An Audience of One

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Well, hey guys, this is Michael Zwick. Hope you guys are doing well. Today, it is an audience of one. We are only performing for one, and that is Jesus Christ. And I've got a question for you.

Because sometimes, when you're working in this Christian life, you're serving the Lord.

Sometimes it seems like it's you against the world.

Sometimes it seems like you're the only one who wants to stand for truth.

So the question is this. When has there been a time in your life When you have had to stand for the truth of God's word, And it seemed like everybody has been coming against you. The phone number is 866-34 TRUTH, 866-348-7884. We want your calls. As I was thinking about this, I was reminded of, there was a book, and it was by Stephen Roy, and it said, What God Thinks When We Fail, and He tells a Fictional Story.

about a young violinist who lived in London many years ago. And although he was a superb musician, he was deathly afraid of crowds, so he avoided giving concerts. But after enduring criticism for his unwillingness to give concerts, he finally agreed to perform in the largest concert Hall in all of London. the young violinist came on the stage and sat alone on a stool. He put his violin under his chin and played for an hour and a half.

No music in front of him, no orchestra behind him, no breaks, just an hour and a half of absolutely beautiful violin music. After ten minutes or so, many critics put down their pads and listened like the rest. After the performance, the crowd rose to its feet and began applauding wildly. and they wouldn't stop. But the young violinist didn't acknowledge the applause.

He just peered out into the audience as if he were looking for something or someone. Finally, he found what he was looking for. relief came over his face, and he began to acknowledge the cheers. After the concert, the critics met the young violinist backstage. They said, You are wonderful, but one question.

Why did it take you so long to acknowledge the applause of the audience? The young violinist took a deep breath and answered You know, I was really afraid of playing here. Yet this was something that I knew I needed to do. Tonight, just before I came on the stage, I received word that my master teacher was to be in the audience. Throughout the concert, I tried to look for him, but I could never find him.

So after I finished playing, I started to look more intently. I was so eager to find my teacher that I couldn't even hear the applause. I just had to know what he was what he thought of my playing. That was all that mattered. Finally, I found him high in the balcony.

He was standing and applauding with a big smile on his face. After seeing him, I was finally able to relax. I said to myself, If the master is pleased with what I have done, then everything else is okay. And I'm here to tell you today, if you go throughout your whole life and you're serving the master, it doesn't matter what anybody else thinks. What our master and Lord and Savior Jesus Christ thinks, what he thinks, that's what counts and not anybody else.

And so I've got a Sherry out of South Carolina. Are you there, Sherry? Yes, I'm here. When has there been a time when you've had to stand for the truth? of God's word and you felt like everybody was coming against you.

Wow. Um I had um heard the Lord. say that I was to take in a satanic ritual abuse victim. into my home. And so my husband and I took her in.

And Everything started to erupt around us when we did. Um The child was 17 years old. And her mother Her family of origin. Her mother had started to tell the church leaders and the other people in the community that we had stolen her child. When in actuality, of course, the child was accusing them of.

Not only satanic ritual abuse, but sexual abuse and all kinds of other abuse. And um So I knew that the Lord wanted me to protect this child. to provide for this child, to give the child unconditional love.

So I just Stayed at it. And um things erupted to the point where the leader of a I was doing a um a teen, this is how I met the child was Um I was doing a teen Bible study. at the time. And I withdrew from the teen Bible study. But Um The leader of that particular Bible study called me one day.

And literally attacked me. She verbally attacked me, screaming at me, hollering at me, calling me all kinds of names, using foul language. which was not at all like that woman. And I was definitely taken aback. I happened to have been with my prayer partner at the time.

And Thank goodness she was there to smile and say, Well, we know who this is. This is the enemy. Mm-hmm. He is not happy with what you're doing. And this is why you're getting this attack.

And I said, yes. That is the truth. And so I knew I just had to stay the course. That no matter what This woman said, no matter what the family said, no matter what the community said, no matter what the church said. I had to defend this girl.

