Podcast appearances and mentions of Robert Lewis

Guided Question Are you growing older in your faith—or truly growing up through intentional application of God's Word? Summary In this sermon from Fellowship Bible Church, Dr. Robert Lewis challenges believers to examine whether they are spiritually maturing or merely aging in the faith. Drawing from Epistle to the Hebrews 5, he addresses Christians who had followed Christ for decades yet remained spiritually immature. He describes three evidences of spiritual stagnation: dull hearing, an ailing appetite for truth, and failing discernment. Spiritual truth is never neutral—if not applied, it hardens the heart. Using the parable of the talents from Gospel of Matthew 25, he emphasizes that unused truth is eventually lost. The heart of the message centers on intent and application. Maturity is not measured by biblical knowledge but by practiced obedience. Christianity becomes boring when it is merely acknowledged—but becomes an adventure when lived. Through a powerful real-life story of a woman who chose obedience during a painful divorce, the sermon concludes with a compelling reminder: abundant life cannot be defined without application. Outline I. Introduction: Growing Older vs. Growing Up Age does not equal maturity. Christians can expend energy yet remain spiritually stagnant. The “spiritual treadmill” problem. II. Context: Hebrews 5 and Spiritual Immaturity Written to believers mature in years but immature in growth. The writer pauses discussion of Melchizedek to address stagnation. III. Three Evidences of Spiritual Stagnation (Hebrews 5:11–14) 1. Impaired Hearing (Dull of Hearing) Spiritual calluses form when truth is not applied. Two root causes: Utility — Failing to see Scripture as useful. Intent — Never intending to fully live it out. If truth is not used, it is lost (Matthew 25 principle). 2. An Ailing Appetite (Milk Instead of Meat) Stuck on elementary principles. Immaturity is lack of experience, not lack of knowledge. Maturity = practiced obedience, not accumulated information. 3. Failing Faculties (Lack of Discernment) Without practice, life becomes guesswork. Repeated conflict and instability often stem from lack of biblical discernment. Meditation integrates Scripture with daily living. IV. The Proposal: An Exciting Christian Life The difference between reading about something and experiencing it. Christianity is not a job—it's an adventure. Radical obedience breeds: Joy Freedom Anticipation Abundant life V. Illustration: Obedience in Divorce A woman applies 1 Corinthians 6 instead of retaliating. Intentional obedience brings freedom and restoration. Application leads to true spiritual adventure. VI. Conclusion Abundant life cannot be defined without application. Choose adventure over boredom. Apply one specific truth this week. Key Takeaways Growing older in Christ does not guarantee spiritual maturity. Spiritual truth is never neutral—it either softens or hardens. If you don't use what you've been given, you lose it. Maturity is measured by practiced obedience, not Bible knowledge. Discernment comes through application. Christianity without application is boring. Christianity with radical intent is an adventure. Abundant life begins where obedience begins. Scripture References  Hebrews 5:11–14 — Spiritual immaturity revealed through dull hearing, spiritual infancy, and lack of discernment. Matthew 25:14–29 — What is not used is lost; faithful application leads to growth and joy. Proverbs 14:12 — What seems right without wisdom leads to destruction. Psalms 1:1–3 — Meditating on God's Word produces stability and fruitfulness. 1 Corinthians 6:7 — Better to suffer wrong than abandon obedience among believers. 3 John 1:4 — True joy comes from walking in the truth. Recorded 3.14.82

Guided Question How should believers respond when Scripture challenges modern cultural assumptions about gender roles, authority, and visible expressions of faith? Summary In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 11:2–16, Dr. Robert Lewis addresses one of the New Testament's most debated and culturally sensitive passages: head coverings in worship. Framing the chapter as a theological “Rubik's Cube,” he carefully examines Paul's teaching on Christian tradition, authority, and God's design for order. Dr. Lewis explains that 1 Corinthians 11 discusses two traditions—head coverings and the Lord's Supper—and focuses here on the doctrine behind head coverings: the principle of headship. Drawing from the relationship between God the Father and Christ, he highlights the biblical pattern of equality in essence with distinction in function. Applying this to men and women, he argues that Paul's instruction was rooted not in temporary culture, but in creation order. Rather than promoting legalism, the message calls believers to wrestle honestly with Scripture, to understand the meaning behind tradition, and to consider how visible practices can reflect spiritual realities. The ultimate aim is harmony, humility, and faithfulness to God's design within the church. Outline I. Christian Tradition and Context (1 Corinthians 11:2, 17–34) Two traditions addressed: head coverings and the Lord's Supper The importance of understanding the meaning behind church practices II. The Principle of Headship (1 Corinthians 11:3) God → Christ → Man → Woman Equality in essence, distinction in function Order as part of God's design III. Head Coverings in Worship (1 Corinthians 11:4–6) Worn during public prayer and prophecy A visible symbol of authority and distinction IV. Rooted in Creation (1 Corinthians 11:7–12; Genesis 2) Creation order as the foundation Mutual dependence “in the Lord” V. Nature and Symbolism (1 Corinthians 11:13–16) Hair length as a natural distinction Head covering as a spiritual symbol Affirmed as apostolic practice among the churches Key Takeaways Christian traditions are meant to communicate theological truth. Biblical headship reflects order, not inequality. Equality of worth does not eliminate functional distinction. Visible practices can teach and reinforce spiritual realities. Scripture must be wrestled with, not ignored. Cultural shifts do not automatically nullify biblical principles. Faithfulness to God's design requires humility and courage. Scripture References 1 Corinthians 11:2–16 — Head coverings reflect divine order in worship. 1 Corinthians 11:3 — The order of headship is established. John 5:30 — Jesus submits to the Father's will. John 6:38 — Christ fulfills the Father's purpose. Philippians 2:6–11 — Equal with God, Christ humbles Himself. Colossians 2:9 — Christ possesses full deity. 1 Peter 2:23 — Jesus models trusting submission. Genesis 2 — Creation establishes male–female order. 1 Corinthians 11:7–9 — Creation order shapes distinct roles. 1 Corinthians 11:11–12 — Men and women are mutually dependent. 1 Peter 3:7 — Husband and wife are fellow heirs. 1 Corinthians 11:17–34 — Worship must reflect reverence and order. 1 Corinthians 14 — Corporate worship requires structure and clarity. Recorded 2.21.82

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we continued our weekly theme, “Discipleship.” Dr. Robert Lewis joined us to explain why discipleship moves beyond an audience mentality and into real investment, equipping believers to lead, grow, and call others up in Christ. Dr. Lewis is a pastor, founding partner of Better Man, and author of “Raising a Modern-Day Knight.” Dr. Hormoz Sharia joined us with an update on Iran, sharing how believers are suffering, and how Christ is bringing hope even in deep grief. Dr. Shariat is the Founder and President of Iran Alive Ministries (IAM), which uses satellite broadcasting and the internet to share the gospel with Iranians. You can hear the highlights of today’s program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps:Dr. Robert Lewis [ 27:16 ]Dr. Hormoz Sharia [ 41:06 ]Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guided Question How does returning to God's original design for men and women—through submission to Scripture and dependence on the Holy Spirit—challenge the way you currently understand leadership, responsibility, and relationship in your own life? Summary In this message, Dr. Robert Lewis continues his Genesis series by examining roles as part of God's original design for humanity. Building on the prior discussion of equality and difference between men and women, he explores how biblical roles are revealed in Genesis 1–3 and how New Testament writers interpret these passages. Dr. Lewis argues that while men and women are created equal in value and dignity as image-bearers of God, they are given distinct, complementary roles. He highlights several features from Genesis 2 that suggest male headship: Adam's creation first, his assignment to cultivate and guard the garden, his receiving God's command directly, and his role in naming both the animals and the woman. These elements, Lewis explains, are foundational to how the New Testament understands leadership in the home and the church. The sermon then turns to Genesis 3 and the Fall, showing how sin disrupts God's intended order. Satan approaches Eve first, roles are reversed, and Adam fails to lead—resulting in devastating consequences. God's curse affects men and women differently, distorting both leadership and submission into struggle, domination, and resistance. Dr. Lewis explains that this “battle of the sexes” flows directly from the Fall, not from God's original design. Finally, the message offers hope through redemption in Christ. While the curse still affects believers, it can be progressively reversed through radical submission to God's Word and dependence on the Holy Spirit. Drawing from Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3, Dr. Lewis emphasizes that Spirit-filled living restores God's design—calling husbands to loving, sacrificial leadership and wives to respectful submission—so that God's original intent for harmony, purpose, and witness can again be displayed to the world. Outline Introduction: From Differentness to Roles Review of Genesis 1: equality and distinction Cultural resistance to biblical roles Trusting God's conclusions rather than human reasoning Genesis 2: Roles Revealed Adam as primary focus of the chapter God as Father providing occupation and wife Man's role as leader; woman as helper Symbiotic design for subduing and multiplying Theological Indicators of Headship Man created first Adam receiving God's command directly Adam's responsibility to instruct Eve Naming as an act of authority New Testament Affirmation Paul's grounding of church roles in Genesis Key passages: 1 Timothy 2; 1 Corinthians 11 & 14 Roles rooted in creation, not culture Genesis 3: The Fall and Role Reversal Satan's strategy and temptation Doubting God's Word and motives Eve leads; Adam follows Adam held responsible for the Fall The Curse and Distorted Roles Pain in childbirth and toil in work “Desire” and “rule” explained through Genesis 4:7 Struggle, domination, and oppression introduced Roles Restored Through Christ The curse still affects believers Radical commitment required The Word and the Spirit working together Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3 as the pathway forward Conclusion God's design as a witness to the world Faithfulness to Scripture despite cultural opposition Key Takeaways Men and women are equal in worth but distinct in role, according to God's design. Biblical roles are rooted in creation, not culture or convenience. The Fall distorted both male leadership and female submission into struggle and oppression. Adam bears responsibility for the Fall because headship includes accountability. Every temptation involves doubting God's Word and His character. The conflict between men and women is a result of sin, not God's original plan. Restoration of roles requires radical submission to Scripture and reliance on the Holy Spirit. Spirit-filled, Word-centered lives enable loving leadership and willing submission. God's redeemed design in marriage and church serves as a testimony to the world. Scripture References Genesis 1:26–28 — Men and women are equally created in God's image and given shared purpose. Genesis 2:15–25 — Distinct, complementary roles are established in creation. Genesis 3:1–19 — Sin reverses God's design and introduces conflict and hardship. Genesis 4:6–7 — “Desire” describes a struggle for control. Luke 3:38 — Adam's representative responsibility is affirmed. 1 Corinthians 11:8–9 — Creation order informs male and female roles. 1 Timothy 2:12–13 — Church roles are grounded in creation, not culture. Ephesians 5:18–33 — Spirit-filled living restores God's design in marriage. Colossians 3:16–19 — God's Word directs healthy marital relationships. Recorded on 1.31.82

