Joe White Drive Time Podcast

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Initiate meaningful conversation with your family no matter how long the commute with Joe White's age appropriate short talks on scripture, parenting, culture, and community.

Episodes

Tuesday Dec 03, 2019

The Healing Touch of Jesus - Mark 5:35-36

Tuesday Dec 03, 2019

" I remember we were doing a crusade at Oklahoma university and you know, a couple of thousand kids show up and one girl comes to the cross and gives her life to Christ and Jesus gives her the healing touch. And she said to me afterwards in the letter, she said, you know what? She said, my body has always been my god. My body is my god."

Family Discussions:

What is your need that enables you relate to some of these healing touches of Jesus that I've talked to you about today?
How can your family be more bonded around the need for his healing touch?
Jesus' last words when he said, don't be afraid. Only believe. How do those reassuring words speak to your heart today?
How do you need to see it?

Transcription:

00:14 This devotional today is fantastic because it comes from the words of a fantastic man. The most fantastic man who ever lived and obviously the most fantastic book that was ever written. Imagine when you look at this book, you're looking literally at the Word of God. The Word that God breathed out of his mouth. That's what scripture he is. We're in the life of Jesus. Of course, we're in Mark chapter five, and today we're going to start with verse 35 and go to verse 36. It was a amazing day in the life of Christ, but it's going to have something amazing to say to you as well. Verse 35 said this "while he was still speaking that came from the house of the synagogue official saying, your daughter has died. Why trouble the teacher anymore? But Jesus overhearing what was being spoken said that the synagogue official do not be afraid any longer. Only believe."

01:09 And so Jesus goes to the little girl whose name was Taletha and he gives her his healing touch and the healing word, he says politely, little girl arise and she arose and live happily ever after, I presume. Pretty neat to read about that girl and what Jesus did with that girl. But you know what? I see Jesus' healing touch literally every day. Had some little friends in the world of gymnastics and you know, everything about gymnastics is being tiny and being little and being slender and being thin. And all the magazines that these little friends read were you know, the teenage girl magazines and you've gotta be tiny. You gotta be slender and you gotta be slim. And so they became, you know, got an eating disorder and became, you know, anorexic and literally. If something wouldn't have happened, would've probably died from starvation as many young girls and even guys do today from watching this stuff too much. But they begin to give each other the healing touch of God and watching those friends cling to each other and begin to give their eating disorder to God and beginning to give their bodies to God.

02:21 I remember we were doing a crusade at Oklahoma university and you know, a couple of thousand kids show up and one girl comes to the cross and gives her life to Christ and Jesus gives her the healing touch. And she said to me afterwards in the letter, she said, you know what? She said, my body has always been my god. My body is my god. But she said, tonight, I begin to see myself in the image of Christ. That's why I love to go to the campuses. I remember at Texas A&M, there were some 6,000 students who showed up for the crusade and afterwards probably three or 4,000 kids came up to the cross. But I'll never forget one girl who had a man she hated and she was living her life in vengeance and bitterness because he killed her had. But that night, that girl brought that hatred to the cross, believe it or not, and she forgave the guy.

03:12 I remember an NFL linebacker came to an event in Michigan. They were probably a couple of thousand guys that came down to that cross that day in this great Coliseum. And this one guy had hated his dad for 35 years. All the way through the national football league and all the way through college football. He's one of the best in the game, but he hated his dad because his daddy abused him when he was a little boy. But there in front of the cross, he forgave his dad. I remember hugging this guy, just the tears as he wept and wept in my arms as he was able to say, I love you daddy. I forgive you daddy.

03:46 You know, one of the, one of the greatest football players who ever played the game was in prison because of some, some crimes and stuff he'd gotten into. But they're in the prison, an NFL coach who loved Jesus came into the prison and gave that guy the healing touch of Jesus. The guy's back on the field. He got out of prison and he's a completely different person. So the healing touch didn't just happen 2000 years ago, but the healing touch is happening. In fact, it's happening. It's happening in your home.

