Response to the Midterms and Everything Else in Life—Go Serve Your King!

The response to the midterms and everything else in life: Go serve your king. That is a topic we'll discuss today, right here on the Christian Worldview Radio Program, where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. I'm David Wheaton, the host, and our website is thechristianworldview dot org. The midterm election. Was an unmitigated disaster for Republicans, as Democrats won back the U.S.

House and U.S. Senate, and will hold large majorities in both chambers. The rout was so shocking that even Texas, an historically Republican stronghold, has turned Democrat blue, an ominous sign for Republicans in the 2028 general election. An Islamist in Michigan with alleged family ties to the Muslim Brotherhood won a U.S. Senate seat, and a theological leftist in Texas who once said God is non-binary will be their next senator.

In New Hampshire, their new male U.S. senator hugged his "quote unquote" husband on stage during his victory speech.

Meanwhile, in our home state of Minnesota, the Democratic Party that oversaw billions of dollars in fraud by Somali Muslims—they were all re-elected.

So, what's a Christian to think and do when the country he or she loves, which was founded and flourished on largely Christian principles, dives in a godless direction? Our guest this weekend, Todd Freel, host of Wretched Radio and TV, offers the answer: Go serve your King. That is the title of Todd's new book, which aims to help Christians pursue every area of life to the glory of King Jesus. There is no greater purpose and joy in life than that. Let's get straight to the interview with Todd Freel.

Todd, it's so good to have you on the Christian Worldview Radio program again. Let's start out before we get into your book on the results of these midterm elections. Why do you think things went the way they did? I first and foremost want to put this through a biblical lens and filter.

So the question is, what happened? It depends on who you ask. If you ask Fox News, they're maybe going to tell you that the economy, gas prices, that inflation, people can't buy houses, and I affirm all of those things. People vote always first and foremost with their pocketbooks, and in this instance, I think this was a repudiation of the policies that did not deliver. On their promises, if I am going to maintain any sort of balance as I make my way through this season of political unrest, I have got to ask myself the question: What was God doing in this election?

What is happening on a spiritual plane here?

Now, none of us really know the answer to that specifically, but in general, I do know this: He was doing what He is always doing. God has a singular purpose for this planet. He has a singular purpose for this universe, and every time I fail to remember that, I'm going to fall into a melee.s I can be disappointed about this election, but I absolutely cannot be despondent about it. I cannot be so depressed about it because oh woe is America, we're going down the tubes. Which honestly, I think history will probably tell us that we are seeing a nation that is absolutely crumbling right before our very eyes.

Eyes, but I don't only want to look at that level. This is 3D chess, if you will. But God is on all three levels because He is going about the business of bringing glory to Himself through the redemptive work of His Son.

Now that isn't just church talk. That isn't Christian radio talk. That's political talk. That is entertainment talk. That's education talk.

That is what He is doing in every realm of society.

So now I can look at a disastrous election result, and yeah, I can be bummed out. I can even be mourning for the sake of a country. It doesn't mean I'm going to disengage from politics or never vote again, but I am going to find comfort in remembering that God is about His kingdom expansion, and if that involves a bunch of lousy politicians ascending into power, so be it. I am going to sing. It is well with my soul because what God ordains is always good, and that includes rotten political election results.

So, David, I think that in this moment we can weep over what's happening in our country. I think that's actually right to do, but there's a fine line between being sad and being totally shipwrecked by it. Or desponded by it, or hopeless because of it, I must remember some truths about God. He is sovereign, and He is good. And when I remember those two truths, and that God is going about the business of something superior than politics, and that is the saving of sinners to the glory and praise of His name, I can say, "All right, Lord, I don't get this.

I don't understand it, but I I know You." And I know that you are doing bigger things than winning or losing elections, because you are going about the singular purpose of bringing glory to yourself through the redemptive work of King Jesus Christ. And so I am going to rest in that, even as I go about the business of feeling kind of sad that we got trounced so soundly. Thank you for reminding us of those truths about God, Todd. It is hard because we love the country, and when we see an Islamist winning the U.S. Senate seat from Michigan, or a leftist professing Christian in the in the lineage of someone like Jim Wallace or Tony Campolo winning an ascendant seat down in Texas with James Talerico, or or here in Minnesota where you spent much of your life, where the same people that were in office when all the Fraud took place here.

We're just reelected. It can be very discouraging.

So thank you for helping us to focus on that. Even as you said that, David, you said that you see an Islamist, you see a wonky Presbyterian, and James Talerico, you see people who desire to mutilate children. They're pro-death. The rainbow flag is flying. You have to put this into a biblical context.

Why are we seeing such a bizarre alliance? What are Muslims doing with rainbow people and with feminists? They don't belong together, except for the fact that they are in the same camp. That. Camp of Darkness, and they are going about the business of fighting against the light.

