Standing Upstream

Um Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk the truth news. I can't hide it. I can hold it. A daily program powered by the Truth Network.

This is kind of a great thing, and I'll tell you what. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together. Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. Welcome to Truth Talk Live.

This is Peter Rosenberger. Glad to be with you today, 866. 34 TRUTH 866-34878 84. If you want to be a part of the program and weigh in on the things we're going to talk about today, I want to give a first big thank you to Robbie Dillmore and to Stu Epperson for their flexibility for the last couple of weeks. I'm still dealing with the aftermath of quite a few things of a medical year, and I don't normally like to call in like that, but I had to.

And they are so gracious to always step in and help out. And it's very meaningful. And I do thank them for it.

So, and I thank you for your indulgence as I have to come in and out sometimes. That such is the nature. of being a caregiver. and I have been one now for forty years.

So it's uh it's a bit challenging. I try to work around all the things that I do, and but sometimes they're just schedulings. And last week we were in the middle of a CT scan that was very important to get, but everything came out. Pretty well, we're moving right along. And back to work.

So, thank you for your indulgence. Let me ask you a question. What do you. Think of this mayor's race in New York. Have you been following this?

Is this something That has Piqued your interest.

Some people say, well, you know, New York is lost. Let them just do whatever they're going to do. They keep messing up their city. They keep voting this way. They get what they deserve.

That kind of stuff. Is that an attitude that you share, or that you say, no, we need to move away from that and we need to be concerned and we need to weigh in on it? And the reason I'm asking is several reasons. One of them is. When the towers fell I remember exactly where I was, I would imagine many of you do as well.

But for years after that it was never forget, never forget, never forget.

Well guess what?

Somebody forgot. This young man who's never really Done anything, never had a career, never built anything, never really accomplished anything, but he's very, very smart. He's very affable. But he's saying some things that are deeply troubling. He's refused.

To Condemn the slogan Globalize the Intifada. Which is a phrase widely viewed as a calling for violent uprising against Jews worldwide. He's repeatedly accused Israel of genocide during the New York mayoral debates and interviews, but not calling what happened on October seventh Where 1,200 were killed. genocide. by Hamas in in Gaza.

He's called Israel an apartheid. and said he would not recognize quote Quoting here, any state's right to exist with a system of hierarchy based on race or religion.

Now that sounds A bit like separation of church and state. We don't want to respect it. But what is he really saying? I mean, what does he say to the Japanese government at that point? What does he say to?

The Indian government, the Chinese government. What does he say to African governments? And you see where this is going with him. And so he's able to Say these things and to the non-discerning ear get away with a lot. He's called U.S.

foreign policy imperialist. And he's associated himself with groups describing America as so-called turtle island. rejecting traditional US sovereignty. He has sidestepped clear support for Israel's right to defend itself. following the October 7th attacks.

instead focused on occupation and colonialism. And he has been silent on quite a few things. But he says all these things like did you see what he did in the m the mayoral debate? He he challenged Cuomo. When's the last time you went to a mosque?

When's the last time you went to a mosque? When's the last time you went to a mosque? I don't know that that's required to be mayor of New York, that you have to go to a mosque. And it's when's the last time he's been to a synagogue? I would have asked that question.

I would have asked him that question. When's the last time you went to a Presbyterian church? When's the last time you went to a synagogue? When's the last time you went to a Southern Baptist Church? They're Southern Baptists in New York City, aren't there?

In Manhattan or somewhere. I would imagine. But the point of it is is that he is very gifted at saying things To the non-discriminatory ear that are not going to, they're going to, oh, oh, yeah, okay, he's making sense, he's, and he's very affable, and he's getting softball questions from all the media.

So New York is poised now to have this guy Who's basically a full-blown communist. And he's coming in and going to take a wrecking ball to the greatest city. in the United States. Yeah. I live way out in Montana.

Many of you listening here are probably not listening in New York City. You think, well, Peter, how's this our problem? Is it our problem? We've said for years that politics is downstream of culture. You ever heard that phrase?

Politics is downstream of culture. But let's be honest. Culture itself is downstream. of belief. Whatever a people worship, They eventually legislate.

When we stop worshiping the God who made us, we start worshiping the systems, Slogans and the grievances that flatter us, That's how we get leaders who call evil good and good evil, and crowds who cheer for them. Have you been seeing this? Has this registered with you as you've been watching the news? Do you see people calling good evil and evil good? What troubles me most isn't Mamdani himself.

