Latest / Karl and Crew / Navigating AI with Hope with Dr. Drew Dickens & Trusting God’s Love with Greg Dempster

Transcript

Navigating AI with Hope with Dr. Drew Dickens & Trusting God’s Love with Greg Dempster · Karl and Crew

• 0:00
  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
• 0:06
  S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced guide. Overcome
• 0:10
  S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. Start
• 0:15
  S1: your morning with a laugh.
• 0:17
  S2: Practical from the Bible. Tips and tricks to kill. Not
• 0:21
  S2: tricks but tips and tricks.
• 0:25
  S3: Tips and tricks to kill. Tips and tricks.
• 0:28
  S1: Delivering the truth daily.
• 0:30
  S4: All of my attempts to, you know, prop myself up
• 0:33
  S4: with achievement in good works. Well, God wasn't impressed by that,
• 0:36
  S4: even if other people were.
• 0:38
  S2: The gospel changes everything.
• 0:41
  S5: Freedom in Christ. Man, it's like that backpack of cement
• 0:44
  S5: just falling to the ground.
• 0:46
  S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
• 0:50
  S1: and crew doctor Drew Dickens with us right now.
• 0:54
  S6: I do not want to, nor should we. As Jesus followers,
• 0:59
  S6: we have this security that the world does not know.
• 1:02
  S6: My goodness. You look at the futures market this morning.
• 1:06
  S6: If there was ever a time to not. If there
• 1:10
  S6: was ever a time to not put your trust in
• 1:12
  S6: this world and its systems, it is now. And then
• 1:15
  S6: you've got in London this anti-Semitic attack on these ambulances
• 1:19
  S6: outside a synagogue. We've got what's going on in Iran
• 1:23
  S6: that's messing with the hormones straight. Now, Iran is threatening
• 1:28
  S6: to go after desalinization desalinization plants in Israel and beyond.
• 1:34
  S6: And that would really put us on tilt. I think
• 1:37
  S6: all those rumblings have our stock markets on tilt. Now
• 1:41
  S6: for a disciple of Jesus, and I want you to
• 1:45
  S6: hear my heart on this boom crew. We don't have
• 1:47
  S6: to get unnerved on this stuff. We can we can
• 1:52
  S6: settle into the reality that he who began this work
• 1:55
  S6: in us will carry it on to completion until the
• 1:58
  S6: day of Christ Jesus. Now, Drew Dickens has a doctorate
• 2:02
  S6: in this whole issue of the intersection of artificial intelligence
• 2:07
  S6: and spiritual direction, and I love to tease him. Seven
• 2:10
  S6: years ago, he couldn't get a phone call and now
• 2:12
  S6: his phone doesn't stop ringing. Drew, I want us to
• 2:15
  S6: get a lay of the land. What's going on with AI?
• 2:18
  S6: And I'm talking just bullet lists. Give us the headlines.
• 2:22
  S6: What's happening that we all need to know.
• 2:25
  S7: I tell some of the biggest buzz right now, and that's,
• 2:27
  S7: I guess, why we're talking this morning is Peter Thiel,
• 2:30
  S7: which is a name that many won't be familiar with,
• 2:33
  S7: but very familiar with what he's done. Uh, he's the
• 2:36
  S7: inventor of PayPal. He's a billionaire out of Silicon Valley.
• 2:40
  S7: He invented PayPal. So we all use that every day.
• 2:43
  S7: He was the first outside investor in Facebook, so he's
• 2:46
  S7: doing well. He started another company called Palantir, which essentially
• 2:50
  S7: is AI driving. What happened in Venezuela? What's happening right
• 2:55
  S7: now in the Middle East, in Iran. So it's AI
• 2:58
  S7: driven military contracts is what Palantir is. So he's very
• 3:03
  S7: much involved in that. But his passion right now is
• 3:05
  S7: he's traveling the world. He's in Rome right now. Uh,
• 3:08
  S7: he's been in, um, speaking in Silicon Valley. I know
• 3:11
  S7: he's been in Dallas. He's been all over talking about
• 3:14
  S7: the Antichrist, which, which is part of the drumbeat that
• 3:18
  S7: you and I keep talking about that, that, that, that
• 3:20
  S7: I keep coming back to is Silicon Valley has no
• 3:23
  S7: problem with the intersection of AI and spirituality. It seems
• 3:26
  S7: to be where the friction is. Is the church talking
• 3:29
  S7: about AI and spirituality? So there's a lot of negative
• 3:32
  S7: pushback from the church, which is we should be discerning.
• 3:35
  S7: But boy, Silicon Valley gets it. It's they, they see
• 3:38
  S7: the intersection and we don't. And that that's the that's
• 3:42
  S7: a bit of a frustration for me and why I'm
• 3:45
  S7: so excited about the topic with you guys this week.
• 3:48
  S6: So on that front, what is teal? What's he up to?
• 3:52
  S6: What's he trying to discern here and why? Why do
• 3:55
  S6: you believe he's got such urgency around this? And it's
• 3:58
  S6: not just teal. This conversation is being teed up all
• 4:01
  S6: over podcasts right now.
• 4:03
  S7: Sure is. And in fact, my, my podcast that released
• 4:06
  S7: just this morning is on is on that topic. You
• 4:09
  S7: mentioned that earlier, and.
• 4:10
  S6: We're going to have, we're going to have a link
• 4:11
  S6: boom crew to that here in just a little bit.
• 4:13
  S6: So hang on, go ahead.
• 4:15
  S7: And what's, uh, what's confusing is all these talks that
• 4:19
  S7: he's having are, are private invitation only with sort of
• 4:23
  S7: the cultural elite. In fact, his organization's called acts 17,
• 4:27
  S7: which he draws from Paul speaking at Mars Hill to the, uh,
• 4:30
  S7: cultural elite of the time. So, uh, to, to be clear,
• 4:34
  S7: I have not I'm secular, but I'm not elite. Uh,
• 4:39
  S7: so I've not been invited. Um, I've got several friends
• 4:42
  S7: that have heard him speak privately. Um, you're not allowed
• 4:45
  S7: to record any of the conversations. You have to give
• 4:48
  S7: up your phone when you come in. Um, there have
• 4:50
  S7: been some conversations that have leaked and others have talked
• 4:52
  S7: about their time with him. So it's hard. It's hard
• 4:55
  S7: to really nail it down. But but so much of
• 4:57
  S7: what he's talking about sounds so appealing to us right now,
• 5:00
  S7: is he is pushing against those that are negative in
• 5:06
  S7: their views of, of AI. Obviously, there's some self-serving aspect
• 5:11
  S7: of this to him because he doesn't want government regulation. Right? Um,
• 5:15
  S7: and so he, he sees those talking against AI as
• 5:21
  S7: part of the, uh, the, the, the threat to our humanity.
• 5:26
  S7: He sees that as a form of the Antichrist. Uh,
• 5:29
  S7: and so there's definitely some self-serving elements to this, to him,
• 5:33
  S7: but what, what I love that he's doing is he's
• 5:36
  S7: talking theology, uh, to the cultural elite who maybe have
• 5:40
  S7: never heard, um, boy, I want to be careful in
• 5:42
  S7: saying the gospel, but never heard a lot of this before.
• 5:45
  S7: And so I'm excited for that. Um, but he's definitely, uh,
• 5:49
  S7: drawing some comparisons to the Antichrist. Uh, to, I think,
• 5:53
  S7: serve how Silicon Valley wants to advance AI right now.
• 5:57
  S6: Yeah. What's fascinating about this is now you've got intellectual
• 6:00
  S6: elites that are discussing what used to be considered a
• 6:03
  S6: fairy tale in the Antichrist or end times theology. That's amazing.
• 6:07
  S6: Is it not?
• 6:08
  S7: Absolutely. And, um, Moody, you're having Charlie Dyer on who
• 6:12
  S7: I adore, uh, was a professor at DTS where I
• 6:15
  S7: went to seminary and he's with Moody. Uh, so, so
• 6:17
  S7: he will be able to speak to this in great detail,
• 6:20
  S7: but this is pre-millennial dispensationalism is what it's called, uh,
• 6:25
  S7: started in the 1800s, uh, by John Darby, um, embraced
• 6:28
  S7: by D.L. Moody. Um, it is the foundational teaching of
• 6:32
  S7: some of the foundational teachings of Dallas Seminary. Um, and
• 6:36
  S7: so premillennial dispensational, very big word for meaning that the
• 6:40
  S7: rapture will occur before the tribulation. Um, and we take
• 6:45
  S7: revelation 20, the thousand year reign of Christ very literally.
• 6:50
  S7: So that's the pre-millennial and the dispensation of revelation 20.
• 6:54
  S7: And so we take these things very, very seriously. Uh,
• 6:57
  S7: Peter Thiel has a very much is not aligned in
• 7:01
  S7: those teachings. Um, but, uh, you know, we need to understand, uh,
• 7:06
  S7: the foundations of those. If anybody ever read the left
• 7:09
  S7: Behind series, that's premillennial dispensationalism. Um, and so it's something
• 7:14
  S7: we're familiar with, but not, not haven't spent a lot
• 7:17
  S7: of time studying perhaps. Um, and that's what Peter is
• 7:19
  S7: bringing to these cultural elite. And so for that, I
• 7:22
  S7: applaud the, I applaud the, his time with it.
• 7:25
  S6: With whether you are pre-trib, Mid-trib or post-trib, though the
• 7:29
  S6: reality of the rise of Antichrist is real. And that's
• 7:35
  S6: common to all three of those positions. And so coming
• 7:38
  S6: up here in a moment, we're going to talk with
• 7:39
  S6: drew about this brand new podcast, who gets to name
• 7:43
  S6: the devil. And my question is, why would you name
• 7:46
  S6: a podcast that. Hang on.
• 7:49
  S1: Get your info from a source you can trust. It's.
• 7:52
  S1: Ask the experts. Week with Carl and crew.
• 7:56
  S6: Doctor drew Dickens, my guest right now. AI expert. He
• 7:59
  S6: speaks of artificial intelligence and the intersection of really spiritual
• 8:04
  S6: formation and not only went to Dallas Theological. He's got
• 8:09
  S6: a PhD in this whole idea of the intersection of
• 8:14
  S6: AI and spiritual formation. This is just awesome, man. God
• 8:19
  S6: made you for such a time as this. Why in
• 8:21
  S6: the world did you name a podcast? Who gets to
• 8:23
  S6: name the devil? What a weird name, drew.
• 8:25
  S7: Hey, it got your attention, didn't it?
• 8:27
  S6: Yeah it did.
• 8:29
  S7: You know, the Antichrist is an interesting topic and it's
• 8:33
  S7: and it's mentioned all through Scripture in so many different ways.
• 8:37
  S7: I mean, first, John, uh, talks a lot about it. Second, John,
• 8:40
  S7: obviously we can go to Daniel. We can go to
• 8:42
  S7: first and second Thessalonians and revelation. And each time, Um,
• 8:46
  S7: in context, the Antichrist is mentioned a little a little differently.
• 8:50
  S7: Sometimes political, sometimes theological. Um, and so that that was
• 8:55
  S7: the purpose of it in context of Peter Thiel out
• 8:58
  S7: there talking about it a lot. Um, so he defines
• 9:01
  S7: the Antichrist as more of a political movement than a
• 9:05
  S7: person will.
• 9:06
  S6: Be, but it starts with a single little horn coming
• 9:09
  S6: up out of an obscure European nation, reconstituted Roman Empire.
• 9:13
  S6: But it will become a movement. But it starts with
• 9:16
  S6: a man.
