1/8/2022 - Resolutions for Revolution

TNG Radio, where today's culture and timeless truths come together. It's reasoned, relevant content apologetics, worldview, and answers to the questions that you need to know. From Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries. Welcome to Truth For A New Generation Radio. And now the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland.

In John 5-8, Jesus said to the man that had been crippled, pick up your mat and walk. Hi, Alex McFarland here. Happy New Year. Welcome to today's edition of Truth For A New Generation. And we are more than a week into the new year, and I hope it's being a good year for you. There was a story in the news that I want to pick up on as we talk because what I want to give you in this broadcast are four new year's resolutions that I really would call new year's revolutions.

Because if you could take these truths to heart, it could be revolutionary in your life. But I begin by pointing out a couple of news stories. I don't know if you saw two French brothers, they were twins of Russian descent, but they were French, Igor and Grichka Bogdanov. And they were pretty well known in the internet world because they were, their images were the subject of endless memes and funny pictures. Now these two twin brothers, they died less than a week apart, both of COVID.

But that's notable. But what was even more notable was their frankly, horrible, contorted, cartoonish plastic surgery-resulted faces. These two brothers were actually, back in the 80s, pretty handsome young men. They both earned a doctorate in the sciences. One got a doctorate in physics, one in mathematics.

Very intelligent, good-looking twin brothers. And they got a television show in France. But they began to get more and more and more plastic surgery. And one writer described them as having cheekbones that were almost high enough to obstruct their vision. And they had, it was just horrible, chin implants, lip enlargements. And the sad thing about these brothers, and they each died of medical complications, but they were endlessly mocked on social media because of their just, unthinkably horrible appearance. Plastic surgery had literally ruined their faces.

And they looked like cartoons. And of course, whenever you talk about the fallout of plastic surgery, you might think of Michael Jackson. But the reason I'm bringing this up is because the Bible tells us in First Corinthians chapter 13 that in heaven, in the presence of God, one day we will know as we are known.

There's a line in a song from the sixties that says, no matter what you do, you'll never get away from you. We're living in a culture where people are out of touch with who they really are. Very often people are narcissistic and they think grandiose things about themselves.

And in reality, they would do well to be humble and think about who they could be before God. Plastic surgery is going up, up, up. And a new realm of plastic surgery over the last decade has just exploded into a $267 million a year industry, and that's sex change surgery.

But I'll give you some examples, then I'm going to talk about how we use language in relation to the lies we tell ourselves. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons notes that 15.5 million surgical and cosmetic procedures are done annually in the United States. And it's going up, whether it's Botox, and among women that get the Botox injections they talk about the trout pout. And otherwise beautiful women oftentimes contort their faces with injections, which actually is a poison to cause the muscle tissue to contract.

And it's a roll of the dice. Sometimes the results are good. Sometimes the results are hard to look at.

And maybe you've seen these people out. But now, because we've lost morals and we don't even have the moral and spiritual temerity to call men, men and women men, there are more and more gender reassignment surgeries. Let's talk about how they use language, because years ago they talked about a sex change operation. Then for years you probably heard the term gender reassignment surgery, which often was accompanied with hormone replacement therapy and women are given testosterone and men are given estrogen. It's also what is not being reported that it's causing 17 types of cancer in the recipients of these procedures. But now they call it gender confirmation surgery.

Isn't that something? That a man can think he's a woman, and he can be cut on, and it's not gender reassignment, it's not sex change. It's gender confirmation, because God the Creator was wrong, and we all along were right. Now the number of gender confirmation quote unquote surgeries in the United States is rising. Seven or eight years ago there were 3,200 such surgeries a year. By 2017 it was up 20 percent. Last year there were more than 11,000. Now why have the number of gender reassignment slash gender confirmation surgeries tripled in recent years? Well part of it is because it's being so much talked about and even celebrated in the news nowadays. By the way of the gender reassignment surgeries, two-thirds are female to male, only about one-third are men trying to become women.

It's interesting we hear so much about toxic masculinity and maleness is really marginalized and put down in our culture, and in fact in much of academia maleness and femaleness is denied as being objective categories, and yet the binary gender male and female must be objective in category, because females wish to become males, males wish to become females. But again we're drifting far away from the reality that God the Creator owns us. Do you know actually we don't have the right to do whatever we want with our own body, because our body really is not our own. In 1 Corinthians 6, 19 and 20 Paul says that, we're not our own. And among the myriad of spiritual issues that our culture faces today, we need to come back to the realization that we are accountable to God. We are accountable to God our maker. We don't call the shots. The wisest, most liberating, most empowering thing that we could ever do is to bow before God Almighty and say, Lord I need you.

