Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus. And what that involves is in the beauty of it is, you can come as you are and experience God. I, I just praise God that even though I've been walking with Jesus so many decades now, that God is just still inviting me. Carl, let's go on this journey together. You don't need to get cleaned up. There's still issues in your life that need to change. Yeah, believe it or not, there's plenty. And. And yet God
is merciful. Isn't that one of the most amazing things, guys, about God's character?
Very much so, because, I mean, when you are reminded that his mercies are new every morning and that's that is the fresh start that the world is always looking for. I mean, there's a reason why every new year people make resolutions to try to be better, and I'll use that in air quotes because we can't. And then they come up empty. What we're looking for is new mercy. And you only find that in Christ. Only in Christ do we get a reset button.
And that mercy cuts through shame and shame wants to just bury us. Actually, shame is Satan's attempt to keep us from coming and experiencing the mercy of God. And on this Freedom Friday, we're talking about adultery. And you might say, well, that's great. It's a narrow audience. It's wider than you might imagine. There's a lot of adulterous relationships, even in those who are in Christ Jesus, whether it be physical or emotional, they can be there, but it
encompasses so much more. And I want to illustrate that for you. I want to recap quickly. Yesterday, if you weren't here, it's new. If you were here, I think it'll it's worth repeating that a lot of opportunities over the years as a pastor to counsel a lot of really tough situations. Never forget the day when I got a call from a great woman of God. My assistant said, somebody's on the horn and they are absolutely devastated. Could you take it? And I said, yeah. She says, Carl
through sobs. My husband cheating on me. And I said, are you sure? She goes, yeah. And he's not even shy about it. I call him up. I said, hey, get into the office if you would with me, bro. And I was kind of shocked. He was like, okay, I'll be there. And he came in standing tall, walked into my office. I said, what's going on? He said, I found a new love. I mean, he was just deception can get so thick that you have no sense of right or wrong. True. North, south, east, west. It's stunning.
And I watch this guy who was otherwise what I would have considered to be a pretty committed disciple of Christ, just absolutely deceived. And he said, I met this new woman, and I have a love like I've never seen before, and God's given me the green light to leave my wife. I said, well, before you do, let me give you a warning here. And I appealed to him. With tears in my eyes. I said, bro, don't do it. This grass is not greener on the other side. It's like
that eighth inch thick astroturf. These are the exact words I told them. You're going to jump over there and you're going to find out that that astroturf has no padding. It's on concrete, Man, and you are going to break your life. You're going to break your kids. You're going to destroy your family. Your witness is going to be gone.
Much like we find in the church of Ephesus, man left their first love in the lampstands going to get removed if they didn't turn around, I appealed to him, repent, man, turn around. Go back to your bride. He walked out of the office and he went his own way. And. I'm no prophet, but you can put two and two together, and it's a wreck to this day. To this day it's a total train wreck. Sometime later, I got another call from another woman who said, I'm heartbroken, husband's cheating
on me. I call him up and say, come on in, bro. He did. He had a different heart posture. He was bent over, head down, crying a little bit when he plopped down in the chair and we sat and talked. I took his hand and said, brother, let's talk a little bit here. He said, I blew it. He said, I know what I got to do. I know what you're going to tell me to do, and I got to do it. And through sobs, I mean, snot coming out both nostrils. I mean, this guy was absolutely humbled
and broken. He said, well, my wife take me back. And I told him the truth. I said, I don't know, but she's a godly woman. You got to rebuild the bridge called trust, bro. It's going to take a while, but if you continue to humble yourself under God's mighty hand, he might lift up this marriage. He said, I want that so bad. It's an awesome thing when you see a man's man trembling before the Lord. Guys. It's beautiful. It's so beautiful. And God did restore that marriage by
God's grace and mercy. And it's phenomenal. You know, both of these men had a bigger issue than cheating on their wives. You know what it was? They were cheating on God. That's where it begins. That's the root of all missing the mark. And for those that are born again, that have wandered away from their first love. You're sleeping around on God. I know that sounds crazy. You're in
the sheets with something else that's grabbed your affection. And it doesn't have to be a physical, a physical, adulterous relationship. It can be social media, man. That can be our affection. That can be the thing that actually gives us more of a buzz than our love for God. It can be alcohol. I've got so many friends that started sipping it and they thought, you know, Grace gives me permission. No, grace is a privilege to live as you never did before.
I could go get drunk big time. I didn't need Grace to get hammered before I was born again. And I'm not here to argue wine sipping or anything like that. I actually, I actually know that there's some of you that are in control. But I also know as a pastor, there's vast swaths of you that you started sipping wine and sipping you, and my heart goes out to you. Isn't it amazing that we can make a substitute god out of red wine? Isn't that weird? No. Isn't that humbling?
It can be self-righteousness. It can be wasting time. It can come in so many different ways. And if the Spirit of God indwells you and you're born again, you can know when you're getting under the sheets to some degree with another God. And all I'm saying today is return to God. Ditch the spiritual affair. And the reason that we need to is that the light that your kids need that are far from God, maybe or maybe
in Christ and they're doing well. They need to see a mom and dad, a grandma and a grandpa who is in love with God more than a golf course, in love with God, more than Facebook, in love with God. Fill in the blank. I know this is convicting. It is for me.
Totally.
It's for me.
For all of us.
Yeah. It's hard. I get that. But the one thing we're going to do here and I got up yesterday morning at 3 a.m.. It was like the Holy Spirit just said. I mean, it was almost audible. This is your central passage of Scripture to cap off this incredible week of going under the hood, because you can go under the hood and you can say, okay, I'm going to get silence and solitude with God, and I'm going to have private prayer with God, and I'm going to
have private Bible study with God. The unseen things matter most. But what's below? Even those private things, is a heart that's directed toward God. And if you're under the sheets with something else, even solitude, silence and prayer will ring hollow. But if you get out of those sheets. And you return to God and you ditch that spiritual affair no
matter what it is. Our God reigns. Man, I'm just so encouraged for you right now, because I know that the Spirit of God convicts, but the Spirit of God comes in right behind that and comforts. And I spent some time yesterday taking what James wrote in James four when he says, you adulterous people, aren't you glad he didn't end right there? Go in next chapter, please. Yeah, he says, friend, friendship of the world is making you an enemy of God. And and these are born again people.
Born again people who are being called adulterers. And why would God do that? One reason he loves us enough. God calls balls and strikes better than any umpire in the MLB. He just calls balls and strikes. He doesn't miss.
Them. And when we think about our relationship, the the relationship with Jesus being the bride and the bridegroom and the church being the bride. I mean, that covenant relationship is all over Scripture. And so adultery is the perfect description. And I remember reading through some of the I mean, because the language is really graphic.
It's hard.
And it's used all over Scripture.
And I remember I was traveling out of the country one time. I won't even tell you where I was traveling, but it was to a country where prostitution was very much out in the open.
