Sam Rohrer: Well, hello and welcome to this very special week of Stand in the Gap Today broadcasting because we’re going to celebrate God’s blessings on the American Pastors Network. Why? Because this is our fifth anniversary. This is five years since God has brought this ministry into being, of which this radio program is just but one part. And while Stand in the Gap Today, this particular program, is three and a half years old, our Stand in the Gap Minute program is over five years old and our new Stand in the Gap TV program is just almost six months old.
Yet we can say that in the midst of all that’s happening around this world today with so much concern and issues going on, we can look and thank God for what He has done in this ministry, in our lives. And I know all of you listening right now can do the same thing. And so we want to be able to do that this entire week. Be able to take you a little bit behind the scenes so you can meet our people, the team, and those that many of you are praying for and helping with.
We want to show you how God has started this ministry, how He has expanded this ministry from Pennsylvania to around the nation and literally around the world. How He’s used this ministry to start eight state chapters of Pastors With a Vision, of chapters in all 50 states. Of raising our vision now to reach the millennial and the younger generations with the truth of God’s word and a biblical world view which they so desperately need. And this week we’re going to get the history of APN and this program. You’re going to, again as I say, meet our team. You’re going to hear from pastors from across the country. Why they’re a part of the Pastors Network.
You’re going to hear comments from listeners who’ve written us. You’re going to hear from our guests who are on this program and what they say about the ministry. And you’re going to learn about some of the most impactful times when God gave our internal team direction. Critical times in our history and hopefully when we do so, we’re going to look back, we’re going to look around and then we’re going to look ahead. Because we want to invite you to walk with us into the next five years, if the Lord should tarry, as we together can carry the banner of truth not just in this country but even around the world.
And with that, our theme for the day and this entire week is going to be celebrating God’s blessings. APN, American Pastor Network, fifth anniversary. Today we’re going to talk about how it all got started. And with that introduction, let me welcome you to this special program, this special week, as we celebrate God’s blessings and certainly as we think in terms of Thanksgiving, which is just a week off. The emphasis of Thanksgiving ought to be with us every day, and we want to help try and do that. And matter of fact, I just want to start out right now with a short letter from one woman here who wrote to us.
She said, “Thank you for what you are doing. I meet many people who listen to you, to Stand in the Gap Today and our programs, and I tell others all the time. We are all in agreement that this is the miraculous hand of God at work.” She said thank you and God bless you for plowing, interesting word, plowing the word of God into people’s hearts. Praise God for doing the impossible. That’s from a listener just recently, and we just want to share that as we get going.
We deal with headline news, as you know if you’ve been listening to the program. We pick out a a headline news issue, examine it from a biblical perspective and a constitutional perspective. And I just want to pick out one here today. And, Gary, I want to present it to you because this headline issue is being talked about all across the country. But I can guarantee you, ladies and gentlemen, you’re not going to hear a question posed or discussed in the way we’re going to look at it, because this is, I would say, a biblical world view of approaching it.
And, Gary, what I want to take you back to right now is to what’s happening in California. I’m not going to go to what’s happening in Washington. We’re going to let that until next week. But in California the fires there continue to burn. We’ve talked about it before and referred to it as Armageddon and hell fires, or fires from hell. It’s been reported today in the Camp Hill fire area that the devastation is so bad, and that fire is only 30% contained. It’s burned over 7,000 homes. 60 some people known have lost their lives and now they’re stating at least over 600 missing.
So devastating and so terrible looking is that area that they have actually called in what are called war zone DNA specialists. That’s what you bring in when there’s nothing left and you’re trying to find out who was possibly there. They’re DNA experts but they call them war zone DNA. Even yesterday, normally defiant Governor Jerry Brown at a press conference couldn’t contain his sorrow as he commented on the utter destruction.
