Participants:
Series Code: CW
Program Code: CW000005S
|
00:00 (light music)
00:05 - Oh yes sir, stay right there. 00:08 Stay right there and I'll be right back. 00:10 (light music) 00:13 Hey, welcome everybody to Talking Donkey International 00:16 and our new television series, Country Wisdom. 00:19 - Let's set the tone for this new series of ours. 00:22 It's found in Proverbs four. 00:24 Let your eyes look directly forward 00:27 and your gaze be straight before you. 00:30 Ponder the path of your feet 00:32 and then all your ways will be sure. 00:36 - Join us now for Country Wisdom. 00:39 (light music) 01:03 Well at least __ It's a beautiful day. 01:06 - Beautiful day. It's hot. 01:08 - Well, it is that, you know, 01:10 it's kind of blessings and cursings right, 01:12 but it's the same way in today's episode. 01:15 There's blessings and cursings. 01:16 The cursings are, well, 01:18 you're going to find out about that shortly. 01:20 We're in a war Memorial in a tiny California County 01:25 that have given, I haven't even counted up the names. 01:28 This wall, another wall on the other side, 01:31 people giving their lives and war. 01:35 I think about some very interesting things, you know, 01:37 as a little kid, I'm quite a bit old, 01:40 I grew up thinking Russia, Russia, Russia, Russia, 01:44 this terrible country, those terrible people 01:47 and then one year we went over to film those people 01:50 and it was kind of amazing. 01:52 The people were really nice. 01:54 I mean, I had grown up being told how bad the people were. 01:58 It's not the people, I don't think, it's the governments, 02:01 but there is something down underneath sinister lurking 02:04 that you're going to be telling us about in a moment. 02:07 A billion people have died in wars around the world 02:10 I'm told. 02:11 - And I know why we have that kind of history. 02:15 (light music) 02:29 Men put in cages because of war. 02:34 They seem to go together don't they? 02:36 War and slavery. 02:39 You might naturally think of our Civil War 02:43 when those two words are put together war and slavery. 02:46 It's my first thought. 02:48 But that war, 02:50 the effects of which we're still feeling today, 02:53 just look at the headlines. 02:55 That wasn't the war that began slavery. 02:58 That wasn't the first war. 03:01 Those two things both started a long time ago 03:05 in heaven of all places. 03:09 Scripture tells us there was war in heaven 03:13 because slowly little by little 03:16 Satan who had been one of the top angels, 03:20 he began slowly feeding little doubts 03:24 into the other inhabitants of heaven. 03:27 Slowly making them ask questions 03:30 that had never occurred to them before, 03:32 putting little seeds of doubt about whether God 03:35 was really good or not, whether he was really fair or not. 03:39 And before they knew it, 03:41 the first little chains of slavery 03:44 were being wrapped around their minds. 03:47 And before they knew it, 03:49 a third of them no longer made the decision to serve God. 03:55 They had a new master. 03:58 Our whole world is still under slavery 04:03 because he claims this world is his own. 04:05 We are his slaves. 04:08 And you know the really sad part? 04:11 Most of us don't even know that we're slaves. 04:16 (light music) 04:19 - You know Janice you are so right on about the devil 04:21 and his deceptions. 04:24 - And my point is that same devil that started all of that 04:28 that was slowly deceiving and drawing away. 04:32 Angels in heaven brought that down here 04:36 to even more gullible characters like us 04:38 who don't realize we're being sucked in. 04:41 - That's right and it's all mental. 04:43 Much of it is mental. 04:45 We talk about the real war that the devil yanks us into, 04:48 but it begins in a mental area. 04:50 Let me give you an example. 04:52 You hear many people, Stockholm syndrome. 04:55 - Yes, I know that phrase. - Stockholm Sweden in 1973, 04:58 I believe it was, a guy had just gotten out of jail, 05:01 needed some pocket change, right? 05:02 He wanders into a bank with his gun, herds everybody 05:07 including tellers and anybody who was in there 05:09 to make deposits into the vault. 05:12 He holds them captive. 05:14 He's getting his money, 05:15 but all of a sudden the police show up. 05:17 Now there's a huge standoff 05:18 and the standoff goes for one day, two days, three days. 05:23 A really weird thing begins to happen 05:25 because the people in there start liking the bank robber 05:29 - The one who stuck them in the vault? 