days. I guess I thought cold spaghetti
- 0:29S2: was universally loved.
- 0:31S4: I've never been known for, like, high levels of coordination.
- 0:34S4: That's just. It feels like.
- 0:37S2: I've never been known for high levels of coordination.
- 0:42S1: Delivering the truth daily.
- 0:44S4: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
- 0:48S4: and you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
- 0:52S4: that would make it worth it.
- 0:53S5: Our own way never ever works because it's apart from
- 0:56S5: the life source, which is God.
- 0:59S6: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
- 1:02S6: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
- 1:06S6: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
- 1:10S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Colin Crew.
- 1:16S2: I've got one thought on Iran and that is simply this.
- 1:21S2: I love the aspirations of people. And yes, we pray
- 1:24S2: for peace in Israel and we pray for peace around
- 1:27S2: the globe. But here's here's the truth, guys. There will
- 1:31S2: be no lasting peace until the Prince of Peace returns.
- 1:35S2: And his name is Jesus. It's just it's just not
- 1:39S2: going to happen. There are going to be conflicts. Uh,
- 1:42S2: we have not had Gog and Magog. We have not
- 1:45S2: had that battle. Uh, we have not seen, obviously, Armageddon.
- 1:50S2: We have not seen the end. And will there be
- 1:53S2: attempts at peace? Absolutely. Do I cheer for the Abraham Accords?
- 1:58S2: Most certainly. Those are tremendous. But at the end of
- 2:01S2: the day, they're pieces of paper. And what's going on
- 2:06S2: right now, I, I just I'm thrilled that we we
- 2:12S2: might be. We might be on the cusp of some
- 2:17S2: kind of an agreement with Iran. But when you begin
- 2:21S2: to look at Shia theology and you realize, oh, man,
- 2:26S2: they see any agreement struck with us. We are infidels.
- 2:30S2: That's their theology. And we can be lied to. Having
- 2:35S2: a piece of paper and having an agreement fulfilled. The
- 2:38S2: gap between those two things is bohemond's. And so we pray.
- 2:44S2: But here's what we're doing with the morning show and
- 2:47S2: all across the dial here at Moody Radio, we want
- 2:51S2: to turn people on to the Prince of Peace today.
- 2:55S2: We want people to know where they stand with God
- 2:59S2: and that he can stand with you. That's our hope.
- 3:03S2: That's our heart's cry. And I don't know how you
- 3:07S2: landed here on this Freedom Friday. I'm just glad you're here. Right, guys?
- 3:12S4: Glad everyone's.
- 3:12S3: Here.
- 3:13S5: Absolutely. No matter how you got.
- 3:15S3: Here, no matter how you got.
- 3:16S2: Here. And some of you have been with us a
- 3:19S2: long time. But there is no peace apart from the
- 3:24S2: Prince of Peace. And there is a prince and power
- 3:29S2: of the air that is battling right now for you.
- 3:32S2: We were looking at a text yesterday in Second Corinthians
- 3:35S2: that Satan wants to outwit us. Well, he's a deceiver
- 3:40S2: and he's an accuser. But that deception piece is huge.
- 3:45S2: Many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord,
- 3:47S2: and he's going to say, I never knew you. And
- 3:49S2: these are spiritually active people. I mean, they're preaching in
- 3:53S2: the name of Jesus. They're casting out demons in the
- 3:56S2: name of Jesus, and they're doing mighty works in the
- 3:59S2: name of Jesus. And I know if you've been here
- 4:02S2: any time at all, you're like, Karl, you've said that,
- 4:05S2: and I'm going to keep saying it. Here's why. There
- 4:08S2: are many listening right now that the God of this
- 4:12S2: age has blinded their minds. But by the power of
- 4:14S2: the Holy Spirit, when we proclaim the Good News that
- 4:17S2: Jesus came to set captives free. A veil falls down
- 4:22S2: and hope is offered up. And there's some of you
- 4:26S2: that are feeling the pressure of life. And you, you're wondering,
- 4:32S2: and you're hanging on words, and you hear things that
- 4:34S2: are said here and you're like, oh, that would be great,
- 4:36S2: but listen to me. There is no pressure lifted until
- 4:41S2: Jesus Christ takes up sole residence in your heart. Complete
- 4:47S2: and total. And there's an attempt by a lot of
- 4:52S2: people to add Jesus to our life. But until there's
- 4:56S2: a complete and total takeover take over. We've heard those
- 5:01S2: words used a lot when we live in Chicago. We
- 5:04S2: find takeovers of streets or takeovers of intersections. But put
- 5:09S2: that to the positive sense, the intersection of your soul
- 5:13S2: and your reality when Jesus Christ takes over. That it's
- 5:18S2: not chaos, it's peace. He said, come to me, all
- 5:22S2: who are weary and heavy laden. You got pressure. He says,
- 5:25S2: I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and
- 5:28S2: learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
- 5:30S2: and you will find rest for your souls. For my
- 5:33S2: yoke is easy and my burden is light. And on
- 5:37S2: this Freedom Friday, no matter how long you've been in church,
- 5:41S2: no matter if you've never been to a church, it's
- 5:44S2: not about going to church. It's about being in relationship
- 5:47S2: with Jesus Christ. And then he will compel you, by
- 5:50S2: the power of the spirit to not just go to church,
- 5:52S2: but be the church and be involved in a church.
- 5:57S2: So first things first. Have you ever been made right
- 6:01S2: with God by the power of the Holy Spirit? Just
- 6:04S2: straight up. Have you ever really been made right with God?
- 6:11S2: And in this moment, this is what you need to know.
- 6:13S2: The Spirit of God is calling you to look at
- 6:18S2: yourself and say, I'm a sinner who needs a Savior.
- 6:22S2: Someone to save my soul. No more pressure of putting
- 6:29S2: it all on your shoulders. Friends, listen to me. The
- 6:33S2: pressure is off. Jesus Christ came to set you free.
- 6:37S2: It's a gift of God so that no one can boast.
- 6:43S2: And maybe in your heart, you've boasted about some of
- 6:46S2: the stuff that you've done for God. I've got a
- 6:49S2: question for you. Do you stand with God And does
- 6:52S2: God stand with you? And the only way you can
- 6:56S2: know that is to look in the mirror of your
- 6:59S2: soul and go, shoot, I'm a sinner, I. I'm missing
- 7:05S2: the mark. That's what that means. I need a savior.
- 7:10S2: I need someone to save me from me. That's what
- 7:13S2: Jesus came to do. He came into this broken, fallen,
- 7:18S2: sinful world and he said, hey, I know you were
- 7:21S2: born with your back to God, but come follow me
- 7:25S2: and then follow him. And if this morning you're saying, Carl,
- 7:29S2: I realize for the first time in my life I'm
- 7:33S2: a sinner, I need a savior, and I'm giving everything
- 7:39S2: I am to Jesus Christ today. That's the Spirit of
- 7:43S2: God that's causing that to happen. It's a supernatural pneuma
- 7:50S2: Wind that is blowing into your soul this morning. And
- 7:53S2: he's changing you. And if God is transforming your soul today,
- 7:59S2: he's transforming your heart. He's changing your mind about what
- 8:04S2: you've thought about yourself, and he's now convincing you that
- 8:09S2: you need a Savior. And his name is Jesus. And today,
- 8:13S2: you're surrendering all you are to Jesus Christ. We want
- 8:16S2: to help you. So how do we want to help
- 8:19S2: everyone today?
