Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR001906A
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00:02 I'm John Carter in Moscow.
00:04 In Havana, Cuba. 00:07 Now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:10 I'm John Carter in Petra. 00:13 Right here in Communist China. 00:16 Reporting from India. 00:18 Hi, I'm John Carter in the Solomon Islands. 00:21 I'm John Carter in Soweto. From El Salvador. 00:26 I'm John Carter in Sydney, Australia. 00:29 Now John Carter's uplifting message, 00:32 "On Top When You're Down Under." 00:36 Welcome back, my friend. 00:37 We're talking about how you can be on top 00:40 even when you're down under. 00:43 In this segment, I'm going to tell you about 00:46 Michael and Lindy Chamberlain, 00:48 a couple of very decent people 00:51 who was thrown into prison for murder, 00:53 at least Lindy was, for murder 00:57 when they were completely innocent. 01:01 Before we get to this, 01:02 I'm going to talk to you about 01:04 some of the cities in Australia. 01:05 I was telling you folks in the last segment 01:08 that the closer you follow the principles 01:11 of the commandments of God, 01:13 decency, hard work, you're just going to be on top, 01:18 you're going to be tremendously blessed. 01:20 And Australia, like America was founded 01:24 on Christian principles. 01:27 I know a lot of people in Australia today, 01:29 they just don't want to hear that. 01:30 They say, "No, no, no, we're a secular society." 01:33 We have the separation of church and state. 01:35 That's absolutely true. 01:37 But the land down under was founded 01:41 on the Bible and faith in God, 01:43 and especially faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 01:48 I love this place. I love the cities of Australia. 01:51 I love Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, 01:56 and little country towns. 01:59 Once or twice a year, I go over to those places, 02:03 and I get on the manly steamer. 02:05 And I go out on Sydney Harbor, and I sort of relax, 02:12 and I smell the salted air. 02:19 Can't help, but tell you this. 02:21 But the city of Melbourne 02:23 for the last three or four years 02:25 has been voted the best city in the world. 02:28 By the Australian? 02:29 No, no, no, by the Americans, by the Economist magazine also. 02:33 In the top cities in the world, the top 10 cities in the world, 02:38 you have four Australian cities. 02:42 Now why? 02:44 Because this nation was based on Christian principles. 02:49 It wasn't based on the Quran. 02:52 In America, there's a lot of discussion about healthcare, 02:55 how can we help people 02:57 with their bodies, with their souls. 03:00 Australia is blessed to have universal healthcare. 03:05 It came in about 40 years ago. 03:06 Everybody pays a levy of 2% on their taxes. 03:11 And even if you get sick in the Outback, 03:13 if you're 1,000 miles from a doctor, 03:16 they have the Royal Flying Doctor Medical Service. 03:20 And they'll send a plane 1,000 miles 03:23 to take care of you. 03:25 So this is a blessed country. 03:30 And I believe that as a country becomes wealthy, 03:33 it is under an obligation 03:35 to share the wealth with the people. 03:39 So Australia has been called by Newsweek, Time Magazine, 03:43 The Economist, more recently, the lucky country. 03:48 But there is no such thing as luck. 03:51 It's the outworking of unrecognized 03:55 Christian principles and those people don't get it. 03:59 They're carrying out those Christian principles, 04:02 and they don't realize where they got it from. 04:05 They got it from Christ, and they got it from the Bible. 04:10 Remember the man who said, 04:11 he said, "I don't know what's going on," 04:13 but he said, "The harder I work, 04:15 the luckier I get." 04:21 So my friend, I don't believe in handouts, 04:24 I believe in hand ups. 04:27 But I don't believe a society will rise and bless the people 04:33 when it is based on, pardon my saying this, 04:37 a welfare mentality. 04:41 Some stories from down under. 04:43 Look at this text, John 3:16. 04:46 Here is one of the great text. 04:47 You know it off by heart. 04:49 "For God so loved the world 04:50 that He gave His only begotten Son, 04:52 that whoever believes in Him should not perish, 04:56 but have everlasting life." 04:57 Well, that's taken from the King James Version. 05:00 New King James Version says, "He shall not perish, 05:03 but he'll have everlasting life." 05:08 I was privileged as a boy of 16 to leave home. 05:11 I left home. 05:13 My parents had come out of the depression. 