Transcript

Hamilton: God has called us to be ambassadors even in this dark moment

>> Joseph Parker: Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

>> Joseph Parker: It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite, delivering people

>> Abraham Hamilton III: out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies of this world.

>> Joseph Parker: God has called you and me to be his ambassadors even in this dark moment. Let's not miss m our moment.

Alex McFarland welcomes Dr. Robert Linstead to the Hamilton Corner

>> Abraham Hamilton III: And now, the Hamilton Corner.

>> Alex McFarland: President Ronald Reagan famously said, where violence begins, freedom ends. And with that quote, I welcome you to this edition of the hamilton corner. Alex McFarland here and we've got a great show. We're going to talk about a number of things and we're going to talk about what some have called social murder. Some months ago, the CEO of United of American, this insurance company called United Healthcare, Brian Thompson, was just, ah, gunned down in midtown Manhattan just before the end of last year. And the perpetrator, those on the left, said it was justified because, like all health insurance companies, United Health Care Net, they pay some claims and ask for clarification on others and then deny some claims. And so those on the left, much like the people that celebrated the assassination of my friend Charlie Kirk, they say because there are ideologies with which they disagree, that violence is somehow justified. And to that supposition, we disagree. And we will discuss this and more. Alex McFarland here. I'm greeting you from Oklahoma City. I've been on the road, had a wonderful weekend in Wichita, Kansas, and somebody that I met there that I really was impressed with. And frankly we had a wonderful, wonderful afternoon doing some television, conversing about many things. Dr. Robert Linstead, and he is quite an accomplished man. he is the founder and leader of Sunrise Christian Academy. Also has, a doctorate in mathematics. And that in itself deeply intrigues me because I think math has wonderful value for apologetics and defending the existence of God. But I wanted to have him on, AFR with me tonight. We'll talk about a lot of things, but without further ado, Dr. Robert Linstead.

Alex McFarland welcomes Dr. Linstad to the American Family Radio Network

Welcome to the American Family Radio Network.

>> Speaker D: Hi Alex. Good to be back with you today.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, it's good to be back with you, sir. I think I'm hearing like a, an echo or something. I'm not sure if you've got to dampen the volume on your laptop or something like that, but for those that may be unaware, give us a little background on yourself if you would, Doctor.

>> Speaker D: Well, I'm going to have you repeat that question because I'm, I'm getting

>> Alex McFarland: on your laptop or something like that. But for those that maybe. Okay, mute your laptop if you would, so that, we're not getting that echo. And tell us about yourself, if you would. Yourself, if you would, Doctor.

>> Speaker D: Okay, let's see if I could so

>> Alex McFarland: that, we're not getting that echo. Okay, I'll tell you what. Let's mute Dr. Linstead until we can get his audio ironed out. Alex McFarland here on the American Family Radio Network. and, if I could get the engineers to let me know when we've got the audio smoothed out. Let me tell you about what I'm doing tonight, and then we'll get to Dr. Linstad.

Alex Carland will speak on biblical worldview and Q and A tonight

But I have the great privilege. I'm at a restaurant in Oklahoma City called Bedlam Barbecue. this is really awesome. Jeff Watts and his staff. We're having a men's dinner tonight, a Monday night men's gathering. And I'm going to talk about biblical worldview and Q and A. And we'll just take all kind of questions like we did Saturday night. By the way, you know, one of the interesting, well, I say interesting. It's a matter of concern for our culture is that the body of Christ, the 100 million strong body of believers, in America, we believe they really need to be able to defend the Christian faith and defend the biblical worldview. Rise to the challenge of 1st Peter 3:15 and be ready to give an answer. so Grant Garwood started something in Wichita called the Honest Questions Project. It was my great privilege to speak over the weekend and he'll be with us later on, in the program. And, I've got again this summer, my Conversations that Matter series. Last summer we had Dinesh d' Souza and Charlie Kirk. Well, this summer, and you can get complete information at my website, which is alexmcfarland.com. we're going to have Eric Metaxas. And Eric Metaxas has written a brand new book on the 250th birthday of America. And then we're going to have two former Muslims, Kamal Saleem and Mohammad Faridi. Later on talking about the threat of Sharia and how we must, we must. And, they'll teach us how to do it. Bring Muslims to Christ. I'm going to be speaking about revival in America and what are the personal steps we all can take to help foster and encourage a spiritual awakening in our nation. But, My website is alexmcfarland.com and if you go to my speaking calendar, I'm all over the country. But our Conversations that matter speaker series, I would really be grateful if you would, pray, promote and plan to attend.

