Transcript

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

>> Abraham Hamilton III: Darkness is not an affirmative force. It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.

>> Announcer: This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

>> Abraham Hamilton III: It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite, delivering people

>> Announcer: out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies of this world.

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

Tomorrow is May 14, 1948, the rebirth of the nation of Israel

>> Announcer: And, now the, Hamilton Corner.

>> Alex McFarland: The NewSong Testament Book of Romans, chapter 1, verse 16. Paul says, I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Greek or gentile. Hi, Alex McFarland here. We've got a very special edition of the Hamilton Corner Special for a number of reasons. One, tomorrow, very significant day, May 14, 1948, the rebirth of the nation of Israel. You know, I can only imagine what was going on 78 years ago today on the eve of the rebirth of the modern state of Israel. What an amazing and I believe prophetically significant thing, the world will commemorate tomorrow. But I'm also excited because we have a very special guest on this edition of the show.

Alex McFarland: Tonight's show features a new Christian devotional

And before I bring this guest up, I want to say what an honor it is to sit in for attorney pastor broadcaster Abe Hamilton iii. I was on last night and you might want to go back. I feel like we had a really good show. Talk about ministering to veterans. Heard the testimony of a colleague, in the music industry, Greg Rolls. But tonight, you know, I, I always love to recommend good books and Bert Harper and I, as you know, maybe Bert and I have done three books with Broad Street Publishing, out of Minnesota, very wonderful Christian publisher. And they made me aware of an author they have, Ed Griffinhagen, and he's got a brand new book that just came out. 365 Hebrew words every Christian should know. A daily devotional and the subtitle it says, see Jesus like never before. Discover the Hebrew roots of the Christian faith in a transformative new devotional. And the author of that book, Pastor Ed Grifenhagen is with us now and we're going to hear about his journey to Yeshua, the Messiah. We'll talk about a lot of other things. We'll also take calls later on in the show. So it's going to be a great show and I think just a rich show to get us more deeply into the word of God.

Pastor Ed Grifenhagen welcomes the American Family Radio Network

Well, without further ado, Pastor Ed Grifenhagen welcome to the American Family Radio Network.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Hey, thank you for having me. I'm stoked to be here for sure.

>> Alex McFarland: Good to have you. where are you from and where are you now and how did God bring you to where you are in the journey, brother?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: You got about an hour and a half for that question.

>> Alex McFarland: how about an hour?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Gotcha. Roger that. I'm from Columbus, Georgia, born and raised. Other than four great years in God's country in Athens, Georgia, at the University of Georgia. and I came back here as soon as I graduated from college and have been here ever since. Married my high school sweetheart. We started dating when she was, 14 and I was 16 and we've been married 38 years. and she was saved when she was 11 years old. But, when I was a senior in college, I asked her to marry me. I was raised very Jewish, and that sounds weird to say, but the synagogue was open. We were there five days a week. I went to Hebrew school on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons, had a worship service Friday night, Saturday morning I was there at Sunday school, had a bar mitzvah. I remember the night before my bar mitzvah, played a lot of football, and I had a terrible break in my arm on the Thursday night right before my bar mitzvah. And my dad came out of the stands and my dad was a hard dude, West Point graduate, served in Korea, you know, hardcore strict right and wrong. And he walked down on the sidelines, saw me laying there with a broken arm and looked down and said, you know, the shows goes on tomorrow night. Right. And so I did my bar by my, my bar mitzvah with my arm in a cast from, from from shoulder to hand, packed in a bucket of ice. Because the show must go on.

>> Alex McFarland: Yes.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: so anyway, asked, my wife to married to marry me when I was a senior in college. But the stipulation was that she convert to Judaism. That's the way my parents raised me. And like I said, she was saved when she was 11, but she agreed, went through a year long conversion, process which is really just going to a class once a week. And then she had to go into a mikvah m. Which is a, like a ritual bath sort of like. Yeah. And she, got her Jewish ID card, we got married. And but she never stopped believing in Yeshua. She just learned that that was not even a subject in her conversion. There was no, she'd have to renounce Christ. she just had to learn the Jewish culture Right. So, at the end of the day, 13 years into our marriage, it was Y2K. You remember Y2K?