04:21 So here's the questions today. What is your need that enables you relate to some of these healing touches of Jesus that I've talked to you about today? And how can your family, you know, your husband, your wife, your mom, your dad, your grandpa, your, your child? How can your family be more bonded around the need for his healing touch? Because the homes, the best place for it. And then Jesus' last words when he said, don't be afraid. Only believe. How do those reassuring words speak to your heart today? And how do you need to see it? And here's the lifeline for today. Christ uses afflictions to get us on our knees and unite it around the cross. When healing comes, stay there and give him the glory for the rest of your life.

Monday Dec 02, 2019

Jesus' Touch - Mark 5:30-34

Monday Dec 02, 2019

" I have a dear friend who's now in heaven, but he came to our sports camps and he and I became very good friends. He was a solid believer. But when he went to college, he had a roommate who was an agnostic or perhaps an atheist. And because of the secular school that he was in and the professors that were in his life, he believed in college that faith was in science, math, and medicine. "

Family Discussions:

Why was the woman's touch unique to Jesus' heart?
What was unique about her touch?
When is faith sincere?
Is there a hurt in your heart today that needs the sensitive touch of Jesus?

Transcription:

00:14 Hey, I can't wait to tell you the story today. It's a true story and it gives birth to another true story. That's one of the most fascinating stories I've ever heard in my life. The first true story comes from Mark chapter five in scripture. And the context of this story is this, Jesus is in a crowd and the crowd is pressing in all around him and there's a woman who comes up to him who's been hemorrhaging. Her blood just will not heal. Her blood is just flowing. I've got leukemia, CML, leukemia, and if it weren't for an amazing, miraculous, wonder drug that God provided for me, you know, I would be hemorrhaging and probably dying sitting in this chair. But this woman had the blood hemorrhaging disease and she had spent everything she had on her physicians and they couldn't do anything for her.

01:05 But we go to verse 30 in this awesome account, and it says this "Immediately Jesus perceiving in himself that the power was proceeding from him had gone forth. He turned around in the crowd and said, who touched my garments? And his disciples said to him, you see the crowd pressing in on you and you say, who touched me? And he looked around to see the woman who had done this. But the woman fearing and trembling, aware of what had happened to her, came and fell down before him and told him the whole truth. And he said to her daughter, your faith has made you well, go in peace and be healed of your affliction."

01:52 You know, I think of the fairy tale, the princess and the pea and those crazy wild fairytales that we used to hear when we were little kids, but you know, the one where the King, I suppose, want to make sure that the princess was a princess. So he stocked up like 20 mattresses over a little bitty pea and he surmised his mind that if she could lay on the mattress and feel the sensitive touch of a little bitty quarter inch pea underneath the lowest mattress, that she indeed would be the princess. I don't know where that came from, but this I believe is the most sensitive touch in the world. When Jesus was in a crowd and some woman who'd spent everything, she had had enough faith to touch his garment and all she needed was one touch. And Jesus healed that woman.

02:35 I have a dear friend who's now in heaven, but he came to our sports camps and he and I became very good friends. He was a solid believer. But when he went to college, he had a roommate who was an agnostic or perhaps an atheist. And because of the secular school that he was in and the professors that were in his life, he believed in college that faith was in science, math, and medicine. And he put all of his faith in science and math and medicine and he abandoned his faith in God. He walked away from his faith in Christ and denied that there even was a God. Well, he contracted a disease - a certain kind of cancer that was incurable. And he went through two years of science, faith in medicine. In fact, he had the best doctors in the world, the best of science, faith and medicine, who gave him everything that science, faith and medicine could, but it didn't work. His science, faith and medicine wore out. He had a fiancé who loved Jesus and she began to pray for him. And daily she prayed for him that he would come to know Jesus and she said, God, whatever it takes, whatever it takes for him to come to know Jesus, God, whatever it takes, I'm willing to give him up.

03:49 He goes into a coma the last few days of his life. And they're in the coma, literally, he'd been given a drug to completely put him in a medical coma, but there in the coma, he met Jesus. He took a board, a little whiteboard that he used to write on and a pen that was laying by his side and he drew three crosses on that board. In a coma, he drew three crosses and his daddy said, Caleb, are you seeing Jesus? And he and he took the pen and he punched the board three or four times with a pen. He actually came out of the coma and he told his fiancé and he told his family that there in the coma he had met Christ. And his life completely changed for the next two weeks. He said, I love you to people. Everybody who came to him, he was just like the brightest star in the room. When science and faith and math failed, you have the gentle touch of Jesus.