Guided Question In a culture that increasingly defines gender roles by social preference and personal experience, how should Christians discern what it truly means to be male and female—and what are the consequences for individuals, families, and the church when God's original design is either embraced or ignored? Summary In this sermon, Dr. Robert Lewis addresses one of the most controversial and pressing issues facing both the church and modern society: the roles and differences of men and women. Against a cultural backdrop that increasingly views gender distinctions as purely social or cultural constructs, Dr. Lewis argues that the Christian understanding of male and female roles must begin not with sociology or psychology, but with theology. Drawing from key New Testament passages—particularly 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2—Dr. Lewis highlights how biblical instructions regarding men and women consistently appeal back to the creation account in Genesis. These appeals, he explains, are meant to transcend culture and root Christian convictions in God's original design. By examining Genesis 1, Dr. Lewis affirms the spiritual equality of men and women as co-bearers of the image of God, while also emphasizing their functional differences as male and female. He challenges the idea that gender differences are limited to biology alone, presenting both biblical teaching and supporting secular research that point to real psychological, social, and relational distinctions. The sermon concludes with a sobering reflection on the societal consequences of abandoning God's design—including weakened families, confused identities, and emotional instability—and a call for believers to resist cultural conformity by renewing their minds through Scripture. Ultimately, Dr. Lewis urges the church to rediscover God's original intent for men and women, trusting that what God declared “very good” remains good today. Outline 1. Introduction: A Difficult and Timely Issue Cultural pressure to redefine male and female The danger of reacting instead of thinking biblically The foundational question: Is this what God intended? 2. Gender Roles as a Theological Issue Why Christians must begin with Scripture The limits of sociological and psychological explanations 3. Controversial New Testament Passages 1 Corinthians 11 and 1 Timothy 2 The shared appeal to the book of Genesis 4. Creation as the Basis for Authority New Testament teaching rooted in creation, not culture God's original intent as the interpretive key 5. Genesis 1: Sameness and Difference Equal image-bearing and spiritual equality “Male and female” as intentional, meaningful distinction 6. Challenging Modern Assumptions The claim that gender differences are merely cultural Scripture's vision of functional and relational differences 7. Biblical Patterns of Role Distinction Leadership in the church and the home Jesus' example and the foundation of the church Complementary responsibilities in family life 8. Scientific and Anthropological Support Psychological and neurological differences Universal social patterns across cultures 9. Consequences of Role Confusion Devaluation of women's roles Sexual, psychological, and relational instability Weakening of the family and impact on children 10. A Call to Renewal and Discernment Resisting conformity to cultural pressures Renewing the mind through Scripture Trusting God's declaration that His design is “very good” Key Takeaways Christian understanding of gender must begin with God's original design. Men and women are equal in spiritual worth as image-bearers of God. “Male and female” implies intentional functional differences, not just biology. New Testament teaching on gender consistently appeals to Genesis, making it trans-cultural. Equality does not require sameness. Both Scripture and secular research affirm meaningful differences between men and women. Confusion about roles contributes to weakened families and personal instability. God's design for men and women is purposeful, wise, and ultimately good. Scripture References 1 Corinthians 11:2–10 – Headship and appeal to creation 1 Timothy 2:9–14 – Roles in teaching and authority grounded in Genesis Genesis 1:24–27 – Creation of humanity in God's image, male and female Genesis 1:31 – God declares His creation “very good” Genesis 5:1–2 – Humanity named together as “man,” male and female Galatians 3:28 – Spiritual equality in Christ Romans 12:2 – Renewal of the mind versus cultural conformity Recorded 1.24.82

On this Sunday's edition of News You Can Use on WTIC Newstalk 1080 at 5:30 AM and 9:00 AM, host Ann Baldwin is joined by K. Robert Lewis, Service Officer with The American Legion Department of Connecticut. As Memorial Day approaches, this conversation will focus on the significance of the holiday and the importance ofhonoring the men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in service to the United States. The conversation will also highlight key veteran-focused initiatives, including the Forever GI Bill, along with the wide range of programs offered through The American Legion that support veterans, service members, and their families. Listeners will gain insight into how these resources help strengthen communities while ensuring those who served receive the benefits and recognition they deserve, especially as Connecticut prepares for Memorial Day remembrance. For more information, visit www.ctlegion.org.

Guided Question How can discipline, focus, and a pursuit of divine glory help a Christian run the race of life successfully, avoiding disqualification and achieving spiritual victory? Summary In this sermon, Dr. Robert Lewis uses the imagery of ancient Greek athletics to illustrate the Christian life as a race requiring discipline, direction, and a thirst for divine glory. Drawing from 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Paul's words about athletes competing for a prize are applied to spiritual growth. Dr. Lewis emphasizes that spiritual victory is exclusive, requires intentional training and direction, and hinges on aiming to please God rather than oneself. Without a clear objective, a Christian risks falling into distraction, indulgence, or disqualification. The sermon challenges listeners to cultivate personal discipline, align their aims with God's purposes, and pursue spiritual “gold medals” by exercising their gifts for His glory. Outline Introduction: The Athlete's Example Story of Theogenes, Greek Olympic champion Greeks' obsession with athletics mirrors the seriousness of spiritual pursuit Athletic imagery sets the stage for understanding spiritual discipline Exclusiveness of Victory and Truth 1 Corinthians 9:24: Only one receives the prize Truth is exclusive: Jesus is the only way to God (John 14:6) Effort and sincerity alone do not guarantee spiritual success Training and Discipline (Verses 25-27) Athletes endure rigorous training; Christians must exercise self-control Discipline complements the Holy Spirit in the believer's life Personal discipline involves denying worldly pleasures for God's glory Direction and Purpose in the Race (Verse 26) Run with a clear aim: not flailing or aimless Importance of knowing spiritual gifts and God's calling Misguided aims (comfort, happiness) lead to ineffective spiritual effort The Danger of Disqualification (Verse 27) Lack of discipline and focus can render a Christian “useless” in service Paul's warning about being disqualified is a call to vigilance Spiritual failure is not only dramatic but can be subtle (indifference, misplaced priorities) Thirst for Divine Glory Motivation should be God's commendation, not human approval Faith, discipline, and direction together ensure fruitful Christian living Scripture references highlight the pursuit of God's pleasure as the ultimate aim (2 Corinthians 5:9; Philippians 3:8-10; Hebrews 12:1-2) Key Takeaways: Spiritual victory requires focused effort and cannot rely solely on sincerity or human commendation. Discipline is essential for growth and complements the work of the Holy Spirit. Knowing one's spiritual aim and gifts ensures purposeful living and avoids becoming a religious “fanatic” or disqualified servant. True Christian motivation is a thirst for divine glory, not comfort, happiness, or human approval. Maintaining clarity of aim allows a believer to run with endurance and remain faithful in service to God. Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 – Paul's athletic analogy for spiritual discipline John 14:6 – Jesus as the exclusive way to God Proverbs 15:32 – Discipline as a reflection of self-respect 2 Corinthians 5:9 – Ambition to please God Philippians 3:8-10 – Counting all else as loss to know Christ Hebrews 11:6 – Faith is required to please God Hebrews 12:1-2 – Running the race with endurance, fixing eyes on Jesus Recorded 12/13/81

Guided Question How does Jesus' identification with humanity through suffering, temptation, and resurrection empower us to reclaim the destiny God originally intended and overcome the fear of death? Summary In this sermon from Hebrews 2, Dr. Robert Lewis reminds listeners of the subtle spiritual drift that occurs when we focus on worldly fears and distractions rather than the truth of Christ. The message encourages believers to redirect attention to the hope and power found in Jesus Christ, who restores humanity's lost destiny through His obedience, suffering, and resurrection. Christ not only experienced the full range of human limitations and temptations but also identifies with humanity, making Him our perfect Savior, high priest, and source of deliverance from the fear of death. The sermon closes with a personal call to invite Jesus into one's life, experiencing His forgiveness and the fullness of God's intended destiny. Outline The Drift Away from Faith (Hebrews 2:1) Modern fears: war, terrorism, crime, economic instability Spiritual drift is subtle but real, like drifting at a beach unnoticed The importance of paying attention to God's Word to prevent spiritual decline Humanity's Lost Destiny and Its Restoration (Hebrews 2:5–9; Psalm 8; Genesis 1:28) Adam's failure resulted in loss of dominion over creation Christ as the Second Adam restores humanity's intended destiny Evidence of Christ's power: miracles, healing, authority over creation Jesus' Suffering and Identification with Humanity (Hebrews 2:9–13) Christ suffered death for all humanity, tasting our sin and limitations Identification with humanity allows Him to call us “brethren” He lived under human limitations, wrestled with faith, and experienced temptation Jesus' Victory Over the Fear of Death (Hebrews 2:14–15; Mark 4:35–41) Death's threat is rendered powerless through Christ's resurrection Fear-driven slavery to the present life is overcome through eternal perspective Christ's bodily resurrection guarantees hope and eternal life Christ as Our Merciful High Priest (Hebrews 2:16–18; 4:15) He gives help to humanity, not angels, fully understanding human struggles Able to sympathize with temptations and provide aid in our times of need Practical implications: we can turn to Jesus in trials and experience His help Call to Personal Faith and Eternal Destiny (Hebrews 2:1–18) Salvation is accessed through faith, not works Invitation to trust Christ, receive forgiveness, and embrace God's intended destiny Assurance of eternal life through the Holy Spirit Key Takeaways: Spiritual drift can happen quietly; staying rooted in God's Word prevents it. Jesus restores humanity's lost destiny, offering hope beyond worldly despair. Christ fully identifies with human struggles, temptations, and suffering. Death's power is nullified through Christ's resurrection. Jesus is our merciful high priest, able to aid us in every struggle. Eternal fulfillment and destiny are accessible through faith in Jesus Christ. Scripture References: Hebrews 2:1–18 Genesis 1:28 Psalm 8 Mark 4:35–41 Isaiah 8:17 Hebrews 4:15 Recorded 11/15/81

