Ask Sam: Passing the Faith to the Next Generation – Episode 83

Ask Sam: Passing the Faith to the Next Generation

Episode 83

Host: Dr. Isaac Crockett

Co-host: Hon. Sam Rohrer

Note: This transcript is taken from a Stand in the Gap Today program aired on 8/14/26. 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:

Welcome to this program. So glad that you’re listening. And I know that most of you are probably listening on the radio somewhere in the world. Some of you are listening on podcasts or archives or streaming. So whether you’re listening via a phone or a radio in your vehicle or a screen of some sort or ear pods or whatever, thank you for listening. And I hope that you will share programs like this, one that we’re doing today with others. And for those of you at radio stations that are playing this, we’re so thankful for all the hundreds and hundreds of radio stations that have chosen to play Stand in the Gap. We’re very excited about being here. And this Friday edition today is going to be, I think, one that you’re going to want to listen to and share with others. With that, I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett.

And the expert that I have with me today is normally on the other side of the microphone or however you want to say it, because we’re doing a Friday edition of Ask Sam. And for those of you who listen regularly, you know Sam Rohrer. He’s the president of the American Pastors Network and the regular host of the Stand in the Gap Today program. For those of you who maybe are unfamiliar, maybe you haven’t been listening to this before and you’re just tuning in right now. So Sam is the founder of Stand in the Gap today and he’s on the radio with us regularly. But he’s a husband, he’s a father to six children, a grandfather, a preacher, former legislator for about two decades, former businessman, and someone who has spent a lot of time understanding a biblical worldview. And that’s what we’re getting at today and looking at it generationally.

So with that, Sam, thanks so much for being on with us today as the guest rather than the one asking all the questions.

Sam Rohrer:

Isaac, it’s good to be with you always. You and I have done a lot of programs together between TV and radio over the years and it’s a real thrill and glad to sit on this side of the microphone today with you.

Isaac Crockett:

And yeah, I shouldn’t say guest, you’re the expert today. But right now, most of the people listening, if they have anybody in their life that is school age, they’re going back to school. They’ve either already started in many states or they’re getting ready to start in many states. And this is kind of the week or next week, some of them. And as people are getting ready for this new school year, I thought we could maybe start with that, but I don’t want to just talk about that. I want to get into discipleship, generational discipleship, parents to children, parents to adult children, parents, grandparents to grandchildren, and even outside of maybe physical relation, maybe other generational groups within the church. And so I don’t know if we’ll have time to break into all of that, but Sam, the school year has always been a very important part of your life when you were a student, but then so much of your professional life, you and Ruth Ann were homeschool parents.

You were also involved with the private Christian school at your church, but you, during your almost 20 years of being a representative for Pennsylvania, you also were on the committee most of that time for the education committee. So this is right up your alley and maybe you’ll be able to tie some of those experiences into this, but what advice do you have? Let’s start with parents. And the people listening, we have homeschool parents, we have public school parents, we have private Christian school parents. What advice do you have for them as they’re preparing their children for this year ahead, 2026?

Sam Rohrer:

Isaac, I think that’s great. I have four. I’m just going to share here briefly because these principles, and they are principles, but they apply to parents. And I’m speaking as a parent now as a grandparent, but it involves any parent regardless of where their children may be. Hendriz, that’s where I’d go. First of all, remember parent, remember that the ultimate parental duty is to train up your children and biblically to train up your children in the ways of the Lord. Secondly, as a part of it, don’t assume that you know what’s happening in the classroom if your child’s even in a Christian school, let alone a public school, or even in a homeschool. Don’t assume that you know always what’s happening. Do not assume that the influences of other children or the teachers, if you have them outside of the home, or the teachers or the curriculum are always in the best interest of that child or would meet biblical standards.

So that primal parental duty. Second, remember parent, that your children are your primary responsibility, as I said, to train them up. You have to oversee the instruction. You have to install the discipline and maintain it and direct it. And you will give account as parents. Since God loaned children to us as parents, not to the school, not some neighbor, not a church, not some other teacher. We are going to stand responsible. Thirdly, we must assume as parents the responsibility for the quality control or the accountability or the entire process of education. In other words, the parents must, Isaac, lay out what it is there as children are to learn in the fear of God. And then measure it along the way to make sure that it is taking root, that the right seeds are being planted. That quality control is not a one-time thing. It’s a process.

