“The disintegration of rational society started in the drift from the hearth and the family”, wrote G. K. Chesterton in 1933. “The solution must be a drift back.” Today’s guest, lauded as “probably the greatest living authority on the life and work of G.K. Chesterton,” joins Hank to discuss his book The Story of the Family: G.K. Chesterton on the Only State that Creates and Loves Its Own Citizens—a compilation of texts and quotes from G. K. Chesterton, edited by Dale Ahlquist, illustrating the glory of the family—the heritage of romance, love, marriage, parenthood, and home. In a world that has lost touch with normality, it takes a pioneer to rediscover the wonders of the normal and Dale Ahlquist represents Chesterton as a prophet from our past that can help us defend the role of the family as the key to a healthy civilization. For further information about receiving The Story of the Family: G.K. Chesterton on the Only State that Creates and Loves Its Own Citizens for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-the-story-of-the-family-g-k-chesterton-on-the-only-state-that-creates-and-loves-its-own-citizens/Topics discussed include: Why does how we define the family matter? (5:30); why is G.K. Chesterton important today? (7:25); on natural law (10:45); the growing influence of the government in our lives—especially in public schools (15:00); the paradox of freedom (17:30); the modern attack on the family (18:40); what were G.K. Chesterton’s critiques of capitalism? (21:00); what is the mystical mirror? (24:15); the sacramental idea of sex as a picture of Christ and the Church (27:20); the problem with free love, birth control and divorce (29:20); the connection between eugenics and birth control (32:20); real birth control is self-control (36:15); communism, capitalism and something worse (40:10); the practice of self-control (41:40); is public education undermining the family more than anything else? (43:40); does it make sense for feminists to attack motherhood? (48:00); the value of homemaking—the original work from home (50:25); why bad philosophy is ultimately self-destructing (52:40); the main point of distributism—also known as localism (54:25); how should we read? (1:00:00). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, comments on an article from the World Socialist Web Site by scholar Tom Mackaman, “American Historical Association President Issues Groveling Apology after Racialist Social Media Attack.” Here we have “the president of the American Historical Association, Professor James Sweet of the University of Wisconsin,” making a soft criticism of The 1619 Project and ending up having to publish “a groveling apology.” Sweet had criticized “the dominance of ‘presentism’ in historical writing.” According to Sweet, presentism is the “tendency to view history ‘through the prism of contemporary social justice issues—race, gender, sexuality, nationalism, capitalism,’ while minimizing ‘the values and mores of people in their own times.’” Mackaman comments that “the subject is certainly worthy of discussion, not apology and retraction.” Sweet had also suggested that “The 1619 Project’s insinuation that slavery was a uniquely American ‘original sin’” wasn’t quite right. He pointed to “a slaving site he’d recently visited in Ghana, Elmina,” regarding which “‘[l]ess than one percent of the Africans passing through…arrived in North America.’ Most of the other 99 percent, presumably, were bound to destinations in Latin America and the Caribbean.” So, the US was hardly exceptional in this regard. But in the face of social media criticism like, “as a ‘white man’ he has no right to make critical commentary on Black or African History,” Professor Sweet “crumpled in record speed,” as Mackaman put it, tweeting out an apology containing sentiments such as “I take full responsibility;” “I am deeply sorry;” “I sincerely regret;” “I hope to redeem myself.”See Mary Grabar, Debunking The 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America (Regnery History, 2021) https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-awake-not-woke-a-christian-response-to-the-cult-of-progressive-ideology-wa2209fl2/.See also Tom Mackaman, “American Historical Association President Issues Groveling Apology after Racialist Social Media Attack,” World Socialist Web Site, August 23, 2022, https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2022/08/24/ogzj-a24.html; James H. Sweet, “Is History History? Identity Politics and Teleologies of the Present,” Perspectives on History, August 17, 2022, https://www.historians.org/publications-and-directories/perspectives-on-history/september-2022/is-history-history-identity-politics-and-teleologies-of-the-present.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, has been meditating on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–7:29). Meditating on the words of this most glorious of magnificent sermons is transformational. In this sermon, Jesus famously asked, “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?” Hank was thinking about these words when he happened upon an article, “Of Smart Phones and Snakes,” by Grazie Pozo Christie, who writes, “Every time I see a little hand holding a smartphone and childish eyes staring mesmerized at the screen, I remember those Gospel words [from Luke 11:11 and also Matthew 7:9–10] and imagine the phone is a rattlesnake.” In the early stages of their development, we’ve handed impressionable children over to the greed of big tech—“luring them into ‘rabbit holes’ of coarse sexuality and drug use” and transgender traps. Twelve- and thirteen-year-olds—even younger—being groomed for radical hormonal treatments and devastating surgical alterations. While the bottom line for tech giants is quite promising, the resulting top and bottom surgeries, woke ideologies, and cultural confusion wreaks inestimable harm. Older tech addicts fare little better. Our overstimulated constitutions are increasingly devoid of critical thinking. We’ve substituted quick answers for critical thought. Information substituted for reflection and true wisdom. Solutions are not to be found in more screen time, but more Scripture time—meditating, mining, memorizing the wisdom of Scripture for all its substantial worth. Perhaps start by reading a chapter a day of Proverbs. See Grazie Pozo Christie, “Of Smart Phones and Snakes,” Angelus, September 9, 2022, https://angelusnews.com/voices/of-smartphones-and-snakes/

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reads from a poignant, acutely distressing article by Ritchie Herron, “A Detransitioner’s Perspective: Awakening from the Dream of Gender Utopia,” published by Human Events. Ritchie writes and speaks in a very compelling fashion. “I was 25, an adult,” he explains, “but a vulnerable adult with high traits of autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and substance misuse issues. Like many, I was captured by the idea that I was less than perfect. The solution to my imperfection was to be laid on a path that would lead to a degree of unimaginable self-destruction, through irreversible surgeries that have turned me into a lifelong medical patient, reliant on synthetic hormones, as well as being under constant supervision for ongoing complications related to the deeply invasive surgery. This was all in the name of the promised Gender Utopia, where we were all free to be ourselves, express ourselves without boundaries, and celebrate our individuality in an explosion of liberation and autonomy, yet, at the age of 35, almost a decade after embarking on this deeply destructive journey, I’ve come to realize this is not the Gender Utopia we were promised.” See Ritchie Herron, “A Detransitioner’s Perspective: Awakening from the Dream of Gender Utopia,” Human Events, September 13, 2022, https://web.archive.org/web/20220915085236/https:/www.humanevents.com/2022/09/13/a-detransitioner-s-perspective-awakening-from-the-dream-of-gender-utopia

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on The 1619 Project and what motivated the Nazi Holocaust. Nikole Hannah-Jones, director of The 1619 Project, reimagines America as a ‘slaveocracy’—and says that even Nazi Germany used America as inspiration for its racial policies. But actually Nazi Germany was motivated by Darwinism and its implications. Nazi Germany took eugenics, which was increasingly promoted throughout the West, to its logical conclusion. Namely, to take those that were not well born and exterminate them in order to bring about the uber race. Thus at the heart of the problem is the notion that we’re not created in the image and likeness of God, such that we have intrinsic worth, but rather we are merely molecules in motion—and the goal is always to progress to a higher ideal. The amoeba becomes the ape; and ultimately, the ape becomes the astronaut. For evolution to work, you have to eliminate the weak, otherwise they will pollute the gene pool and render evolutionary progress impossible. The educational system in concert with The 1619 Project is bent on eradicating the God of the Bible—because if we eradicate God, then anything becomes possible. In truth it has always been sin, not skin color, that animates racism. And we know that because slavery has existed throughout all of human history. So if we are to re-imagine America, we must do so based on the communication that, as human beings, we are all created in the image of God.See Mary Grabar, Debunking The 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America (Regnery History, 2021) https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-awake-not-woke-a-christian-response-to-the-cult-of-progressive-ideology-wa2209fl2/; and Richard Weikart, Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism (Discovery Institute, 2022), https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-darwinian-racism-how-darwinism-influenced-hitler-nazism-and-white-nationalism/.

