Telling the Future in Advance

With the tide of disturbing times will come. Today on Understanding the Times Radio with Jan Markell, we feature two very special guests. They are both speaking at Understanding the Times 2019 on Saturday, September 21 near Minneapolis, Minnesota. Pastor Jack Hibbs joins Jan in our first segment, and Dr. Robert Jeffress joins us in the second.

Here's Jan Markell with Pastor Jack Hibbs. The Bible says that in the last days, there's going to be those will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, saying, Where is the promise of his coming? Mark that down, everybody. The Bible says that in the last days, there's going to be those walking around saying, Where is the promise of the return of Jesus?

That's a bunch of baloney. We've been hearing about that forever. I don't think it's going to happen. We got time. We got time. Don't worry watch out for that because it's everywhere right now.

The belief, the doctrine of Christ coming in at any time is a mockery among many churches. And I'm so glad you could join me for the hour. I'm going to move right into our programming because my first guest for this hour, very special guest, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, California. We'll give contact a bit later and you might know him through real life with Jack Hibbs on radio online. He's one of my speakers, Saturday, September 21st, Understanding the Times, 2019. I believe this is his third visit to the Twin Cities. And I had the privilege to minister at his church last January. And yes, the mocking and the scoffing of the glorious news that the King is coming, perhaps even today, well, it is off the chart. Now, the clip that actually opened the program was actually Jack warning about the perilous times that we are in.

That's the reference to 2 Timothy 3. So I'm going to go in a couple of directions quickly for the 30 minutes that I have. Jack Hibbs, welcome back to the program. Jan, it's always a delight to be with you. And I must add, Jan, to what you said a moment ago. When you did come and you and I spoke together on the platform, there's over 500,000 views of that dialogue.

God has radically blessed that. Well, we must have made sense that night, Jack. Well, I know you did.

I think we were a good team that night. Look, I was just so happy to be out of Minnesota cold weather. The clip you didn't hear, Jack, was you talking about the perilous times that you feel that we're dealing with today. Let me just ask you this.

We could go in a number of directions talking perilous times because I want to get your take on what is the most perilous? Is it the apostasy in the church? Is it Mideast turmoil?

Is it this new anti-God movement? Is it the dysfunction in Washington? How about cultural chaos, this obsession with trans and LGBTQ, Romans 1 depravity? Is it the wave of violence everywhere?

Is it the love of socialism in America? So much more I could list. In your mind, what is the most perilous that we're dealing with? Well, Jan, I don't want to sound like I'm escaping the direct answer to your question when I say, for the first time in my almost 43 years of being a Christian, and I have been blessed to have grown up under the ministry of Chuck Smith, Costa Mesa, California, very, very prophetically, biblically, eschatologically connected. I must say that what you just went down the list on, these events are happening all at the same time. These are things taking place where if you would have brought up three of those events, I would have said, wow, my goodness, we're leaning in that direction. Jan, everything you brought up is literally happening now on the headline news is around the world. So how can we honestly pick just one?

How about this? We talk about technology being bundled, your internet, your phone being bundled in a package for the first time. And I got to be careful because I don't want to be a sensationalist. But in the first time that I know of, in the last 2000 years, we have got so many things that have biblical relevancy happening at the same time that you could almost, as it were, shoot in any direction and hit a target of something harboraging the or announcing the formation of an end time event. This is a remarkable moment. We've got lawlessness, as you said, we have a global breakdown of national borders. You and I know well that this is an advent to the coming of the Antichrist and a one world government, cashless systems.

I didn't mention that, but it's there. These things coming about. I just got a new credit card in the mail yesterday. And I had to call them up because I didn't understand it, Jan. It had a Wi Fi logo that's on the credit card.

And I said, what is this? And they just said, you don't need to insert your card any longer. You don't need to swipe this card anymore.

You just wave it over the device that's at the store and it will do the transaction automatically, just waving it over. How much closer would it be then for me just to have that on my hand or my forehead? It's moving in that direction. Yeah, we're there, Jan. We are in amazing moments.

I'm actually surprised that Jesus hasn't come for. Oh, I know. And you say that every time you visit my conference. Why are we still here? What are we doing here? Let me transition to that for just a moment.

And by the way, in that little lineup of things that I just stated of some of the bullet point options, I said this new love of socialism in America, particularly by younger folks. And I happened to be in a waiting room just this week. And I was listening to your presentation at your church on my iPhone on socialism and a 20 something, oh, maybe six, eight feet from me, insisted I shut it off. I was offending him something big time. And we kind of locked horns. And then I was called away.

And I really wanted to discuss it. But, Jack, I saw the love of something that's very evil, wicked and doesn't work in the eyes of this 23 year old kid. I believe that what we're seeing regarding this adolescent push of socialism is the rejection of God, capital G, God, and the acceptance of a God, lowercase g, that can meet all my needs, so to speak. And if you look at the people who are pro socialist, by far hands down, by far, these are young people.

And I don't mean to disparage our young people, but until you're changing diapers, making a house payment, filling up your car, paying taxes, having to work for a living, in my opinion, your opinion is irrelevant until you're having to live life in reality. So you can theorize all you want about socialism. But what you're really asking is, I don't believe in the biblical God, because if I do, now I'm accountable for my sin and my lust and my stuff. No, I want a lowercase God that I can just download money to from their bank account to mine. I don't want to work. I don't want to be responsible for anything. I want people to tell me what to do. I'll just tow the line and I'll be happy being an underachiever. And that's fine with me.