Then lastly, parents, you must ensure ongoing oversight as to the measurement of your child’s education. So it’s what I just said, but it’s not just do they get As or Bs? It’s their attitudes and it is their worldview. And you’ve got to check that. What are they learning and how are they viewing God in the world, in the word of God? And then the last one, you must preserve your role as parents. You must remain primal or somebody else is going to step in and usurp it.

Isaac Crockett:

Those are really helpful, Sam, and we just have a moment left. Do these apply to people who maybe aren’t the biological parents? Could this be grandparents or even influencers from church?

Sam Rohrer:

Well, absolutely. So Isaac, so even in the case of a church that’s teaching, they must not assume and try to take over the role of the parent. They must teach the parent, but they’ve got to keep God’s model in perspective and support it all the way through. And yes, this is the parent’s responsibility. And we’ll get into it later here, I think, but grandparents, just one though. Grandparents, of which I’m speaking probably to many right now, your job does not stop when your child graduates from high school or turns 18. No, it doesn’t. And we’ll talk about that because Deuteronomy chapter six makes that very clear. It goes beyond high school years, beyond your children, to your grandchildren.

Isaac Crockett:

I like where you’re going with this, Sam, because I think so many times we want to make something kind of clear cut. And so it’s like, oh, I sent my kids to school or I sent them to youth group or Sunday school or whatever, and they didn’t turn out right. So it’s those people. It’s the government or it’s the church. And you’re talking about responsibility of the home. You’re talking about responsibility of the parents. But it works with, hopefully we have a godly government that’s helping it make it easier for parents to be righteous. Hopefully you have a godly church that’s helping back up that biblical worldview, training parents to be parents. And then also looking for times and situations where sometimes the parents aren’t where they should be. Are there other godly influences? They’re not the same as the parent, but being a godly influence to other people.

And so there’s a lot that we want to talk about. And especially then looking at what does a parent do when their children become adults? They’re not children in the sense of age. They’re your children biologically, but they’re adults now and they start their own home. So Sam, we have a lot of questions for you. So please don’t go away. And those of you listening, please don’t go away. We’re going to take a quick time out. We’ll be right back on Stand in the Gap.

All right. Well, welcome back. And I’m Pastor Isaac Crockett and I’m talking to the regular host of our program today, Sam Rohr, asking him a whole bunch of questions since he does that to all the other guests. Sam, now you get a little bit of how that feels. And we’re talking though about this generational discipleship. And Sam, you’ve gone through this and you’ve talked about these different things in your church and in other churches and as a minister, not just of the gospel, but also minister of government. And these have been very important to you. We were talking about education, which is of course something you’ve spent so much of your life involved with. But there was a time in your life where you and Ruth Ann were welcoming your children into this world, creating this environment for them to grow in a love for God, rearing them and teaching them even at home and all these things you were doing.

But the parenting, it changes just as a baby goes from a baby to a toddler to a young child. There’s different developmental stages. But as a child grows into an adult, things change. And there are some people, even some Christian groups that kind of teach this almost like, okay, once they hit a certain age, maybe teenage years or 20s or something, you just kind of hands off and you just hope for the best. Sam, how have you seen the role of a parent? Maybe what biblical insights do you have on that? And you’ve gone through this, you’re still doing this, but your kids have all flown the nest, so to speak. How does a parent’s role change as a child becomes an adult?

Sam Rohrer:

Isaac, I think that’s a great question. And you used the right word there, intergenerational. And I think in that regard, there’s a principle that’s involved again, and that is this. We start as children, not as parents, right? And that makes me think that in, for instance, in the 10 commandments, the fifth commandment, God’s commandment is as children will honor your parents, your father and your mother. And then that’s actually the first promise, first command that’s given a promise that your life may be long. There is the aspect of understanding authority, which that’s not the focus today, but that helped Ruth Ann and I to understand that when we got married, we leaved and cleaved. Put it that way. She was no longer responsible directly to her mom and dad, and I wasn’t to mine. And we were fortunate we had Christian parents. We were now starting our own home.

