Ask Sam: Doubts & Distractions – Episode 66
Dec. 20, 2024
Host: Dr. Isaac Crockett
Co-host: Hon. Sam Rohrer
Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 12/20/24. To listen to the podcast, click HERE.
Disclaimer: While reasonable efforts have been made to provide an accurate transcription, the following is a representation of a mechanical transcription and as such, may not be a word for word transcript. Please listen to the audio version for any questions concerning the following dialogue.
Isaac Crockett:
Well, hello, I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett and I’m joined today by the Honorable Sam Rohr, who’s the president of the American Pastors Network and the regular host of this program. And on today’s Friday edition of Staying in the Gap today, it’s going to be an Ask Sam program and kind of, I don’t know, Sam, if we could call this a shotgun approach, kind of covering a lot of different hot topics, cultural things, news things. And it’s interesting the last couple of days, yesterday and today, different guests that we had lined up ended up calling in sick. And it’s just that time of year with weird weather changes and sicknesses spreading people in my church of different ages. In fact, today just found out one of the young teenagers in my church has pneumonia and is in the hospital. So just a lot of weird things going on. Sam, I know you’re getting over some sicknesses. My family’s getting over some sicknesses, myself included, but what’s the weather like down your way? Are you dealing with snow and ice and things this winter season?
Sam Rohrer:
Well, in some respects, I was actually at a life group last night, Isaac, and one of the people said, then it sure would be nice to be able to actually get some snow here. So that answers your question. No, down here. And we’re about, for those who were listening, I live in this studio here is about an hour approximately northwest of Philadelphia. So we’re in that part of the state. But so far, Isaac, no, we’ve had no snow. Nothing like you or definitely like the folks out in the western part of New York that literally buried.
Isaac Crockett:
Yes. Yeah, they’ve had a lot. Not far from me. I’m right on the Pennsylvania and New York border. Well, actually we’ve had weird weather. That’s the best way to describe it. We’ll get four or five inches and then we’ll get rain and then we get weather in the fifties, and then we’ll be down in the teens or single digits. And then back in the fifties, this past weekend, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday actually, so end of the weekend and beginning of the week we went into New York City and it was rainy and foggy, but we went in there for a Christmas reason. We’ve never taken our kids to New York City, and I’ve always wanted to see it at Christmas time, but also we’ve been invited for a while and we decided to accept it this year, the Getty Music, they do a big Irish Christmas program and a lesson in Carol’s in New York City at Carnegie Hall.
So they gave us tickets and we had an enjoyable time, just amazing worship right there in the heart of Manhattan, worshiping the Lord with thousands of people in Carnegie Hall of fact. We bumped into people who listened and watch us on Stand in the Gap Today and Stand in the Gap TV while we were in line to get in. And it was just so enjoyable to sing these songs of praise and worship the Lord and think about his first coming and his second coming. And Sam, we’ve talked about this some before, but this really is an amazing opportunity in our culture as secular as we are, that we have a Christmas season and how can we capitalize on that and use this time of year with all the other stuff that’s going on to really show Christ to the people around us?
