Minds as they go to the ballot boxes the month after mixed only 44 percent of Republicans say the same Election Day His Movember 6th Michael Arrington sorry I'm news Wanda is closing churches international Christian concern says a government has for 7000 houses of worship shut their doors this year 700 of them in the capital Kigali government officials say that many of the churches were poorly built and violated numerous safety standards however critics say that some congregations that have been meeting in schools and other public buildings are also being told to disband by authorities in Rwanda this is a serenity It's like an Internet users do about increasing cases of censorship by Google Facebook and other platforms corresponding Keith Peters wraps up his series stress sorry of prayer University says the 1st thing is to be aware of what you are seeing when you go on the Internet a lot of the public could not even realize what's going on people think when they cool something that they get everything there is to see are not to that topic or that issue and unfortunately that's not the way it work and above all he says Be informed number one is public awareness people need to realize what's going on and more about than whether you agree or not with with the ideas that we present it's not the issue here is today it's us being silenced tomorrow could be your point of view that's going to silence our minds or that these are public platforms for people to use any restrictions are an infringement of the 1st Amendment Keith Peters reporting more details sad Sri News dot com. Local Christian radio for the western slope this is k j y e Delta k j o l Grand Junction and k.j. o L f m Montrose heard 2 on translators k 217 f y p o and your hunch gives k 25 a b p Grand Junction indicate you 33 d.s. Delta Good morning Leslie Kelley here with you on your Friday and in the ways of weather sunny skies today high 75 to 85 tonight clear lows in the fifty's and for Saturday sunny skies to start the weekend gusty winds high 7585 and look sunny as well with gusty winds on Sunday right now it's sunny and fair around the western slope $46.00 in Grand Junction Montrose $4844.00 and Delta pay only a $47.00 right now 40 in rifle and in Meeker as well and it's $43.00 in Rangely high this is Mesa County jail chaplain Doug went or today's good news verse there is 2nd Peter 310 through 11 but the day of the Lord will come like a thief the heavens will disappear with a roar the elements will be destroyed by fire and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare since everything will be destroyed in this way what kind of people ought you to be you ought to live holy and godly lives that's today's good news 1st from 2nd Peter 310 through 11. I'm claiming with mission network news American pastor Andrew Bronson has been the center of a political game of chicken between Turkey and the u.s. Over the last couple of years President Reagan is now claiming limited power over the Bunsen case deferring to the courts miles Windsor of Middle East concern says political games like these remind us who is actually in control so pray for the Lord's will to be done in the Bronson case when it comes back to trial October 12th and pray that believers in Turkey remain bold we can be crying that they are protected from oppression but also that they're able to stand strong and slower in a difficult situation next partnerships within the global church are changing set 7 a Christian satellite television minister. To the Middle East and North Africa is on board with that shift that 7 us is Dennis when says we need to listen to the indigenous church in whatever country you're going to we need to sit at the table with them what are their concerns what are their challenges so set 7 already doing this as a ministry into the Mena region in cooperation with groups like the Jesus film project have lovers at 7 also has ways for individuals to partner with them as well the find the details of mission news. And each 3 partners mission is to see the Gospel spread across the globe the ministry does this through trips that focus on causes like a medical trip Jeff Johnson says a lot of the places that we try to go aren't necessarily friendly towards Christians so I mean an additional purpose to be there in the country then opens up opportunities for more of vandalism if you're interested in exploring more will help you find your place in the story at Mission News dot a large and thank you for listening to mission at r.p. Service of one way ministries where listeners supported by people just like you so you can join us here on our social media network you can also find us on i Tunes or t w r $360.00 And together the great commission for links. I mean Kramer all things through the 8 o 5 now in time for the program family life today with Dennis Rainey and Bob lopin which is furnished by family life of Little Rock Arkansas your son or daughter's smartphone is a big part of their world so as a parent do you have a right to know what's going on in their life online. David Eaton says Absolutely we don't have a right to phone privacy and honestly you need to model that I think husbands and wives should know each other's passwords and usernames just like parents should know their kids pass codes and usernames and honestly something that's scary about the phone and the lot of work you should know every single app on your kid's phone . And you should have in your mind what is it for. This is family like today for Friday September 28th Our host is Dennis Rainey and I'm. Going to talk about what proactive parenting looks like when it comes to technology smartphones devices our guest today is David Eaton Stay with us. And welcome to family life today thanks for joining us aren't you glad there were no smartphones when your kids oh my goodness I mean I remember trying to deal with instant messaging that was a big deal aim Oh Amy Oh yeah right I was looking over my daughter's shoulder when some young man in Atlanta messaging or called her a sexy thang th a n. G. And I I tapped my daughter in the. Get up out of the. I sit I want to sit down so I wrote him back as that dear whatever his name was can this is Mr Rayney my daughter's daddy Ok it is not appropriate for you to refer to my daughter as I Sexy Fang. And it did help him I mean a little little horse to regulate a little more action and yeah exactly I mean relational foul and grammar found I mean come on exactly well that that that voice is David Eaton who is the one of the co-founders of Axis he and his wife Lindsey have been married since 2009 they have 3 kids and he is all about helping you as a parent navigate smartphones and how you as a parent can know at least enough to provide boundaries for your kids as they get them yet not just smartphones axis. Is all over helping parents and kids connect around what's going on in youth culture I get the culture translator newsletter that you guys send out every Friday that helps me know what what's going on in youth culture brings to light things that I would know otherwise and this is the sweet spot for what axis is doing smartphones and devices have become so prevalent that you guys have jumped into this in a big way and in fact you wrote a chapter on this subject for Denisov Barbara's book The Art of parenting which has just been released the thing I like about the chapter is it's not going to be obsolete in 3 months because you're writing about bigger issues than instant messaging or what it is that chat which may be gone and here it was so tempting to not