Telling The TRUTH
121011 Telling The Truth 28 Minute Program
[music] You're listening to "Telling the Truth" from Triple T. Christian Youth Ministries, "Telling the Truth to and Through Teenagers." Here is Triple T. Founder and President George Dooms. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. What would you say to people who care if you knew you were dying? All of us are. It is appointed to man once to die and after death, the judgment. Listen to Hebrews 1122 in New King James Version. "By faith Joseph, when he was dying, made mention of the departure of the children of Israel and gave instructions concerning his bones. Joseph was leaving a legacy. He was telling people what to do when he was God. He was a leader of leaders. God wants you to be a leader. To lead people to Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Savior of the world, the person who died, who was buried, who rose again for the sins of you and me and anyone who will trust the Lord." What are you doing about sharing your faith? Are you concerned about others? Are you really praying? Are you reading the Word of God? Are you having fellowship with other believers? And together are you determining how to make the gospel go forward through your influence, through your activities, through your sharing, your faith in Christ? I hope you are. I hope you will, because the greatest legacies any of us can leave are those people with whom we have shared Christ and who have trusted him personally." Listen to Hebrews 1123 in New King James. "By faith Moses, when he was born, was hidden three months by his parents because they saw he was a beautiful child and they were not afraid of the king's command. It was a fear factor that kept people from following God's will. But Moses' parents were not afraid because they were people who trusted the Lord. Do you trust the Lord with all of your heart? Are you trying to figure out everything for yourself? Or are you doing the thing that God would have you to do, going the direction God would have you to go for your family, for the people for whom you care? I hope so, and I trust you will understand that God has a plan for you and for all those for whom you're concerned. God wants us to be made usable and then used of him and by him. All my desk is a little poem that's been there since I graduated from college. Only one life, 12 soon be passed. Only what's done for Christ will last. For me to live as Christ and I is gain. And I hope that my sharing Christ with you will impact you to the degree that you will share Christ with others. Make sure you are headed for heaven yourself and don't go alone but take as many as possibly you can with you, telling them the truth. Moses' parents hid him in the bull rushes. Pharaoh's daughter found him and took him home. But listen to Hebrews 1124, New King James Version. By faith Moses when he became of age refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. Moses knew what his real inheritance was. Moses was not willing to go along with the crowd. He was not willing to take the adulations that were coming his way. He did not want to be anyone other than who he really was. He knew his heritage and he wanted to serve the Lord. What about an honor coming your way that is unexpected? Maybe something that is happening and somebody is looking at you. Are you going to take it in spite of what God would have you to do? Or are you willing to say no? I'm going to be refusing that, whatever that might be because I want to serve the Lord. Temptations come, temptations go. But there is no temptation coming your way that God is not willing to help you handle. So please, get close to the Lord, pray, read his word, fellowship with other believers and then share your faith effectively. Urgently, it was decision time for Moses. Choices had to be made. And sometimes for you and me, that happens suddenly as it did for Moses. Listen to Hebrews 1126, New King James. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. That's what happened to Moses. He determined he was going to go back to his people. What about you? Are you willing to return to go back to the beginnings? Are you willing to become all God wants you to be no matter where you are, no matter what has happened to you, no matter how much progress you have made along life's pathway? Are you willing to say God? I'm going to choose you, even to suffer some afflictions, even some discomforts, to be the person of God, to be what you want me to be and not to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Oh, sin can be attractive. And there are so many temptations that come your way, but you don't have to yield. You can put Jesus Christ in first place, will you? Pray, read the word of God, be with other believers and then together determine to take the truth to those who need Jesus Christ personally. Centuries before Jesus was born, Moses, knew the promise of the Messiah was going to happen someday. Listen to this marvelous message of Hebrews 1126, New King James Version, "Asteoming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt, he looked to the reward." Wow, that really is far reaching, isn't it? Moses looking to the future, looking to the reward of a relationship with God through his son, the Messiah, the coming one who was going to be Jesus Christ. Born of a virgin, living perfectly, dying for our sins and being raised from the dead, that is the message that was so marvelous. The Messiah has come, Jesus Christ has been born and he wants to be part of you. Have you been born again? Have you received Jesus as your personal savior? Are you telling others how they too can become children of God? The real why of Christmas is that Christ came to save sinners. The baby in the manger became the crucified Christ on the cross and the bodily resurrected