The Alex McFarland Show-31-Investing in Our Younger Generation with guest Chris Romans

The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events analyzed through the lens of scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show. If you've ever asked yourself, hey, I'm only one person, what could I possibly do in my community? How could I make a difference as one individual? If you've ever wondered that, you need to hear this show. Hi, Alex McFarland here.

Welcome to the program. We're going to talk about some things about our nation. But you know, God's church is called to be salt and light in the country. And I often quote St. Augustine. 1600 years ago, Augustine wrote what has come to be known as City of God. Now, City of God talks about the fact that we as believers, we're headed to heaven, right? But until we get there, we Christians have an obligation to the city of man. Augustine taught us.

He lived 354 to 430. But if we're a born again believer, we have one foot in two different worlds. We're bound for heaven. We're citizens of the kingdom.

And yet we have an obligation to our community, our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. Well, I'm very excited because we've got a friend here. I'm in Texas.

I'm on the road in Texas. If you're a regular listener, you may have recently heard my interview with the pastor of First Baptist Yorktown, Texas. We've got one of his great staff members here, Chris Romans, who I share a bond with also because Chris is in youth ministry and I was a youth pastor for 11 years.

But we're going to talk about Chris's involvement in his community on the school board and just a lot of things. But welcome to the program, Chris Romans, and thank you for your time. Thank you, Alex.

It's a pleasure to be here. Well, God bless you. And may I commend you and your wife for ministering to young people.

Amen. It is truly a blessing to be able to just minister to the kids and show them who God is through his word and just guide them in that, teaching them. And my wife leads praise and worship. And so it's a blessing to work with her as well, serving the Lord. You know, my wife and I were full time in youth ministry for 11 years. It's not just super soakers and nerf guns and lock ins. I mean, it really is some very vital discipleship and evangelism, isn't it?

Oh, yes, most definitely. You know, we we keep them for about an hour and a half on a Wednesday night. And 30 minutes of that time is the Lord's time. And so a lot of times reeling them in and getting them settled down.

I've got the junior high boys, so that's always real fun. But it is an honor and a pleasure to serve the Lord and trying to reach these kids. A lot of them are churched and you see a lot of broken families. And so just being able to let them know who they are in the Lord and just reminded them every time they come here, being faithful and obedient to just share God is is just truly an honor. Well, I want to talk about the fact that you are also, Chris, you're being salt and light serving on your local school board.

And you God has used you, I know, to turn your local school board in some good directions. But before we get there, I want to talk about youth, because listen up, folks. There was an article in World magazine not too too long ago about the, quote, graying of the American church, as in gray hair, people getting older. And Chris, everywhere I go and I'm in, well, a lot of churches here.

I mean, prior to COVID, I would be in easily 100 churches a year to speak or do seminars. And everybody wants to know how do we reach young people? So talk to us a little bit about the spiritual state of America's teens right now as you see it. Well, you know, I think that there's a lot of distractions. There's a lot of distractions for the kids out there. You know, they're not getting a lot of who God is.

They're not being subjected or learning about who he is. And so we have a responsibility as people of Christ, to share the Lord with them and every opportunity that we get. And, you know, it's establishing a relationship with these kids. It's talking to them, listening to them, and getting the feel for where they're at and just engaging with them, showing them where God's Word is that, you know, opening the Bible with them, letting them read Scripture, getting them to sing some songs.

And when I talk about listening to them, it's hearing them. You know, after a class on a Wednesday night, I'll have one come and say, Hey, Pastor Chris, I want to get baptized, you know, and then we start talking about professional faith and explaining all that to them, or they'll ask for a Bible and we're readily there to give them one. We, you know, we try to make sure we have Bibles for them and just trying to reach them in every aspect that we can. We get involved in our community as well. Just trying to get out there and let them know that we care and share them with the community. Do you think America's teens in the 21st century are spiritually hungry?

