Why does God Allow Suffering and Sin in the World?

Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

Welcome to Friends for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes. Why does God allow problems in our lives? Is God's Word true?

Is there really any truth in the world today? You're going to want to stick around because my guest has written a new book that's going to answer those questions and so much more. Before we get started, I want to welcome you to The Christian Perspective. I want to thank Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary for being the home of The Christian Perspective studios here in Memphis, Tennessee.

If you're looking for a place for your child or grandchild to go to college, I want to encourage you to take a look at The College in Mid-America. It's a Christian college in Memphis, Tennessee, where they help your children or grandchildren or their students develop a biblical worldview. What's a worldview?

A worldview is the lens through which we see the world, and as Christians, that lens needs to be the Bible. And at Mid-America, they're not going to have any of this critical race theory or craziness that's being taught in public and other schools across the country today. But they teach in the sufficiency of Scripture, the inerrancy of Scripture, and the importance of being grounded in the Word of God. Maybe you're at a point where you'd like to get some more education. Maybe you already have a college degree. I encourage you to take a look at Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary. You don't have to be a preacher to go to seminary. They have great programs, not only on their campuses around the country, but online. They have a wonderful online program, so right there in the comfort of your own home, you can study and learn more about God's Word.

Check out Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary at mabts.edu. And of course, I want to thank our show sponsor, the Citizens for America Foundation. I want to encourage you to take a look at our website, citizensforamericafoundation.com, where we're dedicated to impacting the culture for Jesus Christ and educating and training Christians how to have a biblical worldview. And then we want you not just to take that worldview, that biblical worldview, into everything that you do, but specifically into the world of public policy and politics, where we can elect godly men and women to public office, like my guest today, who will take a stand on the Word of God.

Again, you can learn more at citizensforamericafoundation.com. And when you go there, click on the link to learn about our big event coming up on April 30th. On April 30th, we'll be hosting the 2022 Culture Engagement Summit. We're going to have a lot of great speakers, like my guest today, that you're going to hear from. Also, America's pastor, Dr. Robert Jeffers, Todd Starnes, national radio host and talk show host, used to be with Fox News. We're going to have Scott Klusendorf, who probably has the best defense of the pro-life movement in the world today.

So many Christians and apologists and politicians. Mark Meadows, the former chief of staff to President Trump, will be there. And of course, my wonderful guest today, Senator Jim DeMint. So go to citizensforamericafoundation.com, register for the Culture Engagement Summit. Tickets start at only $15, and lunch is included. It's a one-day national event.

It's the biggest event of its kind in the nation, and we hope to see you there. Well, I've been teasing a little bit about who's coming today, and we are so glad that former Senator Jim DeMint has joined The Christian Perspective today. He is a former senator in the United States Senate from the state of South Carolina.

He was president of Heritage Foundation, and today he's the founder and president of the Conservative Partnership Institute. He's not just someone who worked in politics, and we're going to talk today about Christians being involved in politics and other things, too. But I just want to welcome you, and thank you, Senator DeMint, for being with us on The Christian Perspective today. Chris, it's always an opportunity to talk about our Lord and Savior, but to do it in the context of how we impact the culture. I want to just take a minute, because I always like our audience to get to know our guests. Can you tell people a little bit about you and your family and how you got into politics and all that?

Yeah, I sure can, and thanks, Chris. I grew up in Greenville, South Carolina, with a single mom and two brothers and a sister, and so we were all working since the time I can first remember, and she started a ballroom dancing school in our house. I married my, not only high school, but I guess middle school sweetheart after I graduated college. I went to the University of Tennessee and then got an MBA from Clemson later as I was working, but I was running from the Lord until I was about 25 years old.

There were some pronouncements that came true that convinced me the Bible was true, but I came to the Lord when I was 25. My life hasn't been the same since. We had four children, and I started a business. I ran that business for over 15 years, but I never ran for public office until I was 47 years old, and I got frustrated with what was happening because I was a community leader and I volunteer in a lot of areas, and I finally realized that so many of the problems we were dealing with were related to bad public policy, particularly bad federal policy that created a lot of bad incentives to form families and to work and things like that. So I ran for Congress when I was 47 years old with no political background, ended up winning, and I term-limited myself to six years in the House, and I saw that so many of the things that we tried to do in the House that were good died in the Senate. So I decided to go run for the Senate, and I was blessed to be elected.

