{"id":304254,"date":"2016-11-16T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-11-16T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/a-look-inside-family-court\/"},"modified":"2016-11-16T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-11-16T17:00:00","slug":"a-look-inside-family-court","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/a-look-inside-family-court\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look Inside Family Court"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tim Philpot, a circuit judge in family court in Lexington, KY, reveals what it&#8217;s like to be a judge, presiding where nearly 90% of cases involve unmarried couples.<\/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\/fl2016-11-16.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"26.53M","filesize_raw":"27813954","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2818,2812,2863],"tags":[6124,6122,6125,6123,6121,6120,6128,6127,6126],"podcast_series":[8176],"cwp_profile":[9434],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-304254","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-adoption-and-orphans","category-realities-of-divorce","category-saving-a-marriage","tag-circuit-court-judge","tag-divorce-court","tag-family-court","tag-family-court-judge","tag-family-law","tag-family-law-court","tag-man-of-the-law","tag-pro-marriage","tag-unmarried-couples","podcast_series-irretrievably-broken","cwp_profile-tim-philpot","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\/304254\/a-look-inside-family-court","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/304254\/a-look-inside-family-court","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=\"jWXpIE1uVW\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/a-look-inside-family-court\/\">A Look Inside Family Court<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/a-look-inside-family-court\/embed\/#?secret=jWXpIE1uVW\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;A Look Inside Family Court&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"jWXpIE1uVW\" 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":"Tim Philpot, a circuit judge in family court in Lexington, KY, reveals what it's like to be a judge, presiding where nearly 90% of cases involve unmarried couples.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2016-11-16.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Tim Philpot is a judge in Kentucky. He presides over disputes that happen in families\u2014he\u2019s a family court judge.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Family court is something kind of new\u2014a special court just for family\u2014if you think about the greatest oxymoron, perhaps, in the history of the world\u2014think about it\u2014family court. Approximately half of all the litigation in Kentucky has to do with families. We\u2019ve messed up family so much that we now need special courts.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Wednesday, November 16<sup>th<\/sup>. Our host is the President of FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae<\/sup>, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine. We\u2019ll hear today from Tim Philpot about what it\u2019s like to hear domestic disputes trying to be settled in a court of law, day in and day out. It\u2019s tough. Stay with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>1:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. Thanks for joining us. I was a little surprised. I thought you said we would never have a Kentucky Wildcat on <em>FamilyLife Today.<\/em> Wasn\u2019t that what you said back when we got started?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Did I really say that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u201cNo Wildcat,\u201d\u2014that\u2019s what I thought. [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>I\u2019ve been to Rupp Arena and followed my team there. It was one of the most embarrassing\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014lopsided.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>\u201440 minutes of execution that I\u2019ve ever seen in all my life.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014or lack of execution.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>They spanked us! It was absolutely <em>horrific<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut we decided to open our doors of grace, here at <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>, and invite a Kentucky Wildcat. Tim Philpot joins us on the broadcast. Tim, welcome to Hog-land. [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Dennis, thank you \/ thank you. You\u2019re welcome back to Rupp Arena any time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>I\u2019ll be happy to go back there, but I want to have a team the next time we go back there; because we didn\u2019t the last time I went there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>2:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tTim is going to be one of the first\u2014maybe, the first judge that we\u2019ve ever had, here on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>I cannot think of another judge. In fact, I kind of wondered\u2014and you can ask Tim about this\u2014but I didn\u2019t think you guys were allowed to talk about what goes on in the courtroom. I thought this was\u2014you know\u2014you kind of had to\u2014I\u2019m thinking about the Supreme Court justices. They\u2019re supposed to keep their mouths shut; of course, they don\u2019t anymore, so\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Right. No; we can talk\u2014there\u2019s nothing that stops us from talking. My book is fiction\u2014so that helps a little bit. Of course, it\u2019s based on reality in many ways; but we\u2019re free to talk.