Why We Should Stand Behind Israel | Cissie Graham Lynch Interview

Hey there. Thanks for listening to the Greg Laurie Podcast, a ministry supported by Harvest Partners.

I'm Greg Laurie, encouraging you. If you want to find out more about Harvest Ministries and learn more about how to become a Harvest Partner, just go to harvest.org. When we are seeing what's happening on college campuses today and the rise of anti-Semitism, it is shocking. But maybe as a Christian, it shouldn't be as shocking because we know one day the entire world is going to turn against the nation of Israel.

And maybe we're just happening to be living in a time where we're witnessing it. But I think what is most shocking to me and that's most disappointing is when it comes to Christians not taking a stand for Israel. When it comes to pastors not talking about it from the pulpit and teaching people why this is important and that why it is so important that we educate ourselves that we know what in the world is going on here. And I'm so thankful for Pastor Greg Laurie. He's a pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship who has taken an unwavering stand when it comes to Israel. And he's taking the time to teach people about the end times and teaching his congregation what to believe and why to believe it. Because it's so important that we know what's going on in these days so we're not living in a time of fear and of uncertainty, but as Christians we're living with certainty.

That hope that we have in God's truth, his word through his son Jesus Christ. And most of you listening would know Greg Laurie from the film that came out last year, Jesus Revolution, that tells the story of his life. But I've happened to know Greg my entire life since I was a little girl. He's been a dear family friend of my grandfather and my dad. But I have looked up to he and his wife Kathy in more ways than one over the years.

And I'm so thankful that he has taken just a strong stand in fighting against this new wave of anti-Semitism that we are seeing in our nation. So Greg, thank you for joining me on today's episode of Fearless. Great to be with you Sissy and what an important topic to be talking about right now. You have a gift of explaining things in a simple way. Which is why I've always loved you, I've always come to you looking at different ways of what we need to know what's going on. You just have a gift of showing it. And I think some people, when it comes to the Middle East, when it comes to Israel, when it comes to the Old Testament, even prophecy of revelation, that is just complicated.

And they think it might not be for them. But this is stuff that we all need, especially need to know as Christians. But I've been to Israel with you. You've been to Israel many times, you've led many tours. You and I have actually had the opportunity to be there together. In a helicopter. In a helicopter, which most people can't say. But it's still one of my highlights of all my trips to Israel. That was one of my highlights with you, Eric Metaxas and Kathy, I think.

So being in a helicopter with you and Eric Metaxas is quite the story to tell. But as we look at what's happening on the college campuses, Greg, as a millennial, I don't think I've ever fathomed seeing the widespread. I don't even like to use the word anti-Semitism. I almost think it's kind of watered down the meaning. But of Jewish hatred, people that want to see Jews wiped off the face of the earth just 75 years after the Holocaust. As a millennial, I just never expected it. But when you see the rise of anti-Semitism, what do you think?

Well, I think it is a sign of the times. We have to kind of pull the camera back, look at the big picture. So Israel was established on the heels of the Holocaust. Hitler, with the so-called Final Solution, took the lives of six million Jewish men, women, and children. And so there was this resolve among Jewish people to return to their homeland. Why this is of interest to the Bible student is the Bible predicted this would happen. God predicted the nation of Israel would be scattered, and then he predicted they would be regathered. And he told us that when this happened, you knew you were in the last days. So when you read Ezekiel 37, 38 and 39, you see these prophecies about the dry bones coming back together, representing the people of Israel, and over and over the phrase, in the last days, in the last days. So the fact that Israel became a nation against all odds on May 14, 1948, is of great significance to those of us that believe in Bible prophecy. You might say the prophetic time clock began ticking.

So it's not just a sign, it's a mega sign. So now here we have the Jews regathered in their land. They were attacked as they were trying to form themselves into a nation. They were attacked on Yom Kippur in the 73 war, and faced various forms of attack since then. But what happened on October 7 was unprecedented when over a thousand Israelis were slaughtered. The Hamas, a terrorist organization funded by Iran, invaded, coming in on motorbikes, on hand gliders, and up through tunnels, and murdered Jewish people. They beheaded them. There's actually footage that Hamas themselves took as they were doing this that is available to be viewed. I saw a little bit of it, and it was horrifying, to be honest.