Gary, this is where I want to go with you. You’re a pastor of nearly 45 years. You’ve comforted many, many people in times of need. You’ve also preached many sermons about understanding God’s hand and His role in such events as we’re seeing. And this is the part I know the program’s covering. And that is this. Gary, how can you take and put this event into perspective? Speak, if you could, a little bit to both the living as we observe and as they observe what’s there, and perhaps people who have lost family members or lost their homes. And perhaps those of us who look into that and are wondering how we should put this in perspective. Can you speak a little bit on that?
Gary Dull: Well, Sam, it’s difficult to try to communicate how to put this in perspective because we’ve got so many different people listening from different perspectives. But I think one of the things to take into consideration is God is a sovereign God who causes, allows and directs all things to happen. And in this situation out in California, it’s terrible.
Yes, there are at least 63 people who’ve lost their lives. There are 52,000 people who have been displaced so far. There are 10,000 buildings that have been destroyed. And as you said, now over 600 missing. And it’s just a shame to see what’s taking place out there. And I’ve got to say that even though God causes, allows and directs all things to happen, Sam, we don’t always fully understand what God does, what he’s allowing, what he’s directing. We do know the Bible teaches us back in Deuteronomy Chapter 32 in verse four that God is a god of truth, His way is perfect. What all He does is right.
And born again believers can and will claim Romans 8:28. It tells us that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to his purpose. But I think that certainly this is time for us to pray for those who’ve gone through and are going through this terrible, terrible tragedy. But let’s remember that God is in control. He knows what He’s doing. And I’ve often said there are lessons for us to learn in every one of these types of things.
And so I would just encourage people to simply say to God, “God, what is it You want us to learn from this?” And then look to Him in faith and belief, and watch Him who is the God of comfort to give the comfort and the strength that is needed to go through a time like this. It’s very difficult and you almost have to deal with it on an individual basis. But the underlying thing is God is in control. His way is perfect. Let’s trust Him to do what’s right and ask Him for strength, and then just watch Him work.
Sam Rohrer: Thank you, Gary. And, ladies and gentlemen, as you listen to this program and as we hear from so many people, you appreciate the fact that we do talk about the news but we go to the heart of the matter. And that is where Gary took it right now. If we don’t understand God’s hand in bad times and good times, who are we looking to? We look to ourselves and there’s not a whole lot of help there. We look to government and not very much help there either. But we look to the Lord, He can make things clear. And I pray that you do. And as we go through the program today we want to continue to look to the Lord and commemorate his blessings.
Sam Rohrer: Well, if you’re with us today and just joining us perhaps, today we’re doing something a little bit different. We started the program like we always start, with headline news, but we are celebrating God’s blessings on APN, this being our fifth anniversary. You know, when I think back in the Old Testament, and I see the pattern, what God commanded Israel to do and the fathers and the grandfathers of Israel, he told them that when they went into the land and they raised their families and they had their sons and their grandsons and all their children, that they should take very great care to reflect back on all that God had done for them, because all of the blessings that they had, their freedom, their homes, their wealth, their families, all of those things came from the hand of God.
Sam Rohrer: Well, our founders recognized and did that too, and we want to make sure that we do that in the matter of this mission, this ministry, the American Pastors Network.
Sam Rohrer: There’s a verse in James 1:17. It says that every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. God is the giver of all good gifts. Just think if we were thinking about that, and would think about that as a nation today. If somebody’s gotta lead with that, it’s people who know God should be the ones, the most thankful. I also think of Psalm 127:1 that says, except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it. That applied to Israel. Benjamin Franklin cited it in Philadelphia at the signing, coming together of the Constitution. He recognized it, and we recognize it too, and we should recognize it in our country today. We can’t continue what we have if we don’t understand that God built it.
