The American Family association is working to help rebuild America
>> Jeff Chamblee: The political climate in America has changed. We've been given a reprieve, and we have to work together to take advantage of that momentum and effect even more cultural and spiritual change. We can rebuild America. The American Family association is working to do just that. And when you join, with your support, it helps maximize the impact. As our thanks, we'll give you a DVD of biblical financial advice from Rob west called Biblical Stewardship. Please visit afa.net and get started today.
Today's Issues features Christian response to the issues of the day
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.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning, everybody, and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network for this Tuesday, May 20, 2025. Thanks for listening to AFR. Joining me in studio is Wesley Wildmon. Good morning, Wesley.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning. Looking forward to the program today.
>> Tim Wildmon: And, I'm going to get back to your little trip here in just a minute, but Chris Woodber's in studio. Good morning, Chris.
>> Christopher Woodward: Good morning.
>> Tim Wildmon: And Ray Pritchard's in Kansas City. Good morning, Ray.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Tim, how you doing this morning?
>> Tim Wildmon: It's, a beautiful day right now here in Tupelo. And what about Casey?
>> Tim Wildmon: Man, the last 24 hours have been crazy.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, really?
>> Tim Wildmon: it's relatively quiet this morning. Yeah, we, we had some vast. Noah's flood came through from Nebraska, Kansas. Wow. They really got hit down there in, Oklahoma. So this morning, okay, morning. It's all quite dripping, which. Dripping wet and all quiet.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, hey, the, Chris, you were showing us this morning that, the swath, if you will, for severe weather today. And I know for people like in Missouri and Kentucky and Kansas and other parts there, Tennessee. Oh, yeah, they're just been getting pounded. Missouri, what about the weather for today?
>> Christopher Woodward: Yeah, today there is a chance for strong tornadoes and heavy, winds in Arkansas, Missouri, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, even, South Carolina.
>> Tim Wildmon: Just name the states that aren't Hawaii. Tornadoes in Hawaii today only volcano, eruptions and tsunami.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yes, a lot of people in pretty much the Tennessee Valley area, and then in the surrounding, states that neighbor, those are getting probably some big storms today. So do keep a check on your local broadcasters.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Wesley, you and, your, youth baseball, team traveled to, y' all did something special. You went to, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: We sure did. And, while we were up there, we were on the mountaintops playing baseball and it was heaven on earth. And we didn't experience any of the weather that Y' all are describing. So I didn't expect. I came back to Tupelo expecting it to be the same as it was there. And apparently it's not. But we went up there, went to the Ripken Experience. Cal Ripken is the owner. He and his brother and they run a, baseball tournament there along with a couple other places across the country. And that one was everything you can expect. We were on a. Like I said, we're on a mountaintop play. And you do from every angle that you could look. 360 degrees.
>> Tim Wildmon: Smoky Mountains.
>> Wesley Wildmon: You were Smoky Mountains. Yep.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. That's a beautiful part of the country.
>> Wesley Wildmon: In the clouds, playing baseball.
>> Tim Wildmon: Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. It's a great place for a family trip. Ray, you've been there, right?
>> Tim Wildmon: I, have. And it is one of the most gorgeous. Well, folks, let's just say it this way. You can listen to us or you can go.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right.
>> Alex McFarland: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And see for yourself. So, Wesley, how'd your team do up there? And were you playing from all over the southeast or.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Where were the teams from?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes, sir. So we, finished the. I'll answer dad's question first. The teams were from all over the country. There was 12 teams that they were allowed to play in it. That's the max number of teams for our age group. So 12, nine year old teams from six different states. You had South Carolina, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Georgia, Mississippi. And I, knew there's Pennsylvania.
>> Tim Wildmon: It was a team from Pennsylvania.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, team from Pennsylvania. So it was a very good tournament. A lot of competition.
>> Tim Wildmon: We ended up get to meet Cal Ripken.
>> Wesley Wildmon: No, we didn't. So. So what we did was a weekend tournament. But what they're known for is a week long summer tournaments. Okay. Seven days. And in those tournaments, I'll go.
>> Tim Wildmon: If you can be.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, well, I'll be Cal Ripken from.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'll go.
Chris Wesley coaches a nine-year-old travel baseball team
Iron man.
>> Wesley Wildmon: From June 1 to August 1, he's at every one of them. Seriously now he comes and goes, but.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I know.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Is that.
>> Tim Wildmon: But Cal Ripken Jr. Right, Ray.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: He, holds the all time record for consecutive games played.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep, that's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And it was a star in the 70s and 80s, I think. 70s, I know. 80s and 90s. 80s and 90s. Cal Ripken Jr. You can look him up. Baltimore Orioles. But, so that he runs that tournament.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay. And so it was a great experience. We finished three and one and we made the final four out of 12 teams.
>> Tim Wildmon: Nice, nice. Way to go, Wesley.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: The Whole team played good.
>> Tim Wildmon: If you're going to travel all the way to Pigeon Forge, which is seven hours from seven, you don't want to go, oh, and three, that's a long ride home.
>> Wesley Wildmon: No, you don't want to do that.
>> Tim Wildmon: So, so what's the name of your team?