Hank Hanegraaff is joined by Dr. Mary Grabar to discuss her book Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America. According to the New York Times’s “1619 Project,” America was not founded in 1776, with a declaration of freedom and independence, but in 1619 with the introduction of African slavery into the New World. According to Grabar, the “1619 Project” is not just bad history, it is a danger to our national life, replacing the idea, goal, and reality of American unity with race-based obsessions that we have seen play out in violence, riots, and the destruction of American monuments—not to mention the wholesale rewriting of America’s historical and cultural past. In this illuminating conversation, Grabar discusses the lies, distortions, and propaganda behind the “1619 Project” and why her book debunking it is essential reading. For more information on how to receive, Debunking the 1619 Project: Exposing the Plan to Divide America, for your partnering gift please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-debunking-the-1619-project-exposing-the-plan-to-divide-america/Topics discussed include: How has Debunking the 1619 Project been received? (5:15); the problem with an apology from the American Historical Association regarding the 1619 Project (8:25); what is the origin of the 1619 Project? (12:55); how do we know which historians to trust? (15:10); who is the founder of the 1619 Project, Nikole Hannah-Jones? (19:30); the rise of idea laundering in academia (23:25); the dangerous decline of investigative journalism (26:30); the problem with the 1619 Project being taught in schools (35:25); the truth about Thomas Jefferson and slavery (43:10); why the abolition of slavery was so historically radical (46:25); did Thomas Jefferson really want to abolish slavery? (52:25); the mistreatment of Abraham Lincoln in the 1619 Project (1:01:00); the Constitution and slavery (1:07:30); the misappropriation and virtue signaling of the Kente cloth (1:14:20); the impact of Karl Marx on the perception of slavery in America (1:18:05); combatting the false narratives of the 1619 Project (1:19:30); the stealth edits and corrections of the 1619 Project (1:25:15). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, comments on an important book he is reading: The Story of the Family: G.K. Chesterton on the Only State That Creates and Loves Its Own Citizens, edited by Dale Ahlquist (Ignatius Press, 2022). In this compilation of texts from Chesterton, he shows that “society is built on the family.” He eloquently explains that one cannot free something from what it is by nature, including marriage and the family. You cannot free a marriage from the union of a man and a woman, the natural end of which is the bearing and rearing of children. There is no other social relation parallel to the natural and “mutual attraction of the sexes,” and by missing this point, the modern world has fallen into countless “vices and follies,” including same-sex sexuality and transgenderism. Chesterton shows that undercutting the “triangle of truisms, of father, mother, and child,” destroys any civilization that once cherished them. Seeking to thwart nature, we succeed only in cutting off the very limb on which we are seated. Ultimately, “the war against the family” is a “war against God and the Church.” The road back is through “the story of the family.”See The Story of the Family: G.K. Chesterton on the Only State That Creates and Loves Its Own Citizens, edited by Dale Ahlquist (Ignatius Press, 2022) https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-the-story-of-the-family-g-k-chesterton-on-the-only-state-that-creates-and-loves-its-own-citizens/

Fire in the streets has become commonplace as society appears to be literally and figuratively burning down by revolutionary movements that have made their way into almost every institution, including our Churches. While you might not recognize it, the root beneath much of the chaos is an ideology called Critical Theory—a reductionistic form of cultural Marxism that divides society into the oppressed and the oppressors. Longtime Christian Research Journal contributor Professor Doug Groothuis joins Hanegraaff to discuss why he felt compelled to write Fire in the Streets to equip Christians with a better understanding of what Critical Theory is, how it is infiltrating nearly every sector of society and how to counter it confidently and constructively with an orthodox Christian worldview. For more information see Fire in the Streets: How You Can Confidently Respond to Incendiary Cultural Topics by Douglas R. Groothuis available for your partnering gift. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-fire-in-the-streets-how-you-can-confidently-respond-to-incendiary-cultural-topics/Topics discussed include: What is Critical Theory? What is the connection between Critical Theory and Marxism? (4:45); what is the difference between Critical Theory and Critical Race Theory? (10:30); why is capitalism the best option? (18:15); why are so many young people buying into socialism? (22:35); the Marxist origins of Black Lives Matter (28:35); how can we learn to discern what sources to trust for our news and information? (31:20); the odd phenomenon of woke capitalism (36:15); are we aware of the influence of propaganda and party cliches in our world today? (38:05); the 1619 Project (40:05); should we send our kids to public school? (44:30); is the United States Constitution racist? (47:50); developing a Christian philosophy of citizenship (50:20); reverse racism being promoted by public intellectuals such as Ibram Kendi (53:45); what is the difference between equality and equity? (58:25); affirmative action (1:01:45); how is Critical Race Theory in opposition to freedom of speech? (1:03:50); how should Christians respond to the problems posed by Critical Theory? (1:07:50); the need for Christian education as opposed to public schooling (1:10:20); the theme of fire used by Groothuis in his book Fire in the Streets (1:12:25) Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, is reading Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology (TAN Books, 2021) by Noelle Mering. Scripture tells us that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. Never more so than in the woke ideology that has captured the heart of America. The devil’s multifaceted strategy involves “prowling for innocence,” as Mering poignantly puts it, for the innocence of children is a threat to the kingdom of darkness. She points out that media and movies are some of his favorite tools. Think Frozen (2013), Trolls (2016), or the magazine Teen Vogue, which featured “A Guide to Anal Sex.” Far from decrying sodomy, the magazine depicts anal sex as a very natural benefit. In the first generation of cultural demise, it would be difficult to bring up a subject like this. In the second generation, such filth becomes normalized. And in the third generation, we begin to see what we are experiencing today—societal collapse. The only antidote is Christians willing to proclaim truth in a culture where truth is perceived to be little more than hate. See Noelle Mering, Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology https://www.equip.org/donate/ And look for Hank’s forthcoming in-depth interview with Noelle Mering on the Hank Unplugged Podcast.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, comments on a recent news story that turns out to be another example of failure to do due diligence in reporting. Duke University women’s volleyball starter Rachel Richardson sent out a tweet saying that she and her “fellow African American teammates…were targeted and racially heckled throughout the entirety of the match” between Duke and Brigham Young University. Richardson’s Godmother, Lesa Pamplin, tweeted, “My Goddaughter is the only black starter for Dukes volleyball team. While playing yesterday, she was called a [n-word] every time she served. She was threatened by a white male that told her to watch her back going to the team bus. A police officer had to be put by their bench.” LeBron James tweeted, “you tell your Goddaughter to stand tall, be proud and continue to be BLACK!!!....We have her back.” Richardson’s father, Marvin Richardson, conveyed to the New York Times that “as the crowd got more hyped and the epithets kept coming, she wanted to respond back but she told me she was afraid that, if she did, the raucous crowd could very well turn into a mob mentality.” New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, Sports Illustrated, NPR published articles without sufficient investigation—only a rush to judgment. Eventually, finally, BYU performed a thorough investigation, concluding, “From our extensive review, we have not found any evidence to corroborate the allegation that fans engaged in racial heckling or uttered racial slurs at the Duke vs. BYU women’s volleyball match on August 26.” See Jesse Singal, “How the Media Fell for A Racism Sham,” Common Sense News, September 15, 2022, https://www.commonsense.news/p/how-the-media-fell-for-a-racism-sham; Luke Hanson and Thomas Stevenson, “Exclusive: Racist Comments at BYU Volleyball Game Never Happened, Sources Suggest,” Cougar Chronicle, August 31, 2022, https://www.byucougarchronicle.org/post/exclusive-racist-comments-at-byu-volleyball-game-never-happened-sources-suggest; and “A Statement from BYU Athletics Regarding the Investigation of the Aug. 26 Volleyball Match,” BYU Athletics, September 12, 2022, https://byucougars.com/story/athletics/1300724/statement-byu-athletics-regarding-investigation-aug-26-volleyball-match.