I don't know if you've seen it or not. So okay, that's all the worst thing you can imagine, so Israel understandably defends himself. I mean, what would happen if 30,000 Americans were slaughtered overnight by Canada?

That's a ridiculous analogy, but we'll use it for the sake of a point. We would immediately retaliate. Look at what America did in the aftermath of 9-11. We retaliated and forced, yet Israel has been criticized for retaliation. Now, the strategy of Hamas is they know when they do something like this that there's going to be a response.

And they use people as human shields. And as soon as those innocent people that are shields for Hamas die predictably in war, the photos are taken, the film is released, and look at Israel destroying innocent lives. That's the narrative that has been accepted. Okay, so this is all happening, but what is happening on the college campuses is interesting. It's related, but it seems to almost be a strategized campaign across so many Ivy League universities, but now spreading everywhere, being led in some cases by professors who are, my goodness, they're indoctrinating these young people with such a wrong ideology about Israel. And sissy, when you see signs that literally say, gas the Jews, final solution, that's alarming because this is terminology that we see going back to Nazi Germany.

And the other thing I would add is, you know, before the Nazis took control, their hatred of the Jewish people was beginning on their college campuses, then they were shutting down Jewish businesses, then they were sending Jewish people to ghettos, and ultimately they put them in boxcars and shipped them off to camps like Treblinka, Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, and others, where these Jewish folks were systematically murdered. So what I'm saying is, we've got to speak up, because the church didn't do enough in Germany in the 30s when this was happening, when it was beginning, and so I feel it's my responsibility as a pastor to speak up to our own congregation, but to the church in general, and say, we must stand by our Jewish friends right now. You know, I think you've even, I've heard you state this, there are often misconceptions of why we as Christians stand with Israel. Why would you say you stand with Israel?

Great question. First of all, I'm not Jewish, I'm a Gentile, so my love for Israel has come through my conversion. Right on the heels of October 7th, I was invited to speak at the Museum of Remembrance in Los Angeles, and it was pretty much an exclusively Jewish audience, rabbis and folks that supported this museum, the Museum of Tolerance, it's called, and so I said to them, I stand with you today, and the rabbi who introduced me was very kind. He said of me, this man has done more for Israel than many of you sitting in this audience right now.

They had a prayer meeting right after this happened, and I've spoken out against this, and I was really honored to have him say that, but you know, I was there to tell them why I love them, why I as a Christian, I can't say I'm a representative of evangelical Christianity, but I'm the only one around at that moment, so I thought I would tell them why at least I stand by Israel, and why all of us should, and I said that we stand beside you because you are God's chosen people, and I learned that reading the Bible. I never knew anything about the Jewish people until they started reading the Bible. It's a Jewish history book. The Jews gave us our Bible. The Jews gave us our Messiah.

Jesus, of course, was Jewish, and the Jews have a role in our past and our present and in our future. World history as we know it is gonna come to a culmination there in Israel. When Christ returns, he's gonna set foot on the Mount of Olives right there in Jerusalem, so, you know, Jerusalem is the city of the past. It's a city of the present. It's a city of the future. It was once a city of David, the capital of Israel, and I was really appreciative of the fact that President Trump moved our embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

That was an important step, and the Abraham Accords were also very significant, but it's a city of the present because the Jews being gathered there are a fulfillment of Bible prophecy, but it's a city of the future. We know that it's gonna play a key role in end times events, so the reason I stand by Israel and the reason I stand by the Jewish people is they're God's chosen people, and I've been grafted into their promises as a non-Jew, as a Gentile. I feel like I owe them a debt, and God has made a wonderful promise in the book of Genesis to Abraham and his descendants. He said, I'll bless those that bless you.

I'll curse those that curse you. I believe God will bless you when you stand by the Jewish people, and I believe one of the reasons God has blessed the United States is we've stood by Israel at least up until now. Our support seems to be wavering a bit at the moment, but we have stood with them by and large, and so I think it's very important that they understand this.

