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Your Move with Andy Stanley

Andy Stanley - Under The Circumstances (Part 3)

August 9, 2025 | 30:10

Andy Stanley - Under The Circumstances (Part 3)
Your Move with Andy Stanley — to help people make better decisions and live with fewer regrets.
#Jesus #LoveofGod #Trials-HardTimes #PresenceofGod #HandofGod #Faith #TrustGod #Doubt #Unbelief #Believe #Belief

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Your Move with Andy Stanley | Andy Stanley - Under The Circumstances (Part 3) | August 9, 2025
  • ...
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  • Andy stanley: hi, everybody. welcome to "your move" where we
  • 00:00:00.785 --> 00:00:02.020
  • Help you make better decisions and live with fewer regrets.
  • 00:00:02.153 --> 00:00:04.322
  • I'm andy stanley and i'll be your guide.
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  • And today we're going to explore what god is like and who
  • 00:00:05.990 --> 00:00:09.928
  • God likes.
  • 00:00:10.061 --> 00:00:11.296
  • And while i'm no expert, i've read the biographies of someone
  • 00:00:11.396 --> 00:00:13.398
  • Who is, namely jesus of nazareth.
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  • Now, this is amazing.
  • 00:00:15.867 --> 00:00:17.068
  • Jesus came to illustrate and demonstrate what god is like and
  • 00:00:17.168 --> 00:00:20.805
  • Who god likes and as it turns out, he likes you.
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  • And i'll tell you why, right here on "your move."
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  • Stick around.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Andy: today, we're wrapping up our series, three-part series,
  • 00:00:33.118 --> 00:00:35.653
  • "under the circumstances: holding on to god when it
  • 00:00:35.653 --> 00:00:37.956
  • Appears god is no longer holding on to you."
  • 00:00:37.956 --> 00:00:41.926
  • And in this series, we are exploring the question, not
  • 00:00:41.926 --> 00:00:44.796
  • Answering it.
  • 00:00:44.796 --> 00:00:46.164
  • We're exploring the question: what do our circumstances say
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  • About the love of god?
  • 00:00:48.766 --> 00:00:50.135
  • And what do your circumstances say about the presence of god?
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  • What do your circumstances say, if anything, about the existence
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  • Of god?
  • 00:00:56.141 --> 00:00:57.509
  • Because we're all tempted, all of us.
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  • Me included.
  • 00:00:59.077 --> 00:01:00.411
  • We are all tempted to jump to conclusions about god based on
  • 00:01:00.411 --> 00:01:03.381
  • Our circumstances, both positive circumstances and negative, our
  • 00:01:03.381 --> 00:01:07.285
  • Circumstances and the circumstances of other people.
  • 00:01:07.285 --> 00:01:09.954
  • And when things are up and to the right, god's blessing.
  • 00:01:09.954 --> 00:01:13.024
  • When things are up and to the right, i got god all
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  • Figured out.
  • 00:01:15.894 --> 00:01:17.228
  • When things are up and to the right, you know, you know,
  • 00:01:17.228 --> 00:01:18.830
  • God is good.
  • 00:01:18.830 --> 00:01:20.198
  • God is good all the time, right?
  • 00:01:20.198 --> 00:01:21.533
  • When things are down and to the right, where's god?
  • 00:01:21.533 --> 00:01:25.503
  • Is there god?
  • 00:01:25.503 --> 00:01:26.838
  • What am i doing wrong?
  • 00:01:26.838 --> 00:01:28.206
  • Or what did i do wrong to somehow deserve this?
  • 00:01:28.206 --> 00:01:32.877
  • Now, if you have to leave early or tune out early, i hope you
  • 00:01:32.877 --> 00:01:35.980
  • Don't, i just wanna go ahead and give you the bottom line.
  • 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:37.849
  • This is so important.
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  • Circumstances, regardless of how negative they are,
  • 00:01:39.184 --> 00:01:42.787
  • Circumstances, regardless of how extreme they are, circumstances
  • 00:01:42.787 --> 00:01:46.291
  • Do not have to be an off ramp to faith.
  • 00:01:46.291 --> 00:01:49.727
  • Jesus went out of his way to create a scenario to make that
  • 00:01:49.727 --> 00:01:54.232
  • Very point.
  • 00:01:54.232 --> 00:01:55.567
  • If you missed part one of this series, you need to go back and
  • 00:01:55.567 --> 00:01:57.669
  • Watch it.
  • 00:01:57.669 --> 00:01:59.037
  • Jesus went out of his way to create a scenario to prove to us
  • 00:01:59.037 --> 00:02:02.140
  • And to give us an example that the most negative circumstances
  • 00:02:02.140 --> 00:02:05.343
  • Imaginable do not have to be an off ramp to your faith.
  • 00:02:05.343 --> 00:02:08.413
  • And today we're gonna discover that doubt and doubts don't have
  • 00:02:08.413 --> 00:02:13.384
  • To be an off ramp to our faith, either.
  • 00:02:13.384 --> 00:02:16.554
  • Exhibit a: john the baptist.
  • 00:02:16.554 --> 00:02:20.658
  • In fact, john the baptist's story is a reminder that
  • 00:02:20.658 --> 00:02:22.961
  • Actually that doubt and doubts are baked into the story of
  • 00:02:22.961 --> 00:02:27.265
  • Christianity, that if you have doubts, there's nothing wrong
  • 00:02:27.265 --> 00:02:30.768
  • With you.
  • 00:02:30.768 --> 00:02:32.103
  • You are probably right where you need to be and you're
  • 00:02:32.103 --> 00:02:33.671
  • Gonna discover yourself in today's story.
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  • Now, if, as you probably know, if you've been around church,
  • 00:02:36.241 --> 00:02:38.243
  • John the baptist took on the role of a prophet which meant
  • 00:02:38.243 --> 00:02:41.679
  • There was no nuance.
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  • Everything was good or it was bad.
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  • There's no in between.
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  • There's no gray, there's no compromise.
  • 00:02:46.251 --> 00:02:48.620
  • He called it as he saw it.
  • 00:02:48.620 --> 00:02:49.954
  • He was not shy.
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  • He was not capable of compromise.
  • 00:02:51.322 --> 00:02:54.058
  • So when king herod antipas decided to marry his brother's
  • 00:02:54.058 --> 00:02:59.597
  • Wife, john decided, "okay, i gotta--i gotta talk about that,
  • 00:02:59.597 --> 00:03:04.035
  • And i gotta talk about it publicly," because that was
  • 00:03:04.035 --> 00:03:06.337
  • Against the law.
  • 00:03:06.337 --> 00:03:07.672
  • You couldn't marry your brother's wife even if they
  • 00:03:07.672 --> 00:03:09.007
  • Were divorced.
  • 00:03:09.007 --> 00:03:10.375
  • And not only that, he's the king and as the king goes, you know,
  • 00:03:10.375 --> 00:03:12.710
  • So goes society.
