Point of View June 19, 2025 – Hour 2 : The Devil’s Newsroom

[00:00:05] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kirby Anderson. I'm looking forward to this interview. This is with our good friend, Dr. Jeff Shreve. And if you are familiar with him, you perhaps have been hearing his radio program as well as his preaching.

[00:00:31] And we do have a link to his website fromhisheart.org. He's with From His Heart Ministries, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana. Before that, he was at Champion Forest Baptist Church in Houston, has a master's degree in divinity from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, a doctorate in ministry from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary. But before that, he'd actually been in the business world and is a good friend. And Dr. Jeff Shreve, welcome back to Point of View.

[00:01:02] Hey, Kirby. Thanks so much for having me on again. We are going to be talking about Satan, and I thought I would set up for why that is the case. I'll hold up one of my booklets. You have seen some of them before, and this one was on The Next Generation. And the first time we ever did a survey years ago, this goes back to 2010, we were trying to figure out who has a biblical worldview and who does not. At that time, we were just looking at born-again millennials.

[00:01:28] But I thought, well, the place where you would probably have a drop-off would be on maybe they didn't believe in absolute truth or they didn't believe in the authority of the Bible. But the place where we saw the greatest drop-off is individuals that did not believe that Satan existed as a person. And so I've oftentimes said that you would not be successful in your spiritual life.

[00:01:55] You certainly wouldn't be able to fight a spiritual battle if you didn't even understand that you were in the midst of spiritual warfare. Hence the reason your book is entitled The Devil's Newsroom, because you want people to understand how important it is to actually believe in Satan and recognizing that he's really the origin of all this misinformation that we deal with in our world.

[00:02:20] Yeah, he really is. You know, Jesus said in John chapter 8 that he is a liar and the father of lies. And so all the lies that are in our world today, they ultimately, if you back them up, they find their source in Satan because he's the one who purports all this and pumps it out. And as the scripture says, 1 John chapter 5 verse 19, the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

[00:02:49] And, you know, Paul tells us in Romans 12, don't be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so the devil's newsroom is to alert people to the fact that the devil is real and he is trying to get you to believe a lie. Jesus said, you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. And we can't get saved. We can't get right with God without the truth. And the devil fights the truth tooth and nail.

[00:03:14] Well, we're going to kind of convene then almost a seminary type class because, you know, as well as I do, it's maybe not true of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, but a lot of churches, they don't talk about Satan. They don't talk about spiritual warfare. They don't talk about hell. I thought it was very interesting that the endorsements that came in are from all sorts of people that we know, like Phil Cook and Kirk Cameron and Alex McFarlane and, of course, Tim Wildman and Jack Graham and Bishop E.W. Jackson,

[00:03:44] the foreword by our good friend Mike Huckabee. And so in some respects, everybody seems to know this is an issue. But this is, I think, a great opportunity to teach more about Satan. And early on, you give us a couple of discoveries. The first one that Satan was originally created by God as a holy angel but was corrupted by sin. And you go into what that actually involves. And then finally, he continues to exist.

[00:04:12] It does seem to me that we have to start with some of those basics. So can you give us just a little bit of teaching on the origin and the continued influence of Satan? Yeah. You know, Kirby, it's interesting. So as people read the Bible, you know, typically when somebody picks up the Bible, they're going to start at the beginning. And they read in Genesis. Everything's great. Genesis 1 and 2. And then in Genesis 3, we're introduced to the serpent.

[00:04:38] The serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he's the deceiver. He's the tempter. And he deceived Eve. And then Eve got Adam to eat the fruit too. And so they sinned against God. Well, the question would come into anybody's mind. Well, where did he come from? Because I thought everything was perfect. And so there are two passages in Scripture, Ezekiel chapter 28 and Isaiah chapter 14, that give us insight, the back story of the serpent.

[00:05:08] And we know who the serpent is. Revelation 12 says, the serpent of old, who is the devil and Satan. So there should be no confusion over who the serpent was that appeared to Eve. That was the devil. Bill Maher used to like to laugh at Christians and say, you people are so stupid you believe in a talking serpent. Well, I believe in a talking devil. And the devil spoke to Eve.

