[00:00:04] Across America, Live, this is Point of View, Kerby Anderson. Thank you for joining me. This is the Thursday edition of Point of View.
[00:00:23] Next hour we're going to be getting into some of the things happening, for example in China, as President Donald Trump is meeting with Xi Jinping, along with a number of individuals on both sides of both China and the United States. We'll get into that. Some more to talk about this issue of socialism and capitalism, which by the way will surface in this conversation we're going to have in just a minute, but we will get into that in more details next hour.
[00:00:47] But we are privileged to bring back to the microphone George Barna. As you well know, a while back we've had some conversations and even did an outlook on the subject of rumblings of revival. Now we call it that because I think sometimes people have overplayed the idea that Gen Z has shown a more significant interest spiritually.
[00:01:09] There are some good news and a fair amount of bad news, but nevertheless, we thought it would be very helpful for you to know a little bit more about the spiritual progress and regress of Gen Z. The story is a professor at Arizona Christian University, director of research at the Cultural Research Center. Individual also has served as the senior research fellow at the Family Research Council and was the founder of the Barnum Group. And George Barnum, welcome back to Point of View.
[00:01:40] Let's see if we can maybe talk about good news, bad news, because in your recent report, and we've posted it there, and of course you can go to, again, the Arizona Christian University website. We have that linked as well. Is Gen Z the youngest adult generation in America experiencing revival? And the answer you say is complicated. Let's maybe focus on a few of the positives because you do have some places where we are seeing a significant uptick.
[00:02:10] And let's start with the positive. What are those? Well, of course, Kerby, when we look at worldview, you've got to look at both behavior and beliefs. And so as we do that, we did find one belief where there was a significant improvement over the last six years. Again, six years ago these people were teenagers. So we have the data from when they were teenagers. Now we look at them as young adults.
[00:02:36] What we find is that in terms of beliefs, there was a 10 percentage point increase in the number of them who believed that they were created by God. They were made in his likeness and that they've been undermined by sin and therefore need to be saved. At this point, about half of that group of young adults who are now roughly 18 to 23. It's the older portion of Gen Z. It's not the entire Gen Z.
[00:03:02] But the older end of it, you know, has gone from 40% who believe that God made them in his likeness and they struggle with sin, from 40% up to 50%. And then there are some behaviors as well where we find that the percentage of them who say that they're deeply committed to practicing their religious faith, not necessarily Christianity, but whatever they believe their religious faith is. That's risen by 17 points.
[00:03:29] So that's a positive because if nothing else, it means they're trying, they're searching, they're experimenting. We find that there's also growth in the number of them who say that they're likely to rely on the Bible. Yes. They have to make moral decisions. That went up nine percentage points. And then we saw smaller rises in terms of those who call themselves Christian and those who say they read the Bible weekly.
[00:03:54] And then, actually, one of the more interesting things to me was that we did see a softening of resistance to some other behaviors that practicing Christians would engage in. Things like seeking to know and do God's will every day or acknowledging the fact that they're a sinner, confessing those sins, asking God's forgiveness every day. Or things like intentionally making time to thank and praise and worship God daily.
[00:04:20] Now, most Gen Zers, the adult portion of it, do not do those things every day. There was a much larger proportion who said they would never do that. But the survey showed that over the last six years there has been a softening to the resistance to doing that. And so many of them have now moved to, well, I'll do that once in a while. So it's not everything we want it to be, but it's positive. Again, you can kind of put these in a category.
[00:04:48] I would encourage people to get your report. Of course, sign up for the things that you produce there through the very significant cultural research center. Because you have like seven that are positive, seven that are negative. And before we get to the negatives, let's talk about at least one or two of those positives in terms of increase of 10% in weekly Bible reading, increase of 9% of relying primarily on the Bible for moral guidance.
[00:05:13] One of the things we're seeing, George, is that the sales of Bibles to people who are making a first time purchase of the Bible have gone up significantly. And the interest in the U-Bible and other online Bibles seems to indicate at least something that is moving in a very positive direction in terms of rooting your life in terms of biblical principles. What do you think? Well, maybe I'm not quite as sanguine as you are about that.
[00:05:43] Because I know that one of the things I've found over the 40 plus years of doing research is that if behavior happens before the belief supporting that behavior changes, then you've got a problem. Because what you wind up with are empty routines that are not fulfilling to the individual. And that has a lasting negative effect spiritually from a Christian vantage point.
