Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio. This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio. What a beautiful.
Thing that you can come as you are experienced God. You can believe God to overcome what seems impossible and live as you never imagined. Our hope and our dream for you is that you would get a God sized vision for your life. It's easy to get a very small vision for our life and think, yeah, that's pretty good until we realize from Ephesians 320 and 21 that God can do amazingly, abundantly more than we could ask or even imagine, which is a powerful text. The fact
that Paul would write that is pretty cool. So you get together all you can imagine for your life, and God wants to exceed that. It's pretty cool, isn't it? Yeah. Yeah, it's really awesome. Well, today, as we've been doing all week, we're going after stories here. And why are we doing this?
Ali, you know this. It's so helpful to to. I love story. First of all, I love hearing people's testimonies, and I think it's helpful for those of you who are new to us to get an understanding of who we are as people, what drives us a little bit of our background, but also, you know, the power of testimony to put the gospel at the forefront, to understand how God works in a life. There are parts of each story that maybe you relate to more than others,
but you know, I've really enjoyed this week. I've heard parts of I've worked with all of my team for seven plus years, and there were aspects that I'd heard, but there were new things that I've heard this week from people who I've worked with for some time. That's been fun.
It's been really fun. You know, if you ever listen to something, hear, hear something, and you go, man, I'd like to hear that again. We put it all down in our showcast, we crunch it all together and it's really accessible for you. All you've got to do is text the word show to our number, and you can get Super Story for Monday and Young Thunder from yesterday. My own from excuse me young Thunder from Tuesday, my
own from yesterday. And then Ali's up for today. So you can just text the word show whenever you hear something, you might hear. Um, we have some of the greatest guests on here that are helping you take your next step with Jesus, challenging you at that core level to work from the inside out rather than from the outside in. And we just we want to serve you. That's our heart. We just want to serve you. So you can text
the word show to 800 555 78, 98. Just text the word show to 800, 555, 78, 98 and you'll find a two links embedded there. One is for iPhone, the other one for Android. And if you need some help with that, find someone who looks rather young and say, how does this work? And they'll hook you right up.
Definitely.
Easy peasy. Right up. Uh, grateful for this. A lot of links going out right now. Just text the word show to (800) 555-7898. Just that one word. And that's the one stop shop for all of our links here. And by the way, just a word. We're not asking everyone to click every word or send it in. It's it's as you feel prompted to the Lord as God's working in your heart, as you hear something of interest. And. But if you get our show cast, you're going to have all the content you need for the past year.
And we're going to we're going to put a glossary to this that's going to make it even more accessible here, aren't we? It's going to be kind of sweet.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. I love what God's doing here. I'm just grateful there's so many cool people behind the scenes. I sent a letter out this morning just thanking someone on the on the moody team for their selflessness and their desire to not say what we can't do, but explore what we can do. That's the kind of spirit we want. Those are the kind of folks we have around us here. It's just a dynamite dynamite thing. So grateful for all of you. Okay. Coming up here in a couple of minutes.
Can good be the enemy of God's greater plan for our life? I think it can. I think you're going to get a picture of this in a big way. Ali's going to be sharing her story.
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.
Yeah, we got a pit stop for you. Pull it on in here. Take a listen to a story. We've been covering stories of our team all week long, by the way. We're going to we're going to throw open the phone lines tomorrow, and we are going to receive stories from you.
Yes, that'll be fun.
Aren't we looking forward to that? I am, but right now Ali is an incredible woman of God, imperfect but dynamite. And boy, what a joy to have her on this team. How many years have we been rolling here?
Seven and a half. I've been here seven and a half years. Crazy.
Yeah. Sometimes it must feel like 20 to you. And sometimes it must feel like two. Yeah, it's kind of both.
It's flown.
Yeah, it's gone fast. What's on your heart, Ali?
You know, I want to take you back to eighth grade. Me? I think about the end of the school year and they handed out awards. I don't know if they did this at your school, but they, you know, they would do, like, the class clown and best hair and funniest all of those little, you know, a lot of them were lighthearted. And I took home two awards that day, got certificates and they were these two most likely to succeed. Hardest worker.
Wow.
