Participants: Pr. John Carter
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001410
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00:07 From Arcadia, California, the Carter Report presents
00:10 "The Living Word" around the world. 00:17 Hello, I'm Dave Deno and this is the Carter Report, 00:20 with pastor and evangelist John Carter. 00:22 And this is where we talk 00:24 about the issues of the Christian life. 00:27 Today we're gonna talk about the issues that matter, 00:30 perhaps the most to you because we're going to take 00:34 your questions and we're going to answer them straight ahead. 00:39 Don't go away. 00:43 I wish you would come with me 00:46 to a land of more than a billion souls 00:51 all in need of hearing the Gospel of Christ. 00:54 Did you know this my friend, it is the duty of the Christian 00:59 to take the Gospel of Christ to our lost world. 01:04 And the lost world I'm talking about right now is India, 01:08 land of millions and millions of pagan gods 01:13 but more than a billion lost souls. 01:18 India cries out for God. We are now back on India TV. 01:24 We're broadcasting on prime time in India. 01:27 We need your prayers, we need your support. 01:31 Is it easy in India? 01:33 No, it's the hardest place we have ever worked. 01:36 Harder than Russia? Harder than Russia. 01:39 Harder than America? Harder than America. 01:41 Harder than Australia? Harder than Australia. 01:44 Because it is a land 01:45 that's given over almost totally to demonism. 01:50 Now I can tell you about those demons, 01:52 I can tell you about the false gods 01:54 but what I want to tell you today, 01:55 is about the true God and the true God 01:57 who told us go into all the world 02:00 and preach the gospel to every creature. 02:02 We're back in India. Yes, we are back in India. 02:06 And by the grace of God we're back in India to stay. 02:10 We want you to come with us. We want you to pray for India. 02:13 We want you to give for India and do it today. 02:17 Please write to me, John Carter, 02:19 Post Office Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California. 02:22 Write to me at Terrigal in Australia. 02:24 Email me, contact me and say, 02:27 yes, I'm going to stand with you 02:29 in the preaching of the gospel to the lost souls of India. 02:33 Thank you in Jesus' name and God bless you. 02:44 Welcome to the Carter Report. 02:46 Today, a program that we are titling 02:49 More Hot Potatoes. 02:51 And that's because we had a previous program 02:53 called Hot Potatoes 02:55 where we answered viewer questions. 02:57 Today more questions from the mail bag. 03:01 Real questions from real people about the real issues of life. 03:07 Before we get started, I want you to know that 03:10 many of the questions that you will hear 03:12 are also answered in our magazine Ebenezer. 03:15 I encourage you to get a free copy of this. 03:18 It's yours simply by going to our website 03:21 www.cartereport.org 03:26 Some great and fascinating articles in here 03:29 and the section of questions and answers today, 03:32 very much like what you're going to hear 03:34 and see on the program. 03:37 John, this is perhaps the most exciting time 03:41 that we can spend together 03:43 because we're not talking about the issues 03:45 that you and I may perhaps say, oh, let's cover this. 03:49 We're talking about real life questions 03:51 from real life people about real life dilemmas. 03:55 And some of these questions, Dave, are controversial. 03:59 We could have said, we're just going to put those aside. 04:03 But we're going to answer them 04:04 because we believe they are important 04:06 and not only are they important to the people 04:09 who are asking them, they're probably important 04:11 to millions of other people as well. 04:13 We're gonna cover things like abortion, marriage, 04:17 womanizing, near death experiences, 04:21 the age of the universe and we've got several others. 04:24 I want to begin with a question 04:26 that was sent in to us from Chisomo. 04:29 She writes, "Is there hope for me? 04:33 My spiritual life has become so bad lately. 04:37 I know the truth but it is not sanctifying me." 04:40 We're gonna talk about 04:41 that word sanctifying in just a moment. 04:44 She says, "I want to return to the God of my childhood. 04:48 I need to overcome. 04:50 I need grace to be a real Christian. 04:53 I want to be a child of God." 04:55 Where do we begin? What would you say to her? 04:57 I think she's a very honest lady. 05:00 She's opening up her heart and I believe 05:02 she's in a position where God can bless her. 05:06 I would say this to her, 05:09 I've been a pastor for few years now, 05:11 Dave, for more than 50 years. 05:14 Fifty years ago I made a vow to God that every day 05:20 I would spend time reading the scriptures. 