Transcript

This is your chance to ask us your Bible question on American Family Radio

>> Alex McFarland: It's Fire Away Friday on Exploring the Word. This is your chance to ask us your Bible question. You can email your question@wordfr.net or visit facebook.com exploringtheword.

>> Bert Harper: It's Fire Away Friday on American Family Radio.

>> Alex McFarland: One of the verses that I really love in John, chapter five, and it's in red ink because these are the words of Christ. But in John 5, 39, Jesus said, search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life. And they are they which testify of me. Search the scriptures. They testify of Jesus. Well, we welcome you to this edition of Exploring the word. Alex McFarland here along with Bert Harper. And we're in the studio with Brent Austin, our engineer and producer also. And this is a prerecorded because Bert and I are traveling, so we can't take live calls. But what we're going to do in this hour is go over questions that you all have sent in. And if you ever want to communicate with us, we do love to hear from you. And we read each and every email, and it's@wordfr.net, w o r d wordfr.net, if you ever want to submit a question.

Bert says to understand the Bible, look for Jesus

And, Bert, before we get to some questions, I love this verse in John 5 where Jesus is sharing about, as always, salvation and his purpose. He said, that he had come to bear witness of the truth. and then he talks about God's word. Search the scriptures for they testify of me. Norm Geisler used to always say, to understand the Bible, look for Jesus. That's really true, isn't it?

>> Bert Harper: It really is. And when you read that, first thing that came into my mind was the two on the road to Emmaus. And when Jesus met them, what did he do? He showed himself out of the Old Testament. There it is. And, Jesus, said that. And then Jesus did that. Now, that's pretty strong. He said it and then he did it. And he did it for those two people. And they came back thrilled that Jesus had risen. And he, this is the Messiah that was from the Old Testament. So, Alex, it is great in the Scriptures, man, make a beeline for Jesus on every page and, every sermon you preach and I preach. Listen, Jesus is going to be lifted up and, he's going to be, shared. And that's what we want to do with our life and what we want to do on this program as well, isn't it?

>> Alex McFarland: Well, amen. Amen. You know, you mentioned the Emmaus road and that's in Luke 24, by the way. And I've often thought about this, how I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall there at that Bible study, because in Luke 24, beginning at 13 and following, it says, beginning at Moses and the prophets, he showed them all things in the scriptures concerning him.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: And, you know, folks, when you read about, well, even back in Genesis 3:15, that the seed of the woman would crush the head of the serpent. And you read about Isaiah 7:14, how a virgin will conceive, and his name will be Emmanuel. God with us. Isaiah 9:6, Micah 5:2, he'd be born in Bethlehem. Psalm M:22. They would pierce his hands and his feet. Isaiah 50:3, like a lamb to the slaughter. And by his stripes we are healed. when I read all these Old Testament scriptures, by the way, that were written hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. In fact, the Old Testament was completed 400 B.C. the Book of Malachi. And then in the pages of the New Testament, we find Jesus, who did come. He was born. He lived a sinless life. He did the miracles. He rose from the dead. This is the Savior, folks. And Bert doesn't it. no matter how many times you hear it, no matter how often you read it, no matter how deeply you ponder it, I mean, this is the greatest story ever told. And it just so happens to be real.

>> Bert Harper: It really is. And, here's what's amazing about the Word of God and Jesus being the Word. recently I went back over Colossians. And Colossians is an awesome book. I think every time I read it, I am more impressed at the depth of the book of Colossians. But again, I had an old message, and I decided, well, I want to look at it, rework it. I saw something new. His mercies are new every morning. But I just want to tell you, unsearchable. Unsearchable is the word that gets to me concerning the depths of the scripture, showing who Jesus Christ is, what he's done, where he is, what he's going to do. And that's, what we want to do on exploring the Word. Make much of Jesus. And, we're going to do this today by asking these questions. And we're going to do our best to give a solid answer, as precise as we can. Some questions deserve more space than others. but we're going to do our best to answer those questions.

Alex: Does God listen to prayers of unsaved people

And I have one that I wanted to start off with, if that's all right. Alex, this comes from an individual and asked this question, and it's not the first time it's been asked. Does God listen to prayers of those who are unsaved?

