Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001733A
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00:01 I'm John Carter in Moscow...
00:02 I'm now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:04 I'm John Carter in Petra... 00:06 Reporting from India... 00:08 In Columbia... 00:09 I'm John Carter. 00:11 Today, on the Carter Report, 00:12 John Carter lets us know that we are never alone. 00:21 I have been traveling for about a week in Iran, 00:25 been to Tehran, Isfahan, 00:29 Shiraz, Persepolis. 00:32 Now it come down to the very south of this amazing country, 00:37 and I came to a city by the name of Abadan. 00:42 Now just to give you a little bit of geography, 00:45 in this part of the world you got the twin river system 00:49 that is over in Iraq, of course, 00:52 the Tigris and the Euphrates. 00:54 And when you get right down to the very southern part 00:57 of the country of Iraq, that's the border with Iran. 01:03 And so the twin rivers come together 01:06 and they join together in a river 01:08 which is called Shatt al-Arab. 01:13 And I had to cross over from Iran into Iraq 01:20 so I got in this... 01:21 I had two companions with me, 01:22 we got in this little boat that we call a dinghy. 01:28 We sailed across Euphrates, the Tigris 01:34 which had been joined into one massive river, 01:37 and we arrived on the muddy bank of Iraq. 01:43 Climbed up the bank, 01:44 went through a little custom's office, 01:47 and then amazingly out in the desert 01:50 we found a taxi, it's hard to believe. 01:53 We got this taxi... 01:56 It's a wild part of the world. 01:59 We saw camel trains, we saw lots of desert, 02:03 lots of date palms, 02:06 and lots of better one, 02:08 but it's rather wild part of the world. 02:12 And after traveling for several hours 02:14 we came to the city... 02:15 And I don't want you to get the name of the city, 02:18 the city of a Basra. 02:22 We arrived in the center of Basra, 02:25 and we stood out 02:27 because we were dressed so differently. 02:31 We were surrounded by thousands, and thousands, 02:34 and thousands of Arabs. 02:37 We had no idea where we were going to stay. 02:39 We had no accommodation boat. 02:43 It seemed to be so dangerous 02:45 that we found the police station 02:48 and we went in and we said, 02:50 "We are just a little bit concerned, 02:52 we have nowhere to stay. 02:55 Can you help us?" 02:56 And they said, "No, you got your passports. 02:59 That is your security." 03:02 So we were thrown out on the streets, 03:05 and we walked around those streets, and we felt, 03:10 what should I say, we felt very much alone. 03:18 And as we were walking down one of the main streets, 03:20 I said to my two traveling companions, 03:24 "I think we better stop, 03:26 and I think we better have a prayer together." 03:29 And we did this, 03:31 we weren't embarrassed in this Muslim land, 03:35 and I said let's pray together 03:37 so we bowed our heads and each of us prayed together. 03:43 And we said, "God, we really don't know 03:45 where we're going to go. 03:47 We don't know where we're going to stay. 03:48 We can't stay out here in the streets 03:51 in the south of the Iraq. 03:55 We are a long way from our home." 03:57 But immediately we said this prayer, 04:00 I felt that we were not alone. 04:03 I felt the presence of God. 04:05 Then something, I will never, never forget happened. 04:10 An Arab dressed in a long white gown, 04:14 beautifully dressed came to us 04:16 up out of this milling sea of people, 04:22 and he said in perfect English, 04:24 "Gentlemen, I am here at your service. 04:28 How can I help you?" 04:29 We said, "Well, we've got nowhere to stay in. 04:32 We can't stay in the streets, 04:33 and we haven't had even a drink of water all day." 04:37 He said, "Leave it to me." 04:40 So he called a motor car 04:42 and took us to the only safe hotel in town 04:46 where we could stay. 04:51 During this time, 04:53 I felt a tremendous conviction 04:58 that we are never ever alone. 05:02 And I want you never to forget this 05:04 because this is the theme of the talk today. 05:07 This is the title "Never Alone", 05:12 and the presence of God is all you need. 05:16 I'll never, never forget that experience 05:19 when I traveled from Iran 05:22 crossed over the river and went into Iraq. 05:28 I am going to tell you today 05:29 just as a friend talking to friends, 05:33 why I know personally that we're never alone. 