WEBVTT 00:00:01.199 --> 00:00:06.040 What do you do when God flat out says no? You 00:00:06.040 --> 00:00:09.980 pray, you seek, you have faith, and yet He just 00:00:09.980 --> 00:00:14.199 says no. If that's you or someone you love, that's 00:00:14.199 --> 00:00:19.039 what we'll cover today. Welcome to this edition 00:00:19.039 --> 00:00:22.100 of Living on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are 00:00:22.100 --> 00:00:24.620 an international discipleship ministry devoted 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:27.320 to helping Christians worldwide live out their 00:00:27.320 --> 00:00:29.940 faith for the glory of God and the benefit of 00:00:29.940 --> 00:00:32.509 all people. Thanks for joining us today as Chip 00:00:32.509 --> 00:00:34.490 will share a really thought -provoking message 00:00:34.490 --> 00:00:37.170 focused on that question he just teased, what 00:00:37.170 --> 00:00:40.609 do you do when God says no? And this whole idea 00:00:40.609 --> 00:00:43.350 seems odd, right? After all, isn't our Heavenly 00:00:43.350 --> 00:00:46.270 Father supposed to answer all our prayers? How 00:00:46.270 --> 00:00:49.009 can a no be helpful to us? Well, stay with us 00:00:49.009 --> 00:00:51.469 as Chip opens up about his journey of receiving 00:00:51.469 --> 00:00:54.509 a no from God. Hear what God is teaching him 00:00:54.509 --> 00:00:57.070 through this experience right now and the unexpected 00:00:57.070 --> 00:00:59.929 ways God is blessing other areas of his life. 00:01:00.490 --> 00:01:02.570 Okay, if you have a Bible, go to 2 Corinthians 00:01:02.570 --> 00:01:06.049 chapter 12, beginning in verse 9, as we settle 00:01:06.049 --> 00:01:10.349 in for Chip's powerful message. What do you do 00:01:10.349 --> 00:01:13.609 when, whether it's a physical issue or a relational 00:01:13.609 --> 00:01:15.930 issue, emotional issue, or sometimes it's just 00:01:15.930 --> 00:01:19.290 finances or a job, you pray, you pray, you pray, 00:01:19.390 --> 00:01:23.890 and God says no. How do you respond? Now, I share 00:01:23.890 --> 00:01:25.870 that because I'm experiencing some of that right 00:01:25.870 --> 00:01:27.709 now, and I've experienced quite a bit of it in 00:01:27.709 --> 00:01:30.439 the last seven years. where God in a particular 00:01:30.439 --> 00:01:34.939 area of my life just keeps saying no. And so 00:01:34.939 --> 00:01:37.239 I've gone to where the Apostle Paul, he prayed 00:01:37.239 --> 00:01:40.340 three times. Paul has lots of faith, so the issue 00:01:40.340 --> 00:01:43.140 isn't faith. Paul loves God. He's being used 00:01:43.140 --> 00:01:46.000 by God. He's in the center of God's will, and 00:01:46.000 --> 00:01:49.400 he has some sort of physical issue. It's actually 00:01:49.400 --> 00:01:52.560 called a messenger from Satan. And he prays in 00:01:52.560 --> 00:01:56.019 faith once, twice, three times. The answer is 00:01:56.019 --> 00:02:00.700 no. But then he gets this, and he said to me, 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:03.840 My grace is sufficient for you, for power is 00:02:03.840 --> 00:02:06.959 perfected in weakness. Most gladly, therefore, 00:02:07.239 --> 00:02:10.400 I will rather boast about my weakness that the 00:02:10.400 --> 00:02:13.840 power of Christ may dwell in me. And that word 00:02:13.840 --> 00:02:16.259 dwell was really interesting. In the Old Testament, 00:02:16.319 --> 00:02:18.939 that word was used for when the tabernacle would 00:02:18.939 --> 00:02:21.819 move from place to place. It would be the manifestation 00:02:21.819 --> 00:02:25.180 of God's presence. And so the Apostle Paul says, 00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:29.139 God said no to me. But what he said yes to is 00:02:29.139 --> 00:02:33.500 I will give you grace, ability, endurance, strength 00:02:33.500 --> 00:02:37.439 in the midst of my no. I'm not going to change 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:41.080 your circumstance. The answer is no. You're not 00:02:41.080 --> 00:02:43.719 getting relief on this one, at least not right 00:02:43.719 --> 00:02:46.699 now. But my grace will give you all that you 00:02:46.699 --> 00:02:49.379 need. And then he says the reason is because 00:02:49.379 --> 00:02:53.159 power is perfected in weakness. It's in these 00:02:53.159 --> 00:02:56.810 times. that we are drawn so close because we 00:02:56.810 --> 00:02:59.210 hurt and we're frustrated. And at times we're 00:02:59.210 --> 00:03:02.210 angry and we've asked God and we're seeking him 00:03:02.210 --> 00:03:04.270 and we're not getting delivered out of them. 00:03:04.310 --> 00:03:07.530 God is going to deliver us through them. And 00:03:07.530 --> 00:03:09.629 then he goes on in the next verse with the therefore. 