And I just think it steals the heart and the spirit of a human being. I did engage him a bit in the campaign 2020. And I said, I'm sure you're a Bernie Sanders fan.

And oh my goodness, yes, he was. Bernie Sanders was Messiah-like to this 20-something fellow. And the anger in his eyes was very frightening, to be honest, and disrespect for someone substantially older than he is, but didn't matter because his idol, his God, was the God of socialism. What's sad, Jan, is that today there's such an anemic so-called Christian population that will attend churches, and there are churches promoting socialism.

Yeah, it's really growing. And the remarkable thing about that is it's playing off the ignorance of the congregants, because they'll say the Bible promotes socialism. The exact opposite's true. It's the Bible that promotes personal responsibility, private ownership. In fact, it's the Bible that encourages you to work hard with your hands. And if you don't work hard, the Bible says, then you shouldn't eat anything.

And it's funny because socialism only works when there's wealthy people able to support it. When those wealthy people are milked dry of their resources, guess what you have, Jan? You have exactly the implosion of a church economy that happened in Jerusalem. Remember that they had all things in common, which sounded really sweet there in the book of Acts. That church wound up imploding financially, and Paul on his missionary journeys took up collections to send to the suffering believers of Jerusalem who had gone bankrupt. We forget about that. It's a departure from scripture.

Listen, how are we going to support missionary ventures and to reach the homeless and to help people in need if the church is not viable, healthy, vibrant, and working with its own hands to earn something to reach out and bless other people with out of free moral choice and spiritual commitment? That's the difference. Well, the other clip I played of you, and that is just a little short clip about the increase of the mocking and the scoffing. By the way, mocking and scoffing of the glorious good news that the king is coming back here someday, could even be today. And I've heard you say, and I do follow you real faithfully online, I've heard you say that when church people have said to you that when you bring up this topic, some people, I'm sure they're in the minority, but that's irrelevant, that they're going to come back when you finish your topic on eschatology and Bible prophecy.

Tell me when it's over, in other words, and then I'll come back and start listening to you again. I never thought I'd see the day, Jack Hibbs, when I would hear that kind of talk. You just referenced your background and how you were influenced by Pastor Chuck Smith.

I was influenced by a very, very strong little church as I was in my teen and young adult years, teaching the same kinds of things. And so I welcome this topic that you're so gifted at presenting, the lateness of the hour and all the signs. Again, I'm going to ask you, what do you see breaking news every day? Israel's back in her land, referring again to the predicted apostasy in this Laodicean age, the Middle East alignment, rush to globalism, the cashless society. That would be the most obvious as a stage setting sign for the return of the Lord Jesus. I believe I have to say that the most stage setting sign, Jan, would have to be the compromise of the pulpits.

It's apostasy. It is a church today, I put that in air quotes, it's a church today that would be completely unrecognizable to the first century church. It would be something that if it's anything biblical at all, Jan, it would be a church that is Laodicean where Jesus is knocking on the door, trying to get into it at best. But when you have a gathering together of thousands and thousands of people and a message is given on how you can think better about yourself and expect the real you to come to the surface where there's no cross, there's no sin, there's no heaven, there's no hell, it's all about the immediate now, then I believe that we are so very ripe for an explosion, Jan, of false teachers and this, and it is deceiving signs and wonders. Jan, Jesus warned us that one of the crowning deceptive acts would not just be false doctrine, it would be miraculous signs that are demonically performed and people would go headlong for them. I'm expecting, Jan, if we're not raptured out of here, I would expect that soon we'll see these false teachers, deceivers that are personality presenters, accompanied as Jesus promised with some deceiving signs and wonders. That I would not be surprised to see.

It would be shocking and sad, but I could not be surprised at a stage and at a time like this. You and I are dealing with topics all the time that are sensitive and neither you nor I, and by the way, folks, you're listening to Understanding the Times Radio. Jan Markell here talking to Pastor Jack Hibbs, Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, California.

I'll say more about my conference in just a couple of minutes. Jack, we don't want to scare people, we want to prepare people. That's why you have your media outreach, be it radio, be it online, wherever you've got some kind of an outreach going on all the time, your wonderful church. We're not trying to scare anybody, yet you've got some people in your church that say, well, if you're going to talk end times, tell me when it's over and I'll come back.

I'm not going to come and listen to that. And yet we've got the glorious good news. We've got the blessed hope, emphasis on the blessed hope.

Granted, the blessed hopes kind of turned into the blasted hope because of the way eschatology is being handled by some, and I'll spare my audience the details and the names of those who are kind of throwing a monkey wrench and things. We're just simply trying to prepare people for eternity. Well, and we're supposed to. We're commanded to do this. Isaiah told us to do this. Ezekiel told us to do this. And Jesus, the apostles, the glorious, joyful, exciting news that Jesus could come back at any moment in what's called the rapture, the great gathering up together of the saints.

I have to be blunt and honest, Jan. I don't know any Christian really that denies the rapture. I know that there's a debate as to when it's going to take place, but I don't know of any true Bible reading, Bible studying Christian that denies a rapture. There are people who deny it, but they're not Christian because it is in the scripture.

