Transcript

: Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio.

Jenna Ellis: I love talking about the things of God because of truth and the biblical worldview. The U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect the rights that our founders recognize come from God, our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you. And God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time.

 : This is Jenna Ellis in the morning.

Good morning. It is Friday, February 13, so almost Valentine's Day

Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Friday, February 13, so almost Valentine's Day. And Happy Valentine's to all who celebrate. I have always celebrated Valentine's Day. I know that it's a ridiculous Hallmark holiday, but it means that there is pink and girly, like, all over everywhere. And so I love it. I always celebrate it. In fact, I have a table runner that I got that is, like pink and gold hearts, and I just. I just love it all. So the more pink and sparkle in the world, I think is fabulous. But, but moving forward, you know, I. I do love talking about, God because of truth and the biblical worldview. As you know, I always say in the open because it matters to our daily lives. this is not a life for the Christian that we can simply say, okay, I know God. I know that I'm saved, and now I can go live my life however I prefer. And I can pick and choose what I believe about politics, what I believe about, relationships, whether, you know, it's friends or in the family context. it doesn't matter what I believe about the church. It doesn't matter. you know, it's just all my free choice. Well, if you are a Christian, that necessarily means that you are affirming God is God, you are not. And therefore, our identity is completely dependent on his identity because he tells us who we are as human beings that are made in his image, have inherent dignity and worth. And because we are made in his image and. And he has put us on this earth and for his own sovereign purposes, has created the reality to which we are presented according to his will. That necessarily requires something of us, which, first and foremost, is to live in light of that truth in all things. And so when we talk about politics, we talk about news of the day. We talk about policy, we, talk about, you know, headlines, things like this. It's not just isolated from our identity as Christians. I mean, when I was still, a practicing attorney, and I'm really thankful, honestly, that I'm not right now. I love having these conversations with all of you every morning and, getting to do more ministry in this area. But when I was still practicing, you know, there was kind of this, this dichotomy, between, you know, people who would say, well, I'm. I'm a lawyer, and, yeah, you know, I'm a Christian too, but that's more in my private life versus being a Christian who also happens to be a lawyer. Right. And there's a really important difference between the two because does your identity in Christ come before anything else and understanding that that is at the foundation of all things, or does your identity in other respects, such as, the fact that, you know, you might be a husband or wife, you might be a mother or father, you might be, you know, it's son or daughter, you might be in whatever profession you are, vocation or, or, citizen of a state or country. I mean, all of these other things that are sure aspects of our identity, but do those things ever come first before our identity in Christ? And if they do, we are actually outside of the created order that God himself requires. And when we come into a saving knowledge of him and when we take on this understanding of reality and our identity in Christ, that necessarily requires acknowledgment and therefore a view of the world that is truthful.

Jenna Ellis welcomes Alex McFarland on American Family Radio Network

So, with that opening, I want to welcome in Alex McFarland, who is, the host of Exploring the Word right here on American Family Radio Network. He's one of our, board members and most importantly is a very, very dear friend, of mine. I love that we can have conversations about truth, about, the biblical worldview. All of this, even offline, but especially that we can have, these conversations air as well. Because, Alex, you know, so much of this that we were talking before the program about this topic of saying, you know, if churches are only teaching about salvation and coming into a knowledge of God, but then fail to build on that and teach comprehensively then how you live your Christian life according to that truth, then we're only getting the bare minimum of what the truth and the good news is really all about.

Alex McFarland: Yeah. Well, Jenna, thank you for having me on, and it's always a great honor. I have such respect for you as a thinker and communicator and so, whenever I'm on the Jenna Ellis Show, I read, I study, I try, if I have an A game, I try to bring my A game because, you really keep us on our toes and we, I learn a lot. I know the listeners do as well. So I appreciate you and all that you bring to the airwaves.

