It's Fire Away Friday for August 7th!

Fire Away Friday is your chance to ask us your Bible question

It's fireaway Friday on Exploring the Word. This is your chance to ask us your Bible question at 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8840. You can also email your [email protected] or visit facebook.com exploringtheword.

Exploring the word.

>> Bert Harper: It's fire Away Friday on American Family Radio National. Welcome to Youth Bible Week. It's this week, and this is the last day. each year, AFR, along with, partnering with US Revival Fires International, work together to get 65,000 Bibles in the hands of young people so they can share that NewSong Testament with others in their schools. So we are a part of that here on, Exploring the Word. We are excited about the possibility of us reaching that 65,000. We're well on our way. But we need those of you that will to, to help us to have these Bibles to give to youth. And if you don't want to do that, you can order them in bulk, $2, and then you can give them to your young people in your church, in your youth group, and then they can carry those Bibles to school and give it to friends. Again, this is Exploring the Word. Bert Harper and Alex McFarland. And, Alex, we are of Truth for youth Bibles, aren't we?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, we really are. And good evening, everybody. It's great to have you on today's edition of Exploring the Word. Fire away Friday. let me give the number for questions. Then I want to say a word about truth for youth Bibles. The number, if you want to call in with a Bible question, it's 888-589-8840. but listen to this. This week at camp, as we do every summer, we were giving away truth for youth Bibles. Kids just eagerly take these and they word. And I want to tell you, getting the word of God into the hearts and minds of young people is part of what's saving our Nation. Bert. Psalm, 119, verse 72, says the law of the Lord is worth more than 10,000 coins of silver and gold. The law of the Lord. Now, I want to ask a favor of everybody listening to Exploring the Word right now. We are maybe, I don't know the exact number, but about 13 to 15,000 Bibles away from our goal. And there's many, many more times people listening than that. Please, this hour and I would love to see US hit the 65,000 mark of truth for youth Bibles that are underwritten. And Bert, I'm Going to ask you to tell people what to do. But everybody hearing my voice right now, give a Bible call in or more. Maybe you could afford to underwrite 10 Bibles, but I'd love to see us by the end of this broadcast day, maybe even the end of this hour, hit the goal that God put on Tim, Wildmon, Tim Todd. The goal that we were put on our hearts to give that many Bibles to young people. Bert, how can they participate in the Truth for Youth Bible initiative?

>> Bert Harper: If you want to go online, it's very easy to do. So you can go tfy.org tfy.org or you can call this number until 4:30 this afternoon. 8007-3347-3780-0733-4737. And we want you to do that. We want you to be a part of this. Let me tell you the effectiveness of it. We've, during this partnership there's been over a million NewSong Testament's given and so praise God. Yes. And of that we know of over 30,000 young people who prayed to receive Christ. 30,000. This is, this is missional if you want to be part of a mission and you can go to our link and you can also order it there. So we'll connect you with Truth for Youth Bible. So any way you can that you order these again, over 30,000 young people prayed to receive Christ. And listen, it's an opportunity to share the good news. Let me share one of it's in this Bible you also have some, you would call it graphic novels, kind of like a comic strip presentation. It's not comic but it's comic strip presentation of the gospel. But it's also hitting the issues that young people face today. Identity, drugs, abortion, all of those are involved. And it equips those young people to have an answer for those issues that they can know where they stand and help others to know that as well. So go to tfy.org make that order or call 800-733-47371 right now. And, and let's, let's go over that 65,000 mark, Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. Well, again the number, if you've got a Bible question, it's triple 858-98840. We call this Fire Away Friday. You can ask anything or everything. We have been in the Gospel of Matthew a bit but you can ask any Bible question you want and we will do our very best to give you a good factual answer.

>> Bert Harper: And right now we got a lot of Lines that are open so you can get in the queue right now. 800-589-8840. Well, let's. Yeah, go ahead.

>> Alex McFarland: I was going to ask people, if you don't mind, please pray. I'm in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina right now. I had the great privilege. I was on the Fox News affiliate this morning talking about our event tomorrow night with Rick Metaxas. People are coming in from a lot of places where biblical worldview, we call this series Conversations that Matter. And if you're in the neighborhood, it's free tomorrow night. Doors, open at 6 o', clock, but, please be in prayer that God would move. And Bert, when we talk about revival, I think getting back to the authority of scripture, biblical worldview in all areas of life, that's part of an awakening, isn't it?