Guided Question: How should Christians balance knowledge, liberty, and love when making decisions that affect others in the community of faith? Summary: In this message, Dr. Robert Lewis examines 1 Corinthians 8, where Paul addresses the issue of eating meat sacrificed to idols—a cultural controversy in the Corinthian church. Some believers felt they had the liberty to eat such meat, while others believed it was spiritually wrong, creating tension within the church. Dr. Lewis emphasizes that knowledge alone—knowing what is biblically permissible—is not enough. Knowledge without love can become self-serving, arrogant, and potentially harmful to weaker believers who struggle with their conscience. The core principle is that Christian liberty must be exercised with sensitivity and love. Even when one has the right to act, it may be wiser to limit personal freedoms to avoid causing another believer to stumble. Paul models this in 1 Corinthians 8:13, prioritizing the spiritual well-being of others over his own rights. Dr. Lewis also connects this principle to modern controversies—such as drinking, movies, or holiday traditions—showing that the same principles apply today. Ultimately, Christian freedom is best exercised when it serves God and others, not simply ourselves, fulfilling the law of love as described in Galatians 5. Outline: I. Introduction: Christian Liberty and Controversy Context: Corinthian believers debating meat sacrificed to idols. Modern parallels: Halloween, Easter, movies, alcohol, lifestyle choices. Principle: Being biblically right does not automatically mean acting rightly. II. Knowledge vs. Love (1 Corinthians 8:1-3; 1 Corinthians 13:2) Knowledge alone “puffs up” and can justify self-serving actions. True liberty requires love for God and concern for others. Example: Children arguing using Scripture illustrates knowledge without love. III. Consideration for Weaker Believers (1 Corinthians 8:7-13; Romans 14) Some believers have weak consciences and adverse emotional responses. Exercising liberty without regard for them can cause them to stumble or sin. Illustration: A new Christian from a Muslim background refrains from eating pork to protect his witness and relationships. IV. Application of Christian Liberty Principle: Prioritize others' spiritual well-being over personal rights. Verse 13: Paul forfeits his rights to prevent causing a brother to stumble. Galatians 5:13-14: Freedom should be exercised in love, serving one another. Self-reflection: Are my liberties tempered by how they affect other believers? V. Conclusion The Christian life is lived in community; actions influence others. Love must guide how knowledge and liberty are applied. True freedom is freedom that edifies and protects others. Key Takeaways: Knowledge without love tends to be self-serving and can lead to arrogance. Christian liberty must consider the impact on weaker believers. Being biblically right does not guarantee acting rightly—love must guide action. Exercising personal freedom should never cause others to stumble spiritually. Paul models sacrificial use of liberty to protect fellow believers. Freedom in Christ is best expressed through serving others in love. Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 – Knowledge, love, and the weak believer. 1 Corinthians 13:2 – Knowledge without love is meaningless. Romans 14:14 – Nothing is unclean in itself, but is unclean to the one who thinks it is. Galatians 5:13-14 – Freedom in Christ should be exercised through love, serving one another. Recorded 10.25.81