It will happen. The argument is to when. So when I look around, I believe, Jan, and maybe I can share at the conference, the rapture of the church is so eminent that the biblical revelation of scripture simply declares it to be something that is in fact imminent. And it is wholly separate from the nation of Israel and the seven year tribulation period, which is 100% Jewish in context by design. Daniel taught us that in Daniel 9 verses 24 to 27, that the last seven years is all about God's holy city and God's people.

A lot of Gentile or non-Jewish believers get that all confused and they insert, I think sometimes because of replacement theology, they take out Israel and insert the church and then say, oh, look, there is no blessed hope. We've got to go through this and we've got to die in the tribulation period and all. And that's what's going to happen. No, that's not what's going to happen. Now, look, I could die for Jesus today.

Let me make that clear. It's possible today that a guy would walk in with a machete or machine gun and take my life or the congregation or whatever. That's called martyrdom.

That's called persecution. But the seven years of that time promised is the last segment of the 490 years promised regarding Daniel's prophecy. And it's Jewish. It's very Jewish.

It has to be Jewish. And it ends with a Jewish Messiah returning not to Canada. I love Canadians, but he's not coming to Canada.

He's not even coming to Southern California. He's going to Jerusalem. He's going to come to the land of Israel. His foot's going to touch the Mount of Olives in the second coming. And he's going to establish the throne of David in Jerusalem for one thousand years. Jan, that has to happen. If it doesn't happen, then we've got the wrong Jesus.

That's how important that is. Physical return to earth is. And it's a Jewish arrival in Jerusalem. I love it when you remind your audience that the God of the Bible will tell us the future in advance. Don't get all caught up in Daniel's 10 toes of his statue that he saw. You don't have to get caught up in the typology or symbolism that God uses to speak through John in the book of Revelation and let that spook you out of knowing what the Bible says about the last days.

Don't let that happen to you. Understand that all of God's prophetic revelations in the Bible is to get you and others to understand that God keeps his word, that God, the God of the Bible, not the man made gods of the cults or pagan religions, but the God of the Bible is the only one who announces I will tell you the future in advance. And listen, that is how you will know that I am God. Oh, amen.

Folks, come on out. There's still tickets left for Saturday, September the 21st, just outside of Minneapolis, Grace Church, Eden Prairie, Minnesota. Other speakers include pastors JD Farag, Robert Jeffress, obviously my guest for today, pastor Jack Hibbs from Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills. Amir Sarafati, yours truly, and others are going to be available the whole day. We will be live streaming it at no cost. Now, let me give you just a quick word on the live stream. To stream the conference again, no cost, you just visit my website, OliveTreeViews.org on September the 21st.

You can't do it the day before or the day after. September 21st, there'll be a button on the home page that will direct you to the Olive Tree Conference live streaming page, and you'll be able to stream the event on your computer for the entire day. Starts 8 45 a.m. Central Time. Keep in mind, streamers, that all times will be Central Time, 8 45 a.m. to 5 p.m. Jack, I do want to move on and hit just another couple of topics while we have time. I have on my mind Campaign 2020.

I know you've got some great input from your friend Tony Perkins. I work with Michelle Bachman, and we're all trying to stay connected as much as sometimes that's difficult with the political scenario in Washington, which is clearly broken. Where do you see America going here in the near future? Now, Campaign 2020 is going full steam, let's put it that way. Again, I referenced the love of socialism, we've talked about that. The love of some of these blatantly socialist candidates.

You and I have already referenced a cashless society, a one-world system. How do you see America fitting into some of the things that we're talking about, let's say three years down the road, five years down the road? Do you think Donald Trump is going to maintain the stride that he's enjoying right now?

The concern I have is that he could make a serious mistake in the Middle East and Israel. Jan, first of all, I guess people would ask me before the 2016 election who I thought was going to win. This was my answer to everyone who asked, and I was interviewed across the nation on this question. Jack, who do you think is going to win the election? And I said, it's hands down going to be Hillary Clinton unless there's a miracle. But numerically, it's going to be Hillary Clinton unless there's a miracle. A miracle took place because Trump was down something like 20 points before going into the election. What happened?

I don't know what happened, but I think God intervened. And the reason why I'm saying that is because the pro-life position of America's politics right now has never been stronger. The issues of Israel being supported in our support of Israel has never been stronger. The issue of border protection, which is a biblical issue, has never been stronger.

So these are really good things. OK, granted, we don't look to politics to be the Messiah. Having said that, as miraculously as Trump went into office, my goodness, Jan, it could be miraculously as he's out of office. It could be that the God of heaven says, that's it.

It was a window for four years. I opened up. I'm done.

I'm going to do something next. What concerns me about what is next is not that God's going to do what he wants to do next, because he's going to, is my heart. Jan's heart, our hearts as believers really needs to be in the right place. And that is trusting God with what God decides to do with America.

Because, friends, let's be honest. I think Billy Graham said it decades ago. If God does not judge the United States for her sin, then he will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. Well, I got news for you. He's never going to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. So we're living on borrowed time right now.

I don't know. I honestly do not know how the next election will go. But this I know. God reserves, this is no pun intended, by the way, God reserves a Trump card to be played by his people at any given time. And that is that promise in Second Chronicles 714.

