The spiritual condition of America, Politics, Culture, and Current Events Analyzed Through the Lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. In the New Testament book of Romans, the Apostle Paul writes in Romans chapter 1, verse 16, a very interesting verse. It says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to the Jew first and also to the Gentile. Hi, Alex McFarland here.
Very, very excited about the program you're about to hear. As you know, if you listen to the show, on the road, traveling America and beyond, we meet so many fascinating people, so many people with a story, a riveting story, and today is just such one of those days. If you hear a little bit of background noise, a little bit of ambient noise, we're at a convention in Tennessee. It's called the Fishbowl Retreat. Angie and I have been down here with Bert Harper and the American Family Association, Bert and Jan.
Wonderful conference to encourage pastors and their wives, the fishbowl, living in the fishbowl. And so the background noise is part of this conference. But there was a gentleman that I met that I just had to sit down and have a conversation with. He was helping run some of the audiovisual. Turns out he's a longtime friend of Bert Harper.
And when I heard his story, I thought it would be a story that I would want all of you all to hear as well. His name is Alan Becker. He's an audiologist and so much more. But he's with us now, coming to you from Tennessee. Mr.
Becker, welcome to the program. Thank you, Alex. It's a blessing to be here.
Well, it's a blessing. And now you've been very integral in helping with the AV. How long have you known Pastor Bert Harper? Oh, heavens. We met them when our older students.
son was four and their youngest son was five. And that's they're now in their forties.
So we've known the Harpers for About forty years. This morning, I listened to you speak. We were in a session, and you shared about your growing up and your life and your wife. And if you would just share your journey, first of all, an audiologist, what does an audiologist do? I'm trained to do hearing testing and fit hearing instruments as my specialty and just having the opportunity to help people here and understand better.
Oh, that's a wonderful work. It really is. And if you would perhaps reiterate some of your journey that you shared this morning.
Okay. graduated high school in 67 and uh came to University of Mississippi, Ole Miss. Didn't know what I wanted to do. Ended up becoming a music major and finished as a band director. In 73, I joke that I squeezed four years into five and a half.
Then came to Tupelo. Uh at that time I did not know Brother Bert and Jan and uh taught for five and a half years, met my wife at the school. Went back to graduate school, finished up with a degree, master's degree in audiology. And came to uh went back to home in Fort Pierce, Florida. where my father was already a hearing aid specialist.
So, I had a business to walk into. Little did I know that. I would learn a lot more. with hands-on than I feel like I did really in graduate school. But as a Jewish person.
temple, not a church home, but a a temple home and which I had attended Uh as a youth. Just found that I started searching. Actually, when I came to Ole Miss, I'll back up in just a moment. At Ole Miss, I had a friend who was a campus crusade for Christ person, and he challenged me. and told me about Christ and uh asked me when I was going to give up.
my Judaism to become a Christian. And I used to tell him I I was one of the chosen. I didn't need Christ. I would go straight up Because I knew God. I really want to unpack this and talk about this, but parenthetically, let's talk about the design of the ear.
I'm not a science person, but I remember studying biology in college, and it always struck me that things like the eyes and vision and the ear, our inner ear and our hearing, just cries out that God must have made us. To what degree does the intricacy of the human ear tell you that there must be a Creator God?
Well, it's something that I tell my clients often. I say if anybody does an objective study, of the head and neck. Uh there is no way. that they can come away not believing there's a design. as the as the sound hits the eardrum.
It passes next to the middle ear bones, the three smallest bones in the human body. and then into the cochlea, which is a fluid-filled cavity like a balloon. And if you've ever dropped a pebble into a pond or something, you see the rippling effect.
Well, the same thing happens with sound going into the ear. It ripples through the cochlea. The high frequency. Sense organs are first and they move through the cochlea, which is like a snail's shell. Curved.
And as those sense organs are stimulated, they send a signal to the brain, and the brain is actually what hears. Actually, what I've just described was what I had to discuss in my orals for my master's degree, and it was amazing. I was not a believer. at that point in time, and yet it made so much sense. That We didn't just evolve.
