Brothers there were other theological things that really messed with me like I don't think people are familiar with the idea of in vitro and we don't need to get into all that but it's the idea that they could potentially impregnate eggs that are part of your wife's anatomy that then they basically keep cryogenically frozen or something like this and that you might actually end up with children out there I said What do you do with the with the eggs that have been successfully impregnated because to me that's the beginning of life that's God's blessing the beginning of life they said well we discard them if nobody decides to use them and I thought that there was just too much about as I said you know behave like that because I was just asking questions I didn't know what this process was but once I knew the answers I just could not handle the responsibility of knowing that I might actually have children out there that were part of a surrogate family that I'd never made or that I'd end up with you know the beginning of life and I'm the guy that's deciding that you know 15 successful you know eggs that are ready to become children are going to be discarded because we didn't want them it was just too much there was a little lady in the segues perfectly into the book every day champions and this is where we really probably should focus on this episode there was a little lady named Henrietta Henrietta Stewart she was my mom's best friend she worked for the organ district Assemblies of God and Brooks organ a little thing on the brooks organ she heard this this prognosis from the doctors. And she said Joe I'm going to pray for you she didn't speak over me that we would guarantee to have kids she didn't claim it she did as she didn't name it and announced that it would be it she just said I'm going to pray for you that these doctors are dead wrong and that you're going to have children and as soon as she started praying I'm not making this up Larry my wife and I we decided that we would look at adoption because it was a child that needed a home and we felt that that was the safest way to go just about another year and we went to an agency in Portland Oregon and brought home all the curricula we are now we've gone through the training we are now on a waiting list we are we are going to adopt we've even narrowed it down to the nationality we were going to adopt a Russian little boy or this is what the plan was the next morning I think about this we've been trying for 4 or almost 5 years now and my wife comes running into the bedroom at 745 I'll never forget 745 the morning but day after you got to see this how do you got to see this is shaky and I run into the bathroom and it's a long story short it's a pregnancy test that is showing both lines or whatever plus sign I forget the For idea of has but it was basically indicative of she was pregnant and I I was so cautious I said Honey these things can be wrong 0 point one percent of the time. I didn't want to get my hopes up with being 0 point one percent of the time so I I went to the doctors we had blood work done and it was confirmed that we had and I believe supernaturally because if you judge that the details of the medical condition that I was dealing with that I did not know about you would agree that this was a very dire and likely situation and now today I have 4 children and I believe that it began with the prayers of this little lady named Henrietta Stewart who the world other than maybe this broadcast that my book will never know she was not a grand national superstar with her own television program she was just. A wonderful woman in the eyes of God operating in her gifts of exportation helps mercy the ones that people overlook in the Bible the people in the book by the way that I talk about we spent all of last program talking about what the gifts of the Spirit don't look like let me highlight a few examples of we have time of what they give actually because these are the ones that I think are really going to resonate with your audience Larry there because I think as I speak a lot of people out there going to be saying you know that sounds an awful lot like what I do every single day and I believe that people have unintentionally taken for granted even because of the way that the hyper care is maniac churches presented to give that they're not actually are they might be helpful they're doing nice things they're convenient for the church but they're not operating in a soup or you know supernatural gift which is a big misnomer that I believe is stifling people's ability to fully embrace what they're doing and see it for exactly what I did when I was growing up I had a very troubled youth This has nothing to do with my parents and I want to get through this as quick as I can because I just what we've got so much ground to cover but troubled youth I was the kid that you would have described as a t.h.d. They tried to put me on medication many many times they being the doctors my mom wouldn't have it she believed that it was not necessary and she she had been a Grinner system the battle with me if necessary for my soul and boy did I test my mom and put her through the grief of the 84 years now when my dad was around it was a different story I learned very quickly that he was more of the disciplinary in the family and was a lot more cautious when it came to trying to punk my mom in front of my dad but this would go on for years and years and years and when I'm in 5th grade now I had flunked and well they had passed me but I you know terrible grades in school terrible grades I had homeschooled in the 3rd grade because my mom and dad thought hey if we pull him out of school and we do the educational part maybe that'll help him Akademi. Actually I'm talking about abs and these Larry perpetually in every subject I had no interest in learning I didn't want to read I didn't understand why school was a school who cares about school and no amount of lecturing me on why I needed to know this stuff because it was going to help me in life was ever going to help me. Understand why was there to me school was literally I'm not exaggerating it was the prison sentence that you paid for every day and so you got out at about noon and then eventually 3 o'clock when I got older on good behavior like this was all my relationship to school was and I had terrible terrible years and I honestly think that that the number of fights and I was bullied perpetually And I just I just