Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
We are stepping out with God. Growing up in him. Every day we join you in it. No one here has arrived. Let me check around. Let's see. Ali's gone. But she told me before she left. She has not arrived.
Okay? She made sure? Yeah, she made sure she did.
Super check on you if you arrived.
No, no, no. Okay.
Shoot. You were close there for a while. A young thunder, have you arrived?
No, not me either.
Okay. Just checking.
I wasn't particularly close either to Carl.
Yeah, thankfully, God grades on a curve, or else I'd really be in trouble.
You? Me? Both, brother.
Because I know, I know a bunch of friends. I know some guys. I know some guys out there. You know, the beautiful thing about a relationship with God is that we can commit a whole show to it for hours. Yeah, yeah. Never exhausted. And I don't anticipate that. Everybody is like, boom, boom, boom, everything we say. Although one of the plates that we have of hosting this Morning show is that we walk away with things every day, every week. And Ali's famous
for saying this. Oh, I'm applying things from 20 weeks ago. I'm never going to get caught up. And you can't.
Know.
I mean, there's so many things. So you got to put them in big general buckets. That's what you've got to do. If you start saying, okay, well we got we got uh, we got this, we got that, we've got and we've got all these subcategories. You almost have to get them into macro categories, as it were. Does that make sense guys?
Yeah, I think.
It yeah.
Yeah. You're taking things that have some similarities to each other and kind of looking for some. Do you mean that looking for some maybe some common themes between them and saying how can I apply this.
Yeah. So the so let me yeah. Let me give you a big principle here. So if the principle is abiding. There are so many different ways that we remain in the vine. Yes.
Right. Yes.
And it could be decluttering. It could.
Be.
Fill in the blank. It could be lots of different things. And by the way, we're going to talk about that decluttering segment we did. When was that by the way last week.
It was. Yeah. June 18th.
Yeah yeah we're going to talk about that later on today. But because it's amazing to me how many people benefit from that. Oh my goodness. But there's all these different things that we can do to help us abide in Christ. So and let me give you some listener recommendation here as you listen to these. Everything that we're talking about here, I think there's a three different ways to look at it. And I'm going to use father, son and Holy Spirit.
I think there are things that we do that help us humble ourselves under the mighty hand of God, and lots of things that we do to do that. So many things fall into that bucket. Then there are things that we do to keep us in close proximity to God. Uh, to Jesus Christ. Excuse me. He is God. So humble yourself under the mighty hand of God. He will lift you up. There are things that we can do that are going to posture us for humility. And Andrew Murray says it so well, you're going to hear me say
this over and over again. Humility is the one virtue that gives birth to every other virtue. What a powerful statement, man. And it's so true. If you look at your own life, humility positions you for every other virtue out there. Because humility doesn't let you play God even for a minute. It doesn't let you play victim because you're a victor in Christ. It positions you in a powerful way, abiding in Christ. There's so many things that fall into that bucket.
But Jesus said, if you abide in me, you will bear much fruit, showing yourself to be my disciples. And then the third thing, the third bucket, is the liberty of the Holy Spirit. And I really think you can organize almost everything that we do around here in those three buckets. And it's kind of cool, isn't it? Because we can we can look at any guest we have in here and anything and we can go, all right, that fits in one of those three things.
And I think it's helpful to look at it that way because otherwise if you if you have a million buckets instead of three buckets, you know, it can feel overwhelming to say, oh man, I've got so much to work on. I don't even know how to handle all of this. I don't know what to start with. I don't know where to go. But if we can kind of whittle it down or consolidate them into larger buckets, then I think that it feels more manageable for us to say, okay, God, I'm going to walk with you
in this. Let's apply this to my life today.
I really believe that. So the three are humility before God, proximity to Jesus Christ, and the liberty of the Holy Spirit. Now, coming up here in a moment because I'm going to focus on that third bucket today. Liberty of the Holy Spirit, because this is the as I've confessed recently in a book that I wrote that's not here to sell books, but that's where I really documented it. The Holy Spirit was my lost God. I heard of him. My past tests about him. He is here right now. He regenerates souls.
He seals us in Christ Jesus. We're sealed by the Holy Spirit. Ephesians one. And the biggest part of the power of the Holy Spirit is he guides us into all truth. And that is epic. So we're going to focus on that bucket of the liberty of the spirit in central passages for this, if you're just ducking in and ducking out and you want to do a deeper dive on it, real simple. Go to John 14, John 16,
and Romans eight. Those are the passages for the bucket of the Holy Spirit, the liberty that's found in the Holy Spirit. Okay. Uh, I was shocked this morning. Reminded again I'd forgotten about this. Utterly shocked. What shocked Karl? What shocked? Super die. And yes, that leaves Jonathan saying it because Ali is in a faraway land.