One last thing that I'm going to bring up, Dr. Linstead, again is our equip summer camps

One last thing that I'm going to, try to bring up, Dr. Linstead, again is our equip summer camps. And folks, you've heard me. Every year around this time, we talk about, Montana, upstate NewSong Jersey in the Hudson River Valley. We talk about Florida, we talk about, the fact that we'll be in two places in North Carolina, the refuge camp, which is in the eastern part of North Carolina, Brevard in the mountains. And Carl Kirby, Frank Figueroa, Holly Varnum, Dave Glander, myself. We've been evangelizing and equipping teenagers for 30 years. And the equip camps, I tell moms and dads, youth leaders invest a week that can count for a lifetime. The website for those equipretreat.org what we're trying to do, we're trying to woke proof your kids. Now I'm told that I have Dr. Robert Linstadt back. I'm going to try this again. Dr. Linstead, are you there, sir?

>> Speaker D: Yes, I think I can hear you. I hope you can hear me.

>> Alex McFarland: I can hear you. You sound great. And I, think we've got that, that, feedback under control.

Dr. Linstead founded Sunrise Christian Academy after working in applied math

so introduce yourself. I was just so blessed Friday when we were doing some TV and visiting and hearing about your journey and your service to the Lord. introduce yourself, if you would, brother.

>> Speaker D: Well, I have a PhD in actually in engineering, but it's in kind of in the applied math field. I do models. I make models of the human body and of different, processes. Whether it's a drying process like in soap or coffee or Pringles. but I enjoy applying math to problems of life. And I like not just the math, but I like the, the, the logic of math, of how do you prove something? How do you get from. From one place to another? And, so having taught at the university for a number of years and then, at research labs and IBM and Procter, and Campbell and a consultant with some companies, then it turned out that I needed to educate my own children. And that's how Sunrise Christian Academy came about. And God has blessed it. And now we have a number of international schools associated with us around the world, usually in countries. like we have one in Lebanon, we have one in, Bangladesh. We're getting ready to start one in India and in Wa. It's kind of a. It's a little country stuck in between China and Burma. And so usually we go to a country that's suffering politically and, But you find it an excellent way to present the gospel? Because I really believe that when people see a worldview from a Christian point of view, it's the healthiest, it's the happiest point of view. And just like the problems that we've been talking about, you mentioned the whole idea of, a murder. Social murder. Wow. And then this weekend we had something called political murder. you know, I thought murder was murder.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Speaker D: And so we.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly.

>> Speaker D: We come to accept a, violence. Violence to become a way of life. How did that happen? Well, it happened because we begin to leave the bedrocks of how we were raised. And we left the bedrock of what God said. This is the standard by which you can have the best life through Christ. We have eternal life, but in addition to that, we have the best life. If we use God's word as our standard.

>> Alex McFarland: exactly. And you know, it's very troubling, or it should be troubling to all rational adults and certainly freedom loving Americans, when those on the left are so wedding to an ideology that they're willing to murder for it. And I know, Dr. Linstead, I've spoken at a couple of hundred colleges over the last 27 years. And whether it's the environment, whether it's LGBTQ trans issues, whether it's, Marxism versus capitalism, when those on the left, whether they be professors or students, when facts and logic refute their narrative, the meltdown can be pretty vehement and violent. And folks, this is not to be upset or nervous. It is to be prayerful, to be informed, to influence others, and to unflinchingly stand for truth. But, like the killing of Brian Thompson, the CEO of United Healthcare, those on the left, I remember the social media, they were celebrating his assassination because he ran a profitable company. I mean, where are we, Dr. Linstead, as a society? When those that feel like they have not feel justified in fighting, demonizing, even murdering those that they are jealous of?