>> Alex McFarland: Wow, good question. I got a similar question on the road just recently. Does God hear the prayers?

>> Bert Harper: Is there a difference in hear and listen?

>> Alex McFarland: I think so. this is what I would say. and scholars use the word omniscient, which means all knowledge. And the Bible tells us that God knows all the thoughts of men. I mean, you think about that. There's not a word on our tongue, but that God knows it all together. So by virtue of his omniscience, God knows everything. And he hears the prayers even of atheists. Now, God is not necessarily obligated to respond. Just like I think about this like a mother that, you know, she calls her children in for supper, okay, you've played enough in the backyard. Come on in. She's talking to her children. Now, she might hear the children laughing and playing in the neighbor's backyard, but those aren't her children. And, I know very famously, some years ago, a Christian leader said that God doesn't hear the prayers of some people. I think God, God hears and knows everything, but, he is only obligated to respond to his born again children. Now he may. Bert. I was sharing the gospel with an atheist who said he prayed. He was almost in a terrible car wreck. And he said, God save me. And, he had not become a Christian yet. And I said, well, see, God answered that prayer. And he said, well, I don't know about that. I said, well, you said you cried out to God and you were certain to be in this terrible car crash. And just with a, fraction of a second, you were safely missed from this oncoming truck. I said, you know, you prayed and you were uninjured. You know, I think God probably, when we get to heaven, we're going to find out a lot of things God did on our behalf and maybe even in response to our prayers. For God to respond to the prayers of an unsaved person does not violate his nature nor his word, does it?

>> Bert Harper: It does not. And he's graceful, he's merciful. That's who he is. when we say God is love, we really do mean that. And the Bible means that more than we do because all we're doing is quoting what the word of God says. But, you know, when he does respond to believers, no is an answer. And, I've heard a lot of people Turning away from God because they said God did not answer my prayer. He may have, but you didn't like his answer. you was talking about a mom and her children, calling them for, you know, the meal. I asked my dad several things, and guess what? He said no. I remember I looked.

>> Alex McFarland: Which is a dad's prerogative.

>> Bert Harper: Exactly. I was in the eighth grade, and, you know, I was on the basketball team. I wanted to grow a little bit more. And I asked my dad, I said, hey, Dad, I knew some guys that did it that said, could I, stay back in the eighth grade? Because in high school, you could only play four years. And I, knew I needed to do it. And he said, no, you're going on. I want to just tell you. I'm glad my dad said no. When I got to be my senior year, I'm so glad he knew to say no. So when God says no, or, he says, not now. Not now. That's an answer. Because I've asked my mom and my dad certain things, and they said, no, not now. Didn't say no. Didn't say yes, but they did say, not now. And sometimes it says yes, but he does hear, but he does not have to respond. But many times, I think it's many, not just seldom, Alex. Many times he does hear that prayer, and he responds even to a lost individual, a lost world.

>> Alex McFarland: And of course, the prayer that is guaranteed to get a, yes, is the sinner's prayer.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: Dear Jesus, please save my soul. Now, there will be countless, countless other prayers that you'll pray along the journey of life. And, you know, oftentimes, you know, we think about praying for God to meet a need, which he does. But very often, prayer is about us growing. And not only what God might do around us, outside of us, but what God might do in us.

>> Bert Harper: I have found out growth in praying. Okay. To know God better, I suggest this. Read the Bible as you pray. When you pray, after you pray, get, a sense. And if you don't know what to pray, look at the Scriptures. I found out several prayers that Paul would pray for the Colossian Church, for the Ephesian Church, and, for individuals. listen, those are effective prayers, and we need to learn to use them for the glory of God.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

Are there prophets in the church today? Great question, Alex

Well, we've got a question that I just, got yesterday, actually. are there prophets today? And there was a man. I'm not going to give his name, but there was a man. He recently died. And he, as I guess 10 years ago people were asking, is this guy a prophet and do you follow him? And I began to read and this particular person, was incorrect on quite a number of his prophecies. and I said no, I don't think he is a biblical prophet. He's not a prophet in the scriptural sense. And it was interesting because this particular prophet that those that followed him or professed prophet, those that followed him would just about get angry for those that didn't. so let's talk about are there prophets in the church today? And I'm gonna let you know.

