WRWL/WED HR 2 030123

Donate and listen to the podcast at WRWL.org. Alrighty, we are back and joining us tonight we have our San Diego contributor Linda Stair along with Dr. Nate Landis and Jeff Ross. And we're back on the air folks, so pay attention! Right, and we're going to start back with, they don't know we're on the air.

Hello out there. Well, go ahead Pastor Joe, why don't you pick it up. Alright, Dr. Landis, can you hear me?

They don't know that we're still on, they think we're still on break, don't they? I don't think so. Dr. Landis. I was thinking about who he is. Joe. I have the feeling, live radio folks, this is the fun of live radio. We have moments when things happen.

Alrighty. Anyhow, what was your question going to be, Joe, Pastor Joe? Well, the question, we have pastors, you and I have seen this in the past, by the time they get through Bible school, whatever, they don't know anything about the Constitution. And I remember, you and I have talked about this, most of the Founding Fathers that wrote the Bill of Rights were on the committee that wrote the Northwest Ordinance.

That's the requirement for states to come into the Union. And they had declared that religion, morality, and knowledge be necessary to government and the happiness of mankind. Schools and the means of education shall be forever encouraged. And they were talking about, they understood that God was in schools. The Bible, in fact, Thomas Jefferson moonlighted. He was the Chairman of the Board of Education in D.C. And he ordered that two books, and only two books, were to be taught in the schools.

They were the Bible and Watts Hymnal. So, we go back, our founders, when they started the education system, were demanding that we teach, what, gods? We teach religion, the Christian religion, because that's all they accepted. We teach morality, which is the doctrine of Jesus Christ. And you and I have found out most pastors are totally unaware of the Christian founding of this nation, and what went into the founding of the government. You know, things like our government branch came from Isaiah 33, 22. God is King, God is Judge, God is Lawgiver. We got the Executive, Legislative, Judicial branch. And we've talked to a lot of pastors, and I've met only one or two that had any idea of all the Christian background, you know, that should be taught in the schools that isn't. Well, you're absolutely right.

How can it be taught? Alrighty, let me, we've got them back. We've got them, we have all three of them back. But anyhow, let me just say this, and then we'll address that. I remember very clearly, when I was in middle school, I'm talking about seventh and eighth grade, we started each day off in that school with a prayer. First we had it, and we had over the loudspeaker, and then we had the homeroom class.

So we'd actually have two prayers in there. And being youth, you know, it was a natural tendency to young people to kind of want to rebel. You know, I mean, against authority. The very first word a child as an infant learns is no. That's the first word they learn.

And I noticed something. So we were under authorities. The authorities of my day were people that wanted to do good for you, that cared about you, were looking out for you. Our teachers were more concerned.

They were teachers because they wanted to teach, and they taught you the value of God, and taught you to respect your parents, respect others. That's not in the public school today. Today we've got cultural Marxism in a major, major way.

And also back in those days, the Department of Justice was the Department of Justice. Today it's not, okay? It's anti-Christ.

And so we have all of that. But has there ever been a better time for us as a church to lay up crowns of glory than to right now with the situation we have? Because it seems like now the young children are rebelling against the anti-Christ world system. And they're looking. They're looking for the Lord.

What do you think, Nate? I think the kids are kind of calling a secular society on its bluff and saying this isn't working. And I think every society has a religion. That's one of the things I learned in my doctoral work.

And the only question is, what is your sacred text, and what are your values and your morals, and what is your way of orienting yourself, what's most important to you? And our public school system sort of has a religion of self and actualization on your own, trying to do life on your own, and kids are realizing that isn't working. I'm empty, and I'm rudderless, I have no moorings, and I'm to drift in this ocean, and it's a dangerous ocean. People are dying out here, and I don't know where to turn. And so I think the emptiness speaks for itself, and the hunger speaks for itself. If kids were satisfied with what was being offered, then we wouldn't have all the suicides that we have, and kids cutting each other, and cutting themselves, and kids feeling depressed.