  • 00:03:12.710 --> 00:03:14.178
  • So john the baptist would talk about this in public.
  • 00:03:14.178 --> 00:03:17.715
  • I mean, maybe, you know, they're carting herodias or herod
  • 00:03:17.715 --> 00:03:21.319
  • Antipas through the, you know, through the streets on one of
  • 00:03:21.319 --> 00:03:23.321
  • Those things they would carry on slave--shoulders of slaves.
  • 00:03:23.321 --> 00:03:25.590
  • That's how they traveled because they were above the ground and
  • 00:03:25.590 --> 00:03:27.659
  • The dirt.
  • 00:03:27.659 --> 00:03:28.993
  • Well, you know, it was muddy and didn't get your feet muddy.
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  • That's what they did.
  • 00:03:30.595 --> 00:03:31.929
  • And they had little shades pulled and, you know, they're
  • 00:03:31.929 --> 00:03:33.698
  • Going through this town and they hear john the baptist,
  • 00:03:33.698 --> 00:03:37.035
  • "adulterous, adulterous, adulterous."
  • 00:03:37.035 --> 00:03:39.837
  • I mean, he just--it's like he just called him out and he's, in
  • 00:03:39.837 --> 00:03:43.141
  • His mind, he's doing the right thing.
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  • I mean, he's speaking truth to power, right?
  • 00:03:45.109 --> 00:03:49.447
  • This is what he would say, literally, we're told in
  • 00:03:49.447 --> 00:03:52.116
  • The text--this is amazing.
  • 00:03:52.116 --> 00:03:54.786
  • Mark tells us and mark was-- mark got all this information
  • 00:03:54.786 --> 00:03:56.254
  • From peter who was there for all this.
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  • It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife.
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  • I mean, "it's not just you're committing--committed adultery,
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  • It's not lawful for you.
  • 00:04:02.860 --> 00:04:04.696
  • You are breaking torah, you are violating god's standards.
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  • You are--you are ceremonially unclean.
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  • It is not lawful for you to have your brother's wife."
  • 00:04:10.601 --> 00:04:15.673
  • So as you might imagine, herodias, the new wife, nursed a
  • 00:04:15.673 --> 00:04:20.478
  • Grudge against john and wanted to kill him.
  • 00:04:20.478 --> 00:04:23.715
  • Of course he did, but there was a problem.
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  • But she was not able to do so because herod feared john and he
  • 00:04:25.850 --> 00:04:31.322
  • Protected him, specifically from herodias, right?
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  • Knowing him to be a righteous and holy man.
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  • I mean, herod antipas knows, "okay, what i did was not cool
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  • At all.
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  • It did violate god's law.
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  • I know what i would think about somebody else doing this."
  • 00:04:43.134 --> 00:04:44.836
  • So he knew he was guilty.
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  • So when herod heard john, this is amazing.
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  • When herod heard john, because he loved to hear him speak, he
  • 00:04:51.809 --> 00:04:54.112
  • Was greatly puzzled and yet he liked to listen to him.
  • 00:04:54.112 --> 00:04:57.482
  • Well, eventually, herodias has her way and she at least
  • 00:04:57.482 --> 00:05:00.418
  • Convinces her husband to have john the baptist arrested.
  • 00:05:00.418 --> 00:05:04.889
  • So john the baptist gets arrested by herod's men and
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  • Herod and--wisely does not imprison him in jerusalem where
  • 00:05:08.993 --> 00:05:13.398
  • Herodias could get to him.
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  • He imprisons john the baptist in a desert dungeon back down in
  • 00:05:14.832 --> 00:05:19.837
  • The jordan river valley far away from the city of jerusalem.
  • 00:05:19.837 --> 00:05:23.074
  • But it is a miserable, miserable, miserable place
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  • To be.
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  • And perhaps i think he put him there to protect him from his
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  • New life.
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  • And this is when the story goes completely off the rails.
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  • This is when the story gets extraordinarily confusing or
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  • Perhaps extraordinarily encouraging.
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  • You ready for this?
  • 00:05:42.326 --> 00:05:44.295
  • Now, when jesus heard that john, cousin john, now when jesus
  • 00:05:44.295 --> 00:05:50.468
  • Heard that john, the most popular man in judea, righteous
  • 00:05:50.468 --> 00:05:52.804
  • Man, everybody knows he's a good guy.
  • 00:05:52.804 --> 00:05:54.372
  • When jesus heard that john had been taken into custody, what do
  • 00:05:54.372 --> 00:05:58.509
  • You think jesus did?
  • 00:05:58.509 --> 00:06:02.146
  • Spring him, bust him out, send an angel to bust him out, send
  • 00:06:02.146 --> 00:06:06.551
  • Some friends, you know, bake some brownies and visit him at
  • 00:06:06.551 --> 00:06:09.687
  • Least, loaves and fish, you know, or turn herodias into a
  • 00:06:09.687 --> 00:06:13.825
  • Loaf and feed her to the fish.
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  • I mean, there's all kinds of things, you know, jesus could
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  • Have done.
  • 00:06:18.696 --> 00:06:20.064
  • This is so strange, and matthew who's there for all this.
  • 00:06:20.064 --> 00:06:24.368
  • Matthew was a tax collector who had people who worked for him,
  • 00:06:24.368 --> 00:06:26.504
  • Scribes, who scribed everything down.
  • 00:06:26.504 --> 00:06:28.105
  • That's why matthew's gospel account is so full of detail.
  • 00:06:28.105 --> 00:06:32.176
  • Listen to how matthew explains what happened.
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  • "now when jesus heard that john had been taken into custody,
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  • He withdrew."
  • 00:06:38.950 --> 00:06:41.352
  • If we had a map, it would illustrate just how much
  • 00:06:41.352 --> 00:06:44.689
  • He withdrew.
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  • "he withdrew to galilee.
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  • Leaving nazareth, he went and lived," not visited,
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  • Not vacation.
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  • "he went and lived in capernaum."
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  • If you had a map of the holy land, judea and jerusalem is
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  • In the south.
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  • Jesus left the south, left judea, went all the way to
  • 00:07:01.172 --> 00:07:04.375
  • Galilee and went as far north into galilee as he
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  • Possibly could.
  • 00:07:07.445 --> 00:07:08.813
  • He gets to the sea of galilee and he goes all the way up to
  • 00:07:08.813 --> 00:07:11.349
  • The very tip top of the lake.
  • 00:07:11.349 --> 00:07:13.317
  • He's by, walking distance, he's close to 200 miles away or more
  • 00:07:13.317 --> 00:07:19.423
  • From john the baptist and he wasn't already there when he
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  • Heard, this is what's amazing.
  • 00:07:22.193 --> 00:07:23.561
  • When he heard what happened to john, matthew sandwiches this--
  • 00:07:23.561 --> 00:07:27.198
  • These two ideas together almost in a single sentence.
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  • Jesus automatically and immediately withdrew to galilee,
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  • And get this.