05:23 By the grace of God even when I've been traveling 05:26 I've kept that vow. 05:29 The Bible teaches that we are sinners. 05:32 We're born with sinful human natures 05:36 and we need the grace of God 05:38 and the way that the grace of God 05:41 is bestowed upon us, given to us 05:45 is largely through the reading of the scriptures. 05:48 Before you read the scripture, 05:49 you've used the word the grace of God. 05:51 How do you define that? 05:52 The grace of God, well, of course the old saying 05:56 is that grace is God's unmerited favor toward us. 06:00 A grace is God's mercy in dealing with our sinners. 06:05 It's how God gets us from this place into His place. 06:10 And Jesus said this in Matthew 4:4, "It is written, 06:16 'Man shall not live on bread alone, 06:19 but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" 06:25 Jesus said, we needed to feed on the Word of God 06:30 because it is, the Word of God is the bread of life. 06:35 If I don't feed on the bread of life, 06:38 I'm going to just in my soul, 06:40 Dave, I'm going to shrivel up and die. 06:44 We live in a world where we are bombarded 06:48 by carnality left, right and center. 06:52 We turn on the television, most of it is just carnality, 06:56 it is sin, it is pouring out and it goes into our souls 07:03 and we've got to have some defenses 07:05 against the world in which we live. 07:08 And therefore we need to have some time everyday for God 07:12 and for Christ and to feed on the Word of God. 07:15 Dave, in every Christian soul there are two natures 07:21 that are striving for the mastery. 07:23 That is the own nature of self and sin 07:26 and we're born with it, Dave. 07:29 And then there is a new spiritual nature 07:31 that God puts into our hearts when we become born again. 07:35 The nature that you feed is the nature 07:40 that is going to win the battle in your life. 07:44 If you feed on carnality, if you feed on the gunk 07:50 that comes out of the television tube, 07:52 if you feed on sensuality and violence, 07:55 you become sensual and violent. 07:59 By beholding we're changed, people say, 08:01 it doesn't matter what you look at. 08:03 That's nonsense. 08:05 What you look at turns you into what you're looking at. 08:09 But if you feed on God's word, 08:11 30 minutes a day, if you feed on Christ 08:16 then the word of God will get inside you 08:20 and this lady will find that she will become a new person. 08:25 What you said sparks a thought for me. 08:29 So many of us are into physical fitness. 08:32 You know, 30 minutes a day of exercise is so good for us. 08:35 Yeah, got to. 08:36 How about 30 minutes of spiritual exercise? 08:40 Dave-- Dave, you are absolutely correct. 08:46 I'm into physical exercise and you are too, 08:48 because I want to stay strong as I can for as long as I can. 08:54 You've got to do the same spiritually. 08:56 You've got a spiritual nature. 08:58 You got to feed it, you got to exercise it, 09:01 you've got to feed it on the Word of God, 09:04 you've got to share your faith, 09:05 you need to go to church, you need to pray 09:09 and if this lady will do this and stop walking by emotion, 09:13 most people just go by their emotions, 09:16 by their gut feelings, your can't trust your emotions. 09:19 You've got to learn to walk by faith. 09:22 And if you walk by faith with Jesus 09:26 you're going to become strong 09:28 and you're going to win the battle. 09:30 Her one question 09:32 could be a whole program but we're gonna-- 09:34 Oh, absolutely. We're gonna move along. 09:36 This comes form Maggie. 09:38 It's a bit of a long question. Yes. 09:40 "Pastor Carter, first, thank you for all 09:42 that you do in the name of Jesus Christ. 09:45 I want you to answer me this question. 09:47 Why does the Seventh-day Adventist Church 09:50 continue with a pro-choice policy 09:54 and allow their SDA hospitals 09:57 to perform abortion on the scale of holocaust? 10:00 I'm 100 percent against abortion 10:03 and I take issue with the churches policy, 10:05 what I cannot understand is why pastors 10:08 such as yourself are not calling out 10:10 the church leaders on this issue. 10:13 I believe that God gave us the commandment not to murder 10:17 and that we should obey it. 10:19 Please tell me Pastor Carter, 10:21 because I believe you're a real man of God. 10:24 How can I be part of this church 10:26 when it goes against what I believe 10:28 God has commanded of us? 10:30 I love Catholicism. 10:32 When I saw the light of its paganism 10:34 and ungodly practices and at first it was hard 10:37 because I was so indoctrinated 10:40 through 12 years of catholic school and church. 10:43 However, I want to be for Christ, 10:46 I want to be in Christ and do His will. 10:50 Please tell me why 10:52 the Seventh-day Adventist Church's pastors 10:55 have not stood up against this issue 10:57 and changed its policy?" 