Latest / Karl and Crew / Trusting God More with Susie Larson & Journaling as a Spiritual Practice with Allison Byxbe & Freedom Friday Testimony Philip Van Lear

Transcript

Trusting God More with Susie Larson & Journaling as a Spiritual Practice with Allison Byxbe & Freedom Friday Testimony Philip Van Lear · Karl and Crew

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  S1: Broadcasting from Chicago, across North America and beyond. It's Carl
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  S1: and crew. Come as you are an experienced God, overcome
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  S1: what seems impossible and live as you never imagined delivering
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  S1: the truth daily.
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  S2: If it were possible to have every worldly gain available
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  S2: and you're forfeiting your soul. There's no amount of gain
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  S2: that would make it worth it.
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  S3: Our own way never ever works. Because it's apart from
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  S3: the life source, which is God.
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  S4: For me, growing up, love was always conditional and can
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  S4: be taken from you. Christ's love can't. And he went
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  S4: to the cross with my mind and my heart that night.
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  S1: Now from the call of Hope Studios, this is Carl
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  S1: and Crew.
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  S2: We have been talking about the five Senses this week,
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  S2: and we have marched through four of the five.
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  S3: Yes.
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  S2: Taste. Touch.
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  S3: Smell and hearing and hearing.
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  S2: The one that we're going to look at today is,
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  S2: I mean, they all have these nuances. But when you
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  S2: think about references to sight in Scripture, putting you on
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  S2: the spot, Jonathan, what comes to mind for you is there,
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  S2: there are a couple different angles you could take, but
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  S2: what comes to mind?
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  S3: The first one that comes to mind for me is
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  S3: when Jesus is reading from the book of Isaiah, that
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  S3: of all that he's come to do, and he says,
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  S3: I've come to give sight to the blind.
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  S2: Oh.
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  S3: And so that is, that is the first thing that
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  S3: pops into my head. Yeah. How about you?
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  S2: You know, I think the when I first started kind
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  S2: of putting this together, walking by faith and not by sight. Yeah.
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  S2: In second Corinthians, I think that was what came to mind.
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  S2: So you're you're right that there are both references to
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  S2: Jesus giving sight to the blind. He does that. He
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  S2: does physical. He physically heals and restores the sight of people. Yes,
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  S2: but the more important healing that he gives is the
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  S2: restoration of spiritual sight.
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  S3: Absolutely. Because we were all blind.
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  S2: We were all blind. And so there's these interesting juxtapositions
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  S2: of what it means to physically see, but not spiritually see. Mhm.
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  S2: To spiritually see, but not physically see. And the invitation
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  S2: to walk by faith and not by sight. When you
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  S2: look at second Corinthians and I did a deep dive
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  S2: on this yesterday, we are looking not primarily not to
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  S2: the things that are seen. The spiritual life requires you
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  S2: to look primarily, not to what you can see. Yes.
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  S2: Second Corinthians four, verse 18 or verse 17. Let's start
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  S2: with 17 for this light, momentary affliction is preparing for
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  S2: us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as
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  S2: we look not to the things that are seen, but
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  S2: to the things that are unseen, for the things that
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  S2: are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen
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  S2: are eternal. And then just a couple verses down in
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  S2: chapter five, we see that that we walk by faith
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  S2: and not by sight. Because if you look around you,
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  S2: the things that can be seen can be very discouraging.
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  S3: Oh, goodness. Yeah. I mean, walk outside of the building
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  S3: that you're currently in and you might find something discouraging
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  S3: pretty quickly.
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  S2: For the context of this letter or this in second Corinthians,
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  S2: Paul and Timothy, the we as the we that are
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  S2: they speaking of here, so much suffering and affliction. Their
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  S2: outer self wasting away, inner self being renewed. Their tent
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  S2: talks about our earthly tent which is being destroyed. So
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  S2: it's this sense that there's there's a there's suffering that's
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  S2: happening that is a threat to our physical bodies, in
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  S2: addition to just the wear and tear of living and
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  S2: the idea that we know that we all have an
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  S2: expiration date, a physical expiration date, a time when God
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  S2: will call us home. Yeah. But to be away from
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  S2: the body is to be at home with the Lord. Right? Right.
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  S3: It's a it's a good thing at the end.
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  S2: So we're going to have a special Freedom Friday conversation
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  S2: this week that I think you're going to love. We
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  S2: have a listener. His name is Philip. We know him
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  S2: as Philip. From what?
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  S3: Aurora.
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  S2: Philip from Aurora. Aurora is a western suburb here in Chicago.
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  S2: And over the years he's called in on different topics.
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  S2: He's shared a little bits and pieces of his story.
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  S2: And I think you're going to really enjoy getting to
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  S2: know him this morning. Um, he is suffering from vision
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  S2: loss that he talks freely about, but he also talks
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  S2: about the radical way that God has gotten Ahold of
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  S2: his heart. After some pretty dark days, he's seen the
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  S2: highest of highs as a very, very prominent actor, both
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  S2: here in the Chicago area, but also doing, uh, TV
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  S2: and film. He's had some pretty recognizable roles, but he'll
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  S2: be the first to tell you that even though you
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  S2: could see success from an earthly standpoint, behind the scenes
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  S2: was a different story. You'll meet Philip coming up.
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  S1: He was running from God, but God's love brought him home.
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  S1: Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on
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  S1: Moody Radio.
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  S2: What a privilege to have a special guest with us
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  S2: this morning. His name is Philip Van Leer. We know
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  S2: him as Philip from Aurora, as we've had him call
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  S2: in over the years. And we've really gotten to know
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  S2: you a little bit, Philip. We I know a little
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  S2: bit of your backstory, but I want to give our
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  S2: listeners just a little bit of your profile for, uh,
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  S2: over 50 years or so. Philip was one of the
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  S2: most prolific actors here in Chicago. He appeared in dozens
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  S2: of stage productions, directed more than 100 stage productions. He
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  S2: also appeared in more than 40 films and television series.
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  S2: Some you might recognize. Prison break. Chicago. Code. Philip, I
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  S2: know I'm giving. I'm giving your highlights. I know that
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  S2: that's not the thing that you lead with anymore, but
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  S2: it just helps give us an understanding of kind of where,
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  S2: how you got to the point where you're at right now. First,
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  S2: thank you for being with us this morning.
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  S5: Oh, well, thank you so much. It's such a blessing
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  S5: to be with you guys. You know how much I
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  S5: love you guys. And it's always wonderful to be on.
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  S2: When did you get bitten by the acting bug?
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  S5: Early on seventh grade, my seventh grade speech teacher, Vincent Popolizio,
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  S5: told me that I had way too much energy. That's
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  S5: another way of saying dude out, please. He said, I've
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  S5: got something that you need to be involved in. And
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  S5: that was speech and theater And from that point it
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  S5: just it lit the fire underneath me.
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  S2: Now that world brings a lot of a lot of temptations,
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  S2: for sure. When you are, I mean, well before you
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  S2: even touched Hollywood, just the the talk about the culture
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  S2: that exists, um, not bashing it. Obviously there, there are
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  S2: good aspects of anything. But what was, how much were
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  S2: you influenced by the that culture?
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  S5: Well, you know, the culture theater of performing arts, there's
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  S5: a direct correlation between that and athletics. And I grew
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  S5: up as a as a fairly good athlete. And there's
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  S5: that adrenal rush that you get from the success of,
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  S5: of performing well on the athletic field. You know, you
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  S5: were a volleyball player. Your husband was an accomplished basketball player.
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  S5: And so I found that same kind of rush being
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  S5: on stage. And then eventually, when I got to television
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  S5: and film that same adrenal rush that I phone from
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  S5: competing and from winning? I found there from performing. But
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  S5: unfortunately for me, the way that God wired me, that
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  S5: I needed more. I wanted to replicate that same adrenal
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  S5: rush and that led me down a dark pathway.
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  S2: Yeah. And so I know you've shared with us before
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  S2: that there were addictions. There were lots of unhealthy choices
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  S2: that things that felt like life at the moment, but
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  S2: were very fleeting and short lived. Of course.