The middle ear bones, if anybody will ever look at them, you can see the middle ear bones smaller than a dime. The three put together. I remember I had to learn those in in science class. Refresh my memory. What was it?
Hammer, anvil, and stirrup, or what's the proper name? Yeah, hammer, anvil, and stirrup is the malleus, incus, and the stapes. And the stapies looks like uh a foot plate. Uh looks like a stirrup, and that's the reason it's called The common name is as a stirrup. You know, I remember in a grad-level psych class, you mentioned it's the brain that does the hearing.
And really, the brain that does the seeing as well. And talking about we're fearfully and wonderfully made, this one psych book I had, a secular psychology book, but it said: the human brain is so complex, it cannot even comprehend its own complexity. Doesn't that cry out the power of the God who made us? Oh, absolutely. Absolutely.
There's so much that goes on, as I said, with the head and neck, and of course, my specialty is the ear. There's no way the complexity is So Magnificent. that uh It's just amazing. In my practice, I have a video otoscope.
So when I we look in the ear, the patient Actually, it gets to see the eardrum, if we can visualize it, and they get to see the first of the middle ear bones. Sitting behind the eardrum. It's just so many of them said, gosh, I've never seen that before. And of course most people haven't. Even 45 years, no, 50 years since I had my graduate degree, it still amazes me how God has given us this gift.
We've got to take a break. Alex McFarlane here, our very special guest, Alan Becker. More of his story. As a Jewish person in America, and so much more, you don't want to miss this. Stay tuned.
We'll be back after this brief break. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Would you like a book to help you understand the biblical prophecies, the passages about the end of time? Hi, Alex McFarland.
You know, for well over a decade, Bert Harper and I have been on the nationally syndicated AFR show, Exploring the Word. Over 3,000 shows we've done together, and Bert and I have a brand new book as of fall 2025: 100 Bible Questions and Answers on Prophecy and the End Times. You can get it at booksellers everywhere. Our brand new book, Bert Harper, Alex McFarland, Exploring the Word, 100 Bible Questions and Answers on Prophecy and the End Times, published by our great friends at Broad Street Publishing. Check it out, and we believe it will help you understand how to live and thrive in these last days.
He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. We're talking about the ear, amazingly.
And, you know, I've often thought about this. And by the way, thank you for being with us on the program. But as a baby is developing in utero, And all the systems, the internal organs, the bones, everything is developing. And of course, that all-important head with the eyes, the voice, the sinuses, and yes, the ear. It is quite a lot to get our mind around, isn't it?
The way God makes us. It is something I didn't say before. The three middle-ear bones are about the same size today. I don't care how old you are. as you were they were the day you were born.
and you actually heard in your mother's uterus Four months before you were born. And that, I believe, is one of the reasons mothers and babies connect so quickly. Because they've heard the heartbeat. They've heard possibly somebody else talking. to uh to the baby.
from the outside. We have an experience with that with one of our sons, but just amazing how we hear, and it gives us the opportunity to hear God's Word. Amen. I want to talk about this, and folks, listen in. And this may be a broadcast you want to share with some friends.
You are. A Jewish believer in Jesus Christ. Am I right? Yes. Yes, I accepted the Lord at thirty-one years of age.
I was raised in the Jewish faith. and realized in my college years that I didn't really understand. Judaism as well as I thought I did. And I backed off from the friend that I told earlier that, hey, I'm the chosen, I go straight up. I did some research and felt comfortable.
with my Judaism. but I was continually hearing the gospel, here, there, and yonder and married a Christian girl. Who as she admits now, was out of the faith at the time. But uh still she loved the Lord. Sh I would go to church with her.
and I was hearing the gospel preached. Let me ask you this, because for those that listen to this show, we We love the Jewish people. We love the nation of Israel. We've corresponded, Alan, with many Jewish listeners who said, I thought Christians hated the Jews. And I said, God forbid that is absolutely not true.
True believers in Jesus love. the Jewish people and would frankly A true Christian Gentile would Lay down their life for a Jewish person. At what age, perhaps, did you begin to realize: okay, I'm part of something that spans the centuries. I'm a little bit different than the Gentiles around me. How did the awareness of your Judaism?
occur to you. Can you share that with us? The uh growing up uh as a teenager I knew a number of Gentile friends. We were a fairly small country. community, but we did have a temple that we attended.
