The Alex McFarland Show-100-Hope for the Heart with guest June Hunt

Do you have a desire to deepen your faith, better understand Christian apologetics, or to get a biblical perspective on current events? Well, I've tried to make it simple for you to do just that. On my website, AlexMcFarland.com, there's a new section called Ask Alex Online. It's simple, it's clean, and you can read my answers to common questions about God, faith, and the Bible.

So visit the website, AlexMcFarland.com, and look for the section that says Ask Alex Online. The spiritual condition of America, politics, culture, and current events, analyzed through the lens of scripture. Welcome to the Alex McFarland Show.

The Bible says, Honor Thy Creator in Thy Youth. Hi, Alex McFarland, and we're going to talk today on the program about young people, the spiritual development of teens and children. And with me, what an honor.

And folks, you don't want to miss the next few moments, because I don't use this word lightly. We truly have an expert with us. I'm very honored today to have June Hunt as our guest. And let me say this, if you hear ambient noise in the background, it's because we are at National Religious Broadcasters. We're in Nashville, Tennessee, at a convention every year, National Religious Broadcasters, and ministries, and just all of the Christian leaders that you know and love are here. And we strategize, we pray, and we plan ministry initiatives. Well, you probably know that I was youth pastor for 11 years, and then for 20 years, Angie and I and our staff have been organizing conferences, camps, and events to evangelize young people. And one of my heroes in youth ministry has been June Hunt. June Hunt is a prolific author. She, several years ago, we were at this convention, and she was honored by being inducted into the NRB Hall of Fame as a broadcaster, as a voice for Christian truth. And she has written so many books. She's an expert on conflict resolution. She's an expert on the social, emotional, and spiritual development of young people. And she's with us today.

There's a lot to talk about. I could spend our time just telling your accomplishments for the kingdom of God, but I happen to know this, too, because you and I, June, we were in Minnesota some years ago. She's quite an accomplished guitarist and singer.

See, I didn't know that. You and I were with Ann Palk. I knew you were a great speaker, a great Christian communicator, and there, suddenly, you were playing the guitar and singing.

And you also are a great guitarist. I mean it. No, it's astonishing. I loved it. You know what you and I have in common, though, is the Lord Jesus, don't we? Absolutely.

Absolutely. First of all, thank you for being on our program today. I'm honored. In fact, when I saw your name as one of the people interviewing me, I went, oh, I just smiled. And I just, I thought, how wonderful that I get to be with you during this time. Well, there's a lot I want to talk about, and I do appreciate your time, but I want to hear a little of your journey.

How did the Lord bring you to where you are and all that you've done for the sake of the gospel? Tell people, if you would, the June Hunt story. It took me many decades to ever even mention it, and so it's because it was painful. I grew up with a fictitious last name. I was June Wright, W-R-I-G-H-T, but what was going on was wrong. My dad had three families concurrently, and so we were the third family.

Wow. And so I had an older brother and two younger sisters, and I felt very protective of especially my younger sisters. And yet I was, well, there was a point at which when I was 12, we moved into my dad's house because his first wife had died.

And then 11 months later, my parents married, and he was 28 years older than my mom, my dad was, and it was very difficult. There was a point at which he said, you're the cause of all the problems in the family. My two sisters said that I was the lightning rod for his anger, and I did not know the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Lord and Savior because I'd never even heard of personal Lord and Savior. I did believe that Jesus walked on earth, but what do you mean, Christ in you? I started now being in a totally different church, not because of my dad. My dad said Christianity is a crutch. He was an atheist. He said, I'm not a Christian.

I don't have to go by Christian ethics. So nobody confronted my dad but these women, all these women. And so finally I thought somebody's got to, so I did, and it did not go well.

So I was beaten until he wore out, and I just was still, and then finally I said, are you finished? And he said yes, and I slowly slithered out of that room, and I told my mom when she got in, she's always home, always never, always there. And yet she went to an event for my two younger sisters. I was the only one at home with my dad, and I told her what happened, and she felt guilty. She said, oh no, it's about me, because I said, how can you treat mom the way you do? How can you be harsh and cruel toward her? And that's when he said, I'm not a Christian.

