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When attitudes need to be put in check, tough love is required. Parenting is challenging, but it’s also the most rewarding and gratifying job you’ll ever have.

People become like the environment they spend their time in. At least that's what I've been told. For example, if you work at IBM, you become amazingly well organized for some strange reason. If you live in a college town, or if you work around a college, it's amazing how your vocabulary can change; sometimes increases. Oh, and your clothing? Yeah, it becomes a little bit more collegiate. You know?

I've noticed that people who live near the ocean or resort areas, they just kind of dress, you know, more loose, more casually all year long. If you move from the North to the South, you may very well find your pace slowing down to match your environment.

When I moved to the New York area, I know my driving changed. They say in New York about the roads there that there are two kinds of people, the quick and the dead, and I decided to become the quick. You become like your environment. That seems to be a pretty consistent principle; maybe too consistent.

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Drawing a Line."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 2 Timothy 3 - one of the more amazing chapters in the Bible. If you want to read a startling description of the last days of this planet, read 2 Timothy 3 with today's newspaper or news website in your other hand. It's startling because of how it matches up with our headlines. Verse 1 says, "There will be dangerous times." And it talks about these characteristics of people that lead you to believe the reason it's going to be dangerous is because of the death of love. There won't be much love in that world.

Paul's orders to Timothy are included in this chapter, and God's orders to us. Verse 14, listen: "But as for you, you continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of because you know those from whom you have learned it. All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness. Now, Paul is saying if you live in a world that is racing away from God's standards, you can't afford to become like your environment even a little.

See, there's always a noticeable difference between lost people and God's people. It's kind of my equal distance theory. There's always an equal distance between the standards and lifestyles of the people of God and the people of the world.

Let's say figuratively speaking that the church, or the people of God, are always ten miles closer to God than the world is. The problem is that as the world moves to the left, away from God, so does the church. Now, we're still ten miles away from the marriages of the world, and from the sexual standards of the world, and their hardness, and their love of material things. But as the world moves faster and faster away from God's standards, so do we. We're still the same distance from our culture. So, in a matter of like five or ten years, we Christians are where lost people were only a few years ago, accepting what we thought we would never accept, doing what we never thought we'd do, watching, listening to what we never thought would be part of our lives. But we can feel pretty good about it, because we're better than the folks around us.

But see, the rate of speeding away from God is accelerating right now, and God says, "Hey, you continue where you are! Don't move! Stand still! Don't move any further." He's not saying detach yourself from people who need Him. No, you live in the world, but you don't live as part of it. You don't march to that drumbeat. You know, you feel like you're pretty good if you compare yourself to what the world is doing, or maybe even what most Christians are doing, and saying and accepting. But that's not the measure.

We're to measure ourselves by the God-breathed scriptures of the Lord himself. If you turn the light of God's Word on your lifes

Doctor Dolittle, the fictional doctor who converses with animals, has delighted fans through books, movies, and plays. However, few people know that author Hugh Lofting first wrote the Dolittle tales to his children from the ghastly trenches of World War I. He later said that the war was too awful to recount in his letters—so he wrote and illustrated stories instead. These whimsical, joy-filled tales were Lofting’s way of pushing back against the war’s horror.

It’s inspiring to see a person moving against the menacing, degrading forces that seem too powerful to thwart. We admire this resilient courage because we fear that injustice, violence, and greed will triumph. Sometimes we fear that the whole world will be “overcome by evil” (Romans 12:21). And these fears are well-founded if we’re left to ourselves. However, God has not left us to ourselves. He fills us with His divine strength, places us in the action, and calls us to “overcome evil with good” (v. 21).

We each overcome evil with good in whatever ways God has put into our hearts. Some of us write beautiful stories. Some of us care for the poor. Some of us make our homes places of welcome. Some of us share God’s story through melody, poetry, or conversation. In a myriad of ways, we carry His goodness and peace into the world (v. 18), overcoming evil as we go.

Finding a job in today’s economy can feel overwhelming, but you don’t have to face it alone. With interest rates staying high and the job market showing signs of slowing, now is the time to refresh your job search strategy. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West explores proven tips to help you navigate this season with wisdom and confidence. Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith & Finance Live—where biblical wisdom meets today’s finances, weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

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Segment 1:

• Assassination of Charlie Kirk leaves us with hard questions: why and what now?

• Exposes national fracture: free speech attacked, norms collapsing.

• Beyond politics: a brother in Christ murdered, a soul lost reminds us of eternal stakes.

Segment 2:

• Response must be more than outrage—it must drive evangelism.

• Politics shift when hearts are changed by Christ.

• Five ways to engage: pray, organize, support, hold the rope, or go yourself.

Segment 3:

• Kids on campuses are detached from reality—spiritual soil is ready.

• Pastors should address tragedies like this from the pulpit.

• Reminder: persecution shouldn’t surprise us—Jesus warned it would come.

Segment 4:

• Hope in grief: Charlie is with Christ—happier than we can imagine.

• Darkness is real, but the Gospel is the only cure.

• Students: courageously hold to truth in classrooms and on campuses.

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Thanks for listening!

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How do we stay faithful to Christ when life gets tough? Dr. John begins his study of Hebrews 12-13, exploring how these final chapters serve as the practical application of the book's central theme: the supremacy of Jesus Christ. Written to Jewish Christians facing persecution and tempted to abandon their faith, Hebrews concludes with essential guidance on Christian endurance and faithfulness until death. Discover why understanding Jesus' supremacy changes everything about how we face life's trials and sufferings. 

The Jesus Effect: Faith in Jesus ought to make a difference in our lives. The good news is not simply a message of comfort or hope; the Gospel is a message of transformation! In this 10 message series, Dr. John teaches about the changes Jesus makes in our worship, conduct, and relationships. Listen to these messages and get ready to be changed.

Listen to today's Laugh Again with Phil Callaway, "The Lost Boys." Enjoy!