And when I think about that, it's a good place to start because for me that was like the gold star. That was I lived for. I lived for that kind of praise. You know, I grew up in a great family, a Christian home, and some of my earliest memories of being in church instilled, I would say, a reverence for God, a deep sense of culture and tradition. You know, I sang in the Sunshine Choir at a little Baptist church. I was on the junior usher board, which you took
very seriously. You wore your black and white. You slipped on your white gloves when it was your turn to usher, and it was very serious. You had to walk in formation. And we were young, but we knew the rules. You had to stay in line with the person on the other side. So picture a bunch of like anywhere from probably 6 to 16. And we've all got our little gold offering plates and we're walking two by two looking down across the aisle. Because staying in formation was very important.
Very important.
You wanted to get that right?
Had to get it right. I understood to honor the mothers of the church. I understood how to do what was expected of me. And I probably would have told you that thou shalt not walk through the pulpit. Had to be somewhere in the Bible, because that was one of the biggest things that was emphasized. We were young person, don't walk through the pulpit. That's the place where the the reverend preaches. So that was like a sacred space.
Even on a Saturday afternoon, when you're practicing for the upcoming Easter program, you do not walk through the pulpit. Those were the kind of rules that I absorbed, that I thought were pretty important to this whole Christianity thing. I had a deep sense from an early age of really wanting to do what was right. I had a deep sense of morality and values, but I honestly did
not know much about Jesus. I remember being at that little Baptist church, and I saw up close, we were practicing for the Easter program, and I saw up close the communion table, this big wooden table that was at the front of the church and inscribed in the front were the words, do this in remembrance of me. And I looked at that and I thought, huh? Seems like someone must have been pretty important at this church.
Wow.
Someone must have died. And this must be in honor of someone here. Wow. That's what I thought. I remember thinking that thought, and then it was just a fleeting thought. Fast forward. And I was in sixth or seventh grade. We moved to a different house to a neighboring town, and we started to go to a different church, a different type of church. And that was the first time I heard any version of the gospel. I heard that anything was required of me. Up until that point, I
had no idea that there was anything required. So I started to hear about heaven and hell and about the need to be Saved, and that was really new language. Despite having been in church my whole life, I didn't have language for that. And as a kid who was prone to some anxiety, some fearfulness. Hell was terrifying to me. And so I spent a lot of time thinking about death and hell and how awful that was. And so I, I would say that was the primary driver. I start
I heard enough of the sermons. I heard enough from the youth group that I started to go to on Wednesday nights. And on a Wednesday night, my freshman year of high school, I responded to an altar call. I remember the night. I remember what I was wearing a white sweatshirt with a big orange volleyball. I was on the volleyball team, so my volleyball sweatshirt on, I had on some white socks and some black Nike slides and
I walked forward. I remember it, and I walked forward to the front of the church and I prayed a prayer. I stood at the altar, and that was the day in my mind that my journey with Christ began. The problem was I didn't really know what that meant beyond just I did not want to go to hell, and this was the thing that would keep me from hell.
And so when I walked out that night, there was an idea that started to be formed in my mind that there was sort of this imaginary line, this dividing line, if you will, between good Christian and hell bound sinner. And so my job was to stay on the right side of that line.
Wow.
That's what I thought it meant. So I created all kind of boxes and rules and do's and don'ts based on what I had absorbed. What meant being a good Christian. So you didn't drink alcohol. You didn't cuss. You didn't have sex before marriage. I treated people really well. I did volunteer work. I obeyed my parents. I turned in my homework on time. I ran for class office. I invited people to church. I checked a lot of the boxes because I really wanted to be a good kid,
and I really didn't want to go to hell. That's what I thought it meant to be a Christian. For a while. Being good didn't seem like it was that hard to do. Honestly, it came pretty naturally, and I don't. I understand now, biblically, that's not the case, but I'm just taking you into the framework of what I was thinking. Being good did not feel that hard for a while. I got into high school, into college, into my young adult years. Some of my rules got harder to keep,
so I just adjusted them. I just loosened them. I could justify giving myself more leeway in certain areas, because in my mind, I was still so much better than everyone around me. When your peers are doing X, Y, and Z, and you can keep yourself solidly morally superior.