Sam Rohrer: Well, I liked to in a second just take a little bit of a look back into the beginning days. Just about five years ago or so that God laid on my heart, after I had been in office, about the need to do a ministry, be involved in something that could bring real answers to the needs of America, and I had been in political office. I knew what was there, but I also knew what was not there. I knew that the heart of it, it was the pulpits of America that needed to preach and be involved in leading and teaching our people the principles of God’s word so that we know how to live and know how to confront society and the issues of the day and, boy oh boy, the Bible has all the answers. We believe that, but if we don’t teach it or we don’t live it, what good does it do? At those early days back then, I was thinking and praying about it, and God had a divine crossing of paths with Pastor Dale Armstrong, who’s now a part of our ministry as international director, in Ukraine right now. He’s on the phone. He’s calling in. Dale, why don’t you just share just a little bit about that divine crossing that occurred and how God used that in your heart, because he certainly used that in my heart right at the very beginning before this ministry was actually officially formed.
Dale Armstrong: Well, it was a tremendous life change time for me, Sam. God used you to challenge just about everything I had done for almost 30 years, or at least he used you to reveal an area that I had ignored, that I’d stayed away, and mainly that’s the political realm. I believe the first time we met, I’d invited you to speak in our church, and it was during the time when you were making a run for Governor. I don’t know if you remember, but one of the things I noticed when we first met was that you had the same Bible I had, a Kingbridge wide margin, and as I was looking at it, I saw the notes in your Bible were just as heavily as the notes in mine after years of preaching. I’m bringing that up because God confronted me that the same Bible that I use in the pulpit is the same Bible we should carry into the courthouse or into the capitol building in DC. It’s the same word of God.
Dale Armstrong: After that, I really began to search my heart and had several discussions with my wife about this issue. Is there a word to speak to power? Is there a word to bring to government? And as you remember, I was driving west in Pennsylvania, and you were driving I think northwest. Or I was driving east. Anyway, we ended up stopping at the same gas station, and I was inside this gas station. You were outside pumping and the spirit of the Lord spoke to me to turn around and to look, and when I did, I saw you from the back pumping gas, and the spirit of the Lord said, “That’s Sam Rohrer.” And I couldn’t believe it, because I’d just been talking about you for several hours with my wife, so I walked out, shook your hand, and if I’m not mistaken, you were in a period of prayer time as well about taking the handles here and leading APN in this great direction. But it was an amazing, miraculous time for me, Sam.
Sam Rohrer: Well, Dale, I can recall that just like it was today. My wife and I were traveling back and you and your wife were there, and God divinely ordered that encounter, and that encounter really spoke truth into my heart. You encouraged me and helped to put things together. Ladies and gentlemen, so much has happened. Dave, I want to come back to you in just a second, but if you’ve been listening to the program, you know that many, many guests of national standing are on our program who love the Lord, and let me just share just a short clip from George Barna, who’s with us regularly. I asked George just a short time ago, “George, why do you like being on this program? Why do you like APN, and what do you think about it? What would you tell our listeners?” Here’s some comments from George Barna.
George Barna: Well, you know Sam, it’s been an honor for me to be involved in that, but I would say there’s several things that come to mind off the top of my head. The first of those, and I do literally hundreds and hundreds of radio, television, print interviews every year, and I love doing yours because you all without exception come to every program well prepared. You think through what it is that you want to address and why and what the implications are, and you try to come up with useful personal applications for somebody who’s gonna tune in to listen to the program. It’s not just talk for the sake of filling time. It’s not just information for the sake of information. There’s a purpose behind this. There’s a singular vision that I sense that you all have of trying to continually prod and push and pull the American people, particularly the church, back to the ability to think biblically. We know from the research that I’ve been doing that churches are not terribly interested these days in helping people to understand and know how to think biblically about the issue and the conditions of situations that we face, and so that’s one of the things that I love about being on your show is that I know every time I go on, it’s not just gonna be an exercise. We’re trying to push people closer to biblical truth, and that’s where [inaudible 00:07:28] in the morning’s for.
