12/5/2020 - A Conversation with Kalee Ewell

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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. To the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. That's Psalm 34 18.

Psalm 147 verse 3 says that God, quote, heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome to this edition of Truth for a New Generation. And on this program we've got an exceptionally inspiring interview with a young lady. She's just a high school senior, but she suffered a debilitating accident.

Her name is Kate. Haley Ewell, who despite a terrible injury and a debilitating illness that you'll learn about, she's praising God and she's thriving and she's shining boldly for Jesus in spite of a situation and irreversible damage to her body that might make other people angry at God. But it does bring up the subject of the problem of pain and suffering.

C.S. Lewis, the great defender of Christianity, said that the reality of pain and suffering, scholars call it the problem of pain or the problem of evil, in a world created by a good God, in a world presided over by a providential, all-powerful, and loving Savior. Why is there pain and suffering in this world?

Lewis said that was the most perennial apologetics issue and he said really the thorniest and the most difficult to respond to. Because on the one hand we are here, we have life, and there is God. God has shown us in His Word that He is good, He is merciful, He is powerful, and yet in this world there are things that are bad.

Tragic, in fact, like precious young people on the eve of their entire future getting injured, an injury that will dog them and follow after them for life. So how do we reconcile the two? Is it possible to understand and respond to the problem of pain without compromising what we know God has sent word for? The word is antinomy. Now an antinomy is something that looks contradictory on the surface, but upon further investigation you see that it isn't. We in this world, a fallen world, a world of sin, yet God is there, God is real, and the tomb is empty.

We have on our hands an antinomous situation. It looks irreconcilable, it looks contradictory. God, what we read about God, and yet there is pain and suffering in the world.

I would submit to you it is possible, I believe, now I realize emotional fulfillment is not the same thing as intellectual reasonableness. I would say on the front side it is intellectually possible to reconcile the reality of a perfect God with an imperfect world. Look, God made everything and six times in the opening chapters of Genesis, six times God looked over his creation, he said it is good, it is good, it is good. But what happened, as you know, was sin. God created a perfect world, but Adam and Eve in Genesis chapter 3, they chose to disobey and thus the fall, the fall into sin. Sin is a lot of things, it's rejection of known truths.

It's disobedience to a known directive. But sin, as again C.S. Lewis said, sin is treason against the most high God. And so we look at this world and we say this world is not the way things ought to be. And God looks at this world and God says, agreed, this is not the way things ought to be.

That's why he sent his son. And here as we get ready to celebrate Christmas, as Joy to the World says, no more let sin be. Sin abound, nor thorns infect the ground. Because Jesus came, the Son of God. And do you know what's so beautiful, and this is the power of the Christian message, not only has God acted to solve our sin problem and to redeem us from the penalty of sin, save us from the power of sin, one day remove us from the very presence of sin.

God is so amazing and so powerful. That even as we experience salvation, we mature spiritually, we grow as a Christian, not only are we more and more in the presence of Christ and we grow as believers, if you will trust him with your situation, you will be rewarded in heaven. You'll get crowns and rewards in heaven for the ways that you trusted Christ and believed, even in spite of the challenges of this world. Charles Spurgeon, who I so deeply love, Spurgeon lived a hundred years ago, and he said once, when a skeptic was challenging him, how can you believe in God, how can you believe in Christianity when there's pain and suffering in the world? And Spurgeon said, of everything I've ever tasted in this world of God's mercy, and he said, my path has been remarkably strewn with God's loving kindness. He said, second only to his relationship with Jesus, salvation. The thing that he secondarily was most grateful for were trials and pains.

And you think, well, how can that be? Spurgeon said, quote, I am sure I have derived more real benefit, permanent strength, growth in grace, every precious thing from the furnace of affliction more so than I have ever derived from the days of prosperity. You see, problems and challenges, they purify us, they purge us of self-reliance, and arrogance, and pride, and they drive us to Christ. And one of the ways that we begin to process the problem of pain is to realize that his word makes great promises, like in Revelation 21, verse 4. Speaking of heaven, when it says God will, quote, wipe every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death, or mourning, or crying, or pain. God will wipe every tear from our eyes, no more death, mourning, crying, or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. Now, friend, as we get into our interview with Kaylee Ewell, please listen carefully and allow yourself to be motivated, inspired, maybe even a little bit convicted by a young person who in spite of a harder path than most of us will ever tread, she's trusting God, growing in grace, and praising the Lord.