00:03:10.050 --> 00:03:13.430 Paul realizes, okay, this is the game plan. Not 00:03:13.430 --> 00:03:15.490 what I would choose, not that I would really 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:20.009 want. But if the game plan is when you say no 00:03:20.009 --> 00:03:22.419 and I'm going through difficult. challenging 00:03:22.419 --> 00:03:26.659 times, and I'm weak. That's when God's power 00:03:26.659 --> 00:03:30.300 manifests itself through my weakness. Therefore, 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:34.900 he says, I'm well content with, notice, weaknesses, 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:38.240 plural, with insults, plural, with distress, 00:03:38.599 --> 00:03:41.539 with persecutions, plural, with difficulties. 00:03:41.580 --> 00:03:44.860 Notice why, for Christ's sake. For when I am 00:03:44.860 --> 00:03:49.330 weak, then I am strong. And I want... you or 00:03:49.330 --> 00:03:52.069 maybe there's someone you love that's going through 00:03:52.069 --> 00:03:55.229 something like this, and your application from 00:03:55.229 --> 00:03:57.349 today's broadcast is you're going to send them 00:03:57.349 --> 00:04:00.409 this and say, you've got to listen to this because 00:04:00.409 --> 00:04:03.129 this is where you are. Because I can tell you 00:04:03.129 --> 00:04:07.469 that you can get frustrated and angry and disillusioned. 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:10.949 And what I know is God made us to want to know 00:04:10.949 --> 00:04:14.870 and experience love and joy and peace and hope 00:04:14.870 --> 00:04:17.290 in the midst of the most difficult challenges. 00:04:18.040 --> 00:04:20.740 And spoiler alert, what the Apostle Paul is going 00:04:20.740 --> 00:04:23.699 to tell us is, in the midst of this, we're not 00:04:23.699 --> 00:04:26.879 victims. God is not mad at us. It's not that 00:04:26.879 --> 00:04:29.459 we don't have enough faith. He's going to show 00:04:29.459 --> 00:04:32.459 us that we have every spiritual blessing currently 00:04:32.459 --> 00:04:35.860 in the heavenly realm and that we must learn 00:04:35.860 --> 00:04:40.060 to choose to actually take hold of what he's 00:04:40.060 --> 00:04:42.779 already given us in the midst of it. He's going 00:04:42.779 --> 00:04:45.920 to teach us that we can choose joy. in negative 00:04:45.920 --> 00:04:48.959 circumstances. We can choose love in the midst 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:51.839 of being rejected and hurt. We can choose hope 00:04:51.839 --> 00:04:54.220 when we don't see anything on the other side 00:04:54.220 --> 00:04:57.259 of that dark tunnel. We can choose peace in the 00:04:57.259 --> 00:05:00.259 midst of anxiety and mental health issues. I've 00:05:00.259 --> 00:05:03.139 met with so many people, traveled so much lately, 00:05:03.259 --> 00:05:06.519 and met with... Not just leaders, but people 00:05:06.519 --> 00:05:09.000 from all backgrounds, not only here in America, 00:05:09.139 --> 00:05:12.439 but around the world. And with all this uncertainty, 00:05:12.600 --> 00:05:15.600 with all this division, with all the things that 00:05:15.600 --> 00:05:18.040 are happening, with the rapid change, with technology, 00:05:18.279 --> 00:05:22.120 with AI, the fears and the uncertainty and the 00:05:22.120 --> 00:05:25.019 issues in people's lives are at an all -time 00:05:25.019 --> 00:05:28.579 high. In my own personal life, I've had about 00:05:28.579 --> 00:05:32.550 seven years of just incredible pain. everything 00:05:32.550 --> 00:05:35.209 you could do for your back. I mean, ice packs, 00:05:35.490 --> 00:05:38.649 every procedure, epidurals, anything you could 00:05:38.649 --> 00:05:42.069 do with any kind of medication, I tried. And 00:05:42.069 --> 00:05:45.269 finally, I had a fusion in my back. And I mean, 00:05:45.310 --> 00:05:48.889 that helped about 60%, but still ongoing pain 00:05:48.889 --> 00:05:51.709 all the time. And then fast forward a couple 00:05:51.709 --> 00:05:54.819 of years in the middle of COVID. It tears above 00:05:54.819 --> 00:05:57.680 and below where they fuse my back at L3 and L4. 00:05:57.860 --> 00:06:00.879 So I have another major surgery. And since that 00:06:00.879 --> 00:06:04.459 time, to be candid, I've had little windows of 00:06:04.459 --> 00:06:06.500 relief where the pain's only like a three or 00:06:06.500 --> 00:06:12.800 four and times of seven, eight, nine. And I'll 00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.139 be honest with you, Lord, what's the deal? And 00:06:15.139 --> 00:06:19.089 at the same time, I've watched God. explode and 00:06:19.089 --> 00:06:22.050 expand the ministry of Living on the Edge in 00:06:22.050 --> 00:06:25.069 ways that are beyond anything I could have dreamed. 