The studies that have just come out about youth anxiety, particularly in adolescent women, and the sense of just hopelessness and depression, and all the medications, and we're more linked to our digital media than to real face-to-face relationships, and we were made for relationship. And so the public school system has tried to offer an answer that has attempted to fill the vacuum, now that God's been taken out, and the emptiness is just all-consuming. And so now there's all this other stuff rushing in to try to fill the emptiness, and schools are trying to teach more than just reading, writing, and arithmetic, and they're trying to teach all these other lifestyles and all these other agendas, and it's leaving everybody empty inside. So kids, I think, are ripe for the harvest, and I think when you look at revivals throughout history, there was often a social issue attached to them. William Wilberforce and slavery in Britain, and then we had the revivals of the early part of this century in America, and they were focused on confession of sin, and prayer, and also youth. And then sometimes there's another social issue that God uses to address that need for him as well.

And what if this next one is around education, and around young people, and the future of our country, and how we equip them, and what we pass off to them? And I think that could actually be something God uses in such a time as this, because I like to say things always get darker right before the dawn, and it's always coldest right before the dawn. It's dark and cold right now, and the light of Christ as it shines gets attention because it sounds in such a contrast to the darkness. And kids are seeing the light now peek out, and light always gathers. Anytime you go camping, anytime you turn on a light, light always gathers life around it. And Jesus says he's the light of the world, and anything that's not light is darkness, and if you expel the light, all you're going to have left is darkness. So it's time for the light to come back in, and kids are realizing they can carry the light into their school, and turn it on, and attract a crowd, and the principal and the administrators have to let them do it because it's the children's choice.

And so once they discover light, it becomes unstoppable. All right, very good. All righty, there you go.

That is UYC.org. Joe, did you have another question? No, just what I went over.

I was just hoping that Dr. Landis would be one of those that would help. We need to help educate the pastors so they can help educate just how much the founding fathers thought about education, and the fact that the state community union had to teach religion, the Christian religion, because it was the only religion. They had to teach morality, and Jefferson, forcing what the school books would be, the King James Bible and Watts Hymnal, or what the students had to read. This is just an example of the kind of things that were in the founding of this nation, and yet when you talk to most of the pastors, they're totally ignorant of these things. They can't tell you where in the Bible the founders got a lot of the ideas for government.

So I think we need to educate the pastors on the Constitution and the founding of this country. All right, very good. Thank you for some comment there. Well, I think the vacuum is going to be there any time God's gone. And so whether it's a country or a school or a family or a business, if there's no life in light, then all you have is darkness. And I think Jesus says he's the light of the world, and so when you take away light, then death starts happening.

If the sun doesn't come up tomorrow, whether we're carnivores or vegetarians, our food supply is in immediate jeopardy because the light's gone. And so if our country has no light, if our schools have no light, then there'll be no life. And so I agree that any time Christ is gone, the life is gone, and we're in trouble. And we have to go back to our source and say, where does life come from? Where does God's Word fit into our lives? And how do we make that part of every fabric of society? And it has to be something each person chooses, but right now people are facing choices without having the option of God.

And they're making all their life choices without even having the choice of God on the table. And we want to put that back on the table so kids can look at where life's from and be able to respond to Jesus in a really transformative and eternal way. Well, Dr. Landis, that's a good segue to my next question. How can older adults get involved with UYC and make a huge impact on the next generation? How can we help facilitate what you're doing?

That's a great question. I think first is to discover that you have a lot to offer. Sometimes people say, well, I'm too old to do something. And sometimes I talk to kids and they say, well, I'm too young to make a difference. I don't have a driver's license. I don't have a job.

I don't have an income yet. And on the other side of the equation, people can say, well, I'm not relevant anymore. I don't know enough hip hop artists by name and I don't have enough tattoos or I don't know enough of the culture or whatever. Whatever they think they need to attract kids. But love is irresistible and sometimes people don't realize what they carry inside of them. All the life experience of a person that's been around for a while, all of the truths you've gathered, all the skills. And sometimes we say in business, people don't know what they don't know, but also people don't know what they do know. They are carrying all these skills and things that we do that are second nature. Maybe it's a job skill or a way to relate to people or how to show up on time or shake a hand and look somebody in the eye and talk respectfully. Some of those face to face skills that have been lost in a digital age. That's something really valuable a young person can learn.

Or maybe you have skills as a realtor or as a gardener or as a lawyer, an accountant, and you can teach kids some of those things. What does it look like to be a Christ follower in the marketplace and realizing that everybody has something to offer and it's not just professional holy people like me that make a difference. But in fact, the priesthood of all believers means everybody has a vital ministry and we have to find out who's that one young person we're called to reach. If every Christian on earth or even just in our country would not only try to pass the gospel to one person in their family, but also one person outside of their family, that would change our nation. That simple responsibility right there. We've received the baton of faith.

