R879 When Your Faith Is Challenged

God has an encouraging word for you and me today, Bible-based teaching of Dr. Don Wilton about what our faith is challenged could be that way. Now you're in the middle of a remarkable challenge to your faith and your struggling know this God is ready to not only taking through this but empower you to come out better on the other side when your faith is challenged as our message today from Dr. Wilton will head the Philippians chapter 4 in just a moment for that insight. But another were also available to connect with you to pray with you at 86689. That's her phone number 866-899-9673.

Many are calling about the Chuck Colson my final word opportunity of insight and education and inspiration will find the details on the website as well@twonline.org that's DEW online.org now we have so much going on.

If one was to just try to imagine in the lives of all of those of us are worshiping the Lord Jesus right now all the different things that we deal with in life and what it presents to us. I'm not of myself, in fact, my own opinion poll really means nothing. It's not about what I feel it's about what God has to say in my life because the Lord Jesus Christ is coming to my heart and into my life. I'm going to say this to you that I'm so glad that over 55 years ago that my mother and father evidently got together according to God's plan.

I'm the product of that plan. If they hadn't followed God's initiative. Quite frankly, I wouldn't be here right now going to do the right thing, and God will give you the ability to do that which is well pleasing in your sight folks when we worship the Lord, we come to him, not with part of our lives with everything evening giving everything we do. Whether it's a later we arrived or a check. We sang, or phone call we make when people are hurting, we are expressing the fact that God is love and that everything we do is based upon the fact that the same God who gave us Jesus Christ has given to us his love that pure love which we share with one another. Give one reason and that is because of the love of God in Christ Jesus. And then you will discover why it is that God chooses to bless his people, but this sheet of paper is filled from top to bottom with the names of incredibly precious people from our community and even more specifically from our church just one church, amongst many, many wonderful churches here in our community. Every one of these people are people who find themselves in dire need of prayer and people that we are rallying around and people that we are praying for and it's a wonderful thing to see God's people come together another precious family found themselves facing dire circumstances.

Lieut. Andrew Connor one of our own fact, I can see them sitting just just prior to his deployment to Iraq was leading a patrol of his men in the deserts of Iraq and and bar problems when he stepped on an IED that is a landmine device that the Iraqis are using to bring devastating consequences to so many of our brave men and women this pasta week one phone call changed their lives in a dramatic way.

Andrew is one incredible young man. Many of us and watched them grow up in this pasta week I had the privilege of traveling with the family up to Bethesda, Maryland where they have to go through the experiences of family of visiting with their brave son for the first time, surrounded by a most incredible team of physicians. You cannot imagine that group of medical personnel, counselors, chaplains, the Marine Corps and the support system that is being brought to bear when you walk into that hospital.

I told Seth Buckley that all of a sudden you have a face on the newspaper reports. All of a sudden the things that we read about become very real and very personal. Notwithstanding Andrew Connor. I don't want to minimize Andrew's situation and more with the family.

His body has been devastated by this explosion. All of us know that he lost both of his legs. When I spoke to Dr. Conard even again this morning. Austin if there were some things that we could share together as we pray for Andrew, we need to pray for the doctors as they minister concerning his left leg. The upper part of his left leg that there are still major decisions that need to be made in an effort to try to provide Andrew with the best means of mobility under his circumstances. In the years to come in so that remaining part of his upper leg is very very important.

Andrew's arms are going to be fine. As will be his hand and we know that he has received numerous other devastating wounds and the doctors are working with him around the clock yesterday. He was in seven hours of surgery alone as he was on Thursday and as he was going through procedures yesterday and the doctors have told the family that this is going to be a very very long time of recovery. And then when recovery is made, there is the rehabilitation to follow, which is in of itself. A long process, often having gone through the trauma of visiting with their son the first time.

I want you to know that I don't know that I've been around a more remarkable family than the kind of family. That's the nature of the family system in America. That's the kind of people that you are rubbing shoulders with every day.

