The Spiritual Condition of America, Politics, Culture, and Current Events Analyzed Through the Lens of Scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. There's an old gospel song about when we find Jesus. It was made famous by a lot of old gospel artists, one of whom was Johnny Cash. And the song says, I was there when it happened.
Hi, Alex McFarland here. We're going to talk about the power of your testimony. And we're also going to talk about some of the things that God does miraculously in the world today and in all of our lives.
So let me ask you this: Have you ever had an answered prayer? Sure, we all have, right? Have you ever seen God do something Just very, very significant in your life. I hope you have. Of course, the greatest miracle of all is salvation, how Jesus saves our soul, washes our sin away.
But I really think, I'm just going to say this: I think in the church, we need to talk more and more about divine intervention in our lives and how God is real, God is with us if we invite Him into our life. The Lord Jesus answers prayers. And I've got a very dear friend and colleague in the ministry that has really worked on this for years, Daniel Fizina. I first became aware of him. Oh, I don't know.
Seven, eight years ago, he wrote a book called Divine Intervention: 50 True Stories of God's Miracles Today. He's got a fantastic conference coming up called The Power of Testimony. And I think of that old gospel song: you know, we can share the gospel, share Bible verses, and then we can share what Bill Bright, he was my evangelism professor in seminary. Bill Bright said, We share our testimony. This is what Jesus Christ has done in our lives, because it's pretty hard to argue with proof-positive.
Tangible exhibit of God working in our lives.
Well, to unpack this with us is our valued friend and colleague, Daniel Fazina. Daniel, it's been a while since you and I have been on the microphone together.
So welcome back to our program. It's good to have you, sir.
Well, thank you, Alex McFarland. I really appreciate you. And I just love how supportive you've been of me. And I just, I'm blessed by your ministry and your friendship.
So thanks for having me back.
Well, thank you. There's a lot I want to talk about, and I want to make people aware of the big conference. Give us your website. Then I've got several things I want to ask you, but where may people find you online, Daniel? Sure.
My website is divineinterventionradio.com, divineinterventionradio.com. Or you can also go to artofheaven.com, artofheaven.com. If anyone wants tickets to the Power of Testimony conference, which is on September 12th in Syasset, New York, that's on Long Island at Shelter Rock Church. Shelter Rock Church.
Well, the book that. I have, and I've really loved this book, Divine Intervention. I mean, you've got footnotes, you've got documentation. I mean, you know, anybody could say, oh, God did this or that. But I mean, your book is meticulously.
documented our longtime friend Lauren Green of Fox News. That she says that you speak to the modern world in a way that people listen. For one thing, I want people to know about your book and everything else you're doing, but kudos, sir, for giving content that is dramatically. You know, documented. And frankly, folks, if you get Daniel Fazina's book, I don't say this lightly, I mean, you can't put it down.
It's just one of these. that is is riveting. How did you come to write that?
Well, Alex, thank you for that, by the way. I really appreciate it. I experienced two healing miracles in my life that really took my faith ahead, and that was the impetus to collect other people's miracle stories and put them in divine intervention, 50 true stories of God's miracles today. And I'll just kind of give you a brief overview, but the first miracle happened in 2001. I had had chronic back pain for 10 years, stemming from a birth defect.
I had a torn cartilage ring and a bulging disc, and I had, you know, physical therapy and chiropractic for a number of years. Nothing really worked. And P S I went on a men's retreat with some guys from my church. And they dedicated an afternoon to prayer to Jesus for physical healing.
So they said: if you have any issues, come to the front of the room, we'll pray for you.
Now, Alex, I had had people pray for me over the years and nothing happened. I just figured I'd have to live with the pain the rest of my life. But on this day, I really had no expectation, but I wasn't going to turn down prayer. And I was online to go to the front of the room, and there's all these guys praying for each other and laying hands on each other at the front of the room. And my friend Dave Soto was online next to me, and he says, Daniel, what are you going to ask for prayer for?