And I love the Olympics because I love to watch the 4x100 relay and you receive the baton not so that you can tuck it into your spandex, but you receive the baton so you can run and hand it off. And so I think realizing we've got something in Christ and we've got something that He's blessed us with our gifts, our uniqueness, we can pass that off to others. So realizing we carry something valuable and then I would say praying and saying, God, who am I supposed to pass this to? And our prayers are powerful. Praying for the next generation as intentional grandparents and parents instead of saying, let's just spoil our kids. What if we left a spiritual legacy for our kids? I love the Legacy Coalition that really helps grandparents think about that intentionally. For UIC specifically, we covet prayers.

We know that there's a spiritual war Jeff's been sharing about the frontline stuff going on. Every soul's a battleground and the enemy's pulling in one direction, the people of faith are pulling in another, and we want to win the battle. Giving financially is something that really makes a difference.

We are 100% faith finance. We feed 2,000 kids every week in our city, and that's a ridiculous number. And as we keep spreading nationally, that number is going to get bigger. And I haven't received the Abinda Seminary, but I can't pray over a lunch yet and feed 15,000 people. I've got to get on the radio and talk about the Word of God and invite other people to give financially so we can give out Bibles, so we can give out food. We have 33 people that are on our payroll, either as full or part-time staff or as other ministry partners, and all of them find their support through faith giving.

So giving resources so we can have more workers in the harvest field is a big one. And then if you want to get even more personally involved, we have just released some new courses where an adult that wants to make a difference as a mentor in a Christian role model in a kid's life can take this course. It's six videos, and it really helps you excavate what God has inside your heart and helps you get that out. All of that's available at UYC.org as well.

I just finished that course. It was great. Oh, super. Wonderful. Loved it.

Wonderful, yes. So that's a way to discover what's inside you, and it's not just for you, but it's to get out to bless somebody else. And it doesn't matter how old you are. Moses was 80 when he got his call, and he's discovered something at that moment that changed all of history.

And so it's about our heart more than our chronological age. All right, Nate, let me tell you this, believe it or not, very few people know this, but I do. There's a whole lot of people out there that would be able to contribute to you, but they're not on the Internet.

They can't go up to UYC. Yes. So do you have an address?

We do, yeah. We have a PO box, and we take checks as well in the mail if that's the way that people want to contribute. Our address is PO Box 124708, San Diego, California, 92112.

I'll say it again. PO Box 124708, San Diego, California, 92112. And we are 100 percent tax deductible. I know we give to God, but sometimes it helps to be able to be voluntary with our money instead of forced giving through taxes.

So if that matters, that's important. We're also accredited by the Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability. That means we have a higher standard with our accounting and we're vetted and we have to do a lot more in terms of proving that we're above board.

That's something that's important for stewards to know, that we're handling the funds appropriately and putting them to work to make a difference among the next generation. So PO Box 124708, San Diego, California, 92112 is the physical address, and you can write a check to Urban Youth Collaborative or UYC. The abbreviation works just fine, too, because we have board members that might fail the collaborative spelling test. It's a long word.

Worth doing, hard to spell, worth doing when you can do it right. UYC or Urban Youth Collaborative works just fine. What was that zip code again? 92112. All right, we're going to open the phone lines now nationwide and take your calls. If you have a question or comment, give us a call here at 888-677-9673.

That's 888-677-9673. I know they're in San Diego a while back, about a year or two ago. I think, Linda, you remember they were trying to promote or pushing Islam in some of the public schools there where the girls had to wear their head bags and they had their prayer rugs where they would get done and they were promoting the religion of Islam. And here we exposed that here on the air, there in San Diego, and I got a lot of calls from the people, the parents that lived there and didn't know that. They didn't know that they were doing that with their children in the school because their children were told not to say anything to their parents. And so that was something, but I don't know. Is it still going on, Linda? I haven't heard of anything.

Have you had a doctor or a chef? I haven't. There is lots of different activity and many different religious streams in our public schools. And I would just say whoever wants it more will win. And so if Christians want their message out, then Christian kids can start a club and get more resources going for that message. There are kids at certain schools, we serve pepperoni that's beef and not pork or cheese pizza, because we get kids who are from a Muslim background who come to the club and they want to hear about Jesus. And they'll listen to me talk about God's side of the story. I was talking about sexuality one time and this student said, you're saying a lot of things that sound similar because I was talking about marriage and sex being God's ordained way to experience family and life to the fullest. And she said, that sounds similar to what my mom's teaching about that particular issue.

