JOE: Welcome to FJM TV. I'm Joe Jordan. I'm here
with Gina Thompson and my wife Kris Jordan,
and it's going to be a great day.
GINA: Yes, it is.
JOE: It really is. I'm excited about today's topic.
GINA: Oh yeah. JOE: What is love?
And so that's a kind of a big concept, and if you
throw it out to the world and everybody that's viewing,
people could have a hundred different ideas on what love is.
But today, instead of just focusing on the love for our
children or our spouse or the love and passion that we have in
our calling or purpose in life, kind of want to talk about a
specific love, and that is where love really comes from and who
really is love, because I think that's key to this whole thing.
But before we get started, we just want you to know that Fred
Jordan Missions is in its 80th year of ministry. We have been
at the same building, the same corner on Skid Row in downtown
Los Angeles, serving literally in the last 80 years, tens of
millions of people and tens of millions of meals because of
friends and partners like you. Without you, we couldn't do it.
The hungry, the homeless, the helpless and the hopeless, all
receive Jesus and His love every day that they come to the
mission, and it's such a blessing, and it's because you
partner with us, but if you don't know how to get involved,
I want Gina maybe to just let us know how can people get
involved, how can they volunteer? How can they connect
with us or how can they just help support the mission?
GINA: Yeah it's very simple. Just go
to fjm.org and right there, you'll know how you can
get involved. You know there's so many
ways, we have big events all year long, Thanksgiving,
Christmas, Easter, Mother's Day, and we're working on those all
year long. So there's a way you can volunteer. And Joe, it's
true, 80 years is amazing, but every day those doors of the
Mission are open. We have a little area that's open and
we're giving water and whatever we have to give, if it's
blankets during the winter or what have you, all day long,
we're giving to those that are in need. But every day, the main
doors of the Mission are open for people to come into the
chapel. They hear about Jesus. That's a beautiful place that
they can come off the streets of Skid Row, have a place of safety
for an hour or so, then they're taken into our beautiful dining
room and fed a hot meal, served a hot meal. And so that takes a
lot of prayer and a lot of finances. So again, go to
fjm.org, see how you can volunteer for our events, how
you can give to us financially to help meeting the needs of
those on Skid Row daily, and also for our big events.
JOE: And aside from the 80 years of
Fred Jordan Mission serving the poor
and need on Skid Row, FJM TV is in its 73rd year and we
get to be a part, and you're a part of it. 73 years FJM has
been coming into the homes just like yours. Now, of course, it's
coming into tablets, iPhones. A lot of times I watch the program
on Sundays just on my iPhone because I can, and it's cool. So
no matter where I am, I can watch it. You can go and watch
back episodes or any episodes you want if you just go to
fjm.org. But what do you think about that 73 years of being
able to share the gospel and share the hope of Jesus, not
just at the Mission, but to our viewers?
KRIS: I mean, it's amazing. I mean, not many people can
say that. And to be able to bring Jesus on a weekly basis
for that many years, yeah, yeah. It's pretty amazing.
JOE: And it all started with my dad,
Fred Jordan, his Church in the Home.
You see, he pastored a church, but then God called him
to Skid Row, but he still wanted to pastor people and share the
love of Jesus with people like you, shut ins. People who didn't
hear the gospel couldn't go to church. And that's how FJM
started, Church in the Home, and we're still coming into your
home. And you know what? We're not an official church. We're a
ministry that just loves declaring and demonstrating
God's love. We do it on Skid Row every day and hopefully today
you're blessed as we declare some God's love.
GINA: And what's coming to my mind
right now is when your mother would
ask for, we need that financial support. We really do,
but she would always follow it up with, and I could just hear
her beautiful voice now, and I know she's watching, hi Willie,
we love you. She would say, what we make happen for others, God
makes happen for us. So as we reach out to with the love of
Jesus, it just comes back the Lord just that's how it works.
JOE: Yeah, and I'm sure, I mean, we've learned
it. I know you and Dwight have learned it.
I know my mom and dad learned it. You can't
out give God. And the more you pour into just ministry and
giving to things that are important, that are eternal,
just the benefits, the benefits are great because the benefits
are eternal, helping people know Jesus and go to heaven. And
that's what it's all about. So today as we're talking about
what is love, I just wanted to read a little bit from 1
Corinthians 13, 4 through 8, love is patient, love is kind.
