{"id":305079,"date":"2019-06-13T06:00:05","date_gmt":"2019-06-13T10:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/eternity-is-now-in-session-2\/"},"modified":"2019-06-13T06:00:05","modified_gmt":"2019-06-13T10:00:05","slug":"eternity-is-now-in-session-2","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/eternity-is-now-in-session-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Eternity Is Now in Session"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pastor and theologian John Ortberg talks with Ron Deal, providing a fresh perspective on the nature of eternity and our own connection to an eternal Creator.<\/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\/fl2019-06-13.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:27:53","filesize":"25.53M","filesize_raw":"26768974","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2867,2822],"tags":[6652,6653,5399,6654],"podcast_series":[],"cwp_profile":[9530,3300],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-305079","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-involvement","category-growing-in-your-faith","tag-eternity","tag-heaven","tag-theology","tag-what-happens-after-you-die","cwp_profile-john-ortberg","cwp_profile-ron-deal","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\/305079\/eternity-is-now-in-session-2","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/305079\/eternity-is-now-in-session-2","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=\"J2q75aZyYh\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/eternity-is-now-in-session-2\/\">Eternity Is Now in Session<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/eternity-is-now-in-session-2\/embed\/#?secret=J2q75aZyYh\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Eternity Is Now in Session&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"J2q75aZyYh\" 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":"Pastor and theologian John Ortberg talks with Ron Deal, providing a fresh perspective on the nature of eternity and our own connection to an eternal Creator.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2019-06-13.pdf","transcript_content":"<strong>Bob: <\/strong>Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment is for us to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Pastor John Ortberg says we need to think more carefully, and maybe more deeply, about just what the implications of that command are.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> So often, we turn that into an obligation of something that we\u2019re supposed to do without thinking about God being lovable. We actually make Him unlovable and think of Him as somebody that\u2019s putting this burden on us; but if I\u2019m living with a lovable God, then He and I, together, will be able to love my spouse, my ex-spouse, my child. Then, all of a sudden, I have resources beyond myself to carry into my relationships with other people.\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 Thursday, June 13<sup>th<\/sup>. Our hosts are Dave and Ann Wilson; I'm Bob Lepine. Maybe we can do a better job of loving our neighbor as ourselves when we begin to understand that it\u2019s not just us doing the loving\u2014that the God who is love is doing it through us. We\u2019ll hear more about that today from Pastor John Ortberg. Stay with us.\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. You may have noticed, as we began today, that what we\u2019re going to be listening to is like what you listen to a lot of times on your laptop or on your tablet. We\u2019re going to hear a Skype conversation that took place between Ron Deal and a pastor and author from the west coast\u2014from Menlo Park, California\u2014John Ortberg. Have you met John?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes, I have. He\u2019s one of my favorite authors. Funny story about John\u2014I had him do a chapel service for the Detroit Lions when we played the Chicago Bears. Back then, he was pastoring in Chicago. He got up\u2014you know, I raved about him\u2014he got up there; did a great job, and <em>we won<\/em>! [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> The Lions won?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; so I\u2019ll never forget\u2014John Ortberg got us something I could never get\u2014a victory in Chicago. [Laughter]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann:<\/strong> You\u2019re jealous of that; aren\u2019t you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> I am jealous.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann:<\/strong> It is true. John has <em>always<\/em> been a favorite of Dave\u2019s. Soon as a book is out that he\u2019s written, you buy it and read it as quickly as possible. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Oh yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, he\u2019s just written a book called <em>Eternity Is Now in Session: A Radical Rediscovery of What Jesus Really Taught About Salvation, Eternity, and Getting to the Good Place<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tRon Deal sat down and talked with John for his podcast, which is called <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em><sup>\u00ae<\/sup>; this is Episode 4 from Ron\u2019s podcast. As I said, as you listen to the conversation, you\u2019re listening to a Skype interview. The conversation was a good, rich, robust conversation. I hope listeners will go to FamilyLifeToday.com, subscribe to Ron\u2019s podcast, and listen to <em>all<\/em> of Episode 4. We\u2019re just going to hear a little bit of it now as John Ortberg talks about how we ought to think differently about eternity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[<em>FamilyLife Blended <\/em>Podcast]\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\t<strong>John:<\/strong> Many people, when they think of the word, heaven\u2014we often have a cartoon picture. Images are really powerful; so we\u2019ll think about gates, and clouds, and harps. We think of it as this pleasure factory that, if you could just get there, of course, you would be happy. Then we wonder, \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t God just let everybody or, at least, more people, go there?\u201d\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\tWhereas, when the writers of Scripture and Jesus, in particular, talk about the afterlife, the idea of heaven is\u2014primarily, it will be about life with God. In heaven, God will be very hard to avoid. Now that\u2019s kind of sobering; because when you think about it, that means that there won\u2019t be any place to run off and sneak in a quick sin. [Laughter] If I would still like to have the opportunity to be judgmental, or superior, or self-promotional, or greedy, or lustful, or deceitful, there\u2019s not going to be a place to go do that. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLearning: \u201cWhat does it mean to live in God\u2019s presence?\u201d We primarily do that\u2014it is a reality; it\u2019s a spiritual reality\u2014and we mostly experience it in our minds in that ceaseless flow of thoughts and desires. I can begin to live in the conscious awareness of the <em>real<\/em> presence of God\u2014His love, His favor, His power, His guidance\u2014and I can do that right now. Actually, I think that\u2019s part of why the notion of things like <em>living in the present;<\/em> or <em>gratitude;<\/em> or in our day, people talk about <em>mindfulness<\/em> a lot. I believe what all of that reflects is our deep <em>hunger<\/em> to live with God in the kingdom of heaven, here and now. Interestingly, <em>now<\/em> is really where eternity intersects with our lives.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Okay; there was a whole lot in what you just said there. Boy, I\u2019d love to unpack that just a little bit. Heaven is not this thing that\u2019s just off out there somewhere. Heaven is something that is <em>now<\/em>; because God has brought, through Christ, the kingdom to this earth. You\u2019re saying that to have an awareness and a consciousness of God\u2019s activity and connection in our lives right now\u2014not just something that we\u2019re going to go to someday, where we get all this reward, and sit on a cloud, and play a harp\u2014but it\u2019s the experience of relationship with the heavenly Father, and that is something He is pursuing in us right <em>now<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf we only had an awareness of that\u2014man, I begin to think: \u201cHow would that begin to make a difference in my life as a husband?\u2014as a father?\u2014if I lived every moment with an awareness that heaven is here, and I am trying to bring kingdom stuff to my world?\u201d What kind of difference do you think that would make in somebody\u2019s life if we <em>lived<\/em> that way?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> The idea is eternity is about more than just duration; it\u2019s about more than something that is unending. It\u2019s a different <em>quality<\/em> of life. Jesus, in the Bible, actually, defines eternal life one time. It\u2019s the only time eternal life is defined in the Bible\u2014is in John, Chapter 17, verse 3\u2014He\u2019s praying and He says, \u201cThis is eternal life\u201d\u2014He\u2019s praying to His Father\u2014\u201cthat they might know You\u2026\u201d\u2014the heavenly Father. It\u2019s an interactive, participative, experiential life\u2014together with God\u2014that begins here and now. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat that means, for me, is that my primary goal in each moment of life is to remain in conscious contact with God\u2014that\u2019s my job, as a dad\u2014that\u2019s my job as a husband. Now, I\u2019m not trying to do this on my own; I\u2019m trying to surrender in any moment: \u201cGod, what\u2019s going on inside my spirit\u2014anger, impatience, ego?\u201d and \u201cHow do I let that go and seek purely to be a vehicle of God\u2019s love and God\u2019s power?\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe ease, and freedom, and qualitative difference of life that\u2019s available in doing that is something that people have been discovering ever since the time of Jesus. It is the pearl of great price. It is the life that is\u2014we all desire more than we want anything else. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Right; right. Okay; so I\u2019ve got to jump in, because I\u2019ve got to dumb stuff down for me. [Laughter] I\u2019m fully aware that if you and I are having a conversation like we are now and, all of a sudden, a third party came and stood right here among us\u2014and maybe it\u2019s my wife, maybe it\u2019s one of our children, maybe it\u2019s a friend, or maybe it\u2019s a non-believer\u2014all of a sudden, the presence of that third party dramatically affects what you and I say, how we carry ourselves, if we say it this way or if we say it that way, if we say it hard or we say it soft. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe\u2019re consciously aware of that, and it affects our relationship. If it\u2019s somebody in the room that we like\/we both mutually like, we feel comfortable\/we trust; then, all of a sudden, we\u2019re relaxed, and the conversation can flow freely. If, on the other hand, it\u2019s somebody we don\u2019t know\/we\u2019re not sure of, then maybe we\u2019re a little guarded and cautious. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs you\u2019re talking about God, and walking around life mindful of His presence in our lives\u2014that we\u2019re bringing heaven to our world now\u2014all of a sudden, to me, it\u2019s like that warm presence of that third party, who is here that I trust deeply, intimately, and I\u2019m comfortable with. But you know, at the same time, I really don't want to share necessarily the worst parts of me in a conversation, out loud with you, knowing that He\u2019s listening in on that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Man, that\u2019s <em>great<\/em> to know that God is here\u2014I can be mindful of Him; I can be aware of Him; I can even have a little side conversation with Him, as you and I are talking. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut if I just think God is up there somewhere\u2014has nothing to do with who I am\/where I am now\u2014or that He is standing beside me, as a judge and jury; and \u201cIf I do one thing wrong\u2026\u201d\u2014those are two totally different pictures; right?\u2014the warm trusting presence versus the judgmental, harsh, angry person that I need to be concerned about. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou\u2019re saying it\u2019s the warm, trusting presence; right? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John: <\/strong>I couldn\u2019t agree more. I don\u2019t know about everybody listening to us; but it\u2019s a funny thing, Ron\u2014I find I\u2019ve been a follower of Jesus for a long time\u2014I still struggle, at the heart level, to deeply, consistently believe that God loves me all the time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> There will, often, be moments when I feel inadequate\u2014or I\u2019m just aware of how messed up I am: that I\u2019m angry, that ego is still such a large role in my life\u2014there\u2019s something inside me that actually almost resists that notion that God really does love and care about <em>me<\/em>. It\u2019s a lot easier for me to talk to somebody else and to say it to you\u2014to say, \u201cWell, yes; Ron, of course, God loves <em>you<\/em>.\u201d \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI actually think, for all of us, this notion that we are loved by God is maybe the fundamental battle that we struggle with. It\u2019s not just about something that\u2019s warm and fuzzy; often, there\u2019s a high cost to it, because it does demand that I surrender my life and will to God all the time and let go of sin. Sin <em>always<\/em> cuts me off from the love of God\u2014that\u2019s what\u2019s so dangerous about it. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt is very striking, when you look at the life of Jesus, one of the dynamics that you see is\u2014for Jesus, the line between praying to God and talking to people gets so thin that it\u2019s almost nonexistent. When somebody comes to Jesus, and they need a healing, sometimes He will talk to His Father and say, \u201cGod, heal this person\u201d; and sometimes He will talk directly to the person and say, \u201cBe healed.\u201d I think what that reflects is <em>exactly<\/em> what you were just saying: \u201cIf there\u2019s a third person present, with you and me, and I see that person, I may be talking with you; but I know that person is hearing what I say.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron: <\/strong>Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John: <\/strong>Even though my words are addressed to <em>you<\/em>, they are also, in my mind, very clearly going to be heard by this other person. I believe that Jesus was so conscious of the presence of His Father that all of His words, even spoken to other people, are also <em>knowingly<\/em> addressed for His Father. That\u2019s why, for Jesus, there is virtually simply no difference between just talking to people and praying to His Father. That\u2019s why He can just as easily speak to His Father: \u201cHeal this person,\u201d\u2014or speak directly to that person, \u201cBe healed,\u201d\u2014because, for Him, all of life has become prayer.