Edgiver. the unconditional love that the Lord had called me to do. And it was not an easy season. But he protected me and provided everything I needed. And so I knew The Lord was the audience of one.

I had to please him. Didn't have to worry about I I had to lay down what anybody else thought. Absolutely. And in Proverbs 29:25, it says that the fear of man is a snare. And if you think about it, Sherry, how many times and how many of us go throughout our whole lives?

And we're trying to impress other people, we're trying to please other people, we want to be people pleasers, we want everybody to like us. And I think a lot of times what we end up doing is, we end up trying to please people that we don't even like. And we try to buy things that try to impress to me to impress other people that we don't even like as well. And it's like at the end of the day, I've got a friend of mine named Christy, and she says, Mike, she says, at the end of the day, Mike. She said it's just you and Jesus.

Have you seen that? Yes. Yes. Yes, that we're going to stand alone before him and answer to him. For every thought we've had and every deed we've done.

And, um There it is an audience of one. We do. You're absolutely correct. I'm in agreement that we're not going to. It's not about what someone else thinks.

It's not about what Huh. what we wear, what we have, what any of that Means. That we are gonna Yeah. Yeah.

Well, Jesus put it like this: He said, What good is it to a man? if he gains the whole world yet loses his own soul. You know, and it's, and he, it's funny. He says there, he says, you can actually get everything that this world has to offer. He doesn't say that you can't get it.

You can serve the devil and and the devil gives gifts too. I mean, you you see that there's people who are completely f Turning away from God, following after the world, and their life seems easy. But I love Psalm 73 because what Psalm 73 says is that yes, for the wicked, things seem okay right now. But we know how it's going to end for them.

Now we pray for them, we share the good news with them, we love them, but we know that if they don't repent and that they don't turn to the Lord Jesus Christ and completely surrender their lives to Him, It's not going to end well for them. And so I think sometimes maybe we need to get an eternal perspective, Sherry.

Sometimes we're so focused on this world. And I've said this before: one of my favorite C.S. Lewis quotes is this: Over the years, the Christians who have done the most for this world. Have thought the least about this world and the most about heaven. The Christians who have done the least for this world have thought the most about this world.

And he said, aim at heaven, and many times you get earth thrown in. Aim at Earth, and you get neither. Sherry, I want to thank you for the call. We're going to be right back. Rick Pearson is on the phone.

You're listening to The Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com.

Well hey guys, we want your calls 866-34 TRUTH 866-348. 7884. When has there been a time in your life where you've had to stand maybe on a word or a vision or something that the Lord has told you, and it seems like everybody, and I mean everybody, has come against you. You know, one of the things that I remember, and I forget a lot of stuff, there's one thing I'll never forget. Before I tried out from a high school basketball team, my mother put a poem on my door and she just left it there.

She didn't say anything. It was wonderful. I'll never forget it. This is what it was. It's Langston Hughes.

He said, it says, well, son, I'll tell you. Life for me ain't been no crystal stair. It's had tacks in it and splinters and boards torn up and places with no carpet on the floor bare. But all the time I've been a climbing on and reaching landings and turning corners and sometimes going in the dark where there ain't been no light.

So boy, don't you turn back. Don't you sit down on the steps, because you find it's kind of hard out there. Don't you fall now, for I still going, honey. I still climbing and life for me. Ain't been no crystal stare.

You know who life wasn't a crystal stare for either as a Christian? It was Jesus Christ. And this was about Jesus Christ right here. It's Isaiah 53. It says, Who hath believed our report?

And to whom is the arm of the Lord revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant and as a root out of dry ground. He hath no form nor comeliness. And when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we shall desire him. He is despised and rejected.

That was Jesus Christ. He is despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from him. He was despised and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows.

Yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and with his stripes. We are healed.

