Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Commercial fishing in Alaska. Let me take you there. 32 foot drift boat in on the west coast of Alaska. It's. It's kind of the Bering Sea, but it's a little more sheltered. We're in an area called Bristol Bay. You would anchor up on closures and get sleep because when the fishing season was open, we called them periods. So periods would open, a fishing period would open. It's a period of time to throw your nets in the water, and then it would shut down because of game and
fish to allow escapement. So salmon to go up the rivers so that they can reproduce and the whole thing. But when you'd get a closure, wow, you're zonked out. So you'd put out an anchor. We had great anchors. The brand name is Danforth. Put out a Danforth anchor, and these things can grip the bottom of the ocean like you can't imagine. But they aren't perfect, and they can slip at times we're snoozing. One day we're down in the Ugashik district of Bristol Bay and just snoozing.
I don't know how long we were out. 2 or 3 hours. Nobody felt the anchor slipping because you can sometimes feel it a little bit. And all we know is why we take a break or over the stern. So we had drifted so far that we drifted out into a set of breakers out in the bay, where it's really dangerous.
Waters, real choppy. Is that what it is?
Super choppy. I mean, you go from pretty placid to, wow, four foot, five foot, six foot breakers coming over the stern of the boat. So we got bam, huge breaker. Well, everybody's up. I mean, we're in our skivvies and we're running around starting up the motor and I'm out on deck. I got my, you know, my underwear on, and I'm grabbing stuff and yelling at the captain. No joking. Running around in our skivvies.
I mean, you got to do what you got to do.
45, 50 degrees.
Because this is light. I mean, this could be life threatening, right?
Yeah.
I mean, certainly threaten the the boat, right?
You don't want it to happen because you can bust your keel on the bottom of the ocean. Because when you're in breakers, you're in shallow water. So it can and you can take on too much water. And pretty quick, you're sinking and your season's done in your skivvies. There you go. So we we get that thing fired up and got out of there and tried to get that thing anchored again. Here's my point. When we get anchored in our relationship with Christ and we know who we
are in him, it's a powerful thing. And and if you're truly born again at that moment, there is a level of identity. You are so anchored in Christ, you're clinging to him because there's no salvation apart from clinging to God. Right?
Right.
So you're clinging to him. But whether it's the world, the flesh, or the devil, we can drift. I mean, you can be anchored in your identity in Christ today. And according to Scripture, you can be drifting tomorrow. Church of Laodicea is this. They are us. I'm convinced of this. This is a beautiful picture of us. I know your works. Jesus says to them in revelation three, you're neither cold nor hot. I want you cold or hot. So because you're lukewarm, I'll spit you out of my mouth. It
is not loss of salvation. It's like God saying, let's get in, let's get out. That's all he's saying for you. Say I'm rich, I have prospered, I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. So here's what they had done. They started anchored in Christ. Now they're living in Laodicea. It's a city of commerce.
Things are going, and they have drifted from being anchored in their identity in Christ to starting to get anchored in the molek of their day, which was commerce money. Can I put it this way, American dream. We all together on this one?
Yeah, it seems pretty familiar.
Yeah. And it happens. And so the question is what do we do? How do we get back. Because I really feel conviction today because listen, no one here is immune to this except Ali. She's totally immune to drifting spiritually.
I've never seen it.
Oh, boy.
Only Ali doesn't drift.
Yeah.
All the rest of us, we drift. We're drifters. Drifting, drifting away. We got theme songs for drifting. But Ali, she's an undefeatable woman of God. I'm joking here, obviously.
Obviously.
But the question is, how do we. How do we get and stay anchored? I need a short song because we got a guest coming in here. Who's going to crush it on it?
Give me two.
Seconds. I don't need one of these 30 minute features from LED Zeppelin.
30 minute features. Yeah, I got Freebird in the hopper right now. I know it's Lynyrd Skynyrd.
Oh, Lynyrd Skynyrd. Sorry about that. Uh, this Cochran and company money can't buy. What a great song for this. But coming up, we got a guy that's all about identity, all about identity. And this is what I told him. This was last minute. This was last night. I said, Greg, I want you to come on here and talk about how to keep from drifting. When you're born again, you're fairly well anchored in your identity. There's more you got to learn. But hold on, hold on.
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.
Here's the point. We know when we are radically transformed, this born again regenerative process by the Holy Spirit that he calls us out of darkness, into the light. We know we are sobered up. We know in that moment money can't buy that kind of love, that kind of mercy. The kind of grace. Right?