Hank Hanegraaff believes that the following conversation with Noelle Mering is one of the most important podcasts he has ever recorded. Most people view woke ideology as a political or social movement, but Mering is convinced that it is a demonically motivated movement that takes partial truths and totalizes them while making God the ultimate oppressor. She wrote Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology as an effort to shed clarity on a movement that operates in confusion and like a trojan horse has manipulated many well-meaning Christians with ideological suppositions that are not only incompatible with but completely counter to Christianity. In short, the advocates of this progressive ideology will increasingly demand allegiance to their cause and Christians must be equipped to recognize and counter the claims of woke ideology by deepening their understanding of what is true and leaning on the historic foundations of the Church.For more information see Noelle Mering, Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology, available for your partnering gift. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-awake-not-woke-a-christian-response-to-the-cult-of-progressive-ideology/Topics discussed include: What is the definition of woke? (3:45); the role of language in woke ideology (6:00); Nadia Bolz-Weber and the dangerous future of woke Christianity (8:20); what are the origins of woke ideology? (10:10); critiquing Critical Theory (16:00); the three primary dogmas of wokeism (18:30); how the woke use the weapons of the muzzle and the megaphone (25:00); Intersectionality and the identity crisis that it creates (26:25); the rejection of natural law (28:55); what is the difference between transgender and transracial? (30:35); the basis of woke ideology is despair and destruction (32:50); ESG and the implications of social credit scores (34:10); how the woke are prowling for innocence (36:55); transgenderism and how the medical establishment has capitulated to woke ideology (39:05); is there any hope that we are not witnessing the demise of Western Civilization? (45:40); abortion, anthropology and the eradication of the foundational understanding that we have duties to one another (48:35); Black Lives Matter is ultimately a movement aimed at creating chaos (50:55); why wokeism has a supply and demand problem—the issue with building your identity around being both a victim and an accuser (53:55); how the sloganeering and mantras of woke ideology mimics cultic behavior (57:20); the 1619 Project, idea laundering and why is it so dangerous? (59:20); what is the responsibility of the Church to respond to woke ideology? (1:03:00); the Marxist connection to woke ideology and the historical illiteracy of Marxism today (1:07:45); should Christians pursue utopia on earth? (1:11:45); the deep beauty of fatherhood and the ability of good men practicing healthy masculinity to lead us out of our current situation (1:14:40); why should people read Awake Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology? (1:18:20). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, has been reading a profound book by Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey, Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment (Princeton University Press, 2021). In the midst of his reading, he received notification of an NBC News article titled “How Monkeypox Spoiled Gay Men’s Plans for an Invincible Summer,” by Benjamin Ryan (https://www.nbcnews.com/nbc-out/out-health-and-wellness/monkeypox-spoiled-gay-mens-plans-invincible-summer-rcna45326). More than a hundred gay, bisexual, or transgender people talked to NBC News about the “sex they never had” as a result of monkeypox. How monkeypox “upended a summer that was supposed to be a well-earned opportunity” to once again “revel with their gay brothers.” In the article we hear about “resurgent sexual liberation” through “hookup apps,” which “have made meeting sexual partners as convenient as procuring takeout.” That “post-Covid” everyone “went crazy, and there were sex parties all over town”—“free-spirited bacchanalia.” But, alas, the “long-awaited libertine summer” was “sharply curtailed” by monkeypox. The NBC News article is very sympathetic. What all these men have in common, as Storey and Storey make clear, is the acceptance of the notion that fleeting pleasure is a substitute for solid joy. These men have bought the lie that permissiveness will make them happy—that voyeuristic curiosities will make them whole. At the root of all this is a materialistic worldview—a worldview that denies transcendence. A failure to recognize that a thinking being is of necessity more than merely material. Why are we restless? So often we see the world as merely molecules in motion, and if we are mere molecules in motion, everything is permissible. The book, Why We Are Restless, includes a chapter in which the philosophy of Blaise Pascal is unveiled, showing why it is metaphysically and practically bankrupt to consider ourselves merely material beings, and why God veils His presence. God veils Himself because He does not want to force Himself upon those who do not seek Him. Once one seeks after Him, the veil is removed. For further study, see Benjamin Storey and Jenna Silber Storey, Why We Are Restless: On the Modern Quest for Contentment https://www.equip.org/donate/

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, offers some thoughts on the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. In New York City, the National September 11 Memorial and Museum hosted an annual ceremony commemorating and honoring the nearly 3,000 lives lost twenty-one years ago. A reminder that the oil-rich Middle East is full of fantastically wealthy Muslims prepared to employ their resources for the sake of jihad. According to former Democratic senator Bob Graham, Saudi Arabia had direct ties to the massacres of September 11, 2001. But this is whitewashed in the Western world, where sharia-subservient states, including Saudi Arabia, are consistently portrayed as peace-loving allies in the fight against terrorism. Little wonder then that when the Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia declared it necessary to destroy every church in the whole of the Arabian Peninsula, Western governments did not so much as blink. Worse yet, Western governments, along with academic institutions and media outlets have proven themselves to be cobelligerents with the Wahhabis of Saudi Arabia in exporting a false narrative on Islam. However, the rebuilding of the Saint Nicholas Shrine at Ground Zero provides a glimmer of hope that Christians in the West may once again take the only true and transformational faith as seriously as the Saudi’s do the Islamic counterfeit.For documentation and further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, MUSLIM: What You Need to Know about the World’s Fastest-Growing Religion https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-muslim-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religion/. See also Hank Hanegraaff, Truth Matters, Life Matters More: The Unexpected Beauty of an Authentic Christian Life https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-truth-matters-life-matters-more/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, offers an update on his sister Jobje, who is battling pancreatic cancer—and undergoing an astonishing 40th cycle of chemotherapy. She writes that she is sustained and blessed by God’s ongoing grace. In her recent letter she mentions meeting with the palliative care oncologist, engaging end of life and quality of life questions. She says discussing these quality of life questions makes her uncomfortable. “How do you define ‘quality of life’ as a Christian?” she writes. “My faith rests squarely in a sovereign God and a loving Heavenly Father who knows my end of life date. I told the palliative care doctor of my faith and my perspective as a Christian; that I am not trying to be a hero, but simply as His child wanting to trust my Lord. I am fully aware this doctor wants to help to prepare me and ease me through the more difficult days yet to come. I appreciate that a lot. I also realize that I am learning from him in those visits as well. Before we left, he told us he is ‘always refreshed by our visits.’ I told him I continue to pray for him because his role is difficult, trying to help people cope, and to prepare to die, is emotionally exhausting and painfully difficult to witness. As we left his office I saw tears well up in his eyes.” Reflecting on verses from Psalm 119—“words that strike a chord,” she explains, “I have been rereading them, enjoying their comfort. ‘Thy hands have made and fashioned me; give me understanding that I may learn Thy commandments. Those who fear Thee shall see me and rejoice, because I have hoped in Thy word. I know, O Lord, that Thy judgments are right, and that in faithfulness Thou hast afflicted me. Let Thy steadfast love be ready to comfort me, according to Thy promise to Thy servant. Let Thy mercy come to me, that I MAY LIVE! For Thy law is my delight!’ How precious are these words to me in this very difficult exhausting journey as I now have to live life in two week increments! Nonetheless I am continually being blessed in this experience, and learning so much from my Savior as I walk toward Jerusalem, my final destination.” Jobje concludes her letter with these now familiar words, “I look forward to that day! Jobje 🦋”

In this podcast Hank Hanegraaff wants to highlight one of the most dangerous cults in the world. And we should know. The Christian Research Institute began as a counter-cult equipping ministry and has invested decades in monitoring the deceptions and distortions of cults. But Western Civilization has never known a cult like this one. Why? Because no other cult has come remotely close to the peril this one represents to civilization as we have known it. If this were a cult like Jehovah’s Witnesses or Mormonism, it wouldn’t have made it past the front door. But since this is a secular cult, our now secularized culture has given it a green light. The cult is Wokeism. A cult that threatens our most basic values and freedoms; a cult that can literally destroy the world if it remains unchecked. For more information, see our current letter https://www.equip.org/letter-from-hank/ to supporters and the resource Awake, Not Woke: A Christian Response to the Cult of Progressive Ideology, available for your partnering gift.https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-awake-not-woke-a-christian-response-to-the-cult-of-progressive-ideology/ Also be on the lookout for a forthcoming full length podcast interview with Noelle Mering on this resource.Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, offers thoughts upon hearing of the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Queen of the United Kingdom for 70 years, she maintained that the teachings of Jesus Christ served as her guide throughout the entirety of her very long life—indeed, that Christ is the King she serves. In the foreword to The Servant Queen and the King She Serves (Bible Society, 2016), Queen Elizabeth expressed profound gratitude “to God for his steadfast love” throughout the duration of her life. She was also keenly aware of the reality that death is the great equalizer—as the Orthodox funeral service states, in the grave “kings and beggars dwell together.” In Money and Salvation: An Invitation to the Good Way, Andrew Geleris writes, “From the perspective of eternity, only during the relatively brief interval between birth and death does anyone have any control over money. And even this control is somewhat illusory. When, for example, we purchase a home or a plot of land, we claim that we ‘own’ it. However, the land has already seen many owners come and go over the preceding centuries, and one would expect that many more would claim such ‘ownership’ over the land in the future. Therefore, any claim of land ‘ownership’ requires a preposterous suspension of historical awareness.” The land, the wealth, and the honors of this world are all temporary. The Lord Jesus said, “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also” (Matthew 6:19–21 NIV 1984). Queen Elizabeth possessed extraordinary wealth as monarch. The question today for her is not, Did I have wealth on Earth? But, How did I use that wealth to store up treasure in heaven? For further study, see Andrew Geleris, Money and Salvation: An Invitation to the Good Way (https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-money-and-salvation-an-invitation-to-the-good-way-and-on-wealth-and-poverty-by-st-john-chrysostom-foreword-by-hank-hanegraaff/