Sam Rohrer: Well, Dave and Dale, I say that comment of George, boy, it touches my heart, but he really loves this program and so do the guests, and so do the listeners who are responding. Dave, let me go to you, ’cause that experience that Dale just shared was just one of many like them. If Gary were on right now, I’d be asking him to share another one that was a great similar manner, and there are a lot of other pastors here in Pennsylvania who were any early part of the Pennsylvania Pastors Network, and remain that way, who played a critical, critical role. But Dave, you are an evangelist. You’re a member of the board as Dale is. Can you recall back what was your first contact with the mission of Pastors Network back in its early days? How did you get involved?
Dave Kistler: Well, Sam, I can, and I remember I had never met you. Gary had mentioned your name to me many times when you were running for the U.S. Senate from the state of Pennsylvania, when you were running again for Governor of the state of Pennsylvania, and then I don’t know if you remember this, Sam, but we had a meeting there in the conference room at Faith Baptist Church Altoona, and I did not know fully everything going on in your heart, but Gary and I sat there and we basically said, “Sam, somebody needs to start an organization that will bring pastors together as a cohesive force to speak the truth into the culture,” and as Dale so powerfully said, truth to power, even in Washington, DC, and we said “We believe you’re the guy that God could use to do that,” and of course, long and short of it is now these five years later, you are the man that God directed to be the tip of the spear and to lead the American Pastors Network, and it’s been a phenomenal, phenomenal journey.
Dave Kistler: If I could see it this way, Sam, I’m a pastor’s son. I watched my dad feel like he was maybe the Lone Ranger trying to speak truth in his community, not that there weren’t other pastors. Pastors are great people. They’re sometimes lonely people, but man, there is something to bringing pastors together to speak with one voice God’s word and God’s truth into the culture, a culture that so desperately needs it, and that’s what precisely the American Pastors Network is doing.
Sam Rohrer: Well, Dave, actually, that takes me back quite a few years when you say that, and I do recall that, because you and Gary, there’s a lot of history here, ladies and gentlemen, but you and Gary were a part of a radio program for many years. Gary, again he’s not here, I think the world of Gary. He’s been so involved as a pastor in the pulpit for so long. He’s got a tremendous pastor’s heart, but he understood the need, and when I talked with him many years ago, about the same time I talked with you, Dale, Gary’s comment was “Sam,” he said, “You know what? I would be glad to be a part of something like that. I have been praying for a network of Bible-believing pastors for over,” I don’t know if he said 15 years or 20 years, but for a long time. And it was kind of like, ladies and gentlemen, as you’re listening to this, God’s timing is perfect. All of us who are listening, Dale and Dave who are listening, each one of us can look back at our lives and say how God’s timing was perfect. We shared just a couple of those incidences right now, but this is just some of how God started this ministry. This is not a business. We are not some big organization, we are a ministry committed to God himself, and furthering his truth.
Dave Kistler: Sam, one of the guys I’ve really grown to love on Capitol Hill is Senator John Kennedy, and I’m not talking about obviously John Fitzgerald Kennedy. I’m talking about Senator Kennedy who is a Republican Senator from Louisiana. He has a way of saying things. His voice is a unique down-home voice, and with respect to what I want to talk about in this segment, and that is some sexual allegations. The emphasis on the word “allegations”, accusations, that have surfaced about Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, from 36 years ago when he was a 17-year-old high school student.
With respect to that, Senator John Kennedy, from Louisiana, said this. “So far, it’s,” referring to the confirmation process, “it’s pretty much been an intergalactic freak show. Most Americans are looking at this, most mainstream Americans, and they’re thinking that Congress has hit rock bottom and started to dig.” I found that to be a intriguing statement. He went on and said this. “I’ve been embarrassed by the whole process and, frankly, I’m, no respect to Senator Feinstein or to Stanford Law School, but I’m a little bit offended. I sit on a judiciary committee. They’ve had this stuff for three months,” and, of course, he’s referring to this letter from this accuser of Brett Kavanaugh. “They’ve had this stuff for three months. If they were serious about it, they should have told us about it.”
