Live Free with Josh Howerton - God, Why Is This Happening To Me? | Live Free with Josh Howerton

Episode Date: June 30, 2025

What are you really building your life on? In this powerful conversation, Pastors Mike Breaux, Carlos Erazo, and Marc McCartney close out The Rebel Way series by unpacking the final words of Jesus�� Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 7). With humor, honesty, and pastoral wisdom, they explore the difference between merely hearing Jesus’ words to actually living them out. They discuss how spiritual growth takes practice, why storms reveal what we’re built on, and what it means to follow Jesus on the narrow path of obedience. Whether you’re facing a storm or preparing for one, this episode offers clarity, conviction, and hope—because Jesus is the only foundation that holds. 👍 Like, Comment, & Subscribe for more life-changing podcasts! 🔔 Turn on notifications so you never miss an update! 📝 SHOW NOTES Subscribe now to receive the show notes directly in your inbox with each new episode. These notes are filled with key insights and scripture to help you reflect and grow deeper in your faith – https://lakepointe.church/shownotes 👇 DON’T MISS OUT! Freedom is found when we connect and do life together—join a Life Group today and build real, lasting relationships: https://lakepointe.church/groups/ Join us for At The Movies, our annual four-week sermon series using clips from popular movies to illustrate biblical truths. This in-person-only series is happening at all DFW campuses. Don’t miss out! https://lakepointe.church/at-the-movies/ ⛪ ABOUT LAKEPOINTE CHURCH: We believe that Lakepointe is a movement for all people to Know God, Find Freedom, Discover their Calling, and Make a Difference. With 6 DFW locations and programs for all ages, there's something for everyone. 🤝 Support this ministry and help us reach more people with the Gospel: https://lakepointe.church/give STAY CONNECTED: 🌐 Website: https://lakepointe.church/ 👍 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lpconnect/ 📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lpconnect 🎥 YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@lakepointechurch 🎧 LISTEN ON THE GO! ▶️ Live Free on Spotify / https://open.spotify.com/show/353ryGdZNlebaiqkCcy3Yc ▶️ Live Free on Apple Podcasts / https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/live-free-with-josh-howerton/id1669321198

Welcome to Live Free with Pastor Josh Howardton. We're so glad you're here. Lake Point Church is a movement for all people to know Jesus, live free and make a difference with their lives. And this weekly podcast is all about helping you do just that. Each episode is a deep dive into the Word of God tackling life, culture, and faith with truth and clarity so you can be equipped to live free in Christ.

Thanks for tuning in. And be sure to subscribe so you never miss an episode and follow us on all our social platforms to stay connected to everything happening with Live Free. Now, let's dive into today's episode. Hey, welcome to the podcast. This is Carlos trying to fix his microphone. There you go.

Man, we could just totally start there. Hey, you said it, Mike, so I'm just going to keep going on this point. This is welcome to the Live Free podcast. My name is Carlos, and I am here today with Pastor Mike Bro and Pastor Mark McCartney. Thanks for having us. Welcome back. Yes, good to be here. Always good to be with you guys.

How are you guys doing today? Awesome, man. We're talking. We're talking travel. Mark goes on an anniversary trip like three times a year. Or four. Or four. Yeah, it depends on the year. That's great, man.

Literally, every time I ask Mark, Mark, what are you doing? Oh, I'm going on this trip. What for? Oh, it's my anniversary. Oh, awesome. Yeah. And then you'll do it again like four more times for the rest of the year. I want to be like you.

Okay. He caught me one time. So here's the story, Mike. It was during COVID. And Robin and I had this epic 25th anniversary trip planned. we were supposed to be going to Italy, Mediterranean cruise, the whole thing. We were so excited about it.

It got canceled because of COVID. So then in July of 2020, we ended up getting to go on a trip, and it was a great trip. It was our 25th that we had already celebrated in December anniversary. So we'd go on the trip, it was awesome. Then a couple months later, tell Carlos I'm going to Cancun with Robin. He's like, why?

I'm like, we're celebrating our anniversary. It was the next anniversary. So it was just a few months later, but, you know, we had to get them both. Yeah, we all celebrate more anniversaries, man. Mike, what's your ideal, like, anniversary or vacation type? What's your thing? Oh, man, I like it all, really.

Debbie and I just went to Florida. I preached down there for three weeks, and most people don't see preaching as a vacation. I was going to ask you. I was like, oh, of course, ideal vacation. But all I had to do was just preach on Sunday, these three weeks, and the two weeks in between, just did nothing. Yeah. I just chilled and sat on the beach and read books.

and ate shrimp. Did a lot of that. That's a good combination. It was a great couple of weeks. I really haven't done that in a while. It was a really good break for us as we gave the pastor a break as well. So it's kind of fun to do that. Yeah, we just, Debbie and I, I've told you guys before we're going to once a year vacation

with 34 people, all in the same house. This year we got two houses. We had to. It just got too crazy. And so we love doing that. I love being with our family. So we have 10 grandkids. And then my brother-in-law and sister-in-law, they have nine grandkids.

So we all go together. It's just cool to see all the cousins love each other. In summertime, it's nonstop. It's not just the one week we go to the lake. It's every day all summer long. They're together in pools and ball games and at our house. That's great. We love it.

We love that. kind of what we like. What about the Arazos? You guys, I know you're kind of world travelers. Japan, I hear. I guess we, man, yeah, as of the recording of this video, we're going to Japan next week, and it's going to be awesome. I'm excited to, we're going because we are, we have, we met some Australian missionaries in Japan, and so we are basically having like a two-day digital social media conference. Apparently in Japan, that's not a thing yet in terms of like using or leveraging social media for, you know, the church. And so Burke and I get to do that. Digital missionaries. Wow, man. This church has been there now. They've been there about 25 years in

Japan. Yes. And they have really figured out how to reach young Japanese with the gospel. It's a country where less than 1% know Jesus. And their tradition is so seeped in that if you accept Christ, you're rejecting your family and your culture. So it's deep, it's hard. In this church, has done an amazing job. So I'm so pumped that you should get excited, man. To spend some time with them, and you'll learn, but you'll get to deposit, and we get to build the church.