And I said, Well, my back, because I've had these problems with it all these years. And right then, Alex, pain disappeared. I'm bending and I'm twisting, and I didn't feel it anymore. And I was like, what's going on here? At that point no one had even prayed for me yet, no one had laid hands on me yet.
And I just believe it was an atmosphere of healing, and God chose that moment to heal me. And so that really took my faith ahead. And then the following year, I was diagnosed with cancer. I had B-cell lymphoma. Doctors found a massive tumor inside my chest, it was right above my heart.
and it was actually larger than my heart at one point. It was so big it was crushing my pulmonary artery.
So I was actually suffocating to death, not getting enough oxygen. And it's a really long story, but they said it's inoperable. We'll try to give it, you know, give you medicine for it, chemotherapy. And I had a bunch of other. Types of therapy, and I had people praying for me, anointing me with oil, saying, Daniel, this thing was born to die, it's going to be a testimony to the Lord.
And long story short, you know, they took a halfway point scan to gauge the progress. They were hoping the tumor would be smaller at least. And Alex, when it came back. That scan was completely negative. No more tumor in my body, no more cancer.
Nothing. And yeah, I appreciate you telling. The listeners and the audience about the documentation because I did go. Through great lengths to collect as much medical documentation as I could in the case of physical healings. And so I wanted to encourage the reader and let them know that these are real, they are documented, and these are stories that actually happened.
So. Very grateful to the Lord to still be here. Amen. When we come back, we've got to take a brief break. I want to talk about why sometimes Christians are reluctant to.
Hear these great miracle stories of God's work. Briefly, let me ask you this. In all of your interviewing people and working and writing, have you met Christians, Daniel? Yes, they love the Lord, no doubt, they love Christ, but they're a little bit reluctant. To believe God for a miracle here in the 21st century.
You ever meet people like that? I have, yes. I mean, I grew up in a tradition, a very conservative denomination where I didn't really hear about miracles growing up. I mean, we read about them in the Bible. But as far as real life, I didn't really hear about them.
And then when I became born again and started Really living with God's purpose and experiencing answered prayers. It was as I grew and experienced other people who had maybe a different perspective. Then I started meeting people who had amazing miracles and I started experiencing them and witnessing them myself.
So I can understand that. Sure. Yeah.
Well, we've got to take a break. We're going to come back and talk more with Daniel Fizina. He's leading a big conference. What's the website for the conference, Daniel? Events.artofheaven.com, A-R-Tofheaven.com.
You can go there for tickets to the live event or live stream if you can't make it to Long Island. It's going to be in Syas at Long Island, New York, September 12th. Stay tuned, folks. A brief break, and we'll be back more about God's work in the world. And we hope God's work in your life as well.
Don't go away. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland, a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Do you know prayer is the nerve that moves the muscle of God? Hi, Alex McFarland here, encouraging you to download our free PDF of 31 Days of Prayer for Our Nation.
Discover how consistent prayer can transform your heart and our nation. These are times of uncertainty, people need hope, and specific prayers get specific answers.
So go to alexmacfarland.com and download the free PDF of prayer, and I challenge you to make this next 31 days a time of powerful prayer. 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 with Daniel Fizzina, our longtime friend and colleague. He's an author. He's got a big event in Long Island, New York. I've got to ask you this because I know a Christian brother that lives up there. Are you anywhere near Massapequa?
Yes, Massapequa. Actually, Syasid is very close to Massapequa. I used to go through Massapequa on my way to work every day when I lived out there.
So, yes, very close. You know, there are not that many Christian conferences up that way. One of the reasons I wanted to make people aware, first of all, you do great work, brother. But we get a fair amount of calls from New York City. We do the live show, which is Exploring the Word, heard on the American Family Radio Network Monday through Friday.
Then this show and others are. On the weekend, on stations, we get a lot of calls from like Manhattan. And sometimes from the boroughs. And um I gotta ask you, I mean, I think there's you wouldn't think so. I think there are a lot of people like in New York State that love the Lord.