And that reframing of the issue reminds me: it's like, okay, this is bigger than politics. This is a spiritual battle that is going on. It's more than a battle for the soul of a country. This is a battle for souls. And so, when I remember, just think biblically.

Okay, I'm saturated in political talk, but I must think biblically. And when I remember, we are seeing weird alliances here. It reminds me: this is not about the physical realm. This is about the spiritual realm, and I can take comfort in knowing. I can learn the lesson of Job.

God has it under control. Don't question Him. Don't ask. Don't accuse. God has got this, and He knows what He's doing because He's working on something greater.

Okay, Ty.

Well, let's move over to your your new book here. Go serve your king. Subtitle: The Key to Extraordinary Purpose in Everyday Life. And as we've talked about the election, I think there's actually a tie in, a natural segue here to seeing things that aren't going well that many Christians see going on in our society around the world. To well, what do we do as Christians?

How do we live? And that's really what your book is about.

Now, just regarding even the title of the book, "Go Serve Your King." God has many names and titles. Why did you choose God as King rather than? Perhaps more familiar names as God as Father or Lord, because I think that the relationship between the title being a King and sovereignty are most intimately connected. Our God behaves sovereignly. Not sure you can call sovereignty an attribute as much as the way that He controls the universe, that He behaves, that He's a God who's independent, that He's a God who is not in need of another for His being or for His purpose.

That this is the God of Assayety. That this is the God who stands alone, and everything else is dependent on Him. And so, I can't think of a title that captures the sovereignty of God, greater than King.

Now, some people have actually said, "Ah, wait a second. This is kind of a political nod because of all of the uses and misuses of Christ being King, and how it's been used to signal to different people a world view." Well, I don't know what's happening with that conversation or dialogue, but with all due respect, I don't care, because what I know is Jesus is born unto us this day, a Savior, Christ the Lord. He is the King of Kings. He's the Lord of Lords. It is a biblical title, and I'm not going to let some political controversy rob us of a glorious title.

I was using the term "ghost of your king." I think now going on twenty six or twenty seven years, so this title predates any controversy about it, and I think it's a title that helps us rethink reality and rethink how it is that we are supposed to play a role in this world.

So that, and this is the purpose behind the book, David. It is for all the people who are living dualistically. They believe that there's a sacred secular divide. That there's my religious life here when I'm reading my Bible, praying, or going to church. But then there's the rest of my life.

It's like I'm living on two different floors. I visit my religion on occasion, but for the most part, I'm on the main level, carrying out the business of the day. That is simply not the way the Bible describes the Christian life. The Christian life is a twenty-four-seven life. You are living in a closed system.

You are a royal priest. You can't help but live a Christian. In life, and so I think that the title "King" go serve your king helps us to remember that there is a King, He's ruling, He's reigning, and when I remember His purpose, not His purposes, His purpose, then suddenly my life becomes in alignment with what He is doing. Everything makes sense, and then I ultimately will have purpose. Todd, you have three sections to your book, and section one is titled "The Beauty of the King," and this really establishes the foundation for the book and just for the perspective of a believer.

And chapter one is titled "You," as in the reader, are not the King. And let me just read a quote from that chapter. You say you need a superior vision of Jesus that will motivate you to happily. Go serve your king. The beauty of Christianity, and I hope this book, is that it is not about behavior modification, or following a legalistic tradition of man.

It is not about producing cardboard cutout Christians. My aim is to paint a portrait of Jesus Christ. That surpasses any work of art, stirs your affections, that sends you on a lifelong pursuit to look more at and more like Him.

So, Todd, explain the tendency toward what you call in this chapter expressive individualism with Christians, and why a superior vision of Jesus. Is really the game changer for the Christian life. Expressive individualism has been afoot for centuries now. It's the idea that you are the center of the universe. It's the idea that society needs to conform to you.

You do not conform to society. They need to accept you. That's why these days, David, we hear things like words are weapons. Because if words contradict how I'm feeling or what I think is right, well, that's an act of violence. Why?

Because I'm I'm the center of the universe. I just saw a TJ Maxx commercial. Remember this song from the I think the late '60s, Mama Cass. Make your own kind of music, sing your own kind of song, even if nobody else sings along. What was that?

That was already an ode to self. Oprah Winfrey, she's the queen of it these days. You have got to live your truth. You've got to live your life. You have got to be the one who decides what is right and wrong.

Whatever makes you happy.

Well, there's a problem with. That there's a king. He says, "You're not the center of the universe. I'm the center of the universe." Now, David, if that's reality. Not what Hollywood says, not what "Let Them Theory" or any other New York Times bestseller says.

If that is genuine reality, that there is a King, He's benevolent and holy, and He reigns, and He has expectations for His citizens. Whether I like it or not, whether I believe it or not, I'm swept into that reality. And until I conform to that reality, even as a Christian, I'm going to be kicking against the goads. Life will not go right. When you are behaving in such a way that contradicts the rules of the reigning king, life cannot be fulfilled.

