Revealing the Answers: Bible Questions Demystified by Alex McFarland

0:00 Apart from the spiritual implications, there's a pragmatic reason that cultures should care about the state of the home because, you know, the health of any nation is measured by the health of the family. Kids are full of questions and it is really important that parents especially have the answers and the answers that are going to encourage their kids to walk closer with the Lord. And with us today is Alex McFarland. He's the co-author of 100 Bible Questions and Answers for Families. And Alex, it is great to have you here on Charisma News to talk about these things that are often just kind of led up to maybe a pastor or a Sunday school teacher to try to explain to kids.

0:48 But it's so important that families are the ones that have the answers. Let's talk about this book and I'm excited to have you here. Well, thank you, John. It's great to be back. I've followed your career and all that you do for the Lord through broadcasting and I have such great respect for you and just such a great appreciation for Charisma House and Charisma News. So I count this a real honor. Thank you for having me. Thank you for writing this book and giving us an excuse to be able to talk again. Let's talk about the importance of answering these questions for families because, man, I know I was a very curious kid and thank God my father and mother had a heart for apologetics and finding out the real defense of our faith.

1:39 And so from a young age, I knew that I could trust the Bible as true and what the Bible was saying, but it's not always easy for people to be able to understand how to explain some of these things to kids. Let's talk about this book and there's a hundred Bible questions. I know there's probably even more, but what are some of these questions that we can focus on in our conversation today? Well, you know, family is so important and the Word of God has so much to say about marriage, about parenting, about raising the next generation. And several years ago, we did a book of 100 Bible questions and answers, and the Lord really blessed that book and in my travels and not only, you know, the touring, which I do almost incessantly.

2:37 We do a lot of camps and conferences, but we just begin to collect more and more and more questions. And the publisher came to us and said, look, we really want to do one. Would you do a volume two? And I said, I would love to do that. May we focus it on family? Because, you know, kids have questions. And by the way, as I'm sure you know, John, here in America and in the Western world, the family is under attack. And what? Yeah. I mean, there are a lot of people very concerned about the future of the family. But I'll tell you who's concerned about the family are sociologists, not necessarily preachers, although certainly those of us in ministry, you know, are.

3:26 And we want to affirm what the Bible says. But just apart from the spiritual implications, there's a pragmatic reason that cultures should care about the state of the home, because, you know, the health of any nation is measured by the health of the family, really. And so we did this book and we we got actual questions from parents, from children, from teenagers, from seniors. But really, the whole goal of it is, of course, to get people into the Word of God and to show people that there are good apologetics answers.

4:07 And every every question has a good answer. But really, as we say in the book, John, and as as I say to youth, I said this to twelve hundred and fifty teenagers in seven youth camps all through the summer of twenty twenty three. Look, everything hangs on the family. And so let me say one more word before we get into some of these questions, perhaps there was a University of Southern California at Santa Barbara. Recently published a study that was in psychology today. And I mean, the greatest predictor for not only emotional health, emotional stability, just general happiness and and thriving fulfillment, but also physical health and even financial prosperity.

5:02 According to secular psychologists, the greatest measurement for the most accurate measurement for the well-being and prosperity of any individual is their their home life. And I mean, we as Christians, we know that God invented marriage, God invented family. God cares about family. But even beyond that, we're talking about health, emotional security and even financial prosperity. We all really have a vested interest in affirming family. So I tell teens, I say, look, you'll be happy.

5:43 You're going to be successful. Lose at anything else, but when with your family. With your family. And so we as much as I love theology, apologetics, worldview data, we are champions for family. And we think that the whole body of Christ should be as well. Amen. Amen. I totally agree with that. And the family has been under such an attack, especially when it comes to identity. And identity really comes through the father. We know that biblically, but also through the father of the home, where in cases where the father isn't in the home, the statistics are just astronomically difficult for people to overcome a lot of those things.

