Women of Cale

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 Ministries, this is 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. I'm going to read from Proverbs 31. I know this is a very familiar passage of Scripture, but it says, a wife of noble character who can find. She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her.

I love how the King James renders it. His heart safely trusts in her. And he lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. She selects wood and flax and works with eager hands. She's like a merchant ship bringing goods from afar. She gets up while it is still dark and gathers food for her family and portions for her servants. She considers a field and buys it.

Out of her earnings, she plants a vineyard. She sets about her work vigorously, and her arms are strong for the tasks. You know, I can just picture those folded arms and a bowed head. Strong for the task are the women of God across this country. Well, I wanted you all to meet a couple of the people that have volunteered their time working with young people at Camp Cale.

One is Carol Davis, who has come, and the other is Susie Colgrove from Ohio. Let me say thank you for giving a week of your time to the TNG apologetics camp. You're very welcome.

We're tickled to be here. Well, amen. Also, Carol Davis from the Richmond area, and I appreciate you. You shared a testimony on the first day about leading Bible studies back in your hometown. Yes.

Mm-hmm. And how long have you been doing that, Carol? The Lord introduced me to Precept upon Precept in 1982. Is that Kay Arthur? Kay Arthur. You know, she speaks for us in our Truth for a New Generation conferences. Oh, wow.

She's amazing. Let me ask you this, Carol. What has studying and teaching the Word of God, what has that done in your life? Oh, totally, totally changed it. I was a brand-new Christian, about one year old, when I was introduced to Precept upon Precept. And digging into God's Word in a systematic manner was just what I needed at that time in my life. And I took the first course, which was Romans of all courses.

Took us nine months to do it. We didn't have a leader at that time. It was early on in Precept Ministries history, and we rotated leadership. Well, the Lord took me from there to Fort Knox, where I said, hey, guys at PWOC, which is Protestant women of the chapel at Fort Knox, I stood up and said, anybody interested in a Bible study? Women raised their hands.

There were 16 of them. So I said, let's do the book of Philippians. Who wants to lead? And they looked at me and they said, aren't you leading? And I said, well, no, I really have only had one of these under my belt, and I'm kind of a new Christian, even though I was raised in a Christian home. And they said, no, you're leading. So it was like God said, push. What were you a little bit of a reluctant leader? At first I was, but when I got into it, I got so excited, because it was so exciting seeing these women, and four of them were chaplain's wives, dig the first time that they'd ever heard of anything like this and looking into God's word, doing word studies, key words through chapters, making lists.

And they'd say, wow, I've never seen this before. And I've read the book of Philippians numbers of times. Well, you know what, I'm glad you bring this up, Carol, because getting out of your comfort zone a little bit, and you discovered gifts and strengths you didn't know you had, and now God's used you for a lot of years. He has.

I'm 75 years old. And guess what? You think you have a ministry? And right around the corner, God's standing saying, you know, we're going to change this. So during my life, there have been little detours along the way, or changes in this ministry. Praise God. At 75 years old, I would have never guessed that.

I mean, never. And here you are mentoring teenagers at our apologetics camp. God bless you.

And you too, Suzy. I've got to say, folks, I wish you could see the smile on her face. You mentioned Edison, Ohio, right?

Yes. Had Edison not invented the light bulb, not to worry, because you could light up a room. You've got a great smile, sister. Bless you.

Thank you, dear. Why that smile on your face? I was fortunate to be raised by two of the best people in the whole wide world that now reside with Jesus. And they taught me early in life that anything worth doing is worth doing for Jesus.

And that's how I've lived my life. I'm very blessed. And I have one of the sweetest husbands and best pastors the state of Ohio could know, and I'm grateful for that. So talk to me as wives and mothers and women of God, the prayers. I've often said this, that few things in this world are as powerful as the prayers of a godly woman.