I thought that's what was required of me. So although there was this quiet sort of rebellion toward sin, this pull toward sin that was growing in my heart, I was careful to not give myself fully over to it, because, again, that dividing line between good Christian and hell bound sinner. I wanted to be good. I wanted to be moral. I wanted to be better, and not even in a self-righteous sort of sense at the time. I just that's
what I thought it meant to be a Christian. That was so baked into my identity that I fought hard to keep it.
Wow.
I fought hard to maintain that goodness. And when you're that kind of a kid, you get a lot of praise for that. You're usually the one picked for special assignments. You know, in college, you're usually the one recommended for the scholarships You get a lot of affirmation and praise when you can keep rules. Well, the world rewards people like me. They do. And so quietly, there was this sort of self-righteous pride building that I would not have
been able to identify it at the time. I had deep moments of wrestling because none of us can keep rules. So where I failed, I felt deep guilt and shame and conviction. I had many moments at the altar crying out to God, because I had this sense that I couldn't live up to what I thought was good. That started to become more of a struggle. And so I would get myself back up, maybe wipe away tears, and I would resolve in my heart, I'm going to be better.
And it was this vicious cycle of trying to be good where I failed, feeling shame and guilt and then trying harder to be good again. Throughout these years of wrestling, I still faithful to attend church. I served in leadership in college ministry. I remember at one of those meetings we were reading Luke 15, which, if you are familiar at all, it's the story of the prodigal son. And so I'm sure at some point in time I had
been exposed to this story. But this is the first time I remember really hearing about these two sons, the one that ran off and Reckless Living and comes back and the father throws a party. And then there's this older son. And I read about him and he's mad because how dare his dad throw a party for this reckless son who had been out there living crazy, spent up the money, shamed the family, and now he's back
and we're celebrating. And I remember thinking in my heart, I don't think I said it aloud, but I distinctly remember thinking in my heart. Of course he's mad. He has every right to be. Yeah, every right to be mad. How dare they honor that son when clearly it's the older one who's kept the rules. Why? Because, of course, I identified so much with the older son. I didn't see that that was a problem in my thinking. Maybe someone could have warned me that. Hey, your theology may
be a little off here. I don't know that you're getting out of this story. What? You should. I'd been praised my whole life for being good. Looking back, it kept me blinded to how prideful, sinful, stubborn, self-righteous I actually was. I, I had genuine moments with God. I can tell you that with confidence. Genuine moments where God met me even in my careless, prideful state. But I wasn't fully surrendered to him. It was always on. It
was a goodness on my own terms. I didn't read my Bible frequently enough to have my theology of rules and this imaginary line. I didn't know enough. I wasn't taught enough for that to be confronted or corrected. So it was based on what I knew. It was a Christianity, a version of it. It was pretty shallow and self-focused. I didn't understand the power of the Holy Spirit. I
didn't really understand grace. And so all of this achieving and striving and box checking kept me solidly ahead of everyone around me, morally in my mind, but pretty far from Jesus. So as a 20 something started going to a church where the people were different. And looking back, maybe I was different because I think there was wrestling already going on that prepared me for this sort of confrontation, because surely somewhere along the way I met other genuine
Christians I know I had to have. But this was the first time that maybe be in my spirit. I was ready to have that sort of honest confrontation. These people were different. Remember being in a meeting with, you know, children's workers? I volunteered to to work with the kids. Had a two year old at the time. And these people were just the way they talked about God, the
way they talked about the Bible. There was an ease and there was an it was an inside out approach to living that was new to me for so much of my life. It had all been sort of about the outside, what people could see, and they were different. And I started to kind of develop this sort of jealousy of man, whatever they have, I don't I don't seem to have that, but I would like to, because living with this sort of imaginary line where you have to try to be good enough is exhausting. And failure
is so devastating because it all depends on you. And so I can't point to one specific moment where I know that there was a light that that switched. I can think of several moments along those, what I call kind of my rebuilding years, where I learned how to what our church calls build an altar. I learned how to seek God. I learned how to study the word. I learned how to worship, and I learned how to pray.
And there was a sense of like, how after all these years, do I feel like I'm sort of learning these things for the first time? And, you know, there's a wrestling that can go on when you feel like, maybe I didn't have the real thing. There's a, there's a I've wrestled with that. So was my whole life from this point. Like was it all fake? You know. And that was kind. That was a terrifying feeling because that was never my intent. I never sought to be duplicitous.