I tell you what, you know who it wasn't easy for in this life was Jesus Christ. Everybody came against him, he was a perfect man. He was perfect. He never did sin. Yet everybody seemed to come against him.

How are we as Christians any different at all? And I've got a Richard Pearson, Rick Pearson, out of Canada on the phone. Are you there, Rick? Yes, Mike.

Well, brother, when I don't even have to ask you the question, but I'm going to go ahead and ask. When has there been a time, Rick, when you've had to stand for the truth of something that the Lord has shown you? And it seemed like everybody was coming against you. Mike, it's very funny. But since I started my ministry on television, Prophecy USA America's role in Bible prophecy.

I have had the greatest opposition that I've had Just like Jesus. You know, the normal people, the average people accepted Jesus. But it was the scribes, the Pharisees, and the Sadducees who were stuck in religious tradition. That would not accept the fact that he was the Messiah. They were looking for the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, but they missed all the other scriptures.

Well, I was given a revelation in 1986 on America's role in Bible prophecy. And we're on one hundred and twenty T V stations now with Prophecy USA. And we're teaching that the United States of America is Babylon the Great. And you cannot believe the opposition that I get from people who are stuck in traditions that are 500 years old. Saying that Rome is Babylon the Great when we have hundreds of scriptures and they all point to the United States of America, that we are Babylon.

And you know, the Bible says that Babylon will be a golden cup. in the hand of the Lord. And Babylon the Great, and now we have the golden age of America, make America great again. Everything that's happening right now is all in the Bible, Mike. And I cannot believe the people that are coming against the teaching when it's right in front of them.

Well, the truth is, though, is that Rick, there are a lot of people who are actually coming to believe what you've been saying for a long time and what you've seen. Yes, we've had four or five PhDs.

Now, we're in California, we're in Florida, we're all over North America on 120 TV stations and all across Canada. and we're in Israel. We have had five PhDs that bought our books. that read them. Vetted them, vetted the Greek, the Hebrew, the commentaries, the lexicons.

And they wrote us and said, Rick. We are rejecting what we learned in seminary. You have unveiled America's role in Bible prophecy. You're 100% correct.

So If you will study and read that book, read the Bible, look at all of the identifiers. Holy Spirit will speak directly to you. But you've got to get connected with God and get into His Bible, and He will speak to you. And 99% of the people that do our research The Holy Ghost t shows them. We're in the Bible.

We are in the end times, Mike. It's exciting what's going on. God bless America and God bless President Trump because they are tracking right with what Bible prophecy said would be happening in the last days. Yeah, absolutely. And one of the things, you know, I had a really rough day, Rick.

I'm sure you've had some rough days as well. But yesterday was just one of those days that was a rough day. But it right before I went to bed, I started to read. I get these emails from Voice of the Martyrs. And I started to read about Christians in Nigeria who were being slaughtered for their faith.

I started to read about Christians in these other Muslim countries who literally, if they came out to their families and told them that they were following Jesus, they would be killed or just they would be told to leave their homes. And you know what I started to think, Rick? I said, you know what? Maybe things aren't that bad for me. Mike, I said the same thing to my wife.

I turned on the TV and I looked at what's happening in Ukraine. I looked at what's happening on the Gaza Strip. And I said to my wife, I'm ashamed of myself for the things I'm complaining about. If my internet gets slow, I get all out, all uptight. That's it.

You know, we have to really look. You look at If you have a roof over your head, food in your fridge, Your house is environmentally controlled with heat and hydro. You're living better in America than. probably seventy percent of the other people in the world And we have so much to be thankful for, Mike.

So much. We really do. And Rick, you have a new book that's come out, is that right? Yes, it's called America's Josiah Moment. an end time reprieve of things to come And it's specifically pointing towards the USA What is happening in the USA is exactly what happened in the Old Testament with Israel with regard to King Jehu.

and King Josiah. They had a reprieve. They came back to God. the nations Was on the verge of being judged. And they pushed back the judgment because they came back to God.

and they put laws in the land that lined up with the Mosaic covenant. And and Mike, you know That in the mosaic Covenant, it says, if you obey my voice, These things will happen. I will bless you. I will watch over you. I will lead you.