I don't have to go by Christian ethics. And so it was hard growing up. So technically, yes, I knew who my father was, but I didn't have a dad.

I didn't have a daddy at all. And I just love it when I see a man who is loving toward his children. To see a father who puts a hand on the shoulder of a son, a daughter, it touches my heart deeply. You know, June, the power of God in your life to come from abuse, a man that had three families going on at once, from a human perspective to look at your beginnings, nobody would have imagined that you would be a world-renowned minister, touching millions of lives, joyful. If there's a word that I could use to describe you as long as I've known you, you radiate joy. You radiate the presence of the Lord. You're one of the happiest, most radiant people I know. And yet, had Jesus not come into your life, your life would have wound up much, much differently. And so one thing I would love to convey to everybody listening, you came from a place of unimaginable pain, and yet you're a trophy of the joy and the presence of Jesus Christ.

That's available to anybody and everybody, isn't it? You know, what I've learned is, the answer is yes. And I'm the one who said, how can a loving God, because I'm hearing about this loving God, how can a loving God permit one person to cause all this pain to so many people? And I thought, I didn't have an answer. Later, I understood. Yes, the Bible says all things work for good, but I didn't know what to do with that scripture because I couldn't see any good with what happened. All of that pain gave me compassion for others who would have the same type of pain, of harshness, or even, my tender spot was my mom. I tried to protect her.

And kids think they can protect, but you know, as a teenager, and I tried every way, I had a defense fund if we were going to be out on the street. I saved money, and my mother actually would be told by my dad, you know, you're mentally ill. Well, he told me that too. He said tears were a sign of mental illness. And I learned, he saw me in tears, and I never, I had to gut up if you will not have emotion to deal with tears.

So it was very hard for me to ever have tears later on. But my point of that though is when I see somebody who is shut down, I think there's a reason. And I go to them. I might put my hand on the shoulder and be sensitive toward those who I could tell just didn't have freedom in their lives.

Because I knew what it was like to not have freedom. Forgive me. We've got to take a brief break. But folks, we're going to continue our conversation with June Hunt. And if you know somebody that's in such pain, or maybe that person hurting is you, you want to stay tuned because we're going to talk about healing. There is hope. There is healing. And it's just as June Hunt would tell you in Jesus Christ. Stay tuned. We'll be back right 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. He's been called trusted, truthful, and timely. Welcome back to The Alex McFarland Show. Welcome back to the program. We're talking with June Hunt. The first segment, just compelling, riveting. I had no idea some of your past, but, you know, the darker the night, the more brightly the light shines, and that's not a cliché.

That is the reality. June, before we continue in the content, I want you to give your website, because I know there are millions of people that are in a place of pain, and they're wondering, where is hope? Where is some solid ground for my future? You and I know it begins with a relationship to Jesus. Tell us your website, please. It's HopeForTheHeart.org. HopeForTheHeart.org. And, you know, the word hope, you mentioned hope.

There is a highly significant scripture that has that word hope in it, and it's what God plans. He said, I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. I was with a 13-year-old boy who was going to, he'd written a suicide letter to his family, to first his parents, and then his siblings. And the mom worked in my office part-time, and I said, could I talk with Lincoln? And I said, I know what it's like to want to die. And so I was now talking with Lincoln.

I said, Lincoln. And by the way, he was a redhead. He was short. He was bullied in school. So many kids today are bullied. Exactly. And there's a new word in the English language, bullycide.

It's new in the dictionaries. Those who commit suicide because of being bullied, bullycide. Tragic. So I talked with Lincoln. I said, I want you to know God has a plan for you. Don't think that now is forever. In fact, now is not forever.

And sometimes I'll have kids say that with me. Say that with me. Now is not forever.

This is so powerful. Forgive me for interrupting, June, but I want to say that to everybody listening, folks. Now is not forever.

Yes. June, I can think about some times in my own life when things seem so bleak and so impossible. And I don't want to get you off track.