>> Alex McFarland: Oh, I do, I do.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: December of 99. It made me think about mortality, I guess. And, in January, I told my wife, and, I said, I want to know what's true and what's not true. I think I'm going to read the Bible. It ought to be pretty easy to disprove, you know, as God is giggling when I said that. It's the most arrogant thing I've ever said. and I, you know, never read the Bible, all that Judaism growing up, but never read the Bible, learned Bible stories, but never read the Word. And I started reading in January of 2000. And within probably a week or two, yeah, I was obsessed. Started on page one, Genesis 1:1. And I just was every night from probably 10 at night, when the kids and I had two little boys at the time, when they went to bed for three or four hours, probably every night, and ultimately trying to disprove it. I believed in God, but I did not believe that that book was historically accurate. nor was it inerrant or infallible or any, any of that. and I remember reading Genesis 15:6. Abraham believed the Lord. He was credited with righteousness.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: I didn't know what. I didn't know what that meant. And I asked my wife, who was walking on eggshells at the time, and I didn't realize her whole family was praying for me. But I didn't know that. But I asked her, I said, what does that mean? And I said, it sounds like it means he's in heaven. And she said, yeah, I think it does. And I said, but he didn't do anything. He just believed he didn't do anything, right? And I just kind of tucked. I just kind of tucked that nugget in my pocket and I plundered through the Old Testament from January to September of 2000. And there were tons of, you know, Isaiah 53, right? Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 31, when he talks about the new covenant and it won't be like the old covenant that your grandma and granddaddy broke. And he says, I'm going to write it on your hearts. And I had no idea who the Holy Spirit was. Truthfully, I didn't know who Jesus was. I remember seeing a bumper sticker one time with my dad in the car, said, jesus saves. And I asked him, what does that mean? And he said, I don't know. And I just. That, that. And we Grew up in the Bible belt. No one ever shared the gospel with me in my entire life, which is crazy. but anyway, I finished the whole thing.

Do you think the average Jewish person really understands the gospel of Jesus

>> Alex McFarland: Let me ask you this. Do you think the average Jewish person, do you think the average Jewish person even really has heard an understandable presentation of the gospel? That we are sinners, but God took on a human body, Jesus came down here, paid our sin debt, we put our faith, our trust in, in Christ, and we are made new, born again. I've got a dear friend, Marty Goetz, he's a born again Jewish musician, just incredible, world class musician and he's got an original song called A Jew Made NewSong or A Jew Born Anew. Do you think the average Jewish person, Precious, precious Jewish people all around us, do they actually really understand the claims of the gospel?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Absolutely, unconditionally, emphatically. No. Definitely not. Definitely. I didn't know who Jesus was. And I mean I live in the, in South Georgia, man, there's a thousand churches. But no, I think maybe there's this perception that it's too tough of a nut to crack. I don't know. you know, I was 35 and you would think that somebody would have shared the gospel with me. Now I would have been very, very antagonistic towards that if it had happened. I'm sure I would have been. But I ended up picking that Bible up because I wanted to know what was true, objectively true, not because somebody told me it was true. You know, at the end of the day, Jesus either ran out of grave alive or he didn't. And my belief doesn't make it happen. And my unbelief doesn't make it not happen.

>> Alex McFarland: Right, right.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: It's objectively it happened or not. And so that's really why I dug in ultimately probably to try to disprove it, but at a minimum to come up with a conclusion that nobody sort of crammed down my throat.

>> Alex McFarland: Right.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: I hope that makes sense.

>> Alex McFarland: Sure.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: so.

>> Alex McFarland: So, and by the way, a week ago this time I was in Washington with 550 Jewish people and we were, lobbying various elected officials to try to encourage, our administration to maintain a strong friendship with Israel, which I believe they're doing. But I remember, I was at a banquet Tuesday night, you know, just eight days ago, and I was looking around. Precious people. I mean, you just can't help but love these Jewish people, many of whom came to the mic and they were just very emotional, saying like, we get it, Evangelical Christians are the best friend Israel and the Jews have ever had. Thank you for standing with Israel. and yet I was thinking about the words of Paul when he said, my heart's desire and prayer for Israel is that they would be saved. So, Ed.