Life cannot be happy. Aren't we seeing that with all the statistics about loneliness and depression, anxiety, suicide? Why? Because they are thinking that they are the center of the universe, and until we get ourselves on our knees, surrendering to the King, delightfully living in response to His goodness, then and only then will life have purpose.

So well said. And Todd Freyel is our guest today here on the program, the author of the new book, Go Serve Your King. The book is our new featured resource. It's hardcover, 320 pages, and retails for thirty dollars. For a limited time, you can order a copy for a donation of twenty-five dollars or more to the Christian Worldview.

To order, just get in contact with us the usual ways, and all our contact information will be given during this break. Stay tuned because we have much more to get to with Todd Freyel. I'm David Wheaton, and you are listening to the Christian Worldview Radio Program. The winter issue of the Christian Worldview Journal features a compelling article by Michael Clary about how pastors should be informing congregants about issues in the public square. David Mitzenmacher of Founders Ministries writes about the radicalization of women, and Todd Freil explains how all of life ought to be lived to the glory of God.

The Christian Worldview Journal is a print and digital publication designed to sharpen your biblical worldview on current events and issues of the faith. There is also a resource catalog for adults and children that make for meaningful Christmas gifts. The journal is sent to Christian worldview partners as a thank you for their support. Plus, we are offering the winter issue complimentary to first-time requests. To become a Christian Worldview partner or request your free issue, go to thechristianworldview.org, or call one eight eight eight six four six twenty two thirty three, or write to Box four zero one Excelsior, Minnesota five five three three one.

We didn't want our kids doing all these secular games like Elf on the Shelf. We really wanted to put Christ front and center at Christmas, and they actually engineered a wooden manger that's small enough to hide. And then I wrote a family devotional with 25 devotions for every day in December leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Day, that you can do in about seven minutes, and the devotions are just low. With the deity of Christ and the gospel. That was Pastor Grant Castleberry describing Manger in Danger, a 25-day devotional for families with children ages 4 through 12.

The devotional begins December 1st, and you can receive it for a donation of $30 or more to the Christian Worldview. To order, go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55333. One. Welcome back to the Christian Worldview. I'm David Wheaton.

Be sure to visit thechristianworldview.org where you can sign up for our weekly email, the Christian Worldview Journal print publication, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. Our topic today is the response to the midterms and everything else in life. Go serve your king, and our guest is Todd Freel, radio and TV host of Wretched and author of Go Serve Your King.

Now, in Chapter Two, Todd still on this section of the book on the beauty of the king. Chapter Two is titled "The King of Purpose," and I want to read another quote from this particular chapter. You say, if you don't know why God created the universe, what His plan is, and why He created you, then your life will be a perpetual nightmare of lostness, confusion, and purposelessness. If, however, you study the script, God has written for the universe and for you, then reality will make sense, and you will know how to live with eternal purpose. Once you discover how God has ordered the universe and what He is achieving through history, then all the things you see and do will not only make sense, but they will also take on greater significance.

Explain what God's purpose is for each person. And how does embracing that purpose start with, as you write in this chapter, chapter two, on repenting and believing the gospel? Let's use the script writing illustration just for a moment. Imagine that you find yourself on the side of a stage. The audience is just packed.

The theater is slammed with people. There's a play going on, and the director comes up next to you, shoves you in the back, and says, "You're on.

Okay." What am I supposed to be doing here?

So you look around, you try to sort it out, you try to kind of engage yourself a little bit, but let's be honest, you're not going to give a stellar performance. The director isn't going to be pleased. The audience is probably going to walk out the door because you're tripping over the furniture. You don't even know where the props are. You're not contributing to the narrative.

You're not advancing the story. And worst of all, the author of the play is not going to be pleased with you.

Now that illustration, I think, is analogous to the rest of reality in life. This is a cosmic drama. God is indeed writing a play, if you will, and His play is all about His Son, King Jesus Christ. If you do not realize that is the script that He is writing, you can't play your part right. And it begins with responding.

To his grand proclamation that he commands everyone this day to repent and believe the gospel of Jesus Christ, and when we do that, when we submit ourselves to the lordship of the King, then suddenly the place starts to make sense. Reality goes from being black and white to more of a technicolor reality. You start to get it, and you start to understand it that this is all about King Jesus Christ.

Now you can per.

Well, now you are going to contribute to the narrative, and you are going to find joy in doing that. And so, David, this is I hope an encouragement to people to realign their thinking and to erase the sacred secular divide, and realize this is all about King Jesus. This is all about what God is doing on this planet, and I can't be happy. It's not you won't be happy. You can't be happy.