They are amazing and they changed in their spirit, often having visited with a son as badly wounded as he obviously is from an attitude and a feeling of perhaps of hopelessness, not knowing very much to hopefulness and our hearts are food with hopefulness. We do need to pray very specifically, particularly for the functioning of Andrew's kidneys Dr. Conard lost me to mention that to you today as we speak to you his kidneys have not begun to function again, and this is obviously a very important part of his recovery.

So when you praying specifically today. Pray for that as well as for all the other things in pray for those surgeons and for the stock that are attending to him we had just gone through together. What no parents would want to go through and it's amazing how God provides. At just the right moment doesn't little nurse tiny little bitty thing by the name of Sarid that this high.

I mean, the tiniest little nurse obscene and the nursing charge of that particular section of the critical care came charging out of one of the rooms and just flung her arms around Dr. Harry Connick.

I was standing right there and with tears in her eyes. She said something like this don't you worry, daddy. She said I take care of your boy. She said you know I been here for long time. She said I'm gonna look off your boy lackeys marble and she said you know daddy. She said you might not think so but I seen lots of these brave boys and goes the common they look even worse than Andrew does, and everybody thinks that nothing could ever happen, and then about six months or a year later, the door opens and in walks this person becoming safe. Thank you to us for helping them to get better. I tell you God just sent that precious young nurse to say those words at the right time. Then we were in a situation there again where the family needed a special word you cannot use telephones in a facility like that and believe me, I found that out the hard way by the way, if I can say to you, it is a very precious thing that you would call but I recommend an Oscar to hold back on your personal calls to the kind of family just at this moment, let them get through this initial part.

They love every one of you so dearly and they telephones ringing off the hook and they caught between a rock and a hard place yesterday. Dr. Conard was in with Andrew for close to seven hours in that surgery you can imagine when he stepped outside to even on so the telephone for people that he just loves so much and so it's better to just hold on and watch the Whidden webpage and listen for the reports and there's going to be months and months of opportunities to be able to make phone calls and hear personal wording and things like that, but we're in this room and and all of a sudden Dr. Condon's telephone rang. Not an unusual thing, but he hadn't been on spring a lot of calls and I thought he just thrown me his telephone like he had done a couple of time, but for some reason, he stood up and now know why he went over to a window where he could perhaps hear and I watched his face and I didn't know what he was talking about, but I knew that God was speaking to him, but the phone down, came over to me and he said to me Don. He said that was one of the man who was there when this happened and he's calling from Iraq. I don't know. Perhaps he was using the same cell phone satellite phone that I had the privilege of speaking to Andrew lost seven and this man said damn Dr. Conard I want you to know what really happened on the battlefield. He said yes your son did as he was leading us and stepped on an IED, and his body was blown apart. But as Lieut. Conard landed obviously on his back. Not knowing what it happened to him, he lifted these head and he began all day. He's man and drawing them into a secure perimeter. If you don't know what that means in military terms that that's a protective maneuver on the fire whereby you are born into positions to safeguard those who are remaining and Lieut. Conard on his back and literally bleeding today, he had to receive 67 units of blood and for those of you that are in the medical profession will know that five units is considered high, he received 67 units of blood and while he was lying there without his limbs and literally smashed to pieces. His only thought was for the other man who in his platoon and when Dr. Condon put the phone down and he came over and he said to us into his family. Tell you what happened and in his broken precious father's voice told us. Then he said that's my boy. That's my boy, I tell you what, folks, I believe that these doors again open.

I don't know when it's going to be a long time then recounted one day is gonna walk back into our company and I believe were it not for the fact that we know we wouldn't know because this is the kind of stuff. That's the right stuff.

This is the kind of young man who represents our brave young men and women across the United States of America. This is the kind a young man who despite devastating injuries is going to go on is going to rise to great heights, God is going to give them a state of legs that he never knew he had before.