>> Bert Harper: It really is truth. Let's just put it on the line. It is truth. And, this is what modern, thought is doing. It is distorting truth. What Alex and Rick. And here on Exploring the Word afr, we want to bring truth. And Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, but truth on each and every issue.

Alex: First step is made on calling on the Lord

So if we can start with at the truth about sin, the truth of our identity, I want to tell you a, first step is made on calling on the Lord. So let's pray for that. Well, we've got people who have called in Alex, and the first one today is Phil from West Virginia. Phil, thank you for calling. Go right ahead. Hey, Alex, Bert, I've been a longtime listener for a couple years now. praise the Lord and God. Bless you guys for what you're doing. It's, it's definitely an inspirational. My ride, home from work. Just, appreciate you guys taking my call.

Phil: The Ethiopian Bible contains 22 books that other Bibles don't have

I wanted to, just kind of tell you I'm a steadfast King James Bible believer, but I wanted to get your take on the differences between the Ethiopian Bible and the King James, if you don't mind.

>> Bert Harper: Alex. Go right ahead, man. That's your area.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, well, the Ethiopian Bible people talk about this because it contains 22 books that other Bibles don't have. Now this is, interesting because, comparing it to the King James is a little bit difficult because the Ethiopian Bible is a translation that came about, really early in the church, within the first several hundred years. I mean, maybe 250 to 350 years after the life of Christ, whereas the King James Bible was first printed in 1611. Now, it is interesting the 27, we call them canonical, or as in the canon, the canon of scripture, we would say, like Romans and Colossians and James and first and Second Peter, they are part of the canon. the extra books that the Ethiopian Bible contains, are books that were never fully recognized by the rest of the church. Now the tests are for canonicity, and we're not talking about the old Testament, the 39 Old Testament books, Genesis through Malachi, Nobody, nobody seriously questions that at all because that was well established 400 years before the birth of Christ. But all of your NewSong Testament was written from about 40 to 70 AD except the book of Revelation, which was written about 95 AD. So the early church, I'll tell you what ff Bruce said, Bert, and he was a great biblical scholar. He said the church did not create the canon. The church recognized the canon the Holy Spirit had created. And they were asking, was this written by an apostle, someone who had seen the risen Jesus? Was this Christological in its content? Did it focus on Jesus? Was it recognized by the, the rest of the church? Did it harmonize with the rest of scripture? And the big question too, did it exhibit the power to convert souls and change lives? And so I really believe I'll say this because within 30 to 75 years after the book of Revelation, you've got the canon as we have it, Matthew through Revelation. And so when these books that are from 250 to 400 years after Jesus, they weren't written by apostles, they weren't recognized by the early church. I know this goes back 1700 ish years in church history, but really, and I know there were a lot of born again believers in early Ethiopia, but I think they put in their Bible some books that really were not intended to be a part of God's. God breathed scripture.

>> Bert Harper: Phil, thank you for listening. Thank you for calling and keep listening, brother.

Mary: I read scripture that talks about eternal life and then scripture about everlasting life

Let's go to Texas. Mary, thank you for calling. Go right ahead. Yes, my question is I read, scripture that talks about eternal life and then scripture that talks about everlasting life. So are those the same or there's. Is there a difference?

>> Bert Harper: Okay. two different words, but the same, same life. Alex, would you agree?

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah. And let me say this. the spiritual part of us exists everlastingly, to be very specific in the English. Really, you know, we're talking about immortality and sometimes people say eternal life. And really to be very precise, only God is eternal, but we are everlasting. Right now the question is everlasting joy. In the presence of Christ or everlasting pain, sorrow and darkness separated from God. And Bert, you know, I love First Thessalonians 5, 23 and 24, talks about body, spirit and soul. Okay, we have a physical body. There is our spirit, pneuma, the breath of God. we get the word like pneumatic, like an air hose. Well, we have the wind of the spirit in us and then we have psyche, our mind. Here's the thing. When we accept Christ, we are given everlasting life. our spirit is regenerated or made alive. And so that non physical part of us, the spiritual part of us, that exists forever somewhere. When you trust Christ, your spirit is made alive and you're guaranteed to spend eternity in heaven with Christ.

