Transcript

Next hour as we study God's word. And take your Bible questions

>> Speaker A: The Bible. It's the word of God.

>> Bert Harper: Sharper than any two edged sword.

>> Rick Green: This sacred book is living and active.

>> Speaker A: And contains all that's needed for life and godliness.

>> Bert Harper: Stay with American Family Radio for the.

>> Speaker A: Next hour as we study God's word.

>> Bert Harper: And take your Bible questions.

Exploring the Word is hosted by Alex McFarland and Bert Harper

>> Speaker A: Welcome to Exploring the Word.

>> Alex McFarland: Jesus said, if I be lifted up, I will draw all men unto myself. Well, with that great verse of scripture, we welcome you to this edition of Exploring the word. Alex McFarland, Bert Harper. And you know, it's special on a couple of occasions, Bert. for one thing, we're not a thousand miles apart.

>> Bert Harper: That helps.

>> Alex McFarland: That helps.

>> Bert Harper: You don't have to talk as loud.

>> Alex McFarland: Oh yeah, exactly. When I'm on some far flung part of the continent, I really have to shout. But no, as you and I have done for many years, we are at nrb, National Religious Broadcasters in Nashville this year. And what's special to you about nrb?

>> Bert Harper: It has to be two things. There seems to be an expectation of from m. The Lord, you call it the presence of the Lord at certain areas and places, but I think it's because of the people who are gathered there. There's that sense of his presence. And the other one is the people we get to meet that like today that we will get to meet today. And just find out what God's doing. That's the whole thing. Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Bert Harper: Find out where God is working and joining and at the nrb. That's a good place to check and see.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Well, the American Family Radio Network, as long as I've been associated with afr, has broadcast from nrb and this week is no exception. And folks, you're going to hear from some great anointed voices of God, one of whom is with us right now. Jensen Franklin, prolific author, pastor, christian leader. And for one thing, I want to say, Jensen, thank you for being with us on Exploring the Word. But even more importantly, thank you for giving your life to Christ's great commission.

>> Speaker A: Thank you so much. It's an honor to be with you. And man, when he, when he saved me and called me to preach in North Carolina, I was in Kenley, North Carolina. Yeah, I had gone on a three day fast. I don't know why, I was just a kid, 20 years old, but something in me. It was a summer break for college. The second year I was on a music scholarship. I play saxophone and I love music and I thought I was going to do music, but God had just stirred my heart that you need to Seek me. You need to seek me. And I believe that's happening in this generation, by the way. I believe we're seeing that kind of awakening. I wondered. I, remember praying not too long ago, God, will we ever see the hunger like, I experienced as a young youth, you know, after God. And I think since Charlie Kirk's death, something has broken through with. With our youth. And I'm excited about that.

>> Alex McFarland: Oh, absolutely.

>> Bert Harper: You're talking about singing the good thing. You don't have to sing, but you do need a song in your heart.

>> Speaker A: That's right.

>> Bert Harper: And, for those of us that are not musically inclined to produce, we have right here a guitarist and a saxophonist. And. And I love. If you won't mind, I love to watch Kingdomnomics Connection, especially the most when you're playing your saxophone. Even though I.

>> Speaker A: Does not offend me. I actually hear a lot. Did you hear that from that? You know, it was the saxophone that opened the door to television for me. the TBN owners, Paul and Jan Crouch, back in the day, she saw me on TV playing my horn on someone's show and. And asked me to come and be on their network and play. So that door opened the opportunity to preach. So music and worship and the Word, you can't get any greater combination, you.

Brother Jensen says young people are hungry for God after Charlie Kirk's death

>> Alex McFarland: Know, Brother Jensen, you mentioned the hunger for God. And we see that in our youth camps among young people, like you say, in the immediate aftermath of Charlie Kirk's death. And we knew Charlie, we had him on the radio. but I'm seeing among young people in college age, a real desire for authenticity, to know Jesus, to grow in Jesus, to bear fruit for Jesus. And isn't it beautiful that even out of hard times, God brings fruit and God gives increase and brings his spirit?

>> Speaker A: You know, Charlie was willing to take a stand. Charlie was willing to say things that even preachers were not saying from their pulpits. And that's when conviction comes, when people start speaking the truth of God Word. And he had a love. I was on his program and knew him. Had him at our church just months before he was killed. And, the thing he was, he loved people. And that came through even in the. In the sessions that he had. But I want to encourage the parents that are listening. You know, if you've got young people I've raised. My wife and I have been married 38 years. We've got five children and six grandchildren. I've raised five teenagers, have four in the house at the same time. three in the house and one about to be. And I'm going to tell you something, you keep praying for them. If you will pray, God can fix it. I don't care what issue you're facing. If you will pray, God can fix it.

>> Alex McFarland: You've got a book. I think it's your most recent book. The Power of Short Prayers.

>> Speaker A: That's right.

>> Alex McFarland: And you know, here's a saying, it's not original with me, but I've heard it, I believe it. Prayer is the nerve that moves the muscle of God. That's really true, isn't it?

