In some circumstances tortured beaten and even killed I think it's hard to even think that way in today's world but it's happening it's absolutely no surprise that there is a startling rise in persecution toward the church around the world some of you may remember the story of a pastor who was unfairly detained in Turkey in 2016 praise God when not long ago he was able to return to the United States after 2 years in captivity our guest today is that faithful servant and his wife. Who have gone through those harrowing events to remain committed to sharing the gospel of Christ his name pastor Andrew Bronson his wife Norene pastor Bronson is the founder of its more Resurrection Church in Turkey where he served for 23 years Pastor Bronson's highly anticipated new book coming out this fall God's hostage is married again to his wife Norine who is here they have 3 children thank you both for taking special time to join us here on family talking so I think it's just a Bronson Norene I want to go back to just a moment in your life you know there are moments that are really special but you guys had a moment and that moment to me was. When finally someone came in to you and said. What was that like for you actually it was the end of an hour of hell because I was in the courtroom and things to move very quickly towards convicting me which we had not expected at that point and so. We realized that I was going to be convicted the judges were going to pass sentence on me and I didn't know which I would admit what we didn't know exactly how many years in prison they'd give me but it would be certainly sending me back to prison is what I expected this was sudden unexpected or. A lawyer had assured us that. Trials in Turkey often take several years he said we're just not at that point we haven't been able to present a defense or anything like that and so there's no way that they will you know convict you as I did prison today but they moved very quickly they didn't allow us to make a defense to present a defense and so I'm standing before the judge and I hear him saying you know under Bronson is basically guilty of supporting terrorist groups or I start thinking of my going to get to go back to the same cell I was in before in the maximum security prison I was in are they going to put me in a completely new place with new people how is this going to work are going to survive this emotionally spiritually. And then I kind of came back there was someone saying you're free what to what and my lawyer said You you you have been convicted they've given you a sentence but then they've said they will release you with time served while you appeal and they've lifted your travel ban so you can leave the country during what was a like for you actually just to back up a little bit there had been he had been on house arrest and coming up to this 4th trial and I was in prison for quite a while 22 months and then they let me out on house arrest in Turkey in Turkey this was after President term really pushed hard and then they put me on house arrest for they contagion my trial so for the last 2 months 2 and a half months I was under house arrest. Which was a great improvement but was not enough in addition to that to there were people calling for him to be sent back to prison so the day before he went to his last trial he actually had 2 bags packed one just in case you were released and one to go back to prison it was his prison back so that's the tension that we were living with we really did not know what would happen on that day on October the. Morning was going well the one of the major witnesses against him false witnesses the case was crumbling so things were going legally on the legal side and a good direction came back after lunch and as he said all the sudden it's clear they're going to convict him here and now and it's a look very large courtroom it's designed to let's ask really a basketball court I believe designed to convict a number of people trying numbers people same time so I'm way behind him in a room and I just I realize what's going on and I just I thought Lord you have to hold his heart and I can't imagine emotional medium or living in Turkey today and this whole time yes with your children you know the children were in the state so let me say Norene was arrested with me and we were held together for 13 days without any contact with the outside world so that was a scary time for us but after that she was released and I was detained they kept me a number of people recommended that she leave Turkey because there was always a risk that they could arrest her again and put her in prison I can't imagine but she stayed there because she was only person who could visit me get permission to visit me there allowed one visit a week for a short time and shows only person who could come in to visit me so she stayed to support me and so that I want to be alone and this really saved me where she was doing it at personal risk so I say about knowing that she's a lioness she really fought for me I'm going to put in a few things there I was not alone we have a church there we have believers there that surrounded me so I was not alone. My mother in law came for a couple periods and stayed and I think it was just I said Lord I don't want to go against good advice but at last you tell me very clearly I need to stay for a 100 so anyway I was there in the courtroom and this was as we said it was that kind of an hour of hell we're all son he's being convicted. And we just don't know how long by this time they had dropped the charges of they were saying attempt to overthrow the parliament the constitutional order and the government so those carry 3 aggravated life sentences that was no longer in the pictures that's a life sentence in solitary confinement with no parole right 3 of them so they had dropped those at the time when the indictment came out and now we're down to talking about maximum of 35 years kind of like I said in support of terrorism organizations and military espionage it almost makes me want to throw up just listening you hear them say you are a learned man you get a Ph d. From University of Aberdeen and more. Turkey we're talking about high risk missionary work the Middle East war and more how do you want to get called there we were asked by our denomination