WEBVTT
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Let me uh pray more get started here.
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God, thank you for this day.
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Thank you for how you provide every every day.
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Um thank you for this podcast and uh just pray that maybe someone this week or down the road uh will hear this and uh um just hear your voice through it and just thank you for the Holy Spirit working through us today.
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Um just can continue to guide and lead us and thank you for this great company in Jesus' name.
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Amen.
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Amen.
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Okay.
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What do we need to change about what I did?
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You won't be able to show the video, of course.
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Oh, right.
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So we can just talk about it.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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Okay.
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Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Solid Start, a podcast designed to get your week off to a solid start by focusing on life from God's perspective.
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Let me just say that it's a good day to start a good week.
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I'm Greg Reed, life coach at Merrill Bros up in Cochemu, Indiana, joined by my co-host Brian Herzog.
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Brian, good morning to you.
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Good morning, Greg.
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Hey, happy Monday.
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Yep, it's probably the fastest weekend I've ever had in my life.
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The fastest weekend in recorded history.
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It just flew by.
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My goodness.
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Well, did you go do anything that was fun that over the weekend that made it go so fast?
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Um not really.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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I mean, we just got just cleaning up the yard and just getting, you know, with my son moving out, there's a lot to do in the house.
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And we're like, there's a big space here now.
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What do we do with this space?
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And probably an emotional space too that's empty, right?
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That has to be.
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It hit me hard this weekend.
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Yeah.
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He's been with us forever.
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And you know, we're moving out.
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And um with him moving out, we've had to um rearrange, you know, like the spaces that he occupied with his computers or his, you know, his bedroom and those kind of things.
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And I I don't like it.
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Yeah.
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I'm just being honest.
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I love it for him.
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Sure, it's great.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Being married and and uh starting a new life with his wife and all of that is the best ever, but for the parents.
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I remember my uh when I f went to school for the very first to college for the very first year, uh my mom said you would have thought somebody died at our house.
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Because my for my dad, we were really close.
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And so even though I was coming back, it's I was gone.
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So there was that empty space.
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And uh so it was it was hard.
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It is hard for parents who have kids growing up, just yeah, get ready.
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That's right.
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Get ready for the net that next stage.
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And now my wife and I have been in empty nest for a long time, and uh and we love it.
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I mean, it's nice and quiet.
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It's great when the grandkids come over and there's noise and there's distraction and all that, but it's also nice when it's quiet.
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We'll just look at each other and say, Do you hear that?
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Oh, wait, it's there's no sound.
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So there it's it's the good news and the bad news.
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Yeah.
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But uh yeah, you know, I couldn't help but be uh distracted over the weekend by uh just the tragedy in Nepal and just trying to comprehend that uh what happened and why why those kinds of things happened.
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And uh a lot of times people say, you know, hey, where's God when all that stuff's going on?
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Why didn't he stop that?
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And uh it reminded me that decades ago somebody recommended that I read a book by Philip Yancey called Where's God When It Hurts?
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And I just thought that was such a great title because I wanted to know the answer.
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Like, okay, God, where are you when those kinds of things are happening?
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And so it was uh it's been so helpful for me all these uh years of pastoral ministry to have that perspective of uh where's God when it hurts.
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So I wanted to I wanted to read just a little uh excerpt from uh one of his pages, a couple of paragraphs, because I think it kind of captures uh what he believes is the answer to that question, where's God when it hurts?
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So he talks about what can God use to speak loudly enough so we'll pay attention.
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What will convince us that this earth is not running the way God's creation is supposed to run?
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Man, that's uh just so true, isn't it?
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That it's like that, you know, to watch that video and to watch that coverage on the news and to think, man, just entire towns that were streets became rivers.
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And I didn't realize that Nepal uh is home to eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, including the famous one, Mount Everest.
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Mount Everest.
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And so when that, I guess a glacier, is that what you understand?
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A glacier kind of came down the side of the mountain, dammed up a river.
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Broke off, and then broke off and pushed the water from it.
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And then just pushed everything, debris and all that stuff through through all those incredible, incredibly devastated towns now.
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And so he talks about that pain is God's megaphone.
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In other words, it's the way that he gets our attention.
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There was a guy named C.
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S.
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Lewis who uh said very famously now that God whispers to us in our pleasure, but he shouts to us in our pain.
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And so that's kind of what C.S.
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Lewis uh is talking about in that quote, but what Philip Yancey goes on to say, uh, pain.
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That's God's megaphone.
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It can drive me away from him, and I can hate God for allowing such misery.
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Or, on the other hand, it can drive me to him, and I can believe him when he says this world's not all there is, and take the chance that he is making a perfect place for those who follow him on this often pain-wracked earth.
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And so, you know, as I've tried to help families understand that in the midst of suffering and death, it's like pain and suffering are the flashing lights uh that alert us to something's wrong, almost like on your truck or car dashboard.
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You know, when those lights go off, that's just saying, hey, you've got a problem, and you can you know you could get a hammer, I guess, and smash your dashboard and or put duct tape over it and say, okay, the, you know, but the lights are just the light's not the problem.
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It's the light's the indicator that something's wrong.
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And so I think that's what Philip Yancey is trying to get at is that you know, God's trying to help us to see that something's wrong with a world of wars and violence and insults and tsunamis and you know all the things that have happened in Nepal.
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Um, that's not God's design.
