From Iowa to Jeddah: Dr. Steve Murphy’s Unlikely Journey of Faith and Courage

Dr. Steve Murphy, a practicing radiologist in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, is also an associate pastor at a Filipino church, a passionate evangelist, and a devoted husband and father. Originally from Osceola, Iowa, Steve’s journey of faith took him from skepticism to a deep commitment to Christ, ultimately leading him and his wife, Leslie, to leave behind a successful medical career in the U.S. to serve in the Middle East. In this episode of Courageous Crossroads, Steve shares how his faith transformed his life, the challenges of living and ministering in Saudi Arabia, and the courage it takes to follow God’s call, even when it means stepping into the unknown. And in a surprising twist, Steve reveals that the most courageous thing he’s ever done wasn’t moving to Saudi Arabia—it was jumping out of an airplane with me in college. Join us for a compelling conversation on faith, obedience, and boldness in the face of uncertainty.

Thank you for listening! We hope you feel inspired and encouraged by our conversation today. If you did, be sure to share this episode with others.

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See you in the next episode! Be blessed!

Full Transcript

Intro:
Welcome to Courageous by Crossroads Apologetics, a look into what motivates us to step out in courage and the everyday bravery of men and women like you. In each episode, we hear a personal story of bravery centered around this question. What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? And now your host, founder of Crossroads Apologetics, Jeff Johnson. 

Jeff Johnson:
Hey, friends. Welcome back to another edition of the Courageous Crossroads podcast. We’ve spent the last two weeks replaying a couple of popular episodes on the podcast, and I’ve got a fresh one for you here today. This is a dear friend of mine, Dr. Steve Murphy, and Steve would be the subject for many different podcasts. He is a friend of mine that I grew up actually playing high school golf against. We were in rival teams from small towns in Southern Iowa, and we ended up going to college together. And we became fast friends and have been for our whole life long. But Steve and I, our paths deviated a little bit because he’s no longer living in the United States. Now he works in the major hospital in Saudi Arabia as a practicing radiologist. And the way that he went from Southern Iowa to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, you can imagine, is just immersed in a lot of courage. So I think you’re going to really enjoy this episode learning about my dear friend, Steve Murphy. Anyway, without further ado, here’s Steve. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
How you doing? 

Jeff Johnson:
What are you doing? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Not much. Same thing, different day. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s a good looking haircut. How’s the kingdom treating you? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Not bad, not bad. Weather’s beautiful, so whatever. That’ll soon, that’ll soon change though with the summer coming in and stuff like that. 

Jeff Johnson:
So you’re gonna be what, 110 degrees or something? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, oh, yeah, yeah. In fact, it’s one of those where it. In the evenings, if it gets down and maybe 100, it’s actually cool. So. But it’s actually not bad. So. 

Jeff Johnson:
So where are you sitting right now? You got like a little home office? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, we rent, we rent a villa and so it’s like a three bedroom villa, two floor kind of thing. And so this is supposed to be like the maid’s quarter, but I just put it into my office type of thing like that. So. 

Jeff Johnson:
And have you been working all day today? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
No, we have, I have today off, so. So our weekends here are Thursday or, I’m sorry, Fridays and Saturday. So I, I have yesterday and today off. So we celebrate the Lord’s day on Friday. We have Saturday off, then I go Back to work tomorrow, Sunday. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. So what have you been doing today then? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Not much. 

Jeff Johnson:
I, I, because you’re what, 3:00, 4:00 in the afternoon? Where are you? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
6:00Pm 6:00pm yes. 

Jeff Johnson:
Halfway around the world. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, no, we, yeah, so typically Fridays, so we have church service. It’s it. So we, I don’t know, were going from. I got up early because I had to prepare for like the Lord’ and then we had church service and then we had a Bible study. We have congregational meeting after that. And then I had the, our cam board meeting that I went to last night. So I never got home till about 11. So that is kind of. So then today, just kind of, kind of sleeping. I got this morning read. We’re preaching through Second Peter. So I basically was looking at the Greek and whatnot in the first chapter and stuff and just kind of doing a little exegesis and then ate some lunch and then basically finished Book of Matthew. We’re, we’re doing a Bible survey class now. 

Jeff Johnson:
This is with your. Okay, well, we’re recording now, so we’re just going to grab this stuff for the thing. Okay. And how long do I have you, Steve? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
As long as you want. I don’t care. 

Jeff Johnson:
I might take up a little bit of your time then. As long as my Internet. As long as my Internet holds up, man. It’s been crashing and doing all kinds of stuff. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Really. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. So anyway, hopefully this is, but okay, why are you doing. I’ll get into who you are for the audience in just a second. But why are you going through Second Peter? Who are you going through this with? Is this your church group? Are you. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, so I’m, yeah, I’m a seminary crew. Yeah, no, I’m a associate pastor for our church as of about a year and a half, two years ago. 

Jeff Johnson:
Nice. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
So it’s, and what’s your describe your church? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
For me, it’s a Filipino church. 

Jeff Johnson:
Which I love, in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. You got a Filipino church? A guy from Osceola, Iowa, has got a Filipino church in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Yeah, you’re a, and you’re a practicing radiologist at the hospital there. So this is, See, this is why everybody wants to hear from you, Steve. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I suppose. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, you could do two hours on how that happened. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
It’s, it’s quite a circuitous path that how we arrived here and stuff like that. So it’s, yeah, but it’s a real blessing. It’s a great church. Unfortunately, Pastor Jonathan, he’s kind of the head pastor. He. He has lost his job. They have a thing called Saudi ization here in Saudi Arabia, where basically they. They just replace industries with Saudi nationals. And so he worked. He works for Pepsi or Pepsi company in administration. And so he was trained in a local Saudi for the past three years. And then that guy just replaced him and stuff. And so he’s trying to see if he can get a job with Pepsi in Riyadh, which is, you know, you have to fly there type of thing. There’s a competitor against Pepsi, local Saudi competitor that he could potentially work for. But they. They have kind of an. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Is kind of a no compete clause type of thing. And so the competitor, though, really wants him, and so they’re willing to hire him through a third party so he could work for them and then actually work, you know, kind of through that third party. You know, he. He just. But. But just from a morale or moral standpoint, stuff like that, Pastor Jonathan just felt that. That he wasn’t sure what to do. And so we just advised him, just be honest with your company. And so he was. And they said, yeah, you can’t do that. So he’s hoping to get a job in Riyadh or go back to the Philippines. So. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, okay, so. And Leslie’s doing good. Your beloved wife’s doing well. What’s she doing here? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
She’s doing good. She’s doing good. She’s out in the living room right now watching some tv, reading and reads a lot of books and stuff like that. So. But yeah, no, she’s doing good. Kids are. Kids are good. Nate Nathan, he’s our son. He moved into the condo back in Branson. 

Jeff Johnson:
Nice. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So he’s still. He’s still trying to sort out his life. 

Jeff Johnson:
What’s he doing? Is he. College through college? No, college. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
You know, he. So. So he. He. He went. He. Right around Covid, right before the lockdowns. We dropped him off at community college up in Sioux City, Iowa, at. I forget the name of the school because his sister Shayla and her husband Cannon were going to school there. And so anyway, he. He. He would sign up for classes, then he would drop classes. You know. You know what that’s like. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s right. Oh, I’m familiar. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Remember those nights on the rock? But anyway, but he did it. He did it sober. So anyway. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s right. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So anyway, he got a job at Hy Vee and they really liked him. And you know, he kind of part time and then he went sort of semi full time and was in kind of assistant, not assistant manager but kind of managerial type of thing like that. But he kept signing up for classes and eventually would kind of drop them. So I finally just said, you know, because we had the Iowa 529, you know. Yeah, and it pays for his rent. I finally just said, I just said, yeah, we’re not paying for anymore so get a real job. 