We have a mutual friend, Johnny Moore. He introduced me to three gentlemen from the University of Haifa, and we got into this discussion, and I said, you know, and this was at the Museum of the Bible where we had this discussion. I said, there's a misconception I've heard stated out there that the reason Christians support Israel is because we want Armageddon to come. I said, nothing could be further from the truth, but we want peace to come to Jerusalem. The Bible says pray for the peace of Jerusalem. We don't want war.

We don't want to see death. We know these people want to live safely in their land and raise their families, but yes, we don't hide the fact that we want them to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. So going back to the Museum of Tolerance, I said to them, look, I came to believe in Jesus Christ when I was 17 years old on my high school campus. I was searching for meaning and truth, and because Christ came into my life, that is why I'm here today talking to you, because he changed me, and I didn't want to hide that from them, so I would never hide the fact that, yes, I want to see my Jewish friends, my Muslim friends, anyone I know that's not a Christian, I want to see them come to Christ, but my love for Israel is something that is going to be there and for the Jewish people, and it's come from my study of Scripture. You're good at this, and even since October 7th, studying more, you do a great job of giving a flyover view of kind of the prophetic calendar of the end times. Can you give our listeners just kind of a flyover view of the events of the end times?

Yes, I'd be happy to. So in my understanding of Bible prophecy, I'm not an expert on Bible prophecy, but I've been a student of it for over 50 years. I believe the next event on the prophetic calendar is what we call the rapture of the church. Now, some would say, well, you can't find the rapture in the Bible.

Well, that depends on what kind of a Bible you have. The rapture comes from the Latin word rapturis, which is a translation of the Greek word harpazo which is used multiple times in Scripture. John 14, Jesus said, I'll come and receive you unto myself. And then in 1 Thessalonians 4, the Lord will descend from heaven with the shout, with the voice of the archangel. The dead in Christ will rise first, and then the others will be caught up.

It's that word harpazo, caught up to meet the Lord in the air. So the rapture where Jesus comes for his church, it's different from the second coming where Jesus comes with his church. The rapture effectively is before the tribulation period. The second coming is at the end of the tribulation period.

So next event, rapture of the church, it can happen at any moment. And then after that, sometime after that, this mysterious, powerful world figure will be revealed called the beast, the antichrist, the son of perdition. And he will come with peaceful solutions. In fact, at first, many will hail him as the Messiah. He'll rebuild the Jewish temple in Jerusalem.

He'll seem like a peacemaker, but in reality, he's a troublemaker. So the halfway point of the tribulation period, the antichrist performs what Jesus calls the abomination of desolation. That is where the rebuilt temple is desecrated. The antichrist directs an image of himself. He commands people to worship it. And then the antichrist relentlessly hunts down Christians and Jews and murders them. So this anti-Semitism that we're seeing today reminds us that this is coming in an even greater, more dramatic way. So antichrist reveals himself.

Of course, he has this numbering system. No one can buy or sell without this mark of the beast. And many people have tried to determine what it is. Some thought the COVID vaccine might be the mark of the beast.

It wasn't, of course. And then people get off and rob the trails. They think sometimes that the blood moon or the eclipse was a sign of antichrist. And I came out and did a post about that where I said the eclipse is not a sign of the last days. It doesn't mean that judgment is coming because that's going to happen at the second coming when the sun will not give its light. And Christ returns. So going back to what I was saying, antichrist reveals himself. He does the abomination of desolation. Fast forward to the battles of Armageddon fought in the Valley of Megiddo. The word Armageddon comes from the root word, Armageddon, Megiddo, where we've been, Sisi. The Israeli government flew us in a helicopter really low to the ground. As you recall, we flew over all these areas.

You saw how little Israel really is. And so this is where Christ returns in the second coming. And I believe as Christians, we return with the Lord in the second coming. Then comes the millennia.

Millennium is simply a word that means one thousand. It's the one thousand year reign of Christ. And then ultimately, heaven comes to earth, New Jerusalem coming as a bride adorned for her husband comes to the earth.