write about Snap Chat I mean just a little clause in there because it's so it's I know that it's still going to be huge the next couple years but like you said there's always going to be something so and this tech technology is not going away and it's something to be celebrated but yeah we didn't want to write something and people laugh about it so months ago so back to the big idea David is challenging parents to have 4 conversations with their kids in other words your kids are looking for dialogue they may not act like they may turn their their nose up at the attempt to make it happen a roller but they need to connect with an adult around issues that could affect them for the rest of their life yet they're going to watch you and see how you're using your phone and they're going to want to know like you're going to come like you so it's important how these conversations are refund especially if you get your kid a phone plan on talking to them about it every single week and talk to him about it before you get them the phone if you can that's great so so when you're having these conversations you say there are 4 what's the 1st one you want to have the 1st conversation is all about if you're tired of being the bad guy if you always feel that as a parent you're always nagging your kids always saying Get off your phone all of that year instead it's inviting the phone into a different story for the world. It's the gospel it's the Christian story for The World's the conversation or one I call very good cursed and redeemed so a lot of people look at a phone and say hey that's just a neutral thing you know it's just a piece of technology technology is neutral and it's really easy to say yeah it is neutral but I would say stop for a 2nd and say wait is anything really neutral in a world that God made if you look at Genesis God makes the world very good says good good good good very good so that's the 1st of the conversation and it's talks about hey you're in charge humanity taken troll this steward this cultivate it care for it 2nd thing is humanity messes up it becomes cursed and then finally you have the story the Israelites and then Jesus coming to redeem us so with the smartphone I think is apparent sort of saying it's neutral you should say one it is very good if you actually think about it there's been some study showing recently that there is more technology in a smartphone than it took to put a man on the moon right now that the technology in that spaceship meant it could withstand a lot of heat and cold and all that stuff but still that is in your pocket right now so that's something to be celebrated Wow It's amazing but then it's cursed there's so many bad things we can do with it and finally how can we redeem it as a family you know what this does is it allows you to position it instead of being the whining naggy always saying get off that device parent and instead saying let's talk about why this is awesome let's talk about how to celebrate this man there are some ditches we can fall into and finally where there's sad things bad things that are happening how can we redeem it and the reason I called David and asked David to write this chapter in our book The Art of parenting is because the section it's and is about character it's calling parents to raise children who are wise and not fools and what David's wanting to do in this situation is to help parents train your kids to be wise and the use of the phone and not a fool not fall off into a trap that's what you're pointing out this device has the ability to be used for good things or to truly take. A child into a dark place and think about just what you said at the beginning is this neutral technology it was designed by sinful people got it and it is been handed to sinful people so we can say it's neutral but the people who made it and the people who are using it aren't neutral and there in is the problem now we can as redeemed people take this technology and say whatever it was meant for when it was designed there is a redemptive use of this device and let's go aggressively in that direction and celebrate and and rejoice over the redemptive opportunities I have opportunities to connect with people around the world because of my device we can talk to missionaries and pray for them not just through letters I can see their face and pray with them and that's a that's a wonderful use of this technology but we have to be thinking what are the redemptive purposes because there are a lot of people who want to take us over to a dark side and play to our period interests and get us doing an redemptive things with our devices just think of grandma the grandparents or my children live a 1000 miles away up and so they can actually have that connection via the screen that they could have had before that's really cool one of the state is going to say it accesses were all about connecting the wisdom of parents with the wonder of their children and so if you're having a conversation member a conversation is not just preaching and someone if you say How's it very good how's that person how can we redeem as a family don't be surprised if your precious wonderful amazing teen has an observation about how you're using it and I think that's something that's very true I mean we asked a 14 year old girl what do you do this weekend she said I'm going to go home and watch my parents stare at their phones. It's like that is pretty sad So answer the question that every parent who's listening right now wants to know and I know it's an absolute question but back to Bob's point these are sinful little creatures that you're given this phone to question is this when. Yeah when you get on the phone yeah what's your coaching for parents to determine when Yeah I like that question and I think what I would say to this is it it's a conversation in the conversations the 3rd conversation the book it's we are on a journey of trust with a destination of independence so I think you have to look at your family and say hey we're on this journey together with this phone I want to get you a place of independence but we're going to start off with some pretty strict rules and then you have to say is your 10 year old standing in a soccer field by themselves feeling exposed because you were told to soccer practice is going to be over so you have to think Ok I want to stay in communication my kid but that doesn't mean that they have to get the entire Internet they can just start off with g.p.s. And the ability to call someone they might then have to start off with texting so I think that's what I would say it's a decision you have to make but when you're making that decision you're entering into a conversation that you can have multiple times a week for the next however long they're inside your house one of the things that is talked about in the art of parenting book and video series is that there's a gradual release that comes with parenting when your kids are little You're staying right on top of them because they're not smart enough to know whether the street is safe but when they get to be 16 you've got to gradually start letting go letting them make some decisions you try to make sure that they're safe but they're going to make some bad decisions what you're recommending when it comes to technology and smartphones is a gradual introduction of the technology let them warm up to the fact that oh I can call somebody from anywhere and then oh maybe 6 months later I learn now I can text people or just let it come out a little. At a time and manage it along the way so to answer