Interview with David Riffel

TNG Radio, where today's culture and timeless truths come together.

It's reasoned relevant content apologetics, worldview, and answers to the questions that you need to know. From Alex McFarland Ministries, this is Truth for a New Generation Radio. And now the man who preached in 50 states in 50 days, speaker, writer, and advocate for Christian apologetics, Dr. Alex McFarland. One of my favorite Bible verses is 1 Corinthians 15, 58, which says—it concludes with this phrase—"Your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Hi, Alex McFarland here. Welcome to Truth for a New Generation, the TNG Radio broadcast. I want to give you that fuller verse and its context. You know, 1 Corinthians 15 is all about the resurrection, and God had the power to raise the dead, and Jesus conquered the grave. And 1 Corinthians 15 includes with verse 58, it says, "...therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. For as much as you know, your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

Now think about this. If Jesus can conquer the grave, come out of the tomb alive, Jesus can meet your needs. Jesus can work through you.

You've got power, that resurrection power. And we are to be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, and we know, look, whether you sow a seed and share the gospel or intercede and pray for somebody, or just love your family and maybe sometimes love that co-worker who is unlovable, and you're representing Jesus, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. Now folks, I wish you could see what I see right now, because it is so beautiful in snow. Now it looks like Christmas out here, and I'm at the campus of Karras Bible College.

We're in the lobby, which is so beautiful. It's been my privilege to come out here and teach apologetics for a number of years, and with me is Dr. Dave Riffle, who is involved in the apologetics program where I teach and the School of Practical Government. And yeah, Pikes Peak, 14,110 feet above sea level, but Woodland Park here, where Karras is, and where you serve, you and your wife live, that's 8,500 feet.

Correct. And tell the people what you do with Karras Bible College. Well, currently I'm the coordinator of the Practical Government School, so we have numerous guest speakers like yourself come in, retired generals, retired congressmen, teaching our students a biblical basis for government, including David Barton and so many others that are just amazing, amazing instructors.

And we've had a couple of our students run for U.S. Congress so far, and we, unsuccessfully so far, and we have a couple more that'll be running in this upcoming 2020 election. Well, for those that may not know, and we've had him on the program before, the founder of Karras is my friend Andrew Womack that I'm sure you've seen on television, and my goodness, back in August it was my privilege to be on his show with him, The Gospel Truth, and Dave, I don't know that I've ever done any media that garnered as much response, and I've been very blessed to do a lot of media, but when I was on with Andrew for an entire week back in August of 2019, we got correspondence literally from all 50 states. So God is working here, God is really using this, and I want to say thank you for allowing me to be one of your teachers. I love to come out here and teach, and you and I have been fellowshipping a little bit, and you said something a minute ago that really struck my heart. Oftentimes in the church, we say, you know, well, somebody needs to pray for America, and lost people need to be evangelized, and somebody needs to do that, and you and I were talking about how we often wait for, quote, somebody else to step up to the plate, or maybe we just say, well, you know, God will take care of it, and if I'm hearing you correctly, you believe God has a game plan for every believer to be on the front lines of this exciting thing called the Christian life, and let's expand on that a little bit. Alex, you know, the scripture that just lit my fire and that just went off like a bomb inside my head was when I was reading one of Andrew Wommack's books entitled God Wants You Well, in which he quoted Jesus saying to the disciples in Luke 9, 1, I've given you authority and power over all demons and disease. Now, my dad was a Baptist pastor, I knew a lot of the word, we had gone to churches now that believed in healing, and yet I had never heard that scripture to my knowledge, although I'd read through the Bible before, it just never hit me, and at the time I was a chiropractor, I served 44 years as a chiropractor, and it was in my 42nd year of practice that I read that book just eight years ago, and when I realized that we have authority over all demons and disease, so whether a disease is being brought by demons or whether it's just a natural cause, we have authority over it, and I began to pray for my patients. So the first one was a lady who had had a master's degree in education, a bright lady had been a patient for 30 years, but in the last five years she had gone through all seven stages of Alzheimer's disease, to where she could no longer speak, read, or write, and in fact they had brought hospice into the home, but her husband, being her only caregiver, had to bring her with him when he came to my chiropractic office, and I asked the husband, is it okay if I pray for your wife to be healed from Alzheimer's? He said, yeah.

