Wretched Radio begins in three, two, one. Seriously, if you want to relieve stress, go to the Word of God. Oh my goodness. It's just so weird, isn't it, when people say stuff like that? I apologize for him. Are you kidding me? Let's all do baptism, and I have a little pool here, and we'll all feel nice and relaxed. That's baptism. No. Baptism is a sacred Christian rite. All the varied yogas are sacred Hindu rites. Wake up, America! It's time for Wretched Radio with Todd Friel. Prepare for theater. of the mind also known as a really bad idea this is a wretched radio this is too good to not try to present to you on radio even though it is somewhat visual this is called hashtag equality this is a satirical piece to demonstrate the post-modern worldview on steroids this is to satirically take somebody's worldview and say all right let's apply it pedal to the metal here is the picture i sure hope that this translates well there's a man and a woman and they're standing in front of It doesn't look very pleasant. It looks like kind of a futuristic Will Smith sort of set. It's outside. It's kind of a junkyard with a big concrete wall behind them. And the young man and the young woman are talking when lo and behold, another man joins them, presumably from the future. Prepare for theater. of the mind. And this, by the way, by the way, it is a comedian. I don't know if he's a Christian. I don't know what he is. There's a blasphemy in it that we had to beep out. Prepare now for theater of the mind. Hi there, you're very attractive. I mean, I'm not objectifying you in any way. Not that hello is necessarily your traditional greeting. I'm not racist. I'm not sexist. I promise you I'm not sexist. I'm not at all racist. Here comes the guy. Is that a straight white male? No, it can't be. We killed them all. Hey, how you doing? Sorry, I just arrived from that time machine over there. I came from 2015. I was hoping you guys had the time on you or if you just had some food. It's okay. We don't eat food anymore. It's very offensive. Yeah, we just have solid love. It's 100% gluten-free, halal, kosher, dairy-free, biodynamic, solar-powered, carbon-neutral, and all the colours of the rainbow. Yeah, nah, look, I'm gonna pass on that. Why are you both wearing black? It's not black. It's African-American. Now this is a way to make a point. You put together a satirical piece to demonstrate, all right, this is what you want? Let's just, let's just go with that. And this is what it looks like. What are your names then? We don't have names anymore. They cause discrimination. We're just prescribed numbers at birth. And many people were offended if their number was too high or was bad luck according to their religion. Yeah, so we all became number one. It's wonderful. No, no, that sounds horrible actually. Um, she's not used to men disagreeing with her. Why? What is she going to do, arrest me? Well, actually, yes, there's a 20 year jail sentence for disagreeing with a woman. And 30 years if she's a privileged white woman with a blog. With a blog. And for both of you, we no longer use the terms he or she. We're all equal. I beg your forgiveness. Oh, great. Number one, I'm not sexist. I'm not. I'm not sexist. I'm not sexist. I'm not sexist. I'm not. I'm not. I'm not. Sexist. Got a question for you. This type of satire. Effective? Thumbs up? Thumbs down? So no one has free speech anymore either? Oh my Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, Tamla, Guru **** no. Of course we have free speech. We just have to thank the traditional owners of the oxygen every five minutes. Which reminds me, it's five past three. Oh great dinosaurs, we send our thanks for this precious air that we so selfishly breathe. Okay! What, so your god is a dinosaur? No, we were all gods. Well legally Mark Zuckerberg made himself our god. Do kids even go to school? Of course they do. But only for three days of the year, all other days are religious holidays. And on those three days, we are told how beautiful we are. Yeah. Oh, but if by the age of 16 you're still a straight white male, we will kill you. Of course you will. Well, of course, because you're a straight white white Christian male. What sort of perverse leader made all these laws? We have no leader. We simply have an equality guidance counselor. They are the true number one. But we're originally born Mohamed Smith Chang Steinberg Patel Volkov Mbele. They're also four years old. Your leader is... four? Four years old? Yes. And if you have a problem with that, you are an ageist. And to protect this utopia we live in, ageism results in the death penalty. Rid yourself of the evils of the past and join us. Join us. Become number one with us all. Join us. I'm not sexist. Join us. Join us. Join us! I'm not sexist. By the way, what's the date? It's the 18th of January. 2016. Dun, dun, dun! Because it didn't take long at the pace that we are headed. That is a satirical way to expose the weaknesses of a worldview. My question, does this persuade anybody? I'm not sure that it does. I think it's probably more of an encouragement to those of us who are on the side that thinks that the worldview of secular humanism is bankrupt. It encourages us. We can use it as a bit of a clobber piece, which I have no problem with. But I'm not sure that you would present this video, for instance, to Michael Moore and he would say, you're right. I've been such a fool all of my life. I need to change my way of thinking. So while I appreciate good satire, and I do believe that a Christian can use sarcasm, it is a tool that should be inside of our little box, but we need to remember it's a serrated edge, it doesn't cut finely, it tends to shred if you're not very careful, and we need to recognize its limitations. It can't