If my people, and that's the key, if we humble ourselves, if we pray, if we repent of our sins and seek his face, then God sends healing to not only Israel, but to any nation. Jan, if Trump is out, for example, and the current tenor of the Democrat party gets in, then you can start to kiss private ownership goodbye. You can start to kiss savings goodbye. You can start to kiss religious freedom goodbye. The sanctity of a child's life goodbye. This current Democratic position, Democrats of 30 years ago would not even recognize it.

Of course. And I am very concerned, and I'm also concerned for the safety of President Trump, that in the time remaining, that he remains safe. But I'm just watching the tone on the left. They've gone off a cliff.

It's quite frightening. Again, we keep referring to this new love of socialism. And Jack, I don't know if the Antichrist is going to be a socialist, going to be a Marxist. He's going to be a totalitarian. We do know that.

He's probably going to govern under the barrel of a gun. And I think that that whole season of the Antichrist, the church is gone, of course, during that reign. But I believe it's around the corner.

I really do. And you and I are united in how soon we think it is. We're surprised we get up in the morning and we're still here. We say that all the time.

You just raised an interesting thing. If people could step back for a moment and remember the world before 2016 and Jan, you and I talked about this back in 2015 and 16, and it was this. The world seemed to be leaderless. There was no Ronald Reagan. There wasn't even anybody anywhere leading. And the world seemed to be just right for a man to rise up and to lead. And by God's mercy, because the world look, I know some Americans will grind their teeth at this, but the fact is a lot of nations in the recent voting since 2016, for example, Great Britain, Brazil, Hungary, Romania, these nations saw the rise of conservative leaders. So right now there's some leaders in the world, but it takes one election to change all that.

And it could change in a moment's time. And Daniel tells us that this Antichrist figure that's coming, that may very well be alive right now as we speak, that he's going to enter in on a cry for peace and prosperity. Remember, he's going to give them peace.

Daniel warned us. You'll identify him, global peace and global prosperity. Will he achieve that by socialistic means? I don't know. Will he achieve that by prostituting capitalism?

I don't know. But people will get rich and people will be thinking that they're living at peace. And that's when the serpent strikes. We're suckers for that as humans. Give me money and leave me alone.

And that's the spirit of a human is I want to have everything I want and I want to be left alone. And the Antichrist is going to deliver for at least three and a half years. Three and a half years on that note. Folks, you could learn a lot more at Jack's website, RealLifeWithJackHibbs.org. RealLifeWithJackHibbs.org. You want to sign up and get as much as you can delivered to your inbox through his online ministry. He's on radio from coast to coast. He's on a lot of the Salem stations where I air as well. Jack, I think you're on the bot network too, are you not?

Yes. And that's a wonderful network as well. So glad that you're getting your voice out there multiplied many, many times over. Folks, come on out and meet Pastor Jack, as well as Pastor JD Farag, Amir Sarfati, Dr. Robert Jeffress, yours truly. Again, we have tickets. We still have some left, $25. They're general admission. That includes a lunch. Let me give you the brush fire number. Don't call Olive Tree, but the brush fire agency is 888-338-5338, 888-338-5338, $25. General admission tickets.

The auditorium seats about 4,500 to 5,000 people. We'd like to have it full for that day, Saturday, September 21st. I promise you, you'll leave that day better able to understand the times, contend for the faith, and become watchmen on the wall. Jack Hibbs, looking forward to seeing you now in just a couple of weeks. God bless you, my friend. God bless you, Jan. We'll see you soon. Folks, stay tuned. Dr. Robert Jeffress is coming up in just a couple of minutes.

Don't go away. Yes, we are in perilous times, so thank you for trusting Understanding the Times Radio and Olive Tree Ministries to make sense of that. If we've made a difference in your world, let us hear from you. Write us through our website at OliveTreeViews.org. That's OliveTreeViews.org. You can call us, Central Time, at 763-559-4444. That's 763-559-4444. We are available by mail, by writing to Olive Tree Ministries and Jan Markell, Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311. That's Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311. You can also text to give. Consult our website.

All gifts are tax-deductible. More in a minute as Jan is joined by Dr. Robert Jeffress. Welcome to Understanding the Times 2018. Tim has come all the way from Iowa. Nick and Tina from Vancouver, Canada. I'm Darlene from New Jersey. I'm from the great state of Texas. Glenn, how many times have you been to the conference?

About 19. Been following Jan for about the past year. She's such a blessing, very informative. And it's just a joy to see that people are seeing the importance of end-time study and eschatology. One-third of the Bible is prophecy and pastors these days don't really want to even touch on that.

It is all pointing toward Christ coming back and how the things in the Bible are being fulfilled. I was so inspired. Understanding the Times 2019 is around the corner, Saturday, September 21, just outside of Minneapolis. You have your tickets yet? If not, call the Brushfire Agency at 1-888-338-5338. That's 1-888-338-5338.

Or just go online to brushfire.com. We are selling general admission tickets for $25, and that includes a lunch. If you have purchased a ticket and cannot attend, please turn in your ticket to Brushfire so others can purchase them. Speakers include Dr. Robert Jeffress, Amir Sarfati, Pastor J.D.

Farag, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Jan Markell, and Lori Cardoza-Moore. We begin at 845 a.m. on September 21 and conclude at 5 p.m. The destination is Grace Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, near Minneapolis. Even hotels are selling out, so visit our website, OliveTreeViews.org, and go to our conference page for hotel information.