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Well, Tim married Susan back in 1971. He\u2019s a little bit ahead of Barbara and me in terms of number of years married. He is the judge of Fayette Circuit County Court. Is that in Lexington proper?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Right. I\u2019m a circuit judge in family court\u2014is the way that we say. And we live in Fayette County, which is Lexington, Kentucky.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>He has quite a background here. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>3:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe has spoken in over 66 countries; he is the former president of Christian Businessmen\u2019s Committee International; and has written a book called <em>Judge Z: Irretrievably Broken<\/em>. It\u2019s a novel about a judge in a family court and the death of marriage in America.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe first place I want to begin is really kind of where you start in the book. You actually take us to a term I\u2019d never heard of, called \u201cMotion Hour.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Okay.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Motion Hour. I want to read this, and then I want you to explain to our listeners what motion hour is; but this just kind of sets the table for how interesting your court must be: \u201cIf television had not been invented, <em>Motion Hour<\/em> would be the greatest show in town. It would be Lexington, Kentucky\u2019s, version of the Coliseum, with crowds gathered to watch mortal combat. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>4:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cJudge Z would be as well-known as Judge Judy. Instead, he was just another judge in another courtroom on another crazy Friday morning in family court.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo what is Motion Hour?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Well, in family court, there are six or seven different parts to it. Anything that feels like family is what we do\u2014that includes all domestic violence cases; it includes what we call DNA court, which is dependency, neglect, and abuse cases, which are the horrific stuff\u2014where we\u2019re taking children away from their parents, putting them with relatives or foster care. Of course, it\u2019s also all the divorce cases, and all the custody and time-sharing. I say custody and time-sharing because about 80 to 90 percent of the cases are actually\u2014even with children\u2014are for couples that are not married. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>5:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJust your pure divorce case, even, is almost kind of rare now in family court. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis Motion Hour has always been interesting; because once a week, if you want something in your case\u2014a lawyer wants to kick somebody out of a house, or has child support \/ somebody\u2019s not doing what they\u2019re supposed to do\u2014you file a motion. You notice the motion for a certain time and place, and it\u2019s always the same time and place every single week. Once a week, all the lawyers in town show up. When the judge walks in, which is me, there are over a hundred people in the courtroom waiting on their case to be heard.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>And you say it has to be a pretty good-sized room because you have to be able to split\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Yes; we have extra sheriffs there, because this is family court. Believe it or not, I think family court has more emotion and potential for difficulty than even criminal court does.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>You\u2019ve been on the bench 12 years.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>And you\u2019ve seen a lot of stuff come through, but you just said something under your breath\u2014you just kind of sped by it and through it\u2014that I want to unpack here for a second. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>6:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou said, \u201cWe don\u2019t see nearly as many divorce cases in the courtroom as we used to.\u201d What\u2019s with that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Nobody gets married\u2014I mean, it\u2019s only a slight exaggeration. The things that happen in family court\u2014domestic violence, neglect and abuse of children, child support, paying for those children, paternity \/ figuring out who the father is\u2014those are all things that have absolutely nothing to do with marriage. We have a whole generation of people now\u2014younger people and even some older people by now\u2014who don\u2019t have any sense that marriage is part of this whole thing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAll the legal rights that people have, unmarried, are really the same as married. Marriage is, legally, virtually irrelevant anymore. It doesn\u2019t matter if you\u2019re married or not\u2014you\u2019re still going to get the same basic rights to child support \/ the same basic rights to time-sharing with your children. Being married\u2014that piece of paper called marriage is virtually irrelevant.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>7:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Does that really trouble you, as a judge, and as someone looking out for your country?