to go there and so we did we didn't really want to go but after a few years are we really really put it on our hearts and we're so glad we have no regrets even after what we've gone through we have no regrets Turkey is the largest on evangelize country in the world so it's a place where people need to share the gospel and that's what we went for what were you thinking when. It was obvious you guys were going to Turkey yeah I cried on the plate on the way over because I knew I didn't want to go I knew my life was done but really that's just because we were wanting to go to Egypt and out learn Arabic so we had been asked to go to Turkey and this was not in our hearts but it was completely from the Lord and we have no regrets that we tell us about the work that God did while you were there so we wanted to be a teacher that's why I did graduate work and got ready for that but we were thrust into a church plant and then I realized that this is really what God intended us to be therefore we discovered something that we didn't know about ourselves and so we were involved in 5 or 6 different church plants over the years and. Starting a house of prayer and when the war in Syria heated up and especially when ISIS attacked the Kurds and they just came over and mass into Turkey and so we saw this is an opportunity to reach people who had basically been unreachable before was a closed access country Syria and so now they've come into Turkey where we had access to them so we had a team working on the border and also in our own state of Israel which was the jumping off point for a lot of people who wanted to take rafts across their boats over to Greek islands so we were working on both of those areas and trying to reach Syrians and our hope is that is some of them became believers that they would return to Syria and be the foundation for the beginning of churches there the story unfolding to. The imprisonment How did you wind up getting in to sort of that quagmire of being challenged or sentenced for activities that. Made no sense and we obviously understand the tension between say Christianity and Islam and more but what led up to this how did how did it get there I think that when they 1st arrested us. They were planning to be porters and another college want to get you out of the country because they felt like you were a bad seed but there was starting to crackdown and there were a couple of friends of ours who were also involved in refugee work and churches in Turkey who were deported around the same time so they arrested us for deportation but then. They kept me and so I think that at a very high level of Turkish government. Some people decided to make an example of someone and I was the person that was available that they chose intimidation as a factor to intimidate other missionaries have them self deport if they when people find out they can be put in prison maybe some of them will leave to avoid that risk also I think it would be very. Intimidating for the local believers for Turkish pastors to see this happening to a missionary So I think that that was a goal when it started let's make an example of him and then began to change and they decided to see what they could get for me as someone who has coined the phrase houses diplomacy and that's what Turkey started doing the reason for all this is that the Lord has spoken about a spiritual harvest coming to Turkey and we've been making preparations that's what I want to ask you about you know as a church really all the church in Turkey what and why are there significance of missionaries in the Middle East for example so in 2009 the Lord spoke to Andrew and said prepare for harvest we didn't expect it to be coming so soon we of course we don't know when it's coming but we thought Ok decades of sewing and maybe our children and grandchildren will see a harvest in Turkey because it takes a lot of sewing. But we immediately started to work in a different way and to really seek the Lord for what steps we should take as how should we prepare for harvest then when the arrest came it seemed like all of this was brought to a halt. As the prayer movement gathered and spread and increased and persisted we realized this was serving the assignment to prepare for harvest in Turkey never had turkey been so prayed for never had believers around the world focused in I'm now Tony Perkins reach out to me from Family Research Council and say Tim you need to see what's happening over here with Pastor Bronson Yes I think that the reason why it extended so long is that we think of God as a grand master chess player and he was using these events to pour all of this power under Turkey so I was I became a magnet for prayer so this was part of the his plan to transform that country so it's a wave of her took me out of Turkey by a tsunami of Perth crashed into Turkey and it's going to bring a harvest so it really wasn't about us we were in the middle of it but it really wasn't about us and so for those who prayed and we want to really thank everybody who prayed I think they will see that actually Gotch word was accomplished because it's going to something much bigger going on that you know thing. 2 years away from your family. Imprisoned confused you're a man I know you're called Man you're called family but you're a man I read a little bit about some of the emotional journey for you there was even a time when you were thinking of ending your life or whatever battling with suicidal thoughts and more and there's no doubt in my mind Nori knew that she probably could see it in your eyes when she came to visit you take us there I mean what was happening trauma you know if I had known that it would be 2 years then it would be difficult but then I'd have something to aim for and hold on and you know there's no over 2 years yeah so the difficulty is that I didn't know that until the day I actually got out and so I was looking at possible life and. Prison when people are and difficult times and a very dark time of the soul you could say they don't know when it's going to and and or if it will end or how it will end so there were a number of pressures on me 1st of all the levels spiritual warfare because of what God intended to accomplish with this was pretty high and I was also in solitary confinement for a time that was