July 11, 2025 • 46 mins
We’re going to Proverbs 2 on Chris Fabry Live. Verse 20 encourages the reader to "…follow the way of good people." What does that mean? How do you define "good people?" How do you become someone like that? How do you identify them? And what has happened in your life from following good people? Salute someone you're thankful for on Chris Fabry Live.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
S1 (00:05):
Oh, I'm really looking forward to what's going to happen
today at the radio backyard fence suburbs two. And we're
going to focus on two words. The phrase in the
translation I use says follow the way of good people.
So the term we're going to talk about today is
good people. What does that mean? How do you define
(00:25):
good people? How do you become good people? How do
you identify them, find them so you can follow them?
And what's happened in your life when you did that,
when you followed good people? Here's our number (877) 548-3675. I'm
looking for somebody who's never called his program salutes someone
who fits this category. Tell me specific things that good
(00:49):
people exhibit. (877) 548-3675. Let me thank some good people who
are part of this program. Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical.
Trish is our producer. Lisa's in the chair. Today. Rihanna
will be answering your calls. And since it's Friday. That's right, friend,
it's time for the fabulous Favori Friday. Sy. Here's what
it does one. We oxygenate your blood. Two, we get
(01:11):
your endorphins going. Three, we raise your serotonin level. Four
we promote lymphatic drainage. And five, we stimulate your parasympathetic system.
That's why we call it the five love languages. We
also stimulate your vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine.
And don't you dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation.
Take in four seconds of air through your nose, right down.
(01:32):
Hold it four seconds, and then as you release that
air through your mouth, push on the left side of
your ribcage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.
Give a sigh today for the good people you've known
in your life. Maybe it was a Sunday school teacher
or a youth pastor. Maybe it was a stranger you
met who helped you out in some way, and you
just knew that fellows, good people, give a sigh for
(01:53):
the neighbors, the mechanics, the helpers, the person who found
your wallet and returned it without all the cash inside.
Was still there for those in Texas right now. A
week after the flood, who are walking a hard trail
with those who have lost a lot. They're not doing
it for a medal or recognition or pay. They're doing
it from a good heart that wants to lighten the
load a little. Today's Fabulous Debris Friday is brought to
(02:15):
you by good people all around you. Don't take them
for granted. All rights reserved. Who are the good people
you've known? It's just you and me today. Who? Who
fits that category? And how do you define that term? Good.
I read a proverb every day, every second of the month,
(02:36):
I come across this verse, and every month I think it's.
It's the first time I'm seeing it. And I underline,
I was like, why did I underline that? Oh yeah,
that's right. Uh, and it happened. My birthday is on
the second. So I read it this month in the
on July 2nd, and I used the HC, SB, the
Holman Christian Standard, and the translation says, so follow the
(03:02):
way of good people and keep to the paths of
the righteous. After reading through the Bible and you come
to that word. So it's kind of like a therefore
it should make you ask, well, what what's before the
so what, what happens? That leads me to the so
what's leading up to it? And I want to walk
you through that a little bit today. But when I
(03:23):
say those two words good people, is there somebody who
immediately jumps into your mind, I want you to call me.
I want you to tell me why you think that
person came into your mind, and why do you think
they're well, how did they live their life in such
a way that you would categorize them as they're good people.
(03:47):
This one person (877) 548-3675 for me. You asked me that question.
The first person who pops into my head is radio
pastor Donald Cole. Maybe because I found a picture of
the two of us from a long time ago. Somebody
sent it to me, but more because of who I
saw him to be, both on the air and off
(04:08):
the air. He was the same person. He didn't put
on a mask. He had integrity. He had convictions. There
was a promo that we used to run with him,
and he was talking to a caller, and he said
something about someone who has anything but polyester in their guts.
(04:29):
He didn't have polyester in his gut. He was real.
And the reason he was that way was from a
long life of studying God's Word and living life with
a lot of loss and struggle and pain. And how
do I mention Don Cole without mentioning Naomi, his wife?
(04:50):
They were inseparable. So important to each other. They were
good people. The path they walked was worth following. So
I want you to tell me the good people in
your life. That's all we're going to do this hour. Eight. 77548367. Five.
And my hope is that it will encourage you to
(05:10):
be good people. It will encourage you by showing you
some of the ways that good people live. Proverbs two,
verse 20, in different translations, King James that thou mayest
walk in the way of good men and keep the
paths of the righteous. NIV thus you will walk in
(05:33):
the ways of the good, and keep to the paths
of the righteous. The message I don't go to the
message too often. I respected Eugene, but sometimes the message
gets into the weeds. I, I I shouldn't say that.
I'll take all that back. Mark and edit. Ryan. Uh.
the message that does the translation this way. So join
(05:57):
the company of good men and women. Keep your feet
on the tried and true paths. I like that I
think that that's pretty faithful to the at least the idea. So, um,
let me let me take you to Proverbs two, and
then we'll take a break. And then I want to
(06:18):
hear from you. (877) 548-3675. Listen to let these words rush.
Wash over you a little, my son of you. Accept
my words and store up my commands within you, listening
closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding. Furthermore,
(06:40):
if you call out to incite and lift your voice
to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search
for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the
fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge
(07:01):
and understanding. He stores up success for the upright. He
is a shield for those who live with integrity, so
that he may guard the paths of justice and protect
the way of his loyal followers. Then you will understand righteousness,
justice and integrity. Every good path for wisdom will enter
(07:27):
your mind, and knowledge will delight your heart. Discretion will
watch over you and understanding will guard you, rescuing you
from the way of evil. So I talked with Doctor
Redlich and Eva Redlich, two other good people, and and
Michael was saying, what you see here is a parallel.
(07:49):
You see those the the people who live by wisdom,
the upright. And then you go in verse 11, verse
12 to the other side, rescuing you from the way
of evil, from the one who says perverse things, from
those who abandon the right paths, to walk in the
(08:10):
ways of darkness, from those who enjoy doing evil and
celebrate perversion, whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
It will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a
stranger with her flattering talk, who abandons the companion of
her youth and forgets the covenant of her God for
(08:32):
her house, sinks down to death and her ways to
the land of the departed. Spirits. None return. Who go
to her. None reach the paths of life. Verse 20. Boom!
So follow the way of good people, and keep to
the paths of the righteous Cheers, for the upright will
inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it.
(08:55):
Did you hear many times the word integrity and understanding
and wisdom come in there. It's you read it enough times.
It's like it jumps off the page, but the wicked
will be cut off from the land and the treacherous
uprooted from it. I don't want that to happen to me.
How about you? I don't want to be cut off
from land. I don't want to be uprooted from it.
So what do I do? Follow the way of good people. Well,
(09:18):
what do good people do? How do they live? How
do they act? What kind of life do they exhibit?
You see it all through here. You've just heard that
this is the way. This is the path. And and
it seems like few follow it. But if you can,
if you can identify some good people and you see
(09:41):
the way that they walk, it's like, okay, I don't
know the answer to all the questions around here, but
I know what I take my next step. Good people
are compared with the the evil, the the, the ones
who choose darkness. They live in a way that's different
from the prevailing culture that says it's all about me.
(10:05):
It's all about getting what? Everything that I want. It's
all about me and my my needs. And I think
good people sometimes say hard things to you. I was
thinking of a man named Cliff Schimmels. Anybody remember Cliff
Schimmels cliff, if you're my age or older, you may
remember Cliff. He was an educator. Wheaton College, uh, taught
(10:27):
down in Tennessee. Coach, writer, encourager. And I don't know why.
I don't know what it was, but he liked me
for some reason. He really enjoyed talking with me, interacting.
I think he got a kick out of me for
some reason. And one time he came to my house.
I had a studio in our garage. He met my
(10:48):
wife and met the children, and we did the program.
And after all the mikes went off and we were
getting up to go out, he stopped me and he
challenged me about burning the candle at both ends, as
it were. And Chris life goes really fast. He had
(11:08):
this crackly voice, and I think he was cautioning me
not to derive my worth as much from what I
do as I was doing at the time. Cliff has
been gone for 24 years. I still remember that night.
I still remember that challenge because he said it in love.
(11:31):
He cared about me. He wasn't doing this because he
knew he was right and I was wrong. He said
it because he cared. He was good people. How about you?
You know, anybody like that have story for me. Remember
what you say might be the encouragement that somebody else
needs in their life to become good people. (877) 548-3675. Keep
(11:57):
a list of your own as we go through this.
More straight ahead. Welcome to our Good People edition of
Chris Fabry Live Online. Chris favorite number is (877) 548-3675. There's
(12:20):
a line open for you right now as we talk
about your the good people in your life. And first
up is Richard in the great state of Georgia. Richard,
sign in and tell me who came to your mind.