You know, we we've done a camp in the Hudson River Valley upstate. Daniel Fizzina, let me ask you, how's the Christian presence there in the city, the boroughs, Long Island?
Some believers up there. Absolutely, there are, yes. But let's face it, Long Island is not the Bible Belt. There's a lot of skepticism and unbelief there. I know because I grew up there, you know, and I've been a believer since very, very young.
But a lot of my friends were skeptics, you know, atheists, agnostics, Wiccans, pagans. I mean, you name it. There's there you have the whole gamut there. You've got two and a half million people roughly on Long Island, but I would say the percentage of people who really follow Jesus is very low.
So it's a ripe mission field, but there are a lot of Christians because there's just a lot of people. Have you ever interviewed George Barna? I'm sure you've heard statistics of the Barna group. Yes, I know of him, but no, I've never had the privilege. Do you know George Barna, and he's been a friend for a while.
He believes if a revival came to New York, it would touch the entire world. Because, for one thing, New York City is like the 13th largest economy in the world. Every day, from JFK, LaGuardia, there are hundreds of flights to Europe. There are flights over to Chicago, D.C., everywhere. Barna believes if revival came to the upper northeast.
New England. Boston, specifically New York. George Barner believes it would touch the entire world.
Now, folks, no matter where you are, that's something worth praying about. Absolutely. We're believing for that, you know, Alex, because this power of testimony conference, you know, the word says that we overcome the devil by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Amen. So I'm going to be having six people, six main speakers who are featured in my Divine Intervention, 50 True Stories of God's Miracles Today book, who are going to be sharing their testimonies.
And, you know, our mutual friend Lauren Green is going to be emceeing it.
So there's going to be live worship music and powerful miracle testimonies, a QA session with Lauren, and the keynote speaker is our mutual friend Kamal Salim. Oh, my goodness. He is also going to be there. Yeah, he's, you know, and for anyone who's not familiar with his testimony, it's one of the stories in my divine intervention book. It's called Jesus a Friend to Terrorists.
And he's going to share his story of, you know, growing up in the Middle East and being recruited into the PLO and the Muslim Brotherhood at a young age, carrying out his first mission to Israel around seven or eight years old, smuggling weapons into Israel through the Golan Heights, and how he grew up as a warlord, you know, fighting the Christians in Lebanon and the Jews in Israel, even the Russians in Afghanistan. I mean, this guy was sold out for Islamic jihad. He came to America. to do culture jihad here, to bring down America from within. And God got a hold of him powerfully.
He had like a Damascus road-type experience where the Lord actually appeared to him. And made it clear to him who Jesus was and that what he was doing was wrong. And he's since given up. Radical Islam, and he's now been a follower of Jesus for several decades.
So I'm thrilled to be working with Kamal Salim, and he's going to be there. at Shelter Rock Church on September twelfth for the to be the keynote speaker. Oh, that's so exciting. Folks, I don't know where you are, but you need to get to this conference. Kamal and I have been friends since 2004, 22 years.
Wow. How he and I got to be friends. He was in the computer industry. He became the head of IT for Dr. Dobson.
And we used to have lunch in the cafeteria. And I told him, I said, you have to speak, you have to share your testimony. Fantastic.
Now, give the website for this conference, Daniel. Sure. People can get tickets to the either the live event or the live stream if they can't make it to New York physically. But it's events.artofheaven.com, artofheaven.com, or you can go to my website, divineinterventionradio dot com, divineintervention radio dot com. Folks, let me mention a name, Vance Havner.
Now, you might not know who that was. That was the man. He was an evangelist. He's been in heaven many years, but Vance Havner was a Baptist preacher. Who encouraged Billy Graham to become an evangelist?
And that worked out well. Billy Graham touched that on the wall. But one of Vance Havner's last books. was a book called Don't Miss Your Miracle. And part of the reason I bring this up is because, I mean, if anybody was a conservative, balanced, Right down the line.