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  S5: It was the shiny ring that I was chasing, and
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  S5: I just felt that, uh, I had walked an aisle
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  S5: when I was 13, and so I'm never going to
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  S5: fall too far away from God. And I kept telling
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  S5: myself that, which is a lie. Yeah. Of course, you know,
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  S5: straight out of the mouth of hell. But I tried
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  S5: to fool myself into thinking, well, God knows my heart,
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  S5: God knows my heart. And indeed he did. And he
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  S5: knew that my heart had turned far away from him.
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  S2: Mhm. So you were raised with a Exposure to Christian things.
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  S2: Exposure to the church. So would you say that you
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  S2: that it was a rebellion or. I mean, you described
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  S2: what many people say, God. God knows my heart. And
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  S2: that often becomes. It's translated into, I'm going to keep
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  S2: living how I want to live. God trusts that I'm,
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  S2: you know, I'm doing the best I can or that I,
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  S2: you know, God and I are still good. Would you
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  S2: say it was rebellion or deception or a little bit
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  S2: of both?
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  S5: All of the above, please. Okay. Not just from column A,
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  S5: column B, column C. I grew up in a wonderful church,
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  S5: Main Baptist Church in Aurora. There was a family church.
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  S5: You know, my uncle was a deacon. My aunt was
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  S5: a church secretary. My mom sang in the choir. My
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  S5: other aunt taught Sunday school. My grandma was one of
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  S5: the mothers of the church. I had relatives who were
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  S5: willing workers and silent helpers. I know you know what
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  S5: that's all about, you know? So yeah, it was it
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  S5: was a family church. And I was involved, you know,
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  S5: I was, you know, in the choir and in the
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  S5: Young People's Ministry. And yet I walked away because I
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  S5: found the lust of the eyes and the lust of
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  S5: the flesh and the pride of life to be much
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  S5: more appealing than sitting there on Sunday morning listening to
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  S5: a 45 hour long sermon.
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  S2: What moment stands out to you? As you know, Carl
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  S2: talks a lot about a Y in the road. What
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  S2: moment stands out where God was beginning to get your attention?
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  S2: Did it happen in an instant or was it a
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  S2: series of moments over time?
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  S5: There was no doubt it would be back in 2000
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  S5: when God started to get my attention because I was
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  S5: diagnosed with diagnosed with glaucoma, and that diagnosis was a
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  S5: slight wake up call. Not enough to pull me back,
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  S5: you know, to, to my faith. I mean, that that
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  S5: took a much more, uh, let's just say a much
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  S5: more direct pulling from God. But when I first had
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  S5: those glimpses, so to speak, of World Vision, it made
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  S5: me start to think that perhaps this is a sign
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  S5: from God that I'm going down the wrong path.
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  S2: Philip Van Leer from the Chicago area, our guest this morning,
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  S2: he is a a listener, a longtime listener, has spent
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  S2: some time as a student here at Moody Bible Institute.
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  S2: He got his master's, a master's from Moody. Coming up,
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  S2: we're going to hear the part two, I guess the
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  S2: second act of his story, act One, involved a lot
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  S2: of pain, a lot of self-destructive behavior, even at the
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  S2: height of heights, a lot of things behind the scenes,
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  S2: using a lot of theater metaphors since that's near and
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  S2: dear to his heart. What is God doing in Philip's
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  S2: life today? How did he finally get to the point
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  S2: where he came to the end of himself? More coming
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  S2: up here. Freedom Friday. I'm Carl and crew.
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  S1: It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
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  S2: Philip Van Leer, our guest this morning. He's a Carl
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  S2: and crew. Listener. He's a moody grad. When a doctor
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  S2: told you, Philip, that you had open angle glaucoma, that
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  S2: your vision was at risk. That was the beginning of
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  S2: a wake up call, as there were many, many things
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  S2: in your life that were dysfunctional, that were broken, as
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  S2: we all have experienced. That was just the beginning, though,
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  S2: because you said it was a partial wake up call,
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  S2: but it shook you, but not enough to really change
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  S2: you yet, right?
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  S5: Not at all. You know, 2012 is when my lovely bride, Heather,
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  S5: she gave me the ultimatum. She said, either you get help,
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  S5: you know, with this addiction, with this problem you have
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  S5: with with drugs, uh, or you're leaving. And, uh, I
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  S5: finally did get help and was diagnosed with severe depression
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  S5: and severe anxiety. First time that I had heard those
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  S5: words coming from the mouth of a professional. Um, that
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  S5: May of 2012 was when I, the Lord delivered me
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  S5: from from drug addiction. But as we know, some oftentimes
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  S5: you replace an addiction with an addiction. And I did that.
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  S5: And for the next three years, I really just vacillated
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  S5: between inappropriate relationships and sinful action and emotional abuse. And
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  S5: the Lord really got hold of me because of my
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  S5: brothers and sisters at the church, at Harvest Bible Chapel. Uh,
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  S5: Brother Dave Smoot in particular, uh, challenged me in front of, uh,
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  S5: men in my small group and said, here's what you're doing.
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  S5: Here's what you're doing to your wife, here's what you're
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  S5: doing to your children. And more importantly, man, here's what
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  S5: you're doing to God pretending to be a man of God.
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  S5: And yet look at your life. And, and that shook me.
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  S5: And it shook me to the point where I knew
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  S5: I had to do some major changing. And we often.
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  S5: And I remember this, and I know this, I was
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  S5: at Moody Theological Seminary. We know what repentance is. Yeah.
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  S5: Which is a complete turning around of 180 degrees from
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  S5: your sin. And it's not dabbling or dipping your toe
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  S5: or thinking that you can go back every now and then.
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  S5: You just say, no, God, I am done. That's it.
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  S5: I've had enough. Um, and it meant trying to rebuild
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  S5: the trust with my wife and with all of my children,
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  S5: not just the children that Heather and I had, you know,
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  S5: but it also meant being able to look my brothers
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  S5: in Christ in the eye and to say that thank you,
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  S5: to thank them for calling me out on my mess
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  S5: and then moving forward. And as you know from my story,
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  S5: that was when God got a little bit more of
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  S5: my attention with a update of my diagnosis.
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  S2: Yeah. You have, in addition to battles with, uh, Your
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  S2: the loss of your sight. How much of your vision
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  S2: still remains, Philip?
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  S5: It depends on. If you ask me or if you
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  S5: ask my bride. If you ask me how I'm going
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  S5: to say that I've got, oh, probably about, uh, 5%
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  S5: of my right eye. And Heather will say, oh, just
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  S5: don't tell that lie to people. You only have about 3% left. Wow.
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  S5: Just let people know how blind you are. Um, but
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  S5: you know something? I've, I've told people that that I've
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  S5: said this to you guys too. You know, uh, Paul
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  S5: tells us in Romans 818 that we don't feel that the,
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  S5: the troubles of this world are to be compared with
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  S5: what is to be revealed to us. Yeah. You know,
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  S5: and I, we, I know that this is only a
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  S5: season for me. You know, that's why second Corinthians, uh, uh, 12,
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  S5: 7 to 10, you know, if this is indeed my thorn,
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  S5: which which I believe it is personally, uh, and it's
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  S5: helped me through this battle is that I know that
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  S5: that in weakness, God's power is made perfect. And I've
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  S5: been able to rejoice in this. And people find it
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  S5: odd because, dude, how can you be happy about going blind?
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  S5: I said, well, because the more sight I lose, the
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  S5: more insight the Lord gives me. And so I can
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  S5: rejoice in this, you know, because I know that this is,
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  S5: you know, unlike job asking why I stopped asking why,
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  S5: you know, as a matter of fact, I don't think
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  S5: I really ever did ask why, but I jumped immediately
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  S5: to God, what are you showing me? And how can
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  S5: I use this to glorify your kingdom? Wow. What? What
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  S5: can people learn about you from watching me deal with
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  S5: this loss of vision?
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  S2: Yeah. And Philip, I know that there have been other
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  S2: health challenges as well.