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So, what came to your mind as you thought about all and saw that devastation, and how did you try to process that?
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I can ask it differently for that.
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No, no, that's fine.
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That's fine.
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When I first started seeing the videos coming out, um I didn't know what to think, to be honest with you.
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I'm like, what is happening?
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Where is this happening?
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Uh, because you see little quick reels, right, that come out on Facebook and things that and YouTube that um I I I didn't understand what was happening.
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And then I started seeing more and more videos of people running, yeah, and then people going into homes, and then the home just gets wiped out.
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And honestly, like your heart just breaks because you just witnessed travesty.
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Yes.
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And um, and we have to be careful sometimes too, because we can gloss over that and like, oh man, that whole town got wiped out.
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Um, but the lives that were altered, the lives that were lost, and they're still counting what they're over 4,000 now.
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Yeah, that are still missing, I think.
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Still missing, yeah, right.
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Yeah, that is.
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Unbelievable.
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Yeah, it's unbelievable.
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My heart just breaks.
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And I'm glad you spoke about this this morning because we have our own little lives and things that go on in our lives that were like, oh, this is tough, you know.
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But when something like that happens, it it shakes the world.
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Right.
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Right.
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And so I know there are a lot of people out there asking that question.
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Yeah, like, where is God in all of this?
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Yeah, and that's really what came to me over the weekend.
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I was planning on doing something else, and I then it's just like late on Friday night, it's like God said, Hey, you've got to, you need to address this because this is something that, you know, I I uh have to wrestle with like everybody else.
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You know, where is God?
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When the uh I had my uh grandson who told me that one of the kids that his uh one of his classmates that his mom died last week.
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And uh I'm sure she's I'm sure she's very young because he's like he's a uh freshman in high school.
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And so like how does a kid how does a kid handle that and he's a freshman in high school?
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Um so those kinds of things are just hard to really and so it makes me think that that, hey, what's you know, because it talks about that pain's a megaphone that something's wrong.
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And so then that makes me think, okay, so what's wrong?
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Um well if we if we read the Bible's story, it's really that there's this spirit of independence from God that started with Adam and Eve, and that they determined that life could be better if they were in charge.
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And since that time, we're all born.
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I am, I'm born with that, just ask my wife, who reminds me occasionally.
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It's like, hey, I think that life's supposed to be about me, and it's and it's not.
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And so I think that spirit of independence is uh is just evidence that then God says, okay, once that decision was made by Adam and Eve, then not only did Adam and Eve start the process of dying, but the world got kind of tilted off its axis.
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And so the world's just not running the way God intended.
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I mean, even in the book of Romans, Paul says that creation groans.
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In other words, even creation is saying, ah, something's wrong with me.
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Something's wrong with the condition of this planet.
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And I think that things like what happened in Apol and other natural disasters are just evidence that something's wrong, and one day God is going to fix all of that.
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And one day there'll be a brand new heaven and brand new earth.
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Yes, amen.
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And so I think that uh oh you got John 36.
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So I thought, okay, what so what's the cure for the disease?
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If we have this disease called sin, and if we say how to what's is there a cure for that?
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Uh and I would love for you to uh to read maybe one of the most famous verses in all of the Bible, other than possibly the 23rd Psalm, and that's John 3, 16.
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For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
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You know, as every time I look at that verse, I think there's really two sides of the equation.
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There's God's part and there's my part.
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So it uh it he talks about the fact that God loved and so God gave.
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Because he loved the world so much he couldn't stand to see the world separated from him, and so he gave his one and only son.
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And then then there's our part, then there's the we part is that we have the choice to believe.
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He says, Whoever believes in him, in other words, whoever places their trust in him, whoever says, I can never get to heaven on my own, I can never live this best life possible on my own.
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I desperately need help.
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And then once we make that decision, then he says, we live.
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And it starts here on this earth, but eternal life gets planted inside of us.
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But then when we take our last breath, then we get to live the best life possible because forever and ever.
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Each one of us is gonna live forever.
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We're all gonna live forever.
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That's right.
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I just want people to understand that you're you're gonna live forever.
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Yeah, you're either gonna live in one place or the other.
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Yeah.
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And that's what it's all about, and that's why this is kind of a serious message today.
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Yeah.
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Right.
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Right?
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If you're listening to this, you're not just gonna die and that's it.
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Yeah.
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And there are people that think, I mean, I talk to those people all the time.
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Well, when it's you know, when it's over, I'm just worm food and it's oh, it's it's done.
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But that's not the verdict of scripture or reality.
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Even think about the Egyptians.
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Even they, you know, why did they put all that stuff in those uh in those tombs with the mummies?
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Because they thought they were gonna live forever.
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You know, they put food and all kinds of cool stuff in there because they felt like there was an afterlife.
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How do you say there is an afterlife?
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There is an afterlife.
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Maybe not that what they were thinking of, but uh yeah, you will live forever.
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Yeah.
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Either with, you know, um basically any one of two locations, right?
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We get yes.
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Yeah.
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So that's why this does make such a uh a difference today.
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And that's and that's kind of what prompted me to uh to think of this uh John 3.16 challenge.
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And it's really to take out, if you're listening to this uh podcast, I would uh encourage you, Brian.
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I would love for you to, you know, one time each day, take three minutes and sixteen seconds.
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And just if you don't have that verse memorized, if you need to look it up, you can Google it.
