Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Give him praise this morning. It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus. Most nerve wracking thing in my life right up there. Top five. Absolutely gut wrenching. Nerve wracking.
Okay. Oh my goodness I know right?
I'm at Mariner's Church in Southern California preaching. I have no notes. Ah. And I'm scrambling to they're there in the green room. It's a big old church there in the green room. And I thought, don't go get em. Just get up there. You got it on your heart. And I got up there and everything got jumbled. And I'm crying out to God. I have my opening illustration and I'm crying out to God, and I'm like, this
is horrible. And I get into the first point and I totally botch it, and it's totally different than anything on the screen.
And I'm in awe because he had slides. Yeah.
And the central passage of Scripture that I go to has nothing to do with my outline. Nothing. And I am dying in a pile, and then I wake up.
Oh, are. You can't do that. That was good.
It happened to me.
What?
There is nothing more stressful nor relieving than waking up from a dream.
Yes.
My goodness that you can't get yourself out of.
Yes.
You know what I'm saying?
Yes. Mine are usually related to. Not my job here. But back in the day, one of my one of my first real adult jobs was working in a television newsroom. And television newsrooms are really high stress places. Everybody's on a deadline. You're trying to work on a story for the five or the six or the 10:00 newscast. And so I have this reoccurring dream that I am not going to make my deadline for my story. And I'm like, running through the newsroom back in the day when you
actually had a physical tape. And then I wake up, like out of breath, like it's been 15 years. The newscast is over. Everything is okay.
I'm in a new place. I'm in a new time, and everything's fine. Stress is going to come at us sometimes in the middle of the night. You might have one on your heart right now going. Oh, you can't believe what I dreamed last night. And I'm so glad when I woke up, it didn't happen.
Or I've got something I'm facing that I wish were just a nightmare. That I could wake up from what.
I was thinking.
That's the point. Because some stuff comes at us and comes at us as fast. Hang on. We got a treat for you. Because if you felt any stress in your life, we got a man with a plan.
She was trying to earn her way to God, but God showed her she didn't have to. Ali is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
So, Ali, uh, what stresses you out other than me? No. You can't.
Oh, I know I should. I should back this whole train up here for a second. I just set myself up. But what stresses you out?
Oh, what stresses me out? Um, sometimes feeling overextended, like there's so many things to get done in a day. And it feels like I can sometimes never quite catch up.
How about traffic? When radio starts in a half an hour.
Traffic stresses me out. I have a 15 year old who's learning how to drive.
Oh, that's all you got?
In downtown Chicago. And so sitting in the passenger seat really stresses me out as I'm trying to help her learn how to drive. What about you?
Oh, what stresses me out? I think, um, because I'm a leader, I get stressed out when I feel like there's key slots in any organization that aren't filled rightly. That's an indicator right there that that starts to bump my cup a little bit. Doctor Charles Stone, what stresses you out? You're an expert on stress. What stresses you out?
Well, actually, I just got stressed when Ali shared about teaching her kids to drive. It took me back to those early days, right? And I am really stressed now. Thank you. Ali.
Doctor Charles Stone, our guest right now, you have spent an extensive amount of time studying this. You studied more than 400 ministry leaders. You consulted more than 500 research studies, articles and books on stress resilience. Tell us why this topic became such a passion project for you.
Well, yeah, it actually started on a vacation. My wife and I were on a vacation where they have buffets everywhere. I love buffets, so it was just great. But there was a problem. Wi-Fi was everywhere, and it was just prior to when Covid hit. And I told my wife I was serving in a church in Canada at the time. They're going to shut us down. Sure, as the world we got back, we were shut down for months, and I had to realize that I was now going to have to lead a church of a thousand through a
tiny pinhole camera on my computer. About that time, I was diagnosed with prediabetes. And listen, I eat my vegetables and exercise. I was diagnosed with an AFib. That's when your heart flutters, when it shouldn't. And I was diagnosed with cancer. And the irony was I was doing a research dissertation PhD project on, you guessed it, stress. So I became the lab rat. Uh, along with that. So out of those experiences, I began to write, and I delve into this whole thing of stress.