I think they are. A lot of them have questions, and that's always fun. When I first started in youth ministry, I saw, I was telling kids about Jesus and they just had this look on their face. So I had to go pray with the Lord and talk to him. And he talked to me and I was like, Lord, how to reach these kids. So I had to start from the beginning with this whole new youth group that I had starting in Genesis and then giving them an explanation of who God is and who Jesus is and Holy Spirit and tell them about sin and explaining all that to them. And then I got to where I could start teaching them about who God is and who Jesus is and how he loves them.

Over the years, have you seen the questions change? I could say to you that, you know, a lot of kids only get the idea of who God is because maybe someone has told them a little bit or maybe they've read something, but they get a lot of, you know, God's not real. You know, why would you believe in that?

You can't even see him and things like that, you know. And so, but I see that there's a yearning in the conversations that I have with the kids and that it's such a joy to see their questions and be able to try to answer them for them. You know, when they when they get that aha moment, when they get it, when they start understanding it and you start seeing their joy and their comfortableness. And I get it now.

I see. And, you know, I'm very blessed to have some of the kids from my youth group that are members here at the church to help minister and set those examples, too. And I'm blessed because there's a lot of adults in my church that help as well in teaching and guiding the kids.

So being able to answer those questions for them when they see and they get those aha moments, that is really a joy. I want to encourage everybody listening, you know, my heart just relates to you, Chris, because I remember, you know, as youth pastor, Friendly Avenue Baptist Church in Greensboro, there's the evangelism, the discipleship, but then there's leadership development of the teens that we have. Then there's leadership recruitment of adults. So listen up, everybody, wherever you are in America, if you really want to be blessed and it is such a joy, get involved in your local church's youth ministry.

Wouldn't you give a cry to all the adults out there listening? Go to your youth pastor. If you don't have youth ministry, start one, but go to your minister to students and volunteer, I think is the most exciting department of the church, don't you?

Oh, most definitely. I'm very fortunate because, like I say, I have a lot of adults that come alongside me and help. And it ranges from teachers to chaperones to the ladies that I call them our wiser generation, our ladies that are a little bit older in age in our congregation, they'll come and they'll cook for the kids and help my wife prepare meals. It is truly a blessing to see the demographics of the people that come to help. So I encourage you as a believer in the Lord God Almighty to share your time with the youth for they're going to be tomorrow's church.

And so we need to build up the body and continue to teach young people about who God is so that they can continue to do his kingdom work. Stay tuned, folks. We're going to come back with Chris Romans talking about being salt and light in the community, in his case on the school board. And it might inspire you as well to get involved in being truth and light where you live. Stay tuned. We're back after this. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert.

Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. In recent years, our nation has suffered greatly and we seem to be on a rapid moral decline. We've rejected God, morality, and we've almost completely lost our sense of patriotism. It's no wonder that many are asking the question, is this the end of America? Hi, Alex McFarland here and I want to make you aware of my book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late. You know, our nation has seen politicians that are corrupted by greed and they've got a vested interest in power.

And many of our elected officials seem to care little about the country that they've been appointed to serve. Read my book, The Assault on America. We can stand up for our great nation and defend America before it's too late.

It's available everywhere. You can learn more on my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Read the book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late.

It's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program.

Alex McFarland here. You know, I doubt I would have to persuade any listeners that our country needs to return to Christ. We need a revival.

And that comes about, yes, through the hand of God, comes about through prayer, but it comes through revival. Folks, if you read the history of revival, cultural renewal, I'm reminded of what my friend Chuck Colson would say. The late great Chuck Colson, he said, the church is the conscience of the culture. And Colson, he would cite the great awakenings and Jonathan Edwards and different leaders, Charles Finney, D.L.

Moody, different ones, Billy Graham. But Colson would always tell audiences and he would speak for us in our conferences that he said, God works through people and God wants to work through you. Well, I'm sitting here in Texas with a friend, a colleague, and God is working through Chris Romans. Chris, you've been a veteran. You've served our country.

Thank you for doing that, by the way. Yes, I served in the U.S. Army and Army Reserves for 21 years. And I have also worked in law enforcement. I was in law enforcement for the state of Texas for about 24 years.

Actually, I did about 26 years in conjunction with that. Well, in total, I've had the honor of serving veterans and first responders in a ministry I'm involved with called Christian Warriors Retreat. And that takes place here in Texas. And it's free. It's free to veterans and first responders.

