S1: Hi friend, thank you so much for downloading this podcast
S1: and I truly hope you hear something that edifies encourage, equips, enlightens,
S1: and then gets you out there in the marketplace of ideas.
S1: But before you go, I want to tell you about
S1: this month's truth tool. It's called Have You Ever Wondered?
S1: And I absolutely love this topic because if you're like me,
S1: going out into the night sky and looking up and
S1: seeing a million stars, don't you just stop and think
S1: about God? And are you not in a moment of
S1: awe and wonder or looking out over the vast expanse
S1: of an ocean and you start thinking, what is man,
S1: that thou art mindful of him? And it makes you
S1: wonder about the magnificence of God? I think that sense
S1: of wonder was put there on purpose, and this wonderful
S1: book includes a composite of multiple authors who have written
S1: from their perspective as a scientist, or a historian, or
S1: a mathematician or an artist, on why they all have
S1: this sense of awe through the work that they do.
S1: In other words, the heavens declare the glory. And as
S1: it tells us in Romans, we are really without excuse
S1: because his handiwork is everywhere. And this book invites you
S1: to walk through the chapters written by people who all
S1: have a sense of awe and wonder when it comes
S1: to God through their various disciplines in life. It's an
S1: amazing book and it's yours. For a gift of any amount,
S1: just call 877 Janet 58. That's 877 Janet 58. Ask
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S1: partner or asking for this month's truth tool. Have you
S1: ever wondered? And now please enjoy the broadcast.
S2: Here are some of the news headlines we're watching.
S3: The conference was over. The over, the president won a pledge.
S4: Americans worshiping government over God.
S5: Extremely rare safety move by a major 17 years.
S4: The Palestinians and Israelis negotiated every time.
S1: Hi, friends. Welcome to In the Market with Janet Parshall.
S1: A very happy Thursday to you. Thank you so much
S1: for spending the hour with us. Well, I do hope
S1: that as you spend time in the word and spend
S1: time at his feet, because we've been given permission to
S1: go just right there with the absolute authority from the
S1: King himself to enter into the throne of grace. I
S1: don't know about you, but that takes my breath away.
S1: I know I've met a lot of important people in
S1: my life. And let me tell you, the rules of
S1: deportment are generally you don't talk unless spoken to, you
S1: don't ask questions, you don't touch. The list goes on
S1: and on and on. I have yet to have any
S1: world leader ever say, you can come boldly into my
S1: office anytime you want to. And yet the king, the
S1: king of all creation, says just that. I hope you
S1: take him up on his invitation and spend time in
S1: his presence all day long. Not just when you put
S1: your head down at the pillow at night, but when
S1: you start your day an all day long. After all,
S1: prayer is nothing more and nothing less than the love
S1: language between two people who love each other. And I
S1: hope you're in constant communication with him. One of the
S1: things I talked to him about all the time was,
S1: what's going on in Israel? Now, remember, this has been
S1: this is Intel. There's no entity on planet Earth that
S1: has Intel. You haven't heard Bill gates say this earlier
S1: this week. There's no country on planet Earth that has
S1: the Intel capabilities than Israel. Better than the United States,
S1: bar none. And they have been watching and watching and watching.
S1: When you got a neighbor down the road, a piece
S1: who's saying, I'm going to blow you up, you're the
S1: little Satan. We've got nuclear capabilities. We're going to annihilate
S1: the Zionist regime. You can decide that they're calling Wolf,
S1: or you can decide that they're deadly serious. And then
S1: you plant some Mossad, as they did inside Iran. How's
S1: that for chutzpah? Inside Iran. And they knew beyond a
S1: shadow of a doubt that their nuclear capabilities were literally
S1: inches away. They said, nope, got to strike now. But
S1: this is not parallel warfare by any stretch of the imagination.
S1: With pinpoint precision goes after nuclear sites where the heavy
S1: water is, etc. where the military jets are. Right now.
S1: Israel has domination in the air power part of this confrontation,
S1: but they also do it with pinpoint specificity. That's not
S1: what Iran does. That's not what Iran does. When you're
S1: fomented by hate and blindness, spiritual blindness, you don't play
S1: the same way. Here's Chris Mitchell from CBN news. Have
S1: a listen.
S4: With.
S6: The Soroka Hospital in Beersheba took a direct hit. One
S6: of the doctors there stated just yesterday we evacuated the
S6: old surgical building that took a direct hit. Today. It's
S6: a great miracle. As Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz put it,
S6: these are the most severe kinds of war crimes, and
S6: Khamenei will be held accountable for his crimes. Katz described
S6: Israel's new goal to destabilize the Ayatollah regime. Meanwhile, in Washington,
S6: President Trump has approved the Iran attack plans but is
S6: holding off on giving the orders, according to the Wall
S6: Street Journal. Speaking to reporters in the Oval Office, Trump
S6: says he's not looking for a fight with Iran.
S7: But if it's a choice between fighting and them having
S7: a nuclear weapon, you have to you have to do
S7: what you have to do. We're not looking for a ceasefire.
S7: We're looking for a total, complete victory. Again, you know
S7: what the victory is no nuclear weapon.
S6: In an address to the nation Wednesday night, Israeli Prime
S6: Minister Benjamin Netanyahu thanked the president for standing by Israel
S6: and told Israelis the goals of the war.