Sam Rohrer:
Well, Isaac, so many ways. I mean certainly within our own families, I mean if families don’t get together for Christmas, they probably don’t generally get together, but that is one that provides an opportunity for within families. I say to make sure that if there are relationships that are not right, that you use Christmas to talk about the ability and the whole purpose of God loving the world and sending Jesus Christ for what purpose, reconciliation. So if there’s any forgiveness that needs to be exhibited, it’s a perfect time to deal with it because that is exactly what Christmas is all about. That’s one. I mean, so then you’ve got a family setting and then just rejoicing with what the real meaning for giving is all about being God who demonstrated that to us who didn’t deserve anything, and that’s a great way to do it. The other is just, I mean, when we’re out talking to people, go to a restaurant or whatever, and people say, happy Holidays, great way to come back and say, well, yes and Merry Christmas to you too. And oftentimes, I mean, I’ve done that a number of times even this week, and it causes that person to say, well, yeah, that’s what I should have said. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to you too. You know what I mean? So it’s an easy time to make the conversation centered on Christ, which is what the season’s all about anyways, or should be I,
Isaac Crockett:
And it should be all the time for us. But you’re right, this really makes it easy. It also is an exciting time for churches. And there are other times on the calendar, especially Easter, but Christmas and New Year’s are exciting times. Sometimes they’re hard times for churches. I know some of the smaller churches in more rural areas, a lot of people go away for the holidays, churches with a lot of college students have a lot of their folks gone, but other churches have people coming in as visitors. But it’s also a great time to welcome the community because oddly enough, just a normal service, people likely aren’t going to come visit, but when it’s something special, something different, something with the Christmas season involved in it or Easter season to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, people are more likely to come out of a sake of tradition or curiosity or just it’s a good excuse to visit. And so it’s a neat opportunity for our churches to capitalize on as well. But Sam, we also talk about Christmas carols. We don’t have time to get into a big thing, but the idea of there’s Christmas music and there’s winter holiday music, but Christmas Carol, so many of them are very theologically deep and really the teachings that we could use all year round, but they come out especially this time of year. Do you have anything to encourage our listeners with using even Christmas caroling at Christmas time to present the truth,
Sam Rohrer:
Isaac? I do. And it’s interesting. Unfortunately my planning wasn’t too good. I should have a couple of songs. I could read the words to it because on certain programs in the past standing a gap in the past, and actually I think one of them that we will be replaying next week here during the time of Christmas and all that we on this program will do the top 10 programs of the year. One of them will be talking about some Christmas carols and some words, but actually it’s easy, Isaac not in church, but even I referred to my life group last night, we sang about a half a dozen Christmas carols and one of the songs read the actual verses. And when it was done, one of the people in that group said, wow, I never actually read the words of a carol. That actually sounds like a prayer. And many times, Isaac, the words of carols are so deep in content and some of them are prayers. Others are recitations of verses right from scripture that lift up and honor the person of Jesus Christ and all of, and that’s why it’s so perfect Christmas carol’s content and the music beautiful, but they’re powerful in just reading the words.
Isaac Crockett:
Amen. And for some people, Christmas time is a hard time. Some people get very depressed this time of year missing loved ones, missing the way things used to be. I’m dreaming of a white Christmas just like the ones I used to know. But Christmas is a great time to renew our relationship with the Lord. If you haven’t accepted Christ as Savior, accept him as Savior. If you know Christ, remember that just as certainly as he came, he is coming. Again. There’s so much to be thankful for even in difficult times. But Sam, when we come back, I want to ask you some more questions about some of the things going on in our culture this Christmas time. And right now, this week we have a lot of questions for Sam coming up after this first time out, well welcome back to our Friday Stand in the Gap Today program.
I’m asking questions of Sam Rohr. I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett, and we were talking some about Christmas. And just so you know, in the next coming days and weeks, we’ll have a lot of neat programs about Christmas and some of our top programs that we’ve had this year. So I hope that you will tune in, especially if you maybe a little extra time around Christmas and New Year’s. But Sam, we went from talking about Christmas and celebrating and really focusing on Christ using it as an opportunity. But I want to kind of change now and talk about some of the top news stories going on right now. And you’re at our main office in Elverson, Pennsylvania, and it’s not too far away from Altoona, Pennsylvania where Gary Dull, Pastor Gary Dull, one of our main co-hosts. It’s had some excitement a little bit ago. The person who authorities believe this 26-year-old killed the United CEO, Brian Thompson.
This Luigi Manni was actually arrested in Altoona, went to court yesterday, Thursday and was extradited flown in then to New York and then to New York City by helicopter. I think it was yesterday on Thursday. And so a lot of things going on there. But one of the things I found very interesting is that when he went to court in Altoona on Thursday morning, there were hundreds of people there encouraging him with positive signs about what he had done. And he’s become kind of a hero to many people, which is surprising to me. So I want to read from an article, this is from the hill.com. This was written just a few days ago. It’s not quite hot off the press, but it’s two or three days old… And the title of the article is Shock Poll, 41%. Repeat that. 41% of young voters find killing of United Healthcare CEO, acceptable.