00:06:25.410 --> 00:06:28.050 I'm finally realizing there may be a correlation 00:06:28.050 --> 00:06:34.370 here. Chip, my strength, my power is manifested 00:06:34.370 --> 00:06:37.370 in your weakness. And I would like to tell you 00:06:37.370 --> 00:06:41.509 that I have learned to be well content. I am 00:06:41.509 --> 00:06:44.629 learning. I'm making progress. And what I would 00:06:44.629 --> 00:06:47.959 say too is that One of the things that helped 00:06:47.959 --> 00:06:50.800 me the most has been the teaching of God's Word 00:06:50.800 --> 00:06:53.459 in the midst of that. Well, today, I want to 00:06:53.459 --> 00:06:55.199 just pause. I've got a cup of coffee in front 00:06:55.199 --> 00:06:57.839 of me, and I'm in the studio, and rather than 00:06:57.839 --> 00:07:00.180 a formal teaching, would you give me just a chance 00:07:00.180 --> 00:07:02.839 maybe to share my heart about, although I wouldn't 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:05.519 want them to happen to me, how God, in the midst 00:07:05.519 --> 00:07:08.720 of our difficult, challenging times, when all 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:11.149 we can... on the outside feel as we're getting 00:07:11.149 --> 00:07:14.730 a no, he's saying yes where his power shows up. 00:07:14.910 --> 00:07:17.589 And so I just like to share a little bit of my 00:07:17.589 --> 00:07:20.410 experience about how I'm learning to choose and 00:07:20.410 --> 00:07:23.149 some of the impact of why we're going to talk 00:07:23.149 --> 00:07:25.670 about in the weeks to come about choosing joy, 00:07:25.870 --> 00:07:28.470 about choosing love, about choosing hope, about 00:07:28.470 --> 00:07:31.149 choosing peace. At the end of the day, I love 00:07:31.149 --> 00:07:33.829 to teach God's Word, but teaching God's Word 00:07:33.829 --> 00:07:37.269 is a step. It's a step in the disciple -making 00:07:37.269 --> 00:07:40.720 process. And our dream is that Christians would 00:07:40.720 --> 00:07:43.379 live like Christians to the glory of God and 00:07:43.379 --> 00:07:45.240 for the good of all. That's the heartbeat of 00:07:45.240 --> 00:07:47.779 Living on the Edge. That's our vision. And we 00:07:47.779 --> 00:07:50.399 do that in a number of different ways. And one 00:07:50.399 --> 00:07:52.220 of the most important ways is going to be what 00:07:52.220 --> 00:07:54.740 I'm going to be teaching. And so let me take 00:07:54.740 --> 00:07:56.720 a minute and share. This is what I'm going to 00:07:56.720 --> 00:07:58.860 teach in the next month, month and a half. And 00:07:58.860 --> 00:08:02.579 this is why. And this is how together we're longing 00:08:02.579 --> 00:08:05.480 to see in the midst of this very turbulent time 00:08:05.480 --> 00:08:08.149 in world history. We can help Christians live 00:08:08.149 --> 00:08:10.589 like Christians and make a real difference. You're 00:08:10.589 --> 00:08:12.509 going to hear the next series beginning tomorrow 00:08:12.509 --> 00:08:16.110 called I Choose Joy. And it grew out of a very 00:08:16.110 --> 00:08:19.649 dark and painful time in my life. This was probably 00:08:19.649 --> 00:08:23.129 a couple years ago. My wife privately said, Chip, 00:08:23.209 --> 00:08:26.420 do you realize how negative you've become? And 00:08:26.420 --> 00:08:29.139 I bristled a little, and yet I knew she was really 00:08:29.139 --> 00:08:31.720 right. But I knew my thinking was negative. And 00:08:31.720 --> 00:08:33.779 she goes, you know, I understand you've been 00:08:33.779 --> 00:08:36.159 through a lot, but you were one of the most joyful, 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.419 upbeat persons I've ever known. And just little 00:08:39.419 --> 00:08:41.279 by little by little by little, you just kind 00:08:41.279 --> 00:08:44.039 of have a negative view of things. I had to admit 00:08:44.039 --> 00:08:47.100 I'd lost my joy. I mean, I was choosing to do 00:08:47.100 --> 00:08:49.669 the right thing. It wasn't like I was being a 00:08:49.669 --> 00:08:52.129 terrible person. But what I realized, I wasn't 00:08:52.129 --> 00:08:55.169 rejoicing. I wasn't having a sense of that vitality 00:08:55.169 --> 00:08:58.509 and joy and walking with God. And I'm still praying. 00:08:58.570 --> 00:09:00.490 I'm still reading my Bible. But an awful lot 00:09:00.490 --> 00:09:03.990 of it was a, this really is hard. And God, I 00:09:03.990 --> 00:09:06.250 don't know why you haven't done this yet. And 00:09:06.250 --> 00:09:09.409 nevertheless, I'm going to do what's right. And 00:09:09.409 --> 00:09:12.250 she really challenged me. And first of all, When 00:09:12.250 --> 00:09:14.429 things aren't right, you just have to own what's 00:09:14.429 --> 00:09:16.889 really true. And that was painful, but little 00:09:16.889 --> 00:09:19.090 did she know the negative thoughts and struggles 00:09:19.090 --> 00:09:21.710 inside my mind that never even came out my mouth. 