Speaker 1: Broadcasting across the United States, Canada, and around the world.
This is the Bible answer Man Broadcast. Your host for
the program is Hank Cannagraph, President of the Christian Research Institute.
We're on the air because life and truth matter. For
more information resources or to donate to CRI, call eight
eight eight seven thousand CRI, or go online to equip
dot org. That's equip dot org. The following program was
pre recorded to start today's Bible answer Man broadcast. Here's
your host, Hank Canagraph.
Speaker 2: Thank you very much.
Speaker 1: Brandy.
Speaker 2: Is always great to be in studio as we answer
your questions throughout the United States and Canada, indeed around
the world. I was reading earlier on today Philippians chapter four,
where the apostle Paul says, I read, joice greatly that
at last you have renewed your concern for me. Indeed,
you have been concerned, but you had no opportunity to
show it. I'm not just saying this because I am
in need, because I've learned to be content whatever the circumstances.
I know what it is to be in need, I
know what it is to have plenty, but I've learned
the secret of being content in any and every situation,
whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or want,
because I can do everything through Him who gives me
the strength. And yet it was so good of you
to share in my troubles. Moreover, as you Philippians know
the early days of your acquaintance with the Gospel, when
I sit out from Macedonia, not one single church shared
with me in the matter of giving and receiving except
you only for even when I was in Fessalondaica, you
sent me aid again and again when I was in need.
Not that I'm looking for your gift, but I am
looking for what may be credited to your account. Paul
never talks about a give to get scheme, But what
he does talk about is participation in the Gospel. And
what he makes clear, not only here but elsewhere, is
that while you can't take what you have with you,
you can send it on ahead. We're talking about His
laying up for ourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and
rust do not corrupt, and where thieves do not break
in and steel. For where your treasure is there, your
heart will be Also. We're asking you to stand with
us all this month's shoulder to shoulder in the battle
for life and truth. You can do just that in
a say secure fashion on the web at equip dot org.
We'll go right to the phone lines. Warren. He's listening
in Canada, Edmonton, Alberta High Warren.
Speaker 3: I don't want to get too much into my testimony,
but my son went through a six year battle with
cancer and ended up going home to the Lord. And
one of the things I've struggled with is like in
Jeremiah twenty nine to eleven, you know his plan to prospress,
or in the Psalms where it talked about delight in
me and I'll fulfill all your desires? Should those things
be taken literally? And if so, then do I look
at that as a reflection of a chink in my faith?
Aren't her type of thing? Or what's the best way
if you've interpret that?
Speaker 2: Sure? And I don't think that any Christian can look
at life from merely a temporary perspective. One of the
realities that we have is that we live in a
fallen world. In that fallen world, the death rate is
one per person. Everyone is going to make it. We
all get sick, eventually, we all die. That is the
reality of the life that we live in, this temporary flesh.
And so Christianity doesn't come along anywhere and give us
a peaceful way to come to terms with the maladies
of life, but rather something far greater away to overcome
them through resurrection. So are we promised a panacea. No,
what we're promised is peace. My peace, I give unto you,
not as the world gives peace in the midst of
the storm. And so we don't give to curry favor
from God. We give because there are real needs in
the world that we can meet as embassadors for Jesus Christ.
And certainly the war generation understood just that. They knew
what it meant to catch the contagious joy of giving,
and as a result, they were empowered to spread the
gospel around the globe. They fed the hungry, they clothed
the naked, they cared for the sick, They founded centers
of Christian education, hospitals, relief organizations. They left an indelible
mark on their generation. When you think about why we
are today losing the culture wars, its lack of commitment,
its lack of sowing seeds for a harvest, and oftentimes
it is the horrifying notion that giving is for temporary
prosperity or for financial prosperity. If we give, we will
be prosperous and successful. But we do not measure success
and prosperity the way that the world does. The point
is is that we view wealth with eternity in mind.
The scriptures teach us to lead our lives here below
as responsible stewards, whether we have a little or a lot,
so that one day at the judgment God himself will
richly reward us. So go back to the phone lines
and talk to Lee. He's in Arkansas, High Lee.
Speaker 4: Hi, Hello, I was wondering if you could help me
with something that a lot of us struggle with, especially
the younger generation. The homosexual agenda is bombarding us all
the time, and I'm wondering if maybe you could use
a little bit of scripture to help us. You know,
make sure, because we ask all the time, you know,
are we doing the Ryan thing by standing against the
homosexual agenda of the same sex marriages? Because there's a
lot of progressive Christianity out there, and it can be
very confusing when you have you know, so called Christians
that stand, you know, in favor of this stuff. You know,
it seems like it's really starting to wear us down.
I was wondering if you had some scripture to encourage
us to keep standing strong against that kind of candice.
