Get a pom-pom and start cheering.

Steve Brown:
Get a pom-pom and start cheering. I’ll explain on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
Key Life is a radio program for struggling believers, sick of phony religion and pious cliches. Our host and teacher is seminary professor Steve Brown. He teaches that radical freedom leads to infectious joy and surprising faithfulness.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. We’re looking at Galatians and some principles, kind of final principles as Paul is dealing throughout the book of Galatians with the church and some of the problems. And, we’re looking at that text starting in the last verse of the fifth chapter of Galatians and the first 10 verses in the sixth, the final chapter of Galatians. And we’re looking at some principles, the principle of reliance, the principle of reflection, the principle of realism, but note also the principle of recognition, Galatians 6:6.

Let him who is taught the word share all good things with him who teaches.

Now, this probably refers to the pastor of the church here. It reads literally let the one who teaches, the one who is instructed, share with the one who is doing the instruction. It may be an early indication that there was a paid ministry in the church that early, because this verse probably applied to the pay to be received by the staff. Now, we’re not sure about that, but it could be. However, there is a much broader application of this principle to those who serve in the church, and it is the principle of expressing the blessings that you have received from those who have ministered to you. Some of you find it irritating on Monday’s on this broadcast, when I say, I hope your pastor’s sermon was as good as my pastor’s sermon. Now, I mean that when I say it, but I’m also a teacher and I also want to encourage something to go on in the church. And what do I want to encourage, Galatians 6:6, that’s what I want to encourage in the church. And, people come to me and they say, I wish you wouldn’t say that so much. And I say I’m not one who, when social media goes after you, I change and apologize. I just don’t do that sort of thing, to my wife a lot, to the staff at Key Life a lot, to my pastor a lot, but I’m not into being a weasel and whining and saying, I’m so sorry I said that, I didn’t mean it. I say, I meant it, so deal with it. Okay? But at any rate, getting back to what I was saying, people say, I wish you wouldn’t say that. And I say, I’m going to say it anyway, because you need to hear it. And do you know what? Over the years, and I’ve been saying that on Mondays for years and years, almost every place I go to speak, somebody comes up to me, and they say, Hey Brown, my pastor’s sermon was better than your pastor’s sermon. And what am I saying? I’m saying Galatians 6:6, I’m saying this, that when you’re in the church, look around and find out people who are doing stuff that makes a difference in the lives of the people in the church. And don’t just pray for them, do that, it can’t hurt. But go to them and tell them, get a pom pom and become a cheerleader in the parade of God’s people, in a world where there is very little encouragement. The church ought to be a place where encouragement is assumed, when some, Presbyterians don’t like applause in church. I mean, it’s not decent. It’s not in order. We don’t dance either and we don’t speak in tongues and we don’t raise our hands and we don’t say praise the Lord, because that’s not what you do in a worship service. Now we’re wrong about all of that. And I admit, I want you to know that I’m old enough to be able to say that. And I repent for my brothers and sisters in Christ, the frozen chosen. But when people applaud in church, I used to, that used to irritate me, it doesn’t anymore. You know why? Because of Galatians 6:6. Last Sunday in our church, we, a young lady, read the Scripture. Our pastor often has different people in the congregation read the Scripture, and then he’ll teach on it after they read the Scripture. And so Dan, evidently my pastor picked a young lady who read the Scripture, and after she finished reading the Scripture, people broke out in applause. And I wanted say, she didn’t write it. What are you applauding for? She didn’t write this Scripture, but they applauded. And then the Holy Spirit spoke and said, Galatians 6:6. That’s what we’re supposed to be in the church. Look around and be a cheerleader. Tell people that God is using them in wonderful ways. By the way, leaders in church get criticized a lot, go to some of the leaders in the church and say, I know you’re in a hard place and I know it’s difficult sometime, but I just want you to know, I pray for you and I appreciate all you’re doing. I appreciate those long meetings that go until after midnight. I appreciate the hard decisions you make when things aren’t going well in the church. And I just wanted you to know that. Now, after that elder is picked up off the floor, cause he’ll faint, when somebody says that. Just say, you want me to repeat what I just said? Because that’s what we’re called to do. We’re called to be cheerleaders for each other and too often we’re critics, too often we are people, I don’t even like the idea of accountability groups, because it almost runs counter to what we’re talking about here. Now, I don’t think we ought to cheer each other in our sin, but I don’t think we ought to be anybody’s mother either, trying to fix everybody. Be a cheerleader in the name of Jesus. You think about that. Amen.

