{"id":302255,"date":"2011-04-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-04-13T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/a-legacy-begins-with-surrender\/"},"modified":"2011-04-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-04-13T15:00:00","slug":"a-legacy-begins-with-surrender","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/a-legacy-begins-with-surrender\/","title":{"rendered":"A Legacy Begins With Surrender"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re going to leave a legacy, it all begins with answering the question, &#8220;Who is your master?&#8221;  Dennis Rainey talks about the greatest decision you&#8217;ll ever make &#8211; choosing to surrender your life to Christ.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>If you&#8217;re going to leave a legacy, it all begins with answering the question, &#8220;Who is your master?&#8221;<\/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\/fl2011-04-13.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"31.66M","filesize_raw":"33200437","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2822],"tags":[5172,4276],"podcast_series":[7798],"cwp_profile":[3048],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302255","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-family-legacy","tag-legacy","podcast_series-surrender","cwp_profile-dennis-rainey","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\/302255\/a-legacy-begins-with-surrender","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302255\/a-legacy-begins-with-surrender","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=\"VKhP6jRYRL\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/a-legacy-begins-with-surrender\/\">A Legacy Begins With Surrender<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/a-legacy-begins-with-surrender\/embed\/#?secret=VKhP6jRYRL\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;A Legacy Begins With Surrender&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"VKhP6jRYRL\" 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":"If you're going to leave a legacy, it all begins with answering the question, \"Who is your master?\"","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2011-04-13.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong><strong>\u00a0 <\/strong>You care about your children and your grandchildren, right?\u00a0 You care about their future?\u00a0 If so, Dennis Rainey says you need to take care of your own soul.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 A godly legacy begins with total surrender to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 You want to have a godly legacy?\u00a0 You want to leave something for future generations?\u00a0 For a time that we won\u2019t see?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt comes with total surrender to Jesus Christ.\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 Wednesday, April 13th.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 Would you say you\u2019re living your life today partially surrendered to Jesus, or fully surrendered?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us on the Wednesday edition.\u00a0 You know, hearing you talk about legacy and surrender just kind of takes me back to the warm breezes and the sunshine.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to hear a message today that you gave just a few weeks ago on the FamilyLife <em>Love Like You Mean It<\/em> cruise.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes \u2013 we had about 2,300 of our closest friends right there on the boat.\u00a0 We rented the whole boat.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It was pretty cool!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It really was.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 It really was a fun time.\u00a0 The entertainment was A+, we had an improv group; we had a couple who taught ballroom dancing.\u00a0 I hate to tell you this, Bob, but we never got there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You and Barbara didn\u2019t?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, we just didn\u2019t.\u00a0 There were just too many things going on there, and we had all these music groups that are really on the top of their game.\u00a0 Big Daddy Weave was there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s right, and we had Michael O\u2019Brien there; we had Point of Grace; we had Selah and the Annie Moses Band.\u00a0 It was a great experience.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou gave this message on the last night we were onboard the ship.\u00a0 When the message was over, we all went out poolside on the top deck.\u00a0 It was a beautiful starlit night with a full moon. . . \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I\u2019m telling you, I\u2019ve led couples going through their vows and restating their wedding vows before, but this was all-time.\u00a0 To give a message like we talked about on surrendering to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and then for couples to go up on the top deck with the breeze blowing in their faces, about 68 degrees, and starlit. . . it was spectacular!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere were violins and cellos playing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 It was pretty great!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Then you had us all have a long kiss.\u00a0 I told Barbara, \u201cThat was a good call Bob made.\u201d\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 \u201cHe counted to ten on the kiss.