So heaven and earth effectively become one. I left out some things, but that's the big picture of the end times events. As I stated earlier, prophecy can be kind of over people's head. It can be scary to some people.

They would rather maybe live in ignorance and not know what's going on. But I encourage people to study it because it gives us that assurance. It gives us that peace, that hope. I mean, that is the point we have is the hope of Jesus Christ coming back, you know, crowned a king. And he's coming back as a warrior to fight for his kingdom and for his people.

And I do love it. Before we move on, you've done a series recently on the end times. Tell our listeners where they can find that series before we move on. Sure.

Let me just loop back to something you said. Bible prophecy is not given to scare us, but to prepare us. It's really important to understand Bible prophecy. You know, Jesus said in Matthew 24, when you see the abomination of desolation, let the reader understand.

And as Paul addresses the topic of Bible prophecy, he says, I would not have you ignorant. So in other words, we need to know these things. Some say, well, I can't understand it.

You can understand it. The word revelation means the unveiling. So it's not God's desire to conceal, but to reveal. And there are benefits in studying it because first John says, he that has us hope that is a hope of the Lord's imminent return purifies himself. So if the Bible student understands prophecy as they ought to, it means they will want to live more godly lives.

It means they will want to get the gospel out more and so forth. So coming back to your question, we have a streaming platform we just launched. It's called Harvest Plus. Just go to the app store. You can download it for your phone, for iOS or Android devices.

You can also download it for your television. And we have a lot of material on there. A lot of our movies that we produce my Sunday messages and we have a series that we just put on there called Revelation Rewind. And then we just launched a series called The Israel Files, where we pulled together a lot of the things they've done in social media recently and put them into one program.

So if you want to get caught up in that, just download the Harvest Plus app. And we'll put a link to that in the show notes. You said something is it is the hope we have that we should live a life. You know, we as Christians, sometimes we walk around like we have no hope. And we should be living our life quite different than the world and to have a heavenly mindset.

I think so many times, especially my generation, maybe as you get older, you know, you can remember your parents or my grandparents saying, Oh, I wish Jesus would come back. What in the world? Stop saying that. I'm not ready.

I want to live life. And now as a parent, you know, I'm like, I can't wait till Jesus comes back. I'm saying those things that I heard my grandparents say that I didn't quite understand. But it is that we have to have a heavenly mindset. And I think we don't teach on heaven enough. We don't teach about the return of Jesus enough. So I'm thankful for you.

And we'll put a link in our show notes that will guide people to your website and to be able to do that. I think in the times that we're living in, there's a sense of urgency to share the gospel. And you have had a ministry where you have been unwavering in evangelism and discipleship. And I've been thankful for that because I think that's been lost at the pulpit.

Pastors are not evangelizing anymore. You know, they want to give a feel good message. They want to encourage people.

They're not giving an invitation at the end anymore. But why is it so important? Why have you just kept that? Your eyes have stayed so focused on that mission of evangelism and discipleship there at Harvest.

Why is that? Well, you know, the gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes. And I think if you show me a church that doesn't have a constant flow of new believers, I'll show you a church that's beginning to stagnate. The church has a choice. We can either evangelize or we can fossilize. New believers are the lifeblood of the church.

And what is the great commission? It's to go into all the world, preach the gospel, but make disciples of all nations, teaching them all things that Christ has commanded us. And so evangelism and discipleship are really inseparable. So our mission from Christ is to proclaim Jesus, lead people to Christ, then get them grounded in their faith. And new believers need older believers to stabilize them.

But older believers need new believers to energize them. Right? So get a bunch of old people together and it won't be long until they talk about their aches and pains and their last surgery or whatever. And I always encourage older people, get some younger people in your life.

Right? Because younger people need older folks, older folks need younger folks. And coming back to evangelism, you know, the greatest evangelist who ever lived was your grandfather. And it was my privilege to get to know him and to spend time with him. And I felt the time I spent with him, I was traveling with him in his crusades toward the end of his ministry. He asked me to help him with illustrations and his sermons.

