Latest / Karl and Crew / Cries from the Cross with Dr. Erwin Lutzer & Hope in Iran with Dr. Hormoz Shariat
Transcript
- 0:00S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
- 0:06S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide. Overcome
- 0:10S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. Start
- 0:15S1: your morning with a laugh.
- 0:17S2: Practical from the Bible. Tips and tricks to kill. Not
- 0:21S2: tricks but tips and tricks.
- 0:25S3: Tips and tricks to kill. Tips and tricks.
- 0:28S1: Delivering the truth daily.
- 0:30S4: All of my attempts to, you know, prop myself up
- 0:33S4: with achievement in good works. Well, God wasn't impressed by that,
- 0:36S4: even if other people were.
- 0:38S2: The gospel changes everything.
- 0:41S5: Freedom in Christ. Man, it's like that backpack of cement
- 0:44S5: just falling to the ground.
- 0:46S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
- 0:50S1: and crew. Well, next year, next year, next year.
- 0:57S6: Next year is going to be the year. Well, we're
- 0:59S6: three games into the baseball season.
- 1:01S3: And.
- 1:01S6: Neither team is broadcasting from Chicago. I just got to
- 1:06S6: quickly say this. It's we're looking for next year. We're
- 1:10S6: looking forward to next year.
- 1:13S4: You can't start talking about.
- 1:15S3: Starting.
- 1:15S6: Three games, three games.
- 1:17S3: Yet.
- 1:17S6: No I'm.
- 1:18S3: Optimistic.
- 1:19S6: I'm optimistic. Next year is our year.
- 1:22S4: But it's not how you start.
- 1:24S3: Could still be.
- 1:25S4: How you finish.
- 1:26S3: Yeah.
- 1:26S6: You know it's true about that. But I'm really looking
- 1:29S6: forward to next year.
- 1:31S4: So what makes you so certain?
- 1:33S6: Oh, no. No, I just I get my hopes up
- 1:35S6: too high. Does anyone else do that? Oh, every season
- 1:39S6: with the high school team that you have with your
- 1:42S6: kid's T-ball league. Do you ever get so hopeful for
- 1:45S6: that season and then realize next year is going to
- 1:49S6: be the year? And it's an optimistic thing, because the
- 1:53S6: beautiful thing about sports until the Lord returns is we
- 1:57S6: got next year.
- 1:58S2: There's always next year.
- 1:59S6: There's always next year.
- 2:01S2: Yeah. You know though with baseball there's still this year
- 2:06S2: because there are so many games. I know in 2017,
- 2:10S2: right after the Cubs won the World Series, we famously
- 2:12S2: started out horribly. You're right. We hit the all star
- 2:16S2: break halfway through the season at 40 and 40, which
- 2:19S2: is not good. And then we came up, won a
- 2:21S2: ton of games in the second half, won the division.
- 2:24S6: And went to Cleveland and eked it out in the in,
- 2:27S6: in on on enemy territory.
- 2:29S2: And then we. And then. Well that was for the
- 2:31S2: World Series. Yes. And that. But then.
- 2:33S6: Isn't that the year you're talking.
- 2:34S2: About 2016.
- 2:35S6: Oh I'm sorry.
- 2:36S2: No, 2017 was the year after the World Series, but
- 2:39S2: we still made it to the championship, uh, series in
- 2:42S2: the playoffs and almost made it to the World Series.
- 2:44S6: So we'll sing it with me. Next year is gonna
- 2:48S6: be a good year. I mean, the funny thing about it,
- 2:53S6: by the way, speaking of next year, did anybody see
- 2:56S6: The Rainmaker from the logo for UConn that beat Duke
- 3:00S6: last night.
- 3:00S4: Yes. Oh my goodness.
- 3:02S6: Oh my goodness.
- 3:04S2: I did not see that.
- 3:05S4: I did.
- 3:06S6: Not.
- 3:06S4: Watch the game. But I got a text from a
- 3:09S4: family member saying, you have to turn on this game.
- 3:12S4: So I literally turned it on with 26.6 seconds. It
- 3:16S4: was a time out. The UConn had the ball down by.
- 3:21S6: Up, down two points.
- 3:22S4: Down two points.
- 3:24S6: All Duke had to do was inbound the ball and
- 3:26S6: hold on to it and get fouled. That's all they
- 3:29S6: had to do, all they had.
- 3:30S4: I think there was a foul in there. So then
- 3:32S4: it ended up with UConn down by.
- 3:35S6: Yeah the last 10s because I watched it were UConn
- 3:39S6: was down by two. All Duke had to do was
- 3:42S6: inbound the ball, hold on to it and get fouled.
- 3:44S6: And that would have been the best. And bless his heart,
- 3:47S6: I'm not even going to say who it was because
- 3:49S6: he's the team leader and I think he's a true
- 3:51S6: freshman anyway. He tried to just it's instinct man. You
- 3:56S6: want to break presses? And they double teamed them about midcourt,
- 4:00S6: and he tried to throw it over four hands and
- 4:03S6: it got tipped and UConn grabbed it and they pumped
- 4:07S6: it to the three point line. That guy who's their
- 4:09S6: best shooter probably wasn't wide open. So he kicks it
- 4:13S6: back out to a guy that's standing on the logo.
- 4:17S6: And he literally does a set shot because you can't
- 4:21S6: shoot a jumper from 40ft. You know, it's more of
- 4:24S6: a set shot. And it was nothing but net with
- 4:29S6: 0.04 seconds left.
- 4:31S4: It was I mean, it was one of those things
- 4:33S4: that if you're a basketball fan, no matter who you
- 4:36S4: are rooting for, your your mouth drops open because it
- 4:39S4: was such an odd ending. Because the game was over.
- 4:42S4: It was over. It was over. Duke was supposed to
- 4:44S4: win that game just on based on how it played out.
- 4:49S6: Oh man, it was something else. And I don't watch
- 4:52S6: these games because I don't have time, but I'm on
- 4:54S6: the way home. I was praying with my assistant, who's
- 4:58S6: going in for a bit of a operation today, and
- 5:01S6: praying with her and her husband. My bride and I
- 5:03S6: were driving down the road and then our buddy Bill says,
- 5:06S6: I said, you don't know what's going on. At the
- 5:08S6: end of the prayer. I said, you don't know what's
- 5:09S6: going on in the Yukon do game, do you? He goes, man,
- 5:12S6: it's close. They'd been down 19. So I beat feet
- 5:16S6: at home. Kick it on. We see the last couple.
- 5:19S6: That was the craziest ending to a game.
- 5:21S4: It's been a wild March Madness. I don't know if
- 5:23S4: you I don't know if anyone else has been following it,
- 5:25S4: but a lot of wild endings on both the men
- 5:28S4: and the women side.
- 5:29S2: I haven't seen, I just I've been following whether Illinois
- 5:31S2: is winning or not.
- 5:32S6: Oh my goodness. So yeah, if you're a Yukon fan,
- 5:37S6: how are you doing this morning? Text us 800 555 7898.
- 5:43S6: Total elation.
- 5:44S2: Yeah.
- 5:45S6: Man, if.
- 5:46S4: You're a Duke fan.
- 5:47S6: Yeah. Don't even. I don't want to.
- 5:48S2: Ask.
- 5:48S7: About that.
- 5:48S4: I know it's been two years in a row of
- 5:50S4: really heartbreaking March Madness finishes. I'm sorry.
- 5:55S6: Isn't competition something else? I don't care what it is.
- 5:59S6: Baking shows, you name it, man. Competition. I mean, this
- 6:04S6: is why reality TV is so popular. Like survivor. Still surviving.
- 6:09S6: They're in their 50th season.
- 6:11S2: Yeah. That's crazy.
- 6:12S4: You pit people against each other to do just about anything.
- 6:15S4: You put a little music to it some. It's easy
- 6:19S4: to get pulled into these narratives and you watch a
- 6:22S4: game like Duke, UConn for 20s, and then you become
- 6:26S4: a fan of of a team that gets a crazy
- 6:29S4: win and you're like, yeah, I'm all in. On UConn
- 6:31S4: Bandwagon Central.