You can't be satisfied. You cannot be fulfilled any more than if you are an untrained actor who gets thrown out on a stage without even knowing what the play is and what the script is and what your lines are. Only when you submit to the reality that all of this is about King Jesus Christ, then you will not might you will find purpose. You will find fulfillment. You'll live a 24/7.

Christian life, and to use a rather trite word, you will be happy.

So true, according to Scripture. Todd Freil with us today on the Christian worldview. In chapter three, and I know I'm not going to go over every single chapter in the book. I did, but these are important chapters. I think.

David, can I interrupt you for just a moment, because I have to point this out about you. Yeah, yeah. I've been doing a number of interviews on the book, and people ask about a lot of different chapters. You're the only one who has spent time in the first four chapters like this, because these first four chapters are really about shining the spotlight on Jesus Christ. And I got to tell you, brother, this is one of the reasons I love you.

Your program and you, you're more interested in Jesus Christ, what He has done for us, the gospel of Jesus Christ, than some of the outworkings of this.

So I simply have to point out the people who listen to Christian worldview. You're blessed to have David Wheaton.

Sorry, bro.

Well, the well to God be the glory. But I just—it's because Christ has so impacted my life, and I've wrestled or thought about some of these things you wrote early in the book that really speak to me.

So. Appreciate you, brother. Appreciate your common love for our Savior, and just emphasizing this so early on. And I didn't want to belabor it, but I do want to ask just one or two more questions about it. From chapter three, you talk about for the love of the King, and you say your answer to the following question will determine your happiness for the rest of your life.

Get it wrong, and your Christian life will not be all that Jesus wants it to be. Here's the question of all the objectives of Christianity: What is the supreme goal? And then you go into how your having a deepening love for God in Christ, glorifying Him, enjoying Him, delighting in Him is the supreme goal of the Christian life. But you say that that goal is more than just conjuring up an emotion. But it's rather about impacting our affections, and it's what you call the deepest privilege of life.

Could you explain the supreme goal of the Christian life and how it applies to our affections and not merely emotions? I will, but I suspect right now that there are some people who are kind of getting the heebie-jeebies because David, you used some words earlier: the beauty of the King, the loveliness of the Savior, that we should be loving God. Our affections. Once again, I think we find ourselves responding to the abuse of so many bad preachers preaching so foolishly about the love of God, and not explaining it rightly or well that we kind of shy away from the idea of love. Or that we're supposed to feel anything?

We're the theology people. We learn stuff.

Well, if you just learn stuff, the Bible warns you. All you do is get puffed up.

So the goal of the Christian life is not to avoid knowledge for the sake of affections, but to realize that it is knowledge that should be guiding and promoting and stirring our affections.

So we want to get this right. We want to learn, but to what purpose and to what end? It's not just to know stuff about God. What is the first question? In the Catechism, what is the chief end of man to glorify God?

And here it comes: enjoy Him forever. If you read the Puritans, you might be shocked. If you read more than just their fiery stuff, which they have plenty of that. Oh, how they talked about affections! They talked about how we are supposed to love.

They used words like this, David. This will give all of us the shakes. Why? Because we've seen the New Apostolic Reformation movement and their romantic language and their romantic singing about. God, and it's like oh, so they cause us to be so gun shy about this.

But the Puritans, they talked about being. Ravished by Jesus Christ. Whoa, those are the Puritans. They understood that knowledge has a greater end, and here's the greater end: that we would love God, enjoy God.

So, what is the great purpose of the Christian religion? We have a tendency to think the doctrine of justification is the great end and aim. I do not argue that the doctrine of justification is not a magnificent doctrine; it most certainly is. But there is kind of a "hina" clause that follows the doctrine of justification. Jesus Christ lived a perfect life of righteousness, died the death that we deserve, so that we could be justified.

But that's not the end of it. It's not enough in God's economy to just say I've got a bunch of forgiven people. No, He justifies us so that He can adopt us into His family, so that courtesy of Jesus Christ, we could be ushered into a warm familial relationship with the Father, to know Him, to spend time in His presence, to enjoy Him, to be comforted by Him. To be taught by Him, and we can spend as much time as we want with our God because of the doctrine of justification. He cleaned us up in the doctrine of justification, so that He could present us to the Father, so that we could be welcomed into His family as children, as heirs of a Father who is kind and benevolent and good and gracious and merciful, and who, believe it or not, Desires to spend time with those he has redeemed.

No other king is like that. There's no other king who, frankly, knows the names of his servants. He doesn't know the names of his citizen.

Well, our King does. Our King knows us by name, just like the stars. None of them is lost. He knows us intimately, and he wants us to know him intimately. And so, God's great aim for the Christian isn't just to have your sins forgiven, and I don't mean Make that like a diminutive.