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  S5: And there's been a few.
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  S2: And, you know, we there are battles that I'm sure
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  S2: that you have privately to, to stay in a posture
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  S2: of faith and a posture of rejoicing. It's people. People
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  S2: will ask, how do you do it? How do you
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  S2: not move toward despair?
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  S5: Well, you know, there's you can make a choice to
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  S5: be either bitter or bitter and and by the grace
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  S5: and mercy of God, I've chosen better. And you can
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  S5: either rise above or you can sink below and and
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  S5: praise be to God that that I've I've been able
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  S5: to rise above. You know, my life verse is second
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  S5: Timothy one seven For God has not given us the
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  S5: spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and of
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  S5: a sound mind. But, you know, we sometimes say that
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  S5: we toss it out. There's a wonderful passage, but we
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  S5: really do have the power of the Holy Spirit within us.
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  S5: The same power that brought Christ out of the grave
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  S5: lies in us. And if we tap into that, if
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  S5: we allow the Holy Spirit to permeate our hearts. Then
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  S5: we are going to be able to rise above any earthly, uh, adversity.
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  S2: It's so true. You know, when we when you take
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  S2: in Scripture, we've been, we've been looking and talking about
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  S2: the senses this week and second Corinthians four, uh, we,
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  S2: we read about how we're called to not look to
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  S2: the things that can be seen, but to the things
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  S2: that can be unseen. And then that verse that many
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  S2: have heard, we walk by faith and not by sight.
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  S2: I mean, what do those kind of verses mean to you?
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  S2: I mean, you're experiencing it different than somebody not in
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  S2: your position, but the spiritual reality that that what we
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  S2: see isn't the thing to focus on anyway, right?
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  S5: Right. Oh, that's such great insight. You know, it's John
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  S5: 1633 when he says, I tell you these things so
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  S5: that you may have peace. You know, but in this
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  S5: world you're going to have trouble. Be encouraged, for I
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  S5: have overcome the world. It's like when I pray with
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  S5: when Heather and I pray with our kids, and we
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  S5: get to the end of the prayer and we say,
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  S5: we pray this, father. And with expectancy. Yeah, because we
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  S5: know it's already done. And that's really what you just
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  S5: said about our walk of faith. We do walk by
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  S5: faith and not by sight because in our case, this
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  S5: upside down kingdom. Yeah. Is that believing is seen, not seen.
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  S5: If our belief allows us to see the mercy, grace, power, beauty,
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  S5: magnitude of God.
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  S2: Mhm. Philip, I want to ask where where do things
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  S2: stand with you in terms of your love for the theatre,
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  S2: for the arts? So much of it linked to a
• 19:04
  S2: lot of pain in your life. But has God redeemed
• 19:07
  S2: that part of your story?
• 19:09
  S5: Oh, my. Yes. Yes, yes. Ellie, you know something? I've
• 19:13
  S5: told people that as my. I lost more and more
• 19:15
  S5: sight toward the end of my career. I unofficially retired
• 19:18
  S5: from the from the industry for various reasons. That's another story.
• 19:23
  S5: In 22, but toward the end of my career, when
• 19:26
  S5: I would be on a movie set or a television set, um,
• 19:29
  S5: because of my vision loss, I was able to focus
• 19:33
  S5: even more intently on my scene partner and all of
• 19:36
  S5: the 15, 16 people that are always on a set
• 19:40
  S5: that are in the background, which you have to just
• 19:42
  S5: focus so hard on making sure you're giving your scene
• 19:45
  S5: partner what they need. All those people faded away. Ali.
• 19:48
  S5: So all of a sudden, it was just me and
• 19:50
  S5: my scene partner. And I had this sense of calm. Yeah.
• 19:53
  S5: And even with, with theater and even my, my spokesperson
• 19:57
  S5: work and the things I do now, I know that
• 20:00
  S5: I'm doing it for the Lord. My work is unto
• 20:04
  S5: the Lord, not to man. You know, and I, I
• 20:08
  S5: remember that every time I'm either at a board meeting
• 20:12
  S5: or teaching a class or preaching at one of the
• 20:16
  S5: churches I preach at. Uh, just to know that this
• 20:20
  S5: is for God, and I don't need to be able
• 20:23
  S5: to see clearly to be able to share God's Word clearly.
• 20:28
  S2: Yeah. Philip, thank you so much for your time this morning.
• 20:31
  S2: You have become a true friend of the program. We've
• 20:36
  S2: gotten to meet you in person once for Carl, maybe
• 20:39
  S2: once or twice. But really, truly, we we are so
• 20:42
  S2: grateful for you, Philip.
• 20:44
  S5: I'm so grateful for you guys. I love what you do.
• 20:46
  S5: I love your heart for the Lord. I love how
• 20:49
  S5: many people are reached with the gospel. It it it's
• 20:53
  S5: it's it's awesome. It's just awesome.
• 20:55
  S2: If you want to read more of Philip's story, some
• 20:58
  S2: of our team here at Moody actually sat down and
• 21:01
  S2: did an in depth interview with him. I've got that
• 21:03
  S2: for you. If you just want to text site to
• 21:06
  S2: 800 555 7898, just text that one word site SIGHT.
• 21:12
  S2: I'll send you the link so you can read Philip's
• 21:14
  S2: story more in depth site to 805 Five. Five. 78. 98.
• 21:21
  S1: Get to know the team behind the scenes. Follow Carl
• 21:24
  S1: and crew on Facebook and Instagram.
• 21:27
  S2: You know the. Here's the reality. I want to make
• 21:29
  S2: sure that you are aware of. Particularly if you are
• 21:31
  S2: not in Christ. You're listening today. Maybe you've been in church.
• 21:34
  S2: Maybe you're checking us out for the first time. But
• 21:38
  S2: until you turn to Christ, you don't truly see things
• 21:44
  S2: as they are.
• 21:45
  S3: Yeah, you might think you see, but no you don't.
• 21:48
  S2: There are things that are only perceived correctly when we
• 21:52
  S2: turn to Christ. There's a veil that remains over our eyes.
• 21:56
  S2: We are blind to the truth. And you see this
• 21:59
  S2: all throughout Scripture. When we turn to Christ, that veil
• 22:03
  S2: is removed from our eyes and we are able to
• 22:05
  S2: see clearly the truth about ourselves, which is that we
• 22:08
  S2: are born into sin, that it's this idea of trying
• 22:13
  S2: to be a good person. And that is, that's a
• 22:15
  S2: prevalent school of thought that I just want to be
• 22:18
  S2: a good person.
• 22:19
  S3: Yeah. If I can maybe just outweigh the scales a
• 22:21
  S3: little bit more on the good side than the bad
• 22:23
  S3: I've done in my life, then I'll be okay.
• 22:25
  S2: Why does that so not the correct way of seeing things? Jonathan.
• 22:30
  S3: It's so not the correct way of seeing things because any.
• 22:35
  S3: How do I explain it this way? Our God is
• 22:38
  S3: a perfect God, completely perfect in every single way. A
• 22:43
  S3: little bit of sin taints the whole picture. This is
• 22:47
  S3: a little a little bit of a a crazy metaphor,
• 22:50
  S3: but I really can't think of a better way to
• 22:52
  S3: explain it. Okay, I've got a this is a classic
• 22:56
  S3: youth group metaphor, at least from when I was growing up.
• 22:59
  S3: I've got a little tray of brownies here that I've
• 23:01
  S3: made for you. Delicious chocolate chip. Would you like to
• 23:04
  S3: have one? Allie?
• 23:05
  S2: Uh, sure.
• 23:06
  S3: Yeah. The thing is, I put just a little bit
• 23:09
  S3: of dog poop in it. Just a little bit. I
• 23:13
  S3: like one one little thing I threw in the batter
• 23:15
  S3: before I cooked it. Just one. You want to eat
• 23:18
  S3: it still?
• 23:19
  S2: Absolutely not.
• 23:20
  S3: No, because one little bit taints the whole batch of brownies.