[00:06:09] We know from past research that those people who have gone through that, where they've gone to church, they've read the Bible, they attended the events, but they haven't had the discussions and the education previously as to, well, what does it mean to worship God? Why would you go worship God? How can you trust the Bible? Why should you read it regularly? What do you do with those things that it's teaching you?
[00:06:32] If you haven't had that kind of rootedness, that grounding, that foundation that's been poured before you start engaging in the activities, you stop doing the activities because they're not fulfilling. Why? Because you didn't understand them. They didn't have any point. And long term, when somebody may come up to you later on in that person's life, try to engage them in authentic Christianity, they put their hand up and say, no, no, stop right there. I've already done the Christian thing. Yeah.
[00:07:02] It didn't work for me. So we got to be really careful that we don't jump ahead of ourselves here. And that's one of the things that we see coming out of this study is that there's a lot more behavioral change than there is belief change. And let's see if we can. We need to take a break. So we'll come back and talk about that behavioral one. But just before we take a break, a lot of that gets back to what we talk about every day here on Point of View. And that is this idea of worldview.
[00:07:27] If indeed you have a stirring of the heart or even a desire to get into the Bible, but you don't really believe the Bible is the word of God, or you don't believe that it should be the foundation for the decisions you're making, or if on some of the standard seven worldview measures, you don't necessarily agree with, of course, what would be an orthodox view, that's going to be a problem. So when we come back, we're going to talk about some of these negative shifts.
[00:07:55] Some of those are shifts in worldview. Some of them shifts in the area of behavior. And if you find yourself saying, I'd like to know a little bit more about this. Again, I think this is accurately titled examining the recent spiritual progress and regress of Gen Z. So we're going to come back and talk about some of those negative issues. And then, of course, illustrate why it would be so important for you in the church to identify these issues
[00:08:23] and to begin to think about more about how to counter program to some of these ideas. So again, George Barna with us. If you'd like to know a little bit more, of course, we have a link to the Cultural Research Center. I would encourage you to sign up to get their newsletter, their printouts. But also we have this particular article on examining the recent spiritual progress and regress of Gen Z. We'll be right back.
[00:09:00] This is Viewpoints with Kirby Anderson. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessett has been talking about a financial realignment of the global financial system, which he calls Bretton Woods 2.0, but should probably be described as Bretton Woods 3.0. Here are the three eras of the U.S. economy. Bretton Woods is the agreement established in 1944. The U.S. dollar became the reserve currency, and the agreement also created the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
[00:09:29] The dollar was pegged to gold, and every other currency was pegged to the dollar. That lasted until 1971 when Richard Nixon closed the gold window. Bretton Woods 2.0 was never officially negotiated, but emerged because of an agreement with Saudi Arabia to price oil in dollars and recycle the proceeds into U.S. Treasuries. This was the era of the petrodollar and lasted about 50 years. But now we see many countries selling oil in Chinese yuan and other currencies.
[00:09:58] Bretton Woods 1.0 was the dollar on gold. Bretton Woods 2.0 was the dollar on oil. Bretton Woods 3.0 is the dollar on stablecoins. People in other countries with unstable currencies would like to have their finances in dollars rather than their local fiat currency. Stablecoins are backed by U.S. Treasuries, which helps the government fund its national debt. With that as background, perhaps you can see why Congress already passed the Genius Act, which regulates stablecoins,
[00:10:25] and why the Senate now seems poised to pass the Clarity Act, which provides a regulatory framework for stablecoins and other digital assets. I believe we are moving into a new era of finance, which the administration believes will help us to continue to fund the growing national debt. I'm Kirby Anderson, and that's my point of view. Go deeper on topics like you just heard by visiting pointofview.net.
[00:10:55] That's pointofview.net. You're listening to Point of View, your listener-supported source for truth. Back once again with George Barner. Let me again encourage you to get a copy of this particular aspect of the American Worldview Inventory, this one on recent spiritual progress and regress of Gen Z. It is something you might want to actually teach.
[00:11:21] I was in a board meeting the other day where Steve Cable took a summary of all this and educated our board members. That is something you might want to do for your Sunday school teachers or your deacons or elders or others. And I think now if we could, let's talk about the negative. You've got two categories there. First of all, negative changes. Six of the seven negative changes are moving away from biblical thinking. And then in some of the others, I guess there were like nine, no change.
[00:11:50] So we've given a little good news, but now if you can, tell us some of the bad news. Well, when we look at these things, I mean, they're very important because, again, you do what you believe. And so if your beliefs are wrong, biblically speaking, your behavior is going to be errant as well. And so what we see here is a young generation of adults moving farther from biblical truth.