- 8:20S6: Absolutely. You want to get some very, very important material
- 8:23S6: into you. We want to welcome you to the family
- 8:26S6: in the right way to give you resources, whether wherever
- 8:29S6: you live, we've got people in those areas. Get a
- 8:32S6: Bible in your hand. Want to help you find a
- 8:34S6: good church, a good community? Again, just opening our arms
- 8:39S6: to you. We want you to do this and not
- 8:41S6: be alone. We want to welcome you to the family
- 8:43S6: to get this information to you, to welcome you. Text
- 8:46S6: the word new. That's all you have to do is
- 8:49S6: text that word new. The number is 805 557898, text
- 8:56S6: new to 805 557898. And yes, we mean it. Welcome
- 9:03S6: to the family.
- 9:04S2: Yeah yeah yeah. And I know how this goes because
- 9:08S2: I was driving like some of you are right now.
- 9:11S2: And the Lord just told me, are you done yet?
- 9:15S2: And I said, I'm done. And I wish I would
- 9:18S2: have had someone that said, well, here's how you can
- 9:21S2: take your first steps. And I got that soon thereafter,
- 9:25S2: about four hours later, someone stepped into my life and said,
- 9:28S2: let me tell you where we got to go now.
- 9:31S2: But if that's you today, we want to help you
- 9:33S2: right now. We're going to help you in your first
- 9:35S2: steps with Jesus. Just get to the side of the road.
- 9:38S2: Grab your phone, text the word new, one word new
- 9:42S2: to 805 557898. One word new to 805, five, five, 78, 98.
- 9:54S2: And welcome to the family. So great man. The power
- 9:58S2: of God to change lives, to change you. Aren't you
- 10:02S2: awestruck by that today? Those of you that are just
- 10:06S2: surrendering to Christ for the first time, isn't it awe
- 10:09S2: inspiring that Jesus can, in an instant reach into your
- 10:13S2: soul and say, I'm making you new? Text new to
- 10:18S2: 805 557898.
- 10:22S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
- 10:26S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
- 10:30S1: Moody Radio.
- 10:32S2: Carl and crew on this Freedom Friday, and we're teeing
- 10:34S2: up a question for you. It's a real simple one
- 10:36S2: boom crew, and I'm asking those of you that can
- 10:39S2: put your finger on the answer to this question to
- 10:42S2: give us a call. And it's a beautiful, beautiful testimony
- 10:46S2: of God's power to do what you couldn't do yourself.
- 10:50S2: You were under pressure, and I don't know what that
- 10:54S2: pressure was. That's part of the answer. But you were
- 10:57S2: under pressure, and by God's grace, he saved your soul.
- 11:02S2: And that pressure was relieved. What pressure was relieved because
- 11:07S2: of the new birth miracle in your life? What pressure
- 11:12S2: did God lift from your shoulders by saving your soul?
- 11:18S2: What was it? It's time to open phone lines and testify.
- 11:25S2: This is so not about you. It's about the grace
- 11:28S2: of God. And he set you free. And you've got
- 11:30S2: a story to tell and somebody needs to hear it.
- 11:34S2: What pressure did God free you from through a relationship
- 11:40S2: with Jesus Christ? What was it, practically 805 557898, give
- 11:48S2: us a call, light them up wherever you are. Never
- 11:51S2: call before. This is your opportunity. 805 557898.
- 12:00S1: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to
- 12:04S1: cast and crew.
- 12:05S2: Look, there is ongoing pressure. We're guaranteed it for those
- 12:09S2: who are in Christ Jesus. But the pressure that is
- 12:12S2: relieved when we come into relationship with Jesus Christ is
- 12:15S2: almost hard to get your head around. And so a
- 12:19S2: simple question we have is what pressure did God release
- 12:22S2: you from when you came to faith in Jesus Christ?
- 12:26S2: Give us a call (800) 555-7898. Go to the phone lines.
- 12:31S2: Anna Marie in Chicago. What do you say? Anna Marie?
- 12:34S7: Hi, how are you? Good morning. I, um, I just
- 12:37S7: want to say that, um, I was a cocaine addict
- 12:40S7: for ten years. And after seeing death stare me in
- 12:45S7: the face, I went ahead and got in the shower,
- 12:48S7: cried out to God and two nights later I was
- 12:52S7: set free. I didn't have to go to rehab. I
- 12:54S7: was free from the urge of wanting to do drugs anymore.
- 12:58S7: I can't explain it, but God is our healer and
- 13:01S7: he hears us.
- 13:02S2: Yeah. Right on.
- 13:04S7: The pressure of not being a good mom, not being
- 13:06S7: a good spouse, not being there for Jesus, for God,
- 13:11S7: the Holy Spirit.
- 13:12S2: Yeah. Way to go, Anna Marie. Good word, sister. Yeah.
- 13:15S2: The pressure comes off when we surrender all to Jesus Christ.
- 13:20S2: It's amazing. Mavis. First time caller in Florida. What was
- 13:24S2: that pressure and what did God do to release you
- 13:27S2: from it?
- 13:29S8: Yes, mine was demonic, um, depression. And I believe that
- 13:35S8: that spirit was on me for constantly disobeying God and
- 13:39S8: not walking in his will. I was not saved. I
- 13:42S8: do not know the Lord. And I was on this
- 13:45S8: high rise building, planning my suicide. And I cried out
- 13:50S8: to the Lord, and he revealed himself to me on
- 13:53S8: that high rise building. And that pressure was lifted. And
- 13:57S8: I did not want to commit suicide anymore. And as
- 14:01S8: of that day, I start to walk with the Lord.
- 14:04S8: And we're talking about over 30 years now.
- 14:07S2: Oh, Mavis, thank you so much for calling in, sister.
- 14:10S2: What a great testimony. The pressure lifted because we surrender
- 14:17S2: our lives to Jesus is amazing. On this Freedom Friday,
- 14:20S2: we got time maybe to get you in here. 805 five, five, 78,
- 14:25S2: 98 what pressure did God release you from when you
- 14:29S2: came to faith in him? 805 557898 Young Thunder. What
- 14:36S2: do you say, my man?
- 14:37S5: Yeah. For me it was the pressure of of Thinking
- 14:41S5: that it was up to me to sanctify myself. You know, I,
- 14:46S5: I was one of those. We've been talking about him
- 14:48S5: today who had the illusion of salvation. I thought I
- 14:51S5: had a relationship with Jesus when I didn't, I believed
- 14:54S5: he existed. And near the end of my unsaved journey
- 14:58S5: to being saved, he was putting a lot of sin
- 15:01S5: on my heart. Sin I had struggled with for years. Uh,
- 15:04S5: and I guess I would say struggled with, not struggled
- 15:07S5: with for a time. And then at the end, he
- 15:09S5: was like, hey, look at this. And then I struggled
- 15:11S5: with it and I was met with my inability to
- 15:13S5: do it on my own. But I remember days where
- 15:15S5: I was like driving in the car saying, okay, Lord,
- 15:18S5: I'm done. This is it. It's over. And then it wasn't.
- 15:22S5: And I would kind of have that feeling, Carl, like
- 15:26S5: you were indicating. Yeah. Why do I not get it? Why?
- 15:30S5: Why does other people have this power that I don't have?
- 15:35S5: And when I finally came to the conclusion that I
- 15:39S5: didn't have a relationship with Jesus. I had never followed
- 15:41S5: and never surrendered my life, and I did then those
- 15:46S5: sins that I had struggled with again for years and
- 15:49S5: couldn't let go of on my own dropped. And I've
- 15:52S5: been free for over six years. And it's because of
- 15:56S5: the power of God. Thankfully have never turned back. And
- 16:00S5: I know I couldn't have done it without him. And
- 16:02S5: now I don't have to hold that pressure of trying
- 16:04S5: to do it without him.
- 16:05S2: And give give the good news here. What do people
- 16:08S2: need to hear right now who resonate with you, young Thunder?