What happens to our souls when we learn to give in accord with the words of our Lord? The answer is the central focus Money & Salvation: An Invitation to the Good Way, the much anticipated book by Dr. Andrew Geleris that is now available. Hank had a discussion with Dr. Geleris late last year that he would like to re-release in honor of the release of this book of which Hank could not give a higher recommendation. Do you give with a joyful heart? According to Dr. Geleris, “An utterly breathtaking divergence has developed between the joy of giving that God intends his people to experience and the way many Christians view giving as an unpleasant but necessary obligation of church membership.” Simply put, for many of us money has an unhealthy hold on our hearts. This conversation will challenge you to make a change in your life and view your finances from an eternal perspective. The Lord spoke more frequently and forcefully about almsgiving than he did about prayer, yet most Church leaders are reluctant to discuss money simply because it is often uncomfortable. “Dr. Geleris is passionate about challenging the Church to develop disciples with a biblical “theology of money” that promotes a Godly view on giving with all your heart that will leave Christians “refreshed—indeed, delighted—by recognizing the unfathomably great blessing God hopes to pour out on us through generosity.” “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Corinthians 2.9). For more information on receiving Money & Salvation: An Invitation to the Good Way and or On Wealth and Poverty by St. John Chrysostom with a Foreword by Hank Hanegraaff for your partnering gift please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-money-and-salvation-an-invitation-to-the-good-way-and-on-wealth-and-poverty-by-st-john-chrysostom-foreword-by-hank-hanegraaff/Topics discussed include: Hank Hanegraaff discusses why he is so excited that the book Money & Salvation: An Invitation to the Good Way is now available (0:00) relationship between money and salvation (7:40); how generous giving transforms our souls (11:00); The Parable of the Farmer (15:30); the relationship between repentance and finances (18:50); what almsgiving actually means and why it is so important (24:30); should we tithe? (27:10); the dangers of the prosperity gospel and the commodification of Christ (31:10); what can we learn from Mary washing the feet of Jesus? (37:25); what are whole burnt offerings and what is the equivalent today? (39:05); the “ovarian lottery” and God’s providence (45:00); how the parable of the soils inspired Alan Barnhart to create a financial finish line (47:25); what we can learn from St. Basil the Great about giving (55:45); what is sacrificial giving? (56:10); misconceptions about what tithing is for (1:00:35); how should we tithe? (1:03:25); we don’t truly own anything, in the grave “kings and beggars dwell together” (1:06:10); is there a problem with receiving public recognition for giving? (1:07:20); the spiritual growth we experience through giving (1:12:05); should we tithe on our gross or net income? (1:14:10); scriptural examples of giving (1:15:10); should we give to panhandlers? (1:17:10); are Christians fundraising the right way? (1:18:50); God’s financial priority is the care of the poor (1:121:55); the powerful lesson of the widow who gave all she had [Mark 12:41-44] (1:23:40); the rewards for almsgiving according to scripture (1:26:30); giving is more beneficial spiritually than financially (1:28:40). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, responds to a recent tweet and video by Benny Hinn. According to Hinn, the Lord spoke to him, saying he needs to talk to his audience about the great catching up. And that his teaching about the rapture is timely because this event is nearly upon us. Popularized by John Nelson Darby in the nineteenth century, the pre-tribulational rapture theory contends that God has two distinct people and two distinct plans for their two distinct destinies. The church will be raptured seven years prior to the second coming of Christ, and Jews will suffer tribulation. Beginning with Darby, rapture theorists held that, due to the murder of Messiah, Jews were in for a time of unprecedented suffering referred to as the “Great Tribulation.” Multiplied millions today hold firmly to this belief. But is it biblical? Holy Tradition, including Scripture, knows nothing of a rapture independent of the bodily appearing of Christ. For further study, see Hank’s books The Complete Bible Answer Book—Collector’s Edition, Revised and Updated https://www.equip.org/donate/ and The Apocalypse Code: Find Out What the Bible Really Says about the End Times and Why It Matters Today https://www.equip.org/donate/

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, expresses angst about what is going on in the world. The West is at war with God. This war embodies the dismantling of humanity. We are in the midst of redefining what is means to be human. In the beginning, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them” (Genesis 1:27 ESV). In redefining the biological realities of “male” and “female,” we are destroying the very body of Christ. The unalterable reality that God created “male and female” is now routinely regaled in the West as transphobic. Sex-specific designations such as “woman,” “female,” and “mother,” have now been neutered by linguistic absurdities like “pregnant, lactating, and post-partum individuals.” Even our newest female addition to the U.S. Supreme Court seems at a loss to define what the word “woman” means. Adding to the confused cultural conundrum, the “B” in LGBTQ+ is quite evidently at odds with the “T.” Bisexual (B) implies two options, while transgender (T) entails a dizzying array of gender identities devoid of common sense or biological reality. And even that merely scratches the surface of apostate Western woke wisdom. Adding insult to injury, multitudes of young people have been effectively reduced to generational lab rats subject to an unholy triad of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and irreversible surgical savageries. Right valuations of personhood build the church. Wrong ideas and perceptions destroy the body of Christ. Only in a Christian worldview does one see the perfect synergy of male and female—of Theanthropos as the Perfect Man, and of Theotokos as the perfect woman, and of God as the Heavenly Father, and of the church as the Mother that nourishes via the sacraments. Little wonder then that the devil is seeking to destroy the church, as woke clergy are aiding the prince of the power of the air in that very quest. For further study, see the upcoming issue of the Christian Research Journal, vol. 45, no. 2/3 (2022)—subscribe at https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/ For more information, visit www.equip.org

“Solo Scriptura” — not sola Scriptura — is a disease of rampant innovation and a failure to respect Holy Tradition. Blaise Pascal speaking in the seventeenth century might just as well have been talking about the twenty-first: “Truth is so obscure in these times, and falsehood so established, that unless we love the truth, we cannot know it.” As such, Hank Hanegraaff has dedicated this special edition of the Hank Unplugged podcast to discuss the imprudence of “solo Scriptura” with the sincere hope that in place of “solo Scriptura,” incessant innovation, and disregard for the Holy Traditions of the Church, the body of Christ may again return to “what has been believed everywhere, always, and by all” (St. Vincent of Lérins). Protopresbyter George Florovsky explained that Holy Tradition is neither “an independent instance, nor a complementary source of faith. Ecclesiastical understanding could not add anything to Scripture. But it was the only means to ascertain and to disclose the true meaning of Scripture. Tradition was, in fact, the authentic interpretation of Scripture. And in this sense, it was coextensive with Scripture. Tradition was actually Scripture rightly understood.” (Attribution to Florovsky was inadvertently left out of Hank’s quotation in the recording.) For bibliographical data and documentation of sources, see Hank’s From the President column, in the forthcoming (Fall 2022), “The Imprudence of ‘Solo Scriptura,’” in Christian Research Journal, vol. 45, no. 02/03 (2022).To receive this issue when it’s released please subscribe to the Christian Research Journal by clicking here. https://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

What is the Secret? Everyone wants to know the secret to life so when Rhonda Byrne claimed to find it the entire world took notice. While it is hard to believe that the culture has fallen for Byrne’s claims in The Secret it is unfathomable that so many Christians have come to believe its dubious declarations about the law of attraction—most evident in the word of faith movement. On this edition of Hank Unplugged, Hank discusses why the law of attraction is wrong and how Christians should be equipped to dispute this dangerous worldview.For more on the topic, be sure to check out Hank’s updated article “What is the Secret?” in the most recent edition of the Christian Research Journal. https://www.equip.org/christian-research-journal/the-battle-for-the-historical-adam-and-eve-contents-back-issue/Other related articles:What is the Secret? by Hank Hanegraaff a previous version https://www.equip.org/article/what-is-the-secret/The Secret Revealed by Robert Velarde https://www.equip.org/article/the-secret-revealed/Postmodern Realities Episode 286 Trusting Jesus in a Universe that Doesn’t Have Your Back: A Christian Looks at Manifesting, which discusses similar topics and discusses Anne Kennedy article the most recent edition of the Christian Research Journal on this topic. https://www.equip.org/pmr-podcast/episode-286-trusting-jesus-in-a-universe-that-doesnt-have-your-back-a-christian-looks-at-manifesting/Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, is reading a new book by Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis titled, Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing. Pro-abortion operatives speak loudly and profanely about reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy, the right to choose, and so forth. Few seem willing to speak about the brutal business of Planned Parenthood or the painful killing of innocent human beings or even consider the profoundly inherent virtue of human life. Ignorance of basic biology in our culture is beyond chilling. And government by and large has abandoned its responsibility to secure the right to life—a right upon which all other rights depend. What is particularly stunning is that surgical abortion is rapidly being supplanted by the horror of chemical abortion, which now accounts for some 50 percent of all abortions in the U.S. The numbers are staggering—some 300,000 to 450,000 chemical abortions per year. One pill cuts off nutrients to the developing child, so she gradually dies; another induces early labor to expel the child from the womb. And of course, the CDC is perfectly fine with all this. Moreover, there is a growing body of evidence pointing to the reality that women who have abortions not only kill innocent human beings but are at greater risk for developing breast cancer. See Ryan T. Anderson and Alexandra DeSanctis, Tearing Us Apart: How Abortion Harms Everything and Solves Nothing (Regnery, 2022). [[add link to CRI donation page for this book if possible]]