your question about what age again I think it depends on what level of work you want to do Bill Gates has a number his number was 14 he says we don't have cell phones at the table when we're having a meal we don't give our kids cell phones and tell they were 14 and they complained the other kids got them earlier we set a time after which there is no screen time so he had 3 concepts there but he said 14 whatever you do not make the decision about what age your kid gets a smartphone based on what other parents are doing so go back to the big idea of this conversation you said were on a journey of trust with a destination and dependence and I think that that applies to so much in parenting not just technology but this is what we're talking about when it comes to technology the journey of trust your child is earning independence newer levels of independence as they demonstrate that they're trustworthy with the independence that you give them and your point is don't just give them the whole enchilada at age 14 with unlimited access to everything that's on line and think oh they're going to do fine you know it's the same reason I don't set a bowl of m. And M's in front of my 2 year old and say you can only have one were you know it's just there's so much out there that's going to stick his whole fist in there and eat it all and ruin his dinner so you want to gradually do that what's important though is you want to make sure that their heart is loving righteousness and so that's kind of the hard transition that you have here is like you want them to earn your trust but again you're having this idea of do you love righteousness and putting yourself in community this is a phrase you should say over and over again we are better in community than we are in isolation we skipped over conversation to we kind of got right to conversation 3 with Genesis question this is why we have to look so you can read and then early in writes Let's go back you want about conversation and I want to get to the conversation too I just want to say one thing about the age when Barbara and I told the kids what age they could date it was. Never an absolute agent. Why because of the issue you're talking about trust if they've broken trust then why are you going to give them your freedom but here's what needs to be in place you need to be obeying us and really following the guidelines we give you and a consistent have bitch will weigh so we trust you it's back to trust again and that the point you've earned our trust maybe there will lead a little more string out in the kite so the kite can fly higher Ok Now go back to conversation to what was a conversation or 2 is pretty straightforward it's what is it for what is it for you should say this frequently about a lot of different things but a great thing to say about the smartphone is what is it for is it to help us stay more connected as a family to know where everyone is to stay connected to grandma and grandpa is it to get news or do homework better well then great that's a great purpose for its asking the question of purpose however if you saying that when you go out to dinner and you look around and the entire family has their phone out and mom's on Petrus and dad's checking his email and your kids keeping their snap streak going you're like here we are at dinner and we can't even have an eye to eye conversation a face to face conversation because this has taken so much control of our life right so it's a it's a really simple conversation and it's something you can have about a lot of fun things what is the purpose behind it what is it for and here's the good thing about that conversation you are defining what's acceptable use of the device and what's an acceptable use so no kid is going to say well one of the things that's for is so that I can look at porn I mean if they say that you're going to know that this device is for but you can it can start up by saying that's not what this devices for therefore we're not going to do that with this device you're bifurcating it can do a lot of things we're only going to do some of what it can do because some of what it can do can take you in a really bad direction David given that that statement of purpose for what's it for what if you're. Finding out right now as you're listening to us that your teenager is already misusing the phone he's already off or she's already off in some really dangerous places what would you coax them to do well 1st thing I'd do is take a huge deep breath and I would not act irrationally Don't be the parent who's always snatching the kids phone away always giving a back you have to say what is my strategy behind this to get back into the situation that's why we wrote the chapter that's why we have reclaiming the smartphone for important conversations in the family life today website where you can sign up and watch those videos and we even have a plan after that for this detox this reboot because you're having to take away you have a take away freedom and you can have them fight and it's not that you shouldn't as a parent it's just you shouldn't enter into it lightly and so I think you know one of those things that you know if you gave your kid a phone never told them they're going to say this is my phone this is my phone this is my phone no you should say no this is God's phone I am the steward of it as your parent and you get to use it therefore I get to look at it whenever I want I get to take it away whenever I want and it's this idea of hey you're better community but it's my phone it's privacy I got to have privacy Well you're going to want to introduce this idea well we don't have a right to phone privacy and honestly you need to model that I think husbands and wives should know each other's passwords and usernames just like parents should know their kids pass codes and usernames and honestly something that's scary about the phone and the lot of work you should know every single app on your kid's phone and you should have in your mind what is it for so again there's hosts are so much to this it's worth it but it's hard work you mentioned that the folks at Apple have just put some new parental controls so that kids can't download apps unless mom and dad give the Ok mom and dad can set a bedtime for the phone mom and dad can shut off the phone with a with an app on their phone where they just say your phones now off that's a really great parenting tool to have but if all we're. Doing is becoming punishers with our phones there's a problem there right now you're going to lose the heart of your child on that level and you want to be able to walk with them through this and this brings us to the 4th conversation which is definitely I think the most important conversation and it's this you can tell me anything your kid needs to know over and over again that they can tell you anything and then imprint the Caesar caviar by the way I'm safe I have your best interests at mine and I will be fair if they don't trust to be fair than they would be scared to bring it to you and how they can get wisdom from you and they're just going to Google it they're going to ask their friends are going to watch the You Tube influencers or You Tube stars and what they think and we got to get connected your children had to be connected to the wisdom of their parents and their grandparents with that so it's one of those things you can tell me anything and you have to say that because you have to have tough conversations about Pernod Griffey sexting sneaky apps there are fake social media accounts that you can create so your