Speaker 2: I mean, I think you have to look at the
broader issue, and that is participating in the principles of
the Kingdom. This is what we're called to teach people about.
The King has landed in disguise, and he is calling
all of us to a great campaign of sabotage.
Speaker 5: As C. S.
Speaker 2: Lewis put it, So we are those who are to
say to the world, the King has landed. We can
be co labors with Christ in changing this world. So
it's not about a we they siege mentality against the world.
It's not us boycotting the world. We can't do that.
We're in the world, we're not of the world, and
we transform the world through the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
And we're not even encumbered with results. What we are
called to is simply faithful. Now, in terms of biblical clarification,
the Bible teaches us the principles of the King and
the Kingdom, and in fact, the Bible tells us that
those principles when it comes to same sex sexuality are
so clear that even gentiles without access to direct revelation
a scripture have enough evidence in the natural realm to
discover God's aversion to homosexual behavior. And that's why in
the Book of Romans, Paul describes both the perversion and
the penalty. And I think that we do well to
recognize that the Bible does not condemn homosexuality in some
kind of capricious fashion. It carefully defines the borders of
human sexuality so that our joy may be complete. It
doesn't require an advanced degree in physiology to appreciate the
fact that the human body is not designed for homosexual relationships.
So whatever the slogans in the sound bites, they don't
change the sciencecientific reality that same sex sexuality are devastating,
not only from a psychological but also from a physiological perspective.
So what are we to do? Are we to create
some kind of a we they siege mentality. The LGBT
community has donned an iron boot, seeking to crush anyone
that stands in their way. And so we say, okay,
you're going to do that. We're going to show you
we have economic clout and power too, and We're going
to put on an iron boot and we'll crush you back. No,
we ultimately recognize is that the way that culture is
changed is by changing the heart. And we recognize even
more that the problem for lack of transformation in the
culture is that we have not been salt in light
in the culture. Well, we've been a essentially is a
microcosm of the culture. So what we do is we
tell people that they can become believers. Every eye closed,
every head bowed, raise your hand, I saw your hand.
You're now a believer. But if the appetites of the
body do not change, then what you become is a
baptized secular humanist, an imitator of the culture as opposed
to a cultural transformational change agent. And then we divide ourselves.
You wonder why the salt doesn't permeate the water. It's
in ziplock bags, and quite a few of them were compartmentalized.
So we're not affecting the culture. And now when the
culture is going in a different direction, we say, well,
we're going to boycott the culture. I don't think that's
what we want to do. What we want to do
is give ourselves afresh to not just an intellectual head fake,
but rather to the transformational process that not only changes culture,
but first changes us so that we become imitators of Paul,
as he is an imitator of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus Christ. Be right back and with more answers.
Speaker 1: As the erosion of truth and hostility against Christians continues
to gain momentum, Christians must stand together for life and truth,
no matter the cost. Stand together with the Christian Research
Institute during the key month of June to end the
fiscal year in a position of strength. To make a
special gift to see our I simply call eight eight
eight seven thousand CURI and support CRI's life changing outreaches
or visit equip dot org. We'll be back with more
of the Bible answer Man broadcast, so stay tuned.
Speaker 6: Truth matters, Life matters. More details Hank Hanigraff's personal pilgrimage
from his long defensive truth to his discovery that life
matters more. Essentially, two books in one. Part one equips
Christians to defend the essential truths of the historic Christian faith.
Part two explains why truth is necessary but hardly sufficient,
that the map is not the territory the menu is
not the meal. We are created to experience life to
the full through union with God in Christ. Is there
more to the Christian life than what you are experiencing?
Truth matters, Life matters more, unveils the unexpected beauty of
an authentic Christian life. To receive truth matters, Life matters
more for yourself or as a terrific gift to a
friend or loved one, call eight eight eight seven thousand
CRI and make a gift to support the Christian Research
Institute's life changing outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRI
or visit us online at equipped dot org.
Speaker 1: The Complete Bible answer Book Collector's Edition is the comprehensive
collection of the most often asked questions Hank Hannigraph has
received throughout his four decades as host of the Bible
answer Man broadcast. With more than half a million copies
already in print, this newly revised and expanded Collector's Edition
helped seekers and skeptics alike sort through the truth on
topics such as reliability of the Bible, religions and cults,
the resurrection and afterlife, and many more issues vital to
a better understanding of God in Christ and our relationship
to him. To receive your copy of the Complete Bible
answer Book Collector's Edition, Revised and Expanded, call eight eight
eight seven thousand CROI and make a gift to support
the Christian Research Institute's life changing outreaches eight eight eight
seven thousand CROI or visit us at equip dot org.