What are the differences between Christianity and Islam? And I was able to unpack Jesus as savior and grace and the Trinity and some of those really distinctive Christian truths. And she was interested and eager to have that conversation. And so we have the whosoever will attitude of if you want to come, we're going to serve physical and spiritual food and we're going to talk about Jesus. And everybody's welcome. And you can disagree.

You have to make up your own mind at the end of the conversation. But a lot of kids use that freedom to find out more. And and I just I just want more Christians to get involved. If we believe Jesus is the only way and we believe that there's only life in him, then let's let's be the most resourced, best lovers of people and the most involved voice, because all these other voices are pulling at kids. And I just want to get there first. And I want to do it better. And I want to be louder. And I want to be not loud and angry, screaming way, but loud in a passionate way, saying, man, you matter to Jesus.

And he wants to know you and you get to make the decision. But I want you to have all the information as you decide what you're going to do with your life. You want to fight like Christian soldiers with your eyes upon the cross, right? Pastor, a good byproduct of the kids learning Christianity at school is that they take it home to their parents, where you just stated that the Muslim teaching don't tell your parents. We want the kids to tell their parents. We want to spread the word to their parents.

We just play the song that says, tell mom and dad about Jesus. Maybe that's where I got that. 888-677-9673 in Lisco. Who would have thought? Clifford. Yeah. Hi, guys.

Bring up a couple of things. One would be regarding suicide. There was an article on LifeSiteNews.com in Canada that there were two women so-called physicians, Stephanie Green and Ellen Wiebe from the Provinces. Each claim that they have done 400 plus people in assisted suicides. They say this publicly.

And the mainstream media in Canada agrees with this. And some of the people they're targeting are actually teenagers that want to commit suicide based on things like, I only got a B. So I'd ask about that and also some of the mantras that are out there, like from 1984, that have a connotation really of wickedness, like, we are all in this together, that type of thing. Cold phrases or mantras. And then from the scriptures, my question would be, talking about the light in the darkness would be Psalm 112 verses 4, where it's talking about that, but it's talking about characteristics. I'm not sure if that's talking about the Psalm's characteristics or God's characteristics. And relating that to Psalm 97 verses 10 and 11, where it's talking about light coming in for the just, another version I had seen said, light dawns for the righteous, which I liked.

That would be my second question. Well, you know, those verses you're talking about, ye that love the Lord hate evil, those that love the Lord, they will hate evil. Absolutely. You know, you'll often hear people say in their sound bites, the Bible teaches to hate the sin but love the sinner. The Bible doesn't teach that. The Bible teaches to hate what God hates and love what God loves.

Okay. And that's what this verse says here. Ye that love the Lord hate evil, ye preserveth the souls of the saints. He deliver them out of the hand of the wicked. Light is sown for the righteous and gladness for the upright of the heart. I don't think, I think it's pretty plain, isn't it?

I mean. Well also Psalm 112 verse 4 is not as clear because it's giving light in the darkness but it's talking about the qualities of an individual. Now is that the qualities of God or is that the qualities of the theoretical righteous person in Psalm 112 verse 4? I'm familiar with that verse. It talks about until the upright there arises light in the darkness.

He is gracious and full of compassion and is righteous. And so, boy, it means exactly what it just says. I don't know. Do you want to comment on that, Joe? Pretty much, to me, it's self-explanatory. You just said it.

It says just what it means. Right. All right, there you go. My question for the guests, though, is when these kids have an issue, how do they move out of it without like totally panicking about where they're at? You know, an addiction issue.

Say it's whatever it is, drinking, gambling. Should they relax a little bit about the problem, you know, as they try and, you know, move away from the problem, that type of thing? That would be my question. You know, how do they counsel these people that have the problem but without them getting overly immersed in it to the point where they're beating themselves up way too much? It's the love of Jesus that works. It's the Holy Spirit, right? I would say this, that kids have habits and reactions, and whether they're addicted to something or feeling suicidal or whether they're just facing negative thoughts or negative peer pressure or what have you, it is something that we see the light of Christ start to shine on and then the light starts to make the darkness disappear, but sometimes it takes time and it's gradual. And sometimes kids do mess up again and again, and we don't become sin. We're righteous right away when we come to Christ. That's justification, but sanctification takes time. And we're not sinless in terms of our performance, but we sin less over time. We gradually start growing in the image and likeness of Christ. We become more and more like Jesus over time, so it's a gradual process. So the biggest question for us is, is Jesus alive inside of this young person?