[00:12:16] For instance, we saw an 18 percentage point decline in the proportion of people from this group who say that the marriage of one man to one woman is God's only plan for humanity across all cultures. Yes. That's the way God sees it. Well, that's not the way Gen Z is seeing it. They're moving farther away from that. Their perspective is, you know what? Marriage isn't necessary. It's a personal choice.
[00:12:43] How you get married, who you get married to, whether you choose to stay married, whether you choose to have children, all of those are personal choices. And whatever choice you make, it's yours. There's no morally superior choice to be found anywhere. So that's the mindset that they're shifting toward. In addition to that, we saw that there was almost as big a decline in the proportion who say capitalism is preferred over socialism.
[00:13:12] There were 17 point rise in the number of Gen Z adults who say that they prefer socialism over capitalism. Right. You know, then you move through. You've got a 15 point increase in the proportion of them who say that Jesus was both human and divine on earth. But because he was human, he sinned when he was on earth. Yeah. Well, that kind of changes your whole perspective about the Lord. Yeah.
[00:13:39] Then we saw a 13 point increase in the number of them who say that they're consistently receiving helpful guidance from their horoscope. And one of the things here that that indicates, again, this is a period of experimentation for this group. And so this is one of the things they're experimenting with. Nothing is out of bounds for them. They don't necessarily believe in the Bible. They'll look at it. They'll see if it has something useful. But then they'll turn to their horoscope. Then they'll go to crystals.
[00:14:07] Then they'll go to whatever else is on the horizon for them. We found that there was a continued rise in the number of Gen Zers who say, there is no such thing as absolute moral truth. Every individual has determined truth for him or herself. We had a nine point increase in the number of who say, you know what, we're never going to know how the universe got here. So kind of a rejection of the creation argument.
[00:14:33] And then you've got a six point rise in the proportion of them who say, after you die, it's just over. Nothing happens. There's no afterlife experience whatsoever. Heaven, hell, reincarnation, none of that. Now, reincarnation is a big deal to this particular generation. But the biggest growth that we saw in the last six years was in those who say, nah, you simply return to dust. That's incredible.
[00:15:00] Let me just hold up the booklets that we've done on both capitalism and socialism and then one specifically on socialism. We even have one that we did on the road to serfdom. And, George, we're going to talk about that a little bit later. But as you point out, it does seem to me that as we are seeing democratic socialists being elected in New York City, in Seattle, we have members of Congress that call themselves socialists. That role model seems to have had a very positive impact.
[00:15:30] And just as we have been warning for years that once you legalize same sex marriage, the next generation is going to say, well, it probably doesn't matter whether you marry somebody of the same sex or the opposite sex. Now, because you have so many more visible people that call themselves socialists, you can explain, in a sense, both of those factors. And these are all remarkably strong and concerning negative shifts away from biblical orthodoxy, aren't they? Certainly is, Kirby.
[00:15:59] And, you know, the problem is when you open the door to sin and you live in a culture that believes that experimentation is not only possible, but it's the smart move because there's no absolute moral truth. You're the one who has to determine how everything is going to work in your life. You're the one who determines whether or not your life is a success as opposed to biblical thinking about success as consistent obedience to God. That's not the way that our culture sees it.
[00:16:29] So when we open these doors, whether it's to socialism or abortion or gay marriage or, you know, whatever it may be, people are going to go through that door and experiment. And that's a dangerous time. One other thing I thought I'd just mention near the end, you, of course, asked the question, is the United States experiencing a time of revival now among the youngest adults? And I love your answer. The research gives a lukewarm affirmation of revival at best.
[00:16:56] And on this program, we've talked about what has been happening in some of the college campuses. And that's encouraging. But nevertheless, what you would hope is that it would not just be an emotional experience, but that we would not only be having a revival of our hearts, but a reformation of our minds.
[00:17:14] And that really brings us back to the kind of work that you've been doing all these years, George Barna, in terms of not only these surveys, but the books that you have written and some of the other resources, which tell me once again, that if you were in front of pastors right now, you'd just begin telling them once again, we need to come back to the basics. We need to teach biblical worldview. We need to begin to talk about, indeed, how the Bible relates to every area of life.