Man, it's amazing. We're so excited. Hey, before we jump in, man, thank you for everybody. It's just been amazing. Man, week four of just this, the Rebel Way with Pastor Mike. And so thank you as well for, like,

everybody's showing love in, like, all the other episodes as well. Thank you for liking, subscribing. We got show notes as well. Again, just one of my favorite things. is for people to say, hell, we're joining with other, you know, for the men to say,

man, we're joining with other men in our life group, and we're just kind of going even deeper than this conversation. So that's extremely helpful to us. Let us know in the comment section. If it is helpful, if you're downloading the show notes,

Mike, Mark, go ahead and tell them that, because, you know, Mark, Mike, let's go. Would you please encourage our people to download the show notes and then take it to the groups to, you know, go even deeper? Yeah, I did have a flashback there. I have a brother named Mike.

There you go Mike a lot. But it is. The show notes is such a good. great resource because you get quotes, you know, scripture, stories, links from today's episode. But also there's discussion questions. The list of all the places that you've been on your anniversary trip as well. That will definitely be in there. So there's two pages of this time. Oh, wow. Oh, wow. No, we won't have that in there. All the important stuff is in there. And some of those bad dad

jokes from a couple of weeks ago. I don't have to be in there. Probably not. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Good. Good. It's got eliminated. So great. To go there, go to Lake Point That Church slash show notes. Thank you. Let us know in the comment section. And let me see if I got anything else. Man, today it's going to be a good episode because we're going to go summon to them out. We're going to talk about storms, end times, left behind.

Man. Yeah. We're going to go there. Wow. Okay. You're a big fan of Left Behind, I hear. I'm excited to hear Mike's take. No.

You're going to take the whole thing. Mike, you are a fan of Kurt Cameron is what I hear? Me? Yeah. Sure. In the movie, like in the movie. Did you watch a movie, left behind? No, you haven't seen it.

I've never seen it. Not books? Never, okay. Well, we'll talk about it. Never seen it, never read it. Mark's going to do this whole thing on, I guess I was left behind when the, the, when it was all happening. Well, there's, I guess you were with the Kirk Cameron one, but there's a Nicholas Cage one. You've seen those.

No, I haven't. There's a Nicholas Cage one? Yeah, there's a Nicholas Cage one. Well, we'll talk about this. This is coming up in the episode. It's going to be awesome. Oh, cool, man. All right, man.

Well, let's jump in. Matthew chapter 7. Mr. Mike, thank you so much for this message yesterday or this last weekend. Yeah, man, it's a sermon on a mountain.

It's such a cool thing to dive into. Like I said, the very beginning, we could, we do 13, 14, 15, 16 weeks on this thing, you know,

but I just did four. That's all we have the time to do and maybe we'll bring it back around. I'm sure it'll make it in all kinds of messages, you know, as we preach through this. But to do four weeks, time to take some highlights out of it.

And, you know, week one, when we talked about the Beatitudes, which was the invitation onto a road that's a blessed life. It's a narrow path. It's so much better than the broad road that leads to destruction. It's upstream. It's countercultural. It's Jesus invites all of us, all of us, onto that road.

And then we talked about how, you know, Jesus goes to the heart of things, not just behavior. He's not just interested in the behaviors we do. He wants us to become the kind of people that he wants us to become, and that resides in the heart. And he talked about money. He talked about angry. about lust. He talks about your word, talks about prayer, all of it just going to the heart of things. And then we talked about worry and anxiety, how he just said, you know, let me tell you, he used that word, therefore, is therefore, let me tell you, in light of all what I've just

said, why are you worried about all this stuff? You got a father that loves you, provides for the birds of the air, the grass, the field, the flowers and all that. Aren't you much more valuable than they are? And besides that, can worry just, can it add a single second to your life? No, you can't. Just focus on today. Every day you say, God, I'm walking with you again today. Give us this day, our daily bread one day at a time. So it's been cool to walk through all that. And a lot of people have been reading through it during the week.

And I would encourage you just, if you can put something on your summer must read list, just read the sermon on the Mount. Just like every week, just read the sermon on the Mount. It's a good place to live. And then Jesus wraps it up with, I think this is where we're going, right? Where he says, so I just want to wrap this up by some. saying whoever listens to these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who builds his house on a rock and the rains came, the winds blew, and the storms came, and it stood

strong. You know, it's so much better than building your life on a shaky foundation, which a lot of people are doing. And I did in my life. So glad I found a rock to build my life on. So that's where we wrapped up this weekend, us how to build a great life. It's interesting because, again, so rich this whole sermon on the Mount and you know there's a couple chapters but it seems like here Jesus is kind of wrapping this sermon with with with this idea of hey some people think he's here giving advice he's just stating reality he's just saying hey this is just kind of how the world works this is like gravity it's like you might disagree with it but it's just what it is and he says man if you obey if you listen and obey when the storm comes you know you'll be able to stand but if

you listen and you do not put him in practice like when the storm comes it's not going to go well for you. And again, we talked about this, I think it was in the first episode when you were here is the idea that here is Jesus basically taking on like a Moses figure in saying like, hey, Moses gave you the law. Let me give you the law in your heart. Let me tell you how I fulfilled this. And it's interesting because when you read the law, the Torah, Deuteronomy, it ends with a choice. This is a famous verse, Deuteronomy chapter 30, verse 19. It says, this day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have said before you, life and death. I have said before you blessings and curses.

And the Deuteronomy ends basically with like a now choose life so that you and your children may live. And it just keeps going. Jesus preaches this message in the Sherman of the Mount. And he says everything that we've discussed so far. And he ends and he's wrapping it with like, hey, there's people that listen to the word and there's people and apply it. And then there's people that listen to the word and that don't apply it. He's basically saying like, choose life. I'm putting before you the option.

And so it's a very cool parallel here where Jesus kind of lays it out very clearly for people to respond. Yeah. And the choices are to respond, yeah. That's right. And so let's talk about that. Man, what does it mean?

Let's go very practical. How do you move from simply hearing the word to doing it today? It's interesting because I feel like today more than ever in our culture, man, people are listening to the Christian podcast, which is awesome, live free. The Christian music, you know,

the Christian TV shows, The Chosen, House of David, all the things. And we love to get more information, but ultimately, Jesus is saying, we want you to experience transformation. How do you do that? Yeah. You want to start? Yeah, this hit me really hard this week because I failed. Jesus says to not let the sun go down on your anger.