It's like, what could that hurt? And so I commanded demons to go, I bound them, I commanded Alzheimer's disease to go, bound the disease, I released that life of Christ that lived in me. I wasn't certain about their spiritual status, but I knew in me was that life that could heal her, just like Jesus said, go and preach and tell them the kingdom of God has come nigh to you because it's inside of you. And so three months after praying, he had me to their home, showed me where a caregiver would write a line of handwritten text, show it to her, she would look at it, mentally process it, and then speak it back, and then copy it in her own handwriting below that of the caregiver. And so when they went back for a three month checkup with the Alzheimer's specialist, he'd been hearing the reports, and he said to the husband, I have talked to my colleagues and none of them have ever heard of anything like it. People do not get better from Alzheimer's, and yet my first prayer in my life, with authority, produced those results. Stay tuned folks, we're going to come back and continue the conversation with Dr. Dave Riffle, Alex McFarland with Truth For New Generation Radio.

We're back after this. From I Am A Watchman Ministries, here's today's I Am A Watchman Minute. One day Jesus asked his disciples, who do people say that I am? They replied, some say John the Baptist or Elijah or Jeremiah. Okay, but who do you say that I am? Simon Peter answered, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God. That was a defining moment for Peter, his answer determined his future. The question today is, who is Jesus to you? Your answer will determine your eternal future. If to you Jesus was among the greatest of men, then celebrate his birthday and read about his life.

But if to you Jesus was the Christ, the Son of the living God, then you must live for him. That's what a watchman does. Visit IAmAWatchman.com for helps and resources. Be bold, be faithful, be a watchman.

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EngageMagazine.net. You know, Alex has been writing for many years and one of his classic books is still great today as a basic introduction to the Christian faith. It's called Stand, Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakeable Faith. This book will help you help your teens get off the roller coaster of doubt and onto solid ground. You'll read about the six pillars of biblical Christianity. They are, one, inspiration of the Bible, two, the virgin birth, three, the deity of Christ, four, atonement, five, Christ's resurrection and six, Christ's return. Alex mixes it up with humor and stories he gleaned from decades of working with youth and encourages teens to build a foundation of faith that will stabilize their lives and help them take a stand for Christ.

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That's liberty.edu backslash explore to learn more. Christ's truths in a soundbite culture, truth for a new generation radio. Welcome back to T&G Radio. Alex McFarland here, and we're talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. Now, Christians everywhere believe in the Holy Spirit. And Jesus, in John 15 and 16, He said, as He was en route to the cross, He said to the disciples, it is expedient, or it's to your benefit, that I go away because I'm going to send another, the Holy Spirit, who will guide you into all truth.

The Holy Spirit was promised and, of course, came at Pentecost. But one of the things that I've said, and if you listen to the program regularly, you've heard me say it, that I believe the American church needs to get reacquainted with the supernatural. When I was in Peru on a mission trip a few years ago, I saw things that just don't fit in our American church box. The numerous trips that we've made to Africa and to Zambia and to developing nations, third-world countries. When you're on the mission field, folks, you see God do things.

And we need that here in America. And I'm talking with Dr. Dave Riffle. He's one of the coordinators of the content here at Karras Bible College, where it's been my privilege to come and teach for a number of years. And Dave, before we go too much farther, give the website for those that...just give us a thumbnail sketch of what Karras is and how people can find it. KarrasBibleCollege.org, and Karras is spelled C-H-A-R-I-S, and that comes from the Greek word which means gift or grace, karras, and that also is the root word for charismatic. And so KarrasBibleCollege.org has the Bible College website, and AWMI.net stands for Andrew Wommack Ministries Incorporated.net, which is the parent organization for the Bible College. And you know, it's been my privilege to come up here and teach.