Winston Churchill once declared, you may have to fight when
there is no hope of victory, because it is better
to perish than to live as slaves. Churchill sought to
awaken those who were reluctant to fight against the advancing
Nazi war machine. Today, a spiritual battle is taking place.
Atheism advances in the West, and slavery to secularity is
imprisoning more and more hearts and minds in the United States.
For this reason, CRI's ministry is critical, but we need
people willing to stand for truth along with the financial
provisions to accomplish its mission. Stand with Hank Hanigraph and
the Christian Research Institute during the month of June to
end the fiscal year in a position of strength. Call
eight eight eight seven thousand cr I and make a
gift to support CR's life changing outreaches. Eight eight eight
seven thousand CreI or visit equip dot org. Equip dot
org and now here's Hank anagraph.
Speaker 2: They very much, Randy, and I'm asking people to stand
with me all this month, shoulder to shoulder in the
battle for life and truth. Again. Without your help, we
certainly cannot continue doing what we're doing, but together we
can make a difference, not only for time, but also
for eternity. So please be generous this month as we
approach a fiscal year in June thirty. You can give
an a station secure fashion on the weabit equipped dot
org when you write me at box eighty five hundred, Charlotte,
North Carolina, zip code two eight two seven to one.
Resource Consults is always there, standing by triple eight seven
thousand and the letters CRI. Back to the phone lines,
we'll talk to Tammy. She's listening in Oklahoma. Hi Tammy,
Hi Hank.
Speaker 7: How are you today?
Speaker 2: I'm good? Thank you.
Speaker 7: I listen to your show all the time when i'm driving,
which is ninety percent of my workday, and it's very
thought provoking, which has brought me to this call today.
I believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God.
Breathed by God. My question is why is there not more?
Why did it stop when it stopped? I mean, why
did God quit communicating with us in written form? He
inspired all the writings, and then it just stopped. I
mean they were written on parchment and scrolls and whatnot.
We progress to the age of cell phones and internet.
I mean, why did God stop writing when he did?
Do you what's your thought on that?
Speaker 2: Yeah? And of course you can get the Bible on
your cell phone today, on a smartphone, so it's not
just on parchment or papyrus. But yeah, I mean what's
important to realize is that God continues to speak to us.
I mean, the Bible says the heavens declare the glory
of God. The skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day. They pour forth speech night after night.
They proclaim knowledge. There's no speech or language where their
voice is not heard. Their words go out to the
ends of the earth. So God continues to speak to us,
but he will never speak to us in a way
that's other than what He's already given to us, something
that we have a basis for verification with. So what
we have is the very real issue here of authority,
God himself sets up the conditions by which new revelations
must be ratified, and that is confirmation by those who
were eye witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus Christ. And
therefore with the death of the apostles, there can be
no new revelations. God can reveal things from what He
has already given to us. And let me say that
that is an inexhaustible treasure chest. I continue to dig
into that treasure chest and learn more and more, and
quite frankly, as I go through the scriptures each day
I find out how little I already know about what
could be known. So here I have been studying the
Bible all these years, and I have just a little
wisp of what could be known in the full scope
of things that God has already given to us. So
I don't think it's a matter of having more and more,
but it's taking what we have and applying that in
our lives, knowing it, memorizing it, but not just being
familiar with the menu. You know, you could come up
with new menus, but we have a menu that's inexhaustible
to begin with. But it's not just about knowing that menu.
It's recognizing that that menu points to a meal, and
that's really where the payoff is. The payoff is to
experience the living God. So Christ did not only save
us by his death, he saved us into his life.
He's come that we might have life and have life
more abundantly. So while we're focused rightly on truth, we
must also recognize that life matters more, that we can
have life and have it to the full. And I
think that's where people are missing out. It's not as
though we don't have enough revelation. It is that we
are not taking that revelation and seeing where it points
and then partaking of where it points. And you know
the other thing that's kind of interesting when you think
about this, how in the world would we know know
that someone is authentic unless we had something to test
them by. I was reading through Charisma magazine and quite frankly,
it put me into almost a state of depression. I
just could not believe the truckloads of heresy in one magazine.
And I kept thinking as I was reading through that magazine, Wow,
if only people would test what is being said in
light of what God has already said. Now, the new
sightseers of today's generation. I mean, they say all kinds
of crazy things, but if you look at the Apostles,
we don't say what they say is crazy, because, first
of all, there's a perspicuity, there's a clearness and consistency
within itself. When you look at the scriptures, you also
have those who were eye witnesses of Christ's majesty in
contestify to the main and plain things, the fact that
Jesus Christ is God, the fact that Jesus rose from
the dead, that Jesus Christ is coming again. How many
people today know the Ten Commandments or the twelve Apostles
much less, wanting more and more sensational stuff. You know.