Yeah. The interesting thing about stress is there is a good stress and it's called you stress and you stress is a type of stress that's motivating. Short term, performance enhancing. Emotionally positive. I've been studying this a little bit lately, so it's great that we're having you on here today. I mean, God created us with emotion. So some stress actually activates us to move in directions that can really give God glory. But the vast majority of stress is
not good. I mean, this is why being anxious for nothing, and I think a lot of people look at their stress and they think that they're disobedient or bad children of God. What do you say, pastor?
Well, stress actually comes in two flavors. You mentioned one. You stress. It's also called acute stress. And then there's a chronic stress. Now you stress or acute stress is like when I was preparing for our time on the radio, I was making sure, do I have the right thing plugged in or the knobs and everything just right? So my stress raised a bit, but it calmed down when I kind of got everything together. Chronic stress is when that stress event out there is there, and we don't
respond in a healthy way. Therefore, many days are beyond and when that happens. Oh boy. It affects our brains. It affects our bodies, our relationships, our walk with God. But you made a great point. Just because you feel this stress response, because there is a stress event we have no control over, then the stress response is how God wired us to respond to that. Just because we have some of these natural, immediate responses to stress events
does not mean we're less of a Christian. It's the way God designed us to respond to demands and threatening situations.
The stress is something that as soon as you say that word, I think every person listening has an idea of what that means in their own life. But as you walking through your own personal, stressful life experiences and just kind of surveying so many different ministry leaders, what did you find that was sort of a common thread through all of it.
Well, studying a lot of these ministers, it was interesting that during Covid, like over 40% of pastors felt like leaving the ministry because of stress. And of course, that was the height of Covid. Now we're past Covid, but still over a third of pastors are thinking about quitting the ministry. So stress is real in the ministry. It's really everywhere. I live in southern Mississippi and this is like high pollen season. There's like a yellow coating over everything.
Stress is like that. It is like everywhere. Here's a simple definition. Stress is the way God designed us. It is our natural response to real or perceived threats or demands. Let me give you an example. You go camping, you're in a tent and you hear some movement outside and your mind goes like, oh no, it's a grizzly. He's going to eat me up. So you don't sleep at all that night. But in the morning when the sun comes up, you peek out and you realize, oh, that
wasn't a bear. That was a raccoon eating those Cheetos I left on the table. So this stress response happens whether it's real, a real bear, or whether it's perceived just a raccoon.
Yeah, I love this. This is really good. Doctor Gerald Stone is our guest right now, and we're going to have a link for you in just a moment. It's a self-test, actually. Subtle signs of stress. Four of them in your life. He's written a blog on it and also written how to get relief from this. You know, you look at Philippians four and Paul's writing from prison and he says, don't be anxious about anything. But in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard. My dad used to highlight garrison is a stronger word there that should be used your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. How does that move from being just a verse to a lived experience? Doctor?
You know, I think the apostle Paul was like the original neuroscientist. It's amazing how neuroscience and sciences are catching up with what the Bible said. The apostle Paul innately understood some of these struggles that we had. In fact, he even said a couple of times that he was feeling anxious. So there's this thing of the biochemical, the hormones, the, uh, the molecules that course through our body and brain when
we experience a stressful situation. But one of the things that believers have that is so powerful now there's God expects us to cooperate. We have the Holy Spirit dwelling in us.
Amen.
The Holy Spirit gives us power. The Holy Spirit gives us wisdom. Now, again, it's a cooperative effort. Holy Spirit's a gentleman. He's not going to push his way in. So we have this power source to be able to act wisely, behave wisely, to be able to think appropriately. Think Philippians four eight, but also how to be able to deal with this tension like, okay, I feel anxious, I'm trusting the Lord, but I still feel anxious. You know, a lot of that is simply your body. These chemicals
that create these feelings. Does it mean you're less of a Christian? Does it mean you have less faith? But the Holy Spirit is the one that empowers us to be able to respond well to stress events.
So coming up, let's get practical. What are some habits guided by the Holy Spirit that can help us respond and stress less, more with our guest, Doctor Charles Stone, coming up.
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
Do you have any stress in your life?
No, I'm stress free over here.
