I need you…and I don’t like it one bit.

Steve Brown:
I need you…and I don’t like it one bit. Let’s talk, on Key Life.

Matthew Porter:
This is Key Life here to let Christians know that God isn’t mad at them. Keep listening and you’ll hear that because of what Jesus has done, you’re welcomed home into the family of God because of his radical grace, free from the penalties of sin and never alone in your suffering.

Steve Brown:
Thank you Matthew. If you have your Bible, open it to the 11th chapter of Acts. And we’re talking about how God began this thing, I mean, the size of the building will determine how much time and effort you spend on the foundation. And if it’s going to be a big building, you do it right in the foundation because that’s really important. And God knew that about the church. He knew what was gonna happen. He knew this thing was going to explode, going to be worldwide, was going to change everything and all of history that there would be a B.C. I don’t care what the politically correct people say about the common era. And there was an A.D. And, it had to do with Jesus because Jesus changed everything and he knew what was going to happen. And so, at the beginning he was doing it right. And he was building a foundation and we stand on the shoulders of the people who were a part of that foundation. And what we’re doing is we’re simply checking and seeing what God did cause he still doing it with us. And we’ve seen that first he did it with persecution. If everybody likes you, you’re doing it wrong. If everybody likes what you say about Jesus, they didn’t understand. If everybody thinks you’re wonderful, they didn’t get it. And so, there is not…thank heavens. I don’t know. Who was it? A character in novel, said I’m not good enough to be a saint, but I could be a martyr if they killed me quick. And we’re not being killed, at least in this country. And a lot of other countries, Christians are, but in Canada and the U.S., you know, we’re relatively safe. And so, our persecution is more subtle. It’s more, I don’t want to be your friend kind of persecution. It’s more, you’re a fruitcake kind of persecution. It’s more, you’ve got to be kidding, you believe that kind of persecution. But nevertheless, it’s still there and it’s still subtle and it is getting bigger and bigger. One of the things happening in our time, is that Christians are no longer looked up to and praised. And if you’re a politician, you don’t have to join the church in order to get the votes to get elected. And you don’t have to nod in the direction of God because we as Christians are out of favor. Isn’t that horrible? No, that’s good. We’re getting down to the muscle. And then secondly we saw that God grows his people, hammers in the truths of the gospel, makes the gospel real in our lives, when we’re sharing with somebody else. Now, you know, I’m for evangelism. I didn’t make it up. Jesus told us to go into the world and make disciples. And if he said it, I’ll do my best to do it. But that’s not so we can grow a church. It’s not so we can build an empire. It’s not so can get votes, it’s because we’re created in a way that we are never called to keep quiet about the one who died in our place on a cross. Now, you don’t have to be fanatical about it. You don’t have to follow some line. But you better make sure that your friends know that you belong to Christ. And if they ask and you better be creating questions, if they ask, Peter said, you’ve gotta be ready with an answer for them, those who ask. And so, that’s how God grows his people. He has us to go out and point to him. And then I mentioned yesterday and we’re going to talk more about it today, that got deepens his people. He builds the foundation with persecution, with proclamation, and also with connection, Acts 11:22, Acts 11:29. Listen, I need you. And I don’t like that one bit because I don’t like needing people. You need me. And if you don’t like me and you wish I’d just go away, you still need me because God has created us in a way that this thing doesn’t work, when we do it by ourselves. I love Young Life. And I served as a pastor in New England for long time and we started a Young Life program. And you know what happened to it? It went for about a year and a half, and then it died. I mean, it just died. It didn’t happen. And we began to ask the question, the guy we had called to be a head of that ministry in New England, in the Boston area, and then it was going to grow to other places in New England. The guy we had called to come and do that for us was very gifted, very committed. He was a strong Christian. He was winsome and we thought this is gonna take off with kids in the high schools all over the Boston area and throughout New England. And it didn’t. I mean, it didn’t go anywhere, just died. And then we realized the mistake we made. What was the mistake? The mistake was we called one instead of a bunch. We called one to do a job that was designed for more. We called one and put it all on his shoulders. He didn’t have anybody to whom to confess. He didn’t have anybody to whom he could cry. He didn’t have anybody with whom he could work. And the ministry died and it always does because God made this thing in such a way that you need me. In fact, you can’t do this without me and I need you. In fact, I can’t do this thing without you. And it doesn’t matter if we like each other. It just is. And so, we’ve got to deal with it. You think about that. Amen.

Well, it’s Wednesday and sometimes on Wednesdays, when I have time, I take the time to answer one or two questions and then Pete Alwinson will be in on Friday. And as always we will spend the entire program answering and commenting on your questions. And we love to get your questions. And we love talking about them. You can ask a question anytime you want. You can call 1-800-KEY-LIFE. If something’s bothering you, pick up the phone, dial 1-800-KEY-LIFE and follow the instructions. We record your voice and sometimes put that on the air. Or you can to send your question to

Key Life Network
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in Canada, it’s

Key Life Canada
P.O. Box 28060
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or you can e-mail your question to [email protected]. And you knew I was going to say this, if you can help us financially, we sure would appreciate it. And we would rise up and call you blessed. When you help us financially, two things happen. We’ll squeeze every dime for the glory of God and the benefit of his people, I promise. And secondly, you become a sort of champion to other people who can’t help us financially. Now, if you can’t help us financially, we understand that, but if you can do be generous and we’ll be so glad for you. And if you can’t say a prayer for this ministry. Alright, let’s turn to one or two of these questions. This is one that we get often and that I get often. And it is this, how does our free will fit in with God’s will for our lives? If God has predestined our lives for us, do we actually have free? I have no idea? I mean, I don’t have the foggiest, how it works. And the way I feel better about is reading a book by C.S. Lewis called Letters to Malcolm: Chiefly on Prayer. And Lewis said, I don’t have the foggiest. I don’t know why, if things are predestined by a sovereign God, I pray if he’s going to do what he’s going to be doing anyway. And then Lewis said, we do it because Jesus told us to. Now, how does that work? I’m not sure we understand, the Scripture says.

For my ways are not your ways. And my thoughts are not your thoughts. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

So, the very fact that we understand anything is a miracle of sorts. But the Bible clearly teaches that we are free and that your decisions really honestly matter. The Bible also teaches that God, and we’ve been teaching on this on Key Life, that God is absolutely sovereign over every molecule. How can you put those things together? I don’t know. I really don’t. J.I. Packer said that that was in the book, The Evangelism and the Sovereignty of God. He said that was an antimony. That’s two truths that contradict each other, but both are true. And freedom and sovereignty, contradict each other, but they’re both true. And they’re both taught in Scripture. Now that doesn’t mean we can’t think about it. I believe a lot of this has to do with God’s act of creation. He knew the implication of his creation, and he could have created in a thousand different ways, than the ones, than the way he created things. And if he had created in a different way, different things would have happened. And there’s a sense, that when he created, it was his choice, his sovereign choice with this is the way the world will be. And I know that at creation, he knew the pain, the loss, people who wouldn’t come to know him. And I think when we get home, a lot of things are going to be happening. But one of them, when we ask God to explain, I think he’s going to say, and he’s going to get emotional as he was at the moment of creation, there will be tears in the eyes of God. And he will say, if I could have done it a better way, I would have. Oh, we could talk for hours, but I’ve got to go. But first, Key Life is a listener supported production of Key Life Network.