Just, it's not just to have your sins forgiven. It is to have your sins forgiven to be credited with the righteousness of Jesus Christ, so you could be commendable to God, so that He can love you and you can be in a relationship with Him. And if you miss that, oh, you're just missing out on the grand aim of the Christian life. Yeah, that's so true. And you go more into this in chapter four.

I'm not going to read the quote for now, but listeners can get the book and read when you talk in chapter four about a king like no other, where you give a portrait of Jesus as king. And when you see Christ for the first time, your breath will be taken away. I won't get into that now, just for the sake of time. But again, the first section of the book, I think, is just so good in establishing the point of it all. The point of of life.

And the point of salvation is to love God, to love Christ, to enjoy Him, and to delight in Him.

So, really well done on that, Todd.

Now, let's get into section two of the book. This section is titled "Every Day with the King." This is how your relationship with God is played out in the various elements of life. And of this, pick one from chapter six. Where you say work and rest and recreation, relationships, money, clothing, order your life around the one who is the King of Kings, just as a married person orders his life around his spouse, and as you go about your business for him. The King, you can live with a clean conscience that you aren't sinning because you aren't reading your Bible or praying 24/7.

As you live your life before the face of God, you glorify Him no matter what you do in life. Again, going against kind of the I have a sacred part of my life and I have a secular part of my life. No, it's all for the King. Why is ordering our lives and everything we do? Around Christ, why is that difficult for Christians to get right?

I'm not the first one to wrangle with this issue. I think it's a human propensity that dualistic, separating the sacred from the secular. And so, historically, you've seen the Desert Fathers, you've seen the mystics, the monastics. In more recent years, the Watchmen knees. I think these days the John Markomers they're trying to help you live that integrated Christian life.

Well, I say we don't integrate Jesus into Our lives, Jesus. He's a part of everything in our life. Every aspect of life is about Jesus Christ. And so, when you read so many of these people who try to help, and I am sure it's well intentioned, typically what they will do, David, is they'll say, "Well, do these things, do these spiritual disciplines, and that will bring you purpose and fulfillment." Hold the phone. I say, you are in Christ.

You are a royal priest. You have been made a son or daughter of the King of Kings. You have everything in Christ—imperishable promises that will be fulfilled when you go to be with Him and you are glorified. You've got everything in Jesus Christ.

Now live that out. That's radically different, and then rather than doing the spiritual disciplines, as they're called, because that will make you like Jesus, which they will, by the way, instead. Because we've already been made like Jesus, we want to do those spiritual disciplines because we want to know the One who has died to save us. It's not about doing those things in order to become something or to get something. No, you've already been made something.

Now, why wouldn't you desire to spend time with Him? Why wouldn't you want to desire to know Him more and to learn more about Him because you love Him?

Now. Having said that, we've got to watch out for a ditch because I know far too many Christians. They tend to be the tender souls, the bruised reeds, that feel like, "Oh, if I am not doing something spiritual, I am not being a good Christian." Well, there is a thousand illustrations that I help will illuminate that that is not necessarily the case. For instance, if you and I. Went to an army camp, and we looked inside of a barracks, and we saw a soldier inside of the barracks sweeping the floors and cleaning the toilets because his commanding officer told him, sweep the floors and clean the toilets.

Now, let's say that we could get into that soldier's brain for a moment, and we discovered he's sweeping the floors, he's cleaning the toilets, he's doing his duty, but he's not thinking about the commanding officer. Question: Would you think he's a bad soldier? And the answer is. No, no, he's not. He's doing his duty.

Let's use the illustration of a husband and wife, which I think you alluded to earlier, David. You don't spend twenty-four-seven thinking about your spouse. That doesn't make you a rotten husband or wife. It means that you're living. And besides, it's impossible to be thinking about Jesus all the time.

It's just impossible. You've been given an assignment from Him. He's given you tasks to do. You've got to drive a vehicle. We prefer that you are really focusing on the laws.

Of driving, rather than just being having your head in the clouds all the time, so there's just some practical realities.

Furthermore, when you're driving. When you're sweeping the floors, when you're cleaning the toilets, when you are doing it in service to the king, you are being an obedient servant, and all of those things therefore take on significance, and that is so liberating. I can't help but think about Martin Luther, who compared the milkmaid milking the teats of a cow versus the Catholic priest doing his religious duties. He asked the question, "Which one is more spiritual?" And the answer is, well. It depends on their heart.

If the priest is doing it for fame or to be the center of attention, he's doing a thing that is displeasing to God, even though he might be at an altar. The milkmaid, on the other hand, who is milking the teats of a cow so she can provide milk for God's children, is doing a service that is well pleasing to God. And so, when we remember. That we have been brought into this kingdom, and when we are being obedient, we are being good servants of the King. And then I would simply ask this question: As you go about the business of living your life, as you go about the business of doing your duty, changing diapers, emptying the dishwasher, going to work, whatever it happens to be.