Stay tuned. Truth for a New Generation is back right after this. America today is like a patient struggling to live, yet is being forcibly euthanized by her, quote, doctors. The life force within the patient fighting for survival is the honest citizens like yourself.

The team of, quote, caregivers are the local and national leaders actually contributing to the demise of the patient. The economy is crashing, crime is exploding, the Constitution is being abolished, the assault on America, how to defend our nation before it's too late by Alex McFarland has one single purpose, to get you prepared. Learn the real source of America's current problems that no one else is talking about, and what you can do now to face tomorrow, regardless of what tomorrow brings. The assault on America, how to defend our nation before it's too late, available now at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and local Christian bookstores. You know, Alex has been writing for many years, and one of his classic books is still great today as a basic introduction to the Christian faith. It's called Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith.

This book will help you help your teens get off the roller coaster of doubt and onto solid ground. You'll read about the six pillars of biblical Christianity. They are, one, inspiration of the Bible, two, the virgin birth, three, the deity of Christ.

four, atonement, five, Christ's resurrection, and six, Christ's return. You know, Alex mixes it up with humor and stories he gleaned from decades of working with youth, and encourages teens to build a foundation of faith that will stabilize their lives and help them take a stand for Christ. Simple and straightforward, Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith, available wherever Christian books are sold. For apologetics resources, books by Alex McFarland, and to find out where Alex is speaking, visit alexmcfarland.com. In Hebrews chapter 13, the Bible promises Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. But where is Jesus when we're going through deep valleys and hard times and even painful situations?

Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome to this edition of Truth for a New Generation. You know, traveling the country, writing and speaking, probably the most common question related to apologetics is not so much evidence, and does history and archaeology prove the Bible? Although we get those questions and we love to speak to those issues, I would say in hundreds of churches and probably thousands of interactions with people over the last thirty years, the most common question, why do bad things happen? Sadly, many people, when they go through very trying times, some people get angry with God, some people turn their back on God, and some people walk away and they maybe throw up their hands thinking, you know, God doesn't love me anymore, or this bad thing that's happened means that there must not be a God. Well today on the program we're going to talk about this issue, and this issue is very significant because it's a personal issue. None of us like to hurt.

None of us like to go through hard times. And when we do, I believe it is very critical that we spiritually land on our feet. And so today you're going to meet a very special guest who has graciously agreed to talk with us a little bit on Truth for a New Generation. You know, as I travel I meet thousands and thousands of people, and every now and then you meet people that are just so special, and the way the hand of the Lord is on their life, I just think to myself, I want people everywhere to meet this or that special person. Well one such person is Kaylee Ewell. I'm on the road in eastern North Carolina, and Kaylee is a high school student. She's got a very wonderful story. And so Kaylee, I want to thank you. This is very spur of the moment, but you've graciously agreed to give some time. And I want to say thank you, and also welcome to the Truth for a New Generation broadcast.

Thank you for having me. So your family lives in eastern North Carolina, Christian family, and you're a believer yourself, right? Correct. As a Christian, is life always hunky-dory, no problems? It's just an easy road to follow Christ. Is that right or wrong?

Definitely wrong. Sometimes even faithful Christians go through painful things, don't they? Of course, yes. Would you share a little bit about your story and kind of what you've been battling the last couple of years? Yeah, so for the past four years I have been battling with a lot of health issues. It started with a concussion, and then later it turned into a chronic pain issue.

And it's been a really rough road, honestly. So you were playing volleyball, and you got an injury in a volleyball game. What happened? So it was the third hit over, and me and another girl went for the same ball, and she got it before I did, and hit it in my right eye temple area. And I blacked out, and I got a pretty bad concussion. Do you remember suffering the hit, and do you remember blacking out, or did you just wake up at the doctors later? Well, I remember walking off the court like a zombie, and then being in the bathroom, and then being in the car, and then being at the hospital. But in between all that, I don't remember. When did you and your parents realize that this was not just an average little injury, but this was something very, very serious?