very difficult then I was. Still built for 8 people but there were over 20 of us and they were all very very strong Muslims and so I was isolated by my culture by my life experience and by language but especially by my faith so I didn't have someone to encourage me or to pray with and so I was left with all the questions and doubts I had talking to myself or talking to God but not hearing back from him so I really despaired and I thought at times I thought I was losing my mind and at other times I thought I don't know how I can endure this way I'm very confused I have a lot of questions and no I don't have anyone to ask them I wondered is it better Jesus said this is a very wrong way of thinking which Jesus said you know if you if your eye is leading your descend then take it out better to go into heaven with one just one eye than to go into Hell so I was thinking wouldn't it be better for me to end my life rather than think of possibly will going insane or losing my faith or falling off in some way because of the tremendous pressure I'm under and the environment that I'm in which was which was like living in a mosque and it was a very wrong way of thinking but it made sense to me and the desperation to say how did you get through no prayer is really a centerpiece year you also wrote a song I think you wrote these words God is worthy of my all speak Tellus so. I was transferred to a. Maximum Security Prison at a very low point where I had been suicidal and I read about somebody said There you go into a valley of testing and we assume that will come out of it eventually and Tory is but there are a lot of skeletons a lot of dry bones in the belly testing and this is believers who have not passed or tested failed in their test and I started this really hit me so I think Lord I don't want to be one of those I don't want to fail in the tests that you put before me and end up. It's not a matter of losing salvation but a matter of losing the inheritance the plans you have for me the things you plan to accomplish through me when I was transferred to the new prison with this in mind I started to be very proactive in taking steps to cooperate with grace I did not feel Grace it was an unfilled grace and this is one of the things I had expected. If I'm suffering for the Lord then I'm going to have a sense of his presence I'm going to have a sense of overwhelming grace of joy and I don't have that but I realize I need to take steps to cooperate with this grace and with this song for example I had just been called into court session where I was told that basically I had 3 aggravated life sentences life in solitary confinement without parole that is what they wanted for me and this really knocked me down. I had been focusing myself on God making that decision I'm going to every day just focus myself on God and to hold on to him and this knocked me out but then I got up but I need to run after God I need to grab on tonight. If I lose my spiritual life if I lose my relationship with God I have lost everything and this is when I wrote the song so it was just coming from my heart and I'm thinking of the grief the thought of being separated from my wife for the rest of my life of not seeing my children again and what came out as. If you're worthy of this you're worthy of my all you are worthy worthy of my all my tears and pain I left as an offering teach me to share in the fellowship of your suffering. Of God you're worthy of my oh that's heart there's another verse is this I want to be found worthy to stand before you on that day with no regrets from cowardice things left undone and this is what began to drive me I thought Sunday I'm going to stand before Jesus. And I don't want to stand before him with regrets when he says Andrew this is what I wanted to do through you these are the assignments I have for you and you walked away from them because you were afraid and I began to focus and on living for the day when I will stand before Jesus and saying Lord if this is your assignment for me stay being in prison is your assignment that you have for me then I want to it's hard for me to embrace it I don't want to be in prison but I want to be willing to serve you know in this way and and to accept that assignment so this is what I start to do every day is fight towards the point where fighting the clock we're down to just a couple of minutes left I know you have a brand new book entitled God's hostage a true story of persecution imprisonment and perseverance there's a message in there a couple of key messages one religious persecution is at an all time high this is serious and we need to get this word out to Christians believers all around the world to pray for families who are serving for individuals who just want to stand for Christ and who are going through horrific horrific situations conditions hurt pain and more and they need a message of hope they need encouragement What do you say to Christians listening all over our country right now to the broadcast what do you want them to know about him. About this battle that's going on one verse that became my theme verse in prison was Isaiah 5010 and basically God is saying to Israel who he's put into exile he says when you're in darkness walk in darkness and trust in the name of your god and lean on him and he's the one who allowed them to be in that darkness in his own who could rescue them but he didn't he left them in that time of darkness and said lain on me lean on me and so this is what I had to do I didn't feel Grace I didn't. Sense God's presence and I had to learn to stand in the dark to walk in the dark and to be able to keep our hearts unoffended in the process of all this you know lean on him if you have to keep an unoffended heart towards him and that's really difficult you know as we go I still remember the you being in the Oval Office with the president. And there was a time of prayer and there and there were tears and moments it was a special moment I think in our culture especially in this time our prayers that God would continue to raise you up and use this in a legendary way to exalt Christ and by the way to encourage people that no matter where we're at what we're going through. Is our refuge and our strength he's a present help during times of trouble therefore we won't feel here though