This is Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network
>> The Lord is my shepherd. Those are the first five words of the 23rd Psalm, and they're printed on the front of the Psalm 23:1 apparel in the AFA Resource Center. Those words, along with the image of a lamb, will be a simple reminder to you and others that your trust is in the one who never fails. They're available as T shirts or sweatshirts in a variety of colors, so check out the Psalm 23:1 collection anytime at resources.aca.net.
>> Tim Wildmon: Welcome to today's issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association. Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network for this Monday, December 20, 22nd, 2025. Thank you for listening to American Family Radio. We appreciate it very, very much. And joining me in studio is Fred Jackson. Good morning, Fred.
>> Fred Jackson: Good morning to you, Tim.
>> Tim Wildmon: And brother Chris Woodward.
>> Chris Woodward: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: How you doing, Chris?
>> Chris Woodward: I'm well.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Have a good weekend, did you?
>> Chris Woodward: I did.
>> Tim Wildmon: What stood out about your weekend, Chris?
>> Chris Woodward: I did some, rest and relaxation on, Saturday.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: Yesterday I went to church a couple of times.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: Had some good services.
>> Tim Wildmon: Did you rest and relax during church?
>> Chris Woodward: I did not. I'm fully awake and focused.
>> Tim Wildmon: Folks paid attention.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes, I did.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not going to ask you about the sermon points.
>> Chris Woodward: It was something about the Bible.
>> Fred Jackson: Nice. Guess I did that.
>> Chris Woodward: I asked my, daughter one time years ago, my oldest daughter, when she was 5. you know, I picked her up from Sunday school. What did you talk about today? The Bible.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: Be more specific. Jesus.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. If we humans can, have probably one takeaway from a sermon 24 hours after it was preached, that's. That's a good sermon, don't you think?
>> Fred Jackson: That's right. That's right. Something stood out.
>> Tim Wildmon: Something stood out. Something you can impart into your soul.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And benefit from. but, All right, so we got a lot to talk about today on the program. Coming up at the bottom of the hour, brother Alex McFarland, he's also doctor. He's a doctor. He's not an MD. He's a. He probably has an MD of master of Divinity, but I don't. I'm not sure about that. But Alex McFarland will be with us, and we got some stuff to talk to him about. This is Christmas week, as we know, and just wanted to make listeners, aware who listen to AFR regularly. We are going to break from music. Brent. Brent Creely is Our producer Brent's also, what's your title here? Assistant director of something of afr.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Assistant Director of Radio. Yes, sir.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, so. And you've been, you, you work here with us. I do know that. I see you, I see in your office. so I thought you did. But yes sir, I just want to make sure. Been with us a long time. 25 years. 19 this past November.
American Family Radio will switch over to Christmas music midnight Wednesday
All right. Okay, so you as number two in authority here at American Family Radio can tell our listeners what's, what's coming up this week on AFR.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Wednesday at 12:00am Central Time.
>> Tim Wildmon: That midnight.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Midnight Wednesday.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: We will swap over to Christmas music. It'll be Christmas music 24 7.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Ed Vitagliano: And that will go until Saturday morning at 12am Central Time.
>> Tim Wildmon: So three days.
>> Ed Vitagliano: Yes sir.
>> Tim Wildmon: so, so be prepared folks. If you tune in and join us on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday on afr, we're going to have wall to wall Christmas music. And it's beautiful, beautiful music. It's going to encourage you and it's going to be a blessing to you as you celebrate Christmas. So just wanted you to be aware of that because you know, like you, our, our families here celebrate this. so our studios, and our offices are closed Wednesday, Thursday, Friday. So if you join us, if you tune in afr, which Thursday, Friday, you go, where, where is it? What happened? We're just playing music. And we'll be back live Saturday, right?
>> Fred Jackson: That's correct.
>> Tim Wildmon: Saturday and then we'll be back live. So we're going to do this show, Fred today, tomorrow, and then we taking a break because we won't, you know, we'll have three Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and then it'll be the weekend. So we'll be back next Monday.
>> Fred Jackson: We're going to give news a break.
>> Tim Wildmon: Are you gonna get news a break.
>> Fred Jackson: To gonna give news a break?
>> Tim Wildmon: So, so even at where our news segment is at 5 top AH of the hour, we won't have news?
>> Ed Vitagliano: No sir, it's just Christmas music.
>> Tim Wildmon: So it's all good news is what you're saying. That's right. That's gonna inject some bad news into our Christmas spirit. That's right.
>> Chris Woodward: That's not that we would do that.
>> Tim Wildmon: No, we don't want to do that. So enjoy. I enjoy our music folks that we're gonna provide. You're gonna love it. It's gonna be beautiful music. It's not you know, off the wall stuff. It's, it's beautiful Christmas music. A lot of it. Probably you're going to, you know, have childhood memories from some of the music that we play.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Christmas carols and so forth and so on.
>> Fred Jackson: Amen.
>> Tim Wildmon: So we're looking forward to providing that. We hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas celebration. all right. Anything else we need to talk about, fellas, before we move on to the news here?