To what degree are Jewish people thinking about Jesus and what do they believe

And by the way, folks, if you're just tuning in, we're Talking with Ed Griffinhagen, the author of the book 365 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know. I realize this is maybe a tough question to answer, Ed, but to what degree are Jewish people thinking about Jesus and what do they believe about Jesus?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Zero degree. and I, you know, I'm painting with a broad brush, I guess.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: I, you know, when you grow up with a lot of, quote, religion, a lot of Judaism, I mean, we were there. We're in the synagogue. I mean, we were just there. We were immersed in it as kids. And of course, my mom and dad were as well. but he. He's not a subject of discussion. Because if the NewSong Testament is not. Is not scripture, if the NewSong Testament is not God's word, then you don't really know anything about Him. Now, we weren't taught in. Well, we literally weren't taught anything about him, but we definitely weren't taught that he was not a historical figure. If you just said to me, even 40 years ago, when I was 20 years old, tell me who Jesus is, I would have said, I don't know. I guess he was. He was some prophet. That, that would have been probably the extent of. Of my understanding. He's just not an issue in Judaism, which is so foreign for Christians to sort of wrap their arms around.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

Ed Griffin Hagen: I was talking with a rabbi about the afterlife

So what about, the afterlife, Eternity? Because I was, this is about five years ago, I was talking with a rabbi, and, it kind of blew my mind that this particular rabbi with whom I spoke, we had a very friendly conversation, but he was saying, you know, he said, he does. He didn't really believe in any sort of afterlife, neither heaven nor hell, that, you know, when you die, that's it. And I was amazed at how, secular, really. This particular rabbi with whom I spoke, we had very wonderful. A series of conversations, but he was like, look, do good in this life. Make the world a better place. But he didn't really believe the soul survived death, which was a big surprise to me. but so what would. And again, painting with a broad brush here, I suppose. But what do they believe about the afterlife? Where does the soul go after death?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Well, my. My belief. Back up. I've been saved 25 years, so back up. 26 plus years ago, my belief would have been, I don't know, if the, if there is a heaven and I act good enough, then I guess I'll be there. And I would not have thought another thing about it. Now when after I got saved in 2001 and my family just absolutely put us to the curb, seven years later, the Lord reconciled me and my parents relationship.

>> Alex McFarland: Hey, hold that thought. Forgive me. We gotta take a break. We gotta take a break, folks. This is the Hamilton Corner. Alex McFarland, our guest, Ed Grifenhagen, Hagen, author, filmmaker, believer in Jesus. We're gonna come back with more and your questions after this brief break.

>> Announcer: Shining light into the darkness.

Alex McFarland: Ed Grifenhagen's book covers 365 Hebrew words

This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. You know, one of kind of our core values is as a Christian, lifelong learning and the stewardship of the mind. You know, Jon Wesley, the founder of Methodism, Jon Wesley, a couple of quotes. He said that the local congregation deserves the highest scholarship the church can offer. But he also said this, or at least this quote is attributed to Jon Wesley. Those who read lead. That's a great thought. And so, Ed Griffinhagen in his book on 365 Hebrew words, every Christian should know. I mean, the thing that excites me for readers is, you know, learning the message meanings and pronunciations of key Hebrew words. And the thing, like the Jewish festivals and traditions, the rich truths behind these Jewish festivals and then how they have their fulfillment in Jesus Christ. And so I think that this book will be a blessing and very enlightening, but also I think it will, prepare Christians to be more and more conversant with, the precious Jewish people, that they may know about sharing the gospel. And with us is the author of that book, Ed Grifenhagen

Brother Ed, I asked you about Jewish views on the afterlife before becoming Christian

And, before the break, Brother Ed, I asked you about Jewish views on the afterlife. And, I shared that I was, having a series of lunches and conversations with, well, a lot of Jewish people, but a particular rabbi who kind of blew me out of the water. And he said he didn't really believe in any afterlife. And that was revelatory because I just assumed that, you know, heaven and eternity were really important, as they should be for all people. But continue. Before the break, you were talking about your, view on eternity, you know, prior to becoming a Christian. I want you to complete that thought, if you would.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: You know, my belief, was simply if I acted good enough and heaven existed, then I would be there. No one ever asked me what good enough meant. Of course.