11:00 That's a tough question. Yeah. 11:03 Maggie, I hope that I can help you. 11:07 Firstly, let me say this, 11:09 I'm not a spokesperson for the church. 11:13 So I'm not authorized to say the church ought to do this 11:18 and the church ought to do that. 11:21 Let me read you a statement 11:25 from the Adventist Church on abortion. 11:28 This is an official statement. 11:32 "The church does not serve 11:33 his conscience for individuals." 11:35 That's pretty important. 11:38 The church doesn't serve as my conscience. 11:42 God is my, is the person 11:44 who dictates my conscience, not the church. 11:48 But some might say that the church is instrument here. 11:52 Well, that's a good point, Dave, 11:56 but I would counter by saying, we're not saved by the church 12:00 because the church needs salvation. 12:03 The church needs to be saved so how can the church save me. 12:07 That God has raised up His church on the earth, 12:11 you and I believe this. 12:14 But I'm saved not by looking to the church 12:17 or the leaders of the church, but by looking to Christ. 12:21 "There's no other name under heaven given among men 12:23 where by we must be saved," Acts 4:12 12:27 and let me read you the statement. 12:29 "The church does not serve his conscience for individuals," 12:32 this is from the church leadership. 12:35 "However, it should provide moral guidance. 12:38 Abortions for reasons of birth control, 12:42 gender selection or convenience 12:46 are not condoned by the church." 12:49 So the Adventist Church does not believe 12:51 in abortion on demand. 12:55 Women, at times, 12:56 however, may face exceptional circumstances 13:00 that present serious moral or medical dilemmas 13:05 such as significant threats to the pregnant woman's life, 13:09 serious jeopardy to her health, severe congenital defects, 13:14 carefully diagnosed in the fetus 13:18 and pregnancy resulting from rape or incest. 13:22 The final decision whether to terminate 13:24 the pregnancy or not should be made 13:27 by the pregnant woman after appropriate consultation. 13:32 She should be aided in her decision 13:34 by accurate information, biblical principles 13:37 and the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 13:40 Moreover these decisions are best made 13:42 within the context of healthy family relationships." 13:47 Therefore I would say to Maggie, 13:51 Maggie, I'm not a, an authority 13:55 on the teachings of the church leadership. 14:00 I'm not here to be an authority on that 14:03 but the church does not teach abortion on demand, 14:08 that is very plain. 14:09 But let me tell you, she said now 14:13 why don't you do more? 14:16 Well, firstly Maggie, let me say this to you, 14:18 let me look at you, Maggie, let me look you in the eye, 14:22 I'm not associated with any hospital, 14:26 I have no influence upon any hospital. 14:29 I don't sit on any hospital boards, 14:32 I do not know what goes on in hospitals. 14:37 I just don't have anything to do with it 14:39 but let me tell you now personally what I believe. 14:45 I believe in the sacredness of human life and I think 14:50 the Adventist church believes that also but-- 14:53 Before you go to that, 14:55 I want to come back to that in just a moment 14:57 and I want people to understand your view personally 15:01 and how the Bible do answer this. 15:03 We're gonna take a break for just a moment 15:04 to catch our breath because this is quite a topic. 15:07 We'll be back in just a moment here 15:09 on The Carter Report. 15:13 Did you ever have a sense of destiny? 15:17 Did you ever feel that God has put His hand upon you 15:19 for some tremendous task that you really got a purpose 15:24 that God has called you for such a time as this? 15:28 I have that sense, that conviction today 15:31 because God is opening up doors for us in Latin America. 15:37 And in Latin America my good friend, 15:40 there's a revolution going on. 15:42 It's not a revolution in the streets, 15:45 it is a revolution in the hearts of men and women. 15:51 That's why The Carter Report is going to go to El Salvador. 15:56 We're renting an outdoor stadium 15:58 with room for more than 60,000 souls 16:03 and we're planning a baptism in the-- 16:05 on the Sabbath afternoon 16:07 of more than 5,000 born-again souls. 16:12 In El Salvador, in Latin America, 16:16 where there's a revolution going on, 16:18 where the Holy Spirit is being poured at. 16:21 Don't you want to be a part of this great purpose, 16:27 this great task, 16:29 this God designed outreach to Latin America. 16:34 Would you please write to me 16:36 John Carter, PO Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California. 16:39 Tell me, I'm going to support you. 16:42 Write to me in Australia. 16:43 Tell me I'm gonna support the preaching of the gospel. 16:47 Write to me today, and support the preaching 16:51 of the Word of God, around the world 16:54 and right now into Latin America. 