Q&A with Dr. Jeffress - Alaska Cruise

Hey, podcast listeners! Thanks for streaming today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory is a nonprofit ministry featuring the Bible teaching of Dr. Robert Jeffress. Our mission is to pierce the darkness with the light of God's word through the most effective media available, like this podcast. To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. Now, here's today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory. Our motto is piercing the darkness with the light of God's word.

You know, I was walking through the hotel lobby and person after person stopped me and said, piercing the darkness, piercing the darkness, piercing the darkness. That's so heartwarming to me. It's not just a motto.

It's a calling. Welcome to Pathway to Victory with author and pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffress. Today on Pathway to Victory, Dr. Jeffress addresses honest questions from the audience about forgiveness, prodigal children, and the future of Pathway to Victory. This very special Q&A segment was recorded during the recent Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska, and we wanted to make sure that you had an opportunity to benefit from this valuable teaching as well. Now, here's our Bible teacher to introduce today's message.

Dr. Jeffress. Thanks, David, and welcome again to this very special edition of Pathway to Victory. For several weeks now, I've been presenting a practical teaching series in which I address seven of the most common questions in life. The series is called, How Can I Know? Answers to Life's Seven Most Important Questions. And today is the very last day to request the book I've written for you by the same title.

It's the one that complements this teaching series. In my book, How Can I Know?, I provide answers to questions like, How can I know there is a God? Or, How can I know the Bible is true?

Or, How can I know how to forgive someone who has hurt me? When you give a generous gift to support the growing ministry of Pathway to Victory, I'll make sure you receive your copy of my book, How Can I Know? So be prepared to jot down our contact information because today is the very last day we'll mention this exclusive offer. And now for today's teaching. We've agreed to do something very unusual on today's program. I'm guessing that you'll truly enjoy this experience. During a recent Pathway to Victory cruise conference, we conducted a question and answer session with our travelers. And afterwards, several people mentioned their desire to hear this interactive meeting on the broadcast. So for the next 20 minutes or so, let's consider what the Bible has to say about some of the most pressing and personal questions on our minds today.

And then afterward, I'll have some important closing comments as well. I forget this wrongdoing. This person, they're angry over $50,000 that was stolen, whatever the amount was. When you forgive a person who did that to you, you're giving up your right to hurt them for hurting you. We're to give up our desire for vengeance, hurt somebody for hurting us. But we can never give up our desire for justice. When you forgive somebody, you don't give up your desire to justice. You just say you're going to let somebody else settle the score.

It may be law enforcement agencies, it may be government, it may be God himself, but I'm going to let somebody else settle the score. But forgiveness doesn't automatically lead to reconciliation. If this person doesn't get his money back, he may forgive him, but he'll never do business with him again. When you have an abused wife, one reason she may not forgive is she thinks, if I forgive, that means I have to move back in with this monster. No, there's a difference between forgiveness and reconciliation. Forgiveness depends upon me. Reconciliation depends upon us. Forgiveness has no strings attached. Reconciliation has a number of strings attached.

And so you have to understand the difference. We received more than a dozen questions from people who have estranged adult children, many of whom have walked away from the faith for various reasons. And they're asking, how do I pray for them? How do I speak to them?

How do I build a relationship with them? You know, it is a very prevalent problem. And I have found that there are three causes for estrangement between parents and children. Sometimes it's a doctrinal theological issue. You're familiar with the term deconstruction. Many young adults are deconstructing their faith, trying to throw out what they think is all the myth and allegory and get to the original gospel. It's like peeling an onion.

They end up with nothing when they finish deconstruction. And there are many times our teenagers, young adult children will have questions. Having questions is not wrong. Don't panic when your children ask questions or express doubt. Many times it's the process that allows them to start embracing faith themselves instead of just imitating your faith. Every child needs to personally embrace the truth of God's Word. And sometimes that raises doubts. If you have children that have theological doubts, pray for them, don't panic.

But also point them, provide for them reliable information that can help answer their questions. Again, I wrote a book a few years ago called How Can I Know? Answers to Life's Seven Most Important Questions. And I have a chapter for each of these questions. How do I know there is a God? How do I know the Bible is true? How do I know Christianity is the right religion? Now, each one of those topics you could read 30 or 40 books on.

Nobody's going to do that. So I took the strongest arguments for each of those questions and put them into 30 pages for each question so that you or somebody you get the book to can have the best answer. So there's theological reasons. Secondly, there are personal relationship reasons that parents and children get crosswise. There was a counselor.