>> Wesley Wildmon: My team, the team that I coach is a Chupelo Rangers, nine year old group. I've been with this same team since they were six years old.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: So I've had the joy of watching them grow individually and as a team and it's a wonderful thing. And I raised my hand to coach, to make sure that we're keeping small families or families with small children, keep the family atmosphere, the Christian principles in what we're doing and laying a good foundation for them beyond baseball is one of the main reasons I raised my hand to coach. And so we're doing the best we can and we're being a good example as a team and as a coaching staff and as parents to other teams around us because many of us have heard the horror stories of travel baseball and that's not what we're about. So.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So that other day when you got in the umpire space, I got thrown out. Was that a, was that a Peter or Paul?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. No, I haven't.
>> Tim Wildmon: Just kidding.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I know I had a chance to get thrown at yet. I hadn't got there, in all the years that I've coached. But you know, there's got to be, you know, like, like it says in the Old Testament, there's got to be a time and place for everything. But I hadn't got there yet.
>> Christopher Woodward: All did set Peter straight at least one time. It's, it's in scripture.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, thou shalt not get thrown out of a baseball game.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah. Well, I appreciate the opportunity to share a little bit about my experience and let our audience know that we got, we do things and hang out with our family and experience life outside of the radio. But at the same time we got used to get to. Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yep. We got some news to get to a, news of the day. By the way, Bruce Rather, a retired FBI agent and husband of Sandy Rios, will be on with us at the top of the next hour or at 11:05 central time. he's going to talk about the, the FBI as it's changing under the Trump administration for the better. And also he's going to talk about James Comey, the former FBI director and the the controversy he's been involved in the last few days. So that's coming up at the top of the next hour. All right, Chris, what's your first story?
Authorities arrest Orleans Parish sheriff's office maintenance worker in jailbreak case
>> Christopher Woodward: Well, I want to point people to our website, afn.uh net where this morning our news director, Fred Jackson, posted breaking news, out of New Orleans, where authorities are still looking for, some.
>> Tim Wildmon: breakout news or breaking news.
>> Christopher Woodward: Breaking news out of New Orleans, where authorities are still looking for some of the, 10 people that escaped from a jail or prison last week. The. The update here today. Authorities have arrested a 33 year old Orleans Parish sheriff's offense. Sheriff's Sheriff's office maintenance worker, in connection with the escape of the 10 jail inmates.
>> Tim Wildmon: Maintenance work.
>> Christopher Woodward: A maintenance worker? Yes.
>> Wesley Wildmon: What do you do?
>> Christopher Woodward: Authorities say Sterling Williams admitted to law enforcement that one of the escapees, quote, advised him to turn the water off in the cell before the men slipped away through a hole behind a toilet. That's according to the Attorney General's office today. which adds that instead of reporting the inmate, Sterling Williams turned the water off as directed, allowing the inmates to escape and carry out their plan to a success.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, wait a minute. Okay, say that again.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: The maintenance worker did what now?
>> Christopher Woodward: He turned the water off in the cell where these people were, after one of them asked him to turn the water off. And instead of reporting him, which is procedure, he did as they asked him to and they were able to take that.
>> Tim Wildmon: He sounds like, to me he's an accomplice.
>> Christopher Woodward: If he's not, he found a really bad jailbreak. He charged with 10 counts of principle to simple escape and malfeasance.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. And so, I've got other questions. Did they. I mean, this sounds a little bit like Shawshank Redemption. Did they crawl out through the sewer line or something?
>> Christopher Woodward: Something similar to that. Yes, sir. Now, the difference between some of these, inmates and Shawshank Redemption, is that at least one of them was being held for murder and attempted murder. whereas Shawshank Redemption stories, a little.
>> Tim Wildmon: Different Keystone Cops type deal here. By that, I mean, this makes the prison, the jailkeepers look ridiculous down there that these folks were able to, And so it sounds like to me you say, hey, can Bill, you mind turning off the water for a few minutes?
>> Christopher Woodward: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, sure. I'll do that. Don't know why I'm doing it. So either you're doing that, you're a bozo, okay? Excuse me, but you are a bozo. Or. Or you are in on it.
>> Tim Wildmon: It's like asking the guard, hey, can I borrow your keys? Just for a couple of minutes.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's right. Yeah.
>> Christopher Woodward: This is clearly.
>> Tim Wildmon: Listen, in all seriousness, these are ten hardened criminals.
>> Christopher Woodward: Oh, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: They were in the, it's a county jail right now. They escaped. They escaped. and I saw the video of them leaving out the back, dock of the prison. It's just stunning to me that they could get away like that. So they've caught how many of them?
>> Christopher Woodward: six of the ten are still on the loose. So they've caught four.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay, that was going to be.
This appears to be a well thought, well planned escape
My next question is, anytime you read this, you go, you know, you're not going to get away with this. You talk about the guys, the inmates that escape. So for four out of ten.
>> Christopher Woodward: Four out of ten. and it does appear to be a well thought, well planned escape. and I say that because, at least one of the steel bars protecting plumbing fixtures appeared to have been intentionally cut using a tool.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Christopher Woodward: Meanwhile, the inmates quickly shed their uniforms and changed into regular clothes that someone, had left for them.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And the, press secretary for the sheriff's, department down there, you know, they held their press conference. And, I mentioned yesterday it was hilarious. I mean, really was. She came out with her, Mardi Gras glasses on. You think I'm kidding?
