Many of us want God to fix the problem without touching us.

Dr. Tony Heaven says God may need to change us before he changes our situation.

So as you are praying to God about a legitimate request, make sure that you've dealt with anything in your life that needs to be dealt with,

so you free God up to do it

if it's his word to do it.

This is the alternative broadcast featuring the timeless biblical teachings from the archives

of Dr. Tony Evans.

When God's people drift from him toward idolatry, they also drift toward defeat. Before we get started, please note that the

passages Dr. Evans explores today include intense scenes of violence and moral corruption, accounts that

may be disturbing and are not suitable for children. Please listen with discretion as Dr. Evans walks us through one of the darkest

chapters in Israel's history, a civil war among God's own people, and reveals why spiritual victories

often depend on restoring our relationship with the Lord before we seek his help. Let's join him

as he begins. When God's people drift toward idolatry,

they drift downward. We ended last time looking at one of the big horror stories of the Bible,

this mutilation of the Levites' wife.

This leads to a civil war among the people of God.

All the sons of Israel chapter 20,

from Dan to Bersheba, came out and assembled

as one man to the Lord.

So he tells the Benjaminites, the fellow Jews, okay, send those men up so we can deal

with him, that we may put them to death and remove this wickedness from Israel. But the sons of

Benjamin would not listen to the voice of their brothers, the sons of Israel. We got a split

...