S2 (12:33):
Hey, Chris. Uh, thank you so much for taking my call.
You've been there. I want to say you're a good people.
S1 (12:40):
Thank you.
S2 (12:41):
You've been there for for, uh, me, 2 or 3
times we've called over the years. And, uh, like you,
my my dad and I, my family is from the
great state of West Virginia. So.
S1 (12:52):
Hey. What part?
S2 (12:54):
Uh, Parkersburg.
S1 (12:55):
Parkers. Oh, absolutely. We'd go to Parkersburg to go to
the mall up there because that was the only mall
within driving distance.
S2 (13:02):
Oh, yes, the Grand Central mall. Yes, sir.
S1 (13:05):
See, good people always ask where you're from in the state.
I've learned that. Okay, so who came to mind?
S2 (13:12):
Yes, sir. So? So up there, my dad set an
incredible example, uh, of working hard. We'll try to get
through this without too much emotion. Uh, but not only
working hard, but how to take care of your family,
how to take care of other people around you, whether
they were good or not. And, um, nearly 23 years later, uh,
(13:32):
late last year, my wife and I were separated, um,
for about a month, and, uh, we've since reconciled. And
I would tell you that a large part of that
is because both he and my mom listened. We had
some great man to man talks, but it was just
a lot of listening. Very patient. In fact, over the
last few days, he's been very patient, talking through some
(13:54):
other things, job related, etc. but he listened not only
to my side, but also to my wife because he
loves everybody the same. And so he he he, like
you say, would go through the mall and just know
everybody there. They knew him by name. We'd stop and talk.
And I, I think when I was first observing this
I thought, oh no, another person, we've got to stop.
(14:16):
But then I learned that this was such a valuable
thing that he was doing and inviting people into his
world and then getting to know them in their world, uh,
simply by listening. And then if you wanted advice, he
would offer it. If you didn't, it was just. Hey,
listening ear, uh, got us through an incredibly difficult time
(14:36):
last year and continues to be there for us, uh,
just over the state he's in. He's in Chattanooga. So, uh,
just an incredible man of God, a good people, and
has been all his life. Very patient man. And, uh,
and set an incredible example for me.
S1 (14:54):
Let me guess that your dad is when he would
listen to you or when he'd come near you. Would
he ever put his hand on your shoulder or around
your on your back, or just kind of touch you
or anybody that he was talking with?
S2 (15:10):
Yeah, it's a very reassuring pat and, uh, always there.
And if you, if you needed it, it was it
was available. Sometimes you just needed to be in close proximity, um, to, to, uh,
to know that, uh, he was he was there if
you wanted to draw close. Right. Like like our father
in heaven. Right? Right. Um, but, yes, uh, a very reassuring.
(15:35):
That's a great word for it. Yes, a very reassuring touch, Pat. Hey,
I'm here for you. Without saying any words. But yes,
it was often accompanied by that touch of love. And
by the way, he was not brought up that way.
There was a lot of, uh, abuse, I would say,
in terms of verbal for sure, and possibly physical as well.
(15:56):
He was not treated very kindly by his father, but
he decided to break that chain, break that generational curse,
and show love both with his ears and his hands.
S1 (16:07):
Tell me his name. Richard.
S2 (16:09):
His name is Steve.
S1 (16:11):
Steve. Steve, you done well. And the other thing in
that that you didn't mention, but is all through. That
is time he had time for you. He took time
for you. He wasn't too busy doing the other things
that were important. You know, I'm sure he worked hard.
He had to get things done, but he. He took
the time that he that you needed to listen. And
(16:32):
he believed in you too, didn't he?
S2 (16:35):
Yes, he did, and continues to believe in me through
a very long, nearly eight month unemployment period during this
time of reconciliation with my wife. It has been an
absolute nightmare for us, but God has been faithful, and
one of the ways, key ways that God has shown
(16:57):
his faithfulness through that. And I can just say, I
just got the job that I was hoping for.
S1 (17:02):
Really?
S2 (17:03):
Yesterday? Yesterday. Yes, sir.
S1 (17:06):
I was going to say you're calling here in the
middle of the tension, you know, in the middle of
not having it, and then you drop that bomb. You know,
they found. But my guess is, see, good people yield
good people. They've, you know, make you want to follow
in their paths. And my guess is over the last
eight months that you have encouraged somebody else who was
without a job just like you are, because you know
(17:30):
that that trail is that. Have you been able to
do that?
S2 (17:34):
Yes, I have. Uh, and in fact, just yesterday that
that very thing happened. I got the call. You have
been offered the job after all of this, waiting all
of the closed doors. The job I really wanted above
all else. And then I was able to turn around
when I made that phone call to my dad. He
got my mom on the line. Hey, I just got
(17:56):
a text from my friend in Ohio, just over the
West Virginia border that her son has lost his job,
that he dreamed about for years, and he was part
of a large contingent of those who lost their job
at this company. And he's heartbroken. And I said, mom, dad,
tell him it's going to be okay. He's going to
(18:17):
make it through. I've seen God's faithfulness. It just happened.
And so, yes, we're already able to touch lives states
away and encourage others.
S1 (18:28):
I'm really glad you got through, Richard, and so excited
about this new, new job. You call us back. Let's
talk again. Okay?
S2 (18:36):
Absolutely. Thank you. Chris.
S1 (18:38):
There's Richard. Good people come from the state of West Virginia.
I know that, um, there's so many things in there.
There's some good, good people seem to thrive in the
middle of pain and struggle and hardship. It's almost like
(18:58):
you become a. You can't become a good person if
everything is comfortable and easy and handed to you. It's
almost as if, like Steve, you know, his dad who
had experienced some of this. It's almost like you have
to see the negative or or rise above the other
(19:20):
stuff that has gone that you've seen. It's like, I
don't want to live that way. I want to live
this way. So good people make good choices. But it's
it's probably even deeper than that. Let's talk with Josh
in Zeeland, Michigan. Hi, Josh. Why'd you call today?
S3 (19:37):
Hey, Chris. Thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate
the ministry that you're doing. Um, yeah. I wanted to
lift up one person in particular. Um, my boss, uh,
right now, um, he's just shows, really. I mean, gives
all the qualities of, uh, of a compassionate person, um,
(20:01):
somebody who's willing to walk through the valley with you
and also celebrate your victories. Um, you know, he shows
a lot of characteristics that, you know, my grandpa did
when he was, uh, when he was with us as well. Um,
he prays with you and, uh, gently lifts you up. Um, but,
(20:26):
you know, one thing in particular is, uh, when I
first started with him, um, I wasn't in the best
financial situation. And, uh, you know, he I think he
caught on to that. And on Friday he would say, hey, man,
do you have everything for the weekend? You got enough food?
(20:48):
Are you good? I said I could use a little groceries.
And he was there to help. Um, just, uh, a
willing heart to serve, um, and just walked along side
with you. And I'm very blessed to have him in
my life. I'm also very blessed that my grandpa, um, uh,
(21:12):
he was a huge part of my life, um, just
ministering to me and, uh, walking alongside me and and
praying for not only me, but, I mean, everybody in
our family. He would pray every night and, um, very,
very committed to the Lord and walking that the path
(21:36):
that Christ taught us to walk.
S1 (21:38):
So look at that, Josh. There are so many things
that you're you're saying here about your boss and your grandfather,
but the one thing that rose to me with your
boss especially is a good people. See you, good people
notice you. Good people go the extra mile. You know,
(22:00):
it's not like, you know, going to be praying for
you about your your groceries this weekend and all. You
didn't do that, you know, be warmed and filled. Uh,
he said, hey, you got enough for this weekend is
I could use use a little help. He was there.
And that phrase that you used through the valley reminds
me of Psalm 23, that the the real hope that
(22:21):
we have is not for, uh, a peaceful situation necessarily.
It's for the presence of the shepherd who walks with
us through the. Yea, though I walk through the valley
of shadow, the death. Um. That's what your boss has done.
That's what your grandpa has done. That's gold, isn't it?
S3 (22:41):
Absolutely, absolutely. It's priceless. Um. And I couldn't agree more.
And and to show the. I can't remember the exact words,
but what good is it if you say peace be
to you? Go and be, you know, have food, have clothing,
(23:04):
and you don't do anything about it. It's a serving
as an action. Um, it's not it's not just words. Um,
sometimes it it requires more than that. Um, I've definitely
learned that over my life. And every time I can
(23:25):
get a chance to serve and provide an action for somebody,
it's it's it's great to be able to do that. Um,
but to also be on the receiving end, it is.