>> Christopher Woodward: Look, I've seen her before and some of the other things.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm not kidding. She came out with her Mardi Gras, grass, Mardi Gras glasses on, and was doing a press conference. And you're, just going like, is, is this. Is she serious?
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: You know, but anyway, well, so, we'll see what happens there.
Democratic Representative Lamonica McIver charged with assaulting ICE agents
Next story.
>> Christopher Woodward: Well, representative, M. Lamonica McIver, the Democrat. Representative. And she has been charged. she was among those group of Democrats that stormed or raided that ICE facility up in New Jersey where they say people are being held in insurrection. It wasn't. It was by definition, one could make that argument. Yes.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I didn't see.
>> Tim Wildmon: For those who didn't hear about this, just review real quickly what we're talking about here.
>> Christopher Woodward: Okay, so, Representative Lamonica McIver, a Democrat from New Jersey, was among a group of Democrats that stormed or raided or entered without permission an ICE facility in New Jersey. And lamonica, what purpose to. To try to get to, people that they say are being held against their will. They're being violated due process. These are illegal immigrants that the federal government is trying to apprehend and deport. So, the update with this story is Representative Lamonica McIver, a Democrat of New Jersey has been charged with assaulting, impeding and interfering with law enforcement. And I have audio from border czar Tom Homan, himself responding to these charges. let's go with clip two.
>> Speaker G: Well, I said from day one, you cross that line, we're going to ask for prosecution. You cannot support ice. You know, shame on you. You can, you can push back against President Trump's immigration agenda, whatever, you can protest, but you cannot cross that line. You can't impede a, law enforcement officer, ICE officer. It's a crime. You can't knowingly, conceal and harbor an illegal alien from ice. You cannot, you know, commit criminal trespass to our facilities and endanger our employees. And you certainly can't put hands on an ICE agent. So, you know, she's going to have to pay the consequences for doing what she did. She broke the law and we're going to hold her accountable.
>> Christopher Woodward: Talking about laying hands on law enforcement agents.
>> Tim Wildmon: We're not talking about a Christian laying.
>> Christopher Woodward: On, no, no, no, there's no anointing of oil and praying. she's literally trying to force her way through and touching law enforcement officers, which you cannot do.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I did see the video. This. Now that, now that I know that we're talk. What we're talking about. I saw the video of this and it's everything that Tom Holman just described. And you're watching it and obviously it's all bad, the whole thing, but it makes it that much worse when it's. This is a public official doing it. M. Because they have a form of, persuasion, obviously amongst the general public in the area. And she's sitting here forcing her way through.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, Ray, this has happened now, the, the, several times pushback where we had. Yeah, we have, where very liberal politicians and or judges have taken up the defense of illegal criminals. Criminals here, here, criminals, through the isis after, to arrest and deport. And these Democrats step in physically to help the criminals from being prosecuted, caught or deported. We, have the judges, the judges, the state judge in Wisconsin who, helped a illegal alien slip out the back door, held the door for him.
>> Wesley Wildmon: It's like an accomplice.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And that same thing said. They said, Oh, yeah, that same thing happened and she's being charged by federal grand jury. And also the same thing happened in Massachusetts. The judge basically that, that helped one slip out the back door, to escape ice, who was there to arrest them. So in this case, the, person. This is a politician, right? A state politician in New Jersey.
>> Christopher Woodward: It's a U.S. representative.
>> Tim Wildmon: You.
>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, U.S. representative.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay, then Democrat U.S. representative, her name is Lamar Lamonica.
>> Tim Wildmon: McCleaver goes in to physically get into an altercation with ICE agents, right?
>> Wesley Wildmon: That's right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, number one, this goes back to a point we've made here dozens, hundreds of times. Elections matter, elections have consequences. That when you, when you have a, a regime like the Biden Harris regime that we've just gotten through, what you have is a stock, is a stacking of the judiciary with these liberal George Soros left leaning judges. So this woman, this representative from New Jersey, she goes in, she lays her hands on these, police officers, the security people, knowing that in D.C. or in New Jersey, a judge is going to look the other way. He's, it's either going to be slap on the wrist or she's just going to be let go and nothing is going to happen. Tim, we can argue about January 6th all we want. I don't think there's any argument here. This is planned insurrection. This is what. Friends, if you want to know what it looks like, this is what it looks like. And unfortunately we've got too many judges who now are willing to dismiss it and look the other way.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yeah, there is an interesting connection here, with the Trump administration beyond just the issue of trying to get rid of illegal immigrants. the interim U.S. attorney in this case is Alina Haba, who was Trump's attorney when he was being indicted for all kinds of things and she went on to actually work for the campaign. of course he gets elected and then in just the last couple of months, Trump put her in charge of basically the US Attorney job there in the New Jersey area. So, it's an interesting kind of twist here, with Alina Haba. I, will say this. we do point this out in our coverage on afn.net at one point in the video, the representative's left elbow and then her right elbow push into an officer wearing a dark face covering and an olive green uniform emblazoned with the word police on it. They're saying it wasn't intentional. But bottom line, no part of your body can touch a law enforcement officer when you and other people are trying to enter some place without your, without permission.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And we all know the whole story. You know, we all, we all know the saying that if you're, you know, if you're in a car with somebody who gets caught doing drugs, there is a, there's a form of ripple effect whether you're a part of or not. In this case, they obviously provoked it. Right. So whatever it escalates into afterwards from a pushing, shoving standpoint, you're held accountable for all of it once you've provoked it. Once it's been provoked.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Yeah.