>> Bert Harper: it is a quantity and a quality. It's not just a quantity of length. It is a quality of life that your life has changed and that comes across Mary and again, eternal life everlasting. This everlasting life starts at the point of salvation. All death is, is a transition from the physical body that we followed Christ in, into his presence, in our soul, spirit with him. So make sure that you're saved. Hey, we've got number or we got lines open for the number that you can call 888-589-8840. Alex and I will be right back right after this break.

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>> Alex McFarland: when I heard her heartbeat, that was it.

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Exploring the Word is live online and on radio stations across the country

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to Exploring the Word. Alex and Bird here. Brent Austin on the board and we're so honored that you're listening. The number. Here's the number. And there's a line or so open. You'll get through. It's triple 858-98840. Triple 8589-8840. Bert. I have to laugh because we, we also stream online. Now, we're on radio stations all over the country, but I've got my laptop up because we are streamed online. And Alexa, the cat loves when the laptop camera is on. There's a little green light that blinks. And every time we come back from a break, the cat gets behind me. So, if you're watching online, that, ah, black object that keeps photobombing us, it's my cat, Alexa.

>> Bert Harper: Cats. Okay. There's dog people and cat people. Alex and Angie are both. They do well. Hey, well, let's go. We got phone calls that have come in, so we want to go to the phone lines and we're going to go to Mississippi and talk to Eleanor. Eleanor, thank you for calling. Go right ahead.

There are numbers in the Book of Daniel that have spiritual or prophetic meaning

Okay, there are numbers in the Book of Daniel that I would like to know the meaning of. In Daniel 8, 14, it says 2,300 days. Then in Daniel 12, 11, and 12 talks about 1290 days, 1335 days. Can you please explain those?

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Alex, do they have spiritual meaning or do they have prophetic meaning?

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, actually. Okay. there's a total of two, 2300 days that really, relates to, I believe, two persecutions of the Jewish people. now Revelation 11 and 12, ah, Jon mentions 12, 60 days of the Jews being persecuted. And then in Daniel 8, 13 and 14, it talks about, evenings and mornings, and it adds up to 2300 days. now different scholars have talked about this. There was, ah, a persecution during the time of a guy named Antiochus Epiphanes. And this was, before the birth of Christ and Antiochus died and the Jews purified and rededicated the temple, which Daniel also predicts. And actually these things are, memorialized annually in the celebration of Hanukkah. And so what many scholars believe, and I think this makes sense, is the numbers of days in the Book of Daniel reference the persecutions that took place before Christ was born. Some have wondered, and here's my point in this, some have wondered, well, were these numbers the Great Tribulation? But it doesn't add up to seven years. now the 1260 days in Revelation 11:12 are the second half of the Great Tribulation. The, Daniel's numbers of persecutions prior to the birth of Christ is just a little smidgen over six years. So I don't think Daniel's, Daniel 8 is talking about the tribulation. that's going to be at some future point. I think it was persecution of the Jews before the birth of Christ.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Eleanor, hope that helps. And again, when you look at that, with Daniel having so much to say about prophecy concerning time, future, and you see those, those are questions we ask. And then you check it out, as Alex did about revelation, and you see the possibility of it probably being earlier in augury. Let's go to Louisiana. And it is. David. David. Thank you for calling. David, are you there?

Yes, I'm here.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, you're on. Go right ahead, man.

Alex: If Satan asked for forgiveness, do you think Jesus would forgive him

Okay, I got one statement and, next, the question. My statement is, if nobody believes that we're not in the last days, please read second Timothy, chapter three. If you can't find no similarities in what we're living in today, well, then they're reading the wrong book. And my question is, if Satan was to ever ask for forgiveness, you think Jesus would forgive him?

>> Bert Harper: Well, Alex, according to what we know about prophecy, it's not going to happen anyway, is it?