- 6:33S6: You know, I gotta tell you, I think I know
- 6:36S6: a competition that we could put out there on, on
- 6:40S6: like Facebook Live. And I don't know that we could
- 6:43S6: do it young Thunder, but you and me versus super
- 6:46S6: D and Ali in two on two kind of beach volleyball.
- 6:50S2: Oh, beach. Okay. I thought you were gonna say basketball.
- 6:52S2: If it's basketball, it's gonna be the saddest experience for
- 6:54S2: me because I'm horrible at basketball. But volleyball.
- 6:57S6: Volleyball.
- 6:58S2: Beach volleyball is different. I could do regular volleyball.
- 7:01S6: Oh, you can't jump in the sand either. See, my
- 7:04S6: feet are too small for the size of my body,
- 7:06S6: and I just. It doesn't work.
- 7:09S4: Ali's a volleyball expert.
- 7:10S6: Oh, yeah, she's a volleyball pro.
- 7:12S4: Yeah. Okay. That's that's generous. That's generous. My my volleyball
- 7:16S4: playing years are now well in the past.
- 7:19S6: Ali, memory muscle is a real thing. It is a
- 7:22S6: real thing. And you would spike it into our face.
- 7:24S6: It would be so brutal.
- 7:25S2: All of us. You'd crush all of us. I don't
- 7:27S2: know if you guys have ever experienced this before, but
- 7:29S2: I did this over the weekend and I was like, oh,
- 7:31S2: that's a different thing for me. So I I'm 30 now,
- 7:35S2: so I'm getting up there in age.
- 7:37S6: Oh, okay.
- 7:38S4: Okay. Everybody grow together.
- 7:41S6: Could we grown? Yes. I'm with super die. Could we
- 7:44S6: all grown at one time? Oh.
- 7:48S5: All right, now finish your story.
- 7:50S2: Driving in the car with my family and. And I
- 7:52S2: sneezed so hard my knees hurt. Have you guys ever.
- 7:56S2: I sneezed so hard that my knees hurt. Oh, I
- 8:00S2: don't know if you guys have ever experienced this, bro.
- 8:03S5: You might have.
- 8:03S4: Pinched something in your back. Is that a 30 year
- 8:05S4: old thing?
- 8:05S2: I don't know, it must be because it never happened before.
- 8:08S6: It's related for.
- 8:09S2: Sure. And the muscles in my knees started aching really bad.
- 8:12S2: As soon as that happened, I looked at my wife.
- 8:13S2: I said, I don't, I don't know what just happened,
- 8:15S2: but my knees are killing me.
- 8:17S6: And your knees hit the steering wheel and you didn't
- 8:19S6: know it?
- 8:19S2: No, no, it just tightened so hard. They like overexerted
- 8:24S2: themselves and then they were.
- 8:25S4: I don't think you're at the age where that kind
- 8:28S4: of random stuff happens. I feel like you've got a
- 8:31S4: couple more years.
- 8:32S2: Okay, good. I don't want it to keep happening, but.
- 8:34S4: You do reach a point. I feel like where you
- 8:36S4: do start to have these random things that.
- 8:39S2: Pains from normal, everyday things.
- 8:41S4: Like how did that happen? I don't know, how did
- 8:43S4: I get that bruise? I don't know. Middle age, I guess.
- 8:50S5: You wake up and you're like, when did that happen?
- 8:53S4: Why am I creaking? I went to bed. Okay.
- 8:58S5: I'm 30.
- 8:58S2: Now. I just needed to. I needed to clarify with
- 9:00S2: you guys.
- 9:01S5: We'll let you slide.
- 9:02S2: Thank you.
- 9:03S6: When your angle ankle started and let me know because
- 9:05S6: then I'm going to. We got we got real problems.
- 9:09S2: Then we got to go see a doctor.
- 9:12S8: That's good.
- 9:13S6: Well, we went around Mccready's barn.
- 9:15S4: I don't know if we had a point to start.
- 9:17S6: No, nothing.
- 9:18S2: There's always next year. I think that's where you start.
- 9:19S4: Oh, okay.
- 9:20S6: We've got next year. That's what Young Thunder and I
- 9:23S6: are going to sing with the beach volleyball classic we've
- 9:26S6: got next year.
- 9:27S2: It ain't happening this time, that's for sure.
- 9:31S6: Ali, all super day. All you do is set.
- 9:34S4: Well, Super Di had some volleyball playing experience, too.
- 9:36S6: That's what I'm saying.
- 9:37S4: She sets it, too.
- 9:38S6: She sets it to Ali.
- 9:40S5: Yeah, that's exactly.
- 9:42S6: What Ali just with her wingspan and her height. She
- 9:45S6: just puts it in our face and it's all over.
- 9:48S2: I tried out for volleyball in middle school. I didn't
- 9:50S2: make the team, but I was good enough to try out.
- 9:52S4: Good enough.
- 9:53S6: Good enough to try.
- 9:55S2: Out.
- 9:57S6: And I was.
- 9:58S5: Good.
- 10:00S6: Okay, that's in the next year category. Okay.
- 10:02S4: That's in one way of putting it.
- 10:04S6: That's in the category of. Yes.
- 10:06S2: I think it was rigged. I think I should have
- 10:08S2: been on the team. That's all I'm saying.
- 10:09S4: I can't believe they did cuts.
- 10:10S2: Yeah.
- 10:11S4: Most middle schools don't cut anyone.
- 10:13S2: A lot of kids trying out. It was an elite
- 10:15S2: group of kids. Elite group of middle school. 13 year old.
- 10:19S4: Boys. Volleyball players at that.
- 10:21S5: To cut back in the day.
- 10:22S6: Well they they should have on the team I was
- 10:24S6: on I was on a basketball middle school team in
- 10:27S6: no joking. He would line us up in groups of
- 10:30S6: five beyond the top ten. No kidding. There were 7
- 10:37S6: or 8, I forget 7 or 8 groups of five
- 10:40S6: guys on the bench. And so we would sit there
- 10:46S6: lined up in the bleachers five in a row and
- 10:49S6: guess where I was second from the top.
- 10:52S4: And so how long would you get in the game for?
- 10:54S6: Oh, I got in for 30s because as the game was,
- 10:58S6: we didn't get in till the second half. But as
- 11:01S6: the game was winding down and I think in that
- 11:04S6: game we were getting killed. So he'd just start bringing
- 11:07S6: him down next row and they'd hit the deck and
- 11:10S6: then next row and I'm like, I looked at my buddies,
- 11:13S6: I'm going, it's coming to us. And my one buddy,
- 11:16S6: we were we were both sprinters. And he's like, you
- 11:19S6: know what? I think this is my last year. I
- 11:21S6: said for sure my last year, I mean, I got
- 11:25S6: in for 30s and here's what happens when kid gets
- 11:28S6: in for 30s. If you get the ball, you shoot.
- 11:32S6: It doesn't matter where you are.
- 11:34S2: Whatever, whatever you.
- 11:36S6: Got to do, it doesn't matter where you are. I'm
- 11:38S6: even up things from logo like just beyond half court
- 11:43S6: and the coach is looking at me going, what are
- 11:45S6: you doing? I said, I get in for two seconds.
- 11:49S6: I'm going to shoot. Going to shoot from wherever I am.
- 11:53S6: That's hilarious. Don't call me the assist leader with this
- 11:56S6: kind of a. Rigmarole going on.
- 11:58S4: Yeah. There's not any passing happening there.
- 12:01S6: Oh.
- 12:02S8: Oh.
- 12:03S6: Okay. Coming up, I promise you, we're going to get
- 12:06S6: on track here. Sorry, guys. Live radio. Ali got it
- 12:09S6: all started telling you what.
- 12:13S1: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to
- 12:17S1: Carl and crew.
- 12:19S6: Uh, quick flyby here. Holy week. Boy, what a week
- 12:23S6: we're in here. And if you go back 2000 years,
- 12:25S6: you know that Jesus came into Jerusalem on a donkey,
- 12:29S6: on a foal. And as he came in, they were
- 12:32S6: laying it out. Palm branches, things waving, cloaks being laid
- 12:36S6: on the ground. Hosanna King Jesus, come and rescue us. Now,
- 12:43S6: the interesting thing about the difference between Palm Sunday, as
- 12:48S6: we commonly call it that, and the crucifixion of Christ.