the earth be removed in the mountains be cast into the depths of the sea he's in the midst of it all therefore we can be still in verse 10 and know that he is God and that he will be exalted thank you for joining us know of our prayers and love. Encouragement toward to you. Well what a powerful broadcast we have heard today here on family talk I'm Roger Marsh and you've been listening to Dr Tim Clinton's conversation with Pastor Andrew Bronson and his wife Norene our hope through this interview is that you would hear the reality of persecution of Christians worldwide many Christians around the world live in constant fear because of the hostile societies that surround them you can join us in praying for persecuted believers and and also you can learn more about what you can do to help by visiting our broadcast page at Dr James Dobson dot org Now while you're there you'll find information about Pastor Andrew Bronson and his recently released book called God's hostage That's Dr James Dobson dot org Thank click onto today's broadcast page keeping with the theme of today's broadcast make sure you also get a copy of Dr Dobson supposed recent newsletter every month Dr Dobson pens his personal thoughts on issues facing believers here in the month of October he dedicated his letter to the State of the persecuted church it's. A sobering an eye opening letter that we want you to have and we want to give it to you without any further financial obligation so simply call us at 877-732-6825 extension 8 member of our team will be happy to get your information and mail you this publication again the toll free number is 877-732-6825 Well that's all the time we have for this week be sure to join us again on Monday to hear an impactful message from Pastor Greg Laurie he's one of our more frequent guests so you know he has something good to share Be sure to join us again Monday and all of next week right here on Dr James Dobson's family time. This has been a presentation of the Dr James Dobson Family Institute. The preceding program is sponsored by family tuck this is k l t t Commerce City Denver broadcasting in h.d. Digital radio and online at 670 k l t t v dot com. Hi this is Richard Robinson. Is Halloween just a fun day for kids to wear costumes and feel candy sacks join us on holy ground this Sunday at 9 am for what Halloween so a Prius right here on the mighty 67. For our contest terms and rules go to the k.l. T.t. Website 670 calle t. Teeth dot com. Thanks for listening this is the public square from the American Policy Roundtable with days a not a day let's talk about Christmas in America this year 1783 is the choice and that's that's the year we're doing Christmas in America this year and it has to do with the life and story of George and Martha Washington and the theme is home for Christmas now people go Ok. I don't get it. And we've had program directors and station manager saying Ok how you can pull this off a live radio variety show from 783 Well we actually went to the very front porch the George Washington walked across than $783.00 in Mount Vernon and did some filming there as well and some interviews it's going to be an exciting interactive production if you can come and join us either in Franklin Tennessee or Cleveland Ohio or in Peoria Illinois this year 3 shows you're much welcome we love to see you there and if you can't you want to be listening to the public square Radio Network and visiting us at the public square dot com If for no other reason than figure out how we pull this one off but I can tell you Wayne it we're going to be dealing with music from the period music that actually takes us back to songs that would have been familiar and $783.00 and then taking a few songs from our era and bringing them back and applying them to $783.00 and is always we've got some brand new music coming up out of the era that we have from our wonderful producers and writers. Chris Eaton and John Hartley They're joining us as well so this is going to be a wonderful musical presentation and a great story to tell of George Washington working his way to get home for Christmas in 783 looking forward to the music and the lessons from history we learned Christmas in America look for information at the public square dot com. From the Bible. And keep His commandments. $1213.00 the Bible speaks and $670.00 k.l. To a cross for broadcasting God and country station. The more you study the Bible and grow in your face the more you know God is faithful to keep his promises he will see it again today on turning point as Dr David Jeremiah continues his series in 2nd Peter chapter one a passage that begins with a promise continues with specific steps and ends with the rewards for completing the steps listen as David introduces his message the blessing Well I almost wanted to preach this message at 1st to be honest because this message that we're going to share today and again on Monday is what Peter says will happen to us if we do what he instructs us to do in the earlier part of the passage in fact he says if you do these things that's right in the scripture and the word these things is found in these verses over and over again and these things are the things you and I have been talking about every day and turning point Peter says if you do these things 7 blessings will be yours we're going to start working our way through those blessings today and we'll finish up on Monday and then Tuesday of next week. We're going to play again the interview with which we began this series when I sat down with Sheila Walsh and we talked about what was in the book and if you missed that you don't want to miss this one and even if you heard the 1st one it will be a good review of the series for you so don't miss the program next Tuesday. We have so much going on even at the end of this year and as we move into the month of November and head toward the end of the year I want to just remind you again that on the 12th of December Donna and I in our family and all of our turning point team will be in New York City at the Beacon Theater that's the 12th of December and that's Thursday night and will have with us special guests Jordan Smith comedian John Crist our younger listeners will will love him she will Walsh will be there the voices of Lee and Michael Sanchez a big band in the