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Well, it does. That\u2019s why I started to write the book. I was in practice law for a long time. I was in the state senate for eight years, and I had an opportunity to go into full-time ministry with this CBMC International. I thought this would be fantastic \/ I really thought I would do it forever; but after seven years of that, I realized that it was time for me to go back to my real life, which was my legal career.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI literally wrote in my journal, as I was in the process of going back to Lexington and going back to my legal career, I asked the Lord \u201cto put me in the middle of the mess.\u201d When I wrote those words, I\u2019d never even heard of family court; because family court is something kind of new. It came in about 2001\/2002 in Kentucky\u2014a special court just for family. If you think about the greatest oxymoron\u2014perhaps, in the history of the world\u2014think about it\u2014family court. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>8:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t\u201cGod puts the lonely in families,\u201d Psalm 68 says. But we\u2019ve messed up family so much that we now need special courts. Approximately half of all the litigation in Kentucky has to do with families. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>One half of all litigation\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Absolutely.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014are family disputes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>You\u2019re talking about all the corporations?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>\u2014criminal, civil. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>It\u2019s family.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Right. We have nine circuit judges in Lexington that deal with all the legal issues in Fayette County, Kentucky. Four of the nine do nothing but family\u2014so that\u2019s 44 percent\u2014but I can tell you\u2014I think our family court judges are busier than the other judges; so I\u2019m rounding it off and saying approximately half of all the legal disputes that are going on are inside the family.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen I said, \u201cLord, put me in the middle of the mess,\u201d\u2014it\u2019s a long story, and the details don\u2019t matter\u2014but He put me in family court. I was appointed to be a judge in family court in January of 2004, about three months after I\u2019d written that in my journal. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>9:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHere I am, in the middle of family court. I finally got so frustrated\u2014that\u2019s not, maybe, the perfect word\u2014but so disappointed, I suppose, in the fact that marriage seemed to have disappeared off the face of the earth, that I decided to write a book about marriage, trying to establish, \u201cWhat is marriage, and why is it important?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>You actually have a sentence in the book that just <em>stopped<\/em> me. You said that the state of Kentucky didn\u2019t have the definition of what a marriage was until 1998.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Right. I don\u2019t think any state did\u2014probably, because\u2014we didn\u2019t have definitions before for the same reason you don\u2019t define \u201cred\u201d in a statute \/ you don\u2019t define \u201cblue\u201d in a statute.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>It\u2019s a given.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>We know what it is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>We thought we knew what marriage was\u2014there was no reason to define it\u2014but then everybody got worried on the same-sex issue; and therefore we said, \u201cWell, we need to define it as being between a man and a woman.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>10:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo we did do that. But once you get past \u201ca man and a woman,\u201d we really didn\u2019t know what it was; and we still don\u2019t know exactly what it is. If you look at the definition in all 50 states, it\u2019s the same. It\u2019ll say something that really makes no sense at all. It\u2019s the kind of words that would never be repeated at a wedding. It talks about the civil status, and it\u2019s just a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo. People laugh when I read it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe Lord was good, though\u2014He put me in the middle of this mess. As I say very often, the greatest tragedy in the world is not that gay people want to get married\u2014the greatest tragedy is that straight people don\u2019t want to get married.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>When did it start to dawn on you, \u201cThis really is a pivotal issue for us as a civilization\u201d? Did you realize that from the start, or did that become a growing awareness for you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Very much definitely a growing awareness. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>11:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI would say that my life has been completely turned upside-down and transformed over the last four or five years. It started with some spiritual transformation inside of me. What happened is that, when I became a judge, I did get a better picture of God than I\u2019d ever had before. I now have a whole sermon I can preach on the three main images of God: God is your judge, first of all, which is where most people start. He\u2019s the judge who, because of Jesus\u2019 death on the cross, has declared that you\u2019re free if you just believe and \u201ctrust in Me.