And I mean, listen, I'm where I am. I'm who I am, because my mother prayed for me. My grandmother prayed for me. Angie prayed for me. Angie's mother prayed for me. My sister prayed for me. Peggy Rice prayed for me.

Talk about igniting a movement of prayer among the Christian women of America. I can tell you this story. When I was just a little girl, my grandmother, May Evans was her name, she would come to stay with us sometimes for weeks through the summer or even through the winter. And as those children would go to bed, and I'm one of seven, Granny would pray with us. And she always slept with me and my little sister Cindy. And we'd get kneeled down by the bed, and she'd just do a simple little, now I lay me down to sleep prayer with Cindy and I.

And then we'd climb up in the bed and fall asleep. But as I was falling to sleep, my grandmother was still on her knees, and she could pray. She could bring down heaven when she prayed. And she taught me then, there is nothing that I can't ask of my Lord that He won't, and it's in His will that He will hear and answer. We're talking with Carol, and we're talking with Susie from the TNG camp, and we're putting out a challenge for the women of this nation to pray for revival in America.

And we're going to continue talking about this when we return after this break. Stay tuned. From I Am a Watchman Ministries, here's today's I Am a Watchman Minute. A watchman is one who is willing to follow God's leading. He will go where God leads him to go, do what God wants him to do, and say what God wants him to say.

For Daniel, that meant living in exile most of his life. For the apostle Paul, that meant stepping down from his position as a Pharisee, a lofty position he had trained his whole life for. Too often we're told that the Christian life should be marked by prosperity and comfort. That's not what the Bible teaches. The truth is faithfulness and sacrifice go hand in hand. Jesus taught this.

Jesus lived this. Are you willing to make real sacrifices in support of the Lord's work? I encourage you to visit the imawatchman.com website for resources that will help you be the faithful servant God wants you to be. Be bold, be faithful, be a watchman.

imawatchman.com. First Peter 3.15 tells us to be ready always to give an answer for the hope we have. We're instructed to be prepared to defend our faith. This is Alex McFarland for the Life Answers Teams, students we train at North Greenville University, a leading Christian college in South Carolina. The Life Answers Teams are made up of students who will inspire and equip your congregation. These apologetics teams we train speak in churches to youth groups and train Christians of all ages to address key issues of our times from a biblical perspective. Like is there a God?

Is the Bible true? What about gender and moral issues? Call me at 864-977-2008 and we will arrange for the Life Answers Team to come to your church and give a presentation that will benefit your people for years to come. 864-977-2008 and always be ready. The TNG Unashamed Conference is coming to Richmond, Virginia, October 11th and 12th. It's core truths that make for an unshakable faith with Tina Marie Griffin, Todd Starnes, Kamal Shalim, Miki Addison, Chuck Chrismeyer and William Federer.

Romans 1.16 says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. Come to the Truth for a New Generation Conference and get equipped, empowered and inspired to confidently share the gospel of Jesus Christ. TNG is committed to impacting our nation for Christ and the future and equipping you to be a difference maker. Register now by calling 877-YES-GOD-1. That's 877-YES-GOD and the number one or visit the TNG website at truthforanewgeneration.com. The TNG Unashamed Conference, Richmond, Virginia, October 11th and 12th.

Dive deeper into your faith. 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.

Welcome back to TNG Radio. I'm here with Trip Harman and we're at Camp Cale, seeing God work in the lives of young people. But part of the reason that is happening are because of these dear, dear volunteers, many of whom are godly women that have come from a long way, hundreds of miles they've driven, to be chaperones for these young people. Trip, let me read a little bit from Proverbs 31 again. You know, Proverbs 31, very famously, the chapter about the godly woman. And there's much that scripture says about mighty women of God. But chapter 31 of Proverbs closes and it says, Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, beauty is fleeting, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.

Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate. Trip, you and I both have godly wives. Amen. And we're here with some godly women that are chaperoning the girls here. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Now we know praise belongs to God, but it is worth giving an applause to the mighty women of God who walk with the Lord, who invest in their families, and who intercede and pray. And we just want to give a big shout out to the mighty women of God, don't we?