6:32 It's primarily because the dad isn't able to speak identity. Who is this? Who is his son? Who is his daughter? What does that mean to be a son or a daughter and have a father? Mothers are very important. Don't get us wrong, but the statistics that show absent fathers, really, that's part of the downfall of society right now. And Alex, I want to ask you kind of in a response to that, you've been doing apologetics for a long time and teaching about this. And you've got a radio program that you do. And over the last, you know, many years, what are some questions that you've seen come up recently that you would have ten years ago you wouldn't have included in your book that you are now?

7:22 Oh, great question. John, let's go like 20 years, 10 years and the present day. 20 years ago, when I was first on college campuses debating atheists and then talking with, you know, late teens, early 20s, young, young people that were in a faith crisis. The questions were about evidence. You know, how do we really know Jesus rose from the dead? How do we really know the manuscripts are trustworthy, that the Bible is really the word of God? Give me the evidence. By 10 years ago, when you and I first probably did some television together on several occasions, the questions were more not so much evidential, but more emotional.

8:07 Like, if God loves me, why am I hurting? Even questions about divorce. You know, if God is so good, why did my mom and dad split up? And if my parents really loved me, kids are asking this. Why wasn't I worth sticking around for? Very painful. But today, kids are asking questions about identity. Um, how do I know I was born in the right body? Maybe I'm a male, but I should have been a female. Does God care about my gender? I mean, so 10 years ago, John, I'm going to say even five years ago, we never would have had this conversation.

8:51 Kids that are professed believers claim to have had a born again experience, but yet are struggling with not just homosexual temptation, but, um, oh my goodness, wanting to transition to be a different gender. I mean, you know, kids ask questions about, um, how do I really know I'm a human being? Oh, wow. Yeah, I mean, wow. Believe it or not, there are even at some professed Christian schools. Yeah, I mean, there'll be questions about what is a human being? Can we even define or quantify what is a human being? And of course we can.

9:32 We're made in God's image and we are a sinner for whom Christ died. There's, you know, people who are in the church, they're in the church. We are a sinner for whom Christ died. There's, you know, philosophically, theologically, sociologically, there's a lot we can say about. Here is a definitive word on what is a human being. But let me be very straight with you. The Bible says in John 10 verse 10 that Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy. I honestly think there's a full out assault by Satan on what it means to be a human being.

10:13 The devil could not kill God. So he's tried to harm and deface, dehumanize the ones made in God's image. So, John, we're very, very much in a spiritual battle that it's not only a battle for the mind and beliefs. It's just a battle for reality right now. Wow, that is so true. You know, I guess this is showing my age now. I'm 38, but, you know, I kind of definitely relate to the I want to know the evidence. I want to know what it is. You know, can we really believe? Can we really trust that the Bible is true? And those things are still relevant.

10:54 That's still what we need to to understand and to to to defend our faith. But it's almost like these new things are like layers that are just kind of clouding that information. Or you can't get somebody to care about the fact that the Bible was true. The you know, written by 40 different authors over a period of 1600 years and three different continents and three different languages. But it tells one contiguous story of the redemption of man and God's love for us. You know, just the this whole thing of like you got to clear away a bunch of this other mud to get to the place where then people can can get there. Is this what you're seeing as well?

11:35 Absolutely, absolutely. You know, the gospel, the death, burial, the resurrection of Jesus for the sins of the world. That's first Corinthians 15, three through five. And we want people to believe the gospel and be born again and indwelt by the Spirit. By the Spirit of God. But nowadays, like you say, there's so many cobwebs and so many obstacles in the way. I mean, I think about like this where I sit right now, I'm about 200 miles from the Atlantic Ocean. I love the beach, you know. But if I want to get in the ocean, I've got to get in the car and drive for hours and then step into the water.

12:16 There are people that are fortunate enough to live in Florida and they all they have to do to get in the ocean is just go out their front door, step in the water. Now, let me just say this. There are people that they don't. Faith is not a problem. I've had people, even, you know, middle schoolers and high schoolers, they'll say, you know, I've always known God love me. I've just always known Jesus is real and I accepted Jesus at a very, very young age. I've just always known that Jesus is real. That's like the person that lives on the shore. They have to step into the water, but they're very close by.