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron: <\/strong>I just got to back up for a second; because I can completely identify with what you just said about feeling inadequate, before the Father\u2014feeling, at times, so unworthy and unloved\u2014unworthy of His love and, perhaps, even unloved\u2014and my shame tells me that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> I do think that\u2019s a common experience. I don\u2019t think you and I are the only ones who wrestle with that. It kind of goes back to this image we have of this third party with us: \u201cIs God with us, as judge and jury, or is He with us, as a loving grandfather, who is just the guy you want to hop up in his lap and you feel so comfortable with?\u201d The way Jesus portrayed that relationship with the Father is clear that it\u2019s the warm loving presence that we can feel comfortable with; because He was, as you said, talking\u2014almost interchangeably between the vertical and the horizontal\u2014what was going on with\/how He was interacting with God and how He\u2019s interacting with others. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf I\u2019m mindful of that, as I\u2019m interacting with my wife, I think that changes how I respond to her. If I know He\u2019s there, and if I\u2019m aware of that\u2014not out of guilt\/not out of shame, but out of an awareness that somebody else is in the room\u2014this informs how I bring the kingdom of heaven to this very moment, right here and now. Don\u2019t you think that informs how we parent?\u2014how we\u2019d interact with people we don\u2019t get along with?\u2014all of the above? \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> It\u2019s a very striking thing. Again, I think a lot of us just don\u2019t think about it much. The first command that Jesus gives is, \u201c\u2026love the Lord your God with all your heart\u2026soul\u2026mind and\u2026strength.\u201d Now, part of what\u2019s wonderful about that command is it means that God <em>wants<\/em> to be loved. That\u2019s a very powerful thought\u2014that <em>God<\/em> <em>desires<\/em> to <em>be<\/em> loved. Another implication of that is: \u201cGod is lovable.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> God would <em>not<\/em> command us to love Him if, in fact, He was not a <em>lovable<\/em> being. A good question for everybody to ask right now is: \u201cIs the God that I believe in and think about a <em>lovable<\/em> person?\u201d and \u201cWhat qualities make somebody lovable?\u201d\u2014that they\u2019re gracious, that they are kind, that they are well-meaning towards you, that they are good, that you can trust them. All of that is wrapped up in that single initial command of Jesus, \u201c\u2026love the Lord your God...\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo often, we turn that into an obligation of something that we\u2019re supposed to do without thinking about God being lovable. We actually make Him unlovable and think of Him as somebody that\u2019s putting this burden on us. But if I\u2019m living with a lovable God, then He and I, together, will be able to love my spouse, my ex-spouse,\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> \u2014my child. Then, all of a sudden, I have resources beyond myself to carry into my relationships with other people; and those relationships teach me about God.\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\t<strong>Ron: <\/strong>We\u2019re talking with John Ortberg today about his book, <em>Eternity Is Now<\/em> <em>in Session<\/em>. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the things that you talk about\u2014that I think is just so important for us, as believers, to grasp\u2014is that part of living the kingdom and being a part of the kingdom is\u2014not just waiting, someday, for what will happen\u2014but bringing God\u2019s kingdom to earth, now, as you say, \u201c\u2026bringing a piece of the up there down here.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt makes me think about I, actually, have a role in joining Him in that. I\u2019m not sure many Christians walk around with a sense that we are joining God in that activity.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> Yes; let\u2019s talk about that idea of God\u2019s kingdom, because that\u2019s a word that gets thrown a lot but can often be a clich\u00e9.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> In the biblical sense, everybody has a kingdom\u2014it\u2019s very much related to your will. Your kingdom is a range of your effective will; your kingdom is where what you want to happen happens. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> Is that what a two-year-old discovers?\u2014that they have a kingdom?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John:<\/strong> That\u2019s why a two-year-old\u2019s favorite word is \u201c<em>No!<\/em>\u201d [Laughter] And their second favorite word is \u201c<em>Mine!<\/em>\u201d What they\u2019re learning is they have a kingdom. Those are, actually, great words. Anybody who is listening to us\u2014we all struggle with it when two-year-olds learn them; but it\u2019s much better that they learn them than they do not, because they\u2019re learning that they have a will; they have a kingdom, and that starts with their bodies. That\u2019s why it\u2019s such a miracle when a little child learns how to walk, and how to move, and how to grasp things\u2014it\u2019s matter\/atoms coming under the reign of a personal will\u2014that\u2019s a miracle! Well, that\u2019s kingdom. That\u2019s a real good thing that we all have kingdoms; but then, our kingdoms get all junked up with sin\u2014and we become selfish, and we fight over our kingdoms.