convert a human heart. It can't take somebody from being in Adam to being in Christ. It can't take somebody from hating God to loving God. Now, could it possibly teach or instruct them? As instructable as somebody is whose worldview is completely bankrupt and whose logical mind is completely busted, But it has its limitations, but I certainly would not take it off the table. And speaking of worldviews, and when you apply them to culture... what it looks like, and what happens when you just decide, you know, our culture has been living this way for a while. Let's just change it and do it a different way. I think that people who are progressives, who are represented by this satirical piece, are not aware of the effects that Christianity has had on culture. You see, while this piece was a joke about taking your worldview, putting it on steroids and applying it, the reality is that happened with Christianity. This true worldview was actually applied to culture and to the point where these days we aren't even aware of the impact of Christianity on Western civilization. This from theweek.com, how Christianity invented children. This is a fascinating trip through history and a reminder that our Christian worldview has impacted society, especially these days in a culture where they want to just toss everything that has any remnants of Christianity into the dustbin. They better think long and hard. because it was Christianity that brought our culture, children as we understand them, today. This by Pascal Emmanuel Gobry, G-O-B-R-Y, found at theweek.com. We have forgotten just how deep a cultural revolution Christianity wrought. There are many ideas that we simply take for granted as natural and obvious, when in fact they didn't exist until the arrival of Christianity changed things completely. Take, for instance, children. Today it is simply taken for granted that the innocence and vulnerability of children makes them beings of particular value and entitled to particular care. Our culture encourages us to let ourselves fall prey to our gooey feelings whenever we look at baby pictures. That was not always the way. This view of children is an historical oddity. And all you need to do is go back and take an historical look at the role of children and how the ancient world, the ancient pagan world, viewed children in England, or in Europe rather. O. M. Bakke, historian, points out in his book, When Children Became People, in ancient Greece and Rome, children were considered non-persons. Back then, the entire social worldview was undergirded by a universally held, if implicit, view. Society was organized in concentric circles, with the circle at the center containing the highest value of people, and the people in the outside circles having little to no value. At the center was the free-born, adult, what, male. And other persons were valued depending on how similar they were to the free-born adult male. Such was the lot of foreigners, slaves, women, and children. Got the concentric circle? Kids are way out there. Women are way out there in pagan cultures. That would be another consideration. The role of women in culture? How the pagans treat women. Lady, you should be afraid. You should be very afraid. High infant mortality rates created a cultural pressure to not develop emotional attachments to children. This cultural pressure was exacerbated by the fact that women were more likely to develop emotional attachments to children, which, according to the worldview of the day, meant it had to be a sign of weakness and vulgarity. Various pagan authors describe children as being more like plants than human beings. And that had consequences. Well-to-do parents typically did not interact with their children, leaving them up to the care of slaves. It was sort of like Captain Von Trapp before the Flying Nun. What was her name? Sally Field. Sally Field started singing those songs and flying around Austria. Now what was her name though? Sister Maria. That's it. Of course. How do you solve a problem like Maria? Julie Andrews. Exactly. Children were rudely brought up and very strong beatings were a normal part of education. In Rome, a child's father had the right to kill him for whatever reason until he came of age. Nice work, pagans. One of the most notorious ancient practices that Christianity rebelled against was the frequent practice of expositio. basically the abandonment of unwanted children. Girls were abandoned much more than boys, which really indicated that there was an imbalance, a gender ratio gap, that was bordering on China, according to historical sociologist Rodney Stark. Another notorious practice in the ancient world, sorry for this, we all know what kind of exploitation of children. It is sometimes pointed to paganism's greater tolerance. See? They accepted everybody and you could be gay. Right? Have you heard that? that the greater tolerance of pagans of homosexuality than Christianity. See, they're more virtuous. They're on the right side of history. But this is to look at a very different world through distorting lenses. The key thing to understand about sexuality in the pagan world is the ever-present notion of concentric circles of worth. The ancient world did not have fewer taboos. It had different ones. Namely, most intimate acts were permissible. as long as they involved a person of higher status being active against or dominating a person of lower status. This meant that according to all the evidence we have, the sexual abuse of children, particularly boys, was rife. And they didn't consider it a problem. Why? Because of concentric circles, not because they were so advanced regarding homosexuality. Different lens, different view. This really parallels what Dennis Prager said when he gave the