Kingdom Living in a Crazy World

Brad:
Welcome everyone to Go Mad with Doug and Brad and Jesse. We're back, we're back, we're back. Today we are talking about Kingdom living in a crazy world if you have a suggesting I'm not suggesting.

I'm saying there are crazy things happening in the world right now. Wildly crazy world, but there's a way that we can be ambassadors and have kingdom living. Gonna talk about some very practical things here on as we go forward.

Doug:
I love that, but first I have to ask a question. Did you schedule this uh podcast recording on May the fourth on purpose. This is what they call I think Star Wars Day.

It is May the Fourth be with you. Now see, I would have said that. I was sitting actually with Jesse yesterday at lunch, and he can attest to this.

I can't say that Really? I was I was like Well it's the combination. I was like I was like so what is it why it what May 4th Star Wars Day and I'm like oh May the fourth Be with you.

And so I tried to I tried to slow it down. He really did. I was spinning tortilla chips.

Trying to say this. And then Brad's got like a shirt on that I'm pretty sure is breaking like

Brad:
I didn't make the shirt. It was not cold.

Doug:
It's catching. I'm Great. Moving on.

You're right. There it is a crazy world. It really is.

I mean, we may be living in the craziest time ever. Um I mean Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays.

Brad:
Wait, I don't that's not exactly what I was referring to.

Doug:
But it's a it's a good thing. Oh, it wasn't. No. Okay, well what about this? Yes.

There are wars Everywhere there's political violence, we live in a culture. Um where uh more and more Folks label evil things as good and good things as evil, natural disasters all over the place, disease. mega weapons everywhere.

Um yeah.

Brad:
It's a crazy world. It is. And we see every time we look around us, and that's why we want to talk about this today, and just an honest conversation because we see that there are People who love Jesus that don't really know how to handle the craziness.

Doug:
It can hurt an ambassador's heart.

Brad:
It can really mess things up. And it can damage relationships. I there was this news article I saw just like last week.

So this is really recent Where it said that two in five, now two in five people have cut someone out of their lives, most often because of how conflicting views are handled. So you get angry, you feel disrespected, and this got Even deeper because the survey found that 60% of Gen Z respondents had gone no contact compared to 50% of millennials, but even 38% of Gen X, 20% of baby boomers. So it's happening everywhere that a response to the conflict to the crazy is I'm not talking to you anymore.

Doug:
Oh my word. Those are I mean these are family members. These are these are fri you know I I remember when COVID hit and everything, this started to become a thing and and then, you know, who you're voting for and everything. But uh this has stayed a thing.

Brad:
It has.

Doug:
I think it it I mean and grown. Is this a permanent thing in our culture now? And If you're listening to this, you're you most likely care that we are Christ's ambassadors, his representatives.

Remember that that's what this podcast is all about. is uh is what do we do? What what are the opportunities we have as Christ's ambassadors?

Uh how do we take advantage of them and how do we be aware when um our ambassadorship is kind of being threatened. Not not our relationship with Jesus, but but being his representative. People remember that scripture says that that we are being looked at as uh the ones carrying Jesus' name as if ge God is making his appeal.

In other words, he's saying, I died on the cross for you. I love you. I died in your place.

I want to have a relationship with you. is our life saying that you gotta back up and go, Well what am I filling my heart with? What's going on because out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, we guard our heart because because everything we do flows from it, according to Proverbs.

Uh so how is our Ambassador Hart being rep uh being affected by this craziness?

Brad:
And that's we're gonna talk today about uh some ways some practical ways to even do it's like an ambassador self test almost where it is looking at which way you're responding to things And uh also some ways to pray because you may be someone that's listening and you've had someone that's cut you out of their lives. They've cut off that contact or maybe you've done that with someone else. It's not too late. That can be the chapter, not the whole book. So you can still kind of reverse course on some things and make some adjustments based on some of what we're going to talk about from the Word of God, including There's a direct announcement in the Word of God that what we're living in is going to be happening.