It's how quickly the moral vocabulary that once shaped this country, words like truth, honor, and holiness have been replaced by buzzwords like liberation, decolonization, and equity, all detached from any kind of Standard, fixed standard of right and wrong. You hear the phrase all the time: you speak your truth.

Well, everybody's got their truth.

Well, is that is that accurate? Is that a biblical world view? Does that concern you when people say these things? Do you hear people tell, well that's your truth? Do you ever say that to people?

Well, that's your truth. Or do we say this is the truth? Jesus said, I am the truth. And You know, I was listening to Jimmy Kimmel on his apology. You know, I think I referenced this a couple of weeks ago when he came out and he said he followed Jesus, he followed the teachings of Jesus.

Well, which ones? Nobody bothered to ask him which teachings. Jesus thought that He was God. He said, Before Abraham was, I am. Does Jimmy Kimmel follow that one?

I nobody asked him. I'm asking, but I don't think he's going to call into the program. But the danger we have here is that the church usually drifts right along with this. Politics flows downstream from pop culture And too often the church floats downstream from both, trying to stay relevant in a river that's losing its moral banks. And let me tell you something.

I live out here in the Rockies of Montana. And I was moving some cattle the other day, and they all went through. There was a bridge to go. where we were moving them, but a lot of them went down into the creek. It is a pretty wide creek, and it irrigates all the way down to the valley.

And I watched those cows in the creek. Do I need to tell you what they were doing? Or can you picture that? And that's fine for that water to be used for irrigation. It's going to water.

other livestock it's going to be used to help water fields and so forth. But you don't want to drink that. You don't want to drink that. And you know why you don't want to drink it. How much of that are you willing to have in your water.

to drink it. How much is too much? How much is enough? How much is acceptable to you?

So I'm asking you, is the church upstream from all of this rot. that you're seeing out on the news. Are we right there with a minute? or worse, are we downstream from it? When you think of a bunch of cows in a creek It it gives you a pretty strong visual of what's going on.

Now the question is, where are we? when it comes to this creek. Where are we in this water? Are we above all this stuff? Are we getting our water from the pure spring?

of the Word of God? Are we letting the world poop in all of our water, and that's what we're drinking. And that's a good question to ask, isn't it? Because this is what I'm seeing happening here. Maybe you are too.

And if you are, let me know: 866-34-TRUTH 866-348-7884. This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Truth Talk Live. We'll be. Right back.

You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Peter Rosenberger. Glad to be with you this afternoon, 866-348-2. Seventy eight eighty four.

That's eight six six. 34 Truth, if you want to join the program. Ask some. What I thought were maybe some poignant questions last block about where are we when we see all these things going on. Buckman from Dayton, Ohio, wants to weigh in.

Buckman, how are you feeling today? Right. I am doing great, Peter, and thank you for those questions. They're right to the point. This is what I love about Truth Talk Live, the radio program where we can call in and express what we believe as well.

Um what I believe By the way, Buckman was was my cow in the creek. Vi too visual for you. Brother, I loved it because I live in Ohio and I see many creeks and I see many cows.

Now it's scary, and you know this, Brother Rosenberger. If we see a cow in Ohio In a creek, that means it has left its farm and the farmer is looking for that sow. You know, it's looking for the cow, looking for the for the We've even even seen bulls. That have gotten out. As a matter of fact, my mother-in-law had a bowl in her backyard.

And sure enough, Peter, there was a creek behind her house. And her and my father-in-law called and said, Bustman, there's a bull in our backyard, and I didn't believe her at first, but sure enough, it was in there frolicking. And it was after a heavy rain and was drinking, but yes. You ever see the bull frolic? It's like that old Looney Tunes cartoon.

You remember that Looney Tunes cartoon with Fernando the Bull and he would frolic and dance with Bugs Bunny? He sure did. You know your old merry melodies. I'm proud of you. Yes.

A childhood well spent. A childhood will stand. Bring back the Saturday morning cartoon. Where do you think I learned how to play classical music? That's so good.

Yeah, you had a good uh teacher, but yes, you you nailed it, Peter, with the uh with the with the cow being in uh Allegory because We are downstream. Challenge. We have got to get out the mock that's falling down we have got to shut off our our our T V sets. We've got to shut off our phones, our tablets, our computers. We've got to stop being like the world, and we've got to start standing up and saying we are a city on the hill.

