American Family Radio underwritten in part by Preborn, the Bible
>> Bert Harper: American Family Radio would like to say thank you to PreBorn. We value our partnership with PreBorn as we share some of the same goals, namely the saving of unborn babies and also saving their mother's souls through Jesus. We'd also like to thank you for your support of preborn. You can donate anytime@ah preborn.com A gift of just $28 provides a free ultrasound for an expectant mother. This NRB broadcast is underwritten in part by PreBorn,
>> Alex McFarland: the Bible.
>> Bert Harper: It's the word of God.
>> Alex McFarland: Sharper than any two edged sword.
>> Bert Harper: This sacred book is living and active
>> Alex McFarland: and contains all that's needed for life and godliness.
>> Bert Harper: Stay with American Family Radio for the
>> Alex McFarland: next hour as we study God's word and take your Bible questions.
Alex Harper welcomes Nathan Harper to Exploring the Word today
>> Bert Harper: Welcome to Exploring the Word.
>> Bert Harper: Thank you for listening to Exploring the Word today. this is the third day we broadcast from Nashville, Tennessee, the national religious broadcasters meeting. Alex, it's been a good week. We still got some time to go, but it's been great so far, hasn't it?
>> Alex McFarland: It's been exciting. Like late last night, seeing people in prayer huddles all around the lobby. I really think the spirit of the Lord is moving and it feels like a revival meeting.
>> Bert Harper: Amen. And again, we've talked about this. I want to say it real quickly. We meet people that we've seen before and then we meet new people. And so today I'm just walking through the hall, hallways and I met a man. He stopped and he was talking. We were talking. I told him I didn't know much about what he I needed. I turned around and my son Nathan was coming toward me. Found out they were friends. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: Small world.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah, small world. So their guest today, I'm going to introduce my son Nathan and then he's going to introduce our friend because he can say his name better than myself. Okay, just being very plain, but Nathan Harper is with us today. You know that name? He's with. We co host exploring missions. So Nathan, thank you for being on Exploring the Word. I hope I don't get it mixed up with Alex here, the word and Nathan here, the missions of exploring. So I'll try to keep it straight.
>> Nathan: Well, we'll explore something together. So it's good to be with you guys today and thank you so much. but yeah, it was an interesting meeting. I did not expect to meet my friend, here in Nashville of all places, because we know each other from Atlanta, when I lived and served there for many years. And now I can say it was several years ago that I was in Atlanta. But, we have with us today my friend Darara Gubbo. And Durara is, originally from Ethiopia. he has been in the US For a long time now as a US Citizen. And, he's fairly recently, obtained his, law degree. And his, legal profession has begun. And in fact, because of those connections in the legal world, as a lawyer, he was able to, meet his wife. I don't know if we have time to get into that story of how God just ordained their meeting and their. Their marriage. But, a year ago, right, Durara, that you were married a little bit over a year?
>> Darara Gubbo: Well, yeah, to be exact, May 31st. So.
>> Nathan: Okay.
>> Bert Harper: Remember that forever. It's an important day. Okay. Isn't that right, Alex? You'll remember that date if you forget anything else.
>> Nathan: But now Durara and his wife Hannah are expecting a newborn a few months along and so waiting for that as well.
>> Darara Gubbo: Praise the Lord.
>> Bert Harper: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Congratulations and happy early anniversary.
>> Darara Gubbo: Thank you so much. I appreciate that.
>> Bert Harper: Yes. Well, what we want to do and I wanted. Yeah, the other program we do, Alex does a program. I do a program in addition to this and Explored Missions is one of those. And we come here at NRB and we get to meet people from all over the world, literally. And, it's so exciting. And, so we wanted to bring one of those on for one of the segments here on exploring the Word. It's kind of like a connection. Alex, you know, how do you do missions without the Word? And if you got the Word, you better do missions.
>> Alex McFarland: Exactly, exactly. Well, well, you know, it's been my privilege to organize some missions conferences and meet, and bring to the U.S. several Christian leaders from Ethiopia. And God is mightily at work there, isn't he? It's very exciting, for sure.
>> Darara Gubbo: I mean, myself, I'm, a product of mission work. My dad, was born into a Muslim family. His name was Muhammad. And then missionaries from of all places, Norway came to his village, and they were able to share the gospel with him. My dad, became one of the first believers in his community. And his name was, changed to Timothy. And, so he became a church leader. and, he was able to come to the US to study the Bible, went back to Ethiopia. He was persecuted for his faith. he now, wants to be with the Lord. And, there are so many Christians now in that community because of mission work. So let's, keep preaching the Gospel.
>> Bert Harper: Amen.
Nathan was working with global frontier missions in Atlanta
Nathan, with your connection, you met a lot of different people from all, all over the world because they were refugees and came to Atlanta, where you were working with global frontier missions, and got to meet many of them and work and a lot of people before they'd go to the real place, they would come to Atlanta, Clarkston, to be specific, to learn a lot of the customs and the different things.