Doug:
Real quick, this self-test. Are my cholesterol levels gonna come up in this thing?

Brad:
Uh th we'll post them online but not talk about it's fantastic. Yeah, they'll be in the comments.

Doug:
Well y let's get into this announcement. There are certain scriptures that kind of make you sit up straighter. At least for I I mean, like where I back up, I back up the scripture bus. I'm not gonna go beep, beep. I just Psalm 101 for me.

Brad:
Oh, yeah. Psalm 1013. That when you say that it comes like I will set before my eyes no vile thing.

Jesse:
Oh man.

Brad:
Because when I look at that it's just like No vile thing, nothing. First it's like, okay I know I need to not do that. And then all of a sudden I'm like, wait, when I look up what vial means, oh no. And I'm so anyway, that's one. Jesse, do you have one?

Jesse:
Well the entire book of Hebrews. Therefore, while the promise of entering his rest still stands, let us fear lest any of you should seem to have failed to reach it. And there's more where that came from.

Doug:
There's more where that came from.

Jesse:
You're right.

Doug:
What like those scriptures, I'm gonna spit you out of my mouth. What about that one I when when Jesus says you did all these religious things but I never knew you. All right, here's a big one.

You ready? 'Cause this is one of the most jarring in the Bible and it and it specifically speaks to what we're talking about today, kingdom living in a crazy world. One of the most jarring in the Bible, Matthew 24, is where you're gonna find this.

So Jesus' disciples, how are we gonna know when it's the end times? How are we gonna know when things are winding down? Jesus says this.

Well, one of the things is because of an increase in wickedness or an increase in sin, the love of most will grow cold. Um and and this includes believers. So the translation, the love of most will grow cold, terrifying statement.

Translation Sin everywhere, which is what you you got sin at our fingertips, on our phones. Uh it's everywhere. Sin everywhere causes love, compassion, devotion to God to go the way of the buffalo Um his people will be or are less serious about how they view sin and the personal effect it has in their life.

Sin will be everyday stuff. We get numb to it. Um it'll it'll kind of put us to sleep.

We won't care as much. And you might be in that group if you're if uh you're listening right now. We're praying for you if you are.

Um but apparently th this is what we're gonna focus on. Uh all that sin around us apparently will give most of God's people a cold heart. A heart that's self-focused and scared.

Because you're kinda you're you're battering down the the hatch if that is actually how that phrase goes. I don't know Did I get that right I'm pretty sure. But you know, it's like okay.

As for me in my house, we're gonna serve the Lord. As for me in my house, we're gonna close the doors, man. Because I I I am we're scared of the world around us Um and and this is at the worst possible time.

Our heart grows cold. Cold hearts don't uh don't reach lost hearts. That's what's so scary here.

And a world Never more desperate for Jesus in a world with more people than ever, crying out for him. Fewer and fewer of us who are supposed to be God's people are gonna care. Now that

Brad:
We almost get the uh it's almost like the Nova Cain heart where it is we we get kind of m numb when we're constantly bombarded by the things of the world and we I like what you said there as far as the I whether we're I having these open doors or closed doors in our heart, are we going out to the world or are we basically hunkering down saying You know what? I'm tired of it. I can't handle this anymore.

I'm just I w it's just me and my family. We're just i and instead of saying that Man, I'm not gonna let this cold heart, I'm not gonna let this numb heart continue, but I need to have a boldness and not a when we say that, we're not talking about there are a lot of people who would say online they're like, I'm bold I say exactly what I mean. And I put a scripture reference with this, but it is not it is not saying an anger.

Or an unkind boldness because the word of God still says gentleness and respect that we're supposed to give answers with gentleness and respect, but it's talking about being bold to Jesus. Yeah, that it that's so it. I actually, if I I wanted to, if I can dive into the first kingdom living self-test here, because you basically just said it, Doug, it's the panic or peace, or you could even say fear or faith.

This is kind of the self-test. So when when we're talking about this, take a look at these as we go through this and say, how am I responding? in this situation.