I never tried to live a kind of quote unquote, double life that was so against what I believed goodness was, but I was confronted like, man, this is something different. And so, you know, those rebuilding years, there were moments where it was like, man, there's a there's a lighter,
I was lighter, I was more free. All of a sudden I started to get opportunities in ministry, and I was so keenly aware that I could not do anything apart from Jesus that I that was handed and presented with things that I had to rely on God differently. And he was in his grace and his mercy. He was rebuilding me. Yeah, kind of carving away a lot of the religion and the performing and the trying to be good and showing me how much that I came up short, but also like meeting me with his grace.
And so, you know, when you start to do that, there's growth that happens. And it's I started to grow so much like I hadn't grown in 15 years, I'd kind of been at a plateau. And then it was like God allowed me to grow, and he allowed me to minister to other people, and I probably shortcut it. There's no shortcuts. But it was like a like I had been kind of the root system. Yeah, it was a fast tracking and the root system started to be built and I started to learn about being privately healthy
and then publicly fruitful. And so I remember standing in the kitchen of a friend of mine, and this was coming off of a season of just like, man, God, this is different. This is new. And and I told her, I don't know what's coming. Like, I don't know what God has for me, but I know that I want to be ready. And so I was this season of preparation, of not even knowing what I was preparing for. But, you know, Moody came up, you know, some years after that and, you know, there was a song that I
actually want to play because I feel like it. It captures my story. And it's it's a song called Grace by Jonathan McReynolds. Young Thunder, will you pull up the lyrics for that song? Grace by Jonathan McReynolds? Because I'm not going to get through it. Someone asked Jonathan to read the lyrics to this song, and then I want to play it for you. It's hard to share a story like this, I get it. It's awesome because these aren't the kind of stories that get featured. It's easier
to share drugs to Jesus. It's easier to share the addiction, the whatever it is. It's hard to share the goodness into falling on your face and realizing that even good people Both, quote unquote, because there's no one good. I get that. But high performing, high achievers, straight-A students, the model student, the model kid who never got so much as a detention that you need Jesus to. You have those lyrics I do.
I needed your grace more than I thought I ever would. You forgave more than I thought you ever could. I was stronger in my head. But the truth is I need your grace.
Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight. Super die is in the crew. It's curl and crew on Moody Radio.
We are so grateful this week that we can just hunker down and frankly, over a period of a few days, share and share and share the stories of grace in our life. And here's what's going on right now. There's someone, and maybe this is you. And maybe more. Many more than just you who feel like, oh my goodness, that's my story. I'm Luke 15. You see, the first son, he is an easy one to identify, right?
Yeah.
He's the one that's a victim of his passion and everyone can point him out. It's my story. It's so many people's stories out there. But that second son, it's almost more dangerous. It's a little more elusive. You can hide a little bit more because the second son is. And I'm going to call it what it is, a victim of pride performance. And this performative Christianity is no Christianity at all. You know, the beauty of, of the gospel is that it is God who works in us,
as we find in Philippians two. It's God that produces fruit. Apart from him, we can do nothing. John 15 and the beauty is today that the Holy Spirit is revealing to you. You might have been on the treadmill of trying to find life in the things that you can do for God. And God says all the running is over, kid. It's time today to surrender your life to the one who wants to do his work in you. Get off that wheel of performance Christianity. And for some of you,
the Spirit of God is prompting you. Because and this is let me be really clear with this. Some have truly, genuinely received salvation from Jesus at a young age, but you never got out of that works mentality. But for some, you were just grafted into works right from the jump. Boy, this is what I got to do. And then it hit you boom. And it's maybe hitting you right now. It's God's grace and his alone that can save me. And you're free. You can get off of that crazy
madness wheel and find new life in Jesus today. You see, both sons were lost. And the question is, are you ready to be found today as the Spirit of God telling you, come on in. You know, this is repeated over and over in Scripture, common word we've been featuring all week. Repentance is the turning around and turning toward Jesus. It's a it's a freeing thing when you realize, I've been on this broad path of working to be good enough, but Jesus has done all the work, and you turn around.
And what causes us to turn? The Spirit of God convicts us that we're a sinner and we need a Savior. We're not good enough, and it's okay. And if this is you today, the work of the of the Lord has already been done in your heart. He's already done it. He's called you out of darkness. The amazing thing about salvation is that we don't choose him. He chooses us.