>> Alex McFarland: Right.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: And I don't know how I would have answered that. Then I probably would have said, I don't know, you know, good enough, good enough. so that, but that was as far as, as far as it went. And you know, jumping back because this is going to be, be relevant because it's relevant to the way that I was raised. as I started sharing my testimony a minute ago, my how I came to the foot of the cross or landed at the foot of the cross and January to September of 2000, read the Old Testament word for word from Genesis 1 to the, to the end of the Old Testament. And in September I, finished and I had no intention on reading the NewSong Testament because good Jews, it's not the Bible, so why would I read that? But I know the Holy Spirit was working on me, but I didn't know who the Holy Spirit was. I just felt very, very compelled to read it. I wrestled with that for a couple of weeks and I literally snuck into a Christian bookstore because I knew if my dad saw me going in there, it would be ugly. So I snuck in there, bought a NewSong Testament, read it. The Lord kind of put his hooks in me with the ah, genealogy of Christ in the, in the beginning of Matthew. end of the day I finished the NewSong Testament and the Lord just worked on me so hard. And I was driving to work in my truck 1-17-01 and I just realized every bit of it's true that a dead guy went in a grave and alive Jesus came out. And, and it was all true in history. It really happened. And I cried out by myself at 5:30 in the morning that morning, lord have mercy on me, a sinner. And from Luke 18, it's just what was ingrained in my head. Went and told my parents that night and it was the ugliest scene you could ever imagine. And me and my dad were thick as thieves, very close, worked together for years and we, I'm, I m. Was dead to them and my wife was dead to them, but my two children, my two boys were not dead to them. But we, they, they didn't speak to us for seven years. and it was just, it was so ugly. Seven years later, the Lord reconciled our relationship and in the course of a conversation I asked my mom, I said, well Mama, I said, what do you think is going to happen when you die? And she said, I don't care. I'll be dead. That's it, it's over. It's annihilationism. At the end of the day, she didn't use that word, but that is. And you don't need the NewSong Testament to see a development of, of heaven and hell.

>> Alex McFarland: Sure.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: So, so it's just secular, maybe even secular American Judaism. I'm not sure. But you would be hard pressed to find a Jew, except for Orthodox Jews probably, that would believe in a heaven or hell.

>> Alex McFarland: Right, right.

Ed Grifenhagen: What was your motivation for believing in Jesus

So when you came to Christ, what was the motivation to believe what's true and you realize Jesus was true? was it to be prepared for eternity and you know, to go to heaven, not hell when you leave this world? What was the main incentive for believing in Jesus?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: I think that I wanted, I was on a quest for truth because I knew in my, in my head that A can't equal negative A at the same time and place. So either Jesus was resurrected or he wasn't. All of the other theology that develops the, at the core, it's is, did the resurrection happen? And, you know, were prophecies fulfilled, you know, blah, blah, blah. But so it was, I mean, when, you know, Peter and Paul and James and all the guys are going out, they're not going out and preaching a bunch of theology. They're preaching a dead guy's walking, he's alive, the resurrection is real. And that's just a game changer. And so once I believed that that actually happened, I had no, I had no choice. I'm like, if that happened, it took care of a sin problem. Because original sin, the fall, is not taught in Jewish theology. We are not inherently sinful creatures in Jewish theology. So I had to get to that because, I thought and was raised that people were basically good. Well, you don't have to get too far in that Bible to find out. The Bible doesn't say that.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, well, exactly. And hey, by the way, we are going to take calls. If you've got a question later on, we'll open up the phones about, maybe if, if you are Jewish and you've got questions about Jesus and what does it mean to know the Lord or maybe like myself, you passionately care about the evangelization of Jewish people. I'm going to give the number. It'll be about nine minutes or so before we get to it. But the number is 888-589-8840. Triple 858-9840. Our guest, Ed Griffin Hagen.

Pastor Ed Grifenhagen writes 365 Hebrew words that every Christian should know

I've got to ask you about the book. because it just perfect, Perfect concept about 365 Hebrew words that every Christian should know. what are some of those words? Pastor Ed Griffin Huggin well, you know,