Thank you very much. We are to be guiding these civilizations just as you know I think a Joseph When the whole world was starving in the in the Old Testament. Joseph Bad. Damn. Joseph Fed the world.

Because he had stored a pawn. That grain, so much, so the Bible says, that the manager stopped counting it. There was just so much, and that was God's blessing. To a righteous man named Joseph, who happened to be the right-hand man. of the most powerful being on the planet, which was Pharaoh.

the first Pharaoh, not the evil pharaoh that enslaved the Hebrews.

So Peter, the church has got to be. We've got to be like that. And something else I want to touch on: you said to not worship. And the church needs to stop getting involved. with with you know uh trendy things Brother, I'm going to hit you right between the eyes with this one that's really been bothering me in my heart, Brother Peter, and that's this Charlie Kirk worship.

I want everybody in in Truth Talk Lives Voice that you can hear me on and on your radios. I want you to pick up your Bibles. Don't do it with you in the car. But I want or if you're got your wife in the car, have her pick up for the husband. And I want you to open up to God's word in Revelation.

And I want you to go to chapter 19. And I'll let you go to Durham Sad. Revelation 19. Verse 10.

Okay? Because I see Christianity, Brother Peter, starting to lean this way. And I can see if we exchange Charlie Kirk. with the angel In that narrative, in that verse. we will see that we are doing a very wrong thing.

We are worshiping Charlie Kirk. And I believe Charlie from the heavenlies is saying, God. Don't worship me, worship God. And that's exactly what the angel tells. the very reference John the Revelator.

Okay, John bar Zebedee, John the son of Zebede, John. the disciple whom Jesus loved. We have got to start Looking at Our experience Today. With Charlie behind us. Through the biblical lens, and I'll throw this one out: Deuteronomy.

Thirty-four eight. Deuteronomy three four Verse eight. In that passage. is the time frame that the ancient Israelites mourned the death of both Moses and his brother Aaron. 30 days.

talk about.

Okay. 30 days. They mourned the leader, the prophet of... God that led them out of bondage into, well, Jacob. Israel.

It was land. finally by Joshua because we know that Moses messed up. But when those two men died, 30 days was all that God allowed. Yeah. For them.

For the Hebrews to mourn the death of their leadership. Why are we? We pass. October 10th. Why are we wearing I am Charlie Kirk?

Ah, no. is I Be up. That's the name of God. I am Charlie Kirk. Are you kidding me, Brother Peter?

Are you kidding me? Charlie Kirk is not equal with me. That me either, brother.

So please, I'm not sure. Yeah, please look at those scriptures. straight from God's Mouth to our Yeah. That's all I got, Brother Peter.

Well, that's quite a load there. Thank you so much for that, Buckman. I appreciate it because it's a passionate plea to Hebrews 12, 1 through 2 comes to mind. Wherefore, seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight and the sin which doth so easily beset us. And let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.

Amen. Not Charlie Kirk. Or anybody for that matter. I mean, you know, I was thinking about, you know, with Stephen when he was the first Christian martyr. And, you know, I don't know that they made a shrine to Stephen.

They they make murals. Brother Peter, there's murals just down the road from my house. But to my knowledge, they didn't make any for Stephen. And so it's something to think about that we we don't need to venerate. The only one we could certainly admire, respect, and remember and grieve and mourn and all those things, but we don't need to take our eyes off of the one who is the author and finisher of our faith.

That's a good word, a timely word, Buckman. You brought up Stephen. Remember, now this, I believe, God, we definitely have the same father. Brother Peter, we may have different mothers, but we've got the same father. Watch this.

Father downloaded this to me just the other day, Brother Peter, and it's this: exactly what you're talking about. In Acts chapter 8, you see the wonderful message. That Stephen gives to all the people, including Saul. who is holding the cloaks of those who are hurling the rock. At his beautiful face.

Okay, Stephen. And Saul then got converted, obviously, and became Paul. But What happened? When Stephen died, That's When the twelve boys left Jerusalem. Look it up in your Bibles.

That's when. they fulfilled the master's call to the great commission.

So I believe that we're seeing this major move of God. through the Holy Spirit. to the to the remnant. Of the Church of Jesus Christ moving. After Charlie's death.