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  • He settles--he settles in capernaum, which is a beautiful,
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  • Beautiful fishing village on the north end of the sea of galilee.
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  • John the baptist is arrested, put in a dungeon.
  • 00:07:43.481 --> 00:07:46.417
  • Jesus went to the lake and he didn't just go for the weekend.
  • 00:07:46.417 --> 00:07:49.954
  • He went and he lived there with his guys.
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  • The opposite direction, while john is sweating it out in a
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  • Desert dungeon.
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  • It's horrible.
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  • It was intentional.
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  • Here's what i mean by that?
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  • Do you ever feel like god is a million miles away?
  • 00:08:06.270 --> 00:08:12.944
  • That in your moment of greatest need, you've never felt more
  • 00:08:12.944 --> 00:08:16.614
  • Distance from god?
  • 00:08:16.614 --> 00:08:19.517
  • I know you have felt that.
  • 00:08:19.517 --> 00:08:21.185
  • When things are up and to the right, you just feel like
  • 00:08:21.185 --> 00:08:23.120
  • The presence of god.
  • 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:24.455
  • You know, you sing these songs with, you know, so much
  • 00:08:24.455 --> 00:08:26.924
  • Enthusiasm and then circumstances turn and it's
  • 00:08:26.924 --> 00:08:31.062
  • Like, where is god?
  • 00:08:31.062 --> 00:08:32.663
  • Do you ever feel like god's a million miles away?
  • 00:08:32.663 --> 00:08:34.131
  • Kick back at the lake while you're sweating it out?
  • 00:08:34.131 --> 00:08:36.133
  • You are not the first, you won't be the last.
  • 00:08:36.133 --> 00:08:39.870
  • Matthew's like, i wanna make sure you see the connection
  • 00:08:39.870 --> 00:08:42.306
  • Between these two big ideas.
  • 00:08:42.306 --> 00:08:45.142
  • Isn't that amazing?
  • 00:08:45.142 --> 00:08:47.078
  • So john was in prison for a year.
  • 00:08:47.078 --> 00:08:49.614
  • Let me tell you about prisons back then.
  • 00:08:49.614 --> 00:08:51.015
  • They did not have a cafeteria, they didn't have a lunch line.
  • 00:08:51.015 --> 00:08:53.985
  • You didn't get some time out, you know, to stretch your
  • 00:08:53.985 --> 00:08:55.853
  • Legs, okay?
  • 00:08:55.853 --> 00:08:57.221
  • Nothing like that.
  • 00:08:57.221 --> 00:08:58.556
  • You're in a hole in the ground or you're in a, you know,
  • 00:08:58.556 --> 00:09:00.291
  • Basically a brick building that you're let out from time
  • 00:09:00.291 --> 00:09:03.160
  • To time--there's no food.
  • 00:09:03.160 --> 00:09:05.396
  • The only way you're gonna eat is if you have friends and family.
  • 00:09:05.396 --> 00:09:07.131
  • If you don't have friends and family that visit you, bring you
  • 00:09:07.131 --> 00:09:08.866
  • Food, you may starve to death, you may just die of malnutrition
  • 00:09:08.866 --> 00:09:11.335
  • Or of thirst because there's-- it's not a food program.
  • 00:09:11.335 --> 00:09:15.039
  • So john the baptist has people coming and going and taking care
  • 00:09:15.039 --> 00:09:17.908
  • Of him.
  • 00:09:17.908 --> 00:09:19.243
  • So a year goes by and never hears from jesus.
  • 00:09:19.243 --> 00:09:20.611
  • Six months goes by and never hears from jesus.
  • 00:09:20.611 --> 00:09:22.179
  • And the greatest man born of women, according to jesus,
  • 00:09:22.179 --> 00:09:25.016
  • Begins to doubt.
  • 00:09:25.016 --> 00:09:29.553
  • Because what was true of us is true of john.
  • 00:09:29.553 --> 00:09:31.856
  • A change of scenery rocked his serenity.
  • 00:09:31.856 --> 00:09:35.993
  • Things are up and to the right, god is good.
  • 00:09:35.993 --> 00:09:38.429
  • Things take a turn for the worse, you get that call, you
  • 00:09:38.429 --> 00:09:40.865
  • Get that call from one of your kids.
  • 00:09:40.865 --> 00:09:42.333
  • It's like, oh no, where's god?
  • 00:09:42.333 --> 00:09:44.835
  • And john the baptist begins to wonder if maybe he had jesus
  • 00:09:44.835 --> 00:09:51.542
  • All wrong.
  • 00:09:51.542 --> 00:09:54.111
  • And there we are once again, right in the middle of
  • 00:09:54.111 --> 00:09:57.314
  • The story.
  • 00:09:57.314 --> 00:09:58.816
  • But there's more insult to injury.
  • 00:09:58.816 --> 00:10:02.319
  • John receives--john receives regular updates on all the
  • 00:10:02.319 --> 00:10:06.891
  • Amazing things jesus is doing for other people.
  • 00:10:06.891 --> 00:10:11.729
  • His disciples actually are coming and going.
  • 00:10:11.729 --> 00:10:13.964
  • John's disciples are coming and going and they're keeping
  • 00:10:13.964 --> 00:10:16.000
  • John updated.
  • 00:10:16.000 --> 00:10:17.334
  • It's like, "john, you're not gonna believe what your cousin
  • 00:10:17.334 --> 00:10:18.703
  • Did this time.
  • 00:10:18.703 --> 00:10:20.037
  • Okay, you ready for this?
  • 00:10:20.037 --> 00:10:21.405
  • He's on his way.
  • 00:10:21.405 --> 00:10:22.740
  • He preached this amazing sermon.
  • 00:10:22.740 --> 00:10:24.108
  • We don't understand what most of it meant.
  • 00:10:24.108 --> 00:10:25.443
  • But anyway, right afterwards, he comes down into the town and
  • 00:10:25.443 --> 00:10:26.911
  • A centurion--a centurion comes up to your cousin and says,
  • 00:10:26.911 --> 00:10:31.182
  • 'hey, my servant is at home sick.'
  • 00:10:31.182 --> 00:10:33.217
  • And your cousin, the rabbi jesus, said to a centurion he'd
  • 00:10:33.217 --> 00:10:37.288
  • Never met before, 'i'll go to your house and heal your servant
  • 00:10:37.288 --> 00:10:40.391
  • That i've never met before.'
  • 00:10:40.391 --> 00:10:42.426
  • And then on their way, he stops and he heals the servant from
  • 00:10:42.426 --> 00:10:46.564
  • Four blocks away.
  • 00:10:46.564 --> 00:10:48.566
  • Your cousin works remotely.
  • 00:10:48.566 --> 00:10:50.735
  • It's amazing.
  • 00:10:50.735 --> 00:10:52.069
  • He can say words and people are healed," and john is thinking
  • 00:10:52.069 --> 00:10:55.806
  • Exactly what we would be thinking.
  • 00:10:55.806 --> 00:10:57.875
  • "well, then, why not me?
