Welcome to Truth Talk Live. All right, let's talk. A daily program powered by the Truth Network. This is kind of a great thing and I'll tell you why. Where pop culture, current events, and theology all come together.
Speak your mind. And now, here's today's Truth Talk Live host. Our ministry is Date the Word and it's my joy to host today Truth Talk Live. We're going to be talking about a verse that is matching today's date.
Today is November the 22nd, 1122. And we have an incredible Bible verse. Mark chapter 11 verse 22.
Mark 11 verse 22. Have faith in God. Have faith in God. You know, some verses do not say a lot but they sure say a lot.
Jesus just said four words here. Have faith in God. And I remind you that without faith it's impossible to please God.
Hebrews chapter 11, for the month of November, I like to read over and over Hebrews chapter 11 just as a way to fuel my faith, to inspire my faith. And Hebrews chapter 11 says that without faith it is impossible to please God. For he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is the reward of those who diligently seek him. Paul told the Corinthians, he said, you've got to walk by faith, not by sight. And so today we want to talk about having faith.
What does that look like? And what kind of challenges come when you find yourself being asked by God to take that step of faith? And I want you to call in today.
1-866-348-7884. Maybe take a step of faith to call in and share your story about being a person who's had to take steps of faith. I had the privilege of attending Liberty Baptist College back in the 80s and connecting with Dr. Jerry Falwell as he was taking steps of faith. And there was a song that would come on with his radio program, his TV program, We've Come This Far By Faith. And Dr. Jerry Falwell was known as a man of faith. And his dream to build a church that would impact the city, then a country, a world, got another component to build a Christian university.
And to have faith like that, to build something where there was nothing. We've already got a caller. Let's go to our caller today.
We're talking about have faith in God. And we have on the line Mark. Good afternoon, Mark. How are you, sir? I recognize the voice.
This is Dr. Mark Hein. And we go back many years. For me, it was 1985, I believe, the first time I met you. And you were already ingrained in Liberty. Almost 40 years ago, Duane. I know. You don't look that old.
I'm starting to feel that old, though. Dr. Hein, you probably have some thoughts on this idea of have faith in God. Did you ever hear any statements like that when you were at Liberty Baptist College? Boy, did I ever. And when I showed up, it was Lynchburg Baptist College. Wait a minute.
Wait a minute. Trivia. It wasn't always Liberty University?
No. And it wasn't always Liberty Baptist College? No, it first started out as Lynchburg Baptist College. You were really going to the very beginning.
1973. Wow. And I have to say that God certainly used Dr. Falwell and Liberty University at that time, Lynchburg Baptist College, to grow my faith. And it grew by watching a man who just lived faith. His whole life was a life of faith once he met Christ.
And, man, what a privilege to come here, to learn from him, eventually to get to know him. And I have a picture of him hanging on my wall with a quote under it that I want to read. And if anybody wants a great quote on faith, you will recognize this one, Duane Carson.
And here's how it reads. Faith means holding on to God right to the last moment, knowing he will never let you down. Faith is standing on God's integrity and acting on his promises, even if you have to act and stand alone. That is one of the best. What a great quote. And it wasn't just a quote.
It's not just words on a page under a picture. This man lived these words. And it was such a privilege to watch, really, a giant of faith.
They'll never make another one like him, for sure. And I love that quote. It hangs on my wall right next to another quote that really kind of drove Dr. Falwell. And it reads, God is not impressed with buildings, budgets, or programs.
The only thing in this world that impresses God is people. I love it. Hey, Mark, can you hold on? I want to talk to you a little bit more. We're going to go to a break.
We'll be right back. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. I'm Duane Carson, and today with Date the Word, we're looking at Mark 11, verse 22. Jesus says, four words to the disciples, have faith in God. Are you having faith in God? Are you trusting him, not just for salvation? Obviously, we're saved by faith. But we have to serve him by faith.
And as we're living our lives walking by faith, God's going to speak to us about doing ministry, doing service for him. And I have on the line with me right now, Dr. Mark Hein. Dr. Hein came to Liberty University. We learned Liberty Lynchburg Baptist College back in 1973. And he was on the ground level as Dr. Jerry Falwell started out with a dream to take steps by faith to build a Christian university.