We've met students from all over America and all over the world. And you know, regarding the gifts of the Holy Spirit, Dave, I want you to finish the story about the woman that God began to heal of Alzheimer's from your prayer, because I mean, that really is unprecedented. And then I want to talk about how every Christian, every Christian can be used by God to be a powerful voice of light and truth, and we need that. But before we resume your testimony there about the patient, don't you think in America, with all of the formidable obstacles to the gospel, would you agree that we need a presence and a power and an anointing of the Holy Spirit that just is not known about and talked about enough?

Dave Amen. You know, before I had had this revelation about the authority that Jesus has given us as his disciples, I had shared my faith with two fellow chiropractors, each of whom were on their deathbed. And I kind of had nothing to lose, you know, so I was in a safe environment, when they're lying on their deathbed, that I can talk to them about Jesus. But other than that, I did not openly share my faith with people.

We talked about the weather and about, you know, common things, but I was not a person who had that passion in me to share my faith. Well, after having seen the amazing results, this woman recovering from Alzheimer's disease, I determined that I was just going to offer this same gift of healing to anyone who would be willing. And out of over seven hundred of my patients who I asked, can I pray for your physical healing, not one of them said no.

Everyone was open to receive prayer for physical healing. After prayer, many of them were choked up, had tears, you could hear from the sound of their voice that they had sensed the presence of God, and about a fourth of them would ask me questions about God. And you could tell it was something that had been in the back of their mind for a long time, and they'd just been waiting for someone that they thought might be able to answer. So I would answer, and it was usually simple, and after I would answer, I would ask them, do you know what it is to be born again?

And no one knew. And I think the one person who came closest, he says, isn't that when you see the light? I say, well, yes, yes, that is. And so I would quote to them Romans 10-9, that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved. And I would explain that's saved from eternal damnation, that's saved from being apart from God. And people would usually say, that's it?

It's that simple? You know, I'm amazed at how many people in America, and listen, I love America, I love the church, but I'm amazed at how many people here in the USA have not heard a clear explanation of the gospel and how to be born again. And I really, when Jesus said the fields are white under harvest, don't say three months and then the harvest.

Now, today, there's a harvest. I really believe that, don't you? Amen. So as I would explain this to them, I would say, well, yes, it is simple, but you really have to mean that. I said, I'm going to help coach you with the words to say, but it needs to be a prayer from your heart. You have to mean it, and what's more, yes, you have to make Jesus the Lord. You're no longer the boss. He is.

If he tells you something, you're going to obey that. And so, during that two-and-a-half-year period until it was just so amazing that we decided to retire and come to Caris Bible College, during that two-and-a-half years, 139 of my patients chose to be born again. Hallelujah. Folks, are you listening to this? And listen, God wants you to be a witness too.

Dave, God bless you. You know, the Bible says in Proverbs 11 30, the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise. In God's book, you were being very wise to lead all that many people to Christ.

Well, you know, it was just such a great offer. In fact, one of my patients owned a luxury car dealership. He was a very wealthy man. He didn't, in his eyes, didn't need God. And so, I had asked him once if he knew what it was to be born again. And he says, oh, I'm not religious.

And I said, that's not what I asked you. I said, do you know what it is to be born again? He says, oh, I think I'm an atheist.

Every time I pray, nothing happens. And I thought, hmm, who would an atheist pray to? I don't think he's an atheist. I think he thinks he's an atheist.

And so, I said, well, let me understand this. On your part to be born again, you would be admitting that you are a sinner. You would be turning away, repenting from your sins. You would be receiving the forgiveness that Jesus paid for for your sins when he died on the cross and rose again. For his part, God would guarantee you eternal life, guarantee you no condemnation. There is, therefore, no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. He would supply all of your need, whether it was a financial need, whether it's a need for healing.

He would provide you with peace of mind, peace between you and God. I said, to me, that sounds like a pretty good deal. He said, that does sound like a pretty good deal. And I said, would you like to be born again?