literally blows school I literally believe that one of the reasons that this would turn around for me in the 5th grade for a while was based on one of the most amazing school teachers I've ever seen she was my 5th grade teacher her name was Miss Barbara Phillips my relationship to school and school teachers every year before that because the homeschooling thing did not work at all for a whole list of reasons we won't cover today but went to the 5th grade and again started out the year you know interrupting the teacher clowning around out in the hall the same old game survival till the next summer basically and Miss Barbara Phillips she was operating in a spiritual gift she was discerning she was teaching extorting she saw something in me that she thought could be changed for the better and she took a chance so at the 1st p.t.a. Were a few months into the for her the 5th grade school year the 1st p.t.a. My mom comes in to me with this Barbara Phillips and I just know I'm in for it it's going to be another round of why he needs to improve the why he's in trouble for that and why we ought to work on academically and he won't be quiet and yet he's out in the hall and I just know I deserve it because I know this is all I've done but you know what she did Larry she took a stab she saw a failing system that was not helping me at all and she took a stab at doing something different she looked at my mom's eyes and I'll never forget she said Nita. It's not that Joe is that smart because he's super smart it's more a failure of our school system is not ready to deal with this student as in the light and as Joe is then she pointed at me and she says he's bored he's a genius that boy she's point and she said That boy is a musician because the other thing I talk about in the book is I would perpetually play my drums on my desk and she would catch me humming and I'm rapping and I'm beat boxing before be boxing with even a thing she says that boy's a musician you can't get him to stop there's no stopping it there's no slowing and he's going to be a musician he's got his in his d.n.a. Is going to be great one day now was I perfect overnight No but something happened when she said those things over me when she projected the best of what I was I saw myself that way for the 1st time I wasn't just at the link with who was in trouble who deserved more because there's a plan wasn't doing anything for me I can absorb that all day long in fact the tension was off and you know less boring sitting in the schoolroom having to learn I saw myself for something different she she she described me as a genius and a musician whatever and I will tell you that what transpired for the rest of that school year was absolutely astonishing my my effort was completely different I did not want to upset her I did not want to disappoint her I wanted to keep that good thing going you know finally a teacher and I kind of had a thing we had a bond like we could be pals she was proud of me what is this and I wanted to keep that going. Now later we would move again and I would start this whole cycle up in different schools and the natural I talk about you know principal Bob Backstrom who also made endeavors into my life for good and also one of my greatest heroes of all time Commander Dave whored my royal Ranger commander every Wednesday showing me what Christ gentle Holy Spirit given gift of exportation this man was just unbelievable at building boys up the boys in the community that were bullied at the schools whose parents didn't have the money to buy them the cool clothes so you know who were bullied and heckled constantly and made to believe they were garbage this man would build them up and make them 10 feet tall he would call them champion he would call them warriors in the army of Christ these people to me Larry are the salt of the earth and what I believe when God is step aerating the sheep from the goats and all of these people now who's he talking to all these people say wait a minute Lord this is the way I hear that passage in my mind Wait a minute Lord didn't I call In Your name didn't we cast out spirits didn't I run a radio program didn't I author books and make lots of money on your on your gospel didn't I do all these things and God is going to say the part for me I never knew you but the ones that make it in good job my faithful servant are the everyday champions that are out there doing the grind work of what ministry often looks like it's the baking of the pies for the church or the little kids it's the it's the telling of a student that they're doing a good job it's our season citizens that are out there praying for the growth of the church and were involved in the communities and planting seeds we need their exportation we need their experience we need their nonsense meters to step in and tell the younger people that are still developing their walk with God What spiritual gifts actually look like those are to me and most always often overlooked Not that I'm suggesting we do these things for praise but I'm saying the church basically spend 0 time thanking these people and. I've seen this firsthand I've seen what what district offices do when high level people finally leave their positions of ministry after grinding out the faithful work and and they're lucky if they get a mug of coffee or a cake that says you know congrats for 30 years of service I mean I've seen people literally just leave their positions and they don't even get a phone call and I'm not saying again I'm not saying we do this for our reward here and all of that I'm just saying but one of the things that champions every day champions try to do Larry was really highlight these people that I believe are doing what almost all of the substantial ministry work that is going to be a part of this coming Great Awakening actually look like it's the thankless grind work it's the laborious it's done in the shadows it's done every day and a little doses by those faithful to operate in their spiritual gifts and that was one of the things I tried to do in the book every day champion you do it very well and in fact one question is Did Mrs Phillips ever hear your in fact you've done to musical productions Johnny was a criminal in broken for good Did she live long enough for you to send those videos or whatever to her I am so excited to tell you this I was able and all of the examples this is the God thing and the and the one that finally finally just about a month before the book