05:30 - The one who stuck them in the vault. 05:32 At one point, he lets one lady. 05:33 She really she's scared of all, she's claustrophobic, 05:36 he ties a rope on her and he lets your wander out 30 feet 05:41 out around so she can feel a little more at ease 05:44 and she so appreciated that, that the captor had done that. 05:47 Later on, when he's finally captured, 05:50 she tells the police how wonderful he was, 05:52 that he'd done that. 05:53 - He was so kind to her. - He was so kind to her. 05:55 - By letting her wander on a leash. 05:58 - In other case, when the police finally got to the point, 06:00 they think they're going to capture the man, 06:02 everybody in the vault, shades him 06:05 and covers kind of and puts up this protection 06:08 so that the police won't hurt him. 06:09 They were actually angry at the police. 06:13 Stockholm syndrome, it begins mentally 06:15 that we begin identifying with our captor 06:17 we begin thinking our captor's the good guy. 06:19 - And thinking that the ones who were there to save you 06:22 are the enemy. - Exactly, exactly. 06:24 You nailed it. 06:26 Another situation I can remember 06:27 as a young man was Patty Hearst. 06:30 You know, the Patty Hearst, heir of the Patty Hearst fortune 06:32 or the horse fortune I should say. 06:34 - When I was a kid, I remember seeing this 06:35 play out on the news. 06:37 - Yeah, the Symbionese Liberation Army captured her 06:40 and held her for ransom, 06:41 but someplace along the way, the next scene you see, 06:44 and you can find it still in newspapers and things today. 06:47 She's in there with her sub machine gun, robbing a bank. 06:50 She ends up, they bring up this defense 06:54 of Stockholm syndrome in her trial. 06:56 Well it didn't work. 06:57 She actually went to jail. 06:59 - I'd forgotten that. 07:00 - Totally alters the mental capacity of people. 07:03 They don't understand it, 07:05 but they identify with the captors. 07:08 Now, here we are in the situation down here on earth. 07:11 You talked about it in heaven. 07:12 The devil was so angry with God 07:14 because he wanted all the power for himself. 07:16 He knew he could be better than God. 07:18 He just knew it. 07:20 He convinces, as you said, 07:21 a third of the angels to follow him. 07:24 Now they're kicked out of heaven. 07:26 They all come down here to planet earth and think, 07:28 this is a good place for our realm, right? 07:30 This is a good place for us to control. 07:34 Well, God had just created Adam and Eve, 07:36 the first wonderful, beautiful couple. 07:39 He comes to them, he appears to them, 07:41 and in his mind games, 07:42 he convinces them basically to follow him. 07:45 - To switch sides. - To switch sides. 07:48 Adam had been the Prince of planet earth. 07:50 God had given him the whole thing, given Eve everything. 07:53 And they turn it over to him. 07:57 Turn it over to the devil and said, basically, you know, 07:58 well, we'll accept your version of the truth. 08:02 - They chose a new master. - Exactly. 08:04 They chose a new master. 08:07 It's sad, but it's very true. 08:11 (light music) 08:20 - It's a powerful image. Isn't it? 08:23 Not just of war and what it does to us 08:26 emotionally and mentally. 08:29 That could be an image of people's lives today. 08:33 People who aren't experiencing any kind of war 08:36 in the country they're living in, 08:38 but who are experiencing it in their own homes. 08:43 Stockholm syndrome, isn't just for hostages 08:46 and kidnapping victims. 08:50 It happens every day in millions of people's homes. 08:54 People who have so slowly gotten sucked in 08:59 to domestic violence, to domestic abuse, 09:02 that they no longer even recognize that they are hostages. 09:08 There's a term called, trauma bonding. 09:10 It was a new one to me, 09:12 but it's what happens in a relationship when 09:16 through coercion, through manipulation, through threats, 09:22 through physical violence sometimes, 09:24 but not always that a victim is slowly made more 09:31 and more dependent on their captor. 09:35 Slowly begin to believe they can't live without them. 09:38 That everything goes wrong really is their fault. 09:41 If they were just better, if they did more, 09:45 if they worked harder that everything would be better 09:49 because it isn't this person's fault. 