And one night this week, I was upset about something. and maybe even justified to be upset, but I was upset about something, but I certainly took my anger to a place where I needed to apologize to someone, and I just didn't. I'm not going to do that. And I just, you know, I got in my bed and I'm like,

I can't sleep. I got up late at night, took a walk, got back in my bed, I still can't sleep, and I'm just stewing and stewing, and I let it just fester and build until, you know, and I went to bed. I finally, like, gave out and went to sleep. I woke up the next morning,

I felt terrible, like awful. Like, it was awful. It was like the worst night. And then I was finally able to get to the person I needed to apologize to and reconcile with. And even then it was like, I was grateful I did, but there were after effects. Yeah. Like for hours, probably. And then kind of got settled again.

And it was like, if I had just listened to what the word says, don't let the sun go down on your anger, you know, write those wrongs in your day. in your life, then it would have been a lot better. And that's not a, that's not something I typically do. So it was like a reminder like, oh, yeah, these truths in here, they're there to help you. There is a way. There is a narrow path that doesn't make sense to the world. But when you go down it, it will go well for you.

And so painful reminder for me. I've been there too. You know, we talked one of the episodes about how James, the book of James, sounds a lot like Jesus. Sounds more like Jesus than any other book in the New Testament. And he was, you know, Jesus' brother. And he kind of expounds on the sermon on him out with some action things. And one of the things he says in there is do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Like, do what it says. Yeah. And that's a real practical thing. You know, the word he uses there for do not listen to the words, the word, the word, audit. Y'all ever audit at a class in school,

like college? I'm going to audit that class. I mean, means you just show up. You don't have to do any of the homework, not have to take any of the test, you just audit it. And he's saying, hey, don't just audit the word of God. Just do, like, do the homework. Yeah. You know, apply these things to your life. That's why Jesus said in the sermon on my. He didn't say, whoever hears these words of mine and builds their life upon them, be blessed. And he says, whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice, and say, I'm going to actually incorporate that into my life. I'm not going to let anger get a fool old of my life. I'm not going to let lust dwell on my heart. I'm not going to make money,

my God. I'm not going to try to impress people. I'm not trying to, you know, with flowery words and yes, you know, let me yes, be yes, my nobody, all these things he says. So, you know, I'm actually going to like practice that. And as we practice these things, then our foundation gets strong. And he also says in that passage, he doesn't say, and if the storms come and if the winds blow, he says, no, they're going to come. And they're going to blow. That's a given for everybody. It just depends on what your life is built upon. Yeah. Well, it's interesting because the idea of practicing something

implies that you're not good at it yet or that there's some work to be done. And so I think that's encouraging for people that maybe say, man, I don't know that I'm doing great right now with my spiritual disciplines or, man, this week, you know, like Mark, you're saying, like, man, I struggled in this area. Man, this is the whole point of practice.

And somebody that's practicing, it's not pretending that they're an expert. That's why they're practicing because they know they need to grow and they need to learn. And so I think what's helpful maybe for some people that maybe are processing this is, hey, what's a small step that you need to take? Instead of worrying about all the different things that you are falling short in, man, what's one next step for you? What does that mean when you listen to the word? And this is, I think this is really the responsibility of what every Christian should do after every sermon or everything that you receive from the Word of God is really asking, okay, what do I need to do now? What do I do with this?

How is this affecting who I am becoming as I learned to follow Jesus? This, for whatever reason, in this season, for me, I've realized that one of the spiritual disciplines that the Bible assumes a Christian should. do, I have not done. And that is the spiritual discipline of fasting. And, you know, Jesus says, when you fast, he doesn't say, hey, if you ever have a chance, or if you ever consider it, or if it works with your schedule, he says, hey, no, when that happens. So there's a little bit of a, and so I've been feeling a little bit of a conviction recently of, hey, this is, this is not necessarily, it hasn't been part of my spiritual disciplines. And so I've just been in my mind and my TikTok algorithm figure that out. And so for whatever reason, you know, in my social media feed, I'm like,

getting all these fasting videos. Amazing. And I'm getting these videos. It's funny how it works because I'm getting all these videos of like people saying, oh yeah, I just came from my 40 day fast. And, you know, this is what I learned.

And I'm kind of glowing now. And, you know, I'm just a whole different person. And I'm like, whoa, like 40 days. I keep scrolling. Oh, yeah.

I finished my 21 day fast. This was awesome. And I'm thinking like, okay, I, my next step of obedience is obviously not a 40 day fast or a 21 day fast or even a three day fast. Now, maybe I should skip breakfast.

That's a good first step. And that's okay. And it's practice. And I think that's really, that's really an easy way to start. Hey, let me try to apply what I have learned. Or maybe your social media algorithm is telling you fast from social media. That's true. I agree.

I'll shut my phone down today. That's right. I'm taking a one day fast. I'm not going to look at it. I'm working on it. At some point, we'll have to circle back on that fasting conversation. But you're right. man, you get better things by practicing.

Yes. And to practice means I need some work in that area. I've set it before here at Laypoint that I've set it a bunch to around the places that, you know, when Paul said, I've learned how to be content. How do you learn anything? You practice, right? So how do you learn contentment? You learn contentment by practicing gratitude. If you're grateful and you practice that as a regular thing, then contentment grows in your life. Same thing is true with everything in the word. If you start practicing these things, and no matter what. performance level you're at. You're just, you're just practicing. God just helps you get better. He's the one doing the transformation work, you know, as you renew your mind, as we talked about before.

I think another aspect, too, is planning it out. Yeah. So Henry Ford famously said, if you fail to plan, you'll plan to fail. Yeah. And it really is true. Like, have a plan. I promise you this. You have an enemy. He's real, and he has a plan for your life. And it's not for your good. It's not for your flourishing. And so have a plan. So one of the things we do here with our Lake Point School of Ministry residents is all of them have a mentor, like a spiritual mentor who's just kind of meeting with them on a regular basis. But they actually have a plan.

They call it an IDP, individual development plan. That's awesome. And the resident themselves will say something like, hey, I really want to get better at fasting. So I want to figure that out. And then the mentor is the one that's going to help them say, well, you don't need to do a 21-day fast or a three-day fast, but let's get breakfast. And they'll give them tools, but they'll be like kind of journeying with them because they're a little further ahead. Oh, man, I really encourage you to do that.