Jeff Johnson:
But I, I just need some help. I’ll be over here in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So that’s about it. I, I just, I, well I just explained to him, you know, I said, you know buddy, I, I, I don’t care if you get a college degree or not. I, you know, just get a job. In fact I would think with the advent of AI Most of the people in upper management are going to be replaced. And so the one area that you can’t get replaced is, is maybe go to trade school. We, we need real workers. And so he, he was thinking about that anyway, you know his sister, you know then moved to, she, her and her husband then moved to our condo a few years ago because he had gained citizenship or kind of a green card type of thing like that. And so then they just wanted to get Missouri State’s residency. And so after they got that they got accepted University of Missouri Kans. And so she is going to be finishing up in. She, she hasn’t quite decided her degree but she’s wanting to go into law school there and stuff. So she’s I think her great points like four something whatever. And then canon. Her husband, he’s a computer programmer or something like that. I don’t know. It’s, it’s a m. Mystery all this is if it’s not medicine. It’s all kind of mystery to me. But anyway they, so they’re there, they’re going to be finishing up, they’re doing really well. And so then were talking to Nathan about you know, if you move into the condo then you wouldn’t have to pay, you know, rent. So he just moved into the condo. So he’s looking for a job now. So anyway perfect. 

Jeff Johnson:
Keep him in your prayers 100%. Well yeah, family’s everything. Well so I’ve got of my four, you know, Meredith is out of college married to Logan and we got our first new grandchild Oliver which is taking up all of our time now Steve and he’s just so Fantastic. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
How’s he doing with it? Did he recover then from. 

Jeff Johnson:
He recovered great. He had a. He had a little staph infection on his upper lip that they think showed up because he has his, he’s discovered his fingers and his fist now. So he shoved his little sharp little fingernail in and got a little cut. And they think that’s how it went in. But you know, they live over in Iowa City, so he couldn’t have had a better place than that Children’s hospital. Of course, I was immediately had to process forgiveness because I worked up a resentment because his little room overlooks Kinnick Stadium that everybody waves to after the end of the first quarter. And I’m like, couldn’t he gotten sick, you know, home football game or something? But anyway, he was there for two days. Heavy antibiotics. They sent him home with a few more antibiotics. He’s off of them now. But it just, it healed up like that. So he’s doing great. And then, and then Noah is in at Illinois Tech and he’s going to graduate with his degree in architecture and go into the marketplace at the end of this semester. His girlfriend Zoe, who I’m sure they’re going to be married before too long, is a graduate student studying pathology. And she’s tops in her. And it was really difficult vetted course for her to get into and she’s just done exceptionally well, so we’re super proud of her. She’s going to do a residency in San Diego over the summer months and then come back and they’re going to figure out what they’re going to do after that. But Merit or Hannah, is a senior over at the university, our alma mater. Steve Go Hawks University of Iowa. And she just got. That’s right. And she just got engaged a week ago. And so her and her fiance Mason, both of them graduate this semester. She’s got a double degree in communications and political science. And so she’s already got a sales job working as a executive assistant admin kind of a thing. And so anyway, that’s going to be great. But Emmett is 20 years old and couple years removed from high school. He wanted nothing to do with college. And this is, to your point, with your son. I, I am such an advocate of, you know, you got to follow the gifts that the Lord gave you and we need tradespeople. And he has found a job at a local company here, close to where Danielle and I are, and he’s working full time and just excelling at that. He comes Home covered in dust and grease and smile on his face, fixing big, heavy equipment, big tower crane and stuff like that. So he’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to be doing and he’s just absolutely loving it. But. Yeah. So to your point, I think that’s. I, not only do I think it’s fine that people don’t go to college, I think it’s great. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
He’ll never want for a job the rest of his life with the skills that he has, you know. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, amen. Amen. Well, the other thing too is, you know, just the, just with the wokeism and everything else like that, it really is a dangerous environment for the influential. Yeah. Mind type of thing like that. So. 

Jeff Johnson:
And I don’t know, not to be incredibly negative about it, but I don’t know how long it’s going to take for that to. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, it’s transition. 

Jeff Johnson:
I mean, it’s so ingrained there now. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, here’s okay for our audience. We’re going to get back to the topic of courage after you got to suffer through Steve and I catching up. Steve is one of my. Here’s what I know about you, Steve. Steve’s one of my best friends, one of my closest friends. And we talk once every couple years. God has it. When you and Leslie come back, we get to see each other every once in a while over dinner or something. And it’s wonderful. But here’s something. Here’s the nitty gritty that I know about you. We spent too much time. I don’t want to be too derogatory about this, but we spent too much time in the bottom of the bottle as we progress through the universe. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s what led me to being a so person was all the nights that I spent with you, my friend. But also, you are a golfer. We golf together against each other in high school because our towns were rivals and they were close to each other before we even went to the University of Iowa, but we tore up the University of Iowa. You’re a pilot. You’re a loving husband. You’re a dutiful, wonderful leader of your family. And you’re a doctor. I know that about you. And I also know that you’re somebody who made great fun of me as a Christian when you had yet to find the faith. And then all of a sudden, something happened to you, Steve, before you went to Saudi Arabia. And now you have launched so far past me and gone deep in your study. So fill in. 

Jeff Johnson:
Fill in a little bit of the background detail about Steve. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
All right, so. So for your audience, Jeff’s nickname is Chicken. 

Jeff Johnson:
There it is. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
There it is. Because when he would make a birdie on the golf course, he’d say, I got a chicken. Got a chicken. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s right. Because I was too full of antifreeze, and I was. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, well, that’s just it. And the first time I met Jeff Clark Gotti was playing Sheraton, and were over there, and there’s some kid in a canoe coming across the lake. So I got our team together to shoot shag balls at him. It turned out it was Jeff, and we. He, he, he. Him and I played against each other that day and just really hit it off, and we’ve been best friends ever since. And. And I. I wouldn’t change the thing. So, you know, you only. You only have a handful of friendships as you go through this life, and I’m just grateful to have Jeff as one of those. 

Jeff Johnson:
Oh, man, Ditto. Right back at you, Steve. Yeah, I had the. Had the misfortune of. My house was right on the lake, but it was on the opposite side of the lake to the golf course. And so I would canoe over with my golf bag every once in a while. And yeah, there was Steve and his buddies with a bunch of incoming. So. Okay, now keep going. What got you to Saudi Arabia? Your medical. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, so. So. Yeah, so. So bas. I went to University of Iowa undergrad. I graduated, went to medical school, the University of Iowa, and then started residency down in University of Missouri in radiology. Transferred my last two years to Nebraska, and then went ahead and got a job. But in that process, I met my lovely wife, Leslie. We’ve been married since 2000, so 25 years. July. Yeah, so. So. So it’s been a real blessing. We. And, but anyway, so we. We moved to Hannibal, Missouri, Worked there for a year, then went over to Kansas City for a few years, and then we ended up in Burlington, Iowa. And during that whole time, you know, we. We wanted to maybe raise our kids as. As quote, Christian, because that’s what you do as an American. But we never really got around to it. But anyway, and so in 2008, the 208 recession hit, and it was shortly after that, I think 209 or 210, something like that, 2010, that the school that our kids were going to be increasing the number or the teacher student ratio was going to be off. So we pulled our kids out of that, out of the Public school and put them in the Great River Christian School. And it’s just never been the same. So what happened was when were looking, what I loved was Mr. Friscorn, the principal at the time. He’s since gone to the Lord. But anyway, he made no apologies. He said, we teach Jesus and his morals, and we’re. We make no bones about it. We make no apologies. I said, as you should, you know, type of thing. And anyway, I. My wife, were talking and I said, you know, well, I don’t know if I want to send them there because they’re going to be teaching creation. I mean, they’re going to be teaching evolution. And my wife Leslie said, yeah, but if we send them there, our daughter be less likely to get pregnant in high school. I said, fair enough. So we’ll just unpack that. We’ll just teach that. But anyway, what happened was I started read the Bible. And. And that’s the reason why it’s outlawed here in Saudi Arabia is because it’s a. It’s a living, breathing word of God. And so it’s. It’s a dangerous book. 

Jeff Johnson:
And it’s outlawed in Saudi. In the kingdom. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. Yeah. No, in fact. In fact, there’s a. There’s a certain website I use when I’m preparing sermons just to copy and paste scripture, but I have to use a VPN because it gets blocked here and stuff. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. Wow. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So. So anyway, we. We ended up basically through that process. I don’t want to say we found Jesus because he’s not lost. He. He found us. And, And. And just through that process, we. We started to look for a church just because everybody at the school was asking us. And we ended up at a church in New London. Christian Church, New London, Iowa. Wonderful church, wonderful people. Rob was preaching out of Malachi the first day or when we showed up. And he. He said, malachi is the book all pastors love because it’s how we get money. 