came out I was finally able to crack down and reach Mr pop back from and at that one that one was a writ either that's all of the story how I was I had to get some help finding em all legal all legal but but professional help to find him and I would tell you that I was able to with Miss Barbara Phillips and with all of these people Commander Dave whored Mr Bopp Backstrom Debbie short so many of the heroes in my book I was able to track each one of them down and let them know that I was putting the book out that I was planning to tell parts and pieces of their story with photographs of them and me as a kid in the book just to kind of memorialize snapshot part of the chapter but yes she. Did you hear some of my music and her and I and all of these people we all have you know it the ability to text now and they've all got copies of the Balkan math that has been so much fun to let the people know there are so many ways that we can go but I love what you do and how the Lord really spoke to your heart about John 1720 and fall and I want to close that verse and then maybe you can really expand on that Jesus said neither pray I for these That's the Apostles alone but for them also which shall believe on me through their word that's every believer in the apostles which is us that they all may be one as thou Father art in me and I in the they also may be one in us and then these words that the world may believe when I have got some tremendous insides on John 1720 in a lot of related Scriptures tell us about your insides and what God has shown you from that scripture can you imagine Larry how simple that is and yet how I think that could be one of the most difficult perhaps for believers to conquer I mean but not because it's difficult but because we make it so difficult I'm putting me in there as well but because you know as a human being to think that we could all be Jo'burg the nomination all boundaries and all come together I mean you know people are very pessimistic about this they describe it as all k. Ok but the church is never going to come together and thing quote coom by are on all be friends and you know a lot walk arms to gather like at the end of the Grinch movie and we're all singing and we're rocking back and forth like if you told me I can't happen there's too many of the nomination all lines and then we find ourselves fighting over things like flatter than is it real or is it ground to get up Christians dividing themselves and add each other's juggler and social media and at the packing each other now on things that to me are peripherial Can you imagine how simple that passage if you just look at it face value could be that if we were to focus. On our God given gift focus on revival and the preaching and teaching of Jesus Christ crucified I'm talking about the most basic Day One kindergarten level Christian stuff that if we could unify on those big things and join join in fandom and use all of our outlets to simply preach the Gospel radically without fear that we could accomplish the meat of what is in that passage that that literally would be the thing that would start a trigger event around the entire world and bring about the greatest fire of reply of all the world has ever seen and maybe just maybe for one last hurrah before God's judgment I mean can you imagine in his spirit simple right it just just means love your neighbor with all your heart but inside the small fight to focus on the big stuff and think more about how can we recruit unbelievers with a simple message of hope that Jesus died on the cross for their sins and that he has a plan for their life and pray that it becomes so infectious that they then turn around and do the same thing there's another there's another very powerful insight you know Paul said that the gifts would be given to pas followers of Christ which is a Greek word that not only means all it means to every He says that every person was given spiritual gifts to profit with all that means that he didn't God didn't give you gifts so that you can embellish them for yourself wield them on t.v. And make stars out of yourself ek gave you spiritual gifts to use in taking them work for His glory so I ask a question I ask a question if the Holy Spirit whatever reveals to you that you do have a gift and really put that on display in your life and confirm it in your heart to the Holy Spirit with each do that fully if your motives and intentions are to bring notoriety to yourself or to appear as though you're powerful spiritually and to try to get all the people in your social circle to look up to you as some kind of a supernatural spiritual guru or. Would he reveal it to you for the use and kingdom work and if your focus is simply on kingdom work revival and Christ crucified then that is what I believe would fuel that transparent moment where the Lord just revealed to you the total principle transfer that's my prayer for your listeners that the Lord would reveal to them their spiritual gifts and it's one of the things I try to do in every day champions was to itemize the spiritual gifts layer them so that you understand basically how they are misunderstood and how they are truly understood and applied in our lives today for the purposes of on changing and I don't lose a thing because Illian of people and what I hope is a next coming Great Awakening let me ask you one more question and it's really an interesting one and I think people know where you're going to go with this but are they really uncommonly porch of the body you say not exactly tell us about that oh say Ok well I don't know much time you Ok the whole uncomely parts this is kind of in-depth I'll try to give you the short version you've got 5 minutes Ok Everybody's heard sermons and teachings on the uncommonly or the ugly parts of the Body of Christ and how to cope with it basically if you're one of the ugly parts right or how to be a good Christian and loving uncomely member that's the other way you see that presented right but 1st Corinthians 1223 says and those members of the body which we think still kayo which is a Greek word it means to be of the opinion that the less on arrival upon these weave is still more abundant on Earth and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness Paul is addressing the self-absorbed opinions of the current be in church members at the time is this making sense this is a part of him educating the current at the time he's telling them by the way that whole uncomely part