I will guide you. Your enemies will come at you one way and flee seven ways. And this is what's happening right now. I believe in the United States of America, we're having a Josiah moment, and unfortunately, the death of Charlie Kirk. Was a tragedy, but God is turning that into a triumph.

With the people that are coming back to church, and there is a spiritual surge right now. In all the darkness, in all the negativity, America is fulfilling her role in Bible prophecy. That's it. And you have a show that comes on, what is it, every Thursday night on YouTube. And it's on you're on over one hundred and twenty television stations as well, right?

We're on one hundred and twenty T V stations, but every Thursday we have a podcast with Open Chat. And we go through and our main emphasis, my ministry, Mike, is is specifically Pinpointed to unveil. The hidden mystery of America's role in Bible prophecy. And the people that have been listening to it for years are all convinced. It's not a doom and gloom program.

It's a program of hope because. everything that's happening. The prophet saw it. God's in total control. And Mike, we win.

We win. We win, we'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. All right, we are back on the phone and we've back on the radio and we've got Rick Pearson who's still here. But on the break, I was actually thinking about something.

And I remember a story, it was about Napoleon. And Napoleon was in a battle one day with his whole crew, the whole gang was with him. And they were losing the battle. And Napoleon finally got to the point where he said, we're going to lose the battle, and he sent word to the bugler to blow the bugle for retreat. About five or ten minutes later, nothing happened.

And Napoleon sent again sent word to the bugler: you need to blow the bugle for retreat. Nothing happened this time again, and this time Napoleon went directly to the bugler. And he said this: he said, I've told you twice to blow the bugle to retreat. Why haven't you done it? And the bugler looked at Napoleon and said, Because Napoleon, you never taught me how to blow the bugle to retreat.

And Napoleon said, I didn't. And the kids said, no. And he said, well, then blow the bugle to charge. And they blew the bugle to charge. And they won the battle that day.

And Rick, and the listeners right now, I want to tell you something right now. Jesus taught us a lot of things. Jesus never taught us to retreat. Is that right, Rick? Yeah.

Absolutely true. Demons, when you walk into a room, demons are afraid of you. You don't need to be afraid of them. That's it. There was a, and I'm sure you heard this as well.

There was a guy named Athanasius. And at this time, he was standing for the fact that Jesus Christ is Lord. The divinity of Jesus Christ, he was standing for it. And people started to come against him. And one of his friends actually came up to him and he said, Hey, Athanasius, he said, I want you to know that the whole world is standing against you for what you're doing.

And Athanasius said they are. He said, then Athanasius is standing against the world. And I'm telling you what, that's the kind of fight. That we need to have in us. And Rick, I'm sure you've had some times where it's been tough, but what puts What pushes you when you get down?

What pushes you to keep going? You know, Mike, I'm seventy one years old. And my friends now are dying Left, right, and center from cancer or heart attacks or whatever. And Jesus said, don't labor for the things of this world. Labor for the things that last that are eternal.

And there was a story of a man who was a. He was an industrialist. In Germany. And before World War Two broke out, He bought his church in Oregon. World War II broke out, and he thought, well, maybe I should sell.

And he said, I'm going to keep it for another year. And his buildings got. bombed his whole industry. All of his factories, his houses, But the church never got bombed. And he went to church and he looked at that organ that he and his wife don donated.

And he looked at his wife and he said, You know, The only thing we've kept Is what we gave away. And that is the secret of the kingdom. You have to God will meet your every need down here. But when you have opportunity to minister, You put Seeds into your heavenly bank account where neither rust nor moth does corrupt. That's what keeps me going.