Jenna Ellis: Thank you so much for that. And I love having these conversations because I learned from you as well. And this is why, I'm so grateful to have friends like you because, and to have these conversations where, you know, we can have them with the greater American, family Radio Network family. Because these things, help us to all grow in our faith and in our knowledge of the Lord and connect some of these dots from. Okay, what does my Christian faith then require of me? And how do I understand, okay, this is the headline. And you know, how do I think about this? And how do I think about this truthfully, rightfully, biblically? And so, you know, one of the, the headlines, of course, this past week that we've talked about on the show, this week was, was, the whole NFL controversy and the halftime show and then the Turning Point USA Alternative one. And you know, people criticize that as well. And you know, there are a lot of nuances of course, and specifics, but from kind of a 30,000 foot perspective, you've been in the area of apologetics and teaching the truthful biblical worldview for a while. Just, taking this one moment, this past weekend. What's your assessment of where we're at as a culture that would, on, you know, one of the highest rated programs, of the year, which is the super bowl, choose to have someone who at, in certain portions of the program, clearly was, you know, soft porn. It was things that I wouldn't ever want to see myself but also would definitely not have children watch. And yet we know that there were a lot of kids that tuned into the super bowl, and a lot of people were saying, well you Christians, you know, you're just these you know, pious, you know, people who are pearl clutching and all this. But Alex, you know, where do you think we're at kind of in this cultural moment?

Alex McFarland: Well, I think we're at a dangerous place because, among younger people and you know, Jenna, for 28 years now, this summer, Lord willing, will be the 28th year that I've done summer camps all around America. We have seven summer camps and we have, ah, in in the summer camps, approximately 12 to 1300 teenagers in camps in places like Montana and Georgia and, upstate NewSong York. And it's great. we do biblical worldview training. But here's the thing. Among younger and younger demographics, there is just an absolute lack of patriotism. And I know as believers, our first loyalty is to the Lord and to Christ. But, you know, secondarily, I really believe that we need to teach patriotism. We should care about America and, you know, care about being citizens and preserving America. Well, the NFL, I'm going to say this. The NFL, whether they know it or not, they really are guilty of treason. Because for a long time, they've had more and more shows. I mean, this goes back to the. The, Janet Jackson quote, wardrobe malfunction.

Jenna Ellis: I'm, old enough to remember that, unfortunately.

Alex McFarland: Yeah, yeah, I didn't see that. You know, thank the Lord. Didn't, want to see that. And, you know, the NFL halftime show has brought new phrases to our lexicon like wardrobe malfunction. But, okay, Bad Bunny, which, I mean, what a name for an adult. I mean, give me a break. But Bad Bunny had this as part of his show. He, and everybody knows that he, he said, you know, he's not going to sing in English. He's going to sing in Spanish. And, you know, very condescendingly, he said, look, you've to learn the language. In his press conference before the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny said, english is not. And I'm, quoting, he said, English is not even America's first language. well, yes, it is, but by the way, in the 1700s, by just one or two votes, we adopted English as our primary language, not, German. we almost would have spoke spoken German, but we speak English. But when Bad Bunny says America, he's not talking about the 48 contiguous states, ah, Alaska and Hawaii, 50 US states. He, of course, in his show, he said, God bless America. That's the only thing he said in English. But then he proceeded to name the Latin American countries in Spanish. Mexico, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela. And as he named all these, you know, people went across the stage carrying the flags of, the doctor, Cuba, because he was promoting a globalist message. And the NFL is as well, part of the reason. And I spoke with a person who knows some of the powers that be in the NFL. They, they realize they've tapped out the American market and they're trying to. To literally go global. More and more NFL games are going to be played all around the World. And I guess here's the thing, Jenna, and I'll throw it back to you that, you know, you've got these, These, barely high school educated athletes that are making $100 million. And they got their financial foundation out of the American people. And now that America is tapped out, really, they're being a globalist voice. And more and more young people, they don't even know about America. They don't really care about America. There is not patriotism. And to have these halftime shows that just draw people in and using imagery and just the big global buzz of this cultural moment, to basically use America to undermine America, that's wrong. That is morally wrong. And I mean, it's not only, institutions like the NFL, it's Hollywood celebrities, and it's certainly, certainly this pernicious entity called the Democrat Party. But there is just, America has been exploited and just used, and the freedom and prosperity we have has been used to undermine America. And it's just wrong. It really is. America should mean the United States of America. And Bad Bunny, was just this, this cultural figure to promote globalism. No redeeming entertainment. And God knows it was not art. I mean, my goodness, it was a political, vehicle to promote globalism. That's what Sunday night was.

Jenna Ellis: And you know, some really important points there, Alex. And I appreciate the, the kind of insider info onto, why perhaps the NFL is, making these decisions that seem very counterintuitive to who their base should be, which of course is Americans. I mean, this is the National Football League. National Football, league. That national should be America.

Alex McFarland: Ah.