In the eyes of many, the modern church in America has become complacent and shallow—more concerned with conforming the church to the culture than the culture to the church. Today’s guest, Matthew Gallatin, joins Hank Hanegraaff to discuss his journey of faith in pursuit of the authentic experience that would quench his thirst for God in a land of shallow wells. To learn more about receiving the resource, Thirsting For God in a Land of Shallow Wells, for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-thirsting-for-god-in-a-land-of-shallow-wells/ Topics discussed include: Thirsting for God in a Land of Shallow Wells (2:00); experiencing Seventh-day Adventism (4:45); how do Seventh-day Adventists rationalize the failed prophesies of Ellen G. White? (12:30); do you know what you believe? (13:50); is there any such thing as a non-denominational church? (18:10); how does Holy Tradition help Christians to rightly understand the Bible and their faith? (25:45); does everyone has a thirst for God? (33:00); is there any place for repetition and ritual in the Christian faith? (36:25); should our daily prayers be spontaneous or formal? (42:00); is it biblical to pray to Mary and other Saints of the Church? (44:20); recognizing the reality and importance of the Theotokos—Mary the Mother of God—to the Christian faith (47:35); viewing iconography as a spiritual reality (53:30); a form of martyrdom—when following the truth leads to losing your livelihood and loved ones (56:00); the correlation between social changes in the culture and in the church (1:08:15); the power of the sign of the cross and other transformational church practices (1:12:10); should we baptize infants? (1:15:45); the demanding nature of the Orthodox life as preparation for eternity (1:22:00). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on the Christian Reformed Church’s (CRC) charge to uphold biblical sexuality. An article by Jonathan Cohn at Huffpost, “An Elite Christian College Has Become the Latest Battleground in America’s Culture Wars,” points out that the CRC sees the Bible as infallible and thus renders same-sex marriage incompatible with Christian orthodoxy. The fly in the ointment is Joseph Kuilema, a Calvin University professor of sociology (and teacher of the year in 2019) who considers the biblical text outdated and incompatible with his own great Awokening. As such, he dogmatically contends that the CRC should support his rendering of the biblical text. Kuilema officiated over the wedding of a lesbian couple and, principally as a result, was terminated from Calvin University. Kuilema, who is Reformed and always reforming based on his own authoritative interpretation of Scripture, not only has taken it upon himself to redefine marriage but cavalierly negates the words of God in human flesh who rebuked the Pharisees of His day with the words, “Have you not read, that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female”—and did so for the very purpose of joining them together as one flesh (Matthew 19:4). Therefore, says Saint Paul, “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife and the two shall become one flesh” (Ephesians 5:31). Saint Paul also explicitly states that lesbian women exchange natural relations for relations that are contrary to nature itself—the delusional attempt to merge sexual same’s (see Romans 1:26). Marriage has at all times and in all societies been a relationship between men and women, with an end toward bearing and rearing children. The marriage of one man and one woman is not only Scriptural, it is distinctly sacramental. Indeed, marriage is about the gospel! Emblematic of the union of Christ and His church. Yet in full view of the mystery of marriage—replete with its parabolic profundity in Christ and the church, its potential for procreating children in the image and likeness of God, and its promise of psychophysical pleasure—Professor Kuilema gratuitously reimagines the Scripture in the image of the culture. Will the CRC and Calvin hold on to the sanctity of marriage? Time will tell. See Jonathan Cohn, “An Elite Christian College Has Become the Latest Battleground in America’s Culture Wars,” Huffpost, June 19, 2022, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/calvin-university-professor-joe-kuilema-gay-marriage-lgbtq_n_62aca02de4b06169ca988191; Rod Dreher, “Saving Calvin,” The American Conservative, June 20, 2022, https://www.theamericanconservative.com/dreher/saving-calvin-university-lgbt-kristin-du-mez/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, was struck by a headline this morning, “America's Belief in God Hits New Low.” And this as church attendance falls precipitously. Vice President Kamala Harris pontificates that Christians can support abortion without transgressing Christian principles. She’s either ignorant or incorrigibly dishonest. And the current administration neither condemns nor prohibits demonstrations against U. S. Supreme Court Justices and their families, as President Biden gleefully anticipates a mini-revolution if states regain the right to vote on abortion once again. It’s one thing to curse the darkness—it’s another to build a lighthouse in the midst of the gathering storm. The broader culture is in the midst of a “great awokening”—but all of that can change by another Great Awakening in the church. The power of the Holy Spirit can animate the Christian church such that it no longer continues to decline but increases and becomes again a leavening force in the culture. It happened in the first century—it can happen again in the twenty-first. But that means you as a follower of Christ must recognize the incredible opportunity before you of making a difference for time and for eternity. See Erin Doherty, “America's Belief in God Hits New Low,” Axios, June 17, 2022, https://www.axios.com/2022/06/17/belief-god-low-gallup-poll; Leif Le Mahieu, “Survey Shows Fewer Americans Believe In God Than Ever Before,” Daily Wire, June 18, 2022, https://www.dailywire.com/news/survey-shows-fewer-americans-believe-in-god-than-ever-before; Sarah Arnold, “Kamala Harris Insists Abortion Has Nothing to Do With Religious Beliefs,” Townhall, June 18, 2022, https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/06/18/kamala-harris-says-support-for-abortion-does-not-require-people-to-abandon-their-faith-n2608954.

Ignatius of Antioch said that "Christianity is greatest when it is hated by the world." Facing an overwhelmingly dark and hostile culture, Rome's early Christians took the steps necessary to transform it—laying the foundation for a Judeo-Christian culture that changed civilization for centuries to come. As we watch Western Civilization crumble, learning from the struggles and lessons of early Christians affords us hope that, by imitating their example, we may do the same for our culture today. Hank Hanegraaff is joined by James Papandrea, co-author of How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again, to discuss how Christianity might, once again, transform our dark and hostile culture. For information on how to receive, How Christianity Saved Civilization—–And Must Do So Again, for your partnering gift, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-how-christianity-saved-civilization-and-must-do-so-again//Topics discussed include: The only acceptable intolerance in our society (6:50); should the church change? (8:40); are we smarter than our ancestors? the brilliance of the Church Fathers (11:15); the Bible and Holy Tradition (14:25); why were Christians so hated in the early Roman Empire? (16:50); Christianity, Constantine and the history of religious freedom (22:00); is it self-evident that all people are created equal? (28:35); perpetuation as opposed to innovation (30:35); how involved should Christians be in the community? (32:45); the true significance of the Trinity to the world (35:00); is there a difference between abortion and infanticide? (37:35); the parallels between widows, orphans and the Eucharist (40:50); envisioning a world without slavery (44:30); the impact that Christianity had on the importance of children and family (45:35); how Christianity revolutionized the way we look at work (47:35); should Christians give to those that beg? (49:45); why the idea that the Church is for everyone was radical (54:00); how can forgiveness revolutionize the world? (1:01:50); caring for the poor is not optional for Christians (1:04:00); why is the Christian view of death revolutionary? (1:06:45); how do we measure human value? (1:11:50); the purpose of hierarchy in the Church (1:13:55); how can the Church change the world again? (1:18:45); should Christians isolate themselves from society? (1:22:10); technology should never replace community—especially in the Church (1:24:10); we must speak up and defend the Church (1:26:00); Christians should be joyful (1:27:20); how can Christians—Catholics, Protestants, Orthodox—best embrace unity to save civilization? (1:28:25). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on reactions to the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. Calla Hales, at the Preferred Women’s Health Center, says, “Let all this rage radicalize you.” This rage we have already been seeing carried out in front of the homes of Justices of the Supreme Court. In the midst of all of this, we must remember that abortion remains legal in many states, including North Carolina. The hysteria in the wake of the possibility that the Court’s ruling could stop the painful killing of innocent human beings at just 65 million over nearly 50 years is palpable. This hysteria over what Mother Teresa once said was a “scourge” (referring to Roe v. Wade) that “deformed a great nation.” Hear people now shouting in the streets about women’s rights and reproductive freedom, bodily autonomy and the right to choose—but choose what? Choose to thwart the dignity and worth of pre-born children. To exacerbate inequality and perpetuate racial division. It’s well known that vast numbers of Blacks and Hispanics are being exterminated via abortion. So, many are upset that we may not have the opportunity to continue corrupting our medical system. Nothing in our U. S. Constitution has ever promoted lethal violence in the wombs of mothers. But with all of the rage—the rage that is supposed to radicalize the painful killing of innocent human beings—the reality is that abortion will continue on and this battle is not over. Those who value all human beings as bearers of the image of God must continue to stand for truth. Not with the rhetoric of pro-abortion advocates, but rather with reason, respect, and the continuous propagation of truth communicated in love—the truth that every human being has worth.