In this episode of Gangland Wire, I sit down with Salt Lake City author Flats to discuss his book, Ice Pick Willie: The Life and Times of Israel Alderman. We take a deep dive into the shadowy world of Israel “Icepick Willie” Alderman—a largely forgotten but deeply embedded figure in early 20th-century organized crime. Willie's criminal career traces back to Prohibition-era New York, where he began as a jewelry thief before evolving into something far more lethal. His nickname came from his preferred weapon: an ordinary household ice pick. In the 1920s, it was common, inconspicuous, and devastatingly effective. Flats explains how Willie's method allowed him to carry out murders quietly and efficiently, often avoiding the attention that accompanied more public gangland shootings. We follow Willie's movements from New York to Minneapolis and eventually into the orbit of Chicago's violent underworld. Along the way, he intersected with major figures of organized crime, including Meyer Lansky, Charles Luciano, and Bugs Moran. Flats outlines the shifting alliances and rivalries that defined the era, placing Willie within the broader context of gang wars that culminated in events like the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre. The conversation also examines Willie's transition from violent enforcer to gambling operative as organized crime evolved and shifted westward. As Las Vegas rose with legalized gambling, figures like Willie adapted—moving from street-level brutality to more structured rackets under established mob leadership. Despite brushing against major historical events and powerful crime bosses, Icepick Willie faded into relative obscurity. Flats and I explore why certain gangsters become legends while others—equally dangerous and influential—slip into the margins of history. We also touch on Willie's odd cultural afterlife, including regional pop-culture references that keep his name alive in unexpected ways. This episode provides both a character study of a cold and calculated killer and a broader examination of how organized crime adapted from Prohibition chaos to structured syndicates. It's a detailed look at a man who operated in the shadows—lethal, efficient, and nearly forgotten. Flats' book, Ice Pick Willie: The Life and Times of Israel Alderman, is available now on Amazon. Hit me up on Venmo for a cup of coffee or a shot and a beer @ganglandwire Click here to “buy me a cup of coffee” Subscribe to the website for weekly notifications about updates and other Mob information. To go to the store or make a donation or rent Ballot Theft: Burglary, Murder, Coverup, click here To rent ‘Brothers against Brothers’ or ‘Gangland Wire,’ the documentaries click here.  To purchase one of my books, click here. Transcript [0:00] Hey, welcome all you wiretappers. Good to be back here in the studio of Gangland [0:03] Wire. This is Gary Jenkins. As most of you, I’m a retired Kansas City Police Intelligence Unit detective turned podcaster and documentary filmmaker. I got a couple of documentary films you can rent on Amazon if you choose. I’ll have links in the show notes. Or just go to Amazon and search my name and you’ll find my stuff. But anyhow, today I have a friend of mine from Salt Lake City called Flats. And he’s just Flats, all right? And he’s written a book about a man named Icepick Willie. Now, Icepick Willie has got a great, cool nickname. I’m surprised that he didn’t last through history a little better because people had an easy-to-remembering cool nickname. His real name is Israel Alderman. Now, Flats has been researching him. He got a hold of me because I did a show on David Berman, who ended up in Las Vegas. He was a Jewish gambler from Minneapolis. And ice pick ends up out there connected to him somehow. And I didn’t really stumble. I stumbled a little bit across that, but I couldn’t remember what it was. But anyhow, welcome flats. [1:09] Glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me. All right. Go ahead. I’m sorry. I’m always open for any chance to talk about Ice Pick Willie, one of my favorite people. And if you guys out there know anything about Ice Pick Willie, get a hold of me and I’ll connect you up with Flats. And I’ll have his Gmail in the show notes. But either that or get a hold of me pretty easy. Any rumors or stories, lies, anything about him. [1:38] But in the meantime, in a couple of weeks, actually, by the time this podcast is out, that book’s going to be up on Amazon. But you can always go back. You can always pull those down and add more information in and then put them back up if you want. So that’s a good way to go. Nicknames are interesting. I once talked about doing a show on nicknames and how people got them, and I just never got around to it. And many times you can see how people get their nicknames. Al Capone, Scarface Al. He’s got the big scar on his face, right? Here’s one. One of Icepick’s Willie’s contemporaries, a guy named Albert, was it Tannenbaum? Yeah, Tannenbaum. And he was called Tick Tock. And I looked that up because, like I said, he was a contemporary of Icepick Willie’s. And he got the name Tick Tock because somebody said you move all the time. You’re always like a watch. You’re Tick Tocking all the time. And, of course, there’s Anthony Accardo, who they called Joe Batters. And his guys gave him that. They used to call him Joe. And that was because he beat up somebody with a baseball bat so bad that Al Capone said, you’re a real Joe batters. But he also, many times the press will give people these nicknames. And they gave Anthony Accardo the nickname of the big tuna because he was big. And they had a picture of him with a huge big tuna he had caught. There’s Joe Bananas Bonnano. That speaks for itself, Joe Bananas. And I think the press gave him that. First question, Flats, you know how Icepick Willie got his nickname? The nickname came… [3:06] From when he was in Minneapolis, he apparently picked it up. And this is something which he admitted to later on in his life. He claimed to have taken about 11, 12 victims out by using an ice pick in the ear. [3:27] And ice picks were actually really common back in the 20s everywhere. People had them. Everyone had them in their homes. and they were a real popular tool among Murder Incorporated members. It’s a handy thing, small, quiet kind of a tool. [3:49] Normally, a knife-pick killing was something that took maybe three or four people, not counting the victim. They’d crowd around him and grab his arms, whatever, and then somebody’d do him, they’d haul him off. Uh, Willie had managed to turn this into a one man operation. He’d take his victim. [4:11] He’d be up at the bar with a drinking buddy, get this guy really liquored up, and he’d slip his ice pick out of his jacket. Boom, real quick in the air, ice pick’s gone, the guy’s down on the bar. Not much blood because it’s an ice pick. Forensics wasn’t real hot back in the 20s, so a lot of times they would diagnose this as a brain aneurysm. But the guy would slump over the bar, drunk, dead drunk, and then they’d just haul him off. The story is they’d take him in the back room, he’d go down the coal chute, which everybody had back then, out into a truck, they’d haul off the body. The people that went down the coal chute, they were all pretty much forgotten. But Willie, he seemed to have stuck around. Now, in Minneapolis, apparently he’s still a real popular figure. Memorable, which is funny because Minneapolis, for all my research, is the place there is the least documented evidence about. [5:19] But that seems to be that and Las Vegas are where he’s best known. There’s even a company in Minneapolis that does a nail polish they named Ice Rick Willie. It’s a popular culture thing there. Yeah. Now, did he start out in New York with Erlansky? He started out in New York. He grew up on the Lower East Side. Like so many people, Benny Siegel and Meyer, everybody came from there. Early on, and back by the 20s, Meyer had hooked up with Charlie Luciano, and most of the serious Jewish gangsters came under Meyer’s umbrella, so to speak. And this Willie supposedly, according to another author, this is when Willie hooked up with Meyer, was early on during Prohibition. But Willie didn’t start out as a bootlegger. He started out with a bunch of jewelry store robbers, but they were pretty notorious at him. God, his first record of him was, oh, when was it? About 1925. [6:34] He got a charge for robbery. Not a lot of details on it. The charge was dismissed, and it seems to be a pretty common thing throughout his entire life as far as resolution of his legal issue. But anyway, then right after Christmas, that’s in year 25, he was going by Izzy Alderman back then. Israel, Izzy was his nickname. He didn’t get into Willie till later, but he went into with a couple other guys and they hit a jewelry store for about $75,000 worth of jewelry. Oh, wow. That’s a pretty good chunk of change back then. That’s a score, man. That is a real score back then. Oh, yeah. And then a few months later, along with a couple other people, he hit another jewelry store in the Bronx, William Sims Robbery. This one was pretty well publicized. And they go in, they take the, everybody there, the owner, employees, customers, tie them up, they’re in the back room, they grab trays full of gems, usually diamonds, they’re out the door, never even touched the cash register. So they got about a hundred grand on that. Got away. Next morning. [7:59] Another jeweler, Sam Candle, as he was opening up his shop to let a friend in, some guys come pushing into the door. Izzy’s with them again. Once more, the same M.O., everybody’s in the back room tied up. Another hundred grand or so worth the gems. So they’re doing pretty good by now. Wow, yeah. I assume that whenever they fenced them, did you find out much about how they fenced them? Did the Italians get a piece of the action? Did they make him pay up, or did Meyer Lansky get a piece of that? I’m sure that Meyer was somehow connected to this. He got a piece of everything that was going on in the Jewish world. And originally, at that point in time, there was not a lot of interaction between the Italian mobsters and the Jewish mobsters. They had their own little thing that they kept to themselves. They felt safer that way. They could trust everybody. It was actually pretty much Meyer and Charlie Luciano that moved things past that point. I see. But up till then, everything was coming under Meyer’s thing. So they were doing pretty good until they did a robbery. [9:19] There was a jeweler, Aaron Roddark. Now, about 18 months earlier, he’d had an attempted robbery where he had shot and killed one of the robbers as they were running out of the store. So he got a bunch of publicity called the Fighting Jewelers in the press, a popular guy. About a year and a half later, another crew walks in. This is Izzy’s crew. [9:50] When they come in, same thing, the fighting jeweler, he goes for his gun. Doesn’t work out so well this time. This time, he’s shot and killed. But they didn’t get any jewels. They take off again. [10:05] But now they’re hot. This is big news. Fighting jewelers murdered. Big publicity, big public outcry. And cops are looking for them hot and heavy by now. [10:17] And by now, so a few weeks, couple weeks after the fighting jewelers murdered, one of Izzy’s crew was picked up, coming out of a doctor’s office, for a gunshot wound, where he’d been treated. Cots get word of this, they pick him up, and he immediately starts confessing to all the jewelry store robbers, giving up partners. They pick up a couple more people pretty soon everybody is just singing like canary it’s like the mormon tavern fire or something so the cops are looking for everybody they haven’t got they pick up almost everybody the two people are missing from the last robbery where the guy was murdered is Izzy Alderman and one of the other guys Robert Byrd. [11:09] So Izzy and Robert they know they’re hot They’ve got warrants out. They know the police are looking. They’ve got this information because they’re connected to whoever. So they leave town. They’re on their way to Chicago. They’re going to go there to hide out, take care of business for a couple reasons. One is Robert Berg has brother, Ollie, who is tied in with the Northside Bugs Moran gang in Chicago. Ago, Holly is also a jewelry driver and right about the time, right before. [11:47] His brother, Robert, gets to Chicago. Ollie and a couple guys are on an Illinois Central commuter train. They robbed three jewelry salesmen while they’re on the train of their jewels, managed to get off the train and get away. They got picked up about 12 hours later, though. So now his brother, Ollie, is in prison again, of course. But Robert is connected. They have connections to the Northside gang. Through the brother, through Ollie. And this is a safe place for them to go, relatively safe. At that point in time, Chicago’s got the beer wars going on, and so it wasn’t a real safe place to be. But they had out there, they’re there maybe a week or so. The cops raid a hotel room, they pick up Robert Burke. They also find a bunch of jewelry, which they trace back to the New York robbery. So they know this is all tied together now. They don’t get Willie. Izzy is still at that point. So Robert Berg, now he’s back to New York going to prison too. Izzy needs a new partner. Berg had a guy he was running around with, Red McLaughlin. [13:06] Red’s partner’s in jail, and Izzy’s partner’s in jail, so they came up a little bit. But now Red already at this point the cops are looking for him hot and heavy in Chicago a little while before they found him. [13:24] The cops saw him on the side of the road, Red was on the running board of the car, reaching through the window, choking the driver. The driver turned out to be, of course, a jewelry salesman with the jewelry in the car. Red explained to the cop that his friend was just having some kind of a fit, and he was trying to help him. The cop wasn’t going for it, and so Red was off to jail. He managed to get bailed out. And as soon as he’s out, he just goes off on all kinds of things. By now, the cops are looking for him for being involved in some kidnappings and bootlegging and murders. One newspaper article called him the man of a hundred brides. He’s like Lon Chaney of the criminal world or something. So now the cops are really hot after Red. He’s junk bail. He’s doing all this other stuff. There they raid a hotel, the Webster Hotel in Chicago. They’ve got a tip. That’s where they’re going to find him. Yeah. They don’t find Red, but they find his buddy in there. They find him, and he’s got a suitcase full of guns. [14:38] But no, he knows this is turned out to be actually Izzy Alderman, but he knows the cops are looking for Izzy Alderman. So he tells the cops his name’s Robert Lewis. They don’t know any better. Things are different back then. Yeah. He also told them that he was a bootlegger from Detroit. And that, I guess, would explain having a suitcase full of guns. And when they get ready to arrest him, he tells the cops they’re going to be wasting their time because he says he has some high connections in the illegal liquor business in town here. And apparently he was right because all of his charges were dismissed as soon as they haul him in once again. Back then, it seemed in Chicago, because of Al Capone, Bugs Moran. [15:30] New York with Meyer and Charlie, Prohibition contributed to it a lot. Corruption was just fantastic. So you could buy your people’s way out of everything, which was nice if that’s what you were doing. Yeah so anyway Robert Bird disappears and now Willie all of his partners all of his connections everybody’s locked up missing dead something he’s out of work again but he’s in Chicago since 1927 they’re in the middle of the beer wars he’s a starker a tough muscle man starker’s Jewish term so he hooks up right away They were Bugs Moran on the North side. Bugs is more, the Bugs Moran gang, they were people like Frank Foster, Ed Newberry. He had other Jewish gangsters working with him at the time. So Lizzie fit in pretty good. And it isn’t long at all, maybe a month later, he gets cops pull over a car. They find Frank Foster and Izzy Alderman in there. And they’ve got guns, of course. And once again, the charges just disappear. Everybody goes on their way. [16:51] So things are rolling along. The beer wars are going good. And now we get into the taxi cab wars. because in Chicago back then, that’s how you settled everything. You had a war. There were two cab companies mostly going on in Chicago at the time, and they were shooting up each other’s cab offices and throwing bombs and shooting up cabs. So the Yellow Cab Company puts out a hefty reward for the people involved, which leads to another made by the cops on this time. It was a Broadway apartment where there were supposed to be people involved in all of this. [17:30] Among the people they find, first off, Frank Foster, who at the time was a high-ranking member of Bugs Moran’s group on the north side. They also find another bunch of people, one of them named Harry Davidson. This was, again, Izzy Alderman, but he knew that the cops were looking for Izzy Alderman, and they were looking for Robert Lewis by then. So that was Harry Davidson, and that worked out. And, of course, everybody gets charged with concealed weapons, and then the charges are dropped, and catch and release. Yeah, catch and release Chicago. It was really interesting. So shortly after this, of course, this is 1929 in Chicago, and it’s Valentine’s Day. We all know what happened there. Now this brought major heat, major attention from everyone nationwide, the student. [18:30] And surprisingly, later in life, like I said, he used to almost brag about his activity as he got older. One of the things he would tell people is that he missed the St. Valentine’s Day massacre because he was in the bathroom. Yeah, I was going to say, he missed that. The bathroom wasn’t in SMT partage, if that was the case. They had an outhouse, Flats. They had an outhouse out back. That’s true. Yeah, he was close enough to do that activity. Yeah. He was just caught up in the middle of all the major things happening throughout Gangland at that point in time. Really? How does he end up in Minneapolis? It’s reasonably close to Chicago, and there are some connections. It is. [19:19] Before he ends up back in Minneapolis, first he ends up back in New York. What happens now in New York, they’ve got their own problems going on between the two gangs back then. Yeah, they had the Castle Marie’s War during that time, I believe, or sometime around then. It broke out. Actually, it happens right after he gets shot. But as he gets picked up, there’d been a shooting that they had. First, they had the Easter Massacre, where a few people get shot up. And then the Fox Lake Massacre. Like I said, everything in Chicago was wars or massacres. And by the time the Fox Lake massacre happened, it was after the Valentine’s Day thing. Izzy Alderman, Frank Foster, Ted Newberry, and probably at least 6, 8, 10 other people affected. They left the Northside gang, and they moved south and joined up with El Capote. [20:21] Obviously, they could see where everything’s going. I mean, everyone at the outside is winning. But the authorities were aware of it. So after the Easter massacre and the Fox Lake massacre, now the cops know there’s going to be all kinds of retaliation. Fox Lake thing, Al Capone’s people got shot up. So cops are out on the street looking for people. They pull over a car racing down the street. They find Frank Foster, Izzy Alderman again, out with their guns. Once again, they get hauled in, arrested, catching release. Shortly after this, now we get a reporter, Jake Lingle. Jake Lingle, he was crooked. He was on the take. He was one of these $65 a week reporters who vacations in Hawaii and has an apartment on Lake George Drive, that kind of thing. He even said he had a fancy piece of gold jewelry that was a gift from Al Capone. Anyway, he gets into trouble with people there. He gets killed. [21:32] Now, everybody knows you can’t. The people you don’t kill are cops and newsmen. Jake Lengel gets killed, and now, once again, it’s like St. Valentine’s Day all over again. Big public outcry. Cops are hot and heavy. They know somehow Izzy Alderman is somehow tied into this. Frank Foster’s tied into it. So they’re hunting them. And a few months later, a cop spots Izzy. He’s in a restaurant with another guy, Joe Condi. They’re