Okay.
And I remember as I was reading it, you know, in my quiet times about these different passages of scripture where this graphic language is, is used, and then kind of seeing this kind of put on display. And it was so horrifying to my, to my eyes to see like this. Just so out in the open. Yeah. And I thought, that's the language that God uses to describe when our hearts turn, when his, his people turned away from him to prostitution, basically. And it was like to
prostitute themselves with other gods. And I was like, oh boy, this is really, really shocking stuff. But it was I remember it because it was like, okay, there's a reason why that language is used.
As hard as it is, aren't we glad that we have a loving Heavenly Father that uses graphic terms so that we can actually get it, and it cuts through the fog of our own delusion?
Yes.
Yes, absolutely. Because I read those passages differently. Much differently.
So you want to return to God. And I got some hope for you because James went on. And I've got a blog that I, I just I was so thrilled that I could take some time yesterday to. I just want to gift it to you. There's no charge for this thing. I want you to pass it around, share it with friends, discuss it with someone, and I want you to return to God. I have enough humility today and one of the most dangerous groups. Because the church of Ephesus was like this in Romans two. You
know what? They had it figured out. They were so knotted up theologically that they could tell when a false apostle showed up in town, and they booted him out and said, your theology is not right. And you know what God said to him? Their theology isn't right, and your life's out of whack. You've left your first love. Isn't that amazing? You can have it buttoned down theologically and be missing it spiritually. An angry evangelicalism's are high
on this list. And when the political takes the place of the spiritual, you're sleeping around on God. That's a hard one to take because I've got strong convictions about things and how they work in this world. But even when the political supplants the spiritual, you're sleeping around on God. So I'm inviting you to return to God and ditch the spiritual affair. And let's come alive in Jesus. Here today, we've got a link for you. Text the word return to 800 555 7898. Text return to 800 555 7898.
Just that one word. Return to 800 555 7898. Father, I just pray that there's a spiritual awakening across North America today for every listener here today. God, give us ears to hear what the Spirit of God is saying to us. We, the broader church of of Jesus Christ. Show us our spiritual affairs. And in mercy, call us back to you. And I thank you that you've given a roadmap how to do that. And I praise you in Jesus name today. Amen. And let it be.
Amen.
I'm just going to keep it right here, guys, for a second. How beautiful is it that God is not content to get us saved and and then just get our ticket punched? Truly born again. And then we just wait, wait, wait until maybe heaven. But no, God's calling us into this sanctification process. And he's willing to call us out when we're sleeping around with a substitute God. How graphic? Right, Ali?
Graphic but merciful.
Mm. Come on. back to God. Return to him. I know you're in church, but that white, hot love for Jesus. Don't let your witness. And this is what the Lord's been laying on my heart. Don't let your witness to your kids and grandkids be compromised. You know what they need to see more than. More than anything else. More than an American dream achieved in a in a legacy that's left that way more than anything else they need
to see. They'd be better off with a mom and dad, grandma and grandpa who are absolutely poor in the eyes of this world, to be absolutely rich in faith. It would be better that Americans, moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas would lose our wealth and gain a white hot love for God. Isn't that crazy? Yeah. Text returned to 805 55 7898. When we get back, we're going to have a question for you.
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.
We're going to tee up a question for you on this Freedom Friday in just a moment, but I want to make a stop here. We had yesterday 700 downloads, which is a ton. I mean, it's a fraction of our listening audience, but it's awesome. People are grabbing up resources here. Yesterday alone, Hormoz Shariat in here, we were talking about what God is doing in Iran. And we're getting a perspective that you don't get on networks or cable news, trust me. He is the Billy Graham of Iran.
And I actually pitched him a question on Jeremiah 49, the prophecy of Iran. It's called Islam in the prophet Jeremiah's book. It's an incredible perspective that God is going to set up his throne in this incredible country. And we're seeing a restoration of Iran by the gospel of Jesus Christ. Are you aware that the fastest growing church in the world, rivaling somewhere between Afghanistan and Iran, isn't that amazing in these highly persecuted countries?
Ali, it's I mean, it's biblical.
It's biblical. I mean, we see it over and over again. And I want you to hear his take on that prophecy from Jeremiah 49. I also want you to get Gary Thomas, who came in. It was a cool Holy Spirit moment when he jumped into the middle of our discussion yesterday on spiritual adultery. If you haven't gotten the show cast, now is the time. Go back and they're already loaded up from yesterday. When we're done here today. Or if you want to duck out, go and get it.
But this is how you do it now. Take it away.
Just text the word show to (800) 555-7898.
Text show to 800 555 7898.
So on this Freedom Friday, we're tackling a tough topic because if you say if I say to you, it's just just tuned in right now, it's very possible for us to get under the sheets and sleep around on God with substitute gods that might just like what?
It's it sounds shocking.
It does, but it's the exact metaphor, as Ali's been saying this morning, and we've just been rehearsing all the way through Scripture. The whole book of Hosea is this whole book committed to the nation of Israel, graphically coming back to God. And we're asking you today, is God calling you to return to him? Yeah, we got resources for you. But we're asking right now that the resource of the Holy Spirit, is he calling you back? Or maybe he did. Maybe you've got a story. It could
be yesterday. It could be a week ago. It could be a year ago. But you're living in victory today. Ali, what's that question?
Well, we want to ask you on this Freedom Friday, what other love pulled you away from God and how did he call you back? 805 55 7898 think about it. Try to identify it wasn't necessarily a person. Maybe it was, but it could have been social media. It could have been alcohol. It could have been a hobby. What was the other love that pulled you away from God and how did he call you back? 800 555 7898 855 57898.
Yeah. The interesting thing about substitute gods is they come in a lot of forms. It can be breaking 100 on the golf course. So fixated on that you've lost your white hot love for God. What is it, guys? Give us a call 800 555 7898.
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.
Give him praise. It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus on this Freedom Friday. We're talking adultery, and you might be saying, well, that's not for me. Uh, adultery is the word that describes sleeping around on God, getting in the sheets with anything. And I'm so glad you mentioned hobbies, Ali, because even hobbies, good stuff can turn into God replacements if we're not careful.
Does God want us to have hobbies? Absolutely. But when they begin to be our primary affection, we've missed it. And we don't want the witness of our life like a lampstand removed. We want our kids. We want our neighbors. We want our spouse. We want our grandkids to see moms and dads, grandmas and grandpas, aunts and uncles in Fuego for Jesus. And you want that as well. Spirit of God's working in your life today. Return to God,
ditch the spiritual affair. And we got a question. What other love pulled you away from God and how did he call you back? Sarah? First time caller in Cleveland. What do you say? Sister? Sister?
Hi, Carl. Yeah. Um, the love that I'm struggling with right now. Big love of the world and, uh, entertainment and really nasty jokes. Nasty stuff. Just. Yes. Especially sex related things. Yeah.