05:16 They had no money. 05:17 I wanted to go to college. 05:20 And so I went 1,000 miles from home. 05:22 I went way up in the north, where there are crocodiles, 05:25 and I drove a big bulldozer 05:28 to get my fees to go to college. 05:31 I believe that the harder a person works, 05:34 the luckier he gets. 05:37 I believe in the gospel of hard work. 05:40 I went to Avondale College. 05:42 These are some pictures of the old Avondale 05:47 founded by some American missionaries and pioneers, 05:52 led by wonderful, little feisty American lady 05:58 whose name was Ellen White. 06:01 And because she stood on too many toes 06:06 here in the United States of America, 06:08 you're not going to read this in official circles, 06:11 but she was set out to the antipathies 06:14 out to the land down under. 06:16 And she loved the place. 06:19 She believed that she was given a vision of Avondale College. 06:26 And the church leaders said, "No, it can't be done. 06:29 No, it's impossible. You can't raise..." 06:32 She raised the money 06:34 and she bought the 1,500 acres of land. 06:37 And then a government specialist had come in, 06:40 and he looked at the land, 06:41 and he said, "This land is so poor, 06:44 that even if a bandicoot came along here, 06:46 he'd have to take you to lunch with him." 06:49 She said, 06:52 "God has said, 'We ought to buy His place.'" 06:56 When I went to this college as a boy of 16, 07:01 I felt the influence of the Spirit of Christ 07:05 and the Spirit of God. 07:07 And in this chapel 07:09 that you can see on the screen, 07:11 and the old Avondale chapel 07:13 where the jacaranda's still grown bloom, 07:17 I heard a sermon on the God-filled plank 07:21 where the pastor said, 07:22 "Inside every person, there's an emptiness, 07:25 and only God can fill that emptiness." 07:27 I said, "He's talking to me." 07:31 It was because of the Americans who came. 07:35 It was because Ellen White bought the land. 07:38 It is because people believed in the ethic of hard work 07:42 that Avondale came into being. 07:46 And I was there for six years. 07:50 It's a story of divine guidance. 07:53 I felt the hand of God on my shoulder. 07:56 I felt I was walking on sacred ground. 08:02 People will tell you, Australians are so secular, 08:06 they're ungodly. 08:07 Well, some of them are. 08:10 But if you look at the Australian $20 note, 08:13 the $20 bill. 08:16 On the $20 bill, you have this gentleman, 08:20 and he is a Presbyterian minister. 08:23 The Reverend John Flynn, who got on a camel, 08:28 and who traveled thousands of miles 08:31 to bring the Gospel of Christ to the people in the Outback. 08:36 I know the Outback, I've been through the Outback. 08:39 Well, you can go into the never, never land 08:43 where it never, never seems to come to an end, 08:46 a harsh land. 08:48 Where in winter you can freeze to death, 08:50 and in summer you can quickly die 08:52 because of the heat and the lack of water. 08:56 And he with some other ministers came 08:58 and brought the gospel. 09:00 He was the man who founded 09:03 the Royal Flying Inland Service. 09:08 Marvelous. 09:11 The first planes were rented to them by Qantas Airlines. 09:14 Qantas, as you all know, stands for the Queensland 09:17 and Northern Territory aerial service, 09:21 the safest airline in the world, 09:23 and the oldest airline in the English-speaking world. 09:27 Since they've been flying jets, which is about 60 years, 09:31 they never lost a passenger, never had an accident. 09:34 And they loaned him one of their planes like this, 09:39 and it became the plane that took a doctor 09:43 who piloted the plane himself 09:46 for the people in the lonely Outback. 09:49 He believed in evangelism. 09:51 If you look at Romans 10:8-15, I want to pick up some verses. 09:56 Romans 10, "What does it say? 09:59 The word is near you, in your mouth, 10:01 and in your heart that is the word of faith, 10:02 which we preach that if you confess 10:05 with your mouth the Lord Jesus 10:06 and believe in your heart 10:07 that God has raised Him from the dead, 10:09 you will be saved. 10:11 For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, 10:13 and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. 10:16 For the scripture says, 'Whoever believes in Him 10:19 will not be put to shame.' 10:21 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, 10:24 for the same Lord over all 10:26 is rich to all who call upon Him.'" 10:29 You got to call upon Him. 10:31 And the next text says, "For whoever calls on the name 10:34 of the Lord shall be saved." 