The Simplicity of the Gospel

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off the week with a LIVE in-studio audience as we discussed the importance of sharing the Gospel in a sincere and simple way. The Gospel is to be accessible by all, therefore we need to be intentional about the way we share it with others. We should share it in a way that all can understand. We turned to 2 Corinthians 11:3 where Paul expresses concern about believers being misled by false teachers simply because they don’t understand the simple and truthful gospel. How can you share the gospel in a way where it makes sense to everyone? We also had Pastor Jon Kelly share his testimony of how Jesus met him in solitary confinement. Pastor Kelly is a husband, father and Lead Pastor of Chicago West Bible Church. He also is an alum of Moody Bible Institute. We also had Dr. Joseph Stowell join us. Dr. Stowell is an international conference speaker, author, and former president of Moody Bible Institute. He currently serves on the boards of CURE International, English Language Institute/China and International Aid. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on Karl and Crew Showcast.

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Episode Transcript

S1 (00:00):
Coming to you from the Morning Star Mission sponsored studio.
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (00:08):
Sometimes we make the gospel way too complex. We bring
complexity when it doesn't have to be complex. It just
needs to be simple, pure, undiluted. You just need a
little bit of real gospel. You don't need you don't
need to have all this highfalutin, crazy stuff.

S3 (00:26):
You know, I saw this video on, um, social media
over the weekend that caught my attention. And it was
this young woman, and she was she was talking about how,
you know, she was kind of crying. She's like, I
can't believe that this. I've been in church my whole life,
and this is the first time I'm hearing the gospel.
And she as she continues to talk, she gets more
and more emotional. She goes, it's not about trying to

(00:49):
be as good as I can be. And it's not
about trying to be at church for three services out
of every week and trying to be holy. And and
she's going on and on and about all the things
that she clearly her whole religious life has been, has
thought it was. And she was like, you mean that
this is the gospel? I haven't heard it my whole life.
I've been doing this my whole life. And I'm just

(01:11):
now hearing the gospel. And it was it was really
it was both heartbreaking and powerful at the same time.
Heartbreaking because you think, man.

S2 (01:20):
How do you miss it?

S3 (01:21):
But you can miss it because you, you, you absorb
the message that if I just go to church this
many times a week, and if I serve this often,
and if I wear these kind of clothes or don't
or go to these kind of places or don't, I mean,
I related to it a lot.

S2 (01:36):
That's well, that's your story, right?

S3 (01:38):
Like, oh, that's not the gospel.

S2 (01:41):
Yeah. It's interesting because I think we do create a
cultural norm without even saying it. I mean, who would
say Christianity is going to church regularly keeping your act together,
being good? Well, somewhat. I guess.

S3 (01:54):
I think if you went out and asked most people
what it means to be a Christian. They would say
exactly that.

S2 (01:59):
Really?

S3 (02:00):
I think it means you go to church. I think
it means that you try to be a good person.

S2 (02:05):
Oh, you're talking the man on the street? Yes. Yeah,
I think.

S3 (02:07):
But I think sometimes even that creeps into church.

S2 (02:09):
Oh, yeah. Well, it does creeps into that. Gets into
my noggin. Not those kind of metrics, but different metrics
that have. No. There's no biblical basis for it. In fact,
those are the metrics of the Pharisees, by the way.

S3 (02:26):
And why do we get this so confused? Then we
have the Word of God. Why does it become so complicated?

S2 (02:32):
I think you said it right there. It's the complexity.
When the gospel was meant to be simple. Paul has
an interesting warning for the church of Corinth, and it's fascinating.
So there must have been some circuit preachers out there
that were dishing up some other information, because he had
a warning for them. That's really powerful. We're going to
get to that straight ahead.

S1 (02:54):
You can take them out of Alaska, But you can't
take Alaska out of him. Carl is in the crew.
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (03:03):
Yeah. There's a warning given to the church of Corinth
that is a little bit shocking. And it's in the
sticky pages. You don't turn to Second Corinthians 11 very often, but, boy,
it's insightful. Ali, take it away.

S3 (03:15):
This is Second Corinthians 11, verse three. It says, but
I am afraid that as the serpent deceived Eve by
his cunning, your thoughts will be led astray from a
sincere and pure devotion to Christ.

S2 (03:26):
Okay. How beautiful is this? He's talking to Church of Corinth.
He's saying, listen. So there's an assumption here. They've got
a sincere and pure devotion to Christ. Doesn't sound highfalutin, right?
It's pretty basic.

S3 (03:38):
Simple?

S2 (03:39):
Yeah. Simple. Um, when we go on, though, looking at this,
something amazing happens here. So he goes on to say,
for if someone comes and proclaims another Jesus than the
one we proclaimed, or if you receive a different spirit
from the one you received, or if you accept a
different gospel from the one you accepted, you put up

(03:59):
with it readily enough. Indeed, I consider that I am
not in the least inferior to these super apostles. Is
that hilarious? Super apostles? Even if I am unskilled in speaking,
I am not so in knowledge. Isn't this interesting? He's
saying I'm not very good at public speaking, but I

(04:20):
know some stuff. Indeed, in every way we have made
this plain to you. In all things. So here's what
he's up against. In Corinth, there's a group of people
that are called super apostles. Quick note I might add here,
there is no evidence that the super apostles had any
of their letters canonized as Paul did. So it proved

(04:40):
out to be real. But these are super apostles. These
are the hot dogs. And here. Are you ready for this?
These guys were great speakers, but. And I'm not, I suspect,
when he calls them super apostles. I think that there
were some people that were genuinely born again who were
giving not a different gospel as in heresy, but a

(05:03):
twist on the truth that brought a level of complexity
that was going to steal away from their sincere, simple
and pure faith. Isn't that fascinating? It's not high falutin stuff. Hey, big,
listen to the big eloquent guys. It's just that good

(05:24):
old fashioned street knowledge of what God wants to do
in our life. That's what Paul was appealing for.

S3 (05:31):
So in what ways do you think we're susceptible of
this today, of being kind of led astray from the pure,
sincere devotion to Christ, from the simplicity of the gospel?

S2 (05:42):
Well, I think we can take it at face value.
I think the biggest one at face value here is
you've got, he calls them super apostles. And then he
says of himself, even if I am an unbeliever, even
if I am unskilled in speaking. What that means is
these super apostles were great orators. So great oration does

(06:07):
not mean good gospel, right?

S3 (06:08):
Okay. So we can be susceptible to people who are
very persuasive and speak well.

S2 (06:15):
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, multi-level marketing ministers kind of,
so to speak.

S3 (06:20):
When you think about the, the, the prevalence of social
media and the ability of so many people to have
a platform, I think discernment is so important. Important, particularly
for younger people, people of all ages, but particularly for
younger people, because you can easily listen to somebody on
TikTok or Instagram or pick your platform, and they can

(06:42):
sound so convincing in whatever it is they're presenting that
you can go, okay, that sounds really good. Is it true?
And I think that's the question that we have to
be teaching our kids to ask. Is it true? It
sounds good, but is it true?

S2 (06:56):
Yeah, and it's really good. And be careful here, because
then you can start getting pretty suspicious of anyone who's
got a gift of communication at all. It's not about that.
This is about an eloquence that could lead people away
from the pure and sincere gospel. And what's I think
what's here is that there's a risk of having so

(07:20):
much complexity to the gospel. And when I think of pure,
I don't think about heaps. I think about little bits
that are totally pure, you know what I mean?

S3 (07:29):
Yes.

S2 (07:29):
Like, here's a little bit of purity. And, and it
was sincerity of heart. And Paul's just saying don't let
that sincere and pure faith fade away. You know, I
was talking with Christopher. I took him with me to, um, Arizona,
And it was good, man. I love a jet. You know.

S3 (07:50):
Your right hand.

S2 (07:51):
Guy is my right hand guy. I mean, Young Thunder.
How cool is it? Jet.