eating dinner. Cop recognized Izzy because he was really, which is surprising, he was really well known then to the cops, to the press, to other gangsters. [22:19] And yet today, who was Izzy Aldenman? Who was Ice-Pick Willie? So time goes by. But the cop spots him, recognizes him, grabs, snatters him up, and arrests him. As soon as they come out of the restaurant, runs him in for questioning for the Lingle murder. They get him in. There’s nothing they can tie him to the Lingle case with. So they charge him with vagrants. This is a new deal, a new tool that prosecutors are using in Chicago. Yeah. We know you’re a gangster. We can’t prove anything, so we’re going to arrest you for vagrancy because you have no physical means of support. You don’t have a job. [23:07] When Izzy was arrested at this time, he had about $650 in his pocket. This is worth like over 12 grand today so yeah the economy’s good when vagrants are carrying that kind of money obviously but they get arrested charged with first they’re brought in before a judge one judge mccordy he says there’s nothing to hold them on the lingual thing so they’re free to go the minute they walk out of the court building they get arrested charged with vacancy taken in front of another judge, Judge Lyle. Now, Judge Lyle, he’s known, he’s a holy terror when it comes to gangsters. He’s just after them. And even he admits the vagrancy thing, I’m not sure it’s really valid, but we’re going to charge you anyway. First thing is, he says, is I want a lawyer. So the judge tells the court reporter, the defendant has no comment at this time. And then in what’s probably the shortest trial in history, Izzy and his buddy are found guilty. [24:21] And shipped away to jail in a matter of like 10 minutes or something. How long was the sentence for? How long was the sentence for? They were sentenced to six months in jail. Okay. Surveillance. Okay. So now their lawyer comes back, goes back to the first judge, McGordy, who had released them on the Lingle chart. [24:49] And he convinced her, I don’t know, for whatever reason, Judge McGurdy says, no, I have jurisdiction in this case because they were brought before me first. And so he issues a bond and sets them free again. As soon as they walk out of the courthouse, they’re re-arrested again for vagrancy. At this point, their lawyer, the lawyer’s upset. And he’s telling, he tells the cops, that’s it. If you’re going to take them in on this bullshit again, you got to take me too. So they all went down to the station, the lawyer with them, charged with vagrancy again, locked up. Judge Lyle, like I say, Judge Lyle was not a friend of these people. He missed their fail at $10,000 on the vagrancy charge. And then he immediately changed it to $20,000 a piece because he was afraid they might make the $10,000 bail. These vagrants, mind you. So they’re backed off in jail. [25:56] Late that night, the lawyer, who’s also out of jail at this point, finds another judge who is either totally unaware of this case or he’s very aware of it. Either way, this judge says, oh, no, that’s way too much bail for vagrancy. The bail should be $100 for that. And as he says, they’re bailing at $100. They’re out again. Boom. So the next day, they go to court facing the, vagrancy charge in front of Judge Lyle. Judge Lyle immediately says, no, your bond was issued falsely, charges him with another $20,000 bail, has him re-arrested. Oh, my God. So they get their bond reduced to $10,000. They bail out of jail. They go to court. [26:51] Finally, on the vagrancy charges, maybe a month later. They’ve been dealing with this now for almost two months. Vagrancy charge. First day of the actual vagrancy trial, Izzy goes in, they arrest him for the burglaries back in New York, charging with hoax. So now they’re ignoring the vagrancy charge. They’ve got him locked up. They’re holding him for extradition to New York. He fights this still. He holds out finally in December, just a couple days before Christmas. He ends up back in New York to face the vagrants. He’s charged with the robberies and the murder of the fighting jeweler. Finally, everything gets dropped back in New York. You know, this is Meyer and Charlie’s area. All the charges are dropped. He’s free and clear again. He’s back home, so he sticks around. and it’s just in time because, as you mentioned, the Castle Marie’s war breaks out like a month later. [27:57] There’s no actual evidence, a lot of evidence of his involvement, but coincidentally, he is charged with murder about a month after the war breaks out. And, of course, his charges drop again, too, like they are. And then as the war goes on, first, Charlie Luciano, he swapped, changed his sides, they whacked Joe the boss, and then they set up Maranzano. [28:27] And Salvador Marenzano gets shot and killed in a restaurant, supposedly by a hit squad of Jewish gangsters that Meyer organized, because Meyer and Charlie were pretty close at this point in time. It isn’t sure who all was involved in that. Benny Siegel was supposed to be one of the shooters. And there’s no mention of Izzy being involved in it, but once again, just coincidentally, he left for France a couple of weeks after the shooting, where he stays until the end of the year when they first held at a couple of conferences. The one where Charlie Luciano organized pretty much the Italian crime family And then a couple months later, Meyer had one where he organized Jewish people, except Meyer had more of a national thing, whereas Charlie’s was more of the New York Five family kind of thing. [29:37] So anyway, at this time, I guess moving along here, Dave Berman, as you’re familiar with, being a Jewish mobster out of the Midwest, he’d come under Meyer’s umbrella. And then in 1927, he gets called to New York. He ends up in New York. At the time, Meyer, the Bugs and Meyer gang, especially being Budgie Siegel and Meyer Lansky, had this thing going where they were kidnapping rival bootleggers. Bootlegging was big business. Meyer was taking control of all of that. It was coming, especially coming in from Canada, which is where the Midwest came in, coming in by boatloads from Canada. We were drinking Canada Dry. Yeah, good one. So Dave Berman, he ends up in New York. Another bootlegger named Abe Sharlin gets kidnapped. [30:45] And the family agrees to pay like a $50,000 ransom to get him back. So when the two guys show up to collect the ransom, instead of a pile of money, there’s a pile of cops waiting for him. Immediately, a shootout breaks out. The one guy jumps out of the car, pulls out his gun, big shootout, people running everywhere. One guy shot and killed. The other guy, he surrenders. That’s Dave Berman. So Dave Berman, it’s, doing this for Meyer, but the cops don’t know that for sure. But they arrest him. He’s off to Sing for seven years for kidnapping. [31:27] Actually, back then, Sing, the prison in Ossining, New York, sat on the river, and so most people sent there, prisoners were shipped up there by boat. That’s where the term sent up the river. I didn’t realize that. Cool. So he does his time while he’s locked up there there’s not a lot of Willie doesn’t show up a lot but there is one specific mention of him, B Kittle he was a nightclub singer back in the early 30s young girl goes to New York chasing her dream ends up working at the nightclub that just happens to be to hang out for the mobsters. She doesn’t know this, but… And actually, she ends up marrying Mo Sedway later on. And Mo Sedway was one of Meyer Lansky’s close people, Benny’s people. She does remark, though, that she remembers there were two guys she’d always see sitting over at a table in the corner drinking together. One of them, she said, was Izzy Alderman, who she said was a lieutenant for Moe Sedway, and the other was Fat Irish Green. [32:51] Fat Irish Green was Benny’s bodyguard, hang-around-everywhere kind of guy. We always see the same people popping up all through this thing. Izzy’s plugged into this bunch. So anyway, we jump ahead a couple years. Dave Berman gets out of prison. Gets out of prison immediately. Meets up with Mo Sedway and Meyer and Charlie, everybody there. Dave’s been a stand-up guy. He kept his mouth shut about everything. He took his beef. He was good about it. But the story goes, they offer him a million dollars in cash for his loyalty. Fire took the judge. More employers should be like him. [33:42] Dave said he didn’t want the money. He wanted to be, he wanted control of gambling in Minneapolis. His mother lived there. His brother, Chickie, was there running small-time gambling thing. That’s where he wanted to go. And they say, okie-dokie, which I think is a good example of the influence, shall we say, that the East Coast group had over the rest of the country. They can just, I’ll give you this city in the Midwest. But before A.V. heads there, interestingly enough, there’s a couple of treasury bond robberies, big treasury bond robberies that happened in New York. They need total like over $2 million. [34:31] Big bucks and the FBI tracks down some of the bonds to a Minneapolis gangster, so when they arrest him along with him the Minneapolis gangster his name was Royce Boris Royce not that it’s a big deal but with him they pick up Davey Berman Davey the Jew is what he was called at that time they weren’t quite as politically correct, They got Dave Berman, they got Moe Subway, and there was a guy that the newspapers called, one account called him Jacob Irish Greenberg, and another one called him Jack Green Greenberg. So this would have been Fat Irish Green, it was Jacob Greenberg. [35:21] Once again, by the time it was done, acquittals all the way around. Wonderful things for him. Now Davey Berman pays off to Minneapolis to join his brother in the gambling thing. He gets there. Brother Chickie was running gambling initially. Isidore, or Kid Khan, was in charge. Isidore Bloomfield was in charge of the Minneapolis thing. And his brother, Yiddy Bloom. Yeah. But, of course, Davey’s here now. Since Kid Khan and his bunch were also Jewish popsters, that means they are linked to Meyer. And when Meyer says, okay, here’s Davey, now that’s how it goes. Davey immediately starts expanding the gambling joints into horse booking and race wire and craft games and everything. And he’s a good businessman. He’s sharp. And he’s learned a lot, apparently, from Meyer because he knows how to keep his name and people out of the name. Back then in Minneapolis, they had a deal. It was called the O’Connor Existence. [36:41] For the it was a deal that the local police had with gangster you could come to our town, and we won’t bother you we’ll leave you alone three conditions you check in with us when you get here so we know you’re here you of course make various payments to the necessary police and city officials and it was an orphan’s fund to the widows and orphans fund the police, and you promised that you will not commit any crimes major crimes while you’re in twin cities minneapolis st paul and if they’d agree to that they could stay there safely no matter who was looking for them so this also made it kind of more attractive i think for dave burman and people like him because obviously all you got to do is pay people off you’re good to go yeah kind of like the hot springs of the north, huh? Oh, yeah. So, once again, with this kind of ability, you don’t find a lot of mention of. [37:52] Dave Berman or his crew, especially in Minneapolis, and some of the police records have been lost there over the years. So that made it a little harder, too, to track things down. There are a couple of interesting things. For example, now, part of the Berman crew, one of them especially was Slippy Sherr, a guy named Phillip Sherr. They went by Slippy. He was really an interesting sort of guy. He was definitely a violent person he was constantly charged with assaults and murders and of course the charges were always dropped there was one occasion he was out with some friends in a bar they end up in an argument with the bar owner turns into a fight the bar owner goes outside flags down a motorcycle cop who’s going by the motorcycle cop goes back in with the bar owner and they proceed to get in a fist fight with Flippy and his friends, they get lumped up pretty good. Later, when they go to court. [39:01] The officer made a remark in court about, he said, all in all, it was pretty fair fight all the way around. And he said, for the most part, they’re pretty nice guys when they’re not drinking. Yeah. So aren’t we all? He was that kind of the guy Flippi was bollocked, Oh, another example of that. Willie ends up, by the time he hits Minneapolis, he’s become Willie Alden. He’s given up the Izzy thing, trying to put that behind him. Now, his focus is gambling. He’s like Dave Berman. It’s a muscle, maybe, behind Dave Berman. But he’s mellowed out a lot, and you don’t hear a lot about him. In one incident, though, they were golfers of all things. They loved golfing. And this is the 30s. So, of course, they can only golf at the Jewish golf course. Jewish people weren’t allowed at the regular country club. They’re out golfing. Flippy, sure, he would always join them. We wanted to force them. They didn’t deal with golf well. They’d get upset easily. I know the feeling. I know. [40:19] So on one occasion, Flippi slices a ball over into a neighboring farmer’s field. There’s an 18-year-old kid over there farming his potato crop. And Flippi, being argumentative, is a problem breaks out over the ball, him and this kid. Pretty soon, Flippi’s over there in the field. First, he starts wailing on the kid with his fist. And then he starts beating on him with his golf club until he knocks him out. Oh, man. This is like a $30,000 golf club. Game for flippy by the time it’s over and probably got extra strokes on that hole while he was there. [41:03] That the berman crew ran in minneapolis was 613 hennepin this was they were regularly it seemed like it was an annual thing it’s probably a deal they hadn’t once a year the cops would hit 613 Hennepin, they’d raid it, they’d charge him with gambling, whatever, and they’d pay their fine, let it go. But like clockwork, if you check the newspapers, once a year, it’s 13 Hennepin. So finally, last time, 1940, they go in, and now their cops are hyped. Big, great, they ain’t got all these cops, they’re ready to get the door down, charge in. To get there, Doors are wide open. Cop belt all run in. There’s still hot coffee on the stove. There’s a chalkboard full of all the race results. Everything but people. The places. There’s nobody in the place. This upset him made more of an embarrassment, I think, than anything for the police. He finally got beat out on that one. [42:09] That was 613 Hennepin. Was that the address and the name of the spot, 613 Hennepin? Or was that Hennepin’s like a common name up in Minneapolis? It was called the TMA Club. Okay, and the address was 613 Hennepin. Yeah, it actually had a couple of different names, But the address, no matter what club was at that address, whatever they called, it was the same thing. Yeah, I got you. They just sold. Now, about this time, this is late 1930s, of course, I’m sure you’re familiar with the Silver Church thing, the support group, so to speak, in the States, right? Yeah, yeah. And Judge Perlman from New York got a hold of Meyer Lansky. Yeah. See if he could offer assistance. And among the people that Meyer called was Dave Berman, of course, in Minneapolis. And Dave said, sure, I’d be glad to help. And Willie would be glad to help, too. Dave was a little nervous about Willie’s assistance because they really didn’t want anybody killed. And he wasn’t sure about that with Willie. But as it turns out, they said that Silver Shirts held their meeting at the Elks Club in town. and J.B. Berman showed up with some friends and baseball bats. [43:32] It took him about 10 minutes to clear the place out. A couple more go-rounds like this and the silver shirts, all the… [43:42] Nazi groups, neo-Nazis, whatever, they changed their mind about having these kind of meetings there. Like in New York, when they had Nuremeyer brought his people in, they were not extremely friendly to the Nazis, which is understandable. So the Silver Shirts complained to the mayor, Mayor LaGuardia, demanding protection for their rallies and their marches. And the mayor is obligated by law to protect them, to provide them with the support. And he did. He rounded up all of the black and Jewish officers he could find and assigned them to that duty. His mother was Jewish. Yeah, crazy times. It’s hard to believe. If you don’t read it in history yourself, you wouldn’t know it. It’s really something that’s been a gift under the rug. We had those Nazi sympathizers right up to World War II. It was crazy. Oh, it was amazing. People like Charles Lindbergh, Henry Ford, who wrote The International Jew. At one time, if you bought a new Ford, you’d get a free copy of that book. [44:57] I read that somewhere, The International Jew, that Jewish conspiracy that’s supposed to take over the world and have all the money and everything. Yeah, that’s interesting. That’s ridiculous. They just want to take over gambling. It’s obvious. Yeah, really. Then they wanted to move all these guys you mentioned, Mo Sedway and Mayor Lansky, of course, and Buggy Siegel. They all end up out in Las Vegas. They take it all to Las Vegas, don’t they? Yeah, and like I said, right from the very beginning, you’ll see the same name over and over. Benny Siegel, Gus Greenbaum, Joe Stacker. They had an amazing bunch. And if you look at it, most of them died in bed. Yeah. [45:43] It was a whole different, probably, mindset than you’d see with the Italian gangsters at that time. These are people who managed to stay out of jail, stay out of the press, and stay out of the ground and make money. Yeah. A FBI agent here in Kansas City gave me a quote one time on a documentary I was doing. He was talking about this national crime syndicate. And he said, yeah, he said, the Italians provided the brawn, and the Jews provided the brains. Pretty much how well you got to Vegas, obviously the Jewish groups around the country had been running gambling. They were smart. Meyer especially was a visionary. This guy was a genius in Meyer’s mind. And he could see that, obviously, Prohibition, as wonderful as it was for them, wasn’t going to last forever. But he could see the future in gambling. And I’m sure he didn’t foresee Las Vegas back when Prohibition was repealed, but he did see the direction things were going. [46:55] He developed gambling all over the country. And then when Vegas came along, this was just a wonderful thing for legalized gambling. They had the expertise, the experience, the knowledge, all they needed. Because opening casino is an expensive venture, so they needed more money. The Italians provided extra cash, and the Jewish groups had all the experience and the knowledge to run there. That’s where, back in the one conference, the Fraconia conference that Meyer organized, where he organized the Jewish groups around the nation, at that time he convinced, both groups were convinced that it was time that they start working together and not be at odds with them. with each other. Yeah, no, it was actually, it turned out to be a real profitable agreement as time went on. Yeah, especially in Las Vegas, so. [47:55] I’ll tell you what, Flatsy, it’s a hell of a book. That’s a hell of a story you’ve got there, guys. [48:00] We’re not going to disclose everything because we’ve got to go on out to Las Vegas, but we’re not going to disclose everything. We want you to buy that book. It really sounds interesting. It’s really a walk through the history and the expansion of organized crime from the early days from the Castle of Racey War and Chicago and the Beer Wars to Minneapolis and on out to Las Vegas. It’s a hell of a story. and Ice-Pick Willie was there for all of it, it sounds to me like. That’s what I found so amazing is pretty much every major event in gangland history at that point in time, he would somehow evolve there. And yet, here like 50 years or so after he’s dead, nobody even remembers him. They will now. The people he knew, the people he associated with, the things he’s seen, what a life really guys the book is Ice Pick Willie the life and times of Israel Alderman and the author is Flats F-L-A-T-S and I will have a link to that book on Amazon when this comes out so thanks a lot Flats I really appreciate you coming on and telling those stories, you betcha thanks for having me.