[00:05:35] And how he appeared to Eve, we don't really know. He disguises himself as an angel of light, the Bible says. But he had his beginning when God created the angelic host. He made this beautiful creature known as Lucifer, the light bearer. And he was, by all indications, the worship leader in heaven. And there's some kind of musical quality about him. The Bible talks about his settings and his sockets when he was created.

[00:06:03] And so the picture I've always kind of had in my mind, Kirby, is when the angels would worship God, he would kind of lead in the worship. And the worship from the angels would come through Lucifer to the Lord. And he couldn't handle his position. And he said, this worship doesn't need to come through me. It needs to come to me. And Isaiah 14 are the five I wills. I will be like the most high God. And he rebelled against God.

[00:06:31] He got a third of the angels to go with him in rebellion against God. And they were cast out. And Lucifer, the star of the morning, became Satan, the father of the night. And the holy angels that went with him became filthy, hairy demons. And that's how you have the that's the back story of Genesis 3. Well, again, I think what you've done is helped us understand some of these things that maybe we remember from our childhood, assuming it was even taught in the churches where they were taught.

[00:06:59] But this idea that he was corrupted by sin. First, of course, you talk about pride. The I will statements. I will be most like the most high. I will send into heaven. I will exalt my throne. But then also this idea of ingratitude, which I never really thought about because, again, he wasn't grateful for what he was given in terms of glory and authority. And then, of course, the other issue of that fall, and that is rebellion. And, again, you go all the way to the end of the Bible.

[00:07:28] And we see some of it in the beginning. But at the end, certainly in Revelation 12, another name for Lucifer is the dragon. So you have the serpent, the dragon, not exactly great illustrations, but, again, helping us understand how dangerous he is.

[00:07:45] But you just said something in passing, which I want to pick up after we take our break, because Satan can disguise himself as an angel of light, as you do oftentimes provide booklets for your congregation and for people that get your radio program. We produce monthly ones, and the one coming out is on supernaturalism and paranormal.

[00:08:06] And some of that comes from the second part of a book by Lee Strobel, because we are starting to see more and more people that have sort of a God-shaped vacuum, but they don't want to go to church to find it. So they're going, and they're maybe hearing about out-of-body experiences. They're hearing about crystals and ghosts and all sorts of things. And, again, they say, well, I saw God. Well, just because you saw a being of light doesn't necessarily mean you saw God. You might have seen Satan.

[00:08:35] So we're going to come back and talk more about the Devil's Newsroom, and we certainly have a link to fromhisheart.org in case you'd like to check out their website. And as you do so, I would also commend another book, Discernment in a Day of Deception. We'll be back right after this. This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson.

[00:09:07] Today is Juneteenth. You may know it as a recently declared federal holiday, but I found that most Americans, outside of those who live in Texas, don't know much about it, which is why I'm talking about it today. Here's a summary of the history. President Abraham Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation freed the slaves in 1863, but his action could not be enforced in many places in the South until the Civil War ended in 1865. The news didn't travel fast because of the limitations of communications and an unwillingness of Southern leaders to proclaim it.

[00:09:37] The news finally arrived in Galveston, Texas, when Union Major General Gordon Granger and his troops arrived in the city on June 19th, 1865. Six months later, the 13th Amendment was ratified by Georgia, thus permanently abolishing slavery in America. The next year, on June 19th, there was a celebration of freedom in Galveston. This included concerts, parades, and reading of the Emancipation Proclamation. Other celebrations, often in churches, spread through the state as black Texans moved elsewhere.

[00:10:07] It has been a paid holiday for state employees in Texas and many other states. President Biden signed the bill from Congress making Juneteenth a federal holiday commemorating the end of slavery in the United States. Here's some key questions. How much do Americans know about Juneteenth? For that matter, how much did you know about this federal holiday? Aren't we missing an opportunity to educate Americans? Unfortunately, most Americans don't know much about many of the holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July.

