{"id":302177,"date":"2010-12-14T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2010-12-14T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/the-gift-of-pleasure\/"},"modified":"2010-12-14T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2010-12-14T17:00:00","slug":"the-gift-of-pleasure","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-gift-of-pleasure\/","title":{"rendered":"The Gift of Pleasure"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Does God approve of pleasure?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-12-14.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"24.09M","filesize_raw":"25257370","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[4929,4722,4159],"podcast_series":[7775],"cwp_profile":[3158],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302177","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-christian-life","tag-christianity","tag-gospel","podcast_series-pure-pleasure","cwp_profile-gary-thomas","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302177\/the-gift-of-pleasure","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302177\/the-gift-of-pleasure","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"y7nBdxaCaA\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-gift-of-pleasure\/\">The Gift of Pleasure<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/the-gift-of-pleasure\/embed\/#?secret=y7nBdxaCaA\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;The Gift of Pleasure&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"y7nBdxaCaA\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Does God approve of pleasure?","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2010-12-14.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 The Bible presents a world in both lights.\u00a0 At times, it can be a place of temptation.\u00a0 At times, it can be a place of nurture and delight.\u00a0 The problem is we\u2019ve gone so far to the other way in looking at the world that we act as if God created the world as a moral obstacle course.\u00a0 As if He set it up, can you say \u201cNo\u201d often enough; can you not touch; can you not taste; can you not go there?\u00a0 As if we\u2019ve got this antagonistic view of God that He is always primarily testing our piety.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Tuesday, December 14<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 When you hear the phrase \u201cworldly pleasures\u201d, do you think to yourself those are to be avoided or God has given us good things freely to enjoy?\u00a0 We are going to talk about that today.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWelcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>; thanks for joining us.\u00a0 Do you have any ice cream recommendations or anything you want us to share?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know what, Bob?\u00a0 I\u2019ve kind of figured out why many of our listeners like <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 They mention all the time that we laugh and what we\u2019re talking about here today on the broadcast which is experiencing pleasure as God designed it.\u00a0 We bring some delight and some pleasure to peoples\u2019 lives.\u00a0 We don\u2019t take ourselves too seriously, and we like to laugh.\u00a0 We have a good time, and it is not an act.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you only knew some of the things we had to cut out of the broadcast, you\u2019d really want a reel of that.\u00a0 I promise you.\u00a0 You really would.\u00a0 I think people like <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> as a broadcast.\u00a0 I\u2019m not trying to improperly brag on what we are doing here.\u00a0 We have people coming up, you know, all the time.\u00a0 They say, \u201cYou know I really enjoy the biblical teaching, the principles.\u00a0 You are helping me in my life and my family.\u00a0 By the way, I like it that you guys have fun.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf I might, I\u2019d like to get a little serious right now because it is the month of December.\u00a0 It is the month where forty percent of the donations that keep <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> on this station or continuing to be downloaded on this iPhone or iPod whatever you have.\u00a0 It is a key month for us.\u00a0 We need your help.\u00a0 We need for you to stand with us in what has become the largest, single matching gift we\u2019ve ever had for the month of December.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019ve had some friends of FamilyLife who have gotten together, and they\u2019ve said that they will match every donation we receive this month on a dollar for dollar basis up to a total of\u2014well, now it is a little more than two million dollars.\u00a0 Obviously, that is a big number.\u00a0 If we are going to take advantage of those matching funds, then we need to hear from as many listeners as possible.\u00a0 We need to ask you to be as generous as you can possibly be.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 That is right.\u00a0 I\u2019d just like to ask everybody who is listening to this broadcast if you can give a gift: five dollars, ten dollars, twenty-five, fifty, a hundred or more; really no gift is too small.\u00a0 We need a lot of people to stand with us if we\u2019re going to be able to take full advantage of that gift.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMaybe you\u2019ve been to the <em>Weekend to Remember<\/em>, and you\u2019ve benefitted from that ministry.\u00a0 You\u2019re also a radio listener, and you are just sitting there thinking, \u201cYou know, I really have benefitted my marriage and family a lot of ways.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to tell you right now would be a very strategic time to go online to FamilyLifeToday.com and take a look at the thermometer there.\u00a0 See how we\u2019re doing and do what a friend of mine did the other day.