It's really powerful. And, uh.
S1 (23:44):
Well, I think good people do both of those things.
Good people are generous. That's one of the things that
I wrote down before the program. Good people are generous,
but they're also able to receive from someone else. Uh,
even though it may hurt your pride a little bit or,
you know, to to receive that, it's like, no, this
(24:05):
is given from the hand of somebody who wants to
to do something for you. So to be able to
receive that or someone gives you a compliment and then
you say, or I'll say, I wasn't that much, you know, or,
you know, you kind of kind of play it down.
It's like no good people are able to receive that
(24:25):
and be thankful for that. The encouragement that you've gotten from,
you know, the words that have been extended to you, uh,
it's harder for some of us than it is others. Josh,
you said a great deal here today. Thank you for
telling us about your grandpa and about your boss. See,
this is what. This is why I want to do
this program. Because I want to be the kind of
(24:47):
people that Richard and Josh are talking about. I want
to be good people. Do you? And. And how do
you how do you accomplish that? I don't think it's
a checklist. I think it has more to do with
the heart. And we're going to hear from more of you.
Thank you for calling in. I've got three lines still open. (877) 548-3675.
(25:11):
I also put this question up on Facebook, and there
are a number of you who have responded to that
as well. So if you'd like to go to Facebook
and respond or you're hearing this on the podcast at
a later time than our live program. Uh, go over
there to the Facebook page and respond to the question
that we have for you today about good people. And
if you don't know what I'm talking about, you just
(25:32):
tuned in. We're talking about Proverbs two verse 20 that
says in the CSB, so follow the way of good people.
What does that mean and what good people have you
come in contact with? (877) 548-3675. So follow the way of
(26:05):
good people. Good people are generous. They are sincere. They
live from the heart. They have integrity. They don't put
a mask on. They don't let the pain keep you.
Your pain keep them from entering into your life. So
they engage, um, rather than retreat. I think good people
(26:32):
are people who don't have an agenda. Uh, I could
develop that a little bit more, but. If you if
you look at who is who is the best good
people you've ever, ever known, that's what we're talking about
today at the radio backyard fence. And the best good
people there ever was was a man who lived in
(26:54):
the first century. Yeshua, Jesus. And you look at his
life and says, oh, that's it. That's what good. And
he came to show us that path to live knowing
that we couldn't you know, we can't live that way
in and of ourselves, in our own strength. Um, so
(27:15):
Marsha's up next in Flintstone, Georgia. Marsha, why did you
call today?
S4 (27:21):
I just wanted to, uh, Remember a friend. Her name
was Margaret Spitler and she had been a document carrier
for J. Edgar Hoover in the days before. They had
faxes or any electronic ways to carry documents. And she
founded the Signal Mountain Library, which is still very active
(27:43):
on Signal Mountain, Tennessee. And I was at a women's retreat, uh,
and I was standing there and Satan just said, look
at that. Everyone has a friend but you. You're all alone.
Nobody wants to be with you. And she came up
and said, Marsha, you need to come sit with me.
And it was just like I could see the demons
(28:05):
running away.
S5 (28:06):
It was not today, Satan.
S4 (28:09):
No. And she just enveloped me and invited me to
her home to visit and talk. And this woman who
had credentials to stand above everyone else and be aloof,
instead looked for people who were hurting and reached out
to them. And that just really impressed me and makes
me want to be like that.
S1 (28:30):
Yes, well, there's humility there. And there's also that whole
thing about seeing, you know, she didn't have to see you,
but she did. Um, and and there's another thing in there.
You mentioned this library that she started. There's a legacy
to good people. Good people leave. Not just what they do,
(28:51):
you know, the path that they beat for you and
show you the decisions they make and exhibit. They leave
a lasting legacy. You know, it could be a library,
but in the people's hearts, like you who called here today,
how long ago did that happen with Margaret? How many
years ago was that?
S4 (29:11):
40 years ago.
S1 (29:12):
40 years. That's it. 40 years ago, you met good
people and and it and it encouraged you to do
the same kind of thing. My guess is you look
for the people who don't have a friend who had
to hear that whisper in their ear.
S4 (29:29):
It is truly a goal of mine, and I enjoy
doing it. So, um. But Margaret was a real light
in the darkness for me.
S1 (29:39):
Light in the darkness. There it is. Dark and light. Uh,
I love it. I love the the idea. Marcia, thank
you for calling today. Good people is the topic. Who's
the good? Who are the good people in your life?
And a good person? We could talk about that. And
what makes them good. And how can I be that way?
And what do I have to do in order to
(30:00):
be good people? Um, rose is in Indianapolis. Hi, Rose.
Why did you call today?
S4 (30:06):
Yeah. It's Rosemary.
S1 (30:08):
Rosemary? Well, you know what? Good people always get your
name right, don't they?
S4 (30:13):
That's okay.
S6 (30:14):
That's quite all right. Um, yes. Thank you for having
me on. I really enjoy your program and your ministry.
I when I heard your I was driving today and
heard your topic and I thought I have got to
call because the person that I want to talk about
is a good person is my mother. Um, she is
(30:35):
a person, if you ask. Uh, well, she's been gone
since 1994, so, so for a long time. But her
life really counted in many people's lives. She was, uh,
she was a good wife. Uh, I can remember, um, times, uh,
a lot of times when she, um, uh, patterned, uh,
(30:55):
things that that hopefully made me a good wife, too. Um,
she would always get fixed up a quote and unquote.
She'd put on a clean apron and lipstick when my
dad was coming home from work, and I'd say, mother,
why are you getting dressed up? And she'd say, because
daddy's coming home from work. And, um, she was a
good mother. Um, she, uh, to my sister and I.
(31:19):
She she knew sadness. She lost. I had a brother
who died as a baby, so, um. But she readily
she and my husband and my dad all both readily
adopted my husband when he came into the family. They were.
He was the son that, um, they never had. And she, um,
cooked for him, made over him and so forth. And
(31:42):
then I think she was such a good friend. I
can remember her as a child, um, taking me with
her to visit, uh, people, uh, or take food to people,
that type of thing. I remember the time when, uh,
after I had first become a Christian and, and, uh,
the enemy was saying to me, uh, that you're not
(32:02):
really this isn't really real and so forth. And I
went and woke up my mother and dad, and they
got up. And I remember we knelt at the side
of their bed and they prayed with me about that.
And I had that assurance. Um, my mother was a
Sunday school teacher from the time she was 16 and
influenced many, many young people. Um, I think the biggest
(32:25):
thing I think about my mother was, um, was how
she was as a grandmother. Um, all my six kids,
who are, of course, all grown now, and some of
them are grandparents, um, loved granny. And, uh, she would
have them come and stay with her. She, uh, did
things with them. And so I guess what I'm saying
(32:47):
overall is the good that she did. I wasn't particularly taught,
but I caught I caught it from her. And if
anybody compliments me on something that that I do, I
think back on my mother and I thought, well, I
had that pattern and now I'm just carrying it on.
S1 (33:06):
Yes. The pattern, the pathway, you know, it's that's exactly it.
And I, I love that you mentioned the the loss
of her child early on because there it is again.
The pain of life can cause you to retreat. It
can cause you to numb the pain. But good people
(33:28):
allow that pain to soften their hearts so that when
your husband came along, it was like, here's my son.
I'm going to welcome him in, right.
S6 (33:38):
Right, right. Yes.
S1 (33:41):
And prayer is part of this too. Prayer is part
of good people. Good people will take the time to
pray with you if you're there, or pray for you
when you're not there and you don't even know it,
but they are down on their knees for you. I
really believe that, don't you?
S6 (34:00):
Yes, I really do. I just, um, you know, there
were so many times she went out of her way
and never complained. I think anybody who knew my mother
would think of her as a cheerful person. And, um,
so I just. I knew I had to call you today, so.
S1 (34:15):
Oh, Rosemary, you're good people for doing it. And that
you heard it. And that that's what we're going to
talk about. God bless you, friend. And that's the other
she mentioned. Children. Um, I've never known good people who
didn't like kids or who thought kids were an interruption
or an intrusion. The good people that I have known
(34:38):
well beckoned the little children, you know, invited them in. Uh,
I've also I've also never known good people who weren't
kind to animals. There's some people who are cat people
and some people who are dog people, and it's like,
it's okay. Um, but I've never known good people who
(34:59):
didn't have some kind of kindness toward, uh, toward creation
and toward animals in particular. I don't think it's in
their DNA. We've heard that they work hard, no matter
the task. They don't slack off and just call it good.