>> Alex McFarland: No. You know what? There was a great. And by the way, thank you for your call, and I agree with you. 2nd Timothy 3 sounds like the times in which we're living for sure. there was a great man that Bert and I, admire quite a bit. His name was Vance Havner. He was a great scholar, and I would, anytime you could, seek out any books written by Vance Havner. H A V N E R. I think you'll be well served to read what he wrote. Somebody asked Vance Havner this question, you know, if the devil repented, would he be forgiven? And Vance Havner and I think this is pretty wise. And Bert, you can elaborate perhaps. Vance Havner said, look, the test for us is in this life, but the test for angels apparently was at some time in eternity past. And there, Vance Havner said, there's a fixedness about the spiritual realm. One third of the angels, followed Lucifer and they fell, and there's no going back. Just as, Hebrews 9:27 says, it's appointed unto. Man wants to die. And after this, the judgment. Bert, if people in hell repented, they wouldn't go to heaven. Not that they would, because, when we die, there is no second chance. That's in Luke 16. And so for the fallen angels, that Made their choice. One third of the angels wickedly, followed Lucifer. They fell, and that was their chance. And they. One third of the angels that are now demons, they chose wrongly. And their state is now fixed.

>> Bert Harper: Fixed is the word, Alex. I couldn't help but think of, Philippians, chapter two, when it says that every knee would bow and every would confess. Jesus. Their name of Jesus, would confess. Now, the issue is where, in hell they are going to understand and recognize. I think the rich man in hell looked up and saw Lazarus. And I understand that it was Lazarus. And yet there he said, why? I have four. I have brethren. Go and tell. Can I go back and tell them? Send somebody. And so, Alex, let, me just say Satan, no. No hope. But he does recognize Jesus as Lord. You remember the demonic people in the NewSong Testament. They would. They recognize that. But because of that fixedness that. That you refer to that Vance Havner did. No. The answer is no. If that were to happen. I appreciate that, David. Well, we're going to go to Texas, and guess who we're going to talk to? Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: Barry.

>> Bert Harper: No. Tex.

>> Alex McFarland: Tex in Texas?

Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: Hey, welcome, Tex. I couldn't help but say that, brother, go right ahead.

Yes, sir. Yes, sir. I'm Text from Texas. I get that a lot, but,

>> Bert Harper: You mean I'm not the first. I'm not the first to notice that, Tex.

You are in fact, not. No, I do. I get that. I get that all the time. I'm. Funny thing is, I'm named after my granddad, and he was named after Tex Ritter. So that's just where that comes from.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, well, brother, go right ahead, man. It's good to have you today.

yes, thank you all for having me on.

The New Testament uses the word baptism in two senses

I was just calling because a couple weeks ago, Alex had mentioned, something someone had called about acts, I think, 22. And Alex said, answered, that referring to baptism. And you mentioned something. I tried. I emailed you, but it may have gone to spam or something. But, I. It's, You mentioned something about baptism, and it's. Has two different meanings. I may be misquoting you. I don't remember exactly how you described it. I was just wanting to know, like, where that. Where that came from or what, why you believe that's the case. just something like that.

>> Alex McFarland: Okay, great. Yes. Acts 22:16, I think was the verse that we were talking about, which says, and this is, you know, Philip, in the Ethiopian Eunuch, you know, what prevents me from being baptized and it says, get up, be baptized, and wash your sins away, calling upon his name. all right. In the original language, it doesn't exactly say, be baptized and wash your sins away. It really is upon the washing away of your sins. now here's what I said, that in Galatians, it talks about we are baptized into Christ through faith. And the thing is that the NewSong Testament uses. And that's Galatians 3. 27. By the way, the NewSong Testament uses the word baptism in two senses. one is what we think of as water baptism. The ancient Jews called it the mikvah bath. And by the way, there are actually burnt over in the Holy Land. I've been in two excavated churches, first and second century churches. It was just uncanny. They had a rectangular baptismal with steps on one end and steps on the other end, just like a baptismal. In many a church I've been in, you know, where, you know, the person comes down in one side, gets baptized by immersion. But what we often say is that it's not water baptism that saves you. I think water baptism is a wonderful step of obedience upon someone's conversion. But, Galatians 3 and a number of other verses say that when we put our faith in Jesus, we are baptized into Christ. So you could be baptized without having been water baptized. What does that mean? You put your faith in Jesus, you're immersed in Jesus, you're baptized into Christ. But then the water baptism is the other sense in which the NewSong Testament uses it, which is that public proclamation of the faith that's taken place inside of our heart. but just the act of water baptism, apart from faith in Jesus, it doesn't save, does it, Bert?