Yes.
I mean, we're aware it's like, oh, so praise and worship comes easier at that point. Now, there's things that we got to do to grow and know a lot of your overcoming, as we've talked this week, shame and abuse. And so you learn more about your identity. But there's something about that initial hug that you are anchored in Jesus Christ, and then the anchor can drift. Greg Dempster with us here. Did you hear my analogy before we
came on? Leave out the skivvies part, but the analogy was good to see you.
Your analogy was absolutely frightening. I think it's going to negatively impact my whole day.
But isn't it true? Greg, Greg Dempster with us right now, Christ's Life Ministries, this guy's really working with leaders all across the nation, helping them resecure their identity in Christ. Greg. This is a battle. This is not one and done, buddy.
Here's the deal, man. We all have a sense of chasm between what we believe to be true about God and what we're experiencing every day, and uncovering why that chasm is there is really important for us to not continue to drift, as you said.
Greg Dempster, our guest right now. Tell us your own story of when you first realized that this chasm existed in your own life. I think it has an Alaska tie. If I'm correct, you were in a in a plane when you made this realization.
Ali. Honestly, there had been hundreds of moments where God has just opened up my eyes or just revealed a blind spot. I think for me it was 22 years of full time pastoral ministry and feeling need feeling, a need to perform, to secure value and then realizing, hey, there's something off here. I would look at ministry opportunities. I'd reflect back on them, be buoyed by them, try to draw a sense of value from them, realizing I was only creating a greater sense of insecurity in my
own life. And that's when Jesus really began a Romans 12 two transformation or metamorphosis through the renewal of my mind. That's really maybe 22 years of of God speaking, culminating in a few moments where I realized, man, there needs to be a major 180 in my life, or else I'm going to continue to be living the way I am.
Greg. When we are transformed by God, it is the most powerful new experience that we've had in our earthly lives, and it's indescribable. And whether or not we fully grasp all the truth of our identity in Christ, right there or not, there's something incredibly powerful, and there's a lot that can drag us away from that. This is why we're warned over and over again from the Apostle Paul. He was like, what do you say then? And he's
asking us, going, hey, are you thinking about this? What does a person do who finds himself very candidly, let's go back to the church of Laodicea with Jesus knocking at the door, and he's knocking at the door of saved, born again men and women. And he's saying, I want back in here, kids. But you've let commerce, fancy footwork platforms, uh, being an influencer, all these attempts nudge me out. What do we do? How do you first hear the knock at the door? And then what do you do to open it up?
I think the most strategic move forward is to focus on the root. And the root begins with a God filled glimpse of what salvation really is. I mean, Romans ten nine unveils it where Jesus, through the apostle says to us, literally, if you confess with your mouth that what Jesus is Lord, and then you believe in your heart that he was raised from the dead, you'll be saved. But really, in the original language, the nuance of that
verse is really pertinent to this conversation. And it's this that I don't need to just confess with my mouth that Jesus is God. I need to understand that he is inviting me to embrace him as absolute master of my life. That's where it begins. Salvation's got to begin with a transfer of ownership that I offer him, literally the deed and the title of my life. And I say, here it is, I no longer will belong to myself. I've tried this and it's not working. I'm offering you
the title and the deed of my life. I now belong to you. And now everything that I'll ever collect or own or buy also belongs to you. And it begins. If you begin correctly. Then all of a sudden we find ourselves less encumbered by the world and stuff.
Greg Dempster, our guest right now, founder and director of Christ Life Ministries. Coming up from his perspective, what are the leading indicators that your identity has shifted a little bit? More coming up here on Karl and crew.
A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.
Greg Dempster guest. Right now I want to read this snippet from a testimonial of someone who's worked with Christ's Life Ministries. This is a pastor. He says when your joy is gone, it seems God is too. This is a hard thing to tell others. I've had a few trusted leaders over the years in the church I serve who've been willing to listen to me, but even then, how much do you say? How much can they handle hearing? Will they accept me, or will they just feel pressure
to somehow fix me? Also, what do you say when you don't even know how to describe what's going inside, going on inside your dark, frightened heart? Greg Dempster You work with leaders who find themselves in a place of real shaking. They they love God. They've committed their lives to serving him. Yet there's been a real identity shift. That joy is gone. They are not sure why they're
doing what they're doing anymore. What are leading indicators that there's a shift that's taking place that can be disorienting. It can be scary. It can be shame filled. What do you say?