\u00a0 He called me and said, \u201cI saw where the thermometer was, and I gave the gift of a hundred bucks.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wanted to nudge it up a little bit.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 He did want to nudge it up.\u00a0 You can do that.\u00a0 You can help us, and I just want you to know I am really grateful for all of you who have given in the past and everyone of you who are going to give today and throughout the rest of this month.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We will try to keep having fun here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 We will.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 In fact, that is really what we want to focus in on today: the fact that having fun, laughing and enjoying life, experiencing pleasure is a good gift from God.\u00a0 That is at the heart of what our guest today has written about in a book called<em> Pure Pleasure<\/em>.\u00a0 Gary Thomas joins us again on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Gary, welcome back.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You like to laugh too, don\u2019t you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 I love to laugh.\u00a0 It is healthy to laugh.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It is.\u00a0 Gary is a writer in residence at Second Baptist Church in Houston.\u00a0 He and his wife, Lisa, have three children.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to ask you a great question:\u00a0 What would you say is the most delightful moment that you can share here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> that was ordered by God?\u00a0 It was a great, pleasurable moment for you as a man.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to be the most delightful because\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Top hundred.\u00a0 You know it can be any in the top one hundred.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Just pick one that\u2014what delights you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you because I need to go home and have my wife happy with me.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, if I don\u2019t mention something with her\u2014\u00a0 You know, there are those moments.\u00a0 I think every father looks back to holding each one of their children in their hands for the first time.\u00a0 There is something that is overwhelming about that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 If I were to talk more recently now as a forty-eight year old who is becoming an empty nester here in a couple weeks, I would go back a year and a half ago.\u00a0 The first time I finished the Boston Marathon because I had pursued that for five years and because I had failed at my ability to get there and the work it took to get there.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI will never forget the final two hundred yards.\u00a0 You are going down this street, and it is packed.\u00a0 Crowds are ten deep. They are yelling, and they are screaming.\u00a0 I looked up to Heaven, and I just said, \u201cLord, you made this possible.\u00a0 You gave me this body.\u00a0 You ran every step with me to try to qualify.\u201d\u00a0 Five times it took me to be able to qualify.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFor me, that was a moment I had uniquely with God because He was the only one who was with me on every training run.\u00a0 He knew the doubts, the challenges, the aches.\u00a0 That was, for me, very much an act of worship especially those final two hundred yards.\u00a0 I was hurting a little bit back at Heartbreak Hill, but by that point, it was more worship.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I knew when you asked the question; I thought whatever answer Gary Thomas gives is going to be different than what I would give as a moment of pleasure. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was going\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The end of a marathon is not where I think, \u201cWow!\u201d\u00a0 The pleasure that you would experience in that moment, you\u2019ve got to be kidding me.\u00a0 It is interesting.\u00a0 There was not a whole lot of sensory pleasure in that moment.\u00a0 You weren\u2019t tasting anything particularly good.\u00a0 You weren\u2019t touching anything good.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 His body was slammed with endorphins because he\u2019d been running so long.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 But your senses\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You are not smelling anything particularly good.\u00a0 The crowd cheering\u2014maybe you are hearing something good.\u00a0 You are seeing the finish line and what that represents is good, but I think when we think of pleasure we often think of whatever will excite our senses.\u00a0 Part of what you deal with in this book is that pleasure goes well beyond just our sensory experience.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Absolutely.\u00a0 This had been an issue with my wife because I kept getting injured on my attempts to qualify.\u00a0 My doctor quite sensibly said, \u201cYou know, Gary, you are in your mid-forties now.\u00a0 You might want to think about taking up biking or\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 So, I switched doctors. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFound one that had run marathons and understood the drive.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The disease is what they call it.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 But my wife when she found out, she said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t do the half marathon?\u00a0 You can walk the next day when you do a half marathon.\u201d\u00a0 My response was spontaneously, \u201cBecause I don\u2019t fear the half marathon.\u201d\u00a0 I felt like I could wake up any day and go out thirteen miles, but there is something about miles twenty to twenty-six.