Has that young person invited Christ into their life and made him Lord and Savior, confessed their sins, and allowed the Holy Spirit to take up residence and start to work? Super quick story to maybe answer the question. I was a camp counselor when I was in Washington, D.C. as a youth intern, and we found a baby rattlesnake at the bottom of a zipline where all these kids were whizzing down in the woods and whizzing on the zipline, zooming down, and then they dropped off at the bottom and there was this baby rattlesnake with all the venom that baby rattlesnakes release. They're more dangerous than grown-up rattlesnakes because they can't control it. And a couple of the other youth workers cut off the head of the rattlesnake to protect the kids, and we took it back to this wash line and hung it up with a safety pin with a clothespin, and we put the head in a formaldehyde jar on the mantle that was kind of like our victory jar, and this snake was dead and hanging there.

After a couple of hours, I walked up to it, and I was just a 20-something youth intern having some fun. I pinched the back of the dead snake without a head, and the whole body of the snake reflexed and coiled up without a head and tried to bite me. And I jumped back, and I was like, what's happening? And it was that reflex of the dead nature that still is at work, and it's still there, but it's dead. And so then, over time, I walked back. A couple of hours later, I pinched it. The snake still tried to do it.

The next morning, it just wiggled a little bit, and then by the next night, I pinched it, and it didn't move at all. So when we come to Christ, our sin nature is dead inside of us, but it's still active. We still have the same reactions, the same reflexes, the same habits that we've had forever, but over time, our dead nature is dying off, and our new nature in Christ is coming up, and that's what we have to emphasize.

So patience is required. Grace is required. And yet, also, we want to continue to push people to Christ because the venom of death is real, and if you're hanging out with that, it's going to take you out. But the newness of Christ, we've crucified the old life, it's dead, and we've resurrected a new life with Christ, and sanctification over time really does bear itself out in the lives of kids that have the Holy Spirit.

Alright, we're going to go to a break, and we'll be back right after this. Jesus, he was Yahweh's own son. He said, I am the way and the truth and the life. So they hung him from a tree till he was crucified. Then they carried him and buried him in a tomb three days and three nights long. And with a bang and a clang and a great big boom, the angel removed the stone from the tomb, and when they all went looking inside, Jesus, he was gone. And now you know there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet. The father did cause it for the son to be redeemed.

When you're resurrected from the grave, you leave no deposit. Yes, there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet. Now as the Spirit moved and the church caught fire and the gospel spread through the Roman Empire, that old devil's old world order was turned upside down. It seemed the more that he martyred and he crucified, the more the Holy Ghost of Jesus Christ was multiplied until the gospel of the saving grace of Christ was finally spread the world around. All because there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet.

The father did cause it for the son to be redeemed. When you're resurrected from the grave, you leave no deposit. Yes, there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet. Now the Muslims say it's down to all you bow. The Hindus pray they'll come back as a cow.

The Orient will say only Buddha's the way. But what are they going to say on resurrection day? Now the world's got leaders that are trying to lead, but the truth of the matter is they're all deceived because they've all got secrets in their past they're trying to hide. So when Satan steps up to make his deals, he threatens to tell all the other big wheels, so they all conspire together to save their own hides. But you know there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet.

The father had caused it for the son to be redeemed. When you're resurrected from the grave, you leave no deposit. Yes, there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet. Yes, there ain't no skeleton in Jesus' closet. And you can bet your life on that already because you are whether you know it or not.

Listen to this. Joe, we have a very, very serious prayer request right now. There's a fellow, his name is Michael Pressman and he's dying and he just received the Lord Jesus at the age of 80 years old and his family's asking that we pray. So Joe, would you pray the Lord's will for Michael at the age of 80?

80. Oh, I'd love to. Folks, all of you out there listening, join in. Someday you are going to need prayer.

I guarantee it. And the Lord appreciates prayer. Righteous is powerful.

So join with me, please. Dear Lord, I am joyful to hear that Michael has found you, has come to be a child of the kingdom, is now a born-again believer. But unfortunately, it's a little late in his life and looks like you're calling him home. We would ask that you be with him, comfort him, those that love him, strengthen them, help them through this and just bless him in every conceivable way. And if it be thy will, you know, you have raised the dead, you can heal all things. And if it be thy will that you restore Michael to health and that he could be a great, great witness to you and for you. But Lord, it sounds like you're calling him home. And it's wonderful because you know what's going on.