• 23:24
  S3: That's the way our sin works. We. We don't outweigh
• 23:28
  S3: good with bad. Because even a little bit of sin
• 23:31
  S3: completely taints our hearts. We cannot stand before God with
• 23:37
  S3: the sin that is in us.
• 23:38
  S2: We certainly don't want to.
• 23:39
  S3: And no, we do not.
• 23:41
  S2: We do not want to. So it is true that
• 23:43
  S2: the God of this world, Satan, has blinded the minds
• 23:47
  S2: of unbelievers at second Corinthians four to keep them from
• 23:50
  S2: seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ,
• 23:53
  S2: who is the image of God. So I want to
• 23:56
  S2: invite you today. If by the power of the Holy
• 23:58
  S2: Spirit you're able to see today, maybe for the first
• 24:02
  S2: time that. Wait a second. I think this is about
• 24:05
  S2: more than just trying to go to church, trying to
• 24:07
  S2: do good things, trying to live a decent life. This
• 24:11
  S2: is about acknowledging the truth about who you are, that
• 24:14
  S2: you're a sinner, that you need a Savior, and that
• 24:17
  S2: your Savior, the only one who can save your soul
• 24:21
  S2: is Jesus, the only one who can get you to
• 24:24
  S2: a place where you are in right. Standing with God
• 24:27
  S2: is Jesus. So any idea of there being many paths
• 24:32
  S2: that lead to him? Or as long as you believe
• 24:34
  S2: in something or I do believe that there's a higher power.
• 24:37
  S2: I'm paraphrasing a lot of things that I hear as
• 24:39
  S2: I just live in the world and talk to people.
• 24:43
  S2: Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life.
• 24:46
  S3: And very clear about that.
• 24:48
  S2: No one comes to the father except through him. So
• 24:50
  S2: it doesn't have to all make sense to you today.
• 24:52
  S2: But if you have in a moment of awareness, that, boy,
• 24:56
  S2: I'm not right with God. I need to give my
• 24:59
  S2: life to Jesus today. I want to pray for you.
• 25:03
  S2: And I want to kind of give you a little
• 25:05
  S2: bit of instruction because there's no magic prayer to say
• 25:08
  S2: or words to say or person that you need to
• 25:11
  S2: be in the same room with for this to become real.
• 25:14
  S2: This is a spiritual reality. When you cry out to
• 25:18
  S2: the Lord and say, I confess that I am a sinner,
• 25:23
  S2: that I cannot save myself, that I need a Savior.
• 25:26
  S2: And I believe today, Jesus, that it's you. One more
• 25:30
  S2: part of this I repent, which means repentance is a
• 25:34
  S2: 180 degree turn. The direction that you are going now,
• 25:38
  S2: like driving down a one way street the wrong way
• 25:41
  S2: in Chicago. I'm going a new way, I confess, I repent,
• 25:46
  S2: I believe today it's you. It's always been you and
• 25:50
  S2: I give my life to you. That's the honest cry
• 25:54
  S2: of your heart. You have that conversation between you and God.
• 25:58
  S2: And if we believe the word today, you become a
• 26:02
  S2: follower of Jesus Christ. Yes. And so I want to
• 26:05
  S2: pray for you, Lord, for the person today who's turning,
• 26:09
  S2: who is turning to you in that veil is being
• 26:13
  S2: removed from their eyes. You are shining the light into
• 26:17
  S2: their heart to be able to see the gospel, the
• 26:19
  S2: truth about themselves and about you. Lord, I pray that
• 26:23
  S2: you would give them great assurance, great joy in their
• 26:28
  S2: soul right now, Lord, that you would bring them to
• 26:30
  S2: a place where they can flourish in you, where they
• 26:32
  S2: can be surrounded by other believers. God, there's so there's
• 26:35
  S2: so much of a mystery here. God, you've revealed a
• 26:38
  S2: little bit God, but part of it, we won't fully
• 26:41
  S2: see until we see you face to face. But God,
• 26:44
  S2: we thank you. We thank you that you call us
• 26:47
  S2: out of darkness into light, that you allow us to
• 26:51
  S2: see the truth where our eyes have been veiled. Thank
• 26:54
  S2: you that you sent your son to die on the
• 26:57
  S2: cross for my sin, for the sin of the person listening.
• 27:01
  S2: And today we can have new life in you. We
• 27:04
  S2: thank you. We receive the gift of salvation today. In
• 27:08
  S2: Jesus name, Amen. If that's you I want you to send,
• 27:14
  S2: just send me a quick text message so I can
• 27:16
  S2: acknowledge you. So we can send you quick follow up.
• 27:19
  S2: Just text new to 805 557898, new to 805 557898.
• 27:29
  S1: Breaking chains and running free. You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 27:34
  S2: Want to say welcome to the family. A couple of
• 27:36
  S2: you just texted new here in these last couple minutes
• 27:39
  S2: indicating today is the day of salvation for you. Today
• 27:42
  S2: that veil is removed. And you see now like you
• 27:45
  S2: never have before. Welcome to the family. 3719 last four
• 27:49
  S2: digits of your phone number 1288, 69, 95 and others
• 27:54
  S2: of you, if I missed it. My systems a little
• 27:57
  S2: bogged down right now, but God sees you and we
• 27:59
  S2: welcome you to the family. Coming up, I want to
• 28:02
  S2: get an encouraging word from another favorite of Carl and crew.
• 28:05
  S2: Her name is Susie Larson. Coming up.
• 28:08
  S1: Your spiritual pit stop to keep you going in the race.
• 28:12
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew.
• 28:14
  S2: Carl said something to me recently, my my dear co-host
• 28:19
  S2: Carl and I didn't know how to take it at first.
• 28:23
  S2: I'm going to tell you about it. He would he
• 28:25
  S2: would be totally fine with this. But not too long ago,
• 28:29
  S2: I found myself and my family going through a season
• 28:33
  S2: of of real transition and not totally resolved yet. Some
• 28:39
  S2: of it's still in process, so I'll keep the details
• 28:42
  S2: kind of veiled. But Carl said with great excitement as
• 28:46
  S2: he heard the details of kind of some tough stuff,
• 28:49
  S2: and he said, this is so exciting. And he said,
• 28:54
  S2: what a great opportunity to trust to see what God's
• 28:58
  S2: going to do. And I knew in my mind, yes,
• 29:02
  S2: that is 100% true. But Susie Larson, our guest right
• 29:06
  S2: now in the moment, I wasn't sure whether to say
• 29:10
  S2: thank you, Brother Carl, for those words of absolute faith
• 29:15
  S2: or to give him a little shove and say, I
• 29:17
  S2: don't want to hear that right now. Did you just
• 29:19
  S2: hear what I said?
• 29:20
  S6: I did. I love it so much. If you're going
• 29:22
  S6: to walk with Menla Carl, he's going to fan your flame. Ali. Absolutely.
• 29:27
  S6: It's like, you know when you're Noah. My soul needs this.
• 29:29
  S6: And this is why we need people like that. But
• 29:31
  S6: you're right. It's so hard because to trust God means
• 29:34
  S6: you have an opportunity to trust him. You have a
• 29:36
  S6: need to trust him. So I know God's with you. Ali.
• 29:39
  S6: I know he's with you. And I can't wait to
• 29:42
  S6: hear how the story turns out. But thank you for
• 29:44
  S6: having me today.
• 29:45
  S2: I so appreciate it. Susie Larson, well-known radio talk show host.
• 29:48
  S2: She's an author. Her latest book, More Than You Can
• 29:51
  S2: Imagine what God does when You Trust Him more out
• 29:54
  S2: this week. What does God do when we trust him more?
• 29:58
  S2: And why is it so hard for us to get
• 30:00
  S2: to that more?
• 30:01
  S6: You know, because the enemy of our soul, we have
• 30:04
  S6: a real enemy. We've got a target on our back.