No pointing fingers or anything, but. Yeah, right.
Ali's at an undisclosed location doing some missions, and she'll report back next week when she returns.
She's a choreographer extraordinaire and everything is Greek to her. Super die is in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody radio.
Three buckets I want you to think about. And this is a really cool thing that I just really believe that this will help you a lot. When you listen to what we're doing around here, you can get overwhelmed with different guests that we have. You can feel like we do at times like, oh my goodness, that needs to change me. Oh, I got to get that implemented in my life. Oh, that's a better reading plan than I had before. Oh my goodness, a little bit of
clutter out here. Oh that relationship with my wayward kid. It can get overwhelming. But if you put things into three buckets relating to the Trinity, the father, son and Holy Spirit, I think these are the key three buckets humility before God, humble yourself under his mighty hand. He will lift you up. First Peter five six. Proximity to Jesus most famous passage talking to his disciples. Guys, I'm the vine. You're the branch. You abide in me. You
will bear much fruit. It's to my father's glory that you bear much fruit. Apart from me, Jesus said, you can do nothing. Everything Moving us closer to Jesus Christ throughout the day is beautiful. Put it. Put stuff in that second bucket. The third is the liberty of the Holy Spirit. And what's fascinating about the Holy Spirit is that the Holy Spirit we often go to First Corinthians or a passage like that. We bear down on that
for teachings on the Holy Spirit. But the truth is, in First Corinthians we find that to be far more corrective than it is instructive. But the greatest teachings on the the liberty found in the spirit are by Jesus himself, in John 14, John 16, and then Paul in Romans eight. I mean epic chapters. So if you can put things
into those three buckets, it'll be great. Everything that we're tackling here every day of the week, anything you hear on Moody Radio, anything that you hear on a weekend sermon in a small group, think about it in that term, those terms, and I think it'll help you a lot. So I was reminded again this morning, because we're going to focus on the liberty of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is the pneuma, the wind. That's what
we find in John. Gospel of John, fourth chapter. So the Holy Spirit is the wind, the pneuma, and he guides us into all this truth. So it would make sense that we are to harness the power of the pneuma, the wind of the spirit. And that's the metaphor that Jesus uses. So I was blown away because I asked the question, what did I ask somebody?
Have you ever flown a kite? Do you have a kite story?
Yeah. And and Jonathan's response was, he's not yet.
Yeah.
I've never flown a kite.
So. Yeah. Thank you. Let's go fly a kite up. Never flew the high heights. Let's go fly a repressed memory. Dude.
Why would it be? It seems enjoyable. Why would I repress it?
Maybe it hit.
You up where the air is clear. Oh, let's go fly a kite. Nope.
Oh my goodness.
I've never flown.
One.
Now to boot. Somebody heard that forever ago on this radio show. Because I'd forgotten. We'd talked about this once. Way back. And what did this person do for you?
Yeah, this is a friend of mine and my wife's, and they sent me a kite, which I have, and I am very appreciative. And I would love to go fly it. I just haven't gotten to it. So I feel horrible about that.
We gotta get you kite flying.
Yeah.
I'll go kite flying.
You in particular? I think Jonathan would love it in particular.
Why in particular?
No. In particular. No, no, no, you would love it. Yeah.
But why?
I think it fits you. You strike me as a kite flyer.
That's fair. I could I could see myself just standing in a park and flying a kite.
I can see it with your little girl.
That would be a blast.
Oh, give me some more of that song. Give me a little bit more.
Okay. Hang tight.
Come on, take it from the top.
Oh, from the from the top.
Okay.
Yeah, from the top. We gotta have. Come on. Here we go.
Let's go fly a kite up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send it. Up!
Sing along now.
Through the atmosphere where the air is clear. Oh, let's go fly a kite.
Yes, that sounds fun. I mean, that song makes it sound really enjoyable.
And then kite festivals. Oh, some of these kites are gorgeous. The science.
To.
Get them to fly.
The long tail ones and now they get newfangled ones. When I was a kid, we had the little typical, you know, classic kites. And then we had box kites. A couple guys had box kites. I never understood how those things.
And made your own making your own kites. We used to do that with two sticks. Oh yeah. Making your own kites.
One of the funnest things about kite flying is with my dad in Arizona, when he was getting his PhD at Arizona State University and we were living in Tempe now, we didn't have a lot of money. Dad cut his salary in half as an educator in Alaska to go down there. So we we had to find cheap things for entertainment. And looking back, I know what dad was up to. It's like, all right, we gotta we gotta do something cost effective. Get these kids out of the home.