I was young then to reach younger people. And I felt like I'd been enrolled in the finest evangelistic university on earth because no one did it better than Billy. And Billy didn't just do it publicly. He did it powerfully in that way.

But I saw him do it privately. I saw how when he would be eating like we're in the Red Lobster once eating. He did love his Red Lobster. He loved the Red Lobster.

So we're having a meal, we're just talking and our table happened to be kind of by a walkway. And it's funny because he was in town to do his crusade and there was an atheist convention happening, of all things. But yet people are recognizing Billy, a lot of them, in town for the atheist convention. And they would interrupt him while he's having his meal. He was so gracious and took time for them.

And I think that was just a beautiful quality. When he would sit down with Billy, it wouldn't be long until he would say something like, well, tell me about yourself. You know, he didn't like to talk about himself. And so I think that he always had that heart. And so being around him inspired me because, you know, he kept it simple. He once said in an interview to David Frost, the British interviewer, he studied to be simple. And I think one of the secrets of his success was it was always understandable.

It was always clear. And Billy preached for a decision. He once said to me, I don't think I'm a very good preacher. He said, but I believe God has given me the gift of giving the invitation. So it's one of the rare times I disagreed with him. I said, well, I disagree with you. You are a very good preacher.

But the best. But, yes, God's given you this gift. And so it is a gift.

There is a gift of an evangelist. And your grandfather had it. Your father has it.

And your brother, Will, has it. So it's a gift that God gives. But though some are gifted to be an evangelist, I believe you have it, too, Sissy. You're a great communicator. You have a lot of passion and a lot of heart and great biblical content when I hear you speak and do your podcast. But I think the thing is, even though you may not be called to be an evangelist, per se, it may not be your calling. Every Christian is called to evangelize.

As Paul said to Timothy, do the work of an evangelist. So we're all called to preach the gospel. And that's something I love. It's something that I'm called to do. And it's something, frankly, I love to do.

And you mentioned that. We're all called to it. And so for that person that's listening right now, they have a family member or a coworker. What would you say to them during these times of urgency? You might be just a little nervous, scared, afraid they're going to offend, especially in the world. We're not allowed to offend anybody. How would you encourage them to share the gospel? Great question.

Well, family members are the hardest to hit, to get through to, because they've known you since you've been a little kid, probably. Here's an illustration of how not to do it. I was in a hamburger place and some lady recognized me and said, are you Greg Laurie? I said, yeah, yeah. She said, well, nice to meet you. And then she gestures toward her husband. This is my husband. He's a heathen. Can you say something to him to help him believe in Jesus? And the poor guy had a burger. He was just getting ready to take a bite when this happened. He just froze and looked at me like a deer caught in the headlights.

I felt so bad for the guy. I said, hey, man, enjoy your burger. Okay, God bless you. That's how you don't do it. Don't embarrass a person.

Don't create unnecessary friction. You know, I think in evangelism, if you have the luxury of some time, you want to build a bridge, not burn one. You know, Jesus was not only the Messiah, the Savior of the world, the Creator of the universe. He also happened to be the greatest evangelist of all time.

And, you know, look at the way he interacted with people. Look at Jesus in John 3 with Nicodemus. Look at Jesus in John 4 with the woman at the well. So one's religious and moral, Nicodemus.

The other is immoral, living with a man, married and divorced many times. But Jesus built bridges to both of them. And I think we want to build the bridge.

Our objective is to be a stepping stone, not a stumbling block, you know. And if you want to win some, you need to be winsome. So talk to a person. Listen, sissy, everyone's favorite subject is themselves.

Sissy, tell me about yourself. And what do you think about this? What do you think about that? I was in a cab once in Hawaii and a guy picked me up. His name was Tom. And we're driving along.

And I prayed, Lord, if you want, open a door for me to share the gospel with Tom. So we're cruising along and we came across what is called a ghost bike. And it's a bicycle painted white on the road.

This is the big island of Hawaii. And there would be flowers in front of it. And it was put there as a memorial to someone who died in a road biking accident. So they called them ghost bikes. And I said, Tom, what are those bikes and why are they painted white? He said those are ghost bikes. And he explained it to me.