Like make a plan about these things and then find someone who's just a little bit ahead of you, meet with them on a regular basis and just work it out together. That's good. On this verse, A.W. Tozer said, the driver on the highway is safe not when he reads the signs. He is safe when he obeys them. And so it's this idea of man, like, that's awesome that, you know, you read the book, you read scripture, you listen to the sermon, great, it doesn't end there. It starts there. So let me correct another extreme or I want us to address this. Some people will say, okay,

let me read James chapter one. Do not merely listen to the word, do what it says. And somebody might say, wait a minute, I thought, that sounds very like works based. I thought, I thought this whole thing was supposed to be grace. And I thought Jesus changed my heart. And it's not up to my own capacity. So you're telling me that I now need to go do. And can you help us understand that? I think the key phrases in there when he says,

do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. So sometimes we think, well, I showed up at church or I listened to a podcast or listened to some music and I'm good. Well, you never really applaud. really did that. You just, you deceived yourself in the thinking that you did it. I mean, we can talk a lot about working out and never work out. And go, I feel like I worked out. We never worked out.

You know, I thought about it a lot. So I think that's the deception part. You know, I've said this before, to self-deception plus self-reliance equals self-destruction. And that's why in this sermon, you know, Jesus, first thing he does, you got to get rid of self-reliance. You know, blessed of the poor spirit, blessed of those that are busted and broken. And then he kind of goes to the end. You've got to take inventory because if you add self-deception to self-reliance, man, you're on, you're on the broad path that leads to destruction. So I think that's the key is to go, okay, so am I applying this book? Am I doing

what it says? Am I actually every day just trying to do something, do something? that I'm reading, when I read God's word, where am I going? So what applies to me? Oh, that jumped off the page of me. That's what I need to do. I'm going to do that today. I think, you know, I always asking God, what are you saying to me? How does this relate to me today in my situation?

I've also found any time you see anything in the Bible that feels like a directive, it's usually there to lead to your flourishing. It's that road sign you talked about before. Yeah. If it feels like a directive, it's a directive. Yeah. for your benefit. I think it's been said before.

Biblical truth is like deodorant. It only works when you apply it. Yeah, there you go. There you go. So in the sermon, Mike, you talked about freedom and how, you know, there's a sense in which, especially in our part of the world, we all want freedom.

We all want to feel free. And this is why the podcast is called Live Free. And so we like it. We like the idea of freedom. But what we're asking is, man, what's a biblical view of freedom? and people will say, well, you know, honestly, like a lifestyle of sin or whenever I do what I want to do, not so much what scripture is telling me to do. It feels like freedom. I get to do whatever I want.

And again, I've heard somebody at some point said, this is something I saw recently. Somebody said, sin feels like freedom until you have to stop. And when you think you're free because you're kind of going your own way, you're like, well, I'm free. And then you're like, well, if you want to stop, stop, all of a sudden you can. Now your Bible says that now you're a slave to your sin. So now you actually can't stop, you know, with lust. Oh, well, I can do whatever I want. Yeah, well, now actually you're a slave to that thing that you thought you were free to do.

And so how does following God's word, which obviously comes through some guardrails and limitations from God, how does that equal freedom? Yeah, it's the safest way. I mean, God, first of all, we have to acknowledge that God is wiser than we are and smarter than we are and better than we are and loves us more than we even love ourselves. So his rules that he gives us the guardrails, so to speak, as you said, keeps us on the path, but keeps us on that narrow path. Broadroad doesn't have any guardrails. Narrow path does. And that keeps you safe.

And that's true freedom. I mean, you think about when people go, okay, so if I do what Jesus wants me to do, man, it's going to mess with my freedom. I want to be free to do what I want to do. Well, you know, like for instance, you know, I mean, what I was trying to say? Next time you have a talk with an alcoholic or a drug addict who just did whatever they want to do, ask them how free they feel. Freedom is not going to be the first. Yeah, it's free, man. No, like you said, they're a slave to that now.

They're in a stronghold of that. Sexual freedom in our country. How many people will say, yeah, I'm really. free. You know, it's a bondage type thing. So being up, being on God's path is just the best way to live your life. And that's what Jesus was trying to say with this whole sermon on the mountain. I talked about, I think I talked about the message how you get on a, you get on a, you know, I-30 or whatever you live in the country and you get on a major highway and stuff. And pull on the ramp, it says, I mean, there's like a list of know this, know this, know this, no this, no this, no this, no this,

but yet we take that road because it's the best way to get there. There's more rules and speed limits and guardrails and stuff on that road. And we call those roads freeways, you know. That's what they are because they do have guardrails. They do have limits. And God's road is the same way. He just knows us better than we know ourselves. He said, this is the best way to live your life.

And the reason I'm telling you is not to get wasted because you're going to, not because I'm trying to ruin your fun, because I don't want you to hurt yourself and other people. You know, I mean, his guardrails are for our benefits. Keep us free, really free. My son is almost three, and it's very interesting for me to learn how to, whenever I say something, he's learned how to say no.

Really? Yeah, who told you that? I didn't. Your mom? Your mom teach you that? Yeah. And, well, we're both trying to figure it out, because we're like, well, I thought if I just said something,

he'd be like, yes, like, okay. And so I'm like, what do I do now? And, you know, it's interesting because one thing, whenever he started walking, we warned him that he didn't have to touch the ants. You know, what do you call it? Like the ant hill? The ant hill, yeah. And so, and we say, we try to explain to him, hey, like, don't touch it because, like, that's not okay. It's going to hurt you.

And as you can just tell, he's processing, should I, should I obey my? dad or what else this behalf? What if I do touch it? And that's with everything, right? The two-year-old kids want to touch like the, you know, the plugs and all the things. I don't know. I don't know why. But again, it goes back to the idea, hey, when I say to him, don't, what I mean is don't hurt yourself. When God says don't, he means don't hurt yourself. Whenever I say, no, it's not because I try to rob something from you. It's because I'm trying to give you. God gives, sin takes. And so this is John chapter 10. The thief comes only to steal, kill, kill, and destroy.