Jenna Ellis: Not globalist. and in fact, I actually tweeted that or posted on X afterwards I was like, they might as well change their name to the Globalist Football League because that's what they are. So I appreciate that confirmation. But, but the. This whole idea that some people are suggesting and kind of couching their criticism in saying, you know, but we have to acknowledge, you know, this whole performance, the choreography was amazing and, you know, the artwork and, And I'm just thinking, no, it wasn't. I mean, you can critique and criticize the overall performance without having to feel like you have to recognize that somehow it was artistic in any sort of, beauty, standard sense. I mean, this would be, like, you know, suggesting that just because, some, unfortunately, some pornographic, content has, is covered under the First Amendment in terms of speech and expression, that doesn't mean that we can't call it for what it is, which is Absolute smut. Right? And so we. We don't have to say that there is any artistic value because the standard of art is not what the production companies think that it is. It's not about how much money went into it, or these choreographers and costumes and so forth. the standard ultimately of art and expression is again, rooted in a biblical, truthful view of reality, which is God is the creator, which. There's. That even that wor. Creator. It doesn't just mean creation in terms of work and building and and. And creating in that sense. it's also an artistic expression because God himself is an artist. And we see that in the beauty of the natural world. And so beauty by definition is not just subjective in the eye of the beholder, as you know, the old phrase says, and I understand why people use it that way. But the standard of beauty, and especially as it is applied to art and artistic expression must have a, correlation to reality, to truth, to moral order, to natural law. And this is why when we see, you know, some of these modern quote unquote artists that they have paintings that are, you know, completely devoid of reality, and they have, you know, the Picasso, for example, that shows a worldview that is saying the world is chaotic. And it's not an expression of, for example, the Renaissance era where people were representing in their artistic creations the beauty of the world as God designed and ordered it. And I think this is a fundamental commentary that even Christians sometimes miss.

Alex McFarland: Yeah, here's the thing that, like, somebody would say, oh, well, the choreography was amazing. Look, the. The aesthetics, do not redeem the ideology. You know, in critical theory, there was. There was a German philosopher named Walter Benjamin, and he coined the term power aesthetics, meaning that you, could basically, spoon feed somebody some ideology if you wow them with aesthetics. And this is. This is part of critical theory. Those that believe in, you know, you might say wokeness, but really critical theory, which undermines certainly Christian morality, but really the, the moral boundaries that make America work. this is the. The Bad Bunny halftime performance or any of the other things. Just, a few years ago I was writing an article for Focus on the Family, and I was asked to watch the Grammy Awards because I was supposed to write a review of, this thing that Beyonce was doing. And my goodness. And this was. I'm going to say four or five years ago, the Grammy Awards opened up with, I guess I'll, charitably call it a song, a performance by Beyonce that was. It was porn I mean, it really was. And, you know, if you critique something like that, some will say, oh, well, you're, you know, you're puritanical, you're Victorian. Fair enough, I don't care. but we. We have a culture where people are not really thinking critically. They're certainly not thinking biblically. And it's like the aesthetics. If there's enough, you know, wow factor, people just sit there and watch. But you need to understand, behind every art or whether it's art, literature, music, there is a worldview present. And, you know, we were a nation where we had incredible redeeming, messages in our art. You know, whether it be, you know, It's a Wonderful Life or To Kill a Mockingbird. I mean, those had great, you know, redemptive messages, but it's just, become more and more explicit.

Charles Colson said the future would be a battle of worldviews

Did you know Jenna? Did you know Chuck Colson? The late, great Charles Colson? Did you know him?

Jenna Ellis: I didn't know him personally, but, I've been part of the Colson Fellowship in a number of capacities, and so, you know, very familiar with him and his legacy. You know, very much influenced, you know, a lot of the worldview elements that, that I understand and, you know, have learned through, you know, the truth of the Bible. Absolutely.