The U.S. Supreme Court has voted to overturn Roe v. Wade in a 5-4 decision. In light of the Supreme Court ruling, we would like to present an encore presentation of Hank Hanegraaff’s conversation with Frederica Mathewes-Green on how she went from being a fierce advocate for abortion to becoming a pro-life advocate. When Roe v. Wade was decided almost half a century ago, Frederica Mathewes-Green believed that the landmark decision didn’t go far enough to ensure adequate abortion access for women. However, everything changed after she read an article titled “What I Saw at the Abortion” in a 1976 edition of the magazine Esquire that detailed the violent act against both woman and child that takes place when an abortion is performed. Simply put, there was no way that a peace-loving feminist could support this violence against both woman and child, and just like that she became a pro-life advocate. Frederica Mathewes-Green went on to become a pre-eminent voice for the lives of the unborn and—importantly—the mothers who carried these children. Almost everyone on both sides of the debate can agree on one thing—abortion is a miserable choice, as Frederica emphasized in Real Choices: Listening to Women, Looking for Alternatives to Abortion, “No woman wants an abortion as she wants an ice cream cone or a Porsche. She wants an abortion as an animal caught in a trap wants to gnaw off its own leg.” Frederica joins Hank Hanegraaff to discuss the state of abortion in America as well as what she has learned during the decades of her distinguished career encouraging dialogue between pro-choice and pro-life advocates. For more information, visit www.equip.org. Topics discussed include: What changed your mind about abortion? (5:00); is abortion a violent act against women? (8:30); abortion fatigue—people just don’t want to talk about abortion (9:30); Roe v. Wade (11:00); snowflake children—when does life begin? (12:15); the importance of listening to the stories of women when discussing abortion (18:50); defending unborn children without making mothers the enemy (23:45); finding common ground—how can pro-choice and pro-life people better understand one another? (26:30); is public opinion changing on abortion? (30:25); most countries in the world have banned abortion after 12 weeks—making U.S. abortion policy one of the most liberal globally (33:20); “in the land where women kill their unborn children, every lesser love grows frail” (34:30); the extreme individualism of our culture (38:35); what would America look like without abortion? (40:30); what about adoption instead of abortion? (45:15); misconceptions about contraception (48:25); cheap sex—the devaluation of sex in a culture of free love (50:00); the difficulties of being a single parent and the benefits of a two-parent home (59:00); the war on adoption—why is adoption disparaged by abortion advocates? (1:02:40); what actually happens during an abortion procedure? (1:05:45); victims of unisex sexuality (1:12:10); the paradoxical aims of feminism (1:13:30); the problem with government welfare programs (1:18:15); the importance of a support system for mothers and children (1:20:00); the importance of listening to women’s stories about abortion (1:21:30); the issue of abortion in the early church (1:27:15); how should we talk about abortion? (1:30:00); responding to common pro-choice claims about abortion (1:34:00); the impact of Frederica Mathewes-Green’s book Real Choices: Listening to Women, Looking for Alternatives to Abortion (1:42:25).

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, observes that one is labeled Islamophobic for conveying plain old Islamic history or for pointing out Islamic denigration of Christianity. Yet, despite clear evidence to the contrary, Muslims will say that Christ was never crucified, and therefore He was never resurrected—and that is deemed to be perfectly politically correct in the current social environment. The oil-rich Middle East is full of enormously affluent men who are ready to use their wealth to aid jihad for the sake of Allah worldwide. Most prominent among cobelligerents is the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which has spent $100 billion—perhaps much, much, more—to spread their fundamentalist brand of Islamic jihadism around the globe. According to Thomas Friedman in a provocative New York Times piece titled “Our Radical Islamic BFF, Saudi Arabia,” the “title greatest ‘purveyors of radical Islam’ does not belong to the Iranians. Not even close. That belongs to our putative ally Saudi Arabia.” America enables Saudi terror lords to peddle their poisonous propaganda pills across the planet with impunity. And in coming months we’ll see more puff pieces in the media concerning Saudi Arabia as a result of the new LIV professional gold tour.For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, MUSLIM: What You Need to Know about the World’s Fastest-Growing Religion https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-muslim-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-worlds-fastest-growing-religion-det/

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on the fact that while certainly not all evolutionists are racists, the theory of evolution is inherently racist. In The Descentof Man (1871), Charles Darwin speculated, “At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilizedraces of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world.” For evolution to succeed, it is as crucial that the unfit die as that the fittest survive. Adolf Hitler’s philosophy that Jews were subhuman and that Aryans were supermen led to the extermination of six million Jews. In the words of Sir Arthur Keith, a militant anti-Christian physical anthropologist, “The German Führer, as I have consistently maintained, is an evolutionist; he has consciously sought to make the practice of Germany conform to the theory of evolution.” While the evolutionary racism of Darwin’s day is politically incorrect today, current biology textbooks still promote vestiges of racism. For example, consider the inherently racist recapitulation theory—known by the evolutionary phrase ontogeny recapitulates phylogeny, the odd idea that in the course of an embryo’s development, the embryo repeats or recapitulates the evolutionary history of its species. Not only is the recapitulation concept common fare in science curricula but has been championed in our generation by such luminaries as Carl Sagan. The fact that recapitulation is inherently racist is underscored by no less an evolutionary authority than Stephen Jay Gould, who lamented that “recapitulation provided a convenient focus for the pervasive racism of white scientists” in the modern era. How different the Christian worldview, according to which all human beings are created in the image of God. And in Christ, “there is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28).For further study, see Richard Weikart, Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-darwinian-racism-how-darwinism-influenced-hitler-nazism-and-white-nationalism-wa0822/

While a growing cacophony of Christian voices reject the historicity of Adam and Eve, others argue that Adam and Eve were members of a species of apes on which God effected physical and spiritual renovations. And some contend that Adam was created mortal, such that he would have died even if he had not sinned. Incessant innovations riddle the evangelical landscape and on this episode of Hank Unplugged Hank discusses this very Adamic denial and distortion that he has written about in the current new edition of the Christian Research Journal that will be shipping very soon!To subscribe and make sure you get this issue when released, please click herehttps://www.equip.org/product/crj-subscription/. For a special limited-time offer (Spring-Summer 2022) on gift subscriptions please click here.https://www.equip.org/product/may-june-2022-resource-wa/Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on the Calvin Klein ad campaign for Mother’s Day 2022. In support of mother’s all over the world, Calvin Klein proudly spotlighted the realities of new families. The ad featured Roberto, due to give birth to his and Erika’s son Noah—“any day now.” So, here you have a picture of a pregnant man, lying next to his significant other—a woman, or at least someone who at first blush appears to be a woman (who knows?). How did this woman get this man pregnant? How does that work? Well, the reality is that it doesn’t. So, Roberto (a biological woman), transfigured into the appearance of a man, must have gotten pregnant through some type of extraordinary measure. One thing that Roberto cannot do, of course, is breast feed their forthcoming infant. Why? During his sex reassignment surgery, Roberto had a double mastectomy. His breasts are gone—although the scars left by their removal are still visible in the Calvin Klein ads. One thing that couldn’t be altered, of course, was Roberto’s hips. And thankfully so, otherwise it would be transcendently difficult to birth a baby. What Calvin Klein must surely know is that sex refers to biology. To the 23rd chromosome pair. To the DNA written into every cell of the human body. To the reality that biological sex is biologically unchangeable regardless of sex reassignment surgery. One thing is inviolate. While the CK ad features what looks like a man having a baby, the reality is that men do not have wombs—only mother’s do.See Christopher Tremogli, “Will Calvin Klein’s ‘Pregnant Man’ Be Able to Find Baby Formula?,” Washington Examiner, May 12, 2022, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/will-calvin-kleins-pregnant-man-be-able-to-find-baby-formula

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on a wonderful book he’s currently reading — How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again, by Mike Aquilina and James L. Papandrea. In the middle of the third century AD, the Roman Empire was not much older than the United States is now, and there are myriad parallels. The Roman economy was in dire straits — experiencing uncontrollable inflation, multiple wars, spending money on bureaucratic niceties and military expansion, suffering rampant unemployment and underemployment. Children were viewed as liabilities and routinely aborted, with infanticide deplorably common. Christians were hated for their perceived rigidity; and pagan Romans justified their intolerance of Christian virtues by calling the Christians intolerant. But eventually, the authors show, the Church overcame persecution and transformed the Roman Empire. The point of the book is that the Church of the 21st century can and must overcome the Great Awokening. How? The Church can overcome the new paganism just as Christianity overcame the old paganism of the Roman Empire by Christians refusing to deny the faith and by being willing to risk earthly comforts for eternal verities by faith working through love. Truth has triumphed in the past, and Christianity remains the only hope for transforming the world.See Mike Aquilina and James L. Papandrea, How Christianity Saved Civilization…And Must Do So Again (need link to CRI donation page)

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on San Francisco Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone’s decision to bar House Speaker Nancy Pelosi from receiving communion. Because of her unrepentant support for legalized abortion on demand, the archbishop felt it necessary to do so for her personal protection — those who receive Christ’s body and blood unworthily eat and drink judgment to themselves (see 1 Corinthians 11:17–34, especially v. 29). Moreover, the eucharist is also an expression of the unity of the church. As such, Pope Francis, just last year, said that a pro-abortion politician “cannot take communion, because they are out of the community.” For his part, the archbishop in effect said that when practicing Catholics spurn moral reality in political discourse, souls and lives hang in the balance. And when souls hang in the balance, priests and bishops have an obligation to act. Pelosi, who says that she has studied this issue as an ardent practicing Catholic for a long time, would know full well what the Church’s historic stance on abortion is.For further study, see “What Is Abortion?” https://www.equip.org/bible_answers/what-is-abortion-2/ and “Annihilating Abortion Arguments,” https://www.equip.org/PDF/DA375.pdf.