That's what's awesome about it. And I want to invite you today to not only follow Jesus for the very first time to you, but to let us help you on this path. As a matter of fact, there's one resource in this little link we're going to send you. If today is your day of salvation, that and we're going to have you key in a keyword here in just a moment. But there's one resource the third link.
The first two are awesome. But go to that third link because it's all about how self-help ends in your life. And God's power begins in you're like, okay, I want some of that. And if today is your day that you are surrendering your life for the first time, that you are aware of fully to God's leadership of your life, no longer your own performance, I want to welcome you
to the family. I just want you to declare with your mouth right now, wherever you are driving, maybe on a path, walking at home, wherever you are, just say, Jesus, I'm done. I'm done trying to be good enough. Today I turn to you. I'm turning around today. God, I want to acknowledge that I was not good enough. But you were. You died for my sins. And today I acknowledge I'm a sinner who needs a Savior. Today I give you all that I am. All that I've tried
to do. I say it's been exhausting. But boy, your Grace is powerful. Just tell them that your grace is powerful. I turn around today, I follow you. Today I acknowledge I'm a sinner. Just if that's the cry of your soul. Welcome to the family. And God's probably mopping up tears right now because it's exhausting. And then when you finally realize I can get off of this treadmill and walk in God's grace, it's free. So if that's you right now, I want you to text the word new to 800
555 898. To all of you that have texted this link this week, don't let it just sit there. Use it. It's our help to you to take your first steps with Jesus. And especially that third link. Just give us enough information so that we can shoot you some resources your way. Text the word new right now to 800 555 7898 800 555 7898. Just one word new to 800 555 7898. So grateful. Ally. God's using your story big time, sister.
Praise God. God is good.
It'll flatten out, man. Sharing the heartfelt things. Again, welcome to the family. If you just got your phone, just text the word new to 805 five, five, 7898. And welcome to the family. Welcome to freedom in Christ.
He was running from God. But God's love brought him home. Carl is in the crew. It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.
You know, this has brought up a ton of discussion this week. A lot of question marks are raised. It's like, what do we do? And we're introducing something for many of you that you've not heard a lot about. Hallucination, of salvation. What in the world is that? You might be tuning in today going, yeah. What in the world is that? Sure. And that's fair. So what we want to break down for you coming up is the beauty of being honest to God and yourself, with yourself and
those you love and those you want to reach. And there is something hugely freeing. Is that right phraseology. Yeah. That'll work. There's something enormously freeing about knowing how to pray for somebody. It's it's a how many times have you worked at a company or worked in an organization? And they're and they're, they're busy looking at and measuring all the stuff that doesn't matter two hoots. We've all seen that before.
Yes. Yeah, absolutely. You know what I mean? It's like.
Hey, when did the main thing stop being the main thing? And that can happen. So coming up here in a moment, we are going to powerhouse you with a resource that is going to help you understand. We're going to have a little discussion about why understanding the reality of a hallucination of salvation and some of that's new to you is so important. Why? It's why Jesus spent so much time on that issue 2000 years ago. Why it's so
relevant today. And then if you got the courage to look at yourself and be honest to God with yourself and those you love, man, it can change the way you pray. And then we're going to have a resource for you. Hang on.
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.
Proximity to Jesus is everything. And we're just going to we're going to cut it to you straight here. One of the most freeing things that can happen in your life is when you are measuring what matters most and being honest with God, honest with yourself, and honest with those around you. And it's easy to get distracted from what is most important, and to get focused on the stuff that isn't really most vital. As a pastor here in Chicago, I've got a phenomenal team. Thank God these
guys are just so great. But I joined them for a staff meeting here recently for both of our campuses, and we were meeting together, and it was one tremendous new staff person. She is amazing and she helped us see are we focused on the right things? And it was awesome having a newcomer coming in going, what about this? What about that? And she wasn't condemning at all, but she's like, we might benefit from narrowing our focus on
what really matters. And whenever you get confronted with something like that, if you've got any ownership in it, it could tweak you and you could go, oh yeah, okay. Right. So we haven't been focusing on what matters. I mean, that's human nature until it's submitted to to the Lord. But the same is true not just in an organization. I mean, this is true wherever you work. I mean, you can work for the government, you can work for you, you name it, a startup, a fortune 500 company, you
name it. You can work for any of these things, and you can find yourself doing work that's like, oh, that's not the most important stuff, Right?