Amen, amen. You know, women who fear the Lord are worthy to be praised. Proverbs also says that the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. So these are wise women. They're wise women. So listen, let me say to the men listening, if you've got a Christian wife, get on your knees and thank God for her. And like the Word of God says, husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church. Men, we are to lay down our lives for our bride as Christ laid down his life for the bride, the church. And so men, be thankful.

Do not take your godly woman for granted. But to the women listening, I want to say how much the church throughout history has depended on godly women to be the intercessors. We did a Truth for New Generation conference in New Haven, Connecticut a few years ago.

We were at Yale University. And we, in the months leading up, as we always do, we ask for people to pray. And when we organized prayer meetings, 90% of the people that came to intercede over Connecticut, and it resulted in 187 salvation decisions. But 90% of my prayer warriors were the females. Yeah, I've experienced that in the pastorate also.

I don't know if the men are, it's just that we're more career-driven and we find our value in what we do like that, or we're just more distracted by shiny things, I'm sure. But my years in the pastorate, sometimes Christians would toss around, or we'll even text someone, I'll pray for you, I am praying for you. And all of us, we wonder, but I had some great women of God in that church, and I knew, whether they told me or not, I knew they were praying for me. And there were times that I was up in the middle of the night or I was going through something, and you could feel the very presence of God, you knew that some of these ladies were praying. In the two decades plus that you pastored, how important were the godly women to the work you were doing in the ministry?

Oh, I would have gone insane without them. Absolutely. Sometimes prayer, the Lord's power through prayer, prayer can do what God can do. We're asking him to work.

We're asking him to move. And sometimes that is absolutely the only thing that can sustain you. And I know there's times where for my mother, sometimes at the very same hour, my mother and my wife in different places at the same time had to be saying, Lord, just help the man. Do you remember Paul in Romans said he wanted to provoke Israel to jealousy?

He was saying, he wanted the Jewish people to believe on Jesus the Messiah, and he said, bringing in the Gentiles, maybe it would provoke Israel to jealousy. Here's what I want to do, folks. I want to provoke you men to action, because thank God for Christian men. Thank God for the body of Christ. But I will say, when it comes to the work of intercession, and I know on their knees the moms that pray for their children, the godly women that pray for their families and their husbands, we need a revival in America. And I've just believed in my heart for some time that it probably is going to be the intercession of females that ignites the next great revival.

But you men, don't sit on the sidelines. Don't let heaven and earth be moved just by the great Christian women. Let's see a renaissance of men of God getting into the battle.

That's right. The battle is one, you know, it's a cliche among Christians now, but truly the battle is one on our knees. And we're, you know, men, we need to step up. We're allowing the women to be on the front lines, and more of us need to be on the front lines doing battle, you know, not just doing things, but to have that covered in prayer, have the Lord's power behind it.

We can do a lot of stuff, but in the end it's just, we're doing stuff. There's no unction, there's no authority, there's no power behind it without God, and that requires prayer. You know, Exodus 13 talks about when it comes to pass that your son will ask you, why do we do these things? And the dad is to say, when Pharaoh would not let us go, God with a strong arm delivered us. It presupposes, dad, that you're living in such a way that your children will say, I want what you've got.

Dad, how do I have Jesus in my life the way you do? Deuteronomy 6, you know, when it talks about hero Israel, the Lord our God is one, and we're to keep that right in front of our eyes, and put it on the walls of our house. Again, thank God for all of the adult leaders in the homes and the churches, but men, we need to step it up and be the priests of the home and the men of God in the community. The Old Testament talks a lot about this or that at the city gates. Trip, doesn't that speak to the fact that in the community we are to be salt and light? Absolutely.

I mean, the city gates, that's where the leaders were, that's where the business was conducted. And so we need the men to be those leaders, to be examples to their children. I think a lot of men today hear this message, the very thing we're talking about now, and they feel guilt because they haven't done it to a certain level to this point.