I am on fire to get people saved. To let them know where we are on God's prophetic time clock, because I know that our time is limited here on earth. But eternity. I mean Okay. The retirement plans in the kingdom of God is just out of this world and they last in eternity.

They do. I am semi-retired right now, but I am working for the eternal rewards right now. That's where it's at, bro. That's where it's at. If you keep your mind on him, He will keep you in perfect peace.

When you look at the big picture, It will keep you in perfect peace. You might have a rough day, a rough week. But as you go along, There's that p A pointed time in your life. When all these things will pass away, and you will enter into the kingdom, and the only thing you will bring with you is what you've given away: a kind word, a scripture leading somebody to the Lord. working honestly And and leaving a witness That's what matters, Mike, in life.

It really does. And Rick, I've gotten to know you. Not only do you do this publicly on the radio, but there's times, there are times when I've seen you behind the scenes when nobody was looking and you've helped people out. Who never could give you anything in return? And I think about that guy, Mark up in Pennsylvania.

But here's what I'm reminded of: because yes, we stand for the truth. Yes, we stand firm on God's word, but we also have to treat people with love. Jesus tells us to love our enemies. He said that anybody can love their friends, anybody can love somebody who's just like them. He says, But when you love your enemies, he says, That's when you're a real child of God.

That's when you've gotten it. And this is what I like: 1 Corinthians 13. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels and have not love, I am become as sounding brass or as tinkling cymbals. And though I have the gift of prophecy and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith so that I could remove mountains and have not love, I am nothing. and though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profiteth me nothing.

Love suffereth long and is kind? Love envies not. Love does not boast itself. It is not puffed up. It does not behave itself unseemly.

It does not seek its own. It is not easily provoked. It does not think evil. Rejoice not in evil, but rejoice in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Love never fails. And it keeps going on, but you know, I like it, it says, love never fails. You know, we could do everything else, we could do all the right stuff, but if we're doing it for all the wrong reasons, Rick, Jesus said we're not going to get anything out of that. In Matthew chapter 6, go ahead, go ahead. And something else, Mike.

One of the things that have really set me free Jesus said, If you've done it unto the least of these, my brethren, you've done it unto me. Whenever you do an act of kindness. You perform For an audience of one. You are performing. Towards the Lord.

And your focus when you're talking to different people As you treat them, you treat them as you would the Lord. And you, you know, you have to overlook a lot of people's problems, a lot of people's negative forces that come through them, and you treat them. The way you'd like to be treated, and you fulfilled all the law, and you walk on a daily basis. performing for an audience of one. You don't have to impress anybody else.

The only thing that matters is your personal Covenant relationship with Jesus. And as you let him move through you, You will feel his presence. on a daily basis Get your eyes off of yourself. Get your eyes on others and what you can do to minister to them. And it will open up a whole new level of relationship with God.

Absolutely 100%. Part of Of standing alone, part of standing for truth is simple obedience. You know, I had a friend of mine named Tiger who told me a true story about a missionary who was over in Africa. And he said, all of a sudden, it was the middle of the night, and the missionary was in his underwear, and the Lord told him, stand up.

So he stood up. And then after that, the Lord told him, put your clothes on. He put his clothes on. The Lord told him, okay, run outside. The guy just started running.

He didn't know where he was going. The Lord told him, run to this tree. He ran to a tree. And the Lord told him, start preaching the gospel to this tree. This guy thinks he's crazy, right?

He starts preaching the gospel to the tree. All of a sudden, there's a young man who comes down from that tree, starts crying and weeping, and gives his life to Christ. Turns out that this young man was in that tree about to hang himself. You see, partial obedience, Rick, is disobedience. See, that guy could have put on his clothes, he could have run, but when he could have even gone to the tree, but if he would have gotten to the point where the Lord told him, preach the gospel right to that tree, and he would have stopped, that young man would have died and would have gone to hell.