Again, the lawmaker was referencing the secret letter that has been the subject of intrigue on Capitol Hill for four or five days. A source familiar with the confirmation proceedings has said that Senator Feinstein received the letter back in July, but did not make its existence known publicly until Thursday of this past week. The letter was relayed to lawmakers by a 51-year-old research psychologist, named Christine Ford, and it alleges that the 53-year-old Kavanaugh and her had an interaction that she’s calling a sexual attack while they were in high school, and, of course, The Washington Post first reported Ford’s letter online, and then a little bit later, her name has surfaced.
Well, the White House has responded, and on Friday, they said, and, of course, Kavanaugh said through the White House, let me put it that way, “I categorically and unequivocally deny this allegation. I did not do this back in high school or at any time,” and then again, today, Brett Kavanaugh has released another statement unequivocally denying it. He said, “Up until the weekend, I didn’t know who it was that was accusing me of this. He said, “Now I know the person’s name. Either way,” he said, “whether I knew the name, whether I didn’t, this did not happen. I categorically deny it and,” he said, “I’m looking forward, if the Senate Confirmation Committee or the Senate Committee that deals with this wants to call me back in to testify, I am more than willing to do that at any time, under any circumstances, in order to defend my integrity.”
Sam, let me go to you. I want to talk to you a little bit about this, and we’re going to give more attention to it tomorrow because some things are happening on Capitol Hill right now, more things taking place tomorrow with respect to this. Here is, again, ala our friend in Alabama, Judge Roy Moore, an almost four-decade-old situation that now surfaces in the form of an accusation, and that is what it is, an accusation, one woman accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh of something that happened 36 years ago. There has only been one other person’s name mentioned that was a friend of Kavanaugh’s supposedly in the house where this event happened 36 years ago. He has now come forward and not corroborated the woman’s story. He has denied it, unequivocally denied it, and said, “That did not happen. I did not see. I did not do anything that this woman is accusing me of either.” You have one woman accusing Judge Brett Kavanaugh.
Sam, talk a little bit about what should take place. I’m not saying what will take place with the Senators in D.C., but what should take place, because there’s biblical principles, really, that govern all of this.
Sam Rohrer: Well, Dave, there are biblical principles, but, at this point in time, I have not seen anyone talk about those biblical principles, and some would say, “Well, they’re not talking about biblical principles because nobody looks at the Bible anymore.” What I’m saying and what I’m going to share with you, though, is a biblical principle that is, in fact, a part of our law, and, frankly, David, you know we talk about it a lot here. The very basis of our justice system, our law, comes right off the pages of Old Testament scripture, and if I could, let me just take and read a few verses here from the book of Deuteronomy, because, Dave, this speaks exactly to what every legislator, every Congressman, every Senator, every lawyer ought to be thinking about right now, and I’m going to say it right up front before I read it, that every Senator, the Feinsteins of the world, and all of these others, that are giving such credence to this accusation, they, themselves, are inditing themselves because they are participating in very bad justice and very bad law.
Here is the verse. Here are the couple verses. This is what the word of God says to prevent the kind of thing we’re seeing happening right now. It says, “One witness, a single witness, shall not suffice against a person for a crime or any charge of wrongdoing in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” It goes on. It says, “If a malicious witness arises to accuse a person of wrongdoing, then both parties to the dispute shall appear before the Lord.” This would be appear before the court. “Before the priest,” the judges, those who were in office in those days, “and the judges shall inquire diligently as to the witness, whether it’s a false witness, and has accused the brother falsely. Then you shall do unto that person as he meant to do unto his brother. So shall you purge this evil from your midst.”
They, false accusations, false witnesses, false testimony, God says is evil, and unless it is purged, unless it is brought into the light, and the false accuser is identified as a false accuser and then punished swiftly and appropriately, the entire justice system is brought down, and when The Washington Post or a Diane Feinstein sits on an accusation by one person alone, from a long time ago even makes it even more worse, even worse yet, and does not recognize that one witness could be a false fitness, and they play along with it, they are part of the dismantling of our justice system, and they would be as a part of what this verse says. “They are a part of an evil that must be purged.”