>> Speaker A: It is. And I think a lot of people get discouraged about prayer, even feel a little bit condemned about prayer because they think that they, you know, you read all these stories of the great pioneers and stuff, and they prayed four hours a day and seven hours a day, and I think that's so wonderful. And ultimately, man, pray all that. You want to be in the presence of God. That's awesome. But most people are busy and they love the Lord and they've got responsibilities. So what's the answer? The answer is in the book. The greatest miracles that Jesus ever performed came out of urgent, passionate, purposeful prayers that cried out to God. Prayers like Peter prayed when he was sinking. Lord save me. A three word prayer. I mean a nine word prayer by a thief on the cross. Stop Jesus. He put the crucifixion dying for a lost world, billions of souls at stake. He put it on pause for one person who interrupted his agenda and prayed a short prayer. A nine word prayer. Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. And Jesus stopped everything and said, death, you can't have me. I'm not going to finish until I take care of this possibility right here. Because this guy wants to be with me in heaven. And he said, this day you'll be with me in paradise. I'm telling you, the power of short prayer. If we can get people. It used to be, you know, when I was coming up, they had a famous little saying even in the Christian world. They'd do little T shirts. They would say, why worry when you can pray? I think the motto today, why pray when you can worry? Because people are worrying themselves. They're literally making themselves sick with worry. And I found out as a parent, I'm either going to become a worrier or a warrior. And I decided to be a warrior and my wife decided to be. And we began to pray short prayers. I would never. I took my kids to school all my life. that was my deal. I loved to take them to school and at one time I'd usually have three of them in car seats and. And before they would get out, they knew Daddy was going to turn the radio off or we'd be laughing and joking or whatever, and I was going to turn around and touch their little knee and lay my hand on them briefly, and I was going to pray numbers chapter six over them. I've done this for over 36 years. I prayed numbers chapter six. The Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make his face shine on you. The Lord be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace. And you know what? We quote that part, but we don't quote the last, most important part. The m. Most important part of that verse is God said, if you will pray this prayer over the children of Israel. He said, I, will place my name upon them. How powerful is that? The name of Jesus? And I, will bless them. No if, buts or ands. I will bless them. It's so short. You can say it. And I think we have not, because we asked not. I'm on a. I'm on a rampage about, getting people to pray short prayers.

>> Bert Harper: Take it down, brother. when you read Deuteronomy 6, as you go, yes, that's discipleship. One of the main issues of discipleship is prayer. So it. As you go. And, from my experience, their. We had three boys, hyperactive like their dad, but they could handle the shorter prayers. And usually as we were going or coming.

When the enabling grace of God comes on you, you can do things

And, man, what a great.

>> Speaker A: When I wrote this book, the Power of Short Prayers, I purposely. I've written probably 30 books or so, but this. This is one where I wanted short chapters because I wanted men to read it.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Speaker A: So I held it to five pages per chapter because I know men. I'm one. And the older I get, the harder it is me to read somebody's book. I don't know what the deal is, but just get up and say it and say it quick and I'll get it. And we put it in a short prayer. Short prayers for family, short prayers for business, short prayers for building programs. Every building program. We build eight campuses, and we have over 1,000 acres of. On those campuses, and all of it's paid for. And I would say there's one prayer that I prayed over and over and over from the book of Zachariah. When he got in a building program and he was struggling and it got shut down and nothing was happening. And God told him to take the headstone, and he said, say this Unto it two word prayer. Grace, grace, grace, grace. God can finish the unfinished building of dreams in people's lives because grace is enabling.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Speaker A: And then that famous verse comes behind it. It's not by might, it's not by power. It's by my enabling grace. When the enabling grace of God comes on you, you can do things that other people struggle to do. It just. And the Bible said, and the spirit of the Lord came on that thing and they were running to and fro. One translation said, they were running over top of each other. He'd speak to one and say, bring this and do this and you take care of the financing and you take care of this. And that's been my experience. So prayer changes things.

>> Bert Harper: One more thing, real quick. Truth and grace can go side by side. Is that what you're telling me?

>> Speaker A: That's it. That's it.

>> Bert Harper: No. Don't most people want to separate those? You know what I mean?

>> Speaker A: That's right.

>> Bert Harper: And no, in the word of God, it's. They run parallel, don't they, Allan?

>> Alex McFarland: They really do. They really do.

Ryan Dobson: I've heard the saying, pastor, specific prayers

You know, I was thinking about a, saying I've heard. And I want you. Because no doubt there are people listening. And maybe you're wondering, is it too late for me to get the blessing of God? Is it too late for me for that vision or that dream to come true? And it isn't.

>> Rick Green: Listeners.

>> Alex McFarland: the voice you're hearing is our guest, Jensen Franklin. We've got a big show here, but, I've heard the saying, pastor, specific prayers. Get specific answers. Is that true?