\u201d The problem with the judge image is that, when the judge says you\u2019re free, he then says, \u201cYou\u2019re free to go.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>So you walk out, and you do not get to <em>know<\/em> the judge. If I know somebody, personally, I\u2019m not allowed to be their judge. I\u2019m convinced that most people who go to church and call themselves Christians only know this God, who is their judge, which means they don\u2019t really know Him at all. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo there\u2019s a second metaphor that\u2019s better; and that\u2019s the metaphor of God as your Father. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>12:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt brings family into the picture\u2014a much better image. In fact, it\u2019s quite interesting\u2014 isn\u2019t it?\u2014that in the Book of Genesis, there was no law. There was no law in the Book of Genesis. The Ten Commandments came later. Genesis is a family story. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn fact, Noah is kind of the hero of my book\u2014I thought I\u2019d just throw that out for somebody who wants to buy the book and figure out what that means. Hebrews 11:7 has become perhaps my favorite verse, at least this year. It says that \u201cNoah, in holy fear, built an ark to save his family,\u201d\u2014just that simple. So I love to say to people, \u201cI don\u2019t know what that looks like for you, but you need to build an ark to save your family.\u201d I think I\u2019ve concluded that the holiest, most wonderful thing anybody can do is do whatever it takes\u2014build an ark\u2014to save your family. That\u2019s just a key.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>13:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo this family idea, built into the idea that God is your <em>Father<\/em>, is way better than God as your <em>judge<\/em>. But even then, it has its downside; because many people have bad fathers \/ many people have no fathers\u2014so even that image is nonsensical to a lot of folks. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut there\u2019s a third image that I\u2019d never thought about until I became a judge\u2014never even had this thought in my life\u2014which is simply that God is my husband \/ God is my lover. It\u2019s the whole nuptial idea of our relationship with God, which takes it to a whole level of intimacy that I had never experienced in my life, really, until the last five years. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019m 65 years old. I met Christ as my Savior when I was a freshman in college. I\u2019ve served Him, I\u2019ve followed Him, I\u2019ve left my profession to be in full-time ministry a couple of times, I\u2019ve led lots of people to Christ and done a lot of good things, I suppose. But I think, for about 40 years, my level of intimacy with Christ has just been something I knew was not quite there \/ what I wanted. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>14:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI didn\u2019t understand what <em>love<\/em> is. I think I\u2019m finally starting to figure it out. I tell people, \u201cMy book is not really about marriage, or divorce, or family; at the end of the day, my book really is about Love, with a big capital \u2018L.\u2019\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Now, what you just said is pretty profound. I mean, you\u2019ve been around for a while\u2014four decades of being in various kinds of ministry\u2014but to say that the discovery of God, as the lover of your soul, transformed your life\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Yes; yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>\u2014so, do your best to explain to our listeners the <em>essence<\/em> of what has captured your heart.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Well, people ask me if the stories in my book are true. I smile, and look at everybody, and wink, and say, \u201cIt is fiction.\u201d But I say: \u201cI will admit that one story in the book is true. It\u2019s where I take the judge in the book on a trip to India,\u201d\u2014very much a true story for me \/ happened about five years ago. I was invited to go and participate in a wedding there. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>15:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI had boycotted weddings for many years. I\u2019ve always said: \u201cI hate weddings, because they\u2019re usually on Saturday when I want to play golf. Plus, I end up crying at the wedding; and I hate to cry, and I like to play golf, so I don\u2019t go to weddings.\u201d I did not go to weddings for about 20 years. [Laughter] I got convicted, though, when I started thinking all these thoughts\u2014I decided, \u201cI need to go when I\u2019m invited to a wedding.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tA dear friend in India said, \u201cPlease come,\u201d so I did. It was wonderful; but on the Sunday morning, after the wedding, I found myself at a little country church in India\u2014a little nowhere place. There were about 50\/60 people there. There were some children there, who were HIV positive, from a little group home. There were a few couples from the village, and there were some destitute women. I call them destitute women\u2014they were about seven or eight ladies, who live in a home there, who\u2019d been kicked out by their families. They were all either HIV positive, blind, otherwise\u2014as poor as you can get.