09:51 They quit recognizing who the real enemy is. 09:56 And even the abuser, most often male, but not always. 10:02 It is hardly just a women's issue 10:06 but as a woman, I think I really feel for it 10:09 because I've known people. 10:11 I've had friends have friends 10:14 who are in situations like that who are trapped. 10:17 Sometimes they simply don't know how to escape. 10:21 Sometimes they don't recognize that they need to, 10:24 but the abuser, 10:25 it is so easy for someone like me to view them as 10:29 they're the bad guy, they're the ones 10:32 who are the cause of all this. 10:34 But there's another abuser just behind the veil 10:40 because as this world seems to get more and more chaotic, 10:45 I see people working harder and harder to get control 10:51 of someone, of something. 10:53 My life isn't in control, I will control yours. 10:57 And it might not be that conscious of thought. 10:59 We are so often not aware of how we're being coerced 11:04 and manipulated by the enemy. 11:07 By the one who invented all of this, 11:10 the one who invented lies, who invented chains, 11:13 who invented slavery and everything it leads to. 11:18 We're no longer even in charge of our own thoughts 11:22 because we've chosen a master who doesn't allow that, 11:27 but that can be changed if you're in a situation like that. 11:33 If you recognize that you are causing a situation like that, 11:38 if you don't recognize who you're serving, 11:42 who is really the one making you feel that rage, 11:46 making you think it's their fault, making you lie 11:51 and cheat and manipulate just to get your way, 11:55 whether it's in your family or in your business, 12:00 something that is constantly making you feel like, 12:04 I'm powerful. 12:06 I have the upper hand here. 12:07 I'm the one in charge 12:11 because the enemy certainly doesn't want you to recognize 12:13 that you're not in charge. 12:15 None of us are in charge. 12:19 The only thing we are in charge of is our decision 12:23 of who we're going to serve. 12:26 You know, there's legislation against slavery, 12:29 there's legislation against domestic violence. 12:33 Does it get rid of the problem? 12:36 Do you know it's estimated today, today, worldwide, 12:40 that there are upwards of 30 million slaves 12:46 in one form or another, whether it's human trafficking, 12:49 whether it's someone who has been lured out of their own 12:52 country with the promise of a better life, 12:55 working in this business, in this home. 12:58 And when they get there, they discover they're a slave. 13:00 Their passport is taken, they're trapped. 13:05 We're all trapped and you can't legislate against that 13:11 because you can't legislate morality. 13:14 All you can do is choose a new master 13:18 and make that choice today. 13:27 Scientists tell us that humans have four basic needs for survival: 13:33 food, water, air, and shelter 13:36 But beyond mere survival, 13:38 we also need to know that someone cares about us. 13:41 And there is Someone who cares- Someone who is always there 13:46 This little tract -"Someone Cares about You" 13:50 -is full of Bible verses that will help you 13:53 know just how much God cares for you. It's absolutely free. 13:58 Just go to TalkingDonkeyInternational.org 14:01 and request offer 123, Someon Cares about You. 14:08 It's time to prepare quality programming 14:11 created to attract and reach viewers of the world. 14:14 Not just those of our denomination. 14:16 Together we can carry the final advent message 14:19 to the individuals of planet Earth 14:21 and hasten the return of our Lord. 14:23 Please pray for and support the sucessful mission of 14:27 Talking Donkey International 14:29 (light music) 14:51 - And you know, he has done such a good job 14:53 across the planet of 14:56 well, putting things in people's minds 14:58 that just like he did in heaven, that I'm better, 15:03 I'm better than you, I'm better than you, 15:04 I'm better than all these other people. 15:06 I'm so far superior. 15:08 I was working in one country. 15:10 This dear lady, she came, 15:13 she came to me every day and it was kind of weird, you know, 15:15 I had on my slippers and she would come up to me 15:19 and she'd get down and want to touch my toes 15:21 and kiss my feet. 15:22 Well, that just, I didn't want to do that at all, 15:25 but that's kind of what. - I can understand. 