I just knew things were different, but we were more traditional. It wasn't, we did celebrate the high holy days, Rosh Hashonah, which is the Jewish New Year, Yom Kippur. But I did have one friend that celebrated Christmas, a Jewish friend, because his mother was a non-Christian. I don't know that I realized that at the time. But I knew there were differences.
And of course, I'd heard the name of Jesus before, as I remember. I was told that he was just a good a good man, a prophet. But I did not realize until later, until my conversion. that Jesus was the greatest Jew that ever lived. It just made a world of difference.
But getting to that point, It took me a number of years. To recognize, oh, back up a little bit. When I was in second grade, I came home singing Jesus Loves Me. I learned it at school. We were in North Miami, Florida.
And my mother corrected me. I know I was singing it at home, and my mother corrected me and said, Oh, no, no, no, the rabbi loves you. As in the rabbi at your local synagogue. Yes. And I'm sure he probably did love you.
But so you're a little boy and you're in a kosher home And you're singing Jesus Loves Me. Yeah, we uh I laugh about that to this day and and uh I don't remember what happened after that, except, you know, anytime we heard about Jesus, he was, like I said, he was a nice man, but that was. I was told that's about it.
So, I know this is probably a bit speculative, but like, what would the average Orthodox Jewish person or a rabbi say if you said, hey, could we have a conversation about Jesus? Oh, my. They would reject Jesus. You know, that reject the thought. I believe I was actually raised in what we'd call a Reformed Jewish home, which is the l m the liberal side.
I ultimately became what I think would be more conservative, and of course, the orthodoxy is the very strict. a Jewish home. I do have to admit that in my younger years, we actually would eat pork. uh from time to time ham as it were A quick story about that after Deanette and I married. No, before we married, she was invited to.
Be a bridesmaid for one of her friends, and I was invited to the rehearsal dinner. And when the mother found out that I was Jewish, and all she had planned was having a ham, so she got a turkey because of me. I didn't touch the turkey. I was so used to having ham that that was, you know, I enjoyed it. Yeah, exactly, exactly.
Well, for those just tuning in, we're talking with Alan Becker, an audiologist from Mississippi, and we're at a conference. He is also a Jewish believer in Jesus, and we've got a lot more to talk about. Before we take a brief break, let me ask you one question. We'll pick up on the other side. When the campus crusade, the friends were beginning to pursue you, were you intrigued?
Were you offended? How did you react as Christians begin to try to approach you with the gospel? Really?
Well, I became part of an ecumenical group. I was so alone. Uh there. Friendship, and I became part of an ecumenical group that was Methodist, Baptist, and Episcopal also. And I was the token Jew.
Uh at that time. And I do have to laugh that one night, one Friday evening when we met. Uh they asked me if I would pray over the meal. And I did, and it was ham. Of course, like I said, I had already been partaking of that product for quite a few years.
But, you know, from time to time, you know, they would ask me, and Bink was his nickname, would again challenge me with the word. And I can't remember specifics at this time, but I know, you know, I was always challenged about Jesus. You know, you know you go to hell if you don't believe. What does it mean, you know, to be a Jew? What does it mean to be a Christian?
And as I said, I really, it put me into a introspective mood where I did go when I went home at one point, I did talk to the rabbi about being Jewish. You know, what did we really believe? Judaism to me had become very traditional. there wasn't as much of A way to live, a way to act. I knew God.
That was not a question. I knew there was a God at that point. I just didn't. You know, didn't know how far what he actually expected of us because we just. Again, it was more tradition than it was teaching.
We've got to take a break. We're going to come back and talk further with Alan Becker. Stay tuned. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this.
Hi, Alex McFarland here. You know, I was at a college speaking, and I guess we ministers get too wordy.
Somebody said, Can you describe Christianity in only two words? And instantly, this came to me, and I said it: loving substitution. And students raised their hand and they said, What does that mean? Loving substitution. Here's the thing: because Jesus Christ loves you, He was our substitute on Calvary's cross.
