Today on Perry and Shawna Mornings three different camera angles on the power of the gospel.  First, the gospel and religion are polar opposites.  Religion can change outward behavior but only the gospel has the power to change us from the inside out.  Only the certainty of love, forgiving love can transform us.  Then, our nation is reeling after the death of George Floyd last week in Minneapolis.  And only the gospel has power to heal the excruciating pain of our racial divides.  And the gospel compels those of us who follow Jesus to ask:  What is my role in bringing healing?  And finally speaker, author, and messenger of Jesus Aaron Bolduc shares how the power of the gospel changed him as he listened to it on a bright summer day through 89.3 Moody Radio!

Today Greg Kelley of World Mission (worldmission.cc) joins the team to share how Jesus is moving in the world to bring his good news to those who’ve never heard.  World Mission uses The Treasure audio bible to bring the gospel to the unreached people groups of the world.  One Treasure will reach up to 145 people with the gospel in a year! 

First Greg shares the story of Ibrahim, a Muslim who put his faith in Jesus after listening to The Treasure.  Ibrahim who is part of the military in Chad is now bringing the gospel to them!  Next we hear about Somo, a warrior from the Rendille tribe in Africa who was paralyzed after falling into a well.  He became hopeless and suicidal but the Lord reached him with The Treasure.  Now with his cell phone charging business all his customers hear the gospel playing nonstop at his hut through The Treasure. 

Then we hear about Aung, who had been a Buddhist monk for 14 years—he hated and persecuted Christians.  But when he heard the gospel through The Treasure he decided to follow Jesus and was healed from cancer!  Next, hear the story of a Hindu leader who once provoked other Hindus to persecute Christians.  But now because believers are feeding Hindus, starving because of Covid-19, this leader has given believers a complete open door to keep feeding the poor and to share the gospel! 

Finally, in a time when it might seem that the advance of the gospel has been stalled because of the pandemic, God is actually softening once resistant peoples for a great harvest among them.  Be part of bring good news to those who’ve never heart through prayer!  Find out more by texting 800.968.8930.  Share this if you are encouraged!

Today Perry and Shawna explore reasons to celebrate during sheltering at home.  David Doerner, teaching pastor at Frontline Community Church Grand Rapids joins the team.  First David shares how his anxiety about getting Covid has been transformed into a settled trust in Jesus.  Perry shares about how some low grade resentment has surfaced and how God is cleaning his heart from that.  Transformation during hard times is reason to celebrate. 

Then David, Shawna and Perry share about what God has done in their families during stay at homing.  David has grown closer to his precious son Judah and he learned to treasure this unexpected season of family closeness and Perry shares about the community he, his wife Teresa, and daughter Kali have been experiencing. 

And finally we talk about how this season has put an exclamation point on how much we need each other!  We need each other for support, we each other’s differing points of view on what it looks like to stay safe during the pandemic.  And to respect our differences.  And we highlight how well the Church of West Michigan is coming together as one church in this season.  You have to look beneath the surface but there are reasons to celebrate. 

Today on Perry and Shawna Mornings we talk about how to celebrate good times when it’s hard!  First Shawna shares what makes God celebrate—when sinners like you and me come home.  When we celebrate God’s amazing works of salvation, we reflect God and also, it contagious to those around us!  Then Perry and Shawna have a conversation about celebrating in the desert.  Desert is hard and right now the world is in a desert.  But we can celebrate that God is teaching us to trust him much more deeply and he is preparing us to make us a much greater blessing to our world on the other side of pandemic.  And finally we find out that gratitude and celebration are connected at the hip.  Because no matter how difficult life gets, there is always something to be thankful for.  And more than one thing.  And every one of those gifts in life can be springboards to celebration, even when life is hard.

If there’s a prayer you’ve been praying forever, and you’ve given up on it ever being answered, Mark Batterson, lead pastor at National Community Church encourages us to pray it one more time.  For Mark when he prayed that kind of prayer one more time, God healed him.  Amazing story!  Next, praise is a weapon against the enemy, against our unbelief.  Praise reminds us that God is fighting for us, we need only to be still.  And finally when the Israelites were ready to cross the raging Jordan river and enter into the land God had promised they only had to do one thing:  Put their feet in the water.  That’s when God stopped the Jordan.  Mark Batterson shares that in the early days of National Community Church their prayer was “Lord we need a drummer!”  And God prompted Mark to take a crazy step:  Buy a drum set!  It’s all about putting feet to our prayers by taking a step of faith when things look bleak and nothing is certain. 

Today on Perry & Shawna Mornings Scott steps in for Perry. Our theme this week is “Celebrate!”.  Shawna shares how a devotional from Ray VanderLaan reminded her to believe that God will see us through the desert times to times of celebration and how important it is to trust that and prepare our hearts for that time. Scott remembers a verse from Psalms he memorized that has been an encouragement to him and shares a time when he too, wrote a Psalm. Then we were challenged to practice the power of praise. Praising God, declaring what is true of Him, sends the enemy running and can change our hearts and circumstances. Whatever you are going through right now, celebrate God! His goodness, His character, His power, His neverending love for you!