15:28 - That's what they show to people they think are higher up 15:30 and everybody else at the compound 15:32 and in the location thought that was just fine. 15:35 You know that she should treat me that way. 15:37 - They approved of her paying homage to you? 15:39 - Oh, absolutely because she's just a lowly nothing. 15:43 And one day I went out, 15:45 I noticed she had nothing on her feet. 15:47 She had no money to get anything. 15:49 And I went to the store and I found her a pair of slippers 15:53 and the day she showed up, she came up, she was gonna, 15:56 she was gonna come up and grab my feet 15:58 and I grabbed her and I lifted her up and I said, 16:01 no, you stand here. 16:02 You stay, stay here. 16:03 - What did she think? 16:04 Was she afraid of you? - Oh yeah, she was 16:07 but I got down and I pulled out of the bag 16:10 and I put slippers on her feet 16:13 and it was like this revelation 16:15 and everybody around the standby this time 16:17 we had a crowd of, I dunno 30, 40, 50. 16:19 - Oh, did they have tears in their eyes? 16:20 - No, it was anger and later on, they took me aside 16:24 and they said, you know, you, you come on, 16:26 you shouldn't be doing that. 16:28 You, you shouldn't be doing that at all. 16:29 - You were being kind. - Oh yeah, absolutely kind 16:32 but in their minds, and this is, this is, 16:35 I got to tell you, unfortunately, 16:36 this is people who profess to know Jesus Christ. 16:40 The devil has been so good at creating 16:42 a situation in the world that he has brainwashed everybody 16:46 in this situation of slavery. 16:48 We are all slaves to all of this kind of stuff. 16:51 But I gotta tell you, I think about Jesus Christ, 16:58 my King, that got down on his feet 17:00 and he washed the feet of others 17:03 to try and touch their hearts. 17:05 - He was the example. 17:06 That's what we should be like. 17:07 So I'm still not understanding why they didn't approve 17:11 of you being so kind to this other woman. 17:14 - Because they're so brainwashed. 17:16 Absolutely brainwashed. 17:18 - They thought you were lowering yourself? 17:20 - Oh, absolutely. 17:21 Think about this, Janice. 17:23 You shared what happened in heaven with the devil in heaven. 17:26 The angels of heaven had never been separated from God. 17:30 Everything was absolutely bliss. 17:32 Everything was absolutely perfect. 17:34 And yet one third of those angels left 17:38 with the devil to come here to play on Earth. 17:40 One third, who had always been next to the love of God 17:42 who knew his character absolutely loved him. 17:46 And you go, come on. 17:47 - It's mind boggling that you could be with God, 17:52 that you could have known perfection 17:54 and ever thought that there was something better. 17:56 - Yeah. Yeah. 17:58 Well, I just, 18:00 you can't hardly explain when Jesus came to earth here, 18:03 he was the King of the universe. 18:06 And he said, I really want to show you what God's like. 18:09 It took so much to get the brainwashing out of everybody's 18:12 mind that he came to talk to 18:14 that that was one of his acts. 18:16 He got down on his knees and began washing their feet 18:18 because they were too hardhearted. 18:20 They were in a dinner situation who said, 18:23 that one should do it. 18:24 No, that one should do it over there. 18:25 I'm not gonna wash somebody's feet 18:27 why I walk next to the master. 18:29 - Because that's what servants do. 18:30 - That's what servants do 18:32 and Jesus took off his outer garment, got a towel, 18:34 a bowl of water, and began washing their feet. 18:36 And you know, at that moment 18:37 it began touching and changing hearts of others 18:40 and that's what needs to happen to us. 18:42 We need to have that happen tomorrow. 18:44 - We do, because I catch myself. 18:49 This might be news to you, but I'm not perfect. 18:51 (Janice chuckling) 18:54 Who would have guessed, right? 18:57 I catch myself with a thought about someone or 19:03 not liking the way I think someone just treated me 19:05 or just dismissed a thought of mine in a meeting, you know, 19:08 whatever we have that sinful core of us 19:12 that is always comparing ourselves to the people around us 19:15 and kind of wanting to make sure that they know 19:17 that they're not that great. 