It does not envy. It does not boast. It is not proud, nor does
it dishonor others. It's not self-seeking. It's not easily
angered. It keeps no records of wrongs. Love does not delight in
evil, but it rejoices in the truth. It always protects,
always trust, always hopes, always perseveres and love never
fails. That's from God's Word. And the apostle Paul shares this
truth for many reasons, but I think that what's cool about it
is he's not talking about a romantic love of husband and
wife, although around this table with you and Dwight and Kris and
I, there's not quite a hundred years, but almost a hundred
years of love and marriage between us, well over 75, which
is really awesome. So we've experienced that, and it's
amazing how love continues to grow in our lives and
relationships as you nurture them and you really take a
biblical approach on it. But what he's sharing here is more
about the love that God has for His children, and we are His
children. And if we want to just look at the life of Jesus
anywhere at any time and keep that passage in mind, we can see
Jesus demonstrated all of that, all of that and all of those
attributes of love through His whole life, patient, kind, He
didn't do anything selfishly, but He did everything that He
did because He loved us and cared for us. And so it's so
awesome to know that Jesus demonstrates what love really
is, and I just love how the Bible talks about God is love.
So Gina, let me ask you this. How have you personally
experienced God's love in your life at times?
GINA: Well, I have to stop and remember. He has been pursuing
us from the beginning of time that we were created to be in
relationship with Him, so He pursues us. But for me to really
grasp that love, it took me a while because I felt like I had
to be good enough. If I did things better, then He would
love me more. If I behaved in such a way, He'd love me more.
And it's just amazing when we really need before love to know
His grace that you know what? I can't be good enough for Him so
good that He's going to love me more or make mistakes where He's
going to love me less. You know, so His love is constant for
us. It's pursuing us and the things we go
through is to grow us in His love.
JOE: Yeah. It's so true. Many of us
have that feeling. I don't know that everybody
does, but many of us have that feeling that until I
clean myself up and my act up, I can't come to Jesus. I can't
get saved until I get right. But that's not what God even did. He
did on the cross what He did because we couldn't be good
enough, because we couldn't act right, because we couldn't be
holy because we were a bunch of knuckleheads and mess ups.
GINA: And it's the trick of the enemy to have us focus
on those failures. JOE: Absolutely.
GINA: And then it's our eyes off of the Lord pursuing that
relationship with Him. And so that's one thing that I've
had to be mindful of is like, nope, I'm keeping
my eyes on Jesus and His love for me.
JOE: Absolutely. KRIS: Sorry. I was
going to say, I think about that scripture too. While
we were yet sinner, Christ died for us. He didn't wait for
us to get our act together. He didn't wait for us to start
acting right and appropriate, whatever it was. No. While we
were in our worst state of depravity, He died for us.
JOE: Exactly. KRIS: Why?
Because He loves us. He wants to have a relationship
with them. That's just mind blowing when you think about
it, that He loves us with that kind of love,
which is so different from what we think.
JOE: And I've shared that so many
times with you, our viewers and I
preached it in churches and shared it at outreaches that I
am amazed that God knew everything He knew about us
before He created us, that we would walk away from Him, that
Adam and Eve would sin against Him, that we would all be
wretched and wicked. And yet He still created us. Why? Because
He loved us and He wanted a relationship, and then He went
to the middle of the book after He gave everybody an opportunity
from Genesis on to the New Testament to have prophets and
kings and sacrifices and everything to make things right
with Him. But we could never make things right with God, but
God already had a plan in the middle of the book, John 3:16 to
make it right. And that's when Jesus came as the ultimate.
GINA: All of our love story, right?
JOE: Yeah. And He came as the ultimate sacrifice. But as you
talk about you know performance or we have to be good, or what
do we have to do to receive His love? Let me ask you, love what,
you know how is God's love different than a
performance-based love? How is God's love for us different than
that, that you have to perform maybe to get love or something?
KRIS: Well yeah, I mean it's really the difference between
conditional love. I'll love you if you do this, if you act this
way, if whatever the ifs are versus God's love is
unconditional, I love you because I love you. I love you
because I am love. I mean, that's like you were saying
earlier, that's who God is. And so that's just so refreshing
that we don't have to work to earn God's love. He loves us
because He loves us, and that's the difference between a
performance-based love, where we think we have to earn it like
you were saying earlier, versus we just have to receive
it because it's there for us free.
JOE: What is love? God is love. We'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: Jesus once said, what you
do for the least of these you do for me.
With your generous support, Fred Jordan Mission has been
fulfilling this calling for over 80 years by feeding hungry
people here on Skid Row. Together we made a difference.