And when I say killing, I mean I is in assassination really. And I’m going to read from this article here, Sam, you’ve seen this article as well. It says, A poll found 41% of adults under 30 consider the killing of UnitedHealthcare, CEO, Brian Thompson acceptable more than the 40% in that demographic who consider it unacceptable. So according to this poll, it’s a survey from Emerson College, a little bit more of the young adults considered it acceptable than those who considered it unacceptable to me. This is shocking. It says, Luigi Mangioni, a 26-year-old was arrested last week in Pennsylvania and faces charges in Thompson’s killings. The survey from Emerson College polling found 68% of all respondents. That’s all age groups, only 68% of them found the actions of the person who shot and killed Thompson unacceptable. I would’ve thought this would be like 99% says, but a startling 24% of those aged 18 to 29 found it somewhat acceptable, and 17% of that same age group found it completely acceptable making that then just shocking to me, says since Thompson was shot first in the back, and then again as he fell to the ground, a number of media posts from people saying they do not have sympathy for his death have gained popularity.
It goes on here, I’m quoting from the article, it says, Spencer Kimball, the executive director of Emerson College, polling said 22% of Democrats said they found the killing acceptable compared to 16% of independents and 12% of Republicans. He said the overall findings underscore shifting societal attitudes among the youngest electorate and within party lines. Sam, there’s a lot more we could talk about with this. There’s people raising money for the suspect and all kinds of things. But Sam, what, when you read an article like this, what is your reaction to this article and to this Emerson College poll that it’s quoting the findings of,
Sam Rohrer:
Well, I think you used the word I would use shocking. How else can one look and respond other than you responded? And I would say they’re shocking, startling because Isaac, there’s a couple things I think we can talk further about it. I mean, I don’t know that, for instance, if they surveyed people that were 50 and above or 60 and above, I would like to think that at least that group, the numbers would’ve been flipped. But I can’t imagine really in our setting where a clear and everybody knows about that killing. Yes, it was an assassination come up. It was a murder in cold blood that anybody would say that murder in cold blood taking. Well, it’s not even taking law on into their own hands because nothing had even had been done by that individual to this 26-year-old. Isaac mean to me, indicates an extraordinary change in values. What is acceptable, not acceptable. And whereas once that kind of thing you say, well, yeah, well, maybe that was the way they do it in North Korea, or they do it that way in China or whatever. But that’s not here in America when you actually bring it down like that and 41% more say there’s reasons to support why somebody should be killed than not, things have flipped. And that’s the bigger story. It’s sort of shocking. Yes, it’s,
Isaac Crockett:
Well now, Sam, earlier this week you spoke with Twila Braze and you often speak out about some of the problems in our healthcare system, some of the problems in our insurance, the way it’s set up. Now, this CEO is the CEO of the largest private insurance company, but we have a lot of insurance companies that are connected with government and there’s just problem after problem when it comes to our healthcare systems. But looking at these problems, especially as Christians, and you’ve kind of already alluded to this, but this vigilante violence, is that ever the answer? And maybe you could speak to how we balance it out accepting that yes, there are problems with healthcare, but the answer isn’t taking this into your own supposed hands just going out as a vigilante in this case,
Sam Rohrer:
Isaac. And that’s exactly what you’re saying there is correct to take measures into one’s own hand, is basically to establish one’s self with an authority to enact justice and authority that’s capable of taking a life under right circumstances, capital punishment that God only reserves to civil authority, which he does. And it’s called out in Romans chapter 13. But anything prior, anything other than that, an individual taking and trying to enact justice, which is justice in their eyes as they feel it, as they directed, Isaac is at the heart of the definition of lawlessness. That’s the problem. It moves us into no longer justice administered fairly equitably. It is the vigilante aspect of it where I as an individual will determine what is true or not. And if something bothers me and I feel like somebody ought to pay with their life in this case, I’m going to go ahead and do it. Ultimately, the 41% who said there’s some justification to it, what they’re saying is it is okay if something rises to the occasion where somebody’s doing something to you that you think is unacceptable, that you can actually take their life. That is incredible.
Isaac Crockett:
Well, Sam, it was just last week we were talking with Dr. George Barna, and this has been continually, in all of his research, we keep seeing that there is this increasing positive attitude towards socialism where people say, well, actually, socialism is good and even communism. And do you think that there, again, I’m not saying you know this or that you have facts, but do you see that there could be a correlation between this acceptance of socialism and all that goes down with that and this breakdown of the moral morality in our society where one says, well, it could be acceptable to kill the CEO because they’re, they’re not doing the right things in their company. Do you think that could be something we’re seeing here, this kind of correlation?