• 9:16
  S7: Absolutely. And Daniel seven, you're quoting. So. Yeah, absolutely. And
• 9:20
  S7: it is a person. Uh, and again, I have very
• 9:23
  S7: literal interpretations of that. Um, and boy, you keep coming
• 9:26
  S7: back and I loved how you started the segment talking about, uh,
• 9:29
  S7: second Timothy first John. We're not to be people of fear,
• 9:32
  S7: but of hope. And so it's easy to read some
• 9:35
  S7: of these things and hear some of these teachings and
• 9:37
  S7: really come away shaking a bit and especially looking at
• 9:40
  S7: world events right now. Um, but I want to end
• 9:44
  S7: on that, to make sure that people have hope in this.
• 9:46
  S7: Because no matter where you go on this, you keep
• 9:49
  S7: coming back to, as you were saying earlier, that kingdom
• 9:52
  S7: on a on a ball. So in in the end
• 9:56
  S7: we win. Uh, that that's the great news. That's the
• 9:59
  S7: hope that we have to take. Take away from all this. Um,
• 10:01
  S7: so much is going on around us right now with
• 10:04
  S7: AI is the roots of so much of this. Again,
• 10:07
  S7: I applaud Peter for being out there talking about revelation.
• 10:11
  S7: And he's kind of has has a message of hope
• 10:13
  S7: in it because he's saying the people that are that
• 10:15
  S7: are so negative right now are part of that Antichrist
• 10:19
  S7: movement that I disagree with, because I think we can
• 10:22
  S7: all be discerning people. But he does have a message
• 10:25
  S7: of hope that, uh, we need to use AI for good. Uh,
• 10:29
  S7: not bad. So I, I agree with that, but, uh, but,
• 10:33
  S7: but we should also be people that are discerning right
• 10:36
  S7: now looking at AI through the lens of scripture and
• 10:39
  S7: through the lens of the gospel.
• 10:41
  S6: It face value. AI, it seems to me, can do
• 10:45
  S6: something with the proliferation of a movement that nothing else
• 10:51
  S6: could have done for the last 2000 years. Is that fair?
• 10:54
  S8: Isn't that true? Yeah.
• 10:55
  S7: When I first came to Christ, my mom didn't. My
• 10:57
  S7: mom and dad didn't have a clue what to do
• 10:58
  S7: with me. And so she ran out and bought a
• 11:00
  S7: book called The Late, Great Planet Earth. Some of you
• 11:04
  S7: may be familiar with that back in the 70s. Hal
• 11:06
  S7: Lindsey Yeah. And so when I was reading that, and again,
• 11:10
  S7: we're going back now. Oh my gosh, 50, 50.
• 11:12
  S6: Years, 50 plus.
• 11:13
  S7: Years ago, I read that and I was scared to death.
• 11:16
  S7: And so really for the first time looking at hope
• 11:18
  S7: in that, but um, yes, I was reading and thinking,
• 11:21
  S7: there's no way something like this can ever happen. I
• 11:23
  S7: can't imagine a world like this where we're living in
• 11:25
  S7: that world now, where we can have the power of A.I.
• 11:29
  S7: drive so much of this for the first time. So
• 11:31
  S7: it's becoming a lot clearer, I think, how the enemy
• 11:34
  S7: might use some of this technology to advance. I mean,
• 11:37
  S7: we're looking at fake videos that that can be produced
• 11:40
  S7: and an audio. And so there's so many ways to,
• 11:43
  S7: to trick us into believing fake news and so on.
• 11:47
  S7: So yeah, we definitely have our hands on a tool.
• 11:50
  S7: You mentioned what's going on right now with AI, the
• 11:52
  S7: biggest movement. You and I have been talking about this
• 11:54
  S7: for a while on the show is Agentic AI, which
• 11:57
  S7: is autonomous. That can do some of much of this
• 11:59
  S7: things without us even prompting it to do. So imagine
• 12:02
  S7: that being in the in the hands of the Antichrist,
• 12:05
  S7: in the hands of the enemy. So we can see it.
• 12:08
  S7: But again, you know, we with belief in Christ and
• 12:11
  S7: the divinity of Christ, we have hope that, you know,
• 12:14
  S7: we will be in that kingdom on the globe, as
• 12:17
  S7: you said, uh, and that that Christ does win ultimately,
• 12:21
  S7: in spite of all this negativity.
• 12:23
  S6: Love it. Drew, what has you really excited about AI
• 12:27
  S6: right now and what has you concerned? And I'm talking
• 12:30
  S6: about the last ten days and boom, you're listening right now.
• 12:33
  S6: I need you to know AI is that exponential? Isn't
• 12:36
  S6: it true that things are.
• 12:37
  S7: Oh my gosh.
• 12:38
  S6: Uncorking every day.
• 12:40
  S7: I was reading an article even before the show started
• 12:42
  S7: this morning. I have an AI agent that goes out
• 12:45
  S7: for me overnight and pulls together the top five articles
• 12:49
  S7: on AI. Do you really?
• 12:50
  S6: Who do you give those prompts the night before to
• 12:53
  S6: that agent? Or what do you do? Or have you.
• 12:55
  S7: Said it always? I set it and forget it. I
• 12:58
  S7: wrote this a couple of weeks ago and it goes
• 13:00
  S7: out for me while I sleep and pulls all this together.
• 13:04
  S7: And so for for that, I'm thrilled. But one of
• 13:07
  S7: the articles that pushed me to this morning I was
• 13:10
  S7: reading before the show, um, is, is, is that exact
• 13:13
  S7: thing is agentic AI and the power of it to
• 13:17
  S7: be able to do things autonomously. We always think of
• 13:20
  S7: self-driving cars and things like that, but it goes out
• 13:22
  S7: and finds those for you and brings them to me
• 13:25
  S7: without me asking. Uh, so Agentic AI is super exciting
• 13:29
  S7: to me right now. Um, and we've done a couple
• 13:31
  S7: of shows on that. I've got several, many, many podcasts
• 13:34
  S7: on that. What concerns me though, is the same thing.
• 13:37
  S7: The proliferation of autonomous autonomy within AI that goes unregulated,
• 13:44
  S7: that we start to lose control when it starts to
• 13:46
  S7: write programs that we don't ask it to, that we
• 13:50
  S7: don't have any control over. It can get it can
• 13:52
  S7: get out from under us pretty fast. So I'm excited
• 13:55
  S7: about Agentic concerned about it when we don't have some, uh,
• 14:00
  S7: biblical and physical hands on it as well. And we
• 14:04
  S7: just let it go run in the wild.
• 14:06
  S6: I, my daughter tells me, and she's a bit of
• 14:09
  S6: an AI expert. Um, that was when she got her
• 14:12
  S6: PhD in Georgia. She was focused on that. And she
• 14:17
  S6: tells me, dad, you use AI, more than 99% of
• 14:21
  S6: the people that are on the streets. And I use
• 14:24
  S6: it a lot. And I agree and I use it
• 14:26
  S6: a lot. But here's here's the issue. I'm more concerned
• 14:30
  S6: about everyone listening right now who's freaked out about AI. Um,
• 14:35
  S6: who doesn't even know where to get started. So let's
• 14:38
  S6: take freaked out first. What do you. What do they
• 14:40
  S6: need to know? That should calm their hearts 100%. Other
• 14:44
  S6: than the fact that. And this is not the only thing,
• 14:46
  S6: but it's powerful. God's sovereign over all this. Drew.
• 14:49
  S7: Amen, Amen. Keep coming back to that. Yes. Not a
• 14:52
  S7: people of fear. God is sovereign. He is in control.
• 14:55
  S7: None of this surprised God. He didn't say, oh my gosh, boy,
• 14:58
  S7: I didn't see the AI thing happening. Uh, and it's
• 15:01
  S7: really you mentioned exponential. It's almost vertical right now. The
• 15:05
  S7: growth of this, it's just straight up. It's not an
• 15:08
  S7: up and to the right. It's almost straight up, uh,
• 15:10
  S7: of how it's being used. I'll take both issues at
• 15:13
  S7: the same time. And that's, and that's, uh, freaking out.
• 15:16
  S7: And what do I do about it? Um, selfless plug, uh,
• 15:20
  S7: with the AI and spirituality podcast, but, uh, follow along
• 15:24
  S7: and you are unicorn. You use it more than anybody
• 15:27
  S7: I think I know. So keep listening to Carl and crew. Oh, yeah.
• 15:31
  S6: No, I'm going to bring you in because I ain't
• 15:33
  S6: no expert on it, but it is a great tool,
• 15:35
  S6: isn't it?
• 15:35
  S7: It really is. And so I would say just first
• 15:38
  S7: thing is just log into everybody knows ChatGPT. There are
• 15:41
  S7: a lot of them, but just just log in and
• 15:43
  S7: start trying it. Just ask it a couple of questions
• 15:45
  S7: and start a conversation. We're all using it whether we
• 15:48
  S7: know it or not. It's now embedded in every every
• 15:51
  S7: time we open up a laptop, we're using AI. So
• 15:53
  S7: just take take the initiative and get in there and
• 15:55
  S7: start playing with it. I think we'll get over the
• 15:58
  S7: the freaked out nature of it, and it will start
• 16:01
  S7: giving you some sense of, of control that, you know what,
• 16:04
  S7: there are ways for me to be involved and engaged
• 16:07
  S7: in this. And that's what I would encourage everybody to
• 16:09
  S7: do is first, just try it.
• 16:11
  S6: Boom. I got to tell you, we got a real
• 16:13
  S6: treat for you today. We've got this brand new podcast
• 16:16
  S6: that launched 1 a.m. central time today. Who gets to
• 16:21
  S6: name the devil Peter Thiel? Rome and the Church's prophetic
• 16:26
  S6: moment is the subtitle of this podcast launch today. So
• 16:30
  S6: we've got a link embedded in this keyword that we're
• 16:32
  S6: going to have you send in, that has that, and
• 16:34
  S6: also to his broader blogs and you name it, he's
• 16:38
  S6: got every bit of content you can imagine right there.
• 16:42
  S6: So I want you to check it out right now.
• 16:45
  S6: I do not be in fear. We do not have
• 16:48
  S6: a spirit of fear, but of power and love and
• 16:51
  S6: clear thinking. By the way, self control. So let's step
• 16:54
  S6: into it today. Text the word drew to 800 555 7898.
• 17:01
  S6: Text drew to 800 555 7898. And you're going to
• 17:07
  S6: find some incredible content right there. Come and get it, guys.
• 17:11
  S6: Text drew to 800 555 7898.
• 17:18
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 17:21
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 17:25
  S6: Get a deal with End Times for the entire week
• 17:28
  S6: from tomorrow on and we are going to have a
• 17:31
  S6: banner week. But the real question is how do we
• 17:34
  S6: live in these times? And even in the end times
• 17:36
  S6: where we don't lose our mind and we really hold
• 17:40
  S6: strong to our faith. In fact, we grow in the
• 17:42
  S6: grace and knowledge of God's goodness, his favor, his power
• 17:45
  S6: to do in us what we can't do in ourselves.
• 17:47
  S6: How do we do that? The metaphor Jesus gives is
• 17:51
  S6: there's two different kinds of people that are building a life.
• 17:53
  S6: Those that hear the word don't apply it, and they're
• 17:55
  S6: like building on sand. And then there's those that hear
• 17:59
  S6: the word and apply it, and they're built on a rock.
• 18:01
  S6: Same storms coming their way. Two different total outcomes with
• 18:05
  S6: us right now. Greg Dempster Oh, Greg, isn't it awesome
• 18:09
  S6: to talk about that? God is our rock in which
• 18:12
  S6: we are unshakable no matter what storms are coming our way,
• 18:15
  S6: my man.
• 18:16
  S9: I mean, that's the promise that God would do what's
• 18:20
  S9: necessary in us to help us apply to obey his
• 18:26
  S9: words and then find ourselves. Matthew seven on the Rock.