- 16:11S5: Yeah, you. You may be feeling that right now. I
- 16:14S5: grew up in church. My parents were super involved in
- 16:18S5: ministry and I got super involved in ministry. I've been
- 16:21S5: going to church once or twice a week for all
- 16:24S5: my life. I, I went on missions trips, I was
- 16:28S5: on the worship team. All those things were true about
- 16:31S5: me too. But I didn't have a relationship with Jesus.
- 16:35S5: I believed that he existed. Maybe you believed that he exists?
- 16:39S5: Maybe you believe that he died for our sins, but
- 16:43S5: maybe two. It kind of stopped there at an intellectual assent,
- 16:50S5: maybe a desire to kind of get the benefits without
- 16:53S5: surrendering any of your life.
- 16:54S2: That's it, isn't it?
- 16:55S5: Yeah. It is. I believe it's in John. Is it
- 16:59S5: John 12, where Jesus says, if a if a grain
- 17:05S5: falls to the ground and does not die, it remains alone.
- 17:08S5: But if it dies, it bears much fruit. Jesus doesn't.
- 17:12S5: He asks us to believe. Do not get me wrong,
- 17:15S5: and it is from faith and faith alone that we
- 17:17S5: are saved. But he asks us to surrender our lives
- 17:20S5: to him. He asks us to die to ourselves and
- 17:22S5: to follow him.
- 17:24S3: Yeah.
- 17:26S2: Yeah. Let me give you that verse, Jonathan. It's verse
- 17:28S2: 24 in John 12. Listen to this, because this is
- 17:32S2: what the Lord has for you today. Truly, truly, I
- 17:34S2: say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into
- 17:37S2: the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies,
- 17:41S2: it bears much fruit. Whoever loves whoever loves his life
- 17:50S2: loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world
- 17:54S2: will keep it for eternal life. And the hating of
- 17:58S2: the life in this world is the hating of the
- 18:00S2: life that you've built for yourself, or that somebody else
- 18:04S2: has constructed for you. But if you fall to the
- 18:09S2: ground and die, what's crazy about salvation is that the
- 18:15S2: life you've tried to find in yourself has to come
- 18:18S2: to a crashing end. But when it does, you will
- 18:21S2: no longer be alone. You will have relationship with Jesus.
- 18:26S2: It's powerful, isn't it, Jonathan?
- 18:27S5: It's power. It's game changing because that feeling of there
- 18:31S5: has to be something more than this. This ain't it
- 18:33S5: is a real feeling before you surrender to Jesus? If
- 18:36S5: you're just doing the Christian thing and you're just going
- 18:40S5: to church on Sundays and it's just kind of there,
- 18:43S5: but it's not really. Jesus is not at your center.
- 18:46S5: You have not surrendered all to him. It will feel
- 18:49S5: like there's something missing because it is missing. Yeah. He
- 18:52S5: needs to be your Lord and your savior. Both equally important.
- 18:57S3: Yeah.
- 18:59S2: And what's on my heart right now. And I don't
- 19:02S2: know where this is coming from except from the Spirit
- 19:04S2: of God. Somebody has been suicidal. You feel like there
- 19:07S2: is no chance. You are here for a reason. You
- 19:14S2: are here to hear the loving voice of God. More
- 19:18S2: than Jonathan, more than myself, more than somebody. It's the
- 19:21S2: voice of God saying to you today, come here. You're
- 19:24S2: weary and heavy laden. I'm going to give you rest.
- 19:26S3: Yeah, yeah.
- 19:28S2: You might be just like Mavis. Depressed, suicidal, too scared
- 19:35S2: to take your own life, but wondering where in the
- 19:36S2: world life has found. Give your life to Jesus today friend.
- 19:40S2: Every bit of you. And if that's you, you're just
- 19:43S2: crying out to God. Heart wide open to God saying,
- 19:46S2: God save me, save me, change me, do what you
- 19:51S2: will with me. I'm dying to self today. You know
- 19:56S2: what the promise is, John 12. You're going to bear
- 20:01S2: much fruit. How can someone go from being isolated, alone
- 20:09S2: and empty to bearing much fruit? It's by God's grace alone.
- 20:13S2: Tap that grace today. If you're surrendering all you are
- 20:16S2: to Jesus for the very first time. I don't care
- 20:19S2: how long you've been in church, it doesn't matter. I
- 20:21S2: don't care if you're an elder. I don't care if
- 20:22S2: you're on a worship team. I don't care if you're
- 20:24S2: a pastor. If you've never before surrendered to Jesus. Today
- 20:29S2: is your day. Just text the word new and we're
- 20:31S2: going to help you with this link. text the word
- 20:34S2: new to 805 557898, I'll say it again text new
- 20:40S2: right now. Right now, one word new to 805 557898.
- 20:48S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
- 20:52S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
- 20:55S2: I just want to take it and just share with you.
- 20:57S2: It's such a joy. It's such a thrill to see
- 21:01S2: you surrendering to Christ. Today I'm just going to shout
- 21:04S2: out the last four numbers, and then some of you
- 21:06S2: are mopping up tears. So I'm going to you're like,
- 21:09S2: because we got first time texters texting in today. And
- 21:11S2: so some of you might be saying, Carl, what is
- 21:14S2: that link again? Let me give it to you right now.
- 21:17S2: If today you are surrendering all that, I am with
- 21:21S2: lifted hands to Jesus Christ. And it's, it's a beautiful
- 21:26S2: thing when God, by the power of His spirit, breaks
- 21:29S2: through your depression, your suicidal thoughts, your arrogant thoughts, your
- 21:36S2: prideful thoughts that somehow your behavior could get you in
- 21:40S2: right standing with God. And he shows you no man.
- 21:43S2: My friend, you're a sinner. You need a Savior no
- 21:46S2: matter where you are, no matter what position you hold
- 21:48S2: in a church, it doesn't matter. Just text the word
- 21:52S2: new right now. If that's you today, you are surrendering
- 21:55S2: all that you are to Jesus. You are holding nothing back.
- 21:58S2: This isn't some emotional event. This is way deeper than that.
- 22:03S2: This is the totality of who you are. Just text
- 22:06S2: new right now to 805 five, five, 7898. I'm going
- 22:11S2: to shout out the last four numbers of your telephone
- 22:14S2: number here. 6152, 74141431310027124117. Welcome to the family. 079415993682. Welcome
- 22:39S2: to the family. 0845 welcome and 3959. Welcome to the family.
- 22:48S2: What an awesome awesome thing. What an awesome thing. Grateful
- 22:55S2: for the salvation that God has brought to you today.
- 22:59S1: Your shot of hope to help you through the day.
- 23:02S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
- 23:06S2: So when you see this culture that we live in
- 23:09S2: going sideways, what do you do? I mean, we talk
- 23:12S2: about the high ridge around here all the time. One
- 23:15S2: side is, oh man, I'm going to stick my head
- 23:19S2: in the sand. I'm going to go to a bunker.
- 23:21S2: I don't know if I can weather the storm. The
- 23:23S2: other side is you turn into an angry evangelical and
- 23:26S2: we know where that leads us. Right, guys? Nowhere.
- 23:29S5: Oh, goodness. Yeah. I mean, it does it does no
- 23:31S5: good to be angry about any of this stuff.
- 23:33S2: Mike Tatlock is with me right now. I love this
- 23:35S2: guy already. He's lead pastor of Grace Chapel Church in Portland, Oregon,
- 23:40S2: which is kind of really one of the forerunner cities
- 23:44S2: of post-Christian culture. Wow. What's it like preaching there, my man?
- 23:50S9: I love how you said, you know, everywhere I travel,
- 23:53S9: people go, man, you're from Portland. How are you doing?
- 23:55S9: Can we pray for you?