Jesus. Tell people the truth about Christmas. They're waiting to hear. If you don't tell them, who will? Moses was a person who followed the Lord. Listen to Hebrews 1117, New King James Version. By faith, he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king, for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. God had a plan for Moses and Moses was following God's plan. God has a plan for you too. Are you willing to trust the Lord even though you can't see him? But you know that he is. He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek him. God wants you to trust him. He wants you to follow him. He wants you to serve him. He wants you to acknowledge who he is, the God who created the universe, the father of Jesus Christ. And he wants you to know his son. He wants you to have the person of the Holy Spirit in dwelling you. Once you become a child of God, that happens. Are you willing to trust the Lord, to serve the Lord? I hope you are. Pray, pray diligently, pray with other believers. Read the word of God, heed the word of God, and then take the word of God, the plan of salvation to people who need to know the Lord. Will you? You can. You can do it this very day. Being faithful is essential if you are going to please the Lord. Moses did. He was 1128. New King James says, "By faith he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, lest he who destroyed the firstborn should touch them." Yes, Moses was faithful. Moses did what he was supposed to do. The sprinkling of the blood, the Passover that happened so long ago, is now imminent in the hearts and lives of believers of Christ. For now, it is not the blood of bulls and goats, but the blood of Jesus Christ, God's son that was shed for our sins, and we need to know that blood has been or can be applied to everything that we have ever done wrong or that we should have done that we haven't done. Anything that is sin, God will forgive because of the shed blood of his son, Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary. And had he just stayed dead, it wouldn't have made any difference, but that's not what happened. Jesus triumphed over death. He became the sin substitute for you and for me, and he lives. And he wants to live in your heart and in my heart if we will open our hearts to him. And he wants to live in others' hearts if we will share the truth with them. Will you? I hope you will. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. "No one comes to the Father, but by me, "you shall know the truth, "and the truth shall set you free." (upbeat music) - Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m., you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 North at Booneville and Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information call 812-867-2418, or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. (upbeat music) These are exciting days at Triple T Christian Youth Ministries. We've been going across the tri-state sharing Jesus in a very unusual way. We've been working with Inbound Sports Ministries. They're now based in North Carolina, formerly right here in Evansville. And we have with us Coach Todd Burton. Let me tell you a little bit about Todd. He came as a teenager to Triple T because he liked music, and he came to see some very special people that we had here, as we have done, all across the months and years that we've had a ministry. When he was in high school, he was a player on a team that was a national association of Christian athletes, and he was all American. Then he became a coach, and he coached a Division I national championship team in the National Association of Christian Athletes. And then he began a very special ministry called Inbound Ministries. He's the founder and head coach now, and he's been traveling and sharing Jesus using basketball. And I want you to listen, as Todd tells you his story, as to how he moved from player to coach, to now doing what he's doing, in sharing with people in all kinds of places, all shapes and sizes, using basketball, and sometimes other sports, to communicate Christianity. Todd, tell us your story. - Well, in essence, George, it was a typical Indiana kid growing up with a basketball in my hand, and loving that, as well as playing many other sports. The basketball was definitely the one that caught my attention the most, and through some different plans of mine that didn't work out the way that I thought they would in the basketball realm. I went down to some injuries on my knees and different areas, but during that time, I had a lot of time to really reflect on what was it that the Lord wanted me to do, and ended up making a choice to go on to Bible college and to pursue a life of ministry. And as you mentioned earlier, the thing that drew me to triple T as a teenager was my love for music, and I fully intended to use music as my outreach venue for ministry once I finished up college. But as I started doing that and started looking at the opportunities that I had, I toured for years with music and loved doing it, but it was a very, very genre-based outreach. In other words, based on the style of music that we did, it determined what types of crowds we would get, and through some different circumstances of a music partner that was no longer touring on the road with me, I started just really seeking the Lord's face on what is it that you would have of me, Lord, in ministry, how can you use me most effectively? And it became glaringly clear that my love for athletics was a great platform to be used for ministry as well. And part of the reasoning of that was that with athletics, whether it be race, gender, age, none of those things tend to be what dictates your crowd for your outreach platform. So in essence, the sports idea is just basically that. It's a platform with the ultimate