S4 (07:55):
A jet is one of the most genuine, kind characters
I've ever met. Love him.

S2 (08:02):
Yeah. He's just he's just as real as real can be.
I love to poke fun at him because he likes
formula one racing. And I'm like, wow, that's one area
of your life that needs lordship in a big way, man.
In fact, he told me, he told me yesterday on
a flight home from Arizona. He goes, man, you know,
you ever dream about if you had all the money
in the world? I go, yeah, what's your dream? I'd

(08:24):
go to every Formula One race there was if if
it didn't compromise my ability to be doing my calling.
I said, well, you have just torpedoed any Ray's recommendation
I may give to you for the ultimate.

S5 (08:37):
That's awesome.

S2 (08:39):
You just torpedoed it. But I digress. What we were
talking about on the plane was he was looking at me.
He says, and you got to remember, Ajit is a
brilliant guy. 200,000 kids matriculated in Chennai. That's his where
he came from in India. And this is a tech
kind of region of India 200,000. Guess where Ajit scored?

(09:00):
Top of the heap. Number one.

S3 (09:02):
Wow.

S5 (09:02):
Wow.

S2 (09:02):
That's a big deal. But this is what he said
to me and I thought it was so good. He said,
we've got to make sure that we don't let the
gospel get too fancy for for what it is. He said, Carl,
it's just so simple. And that's what it is. It's
pure and sincere. And when we get away from purity

(09:27):
and sincerity, you might know a lot of stuff, but, boy,
it doesn't have the kind of fruit anymore.

S3 (09:34):
And it's. That's why it's. We need to continue to
remind ourselves of this, to boil it down to the
absolute basics, the pure, simple gospel that a child can understand.
I mean, that's what we have to remember is that
Jesus called children to to come to him. We were
supposed to embrace him as a child, have faith like

(09:56):
a child. Well, have you ever heard somebody say, break
it down to me like I'm 12 years old?

S5 (09:59):
Yes.

S3 (10:01):
Yes. If it was easy enough for a child to understand,
it was easy enough for a child to understand.

S2 (10:07):
And it's good enough for you.

S3 (10:09):
Exactly.

S2 (10:10):
Okay, coming up here, we're going to give you three simple, pure,
sincere disciplines. And I'm convinced of this. These are. These
are the unseen disciplines that are out there. They don't
they don't show up until you've done them for a while.
And then the fruit is evident. We'll break them down
for you.

S5 (10:28):
Coming up.

S1 (10:29):
A basketball mom who's mastered the dad joke. Ali is
in the crew. It's Karl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (10:38):
So here's the deal, guys. We have got a man.
We got people showing up. We got a live studio
audience showing up in here in just a minute. We're
broadcasting live from downtown Chicago all across the United States.
We've got Bruce Everett, Bruce, Bruce, come on in here, man.
You can't stick your head in without getting on.

S5 (10:53):
Microphone.

S3 (10:55):
We're in a different studio, and we have a live
studio audience that's going to be coming in at eight.

S2 (10:59):
Well, we got to get his mic turned on. We're
going to get that going right now.

S3 (11:02):
We have the ability to turn.

S2 (11:03):
Yeah we got him. We got the mic on.

S5 (11:05):
This is so cool. Good morning.

S2 (11:06):
Yeah, yeah. So what's going on? You're bringing in some
live folks here today.

S5 (11:10):
You know, a lot of people are interested about what
goes on here in the morning and how you do
what you do. And yeah, we're going to bring a
few friends of Moody in here and just kind of
watch over your shoulder, see how you do this.

S2 (11:24):
Okay.

S5 (11:24):
This this thing called, uh, Carl and crew. Yeah. And
we're great supporters of this ministry. Strong supporters and champions
of Moody that are going to be.

S2 (11:34):
Here.

S5 (11:34):
This morning and just wanting to add to their story.

S2 (11:37):
You think they can handle curve balls if we throw
them at them?

S5 (11:40):
You know, how do you think they are? They're pretty experienced.
Are they? They. They have their owners of businesses. There are.
They are just influential people all over the country. Florida.
We've got folks from Tennessee, West Michigan, here in Chicago.

S2 (11:55):
I think we got professors and workers and everything.

S5 (11:59):
This is going to be a great day.

S3 (12:00):
Really exciting.

S5 (12:01):
Yeah. You guys are kind of like in a different environment.

S3 (12:03):
Here we are. And a quick plug if you're not
following us on social media Facebook Instagram, Carlin crew. We
will have some updates and behind the scenes pictures and
videos so you can be a part of it too,
even though you're not in studio. We're going to allow
you to.

S5 (12:16):
Wait a minute. There's cameras in here. Yes.

S2 (12:18):
Oh, you're on camera.

S3 (12:19):
I've got a phone that has a camera so I can.

S2 (12:22):
Get a fresh haircut, too, man. It looks good.

S5 (12:24):
Well, I'm. You know, it's. I just got back from Colorado.
I was visiting my daughter, who works for focus on
the family. Graduated from Moody two years ago.

S2 (12:32):
What's that got to do with the haircut?

S5 (12:34):
Well, I tried to look good for her. Oh, I see.
I was.

S2 (12:36):
Trying to figure out what was the line.

S5 (12:38):
There. I just, you know, I try to look for
my daughter, you know?

S2 (12:41):
You know what? You handled pressure really well. I tried
to put you on tilt, but it was impossible. You're
a good man, Bruce. Thank you. Thanks. We love.

S5 (12:46):
You. Hey, we love you guys, too.

S3 (12:48):
We'll see you in a bit.

S2 (12:49):
Uh, we're talking about the basics, and I want to
give you three, because sometimes that pure and sincere faith
that Paul speaks of can be lost. And I just
want to break it down really simply. I'm going to
give you three words. I'm going to give them to you,
and then we're going to break them down. We're going
to do it together. Okay guys. So humility before God.
It truly is the one virtue that gives birth to

(13:11):
every other virtue. Just think about that. If you can
just get up this morning and go, God, I'm going
to approach this day humbly. I don't need to be seen.
I don't need to win at this. I don't need to.
What are other things where pride manifests itself? I don't
need to put myself in front of someone I'm not.
My worth is not based in how people respond to

(13:32):
me today. It's based in.

S3 (13:33):
Need, the approval of other people. And I think just
also the humility of if I if you don't show up.
I got nothing today. Like there's nothing in me that
can tackle anything that's coming my way. Apart from your
grace and power.

S2 (13:47):
Boom! And that leads to the second one. So the
one is how we relate to God is humbly. And
by the way, these are part. This is how we
relate to the father, son, and Holy Spirit. How we
relate to the son is Jesus said it. He said,
have proximity to me. Quit worrying about producing fruit, proximity
over performance. And this weekend I did this. I got

(14:08):
two guys on stage, got one big dude that has
just surrendered his life to Jesus a few hours before he's.
I put him in the role of Jesus being the vine,
and he's got tears streaming down his face while he's
doing this. He's like, oh, I can't believe he's just
this big old guy. And then I had a guy
being a branch, and it's as simple as this. If
you've not heard it before here on Carlin Cruz, it's

(14:29):
one of our anchor passages. It's out of John 15.
Jesus said, I am the vine, you're the branch. You
abide in me and I in you. You will bear
much fruit. Apart from me, you can do. Let's get
a spot. Check here. Ali.

S3 (14:40):
Nothing.

S2 (14:41):
Nothing at all?

S3 (14:42):
Nothing.

S2 (14:42):
Okay. So proximity. If we can focus on talking with Jesus,
open in his word. And by the way, word is
central here because he says, if you abide in my
word and my word abides in you, ask whatever you
wish and it will be done. That's a big, bold statement,
but proximity by way of being in the Word of God.