But you know, it's never too late. It's better now than never, and get going in that, and not just have our wives and our mothers and the ladies doing it for us. Well, folks, we have got a couple of great events coming up in the fall of 2019. Richmond, Cincinnati, you can learn more about that at the website truthforanewgeneration.com. But we're already talking about 2020, and wherever you are listening, listen, if you understand the relationship between evangelism, apologetics, and awakening.

Evangelism, winning the loss, apologetics, defending the faith, and then spiritual awakening, igniting the power of God and seeing the Lord move. So if you're interested in us coming to your city or youth coming to our camp in 2020, or you being a volunteer, getting on board for saving a nation in any capacity, reach out to us. You can find us on the web. You can contact us, 877-YES-GOD-1. But we want to link arms together to take Jesus to our nation and every woman of God, every man of God, every child of God is a part of that. Stay tuned.

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That's liberty.edu backslash explore to learn more. When we're told to do something, we like to ask why? We don't follow traditions merely for the sake of tradition. We seek a biblical worldview and search for reasons behind answers. For the Christian who wants to dig deeper, there's engagemagazine.net packed with relevant articles from movie reviews and life tips to culture and the believer's spiritual life. Consider truth. Apply scripture.

Engagemagazine.net. If you're a Christian parent, you of course want to instill a biblical view of life in the hearts of your children. If you're a pastor, you want to offer ministry that draws young families to your church. This is Alex McFarland encouraging you to check out my new book and video curriculum, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. Why do bad things happen? I interviewed hundreds of children, ages 5 to 12, and we address actual questions from actual children, the spiritual issues that are on the minds of your kids.

Did Jesus ever sin? The book and video lessons are great for groups of any size and was produced with the goal of equipping kids to stand strong for Christ in any situation. The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, the book, study guide, and video series. You'll find it at AFASTORE.net.

That's AFASTORE.net. Timeless Truths in a Soundbite Culture. Truth for a New Generation Radio. Welcome back to Truth for a New Generation Radio. We are here at Camp Kale in Hertford, North Carolina for our Teen Apologetics Camp. We're talking with some of the staffers today who are here at the camps. First, let me remind you that we've got two TNG conferences coming up in the cities of Richmond and Cincinnati. We've got speakers on board like Erwin Lutzer and Josh McDowell. Check it out online at truthforanewgeneration.com. We'd love to see you.

Trip, thank you so much. I'm so excited because you know what really blesses my heart is when I meet people and they'll say, Alex, you were in San Antonio 10 years ago and that was the night I gave my life to Christ. We've even had couples that said that their marriage was on the ropes and they weren't sure they were going to make it and maybe they recommitted their family to Christ at one of our events. We give God the glory. Hey, I'll give a verse here, folks, and then I'm so excited about two people I want you to meet. Psalm 115 verse 1 says, Not unto us, O Lord, give glory, not unto us give glory, but unto thy name give glory for the sake of the truth.

While we're doing what we're doing is for the glory of God and because it's true. I've got a couple of friends here and like the others that we've been talking with, they've invested their time in these young people at camp. One, Angela Griffin, whom we met when Truth for New Generation was in Fayetteville back in the spring. But also, faithful Eileen Cochran.

Charles and Eileen live near Richmond. If I'm anywhere in the mid-Atlantic region, they pop up and I'm so grateful for all of you. But Angela, how are you enjoying being a camp counselor for us this week? It was a little scary, but I am having a great time. The students that are here, they are absolutely wonderful. I'm learning, they're learning, and we are just growing in the Lord together. In our last segment, ladies, we were talking about prayer and the importance of prayer. If I were to ask you, and I've seen you this week already praying before our sessions. During our sessions, I know at night you've been praying for campers, sometimes even for specific needs for individual campers. But as our campers left, if I were to ask you, what is one overarching prayer you're going to have for these young people as they leave here? We don't want to think about leaving on Friday just yet or just to Wednesday. But when we do leave, what's going to be your prayer for these young people?