S8: We've embarked on this operation to eliminate two existing threats
S8: to the State of Israel, the nuclear threat and the
S8: ballistic missile threat. We're moving step by step towards eliminating
S8: these threats. We control the skies over Tehran. We're striking
S8: the ayatollahs regime with tremendous force. We're striking the nuclear weapons,
S8: the missiles, the headquarters, the symbols of the regime.
S6: Despite the attacks, Ayatollah Khamenei remains defiant.
S8: Iran.
S9: The Iranian nation, will stand firmly against the war imposed
S9: on it, as it has done so far. It will
S9: also stand firmly against imposed peace. The Iranian nation will
S9: not surrender to anyone aiming to impose anything on it.
S6: Yet the Israel Defense Forces are now expanding their target list.
S9: During the strikes, we struck more than 20 targets around Tehran.
S9: These targets belong to the regime's military industries and security apparatus.
S6: That includes the regime's centers of power, Israeli Defense Minister
S6: Israel Katz told the Iranian people it's time to rise
S6: up and overthrow Khamenei's regime, he said. Symbols of power
S6: are being bombed and collapsing from the broadcasting authority and
S6: soon other targets as masses of residents flee. This is
S6: how dictatorships fall. Iranian American journalist Lisa Vitari tells CBN's
S6: Raj Nair the people of Iran have long endured a
S6: brutal dictatorship.
S10: This is not just since October 7th. This is not
S10: just since Friday. This is something that has been building
S10: up in the Iranian people for 46 years. They are
S10: sick and tired of it. You know, to see someone
S10: who is hanged because of a Facebook post or because
S10: they are a journalist or an athlete or a dancer,
S10: this is the life and the reality that they have
S10: been living.
S6: Earlier this week, Netanyahu told Israeli Channel 14 history is
S6: being made.
S8: That we are at a historic turning point and everyone
S8: is slowly turning to realize it after victory over Iran.
S8: A new Middle East will emerge.
S6: Chris Mitchell CBN news, Jerusalem.
S1: I want to pick up on that last point after
S1: victory over Iran. A new Middle East will emerge now.
S1: I spent some time yesterday with a retired IDF officer
S1: who gave me a briefing on what is happening, and
S1: I thought his perspective on this was crucial enough for
S1: me to want to share it with you. And I
S1: think it's important because this is how we counter being
S1: good Bereans. Some of the things you're hearing in the
S1: press that are fomented by spiritual hatred, spiritual blindness, and
S1: an animus toward the Jewish people. So it's important that
S1: we get the facts. First of all, Israel is right now,
S1: whether it's talked about on the alphabet soup networks or not,
S1: Israel is shaping the future of the Middle East. It
S1: is why we've got protection in the air in Syria
S1: and in Lebanon and in Saudi Arabia. All of those
S1: countries think that Iran is a problematic nation. You get
S1: rid of them, you take care of them. And if
S1: Iran's nuclear capabilities were eliminated, that would completely change the dynamic.
S1: One of the princes in Saudi Arabia said, look, if
S1: they say that they have nuclear capability, we're going to
S1: have to take them at their word and then we're
S1: going to get nuclear capability. So a couple of other
S1: things right now, there are still 5000 hostages. 20 are
S1: presumed to be alive. Israel at this point does have
S1: air superiority. Iran needs launchers to be able to fire
S1: off their missiles, and their launchers are being destroyed as
S1: we speak. So that's causing a problem. By the way,
S1: more than a third of Iran's missiles are already gone.
S1: There's a shortage of cash as a result of what's
S1: been going on, and that's helping to create civil unrest,
S1: which is a blessing, because if the people want to
S1: overthrow the Ayatollah and you just heard that in the story,
S1: this might be the moment to be able to do
S1: just that. By the way, if you hear a Western
S1: journalist say Israel is targeting journalists, that building, by the way,
S1: where that person in the hijab was there when the
S1: bomb was dropped. That is the propaganda center for Iran.
S1: It is not about journalism. They call it the execution
S1: network because they broadcast executions back after this. So many
S1: in our culture today are spiritually curious but hesitant about religion.
S1: That's why I've chosen. Have you ever wondered is this
S1: month's truth tool explore how everyday experiences might be the
S1: signpost pointing to deeper biblical truths. As for your copy
S1: of have you ever wondered when you give a gift
S1: of any amount to in the market, call eight 7758,
S1: that's eight 7758 or go to in the market with
S1: Janet Parshall.
S11: All people fundamentally within their DNA, within their very makeup,
S11: have a belief in the supernatural that which is beyond nature,
S11: that which is beyond merely the collision of atoms, as
S11: it were, in our everyday lives.
S12: I don't think we should fear looking at phenomena, I
S12: think we should look at them on their own terms,
S12: analyze them very carefully and very critically, and see what's there.
S13: And explicitly. The worry of scientific naturalists is that this
S13: is going to thrust us back into the dark ages.
S14: A lot of skeptics will say, well, miracles are impossible. Why?
S14: Because they violate the laws of nature. You can't violate
S14: the laws of nature.
S12: People would pray for me, and sometimes it felt like
S12: this power that just zapped me.
S11: When I woke up. She says, can you do anything
S11: that you didn't do before? I looked at my hand
S11: that was clutched. I said, hand move!
S15: Oh my goodness.
S16: Another doctor came in and he said, what is going
S16: on in here? He's dead. It's over. I said, shock
S16: him one more time.