history of sexuality for the last 6,000 years that we have. It was always about power. and being dominant over the weaker. That aligns perfectly with this concentric circle idea. It doesn't matter how you do the act, as long as you're in the dominant position, then it's okay. Because this is about the stronger versus the weaker. Back to Expositio. According to sources, most abandoned children died, but some were rescued almost inevitably toward slavery. And the most profitable way for a small child slave to earn money was as a, you got it, slave. Brothels specializing in child sex slaves, particularly boys, were established legal and thriving businesses in ancient Rome. One source reports that intimacy with, this is so rough. with castrated boys was a particular delicacy. And babies were castrated for that purpose. Yeah, they were progressive. advanced. And this is the world into which Christianity marched, condemning abortion and infanticide and sex trade as loudly as they could. This is the world that Christianity changed, calling attention to children and ascribing special worth to them. Church leaders meditated on Jesus' instruction to imitate children and proposed ways that Christians should look up to and become more like them. Christianity invented children. That is, its invention of the cultural idea of children as treasured human beings was an outgrowth of its most stupendous and revolutionary idea, the radical equality and value in the eyes of God of every single human being. That changed the world. The conclusion? That was indeed a revolutionary idea, and it changed our culture so much that we no longer even recognize it. Maybe we would do well to remind unbelievers that it was Christianity that brought in a different opinion of children and of women, and then ask them, would they like to regress? Is this where we are headed? Where are you taking us? Because if we put your worldview on steroids, you know where we're going? It is not forward, my progressive friend. You're gonna regress us right back to ancient pagan Rome. This is Wretched Radio. Evangelism can be scary. We get that. That's why we created The Biggest Question. The Biggest Question DVD presents the gospel in a clear, concise, and accurate way without being cheesy. And all you need to do is hand it to someone and ask them to watch. So who do you know who needs to hear the good news? A friend? A neighbor? A loved one? The Biggest Question, available in single copies or spindles of 100 at wretchedradio.com. And remember, your purchase helps us reach more people with the amazing gospel. Angered by a pastor's preaching in their rural village, authorities have demanded that the pastor cease and desist his evangelical activities. In addition to receiving a threatening letter from village authorities, Pastor Antonio Cruz Rodas has been warned that if he continues to preach, he will be killed. Villagers have ordered the pastor to stop teaching a different religion than the one already practiced in their area. Most people in the village practice folk Catholicism, a blend of Catholicism and indigenous practices. Three families have come to faith in Christ, though, and the pastor says he's not afraid of being killed. to learn how you can pray for and help persecuted Christians, subscribe to the Voice of the Martyrs free monthly newsletter. Call 800-75-VOICE. That's 800-75-V-O-I-C-E. Support persecuted believers by calling 800-75-VOICE. The Voice of the Martyrs is a Christian nonprofit organization. What is discernment? No, it's not a feeling. No, it's not a sense. Discernment is knowing. Knowing the difference between true and almost true. Discernment is knowing when mere bad teaching becomes false teaching. It's knowing when a preacher makes a mistake or is actually a wolf. Discernment is knowing. Drive by discernment at wretchedradio.com. Remember, your purchase helps us reach more people with the amazing gospel. It's time for a drive-by minute. You and I are desperately dependent upon the Spirit. Listen, you don't need to worry about seeing the Spirit. It's invisible. What you need to ask yourself is do you perceive that you are a sinner and that you are in desperate need of a Savior? If you feel that, that's the Spirit. And your opportunity right now is to repent and believe and He will save you. For everybody else that's here, listen, you are just as dependent upon the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit now, today, as the day He first saved you. And you're not gonna ever see any fruitfulness in your life or in your ministry apart from this Spirit. Jesus said, I am the vine, you are the branches. Apart from me, you can do nothing. You are desperately dependent upon this Spirit. And every time you share the gospel, unless the Spirit moves, they will stay dead. So we go out in prayer, we go out relying on the Spirit of God to do the work of God through the people of God. You can get Drive-By Pneumatology and all of our Drive-By resources at wretchedradio.com. Wretched Radio's exalted worship is a refreshing change from today's mind-numbingly repetitious worship music. Old-fashioned? Oh yeah. Theologically rich? Count on it. Scott Coppain leads you in great hymns like Holy, Holy, Holy and Praise to the Lord. Kirk Cameron brings you great Puritan prayers from the Valley of Vision. So get your copy of Exalted Worship today at wretchedradio.com. And remember, your purchase helps us reach more people with the amazing Gospel. Books of the Bible. Paul wrote 1 Thessalonians to encourage new believers in their faith, reminding them of Christ's imminent return and exhorting them to godly conduct. When you consider Christ's return, beware of two errors—to live as though His return were not imminent, or to be so concerned with His return that we neglect His work on earth. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Friel. This is one of our favorites around here at Wretched Radio. As always, Tony, our favorite Lutheran, will represent the tens and tens of people who are listening to this here Wretched Radio program as we play, which one of the 50 things that Rick Thomas wants his daughter to know would you like to hear? That's right, oh, this is a good one. Rick Thomas wrote 50 things that he would like for his daughter to know. Tony, you pick a number, I will read one of those things, and then you can comment, grunt, or contribute. Are you ready to play, sir? Sure. Six. This is a good one. Who is the biggest sinner in the room from your perspective? Think 1 Timothy 1.15, you know the answer, and if you never forget it, you will have fantastic relationships. That's a good piece of advice. Oh, wait a second. That's not bad. What do you think of that piece of advice, Tony? That's true, but no one ever does. At least not, you know, no one as I am. thinks that they're the biggest sinner in the house. You know, if I think about it, I get it. But if I don't think about it, you are. Actually, I have to. Well, that's my my natural impulse is to think that you're a bigger sinner than I am, but that you make mistakes that I don't, that when you chew ice, it makes noise. But I don't make noise when I chew ice. That's just our bent. And that's why we've got to fight for the perspective and the reminder. No, I'm the biggest sinner in the house because I am. Now the trick is, of course, how do you genuinely do that? And the answer is accounting. That's right. You just do some accounting. How many times a day do people sin against you in your home? And then how many times a day do you sin against God? And the number is just, it's like a busted scale. You've sinned a gazillion times against God and people have sinned against you in your home, I don't know, what, a dozen times maybe? And furthermore, determine whether or not it actually is a sin. I have discovered so often, it's just, it's not even a sin. I'm so preoccupied with me world, I'm so all about Todd, that if anybody just gets in my path or thwarts my endeavor at all, boom, I can, and it's just, it's not even sin. And so I think the best way to go about the business of remembering that you're the biggest sinner in the room is to remember how many times you sin against God versus how many times people sin against you. That was number six. Try again. Twenty-seven. Okay, twenty-seven. No, I didn't pick that one, so try another one. Forty-eight. Number three. Don't spend your teenage years primarily playing sports or anything else. Now please remember, primarily. Italicized, but you can't see the italics on radio. Don't spend your teenage years primarily playing sports or anything else that you will not be doing when you're fifty. Spend the best part of your days practicing the things that you will be doing and should be doing for the rest of your life. Tony, thumbs up or thumbs down? Ambivalent. How can you be vague on that one? I don't get that. I don't get exactly what he's trying to tell me. Well, instead of spending all of your energies on things that don't last, work on things that do, like character, like knowledge, wisdom, service. We're talking teenagers, so good luck with that. See, that's why I'm sort of ambivalent. I didn't say that. I'm just thinking of the easiest way to teach that is generally through something they like to do. They have lots of energy to use. So they're like puppies is what you're saying. Yes, with driver's license, that's the scary part. Alrighty then, the next number would be? 19. Number 19, which is one of them, their whole numbers. No, I didn't pick that one either. Yeah, or whatever. 18? Try again. Nope, didn't pick that one either. 22. You know, I could just read 17 and you wouldn't know. Why don't you just pick the ones you chose? 17 it is. There we are. Your main family is not biological, but spiritual, so build strong and deep Christian relationships and value community. Yeah, I knew you'd be vague about that one, too. I just know that's no What's wrong with that's perfectly good advice. Are you reading advice? Yeah, I'd rather keep if my team with you because my teenagers scope is very limited as I remember from being a teenager and from raising to that's the whole point is to try to get them to look at life in the non-typical teenage kind of way All right, pick another number and then I'll just grab the one that I underlined go ahead and 42 42 let's get into the 40s shall we and I have to confess I don't think any of our segments have ever gone better than this no this could be the showstopper right here and I do mean that yeah lots of ways you don't have to go to college and I would agree with wholeheartedly yep That's not to discourage them from college, but to give them the freedom to say, that's just not for me. I have to confess, it depends obviously on the profession, but that kooky old idea, you know, that old dead people used to do all the time, where you just follow somebody around who knew what they were doing and you'd learn from them, they'd call it an apprenticeship. I think that there is much to be said for that. There are some seminaries that actually still do that, where you will go out and spend time in a church before you graduate so you get a practical, hands-on understanding of what pastoral ministry is like. Not many, but some do. Go ahead, pick another number. Yes, you do, because you're Lutheran. yes number 38 is oh this is a good one which tony won't like number 38 of the things that rick thomas would like his daughter to know and maybe you will too well not his daughter but your daughter actually all