We don't. But we know that we're supposed to pray for all those who request it and hold them up to you. And will you just cover Michael with your mercy, your grace and your love. And just thank you for being there, Father. In Jesus' precious name. Amen.

All right. Thanks, Jill. Hey, let's go to Guess Where San Diego. We have Carol from San Diego. Hello. Thank you for taking my call. And Dr. Landis, you spoke at my church in San Diego. I didn't get a chance to meet you that Sunday, but I'm so glad to hear you on the radio tonight. Wonderful. I wanted to tell you that I worked for CEF, Child Evangelism Fellowship, where we would bring Jesus to the public schools, kindergarten to sixth grade, and I'm glad that you are continuing what we began. So thank you so much for your ministry. And I do have a question.

Please. My question is that Christian teachers in the public school have a problem calling the LGBT student by their preferred pronoun and name. So I was wondering, do you run into this in your ministry?

And how do you handle it? This is a great question. We have some teachers that have asked us for guidance. One in particular had a district speaker come in. This was probably about six years ago, and they instructed that principal, sorry, the principal had the district officer come in and they instructed the teachers not to use gender specific pronouns anymore. And so this teacher was like, how do I even speak to a group of kids?

They have to say citizens or people or students and so on. And so I think it's a difficult situation because the majority of students do want to be addressed with gender specific pronouns. And so for the few that genuinely don't want that, then I think trying to use first names and trying to be creative with how you talk to them is a respectful way to do it. But you're still not compromising your own beliefs and your own convictions about male and female while you're still keeping the conversation open for someone who's wrestling with all of these things.

One of the cool things we've been able to do recently is we got a grant to be able to talk about dating and relationships and identity with students. And we have 500 kids that are going through this conversation about sexuality specifically, and they are then able, after that conversation we have at school, we can say, do you want to come to church or do you want to come to the faith club? And then we can sort of have the rest of the story where we can talk about God created us male and female, and it's part of his creative intent to reflect God's image in our gender and our bodies.

And so I try to keep the conversation open by, I won't necessarily refer to someone in a way other than their biological gender, but then I will try to use their name more often, or I'll try to pick another way to keep the conversation going with them so I'm not contradicting what they've asked for, but I'm also not calling a man a woman or vice versa, or a she, they, and so on, because then I'm contradicting what I believe to be true. And then I'm trying to invite them to faith club and invite them to church so that we can have more of that conversation because we've kept the relational doors open. It's a tricky place to be, and right now I think Christian teachers are trying to figure out how to navigate these waters. I think they have to find each other and kind of draw the fish in the sand, like the Roman Empire, like, hey, you're a Christian in the Roman Empire, and you draw the first half of the fish, and then someone knows the secret code, they swipe and do the other half of the fish. Christian teachers have to find each other so they can pray together, commiserate together. What's cool about Bible clubs is sometimes Christian teachers show up and they see a kid, and then they'll also go, wait, there's two other teachers here. I didn't know they were believers.

And then they can say, how are you navigating these waters, and what do you do when this happens? And that way we can continue to love people well and also not compromise the truth. So it's about speaking the truth in love, and sometimes we overemphasize the truth at the expense of love, but then if we're overemphasizing love at the expense of truth, that's not loving either, because we really want people to find life.

And if they're not heading towards life, we have to love them enough to invite them and plead with them to turn around. Yes, right. Well, I think your ministry is a worthy ministry to support, and I already support UYC, John in Mira Mesa, and he's doing a wonderful job. Oh, wonderful, yes. Yes, he's doing a wonderful job with those young people, and they need this so very much. So thank you so much, I really appreciate you. Thank you for your partnership in the Gospel, and John's one of my favorite people in San Diego. He's doing an incredible work, and thanks for holding him up and helping him share the good news with Jesus, because otherwise kids wouldn't know what they're finding out, so you're making a big difference. Oh, thank you so much, and God bless you all. Bye-bye.

God bless you too. We're getting calls asking for to repeat the address, and that's UYC Post Office Box 124708, San Diego, California, 92112. And that again is UYC Post Office Box 124708, San Diego, California, 9211, and the website is... 92112.