I guess I can say blessed to be elected, but I term-limited myself in the Senate as well because I didn't want to become what I went there to change to support good policy on the inside. And after four years at Heritage, we started the Conservative Partnership Institute and had spent years helping to elect good people to the House and the Senate, but then just saw so many of them kind of wilt under the pressure in Washington that there just wasn't a support system to do the right thing. So the Conservative Partnership is there to help conservatives in the House and the Senate in every way we can. We help them get good staff. We train them on how the place works. We give them a place to meet. We support them when they're being attacked by whether it's Republicans or Democrats. That's what we do, and we see it makes a difference that when we've got a lot of people working together to get the backs of the good people there in Congress.

They maintain their courage more, and they're willing to stay in the fight. So I'm enjoying very much what I'm doing and still traveling a fair amount. And the reason I wrote Satan's Dare, Chris, is I saw that so much of Christians seem to have backed away in a lot of ways.

Many of the things that we believe now have been stigmatized, and even churches are saying things that are right that the Bible says are wrong. And Satan's Dare is just really a collection of a lot of my questions over 30 or 40 years, but it's put in the context of a novel so that people can relate it to their own lives, of the suffering and tragedies that people go through, but also the love and the power that comes from the body of Christ. I love that you made it as a novel. I'm amazed here at the connections I'm finding out. And we've never met personally.

We've talked on the phone a few times. So you're from Greenville, South Carolina. My wife, Vicki, is from that area.

And so that's one connection. And then I went to what was called the Baptist College. Now it's Charleston Southern University over in Charleston, the other side of the state from you, and my senior year in college. And so the first campaign that I volunteered a lot of time in was Tommy Hart's campaign. But in 1986, a young whippersnapper named Henry McMaster, who is now governor of South Carolina, was running for the seat that you eventually won, Fritz Hollings. You took Fritz Hollings' seat, didn't you, sir? Yes, I did.

Yes, so Henry McMaster was running back in 1986 against Fritz Hollings. And my first paid campaign job, I was the state field director for Henry McMaster's campaign. And then I found out a while ago that your family has owned property near where I live in Boone, North Carolina. So it's amazing how we're kind of connected through these things, both politically and family-wise, over the years. And it's just amazing how God brings people together.

Well, I wanted to commend you. So the book you wrote is called Satan's Dare, and you've written a lot of other books, but this is one that you chose to write as a novel. And a lot of, you know, I hear a lot of academics and some Christians that are, to me it's almost snobbish. They say, well, I only read acts of works of nonfiction. And I would encourage you to not limit yourself in that area, because Satan's Dare, even though it's a work of fiction, because it makes it interesting, it gives you a story of what's going on, but everything in there is biblically based or historically and factual in the things that are presented. So you still can learn a lot, even though it is a work of fiction and as a novel. When you decided to write a novel, Senator, instead of, like, some of the other books you've written, was it because you just had this interesting story, or what made you change the style of books that you had written in the past? Well, I've actually done more thinking and research on the Bible, on Christianity, than I have politics, and it's really more of an interest to me, because it certainly is certainly more eternal in nature. But I've been working on this book for 15 years, and it didn't start as a novel. What I've just started is doing a little bit of research about different questions in the Bible, about creation itself, about whether the Bible is all true or not. And I just was collecting facts, and again, a lot of it was science, to see how science aligns with biblical truth and creation theory.

But it became so thick, as my publisher said, it would have just been hard to work your way through just all the facts. And so my publisher actually suggested I build a story around it, because I was dealing with a lot of questions like, if God is in control of everything, why is there so much evil and suffering in the world? And questions like that kind of play themselves out in real life stories. So the book is all about facts and science and things that are true, but they're woven into a story of people living through things that we all live through in different ways. And so that's just how the questions are presented by the characters themselves. But I think as people read it, they'll realize that it's not fiction. It's a story that people can relate to, because no one gets through this life without some suffering and tragedy. And we just have to ask the question of why that is. So we, in this book, get into a lot of what could God's motives have been?

Why did He create this physical world in the first place when there was a perfect heaven? So folks, I've got Senator Jim DeMitt. We're talking about his book, Faith and Dare. Stick around.

We'll be right back. Walk in the footsteps of Jesus and see the Bible come to life. This December, join nationally syndicated radio host and founder of the Citizens for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes, on a life-changing trip to Israel. It's one of the world's oldest and most fascinating travel destinations. Learn the faithful from all over the world for thousands of years. Visit Jerusalem's religious quarters and explore Christianity's most treasured religious sites, like the Wailing Wall, the Dome of the Rock, and the Via Dolorosa. Walk with Chris through the winding alleyways of Nazareth's old city and visit ancient Bethlehem, the place of our Savior's birth. Float in the Dead Sea, visit the Sea of Galilee and the Jewish fortress of Masada. See firsthand where the events of the Bible took place. Touring Israel with Dr. Chris Hughes is a travel odyssey like no other.