- 12:53S6: The gap between fans versus friends. Man. Massive. So we
- 13:01S6: want to be realistic. Flavius Josephus puts the numbers. He's
- 13:05S6: Jewish historian and he's got numbers like way inflated of
- 13:09S6: how many people were in Jerusalem. But realistically, based on
- 13:13S6: the study extensive that I did leading up to a
- 13:16S6: message I gave yesterday for which when a pastor gets
- 13:19S6: in and preaches, he can't share but about 10% of
- 13:22S6: what he studied. Otherwise, you're going to be there longer
- 13:25S6: than anyone wants to be. Probably. But here's the reality.
- 13:29S6: Probably 180, 190,000 people in Jerusalem, something like that for Passover.
- 13:37S6: And then the amount of people that were on the
- 13:41S6: road or ushering him in could have been Probably really
- 13:46S6: high hundreds, maybe low thousands. We don't know for sure,
- 13:50S6: but it was a sizable crowd enough where people would
- 13:53S6: have taken notice and everybody in the city for the
- 13:57S6: festival and for the commemoration of Passover, they would have
- 14:01S6: known something's going on out there. But the amount of
- 14:05S6: people at the old Rugged Cross, probably three dozen, maybe
- 14:11S6: 10 to 12 real friends of Jesus. That's it. That's
- 14:16S6: quite a drop off. Even with realistic numbers. Not even
- 14:19S6: Flavius Josephus numbers. That's quite a drop off right now.
- 14:23S4: And then. So you have to ask, well, why? Why
- 14:26S4: did so many people who were curious enough to be there? Yeah. Uh,
- 14:31S4: I think I'm out on this.
- 14:33S6: Yeah, well, I'll tell you what one thing is. What
- 14:36S6: happened right after he got into Jerusalem. This this will
- 14:40S6: take your fans and show you who your real friends are. immediately,
- 14:45S6: and we'll give you that story and why that happened.
- 14:47S6: Hang on.
- 14:49S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Karl
- 14:52S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
- 14:56S6: I don't know if this will fire you up or not,
- 14:57S6: but I guess it could. So you got to ask
- 15:01S6: the question, how did Jesus go from hero to zero
- 15:05S6: in the eyes of so many people? How can he? Ah,
- 15:08S6: how can you come in fulfilling prophecy on a donkey
- 15:13S6: on a foal? People are shouting Hosanna! The King has
- 15:17S6: come laying down cloaks, waving palm branches. And then there'd
- 15:22S6: just be a handful of people at the crucifixion who
- 15:25S6: stood with him still. And you gotta just look at
- 15:29S6: what happens. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. You just see
- 15:35S6: it unfolding. Jesus comes in Jerusalem. He goes straight into
- 15:40S6: the temple. You got the text there, Ali?
- 15:42S4: Yeah. This is Matthew 21, verse 12 and 13. And
- 15:45S4: Jesus entered the temple and drove out all who sold
- 15:48S4: and bought in the temple. And he overturned the tables
- 15:50S4: of the money changers and the seats of those who
- 15:53S4: sold pigeons. He said to them, it is written, my
- 15:55S4: house shall be called a house of prayer, but you
- 15:58S4: make it a den of robbers.
- 16:00S6: Yeah. Here's the here's the back story on this one.
- 16:02S6: So they're selling pigeons at inflated like Passover pricing. So
- 16:08S6: it's they knew they had a captive audience. They know
- 16:11S6: that they have people that are feeling a deep sense
- 16:14S6: of obligation, and they're just going to ding them big time.
- 16:18S6: And what's crazy is, is that the Pharisees and the
- 16:22S6: elites and the money changers, they would have been dressed
- 16:26S6: pretty well. By the way, it's an interesting thing, you
- 16:29S6: might wonder, is this where he pronounces judgment on the
- 16:35S6: Pharisees for what they're doing? And just cheers for the
- 16:39S6: widow who gave two copper coins? No, it's actually Tuesday.
- 16:44S6: Jesus doubles down in Holy Week. So he hits. He
- 16:48S6: hits him here. By the way, when he's flipping over
- 16:50S6: the money changers tables, again, this is not a molded
- 16:54S6: plastic table from Costco. These are slabs of stone. Was
- 16:59S6: Jesus strong? Yeah. He grabbed those bad boys and flipped
- 17:03S6: them over. Money's going everywhere. It's a mess. Uh, the
- 17:07S6: Pharisees are scared to death and they're ticked off. So
- 17:11S6: I think what happened with the crowd on Palm Sunday,
- 17:16S6: a lot of them thin out right now because, I mean,
- 17:19S6: who are you going to salute? The the one who
- 17:22S6: claims to be the savior of your people or those
- 17:26S6: that hold the purse strings and really have the ability to.
- 17:32S6: Really make you pay a price if you if you
- 17:36S6: salute the deity of Jesus Christ. I mean, this is
- 17:38S6: a big deal, man. This is a cultural challenge.
- 17:42S2: And I think one of the things about this too is,
- 17:45S2: and I, you know, the, the chosen did their Holy
- 17:49S2: Week season, I think last year. Uh, but I never
- 17:52S2: thought about it this way. When, when Jesus is coming
- 17:56S2: in and people are shouting Hosanna. They're expecting him to
- 17:59S2: take over to to get the Roman government out. And,
- 18:03S2: and one of the first things he does is go
- 18:05S2: to the temple and starts flipping things in the temple.
- 18:08S6: He goes to his own people.
- 18:09S2: He goes to his own people, and they're like, this
- 18:12S2: isn't what we thought you were gonna be doing when
- 18:15S2: you came in here. What you're getting after your own people.
- 18:17S2: We we expected you to come after the Romans. What
- 18:19S2: are you doing?
- 18:20S6: And they know good and well it's a corrupt system.
- 18:23S6: By the way, this isn't wink, wink. Nobody knew. Including
- 18:26S6: the widow. One of the coolest takes on this. The
- 18:29S6: widow's story is when you put in your offering, you
- 18:32S6: put it in a trumpet looking vessel, and the offering
- 18:36S6: would go in and it would make noise, don't you know? Oh, man. Right.
- 18:41S6: So it would make noise. And so it became showtime, man.
- 18:46S6: The guys that have a lot of stuff. Oh, wow.
- 18:48S6: Look at that. So when the widow stepped up, she
- 18:51S6: gave she gave the story of the widow. Just a
- 18:55S6: quick sidebar here. The story of the widow's mite. What
- 18:58S6: makes it astounding is that she gave everything she had.
- 19:04S6: Knowing these guys that were taking her monies were so
- 19:09S6: undeserving of this. Why she did it for the eyes
- 19:11S6: of God. Isn't that something nobody could even discern when
- 19:16S6: her two little dink dinks hit the bottom of the
- 19:19S6: trumpet vessel? But boy, did Jesus open a can. I
- 19:24S6: gotta believe that a lot of those many hundreds or
- 19:28S6: a thousand, 2000 people that were shouting Hosanna at this
- 19:32S6: time are going, yeah, okay, I'm out.
- 19:36S4: So what about this particular act? Do you think would have.
- 19:40S4: Because if you think about it like so that Jesus
- 19:43S4: is sort of advocating for the the regular people who
- 19:46S4: are being clearly extorted. Right?
- 19:49S6: Yeah, there's no doubt.
- 19:50S4: What about this would have made people turn away? Obviously
- 19:54S4: the religious elite, those who were extorting. But what about
- 19:57S4: everybody else.
- 19:58S6: For fear of the Sanhedrin? Fear of the fear of
- 20:01S6: the Pharisees. Just straight up fear. I really believe that.
- 20:05S6: I think the cultural pressure to go with those that
- 20:08S6: are in charge is probably too much to overcome. To
- 20:11S6: follow a guy who's, who's, who's done miracles for three years.
- 20:17S6: But it's one man against this whole system.