S17: Well, maybe it happens, maybe it doesn't. Let's look at
S17: the evidence.
S1: And that's exactly what Billy Hallowell does in his brand
S1: new spectacular documentary called Investigating the Supernatural, and he takes
S1: a look at miracles. When you watch this, you may
S1: be starting from the position of a skeptic, but I
S1: guarantee you by the time this is over, you're going
S1: to have to ask yourself a lot of questions about
S1: is Aslan still on the move today? By the way,
S1: this documentary is peppered with some of our best friends.
S1: Lee Strobel is in there. You just heard Doctor Sam
S1: Storms talking as well. In fact, I want you to
S1: hear one more little bit of the documentary. Take a listen.
S17: According to a recent poll, 80% of people in the U.S.
S17: believe in a supernatural dimension to reality. But sometimes it
S17: feels like it's 80% who don't believe in it. And
S17: I think part of that is in terms of the
S17: dominant culture, which comes partly out of academia.
S14: Colleges and universities have been co-opted by a kind of
S14: scientific materialism or naturalism, which teaches that all that there
S14: is is what we can touch and what we can
S14: feel and what we can see and experience. Science is
S14: the determiner of what is true and what is false.
S17: But the truth.
S11: Is, there is a conflict between what the world proposes
S11: they believe and what they actually believe. When you really
S11: ask deep questions or you look at the way that
S11: people behave, it's very clear that within all people there
S11: is a sense that there is something more.
S14: I did a scientific survey of American adults and I
S14: asked the question, have you ever had at least one
S14: incident in your life that you can only explain as
S14: a miracle of God? And 38% of American adults said yes.
S14: So almost four out of ten. Now you extrapolate that number.
S14: That would mean there is almost 100 million miracles just
S14: in America. Now, let's say 99% of them are wrong.
S14: Let's just throw out 99% and say no. It was
S14: just a huge coincidence. So let's throw those out. That
S14: still leaves a million miracles having taken place just in
S14: the context of our continent.
S17: When you've got that many people claiming those things, you
S17: can't start with the premise that uniform human experience excludes miracles.
S1: Now, do I have your attention? You are so going
S1: to want to watch this. It's called investigating the supernatural miracles.
S1: I've got a link on my information page so that
S1: you can click on through and discover how you can
S1: watch it. But in the meantime, I'm going to spend
S1: some time with Billy. Billy Hallowell is a journalist, a commentator,
S1: a digital TV host. He has covered thousands of huge
S1: stories dealing with faith and culture. He has written tens
S1: of thousands of stories on faith, culture and politics. And
S1: by the way, he's the author of four books, playing
S1: with Fire a modern investigation into demons, Exorcism, and Ghosts
S1: The Armageddon Code one Journalist's Quest for End Times answers
S1: Fault Line how a seismic shift in culture is threatening
S1: free speech and shaping the next generation, and left standing
S1: the miraculous story of how Mason Wells faith survived the Boston,
S1: Paris and Brussels terrorist attack. The list goes on and
S1: on and on right now. He is currently working with
S1: CBN News and Faithwire and Billy boy. God's anointed you
S1: you know how to tell a good story and chase
S1: one down. But what I love about this in particular
S1: is you start out where I think an overwhelming majority
S1: of people will start when they watch this documentary, which is, um,
S1: not so much. Maybe I read it in scripture. I'm
S1: not so sure it's happening today. So I'm going to
S1: quest this. You know, one of the old adages we
S1: have in journalism is you have to have independent verification, right?
S1: And so you decided to pursue this, but you started
S1: out as a skeptic. Tell me about why you wanted
S1: to do this documentary.
S18: You know, I love that you're starting there because I
S18: think a lot of us, we'll even say that we
S18: believe in our minds, right? We'll say, okay, I believe,
S18: I believe, I read it in Scripture, I know it happened,
S18: but I'm not really quite sure if it happens today.
S18: Or you know what? Maybe I don't even care if
S18: it happens today because I don't want to commit to it,
S18: so I'm not going to think about it. And I
S18: think that's where I sort of was. I would have
S18: said I believed, but I hadn't really experienced anything in
S18: my heart that would have led me to that place.
S18: And so when it came to different projects that were
S18: coming up with with CBN Christian Broadcasting Network, we I
S18: pitched some ideas and we were just talking. And really
S18: I know we say this a lot in the faith space,
S18: but it really was a God thing. I mean he
S18: just opened doors within a couple of weeks. I mean,
S18: this doesn't normally happen. Within a couple of weeks, we
S18: were greenlit to do a TV series, which is not
S18: what we ended up doing. We were going to do
S18: a three part TV series on Angels and Demons, Heaven
S18: and Hell and miracles, and we started out going into
S18: the field and starting with miracles, and as soon as
S18: we got into it, it was immediately apparent that we
S18: could not tell a true miracle story in 30 minutes
S18: that we needed a full film. And so this project
S18: morphed very quickly. Again, total God thing into a documentary
S18: film series.
S1: Wow. And I want to talk about some of the
S1: miracles in there. I'm not going to give it all away.
S1: I want you to watch it. But I'm telling you.
S1: By the way, can I just tell you the craftsmanship,
S1: the way that I'm not surprised? This is CBN everything
S1: is five star but the the production values on this.
S1: The research the cinematography the way the arc of the
S1: story is told it is absolutely riveting. Again it's called
S1: investigating the supernatural miracles. And I have a link on
S1: my page Billy when we come back, the first question
S1: I want to ask you is I want to talk
S1: about you. How did this change you as a human being?