• 30:06
  S6: If we walk with Jesus, and his goal is to
• 30:09
  S6: distract and derail us. I often say, if you're in Christ,
• 30:13
  S6: Christ is in you, which means the enemy cannot touch
• 30:15
  S6: your identity or your eternity. But what he can do
• 30:18
  S6: is steal your joy. He can destroy your fruit, and
• 30:21
  S6: he can rob you of your future reward. And he's
• 30:24
  S6: so threatened by those things that he will spend all
• 30:27
  S6: of your lifetime trying to do just that. So trusting
• 30:30
  S6: God changes the story. Trusting God not only honors God
• 30:34
  S6: because he's trustworthy, but it impacts your life, your story,
• 30:38
  S6: and how things turn out. It's you living like his
• 30:41
  S6: promises are true.
• 30:43
  S2: And certainly when it comes to trusting God, it's easier
• 30:47
  S2: in some areas than in others. That's right. It can
• 30:50
  S2: be easy sometimes to trust God for direction, for ourselves. Oh, God. What?
• 30:56
  S2: What career do you want me to have next? And
• 30:58
  S2: sometimes it can be harder to trust with, say, like
• 31:01
  S2: our our kids, how our kids are doing spiritually or
• 31:04
  S2: the fears or anxieties we have around that. Those, those
• 31:07
  S2: areas of trust that are harder to release. Is it
• 31:11
  S2: is it pride? Is it control? Is it just this
• 31:13
  S2: battle we have with the flesh?
• 31:15
  S6: It really is experience because as people are listening, they're
• 31:18
  S6: going to go, okay, I can trust him in that area.
• 31:20
  S6: Not so much in that area. And it really often
• 31:23
  S6: connects to your history with God. Because if you have
• 31:26
  S6: areas where it's like, you know, I, I, I know
• 31:29
  S6: how to trust him there. It's because you've won some
• 31:31
  S6: victories there. Typically you look back over your shoulder and
• 31:33
  S6: you're like, you know, God and I together have overcome
• 31:36
  S6: some things. And so I, I've, I've seen his faithfulness
• 31:40
  S6: in this area of my life. So I do have
• 31:42
  S6: some spiritual muscle memory there. But then there are always spaces.
• 31:46
  S6: If you're walking intimately with God and you're honest about
• 31:49
  S6: your story, there are places and spaces where it's like, yeah,
• 31:51
  S6: not so easy in this place. Why? Well, because God,
• 31:54
  S6: maybe it's allowed me to suffer. He's allowed me to wait.
• 31:58
  S6: You know, it's been a long time since I've seen
• 32:00
  S6: a breakthrough in this area. And it is interesting how
• 32:03
  S6: we can compartmentalize our faith. But he's still the same God.
• 32:06
  S6: He's the same faithful God. So just as our brother
• 32:09
  S6: Carl said to you, this is so exciting. The honest
• 32:13
  S6: truth is, it really is. If we can reframe our
• 32:16
  S6: battles because we serve the same God, we seem to
• 32:19
  S6: serve the God of the breakthrough. And so whatever space
• 32:22
  S6: you're in right now where it's like this, this area
• 32:25
  S6: harder to trust. And the honest truth is, God does
• 32:28
  S6: allow us to endure suffering. God does allow us to
• 32:31
  S6: endure delays, but our trust is forged in the places
• 32:35
  S6: of need. And so that's why I think it comes easy.
• 32:38
  S6: It's so nuanced. It's easy in one area for some
• 32:41
  S6: and not so much in another. And so the whole
• 32:43
  S6: point of the book is to build resilient trust, to
• 32:46
  S6: show that you are literally your best self. When you're
• 32:49
  S6: walking in the spirit, your truest identity is when you're
• 32:52
  S6: walking in the brilliance of walking in the spirit. And Ellie,
• 32:55
  S6: I know I've walked with you long enough to know.
• 32:57
  S6: I know you know this. Like when you are really
• 32:59
  S6: abiding in the vine, when you're keeping your heart before God,
• 33:03
  S6: you're walking in the spirit. You're your most brilliant self.
• 33:05
  S6: Like you'll pray for people and you'll say things like,
• 33:08
  S6: where did that come from? Or you're, you're giving encouragement
• 33:11
  S6: to someone and you'll have wisdom that you're like, that
• 33:13
  S6: wasn't me. You know, and that is walking in the spirit.
• 33:17
  S6: And I would say they're one in the same as
• 33:19
  S6: you walk in the spirit, trust not only becomes natural,
• 33:22
  S6: but supernatural. And it's why it's so important to make
• 33:25
  S6: this a daily practice.
• 33:26
  S2: You know, because many people you talked about being honest,
• 33:29
  S2: like there's where there's disappointment, where people feel like, God, I,
• 33:34
  S2: I trusted you and I still went through this really
• 33:38
  S2: painful thing. And I'm not quite haven't quite recovered from that. And,
• 33:42
  S2: and there's, there's hurt and there's pain and there's trauma,
• 33:45
  S2: all of which you have experienced. How has this looked
• 33:49
  S2: in your own life? I know we've we've gotten pieces
• 33:51
  S2: of your story before, but where have you found it
• 33:54
  S2: hardest to trust God because of the pain?
• 33:58
  S6: Yeah, such a great question. Well, you know, the obvious
• 34:02
  S6: one is my health. You know, and also there's just
• 34:05
  S6: been some things, some some private struggles that like you,
• 34:08
  S6: I'm not ready to disclose yet, but are extremely painful
• 34:11
  S6: parts of my story. And but in those places, I'm
• 34:15
  S6: reminding myself I serve the God of the breakthrough. And
• 34:19
  S6: my faith in the land of the living, you know,
• 34:21
  S6: is where it really counts. Because one day my faith
• 34:24
  S6: will become sight. And one of the things I illustrate
• 34:26
  S6: in the book, so every chapter has a modern day
• 34:28
  S6: story of, of hardships and messes and traumas where friends
• 34:33
  S6: have decided to involve God in their story. And then
• 34:36
  S6: what happened when they trusted him. And then each chapter
• 34:38
  S6: also involves a parallel biblical story. So I'm just like
• 34:42
  S6: helping you to build resilient trust. But one of the
• 34:44
  S6: stories I tell is a full circle moment. And how
• 34:47
  S6: God does this, he, without us even realizing it, he'll
• 34:51
  S6: bring us to full circle moments where, like Peter, back
• 34:54
  S6: to the charcoal fire. It's Peter in that place where
• 34:57
  S6: he denied Jesus around a charcoal fire. Those were very
• 35:01
  S6: common back then. And, you know, I'm super interested in
• 35:04
  S6: brain science, physiology, how fearfully and wonderfully made we are.
• 35:08
  S6: And the idea is that there were lots of charcoal
• 35:11
  S6: fires back then. You know, that whatever time Peter got
• 35:15
  S6: around to charcoal fire and that smoke went into his nose,
• 35:18
  S6: it served a physiological traumatic reaction for him. The worst
• 35:22
  S6: day of his life. Yeah. I denied my Savior, my Messiah,
• 35:26
  S6: the one that I was ready to go to the
• 35:27
  S6: cross for. I denied him. And you know, the enemy
• 35:30
  S6: wasted no time accusing and condemning him. You can only
• 35:34
  S6: imagine what for someone as passionate as Peter, what that
• 35:37
  S6: must have been like in that time in between. But
• 35:40
  S6: when Jesus resurrected from the grave and he invited the
• 35:43
  S6: guys to around a charcoal fire, I mean, I picture
• 35:46
  S6: Peter going, it's him! Like jumping out of the boat,
• 35:49
  S6: tearing off his clothes, trying to get to the water
• 35:51
  S6: because that's who him. Who he is. And isn't it
• 35:54
  S6: something that three times Jesus asked him, do you love me? Peter?
• 35:57
  S6: It wasn't to condemn him. It wasn't to remind him
• 36:00
  S6: of his failure. It was to recommission him. It's like
• 36:03
  S6: he had to reframe the charcoal fire experience. And I
• 36:07
  S6: want to say to you, if you're in the middle
• 36:08
  S6: of the mess that God right now is writing your
• 36:11
  S6: story in a way that as you trust him, you
• 36:15
  S6: will experience a full circle moment. I don't know what
• 36:17
  S6: it's going to look like, but God loves those kinds
• 36:20
  S6: of details. And I write about one in the book
• 36:22
  S6: about me having a full circle moment with my health
• 36:25
  S6: that literally buckled my knees right out from underneath me.