Together, we have given hope to those less fortunate, and
together we have demonstrated the love of Jesus to those in
need. We deeply appreciate your support, and we ask that you
please continue to give to this life-changing mission. Go online
to give at fjm.org. Whatever the amount, rate or small,
your donation is greatly appreciated.
ANNOUNCER: Join the conversation by connecting with us on social
media. We are on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and more.
Visit us at social.fjm.org.
JOE: Well, welcome back. Today we're talking
about what is love, but really we kind of defined
it with God's Word, it's very simple,
it says, God is love, and if God, our creator, the one who
made us and the one who sustains us, and the one who
controls and keeps everything sane on this kind of insane
world and planet we live on, sometimes God is love, then we
need to look to Him for just what it really means to be love.
And so I often just like to look to Jesus because Jesus is a
great example of love, because God is love. Jesus is love
because Jesus is God. And so I love how we look at Jesus' life,
and when we look at that scripture that we did in one
Corinthians 13, love is patient and kind, it doesn't envy. It
doesn't boast and keeps no records of wrongs. Well, this is
one thing that I looked at as I looked through the gospels.
Jesus is patient and kind. Jesus does not envy. He emptied out
all of Himself, humbling Himself all the way to death on the
cross. He never followed His own desires and His own plan, but
instead, He followed the plan of His Father pouring Himself out
completely as an offering of love to us when He died on the
cross. I mean, what greater love can you have, than Jesus dying
on the cross for our sins? And as He hung on the cross, Jesus
bled forgiveness for everybody. Everybody then, everybody now,
everybody that will ever live, and even those who were
crucifying Him, He shed His blood and died for He told the
truth because He is the truth. He led His disciples as a leader
with love and protection and trust and hope and perseverance.
If we really truly want to understand love, we just need to
take a look at Jesus because Jesus' love is selfless and His
love is unwavering for us. Gina, as you've walked with Jesus now
for a long time in life, you've been through the ups and downs
of life and through heartaches and pain, and you've been
through highs and lows as we all have. My question is, how does
someone, if you were to explain it, how does someone really
get to experience the true depths of God's
love in their life? How can they?
GINA: Oh, they just need to go to
Him, accept Him into their heart. And once they
do that, that relationship begins. He's just waiting.
I've said this before. Behold, I stand at the door and
knock. And it's not just about salvation, but He wants us to
not only have life after life, but life during life. Once we're
in a relationship with Him, He's pursuing us. Once we grasp His
great love for us, nothing can separate us from His love. His
love is everlasting. His love is pursuing us. He loves us so much
as we are, but not enough to leave us as we are. So He has a
plan and purpose for each life and through our relationship
with our love for Him, and Him for us, it helps us find those
beautiful gifts that He's put within us. And one thing I've
learned is to just grasp that. I say, I know that He loves me. I
am who He says I am. I can do what He says I can do, and I
have what He says I have. And it's really about going to His
Word, claiming that Word, standing upon it and keeping my
eyes focused on the Lord, and He's there for you as well. Just
call out to Him and begin your relationship with Jesus today.
JOE: Yeah, because if you really want
to understand who God is and His love
and how much He loves you, all you have to do is get to
know Him, because as we know, and you said it before, we got
right, while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
GINA: And also, if you're experiencing this
for the first time, just open your Bible
and go to the book of John. That is the book of
love. So just to really grasp God's love for you, go to John
and read that and just really see how much He loves you.
JOE: And as we close today, we're going
to share a little verse from John that's
going to let people know how they can know God
loves them and how they can have that personal relationship.
Kris, why should we obey Jesus if he already loves us? I hear
that a bunch. Jesus loves us, so I can get away with this or that
or whatever, but why should we? Why do we? Or why do you obey
Jesus when you know He already loves you?
KRIS: Yeah. Well, you think about
the very premise of the question is based on,
well, I have to earn His love, but if I already have
it, then why do I need to obey Him? What's the point? But I was
listening to you earlier when you were talking about Jesus and
when He came and He died on the cross and all that, when you
really stop to think about the God of the universe who was
living in perfection, left heaven to come to earth, not for
Himself, to suffer and to die a gruesome death. Why? Because He
loved us that much and it was the only way that we could be
reconciled to Him was through His shed blood. That takes away
our sin. And so when I think about that, it's like, why would
I not want to love the Lord for all He's done for me? I'm not
doing it because I have to earn anything from Him, but it's in
response to what He did for me, which is so enormous when you
really think about it. It's just like, how can you not love the
Lord? I mean, it's just powerful.