>> Bert Harper: It does not. I'm going to use this, and I just thought about this, because baptism, same word, but two different, events. You could say the baptism of water, declaring your followership of Christ and the Holy Spirit indwelling you. The baptism of the Holy Spirit. Truth. The Bible says, sanctify them through thy truth. Thy word is truth. That is the Bible, the word of God. It is inspired. But Jesus also said, I am the way, the truth. So truth has those same word, two different connotations of the word of God, the written word of God, and then the physical word, Jesus, the word. And Alex, so, that would you. Am I stretching truth a little bit further than baptism?

>> Alex McFarland: I think you're right.

>> Bert Harper: So it has those two connotations.

Brent: Could you explain Genesis 38, 27, 30 about twins

Brent, I know we had that question, about some twins in the Bible. What was that question? That's right. This comes from Facebook. This is Tanya. He says, could you explain Genesis 38, 27, 30, scripture pertaining to the twins and the scarlet thread? Okay, this is. It's the latter part of this chapter, and it's, one section kind of off by itself. Now, it came to pass at the time for giving birth that, behold, twins were in her womb, and it was when she was giving birth that the one put out his hand, and the midwife took a scarlet thread and bound it on his hand, saying, this one came out first. Then it happened as he drew back his hand that his brother came out unexpectedly. And she said, how did you break through this breach? Be upon you, Therefore, his name was Perez. Afterward, his brother came out who had the scarlet thread on his hand, and his name was called Zarah. Alex, is. Is there any spiritual significance to this, or is it just a way to, show, you know, it. It sure does sound a little bit like twins. The second one, coming ahead of the first. You know. Go ahead.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, the first will be last, and the last will be first. You know that. Yeah, well, you know, back then. And it is still true. The firstborn. That's very significant, isn't it? And so, the midwife. Do you think she was acknowledging who would be the heir of the household or maybe even trying to influence who would be the heir of the household?

>> Bert Harper: It really is. And again, midwives has placed a very important part in Jewish history, especially, in Egypt and so forth. So, we're just saying, you know, some. Alex, let me just say there's Everything in the Bible is significant. Okay? But there's some that is, you know, they. This. This is the way it happened. But I. I do think it makes you think of how what you just said. The first shall be last, and the last verse, it. I think it does put an emphasis on. On God's. God's timing as well. So we.

>> Alex McFarland: And maybe the midwife was under very, strict orders to observe which child was born first.

>> Bert Harper: That's right, because there are. Yeah. Privileges. But along with those privileges come responsibilities.

To donate, dial 250 and say the key word baby

Okay. Brent, did you have another question, or. we got about a minute left, and I'm, hesitating to go to Jason. Let me do this. I wanted to promote, you know, you've talked about what's going on this weekend. Well, in October 20th, 21st and 22nd, Jan and I will be hosting the Fishbowl retreat. We still have rooms available for those that would come. And, you can go to repairinthefoundations.net and register. It will give you all the information that you need. It's at Pequik Landing State park on the Tennessee River. This year we're going to be talking about how great God is and that he is the sustainer through everything. We're going to have some great Bible study. We're going to have some awesome testimonies of, how God has sustained individuals through difficulties in their life. Janet and I will be sharing together with the husbands and the wives and we're looking forward to that. That's October 20th, 21st and 22nd. You can go to repairingthefoundations.net check with your pastor. it's Pastor Appreciation month. I bet he would appreciate those three days at the fishbowl retreat. We'll be back right after this break as we continue answering those questions on Fireway Friday on Exploring the Word. Right now, more mothers need that moment of hope. Just $28 sponsors one ultrasound and $140 helps rescue five babies. Your generous tax deductible gift also helps provide mothers who choose life with love and support and care for up to two years. Please don't wait. Help surround mothers and babies with compassion, truth and hope today. To donate, dial 250 and say the key word baby. That's 250 baby. Or visit preborn.com/bertharper that's preborn.com.