>> Ed Grifenhagen: it's a, it's a devotional, so it's written in a devotional format. Each, obviously each day is a Hebrew word. And ultimately everything in scripture points to Christ. So that would include the language, the idioms, the culture, the everything. And so I just, I took words, generally words out of the Old Testament and Hebrew and God is this incredible dot connector and everything. I remember growing up, there's a word in Hebrew, it's called hesped, which is the traditional beating of your chest. And it's done in Jewish culture. It's done in, in extreme grief or extreme mourning. M O U R N I N G extreme mourning, funerals. And when you're grieving and when you're remorseful, well, it's still done. Today on Yom Kippur, the day of atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish year, there's a prayer that is said called the Al fate. And this 53, you, you, you are looking for God to forgive you. It's a list of 53 sins. And you ask him by name, you know, lord, forgive me, grant me atonement for the sin of coveting or whatever it is. The whole time you're doing that, you're beating your chest and you, you, you repeat that prayer five or 10 times. It takes forever. I remember being a kid at the synagogue and it's. And so if you look in Luke 18, the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector, and the tax collector's over there beating his breast, crying out to the Lord, lord, have mercy on me, a sinner. And the Pharisee is self righteous and says, at least I'm not like that dirtbag tax collector over there. If you know that this is what he was doing. And it was a sign of extreme grief when you know those sorts of things. And that's the kind of stuff that I talk about in the devotional. You're going to read, I want people to read this book. It's not a textbook. It's not a, learn the, necessarily learn the Hebrew language, but it is the language that God chose for the Old Testament to reveal himself. So hopefully people read the book and their relationship with the creator of the universe is going to deepen and it will hopefully arm them with a clearer, comprehensive, biblical worldview to go share the Christ that is revealed in all of the scripture. There's tons of words that do that. The mercy seat. Go ahead.

>> Alex McFarland: I'm sorry, the mercy seat. So, I was just thinking of the irony of, like, Yom Kippur in the Day of Atonement, if you don't believe that there's original sin and the, imputed unrighteousness of Adam and Eve, for what do you need to be atoned?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Well, you are asking, literally, you are asking for forgiveness for the sins that you have committed since the last Yom Kippur.

>> Alex McFarland: Okay.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Because there is. There is no permanent remission of sin.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: You know, the sacrificial system was always just temporary. Yeah.

>> Alex McFarland: So, give us some more of these words, and then I've got a couple of other questions.

The mercy seat is one that rocked my world. It's where atonement is made

>> Ed Grifenhagen: The mercy seat is one rock my world. Korath is the Hebrew word, that is used in, in Exodus, when the Lord tells is laying out the tabernacle, the temple, the template, you know, and he says, you're going to make a mercy seat of gold that would cover the Ark of the Covenant. And that is where, God's justice and mercy are going to crash together at the mercy seat. and it's in the Holy of holies, right? In the tabernacle and then in the temple. And only one, the high priest is the only one that could go in there. And only one day on the day of atonement, it was a drapery or veil that ended up tearing, obviously, when Jesus was crucified. But the. The high priest would go in, he would sprinkle goat's blood across the mercy seat to make atonement for his family and for the nation of Israel. Well, when Paul writes In, Romans 3, verse 24, 25, and he talks about Jesus being. Depends on your translation. Propitiation is a typical ESV or NewSong King James. there are translations that use mercy seat, that Jesus is the mercy seat. And the word that's used there in Greek is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word kaporith. Okay, so the Old Testament mercy seat, where atonement is made, is now incarnated in the person of Christ. You don't get that in a superficial reading of scripture.

>> Alex McFarland: No, no, but when you. He is our mercy seat, isn't he?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: That is. He absolutely is. He is where justice, God's justice and mercy crash together and save a wretched human like me.

>> Alex McFarland: Wow. Powerful. Powerful. Before we go too much further, websites. Where can people find you online?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Well, the, Ed Griffin hagen.comm is is my website. And, you know, stuff about the book there's you know, have a little podcast that we took a hiatus for a while and I have a new co host. The podcast is called Black, White and the red letters. And a guy named Cameron Arnett. I don't know if you know Cameron Arnett. He's an actor, African American actor, great guy. We're doing it together. It launches in about three weeks, the new season. there's some stuff about that on our website. And then The Christian Film Foundation.org is a foundation that I am the director of. I work for Steven and Alex Kendrick, the Kendrick brothers. I'm on their team, and that's my role on their team. And, and we work on their movies. My wife has been working on their movies since 2018. So, KendrickBrothers.com or the Christian Film Foundation.org or Ed GriffinHagen.com what do you have

>> Alex McFarland: coming up, cinematically, what films are on the docket now?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Well, in September, their, their first movie, which was called Flywheel that they shot, with a very, very minimal, tiny little budget 22 or three years ago, was redone. We redid it last fall. It releases in September. It was shot in port in Brazil, in Portuguese with an all Brazilian cast and crew. Because one of the things that we want to do is raise up Christian filmmakers all over the world. And so this is a Brazilian team. It releases in the United States in October, Brazil in September, the United States in October, but it's in Portuguese, and it'll be either dubbed or subtitled in English in the release here. And then we're shooting the Book of Ruth next spring, which is going to be an epic, epic, epic film,

>> Alex McFarland: telling of the Book of Ruth. And where are you going to film that?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: 90% Morocco.