>> Nathan: yeah, that's right. well, what we saw when we were in Clarkston, specifically Atlanta area, was, people from all kinds of places all around the world, many of them already believers. Durara, I met him there. He's not a refugee, but he was already a follower of Jesus. And, he was very much an encouragement to me while I was, there in Clarkston. But many others that come, whether they're refugees, international students, immigrants, come from a worldview, a background, a religious background, a belief system that is, maybe not a Christian, and maybe never having access to hear the gospel ever before in their life. And so what we wanted to do was make that place the easiest place they will ever have to hear the gospel, and hear that and believe and follow Jesus. and so many, many times they move on from there and move into other communities. And if they hear the gospel say from me or my workers, our team, then they're sharing that as they go and it's spreading. sometimes they even get to go back to their homelands, and visit or even live there. So, that's how God, you know, the gospel spreads through social networks.
>> Bert Harper: no matter what that social. It doesn't have to be Internet, social network.
>> Nathan: No. And honestly, that's how you make disciples. You have to make disciples in a relationship. And so, we're talking about connections, and that's critically important in God's word and in his mission.
Alex says fear kept him from becoming what God wanted him to become
>> Bert Harper: Okay, one more thing. I know you have some Alex, but when you. You're writing a book and you've been around and got your degree and everything, tell us a little bit about what, how God is using you now, writing and all the things that you're doing.
>> Darara Gubbo: Definitely. my story, that I'm trying to write in the book is about how I became an attorney in the United States of America. There was a point in my life when I was depressed and lost hope and lost, my ways, honestly. and it's because of the word of God that my life was transformed. And I'm able to now write a story about how God really changed my Life, to kind of give you a summary. first of all, the title of the book is called My Five Chains. And those are the things that really kept me from becoming what God wanted me to become. which is I wanted to be a lawyer. But for over 10 years, I was chained by fear. And, just to give you, the summary of it, first of all, I was, I said to myself, I was too old to go to law school. And imagine I was in late 30s when I was saying that, you know, the enemy got me there. You know, the enemy was lying to me. And the second one was I said, I don't have enough money to go to law school. And the third, I said, I'm not smart enough to go to law school in America. And the fourth, I said, my accent. I don't think the American judge and lawyers can understand my English. how do, how can you guys understand me, by the way? So the enemy was lying to me, right?
>> Bert Harper: Yes, he was.
>> Darara Gubbo: And the thieves was, what if I don't get a job after going to law school? So through that story, I'm trying to show people who are, whose dreams are not fulfilled because of fears. You know what I mean? When we have faith, we can go to where God wants us to go, despite our age or our background, right? So in my case, God spoke to me through the story of Moses. So one day I was walking in a, Stone Mountain park in Atlanta. And as I was walking, I started to meditate on the word of God about Moses. When Moses was born, the Egyptians were killing Jewish boys. And his family hid him for few months. And, then he ended up being adopted into, the royal family, as you guys know. And God was teaching me there that when God saved Moses life, he wanted to equip, him as a leader. How do I know that? Because palace is where you learn about leadership. And God was giving him the right kind of networks. And when God wanted to use Moses, Moses was not ready to be used. God came to Moses as a return on his investment. He saved his life.
>> Bert Harper: I, love that.
>> Darara Gubbo: And he wanted to use him. But Moses resisted. One of the things that Moses said to God was, God, I don't know how to speak. And God was showing me the parallel with my life. I was saying the same thing to God when God wanted me to go to law school. I was saying to him, God, my accent doesn't cut it. I don't think I'm going to be able to speak for the judge. And God was not impressed with excuses And God was telling me that he is not happy with my resistance of his calling upon, my life. And when it comes to Moses, God said to him, I will give you your brother Eryn to help you with your mission. And God said to me, if you go where I'm sending you, I'll prepare Eryn for you. I'll prepare the way for you. I'll prepare all the resources that you need for you. And that's the day on which my life was transformed. I said to God, yes, I will do what you're asking me to do, despite all the challenges of age and accent and all the things that I was struggling with. And I, decided to apply. And guess what? I was accepted at Emory Law in Atlanta. And I got into law school. Guess what? As soon as I got into law school, I was able to see the lives of the enemy clearly. I mean, one of my, classmates was a former surgeon with family and all that. He said, now it's time to become a lawyer. So he was much older than me. So age is not a, factor. When God calls you, it doesn't matter what age you are at. You have to say yes to the call. Because God knows. God already knows you are old, right? And he's calling you, right? So don't tell him what he already knows. Just say yes to him. Right? and God is not looking for your strength. He's looking for your willingness so that he can show up when you are weak. And so age was a lie. Now, I was able to go to law school. I was able to graduate. I was able to pass the bar exam. I took it just once. You know, I like some people, like Hillary Clinton and Myshel Obama, and, you know, all these people who took it twice, at least, right? For some of these people. So it is not about who you are. It's about who God is in you, in your heart. You know what I mean? So that was a lie. Inability, you know, I cannot do it. But if God is with you, you can do it. God is your strength. Through Christ, you can do anything that is calling you. He can equip you to do whatever he's calling you to do. And then the third thing I was struggling was, my ability to get a job. As soon as I graduated, I got a job. And one month into my job, I was able to open my own law school. My law, law office. Sorry about that. So right now I have employees, actually, and I'm driving, law practice right now.
Nathan struggled with accent, but God provided money
Right? And the other thing that I was Struggling was accent. I remember going before a judge, and the judge listened to me and she's like, you have an accent like me. Where are you from? The judge herself is from Jamaica. I'm like, everybody has an accent. I shouldn't be afraid. And the fifth was money. I remember graduating, and then they asked me to pay a lot of money. Right? God provided that. Through one case, I was able to pay off all my schools.