S1: Because you may have been the investigator, but you were not.
S1: You were not a totally neutral position. You walked in,
S1: as you just said, kind of questioning like the overwhelming
S1: majority of us do. But I want to know if
S1: this documentary changed you personally, and then we're going to
S1: tease a little bit a couple of the miracle stories
S1: that are in this, because I'm going to tell you
S1: what he's God, we're not. His thoughts are far above us.
S1: His ways are not our ways. I'm never going to
S1: put God in a box. And do I believe he's
S1: a miracle working God? Oh yes indeed. Deed much more
S1: after this.
S14: The question of why God does miracles in some cases
S14: and doesn't do them in others is not just an
S14: intellectual challenge. It is a personal issue to people who suffer.
S14: And I think there are several ways to look at it.
S17: If God healed everybody now who asked him? People would
S17: become Christians just to get the benefit. That's not what
S17: following Jesus is about.
S14: You know, God is not a vending machine that we
S14: put in a certain prescribed prayer and he automatically heals.
S14: He is sovereign. He understands things that we don't understand.
S14: He sees things that we don't see.
S19: Maybe God wants to use that particular affliction, disease, or
S19: your suffering to accomplish something in you that in his
S19: infinite wisdom he knows can only be achieved as you
S19: respond to your pain and your suffering by ever increasing
S19: dependence upon him.
S20: Here's a different take on this because God intervenes at
S20: times we think, well, then he can always intervene whenever
S20: he wants. But the reason we can't ever make sense
S20: out of what he does or when he doesn't, is
S20: because there's a whole lot else going on in this
S20: cosmos that we don't know about, the myriads of myriads
S20: of angelic beings that are in that heavenly realm. They
S20: all make decisions and, well, I don't know much of
S20: what goes on up there. I know that sometimes those
S20: decisions affect what goes on down, what goes on down here.
S20: And so if God doesn't intervene, it seems like it
S20: would have been good to I have to assume that
S20: there's there's something's blocking that.
S19: You know, in the final analysis, I go to Romans 828.
S19: There we are told that God causes all things to
S19: work together for my good. If I'm called according to
S19: his purpose and if I love him.
S14: Some people will say, well, my suffering is too much.
S14: God can't possibly in this world or the next cause,
S14: good to emerge from my suffering. To which I say,
S14: God has taken the worst possible thing that has ever
S14: happened in the universe, which is the death of the
S14: Son of God on a cross. And out of that
S14: he has created the best thing that's ever happened in
S14: the universe, which is the opening of heaven to all
S14: who follow him. So if God can take the worst
S14: thing in the universe and turn it into the best
S14: thing in the universe, he can even redeem our suffering
S14: in this world or the next and draw good from it.
S1: Amen. You know, I have to tell you, what I
S1: find so important about this documentary is not just the
S1: aspect that it's investigating the supernatural as it manifests itself
S1: in miracles. It forces every one of us to have
S1: to deal with the question of suffering. And that's something
S1: we've dealt with since we walked out of the garden.
S1: And this really also speaks to how we see God,
S1: how we view the character of God, the wisdom of
S1: both Lee and Sam in that clip that you just
S1: heard all things working together for good. We think it
S1: means it all has to turn out good as we
S1: define it. No, no, no, no, that's not what that
S1: verse means. It means that in God's good and perfect will,
S1: he will make sure that what needs to be done
S1: will be done. As we are being conformed to, transformed
S1: to the image of Christ. Billy Hallowell is the brains
S1: behind this new documentary investigating the supernatural miracles. He is
S1: a superb creator of content. He is a journalist, a
S1: commentator and a digital TV host. So my question for
S1: you personally, it's real easy to say it's subjective. I'm
S1: going to keep it all in arm's reach. You were
S1: deeply immersed in all of this. Did it change you, Billy,
S1: and your beliefs?
S18: Oh, absolutely. And I can't stop talking about it. I
S18: actually haven't been able to stop thinking about it. Um, honestly,
S18: you know, this has been. It's been such an amazing experience.
S18: I thought going into it, we're going to create this documentary.
S18: It's going to hopefully inspire people to to see, you know,
S18: they're going to be presented with information. They can make
S18: a decision on what they believe. But selfishly, I walked
S18: away from it. Deeply changed, really. It kind of obliterated
S18: everything I thought I knew, you know, all of these things.
S18: I thought I knew about miracles and, you know, really,
S18: it forced me, just like you were just saying, to
S18: ask all the same questions. And I think the biggest question,
S18: and this is what I'm still processing, am I experiencing
S18: everything that God has for us? Am I open to it?
S18: Have I been have I been too quick to maybe
S18: dismiss certain elements of the supernatural? You know, we throw
S18: that word around. Supernatural. I'm reading the Bible. I read
S18: the Bible every year. The last couple of years. I
S18: read through the whole entire thing. And I'm focusing right
S18: now just on the New Testament this year and every
S18: page the supernatural now is popping off the page at me.
S18: And it's so funny because in the past I would
S18: have read it and I would have just kind of
S18: kept going. And now I'm pausing and I'm pondering and
S18: I'm wondering, you know, what? What is still happening today
S18: and what is not. And I think that's a big
S18: question that the church is grappling with right now. And
S18: a lot of people have decided, well, it's all dead.