Sam Rohrer:
Well, absolutely. It is Isaac, and here’s reason, as you and I talked with George Barna a week ago, and about what this information you’re talking about, it was in the context of worldview. And we talk on this program about a biblical worldview. It is one approach where one view’s life from God’s perspective as contained in God’s written word and executed according to God’s plan. So it’s God’s will done God’s way according to God’s word. That’s a biblical worldview. But there’s one worldview and anything and everything other than that is an unbiblical worldview. And that’s out of that is where it comes socialism. So whether it’s socialism or just plain secularism, whatever it is, it doesn’t make it’s anything other than a biblical worldview. But when that takes place, Isaac, the distinctive differences that set apart just as we’ve known in this country, freedom as we’ve known in this country, as laid out in God’s word, completely flips on its head, including these, a worldview that is not a biblical worldview will hold and entertain a different value of life, a different value of property, a different value of duty and obligation. And from that then comes everything else underneath of that and that. So yes, there is a tie in because it demonstrates a worldview that disagrees with God and does not hold life as sacred. Socialism doesn’t hold life as sacred, nor property as sacred, nor duty, duty to God, duty to others because it’s not any longer based on fixed truth. So yeah, I think they are in fact very connected.
Isaac Crockett:
And Sam, as we go into our break here, I just want to remind our listeners too that it’s not just young people who see these things. I mean AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, she’s 35 years old, but you also have 83-year-old Bernie Sanders who is pushing a lot of this stuff too. So this is a common problem in our nation. Well, we have a lot more things to talk about, a lot more questions. I want to look at some of the headline news for the biblical worldview and do some review of the week on our Ask Sam program when we come back from listening to our partners right after this on Stand in the Gap today. Well, welcome back to the program. I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett, and I’ve been asking Sam Rohr, the president of the American Pastors Network. I’ve been asking him questions about a lot of different things today, but before I go back to asking him questions, I’d like to ask our producer, Tim Schneider, if he could come to the mic and just give us some of the things that are going on at the American Pastors Network and at staying in the Gap Media.
Tim Schneider:
Thank you, Isaac. Well, I’m going to ask some questions now because you’ve asked questions, but I’m actually going to just ask one question. I’m going to ask it of our audience. Have you checked out our YouTube channels? Do you know that we have three great YouTube channels, American Pastors Network, stand in the Gap TV and Stand in the Gap radio? Check them out to see our archives and all the great content being posted. Subscribe to our YouTube channels by searching for American Pastors Network. Stand in the Gap radio and stand in the Gap tv. And as you search and subscribe, every time that we put new content on there, you’ll be notified. We also ask you to please pray for our ministry. We thank you for your prayers and ask that you please continue to pray for this ministry. We can’t do anything really without prayer, and we just continue to ask and covet your prayers.
Also, as we get to the end of the year, if the ministry has been blessing you, this ministry has, we encourage you to please consider giving financially to this ministry. No amount too big, no amount too small is too much. But if you do appreciate what we do and you’re blessed and the Lord has blessed you, please consider blessing us. So we continue to do the things that we do. You can go on to our website, American pastors network.net or stand in the gap media.org and or our app and find places to give on those functions. So that’s some of the stuff that I’ve got to say, Isaac, in this last show for us here in 2024, and I hope you guys all have a great Christmas and a great New Year’s, and I’ll go ahead and send it on back to you.
Isaac Crockett:
Well, thank you, Tim and I highly recommend the YouTube channels like you were talking about. And I’ll give you a little hint. If any of you maybe have a small group like Sam, you have a small group from your church that meets at your home or a Sunday school group or some sort of Bible study that you’re in charge of are standing in the GAP TV channel. It works out really, really well for a discussion to have with a small group or a Sunday school, so many different topics. You can scroll through several years worth of our programming really fast, find a topic or a guest or something that suits what you’re talking about, and it all fits in and about a 25 minute program, which leaves time for talking discussion questions. All of that makes it really easy. And you get some great experts from all over the country and really all over the world that we interview on that.