Visit CitizensForAmericaFoundation.com and get ready for an unforgettable trip and memories that will last a lifetime. Do you desire to build family relationships that stand the test of time? Does creating a godly family seem like a daunting challenge?

You're not alone. I'm Connie Alpers, author of Parenting Beyond the Rules and host of Equipped to Be. As a mother of five, I understand your struggles. For 35 years, I have been helping families just like yours build lasting relationships. I'd like to invite you to tune in to Equipped to Be and visit ConnieAlpers.com where I share useful tips and proven strategies to help you navigate the seasons of motherhood, faith, and life with confidence and joy. History was made on today's date.

Stay tuned for an American Minute with Bill Federer. Queen Kahumanu served as Regent Prime Minister of Hawaii after the death of her husband, King Kamehameha. Together with her son, they ended all idolatry and human sacrifice on the islands. On this date, March 31, 1820, the first missionaries, led by Hiram Bingham, arrived in Hawaii on the ship Thaddeus. The queen received Christ and helped spread the gospel throughout the islands. Just prior to her death, Queen Kahumanu was presented with the New Testament in the Hawaiian language. Her last words were, I am going to where the mansions are ready. This has been an American Minute with Bill Federer.

For a free transcript, call American Minute at 1-888-USA-WORD. Welcome back to Christian Perspective. This is Chris Hughes.

My guest today is Senator Jim DeMitt. He's got a new book out called Satan's Dare. It's a great book. It talks about creation. Is there a true science that aligns with the Bible?

Is there a biblical truth? It talks about creation theory. It talks about why God allows bad things to happen in our life. Why would God create this world that has sin in it when we already had a perfect heaven?

I got to tell you, we like to act all high and mighty and religious, but really, those are questions that all of us ask. Our guest today, Senator Jim DeMitt, has this great book. Go to Amazon or wherever you buy your books and look up Satan's Dare and order it today. That's Satan's Dare.

You want to check out this great new book from Senator Jim DeMitt. Senator, where did the idea of Satan's Dare come from? The title is taken from the first chapter of Job, where it's an interesting passage.

I never did like it because first of all, God and Satan are talking. God says, What about my servant Job? Isn't he a wonderful, righteous guy? Satan challenges him, dares him.

I'll just read this. It says in Job 1, 9-11, Does Job fear God for nothing? Have you not put a hedge around him in his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hand, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

But now, stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face. Satan was essentially challenging or charging God with bribing Job and saying, If you don't bless him, he will curse you. The book takes that verse and actually asks the question, If one of the reasons we go through this world with all the suffering and tragedy that is around us, and we see so much of it today in the Ukraine, is to prove Satan wrong. That this life is a battle between good and evil, and every time we worship God in the middle of hardship and suffering, we prove Satan wrong. And that's what Job did. Job didn't like it, he complained about it, but he never wavered from believing that God was with him and that he would see God in this life.

And so, the characters go through this just like all of us do. But I think kind of the weakness in the church today is that they're afraid to ask questions about creation, because we kind of believe that, OK, what really happened was random evolution. We like to say, like one of the characters calls it, Santa Claus God created the earth, that the Bible's true, but we know it's really not because science says that, again, God didn't create the world. And I just don't see Christians able to defend their faith in a way, particularly as we get to Christian morality, and the morality of our culture today, that I think very many, I mean a lot of Christians are afraid to challenge all this LGBT stuff. I agree with you.

I'm sorry, go ahead. No, no, I just wanted to reiterate what you're saying. I've got two kids in college right now, and it is terrible right now, because even their friends on college campuses, Christians are shut down, they're canceled out on college campuses, and the liberals on college campuses will put up with anything but a student who takes a strong belief in Jesus Christ. Jesus scares them to death. But from what I've seen from a lot of my kids' friends is a lot of kids who profess to be Christians, and it's not just kids, Senator, it's adults too, today, they don't really know what they believe and why they believe it. That's why we're putting on this Culture Engagement Summit where you're coming to speak on April 30th, is Christians need to know what the Bible says on issues like transgender, homosexuality, abortion, creation, and so many other issues out there that most Christians don't have a clue what the Bible truly says. They don't have a clue because they don't read the Bible. I know you're familiar with a lot of surveys and studies that show very few Christians ever read their Bible on a daily basis, and over 90 percent, George Barna says that over 90 percent of people who claim to be evangelical pastors in America don't preach on issues that they consider social issues.