>> Bert Harper: Amen. Well, we're coming up on the break, and we got some more guests coming. Alex, you take care of it. But, Nathan, thank y' all for being with us.
>> Darara Gubbo: Thank you so much.
>> Alex McFarland: God bless you and thank you for serving Christ in the world and in America. Stay tuned.
The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations
We're back after this brief break on Exploring the Word from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention.
>> Bert Harper: The AFR app is a powerful tool,
>> Alex McFarland: but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the
>> Bert Harper: oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains.
>> Alex McFarland: It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you
>> Bert Harper: can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device, or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net Listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app,
>> Alex McFarland: You weren't there. The light, it found me. You did not feel what I felt
>> Bert Harper: when he wrapped his love all around me.
>> Alex McFarland: And you don't know the cost of
>> Alex McFarland: the oil in my alabaster.
Alex McFarland and Bert Harper speak at National Religious Broadcasters Convention
Welcome back to Exploring the word. Alex McFarland here along with Bert Harper. And, you know, we are at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. We talk about all the, the different people we meet. You know, we've done some broadcasting down on the floor and, you know, it's a beehive of activity. I tell people, that's the sound of the Great Commission happening.
>> Bert Harper: You know, they call it ambience, and like I say, I call it noise.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, yeah. And, you know, last night, Bert, I went to a dinner and I heard Shannon Bream speak, and she's a Christian, but who's a Fox News anchor that everybody knows. And, there were so many people, I was looking around the room. There was Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham and Erwin Lutzer, a, ah, dear friend of mine, a, born again Jewish musician, Marty Goetz, who, when I speak at the COVID sometimes he does the music. But by late last night, and it had been a really long day, there were prayer groups all around and, you know, The Bible talks about unity in the body of Christ and the power of God present. And I am so excited about two, people that we are going to meet right now. Because among the signs of the end of time, I really believe is an outpouring of God's spirit, especially among Jewish people. Bert. And we're seeing that I truly believe.
>> Bert Harper: Don't you? Well, we've talked about it quite a bit that now in Israel itself, there's more believers there than there ever has been before as far as their numbers are going. And, I do believe that I'm seeing God do a great work, and I, praise God for it. By the way, let me get one more word in about last night. Went to a movie last night.
>> Alex McFarland: Okay.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah, yeah. Guess what it was called. A Great Awakening.
>> Alex McFarland: A Great Awakening.
>> Bert Harper: Yes. It's Sight and Sound. You've heard of Sight? Branson and Lancaster. Let me see. Lancaster.
>> Alex McFarland: The big theater and.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah, big theater. But they made movies. One of the movies they made was, the Bells. I Heard the Bells. You know, I Heard the Bells on Christmas about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Great movie. Recommend it. And they've made a new one now. It's called A Great Awakening. It's about. And you get. Get ready for it. You'll want to go see it. Guess who? Ben Franklin.
>> Alex McFarland: Okay.
>> Bert Harper: And George Whitfield.
>> Alex McFarland: Oh, my goodness.
>> Bert Harper: I would. I knew you would respond that way. Yes. And the acting is tremendous. The, the whole aspect. They just sight and sound do it first rate.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.
>> Bert Harper: They didn't lose that on the movie. They do it that way as well. So I recommend it.
>> Alex McFarland: amen.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah, it was great.
>> Alex McFarland: Folks, be encouraged. No matter where you're listening, God is at work. And the very same God that sent revival to Southern California in the early 70s, the Jesus movement, the very same God that is winning millions to Christ in China, like, every month. Well, God is at work everywhere, and he can be at work in your community as well. And we've got with us right now. I'm so excited. Just, Joshua and Caleb. not. Not the Joshua and Caleb in the Old Testament, but Joshua and Caleb Colson. They are siblings. They are part of the family of God. They are Jewish believers in Messiah. They are the bearded Bible brothers, part of Zola Levitt Ministries. And I want to say welcome. Years, ago, I had the privilege of meeting Zola Levitt at one of these conventions. I know a bit about that ministry. But we welcome you to afr, the American Family Radio Network. Folks, give an ear to the bearded Bible brothers, welcome.
>> Bert Harper: Thank you so much for having us. I almost feel like it's a disservice on radio to not somehow get my beard to speak for me as well. So I don't know if I'm going to rub it on the microphone once, and then I'm going to be respectful.
>> Bert Harper: You're talking about heavy beards, these guys. what'd you take, two days to grow what y' all got, man? Good.
>> Bert Harper: Two and a half, three days. Yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: No one wants to use that microphone.
Your mother is a messianic Jew and you believe in Jesus
>> Alex McFarland: So, I want to hear your story. you're Jewish and you believe in Jesus. Glory to God. How did you. I mean, did you grow up in a Christian family?
>> Bert Harper: So our mother is a messianic Jew. She was a Jewish orphan when she was a little girl, and at 8 years old, she was in an abusive home. She was on the back porch, and Jesus visited her and said, I'm your dad. And she cultivated a relationship with Jesus, before she'd ever been taught anything, before she'd ever been to a service that tried to explain who he was or a synagogue to say who he wasn't. And so when we were raised, we were raised with the benefit to understand from the very beginning that Yeshua was our Messiah, that he was the fulfillment of scripture. We got to see what the Bible says in signs, wonders, and miracles. We never really had to believe by faith because God blessed us with the able to see everything with our visual eyes, and not just our spiritual eyes. And from the youngest of moments, we were instilled with the idea that God had created us for a purpose. And that purpose was to reach others for him. And that kind of set the stage for us.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen.