Partial obedience is disobedience. And you were talking about it a little bit before, Rick. We have to love our enemies. We have to love those who are not kind to us. But, Rick, one of the things that makes it a whole lot easier for me to love those who some people would say are unlovable is the fact that I know how much I've been forgiven of.

I know that I'm a sinner. I know that all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. I know that when I was in my late teens or mid-teens, late teens, early 20s, man, I probably wouldn't have liked that Mike Zwick either, but there were people who loved me right where I was. And I love it. It's like what Jesus Christ did.

God commendeth his love toward us, and that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

So, what I do, Rick, and I don't know if you're the same way or not, but what I do when I start to want to judge other people and put other people down and say they're worse than me, I realize that I'm not perfect either.

Well, you know what? You know why God uses imperfect people all through the Bible? Why that? Because he has no other choice. Every person in the Bible that was used by God, they were all flawed.

David committed adultery, Moses committed murder. Every one of them dealt with the same emotions, anxieties, frustrations Anger, the same emotions that we deal with, and God used every one of them.

So, you know, once you get your eyes focused on Jesus. Paul said that the life of Christ might be made manifest in my mortal flesh. That is the highest calling. That you can go for on a daily basis. Lord, when people look at me, When people listen to me.

Let them hear Jesus through me. And that means that you die daily to all of those negative emotions Somebody says something ignorant to you, just let it fly right off of you. No weapon formed against you. You put on the whole armor, and those words, those condemning things that people say. You know, I watch.

Mike. People marched down the street screaming. uh anti-Israel Death to America, death to Canada. And there's a part in me that gets so angry, and then I have to realize. They have no clue what is working through them.

The hatred and the bitterness that's working through them, those people need to be set free. And once you look at them through the lens of biblical and through the lens of Jesus. Yeah.

Paul was on his way to kill Christians. And God said, I'm going to use you, Paul. And he just leveled him right out. Hit him over the head with a spiritual 2x4, and Paul got delivered instantly. What we need to do is, we need to walk like Jesus.

and look beyond people's faults and see their needs. And that's a high that is a high order, Mike. It's a daily death to yourself. It is, and we will be right back. 866-34 Truth.

We've got Rick Pearson on the line from Prophecy USA. Truth talk line. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Back here for the last segment. Rick, I want to thank you for the call.

We've got somebody else on the line as well, but I wanted to share something. There was a preacher in the 1800s. They said he was such a phenomenal preacher. He was wonderful, he was great. They said, but the way that he preached They said he never should have left the pulpit.

But they said, but the way that he lived is he never should have been in the pulpit to begin with.

Okay. And so, what I'm saying is this: we can stand for the truth, we can go out there and preach, we can do all the right stuff, we can give people Bibles. But if we're living in sin ourselves, I want to share with you something that's very serious. Jesus put it this way: He said, If your hand causes you to sin, He said, Cut it off. He said, It's better for you to go through life with one of your hands than to have both of your hands and to be thrown into the fire of hell.

He said, if your eye causes you to sin, he says, cut it off. He said, it's better for you to have one of your eyes than to have both of your eyes and to be thrown into the fire of hell. I tell you what, I take those words from Jesus very, very seriously. In other words, we have to be an example. We have to realize: yes, sometimes we stand alone, but that when there are people who are looking and thinking about coming to Jesus.

That your lifestyle, the way that you live your life, could make it or break it for these people. And I'm telling you, we've got a Stu Epperson on the phone. Are you there, Stu? Hey, I'm here, man. Hey, brother, what has there, this probably never happened to you, but has there ever been a time where you've had to stand for the truth of God's word and maybe people have come against you still?

There have been Times, Michael and You know, you just trust God. like in anything to give you the grace At the moment, but you, you know, think about Daniel in Daniel chapter 1, verse 8. It says, Daniel purposed in his heart. Two not defile himself, to not compromise. And If you study Daniel, if you look at his life, You discover that long before Daniel purposed in his heart, he hid God's word in his heart.

He grew up in a home. Where God's word was poured into him. Where He had convictions where he prayed three times a day.