And he also says that the faithful church attender only goes once in every three weeks. So if you never read your Bible, Senator, and then you don't hardly ever go to church, and you sit under a pastor who doesn't address these issues, how are you supposed to know what God says on these issues and be able to take a stand? I think it's so important for books like yours that point out that Christians need to know what's going on. And so I'll ask you a question. Do you think it's okay for Christians to question these issues and try to understand what God was doing? I mean, I think it is, and I think that's what you address in your book. It is okay, isn't it, for us to have questions as long as we try to dig in and learn the answers to those questions? Well, one of the things I say in the book, and I believe in my life, is that the truth is never afraid of questions.

And if you're afraid to ask the questions, you're probably not going to find the truth. And I think a lot of believers today actually believe contradictory things, that the earth was created by accident and we came by random evolution, and in the other compartment of their mind, they believe God created the earth as a purpose for our life. And some believe that, okay, the Bible is really kind of fairy tales about floods and things like that. But then there's another compartment that wants to believe the Bible's true, but as you pointed out, people not only don't read it, but they don't have pastors who are really teaching what it means, what the Old Testament means for us today. And there are so many things that if we understand in the Old Testament, like the temple for instance, Jesus tells us we're the temple. So everything we read in the Old Testament about the temple and how God cleanses it, He does that for us today.

And the more you get into it and the more questions you ask, the more confidence you have in your faith. That doesn't mean that everybody's going to agree on exactly how to interpret the Bible, because some parts of it are history, some are poetry and songs, and some are analogies, but you need to look at it. And everyone who, a lot of fundamentalists will not even like the questions that the characters ask.

Do you have to accept Christ in this life in order to be saved? All of us have always believed that, but if you look at verses, if they're people who are children of God, and Jesus' blood applies to all of us, does that mean that people are justified and sanctified, who may never have heard the word Jesus, but still trust God to save them? Now, how you answer that is you have to dig in and ask those questions, and some people who've read the book said, I don't really agree with that. And I said, well that's fine, because that's just a question that the characters are asking and looking for Bible verses to answer. But I think the basics, Chris, is people need to have confidence there is a God who created this universe, that He had a reason to do it, and that He loves each and every one of us. And that the Bible is true, but you have to really work at understanding how that aligns with what we believe is true today. So I just find it fascinating, and while I didn't come to solid answers on every question I ask, what we came up with in the book, or what we could just call possibilities, that could exist based on what the Bible is saying.

And so again, for me, having the questions actually added confidence to me that there is a God, that the Bible is true. But there's some powerful thoughts in the book, such as, did God defer His power in this physical world to His body? And there, again, a lot of verses that we bring up, and it appears that the body of Christ and our prayers, our worship, are God's power in this physical world. And we see that in the Old Testament too, when Moses has to have his arms held up. I think in this case a picture of God as being held up by the body of Christ.

God, just like the body of Jesus Christ, is God's power in this world, and then Jesus tells us we are His body. So there are a lot of things to think about, and I've found, Chris, that some people just don't like to go very deep. So some people may not want to get into all of this. But for those who want to have confidence that there is a God, that the Bible is true, and that there is a very important reason that we all go through this earth, I would just challenge people to read it and talk about it.

And I think they'll come away with a whole lot of confidence in what they believe. Amen. Well folks, I'm talking to Senator Jim DeMitt. He's written a new book called Satan's Dare, and I want to encourage you to go to Amazon today and buy it. We're going to take a commercial break, and when we come back we're going to continue to talk about truth and some of the attacks that have come on Senator DeMitt for just standing for truth.

Stick around, we'll be right back. The United States of America has a strong Christian heritage, but most Americans don't know the truly important role that God and the Bible played in the founding of this great nation. This June, join nationally syndicated radio host and founder of the Citizens for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes, for four amazing days in our nation's capital. With Chris, you'll embark on a journey of discovering the hidden secrets of Washington, D.C., and rediscover much of America's forgotten Christian heritage. Your tour will include an up-close-and-personal look at the nation's establishment and how it's evolved over the centuries. Learn about the government and the men who helped forge this new kind of republic, one that acknowledged the Creator from its very inception.

Know the truth about the creation of the United States of America, about the faith of the founding fathers, and how Christian principles were used to establish this form of government. Visit citizensforamericafoundation.com today and secure your spot to join Chris Hughes in Washington, D.C. this June. This show is brought to you by Generous Joe's, the coffee company with the Christian perspective. This is the answer that Christians and conservatives have been looking for, a coffee company that gives back to causes you care about.

