Life Is In The Blood… And Explaining the Gospel to Children

Life is in the blood. That is a topic we'll discuss today right here on the Christian Worldview Radio Program, where the mission is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. I'm David Wheaton, the host. We're able to reach believers and non-believers with that mission through the radio station, website, or podcast platform on what you are listening today because of the support of listeners like you.

So thank you. You can connect with us by visiting our website, thechristianworldview.org, calling toll-free 1-888-646-2233, writing to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331, or following us on social media. You've probably noticed that blood is a recurring theme in Scripture. All the way back in Genesis 4, God confronted Cain after he had murdered his brother Abel, saying, "'The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me from the ground.'"

Genesis 4-10. God commanded capital punishment for murder in Genesis chapter 9, saying, "'Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed.'" God told the Israelites in Egypt to brush the blood of a sacrificed lamb over the doorposts of their homes so the angel of death would, quote, "'pass over' their home and not destroy the firstborn in judgment." The sacrificial system in the Old Testament that God established for the Jews to temporarily cover their sin involved countless animals being slaughtered and their blood applied to the altar and mercy seat. The Bible says in Ephesians chapter 1, "'In him, in Christ, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.'" Even in a physical sense, the Bible says about blood, "'For the life of the flesh is in the blood.'"

Leviticus chapter 17. Clearly, God created and designed blood to be highly important, physically and spiritually. So in the first segment today in the program, I'm going to tell you about a recent problem I had with blood flow in my own heart. If you received the Christian worldview weekly email, you may have read that on the Friday before Thanksgiving, I had a heart attack which required a procedure to place two stints in my heart to restore blood flow. I'll tell you more about that and how God's providence, mercy, and sanctification are at work in trials. In the second segment, we will hear from the author of a children's book titled 100% Jesus that does a really good job explaining the gospel and how, quote, the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin, 1 John 1.7.

We think this book 100% Jesus will be a helpful tool in your Bible reading time with your children, along with daily conversations and going to church and other things you do with your family that will help young ones understand and believe in Christ. And finally, in the third segment, we'll preview the first issue of the Christian worldview journal coming to your mailbox soon and what you can expect in that issue. The journal is our new monthly print publication on current events and issues of the faith. Now, speaking of the journal, I wrote an article for the December issue about the 2024 presidential election titled God is Sovereign and God is Merciful. In the second paragraph, I wrote this, Psalm 103 verse 19 declares, the Lord has established His throne in the heavens and His sovereignty rules over all. I went on to say this means God controls everything.

He causes or allows all that occurs from the smallest detail in your life to who wins a presidential election. Well, what I didn't know at the time is that God had sovereignly ordained that I would have a heart attack just a couple days after writing that. It wasn't a small detail of my life, but it is one that God is using to sanctify me and build greater closeness to Him.

And my hope in this first segment is recounting some of the details and takeaways will encourage you that God is working or will work in your trials as well. Now, God's sovereignty and providence with regard to this heart attack actually started earlier this year when I had a routine physical before a minor hand procedure. I found out for the first time at 55 years old that I had inherited my family history of heart disease. You may recall that my dad had three open heart surgeries and multiple stent procedures during his life, and then an untenable heart rhythm is what God used to bring my dad home to heaven last year. So I had gone through a number of tests this year which showed blockage in two arteries.

Not dangerous blockage, but something to start treating and keeping an eye on. Now, why was that providential? Because one's first heart event can often be the most dangerous if there's no warning. So when I started to feel something going wrong, I was going wrong. That Friday evening, the week before Thanksgiving, I knew a heart issue was in the realm of possibility at least. God had given me some advance notice earlier in the year, but that particular Friday was proceeding in fairly typical fashion. I had turned in the radio program earlier in the day, picked up my son from school, took a walk with him and the dog, and then came home. It had been a really busy work week, and I was looking forward to slowing down that evening and getting some rest.

And I hadn't been as physically active that week because of all the busyness, so Brody and I did some just basic calisthenics and exercise before dinner for about 30 minutes. But right after finishing that, I started to feel very badly. So much so that I went to lie down on the couch in the living room. But as I got there, I didn't feel like lying down was going to make me feel any better. So I immediately went back to the bedroom to tell Brody about how I was feeling.

And then I sat down in a recliner. I just felt terrible upper chest discomfort. I wasn't going unconscious or anything, didn't have massive chest pain or shortness of breath.