And my dad would take a couple of us kids out to a big old park, and we'd get a kite up in the air. And then he showed me something that was so cool. He took a bubble gum wrapper, and he formed that thing kind of into a circle. And then he tore it down the middle to the center. And then he put that foiled wrapper around that string and kind of made sure that it could go up and down that string. And then he said, watch this. And he held it out about arm's length on the
string and let it go. And it was the coolest. Dad had benefit. That wind took that little piece of foil all the way up the string right up to the kite, and soon it disappeared for us because we got those kites way up in the air.
That's cool.
But it's a isn't that cool?
Extra little extra way to make it fun.
Yeah, it was.
So much fun. Otherwise, you're just standing there looking at a kite, getting sunburned in Tempe, Arizona.
Oh, there you go.
That's awesome.
Flying.
Kite flying. I mean, I think you need to bring a lounge chair and some beverages along with you or something because it. Yeah, once it gets up there, it's kind of up there.
It's just the.
Soaring of it and watching it and the beauty of it with the sky.
Yeah. Especially if it's got some different. If you get some different wind gusts and you know, we would, we'd have to get it going again because maybe the wind would die down. And the fun of getting that going would remind me of this song. Take it from the top again, just a little bit of that one. It's so beautiful, man. It's a beautiful song is so beautiful.
All right.
You can't go wrong with this.
Let's go fly a kite up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send and send it. So ring up through the atmosphere.
There are people singing along all.
Over North America right now. Absolutely. Oh, let's go fly a kite.
Oh, yeah. People are just. Oh, come on, man, that's good. Uh, those are the good old days. Okay, coming up here, I'm going to talk about a tool of transformation that I did to harness the wind. That's a great metaphor for what it is to really experience the liberty of the spirit, and how this works practically in your life. Hang 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.
Okay, boom, crew. You'll love to hear this. Got a text from someone just a moment ago. Love the kite song. Exclamation point. Sitting here with my 98 year old father in law as we listen. So my 98 year old friend, if you're enjoying this, I'm going to give it to you one more time because it is beautiful. How sweet for him.
Oh. Let's go fly a kite up to the highest height. Let's go fly a kite and send it on up through the atmosphere. Up where the air is clear. Oh, let's go fly a kite.
Getting texts from you all about. Just stuff like that. Sitting here with my 98 year old father in law as we listened, that's. I've got a picture in my mind. It's one of the most beautiful things I can see. It's sweet. So sweet, so sweet.
Beautiful.
Well, speaking of harness and wind, when you're raised in Alaska, you do some crazy stuff. One cold winter day, I was out on the lake in front of our home, Lake Lucille, just outside of Anchorage, Alaska, and it was really great ice conditions. It was just so beautiful. The the lake was pretty well free of snow. Usually snow gets on these lakes, and then ice skating requires that you clear off a big area with snow shovels and the like. But not only was it totally clear of snow?
It was early in the winter. It was. It was frozen in such a way that it was just so smooth. It was almost crystal clear. So there was 6 to 8in of ice, plenty of ice. And what a beautiful what a beautiful thing it was to be skating around out there. But as young guys, we got a crazy idea because the wind was gusting pretty well. We thought, man, let's let's do something crazy here. And this is what it resulted in. I got a couple of two by
twos and a big sheet of plastic visqueen. In fact, it was rhino hide, so it was reinforced Visqueen it had those nylon strands that were woven into the visqueen it's called rhino hide and it's just super strong. And so we we took a staple gun and stapled some visqueen around those two by twos. And then we talked my dad into grabbing the car and taking us all the way up the lake, across the ice. So here we are, motoring across the lake all the way up,
heading into the wind, as you can imagine. And then we yelled at him and said, hey, let's get out right here. And we had been hanging on to the tailgate, so dropped off, had the two by twos visqueen we had our skates on and sure enough, we lifted up that rhino hide between our two by twos and we started going.
The wind just got you.
The only thing that couldn't last out for too long was our arms. Because it was super hard to hold those two by twos. That wind force. But we were able to do it for pretty good stretches, you know, quarter mile at a time. I think we went about two miles up the lake. And as we held up that rhino hide between those two by twos, we were skipping along so fast that our our skates were shaking underneath us. I don't know how fast we were going, but it was like they were starting to quiver. They
were starting to get that speed shake. Sometimes if you drive your car too fast. It gets that too. Yeah. But it's. It was such an awesome rush. I look back to that day, and I'm reminded of the fact that the Holy Spirit guides us into all truth, and the Holy Spirit is the pneuma. And I'm just going to cut it to you. Really clear here, right now.
I want you to hear this. Since I have really drilled down now for well over a decade, studying the power of the spirit in our life, and that the spirit John 16 convicts the world regarding sin, righteousness and judgment, and that the Holy Spirit, according to Jesus himself. He said, I must go, but it's to your advantage that I go. It's found in John 16, because the Holy Spirit will come.