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I'm sure you could YouTube it and they could uh uh play it for you.
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But just the idea that we can take three minutes and sixteen seconds um to recognize that uh that we need help to say, what's this, what's this say about God?
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What's it say about you, and what's it say about the gift that he gave you?
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Um Brian, when was the you may not have been this verse, John 3 16, um, but uh you were, I think you said a child, right?
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When you began to understand that God gave us a gift and you couldn't figure this out on your own.
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Yeah.
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Um just around seven or eight.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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I think I would I was baptized when I was twelve, and I think that's the first time.
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And then when I was nineteen, it really became even more clear.
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Uh it's like, wow, I I am in desperate need of a savior.
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I'm in desperate need because I can't pull this life off on my own.
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So that's our uh that's our challenge for you this week, the John 3.16 challenge.
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So whether you believed it for years or you're just beginning to explore it, I we would love for you to talk to God about, God, how does this verse, John 3.16, how does this apply to my life?
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And if you've never said yes to this incredible gift of eternal life, um, Brian, what would what would you suggest that a person, how could they take a next step if they're saying, hey, I I'm ready to take a next step.
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What what would you recommend?
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Yeah, um the first one is you can reach out to us, go to Merrillbrose.com, click on the prayer tab at the top of the page.
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But if you don't want to do that, I would say seek out someone close to you, someone near you.
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There are a lot of great churches out there, a lot of amazing pastors who would love to have that conversation with you.
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You're not sure where to go or how to start that.
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Um, we can help with that as well.
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Yeah.
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And they've got to be pe and maybe just right now in the privacy of your uh car, your home, uh, your work location, you're just saying, God, I I believe what you said.
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You love me so much that you gave your son.
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I believe that, and I want to place my trust in you, and I accept your free gift of eternal life.
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That can be the beginning of this best life ever.
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So we challenge you today, um, but we love you, we care about you.
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We want you to be able to take a next step.
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If you've been following Jesus for a long time, we're excited about that.
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We want you to keep digging into his word, keep making a difference in your local church, keep loving God and loving people as a way to be able to live this out because we do get to live the best life possible.
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Okay, so what uh we talked about the Nepal thing, which uh I can do the uh public school, homeschool, the teachers administration where kids attend.
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What do you want to do about it?
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Forward expansion, want to do anything with that?
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No, we're not gonna say anything about it.
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We we can comment on it, we we just can have name names.
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Right, yeah, okay.
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Just our expansion across the country.
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Yeah.
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Okay.
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Okay, I tell you what, I'll start with those two, and then uh I'll have you to uh kind of wrap up and just as a reminder kind of of the message that got you know, you know, John 3 16, like what you did today.
00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:54.559
So is that okay?
00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:56.240
And thanks for doing that each time.
00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.160
It's so great to have you to be able to be that final final prayer person.
00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.000
So I appreciate that very much.
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.160
Father, son, and Holy Spirit.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.599
We wait a minute.
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:08.880
We we need to introduce the prayer.
00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:09.200
That's right.
00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:10.799
Sorry, sorry, didn't I cut you?
00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:11.759
Yeah, that's right.
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:24.559
Brian, I think the best thing that uh we could do this morning is just take some time to pray in light of the events of the world and the events going on in the lives of the people that are part of our company.
00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.559
So let me uh let me go ahead and start uh if that's okay.
00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:39.200
Eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we just pause in wonder and awe at who you are.
00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:55.279
And thank you so much for the life that you've given us to live and for the privilege of being a part of uh an incredible company that we get to work with that uh is located inside of an amazing country, the United States of America.
00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:09.519
So thank you for this country, thanks for the freedoms that we have, and we uh we give you thanks for the freedom to be able to teach our children, whether it's in a public arena, a private setting, or even in home school.
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:15.680
We just think of all the teachers and administrators that impact kids so much.
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:35.839
And we could also name coaches and so many people whose lives are impacted by kids that many of them come to school every day with so many burdens and so many issues and so much anxiety and so much hurt and pain that they get to be surrounded by people who love them.
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.599
So we think about the teachers that are part of this company, the administrators, the school board members.
00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:55.200
We're just so grateful for everyone that has a part in the education of these precious children and uh emerging adults that they get to invest their lives in a way that's uh beyond imagination.
00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:03.440
And we're also grateful for all the opportunities that you're opening up, the doors you're opening up uh to Merrill Brothers around the country.
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:11.440
We pray for favor with expansion that we might continue to be the solution for so many communities.
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:17.440
Um, and our technology and the things that have been developed would really help to make this world a better place.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:25.519
And so we're just so grateful for uh this day and the privilege we have to pray to a God who hears and answers prayer.
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:47.200
Father, as we hear about the devastation in Nepal, we just pray for the lives that were lost, the families that have been devastated, and um just the destruction that has happened there, God.
00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:54.880
We just pray, God, that you would uh comfort that entire location.
00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:00.079
And um it was just a shock that was kind of heard around the world.
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:05.200
We all just watch the videos and things and we all ask, like, how can this happen?
00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:16.720
And God, there are a lot of things in our own lives that we have experienced or we're going to experience, and we're gonna ask that same question, like, God, how can you allow this to happen?
00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:28.079
And as we heard today, God, it's just your megaphone saying this world is broken, this world is broken, and I am calling out to you that it's time to wake up.