Order your coffee today at shopgenerousjoes.org, and even subscribe to a subscription coffee plan and never forget the coffee you love, or the causes you care about. The Conservative Baptist Network is a dynamic movement of Southern Baptist pastors, churches and Christians committed to standing for the sufficiency of God's Word. In the face of a culture of compromise, the passion and prayer of the Conservative Baptist Network is that God would help Southern Baptists stay bold for the gospel so that we might see revival in America and the world reached for Christ. Visit our website today at conservativebaptistnetwork.com to learn how you and your church can join and support this exciting movement.

Welcome back to Christian Perspective. My guest today is Senator Jim DeMint. We're talking about a new book he's written called Satan's Dare. I encourage you to get a copy of this thought-provoking book that asks a lot of questions that we all might think in the back of our mind, but maybe we never utter those questions in church because we're afraid to be embarrassed that we don't know the answers to some of those questions or think somebody might criticize us for even asking such a question. You know, Senator DeMint, this book asks a lot of questions and this book is pretty controversial and you don't really discriminate. You kind of offend, I think, both sides of atheists and some Christians, which hopefully has brought some attention to the book, but have there been any attacks come on you for some of the positions you've taken in the book? Well, I think the media folks, whether they're on the right or the left, are really afraid to get into some of these questions, and certainly I've had some lively conversations with people who have read it, you know, personal conversations, and some folks are studying it in Bible groups and have asked me to come speak and talk about how I came up with the different questions and answers. So I love that, and for me, I'm hoping to use the platform God gave me in politics to talk about his kingdom and how the two relate, and the book is giving me a good platform to do that.

What a blessing to have men and women like you in public office, and that really should be the purpose, I think, of a lot of politicians, is we're Christians, that gives us a platform when we're public figures that others might not have to share the truth of God's word. And, Senator, we've really seen the death of truth in our culture today, in our education system, in media and politics, and unfortunately, even in the church, as men identify as women and competing in women's sports, and the media tells us that we're racist if we do or don't believe certain things, or if anyone suggests anything that goes against culture today, and culture also tells us that there's no such thing as truth anymore. So many people today don't know what they believe and why they believe it. Why do you think that we don't believe in truth anymore?

And I know you talk about this in the book. Yeah, we've lost our moorings, even as Christians, because Jesus tells us how we can know the truth and how we can be free. He says, if you follow my word, you'll know the truth, and the truth will set you free. And so you've got to know his word, and you've got to go out and intentionally follow him, but without truth, there's no moorings.

We're tossed about like waves in the sea, and we're miserable. And then evil prevails because there's no standard of truth anymore. And I do think a lot of Christians, and as you've mentioned, pastors are even afraid to deal with an absolute truth, but that's what we have to have if we're going to know the truth and we're going to be free. And particularly as conservatives, we talk a lot about freedom, but I think a lot of political conservatives are forgetting that that freedom only comes by knowing the truth.

Yeah. Well, Senator, I'm not trying to get people mad at you with what I'm going to ask, so if you don't want to answer, I understand, but I personally think the church has played a big role in the death of truth in America. What role do you think, if any, that the church has played in this?

Well, you're exactly right. The weakness in America, the weakness in freedom around the world is the weakness in the church. And again, not just preaching the truth, but just coming together as a body of Christ. I mean, we pray for Aunt Mabel and stuff like that, but we have to understand that if the power of God in this world actually comes from believers coming together and actually displaying the love of Jesus, displaying what God's attributes are, if that's true, then again, what we see, we see the decline of America is because of the decline of the church. And a lot of mainstream big churches now do not teach the Bible as true.

One of my motivations along the way, it was like 15 or 20 years ago, my wife and I visited a church on Easter when we were at Hilton Head, and this was a Presbyterian church like we went to back home. But the pastor told this wonderful, marvelous story of Jesus' resurrection, and then he said after that, it doesn't matter if it's actually true. It only matters if you believe it. And I'm too much of a skeptic to go along with anything like that.

If it's not true, I'm not going to believe it. But I couldn't believe a pastor said that. But in various ways, I think a lot of pastors in mainstream churches, as you mentioned, are afraid to offend. So they avoid parts of the Bible that teach moral absolutes, which I don't think we need to be afraid of because we're all sinners going in.

So while you may be doing one thing wrong and I'm doing something else, we're all sinners, but Jesus died for all of us. So I think pastors can certainly wrap all the morality and love and forgiveness, but if we don't teach the truth, then the Bible's not true. And one of the conclusions you have to draw, Chris, if the Bible's not all true, then we don't know which parts are true. And so we can't trust it at all. So if we can't find, by a study of the Bible, to believe that all aspects of the Bible are true, then God has not left us a way to know Him.

That's a pretty important problem. But I know the Bible's true. And I think if people read Satan's Dare, they will see why you have to believe that the Bible is true. It could not have been written by mere men over thousands of years.