\u00a0 They will bite you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think it is the same thing where\u2014I\u2019m not this\u2014but the bungee jumpers and the rock climbers, the mountain\u2014\u00a0 Some of us really enjoy sitting with a good novel in a Starbucks with a great latte; some of us want a little bit of danger; others want the excitement.\u00a0 God made us so differently.\u00a0 There are vast differences in what people take pleasure in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 What you are saying is, is that pleasure is a gift of God.\u00a0 As you\u2019ve been talking, I keep thinking about the passage in the Gospels where Jesus said, \u201cIf you being evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe implication of the passage is how much more is God able to give you good gifts, too?\u00a0 God is really the giver of good gifts.\u00a0 He wants us to experience delight in the things He brings our way.\u00a0 Some people who are hearing me say that right now are going, \u201cThat is not my picture of who God is.\u201d\u00a0 You know?\u00a0 You know what I mean?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen I grew up as a kid, God had fly swatter in his hand.\u00a0 If you enjoyed it a little too much, \u201cWhaack!\u201d\u00a0 It took awhile for me to bust out of that and realize, \u201cYes, there are limits.\u00a0 Yes, there are things you shouldn\u2019t do.\u00a0 The Ten Commandments are not the ten suggestions; but God is also a God that in the sense of pleasure, \u2018no boundaries\u2019 it seems at points.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 I mean, it really does seem like He wants us to experience life in its fullest.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Our view of pleasure is directly affected by our view of God.\u00a0 I really think you hit on something there.\u00a0 Two verses that have been very healing to me because I didn\u2019t grow up with a positive view of pleasure.\u00a0 Not my parents\u2019 fault, not the churches\u2019 fault.\u00a0 I could just be guilty\u2014I don\u2019t know whatever.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDavid said in two different places in Psalm 35:27 and 2 Samuel 22:20, two verses that just stand out.\u00a0 He said, \u201cThe Lord who delights in the well being of His servant\u201d and another place \u201cThe Lord rescued me because He delights in me.\u201d\u00a0 I had this sense that God liked me because He had to or He loved me because He loves everyone.\u00a0 This sense that David had that He delights in me and the power that will give believers when they are willing to embrace that.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPaul tried to stress this.\u00a0 Romans 8:31, \u201cIf God be for us, who can be against us.\u201d\u00a0 Jesus in John 15:15, \u201cI have called you friends.\u00a0 I no longer call you servants.\u201d\u00a0 I\u2019ve called you friends.\u00a0 If we could get this sense that God is our friend that He not only likes you, He delights in you. That gives you the freedom to enjoy pleasurable times.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI mean, friend is a word\u2014somebody chooses you to be a friend.\u00a0 I have to love my neighbor; I don\u2019t have to be my neighbor\u2019s friend.\u00a0 When somebody is my friend, there is a sense of delight inherent in that whole idea.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You brought up something here that I think is a fascinating theme in your book.\u00a0 It is a theme of what we talk about every day here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 If you go to most people and say, \u201cWhat has brought you pleasure recently?\u201d\u00a0 Most of us will go toward sensory pleasure rather than going toward relational pleasure.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYet, if you stop and ask people to really think about what is important in life and what they care most about, relationships are going to start to surface.\u00a0 There is maybe no more profound, deep soul affirming pleasure than the pleasure that we have in the joy of relationship with God and with one another.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sociologically, there are studies that back that up.\u00a0 That happiness is directly related to our sense of connectedness and social relationships.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if you are referring to those or if you just intuited it; but we can do something about our sense of pleasure by connecting with people.\u00a0 We weren\u2019t made in isolation.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOur God is a Trinitarian God.\u00a0 He made us for community.\u00a0 If we are not in community in some different degrees, we are not going to be happy, quite frankly.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Back last spring there was a thunderstorm that rolled through Little Rock. It was a good one.\u00a0 It lasted for quite awhile.\u00a0 It was such a good one that\u2014I don\u2019t remember if it was Barbara who asked me or I asked her\u2014we went out on a porch that we have.\u00a0 It is a screened in porch that has a tin roof.\u00a0 We sat out on the porch for two hours, and we both went to sleep.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere was something so unspeakably delightful of being nestled in there next to the bride of my youth some thirty-seven years ago and delighting in the cool breeze coming through those screens, the rumble of thunder, the pitter-patter of rain.\u00a0 I took great pleasure in that moment, but to your point, it was because of the connectedness.\u00a0 I think I would have enjoyed it by myself, but about ten percent as much.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know what I mean?\u00a0 I mean\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Just right there with her enjoying that.\u00a0 You tell a story of your four year old son that really illustrates a lesson that we\u2019re to learn about how we are to respond when God gives us a good gift.