04:46 Here's the questions for today. Why was the woman's touch unique to Jesus' heart? From all the other impulses that he felt that day, what was unique about her touch? The second question is this. When is faith sincere? And the third question is this. Is there a hurt in your heart today that needs the sensitive touch of Jesus? And the lifeline is this. Pray as a family every day for the needs and hurts of the people in your family that need a savior's gentle touch because oftentimes He uses you to be the gentle touch of Jesus himself.

Friday Nov 22, 2019

Spiritually Paralized - Mark 2:2-5; 11

Friday Nov 22, 2019

"I met an interesting guy one time named Larry and Larry is a helicopter mechanic for the Ohio state highway patrol. You know, Larry's been a Christian for many years and he has walked with God with a peace in his heart that only a true Christian understands. The helicopter pilot that Larry serves is a pretty high breasts highway patrolman that spiritually is paralyzed."

Family Discussions:

Why does so relatively few friends bring their friends to Jesus?
Who's the Larry in your life that needs to know Jesus today?
How can you lower your friends through the roof to see Jesus?

Transcription:

00:13 This morning we're in one of my favorite passages of scripture. I love watching friends who bring friends to Christ. This is one of the great accounts of what real friends do for their friends. Chapter two verses two through five. Look at Mark and here it says, "and many were gathered together so that there was no longer any room, not even near the door. And he was speaking the word to them and they came bringing to him a paralytic." If you can picture this scene carried by four men "being unable to get in because of the crowd. They removed the roof above him and when they had dug an opening in the roof, they let down the pallet on which the paralytic was lying and Jesus seeing their faith said to the paralytic, son, your sins are forgiven. I say to you, pick up your pallet and go home."

01:07 You know, I met an interesting guy one time named Larry and Larry is a helicopter mechanic for the Ohio state highway patrol. You know, Larry's been a Christian for many years and he has walked with God with a peace in his heart that only a true Christian understands. The helicopter pilot that Larry serves is a pretty high breasts highway patrolman that spiritually is paralyzed. That is until Larry came along and the highway patrolman did not know Jesus Christ in the least, but Larry prayed for him and he invited him to church for over a year. But a last to Larry's dismay, the highway patrolman was elusive and rebuffed the mechanic over and over again. Finally, one day, Larry invited the officer to an event that I was speaking at in Three Rivers Stadium. There were 55,000 men in Three Rivers Stadium in the old Pittsburgh Steelers day when they played at Three Rivers.

02:02 But during the event that day, the highway patrolman actually gave his heart to Christ along with thousands of other men. It was a crazy, amazing day in Pittsburgh. But you know what? That day, that highway patrol name has never been the same. His spiritual paralysis is gone. His sins are forgiven and he is a happy man today. So watch out! If you're driving down the road and you hear a helicopter overhead, it might be Larry and he probably will still give you a ticket. But you know what? Across America and around the world, friends are still bringing their paralyzed friends to Jesus. The same way those guys in Capernaum brought their friend, dug a hole in the roof and lowered their friend so that Jesus could heal that man and forgive his sins. You know what? Jesus is visiting your town today. Who do you know that needs a ride to see him?

02:59 And here's some questions for you today after this great passage. Friends, take friends to the movies. We know that. Friends take friends to sporting events. Why does so relatively few friends bring their friends to Jesus? And the second question is this. Who do you know? Who's the Larry in your life that needs to know Jesus today? Third question is this, over the next year, how can you lower your friends through the roof to see Jesus? And here's a thought for the day. When a family member is hurting, let him see or let her see Jesus in you.

Saturday Oct 05, 2019

Hardening of the Heart - Revelation 9:13-16; 20

Saturday Oct 05, 2019

"I see so many great families. I can't count them, but I see so many families where two sisters or two brothers have hard hearts towards each other. Where a husband and wife have developed a hard heart toward each other, or where between a parent and a child where the child's heart is hard towards his dad or his mom. "

Family Discussion:

What do you do with the calluses that are building on your heart towards somebody in your life, somebody in your family?
What are you gonna do to melt the callouses and to go to that person and to bring that person into the same relationship with Christ?

