{"id":302479,"date":"2012-03-13T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-03-13T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/affirming-the-least-of-these\/"},"modified":"2012-03-13T11:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-03-13T15:00:00","slug":"affirming-the-least-of-these","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/affirming-the-least-of-these\/","title":{"rendered":"Affirming the Least of These"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One word can sometimes make or break a person.<\/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\/fl2012-03-13.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"21.98M","filesize_raw":"23050626","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2850,2881],"tags":[4096],"podcast_series":[7863],"cwp_profile":[8978],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302479","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-character-development","category-young-children","tag-mentoring","podcast_series-just-a-minute","cwp_profile-wess-stafford","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\/302479\/affirming-the-least-of-these","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302479\/affirming-the-least-of-these","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=\"ebNKYqSJlU\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/affirming-the-least-of-these\/\">Affirming the Least of These<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/affirming-the-least-of-these\/embed\/#?secret=ebNKYqSJlU\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Affirming the Least of These&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"ebNKYqSJlU\" 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":"One word can sometimes make or break a person.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2012-03-13.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 For those of us who know Christ, God is at work in our lives, conforming us more and more to the image of His Son.\u00a0 Now, if that\u2019s true, it ought to affect the way we interact with children because Jesus said, \u201cLet the children come to Me,\u201d and He blessed them.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 Children are often at the end of the line, the least important.\u00a0 They are the weakest, the most vulnerable.\u00a0 Anything evil that happens in the world finds its way down on their little heads.\u00a0 That\u2019s why I maintain that the womb has become the most dangerous place on the planet to be a child, either because of poverty or because of inconvenience.\u00a0 Either way, it\u2019s a miracle to survive the womb.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn early childhood, they are incredibly vulnerable to these moments because, I think, Satan understands, \u201cIf I can destroy them and their sense of worth before they are five years old, ten years old, I probably don\u2019t have to worry about them the rest of the time.\u201d\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, March 13<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife\u00ae, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0\u00a0 Today, we\u2019re going to talk to Wess Stafford, the President of Compassion International\u00ae, about the tremendous power that comes in blessing the life of a child.\u00a0\u00a0 Stay tuned.\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.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know if you have one of these minutes like we\u2019ve been talking about this week\u2014where our guest, Wess Stafford, is talking about a minute that kind of sticks with you and points you in a right direction?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI remember when I was\u2014I would have been 18 years old\u2014I was a freshman on the college campus at the University of Tulsa.\u00a0 One of the reasons I went to the University of Tulsa was because they had a campus radio station, and I thought it would be cool to work at the campus radio station.\u00a0 I went in and applied, and I got a job.\u00a0 I was working Tuesday nights from 9:00 at night until 1:00 in the morning.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think anybody was listening.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was going to say, \u201cMillions of listeners\u2014\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I don\u2019t think anybody was listening.\u00a0 I was dating Mary Ann at the time, and I think she listened occasionally.\u00a0 That was about it.\u00a0 (Laughter)\u00a0 I had worked for three or four weeks, and I came into the studios one day.\u00a0 The station manager, who I had met once or twice, he said, \u201cYou\u2019re the guy working Tuesday nights; right?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cYes.\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cWhere did you work before you worked here?\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cThis is my first time working at a radio station.\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cReally?\u201d\u00a0 He said, \u201cWell, you\u2019re pretty good.\u201d\u00a0 Well, I could take you to the spot where I heard those words.\u00a0 Here I am, talking on the radio all these years later, maybe, because Gary Chew said, \u201cYou\u2019re pretty good.