Jeff Johnson:
Trust him. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. This is interesting. He said. He said we’d be passing around the basket and if you. We put money in solely for the joy going back to Lord, if you’re going to put in for any other reason, like out of just obedience or duty or guilt or this. Keep your money. We’re solvent. We don’t need it. And that really caught my attention. And so then he’s good. Preached. He preached from Malachi. And he said, you know, in the book of Malachi, it means messenger or angel in Hebrew. But anyway, so God is speaking through his Messenger Malachi, to the Israelites, to his people. And he’s saying, why are you robbing me? And they say, how are we robbing you? And he says, well, you’re. You’re offering sacrifices that you wouldn’t even sell in the market to each other, you know, so, and. And so he says, if you return to me, will I not return to you? And if you pay me your first fruits, will I not open the floodgates of heaven and pour down and stuff? Test me on this. And. And it’s the only place in the Bible, Jesus, that God says, test me. And. And so anyway, but. And. And then he had this. This table with little mason jars, about five of them. He had this. This big jar full of gumballs. And he. And he started pouring the first one and a few spilled over. He said, this is my house payment. The second one, quite a few spilled over. He said, it’s my car payment. I love my car. Third one and so forth. We get the last one and it’s. And now the big jar is empty. And he said, and this is. This is God’s. 

Jeff Johnson:
He’s pouring from that big jar into. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
The little ones, into little jars. And so he gets the empty one. He said, and this is God’s portion. And he picks up the gumballs that are kind of on the table and he throws them in, and he hands. And he lifts up and goes, here you god. And he said, isn’t that how we pay God? 

Jeff Johnson:
Oh, wow. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And. And yeah, I’ve been reading God’s word. And, and. And just through the conviction, it was like just a. A bullet through the head. And so we. We ended up staying with that church. And we opened the pocketbook. My wife says moths flew out because I’m so cheap. And. And, And we ended up, donating some money to the. The school. I said to Frisco, and he said, where do you want to go? I said, I don’t really care. It’s in your hands. I. My only prerequisite is that you don’t tell anyone. Jesus says, let not the left hand know what the right hand’s doing. And through that process, it was able to pay for a family, missionary family that had come off the field from Mexico. And then through that, formed a friendship with the Father. And then it was him and I who then later on, a few years later, were knocking on church doors, trying to get them involved in a blanking on this thing, on a program for missions and stuff like that. So it just. Just stuff like that. And what we discovered was you just can’t outgive God. It was just absolutely amazing. And I’m not holding. 

Jeff Johnson:
Hold one second, Steve. So you’re practicing radiology at this point, and you’re coming alive in your faith. And how does your. How does your work life and your faith life interface? Because you’re. As a doctor, you’re in high demand and you’re traveling all over the place and you’re doing all kinds of stuff. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, we. So. Yeah, so. So I was blessed. Steve Davis, he was the president of our group, Godly Man. Just great man. You know, I’m sure he was praying for me, as were many of the other staff at the hospital there in Burlington, we covered three hospitals. But anyway, I just was on fire for Christ and so I basically would just puke Jesus on everybody. So it just didn’t matter. It was just, you know. Yeah. I just couldn’t contain it. And so that. That was. That was kind of the. The thing. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And it was. It was a pretty radical transformation for me. We. We. We were doing the truth project. I don’t know if you’re familiar with that. Focus on the family very much. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So we. So what happened? What happened? Let me just back up. So, so we. So we started attending and you know that we got. We got baptized at 9 11, 2011. So I, I love September 11th. I love 9 11, plus my dad’s birthday. So anyway, that’s baptized. Yeah. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. Okay. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And so. And so we’re just on fire. And, and you know, so for us, baptism is obviously repenting, turning, going to the truth, but it’s also a. A commitment or to be faithful to what we know and act on it rather than trying to get more information before we act. And that’s just how we’ve always operated. We. We learned from Bob Blinko. He was with the Frontiers. His motto. And, and it’s. Our motto is. Is. Is trust in Lord, Be faithfully obedient. Go as far as you can see and wait for further instruction. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s good. I like that. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And, and. And that. That. We’ve been in Saudi Arabia, so be careful before you do that. So anyway, we. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s akin to the John Daly philosophy. Hit the ball as hard as you can. If you can find it, hit it again. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Exactly. Exactly. And so anyway, so we. So we. We were trying to have the. So, so then we. I was talking to my pastor. I would come in every Sunday and just. I had questions because I’m reading the Bible and I remember Poor Pastor Rob. You know, he’d see me coming. I, you know, now on this side, I don’t know how he put up with me, but he was so loving. And so anyway, I came in one more. I said, okay, Rob, seriously, where’s this, where’s this monogamy? Because everybody’s sleeping with everybody. Lot even slept with his daughters. I mean, this thing is crazy, right? He starts laughing and he said, and he’s so. He was so wise. He said, well, let me ask you something, Steve. I said, sure. How’d that all work out for everybody? Said, not well. He said, so do you think it was in the Bible for us to follow, or do you think it was there as an example of what not to do? And that was really wise wisdom. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, it was. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And then we got talking about some other things and he mentioned the Truth Project. And, and he mentioned, you know, well, you know, Small Grass said, no, we never went through that. So he gave it to us. We’re talking about government. I think he said, I think it’s disc seven or something. So, you know, I go home and be an obsessive compulsive. That’s why I’m a doctor. I start with disc one. Just like when I started reading the Bible, I started with page one. So anyway, we put it in and it was just. The question was, what is truth? And through that, if your listeners have not heard of the Truth Project, I would highly urge them to look into that. It’s still very relevant today. But anyway, were just blown away. We put in the second disc, and so the Truth Project is really just a more simplified, down to easy, understandable apologetics and systematic theology. And it just, it’s so well done. And so now, now we’re. And it was through that class or the Truth Project that I. I switched from being a evolutionist to a staunch creationist. So. So I’m. I’m a staunch creationist. I. Evolution requires more faith than creation. So anyway, we. We then wanted to share that with other people. So we tried to get some of my technologists and we had some of the MRI techs. And I remember we met that night and I said, do you guys have any questions? And. And one of them just said, I want to know what happened to you. I said, okay. What do you mean? She said, you were. And I can’t say it. 

Jeff Johnson:
A bad word. Insert bad. Derogatory. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, she just said, you were. You were. You were viciously mean. And, and there would be nights I’d go home and cry to my husband. She said, and then you just all of a sudden just turned on a dime and she just said, I want to know what happened. I said, Jesus Christ. You know, so it was, it was just things like that. We then, did we then. 

Jeff Johnson:
Can I back you up one now? Now the crux of this podcast, as my listeners know, comes down to the question, what’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? So I don’t want to betray that just. But I do want to get a little bit more of your story. Something I know about you. Your older brother Tom, who was also not as close a friend to me as you are, of course. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Right. 