Yeah, it's an awesome thing. And the Lord's showing it to you today, isn't he, Sarah.
Sarah.
Mhm.
Yeah. I'm going to pray for you right now Sarah. Thanks for your courage. First time caller. Father thank you that your spirit is calling Sarah out. And I pray that you will deliver her. And, Lord, I thank you that you do not call Sarah adulterer. You call her a child of God. I thank you for that. And God, I praise you for the work that you're doing in Sarah's life today. In the name of Jesus, I give you praise. Amen. There might be more. Sarah's out there,
and it manifests itself in a lot of ways. And we've got a resource for you all day long. Just when when you can text the word return to (800) 555-7898. What a great mercy that the Spirit of God will convict you and show you that you've got another lover. Text the word return to 800 555 7898.
Karl, coming up, can you break down some of these because you outlined these four steps to return to your first love? Can you outline those coming up?
I will do that. We'll do that. We'll take more of your responses. Right, Ali, to this question.
If you've got a if you've got an answer to this question, what other love pulled you away from God and how did he call you back? 800 555 7898. Freedom Friday. Let's get your phone calls in. What other love pulled you away from God. And more importantly, how did he call you back? 800 555 7898.
Let's get a quick hit, young Thunder. What's, uh, what's hot for news right now?
Yeah. Let me get you updated with a couple quick headlines this morning. The Israeli military says it carried out dozens of airstrikes on military targets in Iran overnight. Some of the targets reportedly included a research facility involved in Iran's nuclear weapons development and a plant that manufactures carbon fiber, which can be used to make weapons systems. Iranian media says an industrial plant in northern Iran was damaged in the attack, hours after Israel warned residents to move away
from nearby areas. A federal appeals court is ruling in favor of the Trump administration regarding the deployment of the California National Guard. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals says the president is within his rights to deploy the troops amid protests in Southern California over immigration raids. The ruling, by a three judge panel, allows nearly 4000 National Guard
troops to remain deployed. Eight, California Governor Gavin Newsom sued the president over his decision to deploy the California Guard a couple of weeks ago. I'm Jonathan. That's your quick update.
Thanks. My man. Okay, Ali, good cue there. I want to give you from this blog that we've we're providing for you today for practical moves to rekindle your love for God. It's right from the scripture, right after James lowers the bomb on us, calling us adulterous people. And again, this is a dispersed, persecuted church that still finds itself running around on God. And you might say, how does this happen? Look at our own lives. We can see
this hobbies. Anything can turn into a substitute lover to use that terminology. And it's it's a powerful imagery. And God's merciful to show us this. But if if you're if you're realizing that God is calling you back to your first love, lend an ear to this. There's four practical moves that are outlined in James four seven through nine. Let me just give them to you quickly. First turn away from the other lover comes from James four seven
submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Listen, whether it was your own flesh, the world's systems, or Satan himself that tempted you, it is Satan that's got a stronghold there in your life. Resist him. Turn away from the other lover. Submit to God. Secondly, this is important. Draw near to God. Isn't this great? With confidence in James four eight it says, draw near
to God and he will draw near to you. All you have to look at is the prodigal son that was wayward, and you can see it even as a metaphor for us who are born again to return back to God. No matter what we've been sleeping with in a far off land, we can draw near to him and make moves today. And you know what? You're going to find the only place you find God. The picture of God in a hurry. In the New Testament, the only place you find them in a hurry is when
he's running to embrace that wayward kid. How beautiful is that picture? Yeah. Third, cleanse your hands. This is so beautiful in James four eight. Second part of that verse we find. Cleanse your hands, you sinner. And this is, this is found in repeated in first John one nine. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. I would say this. Own what you've done. Whatever it is,
own it. Status, addiction, money, relationships, whatever you've been sleeping around with that has stolen away your white hot love for God. Just bring it to God. Here's the beautiful thing God already knows who or what you're sleeping with. You just bring it to God. You bring your hands before God and say, God, I'm agreeing with you today. That's what confession is. I'm agreeing with you today that something's gotten in the way of you. And I've been
in the sheets with it. Acknowledge what the other lover has stolen from you. Don't minimize it, man. This is not a time to short arm things. This is when you come clean with God and say it aloud. And there is cleansing and confession having your soul scrubbed clean. And then, fourth, purify your hearts. James finishes with, purify your hearts, you double minded. Now, this is an interesting take because if you maybe you don't know this, it might be new in a relationship with God. In James one,
James uses this same term. Don't let a double minded person believe they will receive anything from God. So this is a deep one here. We're told that double minded people are frozen out from receiving wisdom. That's the context of of James one. And it's time to make up your mind. And this is a beautiful thing. You can. Your soul will be renewed when your mind says. I have one God and I'm coming back to him. I'm. I'm not going to live with one foot in church world.
And but I've got this bifurcated life. I've got this other lover on the side. No, it's one mind and it's going to restore your soul. And there's no shame in returning. Only grace and the great promise from James four. Then verse ten, humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you or lift you up, depending on your translation. Want to affirm for you something. Today God is not interested in beating you down. Come on, give me a hallelujah, somebody.
Hallelujah. Hallelujah.
The conviction you may feel. It hurts. Conviction always hurts. But his loving way of calling you back to full restoration is in that conviction. Fiction. Return to your first love. Return to God. And I want you to grab this blog today and walk it out. Let's give it to him.
Just text. Return to (800) 555-7898. If you want more on these steps to rekindle your love for God, just text. Text return. Sorry. Text. Return to (800) 555-7898.
Yeah. Let's go back to the phone lines. Lisa, first time caller. I can't Florida. What do you say? Lisa?
So I, um, I've returned to God after a literal a literal love lover other than him. Um, my marriage had beat my my my husband. Sorry. Is having an affair. I discovered it, um, was suspicious of it and discovered it a year and a half ago. And he's walked out of the marriage. But what it did is it made me wake up to how much I had made him an idol and my marriage an idol, and had walked away from this deep walk with God because I had this wonderful man and I had this wonderful marriage.
And he he checked the boxes and he filled all my needs. And I, you know, I thought he was near perfect. And this is everybody thinks this is the last person or last marriage this would have ever happened in. But what it did is God woke me up and it's now I am standing for my marriage to be restored. Um, but I am fulfilling what God has for me now. You know, he's given me a whole new purpose, and it's a whole new mission field because, um, there's nothing
like it. I need the Lord more than I've ever needed him in this season. And I don't even want my marriage to be restored until I know I am so solid with God that I can never have this taken away again. But this walk with him will never be adulterated again. If that makes sense.