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, he was recognizing something that was obvious.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, you\u2019re kind.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 No.\u00a0 Well, I mean, you were good back then, undoubtedly; and ultimately, those words fueled something that was within you.\u00a0 You were already gifted to be able to make a difference.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Have you had a minute like that in your life that comes to mind?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, it\u2019s interesting.\u00a0 Let\u2019s introduce our guest, Wess.\u00a0 Wess, welcome back to the broadcast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 It\u2019s good to be back.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Your book, <em>Just a Minute, <\/em>is stimulating a lot of thoughts in Bob\u2019s mind and mine, too.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019re all little boys again.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, really.\u00a0 No doubt about it.\u00a0 Wess is the President of Compassion International.\u00a0 He\u2019s an author, a speaker, has written a number of books.\u00a0 This latest one, <em>Just a Minute,<\/em> really talks about the power that we have in the life of children, how we can impact them for good and for bad.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe one that I thought of was not a good one.\u00a0 You\u2019ve heard me tell it here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 It was my typing teacher, who had good reason to say what she said, most likely, because I was a stinker in her class.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 What grade was this?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I think this was a senior in high school.\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 It\u2019s interesting that the class that caused me so much pain, typing\u2014that I would still use today.\u00a0 Thank God for Mrs. Whittington.\u00a0 I mean, seriously; you know?\u00a0 I got a \u201cC\u201d, and here\u2019s how I got a \u201cC\u201d.\u00a0 I had an \u201cA\u201d on speed.\u00a0 I figured this out, \u201cIf you had an \u2018A\u2019 on speed, which was 60\/70 words a minute, you could make an \u2018F\u2019 on errors and still pass the tests.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 You can land in the middle.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You really can.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think Mrs. Whittington appreciated that a whole lot.\u00a0 One day in class, she pointed her bony finger at me\u2014and I think rightly so\u2014probably calling me out a bit.\u00a0 She said, \u201cDennis Rainey, you will never amount to anything.\u201d\u00a0 When I graduated from college and I went back to the little town of Ozark, Missouri, a town of 1350 people back then\u2014.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Did you look up Mrs. Whittington at that time?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I went over to her house.\u00a0 (Knock, knock, knock) \u201cMrs. Whittington, do you remember me?\u201d\u00a0 There was this look like, \u201cHow could I ever forget you?\u201d\u00a0 I just looked at her and I said, \u201cMrs. Whittington, I want you to know I just graduated from college.\u201d\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say it but I was thinking it, \u201cAnd I want you to know, I <em>will<\/em> amount to something.\u201d\u00a0 I did tell her that I was going to go work with high school students.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTo your point, those words, those minutes, can be profound; and you really can turn it into lemonade.\u00a0 I mean, your life is lemonade today, out of some pretty tough stuff.\u00a0 One of the areas you kind of lump a bunch of stories around\u2014there are 68 stories in your book\u2014is the area of building character in a child\u2019s life.\u00a0 You tell the story about\u2014was it a father and son that went fishing?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 A father and son are going fishing.\u00a0 It\u2019s the day before the actual opening of the bass season.\u00a0 They are out fishing.\u00a0 They\u2019re catching little other things\u2014little crappies, little bluegills, and such.\u00a0 The son changes his bait, just kind of practice his casting.\u00a0 Wham!\u00a0 He gets a hit on a very big fish.\u00a0 His father watches with admiration as the little boy reels the fish in to the dock that they\u2019re sitting on.\u00a0 When they pull it out and look at it, it\u2019s a bass!\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, it is 10:00 in the evening.\u00a0 Bass fishing season doesn\u2019t start until midnight, but it\u2019s the biggest bass that either one of them have ever seen.\u00a0 The father lights a match, looks at his watch and says, \u201cSon, you\u2019re going to have to throw him back.\u201d\u00a0 The son said, \u201cDad!\u00a0 It\u2019s the biggest fish we\u2019ve ever seen!\u00a0 There\u2019s nobody around.\u00a0 Nobody will know.\u201d\u00a0 The dad said, \u201cPut him back, son\u201d; and he let the fish go.\u00a0 He went on to become an engineer in New York.