Winter weather warning is 40 inches of snow expected in some Pacific Northwest areas
>> Fred Jackson: I don't know. I think we're going to talk about weather.
>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, weather is a big event.
>> Tim Wildmon: What about it, Chris?
>> Chris Woodward: Well, this actually started over the weekend, in places out west, but the headline from Newsweek is winter weather warning is 40 inches of snow to hit, making travel impossible. Not the words that people wanted to hear as they're maybe taking a flight somewhere today to, go to.
>> Tim Wildmon: Where is this going to take place, Fred?
>> Fred Jackson: Well, in the, mountains, on the. I, guess the eastern side of Washington State. Cascades up there now, you know, we hear about snowstorms going to deliver 5 inches, 6 inches. They're measuring this. Projections are in feet in some areas. Wyoming, Montana, places like that. Idaho. So, if you're planning a trip even to fly there over the next couple of days, not so good. It really isn't so. And, I've driven through the passes there in Washington State in particular, and I tell you what, if it's raining, it's tough getting through there. But when it's snowstorms and heavy snow like this, it's just. You don't want to do it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Dangerous.
>> Fred Jackson: It's dangerous. But contrast that to where we live in Tupelo, Mississippi.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, man.
>> Fred Jackson: Oh, wow.
>> Tim Wildmon: We are. I'm telling you. I mean, I don't want to brag, but I'm living right. Because, we're looking at sunshine and 72. Christmas Day is going to be 73.
>> Fred Jackson: I know.
>> Tim Wildmon: Sunshine. Yeah. We're all living right, I think, right here in the sunny South.
>> Fred Jackson: Wow.
>> Tim Wildmon: It is, is. It is really. You know, my. My detesting of cold weather is well documented here on this show. So I don't. I don't mind a 75. I don't mind Honolulu coming to Mississippi.
>> Fred Jackson: No, I think two weeks ago, we were, like, down to 17 overnight.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Fahrenheit.
>> Fred Jackson: And, it's all changed.
>> Tim Wildmon: My motto is bring on the global warming. That's. That's my motto as far as the weather goes. No, it's going to be, It's. It's beautiful. Yeah. Here. I'm sure that's probably true of much, Much of the South. Anyway, the, during the next week, or so. But yes, Christmas Day in Tupelo, it will be 73 degrees. You know, I remember as a. As a kid, there was tornado warnings one Christmas. So you. You know, in the south, you can have, you can have bad weather, not. Not snow and sleet, but you can have bad weather this time of year, too. But it's going to be beautiful. Yeah. Cold across most.
>> Chris Woodward: When I was, let me think here, 10th, 11th grade in high school, My high school's football team was playing in the state championship game down in Jackson. They used to have it down in Jackson back then. And, I was in the band and we played Christmas songs like Christmas carols. and it was 80 degrees for that. And it was in, like, mid December.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So you can get all kind of weather. but it's going to be, But yeah, really, really bad in the Pacific Northwest. And I guess, a lot of the other country getting some really pleasant weather during the, Christmas time.
>> Fred Jackson: I'm just glad not to be traveling.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: You know, I was just watching a report about air travel today. you know, I understand, you know, the desire to be with family somewhere else in the country. I understand that. But, boy, this is a rough time of the year to travel.
>> Chris Woodward: Yes. Airports are already the saddest place on earth.
>> Tim Wildmon: Are they the opposite of Disney World?
>> Chris Woodward: Yes, they are, yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: well, you know, like you said, people got to travel a lot of times long distances, have to get on the airplane. like when you go back to Nova Scotia. You ain't driving it, are you, Fred?
Direct flights are the way to go if you can get them
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, and they. There's. The more stops you have, the greater the vulnerability in that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Direct flights, if you can get them, are the way to go. I don't care if you got to pay a little bit more. Direct flights, save your luggage from going to Singapore. There's a lot of advantages to, direct flights.
So the weather across this, particularly the Pacific Northwest, they're experiencing flooding
All right, you're listening to today's issue. So the weather across this, particularly the Pacific Northwest, they're also experiencing in the west, this, What are the. What do they call the weather? The river.
>> Chris Woodward: something about atmospheric floods or something like that.
>> Tim Wildmon: Atmospheric rivers.
>> Fred Jackson: Rivers, yeah. Yeah. I was just reading, Redding, California. They're rescuing people there. The flooding is just flooding. Horrific.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, you got these, The rain just keeps on and keeps on and keeps on. That's the best way to describe.
>> Fred Jackson: Comes from Hawaii, Picks up all that moisture.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: And just dumps it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Just dumps it and keep like it's like they call it a river. So it keeps coming over and over and over again. Yeah, again that's affecting now it's benefiting some of the lakes and reservoirs out there. I read. Where? Lake Mead. That's the famous lake. Isn't that the lake, not too far from the Grand Canyon, isn't that true? Lake Mead. Mead. but anyway, it's a big reservoir, that Arizona, depends on the greater Phoenix area. Am I right for water? And they were saying how low it was getting announced and the lakes, reservoirs in California to have been benefited from the flooding, so to speak.