Oh, it makes perfect sense, Lisa. As a pastor, I got to tell you, sister, a couple of things. Number one, I am so proud of you in a healthy way. I'm so proud of you to have the courage in the midst of pain, of having a husband cheating on you, to stop long enough before the Holy Spirit to have him tell you. Lisa, he's not worth making an idol out of. That's right. You're on the most solid ground for restoration. Should God do that through this guy? You're
on the most solid ground, sister. And you know what? I don't want to know his name, but I'm going to pray right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, bring down coals on this guy. I'm praying that his adultery would come up empty in the middle of his earthbound intimacies. Make him ring hollow, God. And I pray that if this man is truly born again, you would call him back to you right now as we pray all across North America. And Lord, I thank you for Lisa and what a testimony and Lord we give you
praise today. You are good. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Oh, Lisa, thank you for calling in today, sister. My pleasure. I appreciate.
You.
You're in the boom crew. Big affirmation. Sister. Stay on the horn. I'm going to send you a Carl and Coop prize pack. We're going to put some fuel in your belly to keep standing on the rock. Okay, sister.
Amen. Thank you so much. We love to be blessed for your ministry, too.
Thank you. God. Godspeed. Wow. What a heartfelt deal, huh?
Yeah. That's. Wow. Wow.
Still taking your calls? Testimony time on this Freedom Friday. What's the question, Ali?
What other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back? Now, this other love wasn't necessarily a person. Could have been a hobby. Could have been an addiction. Some other love pulled you away from God. What was it? And how did he call you back? 805, 55, 7898.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super di is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
He's done it. He'll do it again. It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus on this Freedom Friday. We're talking about spiritual adultery and getting freed from other lovers. They can come in a lot of forms. Social media. They can come in status in alcohol and self-righteousness. One of the substitute gods that began to grab my affection is when my six foot, eight inch and a quarter son was playing high school basketball
at a very high level, I found myself Self. Moving from being a supporter of my son to almost, I got way too attached to his ball skills and victories and losses and it was dangerous. I remember sitting in the stands one time, losing my mind, not going too verbose about a call that was made. And it's like the Holy Spirit said, man, you're pretty involved in this, aren't you? You got your head around this pretty strongly,
don't you? And the voice came to me like. Wonder if your son knows who your real passion is in life. I wonder what it is. It is so easy to take good things and turn them into God substitutes.
It is.
So easy.
Yes, that's.
The hard thing sometimes, is that there are good things. It's not always Some big addiction or some gigantic outwardly facing sin.
But but it's it's the minute it takes that place of that white hot love for Jesus.
Yep.
It's just as bad.
It's those subtle things that can be the most dangerous, because they're the ones that we can most easily excuse for a long time and not really confront.
Big time. Kerry in Ohio. Thanks for holding on. What's your Freedom Friday story? What? What other love pulled you away from God and how did he call you back?
Hi. Good morning. Um, well, my addiction would be my relationship. Um, my children. And then ultimately, I, um, became an alcoholic and didn't even realize it until it was taking me away from all those relationships. Um, you know, I have an estranged relationship with my oldest daughter. I'm trying to work on getting back. I've been sober now almost two years, but it took that rock bottom of losing. Things that I thought would take me is no longer living to
be here. Um, but God pulled me right out of that. And that's how I got sober, was my relationship with God. I ended up in church one day, and I've been going back ever since. I'm now part of that church. I'm a big sister in my recovery group. Um, but I didn't start with recovery. I started with God. And that's why I'm still here. And I'm fighting, you know,
to have that relationship back with my oldest daughter. And that relationship is now being seen through with my four year old, because she caught me in emotions and crying at a movie that made me think of my oldest daughter. And she said, mama, why are you crying? I think it was the movie. And I said, I just really miss your sister, honey. And she said with her hand on my shoulder, that's okay, mama. We pray for her.
And you know, I just knew that now I am doing the next right thing every day, and I really have that relationship with God and you. I'm actually driving to pick up my little girl right now and take her to the beach. And you guys came on the radio and I was like, let me just try. God told me to call. So I called and I got through and that that's my that's my testament. That's what I'm doing. And I, you know, I've got to thank
for that. In every relationship that's being restored, every comment that's been made, um, you know, I wanted to give up. And he said, no, but he needed me broken enough to to let go of everything.
Wow. Yeah, that's that's.
A true statement. He needed me broken enough to get rid of everything.
Kerry, I got to tell you something. You are. You are on some of the highest ground going. You're on the rock. And your oldest daughter. Greatest thing you're giving her right now is your total surrender to Jesus Christ. And that white hot love for God. Your lampstand has not been removed. It's been elevated. God elevates. Not messengers, but a message. And that's what he's done. He's elevating that. And your daughter's going to see it, sister. Boom. That's
why we call you the boom crew. These are honest stories coming up in three minutes. We'll take more of them. We'll get them in here. Lightning round. Ali, what's the question?
What other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back? 800 555 7898. Let's go to Michelle calling in this morning. Michelle, tell us, tell us what it was for you.
Oh, yes. This is awesome. Yeah. I've learned there's nothing worth your first love. And so what happened for me is God delivered me powerfully with his love from addiction and pulled me out of a pit. I was on fire with my first love. I was my heart was crushed by his beauty. I wanted to share that message. I got in an environment where it was like toxic, unsafe, like people after you tear you down. And when that happens,
you get into self-protection mode. And self-protection mode is self-focused. And in that self-focus, I began to, you know, I have to defend myself and get approval. And what happened was the message got lost in the focus was on the messenger. And then I lost the Lord's, that fiery love. And I lost the message. I lost it all.
And, um.
And the Lord showed me. And he confessed it. And. Yeah. Sorry.
No, I mean, that's super observant of you. How did the Lord reveal that to you? And what was your response?
Yeah. Um. Well, uh, when I lost my first love, I said, Lord, where is that? I would just leave it. I was the woman weeping at his feet all the time. I couldn't take communion without weeping because of the beauty of the Lord and his love. And it just dried up. And the message dried up. And so I began to inquire. Inquire. Seek. Seek. Seek. And he began to show me. You have fear of man, you have pride. You began to focus on yourself. And you can't have two masters confess and I will cleanse you.
And really, it was a period of years more deeper, more deeper. And as I did that he was restoring and softening and healing. And he's just so good. So good. And nothing is worth our first love. And the enemy. Subtle. I learned that subtle. But the Holy Spirit is there to show us, right? He can show.
Us.
You are a billboard for what it is to come back to God. Michelle. Thank you for that. From Minnesota blessing, sister. Godspeed to you. That's why we call you the Boom Crew. It's just a huge exclamation point of God's grace and mercy. Ali, let's go back. More phone calls here.
Let's go to Virginia. Calling in this morning from Illinois. Virginia? What other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back?
Um, my, the thing that got me away from God is relying on myself, my my own thoughts and what I think. Instead of doing what the word says to do. As far as walking with, with, uh, with Jesus, with God, um, as far as, like everyday living, uh, you know, we leading every thought to Christ.
Yeah, yeah.
I live in a nursing home and I'm 80 years old. I have been in the ward. I got born again like 30 years ago. And so it's been an up and down walk with him. Uh, but I endeavor to speak the word to all the people here, and I. I asked him what to say to which person. I feel like I'm a hit and miss thing. I'd like to do better. You're doing great in my witness.