- 23:56S2: And you get a lot of prayer, right?
- 23:59S9: It's so true. And I tell everybody, I'm like, you
- 24:02S9: know what? The headlines are real, man. Like, I'm not
- 24:05S9: gonna lie to you. And I said, there's two headlines, though.
- 24:07S9: There's the headlines that we read in the news and
- 24:08S9: all that's true, the chaos and riots and conflict. And
- 24:12S9: I said, but man, in the last few years, there's
- 24:14S9: a whole nother headline. If the headline of Heaven and
- 24:17S9: the Kingdom, and we're just seeing amazing opportunities for the
- 24:22S9: gospel to be shared, we're seeing churches are actually growing
- 24:24S9: out here. We're going from one of the least church
- 24:26S9: states to now we're seeing churches are overflowing. People are
- 24:30S9: adding services and there seems to be a hunger, a curiosity.
- 24:33S9: And so we're right smack in the middle of a
- 24:35S9: war zone, a culture war zone. And yet God is
- 24:39S9: doing some really incredible things. And so there's a lot
- 24:41S9: to learn from where we're at right now.
- 24:43S2: Yeah. Mike. Uh, not just lead pastor of Grace chapel,
- 24:47S2: but you were teaching Prof. For Prairie Bible College and
- 24:51S2: Multnomah Bible College. You must hold strong to biblical fidelity,
- 24:56S2: even with regard to marriage and sexuality and those things.
- 25:01S2: How's that going?
- 25:02S9: You know, I love the question because, you know, I
- 25:04S9: wrote the book with the title The Compelling Faith and
- 25:07S9: a Compromising Culture. And here's what I learned about that
- 25:10S9: word compromise. I always thought compromise was a a term
- 25:13S9: for conflict resolution or two people trying to figure out
- 25:15S9: what restaurant they want to go to and can't decide. Yeah.
- 25:18S9: You know, like, let's just end up somewhere in the middle. And,
- 25:20S9: and actually that word compromise, when you look at the word,
- 25:23S9: the word promise is in the word compromise. Yeah. And
- 25:27S9: so the root word means to make agreements with the
- 25:30S9: wrong promises. And I think where I have seen most
- 25:34S9: compromise of faith, compromise of integrity, compromise of leadership, it's
- 25:39S9: when we've made agreements with the wrong promises. And in
- 25:41S9: this culture war right now, there's a lot of overpromising
- 25:44S9: under delivery. There's a lot of redefining the terms. Uh,
- 25:47S9: you know, we live in a culture right now where
- 25:49S9: love is being defined. You have to affirm and agree
- 25:52S9: with everybody. And I think that path can lead down
- 25:55S9: towards compromise, where as believers, we want to love everyone.
- 25:59S9: But that doesn't mean we have to agree and affirm everything.
- 26:02S9: And so how do we hold to our convictions, hold
- 26:05S9: to a biblical worldview, and live that out in a
- 26:08S9: way where we have our strong convictions, but we live
- 26:11S9: with compassion and hold the tension of those two things together.
- 26:15S9: And that's that's been the path that we're living out
- 26:17S9: here with.
- 26:18S3: Well, let.
- 26:18S2: Me role play that for you. So somebody walks up
- 26:20S2: to you and says, hey, pastor Mike, I've been coming
- 26:24S2: here on the weekends and I really enjoy some of
- 26:28S2: what's going on here. But I got to be honest
- 26:30S2: with you, I have same sex attractions so much so
- 26:34S2: I'm thinking about getting married. I'm hitting you hard here, dude.
- 26:37S2: How do you as a how do you as a
- 26:39S2: pastor respond to that person? What do you say right then.
- 26:43S9: Happens all the time. So it's not even a hypothetical.
- 26:46S9: We we hear it nonstop and, uh, or couples that
- 26:49S9: come in and say, hey, we're married, we're, we're same
- 26:51S9: sex marriage, we're married, we, we love the church, we
- 26:54S9: love Sundays. And this is what we tell people say
- 26:56S9: everybody's welcome to come here and hear about Christ. But
- 26:59S9: if you're going to follow Christ, it's going to cost
- 27:00S9: you your life. And what that means is, and we,
- 27:03S9: we just tell everyone, it doesn't matter whether you have
- 27:05S9: same sex attraction or you struggle with greed or you
- 27:09S9: struggle with like, it doesn't matter what you struggle with.
- 27:12S9: Scripture says the way of following Jesus means to put
- 27:15S9: him first to die to self. And that means we
- 27:18S9: have to take what we feel, what we think, what
- 27:20S9: we believe, and hold that up to. What does Jesus
- 27:23S9: say when it comes to following him, aligning our lives
- 27:25S9: with him so we level the playing field. Doesn't matter
- 27:28S9: where you're at, what you struggle with, we in fact,
- 27:30S9: are church values. Number one, die to self. And so
- 27:34S9: we preach a message of pick up your cross daily.
- 27:37S9: Follow Christ means to put him at the center. And
- 27:41S9: it doesn't matter what I believe, what I think in
- 27:42S9: a relativistic culture which says you can be your own truth,
- 27:45S9: we go after it every week. But here's the interesting
- 27:48S9: thing is, every time we've said that, we've had people
- 27:52S9: look at us and say, thank you so much for
- 27:54S9: telling us the truth. Whether they agree with it or not,
- 27:57S9: they actually go, thanks for telling us the truth.
- 27:59S2: Yeah, see, you're not shaking hands with bad promises, Mike.
- 28:04S9: I love that. No, not at all. And I think
- 28:06S9: that's what we're actually seeing out here. People want straight truth,
- 28:11S9: whether they agree with it or not. And of course,
- 28:13S9: we all know how you share. That is critical. Yes.
- 28:16S9: You know, the vessel in which we share that, we
- 28:18S9: say it here. We need to have bold humility. So
- 28:20S9: let's be bold with the gospel. Be bold with God's Word.
- 28:23S9: But man, we gotta have a posture of humility. And
- 28:25S9: those two things together, the Spirit of God can work
- 28:27S9: through that.
- 28:28S2: I love it. Mike Tatlock, my guest right now, he
- 28:31S2: is lead pastor of Grace Chapel Church in Portland, Oregon.
- 28:34S2: And man, I love this. Did you ever have a
- 28:38S2: time in your life when you struggled with angry evangelicalism?
- 28:42S2: And I'm going to confess here when when I was
- 28:44S2: brand new at Multnomah Bible College back in the day.
- 28:47S2: It's weird here. I've been set free from all this
- 28:50S2: crazy carousing, cocaine, the whole mess. And then I pendulum swung,
- 28:55S2: and for a season, I became an angry evangelical. I mean,
- 28:59S2: I had this stringent little box. Now, thankfully, God broke
- 29:03S2: me when I lived for a year in South Africa
- 29:05S2: shortly thereafter. But man, how do you shepherd people from
- 29:11S2: angry evangelical into this? I love it, this humility that
- 29:15S2: bursts compassion.
- 29:16S9: One of the biggest things is I've noticed that, you know,
- 29:19S9: we talk about scripture, speaks about. John says, test the spirits. Right.
- 29:23S9: And meaning that behind the culture war there's a spiritual war.
- 29:26S9: I mean, that's just so crystal clear in the scriptures
- 29:28S9: that when we look at people, we have to understand
- 29:31S9: that there's a spiritual blindness and that that even for
- 29:34S9: someone like me, that may be walking with Christ to
- 29:37S9: have a posture that's not like, hey guys, thank you.
- 29:39S9: I'm not like that person, that arrogance. And we talk
- 29:43S9: a lot about this culture that is rebelling against God
- 29:47S9: in terms of relativism. It's it's me. It's all about
- 29:50S9: what I define. And we can be really harsh on that.