  • 00:10:57.875 --> 00:11:00.911
  • Why not me?
  • 00:11:00.911 --> 00:11:02.279
  • Why doesn't he just say the word?
  • 00:11:02.279 --> 00:11:03.614
  • Whatever happened to the part about 'i've come to set the
  • 00:11:03.614 --> 00:11:06.150
  • Captives free.'
  • 00:11:06.150 --> 00:11:07.752
  • I'm an actual captive and you know my name.
  • 00:11:07.752 --> 00:11:10.387
  • What about me?"
  • 00:11:10.387 --> 00:11:13.991
  • And once again, there we are in the story.
  • 00:11:13.991 --> 00:11:16.627
  • I wanna be happy for all the happy people.
  • 00:11:16.627 --> 00:11:19.096
  • I wanna be happy for all the healthy people.
  • 00:11:19.096 --> 00:11:21.398
  • You wanna be happy for all the people who had children
  • 00:11:21.398 --> 00:11:24.835
  • And grandchildren.
  • 00:11:24.835 --> 00:11:26.203
  • You wanna be happy for the people whose marriage made it
  • 00:11:26.203 --> 00:11:28.105
  • And the counseling worked and they overcame the thing they
  • 00:11:28.105 --> 00:11:30.908
  • Overcame and their husband overcame it.
  • 00:11:30.908 --> 00:11:33.511
  • You wanna be happy for them and i wanna be happy for you.
  • 00:11:33.511 --> 00:11:37.948
  • John the baptist, the greatest man who ever lived according to
  • 00:11:37.948 --> 00:11:44.288
  • Jesus, right?
  • 00:11:44.288 --> 00:11:46.090
  • Isn't god good to you?
  • 00:11:46.090 --> 00:11:49.360
  • Why is it that god comes through for everybody but you?
  • 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:54.899
  • Why is it that god seems to be coming through for everybody
  • 00:11:54.899 --> 00:11:57.868
  • Right now but you?
  • 00:11:57.868 --> 00:11:59.503
  • That's john the baptist, one of jesus's favorite people.
  • 00:11:59.503 --> 00:12:02.773
  • Well, finally, john, he's had enough because he's human
  • 00:12:02.773 --> 00:12:05.776
  • Like us.
  • 00:12:05.776 --> 00:12:07.111
  • And so the text says when john who was in prison heard about
  • 00:12:07.111 --> 00:12:11.115
  • The deeds of the messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him.
  • 00:12:11.115 --> 00:12:15.152
  • So it's like, "okay, i keep hearing all this stuff, but i've
  • 00:12:15.152 --> 00:12:17.488
  • Got some questions.
  • 00:12:17.488 --> 00:12:18.823
  • This isn't making any sense.
  • 00:12:18.823 --> 00:12:20.191
  • You're doing all this amazing stuff.
  • 00:12:20.191 --> 00:12:21.859
  • Meanwhile, you're letting me rot in a prison and i didn't do
  • 00:12:21.859 --> 00:12:24.762
  • Anything wrong.
  • 00:12:24.762 --> 00:12:26.096
  • In fact, i did something right.
  • 00:12:26.096 --> 00:12:27.464
  • I did the bold thing, the powerful thing, the courageous
  • 00:12:27.464 --> 00:12:30.434
  • Thing, and now i'm suffering for doing the right thing.
  • 00:12:30.434 --> 00:12:32.736
  • So how about--how about delivering me from our
  • 00:12:32.736 --> 00:12:36.240
  • Sick king?"
  • 00:12:36.240 --> 00:12:38.375
  • So when john who was in prison heard about the deeds of the
  • 00:12:38.375 --> 00:12:41.078
  • Messiah, he sent his disciples to ask him.
  • 00:12:41.078 --> 00:12:44.014
  • Here's the question he sent to jesus.
  • 00:12:44.014 --> 00:12:47.284
  • Here we are again in the story.
  • 00:12:47.284 --> 00:12:50.721
  • "are you the one?"
  • 00:12:50.721 --> 00:12:52.556
  • It's, "was i mistaken?
  • 00:12:52.556 --> 00:12:55.626
  • Have i been believing a fairy tale?
  • 00:12:55.626 --> 00:12:57.194
  • Have i been believing a lie?
  • 00:12:57.194 --> 00:12:58.562
  • Are you the one who is to come?"
  • 00:12:58.562 --> 00:13:00.865
  • I mean this is john the baptist who announced jesus is the one
  • 00:13:00.865 --> 00:13:03.968
  • Who was to come: "behold, the lamb of god who comes to take
  • 00:13:03.968 --> 00:13:05.970
  • The sins of the world."
  • 00:13:05.970 --> 00:13:07.338
  • "but i don't know anymore, because this doesn't make any
  • 00:13:07.338 --> 00:13:10.074
  • Sense to me.
  • 00:13:10.074 --> 00:13:11.408
  • You're not doing what i think the lamb of god should do for
  • 00:13:11.408 --> 00:13:14.478
  • His friends.
  • 00:13:14.478 --> 00:13:16.614
  • Are you the one who is to come or should we expect
  • 00:13:16.614 --> 00:13:21.919
  • Someone else?
  • 00:13:21.919 --> 00:13:25.289
  • Is this--is this even real?
  • 00:13:25.289 --> 00:13:30.127
  • Is there anything to this?
  • 00:13:30.127 --> 00:13:31.595
  • Am i just a victim of wishful thinking?
  • 00:13:31.595 --> 00:13:33.530
  • Am i just believing because my parents taught me to believe
  • 00:13:33.530 --> 00:13:35.833
  • This stuff.
  • 00:13:35.833 --> 00:13:37.201
  • Is this magic?
  • 00:13:37.201 --> 00:13:38.535
  • Is it a fairy tale?
  • 00:13:38.535 --> 00:13:39.904
  • The sky father, right?
  • 00:13:39.904 --> 00:13:41.238
  • Is this something that we teach just to keep the kids in line?"
  • 00:13:41.238 --> 00:13:45.509
  • John the baptist.
  • 00:13:45.509 --> 00:13:47.311
  • You see, i'm convinced and i could be wrong.
  • 00:13:47.311 --> 00:13:50.381
  • I'm convinced that jesus let lazarus die for our benefit.
  • 00:13:50.381 --> 00:13:54.852
  • And i think jesus let john stew in a prison cell for our benefit
  • 00:13:54.852 --> 00:13:59.523
  • As well.
  • 00:13:59.523 --> 00:14:00.858
  • Did jesus love these men?
  • 00:14:00.858 --> 00:14:03.193
  • Yes.
  • 00:14:03.193 --> 00:14:04.528
  • Does jesus love you?
  • 00:14:04.528 --> 00:14:05.896
  • Yes.
  • 00:14:05.896 --> 00:14:07.231
  • So they come to jesus and they say, "hey."
  • 00:14:07.231 --> 00:14:09.967
  • They finally find jesus.