Simultaneously, I would ask the question: Why wouldn't you want to be thinking about your King? Doesn't mean you have to do it 24/7, but why wouldn't you want to? And you find that the greatest joy, duty, and delight, and you go about the business of pursuing Him because you want to, in balance with the rest of the responsibilities of your life. And I think that's pretty revolutionary, David, because so many of these movements they become so legalistic, they become so owners. You got to read your Bible this much.

You got to pray this much. I say no. How much do you want to read your Bible? How much do you want to pray? How much do you want to be conformed into the image of Jesus Christ?

It should be more and more and more. And the only way that you will desire those things more and more and more is when you understand the beauty of the King. It's not about what you have to do as a believer. It's what you get to do. You get to read God's word, and what a privilege that is.

Todd Freyel is our guest today on the Christian Worldview, talking about his brand new book, "Go Serve Your King." The book is our new featured resource that you can order for a donation of twenty five dollars or more. All our contact information will be given during this break. If you'd like to order, final segment coming up. I'm David Wheaton. You are listening to the Christian Worldview.

Radio program. David Wheaton here. For a limited time, we are offering my boy Ben for a donation of any amount to the Christian Worldview. The book is the true story of a yellow lab that I had back when I was competing on the professional tennis tour. It's about relationships with Ben, my parents, with a childhood friend I would eventually marry, but ultimately with God, who causes all things, even the hard things, to work together for good.

You can order a signed and personalized copy for yourself, or for your friend who enjoys a good story, loves dogs, sports, or the outdoors, and most of all, needs to hear about God's grace and the gospel. My boy Ben is owned by the Christian Worldview. It's 264 pages, hardcover, and retails for 24.95. To order, go to thechristianworldview.org, or call one triple eight six four six twenty two thirty three, or write to Box four zero one Excelsior, Minnesota five five three three one. We didn't want our kids doing all these secular games like Elf on the Shelf.

We really wanted to put Christ front and center at Christmas, and they actually engineered a wooden manger that's small enough to hide. And then I wrote a family devotional with 25 devotions for every day in December leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Day, that you can do in about seven minutes, and the devotions are just loaded. With the deity of Christ and the gospel. That was Pastor Grant Castleberry describing *Manger in Danger*, a 25-day devotional for families with children ages 4 through 12. The devotional begins December 1st, and you can receive it for a donation of $30 or more to the Christian Worldview.

To order, go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55333. One. Welcome back to the Christian Worldview. I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit thechristianworldview.org where you can sign up for our weekly email, the Christian Worldview Journal print publication, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry.

Our topic today is the response to the midterms and everything else in life. Go serve your king, and our guest is Todd Freel, radio and TV host of Wretched and author of Go Serve Your King.

Now there is a number of chapters that we're not going to be able to get to here in section two on every day with the king, the king of good, the king of relationships, the king of marriage, the king of aging, the king of death. These are all separate chapters that listeners will be able to dig into. But I am just going to ask you one more question about that chapter ten on the king of death, and you provide lots of reasons in that chapter. Why not just aging can be embraced? You do that in chapter nine, but in chapter ten about why passing from life on this earth to heaven, in other words, dying, is an incredible blissful upgrade for the believer.

Something to really look forward to. That of course goes against our our natural tendency to fear death and what's the process going to be like and so forth. What biblical truths do you anchor on when you think about your death? Because it's coming to everyone; no one escapes without dying in this earth. Do you look forward to your birthday?

At least throughout your life, did you look forward to your birthday? And I suspect you go, "Well, yeah, it was nice because people celebrated me. It was a joyous time. It was another calendar flipped, and I'm still alive." All right, if you enjoy birthdays. You should enjoy death.

In that, that is your birthday. That is the day that you are going to be flung from this mortal coil. That you are going to be face to face with your Savior, and you are going to be, if you will, reborn for eternity. Your death day is your absolute best birthday.

So, if you look forward to your birthdays here, you should be looking forward to your ultimate birthday, when you are then in the presence of the King. I don't think we want to be strange about this because death is something that is indeed an intrusion. It's an ordained intrusion, but nevertheless, it's not natural, and so we don't have to be like thrilled that we're going to breathe our last. But that doesn't mean that we shouldn't have an increased longing, and that we should be terrified of it, and that we should be fearing for what's going to happen to my goods and my chattel and my children. Does your father not love your wife, your spouse, your kids?

More than you do. Don't be afraid. He's got this. He knows the best day for you to be born. He knows the best day for you to die.

Why? Because he's a good king, and because he does everything right. And so you can know, even though you do not know the last date that you will be on this planet, the Lord does, and he's predetermined. It'll be the best day for you to die. Why?

Oh, because of what he has done to prepare a place for you, isn't that why Jesus calmed the disciples? They were in a panic. Their Savior was going to be crucified. They got it. They understood.