If you cannot journey to Minneapolis, the event will be live streamed at no cost. Consult our website for details. Come and meet 5,000 like-minded remnant believers on Saturday, September 21.

Learn why things aren't falling apart, they are falling into place. Remember, if you have tickets to our fall conference September 21 and suddenly cannot attend, just give the Brushfire agency a call and inform them and your tickets will be able to be used by others. Call 1-888-338-5338.

That's 1-888-338-5338. We have enjoyed getting to know Dr. Robert Jeffress at our conference activity in 2015 and again this September 21. He pastors First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas, and hosts the popular media outreach, Pathway to Victory. He serves on President Trump's Evangelical Advisory Board. Here's Jan with Dr. Robert Jeffress. Jesus said, no man can know the hour.

No man can know the hour. But, Dwight, he also said, when you see these signs begin to take place, look up because your redemption draws near. How many hear that?

Yes. God wants us to be aware of what's happening in the world. You know, people say, well, people have been saying that since the beginning of time. The end of the world is coming. Jesus is coming back.

He hasn't come back. There's always been immorality in the world. There's always been persecution against Christians.

So why is this time different? Well, Jesus said, these signs that precede his coming, they will be like the labor pains that a woman feels before she gives birth. Well, welcome back to the program.

We're in part two. You heard in that little clip my guest for this segment, Dr. Robert Jeffress, saying, God wants us to be aware. Remember, 2 Chronicles 12, sons of Issachar were men who understood the times.

They obviously were aware. And yes, birth pains are worsening. What has resulted is the darkening headlines that all of us are struggling with.

And what I'm finding, quite frankly, people not only are becoming more unaware, they're actually tuning out. Now, joining me for this segment is Dr. Robert Jeffress. Again, he's one of my speakers, understanding the times, 2019, Saturday, September 21st, literally around the corner.

We have a little amount of time and a lot of notes in front of me. I'm going to plow through them as fast as possible. Dr. Jeffress, welcome back to the program. Well, thanks for having me, Jan, and really looking forward to the conference. Thank you so much. Glad you can be a part of it.

Now, I open here with a clip of you. God wants us to be aware. I also went on to say, I find people are tuning out. I find people cannot handle bad news. I find, let's just say for now, in the genre of eschatology, that not only does some of the information about the end times, the seals of Revelation, for instance, even if the church is not here, that is perceived as bad news. And no one I know can handle that kind of information in general, because we've got some who love this information and fill up some church auditoriums to come and hear it at certain conferences. Let me go back to your comment. God wants us to be aware, and yet the headlines are dark.

I'm not sure how we do that. Well, look, the short-term forecast is dark and gloomy. The long-term forecast is bright and sunshine, because eschatology is about ultimately the Lord Jesus Christ is returning.

In fact, Jan, I'm getting ready to start preaching through the book of Revelation, verse by verse, in our church on Sunday morning. We're calling the series Final Conquest. That's a victorious title, because the fact is, the coming of Jesus Christ means the end of the evil, the suffering, the hardship that we have right now. And you know, Jan, I get asked all the time, you know, after a shooting in Dayton or El Paso like we just witnessed, and people say, you know, they want to know, what can we do to fix this? How can we fix this?

And it's not popular to say, but Jan, the fact is, we're not going to fix it. We can do everything we can to lessen the herd of evil. I say human laws may regulate evil, but they can never eradicate evil. Evil will not be eradicated until Christ returns, and that's what eschatology is all about.

So it's good news, not bad news. Dr. Jeffress, I believe that the end of the church age is very close, and I realize people have thought that for a long time, but things I think today, and we're heading a little bit into the end here of 2019, we have some things going on that we haven't had before. Obviously, we have Israel flourishing as a nation, now the eighth most powerful nation in the world. We have apostasy in the church. We have a very unusual alignment in the Middle East with Turkey, Russia, Iran, all kind of coalescing. We have a convergence, that's an emphasis on that word, a convergence of issues of predicted signs.

We have mocking of all that we're talking about for the moment anyway, a mocking that is absolutely off the chart, and of course, that's part of the signs of the times as well. Some of the things I've highlighted, what would you say would be the most intriguing to you that's a part of the signs of the times that we should be paying attention to? Without doubt in my mind, Jan, it's what's happening in Israel. What we're seeing, the rebirth of the Israeli nation in 1948, what you see, we just witnessed a year and a half ago, the moving of the embassy. I see what is happening in Israel as probably the key sign that something is going to happen. I was so privileged to deliver the opening prayer at the embassy opening in Jerusalem, and Jan, I can tell you, everybody who was there, Christians and non-Christians alike, felt there was something electric in the air. And of course, those of us who are Christians know that God has a great future plan for Israel. And look, I tend to agree with you.

I think the end is closer than it's ever been. But I remember my old friend, Alan Combs, at Fox News, he asked me one time, he said, Pastor, do you believe you're going to be alive to see the return of Jesus Christ? I said, Alan, it really doesn't matter. He said, what do you mean it doesn't matter?

I said, well, I figure it this way. I'm 60 years old, and in the next 30 years, either he's coming or I'm going, but I'm going to meet God sooner rather than later, and so are you. And the fact is, Jan, we ought to live our lives every day in light of either Christ coming, returning to us, or our returning to him. And that's what Bible prophecy is all about.