>> Alex McFarland: Oh, wow.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: So we're going to be planting, going to be planting barley in the next few months, in Morocco. So it'll be able to be harvested next spring.

>> Alex McFarland: That is going to be good. Have you got all the cast in place for the Book of Ruth film?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: No, no, no, no.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: yeah. All of, all of that is, is in the works.

>> Alex McFarland: That is exciting. That is exciting. Well, folks, we're talking about the Jewish elements of the Christian faith. And we've got Ed Grifenhagen, author, filmmaker, brother in Christ. I bet you have questions. I know I do. The number is 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8840. More with Ed Griffin Hagen. He's also the author of 365 Hebrew Words Every Christian Should Know a Daily devotional. A lot more to come. Stay tuned to the American Family Radio Network. We've got a brief break, more of the Hamilton Corner. So please stick with us and let us hear from you. If you call now, you will get in. We have lines open. 888-589-8840 with your question for our guest. We're back.

>> Jeff Chamblee: Tune in Saturdays at 1:30 Central for the Compass with host Rick Beggs and I Voter guide President Debbie Withnow. Each weekend the Compass will seek to navigate the public square with faith, truth and conviction. Rick and Debbie will keep tabs on upcoming elections and remind us of the importance of our participation in them. The Compass reminds us that God is our true nation North. Be listening for the Compass Saturday afternoons at 1:30 Central on American Family Radio.

>> Announcer: the Hamilton Corner podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.

Ed Grifenhagen: We need to stand up and unequivocally condemn antisemitism

>> Alex McFarland: Welcome back to the program. We're talking with author, filmmaker, christian leader Ed Griffinhagen. And you know, one of the things that, part of the reason I do give a lot of coverage to America's relationship with Israel and how the branches grafted in are indebted to the root. Israel, and the I believe in the Abrahamic covenant. I do not believe in what is sometimes called replacement theology. I think the Abrahamic covenant is an everlasting covenant as the Bible says. And part of the reason that I think we need to be passionate about these things is because that we're also living in a time of a rise of anti Semitism. And in this age of human rights, civil rights, equality, social justice, it's just ironic, very sad actually that the one form of hatred that seems to get a pass is animosity against Jewish people. And so we need to stand up and unequivocally condemn antisemitism. Our guest is Ed Griffinhagen. If you have a question for him, the number is 888-589-8840. And to my producers, just either text me or tell me in my headphone and we'll put calls on.

Kelly from Ohio calls with advice on how to bring Jesus to Jewish family

But Ed, let m me ask you this. the rise of antisemitism and especially since the October 7th attacks, on Israel there at the Nova concert. isn't it ironic that rather than condemn Hamas and terrorism, many on the left have been shown solidarity with the terrorists and condemnation of Israel? It's tragically ironic, isn't it?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Oh my goodness. It makes absolutely no sense in in no way, shape or form. It makes absolutely no sense.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, exactly.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: At a cousin, have a cousin that lived in, in Tel Aviv. they moved. She's been there 25 or 30 years and it moved there. She, she went when she was 18 or 19, called her parents and said, I'm not coming home, I'm staying. And married, had a couple of kids. And probably about a year ago she, she said, you know what? I'm tired of running into bomb shelters because crazy people are trying to kill me. And they move back to the States.

>> Alex McFarland: Goodness. My goodness. Well, we're going to go to some calls. and where do we go first, guys? Do we have the calls ready? Kelly from Ohio. Kelly, thanks for holding. Welcome to the American Family Radio Network.

>> Kelly: Wonderful. Thank you so much for taking my call. I've been praying about this issue and then lo and behold, I turn the radio on and there you guys are.

>> Alex McFarland: There we go.