S18: It's not happening. And I think the evidence really is
S18: on the other side of that, that that things are happening,
S18: that people are being healed. But to your point, there's
S18: still pain. Even Lazarus died again, right? So, you know,
S18: the miracles run out at some point. But but that
S18: doesn't mean they're not happening.
S1: Amen. And Brother Paul asked for that thorn to be removed,
S1: and it was not. So I think this really is
S1: so important, Billy. Not just because we're all, hey, look,
S1: we love touched by an angel who doesn't love miracle stories.
S1: But the reality is this goes much deeper because it
S1: really does go to the core question of suffering. And
S1: who is God and why? Why does he allow fill
S1: in the blank? And why didn't he do fill in
S1: the blank? And I think this is going to cause
S1: some spiritual growth as a result of this. The other
S1: thing too, is the people that you got with credentials,
S1: you have neuroscientists, you have people who got their education
S1: at Harvard. You have people the husband and wife team
S1: in Indiana are absolutely amazing, doing objective empirical studies on
S1: this where they've got the Sanhedrin of the medicine world
S1: looking at this going, something's going on. Am I right
S1: about that?
S18: You're 100% right. And I think that was so important
S18: to us going into this, because, look, faith is about faith.
S18: You know, it's not all. Even if you can prove
S18: and I think you can you can get 98% of
S18: the way there proving that a miracle happened. Right? You
S18: get to a place where you say there's no other explanation.
S18: And I think the miracles we show in the film,
S18: I have not had one atheist, agnostic, or skeptical Christian
S18: who doesn't believe in miracles come to me and say,
S18: here's another explanation. They don't have them.
S1: But but it requires faith.
S18: It requires.
S1: 100%. Yep. And I love Lee Strobel's example about prove
S1: me your name. And if you don't know what that means,
S1: get the DVD. All right. Which takes me to how
S1: exactly you can watch this. So I have a link
S1: on my website on the information page, right under the
S1: definition of the two hours we do every day, you're
S1: going to see a red box. It says Program details
S1: and audio. Click then on takes you to the info page.
S1: I have a hot link. Turn it on. You can
S1: either order the DVD or you can watch it streaming.
S1: But either way, do it. And can I tell you
S1: something else? Don't do it by yourself. Invite a skeptic,
S1: someone who doesn't yet know Jesus as their personal savior,
S1: because this is going to start a conversation that could
S1: have eternal consequences. Billy. Let's talk again soon. Absolutely. Outstanding
S1: documentary back after this, friends. Oh, even if you've never
S1: been on the back of a horse, does that not
S1: make your heart race just a little bit faster? And
S1: could you not feel the snorting from his nostrils on
S1: the back of your neck? And can you not smell
S1: the leather of the saddle? Boy, I tell you what,
S1: I love horse stories. And that's why I love the
S1: writings of Rebecca. And she's got a new book out
S1: called Great Horse Stories Wisdom and Humor from our Majestic Friends.
S1: And I love the fact that Rebecca, who spent 15
S1: years doing ranch work. And by the way, you know
S1: anything about running a ranch? Wow. You don't punch a clock.
S1: It's every single day. You got to turn them out.
S1: You got to bring them in. You muck the stalls,
S1: you feed them, you water them, you nurse them, you
S1: baby them, you deliver them. And in addition to all
S1: of that, she was guiding some pack trips. She also
S1: worked as a wilderness ranger. What an awesome job. And
S1: she's the author of several Christian books about horses and
S1: the West. And she's won all kinds of writing competitions,
S1: so it wouldn't it would be a full life just
S1: to be on the back of a horse and to
S1: do all the ranch work. But then God makes you
S1: a writer. So then she blends these two together, and
S1: she teaches about our relationship with the Lord by taking
S1: a look at horses. Just amazing stuff. And I'm going
S1: to let you jump in at any time. Friends at 1877548367518775483675. Rebecca,
S1: I think I've asked you this before. And by the way,
S1: I treasure every single time I get to spend time
S1: with you. How old were you when you first fell
S1: in love with horses?
S21: Oh, I think it happened in my DNA from God.
S21: It had to have. I think my first word was
S21: probably horse, to my mother's dismay. But I've always had
S21: a fascination with horses, haven't you? Janet, I know you're
S21: a horse lover.
S1: Mhm. Mhm. And it just, you know, it's amazing. In fact,
S1: I was just spending time with a mare this morning,
S1: an eight year old mare who had had some very
S1: rough handling, and it was so obvious that she looked
S1: at human beings and thought, are you someone who can
S1: be trusted, or do I have to fear all of you?
S1: And as I just walked with her for a while
S1: and loved on her neck, you could see her eyes
S1: soften and her pace slow down, and then she'd start
S1: to rub the back of my neck and I thought, wow,
S1: what a picture of learning to trust God and feeling
S1: safe in his arms. I mean, that's what you write about.
S1: You see it. And I even think you have to
S1: have a background in horses. You just see that idea.
S1: And isn't it cool that God writes so much about
S1: horses in Scripture, talks about the bit and the bridle,
S1: and that says a lot about us, doesn't it?
S21: Yes it does. But the best part is we get
S21: to come back on horses.
S1: Yes, yes. And that Jesus is a writer. That Jesus
S1: is a writer. Don't you love that?
S21: Yes.
