The common motivator or those who have held on to their faith against the most difficult odds is the age to come—Heaven. Unfortunately,  modern teaching on Heaven sells it short. The Bible gives are more details about this age-to-come than is let on by most preaching and teaching. Past generations understood these details. Daniel Secomb, of Israel, Islam, and the Endtimes, and a leading teacher on the Millennial Kingdom shares these overlooked details. The Millennial Kingdom is a one-thousand-year reign of Jesus on earth with those who followed Him on earth will live in this king immortally while other mortals live on the earth as well. Dana Crosby of the YouTube channel Wisdom Calls and the show, What Your Pastor Never Told You shares how Christian teachings are being missed in most churches.

There is a spiritual world and there is a raging battle within that world that also breaks through into the physical world. This spiritual battle is behind many of the challenges of our faith. C.S. Lewis provided the world great insight into the demonic opposition upon our following of Christ in his classic, The Screwtape Letters. Author Beckie Lindsey has taken a modern spin on the topic covered by Lewis. Her latest Young Adult Fiction series, Beauty from Ashes, is flying off shelves. In the two-book released so far Secrets and Uninvited she shares the struggle of teens and young adults today and pulls the curtains back to share the spiritual world behind those attacks. Beckie does not shy away from any topic but faces issues the church is afraid to talk about. This approach is fresh and allows us to face our struggles head-on. Timothy Gill, formerly of Voice of the Martyrs and now president of the Christian Persecution Preparedness Institute, shares insight on the biblical topic of spiritual warfare. Tim’s work around the world has given him great insight to how spiritual attacks happen in this modern world and the best warfare methods to combat them.

The pushback and objections raised to Hold On, have been that there is no need to talk about the issue of people leaving their faith because God will provide strength in that time. And He does, but it's not from left field rather its been cultivated over time. In previous episodes, guests have shared how in difficulty they turned to God and He provided a peace like no other, but Rita Halter Thomas of Hold On Stories, shares the secret behind Lora Jones’ faithfulness. And the answer is preparation. This snippet of knowledge leads Jake to contact Nelson Walters who is an author, award-winning blogger, and president of The Gospel in the End Times. He shares from his book on preparation—Are We Ready for Jesus. Jake shares from his book Spiritual Prepper.

Believers constantly face challenges to their faith. Challenges like have been presented in every episode of Hold On so far this season, but no challenge may match persecution of one’s faith. Timothy and Darcie Gill spent many years as missionary representatives for Voice of the Martyrs. They would spend time in the field with persecuted believers and then return to states to share in churches. Through their work, Timothy and Darcie gained a great insight into the reality of persecution, as well as, the lack of understanding of the subject in American churches. This insight led Timothy to launch the Christian Persecution Preparedness Institute which seeks to prepare the American church for what one day will occur—persecution. He also provides teaching via YouTube and through an online community called Endtime.Church. The Gills share real-life accounts that they witnessed in their work. Christopher Mantei of the international ministry, Wings of the Eagle, stops in to share about the current condition of the world-wide church in terms of persecution.

The Bible tells many stories of God doing the impossible whether that be bringing a child to a barren womb, a virgin birth, or the other miracles. Those feats of the Bible seem ancient history to us today. When we face the impossible, its easy to give up and given in. But God calls us to be faithful and trust Him to do the impossible. Ralph and Evelyn Mann did just that – when the received word that the baby in Evelyn’s womb had a lethal form of dwarfism, Thanatophoric Dwarfism, and was told to continue with a therapeutic abortion—they chose to trust God. Their son, Samuel, is now thirteen. He has defied the odds. In this episode, Evelynn shares the journey from the start of pregnancy until today. She has written about Samuel’s story in her book Miracle in My Living Room . Evelyn also blogs about the journey, as well as, speaks to women’s groups. Listen in to hear Samuel’s story and go to www.miraclemann.com and fall in love with Samuel.

Taking a pause from the powerful stories and interviews, Jake slows down to make sure everyone is on the same page as he takes a timeout and pumps the break to talk about what is faith and why people really are leaving. Jake also shares his own story of coming to faith in Jesus. 

From episode one, guest David Sanford shared that one of the main causes of an individual leaving the faith was when tragedy strikes. The question becomes how a loving God can allow something so evil and tragic to occur. But the call of faithful from the Bible calls the follower of Jesus to remain faithful no matter what. Christian teaching points back to Job who lost everything. Job faced the unthinkable and remained faithful. Lora Jones faced the unthinkable in her life and like Job was asked to quit believing in God. She has remained faithful and been a shining light to others. Lora’s friend Rita Halter Thomas, who writes and edits “Hold On Stories” for Stand Firm Ministries and Hold On (they can be found at www.standfirministries.com and www.holdonpodcast.com), says that Lora never wavered in her faith. J.L. Jones, Lora’s husband, was a pastor. As a family, they faithfully served and followed Jesus. Their entire lives were focused on God, but they were still not immune to tragedy. Lora woke up to find her world had completely changed. For fourteen years, she has held on to her faith. She travels across the country speaking at churches and conferences with Lora Jones Ministries. Her story is soon to be released to the world through her book Song of a Wounded Heart. The book will be available June 25, 2019.

Each guest interviewed, and each story told becomes part of the cast and tell the narrative of the reality many American Christians face, a challenge to hold on and keep their faith. Statistics and experience tell us that few returns to the church and the faith after leaving. But Ronnie did. Ronnie was a Christian—actively serving in his church. He had even committed his life to be a pastor, and then he left for the Navy. And on the high seas, well more like the ports, Ronnie fell into addiction and left the faith. Years later with six girls to raise, this rough and tough cowboy, began to feel the effects of alcoholism and an addiction to methamphetamines. He found himself unable to conquer the addiction and the inner demons. Finally, he went to church to tell God good-by, but instead, his life was changed. He handed over his addiction to God and came back to faith. Now Ronnie works with addicts and teenagers and is having a huge impact. He proves that returns can happen.

This season began with the identification of an epidemic in America---millions leaving the faith. The outlook is bleak and seemingly hopeless, but in episode two our guests share there was hope and that people could return to the faith. This reality is music to the ears of all of us because we all have someone we deeply love who is currently away from the faith. Although, David’s words are encouraging—finding someone who has returned is far in-between. To prove that returns do happen Jake went back to the church he pastored to visit with a good friend, Ronnie Guinn, who had a powerful comeback story. Ronnie came back to the faith after being away for over twenty-five years. But this return story is not just about Ronnie. Proving our lives are not isolated, Jake, visits with Ronnie’s mother Aletha who prayed for him the whole time he was away from the faith. She shares the struggle of trusting in faith her son would return when it looked hopeless that he would. Jake also visited with one of Ronnie’s daughter, Nichole, who shares her own return story along with the impact her Dad’s return had on her life and family.

Past generations in America saw people leave the church and even the faith as teenagers, but they typically returned when they began to have families of their own. Statisticians tell us now that is not the case. That especially, young adults who have grown up in the faith and leave are not coming back. The research makes the possibility seem hopeless, but author David Sanford has personally been able to help others come back to their faith and even come into a stronger faith. David has been following this trend of people leaving the faith for over a decade. His book If God Disappears addresses this phenomenon and addresses nine major faith wreckers. In his latest book, Loving Your Neighbor: Surprise It’s Not What You Think provides ten steps to help someone return to their faith. This is a must-listen episode for anyone who feels it is hopeless for someone to return to the faith.