Jeff Johnson:
Somebody that I knew and I just enjoyed thoroughly. And of course, your mother was a wonderful lady. And I noticed when your brother passed away and then your mom passed away, that’s when I noticed a big transition in you, Steve. Was that a, was that a catalytic moment or am I reading that wrong or what? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
It was, it was an aspect sense, but I think so. When my mother passed away from pancreatic cancer, I was blessed in another program to have a sponsor that told me, you’re gonna act like the son you never were, which means you check in with your mom every week. And I’m so grateful for that. So I got to do that for, geez, 15 plus 20 years type of thing. And so when she was diagnosed, we had a great relationship. There was nothing that needed to be said or mended or anything, but I had already. But we’ve been, were being drawn to Christ and, and so through that process, you know, she passed away from pancreatic cancer and then my brother suddenly passed away not that long after from a sudden cardiac arrest. And so you just felt like you’re in a storm, but yet we just were completely calm because we are just in the storm with Christ is. Is all I can say. But in that process, it was the truth. It was the truth project. But we took. Man, I wish I could remember the name of the class. It was, it’s admissions thing. Anyway, it, what is it called? I can’t remember. Well, you think it’s instrumental that you think I remember. Anyway, I know it was, it was like a 13 week class and they had a missionary come and talk for three hours, one night a week. And the guy who came the first night, and for us real quick, were new. We were new and so we just did whatever our pastor said. We had already agreed. We’re going to follow Christ at whatever cost, wherever that takes us, that’s where we go. After what he did for us, that’s where we go. And anyway, so this class they mentioned, and so went to it and were there the first night, and guy gets up, Todd Aaron, and he. And he’s saying, you know, he says, can anybody complete this phrase? Be still to know that I am blank? And everybody goes, God. And I’m like. I said to my wife, I said, I think we’re over our head because we never knew it because, you know, I don’t know it, you know, and then he says, did anybody know the next line? In silence, he says, you know, this niv. Semicolon. Be still. Not of God that I. That my name will be exalted in. I will be known in the world type of thing. In other words, because he said, doesn’t it make you feel calm? Be still. I know God. You go to a Christian store, blah, blah. Oh, he says, but really, when you read the rest of it, what God is saying is I got it covered. I don’t need you. I accomplish everything I set out to accomplish. But I love my children enough that I would love to have them join me in that process. But I don’t make no mistake, I don’t need you. And I remember driving home that night because we lived about a half hour away, and my wife said, what’d you think? I said, this is really bad. Really bad. Really bad. She said, what do you mean? I said, I think I’m going to quit my job. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’m going to stop being a radiologist. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, this is really bad. And, and yeah. And she said, because it was basically. So we’re, so we took the class. We’re willing to go die for Christ in the nations. That was it. 

Jeff Johnson:
And was the crux of the, of the missionary program that you had gone to listen to was to encourage people to go outside. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Borders and go do things. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. So it’s. So it’s, it’s, it’s kind of. You could be, you could be a missionary, you could be a supporter, you could be a prayer warrior. You could just. Things like that. So it went through the history of missiology and all this other stuff like that. Anyway, so we took that class and God laid it on our hearts to engage Muslims, and that’s what we wanted to do. But it just turned out with kids that you’re told not to go on the field, blah, blah. So we ended up. We had Karine, our Japanese daughter, who came over, and she was later baptized. But anyway, she’s now going to community college there in Burlington. And so we ended up doing Bible study with these college kids, ended up baptizing a couple of them and everything else like that. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
But we’re really wanting to go, but, but let me back up, so. So let me back up real quick. So before, before all that, what happened was were ready to go die for Christ to the nations, but God, and it’s just unbelievable. Grace, mercy. 

Jeff Johnson:
He. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
He was like, I don’t think so. And so we then did the Truth Project, or we did this class, then the next year, and this time, you know, we kind of helped out and hosted. But the first year we took it. What happened was there was a gentleman by the name of Bob Blinko. He was. He’s with Front. I don’t know if he’s there anymore, but he was with the Frontiers. It’s a missiology mission society. Anyway, he stayed with us that night because there was nobody to kind of have him. So we’re driving back to our place, and Bob is so great. Steve, what do you do for a living? Well, I’m a radiologist, really. You know, we got a radiologist going into Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. I said, really? Where is he? Where are they from? He said, we don’t know yet. I said, well played, Bob. Well played. 

Jeff Johnson:
That was a subtle way to ask you. Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
He said, are you interested? I said, absolutely. You know, and then. And we just never heard. And so then the next year we took the class again, but this time we had the college kids. We took them. And it was in that process, that guy that came and spoke, he said, you. He said, you better know the gospel forward, backwards, inside, out. So you know what? It’s not, because the last thing we want to export is anything but the gospel. And so I turned to my wife and I said, what’s the gospel? Now, remember, we’ve. We’ve been going to church. I’ve been reading the Bible. We’ve been baptized, and. And that led us on the search for the gospel. And. And it was. It’s interesting, when you ask Christians, you know, what the gospel is, you get. You get various answers, you know, well, it’s the first four books of the New Testament. Yeah. I mean, they’re called gospels. But I didn’t, you know, or. Or Just things like that. I’m sure. I’m sure people shared it with us. We just. God did not open our eyes to see it. And so, you know, we even got, you know, love God, love your neighbor. Which, by the way, is not the gospel. That’s the curse. Love God is the first four commandments. Love your neighbors. The is the last six. And so that’s what we cannot do. That’s why we need the gospel. 

Jeff Johnson:
Absent of him. That’s right. Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So. So love God, love your neighbor is not the gospel. That’s not good news. That’s actually bad news, because that’s what condemns us. And it’s only through Christ and his sacrificial atonement on the cross and imputation of his righteousness to us that we’re able to then start working. Not working, but moving in that direction. But it’s already paid for. And so we’re working out of gratitude because he’s already accomplished it. Not to have it accomplished. So. But anyway, so. So this launched us in this. And we saw videos and blah, blah. And anyway, bought a book. It was called the Gospel, and it was great. You know, here’s the gospel here. Here’s the. I’ll give you the. I’ll give your listeners the Gospel for one, God is holy, okay? And anything that is unholy burns up like tissue paper next to the sun around him. Okay? Number two, you’re not holy. Nobody’s holy. Isn’t that good news? That’s terrible news. But that’s the truth. And here comes the good news is God made a way through the incarnate son, Jesus Christ, that. That through his life, death and resurrection, that he stepped on the cross in your place to die the death you richly worked hard to deserve. And he then has paid or propitiated or satisfied God’s wrath towards you. And if he would have left it there, it would have been great because it would have been just null. But he goes so much further because the God we serve is so loving that he actually imputes his righteousness on us. He adopts us as children. He frees us from our sins. It’s just unbelievable. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And so because of that, what is your response? And that’s the Gospel. And so anyway, I knew it cerebrally, but it wasn’t in the heart. One night, watching a sermon by CJ Mahoney, I think it was called the Cross, he took me to the foot of the cross, Isaiah 53. I wept. And I’ve never been the same. Wow. Transformed me from the inside out. I walked around that night, said to my wife, you should probably watch this. I found it quite enjoyable. And she had the same reaction. And again, God has been so graciously kind to me to have my wife woke up at the same time as me. And, and then that was it. So, so anyway, we continued. 

Jeff Johnson:
And you’re still in Burlington. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Still in Burlington, still working, still puking Jesus on everybody. You know, I don’t care if they fire me. I don’t care. 

Jeff Johnson:
Now, hold on a second, Steve, because this is where I get to the benefit of knowing you very well. Listen to the listeners. When, when Steve was playing golf against me in high school, he thought he knew everything. When he went to college and were going out and partying and the mayhem and stuff like that, the guy was always telling me the way everything worked in the world, too. So this is part of, this is a hallmark of your personality. This is the way the Lord’s made you, which is wonderful. The thing that makes you absolutely radioactive now is that now that God’s touched your heart and he’s gotten a hold of you, that boldness meets up with the understanding of who Christ is. And so it’s being unleashed. But you are. You are unashamedly bold, my friend. You would, you would not refute that at all, would you? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
No, no. I wish, I wish more Christians would be proud and bold in their faith. Paul says, I’m not ashamed of the gospel. Right? That’s. It’s, it’s the power unto God for salvation of those who believe. I mean, we can’t be hot or. 

Jeff Johnson:
Cold or I’m going to spit you out. You. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I mean, yeah, we stand in the truth. And what I find interesting in Islam, they’re unapologetically proud of their faith. And so for me, I don’t ever apologize to a Muslim. Can I share my faith? It’s like, no, I’ll tell you the truth. I’m more proud of my faith than you are of your faith. Why? Because I’m on the side of truth now. I do it from a loving perspective. We agree to disagree. I’m right, they’re wrong. But that’s. 