I think it's focus. I think it's appetite. When I have appetites that are growing around things that are not about God, that's a like a red light on the dashboard Board flashing, saying get off the road and begin to get things fixed. So it's really a focus where your focus is, your heart will follow. And so that would be probably a first warning sign right there.
I think you're spot on Greg. We've talked about this at length. It's interesting to me I've been cogitating on this a lot lately. We often talk about spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer and study and service and giving and all those things, and those are all great. But we miss the David disciplines of quiet in the morning. Search me, know me, try me. That introspection. Quiet. Solitude. Greg, I don't know that we can regain focus on the fly.
There has to be something a little deeper than that. Explain that from your perspective and the work that you do and the Word of God.
It was Dallas Willard who coined the phrase governing ideas, and he would say that that behind our action, our movement, our living, our governing ideas that have informed at one level or another through what we've experienced, how we've interpreted it, and then how we respond. And I think that it takes actually looking at what's driving our actions before we can begin to invite God the Almighty, the healer, into
our lives to bring that change. That's that. Romans 12 two metamorphosis through the renewal of actually, the Greek word is noose. How I perceive, how I understand, how I feel, judge and determine, and nobody comes out of the womb with a fully developed mind. The question is, how has life up to this point formed my thinking? And once we begin to draw some conclusions about what drives our lives again, we can invite the God who loves to heal.
John 16, the Spirit of Jesus Himself to be a counselor. Where and to what. Lead us into truth about all things. He loves to do that.
Yeah.
Greg, you've worked with many, many leaders, pastors, worship leaders. Give us a story. Obviously no names, no details, but give us a story that really exemplifies the work that you are have such a passion for doing.
The root of what we do is we help leaders experience renewal, and then we equip them to bring renewal to the ministries that they lead. I think many of these guys, well, they're just just like us. We all have faulty governing ideas in our lives. I remember one man in particular. He, as a young boy had a father that was a construction worker. His father came in and and invited, told him, hey, before I get home,
I want the whole driveway shoveled off. It was in the middle of winter in this area, and this kid, being a normal ten year old kid, get on the video games. He got distracted. All of a sudden, 2:00 in the afternoon, two hours before he expected his dad to be home, he hears his his truck like a
late 70s Ford truck blazing up the driveway. He's scared to death and his dad comes stomping into the house, doesn't take his boots off, walks up the stairs, grabs this guy by the neck and says, you'll never disrespect me like this again, and throws him through the bifold doors in the hallway. And of course, he's shocked. His
dad's never done anything like that before. But as this man began to now much later, decades and decades later, begin to understand that that relationship at one level or another formed governing ideas, distorted perspectives of life that led him to a total fear of conflict. He was in one of the fastest growing church plants in this region and he could not deal with strong personalities. He'd run away from people who lost their cool quickly, and God
began the process then of moving in John 16. Once he realized how some of these negative responses, dysfunctional behaviors, and disruptive emotions were formed in his life, he was able to take that move towards God and begin to actually experience renewal and change in his life. That's what we do at Christ's life.
Yeah, it's interesting too. I would imagine that he was committed to metaphorically shovel snow like a madman so that the father doesn't come home and throw him through Bifold doors. I mean, spiritually speaking. Yeah.
I mean, this guy. Without going into too many details, this guy regarding seminary was at one of the most prestigious seminaries in America. The guy's brilliant, a brilliant communicator, drawing people like crazy all over this region to attend his church. I mean, in every measurable. He was a tremendous success. And yet at the same time, he was a slave to performance and a slave to approval.
That's powerful stuff. Governing thoughts, governing ideas. And they're shaped from early on. I mean, we can't avoid our family of origin. We can't afford avoid the cultural group we're raised in. Right, guys? I mean, we can't avoid these things, but we've got to get alone with God. Greg, I'm going to say one final thing to you, bro. And I've ministered with Greg for, I don't know how many years. Goodness sakes. It's a long time ago. Back down in little Rock, buddy, when we saw God on fire in
those kids lives. But you know what? The greatest thing that Greg brought me as a friend, the greatest one singular thing was he was going through some deep stuff. I mean, you gotta you gotta understand there is a story behind Greg Dempster that goes all the way to England that sometime we got to share. That was wild. But here's the deal. If we get into this robotic, perfunctory, uh, response kind of mechanism to God that's born out of a wrong set of ideas and thinking that is performance
based or in any way approval based or anything. Or we're just we're on this hamster wheel of death, and God wants to set us free. Guys, I want you to check it out. We got a link to something great for Greg. Let's go for it.