• 36:28
  S2: Susie, I don't want to let you go. Before we
• 36:31
  S2: get a couple practical strategies for the person. Your words
• 36:34
  S2: always resonate so deeply with those who, particularly those who
• 36:37
  S2: are dealing with pain and suffering. What are the practical strategies?
• 36:41
  S2: Maybe 1 or 2 that can help somebody today who
• 36:43
  S2: wants so desperately to trust God more, but they're just
• 36:46
  S2: not there yet.
• 36:47
  S6: I can't remember if I've talked about this on a
• 36:50
  S6: previous show, but another one of the stories in the
• 36:52
  S6: book I talk about where one of the gals, a
• 36:54
  S6: friend of mine, walking through incredible hardship. First she was
• 36:57
  S6: knocked over by it, but then she rose up because
• 37:00
  S6: she's a fighter, she's a warrior. And she formed something
• 37:03
  S6: she calls a battle box. And that's what I want
• 37:05
  S6: to tell you to do is get a battle box.
• 37:07
  S6: And that can look like a little plastic container with
• 37:10
  S6: recipe cards in it. And every time you find a verse,
• 37:13
  S6: which means if you're in a trial, immerse yourself in scripture.
• 37:16
  S6: Don't run and numb and medicate your pain. Run to
• 37:19
  S6: the Lord. Open up the word. Say, I'm not leaving
• 37:22
  S6: till you speak to me. And when the verses pop
• 37:24
  S6: off the page, or when God gives you like a
• 37:26
  S6: faith declaration, write it on the recipe card and form
• 37:30
  S6: your battle box. And your strategy then is to open
• 37:32
  S6: that thing up every day and walk around your living
• 37:35
  S6: room if you have to. Holding those cards, let your
• 37:37
  S6: ears hear your mouth say, My God is faithful. He
• 37:40
  S6: will make a way for me. My battle box has
• 37:43
  S6: both scripture and some faith declarations that I catch myself
• 37:46
  S6: saying a lot that literally not only builds muscle memory,
• 37:49
  S6: but faith comes from hearing. So when your ears hear
• 37:52
  S6: your mouth say, My God is good. His promises are
• 37:55
  S6: true and he will make a way for me. Something
• 37:59
  S6: changes for you and you'll know it. So that to
• 38:01
  S6: me is get a battle box. But I would also
• 38:03
  S6: say include some friends, some God fearing, fiery, praying friends
• 38:08
  S6: in on whatever you're walking through and say, can we
• 38:10
  S6: hop on a phone call even 20 minutes once a week?
• 38:14
  S6: And let's be honest with each other about our struggles,
• 38:16
  S6: and let's go to the throne room and encourage each
• 38:18
  S6: other and seek God. I'm telling you, as you do
• 38:21
  S6: this in community and as you own your faith and
• 38:24
  S6: upgrade the way that you show up in your battle,
• 38:26
  S6: those things will make a massive difference for you.
• 38:29
  S2: Susie Larson, our guest. Always such a treat. The book
• 38:31
  S2: is called More Than You Can Imagine what God Does
• 38:34
  S2: when You Trust Him more. Text goodness to 800 555 7898.
• 38:39
  S2: We'll get you connected with Susie the book. More resources,
• 38:43
  S2: just text goodness to 805 557898.
• 38:47
  S1: You're listening to Curl and Crew on Moody Radio.
• 38:51
  S2: Did you know you can't always trust what you see?
• 38:54
  S3: Yeah.
• 38:55
  S2: Unfortunately, and I'm not just talking about the AI videos.
• 39:01
  S2: I saw this post yesterday and it was a I
• 39:03
  S2: follow a lot of sports accounts. I'm heavily into women's basketball.
• 39:09
  S2: My daughter is a high school basketball player with plans
• 39:12
  S2: to play in college. So I follow a lot of
• 39:13
  S2: these accounts. And so this college team had posted a
• 39:16
  S2: picture kind of they're wrapping up their summer workouts standard
• 39:20
  S2: and I didn't realize it was an AI. It was
• 39:23
  S2: AI at first because it just was like girls in
• 39:25
  S2: a weight room. And they were, you know, kind of
• 39:28
  S2: like doing the girl pose. They're all, you know, huddled
• 39:30
  S2: up together and sure. But like AI, which I, it
• 39:33
  S2: took me a minute had added like massive muscles to.
• 39:38
  S2: So it was like this celebrating the end of their
• 39:41
  S2: Summer workouts. Yeah. And so they all literally looked like
• 39:45
  S2: they had like.
• 39:45
  S3: Arnold.
• 39:46
  S2: Schwarzenegger.
• 39:47
  S3: Type.
• 39:47
  S2: Muscle mass. And, and so I looked at these pictures,
• 39:50
  S2: I thought, oh my goodness, what a strength. What kind
• 39:52
  S2: of strength training program is this?
• 39:54
  S3: It's like the monstars from Space Jam.
• 39:56
  S2: And then I read through the comments and I was like, oh, okay,
• 39:59
  S2: it's AI, but it didn't. It got me at first.
• 40:02
  S3: Yeah. I mean, that stuff gets tricky. I mean, the
• 40:06
  S3: AI is a whole new craze of that. But I mean,
• 40:10
  S3: you got especially with sports and things like that, you
• 40:13
  S3: have false reports out there that people just throw news
• 40:16
  S3: out there. You know, there was one because the Chicago
• 40:19
  S3: Bears or ah, uh, you know, they're they're big in
• 40:23
  S3: our town. And yeah, they're talking about moving to Indiana.
• 40:26
  S2: I know we won't.
• 40:27
  S3: Even get.
• 40:27
  S2: Started on that.
• 40:28
  S3: And a report came out just before they had a
• 40:30
  S3: big press conference yesterday that, you know, they're possibly going
• 40:34
  S3: to move to the name the Indiana Bears. And people
• 40:37
  S3: started going with that for a little bit. Yeah. And, uh,
• 40:40
  S3: and obviously that report is very fake. They're not doing that. And,
• 40:44
  S3: but people bit to it for a minute and we're
• 40:47
  S3: having discussions about it and it's like, nope, that ain't real.
• 40:50
  S3: Someone's lying.
• 40:51
  S2: It's harder to trust. And so when my kids will
• 40:54
  S2: tell me something, especially my son, because he likes to
• 40:57
  S2: watch these YouTube shorts. So give me a piece of information.
• 41:00
  S2: And the first thing I ask is, where did you
• 41:02
  S2: where did you hear? Where did you hear this? And
• 41:04
  S2: if it's something on YouTube, like you need to question
• 41:09
  S2: everything when it comes to these kind of news stories
• 41:13
  S2: or interesting discoveries. And there's some good content. Sure, good
• 41:18
  S2: learning that can happen on YouTube, but just double.
• 41:20
  S3: I mean, double check everything you hear. Go check multiple
• 41:22
  S3: sites to make sure what you're hearing is right.
• 41:24
  S2: Make sure you're getting good sources. Here's another, here's another one.
• 41:27
  S2: And this is just kind of a practical piece of
• 41:31
  S2: advice before you share something that seems sensational or really
• 41:37
  S2: interesting on your social media. If you share articles and
• 41:41
  S2: things like say, on Facebook or on x slash Twitter,
• 41:46
  S2: make sure that it's a real article.
• 41:49
  S3: Yes.
• 41:50
  S2: I mean, because there's a lot out there, especially we're
• 41:52
  S2: so in a polarized, divided, political charged environment. There's a
• 42:00
  S2: lot that gets shared out there. Kind of like throwing
• 42:02
  S2: red meat to lions 100%. I had someone send me
• 42:07
  S2: something and it was it was a video. And this
• 42:11
  S2: person was absolutely outraged by this video and wanted me
• 42:15
  S2: to see it, to see what I thought of it. And,
• 42:17
  S2: and I looked at it and I, I lovingly texted
• 42:21
  S2: them back and said, hey, this is actually like, this
• 42:23
  S2: is not real. Like, if this was true, I'd be
• 42:26
  S2: outraged with you. But thankfully, this is totally fabricated.