Or sometimes it’s just Sam and I talking about things, but a really, really neat way to help fill in the gap. Stand in the gap for a small group or a Sunday school teacher. Well, Sam, there have been so many things in the news this week and we could go back and recap each of our programs that we’ve had here on Stand the Gap today. And I would highly recommend you to go back and even if you’ve listened to it, to go back to yesterday to Thursday’s program, kind of a year in review, looking at overall ideas. And there’s some big things going on that have really come to a culmination here at the end of the year. And Sam and his guest yesterday talked about those. And then maybe you’ll say something about that even today, Sam. But we’ve had a lot of major things hit the headlines the last 10 days, even the last four or five days we’ve had this Christian school shooting the New Jersey drones, and I know you’ve talked about that before.
It was really hitting most of mainstream media, Sam. We had this government spending bill and this shutdown looming and all these things going on. There’s the biggest Amazon strike that we’ve ever had in our country about it started and it’s starting to take place. There’s the bird flu fears with affecting dairy and possibly other animals, and now a person getting a bad case of it from his backyard. Chickens. There’s just so many things, Sam, you can go into anything you want, Sam, but I do want to get maybe a little comment from you on the drones because that is taking everybody by storm, I mean all over New Jersey and New York City. This is a big deal. Now, a government after weeks of not saying anything about these sightings that started back in November, I think November 18th or maybe even before that, they’re finally talking about it. I would just be curious, Sam, what you think about what the government has come out. From what I see, it seems to me like they’re kind of contradicting each other, some of the people, but I don’t know. But I’d be glad to see what you think, Sam, of what they have talked about so far when it comes to these spottings.
Sam Rohrer:
It’s hard to summarize in a moment, Isaac, because this has been a changing scenario. This matter where it’s became into the media really began around November 22nd, and that’s when the date that’s kind of used where things began to appear in the media, in the news. Well, it has grown for many people. They would still think that this is primarily an east coast phenomenon, New Jersey, because so many of the sightings, 5,000 sightings, I mean that kind of thing have been in New Jersey, but if it’s also been in New York, that’s been in Philadelphia, it’s broadened across Pennsylvania. But in reality, these sightings of a similar type have been occurring all over the nation during California. They were heavy in Texas earlier this week, they’re Florida, so they’re all over. But in every case it’s the same thing. What is going on? What are these things? Where are they coming from?
What’s the origin and what’s the purpose? The government, who one would expect to be the authority on things have as you said, been absolutely either silent or in denial. We have no idea what it is. And even this week, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security and Department of Defense together made a joint release. We have no idea where these things are from, but they say, but we can assure you everybody that there’s no harm from them. Well, which is baloney obviously, because if you don’t know where they’re from and you don’t know what they’re doing, how can you possibly in a position of saying they represent no threat? Those kinds of actions have, now, I’ve never seen it quite of this type where it has gone to the point where you have congressional action, members of the house, members of the Senate, members of state legislatures, local authorities, so many Department of Defense, white House, so many people being involved.
And yet at this point, the local people in the state and Congress and senators are demanding. We need an answer, we need an answer. And now it’s been weeks and still no answer. Isaac. What that does is that gives rise to speculation, and that is not a good thing. And so out of that, and I’m not saying what I think they are, I can do that if you want to ask me next, but we remain in a circumstance where these are cited and government officials are saying nothing to be worried about. You’re not actually seeing what you’re think you’re seeing, and there is no harm, so don’t worry about it. But on the other hand, then they’ll come in, they’ll issue something else. So effectively at this point, I will say this, there is no possible way that the federal government, these department heads and all that do not know what is going on. They absolutely do. Why are they withholding information? That’s up for speculation, but it is creating harm by them not answering, and it’s giving rise to speculation. And that is not a good thing. So transparency is not their, and I’ve saved based on not just what I think, but members of house delegations, I mean state delegations or Washington are all using the same word. These officials are lying to us and withholding information. That’s basically where that is.
