Christmas 2022

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. I hope you and your family have a tremendous Christmas. I hope Christ is at the center and you'll share the good news of his first Advent and the coming of Christ in his second Advent. Be sure that you connect the birth of Christ with our new birth in Christ. Hope you have an awesome Christmas and please spread the word, will you, about Truth Talk.

Share this podcast when it comes out with all your friends and learn more at truthnetwork.com. Now, my interview with Dr. Alex McFarland on this week's edition of Truth Talk. Merry Christmas, everyone. It's a great time of year and I am on the phone with a great man of God who travels this world, literally, and goes coast to coast in this country. Spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, Reverend Dr. Alex McFarland, my friend.

He's an author of all kinds of books and he's a national talk show host and he's been all over Pundit on Fox News, CNN, everywhere. Alex, man, Merry Christmas to you, my friend. Well, Merry Christmas to you as well, Stu. God bless you. Well, you have just, tell everyone, just to give them a lens, a look into the life of Alex McFarland. I got tired. You told me in about 30 seconds your schedule just for the last month of how many times in places you preached and spoke and wrote and all this stuff. I almost had to take a nap after that conversation.

Tell everyone real quick, give us a little dose, just a little staff shot, will you? Well, you know, by the grace of God, I've been on the road in 2022, preached in 25 states, about half the country. But in the month of October, I was at a school in Mississippi and I spoke 33 times in five days. Not that I was trying to break a record or something, but Stu, as you know, one of the beautiful things about the Christian life is the Lord puts opportunities in front of you. And, you know, it's just great when the opportunities come along, whether it be to share the gospel over the fence with your neighbor or, you know, teach a Sunday school class. One of my core values is that, you know, opportunities to serve the Lord and to share the gospel, those opportunities come from God and we have to be a good steward of those opportunities and really take advantage of them.

Well, it's so encouraging, Alex, and you're really an inspiration to me and so many. I want to dive deeper into some of the theology, the verses, particularly from Isaiah 53 that's in your latest newsletter. Before I go there, can you give our listeners a practical word of encouragement on how they can intentionally share the gospel? As we talked before going on the air, it seems like so often we exploit the baby Jesus in order to have an excuse to celebrate Christmas and have a bunch of materialism and a bunch of travel and a bunch of food when, in fact, it should be the other way around. We should be exploiting this time of year so that we can really lift up Christ and exalt Him and be intentional. So, Alex, our listeners are going to go into a big department store and they're going to hear the language of glory to the newborn king.

The last thing our world wants to do is glorify the newborn king. So how can they seize even those moments in the coffee shop at the department store in their own home to intentionally share the gospel? Give us a quick word on that before we go theological here, will you? Well, to say Merry Christmas to people. Why can we be merry or joyful or happy?

Because Christ came. My wife Angie and I, we've got these buttons we wear and we give away and they'll say, you know, Jesus, the hope for the world, Christmas. So say Merry Christmas. The other thing, like if you give a Christmas card to somebody, make sure that you choose cards that are Christian, you know, Christocentric, not just a happy holidays, not just the season, quote unquote, but Jesus and Christmas. And there's so many things, you know, that at this time of year, I love to ask people, I'll say, hey, what does Christmas mean to you?

How about at your house or your family? What does Christmas mean to you? And people, you know, they say, oh, you know, well, see the family or and then every now and then people will say, well, you know, this is the first Christmas after some loss or something like that. But what I encourage people to do, principle number one, try to steer the conversation toward spiritual things.

And Christmas is a super easy time to do that because it's all about the most significant event in the world that God came onto the stage of human history. So be intentional, try to steer the conversation to spiritual things and then ask people, I'll say, well, hey, where are you with God? You know, what are your spiritual beliefs?

What do you believe about God? Now, somebody might say, well, I'm a Christian, I believe in Jesus. But the question, where are you with God, is really kind of diagnostic.

You're trying to find out where they are. Now, a lot of times people will say something like, oh, I don't know, I guess we all have our own path or something, you know, that will reveal to you that they really don't yet know the Lord. And then you ask, you say, well, what is your authority for that belief? Like, why do you believe what you believe?