She's here. No, her parents are here. And this child refuses to forgive her parents for something she perceives they did wrong. When that happens, you can't force somebody to forgive you.

That's their decision. But you can do your part in making sure there's no offense you've not asked forgiveness for yourself. And I would encourage all of us, you know, Paul said in 1 Timothy 1 that a good conscience is essential to living a Christian life. You need faith and a good conscience. You know what a good conscience is? It's the assurance that neither God nor anyone else can accuse us of a wrong we haven't attempted to make right.

Now there are lots of people who can accuse us. But when you have a clear conscience, you know that you've made every step you can to make that right. Be sure you have a clear conscience with your kids. If you've done something wrong, admit it. Ask their forgiveness. They decide whether they're going to forgive or not, but you can have a clear conscience.

The third reason people get a strength from their children is because of a rebellious lifestyle. We have children or grandchildren who have maybe embraced homosexuality, or they're living together apart from marriage, or their belief in transgenderism, all kinds of reasons. I'm really heartbroken over the number of Christian parents who will turn their back on their children because they don't agree with their lifestyle choices. Look, don't ever give up your beliefs. Don't ever give up your Christian beliefs, but never give up your children either. Always let them know you love them.

Always keep that communication open. Do you remember, and most of you are old enough to remember, the Christian comedian Jerry Clauer from Yazoo City? I bet you knew him, Dennis.

Yazoo City, Mississippi. One time back in the 1970s, when the question of amnesty for the draft dodgers was tearing the country apart, these people protested in the Vietnam War and went to Canada, a lot of them, and stayed up there. The question was, do we grant them amnesty and allow them to return to our country? And old Jerry Clauer was on this radio call-in show, and somebody called in, what do you think, Jerry, we ought to do with these draft dodgers who have turned their back on our country?

What should we do with them? And Jerry said, well, tell me something. Are we talking about your boy, or are we talking about my boy? If we're talking about your boy, let him stay up there in the northern Canada where he belongs. But if we're talking about my boy, I'd just as soon as he'd come home.

And you know, isn't that the attitude of God the Father? In my book, Coming Home to the Father Who Loves You, I retell the story of the prodigal son. Remember, he moved out, rebelled, lived in the far country. The father went on the front doorstep every day, looking out on the horizon, seeing if there was any glimpse of his son possibly. He did that day after day. One day he looked out and saw a tiny dot on the horizon. And as it came closer and closer, he recognized it was his son.

The son walked to the father, but the father ran to the son. When he found him, he embraced him, and he kissed him, and the son launched into a speech he had rehearsed a thousand times. Father, I know I've sinned, and there'll be none of that.

All he had to hear were the words, I'm sorry. And the father forgave him, reinstituted him, gave him everything his heart desired. I think that's the attitude God has toward us, and that's the attitude we're to have toward our children.

We're always looking, always waiting for their return, and we welcome them when they come home. Don't give up your biblical convictions, but don't give up on your children either. Amen. I hope that's an encouragement to those of you who are struggling with this issue. Pastor, many people have commented to me and to others on the team this week that they've followed for years. Bible teachers like Charles Stanley and David Jeremiah and Chuck Swindoll, these legacy broadcasters and Bible teachers, and their comment to us has been that it's evident that you are taking the baton and carrying on that legacy. Now, I know that you stand really in a very unique position, and I can say some things about you that you can't say about yourself or you wouldn't say about yourself, but people may not realize when they think about who are the next Bible teachers like those legacy broadcasters.

Today, you are really the only one that teaches the Bible in that vein, that has an established broadcast ministry with a proven track record, and a lengthy road ahead, God willing. God has really uniquely positioned Pathway to Victory. And so my question for you is, what is your vision for the future of Pathway to Victory? Well, it's just so gratifying to see the way God has blessed this ministry over the years. And I want to thank so many of you who support Pathway to Victory.

You're the ones who make it possible. And the men you just mentioned have all been great friends of mine and great influences on me in a way I'll tell you about in a second. But to understand where we're going, you might need to understand a little bit of how we got started and how we began.