Does the soul have a gender? Believe it or not, the topic of gender and the soul was discussed and decided by the early Church Fathers of the Christian faith. Today, the fundamental pillars of our humanity are being challenged in the public square as gender is being redefined in ways that seemed unimaginable even just a decade ago. Understanding the historic Christian perspective on gender and sexuality are of paramount importance, which is why Hank Hanegraaff is joined by Ben Cabe, the author of On Gender and the Soul: An Exploration of Sex/Gender and its Relation to the Soul According to the Church Fathers to discuss the historic Christian perspective and teachings of the Church Fathers on the issue and how it applies to our modern world. For more information on receiving Gender and the Soul: An Exploration of Sex/Gender and Its Relation to the Soul According to the Church Fathers, please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/gender-and-the-soul-an-exploration-of-sex-gender-and-its-relation-to-the-soul-according-to-the-church-fathers/What is sex? what is gender? (5:45); how should Christians discuss gender in our modern culture? (8:45); does the soul have a gender? (12:25); the importance of drawing on Christian anthropology when assessing modern gender claims (16:10); how do incorrect beliefs on the nature of the soul lead to incorrect views on the nature of our salvation? (17:25); when does the soul enter the body? (21:10); how do sex and gender relate to theosis? (22:00); is the soul material? (24:40); what will be the nature of our resurrected bodies? (26:00); are medical science and church history in agreement? (27:15); Christian anthropology vs. Evolutionary anthropology (28:45); people born intersex (30:45); defining terms in the ongoing gender discussion (32:20); the pressure on the medical and educational establishments to conform to modern identity distinctions (34:50); is it hateful for Christians to disagree with the LGBT worldview? (36:20); the importance of relying on the Church Fathers and the consensus of the historic Christian faith when addressing modern issues such as identity and gender (38:50); the reality of the demonic in our world (41:00); is sex-reassignment surgery ever be permissible? (43:30); why is it important for Christians to understand issues such as gender? (44:00); the reality of both gender dysphoria and social influences on the gender perception of modern youth (46:00); why is the position of the Church Fathers on gender relevant to our modern discussion on gender? (48:15). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on a medically assisted suicide that took place in the sanctuary of a church. Although the medically assisted suicide of Betty Sanguin was reportedly “unanimously approved by the church’s leadership team,” suicide is the murder of oneself. In Christian theology the timing and terms of death are the province of God alone (Deuteronomy 32:39). As such, a doctor is never permitted to usurp the prerogative of deity. Hastening death based on subjective judgments concerning one’s quality of life is a violation of Scripture (cf. Genesis 9:6; Exodus 20:13). While passive euthanasia is morally permissible in that it allows the process of dying to run its natural course, active euthanasia is morally prohibited because it directly involves the taking of human life. Permitting voluntary active euthanasia opens the door to the greater evil of non–voluntary euthanasia. See Emily Standfield, “Manitoba’s First Medically Assisted Death in a Church Was an ‘Intimate’ Ceremony,” Broadview, April 29, 2022, https://broadview.org/medically-assisted-death-church/. For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, “Is Euthanasia Ever Permissible?” https://www.equip.org/bible_answers/is-euthanasia-ever-permissible/; also J. P. Moreland, “The Euthanasia Debate,” parts 1 & 2, https://www.equip.org/PDF/DE197-1.pdf and https://www.equip.org/PDF/DE197-2.pdf.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, comments on the report of a drag queen show at a Pennsylvania school. A show for adults? No, for impressionable minors. Here you have men dressed up like women staging a vulgar drag extravaganza that should make even the most brazen secularist ill. Were the parents on board with this travesty? The short answer is for the most part they apparently did not know what their kids were being exposed to. According to an article in Townhall, the students were encouraged to bring money to tip the men dressed in drag and to support the drag queen Instagram accounts. Western Civilization is in free fall. So, make sure to protect your children. Otherwise they may be the barbarians of our next generation.See Sarah Arnold, “Pennsylvania School Hosts Drag Show for Kids Without Parent's Permission,” Townhall, May 12, 2022, https://townhall.com/tipsheet/saraharnold/2022/05/12/pennsylvania-school-is-in-hot-water-for-hosting-drag-show-for-kids-n2607149.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, talks about an order within Believers Eastern Church called Sisters of Compassion. Seeing firsthand these sisters in Christ work with and care for victims of leprosy—the poor and the downtrodden, “the least of these”—Hank bears witness to their utter selflessness and humility. Working in the most difficult of circumstances, the Sisters of Compassion not only talk about Christ but demonstrate the love of Christ through their selfless acts of service. And great will be their reward in eternity. These women have grasped the reality of Christ’s Resurrection from the dead. Like the martyrs, they know that they too will one day be resurrected “immortal, imperishable, incorruptible”—and they will receive the “crown of righteousness,” “the crown of glory,” and “the crown of life.” So they are willing to endure hardship for the sake of the gospel, with eyes that look beyond time and space—eyes that truly pierce into the eternal spectrum. For more information, see Gospel for Asia, the Sisters of Compassion, https://www.gfa.org/women/sisters-of-compassion/.