is not identifying any roles within the Christ corporate body is shameful or ugly you know how many times have you heard a sermon Well you know I'm the armpit. It's a necessary part of the body but you know I'm just kind of that odd person who who you know I'm imperfect but the Lord kind of uses me and I do all the ugly work but then you need those people in the body right or that may be your job this is one of the big big big ones Larry for the church how about this how about somebody you know isn't somebody comes into your church and they've got biker tattoos all over their arms and their hair is long I'm talking about maybe a man and he's got a nose ring and he may be his odor is kind of unpleasant isn't and so you look at that you think well as the armpit of the Body of Christ my job is to tolerate this guy my gift is to put up with him and to keep my mouth closed the do best I can to make him feel welcome right but see Paul's not saying these are ugly parts of the body he was identifying and had a tooth problem the Corinthians corporately had the results to support roles being viewed as unappealing or less important because they were busy fighting over who could be the loudest one at the time speaking in tongues and therefore looking the most spiritual does that remind you of anything you've seen lately you know in some of our big churches Well you know people fighting over then that's one of the reason I put the every day champions book out people fighting over you know this identity of getting to be the loudest or the most spiritual or if you're a level 7 on a scale of $1.00 to $10.00 then I am a level 10 and you know this whole stupid stupid stupid sliding scale that people put together has nothing to do with the gifts of the Bible but if anything Paul is gently rebuking the Corinthians for saying that any parts were uncomely in the 1st part he tells the Corinthians that the support roles should be closed or bestowed whereas from Greek there is a semi many Christians make the mistake of assuming it's because the body that these body parts are in come in the 1st place or ugly or even shameful like genitals something like that that we must close these because they're uncommonly they're on wanted but according to all the support role. Because this show and glory are connection are honor and so for what they do the bottom line is there is no such thing as uncomely parts and there never were all us responding to a Corinthian attitude problem York yeah the Ripper is not less beautiful or amazing that makes and a minute sure does Well Joe we are about out of time thank you so much for these 2 shows and for your life in ministry are really enjoyed the book and I know your listeners will as well always a pleasure Larry thank you then here please come to the minute and tell our listeners how they get or a special offer every day champions Thank you Pastor Larry our special offer today is the brand new book by Joe Horn titled Every day champions you can have a copy for a gift of $25.00 in the United States and $42.00 if you live in Canada to place your order just Card toll free number 1806521144 and you can order any time online at s w r c dot com Our very special offer is when you order the book we will include at no additional charge the d.v.d. With the same title every day champions this d.v.d. Includes over 3 hours of the sea great information as the book only in stunning high definition and is yours free when you order the book that number again is 180-652-1144 Thanks for being with us today make plans now to join us tomorrow on the watchman on the long program from Southwest radio in church. South-West radio church ministries has presented the word of prophecy since 933 making it the oldest continuous Christian God world and you can hear the mornings at 930 right here on the 9670 k l c. You're tuned to am 670 calle t t Kummer City Denver k o t t h d and streaming worldwide at 670 calle t.t. Dot com You know what a thirsty deer looks like when it's running toward water or the writers or scripture think you have because in center on John Stone St This is breaking. One of the defining features of God's Word is how often it points us to God's world much of Scripture in fact assumes a certain level of understanding about nature so it would seem if we fail to go outdoors if we fail to experience and ever engage in God's creation then our faith could suffer nearly every book of the Bible is bursting with references to creation chronicling in soaring prose the making of the universe identifying God's covenant promises with colors in the sky and inviting us to gaze with Father Abraham at the starry host where an even greater promise has been written for us the sourness compares the longing of his soul for God with the thirst of a deer running towards water fully expecting his readers to get the word picture he sings of the heavens divine declaration he praises the Lord for making mankind ruler of all the flocks and herds animals of the wild birds of the sky and fish of the sea asked the beast and will teach you says job the birds of the heavens no tell you the bush is of the earth and they will teach you and the fish of the sea will declare to you in his hand is the life of every living thing and the breath of all mankind and of course she says him self announced the kingdom of God on Earth with parables talking about trees seeds birds of the air which God feeds along with lilies of the field which he close the Bible at length promises that the consummation of history like its beginning will take place and they go. Arden City atop a mountain with a river of life and trees whose leaves are to heal the nations now faced with this forest of references it's hard to see how someone who will never spend time outside could ever fully grasp the things that Scripture really wants us to today the benefits of modern technology have effectively cut us off from the natural world as well as the general revelation about God that it offers perhaps more than any other time in history whether it's our temperature regulated homes and offices or glowing screens or asphalt jungles much of our lives happen in an artificial world that's designed to insulate us from nature there are costs to this insulation last May The Washington Post reported that children today spend less time in unstructured outdoor play than any prior generation which research as indicated results in worst school performance less creativity higher levels of