(15:04):
See how simple these are? Humility before God, proximity to Jesus,
and then liberty in the Holy Spirit. Three big bodies
of teaching on the Holy Spirit John 14. John 16.
Romans eight. I'm going to tell you this right now.
You go John 14, John 16, Romans eight. You camp
out there for this week. You will have a better

(15:25):
understanding of what the Holy Spirit wants to do in
your life than you've ever had. I promise you that.
But the bottom line is this the Spirit of God
gives liberty. Where the spirit of the Lord is, there
is liberty, there is peace, and God wants to give
that to you today. Now why do we mention that?
Because the Apostle Paul said, man, I'm concerned that the

(15:46):
super apostles are coming in and they're leading you to
this distorted gospel, which would have been convoluted and off
the point of grace. It would have been leaning into
man's performance. And he said, listen, keep it sincere and pure,
my friends. And he says, I know I'm not as
eloquent as some of those guys. But then he says,
I know some stuff. Don't you love how he says that?

(16:11):
I know some stuff. Come on, hang with me here, people.
And it's I think it's cool that Paul's letters are
in the canon, and I don't know that any of
those super apostles have a letter in the canon that
we read every day.

S3 (16:24):
Yeah. You know, we interviewed somebody a couple weeks ago,
or maybe, maybe it's been a little longer now, but
at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. And I was so
struck by what he said, he was talking about sometimes
the difference between the church globally versus the American church.
And he said, there are places in the world where
access to the information around the gospel is very limited.

S2 (16:43):
Limited.

S3 (16:43):
The podcasts, the books, all of the resources, even radio,
is limited. He goes, but the level of obedience is high.
Knowledge may be low, but obedience is high. He said,
and we have to work on that. A shrinking, that gap.
Here in the West between knowledge and obedience.

S2 (17:00):
That was a profound statement.

S3 (17:01):
And it stuck with me because he was so right.
We can have knowledge sometimes that's off the charts. We
have podcasts and books and resources and blogs, and you
can fill yourself up with all of that. And yet
our level of obedience is low. And when I thought
about that, when you're talking about the simplicity of the gospel,
sometimes our level of knowledge can actually work against us

(17:23):
if it keeps us from understanding that it's not the
knowledge that's going to get us closer to God.

S2 (17:30):
It's interesting, too, that Paul says, I know some stuff,
I have knowledge, but he's the same one who said
knowledge can puff up, so we have to live down
that up on that high ridge and we can boom crew.
I want you to know something. Keep it sincere, keep
it pure. Don't let it die on orthodoxy and ritual.

(17:51):
Don't let it die. Keep it pure. Keep it sincere
and keep it simple. And we're going to be okay.
God's going to do something amazing.

S1 (18:02):
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (18:06):
We're going to have Joe Stoll coming in here in
a little bit. And a whole live studio audience, no
matter where you are in the world. Ali's going to
load up pictures for you and all that good stuff.
We got this. Look at these green lights going up
the walls and everything around in here. Really cool. We
got cameras behind us, cameras in front of us. Look
at these guys. A bunch of tech guys behind the glass.

(18:27):
Look at them in there, waving their hands around.

S3 (18:29):
At us. Acting like, acting like we've like. We've not like.
Look at the lights. Ooh, they're so pretty. We're normally.

S5 (18:37):
Well.

S2 (18:38):
We're usually in a box.

S6 (18:40):
This is a much bigger space than we're used to,
so we're acting like I'm.

S2 (18:44):
On a field.

S6 (18:45):
Trip.

S2 (18:46):
Didn't you get giddy about field trips when you were
a kid?

S6 (18:49):
Okay. No, I hate.

S3 (18:51):
Field trips.

S6 (18:51):
But that's.

S2 (18:52):
Okay. See? There we.

S6 (18:53):
Go. Oh, Ali.

S7 (18:56):
Ali wanted to be. Hold on a second. Ali had
an aversion.

S2 (18:59):
To school.

S7 (18:59):
Buses.

S6 (19:00):
I did.

S7 (19:00):
Oh, yeah.

S2 (19:01):
Go ahead and explain your version of school.

S6 (19:03):
Why? Why do we need to?

S7 (19:04):
Well, you brought it up.

S2 (19:04):
You said you hated field trips.

S3 (19:06):
Okay, so I developed a bit of a phobia of
school buses. It started from when somebody puked on a
school bus. And you can't get off a school bus.

S6 (19:16):
That'll do it.

S3 (19:17):
And so I became terrified of school buses. And so
how do you get to field trips?

S6 (19:21):
Well, load on the big.

S3 (19:22):
Yellow school bus. And I would say, no, thank you.
And to this day, if I have to chaperone my
kids field trip. I'll just meet you guys there. I'm
gonna drive my car. Thank you very much.

S4 (19:33):
Are you okay to see the school bus? You can
see it.

S3 (19:35):
Yes, I can see him. I just, ah, the whole
the whole thing. It's just like being in just like
a big, stinky tube.

S7 (19:42):
Big stinky tube. It's okay. Well.

S2 (19:46):
In all seriousness, don't don't diminish what Ali's feeling, because
the fact is, this is how it's real.

S4 (19:52):
I'm afraid of dolphins. I mean, what am I supposed
to laugh at her about? Yeah.

S3 (19:55):
We're not gonna just keep throwing stuff in that needs
so much explanation.

S2 (19:59):
Yeah, okay. Your fear of dolphins. Now, are we going
to go all the way around Macready's barn? We're going
to get our little phobias.

S3 (20:05):
Strange phobias.

S2 (20:05):
What's the problem with dolphins?

S4 (20:07):
It's not that it's not that crazy. It's just. It's
really sea life in general. I just.

S3 (20:12):
That's.

S8 (20:13):
Better. Way better.

S4 (20:14):
I don't want to. I don't want to be in
their home territory, man. If I get in the ocean
and they decide they don't like me, I'm done for.
I can't, like, I kind of fight them off. I'm
in their home territory. Re. They're way better in the
water than I am.

S3 (20:27):
Wow. Did you have an incident with.

S2 (20:30):
Did something happen? Something did a did a dolphin throw
up in close proximity to you?

S8 (20:35):
Were you on a bus with a dolphin?

S4 (20:36):
Yeah.

S8 (20:36):
No. Okay.

S4 (20:37):
No, I just, uh, I can I can see it now.
They're coming to get me. If they don't like me.
And I can't do anything about it.

S2 (20:43):
Huh? All right. Super guy. What's your phobia?

S8 (20:46):
Do not put me on a roller coaster. They go
straight down. No, that one feels way more normal. On
anything kind of thing. But do not put me on
a roller coaster.

S2 (20:55):
It does not feel normal. And I had this happen
once where somebody threw up in a little splatter. Got
on me. Okay.

S8 (21:01):
Great.

S2 (21:02):
This is not the whole thing. Just a little splatter.

S3 (21:05):
This is not good.

S8 (21:06):
No.

S2 (21:07):
Stop! I got Chris Seeger in here. Just.

S8 (21:11):
This is not good.

S2 (21:12):
He's got napkins over his mouth.

S3 (21:13):
You want to. You want to wrap us up?

S2 (21:16):
Yeah. Let's let me take us back, because these guys
got this show out of control here. Let's have the
cooler here.

S3 (21:23):
In the studio with a live audience that thankfully didn't
have to see any of this. They've got 20 more
minutes before they are.

S8 (21:30):
Subjected to our craziness.

S2 (21:32):
Oh, where are we at here? Here's what I want
to talk to you about. And this is important. I
think sometimes we think about boy, talk about whiplash here.
It's like a roller coaster. Um, when we think about
being light in this world, we can think about. Having
a prominent role or a visible role. And nothing could

(21:56):
be further from the truth. Have you ever noticed that
the people who shine most brightly, our number one, they
stand out in the contrast of darkness?

S3 (22:03):
Yes. And they stand out almost quietly, which seems like
kind of a juxtaposition of being able to do that. But,
you know, I think sometimes we think that in order
to be a light, we have to be loud.