That’s what the Bible says is his pattern. So within that, we had to lay out our own rules for our household, how we were going to choose to raise up our children in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And we made that commitment that we were going to do that. So then it’s a matter of how are we going to do that? And point being, Isaac, is that as individuals, yes, we obey our parents. We’re told that in the New Testament. We honor our parents. We’re told that in the Fifth Command. But then when we leave and cleave, we still honor our parents as adults just differently. And when children come along, now they have to honor us. And then we have to lead them as scripture lays out. And then the whole pattern is repeated. The model that God sets is the same for every age.

It’s the same as it was in the days of Job, as it was in the days in which we live. The duties are the same and God’s expectations are the same. The circumstances change. So here will be the first part. The direct relationship and our primal role as God’s immediate authority, as individuals, we’re all going to give an account to God. As a parent, I’m going to give an account to God. As a child, I’m going to give an account to God. That never changes, but the role changes. But there are many things that don’t. Now, example, for instance, one of these things is there.

The honoring part never changes. As an adult, and my wife’s mother just passed away some time ago. We honored her mom and our duties to our parents changed. The honor didn’t change, but our relationship did. I wasn’t taking my orders as a 60 some year old individual from my parent. No, that changes. All right. I think people get the idea. But there are things that remain the same. And that is when we move to adulthood and to parenthood and God gives children, if he does, it’s understanding that those children are a gift from God. They’re not ours. That’s a vital principle that we learned in growing up. Those children belonged to God. They always belonged to God. So if God takes them home early, then God can do that. But they’re on loans. So we have to be very careful how we raise them because we’re going to give an account for how we steward the job of parenthood as it relates to our children.

And Deuteronomy six refers to the fact that when children come along and parents, fathers and mothers begin to train them up in the ways of God, that that duty, as I said, does not stop when they leave the household at age 18. No. Deuteronomy six says, “Fathers, you teach your children and that extends to your children’s children.” All right, now that’s intergenerational. That’s grandchildren. And into that Isaac is where grandparents step. Their role changes. We’re no longer raising our grandchildren. We are certainly helping along the way. And I can take a myriad of form. We can talk about that, but praying doesn’t stop. Assisting, encouraging and teaching those grandchildren as we are able now changes from primal to supplementary, to augment, to assisting the parents. If we’ve raised our children properly, they will be teaching their children, our grandchildren appropriately. And then we work together within the concept of helping to bring all the facts around it to be complimentary, focused now on their children, our grandchildren.

So we get to talk a lot more, but that’s kind of the idea. It doesn’t stop. It just changes its direct role.

Isaac Crockett:

Yeah, you’ve brought up so many things now, Sam. I do want to talk about more of these. We’ll get to some of them. I don’t think we’ll get to all of them. I think we got to keep having some programs like this because of what you’re talking about. But let’s talk about this part. We’re looking at rearing our children, but we also have the whole marriage part. Family starts with marriage. And I have seen as a pastor, and I’ve seen it outside of the church as well, that many couples go through a really difficult transition once all of their children leave home as it were. And it’s just the two of them again. What could you tell us right now about the importance of building a biblical marriage, whatever stage the kids are at, but especially as an example to your adult children when they do leave the house?

Sam Rohrer:

Boy, that could take a lot of directions too. To me, it goes right back to the beginning of saying, all right, when parents begin, they have to make a choice. Do I want children? That should never be the question. Do I want children? But it should be, Lord, what are you going to give me? I will be glad to take any child that comes that you give me into my home knowing that is a gift from you. Well, that changes everything because many parents or adults will get to the point where they may need the help with their children, but they made a decision a long time ago, I don’t want any. Well, I only want one. All right. Well, okay. Then you may only have one to help you. But in some cases, the Lord may not grant children. And that’s also a part of it, but he will make the means so that others can perhaps step into that.

Adoption steps into that. We have many friends who have adopted children. But the point is that how parents view those children is very, very important and it’s from the beginning. Secondly, if they are viewed as a gift from God, well, the purpose is not for the parent to live their life through that child where that child is going to become from the parent’s perspective, their provider for everything. And so they don’t have to say because their child’s going to take care of them. No, no. That’s totally wrong. The goal is to raise up that child in the fear and admonition of the Lord to move them into adulthood successfully, spiritually, so that when children are given to them, they will be able to extend the model of biblical instruction to their children and then the cycle continues. So when our children left our home, fortunately in our case, all of our children, six children and grandchildren all live within about 15 minutes of us.