obesity fewer friends and increased rates of depression and hyperactivity even more critically the world kids experience the day there's very little resemblance to the backdrop of the Bible writing of the Gospel coalition Scott Martin calls this modern isolation from creation not only physically but spiritually dangerous citing studies demonstrating how time and nature reshapes our brains he suggests that our manmade worlds of concrete and climate control rob us not only of the practical vocabulary to understand scripture but it actually makes unbelief easier our babble like convenience can delude us into thinking that we're self-sufficient and can conceal our own frailty and how we actually depend on the God of creation for as Paul put it life and breath and everything well thankfully there's a simple solution to all of this and that's go outside and I realize some of that privilege I live in Colorado Springs where Pike's Peak is visible from just about every west facing window but opportunities to experience the majesty of God's creation are everywhere Martin suggest intentionally getting wet in the rain once in a while or working on your church's landscaping or visiting a local state or Nash. Park and when we do want to those Thanks the scripture asks us to be intentional and to think about God and His created intention not only will that lead us to a greater sense of all about God and His world will better understand his word as well for breakpoint Johnston. This is the body 670. Your Crawford broadcasting station that proudly owners. When you demonstrate the integrity through the everyday troubles of life you're actually building the courage it takes to face far greater things today on turning point Dr David Jeremiah returns to Philippians for 3 examples of courage that are produced by living a life that's consistent with your faith listen now is David introduces the captivating conclusion of his message the joy of integrity well all of you know that as I preached over these many years I've often used the illustrations from the world of sports I don't do that because I'm trying to do anything specific for any particular group of my listeners I just love sports and I've been involved in it all my life both personally and with my family members and of course now with my son who works for the n.f.l. Network so I hear a lot of stories about sports and there's a wonderful crossover between that and how we live life and I found that when I look at my life many of the lessons I learned playing sports have helped me live my life with the strength and integrity and determination so I'll probably keep doing that I hope you enjoy the stories and that they transfer for you as they do for me into your spiritual walk we're so much looking forward to our time at the end of the year as we visit the Caribbean I love telling you about it especially. Here in this time of the years we think about the end of the year and start planning I don't know but you the something happens with the move. Summer I begin to realize the next huge thing that's coming is the holiday season and when we go through the rigors of a holiday season whether we're in the church or even in the in the general world with all that happens sometimes it's just good to be able to get away and reflect and especially prepare for the New Year that's why we started doing this some years ago and it's turned out to be a wonderful experience for all of a soul on the 29th of December we're leading a cruise to the Caribbean leaving out of Fort Lauderdale and it's going to be a wonderful time with a lot of wonderful friends and we're going to spend New Year's Eve together we're going to reflect on the year that's past and get ready for the year that's coming and put Jesus Christ 1st in our lives every day and study the Word of God and praise Him and worship Him Have a wonderful party on New Year's Eve and then we want to invite you to come find out more about it at our website which is David your mind dot org There you can get all the details and we'll look forward to seeing you in December well let's finish out this week together is we put a period at the end of chapter one in Philippians and continue our discussion of the joy of integrity. I have to say to you today congregation that the Christian life was never meant to be lived alone so we're all here together to testify that. We're here together because the Lord Jesus gave us the church his great gift to the Body of Christ Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is says the book of Hebrews but within the church there's even greater together this when Paul instructed these believers to strive together he used a Greek word from which we get our word athlete this is a special unity of striving together struggling side by side like athletes against a common opponent you will see an illustration when you turn on your television and watch the n.f.l. . These athletes don't go out there by themselves some are selfish it usually gets demonstrated but they're a team. They block for each other they help each other tackle. They fend off the old pony. And if somebody attacks one of them they are all attacked that's why you have these melees in the middle of the field on occasion. Paul said as Christians were to stand together work to strive together that our strength as be leavers is not in who we are individually but it who we are collectively. I was an English major in college. We had to read a lot of things that I would not have chosen to read where I had not been an English major in college. But here's something that was written by English poet a novelist Rudyard Kipling penned a verse that visualizes what I'm saying here's what he wrote Now this is the law of the jungle as old and as true as the sky and the Wolf that shall keep it may prosper and the Wolf that shall break it must die as the creeper that gurgles the tree trunk the long run a forward and back for the strength of the pack is the wolf and the strength of the wolf is the pack. When it comes to standing for the faith of the gospel truth in times of pressure the law of the jungle is in force the strength of the church is the Christian and the strength of the Christian is the church listen to the profundity of this verse 2 are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor for if they fall one will lift up his companion but whoa to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up. Again if to lie down together they will keep