Transcription:

00:13 Without a doubt, one of the greatest gifts that there is this side of heaven is the gift of relationship. You know, the gift of love between the son and a father between a husband and a wife, between a parent and a child. And you know, it's just so sad. In my work, you know, I see so many great relationships. I see so many great families. I can't count them, but I see so many families where two sisters or two brothers have hard hearts towards each other. Where a husband and wife have developed a hard heart toward each other, or where between a parent and a child where the child's heart is hard towards his dad or his mom. Today scripture in the book of Revelation in Chapter Nine, it talks about the hardening of the heart of mankind.

01:02 And in this particular passage, we're in the 11th judgment. There, there have been 10 judgments on mankind and still the hearts were hard. Well, this is the 11th judgment and it's just unbelievable. That man can have such a hard heart that he won't repent and come to Christ. Here we are in Revelation 9 verses 13 through 16 and then verse 20 and it says this, "and then the sixth angel sounded. And I heard a voice from the four horns of the golden altar, which is before God. Once saying to the sixth angel release the four angels who are bound at the Great River Euphrates and the four angels who had been prepared for the hour in the day and the month and the year were released so that they would kill a third of mankind." And talk about a judgment. "The number of the armies of the horseman was 200 million and I heard the number of them." And then verse 20 says, "the rest of mankind who were not killed by these plagues did not repent." Their heart was so hard. They still did not repent of the works of their hands, "so as not to worship the demons and the idols of gold and of silver and of brass and of stone and of wood, which can either see nor hear, nor walk."

02:17 Do you have a hard heart today? Are you at the stage of your heart where you've been hurt by somebody in your life, especially somebody in your family? And what are you doing with that hard heart? You know, I think the saddest part about bitterness and about a hard heart is not only is it break the relationship between you and that person, but it breaks your relationship in and of yourself. And it breaks the fellowship and the tenderness of your relationship with God.

02:46 I will never forget we were in Michigan doing a men's event and we had probably 10,000 men or so were in that event. And, and as a built across in that just shared the grace of God and the complete freedom that you get when you come to the cross and you unpack the bitterness in your heart. There are probably two or 3000 men who came down to the floor that night to give their hearts tenderly to Jesus. And one man who'd been an NFL linebacker. He was probably a 235 pound, very, you know, incredibly as we say in football, ripped up guy with gigantic muscles on his arm. But he was so, repetitive at the foot of the cross. He was crying and crying and I threw my arms around him and this crowded men and he said when I was six years old, Joe, my daddy hurt me when I was six years old. My daddy abused me and he said, I've hated my daddy ever since. For over 30 years, this man had the hardest heart toward his dad. And indeed, this man was a victim, but he couldn't forgive his dad. But there at the cross, he let go. There at the cross he let Christ melt the hardness of his heart and in my arms he cried before the cross. He said, I forgive you dad. I forgive you dad. Peace consumed this man's life. And he began to walk in peace and he walks in that peace today.

04:05 Will you be one at the end that will have a hard, bitter heart, even when the trumpets are sounding and the judgements are coming? or you be one who Jesus says you've overcome. Enter into my rest. Here is your eternal reward because Christ has taken your heart and melted the bitterness? And so my question to you today is what do you do with the calluses that are building on your heart towards somebody in your life, somebody in your family? What are you gonna do to melt the callouses and to go to that person and to bring that person into the same relationship with Christ that you're in because God has given purity and peace in your heart? Go do that today.

Tuesday Jul 09, 2019

Adopted as a True Son - Galatians 4:4-7

Tuesday Jul 09, 2019

"From a slave to sin, to a free man in Christ; from an orphan lost to the world, to an adopted son found in Christ."

Family Discussion:

What does it mean to be adopted by God as a son?
What kind of response does this incredible offer invoke in your heart towards him?