He's going around and go to places that he's never been before, because he's a leader among man and I believe that the day will come, that our sons and daughters will look back into the faces of the Andrew Collins just as we look into the faces of Lt. Col. balance, who incarcerated in Vietnam for years on end, and people who laid down their lives and gave great sacrificing wars from one end of the perspective to another and I'm proud to know Lieut. Andrew Condon and I'm grateful for people who have risen up a community like this, not just because of Andrew kind, but because he is one noble man who represents hundreds upon thousands of noble man and noblewoman will be willing to stand up and be counted when it really counts, and being willing to lead when it really means to lead and not being willing to lay it all aside. Some may say for a dream, but I want to tell you something today. Ladies and gentlemen that I join together without community and saying thank you and we will pray for Andrew and we will pray for one another and we will be a people who will be better because of those who stepped forward and laid their lives down for the likes of you and for me. God bless America and God bless the Andrew comments about will today. We thank God for their I want to tell you if you want to see the cream rises to the top.

In a community like this just water people in the midst of a crisis.

Watch when their heart hurt. This is been such a topsy-turvy week and I kept saying, Lord, what can you say to us when our faith is challenged to see my friends when when you are not go through things like this, individually and without friends. It challenges our faith doesn't please forgive the interruption will be back in just a moment with the rest of today's message but so many people been asking about how can we gain the insight to the best Christian witness in the day in which we live in a world in which we live.

Dr. Wilton has gone to a wonderful friend of his was with Jesus now. Charles Colson and pull together his book. My final word, along with the final authority DVD in these two resources together can give you the information and inspiration you need to truly have a vital and ongoing Christian witness against those who oppose the cause of Christ to do it in a compassionate and loving way, and an effective again.

The details are on our website at tewonline.org G for your gift of $25 for this pair of resources from chuckles of the documented will empower you great and powerful way to get the details on our website TW online.org or you can call to get your copy right now at 866886689967 about today's great teaching with Dr. Don Wilton. I think of Chris Johnson, who's here today or we love Chris so much of what he's been through and what he's going through and I and I think of Hannah and I have you know this list.

I have been starting I'm going to read that just from one day folks an entire page of people that do not know people facing dance and laugh and diagnoses and all kinds of circumstances and the Lord drew my attention to the apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4 because the apostle Paul was somebody who knew what it was to have his faith challenged. I mean think about it being shipwrecked and flogged to the point of day and then imprisoned and then thrown mountain and beaten up and time with outnumbering it in Philippians chapter 4 verse 10, Paul said this, he said, in the midst of the challenge of my faith. I rejoiced greatly in the Lord that it lost you have renewed your concern for me.

I know you have been concerned but you had no opportunity to show it. Crises like this are opportunities given to God's people to demonstrate that the challenge of faith is real and goes on and he says look, I know this that I have been in every kind of situation but hold on to the truth in the midst of the challenge to my faith in verse 13 he says I can do everything through him who gives me strength. And then in verse 14.

I love this.

This was a word for all of us, yet even though I know that God gives me strength in every circumstance.

Watch this verse 14, yet it was good of you to share in my problems in that a special word and I was wondering about this and I thought to myself what happens when your faith is challenged. What what is happening to the conference what is happening to the Sebastian. He's the Johnson's every person in our community.

Every mom and dad in America, whose son or daughter has paid a sacrifice for their service. Every person in every hospital. The person standing in the nursing home. The difficulties in the crises that we go through when you faith is challenge number one you will find yourself getting mad crying sitting down asking questions praying see when you faith is challenged going to go through every emotion, some of which you never knew that you had an folks listen that's okay when you faith is challenge. You know, if you look at the life of the Lord Jesus his faith per se was challenge that was challenged when he went into the temple and found people desecrating the Temple. He got mad is faced with challenges when he faced Jerusalem and realized how lost the people were and he whipped his faith was challenged when he stood in the garden of Gethsemane, knowing as God the suffering he was going to expand as man and he prayed and said oh God, would you remove this cup from me to go through every challenge and that's quite okay. God knows that it's good don't hold it in number two, you will thank the Lord for family and friends. When your faith is challenged.

I tell you I if I start talking I just mentioned three families.

The Johnson's, the subbase keys and the guidance way to stop I'm looking at you.