• 18:30
  S9: It's just it's just amazing.
• 18:32
  S6: You know, I want to begin with something. I want
• 18:34
  S6: to tell you a story, Greg, about my new, you know,
• 18:36
  S6: about my husky pup blaze that I got. I don't
• 18:38
  S6: know if you knew that. Okay, so you know about blaze.
• 18:41
  S6: So I tell this story. I've told it a couple
• 18:43
  S6: of times, but it's so cool. So I took him
• 18:46
  S6: out for a walk here. Oh, a couple months ago.
• 18:49
  S6: And we went, came around the corner. Birds are tweeting
• 18:52
  S6: Suns out. It was chilly, but all of a sudden wham!
• 18:57
  S6: This monster. I found out after the fact. It's not
• 19:00
  S6: a Rottweiler. He looks like one because I found the
• 19:03
  S6: owners of this dog guy's and he's not a Rottweiler,
• 19:06
  S6: so he's just a big old dog that looks like one.
• 19:09
  S6: But he body slammed this bay window. Greg and I thought,
• 19:13
  S6: he's going to come through that window now. My dog blaze,
• 19:15
  S6: he's looking at me and you'd think he's running at
• 19:18
  S6: the end of the leash. No. He actually circled around
• 19:21
  S6: me and put me between himself and that Rottweiler, thinking,
• 19:24
  S6: that guy's coming through that bay window, man. He's coming
• 19:27
  S6: at me. So I it was a, it's a it's
• 19:30
  S6: a cool picture of him huddling close to me. But
• 19:34
  S6: here's what's really cool, Greg. And you'll get this one
• 19:36
  S6: so easily. That experience that I had with Blaise that
• 19:40
  S6: day was the result of a bonding morning that I
• 19:43
  S6: had with him. So when he was a young pup
• 19:46
  S6: and I was having to sleep in the basement because
• 19:49
  S6: the minute he'd stir, it means that he's got to
• 19:51
  S6: go out or he's going to miss his kennel. And
• 19:53
  S6: I had hear him stirring at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m.
• 19:56
  S6: and jeans on out the door does his work. One
• 20:00
  S6: morning I woke up, though not to stirring, but to
• 20:03
  S6: the most unbelievable stench you can imagine. Greg. I mean,
• 20:07
  S6: it stunk to high heavens. And I'm like, oh no.
• 20:10
  S6: And in the dim lit basement, I look inside his
• 20:13
  S6: kennel and I'm like, oh no, he pooped all over
• 20:16
  S6: the place. And then he thought, well, I pooped. I
• 20:19
  S6: might as well go ahead and pee here too. So
• 20:21
  S6: it was just a concoction of mess he had laid
• 20:24
  S6: in it. He had slept in it a little bit.
• 20:26
  S6: It was mashed in his paws and I did something
• 20:30
  S6: so crazy. But I felt like he doesn't need to
• 20:34
  S6: be beat up emotionally right now. And I sat cross-legged.
• 20:37
  S6: I'm going to cry. For crying out loud. I sat
• 20:40
  S6: cross-legged in front of that kennel and I said, come here, buddy.
• 20:43
  S6: And he was so filled with shame that he could
• 20:48
  S6: barely look at me. And I said, come here, buddy.
• 20:51
  S6: And he lifted up his head a little bit, still
• 20:54
  S6: head down, and he took a step. He took two steps,
• 20:57
  S6: stepped into my lap. Now my jeans are totally wasted.
• 21:01
  S6: And now he steps up into my lap, fully leans
• 21:04
  S6: up against my white t shirt that's totally gone. And
• 21:08
  S6: I put my arms around him and I hugged him
• 21:10
  S6: and I said, I love you, buddy. And he looked
• 21:13
  S6: up at me and he's like, you gotta be kidding me, dad,
• 21:16
  S6: you love me. I said, I love you, bud. That
• 21:20
  S6: day we bonded and that's what formed his trust in me.
• 21:24
  S6: between me and that Rottweiler. That's a pretty decent picture
• 21:27
  S6: about why we need to get close and in love
• 21:30
  S6: with God, isn't it, Greg?
• 21:32
  S9: I think we carry things on our own. We feel
• 21:35
  S9: like it's our job to clean up the kennel regularly
• 21:39
  S9: when we're making messes in it. And what we need
• 21:41
  S9: to do is just what you described. We need to
• 21:45
  S9: come to a God whose arms are outstretched, who knows
• 21:49
  S9: that he's the only one that can make the changes
• 21:51
  S9: in us that need to be made. And, and as
• 21:54
  S9: we learn to come to him, as we learn to,
• 21:57
  S9: to move out of our brokenness and to, to the Almighty,
• 22:01
  S9: we find things opening up. We discover what it means
• 22:05
  S9: to be loved. We discover what it means to be
• 22:08
  S9: accepted even when we don't deserve to be accepted. We
• 22:12
  S9: discover what it means to live a life that is
• 22:16
  S9: a life that God promises. That where he throws our
• 22:19
  S9: sin as far as the east is from the West, we.
• 22:21
  S9: We learn to live a life where we have nothing
• 22:23
  S9: to prove, nothing to gain beyond what God promises to
• 22:26
  S9: give and nothing to lose. And that positions us for
• 22:28
  S9: the time that we live in. Yeah.
• 22:30
  S6: That's beautiful. What keeps people from stepping out of that
• 22:33
  S6: proverbial kennel of life in our mess? To really curl
• 22:36
  S6: up into the lap of God. And I'm. That's not over.
• 22:39
  S6: Sensationalizing this is it, Greg.
• 22:41
  S9: We're just living according to the way that we live
• 22:43
  S9: prior to Christ. That that it all depended on us,
• 22:47
  S9: that our value was dependent on our performance. We. Depending
• 22:50
  S9: on approval, we are either feeling valued or devalued. And
• 22:55
  S9: God wants to break all that down. He's saying that
• 22:58
  S9: that's the way that you used to live. I have
• 23:01
  S9: a new way for you, and that is with a
• 23:04
  S9: value that's finished. It's static. It's it's never going to
• 23:09
  S9: grow more than it is that he's offering all of
• 23:11
  S9: himself and all of his acceptance and all of his,
• 23:14
  S9: the value that we could live in, in it's entirety
• 23:18
  S9: to us. And we then get to discover that more
• 23:22
  S9: and more and more and live more free.
• 23:25
  S6: Coming up here with Greg Dempster, we're going to have
• 23:27
  S6: a link for you to his site with tons of resources, guys.
• 23:31
  S6: Many of thousands of you have tapped this, but we're
• 23:33
  S6: going to invite many, many more of you to tap
• 23:35
  S6: tap it. Today we're going to talk about how we
• 23:39
  S6: move from the Kennel of Shame into the arms of God.
• 23:43
  S6: Practically more with Greg Dempster straight ahead.
• 23:47
  S1: Your shot of hope to get you through the day.
• 23:50
  S5: You are so, so loved. God does not want you
• 23:54
  S5: to stay in your past, and I want you to
• 23:56
  S5: know and believe that today.
• 23:57
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Cru.
• 24:00
  S10: It isn't just for the purpose of.
• 24:02
  S6: Eliminating shame and getting freedom from that. It's then to
• 24:06
  S6: live a life that we can only live in communion,
• 24:11
  S6: fellowship with our Savior, Jesus Christ, the father and the spirit.
• 24:15
  S6: Greg Dempster, my guest right now, founder and director of
• 24:17
  S6: Christ's Life Ministries. It's been a senior leader, elder ministry director.
• 24:22
  S6: He's really committed his life to renewal from the inside out,
• 24:27
  S6: allowing us to see who we really are in Christ,
• 24:30
  S6: lift our heads and walk forward in confidence. Greg, there's
• 24:33
  S6: never been a time that, uh, in, in our modern
• 24:37
  S6: history where the time is now for disciples of Christ
• 24:41
  S6: to really understand who they are in Christ, lift their
• 24:43
  S6: heads from shame and walk forward. How do we practically
• 24:46
  S6: do this? Greg.
• 24:49
  S9: I think you laid it out just in that last
• 24:52
  S9: segment that we have to encounter the living God. His
• 24:56
  S9: word is designed for us to to take it in
• 25:00
  S9: and and then to find him that we need God. We, we,
• 25:03
  S9: we need him changing us. We need to know him
• 25:08
  S9: in a way that that lifts us above our circumstances.
• 25:12
  S9: And that's what the word promises that God, God wants
• 25:16
  S9: us to to walk with him wholeheartedly and then find
• 25:21
  S9: strength to navigate through difficult circumstances.
• 25:24
  S6: How central is not just the Word of God, but
• 25:27
  S6: the truth of who God is to making that happen?
• 25:31
  S9: I don't know that there's anything that's more important that
• 25:35
  S9: that God is who he says he is. In fact,
• 25:37
  S9: right now, Psalm 139 is is as true as when
• 25:42
  S9: it was written that there's nowhere where we can flee
• 25:45
  S9: from his presence, which means that he's in my studio
• 25:49
  S9: right now. He is with everyone who's listening in cars
• 25:54
  S9: or in office buildings. His presence is there and available,
• 25:59
  S9: and we need to learn to step away from our
• 26:02
  S9: independence and into a dependent life. It really hinges on
• 26:07
  S9: Romans ten nine that that if I'm willing to bow
• 26:10
  S9: my knee and confess him as master the doors to
• 26:14
  S9: freedom and strength and, and everything that God's designed the
• 26:19
  S9: Christian life to be begin to open up.
• 26:21
  S10: What has.
• 26:22
  S6: Kept evangelicals across North America bound up in a performance
• 26:27
  S6: metric rather than proximity to Jesus? What are the contributing
• 26:32
  S6: factors there?
• 26:33
  S9: You know, you and I have talked about this in
• 26:34
  S9: the past. It's been said that the best predictor of
• 26:37
  S9: future success is past behavior. And a lot of us
• 26:41
  S9: have lived a life where we're managing ourselves. We're that
• 26:46
  S9: our success is our responsibility. That if I'm valued, it's
• 26:50
  S9: because I performed well or I've gained approval and God
• 26:54
  S9: wants that. He wants us done with that type of mindset.
• 26:59
  S9: He he wants us, along with Paul, to be able
• 27:02
  S9: to say, I'm willing to lay it all down to
• 27:05
  S9: find everything that I've needed through relationship with the Almighty,
• 27:09
  S9: relationship with God, real, real knowing, making my home in him.
• 27:14
  S9: And and so as we're stepping towards him, it might
• 27:18
  S9: that first step might just be Romans ten nine. God,
• 27:22
  S9: I reject myself as master, and I accept you. Now,
• 27:28
  S9: maybe for the thousandth time, I accept you today as
• 27:32
  S9: my master. Help me follow you. Yeah.
• 27:36
  S6: New mercies are every morning. And I think you're right on, Greg.
• 27:39
  S6: I think there needs to be a redeclaration almost morning
• 27:43
  S6: by morning. That you are my authority. You're my supreme authority.
• 27:47
  S6: You are my Lord. Which doesn't just mean he's a figurehead.
• 27:51
  S6: It means that he's taking control of every aspect of me.
• 27:56
  S6: How does a person. It seems that we when we
• 28:01
  S6: come to Christ, if you're genuinely born again, there has
• 28:05
  S6: to have been a time when you said, I can't
• 28:07
  S6: do this. You've got to take over to the person
• 28:11
  S6: that feels like. I think some of the leading indicators
• 28:13
  S6: that maybe we've taken back the control of our life.