I think every single person would answer definitively yes. I've got some stress in my life. Is it a chronic issue for you? Are you stressed out? More than not. Doctor Charles Stone, our guest right now, give us some of these habits that you've outlined in this book that can really help us as believers, guided by the Holy Spirit. Stress less.
Yeah, I actually, in my research came up with nine practices that I included in the book Stress Less and one of the easiest ones. In fact, the first practice is what I call seize and breathe. You know, you look at Scripture and you see breath throughout Genesis. God breathed into Adam. He became a living being. Jesus in the New Testament, he breathed on that early church. The Holy Spirit came. There's a very interesting neuroscience insight. And
here it is. Deep breathing activates a particular nerve that actually slows our heart rate and dampens the stress response. And here's a practical way to do that. It's called the sniff breath. You know, we breathe in. We breathe out. We breathe in, we breathe out. But as you breathe in, just imagine breathing in and then taking one more sniff of breath and then slowly breathe out through your nose and making that outbreath a little longer than the time
it took you to breathe in. Do this two or 3 or 4 times, and it's amazing how it calms the stress response. And I have an acronym called stop to help you remember when you're in stress situation. S stands for stop. T stands for take a breath. O stands for observe. You know what's going on in my mind. What's really going on here? P stands for pray. Lord, I need your help here. And the second P added
an extra P means proceed. So stop. But the breath is just something that is a very powerful tool you can take anywhere. And it's very effective in dealing with stress.
It's so funny that you mentioned this because my son, who's got a startup in Miami, he was about two months ago. He said, dad, I found the best thing. I'm not breathing rightly when I'm feeling stressed and you're spiking it. He said, yeah, long, deep breath in, longer exhale. Really good stuff. We're going to have a lot of hits on this because you know better than us. It's everywhere right now.
Oh, you know, this week the stock market it is making everybody unsettled. So appropriate topic.
Yeah. All right. Let's get a couple more. Another couple habits from the word and brain science that builds resilience and reduces this stress anxiety. What do you say?
One of the other ones that is just really, really helpful is something I call grow gratitude. You know, we see that often in the New Testament. There were to be grateful. Well, again, scientists have learned that when we are grateful, it releases these positive brain chemicals. That helps dampen the stress response. And here's a little practical thing anybody can do. It's called three good things before you wake up and you wake up in the morning before
you put your feet on the floor. Think of three things you're grateful for. Could be small. Could be large. Even better if you diary write those three things in your diary. Even better, do the same thing before you go to bed. The very fact that we think of those three things and we focus on them with gratitude, it actually sets our day up to think on those things that the Scripture tells us to think about. So grow gratitude. That is an easy one and a really effective one.
Okay, give us one more. We've got time for one more. Doctor Charles Stone, our guest. Right now.
The last practice is Sleep Smart. More and more scientists are finding out the importance of sleep. If someone says in peace, I will lie down in sleep. And over a third of Americans at any point in time are struggling with sleep. A couple of simple things to do to sleep better is make sure the room you're in is cool. Mid 60s. I know my wife and I disagree on that. She has a heating blanket that keeps
her warm, but so we worked that out mid 60s. Secondly, reduce the amount of blue light through screens that you have at night. Because blue light actually dampens the hormone melatonin. That is the all called to our body. Time to go to bed. So we need to get our noses out of the iPads and iPhones before we go to bed. So sleep smart is a big one.
I got to tell you, doc, it's really funny you mentioned this blue light thing I've grown so convicted about it that I got a pair. You guys are going to crack up at me. You ought to see the picture I sent. I'm going to send my team a picture of this. But I have these glasses over glasses that block 99.5% of blue light. And I put them on every night at 7 p.m..
You get an A plus. For that I have those, you get an A plus.
Well, it's helping because we were not designed our circadian rhythm. God did not design us to have these screens in front of our mug until we try to turn in. So good stuff.
Doctor Charles Stone, last question for you. After going through all this writing the book, you mentioned some of your health challenges that you've gone through. Can you say that you do stress less? Maybe. That's a tough question.
That's a fair question.
Does this work?