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I slowed it down in the end.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You did \u2013 you said, \u201cNine.\u00a0 Nine and a half.\u00a0 Nine and three quarters.\u201d\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\u2019m just curious; here we were on a marriage cruise, the <em>Love Like You Mean It<\/em> cruise, and we had talked about what true love is and the kinds of things couples do to promote a strong marriage and Tim and Joy Downs had talked about intimacy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou decided to talk, on the last evening, about a fundamental of the Christian life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, I was asked to speak about \u201cLegacy,\u201d and I thought, \u201cYou know what?\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to leave a legacy, it all begins with who is your master, who is your Lord, who are you going to surrender to?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI thought, \u201cWhat better time than to share this message.\u201d\u00a0 I have a great story that I\u2019ll tell you near the end of the broadcast that happened as a result of this message.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, we\u2019re going to hear Part One of the message right now from the <em>Love Like You Mean It<\/em> cruise.\u00a0 Here is Dennis Rainey:\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis (via audio recording):<\/strong>\u00a0 It was my junior year in college; I\u2019d had a spiritual sojourn over the previous 8-10 years of treating Jesus Christ like a spare tire.\u00a0 When there was a crisis or a problem, I would pull Him out of the trunk, run Him for a couple hundred miles or a couple of days, whichever came first, and after the crisis was over, I would stick Him back in the trunk.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut the summer between my sophomore and junior years, the spiritual lights came on and the \u201cHound of Heaven\u201d used the book of Romans to chase me down.\u00a0 Jesus Christ in His love and work on the cross began to turn a life around to face that love and experience that love personally.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDuring my junior year in college, I moved from being a mission field, in need of someone coming to talk to me, to becoming a missionary on a mission to share Christ with others.\u00a0 As I was on that journey sharing Christ with others, I ran into a guy who marked my life dramatically.\u00a0 His name was Tom Skinner.\u00a0 Tom was the Chaplain for the Washington Redskins, and we couldn\u2019t have had a more different background as two men.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou see, I grew up in Ozark, Missouri, a town of 1,350 people with one flashing yellow light.\u00a0 Tom Skinner grew up in Brooklyn.\u00a0 Tom began and ended every one of his message with a quote that I\u2019ve now shared with millions of people on radio and at conferences like this.\u00a0 You see, I\u2019m from the \u201cShow Me State,\u201d Missouri. - the tribe of the doubting Thomases.\u00a0 I have to see it to believe it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTom Skinner stepped into my life and he put his finger on the very soul of my life and it was like a spiritual 2x4 hit me between the eyes as he said this quote.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI spent a long time trying to come to grips with my doubts, when suddenly I realized I had better come to grips with what I believe.\u00a0 I have since moved from the agony of questions that I cannot answer to the reality of answers that I cannot escape, and it\u2019s a great relief.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTom Skinner encouraged me in a person-to-person encounter with Jesus Christ, the greatest radical of all time, because He changed people from the inside-out, and He began to change me.\u00a0 One of the privileges I have in interviewing folks on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is that I get a chance to hear them share passages of scripture that are meaningful to them.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo I\u2019ll have Randy Alcorn\u2019s name down beside a passage, and Kay Arthur, and other great Christian leaders, some you\u2019ve never heard of \u2013 but the verses remind me of whom they are.\u00a0 My Bible is open right now, as we talk about \u201cThe Great Surrender,\u201d to the man who taught me how to surrender. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s his life verse.\u00a0 His name was Dr. Bill Bright, the President and Founder of Campus Crusade for Christ.\u00a0 The verse was Galatians 2:20:\u00a0 \u201cI have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ Who lives in me.\u00a0 The life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLook at that passage.\u00a0 Bill used to say this; he would say, \u201cI really want it to be that it\u2019s no longer <em>I<\/em> who live, but it\u2019s Jesus Christ Who lives in me on a day in and day out basis.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe used to say - and if I heard him say it one time, I heard him say it a hundred times \u2013 \u201cI get up each morning and dedicate that morning to allow Jesus Christ to think with my mind, speak with my lips, feel with my heart, walk around in my body, and do whatever He wishes to do through me, because I am a bondslave.\u00a0 I am a servant.