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Graham reached that age where he was going to get his mom his own gift.\u00a0 No more just wrapping something that his dad got for her.\u00a0 He wanted to pick it out on his own.\u00a0 So, we went to the store.\u00a0 I just hesitate because he was settled on his mom having this piggy bank.\u00a0 If you know my wife, she has zero tolerance for tacky.\u00a0 Yet, he picked out this monstrosity of a pink, piggy bank that was a pig.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was just like\u2014I just couldn\u2019t believe what she was going to do.\u00a0 So, he wraps it up.\u00a0 When Lisa opened it, she immediately knew that Graham had picked it out for her because I wouldn\u2019t have gone there.\u00a0 We\u2019re married long enough for her to know that I knew her that well.\u00a0 I watched as she spontaneously cried tears of joy and delight because that present she knew came from her son.\u00a0 It was a first present he had given her.\u00a0 Just the joy it gave her that Graham had picked out a present.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s the delight that giving a gift that makes the receiver cry and how much joy that gave to Graham when he could look at his mom see that the tears were spontaneous, genuine, and sincere.\u00a0 He wore this huge, beaming smile on his face.\u00a0 I made my mom cry.\u00a0 My wife\u2019s tears of delight were all the thanks Graham needed. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think the same way when God gives us those good gifts.\u00a0 Are we receiving them in a way that we are giving back to the giver?\u00a0 Are we saying, \u201cNo, I can\u2019t have that or I\u2019m not good enough for that?\u201d\u00a0 How we receive a gift is really our way of giving back to the giver.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You know it is interesting.\u00a0 I had friend who did a little bit of a Bible study around grace and around gift giving.\u00a0 He said, \u201cYou know most of us do not know how to receive a gift.\u201d\u00a0 When we get something, what do we immediately feel like we need to do?\u00a0 Give something in return.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRecently, we took a friend a freshly baked blueberry cobbler.\u00a0 It was just a gesture of love to this friend.\u00a0 It was interesting within a week he showed back up on our doorstep with a peach cobbler. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt was like it wasn\u2019t enough to just receive it and to take delight that someone loved you enough to give you a gift and to say \u201cI love you.\u201d\u00a0 I want to enjoy this.\u00a0 I want to tell you Barbara\u2019s blueberry cobbler is very close to peanut butter and chocolate in terms of being worshipful.\u00a0 It is delicious.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 We are finding where you\u2014let\u2019s see rain on the roof, peanut butter and chocolate, and Barbara\u2019s cobbler.\u00a0 We have now found out where the pleasure sensors are in your life, I think.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think God wants us to receive those gifts from Him and to acknowledge them and instead of trying to earn another one just say, \u201cThank you.\u00a0 Thank you, God.\u00a0 I delight in that gift.\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes, it really is difficult to receive that kind of grace, that kind of gift that is unmerited.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Gary:<\/strong>\u00a0 It is.\u00a0 There is a provocative question I ask sometimes.\u00a0 I can see groups jump when I ask it; but I say, \u201cDo you view this world primarily as a prostitute or as a mother?\u201d\u00a0 By that I mean do you see that God created a world that acts as a prostitute trying to lures us away from everything that we know that is good and true and right or as a mother that is nurturing our faith, enriching us?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe Bible presents a world in both lights.\u00a0 At times, it can be a place of temptation.\u00a0 At times, it can be a place of nurture and delight.\u00a0 The problem is that we\u2019ve gone so far to the other way in looking at the world that we act as if God created the world as a moral obstacle course.\u00a0 As if He set it up, can you say \u201cNo\u201d often enough; can you not touch; can you not taste; can you not go there?\u00a0 As if we have this antagonistic view of God that He\u2019s always primarily testing our piety.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, what happens is that people turn the gifts of God into a test of piety.\u00a0 I see young mothers do this.\u00a0 They are so overwhelmed by the experience of giving birth to their first child, and they are nursing that child.\u00a0 They come up to me, \u201cGary, is it possible to love my baby more than I love God?\u201d\u00a0 The first thing I want to say, \u201cBless you for your sensitivity.\u00a0 It shows a spiritual maturity.\u00a0 You don\u2019t want to put anything before the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHere is what is going on physiologically.\u00a0 This is where we see God\u2019s brilliance as a Creator.\u00a0 When a woman is nursing her child, her brain is releasing oxytocin.\u00a0 That oxytocin is also going back from the baby into her.\u00a0 Oxytocin is a neurochemical: loyal, bonding, feelings of affirmation and warmth.\u00a0 Here is why I think God is so brilliant.\u00a0 He knows that child is going to radically upset this young mother\u2019s life.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, God as a brilliant engineer and Creator that He is says I\u2019m going to create a neurochemical called oxytocin.\u00a0 When she nurses this child\u2014if it a hungry child\u2014seven eight times a day, they are going to literally re-bond by His design.\u00a0 So, when she\u2019s reading the book of Ezekiel, she is not going to get the same neurochemical pop.