And they might say, I don't know. And what I always do is do what I'm trying to really bring it to a realization of Jesus. Say, well, look, the Bible says, and we know the Bible is the word of God, and the Bible says that God so loved the world that He sent His Son, we can believe in Him. So I just want to encourage people, Christmas, this is super easy, it's right in our lap. Use this time of year to steer conversations, to help people understand that they can have a relationship with Jesus.

Well, that's so practical, thank you. That's Alex McFarland, friends, a voice you've heard all over the Truth Network, all over AFR, American Family Radio, one of our wonderful affiliates. They are brave enough to carry this radio program. And our friends at AFR, they do a great job with stickers and buttons, don't they, Alex, to remind people to keep Christ at Christmas. I'm encouraged by what, they're really making a difference, aren't they, in that?

I tell you. Well, they really are, and oh my goodness, AFR, the American Family Association, is tremendous. They are so good on the literally dozens of outreaches they do, but the Christmas buttons that Angie and I give away, we get those at AFR, and my goodness, I think it's $8 for 10 buttons. We just interviewed a pastor who just this year, he and his wife personally, have given away over 2,000 Christmas buttons. One of the beautiful things, let me encourage every one of your listeners, the word of gospel that you share with somebody, or the seed you sow, or, you know, leaving a gospel booklet out, you know, man, what a great time to use a tract or a gospel booklet.

We're giving a button away. The Bible promises in 1 Corinthians 15, 58 that our labor in the Lord is not in vain. You know, I mean, it really does matter. And now, Angie and I have been married 30 years, 30 years in the ministry. We have, Sue, we have literally hundreds and hundreds of emails and letters where people say, you know, Mr. McFarland, you don't remember me, but you prayed for me, and it made me think about God, and I later gave my life to the Lord, and I'm in church.

Folks, you have no idea the ripple effect. Just your little act of obedience in sharing the gospel, it might actually change somebody's life. And in fact, I'm certain that it will. Just being faithful, I love that, Alex. That's so encouraging, man. So let me ask you a question about that, and let me ask you your most recent email, and we don't have a lot of time, a special Christmas edition.

Maybe we'll play this some in the new year as well with our good friend, Dr. Alex McFarland. He's just a great ambassador for Christ. Alex, I opened your Christmas email this morning, and you had this intense, theologically rich verse from Isaiah 53 where it says it pleased the Lord to crush him. So there's something dynamic, and there's something supernaturally rich connecting the cradle to the cross, the mission of Christ, and sometimes we lose the mission. We forget about the light of the world with all the lights of Christmas. We forget about the Christ with all the clamor and all the what's going on. But can you speak to the heart of the atonement and the rich, redemptive content, messages, import in the incarnation of Jesus?

Just speak to that real quick and just how important that is in your life. What we need to be sure we take away as we're sharing Christ, what we need to be sure we impart to folks this time of year. Well, it's a core of the Christmas story and the reality of Jesus, that Jesus is the man that was born to die. I mean, Jesus didn't just come onto the stage of human history to be famous or something like that. I mean, the Father sent the Son, and the Son came to die, to pay for our sins. And even from the time of his birth, and the wise men came and brought gold and frankincense and myrrh, they brought frankincense and myrrh. Frankincense was used in worship, and gold is what you think of in terms of a king, and myrrh was a burial spice.

Why would you give a baby something used in embalming? Well, because he was born to go to that cross on Calvary and die. And, you know, in a way, Stu, Christmas has a little bit of a sad element or something poignant, and maybe it's because you think about, you know, you're not a child anymore, and maybe a loved one has passed on, or your parents or, you know, your family is not what you wish it were.

But here's the thing. Yeah, there is, like one of the old Christmas songs says, in the bleak midwinter, the Christ child was born. Maybe you're in this, like, bleak time of your life, but the great news is, look, Jesus came from the Bethlehem manger to the cross of Calvary to leave an empty tomb.

He is alive, and the beautiful thing about Christmas is that God loved each one of us so much that he would come down here to die, to rise again, and just by putting our faith in him, we have new life, we have forgiveness. And I want to say to every one of your listeners, number one, make sure that you have a relationship with Christ. Make sure that there was that moment when in your heart you said, you know, Lord, I'm sorry for my sins. I do believe Jesus died and rose again for me. Lord, I accept you as my Savior.