• 28:17
  S6: And it's we've got a man centered gospel rather than
• 28:19
  S6: a Christ centered gospel, is that we find joy that
• 28:24
  S6: is no longer resident, that exuberance of being led by
• 28:29
  S6: the Spirit of God and even hearing his voice. How
• 28:32
  S6: do we reclaim that today, Greg?
• 28:35
  S9: You know, it's Titus three five says that salvation has
• 28:39
  S9: this renewal component. It's a component that the Holy Spirit,
• 28:46
  S9: by God's design, comes and renews us daily. And that
• 28:50
  S9: renewal we've learned from Romans 12 is a renewal of
• 28:54
  S9: my perspective, how I see, how I interpret life. We
• 28:59
  S9: we need him to do that, or else we're going
• 29:01
  S9: to be interpreting, looking through the same flawed lenses that
• 29:05
  S9: got us stuck and broken time and time again in life.
• 29:09
  S9: And so just we've said this before. In fact, this
• 29:13
  S9: is part of our ministry back in Arkansas. To start,
• 29:16
  S9: you have to stop. And maybe stopping begins today where
• 29:21
  S9: as you're listening to us, you just pause and say, God,
• 29:25
  S9: I I've been pushing, I've been trying and striving. And
• 29:30
  S9: I know that your grace will empower my earning. And
• 29:35
  S9: so stopping, I think is the key. God, I stop
• 29:39
  S9: now and I'm asking for you to be my Lord
• 29:42
  S9: and master and take over control.
• 29:44
  S6: Yeah, it's a kind of a declaration, you know. Boom crew,
• 29:48
  S6: I want you to know something. This, this website is
• 29:52
  S6: so loaded with content that's going to help you dig out.
• 29:54
  S6: And some of you are stuck in family of origin issues.
• 29:59
  S6: Some of you are stuck in, uh, perpetuating myths and
• 30:03
  S6: lies that you've believed about yourself and God that need
• 30:08
  S6: to be broken and those chains can be broken. And
• 30:12
  S6: we've got a phenomenal. Site for you. Some of you
• 30:15
  S6: picked up and we've heard reports back. I mean, Greg,
• 30:18
  S6: one of the most encouraging things are. People are saying,
• 30:22
  S6: I'm taking this these two journey, uh, really workbooks that
• 30:26
  S6: you've constructed and offered for free to everyone who's listening today,
• 30:30
  S6: journey one and journey two, it's right at the headliner
• 30:33
  S6: of his website. You'll be able to find him right there.
• 30:35
  S6: And they're building small groups around these things. Greg. And
• 30:38
  S6: you've had thousands of downloads of this content. It's got
• 30:41
  S6: to be encouraging. It just shows that there's a hunger
• 30:43
  S6: for this kind of authentic relationship right now, doesn't it?
• 30:46
  S11: It just shows that God is a renewing God.
• 30:49
  S9: And I'm telling you right now, it's the first step.
• 30:52
  S9: We're going to see renewal sweep through the church, and
• 30:55
  S9: we're going to see a sustained work of revival where
• 30:58
  S9: God allows his power, his presence, to rest on the
• 31:02
  S9: church again, and the leadership will be ready for it.
• 31:05
  S9: And it'll be a work that's a long lasting work.
• 31:09
  S9: And that's that. All of that's extending to all of
• 31:11
  S9: your listeners. I mean, renewal can begin today. New life
• 31:15
  S9: can begin today. You know.
• 31:16
  S6: That's really interesting. We have I have never heard this before,
• 31:20
  S6: but the remnant that's spoken of, which always exists that
• 31:24
  S6: small or, uh, relative to society around us, small group
• 31:29
  S6: of people, the remnant is not some weak, sniveling kind of, um,
• 31:35
  S6: barely alive group of people. These ones are robust, alive
• 31:39
  S6: in Christ Jesus and radiating to those around them who
• 31:43
  S6: by prevenient grace are ready to take hold of that
• 31:45
  S6: same Jesus. So wow, final thought Greg. And then I'm
• 31:49
  S6: going to give a link to your site here.
• 31:51
  S9: I mean, it's Ephesians 123 that Jesus is the head.
• 31:55
  S9: We're his body, the place where he speaks, acts, and
• 31:57
  S9: through which displays his presence, that he's far from done
• 32:01
  S9: with you, that that you might be dead or feeling
• 32:04
  S9: just suffocated by life. But God's will is for you
• 32:08
  S9: to rise up and become an oak of righteousness, a
• 32:12
  S9: planting for the Lord's display of God's splendor. That's his
• 32:15
  S9: desire for you. Just turn to him.
• 32:18
  S6: Yeah. Beautiful. Got a link for you. Boom. Crew. Text
• 32:21
  S6: the word life to (800) 555-7898. Just one word. Life to
• 32:27
  S6: 800 555 7898. We're going to get you hooked up
• 32:32
  S6: with resources galore there. Everything we're doing is helping you
• 32:35
  S6: take your next step with Jesus. And maybe your step
• 32:38
  S6: today is to lift your head from that point of shame,
• 32:41
  S6: or that point of pride, or that point of self-sufficiency
• 32:44
  S6: and say, God, you are my supreme authority today. Renew it.
• 32:49
  S6: For some of you, it's been months for some years,
• 32:52
  S6: some decades. And today is a day of renewal. Text
• 32:57
  S6: the word life to 800 555 7898. Life to 800 Five. Five. Five. 78.
• 33:06
  S6: 98 Web Links. Grab resources today.
• 33:11
  S1: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 33:17
  S6: We were talking preparation for the end. We're talking end
• 33:20
  S6: times all week long here really in earnest tomorrow morning.
• 33:23
  S6: We're really talking prep for it today. But we got
• 33:27
  S6: a roster of experts on end times prophecies and events.
• 33:31
  S6: And what do we see unfolding now? What's going on
• 33:34
  S6: with Iran? How does that play in the great battle
• 33:37
  S6: of Gog and Magog? And that's a lead up to
• 33:41
  S6: the Great War of Armageddon. And why? My goodness, guys,
• 33:46
  S6: there's so much going on in the globe right now,
• 33:48
  S6: especially in the Middle East. Isn't that interesting that the
• 33:51
  S6: hub is still Israel? It's still in the hub.
• 33:56
  S2: This little plot of land?
• 33:57
  S6: Yep. I think it's the size of what new Jersey,
• 34:00
  S6: new Jersey.
• 34:02
  S2: New Jersey's not very big.
• 34:04
  S6: No, no, new Jersey's crazy, too. So we get crazy.
• 34:09
  S2: All centered around new Jersey.
• 34:11
  S6: Must be that size of landmass that attracts that stuff.
• 34:14
  S6: Just all kinds of angst and things going on. It's just,
• 34:18
  S6: it's just there's challenges all over the world today. And
• 34:23
  S6: preparation is everything. It's been a while since I've shared
• 34:27
  S6: this a long while, so I'm going to do something
• 34:29
  S6: very important right now. I want you to know some
• 34:33
  S6: of you think you're ready and you're not. For the
• 34:36
  S6: Lord's return, you just gotta. I just need you to
• 34:41
  S6: know this. Some of you think you're ready and you're not.
• 34:46
  S6: You say, Carl, come on. How can this be? Well,
• 34:51
  S6: because the mind's ability and one's ability to deceive oneself
• 34:57
  S6: into thinking they possess, combined with the deceiver, Satan, who's
• 35:01
  S6: really wanting to pull the wool over our eyes, is
• 35:03
  S6: such a real and present danger it's almost hard to
• 35:06
  S6: get your head around. Matthew seven is one of the
• 35:11
  S6: hallmark passages for this. Many will say to me on
• 35:13
  S6: that day, Lord, Lord, and he's going to say, I
• 35:15
  S6: never knew you. Depart from me. And you know what
• 35:18
  S6: their rebuttal is going to be. Hey God, we preached
• 35:22
  S6: in the name of Jesus. We baptized in the name
• 35:24
  S6: of Jesus. We cast out demons. We did mighty works
• 35:29
  S6: in the name of Jesus. He's going to say, I
• 35:31
  S6: never knew you. How can this be? Spiritual activity does
• 35:34
  S6: not mean spiritual new birth. And my goodness guys, we
• 35:39
  S6: don't have to look beyond the state of affairs in
• 35:41
  S6: the American church today to know that this is real.
• 35:45
  S6: You don't have to look that far. It's everywhere. And
• 35:49
  S6: I'm going to shoot it to you straight. Here's why
• 35:51
  S6: I love you. Because Jesus loved me first, and because
• 35:55
  S6: I lived thinking I possessed something in Christ that I
• 35:59
  S6: didn't for so many years. I love you enough to
• 36:02
  S6: tell you the truth. I'm going to take you to
• 36:04
  S6: a passage. It's in Matthew 25, and I'm going to
• 36:08
  S6: actually read this, not just tell the story. And I'm
• 36:12
  S6: asking you to stay with me here, no matter where
• 36:14
  S6: you are in your relationship with God. Jesus is explaining
• 36:20
  S6: the kingdom of heaven, and he's explaining what it's going
• 36:23
  S6: to be like. And listen what he says. This is
• 36:25
  S6: Jesus's words. Then the kingdom of heaven will be like
• 36:29
  S6: ten virgins who took their lamps and went to meet
• 36:32
  S6: the bridegroom. Five of them were foolish. So this is
• 36:37
  S6: why the church is called the Bride of Christ, right?
• 36:39
  S6: So this is what he's illustrating here. Five of them
• 36:42
  S6: were foolish and five were wise. For when the foolish
• 36:46
  S6: took their lamps, they took no oil with them. Which,
• 36:50
  S6: by the way, makes the lamps pretty inoperable. You gotta
• 36:53
  S6: have oil. They took no oil with them, But the
• 36:58
  S6: wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. As the
• 37:03
  S6: bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept. Now
• 37:08
  S6: isn't that fascinating? They all got spiritually drowsy, even the
• 37:14
  S6: wise and the unwise. Everybody's going, ah, he's not coming,
• 37:19
  S6: he's not coming, he's not coming. Boy, is this so
• 37:23
  S6: true of us today. But at midnight there was a cry.
• 37:29
  S6: Here's the bridegroom come out to meet him. Then all
• 37:34
  S6: those virgins rose the bridesmaids and trimmed their lamps. Now
• 37:40
  S6: these are the wise ones. And the foolish said to
• 37:43
  S6: the wives, give us some of your oil, for our
• 37:45
  S6: oil lamps are going out. It says, okay, so this
• 37:49
  S6: evening if you go to the book of revelation. Hey,
• 37:52
  S6: this lamp stand when it starts to lose its effectiveness.
• 37:55
  S6: God says, I'm going to take it away. Interesting parallel,
• 37:59
  S6: but the wives answered, since there will not be enough
• 38:02
  S6: for us and for you. Go rather to the dealers
• 38:05
  S6: and buy for yourselves. And while they were going to buy,
• 38:08
  S6: the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in
• 38:11
  S6: to him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.
• 38:16
  S6: Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, Lord, Lord, open
• 38:20
  S6: to us. But he answered, truly I say to you,
• 38:23
  S6: I do not know you. Watch therefore for you you
• 38:29
  S6: know neither the day nor the hour. You gotta ask
• 38:33
  S6: the question, what in the world is going on here? Well,
• 38:35
  S6: Jesus paints a very clear picture. He's saying that there
• 38:38
  S6: are ten bridesmaids, and all of them have one thing
• 38:44
  S6: in common. They have an awareness that the groom is
• 38:48
  S6: coming for the bride of Christ. All of them. All ten.
• 38:51
  S6: The unwise here are not shaking a fist at God.
• 38:55
  S6: They're not living like hell. They're not out there just.
• 39:00
  S6: They aren't antagonistic. They aren't atheistic. They believe in God
• 39:07
  S6: and they actually believe that Jesus is going to come again.