>> Kelly: Yeah. So our son has walked away from the faith. So it's been painful thing praying and praying, having faith that God will complete the good work that he started. But he is going to marry a young lady who is Jewish. And her parents are, I guess you'd say culturally Jewish, not religiously Jewish. And the father actually was brought up Catholic, but not just, you know, not doesn't continue in the faith and didn't bring her up that way. So just I want to remain in prayer that they will meet the Lord here. but just any hints, tips, advice? I know there's a complicated issue, but just to, ah, I don't know how to be a witness and bring, bring the light to them all.

>> Alex McFarland: Great question, great question. Ed, do you have any advice for Kelly?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Can you give me a quick synopsis of the question? I only could hear about half of it.

>> Alex McFarland: Okay. her son is getting married to a Jewish girl, who you know, exposed somewhat to Christianity through Catholicism, but pretty nominal. any, any advice for how this engaged couple and maybe even the daughter in law's family at large, how to bring Jesus to them?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Yeah, I think. And ah, I've seen this play out. It's played out a little bit in my family. Not a lot, but a little bit is if, if you can get them to dig in to the Old Testament, you know, if you say you need to read the Gospel of Jon, they are going to throw it back in your face. They just are. I would have. But if you can get them just to, to want to know what is true. And just, Just read the Bible. Just read. Start in Genesis and just read the Bible. And I trust almost every time I've done that with somebody, I didn't cram it down their throat, but just read the Scriptures and God will do something with that. And at the end of the day, way more times than not, they, will it. The Lord will reveal himself through the texture and the pages of that Bible, of that text. He will reveal himself in an undeniable way. And at the end of it all, it all points to Christ so many, many more times than not. the people I've kind of done that alongside of, they end up in the NewSong Testament too. And they end up asking questions. And you can have a conversation with them when they're bringing. When they're bringing up the questions. It's all about God's word.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen and pray. And let me just say to Kelly and everybody listening, a lot of times when I've been trying to bring somebody to Christ, I would fast and pray. Mark 9:26 says some things are only accomplished through prayer and fasting. It's amazing how when you pray and fast and pray, the spirit of God really, really powerfully works.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Bobby, Kelly, one more thing, too.

>> Alex McFarland: Sure, sure, Ed, go ahead.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Kelly, I want to encourage you with what Alex just said. One of my wife's aunts passed away three years ago, and I had the opportunity to do her funeral. And they gave me. Her family, gave me her Bible. And in the pages written in her Bible, it said Judy, who was my wife's mother. Judy's daughter Susan started dating a Jewish boy today. I'm praying for him. It was dated November 13, 1981. She prayed. They told me she prayed for me every single day for 20 years until I got saved in 2001. And I had no idea that that was going on. The prayers of godly men and women.

>> Alex McFarland: I've got a testimony like that I'm going to share maybe if we have time. But I want to go to Tennessee right now. Mary in Tennessee. Mary, are you there?

>> Mary: Yes, I'm here. Thank you for taking my call.

>> Alex McFarland: Thank you for holding. Welcome.

Ed: How do we support Jews in Israel and around the world

>> Mary: I had a question for how we can support, the Jews in Israel and around the world, and also how to get a hold of the devotional book as well.

>> Alex McFarland: Great, great. Ed, she said, how do we support Jews in Israel and around the world? And then where might she find your book?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Christians United for Israel is a wonderful organization. a wonderful organization. the book you can find it on Amazon. You can find it at Barnes and Noble, Walmart, really all over the place. not every Walmart has it in their stores. It's probably about 150 do. But Walmart.com, barnes and Noble and Amazon for sure.

>> Alex McFarland: And by the way, let me say to everybody listening, I realize what I'm about to say is a little bit ambitious, but if you can go to Israel, Wildmon Tours, Tim Wildmon, the president of the American Family association, they lead tours. In fact, Tim and I, we were on the phone today. We'll be going in November of this year. I'll be teaching at many, many, many biblical sites. So will Tim. But tourism is really big over there. that's a big part of their economy, actually. Plus, you'll see the land of the Bible. And, I believe it is completely safe. I've been to Israel. I led a tour there, a few years ago. so, you know, Psalm 122, verse 6 says, Pray for the peace of Jerusalem. And we should do that. But, when you can go to Israel, and also, you know, if you have friends in your city, Jewish people, just let them know, we love you, we're praying for you, and we stand for the human rights, the worth, the humanity, the dignity of all Jews, and we stand for Israel.

Ed: Is cremation appropriate for a Christian? Clarita: Yes

but we're going to go to Clarita, I believe, in Louisiana. Clarita, Are you there?