goal. The way we say it within our ministry is to give them the rock in the basketball world. The basketball is also called the rock and the selfish nature of sports at times causes people to say, "Give me the rock." So we just turned the me around to an "um" and said, "Give them the rock in the rock, Jesus Christ." And that platform has afforded us an opportunity, literally all over the world, to share the message of Christ. - So you give them the rock of ages. I remember as you came with your college group, what was the name of the group that you were in? - That group was called New Heart. - New Heart, and we had you here. We hosted New Heart at Triple T. And then you and your partner came and we did some things together with you guys. And we've been in and out and up and down and off and on in ministry together in all kinds of ways. And I'll always remember the time that we put a trailer and put a music group on the trailer, but put a basketball goal over at the side and did some very unusual things, combining music and basketball and having people come out of the woodworks, not to listen to the music necessarily, but to shoot some hoops. And then they stayed and they heard the gospel and they came to know Christ. And I'll always remember that very first time that we did that and then we did it again and again in different venues and circumstances. And again, it was always effective because God used both of those things, tying them together. And I guess once in a while you still do a little singing and you still use some music in between dribbling the ball and shooting a hoop or teaching people how to do all of these wonderful things. - Yeah, most definitely. We still stay very, very busy with preaching and teaching ministry, still doing music at times, as well as trying to utilize the, even with the sports theme, we are closing in on 10 years of Monday sports devotions that have gone out on the internet that we use and just try to tie in either news that's happening at that time that people will be aware of or just philosophies from sports and tying those back into biblical principles. - Let's stop for a moment and tell the people what that is called and how they can get it on whatever. - The easiest way to get it is go straight to the blog where we're posting it now and that would be www.coachburden, b-u-r-d-e-n. Dot, blogspot.com. So coachburden.blogspot.com. - And what do you call it, other than that? - That would be game plans for life. - Game plans for life. - Okay, great. Okay, now you do that every Monday. - Every Monday. - And you've been doing it for a decade? - It will be a decade at the end of December and I often credit the faithfulness of the Saturday nights at Triple T since 1966 as a motivation for me as well as those times when I get tired and think, well, George continues to do this for a lot, a lot more than a decade. So it's been a great, great motivational factor for me to have been involved around Triple T and seeing what's taking place. - Well, thank you because we do have 10 decades behind us now and moving toward one more in a few years. But God willing, January the 28th will be Triple T's 2,400 consecutive Saturday. And then one week later, we'll celebrate our 46th birthday. So we just have a lot of fun with a lot of kids sharing Jesus using all kinds of opportunities to bring in special guests. And we're so glad that tonight at Triple T, Todd Burden will be here. And he's going to dribble a basketball and he's going to show you how to do that. And he's going to be giving you some information and some instructions. And then he's going to be sharing with you about the greatest substitute that anybody in any walk of life has ever, ever, ever encountered. And won't tell you more about that except don't miss tonight. 727 is the tip-off time here at Triple T and Todd will be here live and in person. By the way, we have a Bible for every single person between the ages of 10 to 19 that comes tonight. And we also have at the end of the event, free pizza for everybody. And that includes the adults who bring the teenagers and the preteens. Anybody from 10 to 19 is our target audience, but we do not police you at the door and ask for an ID to make sure that you are exactly in that age group. If you're alive and well and somebody will bring you tonight, we'll let you in. And it's going to be a great, great happening and we're looking forward to it. Now, Todd, you talked about being in overseas ministries and not limiting it right here to the tri-state or even the United States, but you just got back, I believe, from some place called the Dominican Republic. Tell us about that happening and what took place there. - Yeah, it was a fantastic trip. The Lord's afforded me opportunities, like I said, to bounce the ball all over the world, which has been just amazing to do something I love and to be able to share the Dominican trip in particular. We're a support ministry. In other words, we go to churches or organizations that can utilize the platform we have to help further their outreach. And there was a pastor that I had met that was working with a pastor in the Dominican and I went and surveyed the area with them in March. And then just a few weeks ago, I took a team down and we held a one day sports clinic in this village up in the mountains of the Dominican Republic. And we had approximately 250 kids that we rotated through stations on a baseball field and a basketball court, one field and one court. So it was at times just organized chaos, but the most important thing was that platform gave us that opportunity to be able to share the message of Christ, like you said, as that substitute that God has sent into the game of life to take care of our needs. - And the wonderful thing is we've been going and we've been in