Remember the big blood Moon's phase. I mean everybody is
talking about that. Maybe big deal out of it, and
that phase will pass it up. It's this titillation that
really distracts people. It's not that we don't have enough. Okay,
well tell me appreciate your call. Back to the phone lines.
We'll talk to Karen as she's listening in British Columbia.
Candidate Hi, Karen, Oh, okay, thank you for taking my call.
You're welcome, Karen.
Speaker 5: It sounds to me is if you might have partially
answered my question actually when you were talking to the
ladies just previously called uh huh. My question has to
do with what is a prophet in your understanding of
and what they do. I'd like to know, like, who
is the prophets, what do they do, when are they
in a lifetime, and where are they generally located.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, that's.
Speaker 2: A good question. I would say that the New Testament
has an idea of prophecy that's different from what you
find in the Biblical revelation. So in the Biblical revelation,
you have prophets in the Old Testament like Jeremiah or
Isaiah or Ezekiel, and they were spokespersons for God. They
would speak in God's word, would be on their tongue
as it were, and they were ratified within the context
of history. So if Isaiah said something would happen, it
happened precisely as he said it would happen. And you
know that God was speaking through these prophets, because as
God himself said, I told you these things before they happen,
so when they happen, you would believe. So the apostle
and the prophets of the Old and the New Testament
were infallible, and because they were infallible, and because you
can't take what they said and punted off to good
guessing or common sense or luck, we can have great
assurance that these are the words of God. Now in
the New Testament, Paul also talks about prophesying, but now
he's not saying, let's be another little Isaiah or Ezekiel.
He's saying, what we need to do is prophesy in
the sense of strengthening, encouraging, equipping, edifying, exhorting the body
of Christ. So what we do is we speak God's
words after him or think his thoughts after him, as
opposed to coming up with some new prophecy about what's
going to happen in the So prophecy is not foretelling
the future. It is forth telling. So we already know
that the Bible is true because it corresponds to reality.
What God said would happen did happen, So we have
a reliable source. God, however, is not telling us anything
about what's going to happen in the future. So we
don't know what's going to happen tomorrow. We don't know
what's going to happen next month. We don't know when
Jesus is going to appear again a second time. God
doesn't tell us any of that. What he tells us
to be faithful, to continue to forthtell to encourage, exhort
at a fine equip.
Speaker 5: Okay, well, that answers my question for now, and I
really appreciate that. Thank you so much.
Speaker 2: You got it. I wrote about this in the Complete
Bible answer Book Collector's edition. I answer the question are
there apostles and are their prophets today? And again I
answer this in a very concise fashion in the Complete
Bible answer Book Collectors addition, for those who joined the
monthly Bible answer Man support team, they please to send
you a personalized copy to you, a family member or
a friend. You can check this out on the web
at equipped dot org or write me at box eighty
five hundred, Charlotte, North Carolina, zip code two eight two
seven one and new. Remember you can also talk to
our resource consultants. They're standing by and pick up the
phone and talk to the Matripol eight seven thousand and
the letters CRI. This is the end of the fiscal
year push, as it were, and so we're asking people
to be generous and you can give in a safe,
secure fashion on the web at equipped dot org. We'll
see it right back here tomorrow with more of the show.
Speaker 1: Thank you for joining us for the Bible answer Man
Broadcast in today's post truth culture of confusion. The Christian
Research Institute exists to equip listeners like you with answers
to communicate the Gospel of hope to a world in
desperate need of life and truth. Because life and truth matter.
In addition to truth, we want to equip you with life,
not simply to know about God, but truly to know him.
Experiencing union with christ enables us to live life not
merely by our own energy, but with the energy of
the Lord Jesus working powerfully through us. For more information,
call eight eight eight seven thousand CRII. That's eight eight
eight seven thousand CRII. You can also write CRII at
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Man Broadcast is funded by listeners like you. We're on
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Speaker 6: Hank Hanigraph has dedicated his life to defending truth. Because
Truth Matters Yet. An encounter with Christians in the underground
Church of China left Hanograph contemplating his Christian experience. They
were experiencing something beyond truth. They were experiencing life. Truth matters,
Life Matters More. By Hank Hanigraph is two books in one.
Because Truth Matters, Part one equips Christians to defend the
essential truths of the historic Christian faith. In Part two,
Hank explains why life matters more and how we can
experience the height of human existence union with God. Prepare
to move past intellectually knowing about God to experientially knowing
God in Christ. To receive your copy of Truth Matters,
Life Matters More, the unexpected beauty of an authentic Christian
life called eight eight eight seven thousand CRI, and make
a gift to support the Christian Research Institutes Life Changing
Outreaches eight eight eight seven thousand CRI or visit us
at equipped dot org.