Was Charles Darwin a racist? Does it even matter? The answer to both questions is a resound yes. According to Richard Weikart, Darwinian evolution influenced Hitler and the Nazis propagated evolutionary theory. Inspired by Darwin, the Nazis viewed the “Nordic race” as superior to other races and set about advancing human evolution by ridding the world of “inferior” races and individuals. But this isn’t just a problem from the past, which is why Richard Weikart joined Hank Hanegraaff for this harmful history lesson of Darwinian racism to remind us that “those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”For more information on receiving Dr. Richard Weikart’s book, Darwinian Racism: How Darwinism Influenced Hitler, Nazism, and White Nationalism for your partnering gift please click here. https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resource-darwinian-racism-how-darwinism-influenced-hitler-nazism-and-white-nationalism/Topics discussed include: Groupthink and the collective embrace of eugenics (0:20); was Charles Darwin a racist? (5:20); how Darwinism influenced eugenics (6:30); was racism fundamental to Darwin’s theory of evolution? (10:25); given what he said about women and different races, why hasn’t woke culture turned on Charles Darwin? (14:05); the impact of Ernst Haeckel’s drawings on education and evolution (15:55); what were Adolf Hitler’s religious beliefs? Was Hitler a Christian? (19:25); Karl Marx hated religion—how could some liberal Christians love the ideology of Marx? (22:50); the difference between Marxism and Nazism (24:55); the moral implications of Darwinism (25:55); parallels between Nazi Germany and modern American woke culture (32:45); Hitler and Nordic Racism (36:15); climate change from a historical perspective (38:15); problems with calls to “follow the science” (44:00); what is hard heredity and how did it influence Hitler? (50:00); is Darwin’s evolutionary theory compatible with Christianity? (51:50); Darwinism, Neo-Nazism and White Nationalism (55:40); increasing support for infanticide and suicide as a sign of moral progress—but can you have moral progress without objective morality? (1:01:10); do humans have value without the existence of God? (1:04:40).Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, shares more of his experiences of ministering and teaching through Southeast Asia alongside the extraordinary, Christ-honoring ministry of Gospel for Asia, under the leadership of Metropolitan Yohan. Upon arriving in a remote village, many hundreds of people line up to greet Hank and his team. Consider that these people are first generation Christians “on fire” for their faith in Christ! It is as though being in the Book of Acts. Their church building is packed shoulder-to-shoulder for the entirety of the service—they are completely engaged as they absorb the liturgy. As they pray the Lord’s Prayer. As they recite the Nicene Creed. As they receive the Eucharist and worship God in Spirit and in Truth. What a glorious experience to see their faces and recognize that what happened in the first century can and is happening in the twenty-first century in the Global South, where the Spirit of God is moving mightily. Totaling thousands of churches, Believers Eastern Church with millions of first generation Christians need training in the Faith. They’ve come to faith in Christ and need to become reproducing disciple makers themselves. Hank is deeply grateful to be playing a part in the process of equipping and teaching these extraordinary people. Through CRI’s Going Global Initiative, our ministry—which certainly includes all of you who prayerfully support the work of the Christian Research Institute—is having an impact for time and for eternity. For further information, see Going Global: 10/40 Window Training Support https://www.equip.org/product/going-global-10-40-window-training-support/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, comments on the headline in USA Today, “‘Lightyear’ Features Queer Character, Same-sex Kiss.” As noted in the article, the new lesbian character named Alisha Hawthorne stole the show as she gets engaged to a woman on the mission’s science crew. A montage shows glimpses of Alisha and her female partner even starting a family together. Despite Disney’s capitulation, reality remains the same. The reality that according to a consensus of sociological metrics, women and men enjoy strategic complementarity. As such, both are essential in the rearing of children. Social science statistics unambiguously support the strategic significance of “gender differentiated parenting.” Neither mothers nor fathers are replaceable in the process. Once we abandon common sense societal values, there is virtually no limit on where unsanctified passions may lead us. In fact, the first sentence in the USA Today article says it all, “Lightyear is taking queer representation to infinity and beyond.” Disney largely capitulated to the culture. Question is, “Will you?” See Patrick Ryan, “Disney's 'Lightyear' Features Queer Character, Emotional Same-sex Kiss in First Footage,” USA Today, April 27, 2022, https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/movies/2022/04/27/lightyear-disney-pixar-queer-character-same-sex-kiss-toy-story/9556591002/. For further study, see Hank Hanegraaff, “The Transgender Tipping Point: America’s Next Civil Rights Frontier?,” https://www.equip.org/article/the-transgender-tipping-point-americas-next-civil-rights-frontier/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects further on his experiences of ministering and teaching through Southeast Asia alongside the extraordinary, Christ-honoring ministry of Gospel for Asia. Our Lord Jesus was crystal clear about men, women, and children who are living selfless lives and meeting the needs of others—that in eternity He will not only know them but reward them. “Only one life, twill soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last.” For more information, see Gospel for Asia, https://www.gfa.org/about/. And Christian Research Institute, Going Global https://www.equip.org/product/going-global-10-40-window-training-support/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, weighs in on the leak of Justice Alito’s draft opinion that would strike down Roe v Wade. As Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, the leak was a “singular and egregious breach of trust.” The leaker not only struck a blow against the rule of law but put pro-life advocates squarely in the crosshairs of pro-abortion extremists who not only promote abortion up until the moment of birth but push for legislation that would make allowances for infanticide. Candice Owens, now seven months pregnant, has commented on the genocide of black preborn babies in America, noting that Margaret Sanger—birthmother of Planned Parenthood—didn’t want black people to populate. That if it wasn’t for the abortion industry, the black population would be double what it is today. That some 18 to 19 million black babies have been aborted since Roe v. Wade in 1973. Cumulatively, American’s have now sacrificed somewhere between 60 and 65 million children on the altar of abortion. For further study, see the article by Aaron Turner, “Black Lives Matter Inside the Womb and Out,” https://www.equip.org/article/black-lives-matter-inside-the-womb-and-out/

As Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, continues traveling through Southeast Asia, he ministers to a snake charming village. A place of abject poverty and brokenness, where little children play in conditions so unsanitary you would not allow your animals to step. The snake charmers believe that the snakes are gods, which provide their only source of meager income. But by the grace of the true and living God, a ministry known as Gospel for Asia is providing the very basics of life to these broken people—fresh water, sanitation, education, and the demonstration of the love of Jesus. We are called to labor not for that which perishes but for that which is eternal. In our Going Global Mission, CRI is seeking to do globally the very things we have done in North America—teaching people how to read the Bible for all its substantial worth, and how to mine, meditate on, and memorize the Scriptures, not just for the purpose of gaining knowledge, but rather for the purpose of experiencing life that is life to the full. Life that only Jesus Christ can bring—even in the most meager and broken circumstances. For more information, see Gospel for Asia, https://www.gfa.org/women/sisters-of-compassion/, and https://www.gfa.org/pray/bridge-of-hope/. And Christian Research Institute, Going Global https://www.equip.org/product/going-global-10-40-window-training-support/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, reflects on prayer, as we celebrate the National Day of Prayer. St. Peter outright asked the Master of the universe, “Lord, teach us now to pray!” And that is precisely what the Lord Jesus did (see Luke 11:1-11). While the Prayer of Jesus must never be regarded as a prayer mantra, it is a prayer manner, beginning with the glorious privilege of addressing the Creator of the universe as “Father.” The prayer is a means by which we may step out of the shallow tide pool of our hearts and plunge into an unbounded ocean of uncreated energy. A means by which we may transcend surface things and experience union with God. The Prayer of Jesus provides the doorway into an ever-deepening experience with the divine. Genuine prayer is not found in our noisy askings and gettings; it is experiencing intimacy with the Lover of our souls. Submersion into the divine nature. And our precious Lord provided the archetypal entreaty for doing that very thing. For further study, see the “The National Day of Prayer,” https://www.equip.org/national-day-of-prayer-from-hank/, the video, “3 Secrets to a Rewarding Prayer Life,” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xktX_qi1mBI), and the book, The Prayer of Jesus, https://www.equip.org/product/cri-resources-prayer-of-jesus-softcover-book-journal-and-dvd/.

Metropolitan Yohan is the founder and director of GFA World—one of the largest mission operations in the world—and author of numerous books including Revolution in World Missions. Hank Hanegraaff recently spent several weeks with Metropolitan Yohan in Southeast Asia and today they discuss the various mission outreaches of GFA World across the globe along with an opportunity for young adults to get involved through the Set Apart Conference, a Seven-Day Retreat for Young Adults being hosted GFA World in Dallas, Texas this coming June 20-26. For more information about the work of GFA World click here https://www.gfa.org/ and click here for the Set Apart Conference. https://www.gfa.org/setapart/Click here for information on CRI’s role as part of our Going Global 10/40 Window Training. https://www.equip.org/product/going-global-10-40-window-training-support/Topics discussed include: Metropolitan Yohan discusses his beginning in ministry (9:00); thousands of children from impoverished families are being given hope and a brighter future through GFA World (12:30); the Set Apart Conference—Seven days set apart to hear from God—this June 20-26 (24:10); the spiritual transformation that takes place through Theosis and why the Great Commission is best carried out through the Church (31:30); why Metropolitan Yohan is so committed to establishing thousands of churches in the 10/40 Window (40:50); how should Christians view persecution and suffering? (54:05); manifesting divine love to the least of these among us (1:08:05); reaching out to the Dalits—known as untouchables at the lowest level of the caste system—with the love of Christ (1:19:35); medical missions—healing in the name of Christ (1:25:25); working with lepers and the importance of healing the whole person—body and soul (1:32:00); Hanegraaff explains the impact of seeing the outreaches and impact of GFA World (1:36:45); the story of Metropolitan Yohan’s 1962 Volkswagen Beetle (1:48:00). Listen to Hank’s podcast and follow Hank off the grid where he is joined by some of the brightest minds discussing topics you care about. Get equipped to be a cultural change agent.Archived episodes are on our Website and available at the additional channels listed below.You can help spread the word about Hank Unplugged by giving us a rating and review from the other channels we are listed on.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, shares a remarkable article by Dr. Jay W. Richards titled, “When to Doubt a Scientific ‘Consensus.’” Richards explains, “Anyone who has studied the history of science knows that scientists are not immune to the non-rational dynamics of the herd.” Jay goes on to offer a twelve-point “checklist to decide when you can, even should, doubt a scientific ‘consensus,’ whatever the subject. One of these signs may be enough to give pause. If they start to pile up, then it’s wise to be leery.”See Jay Richards, “Politics Disguised as Science: When to Doubt a Scientific ‘Consensus,’” The Stream, April 19, 2017, https://stream.org/doubt-scientific-consensus/.

Hank Hanegraaff, president of the Christian Research Institute and host of the Bible Answer Man broadcast, is in Southeast Asia, speaking with Bishop Irenaeus, a man who has given his life to carrying for the poor and the downtrodden—those whom the Lord Jesus called “the least of these.” Bishop Irenaeus shares the vision God gave him to rescue starving and dying children. And now there are the Sisters of Compassion, specially trained women missionaries who feed, clothe, and care for these children, teaching them the ways of the Lord. For more information, see Gospel for Asia, https://www.gfa.org/women/sisters-of-compassion/.