kid will have multiple more than likely your kid will have multiple different social media accounts I tell you what the 2nd question we get so many times Dennis is people say when should get my kid a phone and when should I let them have social media because social media is this whole nother level of freedom a whole nother level of risk a whole nother way to disciple your child and let me add one point of protection to this conversation be in agreement with your spouse about how you're going to draw the lines and the boundaries if there's anything that can undermine this whole process is for 2 parents to be out of sync with one another one is strict The other is permissive Yeah that's not going to work well and this is where you've said divorced parents often wind up polarized because the strict mom who has custody 2 weeks of the month and the lenient dad who's got custody the other 2 weeks or the 2 weekends whatever it is all of a sudden that's a problem for the child parents are controlling each other through this I've been. Situations where divorced parents are co-parenting and they're having this conversation preemptively because your kid will play you on this your kids are smart they're clever you know to felt like you were there so as you're entering into this you have to be sync up that's why we have the videos on family life that's what we're doing this chapter and read the book Get your spouse haven't read that chapter watch the videos send it to your spouse send it to your x. As well and say hey I'm thinking about this like we have to be smart when we get little Johnny a phone because there is going to be a lot at stake and can we find common ground even though we may not agree 100 percent can we find a place where we can both go Ok we'll support one another in this area it's important for your kids that you do that it is and I think it's good to disagree I think it's Ok to have dissent but tween a husband and a wife a mom and a dad around the use of this phone you're going to get a better decision if you both kind of hammer this one out over a a longer period of time I recommend that you become a missionary to your child and I recommend that you take a perspective of curiosity and when you find out what their favorite app is join in don't follow them necessarily immediately but enter into their world and explain to a parent how you join your child in an app because there's a way a parent can do it that looks like they're snooping and another way you're recommending is out of curiosity and maybe sharing that with them right so I think this is for Grandma if your grandmother listen this right now you are notorious for like any post that your grand kid does is like writing about it so take a step back I think it's really important to ask their permission if you can follow them I mean and just listen to what they say about that don't dive in necessarily because you can still hopefully have access to their phone you take their phone just look at it but they're going to have they could have multiple different accounts and then talk with them about it so I think you few follow them and then there's a lot of etiquette with different social medias and. So don't like your own post on Instagram dad but there are things that you can learn from your children and so you want to be connected their wonder just like you want them to be connected to your wisdom your your videos that again we've got links to on line will really help parents know how to navigate this situation that there are a lot of parents Dennis for them this chapter in your book is worth the whole price of the book I mean everything else in the book is kind of it's icing on top of the cake but what they need right now is this particular chapter because of what they're going through and we've got both the book and links to the videos on our website at family life today dot com and I say the Dennis's book is fabulous to us and Barbara's book is fabulous because it's tying into these timeless ideas you've got to have this timeless idea of identity and mission and character relationships but we decided to collaborate on and we realized the biggest pain point the biggest battlefield is the smartphone and so that's why we add this because it'll be a great entry point and we're in sync in what we're talking about here because we talk about bridge building 101 that you're building a bridge to your child's heart so you can protect them you can take truth to them and you can grow in that relationship hopefully to have some lames coming back toward you where you have a real relationship with Well again we've got copies of your book in our family life today Resource Center along with the video series The Art of parenting that a lot of small groups are using this fall there's the on line art of parenting video resource that's available for free and there are the videos that David has put together on smartphone usage again those are available for you to view when you go to family life today dot com If this is an issue for you right now the whole smart phone thing go watch those videos right now go to family life today dot com for more information or call 1800 f l today if you'd like to order any of the art of parenting resources the website again family life today dot com or call 1803 fire. 86329 that's 1800 f. As in family l. As in life and then the word today. Now this weekend we've got hundreds of couples who are joining us in Delray Beach Florida for one of our weekend remember marriage getaways the fall season is just now underway we want to ask you to pray for these couples who are going to be getting away for a weekend to invest in their marriage here at family life we are committed to doing all we can do to help couples and families grow in godliness in fact our mission is to effectively develop godly marriages and families and we do that by providing practical biblical help and hope for your marriage and your family and we want to thank those of you who make all that we do here at family life today possible your investment in this ministry is being used by God to bring real change and real hope in the lives of tens of thousands of couples and families all around the world and we're grateful for your partnership with us at the core of our mission is the gospel and that's why this month we'd love to send you as a thank you gift for your support a copy of Brian Miller it's book called The cross shaped gospel it's our thank you gift when you make a donation today online at family life today dot com or when you call 1800 f.l. Today to make a donation you can also request the book the cross shaped gospel when you mail your donation to family life today at Box 7111 Little Rock Arkansas and our zip code is 72223. And with that we got to wrap things up for this week thanks for being with us hope you have a great weekend hope you and your family are able to worship together in your local church this weekend and then join us back on Monday when we're going to talk with a dad who experienced what no parents ever wish to experience with their children a dad whose son became addicted to opioids we'll hear Rick then Warner story beginning Monday hope you can be with us for that I want to thank our engineer today Keith Lynch along with our entire broadcast production team on behalf of our host Dennis Rainey I'm keen we will see you back next time for another edition of family life today. Family life today is a production of family life of Little Rock Arkansas a crew ministry help for today hope for tomorrow thanks for listening to Dennis