16:57 Thank you and God bless you. 17:14 Welcome back to the Carter Report 17:16 with pastor and evangelist John Carter. 17:18 I'm Dave Deno and today we're talking 17:20 about Hot Potatoes, More Hot Potatoes. 17:23 It's a program where we're picking up 17:24 some of our listeners letters and answering their questions. 17:28 And we're right in the middle of perhaps 17:30 one of the most controversial issues of our day and age 17:34 and that is the issue of abortion. 17:37 And the question is coming from Maggie, pastor, 17:39 about why do Seventh-day Adventist Churches 17:42 allow abortion when it is so anathema to us as Christians 17:48 and you were about to share your own personal view 17:50 and take a look at scripture. 17:52 Once again I'd say to the TV audience, 17:55 Dave, the Adventist Church 17:57 does not believe officially in abortion on demand. 18:02 What is done in hospitals, I don't know. 18:05 I have no association with them but I will tell Maggie 18:09 what I personally believe on this subject. 18:12 I'll turn to Jeremiah 1:4-5, 18:16 "The word of the Lord came to me, saying, 18:18 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, 18:23 before you were born I set you apart, 18:27 I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.' 18:31 Our Sovereign Lord, I said, 18:33 'I do not know how to speak, I am only a child.'" 18:37 Now some people will come and say to me well, 18:39 that which is in the mother's womb 18:43 is not very important. 18:46 It is not a human being, it is a fetus. 18:52 God says right there, I knew you. 18:56 God knew me before I was born. 19:02 And, Dave, this one big problem in our world today, 19:05 the world is got so much influence 19:07 and secularism is so strong here 19:11 in North America and in Australia, 19:14 that secularism is even influencing 19:17 conservative Christians to go the way of the world. 19:22 Let me say it to you, Maggie, 19:23 you need to put your eyes on Jesus 19:25 and you need to follow Christ. 19:28 Christ saves you. 19:30 Another question and this gets right down into the heart of, 19:34 "How do I know that I'm a Christian?" 19:37 It comes from Isaac, 19:40 "How can I be sure I am a part of Christ? 19:44 Does my behavior have anything to do with my salvation?" 19:51 Somebody said, Dave, 19:52 as I turn up a text in Matthew 7, 19:55 you don't have to be saved, 19:58 you don't have to be good to be saved, 20:01 but you do need to be saved to be good. 20:05 And so you don't have to be good to be saved, 20:07 but you do need to be saved to be good. 20:13 If a person's life is no different 20:16 after he came to "Christ" than before 20:20 than he really hasn't come to Christ. 20:22 Because coming to Christ makes a tremendous difference. 20:26 Matthew 7:21 and onwards, "Not everyone who says to me, 20:31 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, 20:34 but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 20:39 Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, 20:42 did we not prophesy in your name 20:44 and in your name drive out demons 20:46 and perform many miracles?' 20:48 Then I will tell them plainly, 'I never knew You. 20:51 Away from me, you evildoers!'" 20:55 He's not just doing the talk, He's walking the walk. 21:00 And when a person comes to Christ, 21:02 John Chapter 3, Jesus said, "You got to be born again." 21:05 So when a person, Dave, is actually born again 21:08 by the Holy Spirit, he becomes a new person. 21:13 Oh, no, he's not a perfect person. 21:14 He's gonna make mistakes, he's gonna stumble and fall 21:17 but he's going to be a new person. 21:19 There is a new trend in the life. 21:21 So remember you don't have to be good to be saved, 21:24 but you do need to be saved to be good. 21:27 Let's go over to James for just a moment, 21:28 I have marked this in my Bible 21:30 for this very question and this discussion 21:33 because we're talking about faith and works here. 21:36 Yes, yes, yes. 21:37 And so for many, many Christians 21:39 this is a very difficult balance to understand. 21:44 Over in James in Chapter 2 beginning in verse 14, 21:50 I'll just take two of the verses that deal with this. 21:52 Verse 14, "What use is it, my brother, if a man says 21:57 he has faith but he has no works? 22:00 Can that faith save him?" 22:03 And then later in verse 17, "Even so faith, 22:06 if it has no works, is dead, being by itself." 22:11 That's quite a text, isn't it? 22:12 It is. Yeah. 22:15 So what are we to believe about 22:17 the relationship between faith and works. 22:20 We read in Ephesians, we are not saved by works, 22:24 we are saved by faith 22:25 and even that faith is given to us by God. 22:27 Yes, it is. 22:28 We are not saved by faith, we are saved through faith. 22:32 Okay. 22:35 I'm not saved by faith and works 22:38 but I'm saved by a faith that works. 