Jeff Johnson:
Sorry, sorry. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
But, but, and, and, and so for me, I just, I, I will share Jesus with anybody, anytime, anywhere. But, but you have to be looking and praying for the conversation to avail itself. You know, were in Cyprus years ago and we took a car, Uber from. I forget the name Lublion or Whatever, over to pathos or something like that. And we had a Russian Uber driver. We get the car, we take off and I’m just like, I’m on vacation. I don’t feel like sharing the gospel. This is my vacation. So, so I’m so selfish. Anyway, anyway, just through a, kind of a conversation in my head was like, fine, okay, if you make a way, I’ll, I’ll break the ice. And sure enough, God did. And off were in the races talking about just the Greek church there and everything else. And, and I was in agreement with, you know, yeah, you know, it’s man made, blah, blah. And we talked about the Judgment throne. And, and I shared the go. And I shared with them, you know, that for me, we all stand before the Judgment throne and we all stand by ourselves. And there are no victims before the throne of God. None. We all stand rightly condemned. And I have a great attorney, his name’s Jesus as my advocate, you know, first John. But unlike a court of law in America where my attorney is saying, your honor, Steve here turned his life around, he quit drinking, he got his life back, he put himself through med school, blah, blah, you should give him his kids back. Not that I lost my kids, but you understand, and, and this and that. But, but in the heavily court, it goes something like this. My attorney, Jesus will say, dad, this is Steve. He’s a sinner. He’s actually worse than most. But here’s the deal. I got up on the cross and I paid the debt that he owes you, and I paid it in full. And therefore, if you send him to hell, that makes you a liar. That’s it. That’s it. It. And, and, and that’s all I got. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And, and if that, and if that’s, if, if that’s. There is no way. 

Jeff Johnson:
What more do you need? Right? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. So, so I’m sharing this and with this and that. And it was about a half hour drive. We pull up and finally I said, vandalist, here’s the deal. I was the name. I said, I said, we’re coming to the end here. You and I both know that we’re gonna die. And you and I both agree that when we die, we come before the ultimate throne of God. Here’s my question. Evangelists, are you ready? Are you ready? And what are you going to tell him? It was just silence. I was like, so pulls up, gets out, I get out to get the suitcase, whatever. I’m thinking. Okay, that’s it, you know, it’s, you know, I did my part, whatever. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
He said, so you’re going back to Ljubljana. If you need an Uber ride, I’ll give you a ride. I’d love to, you know, talk more and stuff. So we picked up a Russian Bible for him, New Testament. And he, we wrote back, gave him to that, gave him the Russian New Testament Bible. And he, it was funny, he just said, I, nobody’s ever given me a Bible before and stuff. And so, and so that was it. Now we’ve, we never really heard back or anything else like that. 

Jeff Johnson:
But so you just, but that’s not your job either. That’s God’s job. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
No, God work. 

Jeff Johnson:
You just did, you just did what you needed to do. Wow. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
God’s one who grants repentance, not us all, you know, God’s one who grants salvation, not us. We’re just his workers. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So sorry. 

Jeff Johnson:
Burlington, Iowa. No, no, no, no. This is all fantastic, Steve. It’s so good. Burlington, Iowa is not commonly known as the Jeddah, Saudi Arabia of the Midwest. So again, back to the question. Oh yeah, in the world would you go to Jeddah, Steve? Why don’t you go to, I don’t know, Lima, Peru or London or Japan? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Japan’s unreached. 

Jeff Johnson:
Tokyo would be great. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So anyway, so, so we’re cooking along now. Now we, now we got the gospel. Now we’re transformed. Now the spirits in us. Now we’re moving. Yeah, now I got something I really can share. I, I, I’ve got the gospel. I can share it. Before that I had nothing. But I was ready to die for Jesus. So now I can go to the nations with the present, with the gift, with the hope, with the good news. So this is what we’re wanting to do. And we’ve got these more college kids. Like I said, we baptized a couple of them this and that. We got a little ministry going. And I get a call out of the blue, but I don’t answer it because it’s like plus 966. I don’t know what. Plus 966. That’s not, that’s not United States area code. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So I did answer and it was named Sophie left me. Dr. This is Sophie Gos. I live in Jeta, Saudi Arabia. We desperately need a radiologist. And Bob Blinko gave me you a number. I do not know why he did not give it sooner. Remember, this is two years ago or Whatever. 

Jeff Johnson:
Right, right. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Please give me a call. And, and, and I’m like, I wish I would have, I wish I could tell it was Abraham, you know. Oh, yeah. But were, we both. I was like Moses. My heart dropped like Saudi Arabia. What? 

Jeff Johnson:
I don’t want to go there. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, yeah. I listened to again, I called my wife. Her response was equally, you know, and so we did more repenting through that time. You know, I, I read the Book of Acts, you know, in Peter and Cornelius, you know, Cornelius, he’s praying, God has answered your prayer. What was he praying? What was he praying? And you know, if you read further along, usually you get the answer, but I’m pretty dumb. So I tried to figure really what was it Cornelius was praying? He’s praying for salvation because he knew he was on the outside looking in. Right? Yeah, he knew it. And what was it then that Peter went declared to him was the gospel. And I thought, how many people in Saudi Arabia are like Cornelius, just waiting to hear the good news? And so, and so we had to do, we had to repent, Jeff. A lot of repenting. We found out that we, we. 

Jeff Johnson:
Had a lot because you didn’t want to go, you want to go somewhere. But that didn’t sound appealing to you? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
No. Yeah, Japan would have been better, you know. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, you know, but you knew, but you. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
London, London would have been nice. 

Jeff Johnson:
But you knew that was the call. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
That was the call. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So people say, did you have a call? Yeah, I literally had a phone call. I, I literally had a call. And, and so we prayed through it and, and our idols came to the surface service, you know, money. I, I was going to take about a 75 pay cut. Just my wife was going to lose all of her freedom or like rights as a woman. Yeah, for me, I, I, I, I lost all my freedom. When we came here permanently, it was a visa, one way in, no way out. I had to get permission to get out. And I, I did up until about six months ago. So, so, but anyway, and then, you know, we idolized our children. We, we idolized everything right down to, you know, the pillow top mattress, you know, so we did a lot of repenting and we, we moved forward and so we started moving down that path. We did a estate sale, we sold our house, we did an estate sale, moved into a three bedroom apartment, you know, so three kids. 

Jeff Johnson:
You’re a doctor. You’re a doctor and you’re a pilot, you got a plane, you got property, you’re filthy rich, as most doctors are, most radiologists are, and you’re doing an estate sale. And you’re like, I’m gonna. Yeah, I’m gonna go and take a. We’re going haircut. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, no, we’re going. Why not? After what Christ did for us on the cross, how could we say no? Lord and Savior. Wow. So that was it. I had no idea. We had no idea. It was funny. We. We were trying to do language acquisition, which is not going well. Anyway, and then we had a. We had an advisor, Christian gentleman that came. That was a Saudi from Jeddah, actually. So I was talking to him because things started to fall through. 

Jeff Johnson:
What’s language acquisition? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Just, just like gpa. We’re trying to learn Arabic and stuff like that. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. So anyway, but. So we had a kind of a Christian Saudi advisor advising us. And, and what was happening with the job situation was it was falling through because of Saudi ization. Remember how I talked about that Pastor Jonathan is leaving? Well, they were doing that in the medical profession. It was funny. Let me back up. When I was, When I, when I called and found out about the job, it was. It was going to be at a freestanding imaging center. It was with a husband and wife. They were, they were Muslim. They loved Jesus, but they were not what I would. They just were not saved. They love Jesus, Sophie. He would go and, you know, talk about Christ in the mosque and everything else like that. But, and the reason why I say that is because we, when we met them initially out in D.C. Him and I were talking. He just said, yeah, no, I know you talk about substitution. I don’t believe in that. Blah, blah. So they think of Jesus as a great teacher, somebody to follow morally that. And so he synchronized Jesus, Christianity, morality, teaching into Islam is what he did. And, and, and so it was. And, and he never held that the Bible was authoritative, that it was inerrant. I now know why. But. And I’ll explain that later. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, so. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So. 