\u00a0 I am one who is yielding my rights to my Master, to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 He is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe said, \u201cThis is what I want to mark my life:\u00a0 the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know what?\u00a0 Bill Bright infected me with that disease:\u00a0 a delightful encounter with the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords.\u00a0 If you can show me one better to follow, I\u2019ll drop the Bible; I\u2019ll drop Jesus Christ and will follow what you\u2019ve got.\u00a0 But I\u2019ve made that statement hundreds of times on the radio and before live crowds.\u00a0 There has never been another offer, because there isn\u2019t one.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI have a very simple principle; only one point to my message.\u00a0 Here it is:\u00a0 A godly legacy begins with total surrender to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou want to have a godly legacy?\u00a0 You want to leave something for future generations, for a time that we won\u2019t see?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt comes with total surrender to Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAny time you talk about total surrender to Christ, you immediately begin to think about the excuses people make.\u00a0 Jesus encountered these people in Luke chapter 14.\u00a0 He told the parable of a great feast.\u00a0 There was a master who wanted to throw a pleasurable, bountiful feast, and he invited all these people to come.\u00a0 One after another, they <em>all<\/em> made excuses not to come.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne man had bought a field and he said, for that reason, \u201cI need to go look at it.\u00a0 I can\u2019t come.\u201d\u00a0 Another one said, \u201cI\u2019ve got five oxen.\u00a0 I\u2019ve got to go check on them.\u201d\u00a0 Another one was even in family ministry.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI\u2019ve married a wife, and for that reason I can\u2019t come.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat made the master angry.\u00a0 He said, \u201cYou know what?\u00a0 Forget that crowd!\u00a0 Go out to the hedges and the byways and call the poor, the ill, the lame, the down and outers, and invite them to come to my feast.\u201d\u00a0 Because he wanted to celebrate!\u00a0 You would think Jesus would dumb down commitment to make it easy, but He didn\u2019t.\u00a0 He did the exact opposite.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe finishes His parable in the familiar passage on the cost of discipleship.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tListen to these words from Luke 14, beginning in verse 26:\u00a0 \u201cIf anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters and, yes, even his own life, He cannot be My disciple.\u00a0 Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple.\u00a0 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOtherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it will begin to mock him, saying, \u2018This man began to build and was not able to finish.\u2019\u00a0 Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not first sit down and deliberate whether he is able with 10,000 to meet him who comes against him with 20,000, and if not, while the other is yet a great ways off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tListen to how Christ concludes this.\u00a0 This is the exclamation point for the Pharisees.\u00a0 He says, \u201cSo, therefore, any one of you who does not renounce <em>all <\/em>that he has cannot be my disciple.\u201d It\u2019s almost like we want to say to Jesus, \u201cCouldn\u2019t you make this in a little more comfortable language here?\u00a0 You\u2019re talking about death to self, renouncing all.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, you know what, there\u2019ve been excuses made by a lot of people over the years.\u00a0 For a number of years, the excuse I used was that I wanted to have it my way.\u00a0 The reason I didn\u2019t want to be a follower and a disciple of Christ was that I wanted to do it my way, have it on my terms; if I was going to surrender on anybody\u2019s terms, it was going to be mine!\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, that doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAny time we say to Jesus Christ, \u201cI\u2019ll surrender up to a point,\u201d it\u2019s not <em>total surrender<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA second excuse we have is fear.\u00a0 This also was mine.\u00a0 I was afraid He was going to make me miserable.\u00a0 I was afraid He would send me somewhere I didn\u2019t want to have to go.\u00a0 I was afraid of what it would cost me.\u00a0 I was afraid of what I would have to give up.\u00a0 I was afraid of what other people would think.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019m reminded of Jesus telling the parable of the talents:\u00a0 five talents, three, and one.\u00a0 Do you remember what the guy who had one talent did?\u00a0 He didn\u2019t believe the truth about his master, so what did he do?\u00a0 He buried it.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t use it.\u00a0 He believed the wrong thing about his master.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI believed you to be an evil man, and so I was afraid you were going to work me over if I did something wrong with it.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJesus was trying to point out to us that we need to believe the right thing about God.\u00a0 Some of us believe the wrong thing about Him when it comes to this subject of the great surrender, of yielding it all.