Please save me, wash my sins away. Stu, we often tell people, Jesus is as close by as a prayer, and if you will put your faith in Jesus, call out to him right now, right this moment. He will hear you, he will receive you, and that's a great thing. And then Christmas is, you know, that we all have this privilege to know the Lord, to represent the Lord. And the greatest gift, better than a present wrapped up under a tree, is we're given the gift of the gospel news.

We're sharing the truth with people. So I love Christmas, oh my goodness. Some of our most cherished hymns, songs, from O Holy Night, to Silent Night, to great, great films like It's a Wonderful Life, or White Christmas. It's no wonder that Christmas captivates the world, because it's the most captivating message of all time, that God loves us, and we personally can have a relationship with the true and living God.

That's Christmas. Just like you mentioned in the hymns, just like the great joy to the world, let every heart prepare him room. And are you preparing him room?

Is there room in my heart, like the child's song? There's room in my heart, Lord Jesus, there's room in my heart for you. He's not coming as a partial guest, or just an afterthought, or just a token once a year snow globe. He is coming as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And what you said a lot, Alex, a lot of pastors said, he's either Lord of all, or he's not Lord at all. So bow your knee to the King, as those wise men did, and please hear the words of my friend Alex McFarland, and seize this moment to tell people about Christ, to herald the message of Christ like those shepherds did. Alex, what's the best website folks want to do, a nice year-end gift to bless your ministry, that folks want to get your amazing books? Stan, the 10 tough questions about Christianity, the 10 questions you need to help your kids. You've got all these books that are huge resources. How can folks find out more and connect with you?

Oh, well, praise God. Our website is just my name, alexmcfarland.com, alexmcfarland.com. And then, Stu, our summer camps are coming up. We have eight camps we'll be doing next summer. We've done camps for 20 years. You've spoken for us. We do an incredible work.

Let me just say this, too. Last summer we had 650 youth in four camps. 125 youth made a salvation decision, 100% of the youth made a commitment to stand for truth, to influence their friends for the gospel, for God and country. We're teaching kids about Jesus, but we're teaching kids to not be woke, you know, not be woke. But anyway, we have eight camps next summer, and we really do need some help to scholarship the 1,200 students that will be in our camps next summer.

And so the website about those camps is equipretreat.org, but they can go to alexmcfarland.com and learn about my tour schedule, all that we're doing, and if they felt led to make a tax-deductible financial contribution, that would really help. Stu, we're in it to win it. We're going to win this generation to Christ.

We're going to turn our nation around. But it's got to begin with the proclamation of the gospel, the one true Savior, the one and only, the Lord Jesus Christ. Praise the Lord. alexmcfarland.org. Folks, check his books out. Have this guy come speak at your church. He does revivals. He loves Jesus. He speaks.

He writes. He can be a blessing to you. And as you think about ministries you want to bless, be sure you, as above and beyond, of course, your local church, send a little something to him or a lot of something to him that will help these kids be equipped with a worldview. We've got to reach the next generation.

Alex, that's one thing that's always excited me about your ministry. You care about that middle schooler. You care about that elementary school kid. You care about those high schoolers, those college kids. You're on college campuses debating atheists. This is a passion of yours. And what are we doing to bring the next generation to Jesus? They're going to be running the show when we're gone on to heaven, right, Alex?

Yeah, I know. We've got to do this. We've got to do this now. I want to encourage every church to be teaching biblical worldview to your youth. I mean, not only win them to Christ, but help them to think, to defend their faith. That's why we've created, oh my goodness, out of 19 books, Stu, I just turned in the manuscript for my 19th book.

It'll be out in September of 2023. Well, thanks to God Be the Glory. And hey, congratulations to you and your wonderful books on the seven last words of Jesus. And then you've written one about Christmas as well.

It's been our joy for a couple of years. We've given our major supporters and board members your books, Stu. Oh, wow.

Hey, where can people find your books, Stu? Well, unfortunately, Alex. I'm flipping the script here. You put me in an awkward spot here as the host. The problem when we interview each other on our respective shows is we forget who the host is.

But it's a whole lot of fun because, sure enough, no one's been a bigger promoter and a bigger supporter of what I've been doing. And we're so grateful. Thank you for that, brother. Yeah, first words of Jesus and last words. Yeah, but no, thank you.