I don't want to deviate here. But in my own family's life with my parents, there were times that I felt like my family was in a place of hopelessness. Four years ago, my parents were a million dollars in debt, a farm family. And I am telling you, folks, please believe what we're saying. There is a new day coming. Do not believe where you are right now is the end of the story. You know, you mentioned Jeremiah 29, 11 through 13, plans to prosper, to give you a hope. Folks, your turnaround can begin today with the Lord Jesus. And I want to say this, and I want you to resume your story, but Jesus is as close by as a prayer. Folks, please believe this.

Maybe even right now you need to call out and simply say, God help me. And He will. And June, I believe our God hung the solar system and resurrects the dead.

He can help us out of our most painful and impossible circumstances, can't He? With Lincoln, I said, do you believe that God created the universe? And He agreed. And I did something with science and just to verify that something cannot come from nothing.

All scientists will tell you. So there had to be a beginning. And the bottom line is, it's God who is the beginner of the universe as well as our lives. And I said, so when God created you, He had a plan for you. Now, you don't know what the plan is.

I said, Lincoln, you can't know the plan. Right now, you know pain, but there can be pain with the purpose later. Trust God with your life and take that scripture. It's Jeremiah 29, 11. And it's important that it's God saying, I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. And as you're listening, write down that scripture because that's an important scripture for many people.

They need to know the truth about the God who created us. And what happened with Lincoln, I said, I want you to read it in the morning when you wake up. I want you to read this during the day, just once sometime. And then before you go to bed and thank him for whatever his plan is. Well, a month later, I find out he enrolled for school. All of a sudden he's in a different school.

All of a sudden he is on the football team. And I said, well, he must be very fast. And his mother said, yes, he's very fast. I said, he must have good hands.

I said, is he a receiver? And he, you know, it was just, yes, the answer. And I just the other day talked with his mom. I said, how's it going with Lincoln?

And she said, he loves school now. And so I didn't expect that fast to turn around. But very candidly, we need to understand that the God who created us has the plan and he's going to use that past pain for a purpose. And that means that we can trust him. What God did with me, and I initially didn't have an answer.

Why? Why could a loving God? Well, if all things work for good, what it did every time I had something painful, especially because of my family, my dad, I learned to have compassion for moms, like for my mom. I learned to have compassion for kids who don't know how to think, because initially I had no Bible. Well, I was in a church, but in that church, there was no Bible. I mean, I went to Sunday school. No one had carried a Bible. I knew no scripture except the Lord's Prayer that was in the middle of a service.

That was always said. But all these kids, I mean, I saw these teenagers, these high school students and whatever they had, I wanted. I didn't know what they had, though. I thought, wait a minute, they have all this information. They can open a Bible and go, and they're there. I thought, how do you do that? And I didn't say it out loud, because I didn't talk. And I said, how could they possibly just get there?

I thought, that's like a magic trick. Well, but they knew the Bible, and I wasn't exposed to the Bible. They just sat by me and turned and helped me know where to go, because fortunately, I got into a biblically based church, which made all the difference in the world. And then I learned, ah, OK, whatever pain we have, it will be to give us compassion so that we don't just think sympathy. Sympathy is like patting a dog, patting a child on the head. I'm sorry you're hurt. Empathy says, I'll hurt with you.

I've been there. Compassion says, I've been there, and I'll stick with you until the hurt is gone. And that's what God does with us. He's a God of compassion, and he wants us, therefore, to have compassion also. You know, there's a verse in the New Testament that says, blessed be the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all of our tribulation, that we may comfort those who are in any trouble. And, June, I've had a lot of people ask me why. And I don't know that we can fully know all the reasons, but I do know this. Sometimes that we have suffered, whether it be abuse or financial reversals or health problems or whatever, but as a Christian, we can come alongside people, and we can legitimately say, I understand what you're going through, and believe me, Jesus is faithful.

And we've got to take a break. Folks, stay tuned. We're going to come back more of our conversation with June Hunt on this edition of the program, and we'll be back after this. 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 this 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. We're coming to you from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in Nashville, Tennessee.

Alex McFarland here along with June Hunt. And June, with the time we have left, I want to talk a little bit about the church and ministering to people. You and I both, one of the things that we share is a real calling for young people.