Josh Cohen has been a missionary for over 25 years spreading the Gospel
so how did God bring you to this point where you are in evangelistic ministry? And, tell me about that.
>> Alex McFarland: It's very interesting. Josh has been a missionary for over 25 years, going around the world spreading the Gospel. And, I started with a film degree. We both went to college as well to get a film degree. And I joined Zola Levitt Ministries in 2006, just two months before Zola passed away to be with the Lord. And, I was just working behind the scenes, you know, doing their television, running their cameras, editing. And, after getting close to everyone and, you know, 12 years later, they're like, you guys know more about the Bible than our hosts. And we'd have, you know, Bible showdowns, you know, trivia. And Josh also worked, freelance with him as well. And so they wanted Us to start a tell a online show for social media called the Bearded Bible Brothers. That's, that's the moniker we came up with because we felt that Bible literacy in the church was gone. Like most common believers didn't know the word of God. And we wanted people to search for word of God for themselves, but we wanted to do an affirmative, entertaining way from a Jewish perspective to try to lead people to want and desire that word for themselves.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Bert Harper: Well, when I hear that, you know, Bible just knowledge, the lack of that. Now let me. I'm older than all of you guys. Okay. So I was in m. School when Bible reading and prayers was a part of the public school. It was just a part of it, asking the blessing before we ate, you know, and doing all that. And I found out even in my little. Now it was a little community in Mississippi and we would get out of school. We could get permission to get out of school to go to the local churches had two churches, a Baptist church and a Methodist church. And we would get out of school, walk down to those churches and hear the Bible preached the word of God. And even the roughest kids, really, regardless of where they were from, they were getting out of school. So they would go down there and they would hear the word of God preached and proclaimed. That was the world that I grew up in. And it was. So guess what? The Bible knowledge was significant even in to those that didn't have a reason of Sunday school or even church. But because of that and the school and that, it was amazing. So the lack of knowledge, what's that? Scripture something for the lack of knowledge.
>> Alex McFarland: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. So there it is, the public school I grew up in in North Carolina, we always had a Christmas play, a Christmas concert. I played Joseph in the manger scene, Joseph, Mary, the wise man in the public school. Pleasant Garden Elementary. We had a public school for a full out Christmas play. And there was Santa Claus and Jingle Bells.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: But then there was the nativity scene.
>> Bert Harper: Incredible.
>> Alex McFarland: And I mean that, that would be.
>> Bert Harper: Was that the climax kind of.
>> Alex McFarland: Oh yeah, it was. I mean the kind of the climax. And every year. And I remember the children I was in school with, up through about sixth grade, they were like, oh, I want to play Joseph. I want to play one of the wise men. I want to play one of the shepherds. Yes. In the public school Christmas play. I guess my point is we've drifted a long, long way.
>> Bert Harper: Oh how?
>> Alex McFarland: Very far. Very far from what God Intended.
>> Alex McFarland: But I am so excited for one thing. In my home state of North Carolina, there are many, many, many Jewish people. Greensboro, where I, grew up, is, a city really built by the Jewish people. There was a family, the Cohen family, the Sternberger schools, the Moses H. Cone hospital. some of them are believers, most are not. We love them dearly. We try to build bridges.
Christianity has a fear of missing ministering to Jewish people
If you would, guys, talk about how we can begin to talk to our Jewish friends about Yeshua, the Messiah.
>> Bert Harper: I think, number one, Christians have a fear of missing ministering to Jewish people. There's this idea that if you go up to a Jew, you're like, let me tell you about the Bible, that they're going to bust out, you know, the completely memorized Torah on you, and they're going to call you out in every scripture and you're going to fail miserably, and your pastor is going to, you know, kick you out of church. But a lot of Jewish people today don't have that knowledge whatsoever. Especially in Israel. We see that the nation of Israel actually has more secular Jews than they have Orthodox Jews, by percentage wise. And so, first of all, you got to get rid of the fear. And second of all, you have to get rid of any kind of condemnation that may be in your heart that might have built up. Not everybody has that. but it's about showing them the love of Yeshua. First to compel them, and then you get to show them the Scripture. The scripture is parallel, Caleb. Show them your favorite way of telling them.
>> Alex McFarland: You go and you use Isaiah 53, which is the unspoken chapter that most rabbis don't teach. And in fact, most rabbis just teach, you know, the Talmud, Mishnah, Gemara. They don't want to go directly to the scripture. They want to do the interpretation of Torah. because when you really go to various chapters, they can't explain because only Yeshua Messiah is the direct fulfillment of those chapters. And there's no other way to explain it, unless you want to make it figurative or symbolic or something like that. but love is key and paramount. And we've seen the hearts of the Jewish people since we were there on October 7th till after. Soften even the Orthodox, when Christians. And when we come and share the love of Yeshua with them, and they're open to hearing it.
>> Alex McFarland: Right.
>> Bert Harper: When I hear that. Go ahead, Alex, you go.
>> Alex McFarland: Well, October 7, 2023.
>> Alex McFarland: Yes, sir.