We know that’s not normal, but it’s a blessing. But they are around. But our life did not stop when the children left the home. To the contrary, it just changed gears so that we began working with our children as fellow adults. Yes, our children, but fellow adults and parents and working in tandem with them with common goals in their children’s lives. So we become alongside of them and come alongside our grandchildren in a way that can involve instruction in a way that helps the parents. And when that’s all been done properly, it becomes like a seamless instruction that does not raise questions in the children and the grandchildren’s minds, but it becomes complimentary and confirmatory in the minds of the grandchildren. And that, I think, at that point becomes very powerful.

Isaac Crockett:

Very powerful indeed. What a testimony and object lesson of the church in general, but how effective it is at discipling. And so we want to dig into this, Sam. Well, we’re going to take another quick time out to hear from some of our partners. And when we come back, I hope you’re enjoying this as much as I’m enjoying this. We’re going to talk with Sam about the greatest responsibilities that God has given family. Sam has already started laying that out. And so we’re going to look at how we pass this faith to the next generation in our homes and in our church and looking at some really neat opportunities that we have at every age and every stage of life. We’ll be right back on Stand in the Gap in just a few moments. Well, welcome back to the program. If you’re just joining us, we’re looking at, and Sam, you might have to tell me the word again.

I think we called it intergenerational discipleship. Is that the word, Sam?

Sam Rohrer:

I think that’s a good way to describe

Isaac Crockett:

It.

Sam Rohrer:

Yes.

Isaac Crockett:

Intergenerational discipleship. And it may sound a little bit complicated, but when Sam starts talking about it, it just makes sense. It makes sense biblically. It makes sense just how the family grows and changes that happen. So I find it very practical what you’re saying, Sam. But before I go back to you and pepper you with some more questions about this, I want to pepper our program producer who gets to always see us answering the questions. We’ll put him in the hot seat. If the bike is hot, we’ll have Tim Schneider come and just give us some information on things going on behind the scenes.

Tim Schneider:

Well, Isaac, some people may not know this, but I’ve had a very storied career in radio myself. So peppering me with questions is not a tough thing because I’ve also done it to other people and I’ve had lots of radio experience, even though I don’t get an opportunity to talk as much on this side of the microphone anymore. I still do have that experience from my couple of decades in radio that I’ve been. So not unusual. And I don’t always like pepper, but I don’t always like salt on things either. So anyway – Oh brother. Social media, we’re located on social media. If you guys do not know that, I’d encourage you to please come and check us out on social media because some of the places that we are is Facebook and we’re also on X, formerly Twitter. So like us on Facebook, follow us on X by searching for American Pastors Network and Stand in the Gap Radio.

We talk about occasionally we’re also on YouTube and we’re also on a less known website called BitChute. So if you are on any of those platforms or you like to go to those type of things, just check us out. If you have not liked us or followed us, we encourage you to please consider doing that so you can see the material that’s posted usually a lot of times by Isaac these days. But if you would like to see what’s being posted, you can go ahead over into some of those sites and check that out. Also, we have two great websites. We encourage you to check out americanpastorsnetwork.net and standardgapmedia.org. You can find lots of archives of radio and TV programs. You can find articles and other material on those two websites. One of the things you can do at americanpastorsnetwork.net is sign up for our e-newsletter.

We promise you we won’t inundate your inbox with spam, but we’ll send you information about the American Pastors Network, which is usually not that much, but we send stuff out from time to time. And usually weekly we’ll send you out an e-newsletter that talks about and it covers the previous week’s programs. There’s usually a transcript in there, some podcast Q&As and some other things. Pretty good to see what you may have missed in the previous week and stuff that you can go back and listen to there by signing up for our e-newsletter at americanpastorsnetwork.net. Also, we encourage you to please pray for this ministry. If you’re not doing that, please keep us in your regular prayers for the things that the Lord has for us to do. Nothing much happens without prayer. Also, please consider giving financially. We’re still in the summer months. People are starting to go back to school as you guys have even been talking about, but we’re still in the summer months.