>> Clarita: I am here. Y' all keep up the good work. what did he have to say about cremation? I think I read in the Bible that the only time you supposed to do cremation is for, death or illness. Sickness. And the second one, did he get baptized? Did he go under the water?

>> Alex McFarland: Do you mean Jesus or our guest?

>> Clarita: No, our guest

>> Alex McFarland: I guess. Okay.

>> Clarita: You know how he came to be a Christian, but he never did say that he get baptized. He. Did he receive the Lord's Supper table? I'm. I'm big with the baptism because I feel that's where we received the Holy Ghost. And did he have the Lord's Supper table? Do he believe? what do you have to say about cremation? This is a big thing in Louisiana. Everybody want to be cremated, and I keep.

>> Alex McFarland: Okay, let m. Me. Let me jump in on this. Ed, caller's asking, what are your beliefs? What do you think the Bible teaches about cremation?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: she also asked if I was baptized.

>> Alex McFarland: Yes. And. And I want to get to that in a moment. But cremation is cremation appropriate for a Christian?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: I, I, I would say yes. I would say, now with a little bit of a caveat, because in, in Judaism you don't, you're not embalmed. And the, the casket is all wood with no metal because there should be nothing in Jewish theology, nothing should hinder the natural decaying process. if that makes sense. sure. You know, Christian, generally, Christians are embalmed and put in a metal casket. personally, I had no problem with cremation.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, I don't either. I think it's a matter of Christian liberty and choice.

The New Testament uses baptism in a couple of ways

she asked about baptism and let me just say, and then I'll throw it to Ed, and we have not rehearsed this ahead of time. The NewSong Testament uses baptism in a couple of ways. And I know when we hear baptism we think of water baptism, which, you know, sometimes you'll hear the term believer's baptism, which I completely believe in. but one of the senses that the NewSong Testament uses the word baptism is in the book of Galatians where it says that we are baptized into Christ through faith. And so people ask me, do you have to be baptized to be saved? Well, baptized into Christ, upon our faith in Jesus, we are, baptizo. That's a Greek word, immersed in Jesus. Now I believe water baptism is a public way to, show forth that. But, baptism in the Lord's Supper. Ed, the caller wanted to know, have you experienced these and what role does that play in your Christian walk?

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Oh, yeah, well, I'm a pastor, full time pastor now, so I want to dunk as many people as I can. I want to baptizo as many people as I can baptizo. I was baptized. My wife and I were baptized, immersed in water on Christmas Eve of the year that I got saved. And it was just the most amazing, breathtaking experience to do that together. And my belief in water baptism is, you use the term believer's baptism. I don't believe there's anything salvific in that water. We are baptized as believers as an act of obedience that represents a, ah, rebirth, an inward transformed heart. We're buried in the likeness of Christ's death and raised to walk in the newness of life. but I don't think, you can't be lost, get baptized. And that water saved you. I just don't think that's biblical.

>> Alex McFarland: My dad, I agree.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Yeah, my dad got saved the day before he died. And he was not sick. He was not on his deathbed? Well, he was. He was in the bed, but he was not supposed to die. And, unbelievably enough, he got saved and then he died the next day. He was not baptized. And you can't tell me that he is in hell. He is in the arms of Yeshua is where he is.

>> Alex McFarland: Let me encourage Everybody. Read Galatians 3, 26, 27. But it says, through faith in Jesus, we're baptized into Christ. So, you know, time fleets away. I know we had Susan from Virginia and I'm sorry, we're just about out of time. Ed, I gotta have you on. I gotta tell you the story of a Jewish man. He had a clothing store in my hometown. I went and witnessed to him. And about 15 years after his death, I learned that he accepted Christ and became a believer in Yeshua, just like yourself. To God be the glory. Ed, give your website. And, thank you for being with us.

>> Ed Grifenhagen: Yeah. And Ed griffinhagen.com e d G-R-I f e n h a G-E-N.com and Ed Grifenhagen on all the social media stuff.

>> Alex McFarland: Hey, thanks. We're almost out of time, folks. This has been the Hamilton Corner, Alex McFarland, the American family Radio Network. Thanks to our guests, thanks to our listeners, thanks to Bobby Rosa, our staff and crew. God bless you all. And remember, tell somebody about afa. But most of all, tell everybody about Jesus. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.