your anger will come from your heart not from the other person or the circumstances in your life. If you're angry, then the cause is inside of you. Look there first. That is your best move. And if you make that move, the Lord will be on your side. James 4, 6, because God resists the proud, gives grace to the humble. Thumbs up or thumbs down? Yeah, I can go with that. nothing that's it just not by the way joey behind you there's a little boy playing outside of your studio who has that all that's no fair i can see that's not in that's get well joey we've got a few minutes here to you need to push any buttons why don't you go teach gideon that anger is inside of him and they should look for external causes and he's a teenager he's the problem in a few minutes time like the presence that's true because by the time they're teenagers it may be a little late i'm still working on that one myself all right pick another number again nice in theory how it practically works out interesting to see uh uh 50 because i'm sure you circled that one i see i'm sorry i'm I am not appreciating your attitude one little iota, mister. What did I do? You've got a very defeatist attitude about parenting right now. No, I don't. Kids can't learn any of these qualities or any of these lessons. They can. So why the meh? Because it seems mostly like common sense. Just saying. I know, but a lot of this is common sense, but how often do we make the effort to teach this stuff, though? Oh, okay. To articulate it and say, hey, we're going to talk. Go get them. Teach them. 50 I will always love you well this one was written by Dolly Parton apparently I will always love you no matter what there is nothing that you will ever do that will alter my affection for you or my desire to be on your side I am for you think Romans 831 God is for us there is nothing you cannot tell me no matter what you like that one got no argument there I'm just good It's a good thing you're tethered down by your earphones or you'd be just jumping for joy. Have you met teenagers? What do you mean it's impractical? No, I didn't say that. Yeah, as a matter of fact. Okay, and they always came and told you everything? No, they didn't always tell me everything. So you missed on that. You're a bad parent. Next. Thank you. No, your turn. Pick a number. That's precisely the application of all of this. Yes, go ahead. Pick a number. Any number. Oh, I don't know. Uh, two. That was supposed to be muttered underneath my breath. Number two! Okay. Well, you have a microphone. It kind of evens things out, so... If you don't... Boys are not everything that you might think they are. If you don't learn the book before you fall in love with the cover, you'll be disappointed with the contents. Yes, no. Absolutely true. I like that a lot. You should probably stop there because I doubt you'll get any more approval than that one. All righty, if you'd like to see the rest of the list, you can go to 50 Things I Want My Daughter to Know, courtesy of Rick Thomas. rick thomas dot net slash resources you can find he's got now i was gonna say dozens he has fifteen hundred articles on how to apply theology to life it's magnificent specifically marriage but a lot of emotional issues some parenting stuff it's magnificent stuff obviously so one of our kids looked we don't get all of these things Exactly. Why? Why? Now I'm crabby. My work here is through them. Is anyone that intentional? Because I don't know of anyone that, OK, sit down, today's lesson is. I think that's the problem. It happens in the moment. No, I think that's actually our problem. That's what I'm asking. It does. Sure, it does. I grant you that. But if we aren't really mindful of it, we miss those moments perpetually. And I don't think that we have to try to aim every single moment that we have a sit down to teach something profound. But I can't help but think about my scale. OK, the moments where I intentionally try to teach something profound, There they are right there. There's three stones on that side of the scale versus the times I blow it. There's just a big boulder over there where I'm just not thinking in these terms. And experience also tells me to teach them these things before they happen to them helps you to continue teaching them through them. This is not something to one of the things that I find frustrating. about all of the sinners that I live with is that they just don't get it right away. I just don't understand why they aren't just grasping this as completely and totally and perfectly as I think I do. Parenting is something that is just an ongoing non-stop issue and might I suggest that if you utilize any of these to simply modify your child's behavior you are probably missing the point of parenting in totality. The point of parenting that I think should always be on the forefront of our mind is, how do I help them understand their faith is real? How do I lead them, not to correct behavior, but to the one who forgives bad behavior and will help them behave better in the future? That's my goal as a parent. And the more that I can be doing that and leading them in that direction, the more likely they are to respond rightly to temptation areas or difficulties or areas where other teens are just pressuring them to behave wrongly. So that's just to be something that we go for. I get it. There's like 50 things on this list. There's some of these things I've never done. I've never taught. Not like this, anyway. But I try, and you try to keep moving in that direction, and you try to keep coming up with new ways to get it in there. Because I think that it's sort of like my new computer. My new computer isn't like my old computer. Todd, please offer more profundities. It's not like my old computer in that if I push