05:38 I am not getting this material today from books 05:41 that I have read or stories I've heard from other people, 05:45 but I am going to tell you some real life experiences 05:50 that have convinced me of the reality 05:55 of the presence of God. 05:59 On another occasion, not so many years ago, 06:03 I was in Harare, Zimbabwe. 06:05 Now that's the new name for Salisbury, Rhodesia. 06:10 And we were running tremendous campaign, 06:13 we had tens of thousands of people coming. 06:16 The programs had become a national sensation. 06:21 People were just pouring in to the meetings, 06:23 it was like a national sensation. 06:26 It was even being reported on national television. 06:33 And I received an invitation 06:35 to go out to a television station, 06:37 the main television station and give an interview 06:41 because the great church, 06:43 huge church over there had decided 06:46 that they were going to close us down 06:48 and force us to leave the country. 06:52 I am going to do something now, 06:54 I'd almost forgotten about this, 06:56 I am going to read a text, 06:58 and I want you to come in your Bibles 06:59 to Hebrews 13:5 and 6, 07:05 and then I am going to get back to the story. 07:10 And the text is Hebrews 13:5 and 6, the Bible says, 07:16 "Let your conduct be without covetousness, 07:20 be content with such things as you have." 07:23 Notice the words. 07:25 "For He Himself has said, 07:27 'I will never leave you, 07:31 I'll never forsake you.'" 07:35 So here I am in Harare. 07:39 A great church had tried to close us down 07:41 and they were running ads against us in the newspapers. 07:45 When you preach the Word of God, my friend, 07:47 you will always get opposition. 07:51 So I am out now in the jungle, 07:53 and I am going to be interviewed on television. 07:57 But when I got out there, 07:58 I discovered that the manager of this main television station 08:05 was a former member of my church 08:08 and an ex-terrorist, 08:11 and he hated people who preached the gospel. 08:16 And he had set me up 08:17 because he wanted me to become involved 08:22 in a confrontation with a Roman Catholic bishop, 08:28 and he wanted me to say derogatory things 08:30 against the Roman Catholic Church. 08:34 Now I told him, "We are not here to criticize people. 08:37 No, I am not a Roman Catholic, I am an Adventist Christian, 08:41 but I've got nothing bad to say about my friends 08:45 in the Roman Catholic Church." 08:46 With this he became so angry, 08:51 he cursed me out. 08:54 And then as the sun was going down, 08:55 he called a bunch of soldiers, 08:59 and these soldiers arrived 09:01 with AK-47 guns. 09:07 And I was marched off 09:10 as the sun was going down along a jungle path. 09:17 I had guns in my back, 09:21 but I didn't feel alone. 09:26 And as we went along, this guy 09:29 who is the manager of the Harare television station 09:33 drove beside us in his Pajero motor car. 09:36 I can still see his face 09:38 as he was leaning out the window and cursing me. 09:45 And then when the road peated out, 09:47 he turned around and went back, 09:49 and I was left alone with all of these soldiers 09:52 with their machine guns and AK-47s in my back. 09:56 And they marched me of as the sun went down. 10:00 I can tell you something, 10:02 the most dangerous place in the world is Africa. 10:05 You can be killed in Africa, nobody is going to know. 10:09 There are going to be no protests 10:11 and the government is not going to care, 10:14 they won't even find your body. 10:16 And as I was marched off and this terrorist had left, 10:21 all of a sudden 10:24 these young soldiers put down their guns, 10:27 and instead of shooting me they put their arms around me, 10:30 and they said, "Pastor Carter, we know you are not afraid. 10:35 You don't need to be afraid 10:37 because we come to your meetings." 10:40 Now my son David had received a message, 10:44 we had been able to get a message to him, 10:46 "Come, we don't have a motor car, it's dangerous." 10:50 As he drove out 10:52 it was George Case 10:53 to try to get out to me and pick me up, 10:57 he was confronted by some soldiers who fired... 