Isaac Crockett:
Well, Sam, in our next segment as we wrap things up, I do want to get to what you think really is at the heart of all that’s going on. There’s so much to summarize it, but just real quickly, we just have a few moments here. It seems like we are constantly in this cycle of a supposed looming government shutdown and we have to pass a quick bill, and in that bill they throw all kinds of pork barrel politics spending in there. Can you talk to us just briefly about what’s going on with this supposed government shutdown and this bill that would’ve put a lot of pork spending in there?
Sam Rohrer:
Yeah, absolutely. Yeah. See, Isaac, the Constitution requires the passage of a budget. It has been over a decade, maybe way beyond that now, where there has not been an official budget passed in Congress, they call them continuing resolutions. It is wrong, it is unconstitutional. It’s a dereliction of duty, not just by this group that’s there now, but going way back under both Republican and Democrat leadership, it avoids inspection, accountability. And this particular resolution would’ve increased spending $400 billion, lots of pork all the way through and 1,578 pages long, but in violation of agreement by the Republican leadership even to the Republican members, which had been passed some time ago in that no more bills would ever be presented for the Republican leadership or the house to vote upon that they didn’t have time to read. And remember, it was Nancy Pelosi that made a statement, well, you got to pass the bill in order to read it.
I mean, people are sick of that. So what has happened right now is that there is a great pushback by members of the Republican House against Speaker Johnson. Frankly, I am very disappointed in Speaker Johnson. He said in September that he would not do this, and yet he has done it because of the weighing in of Elon Mush and Vivek Ramaswami, these two guys on that committee or group that Trump has put together, they have called for it to be killed and so has Trump. And now we’ve got an impasse coming up and that we can talk about that. But it’s a big deal.
Isaac Crockett:
Alright, well thank you so much Sam. Thank you for listening. We’re going to take another quick time out when we come back. We want to really get at the heart of all of these issues looking deeper than just the top tier articles and news stories that are out there, but really what is actually going on. And we want to look at some of the distractions of what could be happening to distract us from what’s really happening as we look at our doubts. Welcome back to this program. I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett and I’m asking questions to Sam Rohr, our regular host of this program. And Sam, we’ve talked about a lot of different things, but something that some of you may have heard our co-host Jamie allude to in one of our partner clips just here is that this time of year, some people are excited for the Christmas and some get children especially really looking forward to it, but there are others who have lost a loved one and they’re going to miss that, or they get their hopes built up for Christmas and then everything just seems to go afterwards and they just feel this big letdown in the winter blues.
And yet when we turn our eyes to Jesus and we really focus on Jesus Christ and our relationship with him, no matter what difficulties we’re going through, no matter what doubts or hardships we’re facing, we will see him and he will work in our lives. And that’s the goal for us as Christians, is to grow to be more like Jesus Christ. So Sam, as I’ve been talking to you, today’s an Ask Sam program, but I really think we could sum it up with two words and that is doubts and distractions. And there’s a lot of people who I think have doubts about things. We doubt that we can trust the government or the news or just trusting other people in general maybe. And then I think there are distractions distracting us from the real things going on in history and in our lives right now. So that’s what I want to get into Sam. And maybe there’s time for you to go into some of the things we’ve talked about a little bit with the government spending bill and things. But all in all, as we look at all these headlines, there’s a deeper issue, isn’t there, Sam, and I would refer anybody who didn’t hear yesterday’s program to go back and to listen to that. But Sam, at the heart of all of this, what would you point out is the real issue of what’s going on?
Sam Rohrer:
Isaac here is where I go, and we go regularly from a biblical worldview perspective, looking at the events of the day, all these things that we’re talking about, only doing it that way permits us, I believe, to ask the question, how does God look at these things that are happening for us? They’re shocking for us. They are life changing. And in fact, they may be and they are. But from God’s perspective, he looks down at a sinful world. They’ve been cursed because we’ve walked into sin. But scripture lays out for us, Isaac, I believe, and this is what helps me to bring goes to the heart of Willie. What’s happening. It’s in the context of understanding that history and where we live is a completion of God’s promise, of his plan of redemption. Telegraphed at the beginning after creation, when there was the fall, and God said he was going to put into effect in Genesis three 15, everything for the 6,000 years has been a carefully executed fulfillment of God’s promises.