And again, we need to know that it's true. That doesn't mean it's always easy to understand or interpret, but God left us a very clear message and a very obvious truth. And so not only is the Bible true, but Jesus is the truth. And Jesus said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life.

No man cometh unto the Father, but by me. You were talking, Senator, about churches and how some churches, and I think it's starting to become a majority of churches today, the pastors don't believe that the Bible 100% is true. I'm a Southern Baptist, and I don't know if you've followed in the news, but there's a big fight within the Southern Baptist Convention right now to stand on the sufficiency of Scripture, the inerrancy of the Word of God, and realize that it's the inspired Word of God, because there are pastors around the nation and even in the Southern Baptist Convention who don't believe this anymore. And there are people in seminaries. I think we have, I think it's six official Southern Baptist seminaries across the country, and even though the seminary is Southern Baptist, we train much more than Baptists in those seminaries. In fact, probably most of the pastors that come out of the seminaries, that go to Southern Baptist seminaries, are not Southern Baptists. So we're training pastors around the world, and what's happened is CRT, critical race theory, has entered some of these seminaries, and we have professors who are teaching, and that's a false religion, because it basically says there's no forgiveness for you if you're white. And they're teaching things that are not scriptural, and they teach that the Bible may not be true always, or it's not sufficient, or it's not inerrant. And what's happening is these men and women are now going into churches around the world or a mission field, and if they don't believe in the inspired Word of God, we've got a problem, because like you said, Senator, it's either all true or it's none of it true. Christianity is not some cafeteria religion. We can't go and say, well, I want some of this and I don't want some of that. That's not how God set it up. It's true, and we've got to stand on the truth.

Yeah. Well, like Josh McDowell said, the same is true for Jesus. Either he's God or he's a lunatic.

And you don't really have a choice of saying he's a good man, because he said he was God, and he said he was the way, the truth, and the life, that you cannot come to the Father except through him. And so there's some very hard truths in the Bible, but I believe a lot of the church today is becoming what we see in Revelations, the false prophet. And I think we'll see more and more of this kind of false church aligning with government wokeness, and that's kind of what's happening. But I don't get discouraged, Chris, at least try not to, because I know God doesn't ever need a majority, and he shows us that throughout the Bible.

And so it's just a remnant of faithful people. And that's why, again, I'm not looking to win a majority, but we need in every place in this country, in this world, of small groups of people who are faithful, who are praying or worshiping and telling the truth, doing it in love. We're not going to need to go out and condemn and moralize with everyone, but we have to help. When people are saying things, what is evil, and they're calling it good, that's a problem, and that's what we see all around today. And I see so many Christians who are afraid to refute that. So we need to be confident in our faith, we need to be bold, but we need to have a lot of wisdom, and we need to do it together, because the prayers of righteous people when they come together can make a big difference in this world.

They sure can. Folks, we're talking to Senator Jim DeMitt, and we're talking about his new book, Satan's Dare, which is a novel where in the novel the characters are asking a lot of questions, both Christians asking questions and atheists of why does God allow certain things to happen? Is creation true?

So many of the questions that really, if we were truthful, in the back of our minds, we wondered some of these things. So I want to encourage you to go and order the book right now on Amazon or wherever. We're going to take a quick commercial break. Don't turn us off.

Don't turn the radio off. So go ahead and order Satan's Dare right now, and when you come back, we'll start with our final segment, talking to Senator Jim DeMitt about his new book, Satan's Dare. A brand is a design, name, symbol, or any other feature that sets an organization or individual apart. Bringing that brand to life can be difficult, but Diggs Design is here to help you take that next step or re-energize your current situation.

We can handle logos, social media graphics, cards, weddings, clothings, prints, photo editing, and much more. Give us a call today at 704-984-2432 or connect with Diggs Design on social media. In a world crowded with viewpoints and voices... Critical condition after a... I believe the message of this... Financial problems... Only one voice matters, God's. At the College at Mid-America and Mid-America Seminary, we equip leaders to think from a biblical worldview, online or on our Memphis campus.

Check out the College at Mid-America and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary at mabts.edu and be equipped to light the way. This show is brought to you by Generous Joes, the coffee company with the Christian perspective. This is the answer that Christians and conservatives have been looking for, a coffee company that gives back to causes you care about.

Order your coffee today at shopgenerousjoes.org and even subscribe to a subscription coffee plan and never forget the coffee you love or the causes you care about. Do you desire to build family relationships that stand the test of time? Does creating a godly family seem like a daunting challenge?