house and a wonderful night of celebrating Christmas in New York City you know Don and I go to New York City as often as we can during this time of the year because there's just something special about being in New York City at Christmas time and we'd love to make that possible for you to come and join us in the theater that night it's a ticket event and you can get tickets at David Jeremiah dot org slash n.y.c. And we hope you'll come and be with us don't wait until the last minute because this is not a huge theater it's not like our arenas where we go during the rest of the year and in fact this theater has just a few more than 2000 seats and they'll be gone very quickly so get your tickets and plan to be with us in New York City make something special out of this maybe you and your wife can come and just enjoy a special special time in New York City at Christmas Well here we go this is the 1st part of this wonderful message called the blessing these. Of the things God has promised to those who will follow the plan Peter has given to us in these early verses. We're about to dig into some of the richest verses in the Bible verses that have lifted me up and kept me going during the most challenging times that I have lived if you listen carefully and ask God to help you receive it God will help you experience the same thing that I have. So as we continue reading the last teachings of this imprisoned but impassioned apostle we're about to encounter 7 incredible blessings 2 of them are in the future but 5 of them are available to us right now here's the message in a nutshell God has given you everything you need so that he can bless you in every imaginable way. The 2nd Peter chapter one verse is 8 through 11 read as follows 4 if these things are yours and abound you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ for He who lacks these things is short sighted even the blindness and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Therefore brother and be even more diligent to make your call an election sure for if you do these things you will never stumble for soul and entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Of the 7 blessings here is blessing number one godly maturity. The 1st blessing is this surge of godly maturity that accompanies your developing these virtues after Peter listed his 8 great qualities for us to study and learn he says this for if these things are yours and abound. Peter wanted the early Christians to do more than just have faith he wanted them to devote themselves to growing deeper and wider and richer in their faith and God wants the same for you and for me and some of Peter's final recorded words were that if we will do this we will grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ 2nd Peter 318. At times in Jesus' life Peter seemed like the most immature disciple. But by the end of Peter's life he had profound spiritual maturity and he was ready to disclose the secret of how he got that way and that's what we've been studying it was Jesus and the process that was unleashed in his life since their very 1st encounter Now Peter is saying that if we do these things and he said if these things are yours and they abound What then is he talking about the 8 things we've been talking about I told you earlier that these things that little phrase is in this text by times within about 3 verses Peter says listen me if these things that we've been talking about are yours and you're growing in them you abound in them. He says you will have reached a level of adulthood spiritually that is unlike most of the people you know. Peter is saying that these things can belong to you they can a bound in you you can take possession of them better yet they can take possession of you they can become integrated into your personality like veins of gold in granite you can have a rock like maturity you can have these things and these things can abound in you that's one of the great blessings of this passage this isn't just a curriculum that we study so that we can go on to the next thing this is a curriculum that we study that will change our lives and if we're serious about it Peter says this if these things are yours and they abound in other words if you're not just learning but you're continued to learn you will be growing to a level of maturity that you may never have dreamed was possible for you. And that's what will happen with you if you take seriously what we've been talking about and if you add to your faith virtue into your virtue knowledge etc etc The Bible says if you do these things if these things are yours and there are bound ing in you you will get a confidence about your life that's really special. You can have a lot of confidence if you're just floundering around kind of floating around with everything but if you see growth in your life that is so special when we see that we're growing it is such an encouraging thing to us and such an assuring thing to us this is where I was last year this is where I am now I didn't get there by myself Almighty God at work in my life Amen. Here's a 2nd blessing blessing number one is godly maturity blessing Number 2 is growing productivity. Here again in 2nd Peter what we read for if you possess these qualities in increasing measure they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive. Peter put that in the negative I've restated in the positive in essence he's saying if you possess these qualities and you are growing in them you will be increasingly effective and productive in whatever you do for Jesus Christ all of you have your stories of things where you've been involved in serving Jesus and we don't want to just go serve and we want to be effective in our service for him but when you're growing you become a more useful tool in the hands of the Lord if you are sharpening your life with the discipleship principles we've been learning little by little god will trust you with a greater influence and greater opportunity and you will have greater joy as you serve him Rodney Smith Jr came from Bermuda to Alabama for schooling he was having a hard time deciding what he was going to do with his life he said I prayed that God would use me as his vessel and one day he was driving down the street and he saw an elderly man struggling to cut his grass. So Rodney