You're doing great, Virginia.
The fact that you're so self-aware that relying on yourself is the the kind of the enemy or the substitute god of our witness. Virginia. May your tribe increase, sister. I know you're in a nursing home, but that's not a nursing home. That's your mission.
Field. Yeah.
That's your mission field. Virginia. Boom, sister. Keep Virginia on the line. I'm sending her a car and crew prize pack.
She's getting one, for sure.
She needs one there. We got a question for you. Boom crew. It's a tough one, but it's a beautiful one.
What other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back? 800 555 7898. Want to hear your stories here on this freedom Friday 800 555 7898.
Taylor in Indiana. What do you say? Taylor?
Hi. Um, I actually, um, spent nine years, uh, with an addiction problem, uh, with hard drugs. and also social media. Um, about. Well, actually, I just celebrated a year clean June 9th. Um, and he actually kept sending me a, um, verse. Psalm 3418 God is near the brokenhearted and rescues those lost in spirit. And, uh, about three weeks later, I was delivered from my addiction and he completely changed everything. I've been on fire for Jesus. I actually worked for a street, or I served with
a street ministry called Anderson on Fire. And we go out and pray for the public and, um, really try to get in with, you know, the addicts and, um, the ones that, you know, we were pulled out of.
Yeah.
Taylor, that's a beautiful testimony, sister. Thank you so much for calling in. Misty, first time caller in Tennessee. What other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back home?
Resentment.
Resentment? Yeah.
Absolutely. Um, I had been married for 14 years, and my husband had an affair with my best friend. Oh, man.
Hold it! Stop!
Stop there, stop there! Sister, I am so sorry. What a crusher in every way. Okay. What happened?
Um. The day after I found out about the affair. I went to church that Sunday morning and cried the entire service. I prayed and didn't hear the message at all.
Of course.
But the Lord said, forgive. Forgive him. Talk to him. Forgive him because I'll pull you through it, I will. I talked to my husband. We talked for about five hours. We prayed. And actually now we have been married 30 years and excuse me, we have both gone. Lean back on God and everything has turned around. We are great. Um. And I actually forgave the my best friend as well. Now, our friendship didn't rekindle like it was before. Of course I did forgive her. I did forgive her. And we
still remain friends. And like I said, that was 16 years ago.
Misty, I want to say a couple of things here as a pastor, and I'm so grateful for this. For you. This is huge. Misty. First time caller from Tennessee. Godspeed to you, sister. Um. Awesome testimony. Um, forgiveness is not forgetting. And forgiveness does not mean that you bring these people in. And Misty's husband broke in repentance. In that moment, it's very obvious to see. Uh, But I want to be careful that we're not equating forgiveness with, uh, immediacy of restoration,
of relationships, how they always were. I've got people in my life that I have had to forgive, and yet I'll never do ministry with them again. And that's just the way it goes on this side of heaven. So, Misty, you're a rock star, sister. I mean, talk about a crushing event. Ali.
Yeah.
I mean, it's hard to even imagine that's going through something like that. But the the way that the Lord moved in her heart and in her husband's heart to allow restoration to be possible, is a testament only to God's mercy and grace.
Powerful.
He was sharing the gospel on the radio and then he got saved. Young thunders in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
What other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back? Kandi in Alabama. What do you say, Kandi?
Hey. Good morning.
Good morning. What's your story, Kandi?
Um. So my whole family, well.
Not my.
Whole family, but several.
Members.
Of my family.
Are alcoholics.
And, um, I was married, um, and me and my ex-husband, we drank all the time. We partied. Um, we were, you know, just living the what we thought was the good life. And we, um, ended up divorced. And my oldest sister was an alcoholic, and she, um, also, she was recovering drug addict. And in 2021, she actually, um, passed away from.
I'm sorry.
But, um.
She just pulled me back.
Yeah.
Same here. I'm sorry.
It's okay. Candy. That's okay sister.
Tears are beautiful.
I rededicated my life and was baptized. Rebaptized on her birthday.
Yeah.
Wow.
Well, Candy, your your sister has left a long tail legacy in your heart. And we don't know what her spiritual condition was when she passed. We don't know what God might have done in the 11th hour. Candy. But I want to tell you from the bottom of my heart. We love you, sister, and we love your story and let your sisters legacy and what God has done in your life never let you wander away from that love for Jesus. Candy. Keep it strong. Okay, sister. We love you.
Great word. Wow. Anthony, first time caller from Florida. What pulled you away from God? What was that lover that pulled you away from God? And how did he get you back?
Hi. Good morning everyone. I've been struggling with a collecting problem for several decades. It started out as a hobby, just collecting, and it's gotten so bad it took over my former home. I promised people that it wouldn't happen again when I moved out of state to Florida. And it's consuming my new home. And I've struggled with this. It's taking time away from my family and my friends. Money spent on it that could have been used elsewhere. And it's kind of I think I call in the
big guns here. I need some prayer for sure and help getting back to God. Yeah, that time that I could be spending with God.
Yeah.
Anthony, I want you to know something. Brother. Listen to me. First off, no temptation has seized you. But that which is common to man and God has provided a way of escape. Here's what I need you to hear. Listen right now, God can do more in the 11th hour than you've done in the prior ten. And my heart goes out to you, brother, because hoarding is deadly. And all you're doing is trying to find something to assuage your soul. That God wants to fill that place. Are
you hearing me, Anthony? Right now?
Yes. God.
Yeah. God wants to fill. What stuff can't fill. And you've already proven to yourself, your sober minded. You're proven to yourself that this. This doesn't work. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to grab this resource that we have for everyone today. I want you to text return to 800 555 7898. I want you to text return to that number. Everyone can right now, no cost. It's just a free resource. It's a blog
that's birthed, birthed right out of James four. And no matter what you are sleeping around with, even if you're sleeping around in your substitute. God has become hoarding. God can. God can restore the years that the locusts have eaten. So I want you to grab that blog. And here's one thing I want you to do, because one of the four moves that we make to rekindle a love for God is to confess. And confession is the cleansing of everything and making it new. And I want you
to do that this morning. And here's what I want you to do, Anthony, I want you to find a pastor or a trusted advisor in a church, and I want you to go and say, I need you to walk with me through this. Find someone you know that experiences victory in their relationship with Jesus, their white hot for God, and have them walk alongside you. But we're going to pray right now. Jesus, thank you for Anthony's honesty.
And he represents tip of the iceberg for a lot of people who are trying to find life in the lover of stuff. And Lord, it's Amazon packages sometimes on the front porch that half of them we need and half of them we don't. And Lord, I pray that you will call us all back to you today. And thank you for Anthony sharing his story. In the name of Jesus we pray. Amen.
Amen.