I see people sharing the gospel in the lines of roller coasters at the local amusement park in Cincinnati, Ohio, called Kings Island. I have witnessed it. There's men that share in the gospel. while they're waiting in line for roller coasters. Peter.

I that's not normal. And I I attribute it back. to the death of Charlie. But he's not to be worshipped. Absolutely.

That's a good word. Thank you, Buckman. I appreciate you taking the time to call. If you want to be on the program, weigh in 866-34-TRUTH, 866-34-364. Truth 348-7884.

This is Peter Rosenberger. This is Truth Talk Live. We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.

This is Peter Rocher. and I'm glad to be With you, PeterRosenberger.com. If you want to go out to my website, P-E-T-E-R, R-O-S-E-N-B-E-R-G-E-R. Got a lot of stuff out there, a lot of articles that you can read. If you're a caregiver, particularly, that's what I do.

I talk to family caregivers, people who are taking care of somebody who has a chronic impairment. Whether it's a child with special needs, whether it's an aging parent, or whether it's somebody with an addiction, a mental illness, a trauma, whatever the chronic impairment, there's always a caregiver. and if that's you. Don't wait another minute. reach out.

I got stuff there for you. I promise you it'll help. I'm bringing forty years of understanding to this to offer a lifeline to fellow caregivers. One of the most crippling things that we can go through as a caregiver. And some of y you may be driving home right now from the hospital.

or from a nursing home or from a rehab center. or from jail. But one of the most crippling things we can go through is isolation. And and I've often said that caregivers can feel isolated in a crowded room, and we can feel isolated. On a crowded pew We feel disconnected from everybody.

We feel like what we're carrying is so big and nobody really sees it and understands it. We feel disconnected from God. We think, well, what did we do that God would do this to us? And that reflects some really poor theology. Because the hand of God is not there to to to To lay heavy on you and punish you in this regards.

That was laid on Christ if you're a believer. And the wrath of God that is to come, that's for the unbelievers. But just because you're going through suffering in this world, and you will. Jesus promised it. All of Scripture alludes to it and talks about it talks about it very directly.

We will go through these things. But we learn to trust him in this. We learn, as Paul said, perseverance, endurance, fortitude, character, all these things in it. we are also to go into the sufferings of others. and to care for them in it.

To be able to point them clearly to Christ. I struggled alone for this for decades. I've been a caregiver for 40 years. My wife's had ninety eight surgeries that I can count. You know, you know, this this is This has been a journey, and I've had to learn to, well, I've had to relearn.

I've had to unlearn. And what does scripture say about this? Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind.

Well, what does that look like when you're a caregiver?

Well, one of those things is you don't sit around and think, okay, God's punished me, or I did this, or they did this, or if I had enough faith, or whatever. People come up and have put all that kind of stuff on me, on my wife. and others who are suffering. Whereas If you go back to the first chapter of Job, actually the sixth chapter of Job, Job 2.13. And his friends sat there silent with him for seven days, because they saw his suffering was great.

But then when they opened their mouth and started to opine about why this was happening, That's when they went off the rails. And God, for whatever reason, allowed thirty. Eight. roughly chapters, of bad theology, as these guys speculated on why this was going on, and nobody ever got it right. And at the end God was pretty hot with them.

Go back and read it. At the end of the book of Job, he told Job to pray for these guys lest he visit this stuff on them.

So we don't know, and it's very... Um Precarious. If we start pronouncing what God is doing on someone else's life, what we think. We don't know. And I go back to when Gracie had this surgery, I think it was in April, it was her 91st surgery.

Her 91st. And we had 11 earlier this year. And she's getting ready to go into surgery. And I was praying with her, and I said, Lord, it's just too many. 91 is too many.

And she stopped me. And she said, No. It's however many he says is necessary.

So when we start telling people what we think, We start telling God what we think. We're in some dangerous territory there. And we might want to stop and put our hands over our mouth and say, Lord, what do you think? Lord, what are your thoughts on this? Is this is this man's view?

Or is this God's view? And so, I wanted just to pass it on to my fellow caregivers right now. I don't know what. What's going on with you in your life? But I understand heartache?

I understand fear? Worry, stress, resentment, frustration, exasperation. All of those things, I understand late night conversations with the ceiling fan. I understand those things. And I have learned things about God.

for four decades through this. And I'd love for you to be able to just go out to the website and look and see what I have. My podcast is free. I have a Substack page, caregiver.substack.com. It's very easy.

