Finding Our Way

Larry and James take a trip down memory lane.

From the transcript...

Because there's some folks out there that's acting like they're not new. But when you tell them, share with them the good news of what God has done in Christ — not counting their sin against them, but reconciling — they then can come into and begin to experience the newness of that life.

Yeah. That they're already included in.

Yeah, God's not as they thought he was. And Jesus did more than they thought he did. And God thinks a whole lot differently about you than you think about yourself. You think about yourself through your performance, which is really a law-based mentality and a judgment mentality — of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, right and wrong, I'm doing good, I'm not doing good.

Yeah, that's no way to live.

No, that's why we tell the good news. People don't have to live like that. Relax.

In this episode Larry and James rehearse the goodness of the Good News as it is seen in Jesus!

From the transcript...

I think about the old classic sitcom about the Clampetts and, you know, finding the gold. And I'm just a Clampett kind of a Christian in the sense of—got this wealth, but I'm just an old country boy trying to learn how to live with this cement pond.

It's such a strange way of living for us to just think that God loves us unconditionally. He has already completely, radically forgiven us of everything. He has never had one thought about us other than, "You are my beloved son in whom I am well pleased."

His only heart's desire has been to bless, cherish, love us, and live life with us and as us and do things together. Every day. And that's just how it's always been.

Navigate this mud hole. Oh, yeah. My freshly washed truck. I see that.

In this episode James and Larry discuss the reality of the all inclusiveness of the work of Christ and how it includes everyone!

From the transcript...

Yeah, I was going to say something about death has been defeated because Jesus has conquered it. Yeah, he came out of the tomb, didn't he? He did. So the reign of death is over. Death is defeated. It's a last enemy for us. I'm remembering that scripture where it says they were in fear, subject to fear because of death. That's Hebrews. Right, Hebrews 2. Yeah. It says language, like you said, how that it's been overcome. Yeah, but now it's been obliterated. But it's a last enemy for us to face, but it's still conquered. But our experience of that is ahead of us. Right. But we got confidence that it's conquered, too, before we get there. Yeah. That's right.

Son, that's plummeting the depths of the gospel when you go to talking about conquering death. Yeah. But that's the gospel. Yeah. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.

In this episode Larry and James discuss the wonder and beauty of life in Jesus.

From the transcript...

I like how you always turn the recorder on right here in this good bottom. So I'm like looking out over here in the bottoms looking for a place to go hunting as if I was going to go hunting.

You get mad because I'm looking out the window instead of talking to you. You can look out the window. Oh, I'm going to look out the window.

I was listening to Don. There's a little spot in that sermon where he enumerates all the things people question him about. "Oh, you believe humanity was reconciled at the cross? You believe everybody was forgiven at the cross?" "Oh, actually, I believe everybody was forgiven before time." That's what he went back and said. And then he said, "Oh, you believe in the universal fatherhood of God?" "Yep, yep." He just went through several things.

It was pretty good just listening to him, thinking about what God did in Christ. He did for all. Whatever it was he did. Anything God's ever done, he's done that for all.

He's... I don't know how to express the kind of father that he is.

In this episode James and Larry discuss living in light of the goodness of God.

From the transcript...

One time when I was a teenage boy, I was old enough to drive, and I was all excited because it was Friday night. I hadn't been driving long. I was getting to go out on a Friday night, and that particular night, my parents were going out of town, actually to an Amway meeting back in the day, and they were going to be home late, like midnight or something like that. And they were going with another couple. So that other couple came to my house and parked their brand-new Monte Carlo in the yard, in the driveway, and parked it appropriately.

They had left maybe 3 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Well, I come in probably around 5, and they'd gone in my parents' car. I knew I had the house to myself, and I didn't have to worry about an adult until midnight. I was excited for this Friday night. So I pull up in there,...

In this episode Larry and James talk about the implications of our death with Christ.

From the transcript...

Sharing in his death by our baptism means that we were co -buried with him so that when the Father's glory raised Christ from the dead, we were also raised with him. We have been co -resurrected with him so that we could be empowered to walk in the freshness of new life for since we are permanently grafted into him. to experience a death like his, then we are permanently grafted into him to experience a resurrection like his and the new life that it imparts.