Would you say in the time that you've been walking with the Lord and serving the Lord, I think one of the big dynamics of ministry in America and the Western world has been the breakdown of the family. Because, you know, when I was in school, I was in a high school of 1,200 students, and the big scandal, there was one girl that got pregnant. But there were not metal detectors at our school. Right. There were not, you know, I mean... It's unheard of.

Yeah. And nowadays, whenever I speak in high schools, I've done high school assemblies where they didn't happen because a fight broke out and the police had to come, like a SWAT team, literally, at a high school in California where I was speaking. And I believe the unraveling of our culture and so many young people that are the victims of abuse and now there's bullying and kids act out in so many ways, it's really been the breakdown of the family. Whenever I speak in a school, I know the majority of those young people are not living under the same roof with their biological mother and father. And kids have shared with my wife and me just, you know, unimaginable stories of sexual abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse. It's little wonder that we are a culture in trouble.

What is the pathway out? How do we begin one relationship at a time? You so beautifully talked about, you know, sympathy, empathy, compassion. As an individual Christian, as the church collective, how do we begin to help rebuild and take Jesus to the hurting world all around us? I think, first of all, if there is a church that cares about kids, understand kids don't have choices. They don't have any choice about what home they grow up in. I did not have any choice.

You have what you have. But, in fact, all of my siblings would tell you that biblically-based church was the emotional salvation of us. Now, not necessarily the spiritual. In other words, like I have a sister who says, well, I'm a Christian, but I don't believe Jesus is necessary for salvation.

And that would not be applicable for a true Christian. But the point is, they recognize the youth leaders. After I graduated from college, the pastor of this church that I was in, he pointed to me, you are going to be our junior high director.

There were 600 in the junior high division. I had 120 leaders. The leaders knew that I didn't know how to lead. They said, look, Jim, you're great with the kids. We'll teach you how to lead. Don't worry about the leadership. And so the leaders took me over and said, okay. Isn't it amazing how the Lord puts us in positions that we're not ready for? Oh, I had no thought.

Never planned it. And so then after four years, I was the college and career director. Totally different demographic.

And again, 600 some-odd in that division. And that's where I really learned how to do apologetics. At least that began my journey, which is huge, because there are different questions, different issues, depending on the age group. And I had people that were leaders that did not give up on me, that would come alongside me.

I needed that help in my young 20s and then during the 20s. And it was huge. Now, what I had learned, and I'm going to do this physically with you right now, I put my hand on the shoulder of like there was a delinquent boy the first day of my youth director years. This guy was tearing down the slats from our whatever, you know, to tell the people what direction to go depending on what grade you're in. And so I saw this.

This was in the late afternoon. And so I slowly walked over to him and I said, hi. My name is June. I'm the new junior high director. What's your name? Jerry. I said, hi, Jerry. You know, because I'm new, I just wonder, and I have my hand on his shoulder, is it possible you could help me? I'm going to at times not know a name of someone that I think I need to know. How long have you been here? I've been here a lot of years in the church. But he was the middle of five boys, no dad in the home.

The dad had abandoned the family. And I said, by the way, I've got a whole bunch of watermelons. Could I use your muscle? Can you get a couple of guys and all of a sudden he stood up and was very erect. He was flexing his muscles. We got to get him from the first floor to the fourth floor at the top.

Can you do that? Yeah. And so, you know, he was a loner on a choir tour. He would sit by himself. And that's not usual for kids. And so I went up to him and I said, hey, Jerry, what's that book in your hand? F Stops.

F Stops? Are you talking about cameras? Yeah. I said, well, are you interested in cameras? Yeah. And I said, would you be our official photographer for all of our events? Yeah.

Because we need to capture it and then put them on posters, poster boards. Yeah. I said, what kind of camera do you have?

And now he's looking down at his shoes in the bus. Yeah. I don't have a camera. If I got you a camera, would you be our official photographer?

He was. So I go home. I think, God, please help me find a thirty five millimeter camera. And I found one in a closet on the floor. You know, just there was equipment there. And I said, Mom, I need this.

Can we use this? And I explained. And I said, we need to buy the film. And I didn't have the money for the film, but she did.