Bert and Alex take your questions on Exploring the Word

bert Harper, Welcome, back to Exploring the Word. This is Bird and Alex and it's a joy to have you with us on this Friday where it's fire away Friday where we take questions. Well, we're going to go straight to Jason in Texas. And Jason, thank you for calling. Go right ahead.

Well, thank you so much, sir. I promise I'll be quick. I don't want to take too much time. I deeply appreciate what you guys do. You guys have an awesome ministry. It's wonderful to talk to you. I, I do have a question and I'll ask it. I wonder if, if there's enough time and I swear I'll be quick after the question. I have a two part miracle praise report I would love to share with y' all if there's time, but.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Jason. Yeah, go ahead.

So, a while, several years ago, the devil whispered in my ear and I was struggling pretty hard with looking at, you know, X, rated stuff on the Internet. And praise God, I'm not, I've, I've kicked a lot of it. I'm almost clean. I'm still fighting, but it's going the Right way. One thing that the devil whispered in my ear was, well, you know, you watch these TV shows and people get killed all the time. That's a sin. What's any different from watching the, the adult stuff? And I went and I've. I've come up with a couple of arguments against that line of logic, but, help me untangle that, if you will, and if there's time after. What do you all think about that?

>> Bert Harper: Okay, Jason, let me take a stab at that first. the Bible really makes a big difference between that which is, quote, natural and unnatural. A lot of the violence that they have in the games and on Internet, as I understand it, is just the hideous, horrible issues. Death in war is going to happen. I don't. I hate to say it's natural, but, yes, it is. In that sense, it can. I think that can be too graphic. The other night, Jan and my wife and I were. We watching something, and we knew what was about to happen in this violent scene. But praise the Lord, because it was an older show, they turned away from that. And then you knew what took place. Now, they used to do that quite often, Alex, in violence and in, quote, romance, they, you know, they would turn away from the graphicness of it. And I think the graphicness of that violence, the reason it's wrong. We're the temple of God. I will say that. And you don't need to let that into your heart and your mind. Alex, you got something more to say? Go, brother.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, yeah, you know, Proverbs 23:7 says, As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. You know, and I do think we need to be careful, you know, what we let into our mind. Romans 12, verse 2 says that we are to renew our mind, you know, do not be conformed to this world. And I think we know what conformity to the world would look like. But, let your mind be renewed by the scripture and the word renew. There is a variation of a word that. From which we get, like, not only the renovating of a building, but therapy to heal a wounded body. And, Bert, I really think that feeding, on the word of God and things that are good and true and wholesome, because that's Philippians 4, verse 8. it's good for our mind. And, Bert, I'm going to tell you, before I got saved, I used to go see scary movies and horror movies, you know, and after I got saved, I had no desire to see horror movies and, you know, scary movies. Like that anymore. And I'm not a legalist. Look, I know we all. Hey, I watch. I watch Gunsmoke and the Rifleman and plenty of lever action Winchesters in those shows. but things that are unnecessarily, gratuitously violent. And of course we're not supposed to fill our mind with things that are immoral. And, I'm not trying to sound like a goody two shoes or something, but honestly, the more you feed on God's word, the more you can train yourself or the Holy Spirit does it. I should say to, think on that which is good and true and wholesome and uplifting.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: Wouldn't you agree?

>> Bert Harper: I agree with you fully. something says avoid, you know, and that excessive violence, avoid. over here, he's. He's smiling, shaking his head. Are you doing that for a reason, Brent?

>> Alex McFarland: Oh, most definitely.

>> Brent Austin: I'll tell you, I don't watch near the stuff. I used to. I used to love horror movies. Yeah, I used to love the violent stuff and music even. I used to listen to lots of death metal stuff like that. I really did when I was playing in bands. And now it's like. It's just. I cringe whenever I get to a show that's like that. I just don't want to watch it. And it's not just age, it is a relationship that's building.

>> Alex McFarland: That's right.

>> Bert Harper: You're exactly right. So build that relationship. And those things that hinder this relationship with Christ, put away. that's the whole idea. You put it away and Christ will help you.