00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:35.680
It's time to wake up, it's time to get your heart right, it's time to set your eyes on Jesus.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:47.839
And so, God, if there are if there's someone listening to this podcast right now, um and their heart is not set on you, they have not given their life to you fully, God.
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:50.400
I'm just praying that they make that decision right now.
00:21:50.799 --> 00:22:00.400
And if they have questions, if they're thinking about it, I pray that they would uh reach out to someone, God, anyone that can help answer those questions.
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:05.200
Um because that little nudge that they're feeling, that is your voice.
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.200
That is you calling them.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.319
And I'm just praying that that they would answer that call.
00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:18.960
There, yes, there's fear, there's there's anxiety and things that are they're involved in that, but what what's on the other side, right?
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:26.319
There's a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, a lot of fear, and even more anxiety on the other side if we don't listen to that.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:27.039
That's right.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:27.839
Yes, God.
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:38.720
So, God, I'm praying that if that if that is on our hearts, God, that we would make that move, make that decision, and just say, I can't do this on my own anymore.
00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:40.160
I give it all to you.
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.960
I need you, Jesus, in my heart.
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:48.240
I need you in my life, and I am going to live my life dedicated to you.
00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:51.920
That's what it's all about.
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:58.640
God, so we're just thankful that you are a God that loves us so much.
00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:08.480
That gave you gave your only son to die for us so that we could one day live with you in eternity.
00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:08.960
Yes.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:09.759
God, thank you.
00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:10.960
Thank you for that, God.
00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.440
And it's in your son's name we pray.
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:14.319
Amen.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:15.039
Amen.
00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:15.839
Amen.
00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:17.519
Thanks so much, Brian.
00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:26.160
So uh one final reminder if uh someone wants to get a hold of us so that we can pray for them, uh remind them again of how to do that.
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:31.440
Go to Merrill Bros.com, click on that prayer tab at the top of the page, which so many have done.
00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:31.920
I'm telling you.
00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:33.440
It's happening, right?
00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:34.160
It's happening.
00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:34.640
Yeah.
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:41.119
Um yeah, just fill out that little um contact form there, and we can get in touch with you, or we can just pray for you.
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:43.119
Just let us know how we can pray for you.
00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.160
Well, thanks again for joining us for Solid Start.
00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.640
We want you to keep growing, keep encouraging others, and keep making a difference.
00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:51.839
Take care.
00:00:00.239 --> 00:00:02.479
Let me uh pray more get started here.
00:00:02.799 --> 00:00:03.919
God, thank you for this day.
00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:07.200
Thank you for how you provide every every day.
00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:24.000
Um thank you for this podcast and uh just pray that maybe someone this week or down the road uh will hear this and uh um just hear your voice through it and just thank you for the Holy Spirit working through us today.
00:00:24.239 --> 00:00:29.440
Um just can continue to guide and lead us and thank you for this great company in Jesus' name.
00:00:29.600 --> 00:00:30.000
Amen.
00:00:30.480 --> 00:00:30.879
Amen.
00:00:35.600 --> 00:00:35.920
Okay.
00:00:37.039 --> 00:00:39.600
What do we need to change about what I did?
00:00:40.000 --> 00:00:41.679
You won't be able to show the video, of course.
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Oh, right.
00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:43.840
So we can just talk about it.
00:00:44.159 --> 00:00:44.399
Yeah.
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Okay.
00:00:46.159 --> 00:00:46.479
Okay.
00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:59.039
Well, hello everyone, and welcome to another episode of Solid Start, a podcast designed to get your week off to a solid start by focusing on life from God's perspective.
00:00:59.200 --> 00:01:02.159
Let me just say that it's a good day to start a good week.
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I'm Greg Reed, life coach at Merrill Bros up in Cochemu, Indiana, joined by my co-host Brian Herzog.
00:01:08.400 --> 00:01:09.920
Brian, good morning to you.
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Good morning, Greg.
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Hey, happy Monday.
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Yep, it's probably the fastest weekend I've ever had in my life.
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The fastest weekend in recorded history.
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It just flew by.
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My goodness.
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Well, did you go do anything that was fun that over the weekend that made it go so fast?
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Um not really.
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Okay.
00:01:28.319 --> 00:01:28.560
Yeah.
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I mean, we just got just cleaning up the yard and just getting, you know, with my son moving out, there's a lot to do in the house.
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And we're like, there's a big space here now.
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What do we do with this space?
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And probably an emotional space too that's empty, right?
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That has to be.
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It hit me hard this weekend.
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Yeah.
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He's been with us forever.
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And you know, we're moving out.
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And um with him moving out, we've had to um rearrange, you know, like the spaces that he occupied with his computers or his, you know, his bedroom and those kind of things.
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And I I don't like it.
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Yeah.
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I'm just being honest.
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I love it for him.
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Sure, it's great.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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Being married and and uh starting a new life with his wife and all of that is the best ever, but for the parents.
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I remember my uh when I f went to school for the very first to college for the very first year, uh my mom said you would have thought somebody died at our house.
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Because my for my dad, we were really close.
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And so even though I was coming back, it's I was gone.
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So there was that empty space.
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And uh so it was it was hard.
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It is hard for parents who have kids growing up, just yeah, get ready.
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That's right.
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Get ready for the net that next stage.
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And now my wife and I have been in empty nest for a long time, and uh and we love it.
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I mean, it's nice and quiet.