Christian leader, it was Vance Havner who mentored Billy Graham, and of course, the world, myself included, we love Billy Graham. Here's my point: he believed that God works miracles, and the great miracle is salvation, but then in the life of every believer, Indwells the Holy Spirit of God. And that we need to believe that our Savior is a supernatural God who answers prayers. And, Daniel, I appreciate you because. Like myself, you believe that Our Savior is still a supernatural miracle-working God.
Vance Habner believed it, Billy Graham believed it, I believe it, you do. Tell us how important is it that God's church understand the miraculous that our God sometimes chooses to do?
Well, I think it's vital really because The entire belief system that we espouse is full of the supernatural and the miraculous. I mean, let's face it, we believe in God coming to earth in the flesh. That is supernatural. Being born of a virgin, that is supernatural. Casting out demons, interrupting funerals, what he did in his ministry, commanding the waves and the weather, that is all supernatural.
Being raised from the dead. I mean, that is supernatural. It's, it's. Of the supernatural.
So if we claim to believe that. If we take out the supernatural out of Christianity, there's nothing left to Christianity. It's just a religious book club at that point. And if we don't believe in the resurrection, I mean, what are we doing here? Go do something else.
As the Apostle Paul says, if Christ be not raised from the dead, you know, go do something else. You're better off because If he's not raised from the dead, There's no truth to it. It's pointless. And in the natural, it doesn't make any sense. But yet, I believe it.
And when you do that, when you espouse it and take it by faith, God changes you. You know, it's just a mystery of faith. It doesn't make sense. I mean, the natural man can't receive it. And the Bible says that the power of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to those who are being saved it is the power of God.
So yeah, it's it's vital, I think, that people understand that this is a supernatural faith. And let me just say this to everybody listening. Traveling as an evangelist, interacting with thousands of people throughout all 50 states for three decades. I can tell you folks, believe it. God still delivers people from addiction and alcoholism.
God still saves atheists, Muslims. God still rescues people out of sexual deviancies. God still divinely heals people. We still serve that God who Matthew 6, verse 8, says he knows what we need even before we ask. And Daniel, I want to say I appreciate you.
Your book is Divine Intervention: 50 True Stories of God's Miracles Today. Pat Robertson recommended it. Sid Roth, that is a friend and colleague, and many others, I recommend that book. But your conference, thank you for what you're doing. Folks, we've got another segment, so stay tuned.
I want to give a wrap-up about. Understanding The Holy Spirit, God's miracles, and the supernatural for the church today. But in the meantime, Daniel Fizzina, thanks for being with us. We're praying for your conference. I hope many people attend.
And thank you, Daniel, for the great work that you're doing.
Well, thank you, Alex. You are a most gracious and curious host and a faithful friend. I appreciate you. God bless you. You can find Daniel Fazina online, his radio shows, his writing, his events.
Stay tuned. Miracles, the Supernatural, and the Church of the 21st Century. That's what we're talking about 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.
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.
Uh He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to the Alex McFarlane Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here. We'll resume our topic here in a moment, but I want to thank everybody all summer long who's been praying for our ministries.
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Well, let me say this, having Preached in more than 2,000 American churches and seen a lot, seen God do great things for the glory of His name. I believe the problem in much of modern Christianity is not that the Holy Spirit has withdrawn. The problem is that the Church has learned to function without depending on Him. I lean on and walk with And minister in the power and the presence of the Holy Spirit. And I want to speak in closing here about something very, very deeply important.
And I believe it is that many churches and Christians I'm not going to say they're averse to the work of the Holy Spirit, but it's hard to deny that many Christians. Are not comfortable with talk about the work of the Holy Spirit. They may be comfortable with God as doctrine, comfortable with Jesus as Savior, comfortable with church as a weekly routine. But once you begin to talk about the Holy Spirit moving in power and miraculously working to save souls and bless lives, the supernatural works of the Holy Spirit that we read about in the Bible, people begin to get a little bit antsy. And think you've gone radical.