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere\u2019s a third reason why we don\u2019t surrender, a third excuse:\u00a0 idolatry.\u00a0 John Calvin said, \u201cThe human heart is an idol factory.\u201d\u00a0 Another man said, \u201cWhen we stop worshiping God, we don\u2019t go on to worship nothing, we go on to worship anything.\u201d\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because our hearts, our hearts, were made to worship!\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe were designed to worship.\u00a0 Something or someone is going to fill the gap in our hearts.\u00a0 The question for you is, \u201cWhat do you love?\u00a0 Who do you love?\u00a0 What do you think about?\u201d\u00a0 Or better yet,\u201d What are you surrendered to?\u00a0 What\u2019s the master of your life?\u00a0 <em>Who<\/em> is the master of your life?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMaybe you\u2019ve parceled it out.\u00a0 That\u2019s a safe play.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJ.R.R. Tolkien, author or <em>Lord of the Rings, <\/em>gives us an insightful statement.\u00a0 He says, \u201dThe essential task of life is to put our loves in order\u201d - to prioritize the loves of our heart in proper order.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tDid Jesus speak to this?\u00a0 \u201cAnd you shall love the Lord your God with <em>all<\/em> your heart, soul, and mind.\u00a0 And you shall love your neighbor as yourself.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat\u2019s your idol?\u00a0 Every one of us has them.\u00a0 I\u2019ll never forget another meeting I had with Bill Bright.\u00a0 I was in the Christian Embassy in Washington, D.C., where a donor had made possible a building on Embassy Row to entertain ambassadors and heads of state, to introduce them to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords.\u00a0 It was a magnificently appointed embassy with silk wallpaper and a cherry wood library that you would just die for.\u00a0 It was just beautiful \u2013 magnificent!\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019m sitting in that cherry wood library with Bill Bright and he turns to me and says, \u201cDennis, wear the cloak of materialism loosely.\u00a0 There is no amount of money that God won\u2019t give to the man or woman who doesn\u2019t allow any of it to stick to his fingers.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to be a conduit.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want to be a bucket.\u00a0 I want to be a funnel to be used by God to impact people.\u00a0 I don\u2019t want it to stick to my fingers.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, those are the excuses.\u00a0 What does surrender look like?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere\u2019s a great passage in the Bible that\u2019s probably the best passage, though I don\u2019t hear it being preached on a lot from pulpits.\u00a0 It\u2019s Romans chapter 12.\u00a0 This passage marked my life early in my Christian growth.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRomans 12:1-2, \u201cI appeal to you, therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.\u00a0 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what the will of God is, what is good, acceptable, and perfect.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe\u2019s talking about a living sacrifice \u2013 presenting yourself to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 The great surrender begins as we come to Him and just say, <em>\u201cI\u2019m yours.\u201d<\/em>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, we\u2019ve been listening to the first part of a message on the importance of surrender.\u00a0 The legacy that you leave really depends on who your Lord and Master is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis message was presented onboard the <em>Love Like You Mean It<\/em> cruise here a few weeks ago as we sailed with about 2,300 people and the audience was with you as you presented this message.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 They really were.\u00a0 There was one young couple who had been married, I think, for four months.\u00a0 They went back to their room after the message and the husband looked at his wife and he said, \u201cDo you think I\u2019m a Christian?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe wife said, \u201cWell, you\u2019ve sure memorized a lot of the Bible.\u00a0 You\u2019ve led worship in church.\u201d\u00a0 But, \u201cNo, I don\u2019t think you\u2019re a Christian.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 He said, \u201cI want to take care of business right now.\u201d\u00a0 He got down next to their bed on his knees and surrendered his life to Jesus Christ.\u00a0 When he got back to land, less than 24 hours later, he put it on facebook.\u00a0 He said, \u201cI became a Christian.\u00a0 I became a follower of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 I surrendered my life to Him.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Hmmm..\u00a0 There is a difference between doing stuff in the church and being a Christian, isn\u2019t there?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 There is.\u00a0 You know, you wonder right now, am I talking to a person who is very religious, maybe like Nicodemus in the New Testament, but who needs to be born again.\u00a0 Who needs to place his or her faith in Jesus Christ and say, \u201cI\u2019m yours.\u00a0 I surrender.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI encourage you, before the day is over, get down on your knees and fulfill the great surrender.