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It's great when the grandkids come over and there's noise and there's distraction and all that, but it's also nice when it's quiet.
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We'll just look at each other and say, Do you hear that?
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Oh, wait, it's there's no sound.
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So there it's it's the good news and the bad news.
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Yeah.
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But uh yeah, you know, I couldn't help but be uh distracted over the weekend by uh just the tragedy in Nepal and just trying to comprehend that uh what happened and why why those kinds of things happened.
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And uh a lot of times people say, you know, hey, where's God when all that stuff's going on?
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Why didn't he stop that?
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And uh it reminded me that decades ago somebody recommended that I read a book by Philip Yancey called Where's God When It Hurts?
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And I just thought that was such a great title because I wanted to know the answer.
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Like, okay, God, where are you when those kinds of things are happening?
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And so it was uh it's been so helpful for me all these uh years of pastoral ministry to have that perspective of uh where's God when it hurts.
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So I wanted to I wanted to read just a little uh excerpt from uh one of his pages, a couple of paragraphs, because I think it kind of captures uh what he believes is the answer to that question, where's God when it hurts?
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So he talks about what can God use to speak loudly enough so we'll pay attention.
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What will convince us that this earth is not running the way God's creation is supposed to run?
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Man, that's uh just so true, isn't it?
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That it's like that, you know, to watch that video and to watch that coverage on the news and to think, man, just entire towns that were streets became rivers.
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And I didn't realize that Nepal uh is home to eight of the ten highest mountains in the world, including the famous one, Mount Everest.
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Mount Everest.
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And so when that, I guess a glacier, is that what you understand?
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A glacier kind of came down the side of the mountain, dammed up a river.
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Broke off, and then broke off and pushed the water from it.
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And then just pushed everything, debris and all that stuff through through all those incredible, incredibly devastated towns now.
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And so he talks about that pain is God's megaphone.
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In other words, it's the way that he gets our attention.
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There was a guy named C.
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S.
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Lewis who uh said very famously now that God whispers to us in our pleasure, but he shouts to us in our pain.
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And so that's kind of what C.S.
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Lewis uh is talking about in that quote, but what Philip Yancey goes on to say, uh, pain.
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That's God's megaphone.
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It can drive me away from him, and I can hate God for allowing such misery.
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Or, on the other hand, it can drive me to him, and I can believe him when he says this world's not all there is, and take the chance that he is making a perfect place for those who follow him on this often pain-wracked earth.
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And so, you know, as I've tried to help families understand that in the midst of suffering and death, it's like pain and suffering are the flashing lights uh that alert us to something's wrong, almost like on your truck or car dashboard.
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You know, when those lights go off, that's just saying, hey, you've got a problem, and you can you know you could get a hammer, I guess, and smash your dashboard and or put duct tape over it and say, okay, the, you know, but the lights are just the light's not the problem.
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It's the light's the indicator that something's wrong.
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And so I think that's what Philip Yancey is trying to get at is that you know, God's trying to help us to see that something's wrong with a world of wars and violence and insults and tsunamis and you know all the things that have happened in Nepal.
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Um, that's not God's design.
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So, what came to your mind as you thought about all and saw that devastation, and how did you try to process that?
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I can ask it differently for that.
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No, no, that's fine.
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That's fine.
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When I first started seeing the videos coming out, um I didn't know what to think, to be honest with you.
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I'm like, what is happening?
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Where is this happening?
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Uh, because you see little quick reels, right, that come out on Facebook and things that and YouTube that um I I I didn't understand what was happening.
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And then I started seeing more and more videos of people running, yeah, and then people going into homes, and then the home just gets wiped out.
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And honestly, like your heart just breaks because you just witnessed travesty.
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Yes.
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And um, and we have to be careful sometimes too, because we can gloss over that and like, oh man, that whole town got wiped out.
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Um, but the lives that were altered, the lives that were lost, and they're still counting what they're over 4,000 now.
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Yeah, that are still missing, I think.
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Still missing, yeah, right.
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Yeah, that is.
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Unbelievable.
00:08:02.959 --> 00:08:03.839
Yeah, it's unbelievable.
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My heart just breaks.
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And I'm glad you spoke about this this morning because we have our own little lives and things that go on in our lives that were like, oh, this is tough, you know.
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But when something like that happens, it it shakes the world.
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Right.
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Right.
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And so I know there are a lot of people out there asking that question.
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Yeah, like, where is God in all of this?
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Yeah, and that's really what came to me over the weekend.
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I was planning on doing something else, and I then it's just like late on Friday night, it's like God said, Hey, you've got to, you need to address this because this is something that, you know, I I uh have to wrestle with like everybody else.
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You know, where is God?
00:08:42.399 --> 00:08:52.240
When the uh I had my uh grandson who told me that one of the kids that his uh one of his classmates that his mom died last week.
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And uh I'm sure she's I'm sure she's very young because he's like he's a uh freshman in high school.
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And so like how does a kid how does a kid handle that and he's a freshman in high school?
00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:12.799
Um so those kinds of things are just hard to really and so it makes me think that that, hey, what's you know, because it talks about that pain's a megaphone that something's wrong.
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And so then that makes me think, okay, so what's wrong?
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Um well if we if we read the Bible's story, it's really that there's this spirit of independence from God that started with Adam and Eve, and that they determined that life could be better if they were in charge.