Vance Havner, that I mentioned in the program earlier. You know, he said that many Christians are so subnormal that if you meet a Christian that's normal, you might think he's abnormal. But the Bible does not present a Jesus who is just conceptual, historical, or symbolic. The Bible presents to us a living God, a God who answers prayer, a God who intervenes, a God who speaks, heals, transforms, and yes, a God that pours out the Holy Spirit, His Spirit, on His people, the church. And Scripture is not unclear on this.
I mean, the Scriptures are very clear. And I want to say this: I love the American church. I mean, God's allowed me to be in 2000 plus churches. Churches But I want to say this, folks, at a dire moment where Islam is growing. And socialism is growing, and atheism is growing, lawlessness and lostness is growing.
Pro. deviancy is growing. Pro-abortion is growing so much around us. Tells us that we need an intervention of God's Holy Spirit. And this is no time, church.
no time to gravitate toward what is safe, What is explainable, controlled, polished. predictable. God's Holy Spirit is not in this world to be managed. He is God.
Now the Spirit of the Lord is not a religious accessory or an optional doctrine. God's Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity, is active giving power and guidance to the blood-bought born-again church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I need to remind everybody: when we debate atheists at colleges, we speak out against what is called methodological naturalism. And methodological naturalism is the idea that all of life is only explicable in godless naturalistic terms. And we've got to remind ourselves that we do not have a naturalistic faith.
We live and walk in a supernatural faith. Faith. We see the Spirit of God hovering over creation in the book of Genesis. The prophets of old, empowered by God's Holy Spirit. Jesus conceived.
In the Virgin Mary by the Holy Spirit, anointed by the Holy Spirit in Matthew 3 at the baptism by John the Baptist, being led by the Holy Spirit for 40 days in the wilderness, ministering. And the power of the Holy Spirit, the early church birthed by God's Holy Spirit at Pentecost. And we see, you read that New Testament. Gifts of healing. discernment.
prophecy, miracles, deliverance. Prophecy, tongues, all bold witness through the book of Acts and in all the letters. And this is not just a little fringe. Corner of the New Testament, it's really the fabric of scripture. All of Scripture.
And the Bible says, In the last days, I will pour out my spirit. On All people. God says in Joel that I will pour out my spirit on all people. And so I think we've got to remember. that the church is to walk in That power and the presence of the Holy Spirit.
And I'm not saying we need to be weird or demonstrative or showy or anything like that. But Matthew 6.33, seek first. The kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. I think we need to remember that fasting and prayer. yield incredible miracles.
And if you're believing God for something really significant, like a prodigal to come home, a marriage to be restored and resurrected, the Muslims to be converted, What's unrighteous to be turned back to that which is true and good and righteous. We have to realize that as a church, certainly the American church, we are utterly dependent on the Holy Spirit of God.
Now, without getting into a philosophy lesson here, I think many American Christians are more influenced by enlightenment thinking than they realize. People fear emotionalism, they fear excess, they fear abuse. And, you know, there have been instances where such things happened. But I want to tell you the fear that you never hear talked about. And that's the legitimate fear is that we.
Settle, listen to this, for the idol of respectability. rather than God's presence and power. We've not been called for a faith that is respectable, but a faith that is powerful. And regardless of the tradition that you've been raised in, and I come from a couple of fairly restrained Stayed. Safe traditions.
But let's remember: God is still holy, God is still sovereign, God is still powerful, God still works miracles.
So, the question is not whether God has stopped moving. The question is whether we have stopped expecting God to move. It's not that the Holy Spirit has been withdrawn. It's that the Church has learned to function without depending on him. Let's depend on Him.
Let's look for revival. And let's say, Come, Holy Spirit. Alex McFarlane Ministries are made possible through the prayers and financial support of partners like you. For over 20 years, this ministry has been bringing individuals into a personal relationship with Christ and has been equipping people to stand strong for truth. Learn more and donate securely online at alexmacfarlane.com.
You may also reach us by calling 1-877-YESGOD and the number 1. That's 1-877-Y-E-S-G-O-D-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarlane Show.