22:42 A genuine faith will demonstrate itself 22:45 in obedience to God. 22:47 Now the false prophets were great 22:49 and many people today are great, 22:51 talking about Jesus, hallelujah, praise the Lord. 22:54 Lof of them talk about Jesus 22:56 but there's no walking the walk. 22:59 So what's you've read there, 23:00 you know, it's so pertinent, Dave. 23:03 True Christianity changes me and makes me a better person. 23:08 It gets down to the whole issue in this faith and works. 23:13 It gets back over to fruit as well. 23:16 It is one thing to say I believe 23:19 but if your life has no fruit 23:23 then perhaps not so much to others, 23:26 should they believe you're a Christian 23:27 but perhaps you need to take a look at that yourself. 23:30 Absolutely. 23:31 Somebody said, I don't know who said it but an apple 23:34 it doesn't make an apple tree, and apple tree makes apples. 23:38 So if you're once the pair of God comes inside you 23:42 then the apples are going to come on the tree. 23:45 We have just a moment left 23:46 and I want to cover one more question. 23:48 We have about two minutes or so left in our time together. 23:51 This comes from Sam, "Dear sir, the Bible clearly teaches 23:55 that liars will not go to heaven, 23:59 verses like Revelation 21:8, why then, do so many Christians 24:06 seem to not worry about being untruthful?" 24:10 Well, we're getting some tough ones today. 24:13 I mean-- Yeah, I know. 24:19 I live in, I've worked in Los Angeles 24:21 for 25 or 26 years 24:25 it has a name for being a culture 24:27 that does a lot of lying 24:30 but some of the most honest people 24:31 I've met in my life are in Los Angeles. 24:35 Willy Jordan, the Fred Jordan Mission 24:38 straight as a gun barrel, yes is yes and no is no. 24:44 The text he quoted in Revelation 21 says, 24:47 there'll be no liars in the kingdom of God. 24:50 I think the answer, Dave, is this we live in a culture 24:55 that is predisposed to lying, people lie about everything. 25:00 But when Christ comes into your heart the liar goes out. 25:06 When Christ comes in the liar goes out. 25:10 Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no. 25:14 Anything more than this comes from the evil one. 25:18 I believe there's an answer to this, 25:20 Dave, it is the integrity 25:23 that is found by genuine Christianity 25:28 that comes by the grace of God through the Holy Scriptures. 25:33 And that is why for years as a pastor I've said, 25:37 read your Bible every day. 25:39 And if we will read our Bibles every day 25:42 the Word of God changes us. 25:45 I work in a world of advertising 25:49 for a good part of my day. 25:51 We have a little saying WIFM, W-I-F-M. 25:57 We live in a culture that lives by WIFM, 26:00 what's in it for me? 26:02 Yeah. 26:03 And as Christians we're not immune from that. 26:06 No, we're not. 26:07 And therefore we may not, we would say not lie, 26:13 we may say that we would simply 26:17 you know, be more convenient in what we say. 26:19 Yes, yes. 26:20 We come up with all kinds of ways of excusing, 26:25 being less than truthful. 26:27 We live in a culture that is all in it for them 26:31 and it touches us in our lives. 26:34 How do we fight against that and take that out of our lives? 26:40 Paul said in Romans and I think 26:42 it's Philips translation, Romans 12, he said, 26:46 don't let the world around you 26:50 squeeze you into its own mould. 26:57 We have a pagan culture. Hey, is it you? 26:59 No, what about the apostles, 27:01 and the early Christians in the Pagan Roman Empire? 27:05 What about Christians in Russia, India, 27:08 and Saudi Arabia and some of these countries 27:11 which are quite opposed to Christ? 27:17 One must make a conscious decision, 27:20 I'm not going to allow the world around me 27:24 squeeze me into its way of thinking. 27:27 I'm not going to be conformed to the ways of the world. 27:29 I'm not going to be conformed 27:31 but I'm going to be transformed. 27:34 And unfortunately we could talk for another program about this. 27:38 And we've come to the end of our time together 27:40 but I think that's a good place for us to stop 27:43 and let people think about that. 27:45 Now, we would love to hear from you as well 27:47 and your support is what makes this program possible. 27:52 You can write to us here 27:53 at The Carter Report at PO Box 1900, 27:57 Thousand Oaks, California, 91358. 28:02 Elsewhere in the world you can reach us at 28:04 PO Box 861, Terrigal, 28:08 NSW 2260, Australia. 28:13 You can email us at info@cartereport.org 28:17 and take a look at our website www.cartereport.org 28:23 This has been such a great moment to be with you 28:26 and we hope it has been very helpful for you. 28:29 John, thank you so much. Thank you, Dave. 28:31 Thank you for joining us. |
Revised 2014-12-17