After Charlie Kirk's death, Turning Point USA saw surge in young people
All right, you're listening to today's issue. So what's the next story, Chris?
>> Chris Woodward: Well, Turning Point USA has, you know, for several years now hosted an event out in Arizona called America Fest.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's Charlie Kirk's organization. Correct.
>> Chris Woodward: They just wrapped up their most recent America Fest and it had all who's who of speakers, including Vice President J.D. vance. We have several clips here from J.D. vance, and he talks about a number of things, social and economic, political. Let's begin with this one. It's, J.D. vance talking about who we are as a nation. Clip 4.
>> JD Vance: The only thing that is truly served as an anchor of the United States of America is that we have been, and by the grace of God, we always will be, a Christian nation.
>> Chris Woodward: Now that got a lot of applause. So he talked about us being a, Christian nation. he also talked about and shared memories of his friend Charlie Kirk, who of course was shot and killed, assassinated back in September. Let's play this one now. Clip two.
>> JD Vance: I'm going to tell you something I haven't talked about publicly before. But in the days after Charlie's death, I struggled a great deal. I'm sure many of you did too. I remember watching every video of the assassination, looking for clues, trying to understand what happened. I stayed up all night, for many nights in a row, researching every conspiracy theory going down every rabbit hole. When my lovely wife Usha told me to come to bed, I told her I owed it to Charlie to try to uncover every stone. And so that's what I tried to do. I remember I was consumed by this fear that Charlie's death wouldn't just deprive a family of their husband or of a good father, but that it would deny our movement of a great unifier of people and a great doer of great deeds.
>> Chris Woodward: Now, we can, I can continue to play some clips, but do you want to Weigh in on anything thus far?
>> Fred Jackson: Well, I think, you know, J.D. vance hit on something very important there. People did wonder, after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, what was going to happen to his movement, because many people understand it played a huge movement in the reelection of Donald Trump, last year. But also there was something happening in the nation with our young people. What would that do with Charlie Kirk off the scene? Would that kind of, advancement, that surge that we saw amongst young people to start to embrace conservative values? well, in the months now we have seen. No, it has had the opposite effect. It has had the effect of. We've heard of Turning Point USA clubs, a huge surge in those clubs across the country. I was quite taken this morning. And if you go to our website, afn.net, afn.net we have a video of young people who were interviewed at the convention. And I was impressed with these kids. I'm old enough, I'll call them kids. They may be late 20s, early 20s, late teens, but these kids, they've got their heads screwed on straight. I want you to listen to a few of them. It's going to be, Brent, cut number five.
>> Speaker F: I support JD Vance all the way. I think he has done tremendous work as vice president, president in fostering our country for the better. And I can see him doing a lot of good and continuing Trump's work in the future.
>> Fred Jackson: My favorite part of his speech, when he talked about bringing God back.
>> Tim Wildmon: Into this country, how we're founded on Judeo Christian values, we turn from God.
>> Alex McFarland: We don't have anything, we won't have a country.
>> Speaker F: I just love on how well him and Trump have worked as a team. And I feel like J.D. vance is learning a lot from Trump, but also in the position that he is now. And I'd love to see him step into that role. And I'm excited to see what he would do and what he's capable of as leading the country.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that was impressive. that's. Listen, Turning Point USA is a great organization that impacts young people, by young people, you know, high school, college age kids beyond. But that's their primary focus is college, age kids. And so, and they have clubs all over the country. And they even grew after Charlie Kirk's assassination, the number of them. And so, they're having their national convention. That's what you're hearing kids, speak from while they were attending in the Phoenix, Arizona area. Yeah, there are a lot of impressive young people involved in this particular movement.
>> Fred Jackson: It is really encouraging now of course the left has tried to focus in, on divisions in, in the conservative movement. you know, we like there aren't.
>> Tim Wildmon: Divisions in the liberal movement.
>> Fred Jackson: Right, yeah, but of course, you know, the way that the mainstream media is, you know that Tucker Carlsen and the Fuentes and Ben Shapiro and all that sort of thing and, and they were, they were dealing with this Chris, on the weekend.
>> Chris Woodward: Oh sure, sure.
>> Fred Jackson: There were.
>> Chris Woodward: We have two clips here of Ben Shapiro. let's begin with this one because it's in recent days and he said much of what he also said at America Fest. But here now is Ben Shapiro at Heritage foundation criticizing Tucker Carlsen. Clip 14.
>> Ben Shapiro: Tucker Carlsen has repeatedly hosted conspiracists on nearly every topic under the sun on critically nodding at their most bizarre assertions. And unfortunately it gets worse because Tucker has also hosted pornographer and accused human trafficker and rapist Andrew Tate on his program to help him dismiss his crimes and to promote his horrific and anti conservative takes on relations between men and women as self improvement. And of course Tucker Carlsen has hosted and glowingly treated America's foremost Hitler apologist, Nick Fuentes. None of this, none of it comports with traditional American values.
>> Chris Woodward: Now much of what he said there carried over into the speech that Ben Shapiro also gave at America Fest. Here's the slightly different excerpt clip 15.