Alex McFarland: Yeah. He, I was so blessed. He was a great friend. He spoke for us in our conferences. And, I'm so blessed. I have a number of letters that he. He sent to me and encouraged me in my, you know, education and work. But Colson talked about that, the future. And he's been dead, like, I'm going to say about 12 years. but the future would be a battle of worldview, and it really is. I mean, either you assume that God and truth exist, or you don't. And part of what is a challenge, not only for the souls of people, but really the preservation of our nation is that the. The. The tech overlords, if you will, that run media. They're not only are they, secular, but I would say they're anti. Anti God, anti morality, certainly anti, America. And, we are in a battle of worldviews. Now, fortunately, there are Christian families, there are Christian organizations like afr there are churches, and there are a few Christian schools, a few truly Christian schools, although you have to really do your due diligence. But, Colson was right. We're in a battle of worldview and beliefs, drive behaviors. And, you know, this might beg the question, why should we care about the preservation of America, Jenna, this is where many young pastors, they'll ask me, they'll say, you know, well, you know, I'm. My m. Home is heaven. Why should I care about saving America? Well, because until we get to heaven, we've got to live somewhere. And I would, I think we can do better as Christians in a free, safe, stable, prosperous America then, you know, chained to the wall of a cell in a gulag. You know, I mean, so, yeah, we should care about the preservation of America because, as my friend, the late Charlie Kirk would say, you know, the most important thing is the Great Commission, but the second most important thing is to keep it possible to live out the Great Commission. And, these things really do hang in the balance.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And on that note, we've got to take a break here, uh, Alex McFarland, but he's staying with me through the whole show. So we're going to have, you know, kind of a long form conversation which I love doing on Fridays, uh, when, you know, we kind of can take some of this 30,000 foot perspective. And I want to come back and, you know, talk more about building that worldview because I absolutely agree, um, with Chuck Colson's observation that that is the battleground for the future. So what does that actually look like, um, in this moment in time? So we'll be right back with more here on Jenna Ellis in the Morning.

Jenna Ellis welcomes Alex McFarland back to American Family Radio

 : welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And I'm here with my special guest this morning, Alex McFarland, who is host of Exploring the Word right here on American Family Radio Network. one of our AFA board members and very dear friend and also is the head of Alex McFarland Ministries. And they do such great work, in apologetics. I've been very, fortunate to, to go and speak, with Alex at a number of events, including for his ministry and, to talk about all of these things, that are so important and necessary for Christians to think through and understand and before, the break, Alex, we were talking about, you know, your observation of Chuck Colson, and his, his, kind of prediction that the battleground would be for worldview. And I think that is, was very, ah, apt. And, that's exactly what we're seeing. And so you.

Alex McFarland: Truth and life begin with God and His Word

Let's talk about what that means concretely though, because, you know, I often say on this program, and I actually started out this, this show saying we need to accept and embrace the truth of reality, you know, and God, and then build up our worldview from there. And everything that we think in various subject matters should be in light of truth. Well, what does that actually look like in concrete terms to say, okay, if I am a Christian, I accept the truth of reality, then how do you begin to build your framework, your worldview? based on truth?

Alex McFarland: Great question. And, truth begins with God and His Word. You know, in John 17:17, Jesus said, Thy word is truth. And, and so. Hey, Jenna, you're going to love this quote. In 1908, G.K. chesterton, he was a, he was a great British Christian and very influential in the life of C.S. lewis. But Chesterton said, as much as we need to win the lost to Christianity, more and more, we need to win the Christians to Christianity. And, I kind of smile because I wonder what Chesterton would think if he were alive in the 21st century. But, you know, even those in the church, I mean, Scripture, the Bible, God's holy word, that has to be the rule for. Yes, of course, salvation, but for what we believe about morals, gender, family, government, economics, you know, stewardship of life. I think part of the reason that America is in the place it's in has been really several decades of churches that have not, as the Bible says, given the whole counsel of God. So to your question, truth and life, it must begin with God and his revelation. You know, why do I live the way I live? Because God has shown us in His Word, God has shown us what is right, what is wrong, how to live, how not to live. And so, I think that we've got to get back to the Bible as being, you know, the book. let me just say this. one of the hot button issues of our age certainly has been homosexuality. And, my goodness, the mainline denominations, certainly the traditional denominational colleges that were built with Christian money a century ago, they're as woke as could be. Jenna. I hear from parents and students and college kids literally every day of the week, and my goodness, the Traditional legacy denominations and schools, they're not following what God's word says. They're as woke as could be, most of them. And so part of the reason we're where we are has been the neglect of, the ignorance of, and even the suppression of what God says in his book, the Bible.