11:01 The bullets just went over his head. 11:04 It's a dangerous place. 11:07 I soon got to the meetings. 11:09 I was preaching 11:11 in the Harare International Conference Center. 11:13 I want to tell you folk something, 11:16 all during this time with guns in my back, 11:22 I felt the presence of God. 11:25 And I felt, my friend, I felt we are never alone 11:31 because the presence of God is all we need. 11:37 Sometime back I was in Baghdad, in Iraq. 11:43 When we got to this hotel on about the 20th floors, 11:47 beautiful hotel, we opened windows, 11:51 it was a balcony, 11:53 we put our television camera out on the balcony, 11:56 and we did some pans of the city. 12:00 Perfectly innocent. 12:01 You could do this anywhere, except in Baghdad. 12:06 And as we were panning the city, 12:09 inadvertently we had panned Saddam's palace. 12:16 And there was a banging on the door, 12:18 and we went to the door, 12:19 and the room was soon filled with soldiers. 12:24 And I was placed under house arrest. 12:26 They said, "You can't leave here." 12:31 And they said, "We are going to take, 12:32 we are going to confiscate all the videotape. 12:34 We are going to take it." 12:36 I said, "No, this has cost us a lot of money. 12:40 I am not going to give it to you." 12:41 They said, "You are not going to leave the country 12:43 until you pass over the videotape." 12:47 And so meals were sent up to our room, 12:50 I could eat, but I couldn't leave. 12:54 And after about three days, 12:58 there was a banging on the door 13:00 1 o'clock in the morning. 13:02 We opened the door, 13:03 and I was hustled out of the room, 13:07 taken down and put in a motor car 13:09 and driven through the backstreets of Baghdad. 13:17 But I was not alone. 13:19 I was taken in to a room, 13:22 and I was interrogated for an hour or two. 13:27 They said to me, "We are going to..." 13:28 I held the videotape here like this. 13:31 They said, "We are going to..." 13:33 I said, "No, you are not going to take it." 13:36 And so after two or three hours, 13:39 they put me back in the car and took me back to the hotel, 13:42 I got back about four in the morning. 13:44 But during this time, 13:47 I felt an amazing peace. 13:53 Later on they came to me and they said, 13:56 "We are just going to take it." 13:57 So they took it, they looked at it, 13:59 they deleted the parts about Saddam and they returned it. 14:04 People have told me you could easily have been killed, 14:09 but I have been in many situations 14:12 where people would say, 14:14 "You could very easily have been killed." 14:17 But I want you to know this, 14:21 we're never alone 14:23 and the presence of God is all we need. 14:27 Some years ago we were in Siberia, 14:30 and I was with my team in the City of Irkutsk, 14:34 been there when it's been minus 40 degrees, 14:37 preached there in summer out of doors 14:40 when in Siberia it gets dreadfully hot. 14:43 The lightning was actually flashing out 14:45 all around the pulpit as I was preaching. 14:49 But one night, 14:51 Beverley was speaking to the Russian people, 14:54 the Siberians and as she was talking, 14:57 a young man came out of the audience, 15:00 pulled out a gun. 15:04 It was obvious that he was drunk, 15:07 didn't know what he was doing, 15:10 but he pulled out his gun, 15:13 and Beverley went on speaking, 15:15 and the Russian bodyguards 15:17 quickly came up, fought with him, 15:20 they found he was tremendously strong. 15:23 They could not... 15:25 not overpower him without tremendous struggle. 15:27 It took about seven or eight of our people to bring him down. 15:32 He was one of the elite Russian security guys. 15:36 He heard about the meetings, 15:38 he resented Americans and Australians 15:41 being there in that part of Russia, 15:43 and so he come down to do some damage. 15:49 But during this time 15:54 even with a gun, 15:58 we felt we were not alone. 16:02 And so the police took him away, 16:05 and the next day the security forces 16:07 came to our hotel, 16:09 and the Russians said to us, 16:11 the leaders of the Russian security, 16:13 "We've come because we are overwhelmed 16:16 with embarrassment. 16:19 You could have died. 16:21 He is one of our chief men." 16:25 They said, "We are going to send him to a prison, 16:28 a high security prison 16:31 and then we are going to throw away the key. 16:35 You won't have to worry about him." 16:38 But I said, "Officer, 16:40 I appreciate you coming here today. 