Just text the word return right now. Got a resource for you on this Freedom Friday. We're getting freedom from spiritual affairs. Being in the sheets with who knows what stuff, hoarding, social media, alcohol status, self righteousness, complacency, you name it. Just text the word return. Grab this, grab it and share it. Share it. Don't just keep it to yourself. Text. Return to 800 555 7898. What a sweet story, huh, Ali?
My goodness.
Powerful.
We'll go back to some more phone calls here in just a moment. Let's tee up that question again. We got phone lines filling up here, though.
Ali, what other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back? 805 55 7898 (800) 555-7898. Let's go to Evelyn. First time caller from Florida. Evelyn, what do you say? What was it for you?
Good morning.
For me, it was being in relationships with men. I had no business being in looking for love in all the wrong places. That led to abuse and addiction. Um, but Christ showed me that he is my one and true love. And when I have him. And today I learned that I'm never alone when I have Christ and seeking him. And he's my living water. I don't need to drink alcohol because he delivered me from that. And today I am a new creation because of him.
Ah, so beautiful. Evelyn. Beautiful Evelyn.
Sleeping around on God might sound crazy at face value, but it's a great metaphor. It's hard hitting You can turn anything into a God, and God in his grace calls us back. What is it for you? What did you turn into a God and how is God calling you back? Courtney in Florida. Thanks for holding on, Courtney. What's your story?
Hi.
Good morning. I have been searching for God in men and my relationships pretty much my entire life, and I just went through a breakup and I started going back to church, and I just. I'm struggling to find God, and I'm sorry I get so emotional thinking about it, but I feel like I'm looking for validation in men that I'm never going to find unless I find it with God. First. You know I need my love to start with him, and I'm trying to find the perfect man. And it's just not happening for me.
Yeah, and he's not there. There's one perfect man, and he loves your soul. Courtney, are you familiar with the story where Jesus was going through Samaria and the disciples were kind of befuddled because he sat down with a woman at a well, you remember that story by chance. Do you know that story?
I do, I feel like it might have happened. I'm watching the show, The Chosen, and it might have been a scene that I've seen in that show.
Yeah. So the story is that this woman had been married five times, and then she was shacked up with a guy, and Jesus came in and he read her mail. He knew all this, and she had felt so ostracized and so just crushed in spirit that it would have been devastating for her, the life that she was living. But when Jesus showed her his love for her in spite of everything, it's so lit her up that she went. And Jesus had to stay on in Samaria for a
while because the whole town was going through revival. Courtney, God's going to use you that way. Courtney. God's going to use you that way, sister. And I want you to hold on to God. And I want you to get this resource that we've got for everyone today, okay? Just I want you to text the word return to our number that you called in to and get this resource. And I want you to bake in it today, okay? And God is at work. Sister, we love you. Thank you for calling in.
Thank you.
Text the word return to 805 55, 78, 98. Just the word return to 800 555, 78, 98. Wow. Mary, let's get you in here if we can. Mary from Indiana. What's your story?
Oh, my goodness, thank you so much. I was listening to your program and I was thinking, what has drawn me away from God? And I was thinking nothing drawn me away from God. I'm good. And then I got to thinking what's been consuming my time? And it's been. My mother passed in September, my dad passed in 17.
And there's things that the anger that from our relationship and then my anger with my sister and that has been consuming me And I realized that that has taken the place of my anger, and all that bitterness with them has taken the place of Jesus in my life. And I've just been shutting him out, because I just want to wallow in that anger and that bitterness and how unfair.
I've.
Seen it.
Yeah.
That anger has become a friend, Mary. But you know what? It doesn't have to any longer. Way to go, sister. What a healthy admission. It's hard. But today's the day of restoration. Return to God. Text returned right now, wherever you are. To 805, five, five, 78, 98. Just return to 805 five, 578, 98.
You're listening to Curl and crew on Moody Radio.
Ali, I got a question here on text message that came in. I thought, this is this is good. This is very important to note. They said, I seem to trip more when I go all in and deep into the hallways of real holiness. My other love was alcohol, and I'm an all in or nothing guy. I am most attacked by evil during these moments of complete surrender. Yes and amen. Let me tell you what's going on. If Satan isn't bothering you, you probably aren't bothering Satan.
Satan will give us a lot of room to run. The Spirit of God will convict us of these things. But the minute you head home and return to God and ditch your spiritual affair, I don't care if it's alcohol, social media, self-righteousness, wasted time. Whenever we head home, the it's going to get fever pitch. You need to know ahead of time that the minute you head toward walking back on fire into the halls of holiness, as this person shared via text, it's all of hell is going
to be unleashed on you, Satan. If he can't steal your soul, he wants to steal your joy. He wants to steal your ability to produce fruit in your life. So where? That is a badge of honor when you're getting blasted in the hallways of holiness. I love that term, by the way. When you're getting blasted in the hallways of holiness, know this. That is what's going on. You're getting blasted. And stay on the path. We've got a resource for you today. Text return to 800 555 7898.
One word return to 800 555 7898. This resource is going to help you to stop sleeping around on God and start moving back toward your first love.
Whoo!
That's freedom on this Friday. Text. Return to that number 800 555 7898. Ali, let's get back to the phones. What do we.
Have?
Let's go to Mary from Wisconsin. Mary, what other love pulled you away from God? And how did he call you back?
Well, I thought that my job was becoming my idol, but I wasn't sure until I got fired two weeks later. Two weeks before Christmas. Oh, boy. And I went down a spiral of depression. And it was really it was ugly. And I wound up, um, just believing the lie that I wasn't good enough. And finally, um, when I accepted the fact that, okay, I'm good with it, I'm not going to be working anymore. I'm not healthy enough. God found me a job, and he restored me. This took
about three months. And thanks to some wonderful counseling and friends and a great husband, I'm back where I need to be and for the moment, stronger than ever.
So I'm very excited.
And just love, love listening to you guys in the morning. I do that almost every morning now on my way to work and it is just it's really been uplifting. So thank you very much for what you do.
Well, Mary boom sister, you are in the boom crew and you uplift us. What a story. What? I thought I was maybe making my job an idol and I got fired and I realized. Yep.
Confirmed.
Confirmed.
That's good stuff.
Oh my goodness, guys. Hold on the lines. We'll get more stories. But we got a resource and we want you to get it because God wants to call you back out of the ditch of a spiritual affair. Text return to 855 five 7898. This is going to help you text return to 855 five 7898. Our God is calling you back. Your identity is not adultery. It's child of God and it's time to get catch fire again with Jesus in your heart.
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
You know.
On this Freedom Friday. It is an awesome thing to hear. Stories of life change in you and the boom crew are awesome for that. But we wanted to take the power of God to change our lives and bring two people together who otherwise were on the skids and go, uh uh, God's not done with you. His arm can reach you. And some of you, if we talk about it long enough, you'll be crying. But I need you to know something. Help is on the way, and God can do more in the 11th hour than he you
can in the prior ten. Ron and Jody Zappy are with us right now. And boy, you guys believe that, don't you?