  • 00:14:09.967 --> 00:14:11.302
  • He's with a crowd again and they're like, "hey, rabbi,
  • 00:14:11.302 --> 00:14:14.204
  • Cousin john has some questions for you.
  • 00:14:14.204 --> 00:14:16.507
  • He wants to know and this is a little bit embarrassing.
  • 00:14:16.507 --> 00:14:19.209
  • Please don't judge him too harshly.
  • 00:14:19.209 --> 00:14:20.577
  • But it's been a year and a half, cousin john wants to know, are
  • 00:14:20.577 --> 00:14:25.382
  • You--are you who he told everyone you are?
  • 00:14:25.382 --> 00:14:28.652
  • Because he has his doubts.
  • 00:14:28.652 --> 00:14:30.454
  • And to be honest, we're wondering ourself."
  • 00:14:30.454 --> 00:14:34.692
  • And here's what jesus said, matthew again, who recorded
  • 00:14:34.692 --> 00:14:37.795
  • All this.
  • 00:14:37.795 --> 00:14:39.163
  • "jesus said to john's disciples, 'go back and report to john what
  • 00:14:39.163 --> 00:14:43.867
  • You hear and see.'"
  • 00:14:43.867 --> 00:14:45.903
  • To which they thought, okay, that's not, like,
  • 00:14:45.903 --> 00:14:48.238
  • Really encouraging.
  • 00:14:48.238 --> 00:14:49.573
  • We wanna let you know we've been doing that all along.
  • 00:14:49.573 --> 00:14:51.642
  • He's not encouraged by all the things you're doing for
  • 00:14:51.642 --> 00:14:56.013
  • Everybody else that you never met until they asked.
  • 00:14:56.013 --> 00:15:00.451
  • And john--jesus is like, "no, no, i want you to go back and
  • 00:15:00.451 --> 00:15:03.053
  • Tell him what you hear, then see.
  • 00:15:03.053 --> 00:15:04.388
  • And i want you to tell him this specifically.
  • 00:15:04.388 --> 00:15:06.890
  • Tell cousin john, tell--tell the prophet, tell him that
  • 00:15:06.890 --> 00:15:11.895
  • The blind received their sight."
  • 00:15:11.895 --> 00:15:15.032
  • This is--this is unheard of, this is remarkable.
  • 00:15:15.032 --> 00:15:18.469
  • "and tell him that men and women who've never walked before are
  • 00:15:18.469 --> 00:15:21.505
  • Walking and those who had leprosy are cleansed and the
  • 00:15:21.505 --> 00:15:23.507
  • Deaf hear, and the dead are raised."
  • 00:15:23.507 --> 00:15:30.848
  • And they say, "okay, we'll tell him."
  • 00:15:30.848 --> 00:15:34.551
  • They write it down, remember it, and they leave.
  • 00:15:34.551 --> 00:15:38.155
  • And then, this is the best part.
  • 00:15:38.155 --> 00:15:41.025
  • Then jesus says something for us.
  • 00:15:41.025 --> 00:15:46.663
  • He addresses the crowd, but he doesn't say this for the crowd.
  • 00:15:46.663 --> 00:15:50.701
  • He says this for me.
  • 00:15:50.701 --> 00:15:52.169
  • He says this for us.
  • 00:15:52.169 --> 00:15:53.504
  • For those of us who wonder if god knows and wonder if god
  • 00:15:53.504 --> 00:15:55.672
  • Really cares.
  • 00:15:55.672 --> 00:15:57.041
  • And jesus looks at that audience, but he says this for
  • 00:15:57.041 --> 00:15:59.176
  • You and he says that for--this for me.
  • 00:15:59.176 --> 00:16:00.811
  • He says this for us. and this is amazing.
  • 00:16:00.811 --> 00:16:03.414
  • I'm gonna read it to you, but i gotta say one more time.
  • 00:16:03.414 --> 00:16:05.182
  • Nobody would make this up.
  • 00:16:05.182 --> 00:16:06.984
  • Nobody in the first century could make this up.
  • 00:16:06.984 --> 00:16:11.288
  • Jesus looks at them and speaks to us and he says this,
  • 00:16:11.288 --> 00:16:14.258
  • It's amazing.
  • 00:16:14.258 --> 00:16:15.793
  • "happy, or blessed is anyone of any generation, blessed is
  • 00:16:15.793 --> 00:16:22.933
  • Anyone who does not stumble on account of me."
  • 00:16:22.933 --> 00:16:31.141
  • Jesus anticipated your confusion and mine.
  • 00:16:31.141 --> 00:16:36.847
  • Jesus anticipated our doubts.
  • 00:16:36.847 --> 00:16:40.184
  • Jesus anticipated as we sit back and try to make this a formula.
  • 00:16:40.184 --> 00:16:43.720
  • And i thought if i did, god must, and if i promised, and
  • 00:16:43.720 --> 00:16:46.590
  • God will.
  • 00:16:46.590 --> 00:16:47.925
  • I thought there was some kind of formula, some kind of code, and
  • 00:16:47.925 --> 00:16:49.893
  • God's not acting like i think god should act and jesus isn't
  • 00:16:49.893 --> 00:16:52.763
  • Responding like i think jesus should respond.
  • 00:16:52.763 --> 00:16:55.132
  • And jesus is saying, "blessed is the person, blessed is the
  • 00:16:55.132 --> 00:16:58.902
  • Person that does not get tripped up when i don't act like they
  • 00:16:58.902 --> 00:17:05.109
  • Think i ought to act.
  • 00:17:05.109 --> 00:17:06.844
  • Blessed are the followers who don't quit following, when their
  • 00:17:06.844 --> 00:17:11.248
  • Heavenly father doesn't do what they think their heavenly father
  • 00:17:11.248 --> 00:17:14.685
  • Ought to do."
  • 00:17:14.685 --> 00:17:16.820
  • He anticipated our confusion.
  • 00:17:16.820 --> 00:17:18.956
  • His response or non-response may trip us up.
  • 00:17:18.956 --> 00:17:23.360
  • His response or non-response may cause us to doubt.
  • 00:17:23.360 --> 00:17:27.998
  • It might tempt us to walk away and that's unnecessary.
  • 00:17:27.998 --> 00:17:30.634
  • And i wanna say this to some of you today because you're right
  • 00:17:30.634 --> 00:17:32.469
  • On the edge of that, you're reaching for the doorknob to go.
  • 00:17:32.469 --> 00:17:34.505
  • Okay, the reason jesus said this is this.
  • 00:17:34.505 --> 00:17:37.174
  • He knows and some of you have experienced this, that when you
  • 00:17:37.174 --> 00:17:40.477
  • Lose faith, you opt for something to substitute for
  • 00:17:40.477 --> 00:17:43.747
  • Your faith.
  • 00:17:43.747 --> 00:17:45.082
  • When you decide god's not it, jesus is not it, christianity is
  • 00:17:45.082 --> 00:17:47.584
  • Not it, you will opt for something else.