10:35 You got to call? 10:37 "How then shall they call on Him 10:39 in whom they have not believed? 10:41 And how shall they believe in Him 10:43 of whom they have not heard? 10:44 And how shall they hear without a preacher? 10:48 And how shall they preach unless they are sent? 10:51 As it is written, 'How beautiful are the feet 10:54 of those who preach the gospel of peace, 10:56 who bring glad tidings of good news.'" 11:00 John Flynn believed in evangelism, 11:03 he believed that people without Christ were lost. 11:09 That's a rare idea today. 11:13 But when I was a boy at college, 11:15 Beverley and I were taken down 11:17 to the Sydney Exhibition Ground, 11:21 and we heard a man with fire in his belly. 11:26 The great American evangelist, Billy Graham. 11:29 We heard him preach the gospel to 150,000 people. 11:34 That's when I decided I would become a preacher 11:38 and an evangelist. 11:42 And this man made such a profound change 11:46 in American morals that we miss him so much today. 11:52 America is not as good without him. 11:56 I tell you. 11:58 Australia is the secular society. 12:01 Of 2016 census, 12:04 54% of Australian said they were Christians 12:09 down from about 75% a few years before, 12:15 30% say they have no religion. 12:19 Australian society is heavily influenced 12:22 by the American TV culture. 12:27 And the media or much of the media 12:30 has an anti-Christian bias in Australia. 12:35 Anything new, my American friends? 12:40 Also, of course, 12:41 you have the great universities in Australia. 12:43 Like the great American universities, 12:45 where their religion is secularism and atheism. 12:50 Vain ideas. 12:56 With the growing secularization in Australia, 13:00 of the Australian culture 13:03 and the kicking of God out of the door, 13:06 there is a growing crime rate and disillusionment. 13:12 The crime is still low, 13:14 but it will increase, I can tell you. 13:17 Let me tell you about two of my friends. 13:21 Pastor Mrs. Chamberlain, who are dear friends of mine. 13:26 They were at Ayers Rock, Uluru. 13:29 This is the aboriginal word, 13:30 that big, huge rock in the middle of Australia, 13:33 the biggest rock in the world. 13:38 They were eating at the campfire. 13:41 Lindy just had a little beautiful baby. 13:44 Its name was Zarya. 13:48 She heard him cry. 13:49 There's a book called A Cry in the Dark. 13:52 See the movie Evil Angels with Meryl Streep. 13:57 And Lindy ran to the tent, 14:01 and she saw a large dog emerge with something in his mouth. 14:04 And she cried out, "Oh, God, oh, God, 14:07 the dingo has taken my baby. 14:09 This is a... 14:11 I could tell you the whole story 14:13 because I was emotionally involved in this. 14:16 And these people were my friends. 14:18 And these people were completely innocent. 14:21 But they had a problem. 14:25 They were Christians. 14:27 And they belong to a little misunderstood church, 14:31 the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 14:35 And so they were tried, all right? 14:37 They were tried in the media, every night on television, 14:42 every day front page in the newspaper. 14:47 At the first hearing, they were exonerated. 14:51 And the colonel said, "I will never forget it 14:53 because we stayed up, 14:55 we turned on at TV on Friday night 14:57 to see what the verdict would be." 14:59 He said, "Pastor Mrs. Chamberlain, 15:01 on behalf of the Australian people, 15:04 we apologize to you for the terrible defamation 15:07 of character you have suffered." 15:10 But then a little bit later, 15:12 the police from the Northern Territory 15:15 that is not even a state, 15:17 it is the land of the wild buffalo 15:20 and the crocodile. 15:23 They sent their representatives to Avondale College, 15:26 and they were arrested 15:28 and charged with murder. 15:31 And then this is what appeared everywhere. 15:35 Don't shoot animals over people. 15:38 Lies! 15:39 Free her? No! 15:41 Hang her! Hang her! 15:45 And so the culture, the popular culture, 15:47 which was so anti-Christian, 15:50 my friend, people's views can change in a moment. 15:57 You can be popular one day 15:59 and you can be burnt the next. 16:01 The trial went it seemed forever... 16:07 In the Northern Territory. 16:11 And then in the end of the jury came back and they said 16:15 Lindy Chamberlain, who was already pregnant, 16:21 was guilty of murder. 16:23 And Pastor Michael guilty of being an accessory 16:26 after the fact. 16:27 See the movie, Evil Angels with Meryl Streep. 