• 39:12
  S6: But they're shut out of the kingdom of God. All
• 39:17
  S6: ten are drowsy. But when midnight comes and the announcement
• 39:22
  S6: is he's coming, which means the coming of Jesus Christ.
• 39:26
  S6: Five are ready, five are not, and five are shut
• 39:30
  S6: out and five are brought in. That is super sobering
• 39:35
  S6: because it harkens right back to Matthew seven. Many will
• 39:38
  S6: say on that day, Lord, Lord, and he's going to say,
• 39:40
  S6: I never knew you. Same language being used here. What's
• 39:43
  S6: this mean? It is super easy to be in church
• 39:50
  S6: but not be in Christ. Now, for those of you
• 39:53
  S6: that wig out about this and go, oh my goodness,
• 39:57
  S6: I'm going to give you a I'm going to give
• 39:59
  S6: everyone a link right now, but some of you don't
• 40:01
  S6: need a link. You just need to finally get squared
• 40:05
  S6: with God once and for all. But there are nine
• 40:07
  S6: ways to know. You stand with God and He stands
• 40:10
  S6: with you. So I want you. You can just text
• 40:13
  S6: it whenever. Text Stan to 800 555, 78, 98. One
• 40:17
  S6: word stand to our number here. But here's what, here's
• 40:21
  S6: what we do with that. What I do with that
• 40:23
  S6: blog is I just look at scripture and go, this
• 40:25
  S6: is the evidence of people that are not perfect, but
• 40:28
  S6: they are in Christ Jesus. But make no mistake about it,
• 40:32
  S6: the gap between the amount of people who are in
• 40:34
  S6: church and those who are in Christ is wide. It
• 40:39
  S6: is wide. And I and from the bottom of my heart,
• 40:45
  S6: I need you to hear my heart right now. God
• 40:49
  S6: in his Providence in. Prevenient grace is working right now
• 40:54
  S6: to jar some of you loose from being an unwise
• 40:58
  S6: lamp bearer that has no oil in your lamp, to
• 41:01
  S6: becoming a wise lamp bearer who, when Jesus comes, he
• 41:05
  S6: will take you with him. R.C. Sproul. I saw a
• 41:09
  S6: clip of him lately and he said, uh, he says
• 41:13
  S6: there is a vast difference between those who profess Christ
• 41:18
  S6: and those who possess Christ. And he said, the numbers
• 41:22
  S6: of people who profess Jesus and verses the numbers of
• 41:26
  S6: those who possess Jesus are radically different. Why is this?
• 41:30
  S6: Why is this so? It's because we've created a culture
• 41:35
  S6: that's pretty. It's a pretty good gig.
• 41:38
  S2: It's not hard to profess Jesus here.
• 41:41
  S6: Yeah, it's a pretty good gig in that, uh, there's
• 41:46
  S6: not a lot of persecution. There's some rise for some
• 41:49
  S6: that would dare to stand and say, Jesus is my Lord.
• 41:52
  S6: He's my Saviour. But by and large, what you have
• 41:56
  S6: is a place to go. Generally once a week, sometimes
• 41:59
  S6: a couple times a week. You got friends that are
• 42:01
  S6: really solid, because some of those are really in Christ
• 42:04
  S6: and they're just genuine, loving people. And you might have
• 42:08
  S6: flown in to the church on the coattails of family
• 42:11
  S6: and culture, and that's what you kind of did in
• 42:13
  S6: your neighborhood or your home, and that's what you did.
• 42:16
  S6: And I want to tell you, it is possible to
• 42:19
  S6: think you know Jesus and you don't. And I am
• 42:22
  S6: one of those guys, and I haven't shared this part
• 42:25
  S6: in a long time. So I'm raised in church and
• 42:31
  S6: I remember having moments of deep conviction. Jonathan, you did
• 42:35
  S6: as well, right? Sure. Deep conviction. It's like, oh my goodness,
• 42:38
  S6: I got to get squared with God. But conviction does
• 42:43
  S6: not indicate transformation. As a matter of fact, Paul's clear
• 42:47
  S6: that there's there's tears of regret and there's tears of repentance.
• 42:52
  S6: And oh, baby, they are not all tears are the same.
• 42:55
  S6: But I cried tears. I had disappointment over my life,
• 42:58
  S6: but I never fully surrendered to Christ. Even though I
• 43:00
  S6: walked aisles and got baptized, I was never in Christ Jesus.
• 43:04
  S6: By the way, this is not just a few. I've
• 43:06
  S6: heard this from thousands of people that were like me.
• 43:11
  S6: So what did God use to get a hold of
• 43:13
  S6: my heart and show me that I was one of
• 43:15
  S6: these bridesmaids that had an empty lamp? No oil? What
• 43:19
  S6: have I told you? That Jesus was coming back? Yeah,
• 43:22
  S6: I used to sit at Chilkoot. Charlie's a bar in
• 43:25
  S6: Alaska and argue theology while I'm getting hammered. How insane
• 43:32
  S6: is that? No joking.
• 43:34
  S2: No, I mean, in all honesty, that is from someone
• 43:37
  S2: who who had his own deception of salvation and thinking
• 43:41
  S2: I was all good when I wasn't. It can be
• 43:44
  S2: that ironic?
• 43:45
  S9: Oh, it's.
• 43:46
  S6: And it's scary. Yeah. Because it's like, whoa, you're you're
• 43:51
  S6: defending Christ and yet you don't know him. Yeah. Mhm. Yeah, yeah.
• 43:56
  S6: I profess Jesus, but I did not possess Jesus. R.C.
• 44:00
  S6: Sproul nailed it, man. So we know it's an epidemic
• 44:05
  S6: in the church. And I'll tell you how we know this,
• 44:09
  S6: because there are about according to Pew report, there's 2,224%
• 44:14
  S6: of Americans are would affiliate with a Bible preaching church
• 44:19
  S6: and they may be Christers go on Christmas and Easter
• 44:22
  S6: a little bit more, but about 20 plus percent believe that.
• 44:26
  S6: But there's only 4% that claim to have a biblical
• 44:29
  S6: worldview that believes in the father, son, Holy Spirit, the death, life,
• 44:36
  S6: the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, the
• 44:41
  S6: power of the Holy Spirit that they aim to take
• 44:44
  S6: that worldview and let it direct their private and public lives.
• 44:47
  S6: I mean, with intentionality. They're disciples of Jesus Christ. Best
• 44:51
  S6: word is disciple, not Christian. Christian doesn't mean anything in
• 44:54
  S6: our culture today. Nothing. 72% of our of the United
• 44:58
  S6: States of America and probably a chunk of Canada, if
• 45:00
  S6: you're listening there and I know you are, would claim
• 45:04
  S6: to be Christian. Okay, so here's the deal, guys. So
• 45:09
  S6: what did God use to break me free? He brought
• 45:13
  S6: me to the end of myself. I. After I completed
• 45:18
  S6: the Iditarod Trail race at the age of 18, I
• 45:21
  S6: really was faced with a choice out on the Bering Sea.
• 45:25
  S6: Standing me alone with God and Satan chirping in my
• 45:30
  S6: ear and I had a Y on the road. I
• 45:31
  S6: remember it distinctly, knowing what was right and just going
• 45:36
  S6: my own way. And I went my own way. But
• 45:39
  S6: I still thought I had my lamp right? I just
• 45:42
  S6: didn't have the oil. And I think that represents in
• 45:44
  S6: Matthew 24, by the way, the presence of the Holy Spirit.
• 45:51
  S6: And I went out and I tried to fill up
• 45:54
  S6: what Pascal calls that God shaped void. And I tried
• 45:56
  S6: everything guys. And I, you know what's weird is when
• 46:00
  S6: you're really trying to fill that void, you will do
• 46:02
  S6: things that when you were in, when you become in
• 46:05
  S6: your right mind with Jesus, you look back and go,
• 46:08
  S6: how in the world did I do that? It's because.
• 46:11
  S6: It's because we're all on a search for meaning. We're
• 46:14
  S6: all on a search for identity. We're all on a
• 46:17
  S6: search for some kind of joy or hope somewhere. And
• 46:21
  S6: I went after it, man. I went after it and
• 46:26
  S6: I tried to find it. So here I am, raised
• 46:30
  S6: to not dabble in alcohol or drugs at all. And
• 46:34
  S6: I went deep dive into this man. I'd get a
• 46:37
  S6: few drinks in me and I couldn't get enough. And
• 46:42
  S6: then working in the oil fields of Alaska, I started
• 46:45
  S6: snorting cocaine, man. And it's crazy how it got there.
• 46:48
  S6: It doesn't even matter how it landed there. But I
• 46:50
  S6: got hooked on that stuff because it gave me a
• 46:52
  S6: high I had never felt before. And then it gave
• 46:57
  S6: me paranoia, and then it gave me zero satisfaction, and
• 47:04
  S6: I couldn't get enough of the stuff to keep me high.
• 47:09
  S6: And on the outside, I was Mr. Life of the party.
• 47:12
  S6: And inside I was dying in a pile, man. And
• 47:16
  S6: I was being an answer to my dad's prayers. Who
• 47:19
  S6: told me six months before God filled my lamp with oil.
• 47:22
  S6: He said, I'm no longer praying that you come back
• 47:25
  S6: to church. It's very apparent you don't know the Lord personally,
• 47:28
  S6: and I'm praying that either you surrender all you are
• 47:31
  S6: to Jesus, or that God would take you out of
• 47:33
  S6: this world because you're killing yourself anyway. And he said
• 47:36
  S6: it with tears flowing down his face. And he stood
• 47:40
  S6: back like the father of the prodigal son. And he
• 47:42
  S6: just watched. I'm not inviting you to go back to church.
• 47:48
  S6: I'm inviting you to come into Christ for the first time.
• 47:51
  S6: And there's some of you that the Holy Spirit is
• 47:53
  S6: pulling down a veil of darkness, and you're going, Holy cow,
• 47:56
  S6: that's me. Praise God because he brought you here today.
• 48:03
  S6: If you confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord. Not
• 48:07
  S6: that you just profess his name, but you confess that
• 48:11
  S6: he is today the leader of your life and believe
• 48:16
  S6: in your heart that God raised him from the dead.
• 48:18
  S6: You will be saved. And I'm talking about the full
• 48:21
  S6: surrender of everything that you are to Jesus Christ. Holding
• 48:25
  S6: nothing back in. Today is your day of salvation. I
• 48:27
  S6: want to be super clear with you here today, though.
• 48:30
  S6: This is not about adding Jesus to your life as
• 48:32
  S6: you walk this broad path of materialism. It's not about
• 48:37
  S6: adding Jesus to your life as you walk this path
• 48:40
  S6: of addiction. It's about surrendering all that you are and
• 48:46
  S6: all that you've made and all that you hope to
• 48:48
  S6: be to Jesus Christ. And it's repenting, having a metanoia
• 48:52
  S6: moment when you turn around because you can't call him
• 48:55
  S6: Lord and stay on the broad path, friend. You can't.
• 48:58
  S6: It's not salvation. It's fool's gold, man. You got a lamp,
• 49:02
  S6: but you got no oil in it. When midnight strikes
• 49:05
  S6: and they say, hey, the bride's the groom's coming for
• 49:09
  S6: the bride. The groom's here. There will be no time
• 49:13
  S6: for you to go get lamp for your oil, for
• 49:16
  S6: your lamp. There will be no time to go get oil.
• 49:20
  S6: Today is your day of salvation today. And I only
• 49:27
  S6: know that God prompted me to tell my story here,
• 49:30
  S6: because I'll tell you, the rest of it is this.