Caregiver.substack.com. And I've got an article that I put out there. I'll talk about that in the next block. I do think of the conversation I had with Buckman in the last block here about what's going on with our culture. And again, I would go to the same thing.

Our culture says that good things happen to good people, bad things happen to bad people. That's what the culture says. But is that what the Word of God says?

Well, first off, the Word of God says, Who is good? There's no one good. And people say, Well, how could God allow such bad things? And my question to you is.

Now think through what I'm about to say here. Why does he allow mercy? Why does he show mercy at all? Is he obligated to To be merciful? Is he obligated to show mercy to you?

Trump's been in the the news a lot lately talking about heaven. Which I'm I'm Brother couldn't, you know. Curious on why he keeps asking us. He's got an office of faith. Paula White runs that thing.

I mean, does she not know? I mean, pull him aside and say, Mr. President, it's very easy. Here it is. Franklin Graham runs commercials talking about the plan of salvation on Fox News all the time.

Why is he asking this question about it? I don't know if I'm going to get to heaven and if this will get me to heaven. I don't. I know he's. probably being a little bit tongue-in-cheek, that's not something to be tongue-in-cheek about.

Why is he having this conversation? And it reflects when I hear him talk, it reflects. that knowledge of somehow There's some type of earning on our part. Like somehow we gotta play a part in this thing. That's called synergism.

There's two people working for my salvation, God and me. Is that what Scripture teaches? Or is it monergism? one person working for my salvation. God.

Is there anything I take credit for with this?

Now, I have work to do in my sanctification process as I walk through this life and be obedient, repent, and turn from things and. Be not transformed to this world, that kind of thing. But my salvation? Really? I got God God set this elaborate plan in place of the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, and then Christ was risen from the dead, ascended to heaven, and now the Trinity waits with bated breath and hopes I'm going to make the right decision.

People say sometimes, well, God's trying to save as many people as he can. When did God start trying to do anything? I just, I listen to people speak, and I'm thinking, do you hear what you're saying? You're saying that. The great I am.

As Buckman referred to it last in the last block. the great I am is trying to do something? and we're somehow thwarting him? And we're somehow You know Being an impediment? To God?

The King of Kings, Lord of Lords? Adonai, El Shadai? Do we even hear what we say? And that's the kind of vernacular that's gotten into the church. Why do good things happen to bad people, or why do bad things happen to good people?

And the question is. Why does God show mercy at all? I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever. As Scripture says. Remember that little Course?

Ba da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da. Da da da da. How's that go?

Okay, well, I'm not going to play that right now. I have to put the caregiver keyboard aside for a minute. But do you remember that? I will sing of the mercies of the Lord, and with my mouth I will make known. Why are we not out talking about God's mercy?

Sin is a bigger problem than we think it is. Do I need to say that again? Sin is a bigger problem than we think it is. And as Buckman said in the last block about people getting all excited about Charlie Kirk, and I understand that there's a lot of sentiment going on there, but Calvin said it best. He said, We are idol factories.

The human heart is an idol factory. We make idols, that's all we do. We make idols. Sin is a bigger problem than we think it is. And if we don't wrap our minds around that.

and tread very, very carefully in some areas. we're going to get off on all these tangents. And I see a lot of people getting really worked up and they want they're frothy and go out there and they want to, you know, turn a have you do you ever get on social media much? Do you do you follow anything on X or whatever? There's a lot of guys out there.

That you don't want to do Christ as king, Christ as king, and he is. And they they really Push this. I mean, they got t-shirts on it and they're bodybuilding and they're lifting weights while they're yelling out Christ is king and all that kind of stuff. And God bless them.

Okay, God bless him. But I can't help but notice. How few are saying Christ is Lord. Do you see the difference? There were a lot of people that wanted Jesus to overthrow the Romans and become king.

Judas is one of them. There are a lot of people who wanted him to do that. But how many wanted him to become lord? You see the difference. Do you see what our sin wants to do?

We want to be part of this. And I can't help but think about Saul. That they get so frustrated with Samuel's two uh two sons. Who were not operating like they should have, and I get that, and they wanted a king to be like other nations. And the Lord, it it grieved the Lord.