Well, we see him doing that later. In fact, he gets thrown in a lion's den. For the crime of praying. And it makes you ask the question: would you go to jail? Would you?

Would you face Capital punishment. For reading the Bible and praying every day? Or would you maybe change your prayer life? You know, Daniel could have said this decree is 30 days. I'll let it slide.

I'll just, you know. Pray inside. I won't do anything. I won't open the book. I'll just kind of.

you know, blend in. Shadrach, Meshach and Abinigo the same thing. And so I was actually asked one time in a public setting in front of a lot of peers, I was asked to give the opening. Prayer. for the meal and for a family member who is being uh honored at this very illustrious group.

I was way in over my head and they but they knew I was in Christian radio and so Just before I got up to go up to pray. One of the coordinators came up and said, Hey, now. Um Appreciate you agreeing to do this invocation. But we appreciate it if you wouldn't pray in Jesus' name.

Okay. Yeah.

Let's just kind of not have that part of your your prayer When you go up. Of course, I didn't have this prayer written out. I don't write my prayers out typically. I don't know that I've ever written a prayer out, but. Long and short of it is I went to this um I went up and prayed.

And uh Africa I pray that he's staying. Right, it could Yeah. Round it in the I didn't get put in jail like some of our brothers overseas have, you know, and some people today are in jail.

Some will be killed today. Four people are martyred today. in Jesus' name and for the cause of Christ and have ever been part of history. But that's a bit it's a little windy Marianne, sorry about that, but that's that's an example something Life will just happen to me. That's honestly G rated compared to what we hear about in the Bible, what we hear about some great words of faith and there was Christian Rader to put a program on like this to Give a flashboard to to inviting folks to Christ to openly talk about heaven and hell and what really matters.

There's always a risk involved. And we've got some folks that don't like us, but we've got some amazing prayer warriors out there that have prayed for and supported us over the years. And you're going up for great. Yeah, we definitely are. We definitely are.

And I think you're breaking up a little bit, Stu, but we've seen in the past where, hey, if you were a Christian in the United States, then people may make fun of you, or they may not necessarily like what you're saying, or it may be tough for you around your peers. And I remember back when I was in my mid-20s, I told my friends that I love Jesus, and they literally started laughing right in my face. I mean, it was embarrassing or whatever, but then it was done and that was it. But I think now we're getting to a point in this country where, yes, you could get made fun of. Yes, all those things could happen.

But as we see what just happened with Charlie Kirk, you could actually lose your life. Yeah.

That's exactly right. And to have a Bible That we can read, that we can preach openly on the Truth Network in a talk show like this, that your church can have church this Sunday, and your pastor can preach out of the Bible. It was brave men like John Huss. William Tyndale. who sacrificed their life to put the Bible in our language.

I mean, you think of William Tyndall literally. burned at the stake. And they actually choked him to death. With a rope through his neck.

So he wouldn't be able to preach. While he burned. Ah. And the last thing at the last words out of his mouth before they started suffocating him and lighting that fire. What were the last words were, you know, God save.

God bring the king to salvation. And it was how appropriate that decades later, God used a maybe not so. Not so good king, but still the highest authority by the name of King James. to put Tyndale's translation in place and to give us the King James Bible, the most sold, read, stolen book in the history of civilization.

Okay. And so God answered his prayer. Yeah.

through a guy who wasn't so savory an individual, but little did he know King James would be used to give us the King James Version of the Bible, which Some guy named Gideon puts you in the hotel rooms all over the country and all over the world. And I know people who've read that Gideon Bible who've gotten saved. Yes. You know, so it's the power of God's word, but it's. It's men and women willing to say Hey.

though none go with me, I still will follow. And it's the power of God's grace. It's this. Amazing. Attractiveness.

Of Jesus Christ. He's so glorious. He's so beautiful. I've been in a David Jeremiah conference on the promise of heaven. He's got this new book that just released this week.