- 20:20S4: So him putting himself against like pitting himself against the
- 20:24S4: religious elite, the against the Pharisees would make people feel
- 20:28S4: like they have to pick a side and they're going
- 20:31S4: to go with the the Pharisees.
- 20:34S6: I'll just go with my own heart here. It would.
- 20:37S6: Me without being born again. I'll put it on me.
- 20:41S6: I don't know if I could have stood up to that.
- 20:46S6: Just being honest here. That's a lot of pressure. And
- 20:48S6: if you're not born again and you're not filled with
- 20:50S6: the spirit. So a lot of a lot of those
- 20:53S6: folks that, you know, you gotta remember, you gotta fast.
- 20:57S6: Fast forward unto the day of Pentecost. I mean, was
- 21:00S6: there a revival on Pentecost that was just almost hard
- 21:05S6: to get your head around? Thousands of men, women and
- 21:08S6: children who surrendered to Jesus. Yeah. But it wasn't until
- 21:13S6: after he was raised from the dead that that it
- 21:17S6: really came home to them. That, wow, he is the
- 21:20S6: Messiah who we put to death. That was Peter's great message.
- 21:26S6: But yeah, this Holy Week is an interesting week because
- 21:28S6: it's holy because Jesus wrote alone, man. I mean, it turned,
- 21:33S6: didn't it, guys, quickly.
- 21:35S2: I mean, very quickly. Five days.
- 21:38S6: Isn't that sobering? And so what are let's get a
- 21:41S6: couple quick takeaways on this lesson. I mean, one of
- 21:45S6: the takeaways is no matter what cultural powers do we
- 21:48S6: walk with Jesus. Still hard isn't it though?
- 21:52S8: Yeah.
- 21:53S2: Yeah. It's hard. We we have to look at Jesus
- 21:59S2: and keep our eyes on him because there are a
- 22:02S2: lot of powers, a lot of people, a lot of
- 22:05S2: influence that would try to pull us a different way.
- 22:08S2: And it can be scary sometimes to stand up against
- 22:10S2: those things. Uh, it was for Peter, uh, but only
- 22:14S2: by Christ's power in us do we have the ability
- 22:17S2: to keep our eyes on him and keep looking towards him.
- 22:19S7: Yeah.
- 22:20S4: And I think when you look at this passage, verse 13, um,
- 22:23S4: he said to them, it is written, my house shall
- 22:24S4: be called a house of prayer, but you make it
- 22:26S4: a den of robbers. I mean, intent and purpose really matters.
- 22:30S4: And so when we think about our own church services,
- 22:35S4: our own places of worship. What what is the primary
- 22:38S4: thing that's happening there? What's the primary purpose for us
- 22:42S4: being there? And it's easier than we might realize to
- 22:44S4: get kind of into the things that maybe we're not
- 22:48S4: selling pigeons, but there's other things that are happening that
- 22:51S4: aren't necessarily the may shouldn't be the main focus.
- 22:54S6: Yeah. I mean, what could God say? I guess he could.
- 22:57S6: He could. If Jesus were here, he could flip over
- 23:00S6: the table of spectatorship and say, you weren't to be spectators.
- 23:05S6: You were to be commuters. This is a place where
- 23:07S6: you meet with me. This is all. This is a
- 23:10S6: holy assembly here. Holy week man, Holy week.
- 23:16S1: He was running from God. But God's love brought him home.
- 23:20S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
- 23:24S1: Moody Radio.
- 23:26S6: Okay, guys, coming up here. Speaking of Holy Week. Oh
- 23:29S6: my goodness. We're going to be not sequential. We're going
- 23:32S6: to give you the sequential thing all throughout Holy Week,
- 23:35S6: but we're going to duck in and out, hit different aspects.
- 23:37S6: And we got Doctor Lutzer coming up here. Ali.
- 23:40S4: Yeah. Cries from the cross. What were those things that, uh,
- 23:43S4: the words that Jesus actually uttered and what do we
- 23:46S4: need to learn from them even in this Holy Week
- 23:49S4: coming up, Pastor Erwin Lutzer.
- 23:52S1: Take your next step with Jesus today. You're listening to
- 23:56S1: Carl and crew.
- 23:59S6: All week long. Boom crew. We're looking at the narrative
- 24:01S6: of what is classically known as Holy Week. It's an
- 24:04S6: incredible week. The words that Jesus spoke to his disciples.
- 24:08S6: I'm reminded of John chapter 15, Young Thunder, when we
- 24:12S6: talk about favorites. And Ali, that's right in there with
- 24:15S6: yours as well.
- 24:16S7: Oh, yeah.
- 24:17S6: Just the reality that apart from God, we can do nothing,
- 24:21S6: but it's to God's glory that we bear much fruit.
- 24:24S6: What a beautiful promise that is. But then we march
- 24:28S6: all the way to the cross. And then on the
- 24:30S6: cross you see Jesus speaking some final words or what
- 24:34S6: Pastor Lutzer has called the Seven Cries. He's with us
- 24:38S6: right now. Pastor Lutzer, this is a great week for
- 24:42S6: a holy reset for all of us, isn't it?
- 24:45S9: It really is. And what we need to understand is
- 24:48S9: the cross really is a focal point not only for Christianity,
- 24:54S9: but in some sense for the whole world. But imagine
- 24:56S9: this where do we see the greatest love at the cross?
- 25:02S9: Where do we see the greatest justice at the cross?
- 25:06S9: Where do we see all of the attributes of God
- 25:10S9: displayed but at the cross? So it is pivotal. And
- 25:14S9: no wonder Paul says, God forbid that I should glory
- 25:17S9: except in the cross of Christ.
- 25:20S4: We have Pastor Erwin Lutzer, Doctor Erwin Lutzer with us
- 25:22S4: right now, pastor emeritus of Moody Church. You can hear
- 25:25S4: him on his radio program running to win here on
- 25:28S4: Moody Radio. You authored the book cries from the cross.
- 25:32S4: Let's talk about some of these cries. What about a
- 25:35S4: cry for pardon? Jesus's cry for pardon?
- 25:39S9: Well, you know, that's actually the first cry where he said, father,
- 25:43S9: forgive them, for they know not what they do. Now,
- 25:47S9: in one sense, they did know what they were doing,
- 25:50S9: but it's also very clear that they didn't know the
- 25:54S9: absolute horror of what they were doing. As a matter
- 25:58S9: of fact, I think there's somewhere in the scripture where
- 26:00S9: it talks about for had they known it, they would
- 26:03S9: not have crucified the Lord of glory. We should not
- 26:06S9: look at that cry as if Jesus was absolving everyone,
- 26:12S9: and that everyone who was connected with the cross was
- 26:15S9: going to be forgiven. It was really a prayer for
- 26:18S9: those for whom it was intended. And when you think
- 26:22S9: of the centurion who believed on Christ right there, you
- 26:25S9: go to the book of acts. You see thousands of
- 26:28S9: people converted. So Jesus, however, was showing his heart. Imagine this.
- 26:35S9: There he is on the cross. And what is he doing?
- 26:39S9: He's offering forgiveness. Amazing.
- 26:42S6: It's truly amazing. Another statement that was made to one
- 26:46S6: of the two thieves. Truly, I say to you today
- 26:49S6: you will be with me in Paradise. So much packed
- 26:53S6: into that theologically, isn't it, pastor?
- 26:57S9: It really is. And you know, I just absolutely love
- 27:00S9: that because notice that Jesus is the king to the
- 27:04S9: very end there on the cross. Now, I want us
- 27:08S9: to imagine that man. He's looking at Jesus. Jesus looks
- 27:13S9: just as much vilified as his partner on the other
- 27:18S9: side of Jesus. Why does he say, remember me when
- 27:22S9: you come into your kingdom? It's because as people were
- 27:26S9: walking by, they would read what the cross of Christ,
- 27:30S9: the superscription that was on the cross. King of the Jews.
- 27:35S9: So he thought to himself, if he's a king, he
- 27:39S9: must have a kingdom. And so he says, remember me
- 27:43S9: when you come into your kingdom. He didn't even have
- 27:47S9: the nerve to say, accept me, but remember me, right?