the same button when I've got a bunch of screens open up, it just, it deletes all the screens. It just, and that's what I think, it's just true a lot, especially for teenagers. You teach and you teach and you teach and their brains are like an Etch-A-Sketch. They go running out of the house and it just shakes up their brains and everything just disappears that you put in there. Because they just need it over and over and over again. Hey, wait a second The Bible is inspired and it is that's the same thing. That's true for us, too That that's why Peter and Paul both said I know I've told you this before. I'm paraphrasing. I know I told you this before, but here it comes again. I need it, too. You're not saying that we need to repeat things like scripture shows us to do, are you, to learn things? Because that's what I'm saying is that our kids' brains are like an Etch-A-Sketch. They go running out of the house and they shake it up and everything disappears. Because our kids' brains are like an Etch-A-Sketch. You need to rewrite it. Over and over. And over. Just as is true with us. So mom, dad, do you have to memorize this list? Hardly. That's not the point. But perhaps you, like I, need to remember that the moments they are fleeting, wow, like sands through the hourglass. So is it when you get teenagers. It just goes zoomie zoom fast. And if you don't take every single opportunity to get wisdom in there, foolishness will take its place. This is Wretched Radio. Right now is your opportunity to get a signed copy of Todd's book, Jesus Unmasked. And because Todd actually hand-signed these, you guessed it, supplies are limited. So whether you buy one copy, one of the bundles that contain Jesus Unmasked, or one of the two new special bundles, you receive a signed copy of Jesus Unmasked. Yes, your Wretched or Wretcheder Club discounts do apply, but supplies are limited. Get all the details right now at wretchedradio.com. And thank you for helping us share the amazing gospel. This is John MacArthur inviting you to join me for Portraits of Grace. Our society puts a lot of pressure on people to have all the right things and to look the right way. Well, these materialistic temptations can attack us in several ways. First, there's economic status. You know, many people boast about their riches, thinking they must be great for acquiring so much. And a related area is pride in one's class, you know, sort of an accompanying disdain for those in the lower levels of society. And advertisers today continually entice us to call attention to ourselves by what we wear. Well, the Apostle Paul said, do not love the world nor the things in the world. The world is passing away and also its lusts. Don't let the world tell you what you should seek or value. Remember instead that the one who does the will of God abides forever. This is John MacArthur trusting your lives are portraits of grace. Here at Wretched, our goal, our desire, is to proclaim the gospel to as many people as possible in a clear, concise, and accurate way. The Biggest Project is our ongoing campaign to do that, to distribute the Biggest Question DVDs through local churches. Hundreds of volunteers are ready to distribute the gospel if you can help us financially provide the Biggest Question DVDs. Any help? Go to wretchedradio.com for all the details. And thank you for helping us reach more people with the amazing gospel. Now here's a clip from one of our favorite pastors here at Wretched Radio. This is Bodhi Balcom. God is in control. His secret will is his business. Trust me, you and I have enough to worry about with his perceptive will. Forget trying to figure out where you need to be five years from now in order to be in God's will. By the way, sovereign God gonna get you there? So forget all that. How about this? How do I apply the fifth commandment to the way that I treat my supervisor at work tomorrow? How about you worry about how your thought life interacts with a commandment not to commit adultery? How about you take care of that one before you go delving into the secret will of God? Because the fact of the matter is, there have been times in your life already that you never would have chosen and that you would have absolutely run away from had you seen them on the horizon. But they're precisely what God used to conform you. to Christ. You can't handle the secret will of God, but God can, so you don't have to worry about the secret will of God. Witnessing to someone you know and love can be, well, terrifying. So if not knowing what to say has kept you from witnessing to someone you love, Terrified is here to help. This CD includes a workbook and actual witness encounters, ranging from backslidden Christians to complete atheists, so you'll never be at a loss for words again. Get your Terrified CD today at wretchedradio.com. And remember, your purchase helps us reach more people with the amazing gospel. In the Bible, Jesus is given many titles that teach us about who he is and what he has done. Jesus is called the heir of all things. All things were created for Jesus. When Christ returns, all creation will be given to him. And as our mediator, he makes us co-heirs and will share all things with us. This is Wretched Radio with Todd Friel. A really lame sermon illustration. Life was like a box of chocolates. Let's say you're driving along the road with your family, and you're driving along... If you were a four and a half foot teddy bear named Fuzzy... This one's gonna be worse. This is Wretched Radio. How... My busted printer applies to your life. That's right, our busted printer. I just received an email here at wretchedradio.com letting me know that our printer down the hall is kafritz. Apparently the brand new, I'll read it to you. Todd, we couldn't