Jason, you have a great testimony of God's healing. We want to hear it

Hey, Jason, you said you had a testimony. Give it to us real quick, brother. We want to hear it. We love great testimonies of what God is doing.

Oh, gosh, thank you. I'll be quick, I promise. So I very, very quick version of the story. My. A very close friend of mine in college that I made. When I made in college, like, 13 years ago. When I met him, he was in a rough place. He didn't know God. He grew up in a horribly, horribly abusive home. He didn't have a father. His mother did unspeakable things. Like things you wouldn't believe. I have trouble believing. But, anyway, he ran away from home, joined the mafia, became an enforcer, hurt people, killed people for money. True story. I believe him when he tells me this. Over the time that I've known him, praise be to God, not me. He accepted Christ, turned his life around. In the process of living that life, though, he had broken his hands brawling and fighting in the street so many times, and they'd healed so many times that he had his. He just couldn't use his hands anymore like he could. He could barely pick up a pen and write his name. But a couple years ago, he. In the. In the coming to knowing of Jesus, he accepted Christ's love. He accepted the death, he accepted the forgiveness. And he allowed. He allowed to forgive himself too. And in a healing revival service, he was prayed over. And this in. The pastor put his hands on him and he fell and he got back up. A little bit later, he came down and sat next to me. And I saw him move in each of his finger. Full range, motion full. And dexterity in both hands. Medical miracle impossible. And it blew my mind because the symbolism of it, it was his hands was what he used to hurt people. Not only did God forgive him, he undid, the damage that he did to himself.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

And even further, a couple years later, he found out through the grapevine, his mother came to Christ too. They have reconciled.

>> Bert Harper: Hallelujah.

Jesus can heal anything.

>> Bert Harper: Relationships, hands, physical. Listen, God's healing is real. Emotional healing, physical healing, spiritual healing. He is the healer. Thank you, brother. Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: we love that.

Alex: Context matters. Rachel says Jesus was a carpenter, not a stone mason

Let's go to Louisiana. Raechel? Raechel, thank you for calling. Go right ahead. Raechel, are you there?

Oh, okay.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah, you're on. You're on the radio.

Too hard.

>> Bert Harper: Go right ahead with your question.

pardon?

>> Bert Harper: You go right ahead with your question. You're on the radio.

Oh, okay. I've heard remarked by a famous person that, we found out that, the word used for carpenter twice when it's speaking of Jesus being a carpenter, that the word in Greek really means a stonemason. And then this person remarked, well, if we got that wrong, what else did we get wrong? And by everything.

>> Bert Harper: Raechel, thank you for that, Alex. I've heard this. I knew that. I looked at the word. It just doesn't mean stone, cutter, or, you know, that's not. Tell us a little bit about that.

>> Alex McFarland: yeah, well, I want to. The person who said this, I've actually interviewed on the radio, and I disagree. It does mean carpenter. Matthew 13:55, Jesus is called the carpenter's son. And Mark 6:3 says Jesus was a carpenter. Now, the word. I mean, it could mean artisan who works with fabric. Listen, even in the lexicons, it says the common word means a, ah, woodworker.

>> Bert Harper: Yes.

>> Alex McFarland: Now it could mean an artisan, as in somebody that, sews fabric and it could mean contractor or, you know, someone that could be, conscripted to do some sort of handyman job. But, and I want to go on here, this person reasoned and said, look, there's more stones over there in the Holy Land than anything else. maybe he was a stonemason. There's really no linguistic justification for that. That's a classic example of what's called eisegesis. Rather than exegesis, pulling things out. And listen, when you imply things that might sound like, oh, well, let me reason this through. And then you think, oh, my goodness, we got that wrong. What else did we get wrong? nothing is wrong. It says carpenter, and Jesus was a carpenter. Now, it's very fascinating. The very same word tecton, T E K, from which we get the word technical. in Acts, chapter one, it says, after his dying on the cross, Jesus was shown alive by many infallible proofs. And the word translated infallible or, you know, intricate proofs is again the word tecton. And so, content. This is where context really matters. You know, Bert, if, if we said, you know, it's raining cats and dogs, you know, that that's an idiom. We don't mean that canines and felines are falling from the sky. Just means it's, you know, raining a lot. Context matters. And if you look at the Context of Matthew 13:55, Mark 6, 3, Jesus is a carpenter, a woodworker. Now, it's complex, it's intricate. That's how it's used in Acts, Chapter one, verse three, the word tecton. But, no, Jesus was not a stone mason. There's no justification for that. so I gotta disagree with the person who's in the news for having said that.