Text life to 800 555 7898. For more on Greg Dempster, our guest, just text life to (800) 555-7898.
Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. Super die is in the crew. It's curling crew on Moody Radio.
I've got three, count em. Three, one, two, three. Count em. Three, two, one, one, two, three. However, you count them up, I got three.
You got three, three.
Three. Carla. Prize packs for someone who is on the road again. Oh, that was the cue.
There we go, there we go. We got it. There we go. Come on, Willie.
On the road again. It's Memorial Day weekend. Can't wait to get on the road again.
How many people on the road?
Super day.
Over 45 million throughout the United States will hit the roads this weekend. Over 45 million? Yeah.
What were those.
Nut.
Roll things. You'd see signs and you could go.
Pull off.
Stuckey. Remember Stuckey stops.
No.
I think they're still going, aren't they?
Do you.
Mean see.
If Stuckey stops.
You're still out there. You're talking about.
Oh, Stuckey's.
Man.
Stuckey stops. They were like, uh, they were kind of a they were kind of a food. They were a role in. You'd chop them up and they had like caramel, didn't they? And then like almonds or nuts around it anyway, it was like a nut roll. And they were stucky and it was like a certain brand of, oh.
I thought you were talking about the road stop.
Well, maybe I'm wrong.
They were pecan log rolls. They they were, they were a a stop, a roadside stop. But they were.
Stucky, right?
Yeah. They were known for their pecan log rolls.
Well, there you go.
Okay.
Got it.
We're talking about something that's both a rest stop and a candy.
Yes.
Well it was it was.
Stuckey's.
Pecan log rolls. So it was. It was a pecan.
Was it only pecan? That was it, right.
I don't know, I don't know.
But they were available at Stuckey's. Stuckey's made them famous.
Yes, yes. Stuckey's log rolls. Man.
They had like a colored roof or something.
A blue.
Roof.
Okay. Yeah. And I didn't like him, but it was a good stop because you got to get out and run around.
There's a lot of candy in there. It looks like, from what I'm seeing.
So interesting. Yeah, I think it's a road trip classic, apparently. Yeah, according.
To Stuckey's website.
And they're still around.
The nostalgic treat made with nougat, caramel and Georgia pecans.
What'd you say?
Nougat.
Nougat nugget.
Nougat nugget.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
You'd be nice to her, young thunder.
How often do you use.
Nougat in a sentence?
I don't know.
Ever. Never.
Some. It's got a Three Musketeers. You got fluffy.
You guys stop! You guys stop fighting! No, I didn't think we'd have that. Just things you didn't think.
You got kids fighting.
In the car?
Yeah. There you go. Things you didn't think you'd hear on Freedom Friday. Is young Thunder taking on Ali?
I did.
What you say.
Little brother mode for a second.
You did get into that.
You did. That's classic.
Ha! You said the word wrong.
It's nougat.
Ah, mom, she doesn't get it right again.
That's good.
That's very funny.
I'm gonna turn this show around Anyhow.
So, Stuckey, are they still out there? That's my question.
They are 6060 locations.
That's a lot of locations.
United States. Yeah.
I've never seen one. Never been where I've dried.
If you are on the road, if you are on the road right now. 805 five, five, 78, 98.
Do you have to be.
Headed out of town for Memorial.
Day on the road, headed out of town. 800 555 7898. That's the rules. If you're headed out of town, then you don't even have to be heading far. But you are. It's not down to the grocery store. It's a memorial day weekend trip if you are on the road again. I want to get you, Carl and crew prize pack. So call in. You got to call in right now. 805, five, five, 7898 805 five, five 7898. Bonus pack. If you've got a whole bunch of garments and luggage on top of
your car. Because I want a picture of that one.
So people do that stuff where they put the big thing up on the top of the car.
It's usually a back rack. Now that stuck out of there. You know there that that tow tow.
Hitch and.
They stick it in there and then there's a bunch of stuff dangling off of there. But I've seen some of the craziest stuff driving.
Down the road.
I'm sure.
Wagons anymore.
Well, I mean, still it happens. I'm sure. Different parts of the nation. (800) 555-7898. We're going to get you right in here. Uh, Austin, where are you at? Louisiana.
That's right. Well, from Louisiana, but we just crossed over the state line of Alabama.