In recent days, James Comey claims he's walking along the beach
Next story, Chris.
>> Christopher Woodward: Well, I do want to, mention this, because we want to let our listeners know that we are aware of the story. As ten pointed out, we're going to go in depth over the James Comey situation. Everybody knows the story. In recent days, James Comey claims he's walking along on the beach. He comes across.
>> Tim Wildmon: We need to visualize this.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yes.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Okay, slow down. Close your eyes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, we all remember.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Not if you're driving, though.
>> Tim Wildmon: James, Comey.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: James Comey is just walking. It's a nice day. He's walking along on the beach. Okay, where is this?
>> Christopher Woodward: You know where he lives in the East Coast.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. And said walking along the beach. What happens next?
>> Christopher Woodward: Well, they come across bear.
>> Tim Wildmon: They come across bear jumping behind the rock. No, no, no.
>> Christopher Woodward: not, that I'm aware of.
>> Tim Wildmon: On the beach. Right. Ray. I think I got there.
>> Tim Wildmon: Shouldn't be. It's a bit.
>> Christopher Woodward: I'm science.
>> Tim Wildmon: There's a bear on the beach.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Unless it's Alaska or something. Skip the bear. Okay, Back to call me.
>> Christopher Woodward: Walk.
>> Tim Wildmon: James Comey walking on the beach.
>> Christopher Woodward: So he and his wife, Mrs. Comey, stumble across. Stumble across some shells that are forming.
>> Tim Wildmon: Stumble.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: They're stumbling. They're out on the beach. They stumble.
>> Christopher Woodward: They come across some, some shells that they say spell out numbers. in this case, 8, 6, 4, 7, which many people have taken away as a political message from Comey that we need to get rid of the current.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, let me Write this down.
>> Christopher Woodward: 8, 6, 4, 7, 4, 7, 86 being a slang term for get rid of, do away with. And Trump happens to be the 47th president. So since Comey says he came across these shells with his wife.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Christopher Woodward: And he took a picture of it, and then people said, oh, he's trying to threaten the president here. He ends up taking the picture down and then tries to clarify, I wasn't doing anything wrong. Now he's playing the victim and saying, listen, I was just going along the beach with my wife. Don't take my word for it. Clip 5. You are back in the middle of a political firestorm. Yeah.
>> Speaker H: Ah, for walking on the beach with my wife. So I don't know how we ended up here. Never occurred to me that it was any kind of controversial thing, but that's the time we live in. She said, you know, 86, when I was a server, she did a lot of work in restaurants. Meant to remove an item from the menu when you ran out of ingredients. And I said, well, to me, as a kid, it always meant to leave a place to ditch a place. I said, that's really clever. So then she said, you should take a picture of that. And I did. And I posted it on my Instagram account and thought nothing more of it until I heard through her that people were saying it was some sort of a call for assassination, which is crazy.
>> Christopher Woodward: So James Comey is the victim. Based on all that has happened in the last.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I still don't understand his explanation. Somebody. Restaurant ingredients, he claimed.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yeah. When he. When he took the post down, after everybody said, this is terrible. You shouldn't post things like this. You used to work for the FBI.
James Comey claims he had no idea what 86 meant on Instagram
All these things. He took it down and then he put out the. The thing that people usually do on social media where they try to correct the record or explain away that they weren't doing anything wrong. And in that supposed explanation, he went on to say that he had no idea, 86 meant to get rid of or do away with.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, he did, too. He just said it. Right.
>> Christopher Woodward: Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: Didn't he say he knew what that means?
>> Christopher Woodward: Yes. You. You bingoed. And here's the thing. There's no way on the good Lord's green earth that somebody who ran the FBI had no idea.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right. What's going on here, Brother James?
>> Tim Wildmon: kind of reminds me of Adam in the Garden of Eden, the woman you gave me.
>> Christopher Woodward: Oh, it does get worse, too. We have more clips that we'll play later. The show.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, this is. I mean, I just want to say, Mr. Comey, this is the best you can do.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: First of all, you're not telling the truth. We know you're not. Everybody knows he's not telling the truth exactly about this. And this is the best you can do? Blame your life? Blame your wife? That's weak, brother. That's,
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And also, if. If you don't have enough sense. I believe he does, but you don't have enough sense to know you're going to post something on. You're the former FBI director who got fired by Trump, and you're going to post something on Instagram that you're going to say, this is interesting. I have no idea what it means. Well, then why did you post it if you have no idea what it means or it's not going to be provocative? Why did you post it? I don't. You know, before he worked, a few years ago, everybody, he was highly respected.
>> Christopher Woodward: he worked for President Trump for a hot minute.