>> Bert Harper: Okay. There is a prophetic word, but it may not be a prophet and prophecy prophets in the Old Testament, okay, look at Daniel and he has a lot to say about the future. Isaiah has a lot to about the future. What does Amos cover? Mostly the present. He you know, there wasn't a lot of prophetic promises in the book so the prophet would foretell, but they also fourth tell. In other words, tell truth in the sense that we four tell. And what is God doing and what will be the result of what we do? Yes, there's a prophetic word today as far as foretelling. I think they're bound up in the scriptures, Alex, that you get it from the word of God that God has told. This is what we're going to do. It says in Matthew 24 about the word of God being proclaimed around the world. Basically yeah, I believe it's going to happen. I didn't see it happening until now. We see how the cause of Internet, the word of God is going to places that before it could never get there before. And so I think it's according to what part of the prophet you look at. That's my answer.

>> Alex McFarland: Great question, great question. And do you know that you know the prophets of all like Daniel and Isaiah and Jeremiah and Ezekiel, that really laid out the whole track of human history. I'm going to say this. We don't really need that.

>> Bert Harper: We got the word of God right.

>> Alex McFarland: We do. Let me tell you the proclamation that needs to go forth now is the saving gospel of Jesus Christ forth telling the truth telling. So I don't think there are prophets today.

>> Bert Harper: I agree with you.

>> Alex McFarland: There are people with much, much discernment. But prophets as of old, I don't think so. This is exploring the word, a pre recorded edition of the show. Stay tuned. We're back with more of the questions that have come in and God's answers after this.

>> Bert Harper: Will you take a moment and Celebrate life with me.

Last year Preborn helped to rescue over 67,000 babies from abortion

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>> Alex McFarland: As we go.

>> Bert Harper: Let us make disciples.

>> Alex McFarland: As we go, let us tell the world of Christ.

Exploring the Word is answering questions from Word readers

>> Bert Harper: Welcome back to Exploring the Word. And this is Fire Away Friday. And we are not taking the calls today. We're doing this, a pre record. sometimes we're on the road and I have to admit, sometimes I'm with my grandkids. I've made that pledge. I was going to spend some time with them. but anyway this is one we got the questions from Word. We got questions that was asked us personally, especially with Alex. He's on the road so much and he does Q and A a lot and so a lot of these are coming from him. So we're excited about that and look forward to answering these questions. We hope, hope you'll enjoy these because usually when one person has asked the question that means a lot of other people were wondering about it. So Alex, you got any more questions?

Why are there so many different denominations and which branch of Christianity do we affirm

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, somebody asked and we've had variations of this question over the years. But why are there so many different denominations and which they said branch of Christianity do we affirm? Well, let's talk about this for a little bit and I want to talk if we could and let's invest time, ah, to do this justice. What are the primary doctrines common to all Christians? And then there are some secondary things that are closely held convictions and important. But really, and I've said this many times, some years ago, early, early in the life of this show, I interviewed an author named Stephen Prothero. And Stephen Prothero, I believe he's at Boston University. I don't know if he's a Christian, but he wrote a book that was about world religions. This is about 15 years ago. And he assumed, that all of the different branches of Christianity were vastly different. And I had him on the, I think this was before you, Bert. It was back in the days of myself and Marvin. But he said, surprisingly, surprisingly, all the denominations, they have some distinctives, but they affirm the core things. And I'm talking Baptist, Methodist, Presbyterian, assembly of God, Greek, Orthodox, Catholic, Protestant. They affirm the Trinity, Father, Son, Holy Spirit, Jesus being truly God and truly human, but not fallen human. Salvation is the undeserved gift of God's grace. The, death and resurrection of Jesus. And Christ is the atonement. And his blood was shed, as the payment for man's sin. Christ rose from the dead. He literally came out of the grave. And one day Christ will return and, the world, the evil, fallen world systems will be vanquished and ultimately King Jesus will rule and reign with those who believe in him. And really all true denominations, believe that. Now, I will grant you there's a lot of different. I mean, there's traditional, contemporary, and there are what we call secondary issues, but really on the primary, the core non negotiables. Christendom for 2000 years has largely spoken with a unified voice.