So don’t forget us in your giving. And please, if the Lord has blessed you through this ministry, please consider giving. No amount too big. No amount too small is too much, but we appreciate whatever you can give if the Lord allows you to be able to do that. So as always, Isaac, there’s lots going on here, but I’m going to go ahead and send it back to you so you can pepper and salt Sam.

Isaac Crockett:

Okay. All right. Well, thank you for that, Tim. And it is, there’s a lot going on. And if you have our app or if you keep up on social media, it will really help you know what we’re doing and pray for us. And I think one of the greatest opportunities it gives is sharing with other people what you’ve heard and what you’ve even seen with our TV program and things or social media posts. It’s just a really neat opportunity to share that with others. And that’s sort of what we’re talking about right now is this sharing even intergenerationally and passing things on, passing the baton, passing truth on. And so Sam, we’re picking on you today, so to speak, or asking you the questions because this is what you’ve gone through. And so you and Ruthann had six children homeschooled for almost a quarter of a century if I remember right.

And you’ll have to correct me too on this. I think you have 18 grandchildren. Is that what the number is right now?

Sam Rohrer:

That is correct.

Isaac Crockett:

So far 18. We often hear grandparents say something really similar. If I had known grandkids would be this much fun, I would’ve skipped the children and gone right to grandchildren or something like that. But they also talk about, “Oh, I just love spoiling the grandkids. That’s my job as a grandparent, just to spoil the grandkids.” And I get that they say that tongue in cheek and they oftentimes mean to be humorous. But biblically and what you’ve seen lived out with your children and with your grandchildren, you have a unique opportunity when you get to the point of being a grandparent to have a different type of influence and yet some overlap with the lives of your grandchildren. And it is different than your children. Could you talk just about some of that? Just kind of dig into that and tell us some of what you’ve seen or maybe some biblical insights into how to do that.

Sam Rohrer:

I can. And I’ll pick up off of the spoiling the grandchildren type thing. Yes, we’ve all heard that. And yes, many times that is a tongue in cheek thing. I know that. But I’ve often thought, my wife and I have talked about it, that on the other hand, from a realistic perspective, no, we are not going to spoil our grandchildren. I don’t like that word, spoil. And I think parents, grandparents just need to be aware that they need to think that every opportunity with their grandchild is an investment with them. It’s always because of the nature of grandparent to grandchildren. There is a mode of example. There is a mentoring type of a relationship.

A grandparent by a simple that it was a great job, Johnny, or a comment of that type. Or I say, “Why did you do that? Now let’s sit down and talk about it with whatever.” Can actually instill principles and augment the understanding of the child in the ways of the Lord in ways that a parent sometimes can’t do. So a grandparent needs to view that time as an opportunity to come alongside their children, now parents, so that they can come alongside their grandchildren. And here’s just a couple of ways. Some people say, “Well, how do I do that?” Well, the first thing is you have to spend time with them.

It’s hard to have input into your grandchild’s life if you’re never with them. So if they live in a different other part of the world, that’s a part that you can’t do very much. But if they live close, you may need to make the time. But spending time provides the opportunity to find time to impart knowledge and wisdom. Now, something that my wife has been doing is that some of our young granddaughters, the two that are old enough, well, actually there’s three, and some are not even in school yet. But the ones that are of their right age, she’s been teaching them to sew or to cook. One really likes to cook, doesn’t like to sew as much. The other one really likes to sew and very good and doesn’t like to cook as much, however that is. But she spends one-on-one time and sometimes together with the granddaughters.

Provides an opportunity to instruct in a tangible way, a skill that’s important for a young girl to be able to do as an example, because we’ll help them when they go into adulthood. Can teach them precision and preciseness and beauty. Also, she’ll work out with them the mathematics because you have to measure, you have to evaluate, you have to weigh. All those practical things of life can be done in a setting like that. I don’t do that so much with my grandsons, but I do outside work with them. So I’ll have them do jobs in the yard for mowing to help me with wood because I burn wood. So I have them help me move wood. I help them do things. And then I use the opportunity, Isaac, to explain to them about work. And I look for opportunities to share with them. So at one time recently when we were working and sweating and it was hot and I was encouraging them, “Don’t give up.