Jeff Johnson:
But this, but there. But this particular group was wanting to find a radiologist that they were businesses. Was that the main. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Or that was the main goal? Yeah, no Mango. Their businesses, mission. So it was an American guy who bought this thing and he had Sulfi and Iman running it, and they’re looking for a radiologist, a Christian radiologist, if. Preferably. But just something. Yeah, but you know, and so, and so, and so that was it. So I’m talking to Al. He’s, he’s our advice, he’s our kind of advisor, you know, converted Muslim. And I said, you know, so anyway, so what I’m, when I’m looking at this, I, I sent an email off to Bob Blanco who got me into this mess. I said, I said I got a phone call out of the blue. Here we go. You know, Sophie asked this and of course he writes back, tis out of the blue indeed. You know, that cracks me up. Anyway, he said, treat it like a we would any normal business deal. And so that’s what I did. So we looked at the jobs, whatever, as best we could because back then, you know, Saudi Arabia was kind of a black hole for information on a hospital, blah, blah. And, and I, and so we, we decided, okay, after repenting and seeing our idols, we’re going to go for it. And so we did, we sold the house, did an estate sale, moved to an apartment. And then, and then that fell through. Talking to Al, I, I was, I said to him, I said, well, you know, this job’s falling through, blah, blah. I could apply to another hospital there, but you know, we got this ministry going with these college kids and this and that and we’ve met some Muslims already in, you know, Saudis in America and blah, blah. And you know, you can tell which way I’m going with it. Like I want to stay in America. He said, he said, no, I think you should take a job or try to apply for the job. I said, maybe you misunderstood what I was saying, you know, and so he’s, he said the reason is, you know, we spent one week in Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and when we got back, I gave a street credit that we met some Saudis up in Iowa City and great people. And, and they were, they were drawn to us because we had been in their country and stuff and knew. 

Jeff Johnson:
What you were talking about a little bit. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. And so he just said if you, if you go and you work because it was a two year job and it was one of those where you do a locum, if they like you like them, you work two year contract and they just renew or whatever he said. 

Jeff Johnson:
But the original one fell through. So now you’re just applying to be a doctor at the hospital. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. So, so now it’s just kind of like, okay, so on your own. Yeah. So that’s it. So. So we. Yeah. So basically he said if you go and you work two years and it doesn’t work out, you come back, you even have more street credit. And, and there’s thousands of. I don’t know about anymore, but at the time, there are thousands of Saudis that were in America going to school and just waiting to be engaged, you know, with Christ. So anyway. Yeah, so anyway, we applied and they accepted and here I am. 

Jeff Johnson:
And you went. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I have no idea what happened. 

Jeff Johnson:
How long ago was that, Steve? How many years ago was that? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
10 years. 

Jeff Johnson:
10 years. You’ve been in Saudi for 10 years? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay, let’s do a little sidebar here. And then I want to come back to this story. Maybe I’m going to. It’s your fault. You told me I could have you as long as I want. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
You can. You’re just gonna have to edit this for the length for your audience. 

Jeff Johnson:
No, I don’t know if I’m gonna edit it. I might. Some of these podcasts are going on for days now. I might just. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, my gosh. 

Jeff Johnson:
But okay, so how do you. Because everything that you’ve done to get you to Jetta was faith based. It was obedience based. It was honor Christ and his call. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Absolutely. 

Jeff Johnson:
How do you, how do you juxtapose that with the idea of courage? Is there. You know, the Hebrew says without faith, it’s impossible to please God. Faith is doing something where we don’t know. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Right. 

Jeff Johnson:
The end result is going to be, but we’re doing it in obedience. So marry up those, Marry up faith and courage. For me, with where you’re at in your story right now, you’ve gone to Jeddah now, would you consider yourself courageous? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I mean, yes and no. I think it’s just faith. Faith is just. Faith is just trusting God. Faith is just taking him at his word. I mean, there is courage in that. I suppose stepping out in faith takes courage, but I guess for me it’s just trying to be, oh, just faithfully obedient out of gratitude and just utter adoration and love for our Lord and Savior. Do you know what I mean? 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, what I hear you saying is that you were more compelled because of what Christ had done for you. So it was the obedience piece. And maybe courage was just a, a, a, a secondary quality that helped you book the tickets and go over there and. You know what I mean? But, yeah, but faith was the thing that really drew you. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, I think it was more faith. I Mean, I, I don’t get me wrong, were, were scared to death. Are you kidding me? My goodness. No, I mean, I, you, I mean it literally, like we just, literally just stepped off a cliff. That was it. Just, that’s it. We, we had no idea what were getting into. 

Jeff Johnson:
Was your church supporting you? Did you have a big support structure behind you going, yeah, we got you. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I mean, we did and we didn’t type of thing. It was during this time that we also just reading God’s word and whatnot that we what? I, we made what I call the Calvin Curve. We, we moved into a reformed soteriological or salvific direction type of thing like that. So just trusting the sovereignty of God. And so the church that we had been attending was more Armenian and they were, they were great. So I have great church, great people, but it was just one of those where we were kind of outgrowing the, the, the teaching and things like that. And so we ended up switching to a church or transferring to a church in our hometown. It was interesting. Again, we, you know, we’re so unchurched, my wife and I, but it was just one of those where I, I, we had made that decision and I went out to Rob. I, I had a day off from work or I think I had the afternoon. And I, and I set up an appointment with him and I told him, you know, Rob, we, you know, we’re going to be, I’m asking permission to leave the church because for me I’m under his authority. I’m under the church authority. I think everybody needs to be in a church under the authority of a church. And so went and I asked and, and it was funny. I think he was just shocked because I don’t think he’d ever had anybody do that before. You know, in America we’re so independent. We just do whatever we want, you know. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And we’re so narcissistic. Anyway, but anyway, so we, it as we talked and he just asked why. I just, I just said we, you know, we. You know, I, I just, I feel that I’ve kind of moved on. But, but also the kids, we’ve got friends there, this and that and, and, and he was just like, yeah. And, and he, when he had asked what church it was, I him, he said that’s a great church. And so we started attending there. But you know, it’s about that we had already been in the process type of thing. And so that was kind of the thing. So not a lot of support in that regards as far as like frontiers. You know, Bob had told us that the important thing was to get into the field and if were to go through missions, organization, it would basically be months if not a year going through their training type of thing, like cultural training. Anyway, but anyway, so we, we just launched. So I suppose that would be, it’s either courageous or it’s stupid. But anyway, sheer stupidity. 

Jeff Johnson:
But it’s, well, my contention, Steve, is that all people of faith have courage because I think that’s, you know, from a human perspective, you know, you’re trusting in the Lord and it’s a lonely thing, I think about an Acts when Jesus gave the big sermon or not it wasn’t an Acts in the Gospels when he gives a big sermon. And all of the disciples, 60 or 70 of them, I can’t remember how many, they say this is too hard for me, we’re leaving John. So, so it would, it would imply that following Christ is not the easiest path. Yes. And so I think that would take courage to do that for sure. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, yeah. So, so it just, I, I, I, yeah, so I, I think courage. I, my wife, I, I could never do this without the help of Leslie. I mean God brought me the best helper. I, I could never have handpicked a better helper. She’s a, she’s 31 woman, you know, I mean literally. And, and so she, I, I, you know, for me, it’s, for me being the man, you know, I, I wasn’t giving up as much as she was giving up everything. And to watch her go through that and support me and her love, she couldn’t drive, she couldn’t do anything. I own her. I still own her. 

Jeff Johnson:
Describe that, describe that being in the. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Kingdom, because that’s an important, she’s my property. So yeah, so we came over, we came over on a multi exit, multi entry visa. We did a locum for like a month and a half. We like the job. You know, God could have sent us anywhere. The job he’s put us, put me in. The people I work with are just wonderful. I love the radiologists I work with. I love the nurses, the technologists. They’re just awesome people. Saudis are awesome people. I love them to death. So of all the places he could have sent me, this was I think the best. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So, but we got here. But, but this is, you know, it’s 10 years later. We got here. First of all, 10 years ago, Saudi Arabia was just a black hole of information. You know, you get your hand chopped off for stealing, you get your head chopped off for other things. That, that’s what we knew. In fact, when I was working with the recruiter, Holden Night out of Britain, you know, were waiting for our pass or our visas and they finally got it back. This is to go do a locum, like a one month job and I’m taking my family. We get this and we’re gonna fly, we gotta, we gotta leave the next day from our condo to get to, you know, Kansas City, to fly to Chicago to then fly overseas and they show up overnight and it says not allowed to work in the kingdom. That’s what I thought. So I call up my recruiter, I said sama, dude, it says not able to work. Yeah, Dr. Murphy, don’t worry about that. Don’t worry about that. They chop hands off for stealing and heads off. Don’t worry about it. What are you talking about? And he just starts laughing and he goes, it’s just the way it is. He’s just don’t worry about it. Okay? And that was it. And so now I got to make a decision. I have sold everything. We, we, we, we’re no longer we. We don’t even live in the apartment anymore. We’re now in our condo because we just couldn’t sell it. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And we’ve got airline tickets and we’re ready to go in one day. And so it’s like, okay, let’s go. 