• 42:30
  S3: Yeah, totally.
• 42:32
  S2: But it's getting harder and harder to tell.
• 42:34
  S3: Very, very hard to tell. I mean, you can replicate
• 42:36
  S3: faces of people who aren't even in the video.
• 42:39
  S2: Yeah, you can create that. Have you seen these, like
• 42:42
  S2: fake press conferences where they'll have their they will manipulate
• 42:47
  S2: to have somebody saying something that they absolutely didn't say.
• 42:50
  S3: Yeah, absolutely. There's a, there's a whole Twitter channel about
• 42:52
  S3: it's called like AI press conferences or something like that.
• 42:55
  S3: And they just, I mean, and they're, they're obviously announcing
• 42:57
  S3: that they're fake. So it's a, you know, it's a thing,
• 43:01
  S3: it's a joke in a very open joke. But yeah, no,
• 43:03
  S3: there's people who just do that to try and trick you.
• 43:05
  S2: It's getting harder to tell. Here's the spiritual reality, though.
• 43:09
  S2: What you see is only part of the story. The
• 43:14
  S2: seen physical reality has to be viewed in light of
• 43:18
  S2: the eternal spiritual perspective. I've been looking at second Corinthians,
• 43:24
  S2: spent a lot of time in second Corinthians yesterday, and
• 43:27
  S2: we see this so we do not lose heart. Though
• 43:30
  S2: our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is
• 43:33
  S2: being renewed day by day. For this light, momentary affliction
• 43:36
  S2: is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond
• 43:39
  S2: all comparison, as we look not to the things that
• 43:42
  S2: are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For
• 43:45
  S2: the things that are seen are transient, but the things
• 43:48
  S2: that are unseen are eternal. Then when you continue on
• 43:51
  S2: in chapter five, we see that we walk by faith,
• 43:54
  S2: not by sight. And so there's some there's a compare
• 43:57
  S2: and contrast that's throughout these couple verses of the reality
• 44:03
  S2: that we can see versus what we cannot see, but
• 44:06
  S2: is totally true. So our outer self is wasting away.
• 44:09
  S2: True for all of us. We're getting older. Bodies start
• 44:13
  S2: to break down. You start to feel that more and
• 44:16
  S2: more feels like it's accelerating as you hit middle age.
• 44:19
  S2: That's the physical reality. But the spiritual reality that we
• 44:22
  S2: can't see is that our inner self is being renewed
• 44:25
  S2: day by day. Verse 17. The physical reality that we
• 44:29
  S2: can see well, the light and momentary affliction. Or how
• 44:33
  S2: about just the affliction? Because it doesn't always feel light
• 44:35
  S2: and momentary, right? But the spiritual reality, the unseen, is
• 44:39
  S2: that it's preparing for us an eternal weight of glory
• 44:42
  S2: beyond all comparison. Chapter five. Our earthly home. The tent
• 44:47
  S2: that we live in, our bodies being destroyed. But spiritual reality.
• 44:54
  S2: There's a building from God. We have a building from God.
• 44:57
  S2: A house not made with hands eternal in the heavens.
• 45:00
  S2: That's being prepared for us. We groan in this tent,
• 45:04
  S2: these bodies physical reality. But we're not. That's not the
• 45:11
  S2: end of our story. He's preparing something better for us.
• 45:16
  S2: So we stay of good courage. We are always of
• 45:18
  S2: good courage. Now, chapter five, verse six, we know that
• 45:21
  S2: while we are at home in the body, we are
• 45:24
  S2: away from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not
• 45:27
  S2: by sight. How's your faith walking? today is the unseen things.
• 45:32
  S2: The eternal things. Is that at the forefront of your
• 45:35
  S2: mind today?
• 45:36
  S1: You're listening to Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 45:40
  S2: I've just seen too much. We've been marching through this
• 45:43
  S2: week talking about the five senses, how they apply to
• 45:47
  S2: our spiritual life, how we see them in Scripture. If
• 45:49
  S2: you missed any of the conversations this week, I want
• 45:51
  S2: to make sure you get our show cast text show
• 45:54
  S2: to 805 557898, show to 805 557898. Also quick Carl
• 46:03
  S2: update I know you have been wondering. Boy, I haven't
• 46:06
  S2: heard Carl this week. He had some pre planned time off,
• 46:09
  S2: but his, uh, he's planning to be back with us
• 46:11
  S2: on Monday so no worries there. He's doing great. Coming
• 46:15
  S2: up we're going to talk about journaling. And before you
• 46:18
  S2: dismiss this as something totally not for you, did you
• 46:21
  S2: know that journaling is not just about the floral notebook
• 46:25
  S2: and it's not just a woman thing. It's not just
• 46:27
  S2: a middle aged woman thing or a teenage thing. And
• 46:30
  S2: it's not like keeping a diary. What is journaling and
• 46:34
  S2: how could it benefit you in your spiritual life today?
• 46:38
  S1: He's a sports fanatic with a stand for anything you
• 46:41
  S1: can think of. Young Thunder is in the crew. It's
• 46:45
  S1: curl and crew on Moody Radio.
• 46:48
  S2: Well, grab your notebooks. We're going to talk about journaling.
• 46:51
  S2: But before you decide, I don't want to listen to
• 46:53
  S2: this conversation because I'm not a journaler. You're only picturing
• 46:56
  S2: a floral notebook and colored pens in a quiet corner
• 47:00
  S2: and a cup of coffee. And my guest here is
• 47:02
  S2: going to dispel a lot of myths. It's not just
• 47:05
  S2: for one type of person. Alison Bixby journaling has great
• 47:10
  S2: value even for the quote unquote non journaler, right?
• 47:14
  S7: Absolutely. 100%. I love to tell people journaling is actually
• 47:18
  S7: a science backed practice. So it's not just this fluffy
• 47:23
  S7: pie in the sky dreamer kind of hobby, but it
• 47:26
  S7: actually has real benefit and can help us heal in
• 47:29
  S7: some significant ways.
• 47:30
  S2: And I know that it's done that for you. Tell
• 47:32
  S2: us a little bit about your own story and why
• 47:35
  S2: journaling became such an impactful part of it.
• 47:38
  S7: Yeah. Well, to be fair, I have journaled my whole
• 47:41
  S7: life because I love writing. Um, but in my 30s,
• 47:44
  S7: our oldest son was diagnosed with a rare genetic disorder
• 47:48
  S7: that just turned our world upside down in a way
• 47:51
  S7: I had not experienced before. I felt very disconnected from God.
• 47:56
  S7: And so I did what I always do. I journaled, um,
• 47:59
  S7: and then in that season though, what was different is
• 48:01
  S7: I really felt as if God was meeting me in
• 48:04
  S7: that journaling, um, in that honest, just kind of questioning, God,
• 48:08
  S7: who are you? What are you doing? Why did you
• 48:11
  S7: allow this to be a part of our story? Um,
• 48:14
  S7: and as I noticed that I was healing through that
• 48:18
  S7: writing as I was reconnecting to God through journaling, um,
• 48:21
  S7: I began to think, you know what? I bet you
• 48:23
  S7: I could help other people find a way to put
• 48:25
  S7: pen to page in the same kind of ways that
• 48:27
  S7: will connect their hearts to God and help them walk
• 48:31
  S7: forward and some healing. So that's where the passion comes from.
• 48:34
  S2: Yeah. Allison has authored a book called journaling as a
• 48:37
  S2: Spiritual Practice. You talked about the scientific backing of of journaling.
• 48:43
  S2: Tell me a little bit more about that.
• 48:44
  S7: Yeah, it's really interesting. Um, some of the studies have
• 48:48
  S7: shown that people who journal actually have end up with
• 48:52
  S7: fewer doctor's visits. They have better medical, uh, physical reports.