Jenna Ellis: And that's such good advice, Alex McFarland, that, you know, we start first with the Bible and when God says, you know, I've given you all that you need to live rightly, this means that we have not only what God has revealed in, the Bible in his special revelation, but also what he has revealed through, about himself through creation and the reality to which we're presented. I mean, it is incredible that we as human beings not only have the capacity to know and to understand and to work through these things logically and understand the difference between truth and, what's not truth, what is false or wrong or evil, but also that we can know and appreciate the order of the world around us. And that's obviously not by accident. I mean, having the ability to perceive and to know who our Creator is through looking at creation and the order of creation, the laws of nature and of nature's God, as our founders put it, all of these things are important to our overall understanding of how we build up our worldview. And a worldview, very simply is, how do you understand life? How do you understand this reality that, that we are presented to? And for the people who, you know, would claim, well, you know, this is just a great, simulation. And, you know, how do we know that we know? And how do we know? Well, you know, those people aren't even worth arguing with because if you can't even acknowledge that you yourself are a sentient being and you're asking those questions, you know, I love one of the, I forget who it was, but, you know, it was some pastor apologist that said, you know, when somebody says, how do you know that you know? And he says, well, to whom may I address the answer? You know, it's like, come on. I mean, there are some things that are just so fundamentally obvious that if you deny reality, then you're not even starting on square one. So square one is, okay, I am, I exist, and I perceive the world around me. And that perception of reality acknowledges fundamentally that there is an order, there is creation. We as human beings, have value. And so this creation must mean that there is a Creator. And you know, when we go through that whole apologetic. And so with that when we start and accept and embrace who God is, the truth and the reality of salvation and the truth of the gospel of Christ, then accepting that truth necessarily means, okay, then what does God require of me? And as a Christian, when we build out what our life requires and what is the same and uniform for every Christian, which is to know God more, to worship him, to follow his precepts, to acknowledge his authority and order, then we can start, building out and using those building blocks to say, okay, well, then what would that mean for issues like how I treat other human beings? So now it's not just my relationship with God and that paradigm, but then that means, okay, now adding on how I treat fellow human beings, then it's, how do I treat his creation? You know, animals and the environment even? I mean, Christians shouldn't say, well, you know, just because we're not these globalists and believe in Mother Earth. And that means we can just go out and trash God's creation? No, I mean, how does that mean we treat our own bodies? How does that mean that we treat our environment? All of these things. If you live in light of the truth and you recognize and accept who God is, then those questions and then the answers naturally follow.

Alex McFarland: Yeah.

There are a lot of younger people who believe that there is no truth

You know, Jenna, earlier in the show, you and I were talking about how, you know, art, influences beliefs and opinions and people. I'm gonna go back a little bit. there was a movie in 1999 called The Matrix, you know, famous movie with Laurence Fishburne and, Keanu Reeves. And, interestingly, basically the premise of the Matrix was that Earth had lost this battle against AI really, artificial intelligence. And there were just a few actual humans that understood that, you know, the whole wide world was under this delusion put forth by the artificial intelligence controllers. And, the idea was to escape the Matrix, and actually find one's way back to reality. Well, here's the thing. There are a lot of people, a lot of younger people, that believe that, you know, there is no truth. And even if you think you know truth, you don't know truth and maybe reality. I know this sounds crazy, folks. You've really got to use your imagination here, but trust me, this is kind of where a lot of teens and college kids are. They think that maybe the world around us is just, an app in some computer, a matrix, and that knowledge is not possible. Jenna, you mentioned, you know, Descartes, Rene Descartes, the famous, dictum. I think therefore I am. You know, I must exist because I'M thinking about whether or not I exist. So here's the bottom line and this is really important folks. This might sound like some word game or you know, semantical gymnastics, but it's really not. Truth exists. That's undeniable. Because if I deny it, truth doesn't exist. I mean, what I'm doing is, you know, setting forth a contradiction. It's true. There is no truth. See, that's contradictory. by the way, I ended up about a year ago, I wrote the foreword to a logic book, by a man named Dr. Juan Valdez. It's a great book on how to think. And I know this might sound crazy folks, but I think in church, yeah, of course we teach God's word, we teach the gospel, we teach a biblical worldview. And I really think churches need to even teach, you know, critical thinking skills and logic. So truth exists. And this is part of what makes us a human being. We're made in God's image. God is omniscient and knows everything. Now none of us can know everything, but one of the stewardship responsibilities of the believer is to, to grow the mind to learn. Because we're capable of learning. We're humans and we have some knowledge. God has all knowledge. you know, we reflect our creator. And the idea that there is no truth and knowledge is not possible, that's from Satan. You know, even all the way back in the Garden of Eden, the devil said, hath God said, you're putting me on. God told you? No, God has misled you. I mean the idea that there is no truth, we can't know truth. God is not honest with us and truthful. All of these are lies that go all the way back to Genesis 3, don't they?