Yeah, man, that's so encouraging. I've got to ask you one question while I'm flipping the script here. Stu, do you have a favorite Christmas song? Oh, my soul. That's a good question. You know, Hark the Herald Angels Sing I love so much, and I'll tell you why.

If you look at the history of it, it is just a muddled history. It is just a little bit like Amazing Grace came out of that whole slavery mess, you know? It's like, you know, you've got some DNA. It is Well With My Soul came out of this godly man who lost his whole family at sea, you know? So when you look at the DNA, Hark the Herald Angels Sing was actually written by this wine merchant, of all things.

Right. And who was, quite frankly, a bit of a philanderer and a party animal. And if we even called him a carnal Christian, he would take that as a compliment because he was certainly not who you would want to lead your youth group.

This guy was rough. But he couldn't find someone to do the music, so he went and got this fella to do this Jewish gentleman to do the music part. Wow.

And so then it came over to America, and it was popularized in America by a Unitarian. Oh, wow. Isn't that something? Well, that's like I heard the bells on Christmas Day, it's like that. But you know, Hark the Herald Angels Sing has incredibly wonderful theology. And there's a line in there, Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second earth. Yes, yes. That's a great lyric, isn't it?

Yeah, that's a great lyric. And I actually, the wine merchant and the Jewish composer and the Unitarian, that's actually, I believe it's O Holy Night. I think I mixed my metaphors and my hymns up.

So quick correction on that. But anyway, the history of those, but I love Hark the Herald Angels, there's a story behind all these hymns. And if you look a little bit deeper, you see the DNA and it makes you appreciate the kind of, you know, some of these Christmas carols came to us in a messy form. But yeah, just like, you know, just like Christ came to us in a messy form. He wasn't messed up, we were. And he came into a messed up world. The only thing pure about Christmas and holy was the baby child Jesus, right?

The sweet, you know, he truly was holy. He truly was the only child. Everyone, every parent thinks their kid is the perfect kid. And Alex, as Youth Pastor, you've had to kind of get with parents and say, hey, listen, Junior is smoking pot and doing this and they always look at you with that empty look like, what are you talking about?

No way, not my kid, right? But true enough, the Youth Pastor had nothing on Jesus. He was perfect. He never spoke a cross word.

He lived the perfect life. But he came into a messy world geopolitically. He came into this horrible, awful situation.

You know, we think we have supercharged political animosity today. It was real bad then. But what he came to do, you know, to set us free from sin, like God rest ye merry gentlemen, to save us all from Satan's power when we were gone astray. You know, all these songs, they point to and remind us of this beautiful, redemptive theme of why Jesus came and the glorious redemption that he brings, that only he brings.

So when you look at that, you know, O Holy Night, which wasn't put together by such holy people. And by the way, that was the first song ever played on the radio. I don't know if you knew that.

That's true. That was Christmas Eve 1906. Yeah, the first song ever played on the radio. Oh, and that was the one that was composed by the wine merchant. And the music was composed by the Jewish fella. And it was popularized in America by a Unitarian. I mean, of all the people that, and Mark Quartz, our pastor at Calvary for years, decades, he sang that song every Christmas Eve. And everyone had tears, you know. Oh, wow.

But the DNA of that is remarkable. And not only is O Holy Night my personal favorite Christmas song, and oh my goodness, I love Christmas songs. Angie and I, we play Christmas music all year long sometimes. O Holy Night is my favorite Christmas song. It's probably in my top three favorite songs, period.

Yeah, no question. All mine. You know, I did a 53-year... That line, long lay the world in sin and error pining, just that line right there. You know, people are pining today. People are still wondering, does my life matter? Is there any answer?

Is there any hope? I want to say this. Isaiah 53-10 has a very unusual line in that verse regarding Jesus. He died on the cross. He was rejected. He was beaten. He was spat upon. They ripped his beard out by the roots. They put a crown of thorns on his head. They nailed him to the cross.

As Adrian Rogers once said, a great pastor, he's in heaven now. Adrian Rogers said, on a skull-shaped hill outside of Jerusalem, man murdered his maker. And Isaiah, oddly enough, says the Father was pleased with this.

And you might be going, wait a minute. God the Father, his Son, was mutilated, killed, executed. The sin of a fallen world was poured onto Jesus.