Transcription:

00:06 Well, I have a treasure chest in my house. I'm a treasure hunter and this treasure chest is full. And the treasures over the years are the letters that my kids have written me. It's the best thing I've got. My "happy father's day" cards, "happy birthday dad," the first shoes that my daughter ever wore, Cooper's little football cleats back in peewee. These are my treasures; I'm a dad, it's the greatest thing in the world. Listen to Galatians chapter 4, verse 4-7. This will blow your mind. It says this: "but when the fullness of time came, God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born under the law so that he might redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. God has sent forth his spirit of his son into our hearts, crying Aba father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, an heir through God."

01:34 My daughter has come home from Rwanda with two adopted kids, and her palace is just a giant celebration. These kids never had a parent and now they've been adopted. Well, I've got to tell you a story about adoption. I've never formally adopted, but informally, let me tell you about one. It was a dark and gloomy day when I trudge reluctantly to the high school football field to see David, a 13 year old football player who had just been to our sports camp maybe just a couple of months before. David's big green eyes were filled with questions of doubt and sheer disbelief. As his long eyelashes, I'll never forget the picture, were laden with tears of sorrow over the drowning death of his father only a few hours before. I told David that I loved him deeply and I hugged that big old strong kid on the football field. And I said, "David, if you ever need a dad, I'm there for you man. If you want a second dad, all you need to do is call. Boy, as the next four years progressed, David's life went slowly downhill. I'd see him occasionally in our chats were always meaningful, but his life without his dad was taking its toll. He wasn't ready to take me up on the offer, but then the day came that his life fell apart. And the details are pretty confidential. His life became chaos.

03:06 I remember the phone call when it came. I was delighted. He came over to my house and he treated me like a daddy. And on that day, David gave his life to Christ. We spent so much time together the next three days, just giving him the love that he had lost for the last four years of dad. I felt for him, much like I'd felt for my own sons. You know, my emotions went to the moon and back when he prayed an earnest prayer of repentance and deterred with solidarity from his past, and he opened up his heart to let the savior in to reign and rule for eternity, and He is still living in that relationship with Christ today. So here's my question to you. What does it mean to be adopted by God as a son? What kind of response does this incredible offer invoke in your heart towards him? And here's the lifeline today: From a slave to sin, to a free man in Christ; from an orphan lost to the world, to an adopted son found in Christ. What are you going to do with that in your home today?

Tuesday May 07, 2019

The Driver's Seat of Life - Romans 8:1-3

Tuesday May 07, 2019

"I want to share with you a letter of freedom that I got from a friend a while back and it says this, it says, "Dear Joe, thank you for the letter in the book that you sent me. It's great and it has helped me greatly with some problems that I've been facing lately."

Family Discussions:

What was the secret of my high school friends success?
Why did he fail the first time we stopped drinking?
Why did he succeed the second time he tried to stop drinking it?
How does this passage will set you free right now?

Transcription:

00:15 I am just so excited about this verse today. It's like my favorite. You know, there's so many of those favorites in this book of Romans, but this one's my favorite. Romans Chapter Eight, verses one through three. This verse has literally changed my life in more ways than I can tell you. It says this, "therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, weak as it was in the flesh, God did. In sending his son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, he condemned sin in the flesh." I love my mail. I loved my letters that I get every day. And uh, I want to share with you a letter of freedom that I got from a friend a while back and it says this, it says, "Dear Joe, thank you for the letter in the book that you sent me.

01:16 Uh, it, it's great and it has helped me greatly with some problems that I've been facing lately. Can I feel myself changing every day since I decided to let God run my life? Yes. It is truly amazing. I get so excited about life now. It's just unbelievable. Before I accepted Jesus Christ into my life, I had a problem with drinking. At first I thought drinking was okay. Since I grew up around alcohol. Man, how terribly wrong I was. I tried to stop drinking after realizing I was putting myself in bodily harm. The first night of that month was one of the toughest struggles have ever had in my life. I felt that I needed to drink more than anything else in the world, but I didn't. The second night of that month I gave in. My strength was not strong enough to overcome a dependency on alcohol.