S2 (22:16):
Yeah, I think you're right. I think we think that.
And the fact is, nothing could be further from the truth.
Let's break it down. Coming up here.

S1 (22:25):
Romans eight brought her to Jesus while broadcasting traffic overnight.
Super die is in the crew. It's curl and crew
on Moody Radio.

S2 (22:34):
You know, if if love's got away. You know what
it's got? It's carrying a light. It's got light.

S8 (22:41):
Yes.

S3 (22:42):
Light is very important. And we can be that.

S2 (22:45):
I love it. I keep going back to. I know
I've said this before, but I'm going to say it again.
Effie Latham. That was her name at the AD building.
Administrative building in downtown Anchorage. My dad said, man, Eva
talking to my mom if he nails it. Joe, we
just need to let our light shine. Don't make it shine.

(23:07):
Just let it shine. And boy, was he a champion
of her. And she. He said she had some of
the most simple, powerful gospel understanding going. And when I
remember my dad, whose seminary trained, came home and says, Eva,
we just let it shine. We don't make it shine.
If he's right on this one, she is.

S3 (23:27):
She absolutely is. So how can we live lives like that?
Special guest Joe Stoll coming up.

S1 (23:33):
You're listening to Curl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (23:37):
So light is important. You'd agree with that, right?

S8 (23:40):
Uh, I prefer.

S3 (23:42):
To have a night light still on at night. I
don't like dark rooms.

S2 (23:45):
That's too stubborn. Or something else, aren't they? One of
the funniest little things from the Iditarod was not me,
but I pulled into the village of. Or the town
little small town of McGrath, and I got my team
bedded down and a musher came in behind me, and, uh,
he's offloading some stuff from his sled, and he looked
a little bit gruff and disappointed. I said, what's going on?

(24:07):
And he said, Carl, you won't believe it. He said,
I got lights for my headlamp. I didn't test them
before I plugged them in. And I am going down
the trail and my headlamp. That's supposed to be a
solid light, right? He got blinkers.

S8 (24:23):
So.

S2 (24:23):
The light would come on and it would go off
and it would come on and it would go off,
he says. It's driving me and my dog team absolutely crazy.
So he he forged around in hardware store the next morning,
and McGrath found some solid lights and he was off
and running. There's something about solid light that even Jesus champions.

S3 (24:44):
Very much so. This light of mind, the title of
a book we're featuring today. Living Like Jesus in a
non Jesus world. The author, Doctor Joseph Stoll, joining us
right now. Light is important as Christians were called to
be salt and light. But man, it can be difficult
when you feel like the world is getting darker.

S9 (25:04):
So true. And one of the reasons I wrote the
book is because Christians need to be called to be
the light in the darkness. And you know, this is
such a season of great opportunity, guys. You know, to
attract people to Christ. It's such a broken world, right?
The chaos, the divisiveness, anxiety, despair, angry. The long list, right?

(25:25):
Of lonely, confused people. And I just want the light
of Jesus to rise up. Remember when he said, come
on to me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden,
and I will give rest to your soul. You know
I want that light to be shouted into our culture. Unfortunately,
I think as followers of Christ, we tend to lapse
into the darkness ourselves. Matthew chapter five Jesus so clearly

(25:48):
calls us to light up our world with our good works.
Interestingly enough, the good works the power of good works.
The book basically says, Jesus has a plan. Let's get
on the plan and light up the darkness.

S2 (26:01):
You know what I love about Matthew 516? It's let
your light shine before others so they may see your
good works or good deeds and some translations, and give
glory to your father who is in heaven. This is
a low threshold. This isn't being apologetics pro. This doesn't
have the Roman road memorized or anything like that. Not

(26:22):
saying that those aren't valuable. They are. But this is
a all swim. Everyone who's in Christ is called to
let it shine. Right, Joe?

S9 (26:30):
Absolutely. You know, Carl, you know, we live in a
world that doesn't want to hear what we have to
say anymore. Yeah. So I think it's interesting that when
Jesus said that. Let your light so shine, that people
may hear the message you're preaching. No may see a
different kind of a life, a life that lives to
bless others. And that becomes an initial stage of attraction

(26:51):
so that they are curious about where did these people
get this kind of thing? Right. Then we can answer
the curiosity with the wonderful message of Jesus Christ. And again,
Jesus's ways are so upside down to us, we think
we ought to go out and fight our culture and
win the war for our culture. And he's going, no, no, no, no, no, no, no,
we don't win it like that. So we just have

(27:13):
to understand that when we think he's so upside down
that we're the ones that are upside down, actually, and
he's trying to flip us right side up.

S8 (27:21):
Now, many people.

S3 (27:22):
Listening, I mean.

S8 (27:23):
Have a lot.

S3 (27:24):
Of different opinions about what's going on in the world,
what we see culturally, what are some of the actions
and the attitudes that you find most concerning among Christians
that actually could be hindering our gospel witness?

S9 (27:39):
Well, I think one of the attitudes are the way
we feel about this slip in the culture, right? The
sense of despair, the anger that we have at the
cultural realities that violate the convictions that we hold so
dear in our hearts, the sense that we're the losers and,
you know, nobody's going to be attracted to that. I

(28:00):
find it very interesting that Jesus, when he was here,
walked into a very hostile culture. The Jewish state was
under the thumb of the oppressive Roman government, and yet
people were so attracted to him because he had a
very positive, redemptive message of his kingdom. So I think
we've got to have a huge attitude shift. And I

(28:21):
think to one of the things that has alienated people
from Jesus is the politicisation of our faith. Barna survey
says that the people look at evangelicals as though we
are a political force, and I think Jesus called us
to be him. You know that he is what people
see in us, not our political force. Not that we

(28:42):
don't vote. We ought to vote for our values. We
ought to run for office, run for school boards. But
when the world gets the impression that we're a political force,
then we become a political enemy. And how are they
going to accept Jesus when we're their enemies? So I'm
thrilled that we don't have to do head scratching. Okay,
then what will we do? Well, we'll do the Jesus way.

S2 (29:01):
Yeah, I love it. Joe Stoll, our guest right now,
has written a new book called This Light of Mine
Living Like Jesus in a non Jesus World. You know, remember, Ali,
we had a question here. Not too many days ago
where we said, how has God used compassion in someone's
life to draw you closer to God? The responses were
pretty amazing, Joe. I think we undersell the impact of

(29:25):
letting our light shine. I don't think we've got a
big enough vision for what it can do.

S9 (29:30):
Here's where I think you know it's working. When your
boss says, you know, I don't get Christians, but our
office is a lot better place because they work here.
Or your neighbors say, oh, I don't get Christians. But
I tell you, our neighborhoods are much better place because
they live here, or our town's a better place because
Christians are here. When we start living that kind of

(29:51):
a light into our world, then they may be just
interested to know something about our Jesus who makes this
light shine everywhere. My favorite thing in kindergarten was show
and tell, right? Anybody? You guys remember?

S2 (30:04):
Show and tell. I remember it.

S9 (30:06):
You know? But it's that way with this light of
mind that Jesus called us to, we have to show
him to our world through our lives, and then we
earn the right to tell them about this Jesus that
makes the light shine.

S3 (30:20):
The book is called This Light of Mine. Living like
Jesus in a non Jesus world. Author doctor Joseph Stoll.
Our guest right now. Text light. If you want the details,
text light to 800 555 7898. Just that one word.
Try not to put the emoji in there. I know
it's tempting, but it'll keep you from getting the auto reply.
Just the word light to 800 555 7898.

S1 (30:44):
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.

S2 (30:54):
A lot of stuff we do around here just got
aligns things here for I'm not ashamed of the gospel,
for it is the power of God for salvation to
everyone who believes, to the Jew and also to the Greek.
I'm not ashamed of the gospel because it is the
power of God unto salvation. You know power. You know,

(31:14):
sometimes we're all grappling for it. Somebody wants the power
brokers all over this world. Everybody wants a chunk of
the action. Right, Ali?