If we didn't have denominations, I guess there'd be one global church

>> Bert Harper: Well, let me ask a question. Along with that, what is the alternative to denominations?

>> Alex McFarland: well, I guess if we didn't have the various denominations, I guess there'd be one global church.

>> Bert Harper: There's an answer. What did we have before we had denominations? A state church. You have that. Okay. And we don't want that. it's proven the fallacy of that. What you tried to try to do the state church, and what happened in the thirteen colonies here in America, and each one of them were promoting the different ones, Maryland Catholic, of course. And then you would have some that were the Episcopal, what basically Church of England, but, you know, coming out of that. And then you had, Rhode Island Baptist in Pennsylvania. Roger Williams. Yeah. And the Quakers in Pennsylvania and the Baptist that was in Rhode Island. From that came the freedom of choice of the denominations. So I know it's confusing, but you better praise God for denominations and not having a state church.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly.

>> Bert Harper: Telling you the tax money and all the things that would go along with that. You see what I'm talking about? And you did a great job of telling the basics of what we have. But in place of decrying old denominations, there's some good in that, Alex, even though it's those secondary things, we better keep them secondary.

>> Alex McFarland: Exactly, exactly. And hey, the theological, let's call it the irreducible minimum, below which we do not go in first. John 5:1 and I realize there's a lot more to a biblical worldview and we need to talk about it. But first, John 5:1 says, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Wow, that's pretty broad, isn't it? And we are to believe in Jesus. Now, I think that if you've really, had an experience with Christ, your life will change. You know, you don't just say, oh, I believe there was a man named Jesus, and go on your merry way. I mean, if Christ has really come into your life, your life is going to be different now. as I read and study, and I've read a lot of the history of the various denominations, America was birthed. And this was not only in England, but in the colonies. Many of what we now call denominations were Christians coming together to really kind of pool their resources for world missions. I know in the Baptist world, there is in the Baptist world something called the cooperative program.

>> Bert Harper: Southern Baptist.

>> Alex McFarland: Southern Baptist, yeah. And I mean to a large degree. And I will talk about some of the theological, let's call it theological affinity groups. The Wesleyans and the Methodists, congregated together for certain reasons. And the Presbyterian and Dutch Reformed and those that were more Calvinistic, they congregated together. And understandably so, the Baptist. A big, big impetus for coming together and forming the Southern Baptist Convention was cooperative, partnership for world missions. But some of the secondary issues that are not kind of, fundamentals on the level of, say, the deity of Christ Jesus, the Son of God, non negotiable, that's fundamental. But things like the form of church government, the arrangement of, what do you believe about spiritual gifts? okay, what about baptism? What about even things like communion? Open, communion, closed communion. And let me say the roles of women within the church. Now I'm gonna make a statement, then I'll. And of course, there are what we call tertiary issues. I mean, the age of the earth, the relationship of Israel and the church, views about predestination. Now, here's the thing. Soteriology, and that's the Greek word soterios, which is about salvation. The blood of Jesus was shed to wash our sin away. Through faith in Christ, we receive forgiveness and salvation. On that we all agree. what about the roles of women in the church? I certainly have my closely held convictions, which I think are biblical. but if we agree on soteriology, I'll try to show grace on ecclesiology.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: How we run the church. Bert, what do you.

>> Bert Harper: You are exactly right and when we don't do that, I'm telling you, we are hurting the evangelistic effort of the church. We're hurting the Great Commission when we do make these things. Even using, okay, which version of the Bible should you use? You know, and, there are some that you know better than others. You know, I agree with that. But to make these issues something that is going to deter me from working with someone and knowing that their brothers and sisters here at afr, even in our headquarters, we got many denominations.

>> Alex McFarland: Right here, right in this building.

>> Bert Harper: Right in this building.

>> Alex McFarland: And, and they all love Jesus.

>> Bert Harper: We love Jesus with all of our heart, soul and mind. And I just want to tell you, it may affect where you choose to go to church every, every Sunday, you know what I mean? how those belief. But it should not affect you in the area of working together like for a ministry like afr, working for a ministry like Operation Christmas Child, Eight Days of Hope. No, man, we want to work together to share the good news of Jesus Christ. And, and we need to be careful about being too critical of each other, because when we become too critical of each other, it really makes us sound like we're talking out of our mouth, you know, different things. You know, we're saying, oh, we can't do that because of this. We can't do that. And then we say, yeah, but they named Jesus as Lord. so, ah, again, there's a balance there, Alex, that I think we can only reach through the power of the word of God and the Holy Spirit.