  • 00:17:47.584 --> 00:17:50.654
  • You will choose something else and that something else usually
  • 00:17:50.654 --> 00:17:54.324
  • Makes things worse, not better.
  • 00:17:54.324 --> 00:17:58.595
  • I love what philip yancey says.
  • 00:17:58.595 --> 00:18:00.397
  • I don't even remember which book this was from, but i just hang
  • 00:18:00.397 --> 00:18:04.334
  • On to this.
  • 00:18:04.334 --> 00:18:05.669
  • He says, "the only thing worse-- the only thing worse than
  • 00:18:05.669 --> 00:18:08.772
  • Disappointment with god is trying to navigate
  • 00:18:08.772 --> 00:18:13.143
  • Disappointment without god."
  • 00:18:13.143 --> 00:18:16.046
  • The only thing worse than disappointment with god, god's
  • 00:18:16.046 --> 00:18:20.117
  • Not acting the way i think god should act, is facing
  • 00:18:20.117 --> 00:18:22.920
  • Disappointment once you put god in the rear view mirror.
  • 00:18:22.920 --> 00:18:28.192
  • Because in that moment, you have no hope of ever making sense of
  • 00:18:28.192 --> 00:18:32.729
  • Things and you have no hope that things will ever make sense.
  • 00:18:32.729 --> 00:18:39.102
  • And jesus says--this is amazing.
  • 00:18:39.102 --> 00:18:41.138
  • He says, "i understand.
  • 00:18:41.138 --> 00:18:43.907
  • I understand how my behavior--i understand how the inactivity of
  • 00:18:43.907 --> 00:18:50.247
  • The heavenly father--i understand how unanswered prayer
  • 00:18:50.247 --> 00:18:54.084
  • May trip you up.
  • 00:18:54.084 --> 00:18:56.053
  • Blessed is the one who doesn't allow themselves to be
  • 00:18:56.053 --> 00:19:00.123
  • Tripped up.
  • 00:19:00.123 --> 00:19:01.491
  • Happy.
  • 00:19:01.491 --> 00:19:02.826
  • Happy is the one who does not confuse my silence for
  • 00:19:02.826 --> 00:19:05.462
  • My absence.
  • 00:19:05.462 --> 00:19:06.897
  • Happy is the--happy is the follower who follows anyway.
  • 00:19:06.897 --> 00:19:10.167
  • Happy is the believer who continues to believe anyway."
  • 00:19:10.167 --> 00:19:16.139
  • And then john's disciples leave to go tell john the good news.
  • 00:19:16.139 --> 00:19:22.279
  • Jesus makes the comment i just read, and this is when he says
  • 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:26.683
  • To the audience because they're confused, like, "why don't you
  • 00:19:26.683 --> 00:19:30.387
  • Go with them?
  • 00:19:30.387 --> 00:19:31.755
  • Why don't you do something?
  • 00:19:31.755 --> 00:19:33.090
  • We love john the baptist.
  • 00:19:33.090 --> 00:19:34.424
  • I mean, john the baptist is a legend.
  • 00:19:34.424 --> 00:19:35.792
  • Why don't you do something?"
  • 00:19:35.792 --> 00:19:38.362
  • And jesus assures them.
  • 00:19:38.362 --> 00:19:39.696
  • He says, "no, i get it.
  • 00:19:39.696 --> 00:19:41.465
  • I understand how my behavior is so confusing to you.
  • 00:19:41.465 --> 00:19:45.802
  • So let me just assure you."
  • 00:19:45.802 --> 00:19:47.337
  • This is when he says it.
  • 00:19:47.337 --> 00:19:48.705
  • "i say to you, among those born of women, there is no one
  • 00:19:48.705 --> 00:19:53.910
  • Greater than john the baptist.
  • 00:19:53.910 --> 00:19:56.113
  • He's the best.
  • 00:19:56.113 --> 00:19:57.581
  • He's one of my favorites, but i'm not going to rescue him,"
  • 00:19:57.581 --> 00:20:04.621
  • And he didn't.
  • 00:20:04.621 --> 00:20:06.857
  • And he may not rescue you either, but you don't have to
  • 00:20:06.857 --> 00:20:15.098
  • Stumble away from jesus, your savior.
  • 00:20:15.098 --> 00:20:19.870
  • God may answer your prayer.
  • 00:20:19.870 --> 00:20:21.805
  • He may answer it in a way you don't expect.
  • 00:20:21.805 --> 00:20:23.440
  • He may answer your prayer in a timing that's not your timing.
  • 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:27.044
  • I get all that, but there may be a no, there may be a no rescue.
  • 00:20:27.044 --> 00:20:34.918
  • Does that mean god doesn't care?
  • 00:20:34.918 --> 00:20:36.286
  • Does god--that mean god is silent?
  • 00:20:36.286 --> 00:20:37.621
  • Does that mean god isn't up to something?
  • 00:20:37.621 --> 00:20:38.989
  • Absolutely not.
  • 00:20:38.989 --> 00:20:40.490
  • Jesus arranged these scenarios, these narratives, these actual
  • 00:20:40.490 --> 00:20:45.796
  • Historical incidents, for our benefit.
  • 00:20:45.796 --> 00:20:48.999
  • Happy are those who face adversity, trust anyway, follow
  • 00:20:48.999 --> 00:20:54.905
  • Anyway, and don't stumble away from god, their father.
  • 00:20:54.905 --> 00:21:02.813
  • Now, i know some of you are thinking, i would be thinking,
  • 00:21:02.813 --> 00:21:05.716
  • "yeah, it's easy for you to say, andy, easy for you to say, you
  • 00:21:05.716 --> 00:21:07.818
  • Don't know my story," and i don't know your story.
  • 00:21:07.818 --> 00:21:10.454
  • I'm telling you.
  • 00:21:10.454 --> 00:21:11.788
  • If i was not confident of this, i would not stand up here and
  • 00:21:11.788 --> 00:21:13.924
  • Say it.
  • 00:21:13.924 --> 00:21:15.359
  • And if i was that other kind of preacher, i would get up here
  • 00:21:15.359 --> 00:21:17.627
  • And say no, if you trust in god, it's all gonna work out.
  • 00:21:17.627 --> 00:21:20.430
  • You're gonna get a bow and then over time, we just chase off all
  • 00:21:20.430 --> 00:21:22.999
  • The people who don't have a bow.
  • 00:21:22.999 --> 00:21:24.334
  • We just have a big church full of people with bows and
  • 00:21:24.334 --> 00:21:26.103
  • Everybody, they look around, everything's working out.
  • 00:21:26.103 --> 00:21:28.271
  • We must have more faith than everybody else.
  • 00:21:28.271 --> 00:21:30.107
  • That is not christianity.
  • 00:21:30.107 --> 00:21:31.675
  • That is not the gospel.
  • 00:21:31.675 --> 00:21:33.076
  • You do not find that in the teaching of jesus.