In John 13, when they go into the upper room, and Jesus actually spends four chapters comforting them. What a Savior! He's the one who should be receiving comfort. Instead, he's the one who's comforting the disciples. And what does Jesus ask or say in John 14:1?

Do God, let your heart be troubled. Believe in God. Believe also in me—a statement of equality, because I've gone to prepare a place for you. He has prepared something for you that is beyond your imagination, and you are going to be in the presence of the King, who is going to get ready for this. Serve you.

The King who serves the servants is awaiting you.

So as you take your last breath, you can know this: your Savior is going to take you by the hand, and He's going to calm your heart and say, "Don't you worry. I've been here. I've done this, and I'm going to take you to My Father. And it will be the best day of your entire life." That's such great encouragement and reason for hope for the believer, that that our great King will do that someday for each one of us. Todd Freil is our guest today here on the Christian Worldview.

Todd, we've gone from section one, the beauty of the King, touching on section two, which is every day with the King, and finally to section three, becoming like the King. This is the point of the Christian life—to become conformed to the image of Christ. And in Chapter Eleven, you talk about thinking like the King through the means that God provides that we can grow to become like the King. And in Chapter Twelve, you talk about joining the King's Club—in other words, the local church.

So maybe you can combine those two chapters together and comment on what are the means. Of thinking like the king, and why is being a member? Of a local church, so important for the Christian. Acts two forty two. People title this typically the means of grace, because I think that causes confusion that you can increase in grace or increase in forgiveness or mercy.

I prefer to call them the means of growth. What is God provided for us to grow?

Well, He's given us a number of things, and these are going to be pretty standard and obvious: listening to preaching, reading your Bible, praying, fellowshipping with other believers, witnessing. Baptisms, participating in the Lord's table.

Now, ask yourself the question: What do those six things have in common? And the answer is the word. Because when you are watching a baptism, what are you seeing? A visual reminder of the gospel: the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus. What are you doing tactily when you consume the elements of the Lord's table?

You remembering His sacrifices, shedding of blood. When you listen to preaching, it should be based on the word. When you are reading the Bible, it is. The word. When you are praying, you are talking to the word, and those things will grow you.

If you want to have the mind of Christ, all you need to do is study the mind of Christ. Where do you find it revealed in the Bible?

Now, there is two ways you can do those things. You can do some of those things independently, and you should. You should be reading your Bible as much as you desire. You should be praying as much as you desire, but there is other things. That you can't do.

That the Lord provide a different context where the Lord says, "Do these things there," and that place, that location, is His bride. The church, the local church of Jesus Christ, not of Latter Day Saints. The local church of Jesus Christ is the context; it is his only authorized context for you to be where you will flourish the most for a number of reasons. One, you're going to listen to preaching that was prepared for you when you listen to other people pray. Oh, the edification, because you hear what's going on in people's lives and that they're persevering and enduring and calling out to the Lord.

You even learn how to. Pray better. You watch a baptism, and what do you hear? Wow, the Lord is working in somebody's life. I'm not the only Christian on the planet.

He's still saving people. All of those things will grow you in that particular context when you do it in community.

Furthermore, they will bless you. Because there's a biblical concept called the one another's. There's about sixty of them, depending on how you count them, that we're supposed to do things for one another.

Well, people are going to do things for you. They're going to serve you. They're going to love you. They're going to rebuke you. They're going to exhort you.

They're going to encourage you. They're going to help you. All of those things are available to you, but only if you join the King's Club.

Furthermore, you can be doing those things for others, which brings a great deal of satisfaction.

Furthermore, it is in the context. Of the local church that you can use your spiritual gift, you can't do that online, and so if you want to become like Jesus, you have got the means of growth available to you. Partake in those as much as you desire privately, but please, please, please, do not neglect becoming a serving member of a local church. You will never grow as much as you can. Vlad, I guarantee.

I know you think maybe you can, but you can't. You can't grow as much as you will in the context of the local church. Amen, Todd. Thank you for emphasizing that.

Now, in the interest of time, Todd, I'd love to get to chapter 14 on reading the King's Manual or chapter 15 on advancing the kingdom with evangelism, but we'll just have to let listeners read those chapters on their own when they get this book because they're very good. But I want to get finally to the epilogue of the book where you say this: tether your life to Jesus. Conform your will to His. Surrender your priorities to your Savior. The more you live life in service to your King, the more your life will make sense, and you will experience His royal blessings.

Let rewards encourage you. His reward. Let fear of God's fatherly discipline constrain you. Most importantly, let His love compel you to live for the One who is altogether lovely. I thought that was just beautifully written and so true, Todd.

So, final question for you is this: because your book is about living the Christian life, and there have been many other books over the years that purport to want to do the same thing, I'm just going to mention two of them that have been very popular. The first is Rick Warren's The Purpose-Driven Life, and another one more recently is by David Platt in his book Radical. That to to live the Christian life it's a radical endeavor.