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And since that time, we're all born.
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I am, I'm born with that, just ask my wife, who reminds me occasionally.
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It's like, hey, I think that life's supposed to be about me, and it's and it's not.
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And so I think that spirit of independence is uh is just evidence that then God says, okay, once that decision was made by Adam and Eve, then not only did Adam and Eve start the process of dying, but the world got kind of tilted off its axis.
00:10:03.919 --> 00:10:07.120
And so the world's just not running the way God intended.
00:10:07.279 --> 00:10:11.759
I mean, even in the book of Romans, Paul says that creation groans.
00:10:12.080 --> 00:10:16.320
In other words, even creation is saying, ah, something's wrong with me.
00:10:16.559 --> 00:10:19.519
Something's wrong with the condition of this planet.
00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:31.279
And I think that things like what happened in Apol and other natural disasters are just evidence that something's wrong, and one day God is going to fix all of that.
00:10:31.360 --> 00:10:34.320
And one day there'll be a brand new heaven and brand new earth.
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Yes, amen.
00:10:36.480 --> 00:10:43.759
And so I think that uh oh you got John 36.
00:10:46.320 --> 00:10:49.840
So I thought, okay, what so what's the cure for the disease?
00:10:50.000 --> 00:10:55.840
If we have this disease called sin, and if we say how to what's is there a cure for that?
00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:07.120
Uh and I would love for you to uh to read maybe one of the most famous verses in all of the Bible, other than possibly the 23rd Psalm, and that's John 3, 16.
00:11:08.000 --> 00:11:18.000
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
00:11:19.679 --> 00:11:24.559
You know, as every time I look at that verse, I think there's really two sides of the equation.
00:11:24.720 --> 00:11:27.279
There's God's part and there's my part.
00:11:27.679 --> 00:11:33.200
So it uh it he talks about the fact that God loved and so God gave.
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Because he loved the world so much he couldn't stand to see the world separated from him, and so he gave his one and only son.
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And then then there's our part, then there's the we part is that we have the choice to believe.
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He says, Whoever believes in him, in other words, whoever places their trust in him, whoever says, I can never get to heaven on my own, I can never live this best life possible on my own.
00:11:59.840 --> 00:12:01.360
I desperately need help.
00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:05.440
And then once we make that decision, then he says, we live.
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And it starts here on this earth, but eternal life gets planted inside of us.
00:12:11.360 --> 00:12:18.080
But then when we take our last breath, then we get to live the best life possible because forever and ever.
00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:20.159
Each one of us is gonna live forever.
00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:21.679
We're all gonna live forever.
00:12:22.000 --> 00:12:22.320
That's right.
00:12:22.720 --> 00:12:25.600
I just want people to understand that you're you're gonna live forever.
00:12:25.679 --> 00:12:28.480
Yeah, you're either gonna live in one place or the other.
00:12:28.639 --> 00:12:29.200
Yeah.
00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.879
And that's what it's all about, and that's why this is kind of a serious message today.
00:12:33.120 --> 00:12:33.279
Yeah.
00:12:33.360 --> 00:12:33.600
Right.
00:12:33.759 --> 00:12:34.000
Right?
00:12:34.159 --> 00:12:37.440
If you're listening to this, you're not just gonna die and that's it.
00:12:37.600 --> 00:12:38.000
Yeah.
00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.279
And there are people that think, I mean, I talk to those people all the time.
00:12:41.519 --> 00:12:46.480
Well, when it's you know, when it's over, I'm just worm food and it's oh, it's it's done.
00:12:46.720 --> 00:12:49.759
But that's not the verdict of scripture or reality.
00:12:49.919 --> 00:12:51.679
Even think about the Egyptians.
00:12:51.840 --> 00:12:57.360
Even they, you know, why did they put all that stuff in those uh in those tombs with the mummies?
00:12:57.519 --> 00:12:58.960
Because they thought they were gonna live forever.
00:12:59.120 --> 00:13:05.039
You know, they put food and all kinds of cool stuff in there because they felt like there was an afterlife.
00:13:08.240 --> 00:13:11.120
How do you say there is an afterlife?
00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:12.000
There is an afterlife.
00:13:12.320 --> 00:13:17.200
Maybe not that what they were thinking of, but uh yeah, you will live forever.
00:13:17.279 --> 00:13:17.440
Yeah.
00:13:17.679 --> 00:13:22.960
Either with, you know, um basically any one of two locations, right?
00:13:23.200 --> 00:13:24.240
We get yes.
00:13:24.480 --> 00:13:24.879
Yeah.
00:13:25.279 --> 00:13:29.120
So that's why this does make such a uh a difference today.
00:13:29.200 --> 00:13:35.919
And that's and that's kind of what prompted me to uh to think of this uh John 3.16 challenge.
00:13:36.159 --> 00:13:42.559
And it's really to take out, if you're listening to this uh podcast, I would uh encourage you, Brian.
00:13:42.639 --> 00:13:48.720
I would love for you to, you know, one time each day, take three minutes and sixteen seconds.
00:13:48.960 --> 00:13:54.399
And just if you don't have that verse memorized, if you need to look it up, you can Google it.
00:13:54.559 --> 00:13:58.399
I'm sure you could YouTube it and they could uh uh play it for you.
00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:10.080
But just the idea that we can take three minutes and sixteen seconds um to recognize that uh that we need help to say, what's this, what's this say about God?