  • 00:21:33.076 --> 00:21:34.945
  • What you find is two of his favorite men he let suffer and
  • 00:21:34.945 --> 00:21:41.184
  • Yet he was as active as he has ever been.
  • 00:21:41.184 --> 00:21:43.887
  • And here we are talking about him 2000 years later, but i
  • 00:21:43.887 --> 00:21:49.659
  • Wouldn't get up here and say it if i wasn't confident.
  • 00:21:49.659 --> 00:21:51.228
  • So on sundays, i get here early as you might imagine.
  • 00:21:51.228 --> 00:21:54.264
  • And one of my things i like to do is just walk around
  • 00:21:54.264 --> 00:21:56.099
  • The auditorium and meet people.
  • 00:21:56.099 --> 00:21:58.001
  • So, on one of my journeys, about a year ago, i met a woman named
  • 00:21:58.001 --> 00:22:01.438
  • Mary ann jones.
  • 00:22:01.438 --> 00:22:02.806
  • Mary ann is 86 years old.
  • 00:22:02.806 --> 00:22:04.341
  • And we've--and so every sunday she stands up because she has
  • 00:22:04.341 --> 00:22:06.877
  • Something she wants me to do and we're kind of arguing about it.
  • 00:22:06.877 --> 00:22:08.979
  • We've been arguing for a year.
  • 00:22:08.979 --> 00:22:10.313
  • I'm not gonna tell you what that is.
  • 00:22:10.313 --> 00:22:11.681
  • But anyway, so when she sees me coming, she stands up and she's
  • 00:22:11.681 --> 00:22:13.917
  • Waiting for me, you know.
  • 00:22:13.917 --> 00:22:15.285
  • So every sunday, mary and--mary and i have a
  • 00:22:15.285 --> 00:22:17.554
  • Friendly conversation.
  • 00:22:17.554 --> 00:22:18.889
  • So at some point, i wanted to ask her a question.
  • 00:22:18.889 --> 00:22:20.590
  • I got her cellphone number and so then she had my cell phone
  • 00:22:20.590 --> 00:22:22.926
  • Number, and then every sunday, every sunday she sends me a text
  • 00:22:22.926 --> 00:22:26.663
  • And rates the sermon, every sunday.
  • 00:22:26.663 --> 00:22:30.000
  • Not making this up.
  • 00:22:30.000 --> 00:22:31.334
  • She's gonna rate today's.
  • 00:22:31.334 --> 00:22:32.702
  • I guarantee you, i'll get a text and i usually get an 8, 9,
  • 00:22:32.702 --> 00:22:34.604
  • Or sometimes a 10.
  • 00:22:34.604 --> 00:22:35.939
  • A few weeks ago, i got a 100.
  • 00:22:35.939 --> 00:22:37.274
  • I'm like, "whoa, did you change the scale or was it really that
  • 00:22:37.274 --> 00:22:39.443
  • Good," you know?
  • 00:22:39.443 --> 00:22:41.945
  • So one sunday i said, "mary ann, i wanna know your whole story.
  • 00:22:41.945 --> 00:22:44.948
  • You're 86 years old."
  • 00:22:44.948 --> 00:22:46.316
  • And she said, "okay."
  • 00:22:46.316 --> 00:22:47.651
  • So i invited her to my office.
  • 00:22:47.651 --> 00:22:49.586
  • She came, we spent 2 hours together.
  • 00:22:49.586 --> 00:22:51.054
  • I said, "start from the very beginning."
  • 00:22:51.054 --> 00:22:52.856
  • She told me her whole story.
  • 00:22:52.856 --> 00:22:54.324
  • Very, very difficult childhood, just needed to escape the home.
  • 00:22:54.324 --> 00:23:01.364
  • Met her husband, got married.
  • 00:23:01.364 --> 00:23:03.567
  • Fast forward, and had three beautiful daughters.
  • 00:23:03.567 --> 00:23:06.903
  • And then their youngest daughter, karen, when she was
  • 00:23:06.903 --> 00:23:09.539
  • 21, was hit by a drunk driver, a 19-year-old drunk driver.
  • 00:23:09.539 --> 00:23:13.643
  • Killed instantly along with a friend.
  • 00:23:13.643 --> 00:23:15.946
  • Now, mary ann was a christian and she and tom, you know, were,
  • 00:23:15.946 --> 00:23:18.582
  • You know, had their faith and their personal faith and walked
  • 00:23:18.582 --> 00:23:21.685
  • With god.
  • 00:23:21.685 --> 00:23:23.053
  • But this was, of course, devastating, just
  • 00:23:23.053 --> 00:23:24.621
  • Completely devastating.
  • 00:23:24.621 --> 00:23:25.956
  • Just wrecked them in every single kind of way and where's
  • 00:23:25.956 --> 00:23:28.391
  • God and why, god?
  • 00:23:28.391 --> 00:23:29.726
  • And we did all the right things, all the things we would say and
  • 00:23:29.726 --> 00:23:31.728
  • All the questions that we would ask.
  • 00:23:31.728 --> 00:23:33.864
  • But she kinda clawed her way back to developing a faith and
  • 00:23:33.864 --> 00:23:36.867
  • Was able to pray again and trust god again.
  • 00:23:36.867 --> 00:23:39.236
  • About six months after that, their church had a special guest
  • 00:23:39.236 --> 00:23:42.472
  • Speaker who came in during the week on a weeknight to do a
  • 00:23:42.472 --> 00:23:45.709
  • Lecture on the topic of why bad things happen to good people.
  • 00:23:45.709 --> 00:23:49.179
  • And mary ann's husband didn't wanna go, but mary said "i
  • 00:23:49.179 --> 00:23:51.581
  • Wanna go."
  • 00:23:51.581 --> 00:23:52.916
  • So she went and so this lecturer, this pastor, got up
  • 00:23:52.916 --> 00:23:55.252
  • And there's about 150 people there.
  • 00:23:55.252 --> 00:23:56.653
  • And he talked for about 30, 45 minutes about why bad things
  • 00:23:56.653 --> 00:23:59.523
  • Happen to good people.
  • 00:23:59.523 --> 00:24:00.857
  • Then he said, "are there any questions?"
  • 00:24:00.857 --> 00:24:02.192
  • And mary ann said, "'i raised my hand,' and he said, 'yes?'
  • 00:24:02.192 --> 00:24:03.827
  • And i stood up and i said, 'so, pastor, why do bad things happen
  • 00:24:03.827 --> 00:24:07.898
  • To good people,' after he'd just spent 40 minutes answering
  • 00:24:07.898 --> 00:24:10.934
  • The question."
  • 00:24:10.934 --> 00:24:12.269
  • And so she said, she sat down and he--she said, he kind of
  • 00:24:12.269 --> 00:24:14.938
  • Reviewed the whole message again and asked, "are there any
  • 00:24:14.938 --> 00:24:18.208
  • More questions?"
  • 00:24:18.208 --> 00:24:19.576
  • She said, "i stood back up and said, 'pastor, so why do bad
  • 00:24:19.576 --> 00:24:22.245
  • Things happen to good people?'"