Oh, that's right, 92112. You're right. Yes. Okay.

Urban Youth Collaborative's online as well if you're interested in connecting with us digitally at UYC.org. All right, very good. Okay, the phone lines are open, we have a few minutes, we can take calls at 888-677-9673. That's 888-677-9673. It looks like we've been having some of the seminar callers calling out there.

Is that what's been going on? All right, there you go. You might not believe this, fellas, but you have a lot of people out there that don't agree with you, you see. We hear from them every now and then, and so in fact I've been hearing from them for 50 years, but anyhow, this is our time. God has raised us up for such a time as this. It's now or never, and we need to run to this battle.

Again, we need to rescue those being led to slaughter and drawn to death. And see, we lived in a time, I remember very well the Cuban Missile Crisis, and I remember when that happened. I was about to get out of high school when that happened, and I remember there were certain students that panicked. I mean, they were nervous, and one fella almost had a nervous breakdown.

He said his name was Shane, and he said, don't you understand? We could get newt. We could get newt. But for the most part, back in those days, we had people that we had a foundation. Most of the kids at least went to church. I mean, I would have probably said maybe 90%, 80 or 90% of those at my age in class would go to church. Today, that's not the case with the kids.

They don't really have. And today, you're hearing every day, what the generals are talking about, we're close to the nuclear war we've ever been. We've got what happened right here in East Palestine, Ohio, which is really very, very scary for a lot of people, not far from where I'm at right now. And all of the other things happening out there with the fentanyl, where kids are dropping dead, and you see their mothers giving testimony to Congress every day. So the kids are looking. They're looking for the Lord. They're looking for a life raft, aren't they?

Absolutely. Yeah, I was talking to Jeff on the way in here, and he was sharing his testimony where he was desperate, suicidal, didn't know God. He alluded to that earlier. And I said, how did you know how to pray? Because you still had that moment in your life when you reached back in your mind and you knew the name of Jesus. And he said, it was probably my grandmother who planted that seed. And we're now so many generations removed where some kids don't even have a grandmother planting the seed. So they don't know who to call out to in the moment of decision or the moment of darkness or the moment of despair. And we want kids to know the name of Jesus. And that's where all the power is. And that's where the authority is. That's where the life change and forgiveness is.

And so that's the name above all names. And we want kids to know, because one day everyone's going to confess that Jesus is Lord. And we want people to do it voluntarily now while they still can. Because there's going to be a day coming when every knee will bow and every tongue will confess.

And a lot of people by then will be doing it with regret. But what if we could do it now with worship and love and gratitude for what Christ has done for us? All right, let's go to New Jersey.

We have Bill out in New Jersey. Bill, you're in the air. Thank you so much, Pastor. Yeah, I started working on my salvation with fear and trembling when I got shot in the Bronx my last year of college. I decided to become a lawyer, to finally become a lawyer. They gave me math and the LSAT.

Well, I was good at algebra, but that's not what I was looking for. So I decided to go into teaching 30 years. So I admire your guest, what he goes through with those kids, because we have to show them love. We have to show them that there is a God, because communism is based on what is called dialectic materialism, which is the belief that there is no soul, just body. After you die, that's it.

No, God did not create us for that. And that's basically what I want to say. Keep up the good work, Pastor. And everybody, God bless.

All right, thank you very much for that. Well, you know, if you... communism today, cultural Marxism, Satanism, same old dog with different names, folks, and that's what it is. And you're right. You know, the Bible clearly teaches he that is in us is greater than he that is in the world. And we're more than conquerors in Christ if people understand that.

And people understand that. And that's what they have to... in this ministry, we've been fighting for 50 years. We've never stood down. Not one time have we ever stood down.

And we're not about to. It's because we do, we realize that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. And we are more than conquerors in Christ. And if you believe it, and you have to believe it, and we know it's true because God has said it.

And if God says it, we believe it. Amen. Pastor Sanders, I wanted to quote a couple of sentences from Dr. Landis' book, if I may. It's from the chapter Kingdom Collaboration, Working Together as One. He said, asking, learning, and celebrating the successes of others are antidotes to pride.

Walking by faith, sharing credit, and trusting God's work enough to journey together are the antidotes to fear. I like that. Alrighty. How much time do I have over there, Kyle? Alright.

Alrighty, there you go. Well, we're at the end of the program here tonight, so I'll tell you what we're going to do. We're going to give you fellows a great opportunity, year coast to coast, to get that salvation message out.