Dr. Hein, welcome back. You were saying that you have on your wall a couple quotes, and that second one, I want you to repeat that one about how Dr. Falwell said what really impressed God. What drove him to be a giant of faith, I believe, is the second quote, which is, God is not impressed with buildings, budgets, or programs. The only thing in this world that impresses God is people. And we watched him, you and I watched, everything he did in life was to reach people with the gospel.
That's it. And neither of us probably ever were in any meeting of any kind. Dr. Falwell did not insert the gospel. The death, burial, resurrection, he just, it drove him.
He wanted people to join him in heaven. And I have a really interesting, if you have time, a page out of his autobiography on acquiring this mountain on which I stand right now. If you have time, I'll quick read it. Please do.
Okay. This is how he acquired Liberty Mountain, the property on which the campus sits. He had flown over this mountain and felt like God was impressing him that he wanted these 5,000 acres to further the gospel. And so he got a hold of one of his friends who knew that Gypsum owned 2,100 acres of that land, and they had purchased this whole mountain, but had not yet developed it. So he asked Bill Burris to find out who owned the land and how much they were asking for it because it was becoming available. He says, silently, I thank God for his reply, and then swallowed before asking its price, $1,250,000. He said, I gulped again. I love this next slide, Duane.
We'll take it, I answered. And Bill Burris looked at me with silent surprise. He knew we didn't even own a decent down payment on such an amount, but he said nothing. He's talking now to the vice president of Gypsum. He flew up there to see him, and the vice president said, how would you like to pay for it? He said, I knew Gypsum was selling the property to raise needed cash.
I had none. Would you consider financing it? I said quietly.
He laughed and shook his head. Could you give me a 90-day option so we could raise the funds? I said, yes, he answered, but you'll have to leave some earnest money. I knew he was thinking in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, what about $10,000? He laughed again.
Can you get 90 more in 30 days? I think so, I answered quickly, followed by, I'm certain of it. Okay, there's the face. And it's yours, he said. I'm certain of it. Still dazed and excited beyond the telling, I took our checkbook out and wrote a check for $10,000 to buy the mountain we would call Liberty Mountain.
And those meadows and hillsides of my childhood would one day hold a great university campus and a new plant for Thomas Road Baptist Church. By the way, I love this next part. I added as we shook hands and headed for the door. You'll love this, Dwayne. Don't cash the check for a few days, we don't have any money right now.
But we'll get it. He laughed again, still shaking his head in disbelief, walked us to the door. In three days that first check was good. In 90 days we had a $100,000 payment and because of friends across the country who believed in our dream, we soon had donations, pledges and loans to pay the rest. I shall always be grateful for what three special friends did to make this acquisition possible.
Tom Phillips, Wayne Booth and Bill Burris. It was a dream that one day God would use our television ministry to create and support the great Christian educational complex on Liberty Mountain. With its accredited university, graduate schools, seminary, that was a man who had giant faith. And that's only just one example of that faith. We're talking back in the 60s, $1,250,000.
That's crazy. And not having any money in the bank, but I'm going to give you a check and we're going to have it covered by the time you do cash it. That's what we're talking about, faith. Have faith in God. The Bible talks about if you have faith like a seed, a mustard seed, that really little small seed, you can move mountains. Well, Dr. Falwell did not move a mountain.
He built on a mountain. Everything that's there, we've come this far by faith. Mark, before we get there at next break, just a quick question for you. How were you stretched personally by the faith that Dr. Falwell had? Well, my stretching certainly would come with an expanded ministry, for one thing, that I never asked for. Before God just said, here I'm putting this in your hand, honor me. And I've definitely tried to do that. My faith has also been stretched by the untimely death of a son-in-law, a grandson with leukemia.
And I have had to beg God and trust God with faith that he would get me through, and he has. Mark, thanks for your call today. Yes, sir. This is Truth Talk Live. We'll be right back with you. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. Welcome back to Truth Talk Live.
It's November the 22nd. I'm Duane Carson with Date the Word and the verse for today, Mark 11 22. And Jesus said to them, Have faith in God. Four words, four words that will change your life when you make the decision first and foremost to have faith in God for salvation, believing that you are a sinner separated from God, and Jesus Christ came to this earth, lived a perfect life, died for you, rose again, and offers to you now the gift of salvation. You have to receive it by faith. That's the first step of faith.