And the first one really is, are you responding to the world around us to the to the constant assault and bombardment with panic? Or with peace.

Doug:
Hey, those both that's alliterated.

Brad:
What? Well, I do it mostly to I win dad's approval.

Doug:
No, I'm not I'm still on Novacaine Heart. That's so good. But I keep going. I'm sorry. No, that's what it hit when you uh when you said that before.

Brad:
The so panic or peace, fear or faith. Yeah, because when we what we focus on quickly moves into our hearts Which quickly moves into how we feel about a situation, which then moves into how we react. So it's that taking every thought captive, but I love in Proverbs 23-26 where it says, give me your heart.

In Colossians 3. 2, where it says, set your minds on things above, not earthly things. When I was reading some of the scripture the other day, And it just came up in my Jesus time.

I was reading this and I'm like, man, how many times do I let the the thoughts, my thoughts where I don't take them captive, where I don't shift my focus to who Jesus is How do I all of a sudden wind up going through the day where I'm grumpy, where I don't respond right to my family, where I'm where I'm viewing where news stories I'll be scrolling through a news app and it's just like, man. And just start feeling a certain way. We're supposed to be choosing the peace of Christ.

Um, Romans 8. 6, letting the Spirit control your mind leads to life. and peace.

Doug:
That's a great test, man. I uh the I haven't thought of that that that uh because how do you know? I mean how do you know it i it it's like oh no I don't want my heart to grow cold.

But that's that's why we've got this list here. Uh uh i i i i i how do I recognize and by the way, we're gonna get to the other part of the list, the bold. Folks.

There's the cold and the bowl we're gonna get that in a second, but that's that's really good, man. Um when something bad hits, when bad news, something stressful hits, what's my initial response? Um Um what am I living in the that's the same thing?

Brad:
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. This is where Jesus says, peace I leave with you, my peace I give to you. Do not let Your heart's been troubled.

Exactly. It is a choice I'm making. How do I think about things and how do I respond to them?

If I respond out of the panic, It makes me cold. It gives me that Novocaine heart.

Doug:
Check this out. I am uh I am going to uh uh move into this uh next point here that that has specifically to do with what you just said, Brad. How about when we respond, is it lashing out or is it love?

Um man, you get it I I think sometimes if we could have one of those little the uh y you know, we've got voice memos on our phone actually. Record yourself sometime during the day. I accidentally sent you one before.

Brad:
As you were coming here today.

Doug:
Yeah, that that's true. It was like a nine minute message from Brad. It it was just ruffling around in the pocket Rustling around.

Um but but uh you know, I think if we could hear ourselves sometimes I actually heard my I'm not kidding about this. I r I apologized to my wife the other day 'cause I'm like all of a sudden I could kind of hear myself and I realized I said, honey, I've been when something stressful comes up, I have been snapping. I've been um I it not necessarily at her But just just being impatient and and um uh that's that's could be a hard growing cold You know, take the first Corinthians thirteen test.

Is it lashing out or is it love? If you want to know if you're responding in love That is such, we all know this. It's on a it's on every poster, Christian poster, but but read it, write that list, man.

It's patient It's kind. It doesn't keep a list of wrongs. So you've forgiven and you've moved on.

Brad:
Hang on, I need to delete a note on my phone real quick.

Doug:
So yeah, lashing out on love.

Brad:
It's interesting you mentioned First Corinthians 13 because we didn't talk about that, but I wrote down verses seven and eight. Love always protects. Always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres, and then love never fails. Do those you disagree with still feel protected When they leave.

Jesse:
Oh wow.

Brad:
Do they still feel like they can trust you when they walk away from a conversation And do they still hear hope from you even on the worst days? No matter what the crazy world is throwing at us, do they still hear the hope of Jesus in how you respond to things.

Doug:
Wow, how do when when someone walks away from a conversation with you, what are they feeling?

Brad:
That is John 13, 34. Love one another as I have loved you. And Jesus says, love me when I've been a real idiot.

There's a soundbite for you. That's the original Greek. That's the original Greek.