Not just what's going to happen, but how we should live in light of what is going to happen. And actually, I know you're going to cover some of that at our conference. It's Saturday, September 21st, folks.

Come on out. You've got to get a ticket, though. It's just outside Minneapolis and Eden Prairie, Minnesota, Grace Church. Remember, the church asked us to ticket this event, so we had to do that, and they're $25. That includes a lunch. Remember, other speakers include pastors Jack Hibbs, J.D.

Farag, Robert Jeffress, who's on the phone with me now, Amir Sarfati. Yours truly and others will be present. It will be live streamed at no cost. Keep in mind, the live streaming is central time. It is central time, so if you're watching East Coast, West Coast, it's going to be a little bit different time. We've got folks watching in Europe, Australia.

You'll have to look into the time change as well. I want just a quick heads up here. Dr. Jeffress has a new book coming out.

I believe he'll have it at the conference, and it's A Place Called Heaven for Kids. And again, we're taking the first part of the programming of this segment. We're talking about things to come, some issues that are going to be facing the church and all believers in the, I think, near future anyway. I'm going to morph a little bit later into some issues as it concerns our president, Donald Trump. Dr. Jeffress, let me just ask you this question real quickly. Where do you feel? Now, first of all, we've got a president right now who wants to make America great again. Fine.

That's tremendous. I'm not sure we have time to do that, but at least he has a heart to fix a broken America, and you and I know only Jesus can do that properly. Nonetheless, where do you see America fitting into the end time scenario? I mean, globalism is inevitable.

The one-world system is around the corner. Donald Trump stands in the way. Well, he does, and I think that's important that he stand in the way and push back against what we know is going to be this inevitable one-world government. And I just did last week an extensive interview with the Washington Post, and they asked me about why it is I would support President Trump, and I said, look, I don't believe he's going to recreate America, that America is going to be this towering nation. The Bible doesn't allow for that, but I do think what Donald Trump and hopefully others will be able to do is to push back against this tide of evil that is engulfing our world so that we as Christians have longer to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That's all we're asking for right now. I believe the President has a heart for this country. He is taking tremendous financial off to do what he's doing, and it's because he truly loves America.

Look, you may not like some of the things about President Trump, but you would have to agree if your objective, he is the most pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-Israel, pro-conservative judiciary president we've had in history, and I think that's why Christians by such large margins support him. Folks, you're listening to Understanding the Times Radio. Jan Markell here. I have on the line from Dallas, Texas, Dr. Robert Jeffress. He's pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas. He is a prolific author. He is radio and TV host.

You can learn more at ptv.org. That stands for Pathway to Victory, ptv.org, radio, television, online, Fox Nation as well now, and he's a Fox News contributor. I asked him privately, can we continue to have some confidence in Fox News? He believes we can and appreciate all that he contributes as a Fox News contributor, but let me play a clip, Dr. Jeffress, and once I play this, I'm going to come back and ask you a couple of questions. In your experience out there in these communities of religion, are you finding President Trump's support amongst evangelicals and people of faith waning?

Not at all. In fact, it is growing, and here's why. In 2016, when evangelicals voted for him, they didn't know him like I did. They hoped he would be pro-life, pro-religious liberty, pro-Israel, but now they have seen him absolutely meet and exceed all of those promises. In 2016, he won on promises made. In 2020, he'll win the evangelical vote by an even larger margin on the basis of promises kept.

Bold prediction, Pastor. We appreciate your time this morning. Have a great one.

Thank you. Dr. Jeffress, you sounded very, very confident there, and I share in your enthusiasm, and I think he has proven to be correct in the very areas you cited there. Very, very strong religious liberty, etc. I think evangelicals remain encouraged.

Well, I do too. You know, I had a man last night at church come up to me, an older man, he said, Pastor, you may remember I wrote you a long letter in 2016 telling you why you were wrong to support Donald Trump and not this other candidate he named. Thank you for ignoring my letter because you turned out to be right. And you know, the fact is, Jan, you remember during the primary time, President Trump only had about 20% of evangelicals voting for him. The rest were voting or supporting another Republican candidate. The reason is they didn't know him. They thought maybe he wouldn't or couldn't fulfill these promises that he made. But as we look back, he has had a solid record. Look, he's a very transactional guy. He knows what he's promised to us. He has it in his mind, and he's checking it off. To me, that's just fine.

If we can have a president who will remember evangelicals instead of hating them like Barack Obama did, I think that's a big plus for us. Well, let me just quickly address an issue that came up, I believe it was towards the end of August, yes. And that would have been his comment about the chosen one, the second coming of God. I didn't hear it. I'm reading about it online.

Why don't you set the stage and tell us what happened? Well, these are two different things that came within one another. The first thing that happened was he was being bombarded with criticism for saying that American Jews who vote Democrat and support a party that is so hostile toward Israel, they are not being very loyal. He meant to Israel, and he's absolutely right. He's right, absolutely.

He's absolutely right. And so he retweeted a man who had said, I can tell you how the Israelis react to Donald Trump. They think of him as the second coming of God and the king of Israel. Well, obviously, that guy was speaking hyperbolically.

I understand that. Trump wasn't claiming to be the Messiah, but that point did accurately describe the enthusiasm I see in Israel every time I walk through the streets of Jerusalem. I have people who recognize me from Fox, Israelis, and they say, thank you for supporting President Trump. He is our president.