Matthew Porter:
Thank you Steve. As we continue to discover God’s truth here at the end of Galatians, we’ve touched on the principles of reliance, reflection, realism, and today the principle of recognition More good stuff tomorrow. Hope you will join us then. Hey, do you ever feel depressed? Do you ever struggle with doubts? If so, then you actually find yourself in the company of people like Martin Luther, Charles Spurgeon, even Mother Teresa. That’s something we learned recently from author Diana Gruver on Steve Brown Etc. Take a listen to part of that conversation, then I’ll be back to tell you about a special free offer.

Cathy Wyatt:
Diana, I need you to give me a little bit more of a working definition of depression and also on sadness. I have discovered people in my life who were depressed and I would never have, have known that. Are you sad? And then you get to a point where your sadness is so bad that you then become depressed.

Diana Gruver:
You’ve heard a lot of people say, Oh, I’m so depressed. They are, they’re sad or they’re discouraged. And they’re not the same thing. And so I think, because of the way that we use that term in a nonclinical sense, it can become a little confusing of what, you know, what’s the definition of these terms. And I think you’re right. I think there are some people who, have depression and are highly functional. Not everybody, but some people are, and you wouldn’t know. And I think that’s part of the beauty of the stories in this book, is it shows some of the different faces that depression brings. Some people are laid flat on their back, they can’t get out of bed. You know, they’re considering harming themselves, and then there are other people who have this deep emptiness and ache, but they can somehow continue to keep getting up every day and doing their things. And so it depends, different people bring their own experiences to the table in that regard. But from a clinical standpoint, there’s usually some kind of sadness and a loss of pleasure in things that you once enjoyed. So maybe your work or your hobbies, those things that used to bring delight to you just don’t bring delight anymore. But in addition to that, for some people, the physical symptoms are more prominent, so they might be sleeping more or less. They might be eating more or less. Some people have a lot of anger that comes with their depression, which is a symptom that I think surprises people sometimes. Feelings of guiltiness or worthlessness, just this lack of motivation, and this general kind of malaise apathy towards life. And so it’s multifaceted, in that sense and kind of, it touches every part of your life. And so people who are diagnosing depression look for a cluster, I think it’s at least seven of those symptoms for two weeks or longer. And that is when you cross the line to be clinically depressed.

Matthew Porter:
Diana, I was looking at the list of names in your book. And if you didn’t know the context, you would go, Oh, these are just a list of like all-star super Christians and they are. But, the other thing they have in common, is wrestling with the depression and the doubt, Martin Luther, Hannah Allen, Charles Spurgeon, Mother Teresa, Martin Luther King Jr. Among this kind of pantheon of people are, is there anybody who, when you came across it, you’re like, Oh, I had no idea? That’s very surprising.

Diana Gruver:
All of them. Charles Spurgeon, a lot of times gets overlooked. I think the one that was the most surprising to me was Martin Luther King Jr. But that one was a little more surprising to me, because I’d never heard about that part of his story before.

Matthew Porter:
You always want to know you’re not alone, but you come up against this knowledge with these people. You’re like, Oh no, I’m really not alone. And this does not qualify me from,

Diana Gruver:
Exactly.

Matthew Porter:
you know,

Diana Gruver:
And like you said, it’s an all-star cast, right? So, these aren’t just, it’s not just me telling you my story. It’s someone that we look up to and we celebrate, and we’re still talking about their life and their legacy years, decades, centuries after their death. And so, I think it does, you’re right. It brings us a lot of hope and comfort when we’re struggling. Not just to have permission that, Oh, I can struggle like this. It doesn’t mean there’s something wrong with me. But even just the reassurance that God can still use me. Depression is not going to be the final sentence in my story. It wasn’t in Spurgeon’s or Luther’s or Kings, he can still use me. And that I think is a source of hope and comfort that we really need when we’re struggling.

Matthew Porter:
This whole conversation is a great reminder that struggles do not disqualify you from following Jesus. We’d love to send you that entire episode of Steve Brown Etc on a CD for free. I think you’ll like it. Just call 1-800-KEY-LIFE. That’s 1-800-539-5433. You can also e-mail [email protected] and ask for the CD. If you’d like to mail your request, send it to

Key Life Network

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If you’re in Canada, send your request to

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
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Just ask for the CD featuring Diana Gruver. And finally, if you’re able, would you prayerfully consider giving to Key Life? You could charge a gift on your credit card. You can include a gift in your envelope. Or make it easy, just grab your phone and text Key Life to 28950. Key Life is a member of ECFA in the States and CCCC in Canada. Both of those organizations assure financial accountability. And we are a listener supported production of Key Life Network.