That's what sin does. It steals, it kills, and it destroys. But then Jesus says, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. And so when Jesus says something, when God in his word communicates something to us, he say, man, this is for your life. This is abundant life. And that obedience comes with blessings. Well, hey, guys, one of the reasons we are intentional in creating this kind of podcast

episodes is because we believe that discipleship happens in relationships. Having said that, what we want to do through the live free podcast is model what it looks like to be in a discipleship group where we come together and open up the Word of God and honestly just grow together as followers of Jesus to live free in Christ. And so for this reason we love that you're tuning in but honestly we don't just want you to be a passive listener. We want you to be an active participant. And so if you have not yet joined the group, whether in person or online, I want to challenge you to test drive one. And so to do that, just text the word group to 20411 or go to

lake point to that church slash groups because listen, you're not one podcast away, one habit away, one decision away, one book away, one sermon away. Listen, you are one relationship away to experience freedom in Christ in community. And now let's get back to the podcast. Well, our young, our middle son, Derek, when he was a little kid, man, he was, we call him the master disaster. He was all, I don't know how many times he's an emergency room. We thought we were going to get turned into child service or something.

He was just always getting into stuff. He just adventurous that way. And when he was a little guy, we put one of those, we call it an accordion gate back in the day as a wooden thing. He's spread out and put the top. the stairs and you can just see him at the top of the stairs and go, hey, what's down there, you know? And we put it up there because we wanted to keep him safe, you know, and I think God takes his word and puts it like a child restraint gate at the top of the stairs of our life so we don't

fall down and kill ourselves. Yeah. And you can't go, you're messing with my freedom? No, I'm trying to keep you safe. I'm trying to keep you on the best road. That's good, man. Well, there's this section where, you know, Jesus obviously talked about the storm. And again, he doesn't say, hey, if it comes, he says when the storm comes.

I want to ask you guys, why do you think, especially in our culture, it seems like when you read like history and you realize Jesus is saying, hey, when the storm comes, be ready and check if your foundation is in the right place. It seems like in our culture, we do the opposite. We expect things to go well. And then when the storm comes, we're like, whoa. that happened? I can't believe it. Where'd they come from? What is going on? This is not how it's supposed to be. And obviously, there's a biblical sense in which is true. That's actually, that's what the Bible says. It's not how it should be. Why do you think we have a different mentality today that people are like, well, my default expectation is for things to go great. And when something bad happens, we're shocked. Yeah, I think it gets to the center of the bullseye of what Mike's been preaching the last four weeks. It's a matter of the heart, you know, because our hearts, we hardwire them towards what culture tells us. And so then it's where it's the I, I, I, I. It's all about me. And then when our expectations aren't met, then we think it's against us. And it's like where our priorities were in that

wrong spot in the first place. And then it's just, you know, that's important. Sorry, I don't know. And we say, God, why are you doing this to me? Right. Why are you letting this happen? Yeah, our priorities are about ourselves. And then there's, you know, I mean, life is hard. It's just hard. And the storms do come. And we don't want them to. And so there's part of us that just kind of plays almost fantasy like, oh, that's not

going to happen to me. Because we don't want it to. Where deep down, many, many people actually have underlying anxiety and stress about those things because they're thinking about them, but they're using other things to push them off so that it doesn't come at them again. But that's interesting that we, we should expect it. Yeah. Like this is normal.

Yeah. But we don't. We don't think about it. And Jesus told us that straight up. He said, in this life, you will have trouble. There you go. It's going to happen. And think about it this way, the worst thing in history happened to history's best person.

The one who... What do you think is going to happen to you? Yeah. I've been so good. Why is this happening to me? Oh, actually. Look at Jesus. There's a guy better than you that has some really bad stuff happening to him,

unfairly. And he let it happen because he loves you. So, yeah, that goes back to the whole, you know, the, what a bad things happen to good people, you know. And is there anyone really good? Yeah. You know, there's only one that was really good and bad things happen to him. Yeah.

You know, so I think Jesus wants to be prepared. In this life, you will have trouble. The storms are going to blow. They're just going to blow. It's just all creation is groaning to be made right again someday. And it's going to be made right again someday. But until that day, you're going to have it. So I'm giving you my peace in the middle of these storms.

I'm giving you a foundation to build your life upon. And so when it blows, it won't knock you over. You'll know you've got a home in heaven. You know you've got a father that's with you. I got a buddy right now is going through some storms, man. I mean, hail, tornadoes. I mean, everything's happening in his life right now. But he's just solidly built upon, you know, Jesus' words.

And he knows it's going to be okay. It's going to be okay. Even if it takes his life, it's going to be okay because he's going to live forever. He already knows what it's going to end. So there's wisdom in what Jesus. is the saying here about the storm because again, I'm sure many people have said this before, I can't remember who I heard this from, but basically like everybody is either in one or three places. You're either walking towards a storm or you're in the middle of a storm or you're walking

away from a storm or you're getting out of a storm. And Jesus is saying, expect it. Like, it'll come. Or another one's coming. Or another one's coming. There you go. And so are you ready? And I think, again, it's different when you're like, man, everything's great. Oh, my goodness, I didn't see this coming versus like, man, Jesus said there would be some storms. And the question that Jesus points here to is, what is your foundation? The storms reveal the quality of your foundation. If your foundation is, well, I, you know, have resources or I have friends or I have, I trust in my own wisdom or my own capacity, then when the storm comes, you will find out if your foundation is strong enough.

But if your foundation is your trust in the rock in Christ alone, ultimately, then this is where in the middle of the storm, you find out, man, this is a rough season. And I'm happening to find that Christ is enough and that he is my strength. And he really is a shepherd. Yeah.

I think sometimes when bad things happen, you know, if I see something going on in your all's life, man, it's, oh, man, that's, I feel really bad. bad for Mark and Carlos that they're going through this. Then when it happens to me, it's like, why me? With my attitude, I'll be, why not me? I mean, I live in this world.

I'm a sinner too. I've been saved by grace. Why not me? Jesus told me to expect it. So I think that why me type of thing kind of, it's almost an entitlement thing that, again, it goes away when you go back to the blessed or the poor and spirit, those are more, and those who are meek and hunger after God, you start to get a perspective on your life. Go, I'm saved by God's grace.

bad things could happen to me too. That's life in this world. It reigns on the just and the unjust. That's the way it is. But I'm going to build my life on that firm foundation. So when it does happen, it's not going to destroy me. I know where my future is. I know who holds me right now.