- 27:53S9: And Jesus said, today you shall be with me in Paradise.
- 27:57S9: Here is a thief who no doubt had an early
- 28:01S9: morning breakfast with his cohort, who was also a thief,
- 28:05S9: and he's going to sup with Christ at the end
- 28:09S9: of the day. Yeah, what an amazing story. But it
- 28:12S9: shows the authority of Jesus.
- 28:15S4: Wow. You know, one of the unique, I think one
- 28:18S4: of the cries from the cross is when Jesus gives
- 28:21S4: an assignment. Woman, behold your son, and behold your mother.
- 28:25S4: This interesting detail that he thinks to care for his
- 28:30S4: mother even as he's in agony. Talk a little bit
- 28:33S4: about that one.
- 28:34S9: Well, you see the selflessness of Jesus. I mean, here
- 28:38S9: he is in agony. And what is he concerned about?
- 28:41S9: He's concerned about his mother, and he puts her under
- 28:44S9: the care of John. And the Bible says that after
- 28:47S9: that John brought her into his home and cared for her.
- 28:52S9: So even on the cross, Jesus was thinking of others.
- 28:58S9: And what a beautiful reminder of the fact that here
- 29:01S9: he is going through incredible agony. We need to understand this.
- 29:07S9: Hell is forever. Now imagine the judgment of hell, which
- 29:12S9: goes on forever, crammed into three dark hours on the cross.
- 29:19S9: It's not possible for us to grasp what Jesus was
- 29:23S9: going through. This was not just physical agony. This was
- 29:27S9: spiritual agony. Yeah. This was, of course, an issue with
- 29:31S9: his father. It's not as if God broke up his unity,
- 29:38S9: but I think it is the next cry where Jesus says,
- 29:41S9: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Fellowship
- 29:45S9: with the father was broken.
- 29:46S6: Yeah, that's an interesting statement. That one gets taken out
- 29:49S6: of context often. Give us some clarity on that one, pastor.
- 29:53S9: Well, it's very interesting, Karl, that this is the only
- 29:58S9: time when Jesus refers to his father as God, my God,
- 30:05S9: my God. But he still believes because he says, My God,
- 30:11S9: my God, why have you forsaken me? He's going through
- 30:16S9: a break in fellowship, not a break in the ontological
- 30:20S9: unity of the Trinity. And then isn't it interesting that
- 30:26S9: his very last cry. He says, father, into thy hands
- 30:31S9: I commit my spirit. So at the end, fellowship with
- 30:35S9: the father is back. But for now, as he's bearing
- 30:39S9: sin now, this needs to be clarified. There was no
- 30:43S9: sin in him, but our sin was laid upon him,
- 30:48S9: and he was bearing our guilt, and he was bearing
- 30:52S9: the suffering that came with our sin. And there he
- 30:56S9: was on the cross. And even the fellowship with the
- 31:00S9: father was broken, but it was restored at the end.
- 31:03S6: So beautiful. We see the efficacy of God's grace. We
- 31:08S6: see the humanity of the God-Man Jesus, and we see
- 31:12S6: the incredible mercy by crying out, forgive them, for they
- 31:17S6: know not what they do. Coming up here, there is
- 31:21S6: another statement, a cry from the cross. One last that
- 31:26S6: we want to touch on, and Doctor Lutzer has done
- 31:29S6: a deep dive on this truth. Hang on.
- 31:32S1: A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
- 31:37S1: in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
- 31:41S6: Well, this one last cry from the cross is an
- 31:44S6: important one. Doctor Lutzer is our guest right now. I
- 31:48S6: guess we don't need to ID him, but we might
- 31:50S6: as well. Ali.
- 31:51S4: You know him from running to win a daily Bible
- 31:54S4: teaching broadcast heard on Moody Radio and around the world.
- 31:57S4: He's also pastor emeritus of Moody Church.
- 32:00S6: All right, pastor, I thirst. What in the world is
- 32:04S6: going on with those two words?
- 32:06S9: First of all, I just want us to grasp what
- 32:09S9: Jesus is saying. Here he is. He's the creator of
- 32:13S9: the oceans and the rivers of the world. And he
- 32:17S9: is thirsty in this passage of Scripture. And this comes
- 32:21S9: to us from John chapter 19. We see the humanity
- 32:25S9: of Jesus and, well, mighty thirst. I mean, when you
- 32:30S9: stop to think of it, he was arrested. He spent
- 32:33S9: the night in jail. He has the trials, he's been lacerated.
- 32:37S9: He's carrying his own cross. And it is said that
- 32:41S9: crucifixion is really slow dehydration. So there is Jesus and
- 32:48S9: he says, I thirst. What a representation of his humanity.
- 32:52S9: But isn't this interesting? Why is it that he says this?
- 32:58S9: It's not just that he was thirsty, but the Bible
- 33:01S9: says this, that the Scripture might be fulfilled. In other words,
- 33:06S9: this now shows the submission of Jesus to the Scripture.
- 33:10S9: It's really a reference to Psalm 69, verse 21, where
- 33:14S9: it says, they gave me poison for food and sour
- 33:18S9: wine for my thirst. And if you read the 19th chapter,
- 33:22S9: you see it right there. That they gave him sour wine.
- 33:27S9: So at the end of the day, Jesus is saying,
- 33:30S9: there's one more thing that needs to be fulfilled, and
- 33:35S9: that is that the scripture needs to be fulfilled. So
- 33:39S9: here is Jesus saying that he thirsts. What a wonderful
- 33:44S9: representation of humanity. And this, of course, also means that
- 33:48S9: he can identify with our weaknesses. To the person who's
- 33:52S9: listening out there right now. Have you been betrayed? Jesus
- 33:57S9: would say, I've been there. Have you been falsely accused
- 34:02S9: in a number of trials that have gone against you,
- 34:05S9: rigged trials? Jesus would say, I've been there. Have you
- 34:10S9: felt as if your body was weak and you're going
- 34:15S9: through a lot of suffering? Jesus would say, I've been
- 34:19S9: there and he says, I thirst.
- 34:22S4: Pastor Erwin Lutzer, our guest right now. You know, when
- 34:24S4: we think about thirst, we the obvious, the physical. We've
- 34:28S4: all had a thirst for water. You spend time working
- 34:31S4: on a hot day and nothing is better than a
- 34:33S4: cold glass of water. But there's also this, this inward thirst,
- 34:38S4: this search for significance, the search for purpose. Karl named
- 34:42S4: his husky pup after Blaise Pascal, who talked about that
- 34:46S4: void within us, that thirst really, that can only be
- 34:50S4: filled by God. Talk about those two different types of thirst.
- 34:54S9: You're absolutely right. Ali and I just want all of
- 34:57S9: us to take a deep breath because of what I'm
- 34:59S9: going to say now. All of us are born thirsty physically,
- 35:04S9: of course, we're born thirsty. But spiritually, as you outlined.
- 35:08S9: But the question is, how long will we thirst? In
- 35:14S9: Luke chapter 16, Jesus tells the story of a rich
- 35:18S9: man who, because of his dependence upon his riches ends
- 35:22S9: up in Hades. And in those days, he was able
- 35:26S9: to communicate with Lazarus, who was in Abraham's bosom. And
- 35:31S9: he said, Abraham, ask Lazarus to dip his finger in
- 35:37S9: water and put it on my tongue, for I am
- 35:39S9: tormented in this flame. Now I say this with hesitation,
- 35:45S9: but think of it 2000 years later, that man still
- 35:50S9: has not felt the water on his tongue. So we're
- 35:54S9: all going to thirst. But I want to bless everyone
- 35:57S9: who is listening right now with this passage of Scripture
- 36:01S9: from revelation. This is heaven. Therefore they are before the
- 36:06S9: throne of God, and serve him day and night in
- 36:08S9: his temple. And he who sits on the throne will
- 36:12S9: shelter them with his presence. They shall hunger no more,
- 36:16S9: neither thirst anymore. The sun shall not strike them, nor
- 36:21S9: any scorching heat, for the Lamb in the midst of
- 36:25S9: the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide
- 36:28S9: them to springs of living water. And God will wipe
- 36:32S9: away every tear from their eyes. Imagine the difference between
- 36:37S9: the man in Hades and the beauties of heaven, where
- 36:42S9: we will thirst no more.