- 29:53S9: But one of the, I think the dangers in the
- 29:55S9: church and I talk about this in the book is
- 29:58S9: the religious spirit, not just the rebellious spirit, which is
- 30:01S9: kind of turning from God doing your own thing, but
- 30:03S9: that religious spirit in the church. And you see that
- 30:07S9: play out honestly in the story of the prodigal son.
- 30:10S9: You see the prodigal son, which who represents the rebellious spirit.
- 30:13S9: You know, he ran off, did his thing. When he
- 30:15S9: comes home, the older brother is is upset that the
- 30:19S9: grace of the father was there. And that older brother,
- 30:22S9: I think, is maybe the bigger part of that story,
- 30:24S9: because he represents the religious spirit, which is anti grace,
- 30:28S9: which is anti mercy, which ultimately is anti gospel. And
- 30:31S9: so I think that animosity of the religious spirit that
- 30:35S9: brews inside the church is as deadly as what we
- 30:38S9: see outside the church with the rebellious spirit.
- 30:40S2: What's going on in the heart of someone that has
- 30:44S2: a religious spirit that God needs to break?
- 30:50S9: Yeah. I think, you know, it's so amazing. Paul in
- 30:54S9: Galatians goes after the religious spirit and he says, hey,
- 30:59S9: this is something that who has bewitched you? Galatians three says.
- 31:03S9: He says, you started in the spirit, but now you're
- 31:05S9: living by the flesh. And he's contrasting this works based, religious,
- 31:09S9: performance oriented, which really creates a self-righteous spirit or self-righteous posture.
- 31:15S9: And I think at the end of the day, he
- 31:17S9: actually says in Galatians to those people you have fallen
- 31:21S9: from grace. You know, I always heard that phrase falling
- 31:24S9: from grace. It was some leader that, you know, was
- 31:26S9: in an affair or something like that. And we go, oh,
- 31:28S9: they fell from grace. That's not actually the context of that,
- 31:31S9: that phrase. He's talking to people who are looking to
- 31:33S9: their performance, their own self righteousness. And he says, you
- 31:37S9: have fallen from grace. And so it's falling from grace
- 31:41S9: has less to do with a sinfulness in that sense.
- 31:44S9: And it has more to do with a self-righteousness. And
- 31:48S9: he says, you've fallen from grace and you have alienated
- 31:50S9: yourselves from Christ. Wow. Those are strong words. So I
- 31:54S9: think we have to come back to what is truly grace.
- 31:57S9: Grace is not just license to sin, it's power from
- 32:00S9: self righteousness. And we need that grace message today more
- 32:04S9: than ever.
- 32:05S2: I love this man. Mike, I gotta tell you, you
- 32:08S2: are in the frequent flyer club whether you wanted to
- 32:11S2: be or not. We are going to ring you up
- 32:13S2: more than you can handle. Uh. The name of the
- 32:16S2: book is a compelling faith in a compromising culture. And
- 32:21S2: this is what Mike's framing out here. This is the
- 32:25S2: gospel that we need to give unvarnished truth, but offered
- 32:30S2: up with compassion and humility. Vital guys get this link text. Faith.
- 32:36S2: Right now, I gotta tell you, boom crew all across
- 32:40S2: our listening audience. This is a powerful read. Text Faith
- 32:46S2: to 805 557898. One word faith 805 557898.
- 32:55S1: Standing on the rock. Each and every day. You're listening
- 32:59S1: to cast and crew.
- 33:01S2: I finally had to stop. Finally had to stop. I
- 33:06S2: was starting to feel like, oh, this is going to
- 33:09S2: be embarrassing.
- 33:10S5: What are you talking about?
- 33:11S2: I was so hungry yesterday. I do intermittent fasting, and
- 33:14S2: then I took it a little bit longer and had
- 33:17S2: some appointments. And then I had to go because I
- 33:20S2: got to go see what's going on. We got a
- 33:23S2: campus here for one of our two church campuses that
- 33:26S2: has a new building in Rolling Meadows, Illinois, and they're
- 33:29S2: renovating it. And it's it's going to be great. So
- 33:32S2: I had to go see the renovations, drop a few
- 33:34S2: things off.
- 33:35S3: Exciting.
- 33:35S2: Stuff like that. But I'm, I'm waiting to eat, waiting
- 33:38S2: to eat, waiting to eat. And I'm like, man, I
- 33:44S2: am like really hungry. And I'm driving toward home and I'm,
- 33:47S2: I look up and I see this sushi joint and
- 33:51S2: it's all you can eat. And so I like wheel
- 33:56S2: in there. And I look at the lunch cost and
- 33:59S2: it's like, ain't cheap, man. 2750 for all you can eat.
- 34:03S2: But I know I'm really hungry and I know I'll
- 34:06S2: get my money's worth out of this thing because I
- 34:08S2: haven't eaten now for like, I don't know, 18 hours
- 34:11S2: or something. So I sit down and I order some
- 34:15S2: edamame and I woofed that down and I ordered some
- 34:20S2: Goya and I woofed those down. And then I get
- 34:23S2: into I love sashimi, which is just raw fish, but
- 34:28S2: they got nigiri, which is basically raw fish layered over
- 34:31S2: a little, little wad of white rice. And that's so good, man.
- 34:37S2: You get wasabi with soy sauce and mix it up
- 34:41S2: and get those ginger pieces and drape it on there.
- 34:45S2: And I start eating and I order four and four
- 34:49S2: more and four more and four more and four more.
- 34:55S3: I'm sorry. And I just can't pour more you.
- 34:57S6: Doing.
- 34:57S3: That.
- 34:58S2: And I'm eating tuna and yellowtail and I'm going back
- 35:01S2: and forth, and I order four more and I order
- 35:05S2: four more.
- 35:06S5: That's like 32.
- 35:07S3: Really? Yeah.
- 35:08S2: I got guys, I got up to 32.
- 35:11S3: That's insane.
- 35:12S2: I got up to 32 nigiri. And I'm looking on
- 35:16S2: the menu. And if you order these things like normal
- 35:20S2: kind of dining situation. Yeah, I'm up to with my
- 35:24S2: edamame and everything else. I'm up to like $115.
- 35:29S3: Wow. And here's what's crazy, right?
- 35:33S2: Here's what's.
- 35:34S3: Crazy.
- 35:35S2: I think I could have eaten 16 more.
- 35:38S5: I know.
- 35:38S3: That at.
- 35:39S2: This point, the, the, the, the sushi guys behind the
- 35:43S2: glass counter.
- 35:44S3: Yeah, yeah.
- 35:45S2: They're starting to look over at me.
- 35:46S5: Yeah, like this guy's gonna bankrupt us.
- 35:48S3: They probably can't believe it. And I felt bad and.
- 35:52S2: And the gal came up to me and she said,
- 35:55S2: are you done?
- 35:56S3: I said, done. I said.
- 35:58S2: I'm not, but I think I need to be because
- 36:01S2: I'm feeling bad. And you know what she said? Okay, good.
- 36:05S3: Okay.
- 36:08S2: Because I think that was I think I think they're
- 36:10S2: talking about me back there.
- 36:11S5: I'm sure. Well, the fact it's like it's not like
- 36:14S5: a family of 4 or 5 that have come in
- 36:16S5: and have eaten 32 nigiri. It's one man has come
- 36:19S5: in and ordered edamame, gyoza and 32 nakiri.
- 36:25S2: And it was so good. And what's.
- 36:28S4: What's.
- 36:29S2: Wild is I wasn't full. I mean, I was filling up,
- 36:34S2: I'll grant you that.
- 36:35S5: Yeah, sure. Sure.