It really does. Absolutely. I'm more chill now. Does that mean that when some stress event comes up, it's big or a surprise? I don't feel those things and I'm still in process. But for me, I've learned that stress does not have to define me. It can define me. And that there is hope that I, your listeners, can absolutely manage the effects of the stress response with some practical, biblically based, science supported practices. So. So yeah, it really is effective.
Doctor Charles Stone has been with us. And we've got two things for you in one link that we're going to send you. One of them is for subtle signs that you're stressed I loved it, they're simple and profoundly spot on. And then also a link to his book, Stress Less nine Habits from the Bible and Brain Science to Build Resilience and Reduce Anxiety. I got a hunch we got some links going out here, like cordwood today.
For our guest, Doctor Charles Stone. Just text Stone to 800 555 7898. Text stone to (800) 555-7898.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super dei is in the crew. It's Carl and crew. On Moody Radio.
God is on the move and he wants to work through you. Action changes outcome. How do we know that to be true? Young thunder, come on, let's go.
We know that to be true because we see it in the book of Esther. You know, we've been talking about Esther all week, and the culmination of the story comes at the end, where she is going to try to save her people group. Haman, the right hand man of the king of the Persian Empire, says, I'm going to kill all the Jews in the Persian Empire. It would have been a lot of Jews. The first Holocaust is how we've been describing it all week. And and he says, I'm going after all of them. And he
would have been able to do it. There was a law that was going to go out that would have made this happen. Esther said, you know, I might die going before the king unauthorized, but I'm going to go before the King unauthorized, because I feel like it's what God's calling me to do. She goes, the king spares her, hears her, and she tells him everything that's going on. And he's furious because she's a Jewish woman. So she would be included in that and because of her faithfulness.
Standing in faith, he kills Haman, the man who was in control of of it all. And the the Jewish people are spared.
Yeah. Esther nine one is the payoff verse. You're right. Ali.
Absolutely. Esther nine one says this now in the 12th month, which is the month of Adar, on the 13th day of the same, when the king's command and edict were about to be carried out on the very day when the enemies of the Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, the reverse occurred. The Jews gained mastery over those who hated them.
Powerful. You know what's wild about faith is it flies in the face of conventional wisdom every time. Yeah, right.
That's why it's called faith.
That's why it's called faith. I mean, there's so many layers to faith. But at the end. And by the way, here, let me give you a definition for faith. It's a confident trust, loyal commitment, an obedient response to God on who he is and what he has promised, even when those promises are not yet seen or fulfilled. We know from the back end of Hebrews 11 that those that were sawn in two, those that were mocked, scorned, stoned, they did not see the promise fulfilled, but they did.
In fact, the writer of Hebrews clearly says that we are here in essence because of their act of faith.
Yes, their faith is commended, not necessarily the outcome of their faith.
So action changes outcome, and our commitment here is to help you take your next step with Jesus. So I'm asking you to light it up this morning. Let's go. What step of faith is God asking you to take? We don't need the outcome. You don't know it. But God's calling you to take a step of faith. And it's for his glory and for the good of others, because that's the established premise that we find all through the Hall of Fame of faith. You go to Hebrews
11 by faith, Moses by faith, Abraham by faith. The seas parted by faith. And the list goes on and on. And what do you see? God's glory and the good of others.
I actually love this. I don't think I noticed this before. I just looked at Hebrews 11. The first person they mention is Abel. It said by faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous. When God spoke well of his offerings, and by faith Abel still speaks, even though he's dead. Abel died because Cain was jealous of him before for being righteous before God and he died. He didn't get to live forward, but his faith still speaks even though he's dead.
Okay. That's huge. I I've read that. I've preached it, but slow down and give that to us again. We all need. That is epic.
Absolutely. This is the first person mentioned in the Hall of Fame of Faith. It says by faith Abel brought God a better offering than Cain did. By faith he was commended as righteous when God spoke well of his offerings, and by faith Abel still speaks even though he is dead.
Boom! That doesn't fire you up. You got wet wood. Come on. No doubt. Okay, so he died at the hands of his bitter brother.
And yet.
And yet his testimony speaks today. Yeah. Whoo! What step of faith is God asking you to take? 800 555 78. 98. Come on, let's go. Boom! Crew, this is your show. Here we go. Light em up. 800 555 78. 98. Anything on your heart, Ali?