>> Alex McFarland: you were in Israel then?
>> Bert Harper: Yes, sir. We were actually filming that morning before we knew anything about anything. I was on camera in, Abigosh, in front of, of the second largest mosque in Israel. And I was speaking about Josiah, and literally missiles started firing over my head. The Iron Dome shot him down. And my brother's behind the camera spinning his finger in a circle going, go. Keep going, keep going, keep going. And as the Holy Spirit welled up inside of me, the salvation messages came out stating that there's going to be a multitude of people today, they're going to lose their life and live eternally separated from the Father if they don't choose today. And about that moment, the sirens went off and we knew something was happening. And tears just began to fall down my face. And we got through that message and people were being evacuated into bomb shelters and all this stuff was happening. And God called us for the remainder of the time we were stuck during October 7th to go out in the streets to love people, to pray over people in the name of Jesus in Jerusalem, which doesn't happen normally, and then have people come to you and line up and want that, because the fear was so great. The only thing to combat that fear is the love of Yeshua.
>> Bert Harper: When you hear stories like that and it talks about crisis now, the, liberal don't waste a crisis.
>> Alex McFarland: Oh, yeah.
>> Bert Harper: Can I say something? We as believers don't need to waste one either. What you guys did in this crisis was come through with truth, not with lies. And so there's always going to be crisis, you know what I mean? In your life, in our society, in our family, you're dealing with them all the time. So truth. And I'd say one other thing about it, that courage y' all didn't, y' all didn't find when y' all didn't.
>> Bert Harper: When, you know God's called you to be someplace, that's the safest place you can be. And that sounds just like a scripture, but the scripture is the truth, and you have to live by that. Yes, sir. And that's what that's. We knew immediately. And from that point, you say, not about not wasting it. It can be easy. We were tired. We had already been filming for a week before. We were exhausted with 20 hour days. I was wanting to go to sleep, and little brother here was like, no, we gotta do this and we gotta do this. And I know he listens to Jesus. So I was like, okay, we're gonna do this. But every opportunity that was taken was an opportunity that God was using him. Too often. We are predetermining how God is gonna work in our lives. How he can or cannot use us as opposed to just being obedient.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Bert Harper: Wasting time with the why? Trying to show God your better plan is simply that it's wasting time. He asks us to be obedient for a reason. And when we are, that's when he's able to change the, the sphere of influence like you've never even imagined.
>> Alex McFarland: Before we get too much further, you're listening to the bearded Bible brothers, Joshua and Caleb Colson, websites.
>> Bert Harper: Bearded Bible Bros.com.
>> Alex McFarland: bearded Bible Bros B R O S. Yes sir.
>> Bert Harper: Yep.
>> Alex McFarland: Bearded Bible Bros dot com. And I'm sure you're on YouTube and
>> Bert Harper: all the channels, everything you can think social media and ones I didn't know the other day. So yes, they're developing more. Yes sir, they are.
Alex Martin: How do Western Jews react to Biblical messianic passages
>> Darara Gubbo: But let's about talk, talk a little
>> Alex McFarland: more about the unspoken chapter of Isaiah 53. Bert and I are wrapping up, about a two month study of Isaiah. Yeah, I think about like Psalm 22 as well. You know, where it says they pierced my hands and my feet. I mean now as a born again Christian, but a gentile, you know, I look at all these things. Matthew 7, I'm sorry, Isaiah 7:14, he'll be born of a virgin. Micah 5:2, he'll be born in Bethlehem. It's like, oh my goodness, of course it's clear this is Jesus. But how do in your opinion, you know, Western Jews that were raised maybe go into synagogue, maybe not maybe nominally Jewish, how do they react to these passages that we think clearly depicted Christ?
>> Alex McFarland: Well, the rabbis teach basically, an all or nothing figurative approach that those messianic passages are just representation of Israel as a whole and the persecution Israel has endured over the ages. You know, the Holocaust and all these things. Oh, Israel has been pierced. You know, Israel has been persecuted. Israel has endured suffering, instead of, you know, making it a singular, Messianic scripture now they believe and still looking for the Messiah. And they have the messianic passages they like and they hold to. But as we all know, they're still looking for that conquering Messiah to come and immediately rule and reign from Jerusalem. And that's why the Jewish people missed it the first time is because they didn't understand the suffering servant, the lamb who was going to be sacrificed. They still wanted someone to come and conquer the Romans. but he will come as the lion of the tribe of Judah one day. And when, when that comes, it's going to be terrifying because he's going to fill the blood up to the horse's bridle. Yeah, that's part of the battle of Armageddon. He's with a sword proceeding out of his mouth and blood dripping down his own garments from what he's eliminated, the enemy. And that's a terrifying vision of his redemption for his Jewish people.
>> Bert Harper: I think when you see revelation with an Orthodox Jewish, when you show them these scriptures, it's because tradition has superseded their own free thought. They've been told this is how you do something from generation to generation and it's not to be questioned. And so when you learn an ideology simply based off of the fact that it is an ideology and all of a sudden you inject your free thought plus the Holy Spirit which has inspired the word of God and you show them and you hold it up, then they can only do two things. They can only reject it out of a hardness of their heart or they have to accept that it that's written on the very pages that they claim to be their word of God. And so now they're faced with something. And if they choose, they get to have that eternal life. And if they don't, they have the opportunity and that is the gospel. You have to make a choice.