JOE: Yeah. And for you who are viewing today, if you've never
experienced God's love or you've never received Jesus as Lord and
Savior, you know you don't have to be perfect because He came to
die for imperfect people. He came to die for sinners once and
for all. He did it all on the cross. There's nothing more we
need than what He already did for us on the cross. And the
Bible says, all we have to do is believe and receive that free
gift. And the Bible says it's a free gift. Why wouldn't you want
it? I think so many times that people, and I'm sure even us at
times, I know I have, we've thought about it at times like
God's in heaven, He's all perfect and prim and proper, and
He's judging us, but that's not who God is. So how do you get
past that if you're one of those feeling that God's just up
there to judge us and condemn us?
GINA: Oh my goodness. And a lot of people feel
that way, but He's not. He pursues us.
He loves us. We are the apple of His eye. We have
been created to be in His image, to be in relationship
with Him, and he says, nothing can separate us from His love.
He is with us always. In fact, I think that's one of the last
statements he made to His disciples, peace I leave with
you and I am with you always. And so He just, that's a great,
great love to know that He's with us every step of the way
that we can do all that He says we can do, and we are who He
says that we are and we are created in His image. We each
have a plan and purpose, and He wants to see that, He's cheering
us on to fulfill that, that He's created in each one
of us and to be His love extended.
JOE: Yeah. How about you? Any thoughts on that?
KRIS: Well, I mean, I talk to women all
the time who struggle with that because
especially as women, our feelings can tend to dictate
what we think is truth. And that's where I always direct
them back to, don't rely on your feelings. Go to God's Word. What
does God say? And that's the truth that we have to stand on
when we start feeling like, oh, God's judging me. God's ready to
just hit me over the head. It's not true, but we have to stand
on God's Word and the truth of God's Word and not how we feel.
JOE: Yeah. Absolutely. KRIS: When it conflicts with Him.
JOE: Well, if we stand on God's Word,
let's stand on this Word for today
as we close. John 3:16 says this, for God, so love the
world. That's us. That's not the birds and the animals and the
fish and the dolphins, although He loves that. But yes, he does.
He loves us. For God so loved the world us, those who He
created, that He gave His one and only son, that whoever would
believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting
life. Here's some just final thoughts for this. We need to
just pray and thank the Lord for showing us this great love and
what true love really looks like, and ask Him to help us to
show the love like He showed us that sacrificial love when He
died for us. We need to be able to show that to others also. 1
John 4:7 and 8 says this, dear friends, let us love one
another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been
born of God and knows God. Let's show love to others, but also
let's show love to the one who loved us first, our Father God
and Jesus the Savior of the world. We'll be right back.
ANNOUNCER: Jesus once said, what you do
for the least of these, you do for me.
With your generous support, Fred Jordan mission has been
fulfilling this calling for over 80 years by feeding hungry
people here on Skid Row. Together we made a difference.
Together, we have given hope to those less fortunate. And
together we have demonstrated the love of Jesus to those in
need. We deeply appreciate your support and we ask that you
please continue to give to this life-changing mission. Go online
to give at fjm.org. Whatever the amount, rate or small,
your donation is greatly appreciated.
JOE: Well, as we close today, I just want
you to know that we're so grateful that you
viewed the show today and that we were able to
share with you about God's love because He loves you so
much, but you know, He loves all of those who live on Skid Row
and beyond in the tents, in the cardboard boxes, in the
alleyways, in our doorway at Fred Jordan Mission, and we've
been serving those in need for 80 years now, but we need your
help. The needs continue to grow, and I'm just being real
with you. It it's hard times and as it's hard times for
everybody, it's even harder times for those who have
nothing. Would you just take a moment, pray and seek God in how
you can be involved, or how you can do more to help us to help
others? Because we want to see people changed, delivered,
healed, and we want to see people fed, clothed, and kept
warm in this time because people need Jesus and people need us
to show them love. God bless you.
FEMALE SINGING: When the night comes, and
there's no one and you feel hopeless and
abandoned. Just take my hand and lift your eyes. Change
is coming, love has arrived. We will overcome this
sorrow. We will see the dawn tomorrow. We will soldier on
down this road as we reach for hope, reach for hope.
ANNOUNCER: Please will you join us in
feeding hungry children and their families by phoning
today? 844-FJM-FOOD or donating online, fjm.org.
That's fjm.org or mail your check to
Fred Jordan Mission, PO Box 12345, Covina,
California 91722. Please will you help?
GINA: The preceding program was sponsored by generous Friends
and partners of Fred Jordan Missions.