S1: I'm so glad. So I think that it was important
S1: to remember that he came in on a donkey. But
S1: he's coming back on a horse, which tells me something
S1: about the place that horses have in the heart of Jesus.
S1: By the way, I want you to tell me about
S1: Wind Dancer, and I'd love for you to explain to
S1: our friends what's the difference between a donkey and a mule?
S1: Because I bet some folks listening don't know the difference.
S21: Oh my gosh, there is a huge difference because they're
S21: actually different species with different number of chromosomes. And I
S21: don't know the exact numbers, but a mule is a
S21: horse mom and a donkey, dad. And it's a hybrid
S21: animal that's made from those two species. Because a mule
S21: is usually sterile and can't be bred. Wind dancer is
S21: a mule that I was blessed enough to own a mare,
S21: and through a tumultuous relationship, a breeder lied to me,
S21: a trainer lied to me, and I brought a bought
S21: a horse who had been vet checked and it turned
S21: out she had had a broken hind leg. And um,
S21: so that actually those stories are coming up in, um,
S21: another book. However, God redeemed that situation by giving me
S21: the idea to breed this mare and get a mule.
S21: And so Wind Dancer is a mule out of that
S21: Tennessee walk and mare out of a gaited jack, and
S21: I'm going to hopefully be riding her this year. She
S21: is a ham. She loves people because I talked to
S21: her in the womb every day from the day she
S21: was conceived.
S1: Wow. And you say that she recognizes your voice right away.
S21: She does.
S1: She knows.
S21: She knows who I am. Just like we. Just like
S21: we recognize God's voice in our spirit. It's a it's
S21: an amazing. It's a relationship. It's a communication between the
S21: two of us. Just like our relationship with God is
S21: a communication between the two of us, between God and I.
S21: I'm not doing all the talking. God's not doing all
S21: the talking. But we work together.
S1: Wow. Wow. Well, speaking of God and talking, that leads
S1: me to prayer. And I want you to tell our
S1: friends about Skysong, because I can just picture you doing
S1: what you say you love to do on the back
S1: of Skysong, which is talking to the Lord. Some people
S1: are going talking to the Lord. I'm hanging on for
S1: dear life. How can you possibly be praying at the
S1: same time? But that's your favorite place to pray, isn't it?
S21: It is, it is. It is so amazing. And a
S21: matter of fact, that's how he got his name I was.
S21: Names of horses are very, very important to me. And
S21: I was saying, God, what am I going to name
S21: this horse running through all these different names? And I thought,
S21: I pray when I ride, that's the primary thing that
S21: I do is that's my time, my personal time, intimate
S21: time with God. So I'm going to name him Skysong
S21: because that means because prayer is a song in the
S21: sky to God.
S1: Yeah. Wow. How wonderful, how wonderful. Talk to me about Nana.
S1: A lot of you say that, and a lot of
S1: people are thinking about their precious grandmother. But there's a
S1: different Nana that you write about in your latest book
S1: called Great Horse Stories. And let me say the subtitle
S1: Wisdom and Humor from Our Majestic Friends. And that certainly
S1: is an apt description of a horse. But you talk
S1: about Nana. What was she like?
S21: Well, Nana was a Norwegian fjord horse, and if anybody
S21: has had a Norwegian fjord horse, they know that God
S21: put extra personality in their little bodies. They're not necessarily
S21: big horse. They're usually cream. But, um, their manes have
S21: got their black and white, so they're very stunning. And
S21: there was some people over in eastern Montana. Friends of
S21: mine and the daughter wanted a horse, and she'd saved
S21: all her money. And they or was saving it on
S21: a on a plan. And they picked out this horse
S21: and it ended up to be a young horse. The
S21: daughter had had a problem with her temper, and the
S21: mother was very, very concerned that the daughter would totally erupt.
S21: So they and perhaps even ruin the horse. They're out
S21: on a trail ride. Nothing's going right. The little girl
S21: gets upset because the the situation is looking like it
S21: could blow up. She was not trusting Nana, which was
S21: a fairly new horse to her, and she started having
S21: a fit. Well, Nana was going slowly because she was
S21: carrying precious cargo on her back on the trail and
S21: she was not about to get her feathers flustered by
S21: the other horses acting up, and the daughter wanted to
S21: go as fast as the other horses, and Nana decided
S21: she wasn't going to participate, and the little girl was
S21: kicking her and screaming at mom, saying, mom, Nana's not
S21: doing what I want. And mom is saying, it's okay,
S21: calm down. The little girl's temper skyrockets. Nana turns off
S21: the trail, ignoring the little girl, and walks out into
S21: the middle of the field and lets the girl have
S21: her temper tantrum and little girl screaming at the top
S21: of her lungs.
S22: Just screaming, mom, she won't do anything I want.
S21: And Nana's just standing there like a wonderful grandmother, totally patient,
S21: just letting the little girl. And finally, finally Katie settles
S21: down and she she just goes, oh. And instantly Nana
S21: scuttles over to the other horses and takes her. And
S21: it was like Nana was that girl's nanny. It was amazing.
S1: Wow. Was Nana her name before this incident? Because there's
S1: a paradox there that she was protective like that and
S1: had the name Nana, or was it named after the fact.
S21: Nana was named beforehand. Wow. And I don't I don't
S21: know if she came from the breeder with that name,
S21: but oh my gosh, what an amazing horse! And she
S21: was so young at that time. Here is here's this
S21: young horse and a young girl. And the horse had
S21: the wisdom of an ancient horse.