>> Ben Shapiro: Today the conservative movement is in serious danger. It is in danger not just from a left that all too frequently excuses everything up to and including murder. The conservative movement is also in danger from charlatans who claim to speak in the name of principle, but actually traffic in conspiracies and dishonesty, who offer nothing but bile and despair, who seek to undermine fundamental principles of conservatism by championing enervation and grievance. These people are frauds and they are grifters and they do not deserve your time. And they are something worse than that. A danger to the only movement capable of stopping the left from wrecking the country wholesale.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think Ben Shapiro right there is talking about Tucker, Carlsen and Candace Owens. Is it Owens or Owen Owens with an S? Owens, in particular, although he didn't. Those clips, he didn't name them but he did. He did. He's called out Tucker Carlsen and Candace, Owen, Owens by name. Tucker Carlsen is, I don't know, I don't know what's happened to him because I was a big fan as a lot of people listening, were when he was at Fox News he had a top rated show and he also, he's been a prolific columnist. And Tucker Carlsen goes back probably, I don't know, 25, 30 years. Even though he doesn't seem to age physically.
Ben Shapiro says Tucker Carlson is interviewing people who are out of bounds
I mean, he still looks young. He's. I'm guessing he's in his house. Tucker crossed. I'm guessing he's in his. He's probably my age. Probably 60, 62, 56. Oh, he's only 56. Anyway, he used to wear a bow tie all the time. That was his signature, you know, dress code there. A bow tie. And he would appear on CNN. He was in his 20s when he was appearing on CNN on Crossfire. Many people remember that show. So he got a start early. Very, very bright guy. And he was a, considered, a great thinker in the conservative movement. And but he's, as I say, he's changed seemingly to me and maybe obviously to Ben Shapiro, especially on, well, when he left Fox. Okay. He started doing his podcast, Tucker Carlsen Talking about. And he started doing interviews with people, many people considered just to be horrible folks like the Tate brothers. you may have heard about them. That's Nick Fuentes people, because of his, anti Semitism. He's a guy, on the right. That a lot of people know and listen to. So Ben, Ben Shapiro is saying we shouldn't be giving platforms Vladimir Putin, he went and interviewed him. And so listen, just interviewing somebody does not necessarily mean you agree with that person's, beliefs. Okay. That is, that is, that is true. But at the same time, I think what, the, what he, what Tucker Carlsen is coming under criticism for by Ben Shapiro and others is this is getting to where he keeps interviewing people that a lot of people consider to be out of bounds.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. And, and not. You shouldn't be using your big microphone to put these people in front of millions of your followers. Yeah, that's what. And he couple that with his, anti Israel sentiments.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: That that Tucker's been putting out now for a couple, three years. I consider him anti. Remember he said he, the people he hates most are Christian Zionist. He now, he retracted that later. He said he saw. He said that. But he's still, still. I don't know. I don't know what's going on with him on that. What do you think?
>> Fred Jackson: Well, sometimes, and I think this is the case for Candace Owens too. I think they wake up in the morning and they say, what can I say today that's going to get me a lot of clicks.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Fred Jackson: Because Candace Owens is now making millions of dollars with her podcast. And she has said some wild things in recent days that people with Inside Turning Point may have been behind the assassination of Charlie Kirk. All of those things. Now, Erica Kirk, the widow of Charlie, had a meeting last week with Candace Owens, and they said it was a good meeting, but they haven't revealed the details of what they talked about yet. But I think many times some of these people within the. We would call the conservative circle, they're also business people, and they're looking to make money. And the way you make money with podcasts sometimes is you say something outlandish. So people start clicking on what you're saying to hear your program. So I think that may be what's going on with Tucker Carlsen also. But during the weekend, both Vance and Erica Kirk basically said, we're not here to agree on everything. There are things more important that we can all work on together. And for the most part, I think they're talking about next year's midterm election.
>> Tim Wildmon: What about Vance calling America a Christian nation? I think he's probably going to be booted out of the country now, by the liberal media hump. They're going to. They're going to freak out about that, aren't they?
>> Fred Jackson: Not yet, they haven't. They're more focused on what was said by Shapiro and Tucker Carlsen days.
>> Tim Wildmon: So the, war within the conservative cause between. That's what the liberal me is picking up on. Said advanced. Calling it a Christian nation.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: Fractured.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. That's what the liberal media would like the story to be.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Don't you. But, Erica Kirk says, you know, she endorsed J.D. vance.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: I think J.D.
J.D.vance is going to be a shoe in, in my opinion
vance is going to be a shoe in, in my opinion, to be the, Republican nominee. And this.
>> Fred Jackson: You're a betting man today.
>> Tim Wildmon: It'd be a safe bet. yeah. So he's the heir apparent. Yeah. And of course, when you're vp, you're naturally in line. Yeah. Right. To be the next.