We don't charge anything for them to attend. And we get our support through donations and just fundraising. And the Lord has really blessed us in that. And we get to minister to these veterans and first responders. And we see a lot of lives changed because of Christ. Does that ministry, the Christian Warriors Retreat, does that have a website? It does. It's ChristianWarriors.org.

If you click on that, you can see where there's a link to Eventbrite and you can fill that out. We serve veterans and first responders, both male and female. And we also have a retreat designated for Warrior Wives for the wives and spouses. It's truly been a blessing to serve in this ministry. We have all the branches of the service and other first responders that are on team that come together and share the love of Christ with these men and women to help them see who their identity is in. And that's the Lord God.

You know, I've got a chuckle to myself. You've been in the Army. You've been in law enforcement. You're a youth pastor.

Chris, I was doing a youth event on the East Coast and a 15 year old kid came up and we're talking and talking about some of the very same questions you talked about. How do you know God is real? This young man, he said to me, he said, I would like to be a Christian, but I'm afraid it would be boring.

Everybody in the room is laughing. And I'm like, oh no, if you give your life to Jesus and you start on this walk with the Lord, you better buckle up because it's an adventure to be a Christian, isn't it? Oh, amen. You know, to see these men and these law enforcement officers that have dealt with the things they've dealt with, the traumas and just the regular things in life too. When the Lord was speaking to me about working in this ministry, I realized that there was a group of people here that they were dealing with their own things and they needed to, they needed to be ministered to. And as I came alongside the ministry and became a part of it, I really started seeing the Lord work and he didn't just work in their lives.

He worked in my life. And I realized that service to the Lord isn't just going to church. It's doing more. It's serving others outside of the church walls. It's ministering to folks. And so I've really seen God's fruit impact the lives of these men and women.

I want to talk about your service, folks. Again, God is calling you to be a leader in your community as well about Christians and the church and local government, because I believe that it's vital for the future of our nation that Christians be involved. I mean, why should we leave leadership, local government, politics and education?

Why should we leave that in the hands of pagans? And you've stepped up and Chris, I want to commend you for your sacrifice, but you're on the school board. What prompted you to want to get involved in the local school board?

Well, I'll tell you, I'm not a politician, Alex. It had come to my attention that there was a curriculum being taught at our school here in Yorktown. It was called Achieve 3000.

I humorously referred to it with my senior pastor Mark Collins that I call it Agenda 3000. I think they wanted to implement it under the guise of academic performance. They wanted to increase academia. But when you looked at the core curriculum and what it was crazy, there were things that were going against God's word and it was raising up other religions. And, you know, there was a lot of things that go against God's word, classes on LGBTQ and other things that altered history.

You know, it was a different telling of history and the whole material just didn't set well with me. And so I told Pastor Mark, I said, hey, we need to go to the school board meetings. Well, I started attending, started seeing how things were being done. And some of us spoke and, of course, because we were obedient and faithful, I think in that. And we went and spoke at the opportunity to do so and they removed the program. And it was only a few of us that went and voiced our concerns.

That's so key. And I've got other stories and folks, listen, you can make a difference in these woke curriculums that are, besides being ungodly, they're really anti-American. It doesn't take that many voices to get the attention of those that make the decisions about curriculum. It may have been a mistake on their part for not maybe really looking at the curriculum. But I think that when they realized what it was and that the concerns of the community and a few voices were representing the community in that, that they made the turnaround and got rid of it. But what we saw was some contrition from those on the school board and the administration and we approached it with a gentle, truthful, godly approach and God moved.

They changed it. So we were grateful. I think for a lot of people, it might be a little bit of a revelation, Chris, that you as a citizen can go to the school board meeting and you as an individual tax paying American, you have a right to know what's going on.

Like you say, you've got to be respectful and gentle, get on the docket. But people across America have an opportunity to plug in, be heard and get involved. Definitely. I encourage everyone to get involved. Don't just sit in your pews. We are called by God to go into the world and be a light. And so God's voice needs to be heard by those that haven't heard it or just don't know. I tell you, I have seen obedient, faithful Christians when they step out to do God's will and shine his light. People are moved by that. God's word doesn't come back void.