Alex Harper: John 13:35 says we must love one another

>> Alex McFarland: comment, if you would, on this verse. John 13:35. By this will all men know that you are my disciples. If you have love. One for another.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, this is the truth. I'm going to go back to a movie. my favorite actor of all time is Jimmy Stewart.

>> Alex McFarland: Okay, he was going to say John Wayne.

>> Bert Harper: Well, John Wayne's third. I like, Gary Cooper second, John Wayne's third. But anyway, Jimmy Stewart was in a movie called Shenandoah. And, there's this guy that was going to come and ask him to marry his only daughter. And he asked the man, Jimmy Stewart playing the part, he said, do you like her? You know, only way Jimmy Stewart could like. You know, there's some things that I might not like about individuals, but love covers a multitude of sin, even that part of not liking them. So, Alex, we're to love one another and they could tell us that we were Christ's disciples, why we loved one another. The other thing that goes along with that Is they will tell you and they'll glorify with your good works. Part of that good works is what? Working together with some people that you might not completely disagree with. listen, you and I have been working, what, 14 years now. You and I have been together, and about the only thing I know that we have looked at and said I don't know about, is pets being in heaven.

>> Alex McFarland: Let's go down to heaven.

>> Bert Harper: Yeah. And, I think.

>> Alex McFarland: But I have my reasons that I believe there will be animals and at least, a fighting chance that even our pets, the more highly domesticated animals. Now, Bert doesn't agree.

>> Bert Harper: Well, I believe animals are there. That's a given. But, whether this dog, you know, my dog bit me, so he can't go to heaven anyway, I won't go into all that. But you know, that. That agreement, brother, bound us together. But guess what? We would love one another just based upon brothers in Christ.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. Amen. Well, you know, it's like, Abraham said to lot we be brethren.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: You know what was so special to me? This is many years ago, but in Greensboro, North Carolina, I was a youth pastor for 11 years, and we did a lot of events. and we brought in Josh McDowell, and we brought in speakers and, a very, young and then unknown Frank Turek. People like that, brought in coach Tom Landry.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. The coach of God's team. Oh, I'm sorry. Dallas Devil. Yeah, go ahead, folks.

>> Alex McFarland: You can send your commentary on Mr. Harper to wordfr.net but, yeah, we had 8,000 kids come to the Greensboro Coliseum to hear coach Tom Landry. but I remember going around knocking on every door, every youth pastor that I could find from every flavor of Christianity, and it was such a blessing. Well, it was 2007, and my dad was, not doing well, and he did pass. And, one day I went up to the hospital, and Eryn Moss, he pastors, or he pastored Tabernacle Methodist, which is a great conservative Methodist church in Guilford County. And he was there praying over my dad because word got out Alex's dad was up at Moses Cone Hospital. Another day, Dale Dragomir, who was at the Quaker church there, was, I forget the name. Some evangelical friends church was up there at the hospital praying over my dad. Then David Crabtree, who was at the assembly of God. One day I went by the hospital because everybody knew, and my mother and dad had a lot of debt from the farm. And, I'm telling you, Angie and I were in a tough spot emotionally and financially. But I thought about this. The Body of Christ, the big Methodist church, the pastor was there, the Quaker, the Assembly of God church. And I want to tell you folks, no matter where you are, if you're having a Thanksgiving dinner, try to get multiple churches to come to it. If you're doing an outreach event, I will tell you the power of God and revival is all around when the body of Christ comes together, Alex, does.

>> Bert Harper: That show humility and not pride?

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: In other words? No. You got to do it my way.

>> Alex McFarland: We need each other.

>> Bert Harper: We knew each other.

>> Alex McFarland: The body needs the body.