They do excellent work. And by doing that, this was
(35:21):
the Chip Ingram story that he told about the bricklayer
that he worked with and hurt his back. You know,
when he was, when he was younger, the bricklayer who
taught him. I'm not working just to get this to code.
I do this for God. This is this is part
of me. So they call you to something better. They
(35:44):
call you to something more. And when you are around them,
you feel safe. You feel accepted. You feel like they're
not trying to get you to change and be somebody
else because they don't like the way you are. And
there's plenty of that around. There's plenty. Everybody needs to
(36:05):
change for the good, right? Good people always seem to
be welcoming to you no matter where you are, no
matter what struggle you're going through, there's a place at
the table. They have enough time for you. They have
extra food, something cool to drink on a hot day.
(36:28):
And you know what good people have? They have that
little four letter word hope. They have hope for you
because they see not just the mistakes that you've made.
They don't put you in a box because of whatever
you've done. They have hope for you because their hope
(36:49):
is not in getting you to change. Their hope is
in the one who can change hearts. And we're going
to hear more of these good people stories straight ahead
on Moody Radio. So follow the way of good people.
(37:11):
Proverbs 220. That's what we're talking about at the back fence.
And I mentioned generosity. Generosity is one of the things
that I see in good people. And this is not just,
you know, oh, there's a good person. He's a great guy. No,
there's something deeper going on here. Uh, and Joyce said
this on, on Facebook. She's just listened to, uh, or
(37:34):
listed pastors. She listed Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, who's going to
join us next week? You got to listen next week.
She listed Pastor David Jeremiah, Pastor Carl Clawson, whom you
hear on Moody Radio, pastor Erwin Lutzer, pastor Mark Jobe, uh,
her pastor, Larry Starrett, uh, at the church near her.
(37:54):
And then she lists Pastor Colin Smith and said, these
are good people. And that made me think, hey, I
know that guy Colin Smith, when he was on with
us in, I think it was in February. He talked
about drive through the Bible that was coming out. It's out.
And I like the idea so much. I said, let's
give it away. So I would love to give you
(38:16):
a copy of this book. When you travel to a
new place, you rely on the maps, you rely on
navigation system. Drive through the Bible is your spiritual GPS.
Colin guides you through 30 sessions exploring the entire Bible story.
This is not just learning facts and and destinations. You
(38:38):
know little, little points here and there. Trivia. It's about
seeing God's redemptive plan from old to new, Genesis to
revelation and how it fits together. I'd love to send
it to you. Uh, one generous person. I need one
generous person to call or click through today. Maybe that's you. 86695.
(38:59):
Fabbri is our number (866) 953-2279. Or go to Chris Fabry live.
Scroll down. You'll see how you can support us right there.
I'd love to put this 30 day journey in your hands.
Drive through the Bible. Go to chris.org. Richard is up
next in Ohio. Hi, Richard.
S7 (39:21):
Hey, Chris. Thanks for taking my call.
S1 (39:23):
Love to do it. We started with Richard in the
fourth segment starts with Richard I like that.
S7 (39:29):
Yeah. There we go. Uh, man, I want to give
a kind of a shout out to a guy named
Scott Price here in Northeast Ohio. I met Scott in 1992,
and I'd spent the last 4 or 5 years of
my life just in a lot of trouble. And, uh,
he came to our church. A church had taken me in,
and he came to our church and, uh, asked me,
(39:51):
he said, what do you do here? And I looked
at him. I said, man, I don't do nothing. I
take a wicker basket and I collect the offering from
the students in the youth group. And he looked at
me with sincerity and a depth of. I don't know what.
And he said, man, that's that's great. That is great.
(40:13):
And I thought, did you hear me incorrectly? It's like, man,
I don't do anything. And he said, no, what you
do is great. And he went on, he's encouraged me
for years and, uh, encouraged me there, encouraged me when
I went off to Bible college. And, uh, now we
both pastor different towns, but we're still friends today. So
(40:38):
he is I'm going to tell you, Chris, there are
people in north central Ohio right now that that if
they hear the name Scott Price, they're going to say, yes, sir.
He's an encourager. Yes he is. He that's all he does.
That's that's that's the best thing he does. He'll give
Barnabas a run for his money.
S1 (40:54):
I love it, okay. So how did he see? Have
you ever asked him that question? What did he see
in you when you didn't see it yourself?
S7 (41:04):
Uh, Yeah. He he he'll, he'll just say, I don't know.
I know God has a plan for you, and a
God has a plan for everybody. He says it's my
job to help bring it out. And he was definitely
one of those guys that saw something in me. God
put a couple of people like that in my life,
but he was definitely, probably the first one. And when
(41:25):
when I didn't when I didn't, I spent a lot
of time wondering about my worth with God. And I
still wrestle with that from time to time. But, you know,
that's how many years, 30 something years ago. And I
can actually I can take you to the spot because
that's the church that I'm a senior pastor at now.
S1 (41:42):
No, it is not.
S7 (41:45):
Yes. Yeah. That's been around.
S1 (41:47):
You're making you got to be making this up. You
got to be. That sounds like a novel.
S7 (41:51):
No. True story, true story. Brother. Yeah, I'm. I can
take you to. I can take you to the spot. Where?
Where he first. I can picture it today. Um, almost
what I was wearing at the time. But I will never,
ever forget that.
S1 (42:07):
How do you become somebody? My guess is you've become
somebody like that because he did that for you. You
want to do it for somebody else because you felt that, right?
S7 (42:16):
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, that's I'm literally standing in the
parking lot of our high school right now, and that's
I am the, uh, I come up here and I
encourage students.
S1 (42:30):
Yeah, I can hear it. And you're not doing it
because they're gonna pin a medal on you, and you're
not doing it because they pay you extra to do that.
S7 (42:40):
Oh, no, I'm not that good.
S1 (42:41):
Yeah, you do it because you've seen the power of that.
And so when you come up against when you meet
good people, good people see something in you that you
can't see yourself and want. You want to make you
good people too, or show you the pathway. And that's
(43:02):
what we've been talking about. That'll preach, won't it, Richard?
S7 (43:06):
Absolutely, absolutely.
S1 (43:08):
God bless you, friend. Thank you for calling in here today. Um. Oh,
there's some really, really good stories. I think good people
cry with you when you cry. And they laugh with
you when you laugh. Good people give you permission to
be yourself. They don't force you to be somebody they
want you to be. But by their very existence, they make.
(43:31):
You want to be a better person. So follow the
way of good people. Good people show you a way to. Live.
That's counter to the the culture around you. And their
path is not necessarily that easy, but when you look
at them, it it's almost like, how do you do that?
It seems so easy. Good people see this spark inside
(43:55):
of you, and they fan the flames so that it
burns a little bit brighter. Good people aren't perfect, though.
They know they're not perfect. That's part of why they're
good people. They know their own faults, they know their
own hangups, and they deal with them. So good people
are humble in that way, not letting their faults humiliate them,
(44:17):
but allowing them to get closer because you see that
they're human. They're just like you. There's vulnerability. Good people
are vulnerable, and good people call in here. I say
often that our greatest treasure is our listeners. Because you
bring your life stories. You bring the story of Scott
(44:40):
and Rosemary and her mother and Marsha and Margaret and
Josh's boss and his grandpa and Richard and his dad, Steve,
you bring those stories. Which brings us to Jesus. Of
all the people who ever lived. Talk about good people,
even though he was perfect without sin. The God man
(45:04):
who had every reason to want to stay away from
the likes of you and me. He drew near to us.
He came alongside the disciples. He called them. He lived
with them. He walked with them. He ate with them.
He saw them when they didn't get what he was saying.
And I think he delighted in them. Good people delight.
(45:28):
Good people enjoy their food. The sunset. The beauty of creation.
Good people give us a path and they allow you
to see the way to go and what to do
and the next step to take. I mentioned Bruce Overstreet.
(45:50):
We had him on the program who came to my
house at a very low point. Good people show up
at low points. Good people show up in your life
when they have every reason to keep their distance, because
associating with you might bring them down. They might get
canceled because they're associating with you. Good people say, don't care.
(46:12):
I'm going to love. I'm going to love. Well. And
Bruce came alongside me at that low point, put his
hand on my shoulder and prayed in, in Hebrew, this
prayer over me. And that's stuck with me. What are
the good people in your life? You can answer on Facebook,
tell somebody else, thank a good person in your life
(46:32):
and then say, oh God, an honest, humble prayer. Make
me good people. Help me to find the good people
and follow the path and then make me one. In
Jesus name, Amen. God bless your friend. Have a great weekend.
Come back next week for Chris Fabry live production of
Moody Radio, the ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
Oh, I'm really looking forward to what's going to happen
today at the radio backyard fence suburbs two. And we're
going to focus on two words. The phrase in the
translation I use says follow the way of good people.