• 49:33
  S6: I was so stinking messed up on cocaine. My life
• 49:37
  S6: was such a train wreck. Yeah, with the guys I
• 49:39
  S6: ran with. I was kind of a hip dude. But man,
• 49:43
  S6: I knew inside my heart. I was far from hip.
• 49:46
  S6: And I was far from God. And God revealed that
• 49:49
  S6: to me on a cold winter day in Alaska. February 11th.
• 49:57
  S6: And he just asked me one question. Are you done yet?
• 49:59
  S6: And I'm asking you the same question. Are you done yet?
• 50:03
  S6: Are you done yet? Are you done yet? And see,
• 50:11
  S6: God in his goodness is reaching into your soul. And
• 50:14
  S6: he's saying, are you done yet? And you know what
• 50:17
  S6: you're saying back to him, I'm done. And I'm not
• 50:21
  S6: inviting you to grab a lamp. Most of you listening
• 50:25
  S6: have a lamp. You believe Jesus is coming again? You
• 50:28
  S6: have a hunch he is. I'm asking you to fill
• 50:30
  S6: that lamp with the oil of salvation. And you're only
• 50:36
  S6: fit for the kingdom of God when you repent and
• 50:39
  S6: surrender all that you are to him. This easy Believism
• 50:42
  S6: this I don't. Don't lean back on being baptized. I
• 50:45
  S6: got baptized too. Big deal. Baptism without Jesus. All that
• 50:53
  S6: leads you to is an eternity separated from him. Today
• 50:59
  S6: is your day of salvation. And God is turning your
• 51:04
  S6: heart off the broad path that leads to destruction. Onto
• 51:06
  S6: the narrow path that leads to life. And it's his
• 51:08
  S6: power alone that did it. But God in His grace
• 51:11
  S6: is revealed to you. You got no oil in your lamp,
• 51:15
  S6: and I'm appealing to you. Be reconciled to God today.
• 51:19
  S6: And it's a cry of the heart. And just say
• 51:21
  S6: it to him right now. God, I'm done running from you, God.
• 51:24
  S6: I'm done trying to fill my life with stuff that
• 51:26
  S6: won't fill it up. God, I'm empty in my hands.
• 51:30
  S6: And with lifted hands I turn and surrender all that
• 51:33
  S6: I am to you. Today is your day of salvation, friend. Today. Today. Oh,
• 51:47
  S6: please don't let pride hold you back. Oh, what will
• 51:49
  S6: people think? Who cares if somebody thinks ill of you
• 51:52
  S6: for surrendering to Jesus. Realizing that you had a lamp
• 51:56
  S6: that had no oil. Don't. Don't worry about those guys.
• 52:00
  S6: They'll always be there. They may not know Jesus either.
• 52:03
  S6: Wouldn't it be bummer if your fear of being found
• 52:06
  S6: out that you weren't in Christ hinged on people that
• 52:09
  S6: weren't in Christ themselves? Holy cow. Is that picking worth it? No,
• 52:15
  S6: it's not worth it. So listen to me right now.
• 52:17
  S6: Cry out to God and say, God, I give you
• 52:19
  S6: everything that I am today. I am turning around by
• 52:24
  S6: your power and your grace, and I'm going a new way.
• 52:26
  S6: I want the abundant life that you promise. I've known
• 52:33
  S6: of it, but I've never tasted it. Tell him that
• 52:36
  S6: today I confess with my mouth. You're the leader of
• 52:39
  S6: my life for the first time ever. And please don't
• 52:41
  S6: let pride hold you back, friend. You're willing to gain
• 52:47
  S6: the whole world and lose your soul. Don't friend today.
• 52:49
  S6: Don't do it. And tell Jesus today I am yours.
• 52:55
  S6: I am fully yours. Everything I am, I am yours today.
• 53:00
  S6: And I praise you, God, in Jesus name, that you're
• 53:02
  S6: calling people out of darkness and into the light right now.
• 53:07
  S6: And if that's you, if today is this day where
• 53:09
  S6: God is filling your lamp with oil, and you may
• 53:15
  S6: get a little groggy in the days ahead, but when
• 53:17
  S6: the trumpet sounds, man and they say, hey, the groom
• 53:21
  S6: is here, you're ready baby, you are ready. And if
• 53:25
  S6: that's you, we're going to help you in these first steps.
• 53:28
  S6: And I want you to follow the link that we're
• 53:30
  S6: going to give you. We're not going to hound you,
• 53:31
  S6: but we're going to help you text the word new
• 53:33
  S6: right now, wherever you are. New one word to 800
• 53:37
  S6: 555 78, 98 and I want to say welcome to
• 53:41
  S6: the family, wherever you are right now. I know we're
• 53:43
  S6: running long, but this is important. Long text the word
• 53:48
  S6: new to 800 555, 78, 98. One word new to
• 53:54
  S6: 800 555 7898. Welcome to the family all over North
• 53:59
  S6: America and beyond. I know the Spirit of God is working.
• 54:02
  S6: I know that with absolute confidence. Why? Because Jesus promised
• 54:06
  S6: that when we proclaim the truth, there are many. The
• 54:10
  S6: fields are ripe for harvest and this field's ripe today.
• 54:13
  S6: Text new right now to 800 555 7898. Today is
• 54:19
  S6: your day of salvation. One word new to 800 555, 78, 98.
• 54:26
  S6: Just right now, I don't want anyone else texting anything.
• 54:29
  S6: God's working in people's souls right now. Text the word
• 54:32
  S6: new right now. This is for you, my friend. Today
• 54:34
  S6: is a new day.
• 54:36
  S1: The gospel changes everything.
• 54:38
  S4: Where else am I going to find peace? Joy, eternal
• 54:41
  S4: life not found in anyone else.
• 54:45
  S1: You're listening to Carl and Crew.
• 54:48
  S6: You know it's Thomas Aquinas who codified that. We've got
• 54:51
  S6: three fronts of battle, as it were, the world, the
• 54:54
  S6: flesh and the devil, the world, or all the systems
• 54:58
  S6: that are out there. I mean, it's everything that we see,
• 55:00
  S6: everything that's screaming at us. 401 S get your hobbies
• 55:05
  S6: lined out. You know those who die with the most
• 55:08
  S6: toys win. Yeah, I saw that bumper sticker many years
• 55:13
  S6: ago and I thought, oh my goodness, that guy hasn't
• 55:15
  S6: found out. That one's a lie yet. Yeah there are.
• 55:18
  S6: There are so many things in this world system that
• 55:21
  S6: are screaming at us, follow me. So that's a battle
• 55:24
  S6: in itself. And then you get the flesh. The Greek
• 55:26
  S6: word sarx. It's all that stuff that we are apart
• 55:29
  S6: from the power of the spirit. Those ingrained habits. Family
• 55:34
  S6: of origin. Issues that we still battle with to this day.
• 55:37
  S6: And then you throw in on top of it the
• 55:39
  S6: devil with all of his demons. So it would appear
• 55:43
  S6: that we've got a battle brewing against us here, Ali.
• 55:46
  S4: Yeah. And you feel like. Well, that sounds encouraging this morning.
• 55:51
  S4: I'm up against all of that as I get out
• 55:53
  S4: of bed and try to head to work.
• 55:56
  S6: Yeah, but I'm I'm telling you today, in many ways, Satan.
• 56:00
  S6: Satan is a toothless dog. He's got a lot of bark,
• 56:04
  S6: but he's got no bite. We have got a guest
• 56:08
  S6: coming in here, doctor Mark Hitchcock. I think the first
• 56:12
  S6: time I heard him was with Janet Parshall. And I'm like,
• 56:14
  S6: oh my goodness, this guy is loaded for bear. And
• 56:18
  S6: if you're ever in Alaska, you want a guy that's
• 56:20
  S6: loaded for bear. So we are going to we are
• 56:24
  S6: going to get with doctor Mark Hitchcock coming up here
• 56:29
  S6: in just a couple of minutes.
• 56:31
  S1: This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 56:39
  S6: Doctor Mark Hitchcock has got quite a background here, doesn't he, Ali?
• 56:43
  S4: He does. Born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, he
• 56:46
  S4: serves as senior pastor of Faith Bible Church in Edmond, Oklahoma.
• 56:50
  S4: He's authored over 30 books related to end time Bible
• 56:54
  S4: prophecy that sold over a million copies.
• 56:58
  S6: Yeah. And he's with us right now. Good morning, doctor
• 57:01
  S6: Mark Hitchcock. Good to have you with us today.
• 57:04
  S12: Well good morning to you guys. Thank you for having me,
• 57:06
  S12: I appreciate it.
• 57:07
  S6: If you look at the very first gospel that was written,
• 57:10
  S6: the gospel of Mark, somewhere between 6066 A.D, you get
• 57:15
  S6: into this incredible narrative, the story about the gospel, and
• 57:18
  S6: it talks about John preparing the way and then Jesus
• 57:21
  S6: himself coming and baptizing in the spirit. And then immediately whiplash,
• 57:26
  S6: we see the spirit. Verse 12 immediately drove Him Jesus
• 57:30
  S6: into the wilderness, and he was in the wilderness 40 days,
• 57:34
  S6: being tempted by Satan. And he was with wild animals,
• 57:37
  S6: and the angels were ministering to him. It's a shorter
• 57:39
  S6: version of what Matthew unpacks a little bit more of
• 57:42
  S6: the war with demonic realm is real. Mark, let's just
• 57:47
  S6: start there. It's real, isn't it?
• 57:49
  S12: Well, no, it's certainly real. You know, Satan is mentioned
• 57:53
  S12: 19 in 19 of the 27 books of the New Testament.
• 57:58
  S12: Jesus himself mentions Satan 25 times. And so Satan is real.
• 58:04
  S12: Demons are real. They're not just some force. They're actually beings.
• 58:09
  S12: They're beings that exist spirit beings. And it's a real war.
• 58:12
  S12: It's fought on three fronts. We kind of usually just
• 58:15
  S12: think of the, you know, the spiritual battle against Satan
• 58:18
  S12: and his demonic host. But you're right. We have the flesh,
• 58:22
  S12: which is, I call it the traitor within that lives
• 58:25
  S12: inside of us. It's the kind of the nature of
• 58:27
  S12: the fallen nature of the old, old man. And then
• 58:30
  S12: we have this world system around us, and we talk
• 58:33
  S12: about the world of politics or the world of sports. Well,
• 58:35
  S12: there's a a world system, and Satan uses the flesh
• 58:40
  S12: and he uses the world as well in this battle.
• 58:43
  S12: And basically what he's trying to do is he's trying
• 58:45
  S12: to keep lost people from putting their faith in Jesus.
• 58:48
  S12: And once we become a believer, I mean, he wants
• 58:50
  S12: to frustrate our life. He wants to to, to defeat
• 58:53
  S12: us so that we can't be effective in our life
• 58:56
  S12: and witness for Jesus Christ.
• 58:58
  S4: Doctor Mark Hitchcock, our guest this morning. You know, I'm
• 59:00
  S4: curious about your background. You graduated from law school. You
• 59:03
  S4: worked for a judge at the Oklahoma Court of Criminal
• 59:06
  S4: Appeals for four years. How did you go from working
• 59:09
  S4: in that realm to this being your kind of specialty?
• 59:13
  S12: Well, when I was a lawyer and attorney, I was
• 59:16
  S12: teaching Bible classes and doing some different things, and it
• 59:19
  S12: just became clear that's what God wanted me to do
• 59:21
  S12: full time. I always joke with my my wife, she
• 59:23
  S12: married a lawyer and ended up with a preacher. So
• 59:25
  S12: I kind of did the old bait and switch on
• 59:27
  S12: her a little bit. But but you know, I went
• 59:31
  S12: down to Dallas Seminary and, uh, never, never looked back
• 59:34
  S12: since then and got my, my master's degree down there,
• 59:37
  S12: my master of theology, and then went back and got
• 59:39
  S12: my PhD and had the privilege to teach there now
• 59:43
  S12: as well. So I pastored the church in Oklahoma and
• 59:45
  S12: teach at Dallas Seminary. But it was just a, a
• 59:48
  S12: clear calling of God upon my life. I've never doubted
• 59:50
  S12: it or have any wavered at all in that since
• 59:53
  S12: that took place. So, um, but it's been a great blessing.