19:21 - Let me give you an example of, well, 19:25 all the way back in the Garden of Eden, 19:27 when the devil came and he tricked Adam and Eve, 19:29 Adam was the prince of this world. 19:32 God had given this world to Adam and to Eve 19:35 and they gave it all away to the devil 19:37 and said no, no, we believe you, we don't believe God. 19:41 At that moment, he was the prince of this world. 19:42 He is to this day. 19:43 So basically when we're born, as you said, 19:45 or one of us said earlier, it's in our genes. 19:48 It's in our genes. 19:49 Sin, this slavery thing has got a hold of us. 19:52 We can't get out of it unless God gives us away. 19:55 Adam and Eve were stuck in that garden without getting out 19:58 until Jesus came to them and said, look, 20:02 I want you to see that little lamb that's grazing nearby. 20:04 He took a knife and he slit their throat. 20:06 He said, this is what, 20:07 - Can you imagine how horrifying it was? 20:09 First time they've ever seen an animal die. 20:12 - Exactly. 20:14 - And then to have the realization that it was what I did, 20:17 it was my thoughts, my actions that did that to that lamb. 20:22 - He said Adam and Eve, this is what you deserve. 20:25 But he said, one day in the history of man, 20:27 I will come and I will die like that lamb, 20:30 because I can do that. 20:33 It's in my power to be able to do that for you to save you 20:35 because you can't get out of this mess on your own. 20:38 - We would have had no choice. 20:40 We would have been slaves for forever. 20:42 - Yeah. - Can I look something up? 20:43 - Sure. - There's 20:45 a verse that I'd like to find 20:48 that I think 20:51 here, Romans 6:22. 20:54 This is the best news. 20:56 But now you've been set free from sin 20:59 and are the slaves of God. 21:04 Your gain is a life fully dedicated to him, 21:08 and the result is eternal life. 21:11 And then it goes on to say, for sin pays its wage - Death. 21:15 We've all heard that. 21:16 The wages of sin is death. 21:18 - People have to understand on this world, we make a wage. 21:21 We get paid but it's the wrong kind of payment 21:24 because the end is simply death, 21:26 total eternal separation from God from life. 21:29 God just pulls the plug and that's it. 21:31 But then there's more to that, isn't there? 21:33 - Oh, there is. 21:35 You interrupted me. - Sorry. 21:38 - But God's free gift is eternal life 21:41 in union with Christ Jesus our Lord. 21:45 So the wage of sin is death, 21:51 but what God gives us is free. 21:53 We don't have to work for it. 21:55 In fact, we can't. 21:57 How hard would you have to work to earn something like that? 21:59 - Yeah, we can't. - No. 22:01 - You absolutely can't and furthermore, 22:03 we just can't get out of the mindset. 22:05 It is that Stockholm syndrome. 22:07 We are in love with her captors. 22:11 - We either don't even recognize that we have a captor 22:14 or we are in love with our captor and think, yeah, 22:19 this is a much better life. 22:20 I don't want, you know, God's so restricting. 22:25 Satan has made it so that we actually believe 22:29 that it's God who's taking away our freedoms 22:32 and our liberties. 22:33 He's keeping us from having fun. 22:34 - Yeah 22:36 Great point. 22:37 - It's Satan who offers total freedom. 22:39 You can make your own decisions, you can do what you want 22:41 and that is the way to have life. 22:44 - I'm gonna read a scripture too, 22:45 because it's in the same area it's found 22:47 in Matthew chapter 11, starting in verse 28, Jesus said, 22:51 come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden. 22:54 Anybody heavy laden in this world? 22:55 You know, are you heavy laden? 22:57 Oh, yeah? 22:59 And I will give you rest. 23:01 This is the God of the universe saying I will give you rest. 23:04 I got a feeling that right now, 23:06 there's very few people that have any rest in this world, 23:08 things that are going on. 23:10 Then he says, take my yoke on you and learn on me. 23:12 That was, you know, 23:13 as you saw the animals going into the field, 23:15 they've got a yoke and they work together. 23:17 Well, this is kind of funny though. 23:18 God says, take my yoke upon you and learn of me, 23:21 for I am meek and lowly of heart, 23:23 and you shall find rest to your souls. 23:26 When you work together with God, 23:28 changes everything, changes everything. 23:30 In the last part of the verse says, 23:32 for my yoke is easy and my burden is light. 