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>16:00 <\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI was told to preach a little sermon. I was about 15 minutes into a pitiful sermon when one of the ladies from the back, who was HIV positive and destitute\u2014she just came down, because she was tired of hearing me talk. She was ready for me to pray for her. The lady that was interpreting for me\u2014she told me the lady wanted me to pray for her. I kind of wrapped up my sermon, because I could tell nobody was paying much attention anyway. I went to the back. These ladies took their shawl, and they pulled them up over their head, which is what they do in India. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThey expected me, because I was this guy from America\u2014and they presumed I was some kind of preacher\u2014you know, I just wanted to say: \u201cYou don\u2019t understand. I\u2019m a <em>lawyer<\/em> \/ I\u2019m a <em>judge<\/em>. You don\u2019t want me praying for you!\u201d [Laughter] \u201cI\u2019m the guy that signs divorce papers every day. I\u2019m the guy that takes children away from their parents. I\u2019m not this holy man you think I am.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>17:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI laid my hands on the first lady and I began to pray for her, and didn\u2019t know what to say\u2014I said: \u201cLord, this lady loves You. Bless her. I don\u2019t know what she needs today, but be with her,\u201d\u2014typical American kind of stupid prayer. My interpreter wandered away to take care of some kids. I was left alone with these women. By the fourth lady, I found myself\u2014I could not pray for the ladies anymore \/ I heard myself praying for <em>me<\/em>. I was saying: \u201cDear Lord, this lady loves You. This lady has something that I don\u2019t have. Would You please give me just a little bit of whatever she has?\u201d I began to weep, and they didn\u2019t even know anything was happening to me. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI describe that really as the day when my heart began to change, because the Lord answered that prayer. I began to understand love. I <em>felt<\/em> love, but it was more than a feeling. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>18:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEverything I read in the Bible \/ everything I read, as I was studying marriage and trying to figure out, \u201cWhat is marriage?\u201d began to make more sense to me.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI developed this love relationship with God over the last four or five years. Part of it was researching\/writing this book; but it all started, right there, with those little ladies in India. They can\u2019t read or write \/ they don\u2019t read the Bible like we do; but they know God, and they love God, and they know that they know His love. I learned a lot from some little ladies in India, who don\u2019t even know they\u2019ve taught me anything.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>I have to believe there is more than one listener, right now, who is just introspecting, going, \u201cI wonder if I have a relationship with God like those ladies have?\u201d It\u2019s tough to maintain that kind of relationship in such a culture of affluence, with so many choices and so many distractions.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>It is.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>19:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>But, Tim, I\u2019d like you to pray, here, for that listener.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>Sure.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis: <\/strong>Maybe they don\u2019t know God\u2014maybe, it\u2019s just that story and what you\u2019ve kind of explained\u2014that the Judge wants to become your Father \/ then, He wants to start a lifetime love relationship with you. There\u2019s somebody listening who doesn\u2019t know how that begins. Would you pray for them as they place their faith in Christ to begin that journey?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Tim: <\/strong>I\u2019d love to do that \/ let me do that. Let me say, before I do that, that this way of thinking has changed the way that I do evangelism. I mean, it\u2019s changed the way that I talk to people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJohn the Baptist\u2014they asked him, \u201cAre you the Messiah? Who are you, exactly?\u201d He says, \u201cI\u2019m just the best man at a wedding.\u201d He didn\u2019t say, \u201cI\u2019m some crazy guy out here.\u201d He didn\u2019t say, \u201cI\u2019m a prophet,\u201d or \u201cI\u2019m the guy that baptizes everybody.\u201d He says: \u201cI\u2019m just the best man at a wedding. The groom is here.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>20:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis family picture\u2014Jesus\u2019 first miracle was at a <em>wedding<\/em> in Cana of Galilee \/ John 2\u2014John the Baptist in John 3. You get all the way through, really, the entire Bible, and it\u2019s just one big love story\u2014one big wedding \/ one big marriage between God Himself and us. My prayer will be for anybody, who\u2019s listening, that kind of knows God as Judge or knows Him as even a Father, that they will be able to begin to understand that God really is their Lover. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me pray:\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLord, we thank You that our life with You is a journey. There are things at 65 that we can understand that we didn\u2019t seem to be able to understand when we were 25 or 35. So I thank You, Lord, for the journey. I know there are some things when I\u2019m 85 that I may understand that I\u2019m clueless on today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI know that our country is full of men and women, who have trusted You as their Savior, but they\u2019re still trying to find out what a love relationship with You really looks like. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>21:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLord, it\u2019s a miracle. It\u2019s a miracle of opening our hearts, as well as our minds, to the possibility that Jesus Christ could be our husband\/ that Jesus Christ could be our bridegroom\u2014that Jesus Christ could be our Lover. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI pray for that miracle to happen in the hearts of men and women, who have been good at keeping the rules, who have been good at following You into their life\u2019s profession and journeys, who have been, in many cases, good parents and been good, faithful church members and Sunday school teachers. But Lord Jesus, they don\u2019t really know what it feels like to completely know Your love and to know what it means to love You. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo I pray for them, Lord. Open their hearts. Give them faith to believe that this can happen. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIn Jesus\u2019 name, amen.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Tim, thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>22:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to encourage our listeners to get a copy of your book, which is called <em>Judge Z: Irretrievably Broken<\/em>. It\u2019s a novel, but if offers a lot of insight\u2014very compelling story to read as Tim reflects on his own work, as a family court judge, over the last decade plus. Go to FamilyLifeToday.com to find out more about the book, <em>Judge Z: Irretrievably Broken,<\/em> by Tim Philpot. You can order from us online, or you can call 1-800-FL-TODAY for more information about how to get a copy of Tim\u2019s book.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, what we do here, at FamilyLife, is really designed to keep people from winding up in front of a judge, like Judge Philpot. Our goal, here at FamilyLife, is to effectively develop godly marriages and families, where couples thrive \/ where children flourish. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>23:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe want to point people back to what God\u2019s Word has to say about how we\u2019re to live our lives in a marriage and family relationship, because it\u2019s in that foundation that marriage and families do indeed thrive.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI just want to say a word of \u201cThank you,\u201d to those of you who listen regularly\u2014but to those of you who support this ministry, especially our Legacy Partners, who are monthly supporters of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>\u2014we <em>so<\/em> appreciate you joining with us so that, together, we can reach couples and families all around the world and help strengthen them to help more couples celebrate more anniversaries for more years. Thanks for your partnership with us in this endeavor. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you can help with a donation today, we\u2019d love to send you a resource you can use with your children or grandchildren at Christmas. It\u2019s called \u201cThe Twelve Names of Christmas\u201d\u2014a collection of ornaments for children, ten and under, to help them learn more about whom Jesus is during the Christmas season. It\u2019s our gift to you when you support the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> with a donation. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>24:00<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can do that online at FamilyLifeToday.com; you can call 1-800-FL-TODAY to donate; or you can mail your donation and request \u201cThe Twelve Names of Christmas.\u201d Send your note today to <em>FamilyLife Today <\/em>at PO Box 7111, Little Rock, AR; our zip code is 72223.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe\u2019ll hear more from Tim Philpot tomorrow as we talk about what life is like as a family court judge. I hope you can be back with us 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, along with our entire broadcast production team. On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine. We will see you back next time for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>. \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. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today. Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t______________________________________________________________________________\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you. However, there is a cost to produce them for our website. If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\"><u>donating today<\/u><\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright <sup>\u00a9<\/sup> 2016 FamilyLife. 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\/304254","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=304254"}],"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=304254"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=304254"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=304254"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=304254"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=304254"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=304254"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}