I was able to talk. So Brody took my blood pressure right away and it was very high. She gave me a baby aspirin and then called my brother Mark, who's a medical doctor. And he was concerned right away that this could be related to my heart. And so not very many minutes later, Brody was driving me to the emergency room of the hospital. And as I got there, the emergency room doctor was trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I was still feeling terrible, having heart rate problems in these really unsettling episodes.

But here's another point of God's providence. As the emergency room doctor would go from room to room to attend to various patients, the doctor was in my room in the midst of one of the worst episodes and he was watching it occur on the screen with my heart function. This confirmed to him that I was indeed having a heart attack and I was immediately given certain medications to deescalate it. And then shortly thereafter, he had me transferred in the middle of the night to a heart hospital in Minneapolis where I would undergo the stent procedure on Sunday. So Sunday in the late morning, I had two total stents put in separate heart arteries, one to open up a 95% blockage.

That's the one that caused the heart attack and the other was blocked 70%. And again, more of God's providence. The cardiac doctor who did the procedure was the doctor who had done the same procedure multiple times on my own father and then on my brother Mark seven years ago. Other doctors who do this could have done a fine job, of course, but there was something about being under the same hands of the one who handled my dad and brother.

Again, God's providence. I would spend two more days in the hospital recovering, making sure I tolerated medications and finally came home on Tuesday late afternoon after four days in the hospital. And needless to say, our family had an extra thankful thanksgiving to God for his mercy and goodness this year.

And I use that word mercy on purpose because this could have been so much worse. There has been some damage to my heart, but the doctors have been quite assuring that a return to normal activity is expected in time. But this will be a life changer for me with medications and different nutrition and exercise and pace of work going forward, but the Lord mercifully spared me from much more serious damage or something even worse.

So that's the five or six minute version of what happened. And what happened to me is not all that unusual. I'm sure many of you have heart disease or have had stents put in your heart or had heart surgery even. And there are far more serious diseases and procedures than what I experienced. In fact, what I experienced is so common that the CDC says that heart disease is the leading cause of death in this country. One person dies every 33 seconds from cardiovascular disease. In 2022, according to the CDC, 702,000 people died from heart disease. That's the equivalent of one in every five deaths. You can compare that to the 2022 statistics for abortion. There were over 613 legal induced abortions reported to the CDC. Now it's likely higher than that now with chemically induced abortions, but just to give you an idea of these two leading causes of death in this country.

But I think more important than just the facts of what happened are some of the things I learned, some takeaways. And the first one is this, that a hospital is really a testament to what God has revealed about the curse of sin and death on the world. Hospitals exist to reverse the curse, the disease and decay of our temporal earthly bodies.

Doctors and nurses and medicines and diagnostic tests and procedures and surgeries, you name it. They're all necessary in a hospital because of the universal effects of sin on our bodies. It's true what the Bible says. Romans 5 12, therefore just as through one man, Adam, sin entered into the world and death through sin and so death spread to all men because all sinned. Romans 8 22, for we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. And not only this, but also we ourselves having the first fruits of the Spirit, even believers, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body, our earthly bodies. 2 Corinthians 4, therefore we do not lose heart, Paul writes, but though our outer man is decaying or body, yet our inner man, soul and spirit, is being renewed day by day. Our bodies are dying.

But if you're a believer in Jesus Christ, if you're born again, God says you'll receive a new body someday that's designed to live forever with God in the new heavens and new earth. So that's my first takeaway, is that hospitals are a testament to what God has revealed about the curse of sin and death in the world. My second takeaway is this though, I'm very grateful to God for hospitals, for giving humans the minds and understanding to be able to treat God's fearfully and wonderfully made but failing bodies. This stent procedure is called angioplasty. This has to be one of the greatest life-saving or life-changing procedures ever invented. As I just read from the CDC, heart disease is a major problem and this procedure is a very low risk, high reward solution for blockage of your arteries. If you're not familiar with this procedure, it's been around for about 30 or 40 years and is much less invasive than open heart surgery and they're getting better and better at this. A doctor makes a small little incision into an artery in your groin or your wrist and then runs a very thin catheter up into your heart.

As he does that, he will inject some dye into your heart and he has imaging cameras over your body showing the dye going through the various arteries of your heart and that's how he can pinpoint where the blockage is and then once he knows where the blockage is, he goes in there with another catheter and then places a little stent. It's like a expandable spring structure at the point of blockage to open up your artery. So as I mentioned earlier, life is in the blood.