It's a big one. You put your trust in Jesus, and then you spend all eternity in heaven with him. But you also begin a faith journey on earth, where now you live by faith, walk by faith, work by faith. You get a great example in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews chapter 11 speaks about the Hall of Faith, where you read about Abel and Noah and Abraham. Abraham, he went out not knowing where he was going. The guy just told him to go. Noah, he built an ark, and he didn't know what an ark was. He said rain's coming. He didn't know what rain was. There's going to be a flood.
No one ever seen a flood. He just knew what God had told him to do. He had to do it. And so today, we just want to be challenging you to be people of faith. And we've got on the line a man that not only got to be around a man who was living out faith, he himself was living it.
And Dr. Hind, thank you for calling in today. We're reminiscing about how a university got built on a mountain by faith. And you gave us a quote, and I would love for our listeners to hear that quote one more time, this quote from Dr. Jerry Falwell.
Okay. Faith means holding on to God right to the last moment, knowing he will never let you down. Faith is standing on God's integrity and acting on his promises, even if you have to act and stand alone. Great quote.
That is. And it's standing on God's integrity. We use the short version of that is where God guides, God provides. You just never have to worry. If he's told you to do it, he's going to be there with you. His greatest promise of all promises is his presence.
You're never alone. And then he owns the cattle on a thousand hills. And I think you and I heard Dr. Falwell say some of those farmers need to start selling their cows so we can pay the bills.
He was responsible for slaughtering a lot of the thousands of cattle that the father owned on the hill, I tell you that. Well, Dr. Hein, thanks for calling in. Thank you for all you do for Liberty University and the faith that you and Toy continue to live out. I've got another, one of our friends I see on the line, Dave Locke.
You remember that name. Good afternoon, Dave. Hey, good afternoon, Duane and Aru. I am good. How are you doing?
Where are you right now? I am in Marco Island, Florida, enjoying a beautiful sunny but cool 71 degree day, so I got nothing to complain about. Well, there was a snowstorm last night in Cleveland, and they played football in it, but you're not worried about the snow. No, I don't worry about the snow.
I don't like it, even though I plan to ski frequently this winter. So when you've got snow, you might as well enjoy it, but it's not happening where I am right now, praise God. Well, Dave, today on our Truth Talk Live program, we're talking about having faith in God. Four words, Jesus said this, Mark chapter 11, verse 22, and I'm just curious about how has that come about in your life?
How have you come about having faith in God? You have a tremendous ministry. Tell us about that ministry and how you've had to take steps of faith.
Well, we'll make a long story short because of the time. When I was about 25 years ago, which was a long time ago, about four decades, at a missions conference, I felt God telling me that I needed to open an orphanage, and I promised God when I could I would, and at that time I was young, had a mortgage, just married, and had no ability. But I trusted God and promised I would do that, and fast forward many years, probably 20, and God had provided a business for me which grew, and I had some, you know, some money.
I wasn't rich by any means, and I started, well, now it's time to talk to my wife. We need to find out where we're going to go. So a missionary appointed me to a pastor in Haiti that he had known for many years and said, buy two plane tickets, we're going to go to Haiti.
So we did that. We got on a plane, we went to Haiti, 1980, I'm sorry, 2002. Fast forward 2002, I arrived in Haiti, and was never more out of my comfort zone than that first trip to Haiti, and the missionary just kept telling me to stop complaining and shut up and do what he says. Third trip to Haiti, the whole, it was all gone, and now after 66 trips, Haiti feels like home. I miss it desperately. I haven't been able to travel because of the gangs, everyone's heard of the gangs.
It's very, very rough. Haiti needs prayer like never before for peace and the government and revival. So unfortunately I can't go, but I'm in touch every day with staff and people in Haiti we work with. But anyway, 2002 I arrived, 2004, I had my little bag of loaves and fishes that the Lord multiplied and we bought a home, and another ministry in Pennsylvania caught the vision and helped us. We purchased a home and renovated and moved in the first kids. And now we have three homes.
We have a pediatric medical clinic that sees 260 children a year for free. And aside of this ministry that I didn't even know the Lord had for me, we partnered with a Haitian pastor and helped him build a new church and from that planted eight more churches. So the Lord's really been doing more when we showed up with just our fishes and loaves to bring in money to build three homes and do the medical clinic and build churches and plant churches. So it's all been the Lord, it's all been faith, and it's been a great ride and it's not over yet.