You were going to say one more thing, Mark. Well, I think, yeah, as we've been talking, it's also, I'm sensitive to the person whose their thought has been, well, I get what Jesus was saying on self-imposed storms. Like, I get it there. Yeah. But what about these that had nothing to do with? It came out of the blue, man.

Yeah, but that's what we're talking about. It's actually the something to expect. Like, that's going to happen even to you who didn't cause it, didn't ask for it. That's the storm we're talking about. And sometimes you do, it's a self-imposed storm. You know, we have to be honest about that. If I hadn't done that, this would not have happened. But most of the time comes out of the blue.

and it's life on this planet. It's a broken planet. Pain's real. Bad things happen. Sometimes even the most innocent get caught in the fall out of it all. What are some of the modern day equivalent sand foundations today that probably most people would naturally lean towards,

oh, man, I'm going to put my foundation on this thing in my life. And that's actually, no, that's a sand foundation. What would you guys say? Yeah, like career, like your job. Say more. Yeah, getting your identity from your job, your accolades from your boss, your achievement from work. Like, that can start to bring a psyche in you where you don't even realize that becomes your life. You know, it's funny.

I used to, when my kids were younger, we used to coach their sports teams. I remember, like, basketball, they went through this phase where every single person on their bio said basketball is life. And it's like, well, it's not your life. Like, at all. Like, I'm glad you love it. Like, that's fun. It's not life. But we do that with so many things.

We do it with work. We do it with escapism. We do it in relationships. What are some more? Yeah, homes, money, all that kind of stuff. It's all a shifting sandy foundation, approval of other people, all that. I've tried to build on all of it. It's a sandy foundation, man.

It just shifts all the time. Jesus Christ is a rock. He really is a rock. And never shifts, never changes. Just rock solid. It's a, yeah, I don't know, man. Yeah, how does, so the flip side of this question is, you know, what about following Jesus makes it a rock foundation?

When the storm hits, when things happen, when it's a difficult season, for people that are maybe going through it and they're trying to like maybe hang on to hope and say, man, you know, I'm a Christian, but I'm struggling. What about what is what is Jesus do that's different that makes him a a solid firm foundation when you go through this storm? I think it goes back to what he said when he said these words of mine. His words are truth.

If you have truth in your life, I mean not your truth, not your own truth, but his truth, absolute truth, rock solid truth. Then when storms come, you're able to hang on to that truth like I got a home in heaven. I've been forgiven. There's no condemnation. therefore to those who are in Christ Jesus. All those truthful things are in your life. And so when bad things happen, you just lean on that.

And you go, you know, he's not giving me a spirit of fear, but one of love and power, self. That's the truth. It's in my life. He will never forsake me, never bail out of me. That's a truth. He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. That's the truth that's in my life.

When you have that truth, the words of Jesus embedded in your heart, your life is built on a firm foundation. So when the storms do come, the truth is what keeps you. I think it's what keeps you solid, is knowing the truth. Yeah. Truth about your past, truth about your present, proof about your future. That's what keeps you there. There's something powerful about, you mean, just reminding yourselves about truth.

Right, man, we forget, we tend to forget things. And again, scripture talks over and over that forgetfulness can be the greatest enemy of faith because when you forget what God has done, when you forget what God has done in the past, you stop believing what He will do in your future. And so to this idea of reminding yourselves of, hey, God has been faithful in my past, when you're in community and you see, man, I've seen God's faithfulness in Mark's life. Man, that's encouraging to me and to the people around him. Whenever somebody is going through something difficult, and again, when you're surrounded by other believers, the person that's going through it can draw strength from everybody else. and everybody else can also be there for the other person.

It's just a mutual reinforcement of what is true that God is still good, that he is so faithful. Jonathan Edwards has this thing where whenever somebody goes through something difficult, he would say something like, hey, if you're a Christian, three things are true about you. So the first one is your bad things will turn out for good. That's Romans chapter 8. That's always true. Like whatever you go through, Romans chapter 8 says, man, it is a game. guarantee God will use it for your good in Christ.

So that's true. Two, he says, your good things, the best things in your life cannot be taken away. You are a son and a daughter. You have the Holy Spirit. You have the promises of God are for you. You have an eternity with him. Like he is your father. Nobody can take that away from him.

No matter what you're going through. That's true. And the third one, if number one is true and number two is true, then the best is yet to come. And so as somebody may be joining right now, maybe feels like, man, I'm struggling. Man, if you're a Christian, your bad things will turn out for good. Your good things cannot be taken away. And the best is yet to come in Christ.

Yeah. Here's a cool thing about that good thing you said. You know, it says in Romans 828, for God works all things together for good to those who love him. Then in verse 29, we don't read verse 29. It talks about for he wants to conform all of us into the image. image of his son. So God's definition of good, and our definition of good can be quite different. Our definition of good is whatever's comfortable for me, whatever's making me go up and to the

right. God's definition of good, whatever makes you more like Jesus. And Jesus went through a lot of stuff, you know. And so the storms are, you know, it talks, again, go back to James, who's kind of repeating Jesus' words when he talks about when bad things happen, it's just it's just creating this character within you, this perseverance, this endurance and faith within you that just comes out shining. So that's God's definition of good. We're thinking good. There's lots of cash and a nice vacation.

God's going, that's not good. It could be good. But what's really good is things that's happening on the inside of you. And sometimes storms produce really good stuff on the inside of you. You produce character. God-like character, we become more and more like Jesus as we go through the tough stuff. So, yeah. There's, there are some blessings that,

God will bring to your life that only can be seen actualized because of storms. Because things that you learn. And sometimes God's preparation comes through pain and struggles. Yeah. I just did a funeral. I just did a funeral for one of our good friends who did an eight-year battle with cancer. And she would tell you, in fact, I said it at the funeral, she's grateful that cancer came into her life.

Wow. That storm blew into her life totally unres. unexpected, but it drew her to Christ. And she never knew him. She never walked with God. And she would not trade all the painful chemo stuff she went through and all the stuff she endured for knowing Jesus Christ. And she, I mean, she renewed her mind to God's word all the time. I don't know how many sermons she would listen to a day and read scripture and listen to worship me. Just renewing her mind, just live in this new truth and the community she found because of it. It was pretty amazing.