>> Bert Harper: We do. And this is so important. And afr you and I both came here, we came from our backgrounds. You were raised Presbyterian, got saved in a Baptist church. Yeah. And the work you did at Focus, then you went to Greenville, and evangelists, you'd go to different churches. I came here after pastoring a Southern Baptist church for years and years. And I got to say, you know the main thing I asked myself when I came on board here and started doing exploring the Word, I said, what really matters in heaven? Bert, if it doesn't matter real big in heaven, don't make it a bigger issue down here than it should be.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Now again, I think you have to have a biblical view of that, not just Burt Harper's interpretation. God makes a big deal out of loving one another. God makes a big deal out about his word being the word of God. John 7, thy word is settled in heaven. That's it. And so Alex, I think that is the way we go. The question was, why are there so many denominations? I agree probably there shouldn't be as many as they are, I think. So some of them have split over stuff that, ah, you know, we could have, but sometimes that distinctive is important.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah.

And um, you know, I've got an opinion on about everything

And you know, I've kind of got an opinion on about everything. And there, there are some, you know, we might call it sanctified speculation. But then there are the things that are the known core truths. Christ and his resurrection.

>> Bert Harper: Let's stick to them, Right?

>> Alex McFarland: Maximizing on that.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. we'll be back with more of the questions here on Fireway Friday.

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>> Alex McFarland: It's about the cross us. It's about my sin. It's about how Jesus came to be born once so that we could be born again.

Alex and Bert are back with a pre recorded edition of Exploring the Word

Welcome back to Exploring the Word. Alex and Bert here. And this is a pre recorded edition, but we hope you'll still listen. We can't take live calls today, but we are going through the mailbag and we get literal letters in the mail and we get emails too. And we love to hear from you all. If you ever need to reach out to us, Bert, or us, it will come to us and we'll read it. It's wordfr.net but, Bert, I got to say this. It's been very special, the fall of 2025, because, our third book came out, Broad Street Publishers, we just think they are fantastic. And we did a book on 100 Bible questions. Then we did one on 100 Bible questions for families. And this fall we had 100 Bible questions on prophecy and the end times. And if you would pray for it and pick up a copy and, if you would, if there's a Barnes and Noble in your city, inquire about it and ask. I know the family book was in all the Barnes and Nobles across the country and we just hope it's a blessing to people. So 100 Bible questions on prophecy and the end times. And that's our brand new book.

>> Bert Harper: And we tell our listeners you help write it because you sent the questions in. And, so it's so helpful to do that.

Bird and Alex recommend biblical approaches to finding a spouse

Well, I've got this question. Some questions that we get are straight Bible questions, you know, and then others are relational questions, I guess. why, why would you Ask us that it's because of a biblical worldview. And we try. So should we bring a biblical worldview to all questions? I think we should. Okay, here it is. This writer says, I'm 28 years old. I just really am really confused about what to do when it comes to relationships. In finding a spouse, what would Bird and Alex recommend what to do to get on God honoring path?

>> Alex McFarland: Wow. Great, great question. And, you know, whenever we do the show, I know this to be true. It's not just Bert and Alex two people. There are four people here. Because everything I've said has been, woven into my heart and soul through Angie, too. And I know, really, if you're listening to Bert and Alex, you're really listening to Alex, Nanji and Bert and Jan. You are.

>> Bert Harper: I had, the other day, someone met Jan and said, oh, you are Jan that Burt talks about. And, listen, we do. But let me just say this. Pray. I really do seek God. pray for wisdom and, let God lead you. I think there's things you don't do. You don't go to a bar to find out who your spouse might be. there are certain places that you don't go. I know there's dating sites these days, and I'm cautious of that. I would not necessarily recommend that. I don't. But I believe that if you're open to it and you pray, let God lead you. fulfill God's purpose. Do not let that become your guiding light for happiness or for joy. Let Jesus be your joy, and then let that overflow come in your heart and your life. And I think God will direct your paths.

>> Alex McFarland: Well, Matthew 6:33 says, Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. And all these other things be added to you. Now, the Bible is very clear. Proverbs 18:22. He who finds a wife finds a good thing. and the Bible also says in Hebrews 13:4, marriage is honorable in all things. Okay, so God affirms finding a mate and finding a spouse. And, Bert, you're right. Pray about it. a lot of people have said, marry your best friend. And that's true. But the first and most primary consideration for a Christian is that any potential spouse be Christian. Josh McDowell would famously say, every date is a potential mate. And the criteria, the number one thing must be that you're in agreement spiritually, because that is the most important thing of life. And so, only, pursue seriously somebody who is united with you in your commitment.