And so I think he's right to point out the disparity between Israelis and Jewish American support for Trump. And then when it came to the chosen one, he was out getting ready to board Marine One, and they were asking him about China and about the war he was in with China, the trade war. And he said, look, no other president has been willing to confront the Chinese, and I'm willing to take the flat for doing it. And then he kind of looks up. He says, I guess I'm the chosen one who's speaking humorously.

I mean, he doesn't have a Messiah complex. He has a great sense of humor. Well, you serve on his evangelical advisory board, and I know others on the board, and I have Michelle Bachman in the studio here regularly.

She's coming again in a month or so. She's had great input, and as have you. And let me just ask you this, because there have to be a dozen, 15 men and women.

I think some perhaps are more sound than others. Does he listen to you? I suspect he does. He is very inquisitive.

He wants to know what different constituents that he has believe about things. And he isn't shy to share what he believes. But yes, he is very, very receptive.

You know, I just have a rule of life. I don't tend to offer unsolicited advice to the President of the United States. But when he asked, I'm more than happy to share what I think is truth. And he's very receptive and very respectful of that. And I don't want to overestimate the amount of times he asked me questions or so forth.

But over the last four years, we've become friends, and occasionally he'll ask. Let me go back to some issues that will be touched on at my conference again that Saturday, September 21. Folks, we have already registered, and we're out yet a little bit anyway. We've got folks registered from 46 states, six Canadian provinces, and a bunch of foreign countries. This is a kind of a place to gather where remnant believers actually make friends for life.

So I hope that you'll think if you haven't gotten a ticket yet, there still are some tickets to general admission. And here's the number. It's on my website, OliveTreeViews.org. But you can just call the Brushfire Agency at 888-338-5338. I'll give that number again going out at the program, 888-338-5338. Get your ticket or tickets for the event September 21.

$25, that gets you a lunch as well. I don't want to spend too much time here with promotion, but I'm so privileged to have on the line from Dallas, Dr. Robert Jeffress, one of my speakers. Honestly, the theme of the day is all the speakers, self-included here, are going to encourage you to be looking up to know that our redemption draws nigh. And again, I opened this segment of the program stating that folks are discouraged. They're looking at headlines that make them feel very down. And that is why looking up, awaiting the blessed hope is sometimes the only hope that we have.

Dr. Jeffress there, I just gave myself a little bit of an intro into a topic. You stress, as do I, the importance of the pre-tribulation rapture of the church. It is under attack. You know that.

Sometimes the attack is very ugly. And if it weren't for the hope of the rapture, then the blessed hope just became the blasted hope. Share your thoughts on the importance of this topic. Your message, September 21, will be related to this, but the importance of that very specific pre-tribulation rapture. Yes, if I could, I would have preached on the topic why I believe in the pre-tribulation rapture, because I do. I think one of the reasons people rail against the pre-tribulation rapture is they really don't understand what we are saying. They think the pre-tribulation rapture is an easy ticket out of any kind of suffering. You and I don't believe that the church is going to escape suffering at all. Throughout history, the church has always been persecuted. We in America right now are living in a little bubble, which we have in some ways been spared that kind of tribulation.

But I don't think that will be forever. I think there'll be more and more suffering even in our own country. We suffer the persecution of man, but when we talk about the pre-tribulation rapture, we're talking about Christians escaping the wrath of God. No Christian is promised exemption from human suffering, but we are promised deliverance from the wrath of God, and that's what's unique about those seven years we call the tribulation. It's not just man persecuting man, it is God pouring out his wrath on mankind. And Romans 8 1 says, there is therefore now no condemnation for those who have been found in Christ Jesus. And the fact is, if I have to dread, Jan, some future time when God is going to pour out his punishment, his wrath on me, then the death of Christ was absolutely useless.

Absolutely. Thank you for stating it that way. I think you actually, in one of your books, and this ministry has carried a number of your books, sold them in our bookstore. In one of your books, you have an entire chapter on the purpose of the tribulation. I say the tribulation is for the salvation of the Jewish nation, and you have just stated so effectively that yes, in our time on earth we are going to experience the wrath of man, the wrath of Satan, never the wrath of God.

That is unthinkable. Jesus doesn't beat up the bride, although he lets mankind beat up Christians rather regularly, but the tribulation is for the salvation of Israel. Yes, and I think there's a dual purpose of the tribulation. I do think it's for condemnation of unbelievers. Unbelievers will suffer, but I do think it's also a period of salvation. I believe the picture in Revelation 6 and 7 is of both Jews and Gentiles coming to Christ in great numbers through the preaching of 144,000 Jewish witnesses. Even in the midst of the most severe judgment God could render on mankind, you see his mercy in using that seven years, that 70th week of Daniel, to fulfill his promise to the Jewish people. Amen. Again, folks, you can learn more at ptv.org.