So, how is your book different than the thrust of those books? And what is your final exhortation to listeners today, Christians today, who are listening to? Pursue what the Puritan said—that to live all of life to the glory of the King. I'm all about the Christian life being radical because it is. The question is who gets to define that now.

Currently, the popular definition of being a radical Christian is you sell everything you have and you go live in a cardboard box in the middle of Mumbai to share the gospel. That's being a radical Christian, and if you're not behaving like that, well, you're a so-so Christian.

Well, I don't think the Bible says that. I think the Bible says while going we make disciples. It's an indication already in Matthew 28 that we're supposed. To be sharing our faith where we are.

Furthermore, it is not normative for everybody to be called. If we were all called and going, then there would be no local churches, and somebody has to evangelize the people who are in my zip code. The normative Christian life is living out your life where God has ordained that He wants you to live, and to make the most of every opportunity to proclaim the excellencies of His Son, King Jesus Christ. That's normative.

Now, what makes the Christian life radical? I'll tell you what it is. It's a man who doesn't look at pornography. That's radical. It's a woman who says.

I love my career, but I'm going to put my children before my own career. That's radical. It's a teenager who doesn't sass mouth his parents and ghosts them at the first opportunity that he or she has. That's radical. It's a couple that stays faithfully married for fifty, sixty, seventy years.

That's radical. It's not consuming smutty images on cable TV. That's It's radical. It's having a mouth that's pure. It's having a mind that is pure.

That's radical. That's what makes Christianity radical. It's being holy. It's being obedient to the Lord Jesus Christ. Strive for that, and you are being a radical Christian.

You do not have to live in a cardboard box in Mumbai. Live the radical life where you are, and I would also say, David, that this is different than Rick Warren's book because he lays out these are the things that you've got to do. It's a heavy emphasis on do, do, do, do.

Well, I think we've all heard this, and it's a good cliche. Christianity isn't about do; it's about done. Then we do not because doing those things makes us happy. We have already been made glad.

Now we do those things because we are glad and we desire to know our Savior more and more. That's the radical Christian life. I remember there was a book written a number of years ago: "Do great things." You got to go to Washington D.C. You've got to become a politician. You've got to become some sort of academic and a professor.

Hold on, who says those are great things? We need to let God define what great things are. Here's what a great thing is: humility, exhibiting patience. Being kind to everybody that you meet, sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, being faithful to your spouse, to your children—those are great things. Let God define what is radical.

Let God give the prescription for living a happy, abundant life. Do not listen to the world's definition of what makes somebody a success on this planet. Let God define those things for you. And you have His promise, because He is good. Because He is good.

Let me repeat that again. Because He is good, you can know this and rest in this. If you get in alignment with His will, surrender to the King, and serve Him day in and day out, I promise you, you will live the abundant life, the real abundant life. And that's such a fitting way to end our conversation today, Todd. And that's why I love your new book so much.

Go serve your king because it explains what Scripture really desires, what God's Word desires for the believer, that abundant Christian life. I've known you for many, many years, Todd, from our early days in radio, and I just praise God for keeping you on the narrow road and the sanctifying work He's done in your life.

So thank you for coming on the Christian Worldview Radio program today. We just wish all of God's best to you and your family and your ministry as well. Thank you again. Thank you, David. Again, Todd Freel, host of Wretched Radio and TV, has been our guest today.

You can find links to him at our website, thechristianworldview dot org. If you missed any of the program, you can hear a replay at our website or contact your local radio station to see if they air the program at other times. You can also open the podcast app on your phone and search for the Christian Worldview with my name, David Wheaton, to subscribe to the program for free. We think Todd's new book, "Go Serve Your King," will be so helpful to align you with God's purpose for your life, especially as we head into a new year. That we made it our new featured resource.

It's hardcover, 320 pages, and retails for $30. For a limited time, you can order it for a donation of $25 or more. Just get in touch to order, and all our contact information will be given in just a moment. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian Worldview and for your support of this non-profit radio ministry. Until next time, think biblically, live accordingly, and as Todd exhorts at the end of his own program.

Go serve your king. The mission of the Christian worldview is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end. To hear a replay of today's program, order a transcript, or find out what must I do to be saved, go to thechristianworldview.org or call toll-free 1-866-223-33. The Christian Worldview is a listener-supported nonprofit radio ministry furnished by the Overcomer Foundation.

To make a donation, order resources, become a Christian Worldview partner, sign up for our weekly email, or the Christian Worldview Journal print publication. Or to contact us, go to thechristianworldview.org, call one eight hundred eight six four six twenty two thirty three, or write to Box four zero one Excelsior, Minnesota five five three three one. Thanks for listening to the Christian Worldview.