16:42 I appreciate your kindness. 16:44 I appreciate you wanting to look after us, 16:49 but I want to tell you something, 16:52 we believe in Christ, and we believe in forgiveness." 16:58 Now we have forgiven this young man 17:02 and because we have forgiven him, 17:03 we are going to ask you to do something. 17:05 We are going to ask you to forgive him. 17:08 They just, they went like this, they said, 17:12 "We really don't know what you are talking about." 17:14 We said, "We believe in grace and forgiveness." 17:17 And then after a while the head of the Russian security 17:21 for that part of Russia said to us, 17:24 "If you can forgive him, so can we." 17:28 Then they said, "We need to remunerate you, 17:32 what shall we do to make atonement." 17:34 I said, "Let him come to our meetings, 17:37 and let him be my personal bodyguard." 17:40 So he came to our meetings and he gave his life to Christ. 17:47 But I want you to know this, 17:50 in this experience and all of these experiences, 17:54 I believe this we never go to a place 17:57 where God is not there 18:01 and His presence is all we need. 18:03 You may be going through a tough time, 18:07 I would say, look up to God. 18:10 He is the Go who made the universe, folks. 18:13 He is the God who made the stars. 18:16 Having a problem with money, I don't have a problem, 18:19 He owns the silver and the gold. 18:22 Now, I want you to come to Psalm 139:9 and 10. 18:28 My dear friends, 139:9 and 10, 18:34 these are marvelous words. 18:38 139:9 and 10, you ready? 18:45 Here it goes, "If I take the wings of the morning, 18:49 and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, 18:53 even there Your hand shall lead me, 18:56 and Your right hand shall hold me." 19:00 You can't go anywhere where God is not there. 19:06 Some years ago I was in Amman, 19:10 the capital of the beautiful country of Jordan. 19:14 There's no country in the Middle East 19:16 that I like as much as Jordan. 19:18 To the north is Syria 19:22 which is somewhat a dangerous place. 19:26 In Syria, they had just been a tremendous discovery 19:32 at a place it is called Ebla. 19:36 They had found these amazing very old tablets 19:42 that were somehow tied in with the Bible story. 19:45 Virtually nobody had been there, 19:48 at least from my part of the world. 19:51 So I decided 19:53 that I was going to get on a plane, 19:56 and I was going to go 19:57 from Amman to Damascus by myself. 20:02 Nobody else wanted to come with me. 20:05 They said, "If you are going to get killed, 20:07 you better do it to yourself." 20:09 So I flew up to Damascus. 20:12 When I got out of the airport, I hired a car. 20:16 In fact, it was a Volvo. 20:19 I said, "I want to drive up through the desert, 20:21 I want to go past Homs, I want to go to a place 20:25 by the name of Ebla, showed it to him on the map. 20:30 And then I wanted to go on to Aleppo, 20:32 all the terrible fighting has been. 20:35 He said, "First thing, we got to go to the security." 20:39 So we went to the security, I was amazed 20:41 by all of the wild Alsatian dogs 20:44 they had there, 20:46 training these dogs to be so vicious. 20:49 But they put a security man in the back of the Volvo 20:53 and we said out past Homs up to Ebla. 20:59 I went to Ebla and I got 21:00 some of the most amazing pictures. 21:05 I felt, this is amazing, and I felt peace, 21:09 I wasn't afraid. 21:10 Then we got back, drove back about sunset 21:14 we got to Damascus. 21:18 We went to the airport and when we got to the airport, 21:21 we discovered that the airport had been closed down 21:25 because of a security threat. 21:28 So I had to get back to Amman, and I was stuck in Damascus. 21:35 And I thought there is only one way to do this 21:39 that is to hire a car. 21:42 So I hired a car 21:45 and I traveled by night time close to the Israeli border. 21:56 I'll never forget this because the night was cold 21:59 and still. 22:02 I could look out of the window of the car, 22:04 and I could see the Golan Heights. 22:09 As we traveled in this car, we passed lots of soldiers, 22:15 lots of tanks. 22:17 Soldiers would come out of the darkness AK-47s, 22:21 the preferred weapon in the Middle East, 22:24 the Russian AK-47. 