02:13 I felt like a failure that night. I knew I could not do it alone. Now as a true follower of Christ, I've tried to stop again and this time it was different. I asked Jesus to help me with my problem and to show me the way to a happy life. And that's exactly what he did when I've tried to stop drinking for the second time, it was one of the easiest things I've ever done. I actually felt no need whatsoever to have alcohol back in my system. It was amazing how much easier it was the second time, but we both know why it was so easy. It was because Jesus was finally in the driver's seat of my heart. I've never been so happy in my life and this happiness will be growing in me more and more every day. Yeah, I know there will be trials, but I also know that whatever comes my way with the Lord's help, I will be able to handle anything." Every night at our men's events, at men at the cross and every night at our college events and after dark and every night at our high school events, with pure excitement,

03:20 I see this letter written thousands of times, thousands of faces, all in different ways. Here's the questions. Uh, what was the secret of my high school friends success? And the second question is this, why did he fail the first time we stopped drinking? But then lastly, why did he succeed the second time he tried to stop drinking it? And how does this passage will set you free right now? The lifeline for today is this. When I try, I fail. But when I trust, he succeeds in me.

Monday May 06, 2019

Free At Last - Romans 7:20,24-25,8:2

Monday May 06, 2019

"I heard the story of an older man who was interviewed, who had spent four years in a Nazi slave camp, burring a huge rock tunnel through a mountain to conceal the German World War II covert bombing and missile operations. Many of his friends died in that tunnel."

Family Discussions:

What makes the law of freedom stronger than the law of sin?
Why does sin enslave us?
Have you ever experienced the freedom from sin? What was it like?

Transcription:

00:14 Oh Baby! If you love freedom, you're going to love this devotional day. We're going to be reading from Romans Chapter Seven Verse 20 Verse 24 25 and then we're going to skip down to Romans eight verse two. This is great. Here's what Paul says, "but if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. Wretched man that I am, who will set me free from the body of this death. Thanks be to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. So then on the one hand, I myself in my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other with my flesh, the law of sin. For the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death." Uh, years ago I heard the story of an older man who was interviewed, who had spent four years in a Nazi slave camp, burring a huge rock tunnel through a mountain to conceal the German World War II covert bombing and missile operations.

01:23 Many, many of his friends died in that tunnel. All the slaves of prisoners were starved beyond belief and beaten unmercifully. When the United States soldiers defeated Germany and arrived at the tunnel to free the German slaves, the men literally clasped their hands together in prayerful celebration. They were free. They were free to eat. They were free to laugh. They were free to cry. They were free to go home to their families. Man, sin is slavery. Sin is handcuffs. You know, alcohol abuse becomes slavery. Tobacco abuse become slavery. Drugs become slavery. It's no fun to be a slave to anything. Who wants to be in handcuffs their whole life? But man, alas, as we continue to spin our lives in the mud. Trying to get out on her own power. Literally from out of heaven comes to the Christian soldiers of Christ, freeing hand and forgives us and lifts us from our sin and cuts the change with the Chisel of grace.

02:33 That's how my friend Diane stopped smoking. That's how my friend West stop having sex with his girlfriend. That's how rob stop using drugs. That's how bill stopped cheating his customers. That's how, uh, my friend who was having adultery stopped having adultery. He went home and apologized and begin to serve as wife and raise his kids. That's how Christ can break your chains today. And that's why Paul triumphantly says the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free. And the question today is this, what makes the law of freedom stronger than the law of sin? And then secondly, why does sin enslave us? And then talk to whoever you're with right now and talk about, have you ever experienced the freedom from sin? What was it like? The lifeline for today is this, may we continually be able to echo their historical words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr when he said, "free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty. I'm free at last." And so we are in Christ.

Friday Mar 15, 2019

Blind Spots - John 9:1-7

Friday Mar 15, 2019

Blind spots. It would have been a horrible accident, I'll never forget it, if my mom wouldn't have seen the car approaching at breakneck speed, just behind me over my right shoulder on that busy Texas freeway. I'll never forget it. My rear view mirror had a blind spot behind my right rear tail light because the design of the car.

Family Discussions:

How do we get blinded to the truth that's around us?
How can Jesus heal a blind spot?
What do you need to do to let him heal that blind spot?