God designed blood to keep us alive and functioning. If your blood flow slows or stops, you're going to be incapacitated in a short order as was happening to me in that Friday evening. So if this stenting procedure wasn't around and there weren't skilled doctors to do it, where would I be right now?

I'd either be severely limited or have to have open heart surgery or just die young as people used to do in previous generations. So this is one of the things I was thinking about because trust in the medical industry after COVID and all the the pushing of the experimental quote unquote vaccine that was neither safe nor effective as we were told for many people who took it and the untested protocols of social distancing and masking that were being forced on us and not allowing people to see their dying loved ones. It's going to take a generation probably for trust to return to the medical industry. But in the midst of all that, there are life-saving procedures like the one I had and helpful medicines like I'm now taking and great doctors and staff as I experienced.

So we as believers need to proceed with discernment and not have an all-or-nothing perspective on the medical industry. The third takeaway is I'm very grateful to God for family and friends. This seems like an obvious one, but God designed the family to be a protective and supportive nest. My original family I'll call them, my mom and my siblings during this trial yet again demonstrated their love and devotion to see my 91 year old mother make it down to the hospital in the morning of my procedure. I'm thinking back to all she went through with my dad over the years with his heart procedures. I know it was very hard on her to watch her youngest in the midst of this now. And then my own family, my wife Brody and son Tommy, and all I can say is God has blessed me with a wonderful and godly wife in Brody and I am just so thankful to him and for her.

Her love and devotion for me is just remarkable. And thank you to friends and others who I don't even know who expressed their encouragement and that they were praying for me. That meant a lot as well. And finally, the fourth takeaway is that God has good purposes in our trials. James 1, a passage you probably know. Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. How do I consider it joy to have a heart attack? Or how do you consider it joy in your own trial? Well, because the highest purpose of life for the Christian is not just staying alive or being healthy or having peace and harmony in life. The highest purpose in joy is actually being close to the Lord.

And the most effective means God uses are the trials that He causes or allows us to experience, where we can't rely on anything in ourselves and we must look fully and only to Him. I don't know why God ordained this, but it narrowed my focus very quickly on drawing near to Him. I remember asking myself on a couple of different occasions, particularly when I was in the ER that first night and not knowing what was going on, and then when I was being wheeled in to the room for the procedure to have the stents put in. I remember thinking, if I don't make it here, am I truly right with God? Am I going to heaven? My answer was, am I trusting God in what He has revealed about Himself and my sinfulness and Christ's atoning work for me?

Have I answered God's call to repent and believe in Christ? And my assurance wasn't based on something many, many years ago. It was based on, what do I believe right now? Jesus said to Martha in John 11, her brother Lazarus had died. He said, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? He concluded by saying. And then she said to Him, yes, Lord, I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.

I believe that. It's not because of my belief, it's because of God's promise that I can have hope and assurance in the midst of a trial like that. I'm not going to tell you that I didn't get nervous at times, but then I had to remind myself of what God has promised in His word and affirm my belief in Him. So again, consider it all joy when you encounter various trials, knowing the testing of your faith produces endurance and let endurance have its perfect result so that you may be perfect or mature and complete, lacking in nothing. I certainly haven't arrived, but God has used and will use this trial to do His work in my life.

And I'm certainly grateful to Him to be feeling well and on the road to recovery. We'll take our first break, but coming up next, we'll hear from the author of 100% Jesus, which is a children's book that is a helpful tool in explaining the Gospel to young ones. To consider our trials all joy, we must first know the One who ordained our trials for His glory and our good. And what a great blessing to come to saving faith early in life. Let's teach the Gospel to our children early and often. I'm David Wheaton, and you are listening to the Christian Worldview Radio Program. We are excited to announce our new monthly print publication called the Christian Worldview Journal.

In Matthew 24, Jesus called for His disciples to be discerning, watchful, endure persecution, and be prepared and faithful in the lead up to His return. This is what the Christian Worldview Journal will aim to do each month in three articles on current events and issues of the faith, including by Christian geopolitical analyst Soren Kern, who is the managing editor of the journal. You'll also find featured resources, ministry news, and more in this 12-page full-color publication. Everyone on our mailing list will receive the Christian Worldview Journal through the February 2025 issue. Starting in March, all Christian Worldview partners will receive it.