The preciousness of the family icon described two years I was in Bethesda Maryland just many hours just sometimes just standing there just being available just watching a family just watching how glue sticks together thinking about friends, folks.

They've come from everywhere. Presbyterians and Methodists and Episcopalians and friends in this community that have just come from everywhere. It overwhelmed you know when when your faith is challenged. Thank God for your family and your friends when you when you play the strategy.

Thank God for your church.

I've heard I don't how many times with the subbase keys in the, the kind it's on along. I don't how many times people of by this phrase. I don't know what I would've done without archer.

You see, my dear friends the church as part of God's plan just as much as it's part of God's plan that a man and a woman married for a lifetime. The church is no different.

God gave us the church. He instituted the church and he said this is the rock I love the adhesiveness is the rock your part of the rock because you stand on the rock. And when you stand on the rock. Folks guess what you are a firm foundation. That's with the churches half a foundation. It's the solid rock or I thank God for our churches.

Don't you man. I have seen some people in this community, from churches in this community. I just thank God for them. When your faith is challenge you. Thank God for your church.

You thank God my friend you.

Thank you Lord for eternal salvation because he is eternal God doesn't have a limited perspective. And when you give your life to Jesus in the saints. Respectfully, you buy into God's eternal perspective you.

Thank you Lord for the power and presence of his spirit. When your faith is challenged to see the spirit of God does not only indwell you he empowers you that what happens when your faith is challenged, you become weak folk you literally go to Pete you cannot face these things by yourself but God can and he does advise God can any does advise church you need to know.

You need to get power because the spirit of God is in you. Then you come together and is powering unity, God will give you the strength we will thank the Lord. When we now faith is challenged, we will thank you Lord for a fresh walk in him is a freshness that comes out of these low moments we will thank the Lord for a new perspective on life. Hannah said on TV channel 7 WS PI on Friday night. She spoke about a new perspective when your faith is challenge. You have a new perspective concerning the things that you have 11 new perspective concerning the people you know and the values you cherish in the time that your spam and the attitudes that you express and the life that you live in your faith is challenged. All of a sudden things get back to where they need to be. It's amazing this week how that all of us had seemingly important things have become so unimportant, how you doing see you have a new perspective on who Jesus Christ perspective changes everything doesn't. You been listening to Dr. Don Wilton is been teaching and preaching from the pulpit. Now, as he steps in the studio would you open your heart to what he wants to share next are you ready to give your heart and life to the Lord Jesus Christ. Why don't you pray this prayer with me right now. Dear God, I know that Iversen and I know that Jesus died for me today. I repent of my sin and by faith I receive you into my heart.

In Jesus name, my friend. I welcome you today into the family of God. This is exciting new if you just gave your life to Jesus praying along with Dr. Wilton. Moments ago. Welcome to the family of God.

Maybe this was the first time you've ever made that decision. It's a brand-new beginning and we would love to help you launch in a brand-new way with great resources absolutely free. Dr. Wilton want you to have maybe this is a recommitment.

We have wonderful resources. Well the Dr. Wilton is put together to help you maintain this commitment in a powerful new way like these resources.

Call us now at 8668998668999673 recommit us on our website as well. TW online.org that's TEW online.org earlier. We've had some many discussions about what it is to be a faithful witness in this day and age we have wonderful resource coming up next. To tell you how you can empower yourself with great information and inspiration for God's work. Jesus Christ is the final authority in the only standard by which Christians should live their lives. The only solution to everything that we face in life as you give a gift that supports to The Encouraging Word this month you will receive the message. Final authority I Dr. Don Wilton along with the bonus duck my final leg holding tight to the issues that matter most. By Causing these resources will equip you with the experience in reliance and knowing the power of God use their The Encouraging Word is a viewer and listener supported ministry. Thank you for listening today that's one of many great resources you'll find on her website. TW online.org that tomorrow John is with Dr. Wilton, Texas, to Matthew chapter 8 in a message called when God speaks before, during and after the storm.

As we open God's word together.

Another were always open to pray with you at 8668 or online at tewonline.org, RG