Guided Question: How does Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 7 shape our understanding of singleness, marriage, and undistracted devotion to Christ, and what practical applications does it have for Christians today? Summary: Dr. Robert Lewis explores 1 Corinthians 7 with a focus on singleness, showing how Paul's guidance offers both theological insight and practical wisdom. The single life, Paul argues, has distinct advantages over married life, particularly in the ability to devote oneself fully to Christ without divided interests. While marriage is not condemned, the single life allows greater flexibility, opportunity, and focus for spiritual service, and may even be the ideal lifestyle for some. Dr. Lewis emphasizes that singleness should be viewed as a gift and opportunity, not a restriction, and encourages both singles and married Christians to live with eternity in mind, subordinating temporal concerns to their devotion to God. The sermon also touches on widows, showing that older widows who dedicate their lives to Christ serve as examples of purpose and vitality, inspiring the church. Throughout, practical illustrations, historical examples, and anecdotes highlight how undistracted devotion can impact individuals and the broader Christian community. Outline: Introduction Recognition of the increasing number of singles in the church. Importance of addressing singles directly (1 Corinthians 7). Paul's Instructions on Singleness “Now concerning virgins…”: Paul's opinion is trustworthy, guided by the Spirit. Conditions for remaining single (verses 25–35): Temporal considerations: “present distress” in the first-century church. Theological considerations: “time has been shortened,” eternal perspective prioritizes Christ over marriage. Advantages of Singleness Undistracted devotion to the Lord (verses 32–34). Flexibility and freedom to serve. Opportunity to focus on prayer, study, ministry, and service without divided interests. Practical Illustrations Daily life comparisons between singles and married individuals. Anecdotes emphasizing the freedom and productivity of single life. Historical examples of influential singles (Joseph, C.S. Lewis, John R. Stott, Billy Graham's mentors, etc.). Conditions for Choosing Singleness Verse 36–38: Control: ability to resist sinful desires. Conviction: firm decision in one's heart to remain single for undistracted devotion. Marriage is permissible if control or conviction is lacking. Widows and Dedication to Christ 1 Timothy 5:9: Recognition of widows committed to service. Older widows serve as examples of purpose, vitality, and ongoing mission. Conclusion & Practical Application Singles: embrace advantages, focus on God, use time and energy wisely. Married individuals: remember marriage is temporary in light of eternity. Life's ultimate focus should be Jesus Christ, not temporal concerns. Encouragement to serve God undistractedly, impacting church and world. Key Takeaways: Singleness is a gift and an opportunity for spiritual focus and ministry. Marriage is not wrong, but it inherently divides attention between family and God. Temporal concerns (career, wealth, social expectations) should not overshadow devotion to Christ. Undistracted devotion requires both control over desires and conviction in one's heart. Widows who dedicate their lives to God exemplify purposeful living beyond marriage. Historical examples demonstrate the lasting impact of single individuals in God's kingdom. Scripture References: 1 Corinthians 7:1–40 – Paul's instructions on marriage and singleness. Hebrews 10:32–34 – The “present distress” of first-century Christians. Matthew 22:30 – Marriage does not exist in the resurrection. 2 Peter 3:15 – Paul's letters recognized as Scripture. 1 Timothy 5:9 – Guidelines for recognizing widows dedicated to Christ. Recorded 10/11/81