Jeff Johnson:
And, and without the assurance of employment. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Well, well, I mean I’m going for the job, but I have a, a visa that says I can’t work. You know, and in a country that, that, you know, you don’t know, we get here and you know, it turns out I like to say all things are illegal in Saudi, but all things are possible. So anyway, basically, so I got here and I worked, you know, I, I, you know, worked for a month and a half. So I’ve got, you know, few hundred, maybe 4, 500 cases with my name on it showing I worked. You know, anyway, we signed the contract, went back to the states and then a few months later we came back permanently. And then I, you know, then you find out when we got back I got a temporary medical license and then that expired. But you know, you just keep Working. Yeah. And then eventually they give me a license and so it’s just, it’s just one of those where you know, things just always work out. So anyway, but when we came back that, that second time permanent, it literally was a visa this time. That was basically, it didn’t say not able to work, it just, it was a one way visa. It was an entry visa with no exit. Wow. That was nerve wracking. I suppose again it’s faith. I, I, I, I just, I, I, it’s, it is courage, it is curry chicken. But I, I just, I, the glory goes to God. Do you know what I mean? It go he, it goes to Christ. And so, and so it was just one of those where, you know, so there’s, there’s a pucker factor, shall we say. 

Jeff Johnson:
Did Leslie have to cover herself when she came over? I mean was that a, it’s fascinating. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. So, so at that time when we came in 2016, the Matawa, the religious police metawa, they had just been neutered of their authority before that they could have you arrested and stuff like that. So it’s like an example was you know, six months before we got here permanently. There was a corner market super like a grocery store that didn’t close during prayer time. And so the resource police came in and just padlocked it, let everything rot for three weeks and then they unlocked it for them. Wow. If, if, if women have hair out, they, you know, they, they would, there you had problems. We, we had to get our wedding certificate translated to Arabic and then actually verified and certified by the Saudi embassy and stuff. So we’d have to take that with us in case we got stopped and stuff. And so at that time everything was by, you know, male and female and stuff. You go to McDonald’s, you had the family side, you had the male side type of thing. So, and so you had the abaya and everything else like that. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So it felt really impressive. I, I will say we have had the privilege of being a literally front row seat of watching all the social reform that King Salman and MBS have brought to the kingdom. 

Jeff Johnson:
And, and it’s been wonderful because Leslie can drive now. She couldn’t drive before. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
She could drive now. Women can work now. We can now the sexes can mix and stuff like that. So, so if you go to eat it just. No, it’s been, it’s been extraordinary. So, so for me and in Fact, I. I would just say Saudi Arabia. I feel safer here than I do anywhere else in. In the world. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’ve heard you say that before. Say, say. Why? Just because it’s got structure to it. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Because they actually persecute people or process. Not persecute. They process criminals and stuff. So. So basically, crime is. Is not really that bad here because if you commit a crime, they take care of it. It. Whereas in the West. Well, you know, so. So it’s kind of. Yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
You practice the same kind of medicine over there that you do over here. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, yeah. Radiology. Yeah. Yeah. So I. I do the exact same thing I did in the States. I. When were first. When we first were born again. And we just got to put a desire in our hearts, go reach people in particular Muslims. One of my regrets was that I was a radiologist because it requires expensive equipment, requires electricity, requires modernity type of thing like that. I wish I had been a family physician or internal medicine or something like that I could be more, you know, to the nations and stuff. And, And. But, you know, God. God plans things before the creation of time, so he knows what’s going on. 

Jeff Johnson:
So are you able to. Are you able to evangelize? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, yeah. Yeah. I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t necessarily. I wouldn’t necessarily call it evangelism in the sense that we. We think of it in the States. Really. All I do is just share my faith. 

Jeff Johnson:
And you’re not going to put a sandwich board on and stand in the middle of. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
No, no. You don’t. You don’t hand out tracks. 

Jeff Johnson:
They’d fix that in a hurry. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, no, you just questions. Yeah, just answer questions. Believe it or not, I’m. I’m one of the only Christians that many. Many people here meet. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah. How many. Well, how many. How many Christians in the church have. Have really met a Muslim? 

Jeff Johnson:
Right. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
This is really what it is. And so. And so it’s just. It’s just one of those. It’s so just talking know, we’re. We’re in the. We’re in the season of Ramadan now. It’s a month, Ramadan, and it’s the. The. The holy month that they fast from sun up to sundown. And their fast is hard, man. It’s like nothing. No water, no food, nothing. And so I get asked, you know, I’ve. I’ve been asked a few Times. You know, Dr. Murphy, you’re going to fast, and so it’s just an opportunity to share you know, I say no. I said, you know, are you going to fast with us this year, Dr. Murphy? No, we, we tried that when we first got here in 20, you know, 2016, 2017. We, we, we tried. And, and after about 10 days, we quit. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Because the fast became about the fast rather than about a relationship with God. I said, if I’m fasting, by the way, I said, you won’t know it. Jesus tells us, you know, that. Don’t, don’t let people know you’re fasting. And, and what your father sees you do in secret will be rewarded. And what you do in public has already been rewarded by man. And so it’s just an opportunity to talk to him about that. And a couple of those have worked into kind of a sort of gospel presentation and stuff like that. So it’s just one of those where you just share your testimony. 

Jeff Johnson:
Well, I can’t imagine you haven’t already touched on it or been all around that subject, but I’m going to come down to the question now, Steve, and then I, I. Sorry, sorry, but I’ve got a few more questions on the other end, and then I’ll let you go. But, Steve Murphy, what. Dr. Steve Murphy, what is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done? How would you answer that question? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
The most courageous thing I’ve ever done. Okay. Do you remember when you and I went parachuting? Yes. 

Jeff Johnson:
That’s what you would. That’s where you would put courage. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
That’s where I put courage after. 

Jeff Johnson:
So just for everything else that you said, the time when we go up to Tipton, Iowa, and jumped out of a Cessna, that’s what you’re going to say is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done. I love this interview so much, Steve. Keep going. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So, just for your audience. So Jeff and I, we’re in college and we decided we’re gonna go skydiving. So we do the accelerated freefall. And, and what that is you’re not attached. It’s not tandem. You jump out of a plane with two other guys and they just kind of hold to your side. And so. And so we do this all day. Training. I mean, it was laborious. It was all day. And we now go out and learning. 

Jeff Johnson:
How to arch your back, learning how to pull your rib cord, learning how to pull the reserve if the main doesn’t open. Looking at your altimeter, we’re on these little boards, rolling around on the floor, arching and doing all this. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It Was amazing. So Jeff. Jeff’s the first one to go up, and then he lands, and he tells me I’ve got to repeat the first jump. And I’m like, you are a wimp. I can’t even believe that. That. What were you thinking? I’m. I’m basically. I’m just dressing you down is what I’m doing. I don’t know if you remember. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, I thought I pulled my own rip cord, Steve. I didn’t pull my own, so my master had to do that for me, and I thought I had done it. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, so. So. So I remember. And you told me that, and I was like, are you really. What. What is wrong with. Oh, my God, you are such a wimp. So I get in the plane, we fly. We’re up at 12,500ft. The door opens, and my brain went out the door. Get out on the step. Okay. 

Jeff Johnson:
It’s the most terrifying thing. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
It was the most terrifying thing I ever did. And. And. And. And I. We jump and. And I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t see the plane. I don’t know anything. We’re going. And. And we’re just. And. And finally I just hit a hard arch, and all of a sudden it’s good. And. And they get. And they. And they give me the. The finger, you know, click your heels. But I do something else and. And this and that, and the next thing I know, I’m under a fully inflated parachute. I didn’t pull my rip cord either, so. So I. I would. I would say that’s one of the more courageous things. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, I love that answer so much, Steve. And I remember that day like it was yesterday. They put these little. Remember, they put the little radios on you. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Oh, yeah. 