God so loved the world, the bringing forth of Messiah, salvation, first coming, the church age now in which we live, and then what scripture says and brings us to the point of the book of Revelation, which tells us how this chapter ends. Then with Christ’s second coming, if I did not know that story, I would be totally confused and that’s where the world is. But as believers, we are not confused or should not be. And so it’s within that context, Isaac, that I am driven to what scripture says where Jesus says in Matthew 24 in particular to his disciples, now he says, be aware of the time in which we’re talking. We’re living right now. We know that’s the time because Israel’s now back in the land, that clock is ticking. The signs that God has given are all on the table. He says, number one, there’s going to be deception, so don’t be deceived.
Number two, there are going to be wars and rumors of wars. There are going to be pestilence, multiple health factors, things that come up that are going to be life impacting from a health perspective. The ground is going to shake, there’ll be earthquakes, there’ll be volcanoes, there’ll be evidences of turmoil because of sin and a cursed earth. And he said, but this is the key. And I think it’s important. Jesus told them, but when you see these things happen, do not be perplexed. In other words, don’t get anxious, don’t become fearful, but understand that these things will happen. And he said, because they must happen. Why must they happen? Because God laid it out in his plan. So within that context, Isaac, I can approach and I think every believer can approach where we are with confidence that nothing’s out of control, nothing’s falling apart.
Everything is actually falling into place because the God who promised these things always very much alive and he is working them out and no man will be able to undo them. Alright? Now that being the case, it’s in that context. But when I look at what’s happening around us now and knowing that the next thing on the prophetic schedule is the rapture of the church and God’s return for the church and tribulation period then comes in the things that happen after that, what actually is happening? Well, an increase in deception and we see it wars, rooms and wars. We see it. We’ve talked about it.
The earthquakes and pests, all those kinds of things. Everything that we talked about yesterday in the program are the things that are happening now. Here is where I believe is the case. These things that are happening are things that are happening because God said they would happen. They’re indications of a earth that is convulsing because of sin. They are indications of a climate where mankind is rejecting the God of heaven. And God is about to step in with his wrath. And that’s the tribulation period for the purpose of bringing the Jewish people to the point where they actually recognize him Messiah. But in that time also where many will come to faith in Jesus Christ, though at great cost, the cost of their lives. I think what’s happening Isaac right now is that everything we’re witnessing are distractions are part of what God said would take place, but they’re designed by the world to distract us.
Distract us from what? Well looking to God, looking to the Bible. What are they to do? They’re designed to make people. And here’s the key, I think untrusted to not any longer trust authorities, the authorities of government, the authorities of the pulpit, the authorities of mom and dad in the home. That’s what the devil did in the garden to Eve Hass, God said, what was his goal? Destroy trust in God. In these days, when the antichrist will come forward, we know from scripture it will come forward in the attitude and culture of no trust of truth. Truth will have been laid down in the street. Fallen in the street. He will come in a time of deception. I think everything is here is set to destroy trust. Trust in government. So all the lies about the drones, that’s how it factors into it. Even in the budget circumstance.
A good man like a Speaker Johnson who just said, I will not do what I have complained about and others have said, we don’t know to happen. And September goes and does it. What ends up being harmed? I think trust is harmed. And when trust is harmed, Isaac, the human mind and passions don’t move to God. They move to man. They move to the devil. I think what we’re witnessing is a battle for the souls and the worship of mankind. And we’re seeing it in the destruction of trust. And that’s what God’s people need to be aware of and avoid at all costs.
Isaac Crockett:
Wow. Well, thank you so much, Sam. That’s very well said. That’s at the heart of the issue. We’re running out of time here. Would you close our program in prayer?
Sam Rohrer:
Sure. Heavenly Father, thank you Lord that you are in control. You’ve given us your word that tells us your will, tells us how it’s going to work it out your way. And when we observe it and trust in what you say your word and live it out, we can be lights in this world, which we need to be and we can trust in you fully. And Lord, I pray that we will do that in Jesus name, amen.
Isaac Crockett:
Amen. Amen. Well, thank you so much Sam. Thank you for listening today. And as Sam just prayed, I hope that you will stand in the gap for truth and that you will trust the Lord. And he is someone that we can always trust is always faithful. Put our trust in him no matter what happens around us. And stand in the gap for truth wherever you are today.
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