Jenna Ellis: Mm yeah. And, and they're, I mean even if you don't believe yet in the Bible and believe in the God of the Bible, you have to start first with truth and knowledge. And if you say, well, you can't know truth, well, is that a true statement or a false one? I mean, you can't escape the fact that there is truth. And also when they say, well, you know, nobody can know anything, well how do you know that? I mean, again, you know, these are.

Alex McFarland: Things that you know that you don't know.

Jenna Ellis: Right? So they're so easily self defeating statements that they're so inconsistent with the simple truth of reality that if, if people genuinely advance those propositions, they are arguing a logical absurdity and you can't move forward in that kind of argument because they're not even willing to come to it in good faith, even acknowledging reality. And so you can't, you can't have an argument which is inherently logical with someone who is illogical. So, you know, and I think that most people, unless they're trying to just be, you know, some academic obliviator, for sake of it, most people at least, would approach a conversation about God and about truth, acknowledging those few things, yes, we can know, and yes, there is truth. And then you can start building up from there. Because once. Once someone acknowledges those two aspects of reality, that yes, there is truth and yes, we can know things, then inescapably, they will have to come to the conclusion that there is a God and his identity is the God of the Bible as he has revealed himself. I mean, there's. There's no other consistent explanation for truth and knowledge other than God, our creator and the God of the Bible.

Alex McFarland: Jenna, this is so important that we're talking about this. I mean, really, truth exists. Jesus Christ is truth incarnate. And, you know, the. The book of Romans says that man is without excuse. And, and you're. You're right that if. If people talk about it, I mean, they're. They're on the hook. I mean, you. You've acknowledged that you know some truth. and so nobody, nobody is ever going to stand before God one day and say, oh, my goodness, there was a God. I was accountable. I did not see this coming. I had no idea. Nobody can say that, because we do know. And back of all the arguing and the posturing, people know truth. People know men are not women. People know. you know, it was just classic. Several weeks ago, Josh Hawley asking that medical doctor 11 times. He said, can men get pregnant? And that medical doctor was like, well, you know, that's a complicated question. No, I mean, true. I'm going to say this, Jenna, and I say this, not only, you know, being a Christian 37 years, but being in the pastorate and being in ministry counseling. I don't know, probably thousands of people. But, Jenna, the right thing to do is rarely a mystery. Would you agree?

Jenna Ellis: Absolutely. It only becomes complicated if we add our preconceptions, politics, or emotion. That's where it gets complicated.

Alex McFarland: I've counseled so many men that were behaving badly, and I would say, stop it, repent. And they're like, well, but you got to understand, we as a culture, and this is why we need to pray, we need to be informed. We need to influence others. We need to be salt and light. We need to stay bold and stand strong.

America is in a crisis of truth, Jenna says

America is having a, very critical moment, a crossroads that will affect the absolute trajectory of our future. Is there or is there not truth? Are there or are there not moral boundaries incumbent on every human? Are we going to follow that which is good and true and right, or are we going to, you know, just be relativists? And, that's why moms and dads. I would say it is critically, imperatively important where you send your sons and daughters to school. Because, and I believe in education. I mean, I've spent my entire adult life teaching. You know, I've been adjunct professor at Liberty and I've taught at so many colleges. But I'm telling you, we're in a crisis of truth. The, the super bowl halftime show is, is an example of that. But really, you know, I mentioned Chuck Colson. Colson used the phrase little platoons, which is actually a phrase from Edmund Burke, a philosopher and leader in colonial America. But Edmund Burke said that the Christian home and the church are, quote, little platoons of soldiers standing for what's right and true. Colson used that phrase a lot. And all of us, if you're a born again believer, you are conscripted into God's army. And I know most churches don't like that, you know, militaristic imagery, but we really are soldiers fighting for truth. And, we need to understand our role as, ambassadors of truth, carriers of truth. first Peter 3, 15 defenders of the truth. Jude, verse 3 says that we are to earnestly contend for the faith, the Christian faith. Jenna, I think the surest way to lose a battle is to not acknowledge that you're in a battle. Folks, we are in a battle. An absolute crisis of truth. Now the good news is truth is very clear and truth is very defensible because compelling lines of evidence point to God, the Bible, Jesus, morality, human accountability. I mean, and look, we have prayer and the Holy Spirit. It's not a fair fight even, you know, so I think our culture could be, righted and corrected fairly easily. But America's hundred million Christians have got to step up and get in the game.

Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely.

Alex: I think we are waking up to state funded, uh, institutions

And I think it's so wise, Alex, what you said about, you know, education and ensuring that, the education that kids receive, you know, Monday through Friday is not in direct conflict with the education that hopefully they're receiving on Sunday morning. And this is where I think, you know, a lot of parents see that clash, but maybe don't attribute it to the proper source. I think we are waking up to state funded, institutions that are more of indoctrination camps. But you know, I'm such a huge advocate for homeschooling because I believe that that was the best gift that my parents gave me was consistent discipleship. And you know, yes, of course I learned, you know, the basics of, you know, math and spelling and reading and all of that that you're supposed to learn in terms of your education. But the, but I didn't learn all of the secular worldview elements that are implicit in a state funded, most state funded education systems and institutions that I had to then go and be unprogrammed from all of that when and if it conflicted with my Christian faith as an adult. And I see a lot of, you know, especially the gen zers now that but even in my generation as millennials and you know, when I think it really started going off the rails there, for public state funded education, indoctrination that you know, my fellow millennials, as we came of age and came into adulthood, there were so many of, you know, my friends, same age, who they had to wrestle with concepts that they're like, well wait, I was taught this way, but now the church is telling me a different thing and had to hopefully, rightly confront that inconsistency instead of what I was able to do was just build upon what I had Learned K through 12, because my parents taught me and discipled me from the truth of the word of God. And that's, that's not actually indoctrination. That's a recognition of truth and knowledge like we've been talking about. and we have to take a break here, last break. but I'm here with my special guest, Alex McFarland, today, host of Exploring the Word. We're, talking about truth and knowledge and living, consistently Christianly through every aspect of our lives. And we will be right back with more. welcome back to Jenna Ellis.

 : In the Morning on American Family Radio.

Alex McFarland: I think this has been such an important conversation

Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. And I've just been enjoying this conversation so much that you, know, we forgot to take a break earlier, so we only have just a few minutes left. Alex McFarland. But, you know, I think this has been such an important conversation about truth and knowledge. So in the last few minutes, give us an encouragement as first individuals and then as, you know, parents or grandparents, how to more concretely and closely be consistent in our worldview and want to know the truth of God and incorporate that into everything that we do.

Alex McFarland: Wow. great. Well, Jenna, thanks for having me. I really, really appreciate that. And, you know, Josh McDowell, the great Josh McDowell, he used to say this. He, and I have done dozens of events together. And, but Josh said that the number one verse that the world thinks about nowadays is probably Matthew 7, verse 1. Judge not that you be not judged. And so I think part of the reason that the culture has drifted as far as it has is because, like the, the golden calf of our times is tolerance. The idea that we just have to affirm everything. And, you know, while we respect all of our fellow human beings, we, we show respect and we try to show love. there is nothing in the Bible that means that we're supposed to tolerate and affirm deviancy. And so, M. Jenna, as much as I love content and data information, I really do, but what opens the door for the changing of lives is relationships, friendships, time. And I just want to say to everybody out there, if you're a Christian, you love God and country. The way that we change minds and impact lives is it takes time. It really does, Jenna. I just, It was my great joy a few weeks ago to lead a Muslim man to Christ, and he, he. He renounced Islam and solidly has become a believer in Jesus. But it took a lot of time I mean, we had conversations. another Muslim man that I led to the Lord and baptized in a church in North Carolina. We had lunch for over a year. We would go to lunch and talk about Christianity versus Islam. So I would just encourage people to take the time to be an emissary, an ambassador for truth, not only the gospel, but for constitutional America as well.

Jenna Ellis: Amen. Because, you know, we built our society based on truth and recognition of God our creator. And that's led to, you know, the greatest, nation on the face of the earth. And that's not by accident. That's by recognition of truth and knowledge. And so, you know, all these things are important. We have to, to know first what is true. And then we need to take that truth and advocate and be good ambassadors for Christ. Absolutely. Well, Alex McFarland, thank you so much. And as always, you can reach me and my team JennaAFR.net