>> Speaker A: I believe that. And I believe urgent prayers. And I believe again, Jesus had three years to build a worldwide kingdom. And he had 12 people who were not Harvard grads. They were common people. What was the key to it? And you know, think about that. Three years. Every minute counted, every sermon counted, every message endeavor ever. He needs to be about the father's business. But he kept getting interrupted. The great miracles. The woman with the issue of blood, he wasn't going to pray for her. She prayed a short prayer and reached out and touched him and he stopped. He paused. Same thing, I think about even in the Old Testament. Isaiah, 38, tells the story of the man who had the assignment, or the death warrant really, that the prophet came in and said, hezekiah, set your house in order. You're going to die. And he prayed a short prayer. Read it. It's like 28 words. And God turned. 29 words to be exact. And God turned the prophet around, went back in and said, thus says the Lord, you're going to get 15 more years. A 29 word prayer. He got a 15 year miracle.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Speaker A: It's never too late with God. And if you'll pray short prayers, it's a matter of time before your whole. You'll pray always, you'll pray continually because you're, you know, anywhere we go, everything we do pray. I love what you prayed at the beginning. Jesus, be exalted. I do that a lot. I whisper it under my breath. I pray short prayers before I go to the pulpit. Lord, make this one count tonight.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Speaker A: Don't let me be a mechanical preacher. Don't. I don't want to be a professional speaker. I want you to touch somebody tonight. And you know, when we pray those short prayers, I believe it's the invite from God.

>> Bert Harper: Jensen Franklin. That's his voice. We're going to take a break. You going to hang over just a little bit?

>> Speaker A: I'd love to.

>> Bert Harper: Okay. There's more to come, Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: When we come back, more on exploring the word. Stay tuned folks.

>> Bert Harper: PreBorn's whole mission is to rescue babies from abortion and lead their families to Christ. Last year PreBorn's network of clinics saw 8,900 mothers come to Christ. Please join us in this life saving mission. To donate, go to preborn.com afr. We feel like we're on holy ground here on exploring the word because of the Lord Jesus Christ and the change he's made in people's lives and continues to do so. again this is. But when we're a little different, we usually do Bible study this hour, but the NRB national religious broadcasters in Nashville, Tennessee, we usually go to interviews and today we're just having a great time. Aren't we Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, we are. This is a special convention because there's all kind of people here, ministries around the world and we pray together and strategize and we talk about how good the Lord is, but we talk about the, the spirit of God moving and the great commission. So folks, be in prayer for NRB because every year God does some very special things. And Bert, isn't it a blessing to see great people? God is using folks in the first segment and he's still here with us, Jensen Franklin who's the author of the brand new book the power of short prayer. But I was coming to the media suite and I saw a friend of mine, two decades plus, Ryan Dobson. Ryan, you're with us now too. Welcome to The AFR network.

>> Ryan Dobson: Oh, thanks, Bert. Alex, I appreciate being here. Thank you.

>> Alex McFarland: It's great to have you. And, we're just, talking about what the Lord's done in our lives. And, gents and I appreciate you and the passion, when I hear you talk about prayers and all that God is doing in your ministries, we serve a big God, don't we?

>> Speaker A: We do.

>> Alex McFarland: The God who is able. And, folks, we, want to say that because God is able to meet your needs as well. And, while we are just bringing Ryan to the mic as well.

Focus on the Family founder James Dobson passed away last fall

Hey, I know that this morning I was in the board meeting of nf. Of nf. Afr.

>> Bert Harper: Nrb.

>> Alex McFarland: Nrb.

>> Bert Harper: That's what you get for being on too many boards.

>> Alex McFarland: But they were talking about all that God is doing. And there was a special twice they talked about your dad, James Dobson, who went to heaven last fall. And, on behalf of millions of Christians that love your family so much, condolences.

>> Ryan Dobson: Thank you.

>> Alex McFarland: But, ah, I know you, rejoice in all that God is still doing.

>> Ryan Dobson: I do, yes, absolutely. And he's in a perfect place now. Yeah. You know, it was interesting. A lot of people say, thanks for sharing your dad with us. And I thought they meant one thing. And I've learned since his passing they meant something totally different. I thought they meant thanks for sharing his time with us. You know, when you run an organization like Focus on the Family or James Dobson's Family Institute, you work a lot. And he did. And I thought they were saying, thanks for sharing his time with us. And as a kid, I was a little resentful of it. But in his passing, I posted a photo. Everybody was using the Getty image, you know, stock photo. And I thought, that's just not him. So I posted a photo of he and my son Lincoln in a deer blind and wrote a little special thing about him. And I got. So I got over 40,000 comments on it. The one that shocked me the most were kids who, they say he was their dad. You know, a boy, an, adult now wrote me. And he said when he was 14, his dad left his mom and it devastated her. And at 15, she came to him and said, hey, if you don't get a job, we're going to lose our house. It wasn't, if you don't get a job, you don't have fun money, you can't go out with your friends. It was, we're in dire straits. Said it was the hardest four years of his life. He'd go from high school to work and he'd walk home at midnight at 15. And I think 15, they're babies at 15. And he said he was listening to his Walkman one night and Focus on the Family came on and he started listening to Focus on the family at 15. And he'd listen every night, dreaming of a better life. And he said, you know, he's 60, he's married, he's got four kids, nine grandkids. And the number of stories I hear from people that found Focus on the Family or JDFI at 12, 13 kids, not listening to Adventures in Odyssey, not listening to McGee and me, but listening to adult marriage programs because they didn't have a good home life. And they were saying, thanks for letting your dad be my dad too. And that blesses me so much when.

>> Bert Harper: I hear your stories. and I want to bring gents and on this five, five children. I just did anything. Did you ever turn to Dr. Dobson's? Are you kidding?