So when you're out there, be present and show people who God is and stand firm in your faith and show them, show them God's love. Well we've got to take a brief break. Alex McFarland here, along with Chris Romans, we're talking about being involved.

And one way to do that is through education and the school board. Stay tuned. We've got a brief break. When we come back, we'll continue talking about your role, your role in the revival that must be in America.

Don't go away, folks. Fox News and CNN call Alex McFarland a religion and culture expert. Stay tuned for more of his teaching and commentary after this. Christian author and speaker, Alex McFarland is an advocate for Christian apologetics. Teaching in more than 2200 churches around the world, schools and college campuses, Alex is driven by a desire to help people grow in relationship with God. He arms his audiences with the tools they need to defend their faith while also empowering the unchurched to find out the truth for themselves. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex is a sound voice who speaks timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. With 18 published books to his name, it's no surprise that CNN, Fox, the Wall Street Journal and other media outlets have described Alex as a religion and culture expert. To learn more about Alex and to book him as a speaker at your next event, visit alexmcfarland.com or you can contact us directly by emailing booking at alexmcfarland.com. Over the last several decades, it's been my joy to travel the world talking with children, teens, adults, people of all ages about the questions they have related to God, the Bible, Christianity and how to know Jesus personally.

Hi, Alex McFarland. I want to make you aware of my book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. You know, we interviewed hundreds of children and parents and families to find out the questions that children and people of all ages are longing to find answers for. In the book, we've got practical, biblical, real life answers that they have about how to be a Christian in this modern world.

My book, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, you can find it wherever you buy books or at resources.afa.net. He's been called trusted, truthful and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here talking with youth pastor and community leader for God and country, Chris Romans.

I do want to remind everybody two things. I want to give you two websites, one alexmcfarland.com. That's my website. My speaking tour is on there, my travel schedule. And one of the big dates coming up and it might seem a long way away, but next summer, July 7 through 9, 2023, I'll be in Western North Carolina at the Billy Graham Training Center. We're going to be finishing up our segment on the writings of Peter, 1 and 2 Peter. And I feel very blessed when Will Graham invites me to the cove. It's always to teach a book of the Bible. And you know the Apostle Peter, a fisherman said whatever came to his mind, but don't sell Peter short.

1 and 2 Peter are amazing chock full of deep, deep biblical truth. The theme is thriving till he comes. And the website for the cove is t-h-e-c-o-v-e.org. I would love for you to be there.

It always fills up. Join with us next summer, September 7 through 9 with believers from all over North America as we study and we'll drill down into the theme of thriving till he comes. I also want to remind everybody that we'll be April 21 through 23 in Paris, Tennessee, right outside of Nashville, Tennessee. One of our Truth for a New Generation National Conferences. How's this for a lineup? Will and Miki Addison in person.

Attorney Abe Hamilton. Bird Harper will be there from Exploring the Word. I'll be there.

It's going to be amazing. TVCC Tennessee Valley Community Church, a big youth component, so much more. Pray for Truth for a New Generation, spring of 23. And you can find out more at my website, alexmcfarland.com. Also, finally, our youth campus clubs are catching fire all across America. Youth clubs, we're equipping middle schoolers, high schoolers, college students to reach their peers.

Yes, with the gospel. But folks, Viral Truth Clubs, we're teaching kids how to America. Now, what do I mean by that? This country, it's a great country. It's a God blessed country. And we're trying to equip kids to not be woke, not fall prey to LGBTQ, trans, socialism, Marxism.

So go to the website viraltruth.com, viraltruth.com. And we would love to help you charter a club. We'll provide you content. And let's get a generation of young people that love God and country. So much more going on.

We'll keep you posted. But right now, I want to resume our conversation with Chris Romans. Chris, I have so much respect for you, my friend, colleague in the ministry. But you eventually, am I right, you ran for and joined the school board. Is that right?