Stands for Pathway to Victory.org. Pastor of First Baptist Church, Dallas, Texas. I had Dr. Jeffress with me in fall of 2015. I think you talked about some of the things going on in America at that time, Dr. Jeffress, and some of the ways in which we've made some very serious mistakes. Before I forget, I think this is important, and I think my audience would love to know ways. You again, I'm going back to Donald Trump, not a perfect man, but I think somebody that God chose for a unique time in history, and they gave the nation a reprieve, at least a reprieve from some of the blatant evil, and then we see some of the progressive left and how they're heading for fall of 2020, the election of 2020, which is extremely troubling, I think, all the more to try to keep conservatism front and center. How can my audience pray for President Trump? First of all, let me just say he really does value the prayers of Christians for him. I've heard him say privately, he has said, you know, the words that have come to mean the most to me over these last two and a half years is when I hear people say, I am praying for you. And I believe that that means a lot to him. Please continue to pray for him, for Melania, for their family, pray for their physical protection. Pray for their wisdom as they make decisions. I'll never forget that picture he tweeted out standing in front of a wailing wall and putting at the bottom of the tweet, I am praying for God's wisdom. I think pray for his continued encouragement. Now, I don't see one sign that he's down or discouraged.

Anytime I'm with him, I walk out saying this is the most resilient human being I've ever seen because he is unflappable. And that's not a person you want running your country. But Jan, no president has had so much incoming from so many different elections as this president did.

And I don't know what people are thinking. If the president gets discouraged, it hurts all of us. He hadn't succumbed to that. But let's pray for his continued encouragement. You know, one other word of encouragement, I'd say to your audience, if you ever get discouraged, look at all of the strong Christians that Donald Trump has placed around him.

That says a lot about the man. Mike Pompeo, a tremendous Christian. I prayed with him on the telephone. Vice President Pence, Rick Perry, Ben Carson, so many strong believers who are around this president and are encouraging him and having regular input into his life.

That's a good word. I'm picking out a paragraph in one of your, you send out daily updates or sometimes little devotionals. I'm just picking out a couple of sentences here from a recent one. And you said this, God will not allow anything to happen to you without a purpose. Nothing comes into your life that has not, first of all, been sifted through the perfect, good, loving will of God. Romans 8 28 says, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to his purpose. Everything that happens in your life is part of God's plan to shape you into the image of Jesus Christ. That is not saying that everything that happens to you is good. It is saying that everything that happens, the good, the bad, and the ugly is all working together for God for a greater purpose. I'm down to two minutes or so, Dr. Jeffress, but I want to play on what you've just written here because we have folks listening right now and their world is falling apart, or they've just had some of the worst news, or they've just had a terrible diagnosis that they've been given, or a loved one, something's happened to them, and that Romans 8 28, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God and who are called according to his purpose. I want to go out of the program focusing on that. It's all yours.

You've got a couple of minutes if you'd like. Well, I think it's key because that verse, Romans 8 28, is often pulled out of context. It doesn't mean, as you said, that everything is good.

It doesn't mean that everything will immediately work out to a happy ending. The good that Paul is talking about is not a full bank account or a satisfying marriage or obedient kids. The key is verse 29, for whom God foreknew he predestined to become conformed to the image of his son. That's what God is allowing everything in your life to work together for, to make you more like Christ. And you know, you look at Jesus, it says, although he was a son, he learned obedience by the things that he suffered. Jesus learned through suffering, and God uses suffering to make us like Christ. That doesn't mean suffering is painless.

No, it's very painful. But the good news, Jan, is it's also temporary. One day when Christ returns, which is what Bible prophecy is all about, there will finally be an end to suffering. And that's why we call the coming of Christ the Blessed Hope.

Amen, and it is, folks, it is sometimes, some days, it's the only hope is the hope of eternity, the hope of his return, the hope of heaven. It's a glorious future. That's what we've been talking about. We talk about that and other things frequently on Understanding the Times radio. I've been privileged this segment to have Dr. Robert Jeffress, First Baptist Church Dallas, on the line.

Come on out and meet him. He'll be doing some book signing. That's Saturday, September 21st, literally around the corner now. Grace Church Eden Prairie right outside Minneapolis, Minnesota, live streamed at no cost. Keep in mind the live streaming is central time.

If you're east or west coast or other countries, keep in mind central time. Find out more at OliveTreeViews.org. OliveTreeViews.org. We've got all ticketing, live streaming, speaker information. Dr. Jeffress, J.D. Farag, Amir Sarfati, Pastor Jack Hibbs, and others will be with us that day. Thank you so much for giving up some time today, Dr. Jeffress. Looking forward to seeing you that particular day in late September. Can't wait to see you all. Thanks for having me.

All right, thank you. Let me just go out of the program here saying some comments because whether your church and those you love care about it or not, Jesus is coming back someday, I think sooner rather than later, and the evidence is all around us. The question is, are you ready? Are you ready to meet the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords?

To be ready is not complicated. You just make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life today. He is the King of the universe, but he wants to be the King of your life as well.

Why don't you invite him to do that today? I want to thank you for listening and we will talk to you next week. We are indeed in times of turmoil.

That is all the more reason why we need you to be salt and light to delay the decay of our day. The brokenhearted need a good word from you for the Bible says in Hebrews 10 that we are to encourage one another. Let us hear from you. Write us through our website OliveTreeViews.org. That's OliveTreeViews.org. Call us central time at 763-559-4444. That's 763-559-4444. You can always reach us by mail at Olive Tree Ministries and Jan Markell, Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311.

That's Box 1452, Maple Grove, Minnesota, 55311. Until next week, look up and know that our redemption draws nigh and that things are all falling into place.