Booneville, Indiana. We've been in Vincennes, Indiana, Volonia, Indiana at Triple T. And here in Evansville, in just a little while, we'll be at another venue and then tonight at 727 here. But always we present the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we're delighted to work with Todd again, and we hope you'll come tonight and get to meet him, get to see him, get to hear him, and get to watch him in action with kids. It's been wonderful to see the interaction with all ages as we've gone out and shared the in-bounds outreach across this area. So come praying and stay tuned for more information because we've got something very special to share with you, so don't go away. (gentle music) We're endeavoring to keep Christ in Christmas at Triple T, because in his ministry it's in one, a wonderful, wonderful privilege God has given us to share. The good news of the saving power of the Lord Jesus. The 53rd chapter of the book of Isaiah gives us a prelude, a announcement in advance of the coming of the Lord Jesus. And in all of this, we learn details about what's going to happen. Thousands of years from the time it was first penned and presented. Jesus was born in Bethlehem. His mother Mary was a virgin. His father was God almighty. His earthly father, the one to take care of Mary, was named Joseph. And they went to Bethlehem, and there they were able to get a place in a stable. And Jesus Christ, son of God, was born. And the first ones to hear about it were the shepherds. They were out taking care of their sheep. Now these were not ordinary shepherds. Bethlehem was known for its industry of taking care of the sacrificial lambs. Remember, it's called the city of David. When David was a shepherd and that in all probability was his job. And here, the shepherds got the message, glory to God in the highest. Peace on earth, good will to men. And they were able to go and be the first visitors in that stable, outside Bethlehem to see the newborn King, Jesus Christ. King of Kings, Lord of Lords. When you turn to the Lord, Jesus Christ from your sins. And believe on him, receiving God's gift of eternal life through Jesus. You have opportunities, privileges and responsibilities. Do you know why Jesus really came? The Bible tells us Christ came to save sinners. And so as a believer, you can pray anytime, anywhere when you pray in Jesus name. God the Father hears you. You can find answers to problems of all kinds and direction for all of your tomorrows by reading the Bible and responding to the messages in this holy, inspired, inerrant, changeless word of God. When you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, you become a member of God's family. His forever family. And you can find fellowship with other Christians by getting involved in a Bible-believing church in Sunday school and youth group. The greatest way to grow in Christ is to share your faith in him, with your family, with your friends, with people that you can reach for Christ. That's why we're doing the in-bounds basketball thing with Todd Burden. That's why we've gone to several different counties and shared Jesus with a bunch of people. And the wonderful thing is they are saying yes to the Lord Jesus. December has been a month of harvest here at Triple T. And we anticipate that even tonight, there will be folk who will come, who don't know him whom to know right is life eternal. We will share with them God's ABCs, admit you've sinned, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God has eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord. Jesus Himself said, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son that who believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life." Then we're to stand up and be counted to confess Christ publicly. If you confess with your mouth, the Lord Jesus, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved with the heart when believes under righteousness and with the mouth confession is made to salvation. We have something for you. It's a Bible, you can come tonight and get it firsthand, or you can write us, or you can call us, and we will send you one. It's the New King James Bible with a picture of our billboard on the cover, and it's free for you. All you have to do is call, ericode 812-867-2418, or write TTT, 13,000, that's one, three, triple zero, U.S. Highway 41 North, Evansville, Indiana, 47725. That's 13,000, that's one, three, zero, zero, zero, U.S. Highway 41 North, Evansville, Indiana, 47725. We want you to have one of these Bibles. It's our gift to you because in it, you can receive God's gift of eternal life. You can learn about who Jesus is and what God has done because the entire Bible is here in this very special package and it's free for you for the asking. Again, if you want yours quickly, you can come tonight and we'll give it to you firsthand. I hope that you'll be praying with us and for us and make a contribution to reaching youth for Christ, if you will. Every $20 lets us train another person in pyrovangelism, every $10. Let's us get the gospel and a Bible to another person. So know this, Christ through you can change the world. Every Saturday at 7.27 p.m., you are invited to attend a live youth event at Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 North at Booneville, New Harmony Road, midway between I-64 and Evansville Regional Airport. Every first Saturday, a good news club for those in first through fifth grades is available in a separate area. For more information, call 812-867-2418 or visit www.tripletchristianyouth.org. For your free copy of the "Telling the Truth" newsletter, call 812-8672418, 812-8672418, or write Triple T, 13,000 U.S. 41 North, Evansville, Indiana, 477-25. Tune in to "Telling the Truth" next week at the same time, on this same station. (upbeat music) (upbeat music)