[00:10:34] Juneteenth could be a teaching opportunity about human rights for churches and Christian organizations. Let's not miss this opportunity. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. For a free booklet on the biblical view on wokeness, go to viewpoints.info slash wokeness. That's viewpoints.info slash wokeness.

[00:11:02] You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. I'm a privileged to have with us today our good friend, Dr. Jeff Shreve. The book is entitled The Devil's Newsroom. Just in passing, I did mention the fact that he does have a wonderful podcast out right now, Discernment in a Day of Deception. And whether we're talking about Satan as a liar, whether we're talking about the deception in our world, it's going to be more and more important for us to really think biblically about every area of life.

[00:11:31] And so, Jeff, let's if we can go to John 8 here. Here, Jesus makes it very clear that Satan is a liar and is the father of lies. This is perhaps the most striking statement that Jesus makes about Satan, and it's a reminder of the fact that we are in the midst of spiritual warfare. But let's, if we can, talk about the nature of that lying, because that brings us back to not only what you write in your book,

[00:12:01] but what you've been preaching on recently, just the need for us to make sure that we aren't caught up on the lies and the kind of misinformation that exists in our world. Well, it is very important, Kirby. So, Jesus said in John 8, 44, speaking to the Jews as he was arguing with the Jewish religious leaders, you are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father.

[00:12:26] He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. You know, one of the things I bring out in the book, Kirby, and I know you know this, is the devil is not just a liar among many liars. He's the master liar. He's the king of liars.

[00:12:51] And the devil, being a master liar, he can twist people into a pretzel. You know, it didn't take him many words to get Eve to be deceived and to believe the lies that he was giving her. And she really thought, if I eat of this fruit, I'll be like God, and I won't need to depend upon God anymore.

[00:13:13] And the, you know, the temptation for her was not to do some terrible, horrible thing that would be degrading and shameful. In her mind, it wasn't to fall down. It was to rise up. I'm going to be like God if I do this. And so he is very, very slick.

[00:13:32] And, you know, Jesus said in the Olivet Discourse, Kirby, you know, the devil is going to be at work during the tribulation period to deceive, even if possible, even the elect. If the Lord doesn't keep us from that, we would be deceived too because he is that good at his craft. Well, that's if we can encourage our listeners, as they often do, to take some notes and they might to talk about three discoveries about Satan as a liar.

[00:14:02] The first one is the devil speaks subtle lies. The second is Satan speaks blatant lies. And number three, the devil speaks twisted lies. But as you point out, if you go back to Genesis three, one of the translations you talk about, the Phillips translation said he was clever, more clever than any wild animal that God had made. There is a sense in which we maybe think that Satan is going to be blatant.

[00:14:31] And that's one of the characteristics we'll get to in just a minute. But he's also very subtle. And it brings us back to second Corinthians 11, which I think is going to have to be a very important verse for people to remember, because you will, I think, run into people from time to time that say, you know, I had an out of body experience and I saw this being of light. And that must have been God. Not necessarily.

[00:14:54] And that's part of that subtle nature of Satan that we really need to warn people about in the 21st century, don't you think? Well, it is. And Kirby, as you know, you know, that's the issue with pastors, pastors that are false prophets and false teachers. And the Bible makes it clear in the New Testament, we're going to have a plethora of that. The book of Jude, the second to the last book of the Bible. And the Bible says, well, certain persons have crept in unnoticed and they corrupt from within.

[00:15:24] Seminary professors that teach lies and they seem so wholesome and good and smart and, you know, learned and surely I can trust this guy. That's the way the devil works because he wants you to think what he's telling you is truth when it's a little bit off. One of the things I use in the book, and I've used this a lot in sermons, is the one in 60 rule in aviation.

[00:15:50] You know, pilots say if you're just one degree off your flight plan for every 60 miles you travel, you're a mile from your destination. And you don't notice it a lot in a short distance, but in a long trip you notice it big time. And that's the difference between, you know, flying across the country, you're trying to go to LAX and you land in LAX or you land in the Pacific Ocean and crash and die. So that's the way the devil works on us.