00:09:21.870 --> 00:09:24.610 And I'm like the rest of you. You're most honest 00:09:24.610 --> 00:09:26.309 with the people that love and accept you the 00:09:26.309 --> 00:09:29.289 most. So I'm sure my wife got more of my negativity 00:09:29.289 --> 00:09:32.529 than anyone else. And about that time, I was 00:09:32.529 --> 00:09:34.169 supposed to teach at the Billy Graham Center 00:09:34.169 --> 00:09:37.549 a few months later. And of all things, I was 00:09:37.549 --> 00:09:40.230 scheduled to teach on Philippians chapter one. 00:09:40.889 --> 00:09:43.690 And as I was framing that and studying Paul's 00:09:43.690 --> 00:09:47.809 life, I realized, oh my, this is how you choose 00:09:47.809 --> 00:09:50.889 joy. The apostle Paul in the midst of prison 00:09:50.889 --> 00:09:54.610 and possible looming death, his focus is on you 00:09:54.610 --> 00:09:57.509 and he evaluates his circumstances based on your 00:09:57.509 --> 00:10:00.230 purposes. And he has this hope and expectation 00:10:00.230 --> 00:10:03.250 of the reality of heaven. So whatever happens 00:10:03.250 --> 00:10:05.649 in this temporal life, he can say for me to live 00:10:05.649 --> 00:10:08.289 as Christ and to die as gain. And his expectations 00:10:08.289 --> 00:10:11.029 weren't that it would be rosy, but Not only would 00:10:11.029 --> 00:10:13.690 he have great grace for joy and salvation, but 00:10:13.690 --> 00:10:16.370 also part of the game plan is to suffer. And 00:10:16.370 --> 00:10:18.710 so I taught that, and it became I Choose Joy, 00:10:18.730 --> 00:10:22.389 a series, and it had a profound impact on tens 00:10:22.389 --> 00:10:25.210 of thousands of people. And in fact, I did three 00:10:25.210 --> 00:10:28.090 overseas trips already this year, one in the 00:10:28.090 --> 00:10:30.110 Philippines, then in Egypt, and then later in 00:10:30.110 --> 00:10:33.169 Dubai. Each one of those, I talked about how 00:10:33.169 --> 00:10:36.250 we can choose joy. And I saw how it's just not 00:10:36.250 --> 00:10:39.120 here in America, but around the world. And because 00:10:39.120 --> 00:10:41.340 it had such an impact, we have a book coming 00:10:41.340 --> 00:10:43.179 out. I hope you'll get it, and I hope you'll 00:10:43.179 --> 00:10:46.580 share it. I see so many people with mental health 00:10:46.580 --> 00:10:49.100 issues. And like me, what happened was, little 00:10:49.100 --> 00:10:51.679 by little by little, I hate to admit this, I 00:10:51.679 --> 00:10:54.700 saw myself as a victim. You know, God isn't coming 00:10:54.700 --> 00:10:57.639 through, and I'll still obey. I'll still do what's 00:10:57.639 --> 00:11:00.159 right. I wasn't someone who was living above 00:11:00.159 --> 00:11:03.059 their circumstances. I was living under them. 00:11:03.399 --> 00:11:06.919 And it had a debilitating effect on me. We'll 00:11:06.919 --> 00:11:09.279 learn from the Apostle Paul, even in his weakness, 00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:12.340 in his struggle, and even looming death, when 00:11:12.340 --> 00:11:15.120 he has that kind of attitude supernaturally given 00:11:15.120 --> 00:11:18.279 by God, because God's grace is sufficient for 00:11:18.279 --> 00:11:21.580 him, God's power shows up. That's what I got 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:23.500 to experience, and that's what I want people 00:11:23.500 --> 00:11:26.299 to experience. And so that's the next series 00:11:26.299 --> 00:11:28.320 coming up. And then right after that, we'll talk 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.610 about... I choose love. And I meet so many people 00:11:31.610 --> 00:11:33.610 that are waiting for the right person or wanting 00:11:33.610 --> 00:11:36.049 a relationship to change and waiting for something 00:11:36.049 --> 00:11:39.090 to happen out there somewhere, somehow. And we're 00:11:39.090 --> 00:11:42.470 going to learn that you can actually choose to 00:11:42.470 --> 00:11:45.750 love. And we'll talk about the four characteristics 00:11:45.750 --> 00:11:49.289 of when you and I choose to live in this certain 00:11:49.289 --> 00:11:53.870 way as modeled by Jesus and taught by the Apostle 00:11:53.870 --> 00:11:57.320 Paul. we can experience supernatural acceptance 00:11:57.320 --> 00:12:01.519 and love and connection with people. And so after 00:12:01.519 --> 00:12:03.080 that, then we're going to talk about I choose 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:05.200 hope. And after that, we're going to talk about 00:12:05.200 --> 00:12:07.700 I choose peace. And here's what I want you to 00:12:07.700 --> 00:12:11.559 get. I declare that circumstances and external 00:12:11.559 --> 00:12:14.720 things and things I can't control, whether it's 00:12:14.720 --> 00:12:17.539 the economy over here or politics over here or 00:12:17.539 --> 00:12:21.039 a family situation or a job situation, In the 00:12:21.039 --> 00:12:23.840 month of June and early July, I'm going to learn 00:12:23.840 --> 00:12:27.659 how to choose joy and love and hope and peace. 