[00:17:41] And that, in some respects, gives us the opportunity to see maybe an occasional spark of revival. But if this is going to be a full-fledged revival or even a reformation, we still have a lot more work to do, don't we? We sure do. I mean, you know, I don't want to lose sight of the fact this is exciting that we've got a younger generation coming into their adult years who are open. We're open to possibilities. We're open to possibilities.
[00:18:07] And that Christianity, for many of them, is one of those possibilities that they're open to. But the fact that they explore, the fact that they're searching, is not the same as revival. And you're exactly right. I mean, so much of the research that I've done shows it all depends on what foundation you've built. You've got to build it early with children. If you don't build it with them, then when they get to be adults, you've got twice the work to do.
[00:18:33] Because you've got to jackhammer out that existing foundation. Yes. And then you've got to pour in a godly foundation. So it's a lot easier to get it right first. But if we don't, the game isn't over. But we just have to be committed to the fact that this is going to take a lot of time. It's going to take a lot of energy. It's not a, you know, six-month program. It's not a four-week sermon series.
[00:18:57] You know, I mean, this is something where we're talking about, come alongside them, build a relationship, get their trust, have Socratic conversations with them, model for them the very kinds of outcomes you're talking about. And so it's going to take time. But we've got to put the time in. Let me just mention again, we have a link to the Cultural Research Center. And I would encourage you to go there because you can see the research that they are producing. You can even click on that button there that has the latest research.
[00:19:25] Or just scroll down and we actually have in a PDF format of this issue of examining the recent spiritual progress and regress of Gen Z. It's about ten pages. I would encourage you to print it out. Make sure you have ten pages of blank paper in your printer. And then begin to pass it around and talk about it. Like I said, I was in an event the other day where we actually had someone take a summary of this and presented it to us. And I would encourage you to do the very same.
[00:19:52] So, George Barna, as always, I appreciate the fact that you have become the gold standard in looking at these statistical issues. And I would certainly want to say that people should take advantage of those resources that you've made available. And as always, thank you for joining us today here on Point of View. Thanks for the chance to share, Kirby. I appreciate it. Keep doing what you're doing. Going to take a break. And we, again, encourage you to find some of these resources because those are very key.
[00:20:19] Now, in just a minute, Barry McGuire is going to be with us. We'll talk about Ignite America. And, of course, one solution is obviously to lead people to the Lord. One solution is to spread the good news and to actually be involved in evangelism. And so he will certainly be talking about that. We have a link to his IgniteAmerica.com website, his podcast. We'll talk about some of the other resources that he has made available over the years.
[00:20:48] But if you're concerned about the direction of America, then I think that we certainly have to pay attention to what's in the hearts and minds, even of young people. Generation Y, the millennial generation, Generation Z that are in our churches or even those that are outside the churches, which we could attract to our churches and begin to disciple them. These are key issues. But when we come back, we're also going to talk about the need to reach out to those who have never committed to Jesus Christ.
[00:21:17] What can we do to reach out to our friends, neighbors and coworkers? We'll talk about that with Barry McGuire right after these important messages. Many years ago, they began saying that we live in the information age. Well, today there is so much information coming at us from every direction.
[00:21:42] The hardest thing is to discern which issues are really important and how can I make a positive impact without wasting my time trying to figure out accurate information. Let me give you a suggestion to help with that. Visit pointofview.net. Look at the tabs across the top. Find the one named Viewpoints. Kirby Anderson and others on our team are constantly watching for news to identify those issues that you really need to know about.
[00:22:12] They boil things down in a brief summary and then you can decide if it's something on which you want to learn more and get involved. Again, when you go to pointofview.net, click on Viewpoints, you'll see exactly what I mean. You'll see the issues that we are covering right now. And when you like what you see, I honestly think you will, you can slide on over, enter your email and get them automatically sent to your inbox each day. That's it. Take a minute now. Be informed.
[00:22:43] Pointofview.net. Click on Viewpoints. Point of View will continue after this. You are listening to Point of View. The opinions expressed on Point of View do not necessarily reflect the views of the management or staff of this station.
[00:23:13] And now, here again, is Kirby Anderson. Back once again, I might just mention tomorrow we're going to spend some time talking about Rededicate 250, which of course is going to happen over the weekend, even the time in which the president has actually called for a national Shabbat or Sabbath. And so we'll be talking about what happens in the future. Of course, we've just been talking with George Barn about do we have evidence of spiritual progress a little bit, but also a spiritual regress with Gen Z. And that is certainly the case.