And it all happened because a storm blew in called cancer. Wow. And she said, I'm grateful it blew into my life. I mean, I wouldn't wish it on anybody, but it changed my life. And, I mean, she genuinely meant that, that it changed her life. And it did. Yeah, you just, I mean, you see and you experience there's a trust. There's a new level of depth and union that you get with your Heavenly Father

when you have to rely totally on him where you have no answers, where you can't do it, and you're just desperate for him. Which is the first step, by the way, we talked about in week one. It takes us right back to that dependence upon God. And that's a good place to be.

That's where you need to be. And what a testimony too, man. When somebody goes through something like that, Mike, like you just said, or just any storm. And then somebody's able to say, man, I'm going through this and this is very difficult.

And yet, God is good. And yet, Christ is my foundation. And yet, man, you know, this is the most terrible thing or it's horrific or, and yet, um,

it is wealth with my soul. Yeah. That's a testimony right there for other people to say, man. Because, you know, when things go well and you, you know, you're,

um, you're telling others about who God is. It's like, oh, yeah, well, things are going well for you. Like, oh, of course you're, you know,

doing all those things, everything's going great. But then when God allows a storm in your life, and you get to still say, man, well, my treasure is still Christ. And man, I'm good because of him and I have hope. There's something so attractive about that. That makes people want to know, man, tell me more about this foundation of yours. Because people are desperate for a rock foundation today

because so many people are really like trying to figure out with their sand, trying to manage their house with a sand. foundation and it's just a matter of time before the whole house falls down. Yeah. Yeah. I was thinking of the Psalm writers and, you know, David in particular who wrote a lot of the Psalms with he, because sometimes people go through storms. It's hard. I mean, really hard. There's some folks I know are going through the storms like, you, man, I can't imagine going through a storm like that. What's happening in their life. It's really, really, really hard. But they hang on to their faith in Jesus Christ and build their life upon him.

him and it's kind of like the, it's okay to be there where it's really hard. Like the songwriters go, this, this is awful. I hate it. This is the worst thing that's ever happened in my life. I don't understand. I mean, just pour out their emotions to God. It's even mad and raw and just honest. And then they land with a, yeah, you are the lifter of my head. You are my strong fortress. I run into you. You are on and on. You, you know, you're the light of my life, all that. It's sometimes it helps you when you're going. going through a storm to just go, God, I don't. I mean, you remember the scene?

There was a scene in Forrest Gump where Lieutenant Dan is on the mass. He's lost his legs in battle. He's on the mass of this boat, and it's a storm. He's just yelling at God. You call this a storm? He just screaming at God. It's the best you can do. All this anger, this is coming out of him.

And the next scene, it's him floating in the water. And Forrest goes, I think, Lieutenant Dan found peace with God. You know, and that's what happens, man. When you're going through a storm, sometimes you just have to go, ah, I hate that I'm going through this. And then God goes, it's going to be okay. I got you, man. I'm with you.

I'm going to go with you through this storm. And when you're, and that's that, that's that strong foundation thing, you know, that you got to have. Yeah, Mike, you've taught me, you've taught all of us at Lake Point about the importance of gratitude. in these times. And I just want to thank you for that. Mike, if you haven't heard before, I know you have, but like he just, he'll do the alphabet, you know, and he'll just call out things of God that he's grateful for every morning.

You know, you're awesome, you're beautiful. And just keep going through the alphabet. I don't know what happens at Z. Yeah, I go, I've tried. X and Zs and Zah, I've been struggling with. Yeah, Zabros and Zalophones and all of us. Yeah. Thank you for telling me that I'm awesome and beautiful. Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you. Appreciate it. Absolutely. That's awesome, man. Any little thing that you can use to keep you on that track, you know, those are just narrow path practices that you can do along the way, whether it's worship or reading or journaling or being in community and talk with other people. All those things keep you on that path, keep that foundation strong. Yeah. And we say this all the time, but again, this is why we are emphatic about community and about people around you, that fact that you're not isolated.

the fact that we, again, we, part of the reason we do this is because we just want to model what it looks like for the three guys to sit down, go scripture, open up in vulnerability, encourage one another. And this is, this is what we, you know, whenever you go through a storm more than ever. Like, you don't, you don't want to wait until you get a storm until you're like, oh, my goodness, where do I find community? You want to find community now so that when the storm comes, man, you have people around you that you can reach out and, you know, and you're going to need that help. Yeah. I think keep going back to where Jesus said, whoever hears these words of mine and puts them into practice.

You know, you really can audit God's word and all these words. Go, man, that's a great sermon. Jesus, that was great sermon. I'm going to share that, Jesus. That was good. That was funny. But never apply, never go love your neighbor. You know, never forgive the person you have something again.

You just keep on doing that and you get fooled in thinking, yeah, I'm tight with God. and God goes, hang on a second. You never apply to any of this stuff to your life. And my heart breaks just as much for people who come to churches every week and never apply God's word of their life and think they're living a godly life. And you're going, come on, you've got to put these words into practice so that you can walk on this road to freedom. And your foundation could be strong.

So, yeah, I just, yeah. Sorry, I'm just rambling. They're good, man. Mike, this has been an amazing sermon series. That's awesome, man. Thank you so much for it. Sermine at the Mountain, there's so much there. I'm sure at some point we might bring it back or something.

Yeah, we dive into it a little deeper, but man, it's been good just kind of highlight it maybe what our appetite for we need to live right here, you know. Absolutely. Well, every episode we love to find opportunities to, you know, whenever people comment, like, hey, talk about this or, oh, you got. Mark McCarney, ask him about this one topic. We really want to hear from him. They'll say things like that all the time.

And so, and by the way, if people are joining on YouTube, we want you to comment. Let us know questions, topics. It can be personal or just, you know, in general, Bible, culture, anything. Here's the one for today. And we're going to end there. Here's the question that people are asking, Pastor Mike, are we in the end times? Pastor Mark, are we in the, my simple answer to that is yes. we have been in the end time

since Jesus rose from the dead that's, you know, we have been and I don't know when it's going to end Jesus said he didn't know when it's going to end that God hadn't the father hasn't a sign of time but but can I add something to that?

Yeah, yeah, please. And just to add some color to what you said, I mean this is the Bible, Hebrews chapter 1 verse 2, in these last days he has spoken to us by his son. That's Jesus. So Jesus comes. Yeah, he comes. End times begins now.