S1: Mhm. Mhm. And Katie ended up getting a lot of
S1: ribbons on the back of Nana did she not.
S21: She did. And she's showing again this year. She's gotten
S21: tons of ribbons. But the most wonderful thing is, is
S21: that Nana was so different for eastern Montana. You think
S21: eastern Montana you've got quarter horses?
S1: Yes.
S21: You're doing roping. You're doing all this different stuff. Well, Katie, um,
S21: Katie actually wrote English in a show in eastern Montana
S21: and was the only contestant. It was obviously.
S22: Stuck out like a sore thumb. And this little chubby Norwegian.
S21: Fjord horse with a black and white mane and riding
S21: an English saddle, wearing a helmet. And everybody else had
S21: cowboy hats on western saddles. And Katie is just devastated
S21: because she's always been a bigger boned gal, always been
S21: a maybe, um, a little, um, she would express herself
S21: very poignantly, oftentimes wonderful gal, heart of gold, but she
S21: always felt like she was on the outside. So now
S21: she's really on the outside. She has a misfit horse.
S21: She stands out like a sore thumb. But you know what?
S21: That horse, um, did so well. And as the day
S21: progressed in that show, Katie discovered that it was wonderful
S21: to be different because all the other kids in eastern
S21: Montana were going, tell me about your horse. I've never
S21: seen a horse like that before. So instead of Katie being, um,
S21: put on the outside as a misfit, she discovered that
S21: being different is wonderful because people like to find out
S21: about different things. And she's gone on to excel. She's
S21: just an amazing young lady. Wow. But all because of
S21: a horse?
S1: Yes. And, Rebecca, what I love in this book is
S1: that you give us thoughts to ponder at the end
S1: of each one of these precious little stories. And each
S1: one of them is a jewel. And in the story
S1: of Katie and Nana, you remind us that God made
S1: us unique and that he might possibly have made us
S1: to stand out like a Norwegian fjord. So what you're
S1: saying is celebrate your uniqueness, rather than being so concerned
S1: about blending in completely in the crowd. Here's Katie now
S1: who has this very different perspective in Montana. She's not
S1: doing barrel racing. She's doing English instead. And yet that's
S1: exactly how she was designed to be made. Wow. There's
S1: a great lesson there about celebrating the uniqueness of who
S1: we are in God. I want to ask you a question,
S1: and I'm coming up to a break and the music
S1: is going to start to roll in a second, and
S1: I'll give you a chance to think about it. But
S1: in all your years of working with horses and doing
S1: ranch work, and particularly because we draw so many parallels
S1: through your writings about how God works with us and
S1: the messages that he sends us. Have you ever found
S1: a horse where you said utterly, totally, completely unredeemable on
S1: his way to the glue factory? There's nothing here. Just
S1: throw him on the ash heap of history because he's
S1: no good for anybody. Did you ever run into a
S1: horse like that? I'll leave that question hanging and we'll
S1: get an answer from Rebecca on Dev right after this.
S1: Rebecca again has written several Christian books. Her newest is
S1: called Great Horse Stories. Wisdom and humor from Our Majestic Friends.
S1: And before the break, Rebecca, I asked you because of
S1: all your years. And it's tough stuff. It's what? It's
S1: what my husband calls the Charlotte's Web experience. You take
S1: it all or you can't take any of it because
S1: it's all in there. Especially when an animal gets sick
S1: and you don't think the animal is going to make it.
S1: But as particularly in the horse world and you've seen this,
S1: I'm sure, a thousand times over, where someone goes, ah,
S1: that's just a bad horse. Just put him down. Just
S1: get rid of him. Untrainable so damaged. So, um, non-usable,
S1: you might as well just euthanize the horse in your years.
S1: Have you ever seen that? And do you think there
S1: is such a horse?
S21: Boy? You know, that's a really tough question. Um, if
S21: it were an injury, I would have to go with the,
S21: see that report as to whether the horse would be
S21: in pain or not. That would be my deciding factor.
S21: If a horse was going to be in severe pain,
S21: then I would say I would choose to have to
S21: euthanize the horse. But other than that, Janet, I have
S21: seen so many miracles, miracle after miracle after miracle of
S21: horses who have recovered from injuries that never should have,
S21: horses that lived through things that never should have, and
S21: horses that turned around personality wise, that really never should
S21: have from what they had been through. So it's it's
S21: hard to say. Are you willing to give up on
S21: a horse for me? No I can't. But the interesting
S21: thing is, is there's actually a story in this book.
S21: It's called The Castaway, and it's about a woman who
S21: found a horse that had been abandoned at a ranch
S21: where she was boarding her horse. And the rest, it
S21: had come in on a cattle truck because the person
S21: who was selling the cattle didn't want the horse, and
S21: he was just a rack of bones, hadn't been taken
S21: care of. And he sent him he loaded him on
S21: the cattle truck to get rid of them. And this
S21: gal discovered him in a. It was in California, but
S21: it was a winter weather. It was sleeting. The horse
S21: was hypothermic. She saw it at night and took it
S21: in and rescued this horse. It became her favorite saddle horse.
S21: And as I was writing that story, God reminded me
S21: of a time. And I still fight with this. There
S21: are there are times when I see people, and I
S21: think you people have made the decision to be who
S21: you are, and you're pretty disgusting. And sometimes it's hard
S21: for me to love those people. It's easier for me.