[00:16:19] And it's very subtle and it seems close, very close to the truth, but it's not the truth. I think it was Charles Spurgeon that said discernment is needed because the question is not between truth and error. It's between truth, what's right, and what's almost right. And that's how the devil gets us. Well, again, in the book of James we have this idea too about the fact that it's enticing and all the rest.

[00:16:46] So the subtle nature of sin, the subtle nature of these lies is significant. But, of course, we also talked about the fact that in some cases Satan is very blatant with the lies in terms of attacking the character of God, attacking us and all sorts of other issues as well. Because the Apostle Paul even says, do not be deceived. God is not mocked for whatever one sows. He will also reap.

[00:17:14] And there is a sense in which some people might think that they can get away with that kind of error and not have to pay the consequences. But that's something you talk about as well. Yeah, there are consequences, you know, built into sin. And, you know, sin brings death. So when lust is conceived, it gives birth to sin. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.

[00:17:37] You know, Kirby, that's something I have to remind myself of often because, you know, as you and I well know, there are men and women. We're all sinners. My pastor used to tell me, Jeff, in the minds of church members, they think they're men, they're women, and then they're preachers. They're like a different creature. And they're not. You know, we're just regular people. We all have feet of clay. And so we're tempted in areas related to the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life.

[00:18:06] And we have to keep reminding ourselves that sin always brings death. And when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death because the devil's not going to show you that part of it. He's not going to tell you that. He always wants to sell the sizzle, but that has a price tag, just like the James 1 illustration there is a fisherman baiting a hook. And so we're enticed by our own lust, and that's the picture in the Greek.

[00:18:36] And so the fish bites on the bait, not realizing there's a hook there. And now I'm in serious trouble, and there's no going back. Yeah. My favorite line is, Satan doesn't fly fish. Because if you fly fish, which I enjoy doing, you've got to pull that hook because the fish will figure out very quickly it's not. But when you bite into that juicy worm, you just have no idea that there's a hook on the other end. And so that's certainly one of those illustrations. We come back.

[00:19:03] I want to get into the world's most believed lie, but I thought this would be a good time, just before we take our break at the bottom of the hour, to actually focus on what is available at your website. I am such a fan of you. I listen to you in the mornings, and I get a chance to hear what you and your sweet wife have to share. And, of course, that's real truth for today. But then, of course, you have been involved in ministry for some time, two decades, if we can believe that. Isn't that amazing?

[00:19:31] And, of course, you, like us, have a desire for our fiscal year end. Ours ends June 30th. Looks like yours does as well. And so I would encourage people, just as I'm encouraging them, to support our ministry so that we can continue bringing these broadcasts as well. People can go to your website and find out more about your ministry. They can get your weekly truth, love, and hope in their inbox, and they can support you as well. But let's talk about some of the resources that are there.

[00:20:00] I just a minute ago mentioned your podcast on Discernment in the Day of Deception. But there are all sorts of other ways in which people can connect up with you, can't they? Yeah, they really can. So the church website, fbctexercanada.org, fromhisheart.org. And then we have The Real Truth for Today, which is on American Family Radio. And lots and lots of free resources for people.

[00:20:23] We'd love to connect with folks and send them, you know, every Friday I send out an email encouragement about something going on in our country or just some verse of scripture that I want to hone in on. But it's all designed, Kirby, as your ministry is, as mine is. We want to speak the truth in love, and we want to help people grow and walk in the light with Jesus. Well, again, let me just encourage those of you on American Family Radio, probably already hear him at 8 o'clock. That would be Central Time.

[00:20:52] Real Truth for Today on American Family Radio. But those of you that do not get American Family Radio may hear some of his other broadcasts as well. And, of course, we have all sorts of information about him, his books, his audio recordings, and much, much more. So we come back. We want to focus on the world's most believed lie, that is salvation by works.

[00:21:15] And we'll go from there to some of the other lies and very important principles we need to apply as we talk about the influence of Satan in our lives. We'll continue our conversation with Dr. Jeff Shreve right after this. In 1972, Point of View was founded to address three needs in America.