You're not alone. I'm Connie Albers, author of Parenting Beyond the Rules and host of Equipped to Be. As a mother of five, I understand your struggles. For 35 years, I have been helping families just like yours build lasting relationships.

I'd like to invite you to tune in to Equipped to Be and visit conniealbers.com where I share useful tips and proven strategies to help you navigate the seasons of motherhood, faith and life with confidence and joy. The United States of America has a strong Christian heritage, but most Americans don't know the truly important role that God in the Bible played in the founding of this great nation. This June, join nationally syndicated radio host and founder of the Citizens for America Foundation, Dr. Chris Hughes, for four amazing days in our nation's capital. With Chris, you'll embark on a journey of discovering the hidden secrets of Washington, D.C. and rediscover much of America's forgotten Christian heritage. Your tour will include an up-close and personal look at the nation's establishment and how it's evolved over the centuries. Learn about the government and the men who helped forge this new kind of republic, one that acknowledged the Creator from its very inception. Know the truth about the creation of the United States of America, about the faith of the founding fathers and how Christian principles were used to establish this form of government.

Visit citizensforamericafoundation.com today and secure your spot to join Chris Hughes in Washington, D.C. this June. Welcome back to Christian Perspective. My guest today is Senator Jim DeMitt. He has written a lot of books in his life, but he's got one now that God has just had on his heart for about 15 years.

It's been brewing in him, and Senator, I know what you mean. I've been toying with a book on Paul Revere for about five years now, and I need to sit down and crack the whip and get that thing finished up. But your book is a novel, which is kind of a different format, and in the novel, it's where characters are asking questions about the Bible and is it truly the Word of God. But I want to point out, and you might have some things you want to share about this, that even though the characters are fictional, the things that are discussed in the Bible are true. You list Bible verses, you explain why things happen, the historical events, archaeological, prophetically, all these things are true and accurate in the book.

Is that correct? That's true. Characters are talking about different questions and interpretations of the Bible, and not everyone's going to agree with the different interpretations that some of the characters come up with. All is coming out of the Bible believing and assuming that the Bible is true, and that we're trying to figure out what it's telling us about creation.

Is it really six days creation, or is it six periods, and some people feel violently one way or another. But you can ask the question and come up with your own answer and determine if it really matters. But the key thing is, did God do it?

Did God create this earth? And then more important to me in a lot of ways is, okay, why did He do it? How do we know Him better by understanding not only what He did, but why He did it? I just find these questions very fascinating, but also confirming, because you'll see as you go through the book that while the characters may have slightly different interpretations and some that may not line up completely with Orthodox Christianity, they're all searching the Bible for the truth. And I think that pursuit is what's going to give Christians the confidence they need to really stand boldly for Christ in a very difficult world. I think anything that gets us in God's Word, and if it takes something that is a little controversial to ask questions, we just need to get in God's Word, and that helps us out when we do that. So the book provides a framework for Christians really to search for truth and to not settle on theology, but to get Christians to think, to discuss, and defend their faith. But Senator, there's probably skeptics who might be out there too. Do you think this book will also answer questions for maybe people who aren't Christians and are skeptics of the Word of God?

Do you think it might help lead them in the right direction? Oh yeah, it's primarily written for skeptics, but also for Christians who are not very knowledgeable about the Bible. So I think skeptics will get as much or more out of the book than anyone else. And I think some of the debates about creation, I mean there's actually a real debate in the first couple of chapters that it's really hard to refute because statistics, biology, physics, all tell us that it's impossible for this world to have happened by accident.

And we get into that, and it's very clear. And that doesn't mean there's a God, but you kind of have to back into the fact that there has to be a God if it didn't happen by accident. So again, a lot of this is just common sense and deductive logic, and you don't even need a Bible to know that there's a God if you take a moment to think about it. So that's what we're doing here is just challenging skeptics, believers, and Christians who may not be very knowledgeable about what they actually do believe. People will get different things out of the book, and I've found that if people are really devout, orthodox Christians, that they'll find things in there that they say, no, you shouldn't even ask this question.

People should not even consider that. But all of it comes from verses in the Bible. And again, I think all these questions will give them confidence. That sounds contradictory, but unless you're willing to ask questions and dig in, you'll never be confident in what you believe. Amen. Well, I know you're committed to restoring Judeo-Christian values in America.

Do you think this book will help do that? I hope so. That's what I'm counting on because again, working in public office in the House and the Senate and at the national level, I've just come to believe that faith and freedom are two sides of the same coin. And we're just not going to maintain this country without a better understanding and a commitment to God's Word. But we know from Scripture that if we repent, if we return to God, that He'll restore our nation. And we just see such a deterioration going on now with crime and morality and evil is spreading around the world. People have to notice and they have to ask, why is this happening? And the reason it's happening is that secularism has been pushing Christianity out of the picture and the United States will just not operate.