S3 (31:22):
It's so true. You know, my my daughter made a
comment over the weekend. That was hilarious. She's a teenager,
and they had to volunteer to do something. And all
the other teenagers were kind of hanging back, and she
was the first one to volunteer. She goes, you know,
it's funny when you're when you're a Christian, like, you're
just bold. So like, nothing fazes you. So volunteering to
be in this video, that's no problem. Like if you're
going to live for Jesus as a 15 year old,

(31:43):
you got to be bold. So it works in her favor.

S2 (31:46):
I guess it's a beautiful thing. So we're going to
be talking about the power of God. It seems that
there's something going on in our culture today. I was
in Arizona over the weekend. I got back last night, um,
got to bed about 11. It's good. Got a few hours,
couple hours. And, uh, it was an awesome thing. Gave
an invitation. We had scores of men surrendered their life

(32:08):
to Christ. These are guys from churches all around Arizona.
About 500 men packed into a retreat center. And to
watch scores of men flock to aisles in a sloped
floor kind of auditorium and fall to their knees. Surrendered
to Jesus for the first time was one of the
most overwhelming things. In fact, there was a sound. There
was a guy running sound and lighting and all that

(32:30):
stuff in the back, and he's a young man, and
he came to me and he said, you know what?
I've been praying that I could see the power of God.
He says, I've been praying over broken down cars, just
thinking the cars going to get healed. And it hasn't been.
And he said, I was starting to think, where's the power, God.
And he said, I saw something today, Carl. I said,
you saw it too. I said, I did to see

(32:53):
these guys. I've I've seen responses to calls for salvation,
but I've never seen anything like this in many, many years.
When I said, if today is your day of salvation,
I want you to come to one of these aisles,
and we're going to have all the other men lay
hands on you. We're going to pray together because today
is your day. The guys were stumbling over one another

(33:16):
to hurry to that aisle. It wasn't a hesitancy. It
was just a just a a sea of men just
dove into those aisles. And I can honestly tell you,
although God had chosen me to share the gospel, goodness sakes,
going to get choked up here? Probably because we got
some friends sitting in front of us right now. It

(33:36):
was it was something else to sit back and watch.
Look at God move here. Watch God move. And there's
something about that kind of power that we love to see.
And you know what? I it's not presumptive to believe
that if you look at the book of acts, you
see power everywhere. And can we are we presumptive to

(34:00):
believe God for that?

S8 (34:01):
No.

S3 (34:01):
Because we have his word and so we can, on
good record, say, God, this is what you did, then God,
will you move in power today?

S2 (34:10):
Do it again. Give me that song. Loaded up. Young Thunder.

S4 (34:15):
Coming.

S2 (34:15):
Up. You know it. Yeah, I gotta do it. We
got a studio audience filled with good people here. You know,
there's stories behind every one of these faces. I think
we better get a couple of those stories.

S3 (34:26):
Okay, let's do it. Who do you want to start with?
We've got a whole room full.

S2 (34:29):
You know what I think we need to get? I
think we need to get. John Kelly is going to
be the first up here.

S8 (34:36):
He's going to step.

S3 (34:37):
Up to the microphone.

S2 (34:38):
You don't have to step up right now. We got
a little bit of time. You got to get warmed up.
We might we won't have you sing a tune or
anything like that. But we're going to have you jump
up here for sure. And we got a great room
full of people here this morning broadcasting from Chicago all
around the globe today. And we're glad that you're with us.
We got some folks that can testify to the power

(35:01):
of God. He's done it in the past.

S3 (35:03):
And he can do it again.

S2 (35:04):
He can do it again.

S1 (35:05):
It's Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (35:09):
Among the studio audience here.

S8 (35:11):
We don't get to say that.

S2 (35:12):
I know among the studio audience here, we've got Joe Stoll.
And I was just bragging on him to the whole
group here. There's something about staying in that grace pocket.
You know, it's unmerited favor if you want to pass
a seminary course, but it's unmerited favor and unlimited power.
I think we miss that aspect of grace. It's the

(35:32):
grace of God that saved us. Titus 211 and 12
and trains us to renounce ungodliness, worldly passions, and live self-controlled,
godly lives in this present age. Wow. That's the grace
of God. Anyone in here this morning fired up about
that grace?

S8 (35:49):
Yeah.

S2 (35:50):
Yeah. I told you they were their boom crew. Some
guy in Canada is going. You say there's an audience.
I don't hear.

S3 (35:56):
Them. They're very quiet.

S2 (35:57):
All right, so let's hear it right now. See? There
they are. There they are. All right. Coming up here
in a moment. I've been hearing about this guy.

S3 (36:06):
His name is John Kelly. He is a pastor right
here in Chicago. We're going to hear a little bit
of his story. It's not a Freedom Friday. Maybe it's
a Freedom Monday.

S2 (36:13):
It's a Freedom Monday.

S3 (36:14):
That's coming up.

S1 (36:16):
Walking closer to Jesus every day. You're listening to Carl
and crew.

S2 (36:21):
Well, sometimes people step into our studio, and then we
hit them cold.

S3 (36:27):
Which, Carl, you do so well. So, are we getting cold?

S10 (36:31):
I knew you were going to bust me on that one.

S3 (36:32):
You can't get a room full of people in front
of us and Carl not call on somebody.

S2 (36:36):
Got to get someone up here. This is a this
is a. Let me just tell you, we've got a
studio audience this hour and these are some really sincere
is I think about we were in Second Corinthians 11
this morning that this call to this sincere and pure
faith that Paul talked about that is so sweet. Hang

(36:56):
on to it. to it. He said, don't let's not
get this thing so complicated that we lose out on
what is most important. And I think we got a
guy like this, John Kelly, standing in front of us here.
He got a bio on this guy.

S3 (37:08):
He is the lead pastor of Chicago West Church right
here in Chicago. We hear that you have a testimony.
You are pastoring. You are in the trenches. Tell us
a little bit about what God's done in your life.

S11 (37:21):
Yeah, yeah. I was born in Chicago but grew up
in Philadelphia in a very, I would say, very violent, um,
under-resourced community with a high level of prostitution. So I
wasn't exposed to maybe the best scenes, the best environments. Um,
by the time I was 12, I was selling crack
in crack houses. Really? The first time I ever got arrested,

(37:41):
I was about 12, 13. That's the first time I
ever got convicted. Um, I was in and out of
juvenile detention centers pretty much my whole juvenile years. I mean,
just to give you a context, I mean, I felt
the seventh grade went to four different high schools in
my freshman year, I dropped out so it was high
every day, always getting shot at, shooting at someone. I've
seen a lot of stuff that I probably shouldn't have

(38:02):
seen by the time I was 14 or 15. Um,
just following that path of foolishness by the time I
was 19. Let me back up a little bit. I
actually turned to Islam for a little bit. So about
six years was a professing Sunni Muslim, but still was
in the streets doing dumb stuff. And then by the
time I turned 19, went with a group of friends
to rob a drug dealer in the neighborhood. And one
of my friends shot and killed him. So we all

(38:24):
got arrested and I was 19 years old, had just
lost my son, who was stillborn at the time, um,
was at the lowest point and was sitting in prison
looking at the death penalty or life in prison with co-defendants.
I was in solitary confinement, um, just at a low
point when a prison guard gave me a copy of
God's Word. I needed something to read. This was 2002.

(38:45):
Back then, you could get a newspaper. So I was like, man,
give me whatever you can. And he was like, I'll
get you a Bible. I was like, whatever, give it
to me. And he gave me a copy of God's Word,
and I began reading for the first time. High school
dropout and I began from Matthew, and I read nonstop. Yeah,
I probably would have been like 24 hours straight until
I got to Hebrews chapter four, verse seven that says, today,
if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart.