So he will not only convict the world regarding sin, righteousness, and judgment, things that need to change in our life, he will also. John 14 guide us into all truth, bringing to remembrance the truth of God's Word and one of the most beautiful things that I can give you with this illustration or metaphor of raising the rhino hide between two by twos, is that we need to find places in our life when we're raising the sales of our soul and listening to the Holy Spirit speak to us.
This is why I'm a big proponent of getting up early in the morning and just give God five minutes and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to you. Obviously, for many of you, you're going to have a Bible open. And in that Bible is not just information to be gained, it's information that can lead to transformation. As we raise the sails of our soul and let the Holy Spirit speak. And that's what I want for you today. Think about it that way. Are you allowing room for the Spirit
of God to remind you of truth? guide you into the truth of God's Word. We don't need new revelation. We've got all the revelation we need right here in front of us and guiding us into the love of God, the fellowship that we have in connection with His Son Jesus Christ, and then the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It's to your advantage that he goes, because he will guide us into all truth. I want you to think about that this morning. God wants to fill you up completely.
This is Andrew Ripp. Fill my cup, Lord. Fill it up. Overflowing.
Today 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.
When you listen to the morning show, Carl and crew, and then you go on to all these other programs throughout the day, or you touch point with Janet Parshall, and she's talking to Hitchcock about spiritual warfare, and you get into Rob West and you're like, oh my goodness. Yes. This this advice spiritually for getting my finances together is so good. And then you go over to David Jeremiah and he's talking end times prophecy. And you're like, oh boy, I got to know a little bit more about that.
It can get so overwhelming. And I want you to think not about a scattershot of all the things that you hear, let alone what you get in small group or at church on the weekends and all these things. You can be overwhelmed with stuff that needs to be applied in your life. But if you take it and put it into three buckets and here they are. Humility before God is found in first Peter five six. Proximity to Jesus John 15. Really? That whole chapter? Uh, but yeah.
John 15 and Liberty of the Holy Spirit, John 14, John 16 and Romans eight. You, you camp out in with a perspective that I want humility before God. What's going to help me position me that way before God? I want proximity to Jesus. What's going to keep me close to him? And I want the liberty of the spirit. How is God going to use these tools to guide me into all truth, which is the primary function of the Holy Spirit? Katie, bar the door, man. It'll change you.
So if you want those three little things, it's just a little screen grab and you can text for it right now. Just text the word buck. What do we text in here? Super day.
Bucket. Just text the word bucket 800 555 7898. We'll get those three to you. 800 555 7898 and the word is bucket. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Three buckets of spiritual priority and connection to the Trinity. And this will help you kind of organize all the content you ever get out there. And it will. I think it'll serve you really well. Coming up, we're going to have a a A phenomenal taste of a transformational tool. Sometimes you're thinking, how are we going to reach people out there with the gospel of Jesus Christ? There's some guys that are doing things that are so out of the box, and you're about to get a taste of
that this morning. It's Carl and crew helping you take your next step with Jesus.
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.
It's interesting when we get ready to come into the studio in downtown Chicago, one of the things that's a dear friend of ours, as we come in in the morning, are coming out of the shadows into a streetlight. We come in early. Some of the late night bars are shutting down when we're getting in for the day. Yeah. And it can be a little dicey. Should I say that? At times?
Yeah.
It's truth.
Sometimes it can get a little dicey. You don't know who's out wandering the streets, but there's nothing like coming underneath a streetlight. It's like. Yes, a little bit of light here. That metaphor compelled a group of three men to do something with God's Word. That is pretty extraordinary. Hang on.
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
I think one of the scariest things you can do, especially when you're in a big city like Chicago, is find yourself wandering down a block and all the street lights are out. It's late at night and you're like, oh my goodness, what in the world's going on here? Just one light can change everything. That must be the vision behind Lord and the streetlights, man. They're important, aren't they, Lauren?
Absolutely.
Yeah. Talk to me. That must have been part of the inspiration for this ministry. I can't wait to talk about this today. But. Streetlights. There's something about getting under a streetlight. You feel a sense of hope and security. And spiritually speaking, it's the same way, isn't it, Lauren?
When you talk about the inspiration or the the significance of lights on the street, lights on the corner. Especially when there's a lot of violence in the neighborhood. The light exposes the darkness. And so it was fitting for the ministry, for sure.
Okay. We'll get into that. I want you to share your story. How did God call you out of darkness and into the light?
Man, you know, at a young age, about 13 years old, uh, just growing up in the city of Chicago, seeing a lot of violence in my neighborhood. I just remember hearing the gospel preached for the first time. And by the grace of God and through the power of the Holy Spirit. Uh, just the Lord allowed me to realize my need for him. Just so thankful for the gospel being real to me at that age, and just complete transformation through the power of the Holy Spirit at a very young age for me.