Episode Transcription:

00:14 You know, some of the dearest people that I've ever made are people who are born without sight. I don't know what darkness feels like, but in John chapter nine, verses one through seven, it tells a story about a man who did, and it says this, "As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked Jesus, 'Rabbi who sinned, him or his parents, that he was born blind?' Jesus said, 'Neither this man nor his parents sinned, but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life. As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent me. Night is coming, where no one can work. While I'm in the world, I am the light of the world.' Having said this, He spit on the ground, and He made some mud with the saliva and put it on the man's eyes. 'Go,' He told the man, 'wash in the pool of Siloam,' which means the word 'sent.' So the man went and washed and came home seeing."

01:20 Blind spots. It would have been a horrible accident, I'll never forget it, if my mom wouldn't have seen the car approaching at breakneck speed, just behind me over my right shoulder on that busy Texas freeway. I'll never forget it. My rear view mirror had a blind spot behind my right rear tail light because the design of the car. Boy, have I had some blind spots, do I have some blind spots. I remember in college, you know, playing sports, playing football, you know, made me progressively self-centered. Still struggle with that. Man, I didn't know what was happening to me, but later I learned the hard way that I had a huge blind spot in my ego.

01:59 You know, I work with business guys. You know, who struggle with blind spots because the computer, and the portfolio, and the 401k and the whole money thing, you know, becomes our life. Our God. You know, I see, you know, high school kids and college kids and adults where a girl, or to the girl a guy, can become like a god, and we can love them more than we even love God. You know, you see the little boy who loves his candy more than anything. He wouldn't share it, you know, for anything. And probably the biggest challenge, you know, of growing up, of being, you know, in junior high or high school, is that popularity and being accepted by her friends can become our God. You know, we'll even forsake the love of our parents and the love of God to fit in. You know, whatever the blind spot is, you know, whatever it is that's blindfolding you or blindfolding me, you know, we don't get it until we get in big trouble. Blind spots. They're places in our lives where we can't see the truth. Blind spots or places where Satan has his way.

03:02 Here's the questions for the day. How do we get blinded to the truth that's around us? And how can Jesus heal a blind spot, and then what do you need to do, man? What do you need to do to let him heal that blind spot? And here's the lifeline for the family: man, as a family, boy, we are God's best instruments to help Jesus identify and heal the blind spots in each other. That's why gave us to each other.

Wednesday Feb 27, 2019

Will to be Well - John 5:2-9

Wednesday Feb 27, 2019

Your will is your heart. It's the driver's seat of your life. It's the quarterback where you make decisions in the huddle.

Family Discussions:

When do you need to do something that's right that's hard to do?
Why is saying "I'll try" a cop out?
What's the difference between wishing to do something and deciding to do something?
When Jesus owns your will, what does that mean?
How can we help each other in a family walk away from sinful habits and will to get well?

Episode Transcription:

00:14 Today, I want to tell you an exciting story, and I want to tell you about an exciting place that I've actually seen in Jerusalem. It's been excavated 30 feet down, and it's just like it's described in John chapter five. Here it goes. This is awesome. "Now there was in Jerusalem, by the sheep gate, a pool, which in Hebrew is called Bethesda having five porticos." And those five porticos are still there in that excavation, by the way. "Now in these," the story says, "lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame and withered, waiting for a moving of the waters for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and would stir up the waters." Scripture says, "Whoever then first after the stirring up of the water stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which that person was afflicted." In verse five it says, "A man was there who had been ill for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition. He said to him, 'Do you wish to get well?' The sick man answered him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. But while I am coming another steps down before me.' Jesus said to him, 'Get up. Pick up your pallet and walk.' And immediately that man became well. He picked up his pallet, and he began to walk. That was the Sabbath on that day."

01:48 Do you wish to get well? I'll never forget the day. I guess Beth was probably a precious little college sophomore at Texas Tech University when she came to an interview, a staff interview, and she was confused, and the interview turned into counseling. As I traveled, you know, through Texas that year to hire staff for our sports camp, this story stands out from all the rest. She said, "I feel so badly these days." And she had big old tears in her huge brown eyes. She said, "My relationship with God is going nowhere right now." You know, we talked for awhile, and she sobbed as she shared her boyfriend problems. You know, it wasn't a good relationship, but she held on to it for the feelings of security it gave her. You know, I said, "Beth, you've got to give up your will." She looked up at me in wonder. She said, "How did you know his name?" And I said, "What are you talking about?" She said, "My boyfriend's name is Will."