warm but how can one be warm alone. Though 1 May be overpowered by another 2 can withstand him. And a 3 fold cord is not quickly broken. Solomon in his wisdom said there's strength in numbers we don't face the harassment of the church by ourselves we may face it by ourselves for a few hours during the week but the fact that there is more toleration for everything in our culture today than for Christianity is not something we have to deal with by or selves we deal with that as a church we come together and we find consolation in one another we find courage in one another and we discover in our personal conversations we're not the only ones who face this. And so we are strengthen to be strong in our faith. When we're trying to prove the integrity of our lives it takes conduct that is worthy of the gospel of Christ it takes consistency so that whatever situation we may be in we're the same it takes cooperation we don't do this by ourselves we strive together for the Gospel and finally it takes courage. I must say to you I should. Tell you to go home and read these verses and not comment on them they're written about persecution I know very little about that I've been harassed. I've been treated badly. But I've never spent any time in prison for my faith I've never been arrested for my faith. I was scared to death one time in Honduras that I wouldn't get out of the country because there was a lot of problems there at that time so I don't really have any platform upon which to stand in tell you ladies and gentlemen here's how you deal with persecution let me tell you I know all about it I don't know anything about it all I know is what Paul tells me so my role here is not just to give you my personal testimony about persecution but to tell you what Paul who did know something about it you remember what we learned about Paul everywhere he went he had 2 stops in every city to synagogue in the prison he visited all of them regularly. And here's what he tells us and we may not need this for right now. But surely we will need it. He says in not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them a proof of perdition but to you of salvation and that from God for to you it has been granted one behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for His sake having the same conflict which you saw in me and now here is in me Paul knew from experience that there would be many occasions for his brothers and sisters in Philip to demonstrate strength beyond what they personally possessed so he closes this section of his letter by exhorting the Christians to face their opponents with courage he provided guidelines to help them accurately identify those times of harassment and draw strength from each other and from Christ he begins by asking them to have courage to encounter persecution. And not in any way terrified by your adversaries That's an interesting phrase you know the word terrified is only use one time in the New Testament and it's right here this word and it's a word that is used of horses that are spooked into an uncontrollable stampede Paul is saying to the believers don't get spooked by those who come after you don't get blown off course it's a word that describes an inward fear caused by an outward stimulus. It's very appropriate for this little group of believers living in fill up by. The courage in the face of opposition is a double edged sword Paul says it's the evidence of the believer salvation what does he mean by that the Bible says for those who are godly in Christ Jesus what does this say about us we shall suffer persecution so when we suffer persecution and we are around complaining about it we're complaining about the badge of our salvation let me tell you something if you're not living for Christ they are not going to bother you they probably think you're one of them. But if you live for Christ if you walk with the Lord if you're different if you're not trying to be like everybody else if what you believe is being translated into how you behave somebody is going to come after you and when they do the Bible says that is an evidence of your salvation that you have been thought were envy of harassment by those who do not know Jesus Christ while. And Paul knew what he was talking about and you know historically this letter was written somewhere between 8060 and 63. And it was a time when the pressure of the Roman Empire was intense Nero was in charge and it was in July of $8064.00 that he surpassed himself in cruelty and ordered his servants to set fire to the city of Rome. And one of the few eyewitness historians of that day a man by the name of Tacitus said consequently to get rid of the report that he had ordered the fire Nero fastened to guilt and inflicted the most exquisite tortures on a class hated for their abominations people called Christians by the populace Christus from whom the name had its origin suffered be extreme penalty during the reign of Tiberius at the hands of one of our curators punches a pilot. So what happened after Nero in a angry moment burned down his city he blamed the Christians for it and began to persecute them as enemies of Rome I haven't the courage to tell you some of the things he did but here's a couple of illustrations he would take the Christians and put clothing on them that was the bare skin of animals with the smell of the animals on it and then throw them into the coliseum where the lions would just decimate them. On one occasion he took some of the Christians and covered them with pitch and stationed them around the coliseum and lit them on fire as Human Torches. This was what was coming down the road for some of the Philippians when Paul wrote this letter. I read recently that one of the greatest and most serious deficit's of Christian preaching today is that we refuse to get our people ready to suffer. And so when suffering comes the people of God have no clue what to do they respond to it just like everybody else but we have something different going on in our behalf we have the Word of God we have God's encouragement to us that it may be suffering for now but it's glory forever. And not be blown away by the difficult things that happen and it's easy for that to happen isn't it interesting as we look back over shoulders to realize how many times as we see the hole to tally may have been we have been blown off course by things that should not have moved us but they did. Paul regarded suffering for Christ as a privilege and fact. In these verses