Rainey and Bob Latina and the program family life today which is provided by family life of Little Rock Arkansas now the teaching continues with David Platt and the program back to the Bible provided by Denham and Company media. Jesus Christ has said to his church right here his disciples and to us today he said I have all authority in heaven on earth and I put them at your disposal to accomplish the mission that I have given to you. Welcome to back to the Bible radio a partnership a back to the Bible and radical with David plan let's go to Pastor and best selling Christian author David Platt for a powerful message about how you can implement Christ strategy for reaching others with the gospel. And I can't wait to study these texts because we are reading in a whole new light I hope and pray this is no longer reading about the Great Commission this is reading that which is the very mission of our lives we are no longer sitting on the sidelines in this thing we are in the middle of a field. And we're getting the plays called in from the sideline and going the line of scrimmage day in and day out what does that mean to make disciples of all nations we're not just talking about the battle plans were hunkered down in the bunker and we're staking everything on this mission so with that understanding let's dive in and read Matthew chapter 28 verse 16 the Bible says the 11000 files went to Galilee and to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go and just a side note there whenever we see Jesus going to the mountain it signifies an important message that something throughout Scripture but in Book of Matthew Matthew chapter 5 to 7 Sermon on the. Mount and I think Chapter 17 right in the middle takes the couple of his disciples to the Mount of Transfiguration and we see him come in the mountain and says in verse 17 when they saw him they worshipped him but some doubted and just came to them and said all authority and haven't and on earth has been given to me therefore go and make disciples of all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the son of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age and I've got to be honest with you I could preach for weeks on this text it is so full it is so loaded with meaning but what I want to do is I want to look at this text of the lens of a covenant with each other and by what I mean by covenant is covered as a commitment that we make to God before God before each other and so I want to think about this text as it relates to our lives individually and our lives corporately What is this text mean for us and I want to unfold 3 unpack 3 facets of that covenant the 1st one is this based on this text we are saying that we will be a church that trusts in his authority. We will be a church the trust and his authority all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me that is the key statement in the Great Commission because it is the foundation upon which everything else that he says is built all authority and have it on earth has been given to me now this is a theme we've seen throughout the book of Matthew this is actually the 10th time that he's reference we see Jesus authority referenced all throughout the gospels we see it as his authority emphasized over and over and over again in this not just the power of Jesus all powers given been given to me but but it's the right to use that power you can have power and strength but if you don't have the authority to use that it doesn't really get you very far well Jesus comes to his disciples soon before he's about to ascend back into heaven and he says all authority all power has been given to me to use and we're going to get to that the 2nd I want you to think about the authority of Christ on 2 different levels number one his authority is universal His authority is universal all authority and haven't and on earth that pretty much sums it up. He's got it all has all authority in heaven on earth and that means there's nothing that is not under his authority he has complete and total universal Dominion right and power to rule now and this is not something that just brand new when you come to Matthew chapter 28 it's something we've seen all throughout the gospels you take a tour and you go back into the Gospels and you look at the different times where we see the authority of Christ pictured or referenced or talked about you see it in all different facets I've got a list of things here he has authority over disease you see Jesus when He comes to a blind man all the sudden the blind man can see when he comes to a lame man he says get up and walk he has the authority to tell those who have never walked in their life to get up and walk and they do he has authority to take the lepers the outcasts and give them healing he has authority over all disease isn't it good to know that Jesus Christ has authority over cancer over any disease that any one of us may ever face around the corner he has authority over disease 2nd he has authority over demons over and over again that's one of the most common usages of references to his authority he's casting out demons the evil spirits flee from him they are run from him he has authority over all demons 3rd he has authority over send and you go through the Gospels and you look at how Jesus talks about how as how he has the authority to judge then in John Chapter 5 and then he talks about how he has the authority not just to judge then if his authority stopped there then we'd really be in trouble but he has the authority to forgive sin why because he has authority by conquering Sen He conquered death he conquered the grave he is Lord over sin he has authority over disease demons then forth he has authority over suffering come to me all you who are weak have been laid and I will give you will. I give you rest and you piled on with the things of this world and nothing makes sense and you're confused and you're anxious you have a savior who has authority over every single burden so that you don't have to carry him so that he carries them for you he says to those who are hungry who haven't been satisfied by the things of this world he says I am the bread of life I am the living water he has authority over suffering he has authority over nature. Jesus is out on a boat with his disciples and big storm comes and the cycles are panicking and Jesus wifes to sleep out of his eyes and then speaks raises his hand and he has authority to call in the seas his buddies in another time are out in the middle of the way and he's on the side and he'd like to go see them just needs no wave runner at that point to get out to his disciples he just takes a stroll across the water because he has authority over all of nature he has authority over disease demons and suffering nature and he has authority over all nations he has authority over all nations now this has been prophesied all the way back in Daniel Chapter 7 verse 13 and 14 you might write that down and go back and look at it sometime it's an incredible text the talks about how the son of man would come who would have authority and sovereign dominion over every nation and his dominion would last forever now that's the picture of Jesus authority when it comes to this point he says all of the already in heaven on earth is mine he means that he's got it all just get the picture so I won 48 sums it up but get the picture he has authority over the sea creatures and all of the lightning in hail storm in Winston to do his bidding mountains hills fruit trees Cedars wild animals all cattle small creatures flying birds kings