- 36:45S6: Yeah, that is moving. Doctor Erwin Lutzer has been with
- 36:50S6: us here, and many of you are going to want
- 36:53S6: to hear this again. And that's what we're going to
- 36:56S6: point you to because you need to hear this again.
- 37:00S6: This has been one of the most moving times that
- 37:01S6: I've ever had with Pastor Lutzer on this show. And
- 37:05S6: we've had many. Yeah. That's power.
- 37:08S4: It really is. And there are two different things we're
- 37:10S4: going to point to. When you text this key word,
- 37:12S4: there's a sermon series that he's actually preached on the
- 37:15S4: cries of the cross that breaks these down further. And
- 37:18S4: then also a book, Cries from the cross that's available
- 37:21S4: through Moody Publishers. So if you text media, we'll get
- 37:24S4: you the links to both just text media to (800) 555-7898.
- 37:30S4: Text media to (800) 555-7898.
- 37:35S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
- 37:38S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Karl
- 37:42S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
- 37:45S6: I got an email early this morning from a good
- 37:48S6: friend in Israel, Omer Eshel. He has been our guide
- 37:52S6: when I've gone over there. What have I done for
- 37:54S6: trips to Israel? Taking guided tours over there. It's been
- 37:57S6: an incredible, incredible experience, for sure. God willing, going back in,
- 38:02S6: I think November, something like that. Um, this is heartbreaking
- 38:07S6: and sobering. And he sent me this email. He said,
- 38:11S6: hey buddy, how are you? I hope you're doing well.
- 38:13S6: I got an email yesterday from the son of pastor.
- 38:16S6: I'm not going to say who it is who's a
- 38:18S6: good friend of mine. I used to go to China
- 38:20S6: and give lectures there a few years ago. This pastor's
- 38:24S6: son emailed me that Chinese authorities had sent him and
- 38:27S6: his wife, his dad and his mom to jail with
- 38:30S6: very limited access. It's an underground church that was busted,
- 38:35S6: and I did a little more research on it, and
- 38:37S6: it was along with ten other leaders, and they're going
- 38:40S6: up the river for a long time. So he's asking
- 38:44S6: me if basically if we can highlight it, get his
- 38:47S6: son on air. I'm finding out where his son is.
- 38:49S6: I don't know where he's at. I'm sure he's not
- 38:51S6: in China. But this is real for our brothers and sisters.
- 38:57S6: I mean, I just got that this morning, Ali. Wow.
- 39:00S5: Wow.
- 39:01S4: I mean, it's it's that's such a shocking thing to,
- 39:05S4: to think about.
- 39:06S6: Yeah. And what a small world we have. So I
- 39:09S6: get a, I get an email from a friend in
- 39:12S6: Israel who got contacted by a son of a friend
- 39:16S6: that he's done lectureships when it was a little more.
- 39:18S6: I don't know if it was. Oh, it certainly wasn't
- 39:20S6: open three years ago when Omer would go and speak
- 39:23S6: of Israel in China. But now we've got a brother
- 39:31S6: and sister, a mom and a dad. And by the way,
- 39:33S6: they're not young. They're 68, 70 years old. And they've
- 39:37S6: been they were raided and they got this network of
- 39:41S6: underground churches busted. And some of you might wonder, what
- 39:45S6: do you do ethically with the gospel in a country
- 39:49S6: that you're supposed to be subject to their leaders? And
- 39:52S6: it's called a hierarchical law. And you go to acts
- 39:54S6: four and you see Peter and John, and they get,
- 39:57S6: you know, released from prison with the threat of shut up,
- 40:01S6: don't talk about Jesus anymore. And what did they say?
- 40:04S6: What are we going to serve God or man we
- 40:06S6: serve in? You guys know is what their answer is. Basically,
- 40:11S6: they told him, you can threaten us all you want,
- 40:13S6: but we aren't going to shut up. So that's the
- 40:16S6: ethical angle that you take for these folks that are
- 40:20S6: in countries where we're subject to governing authorities, there's a
- 40:24S6: there's a break point at which we say, okay, we're
- 40:28S6: going to honor our governing authorities until this. And the
- 40:32S6: gospel is one of this.
- 40:33S4: Until there's a mandate to do something or to not
- 40:36S4: do something that clearly God has called us to do,
- 40:40S4: such as preaching the gospel meeting.
- 40:45S6: It's so I am so grateful I got that email
- 40:48S6: because number one, it lets us pray and I'm going
- 40:52S6: to have you pray. We're going to keep them nameless,
- 40:54S6: because I don't want to do any of that until
- 40:55S6: I get details here, Ali. But we're going to pray
- 40:57S6: for a pastor and his wife and ten other underground
- 41:01S6: pastors that were all rated simultaneously. So they did surveillance
- 41:05S6: on these guys, obviously, and then they went in and
- 41:08S6: busted them. At least that's the that's some of the
- 41:11S6: information that I have. But it's good for us to
- 41:15S6: remember this because we've got this little beaker called American Christianity,
- 41:21S6: and it ain't anywhere. It doesn't resemble anything of most
- 41:24S6: of our brothers and sisters around the globe.
- 41:26S4: Yeah. And you know, you, you think, what do you
- 41:29S4: do with that kind of information? Because it's heartbreaking and
- 41:32S4: it's it, it feels very far off. But these are
- 41:34S4: our brothers and sisters in Christ.
- 41:37S6: And right now, what time is it in China right now?
- 41:40S6: Somebody do that really quickly. Well China's big so give
- 41:44S6: me Beijing.
- 41:46S4: So that's where this couple is.
- 41:48S6: I think it's near it. Yeah. Okay. It's near.
- 41:50S2: It's uh 8:04 p.m. 8:04 p.m..
- 41:53S6: So they're going to bed right now, maybe first night
- 41:55S6: in the clink. Second, maybe. I don't know the details
- 41:59S6: on it, but let's rally folks around this and let's
- 42:03S6: pray for our brothers and sisters in China. Underground church
- 42:06S6: just arrested for the gospel.
- 42:08S4: Yeah. Lord, we thank you that you are so much
- 42:13S4: greater that there's no force, no person, no power, no
- 42:17S4: principality that can stand against you, our great God. So
- 42:22S4: we pray specifically for this pastor and his wife, who
- 42:25S4: we don't know their names, Lord. We don't know all
- 42:28S4: of the details, but God, we know that they are
- 42:31S4: being taken because of their love for you, because of
- 42:33S4: their service unto you God. And so we pray for
- 42:35S4: their protection. We pray that you would thwart every evil
- 42:39S4: plan as it pertains to them in their congregation and
- 42:42S4: every other Christian in these underground churches and places where, Lord,
- 42:48S4: that the governing authorities are hostile to you, hostile to
- 42:51S4: the freedom that comes with knowing you. Lord, we pray
- 42:55S4: that you would raise up those who would be courageous,
- 42:58S4: those who have power and influence, that they would bow
- 43:02S4: their knee to you, Lord, that you would bring repentance
- 43:05S4: and awakening, Lord, that those who believe a false gospel,
- 43:11S4: those who have been brainwashed to believe something about you.
- 43:15S4: That's not true. God, that you would open blinded eyes.
- 43:19S4: That you would crush the head of the serpent. Yes, Lord,
- 43:22S4: we thank you that God. We don't have to fear, Lord,
- 43:25S4: but we can be bold and courageous knowing that we
- 43:28S4: serve a God who's all powerful, all knowing, and who
- 43:32S4: can reach into every corner. Lord, you're already there. You're
- 43:37S4: meeting them there, Lord. We ask for their protection and
- 43:40S4: for their ultimate deliverance, and that the gospel would go
- 43:42S4: forth in power. In Jesus name, Amen.