- 36:36S2: Because these were generous portions, I will say on the
- 36:39S2: last four yellowtail that I ordered, they were getting a
- 36:42S2: little thinner. On the top of that rice.
- 36:45S5: They said, find a way, find a way.
- 36:47S2: They're like, hey, cut that sucker right down the middle.
- 36:50S2: This guy's going crazy on us here. But I felt bad.
- 36:53S2: And so here's a, here's a question for you, boom crew.
- 36:57S2: If it says all you can eat, should you take
- 37:00S2: them at their word or should you stop when you've
- 37:04S2: racked up $115 worth of retail value? Yeah. And I,
- 37:10S2: and I, because I really. I just felt bad.
- 37:13S5: That's fair.
- 37:14S2: I'm like, I'm clobbering these people. I guess this ain't right.
- 37:18S5: I've never gotten to the point where I made the
- 37:20S5: chef worried about about how much I was challenging the
- 37:24S5: all you can eat thing. I can do it all.
- 37:26S5: You can eat.
- 37:27S2: But can you feel that with me?
- 37:29S5: I can feel it. Though. I agree with you. I
- 37:31S5: think that there's I because at first I would have
- 37:33S5: been like, no, just they said all you can eat,
- 37:36S5: so go get it. But at the same time, I
- 37:39S5: understand when they start giving you looks and they're getting
- 37:41S5: a little worried and you're like, all right, I'll save
- 37:43S5: you guys some money and I'll stop ordering.
- 37:45S6: Fine.
- 37:46S5: That's fair. I think that's fair.
- 37:49S2: Oh, somebody just texted one very skinny man. They have
- 37:53S2: a picture of you now posted at the entrance in
- 37:55S2: the kitchen. No more sushi for you, Carl.
- 37:58S6: Yeah.
- 37:59S5: That's really.
- 38:00S2: Funny. I don't know if you were me. Boom crew,
- 38:02S2: what would you do? Would you bail out at 32?
- 38:05S2: You've already dinged them for $115. But I felt bad.
- 38:10S5: So okay. So $115. What did you pay for? Like
- 38:14S5: what was the.
- 38:15S2: 2750 for the all you can eat?
- 38:20S6: You I mean, I can't picture you.
- 38:22S2: I still. Oh no. I can put this I you
- 38:25S2: give me raw fish. I can put it away.
- 38:27S4: Okay. Put them.
- 38:28S5: Obviously you put them 100 in the hole yesterday.
- 38:32S2: Oh, great. Thanks, Jonathan. I really appreciate that, man. Somebody
- 38:37S2: just said, don't shame yourself, Carl. If it's all you
- 38:41S2: can eat. Eat as much as you can. I don't know.
- 38:44S5: I, I.
- 38:45S2: Don't know about that. It's it's great. Honest to goodness.
- 38:48S5: Yeah.
- 38:50S2: For sure. 16 more. I could have eaten.
- 38:52S5: Yeah. You know what I'll say this. I'll say this.
- 38:54S5: And I think that I, I actually kind of agree
- 38:56S5: with this person who says, if it's all you can eat,
- 38:58S5: it's all you can eat. They have to account for
- 39:01S5: this a little bit understanding that there are going to
- 39:04S5: be some people in here who are gonna put them
- 39:06S5: in the hole a little bit. And then there are
- 39:08S5: some people who are going to do that and then
- 39:10S5: can eat way less than what is 27, 50 or whatever.
- 39:14S5: You know, so so I think that you're okay. There
- 39:18S5: are going to be plenty more people who even it
- 39:20S5: out in that restaurant.
- 39:22S2: Yeah, that was what I was thinking. Yeah. In fact,
- 39:24S2: I was looking around.
- 39:25S6: You.
- 39:26S2: Know, and there were two young ladies that were on
- 39:28S2: the all you can eat menu. I could tell by
- 39:29S2: the way they were ordering, but they were slowing down.
- 39:32S2: So they're like, all right, well, that makes up for
- 39:33S2: me a little bit right there. Yeah. Oh, boy. Got
- 39:36S2: a lot of feedback coming in here. I hope you
- 39:38S2: left a healthy tip. I do only because my bride
- 39:42S2: was a waitress. So when I got married, I found out, wow, what?
- 39:45S2: I was tipping ain't cutting it, so. Yeah, I did tip. Well.
- 39:51S5: Um, I have one more one more question because I,
- 39:53S5: this I'm reminded of a story that you shared a
- 39:57S5: little while ago where you took your, at the time,
- 40:00S5: young son, into a buffet where kids ate free and.
- 40:05S2: Yeah, it was our kids. They were eating Indian food
- 40:09S2: in little Rock, Arkansas, and kids ate free. One Sunday
- 40:13S2: we went back the next Sunday and because of them,
- 40:17S2: that was gone.
- 40:18S5: You said, no joking. You said what happened to the
- 40:20S5: kids eat free and you said your kids. It runs
- 40:26S5: in the family, bro. That's awesome.
- 40:28S10: So good. They remembered.
- 40:30S2: Oh.
- 40:30S10: That's hilarious.
- 40:32S2: I don't know, what would you do? Boom crew on
- 40:34S2: something like that. What would you do? 805. Five. Five. 78. 98.
- 40:39S2: Is anyone with me? I'm here in times of inflation.
- 40:42S10: Eat up a few supporters out there. You do?
- 40:46S2: I think that markup on the food is high enough
- 40:48S2: that they don't lose as much money. That's what I
- 40:50S2: was thinking.
- 40:51S5: That's also probably.
- 40:52S2: True, but there's no way they if they made anything,
- 40:54S2: it was. Yeah, it was like a buck.
- 40:57S5: I also like the idea of like 18 Nigerian. You're
- 41:01S5: like talking with yourself about like, I think I'm allowed
- 41:04S5: to go a little bit more. And then like 32,
- 41:06S5: you're like, all right, I have to cut it out.
- 41:08S5: That's awesome.
- 41:09S10: Doing the math in his head.
- 41:11S2: Well, they're bringing out plate after plate after plate after
- 41:14S2: plate after plate after plate after plate.
- 41:18S5: How did you feel like now? How did your stomach feel?
- 41:21S2: Oh, so, so beautiful.
- 41:22S5: Okay. Cause I was, like, even after being hungry. I
- 41:25S5: feel like that much would make you feel like you're
- 41:27S5: gonna pop.
- 41:28S2: It was. It was wonderful. And that's what I'm saying.
- 41:31S2: I'm looking and I'm going. I could eat more. And
- 41:35S2: that's when. When the girl told me. Oh, good. Yeah. Oh, good.
- 41:38S2: You're you're good. Yeah. That's that's.
- 41:40S5: Good. Says good.
- 41:42S10: That's. I told you right there. Whoa, whoa.
- 41:45S5: Usually they're trying to beg you to get dessert out too.
- 41:48S5: And it's like she was happy that you didn't want
- 41:51S5: any more.
- 41:52S10: Oh.
- 41:53S2: At first I thought, can I eat 27 bucks worth
- 41:57S2: of sushi? And then I'm like, oh, oh, yeah, yeah.
- 42:00S2: No problem.
- 42:00S5: Yeah. You could.
- 42:02S2: Oh, goodness. Just things that were up against in this
- 42:05S2: world today. I still don't know if it was conviction
- 42:10S2: or shame that caused me to walk away and stop,
- 42:14S2: but I did. I shut her down, man. Imagine this.
- 42:18S2: That Nojiri never runs out in glory.
- 42:21S5: All you can eat. All you can.
- 42:22S6: Eat.
- 42:24S1: Start your day moving closer to Jesus. You're listening to
- 42:28S1: Carl and crew.