\u00a0 He says, \u201cYou know, I never forgot that fish, and I never forgot integrity.\u00a0 That fish shows up every time I try to fudge a deadline, anytime I fudge a budget.\u00a0 That fish has guided the rest of my life in integrity.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 How many parents have had the moment, when they\u2019re buying tickets for the theater or the kids\u2019 meal is for kids ages 2 through 11, and you\u2019re sitting, looking at your rather small 12-year-old who just turned 12 two weeks ago.\u00a0 You\u2019re thinking, \u201cThis is a $3 decision.\u00a0 If I can just say, \u2018He\u2019s 11,\u2019 you can get the break.\u201d\u2014but $3?\u00a0 Is our integrity worth $3?\u00a0 Is it worth a big fish?\u00a0 Those are the issues we\u2019re really asking here.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 The point I make in the book is you never know when you\u2019re making a memory.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, I\u2019m thinking of a story that was told here on <em>FamilyLife Today.<\/em>\u00a0 We\u2019ll leave the person\u2019s name anonymous\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The guilty party.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014but he\u2019s a seminary professor.\u00a0 He has two PhD\u2019s, and he teaches theology.\u00a0 He teaches godliness.\u00a0 They went to the fair, and they were pulling in like you\u2019re talking about.\u00a0 He looked at the sign; and the guy asked him, \u201cHow old are your girls?\u201d\u00a0 He lied about the ages of his girls, paid their way in to the fair, and went in there.\u00a0 As they\u2019re finishing their drive on into the fair to park their car, there was this little voice in the back seat that said, \u201cDaddy, I\u2019m not 12 years old.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHere\u2019s this great guy, great theologian.\u00a0 It\u2019s like the Spirit of God goes, \u201cGo correct it.\u201d\u00a0 He turned around, backed up and admitted his mistake, and paid the guy.\u00a0 Which, who knows?\u00a0 Maybe those lessons end up being more power\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Just as powerful, or maybe more powerful.\u00a0 Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Maybe more powerful, as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 You tell the story about Coach Tony Dungy\u2014a fishing story about him in the book; don\u2019t you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 It\u2019s another fishing story, yes.\u00a0 His father, who was a very quiet scientist man, took Tony and his younger brother out fishing.\u00a0 He was teaching them how to cast out of the boat.\u00a0 When all of a sudden, his father says, \u201cLyndon, now hold very, very still.\u00a0 You want to keep track of two things when you\u2019re casting\u2014\u201cWhere is your pole?\u201d, and, \u201cWhere is everyone else around you?\u201d\u00a0 Tony looked up to see his father, as he was speaking so calmly, pulling the fish hook out of his ear, as he was calmly teaching his son how to cast.\u00a0 (Laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, later on, you see this man at the side of the football field in the heat of battle.\u00a0 It\u2019s just like a fish hook in the ear.\u00a0 He learned, in that minute, two things.\u00a0 He says, \u201cI learned to stay calm in the midst of confusion, and I learned to communicate clearly.\u201d\u00a0 There are stories like that all through the book.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You also tell a story about a little boy whose name was Adolf, whose character was shaped in a negative direction.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, like we said, just as easily you can destroy the life of a child.\u00a0 This little boy\u2019s story is Adolf Hitler.\u00a0 If you understand what happened to Adolf Hitler when he was 11 years old, while it\u2019s unforgiveable what he did, you can actually make some sense of the path that would lead a man to that point.\u00a0 Adolf Hitler grew up in a very confused home.\u00a0 His mother was a church-goer.\u00a0 He used to sing in the choir; but his father was a government administrator, a customs official, a drunkard, a very, very violent man.\u00a0 Adolf\u2019s older brother was the focus of a great deal of abuse and beating.\u00a0 He finally ran away from home when he was 14 years old.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAdolf was the next in line, and so the beatings fell his direction.\u00a0 When he was 11 years old, his father got word\u2014wind, somehow, that he, too, was going to run away.\u00a0 He locked Adolf Hitler in the upstairs room in the tavern that they were living in.\u00a0 Adolf was desperate to run away.\u00a0 He stripped off his clothes and was completely naked as he tried to slide between the bars in the window when he heard his father coming up the steps.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t know which direction to go.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe had already thrown his clothes out onto the ground.\u00a0 He had to grab a tablecloth, and he wrapped it around himself.\u00a0 There he stood, shivering in his fear, as the door opened.