00:12:28.399 --> 00:12:30.740 And I want to be a Christian who lives like a 00:12:30.740 --> 00:12:33.580 Christian by the grace of God, regardless of 00:12:33.580 --> 00:12:37.320 my circumstances. And as you do that and I do 00:12:37.320 --> 00:12:40.100 that, not only will we experience the benefit, 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:43.120 but all the people around us will experience 00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:45.539 that as well. And so I just want to encourage 00:12:45.539 --> 00:12:48.779 you, would you lock on with me? when we choose 00:12:48.779 --> 00:12:52.000 to do what God wants us to do, I think you'll 00:12:52.000 --> 00:12:54.720 experience what I've been experiencing the last 00:12:54.720 --> 00:12:58.480 few years. In the midst of when I was weak and 00:12:58.480 --> 00:13:02.879 struggling and praying and dependent, God was 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:06.480 expanding and exploding the impact of living 00:13:06.480 --> 00:13:09.379 on the edge beyond anything I ever, ever dreamed. 00:13:09.779 --> 00:13:12.440 It started shortly after COVID and we started 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:14.919 doing daily discipleships and then countries 00:13:14.919 --> 00:13:17.850 would open up and we helped with pastors. All 00:13:17.850 --> 00:13:21.090 I can tell you is that our vision and our mission 00:13:21.090 --> 00:13:23.789 is to see a movement of Christians living like 00:13:23.789 --> 00:13:27.090 Christians for the glory of God and the good 00:13:27.090 --> 00:13:31.629 of all, literally the good of all mankind. And 00:13:31.629 --> 00:13:34.990 as we have done that at Living on the Edge, we 00:13:34.990 --> 00:13:37.629 developed three specific pillars, if you will. 00:13:37.710 --> 00:13:41.029 We have a strategy to help Christians live like 00:13:41.029 --> 00:13:42.990 Christians, not only here in the United States, 00:13:43.529 --> 00:13:47.029 but all around the world. So our pillar one is 00:13:47.029 --> 00:13:50.049 discipling God's people. We prayed and God showed 00:13:50.049 --> 00:13:53.029 us just do what Jesus did. He taught the multitudes. 00:13:53.149 --> 00:13:56.230 He got the disciples in a small group and he 00:13:56.230 --> 00:13:58.669 gave them tools so they could share with others 00:13:58.669 --> 00:14:01.250 what he taught them. That's what discipleship 00:14:01.250 --> 00:14:04.409 is. It's walking with Jesus, following him and 00:14:04.409 --> 00:14:07.370 doing what he did. So we do teaching and we provide 00:14:07.370 --> 00:14:11.409 training. and we provide tools. We're on 1 ,192 00:14:11.409 --> 00:14:14.789 radio stations Monday through Friday. Living 00:14:14.789 --> 00:14:17.750 on the Edge is also on 12 streaming platforms. 00:14:17.929 --> 00:14:20.909 You may listen on pray .com or oneplace .com 00:14:20.909 --> 00:14:23.909 or 10 other different ones where just the Word 00:14:23.909 --> 00:14:25.750 of God is going out through Living on the Edge 00:14:25.750 --> 00:14:28.490 to millions and millions of people. We have over 00:14:28.490 --> 00:14:31.250 1 million Living on the Edge reading plan subscribers 00:14:31.250 --> 00:14:34.730 on YouVersion. In recent months, we taught a 00:14:34.730 --> 00:14:37.350 brand new series where we day by day went through 00:14:37.350 --> 00:14:40.450 the entire gospel of Mark. We partnered with 00:14:40.450 --> 00:14:43.149 Jenny Allen to promote Gather 25, the global 00:14:43.149 --> 00:14:45.490 prayer initiative. We don't think we're something 00:14:45.490 --> 00:14:47.990 special. We think we need to partner with churches 00:14:47.990 --> 00:14:50.269 and organizations that are making a difference. 00:14:50.409 --> 00:14:52.889 And what a joy it was if you got to be involved 00:14:52.889 --> 00:14:55.389 in that, to see people praying all across the 00:14:55.389 --> 00:14:58.549 globe. As I said before, this new book, I Choose 00:14:58.549 --> 00:15:01.659 Joy, comes out June 3rd. I just finished writing 00:15:01.659 --> 00:15:04.620 and turned in I Choose Love that will come out 00:15:04.620 --> 00:15:07.360 next January. And then we have a small group 00:15:07.360 --> 00:15:10.259 coming out on I Choose Joy in the fall. And of 00:15:10.259 --> 00:15:12.620 course, many of you are connecting through the 00:15:12.620 --> 00:15:15.120 daily discipleship. We want to help ordinary, 00:15:15.340 --> 00:15:18.860 regular people. Learn to open the Bible, study 00:15:18.860 --> 00:15:21.500 it for themselves, learn how to hear God's voice, 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:24.940 maybe even journal a little bit, pray very specific 00:15:24.940 --> 00:15:28.799 prayers, and learn to hear God speak to them 00:15:28.799 --> 00:15:31.539 and then through them. But if you really want 00:15:31.539 --> 00:15:33.960 to disciple God's people, you have to realize 00:15:33.960 --> 00:15:37.580 God has a plan, and his plan is the church. And 00:15:37.580 --> 00:15:40.259 the key to every church is the pastors and the 00:15:40.259 --> 00:15:42.440 pastoral staff and the leadership of the church. 