[00:21:41] First, to create a trustworthy source of information without the liberal bias pervasive in the mainstream media. Second, to cover issues that real Americans needed to know about, issues impacting faith, family, and freedom. Finally, and most importantly, Point of View was founded to examine each issue from a Christian perspective, anchoring Americans to biblical truth once more.

[00:22:10] Thanks to support from people like you, Point of View has successfully carried out this mission for 53 years. But if we want to carry the mission forward into the future, we need your help today. This is a critical time of year. Point of View depends on listeners like you to donate generously. Forge ahead into the future with us.

[00:22:35] Give today at pointofview.net or call 800-347-5151. Point of View will continue after this. You are listening to Point of View.

[00:23:07] The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station. And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. Back with my good friend, Dr. Jeff Shreve. And again, the book is entitled The Devil's Newsroom. If you'd like to know more about it, of course, we have information about it on the website. Let me again encourage you to check out the website itself because there is a place where you can find out more about some of the things that Pastor Jeff is involved with,

[00:23:36] including I would encourage you to support his ministry. I would certainly encourage you to support the radio station that carries this program and hope that you would also consider supporting Point of View. This fiscal year ain't important for many ministries, and we'll continue to talk about that more, especially next week. If you'd like to know more about his ministry, fromhisheart.org. Of course, we have a link on the website, and you can find it there. And, of course, the book is The Devil's Newsroom.

[00:24:02] And, Jeff, I thought for just a minute we can certainly talk about the lies that some of us believe. Some of Satan's lies will certainly not help us as Christians, but there is one lie that will affect our eternal destiny, and that's why you have as your middle chapter a very important one on the world's most believed lie, and it's what you call the most great and tragic deception. Can you explain?

[00:24:32] Yes. So if you talk to the average person on the street, Kirby, and you were to give them the two diagnostic evangelism explosion questions, if you come to a place in your spiritual life where you know for certain if you were to die, you'd go to heaven, and, you know, you get some hem-hawing from people that don't really understand. But then you ask them the second question. If you were to die and stand before God and he were to say to you, why should I let you into my heaven, what would you say?

[00:25:01] And for somebody that doesn't understand the gospel, their answer is almost always going to be a works-based answer. Well, because I'm a good person, because I went to church, because I gave some money. I had one guy tell me one time, because I've had six kids. And I thought, well, that's good. That's kind of a strange answer. But it always goes back to works. And so the Philippian jailer in Acts chapter 16,

[00:25:28] when, you know, God released Paul and Silas and the others from prison with a big earthquake, you know, he said, sirs, what must I do to be saved? Because none of them escaped. You know, he's going to kill himself. And Paul said, do yourself no harm. We're all still here, not only Paul and Silas, but all the others. And so then he fell down trembling. Sirs, what must I do to be saved? And I think people have that idea. I have to do something.

[00:25:56] Well, Paul's answer was, Acts 16, 31, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved, you and your household, if they also believe. And so that is the truth. In my hand, no price I bring, but simply to that cross I cling. We don't have to do anything. We have to receive Christ. We have to just trust him and understand that I can't be good enough for heaven. I'm not good enough for heaven. There's none righteous, not even one. And the wages of sin is death.

[00:26:25] And we're all sinners. And so it goes back to the phrase, Kirby, you know, you've got to get folks lost in order to be saved. Until a person understands that they're hopeless and helpless before God and they are sinners deserving death, hell, and separation from God forever, then they're not open to the gospel. They need to understand the bad news so that they can receive the good news. So the world's most believed lie is that I can earn it on my own.

[00:26:54] And maybe it's grace plus works or maybe it's works alone. But the idea that you can earn salvation is a lie from the devil. Well, again, in Ephesians 2, 8, 9, all the way to 10, of course, when you get into the fact that we're his workmanship, we're saved by grace through faith. And, again, it gets back to the three words you talk about because, first, we're saved by grace. Second, we're saved through faith. And then third, we're saved for good works.