of the earth all nations princes rulers on the earth young men maidens old men children they all bow down to the authority of Jesus Christ and that changes the way you look at life it changes the way you watch Fox News and c.n.n. And you know that Jesus Christ is in control has authority over all nations it changes the way we approach the things we come into in life when he hasn't already overstand and suffering. So as authority is universal what sac has authority is purposeful now and this is where we see the link between the authority of Christ and the great commission he's not just bragging here in Matthew chapter 28 verse 18 I've got all 30 What do you thing is I've got all authority in heaven and earth for a purpose and this is what fuels the Great Commission is the claim that is the foundation for what he's about to say because basically what he is saying is I have all things that have an end on earth at my disposal to accomplish this mission and I'm about to give you and let that soak in for a 2nd Jesus Christ has said to his church right here his disciples and to us today he has said I have all 30 in heaven on earth and I put them at your disposal to accomplish the mission that I have given to you that's why I said in John Chapter 15 you asked me for anything you need anything you want to accomplish this mission I will give it to you to see my work accomplished it is his authority is purposeful think about it the authority of Jesus residing in each and every one of you his person drawling in you. 30 in having on earth. Given to us ladies and gentlemen to this point we realize that our success in our lives is not based on who we are or what we can do it's not about how smart we are how creative we are how talented we are how rich we are it's not about what we bring to the table our success is based on who Jesus is and what he is capable of doing in our lives that is what our success is based on his authority not our own we will be the church the trust in his authority his person and his word we will be dominated by his authority his person and his for our lives. I'm in a St our church governed by his word everything staked on his word trusting that he alone has all the authority we will be a church to trust in his authority and not our own 2nd we will be a church that obeys his strategy now based on the authority we get into the picture it's that this point before we die then the verse 19 and really start to unpack what the Great Commission is all about it's making disciples thing I want to think about the picture we've seen throughout the Gospels up until this point of the contrast between Christ's strategy in the world and the self directed strategy of the disciples. You see crime strategy talks about how he had compassion on the crowds because they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd and he's caring for the crowds and then you see the disciples coming up to him in Luke Chapter 9 when they face a little bit of opposition in some area and they're saying can we call them fire from heaven on these guys. A little disconnect there you can imagine Jesus rolling in the temple. I want to take this quick break from today's program to point you to a resource to the massive influence in the way I think about my purpose as a follower of Christ it's a small but powerful book that by one of my heroes in the faith. Called Born to reproduce you know the 1st command God gave me was to be fruitful and multiply command Christ gave on earth was for us to do the same thing but to do so by making disciples of all nations I couldn't recommend this booklet more highly it's a quick 3 but it will change how you think about your purpose on earth here the details on how you can get your copy to get your copy to reproduce. But this ends today so get your copy of reproduce when you get. Back to the. Back to work. With more on how Christ reaches people with His word and how you can do the same. On the Mount of Transfiguration their one house let's build a house that let's camp out here just says no you're missing the whole. At numerous points he he pulls them aside and he begins to talk about the suffering he's going to experience in the death he would experience there's one time when Peter even goes so far as to pull Jesus to the side and say Jesus with all due respect as you're a p.r. Manager I cannot recommend this particular course of action constantly this tension between the self directed strategy of the disciples and the strategy of Christ and so so Judas dies on the cross and you rises from the grave and at this point there's no telling what's going through these guys minds what kind of plans that they could come up with at this point if left to their own and so they come upon this mountain with Christ and they come face to face with his strategy therefore go and make disciples of all nations and at that point they've got 2 options 2 options that I've seen been seen throughout this contrast in the in the Gospels and now they come face to face with the number one 1st option is they can give themselves to a self directed strategy that hopes for his blessing a self directed strategy that hopes for his blessing what I mean by that is they could come up with some good things at this point they were short guys and they had great motives believe it or not even when they're want to call down fire from having a want to set up the house in order to redirect Jesus they've got good motives they want to they want to see the King Jesus glorified. Could it be possible that even 2000 years later in the church today. That we could have the option of coming up with some great strategies and great plans and great methods could it be that our Christian bookstores are filled with books on new strategies and new plans and new methods that we could adapt to as a church that we could adopt as a church. And the dangerous thing is we can adopt those strategies plans and methods and even have God glorifying motives at the center we want God to be glorified in our church we want God to be glorified in this community so let's come up with a new strategy let's come up with a plan for how to do that but it's at this point folks we've got to realize that nowhere in Scripture does God promise to bless us based solely on our motives and I'm not saying motives are important they're extremely important but nowhere in Scripture does God promised to bless based soley on our motives but Scripture does give us a very clear warrant for the fact that God always promises to bless his plan so we've got 2 options in the number one we can give ourselves to a self directed strategy that hopes for his blessing or number 2 we can give ourselves to a Christ directed strategy that is guaranteed his boss and could it be that our job is not to be come up with a new strategy a new plan or a method and could it be that God is not desiring to advance our dreams and our goals and our ambitions. That God is not looking for us to come up with a new agenda could it be that our primary responsibility does is to know his will through His Word and obey it wholeheartedly the strategy that he has already given to us. Because we can we can spend the rest of our lives and the rest of the life of this church coming up with new strategies and new plans and new methods but if we ignore the Christ directed strategy we will miss the whole point that's why we need to focus on what it means to make disciples of all nations. So what is a Christ directed strategy look like I'm glad you asked I want you to look at a few different components of a Christ directed strategy in this text number one Christ is our vision Christ is our vision now that goes all the way back to Matthew Chapter 4 where this whole thing started it's the thing that's driving the series 2 words Follow me follow me look at me give yourself to me Christ is our vision remember his his whole picture there was no formal school no no regulations and procedures no Symon Aries no membership classes it was just following Christ our agenda our vision is to be like Christ and that is non-negotiable in the church this is what drives us we see Christ we want to be like Christ we are being conformed in the image of Christ we study His word so that his image will take root in our hearts and our minds and our lives we want to be like Christ our vision Christ is our vision sakit our mission is making the cypress making disciples is our mission now when you get to Matthew 28 verse 19 really this whole text we just read. There is in the original language of the New Testament law an imperative verb just in case it's been a while since and it was class for you imperative verb is the command when Heather gives me an imperative that's a command you do it right then so there's one command one imperative verb and Matthew chapter 28 verse 16 through 20 and the imperative is make disciples one word in the Greek 2 words here make disciples that's the command around which this whole thing revolves now it's at that point that we say well how do you make disciples and thankfully based on what we've been studying we now know the answer to that and here's what I want you to draw the connection between what we've been diving into and what we see in this text because this imperative making the finals is surrounded by other verbs and other words that help describe how about looks. For example it starts off and says Therefore go and make disciples go is really a participle much like baptizing and teaching later on therefore going as you go make disciples and so go and as a part of making disciples we go and what do we do think about the incarnational faceted disciple making we have the word of Christ intrusted to us His word becoming a life in us incarnated in us how do we go Well number one we share the word that sounds familiar. We take the word that's been intrusted to us the Gospel is interested us and just as Jesus went preaching proclaiming the coming of the kingdom he said you go when you do the same thing share the word then he says bad times in the name of the Father the Son the Holy Spirit what does that show the word this is the way that we identify our lives with Christ and His church literally it says in the original language there baptizing them into the name which is identified with the name of the father of the son of the Holy Spirit into his character into all that he is you identify you associate your life with him is your life is now a demonstration of his life that's why baptism is so extremely important I believe in the Great Commission and I believe in the church because what happens in and physical baptism is we identify our lives with the life and the death of Christ we identify our lives with his church that's why that is so important and some Bob and showing the word so we go and we share the word we baptize them in the name of Father Son the Holy Spirit we show the work and then we teach them to obey everything I have commanded you 3rd we teach the word the sounding familiar you seen the connection here teach the word teach them everything I have commanded you now and show you some really cool here as we come to the end of Matthew chapter 28 and we're going to take a little tour in the book of Matthew to see it what I want to what I want to show you start turning back to Matthew chapter 5. What I want to show you is that. Matthew's Gospel is split up into about 5 different sections that really focus on Jesus' teaching with his disciples and there are 5 different times where we see a pattern emerge each time the disciples are brought together either by Jesus when they come to Jesus then he teaches them for something for an extended period of time and then that section closes off with Matthew saying after just to finish teaching them these things and then he moves on so I want to see that unfold want you to see the beginning and the end of each of those times look at Matthew chapter 5 Verse 14 this is the start on the mound when he saw the crowds he went up on a mountainside and sat down his disciples came to him and he began to teach them and so Matthew 56 and 7 and teaches them that I want you to go to the end of Matthew chapter 7 look at Matthew chapter 7 verse 28. Here's a phrase you might underline it in your Bible because it's a phrase it's going to be repeated over and over again it says in verse 28 when Jesus had finished saying these things the crowds were amazed at his teaching that phrase when Jesus had finished saying these things then the crowds were amazed at his teaching because he taught as one who had authority and not as their teachers along now look over a couple chapters to chapter 10 look at Chapter 10 verse one he does the same thing with the disciples coming to Christ he called his disciples his 12 disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and he'll ever disease and sickness and list their name and names and chat and verse 23 and 4 and then in verse 5 it says these 12 she just sent out with the following instructions and then he gives them instructions and then you get to chapter 11 verse one and what does it say. After Jesus had finished instructing his 12 disciples he finished teaching them those things he went on from there to teach and preach in the towns of Galilee So that's the 2nd one 3rd one go over to Chapter 13 verse one and if you look at Chapter 13 verse one this one has to do with parables separate 13 verse one says just went out to the house and said that same day you just went out of the house and sat by the lake such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it while the people stood on the shore then he told them many things in parables he began to teach them go to the end and look at Chapter 13 verse 53 are stiff the 3 Chapter 13 verse 33 it says When Jesus had finished these parables he moved on from there so it gives the closure there any moves on to more look at Chapter 18 Matthew Chapter 18 verse one and between We've got just healing people we've got just doing all kinds of different things but these are concentrated blocks of teaching look at Chapter 18 verse one at that time the disciples came to Jesus and they asked who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven and he begins to teach them to get over to Chapter 19 verse one and Matthew gives the conclusion Chapter 19 verse one when Jesus had finished saying these things he left Galilee and when in the region of today add to the other side of the Jordan when he finished those teachings one more look at Chapter 24. Chapter 24 the last block of teaching that we see in Matthew says in chapter 24 verse one just left the temple and was walking away when his disciples came up to him to call attention to its buildings they start this dialogue he begins to teach them and you get all the way to Chapter 26 verse one. And here it is one more time Matthew gives us the conclusion when Jesus had finished saying all these things he said to His disciples and they move on to other things when he finished saying these things and so that's the theme or standards repeated over and over again 5 different times in Matthew. This is back to the Bible radio a