And since so many of you are faithful supporters, I thought you'd be interested in the story. Back in the 1980s, when I was called to my first church in Eastland, Texas, a little county seat church in West Texas, where we met our good friends, Kathy and Chris Ball, who are here on this cruise, I always felt like God had me called to a media ministry of some kind, whether in a lot of media in Eastland, Texas. And so we started a cassette tape ministry there. And we would take out ads and some religious publications around the country, you know, send your $35 check in and get a series on James or Revelation or something.

So we'd do those. And so after dinner, I would take my daughter, my oldest daughter who was four at the time, and we would walk down to the town square to the post office. And we'd look in the little box, the window, 841, P.O.

Box 841, Eastland, Texas, 76448, and we'd see if there was any response. And lo and behold, there might be one or two in there. And so we would take that out and would walk home. And Amy, who's been such a help to me in this ministry, she allowed me to set up a folding table in the living room. And I had a cassette duplicator. So we would make the tapes, and I'd put the little master in one slot and would duplicate two or three tapes at a time, put them in.

Amy would type the labels for the tapes and would paste them on there, put them in a bag, and then I'd take them back down to the post office and mail them. And that's how the ministry that became Pathway to Victory got started. Well, we left there and we went to Wichita Falls, and that was a town of about 100,000 people, and we were on the local NBC affiliate locally. But one day, a retired Delta pilot who was in the church, John Hyatt, came up to me and said, this was 1995, he said, Pastor, I think you need to be on national TV. I said, well, that's real nice, John, thank you so much.

He said, you're not hearing what I'm saying. He said, I have a son who's a businessman in Denver, Colorado, and he won't go to church, but he would listen to a message like yours. And I want to help get a ministry started, a national ministry, and I will give $30,000 to help buy some time somewhere to get on a television station. Well, for $30,000, you can't do very much, but we found a little network, Telnet, Baptist Telnet. It was a string of about 100 low-power stations, 10 or 20 watts, probably didn't make it out of the building it was in, but they had a string of stations.

And for $30,000, we could get one slot a week, Tuesday nights at 9 o'clock, going to Louisiana, Alabama, remote part of Texas, so forth, 9 o'clock Tuesday, horrible time. But we were so excited, we had this show, so I was trying to think of a name for it, and I was in a business meeting getting bored to death, and so I started scribbling on the back of an envelope, Pathway to Victory. So that's what we called it, and we got ready for our big preview and manned the phones, you know, ready for those 800 number callers to come in, and so the program went, went, went, I was sitting in my office waiting for the results, and finally the media director burst through the door of my office and said, Pastor, we got a call, we got a call, we had one call that night, but we thought it was a great success. And you know, we have tens of thousands of calls now, but we were so excited about that first one, and the program grew and grew, and we were on several networks, we started then on radio, and then God called me to First Baptist Dallas, and as you know so well, we immediately entered into a program to completely renovate the campus and recreate it, six blocks of downtown Dallas, and God led us into the largest church building program in history.

Vinnie Church, done during the middle of the great recession of 2008 and 2009, our people gave that money, and the Horner's are here, Tim and Peggy, their family was instrumental in making that downtown campus a possibility. Some of you may have seen it on Fox and Friends, we blew up six blocks of downtown Dallas to make ready the First Baptist Church of Dallas. Well, after we blew everything up, and when the construction started, David Jeremiah came to see me, he was going to speak at a noon luncheon, and I wanted to show him a tour, so we walked around the blocks, looked at all the stuff that was being done, and he stopped right in the middle, and he said, Robert, you're building a great church, but I believe God wants you to build a great broadcast ministry, and I want to help you do it, and so he offered to take one of my CDs of our Pathway to Victory program, and he sent it to a thousand station managers of a thousand radio stations, the turning point was on, and that was really the beginning of opening the doors that allowed us to begin to expand dramatically, and that was 2011. You know, the way they measure broadcast ministries, the way you tell the health of a broadcast ministry is by their email list, not one that you go buy from somebody, but one that you put together of people who contribute to your ministry, or ask for products, or so forth. Well, in 2011, we had 40,000 names on that email list, people who had contributed to the ministry.

Today, it's over 1.5 million people who have given and contributed and helped support Pathway to Victory, and you know, back then, I told you our first year's budget was $30,000 for Pathway to Victory, today it's $22 million, and it's not from First Baptist Dallas, 90% of the support of our ministry, as you know, comes from people in other cities and countries and so forth, and that's how Pathway to Victory got started. And you say, well, what's the future? What's the vision?