Alabama. Roll tide. All right, my man, where are you headed?
We're headed to Lookout Mountain. I'm a youth pastor, and I got my crew with me. We are headed to Covenant College.
Oh, Austin. How many? How many kids you got with you?
I have six with us. And if you want to include adults, too, there's 11 of us total.
Oh that's great, that's awesome. So.
Austin, what a good dude. Austin, stay on the horn. You're getting a prize pack.
Austin youth pastors have to do such adventurous things. Where are you going? Load up the car. We're headed to Georgia for youth camp. That's so cool.
I gotta tell you guys, I did that so many times when he said that. That was a blast to the past. He's like, I got youth in the car here. Oh, is he still on the horn?
I can get him back on the horn.
Get him on the horn. I want to talk to one of the youth in the car.
Well, you want to talk to one of the youth?
Yeah, I want to talk to one of the student ministry kids.
You know, it's also one of the teenagers.
Yeah. Let me talk to one.
Oh, this is T-money. You're going to be speaking to T-money.
Pay me money. How old are you?
Hello?
Yeah.
Honey.
How old are you, buddy?
Hey, that's. That's me.
How old are you, bud?
I'm 16.
How old are you, man?
You've got. Okay, you got the radio on in the background, so you have to tune that down just a little bit there. All right, so tell me something, my man. How's your youth pastor driving? Is he keeping it? Keeping it straight.
He's trying to. He's trying to. He can be a handful sometimes, too.
He could be a.
Handful sometimes, too.
You know what? That's pretty accurate about a youth pastor.
Oh, yeah, that's absolutely true. Hey, uh, is it t-money or p money? What's your name.
Sir?
What's your name? What's your name, bro?
My name is Travis.
They call you T-money. Okay. So, Travis, have you. Are you guys going to take a. Are you going to take a potty break soon or something like that? Are you going to take a rest stop? What are you going to do?
I think we just got to go till he's he's got to go.
That's right.
That's so true. Gotta go. Oh.
T-money. I love you, man. You got a deep voice, dude. your voice must have cracked when it was eight years old. When you were eight years old, you got a deep voice.
And I guess so.
Man, I guess.
So embarrassing.
Him.
In front of all.
These.
Great friends.
T money can handle it. T money can.
Handle. Can hear him in the background.
Giving.
Him a hard.
T money t money. Do you have a crush on a girl? Don't give her name. But do you have a crush on a girl right now?
Carl?
Oh, man, they got a crush on me.
Ah! Spoken like a 16 year old boy named T-money t money.
All right, get off the horn. You messed up our radio show so beautifully. It's unbelievable. T money. Austin youth pastor gonna pray for that, bro. Don't leave Austin. You're getting a prize pack. Okay. Uh, John, in Chicago, you drive in a youth group around. Hello, John.
Hello. We're here. Hey, Carl. We're actually in Sheffield, Illinois, on our way back from a 35 day trip out west, seeing God's beauty in an RV. We're sitting in a campground listening to you all.
Wow. That's awesome. Way to go, my man.
Stay on the horn. Because when you get home, you got a Carlin Crew prize.
Pack.
Coming your way on the road again. Give me a little Willie one more time.
All right.
Gotta have.
Willie.
Gotta have a little Willie.
A little driving song for you.
This is for you. T-money in Austin and John right here.
On the road again.
T-money. You got a good voice. Sing along.
Right now. Can't wait to get on the road again. Kid's name is Nick. Name is T-money. It's so good, my friends and I can't wait to get on the road again.
He's not crushing on girls, but they're crushing on him. That is classic response.
That's so high school, boy.
All right, guys, enough of this madness. Ali gets us going down these crazy paths.
I don't know what she thinks of it.
It's me. Yeah, it's definitely me.
Speaking of Ali, we got a question that we want to tee up. This whole week has been beautiful because we've been talking about identity in Christ. But the drift is easy.
It is. And for many, many of us, all of us, there's a certain mindset shift that we have to fight against to stay rooted in our identity in Christ. Sometimes it's laziness. Sometimes it's fear. It's doubt, it's insecurity. It's people pleasing. What's the mindset shift that you have to fight against to stay anchored in Christ? 805. 55. 78. 98. Love to get more of you on the phone. Boy, it's been good hearing your voices this morning. 800 555. 78. 98.
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 mindset shift do you have to fight against to stay anchored in Christ, 800 555 7898 800 555 7898.