But he gave them Saul, who looked exactly like what they thought they wanted a big warrior, big tall fellow. And it was a disaster. And then God brought David. And even David, with all his wonderful attributes, was so flawed. There's only one who can be.

But we're not there. to make this to facilitate that. We're there. To follow him to the cross, looking unto Christ. And we go to the cross, and Paul said, I preach Christ and Christ crucified.

And that is such An enigma to this world. They don't want that. They want all the big pomp and circumstance and all this kind of stuff. But our Savior is not saying Pick up your throne and follow me. He's saying pick up your cross.

Sin is a bigger problem than we think it is, and the cross is a bigger deal than we could ever imagine, and that is. Truth Talk Live 866-34 TRUTH 866-34 TRUTH We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. This is Peter Rosenberger.

866-34 TRUTH. 866-34 TRUTH. If you want to be a part of the program, 866-348-342. Seventy-eight. eighty four I just saw the headlines that an American missionary has been kidnapped in Niger.

Um I tried Nigeria. Um and I I go back to what we were talking about with this thing with Charlie Kirk, and it it breaks your heart. You you that this is what's going on. Let us also remember. How many of our brothers and sisters?

Are being killed and butchered in Nigeria. And now this American missionary has been kidnapped. Um let us not forget that there is a global assault. on the things of God, on the kingdom of God. And hell seems a bit more emboldened every day, doesn't it?

They it it's It's got and There's an old saying from Andy Griffith. Barney Fife said, men, it's going to get tough, and it's going to get tougher. It's going to get tougher. And if we don't steal ourselves, and if we don't prepare ourselves. We're gonna fold.

We're not going to make it.

Now how do we do that? You go back to the Word of God. Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I may not sin Against the How many of you ever heard a sermon at your church. With this passage. From Psalms.

It was good that I was afflicted, that I might learn thy statutes. It is good that I was afflicted. And I might learn your statutes, your laws. Do we preach that? No, we don't preach that.

We talking about getting your breakthrough. You're going to get your blessing. You get to step up. I went to a church. Um a while back and Pastor was getting everybody worked up into a froth.

And had Tell your neighbor, turn to your neighbor and tell them, he's going to show up. He's going to show up. And people come up to me, he's going to show up. And every time they did, I took their hand and I looked at them very graciously and I said, he already did. He already did.

Okay, God is not this genie in a bottle that we summon anytime we need something. He is the name of the Lord is a strong tower, and the righteous run into it are safe. We are safe in Christ, we are safe in Him, we are held in Him and kept in Him the body they may kill, God's truth. abideth still And if we don't prepare ourselves for this, I'm just telling you, There are things coming there is such an assault. Who would have dreamed this is where we are?

Twenty five years, less than twenty five years after the fall of the towers of what's getting ready to happen in New York. Who would have dreamed we would have this rampant perversion? going on in our culture on a scale that we're having. I'll tell you who would. Francis Schaeffer saw it.

If you go back and read, go through his series, it's dated the production of it on whatever happened to the human race back in 1978, I think he did. He called so much of this. And it would would people basically call in evil good and good evil. And um it's worth your time to go back and see it. And watch it and listen to what he had to say.

I think they made it into a little booklet, but it was whatever happened to the human race. And it is. worthy of your time. To go back and do that with Francis Schaefer. I wanted to give you just a brief.

Touch on this article that I've got at my substack page, caregiver.substack.com. And you sign up to receive this. There's free and there's a paid subscription, but this is the free one you put out there. It's called Built for Grace. And I just wanted to share something with you.

I thought it might be encouraging this last few minutes, if you don't mind. This is one of the things that I have available for my fellow caregivers. And it's all out at Peter Rosenberger.com. But this is particularly for you all. We spent a lifetime.

Retrofitting. for Gracie's disability. After her first amputation, which was in nineteen ninety one, We widened the doors and we built a ramp and installed grab bars. And after the second amputation in 1995, we tore out bathroom and reworked hallways, added even more grab bars. I think we ought to have stock in grab bar companies by now.

And as the surgeries mounted, Every new challenge set us scrambling to reconfigure what we had into something that might work. for what she needed. But retrofitting is hard work. It is exhausting work. It's expensive.

It's frustrating. How many of you all have remodeled a bathroom or remodeled a kitchen or remodeled anything? It's almost always a compromise. You chip away at what used to be, patching it up, adapting it, trying to make it serve a new reality it was never designed for. And after decades of doing that, Gracie and I decided to stop.