Praise God. What is the name of your ministry? Freedom Global Outreach. Freedom Global Outreach. And this was born in your heart when you were 25 at a missions conference.
Correct. At the end of a five-day missions conference, I heard the Lord speak clearly to me and say, open an orphanage. And I had no ability to do it, but when the Lord calls you to do something, he will give you the means to do it.
You just need to... As an old book that was written, when was it, in the 90s, I forget the author too, if you want to walk on water, you have to step out of the boat. And in 2002, we stepped out of the boat and went to Haiti to see what God had for us. And it's great, that pastor I met in 1982, he was like a Billy Graham of Haiti, and he's old and frail now and living in Miami. He's very frail, but he called me today, he calls me once a week for two minutes to check on how I'm doing.
How about that? Yeah, but we still have, he's in Miami now, God bless him, he's planted many churches, many Christian schools in Haiti, and him and his wife are the first couple we partnered with in the first home. And then we went to the south of Haiti and partnered with another pastor and opened two homes and the pediatric medical clinic in that town. Dave, we're going to be going to a break in just a second. I want you to stay in line. When we come back from this break, I want to ask you how a young person who may be hearing from God can take the same kind of steps you took. We read the book of Hebrews 11, and we see these men and women taking bold steps, and I want to be able to encourage some people out there to do what you have done, what these Hall of Faith-ers have done. This is Truth Talk Live. I'm Duane Carson. We'll be right back after a few announcements.
Welcome back to Truth Talk Live. I'm Duane Carson, and we're talking about today Have Faith in God, and maybe you've got a faith story. 1-866-348-7884.
Give us a call. Tell us about the steps of faith you've taken, what it was like to take that step. We've heard from Dr. Mark Hein and how God led him to Liberty University Lynchburg Baptist College and was part of Dr. Jerry Falwell having that faith to build a Christian university. And everything that had to happen was a trust moment resting on God to provide. And we've got Dave Locke on the line right now, and Dave has a ministry called Freedom Global Outreach. God led him when he was 25 years of age—this is his story, just told it a few moments ago—at a missions conference to start building orphanages.
And Dave, what an exciting story you are making. You have been making a difference, you and your wife, your team, for years now in Haiti, because you heard the voice of God and then you took action with God. What was that like again for you to take that first step of faith? Yeah, that was scary. It brings me into one of my favorite chapters and verses in the Bible in Deuteronomy 31 when Moses is talking to Joshua.
In verse 6 he says, Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be in dread of them. So it was scary when we finally had the ability to go and where to go and what to do and land in Haiti in 2002, when just before the UN came in to do war against the gangs and seeing UN tanks and vehicles all over the street and mortar holes in the buildings from wars with the UN in Citizelay, the slum. It was scary for sure. And then feeling the darkness when the voodoo, I call them for churches for lack of a better name, down the street started partying and music and drinking.
I remember one night the heaviness of the darkness I felt with the voodoo crowd there was, I'll never forget it as long as I lived. So it was scary but the Lord just showed me day after day he was with me and trusting me and again it goes back to Deuteronomy 31 verse 8 where it continues, it is the Lord who goes before you. So anybody that the Lord is calling him to do something for him, remember this, it is the Lord that goes before you, he will be with you, he will not leave you or forsake you, do not fear or be dismayed. That's one of my very favorite verses. So the Lord, we were created to serve the Lord. We weren't created to go to church on Sunday and be consumer Christians the rest of the week. We were saved to serve the Lord.
Every believer has spiritual gifts and if somebody does want to step out and serve the Lord and they don't know their gift they should ask their pastor, elder, small group leader, a friend to help them figure out their spiritual gift and then pray and ask the Lord. What do you want me to do? How can I step out of the boat and use my gifts to serve you? And the Lord will answer that prayer.
He will tell you. He will definitely tell you how to serve him. And serving in one area is not necessarily any better than the other area but we need to be serving the Lord and expect great things. Expect that the Lord is going to give you things over your head and that you have to, as Jerry Falwell did when he looked at that mountain and had no money, you need to step out and trust the Lord to supply.