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t(laughter)\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen she is singing \u201cShine Jesus, Shine\u201d for the fifteenth time, it is not going to be\u2014it doesn\u2019t mean she loves God less.\u00a0 It is just she can step back and say, \u201cLord, You are a brilliant Creator.\u00a0 You hit this one out of the park.\u201d\u00a0 Really appreciate that feeling of intimacy and warmth, recognizing God isn\u2019t threatened by her love for her child.\u00a0 He wants her to see it as His gift of kindness.\u00a0 So, I want to say to her, \u201cIt is not a test of your piety.\u00a0 It is a call to worship.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I keep hearing you say, Gary, repeatedly, \u201cIt is our perspective of who God is that really determines our ability to enjoy what He has given us.\u201d\u00a0 If we see God as this mean, Heavenly Father who doesn\u2019t want us to enjoy too much, \u201cWipe that smile off your face kid.\u00a0 You\u2019ve had two laughs today, and three is excessive.\u00a0 You can\u2019t have that many,\u201d God is not that kind of God.\u00a0 He is a God who gives us good gifts to enjoy.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the passages that has really ministered to me when I try to kind of slip back into the legalistic side of this going, \u201cWhat can you enjoy?\u00a0 What can\u2019t you enjoy?\u201d\u00a0 You call it false religious piety.\u00a0 I think that is a good statement.\u00a0 It is Galatians 5:1 which says, \u201cIt is for freedom Christ has set us free.\u00a0 Therefore, do not be subject again to the yoke of slavery.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you are going to read that, read verse thirteen too.\u00a0 You\u2019ve got to go down and read verse thirteen, too.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I have got to look it up because I wasn\u2019t reading it, I was quoting it.\u00a0 It says, \u201cYou were called to freedom, Brothers.\u00a0 Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; but through love, serve one another.\u201d\u00a0 So, what you are wanting to make sure folks don\u2019t use their freedom as license.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 That is right.\u00a0 You don\u2019t say, \u201cI\u2019m free in Christ so I can do whatever.\u201d\u00a0 There\u2014still God\u2019s saying don\u2019t use it as an opportunity to indulge the flesh.\u00a0 It has got to be about what I\u2019ve created it for.\u00a0 Again, this is what I keep hearing you say, \u201cOur enjoyment of pleasure needs to point us back to the One who is the Creator of life and pleasure and who put us in a place to experience joy and pleasure.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe should not shy away from that.\u00a0 We should be grateful to God for that, but at the same time, that is not the ultimate purpose of life.\u00a0 The enjoyment of pleasure is not the fundamental purpose of life, but it is a part of what God\u2019s given us as we enjoy life here on earth.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI really think this is a good subject for people to meditate on, to spend some time really pondering and thinking carefully about it.\u00a0 Of course, that is why you wrote the book <em>Pure Pleasure<\/em> which we\u2019ve got in our FamilyLife Today Resource Center. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to encourage listeners to get a copy of Gary\u2019s book.\u00a0 It is called <em>Pure Pleasure<\/em>.\u00a0 You can order a copy from us online at FamilyLifeToday.com or you can call us at 1-800-FL-Today.\u00a0 Again, the website is FamilyLifeToday.com or you can call -800 \u201cF\u201d as in Family, \u201cL\u201d as in Life, and then the word today.\u00a0 We will make arrangements to get a copy of Gary\u2019s book out to you.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, real quickly I want to remind our regular listeners of what Dennis talked about at the beginning of today\u2019s program, the matching gift opportunity that has been made available to us here during the month of December.\u00a0 We had some friends of the ministry get together and say, \u201cWe\u2019d like to provide a matching gift as a way to encourage <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners to help support the ministry.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tParticularly, those of you who are regular listeners, you\u2019ve listened for awhile and maybe you\u2019ve never made a donation to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 They are hoping that this matching gift challenge will encourage you to call or go online and make a twenty dollar donation, or a fifty dollar donation, or a hundred, five hundred, or thousand, or whatever you are able to do.\u00a0 Make a donation to help support the ministry.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen you do, they are going to match your donation dollar for dollar.\u00a0 The matching gift fund is up in an excess of two million dollars at this point.\u00a0 Actually, there has been some money added to it in recent days.\u00a0 You can go online at FamilyLifeToday.com to make a donation or you can call 1-800 \u201cF\u201d as in Family, \u201cL\u201d as in Life, and then the word today.\u00a0 Let me say thanks in advance for whatever you are able to do in helping to support the ministry.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe hope that you can be back with us tomorrow.\u00a0 Gary Thomas is going to be here again.\u00a0 We are going to talk about enjoying life and enjoying nice things when we know that there are people in other parts of the world who are struggling and who don\u2019t have maybe enough to eat.\u00a0 How do we deal with that?\u00a0 We are going to talk about that tomorrow.\u00a0 I hope you can be here with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back tomorrow for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t2010 Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. 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