We this new place that we built We've remodeled onto this small cabin. We've been living in this small cabin on our family's property in Montana. And I mean, how small is it? You can you have to eat a large pizza outside. I mean, it's a small place.

You can make a grilled cheese sandwich from the bathroom. I mean, it's a small place. So but we decided to make an addition to this. And it's not a retrofit. It's Not a new patch job, it's something new built.

from the ground up around Gracie and her knees. And I spent hours with the framers and contractors rolling her wheelchair. I would get she had a travel wheelchair, and I taped out doorways and everything else, and I would check clearances, turning radiuses, where everything went. The thresholds, the shower nozzle, light switch, everything was playing with her in mind. And when she came in, she had not been seeing this, but this has all been going on while she was in the hospital for five months.

And she was able to walk in with her walker on her prosthetic legs and saw it for the first time. She picked out the paint color. from from the hospital.

Well, I think she was in ICU. And uh so that was a bit challenging, but She came in, and I'll never forget. The joy on her face as she realized she could move freely with no more workarounds and It was this It was like the house just kind of Like a Peterbilt when it lets off of the brakes at a rest stop, you know, pfft. Just the house just kind of excelled, I mean, exhaled, and said, Welcome home. Welcome home.

And you know, what are the quiet joys of caregiving? And yeah, there are some. is seeing the look on your loved one's face when you've done something that meets them right where they are. I can't fix what happened to Gracie. but I can remove the obstacles that steal her dignity and independence, and that matters and and and and after all these years I learned you have to stop making it work and instead build around the life you have, not the one you lost.

Well, relationships themselves require retrofitting. Illness, age, hardship, they all change the blueprint we started with. We cling to what was And wear ourselves out trying to force it to fit. But once we accept What is, and we start shaping life around that reality, that's where love does its best work. And the the floor plan of our house, it doesn't make any sense.

to anybody else. But it works for us. And that's the beauty of it. What looks odd to someone else For us is a design of freedom. And grace.

Marriage. Caregiving, love itself, they all eventually require that kind of rebuilding, and they rarely follow the standard plan. When you did your vows, when you got married, it didn't say for better or the way we planned it, did it? It said for better or worse. And worse always redraws the blueprints.

But if you're willing to build. A life you've never expected can still become a home, even one with wider doorways and a whole lot of grab bars. And that's an article that I, that's from an article that I wrote that's out of my Substack page. I'd love for you to check it out. And I'll leave you with this.

I built this place for my wife. I built it around my wife. I knew my wife and I knew all of her limitations. I knew how high she sat in her wheelchair. I knew how far she was able to grab.

I knew all those kinds of things. to take care of her. And I built this around her, and I'm a flawed, sinful man. Imagine. What our Saviour is building for us.

Imagine what he's building for his wounded bride. Take a moment to think about that. Think about what he's doing. And the ex I had excitement doing this. I was so excited to show this to her.

And I I there were times that I just teared up because of all the little details I was doing on her behalf. And I'm a flawed, sinful man with a low budget. But he's Lord of all. And his budget is not a problem. And he was a carpenter, so he understands how to build.

And he's building something. Then the question is, are we going to be a part of what the world is building? Are we going to turn our eyes heavenwards? and be a part of what he's building. Are we thinking man's view?

Are we thinking God's view? Are we downstream from the culture? Are we right at the fount? Under the spout where the glory comes out Are we upstream? And those are questions I'd like for us to think about.

This is what I think about for myself all the time. This is how I endure. forty years of this. I don't know how you do it. I don't know who...

In fact, I don't know anybody else who has done it. what I've done. That's why I wrote the book for caregivers. I can tell you this, I didn't do it on my own strength. That lasted about six months.

Six. or seven minutes. I've been doing it for 40 years. I don't have it in me to do this. But I lean on the one who does.

And he's the ultimate caregiver. of a wounded bride, And if you place your trust in Christ. You're part of that. Do you understand that? Do you understand that he's building a place for you?

That he knows your name. He knows things about you that you may not even think about. I knew the reach that Gracie had to be able to get to the light switch. Imagine. What our Savior knows about you.

Okay. That's truth talk. This is Peter Rosenberger. You can go out and see all of that at my website, PeterRosenberger.com. Thank you for taking the time with me today.

I really appreciate it. I'll see you next week. Truth taught Why not do this?