>> Tim Wildmon: I don't know. I don't know. That's it. That's a mix between. That's a mix between being coy, you know, looking at somebody and having a little, twinkle in your eye. You know, you both know what's going on and. And just outright lying. so anyway, we'll talk to Bruce Rather about this the next hour, but he's just walking on the beach, takes a picture of, some shells. I guess a crab made them. I don't know. Can crabs do numbers?
>> Christopher Woodward: I've never seen one, but, I mean, maybe, you know, if bears can get on.
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, my crabs making numbers with shells is about as plausible as me believing that James Comey didn't know what those numbers meant. Now, I'm not saying that he's caught. I'm not saying he would call for the assassination the president. I'm saying he knew what 86 means because he said it.
>> Christopher Woodward: Right. He did.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And he knows 47 is the 47th president. You don't tell me. He knows exactly what he's doing right there. And to. Like you said, Ray, just now to now, the same. Oh, as my wife.
>> Tim Wildmon: That's weak. Yes.
>> Christopher Woodward: And the fact that you went on MSNBC clearly shows you were trying to do something about your.
>> Tim Wildmon: Remember, he was the one who. Something about. Remember the, documents, that he wanted to be made public, but he couldn't do it because the role he was in. And then he took him to his neighbor's house to have him do it. Didn't that happen? You remember that?
>> Christopher Woodward: Yeah, yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: I'm going like, oh, come on.
>> Tim Wildmon: I know. I don't know. I don't know. James Comey probably needs to, well, get. I would just fade away quietly. Find a beach that doesn't have shells or bears. are bears or bears or shells that don't, you know, have numbers around.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Right. Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: Aren't designed. What are the chances Former FBI Director of the United States walking along the beach finds a shell design 8647. All right, we're going to return with more of today's issues on AFR after this short time out. Stay with us.
Preborn Network provides free ultrasounds to women seeking abortions
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>> Jeff Chamblee: 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.
Alex McFarland hosts American Family Radio's Exploring the Word
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back everybody to Today's Issues on the, American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR, Tim Wesley, Chris, Frank and Ray. And now Alex McFarland joins us. Alex, is on with us most weeks. he's the co host of Exploring the Word each, ah, weekday afternoons at 03:00 Central Time on American Family Radio, co hosted with brother Bert Harper. And they do a Bible study. they go through the books of the Bible and they read it and explain it to you and it's live. Most times it's live and it's called Exploring the Word. Very popular show here on American Family Radio. So join Alex and Burt each afternoon at 3:05 central time. Where are you today, Alex?
>> Alex McFarland: Well, I am in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina speaking at a church at a men's event tomorrow and Sunday and also drumming, up pr, ah, for our speaker series we've got Gary chapman coming on June 15 and Charlie Kirk later this summer. So just down here in Myrtle beach doing some PR for our Biblical Worldview speaker series.
>> Tim Wildmon: Now where is that going to be at? And that's that's how many speakers you going to have? Was it once a week or when is that?
>> Alex McFarland: we've got four speakers. And by the way, the website is just my name, alexmcfarland.com conversations we call this Biblical Worldview Conversations that matter. And on May 4th we had Dinesh D' Souza, who has been a friend of mine for many years, and he talked about Trump's first hundred days. And then Dr. Gary Chapman wrote a wonderful book called the Five Love Languages.
>> Tim Wildmon: And I read it, and I. I do that.
>> Alex McFarland: Oh, yeah, every day. All us good husbands do. But, you know, we're really excited about Charlie Kirk.
>> Tim Wildmon: Charlie Kirk.
>> Alex McFarland: So, Charlie, Kurt Warren Green is coming, and we're doing a pastor's roundtable. We've got Caleb Collier of the God and Country podcast coming, and we're doing. We're going to wrap up in September, the fourth and final speaker in this series to talk about the state and future of America's local church. But then we've got our youth camps going. And, you know, I've said this many times, but being on Exploring the Word is such a godsend, because Bert Harper and I, like last Thursday, we got to lead a lady to Christ on live radio. A lady from Texas who, she was afraid that she couldn't be saved, that she had committed the unpardonable sin, and she ended up accepting Christ on live radio. And then other people emailed in and said, hey, I prayed that prayer, too. but exploring the Word is such a blessing. But also by being on the American Family Radio Network five days a week, it has brought many, many invitations my way as an evangelist and apologetic speaker. And, Tim, I feel like the usage of my gift and calling has come into full fruition as you've allowed me to be on afr.
>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.
Alex and Bert have been going through the Bible twice
>> Wesley Wildmon: How long has it been, Alex, since you've been on? A. 4.
>> Alex McFarland: 15 years.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Wow.
>> Alex McFarland: I mean, you know, Bert and I counted up, if you count between, Marvin Sanders, rest his soul, and Bert and myself, we have done 3,000 exploring the word shows 3,000.
>> Tim Wildmon: In 15 years, how many times have y' all been through the Bible?
>> Alex McFarland: we have been completely verse by verse through the Bible twice.
>> Christopher Woodward: Wow.
>> Alex McFarland: and we are in the Book of Romans. You know, think about in 15 years, we had only done the Book of Romans once before, and that was Marvin and I back around maybe 2012. And brother, Burt has kept a copious list of every time. Like, I'll say, hey, when did we do Ephesians? And he'll say, oh, that was, you know, spring of 2017 or something. So, but, yeah, in 15 years, we have been through every verse of God's holy word twice.