12:57 It's not a hard lift, right? There are people that are 200 miles inland and they've got issues. Well, how do I know God is real? Why did all this bad stuff happen to me? And what we do in answering the questions and writing the books, doing apologetics, it's like apologetics is the automobile that takes them down to the water's edge. And sometimes it's a very long journey. Now, they still have to step into the water by faith, but it's like apologetics and worldview and just love and prayer and patience.

13:38 What we're trying to do is put them in a vehicle that will put them in a position to where they can take that step of faith and open their heart and life to Jesus Christ. You know, Alex, there's so many topics that people have questions about. How did you decide these? How did you narrow it down to just a hundred of these questions? Because I know you can probably narrow it down even further for bigger topics, but there's some very specific questions that people have now. How did you pick these hundred questions and questions and answers for families? You know, for one thing, I'm a pretty obsessive hoarder of questions and I keep journals and questions that I get on radio shows and things like that.

14:26 So I made my initial list and then we showed it to the publishing team and made some revisions. But then as I'm on the road speaking, I and my staff, we showed the list to people. And what's interesting is we had input even from children and from teenagers. All right, listen to this. There was a first grade boy and I don't know if he let's say he was, I don't know, eight, whatever age you're in in first grade, seven or eight years old. And this boy asked me, this little child, he said, why did God make people? And why did God make me? I mean, that that's as deep a question as any philosopher would answer.

15:09 You know, why are there human beings and why did God make me? And then we had a little girl, I think she was about a fourth or fifth grader, and she asked the question, why did God in the Old Testament allow men to have more than one wife? That's a good question. The polygamy in the Old Testament. And then moms and dads had questions, you know, mothers had questions about, you know, how can I get my kids to get along? Conflict resolution. How can I get my husband to spend more time with the family? Men had questions. How can I make sure that my child will have a biblical belief?

15:50 And, you know, I say to men, I say men, the greatest thing that you can ever do for your children is to love their mother. And I know marriage is not easy. My wife and I have been married 35 years, raised children, buried three parents, settled estates. Life is a rigorous, hard marathon, right? But I'm going to tell you the greatest joy. People ask me sometimes, John, you know, what we're proud of. Not in a prideful sense, you know, but we've filled up 49 Coliseums and written a few books and traveled to all but one or two continents.

16:41 But the thing that I'm most proud of is that I've stayed married to the same woman for 35 years and been true to her and she's been true to me. And I don't mean that prideful, but here's the thing I tell people. Your legacy and the greatest thing you'll ever do, second only to getting born again. Most important thing, be born again. Love Jesus, grow, but build a family. And that's why the questions in this book are designed to give answers in biblical depth, but really to encourage people to be a champion for family and specifically be an absolute go the distance participant in your own family.

17:29 So this book is really going to help parents and, you know, parents of kids and actually even I'm sure relating to husbands and wives as well. It's really going to help them be able to, I guess, overcome some of the inadequacies that they feel because they don't. I know sometimes it's just hard to even look at or address an issue because you don't have the answers already. This book is really going to help people be able to overcome some of those things. And I know the Bible has answers for all aspects of life, but there's a lot of things that are nuanced now that the Bible doesn't have a clear answer on.

18:11 How do you apply God's truth to some of these situations and can you give some examples? Great question. Yeah, because I mean there's so many things that exist now that the Bible doesn't specifically address, like, you know, identity theft or credit card theft or just the things that encroach on our time. I mean, one of the things I say to moms and dads about imparting a biblical worldview and imparting your values is make time for family meal time. And I know we're busy and all this, but think about this. From birth to high school graduation of 18 years.