be more thrilled. The brand new toner cartridge is not working in the printer. We have ordered another one and it should be here tomorrow and hope that it's, And hope that it's a problem with the toner and not the printer itself all right there you go So now that means all of the articles all of the studying all of the things that I would like to do tonight My schedule in preparation for tomorrow thwarted Can't printer around here? Big part of my job. A pretty big slice of the wretched pie for me. And now it's busted. And you know what that should cause me to do? Well, here are the options. Get annoyed. Get angry at somebody. Maybe say inappropriate things. Or it could remind me of the fall. It could remind me of sin. It could remind me of my perpetual need for a savior, and that we are living in a cursed world. We are living in a world that doesn't work right. Thanks to Adam introducing sin, work can just be stressful. It can just be difficult. It is thorns. It is sweat of the brow. And it's not just busted printers. Madam, your pregnancy. It should remind you of the fall and our need for a Savior. Why? Well, the difficulties in childbearing, all of it, not just the delivery day, but just the entire process. It's hard. It's uncomfortable. There's morning sickness. There's inconvenience. There's the wardrobe issues. And then there's the actual delivery. And it could cause us to do the same aforementioned things, get angry, get annoyed, say things that are inappropriate. Or it could remind us. of the fall and our need for a savior. Sin can do that a lot, if we'll let it. A really lame sermon illustration. I'm not sure that was an illustration. Life is like my broken printer. Yeah, that works. Good enough as any of the other ones we've done around here. Tony, I think that you already did a news report. I actually heard this yesterday. So this is not a rerun of what Tony shared. You had mentioned that GoFundMe has shut down. I didn't hear which one it was. There's actually been two that they have shut down. There's two now. Yesterday was the second one, the florist. Oh yeah, that's right. Okay, so the sweet cakes by Melissa got shut down because she has to pay the $135,000 to our government for not being able to exercise her freedom of religion. Mrs. Friel told me, I don't know what she was doing listening to Chris Matthews. I hope she's not backsliding. At any rate, she told me that Chris Matthews actually said, look, when it comes to sexual liberties versus religious freedom, this is a no-brainer. Religious freedom just loses. Uh-oh. And he- no, no, no, no, no, no. I take that back. That was- oh, you'll remember that. That was Kai Feldblum. Do you remember that from years ago? You heard me. No, I don't, but the name was available. Kai Feldblum. I'll bet you know what, I might even have it here in my long ago files that I held onto for a time such as this. Kai Feldblum was, I can't remember what her position was in the Clinton administration, if I'm not mistaken. I think Huh. You know, speaking of Bill Clinton, I was looking for Kai Feldblum. Look what I just found. No, I have to go to work. I'm too much of a Calvinist. If I don't work every day, I get nervous. Hold on. That's what Calvinists do? Oh, yeah, that's pretty much it. So I guess Bill Clinton is a self-identified Calvin. At any rate, Kai Feldblum, whatever... Joey, would you just... It's C-H-A-I Feldblum. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission? Yeah, under which administration was that? Obama in 2009. It was Obama, wow, how time flies. Okay, so it was Barack Obama six years ago. And she was speaking at some, and they were asking her about sexual liberties, erotic liberties, versus religious liberties. And she just flat out said it, and I remember this now, this is so vivid to me from, it was 2009, the feeling of like, yeah, look, if these people have their way, six years later they are but it was not kai feldblum it was chris matthews who said uh... that hate speech absolutely should not be protected speech was not for the whole or was he just following i was a little missus real told me there was chris matthews and maybe it would maybe she was well he was agreeing that but it was chris matthews it's pretty hard to confuse chris cuomo and chris matthews at any one of the it doesn't matter the fact that they are talking like this that's a little bit on the scary side that's moving in a direction that is humongous implications and oh by the way i would have this printed out except for the broken printer i'm okay i'm remembering said i got it apparently the alliance defending freedom fund has printed out a forty or as it was prepared about a forty some page document And I'm going to make my way through it, maybe for tomorrow. What you can do for your church to prepare, especially if the Supreme Court decision is what we fear it's going to be, frankly, even without that, it just doesn't make any difference. It's going to be a mess anyway. And there are implications. They're knocking on the church's door. If Chris Cuomo Cooper has his way, what's Chris? No, Chris Matthews. Chris Cooper is the actor. Chris Coopers, he's a good actor too, and he's an underrated actor. He's gonna be one of those guys, one of these days at the Academy Awards, 10, 15, 20 years, who dies and we go, oh, I liked him. He was really, I don't know if he'll get that, but he's just one of those good character actors. At any rate, while they're talking like this, whether the Supreme Court decision is whatever it's going to be, I just think the churches need to be wise and start preparing, and so as soon as our sinful printer If it works, I'll get that prepared for you. But at the GoFundMe site, where you can raise money for people for whatever