[00:27:24] And people sometimes get the caboose before the engine or the emphasis on the wrong syllable or whatever you might want to say. And that's why some people say, well, where does works fit in here? And, of course, I was just preaching through in my own Sunday school class, James chapter 2 and 3. And you know where we are there because that's the whole idea that some people say, well, you have to have works in there somewhere. And that's what James said. No, if you understand what James is saying in James 1, then by the time you get to James 2,

[00:27:54] you can get it pretty clear. And Paul, of course, makes it very clear in Ephesians 2, 8, 9. So that is, if nothing else, why I wanted to make sure that if people listening today at least got one thing right, even if they believe a lot of other lies, don't believe that one. You can only be saved by grace through faith. And that is certainly the case. But one of the things that was so helpful about your book is you also then point out how Satan not only blinds the eyes of unbelievers,

[00:28:23] but he causes even individuals who are believers to have the wrong view. And you talk about the fact that Satan wants us to see God as mean, cruel, and sadistic. And he also wants us to lose hope. And that brings me to something else, Jeff, because in the past when we've done apologetics, we've been doing apologetics, first Marlon Maddox, then myself for 53 years, we've oftentimes tried to show that the Bible is true and that God exists.

[00:28:54] But I'm running into a whole generation of young people today that don't believe necessarily the Bible is true, but they think the Bible is evil and they don't believe that God is good. And I think that is really important because I know that one of the things that you've been making available is life is hard, but God is good. And it does seem to me that Satan really is now causing a whole generation of young people to doubt the goodness of God, don't you think?

[00:29:24] Yeah, I do. That's kind of what he did with Eve. When he takes the word that God had given to Adam, Eve wasn't created when God gave the command, from any tree of the garden you may freely eat, but from the tree that is in the midst of the garden, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it lest you die. Well, that was given to Adam. Adam obviously gave that to Eve. But then the devil twists it a little bit.

[00:29:49] And when you study Genesis 3, 1, you see how subtle he is. Indeed, has God said you shall not eat from any tree of the garden? Question mark. That doesn't sound right. That sounds like a mean and cruel God that he'd make all these wonderful fruit trees and then say, ah, ah, ah, you can't eat from any of those trees. And that's not what God said. He said from any of them you can freely eat, but from the one tree, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. You can't eat from that tree.

[00:30:20] So that's how he twists things so people start to question God's character, God's goodness. Does God really love me? Is God really a good God? And he uses circumstances so often, Kirby, to get us to say, well, if God were good, then my child wouldn't have died in infancy. Then they wouldn't have these, you know, we see these terrible diseases and things like that that affect, you know, our world.

[00:30:49] And just on and on and on. And that's very easy to adopt the counsel of Job's wife. You curse God and die. You get bitter at God because you say, obviously, you're not good. Because if you were, you wouldn't allow this to happen in my life. And those are the times. And that affects Christians. And you and I both know bitter Christians that have bad things happen to them. And they've bitten the hand that feeds them.

[00:31:18] They've looked at God negatively, and it's poisoned their lives. Yes. And that leads, of course, to one of your chapters on a fork in the road. A thing I love is you have all sorts of quotes. You have a Yogi Berra quote I was thinking about. When you come to a fork in the road, take it. Although this Yogi Berra one says, If you don't know where you're going, you might wind up someplace else. But one of the forks in the road that you talk about is the devil wants you to think God's way is all wrong.

[00:31:44] And once you even take that fork on one issue, and it could be, well, I'm a student, and I have always heard of creation. But this professor at the University of Texas at Austin where you went to, he believes in evolution. So he must be right. So maybe I don't believe that. Or I certainly have always believed that men and women are women. But, you know, we're hearing all about this idea of gender identity.

[00:32:11] And so maybe I've got to maybe rethink that. As soon as back to your one degree off and 160, you begin to see how that first fork sometimes could be a very subtle sort of thing. It could be just a decision that you make to not believe the Bible, a decision you make not to believe what a Christian teacher might have to say. It can get you down the road the wrong way pretty quickly, can't it? It really can.