>> Speaker D: You see, it comes back to the worldview. And so, so they're saying, okay, this, this was justifiable because it was social murder. In other words, he distressed people by his decisions so much that, that they, they felt like they could justify social murder. But again, what's our baseline? What's our value system? The Bible talks about murder, that it's wrong. Why is it wrong? Because man was made in the image of God. And so I think what we have to do is say, look, I can disagree with somebody, but it doesn't mean I, want them dead. If they're not jeopardizing my life or my family's life, I don't want them dead. There's why, why would I want somebody dead just because they disagree with me? So violence have become acceptable today. And we see that even if you watch a basketball game, a pro basketball game, the other night I was watching a pro basketball game. I think they had to break up six or seven fights. now, some violence has become a way of life. We've always been violent people. And let me just use the murder story again because let's go back to the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve sinned. When Adam, Eve sinned, we broke fellowship with God. We were separated from God. And from that moment on, God the Father is looking for a way to bring us back into fellowship with him. The only way he could do that is to send his son, tremendous sacrifice to do that. But in promising a redeemer, Adam and Eve thought the, the first child born was going to be this, this man from God. They, they named Cain man from God. And the first man from. Born, instead of being a man from God, he turned to be a murderer. So, so how did he, I mean, who taught him the violence to kill your brother? I, I don't know. But let me just, let me just use an imagination for a minute because remember it said that Cain offered a sacrifice and it was the fruits of the field, it was work of his hands, it represented what he could do. But evidently God had established that there would be a, ah, sacrifice and that sacrifice would be blood. It would cost a life. Sin is what brings about, the cost of a life, you know, sin brings death, is what the Bible teaches us. So here's Cain and he says, I don't want to kill an animal, you know, I don't want, you know. Can you imagine having a bloody sacrifice? Why would God want that? Look at, look at my watermelons. Look at my, look at my, melons and my, my berries.

>> Alex McFarland: Dr. Grief said, Forgive me. We've got to take a brief break. You know, I think about how God warned cain in Genesis 6, 4. Sin crouches at the door. It desires to master you, but you must master it. Alex McFarland, Dr. Robert Linstead, the Hamilton corner on AFR. We've got a brief break. We'll Be back after this. Stay tuned.

Joseph Parker: Reading and meditating on God's word is so valuable

>> Speaker D: A, discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.

>> Joseph Parker: Time. Reading and meditating on God's word is so valuable. It blesses you in ways that you and I don't fully comprehend. But remember this, when you're reading the word of God, you're spending time with Jesus. You're spending time in the presence of Jesus. Jesus is touching you, ministering to you, giving you wisdom, insight and the knowledge of God. And let me say to every parent, listening again, having your child to read the Word out loud to you every day, I can't overemphasize how m important that very important spiritual habit is in your home for you and your family as well. Remember, when the child is reading the word of God out loud to you, they're spending time with Jesus. Jesus is touching their life. He's ministering to them. He's pouring grace, peace and light into your child's heart and mind. Nothing will bless your child more than the powerful word of God.

>> Speaker D: Maybe this is you too.

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>> Alex McFarland: Four.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton corner on American Family Radio.

Alex McFarland: Dr. Robert Linstad believes in the Rapture

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here and I am greeting you from Bedlam Barbecue which is on Route 66 in Oklahoma City. This is really awesome and I'm going to speak tonight here in just a little while and if you happen to be in the area, swing on by and we're going to have some Q and A as well. But right now we're talking with gentleman just a Dear colleague in the gospel that I met last week in wichita, Kansas, Dr. Robert Linstad. And, there's a lot we could talk about and we don't have all that much time. I want to shift gears, if we may, and talk about eschatology, end times. And one thing on which you And I agree, Dr. Linstead. look, all of Christians believe Christ is coming back. I believe in the Rapture. I believe before the seven year tribulation there'll be a catching away. The Greek word is harpazo, A, catching away. And, the Rapture is not, appreciated in all quarters. I do think it's biblical. But, Dr. Linstead, talk to us about eschatology a little bit. I know you've been dozens and dozens of times to Israel. You've been in, Christian education for many years. what do you believe we can know about the end times according to God's word?

>> Speaker D: Well, again, I want to be in tune with God's program. And so, as I look at scripture and it talks about the coming of Christ, one, he comes back for the church, that's called the Rapture, the catching out. And when he comes back with the church, it appears to me that what the Apostle Paul was talking about in Thessalonians chapter four, he said, the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, with the trump of God. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together. And so the idea of the Rapture is that, that Christ doesn't come back to the earth, but we meet him in the clouds. And yet the revealing of Christ, which I believe comes at the end of the tribulation. The Bible speaks of the fact that Christ will come back. And when he does, the host of heaven will be with him. I plan to be in that group. And he will put his feet on the Mount of Olives, he'll split it in two. So one huge difference is that one of them Christ comes and he's in the air. We meet him in the air. The other Christ comes back to the earth. One, he comes back for his bride, for the Christians, when he comes back with the Christians. And so there's a huge difference between these two. The other thing that's interesting to me, do you know that in the Bible there's really seven incredible examples of rapture, of catching out. And so, so some people make it sound like, okay, this is a freak thing that Darby invented or somebody invented. But think about, remember, the, the character by the name of Enoch. The Bible said they walk with God and he was taken. Or how about Elijah?

>> Alex McFarland: He was not, for God took him.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Yeah.

