The Berean Call Podcast

My guest—second week with Carl Kerby, Jr. Carl’s expertise, really—and I’m telling you, it is expertise—has to do with video games, and he’s the co-author of a book titled It’s Not Just a Game: How Parents and Gamers Can Apply God’s Word to Video Games. It’s by Carl Kerby, and with Drew Thorwall. And he also has a DVD: Game Over: It’s Not Just a Game, which I’ve been through both of these, and, folks, I can’t recommend them highly enough, especially [to] those with children who are playing video games, those who are grandparents, and they want to have some input in the lives of their children and grandchildren. I think this is an absolute necessity.

Join Dave and Tom as they engage in an in-depth, verse-by-verse examination of the Gospel of John. We hope you will be challenged and convicted as you listen to these insightful, exegetical discussions compiled from nearly four years of Search the Scriptures Daily radio programs. Open your Bible and get ready for an edifying pilgrimage into God's Word.

Question: Why does world opinion (UN, EU, Russia, media, etc.) generally go against Israel, and why is it often so viciously backed by false accusations? Is this of any significance for today, or is it merely what God foreordained?

Response: God did not foreordain anti-Semitism and the hatred of Israel rampant in the world—and He will severely punish those persons and nations guilty of it. He foretold this hatred, but He does not cause it. As Jesus declared, evil comes from the human heart: "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man..." (Mt 15:19-20).

Of course, Satan does all he can to stir up anti-Semitism and hatred of Israel. As we explain inJudgment Day, Satan's only hope to escape his final doom is to destroy Israel. He has made the destruction of Israel and the extermination of all Jews one of the foundations of Islam; he has persuaded Europe and most of the rest of the world to believe the lies of the Arabs who claim to be descended from the original "Palestinians" (a people who never existed); and he is persuading not just the D. James Kennedys, Hank Hanegraaffs, and R. C. Sprouls, but increasing numbers of Christians that the church has replaced Israel...

This is number 226 in our series of “Get Biblical Understanding.” In this session we’re reading many but certainly not all of the biblical verses that have to do with The Heart.

The heart addressed in this series is not the physical organ within our body but rather the non-physical aspects that pervade humanity, which is at the center of our spiritual and mental life. Only God knows our heart and from Him alone comes our only true insights.

MARK 10:3-5 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female.

MARK 12:30 And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.

LUKE 1:51 He hath showed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

LUKE 2:35 (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.

LUKE 5:21-22 And the scribes and the Pharisees began to reason, saying, Who is this which speaketh blasphemies? Who can forgive sins, but God alone? But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?

LUKE 6:45 A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh.

LUKE 8:11-12 Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the way side are they that hear; then cometh the devil, and taketh away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. 

Originally published May 1, 1993

Go ye therefore, and [make disciples of] all nations.... Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world — Matthew 28:19-20

Last month we saw from God's Word that lost sinners are offered forgiveness of all sins (past, present, and future), and eternal life as a free gift of God's grace by virtue of Christ's fully accomplished redemptive work upon the cross and bodily resurrection. To receive this priceless gift one need only believe the gospel: that one is a sinner deserving God's judgment and unable by self-effort, religious ritual or any other means, to earn or merit salvation even in part; and that Christ paid the full debt which God's justice demands for man's sin. Of course, one must believe the gospel not merely as a historic fact, but to the extent of placing one's faith completely in the Lord Jesus Christ as personal Savior for eternity.

We noted also that Christ directed His disciples to preach this good news of the gospel to everyone everywhere. This command by Christ to His original followers has become known as the "Great Commission." It is stated in two ways: "Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel" (Mark 16:15); and "make disciples" (Matthew 28:19). Those who preach the gospel are to disciple those who believe it. Born again by God's Spirit into His family (John 3:3-5; 1 John 3:2), converts begin a new life as Christ's followers, eager to learn of Him and to obey the One whom they now love for having saved them.

The message of this treasured epistle is just as clear and convicting today as it was to the early churches of Galatia: We are justified by grace through faith alone - not by works of the law.

Join T. A. McMahon and radio guests (Greg Durel, Mike Gendron, and Jim McCarthy) as they discuss this powerful Pauline epistle and its relevance to your daily walk.

My guest for this program and next week, should our Lord tarry, is Carl Kerby, Jr. (not to be mistaken for his dad, who I recently interviewed). Carl Jr.’s area of expertise and research involves issues that we here at TBC consider to be of prime importance, especially regarding the upcoming generation: it’s the entertainment media, and specifically video games. Carl is the co-author with Drew Thorwall of It’s Not Just a Game: How Parents and Gamers Can Apply God’s Word to Video Games. Carl also has a DVD called Game Over: It’s Not Just a Game, and when this program airs, we will definitely have information on how you can order the DVD and the book.

Join Dave and Tom as they engage in an in-depth, verse-by-verse examination of the Gospel of John. We hope you will be challenged and convicted as you listen to these insightful, exegetical discussions compiled from nearly four years of Search the Scriptures Daily radio programs. Open your Bible and get ready for an edifying pilgrimage into God's Word.

Question: I am reading Chuck Colson’s book The Body, and am greatly disappointed in Chuck for including the Roman Catholic Church as a part of the body of Christ that we are to embrace in his call for unity…. I appreciate Chuck Colson, but I’m a bit confused about his term “evangelical Catholics.” What also greatly disappoints me are the endorsements by a host of religious leaders on the jacket. Would you comment on this book in The Berean Call?

Response: I respect Chuck as a Christian who loves the Lord and has sacrificed a great deal to bring the gospel into prisons. Therefore it grieves me to say that his book is a sad mixture of warnings against error and at the same time embracing that which is false and even covering up or ignoring that which, if admitted, would undermine his thesis of unity with Rome. He finds fault (often correctly) with various segments of the evangelical church, but not with the Catholic Church. And the praise he gives Rome is often so blind as to be embarrassing, such as his statement that “the Catholic Church, to its great credit, does call heretics to account” (p 132). Indeed she does, having burned more than a million at the stake! And to this day both Trent and Vatican II condemn evangelicals as heretics for holding beliefs to which Colson subscribes. Surely he must know this!

The message of this treasured epistle is just as clear and convicting today as it was to the early churches of Galatia: We are justified by grace through faith alone - not by works of the law.

Join T. A. McMahon and radio guests (Greg Durel, Mike Gendron, and Jim McCarthy) as they discuss this powerful Pauline epistle and its relevance to your daily walk.

Join T. A. McMahon and radio guests (Greg Durel, Mike Gendron, and Jim McCarthy) as they discuss this powerful Pauline epistle and its relevance to your daily walk.