>> Speaker A: Are you kidding? My quick story about Dr. Dobson is, I got on a flight that was a. I think it's a 14 hour flight. And I look over and it's James Dobson sitting right beside me. And, I. He couldn't go nowhere. He had. He was on the inside. But he began, he was fresh. I don't know, I don't know what was going on. I didn't know his world at that time. But he began to share with me about forgiveness. He began to share with me, never said a detrimental word about anybody. He just said what he had been through. I started weeping. He was crying. It was the most powerful time because I told him about my struggle with one of my kids at the time I was going through and how afraid I was. And it was at times a life death situation. It felt like. And I have never had a man pour into my life. It created a bond that day. And he asked me to come to Colorado numerous times afterwards and took my book that I wrote inspired out of some of those conversations, not just out of life called Love like you've never been hurt. And I'm telling you, I understand that statement because he was, he was a mentor, father figure to an entire generation.

>> Bert Harper: Three boys. I needed the one that was most meaningful. I just got to say this, raising their strong will child. But I'm waiting on the other two, the stronger willed and the strongest willed.

>> Ryan Dobson: Sure. Yeah, I'm waiting for the strong willed adult.

>> Speaker A: Is he writing about you?

>> Ryan Dobson: Honestly, I was so compliant as a little kid. I became a strong willed Adult. You could see the eyes in the rearview mirror. And I knew what you were saying. So I've seen that my whole life.

Every good thing in my life came through James Dobbs, Alex says

>> Alex McFarland: well, I've said it so many times, and I keep it with every passing year I have to update. But it was Christmas of 2013 3, that I got a call, first of all, from HB London, who would be your.

>> Ryan Dobson: He's my dad's cousin, but we called him Uncle H.B.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah. And then, James Dobson called me, and we were doing, Jensen. We were doing youth apologetics all over North Carolina. Renting the Coliseum.

>> Speaker A: Oh, yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: And we did an event at Yale University. but anyway, Dr. Dobson called me, and he said, are you that youth apologetics guy? And I said, well, that was a long time ago. Yeah, yeah, yeah, 2003. And he said, well, I'm going to cut to the chase. This is exactly how your dad said it. He said, I want you to bring your circus under my tent.

>> Ryan Dobson: Oh, that sounds just like him.

>> Rick Green: And he didn't want to reinvent the.

>> Ryan Dobson: Wheel if you're doing it right.

>> Speaker A: Come on.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Ryan Dobson: And he wanted it. He'd say, hey, come on, join this tent.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: My wife and I flew to Colorado Springs at that point. The farthest I'd ever been away from home, like, ever. And, within a couple of months, we were living in Colorado Springs. And what I was going to say was, every good thing that's happened to me in the last 23 years came through James Dobbs.

>> Ryan Dobson: You always say that, Alex.

>> Alex McFarland: No, I'm serious. And to God.

>> Bert Harper: He says that about afr, too.

James: God is still raising up great leaders, isn't he

>> Alex McFarland: But, you know, let's talk about the leaders that God is raising up now, because we, as much as we have our heroes and we love them dearly, they shaped our lives.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: But, God is still raising up great leaders, isn't he, brother?

>> Speaker A: I believe he is. And, you know, I think that you have to see it in somebody, and I think that's what was so powerful. And Dr. Dobson, I know everybody feels this way because, like, he would take time for you. He listened to people. And I'll never forget, after one of the shows that we take there, mountains.

>> Ryan Dobson: Colorado Springs.

>> Speaker A: Colorado Springs. We went out to eat. I could not believe that he wanted to go out to eat with me at his favorite little restaurant, Marigold. It was very good. It was so good. And I felt like, I felt so special. I think there's a great lesson in that. Take time to mentor younger. He looked for younger leaders.

>> Ryan Dobson: That's true.

>> Speaker A: And he would begin to pour into it to, to you. and you know, I don't claim to be nothing super tight or nothing with him, but he imparted some stuff to me in those quick meetings. It's not. It's like this. It's not just the knowledge, but it's the spirit of it. It was a humility, it was a kindness. You know, to be kind is to be holy. He kind of taught that and that's right. You know, shown he would show that forth a kindness. Like why is he taking time to talk to me like this, you know, but he did. Boy, if we would do that, it ain't no telling because it's like when God gives you a platform like he gave entrusted him with, the more he gives you, you're supposed to. It ought to humble you more. And that's how I felt about him. The more God blessed him, the more humble he became in his spirit.

>> Bert Harper: Our. My wife Jan and I had a first son and we were needing help. He was born in 1977. All right, focus on the family started in 77. A little station in northeast Mississippi started airing that and we sent off for the tapes about children, how to raise children had seven tapes. One of them was spank or not to spank.

>> Alex McFarland: And dad, they didn't get the not spanking.

>> Bert Harper: Well, anyway, our son Nathan, who helped co host Exploring missions other program I do, he. I don't know. We thought he's genius at first. The one, the one cassette tape he took out was to spank or not to spank. And he destroyed that. But the others were okay. But that's the one.

>> Speaker A: I would just say as a parent, I'm for spanking. As a grandparent, I'm for not spanking. We got an agreement on that.

>> Ryan Dobson: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Changes everything, does it? I heard it says makes you glad you you didn't kill your own children. Now those grandchildren. But it is great, isn't it?