>> Speaker D: And so. And then, Then you come to, Jon, chapter four, and here's the Apostle Jon. And in chapter four, verse one, it says, you know, he heard a voice, as it were, of a trumpet, and said, come up here. And Jon now finds himself in heaven. And, you look at the Lord Jesus. He was taken up, you know, from the earth. Or how about in Corinthians, where Paul, I think he's talking about himself. He said, I know a man, you know, in the flesh or not, I'm not sure. But he said he was caught up. Caught up. The idea. Caught up. Taken up into the third heaven. And so as you look at these, God did this as a way to bring people to him, because his plan is to reveal Christ at the end of this tribulation when it comes to judge the Antichrist and to judge the false prophet and to restrict Satan himself for a thousand years. And so God has a plan. And I think what we have to do, we have to study the scripture. Let's find the plan that God has. Let's not invent our own plan. any plan I would invent would be horrible compared to the plan that God has. So I'm pretty excited about the fact that God has a plan. And that plan is to take his bride, the church believers, off the earth out of this current situation. And I think it's before the Tribulation. Why? Because he said that the church does not have to go through the wrath of God. That's his promise. I think Christ went through the wrath of God.

>> Alex McFarland: You're not appointed to wrath.

>> Speaker D: Yeah. And so if we're not appointed to wrath, and the tribulation is a wrath, then then, Wow. We won't go through it. Alex, here's another thing. If we got two or three minutes, let me play it backwards. Because the Tribulation begins in Revelation, chapter six. It comes on a white horse as a bow. And he brings about the same situations that are talked about in Matthew, chapter 24. Exactly the same, in exactly the same order. Now, but the Antichrist, who's revealed in chapter six, he can't be revealed until chapter five. In chapter five, the Lamb gets the scroll from God the Father. But the Lamb, which is Jesus, doesn't get the scroll until all the Christians have laid their crowns at the feet of God the Father. And we can't lay our crowns at the feet of God the Father until we get them, and we don't get them until the Rapture. And so when you play it backwards, it's impossible for the church not to be in heaven when the tribulation breaks loose, because the Rapture occurs in chapter four, and the tribulation begins in chapter six. So there's over a dozen different arguments that show the beauty of God's plan. And so, wow, I'm, you know, I. I like. I like the Lord's Prayer, you know. Our Father, which art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. And so I want the will of God. And he says this. Thy kingdom come, Thy kingdom come on earth, as is in heaven. So, so my job is not to invent, a plan. My job is to say, let's study the pattern of Scripture. And just like in engineering and math, there's patterns, and those patterns are things that are beautiful. And so the idea that there's really seven different raptures, of which the church is one of those to me, is, the idea here is God given us a complete analysis of the fact that, yes, he's going to deliver some, like he did Enoch, like he did Elijah. He's going to deliver them off of the earth into his presence. And here's another one. I'm sure you're aware of this, but maybe our listeners.

Dr. Robert Linstead: I wake up every day thinking about Rapture

>> Alex McFarland: Let me ask you this before we continue on, though, but let me ask you this before we continue on for just a second. can we know how, close we are to the Rapture, or if we are close to the Rapture? Is that knowable?

>> Speaker D: Well, we don't know the day or the hour, but he said, it's like a woman in travail. And so we know, okay, here she is. And we look at her, and we can't say, okay, you're gonna have the child, you know, tomorrow or the next week. But he says in Matthew, he said, the evil servant has said in his heart, my dear Lord, my Lord, delays is coming one more day. And so I'm going to be honest with you. I wake up every day saying, wow, this could well be the day that, Jesus comes back. So I want to live in anticipation of that event. And if I go my whole life trying to live that way, that's okay. Because to me, it seems like that's what the Apostle Paul was doing. He thought he would be. He said, bring my coat, because for the next season of life, bring the books. The next season of life. But he said, I'm ready to die. So he was ready to die. He was ready for the next season of life. He was planning. But at the same time, he thought he'd be alive when Christ came back. So, as a Christian, I think we triple think. Every decision I make, you know, someone asked me, okay, why are you going to build another school in India? You know, why are you going to. Why are you planning a new addition to the school here in Bel Air? Here's why. Because I think God rewards us, for what we intend to do. Look at Abraham and Isaac. You know, when you read the account of Abraham, it said that Abraham offered up Isaac. And I say, wait a minute, he didn't. He was stopped, but he intended to. And so God rewarded him just like he had offered up his son. And so that's why I think, as I see the Lord coming soon. Wow. I want to do everything I can to promote the gospel. I'm going to do everything I can to do things. Why? Because God's going to bless what I intend to do. If I could live out my whole life.