This is a serious, serious matter because our entire justice system hangs upon it. We saw how it was brought against one man, Judge Moore. You mentioned it, but it’s been attempted before, but it’s almost now I’m afraid being attempted with abandon, Dave, and it’s dreadfully, dreadfully perilous for our system of justice.
Dave Kistler: Well, Sam, here’s the bottom line. Judge Kavanaugh went through four FBI background checks while he worked in the Bush White House. He went through one when he was confirmed to the D.C. Circuit Court, and then he went through a very extensive FBI background check preparing for this confirmation process, so six times. None of this showed up. One person comes out and accuses him and gets all this attention.
Ladies and gentlemen, what just Sam just shared with you is the biblical mandate for how something like this is to be handled. [inaudible 00:08:32] would follow that [inaudible 00:08:34]. When we come back, we’re going to continue and wrap up this discussion as we seek [inaudible 00:08:39].
Sam Rohrer: Well, if you’ve been listening to our program throughout this week, you know that we’re taking some extra time to kind of take you behind the scenes with the American Pastors Network through this program, Stand in the Gap Today, so that you have a better understanding of who we are, who the people are that are a part of this network, and what we’re doing on the radio, and what God has done in these last five years. We’re calling this our fifth anniversary, and it is.
It’s a joint walk with the Lord who has been the initiator, who is the sustainer, and our team, and willingness to be a part, and then of course you who are listening right now. And of those who watch our TV program, those who watch that because the three of us together, you who are a part right now, the Lord himself is, and the main cord, and us, we’re a part in a partnership of helping to present the truth to people across America. To the pulpits certainly, but all the people in the pews so that they better understand what God says, understand the issues of the day, and how to think biblically so that we can live more effectively as salt and light, and to be those who actually stand in the gap for truth.
Gary, let me go to you here right now, with a little bit of an inside perspective here. We say stand in the gap on here a lot. It’s stand in the gap today, we say stand in the gap wherever you are. A lot of people say, “Where’d that come from?” Gary, where does that come from biblically, stand in the gap?
Gary Dull: It comes from the pages of scripture in the book of Ezekiel, but you know, isn’t that something that you also used before even the American Pastors Network was brought together? You used that as a phrase from the scriptures to guide you when you were in office, did you not?
Sam Rohrer: Gary, that is correct. It’s from Ezekiel chapter 22:30. I did, years ago. I looked and actually God used that verse to lead me to step from business into political office for the first time, and then other runs in the ministry, but it was also fundamental in the underpinning of the American Pastors Network. And what it was, Gary, just as we’ve talked about before, you go to that verse, ladies and gentlemen, that’s where the lord says, “And I looked for a man or a woman among them to make up the hedge and stand in the gap,” and that’s where it comes from, “stand in the gap before me for the land, for the nation, that I should not destroy it.”
That’s God coming to Israel. He had given them all his blessings, all his word, his command, and he blessed them when they obeyed, but they got to a point where they turned their back on God. And he said, “Your time is up. I’m gonna discipline you just like a naughty child. And I’m looking for someone who’s gonna say, ‘I’m willing to give up my life if I need be for you, God,’ and stand there,” and I was impressed, Gary, with the fact that God said he didn’t find anybody and I thought, “Is that possible?” But ladies and gentlemen, that was kind of the underpinning and our entire team are people who have said, “We are willing to stand in that gap for truth.”
Gary, let me go back to you just real quickly here. What you shared yesterday when you and Dale and I were at your facility, your little trailer down in the woods in southwest Pennsylvania, we were praying for God’s direction about how we could most effectively proclaim truth in to the public square, and out of that came a number of things. The radio, and then the print. Again, why were we wanting to do that? Just share a little bit of, our heart was at that point.