>> Alex McFarland: Wow.
>> Bert Harper: Well Alex, thank you for meeting these guys and bringing them with us. And we've got another segment. We're going to find out some more about them, aren't we?
>> Alex McFarland: I believe the Holy Spirit is being poured out on the world today and especially among the Jewish people. I want to hear from Joshua and Caleb about that when Exploring the Word comes back after this.
>> Bert Harper: Will you take a moment and celebrate life with me?
Last year preborn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies from abortion
Last year preborn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies from abortion. Hi, this is Burt Harper and I want to thank you for your partnership. Think about what you did. 67,000 babies are taking their first breath now because of you. Your $28 sponsored one ultrasound that was given to a woman as she was deciding about the future of her child. Once she saw her precious baby for the first time and heard that sweet heartbeat, her baby's chance at life doubled. But preborn's mission is not only to rescue babies lives, but also to lead women to Christ. Last year Preborn network clinics saw 8,900 women receive salvation. Your help is crucial to continue their life saving work. The problem with bumper music is we cut it off. I mean, you know, he'll and I. Man, I want to hear it now. Trouble is when do I interrupt, you know, to bring it in? But today we're doing that Again, Alex has told you, we are in Nashville, Tennessee at the National Religious Broadcasters meeting, and it's once a year and it is part of the highlights of afr. we get a lot of people up here and broadcast from here and we meet a lot of interesting people. I want you to introduce them again.
Alex: Truth versus tradition can be a battle in any church
But first, as we finished, I could not help but pick on truth versus tradition. Jewish. Can I say Baptist?
>> Bert Harper: Yeah, definitely.
>> Bert Harper: I think it is true no matter what church, it is truth versus tradition. Now, it's awesome when tradition and truth line up, but when they are contrary to one another, it's about. It can be a battle, Alex.
>> Alex McFarland: Exactly.
Since October of 23, anti Semitism seems to have increased
Guys, I want to ask you. oddly enough, Since October of 23, anti Semitism seems to have increased. I mean, you would think, an unprovoked massacre of Jewish people by Islamic jihadists. I thought, well, maybe they'll. Because I speak at a lot of colleges and in the secular academic world, it's like tolerance is the word of the day, except for Jewish people. It's like the one racism that gets a pass is hatred of Jewish people for centuries. It's, It's. Well, Mark M. Twain. I'm, going to say this. I'll throw it to you guys. Mark Twain, the famous writer, was an agnostic and really probably an atheist, but Mark Twain. And this was even several decades before the rebirth of the nation of Israel, May 14, 1948. But Mark Twain said, if there's anything that makes me believe that God and the supernatural might be real, it's the Jewish people.
>> Bert Harper: Wow.
>> Alex McFarland: and here's my point. Isn't it ironic, a disproportionately small part of the human race, Jews. And yet this unbridled animosity, this contempt, this, dare I say, hatred of Jesus, it speaks to the spiritual dynamic at play here, doesn't it?
>> Bert Harper: How do you know when a battle is spiritual? When it makes no sense in the physical. So we're sitting here in Israel, October 7th happens. We get about 48 hours of support online, back home because we're posting every day. We're posting throughout the day. Where we're at, what's happening, how people can pray for us because our families want us home. This is all happening. 48 hours of support. And immediately after 48 hours, we start getting all of the hate pro Palestine. And you see these college campuses around America where kids who have no background or knowledge whatsoever to even understand what the term Palestine even means or who they're supporting are holding these flags up. They're throwing all these anti Semitic slurs out. They had no experience with World War II, with the Holocaust, with understand their generation does. But it happens overnight. That's when you know it has to be a spiritual battle because it is impossible, legitimate, logistically, for the mind to just all of a sudden hate when it has no reason to hate. And yet we see that. And that's what racism has been ever since that concept came about.
>> Bert Harper: Sure. when I hear that you talking about the small amount of the Jewish people, think about the strip of land, how small it is.
>> Bert Harper: That's smaller than NewSong Jersey.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah. And so what you do with God, I mean, it's the whole thing, faith. You mean you'd be saved by faith alone. You catch what I'm saying? it's always small, but it's small thing. And that's how God confuses and it confounds is the word I written. God confounds the human mind that he could pick a group of people, a piece of land, a person, the Lord Jesus that the world comes against with just about every fiber of their being is the being.
>> Alex McFarland: How can the churches in America show advocacy for the Jewish people, for Israel, and thereby stand against anti Semitism? And by the way, I'm just going to say what it is, and some of my Jewish friends say it's Jew hatred. And we need to say this for what it is, Jew hatred. How do we stand against that and with God's help, suppress and maybe even eradicate?