He said, yes. Amen, amen. You know what, we've got to take a quick break.

Folks, don't go away. When we come back, Dave Riffle and I are going to continue to talk about the power of the Holy Spirit. And I've said it, the American church must rediscover the supernatural. We wield power in the Savior for His glory, not for ours, for His kingdom, not ours certainly, but for Christ and the Great Commission.

And we need that here in America. Stay tuned. We're going to talk further when Truth For New Generation Radio comes back. Alex McFarland is here to bring you answers for the tough questions, Scripture that speaks to the issues, and help to develop a personal, stable, and strong Christian faith. And with the help of notable names like apologist and author Josh McDowell, and award-winning author and pastor emeritus of Moody Church, Erwin Lutzer, Alex and the Truth For a New Generation Conference is committed to impacting our nation for Christ and the future, and to equipping you to be a difference maker. Don't miss the final TNG Unashamed Conference for 2019, November 15th and 16th at Landmark Church in Cincinnati, Ohio. Romans 1-16 says, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation to everyone who believes. Register now by calling 877-YES-GOD-1.

That's 877-YES-GOD and the number 1. Or visit truthforanewgeneration.com. If you're a Christian parent, you of course want to instill a biblical view of life in the hearts of your children. If you're a pastor, you want to offer ministry that draws young families to your church. This is Alex McFarland encouraging you to check out my new book and video curriculum, The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask About Christianity. Why do bad things happen? I interviewed hundreds of children, ages 5 to 12, and we address actual questions from actual children, the spiritual issues that are on the minds of your kids.

Did Jesus ever sin? The book and video lessons are great for groups of any size and was produced with the goal of equipping kids to stand strong for Christ in any situation. The 21 Toughest Questions Your Kids Will Ask, the book, study guide and video series. You'll find it at afastore.net. That's afastore.net. In the midst of a culture obsessed with relativism, Alex McFarland is a voice you can trust to speak the timeless truths of Christianity in a timely way. You're listening to Truth for a New Generation Radio. Welcome back to TNG Radio. Alex McFarland here. Hey, we're going to talk about the Holy Spirit, but before we continue that conversation with Dr. Dave Riffle, I do want to remind everybody, coming up, the last Truth for a New Generation Conference of 2019.

We're going to be in Cincinnati, Ohio, November 15-16. It's great. I was just up there meeting with pastors and churches.

Listen to this. Josh McDowell, amazing defender of the faith, evidence that demands a verdict, and Erwin Lutzer from Moody Church in Chicago. He's got a brand new book called The Church in Babylon. How can we be the Christians, the salt and light, in the 21st century? Abe Hamilton III from the American Family Radio Network.

Amazing. Ann Palk, my dear friend Ann Palk of the Restored Hope Network. She's going to be talking about how God delivered her out of lesbianism. An incredibly articulate speaker, very polished, very persuasive, informative, and frankly, maybe a great encouragement to many of you out there if you've got people in your life that are struggling with sexual sin. I think about Kamal Saleem, former Muslim Kamal Saleem, who's going to be there sharing how God brought him out of Islam. And so be at TNG in Cincinnati.

You can get complete information at my own website, which is alexmcfarland.com. Please pray, promote, and plan to attend. And I want to continue our conversation now with Dr. Dave Riffle. And you know, before the break we were talking about the power of the Holy Spirit. And I've seen miracles too, domestically and internationally. And let me just say, do you think that in the American church maybe times we'll get desperate enough that we really will get on our face and crave a visitation from God? If you had a vision or a heartbeat for the church in America in relation to the Holy Spirit's power, what would that be, Dave? Dr. Dave Riffle I think there's two things that are paralyzing the church, because I was a member of the paralyzed church. I didn't share my faith.

I just watched complacently. I expected the clergy to do their job. If we wanted someone to get born again, we'd bring them to church and they'd preach at them.