>> Speaker A: That's all.

>> Alex McFarland: It's like, Well, you know the book the Power of Short prayers? It's [email protected] the authors, Jensen Franklin, his website JensenFranklin.org and Ryan, your website is James RyanDobson.com. you got it spelled just like it, sounds.

Ryan Dobson is praying for revival in our nation right now

I've got to ask you, what are you doing, these days? I know you've done a lot of speaking and writing and, How is God using you these days, brother?

>> Ryan Dobson: in a lot of ways. You've heard of the chosen, you've watched the show. The Chosen. I'm working with a group now, the original cfo. They're starting back in the Old Testament with something called the Covenant in the story of Daniel. And I got to tell you, Andrew Clavin, wrote the script. He's messianic, raised Jewish evangelical. Cyrus Nerosta is the director, former Muslim turned Christian. I mean, you've got biblical scholars joining together to tell the Old Testament stories. And when you read it, the story of Daniel is so layered. And you read it and you pass by certain things and you go back and you think, oh, my goodness, in the end of Daniel, when Nebuchadnezzar is on all fours eating grass and Daniel, his chief advisor, read past that and you don't think about it. Can you imagine the president in a field eating grass? That would be incredible.

>> Speaker A: That would be crazy.

>> Ryan Dobson: But you, you read these stories of Suzanne, of getting accused of infidelity and, and coming back out of it, and the layers in that. I think if we do this right, you won't just watch it, but you're going to see yourselves in it, standing up for what's right and wrong in the face of hardship and grace way back then.

>> Bert Harper: Right? I mean, that's, that's what amazes me about the whole Bible, is God's grace in truth meeting together, isn't it? And that's what that does with the covenant.

>> Ryan Dobson: You know what I love about it? I was over in Israel and I was shocked at the anti Semitism. I got online while we were there. When we came back and someone said, well, if, the Jewish people haven't found God after 2,000 years, then we're the chosen ones. And I thought, my goodness, God never said that to me. He never said, hey, Ryan, you sinned so many times. Sorry you're out. He goes again. Over and over again, he's waited. The Bible says I stand at the door and knock. It didn't say, I stood at your door. I knocked a long time. You weren't listening. So I went to another door. It says, right now I'm standing at your door, knocking for everyone. Not just the. I mean everyone saved sinner, he still wants to come in, commune with you, be with you, have a relationship with you.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. you know, I think about this, guys, that when we call out to God in the book the Power of Short Prayers, I mean, it can be. Be personal. It can be for the life of somebody else. It can be for wisdom. I'm praying for revival in our nation right now. And I want to ask each of you guys the question I've been asking people all over this building, because I sincerely want to know, if you could ask God for anything for this nation, the Lord says, hey, sky's the limit. What's your prayer, Jensen? What would that be?

>> Speaker A: I think I would go immediately to Habakkuk, chapter three, where the prophet said, God, I've seen your works in ancient days. And then he asked this question, will you not revive your work in our time? That would be the cry of my heart as a pastor, as, a leader. I want to see. And I'm seeing it. I'm starting to see it. I didn't know if I would see it, but I believe we're seeing it. Those of us who are involved, we do a conference also in Atlanta and have 12,000 young people come in once a year, and teenagers, and we specifically focus on teenagers. And they are so hungry. Something has clicked. Something has changed. And they want spiritual fathers. They want somebody who will teach them the disciplines. They want you to tell them, my body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And, no, I'm not going to sleep, around until I find the right one. No, I'm not going to be drunk and get high and all of that stuff. I'm not going to waste my life getting wasted and doing all the stronger we preach. Even men like Dr. Dobson, they said, they taught us, you stand for the babies, you stand for pro life, you stand for marriage between a man and a woman. You stand for the truth. And I think this generation is just gravitating toward that message. The more and the stronger that I preach, like you said, the consecration of Daniel, the power of a man taking a stand when, everybody else was bowing and the fire wouldn't, you know, if he delivers, great. But if not, he's still God.

>> Ryan Dobson: That's right. If he doesn't, he is still God.

>> Speaker A: He's still God.

Ryan's wife has been through cancer four times

>> Alex McFarland: Ryan, I gotta ask you. You could ask God for one thing for this nation at this hour, what would it be?

>> Ryan Dobson: I think you'll be surprised. I think I want you to give us whatever it is to get us on our knees. You know, in my marriage, it didn't get better in Hawaii. It didn't get better on vacation, but it got better when we went through cancer for the fourth time. And I don't wish that on anybody. I don't want anybody to go through cancer. But I'll guarantee you, my wife's been through cancer four times. Three kinds of cancer. Four different times. Honest truth, you know, M Alex, I can't tell a lie to you. Two weeks before she was diagnosed this last time, we were bickering over stupid things. And I'm sure it was me. I'm sure it was entitlement and ego and self righteousness and selfishness. It was just dumb bickering things. And she got that diagnosis. And we were in the doctor's office and I looked over at her and it was just that that heaviness came away and it was like, hey, this is ride or die. All that other stupid stuff goes away. We are in this to get better, and we grew through that cancer journey.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Well, you know, Corrie Ten Boom said, when life knocks you to your knees, that's a pretty good place to pray. Bert, we got to take a break.