(39:07):
And I gave my life to the Lord right there
in the prison cell. Wow. So when I came to
faith in Christ, there's I didn't go to a church service,
didn't hear a sermon. God's word was enough. And so,
as a preacher of the gospel, I have so much
confidence in God's Word that he uses us, but he
doesn't need us.

S2 (39:22):
Yeah. Speak to that, because the Word of God, when given,
we find here on air pastor, that when we when
we feel like, Lord, where would you have us go?
And we break open the word and read it?

S11 (39:38):
Yeah.

S2 (39:39):
There is something about the Word of God.

S11 (39:41):
The power is in the gospel and the spirit working
through the living Word of God to soften hardened hearts
and redeem souls to Christ. Yeah. And we can get
so caught up in the vessels. And it was interesting
because God can still redeem a lost soul through a
weak vessel that's not on their A-game that day. Amen.
And for me, in that cell, it was just vital

(40:01):
for me because I'm in solitary confinement. So like in,
you know, on the streets, if you get in trouble,
you go to prison. In prison, if you get in trouble,
you go to solitary confinement in the hole. You're in
23 and one, and you come out one hour a
day handcuffed and shackled. You're allowed no human contact. I mean,
I couldn't even get toilet paper and a blanket sometimes.
But God got his word into the, you know, the
hardest place and got it into my hand. And his

(40:23):
word was enough.

S2 (40:24):
How was that the grace of God that got you
to that point? Some people, some people Pooh Pooh jailhouse faith.

S11 (40:31):
I did.

S2 (40:33):
Was.

S11 (40:33):
That my lawyer did. He was Jewish. I was like,
you're supposed to get this thing, you know?

S2 (40:36):
What's the matter with you? You're in the book here, man.
It's to the Jews.

S12 (40:39):
First and then the Gentiles.

S11 (40:41):
To jail and finds God and, you know.

S2 (40:43):
But you said I really did.

S11 (40:45):
And I would say it's extremely hard to be a
devout Christian in a penitentiary. It's not an environment that's
conducive for you to to truly live. You don't turn
the other cheek there. Yeah. And so my faith was
really tested in the fire. So God was gracious. Um, just,
you know, I here's a funny thing. Well, it's not funny,
but it's just what you do. About 2 or 3

(41:06):
months went by, and I really was feeling convicted that
I'm pleading not guilty of a crime that I'm guilty of.
And I felt convicted that I was going in front
of the Lord.

S2 (41:14):
Holy Spirit.

S11 (41:14):
And not a judge. And so I told my lawyer
some months later, hey, I'm a Christian now. I'm a
Christ follower. I know you think this jailhouse religion, but
I can't say I've repented of something that I'm pleading
not guilty to. Wow. And so you can go to
the judge and tell them that I just want to
ask for forgiveness and whatever they want to do to me,
they could do to me. He's like, well, you know,
this is foolish. You got an opportunity, I think, to
beat this thing. It's not about beating it. I'm going

(41:36):
in front of God's presence and I'm guilty paying you
to get me off. And so I went in front
of the judge. I went in front of the young
man's family, looked his mother in the eye and told
her my testimony and said, I'm a Christ follower now,
and you know, your son lost his life, but he
was created in God's image. And if I could trade places,
I would. And whatever you want to do, it's right.
The Bible says an eye for an eye, a tooth

(41:57):
for a tooth. And when it was her time to speak.
You know what she said? Nothing. She showed me mercy
and grace.

S2 (42:04):
Oh my goodness.

S11 (42:05):
And so I ended up with 6 to 20 years
for third degree murder. And I went on to the
state penitentiary, and there I got my GED.

S2 (42:12):
How much time did you do?

S11 (42:14):
I was supposed to do about 18. You know, you
do like, you know, 85%. I did six years. Wow.
And you came home on parole and a couple of
years later ended up at Moody.

S3 (42:24):
Tell us then how. Coming up, you've got a special
guest here going. Who is this? John Kelly with us
right now, lead pastor, Chicago West Church, right here in
the city of Chicago. Coming up, we're going to find
out how he went from the penitentiary to the pastor.

S1 (42:39):
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.

S2 (42:49):
We got someone here who is a miracle child. We're
picking it up midstream. Recap this. Ali, this is an
amazing story from John Kelly.

S3 (42:59):
Pastor here in Chicago. His name is John Kelly. He
just shared his story. I spent six years of a
much longer sentence. He was convicted of a third degree
murder that he confessed to after he found Jesus in
solitary confinement. Reading the Bible got to Hebrews. What was
your verse?

S11 (43:16):
Hebrews four seven which says, what? Hear his voice. Do
not harden your heart.

S3 (43:20):
So you you get out. After six years, you're a
brand new man than the man who went in. How
did God call you to now, pastor?

S11 (43:29):
Well, I felt called when I first came to faith
in Christ. I just wanted to preach the gospel. Make disciples.
I didn't know what that meant. We were starting, you know,
we were trying to plant churches on every cell block.
We had prayer groups in every cell block.

S2 (43:40):
Planting churches on cell blocks. Now there's a church planting
effort right there.

S12 (43:44):
Yeah, we.

S11 (43:45):
Did that, by God's grace. When I came home, I
just submitted to the church. I was going to Christian
Stronghold Church. Um, Pastor Willie Richardson loved Doctor Stoll, and, uh,
he used to do the pastor's conference here. We had
quite a few pastors that had went to Moody, and
so I had felt called to ministry. He recommended Moody, and, uh,
he supported that and moved out here in 2011 with
my wife to walk in that calling to plant a

(44:08):
church and to get trained in the gospel.

S2 (44:10):
You know, I got to tell you something. Your bride
sitting here maybe shooting some video right now. She loves her, man.
I do. Yeah, you could hear that from a distant mic. How?
How in the world did you meet this fine bride
of yours?

S11 (44:26):
Yeah, I, um, it's a long story, but I met
her at church. We both served in youth ministries. A
very large youth ministry was not for the faint of
heart at all with those youth. And one of the
men that was discipling me was like, you know, her
dad's not in her life. If you're going to approach her,
you need to go ask her mom for permission to
talk to her. That's what I did. So I went
to her mom after her Bible study. I was like, man,
I've been praying. Your daughter seems like a sweet woman.

(44:48):
If you say no, I'll walk away. I asked her
permission and she gave me her blessing.

S2 (44:52):
Honorable man.

S11 (44:54):
Yeah.

S2 (44:54):
You know what? Her mom saw what we see and
hear right now. A broken, humble, dependent man on the
grace of God. You know, there's people listening right now
because we were just talking in here. Wes Ward, VP of, uh,
Moody Global Media, is in here with us, too. And
he was just saying this, and it's true. There's 20
plus percent. Who knows? Maybe upwards of 30% of people

(45:17):
listening right now all across the globe who hear your story.
And they're like, Could God? Is his arm too short
for me? Could he reach me? Pour out your heart, man.
What's the good news?

S11 (45:29):
Man, the good news of the gospel is that God
not only loves us so much, but he's willing to
go down the pit and get us himself. That, um.
That Christ died. When we say Christ died, it's not
a cool slogan. It's not something we just say on
Easter Sunday. It's a reality that God loved us so
much that he sent His Son to come get us.
And for me, when I'm in solitary confinement. Um, what

(45:52):
brought me to tears was that my savior, um, loved
me so much that he was willing to become a
convicted felon. That I might become free.

S2 (46:03):
Yeah.

S11 (46:03):
And like the thief on the cross, he says, today
you will be with me in Paradise. So I don't
care how far you've gone, how much you've messed up.
You're talking to a guy that's had abortions, a guy
that's stolen from his family, been strung out, living in
his car, and took the life of a young man
who didn't deserve it. And Christ says, my love is
there for him, and I will change him and make

(46:24):
him whole and new. And I would just say, no
matter where you are, no matter what suicide, thoughts of
suicide is doing, depression, alcohol, giving up, you want to
harm yourself. Christ came that you might have new life
in him if you would just turn to him wherever
you are right now. Yeah. Your prayers don't have to
be all nice and clean. They have to be sincere
with a broken heart. And he won't forsake a broken heart. Yeah, man. Ever.