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s interesting, Ron\u2014I know a lot of the work that you will do is with blended families. Sometimes, in the church, there can be this idea that, if there has been a divorce\/if there\u2019s brokenness in a family, it can\u2019t experience the <em>fullness<\/em> of the kingdom of God. But of course, <em>every<\/em> family is broken\u2014every human.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ron:<\/strong> That\u2019s right; that\u2019s right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>John: <\/strong>Genesis is basically the story of one blended family after another. There\u2019s Abraham, and you just go right on through. It\u2019s in those broken kingdoms that God comes to bring restoration and healing. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen I was growing up in the church, I often thought: \u201cYou know, God\u2019s going to just destroy this world, so our prayer is kind of like the old Star Trek \u2018Beam me up\u2019 prayer: \u2018Get me out of here, and take me up there.\u2019\u201d [Laughter] But the prayer Jesus teaches us to pray is: \u201cOur Father who is in heaven, hallowed be Your name,\u201d\u2014people recognize what a wonderful person You are\u2014and then, \u201cYour kingdom come; Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[Studio]\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, again, we\u2019ve been listening to an excerpt from Episode 4 of Ron Deal\u2019s podcast, which is called <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em>. Ron was talking to pastor and author, John Ortberg, about eternity\/about heaven. In fact, if you listen to the entire episode, they talk about the need for us to be more honest about our sin in the church. He talks about how Alcoholics Anonymous is more honest than most Christians are; right? And he talks about how you deal with fear in life. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tGo to FamilyLifeToday.com and subscribe to Ron\u2019s podcast. It\u2019s part of the FamilyLife<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Podcast Network. In addition to Ron\u2019s podcast, there\u2019s one from Kim Anthony called <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em>. There\u2019s the FamilyLife marriage podcast. <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is available as a podcast\u2014<em>FamilyLife this Week<\/em>. So you can subscribe and start listening, regularly, to some of these podcasts and get great content like what we heard today from Ron Deal and John Ortberg.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann:<\/strong> One of the things I love about John Ortberg speaking was that he addresses that eternal life begins <em>now<\/em>. It\u2019s not when we die that we experience all this goodness; but he\u2019s saying eternal life is <em>now<\/em>, and God has <em>good<\/em> things for us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> And it\u2019s a little bit, as he said, \u201c\u2026a little bit of heaven on earth.\u201d Now, obviously, we\u2019re not ever going to experience <em>full<\/em> restoration until we get there, but I mean we pray it all the time\u2014the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cThy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in <em>heaven<\/em>.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yet, we don\u2019t expect, ever, to experience that. John made a great point, saying, \u201cGod can bring a piece of that here now.\u201d He restores, partially, and that\u2019s eternal life <em>now<\/em> and extends to eternal life then.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann:<\/strong> And that brings real hope\u2014like it makes you anticipate tomorrow, because God is in our midst right now.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> And in families and in marriages\u2014we need to know that we can live out kingdom principles and experience kingdom <em>joy<\/em> by following Christ and living under His Kingship. Theologians call this the \u201calready\/not yet\u201d idea of the kingdom; so there\u2019s an already thing\u2014we have a king; we live in His kingdom; we are citizens of His kingdom\u2014that\u2019s \u201cthe already.\u201d The \u201cnot yet\u201d is that we haven\u2019t fully realized, as you said, what is ahead for us. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut when we, in our marriages and our families, are surrendered to Jesus and living under His authority, we experience kingdom blessing; don\u2019t we?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dave:<\/strong> Yes; I love what John said: \u201cOne of the reasons we don\u2019t experience that is we want to be the king.