18:57 And you and I know 18 years goes by in a flash. I mean, it sounds like a long time, nearly two decades, but it really goes by so quickly. One day the baby is taking first steps and you're going to blink and they're taking their steps across the stage to get their high school diploma. And so I say to moms and dads, be intentional. You know, there was a study, think about this, of any ethnicity in America, the least likely demographic to ever be arrested or serve jail time. And the lowest percentage of even things like traffic tickets are Jewish people. And the least likely ethnicity to ever get arrested are Jewish males.

19:48 And so sociologists wanted to find out why that was. Well, do you know what? Long story short, it's the bond to family and a faith community in the case of Jewish people, the synagogue. But a couple of things. One, at 13, Jewish boys and girls, there's a bar mitzvah and a bat mitzvah. You're not a boy anymore. You're a young man. And we the community of faith recognize you're a man. Now we bless you. We acknowledge your identity. Now act in accord with your true self. You're a young man, a man of the Torah. Now, I'm a Christian. I'm not advocating for Judaism.

20:33 I'm simply saying this. There is this milestone of a clear delineation from you were a child. You are now a young man or young woman. The other thing is that they recognize that the demographic most likely to still have family meal time five to seven nights a week are Jewish families. Now, I can almost hear moms and dads say, but but Alex, there's soccer, there's ballet, there's, you know, National Honor Society. There are all these extracurricular things. I'm challenging moms and dads, Christian parents, have a family meal.

21:14 And and I mean an unplugged meal. Now, moms and dads say to me, they say, oh, but 30 minutes without the phone, my my kids will get mad. I'm like, well, repeat after me. I am the parent. Say it like you mean it. I am the parent. And, you know, the golden rule, the one with the goal makes the rules. Moms and dads, you know, you pay for the phone, you pay for the Internet. You get to call the shots. So my point is to build a biblical worldview into the lives of your children. First of all, you need to be in church. There needs to be that larger faith community.

21:55 You need your children need to understand that as a Christian family, all of life is about stewardship. We don't just veg out playing Angry Birds for eight hours a day or watching cat videos on YouTube. And we're not, you know, we're not going to waste our our window of time on screens all the time. And we are going to have family meal together. Moms and dads, it is imperative. And I say this in the book, John, and I'll say it here and I'm preaching it myself as well. We will make time for what we prioritize. And so our next to our testimony and our tithe, our family really is the primary area of stewardship for a Christian.

22:48 And so it's a challenge. We've got to do this. We don't want to we don't want to lose this generation of kids. Yeah, this generation of kids is under attack big time. And as you read the Bible and you look at when an entire generation is is under attack, I'm reminded of in Egypt how the pharaohs wanted to kill all the all the newborn men and all the baby boys and that God saved Moses. And when Jesus was born, Herod put out a decree to kill all the all the the infants at that point, two years and under. When there's an attack on a generation, you know that there is a redeemer or somebody that is going to rise up that God has a purpose and a plan for.

23:40 And so whenever I look at this generation, I think, man, there are some strong leaders that the devil is trying to keep down. And we as as families and I've I've only been married almost a year at this point and we don't have any children yet. But I know that when we do that, they're these kids are going to raise up are going to be raised up in a home that fears the Lord. And the family time is a priority. But pointing people pointing them back to the word of God as our source, as our guide, is so important. And my wife and I need to demonstrate that. And that's one of the key things I believe that we need to do is to demonstrate that.

24:22 Because if we're looking to the Bible for answers, then our kids will look to there as well as we're as we're about to wrap up here. I just want to ask you, what are some things beyond this beyond this book that are that you're doing? And I want to talk about the viral truth clubs, because I think that is a really cool thing that you're doing. And I want to encourage everybody to go to Alex McFarland dot com. You can get the book there a lot. You can see all the other stuff that Alex is doing. But let's let's talk about these viral truth clubs. Well, thanks so much, John. Yeah. You know, we've been doing our conferences for 25 years. Truth for a new generation. We've been all over the country and we're going to be next year in 2024.