>> Alex McFarland: Dr. Linstadt, the great CS Lewis said the exact same thing. It's funny. and by the way, for those just tuning in, Alex McFarland here with my guest, Dr. Robert Linstead.

C.S. lewis said in 1954 that Christ is coming back

We're talking about, when the church is caught away. But in 1954, C.S. lewis was interviewed by Eternity Mass magazine about the return of Christ. And C.S. lewis said, Very famously, I've used this quote in literally hundreds of places. It m. May be my favorite closing illustration. But he said, Christ is coming back. Time will come to an end. History as we know it will come to a conclusion, but that does not absolve us of the responsibilities to carry out our day by day calling. And C.S. lewis said, the animals on the farm may not get fed. Our great plans for tomorrow may not be carried to fruition, but it didn't matter. The important thing is this. We are at our post when the inspection comes. And, that's kind of what you said, like, we should make the plans. We should be ready, be faithful. Be ready, be faithful. is that how you read it, brother?

>> Speaker D: Yeah, I sure do. And, you know, okay, if we're the bride of Christ, I. I've never met a bride that wasn't excited about the wedding day. A lot of times they count down, they say, you know, it's six months, it's. It's. It's two weeks, it's. It's four days. It's so many hours. Okay, I'M the bride of Christ. You know, my, my dream is to see Jesus face to face. My dream is to, is to see him in all of his glory. I think I'm going to do that when the church is raptured. And so, every plan I have I can put aside because my dream will come to reality. But I really believe that if we look at the world and we see what the Bible says, there are several things. One is that Israel, Israel is God's timepiece. Sometimes I say that, that if, if Israel is the prophetic time clock, then the nation of Israel, I think is the hour hand, Jerusalem is the minute hand, and the Temple Mount is the second hand. Because so many things revolve Israel coming back as the nation.

>> Joseph Parker: Wow.

>> Speaker D: I, I look at, I look at the, the faithful brethren of, of yesteryear. Some of them, before Israel became a nation, they said, you know what? We think God's going to restore Israel. We don't know when, we don't know how, but he's going to restore Israel. Why? They read the Word of God. They took what God said literally. And wow, how amazing to see Israel come back against insurmountable odds. I mean, who in the world would ever think that Israel could make it back? It was a hand of God. And then I think next is Jerusalem. You know, the Bible talks about how that Jerusalem would be surrounded by the enemies and that people will be fighting over Jerusalem. That's exactly what we're seeing and now we've seen in the last, several months. But it's been going on for longer than that. The Temple Mount, the idea that, that Israel has a desire to sacrifice again. Why is that important? Well, because the Bible says that at the end time, the Antichrist will not make, but he'll confirm the covenant. There's a difference between making and confirming. And, sometimes people.

Do you believe the current war with Iran has prophetic implications

>> Alex McFarland: Let me ask you this, and I know we could do an hour on this, and I'm sure we probably will try to do that. Do you believe the current war with Iran has prophetic implications?

>> Speaker D: Oh, boy, I do. I'm so glad you asked me that question because, wow, Even today, this morning, as I was reading God's word again, I said, wow, Lord, thank you. Because I see how things fit together. Let me just do it kind of in a nutshell, but he's Jeremiah, 49. It talks about, it talks about judgments against so many of the areas around Israel, but one, is against Babylon and Iraq. And I think it was fulfilled in Desert Storm use even the Word Desert Storm, but one that I had a question mark in my Bible because it said, when was this fulfilled? It was on Elam. E L A M Elam. And Elam is, if you go to a Bible commentary, it was written 30 years ago, 40 years ago. They're going to say that that's the area of Persia. Today we call that area Iran. And it talks about how that, that what's going to take place is the launchers, the bows are going to be going to be broken down. It talks about how that, that even the fellow countrymen around him are going to come against it and it's going to involve the entire world. Look what's taking place. The whole world is involved in this. We're at a stalemate because of oil and, and all that Iran was shipping out. Then it says that the king and his princes will be destroyed. We now watch not only the Ayatollah, Khomeini killed, but we watch actually two or three levels of people after that all taken down. And then it says the world now is in disarray. I, I think that's the war section. But, but starting today, in my devotion, I began to divide it into, into three parts. One is the war. Next, Ezekiel 38, it says there's going to come a time that Israel is going to feel comfortable. And when they feel comfortable, they're going to actually have the children playing in the street. Now you mentioned, I've been to Israel a number of times. Let me tell you, children are not playing in the street, they're under. You know, some of my friends have been in the bomb shelter. One, one person told me 15 times in three days. And when, I was there a summer ago, you know, we, we were up and down in the bomb shelters. But the Bible says that something's going to happen. I think it could be this war that Israel is going to say, okay, we can sign a treaty with the Antichrist because we're going to get to sacrifice again. That's the goal of Israel. They do want to sacrifice again. Ben Vere this week made quite a statement. And so I can see that if Iran is neutralized, taken out, defanged of, missiles, I can see Israel saying, okay, we can do it. But then what happens? These nations come against Israel this time not for war. They come for wealth. The Bible says they come forth.