>> Bert Harper: We got to take a break. But we're going to be back.

>> Alex McFarland: We are going to be back with Lucas Miles and much, much more. Stay tuned, folks.

>> Speaker A: The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle, get rid of carpet stains.

>> Bert Harper: It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice.

>> Rick Green: But while you're doing those things, you.

>> Speaker A: Can listen to your favorite AFR content.

>> Bert Harper: Through the app on your phone, smart device, or Roku. Just go to your app store or.

Bert Harper: Tuesday has become very important as a day of prayer

>> Speaker A: Visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app.

>> Alex McFarland: Sing everything I need Everything I need.

>> Rick Green: My father hasn't.

>> Alex McFarland: My father hasn't.

>> Ryan Dobson: And every single time.

>> Alex McFarland: The Lord will provide. That's right.

>> Rick Green: My father hasn't.

>> Alex McFarland: it's my father.

>> Bert Harper: And that is because he is a good, good father. No one like the Lord. No one like the Lord Jesus. This is Bert Harper along with Dr. Alex McFarland, and it is exploring the word. It's a little different to today, and it's usually a day of prayer, and it is. But we're taking them on word or on Facebook. So, Brent Austin is doing that and we'll get the list and we'll pray for you. Because we don't want to miss that, do we, Alex? We want to pray for people. Tuesday's become very important as a day of prayer on our program.

>> Alex McFarland: And you know what's a blessing, Bert, is that we get all these reports from people who their prayers get answered. And we've heard on our Tuesday day of prayer, I mean, we've heard of marriages restored, prodigal kids radically coming back To Jesus Christ. And so, folks, prayer, changes things.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. And we appreciate Brent, him m taking care of that and helping us doing that. But we're here at the NRB National Religious Broadcasters Convention meeting, once a year. And, last year it was in Texas, and this year is in Nashville, Tennessee. And usually during this week we try to have some special guests, don't we, Alex?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, we really do. A couple of years ago, I was on a show and we were doing a book review and we had an author on who had written a book called Woke Jesus. And it was one of the, and I don't say this lightly. I mean, I. Biblical worldview culture books, I get them all the time. Woke Jesus was so profound and so right on the money. The author, everybody listening will know this name. Lucas Miles, senior, director of TP USA Faith. And since last September, and we'll talk about this. Lucas has been just ubiquitous in the media, but he is with us now. Brother Lucas Miles, man of God and also the author of the brand new book, Pagan Threat Confronting America's Godless Uprising. Welcome, to the American Family Radio Network.

>> Rick Green: Thanks, Alex, for having me on. It's good to be with you guys.

>> Alex McFarland: Good to be with you. And, I know it's been out a couple of years, but the book woke Jesus. give us the, the synopsis of that because that is a. I see it everywhere I go. It's a powerful book.

>> Rick Green: Yeah, look, the church has been infiltrated. You know, while we as conservatives have all been complaining about that poorest southern border that we had for so many years, we didn't realize that our theological institutions had a major leak. And there was progressive ideology that was coming across the border of our, of our church walls and, really entering into the pulpits. And I think that we have a generation of churchgoers that had been indoctrinated, not completely, but many of them, by a, Marxist infiltration, a woke gospel. and Jesus was being presented really as a Jesus plus Marxism rather than the biblical Christ that we find. And so it was a deep dive, historical deep dive where I go back, starting the 1700s, kind of working my way forward. A lot of my writing, I like footnotes. So I got 500 plus footnotes and references that are in most of my books. And, so there's a lot of research that's there and I do all the research myself. maybe at some point I'm at higher ed, I'm getting busier. But so far it's been all the research myself. And you know, it's an important thing because I think that until we recognize the history of how we've gotten here, it's hard to know where to go from here and what we do next.

>> Bert Harper: You know, there's a passage after Joshua took the land and it says the land rested, except they rent everybody out except in, in Gaza, Gath and Ashdod. Okay. It's a little passage and each one of those has the follow up story. Made me think about when you said you did the research, you know, to find out how it creeps in in those areas. They did not do the victory. They let sin stay in. And when sin came in Gaza, you know, that's, that's. It happens. Let me see a guy named Samson went down to Gaza, you know, and every one of those has a follow up. Ashdod's where they took the, the tabernacle after, you know, they took it out to war and treated like a rabbit's foot. Okay, wrong theology, right? Yes, see, wrong theology. And Gath, let me see a, giant name, Goliath was from there. So each one of those, because they, they got off track, skewed away from truth, they creep into, in and they take the next generations. And that's if I'm hearing you right, that's you, if you went back that far, it sounds like that's what happens.

>> Rick Green: And I think that, you know, we have these areas, it's very similar to what you see in the Kings in the, in the Old Testament where it says, you know, so and so did right in the eyes of the Lord, except for they did not remove the high places. Yeah, you know, we have a lot of high places that have been left in our, in our culture, in theology, in the church. And you know, we get so close to kind of pushing back these false ideas. We kind of leave some things that are still on the table. It's kind of, you know, just in case it doesn't work out, we have this to kind of lean on. And I think it's done a lot of damage. And so my books, I'm trying to get the church back to a place of orthodoxy, you know, really help, evangelicals find a more robust, theological framework, figure out how to work Walk in Unity and how to push these false ideas out.