And I said, that's so sad. Tom, what do you think happens when you die? So Tom, the cab driver, gave me his philosophy. It took him about five minutes, basically reincarnation.

He thought you died, came back as a higher or lower life form. I listened to him. I didn't interrupt him.

I didn't say you're wrong. And when he was all done, he said, well, what do you think about the afterlife? And so then I shared the gospel. And after I was done, he says, I like your version of the afterlife better than my version.

I said, well, Tom, it's not my version. This is what Jesus said. But see, it's give and take. So when you're a preacher, you know, it's a monologue. But when you're in conversation with people, it's a dialogue. So be a good listener.

Find out about the person you're talking to. So you can appropriately then bring the message of the gospel. When it's all said and done, it's the message of the death of Jesus on the cross and his resurrection from the dead, coming back to your grandfather. I was at his house with Ruth, your grandmother, once. And we had a nice meal together, and I always peppered him with far too many questions.

I think I drove him nuts. And so we finished our meal, and I turned to him and said, Billy, if an older Billy can speak to a younger Billy, what would you say to yourself? What would you tell yourself to preach more on? And he said, I would say preach on the cross of Christ and the blood because that's where the power is. I think what's true of preaching is also true of one-on-one evangelism.

The power of the gospel is when you get to the message of the death of Jesus for them and why they need their sin forgiven. And I would just encourage those, and I'm saying that because this is something I've been thinking about and contemplating just in the times that we're living in that it is important. I've always hoped that you've got to build that relationship with somebody. You've got to be winsome, as you just said.

Build that bridge and be winsome. But don't be afraid just to go to the straight question. Keep it simple. Don't make it difficult. You've got to come up with this perfect question.

And I say that because I've been thinking about it and contemplating. We'll do an episode on this, and it'll be 50 years since my dad gave his life to Christ this summer. And that changed the trajectory of my family and my life. But it was because my grandfather went to the direct question to my dad. He knew my dad wasn't walking with the Lord, and he just said, Franklin, your mother and I don't know where you'll spend eternity if you die. And it was just like he just went straight. He was like, everybody, as you just said, it didn't matter if he was behind a pulpit in front of thousands of people or it was one-on-one in Red Lobster, Denny's. He loved Denny's as well.

Or the airport. The Billy was the same. But it was always simple. So just don't be afraid of the simple question, the simple gospel. And that's what I've appreciated about you over the years is you haven't overcomplicated. I think sometimes, especially in the intellectual world we're in, we want to overcomplicate it. So I would just encourage those who are listening in the days that we're facing that are a sense of urgency, be praying for those opportunities.

You can just go with the simple question and the direct gospel. Sissy, let me add one thing to that. So I have a friend. He's a pastor. And we'll go out.

We'll ride Harley's together sometimes. And this is how he starts conversations. And it seems abrupt, but it works. He'll just say to someone, let me ask you a question. Has anyone ever told you there's a God in heaven who loves you? Sometimes they say no and they move on. Other times they'll say no and they'll be moved by it.

And I've seen it open the door for really interesting conversations. So just you're talking to somebody. You're at the coffee place. You're getting your coffee.

Hey, thanks so much. Have a great day. Let me ask you a question. Don't do it if you have a really long line behind you because everyone will hate you, okay? But maybe if it's the right setting, just say, has anyone ever told you there's a God in heaven who loves you?

You might be surprised. The hardest part about evangelism is getting started. It's kind of breaking the ice. And sometimes you have to just take that little step of awkwardness.

But it's okay. And boy, I tell you what, if that person responds, that'll be a life-changing moment for them and you. I might be praying about that and using that myself.

Sometimes people think as a gram we're born just with the gift and stuff. You know, the enemy works in our hearts, too, that I'm not eloquent. You're all, no, this isn't the time.

Don't say that to that person. So I need that encouragement. I'm going to pray about that and try that.