>> Fred Jackson: Of course, a lot of people are wondering, okay, what does this mean for Ron DeSantis, governor of Florida?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, we'll see. I don't know. He hasn't announced whether he was going. Of course, we're a couple years out from that. I would imagine if J.D. vance runs, he's not going. Governor DeSantis would probably be a good fit to be in the administration of a J.D. vance because they're. They're basically two peas in a pod, philosophically. We'll be back momentarily. Stay with us.
Preborn Network helps women choose life through a free ultrasound
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>> Tim Wildmon: This is today's issues. Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of, today's issues. Let's see, we can talk about Christmas or we can talk about the Epstein files. Raise your hand. What do you want to talk about here?
>> Fred Jackson: Let's talk about Christmas.
Fred Kaplan: Democrats trying to use Epstein files against President Trump
>> Tim Wildmon: let's talk about Christmas. That Epstein files thing, the. I'll just say this. The Department of Justice, by, by law was supposed to indeed release the. Into the public arena, right? Because we're seeing, you know, it's like, I don't know, thousands of pages and pictures of this guy, this guy's life. And, evidently he and Bill Clinton were tight now.
>> Tim Wildmon: He went. But, of any of the big name politicians, it appears like Bill Clinton was. They were bff, almost, right? Best friends forever. And so it really, really, really makes Bill Clinton look bad. Yes. now, as far as some of the information, was redacted and the Department of Justice says it was to protect names of individuals who are victims, who don't want their names put out for the world to see and for, for anybody on the left or the Democrats to try to use this against President Trump as, as somehow his administration is hiding something. Just be clear. Let's just be clear. The Biden administration had the same files, correct me If I'm wrong here, Fred, for four years and they didn't release them into the public domain.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And rest assured, had they had any dirt on Trump relative to his relationship to Jeffrey Epstein, they would have put it out there.
>> Fred Jackson: Cars.
>> Tim Wildmon: So that's just all, that's why. I don't understand why. Why are they even saying anything? They're just. I'm talking about the Democrats and the lefties on the Jeffrey Epstein files because really, most of the politicians that are mentioned in there, almost all of them, and the celebrities, they're all lefties.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: They're all Democrats. They, you know, so.
>> Fred Jackson: Which explains why the Biden administration didn't release anything in the four years.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. so anyway, we'll see if, anything else develops from that, but I think most people really. It's so sordid and, ugly. It's not even, you know, this guy was a pervert.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: And, horrible. And a, Well, he was convicted of. Of sex, trafficking. Right.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: So.
>> Fred Jackson: And his girlfriend, for aiding him, she's in federal pen.
>> Tim Wildmon: And. Yes, he's dead, I guess.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: yes, some people think.
>> Chris Woodward: That's what people say.
>> Tim Wildmon: Some people think he, is alive somewhere. but anyway, What do you think, Fred? Thank you.
>> Fred Jackson: No, no, he. He's gone into eternity.
>> Tim Wildmon: You don't care about the missing videotape, huh?
>> Fred Jackson: No, even, Even the FBI. Just. Funny you mentioned that. The trumpet FBI in recent days.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Fred Jackson: I think Dan Bongino, who is.
>> Tim Wildmon: Retiring, or Dan, is it Dan. Dan Bon change his name.
>> Fred Jackson: Yes. He, I think, even said a couple of weeks ago that, because before he went into the. I'm talking about Dan Mangino here. Before he went into the administration, he had a conspiracy that, something nefarious happened to, Jeffrey Epstein. Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: So conspiracy theories help clicks of podcasters, you do know that?
>> Fred Jackson: They sure do. But Bom Gino just in the last few weeks said he's investigated and Mr. Epstein died by suicide. By suicide.
>> Chris Woodward: I think one thing that hampers any investigation that involves Americans or that has Americans paying attention to it is Americans are naturally were born skeptical and we don't trust the government from the day we're born. Whereas Fred is Canadian, so he comes at it from a different perspective.
>> Tim Wildmon: he's a nice man. Nice Canadian.
Doctor Alex McFarland joins us from North Carolina ahead of Christmas
All right, you're listening to today's issues on the American family radio network. Doctor, Alex McFarland, our good friend and colleague, joins us now from, the great state of North Carolina.
>> Alex McFarland: Good morning, Good morning and merry Christmas, everybody.
>> Tim Wildmon: Merry Christmas, brother. You're going to celebrate there?
>> Alex McFarland: Oh, yes. We're in North Carolina, and I think Santa Claus will come here first.
>> Tim Wildmon: You think, Santa Claus comes first in North Carolina?
>> Alex McFarland: Exactly.
>> Tim Wildmon: So not only first in flight, but, first in flight for. Or is that Ohio?
>> Chris Woodward: No, no, Ohio is the birthplace.
>> Tim Wildmon: Birthplace, yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: And the Wright brothers on there.
>> Alex McFarland: The Wright brothers were from Dayton, Ohio, but they brought their plane down here to the coast to fly it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Kitty Hawk, right?