>> Bert Harper: What, what they do. If you can find a little bit like that, it's kind of a sensational thing. I don't. And again, I don't know if she concerned that or what this person was, but, it does happen. People find, oh, I found something that. And it turns it. And it uses a word. It could be used in another way, but when you look at the context, explains the way it was used. Raechel, we hope that helps. Let's go to Louisiana. James, thank you for calling. Go right ahead.

yes, sir.

I'd like to know where the second rule come from. And I was just wondering what your thoughts on the touch it part

I'd like to know where the second rule come from. as I read the Bible, Adam was given the rule from God before Eve was created. And the rule was, do not eat from the tree. But then when Satan came along to interview Eve and asked her what the rule was. We always say she was deceived. I, would just say that, you know, she wasn't taught properly because her response was, we should not eat it or touch it. And I was just wondering what your thoughts were on the touch it part.

>> Bert Harper: Okay. I do believe Adam owns some of the responsibility. Alex, what about you?

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah. And that, that second rule, we shouldn't even touch it. That really wasn't part of what God had said because, And by the way, people are still adding rules on top of truth and grace to this day, aren't they? But, you know, they might have. It's been theorized perhaps Adam and Eve had to at least touch it because they were the vine dressers. They were taking care of the Garden of Eden. And so, you know, Eve goes, that we're not supposed to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which is true. But, we're not even supposed to touch it. That's Genesis 3. 3. And really, there never was a prohibition against touching it or in some way handling it, was it?

>> Bert Harper: You know, what we do with these rules, we either ignore or over. Over compensate, you know? Yeah, A man just has a hard time, hey, that's who we are. That's how, man. We need to be saved. We need to be changed. And praise God. God does that for us.

Alex, why do you believe God blessed Ishmael knowing conflict ahead

Well, Alex, I know you spent some time at the Cove and I want you to, you know, put your hand in the hat and pull out one of the questions that was asked you at the COVID for our last question of the day. You got it ready, brother?

>> Alex McFarland: Okay, here's one, from the folks. And, I appreciate the great honor of having been at the COVID In Genesis 17:20, God blesses Ishmael, Abraham's first son, from the flesh. Why do you believe God blessed Ishmael, knowing the conflict that would take place and the sin of Abraham and Hagar? well, let me say this.

>> Bert Harper: Let me set this up.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: Hagar is one of the most, sympathetic women. I think that's in the Bible. You know, she was taken out of Egypt, possibly slavery, who knows, and then used. Go ahead, Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: She was used. why did God bless Ishmael and say that he was going to become a great nation? because God loves humans. And let me say this. the sin here was on the part of Abraham and Sarah, really. Now, I'm sad that, out of the Arabic people in 610 A.D. many hundreds of years later, came the false religion of Islam. But I want to say God loves all humans. God loves the Arabic peoples. Many of them are saved. But whosoever will turn to Jesus can be saved.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

Do be in church on Sunday morning, everybody. Tell everybody about Jesus

Alex it's been a great week. We've been in Matthew. We're going to start Matthew chapter four, Jesus Temptation. And I'm looking forward to that. But I'm looking forward to this weekend as well. With you with ah, Rick Metaxas. But also church worshiping the Lord Jesus Christ with fellow believers gathered together to sing his praises and hear His Word. It's a great time for God's work in our lives, isn't it?

>> Alex McFarland: It is. And I was going to say do be in church on Sunday morning, everybody. be in the house of God on Sunday. And if you would tell somebody about exploring the Word. The great programming of afr. But most of all, most of all, tell everybody about Jesus. The views and opinions expressed in this

broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of

>> Alex McFarland: the American Family association or American Family Radio.

It's Fire Away Friday for August 7th!

It's Fire Away Friday for August 7th!

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