Lord help me. Now when we come back we're going to give four resolutions that will revolutionize your life in this new year and in all the days ahead. The Apostle Peter wrote 1 Peter to remind us that Christians have true and lasting hope in their Savior Jesus Christ. Because Jesus conquered death in an incorruptible glorified body, we can be sure that our salvation has permanence as we walk through everyday life. The Billy Graham Training Center at the Cove presents Jesus Christ, Hope That Lives, Hope That Lasts for Every Believer, a special three day seminar with Alex McFarland. Alex will dig into 1 Peter to help you gain truths to live by and assurance to keep going. Come to the Cove near Asheville, North Carolina, July 8th through 10th for three days of in-depth Bible study, fellowship and refreshing. Jesus Christ, Hope That Lives, Hope That Lasts for Every Believer, a study of 1 Peter with Alex McFarland. Find out more and register at thecove.org. Have you ever wanted to raise your hand during a sermon?

Well, here's your chance. Hi, Alex McFarland here from the nationally syndicated radio program, Exploring the Word. For more than 10 years, my cohost Bird Harper and I have taught scripture and answered hundreds of Bible questions. We've compiled a brand new book of the top 100 Bible questions from listeners of all ages, from questions about supposed Bible contradictions to apologetics facts that prove the truths of scripture. This new book features practical content that will make the Bible come alive for you.

Can we really be sure that God exists? Are there contradictions in the Bible? I need a book that will help me understand the Bible better.

There's so much good content in this book. 100 Bible questions and answers published by Broad Street Publishers and available at your local bookstores and also through resources.afa.net. stainless truths in a soundbite culture. Truth for a new generation radio. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

That's Romans 12.2. And with that, I welcome you back to the program. Alex McFarland, here so honored that you're listening to Truth for a New Generation.

We're talking about some resolutions for revolution in your life, and I've got four thoughts that honestly could transform not only a person's life, but really this nation, and we'll get to that in just a moment. But I want to remind you about several exciting things coming up. We have got such an exciting year ahead with Truth for a New Generation. We've got our summer camp, July 17-22, biblical world view. And the theme is Unashamed, Building a Biblical World View.

This is for middle school and high schoolers. We're going to be just east of Raleigh at a wonderful camp called The Refuge. And I and our staff and Will and Miki Addison from the American Family Association, they're going to be there.

We're going to be teaching biblical world view and really talking to these youth about loving God and country. And so the youth in your life, go to my website, which is AlexMcFarland.com. AlexMcFarland.com. Learn about it. Reach out to us if we can answer any questions. The other thing I want to tell you about, the Billy Graham Training Center in western North Carolina. I'm going to be there July 8-10, teaching the book of 1 Peter, and we're going to be talking about Defending the Christian Faith. So thecove.org.

T-H-E-C-O-V-E. Thecove.org. And we're going to go through 1 Peter and then Will together with people from all over the USA. We're going to pray together, fellowship. Angie will be there. It's going to be great. And I would invite you to join us in July at The Cove.

So much more at the newly redesigned website, AlexMcFarland.com. But let's get back to these four resolutions for revolution in your life. Romans 12-2. Do not be conformed to the world, but be transformed.

See, the world says party, hook up. If you don't like who you are, you can change it. But here's the thing. This is why so many people that get plastic surgery, and especially these really monstrous gender reassignment surgeries, they end up being depressed, abusing drugs, and attempting suicide in large numbers.

Why? Because no matter what you do on the outside, that really doesn't fundamentally change your soul and who you are on the inside. Only Christ can make you brand new on the inside. Only Jesus Christ can heal your wounds. Only Jesus Christ can give you peace with yourself.

I've had so many people ask me, they'll say, I wish I could know God's will for my life. Well, look at Romans 12-2. Do not be conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. Now, you've probably heard ministers preach on this, and the word is metamorphosis. You can metamorphose.

Franz Kafka, the writer, wrote about metamorphosis. But the real change, the real transformation is when you come to Christ. Now, it says that you may discern. In other words, you can know, you can recognize, you can understand. The philosophical word is you can apprehend. When you apprehend something, you understand it. You comprehend, but you also let it change your life. And you have fully apprehended a truth when you not only are aware of it, but it makes changes in your life. Well, if you could know the will of God and the will of God be switched on in your life, that would be the greatest apprehension in the world, wouldn't it? Well, you can discern, know, experience the will of God.