22:27 The car broke down near the Golan Heights. 22:32 It was about 1 o'clock in the morning, 22:34 I thought just as well Beverley doesn't know about this 22:38 or my family 'cause here I am 22:42 in the most dangerous place in the world. 22:45 I can see Israel down in the valley. 22:49 The Syrian soldiers all around me AK-47s, tanks, 22:53 armored vehicles, 22:58 but I didn't feel alone. 23:02 I was by myself entirely, humanly speaking. 23:05 The car was broken down, my driver got out of the car 23:10 and left me by myself, went to a place 23:14 where he could make a telephone call, 23:16 got one of his friends to come 23:18 and got behind us and started to push us. 23:22 And we were pushed for miles until my car started again. 23:30 And then just as the sun came up, 23:32 we came to the border was Jordan. 23:35 And after going through security, 23:38 we crossed over into Jordan, 23:42 and soon I was back in Amman. 23:47 People told me later 23:51 that was one of the most dangerous, 23:53 dangerous trips. 23:58 But I told them this, "I had no fear at all, 24:04 and I didn't feel lonely." 24:10 You are never alone. 24:12 In Saint Petersburg we were running a campaign, 24:15 we had hired this tremendous, tremendous theatre. 24:20 We have 30,000 people for the opening. 24:23 When I tell people these things, they say, 24:25 "No, that doesn't happen anymore. 24:27 People don't come out to meetings anymore." 24:30 We had at least 30... 24:32 I think we had multiple session. 24:34 The meetings were not a success, 24:35 they were an overwhelming success. 24:38 People have said to me, 24:40 "One day you may even see Pentecost." 24:41 I have seen Pentecost and more so. 24:47 But I became very, very sick, 24:50 and I was taken by a Russian ambulance 24:54 to a Russian hospital. 25:02 This in itself could have been a very dangerous situation. 25:08 The Russian economy had collapsed, 25:11 people were in despair. 25:14 I was given a very nice room. 25:20 The doctor who came to see me did all he could. 25:25 But the doctor who stayed on that night, 25:28 in his despair was completely drunk, 25:33 and that night humanly speaking alone, 25:39 my blood pressure dropped to a dangerous level. 25:47 My team were in the hotel. 25:51 I thought this may be the end. 26:00 And I will tell you what happened to me 26:04 when we come back after this break. 26:22 Remember when common sense was common? 26:26 Life had clear choices, right was right. 26:30 Now right is wrong and wrong is right. 26:35 Spiritual vigilantes are riding in to divide 26:37 and conquer towns across America. 26:41 They're taking God's law into their own hands. 26:45 John Carter would like to give you a free copy 26:47 of Spiritual Vigilantes by Danny Shelton. 26:52 Read this book and you can counterattack 26:55 that counterfeit culture created by the PC police. 27:00 Fight the spiritual vigilantes with the truth. 27:04 This is a wake up call to Christians. 27:07 Copies are limited, 27:09 so call the number on the screen, 27:10 write to us, and order your free copy 27:13 of Spiritual Vigilantes by Danny Shelton. 27:42 This literacy outreach from the academy 27:44 is a beacon of hope to those in a gang infested area 27:47 of El Salvador. 27:48 Without your help, these children will be caught 27:51 in a cycle of poverty and crime. 27:53 These children want to spell their names, 27:55 they want to read, and each graduate 27:57 is given a Bible. 27:59 Thirty five dollars will send one child 28:01 to school for one month. 28:02 One thousand a month will send 30 children to school. 28:06 You can help poor families give their children 28:08 hope and an education. 28:10 Call the number, visit the website, 28:12 or write to us at the address on the screen 28:14 and save these children 28:16 from gang violence in El Salvador. 28:26 For a copy of today's program, please contact us 28:29 at PO Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:36 Or in Australia, contact us at PO Box 861, 28:41 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:45 This program is made possible 28:47 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:50 We thank you for your continued support. 28:53 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2018-03-15