Jeff Johnson:
So that Jay, when he. J. Speckey jump master, when he landed on. When he got down on the ground because he kept falling. Once you were canopy, and then he would talk to you on the radio so that you would know how to land. And when I did it, the ra. He said on the radio. He keyed the radio and he said, okay, Jeff. He said, I see it. He said, you’re looking great. He said, now, here’s what I need you to do. And the radio went dead. That was the end. And so then I’m. I’m using the ailerons on that little canopy thing to try to coast myself right onto the field. And I didn’t. I ended up landing in an alfalfa field a quarter mile away from the airport. And they had to Come pick me up in a van. I was so humiliated with my parachute. Wow, that was a courageous thing. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, so I, I think that was kind of courageous type of thing. So. 

Jeff Johnson:
Okay, well this is an interesting place to park this. Let me, let me ask just a few more questions like, I promise and then I’ll let you go. What do you give courage any creep credence in your life In Saudi Arabia right now, do you feel like you need courage to conduct your affairs and do your ministry work and love your wife and go to work and do all that kind of stuff? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Yeah, yeah. The thing you have to realize, so the thing over here, it really is a Christless society. It’s, it’s like 99.9 Muslim. All other religions are outlawed. But you, there’s kind of a, an unwritten where you can kind of gather. In other words, I, it. And so what you find is you can’t hide behind facade like we are able to in the West. You can’t hide behind busy work. You can’t hide behind acts of good deeds and things like that. You, you literally, it just, it’s raw. And you literally have to be in the word or on your knees daily to work, work through things and stuff like that. And so, and so you get to see kind of what a society is without a Protestant work ethic, without Christian morals and things like that. And, and it’s tough because, you know, you see a side of yourself that you don’t particularly care for either, you know. And so, you know, God is, is. He’s not tempting us, but he tests us. And, and he tests us. I, I think not for him, but for us to see how we respond. And, and when I respond with fruits of the spirit, I’m always blown away, shall we say? I like to say. I, I’m. I, I want, I, I want to be the best second responder because my first response is always the worst. And so. Yeah, and so it just requires being really tethered to God’s word type of thing like that. 

Jeff Johnson:
Is it easy to get along in Jeddah? Like do you go out to restaurants and you go to movies and do you go to. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
No, no, the people are great. Saudis are great. They, they. Like I said, I, we feel safer here than we do anywhere else with the social reforms. You know, they’ve got movie theaters now. It just, it just, it feels like a normal. Well, depending on how you define normal, but it just feels fine. And. And, you know, people are people, and, you know, they. They. They love their kids. They. They love their wives, they love their families. They. They work hard. They just want to provide for their family and. And. And. And do good work and everything else like that. And so. And so you just see the human side of. Of everything. And I think that helps, you know, I. I guess for us, it. You know, Jeremiah 29 is. Is kind of. You know, Jeremiah sent the letter up to the exiles up there in Babylon, and. And basically, you know, you had people up there thinking, oh, you know, we’ll be going home soon. And Jeremiah said, no, it’s gonna. It’s gonna be quite a while. And. And while you’re there, he said, I’ll just read it. He says. He says, take. Why? He says, build houses and live in them. Plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and sons and daughters. Daughters, take wise for your sons and give your daughters in marriage that they may bear sons and daughters. Multiply there and do not decrease. And here it comes. But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile and pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare. We pray for. We pray for Jeddah. We pray for the king. We pray for blessings on this nation all the time. 

Jeff Johnson:
Wow. Yeah. So this is. You impressed me, Steve, because I remember when you first. When you and Leslie first went over there, I was reaching out to. To friends, people that I really trusted that were steeped in the word, because I was like, look, I don’t know if my friend should be doing this, but I don’t want to. But I don’t want to get in the way of what God’s call is on his life either. So I don’t know how to encourage him or whatever, because everything in my humanness was like, do not go to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. This is a big mistake. I mean, I’m just confessing that to you. And, you know, 10 years later, I’m just so impressed, because I really feel like you and Leslie have done what the Lord wanted you to do. And I. And I see it because I see not the ease of your life and the opulence, ambulance and all of this kind of stuff, but the joy that you have in doing it, and you have found community. And I’m just like, well, who else could author that other than the Lord, you know? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Amen. Amen. No, Amen. And that’s the thing. We. We. Leslie and I talk about it. I mean, it’s tough. It’s tough over here, but I don’t think we would have ever grown in our faith like we have, you know, no pain, no gain. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
And so it was because over here where, when we first came, there was, you know, the expat church community or whatever, if you could call it that, but just not biblically sound, just a lot of different things. And, and that drove me to seminary where, you know, I’m currently still working, you know, I like 66 hours towards a master’s divinity at Southern. But that drove me into wanting to know more. And then it was a real struggle because unlike in the west, we, you know, I can’t just pick up my toys and go down to the next sandbox. You know, you kind of are forested and just. It was through those times, I think, that we, we really grew a lot. And, and those are times where it almost seemed like my fellow Christians were treating us worse than the Muslims. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
So it’s just kind of a. Kind of thing like that where it’s just difficult. Does that make sense? 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah. Well, I don’t want to get you in trouble, but say what it’s like then when you come back to the United States, the Christianity that you find, because, you know, when you travel and you go to different fiefdoms, you see people really walking by faith and nothing else. And then I, you know, I love where I live. I mean, I’m staying here and in Des Moines. I mean, it’s just a beautiful. But. And I love that I’ve got my family here, but I recognize that this is the lap of luxury. I mean. Oh, man. So there’s. That does something to you. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
It does. I just, I’ll just say this before. Yeah. One of the things, again, I think God puts us where he wants us, and we just need to be faithfully obedient to. To what he reveals to us through his spirit and the Word and joyfully serve our Lord after what he’s done for us on the cross. All other religions are an outside in transformation. Only Christianity is an inside out and only Christianity. The reason why I want to be a better person, the reason why I want to be the best I can, is solely because I’ve been saved and I don’t have to work my way in and I just don’t want to disappoint the family. You do what? I mean. 

Jeff Johnson:
Yeah, it’s a great way. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I’m in. I’m in the family. I’m in the family, you know, you can’t kick me out. I’m in. I’m assured. Yeah. So I just want to not, you know, and so I think that’s one of the main things for me is. Is when I. When I. When I blow up a. At work and I do, geez. And they watch you know, they watch you. Then I have to go make amends. But when I blow up, when I used to blow up at work, it was always, man, I hate that because I look bad now. I hate it because I made the family look bad. But as far. But as far as, like, when I come back to the States, I guess for me it’s like. It’s like. It’s like the. The book of hebrews, you know, I just. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
I don’t really have a home anymore. I’m not, you know, I’m not. I’m not Saudi. And when we go home, we’ve been gone so long, things have changed so much that we just don’t even really feel we have a home there anymore. And so we just. We just live for the eternal kingdom. And so when I come back to the States and I look around, the opulence, the comforts, it saddens me. It saddens me because a lot of our brothers and sisters are just missing out on the joy of suffering. And I think we rob our brothers and sisters from that growth by trying to help them not suffer. I would have to say it’s. It’s through the. The suffering that I have grown closest to Christ. And I would never have done it otherwise. I’m. I’m lazy by nature, right? 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
Don’t get me wrong. I love comfort. I would rather have it. God knows it. And so he likes to teach me differently. And so. So for me, I would. I would. I would have it no other way, Steve. 

Jeff Johnson:
I’m gonna leave it there. Dr. Steve Murphy, my dear friend, he’s a golfer, he’s a pilot. He’s a practicing radiologist. He’s a citizen of Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the Kingdom. He’s a pastor at a Filipino church in Jeddah. And his most courageous thing was jumping out of an airplane. I mean, we’ve been all over it. We’ve been all over it. Steve, you’re an amazing person, and I love you. Steve, thanks for joining us. 

Dr. Steve Murphy:
All right. Love you too, man. God bless. 

Outro:
Thank you for joining us today on Courageous. If you’d like to hear more about the work and ministry being done across crossroads, apologetics please visit our home on the web@crossroadsapologetics.org Would you or someone you know like to be featured on Courageous? Send us an email at infoorossroadsapologetics.com or infocrossroadsapologetics.org telling us about the most courageous thing you’ve ever done.