As we close, a couple more questions. When you look at young families maybe in your congregation, when I said that, I love that your church is young, it's old. I've spoken to the women who work in your ministry and your volunteers. And I just love it because it's young women, old women, and that's how the church is to look. But when you look at the young people in your congregation right now, young moms and parents who are raising their children in a world that can be quite frightening, what do you say to them?

Well, my goodness, they have their work cut out for them. You know, every generation thinks they had it the hardest. But I think that millennials and Gen Z are facing challenges that are really unique.

We didn't have social media, and social media is like gasoline on a burning fire. And in the kinds of things that are being pushed today through platforms like TikTok and others, you know, the whole trans movement is effectively viral. It's unique, and it's happening among young women in particular. And I might also add that a lot of the protesters on the college campuses are also young women. They seem to be susceptible, and I think that's why your voice is really important right now, sissy, because they look at me and, well, here's some old dude talking to us.

But they'll listen to you, a young woman who has her head screwed on right, and you know what to say to them and the way to say it. But I would say you're facing unique challenges, but God will give you the strength to do what He's called you to do. Just follow the Scripture.

Honestly, nothing has changed in that area. Challenges are unique, pressures are unique, everything's intensified, but yet God promises in this Word when the enemy comes in like a flood, He'll raise up a standard against them. So be faithful to Scripture. If you're married, you know, be faithful to honor what the Word says, and your role as a wife and your role as a husband. I like to say to married couples, don't read each other's mail. And by that I mean don't quote verses, you know, to your mate that what they're supposed to do.

Read your own mail, you know. Do what God's called you to do. You mean I'm not supposed to be the Holy Spirit for Cory? I'm not supposed to be the Holy Spirit. It doesn't work, okay. Girls, you'll never nag us guys into doing anything.

You just irritate us. Just, you know, there's a way to reach a man or a way to reach a woman, but just follow the Scripture and honor the Lord and the Lord will bless you. You know Jonathan Sisi, you guys were kids growing up together. And, you know, he's a father now of three children. He has two teenagers and Riley, his oldest, is graduating from high school, but Allie, the middle child, is a teen now as well. And so he, and I kind of laugh at times because I remember dealing with him as a teenager and his older brother Christopher and the challenges I had to face.

And, you know, sort of grandchildren are the reward for being hopefully a good parent and they're a punishment on your children for all the pain they put you through. I'm kidding. But, you know, they're going through those challenges and I'm watching him grapple with it. I think he's doing a fantastic job.

He's really involved. I'd say, you know, Moses said to fathers, teach the Word of God to your children when they get up in the morning while you walk in the way when they go to sleep at night. The best way to communicate God's Word is organically and consistently. There's a place for a devotion at night. Just don't make it too long.

Don't make it boring. But there's also a place for just integrating God's truth. You know, so I don't know if you'll like this or not, but, you know, when Jonathan said recently, you know, a lot of my friends, they couldn't listen to secular music and they couldn't watch cartoons. And he says, but my dad would drive me to school and we would listen to the Beatles and the Doors. Well, you know, I'm a cartoonist, so I like cartoons, but I would enter his world, watch cartoons, and if I saw something that was not right, I would say, now, we don't believe that or we don't agree with that.

But if something's funny, I'd laugh at it and enjoy it because I like satirical humor anyway. So, you know, I didn't want to, like, keep him from everything. I wanted to prepare him to live in the real world. Well, Greg, it's been awesome to watch Jonathan just raise his family.

I can't believe he's got one that's graduating high school. That's hard to believe that we're getting that old, but just grateful for your ministry and all the way from North Carolina growing up, I've watched the Ministry of Harvest and just continuing God using you in just different avenues, the entertainment industry now, and the bridges that God's building there and using you and Kathy through that. And I'm so grateful, but thank you so much for just taking an unwavering stand for Israel and teaching this generation of why this is important. And I'm so grateful you would take the time. I've been trying to get you here on Fearless for a while. You've been a busy man, but just so grateful that you're here today to talk us through with that.

Great to be with you, Sissy. Hey, everybody, thanks for listening to this podcast. To learn more about Harvest Ministries, follow this show and consider supporting it. Just go to harvest.org. And to find out how to know God personally, go to harvest.org and click on Know God.