stopped and he helped him finish the job. When I was driving away I was amazed at how good that felt. And truly I believe God was speaking to me so as I was finishing up my computer science degree I would find widows in better inns and disabled or elderly people that needed their grass cut and I'd just go cut it for me. For free I couldn't believe how touched them so many of these people had lost a lot of joy in their lives more than cutting their lawn I'd spent time listening to their stories and so it was not just about taking care of their yard it was showing them that they matter and that God cares about them and that they matter to God. Ronnie started recruiting kids from the city and encouraging them to take care of yards raking leaves in the fall shoveling snow in the winter he gave t. Shirts to any teen who would take care of 10 lawns and if they did 50 lawns he gave them a free lawn more. Rodney's unique ministry provides lawn care loving fellowship to single moms to elderly people to disabled vets and many others and takes young men off the street and mentors and trains them and teaches them the power of giving themselves to a cause today he has this ministry called Raising men long care service. To God. He's got 300 young boys and girls working throughout the United States he travels all over America cutting lawns and giving talks about how God can use us to serve others and I like to tell that story because it illustrates this principle spiritual growth is the father of spiritual productivity. That's what Peter promises the New Living Translation of 2nd Peter 18 puts this principle in plain and simple language the more you grow like this the more productive and useful you will be. Some 9214 says they shall bear fruit in old age and they should be fresh and flourishing once you start this pattern of asking God to help you grow in your knowledge of who he is through the scripture in the principles we've been studying Once you determine that these things are going to be important in your life once you start to grow get ready because God is going to put you to work in ever more effective ways and more exciting places he will use you in a way you probably can't even imagine now that he would do a blessing one is a Godly maturity blessing 2 is a growing productivity Here's a blessing number 3 greater clarity the 3rd blessing comes with the development of these virtues is in verse 9 he says for he who lacks these things so if you don't do these things Peter says you will be short sighted even the blindness. Short sighted people have trouble figuring out how to live in a know what to say they don't know how to act what values they should have and what opinions they should express short sighted people are blinded by the devil they're blind to spiritual truth they need to function properly. Have you ever been fitted for glasses I look around and see that many of you have. All the last time I visited the optometrist I sat down in this chair in a dark room and he pulled around a large device that looked like a complicated set of interlocking binoculars and he placed my chin on the pad and I looked through the lens and everything was blurred as he turned a wheel I heard a click is that better or worse. I heard another click is that better or worse than click by click things became clearer and clearer until I could read all the letters whatever line I was supposed to be reading on based on that gradual process he wrote down the prescription and I have lenses in my eyes because of that. Listen to me these 8 qualities Peter lists are like those lenses click by click the great optometrist clarifies your vision as you mature in his prescribed qualities bit by bit you're better able to read the handwriting of his Will you're able to see the letters of his Grace you're able to discern the time know how to act little by little click by click as you learn these virtues God put you in a place where you're able to see things like you never saw them before it's called discernment how many of you know discernments one of the great gifts that we need today because as I mentioned earlier we don't have many precedence left discernment or Wisdom is knowing what to do when you've never heard of it ever being done before you don't have anything to look back and say oh this is know so many things that were having happened to us today we have never seen happen before and when you walk with God in you develop these qualities in your life he gives you this clarity this vision so that you can see things through his perspective. I fall in love with the word clarity I love that word. It means seeing things as they are. Not like you wish they were. It means seeing things by faith and understanding that God is working all things for his good and the Bible has a lot to say about that that you may not remember the psalmist said Lord open my eyes that I may see wondrous things from your law turn away my eyes from looking at worthless things and revive me in your way. Again this was the Lord's doing it is marvelous in our eyes when we get our vision. Clear we're no longer short sighted that's what the scriptures as what does that mean you know what it means to be short sighted it means all you see is what's happening around you what's happening now you lose sight of the future how many of you know that if you're going to be really effective as a Christian you not only have to know what's going on in the future but you've got to see forward you've got to see what God is doing where he's taking this and where we're all going you've got to be willing to look ahead and know that God has a plan for your life but most of that plan isn't about what's down here God has a plan that takes you beyond that to heaven so here's what I think Peter means when he says that if we don't develop these qualities in our life we end up being short sided we lose interest in anything beyond what affects us in the here and now one of the things I've watched as a young pastor to where I am today is very difficult for people today to get very interested in what God is doing in the future. As you know I preach on prophecy a lot. A lot of times people tell me that they don't know why I preach on prophecy because it doesn't seem to be very relevant to them but if you study the Bible carefully you