>> Alex McFarland: We are almost out of time in this segment. I know you've got a brand new book out on prophecy. We've got to have you back. And we will unpack this Further, I, beg your forgiveness, Dr. Robert Linstadt. Thank you. We will visit again soon. Stay tuned, folks. we've got to take a brief break. We're going to come back and talk about spreading biblical worldview and equipping the church. We'll talk with a man who's been doing it, Grant Garwood from Kansas. that's who we were with over the weekend in several events. Stay tuned. We're back after this brief break.

>> Kendra: Fostering and adoption is not a band aid for infertility. Like, it is a calling and God can change the desire of your heart and make that so rewarding. It's the most, beautiful, selfless thing. It's pure, pure religion, but it's not a fix to I desire biological challenge. God has to deal with that in your heart separately.

>> Alex McFarland: Hannah's heart encouraging couples through infertility and miscarriage. Saturdays, 4am Central on AFR or on the AFR app.

>> Speaker D: If we lose this cultural war, we're going to have a hedonistic, humanistic society.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Discover the story of the culture warrior, Don Wildmon and how he went head to head with Hollywood playboy, the homosexual agenda and the Disney empire. The movement Don started paved the way for Christians to boldly stand for truth and righteousness in a hostile culture. Watch Culture Warrior today for free. Visit CultureWarrior Movie,

>> Abraham Hamilton III: The Hamilton quarter podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton corner on American Family Radio.

Grant Garwood says American churches are spiritually hungry

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to the program. You know, as I travel all over the country, everybody asks me, everywhere I go, you know, what can we do to bring people into the church? It seems like for many, many American churches, attendance or church growth has plateaued or is declining. And I will tell you, folks, people are spiritually hungry. Literally everywhere I go, I meet people of all ages, but especially young people that are very spiritually hungry and teaching on what God's word says about the end times, the Middle East. I mean, even teenagers want answers. But another great and very, I think, fruitful type of ministry is apologetics. That's kind of been the space God's called me to for many decades. And somebody doing that, is joining us now. We're talking with Dr. Robert Linstad, but also just a valued colleague in the ministry, Grant Garwood. He's an author, he is a Christian leader. And for one thing, I want to say, Grant, thanks for holding and being with us on the American Family Radio Network this evening. Thanks, brother.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, Alex, it's a pleasure to be on here. Thank you for having Me?

Grant Lynstadt: How did you become aware of apologetics

>> Alex McFarland: Well, you know, over the weekend, you led, the Honest Questions Project, which is very innovative. It's very much like something I started 20 years ago that has gone national. But tell, us about that, because Saturday night you packed a venue. We were in Wichita, the place was packed, and I had the great honor of speaking. But, how did you become aware of apologetics, and how did God call you to use it as an outreach tool?

>> Alex McFarland: it's kind of a long question. I'll try to condense it down to just a few minutes here, but, Alex, I grew up in a Christian home. I grew up on a ranch in north central Nebraska, about 45 minutes south of the South Dakota border, so way up there in the sandhills. And I ended up going to Oklahoma Baptist University, which is about a half hour east of Oklahoma City. And I graduated there about 12 years ago. And even though I grew up in the Christian home and I got a Christian education, I will tell you, I really did not know anything about apologetics at all. And we moved to Wichita about 12 years ago, my wife and I, and we've got three kids now. But when we moved to Wichita, I. A couple years after being here, I guess I was flipping through the radio stations, and I came across this station that was 91.1, something called American Family Radio. And this was, probably. Probably close to 10 years ago. And there was a couple of guys talking on there on a show called Exploring the Word. And his name was Bert Harper and Alex McFarland. And to make a long story short, I first started hearing about apologetics from you, Alex, and I did not know what it meant. Like a lot of people, I thought apologetics, you know, you hear that word, you think we're apologizing for the Christian faith. Instead, we know it's the opposite of that, is the intentional defense of the Christian faith. But really, Alex, you were the one that got me started in that I started to listen to the radio program. I started diving into the Word, I started reading your books, I started listening to podcasts, YouTube channels, and it really just expanded from there. And my day job is being a financial planner. And so this really was just a platform that I could relate to. The data, the evidence, the logic. so that was a long answer to your question, but really, it was you. It was American Family Radio. That's why the event even happened this week. And I'm happy to share about that, too. But I just owe so much to you guys and so thankful for that.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, to God be The glory. We're excited about the gospel. And, you know, let me say, folks, you could begin to, do a special study advertisement, and say we're going over, you know, the, the hard questions and solid answers. But, before we go too much farther, Grant, do you have a website for the Honest Questions project?