Our vision is to keep doing what we're doing. Our motto is, piercing the darkness with the light of God's Word. I believe, folks, it's going to get darker and darker and darker in this world. What we need is a light. We need the light of God's Word, the living Word, Jesus Himself, the written Word, the Bible. But this is the only way you're going to cut through the darkness and point people to Christ. You know, I was in Branson, Missouri, not long ago, preaching at a conference, and I was walking through the hotel lobby, and person after person stopped me and said, piercing the darkness, piercing the darkness, piercing the darkness. That's so heartwarming to me. It's not just a motto. It's a calling.

And we couldn't do that if it were just you and me up here or Michael or Nate. We need partners like you, and I just want to thank you again for helping us in these last days. I do believe we're living in the last days.

Not the end times, but the last days that precede the end times. And, you know, I was talking the other night about my friend Alan Combs at Fox News. One time he asked me on the program—I love him because he always let me share my faith—he said, Pastor, do you think you're going to be alive to see Jesus return? I said, Alan, I don't know, but it really doesn't matter. He said, what do you mean it doesn't matter?

If you believe that stuff, how could you say it doesn't matter? I said, well, at the time I said I was 58 years old, I know in the next 30 years one of two things is going to happen in 30 years. Either he's coming or I'm going. But the end is close for me, and it is for you, and it is for every one of us here. What could be a better use of our time and our resources than making sure everybody has an opportunity to hear the gospel before Christ returns? That's what the ministry of Pathway to Victory is. Aren't you glad that God doesn't run from our questions?

Aren't you glad that He invites us to bring our doubts, our problems to Him? As you listen to this special Pathway to Victory broadcast today, I'm hoping you sense the enthusiastic spirit that pervaded this conference. We recorded our question and answer session on the Pathway to Victory cruise to Alaska. And if you want to join us on our next adventure, I'll draw your attention to the Pathway to Victory Journeys of Paul Mediterranean cruise that's departing soon.

The dates are May 5th through 16th, and you can check out all the details and make your reservations by going to ptv.org. Well, today is January 31st, and this is an important day for our listening family because it's the last time I'm going to mention our exclusive offer from Pathway to Victory. I've written a helpful book for doubters and skeptics who are looking for honest answers to tough questions. My book is titled How Can I Know?

Answers to Life's 7 Most Important Questions. And today, when you give a generous gift to Pathway to Victory, I'd like to send you a copy. Plus, when you respond today, I'll also include the insightful booklet that exposes a troubling issue for truth seekers from all around the world. This is an exclusive resource that you can only get through Pathway to Victory. This booklet is called Is Christianity the Only Right Religion? So when you give a much needed gift to Pathway to Victory, I'll say thank you by providing my book, How Can I Know? And the booklet Is Christianity the Only Right Religion? Don't forget, you can watch Pathway to Victory this weekend on television. On Saturdays, we're on the Trinity Broadcasting Network at noon Eastern, and on Sunday, we're on hundreds of stations, including TBN at 10 a.m. Eastern.

David? Thanks, Dr. Jeffress. You're invited to request your very own copy of the bestselling book by Dr. Jeffress, How Can I Know? when you give a generous gift to support the ministry of Pathway to Victory, or when you give your first gift as a Pathway partner. Just call us at 866-999-2965 or visit online at ptv.org. And when your investment is $75 or more, we'll also send you the complete unabridged collection of audio and video discs for the How Can I Know? teaching series.

Now, these newly updated sermons would make the perfect subject for your small group Bible study or even your Sunday school class. Here's the number to call, 866-999-2965. Again, that's 866-999-2965, or go to ptv.org. You could also write to us, here's that mailing address, P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222.

Again, that's P.O. Box 223-609, Dallas, Texas, 75222. I'm David J. Mullins.

Do you long to experience outrageous joy in your life? Join us for the start of a new series called, Living Above Your Circumstances. That starts Monday on Pathway to Victory. Pathway to Victory with Dr. Robert Jeffress comes from the pulpit of the First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas. You made it to the end of today's podcast from Pathway to Victory, and we're so glad you're here. Pathway to Victory relies on the generosity of loyal listeners like you to make this podcast possible. One of the most impactful ways you can give is by becoming a Pathway Partner. Your monthly gift will empower Pathway to Victory to share the gospel of Jesus Christ and help others become rooted more firmly in His word. To become a Pathway Partner, go to ptv.org slash donate or follow the link in our show notes. We hope you've been blessed by today's podcast, From Pathway to Victory.