- 43:46S6: Let it be. Yeah. I mean, that regime. I mean,
- 43:51S6: you look at G and his wife and they come
- 43:54S6: and they have these confabs with free countries and you know,
- 43:58S6: it all looks so sanitary on the outside. But I mean,
- 44:02S6: just take what happened in Iran. They had some they
- 44:06S6: had exported some anti aircraft, some kind of new fangled
- 44:12S6: technology that China had exported to Iran, and it utterly
- 44:17S6: failed against the IDF and against American forces. Utterly failed.
- 44:23S6: You know what happened? They took that lead engineer in China.
- 44:25S6: We know this for a fact. They took that lead
- 44:28S6: engineer and they they deposed him from his position, and
- 44:32S6: then he is no longer.
- 44:35S5: Oh, wow.
- 44:35S6: They put him out. So this is. Listen, man, godlessness
- 44:43S6: is a bad thing, right, Ellie?
- 44:45S7: Yeah.
- 44:46S4: I mean, you think about what's possible. Think about the
- 44:50S4: Holy Spirit restraining evil.
- 44:52S6: Oh my word. And when the restraint of evil is
- 44:55S6: all off, all bets are off.
- 44:57S5: Man.
- 44:59S6: Katy, bar the door. Okay, speaking of Iran, we're going
- 45:02S6: to get insider scoop as best we can. Doctor Hormoz Shariat,
- 45:06S6: one of the voices. We've had three voices in here
- 45:09S6: now that have a perspective of what's going on in Iran. Doctor,
- 45:14S6: it has a incredible ministry via satellite into Iran. It's
- 45:19S6: called Iran alive and 7 million daily viewers. It's almost
- 45:24S6: hard to get your head around 7 million. Yeah. And
- 45:28S6: I know it's going in via satellite, so I don't
- 45:30S6: think it's internet necessary and all that stuff. And they
- 45:33S6: don't get jammed. Or maybe they do, but we're going
- 45:36S6: to get the latest insights from him.
- 45:38S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stat for anything you
- 45:41S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
- 45:46S1: Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
- 45:49S6: There was a massacre of a group of people on
- 45:53S6: Palm Sunday, and it looks like it was a spiritual attack,
- 45:58S6: a religious attack. Uh, but that's in northern Nigeria, and
- 46:01S6: that's been a powder keg as of late. My goodness.
- 46:03S6: We've been dipping into that region a lot here lately,
- 46:06S6: all around the globe. Ali doesn't seem to end here, sister.
- 46:10S4: Yeah. So we want to bring in a special guest. Doctor. Chariot.
- 46:13S4: He's been on with us before. Founder and president of
- 46:16S4: Iran Alive Ministries, which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet
- 46:20S4: to reach Iranians with the gospel. Good morning, Doctor Chariot.
- 46:24S4: Give us the latest. Give us the latest update from Iran.
- 46:28S10: So much is happening in Iran. History is in the making,
- 46:31S10: both not just political, but spiritual and even biblical. Jeremiah 49,
- 46:37S10: verses 34 and on many of those verses are being fulfilled.
- 46:41S10: So much is happening. There is a spiritual battle going
- 46:43S10: on as well as a military battle. So we need
- 46:47S10: to be aware of what's happening so we can align
- 46:49S10: ourselves with the Lord. We, as Christians, we are called
- 46:52S10: to know what's happening, what God wants to do, and
- 46:56S10: align ourselves with him.
- 46:58S6: Let's go back to those scriptures. What are you seeing
- 47:01S6: as far as the bow is breaking, the power structure, uh,
- 47:06S6: is disintegrating. Do you truly see this as fulfillment of
- 47:11S6: the prophecies of this kind of evil structure? With the
- 47:15S6: mullahs as we know it being really taken down a notch,
- 47:19S6: if not taken out?
- 47:20S10: Well, those verses are so closely matched, match the current
- 47:25S10: events that you cannot ignore it. It might not be
- 47:27S10: the final fulfillment of those verses, but when you look
- 47:31S10: at it, you say, wow, this is happening. You know,
- 47:33S10: like a scattering of Iranians all over the world has
- 47:37S10: never happened in over 5000 years of history in Iran.
- 47:41S10: But it has happened the last 40 some years and
- 47:44S10: other things, you know, breaking the bow of Iran bow
- 47:47S10: is where you send, you know, your missiles and the power,
- 47:51S10: the base of power. That's what Jeremiah says, the base
- 47:54S10: of power and the missile sites, nuclear sites, military sites, economy.
- 47:59S10: The base of power has been destroyed. Then it talks
- 48:02S10: about the massacre, which we saw in January. We saw
- 48:05S10: 40,000 people killed in two days and about 100,000 people arrested.
- 48:12S10: They're in jail, and you don't hear much about those
- 48:14S10: in jail, but they're being executed every day. But the
- 48:18S10: news doesn't come out. Sometimes it comes out of one person.
- 48:21S10: An athlete was killed just 3 or 4 days ago.
- 48:24S6: Yeah. That wrestler. Yeah. That was highly noted in. And
- 48:28S6: you know what? There was a universal outcry against that globally.
- 48:32S10: Yeah. The people around the world do not know exactly
- 48:37S10: what's happening. It's confusing because of the news. They just see, okay,
- 48:41S10: there's a there's a US attack, an Israeli attack on
- 48:45S10: Iran and many of Americans. That's that's amazes us Iranians
- 48:49S10: both inside and outside that Americans rally, stop the war,
- 48:54S10: stop attacking Iran. And Iranians are saying, are you crazy?
- 48:58S10: We were asking for this. We have been we have
- 49:01S10: been begging Israel and Trump to do this for a
- 49:04S10: couple of years. Would you come and help us? Because
- 49:07S10: the government of Iran will kill us. Coming on, on streets.
- 49:11S10: So what is happening in reality is different than what
- 49:16S10: you hear in the news, especially mainstream media.
- 49:19S4: Let's talk a little bit about Iran Alive Ministries and
- 49:23S4: the most watched Christian channel in Iran with over 7
- 49:27S4: million daily viewers. What kind of programming are you bringing?
- 49:31S4: Even as we head into Holy Week.
- 49:34S10: Praise the Lord. God has given us this channel and
- 49:37S10: we use it to serve the people. We are not
- 49:39S10: a regular Christian channel that you see in the West.
- 49:43S10: This is a tool of ministry. This is a church
- 49:46S10: helping people. So our programming is evangelistic and we have
- 49:51S10: programs to help families. We have kids programs and we
- 49:55S10: have programs for Christians to grow. You know, there's no
- 49:58S10: church in Iran. The churches are closed, but there's so
- 50:02S10: many so many Christians and even us over 1400 new
- 50:06S10: Salvations we register every month and more than that come
- 50:11S10: to Christ. So they need help. We use the channel
- 50:13S10: not just to evangelize, but to help the underground church
- 50:16S10: to grow. And we have underground churches and we have
- 50:19S10: online churches. So this is a channel to advance God's
- 50:23S10: kingdom in any way possible. As an example, when things
- 50:27S10: happened in January, The killing, we just started a daily
- 50:30S10: broadcast live, ministering to the pain of people, crying with them,
- 50:36S10: giving them real hope. The real hope is in Jeremiah 4938.
- 50:40S10: I mean, it's a written promise of God. We are
- 50:42S10: using this channel to serve the people wherever they are.
- 50:46S10: They're crying, we cry with them. They're happy. We rejoice
- 50:50S10: with them.
- 50:51S6: All right, let's get a lay of the land here.
- 50:53S6: The language is Farsi. Are you speaking Farsi into Iran?
- 50:57S6: That that's what you're speaking in?
- 51:00S10: Yes. The common language in Iran is Farsi, but there
- 51:03S10: are many people groups inside Iraq, Kurds, Turks, Arabs and
- 51:07S10: they have. The mother language is different than Farsi, but
- 51:10S10: Farsi covers all of them. And we have some programs
- 51:13S10: in their native languages. You know, when you want to share,
- 51:16S10: when you share the gospel, it's more effective when you
- 51:19S10: share it and people's mothers tongue. So that we have
- 51:22S10: some programs in other local languages, but the common language
- 51:26S10: is Farsi in Iran.