I've been an idiot many times and Jesus says, love me. Do I have the same love for others uh in that I come in contact with. Man.

You got another one for us? Yes, I do. I so the I are you focused on differences or you focused on the common ground?

Uh is where's your heart go to that? And that one's pretty straightforward. It is, do we spend time just saying, well, I see how you're different and that's what I'm gonna harp on?

Or do you start by saying Maybe it's words of affirmation for someone, especially when it comes as a parent to children. We uh every generation views differ. We get that.

There's gonna be some things you agree up on and some you don't. You don't wanna lose the the whole cutting off contact. Do you want to lose communication with your children because they vote differently? Or do you want to keep those lines of communication open so you can still be a voice of influence in their life?

So when you Focus on common ground and have words of affirmation saying you're proud of them for something, recognizing an achievement that they've accomplished in their life, even if it's a different field that you thought they should go into. Are you do you have those words of affirmation or are you only focused on the differences?

Doug:
When they are prodigaling is The most important time to be to be finding things about them that you love. Um I the instinct, the first instinct, is to point out the things in each other, especially with our kids or or our parents, that we disagree with, that are really annoying us, that are making us upset.

Brad:
It's actually interesting that that you mentioned the kids there too, Doug, because I mentioned it from the parents to children. But it's really true. W if you're listening to this and you're a teenager or a a young adult or whatever, it does go both ways.

That would that that we need to not focus on don't just focus on how your parents are different. Look at where's the common ground? Where are things that you can affirm in your parents As well.

That's really good.

Doug:
Yeah uh speaking of how we uh how we uh respond, I've I've got another one here. Yeah. Um Unbridled emotion or unwavering calm.

Well, that's alliterated too. More alliteration. Wow.

I just want to be clear. I'm not sure I'm using that word correctly We'll look it up later. We'll fix it in bad.

But I'm pretty sure it means uh two different words that start with the same. I think that's a Unbridled emotion or unwavering comment on responses. If you want to know how you're doing here, check your social media.

Um not just what you're saying, but your tone Um what you're writing. I don't use social media well. Um check your texts.

Maybe recall conversations where you have disagreed with someone you love. Um or ask a loved one.

Brad:
Ask a loved one to How am I doing projecting calm and peace?

Doug:
Brad goes

Brad:
I'm not asking the question. I'm saying others should because I don't want to know the answer.

Doug:
We were talking about this and Brad goes, Are we having knee jerk reactions or being a jerk reactions?

Brad:
That is yeah, we did that did come good.

Doug:
I do like that. I got one more quick one here. Um, and then we we're gonna move into uh part two here about what it means to be bold and ways we can pray.

Ways we can pray to to uh keep our hearts from getting cold, e and if they have already, um how we can get back to to uh uh uh heart warm for people. So the question is Netflix versus neighbors. Uh a way to know i if your heart's growing cold is is I mean am I spending more and more time entertaining myself?

Um where where I'm kind of unplugging from the world, like we were talking about earlier, with um just kinda uh going inside and and say I just don't want to deal with everything. Um, yeah look, I've got my Netflix Q. And by the way, I realized when I was doing these notes, I don't know how to spell the word Q. No, it's You'd think I thought it was just the letter. But there's like nineteen consonants in this one.

You e anyway, uh it n neither here nor there. But but um uh I'm asking myself, I'm serious this is something I is a personal thing. Do I have my, let's say, my lost or hurting people cue?

I mean, I've got my I got my list of things I can't wait to watch. And I have a plan for how I'm gonna entertain myself. Do I have a plan for how I'm going to comfort my hurting friend, my neighbor?

Do I have a plan how I'm going to introduce Jesus to them?

Brad:
So good. So there's your kind of self-test to start with. And and I I would just add this as before we move into the Just kind of the praying and the boldness.

How do you know if you're getting these right? Well, I would just say, what is the overflow in your life? I wrote down this uh what's coming out of your heart?

Because I wrote down this verse, Romans 15, 13. May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may Overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Are we overflowing with hope?