issue, apparently that doesn't include Sweet Cakes by Melissa, nor does it include Arlene's Flowers. And everybody's favorite name these days, Baronelle Stutzmann. I'll bet she makes a good strudel. You know what, if she got together with Sweet Cakes by Melissa, it could be Sweet Strudels by Baronelle Stutzmann. Something like that, at any rate. This is frustrating enough to read, but if you put together that information with another piece of information, It's going to make you ballistic. This from Patheus. Missouri woman, a Satanist, will claim religious freedom to get out of a 72-hour abortion waiting period. Here's the story. Planned Parenthood of St. Louis is currently the only abortion provider in the state. Not only does Mary, the Satanist, live hundreds of miles away, but there's also a dehumanizing 72-hour waiting period. Yes. Dehumanizing. It's funny. I've got a thing on my forehead that I've got to go to the dermatologist for. It's like three weeks to get in. I don't feel dehumanized. They're going to take care of a little bump. What's the deal? There's no dehumanizing an abortion. Why even use the word human anywhere near the subject of abortion? Not only does she live a long way away and have to endure a dehumanizing three-day waiting period between her initial appointment and the procedure itself. This means that Mary must either find lodging or make the trip twice to kill her child. Where did I read that? You want to know where that came from? Well, you see, our Satanist friend, Mary, she's got a GoFundMe page to help raise the funds so she can take that trip twice to get the... No, that can't be. That would be religious in nature. No, you are so confused. You're on the wrong side of history. Bully, hater, intolerant. Well, that about covers them all. Hey, Republican! There you got them all. Behind the times. You forgot white male. Sorry, white Christian male. That's it. Now beyond that, as if that isn't frustrating. So they shut down the Christians who just want to pay their fine against the government for exercising their freedom of religion. This woman who happens to be a Satanist can use the GoFundMe page to fund for the expenses for her abortion. The satanic temple to which Mary belongs is trying to work around the 72 hour waiting period that women are required to go through by invoking the religious freedom argument. Okay, let us know how that goes. Yeah. No, I have to go to work. I'm too much of a Calvinist. If I don't work every day, I get nervous. Okay, me too. Okay, Bill, I'm nervous for both of us. world that we're living in it is it is becoming so bonkers today I had lunch with my daughter who's 21 years old and I don't even we were just eating believe it or not we tried Zaxby's today that's good that's got some good chicken there the Zaxby's I had no idea you've just discovered it this week Aye yai yai. So we were chatting about something and I can't recall what it was. And it was kind of a big deal. And my 21 year old went, this world, sin. Pretty much captured the whole shebang. This world, sin. That's all there is. Here's another example for you. The South Carolina DMV. They were presented with a boy who wanted to wear makeup because man, He feels like Shania Twain. Chase Culpepper. Now if that doesn't sound like he's from South Carolina, that is a great name. Chase Culpepper. But apparently, Chase doesn't feel like a Chase. He feels more like a... Chastity? Shanice? Chast, Chast, that doesn't seem like it. No, that wouldn't be it. At all, for virtually every level. Hey, Chastity Bono's already tread that ground, trod that ground. And he wanted to go to get his picture taken with his makeup on and he was advised by the Anderson DMV that he could not wear makeup for the photograph because he wouldn't look like a male. Which is, you know, what he actually is. So he sued. And he won. And now the South Carolina DMV will, one, there's four things that they have to do as they celebrate transgenderism. Number one, change its photo policy to allow licensed applicants to be photographed the way they appear regularly, even when their hair, makeup, or clothing doesn't match the DMV's expectations of how a man or woman should look. You know, look, a guy can have long hair and still look like a guy. A girl can have short hair and still look like a girl. This is a little different. Number two, implement training, oh excellent, for DMV employees that addresses the new policy and the professional treatment of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. And number three, allow Chase, cool, Peppa, to return to the DMV to get, and they even wrote, her license. No, of course. Yeah. Wearing his makeup. And number four, of course, apologize to Chase for how she was treated at the DMV. Now, they actually went for number five, but that one hasn't been implemented yet. Number five is praise Chase for being so brave and a hero to the rest of the teenagers. And pay $135,000. Well, that's what he'll get. He'll get something for it again. More and more, the world is going bonkers in ways that are unimagined just five years ago. So now we have a choice. We can respond and mock. I think we'll probably do that sometime. But overall, this should cause us to just see the lostness, I mean the lostness and how far away we little Imago Dei-ers are from our image, the actual image of God himself. and that we are so desperate for a fix, so desperate for help, so needy, and yet we have a God who stoops and deigns to fix and to save. It's amazing grace, and these stories, if nothing else, should motivate us to go about the business of finding ourselves a sinner, whether transgendered or not, and sharing the gospel with them the way that somebody shared it with us. Until next time, go serve your king.