All right, now what is that? Romans 12-2. What is good and acceptable and perfect? Notice these words, good, acceptable, and perfect. There are some Greek words, and I want to unpack them a little bit.

Agathon, Eusteron, and Telion. Good, acceptable and perfect. The word good is the word agathon, and it really means good like a tree that bears fruit. Not only is it fruitful, it's the appropriate fruit. To be doing what you were put here to do.

That would be good, wouldn't it? You can have that in Jesus. On the flip side, apart from Christ, you'll never fully have that. So agathon, the good, the fruitful will of God, then acceptable.

Eusteron, pleasing, and it especially means pleasing to God, gratifying, fully acceptable. Listen, you want to be accepted, Christ will accept you. And then you want your life to be acceptable in the eyes of God? It can be, but you've got to reorder your perspective in light of God's word.

And then I love this not only good and acceptable, but perfect. That is the word telion. Now that's a variation of the word telios, which means design, or a structure, or a blueprint. Do you know God has a blueprint for your life? God has a plan for every life. And part of the friction within us, and the discouragement, and the depression, and just the lack of peace, and the turmoil that storms and rages within us, is because we are not in the design. If you want the good and acceptable and telion, perfect, well-designed will of God, it's as close by as a prayer. You turn to Jesus, and what is God's perfect plan for you? Well the word there means complete in all of its parts. Full-grown, mature, completeness, you can have that.

Now I want to give you the four steps to getting there, the four steps, and we'll unpack it in this and the next segment. Number one, make these resolutions, I beg of you, before God who loves you, make these resolutions, number one, live in a state of reality. And by that I mean truth. Live in light of what is true. We are a nation building as hard as we can on things that are false, unreality.

Men becoming women, that's delusional. That's not reality. Taxing ourselves into prosperity, that is delusional. Defunding the police, abolishing borders, cutting ourselves loose from morality, thinking it will lead us to utopia. That is unreality. We are building our nation on things that are unreal, untrue, and so destructive.

So the first New Year's resolution, and this begins with the Word of God, which will introduce you to the Son of God, and you can become a child of God, and you can live eternally in the blessedness of the truth of God. Live in a state of reality. Now we've got to pull away.

We're going to come right back. I've got three more thoughts. New Year's revolution, number one, build your life on truth.

TNG radio. Send your kids to a summer camp that will change their lives for the gospel and equip them to defend the faith. Truth for a New Generation presents the Unashamed Biblical Worldview Camp, Go Deeper with God, at the Refuge Camp of Eastern North Carolina, July 17th through 22nd. Your eighth through 12th graders will hear from evangelist and apologist Dr. Alex McFarland, as well as conference speakers, pro-family activists and radio hosts, Will and Miki Addison from American Family Radio, as they share with your kids ways to effectively engage and transform the culture. Campers will also enjoy swimming, canoeing, fishing, soccer, volleyball, archery, and a whole lot more. A great summer camp of fun and faith building, the TNG Unashamed Biblical Worldview Camp, July 17th through 27th, at the Refuge Camp in Ayrton, North Carolina.

To learn more and to register, visit alexmcfarland.com. Are you tired of liberal agendas ruining our country, but you don't know what to do about it? That's why Truth and Liberty Coalition was founded. We want to equip you to take back our country and impact the world. Here's how we do it. We educate through broadcasts, conferences, and our website, with resources that inform, equip, and motivate. We unify by collaborating with like-minded organizations like the Family Research Council, the Family Policy Alliance, and My Faith Votes. We mobilize by providing practical tools you can use to impact your local community.

As Christians, we are called to make disciples of nations. Together, we can change the course of our country for good. Join Truth and Liberty to connect with believers and organizations who not only want to see a change in our nation, but a community that is actually doing something about it. Join us online for our broadcast and subscribe for relevant updates on our website, truthandliberty.net. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. You're listening to Truth for a new generation radio. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, the Word of God, that you can discern what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God, God's will for you. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. Thanks for listening. We're talking about the New Year's resolutions that would revolutionize your life, the first of them being to commit to live in a state of reality. That's just what will happen if you'll build your life on the Word of God. But secondly, New Year's resolution number two, acknowledge that God is the basis of truth.

Live your life based on God's revelation. The Bible tells us that God can't lie. And that's only logical because part of God's eternality, the fact that God has existed forever is that he is perfectly righteous. There's no sin in God.

There's no darkness, no deception. Sin brings death. The result of sin is death, non-existence. And God is perfectly, fully, thoroughly, pervasively righteous.