>> Alex McFarland: Yep. I've been to the very spot many times. Hey, I got to tell you this, Tim. If you ever go to the Wright Brothers Museum down there in Kitty, Hawk, and it's a must see. It's on the National Registry of Historic Places. there's a Bible in one of the glass display cases. They were sons of a Methodist bishop, and they were called the Bishop's Boys. And, I hope it's still there. But, Tim, there's a journal and you can read their writing, and it says, Sunday, such and such a day. Conditions are perfect, but it is the Lord's day, and we do not fly the plane on the Lord's day.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, where is Kitty Hawk? is it on the Outer Banks or.
>> Alex McFarland: It is, There are these barrier islands called the Outer Banks. It is quite beautiful. there is Nag's Head, Kitty Hawk, and Kill Devil Hills. And, there are a couple of just ginormous sand dunes. And somehow they are. The Wright brothers found out about it and they believed. And they had made a number of trips down here in like 1901, 2 and 3. But, I'll tell you what's interesting. There's a town, on another island, Roanoke Island. And the town of Manteo was settled in 1587. And the first English child, Virginia Dare, was born there in Manteo. And of, course, Angie and I preached all over this region, but everybody, you ought to come see the Outer Banks. It's a fascinating place. Lots and lots of history down here.
>> Tim Wildmon: And, how do you get there? I mean, if I drive to, I'm looking at the maps. Did you go to Jacksonville? not Florida, but you go to Jacksonville, North Carolina, and then cut across, you can.
>> Alex McFarland: There's a couple of highways out here and, in fact, there's a couple of bridges. There's, two sounds that. The Albemarle sound and the Pamlico Sound. And it's so long, I mean, you can't even see across it. You think it's the Ocean, but it isn't. It's the inland waterway and you got across some pretty big bridges. But if you fly into Raleigh, the state capitol, it's. It's about a two and a half to three hour drive out here.
>> Tim Wildmon: And then when do you go to. How do you get to Mount Pilot?
>> Alex McFarland: well now that's a little bit in the western part of the state.
>> Tim Wildmon: You.
>> Alex McFarland: It's near Winston Salem. and it's actually called Pilot Mountain. But
>> Tim Wildmon: I was just kidding. I didn't know it was a real place.
>> Chris Woodward: It's named after.
>> Tim Wildmon: I just know Andy Griffith show. Andy Griffith talked about going to Mount Pilot. Am I right?
>> Alex McFarland: Exactly.
>> Tim Wildmon: Mayberry is fictional. You do know this, Fred, right? Yes, Mayberry's frictional.
>> Alex McFarland: Now there's a. Andy Griffith was born in Mount Airy. But they kind of as a wordplay called Mayberry. But listen, there's a museum in Mount Airy and they. The actual jail is in there that the set.
>> Tim Wildmon: And seriously, if you go, if you go to Mount Airy, you can see that.
>> Alex McFarland: Oh yeah. And the Andy Griffith Museum is amazing. And where is that?
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm looking at Asheville. Is it far from Asheville, Morgantown?
>> Alex McFarland: it's more east. Look to Winston Salem and on. On I40 you'll see Mount Airy, Pilot Mountain.
>> Tim Wildmon: You could just spend a week vacation and seeing the sights of North. And probably two weeks seeing the sights of North Carolina there. So.
Did the Wright brothers go over there to the beach to test Kitty Hop
But back to Kitty Hop for just a minute. Did the Wright brothers go over there to the beach? Because that was ah. Like why did they, why did they need to go to the beach to test her?
>> Alex McFarland: They didn't want, you know, I've often wondered and somehow another. They had written like to the, the you know, Army Core of Engineers to find out they wanted a certain kind of wind. I got you a very consistent wind speed. But also there's these dunes and I guess they. I thought, you know, flying on sand you have a. Somewhat of a soft landing.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, maybe so.
>> Alex McFarland: But one last thing I got to tell you is you go down Highway 12 to Cape Hatteras to the lighthouse.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Alex McFarland: Now this is amazing. there is a German submarine that you go to the top of Cape Hatter's lighthouse and you can look down and you can see a sunken submarine right. A couple of hundred feet off the coast. That's how close the German U boats got into our water space. And
>> Tim Wildmon: Really? Yeah. Wow, I didn't know that. Okay.
>> Alex McFarland: And divers, go down there. But yeah, I know we're here to talk about, the Lord, but I'm talking about North Carolina.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, hey, that's the Lord's country, right? That's what they call it. you know what? I've got, Stephen McDowell, our good friend, he vacations in Holden beach, oh, of course, every year, and he tells me about how much they enjoy going there, which is around, not too far from Myrtle Beach. Northern beach. Anyway.
James Carville: Tucker Carlson called Zionism a Christian fundamentalist
All right, so I want to ask you, a couple of things, Alex. we had mentioned that Tucker Carlsen, and he. I, will say this. What I'm about to say, he did apologize for later, but he had made the comment that he. There's nobody he hates worse than Christian Zionist is what he said. Again, he did apologize for saying that, but, I wanted you to tell folks what the expression Zionist means when we say somebody is a Zionist. what is a Zionist?