Lauren Lulu is my guest right now. He's the founder of Street Lights and it's an amazing ministry. We're going to actually give you a little sample of this in just a moment. But Lauren, what in the world is street lights? What's your vision for this incredible ministry?
Yeah. So our vision was to see this and future generations hear the Word of God be transformed by the Word of God. And just see the power of the Holy Spirit just move in their lives. And so our desire was, as musicians, we're actually a collective of musicians and artists. And so the founders are Esteban Shedd, myself and Aaron Lopez. And so we just wanted to produce God's Word to music in a way that would connect to the heart language of the young people across urban
cities in the United States and around the world. And so we just began to produce book after book after book, and those seeds began to sprout in the hearts of so many young people. And today we're reaching 1.3 million people around the world.
That is amazing, Lauren, because when I first had you on here, those that was nowhere near the original numbers. God is doing something here, Isn't he 100%?
He's on the move, and we're humbled to see just the organic growth of the ministry Street lights. More and more is becoming like a resourcing house, and there's many doors into that house to get into the Word of God. And so that's through our partnerships with YouVersion and the Bible Project. And then we're also now we have a podcast as well. As, you know, we have our own music that we produce, but all of it is to
get them to the Word of God. So that way that they can, you know, be able to internalize Scripture for themselves. And that's the vision.
I want you to get a taste of this boom crew. I want you to get a taste right now of street lights. Take a listen to this.
Everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him.
So if God has given you the ability to prophesy. Speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously.
Put on all of God's armor so that you will be able to stand firm against all strategies of the devil. But we are not fighting against flesh and blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world.
Relevant. Powerful. Forceful. That's what I was taught in communication. You've got to have. And boy, you've done it. Lauren, this is an amazing project. What are your hopes for the future for street lights? Obviously, taking the word and bringing it to life through music is powerful. Where do you go from there, brother?
Yeah. So what we've been seeing is that the same tensions and, you know, just seeing so many of the young people, again, not only through the inner cities of Chicago, but we think about young people throughout Latin America and Australia and South Africa and throughout Europe. They're dealing with all the same kind of tensions. And so our heart right now is that we want to develop street lights into other languages. Specifically, we're looking at Japanese, German, Portuguese,
potentially Arabic and Hebrew. And so the goal and the vision is that now we would take the blueprint of what the Lord has allowed us to produce in English and in Spanish, and now begin to develop in other languages.
I love it, Lauren. I man, I got to tell you, it's so good to have you pop in here and boom crew, if you're listening to this going, how in the world do we get more of this? Just text the word street right now. Street to (800) 555-7898. Just that one word. Street to 800 805 55, 7898. Parents. Grandparents. We got young people listening yesterday. We had a 13 year old call in here. But this is the time
and this is the place. Tech Street to 805 55, 7898. Lauren, I feel compelled to pray for you and your ministry right now. Father, in the name of Jesus, I thank you for Lauren. I thank you for his team. I thank you for the vision that you gave these brothers and the way you're using them around the globe. And Lord, what a sweet thing to hear that over a million people are taking in the truth of your word. Uh, with the vision and the heart and the musicality of
street lights. And I just praise you, God, you're on the move. You're working in ways that we can't imagine. This is my prayer for Lauren and his team. Father, would you make available to him all the resources needed to fulfill his calling? That's what I'm asking for. Make available to him all the resources needed to fulfill that calling.
And I praise you in Jesus name. Amen. And if you're listening right now and you've just heard Lauren's heart and a little taste of what's going on with street lights, when you get to this link and you got an opportunity and you feel compelled by the spirit, throw them some shekels, man. Let's get some ducats going their way. Ministry costs money, and we'd love it if you'd be a part of that. Godspeed, Lauren. Thanks for being with me today, man.
Your shot of hope to help you through the day. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
Well, boom crew. We're talking today about tools. Spiritual tools that will help you grow in Jesus Christ. And I want to give you a tool that will help you grow in Jesus Christ. But before that, I need a little theme music.
Well, if you got to do it.
Oh my. Illmatic.
What? Oh, boy.
You're picking.
A fight.
You snuck that one.
He took over the show.
People. He took.
Over.
The show. You are picking a fight.
But pardon me. Turn it up a little bit.
Oh, this could be our year.
With your team.
What are the Chicago Bears have to do with tools of spiritual formation? Well, I've got.
Famous.
For losing when they should be.
Winning.
Careful, careful.
Well, this is an accurate.
I'm a fan. I'm just.
I'm trying to draw the connection here.
Spoken like a true Chicago Bear fan. So I am a Chicago Bear fan. I've grown up in Illinois, so they're my team. I don't blame you for having other teams. You can have your team. That's okay.
But you just.
Can't play your theme.
Song.
You just can't play your theme song here. But for me, I love listening to anything about the Chicago Bears. And back in January, the Chicago Bears hired Ben Johnson, who.