Your new book, Pagan Threat, is a New York Times bestseller

>> Alex McFarland: the new book, Pagan Threat. Give us the, rundown on this new book.

>> Rick Green: Yeah, you know, this book, it's interesting. It's been my best performing book. But it was the most frustrating for me to write. And I didn't say that a lot early on, but it was a real kind of fight to get it to where it was at. And I'm very happy with where it's at now. It's done very well as a number four new York Times bestseller, which is first for me to hit that list. It has a, foreword from my friend Charlie Kirk. And it was the honor of my life to serve him for 18 months as a senior director at TPUSA. Faith. I miss him dearly and to have him as part of this project just meant the world to me. But this book, like for the research that I had to do for months I was reading some really dark material, you know, because when you look at this, this uprising of paganism, there's a lot of bad stuff out there. And so, there's a gal that helps us cleans our house a day, a week. I'm sure she thought I was crazy if she read any of the titles on my nightstand, you know. And so, you know, these are things where you're seeing. Marxism has in some ways recognized that Christianity is not a good long term vehicle for the parasite that it is. And so that parasite of Marxism has now latched onto paganism and also to things like Islam and it's using these other vehicles that don't have the same, maybe objections to the Marxist tactics. And so paganism especially, it doesn't have that moral rigidity that Christianity has. It allows a choose your own adventure. So we're seeing kind of LGBT magic or some sort of lgbt, you know, which is kind of that Marxist side of it plus paganism on the other side. And they're trying to usurp a Christian worldview out of the Western way of life in order to be able to introduce a pagan worldview so that Marxism can be onboarded.

Miles Lucas: Does Marxism have its roots in Darwinian evolution

>> Bert Harper: I want to ask you something. You. The research just intrigues me, always does. When you talk about Marxism, you talk all of that and what's taken place, does it have its roots in Darwinian evolution? There, you know, in other words, he came out and when you see, Dave Breeze wrote the book Seven Men that Are Ruling the World from the Grave and you see all of those and how they were so intergrained and entwined together. Does one lead to the other?

>> Rick Green: Yeah, I think that they are a product of one another, in many ways, but also sort of tangential as well. And so, you know, look, we saw a bunch of ideas that came Out. I think without Hegel and Kant, you don't have Marx. you know, without Marx, you don't have people like Marcuse in the 1960s. Without, Marcuse, you don't have, you know, you don't have people like Obama, you know, today. I mean. And so, you know, there's this evolution that happens within thought. and this has played a role, I think, that, you know, for Darwin, I mean, look, it was the really. It gave empowerment to racism. You know, what you see within Darwinianism, I think, in ways that, did a lot of damage to this nation around the world and continue to. And so, you know, all of this kind of bleeds together. But I, actually traced a lot in pagan threat. I looked at the role of early first wave feminism as kind of a starting place for this. And first wave feminism, you know, oftentimes gets a pass from people. They'll say, well, is second and third wave bad? But first wave was okay. And they're trying to kind of placate to something. But like first wave feminism, almost all of the early thinkers in first wave feminism were occultists or spiritualists or or. Or pagans of some kind. And they were pushing a lot of, really divergent paths of spirituality. And. And really, quite frankly, it came out of frustrations within the church where there was sort of an alternative reading. There was a thing thing called the women's Bible. And I don't know, Alex, if you've heard about this before, but, it was Elizabeth, Katy Stanton was one of the, writers of this. And she gathered around about 26 different women that were all kind of had these different spiritual backgrounds. And they were psychics and spiritualists and occultists. And she brings them together to write an alternative reading, of the scriptures on problem passages that they felt like were issues for women. They don't talk about any of the dozens of stories that really champion women in scripture, like Phoebe, like Paul giving the letter of Romans to Phoebe to go read in the church, or, you know, Deborah in the Old Testament, or.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, women got to see the empty tomb.

>> Speaker A: Exactly.

>> Rick Green: The first evangelist, you know, in the church were the women that saw the empty tomb. And so they don't mention any of those, but they start really kind of, you know, dealing with these passages. And basically the sentiment is that, you know, that God is the oppressor, that women are the oppressed. And the ultimate example comes out of first wave feminism where Lucifer is seen as the Lightbringer. He's seen as the good guy that's trying to liberate, you know, humanity by bringing them the knowledge of good and evil and that God is the oppressor for kind of keeping them down. So there's some interesting themes that came out of this, and this kind of goes into eventually, you know, some of the sexual revolution and transgenderism later on and different things.

>> Alex McFarland: Things.

>> Rick Green: But it was. It was this kind of snowball of ideas that kept moving through time.

>> Bert Harper: They don't stand on their own. They have a, snowball gathers as it goes.

>> Rick Green: Exactly right. Yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: The voice you're hearing is Lucas Miles, a, friend and colleague. He's the senior director of TPUSA Faith, and I highly recommend his books. I just want to thank you, and, I've read my share of apologetics and worldview and cultural books, and yours, are ones that I read, really read and reread, and they benefit me so much. And I strongly urge everyone listening to read the works of Lucas Miles.