The most agonizing suffering imaginable. And God Almighty was happy about this? Yeah, in this regard. Because what Isaiah 53-10 is saying, and I want everybody to get this. Look, maybe God isn't very important to you right now.

Maybe you feel like you've wandered too far away. Look, what God Almighty is saying about the death and resurrection of Jesus. Look, if it means that you would come to Christ and be saved, you would have the joy of God's love in your life. And you would know that you're born again. And you've turned from sin and you've been saved.

The Father says, look, hey, I was happy to do it. For you to go to heaven, not hell. For you to be saved, child, all of the years of sin and blasphemy and procrastination and disregard for God. God the Father says, happy to do it.

Glad that my Son was crushed for you because I love you that much. Sue, here's what I want for Christmas. If I somehow could put a billboard on every street corner in every part of our nation to say God loves you. He really does. And Jesus is as close by as a prayer. I want your listeners to know, even right this minute, the Lord loves you. And God has wonderful things for you.

Please don't push him away. Please don't hold God at arm's length. Right now in your heart, if you'll just call out to Jesus and say, Lord, I need you. Maybe you've got a situation and you feel like it's just beyond solving.

No God can help you. And so, Sue, Christmas is that time where, once again, like the angels, we want to proclaim to the world there's been a Savior and He cares for you and you can know Him. Alex, on that note, will you say a Christmas prayer for everyone listening where this program will likely be aired on Christmas Eve? And I would just be honored if you would just say a Christmas prayer. So many folks are hurting. So many folks are dreading this day because they lost loved ones this time of year.

And there's a lot of sickness, there's a lot of pain, there's a lot of heartbreak. Would you just say a prayer for listeners, for our affiliates, for our partners? Just lift everything up right now in our country especially.

Sure, I will. And you know, pray for us too. Angie's mom, oh my goodness, I loved my mother-in-law. She went to heaven March 16th of this year.

So it's a little tough on my wife. This is the first Christmas ever without her mom. Now, she's in heaven, one of the most godly ladies.

We're going to see her again soon, but I understand. Let me pray right now. Heavenly Father, thank you for Christmas. Thank you that you sent Jesus. And Lord, I pray right now for everybody hearing this broadcast.

It might be on Christmas Eve and just a lot of things going on, but right now let us just pause and say thank you. And Lord, if there's anyone listening and they're not sure and they say, you know, if I died I don't know if I would go to heaven or not. I don't know if I know God or not. Father God, I pray that your Holy Spirit will draw people and that this day, Christmas Eve, they would say in their heart, Lord, come into my life. Dear Jesus, I do believe you're the Son of God. Dear Jesus, I do believe you came because you love me. And I do believe you died on that cross and rose again.

And I'm believing in you. So Father, at this moment, draw us closer to each other, closer to you. I pray for souls to be saved. I pray for families to just love each other.

Lord, I pray for the Spirit of God to sweep across our nation and send a revival. And at this time of gift giving, may we exchange gifts with you, dear God. May we give you our heart. You give us the gift we receive of eternal life. And Jesus, at this Christmas time, once again, we just want to say thank you. Thank you for loving us. And it's in your name we pray. Amen.

What other evangelist is going to come on a radio show like this and pray and lift up the Lord, but also has a whole line of peanut butter. And so Alex McFarland, people, you've written books. You're like a renaissance man, brother. You love music. You can rock it out with a beach voice.

That's a whole other show. But give the website one more time. I want our listeners to seriously consider sewing into your ministry, having you come speak, sending their kids to your camps. What's the best website for folks to come connect? Well, yes, there is a website for Alex McFarland's peanut butter.

And anyway, seriously, one of the ways people can find that, they can Google that. But in terms of the ministry, at alexmcfarland.com and our camps, equipretreat.org. Okay. God bless you, brother. Thank you so much. It's a blessing, and I really, really do value your friendship and grateful for the impact you're having for Jesus.

Thank you so much. And you as well. Hey, love you, man. Sorry it's been so busy. Golly, I'd love to, I want to see you, but this fall has been crazy busy. But listen, I've got to run right now. You pray for us. We've got some recording tomorrow, and I've got some writing today. But I hope to see you very soon. This is the Truth Network.