Was.
Who was the big like the big fish coach of the off season, and no one could believe that the bears actually got him. And I was really.
Excited.
Because they couldn't believe he would.
Come.
Here. Well, that's also true. And so since I was really excited, I started listening because I wanted to be a part of the conversation here. Everybody's reactions to getting Ben Johnson and something I actually did was I'd listen to some podcasts that made me feel excited or happy, and what I did was I saved those podcast episodes about the bears hiring Ben Johnson, and I'd go back.
I went back weeks and months later when I was like, I need a little, a little refresher of that moment that I lived back in January.
Okay.
Time out. Yeah.
All right.
You better.
Give us the.
Highlights.
The highlights.
Of and hopefully.
It's relatable. What did you learn that had you so fired up you save podcasts of Ben Johnson.
Yes. Exactly.
Okay. All right. Go ahead.
Because it made me feel it made me feel what I had felt when I first listened. It made me feel good because it was this exciting moment that I was able to relive and re-experience. And, you know, I think there's an importance to that when we do move it into the spiritual realm, because there are so many amazing things that God gives us through his Word that we want to relive, re-experience so we can apply it to our lives.
I love it. Okay, before we go any further, you've got to give me what did you learn about Ben Johnson that bears repeating? That's relatable to everyone, even if they're, who knows, they might like the Packers.
Okay, I'll give you an example. So Ben Johnson, everyone was worried when when he was deciding where he was going to coach if he would come to the Chicago Bears, because the bears have a history of being bad. They have a history of not just being bad as a team, but particularly they don't make the best decisions all the time. And and people were worried, well, is he going to
trust the management? And what I heard from the process of listening back to these podcasts is that through his interview process and through the things that management did to prove to him we've made changes, he felt comfortable to come. So what I say is, even if you have a history, a history of things not going so great or a history of making bad decisions, there's always, always a pivot point that you can make, always a point where you can make a change.
Coming up, how in the world does this relate to tools for transformation? Now you got to draw the string between the two. Young thunder on fire this morning. Go bears!
The Chicago Bears again reclaim the way to victory.
I had to play it one more time.
Send your mail.
To.
Young Thunder.
Whether you're a Browns fan.
Young thunder at Moody Radio dot.
Oh my.
No, we don't have a we don't have an email for Young Thunder.
No we don't. And I'm okay with that today.
It's okay when when you get into fandom man you are bumping cups out.
There I know, I know you could be a Browns fan. You could be a Bucs fan, you could be a Seahawks fan. But you know what? We all love our teams and I have the opportunity. So I have to take it.
All right. So take it. All right. Go back quickly to Ben Johnson and tie a string to the bigger.
Yes yes. So this does have a spiritual tie to it. So I was talking about how Ben Johnson, the big fish coach of the off season, took the job for the Chicago Bears back in January. I was really excited about it. I was listening to a bunch of podcasts about it at the time, and what I did is I said to myself at the time, I said, I'm going to want to relive this. And so I saved podcast episodes that I could go back and listen to later, so I.
Could not only listen to him, you saved him.
I saved him so I could relisten again a little later, when the podcast may be a little farther down the line. So this has a spiritual tie to it. And the reason is, is sometimes it's really good to go back, to go back to things that we've heard before from the Word of God, from spiritual and God led teaching to help us apply things to our lives. You know, time flies and we forget things that we've learned, but we know, hey, that made an impact on me. I
need to hear that again. And you have that opportunity here with Carl and crew. We have what we call the Carl and Crew Show cast, which is every show that we do whittled down to the meat. It gets rid of the songs. It gets rid of any underwriting that would be giving you breaks between us. And it's just the content, the content that you've told us that you love, that you grow from, that you want to hear, and we give you the opportunity to hear it again.
And so just text the word show. I'll give you the link first and I'll explain more. Text the word show to (800) 555-7898. It's the word show to (800) 555-7899 eight. You can go back to any show we've had within the last year. So maybe you just started listening this week and you say, hey, I've heard some things. I like what God's doing here, I want to I want to hear more. You have that opportunity to go back and hear some things that God has done in the past.
You also have the opportunity to go back and listen to some things you heard before. Maybe it was an interview, maybe last week it was Hormoz Shariat talking about what God's doing in Iran and you want to hear and say, hey, I want to share that with a friend, but I need to I need to know more about it. So you go back and you listen to it again. Maybe you pick up something you missed the first time. It's a really great opportunity to just allow God to do more work in your heart.
What are some of the big hits? You've got? A you got a dashboard in front of you there. What are some of the show casts that have just absolutely blown up here as of late.
Yeah, this is great. This is just from the month of June. We had, uh, the number one was debunking prayer myths and overcoming clutter, both of those things people really wanted to hear. And I think it's fair because 100% of people deal with some type of clutter or too much stuff. And hey, how do I get rid of this? What does that mean in my heart?