So the term we're going to talk about today is
good people. What does that mean? How do you define
(00:25):
good people? How do you become good people? How do
you identify them, find them so you can follow them?
And what's happened in your life when you did that,
when you followed good people? Here's our number (877) 548-3675. I'm
looking for somebody who's never called his program salutes someone
who fits this category. Tell me specific things that good
(00:49):
people exhibit. (877) 548-3675. Let me thank some good people who
are part of this program. Ryan McConaughey doing all things technical.
Trish is our producer. Lisa's in the chair. Today. Rihanna
will be answering your calls. And since it's Friday. That's right, friend,
it's time for the fabulous Favori Friday. Sy. Here's what
it does one. We oxygenate your blood. Two, we get
(01:11):
your endorphins going. Three, we raise your serotonin level. Four
we promote lymphatic drainage. And five, we stimulate your parasympathetic system.
That's why we call it the five love languages. We
also stimulate your vagus nerve. We help you release acetylcholine.
And don't you dare forget what it does to cortisol dissipation.
Take in four seconds of air through your nose, right down.
(01:32):
Hold it four seconds, and then as you release that
air through your mouth, push on the left side of
your ribcage to get rid of all that bad carbon dioxide.
Give a sigh today for the good people you've known
in your life. Maybe it was a Sunday school teacher
or a youth pastor. Maybe it was a stranger you
met who helped you out in some way, and you
just knew that fellows, good people, give a sigh for
(01:53):
the neighbors, the mechanics, the helpers, the person who found
your wallet and returned it without all the cash inside.
Was still there for those in Texas right now. A
week after the flood, who are walking a hard trail
with those who have lost a lot. They're not doing
it for a medal or recognition or pay. They're doing
it from a good heart that wants to lighten the
load a little. Today's Fabulous Debris Friday is brought to
(02:15):
you by good people all around you. Don't take them
for granted. All rights reserved. Who are the good people
you've known? It's just you and me today. Who? Who
fits that category? And how do you define that term? Good.
I read a proverb every day, every second of the month,
(02:36):
I come across this verse, and every month I think it's.
It's the first time I'm seeing it. And I underline,
I was like, why did I underline that? Oh yeah,
that's right. Uh, and it happened. My birthday is on
the second. So I read it this month in the
on July 2nd, and I used the HC, SB, the
Holman Christian Standard, and the translation says, so follow the
(03:02):
way of good people and keep to the paths of
the righteous. After reading through the Bible and you come
to that word. So it's kind of like a therefore
it should make you ask, well, what what's before the
so what, what happens? That leads me to the so
what's leading up to it? And I want to walk
you through that a little bit today. But when I
(03:23):
say those two words good people, is there somebody who
immediately jumps into your mind, I want you to call me.
I want you to tell me why you think that
person came into your mind, and why do you think
they're well, how did they live their life in such
a way that you would categorize them as they're good people.
(03:47):
This one person (877) 548-3675 for me. You asked me that question.
The first person who pops into my head is radio
pastor Donald Cole. Maybe because I found a picture of
the two of us from a long time ago. Somebody
sent it to me, but more because of who I
saw him to be, both on the air and off
(04:08):
the air. He was the same person. He didn't put
on a mask. He had integrity. He had convictions. There
was a promo that we used to run with him,
and he was talking to a caller, and he said
something about someone who has anything but polyester in their guts.
(04:29):
He didn't have polyester in his gut. He was real.
And the reason he was that way was from a
long life of studying God's Word and living life with
a lot of loss and struggle and pain. And how
do I mention Don Cole without mentioning Naomi, his wife?
(04:50):
They were inseparable. So important to each other. They were
good people. The path they walked was worth following. So
I want you to tell me the good people in
your life. That's all we're going to do this hour. Eight. 77548367. Five.
And my hope is that it will encourage you to
(05:10):
be good people. It will encourage you by showing you
some of the ways that good people live. Proverbs two,
verse 20, in different translations, King James that thou mayest
walk in the way of good men and keep the
paths of the righteous. NIV thus you will walk in
(05:33):
the ways of the good, and keep to the paths
of the righteous. The message I don't go to the
message too often. I respected Eugene, but sometimes the message
gets into the weeds. I, I I shouldn't say that.
I'll take all that back. Mark and edit. Ryan. Uh.
the message that does the translation this way. So join
(05:57):
the company of good men and women. Keep your feet
on the tried and true paths. I like that I
think that that's pretty faithful to the at least the idea. So, um,
let me let me take you to Proverbs two, and
then we'll take a break. And then I want to
(06:18):
hear from you. (877) 548-3675. Listen to let these words rush.
Wash over you a little, my son of you. Accept
my words and store up my commands within you, listening
closely to wisdom and directing your heart to understanding. Furthermore,
(06:40):
if you call out to incite and lift your voice
to understanding, if you seek it like silver and search
for it like hidden treasure, then you will understand the
fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God.
For the Lord gives wisdom. From his mouth come knowledge
(07:01):
and understanding. He stores up success for the upright. He
is a shield for those who live with integrity, so
that he may guard the paths of justice and protect
the way of his loyal followers. Then you will understand righteousness,
justice and integrity. Every good path for wisdom will enter
(07:27):
your mind, and knowledge will delight your heart. Discretion will
watch over you and understanding will guard you, rescuing you
from the way of evil. So I talked with Doctor
Redlich and Eva Redlich, two other good people, and and
Michael was saying, what you see here is a parallel.
(07:49):
You see those the the people who live by wisdom,
the upright. And then you go in verse 11, verse
12 to the other side, rescuing you from the way
of evil, from the one who says perverse things, from
those who abandon the right paths, to walk in the
(08:10):
ways of darkness, from those who enjoy doing evil and
celebrate perversion, whose paths are crooked and whose ways are devious.
It will rescue you from a forbidden woman, from a
stranger with her flattering talk, who abandons the companion of
her youth and forgets the covenant of her God for
(08:32):
her house, sinks down to death and her ways to
the land of the departed. Spirits. None return. Who go
to her. None reach the paths of life. Verse 20. Boom!
So follow the way of good people, and keep to
the paths of the righteous Cheers, for the upright will
inhabit the land, and those of integrity will remain in it.
(08:55):
Did you hear many times the word integrity and understanding
and wisdom come in there. It's you read it enough times.
It's like it jumps off the page, but the wicked
will be cut off from the land and the treacherous
uprooted from it. I don't want that to happen to me.
How about you? I don't want to be cut off
from land. I don't want to be uprooted from it.
So what do I do? Follow the way of good people. Well,
(09:18):
what do good people do? How do they live? How
do they act? What kind of life do they exhibit?
You see it all through here. You've just heard that
this is the way. This is the path. And and
it seems like few follow it. But if you can,
if you can identify some good people and you see
(09:41):
the way that they walk, it's like, okay, I don't
know the answer to all the questions around here, but
I know what I take my next step. Good people
are compared with the the evil, the the, the ones
who choose darkness. They live in a way that's different
from the prevailing culture that says it's all about me.
(10:05):
It's all about getting what? Everything that I want. It's
all about me and my my needs. And I think
good people sometimes say hard things to you. I was
thinking of a man named Cliff Schimmels. Anybody remember Cliff
Schimmels cliff, if you're my age or older, you may
remember Cliff. He was an educator. Wheaton College, uh, taught
(10:27):
down in Tennessee. Coach, writer, encourager. And I don't know why.
I don't know what it was, but he liked me
for some reason. He really enjoyed talking with me, interacting.
I think he got a kick out of me for
some reason. And one time he came to my house.
I had a studio in our garage. He met my
(10:48):
wife and met the children, and we did the program.
And after all the mikes went off and we were
getting up to go out, he stopped me and he
challenged me about burning the candle at both ends, as
it were. And Chris life goes really fast. He had
(11:08):
this crackly voice, and I think he was cautioning me
not to derive my worth as much from what I
do as I was doing at the time. Cliff has
been gone for 24 years. I still remember that night.
I still remember that challenge because he said it in love.
(11:31):
He cared about me. He wasn't doing this because he
knew he was right and I was wrong. He said
it because he cared. He was good people. How about you?
You know, anybody like that have story for me. Remember
what you say might be the encouragement that somebody else
needs in their life to become good people. (877) 548-3675. Keep
(11:57):
a list of your own as we go through this.
More straight ahead. Welcome to our Good People edition of
Chris Fabry Live Online. Chris favorite number is (877) 548-3675. There's
(12:20):
a line open for you right now as we talk
about your the good people in your life. And first
up is Richard in the great state of Georgia. Richard,
sign in and tell me who came to your mind.