partnership of back to the Bible and radical and case you just tuned in we want to remind you how to get your copy of Born to reproduce this inspiring resources our way to thank you for your donation to keep back to the Bible radio on air so call right now with whatever gives the feel led to give and requests born to reproduce 1875924 to 518075924 to 5 if you prefer to give online please go back to the Bible or that's back to the Bible or that to the Bible or thanks for joining us today tune in next week as David Platt shares more from God's Word to help you live on mission for Christ every day move forward in your faith Monday on back to the Bible radio have a great weekend. Thanks for listening to the program back to the Bible with David Platt provided by Dunham and Company media you can hear back to the Bible every weekday at 8 30 am right here on k.j. A.o.l. The station where you hear the light. With us foreign news on which Thomasson in Washington more political theatrical this morning on Capitol Hill as the Senate you dish Ari committee lurches for a vote on the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court nomination. Democrats those who didn't storm out of the committee room voting no on a Republican proposal for an afternoon vote that motion was approved along. Party lines but not before some contentious partisan bickering Chairman Chuck Grassley rejecting calls for further investigation scenes men through 6 f.b.i. Full time background investigations and no issues of sexual misconduct were uncovered Democrat Dianne Feinstein arguing that capitals committee performance yesterday was diligent and aggressive I have never seen someone who wants to be elevated to the highest court in our country behaves in that manner Arizona Senator Jeff Flake considered a swing vote on the committee says he will vote to send capitols nomination to the full Senate that's Capitol Hill correspondent while the Heinz also Deseret News dot com a flotilla of small boats has rescued all 47 people on board a plane that went into the sea while trying to land on the tiny Pacific island of one o. Lot of Micronesia ill James was on the plane I was really impressed with the locals who. Needed the sort of them and. You won't One would think they might be afraid to approach a plane that's just perhaps Tesla having a rough day on Wall Street its stock is plunging as the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to remove Elan Musk his c.e.o. And yes he see accusing musk of securities fraud and on Wall Street right now the key averages modestly higher the Dow is up about 44 points the Nasdaq composite index ahead 10 and the s. And p. Trading 5 points higher this is s. R. And needs. Prayer returns to Alabama School district officials in blunt County acquitted him to student led prayer over the public address system of high school football games under pressure from the atheist Freedom From Religion Foundation but county residents have responded by arming themselves with t. Shirts and blazoned with the words we believe on the front in the words of the Lord's Prayer on the back the vow to resign through prayer during the moment of silence and all future games this fall Michael Harrington s.r.m. News the crack out on Christians continues in China officials with China Aid report that more than a 1000 government agents raided a house church and had a man province this month well who believe or say the lawman plundered the church stealing what they did not destroy the communist government has been carrying out a multi-year crackdown on Christianity within its borders seeking to reduce the profile of the faith in the nation of 1400000000 people despite the persecution Christianity continues to spread quickly in China this is a star and. One Maryland community besieged by birds is calling on Goose Busters better known as Border Collies the ocean pines Association voted earlier this year to euthanize around 300 of the Canadian geese to protect local water quality the tactic both angered residents and proved largely ineffective in the geese have returned in large numbers so these so she decided this week to hire Maryland geese control a company that uses Border Collies trained to chase geese out of the water and off the land without harming the birds the company will also remove nests transport injured birds to rehabilitation centers and addle the eggs to reporting on is going to recall $1400000.00 cars in the u.s. To replace to cut up front passenger airbag inflators the recall covers both Honda and Acura vehicles again on Wall Street this hour Dow is up 43 points more details at us are at News dot com Our thanks to May's concrete at 2399 Riverside Parkway in Grand Junction and a writing business partner of local Christian radio. Christian radio for the western slope this is k j y e k j o Well Grand Junction. Weapon Montrose listener supported and commercial free. The following program is provided by Focus on the family don't forget great praise and worship music comes your way at 930 right here on local Christian radio k j o l Hi I'm Jim daily focus on the families working on your behalf to strengthen families today but we cannot do this work without your help please donate by calling 800 the letter a in the words family that's 802326459. This is John focus on the family and thanks for listening today k j o l where you hear the light. And so they started to systematically censor they said. Can't hand out William Penn's frame of government he can't hand out Samuel Adams the rights of the colonists as Christians and they even said that the religious parts of the deck the range that in the pendants were too religious and it violated the separation of church and state Stephen Williams is a former public school teacher who followed California education standards in his classroom and he was allowed to teach his 5th grade history class about Ramadan and Hanukkah and other holy days but he was told not to discuss the Christian celebration of Easter Stephen and his wife Sarah are back with us today on focus on the family to tell more of their story and to help you and your kids understand and protect your religious freedoms in the school system your host is focused president Jim Daly And I'm John Fuller just what a great conversation last time Steve and Sarah and I really enjoyed their stories of how they both came from homes of atheists I mean their parents are educators in Stephen's case and you know they're coming from a fact based logic based kind of science based orientation I can relate to that that's what I was looking for after high school and in college what are the facts of Jesus is the a myth or was he real I had a philosophy teacher I had a 400 level class my freshman year my 1st semester in college way out of my depth and I remember the 1st day I showed up and the teacher asked me after taking role Mr Daley What is Plato mean by virtue. He goes You did read the content right course is the 1st day I said I thought you were going to hand the syllabus out today and he said oh we go to the library ahead of time in college and that's how it started and then the next class he was mentioning you know what Homer had said what Aristotle said and I innocently put my hand up and I was not doing this out of conviction of my Christian understanding it was more a question really innocent when I said well what about the words of Jesus do they matter and he said that's a fairy tale that's a myth we don't even know if Jesus actually was a living character and he just attacked me by the 3rd class he said listen.