Yeah. And that was Kathy Lipp on the declutter. Yes. And and it was, um, uh, debunking prayer myths. Help me, help me, help me.
Debunking.
Sam.
Yes.
Sam storms.
Yeah. And then we also had, uh, Diana. That was this is number two on the list. Diana sharing her testimony of what God has done in her life, how he saved her, how he brought her to saving faith and and so many people related to that and wanted to know more. And yeah, we also had people sharing their Freedom Friday stories about how God freed them and brought them into a knowing relationship. That's you, the boom crew. And then what is pulling me away from God. Plus,
an update about Iran that was hormones. Like I mentioned before, and Pastor Gary Stevens from Colorado, I think these are great insights as to what God is using to grow you. And I think this is just a great resource for you to be able to go back and have literally a year's worth of shows and information through that is grounded in the Word of God to say, hey, God wants to grow me. I want to apply His Word to my life. Let's do it.
Yeah. Love it, young Thunder. Good job, my man. Thank you. Good job.
I'm excited about.
This. This is so cool. So it's it's amazing to me because here's what's cool for us. Boom crew. We get an understanding of how God's working most in your heart. And this actually guides a lot of our show prep. Yes, we find out, wow, this is really hitting paydirt already this month. This month I think we've had 10,000 downloads.
Yeah. Almost 11.
Almost 11,000 downloads, which is tremendous. And here's what that represents. Not just downloads, but these are people who are passing this content on to others. Yes. So this is a super good resource. We're spiking this because very practically we can find ourselves. A lot of you struggle with time redemption or you're getting gobbled up with stuff. You're going down rabbit trails on who knows what with reels or shorts or Netflix and all those things that those aren't
inherently bad until they become bad. Yes. That's that's the problem. But if you want the bigger yes for your life, this is what we want to provide a clearinghouse of resources here. Things that are really transforming lives. And so text the word show to 800 555 7898. Just text show to 800 Hundred 555, 7898. And what you get up and somebody just said, how do you get the podcast?
This is what you do right now. Just text the word show and what you get when you text show to 805 five, five, 78, 98, you get two links. Explain that one young thunder.
Yeah. So this is basically two links for whatever works best for you. So we send out one for Apple Podcasts. If you have any Apple product you can listen to that there. Or Spotify, which is the the most common podcasting app. Uh, and that's accessible for everyone iPhone or Android. So if you have a preference, you can choose between the two or Spotify just works for you. But wherever you like to listen to podcasts, you can get those links. You can go just text the word show to (800) 555-7898.
And the good thing is, once you text show the first time, click on the link that will take you to two Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Then subscribe to Carl and crew on that app. That means you never have to text the word show again. it's just saved in your profile for that app. You open it up, it's going to be right there. It'll let you know when we have a new podcast that's downloaded. We we upload podcasts daily for the show. So you can you can get that by texting show to 855 five 7898.
That is awesome I young Thunder I love you, man.
Love you too bro.
Young Thunder is a great man. And, uh, I'm so glad you poured out your heart on this, because this is this is a great resource. And, I mean, they are flat going out the door right now.
Praise God.
Yeah. Praise God is right. Grateful for you. Boom! Crew. Coming up here. What do you do with all these resources? And this is so timely because the Lord hit me with something very important, uh, early this morning. We do a lot of show prep, we have a lot of things that are ready to go, but sometimes last minute we get an adjustment and it can be really cool.
So I'm going to give you an analogy and a strategy for how to organize all the different resources that you've got coming into your life, so you can organize them in a way where it's like, yes, I know how to put these to work. We're going to break that down for you first. Katie. Nicole here. My God, can I don't know what you're up against today, but God is able. He can do it.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
This is a wild one. Splendour of Ireland. We are featuring a trip that has been. It's almost loaded. It's almost topped off. But we wanted to bring in the guide for this trip, doctor Nick Gatski. And if you are in the Ohio area, you know his voice. You know his heart. Senior pastor of Old Old North Church. I got it in Canfield, Ohio, and he hosts the Moody radio program A Better Word. He's convinced, as am I,
that the preaching of God's Word can change lives. And he and his bride, Amy, have three little kids, and they're all in with Jesus. Doctor Nick, good to have you with us this morning, my man.
Hey, great to be with you guys. Amen to everything you just said.
What a sweet. What a sweet thing coming up here in October. We'll have some exact dates here in just a moment. But what's going on? Where? You're leading a trip to Ireland. We've got, like, 12 now. I found out. I thought we had 13. We're down to 12 slots left. What's going on on this trip, my man cast a vision for us.