• 48:56
  S7: When they do go to the doctor, it lowers all
• 48:59
  S7: kinds of stress levels. So there are those real benefits
• 49:02
  S7: that we experience. And I, it's really because we're giving
• 49:05
  S7: all of these things running around inside our minds a
• 49:08
  S7: place to live and a way to process those things,
• 49:12
  S7: because otherwise they just stay stuffed down. And we know
• 49:15
  S7: that emotionally and even physically, when we don't process what
• 49:18
  S7: we're experiencing and what we're thinking and what we're feeling,
• 49:23
  S7: that it just kind of runs amok in our bodies.
• 49:25
  S2: You know, some people grew up maybe keeping a diary.
• 49:29
  S2: If you had a little brother, you probably kept a
• 49:31
  S2: lock on that diary so that he couldn't get a
• 49:34
  S2: peek into your deepest thoughts. And for most of us,
• 49:38
  S2: we would really prefer those things to be thrown into
• 49:41
  S2: a campfire somewhere, never to meet the light of day.
• 49:46
  S2: Is journaling the same as keeping a diary? Like as
• 49:49
  S2: a kid, where I'm just kind of writing down everything
• 49:52
  S2: that happened in my day. And or is it something deeper?
• 49:56
  S7: Yeah, I think there is a difference and both have
• 49:59
  S7: their place. I certainly was a Dear Diary kid growing up.
• 50:02
  S7: I had an older sister that I made sure could
• 50:04
  S7: never find my diary. Yes. Um, but journaling, especially as
• 50:08
  S7: a spiritual practice for me, is about a conversation between
• 50:13
  S7: myself and the Lord. So I'm doing a lot of listening. Yes,
• 50:16
  S7: I'm writing, but I'm also listening to, um, to the
• 50:20
  S7: Holy Spirit and to what the Lord is saying to
• 50:22
  S7: me in response to the things that I'm writing down.
• 50:26
  S2: Are there things that you found it easier to write
• 50:29
  S2: than to say out loud?
• 50:30
  S7: Oh, absolutely. Um, sometimes it's really hard to say the,
• 50:35
  S7: the difficult things out loud, the things that you're like,
• 50:37
  S7: oh man, if anybody knew I thought this or felt
• 50:39
  S7: this or had this question, I would really get judged. Um,
• 50:43
  S7: but you know, if we can keep our journals protected,
• 50:46
  S7: we know that nobody else is ever going to read
• 50:48
  S7: those things. Um, and so it becomes that safe place
• 50:51
  S7: to put it. Um, and, and it's sometimes just being
• 50:54
  S7: able to put words to those hard things is in
• 50:58
  S7: itself an act of worship, I think.
• 51:00
  S2: I agree with you because, you know, I think we've
• 51:02
  S2: all experienced the thoughts that were like, I am horrified
• 51:07
  S2: that this thought is even in my mind, you know,
• 51:09
  S2: or this that I'm feeling this. And it feels very
• 51:13
  S2: scary to, to utter it, you know, and we should
• 51:17
  S2: have no fear. We can come boldly before the throne
• 51:20
  S2: of grace to receive mercy in our time of need.
• 51:22
  S2: But it feels very intimidating. And is that like, is
• 51:26
  S2: it a need to kind of shed sort of the
• 51:28
  S2: christianese or the nice Christian upbringing and get raw and
• 51:33
  S2: real with God? Uh, journaling certainly can be a part
• 51:36
  S2: of that, right?
• 51:37
  S7: Oh, gosh. Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, look at job, look
• 51:40
  S7: at the Psalms. We have examples in scriptures of people
• 51:44
  S7: being incredibly honest with God about their fears, their anger,
• 51:48
  S7: their frustrations, their grief. And honestly, until we can get
• 51:53
  S7: really honest with the Lord, I have found it's hard
• 51:56
  S7: to go deeper. It's hard to abide with somebody that
• 51:59
  S7: you're not being very honest with. Right? And he already
• 52:03
  S7: knows our thoughts. And so a lot of times, really,
• 52:06
  S7: that act of journaling is about taking ownership of those.
• 52:10
  S7: And here's the thing, um, what I have always consistently
• 52:13
  S7: been met with when I do own those really kind
• 52:16
  S7: of maybe ugly or hard or scary things because I.
• 52:19
  S7: I am met with grace. I am met with God's
• 52:21
  S7: grace again and again and again. Um, he never has
• 52:24
  S7: come to me in a condemning, um, harsh way. He
• 52:28
  S7: just comes to me with his love, his mercy, his truth. Right.
• 52:31
  S7: Which sometimes can feel a little like, oh, okay. Ouch.
• 52:34
  S7: But you're right. Um, and that's, I think that's the difference.
• 52:37
  S7: That for me has helped dispel some of that fear.
• 52:40
  S7: And occasionally I rip those pages out and burn them in,
• 52:42
  S7: you know, the fire pit, because I don't want anybody. Yeah.
• 52:45
  S7: Anybody seeing them. But yeah.
• 52:47
  S2: What is a good starting place for somebody who's or people,
• 52:51
  S2: some people listening and they've been journaling for a while.
• 52:53
  S2: This is an encouragement. But for the person who had
• 52:56
  S2: never really considered it but is maybe intrigued, what's a
• 53:00
  S2: good starting place? What? Get a notebook and a pen.
• 53:03
  S2: Sit down and just what?
• 53:06
  S7: That's a great question. Um, I tell people, especially those
• 53:10
  S7: who have not done maybe a lot of journaling before,
• 53:13
  S7: is and this might sound silly, but set yourself a
• 53:16
  S7: five minute timer and start writing. You could start writing
• 53:20
  S7: about your day. So kind of that Dear Diary approach
• 53:22
  S7: sometimes that's a nice gateway into some of the more
• 53:25
  S7: deeper processing. Sure. And then one of my favorite questions
• 53:28
  S7: is simply to ask God, where did I see you today?
• 53:32
  S7: Where did I see you show up in Scripture? Where
• 53:34
  S7: did I see you or sense your presence in my
• 53:37
  S7: own life? Where did I see you? Working in somebody
• 53:40
  S7: else's life. And that opens up a whole lot of
• 53:43
  S7: possibilities that help us become more aware of God's active
• 53:47
  S7: work and presence all around us.
• 53:49
  S2: Yeah. You know, we talked about a lot about journaling
• 53:52
  S2: the hard emotions, but there's something powerful about writing down
• 53:55
  S2: the places where you see God move. And because it
• 53:59
  S2: was so easy to forget and I've had, you know,
• 54:01
  S2: I used to go back through my journals, New Year's Eve.
• 54:04
  S2: It was kind of my thing. I would go and
• 54:06
  S2: read through, kind of skim a whole year's worth of,
• 54:09
  S2: of journal entries, and I would be reminded of all
• 54:12
  S2: kinds of things that God had done. And so recounting
• 54:15
  S2: those memories and having a place for those to live
• 54:18
  S2: because we're so forgetful.
• 54:20
  S7: Yes. Right. Frankly, these are things I've forgotten even happened.
• 54:24
  S7: I am often in awe of like, oh, that's right.
• 54:26
  S7: Last January, that thing did happen. That's the way that
• 54:29
  S7: God answered that prayer. And, um, and it's so good.
• 54:32
  S7: And the reason I really tell people five minutes because
• 54:35
  S7: I kind of get the side eye about that, like,
• 54:37
  S7: can I really do anything meaningful in a journal in
• 54:39
  S7: five minutes is I absolutely think you can. And I
• 54:42
  S7: am continually as well as others that I've talked to,
• 54:45
  S7: surprised at what I am able to unearth and uncover
• 54:49
  S7: and write down and even just five minutes so that
• 54:52
  S7: I can kind of break that idea that journaling has
• 54:54
  S7: to be hours or pages upon pages of my time.
• 54:58
  S2: Yeah. Allison Bixby, our guest author of journaling as a
• 55:01
  S2: Spiritual Practice text journal to 805 557898. We'll get you
• 55:07
  S2: linked up. Just text journal to 805 557898.