The appropriate measure of God's wrath that you and I deserved was put onto Jesus. You don't have to die and suffer for your sins because He was the substitute who died for you.
So, if you call out to Christ, He will save you, He will forgive you. I urge you to do that today because Jesus Christ has a plan for your life, and it begins with you putting your faith in Him. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. Learn more about this at alexmacfarland.com.
He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. You know, throughout the year we do camps, conferences, we're on the radio seven days a week, we're on television five days a week, and so throughout the world, digital content is touching people.
We just were able to lead a man to Christ in Romania from out of Islam into Christianity. He reached out to us, found us online, and then we've had many, many people throughout England, even Saudi Arabia. That emails and they listen to us.
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Well, we're having a wonderful conversation with Alan Becker, and I want to say thank you for your time and thank you for your stand for Christ. You're a very magnetic and clear witness for the gospel. You really are, and I appreciate your stand. I want to ask you: when you put your faith in Jesus, what was it like as a Jewish man that word began to spread that you're now a follower of Jesus also? How did people close to you react?
Well, we came to Tupelo at we were still in Florida at this time. We came to Tupelo for I don't remember the reason. Visited with a friend I was very, very close with in the temple. many years ago and after we shared this with him, He basically said he buried us. Uh we were no longer communicating with him.
I've met him since then many years past that, and we were friendly but never could re regain that friendship. I've got to ask why is that so anathema? that you're still Jewish, you haven't ceased to be Jewish. You're a Jewish believer, but why is that such a deal-breaker that the relationship is breached? I would think, like.
You said earlier that many times, and well, in the Jewish faith, many times if a child Became a Christian or married a Christian out of the faith, the parents would bury, spiritually, would bury the child. In other words, you would not be a. part of the family anymore. this happens. Only because of, I think, fear.
not lack of understanding. the name of Jesus for whatever reason.
Well, I know one thing my father asked after I accepted the Lord. He said, did Jews Kill Jesus. And the Lord must have given me the answer because they said, no, Dad. I did. My sin did.
I I just I don't know where th like I said, I it had to be the Lord because it it I don't think like that. Exactly. Do you know in Isaiah fifty three it says, It pleased the Father to bruise him. In other words, really the Father sent the Son, Jesus Yeshua, the Lamb of God, to die. I've talked to a lot of Jewish friends.
That have said, I thought that you guys said we killed Christ. I said, No, no, no. The Lord laid down his life for the sins of the world. Really, the Father sent the Son.
So I want folks to listen for the record. No true Christian who really understands the Bible, we would never say, that the Jews were Christ killer. That is such a misnomer. Very unfortunate. I appreciate you being willing to have this conversation because we need to be clear about these things.
And let me ask you this, Alan, if I may. Since October 7 of 2023, the Hamas attacks on Israel. Inexplicably, there's been this rise of anti-Semitism. Speak, if you would, about in this world of tolerance and inclusion and social justice, it seems like the racism that gets a pass is anti-Semitism. Do you have any thoughts on that?
That is a hard question. I don't know personally, but I do believe that unfortunately many people are being paid to say that. I think that's something that has been proven in many Many circles that the people that are yelling this don't really care. They're just looking for a paycheck. Although, you know, we see in the past Well, what did Hitler do?
He caused the Germans to believe that Jews were less than Man, it's Satan. It has to be Satan because he knows the Jewish people were directly called by God. Look at the Six-Day War. How many millions of people came after the Jews then. and 160,000 beat Millions who and even today.
The Six-Day War is a miracle, folks. May 14, 1948, the birth of Israel, that was a miracle. The Six-Day War, how Israel and throughout the decades, It is just miraculous how God protects the Jewish people. And I want to call on my pastor friends, preach sermons. Condemning anti-Semitism, stand with and for Israel.
And I know Jewish individuals coming to Christ. And the nation of Israel, a lot of topics on the table here. But true Christians stand for Israel. True Christians will have the courage to condemn. anti-Semitism unequivocally, and we do.