Author and speaker Robert Lewis offers advice and encouragement to dads in a discussion based on his best-selling book Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood.

Author and speaker Robert Lewis offers advice and encouragement to dads in a discussion based on his best-selling book Raising a Modern-Day Knight: A Father's Role in Guiding His Son to Authentic Manhood.

Guided Question How does God want us to view and use our bodies in a culture that either idolizes pleasure or dismisses the body as unimportant? Summary In this message, Dr. Robert Lewis unpacks Paul's teaching in 1 Corinthians 6:12–20, addressing the Corinthian church's misunderstanding of Christian freedom and the body. Influenced by the prevailing Epicurean philosophy—“pleasure is the goal of life”—many in Corinth justified sexual indulgence with slogans like “All things are lawful for me” and “Food is for the stomach and the stomach is for food.” Paul responds by clarifying that while Christians have freedom in Christ, not all things are beneficial, nor should believers be mastered by anything. The body is not a throwaway vessel for pleasure but an eternal instrument designed for the Lord. Because our bodies are members of Christ, sexual immorality is a profound contradiction to our union with Him. Paul calls believers to flee immorality and reminds them that their bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit. True intimacy is not found in physical indulgence but in spiritual union with Christ. The cure for immorality is not legalistic rule-keeping but learning to “think Jesus,” cultivating fellowship with the indwelling Spirit, and glorifying God in body and spirit. Outline Context and Background Paul in Athens and Corinth (Acts 17). Epicurean vs. Stoic philosophies shaping Corinthian culture. Epicurean emphasis on pleasure over truth. Corinthian Misunderstandings of Freedom (1 Cor. 6:12–13) Slogans: “All things are lawful” and “Food is for the stomach.” Paul's clarifications: Is it profitable? Will it master me? Freedom in Christ is not license for indulgence. The Body's Eternal Purpose (1 Cor. 6:14) God raised Christ's body and will raise ours. The body is eternal and central to salvation. Union with Christ vs. Union in Immorality (1 Cor. 6:15–17) Sexual immorality contradicts union with Christ. Contrast: intimacy through merging of bodies vs. merging of spirits with the Lord. The Call to Flee (1 Cor. 6:18) Immorality uniquely sins against one's own body. Subtle items of immorality: pornography, media, cultural messages. Principle: All things lawful, but not all profitable; avoid what enslaves. The Body as Temple of the Spirit (1 Cor. 6:19–20) Believers are bought with a price. The body is God's dwelling place, meant for His glory. The cure: “Think Jesus” — fellowship with the indwelling Spirit. Key Takeaways Christian freedom has boundaries: ask “Is it profitable?” and “Will it control me?” The body matters to God: it is eternal, destined for resurrection, and united with Christ. Sexual sin is unique: it affects the whole person — body, soul, and spirit. True intimacy is spiritual: union with Christ satisfies more deeply than physical indulgence. The Holy Spirit indwells believers: we are temples, called to glorify God with our bodies. The path to purity is not legalism but fellowship with Christ — learning to “think Jesus.” Scripture References Acts 17:16–18 — Paul confronts the philosophies of Athens. 1 Corinthians 6:12–20 — Paul's correction of Corinthian slogans. Philippians 4:8 — Think on what is pure and honorable. Psalm 101:2–3 — “I will set no worthless thing before my eyes.” Colossians 1:27 — “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” Recorded 9/20/81

Guided Question When conflicts arise with other believers, do I rely on worldly methods of self-preservation, or do I trust God's Spirit and His people to help me walk in love, humility, and faith? Summary In this sermon on 1 Corinthians 6, Dr. Robert Lewis addresses the problem of lawsuits among Christians in Corinth. The issue was not simply about legal disputes but about a deeper spiritual problem: the Corinthians had forgotten their theology and were living with a worldly spirit of survival rather than the Spirit-filled life. Paul reminds the church that theology is not abstract or academic; it shapes everyday life and decisions. Believers are called to live out their future destiny now—managing disputes with wisdom, humility, and a focus on God's Kingdom rather than possessions or personal rights. Instead of taking one another to court, Paul calls for Christian arbitration or, if necessary, Christian resignation, following the example of Christ who surrendered His rights for the sake of love. Ultimately, Paul urges the Corinthians to remember who they are: washed, sanctified, and justified in Christ. Forgetting this truth leads them backward into a lifestyle of hopelessness, while remembering it moves them forward toward their destiny as Spirit-filled heirs of the Kingdom. Outline I. The Problem Identified (vv. 1–6) Christians were suing Christians in secular courts. Root issue: living as if theology has no place in daily life. Lawsuits reflected greed, selfishness, and immaturity in the faith. II. The Theological Reminder (vv. 2–4, 9–11) “Do you not know?” repeated six times—calling them back to forgotten theology. Believers will one day judge the world and even angels. Christians must live now in light of their eternal destiny. To sue one another is to live like those outside the Kingdom. Remember your identity: washed, sanctified, and justified. III. The Practical Solutions (vv. 5–8) Christian Arbitration — seek resolution through wise believers and church leadership. Christian Resignation — if necessary, yield rather than destroy relationships or Christ's reputation. IV. The Call to Move Forward (vv. 9–11) Do not retreat into sin and hopelessness. Live as Spirit-filled people who display God's love and forgiveness. Theology must inform daily relationships and decisions. Key Takeaways Theology is for life, not just the classroom. Biblical truth is meant to shape our daily decisions and relationships. Conflict among believers must be handled spiritually, not through worldly systems. The church is equipped with God's Word and Spirit to resolve disputes. Possessions are never more important than people. Giving in for the sake of love protects unity and honors Christ. Remember your identity. We are washed, sanctified, and justified—called to live as heirs of God's Kingdom. Moving forward requires Spirit-filled living. Retreating into selfishness and greed leads to defeat; surrender to the Spirit leads to peace and maturity. Scripture References 1 Corinthians 6:1–11 – Lawsuits among believers and reminder of our identity in Christ. Matthew 5:40 – Jesus' teaching on surrendering possessions rather than fighting. Revelation 20:4–6 – Believers' future destiny to rule with Christ. Proverbs 18:19 – The difficulty of restoring an offended brother. Acts 18:8 – Corinthians' baptism as a sign of leaving the old life behind. Recorded 9/6/81