• 59:56
  S12: I've been at the church I'm at now at Faith
• 59:58
  S12: Bible Church 34 years.
• 1:00:00
  S6: Tremendous. We're tackling the issue of demonization. What does that mean?
• 1:00:05
  S6: What authority do demons have? How do I fight this battle?
• 1:00:10
  S12: So the key thing in life is for us to
• 1:00:13
  S12: be submitting to the Lord. The focus of the life
• 1:00:15
  S12: of a believer is not to be fighting the devil,
• 1:00:18
  S12: but it's to be submitting to God. And if we
• 1:00:20
  S12: submit to God, then we can resist the devil. And
• 1:00:23
  S12: as far as you know, that Satan doesn't afflict the righteous.
• 1:00:27
  S12: When we look at job, I mean the very first
• 1:00:29
  S12: book probably written in the Bible, it says that job
• 1:00:32
  S12: was the most righteous man on the earth. And of course,
• 1:00:35
  S12: you know, Satan is unleashed upon him and, you know,
• 1:00:38
  S12: brings him as much misery as he ever has any
• 1:00:41
  S12: other person. So I would argue really many times, maybe
• 1:00:44
  S12: the more righteous you are, the more you are afflicted,
• 1:00:48
  S12: because Satan is going to go after people that have
• 1:00:50
  S12: more influence to try to bring them down. I think
• 1:00:53
  S12: a lot of Christians, really their own flesh in the
• 1:00:55
  S12: world is probably, you know, keeping them occupied pretty well.
• 1:00:59
  S12: They aren't really following the Lord very much. And so
• 1:01:02
  S12: I think Satan and demons are looking for people that
• 1:01:04
  S12: are righteous, that are doing great things for God that
• 1:01:07
  S12: they can bring down. But it's very important to remember
• 1:01:10
  S12: that we are to resist the devil. That's what Jesus did.
• 1:01:12
  S12: You know, he quoted the Bible three times. Three times,
• 1:01:15
  S12: he says. It is written, it is written. It's written.
• 1:01:17
  S12: By the way. Quoted the book of Deuteronomy three times
• 1:01:20
  S12: as well. So but, um, we're to submit ourselves to
• 1:01:23
  S12: God first, then we resist the devil. And the Bible
• 1:01:25
  S12: says that he will flee from us. And so we
• 1:01:28
  S12: resist him in the Lord and God's Word. And we
• 1:01:31
  S12: can have victory in this battle. But it all starts
• 1:01:33
  S12: with submitting ourselves daily to God. It's the positive before
• 1:01:36
  S12: the negative.
• 1:01:37
  S6: Clearly, Mark, we find in Ephesians written to the church,
• 1:01:41
  S6: Paul saying, be angry and do not sin. Do not
• 1:01:44
  S6: let the sun go down on your anger and give
• 1:01:47
  S6: no opportunity to the devil. That term opportunity is really
• 1:01:52
  S6: foothold or toehold. Almost a mountain climbers term. What does
• 1:01:56
  S6: it mean to give Satan a toehold if you're born again?
• 1:02:00
  S6: A lot of people have questions about this. What do
• 1:02:03
  S6: you say, Mark?
• 1:02:04
  S12: Well, you know, when we when we sin in our lives,
• 1:02:06
  S12: we open up our lives to the enemy to get
• 1:02:09
  S12: a beachhead, you know, into our life. I think in
• 1:02:11
  S12: that passage in Ephesians, he's just said talked about anger.
• 1:02:15
  S12: You know, don't be angry. Don't let the sun go
• 1:02:16
  S12: down on your wrath. Don't give the devil an opportunity.
• 1:02:20
  S12: I think in that context, it's anger. You know, a
• 1:02:22
  S12: lot of people when they're, if they're if they're living
• 1:02:24
  S12: an angry life, they're, you know, upset all the time,
• 1:02:27
  S12: you know, yelling, shouting, just filled with anger about all
• 1:02:31
  S12: kinds of things. There's a lot of lot to get
• 1:02:33
  S12: angry about in our world today. And certainly there's a
• 1:02:35
  S12: righteous anger about sin and things that are happening in
• 1:02:38
  S12: our world. But it's very easy for even righteous anger to,
• 1:02:41
  S12: you know, to kind of bleed over and to become
• 1:02:43
  S12: unrighteous anger at some point in time. So, you know,
• 1:02:46
  S12: an angry person, it's telling us in that passage is
• 1:02:49
  S12: giving kind of a portal to the enemy down into
• 1:02:52
  S12: their heart and their life for him to be able
• 1:02:54
  S12: to gain more control over their life. And once you give,
• 1:02:58
  S12: you know, an enemy, a beachhead or a foothold in
• 1:03:00
  S12: your life, then obviously they're going to going to go
• 1:03:02
  S12: out from there. I don't think anger is the only
• 1:03:04
  S12: sin that gives the enemy a foothold. I think there
• 1:03:07
  S12: are probably many other sins that do as well. But
• 1:03:09
  S12: in that context, that's what's being mentioned there. So, you know,
• 1:03:12
  S12: that's that's something for everybody to think about who's listening.
• 1:03:15
  S12: If you've got an anger problem, you're giving the enemy
• 1:03:17
  S12: a foothold into your life every day. And that's a
• 1:03:20
  S12: sad and tragic thing to be happening in your spiritual life.
• 1:03:23
  S6: Mark. I want to give some hope. I guess the
• 1:03:25
  S6: flip side to this is first John one nine. If
• 1:03:27
  S6: you confess your sins, he is right. He is faithful
• 1:03:30
  S6: and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse
• 1:03:33
  S6: us of all unrighteousness. It seems to me that what
• 1:03:37
  S6: we find in Scripture over and over again is get
• 1:03:39
  S6: honest with God, get honest with yourself and that agreement
• 1:03:43
  S6: with God. Let's just take anger. I've got anger in
• 1:03:46
  S6: my life. I do not want to give a toehold
• 1:03:49
  S6: to Satan. God, I admit this to you. I agree
• 1:03:54
  S6: with you, God. I repent of it. We don't have
• 1:03:57
  S6: to worry at that point, do we? If we mean
• 1:03:59
  S6: that sincerely, we are set free.
• 1:04:02
  S12: That's right. I mean, it's that simple. You're right. You
• 1:04:04
  S12: go to God and we agree with him. That's what
• 1:04:06
  S12: the word means to confess, to say the same thing.
• 1:04:08
  S12: So we say about our sin. The same thing God
• 1:04:11
  S12: says about our sin. It's wrong that it's an affront
• 1:04:14
  S12: to God, that it separates us and our fellowship with
• 1:04:17
  S12: the Lord. And now you know, when you do that,
• 1:04:19
  S12: it says, he is faithful and he's just to forgive
• 1:04:22
  S12: our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And
• 1:04:25
  S12: that when we do that, we can have a clean
• 1:04:27
  S12: slate with the Lord. Our fellowship with God is restored,
• 1:04:29
  S12: and we never lose our relationship with the Lord as
• 1:04:31
  S12: believers when we sin. But we can we can break
• 1:04:34
  S12: that fellowship with him. That fellowship is restored and that
• 1:04:38
  S12: we can. We can go forward in life, in power
• 1:04:41
  S12: and in the way that God wants us to. But yeah,
• 1:04:43
  S12: we have to be honest about our sin problems that
• 1:04:45
  S12: we have and that we have to avail ourselves of
• 1:04:48
  S12: all the resources God has given us. You mentioned Ephesians six.
• 1:04:51
  S12: God's given us a whole, a whole array of, of
• 1:04:54
  S12: spiritual resources to come against the enemy and not allow
• 1:04:59
  S12: the enemy to have power and control over our lives.
• 1:05:02
  S6: Amen. I love that, Mark. Uh, let's go after demonized,
• 1:05:05
  S6: the word has been wrongly interpreted as possession or even oppression.
• 1:05:11
  S6: It really doesn't mean either of those, Mark, does it?
• 1:05:14
  S12: No, it just means to be under the influence of,
• 1:05:16
  S12: you know, be under the influence of a demonic spirit.
• 1:05:19
  S12: But there is a there is an idea, obviously, of
• 1:05:22
  S12: demon possession. That's the term we use because, you know,
• 1:05:25
  S12: Jesus says that the demon is in a person and
• 1:05:28
  S12: Jesus will tell the demon to come out of the person.
• 1:05:31
  S12: So clearly it's residing inside the person. Um, so I
• 1:05:34
  S12: think it's, I mean, you know, it's just a term
• 1:05:36
  S12: that we use. I think demon possession, we need to
• 1:05:39
  S12: make sure we understand what it means, but I don't
• 1:05:41
  S12: think that it's an incorrect statement to use because clearly
• 1:05:45
  S12: the person's being possessed, they're being controlled. They're being indwelled
• 1:05:48
  S12: really by a demonic spirit, someone who's under demonic control
• 1:05:53
  S12: in that way. But obviously, well, I don't think a
• 1:05:55
  S12: believer can be demon possessed in that sense. But certainly
• 1:05:58
  S12: demonic spirits are oppressing believers all the time, coming against us,
• 1:06:03
  S12: trying to thwart and frustrate our activities for the Lord.
• 1:06:07
  S12: Trying to discourage us, disappoint us. We talked to God.
• 1:06:11
  S12: We pray to him and that he's he's the one
• 1:06:14
  S12: that we talked to in the spiritual realm.
• 1:06:17
  S6: I got to tell you, we've got a resource for you.
• 1:06:19
  S6: Mark has written on this whole issue of demonic attack
• 1:06:23
  S6: and how to deal with it. Ali, let's give that link.
• 1:06:25
  S4: To 101 answers to questions about Satan, demons, and spiritual warfare.
• 1:06:29
  S4: Just text faith to 800 555 7898. Text faith to
• 1:06:35
  S4: 800 555 7898.
• 1:06:39
  S1: He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then
• 1:06:42
  S1: he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl
• 1:06:46
  S1: and crew on Moody Radio.
• 1:06:50
  S6: So what is the disciple of Christ? Their imitators of Christ.
• 1:06:53
  S6: And I love those three words that were submitted. And
• 1:06:55
  S6: there's a lot of other great responses coming in. There's
• 1:06:58
  S6: different aspects of his life. I'm big recently on the
• 1:07:02
  S6: unseen things. Those disciplines of introspection. Those disciplines of quietness, conversation.
• 1:07:11
  S6: Those things that happen when people aren't watching, those are
• 1:07:14
  S6: powerhouse men. All of those are characteristic of the life
• 1:07:18
  S6: of Christ. And there's a lot of discussion about what
• 1:07:22
  S6: is someone. I mean, the Iditarod Trail race just got done.
• 1:07:26
  S6: Jesse Holmes won that thing, by the way. I've got
• 1:07:29
  S6: this little husky puppy, six months old right now. I
• 1:07:33
  S6: found out here yesterday that he's going to grow about
• 1:07:36
  S6: one more inch in the shoulders, and then he's just
• 1:07:38
  S6: going to fill out, and he needs to fill out
• 1:07:40
  S6: because he has one lanky teenager right now, let me
• 1:07:42
  S6: tell you. Woof. Uh, but he's he's a good boy.