\u201d [Laughter] I want my wife to serve <em>me<\/em> as the king\u2014you hear that, honey? [Laughter] It\u2019s just like that\u2019s still ingrained in us. We see that in a two-year-old, who develops their kingdom mentality. We think we grow out of it; we never do. Yet, if we surrender that to the real King, <em>that\u2019s<\/em> where we get to experience a little bit of heaven on earth.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Surrender, and then surrender, and then surrender\u2014 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Ann:<\/strong> \u2014again and again.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> \u2014over and over again; right. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, again, John has written a book called <em>Eternity Is Now in Session<\/em>. It\u2019s a book we\u2019ve got in our <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> Resource Center. You can go online to request your copy. The website is FamilyLifeToday.com, or call if you\u2019d like to order by phone: 1-800-FL-TODAY. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you have not yet subscribed to Ron Deal\u2019s <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> podcast so that it\u2019s delivered to you regularly, go to FamilyLifeToday.com to find out how you can subscribe. Again, the website is FamilyLifeToday.com. There\u2019s also information available on our website about the upcoming <em>2019 Summit on Stepfamily Ministry<\/em> that\u2019s happening in October in Chesapeake, Virginia. The theme of the summit this year is \u201cStepfamilies in Crisis,\u201d and all the information is available now. You can go ahead and register for the event. Again, it takes place October 24<sup>th<\/sup> and 25<sup>th<\/sup>; and all the information about the summit is available, online, at FamilyLifeToday.com. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you\u2019re in a stepfamily and could use some encouragement, we have a free devotional that Ron has put together\u201414 devotions designed for stepfamilies. You can download it from us when you go to FamilyLifeToday.com. Again, the information is available there. Get your copy of the 14-day stepfamily devotional; it\u2019s our free gift to you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, David Robbins, the President of FamilyLife, is here with us. Have you had a chance to listen to the entire conversation Ron had with John Ortberg on the podcast, or have you just heard the excerpt we played today?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>David:<\/strong> No; I\u2019ve listened to the whole thing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> You\u2019ve listened to Ron\u2019s entire conversation?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>David:<\/strong> I\u2019m so excited to\u2014one, this conversation was an awesome conversation; but all the podcasts that are available to blended families, specifically\u2014there\u2019s nothing really like it out there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, and the opportunity to provide practical ongoing help for blended families through the <em>FamilyLife Blended<\/em> podcast is just one of the ways we\u2019re trying to continue to provide practical biblical help and hope for marriages and families.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>David:<\/strong> No doubt, we want to do that in as <em>many ways<\/em> as possible; and this is one of those other ways that we\u2019re going, \u201cHey, if you\u2019re a blended family, here\u2019s a place that you can go, where you know things are tailored for <em>you<\/em> and conversations that are happening for you\u2014you can find them.\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong> Well, and if you haven\u2019t checked out Kim Anthony\u2019s podcast, <em>Unfavorable Odds<\/em>, or the <em>Married with Benefits<\/em> podcast\u2014or if you\u2019ve not started subscribing to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> to receive it as a podcast or <em>FamilyLife This Week<\/em>, we\u2019ve got a lot available\u2014go to FamilyLifeToday.com for more about the FamilyLife Podcast Network. Subscribe to any of the podcasts that are available there.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, tomorrow, we\u2019re going to hear some thoughts from Dave Wilson about what it means for a man to be a man. I hope you can tune in to hear from Dave tomorrow. \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 hosts, Dave and Ann Wilson, I\u2019m 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; a Cru<sup>\u00ae <\/sup>Ministry. Help for today. Hope for tomorrow.\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\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\">donating today<\/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> 2019 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\/305079","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=305079"}],"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=305079"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305079"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305079"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=305079"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=305079"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=305079"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}