- 42:30S2: Well, being vulnerable there got a lot of feedback. Oh
- 42:33S2: my goodness. People have opinions on this one. A lot
- 42:35S2: of support. I'd say the vast majority is is if
- 42:39S2: it's all you can eat, it's all you can eat.
- 42:41S5: Yeah, the listeners changed my opinion on it. I, I
- 42:44S5: have come to side with them. That's all you can eat.
- 42:46S5: It's all you can eat.
- 42:47S2: Yeah. Somebody said, well, go back and order off the
- 42:50S2: regular menu sometime next week.
- 42:53S5: I want you to go back next week and see
- 42:55S5: if they got rid of all you can eat.
- 42:56S6: I want to see if they recognize you. So please
- 42:58S6: go back to see what their reaction.
- 43:01S2: Is when they walk up and the door's locked.
- 43:03S5: Yeah, Yeah. Oh, no. He's here again.
- 43:05S2: And there's people in there. And the door's locked and
- 43:08S2: they're pretending they don't see me.
- 43:10S5: That's so good.
- 43:12S6: Hello? Anybody there?
- 43:13S2: Oh goodness sakes. Okay. Coming up. You know, the pressure
- 43:18S2: we feel sometimes in life is not a laughing matter.
- 43:21S2: It's as real as real can be. And what happens?
- 43:24S2: So we're born again. We have this hope that is
- 43:27S2: found in relationship with Jesus Christ. And then it's like, ah,
- 43:31S2: where is this? And I really believe it. A secondary
- 43:34S2: hope even through trials. Oh, have we got a really
- 43:40S2: great woman of God joining us straight ahead.
- 43:44S1: Helping you take the next step in your walk with Jesus.
- 43:47S2: God longs for us today to seek him and ask
- 43:51S2: him to move in ways that we never could.
- 43:53S1: You're listening to cast and crew.
- 43:56S2: So do we love what we find in Romans five?
- 43:58S2: Of course we do. Of course we do.
- 44:02S5: What specifically are we talking about?
- 44:03S2: Well, we're talking about the hope that is found in
- 44:05S2: a relationship with Christ.
- 44:06S5: Amen.
- 44:07S2: But it's that second stage of hope that Paul iterates,
- 44:11S2: and it seems like he got to go around Macready's
- 44:13S2: barn to get to it. Yeah. We rejoice also in sufferings,
- 44:19S2: knowing that suffering produces endurance and endurance. Character and character
- 44:24S2: produces hope. You know, if we got to get someone
- 44:28S2: in here that can tackle this secondary hope, that comes
- 44:31S2: as a result of persevering, it'd be Susie Larson. It's real,
- 44:34S2: isn't it, Susie?
- 44:36S11: It is so real. And you know what? Our hearts
- 44:38S11: can't live without hope. This is not optional. It's not
- 44:41S11: something we can kick the can down the field for
- 44:43S11: another day. We need to wrestle until we come into
- 44:46S11: that place of hope because it is part of our birthright.
- 44:48S11: So this is super important that we're talking about it today.
- 44:52S2: Anyone who's followed Christ for any length of time at
- 44:54S2: all knows that there's going to be suffering. But what
- 44:57S2: Paul says here is it produces Endurance and endurance produces character.
- 45:05S2: How have you seen God develop character in you that
- 45:09S2: results then in hope?
- 45:10S11: I will first say, you cannot mature without endurance and perseverance.
- 45:14S11: You cannot. You'll stay a baby Christian. And so it
- 45:17S11: is just the way it is on this fallen planet.
- 45:20S11: Jesus said, in this world you will have trouble. And
- 45:23S11: for me, you know, I've talked on the show plenty
- 45:26S11: about my health challenges, but in that relapse that took
- 45:28S11: place ten years ago, that lasted seven intense ish years,
- 45:32S11: I mean, very hard for me. I literally had to
- 45:35S11: see a counselor for a few sessions once. The worst
- 45:38S11: of it was over because I, I almost couldn't talk
- 45:40S11: about it without wanting to get sick because it was
- 45:42S11: so painful. And in the middle of that, I quoted
- 45:45S11: the scripture back to God. I was not with attitude,
- 45:48S11: but with sorrow, saying, Lord, you know the word says
- 45:51S11: hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a promise fulfilled
- 45:53S11: is the tree of life. I am heart sick because
- 45:56S11: my hope has been so deferred. You're waiting so long.
- 46:00S11: Where are you? You know, I'm seeing answers in these
- 46:02S11: areas of my life, but crickets in the one area
- 46:04S11: that I'm army crawling through. Lord, where are you? And
- 46:08S11: the Lord thundered in my spirit. Karl, he said, look
- 46:10S11: it up. And I knew I was in trouble. It
- 46:12S11: was that fatherly. Look it up. And so I looked
- 46:15S11: up the passage and, you know, hope deferred. The word
- 46:17S11: deferred is a verb. It's an action word, which means
- 46:21S11: we're the ones who defer hope. It's like when you
- 46:23S11: defer a loan payment, I'm going to kick that can
- 46:25S11: down the field. I'm going to postpone my payments for
- 46:28S11: another time. And when you defer hope, when you put
- 46:31S11: it off for another time because you want to sit
- 46:34S11: too long in your suffering and your sorrow, when to
- 46:37S11: the point where you start to make an idol out
- 46:38S11: of your pain, you will get heart sick. Our hearts
- 46:41S11: cannot live without hope.
- 46:43S2: How do we get that? Let's just role play this here.
- 46:46S2: Somebody right now is kicked in the teeth. They don't
- 46:49S2: see God in this desert. How do they hold on
- 46:53S2: to something that will get them through?
- 46:56S11: Well, for me, God gave me an acronym with Hope
- 46:59S11: and it helped me so much healing, overcoming purpose and eternity.
- 47:03S11: For me, this is what helped me so much when
- 47:06S11: I thought, okay, you want me to have hope? In Romans,
- 47:08S11: I think it's 1513. It says, May the God of
- 47:11S11: all hope fill you with all joy and peace as
- 47:14S11: you trust in him, so that you may abound in
- 47:16S11: hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. It's like
- 47:18S11: a trifecta, and that's a supernatural inheritance for us in
- 47:22S11: the middle of our storm. What an amazing thing to
- 47:25S11: be a child of God. So I asked God, how
- 47:27S11: do I get there? And he just really helped me
- 47:29S11: to get a big story picture in the middle of
- 47:32S11: when you are feeling kicked in the teeth. And as
- 47:34S11: you know full well, I've been there so many times.
- 47:37S11: So the first thing that we have a birthright is,
- 47:39S11: is healing. Now, how it looks, how it plays out
- 47:41S11: is different for everybody. There's a mystery, but we are
- 47:44S11: guaranteed full healing when we see Jesus face to face.