\u00a0 His father, this time, instead of beating him, simply called down to the people downstairs, \u201cHey, everybody!\u00a0 You want to see something?\u00a0 Come up and see my toga boy.\u201d\u00a0 Adolf Hitler determined in that moment, \u201cI will not be laughed at.\u00a0 I will not be abused.\u00a0 I will lead any environment in which I find myself.\u00a0 I will not be that kind of vulnerable.\u201d\u00a0 He went on to become this amazing tyrant.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wess, you experienced that kind of abuse toward a child, growing up, that Hitler experienced as a boy.\u00a0 What is it that causes one person to move in a direction where that fuels a righteous anger versus that fueling a selfish, unrighteous anger?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 The only answer I can give you is my own personal experience.\u00a0 It is simply God\u2019s grace.\u00a0 I believe God had a purpose for that, ironically.\u00a0 I used to think, \u201cWhere\u2019s my guardian angel?\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Have I been issued the laziest guardian angel in heaven?\u201d\u00a0 As I got older, I began to realize, \u201cI\u2019m sure my guardian angel ran to the Father, all the time and said, \u2018Don\u2019t You see what he\u2019s going through?\u00a0 Don\u2019t You feel this?\u2019\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI think now, in retrospect, God said, \u201cI do, but I\u2019m building something here.\u00a0 He needs this in order to be the champion for children, to be the man that I\u2019m asking him to grow up to be.\u201d\u00a0 I now recognize it as grace.\u00a0 In the writing of the first book, <em>Too Small to Ignore,<\/em> up to that point, I had been looking at the wrong side of the tapestry\u2014all the knots and tangles\u2014the ugliness, as Adolf Hitler.\u00a0 God allowed me to turn the tapestry around.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat kind of pain takes you down one of two roads, as we said.\u00a0 It can either make you give up on life, or it can make you absolutely fight to prove that person wrong.\u00a0 Adolf Hitler took that path.\u00a0 As I see now, ironically, many Christian leaders and leaders all across\u2014I rub shoulders with these guys now.\u00a0 They have said, \u201cIf someone said, \u2018You\u2019re stupid,\u2019 well now they\u2019ve got three PhD\u2019s.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 Why did they do that?\u2014to prove that person wrong.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThey said, \u201cYou\u2019re fat,\u201d and now they work out at the gym; and they\u2019re all fit.\u00a0 Where did that come from?\u00a0 What they have done is allowed that person to put them in a prison of its own that says, \u201cI will prove them wrong.\u201d\u00a0 Ironically, that causes people to rise high.\u00a0 We reward people who work harder than anybody else, who speak up more powerfully than anyone else.\u00a0 You find these guys at the top of these pinnacles, often; but when you get one-to-one and you get quiet and confidential with one another, you discover there\u2019s desperation in some of the top leaders, that you ever find.\u00a0 It is in response to great pain.\u00a0 They are proving that person wrong.\u00a0 The sad thing is, when you get up to the top, it\u2019s pretty lonely up there.\u00a0 You may discover that this ladder that you have fought your way, taken on every windmill along the way, is leaning up against a pretty pointless wall.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I have a buddy who would listen to your story, and he would have a difficult time picturing the guardian angel going to the Father.\u00a0 I guess what I want to ask you, because you can uniquely speak about this, not only from your own life of having had terrible evil done to you, but you travel the world.\u00a0 Children are being abused by evil in country after country around the world\u2014horrific things, hellish things.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 Unspeakable.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, unspeakable.\u00a0 How do you rationalize your way that the Bible speaks of our God being a sovereign God\u2014Who is ruling in the affairs of men and nations\u2014when a child, a helpless little child, doesn\u2019t have somebody there to push back against evil\u2014but the evil is defining him and is preying upon him?\u00a0 How do you work that through because you, undoubtedly, have images that push up against that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 I do.\u00a0 I recognize what, I think, is going on in the world.\u00a0 As I said in the first book, children are often at the end of the line, the least important.\u00a0 They are the weakest, the most vulnerable.\u00a0 Anything evil that happens in the world finds its way down on their little heads.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tMy understanding of what\u2019s going on is\u2014I believe that, over every child, there is a battle raging between heaven and hell.\u00a0 Satan is in the business, I think, of breaking God\u2019s heart.\u00a0 I think he watched creation.\u00a0 I think he watched all of the steps of it\u2014until the last day, day six, he sees God\u2014not just speak man into existence, but fashion him with His own hands, and then breathe His own breath into him.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe must have said, \u201cAha. There\u2019s the chink in God\u2019s armor.\u00a0 He loves mankind.\u00a0 If I want to break God\u2019s heart, I go after what He loves most.\u00a0 Now, when is the best time to attack?\u201d\u00a0 He\u2019s discovered that the best time to attack is the sooner, the better.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThat\u2019s why I maintain that the womb has become the most dangerous place on the planet to be a child, either because of poverty or because of inconvenience.\u00a0 Either way, it\u2019s a miracle to survive the womb.\u00a0 Then, early childhood\u2014they are incredibly vulnerable to these moments because, I think, Satan understands, \u201cIf I can destroy them and their sense of worth before they\u2019re five years old, ten years old, I probably don\u2019t have to worry about them the rest of the time.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI don\u2019t understand fully the sovereignty of God.\u00a0 I can\u2019t understand it in my life.\u00a0 I can look at me, who was abused as viciously as anyone I know, and I can see that out of that, God was working something good.\u00a0 By faith, I believe that all things do work together for good.\u00a0 I am convinced, that when I walk into Heaven with all of those kinds of questions, that the first words out of my mouth aren\u2019t going to be, \u201cGod, I\u2019ve got some questions for You!\u201d\u00a0 I think the first words out of my mouth are going to be, \u201cOh-h-h.\u00a0 That\u2019s why!\u201d\u00a0 We are going to understand that, in the mystery, in the darkness, God was working out everything to His glory.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 And back to Bob\u2019s question he asked you a few moments ago.\u00a0 As a result, you\u2019re not a victim.\u00a0 You\u2019re not going to live the rest of your life blaming other people for your condition, trying to punish them, find ways to get back at them.\u00a0 Instead, you\u2019re going to learn to love the God\u2014Who does rule in the affairs of men, and nations, and children\u2014and yield to Him, and experience that grace.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe Gospel of Jesus Christ is about God forgiving us, and then putting that love in our hearts, and then beginning to tutor us over our lifetimes so that we learn how to love, as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Wess:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Frankly, you can\u2019t do that in your own strength.\u00a0 Only God can do that in your heart and in your life.\u00a0 I\u2019m a testimony to that.\u00a0 I don\u2019t know\u2014I could go out in a parking lot and snipe people with a rifle.\u00a0 A good attorney would get me off.\u00a0 They\u2019d say, \u201cWell, of course, that\u2019s what he does.\u00a0 Look where he came from.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI don\u2019t know if you saw the story last fall of a judge, in an absolute rage, grabbed his 16-year-old handicapped child and beat her with a belt.\u00a0 I saw that; and you wonder, \u201cSo, Wess, are you okay after all of that?\u201d because I had that 17 times a week, if you remember that.\u00a0 I can tell you how it is a daily fight because my pulse, which is normally 45\u2014I\u2019m quite fit for a guy my age\u2014as I watched that beating, it raced to 145\u2014just reliving that moment, vicariously, and seeing what went on there.\u00a0 It is a battle.\u00a0 It is a day-by-day moment of reminding yourself, \u201cYou have forgiven,\u201d and reminding yourself that, \u201cGod is good today, and I can trust Him with my life.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I was having this conversation with my friend; and he says, \u201cI just don\u2019t know how you can believe the way you believe.\u201d\u00a0 I said, \u201cYou know, here\u2019s the thing.\u00a0 If I\u2019m left with a God who\u2019s not in charge, that makes me crazier than trying to deal with these unanswered questions that also cause me to scratch my head, as well.\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI mean, I don\u2019t have all the answers for this; but the Bible does teach clearly our God is in charge.\u00a0 He\u2019s either ruling\u2014100 percent sovereign and He knows what\u2019s going on.\u00a0 I don\u2019t understand how evil occurs, how He allows it, but He does.\u00a0 We have the promise of Scripture that if we love Him, He\u2019ll use it for His good.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The Bible also teaches that we can have an impact in the lives of those around us.\u00a0 In fact, that\u2019s what God wants us to do.\u00a0 He wants us to be involved as agents, as ambassadors of reconciliation.\u00a0 He wants us to be blessing those around us.\u00a0 That\u2019s what\u2019s at the heart of the book that Wess Stafford has written, called <em>Just a Minute. <\/em>\u00a0 It\u2019s about how we can have an impact in the lives of children who cross our paths, by taking just a minute, and by being intentional, and being purposeful.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn fact, there are three little girls at church.