02:47 You see your will is your heart. It's the driver's seat of your life. It's the quarterback where you make decisions in the huddle. You know, when God gives you your will and you step out on your will, you can stop anything that is wrong and you can do anything that is right. Literally, when Jesus asked his man, "Do you wish to get well?" In the Greek, what he really said to the man was, "Do you will to get well? Your will is the strongest muscle in your body.

03:18 So here's the questions for the day: when do you need to do something that's right that's hard to do it, and why is saying "I'll try" a cop out? And then the second question is what's the difference between wishing to do something and deciding to do something? And the third question is this: when Jesus owns your will, what does that mean? And here's the thought for the day. The paralytic willed to get well. He took up his pallet and walked. How can we help each other in a family walk away from sinful habits and will to get well?

Thursday Jan 31, 2019

Better than Band-Aids - Luke 13:10-13

Thursday Jan 31, 2019

I read recently that initial sales of Band-Aid were so bad that the product was almost canceled. But it isn't odd how sometimes we reject the things that are intended for our greatest good?

Family Discussions:

In just small Band-Aid ways, how has Jesus been healing you lately?
How can you be a Band-Aid to others?
How can you give the healing touch of Christ to others with a smile, with a hug, with a word of encouragement?

Episode Transcription:

00:14 Hey, have you ever wondered who invented the little Band-Aids we put her fingers and toes, and have you've ever wondered how many of these things have been on people's fingers and toes over the years? Well, today I'm going to tell you, but first we're going to look at Luke 13, verses 10 through 13, and it says this, "And he was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath and there was a woman who for 18 years had a sickness caused by a spirit, and she was bent over double and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her over, and he said to her, 'Woman, you are freed from your sickness.' And he laid his hands on her, and, immediately, she was made erect again, and she began glorifying God."

00:58 It's just one of, I guess, hundreds of miracles of healing that Jesus performed. But today I want to ask you, you know, where this thing came from? Well, believe it or not, it happened back in 1921. And the man's name was Earl Dixon. And he came up with the first Band Aid. And since that day, the population of planet earth has patched itself over a hundred billion times with that familiar product. So why is it that like 80-something years later, I'm still amazed by Dixon's invention?

01:35 Well, I tell you what as this little flesh-colored adhesive kind of stares at me from my index finger, and I don't even know really any more what it's doing here. But, but I'm reminded how tragically we take healing for granted. You know, how many of these tiny little dressings have I fastened to my children and my grandchildren's wounds throughout the years? You know, how many times have they dried their tears on my shirt and my collar and my shoulder thanking me when I should've been thinking old Earl Dixon? You know, how am I embarrassed by this bandage?

02:10 You know, I read recently that initial sales of Band-Aid were so bad that the product was almost canceled. But it isn't odd how sometimes we reject the things that are intended for our greatest good? You know what? Jesus understood such rejection, kind of like the Band-Aid. His brand of healing was sometimes severely criticized by those who should have been the most compassionate, but somehow the story will change. Men and women will reach for the Savior just as they reach for Dixon's Band-Aid. Humanity will bring their booboos to the Lord, and at last, Jesus will bind up every wound. At last, he will dry every tear, and all of heaven will say "thank you" to the great and glorious healer of all. I love Philippians chapter two at the very end when it says, "At the end, every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord to the glory of God the Father."

03:08 And here's my questions today. Um, you know what? He may not have taken your blindness and made you 20/20 vision. He may not have taken. you know, and put a new arm on your shoulder. He may not have taken you out of the pallet of paralysis and given you the legs to walk again as you're reading scripture, but I believe he's doing it all over the world, and I believe in the small ways, he's doing it to you today. So in just small Band-Aid ways, how has Jesus been healing you lately? And then take it home. How can you be a Band-Aid to others? How can you give the healing touch of Christ to others with a smile, with a hug, with a word of encouragement? Think of a way that you can be old Dixon and give a Band-Aid to somebody else.