Gary Dull: Well, you know Sam, we recognized if we were going to be putting together a ministry to pastors that would go nationwide, that it was very, very important for us to be individuals who would stand for truth, and to lead people, to lead pastors in the pulpit to stand for truth and to preach the truth of the word of God. And that’s significant today, because you see we have so many people today who number one, do not know what truth is, and then secondly, we’ve got millions of people in our country today, in fact many in the churches and some in the pulpits who do not believe in absolute truth.
Now, as pastors, we have the responsibility to teach the truth. We lead the local churches and the … Paul said in I Timothy 3:15 that the church is the pillar and the ground of the truth. So, it’s our responsibility as pastors to know the truth and to preach the truth so that people will hear the truth. And in our early days out there in the trailer, as you talk about, in Fayette County of southwestern Pennsylvania, we recognized that our responsibility was to do everything that we can to identify the truth, to preach the truth in order to honor God. That is what’s needed in this nation today and that is what we decided to do back then. And you know, by the grace of God, we continue to do it.
And going back to that phrase of standing in the gap, and of course we elaborate upon that a little bit by saying standing in the gap for truth. I remember when we were discussing what we would call this program. We had a number of different things out on the table there, but we went back to that phrase, “Stand in the gap”, simply because, Sam, as you’ve just described it, that explains it all. That’s what we do.
Sam Rohrer: Let me just share with you just briefly, four things. There is a purpose we try to bring to every one of our programs. The radio, the TV, and all of the things, we try to develop a reason. Here’s why we’re saying this week has been important to commemorate God’s blessings, and that is this. Number one, this ministry belongs to God. It does not belong to us, to Gary, to Isaac, to me, any of us. We’re only here to lead and steward it. You know, James 1:7 says, “Every good gift and every perfect gift comes down from above. The father of light, with whom is no variation, or shadow of any type of change.”
This ministry belongs to God, and application to you who are listening, your home, your children, your business, all that you have also belongs to God. And you’re a steward for it. So, it applies to all of us. But the second thing is this. The attitude of genuine thankfulness is necessary for God’s continuing blessing. The reason is if we are not grateful to God, we begin to worship things instead of God. And God says, “If you’re idolatrous and you worship other things, I’m not even gonna hear your prayer.” So, it’s important to be grateful to God and recognize that all we have came from him.
And then thirdly, God commands that leaders, fathers and mothers rehearse what God has done and do it to those under their sphere of influence. I’m gonna call it the ask tell policy, and I won’t go into all the details. But if you go, take your time, go to Joshua chapter four. In verses 21 to 24, it’s the example of the Israelites getting ready to go into the land, a new land that God has given them. For us, maybe it’s the five years ahead of us. In your home, maybe it’s what’s before you in the next five years. God said through Joshua, “Tell the people I’m gonna open up the river, when you go into that Jordan River in flood stage, take out 12 stones and then take and put them on a bank.” And the reason he said is this, is that when you put them on the bank, the reason is when you’re children, I’m reading now, verse 21, “When your children shall ask their fathers in time to come saying, ‘What are these stones here for?’, that you tell them that this is what God has done. He dried up the waters, he brought us over. He took us out of Egypt. He’s done all of these things.” The ask tell.
And why did he say to do that? This is the reason, 24, “That all of the people of the earth might know the hand of the lord, that it is mighty. That ye might fear the lord your god forever.” Ladies and gentlemen, it’s important to put up landmarks in your home, in your lives. We put landmarks up around the country, don’t we? Monuments in the cemeteries. We put up the Washington Monument. What are they there for? Well, they should be there to call our attention to the god of heaven. We’re trying to do that today this week by actually laying out some landmarks, recalling what God has done. Why? So that those of you who are listening understand where we’re coming from, why we’re here, and what all of us collectively who know the lord should be doing to draw the attention of all of those within our sphere of influence not to ourselves, but to the god of heaven.