So she said anything to help the youth. And then he literally brought me the annual at the years later of him being the photographer for thousands of the kids that were in his high school. He was the chief photographer. Wow. Three months later, he drowned and I was stunned. Oh, my word. And a year later, his mom came up to me and she had had two jobs. She was doing everything to stay alive just to feed the family. She said there were only two people who believed in Jerry. You and Perry Taylor, who was the choir director.

Right. And but you believed in him and it made all the difference in the world. So you never know with a kid, especially a loner, one who's not talking, one who isn't engaging. There can be an invaluable role that an adult has.

Look for those kids who they're not getting the healthy attention they need. And, you know, June, this is a beautiful story. And I want to say to everybody listening, first of all, look, folks, your life begins the day that you give your heart to Jesus Christ. It doesn't matter what you've accomplished. It doesn't matter where the journey has taken you, you know, good or bad. You're not living until you have Jesus as the Lord of your life.

But then the rest of life, it really is about all that we do for Christ. And it's about relationships. June, you know, you mentioned apologetics.

I love apologetics too. Just one of the seminal influences in my own life has been Josh McDowell. You and I both know Josh. Yes. And I discovered Josh McDowell books about three days after I became a Christian.

Whoa. And as much as I love information and data and truth, ministry flows out of relationships, doesn't it? When I was a youth pastor, I remember, just like you and Jerry, many of my best youth who helped us and were responsible for bringing their friends under the sound of the gospel. But it would be that loner, or it would be that, quote, problem child. But you find out what their niche is. And I remember I had guys that they were hard to deal with, but I let them run the sound system. And they love electronics. Perfect. And then, oh, suddenly they're on board. And they're not only no longer a problem child, but they're some of my best advocates. Fantastic. So folks, here's my point.

You can do this. Some people listening are in rural churches. Maybe you're in urban churches. You're in big cities.

Maybe you have no budget. I want to tell you, folks, loving young people doesn't take budget. Becoming a friend to that child who's out there and they're lonely, there's a desperation. We have got to go out there and build friendships. And of course, the objective here, we're trying to impart the gospel.

We've only got a couple of minutes, June. But I just want to make a challenge to churches throughout the United States and whoever is listening. The joy that you wish your life had, the purpose, the meaning, the reason to get up and face every day, hopefully joyfully, it begins with knowing Jesus and serving Jesus. And that's loving others. And you and I both, yeah, we could talk about world view.

We could talk about theology, apologetics. Believe me, I'm there. But it's all about relationships, isn't it?

Yeah. And you may be the only person who reaches out and cares for a kid who is hurting. And they may not tell you. I couldn't verbalize. I couldn't get it out.

And I had one woman who told me that she tried every way because there was a time when I actually, when I was sent to boarding school, I made all F's in one D. I find that hard to believe. But that's where I was, and I just didn't know what to do with the pain. But this woman said, June, I saw such pain in your face, but I couldn't get it out of you. And I said, I couldn't get it out, but I did know you cared. Just the fact that you cared let me know that there was hope. And I promise you, you made a difference. Amen. Well, you know, sadly we're out of time. I think this is very inspiring and very important.

I want you to give your website again. And on another visit, let's talk about healthy conflict resolution. And you've done so much in terms of counseling. You've got curriculum.

It is world class. And your place in the NRB Hall of Fame is well deserved. But your website where people can find all of your great content. Just simply hopefortheheart.org. Hopefortheheart.org. Well, folks, we've been talking with June Hunt, and the hope that we describe is available to everybody. I want to say this.

I wish I could put it on a billboard on every street in America. God loves you. The Lord Jesus loves you.

He has things for you. Look, it begins with salvation. If you need help on how to come to Christ or how to come back to Christ, on our website, alexmcfarland.com, there's a tab, What Does God Say About My Relationship With Him?

Go to that tab, as a quarter million people have done. And if you need help, just reach out to us. But you can begin a relationship with Jesus today. He's as close by as a prayer, and we hope you'll do that. Thanks for listening. If this show has been a blessing, please share it with somebody else. And again, thanks to our very special guest, June Hunt. Blessings to all. Thanks for joining us. We'll see you again on the next edition of The Alex McFarland Show.