That's part of his eternality. So trust what God says. And while you and I, look, we're sinners. But if you're a Christian, you're a forgiven sinner. And in fact, in the eyes of God, you're actually a saint. You are victorious in Christ. On the flip side, you're not victorious outside of Christ, regardless of what the world might think, regardless of fame or money or power or position. Without Christ, your life has been a waste.

Now I know that's hard talk. But you can live and die. You might achieve all that the world defines as success. But if you leave this world without Jesus Christ, your life has been a failure, not a success. So revolutionary truth, number two, acknowledge that God is the basis of all that is real, all that is true, and build your life on that.

New Year's revolution, number three, respond to the truth that God has already shown you. See, part of the reason that people feel like they miss the will of God, and they'll say, you know, if only God would tell me this or show me that or guide me somehow, you've not responded to the truth that you already know. And I think deep down inside, I've said this thousands of times, probably, on stages, in microphones, before audiences, and in counseling people, the right thing to do is rarely a mystery. Now, the right thing to do sometimes is a challenge, and you might cry out to God for help. But listen, if you're a habitual liar, ask God to help you be a person who speaks truth. If you're a person who has anger issues, and you're constantly berating your family and you're flying off, as people say, losing your temper, then you need to admit to God that that sin is harming others and harming you, and you need God to help you with your emotions. If you are undisciplined, and you really aren't using your time or your finances or your influence right, or you're destroying your body, you need to respond to the truth that God has shown you. And God says, turn to Christ, be born again, and yield your life. Submit to Jesus, and He will begin to rebuild your world.

He will. That's a promise. Matthew 6, 33, seek first the kingdom of God, and all these other things will be added to you. So you've got to live in a state of reality. You've got to acknowledge that the truth of God, not the lies of man, is the basis of reality. You've got to respond to the truth that God has already shown you. And God is not going to show you the deep things until you first amend your life in light of the clear things. But the final New Year's resolution, revolution number four, become committed to God's truth, not man's delusions.

Look, gender is as God made it. Economics, morality, we cannot redefine truth. Now we resist it, we often reject it, or we can accept it. And the truth is God loves us so much.

He would bless our nation, He would restore America, if we would but turn to Him. And so today, I ask you, in fact I beg you, become committed to God's truth, not man's delusions. Now, speaking of clear truth, what is the will of God?

Well, obviously that you turn to Christ and be saved. But 1 Thessalonians 4 verse 3 says this is the will of God, your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality. You know, ten years ago I would travel and speak and I said I felt like the core value of the millennial generation was sexual license.

There was an article the first week of January 2022, it said Gen Z, people are trying to understand what is Gen Z. Gen Z are millennials in so many ways. But here's the thing, I used to say that the core value of the culture was sexual license. Now I say the core value of the culture is really just license.

I'll do whatever I want, however I want, whenever I want. Listen, the will of God for a person, for a country, is 1 Thessalonians 4-3 your sanctification. You will never fully experience God's roadmap for life unless you understand as a saved person, God desires that you become more and more daily, increasingly Christ-like.

Sanctification, that means to be set apart. And I don't mean some spiritual, untouchable orchid in a greenhouse up on some moral high horse, but no, every day prayerfully through your Bible study, through yielding and hearing the Holy Spirit, you're more and more committed to and yielded to the will of God and becoming more and more conformed to the image of Jesus. Come to Christ, follow Christ, grow in Christ, represent Christ to others. And we're not called to try and by guesswork figure out some of the secret, sovereign things that are known only to the Lord, but God's larger plan that we often only see retrospectively, we discover that by daily doing the things that we know we ought to do the right things.

Might sound overly simplistic, to live right. Listen, you will discover God's concealed will if you obey daily His revealed will. And it will revolutionize your life, it really will. Hey, we love you, we thank you for listening. Go to our website, AlexMcFarland.com, events publishing broadcasting. I praise God that He is using truth for a new generation and our growing staff to evangelize the lost and equip the saved. Your prayers and support make it all possible.

If we can encourage you in the Lord in any way, please reach out to us. Again, it's AlexMcFarland.com. TNG radio is made possible by the friends of Alex McFarland Evangelistic Ministries, P. O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. That's P. O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. Call us at 877-YesGod1.

That's 877-YesGod and the number 1. Or give online at AlexMcFarland.com. While you're there, listen to program archives, read Alex's blog, invite Alex to speak at your event or contact Alex with a question or comment, AlexMcFarland.com. Thanks for listening today and join us again next time for more truth for a new generation on TNG radio.