A listener wrote this, “Thank you for what you’re doing at APN. I meet so many people who listen to your Stand in the Gap radio programs and I regularly tell others. We’re all in agreement, this is the miraculous hand of God at work. Praise God for doing the seemingly impossible.” God is the god of the impossible, ladies and gentlemen. Trust him as we are and I hope that as you hear and participate in these things and understand what God is doing that God may move in your heart, to come alongside of us in purposeful prayer. With your time, with your finances. Share with us, help to put forth the truth that is there.
I’ve been asking on this program all week that if you haven’t contacted us to let us know that you’re listening, drop us a note. Send an email. Go to our website, StandintheGapRadio.com. Go to Facebook if you use that, and the American Pastors Network Facebook page, or the Stand in the Gap Radio Facebook page. And put a note down there and tell other people about us. You can do that. You can partner with us financially as well by going to StandintheGapRadio.com to the donate or putting something in the mail, becoming a one time or a monthly partner. So very, very important.
Here is one individual who I did hear from yesterday, and I’m gonna read just a little bit from her note, ’cause I think it picks up the same kind of a tone. She said, “Sam and team,” there she says, “I will continue supporting you guys because I believe in you all, and I thank God for those pastors who are on the same plane. They want to proclaim the truth, and people, I do believe, are hungering for the truth.” And we talked about that on the program today, folks. We know that they do.
And she goes on, she says, “And this is why your listening audience is steadily increasing. And as they tell their friends, the listening audience will increase even more.” And she said, “I have been thinking seriously about what I can do.” And then she goes into some suggestions, and I’m gonna be talking with her more about specifically what she can do. She said she’d like to call people, she’d like to help do everything she can to promote the program and encourage people to give and to be a part. And she says this, “I know that I can pray, and prayer is effective. I just feel that I want to actively do something more.”
Now, I think that is really a wonderful thing. Gary, you’re a pastor, you have your church, you lead other ministries, you have other programs as well. We’ve talked a lot about prayer here on this program this week, about prayer and praying is good. And just like this woman said, “I know that prayer and praying is effective, but I feel I want to actively do something.” Gary, how important is it that people take decisions from the point of praying to the point of action?
Gary Dull: Well, you know, I think of three things and then I want to share some scripture based up on what Carol said there. There are three things that everybody can do, and maybe not everybody can do every thing, but everybody can do something, including number one praying, number two promoting, and number three, participating. Number one, we would ask people all across the nation to pray for us consistently that we will be having the wisdom of God to do what God wants us to do.
Number two, promote this ministry. Folks, if God has used this ministry in your life, please let others know about it, and then participate. And how can you participate? Well, number one, you can give financially. And we would ask you to give, or at least pray about giving on a monthly basis. And then get involved. If you go to our website, you will be able to see ways in which possibly you can get involved with our ministry.
But I go back to two passages of scripture. You know, we are team members together. We might not know each other, but we are team members together. In I Corinthians chapter three in verse nine, the apostle Paul says, “For we are laborers together with God.” Laborers together with God. We as Christians are laborers together with each other and with God. What a tremendous team that is. And then in Ephesians chapter four in verse sixteen, it says as it’s talking about the use of spiritual gifts, it says, “From who the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the major of every part maketh increase the body under the edifying of self and love.”
You see there that every one of us have a part to play in the propagation of the truth of the word of God. So folks, you can get involved through praying, through promoting, through participating, because you are a part of the team in getting out the word of God through Stand in the Gap today.
Sam Rohrer: Gary, I’m gonna close it with you and I want you to end up praying here, but if you would just give a final or two to our listeners, and then if you could take us to prayer, that’s a great way to finish this week and this program.
Gary Dull: Well, Sam, I’d be happy to. And ladies and gentlemen, as we often have said, there is no other program like this on radio where the word of God and the items of the news of the day are brought together. So, we would encourage you to continue to pray for us and if the lord lays it upon your heart, please support us financially as well. Father, we thank you for the opportunity that you give us to produce this program. And as we go forward, I pray that you use it for your honor and glory in getting out the truth that will exalt you in all things. In Jesus name, amen.
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