25:06 We'll be in Texas with one of our big national conferences. It's been our joy over the years. I mean, Josh McDowell, Lee Strobel, Jay Warner Wallace, Frank Turek, James Dobson. And, you know, we we've been so blessed to put on conferences and very often with, you know, three, four, five thousand attendees. Apologetics. And it's great. But kids would always ask me, they're like, yeah, you know, I can defend my faith. Now, what do I do? So we prayed about it. And I felt led to start clubs. And we get kids sometimes it's just maybe three middle schoolers than other times at like certain colleges.

25:52 There have been 100 college kids, but a viral truth club because it's like, you know, truth gone viral. Videos go viral. We want truth to go viral. And the website for the clubs is ViralTruth.com. We provide talking points for 40, 40 topics that we feel are the key topics of this age. You know, truth, God, morals, the Bible, Jesus Christ. And, John, we even in the viral truth clubs, we talk about America, why America is worth caring about, what makes America unique, what makes America exceptional.

26:33 And four times a year I have these leadership seminars and I'll be on a Zoom call sometimes with 600 youth. And if it's a teen or a middle schooler, you know, they have to have to have parents permission. And I welcome parents to be on these calls, too. But what we're doing in the viral truth clubs, we're equipping teens to reach teens. We're training kids how to lead a meeting. These are these are school meetings and virtually every public school in America has clubs and kids organize the clubs. They charter the clubs. They lead the clubs. They lead the meetings, about a 45 to 50 minute meeting.

27:17 And there's, you know, a call to order. We have them say the Pledge of Allegiance. And by the way, at our summer camps, I've got so many recordings. Imagine 300 youth and they're shouting, we are the generation who will restore America. We are the generation who will restore America. And I know, you know, people that are woke, progressive liberal media are probably thinking, oh, my goodness, these people are brainwashing the kids to believe in Jesus and to salute the flag. But we are really trying to create a movement for God and country because these things matter.

28:00 And let me just say the teen don't don't assume kids don't care about truth. They really do, because they they seem to gravitate toward all this content like thirsty people to cool water on a hot day. God and country and making a difference. They can make a difference. The kids, they light up over this. They really do. That's exciting. I think we could do a whole interview about that at some point. So we might have to we might have to book that at another time. But I just want to encourage everybody that identity is a huge issue that people are dealing with right now.

28:42 There are so many questions that people have about identity and who they are, and especially Generation Z. And if you have somebody in Generation Z that you love and they are not sure about who they are, I want to encourage you to get a hold of this book, 100 Bible Questions and Answers for Families, because this is something that you guys can do together that will help you raise your kids in the way that they should go. And they would not depart from it. That's one of the promises that the word of God has. And if you're intentional about that and the things that Alex has talked about family family meal time, this is really going to help you have a long and prosperous life for your kids. And as they honor their father and mother, there is your somebody that they want to honor. It's going to be a lot easier for them to do that, too.

29:32 But that comes with family time. And Alex, those are some amazing statistics that you gave about the Jewish families. And that is really encouraging, because if we can put our focus on the family like that, then this generation that you're talking about with these viral truth clubs, they can actually be the ones to lead to this next lead this next generation lose at anything else. But when with your family, you know, John, as a pastor, we we pastors are in a lot of hospitals. And I've never been with somebody in their dying moments when they said, oh, you know, if only I had had a nicer car, you know, or gee, I should have spent more time at the office.

30:16 Now, all that's going to matter in the final moments of the fourth quarter, shall we say, all that's going to matter is God and family. What did I do for my lord? What did I do for my loved ones? And so I want to just challenge a challenge young people going to be happy. You want to make a difference for Jesus, build a Christian family. But I say to moms and dads, make time for your kids and your family. Make those memories and those special times and and have devotions. Oh, my goodness. Have devotions with your kids. It's all I can say. Lose at anything else but when with your family. Amen.

30:59 Amen. Alex McFarland, thank you so much for being here on Charisma News. And I just want to encourage everybody go to Alex McFarland dot com for more information about this book and so many other resources that he has. Alex, God bless you, brother. God bless you, John. Thank you.