I just did a social media post about it. It's called The Promise of Heaven. doctor Jeremiah says, the greatest part of having to list these things But one of those great parts of heaven is the wonder of Jesus. He is in heaven, and he is who we want to see face to face. And he says at funerals, don't cover people by saying, Hey, your loved one's in heaven.

Cover people by saying, Your loved one is with Jesus. Mm-hmm. Jesus said to the thief, Today you'll be with me. In paradise, he's the glory of it all. He's the one we walk with, he's the one we talk with, he's the one we live with.

You know, we focus so much about living for Jesus and doing for him, but we're to live with him and abide in him. and enjoy him and we'll be enjoying him forever. And that's the but that's the nature of is that relationship My all, my everything. You know, is he worth. dying for?

Is he worth living for? The answer is absolutely. instead of this kind of transactional Christianity, this kind of homogeneous blend in Yeah. Get along Christianity, who's going to take a stand? Who's going to go on a college campus and engage kids?

And look what happened to Charlie Kirk, but you know what? He he He had a heart for that, and so many listening. It's time we step out, it's time we get a little more bold at work, it's time we risk a couple relationships in the name of Jesus because heaven. And hell are real, and souls need Christ. And so am I willing to take that stuff to honor him.

And am I willing to join that great hall of faith Hebrews 11 talks about, where these folks did not count their life worthy of the next life. They wanted to know him. Paul said, I want to know him and I want to know the power of his resurrection. He said, I count everything else. as waste, as extriment, as dung.

Compared to the glory and the beauty of knowing Christ, because my citizenship is in heaven. He says that. in chapter 20 chapter 3 verse 20 of philippians We're not citizens of this place. We're passing through. This is not our home.

We're exiles. We don't live here. Quit getting stuck and attached to all this junk. We have a home in heaven and we have a savior who's coming back anytime now. And who are we taking with us?

And how are we spreading his glorious gospel everywhere we go? And I love it. And one of my favorite stories is a true story of a guy named Charles Peace, who was a murderer, he was a robber, and he did all these terrible things. But the day before that he was executed, his family came and prayed for him. And as they were bringing him out to he was about to be hung.

There was a guy, he was some sort of a pastor who was kind of haphazardly, you know, throwing out some Bible verses and just kind of reading them to him and this and that. And Charles P. stopped him and he said, Stop, sir. He said, If I really believed what you and the Church of England say you believe, I would crawl across all of England on broken glass just to reach one soul. Do we have that kind of heart to win souls?

that that Mr. Peace was talking about. Yeah, amen. Amen. FCA leaders in high school.

I don't know if if this theology is completely you know square But he said two questions God's going to ask you when you get to heaven. First, Why should I let you in? Of course, that's the most important thing. Are you coming on the merits of Jesus and not your own? But he said the second question is.

Who did you bring with you? Yes. Yes. Who are we inviting? I mean, just conversations.

And you know, in my travels, man, I have so many conversations. I get in a car with a South Sudanese cab driver, I tell him to turn on the local Christian radio station. And I share the gospel now. I find out he's already a believer, so I pray with him. If he's a believer, I'm going to encourage him and disciple him.

If he's been a believer longer than me, he's going to disciple me. I'm going to ask him questions to learn from him. But if he's not a believer, I'm going to win his soul. And Michael, I was literally in Boston recently and I'm by the statue of Red Arbach. In Boston, the heart of the city at nighttime, and a gentleman walks up to me, a younger man, hands me a gospel tract.

He says, Sir, can I give you the scripture verses and tell you about my Jesus? And I thought, man, I thought maybe I'll roleplay an atheist here. I thought, nope, I'm going to lean into this. Thank God. Thank you, young man, for loving me enough to share the gospel with me, for taking time to share the gospel with a stranger, for caring for my soul.

We need to be about caring for souls. He who winnest souls is wise. Amen through talk lot.