And I've seen that mountain. All three of my kids went to Liberty University and they all did well and grew in their faith and I just saw the faith of the people and the love of the staff and year after year just the Lord adding more to that university. Just seeing that grew my faith and I'm just very happy with the years I got to be there just taking my three kids back and forth. To a listener right now, Dave, a couple things you said that really hit me. We're not to be consumers. We're to be contributors. We're to be contributing to the cause of Christ.
And that means asking God, what would you have me to do? That's one of the first steps of faith and I appreciate you talking about the fact that it was scary. And after you took the step and showed up in Haiti it got even more scarier. I think about the Apostle Paul being called to go to Macedonia. He concluded in Acts 16, it was the will of God to go to Philippi, to go to Macedonia. Well then he gets there and he gets beat up. Sometimes doing the will of God, stepping out by faith doesn't mean your life is going to get easier.
It may get tougher but that's part of us being light invading the darkness. And that's what you've been attempting to do for these numerous years now down in Haiti to impact the darkness where lives can be changed, transformed. I love that you've been able to have churches started there.
Medical clinics have been built there. What is your website if somebody wants to learn more about Freedom Global Outreach? Sure, it does need updating but that's okay. It's freedomglobaloutreach.com.
Quite easy, freedomglobaloutreach.com. And they can message me through it if they have any questions and we did take a bit of a financial hitting during COVID and after COVID and now with inflation and inflation in Haiti has gone crazy, crazier than here. So our costs have gone up but our donations haven't. So if anyone would like to contribute to the children's homes or the medical clinic, we can always grow the clinic, buy more equipment and we'd love to hire a dentist.
Dental need in Haiti is huge. So we're looking for financial help or just go to the site and if anyone feels God leading them to get involved, it'd be great. Dave, thank you for your call today, telling us about your early steps of faith and I do, I would challenge our listeners, there comes that point like with Isaiah, here am I, Lord. And there's no telling what may happen with that statement but that's the first step and then you got to take the next step and hear Dave Locke's verse for you, Deuteronomy 31, 8. And I do believe Dave, God's greatest promise is his presence.
That's the thing of all that stands out the most. It doesn't matter what I'm facing, I always know God is with me and he knows right now the financial needs you have, the need for that dentist and you've made that known now. And it's going to be interesting how God now will provide the very things that you need. Dave, thank you for your call and we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. We've got another caller, Lindley and she's also calling from Florida.
Lindley, welcome to Truth Talk Live. Today we're talking about have faith in God and what's your story about having faith in God? Well, as you, since I've known you for now 25 years Dwayne, you've been someone that I've come to for different verses and growing up in Texas, I knew I wanted to go to a Christian university but I chose Liberty University just like the previous speaker's kids did.
And Liberty is in Virginia. Being from Texas, that's halfway across the country and I just remember one of the verses that you encouraged me with was Isaiah 41 verse 10. Do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be afraid, for I am your God. I will strengthen you.
I will help you. I will hold onto you with my righteous right hand. Because later on, what a great verse. And then, as you know, I married someone who's active duty service. He's in the Air Force. And after you married us, we moved to Anchorage, Alaska. That's even farther away from home than Liberty was and I know I was nervous, but you reminded me, no matter what, God is with me.
He's always holding my hand. There will be times that Keith's deployed. There's times that he won't be at home serving this country that we live in. But God always leaves, he never leaves me or forsakes me. Because I was originally going to do Deuteronomy 31 verse 6, but the previous speaker was talking about Deuteronomy 38. So I was like, God give me another verse. And he took me back to Isaiah 41, talking how he'll hold onto you with his righteous right hand.
As a little girl, my dad would hold my hand as we'd go to different places. But my Heavenly Daddy is always holding my hand. He's leading me. Proverbs 3, 5 says, Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean on your understanding. He shall direct your path. He will lead us if we just take time to listen to his quiet voice.
Sometimes, as you know, I love to talk and I'm loud being a Texan and teacher, but sometimes I just need to be still and just hold my daddy's hand and let him guide me. Well, the hand of God is so crucial. We need his hand for the anointing, but we also need the hand of God just for the encouragement. And I have been doing some studying this very day on that very thought how God takes care of us. Lindley, thank you for your call. This has been Truth Talk Live today. And as we head into Thanksgiving week, I hope you have a wonderful week. But listen, take steps of faith here. Mark 11 22. Have faith in God and do great things for God. This is Truth Talk Live. Another program powered by the Truth Network.