>> Alex McFarland: Well, you know, nowadays, if that term is used, it's almost always used in a pejorative sense, you know, to be critical. But really the Zionist movement started back in the 1800s as Jewish, people and many non Jews, like Winston Churchill, wanted to create a Jewish state and recover land. I mean, the very famous guy, and he's worth reading, his biography is, Theodor Herzl, if I'm pronouncing that correctly. and he wrote extensively in the 1800s about a future, the reestablishment of the Jewish state, which of course that took place and by the way, May, 14th, 1948. But there was really a good decade plus lead up to it. And there's a documentary that CBN produced some years ago about the miracle of the rebirth of the state of Israel. But, Zionism was, among some of Europe's and some of America's most elite academics and political figures. And it was very respectable concerted, effort again led by Theodore Herzl to reestablish the nation of Israel. But the way people use it now, it's almost like the word fundamentalist, right?
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: And let me give just a tiny bit of history, by the way, like, in the aftermath of the scopes trial in 1925 when there was modernism they called it. Today we would call it liberalism or wokeness. But modernism infected many a church and denomination. And there was denial of what the word of God says about creation, the deity of Christ. And so the fundamentalist movement, R.A. torrey out at Biola University, he had come from Moody M Church, they raised money, they produced a five volume Set of books called the Fundamentals. what are the fundamentals of Christianity? The triune God, the authority of God's inerrant word, Jesus, God incarnate, who shed his blood, rose from the dead. Now, the reason I bring that up is originally in the mid to late part of the 20th century, fundamentalist was really kind of a compliment. Like, I embrace the fundamentals, core Christianity. Now, the left really used it as a bad word. Oh, you're like Jerry Falwell, who's basically, a jihadist. You're a fundamentalist. And they equated it with Islamic fundamentalists. And so now that word is so laden with baggage. I mean, nobody much would use that word. Even though we definitely do affirm.
>> Tim Wildmon: All it really means is you believe in the fundamentals of the faith, true Christianity. But you're right, the left turned it into something. these are Christian fundamentalists. They're to be feared. They're trying to take over America. They want to have everybody forced to be baptized and a theocratic state. Theocratic state, and, so forth and so on. Yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: And that's how the left has really, demonize the word Zionism, that it means, okay, you must hate, Palestinians and the genocide.
>> Tim Wildmon: So Zionism really just means you support a nation, you support a Jewish state. Is that right?
>> Alex McFarland: Exactly. And see, Zion is one of the biblical names for Jerusalem.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's where we get it from.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, The Bible uses the word Zion in three senses. Sometimes it's referred to, Jerusalem, sometimes the entire land of Israel, and sometimes the kingdom of Heaven, you know. And so Zion also, is a Hebrew word that really means promised land. So a Zionist is someone who believes, that the land of Israel belongs to the Israelites and that the everlasting covenant God gave to Abraham is exactly that. Everlasting. And so, you know, the left is really adept at commandeering language and really. And by the way, let me tell you my theory on this. People like James Carville, who, you know he is, ah. If you want to be on the forefront of how the left, twists and perverts language at the expense of the right, you know, listen to James Carville, because he is a, semantical ninja when it comes to twisting words for the advantage, of the left and conservatives and Christians, sometimes we're a little slow to the draw on the twisting of language because generally conservative people are forthright and we're not trying to flim flam anybody. You know what I mean, Tim?
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, yeah, yeah. But if you get a semantical ninja show up at your house. you better be prepared. That's all I got to say, because, they can take you down. I'm just kidding. You're right. James Carville can twist words.
Hey, I want to talk about one thing real quick, then we can move on to another
Hey, I want to talk about one thing real quick, then we can move on to another. Another topic here, guys, but, when you mentioned. I. I remember this song from 30 years ago. I don't know how old he is, but it's a wonderful, song that the Gator Vocal Band sings. Blow the trumpet in Zion. you ever heard m him sing this? Have you ever heard them sing this? Oh, yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: I've seen them live. You know, many years ago, Marvin Sanders and I had, Bill Gaither on Exploring the word one time.
>> Tim Wildmon: yeah, okay. But a lot of people m. Remember this song. Blow the trumpet in Zion. Zion Sound alarm on my holy mountain. Anyway, I tried out for the, Cancer vocal band there. As you can tell, I almost made it. you could tell by the talent that I have that I don't like to brag about my singing talent. But anyway, if you want to watch something that'll bless you, just go type in Blow the Trumpet and, and the, What am I saying here? The guys, will come up the.
>> Chris Woodward: I found it. I'll post it for you if you want me to.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's from the Gator Vocal Vocal Band. I had a. My mind went blank for a minute. But if you want to be blessed, go and watch the Blow the Trumpet and, by the Gaither Vocal Band. It's a. It's a great praise, and worship song there.
Tim Ferriss: Israel has the right to exist, by divine right
You're listening to today's issues on American Family Radio. Well, listen, Alex, we'll let you go, my friend. We got other stuff we need to get to, but I wanted to have you on to talk particularly about this word Zion, and Zionist, because we keep hearing it, as you say, in a pejorative way, but all it really means is people who support a Jewish state, the existence of a Jewish state. And I think all Christians should, of course.