S2 (12:33):
Hey, Chris. Uh, thank you so much for taking my call.
You've been there. I want to say you're a good people.
S1 (12:40):
Thank you.
S2 (12:41):
You've been there for for, uh, me, 2 or 3
times we've called over the years. And, uh, like you,
my my dad and I, my family is from the
great state of West Virginia. So.
S1 (12:52):
Hey. What part?
S2 (12:54):
Uh, Parkersburg.
S1 (12:55):
Parkers. Oh, absolutely. We'd go to Parkersburg to go to
the mall up there because that was the only mall
within driving distance.
S2 (13:02):
Oh, yes, the Grand Central mall. Yes, sir.
S1 (13:05):
See, good people always ask where you're from in the state.
I've learned that. Okay, so who came to mind?
S2 (13:12):
Yes, sir. So? So up there, my dad set an
incredible example, uh, of working hard. We'll try to get
through this without too much emotion. Uh, but not only
working hard, but how to take care of your family,
how to take care of other people around you, whether
they were good or not. And, um, nearly 23 years later, uh,
(13:32):
late last year, my wife and I were separated, um,
for about a month, and, uh, we've since reconciled. And
I would tell you that a large part of that
is because both he and my mom listened. We had
some great man to man talks, but it was just
a lot of listening. Very patient. In fact, over the
last few days, he's been very patient, talking through some
(13:54):
other things, job related, etc. but he listened not only
to my side, but also to my wife because he
loves everybody the same. And so he he he, like
you say, would go through the mall and just know
everybody there. They knew him by name. We'd stop and talk.
And I, I think when I was first observing this
I thought, oh no, another person, we've got to stop.
(14:16):
But then I learned that this was such a valuable
thing that he was doing and inviting people into his
world and then getting to know them in their world, uh,
simply by listening. And then if you wanted advice, he
would offer it. If you didn't, it was just. Hey,
listening ear, uh, got us through an incredibly difficult time
(14:36):
last year and continues to be there for us, uh,
just over the state he's in. He's in Chattanooga. So, uh,
just an incredible man of God, a good people, and
has been all his life. Very patient man. And, uh,
and set an incredible example for me.
S1 (14:54):
Let me guess that your dad is when he would
listen to you or when he'd come near you. Would
he ever put his hand on your shoulder or around
your on your back, or just kind of touch you
or anybody that he was talking with?
S2 (15:10):
Yeah, it's a very reassuring pat and, uh, always there.
And if you, if you needed it, it was it
was available. Sometimes you just needed to be in close proximity, um, to, to, uh,
to know that, uh, he was he was there if
you wanted to draw close. Right. Like like our father
in heaven. Right? Right. Um, but, yes, uh, a very reassuring.
(15:35):
That's a great word for it. Yes, a very reassuring touch, Pat. Hey,
I'm here for you. Without saying any words. But yes,
it was often accompanied by that touch of love. And
by the way, he was not brought up that way.
There was a lot of, uh, abuse, I would say,
in terms of verbal for sure, and possibly physical as well.
(15:56):
He was not treated very kindly by his father, but
he decided to break that chain, break that generational curse,
and show love both with his ears and his hands.
S1 (16:07):
Tell me his name. Richard.
S2 (16:09):
His name is Steve.
S1 (16:11):
Steve. Steve, you done well. And the other thing in
that that you didn't mention, but is all through. That
is time he had time for you. He took time
for you. He wasn't too busy doing the other things
that were important. You know, I'm sure he worked hard.
He had to get things done, but he. He took
the time that he that you needed to listen. And
(16:32):
he believed in you too, didn't he?
S2 (16:35):
Yes, he did, and continues to believe in me through
a very long, nearly eight month unemployment period during this
time of reconciliation with my wife. It has been an
absolute nightmare for us, but God has been faithful, and
one of the ways, key ways that God has shown
(16:57):
his faithfulness through that. And I can just say, I
just got the job that I was hoping for.
S1 (17:02):
Really?
S2 (17:03):
Yesterday? Yesterday. Yes, sir.
S1 (17:06):
I was going to say you're calling here in the
middle of the tension, you know, in the middle of
not having it, and then you drop that bomb. You know,
they found. But my guess is, see, good people yield
good people. They've, you know, make you want to follow
in their paths. And my guess is over the last
eight months that you have encouraged somebody else who was
without a job just like you are, because you know
(17:30):
that that trail is that. Have you been able to
do that?
S2 (17:34):
Yes, I have. Uh, and in fact, just yesterday that
that very thing happened. I got the call. You have
been offered the job after all of this, waiting all
of the closed doors. The job I really wanted above
all else. And then I was able to turn around
when I made that phone call to my dad. He
got my mom on the line. Hey, I just got
(17:56):
a text from my friend in Ohio, just over the
West Virginia border that her son has lost his job,
that he dreamed about for years, and he was part
of a large contingent of those who lost their job
at this company. And he's heartbroken. And I said, mom, dad,
tell him it's going to be okay. He's going to
(18:17):
make it through. I've seen God's faithfulness. It just happened.
And so, yes, we're already able to touch lives states
away and encourage others.
S1 (18:28):
I'm really glad you got through, Richard, and so excited
about this new, new job. You call us back. Let's
talk again. Okay?
S2 (18:36):
Absolutely. Thank you. Chris.
S1 (18:38):
There's Richard. Good people come from the state of West Virginia.
I know that, um, there's so many things in there.
There's some good, good people seem to thrive in the
middle of pain and struggle and hardship. It's almost like
(18:58):
you become a. You can't become a good person if
everything is comfortable and easy and handed to you. It's
almost as if, like Steve, you know, his dad who
had experienced some of this. It's almost like you have
to see the negative or or rise above the other
(19:20):
stuff that has gone that you've seen. It's like, I
don't want to live that way. I want to live
this way. So good people make good choices. But it's
it's probably even deeper than that. Let's talk with Josh
in Zeeland, Michigan. Hi, Josh. Why'd you call today?
S3 (19:37):
Hey, Chris. Thanks for taking my call. I really appreciate
the ministry that you're doing. Um, yeah. I wanted to
lift up one person in particular. Um, my boss, uh,
right now, um, he's just shows, really. I mean, gives
all the qualities of, uh, of a compassionate person, um,
(20:01):
somebody who's willing to walk through the valley with you
and also celebrate your victories. Um, you know, he shows
a lot of characteristics that, you know, my grandpa did
when he was, uh, when he was with us as well. Um,
he prays with you and, uh, gently lifts you up. Um, but,
(20:26):
you know, one thing in particular is, uh, when I
first started with him, um, I wasn't in the best
financial situation. And, uh, you know, he I think he
caught on to that. And on Friday he would say, hey, man,
do you have everything for the weekend? You got enough food?
(20:48):
Are you good? I said I could use a little groceries.
And he was there to help. Um, just, uh, a
willing heart to serve, um, and just walked along side
with you. And I'm very blessed to have him in
my life. I'm also very blessed that my grandpa, um, uh,
(21:12):
he was a huge part of my life, um, just
ministering to me and, uh, walking alongside me and and
praying for not only me, but, I mean, everybody in
our family. He would pray every night and, um, very,
very committed to the Lord and walking that the path
(21:36):
that Christ taught us to walk.
S1 (21:38):
So look at that, Josh. There are so many things
that you're you're saying here about your boss and your grandfather,
but the one thing that rose to me with your
boss especially is a good people. See you, good people
notice you. Good people go the extra mile. You know,
(22:00):
it's not like, you know, going to be praying for
you about your your groceries this weekend and all. You
didn't do that, you know, be warmed and filled. Uh,
he said, hey, you got enough for this weekend is
I could use use a little help. He was there.
And that phrase that you used through the valley reminds
me of Psalm 23, that the the real hope that
(22:21):
we have is not for, uh, a peaceful situation necessarily.
It's for the presence of the shepherd who walks with
us through the. Yea, though I walk through the valley
of shadow, the death. Um. That's what your boss has done.
That's what your grandpa has done. That's gold, isn't it?
S3 (22:41):
Absolutely, absolutely. It's priceless. Um. And I couldn't agree more.
And and to show the. I can't remember the exact words,
but what good is it if you say peace be
to you? Go and be, you know, have food, have clothing,
(23:04):
and you don't do anything about it. It's a serving
as an action. Um, it's not it's not just words. Um,
sometimes it it requires more than that. Um, I've definitely
learned that over my life. And every time I can
(23:25):
get a chance to serve and provide an action for somebody,
it's it's it's great to be able to do that. Um,
but to also be on the receiving end, it is.