To sign up for the journal, go to thechristianworldview.org or call 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Scripture commands that children are to be brought up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord. Offering biblically sound resources for children is one of our top ministry priorities. At our store at thechristianworldview.org, you will find carefully selected children's Bibles and books along with video and audio resources. Check out the Bible infographics for kids books, Little Pilgrim's Progress, and the popular Adam Raccoon set. Theo is a 15-episode video series addressing key doctrines of the faith that is a must-see for children and adults. Satan and the world are bent on capturing the heart and mind of your child.

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I'm David Wheaton. Be sure to visit our website, thechristianrealview.org, where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. In this segment, we're going to discuss how to explain the gospel to children in light of a book titled 100% Jesus, God's Path to Heaven by Jason Hammerberg.

And Jason joins us now. Jason, thank you for coming on the Christian Real View radio program today. Let's start out by just asking you, how did God bring you to saving faith? And tell us some about what your life is like now.

Thanks so much for having me. I grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, and we were involved in a great church that was very much a verse-by-verse, open the Bible and go through that. So, I think I was about 11. I remember laying in bed one night, and what I would say, the message from the Sunday school teacher that day clicked. And I understood it wasn't what I did, but what Jesus did.

At that time, we were going to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night. Love that, love that, until I was probably about a teenager. And that started to drift, I'd say more interested in the shiny objects of this world, until I met my now wife. And I realized I wanted something different. I needed to go back to God.

At the time, she didn't have a saving faith. And I realized she wasn't getting it or seeing it from me. So, it was a great opportunity for God to take both of us. And she understood the saving grace of the gospel message, and I quit living for myself.

So, it was great. At this point, we have two little boys, an eight-year-old, a four-year-old. And I day-to-day operate a business called Hammermade.

We're a men's clothing company, focused really on shirts. That's kind of the nutshell. Jason Hammerberger is our guest today. I want to get into the children's gospel book that you have written titled 100% Jesus. And you had been a Sunday school teacher. As a matter of fact, it says in the back of the book, after years of teaching Sunday school, Jason could see and hear the kids' confusion about the Bible and the story of Jesus. It seems odd, because that's one thing that a Sunday school should be very clear on, being able to explain who Jesus is, what is the gospel is, how we can be right with God. Explain more what you mean by that, and how your own church background was different than what you see today.

I'm 51 years old. When I was a kid, we had the felt boards. Here comes, you know, Moses, stick them up there. Here comes the parting of the Red Sea, stick that up there. And someone would explain through that felt board and through Exodus, here's the story, here's where you can find it.

And it wasn't very, I would say it wasn't very entertaining, but it was very detailed, descriptive. When we were teaching Sunday school, it was actually, we were married, we didn't have kids yet. And, you know, the call from the pulpit was, hey, you know, we need help in kids. I am the youngest of six kids myself. I have a dozen nieces and nephews.

I love kids. I said, you know, let's go help out in the kids' ministry. So, what would happen is on a given Sunday, you'd have the small little tables, the little chairs, we were volunteering in kind of the elementary age kids. And then they'd move from that set of table and chairs into a large room with hundreds of other kids. And they did a really great job singing, doing storytelling. And then at the end of that, there would always be some kind of call to the pulpit type of come and ask Jesus into your heart or say this prayer or whatever it is.

And again, a fine job. But what I noticed after weeks and weeks and months and months, you would see these same eager little hearts raising their hand and going up front and saying a prayer. And the next week I'd see the same kids do the same thing, raise their hand and go up front and say the prayer. So, what I started to do is after that kind of the time in a big group setting, we'd go back and we'd dig into the questions. And I started to ask the kids, especially the ones that I saw that would go forward, what did that mean?

And how did that interaction? And the more that I started to talk to them, the more I realized they were very fuzzy on who Jesus was as a baby and who we celebrate at Christmas, who Jesus is as the man that grows up and does miracle all the way to the God-man of Jesus on the cross. And so, that was probably the stirring of what prompted, not probably, that was the stirring of what prompted it. And again, the primary business is not this for me. I didn't anticipate writing a kid's book. I didn't want to. And God really put it on my heart like, hey, I've given you this creativity, the ability to do this. So, what started shifting within me is I would get on these long international flights, eight, 12 hours, and selfishly, it would be, okay, watch a couple movies, eat a meal, try to take a nap and get ready for getting off the plane and getting to work. And instead of that, God clearly brought it to my attention. I want you to just dial in on this flight and spend the whole time with me. So, I would sketch, I would read, I would reread, sketch.