know that God has constructed his world in such a way that he wants us to see eternity but he wants us to live now if we don't see turn to the we won't live right if all we have is what we have here West not very much fun it is a pretty miserable way to live life if this is it if all we have now we should go out and just you know whatever you have to do to get happy good api what the Bible says there's a lot more to life than that in fact here in the 2nd Peter chapter 3 Peter talks about looking for the coming of the day of God looking for the new heavens and the New Earth looking forward to the things of the future that's what it means not to be short sighted friends don't just look at what's happening here ask God to give you a vision of war we're going and what's going to happen in the future and one of the reasons I preach on prophecy is because the 4th of the Bible is prophetic did you know that if I don't preach on prophecy I just take a knife and cut a quarter of a Bible out and throw it away a lot of guys have done that but every time I preach on prophecy I realize that when God tells me something about the future he also gives me a clue as to how that works in the present. You remember the passage in John 14 that goes like this the disciples are upset because Jesus is going to leave them and go back to heaven. And Jesus said Let not your heart be troubled. You believe in God believe also and me in my Father's house are many mansions if it were not so I would have told you I go to prepare a place for you and if I go to prepare a place for you I'll come again to receive you unto myself that where I am there you may be also now the whole last part of what I just quoted is about the future. Jesus said to His disciples. I'm going to heaven and I'm going to make a place ready for you so that when it's time you can come to be where I am. But don't forget he added the instruction to that at the beginning what was the instruction Don't let your heart be troubled they were troubled because they didn't know what the future held they knew Jesus said he was going to have more than what that meant What about the people they loved it had already died and all of that Jesus said don't let your heart be troubled How do you not let your heart be troubled realize that God has a plan for your life that doesn't end at the end of this life right. I mean I can give you those Gratian after illustration you know the passage in Hebrews it says and forsake not the assembling of yourselves together as the manner of some is and then he goes on to say Be sure to get together and so much the more as you see the day approaching what is that but they have Christ when we know that Christ is coming to take us home and there are some things that are going to happen between now and then it should motivate us to go to church and be with other people and so here you have this future thing that's motivating you to do this present thing if you're short sighted you will lose all of the motivation that you need to live the Christian experience I remember reading a story about Ronald Reagan when he was a child he was very near-sighted he didn't know it but neither did anybody else. He saw much of the world like a blur one day when he was 13 years old his father took the family for a Sunday drive through the green countryside around Dixon Illinois he was sitting in the back seat and he noticed his mother Nell had left her eyeglasses on the seat so he picked them up and he put them on. The next instant he said I let out a yelp that almost caused my father to run off the road nobody knew what I was yelling about but I had discovered a world I didn't know existed before until then a tree beside the road looked like a green blob and a billboard was a fuzzy haze suddenly I was able to see branches on trees in leaves on the branches there were words and pictures on the billboards look I shouted pointing to a herd of grazing dairy cows I'd never seen before I was astounded by picking up my mother's glasses I had discovered that I was extremely near-sighted and all of a sudden a new world opened up to me. As you grow in the grace of Jesus Christ of men and women your vision becomes increasingly more clear you see his blessings more quickly you learn to focus your vision on the things you didn't see before for the things that are seen are temporary but the things that are unseen are eternal so blessing number 3 is greater clarity being able to see things better when you're adding these things to your life God gives you a greater perspective on how life works here's number 4 a grateful memory once again here is a positive principle from some negative terms the 2nd Peter 19 says this he who lacks these things is short sighted. Even the blindness now listen to this phrase and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. Peter makes this astounding statement that if we don't give ourselves to growth and development as Christians we run the risk of coming to the place where we don't even remember that we have become Christians our salvation becomes almost not important to us anymore allow me to restate this principle if you grow in the qualities we've studied you will never forget how Christ has forgiven you from your past sins you will keep Calvary in mind always remembering how Jesus rescued you were stored you and blessed you and you will always be excited about your relationship with Jesus Christ Peter is warning us against a complacent satisfied faith instead he wants us to keep the joy and thrill of our salvation fresh in our memory when you are constantly seeking to grow in Christ like character you will never lose the delight of what's happened to you as a Christian a man well we have some more of these blessings to unload for you on Monday and we hope that you'll be with us then by the way this Sunday on the turning point television program I'll be teaching the message on Christ like character from the room in New York City Don't miss it if you can do it I always tell people you can d.v.r. The program make sure you go to church don't use watching us on television as an excuse not to be in church on the Lord's day but with all the wonderful equipment we have these days that's not even necessary just record it when you get a chance later on watch it I'm sure you'll be