00:15:43.100 --> 00:15:46.539 When you have healthy pastors and healthy pastoral 00:15:46.539 --> 00:15:49.159 staffs and healthy elders and deacons, I will 00:15:49.159 --> 00:15:51.779 tell you, you have healthy churches. The bad 00:15:51.779 --> 00:15:55.360 news is 85 % of the churches in the United States 00:15:55.360 --> 00:15:59.019 are in decline. And that's a sad, sad thing. 00:15:59.299 --> 00:16:02.100 40 % of pastors, when we came through COVID, 00:16:02.200 --> 00:16:04.440 said, I would do anything else, but I don't have 00:16:04.440 --> 00:16:07.059 another job. And it was in that time that we 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:09.899 stepped in to say, We're going to help a pastor's 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:16.519 heart. We trained 236 ,238 pastors in 2024, and 00:16:16.519 --> 00:16:20.100 that's double the impact from 2023. To date, 00:16:20.179 --> 00:16:22.860 we have, are you ready for this, had over a million 00:16:22.860 --> 00:16:26.899 visitors to the Real God Arabic site. Did you 00:16:26.899 --> 00:16:29.120 realize that Muslims are coming to Christ through 00:16:29.120 --> 00:16:33.610 Living on the Edge? We've had 479. Muslim background 00:16:33.610 --> 00:16:36.830 believers come to know Jesus. This isn't that 00:16:36.830 --> 00:16:39.190 they clicked on a website. Over a million have 00:16:39.190 --> 00:16:42.149 come already, and they're asking questions, and 00:16:42.149 --> 00:16:44.409 that started on a conversation. That conversation 00:16:44.409 --> 00:16:47.610 led to individual counseling with those people, 00:16:47.730 --> 00:16:51.389 often done in a very clandestine manner. We're 00:16:51.389 --> 00:16:53.929 currently in 22 countries, Africa, the Middle 00:16:53.929 --> 00:16:56.190 East, Southeast Asia, Latin America, and beyond. 00:16:56.889 --> 00:16:59.470 In January, I had a chance to partner with the 00:16:59.470 --> 00:17:01.690 Intentional Discipleship Conference in Manila, 00:17:01.789 --> 00:17:06.210 training 14 ,000 pastors about not just teaching 00:17:06.210 --> 00:17:09.029 God's Word, we're helping pastors learn to become 00:17:09.029 --> 00:17:12.369 disciple -making pastors, how to measure the 00:17:12.369 --> 00:17:14.769 church differently, not in how many people show 00:17:14.769 --> 00:17:17.970 up on a weekend. But how do you grow a church 00:17:17.970 --> 00:17:21.250 where leaders are becoming Christ -like and they 00:17:21.250 --> 00:17:23.910 have a responsibility and are given tools to 00:17:23.910 --> 00:17:26.509 help others become Christ -like? And so we have 00:17:26.509 --> 00:17:30.789 a very clear, simple, replicable plan that God 00:17:30.789 --> 00:17:33.559 is using called... growing a high -impact church. 00:17:33.819 --> 00:17:37.400 In February, our team went to Africa. We have 00:17:37.400 --> 00:17:39.859 a huge imprint there in a number of countries. 00:17:39.920 --> 00:17:43.759 It's growing like crazy. And we invited 34 organizations 00:17:43.759 --> 00:17:48.420 from 23 different countries. Those leaders represent 00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:54.829 800 ,000 churches in Africa. And of those leaders 00:17:54.829 --> 00:17:57.609 who we shared, this is what we do. This is how 00:17:57.609 --> 00:18:00.329 we do it. We gave them a taste. We hoped 50 % 00:18:00.329 --> 00:18:02.089 would say, I'd like to investigate it. Maybe 00:18:02.089 --> 00:18:04.670 25 % would say, hey, we're ready to partner. 00:18:05.109 --> 00:18:09.890 That was not our experience. 100 % of those 34 00:18:09.890 --> 00:18:12.890 organizations said, we got people coming to church, 00:18:12.950 --> 00:18:16.039 but we're not making disciples. Will you help 00:18:16.039 --> 00:18:18.960 us? About two weeks later, I went to Egypt where 00:18:18.960 --> 00:18:22.480 we trained 609 pastors, wrapping up a two -year 00:18:22.480 --> 00:18:25.180 journey with them. And the head of all the Protestant 00:18:25.180 --> 00:18:28.079 churches had lunch with him afterwards. And he 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.779 gave us the green light for another two years 00:18:30.779 --> 00:18:33.819 to literally go to the next level, to train the 00:18:33.819 --> 00:18:36.140 trainers inside of all the Protestant churches 00:18:36.140 --> 00:18:38.480 in all of Egypt. Now, that may not sound like 00:18:38.480 --> 00:18:41.339 a big deal, but listen carefully. Half of the 00:18:41.339 --> 00:18:44.339 entire population of the Middle East lives in 00:18:44.339 --> 00:18:47.599 Egypt. It is so strategic. This is such an open 00:18:47.599 --> 00:18:50.339 door. And it's so amazing what God is doing. 