And then when I got back into the US, I would give that to pastors, friends, editors, and just say, hey, you know, how is this? What am I missing? So, that's kind of the heart behind it, I guess. Got to clearly lay it on your heart from your experience in Sunday school that the gospel needed to be presented in a better and more impactful way.

And that's very, very important. Jason Hammerberg is our guest today, the author of 100% Jesus, also the founder and president of Hammer Made Men's Clothing. Jason, I want to just quote from the book 100% Jesus here early on.

One of the things I really like about it is that you emphasize some important parts of the gospel that often get neglected or not emphasized. And this is in regards to God's holiness and our sinfulness. Early in the book, you say, God in heaven is holy.

Again, this book is geared towards children. God in heaven is holy. That means He has never sinned, and He can't have sin in His home in heaven. He knows sin causes sadness and hurt, and it separates people from Him. However, God loves us even though we are sinners, and He wants us to live forever with Him in heaven. We try to reach to God by being as good as we can, but our efforts to earn our way to heaven are useless. There is nothing we can do to break through the sin barrier that separates us from God.

How can we get rid of our sins so we can live with God someday in heaven? He knew we needed a way to have our sin forgiven, so God in heaven created the perfect master plan to show the way and show the world His love. And then you get into the gospel and who Christ is and God's plan.

I think that was just really well said. The gospel makes no sense if God's holiness and our sinfulness isn't established. Jason, what are some of the main aspects of the gospel that need to be clearly emphasized with children?

Why do you think they're sometimes left out? What I was trying to do with this is make it, again, as simple and succinct for, in my mind, a seven, eight-year-old, but it clearly goes younger and older than that with the message. In one of the areas of the book, I give a page where they can document themselves when they understood this message.

But part of what I said before, like, I think I was about 11, I remember laying in bed and when this message clicked, but this page references back to your question, it says, I, and then it gives a space for the person's name. So I blank received God's free gift of salvation through Jesus' death on the cross. And these go back to the key points that I thought the kids need to answer and understand rather than just walking up into the front of the room and say, Jesus come into my heart or say this prayer or whatever. So these things say, I understand why Jesus had to come to earth and die for my sins. My sins separate me from God in heaven. So A, B, I believe that through Jesus' miraculous birth, sinless life, he never sinned. He was on this earth 30 some years. He never sinned. Undeserved death.

He didn't deserve that death. And God-given resurrection, I can be cleansed from all of my sin. So I think those key points to, even though we've already talked about them in the book, to reinforce that with the kids, to understand how holy and perfect this Jesus, the Christ that we're talking about, this awesome gift. So I think those things are not talked about sometimes because maybe the adult thinks the kid can't grasp that, or maybe themselves as the adult haven't grasped that. But I think that's why I go page by page and then tie the verses back into that, whether that's a Roman's separation from God and Isaiah and Ephesians as this gift. So at the end of every page, even though, again, I try to focus it on beauty and something that's going to pull the kids into the story, I leave the scripture references down below. So then hopefully parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, whoever can go back with them and look at that scripture.

Because I think there's undeniable power opening that Bible with the Holy Spirit. That's when you start to read the depth of that. But kids have the ability to understand these bigger concepts. And I don't think we should not talk about it without.

That's for sure. As a matter of fact, I always see the gospel as so simple that a child can understand that God is holy. We're sinners. God sent His Son Jesus to pay the penalty we deserve to pay for our sins, and we must repent and believe God in what He has revealed about His Son Jesus and what He did for us. It's a very simple message, and yet it's so profound that the greatest theological minds can just wonder at the glory of the gospel.

And so the gospel can be easily believed by a young child. As a matter of fact, you write later on in the book, you say God is holy and hates sin. He knows that we are sinners and that we cannot get rid of our own sin. This is the most important reason God sent His precious Son to this earth. There's the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Next page, you say even though Jesus was still sinless, He died upon a cross. Here's the substitution aspect of the gospel, and this is the core of the gospel. Paying a price we could never pay, He saved us from the punishment that our sin deserves, our death and separation from God in heaven.