Let's go to Pam calling in this morning from Illinois. Pam, what's that mindset shift that you have to fight against?
Good morning. Thank you. Um, I'm fighting against the grief of losing my wonderful husband. And I'm I think of. I think of God. Um, turning his back on me is how I feel. And because I think of the Isaiah scripture, am I supposed to keep talking?
Yeah.
Go ahead. We can.
Hear you.
Pam, you got your radio up in the background, so it's messing you up a little bit, Pam, but you're good.
Oh, I'm still talking.
Yeah. It's okay. Pam. Here, let's just take a break because I want to hear your thought. Go ahead and turn down that radio in the background, because there's a little delay, so it's kind of messing with your head. It. Would anyone trust me?
Agreed.
All right, Pam, we got you back here. You good?
You good to go? I'm feeling like the scripture of Isaiah that God has a plan for me, for everybody, and I. I pray all the born again prayers on every radio station. And I'm not feeling it. And I feel like I don't feel the love of Jesus. I love Jesus, but I feel like, wow, is your plan, that I'm supposed to be so lonely without my husband? So that's that's what I'm fighting again.
Hey, this is a unique one, Pam. Number one, I want you to know that you are in a battle for your life. Satan wants to isolate you and make you feel that way. I want you to stay on the horn. I want to send something to you that's going to help you. Okay. So I want you to stay on the horn, and we're going to get we're going to get some information out to you because that that is something that God does not want you to have. Pam, God wants to meet you where you are, and he
wants you to know that he is present. He's real and that he loves you. And I think you've, uh, you've gotten yourself, boy. He puts you in a trap there, and we're going to do all we can to help you get released. I love that honesty, though. Right, guys?
Yeah.
I mean, yeah.
I think the more honest we can be, the more we can get the help. That's just what the body of Christ. But sometimes speaking it out is takes it out of the shadows. Right.
Big time.
And God can move. Yeah.
Yeah. Guys, what's your story? Pearl? In Oklahoma. What do you say, Pearl?
Hey. Good morning. I would say the mindset that I would fight against is my own thoughts that can take you down a rabbit hole and allowing fear to pull you into things that that aren't true. And so staying rooted in the truth of God's word and, um, calling out to him because the Holy Spirit is our Paraclete, our comforter, our side by side that does life with us. So, um, that's I call out to him regularly, uh, and and, uh, he's faithful to be there. So just don't listen to your own thoughts.
Yeah. Pearl, I want to tell you something that is really good. And that's. That's for Pam. That's really sweet. You know, you. We got a student of the word here with Pearl, by the way. Coming up here in a few minutes, we're going to we're going to spike this. I want to I want to speak to Pam by way of Pearl. But Pearl's understanding of the role of the Holy Spirit is so incredibly profound. Wow. We got time for one more question. What do you say there, Allie?
Yeah. What mindset shift do you have to fight to stay anchored in Christ? 800 555 7898.
Your shot of hope to help you through the day. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
When we go through great grief or loss, it can feel hopeless and helpless. Here's what I've learned after years of pastoring. This is what I've learned. There is this huge shift when we move from carrying something alone to finding one other person to bear our burdens with us. It's just real. And I want to tell you something, Pam. Your loss is real. That pain is real, and yet I. I know that a lot of us. And I'm sure
Pam's in this boat. I can hear it. We sometimes find ourselves trying to sort through all that pain, all those anxious thoughts like, Where is God on our own? And the unique thing is, and this is what I'm loving about the church in this day and age, I cannot do what the church can do when we're at our best. And that's lift each other's arms, guys. I mean, what do you say, ally?
You know, and I love that. And so I think the place to begin for Pam, or anyone who's feeling that sense of loneliness and isolation is a prayer I've prayed myself. God, can you send me a friend? Yeah. Can you send me a friend? Send me the right person. It's okay to pray for that and then start looking. Because you may not know who that person is, but ask God to show you.
Yeah, I've attempted on certain in certain seasons of my life to try to take things alone. And, you know, just even yesterday I was able to take something on my heart to my bride at a just a visceral level, not an informative level, but an emotional level. And I took it to her and my goodness, you know, you got to remember this. God gave people two people, and maybe you don't have a spouse, but you can find another friend. Ali's right. Pray for a friend and watch
what God can do. For some of you right now that you feel like you're in Pam's position, you feel so alone and wonder, Has God abandoned me? He has not abandoned you. But sometimes one person can help you see the reality of God's love again.