Could it be any clearer that our former identity is now and forever deprived of its power? For we are co -crucified with him to dismantle the stronghold of sin within us so that we would not continue to live one moment longer submitted. To sin's power. Obviously, a dead person is incapable of sinning.

Yeah. I read that out of the New King James the other day and something in it struck me. Just, we were crucified with him. And the result being we died. Yeah. That's the fact. That's the fact. You're talking about approaching Scripture with preconceived ideas and all that.

In this episode Larry and James discuss how that God's justice is merciful.

From the transcript...

I think I might tell you a story about that horse. I told you a little bit the other day, but I want to tell you the story today.

All right. What's this horse's name?

Dusty.

A horse named Dusty. Yep. Okay. Is this a true story?

Yeah. Okay. I don't tell any other kind.

I'm just asking for clarification, James.

Of course, growing up. Where I grew up, I like to say it was in the country, which it was. Yeah, we in the country right here, Jake. It was a little community in the country. So there was probably five or six households down there where I was on the end of the road. But growing up, we'd ride bikes and trails in the woods. Always had horses and dogs. Sometimes I had more than one horse at a time, but usually just one.

In this Episode Larry and James talk about the mercy and Justice of our Father.

From the transcript...

In the little neighborhood I grew up in. Horses and dogs hunting rabbits, squirrels, coons, deer. I used to have some good rabbit dogs, beagles. Man, that was fun hunting rabbits. You ever hunted rabbits? We hunted rabbits some, not a lot. Wonderful thing about a rabbit. When your dog strikes, if you'll stay in that general vicinity, he's coming back. The rabbit's going to circle. Yeah.

He's going to come back to you. Yeah. That was always fun. Of course, I grew up, I hunt rabbits at night. Didn't have a dog. I had a light. Yeah. And I was 16 years old before I realized that was illegal. Because that's the only way I hunted them. I think I was older than that before I knew it. See that big old red eye?

In this episode Larry and James discuss the mercy of God and how it is just.

From the transcript...

When I was a teenage boy, I was old enough to drive. And I was all excited because it was Friday night. I had been driving long. I was getting to go out on a Friday night. And that particular night, my parents were going out of town, actually to an Amway meeting back in the day. And they were going to be home late, like midnight or something like that. and they were going with another couple.

So that other couple came to my house and parked their brand -new Monte Carlo in the yard, in the driveway, and parked it appropriately. They had left maybe 3 or 4 o 'clock in the afternoon. Well, I come in probably around 5, and they'd gone in my parents' car. I knew I had the house to myself, and I didn't have to worry about an adult until midnight. I was excited for this Friday night.

So I pull up in there, and instead of parking where I normally parked in my truck, I parked in the carport, wherever my parents' missing vehicle was normally parked. Because I'm like, I own this place. I'll park in the carport, you know, sit outside in the yard. I was just all full of myself, just excited about Friday night.

In this episode Larry and James explore the vastness of and pursuit of Justice.

From the transcript...

I think that might have told you that dad was an old dog man in the sense of he loved to get a dog and train it, particularly squirrel dogs. He would do bird dogs and deer dogs too, but I think his passion was squirrel dogs.

But what he really liked to do was find somebody's dog in their yard. that's treeing a squirrel in somebody's yard and then talk them into letting him have that dog to make a squirrel dog out of it. I don't know that he ever paid any money for them. So he's taking a gamble that this free dog that he saw treeing in somebody's yard, he could convert it. If he's like my grandpa. He ain't paying for a dog.

That's unbiblical. That's a sin. I'm not saying he didn't pay for some, but it was kind of against his code to pay for a dog. And I think he was convinced he was good enough at training. He could take any dog and teach it.

But I do, I have to say, he didn't always succeed. But it wasn't because he didn't take them hunting and he didn't try.

Yeah. Yeah, my grandpa would not pay for a dog. And he didn't like you selling one.