You’re not going to sit down. You keep working. It’s hot. Yes, but you’re going to work. We’ll take a break. We’ll take a break in a half an hour, but you’re going to sweat this out. You’re going to learn how to work.” That’s what their parents want them to learn as well. So we work together on it. But when we sit down, I talk to them about work and how work was established by God. And do you know that God established work in the Garden of Eden? He gave Adam and Eve a job to do. Did you know that? No, I didn’t know that. Well, do you know why he did that? Oh, that’s a wonderful thing. Work is worship. And talk to him about that. In the process and bring up things like, “We’re going to sit down and rest now.” “Do you know whose idea rest was?

“”No, I never thought about that.” “What was God’s idea? “”Oh, well, what did God do on the seventh day of creation?” “Well, he rested.” “Oh, do you know why he did that? Did he need the rest?” “No, he didn’t need the rest.” He did it for our purposes, so that we can rest. And the walk then from the physical, which they now are experiencing in real life, can move them then to the application of the spiritual. And that God set that up so that we would look to him for spiritual rest, which is found in faith in Jesus Christ. So you can move seamlessly and it all can take just five minutes. And then you can plant a seed, then you come back and visit. So things like that, Isaac, become natural. It becomes very much like Deuteronomy chapter six, where the Lord instructs fathers there to talk about what God has done.

When you rise up in the morning and when you walk through the day and when you sit down at night and just natural, that’s what he’s describing, just in the natural context of life. Look for opportunities to impart knowledge, biblical truth, and bring it from the physical, what we see around us, to the spiritual, which is ultimately regarding their soul and them living and learning to live holy and walk in the paths of Christ. That’s how it all fits together. And when it’s done appropriately, Isaac, it’s God’s way. It’s perfect. It’s great.

Isaac Crockett:

Well, Sam, what you’re talking about there sounds a lot like what we’ve talked about in other programs. Even last week, Shane Pruitt was talking about reaching the young generation, Generation Alpha. And he said, “Don’t try to think that you have to learn some complicated thing. Just be yourself. Teach these young people how to live real life. Take something that you have an interest in and show it to them and get them involved. And the Lord will open up opportunities.” Sam, you’ve given us some great examples. We want to come back and talk about this more after.

All right. Well, welcome back as we finish up this today’s Friday edition. It’s an Ask Sam edition. We’re talking about this intergenerational discipleship. And Sam, we’ve talked to parents, we’ve talked to students, grandparents. We’ve talked about adult children and the interaction. The former adult, the older adult to their children, but this is also helpful for the children in working with their parents. And we’ve talked some about the role of the church. I mean, there’s just so many places we could go. So to tie all of this up, this is kind of our solutions wrap up session. But really all of what you’re talking about goes back to a biblical worldview and ultimately passing on our faith. You and I spent a number of weeks, even months going through Hebrews 11 not too long ago on our Stand in the Gap TV program. And that faith that’s described in Hebrews 11 is at the heart of a biblical worldview.

And it brings us back to believing the gospel, that Jesus Christ, God put on flesh, God the Son came and that he gave himself as a sacrifice for us so that we can be saved and then become living sacrifices and dwelled by the Holy Spirit. If we will believe on him, the forgiveness of sin is there. And that is the heart of what you’re talking about. If you could sit down with a Christian parent who’s listening to us right now, Sam, and talk to them one-on-one and give them just one piece of advice to leave today with for making the biggest difference in their children’s lives or for passing this faith on, what would that advice be?

Sam Rohrer:

It’s interesting you want that series on faith that we did, Isaac, because it ties in also with a number of the programs you and I have done with Dr. George Barna on the matters of biblical worldview and faith and all of that. And this would be the one that I would say would be a primary one because there could be a number of things could share to young parents, perhaps if we’re talking in that vein. But the first one would be this, I think is this, is that above all things, make sure that your faith is genuine. And that means this, do you know Jesus Christ as personal as your personal savior? Not as the world describes faith because Isaac, as we know, we know, according to Dr. George Barna’s survey numbers, that most people’s faith is not real. That’s a scary thing. So that’s what I can say.