00:18:50.720 --> 00:18:52.819 Later in the month of March of this year, I was 00:18:52.819 --> 00:18:56.480 in Dubai. We had 35 leaders from the Gulf states. 00:18:56.680 --> 00:18:59.259 We also brought in our staff members and trainers 00:18:59.259 --> 00:19:01.720 from Nepal and India. And then I had the privilege 00:19:01.720 --> 00:19:04.240 of speaking at Movement Day to a thousand leaders, 00:19:04.500 --> 00:19:07.599 pastors and marketplace leaders from 40 countries. 00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:11.079 The same message, the same message, the same 00:19:11.079 --> 00:19:14.660 message. We can make a difference. We have to 00:19:14.660 --> 00:19:17.460 get back to the basics. We have to help regular 00:19:17.460 --> 00:19:20.460 people be Christians who live like Christians, 00:19:20.539 --> 00:19:23.519 to become disciples, to follow Jesus, to get 00:19:23.519 --> 00:19:26.680 into his word, to pray, to prioritize their lives, 00:19:26.819 --> 00:19:29.420 to say no to the world, to say yes to the Lord. 00:19:29.579 --> 00:19:32.700 That's the message of Jesus. And so I just want 00:19:32.700 --> 00:19:36.150 to tell you that we are having an impact. in 00:19:36.150 --> 00:19:38.670 churches here and all around the world, because 00:19:38.670 --> 00:19:42.250 when churches are healthy and pastors are healthy, 00:19:42.490 --> 00:19:46.029 churches begin to have impact, impact in their 00:19:46.029 --> 00:19:48.470 community, impact in their neighborhoods, impact 00:19:48.470 --> 00:19:51.789 in the marketplace, impact in whole cities and 00:19:51.789 --> 00:19:54.029 eventually whole nations. And we're seeing God 00:19:54.029 --> 00:19:56.740 do that. Our first pillar is disciple God's people. 00:19:56.980 --> 00:20:00.740 Our second is to equip and train pastors and 00:20:00.740 --> 00:20:03.059 leaders. And our third pillar is one that's near 00:20:03.059 --> 00:20:05.019 and dear to all of our heart. It's reaching the 00:20:05.019 --> 00:20:07.420 next generation. And many of you remember this 00:20:07.420 --> 00:20:09.359 time last year, we came out with a book called 00:20:09.359 --> 00:20:11.819 Not Beyond Reach. It was our partnership with 00:20:11.819 --> 00:20:14.519 the Steiger Ministry and Aaron Pierce and some 00:20:14.519 --> 00:20:16.660 training with them the year earlier in Germany. 00:20:16.700 --> 00:20:19.299 And their staff came from around the world. They're 00:20:19.299 --> 00:20:21.619 reaching the young people that are farthest from 00:20:21.619 --> 00:20:24.829 Christ in 100 major cities. And as I spent time 00:20:24.829 --> 00:20:28.190 with them, I saw they have such a biblical approach, 00:20:28.369 --> 00:20:31.309 but it's one that we've missed. And I said, Aaron, 00:20:31.410 --> 00:20:33.569 we need to codify this in a book and get it into 00:20:33.569 --> 00:20:36.589 the hands of people. And so we did, and it has 00:20:36.589 --> 00:20:39.390 had a huge impact. And then the next step was, 00:20:39.529 --> 00:20:41.950 how could we get it from a book that people could 00:20:41.950 --> 00:20:45.049 read to a small group video resource that could 00:20:45.049 --> 00:20:48.130 go to churches all across America and all around 00:20:48.130 --> 00:20:51.900 the world helping? pastors and parents and grandparents 00:20:51.900 --> 00:20:55.079 and regular people reach to the next generation 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:57.839 in their community. And so that's finished. And 00:20:57.839 --> 00:20:59.880 a little bit later, I'm going to have Aaron come 00:20:59.880 --> 00:21:02.259 and give us a report on how that's going and 00:21:02.259 --> 00:21:05.339 what's the impact that we made together. We did 00:21:05.339 --> 00:21:08.119 a series, Dealing with Doubts, and we really 00:21:08.119 --> 00:21:10.720 focused on that. whole reconstruction that's 00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:12.980 happening with young people and really sought 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:15.119 to answer their questions from where they're 00:21:15.119 --> 00:21:17.779 coming from and brought some expert voices to 00:21:17.779 --> 00:21:21.440 help you and me connect with and understand what's 00:21:21.440 --> 00:21:23.759 happening in our culture, people like Sean McDowell. 00:21:23.839 --> 00:21:27.420 And finally, we did a three -day off -site to 00:21:27.420 --> 00:21:30.400 say, what is our plan to reach the next generation? 00:21:30.900 --> 00:21:33.720 What's the technology? What's the focus? What's 00:21:33.720 --> 00:21:36.099 the target audience? Where are we going to go? 00:21:36.140 --> 00:21:38.660 How are we going to do it? It means that we need 00:21:38.660 --> 00:21:40.920 to go where young adults get their information. 