Frank Turek was with Charlie Kirk two weeks before he was killed

I do want to talk about Charlie Kirk, two weeks before he was tragically shot. And. And you were there that day, weren't you? Yeah, my friend since 1990. Frank.

>> Rick Green: Oh, no, I was not. I was not on site when he was. He was killed. No, I was. I was supposed to be. I was on vacation.

>> Alex McFarland: Right.

>> Rick Green: And, I was. I was with him. I was with him a week before he died. Talked to him two days before he died.

>> Alex McFarland: Frank Turek was there. And Frank is on afr. two weeks before that tragic day. He was with us in my conference in South Carolina with, Micah McCoy and the staff. And, I'm not going to recount the entire conversation, but we were backstage. We had people from 17 states, over 3,000 attendees, and Charlie, we were talking about speaking at universities, and he said to me that he thought he might be shot. And that, he said, I'm afraid I'm probably not going to die of old age. And then two weeks later, Bird and I were on the air when the news broke. and a colleague, texted us that Charlie had died. it was surreal. Let me ask you your initial response and what God is doing, because we know our God brings good out of evil. And like Joseph In Genesis 50, what you meant for evil, God meant for good, or literally turned into something good. But tell us, personally, tpusa, how you all have navigated the last five months.

>> Rick Green: Yeah, I was with Charlie a week before he was killed. we were doing an event together at Dream City Church in Phoenix, Arizona. And that was a monthly event that Charlie did. We call it Freedom Night in America. I've since inherited that, really at the blessing and direction of Erica and work with Barnett's and the other pastors there to put that on. It's an incredible event. Charlie did it for, I think, almost four years, with the church there. And so he was leaving that night for, South Korea and then Japan as kind of that final trip that he did. And so I had been working with Charlie a little bit on some of the theological and. And more spiritual sides of his conversation that he was going to have in Japan. And I had connected with a pastor in Tokyo that was super helpful in kind of giving us just some information of the status of the churches there and. And how do it, you know, maybe like, how spirituality was viewed in the various, you know, political parties. And so I was kind of prepping Charlie on some of that, and we, originally he was taken off that night and had decided that he wasn't going to be able to do that event in, at Dream City. And he said, hey, why don't you just cover for me and you can host? And then he came back just last minute, and he says, you know what? He's like, I think I really want to try to do this. He's like, I'm going to leave halfway through the night. I'll just introduce you and have you come out and finish the night with Q and A and kind of do everything else. Kind of a. You know, not a normal. You know, usually either do the event or don't do the event. But Charlie really, he just loved that event. He loved being with people. And so he did the first half of the event. And so my last moment with Charlie Kirk was, you know, it's a little bit of a blur now, but it was him walking. He introduced me, and then he was walking off stage as I was walking on. I think we exchanged a microphone in between. And then I walked on and finished out the night, at the event. And that was the last time I saw him. And the. I had shared with you him these things about the situation in Japan. And Charlie texted me, about two days before he was killed. He had. It was either, I think, on his way back from Japan or just had gotten back. And, he said, you'd be so proud. He goes, I was just able to share the gospel with this massive group of Japanese leaders, you know, and he was. That was the things that he thought about, you know, of being able to make that kind of impact. It's been a matter, you know, unimaginable, obviously for the last five or six months. Whatever it's been now, since everything has happened, as an organization, you know what, under the circumstances, we're doing very well. we're so grateful for, you know, everybody that stood with us and, and stuck by our side. we're doing this make heaven crowded tour 30, cities across the country this year. we'll be in states like Alaska and Hawaii. we just did an event here in Tennessee and Nashville before this. We have a, a giant one, with Pastor Jack Graham at, PRESTONWOOD. Probably have 12,000 people with that event. we're going to be doing one at Charis Bible College with Andrew Wommack. so we're going to be all over the country with these events, going to be super powerful. And we are getting thousands of people that are, that are coming to every single one. Erica's coming to some of these bunch of other, you know, favorite faith speakers and thought leaders are coming in and it's been really incredible to have a front row seat to this. you know, I, I don't know as though there's ever been another person like Charlie Kirk. he was a once in while a generation mind, without a doubt. He was also a once in a generation friend. I don't, I don't think I'd be where. I know I wouldn't be where I'm at today had he not seen something in me. I was already, I was writing, I was doing things and I'd probably be pastoring a local church still in writing and that there's nothing wrong with. It was fine, but Charlie saw something and really, you know, lifted me up and gave me a voice. And I'm grateful for that.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. I want to say thank you for being with us and thank God for what doing and continues. Usually he starts out, let me say there was Moses, but then God brought along Joshua. God doesn't leave us stranded, does he? Thank you.

Bertrand: We're in Nashville for two more days. Two more days, days in Nashville

Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: The book is Pagan Confronting America's Godless Uprising. The author, our guest Lucas Miles, will have to visit again and talk further. But in the meantime, God bless you, brother. Hey, Bert. We've got a great week. A lot of people, a, lot to experience here.

>> Bert Harper: Two more days, days in Nashville.

Tell somebody about the American Family Radio Network. Tell somebody about Jesus

>> Alex McFarland: NRV folks, do us a favor. Tell somebody about the American Family Radio Network. But most of all, tell somebody about Jesus.

>> Rick Green: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio. M.