Yes. You know, as I said earlier, I, you know, I was like, not, not me, Lord, you know, that's not, I'm not a politician. And there were a lot of people though, that were approaching me and telling me, Mr. Romans, you would be good for the school board and even my wife. And I was, all right, honey, well, let me pray on this. So I started praying to the Lord and talk to my pastor and some others. And the Lord put it on my heart. And my wife had told me she had heard a pastor speaking on the radio.

And he was given the analogy that if we as Christians don't go into these places and shine the light of God, where you see these fringe ideologies trying to permeate our society and coming after our kids, if his light is not shining in those places, well, whose light is shining in there? And we pretty much know who's that is. So again, I realized that, you know what, Lord, I'm going to serve you in all of this.

I'm going to do your will, father. And I know he's been with me. I saw a complete turnaround on the board and it went from where it was at to being a little bit stronger and more Christian men that got along or got elected on the board. But yeah, he's been great in all of it.

And I give him all the praise for it. Do you think by you're a veteran, a citizen, a Christian, a conservative constitutionalist, all of these things that for two centuries have been keys to our greatness as a nation. Do you think that it's prompted within your local school board discernment to look, we've got to keep an eye on this curriculum so that we don't have our kids learning things that will contribute to the dismantling of America? I mean, it's put some vetting out of the curriculum into that school board, hasn't it?

Oh, definitely. I think that everyone realizes that this is a Christian community. The rural small towns have a very strong faith in community. And I think that what we started to see was like, Hey, it was almost like, I want to say the community became not woke, but they woke up. And so people are like, you know, the voting turnout was really impressive. I only lived in this community for about 20 years. I wasn't from it.

Everybody else on the board, I believe, is from here. And the Lord positioned me in a place where he really lifted me up for his purposes. And I was amazed. And to see the community that came out to support us and telling us, Hey, we appreciate what you guys are doing. And I've even had some say, thank you for being faithful and obedient to God and service in this capacity. Chris, 50 states, hundreds and hundreds of communities, counties throughout America, sea to shining sea, 300 million plus Americans.

What do you say to the individual that is concerned for this country, but they're thinking, Oh, Chris Romans could do this, but I couldn't do it. But yet they're burdened. Give us a challenge for local involvement on the part of God's people.

Most definitely. I think that when you spend time with the Lord and prayer and you see the things that are going on in our society, it's so easy to sit back and watch the TV and go, man, things need to change. Well, God equips us and his word equips us. He wants us to go out and share the gospel in doing that. We've got to be out there. We've got to be out there showing people who God is because don't let that fear keep you from doing that.

You probably think you can't do something like school board or being on your city council or in other aspects of these leadership roles in our communities, but you can. I promise you, I thought I couldn't. I spent time with the Lord. I prayed and I said, God, I know you're going to be with me.

I'm going to serve you in it. And I always put him first. I promise you, you can do anything with God.

His word says so. So be encouraged brothers and sisters and know that you can do what you think you can't, but you got to take that step. You got to step out and be faithful and obedient in doing that because people need to see God.

You got to be those vessels to shine the light into those places and you will glorify him and he will do what he does always. Well, Chris, I look forward to visiting with you and all the great people in Texas again, but hearing your story and folks listen to this, please, if you would Benjamin Franklin, one of the most fascinating of our founding fathers, Benjamin Franklin said, everybody loves the fruits of freedom, but few people are willing to tend the tree that bears the fruits of freedom and the liberties that we've enjoyed as a nation. We have, and God loves America. God loves this nation, but things like praying, evangelizing, mentoring the upcoming generations, being salt and light, getting out of our comfort zone, staying informed, being a person of influence.

And yes, maybe talking across the backyard fence to the neighbor and influencing people. These are all things that we all can do like Chris Romans is doing, and we can help tend the tree that bears the wonderful God-given fruits called freedoms. And so folks, God bless you. Thanks for listening and do something for God and country.

Tune in next time and we look forward to being with you again. Alex McFarland 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 alexmcfarland.com. You may also reach us at Alex McFarland, PO Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404, or by calling 1-877-Yes-God-1. That's 1-877-Yes-God-1. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of the Alex McFarland Show.