Today Brad Gray of Walking the Text (walkingthetext.com) shares the apostle Paul’s transformation story in a way you’ve probably never heard, it’s amazing.  Our launching pad is Paul sharing his story with his apprentice Timothy:  “I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has given me strength, that he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service. Even though I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent man, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief.

The grace of our Lord was poured out on me abundantly, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.  Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life” (1 Timothy 1:12-16). 

So in our first conversation, Brad gives the incredible backstory to this short version of Paul’s story.  In doing so we see the bottomless ocean of God’s grace to Paul and to you and me!  Then, while Paul seems to be saying to Timothy:  “If Jesus can forgive me, he can forgive anybody,” to Timothy, he also seems to be giving himself a pass in a couple of way:  First when he says “Jesus considered me trustworthy,” was Paul saying that he was forgiven because of his trustworthiness?  And when he says, “I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and unbelief,” was he saying “God forgave me ‘cause I really didn’t know what I was doing?” 

The short answer is “No.”  But Brad’s answer will blow you away with just how massive God’s grace is!  And finally Brad ties in his own story with Paul’s by sharing about his addiction to porn while he was a bible teacher.  And in this heart opening conversation we find that God won’t accept our resignation when we disqualify ourselves.  What he does is recycle our mistakes into something beautiful!  Share this amazing Freedom Friday with someone who needs this message, which is everyone!

The Bible is the one fairy tale that’s true.  It’s starts out, “Once upon a time,” and finishes with, “And they all lived happily ever after.”  And there is a LOT of really hard, bitter, and beautiful things in between.  Today Kandi Zeller, Editor of the Unlocked teen devotional and podcast from Keys for Kids joins the team to talk about the one beautiful, breathtaking story of the Bible (unlocked.org).  First we talk about how the Old Testament points forward to Jesus and the New Testament points back to him. 

And then we talk about how the story of the Bible is good news because it’s true, and shows us how God is setting everything right!  Next we look at the first promise of Jesus in the Bible, it’s right at the beginning.  The rest of the bible really is the unfolding of that passage.  Then we have a conversation about how the story of Abraham being asked to sacrifice Isaac points to not only the death of Jesus for our sins, but also to the resurrection! 

Next Kandi shares how the Bible confused her before she understood its one story—now knowing the story she sees that it’s all about God’s grace and a life filled with hope.  Because even in the hard times we can know that one day “all the sad things will come untrue.”  And finally Kandi shares how knowing the one story of the Bible gives her security as an “ex legalist.”  Share this if it encourages you!

When we discover the bible as one grand story of redemption, that’s when it really comes alive, that’s when Jesus becomes even more beautiful to us.  Today Brad Gray of Walking the Text (walkingthetext.com) helps us with this big time.  First he shows us the thread of shalom that runs from Genesis to Revelation.  Shalom is this idea that everything is as it should be, which is not the reality in our world.  But God’s plan has always been to make everything right through Jesus and then through us, his people! 

Then we dive into how the gospel of Matthew connects the dots between the Hebrew scriptures (the Old Testament) and the new.  Specifically how Matthew accurately paints Jesus as the second and final Moses who leads into freedom from sin, Satan, slavery and death.  Then we want to know if the hypersensitivity to hygiene due to Covid 19 has altered our view of the 10 second rule—you know, will you pick that food off the floor that you just dropped and still eat it? 

And finally we get some practical ideas on how to read the bible as story and what happens in us as we learn to do this.  Check out a 73 minute teaching at walkingthetext.com called The Restoration of All Things to get the 30,000 foot view of what the one story of the bible is.  Share this if it encourages you!

It would be impossible to sit down and read the bible from cover to cover at one time. We’re forced to take scripture in piece by piece. Over time we’ve come to know the bible as a collection of many different stories. It’s important to remember that all of those stories are parts of one epic story of God’s redemptive love. Today and Perry & Shawna Mornings Shawna shared about a very unique present she received from God on her 35th birthday. The purpose of the gift? That she would know that God is infinite and that He isn’t confined to seeing us in the moment of time we are in. If you are overwhelmed or ashamed by your current circumstances know that God sees all of who you are, not just who you are in this moment. He understands you and He loves you.

Perry shares how tempting it is to read the stories of the bible and long to be like the heroes we read about. Heroes like David when he slayed the giant. But later in David’s life he committed sin upon sin. The heroes of the bible stories are human and they fail. But each hero points to the one Hero who will never fail us. The Hero that defeated the greatest enemy of all…sin and death. All of the bible points to Jesus as the ultimate Hero!

As we continue our conversation about the bible being one big story, Shawna shares how like Lucy in The Lion, The Witch, & The Wardrobe steps  further and further into the wonderful world of Narnia, we can daily step deeper and deeper into God’s Word, discovering the treasure of His heart in its pages and remembering that it is one big story of God’s love.