No, it's so true. I mean, the way my brain is wired, I. I'll often find myself tinkering around with, like, avoiding the big thing that needs to be done. Like, I really need I really should be finishing up this right here. But instead, I'm going to go ahead and dust the baseboard over here because.
Oh my goodness, like, what am I doing? Get back over there to the thing that is the big thing.
That's really.
Funny. There's a guy that wrote a book called Eat That Frog.
Yes.
And his whole contention is that it's the. It's those frogs in your life, those things that, you know, matter most. But it's like, how in the world do I get a bite out of this sucker?
So you do you clean the baseboards?
Yeah. You're you're playing with the tadpoles while this frog's sitting here. You know what I mean? Exactly. So it's just it can be painful. So let me break this down for you. I'm going to cut to the chase. I'm going to be honest with the word of God. This is why we leverage God's Word. Yes, our opinions matter two hoots compared to the Word of God. So I just want to break it down for you. Just take just take. First Corinthians 11. Examine yourself to see
if you're in the faith. Sometimes we don't even read that when we're taking communion. And that's a central passage. Why would Paul say that to a church in Corinth that is filled with people who supposedly love God? Simply this you can go to church and not be in the faith. That's clear deduction, right? Examine yourself to see if you're in the faith so that can that can be there. I'm going to back up through the Gospels.
You go to Matthew 25 and you've got a picture of ten bridesmaids waiting for the return of Jesus, or so that's Jesus's metaphor that he's using for his second coming. And five of them, they're all dressed up. They all look the same. Five of them have lamps. No, no, ten of them have lamps. Five of them have oil in the lamp and five don't. Representing the life giving light and power of the Spirit of God and the Son of God and the other five don't even have
time to get their act together. And the Lord comes, and then you back up from there, and you start seeing what a disciple looks like. Go to Matthew 13 and it's like, whoa! Look at the story of the seed scattered on different soil types, which is a metaphor for different heart types. And what do you find? You find some on hard ground, shallow ground, thorny ground, and then one is scattered onto a ground that is so fertile, imperfect.
But fertile produces a crop 30, 60, 100 fold. And now, let me give you I'm going to cut to the chase on this. There is only one of those soils, according to every great theologian, young and old, that is truly born again. And that'll make you go. Whoa! Really? Yeah. Just one. So then you got to ask the question when you go to Matthew seven and then you understand Jesus's first words on the sermon on the Mount, he said, many will say to me on that day, Lord, Lord.
And he's going to say, I never knew you. And their appeal is going to be, listen, we preached in Jesus name, we baptize in his name, and we did mighty works in his name. And he says, I know, but I never knew. You depart from me. So that is sobering, and that will rattle you a little bit. But it's an opportunity for us to understand what the gospel is, what it does, and how to know we
are really changed. It's not about performative Christianity. Full stop. Well, then you got to ask the question, well, how can we know? So we got a resource for you in a second here, but I want you to explain why this is such a great resource for moms and dads and wives and husbands and you name it.
Well, this nine ways to know You stand with God. He stands with you. It really breaks down based on what the Word of God says. What? How do I know if I'm saved? Do I have the hallucination of salvation? Or am I allowing the enemy to beat me up with accusations? Sorting that all out for yourself, but also
praying rightly. You want to be praying for salvation for those who in your life who you look at this and go, I don't think that my child is actually saved, or I don't think that my spouse is actually saved. You want to pray rightly?
Yeah, and it's tough, but it's truth. And these are characteristic of someone who's been born again. Young Thunder, you've leveraged this resource as I have after we've you know, this is a good one to go back to.
Oh, absolutely. Just because you feel like you got to go look back at it again. Don't feel shame about that, because sometimes the enemy doesn't want you to go there, go back, look at it again, reread it, and be confirmed that you stand with God, and God stands with you.
Or.
Or realize that you don't stand with God and then go stand with him. Fall on your knees before him and surrender all.
I know that sounds simplistic, but it really is. And we want you to grab this resource.