Make sure that your faith is genuine. Matthew 7:21, and that follows where we’re now in our TV series, we’re in beatitudes. It ends up walking into that section, Matthew 7:21, where the Lord makes it very, very clear now talking about disciples and raising disciples and being like Christ. He brings forth a very profound truth. He said there’ll be many people in those days who will stand before him will say, But didn’t we do all of these things in your name? Meaning they thought they had faith. In your name would say that they would say they are Christians, but he would say, depart from me. I never knew you. You worker of iniquity. That is the most sobering passage in one of the most sobering verses in scripture, Isaac. So I would say, make sure that your faith is genuine because in this age in which we live, most people, like 94% most people who say they have faith, they do not manifest true biblical faith.

That would be the first one. And tied with that, I would also put in there, do you truly live in the fear of God where your commitment to the obedience of God’s word is first and foremost? And the reason I say that, and it’s closely connected, is that all through scripture, we’re told to fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. That’s Ecclesiastes 12:13. But then God told Israel as a nation, fear God and keep my commandments as a people. And then as a nation, when you do it, then you will be blessed. But don’t depart. Don’t depart from that. So that’s the key. So Isaac, that’s where I would say, make sure your relationship with the Lord is absolutely secure. Do not suspect or hope or assume because true faith will be manifested in a fear of God with a commitment to personal holiness and obedience to the word of God.

They go together. That’s what I would say first.

Isaac Crockett:

I’m glad you went that direction too, Sam, because again, that’s going to the heart of the issue. And as we’ve seen over and over and over with George Barna’s studies, we saw this last week with Shane Pruitt talking about this. We’ve had Alex McFarland and Ken Ham and other people from Answers in Genesis. They all have the same, almost exact same numbers it seems. But the majority of people in America claim to be a Christian, but they’re not. And so first of all, are you truly a believer? Because you can’t pass on what you don’t have. But then if you are, are you living in secret like Lot? You think about Lot’s family and how messed up that was when the angel said, come, let’s get out. And people laughed at him. They couldn’t believe him because they didn’t think he was a righteous man.

And so what you’re talking about, what Jesus tells us, going back to our series on the Sermon on the Mountain, the end of chapter six, he says that we are to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. That’s something you’ve been talking about too on radio and we have a lot more to talk about that even on TV. But that righteous living, righteous living is not self-righteous living, but it’s living like Jesus Christ and then passing that on. So your kids and your grandkids and the people in your church or your extended family, they see it and they see you as that object lesson of what Christ has been. They see Christ living in you. All right. Well, I digress. Sam, real quickly, we don’t have a lot of time left, but is there anything that you would say to a church, a pastor or church leader that’s listening right now about how the church can operate in a way that helps strengthen the families?

Because these two are both supposed to work together, not one taking over the other’s part. And any advice on that?

Sam Rohrer:

In simple terms is be more concerned about being faithful to the word of God than incurring the commendation of somebody sitting in the pew. That’s what I would say to those who are in churches. Understanding that it is the faithful preaching of God’s word that focuses on elevating Christ likeness, the discipleship aspect of leading people to live like and act like Christ, Christian, Christ like. That is the purpose for the church. That is our goal. Whether it is a parent to raise up our children in the fear, in the admonition of the Lord, what is that to look like then? Well, an adult that fears God more than man, that has committed more to the keeping of God’s word than doing their own will and then teaching others, their children to do the same thing. God raised up the church.

Christ raised up the church. He’s building his church, but it’s to do that same thing. It is to point people the light of the gospel to the person of Jesus Christ. That’s what the Bible’s all about. It’s all about the God’s plan of redemption. And so whether it’s through Israel whose job that was to be the light and they failed, or the church who is their job to do the same thing and they’re greatly failing, Jesus Christ is the one who never fails. He is the model. That’s what the word of God is. The fear of God, keeping his commandments, which is the word of God. Isaac, that’s it. That’s what a church is there for. That’s God’s purpose for it. That is the purpose for parents. That is really the purpose and God’s purpose for grandparents and all who are in a position of authority to do that very same thing.

Isaac Crockett:

Well, we’ll close with a hearty amen to that, Sam. Thank you for that. And for you listening, please pray for us. Pray for us here at the American Pastors Network and stand in a gap today. And we love to hear from you. Any of you that give us feedback or contact us, we love it when you do that. And we also are so excited when we hear just a delight to hear our programs being shared with others, especially people who maybe aren’t used to it and they get to hear it. Thank you for doing that. Until next time, I pray you will stand in the gap for truth wherever you are today.