I'm telling you, man, we don't believe it, Carl. And you know us. We've known each other for a long time. We've experienced it and are still experiencing the life change and power of the gospel.
Thankfully, Ron and Jody are with us right now. Ron is the founding and lead pastor of Highpoint Church, which is a multi-site church in the Chicagoland area celebrating their 25th At the anniversary and his lovely wife Jodie. Join us this morning for Freedom Friday.
Hey, I'm just so glad we planted the church coming out of eighth grade, so that's the nice.
Thing about it.
Well, I won't say how old he is, but he is getting AARP material sent to his home address, I guarantee you that. All right, so let's have some fun here. Jodie, I'm going to have you tell on Ron and yourself in a healthy way on this Freedom Friday. A lot of people find themselves in a marriage where it's like, oh, and maybe they're religious, or maybe they they just need to know the power of God to save a soul and to save a marriage. Jodie, I'm going to give you the floor. Tell us the story.
All right. Well, we were, um, you know, high school sweethearts, had been friends since we'd been 15 years old and finally, you know, had a long distance relationship in college and then even after college. And, you know, some of these things contributed to us having what I would say is an extremely difficult first year in marriage, and it kind
of surprised us. You know, we were building on friendship, and we thought friendship was a solid foundation to build a marriage on, and it is a great thing and it has helped us. However, that got tested in year one. And when I came home early from a work commitment and walked into kind of the worst nightmare I could have imagined, and Ron was there. There was another woman. And all that to say is I was obviously really devastated. And we ended up, um, I talked to my sister
and I said, hey, isn't this grounds for divorce? I'm pretty sure it is. And just, you know, our background had been both of us in a different traditional churches. So we both would have said we believed in God, but we didn't know God. So what happened next is we ended up going into my sister said, hey, you know, yeah, you should get counseling before you do that. You know,
before you get divorced. It's a really big decision. So I, I walked over to a church and I purposely waited for church to be over because I was just going to go there to see if I could get counseling. And so I ended up bumping into a woman. First time I had to verbalize, it's literally the next morning what was going on. And I said, you know, I need to find out if I have grounds for divorce. And she could see that I was troubled. I probably
started crying. And then she immediately tears in her eyes and she said, you know, my husband, he was a failure too.
And Ron always, wow.
That's what we all are. Carl, I just you just got to be honest with ourselves.
I'm the I'm.
The Amen choir. All right, Jodi, keep it going.
So she starts off with that, and then she said, Interestingly enough, they had had a marriage ministry going that met on Monday night. So the very next day I went there, Ron kind of asked if he could come along, and I was like, well, sure, you know. So we went to this thing. It was a very large group gathering 500 people. And then, um, I had written in my Franklin planner that by Thursday I needed to make
a decision about a divorce. So I end up calling the church to see if I could get an appointment, because I didn't feel like I was getting the answer to my question. So I just said, well, hey, I need to make a decision by Thursday. And, um, they ended up making an exception and let Ron and I come in. And from there the pastor said, hey, we can talk about the mess you're in, or we can
talk about God's plan for marriage. You know, we kind of looked at each other and the way the question was asked, like, I doubt you're going to get a lot out of the mess we're in, you know? So we're like, well, okay. And then but we did. We ended up getting into that because he clearly, you know, he said, well, I got 45 minutes. He set the timer and we just started meeting. And what happened then
was Ron immediately was broken, visibly broken. That pastor to this day would say he had counseled lots of couples, and he felt like he actually witnessed Ron's genuine repentance right in that office.
Wow. Awesome.
Me, on the other hand, I was I was actually the harder person because Ron's heart was broken and he was very aware of his condition. You know, that he was in a that it was a sin issue. I, on the other hand, wanted to just kind of keep the spotlight on that, on Ron. And again, I went there honestly thinking I was just going to get some sort of like, okay, to get a divorce because I didn't know how to get divorced. So he ended up then, from then on, kept putting that spotlight on me and
asking me lots of questions. And really, what ended up happening? I recognized quickly, okay, I know what you're getting at And I have sin in my life, and I did, and I was very aware of it, you know, but I said I just didn't really want to talk about it today. And, um, but had he not delved in, you know, I appeared to be the victim here. And had he gone easy on me, what would have happened then in those last ten minutes is Ron would have
left saved. He would have left with an actual relationship with Christ, and I would have left hard hearted the way I came in. So he broke me and. But I needed to be broken. And what happened then is we just met basically at the foot of the cross. And then in the last five minutes we prayed a genuine.
He led us in a genuine prayer of repentance. I knew the little piece of faith that I needed was I'd known that, you know, Jesus was God's Son, and I knew that there was like the Trinity, father, son, Holy Spirit. But I didn't really fully understand that Jesus was God like Emmanuel, God with us, and that that was God's blood shed on the cross for me, and that it was shed for my specific sins that this guy just made me, you know, think about and confess.
So we basically met at the foot of the cross where the ground was even. And that was important because I kind of also thought certain sins were much worse than others. So that was it. We walked out that day knowing for the first time we were forgiven.
Wow. Wow.
Ron and Jody Zappia our guests right now. Ron is the founding lead pastor of Highpoint Church. They also have a book, The Marriage Knot Seven Choices That Keep Couples Together. Uh, Ron, I want to bring your voice in here. You came to repentance quickly. Would you say that when you talk about coming to the end of yourself when you were caught and you realized the gravity of what you had done, did repentance come easily or was there any sort of resistance?
You know, I think for me, I was I had to be broken and I had to be cut down at the knees. I didn't have God in my life. I wasn't a Christian, wasn't brought up in it. And, you know, that was the first time I realized, and this is going to sound awful. But it wasn't just that I sinned against Jodi and that I caused so much hurt, but that's the first time that I recognized
that I sinned against God. And just like David says in Psalm 51, when he said, against you, and you have I only have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight. I recognize for the first time, yes, my sin and all of our sin. Everybody who's listening, our sin causes damages to the people around us. But it caused damage to God. And I didn't recognize that. And that was the first time that came into realization. And so I walked out of that office as Jodi said, man,
I'm telling you, I felt the forgiveness. And I know many of our listeners that you you know what I'm talking about, that forgiveness of Christ and that fresh start. And we didn't know what was going to happen with the marriage. I mean, you know, like, but we had just been reconciled to God, and now it was on us. Are we going to do some things? Are we going to let God's power and the power of the gospel reconcile us to each other? And that's the most difficult part.
We meet with couples now, and, you know, we tell our story and we provide hope. But if we don't have two soft hearts ready to look at each other, examine themselves, and really take ownership for their part in the marriage breakdown, and that's a big statement. Each of us has to take ownership. If we don't have that, then we won't find the reconciliation that I know God desires.
Coming up.