that we've been reading he talks about it coming as a gift from God. He says the blessing is in suffering for him there's no blessing in just suffering and being in pain that's not the issue the issue is if we're doing it because of him if we're doing it in his behalf if we're doing it because we've been accused of being who we are men and women who are followers of Christ there is a blessing in that in fact isn't that what Jesus said in his Beatitudes he said Blessitt are you when they were vile and persecute you. And when they say all kinds of evil against you. Rejoice and be exceeding glad for great is your reward in heaven for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. Don and I have been to Europe maybe 3 times over our travels and one of our favorite cities in Europe is Prague we've been there 3 times. It is the most european city you will ever see it's built around a circle in the center of the city is this you Munger circle people travel over there on these segues segues everywhere they try to get me to ride when my wife said no no no. I walked around the circle. All of a sudden we're walking around the circle and we see this statue and this is a Catholic city it's totally Catholic big cathedrals everywhere and the statue is a John Huss and my 1st thought is What do you do on hair. What is John Haas doing in Prague John Huss was one of the great reformers he was one of the great leaders that brought reformation to the church 2 weeks before he was martyred for his faith he wrote these words from his prison cell I am greatly consoled by that saying of Christ bless it are you when men shall hate you it bids us rejoice in these tribulations it is easy to read it aloud to expound it it's difficult to live it. And then he wrote almost holy Christ give me a fearless heart a right faith a firm hope a perfect love that for I say I may lay down my life with patience and joy Amen and he did. And now in this rather pagan city in Europe here's a statue of John Haas the great reformer who suffered for his faith. And those of us who are real about life know that that's a part of who we are whether it happens to be to the level of harassment or not we're born with trouble from the shedding of blood that initiate birth to the last gasp of astonishment in the face of death we are encircled by suffering. The Biography of a human being says Anthony bent over is a history of anguish the way we react to the suffering of life matters more in creative and human terms than the suffering itself we become the people we are through the disadvantages and conflicts we prefer to more comfortable alternatives in other words he said we all have this potential and desire to push suffering and pain away from us as far as we can get it not today Lord not this week and for whatever it's worth not ever. But it is through those moments that we learn the most important lessons of life it's when we suffer and we discover that God is enough that we have great faith in the Lord if we did not have those troubles if we did not have some suffering how would we ever know that the Lord Jesus Christ is sufficient for every need we know he sufficient for the good times but ladies and gentlemen I'm here to tell you he said fishing for all times and no matter what we face and what we're going through he is enough. And that's why Paul urges the Philippians not to be terrorized when things happen and they're about to discover that the god about whom he has taught them will be enough. On several occasions over the years of my life I've had the privilege of talking with a man by the name of Joseph saw on. Joseph was the pastor of the largest Baptist Church in Romania during the days when the communists ruled this country back in 1903 he published a document to describe how the Communist government had obstructed religious freedom in his land and as a result of his brave disclosure he was singled out for persecution and harassment and on one occasion they threatened him with torture and death and he wrote a courageous response I love this paragraph. Your Supreme weapon is killing. My supreme weapon is dying Here's how it works you know that my sermons on tape have spread all over the country if you kill me these sermons will be sprinkled with my blood everyone will know I died for my preaching so my sermons will speak 10 times louder than before I will actually rejoice in the supreme victory if you kill me. Come on. Now you say did he really feel that way. I simply did because he was that kind of a person. Courage to encounter persecution endure pain finally to emulate Paul. Paul saying if you're still having trouble with this and you still don't know how this works and you still don't know how to make this happen in your life Listen just watch me. He said having the same conflict what you saw in me and now here is in me worst Paul he's in prison read actually there's 2 passages in the scripture that describe everything Paul went through I mean this guy suffered every kind of pain you can imagine he talks about how many times he was whipped how many times he was shipwrecked how many times when they tried to kill him by stoning him they tried to throw him off a leg did everything they could to destroy this man and he just kept continuing to be the person God called him to be. So he said if you don't really still get this. Let me be an example for you just do what I've done stand strong. I'm not ready to say that to you all as I said to you at the beginning I don't know a lot about this I know a little bit about cancer I know a little bit about some. Organization turmoil. Had more than one or 2 crises in my extended family. But when you put me up against Paul I'm not in the same universe so I'm glad that he's told me what to say today because I wouldn't know what to say if he hadn't told me what to say he's been there and done it and I accept it as the path forward. Let's face it men and women it's often very difficult for us to maintain a positive attitude when adversity and pressures prevail Paul wanted the trying circumstances that would come to the Philippians to spur them on to greater victory and joy we have every reason to believe that that actually happened. And as we look back over history isn't it true that some of the world's greatest men and women are those who have been saddled with disabilities and adversities but they show us through their lives that it's possible to overcome these diversities and go on to greatness they