Text the word stand to 855 five 7898. Stand to 855 five 7898. Get this one. Maybe print it out, forward it, share it. Stand to 855 five, 7898.
This is Colonel and crew on Moody Radio.
Talking about salvation, authentic faith all week long. And we've been tackling this alley forward and backward. But I think one of the beautiful things is when we can get a picture of people who are under persecution, we get a picture of, my goodness, they're standing tall for Jesus under the fires of accusation, mocking, and many at risk of losing their lives. That becomes a new touchpoint of do I have the real thing?
And so we want to bring in a special guest who is with an incredible ministry, call of Hope Ministry to Muslims for over 120 years. Reverend Stefano Ferrer joining us right now. Give us a story that's fresh on your heart as we've been featuring salvation stories all week. Hallucination of salvation is not as prevalent in places where the cost to follow Jesus is very high.
Absolutely. Um, the first thing which really comes to my mind is Nigeria. Because Nigeria, at this point we don't hear much, but are Christians are so persecuted. You know, um, Easter time, more than 200 got killed. That happens all the time. I mean, you know, when you are a Christian in northern Nigeria, you risk your life without any question. And we work with 45, what we call farmer missionaries. They go into Who Muslim villages areas and talk about Jesus.
And you think that when they do this people would be hesitant because I mean they see what happens to the Muslims who become Christian. I mean, they see how they get persecuted, they see how they get killed. And now people are open. And, you know, even for our co-workers, many are from Muslim background. They are ready to risk their lives. I just saw two weeks ago one of our missionaries, his name is Ishani, and he told me
how he got kidnapped 3 or 4 weeks ago. Um, you know, that is happening in northern Nigeria all the time. He told me he was in his hut with his family, Fulani militia people came, Muslims, they took him away. They also took all his cattle. Everything. And we thought we might not see him again. Um. He was brought from them into the bush, and he told me he didn't know where to go. And then he was bound with
actually iron, and he didn't know what to do. And then one guy comes in and he's the leader, and he asks him, well, he mocks him and says, ah, you are Christian, right? Yeah. Why are you Christian? And and well, he told him, he said, well, because I can go to Paradise. I will go to Jesus when I die here. And this guy listened to him and said, okay, tell me more about it. Oh, my. And and he was able to talk to this guy, tell him more or less the whole full gospel.
Wow.
What he did not know is that in the background, in his village? The villagers, the Muslims, actually, they knew this Fulani terrorists because they are also Fulanis and they called the terrorists. And they said, what are you doing? You took our pastor away. Are you crazy? That's the guy who helped us with drilling of water holes. That's the guy who helped us with goats for our children. And he shows us love. This love of his Jesus. And you take him away. Are you crazy? You are
going to release him. They said no, no no no no. We are already in negotiations with this church. We work together with the church there. Um, about the ransom. And they will give us ransom. And then the people from the village said, no, listen, you are going to release him. Otherwise we will kidnap your people. You release him now. And you know, we have never seen. I have never heard something like this. He was not only released, they also gave him some money for a taxi to drive home.
You know, I mean, unbelievable. But and and then you see how the Lord is at work. And I was so happy because I was together with our 45 farmer evangelists. And I saw how much that encouraged them. You know, I mean, yes, they know they can be killed, but they are ready for it because they know they have the way to salvation to give. So so they do it. But then the Lord sometimes also gives them special moments, like the one I just told you.
Stefano Ferrer, he is. He's a leader of call of Hope, and he's a good man of God. And I'm. I'm blown away by your humility. This must be almost born out of the people that you work with. It's hard to be prideful when you see so many humble people, right, Stefano?
Well, that's very true. And, you know, I'm always aware. Yes. When we Westerners go there, there is some risk, but they risk their life on a, on a daily level, you know, every day. And, and I also see that this is nothing what they can do from themselves. I just see that they allow the Lord to give his strength into them. And this is what encourages me then. And you are right then, um, we we we are not getting proud. You're very right.
Talk a little bit more about the ministry of helping Muslims come to Christ. I mean, interestingly enough, we're we're starting to see more and more pushback against even the idea of evangelizing or suggesting to someone who believes something differently that they should consider what you believe. Talk a little bit about that.