blessed not only by the message but by the response of the people who joined us there for that teaching series we also want to remind you that we're coming down to the end of the month and so the opportunity for you to. Receive the book Everything You Need as a part of the October resource program is almost finished so don't forget to do this today sit down and write out a letter and a check to the turning point for so much as you can and then simply ask for the The preceding program is sponsored by turning point ministries This is David Jeremiah was turning point meet me here study the Bible together and find help and encourage me to navigate the road of life with all of its twists and turns turning point to mornings at 730 on the mighty 670 k. L.t. You're tuned to am 670 calle t.t. Calmer City Denver. H.d. And streaming worldwide at. 670 Cayle t.t. Dot com The Crawford stand the president of Crawford Broadcasting Company Don Crawford concludes his discussion of one of America's truly great Christian schools of higher standards Liberty University radical liberal critics in Congress have attacked the school for not coming down to so-called post truth standards Jesus said I am the truth and Jesus is the same yesterday today and forever this university great in every way great in every way promotes free speech and free expression all the while respecting and requiring compliance to their code of conduct which of course is Christian based heavily promoting free speech and free expression it does the university continues to invite the broadest range of speakers to address students including Bernie Sanders and President Trump and others with diverse cultural and political points of view good for you President Falwell so many Christians whether in education or otherwise crumble under attack ready to compromise in response becoming apologetic regarding strong Christian values acting as though they were ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ but not Falwell not liberty the man has strong Christian commitment God bless them and backbone there was at one time a subversive movement on the Liberty board of directors to oust Falwell and take over the university and turn from its original purposes and liberalize it as much as possible Falwell sold to the ousting of these heretics good for him and the board of directors became ever more solid in its Christian commitment now and once again Liberty University proudly proclaims itself as a real Christian University. One with an uncompromising dedication to liberal arts excellence and intellectually rigorous and demanding and putting its students on notice that to come to liberty is to commit 1st and foremost to Christian education and to Jesus Christ Thank you Dr Jerry Falwell for that commitment for that uncompromising stand for knowing that the reason why Liberty University has become what it is is that your unswerving allegiance and those of your board of directors is to Jesus Christ and may you and your great university never lose that not ever police. The students once fully educated by Liberty follow the commands of the Lord Go ye Go ye into all the world and go they do into all the world not only preaching the gospel but building successful careers making the world a better place becoming influential and successful in virtually every walk of life proud Americans and proud Christians. Thousands upon thousands of Liberty graduates are among the very best in our society virtually all acknowledge that they are where they are and what they are because of what they got at Liberty University Lynchburg Virginia right place to send your son and daughter coach I think thank you for that Dr Jerry Falwell Jr and may God bless you as you continue this great work for America and for him the views expressed here in the Crawford stand are those of the speaker and John Crawford wants to know what you think about Liberty University under attack by liberals in Congress tell him in your e-mail to stand at Crawford broadcasting dot com And when you want to review what you hear go to our website Crawford broadcasting dot com The Crawfords. And is a public affairs presentation of Crawford Broadcasting Company and the station serving God and country. Whatever makes them good Christians makes them good citizens Daniel Webster your tune am 670 k l t t k l t t h d Commerce City Denver and now at 95 point one and streaming worldwide at 670 k l t t dot com. One of the most mind bending truths in the whole of the Bible is at the center of Christian faith and we don't even realize it but it's awesome and wonderful and it's all in connection with this study that we're looking at right now in Romans Chapter 5 Verse 3 about rejoicing or boasting in tribulation we have to have a solid foundation for rejoicing or congratulating ourselves as the word means in tribulation otherwise we will never be able to handle trouble in a in a faith way in a way that makes sense by faith we'll just think that Paul was just on a high one day and was being hyperbolic and that he really wasn't serious but he indeed is serious and the fact that we can rejoice in tribulation has enormous implications so let's try to explore that today Karlin Coke here and how it happens I appreciate your joining me today this is a broadcast on the good news of the gospel and I encourage you to listen every Monday through Friday at 10 o'clock in the evening or repeated at 4 in the morning on k l t t am 670. That's in the Denver and the Colorado state area and the surrounding states or hear the program any time of the day or night. On your remote device simply download a free app called Sound Cloud for instance or part of being or Spotify or the Apple and Google pod cast and then when you get the key and how it happens with Collin Cooke So we're looking at this verse that says in Chapter 5 of Romans verse 3 Not only that but we also glory in tribulations and the word glory there means boast or congratulate ourselves encroach troubles Well I mean as I say it sounds pie in the sky and almost absurd to make expressions like that and gives Christians one might think false hope but really is Paul serious or not let's remember the context the context is in this chapter of Paul talking about freedom from.
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