I really don't know. I couldn't walk because I was so dizzy for a couple weeks. And maybe that's when it started, because with concussions you usually are completely fine between seven to ten days, and I was not. I couldn't really get off the couch in any of that time. And besides the physical implications of your injury, I mean, this has impacted your school and your graduation, hasn't it? Oh yeah, definitely. So I was supposed to graduate in May of 2020, and here is November 2020, and I was like, okay, maybe I'll graduate December 2020.

And we'll see, but it doesn't really look like that's going to happen. What have been some of the other physical complications that have come in the aftermath of the concussion? So I said I'm in chronic pain, and so that stemmed off of the concussion, so the doctor's belief, and that has caused many just difficulties. And between that, sometimes I'm in a wheelchair, and sometimes I can walk. Sometimes I can use my arm, sometimes I cannot. Like, there was a time where I was in the wheelchair for six months, and that was really, really, really hard. And there was even little things where I couldn't put on socks and shoes for six months, and it was honestly ridiculous.

It's the little things as well as the big things. What has this done for your belief in Jesus, or your walk with the Lord? It's opened up so many opportunities and doors for me to reach out and minister.

In the month of September 2018, I got to go to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for a program called The First Program, and that's functional independence restoration. And that was to re-teach me how to walk and use my entire body like normally, but not so normally, and just live through the pain. And from that, I got to see how people were without Christ, and it's really honestly so sad what people turn to when they don't have God.

They were turning to homosexuality, transgenderism, disobedience, just so much sin, and they didn't have that hope and peace in Christ. We're going to have to take a brief break, but if I'm hearing you correctly, as rough as it's been, as bad as the pain is and the complications, I mean ultimately this has given you ministry opportunities, hasn't it? Yes. I've talked to people with pain honestly all over the world. There's been people from the Netherlands, people in, I think it was Britain, and people in all states of the United States, and it's been so awesome. Folks, stay tuned. We're going to continue our conversation with Kaylee Ewell, who in my opinion is doing a wonderful job of representing Christ. I want you to pray for Kaylee and her dear family. They're wonderful people. Stay tuned.

We're going to come back and hear more from Kaylee after this brief break. And in the book, Alex McFarland identifies the 10 most common types of skepticism that plague doubters' minds and offers believers proven strategies for connecting intellectually and spiritually with those who are skeptical about the claims of Christianity. Learn how to answer intimidating questions, identify the root issue behind those questions, and dismantle the spiritual bombshells dropped by atheists. Plus find encouragement to face hostility by persevering in love. The ultimate apologetic Christians can offer is a witness to our loving God.

Check out 10 answers for skeptics when you visit alexmcfarland.com. Christians don't necessarily agree with one another when it comes to questions of religious pluralism, homosexuality, the role of government, abortion, and war. Too often we manage these disagreements by ignoring them. Yet we're called to engage the world for the sake of Christ.

How can we be effective if we avoid society's most pressing questions? In 10 issues that divide Christians, Alex McFarland challenges us to drill down to the biblical core of 10 current issues, such as social justice, evil and suffering, pornography, and environmentalism, as he echoes the biblical invitation, come, let us reason together. Only by engaging the scriptures deeply, thinking clearly, and speaking truthfully, can we and God's family address our differences and discover the peace that comes with unity of purpose. 10 issues that divide Christians.

Find this book and many others at alexmcfarland.com. 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. Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome back to Truth for a New Generation. You know, as I record this, we are wrapping up a fantastic day of ministry at Union Grove Church of Christ in a community called Pungo.

It's near Plymouth, North Carolina, near the eastern part of North Carolina. There's a lot of amazing people down here. And we're talking with Kaylee Ewell, and I want to resume her story. Kaylee was injured in a volleyball game. A lot of physical complications have emanated from that, but that has not hurt her walk with the Lord.

Kaylee, let me sort of cue something up. There's a speaker that we've used in our conferences called Joni Eareckson Tada was paralyzed in a diving accident. And she and her husband Ken, wonderful Christian people, but for 40 years she has ministered to people with disabilities and led probably hundreds and hundreds of thousands of people to Christ.

And she said something one time. She said, this is not an assignment I ever would have asked for, but it's what happened. But it's been a platform to minister for Christ.