It's really powerful. And, uh.
S1 (23:44):
Well, I think good people do both of those things.
Good people are generous. That's one of the things that
I wrote down before the program. Good people are generous,
but they're also able to receive from someone else. Uh,
even though it may hurt your pride a little bit or,
you know, to to receive that, it's like, no, this
(24:05):
is given from the hand of somebody who wants to
to do something for you. So to be able to
receive that or someone gives you a compliment and then
you say, or I'll say, I wasn't that much, you know, or,
you know, you kind of kind of play it down.
It's like no good people are able to receive that
(24:25):
and be thankful for that. The encouragement that you've gotten from,
you know, the words that have been extended to you, uh,
it's harder for some of us than it is others. Josh,
you said a great deal here today. Thank you for
telling us about your grandpa and about your boss. See,
this is what. This is why I want to do
this program. Because I want to be the kind of
(24:47):
people that Richard and Josh are talking about. I want
to be good people. Do you? And. And how do
you how do you accomplish that? I don't think it's
a checklist. I think it has more to do with
the heart. And we're going to hear from more of you.
Thank you for calling in. I've got three lines still open. (877) 548-3675.
(25:11):
I also put this question up on Facebook, and there
are a number of you who have responded to that
as well. So if you'd like to go to Facebook
and respond or you're hearing this on the podcast at
a later time than our live program. Uh, go over
there to the Facebook page and respond to the question
that we have for you today about good people. And
if you don't know what I'm talking about, you just
(25:32):
tuned in. We're talking about Proverbs two verse 20 that
says in the CSB, so follow the way of good people.
What does that mean and what good people have you
come in contact with? (877) 548-3675. So follow the way of
(26:05):
good people. Good people are generous. They are sincere. They
live from the heart. They have integrity. They don't put
a mask on. They don't let the pain keep you.
Your pain keep them from entering into your life. So
they engage, um, rather than retreat. I think good people
(26:32):
are people who don't have an agenda. Uh, I could
develop that a little bit more, but. If you if
you look at who is who is the best good
people you've ever, ever known, that's what we're talking about
today at the radio backyard fence. And the best good
people there ever was was a man who lived in
(26:54):
the first century. Yeshua, Jesus. And you look at his
life and says, oh, that's it. That's what good. And
he came to show us that path to live knowing
that we couldn't you know, we can't live that way
in and of ourselves, in our own strength. Um, so
(27:15):
Marsha's up next in Flintstone, Georgia. Marsha, why did you
call today?
S4 (27:21):
I just wanted to, uh, Remember a friend. Her name
was Margaret Spitler and she had been a document carrier
for J. Edgar Hoover in the days before. They had
faxes or any electronic ways to carry documents. And she
founded the Signal Mountain Library, which is still very active
(27:43):
on Signal Mountain, Tennessee. And I was at a women's retreat, uh,
and I was standing there and Satan just said, look
at that. Everyone has a friend but you. You're all alone.
Nobody wants to be with you. And she came up
and said, Marsha, you need to come sit with me.
And it was just like I could see the demons
(28:05):
running away.
S5 (28:06):
It was not today, Satan.
S4 (28:09):
No. And she just enveloped me and invited me to
her home to visit and talk. And this woman who
had credentials to stand above everyone else and be aloof,
instead looked for people who were hurting and reached out
to them. And that just really impressed me and makes
me want to be like that.
S1 (28:30):
Yes, well, there's humility there. And there's also that whole
thing about seeing, you know, she didn't have to see you,
but she did. Um, and and there's another thing in there.
You mentioned this library that she started. There's a legacy
to good people. Good people leave. Not just what they do,
(28:51):
you know, the path that they beat for you and
show you the decisions they make and exhibit. They leave
a lasting legacy. You know, it could be a library,
but in the people's hearts, like you who called here today,
how long ago did that happen with Margaret? How many
years ago was that?
S4 (29:11):
40 years ago.
S1 (29:12):
40 years. That's it. 40 years ago, you met good
people and and it and it encouraged you to do
the same kind of thing. My guess is you look
for the people who don't have a friend who had
to hear that whisper in their ear.
S4 (29:29):
It is truly a goal of mine, and I enjoy
doing it. So, um. But Margaret was a real light
in the darkness for me.
S1 (29:39):
Light in the darkness. There it is. Dark and light. Uh,
I love it. I love the the idea. Marcia, thank
you for calling today. Good people is the topic. Who's
the good? Who are the good people in your life?
And a good person? We could talk about that. And
what makes them good. And how can I be that way?
And what do I have to do in order to
(30:00):
be good people? Um, rose is in Indianapolis. Hi, Rose.
Why did you call today?
S4 (30:06):
Yeah. It's Rosemary.
S1 (30:08):
Rosemary? Well, you know what? Good people always get your
name right, don't they?
S4 (30:13):
That's okay.
S6 (30:14):
That's quite all right. Um, yes. Thank you for having
me on. I really enjoy your program and your ministry.
I when I heard your I was driving today and
heard your topic and I thought I have got to
call because the person that I want to talk about
is a good person is my mother. Um, she is
(30:35):
a person, if you ask. Uh, well, she's been gone
since 1994, so, so for a long time. But her
life really counted in many people's lives. She was, uh,
she was a good wife. Uh, I can remember, um, times, uh,
a lot of times when she, um, uh, patterned, uh,
(30:55):
things that that hopefully made me a good wife, too. Um,
she would always get fixed up a quote and unquote.
She'd put on a clean apron and lipstick when my
dad was coming home from work, and I'd say, mother,
why are you getting dressed up? And she'd say, because
daddy's coming home from work. And, um, she was a
good mother. Um, she, uh, to my sister and I.
(31:19):
She she knew sadness. She lost. I had a brother
who died as a baby, so, um. But she readily
she and my husband and my dad all both readily
adopted my husband when he came into the family. They were.
He was the son that, um, they never had. And she, um,
cooked for him, made over him and so forth. And
(31:42):
then I think she was such a good friend. I
can remember her as a child, um, taking me with
her to visit, uh, people, uh, or take food to people,
that type of thing. I remember the time when, uh,
after I had first become a Christian and, and, uh,
the enemy was saying to me, uh, that you're not
(32:02):
really this isn't really real and so forth. And I
went and woke up my mother and dad, and they
got up. And I remember we knelt at the side
of their bed and they prayed with me about that.
And I had that assurance. Um, my mother was a
Sunday school teacher from the time she was 16 and
influenced many, many young people. Um, I think the biggest
(32:25):
thing I think about my mother was, um, was how
she was as a grandmother. Um, all my six kids,
who are, of course, all grown now, and some of
them are grandparents, um, loved granny. And, uh, she would
have them come and stay with her. She, uh, did
things with them. And so I guess what I'm saying
(32:47):
overall is the good that she did. I wasn't particularly taught,
but I caught I caught it from her. And if
anybody compliments me on something that that I do, I
think back on my mother and I thought, well, I
had that pattern and now I'm just carrying it on.
S1 (33:06):
Yes. The pattern, the pathway, you know, it's that's exactly it.
And I, I love that you mentioned the the loss
of her child early on because there it is again.
The pain of life can cause you to retreat. It
can cause you to numb the pain. But good people
(33:28):
allow that pain to soften their hearts so that when
your husband came along, it was like, here's my son.
I'm going to welcome him in, right.
S6 (33:38):
Right, right. Yes.
S1 (33:41):
And prayer is part of this too. Prayer is part
of good people. Good people will take the time to
pray with you if you're there, or pray for you
when you're not there and you don't even know it,
but they are down on their knees for you. I
really believe that, don't you?
S6 (34:00):
Yes, I really do. I just, um, you know, there
were so many times she went out of her way
and never complained. I think anybody who knew my mother
would think of her as a cheerful person. And, um,
so I just. I knew I had to call you today, so.
S1 (34:15):
Oh, Rosemary, you're good people for doing it. And that
you heard it. And that that's what we're going to
talk about. God bless you, friend. And that's the other
she mentioned. Children. Um, I've never known good people who
didn't like kids or who thought kids were an interruption
or an intrusion. The good people that I have known
(34:38):
well beckoned the little children, you know, invited them in. Uh,
I've also I've also never known good people who weren't
kind to animals. There's some people who are cat people
and some people who are dog people, and it's like,
it's okay. Um, but I've never known good people who
(34:59):
didn't have some kind of kindness toward, uh, toward creation
and toward animals in particular. I don't think it's in
their DNA. We've heard that they work hard, no matter
the task. They don't slack off and just call it good.