You know, I like that you mentioned that. That, like, our faith speaks and faith outlasts.
Yeah.
Our time here on earth.
It's got longer legs, man.
I love that.
Whoo! If you are fired up about the word of God, you got to get. Check your.
Pulse.
No doubt.
Check your pulse.
800 555 7898. What step of faith is God asking you to take today? What is it? 800 555 7898 it's glory to God and good of others.
You can take him out of Alaska, but you can't take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Okay, it's Carl and crew. Never cease to be amazed what God's doing around us. Even in the small stuff. You know, steps of faith are crazy. Let me give you a simple one. This is going to sound nutso, but this is how I want you to understand faith. A lot of times we think faith is I'm going to go witness on 42 blocks today by faith. Well, maybe walk around Chicago, cover all 42 blocks. Every person you see is going to hear the gospel. The better chance.
That's presumption. You might have heard from God, but faith is usually taking those opportunities God gives us. I mean, first Corinthians 16 nine Paul was delayed in going to see Corinth because wide door for effective work had opened to him. That's an interesting subplot of that passage. Verse nine A wide door for effective work has opened to me. That's what you're looking for. And then you walk through them. So what did he do? He stuck on in Ephesus because. Whoa,
big old opportunity was open to me. Sometimes faith is just the stuff that God shows you in the simple little moments of life. I was deeply convicted by God. I've got to do resistance training, and I've been really faithful to it. And it's not because I want to be Hercules. Those days are gone. Even skinny kids like me can have those dreams. But those days are gone. I just want to be fit. And I don't want my bones falling in on me here. You know, I just. And so resistance training is huge.
Trying to be healthy.
Muscle retention and bone health. It's really important in cardiovascular, by the way. You can get a pretty good cardio workout if you keep moving through your sets. So yesterday was leg day and I didn't want to go every you ever woke up in the morning and the last thing you want to do is work out.
Ah yes.
Yeah about every time I go to work out.
Yeah.
So I want to do this.
I'm like.
God, I can't do this. So God got me to the gym. I went over to the squat rack, did my squats, pulled off four sets, pretty heavy weight for me, and did four sets of five, 4 or 5 reps per set. And it's awesome. And then I have to go to the leg press machine, and I'm looking at that thing, and that thing's mocking me like, you can't do this. And I'm like, yeah, you're right. I'm heading out of here. I started digging.
I'm kind of.
Turning. And then I prayed. I said, God, I gotta have energy. I mean, the music playing in the gym was so lousy. It was some thrash metal thing. I couldn't even understand the guy. And I'm like, that's reason enough to get out of here. And God's like, get on the press. So by an act of faith, I went over to the leg press and it's got a bunch of 40, several £45 plates, a couple on each side. I'm like, all right, I'm going to try to do this. And for some reason, man, God honored that step of faith.
And I pulled ripped off that set and ripped off another set. And then I loaded a couple more £45 plates on there. Don't don't cheer for me, Argentina. I mean, it wasn't anything too notable. It looks great, but it's a 45 degree incline, so it's not like you're pressing the world. Not like I'm doing Atlas thing or anything. But I got done with those sets and I'm like, yes, I did it. And I walked home and I told my bride, I said, God gave me the grace to
do it, man. But action changes outcomes and there can be some immediacy of of gratitude in your heart because you're like, God got me to do that. Isn't that cool?
Yes. And I love that because that's a small thing. But you know that it's a step of obedience to continue to take care of your health and your body. And when you don't feel like doing it, what do you go to? Well, it's a step of faith to continue to be obedient when you don't feel like it.
Yeah. And then God proved to me. Isn't that cool about steps of faith? Oftentimes at the back end, God says, see, I told you I had you.
Yeah. Yep.
Told you I had you on this thing.
And you always get that feeling after you're done. Whether it's stepping out to share the gospel with someone or you get asked to share your testimony and there's some, oh, I don't know if I can do this. And then afterwards you feel that sense, like, God, you had me. Thank you.
It's so cool. Mhm. Come on in here from Illinois.