You know we're going to be promoting a book here that Ron and Jody have. That's powerful work. But we also want to tell you where we go from here. So coming up, Ron and Jody Zappia talking about those first days of digging out, because it's those first days, it's those baby steps that change everything.
Hang on.
This is Carl and crew on. Moody radio.
With.
Us right now. Ron and Jody Zappia. A story of radical transformation. If you did not hear the first portion of this interview, you must go back and get it. I'm asking you right now to text the word show to 800, 555, 78, 98. If you didn't hear this first part, you got to get it 805, 55, 78, 98 just text the word show to that number and you're going to have it. All right guys, let's pick it up here. You're freshly broken. God has transformed your
heart in a counseling session. And it was really the counsel of the spirit that spoke through this gentleman. And the Spirit of God convicted. The Spirit of God called the Spirit of God did it all you. You really didn't bring anything to the party except a broken heart, right, guys?
That's exactly true. I mean, we had first recognized, I mean, that man, my sin had brought this on and I had was losing the best thing that I ever had. I mean, you know, we weren't Christians. We weren't following after God. We didn't have the truth. And the next thing I knew, my behavior, uh, had had really crushed the relationship. And so it would have been easy for us to throw up our hands. And I know it's true for many couples, you know, it's like, hey, we
had just been married. It was just a year. We didn't have any kids. You know, we were in a new town here in the Chicagoland area. Yeah. Carl, you know what? We had to take some baby steps. I mean, honestly, you know, we didn't know what was going to happen to the marriage. We knew that, you know what? We had just been reconciled to God. We had experienced forgiveness firsthand. And now it was about, where are we going to put our faith into action? And I think that's the
key for many people. We try to fix everything ourselves. And for us, it was like we knew we couldn't fix it. I couldn't fix myself. I couldn't change the behavior that had been exhibited for years. Jody had to forgive me, so Jody had to forgive and I had to start living the truth. And so, you know, honestly, Carl, I wish I could say I did some great things, but I had to come to terms with who I
really was. Next thing I knew, God started to change some things in me that I couldn't change in myself. And that was the key. And I think, Jody, you recognize some of that change. So those are the baby steps that we took. Forgiveness was number one.
That's big. You know what? I want to kick it to you, Jody, because a lot of those first steps out of this obviously have been embedded in the book that you and Ron wrote together. But from your perspective, what were some of those first? This is deep soul work that God does.
Right, Jody? Yeah.
And, um, first question I get asked at this point is how did you forgive? And I would say the truth was I mentioned I had just been forgiven also. And Ron was right there. And I knew that I knew something had happened and that really brief period of time. But I knew it was real and I knew I was forgiven. And that in and of that, I knew
then I needed to forgive. And I knew that because I had come across a verse once back in the day when I would just flip my Bible open, looking for an answer to something, and one time I remember it said, hey, unless you forgive your brother, you will not be forgiven. Then I would probably close my Bible like, uh oh, I'm in trouble. But I knew there was something to that. And I knew that in the same way I had just been forgiven. I could forgive Ron because I knew God had forgiven him too. So I
knew that. But my bigger issue, and I can remember even asking the pastor and saying, hey, I know I need to forgive Ron. I think I can do that, but I don't have to stay married, do I? Because the bigger issue to me, I said, how can you possibly have a marriage when there is zero trust? And so trust had been thrown out the window. So for me, it was funny because he asked me, oh, that's interesting.
He said, Does the Bible say, trust one another. And I didn't really know the Bible, but that did not sound right. I said no. He said, you're right. Any ideas why it might say that? And I said, probably because we're not trustworthy. And he's like, that's right. You know. And then he said, what does the Bible say that we're supposed to do to one another and said, love. And he said, that's right. He said, God's not asking you to trust Ron. He's asking you to love Ron.
And what was interesting about that is it was very freeing. Just hearing that, it made sense and it took this huge pressure off me, because the choice to forgive was like a moment in time. Like, I could choose to forgive. But the process of forgiving is the part that takes a little longer. And so then that kicked in following all that. But the only way to do that was I had to trust God. I had to trust God
with Ron. Like I had to fully release Ron and his offense like what he had done to God, and trust God with that and trust that God that I was going to take care of me, whatever happened, whether the marriage worked out or not. And so I left that day knowing, hey, trust God, love Ron, trust God. And then I had to try to figure out what does that mean practically?
This is so.
Beautiful. I'll tell you what's powerful about this conversation we're having, guys, is that we haven't even gotten into the book. But here's what I want to spike. Boom crew. Here's here's what I want to spike. The beauty of this is, if people have gone through this dark night of the soul crisis, we're up against it. And out of our brokenness. We found God. Those are the people you need to listen to. We're not professionals. We're all in recovery. No one's arrived.
That's right.
We're all there.
So I want you, Ron. Give us the book and what's behind it.
So, you know, this is the thing. And the reason, you know, we wrote the book was because our story, you know, was such and where we needed to be restored. And so we believe that all marriages need to be enriched and some marriages need to be restored. And so really what happened was we started taking small steps, baby steps of faith, where we would just actually, literally do what the Bible says in regards to treating each other in a way that was honoring to put God at
the center of your marriage. And so that's what the book is. The book is seven choices that keep couples together. And so whether you are looking for enrichment, you're looking for restoration. These are the steps that you need to take. And so I wish it was some profound thing. It was like, no, they're just biblical steps. Like choosing to grow spiritually and choosing to love unconditionally and serve sacrificially. I mean, you know, the list goes on and on.
Communicate respectfully. I mean, these are biblical choices that oftentimes we don't take seriously. And, you know, maybe somebody's listening and they're like, man, you know, I don't have that much of a problem. Well that's good. But a lot of us do. But all of us. Trust is broken in marriage, and we need to rebuild trust.
Yes, yes.
And it takes, you know, we teach this equation. It's cb over t CB is for change behavior over time. And so you got to have change behavior. And that only happens through repentance and a relationship with God that you can truly change. And then time it takes time. You know in our situation with our story. Fortunately this hadn't gone on for a long time. So it didn't
take as long for us to come back together. And I think that's where couples are having trouble, is that they need to own each part of the breakdown and that change behavior over time. Trust in the Lord. I mean, he can reconcile anything. I know you believe that, and I know we've experienced stories of people who have have seen it. And so, um, you know, really it's just the choices that you choose in the daily life of are you going to honor God and are you going
to honor each other? And those are the things that are most important.
The name of the book is The Marriage Knot. So here's our key word. And I know we're going to get crushed with text messages. So get your phone handy. Here's what I want you to do. Text the word knot with a k k o t as in the marriage knot. Text knot k n o t to 800 555 7898. Text knot to 800 555 7898. And God's going to meet you here. I don't care how far you've gone. God's arm is not too short. And if you can fog a mirror, God can change your life
and your marriage. Text not knot to 800 555 7898. Thanks, you guys, for being with us today.