>> Alex McFarland: Yes, it's called honest questionsproject.com. anybody can go there, you can register for the events, and I'm happy to share a little bit more about that and what's up coming next, Alex, if that ends up fitting in the show. But it's Honest Questions Project. You can get the information there and you can also see the upcoming events.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, I really think it's very innovative. And, like Dr. Lyn said, when I was in seminary, I was very blessed to go to Liberty, and I sat under great men of God that believed the scriptures. And we heard people like Dr. Jon Walvoord from Dallas, Seminary, and so many others. And, I remember many of my professors said, host a prophecy conference at your local church. And I remember I've done that in a number of places because, I mean, it's just natural, you know. Dr. Lynstadt, people want to know about the future and the end of time. Grant. People want to know good answers to honest questions. And I really think the church has an opportunity to give searching people solid answers. And, that, that's a way to get people under the sound of the gospel. Isn't it, guys?

>> Alex McFarland: Yes. Yeah, Alex, I couldn't agree more. And I think, you know, the idea behind this project, we just want people to encounter the gospel. And there's lots of different ways to do that. But I think it's. It's commanded pretty clearly in Scripture that we need to be reaching people for the gospel, telling people about the good news of Jesus. And we just like your co host Bert Harper says all the time, we want to make much of Jesus. That's our goal. We want to move people one step closer to Jesus.

>> Speaker D: And.

>> Alex McFarland: And apologetics is not a replacement for scripture in any way. Apologetics is another way to reach skeptics and skeptics and atheists, I should say, and people who are just curious. For the gospel, it can be used as a stepping stone to get people to open their Bible and see what's in God's word, because that's what our ultimate goal is. But I think also when speaking from experience and Alex, I, think you would echo this too, the boldness that apologetics has created in me because I feel Like, I know at least a couple of the answers that people might ask me in these gospel centered conversations. I feel like I can engage and I'm much more willing and able and, and eager to engage in conversations with people because of apologetics. So it's just, it's been a real life change for me.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. the voice you're hearing is Grant Garwood, who is really touching many lives with apologetics, and that thrills my heart.

Grant Linstead offers advice on how churches can incorporate biblical prophecy into sermons

Dr. Linstead, let me pose a question to you. for the pastor who or Sunday school teacher or church leader who's never really taught much on prophecy, do you have any advice for how churches can begin to incorporate the biblical prophetic passages into their messaging and teaching?

>> Speaker D: Well, I think it's important for people to understand the future. And the reason I say it is because so much of the Bible was written as prophecy. And so God doesn't want us to be without understanding of it. But I think the thing to do is to lay it out. You mentioned Jon Walford, his book on things to come, Dwight Pentecost, Things to Come. Wonderful book. And so take a topic and say, you know what, for the next three or four weeks, we're going to study, the Rapture, we're going to study the, the tribulation, we're going to study the return of Christ. And, and don't be in a hurry, but look up passages. You know, the proof is in the Bible. It's not in an argument that we have, but the proof is in the Bible. And so really, one of the things I like about apologetics, it's like math and engineering. There are laws that we have, and those laws are coded into, let's say, into the earth, into science. And in the Bible, God has principles, he has promises and principles. And as we begin to lay those out, it begins to make sense. And here's what I find in my honors Bible class when I bring students in. I say, how many of you have heard a sermon on Bible prophecy in the last year? Very seldom do I have a child now. Ten years ago I'd have some, but now, why? Well, there's confusion about it. And so I said, okay, then let's take and set your beliefs aside. Let's just see what does the Bible say. And so that's how the book that I gave you came about. Because I tried to take six topics and say, biblically, here's what God's going to accomplish, here's the scripture that says it, and here's how he'll do it. And Time after time, people say, wow, you know what? The Bible is clear on that, but we have to put it together. And the same with apologetics. It's not just taking a random thought or a statement, but instead it's saying, okay, what basis, what worldview do we work from? And when we have that worldview, then what happens? We find things, questions that are difficult. They're still difficult, but they can make sense. But we take them a step at a time, and we say, here's the bedrock, here's the foundation. It's God's Word. And I think that's what's m. That's what's missing.