[00:32:41] You know, and Kirby, if we look at the commands of God, and we start thinking that they're like a cafeteria line where we can pick and choose what we want, what we don't want, you can't do that. And so God is God, and his word is true. I like Romans 3, verse 5, let God be, or 3, verse 4, let God be found true, that every man be found a liar. And so the Lord's, you know, when Jesus comes back, he's called faithful and true.

[00:33:10] Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father but through him. And everything he says is true. John 17, 17, Sanctify them in the truth as Jesus is praying his high priestly prayer. Your word is truth. Yes. And so we have to anchor our lives in that. And I know you do a great job with that, and your radio program and the things that you write in those booklets. And I appreciate you sending those to me because they're great. We're going to take a break,

[00:33:37] and we'll get into just a couple of other issues in this book, The Devil's Newsroom, with our good friend Jeff Shreve. We'll be right back. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back for a few more minutes with Jeff Shreve.

[00:34:07] Again, the book is entitled The Devil's Newsroom. Let me encourage you to get a copy and also to connect up with him at fromhisheart.org. And, Jeff, of course, the other part of that is the Lord wants you to know his way is always right. And by that it means that what God says about sexual immorality is right. What God says about gender identity is right. What God says about sanctity of human life is right. And in some respects, even this week, talking about a Supreme Court decision coming down,

[00:34:37] I think correctly on gender identity, and certainly the fact that even on the issue of the sanctity of human life, we have more crisis pregnancy centers, pregnancy resource centers, than we have abortion clinics. But whether we're in the majority or the minority, whether we're winning or losing, we need to hold fast to biblical principles. And that's, I think, one of the great challenges, especially for some of the younger Christians who may, because of their smartphones,

[00:35:06] be more conformed to this world. And that's why I would want them to have good books like this that would encourage them to get back into the Word and understand the Word so that they would not be taken captive, again, Colossians 2.8, with false ideas. And I know that's certainly your view as well and what you want to try to do not only in your preaching but even in your daily talk show of Real Truth for Today. It really is.

[00:35:33] And, you know, Kirby, one of the things about the book, The Devil's Newsroom, and the best place for people to go for that is just thedevilsnewsroom.com. That gives them an introduction to the book and then they can get it on Amazon. But one of the things I talk about, so Hebrews chapter 5, you know, Paul or whoever wrote it makes the case that, you know, I wanted to tell you some things but you were dull of hearing and you're still little babies. You're still on milk

[00:36:02] and you aren't yet ready to have solid food. And then he says this, Hebrews 5.14, Solid food is for the mature who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil. We desperately in our day and age and Christians need to do this. You have to train your senses. You have to spend time in the Word of God so that you can sense when something is off, when that one degree off, as Spurgeon said,

[00:36:30] it's between what's right and almost and what's almost right. And so you have to be able to discern what's almost right. And so many Christians today don't have a biblical worldview. They don't look at the world through the lens of Scripture. As a matter of fact, they look at Scripture through the lens of the world and through the lens of culture and all the social justice garbage and all the woke stuff. You know, that's looking at the Bible through the lens of culture. We cannot do that. That's going to lead us astray.

[00:36:59] And so it all comes back to the Word of God. Sanctify them. Set them apart in the truth. Your Word, Father, is truth. And so we have to get back to studying the Word of God, spending time in the Word of God, handling accurately the Word of truth. Well said. You know, one of your chapters is the real inconvenient truth. Of course, Al Gore had the movie An Inconvenient Truth. But the real inconvenient truth is that hell is a real place. Now, let's give her credit

[00:37:28] where credit is due. We've had Robert Jeffress on this program and he's written a book about hell. We've had Gary Frazier on. I know you've had him on quite frequently. I'm going to have him on next week, as a matter of fact. And he's written a book about hell, although we'll probably be talking about Israel and Iran. But hell is a reality. We hear very few people from the pulpit. Maybe you're an exception and a few others I just mentioned. But we have very few people mention that. But that is part of the Bible as well.