>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Ray, you. You did something similar, for the year 2024, didn't you?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well, a couple years ago, I just felt honestly Nothing more than wanting to leave a legacy for my grandkids. It got bigger, but that's where it started. I felt God pushing me. Maybe that's the right way to say it, Tim. To read the Bible out loud and do it online and have it be online as a legacy for my kids and my grandkids and whatever great grandkids and generations to come, and went all the way through it in one year, was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. people don't realize how big the Bible is. I mean, you think. You think, Alex, what you guys have done, been through the Bible twice, going verse by verse by verse. But there, Alex, there's something great, isn't there, about taking the Bible, especially maybe parts of the Bible we don't hear a lot about. Song of Solomon, Chapter six maybe, you know, or we don't necessarily hear a lot about certain parts of Second Chronicles or some of these minor prophets. But I think what, what you and Bert have done, is exemplary because it's shown us that every part of the Word of God is true and every part of it speaks to us today.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen. You know, Augustine, 1600 years ago, he said every verse of the Bible has a meaning, even if we don't immediately know what that meaning is. And you know, John 3:16, for God so loved the world. I mean that. We get that. But you're right, I mean, there, there are parts of the Old Testament that are pretty challenging. I mean, there's parts of Ezekiel measuring the temple in heaven. I can't say I completely understand what all that's about. But the Word of God is profitable. It's important. And if Bert and I have a shared passion, I mean, obviously that people get saved, but we just know that the strength of the church and the strength of the Christian is really directly proportional to the role that the Word of God plays in their life.
Tim Ferriss: Where do early Christians get their theological teaching from
>> Tim Wildmon: Alex, I want to ask you something, speaking about the Bible here, and I'm reading in Corinthians, First Corinthians, no, Second Corinthians about start that. Anyway, I wondered these New Testament, places that Paul in particular wrote letters to which we now find as part of our Bible, which we say is, are the words of God basically to humans preserved? so my question is these places, like these churches that were started, we call them churches today, I don't know what they called them then, but, they didn't have the Bible, the, they didn't have the Corinthian Church was not going through First Corinthians. I mean, I don't get. I don't guess. So I'm asking that, what. Where did these early churches, like, they were set up? Where do they get their theological teaching from?
>> Alex McFarland: Well, you know, it's interesting. Okay. in the New Testament, the. The letters of Paul, which are called epistles, an epistle from an apostle. Interesting. You know, Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome, Corinth, Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, Colossae, Thessalonica. I think a real key. In John 14, 26 and 27, Jesus said to the disciples, he said, the Holy Spirit will remind you of all things whatsoever I have told you. And so the early church period, you know, Peter preached at Pentecost, the Holy Spirit fell, the church was birthed, and the Bible as we have it now, the Old Testament was long since completed. Genesis through Malachi.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right?
>> Alex McFarland: The Old Testament was finished, really 400 years before the birth of Jesus. The New Testament, the 27 books that would become the New Testament. We don't have a complete New Testament till about 125 A.D. that's roughly 30 years after the final book, Revelation. But what's amazing, and I mean, Ray, you can weigh in on this. I believe the Holy Spirit providentially protected the, theological purity of the early church.
>> Tim Wildmon: What? Now, explain.
>> Alex McFarland: The Holy Spirit guarded the theological purity of the early church. I mean, the deity of Christ, that Jesus is the son of God. That rings clear throughout early church writings, that Jesus died to pay our sin debt on the cross. We're saved through faith in Jesus. Now, you know, all of Paul's letters and first and second, Peter and James and Hebrews and first, second, Third, John, Revelation, they affirm all this. You know, one of the beautiful things. Let me just say this, and I've interviewed many scholars on this, even not so conservative scholars. But what is just a beautiful thing is the consistent message of the New Testament books and the early church writings. That, deity of Christ, death of Christ, resurrection, salvation by grace through faith. Amazingly, even before the New Testament was completed, and even in the face of Jewish, Greek and Roman persecution, the church resiliently held on to the Gospel message and what all of us today still believe and follow New Testament Christianity. And I think the Holy Spirit of God providentially kept the church pure and orthodox.
>> Tim Wildmon: Any thoughts on that, Ray?
>> Tim Wildmon: well, first of all, everything Alex just said, 100% correct and vital for Christians to understand. Alex used the word providential. We believe in the providence of God. We believe that God protected the church. And Tim, your question is good because we in the 21st century, we've got Bibles everywhere.
>> Tim Wildmon: We got commentaries, we got scholars, we got all kind of, we got systematic theology, all this stuff.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I mean I got my phone, my iPhone here. So you get you version, your Bible gateway, your Bible dot is, you can have on your iPhone hundreds of different translations of the Bible. Right. On your iPhone. But remember back then you said they didn't have First Corinthians. No, because they were living through it. They were living through the problems that was going to lead, that was going to lead to the letter that Paul was going to write. So I would say my answer goes just along exactly with what Alex said in three parts. Number one, the Old Testament was available because as Alex said, it had already been written down. Now am I saying, and I'm not saying I should say that, did the individual Christians in Corinth have copies of the Old Testament manuscripts? Well, no, no. printing was not going to be invented for hundreds of years, but at least it was available. And by the time first Corinthians was written, they theoretically could have had copies of the earliest New Testament books like.