teach us that circumstances don't make us what we are they reveal what we are. Crippled him and you have served Walter Scott. Lock him in a prison cell and you have John Bunyan. Bury him in the snows a Valley Forge and you have George Washington raise him in abject poverty and you have Abraham Lincoln subject him to bitter religious prejudice and you have Benjamin Disraeli strike him down with infant tiled paralysis and he becomes Franklin Delano Roosevelt burn him so severely in a schoolhouse fire that the doctors say he will never walk again and you have Glenn Cunningham who set a world record in 1934 for running a mile in 4 minutes and 6 seconds deaf and a genius composer and you have Ludwig van Beethoven have him or her born black in a society filled with racial discrimination and you have Booker t. Washington Harriet Tubman Marian Anderson or George Washington Carver. Make him the 1st child to survive in a poor at talian family of 18 children and you have Enrico Caruso has him born of parents who survived a Nazi concentration camp paralyzed him from the waist down when he was 4 and you have an income parable concert violinist Perlman. Call him a slow learner retarded write him off as an edge a couple and you end up with Albert Einstein. I'm reminded. That. Persecution is not always. Bad harassment is not always for our destruction. Sometimes the problems we face are simply God's way of burning the dross all of our lives so that the gold rise to the top and we become the people he created us to be. So here's a tutorial for all of us when we're having a bad day things. Here's what to do according to Paul. You know I love this section of scripture and there's another passage similar to it in the book of James that just deals with the fact that sometimes adversity is not to be feared or to be pushed away sometimes it's to be embraced because God is up to something in teaching us some lessons we can learn in any other way I remember years ago hearing Chuck Swindoll say that before God could ever greatly use a person he had to crush him and I used to think Lord I'd like to be the exception to that rule but I don't think they're probably any exceptions God uses the difficult things to teach us important lessons well we're going to take a break for the weekend and come back on Monday with the joy of unity and Philippians 21 through 11 is the most famous passage in the book of Philippians it's the chapter the section of Chapter 2 that deals with the incarnation of Christ sometimes thought to be a Christmas passage but it talks about the self emptying of the Lord Jesus Christ to being in the form of God thought it not robbery be equal with God but made himself a no reputation and all the lessons we learn from that about service and and the Bible says in connection with that passage Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus in other words take what you learn from watching what Jesus did and put it to work in your own life we'll talk about it on Monday in the meantime have a great weekend be sure to get to church be sure. Force on television in your community if we happen to beyond during church time don't stay home and watch just Oh this is David Jeremiah was turning point meet me here study the Bible together and find help and encouragement to navigate the road of life with all of its twists and turning point to mornings at 730 on the mighty 670 k. L.t. God's word world wide it's 670 Kayleigh t.t. Dot com and all over Colorado in digital age d am 670. E.-Commerce City Denver has your radio signal started to vanish when evening rolls around if you are in the outer rim of our huge coverage area don't panic you can hear our broadcast on line from anywhere in the world simply log on to 670 k l t t v dot com and click listen live at the top of the page. You have body mind and soul searching am 67 fail t.t. Fail t z h d commerce it again and now f.m. 95. And streaming worldwide at 670 k l t t dot com. Welcome to home for today the Bible teaching ministry of David Hawking is here you get the Bible the whole Bible and nothing but the Bible we're bringing to us special edition of hope for today David is joined by special guest Olivier Mullick tell you about an exciting event that is kicking off tomorrow afternoon at Abbotsford Canada. Well France in July 11th one day before our annual prophecy conference in Canada July 12th and 13th at the beautiful old Columbia Bible college in Abbotsford British Columbia we will be at Columbia a place I'm looking forward to it it's at $2940.00 Clearbrook Grodin in Abbotsford British Columbia photo all of our Canadian friends and quite a few people from the Pacific Northwest love to come the thieved this year is the Messiah and the bless and hope. We have 4 speakers including myself and also Barry stagger from Calvary Chapel testin Don Perkins from San Diego California and our good friend a levy a male mc my only French Jewish friend how about that one hey Olivier are you on the phone yet yes I'm on the phone I'm really excited about becoming conference boy are we ever the theme of assiah and the blessid hope we have Titus 213 looking for that blessid hope and the Glorious Appearing of the great God and our Savior usual homage Jesus Christ that's a great verse. Well alleviate let me talk to you a little bit about you. You've been to one of our conferences before fax several And I think it will be my 3rd year in a Canadian Conference prays a lot of older people sure love your teaching and we have had just wonderful responses to your messages about anti-Semitism and boy things are pretty hot about that subject around the world aren't they. Yeah it's not going to slow down if it keeps picking up momentum and it really is what I like about your conferences David is that you really have a good understanding of the place of Israel and got a plan and the importance of fighting the enemies of Israel that's why whenever I come and speak on the topic events images and there's a good response because the people coming to the conference are supporters of Israel they're Christian Zionists and they know the importance of basically reading their by one single line from the Jewish people Amen Well let me ask you a question about you you're married right. Yes I am 6 years that I will be 36 years this October 36 years with that lovely l. And your wife yes sir now she had some real serious surgery this past year a few months ago how she doing. She's recovering thank you for asking just.