- 47:48S11: And maybe yours isn't a physical healing, maybe it's a
- 47:50S11: relational healing. Maybe it's a soul healing because you're just
- 47:53S11: worn out from the battle. When you follow Jesus, you
- 47:56S11: follow the healer. So somehow, someway, there's got to be
- 47:59S11: an expectancy in your heart that he's renewing you day
- 48:03S11: by day, moving you from strength to strength. There's got
- 48:05S11: to be a hope and expectancy around that. And I
- 48:09S11: say that, you know, when you get your identity from
- 48:11S11: your affliction, when you've been at it so long, you're
- 48:14S11: making an idol out of your pain. And I pray
- 48:17S11: you hear this with great love because I've been there,
- 48:19S11: done that. I know the pain so much, but it's
- 48:22S11: so important to get back to that place of going, okay,
- 48:25S11: you know what? This hurts so bad. But when I
- 48:27S11: follow Jesus, I follow the healer. And so I'm going
- 48:29S11: to look with expectancy for the ways that healing is
- 48:32S11: springing up in my life. It might not be in
- 48:35S11: the very place that I'm gazing at, but he is
- 48:37S11: bringing some redemption in other places. Oh, is overcoming. Overwhelming
- 48:41S11: victory belongs to us. We are made to overcome and
- 48:44S11: you can't overcome without persevering. The enemy does not have
- 48:47S11: an endless supply of strength. He does not have endurance
- 48:50S11: and perseverance. He does not have the promise of eternity
- 48:53S11: with God. He does not have the Spirit of God
- 48:56S11: in him. He's so jealous of you because you have
- 48:58S11: all those things you are equipped to overcome. And then
- 49:01S11: p there's a purpose and I think we can endure
- 49:03S11: when we know there's a purpose in our pain. And
- 49:05S11: what the Lord showed me in my study of Scripture,
- 49:07S11: in my journey through pain and sorrow, is there's always
- 49:10S11: a purpose because he wastes no man's time. And when
- 49:13S11: you start to see a purpose in whatever he's allowing,
- 49:16S11: that he will redeem and turn for your good and
- 49:19S11: his glory. You can throw your head back, your shoulders back,
- 49:22S11: your eyes to the prize and say, I'm going to
- 49:24S11: keep walking. I'm going to keep believing. I will overcome.
- 49:27S11: And this somehow is going to serve a purpose in
- 49:30S11: the greater Kingdom story and then eternity. Is that what
- 49:33S11: we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory that
- 49:36S11: will be revealed to us when Christ returns. So as
- 49:39S11: you walk through these hardships, you don't have to do
- 49:41S11: it perfectly. But as you keep your heart free from offense,
- 49:44S11: being offended by God and you keep your heart set
- 49:47S11: on him expectant, he's going to redeem because that's who
- 49:51S11: he is. And then you say, you know what? Every
- 49:53S11: day that I keep marching through sorrow, through hardship, through
- 49:57S11: the wine press. It's adding this accumulative weight of glory
- 50:01S11: for the day when Christ is revealed to the whole world.
- 50:04S11: And isn't it something, Carl, that on the day of
- 50:06S11: his great reveal, you know that the world will see
- 50:10S11: and every knee will bow. He wants to reveal us
- 50:12S11: with him like he's choosing to say, father, when you
- 50:15S11: reveal me to the world, I want you to reveal
- 50:17S11: my brothers and sisters too. These are the reward of
- 50:20S11: my suffering. Because the Bible says all of creation groans
- 50:24S11: for the day when God reveals who his children really are.
- 50:28S11: So I think we make a mistake when we look
- 50:30S11: to this world and this life to tie up in
- 50:32S11: a tidy bow. You know, some things aren't going to
- 50:35S11: resolve the way we hope, but we have the glory
- 50:37S11: of the risen Lord at work in us. And there's
- 50:39S11: an accumulative glory, a momentum in our lives that when
- 50:43S11: we see him face to face, this will be a memory.
- 50:46S11: We won't even remember our pain or our sorrow, because
- 50:49S11: we will be in everlasting joy. And to the extent
- 50:52S11: that you steward these trials now will be the extent
- 50:55S11: that you enjoy the glory, the reward, and the fullness
- 50:58S11: of what God wants to bestow upon you as you're
- 51:01S11: faithful in this place.
- 51:03S2: That's so encouraging, Susie. My bride was telling me two
- 51:07S2: days ago she was listening to a podcast and she said, bub,
- 51:11S2: I learned something. I said, what's that? She goes, pain
- 51:14S2: has a memory. And she said, I'm listening to these
- 51:17S2: brain scientists talk about pain has a memory, and they
- 51:21S2: are appealing to you've got to think about the greater good.
- 51:24S2: And she's like, this is exactly what Scripture is saying.
- 51:28S2: Pain has a memory. If we don't deal with those
- 51:30S2: memories of pain rightly with truth, we succumb to that
- 51:36S2: yet again. Oh, give me.
- 51:38S11: I love this conversation so much. My heart's like, this
- 51:41S11: is yes, yes, yes. You know, the science talks about
- 51:44S11: nerves that fire together, wire together. So to break down,
- 51:46S11: what she's saying is that you have an experience and
- 51:49S11: then you have an emotional response to that experience. They
- 51:52S11: fire together. So every time that you have something even
- 51:55S11: reminiscent of that experience, your body, your nervous system is triggered.
- 51:59S11: And the enemy knows that. And we as Christians take
- 52:01S11: such a passive approach to the hard parts of our story.
- 52:04S11: And when you let these places and spaces in your
- 52:07S11: story that are hard, that leave you, leave them kind
- 52:10S11: of unchallenged where you've come to wrong conclusions, your pain
- 52:13S11: is real, your conclusion might be wrong. And if you
- 52:16S11: live with that, the enemy knows that, sees an open door,
- 52:20S11: an open loop, and he comes in to continually build
- 52:23S11: a case against the Lord. And that's why instead of
- 52:25S11: taking a passive role in the place of your sorrow
- 52:28S11: and suffering, you take an active role to say, you
- 52:30S11: know what? God's been good and he will be good again.
- 52:33S11: And you build a case for the goodness of God.
- 52:36S11: That's why I've been on before to talk about waking
- 52:38S11: up to the goodness of God. The whole purpose is
- 52:41S11: spend 40 days applying yourself to making a case for
- 52:45S11: the goodness of God. And what changed for me? Karl
- 52:48S11: was in the middle of all of that. I literally
- 52:50S11: had to almost take sides against my own flesh to go,
- 52:52S11: you know what? I hate this so bad, but I
- 52:55S11: have a house. I have a husband, I have kids,
- 52:58S11: I have food in my cupboard. And and what I
- 53:00S11: learned is I studied the brain science and paired it
- 53:02S11: with Scripture is you can count your blessings and have
- 53:07S11: it not move the heart of God and not change
- 53:09S11: you physiologically. But if you practice sincere gratitude, literally where
- 53:13S11: when you have sincere gratitude, it releases the feel good
- 53:16S11: hormones in your body. That's proof that you're seriously entering into.
- 53:20S11: I'm so grateful. God, I'm so grateful for my husband.
- 53:23S11: I'm so grateful for new mercies when you feel that
- 53:27S11: sincere gratitude, not only is that an offering to God,
- 53:30S11: it's a physiological gift to your body. Yeah. And you
- 53:33S11: have to do that to replace the pain. You have
- 53:36S11: to actually have new experiences that are spiritual, emotional, and
- 53:41S11: physical to upstage that painful memory and scripture. If you
- 53:45S11: look at Psalm 63, it's a whole body engagement with
- 53:48S11: my whole heart, mind and soul. God, I enter in
- 53:51S11: and I praise your name. I'm telling you, I have
- 53:54S11: such a passion. To see the body of Christ rise
- 53:56S11: up and stop passively taking all of the, um, messages
- 54:00S11: that try to attach themselves to our pain.
- 54:03S2: Yeah, it's like we're playing rope a dope. It's a
- 54:05S2: boxing metaphor and.
- 54:06S11: We're whack a mole. Let's do it.
- 54:08S2: And we're. And here's the problem. We're not using the
- 54:10S2: offensive weapons of war, which primarily is rhema, the Word
- 54:14S2: of God, the spoken Word of God, and this great
- 54:18S2: heart of gratitude. It's right on. Oh, guys, right now
- 54:22S2: I want you to grab a link. You're going to
- 54:24S2: get to a website that has phenomenal resources. And yes,
- 54:27S2: you can find this is she's got a lot of
- 54:30S2: best sellers, but waking up to the goodness of God. Exquisite.
- 54:34S2: This is content you're going to use today. Text goodness
- 54:39S2: to 805 5578981 word goodness 805 557898.