16:32 So Lindy was taken 16:33 and incarcerated in the tropics in Darwin. 16:39 But it wasn't over. 16:42 And many people started to fight for justice, 16:46 in spite of the media 16:49 that wanted them hung. 16:52 Then there came a change in circumstances. 16:57 Roman Catholic judge came on our side. 17:01 Salvation Army came out on our side. 17:05 And after what seemed to be a million years, 17:10 another court case was held. 17:13 And they discovered a story of corruption and lying. 17:21 And they were totally exonerated. 17:24 It's only a little bit of the story. 17:26 I tell it to you 17:28 because it shows you what our media, 17:33 which is anti-Christian, can do to God's people. 17:39 And so Australians have in them 17:44 because of what they've seen 17:47 the church do on so many occasions, 17:50 many of them have a bias against God. 17:54 Of course, 17:56 the pedophile scandals in the Catholic Church. 18:01 Goodness, you talk to the average Aussie, 18:04 he'd say, "Is that what you call God's Church?" 18:09 Seven percent of the priests are active pedophiles 18:14 in Australia, in America, in Canada, 18:17 in Italy, in Ireland, in Great Britain, 18:20 in Spain, on, and on, and on. 18:26 But I am funded because I've run 18:28 great evangelistic campaigns in Australia, 18:30 and I say to my Aussie friends, 18:33 do not use such a dumb argument against God 18:37 because God is not rightly portrayed 18:40 by those who often take His name. 18:45 God is not the church. 18:49 God is God. Let God be God. 18:53 And if you're going to talk about 18:54 the bad things that Christians have done, 18:57 why don't you start to talk about 18:59 the bad things that atheists have done. 19:03 Come on now. I said, "Come on." 19:05 Have you heard of Russia, 19:07 50 million people murdered by atheists, 19:11 and even more dreadful things 19:14 for the size of the place in Cambodia. 19:16 Pol Pot. 19:18 These were secularists and atheists. 19:21 So don't condemn God 19:22 because of the deeds of some Christians. 19:25 Please don't give me this. 19:27 Very recently, Cardinal Pell, 19:30 a close friend of the Pope. 19:35 You have the Pope, the next man, 19:38 and then the Australian Cardinal 19:41 in charge of the money of the Vatican, 19:46 big guy, ay? 19:48 Cardinal Pell. 19:50 Cardinal of Australia 19:53 just recently tried 19:59 and sentenced by the court in Victoria, 20:04 and found guilty of being the pedophile in chief. 20:10 Now he's asked for an appeal. 20:14 And therefore, we should not say 20:17 that he is guilty. 20:19 The Chamberlain's were innocent, you know. 20:24 And there is too often today among unbelievers 20:29 an inbuilt bias against Christians. 20:34 I am probably the last person 20:37 to defend the Pope or his Cardinal. 20:41 But I would say as an Australian would say, 20:46 let him have a fair go. 20:50 And let us consider the evidence. 20:53 But all of this says burn and seed 20:58 the sun-burnt soul. 21:01 But I say to our detractors. 21:06 Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. 21:10 Be intellectually and morally honest. 21:14 Don't confuse Christ 21:16 with those who profess to follow Him. 21:20 Christ is not the church, 21:22 and then you had the influence of President Obama, 21:24 tremendously popular. 21:27 And Australia stood out against same sex marriage, 21:30 a secular country. 21:32 They said it's wrong. 21:33 It goes against culture and against the Bible. 21:41 But then they had a referendum. 21:43 And they went with President Obama, 21:48 and said, "We will have same sex marriage." 21:52 Now some people have predicted 21:53 the demise of the Christian Church in Australia. 21:57 But I want to tell you, don't count it out yet. 22:01 I've got some amazing things to tell you. 22:03 I won't get through today, but I will next week. 22:06 There are 4 million kids enrolled in Australian schools, 22:11 65% go to government schools, 22:14 35%, more than one-third go to independent schools, 22:19 mainly Christian schools, 22:21 Roman Catholic, Church of England, 22:24 Adventist, and other schools. 22:27 Wherever you go, you see great church schools, 22:31 probably the most affluent in the world. 22:34 More than one-third of Aussie kids 22:36 go to church schools, why? 22:41 It's funny, 22:42 because liberal parents know 22:44 that a Christian education based... 22:48 An education based on Christian principles 22:50 is best. 22:53 So secular parents send their children 22:56 by the millions to church schools. 