>> Bert Harper: To Christ and take time to get to know them. Don't do a quote, a rush, rush courtship. I don't line just say, I know some people that faked it for a while, you know, and, it ends in disaster. And it's. And time, is a great test to see if what they believe is real. And yeah, there's going to be surprises and everything. And keep your relationship pure physically. Keep that. Do not let the physical relationship take over. If not, you will have a distorted view of what God wants in that friendship and that relationship. And you're disobeying God. So you want to obey God in this relationship that you're, that you're seeking. And do not go to pornography. Do not, do not go there. Do not let that be a part. So we can tell a lot of things that you don't do. But I think you do trust God in some God. Paul. Paul was saying if, you stay single, you can serve me without, without, checking. Before you and I do, we need to check with our wives, which God honors. And, and, and. But if did not have a wife, okay, you could. Oh, yeah. I'll head that way. Yeah, I'll do that. But, when there's a wife, there's that that Paul was talking about because you are pleasing them and you want to please them. So don't look at that as the, okay, I'm not married. I am, you know, there is no hope for me. So make God first in your life, no matter what.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, Bert, the last two summers of our summer camps, I have noticed, especially with our college age guys, during the Q and A, we get the male counselors and chaperones with the guys and the female counselors and chaperones with the young ladies. But, for the last two summers, I have had guys that are late teens, early 20s ask questions about how did I get married to Angie? And we've been married 35 years. Glory to God. and how did, Jed Clampett here get a, very, very beautiful wife? well, it was the grace of God. But I've said this to guys, and I want to say this just for one, be practical and pray about it. But guys, here's the thing. You know what women want, I truly believe, and I'm assuming that you're walking with the Lord and you're seeking a, ah, woman that is walking with the Lord. But guys, read and, be polite and speak in complete sentences and bathe and brush your teeth. I'm serious. I mean, you know, if you.

>> Bert Harper: Hygiene. You mean hygiene is important?

>> Alex McFarland: Come on, guys. If you're looking for, a woman, then make yourself presentable. I mean, really. And, you know, financially, spiritually, make the most of what God's given you.

If you're presenting yourself as something you're not, it's a false sale

But, look, I don't know that good quality girls are looking for a guy who's, like, an ace gamer at age 30, you know, make yourself marriage material. And I'm just being very straight with you here.

>> Bert Harper: Okay, let me add something else to that. kind of a qualifier. Don't quit doing it after you get her.

>> Alex McFarland: Yes.

>> Bert Harper: That. That is a false sale. If you're presenting yourself as something you're not, it's a false sale. So be who you are in Christ. Clean your act up, clean yourself up and stay that way, for the glory of God.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: And so this is the best we could do, and I hope that helps some people.

>> Alex McFarland: I heard it said one time, marriage is not so much finding the right person, it's being the right person.

>> Bert Harper: I agree with that.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bert Harper: Good word. Good word.

>> Alex McFarland: And God is so good. Marriage and family. The second, second greatest gift God will ever give you, second only to salvation, is a Christian spouse.

>> Bert Harper: Amen.

>> Alex McFarland: For real? For real.

Alex: Can we trust God to gather the Bible? Bert: Absolutely

Okay. Someone asked the question about the Bible. Who chose what books would be in the Bible?

>> Bert Harper: let me make one statement. This is your area that you have studied more than me, and, you remember it all. I've learned a lot from you in this. But here's. I want to make a general statement. Then you take it away. If you trust God to give, to write the Bible, you can trust God to gather the Bible. Now, who did he use to have the Bible written? Men. Who did he use to gather the Bible? Men. Alex, can we trust God?