00:14:10.240 --> 00:14:15.600
What's it say about you, and what's it say about the gift that he gave you?
00:14:15.759 --> 00:14:24.799
Um Brian, when was the you may not have been this verse, John 3 16, um, but uh you were, I think you said a child, right?
00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:31.039
When you began to understand that God gave us a gift and you couldn't figure this out on your own.
00:14:31.279 --> 00:14:31.679
Yeah.
00:14:31.840 --> 00:14:34.320
Um just around seven or eight.
00:14:34.639 --> 00:14:34.799
Yeah.
00:14:35.039 --> 00:14:35.279
Okay.
00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:40.080
I think I would I was baptized when I was twelve, and I think that's the first time.
00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:44.720
And then when I was nineteen, it really became even more clear.
00:14:44.799 --> 00:14:49.200
Uh it's like, wow, I I am in desperate need of a savior.
00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:52.799
I'm in desperate need because I can't pull this life off on my own.
00:14:53.039 --> 00:14:58.639
So that's our uh that's our challenge for you this week, the John 3.16 challenge.
00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:12.320
So whether you believed it for years or you're just beginning to explore it, I we would love for you to talk to God about, God, how does this verse, John 3.16, how does this apply to my life?
00:15:12.399 --> 00:15:27.919
And if you've never said yes to this incredible gift of eternal life, um, Brian, what would what would you suggest that a person, how could they take a next step if they're saying, hey, I I'm ready to take a next step.
00:15:28.000 --> 00:15:29.360
What what would you recommend?
00:15:29.600 --> 00:15:35.679
Yeah, um the first one is you can reach out to us, go to Merrillbrose.com, click on the prayer tab at the top of the page.
00:15:35.759 --> 00:15:40.559
But if you don't want to do that, I would say seek out someone close to you, someone near you.
00:15:40.720 --> 00:15:46.720
There are a lot of great churches out there, a lot of amazing pastors who would love to have that conversation with you.
00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:50.000
You're not sure where to go or how to start that.
00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:51.840
Um, we can help with that as well.
00:15:52.240 --> 00:15:52.320
Yeah.
00:15:52.559 --> 00:16:04.720
And they've got to be pe and maybe just right now in the privacy of your uh car, your home, uh, your work location, you're just saying, God, I I believe what you said.
00:16:05.039 --> 00:16:07.679
You love me so much that you gave your son.
00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:15.440
I believe that, and I want to place my trust in you, and I accept your free gift of eternal life.
00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:19.279
That can be the beginning of this best life ever.
00:16:19.679 --> 00:16:24.399
So we challenge you today, um, but we love you, we care about you.
00:16:24.720 --> 00:16:26.879
We want you to be able to take a next step.
00:16:27.039 --> 00:16:31.360
If you've been following Jesus for a long time, we're excited about that.
00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:45.039
We want you to keep digging into his word, keep making a difference in your local church, keep loving God and loving people as a way to be able to live this out because we do get to live the best life possible.
00:16:53.919 --> 00:17:12.559
Okay, so what uh we talked about the Nepal thing, which uh I can do the uh public school, homeschool, the teachers administration where kids attend.
00:17:14.160 --> 00:17:15.519
What do you want to do about it?
00:17:17.200 --> 00:17:19.680
Forward expansion, want to do anything with that?
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:22.240
No, we're not gonna say anything about it.
00:17:23.920 --> 00:17:28.000
We we can comment on it, we we just can have name names.
00:17:28.240 --> 00:17:29.039
Right, yeah, okay.
00:17:29.359 --> 00:17:31.200
Just our expansion across the country.
00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:31.599
Yeah.
00:17:31.920 --> 00:17:32.240
Okay.
00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:53.200
Okay, I tell you what, I'll start with those two, and then uh I'll have you to uh kind of wrap up and just as a reminder kind of of the message that got you know, you know, John 3 16, like what you did today.
00:17:53.599 --> 00:17:54.559
So is that okay?
00:17:54.960 --> 00:17:56.240
And thanks for doing that each time.
00:17:56.319 --> 00:18:00.160
It's so great to have you to be able to be that final final prayer person.
00:18:00.240 --> 00:18:02.000
So I appreciate that very much.
00:18:04.400 --> 00:18:06.160
Father, son, and Holy Spirit.
00:18:06.240 --> 00:18:07.599
We wait a minute.
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:08.880
We we need to introduce the prayer.
00:18:08.960 --> 00:18:09.200
That's right.
00:18:09.519 --> 00:18:10.799
Sorry, sorry, didn't I cut you?
00:18:11.039 --> 00:18:11.759
Yeah, that's right.
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:24.559
Brian, I think the best thing that uh we could do this morning is just take some time to pray in light of the events of the world and the events going on in the lives of the people that are part of our company.
00:18:25.039 --> 00:18:28.559
So let me uh let me go ahead and start uh if that's okay.
00:18:30.640 --> 00:18:39.200
Eternal God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, we just pause in wonder and awe at who you are.
00:18:39.359 --> 00:18:55.279
And thank you so much for the life that you've given us to live and for the privilege of being a part of uh an incredible company that we get to work with that uh is located inside of an amazing country, the United States of America.
00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:09.519
So thank you for this country, thanks for the freedoms that we have, and we uh we give you thanks for the freedom to be able to teach our children, whether it's in a public arena, a private setting, or even in home school.