>> Alex McFarland: Well, I believe that, antisemitism really derives from the spirit of Antichrist. And we know and we're told that that's coming. And we know and we're told that hatred will increase against the Jewish people toward the time of the end. So there's really no eradicating it. But as a church, we need to steer believers away from adopting the lies of the world. And we see a lot of lies with replacement theology being taught in the church saying the Jews were Christ killers. They're not the real chosen people. The Jews in the land aren't really Hebrews, they're Khazars. They're, you know, every lion of a sun. And so, yes, we need to go to the church and we need to use the word of God to instill truth in them and also, bring that which they fear the most to them, which is Jewish people. You know, the Jews were called to be a light unto the Gentiles. We were the original evangelists.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: And then it turned around and it became Gentiles. That were leading Jews, to faith. And that was obviously a part of God's plan that Paul declared to bring jealousy to our people so that they will want Messiah, so that they will accept it. But really, we need to speak, the word of God, which is not spoken and not taking out of context to believers and say, first you got to get your doctrine right, then go and support the nation that has prophetically fulfilled the word of God in Ezekiel 36 and 37. You know all over Scripture about the return of the land in Amos 9, never again will they be uprooted from the land I've given them, says the Lord their God. So no matter what you want to do, you cannot uproot the Jews from the land that God has given them.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Bert Harper: When I. When I hear this, guys, I am just so, excited about how God's using you guys. A podcast, all you said, every way you can carry, communicate.
>> Alex McFarland: We have a TV show, too.
>> Darara Gubbo: Amen.
>> Bert Harper: M. Wow. We'll keep it up. But here's. Here's what it. It hit me and you got on it, you know, replacement theology. That theology has not been replaced. But God's purpose with his people, no matter who his people is, is missional. Yes, you said it right there. The purpose was to bring the light to the Gentiles, and now Gentiles trying to bring light to the Jews. And the purpose has not changed. So you can't replace God's purpose for
>> Alex McFarland: who he has chosen.
>> Bert Harper: Caleb and I are two separate people, but we have the same dad. That means that we have the same inheritance that comes from our Father because we are brothers, and Christians and Jews are brothers because of Jesus and his sacrifice. But one doesn't replace the other. The Christian doesn't take the identity of the Jew, and the Jew doesn't take the identity of the Christian. And if for some reason God could break his covenant with Abraham, then why is your salvation safe as a Christian? Why do you feel okay, if God can all of a sudden arbitrarily start breaking his word, it can't be done. Everything he says is truth or nothingness. And that's the only way you can look at it.
>> Alex McFarland: Would you speak to this? because I've heard, especially college students, they'll say, well, the Jews that live in Israel today aren't really biblical Jews. And, you know, I've often said, you know, well, if. If the Jews in Israel aren't Israelites, who is? You know?
You say DNA testing proves that Jews are likely near Christ's return
But how do you respond to that? That, And by the way, I Was on NPR with, someone from the National Jewish Federation. And they said every Jewish person is descended from either Raechel, Rebecca, Leah or Sarah. but how do you guys defend that? These really the Jews, we're great note
>> Bert Harper: takers as Jews, by the way. We keep fantastic records. All of the jokes about us is because of that great record keeping. So I just want to say that off the bat, we have our paperwork. We can show you.
>> Alex McFarland: The Jewish people have throughout all the synagogues, kept their families genealogies going back to the time of Esther. we have that epic evidence. As historians, we were chronicles of the word of God, but we also chronicled our own personal history. DNA testing proves the same thing as an anecdotal experience. Whenever someone tells me that, I say, well, then Hitler got it wrong. He used a lot of resources to kill the wrong people. But Satan knows who the right people are, and he would not be wasting his resources with every Arab nation under the sun surrounding Israel and fulfilling God's prophetic word. I mean, we see Jerusalem was returned to the Jewish people, fulfilling prophecy, the fig tree blossom, like you said on May 14, 1948. These are prophetic moments, that God has declared in his word. They are unmovable. They are called the moedim, just like the appointed times. And when he fulfills that, he doesn't make a mistake. And so just the existence people group returning to the ancestral homeland and being reborn. And they called their nation Israel. They had a million different names, you know, where are they going to call this nation? And here Ben Gurion goes up to Microsoft and says, we shall be called Israel. For a man who did not believe in God, you know, he was more of an agnostic. He sure did prophetically fulfill God's word.
>> Darara Gubbo: Wow.
>> Bert Harper: Funny how God's bigger than your disbelief, right?
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, exactly. Exactly. What time is it? Because how much time do we have? What time is it there?
>> Alex McFarland: 3:51.
>> Alex McFarland: Praise God. I have to tell you something. I want you to comment because, I really do think that we're likely near Christ's return.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: For a lot of reasons. a couple of months ago on American Family Radio, I interviewed, Dr. Micah Rydelnik. born again Jewish believer, longtime faculty member at Moody Bible Institute and now at Cornerstone University. And we were talking about how 50 years ago during the Jesus movement, a lot of people got satellites. Moishe Rosen.
>> Alex McFarland: Yes. Jews for Jesus.
>> Alex McFarland: Jews for Jesus. Sam Nadler of Chosen People. a dear friend of ours, Barry Leventhal, he's with the Lord now, Dr. Micah Brown, Dr. Micah Rydelnik said this, and this is exciting. He said, Alex, 50, 55 years ago, he said, I knew most of the Messianic Jews like, in the world because there weren't that many. He said, maybe 3, 400. He said, Today we can't even count all the Messianic Jews in NewSong York City.
>> Bert Harper: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: And he said, very likely there are more Jewish believers in Jesus in 2026 than at any time previously since Pentecost.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: A, is that really true? And B, what does that mean spiritually?