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly “Ask the Experts” theme with Dr. Robert Lewis, who answered questions about understanding biblical manhood. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Disciples Making Disciples” with a discussion with Dr. David Nelms to speak about the importance and impact of making disciple-makers. David serves as Founder of The Timothy Initiative (TTI). He is a former senior pastor who successfully grew three churches in Maryland, Iowa, and Florida. Then we had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the power of one-on-ones in discipleship. Dr. Lewis has been a pastor, writer, speaker, and visionary for over 40 years. He is the founder of the Men’s Fraternity ministry and developed a 3-year video curriculum. He is also the founding partner of Better Man. Then we had Dr. Mark Yarbrough join us to discuss the six essentials for reviving your faith. Dr. Yarbrough is a popular Bible Conference speaker, professor, and the President of Dallas Theological Seminary in Dallas, Texas. He is also the author of several books, including “The Rekindled Heart: 6 Essentials for Reviving Your Faith.” You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Dr. David Nelms Interview [07:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [23:57] Dr. Mark Yarbrough Interview [41:29 ] Ally Thinks It's Funny [55:48] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Today, on Karl and Crew, we kicked off our weekly theme of “Marriage and Family” with conversations with Cody Kimmel about grace-based parenting in today’s culture. He also shares the four freedoms in Grace-Based Parenting. Cody is the Executive Director of Grace Based Families, a ministry committed to encouraging, educating, and equipping families for every age and stage of life. He also serves as a pastor, professor, and entrepreneur, and hosts multiple podcasts, including Blueprints for Parents and Lightcatchers, a storytime for kids. We had Dr. Robert Lewis join us to discuss the importance of men’s discipleship and chivalry in young men today. Then we had Chris Baker join us to discuss his tattoo-removing ministry and the work they’ve been doing for sex-trafficking victims that were rescued around the time of the Super Bowl. Chris is the founder of INK 180 a ministry that serves those who have been branded through sex-trafficking and gang-life. Through his work at the ministry, he won the 2022 FBI Director's Award for Community Service and has an award-winning documentary that has been featured on TLN. You can hear the highlights of today's program on the Karl and Crew Showcast. If you're looking to hear a particular segment from the show, look at the following time stamps: Chris Baker Interview [24:14] Cody Kimmel Interview [38:35] Dr. Robert Lewis Interview [53:44] Karl and Crew airs live weekday mornings from 5-9 a.m. Central Time. Click this link for ways to listen in your area! https://www.moodyradio.org/ways-to-listen/Donate to Moody Radio: http://moodyradio.org/donateto/morningshowSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Guided Question  In what ways do I view the message of the cross as "foolish"—and how might God be inviting me to experience its transforming power instead? Summary Dr. Robert Lewis explores the paradox of the Christian faith: the message of the cross—foolishness to the world but power to those being saved. Using Paul's words in 1 Corinthians and a story from Isaiah, he shows how human wisdom repeatedly fails to answer life's deepest questions. Only through Christ's death and resurrection do we find forgiveness, purpose, and power to live differently. The message is not just theoretical—it changes lives. Outline Introduction  Prayer and welcome to visitors Reflections on the presence of God Two Responses to the Cross  Story: restaurant encounter shows contrasting reactions to the gospel 1 Corinthians 1:18—"The word of the cross is foolishness to the perishing" Greek word mōria (foolishness, absurdity) God's Plan for Man  Humanity was created for relationship with God Sin as rebellion and separation Only Christ's sacrifice restores us to God This gift must be personally received Israel's Mistake: Trusting Egypt, Not God  Isaiah 29–30: Historical context—Assyria threatens Jerusalem Israel turns to Egypt instead of repenting God rebukes their reliance on human power Miraculous deliverance follows Hezekiah's surrender to God Application: When You're Out of Options  We, like Israel, often exhaust all options before turning to God C.S. Lewis: God is not proud—He stoops to conquer The Failure of Human Wisdom  Paul asks, “Where is the wise man?” Human wisdom has not improved the human condition Churchill quote: knowledge grows, but virtue does not Real Power: The Gospel Transforms Lives  Augustine: from sinful living to radical transformation Gospel isn't just a theory; it brings power God's kingdom is about transformation, not just words Key Takeaways The Cross Offends Human Pride The message of a crucified Savior seems absurd to the self-sufficient and proud. God's Plan Inverts Human Expectations Salvation comes not through strength, but through what appears weak and foolish. There Is Only One Way Back to God The cross is God's exclusive and sufficient plan for reconciliation. Transformation Is the Evidence Faith in Christ results in real life change, not just new beliefs. God Waits for Our Desperation God often allows us to run out of options so we can finally turn to Him. Skepticism Is Real—But So Is the Evidence From personal stories to archaeology, the gospel is rooted in both power and truth. Scriptural References 1 Corinthians 1:18–25 – The contrast between the foolishness of the cross and God's power Isaiah 29:14 – “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise...” Isaiah 30:1–3 – Rebuke of Israel's alliance with Egypt Isaiah 53:6 – “All we like sheep have gone astray...” Romans 6:23 – “The wages of sin is death...” Acts 4:12 – “There is salvation in no one else...” 1 Corinthians 4:20 – “The kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power.” Recorded 4/19/81

Send us a textWhat does it mean to raise a boy into a godly man in a culture that rarely defines manhood with clarity? In this episode, Dr. Pete Alwinson and Bishop Jayson Quiñones begin a two part conversation around Robert Lewis' book Raising a Modern Day Knight and why intentional fatherhood matters more than ever. Together, they unpack the father wound, the danger of the invisible dad, and why sons drift when no one is guiding them with purpose and love. You will hear honest stories, practical insight, and a compelling vision for shaping the next generation with direction, character, and mission. This is part one of a two part series focused on building great men as God defines greatness.

Guiding Question What does it look like for Christianity to transform our lives in real ways? Summary Dr. Robert Lewis challenges Christians to move beyond mere theology and live lives marked by spiritual transformation. Drawing on Ephesians 4:25–32, he identifies five clear indicators that the life of God is present in us: Promptly resolving anger Rejecting sin and resisting Satan's foothold Working to give rather than simply get Speaking words that build up others Extending forgiveness as we have been forgiven Through vivid anecdotes—such as the pastor's personal struggle with unresolved anger and domestic statistics—and practical reflections, Dr. Lewis urges us to ask: is our Christianity evident in our daily actions? Outline Ephesians 4:26 – “Do not let the sun go down on your anger.” Acknowledge righteous anger but resolve it daily to prevent bitterness. Ephesians 4:27 – “Do not give the devil an opportunity.” Reinforces the danger of unresolved conflict as a foothold for evil. Ephesians 4:28 – “Let him who stole steal no longer… so he may have something to share.” Introduces a proactive ethic of work used to bless others. Ephesians 4:29 – “Let no unwholesome talk proceed from your mouth… good for edification.” Contrasts decayed speech with timely words that uplift and heal. Ephesians 4:31–32 – “Forgiving each other… just as in Christ God forgave you.” Calls us to live forgiven lives by forgiving others, reflecting the cross. Key Takeaways Unresolved anger poisons relationships and opens the door to deeper sin and spiritual attack. Generosity, not self-centered labor, is the hallmark of a Christian work ethic. Words have power—they either groom community or corrode it. Forgiveness is non-negotiable for Christians; if we've been forgiven so much, we must forgive in return. Transformation matters—a faith that doesn't change us remains merely theoretical. Scriptural References Ephesians 4:25–32 1 Timothy 6:17–19 Proverbs 15:23 James 2:17 Recorded on 2/15/81

Guiding Question: What will you choose in the defining moments of your life—mediocrity or a life of courageous adventure?

Guiding Question: How do you live a full and faithful life—both early and late—that reflects God's great adventure for men?

In this episode of the Charity Charge Show, we sit down with Robert Lewis Jr., President and CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston, to explore how one organization is rethinking youth development across Boston and Chelsea.Robert shares how the Clubs are serving nearly 40,000 young people and families through nine club locations, centered on three core pillars: academic support, health and wellness, and workforce readiness. He also explains their recent decision to make membership cost free for all youth, why they see young people as Boston's future talent pipeline, and how bold civic leadership, strong teams, and deep community partnerships are driving real change.About Charity ChargeCharity Charge is a financial technology company serving the nonprofit sector. From the Charity Charge Nonprofit Credit Card to bookkeeping, gift card disbursements, and state compliance, we help mission-driven organizations streamline operations and stay financially strong. Learn more at charitycharge.com.

Community builder and Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston President and CEO Robert Lewis Jr. shares how growing up in East Boston public housing, surviving a firebombing during the busing crisis, and being lifted by mentors shaped his life's mission to unite people and invest in youth as Boston's future talent. We talk assets over deficits, redefining “poor,” belonging, narrative, and how adults can listen, love, and create real opportunity.   Key takeaways Belonging beats scarcity. Community, friendships, and safety redefine what “poor” feels like. Lead with assets. Stop deficit language. See young people as talent and invest accordingly. Turn pain into purpose. Robert's 16-year-old promise fuels a lifetime of bridge-building. Adults must shift. Listen more, partner more, and stop “fixing” kids. Define your narrative. Do not let others write your story.   Connect with Robert Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston: https://www.bgcb.org/ BGCB waives membership fees for 2025–2026: https://www.bgcb.org/blog/boys-girls-clubs-of-boston-waives-membership-fees-for-2025-2026-school-year/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robert-lewis-jr-0bb0931a2/

Guiding Question: What do you really believe about eternity—and is that your final answer? Key Takeaways: Faith Decisions Shape Everything: Robert Lewis opens with the bold claim that faith decisions are the most important decisions a man will ever make. Everyone lives by some assumption about eternity—even choosing not to believe is, itself, a belief system. These beliefs influence our daily actions more than we realize. The Sacred Ground of the Mind: Continuing a theme from earlier sessions, Lewis calls this internal space of reflection “sacred ground.” It's where men weigh their end, envision eternity, and measure today's choices in light of that vision. Everyone Lives by One of Four Views: Nobody sees and nobody cares. Somebody sees, but it doesn't matter. Somebody sees and is keeping score. Somebody sees and wants to help. These views are not just abstract—they shape how men live, lead, and make decisions today. Comparison of Major World Religions: Lewis walks through what major world religions teach about the afterlife—Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Mormonism—and notes they all share one common element: earning heaven through good works. Christianity stands apart by offering a relationship with a Savior who offers help, not a checklist. Robert Lewis's Personal Journey: He vulnerably shares his own story—growing up in a chaotic home, experiencing inner turmoil in college, and ultimately reaching for Christ at age 18. That decision reshaped both his present and eternal life. The Two Circles Illustration: Lewis explains his theology using two circles: Top Circle – What Jesus Christ has done for me: Forgiveness of sins Eternal life Adoption as a child of God Bottom Circle – What Jesus Christ desires to do in me: Abundant life Good works Loving others well The top circle guarantees salvation (unchangeable), while the bottom circle reflects daily discipleship (changeable and rewardable). Eternal Impact of Daily Choices: While salvation is secured through faith in Christ, rewards in heaven are determined by how faithfully we walk with Him. Lewis emphasizes this doesn't determine if you get in, but it shapes how you live there. A: It's over. B: It's not over, and everyone will be fine. C: It's not over, and I'm good enough. D: It's not over, and I'll need help. Final Challenge: “Is That Your Final Answer?” Echoing Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Lewis asks each listener to confront their deepest belief about eternity. Options: Key Scripture References: Colossians 2:13–14 – Forgiveness of sins. 1 John 5:11–13 – Assurance of eternal life. John 1:12 – Becoming a child of God. John 10:10 – “I came that they may have life...” Ephesians 2:10 – Created for good works. John 15:12 – Loving others as Christ has loved. Philippians 3:20–21 – Citizenship in heaven and transformed bodies. 1 Corinthians 3:10–15 – Eternal rewards and loss.