I don't know how many young people, but we do get letters from young people, so there are some listening to us. But we have a lot of old timers listening to us out there, like the fellow who we just prayed for. And so, you've got about five and a half minutes out there to tell people how they can avoid the lake of fire, or how they can get to heaven, according to God's words.

So, Nate, go ahead and get her done. Well, Jesus made it really clear in John 10-10 when he said that the thief, that's the enemy of our soul, the devil, comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And that's his only motive when he comes to us. He might be promising life, but he's actually going to lead us to death. And Jesus said he's come to bring us life, not just any life, but life to the fullest, life to the max.

And that starts now, but goes on forever with us in heaven, with him in heaven, with us. And we're able to make a choice. We've got to decide who can hand us life. The enemy and Jesus are both making the case that they have the answer to life. The devil's opening line to humanity in the Garden of Eden was, did God really say, can we trust his word? Is he here to rip us off, or is he here to give us life? And Adam and Eve started sin and death and the fashion industry by deciding to choose the devil as their source of life. And that's why we have wars and famines and heartache and depression and suicide and all of human history, broken relationships with God and each other, happened because we chose to look for life in a place that had no life. And that's what the angels said to the disciples when they came to the tomb.

Why are you looking for life in a tomb? He's not here. He's risen. And Jesus was the one who died on the cross. He took all of our sins upon himself, all the stuff that we deserved. And Good Friday was a very good day for us, but a very bad day for Jesus because he took it all upon himself. All the sin, all the brokenness, the drop of juice from the fruit that led to death in the Garden of Eden, when people chose life without God by taking matters into our own hands, was resolved by the drop of blood on the cross that Jesus shed. He paid for our whole history of doing things our own way. And he's the one that can cover us and not just cover our sin, but remove our sin like it never happened. So no matter what's been done to us, no matter what we have done, no matter what we feel guilty for, he doesn't just remove it, but he pays for it and he forgets it and he separates it as far as East is from West.

I come from the East Coast and we're talking coast to coast tonight, but it's a long way from Philadelphia to San Diego. I've made that drive. And imagine infinitely going West and infinitely going East. There's no way for them to ever meet again. Our sin will never touch us again. It'll never meet us again.

It's separated forever. Jesus was stretching out his arms on the cross because he was illustrating that he was separating our sin as far as East is from West. Maybe his hands were pointing East and West, that he's on the cross separating our sin forever, and we have a choice right now to decide if we're going to look for life in our own ingenuity, in our own means, or are we going to look for life in Christ. And anybody that's listening now that hasn't made that choice yet, I would be remiss if I didn't give that opportunity tonight to choose life, to trust Jesus, that he was real, he came on earth, he lived the only perfect life in human history. He died a death he didn't deserve. The death I deserved, he died for me. And the life that he now lives, he resurrected again the firstborn of a new breed of human that was not affected by sin, not affected by death, and forever and ever I get to be with him. So I'm going to participate as a person in the destiny of whoever I put my faith in. If I put my faith in the devil to give me life, I'm going to reap what he sowed and I'm going to be apart from God forever. And God's going to honor my choice because he respects me enough to let me choose what I'm going to do with my life.

But if I choose Jesus, then I'm going to be able to reap what he has given to me and I'll participate in his destiny, which is life forever. So there's a quick prayer that I can pray with you. It's not magic, it's sincere, it's talking to God. And it goes this way, in the privacy of your heart you can say, Dear Jesus, I believe you're real and I believe you were the son of God who came to earth for me. You sought me out and came after me because I mattered that much to you. I believe you died on the cross to pay for my sin and I accept that gift of payment for my sin.

I accept the Holy Spirit inside me. Come fill me and use me to share this good news with others now. And I look forward to celebrating life with you forever. Amen. Alright, I want to thank you very much.

We're coming up to the end of the program. Thank you folks for being here tonight. And Linda, you done good girl. Thank you Pastor. My pleasure.

Alrighty. And we'll have to have you guys back. Thanks for having us.

It was a pleasure. And let us, yeah, let us know how things are going out there. And, you know, we could use that right here in Ohio. We could use a lot of that.

All over the country. Okay. But we're out of time for tonight, so as we get to this point every night we say, Good night, God bless, and remember, always, always, always, let's get her done. Keep fighting the fight! The preceding program is sponsored by What's Right, What's Left Ministries and is responsible for its content.