00:19:09.680 --> 00:19:15.680
We just think of all the teachers and administrators that impact kids so much.
00:19:15.839 --> 00:19:35.839
And we could also name coaches and so many people whose lives are impacted by kids that many of them come to school every day with so many burdens and so many issues and so much anxiety and so much hurt and pain that they get to be surrounded by people who love them.
00:19:36.000 --> 00:19:41.599
So we think about the teachers that are part of this company, the administrators, the school board members.
00:19:41.839 --> 00:19:55.200
We're just so grateful for everyone that has a part in the education of these precious children and uh emerging adults that they get to invest their lives in a way that's uh beyond imagination.
00:19:55.440 --> 00:20:03.440
And we're also grateful for all the opportunities that you're opening up, the doors you're opening up uh to Merrill Brothers around the country.
00:20:03.599 --> 00:20:11.440
We pray for favor with expansion that we might continue to be the solution for so many communities.
00:20:11.599 --> 00:20:17.440
Um, and our technology and the things that have been developed would really help to make this world a better place.
00:20:17.599 --> 00:20:25.519
And so we're just so grateful for uh this day and the privilege we have to pray to a God who hears and answers prayer.
00:20:26.240 --> 00:20:47.200
Father, as we hear about the devastation in Nepal, we just pray for the lives that were lost, the families that have been devastated, and um just the destruction that has happened there, God.
00:20:47.359 --> 00:20:54.880
We just pray, God, that you would uh comfort that entire location.
00:20:55.200 --> 00:21:00.079
And um it was just a shock that was kind of heard around the world.
00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:05.200
We all just watch the videos and things and we all ask, like, how can this happen?
00:21:07.119 --> 00:21:16.720
And God, there are a lot of things in our own lives that we have experienced or we're going to experience, and we're gonna ask that same question, like, God, how can you allow this to happen?
00:21:16.880 --> 00:21:28.079
And as we heard today, God, it's just your megaphone saying this world is broken, this world is broken, and I am calling out to you that it's time to wake up.
00:21:28.640 --> 00:21:35.680
It's time to wake up, it's time to get your heart right, it's time to set your eyes on Jesus.
00:21:36.000 --> 00:21:47.839
And so, God, if there are if there's someone listening to this podcast right now, um and their heart is not set on you, they have not given their life to you fully, God.
00:21:47.920 --> 00:21:50.400
I'm just praying that they make that decision right now.
00:21:50.799 --> 00:22:00.400
And if they have questions, if they're thinking about it, I pray that they would uh reach out to someone, God, anyone that can help answer those questions.
00:22:00.480 --> 00:22:05.200
Um because that little nudge that they're feeling, that is your voice.
00:22:05.519 --> 00:22:07.200
That is you calling them.
00:22:07.599 --> 00:22:10.319
And I'm just praying that that they would answer that call.
00:22:10.880 --> 00:22:18.960
There, yes, there's fear, there's there's anxiety and things that are they're involved in that, but what what's on the other side, right?
00:22:19.119 --> 00:22:26.319
There's a lot of pain, a lot of hurt, a lot of fear, and even more anxiety on the other side if we don't listen to that.
00:22:26.640 --> 00:22:27.039
That's right.
00:22:27.279 --> 00:22:27.839
Yes, God.
00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:38.720
So, God, I'm praying that if that if that is on our hearts, God, that we would make that move, make that decision, and just say, I can't do this on my own anymore.
00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:40.160
I give it all to you.
00:22:40.960 --> 00:22:42.960
I need you, Jesus, in my heart.
00:22:43.119 --> 00:22:48.240
I need you in my life, and I am going to live my life dedicated to you.
00:22:50.720 --> 00:22:51.920
That's what it's all about.
00:22:53.200 --> 00:22:58.640
God, so we're just thankful that you are a God that loves us so much.
00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:08.480
That gave you gave your only son to die for us so that we could one day live with you in eternity.
00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:08.960
Yes.
00:23:09.200 --> 00:23:09.759
God, thank you.
00:23:09.920 --> 00:23:10.960
Thank you for that, God.
00:23:11.359 --> 00:23:13.440
And it's in your son's name we pray.
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:14.319
Amen.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:15.039
Amen.
00:23:15.200 --> 00:23:15.839
Amen.
00:23:16.160 --> 00:23:17.519
Thanks so much, Brian.
00:23:17.759 --> 00:23:26.160
So uh one final reminder if uh someone wants to get a hold of us so that we can pray for them, uh remind them again of how to do that.
00:23:26.480 --> 00:23:31.440
Go to Merrill Bros.com, click on that prayer tab at the top of the page, which so many have done.
00:23:31.519 --> 00:23:31.920
I'm telling you.
00:23:32.880 --> 00:23:33.440
It's happening, right?
00:23:33.759 --> 00:23:34.160
It's happening.
00:23:34.240 --> 00:23:34.640
Yeah.
00:23:34.880 --> 00:23:41.119
Um yeah, just fill out that little um contact form there, and we can get in touch with you, or we can just pray for you.
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:43.119
Just let us know how we can pray for you.
00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:46.160
Well, thanks again for joining us for Solid Start.
00:23:46.319 --> 00:23:50.640
We want you to keep growing, keep encouraging others, and keep making a difference.
00:23:50.880 --> 00:23:51.839
Take care.