Hi. Good morning. So I'm going to say that God is actually telling me through listening the third time for those members of Spirit of God. God is asking me to share the gospel and use every Opportunity to share the gospel.
I love that, and you know what I love about that? Is that you're talking about God granting you opportunities. That's exactly what we find in first Corinthians 16 nine. A wide door for effective work and opportunity. It opened to me, and so I'm going to stay on here. Resolve that. That is awesome. Stay on the horn. You're getting a prize pack to fuel that step of faith, sister. Come on. See you there. How sweet is that? What step of faith is God asking you to take today? Lalita, thanks
for holding on. First time caller in Wisconsin. What's God saying to you?
He's saying to trust. Trust him and trust his process that he has put me in with with my addiction. Like I'm afraid that I'm alone and I'm going to have to go through all this emotional pain alone.
What are you addicted.
To.
Girl? What are you addicted to?
Drugs and alcohol and food and. And emotional pain and stress.
Okay, I want to. I'm going to pray for you here in a minute, Lolita. But I want to talk to you as. As a friend and as a pastor. Okay. I want I want you to hear my heart here. Number one, you're up against something that is common to all men and women. There are. There's the constant temptation to take the bait of Satan and to get that God shaped void filled up with a bunch of trash that's just hurting you, right? You get that, right, Lolita?
Yeah.
Okay, so here's what I want you to know, sister. You. There's no power in you to get victory here. It's only in God. And. The power of God's grace is unmerited favor. God is looking with favor upon you, Lolita. He's looking with favor on you. And Grace is not only unlimited favor, it's unlimited power. God has all the juice you need to get you free. What this is going to require of you. The only part you play in this is absolute humble, broken submission to God. I
know you're there. Otherwise, why in the world would you call into a radio show? And I'm proud of you for that. I'm proud of you. Humble submission to God. Proximity to Jesus. Number two, this is abiding in Christ. And I'm going to be bold with you right now, sister. And I need you to listen to me. I need to be really clear on this one. I need you to separate yourselves from any fools, mockers, or scoffers. Here's
what that means. It means that people that you've had around your life who are absolutely Counterproductive to where God wants to take you. Do you hear me, Lolita?
Yes.
And what this is going to require you doing is not going scorched earth on these people. But you're going to have to separate yourself from these folks, and it's going to be a discipline of the soul to do this. But you can do this. I'm going to give you something else. You've got to get into a community of faith, and you've got to let some people shoulder this burden with you. There are some lovely people that want to,
in your church, shoulder this with you. All right, sister, and we're going to pray for you in just a moment. We're going to get a slew of folks. We're going to get thousands of people, tens of thousands all around the United States and Canada and the world beyond. Praying for you in just a moment. But I that's I need you to hear that. Okay, father, in the name of Jesus, we thank you for Lolita. Thank you for this step of faith that you're calling her to today.
God bless her. I'm asking you to shower her God with your presence and power. Show her that your grace is enough. And by your power flexed through her life. As she abides in you. As she finds others to bear those burdens. As she separates herself from fools, scoffers, and mockers. God, give her one little victory today. Give her one little victory today and build on it tomorrow. God grateful for Lolita's step of faith today. What an
awesome inspiration. And we give you thanks in Jesus name. Amen. Lolita, I want to tell you I'm going to send you something. I'm going to send you my new book, Killing Sin. And I'm going to. So what I need you to do is stay on the horn here. Okay, sister. And I want you to.
Give.
Give your snail mail address to Savannah. She's going to get it from you. And I'm. I'm going to I'm going to send you my my new book, Killing Sin, and we're going to get it out to you. Pretty cool. Lolita, what a great step of faith. Right, Ali?
Yeah. You know, sometimes a step of faith is a step out of something that, you know, is is not good for you.
Yeah.
And that's. That takes a lot of courage.
Oh. Come on. The kind of courage it took for her to get on the phone and even call in here. That's so commendable. I'm so proud of you, Lolita. And there's a lot more lolitas out there. Step in to a relationship with Jesus today. That's brutally honest. Step away from earthly relationships that are dragging you down. Tap God's grace through humility and proximity to Jesus, and God will get the victory. Way to go, Lolita!