S21: And God showed me through different times that it's easier
S21: for me to love a hurting animal than a hurting person.
S21: And God said, but I created people in my image.
S21: And that puts them on a whole different plane than
S21: a hurting animal. Why don't I have the same compassion
S21: for people that I do for animals? When people are
S21: created in the image of God and he really, he
S21: really shook me to the core. Janet on that. When
S21: at one time I had an opportunity, God asked me
S21: to feed a man who had dreadlocks in his hair.
S21: He was hunched over. He was old. He was rotten teeth.
S21: He was disgusting. And I drove past him on the
S21: road and he was standing next to a fast food
S21: joint and God said, go feed him. And I said, ah,
S21: I don't have any cash. Let me go to the bank.
S21: If he's still there when I get back, I'll feed him.
S21: So I did. I went and got cash, came back
S21: and the guy wasn't there, and I kind of breathed
S21: a sigh of relief and God said, no, go into
S21: the parking lot. And the guy was standing back by
S21: the dumpsters, getting more treasures for his black bag that
S21: he was carrying around. And I pulled over next to
S21: him and, and I said, you know, I'd like to
S21: buy you something to eat. And he he had those
S21: his eyes were like they were shifty eyes and he
S21: was squinty and he stunk. The man hadn't changed his
S21: clothes in years or taken a bath. I mean, excuse me.
S21: It was totally disgusting. And he said yes. My vision
S21: of what God asked me to do was to go
S21: in there and buy the guy a meal and leave.
S21: I didn't want to sit with him, so I went in.
S21: I asked the guy what he wanted. He said one taco,
S21: so I bought him the whole meal like a box
S21: because it looked like he needed more than one taco
S21: and he wouldn't ask for it. And then God told
S21: me to go sit with a man, and I went, really?
S21: Now see if it would have been a horse, I
S21: would have been cooking them, cooking the mash on the
S21: stove and adding molasses. And but because it was a
S21: human being now think how warped my thought pattern is
S21: in this. This is the image of God. This man
S21: wearing dreadlocks in filthy clothes is created in the image
S21: of God, and I'm treating him like he's a piece
S21: of trash. There's something wrong with that. So, God, God
S21: proceeded to work on my heart. So I sat down
S21: with a man and watched him eat. And he's just
S21: shoving it in his mouth. Of course, no manners and
S21: wiping his hands. And he's got this beard. And he
S21: had been chewing and he had this chew stuck in
S21: his beard. It was disgusting. And then he he takes
S21: a couple bites and he looks up at me and
S21: he says, who do you want me to kill?
S1: Whoa.
S21: And I, I said, no. See, this is the story. This.
S21: The stories in this book are so powerful. Janet, that's
S21: the castaway story. Um, I looked at him and I said,
S21: I don't want you to kill anybody. And he said,
S21: then why did you buy me a meal?
S23: Mhm. Wow.
S21: See, because he had been living on the streets so long,
S21: life had no importance to him anymore. And he was willing.
S21: People had asked him to kill somebody else for buying
S21: him a taco.
S23: Mhm.
S21: So I, I, I said I bought you a meal
S21: because Jesus told me to buy you a meal and
S21: he looked at me really strange then, and I said
S21: I just poured out the salvation message. I told him
S21: that God loved him, that it didn't matter what he
S21: had done, that God would forgive him, give him a
S21: brand new life and redeem him. And he opened up
S21: to me, and he said that he had been a
S21: World War or a Vietnam vet, and because of drugs
S21: and alcohol and the stuff he had dealt with, he
S21: lost his family and his greatest desire was to be
S21: reunited with his son. And I went, okay, well, Jesus
S21: can do that. Well, he didn't want to have anything
S21: to do with Jesus. And I proceeded to tell him,
S21: there's nothing that you can do that's bad enough that
S21: you can keep Jesus away. You can. Jesus will love
S21: you no matter what. You just have to receive him. Anyway,
S21: it was time to go and I stood up and
S21: God said, give him a hug and I'm going, okay, see,
S21: now God's got my heart to the spot where I
S21: can do that. He softened my heart. I had a
S21: hardened heart. It wasn't the man. It wasn't about buying
S21: the man food. It was about Rebecca's heart. And so
S21: I gave the guy a hug. And as I'm giving
S21: him a hug, he said, I haven't had a hug
S21: in over 40 years.
S1: Wow.
S23: And he had.
S21: Tears flowing down his cheeks. And of course, his face
S21: is a filthy mess. And he's got these lines where
S21: his tears were. Well, the crazy part was a month. No,
S21: a couple weeks later, I. Oh, I'll have to wrap
S21: up real quick. A couple of weeks later, I met
S21: him at a shelter and he had given his life
S21: to the Lord.
S23: Oh.
S1: Wow. Rebecca, what a story. Wow. Now, see, this is
S1: why I tell you whether you like horses or not,
S1: you're going to learn so much about who you are
S1: in his eyes by reading Rebecca's book. And you know what?
S1: I want to give it to you. Can I first
S1: ten callers. Ten callers. That's how much I want to
S1: give this book away. 1-877-548-3675. Rebecca, come back again soon.
S1: Let's talk the whole hour. I would love to do that.
S1: 1-877-548-3675 great Horse Stories wisdom and humor from our Majestic Friends,
S1: the latest book by Rebecca. And I'll see you next time, friends.