So not a morsel

Doug:
Overflowing. That's incredible. Um now so that there's your exam.

We're about to get into here into ways to pray to keep a bold Warm our see the i we talked about cold, but this verse uh there's like kind of the bummer part and then there's the yay part Um because apparently while many are getting cold, there's also an explosion of the gospel here. Many are getting cold. Some of God's people are getting bolder and bolder because Um i the scripture says they're going to spread, Jesus said they're going to spread the gospel of the kingdom as a testimony to all nations.

We're going to get everywhere with the gospel, then the end will come. These are the people who are going for broke, who go, I recognize the kind of world I'm living in. I recognize the way most people are being treated, as for me.

I see what time it is on the clock. I see we're kind of in the two-minute warning here. I'm gonna clean the junk out of my life.

I'm gonna become what Second Timothy says, I'm gonna become useful to the master because that scripture says when we Pursue righteous living, holy living. We become useful him to him for to do incredible things. Um, I'm gonna get other people to Jesus.

Look, we don't know when he's coming back, but but we do know that the world looks more today like the world Jesus said he'd come back to than maybe ever before. So Um, so two groups, cold and bold. We talk cold.

Let's talk about a few ways briefly here to pray. How we can pray to keep a bold heart. Stay away from a cold heart.

You want me to start, Brad? Are you? All right.

So here number one, I'm praying this. As a follower of Christ, I'm praying, Lord, help me see what you see. When you look at our world today.

Remember Jesus sitting on that hill looking at Jerusalem? And he's in tears. He says, if you would just turn to me.

your life would be changed. Help me see what you see. Um take every thought you brought this up earlier, Brad, 2 Corinthians 10, 5, take every thought captive.

and make them obey Christ. That that Hosanna song. I love when it g I I can't wait till it gets to that bridge.

Break my heart for what breaks yours Um you'll you do that. You ask you ask God to break your heart for what's breaking his heart You'll find your thoughts mo moving towards the lost, towards the homeless, towards the hurting. is helping widows and orphans, people who can't help themselves.

Your thoughts are gonna start moving a lot more towards that versus what's stressing you out.

Brad:
I love how you phrased the second way to pray, Doug, because that's a great first way and I love that you put Pray the Zeke prayer. Uh Ezekiel, where he says turn this heart of his friends call him Zeke. Yeah, well, obviously.

Turn the start of heart of stone into a heart of flesh. Oh that is we need to be praying the same thing that the Lord will just help us to I I get it. I really do.

Uh and Doug does too. I think Jesse does as well, where when you just are scrolling and there's a reason they call it doom scrolling because it you do get to me, it does leave me feeling a certain way. The more that you read certain things The world's ending.

Doom scrolling. Exactly. And so All of a sudden you're just left in a spot where we go back to the the heart condition, the Novocaine heart where it's just numbed.

But God is saying, no, look, I can restore that, I can renew that Even on the worst of days, I can give you this heart of flesh, but we should ask for it. And y it's not even a bad day idea to Start your day with it. Man, start your day with Lord.

I'm challenging myself right now. Where, hey, Lord, give me a heart of flesh instead of a heart of stone this day.

Doug:
Remember that scripture? There's another one you you you land on you do not have because you do not ask. Just ask him for it.

He wants to give it to you. Uh real quick, when you pray that give me a heart of flesh versus stone How am I treating others that annoy me? Ask yourself that question.

Um so here's the third one. Pray you'll run to the battle and not retreat. Um our culture loves aliens.

Yes. Right? Hey over here, I'm one.

We're supposed to be we're supposed to look so weird to everybody. Um because we're the ones running into the battle instead of uh instead of away from it.

Brad:
condition side of things.

Doug:
Well, invite God to give you a hard exam. Uh this is um this is another i I love this in Psalm 119 where Where David says, you know, we we like to uh think we've got it figured out on our own. But he says, actually, Lord, I'm inviting you, search my heart.

Go to every dark corner, because you know me better than I know myself. Go to every dark corner and see if there's any offensive way in me. I want to know what those things are.