>> Alex McFarland: And, Israel has the right to exist. They have the right to self determination, and they have the right to self defense. And let me say that land is their land. One last thing. 4,000 years before Islam existed, the Jews were in the land of Israel.
>> Tim Wildmon: Bingo.
>> Fred Jackson: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Thank you. Go ahead, Fred.
>> Alex McFarland: By historical precedent and by divine right, that is their land.
>> Fred Jackson: Tim, you were mentioning this morning about, a wish that Netanyahu, Prime Minister Netanyahu has put out there the historical claim of what constitutes the land that God promised Abraham to Abraham. Alex, I wonder if you could, people may say, wait a minute, there's more than the little piece of land that they have now. What did God promise back there, to Abraham? What were the dimensions that God promised to Abraham?
>> Alex McFarland: Oh, it's huge. And they have never really completely inhabited, all of their land. Okay, for one thing, all the way to the sea. If you're staring at a map, you've got everything to the west of the Dead Sea and the Sea of Galilee. And then you've got really, you know, the, from the river to the sea, as the saying goes, all of that land. And frankly they will never completely, I don't think, inhabit all of their promised land until Jesus comes back.
>> Tim Wildmon: But no, right, but they, but listen, people say, well, you Christians only support Israel because the Bible tells you to. Or so you say, the Bible tells you to. This is what secularists and people on the left and even some on the right will say to us, people like us. They're going to say, you're just, you're trying to base your politics on just your religious beliefs. Well, that is a part of it, but that's not the only thing. Israel is a, is a, ah, our strongest ally probably in the world. Okay, yeah, agreed. And certainly in the Middle East. They're the only Western style democracy in the Middle East. the rest of them are Islamic countries that are not open societies. They're closed. They have very anti American and anti Israel, within the Islamic faith in that region of the world. And they have. So it's a different way of. I remember seeing a survey of Muslims inside Israel. This is about 10 years ago. I don't have my hands on it right now, but they may have been less than that five years ago where they surveyed Muslims living inside the Jewish state of Israel. Would you rather live in Israel or would you rather live in a Muslim country, mostly Muslim, dominate, dominant country? And they said that we'd rather live in Israel.
>> Alex McFarland: Why?
>> Tim Wildmon: Because they have freedoms in Israel. Do they have conflicts between the Jews and the Arabs over there? Absolutely. but we have conflicts around the world between various different groups of people that are ongoing. But the Arabs and the Jews in Israel for the most part get along. Okay, for the most part they get along. But you have your extremist factions that will attack, and try to foment hate for one group, especially against the Jews. but the other reason is the holy sites are in Israel.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay.
>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: The Christian holy sites and the Jewish holy sites. And with the, with the, Dome of the Rock. One particular Islamic holy site. That's a whole nother story. That's. It's built over the, Mount Moriah. It's built over the, place where Abraham sacrificed Isaac. Yes, Abraham was going to sacrifice Isaac. And so that's the Temple Mount. It's also called the Temple Mount, so it's very sacred place for Jews. But I'm just saying, all the site, Bethlehem, you know, Jericho, you know, the birthplace of Jesus in Bethlehem, all these, the Sea of Galilee, all these holy sites that Christians travel, to see. Ah. And have over the centuries, they, they need to be protected. And the nation of Israel is protecting them because they know how crucial it is just to their tourism industry alone. and also the Jews are a tiny group of people. When you consider the Arab world, the Arab world and the Muslim world. They got m massive amount of land, space, and countries that they control. Israel is this tiny little sliver of land. If you look at the globe. Yeah.
The Jews got their own country after World War II, because of Holocaust
Over there. It's the only place that the Jews have their own country. And they got their own country, basically after World War II, because of what happened with them in the, in the Holocaust. Six million Jews were killed. We know what Hitler did there. So in sympathy for the Jewish people, the United nations, gave them, the Jews, their historic homeland, at least a small portion of it, as a place for them to have their own country and have their own land, have their own government. And of course, they began to immediately, it was owned by the British. Correct me if I'm wrong here, Alex.
>> Alex McFarland: No, you're right. Transjordan, they called it.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So Israel, modern day Israel was under the British control. So the Palestinians, as they are called today, the Arabs, Muslims over there, they did live there, but it wasn't their land because they were under British authority. So really, the British that handed over the land to the Jews, who had it first? Yeah.
>> Chris Woodward: A long time ago.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. Who, if you want to see, you want to call them natives. nobody's more native to that part of the world than the Jews. Right.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right, Alex, thank you. Take care, my friend. Appreciate you being on. Merry Christmas.
>> Alex McFarland: You. Merry Christmas.
Alex McFarland: Gator boys can sing. Am I right
>> Tim Wildmon: It's do Dr. Alex McFarland here. Okay, so blow a trumpet in Zion. one of those guys hits a really, really, really high note. Those gator, those G. I will try.
>> Chris Woodward: To hit that note tomorrow.
>> Tim Wildmon: How you state that those Gator boys can sing. Am I right?
>> Fred Jackson: That's.
>> Speaker F: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.