In other words, we deserve death and separation from God in heaven, but Jesus took upon Himself God's wrath and justice over our sin. The principle of substitution that we did wrong and someone else is going to pay the consequence or the penalty for that wrong can be understood by a child. How regularly should parents or Sunday school teachers be explaining or communicating the gospel to a child?

I think that really depends on the child. I mentioned I have an eight-year-old and a four-year-old, and the eight-year-old, he and I would talk, and he had a kid's Bible we would read, and he was really into it and reading and thinking and asking. It seemed like he wanted to talk about it a lot. And now I have his four-year-old brother, who I'll talk to him about it. He'll say, I know that, Dad.

And he doesn't really seem like he wants to talk about it. But at the same time, not knowing where he is at, this morning we were on a jog, and I had him in the stroller pushing him along. And of spirit prompting, I stopped. And I grabbed him out of the stroller, and I was pointing to the sky and the birds and just different things. And I was like, who created that? And who created that?

And then who created you? And he almost starts to shut down from it. But even so, I want to keep talking to him about it, even if he's maybe not as receptive. And through those things where the creation, right, the beauty of looking at the sun was peeking through the clouds and all these great things and talking to him about that, even though he's a little, you know, I want to go splash my foot in that puddle.

I just want to sit there and hold him and talk to him and let him know that I love him. So each kid is different. But I think breaking out of my own kids, thinking about nieces and nephews and Sunday school, I don't know that they're hearing this message at all. When we think about Christian homes and loving kids that we're going to tell them about that. But I think there's also parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, again, that assume that this is happening when they go to church. They assume it's happening here, here, here. And I would just say, don't assume. Talk about it.

Bring up the questions. And I think so just being able to point out sin and understanding that everybody has sin and that's what we're dealing with here. But somebody loves us more than that, through that, above that. And so I would just say having a conversation, because I think there's also this this large void we hear about within the secular life right now that kids have, see, do everything. And they're like, is this it? Is this all that there is? And I think they're seeing this great this great burnout early on because they're achieving, doing, seeing everything.

And they're like, what else can be done? And I think helping them drip that into understanding you have this vast plan God has for you for your life that is unthinkable about where you can be and what you can do and how you can walk, not in a performance for God, but with him in his story. Look what it says in Deuteronomy 6 when Moses is speaking to his people on behalf of God. He said, these words which I am commanding you today shall be on your hearts.

So they have to be first be on our heart. We need to understand the gospel and God's word. And then verse 7, Deuteronomy 6, you shall teach them diligently to your sons and shall talk of them when you sit in your house and when you walk by the way and when you lie down and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand and there should be those frontals on your forehead. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. You know, the word of God needs to be just, according to this passage, just constantly communicated in our homes to our childrens in many different ways.

Not forced on them so we're pushing them away, but every opportunity should be taken to do that. From my own story here with my own son Tommy, when he was this age, this younger age, and we were reading scripture to him and explaining the gospel to him very regularly, he kept on saying it just didn't make sense to him. We read 100% Jesus to him. We thought it was very helpful in explaining the gospel. His second grade teacher at his Christian school was explaining the gospel to him.

He came home one night and we talked more about what faith is, what it means to believe. And then after that, God just all of a sudden took him from it didn't make sense to he wanted to go upstairs and sign the back of this book. Where you had mentioned earlier that I, Tommy, received God's free gift of salvation through Jesus' death on the cross, and I understand why Jesus had to come to earth and die for my sins, and my sins separate me from God. And the few more lines you write there, it is 100% Jesus and 0% me. It's not by my works, it's what Jesus did for me. And here his little name is signed here, and the date, and the witnesses, and where it took place.

And so I think it's an all-inclusive approach. It's not just going to be a book, it's not going to be just one thing, but it's certainly Scripture, and it's certainly being intentional about it as parents. So Jason, thank you for your heart for the salvation of children, and the dedication it took to put 100% Jesus together with your illustrator, Jeanette Hill. And thank you for coming on the Christian Rule View Radio program today, and all of God's best and grace to you. Hey, Merry Christmas.

Thanks for having me. All right, 100% Jesus, subtitled God's Plan to Heaven, is softcover, 42 pages, illustrated, and good for ages about four to ten, I'd say. It retails for $15, and you can get a copy for a gift of any amount to the Christian Rule View.