You'd say your number one prayer. I want them to embrace all that they are receiving this week, that the Word of God will penetrate their little hearts, and they will grow and excel in the things of God. I want to see them fulfill God's purpose for their lives and to grow the kingdom of God. I hear your passion in that.

I believe that. What about you, Eileen? I want the campers to continue in what they learned. When they have questions, to go to a godly person they trust and continue in what they learned. I ask the Lord right now to bring up different aspects of this week, different blessings that they've received, that can remind them when they're out there in the world, in this big world, that can remind them what they learned and be a guide to them as they're trying to make difficult decisions. Eileen, let me ask you this. As a Christian woman, what concerns you about the state of our country right now?

I am asking the Lord, and we ladies, I'm a part of a prayer group back at home, we ladies are praying for revival in our country, because we see what's going on, and we're a little older than the teens that are here, and we want to see our country made great again through Jesus Christ number one. And the knowledge of the gospel is the only thing that can change lives. And by the way, folks, I want to give God the glory.

Apologetics is not apologizing, it's not saying, I'm sorry, but it's defending the faith. It's why do we believe what we believe. Twenty years ago, when we rented the Greensboro Coliseum, and oh, my knees were knocking, and you know, it was scary. I mean, we committed to a lot of expense, and I went around to youth pastors all over Guilford County, and I said, look, we're going to have a two-day theology lecture. We're going to bring teens in and teach them to go deep in the Word of God, go deep in their walk with Christ, and learn how to stand strong for the faith.

Everybody said it'll never work. Young people don't care about this. I'll never forget, and Tripp, you can chime in on this if you want to, I went to a pretty major denominational leader, and I said, would you help us bring young people to hear Josh McDowell, Ravi Zacharias, Lee Strobel, Erwin Lutzer, Crawford Laritz, Tony Evans, people like that. We're going to learn how to win agnostics and atheists. We're going to learn how to win Muslims.

He said, well, unless you go to the foreign mission field, most Americans would never ever meet a Muslim. I said, well, I think kids will get this. I think they need it. And here we are, 20 years later, 43 major citywide events. I don't know how many hundreds of youth events. I guess, Angela, let me ask, how serious is it that the church really invests themselves in the soul of young people?

It is dire. There is a dire need for that, because they are not the church of tomorrow. They are the church of today. They have to be the leaders where they are. We are not always with them, but they have to lead in their schools and with the culture as it is today, if they are not given these vital tools and this information, that knowledge, we can't bring others out of their bondages to Christ.

We need it. And just a banquet in their senior year of high school is not enough to impart a biblical world view, is it? Eileen, don't we have to start at a young age, really? Number one, making sure that they have a relationship with Jesus.

Absolutely. I wish I would have had the opportunity at this age that our teens are. We have sixth to twelfth graders here, and I really wish I would have had that opportunity. So I'm praying extra hard for the teens that are here to get all they can out of this week. Amen.

And you know, we've got resources like the award-winning video series, the 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, and go to our website truthfornewgeneration.com. I will say, it is your prayers, your participation, your support that is enabling us to do what we feel God has called us to do, which is take the gospel throughout America. But George Washington, our first president, he said that the future of the country depends on the Christian training of young people.

Now think about that. We get secularization, and we're told that the founding fathers didn't even believe. Yet George Washington said the future of the country depends on the Christian training of young people. Well, too, that God is working in and through their lives, Ethan and Kristen, we thank God for that, and 80 some more that we've got to go and talk to. So folks, thanks for listening. Keep us in your prayers, and tell somebody about TNG, but most of all, tell everybody about Jesus.

TNG radio is made possible by the friends of Alex McFarland Ministries, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. That's P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. Call us at 877-YES-GOD-1.

That's 877-YES-GOD 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 as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG radio.