• 1:07:45
  S6: And his mom and dad, I mean, he's a true
• 1:07:48
  S6: sled dog. I mean, through and through. And his dad
• 1:07:50
  S6: was running lead in a team that completed the Iditarod
• 1:07:55
  S6: in fifth place this year. And his mom, Fendi, was
• 1:07:59
  S6: leading a puppy team even though she had a litter
• 1:08:01
  S6: of puppies. September 24th. She recovered and got conditioned enough
• 1:08:05
  S6: to lead a team to Nome and just crossed the
• 1:08:07
  S6: finish line a couple of days ago. Wow, isn't that something?
• 1:08:11
  S6: So when you think about what is an Iditarod musher?
• 1:08:15
  S6: Oh my goodness, there's been some debate about this. There's
• 1:08:18
  S6: a guy named Cheruku. He's one of the richest Norwegians.
• 1:08:22
  S6: He's worth about $7 billion. And they have this new
• 1:08:25
  S6: expedition class in the Iditarod. If you give them $300,000,
• 1:08:29
  S6: you can go run the Iditarod without being pre-qualified. All
• 1:08:33
  S6: you have to have is another team with you or
• 1:08:35
  S6: someone on Snowmachine that follows along with you. So if
• 1:08:37
  S6: you got a cool 300 K, you can go on
• 1:08:40
  S6: this race and and it was thrilling. So this guy,
• 1:08:43
  S6: I mean, if you got 7,000,000,300 K and all that much.
• 1:08:47
  S2: Not so much.
• 1:08:47
  S6: No. It's like sneezing. So he did it. And he's
• 1:08:51
  S6: an adventurer 68 years old and completed that race here
• 1:08:54
  S6: just several days ago.
• 1:08:56
  S13: Good for him.
• 1:08:57
  S6: Pretty cool. So there was a lot of debate on
• 1:08:59
  S6: different social media platforms. Is this guy an Iditarod musher? Well,
• 1:09:04
  S6: he ran the Iditarod, but an Iditarod musher has so
• 1:09:07
  S6: much more to it. I mean, there's a kennel of
• 1:09:09
  S6: anywhere between 50 and 300 dogs. There's you got feeding schedules,
• 1:09:13
  S6: you got preparation, you got training out the wazoo, man.
• 1:09:17
  S6: I mean, you got a lot going on. And that
• 1:09:20
  S6: leads us to a question of, well, what is a
• 1:09:22
  S6: disciple of Christ? And the one thing I want to
• 1:09:26
  S6: just tackle here for a moment is this reality a
• 1:09:29
  S6: disciple of Christ? What passes for discipleship today is often
• 1:09:36
  S6: individual growth. A lot of times when we think about discipleship,
• 1:09:39
  S6: we're thinking about our individual selves. And that's good discipleship
• 1:09:44
  S6: reorients the way we live. God, by the power of
• 1:09:48
  S6: the spirit, allows us to break free from sins and
• 1:09:52
  S6: addictions and to overcome sexual abuse. Memories from childhood. I mean,
• 1:10:01
  S6: the list goes on and on about what God wants
• 1:10:04
  S6: to do through discipleship. But here's the missing deal that we,
• 1:10:10
  S6: if we take hold of, it'll change everything for us.
• 1:10:13
  S6: Because what passes for discipleship today is often individual. But
• 1:10:18
  S6: biblical discipleship is a radical partnership with God to step
• 1:10:24
  S6: into a movement that only he can pull off. And
• 1:10:27
  S6: here's the point. It's not about our lives being a
• 1:10:31
  S6: cul de sac of all the things that God wants
• 1:10:33
  S6: to pour into us. It's about our lives being a conduit.
• 1:10:38
  S6: And I'm convinced of this. It's somewhat theoretical, but I
• 1:10:41
  S6: want you to bear with me a second. I wonder
• 1:10:45
  S6: if a lot of disciples are missing out on even
• 1:10:48
  S6: the fuel for personal discipleship, because they've seen this as
• 1:10:53
  S6: a closed system, that it's about my relationship with Jesus
• 1:10:57
  S6: and what he wants to do in me. Here's what
• 1:10:59
  S6: I believe. When we kick the end out of the
• 1:11:03
  S6: spiritual dead sea of our life and we have outlets,
• 1:11:08
  S6: the health of that lake of our life, that sea
• 1:11:11
  S6: of our life will become so much healthier because there
• 1:11:14
  S6: will be flow through. So now no longer are we
• 1:11:18
  S6: just a receptacle of what God wants to do in me.
• 1:11:22
  S6: We have an outlet of what God wants to do
• 1:11:24
  S6: in others, and it changes everything.
• 1:11:27
  S2: I think you're absolutely right about that because when it's
• 1:11:31
  S2: just for us, it really does eventually kind of ruin
• 1:11:37
  S2: our spiritual lives. If we. It feels mundane after some time.
• 1:11:42
  S2: It feels like it's missing its purpose. And when we
• 1:11:47
  S2: take what God gives us that is for us and
• 1:11:50
  S2: benefits us, but then we pass it on to others
• 1:11:53
  S2: as well for their benefit, life just becomes so much
• 1:11:56
  S2: more livable.
• 1:11:58
  S6: So much more. So I want to I want you
• 1:12:01
  S6: to think about two words with me just quickly. Fair shot.
• 1:12:04
  S6: We talk about this term a lot without even knowing
• 1:12:07
  S6: it in everyday language. When somebody comes in for an
• 1:12:10
  S6: interview and they don't have all the skills, but boy,
• 1:12:12
  S6: they're really hungry to go, you know, what do we say?
• 1:12:15
  S6: Are they deserve a shot at this, right?
• 1:12:18
  S2: Absolutely.
• 1:12:19
  S6: And sometimes when someone that doesn't have it all together
• 1:12:23
  S6: or all the training that they need for a certain position,
• 1:12:25
  S6: but they got motivation, they got character, they're hungry. What
• 1:12:29
  S6: goes on inside our mind is they deserve a fair
• 1:12:32
  S6: shot at this. So here's my proposal. What if we
• 1:12:38
  S6: joined an extraordinary mission where we are becoming disciples, that
• 1:12:46
  S6: is turning genuine believers into partners with God? I mean,
• 1:12:51
  S6: partners with God, not because discipleship is imitating Christ. What
• 1:12:56
  S6: did Christ do? It wasn't his relationship with the father
• 1:13:00
  S6: wasn't a closed system. His whole intent was to take
• 1:13:07
  S6: what he's received and who he is and give it
• 1:13:10
  S6: to the world around him. And I think that's one
• 1:13:12
  S6: aspect of discipleship that we've messed up, messed up on.
• 1:13:16
  S6: So what if we kick the end out of the
• 1:13:18
  S6: Dead Sea? Just think about this a moment. What if
• 1:13:22
  S6: our mindset was like Christ and we believed everybody deserved
• 1:13:28
  S6: a fair shot at the gospel? And why do I
• 1:13:31
  S6: say that? Because with the stats that we've been looking
• 1:13:33
  S6: at for the last couple of months here, guys, we've
• 1:13:36
  S6: got 4% just in America. So Canada, you've got to
• 1:13:40
  S6: be a close reflection of that other. Others of you
• 1:13:43
  S6: listening here in North America or beyond, most people listen
• 1:13:48
  S6: to me live in cultures where just a scant small
• 1:13:51
  S6: percentage of people Really have a biblical worldview and aim
• 1:13:58
  S6: to order their private and public lives around it. So
• 1:14:01
  S6: in America, it's 4%. Now you might say, oh my goodness,
• 1:14:06
  S6: this is horrible. It's only 4%. What if we flip
• 1:14:10
  S6: that around and say, no, no, no, we've got a 96%
• 1:14:16
  S6: mission field. Who lived next door to us, who live
• 1:14:20
  S6: across the street, who are at the breakfast joint with
• 1:14:24
  S6: us right now this morning that we're going to this meeting.
• 1:14:27
  S6: The colleagues that I work with, and here's the crazy
• 1:14:31
  S6: thing about that 96%, a vast number of those, and
• 1:14:36
  S6: I'm not willing to throw a number at it today,
• 1:14:37
  S6: even though we've talked about it in the past, maybe possibly,
• 1:14:43
  S6: and I don't know, I'm guessing somewhere between 50 to 70%
• 1:14:47
  S6: of them have never had a fair shot at the gospel.
• 1:14:51
  S6: And when I say a fair shot at the gospel,
• 1:14:53
  S6: I'm talking about what Jesus came to do, to redeem,
• 1:14:58
  S6: to restore mankind, to set people free from their sins.
• 1:15:02
  S6: Do you know that because of prevenient grace, there are
• 1:15:05
  S6: God fearing people right now your neighbors, people down the street,
• 1:15:09
  S6: people you work with that if they had a fair
• 1:15:11
  S6: shot at the Gospel of Jesus Christ, they would like Cornelius, repent,
• 1:15:16
  S6: surrender and follow Jesus. Like Lydia, the seller of purple.
• 1:15:21
  S6: So we got acts ten. Acts 16. What do you got?
• 1:15:24
  S6: God fearing people where God was already priming the pump
• 1:15:27
  S6: of their soul. All they needed to do was hear
• 1:15:30
  S6: about Jesus. So why? Why does everyone deserve a fair shot?
• 1:15:38
  S6: And why would you want to be involved in that?
• 1:15:40
  S6: Because I think it'll bring health and vitality to your
• 1:15:42
  S6: own spiritual life like nothing else can. So I want
• 1:15:46
  S6: to give you three quick answers to why I a
• 1:15:50
  S6: fair shot for every person. Even as we're going to
• 1:15:54
  S6: be talking this week, starting tomorrow about end times, why
• 1:15:57
  S6: position ourselves out of a bunker bunker mentality, even out
• 1:16:02
  S6: of a let's go to church mentality to let's go
• 1:16:05
  S6: to the world first, because everyone deserves to hear the
• 1:16:09
  S6: good news. Love what Paul says in Romans 1014 through 15. Amen.
• 1:16:14
  S6: How are they going to hear unless they're sent? How
• 1:16:17
  S6: in the world are we going to know? And then
• 1:16:19
  S6: he says, how beautiful are the feet of those who
• 1:16:22
  S6: bring good news? Everybody deserves to hear the good news. Secondly,
• 1:16:28
  S6: because we are called to reach people where they are.
• 1:16:31
  S6: One of my favorite passages of scripture, and I can't
• 1:16:34
  S6: believe we haven't hit this much around here. But in
• 1:16:36
  S6: first Corinthians nine, Paul says, I'm free, man. As an apostle,
• 1:16:39
  S6: I'm free. I'm not obligated to anyone. But he said
• 1:16:43
  S6: to the weak, I became weak to those with the law,
• 1:16:46
  S6: with the law out, the law without the law, I
• 1:16:48
  S6: became all things to all people, so that by any
• 1:16:51
  S6: possible means I might save some. And then the big
• 1:16:56
  S6: roundhouse is y a fair shot. Third thing, because many
• 1:17:01
  S6: are prepared to receive Jesus as Lord. Jesus said, man,
• 1:17:06
  S6: the fields are ripe for harvest. Pray that the Lord
• 1:17:09
  S6: would raise up workers for the harvest field. So as
• 1:17:14
  S6: we head to a week of end times, I want
• 1:17:17
  S6: you to get a vision for what it is to
• 1:17:19
  S6: be a disciple of Christ, not just receiving truth for self,
• 1:17:26
  S6: but receiving truth for the purpose of giving it away,
• 1:17:30
  S6: making your life not a cul de sac of God's stuff,
• 1:17:34
  S6: but a conduit of truth and hope and love. Because
• 1:17:41
  S6: every person we run into today deserves a fair shot
• 1:17:46
  S6: at the gospel.