\u00a0 I think they\u2019re probably three or four years old.\u00a0 At the end of church every week, these three little girls come running up to me.\u00a0 I get down, and I give them big hugs.\u00a0 I thank them for coming up and giving me hugs, and I tell them how special they are.\u00a0 They love it.\u00a0 They love getting their hug every week.\u00a0 That kind of thing is going to stick with them.\u00a0 That\u2019s something that, for whatever reason, they\u2019ll remember\u2014getting hugs from that man.\u00a0 They may not even remember who I am\u2014but that man who used to hug them after church every Sunday.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe point is, \u201cAre we being intentional like that in the life of a child?\u201d\u00a0 That\u2019s what you call us to do in the book, which is called <em>Just a Minute. <\/em>\u00a0 We have copies of the book in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center.\u00a0 I want to encourage listeners\u2014go online at FamilyLifeToday.com for more information about Wess Stafford\u2019s book, <em>Just a Minute, <\/em>\u00a0about how you can bless and affirm the children around you, whether they\u2019re your children or somebody else\u2019s child.\u00a0 Again, the title of the book is <em>Just a Minute.<\/em><em>\u00a0 <\/em>Go to FamilyLifeToday.com for more information; or call toll-free at 1-800 \u201cF\u201d as in Family, \u201cL\u201d as in Life, and then the word, \u201cTODAY\u201d.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd if you\u2019d like more information about child sponsorship for Compassion International, the organization that Wess gives leadership to, we have a link on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 Find out how you can sponsor a child who is in need, somewhere in the world\u2014just click on the link to Compassion International when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com; and get the information available there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI should also take a minute and just say, \u201cThanks,\u201d to those of you who have a heart of generosity.\u00a0 We know you do because a number of you help support <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> by making donations from time to time; and some of you are Legacy Partners, monthly donors to the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today.<\/em>\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn fact, this month, we\u2019re asking our listeners to consider signing up and becoming Legacy Partners.\u00a0 We\u2019re hoping that one family in each city where <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is heard would step forward and say, \u201cWe\u2019d like to sign on as new Legacy Partners.\u201d\u00a0 If we did that, we\u2019d have 1,100 new Legacy Partners because that\u2019s the number of cities where <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is heard.\u00a0 Actually, we\u2019re hoping that in some of those cities, instead of one family, it will be two families.\u00a0 We\u2019re hoping to get to 1,500 new Legacy Partners this month.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe have a thermometer on our website that tells you how we\u2019re doing toward that goal.\u00a0 If you sign on as a Legacy Partner, we\u2019ll send you a welcome kit that has some resources for you\u2014a couple of travel mugs, with the FamilyLife logo on them, and a special CD of a conversation Dennis and I had recently on the characteristics of spiritually-strong marriages and families.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn addition, throughout the year, we\u2019ll make new resources available to you each month as a Legacy Partner.\u00a0 We want to help strengthen your marriage and your family.\u00a0 To find out how to become a Legacy Partner, go to FamilyLifeToday.com and click on the link that says, \u201cBecome a Legacy Partner\u201d; or call 1-800-FL-TODAY for more information.\u00a0 I want to say, \u201cThanks,\u201d in advance to those of you who sign up and join with us.\u00a0 Glad to have you on the team, and we appreciate your support of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we want to encourage you to be back with us again tomorrow.\u00a0 Wess Stafford is going to be here again, and we\u2019re going to continue talking about how we can bless the children in our lives and in our world.\u00a0 I hope you can tune in for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\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 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\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 2012 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 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\t1\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/302479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=302479"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=302479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=302479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=302479"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=302479"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=302479"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=302479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}