To order, go to thechristianrealview.org, or call 888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331, and that contact information will be given during the upcoming break as well. Just read through the book with your children along with the Scripture references on every page, and when you get to the faith commitment page where they can sign their name, there's no need to pressure them to fill it in. Perhaps just say, when you believe in Jesus as your Savior and Lord, then you can fill out this page, because filling in a page doesn't save anyone. It's by God's grace that one is saved through the means of faith in God's revealed Gospel.

Writing down one's name and date is a visible reminder of a commitment to faith. And just one more thing, a profession of faith doesn't mean that one possesses genuine saving faith. Remember what Jesus said in Matthew 7, verse 21? He said, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, in other words professes to call him Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven will enter. So as you disciple your children day by day, month by month, year by year, watch for the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians chapter 5 that is representative of a regenerated heart.

But instead, if you're seeing the deeds of the flesh practiced, don't assume that a young profession made at age five was authentic. Just continue to explain the Gospel and the call for holiness and walking by the Spirit as a Christian. Okay, two minute break to tell you about some ministry resources. Final segment coming up, where we'll briefly discuss why President Biden's recent pardon of his son Hunter reveals far more than just keeping him out of prison. We'll also do a quick preview of the December issue of the Christian Real View Journal.

I'm David Wheaton, and you are listening to the Christian Real View Radio Program. We didn't want our kids doing all these secular games like Elf on the Shelf. We really wanted to put Christ front and center at Christmas, and they actually engineered a wooden manger that's small enough to hide. And then I wrote a family devotional with 25 devotions for every day in December leading up to Christmas, including Christmas Day, that you can do in about seven minutes.

And the devotions are just loaded with the deity of Christ and the Gospel. That was Pastor Grant Castleberry describing Manger in Danger, a new daily devotional and game for families with children aged four to twelve. Manger in Danger retails for $40 plus shipping. We are offering it for a donation of $30 or more to the Christian Real View. To order, go to thechristianrealview.org, call 1-888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. David Wheaton here, host of the Christian Real View Radio Program. Listeners are often surprised to learn that we as a ministry pay to broadcast on the radio station, website, or app on which you are listening today. That expense is recouped through listeners like you making a donation or becoming a Christian Real View partner. Our aim is to have each broadcast outlet fully supported by the listeners of that outlet. If you would like to help us in our mission to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ, go to thechristianrealview.org and click on Donate. You can also call toll-free 1-888-646-2233 or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331.

Specify how you listen as that helps us decide whether to continue on a given outlet. And be sure to select one of our resources as a thank you for your support. Welcome back to the Christian Real View. I'm David Wheaton.

Be sure to visit our website, thechristianrealview.org, where you can subscribe to our free weekly email and annual print letter, order resources for adults and children, and support the ministry. You know, this past week you may have heard that Joe Biden issued a presidential pardon for his son Hunter. Here is a portion of the text of that pardon. It says, Be it known that this day I, Joseph R. Biden Jr., President of the United States, pursuant to my powers under Article II, Section 2, Clause 1 of the Constitution, have granted unto Robert Hunter Biden, that's his son, a full and unconditional pardon for those offenses against the United States which he has committed, or may have committed, or taken part in during the period.

This is important. From January 1st, 2014 through December 1st, 2024. And then here's what President Biden said about it. He said, Today I signed a pardon for my son Hunter. From the day I took office, I said I would not interfere with the Justice Department's decision-making, and I kept my word, even as I have watched my son being selectively and unfairly prosecuted.

Keep in mind that it's the Biden Justice Department that's in power right now. He went on to say the charges in his Hunter's cases, and it has to do with tax evasion and a weapons violation, came about only after several of my political opponents in Congress instigated them to attack me and oppose my election. So he's saying I had to do this because there was a political prosecution of my son. And I'll say this, this pardon is not significant because Joe Biden said he wouldn't issue a pardon for Hunter. Politicians go back on their word all the time. It's not even significant because this pardon will keep his son from going to prison.