And lead me in the way everlasting. The more your heart is in line with the Lord, the more you believe and live like, hey, God's got this. in in the craziness of the world.

Isaiah says, he sits enthroned above the circle of the earth. Get this, get get this mental picture. This is this is incredible.

Sits enthroned above the circle of the of the earth. Surely the nations are like The drop in a bucket, um, Psalm 11, 3 and 4, when the foundations are being destroyed, what can the righteous do? The Lord, there it is, is in his holy temple.

The Lord is on his heavenly throne. And Brad, I have a feeling you've got the fifth way to break a good one.

Brad:
It would just be ask the Lord. What do you want me to do? The exploding world leaves in its wake just a multitude of the injured, the broken, the bleeding all around us in these different groups of people and W when we don't have that right heart, when we haven't asked the Lord to show us what Do You want me to do, it can seem overwhelming, but God will direct you.

I love what our pastor says a lot of times. Do for one what you can't do for all. Now you should try to do it for as many as you can.

But start with the one. Start by not walking by that wounded person. You mentioned the neighbors before, Doug, prioritizing who's in your the gospel queue.

I I think that's great where it's just like who who needs me in this situation. And I would say that for me, the uh the m when we talk about all these things, when we talk about the kind of ambassador self-test And then when you talk about the ways to pray, the thing that comes to my mind is in all these things, do the fruit test. Um along the way.

Not what's in your fruit bowl at home. Are they bananas turning brown?

Doug:
You told me that's how to test it.

Brad:
I I I told her for a reason.

Doug:
What's the fruit test?

Brad:
What do you mean? Galatians 5, 22 and 23. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives.

Love. Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control It's not a list that we're supposed to pick and choose from. That's all supposed to be part of who we are as followers of Christ.

So take time to even look back at the things we've talked about today and say, where is it that I can be a better reflection of the fruit of the Spirit to those around me?

Doug:
Man, that list. That sounds a lot like the 1 Corinthians 13 love list. Um, you know, just to to kind of put a bow on this, yes, crazy times.

Um, it's tempting to go and retreat. It's tempting to go and lock the doors of your house and say, you know what, I'll I'll I'll lead my family. I'll we'll we'll do our thing.

But um things are just too crazy out there. Um and people don't seem to care anyway. Why why should I care?

Um Look, whatever you're dealing with in in a fear um of what the future holds, uh no president. No prime minister, no army, no terrorist. They don't control the future.

The Lord of history uh who according to Revelation is and was, who and who is to come the Almighty, he writes that. He writes the future. He writes the destiny.

We've, as his believers, as as uh his ambassadors, we've placed our lives in those all-powerful hands. So we can watch the turbulent, the crazy news, read those crazy news stories knowing that he's in charge. Um living, yes, with urgency, but not with fear.

Um remember, and and we're gonna we're gonna wrap up here with this. Remember, Jesus went on to say, the scripture says, Matthew 24, and this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations. And then the end will come.

So the call to boldness is this. Look, whatever whatever things I've been focused on, passions, this been defining how I spend my time, my life, my money, my influence. If it's not gonna matter in heaven, it shouldn't be mattering very much right now.

And if you really like How that sounded? That's a quote from Dad. Ron Hutchcraft.

Uh if it if it isn't gonna matter in heaven, it shouldn't be mattering very much right now. So ask God how he would use you for his kingdom in such times as these, and then listen.

Brad:
We pray this has been an encouragement uh for you today and a challenge as well in the areas that maybe that's needed. Uh we would encourage you please uh share this with a friend, leave a review, um just get the word out about this because Our goal here is not to have lots of downloads. It's to impact a lot of lives and to help people see how they can be better ambassadors for Jesus and the world around them.

So thank you for tuning in. Thanks for being part. of the go mad family.

By the way, we don't mind lots of downloads. No, it's also that that's that's true. We don't uh we don't reject those.

Doug:
We're not against we don't send them back. So what do you say until next time? Go mad