S2 (46:48):
You know, I just the thing that hit me is
that there's a lot of people in solitary confinement, but
they aren't in a prison. They're in the prison of
their own life.

S11 (46:57):
I learned that when I came out.

S2 (46:59):
That there's a whole world of solitary confinement. Speak to
that person right now who feels all alone and out
of reach of God.

S11 (47:07):
Yeah, well, I would just say is, you know what?
You might truly feel like the people around you don't
get you. And there might be some valid points of
that because of what you're going through. But God understands you.
We do not have a high priest. We do not
have a Savior who can't sympathize with our weaknesses. He
was tempted as we were, yet without sin. He knows

(47:27):
the struggle. He knows what it's like to be rejected.
He knows what it's like for people to turn away
from him. He knows what it's like to be homeless.
The Son of Man has no place to lay his head.
He knows like to endure pain. Yeah. He knows what
it's like to lose a stepfather. To lose someone you love.
And so I would just say, um. Don't allow Satan
to to to bring the lie into your mind that

(47:50):
God can't relate to your pain. If anything, he enters
into it and he fully understands it.

S2 (47:55):
So let's do this together. You and me, brother. Pastor
to pastor here. Uh, there were some troubled hearts one
day when Jesus was telling some men that he was
going away, and he said, don't let your hearts be troubled.
Believe in God. Believe also in me. He said, I'm
going to prepare a place for you. That's unbelievable. Then
he said, I am the way. I am the truth.
I am the life. What does it mean to come

(48:17):
off the broad path and go God's way? There's repentance
involved there, isn't there?

S11 (48:21):
Yeah. It means you have to acknowledge. Right? I always
say you can't. You can't get healed from something you
won't acknowledge.

S2 (48:27):
Acknowledge it friend.

S11 (48:28):
You got to acknowledge and to say, man, you know what? Um,
looking at my life, I'm pretty broken. I'm not perfect.
I don't have it all together. I don't know one
person in human history or on this planet right now
that will say I am perfect. I have it all together.

S2 (48:43):
But those that admit.

S11 (48:44):
It, that admitted that God's like man. I can work
with that. Come here and I will make you whole.

S2 (48:51):
I am the way he said. That means we got
to turn around. Off the broad path. Just turn around.
And he'll do the rest. We're just turning toward him.
I am the truth. Meaning we can no longer fly
by the seat of our pants and our truth. It's
God's truth. We're sinners, separated from God. What would seemed impossible?
Jesus bridged that gap, and he saved us. While we

(49:13):
were yet sinners. Christ died for us and he rose again. Pastor,
pour out your heart. He wants to give resurrection power
to everyone right now.

S11 (49:20):
Yeah. I mean, you know, we can go to therapists,
we can go to counselors, we can listen to podcasts.
But when we say that he is the truth, we're
saying you are the primary voice in my life right now.
I've tried every other way. I'm listening to your voice
and your voice alone. I need you to direct me.
And you are the life I've been around a lot
of death. I've been around a lot of suffering. But, Jesus,
I'm turning to you right now to take these broken

(49:41):
pieces of my life and build a beautiful mosaic that's
a reflection of your image. And there's so much hope
in that, because it not only means that God can
change where we are right now, but it means we
have an expectant future that's full of joy, that's going somewhere.

S12 (49:55):
We're going.

S11 (49:56):
To.

S12 (49:56):
Be.

S11 (49:56):
Like, man, like if we were to like, leave this
planet in the next 24 hours, man, we could we
could leave knowing that where we're going is far greater
and far better than everything that's behind us. And so
it's instant joy and it's guaranteed. It's not a wish.
It's not something I hope for. It's practical and it's real.
It's real as you are hearing my voice, I believe

(50:17):
that right now God is pricking someone's heart. He's speaking
to you right now. You know he is. And all
he wants you to do is just surrender.

S2 (50:25):
Today is your day. He's speaking to you of your salvation.
And you know what's amazing? The Holy Spirit is beginning
to convince you and convict you that it is true
what Pastor John is saying. So right now. If you
confess with your mouth, Jesus is Lord, and believe in

(50:47):
your heart that God raised him from the dead, you
will be saved. You know, it's amazing. There's no patent
little prayer. We pray. It's a faith is a heart
surrender totally to Jesus, a turning around and saying, Jesus,
you're my Savior today.

S11 (51:02):
Lord, I am broken. I am turning to you to
be my everything and my Savior. I'm believing that by
faith today.

S2 (51:11):
And if that's you right now, I want you to
text the word new to a number I'm going to
get you, get your phone out and get to the
side of the road. Some of you are wiping away
some tears. That is healthy and normal. Get to the
side of the road right now. I'm going to give
you a moment. Grab your phone and as soon as
you get that phone, we want to help you. We're

(51:33):
going to send you an auto response right back to
you that's going to help you. It's got embedded three links.
It's going to help you find where you can get
a Bible that you can read. It's going to help
you learn how to find a group of people, just
like Pastor John, who loved the Lord just as much
as you do right now and are going to help
you keep walking with Jesus. And then we're going to

(51:55):
in the third link in this link that we're going
to send you, we're going to ask for your snail mail,
your home address, and there's no strings attached. We're going
to send you a resource that tells you how you
do not have to live in self-help. You can live
in God's power moment by moment. So we're going to
send that to you. All right, Ali, there's people out
there right now responding to God by faith. Brand new

(52:16):
followers of Jesus.

S12 (52:17):
Yes.

S2 (52:18):
How do they get this?

S3 (52:19):
Just text the word new N-e-w to 855 five 7898.
If today that's you, today is the day of salvation.
Text new to 800 555,898. New to [phone].

S2 (52:37):
You know, we're we've got a live studio audience here,
and there's plenty of evidence. Jesus said it that there
would be celebration in the presence of God for one
person who turns toward home today. And I don't care
if it's 1 or 100 of you right now. We
want to celebrate with you.

S12 (52:57):
Yes we are. Yes we are.

S2 (53:01):
Again, text just that one word right now. New to
800 555 7898. Just text new to 800 555 7898.
I'm going to keep it right here for a moment.
This is really awesome what God is doing here. Shout
out the last four numbers of your phone numbers. Those
of you surrendering to Jesus today. 92, 67, 84, 2242

(53:26):
59 To five three. They're zipping off my screen here quickly, Ellie.
I mean, they're flying in here right now. All right,
let's let's just take it, boy. Ellie, they're pouring in here.

S3 (53:39):
92, 67, 84, 22, 42, 59, zero two, 53, 44,
oh four, 74, 82, 34, 65, 85, 86, three, eight, three, nine, 68, 1540, 50, 81, 69, 27,
oh seven, 55, 95, 1582, 58, 88, 35, 32, 038, five, six, nine, nine, eight, 76,

(54:08):
oh seven, 52, 44.

S2 (54:10):
Yeah, and I'm sure they're still coming. Yeah.

S12 (54:14):
Yeah.

S11 (54:17):
And the door never closes with the Lord.

S2 (54:19):
No. And we're here for you. Some of you're scrambling
for your phone going, that's me, man. I'm sitting in
my life to Jesus today. Just text the word new
when you get your phone. We'll be here for you.
Just text new N-e-w to 800 555 7898. Just text
new to 800 555 7898. And what we want to

(54:42):
say is welcome to the family. Welcome to the family. John,
thank you so much.

S12 (54:47):
Thank you.

S2 (54:48):
We are messengers. God you are.

S1 (54:51):
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.

S2 (55:00):
What an amazing day.

S12 (55:02):
Right, guys?