- 51:27S6: Okay. By the way, quick note, I gotta tell you,
- 51:31S6: I met my bride and I met a couple many
- 51:34S6: years ago. I mean, beautiful on fire, young Iranian couple
- 51:39S6: that were getting equipped to go back to Iran. I'm
- 51:43S6: doing my best to try to track down where they
- 51:45S6: are now. Uh, it's many years later, but the passion
- 51:49S6: of the Iranian people who have come to Jesus to
- 51:51S6: go back in and share the gospel is astounding, maybe
- 51:55S6: more so than any country I've seen. These kids. They
- 51:58S6: were on fire to get the gospel back in there.
- 52:01S6: So what are you seeing? Give us what we don't
- 52:04S6: hear on mainstream news. What are you hearing? What are
- 52:07S6: you seeing? Give us some stories here.
- 52:10S11: Well, I am ready.
- 52:11S10: I'm ready to go back. And by the way, that's prophesied.
- 52:14S10: Jeremiah 49 3938 says, I will set my throne. And
- 52:19S10: verse 4939 talks about the people scattered. Go back to
- 52:24S10: the land. Exact the same phrase the Bible uses for
- 52:28S10: the Jews, that they will come back and they will
- 52:30S10: be scattered and they will come back the exact same
- 52:33S10: similar even wordings are are similar. So the Iran is
- 52:37S10: ready for a transformation, not just political, but the spiritual
- 52:43S10: and people like me and our ministry. Iran and I,
- 52:45S10: we have a solid plan for when we go back.
- 52:48S10: You know, I'm so excited. I'm so excited, Carl and Ali,
- 52:51S10: because with our leaders, we have such a solid plan
- 52:53S10: for Iran opens up and it's going to open up
- 52:56S10: sooner or later. And last week we were finalizing our
- 52:59S10: our plans and we looked and said, hey, can you
- 53:02S10: believe it? Over 25 years of broadcasts, we have believers
- 53:06S10: in every city, every town, and maybe even every village
- 53:10S10: in Iran. Wow. And when Iran opens up, we will
- 53:13S10: be able to plant churches, tens, maybe hundreds of churches
- 53:17S10: just the first few months. Amazing opportunity if the regime
- 53:21S10: falls down. But if it doesn't, it's going to be
- 53:24S10: very ugly. There will be a new wave of persecution
- 53:28S10: for Christians like never before. So we got to pray
- 53:31S10: that this thing will go through and the government collapses.
- 53:34S10: If it survives, it's going to be another massacre. Not
- 53:37S10: just Christians, anybody who they feel is opposing them, which
- 53:41S10: they think Christians are. So this is a very critical
- 53:45S10: time to be ready when it comes down and be
- 53:48S10: ready if it doesn't.
- 53:50S4: Doctor. Share it with us right now, Iran Alive Ministries.
- 53:53S4: Talk a little bit about. To the extent that you
- 53:55S4: can your your connection to the current underground house churches
- 53:59S4: and even online churches in Iran.
- 54:01S11: Right?
- 54:01S10: Because of media, you know, the satellite television is a signal.
- 54:06S10: Video signal goes over the heads of the mullahs into
- 54:09S10: people's homes. And by the way, when they turned off internet,
- 54:12S10: they have turned off internet for the last 2 or
- 54:14S10: 3 months. When they turn off internet, we get more viewers.
- 54:17S10: So that's 7 million was the number was given us
- 54:21S10: by an independent survey. But now I think it's more.
- 54:24S10: So people are ready for for the gospel. And you
- 54:28S10: mentioned before, you know, I came on that those who
- 54:32S10: come from darkness, they love the Lord more. They appreciate
- 54:35S10: the light. So when you see Christians in the persecuted
- 54:38S10: countries like Iran, I get inspired. You should get inspired.
- 54:43S10: They are ready to live and die for Jesus. For example,
- 54:47S10: during this time we used the media to encourage encourage
- 54:51S10: people who had lost a loved one. Those who were
- 54:54S10: hopeless give them hope. But also also we use our
- 54:58S10: channel to mobilize Christians during those hard times. Christians are
- 55:03S10: on the streets, helping the wounded, helping the people, and
- 55:07S10: they listen to us. They said, you got to go
- 55:09S10: on the streets and help these people. For example, when
- 55:12S10: people were wounded, we asked our Christians, hey, bring those
- 55:16S10: wounded people into your homes. And you know, you've read
- 55:19S10: in the news, you know, the government kills so many people,
- 55:21S10: but those who were wounded and went to regular hospitals,
- 55:25S10: you know what happened to them? Yeah. The government agents
- 55:28S10: went to the hospitals and executed them, laying down on
- 55:32S10: a hospital bed. That's what they did. So when they
- 55:35S10: were wounded, they wouldn't go to hospital. Ask, ask Christians,
- 55:39S10: come serve people. And many of them just brought people
- 55:43S10: into their homes. I hear several testimonies of Muslims coming
- 55:48S10: to Christ. For example, this this young man was saying,
- 55:51S10: my brother and I were on street and we were
- 55:54S10: protesting and they started shooting. My brother got a bullet
- 55:58S10: in his leg. I put him on my back and
- 56:01S10: running away, and they were catching up to us. And
- 56:04S10: suddenly a door to apartment building opened up and we
- 56:07S10: went in. And the guy who led me let us in. They,
- 56:11S10: they closed the door and they took us to their
- 56:13S10: apartment and they took care of us. They brought a
- 56:18S10: doctor that they knew. They brought a nurse that they
- 56:20S10: knew to take care of our wounds. And then we
- 56:24S10: wanted to go back and said, no, you stay here.
- 56:26S10: It's safe until you get healed. They will tell your family,
- 56:29S10: your mom and dad that you're here. So then he says,
- 56:33S10: we realized these are Christians. And the few days, a
- 56:37S10: couple of weeks that they were there, they became Christians.
- 56:40S10: So Christians are salt and light. Whenever there is a
- 56:44S10: killing like that, 40,000 families lost a loved one, mostly
- 56:49S10: young people. Every time after that, there is an open
- 56:53S10: heaven in Iran, another layer of Muslims, a million. 1,000,002
- 56:57S10: million Muslims who used to be devout Muslims. Just six
- 57:01S10: months ago, when they see this massacre, they question Islam.
- 57:04S10: They say, if this is Islam, I do not want Islam.
- 57:07S10: What else is out there? And so we see a
- 57:10S10: surge in the number of Christians right after these massacres,
- 57:14S10: the killing of the government. Now, let me share this story.
- 57:18S10: One of our leaders in Iran, he said, I became
- 57:22S10: a Christian a couple of years ago and I'm very active.
- 57:24S10: He said. My family are so devout, so fanatic Muslims.
- 57:28S10: They turned against me, they threatened me. It is communicated
- 57:32S10: with me. And he said, especially my uncle. My uncle
- 57:36S10: is so fanatic. Six months ago my uncle told me, hey,
- 57:40S10: I'm going to turn you in. You have become a Christian,
- 57:44S10: you're serving Christianity. I'm going to turn you into the government.
- 57:48S10: And when they hang you, when they execute you, I'm
- 57:51S10: going to be there watching and enjoying it. He said,
- 57:54S10: that's my uncle. But then he said, can you believe
- 57:57S10: what happened last night? He said, what happened? He said,
- 58:00S10: my uncle called me and he said, tell me about Jesus.
- 58:04S12: Oh my word.
- 58:05S10: That's a spiritual transformation through suffering, through murder, through death,
- 58:11S10: that God, Jesus is using that to bring millions of
- 58:15S10: Muslims to Christ.
- 58:18S6: Everybody. Wow, what a testimony. And if you want more,
- 58:21S6: you want to find out what God is doing behind
- 58:24S6: the scenes. We've got a link for you right now.
- 58:26S4: Text alive to (800) 555-7898. Alive to (800) 555-7898.
- 58:36S6: How can something like this be so heartbreaking and so
- 58:40S6: life enthralling at the same time? I mean, it's it's
- 58:44S6: devastating and awesome what God is doing in this horrific
- 58:48S6: scene in Iran. So grateful for her text alive to
- 58:52S6: 800 555 7898.