>> Alex McFarland: we can absolutely trust God. Not only he inspired His Word, he preserved His Word. The spirit of God illuminates our heart, that we can understand God's Word. But I believe, just like God, sovereignly presided over the giving and the writing of His Word, I think God providentially oversaw the, accumulation of His Word. And so let me just say this very briefly. And there's several good books, and one of the greatest books is by Norm Geisler and William Nix on. It's called From God to How We Got the Bible. Great book. I think it was published by Moody Publishing. And we talk about this in my book, Core Truths for an Unshakeable Faith. We talk about canonicity. One of the core beliefs is that we believe the Bible is God's holy word and it is authoritative. but, I truly, truly, without reservation, believe in the canon of Scripture as we have the 66 books of the Bible. 39, Old Testament, Genesis through Malachi, 27, New Testament, Matthew through Revelation. Bert without reservation. I believe that is the canon of holy writ that God gave the human.

>> Bert Harper: Race, that nothing was left out, that, that should have not been left out. Nothing was added that should have been added. We believe these 66 books are what is needed. And when you see how they fit together, the last two that was brought in in the New Testament was Revelation and Book of James. And, when you see the procedure by which they judged them and made them, and now that we have them, you say, okay, God, you intervened to the very last, book and was added. And I believe that with all my heart.

>> Alex McFarland: Alex There was a book that came out in 1990, and it won the Christian Book of the Year, and it was called the Canon of Scripture. C A N O n the canon. When we talk about the Bible in its entirety as really a Latin word, it means measuring stick canon, not as in a, battle weapon, but C A N O n the entirety of Scripture. FF Bruce, who was a great scholar, wrote this book on the canon of Scripture. And for example, like Martin Luther, the great reformer, he, didn't like the Book of James so much. And, didn't he call it that. That read of an epistle?

>> Bert Harper: I think it was, yes.

>> Alex McFarland: And the ancient Jews at one time, not all, but there were some that questioned Song of Solomon. Well, here's the thing. The Old Testament canon, which would have been extant or existent in Jesus day, Genesis through Malachi, the Law and the Prophets, it was well known 400 years before the birth of Christ. And part of the reason we know this is because when they translated the Old Testament from Hebrew to Greek about two centuries before the birth of Christ, it was called the septuagint, sept prefix means of the 70, because supposedly 70 men worked for 70 days. But what was the Old Testament, that they translated what you and I know as Genesis through Malachi. So really, Old Testament canonicity is not questioned. But the New Testament, it begins with four biographies of Jesus, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Book of Acts, which is early Church history. Then you've got Romans and the letters. Then you've got, the Book of Revelation, the final book, which really is a perfect closure to the Bible, especially.

>> Bert Harper: When you come to that last chapter and see what it says. The witness that it is come Lord Jesus, come.

>> Alex McFarland: Well the early church and this is very, very key. I'm not going to say they chose the canon, but they recognized the canon that the Holy Spirit had given. And they would ask questions like was this book in question, the 27 New Testament books, was it written by an apostle, someone who had seen the risen Lord? did it have Christological focus? Was it about Jesus and was it true to the rest of the corpus of Scripture? And did it exhibit the power of God? And eventually, and you've got to understand they didn't have electricity, they didn't have printing presses. They were under Jewish, Greek and Roman persecutions. I think it's amazing they got it together as quickly as they did.

>> Bert Harper: I agree with you and I believe it is of God. when you see this and you read the history of this, in the preservation, I mean they, men have tried to critique it, they've done everything they could to stamp it out, to destroy it, to discredit it. And guess what? It still stands to this day. And so the word of God, yes, you can trust the 66 books and know and find what we said earlier. Find Jesus on every page.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. and I get this question from a lot of younger people because there's talk about, you know, the ancient wisdom and Gospel of Thomas and the Gospel of Peter. There are plenty of manuscripts from the ancient world from you know, Heraclitus and Aristotle, the annals of Caesar, Thucydides, to some of the writings that were from this contemporary with the early church. and they are historical curiosities, but they're not God's inspired word. I do not think there are any missing books. And I don't think Constantine chose the Bible. I think, I think the Bible that we have is what the Spirit of God gave. As Peter said in second Peter 1, 1921, we have a sure word of prophecy, God's holy word. Let's read it.

>> Bert Harper: Amen. The word of God is quick and powerful and sharper than any two edged sword. It makes a difference in your life. Use it for your own edification. Share it with other people and let, let God reign in your life as you live your life for the Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you for being with us on exploring the Word on this. Fire away Friday. Tell someone about AFR and exploring the Word but more importantly, tell them about Jesus.