23:36 My yoke is easy and my burden is light. 23:38 What a God that we serve 23:40 and God wants everybody to experience that. 23:42 To get out of the clutches of the devil, 23:44 to not be wounded anymore, to not, 23:47 not be slaves to sin any longer. 23:50 (light music) 24:10 You know Janice, I can't help it. 24:12 I look at that sculpture, 24:13 and the arms spread out wide to the skies. 24:16 Jesus said in scripture, he's coming back again. 24:18 He's coming to take us home 24:20 and those that love him, 24:21 we will stand there and say, this is our God. 24:23 We have waited for him and he shall save us. 24:26 And that's what God wants to do. 24:28 He wants to save us out of this world of sin and slavery. 24:31 - Indeed. 24:33 - Now I've got a quick story I want to share with you 24:34 because I think it represents. - I love your stories. 24:36 - I think it represents really what God does for us. 24:39 It was Janine and I were working in another country 24:42 and quite a backward country, really. 24:45 One day I came home from work 24:46 and Janine has got dinner prepared 24:48 and we sit down to dinner and she's got tears in her eyes. 24:52 Honey, she says, they're going to sell Bidica. 24:54 - Who is Bidica? 24:56 - Bidica's this sweet little, 10 year old girl. 24:57 She was nine. 24:59 And I asked her, I said, well, 25:00 she turned 10 years old today 25:02 and now they can legally sell her. 25:03 I said you've got to be kidding me, they can sell her? 25:06 Yeah, she said, the family can't afford to keep her 25:08 so they can sell her as a slave or a prostitute. 25:12 And I just, I just couldn't believe it my heart was breaking 25:15 and we talked about it, 25:17 everybody at the dinner table that night 25:18 one of the other folks who we're with 25:21 begin talking and one of the guys 25:23 that had come with me on many mission trips said, 25:25 well, why don't you buy her? 25:28 And funny, I never thought about buying somebody. 25:29 - No, who would? - But you know, 25:31 we worked on it and we were able to buy that little girl 25:35 and we saved her. 25:38 You can't even imagine what, but we got her into school, 25:40 got her a new life, set her free in Jesus Christ. 25:43 We actually then were able to help the family 25:45 so they didn't have to sell their other children too. 25:48 But I think that's what Jesus has done for us. 25:52 He came down here, he died for us, 25:54 he shed his blood to purchase us, to set us free. 25:57 - And we belonged to him to start with. 25:59 He was buying back something that had been stolen from him. 26:02 - Yeah, yeah. 26:04 We've got to understand that we're living lives 26:07 here on the earth with the devil. 26:10 He's holding his hand. 26:13 - You know, there's a verse Galatians 5:1. 26:16 And I think this the way I heard it 26:18 was from the Good News Bible but it says, 26:21 and this is appropriate for all of us, 26:24 it says 26:27 he has given us freedom. 26:29 Freedom is what we have. 26:32 Christ has set us free. 26:34 That's present tense. 26:35 That's not just some future 26:38 promise that he will set us free. 26:41 He has set us free. 26:44 And it goes on to say, so stand as free people. 26:50 Do not allow yourselves to be taken back as slaves. 26:55 - Amen, amen. 26:56 I mean, what you said, present tense. 26:58 He that has the son has eternal life. 27:01 Not may have, might have, some day going to have. 27:03 He has what you said, present tense right now. 27:06 Grab a hold of Jesus Christ. 27:07 Friends, look, the devil's got us all captive 27:11 but we don't have to remain captive with Jesus Christ. 27:14 He said, come unto me all who labor and are heavy laden, 27:17 I will give you rest. 27:20 Please, today. 27:21 Janice and I are urging you. 27:23 This is an opportunity to be set free in Christ 27:25 in a way you can't imagine. 27:28 Give your life to him right now. 27:29 Get down on your knees wherever you are, it's easy. 27:32 Just get on your knees, say Lord, 27:33 or where you're sitting. or if you can't stand, 27:35 sit, whatever, wherever you are say, 27:37 Lord, please take my life. 27:40 I can't give it to you. 27:41 You just take it and God will answer that prayer. 27:44 He will change you, he will set you free. 27:47 Please do it right now. 27:49 (light music) 28:03 - Hey, thanks for joining us for Country Wisdom. 28:05 - See you next time. 28:07 (light music) |
Revised 2023-01-12