23:00 Now if you go out to Australia, 23:03 and if you talk to many Aussies, 23:05 you'll think the church is ready to be buried. 23:07 It doesn't matter, it's finished. 23:12 Go to Sydney, my friend. 23:14 And in the City of Sydney, which is a... 23:18 I love Sydney, it's my old hometown. 23:20 Here is a church in Sydney. 23:24 One of the biggest Christian churches 23:28 in the world. 23:30 It's in Sydney. 23:31 It's sending missionaries to Los Angeles. 23:35 Don't laugh. Why not? 23:38 You know, you laugh and say, "We don't need it." 23:41 Who are you kidding? 23:43 Of course, we do. 23:44 They are sending missionaries to America, 23:47 to Los Angeles, and New York, and London, 23:51 and they're building churches like this, vast churches. 23:55 And the congregations are composed of young people. 24:01 So we would say to the people who say the church is over. 24:05 Look at this. 24:06 And as the Australians would say, 24:08 "Put that in your pipe and smoke it." 24:12 You can't kill it, my friend. 24:15 Recently I was in Sydney, 24:17 the city that I love so much. 24:19 I feel at home in Sydney. 24:22 Very safe city, very little crime. 24:24 You can wander around at anytime of the day or night 24:27 and you're not going to get hurt generally. 24:31 I was in the heart of Sydney 24:33 and I saw these people pouring into the Sydney City Mission, 24:39 which is run by the Methodist. 24:42 This is dead, nobody would be here. 24:46 Ladies in high heels, men in their business suits, 24:49 they were going into this place for a Bible study. 24:56 Bible study, then I wandered a block, 24:58 and I went to The Church of England Cathedral, 25:04 Anglican Cathedral. 25:06 I got there at noon time, 25:08 and people were studying the Bible. 25:14 You can't kill it. 25:16 I don't care what people say or what people do. 25:20 Jesus said, "On this rock, I will build My church, 25:25 and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." 25:29 And the church was not built upon Cardinal Pell, 25:32 and it wasn't built upon the Pope, 25:35 the church was built upon the Rock, Christ Jesus. 25:41 And the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. 25:46 And so, next program, 25:48 I'm going to take it further 25:50 and tell you more stories from down under. 25:53 But I want you to know this. 25:56 If you and I, whether we be Aussies, or Americans, 26:01 or Brits, or whatever, 26:03 if we follow the truths of the Bible, 26:09 we are going to be remarkably blessed. 26:13 And we will be on top 26:16 even when we're living down under. 26:22 There's only one thing 26:24 that really counts in this lifetime, 26:26 your relationship to Christ. 26:29 And then if you have 26:30 a right relationship with Christ, 26:33 you want to tell people about Christ. 26:35 That's why Jesus said, "Go into all the world 26:38 and preach the gospel to every creature." 26:42 By the grace of God, 26:43 we're going to do that, we are doing that. 26:47 That is why we're going back to Cuba, 26:49 to this communist land, 26:51 to preach Christ. 26:54 We're accepting an invitation 26:55 to go to the vast, huge city of Manila, 27:00 the capital of the Philippines. 27:02 Been there before, 27:04 but by the grace of God, we're going back. 27:07 Please support us. 27:09 And please stand with us 27:11 in the preaching of the everlasting gospel. 27:14 You say, "How do you do it? Who pays the bills?" 27:17 We do. 27:19 "Do you get any help, 27:20 financial help from the church?" 27:21 No, my friend, we don't. 27:23 But we get a lot of help from God 27:26 and from His children. 27:28 Please support us 27:29 in the preaching of the everlasting gospel. 27:33 It's the most important work in all the world. 27:36 Everything else is almost trivia. 27:39 So would you please write to me? 27:42 John Carter, P.O. Box 1900, 27:46 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 27:51 Do your best for Jesus. 27:53 Do your best for the gospel. 27:55 And in Australia, write to me at Terrigal. 27:59 And we promise you this, 28:02 every dime, every dollar is going to be used 28:05 to win souls to our Lord Jesus Christ. 28:09 Please write to me today. 28:13 Thank you and God bless you. 28:25 For a copy of today's program, 28:26 please contact us at P.O. Box 1900, 28:30 Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 28:34 Or in Australia, contact us at P.O. Box 861, 28:39 Terrigal, New South Wales 2260. 28:44 This program is made possible 28:46 through the generous support of viewers like you. 28:48 We thank you for your continued support. 28:51 May God richly bless you. |
Revised 2019-04-25