>> Alex McFarland: That is absolutely true. And I believe it's prophetic. There's many scriptures that allude to it. But most importantly, we look in Joel, chapter two, verse 23. Now, Peter on the day of Pentecost prophetically declared, your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions. He was declaring that to Jewish people. It was a prophecy, prophecy to the Jews. And he said, it's being fulfilled right now. But there is dual fulfillments in prophecy, and we know that, such as, Daniel 9:27, Antiochus Epiphanes fulfilled the abomination, and then there is going to be a beast that fulfills the abomination in the future, as Yeshua said in Matthew 24. but I believe in Joel 2:23 talks about a former rain and a latter rain. And I know people have taken that into a latter rain movement. And it got all super weird. That that truly means that there's going to be an outpour first. And then Satan tried to squash it, you know, with the Christianization of Rome. And then there's going to be outpouring right at the end. And it says in the last days, it says, in these last times. And Yeshua means it that in these last moments, his people are going to be the vehicle to which salvation comes to the world. One more time. We know the 144,000 are, just a small fraction of that and the two witnesses. But we're talking about before the tribulation, before the end. And that's the moment that we're living in now. And we're seeing it all across Israel. Messianic congregations popping up left and right and. And yes, we still feel like we know everyone in the Messianic Jewish world, but it's growing to a point that we don't. And that is prophetic.
>> Alex McFarland: Praise God.
Love is the key thing and the unity that brings us together
>> Bert Harper: One of the things, and I wanted to get it in, one of my best friends is, Messianic Jew. And he Was raised in Florida.
>> Bert Harper: I love him.
>> Bert Harper: Yeah, yeah.
>> Bert Harper: It's a joke.
>> Darara Gubbo: We knew it.
>> Bert Harper: We know all.
>> Bert Harper: Probably. Perfect timing, man. Comedy, is timing, isn't it? Okay. But anyway, he at school, okay. He's close to my age, came home singing Jesus Loves Me. A Jewish guy, his mother would say, no, no, no, the rabbi loves you. And when I first heard that, I said, yeah, that's what they call Jesus Rabbi. And I said, aren't you glad he loves you? And again, they asked the great theologian what's the greatest truth in all the Bible? Jesus loves me. And honestly, it doesn't get any better than that, guys, does it?
>> Bert Harper: It doesn't.
>> Bert Harper: he loves even me.
>> Bert Harper: The gospel has been made about so many things over the generations, and we can simplify it down to the love that Yeshua has for us, the Father has for us. And if we would put everything else aside and if we would stop fighting over the denominational differences and all these different things that literally just slow us down and create division, which falls into the plan of the enemy. And we focused on the fact that the Father loves everyone so much that he doesn't want anyone to perish. And we shift, ah, that gear and us showing that kind of love and operating in that in a daily basis instead of anything else being the priority. I mean, Yeshua could come back now, right? We would have given Lord Jesus.
>> Bert Harper: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: John 13 says, by this will all men know that you're my disciples. If you have love one for another,
>> Bert Harper: I will say this. Alex and I, we're. We love the Word. We want to live the Word, teach the Word, but we're doing our best to bring people who love the Lord Jesus together and not be divided over. Over those things. There are some things you got to stand on quickly, but I believe you can stand in love and not in bitterness and hatred, guys. Absolutely.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah. There's only one way to salvation. That's through Yeshua. and that's a foundational truth that we cannot say, oh, we can't. We'll just forget about that. But there's other things that aren't that foundational. And, we can find our differences and things like that even in Messianic Judaism. But, yeah, love is the key thing and the unity that brings us together. If Islam is as united as it is and they're conquering and overcoming, why can't Christianity be even more united? Because that's what our, Heavenly Father told us to be.
Joshua: Time is short. Use that time to share God's love
>> Alex McFarland: I want to do one. We've only got about a minute. And a half, maybe. I want you guys to pray. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. Pray for the salvation of the precious Jewish people. Could you. And we. Like I said, we've got about a minute and a half.
>> Bert Harper: When you hear the music, you'll have a minute left.
>> Alex McFarland: Start in Hebrew, conclude in English. Could you do that?
>> Alex McFarland: Well, Psalm 122. 6 is sha', elushalam, Yerushalayim. Pray for piece of Jerusalem. And though we are Jewish, we don't know Hebrew very well. So I'm going to leave it to Josh to go in English.
>> Alex McFarland: Okay? Lead us to the throne, brother.
>> Bert Harper: Dearly Father, we love you so much. The fact that in all of our mistakes and all of our selfishness and in all of our pride, you sought to give us an opportunity to spend eternity with you, sacrificing your own son. Every day that I live, it becomes even bigger of a mystery how this love can be so enveloping, and yet on a daily basis, we can get caught up in everything but the fact that that love was given to us simply so that we could give it to the world around us. Time is short. The Bible has very clearly laid out what we cannot change as men and women. But what we can do is use that time. Use that time to share this love, to give every person an opportunity to make the right choice. So we pray today, Lord God, that the listeners right now will be moved in their heart that the Great Commission was for every single person in their sphere of influence today, not waiting for a degree not to be pushed off on their pastor, but ask yourself today, who am I to reach with God's love? Thank you, Jesus, for that.
>> Nathan: Thank you.
>> Bert Harper: Amen.
>> Alex McFarland: Thank you, the bearded Bible brothers, Joshua and Caleb. Beardedbiblebros.com thanks for listening. God bless you.
>> Alex McFarland: Thank you.
>> Alex McFarland: The views and opinions expressed in this
>> Bert Harper: broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