So this is not an assignment you ever would have anticipated nor asked for, is it? No, but honestly, I don't know if I would take it away because of how much I've grown from it. So you're saying the hard times have actually brought you closer to the Lord?

Oh, yeah, definitely. When you were sitting in a wheelchair for six months, I mean, there's no doubt a lot of time to think. What was going through your mind as you began to think, okay, this might be the new reality, the new normal, new reality? What was going through your mind? So for me, I don't remember ever feeling like, oh my word, this is awful.

This is terrible. I just remember feeling, okay, this is what the Lord has for me right now. And I'm just going to roll with it.

I'm going to see what he has for me. And I remember having lots of conversations like, God is not doing this to me. God allows bad things to happen. But the devil will try to put things in your way to mess up God's plans all the time.

And apparently God has big plans for me. That's a very, very mature perspective. I mean, I've met people that are decades older than you who don't have that maturity. How did you get such a solidly biblical, frankly mature perspective at such a young age, if I might ask?

I don't know. I've grown up in the church. And I don't know how not to trust God because there's so much he's done for me. And God is good all the time. Are you in pain right now?

Yes, sir. What do you say, Kaylee, to a person who says, okay, X happened to me. I'm going to be angry toward God. I'm going to walk away from God.

This or that thing happened. Therefore, I'm going to push God out of my life. What would you say to a person who might be at that crossroad? Why? Like, everything good comes from God.

Why would you push him away? That's a great perspective. And, you know, I applaud you. And I know, listen, I know you and your family well enough to know you give God the glory. You're not in it for any glory for yourself. But the way you're handling this is very God-honoring and, frankly, very inspiring.

You inspire me, and I know you're inspiring the listeners right now. And isn't that our assignment as human beings, to give glory to God? I mean, you're doing what the Lord put you here to do, to know Christ and to honor Christ.

That's our assignment, isn't it? Yeah, and to make disciples of Christ. So I can use this, my testimony, to help others in this situation or things like this. Would you feel comfortable saying a prayer? There are probably listeners that have things that are heavy on their heart. I mean, it could be family issues, financial issues. It could be, like yourself, physical issues. You're telling me that God is faithful and God is real.

There's probably people that are asking, okay, Kaylee Ewell has it, but that's her. Can I have that very same peace from God? Can the presence of the Lord be real in my life? For the person who's out there hurting, would you say a word of prayer, sister?

Yeah. Dear God, thank you for this day. I pray for everyone who's hurting physically, emotionally, mentally, like anything, any hurt. God, I pray for people who are lost, looking for you, not looking for you. I pray that they find you. I pray for those who are witnessing for you. I pray that they are successful.

God, just reveal yourself to people. Please. Please heal all who are hurting. Thank you for everything good you've done for us. And it's in Christ's name we pray. Amen. Amen. That's just very beautiful.

Hey, I want to say thank you and I hope we get to visit again. I look forward to hearing about the progress you make and your physical issues, but I look forward to hearing how God's going to use you. I don't say this lightly, but God's hand is on your life mightily. And I just applaud you for letting Jesus lead you as you're doing.

Thank you. You're listening to Truth for a New Generation. We've been talking with Kaylee Ewell, graciously agreeing to share her story.

And friend, her story can be your story. I don't say this glibly or flippantly, but Jesus is real. He really is faithful. And when he says that he will never leave us or forsake us, that really is true. Friend, you might be going through a deep, deep valley.

You might be going through something that you think is simply unbearable. But I close with one verse, John 10-28. Jesus says, I give to you eternal life and nothing can pluck you out of my hand or snatch you. God is not going to let anything take you away from his presence if you'll let him be in your life. God's not going to drop you.

God's not going to forget you. And we would urge you today, I'm sure Kaylee would say this, her family, and we say it, Jesus really loves you and he can help you. Turn to him today. If Truth for a New Generation can help you, write to us, email us.

You'll find us online at alexmcfarland.com. If you need a Bible or you need encouragement, let us know how we can help you. And I would encourage you, please share this with somebody.

You can like us on social media. You can forward this show to people that you think it would benefit. So God bless you. Thank you for listening.

Again, we thank Kaylee Ewell for being with us in the program. We look forward to visiting with you again on the next edition of Truth for a New Generation. That's 877-YES-GOD1.

That's 877-YES-GOD1. 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.