Our Constitution will not work. People cannot be free unless they have a faith in God. I know you talk about this in the book, but do you think that God's still in control of things when there's so much evil in the world today? Well, that's one of the big questions in the book. How can He be in control? I believe He's sovereign over all things, but it's part of a big discussion in the book is this physical journey through here is God allowing good and evil to battle it out.

This is the battle of good and evil. And one of the theories in the book is that the great war in heaven that we read about in Revelations is actually going on right now and that we are the physical counterparts of the angels fighting against Satan. And that may sound overly deep right now, but if you begin to understand how the Scripture sets that up, then you realize that God has deferred His power in this world in some areas to His body, His people, in order to prove Satan wrong.

That Job is not just one person. He is representative of the body of Christ. And Satan has said, okay, if you don't bless them, they'll curse you. And so God is allowing things to happen just like He did with Job that seem unthinkable to us. And it makes us mad that God let Satan do what he did to Job. But the point in the book is that this is justice. God is allowing justice to prevail. He's allowing our free will to decide between good and evil. And every time we decide good and every time we worship God, we defeat Satan. And that's how it's all going to come to an end, I believe, that the body of Christ will defeat Satan in this world because of faithfulness in the face of all the suffering and tragedy. So it's kind of a deep thought.

Again, maybe a lot of people don't want to go there. But we know from law that you don't really find the truth until you find the motives. So we look at what are the motives of God. And I think what's happening in this world reveals His character, His character of love, forgiveness, mercy. And if we understand how all this works together, we can understand this life a lot better and why the next new world is so dependent on the blood of Christ. The main truth that we need to lead to is the one that you just talked about, is the blood of Jesus Christ. And we need to realize the truth is that these bodies or these human bodies only last 70 or 80 years or, if we're lucky, a little bit longer, but that there's an eternal soul within us that's going to spend all of eternity somewhere one day. And the decisions that we make in this life determine whether we spend an eternity in hell or an eternity in heaven with the presence of God.

As we close out the show, can you take a couple of minutes and, if you don't mind, share with our listeners that truth? How can someone have eternal life with God and how can they come to know Him and have a relationship with Him? Well, Chris, it's so easy. I think people are maybe afraid to take the step because you don't have to have ever seen a Bible to be saved. But all we need to do, Chris, for those that have never made that decision, that they have to have a faith that they own. And to do that, they have to accept that they're sinners and that God will forgive them if we just ask to receive Christ. And when we do, God gives us His Holy Spirit. And so it's just a matter of repenting and asking for forgiveness and asking God to come live in our hearts. Even if we're not faithful, if we fail Him over and over again, if we commit ourselves to Him, He's faithful and He will complete that work on His timetable. So we really don't have to do much, but it's kind of the hardest thing humans can do is submit to God.

People seem so willing to submit to so many other things, but it's just submit to God, ask Jesus to come into our hearts. That'll change your life and give you eternity with God. Amen. And it's in eternity.

It is forever. And it's a life-changing experience. Well, folks, our guest today is Senator Jim DeMint, and I want to encourage you. He didn't talk about his organization, Conservative Partnership Institute, other than mentioning he started it, but I want to ask you to be praying for him and pray for his team there. He's got some great people working with him at the Conservative Partnership Institute, and they are doing a wonderful job, and they're training men and women that are leaders of this world and how to do their job better and how to do it from a biblical worldview and to take a stand on the Word of God. And it takes money. He didn't ask for this, but I want to ask you just to prayerfully consider financially supporting. It's called the Conservative Partnership Institute and support the work that they're doing in Washington, D.C. and the United States of America and really all over the world. It's a great organization that is making a huge difference. And then I also want to encourage you.

I was talking today about his new book, Satan's Dare, by Senator Jim DeMint. You can get it on Amazon, but my favorite way for you to get it would be to come. Go ahead and buy one now, and then when you come to Memphis, you can register at citizensforamericafoundation.com. Come to the Culture Engagement Summit on April 30th. You'll get to meet Senator DeMint in person.

He's such a lovable guy, and he's approachable and easy to talk to, and he will autograph a book for you if you buy it from him that day. So thank you for being with us today, Senator. Appreciate it. Thank you, Chris. Look forward to seeing you soon. Folks, thanks for joining us on The Christian Perspective. I hope you tune in here every day at your favorite radio station. And remember, later in the day, it's released as a podcast. Share on social media with your friends. It's important for us to develop a biblical worldview so we can work together and go impact the culture for Jesus.