>> Tim Wildmon: Had been hand write, handwritten copies though. Right?
>> Tim Wildmon: Well that, that's right. That's exactly right.
>> Wesley Wildmon: So not in my writing.
>> Tim Wildmon: Not in your writing.
>> Wesley Wildmon: It's gotten worse over the years.
>> Tim Wildmon: God wouldn't have chosen you. No.
The New Testament talks about the apostles doctrine in Acts chapter two
Okay.
>> Tim Wildmon: And I want to ask Alex to say something about, you know, the New Testament talks about the apostles doctrine in Acts chapter two. And I think that's part of the providential care of God that what, that what Peter taught and what James taught and what John taught, what they received from the Lord Jesus directly and by the power of the Holy Spirit, that God providentially preserved the apostles teaching from one generation to another to another until the whole New Testament was finally written down. So Alex, talk to us. What does the New Testament mean when it talks about the apostles doctrine?
>> Alex McFarland: Great question. That's in Acts 2:42 and also Jude verse 3, which says that we are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered. And the apostles doctrine is for one thing, that Jesus is the promised Messiah. He is the Son of God. He fulfilled all the criteria to be our Savior. He was crucified at Passover, rose from the dead. Salvation is in Christ and Christ alone. And guys, I love to preach through second Peter 1:16 through 21, where Peter very beautifully says we have not followed cleverly devised fables when we Made known unto you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We were eyewitnesses of his majesty. And we have also not only the Son of God, but the word of God. And by the way, what's so beautiful about two Peter one, 1921 Peter addresses problems we've got now about really eisegesis people spinning and twisting the word of God. He says that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation. In other words, I don't have. Nobody has the right to say oh the words don't mean what they say. It really means this in a way. 2 Peter 1:20 if we preached it is a bit of an antidote to woke revisionist Christianity. So read to your question. The apostles doctrine is classical Christian orthodoxy that the church has proclaimed for 2000 years and we proclaim it this very moment in our day that the triune God exists. God created morality is objective, not subjective. God loves us, but we have sinned. But God made provision for us to be redeemed. And Jesus not only came the first time, but Jesus is coming back. History is going somewhere. Hey guys, let me just say this. You know there was a tragic bombing in Palm Springs, California and now it, now there's a word in the news. Everybody's scrambling to find out what it means. Nihilism. And they said that, that, that 20 five year old guy that not only bombed a fertility clinic but killed himself, he was a nihilist. And nihilism is from the Latin word nihilo that means nothing. Okay, Nothingness. Now, now part of the reason that our society has to a degree unraveled for generations kids have been told in public, I say public school, really government schools, we evolved. you know, evolution, the primordial soup. there is no objective moral code. Just eat, drink and be merry. What, what is the, the purpose of history or life? We're really nothing. A philosophy of nothingness. And the evil twin of nihilism is narcissism. Just hang with me folks. I mean on the one hand you've got people that feel hopeless, there's like nothing. And then other people that are absorbed with themselves, they're narcissistic. You know, as is so often the case, the truth is in the middle. And here's the truth that God loves you. But we've sinned. But you're valuable to God and he cares about you. So he sent Jesus. And we can not only be saved from sin, we can be saved from ourselves. And history is going somewhere. Christ will Return. Life is purposeful. We were made to know God. And so, guys, I believe that the biblical worldview is the answer. The love of Jesus and the Good News gospel. It is the answer for a hopeless world that is in despair and self destruction.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Amen. Amen, brother. So basically the last half hour, what we've learned is you can either get your instructions of life from the word of God, the Bible, or you can walk on the beach and perhaps stumble upon some hidden messages, some seashells. Seashells that will give you some life direction. So I'm gonna go with the Bible on this one.
>> Alex McFarland: Amen.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right.
>> Alex McFarland: I know, I know that those shells, he might have thought that was clever.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Alex McFarland: But that was not clever.
>> Tim Wildmon: No. And guess what? We're not buying it. We're not buying what you're selling on that one. All right, see you later. Alex, thanks so much. Appreciate you being on with him, my friend.
>> Alex McFarland: Blessings, brothers.
>> Tim Wildmon: Thank you.
No printing press was invented until the 1500s, right? Right
Dr. Alex McFarland M. Joining us from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he's, Alex always got something going on. Alex lives in North Carolina, but he's, over there in Myrtle beach for, He has a speaker series is what he was talking about. All right. You're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. You know. Right. Just one other thought there. Back in. Think about. We're talking 2,000 years ago and so obviously no printing press because that wasn't invented till the 1500s. Right. I'm trying to think when, Gutenberg.
>> Tim Wildmon: Maybe even before that.
>> Tim Wildmon: 1400S. 1500, 1440. Should know. 1440.
>> Tim Wildmon: All right.