  • 00:24:22.245 --> 00:24:23.613
  • She asked the question three times and he explained slower
  • 00:24:23.613 --> 00:24:27.784
  • The third time, but he just kept saying the same thing.
  • 00:24:27.784 --> 00:24:30.153
  • And after she asked him for the third time in front of all these
  • 00:24:30.153 --> 00:24:32.889
  • People, he kind of lost it.
  • 00:24:32.889 --> 00:24:34.257
  • And he said, "i don't know why."
  • 00:24:34.257 --> 00:24:38.194
  • She said, "i smiled and i said, 'that's right.
  • 00:24:38.194 --> 00:24:42.299
  • We don't know why.'"
  • 00:24:42.299 --> 00:24:44.834
  • And then she sat down.
  • 00:24:44.834 --> 00:24:46.937
  • In 2009, her oldest daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of
  • 00:24:46.937 --> 00:24:51.074
  • Breast cancer.
  • 00:24:51.074 --> 00:24:52.409
  • Six months later, 2010, she passed away.
  • 00:24:52.409 --> 00:24:56.713
  • That same year, later that same year in 2010, she and tom were
  • 00:24:56.713 --> 00:25:00.483
  • With some friends in the neighborhood and the friends
  • 00:25:00.483 --> 00:25:02.552
  • Invited them to visit what they called the rock and roll church.
  • 00:25:02.552 --> 00:25:06.923
  • And so mary ann and tom came to north point for the first time
  • 00:25:06.923 --> 00:25:10.527
  • And they've been coming ever since.
  • 00:25:10.527 --> 00:25:14.364
  • In march of 2020, tom passed away in the middle of covid.
  • 00:25:14.364 --> 00:25:18.935
  • They celebrated his life in their garage.
  • 00:25:18.935 --> 00:25:23.406
  • Mary ann volunteers as a restore mentor at
  • 00:25:23.406 --> 00:25:26.743
  • North point community church.
  • 00:25:26.743 --> 00:25:29.045
  • And what she does as a restore mentor is she meets people who
  • 00:25:29.045 --> 00:25:31.681
  • Are under the circumstances and she helps them restore their
  • 00:25:31.681 --> 00:25:34.451
  • Faith and she reminds them from her own life and her own story,
  • 00:25:34.451 --> 00:25:38.555
  • She reminds them you don't have to explain the unexplainable to
  • 00:25:38.555 --> 00:25:43.493
  • Follow jesus and you don't have to find a reason.
  • 00:25:43.493 --> 00:25:47.364
  • You don't have to find a reason for--a reason for all
  • 00:25:47.364 --> 00:25:50.533
  • The randomness in life in order to follow jesus.
  • 00:25:50.533 --> 00:25:54.871
  • She reminds them that doubt and questions are just part of the
  • 00:25:54.871 --> 00:25:59.009
  • Journey and that you bring your doubts with you and you bring
  • 00:25:59.009 --> 00:26:02.045
  • Your questions with you and some of your questions will get
  • 00:26:02.045 --> 00:26:05.148
  • Answered and some of your questions won't ever get
  • 00:26:05.148 --> 00:26:06.683
  • Answered and that's okay.
  • 00:26:06.683 --> 00:26:08.652
  • You can continue to trust and to follow and to believe.
  • 00:26:08.652 --> 00:26:12.022
  • Doubt, this is what's amazing about the story of lazarus.
  • 00:26:12.022 --> 00:26:14.824
  • This is what's amazing about the story of john the baptist.
  • 00:26:14.824 --> 00:26:17.360
  • And there are other stories scattered through the gospels.
  • 00:26:17.360 --> 00:26:19.562
  • Doubt is baked into the story of our faith.
  • 00:26:19.562 --> 00:26:23.867
  • You're in the story.
  • 00:26:23.867 --> 00:26:25.669
  • It is common, it's normal, it's acceptable.
  • 00:26:25.669 --> 00:26:29.205
  • It is not offensive to your heavenly father because even
  • 00:26:29.205 --> 00:26:32.909
  • Jesus acknowledged: "you may stumble over me," he said.
  • 00:26:32.909 --> 00:26:41.484
  • And if jesus's favorites weren't immune, i'm not immune either
  • 00:26:41.484 --> 00:26:46.556
  • And neither are you.
  • 00:26:46.556 --> 00:26:47.924
  • He loved them and he loves you and he invites you.
  • 00:26:47.924 --> 00:26:49.459
  • In fact, he said, "all the weary and heavy laden, i want you to
  • 00:26:49.459 --> 00:26:52.028
  • Come to me, and some of you weary and heavy laden, i'm gonna
  • 00:26:52.028 --> 00:26:55.365
  • Lift the burden for others of you.
  • 00:26:55.365 --> 00:26:56.733
  • You're gonna endure the burden and i'm gonna give you the
  • 00:26:56.733 --> 00:26:58.601
  • Strength to endure the burden.
  • 00:26:58.601 --> 00:27:00.003
  • And even if you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, i
  • 00:27:00.003 --> 00:27:03.440
  • Am with you, my rod and my staff will comfort you and you do not
  • 00:27:03.440 --> 00:27:06.910
  • Need to be afraid because i am with you.
  • 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:09.979
  • And i'm offering you hope that touches down in this life
  • 00:27:09.979 --> 00:27:14.651
  • Because i'm offering hope that extends into the life to come."
  • 00:27:14.651 --> 00:27:21.391
  • Because jesus promised and illustrated eternal life.
  • 00:27:21.391 --> 00:27:27.497
  • The book ends aren't here.
  • 00:27:27.497 --> 00:27:29.299
  • The book ends are eternity.
  • 00:27:29.299 --> 00:27:32.869
  • And so you can trust and you can obey and you can follow and you
  • 00:27:32.869 --> 00:27:37.640
  • Can bring your doubts and your questions with you.
  • 00:27:37.640 --> 00:27:41.244
  • You don't have to stumble away because god doesn't act the way
  • 00:27:41.244 --> 00:27:46.616
  • You think god should act.
  • 00:27:46.616 --> 00:27:49.352
  • Andy: hey everybody, thank you so much for tuning in.
  • 00:27:50.553 --> 00:27:52.589
  • If you'd like to watch this episode again or share it with a
  • 00:27:52.589 --> 00:27:55.425
  • Friend, head on over to the website at the bottom of
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  • The screen.
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  • The website is the best place for you to find other "your
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  • Move" episodes, access additional resources, and learn
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  • More about our mission to engage culture with the teaching of
  • 00:28:04.267 --> 00:28:07.570
  • Jesus because we're convinced following jesus will make your
  • 00:28:07.570 --> 00:28:10.540
  • Life better and make the world a better place,
  • 00:28:10.540 --> 00:28:13.376
  • And now it's your move.
  • 00:28:13.376 --> 00:28:21.818
  • ...
  • 00:28:25.054 --> 00:28:25.054