And now we see people born again, healed, filled with the Holy Spirit on a weekly basis in our own personal contacts in our home or as we're on the road. And so, number one, I believe that the idea of the sovereignty of God is a misunderstanding of what God has actually equipped us to do. People will say, well, it happened, so it must have either been God's will or he permitted it. Well, if I had a teenage son who I said, we're going out for the evening, I do not want you to take our car, our second car, under any circumstances. So while we're gone, if he took that car, got into a terrible accident, killed another person, would I have either permitted or allowed that to happen?

No, neither. I was vehemently against it, but my son in that case, that fictitious case, would have exercised his own free will to disobey me. Well, God has told us to take dominion over the earth, to rule, to reign, to have authority. When you read in Timothy about be a good soldier, fight the good fight, we are in a war and God has given us authority and power. So think of this example. If a highway patrolman sits by the side of the Rome all day watching the radar detector go off, and at the end of the day, he goes back and says to his sergeant, it is terrible out there, there are so many law breakers.

The governor ought to do something about it. What do you think the sergeant would say to him? He would say, well that's why we deputized you. Exactly. And that's why Jesus gave us authority and power over all demons and disease. Well, you know, I love that you're saying that Dave, because a number of times we've preached and taught on a couple of verses, you know, Acts 1a, you will receive power after the Holy Spirit has come upon you, you'll be my witnesses.

That's ability power. But do you know in Matthew 28, 18-20, Jesus gave the church authority power. He said, all authority in heaven and earth belongs to me, and I send you forth, go into all nations, make disciples.

So I'm really glad you said that. And Christians, when we go out there, we're on God's turf. This is God's world, and he has—Dave, isn't it fair to say God has deputized us, his church, given us the authority to go forth powerfully in Jesus' name?

Amen. In that analogy of the policeman, his badge is his authority. So in other words, if he says to a gunman, come out, and the gunman doesn't come out, there's a SWAT team, there's eventually the National Guard.

That gunman will come out. That's authority. But he's also given him power. That's his weapon.

He's authorized to use deadly force if necessary. And so Jesus gave us authority and power over all demons and disease. So we can, in the name of Jesus, curse disease. We can bind demons and disease. We can command them to go. They must obey.

So we have authority, and we have power. Now Jesus' disciples rejoiced that even the demons were subject to them. And they had healed the sick. And yet when he left, he said, you wait until you receive power, and then you'll be my witnesses. He wanted witnesses who were not only talking, but demonstrating power over disease, over demons, over physical needs. And so when he gave us that authority and power, most people in the church, I believe, that's the minister's job, or that's the missionary's job, or the evangelist's job. No. He said believers will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.

We are authorized, we just need to use the authority, and we need the power. That comes through the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which came on the day of Pentecost, and it's still coming to those in Luke 11. He said if you earthly fathers know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask? Amen. I remember when I was in Africa for the first time, and a man had been bitten by a deadly snake.

I mean, a bite of a black mamba or a green mamba is just not survivable. And they said, quick, let's pray and command him to live. And after a minute of being sort of disoriented, he revived. And many other things we could say, but folks, I'm going to close with a quote from Philip Yancey of Christianity Today. Somebody asked Philip Yancey about why God does miracles in some parts of the world, but not in America. And Philip Yancey said God goes where He's wanted. And if we want God in power and presence and protection and victory, and we want souls saved, and we want prodigal children brought back to Jesus, and we want insoluble dilemmas resolved for God's glory according to God's purposes, look, we've got to want to let the Lord have control of our nation, but first we've got to want to let the Lord have control of us.

So go forth and remember, your labor in the Lord is not in vain. We'll talk further on the next TNG broadcast. TNG radio is made possible by the friends of Alex McFarland Ministries, P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. That's P.O. Box 10231, Greensboro, North Carolina 27404. Call us at 877-Yes-God-1.

That's 877-Yes-God and the number 1. Or give online at AlexMcFarland.com. While you're there, listen to Program Archives, read Alex's blog, invite Alex to speak at your event, or contact Alex with a question or comment. AlexMcFarland.com. Thanks for listening today and join us again next time as we bring you more truth for a new generation on TNG Radio.