Yes. But you know, when you are in this situation, in a muslim majority situation, you either keep quiet and then you keep quiet, that's it. Or you know, hey, the Lord has laid it on my heart to talk about it. And then you will our one of our co-workers in Lebanon passed a tumor. I was in discussion with him for quite some time because he lives in a in a Christian city, but at the border of the city. So that means all of his or most of his neighbors are Hezbollah people, terrorists. And we were
discussing he has a small church there. And one day he told me, okay, we are now putting a very big illuminated cross on the church. And I said, okay, okay, let's talk about that for a moment. I understand, but you live in a Hezbollah neighborhood. And you have this cross. Do you really think that's a very good idea? And he said, absolutely. People need to know. They need to know where they can come. And here, I mean, for us, putting a cross is one thing, but for them and
and I wasn't able to stop him. And then of course, I also did not stop him. But, um, this is what they do. And, uh, passed the tumor. I mean, you might know that a lot of Lebanese were actually refugees in their own country because of the war. Mhm. Um, and that was end of last year. He was visiting is still visiting many of them in their tents, in their rooms. And you know, it's all about the love of Jesus. Um, when he introduces himself then he always
gives his testimony. He is from a nominal Christian Catholic background and he always tells these Muslims are, well, see, you killed my relatives. You actually killed my grandmother in her house. Her house was burned from Muslims. You shot my brother and his wife and some of my uncles. And I hated Muslims. He said I hated Muslims. I was ready to actually shoot you. But then I heard about Jesus. And then the first time, I really understood that Jesus loves me. What Jesus did for me, I
gave my life to Christ. And then my life got changed. As much that I'm able to love you now. And in one of these meetings, there was a Shiite imam, and this guy was listening to it. And after he heard this introduction, he said, okay, go on, tell me more All about this Jesus who is able to change a hater of Muslims like you to come and help us with food and with mattresses and blankets. Tell me
more about it. And he told it. And you know, for me, when I see this photos and when I'm there, I see these Hezbollah people with Bibles in their hands. They sit there and read, you know, they read together, um, in this case, with this imam, uh, tumor sat with him for a few weeks. You know, it's not an instant thing. You need to sit with people. You need to explain to them the gospel. You need to read with them the Bible. And after a few weeks, he
invited him to our Sunday service. And he actually came. And during the first Sunday service, after the service, he stood up and he said, yes, I want to go to Paradise and I want this Jesus to get me to Paradise and just think about it in. In an open service, Muslims sit there, Hezbollah people sit there. And for an imam to actually get up and say, yes, I want to follow Jesus because he brings me to Paradise. Oh,
certainly he risks his life, no doubt about it. But but they don't think about it because, you know, this is what what you just said about the salvation. They only have salvation on their mind. They only have in mind I am going to be with Jesus in eternity.
Stefano, I've got one final question for you, and I've thought about this. What do you equip these saints that are on the ground in this, in this war torn, very persecuted area areas across the 1040 window? What are you equipping them with? What are they most hungry for? And that might give us some insight what we need ourselves.
Prayer. Carl, that's really true. When I talk to them, when I'm out there, when I ask them, what do you need? They all. The first thing they tell me is tell the people in the West we need prayer. Tell them they should not forget us. Please pray for us. You know they tell me. Pray for Lebanon. Pray for Jordan. Pray for Nigeria. This is really on their mind. And and I'm usually stunned because I think maybe I would go like, you know, I need a higher salary and
I need this and I need a better car and. No, no, no, no. It's really prayer. Um, we equip our brothers and sisters out there by praying for them. I mean, Paul also says, pray for me that I am able to share the gospel, and this is exactly what they are asking us. Pray for us. Of course, we also equip them with This seminars with knowledge. Um, and, you know, uh, when you talk to Pastor Touma in Lebanon and you say, well, would you be able to, to use some higher budget?
I mean, he he would always say, oh, yeah, the need is so great. You know, I mean, it's never enough, but, um, that's not the number one. Yes, of course they need money for, for for mattresses and for blankets and for food. But but the number one is tell our brothers and sisters out there to pray for us.
Stefano Feher, our guest right now, call of Hope. If you want more on this ministry, just text Hope to 855 five 7898. For more on call of Hope, just text Hope to 805 55 7898.
Inspiration comes in a lot of different packages and this is one of my favorite ones. Stefano we love you brother. Thank you for your ministry with call of Hope. Come again.