>> Joseph Parker: Today.

>> Speaker D: We left the Bible for sermonettes. You know, I know people don't want to hear a whole message. Well, they. Look, why do we go to an hour church, and only spend 10 minutes on the message? To me, the message ought to be the main thing. And, matter of fact, a couple of the churches that I visit, when the Bible's read, they stand up. What a respect for God's word. All of a sudden, you're saying, wow, this is what we reference. So it's not my opinion that matters. It's what God says in His Word that's eternal. That's the program. And so I think the idea of apologetics and bringing in both, creation versus evolution, bringing in prophetic things.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Speaker D: This is. This is what people want to. You know, I go to Sam's and I. I give out books to people, and when we're shopping, I'm giving out books, and. And I. I tell people, hey, hey, do you have any. You have any interest in what's going on? I've never had a person say, no, I could care less.

>> Alex McFarland: They'll say, yeah, exactly.

>> Speaker D: This book talks about it, and. And they're. They're anxious to get it.

>> Alex McFarland: They are.

>> Speaker D: Do I have time to tell a little story about. About Grant's book?

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, sure. Grant. And by the way, Grant Garwood wrote a book. Grant, your apologetics book. Where can people find that then? Dr. Linstead, I do want to hear the story.

>> Alex McFarland: Sure, yeah. People can find the book on Amazon, and you can buy it paperback and Kindle, and it is actually available on Audible as well, so you can get it in all different platforms. you can just type it in on Amazon. It's called Proof. You can't ignore the mini book of Evidence for God, Jesus in the Bible. And it's mini as in mini M. It's a very short, condensed book. But thank you for Asking about it.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly.

Grant Garwood's Honest Questions raises serious questions for young people

Okay, tell the story, Dr. Linstead.

>> Speaker D: You know, I was at a conference in Canada, and I had a lot of young people there, and, and there were some serious questions that people had. And I love serious questions. Not questions for debate, but questions for, you know, searching. And, but I had some copies of Grant's book, and I put them on the table and I put a price on them because I didn't want people just to pick it up and not read it. But as a result of that, the questions provoked discussion. And two college age young people, men, came and accepted Christ because why? Because in the course of this, they got answers. Sometimes the questions that people have, all you need to do is answer one or two things, then say, wow, I see those together. And, so I could really endorse the book. I like it so much, I'm having my honors Bible class read it and, do a little summary on each of the parts. And then to share, you know, share something. These are the things that. This is how we ought to be training our kids in Sunday school. People like to learn. Kids love to learn. But what has happened? I think sometimes we almost stifle their thinking. Apologetics, the word of God. wow, let him look at the hard questions. It's okay to have a hard question because God gives real answers.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. You know, Grant, I want to, applaud you Saturday night. And, Alex here. Folks, for those just tuning in, Grant Garwood and the Honest Questions project. We did an event Saturday night, and Grant, one thing that was really awesome. Among the people, there were lots of young people, lots of teenagers, even some, like, middle schoolers. And you had given me a pretty deep topic, one of my favorites, actually, the problem of evil. If God is good, if God is loving, if God is powerful, why is there evil, pain and suffering and sin in the world? And in, you know, about an hour and a half, we did a pretty deep, deep dive on that topic. Well, I had so many people come up to talk with me at the book table, and, a lot of six and seventh graders. And I asked so many of these kids, at your event, Grant said, did you enjoy this? They were like, yeah, we loved it. Did you feel, like you could understand it? And they were like, yeah. And basically they were saying, and listen up, pastors and youth leaders. They said, one young man said, if church was like this, I would go there every time the door is open. So, Grant, I think you're. You're scratching an itch, my friend.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, thank you for sharing that, Alex and I. I think that there's a real hunger for it. I mean it.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: When I encountered apologetics again from you getting the start from that, it changed how I approached God's word. Everything started to fit together and I felt like there was evidence for it because I went on my own journey a number of years ago and I poured through it with hundreds of hours of research and study to try to figure these things out.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. We're almost out of time. Dr. Robert Linstead, Sunrise Christian Academy. Grant Garwood, Honest questions. Hey, thanks for being with us. We'll visit again soon. In the meantime, folks, Alex McFarland here saying stay bold, stand strong, speak up, tell somebody about Jesus. And, thank you for listening to the American Family Radio Network. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.