I wanted to ask you this as well: that the Bible says unto the Jews were committed the oracles of God. Isn't it interesting? The Jewish people are proportionately somewhat small, maybe 1% of the world population. Is that about 1% to 2%? And look in Science, medicine, the arts, engineering, literature.
Of course, we have the Bible, thanks to the Jews. The Jews have this immeasurably influential contribution to world history. That's just amazing to ponder, isn't it? Yes, I I I wish I were one of 'em. I look at uh at our race, you could say, and uh It is amazing.
Uh I think in my our own little world, Uh we are able to do Even even small things like us, it only needs God. It only is God. The one thing I I did want to share, of course, is how I came. To be a believer, I was here in Tupelo going to church with my wife even before we were married and then after. And uh Just hearing the Word of God.
preached and and lived. There were a number of people in the church. that Brother Bird ultimately became pastor of. But this was before him. And I was loved through that church.
There was one gentleman, part of the staff, who challenged me. kept at me about not being a Christian. But another one of the church members, a uh A church staff, excuse me, was the music man, and he loved on me. And I actually, as a band director at that time, I taught his children. And so it was a good relationship.
when uh we went back to Fort Pierce, ultimately married, and uh went back to where I grew up We already had a child at that time. We started, my wife was told, suggested by her dad, make sure you get into a church or Southern Baptist church at that time. And uh as uh as we were visiting uh the pastor there the Sunday that finally, you know, I had been dealing with this, I had wanted to renew my Judaism. I'm backing up a few weeks. my wife a feigned illness.
At that time, because she was afraid that if I became Jewish again, so to speak, Uh I wouldn't want to pursue Jesus. But I told her, she she reminded me, I told her for Yom Kippur, I didn't care if she was sick, she w we were going to the s service. we went to the service. And the rabbi that day Spoke about his trip to Israel, didn't open the scripture, didn't open the Torah, didn't do anything that indicated a belief, how to live a Jewish life. And when we left, My words were I've become so accustomed to hellfire and damnation.
Excuse my French, but that's exactly what I said. And hellfire is hellfire. It is it's not a dirty word. I was bored. And that kind of set me to the path, I think.
was the final straw, so to speak. We did, we're going to a Baptist church at that time, and in the middle of the service, the pastor said, I've never done this before. But I think somebody in the congregation needs to ask Jesus into their heart. And he was talking to me. That somebody was you.
Yes, it was. It was. And he talked us through the sinner's prayer at that time. And I just felt the scales fell from my eyes. The curtain was rent.
between the Holy of Holies and uh where I needed to be and I accepted the Lord that day. I told my wife I needed to talk to the pastor. This was on a Sunday morning during service. And at the end of service, And he told her he couldn't couldn't meet with me until Thursday. My wife Never it was really quiet.
She's not that she Yeah. Ye well, no offense, but women You do talk. You have the gift of gab in many cases.
Well, my wife knew and did not say a thing to me about this. And Thursday night, the pastor came, and I fell on my knees, and I said that I had accepted Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Wow, this is such a beautiful story. And regrettably, we're almost out of time. But the Bible is clear, folks, whoever you are listening.
The Bible says that there is no difference, Jew nor Greek. Obviously, God raised up Abraham, and through the Jewish nation, the scriptures came, Jesus was born, but it's salvation for the whole world. You know, in the book of Isaiah, it says that the Redeemer of Israel is the light to the Gentiles. And whoever you are, whatever your background, we always say this: Jesus is as close by as a prayer. And just like Alan Becker, just like Any of us if you Understand that you're a sinner and that the Lord Jesus died for you because He loves you.
Jesus loves you, and you're willing to turn and say, Lord. I believe in you. I believe you died and rose again for me. I believe you are the Son of God, and I'm accepting you as my forgiver. My leader.
Lord, save my soul, wash my sin away. Jesus will do that for you to day. He will. And if you need help making this decision, my website alexmacfarlane.com, please come. Come to Jesus.
one and all. That's why he gave his life on Calvary's cross. Alan, any final word that you'd like to share? I would just like to, if I can quote Romans 10.1. I do pray.
That my brother Jews would be saved. Amen. As do we. Thank you for listening, folks. Love and prayers, and may God bless you in all things.
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