S2 (55:03):
Great broadcasting live right here, as always from downtown Chicago.
But we've got a bit of a studio audience. You
just heard a story from a great man of God,
Pastor John Kelly. Uh, coming up here in a moment.
What a great blessing we have. Doctor Joe Stoll is
with us, and I've asked him to help us understand

(55:24):
for those new in Christ scores this morning. Well over
30 and many more who are listening right now who
want to know how do I walk with this Jesus?
What are my first steps look like? Hang on. Doctor
Joe stole straight ahead.

S1 (55:41):
This is Carl and crew on Moody Radio.

S2 (55:47):
We have had a morning here, and we got a
live audience right down here in downtown Chicago. And, Ali,
this has been epic. Um, Pastor John Kelly just shared
his story. The power of God to transform is undeniable.

S3 (56:03):
And so we saw at least 30, maybe close to
40 people respond with new. Today is the day of
salvation for me. So we've invited another special guest who's
in studio with us, uh, Joe Stoll, former president of
Moody Bible Institute, also an author. You heard from him
earlier this morning about a book he's got out. What
would you say to those who are just turning to
Jesus for the first time? What are some practical next steps?

S9 (56:25):
Well, I would just want to say what Carl. Already said.
Welcome to the family of God.

S2 (56:30):
Yeah.

S12 (56:30):
And to remember. Hold on.

S3 (56:32):
That deserves.

S12 (56:33):
Yeah. Yeah.

S9 (56:35):
And to remember you're never alone again. Because not only
have you accepted Christ, but he now lives within you.
And you're going to hear a lot of voices. From
the dark side.

S2 (56:46):
Yes you will.

S9 (56:47):
Doubts. You just need to listen to the voice of Jesus.
So keep asking him to speak to you, and he
will speak to you. But he speaks to you. Through
his word. So I'd say get a Bible. Yes. And
I would also say start reading the. Gospel of John.
So you can meet Jesus personally in the pages of Scripture.
And then better. Go to the three links. Right. Carl,

(57:07):
what would those three links again?

S2 (57:08):
Yeah. We've got three embedded links in this that that
will allow you to not only get a. Good Bible,
but it will help you understand what to look for
in a church because you got. To land with a
group of people that are going to walk with you. Yeah.

S9 (57:21):
You took my next step away. Okay, let's go there.

S2 (57:24):
Right. Right away.

S9 (57:25):
You know, you're never alone because God now dwells within you.
You know what a wonderful partner in life. But there
are other people around who believe like you believe and
who have Christ in them, who will speak to you
and pray for you and comfort you. And so find
a good church, a church that really believes that the
Bible is the Word of God. Make sure of that

(57:46):
and get involved in that church. And, uh, a good
church is a safe place. There aren't many safe places
left in our world anymore, but a good church is
a safe place finally, for you to be, where you'll
be loved, where even your failures will be helped. And
you know where our downsides are tolerated. Because nobody's perfect, right?

S2 (58:07):
And you'll. You'll have to tolerate others downsides.

S9 (58:10):
Too, right? Exactly. That may be the toughest job, but
how important it is to be in community? Yeah, I
know that when Jesus came, he didn't choose one person.
He chose 12. There was a community of belief. And
then that 12 went out and built communities of belief
because we desperately need one another and to love one another.
So get a good Bible, read the book of John.

(58:31):
Know you're never alone. Get in community.

S2 (58:35):
I want to double back to the Bible and the word.
I think we that can even sound. I want to
I want to say this. The word of God. I
think we miss this sometimes. The word of God. And
I'm the voices. You're going to hear them. This won't stick. This, this,
this is going to be another. Tried it before. You've
tried it before. And it goes on and on. Jesus himself, though,

(58:59):
did battle with the tempter coming out of a desert experience.
It was a vicious fight. But Jesus used the Word
of God. In fact, he said, man shall not live
by bread alone, but by every rhema word of God,
the spoken word of God. Joe Stoll I just set
up a tee ball for you, man. How important is that?

S9 (59:19):
Yeah. It is so very important because we meet Jesus
and we meet God in His word. He spoke to us, right? Yeah.
God's not silent. He's not like somewhere over there. I
hope I can find him. He's now found you this morning? Yes.
And he was ready to speak to you. And he'll
speak to you through his word. And you always have
to measure what other people speak to you by his word, right?

(59:41):
Because like you said, there's a lot of other voices
coming at us. And so to meet him in his word,
and I would read the Bible to hear him speak,
not just to read the Bible.

S12 (59:51):
Amen.

S9 (59:51):
You know, Lord, speak to me, read one verse and
he speaks to you, and then cling to that all
day long. And I think another thing that we all
need to know is that some of us who today
accepted Christ as our Savior, that's it. I'm perfect because
we are going to trip, right? Yeah. And we are
going to fall.

S2 (01:00:09):
We're going to grow.

S9 (01:00:10):
And the wonderful thing is that God is always there
to pick us up, right? And to forgive us afresh
because we're his children now and he loves us. And
so then he wants us to grow. And the joy
of like a year from now, how different your life
will be in Jesus. You have to have that hope, right?
Like a year from now, I'm going to be so different.

S2 (01:00:30):
You will.

S9 (01:00:31):
You know what the difference is? It's being like Jesus.

S2 (01:00:34):
Yeah.

S9 (01:00:34):
To be in his image and to reflect it. And
by the way, not only get in community, but it's
time to share it too, right? Do you have some
friends that need Jesus? Like you just found him?

S2 (01:00:44):
Share it. Tell him. Tell him what happened.

S3 (01:00:46):
Doctor Joe Stoll. Our guest this morning. We got about
two minutes to go, but I want you to speak
to a different group of people when you. There's the
excitement of the new believer. And then there's some people
who think, man, I've kind of lost the joy of
my salvation. Maybe I need to text in new again
and get saved again, because I want to have that joy,
that fresh relationship with Jesus. Speak to the person who's

(01:01:07):
maybe been in Christ for some time, but that joy
is not there. That freshness, that vitality is absent.

S9 (01:01:13):
Yeah, well, I would think. Let's talk a little bit
about what's what. What has been the joy spoiler in
your life. Maybe there's a joy spoiler in my life,
some sin that I continue to do, or some doubt
that I have, or not really deeply believing that Jesus
is all that I need. And so I just come
on back. Come on back to the freshness of Jesus,

(01:01:33):
and again to meet him in His word and to open.
Maybe you haven't been, in a word, for a long time.
That's a real joy killer right there all by itself, right?
Get back in the word and read to hear him
speak to you. And if there's those unconfessed sins that
are joy killers, deal with those effectively in your life.
And maybe find a friend that you guys can pursue

(01:01:54):
the Joy road again together.

S2 (01:01:56):
Yeah. You know, there's a great work of the Lord
moving right now across this listening audience. And you may
be in Canada, you may be in Europe, you may
be an Islander, you may be in Chicagoland. All points between. Joe,
it's important. And we've got people still responding to the gospel. 074077569955.

(01:02:22):
In 30s what's their first step they take right now, Joe?

S9 (01:02:26):
First step is to be thankful and tell God how
thankful you are that he has received you to be
his child. And then run for the word and find
him there.

S2 (01:02:37):
Yeah, what a day. We've got a studio audience here,
and I know that it's resonating in your heart. We're
getting so much feedback. You began a good work in you.
He'll carry it on to completion until the day of
Christ Jesus.

S3 (01:02:51):
I want to give you one more link. If you
missed any of today and want to listen again, or
want to share this with a friend, just text the
word show to 800 555 7898. Text show to 800
555 7898.

S2 (01:03:05):
What a joy.

S12 (01:03:06):
Guys.

S2 (01:03:06):
Huh? What a.

S12 (01:03:07):
Joy.

S2 (01:03:09):
Carl and crew broadcasting live in Chicago with a live
audience this hour. Godspeed.