>> Christopher Woodward: Back in the day.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, yes, that was back in the day, 1440. So. So you had no printing press. So everything that was, that was used as far as the. We call it the printed word. It's not the printed word. It's the written, but had to be handwritten, copied, you know, so, whatever. And, and I, I guess I, was thinking to myself, you know, think about, okay, Paul, for example, would write a letter to the Corinthians. We were talking about that earlier.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. He may have been in Ephesus or he may have been in Jerusalem. I don't know where he was. When he's writing this letter. Sometimes he tells you. Right, Right. So, but then that letter had to be written down, right? Oh, I got parchment.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right, right.
>> Tim Wildmon: And preserved.
>> Tim Wildmon: And then couriered.
>> Tim Wildmon: Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: If couriers the word, I think it is to the destination it's supposed to go to and arrive there. Safely.
>> Tim Wildmon: And anything could happen. Right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Any. Any.
>> Tim Wildmon: Anything could happen. They didn't have FedEx.
>> Tim Wildmon: I know.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.
>> Tim Wildmon: No. And there's no guarantee extra to get it right.
>> Tim Wildmon: Registered.
>> Christopher Woodward: He did most likely use parchment paper, because in second Timothy 4, 13, in the king James, and I'm sure other translations say this as well. but he tells Timothy to come and especially bring the parchments.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And you know how. I would assume was. Ray, do you know, is there any indication of how. How quote, mail was sent out in those days?
>> Tim Wildmon: You wrote your letter, you gave it to somebody you trusted, and you said, take off for Rome, take off for Corinth.
>> Christopher Woodward: Today. You trust that it's going to get there.
>> Tim Wildmon: That is one step in the process. You know, Paul did not hand write most of his letters himself. He had a. What we would call a secretary. The technical term is an amanuensis guy by the name of Tertius.
>> Christopher Woodward: He wrote Romans. Yeah.
>> Tim Wildmon: He would dictate to Tertius what he wanted to say, and it was Tertius who wrote it down. And then usually near the end, Paul would take the, quill pen, so to speak, and he would. He would sign it in big letters on the bottom. In fact, that's what he does at the end of the book of Galatians. He says, see, with what large handwriting, I'm signing my own name. so, Tim, Paul had to get the words from the Lord. He had to say, in the case of Romans to Tertius, write this down. And then obviously had to check every single word of what Tertius had written down and. And then gave it to him. And Tertius was the. He was the mailman. He was the guy that had to get it safely from Corinth or Ephesus all the way to Rome. And that was a, That was. You're talking weeks, if not months to get a letter there.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And one of the most important passages of scripture on this topic comes from 2nd Peter, chapter 1, verse 21, where it says this. For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit, which was really, a, real, real good connection that, Dr. McFarland made for us when we were talking about the, writings and keeping the theology together as the Bible was being developed, being written down. Was that this past scripture, it says it was written out by God, that. By men that were carried on by the Holy Spirit. So that's really important.
You know, another thing that, um, many people need to Be reminded of
You know, another thing that, many people need to Be reminded of that's helpful to the Bibles that do not have the chapters and verses, which is how it was. How when did that come about?
>> Tim Wildmon: That happened hundreds of years.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Hundreds of years?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, hundreds of years.
>> Tim Wildmon: On the on the whole Bible, the New Testament.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, on the whole Bible, the chapters and verses, the way they, they came much later.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And I get, I, I can appreciate the person that said this, this may be helpful and I get that. And I. All my Bibles have it, but I have one that doesn't have it as it was originally.
>> Tim Wildmon: It doesn't have chapters and verses just run on sentences.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Well, it's got periods and commas and exclamation.
>> Tim Wildmon: Paragraph breaks.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, it's got paragraph breaks.
>> Tim Wildmon: Paragraph breaks.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Of course, at the top of the fir of the book you're reading, it says jerks. Yeah, but the idea though is that in some ways, I guess you would read it that way. But those, that Bible as it was originally written, without.
>> Tim Wildmon: But it helps you reference things. That's the reason that chapters and verses were put in there, I guess to that.
>> Wesley Wildmon: So that's why, to help you help.
>> Tim Wildmon: Everybody be on the same page, so to speak.
>> Tim Wildmon: but yeah, just thinking about, you know, that until we had the well even up until the 1800s, we had the what do you, what do you call those, mail riders across the country on horseback? Pony express.
>> Tim Wildmon: Like pony Express?
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, Pony express. And then you had, you had mail delivered by stagecoach and you know, you know that thing like that.
>> Wesley Wildmon: I wonder if that's why it seems to me like the farther back you go in history, the more important you're. What you said you were here to kill. You were held more accountable with lying and telling the truth. Yeah, because I mean, that's what you, I mean you word your bond.
>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.
>> Wesley Wildmon: Because you didn't have multiple copies. I mean you had to trust what this person.
>> Tim Wildmon: I know. And somebody preserved these letters that Paul wrote or Peter wrote or.
>> Wesley Wildmon: And you got the Dead Sea Scrolls.
>> Tim Wildmon: Somebody preserved them and, and then they survived to the authenticity check and then they made it into what we call the Holy Bible today, which we have. All right, we will be back with more of today's issues. what's going on with the FBI. and we're going to talk about that when we with Bruce Rather, a former FBI agent. So Good, Bad and the Ugly coming up. Stay with us. The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family radio.