[00:37:58] Jesus actually spent more time talking about hell than he did heaven. And that's some message that seems to be missing today in the 21st century. It really is. You know, it's interesting when they do these Pew Research surveys and things like that and Barnas surveys. People still believe in hell. They just don't believe they're going there. And so I'm trying to remember this statistic off the top of my head. It's 65% or something like that of people believe in hell and less than 1%

[00:38:28] believe they're going to hell. Which is the opposite of what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount. Narrow is the road that leads to life. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. And many are traveling on the broad road. Few are finding the narrow road. And, you know, Jesus talked about hell so much because he doesn't want anyone to go there. And that just shows the good heart of God. You know, the Father didn't send the Son into the world, John 3.17, to condemn the world.

[00:38:57] He sent the Son into the world to save the world. And God doesn't want to judge. He wants to save. Ezekiel 18.32, the Lord takes no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies. Therefore, he says, repent and live. And so if we'll turn to him in repentance and faith, we can live and we can enjoy a relationship, a true relationship, heart-to-heart relationship with Jesus. But if we follow in the footsteps of the devil

[00:39:26] with rebellion and ingratitude and pride, well, that's going to lead us separated from God forever. That's horrible. Yep. Well, again, we do have a link to thedevilsnewsroom.com and I love how you summarize that. This idea of some of Satan's lies that God isn't really good. God doesn't want the best for you. God could never forgive your sin. God never really truly loves you. And of course, you are countering

[00:39:56] those in very significant ways. And so that is one way to go. Also, let me again mention that we have a link to your website fromhisheart.org. But as a pastor, I'd love you to speak to pastors and teachers for just a minute before we go because this is a message in your book all put together with great illustrations. And of course, you have some blow-up quotes and some statements from Pastor Jeff all the way through. But this could be a sermon series.

[00:40:26] And I know you've preached through it. But talk to pastors, Sunday school leaders, small group leaders, Bible fellowship leaders. What could they do? How could they use this book to educate and really begin to encourage individuals so that they understand we're in a spiritual battle, but we've read the last chapter. We know who wins. And Satan is a defeated foe, but we really need to teach people in the church about Satan, don't we? We really do.

[00:40:55] And we need to let them know that, hey, your adversary, the devil, 1 Peter 5.8, he prowls around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour. He's not a friendly lion. He wants to steal and kill and destroy. And, you know, I talk a lot about Islam. I talked about Islam this morning, Kirby, because the devil's fingerprints are all over Islam. And the atrocities they committed on October 7, 2023,

[00:41:25] I mean, that shows their true colors. Well, that's a picture that gives us a window into the devil. He doesn't want to just, you know, affect your life. He wants to destroy your life and destroy your kids and just devour you. And so it's really important that we're able to discern what he's doing. You know, as Paul said, we're not ignorant of his schemes. Sometimes you're a sitting duck if you don't know how he works and how he operates and how to be able

[00:41:55] to sense when you're hearing this fake news. So I'd encourage pastors, listen, get a copy of the book. You can preach through it. It's very easy to preach those chapters. It's all rooted in Scripture and illustrations are there that you can use or not use, but it's there to help. And your church needs to know the truth so that they can be rooted and grounded in truth and not blown by every wind of doctrine, as Paul says in Ephesians 4.

[00:42:25] Again, The Devil's Newsroom by Dr. Jeff Shreve. First of all, Jeff, thank you so very much. Say hi to Debbie Forrest, and we certainly appreciate your ministry and encourage people to find that website. We've given a couple websites on our website and can encourage them to find out more and maybe to support you as well. So thank you for being with us today here on Point of View. Thank you, Kirby. I appreciate it so much. Well, we're just about out of time. Let me just mention tomorrow we're going to have Pennedexter, Kelly Shackelford, and we've got a lot to cover. So I'm looking forward to that,

[00:42:55] and we already have posted some of the articles which we'll put up there just as we get into the program tomorrow. Most importantly, engineering today. Doug, thank you as always. Engineering the program. Steve, thank you for producing the program. We look forward to seeing you tomorrow right here on Point of View, and I hope that we'll see you especially tomorrow during our weekend edition. We'll see you then. At Point of View, we believe there is power in prayer, and that is why we have relaunched our Pray for America campaign,

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