They do excellent work. And by doing that, this was
(35:21):
the Chip Ingram story that he told about the bricklayer
that he worked with and hurt his back. You know,
when he was, when he was younger, the bricklayer who
taught him. I'm not working just to get this to code.
I do this for God. This is this is part
of me. So they call you to something better. They
(35:44):
call you to something more. And when you are around them,
you feel safe. You feel accepted. You feel like they're
not trying to get you to change and be somebody
else because they don't like the way you are. And
there's plenty of that around. There's plenty. Everybody needs to
(36:05):
change for the good, right? Good people always seem to
be welcoming to you no matter where you are, no
matter what struggle you're going through, there's a place at
the table. They have enough time for you. They have
extra food, something cool to drink on a hot day.
(36:28):
And you know what good people have? They have that
little four letter word hope. They have hope for you
because they see not just the mistakes that you've made.
They don't put you in a box because of whatever
you've done. They have hope for you because their hope
(36:49):
is not in getting you to change. Their hope is
in the one who can change hearts. And we're going
to hear more of these good people stories straight ahead
on Moody Radio. So follow the way of good people.
(37:11):
Proverbs 220. That's what we're talking about at the back fence.
And I mentioned generosity. Generosity is one of the things
that I see in good people. And this is not just,
you know, oh, there's a good person. He's a great guy. No,
there's something deeper going on here. Uh, and Joyce said
this on, on Facebook. She's just listened to, uh, or
(37:34):
listed pastors. She listed Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, who's going to
join us next week? You got to listen next week.
She listed Pastor David Jeremiah, Pastor Carl Clawson, whom you
hear on Moody Radio, pastor Erwin Lutzer, pastor Mark Jobe, uh,
her pastor, Larry Starrett, uh, at the church near her.
(37:54):
And then she lists Pastor Colin Smith and said, these
are good people. And that made me think, hey, I
know that guy Colin Smith, when he was on with
us in, I think it was in February. He talked
about drive through the Bible that was coming out. It's out.
And I like the idea so much. I said, let's
give it away. So I would love to give you
(38:16):
a copy of this book. When you travel to a
new place, you rely on the maps, you rely on
navigation system. Drive through the Bible is your spiritual GPS.
Colin guides you through 30 sessions exploring the entire Bible story.
This is not just learning facts and and destinations. You
(38:38):
know little, little points here and there. Trivia. It's about
seeing God's redemptive plan from old to new, Genesis to
revelation and how it fits together. I'd love to send
it to you. Uh, one generous person. I need one
generous person to call or click through today. Maybe that's you. 86695.
(38:59):
Fabbri is our number (866) 953-2279. Or go to Chris Fabry live.
Scroll down. You'll see how you can support us right there.
I'd love to put this 30 day journey in your hands.
Drive through the Bible. Go to chris.org. Richard is up
next in Ohio. Hi, Richard.
S7 (39:21):
Hey, Chris. Thanks for taking my call.
S1 (39:23):
Love to do it. We started with Richard in the
fourth segment starts with Richard I like that.
S7 (39:29):
Yeah. There we go. Uh, man, I want to give
a kind of a shout out to a guy named
Scott Price here in Northeast Ohio. I met Scott in 1992,
and I'd spent the last 4 or 5 years of
my life just in a lot of trouble. And, uh,
he came to our church. A church had taken me in,
and he came to our church and, uh, asked me,
(39:51):
he said, what do you do here? And I looked
at him. I said, man, I don't do nothing. I
take a wicker basket and I collect the offering from
the students in the youth group. And he looked at
me with sincerity and a depth of. I don't know what.
And he said, man, that's that's great. That is great.
(40:13):
And I thought, did you hear me incorrectly? It's like, man,
I don't do anything. And he said, no, what you
do is great. And he went on, he's encouraged me
for years and, uh, encouraged me there, encouraged me when
I went off to Bible college. And, uh, now we
both pastor different towns, but we're still friends today. So
(40:38):
he is I'm going to tell you, Chris, there are
people in north central Ohio right now that that if
they hear the name Scott Price, they're going to say, yes, sir.
He's an encourager. Yes he is. He that's all he does.
That's that's that's the best thing he does. He'll give
Barnabas a run for his money.
S1 (40:54):
I love it, okay. So how did he see? Have
you ever asked him that question? What did he see
in you when you didn't see it yourself?
S7 (41:04):
Uh, Yeah. He he he'll, he'll just say, I don't know.
I know God has a plan for you, and a
God has a plan for everybody. He says it's my
job to help bring it out. And he was definitely
one of those guys that saw something in me. God
put a couple of people like that in my life,
but he was definitely, probably the first one. And when
(41:25):
when I didn't when I didn't, I spent a lot
of time wondering about my worth with God. And I
still wrestle with that from time to time. But, you know,
that's how many years, 30 something years ago. And I
can actually I can take you to the spot because
that's the church that I'm a senior pastor at now.
S1 (41:42):
No, it is not.
S7 (41:45):
Yes. Yeah. That's been around.
S1 (41:47):
You're making you got to be making this up. You
got to be. That sounds like a novel.
S7 (41:51):
No. True story, true story. Brother. Yeah, I'm. I can
take you to. I can take you to the spot. Where?
Where he first. I can picture it today. Um, almost
what I was wearing at the time. But I will never,
ever forget that.
S1 (42:07):
How do you become somebody? My guess is you've become
somebody like that because he did that for you. You
want to do it for somebody else because you felt that, right?
S7 (42:16):
Absolutely. Yeah. I mean, that's I'm literally standing in the
parking lot of our high school right now, and that's
I am the, uh, I come up here and I
encourage students.
S1 (42:30):
Yeah, I can hear it. And you're not doing it
because they're gonna pin a medal on you, and you're
not doing it because they pay you extra to do that.
S7 (42:40):
Oh, no, I'm not that good.
S1 (42:41):
Yeah, you do it because you've seen the power of that.
And so when you come up against when you meet
good people, good people see something in you that you
can't see yourself and want. You want to make you
good people too, or show you the pathway. And that's
(43:02):
what we've been talking about. That'll preach, won't it, Richard?
S7 (43:06):
Absolutely, absolutely.
S1 (43:08):
God bless you, friend. Thank you for calling in here today. Um. Oh,
there's some really, really good stories. I think good people
cry with you when you cry. And they laugh with
you when you laugh. Good people give you permission to
be yourself. They don't force you to be somebody they
want you to be. But by their very existence, they make.
(43:31):
You want to be a better person. So follow the
way of good people. Good people show you a way to. Live.
That's counter to the the culture around you. And their
path is not necessarily that easy, but when you look
at them, it it's almost like, how do you do that?
It seems so easy. Good people see this spark inside
(43:55):
of you, and they fan the flames so that it
burns a little bit brighter. Good people aren't perfect, though.
They know they're not perfect. That's part of why they're
good people. They know their own faults, they know their
own hangups, and they deal with them. So good people
are humble in that way, not letting their faults humiliate them,
(44:17):
but allowing them to get closer because you see that
they're human. They're just like you. There's vulnerability. Good people
are vulnerable, and good people call in here. I say
often that our greatest treasure is our listeners. Because you
bring your life stories. You bring the story of Scott
(44:40):
and Rosemary and her mother and Marsha and Margaret and
Josh's boss and his grandpa and Richard and his dad, Steve,
you bring those stories. Which brings us to Jesus. Of
all the people who ever lived. Talk about good people,
even though he was perfect without sin. The God man
(45:04):
who had every reason to want to stay away from
the likes of you and me. He drew near to us.
He came alongside the disciples. He called them. He lived
with them. He walked with them. He ate with them.
He saw them when they didn't get what he was saying.
And I think he delighted in them. Good people delight.
(45:28):
Good people enjoy their food. The sunset. The beauty of creation.
Good people give us a path and they allow you
to see the way to go and what to do
and the next step to take. I mentioned Bruce Overstreet.
(45:50):
We had him on the program who came to my
house at a very low point. Good people show up
at low points. Good people show up in your life
when they have every reason to keep their distance, because
associating with you might bring them down. They might get
canceled because they're associating with you. Good people say, don't care.
(46:12):
I'm going to love. I'm going to love. Well. And
Bruce came alongside me at that low point, put his
hand on my shoulder and prayed in, in Hebrew, this
prayer over me. And that's stuck with me. What are
the good people in your life? You can answer on Facebook,
tell somebody else, thank a good person in your life
(46:32):
and then say, oh God, an honest, humble prayer. Make
me good people. Help me to find the good people
and follow the path and then make me one. In
Jesus name, Amen. God bless your friend. Have a great weekend.
Come back next week for Chris Fabry live production of
Moody Radio, the ministry of Moody Bible Institute.
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If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.