\u00a0 Turn your life over to the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and get on with life as God designed it.\u00a0 Receive forgiveness for your sins.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere is no greater decision you\u2019ll make in all your life than this one right here.\u00a0 This is the beginning point of your legacy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 And the Christian life is an ongoing series of surrenders.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s something we\u2019ll do over and over again in our lives, but it does begin with that decision we make to say, \u201cI\u2019m turning <em>from<\/em> what I have been pursuing - which has been self-interest and pleasure or money or power, or whatever else you\u2019ve been chasing after \u2013 and instead I\u2019m going to pursue God.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn fact, we\u2019ve got a book that we\u2019d like to send any of our listeners who are tuned in today.\u00a0 This issue of your spiritual life, this may be fresh and new for you.\u00a0 You may be hearing about God and about Jesus for the first time, or maybe you\u2019ve heard about these things for years but it has just never really sunk in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe have a book that we\u2019d like to send you, called <em>Pursuing God<\/em>, that lays out clearly what it means to be a follower of Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can call 1-800\u2014FLTODAY to request that or go online at FamilyLifeToday.com to request it.\u00a0 If this is all new to you, we\u2019ll send a copy of this book out to you for free.\u00a0 Just go online at FamilyLifeToday.com or call 1-800-FLTODAY and ask for your copy.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me also mention a book that will help those of us who are Christians understand what it means to be fully committed, fully surrendered to Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s a book written by our friend Francis Chan, and it\u2019s called <em>Crazy Love.<\/em><em>\u00a0 <\/em>It looks at God\u2019s infinite love for us, and looks at how we ought to respond to that.\u00a0 The kind of love that we ought to have for Him in response and what that love looks like.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe\u2019d love to send you a copy of the book <em>Crazy Love<\/em>.\u00a0 You can order it online from us at FamilyLifeToday.com or call 1-800-FL-TODAY, that\u2019s 1-800-358-6329.\u00a0 That\u2019s 1-800-\u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then the word \u201cTODAY.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOf course, we\u2019ll be headed out Valentine\u2019s week on FamilyLife\u2019s <em>Love Like You Mean It<\/em> cruise 2012.\u00a0 If you\u2019d like to join us you can find out more when you go to the website FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 Click on the link for the <em>Love Like You Mean It<\/em> cruise.\u00a0 We hope you\u2019ll think about coming along with us and sailing with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, we are just days away from the resurrection of Jesus.\u00a0 It\u2019s good for us in this season of the year to take some time to meditate on the cross, and to meditate on His resurrection.\u00a0 That\u2019s a good thing for Christians to do throughout the year, but particularly here in the Easter season we ought to have that as a central focus. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis month, we have a special way that we are saying, \u201cThank you\u201d to those folks who help support the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today <\/em>by making a donation.\u00a0 We are listener supported, so those donations are what keep us on this station and on our network of stations all across the country. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you\u2019re able to help with a donation this month, we\u2019d love to send you, as a thank you gift, a copy of a DVD of the movie called <em>Magdalena<\/em>, which tells the story of the life of Jesus through eyes of Mary Magdalene.\u00a0 It\u2019s a powerful movie that your family can watch together.\u00a0 Because it includes dubbing in Spanish, French, Mandarin, Arabic, Korean, Russian, and Portuguese, if you know someone who is a native speaker of one of those languages, after you\u2019re done watching the movie, you can pass it along to one of them as an Easter gift.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, again, make a donation online at FamilyLifeToday.com and when you do, type the word \u201cMAGDVD\u201d into the keycode box (it\u2019s all one word \u201cMAGDVD\u201d), or call 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 You can make your donation over the phone and just ask for the <em>Magdalena <\/em>DVD, and we\u2019re happy to send it to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe hope you have a wonderful Easter celebration this year.\u00a0 We want to say thanks for your support of the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTomorrow we\u2019ll hear Part Two of Dennis Rainey\u2019s message on the need for spiritual surrender.\u00a0 That comes up tomorrow and I hope you can be here for that.\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 next time 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 to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t2011 Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0 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