Many fathers would do that for their own son if they had the power to do so. What is very significant in this pardon is the date range it covers. It goes all the way back to January 1st, 2014, when Joe Biden was vice president and Hunter Biden, his son, was making apparently millions of dollars between Ukraine and China as he was on the board of a big oil company in Ukraine and other dealings in China. And he was basically being paid for these foreign entities to have access and influence to the highest levels of our government. Victor Davis Hanson, the well-known conservative writer and commentator, said Biden essentially pardoned himself by exempting all of Hunter's crimes since 2014, in which Hunter Biden had enriched the Biden crime family cartel due to, quote, the big guys. That's how Joe Biden was referred to on Hunter Biden's laptop through opportune calls and appearances with foreign crooks. Joe knew that only a silenced Hunter would save the Biden syndicate after January 20th, 2025. Biden also knew of Hunter's laptop, the bitter references in it to the, quote, big guy and Mr. 10 percent who grabbed Hunter's grifted money and free stuff, but never appreciated Hunter's dirty role that made them all rich. After November 5th, Victor Davis Hanson says, whether Joe Biden or Kamala Harris won or lost the election, he was always going to pardon Hunter, who was always a relapse away from bringing them all down. Final paragraph. He says the schemes to hide Joe Biden's longstanding dementia, the coup that nullified 14 million Democratic primary voters and crowned the Harris candidacy, the lies to protect the Biden crime syndicate and this final pardon will cement Joe Biden's reputation not just as the most incompetent, but also as the most corrupt and dishonest president in U.S. history.

That is quite a statement from Victor Davis Hanson. And so that information found on Hunter Biden's laptop before the 2020 election that was suppressed by almost all the media. And who knows whether Joe Biden would have actually won that election had the public known about his dealings with foreign entities through his son. So this pardon that spans an 11 year timeframe going all the way back to January 1st, 2014, reveals that Joe Biden is very concerned about illegal activities being investigated that he and his family engaged in.

And it's likely that Joe Biden will get away with this in this life, but he better consider the justice of God in the next. And finally today, the December issue of the Christian worldview journal, which is the inaugural issue, should be arriving in your mailbox during the week of December 16th. We hope you enjoy and benefit from it. It's not a magazine, but it's also much more than a newsletter. In fact, it's 12 full color pages. And the core of it are the three monthly articles on current events and issues of the faith, including a series on biblical prophecy in 2025 by the incoming managing editor of the journal, geopolitical analyst, Soren Kern. So for example, in the December issue, Soren has written an article titled, How a Trump presidency may affect the world order. And then Pastor Grant Castleberry, you remember him as a guest on the program, his article is titled, A Legacy Lost, the Tragedy of a Fallen Leader. And you may remember we referenced this article when Grant was recently in the program talking about the disqualification of Pastor Stephen Lawson. And so now you'll be able to read the article in its entirety.

I also contributed an article for this issue titled, God is Sovereign and God is Merciful, and that pertains to the 2024 presidential election. And there are lots of other elements in the journal like featured resources from our store, upcoming events, an explanation of the gospel, letters from listeners, and a whole lot more. And again, the first three issues, December, January, and February are going to be mailed to everyone on our mailing list. And starting with the March issue, the journal will be sent to Christian worldview partners, those who support the ministry of the Christian worldview at $10 or more per month. So to get on our mailing list or to become a Christian worldview partner, go to our website, thechristianworldview.org, or call us toll free, 1-888-646-2233, or write to us at Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. You can support the Christian worldview in whatever amount you'd like or whatever frequency works for you. And we don't consider the journal to be a subscription, but it's rather a thank you resource for supporting the overall ministry of the Christian worldview.

Well, that's all we have time for today. Hope those of you who ordered Manger in Danger are benefiting from that daily devotional and spending time with your family in the lead up to Christmas. If you're looking to order that or other resources to get there in time for Christmas, you'll need to order no later than December 16th.

We can't guarantee your arrival this time of year, but the sooner you order, the better. Thank you for joining us today on the Christian worldview and for your support of this nonprofit radio ministry. Let's remember what scripture says about the blood of Christ. In him, we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, which he lavished upon us.

So until next time, think biblically, live accordingly, and stand firm. The mission of the Christian worldview is to sharpen the biblical worldview of Christians and to proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. We hope today's broadcast encouraged you toward that end. To hear a replay of today's program, order a transcript, or find out what must I do to be saved, go to theChristianworldview.org or call toll-free 1-888-646-2233. The Christian worldview is a listener-supported nonprofit radio ministry furnished by the Overcomer Foundation. To make a donation, become a Christian worldview partner, order resources, subscribe to our free newsletter, or contact us, visit theChristianworldview.org, call 1-888-646-2233, or write to Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota, 55331. Thanks for listening to The Christian Worldview.