Yeah, I mean, it is the best of of multiple realities colliding at one time. I mean, we know that we can be enriched and learn a ton in our spiritual life when we experience things that happen in church history, things that God has done in the past and that we're asking him to do again. Yeah. And this trip is going to highlight some of those things, in an area.
The an area of the world that's absolutely strikingly beautiful with culture and all kinds of cool things to do and see, uh, with a bunch of other moody radio listeners. So you get a lot of cool things to happen all at the same time.
I'm really excited that you're on this trip, by the way, I need you to know, although I've not met you personally, I've heard so much about you, and you need to know that some of the folks here at Moody are just so thrilled that you're part of the team here. And, Nick, I want to I want to thank you for that. I can sense your spirit. What's, um, give us a piece of history from Ireland. What pops into your heart?
Because give us one thing that it's like. Yeah, we want to drill down on this on this trip.
Yeah. You know, one of my favorites is that it actually started in America, the American Prayer revival in the 1850s, 1857, and 58 started in New York, uh, and expanded out from there. At one point, 10,000 people a day were coming to prayer meetings during the lunch hour in New
York City. Wow. And that spilled over into the British Isles and into Ireland, and was one of the catalysts for what's called the Ulster Revival of 1859, when there was pressure of hundreds of prayer meetings springing up across conviction of sin. And the Lord just wrecked people about
the ways that they were rebelling against him. And there's an estimated over 100,000 people that put their faith in Jesus during those couple of years in Ulster alone, plus whatever spilled out beyond that, maybe up to 300,000 across Ireland. And so, um, a phenomenal move of God, uh, fueled by prayer, his word, conviction of sin, repentance, and the grace of Jesus that pours over.
I want you to put on your pastor hat speak to this issue of repentance, because, Nick, you and I know that revival is going to bring us down to blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of God, the kingdom of heaven. Explain that a little bit. How do you see that as a pastor? And why might a trip like this even cultivate that within our heart?
Well, Carl, we're all really, really good at excusing our sin, and we're really good at minimizing the significance of it. I know I am. And one of the things that God calls us to do again and again is to turn away, to confess it, and then to turn away from it. That's the nature of repentance. And when we do that, an amazing thing happens. He's so quick to forgive us. Yeah. What's so hard for us in our pride? And that whatever little safety thing that sin represents to us, uh,
is so quickly dissolved with the grace of Jesus. And so revival doesn't happen without repentance. That's very, very clear. Uh, and whether that's, uh, big revivals like the one I just mentioned or even the personal revival of your heart, which is why, uh, we encourage people all the time to repent, repent every day. And the Lord is so quick to forgive.
Give love this. Uh, it's Irish splendour. It's going to be an eight day trip across Ireland. And pastor Nick is going to be your host on this trip. We've got 12 slots available. And as I was looking through this link that we're going to send out here in a moment, this is really reasonable. I mean, it's probably not in the reach of everybody, but there are a lot of people who say, you know, I've been looking
for something, a trip. This is going to be in October, by the way, the dates October 17th through the 24th, eight days, and we only have 12 slots left. And we're looking to cap it off in in this hour right now. Uh, what's on your heart about this trip? I know there's going to be a lot of stops in Dublin and Blarney Castle and Farm visit Cliffs of Moher more. Um, what else are you wanting to feature here, Nick?
Yeah. I think the fact that you have the opportunity, that we have the opportunity to be with other people to experience these things is going to be one one of the special dynamics. Have you ever been on a trip like this before? Sometimes you make friends that last the rest of your life and, uh, to experience history and the spiritual dynamics, uh, and to experience one of the very neat monasteries, uh, in the history of Ireland, I think will also be a certainly a highlight.
Uh. That's awesome. Well, I appreciate you. And I love your heart. Doctor Nick Gatski is going to be the guide on this trip. It's going to be an incredible time. It's going to be eight days in Ireland. We got 12 slots left. That is it. Now, this is real simple. You can get the information. Just because you click on this link doesn't mean you're committed. It's not like we grab your credit card number the minute you click it, but you can get a full download of everything that's
going on. When these 12 slots are filled, it's done. And so you're going to want to grab it right now. Super die. Give us that link, would you?
Yeah. Real simple text Ireland. How creative is that text Ireland to 805 five five 7898. The word is Ireland and the number 800 555 7898.
Doctor Nick Gatski, thank you for being with us, Nick. We appreciate your heart and this is going to be an incredible trip. You're right. There's going to be friends made on this trip that will last a lifetime. And it's going to be sweet. And Godspeed to you, my man.
You too I can't wait. Thank you everybody.
All right. Again, that link is Ireland. Just text Ireland to our number here 800 555 7898. Only 12 slots left. Text Ireland to 800 555 7898. And oh my goodness, the links are going out.
So you're going to need.
To pray about this quickly and get your name in the hat there. So again just the word Ireland to our number here 800 555 7898.