Acts chapter 2, verse 17. In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit. That's Pentecost. Yes, we've been in the last days for a long, long time. And I think it's the last days because Jesus is the alpha and the omega. You know, he is the last days. And we're living in the last day. Like I think it's Dallas Willer who says, eternity is now in session.

You know, you don't hit eternal life. You started it with Jesus. Your eternity is now in session. this is the life we're living. And so the way I think of it, I don't get all worked up. I'm not a huge, you know, eschatology guy. I don't, I don't try to dive in, all that kind of stuff. I just want to, I want to live my life every day like he's coming back tomorrow.

And I pray God, come back. Jesus, come back tomorrow. But I got this one friend. If you could just wait one more day, you know, it's kind of that tension that I live in. I would love for, you know, him to come back. Like it says, all creation is groaning to be made right and just make things right and take us all. And then I get so many friends that need to hear this, but there's so many people out there that need to hear this. So the way I look at it, and it may just be a very simple oversimplification of things.

But as you can see by the sweatshirt, I'm a big University of Kentucky fan. Born and raised there. And I love, I watch all the games. I don't have eight screens like you got. We're down to six. Yeah, you got down six. But I watch all... He's applying the word.

That's why he's making changes. I watch all the games. And when I'm watching live, and you know this because you're a sports guy. When I'm watching a game, I'm on the, I start on the couch. And then I'm like, on the floor. And then I'm right in front of the television. And I'm yelling at the refs.

Like, they can hear me, you know. Oh, what are you doing? That's a crazy play. I'm into it. And I'm wondering, are we going to come back? Are we going to win this game? And all this stuff is so, so tight. But if I've recorded the game,

and somebody told me what the score was and I come on I sit back in my chair and popcorn just watch because I know the result

you know and that's kind of the way I approach this I go you know what I know we win it's already been decided Jesus Christ did that and the resurrection

is death and resurrection and I know I want to do my best while I'm here to take as many people to have them with me but I'm not going to stress out about when it's going to happen

and are we going to win and oh I don't know I'm just going to live with that peaceful attitude of, man, he's already claimed that for us. And I know I'm going to heaven. And he gave me a reservation there through his death and resurrection. But I'm not just content with that. I want to take as many people with me as I can.

That's right. I'm only here for a while. I know where I'm going. So while I'm here, I'll do my best and take a bunch of people with me. I like that. Mark. I love that. I love that.

I love that. the last end days and all that kind of stuff. But yes, we are in the last days. Yes. Yeah, like when Jesus died, the countdown began. Yeah. 10, nine. I just don't know what number we're on.

And no one does. Exactly right. Don't let them tell you they do. No one knows what number we're on. And you get it. Like the Bible says you'll hear wars and rumors of wars. Nation rise up. And we hear that and we see that.

But we have been hearing it and seeing it. Like, that's nothing. They heard it and saw it when those words were written back in the first century. Exactly. You know, it's Nehro the Antichrist. You know, I mean, they had all those things, too. So it's just every day, man, you just walk with Jesus and it may be the last day. Yeah, I do think about those, as Mike's talking about this tension of, yes, the end is coming,

but also we really want that one more. Yeah. We want that one more person, person, you know, furthest from God, but closest to you, to come to Christ. And we are entering into a season with our at the movie series. coming up. And it's the easiest invite you can do to get someone to come to church. They're willing to come just for the intrigue of what do you mean? You're watching a movie at church. And you guys who have seen at the movies know, it could be left behind. It's true. They will not be left behind. I'm dropping a spoiler right now. It's not one of the movies.

I haven't even seen the list, but it's not one of the movies. I'm sure of it. Okay. That's all I can say. Is it in First Peter, guys, where he says, yeah, he's not slow and he's not slow as some people think it's slow he just being patient i don't know actually you got it uh no i can find it yeah he just it's almost like god just he just says i'm gonna turn a world around one more day because i'm being yeah second peter what's it say uh second peter three nine says the lord is not slow in keeping his promise as some understand slowness instead he is patient with you not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance there you go there you go there it goes. So that's the tension we live in.

Come on back, but I got a friend. So if you could just hold off one more day. Well, I love that because it's interesting that people will ask that question today. But the disciples actually asked Jesus in Matthew 24. They were curious too. They wanted to know, hey, literally in verse 3 they said, Jesus, what will be the sign of your coming at the end of the age? And Mark, you mentioned that.

But one of those disciples was Peter. And Peter writes a couple letters. Right. First Peter and second Peter, you mentioned second Peter. This is what he says, and we can maybe land in here. In First Peter, chapter four, this is what Peter says. The end of all things is at hand. Therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another. It sounds like Peter remembered the narrow path. He says, hey, man, that's a good question. End times. How about we follow Jesus in a narrow path? Yeah. And we expect the best is yet to come because, like Billy Graham said, I read the end of the book, it all turns out all right.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's good, man. Cool. All right. Well, Pastor Mike, thank you so much for these last four weeks. Thank you guys.

Man, it's been great hanging with you all. Amazing. Thank you for being here with us today again on the podcast. Man, can we wrap in prayer? Would you pray for us? I would love to. God, this really thank you for Carlos and Mark. a whole team that puts all this together.

More than that, thank you, Jesus, for your words. There's just nothing like it. Words to build a life on. A life that gives true freedom and a true release from things that hold us enslaved. And I just pray that more and more people would put your words into practice, that we would put your words into practice so that we could build a firm foundation. and when the storms blow and the winds come, which they will, will be standing strong because of you. Thank you for all the amazing things you said in this quote-unquote sermon on the Mount.

And I pray that we would be people that would always stay humble and dependent upon you, grateful for grace, that we would take deep dive inventories in our life to make sure a heart is in a right. place and not just focused on outward behavior, but to say to you every day, search me, oh God, what's in me that needs to be made right and live with a sense of joy and freedom and peace that comes from knowing you. And I pray that more and more people would get on the narrow path that leads to life. And I pray all this in your name. Amen.

Amen. Thanks for tuning in to live free with Pastor Josh Howardton. We pray today's episode helped you take a step forward in life. culture and faith as you live free in Christ. If it encouraged you, be sure to rate, review, and share the podcast, and don't forget to subscribe so you'll never miss an episode. Join us for Lake Point Church online every weekend and find more resources at lakepoint. dot church slash live free. We'll see you next time.