00:21:41.220 --> 00:21:43.619 It means we need to break up the teaching in 00:21:43.619 --> 00:21:45.940 shorter snippets. It means we need to have new 00:21:45.940 --> 00:21:48.279 and younger communicators that can connect with 00:21:48.279 --> 00:21:51.299 them in ways that I can't. We're asking God for 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:54.940 a movement of Christians who live like Christians 00:21:54.940 --> 00:21:58.019 for the glory of God and for the good of all. 00:21:58.599 --> 00:22:01.539 We've watched this happen. We've seen God explode. 00:22:01.960 --> 00:22:04.940 And here's what I would remind you. All this 00:22:04.940 --> 00:22:09.380 has happened while my own personal life, and 00:22:09.380 --> 00:22:12.819 I'm not unique, many of the leaders on our team 00:22:12.819 --> 00:22:15.279 have experienced things very similar and some 00:22:15.279 --> 00:22:19.019 even more challenging than me. God wants you 00:22:19.019 --> 00:22:23.220 to know His grace is sufficient for you. Power 00:22:23.220 --> 00:22:26.880 is perfected in weakness. I'm on the journey, 00:22:26.900 --> 00:22:28.880 and I invite you to go on the journey with me 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:33.009 to be able to say, I am well content. Doesn't 00:22:33.009 --> 00:22:35.769 mean I like it, but I'm well content. I'm well 00:22:35.769 --> 00:22:38.269 content with weaknesses, with insults, with distress, 00:22:38.490 --> 00:22:41.950 with persecutions and difficulties for Christ's 00:22:41.950 --> 00:22:45.289 sake. For when we are weak, we really are strong. 00:22:45.930 --> 00:22:49.589 And so as we start this month of June, there's 00:22:49.589 --> 00:22:51.529 never been a better time to say, I'm going to 00:22:51.529 --> 00:22:54.670 choose joy and choose love and choose hope. And 00:22:54.670 --> 00:22:57.130 what's great is we're just entering our mid -year 00:22:57.130 --> 00:22:59.769 match. So every dollar that you give, thanks 00:22:59.769 --> 00:23:02.930 to a very generous small group of people that 00:23:02.930 --> 00:23:05.190 have created this match, every dollar you give 00:23:05.190 --> 00:23:07.950 will be matched dollar for dollar to make a double 00:23:07.950 --> 00:23:12.250 impact. I wish in many ways I could say, I never 00:23:12.250 --> 00:23:15.269 have a bad day. I'm just knocking it out of the 00:23:15.269 --> 00:23:18.130 park. But what I would say more is that I'm on 00:23:18.130 --> 00:23:20.549 the journey. I'm doing way better than I did 00:23:20.549 --> 00:23:23.690 a few years ago. It's still a battle. I sure 00:23:23.690 --> 00:23:25.710 wish God would heal my back and take away some 00:23:25.710 --> 00:23:29.029 of the pain I have. But if that's the small price 00:23:29.029 --> 00:23:32.910 to pay for seeing not thousands, not hundreds 00:23:32.910 --> 00:23:36.569 of thousands, millions and millions of people's 00:23:36.569 --> 00:23:39.349 lives, many of them transferred from the kingdom 00:23:39.349 --> 00:23:42.119 of darkness to the kingdom of light. and having 00:23:42.119 --> 00:23:44.819 new life now and new life forever and ever and 00:23:44.819 --> 00:23:48.539 ever with Jesus. It's worth it. Let's choose 00:23:48.539 --> 00:23:51.359 to make an impact. Let's choose to do it together. 00:23:54.980 --> 00:23:57.279 You've been listening to Living on the Edge, 00:23:57.440 --> 00:23:59.940 and we pray you were encouraged by this special 00:23:59.940 --> 00:24:03.660 message from Chip called, When God Says No. To 00:24:03.660 --> 00:24:05.599 learn more about the ministry work that Chip 00:24:05.599 --> 00:24:10.309 shared today, visit livingontheedge .org. And 00:24:10.309 --> 00:24:12.289 as we close, I want to thank those of you who 00:24:12.289 --> 00:24:14.549 support this ministry with your generous financial 00:24:14.549 --> 00:24:17.410 support. Listeners like you make all the work 00:24:17.410 --> 00:24:19.730 you've heard about today possible. And right 00:24:19.730 --> 00:24:22.369 now is the perfect time to partner with us because 00:24:22.369 --> 00:24:25.210 every gift we receive from today through midnight 00:24:25.210 --> 00:24:28.490 on June 30th will be doubled dollar for dollar. 00:24:28.650 --> 00:24:31.009 To support the global work of this ministry, 00:24:31.170 --> 00:24:34.769 go to livingontheedge .org or call us at 888 00:24:34.769 --> 00:24:43.240 - That's 888 -333 -6003 or visit livingontheedge 00:24:43.240 --> 00:24:47.380 .org. App listeners, tap donate. Well, that's 00:24:47.380 --> 00:24:49.700 all the time we have today. Join us next time 00:24:49.700 --> 00:24:52.559 as Chip dives into his series, I Choose Joy, 00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:56.000 based in Philippians chapter one. Until then, 00:24:56.039 --> 00:24:58.319 I'm Dave Drew. Thanks for listening to this edition 00:24:58.319 --> 00:24:59.940 of Living on the Edge.