[00:23:42] So what do we do? Well, the first thing we need to do is make sure that individuals have accepted Jesus Christ. And so I thought it would be appropriate for you to hear a little bit more from an individual that will certainly encourage you to be more bold in sharing your faith. And that's Barry McGuire. You know him perhaps as the founder of an organization that provided the number one car wax in America and really around the world. Also, for about 18 years, had the car crazy TV show.
[00:24:10] But an individual that has really wanted to reach out and do kingdom work. He sat on ministry boards for not only his home church, but for Vanguard University and David Wilkerson's World Challenge and others. We have a link to igniteamerica.com. You can find out more about his ministry, his website, the podcast, his Bible study and much, much more. So, Barry, welcome to Point of View. Wow.
[00:24:39] Yeah, we've run out of time. It's been nice talking with you. Too much time on me is not enough on you and what you're doing. And I've got to tell you, being on Point of View with Kirby Anderson doesn't get any better than this. So I'm having a good day. Well, I'm glad you are because we want you to maybe talk about, we did with George Barna, talk about the negative. And let's talk about this because we've talked about whether or not we should be involved in evangelism. That's kind of optional.
[00:25:05] And as a result, we have fewer and fewer people going to church. I did a commentary recently where even the statistics saying this many people or this percentage of people went to church probably are inflated.
[00:25:18] And so if we're concerned about the direction of this country and we want to have a time to pray for America, it does seem to me that the first step is to be involved in the kinds of resources that you've been making available for years and really help people to ignite their faith. So tell us more if you might. Well, the church, I think we're the problem. The world's not the problem. They're lost.
[00:25:43] You know, and for the last 60 years we've stopped talking to them about the Lord. How are they going to know unless somebody tells them? Nobody's telling them. And who's going to tell unless they're being sent? Churches? Pastors? You're not sending us. Only 10% of our sermons according to Barna. And I love his statistics, but only 10% of our sermons anymore are, and that's even backed up by Pew Research with 50,000 sermons. It would be a huge study. Only 10% even talk about salvation.
[00:26:13] I mean, it's just incredible to leave it alone sending us out. But it is the Great Commission. We're all called. On our website, igniteamerica.com, we have most frequent excuses. Yes. It's, I don't have, I don't know enough. I haven't been trained. I don't have the personality. You know how that goes. Yeah. There's no excuses, folks. He didn't say go ye who are trained or gifted or could quote scriptures or anything.
[00:26:43] He just said go. And by the way, he didn't say you have to do anything else. He just said go and guess what? You don't have to prepare. Do you know how sharing your faith is fun? It's like the most fun thing you can do when you just love on people. And he says they'll know your wife's type. Well, but you love. Well, you can do that, folks. Those of us, I was an extra, an introvert when I started doing this. Believe me.
[00:27:08] I had nothing going for me in learning the easy way. Because it was easy. Once you start loving on people, people open up. They're not offended. They don't get mad at you when you tell them God loves you. The world is starving. 90% of the people that we walk by every day are lost. They're lost. And they're not evil. They may look evil. They're not evil. They're lost.
[00:27:36] They literally see good as evil. And evil is good. That explains all the craziness today. Why is that? Because they've never seen the light because we're not sharing the light. So we're out of time. And we have to get off the bench and into the game. And when we do that, it ignites your life. In fact, I wrote a book on it. It ignites your life. This is the way you do it. Because when you just love one people and then the Holy Spirit speaks to you and gives you the words and the person in front of you is changing
[00:28:06] in the span of five minutes of a conversation in the aisle at Starbucks, you know, you realize God is using you there at that moment. And stop worrying about getting them saved at that moment. Sometimes that happens. But we say always, always, always move everybody. Everybody. Everybody. From when you're with your spouse in the morning or whoever. But move everybody every day closer to Jesus. And you know when you do that, you're praying without ceasing. You're in the word.
[00:28:35] Your whole life comes alive. And so I'll give you this great scripture real quick that I, if you don't remember any other scripture, remember this one. Go to Isaiah 4310. And he explains that sharing your faith is not about them. It's secondarily about them. It's about you, about your faith, to get beyond your fear. If you're living in fear, this is how you get out of fear. He says, Isaiah 4310, I appoint you as my witness so that you will believe. Wow.
[00:29:02] And again, let me just mention, you mentioned your book, Ignite Your Life, Defeat Fear with Effortless Faith. And I might mention that. Effortless Faith. Effortless Faith. And again, Ignite Your Life is the book. Also, you have the Ignite Your Life Bible Study. So one of the things I want people to know is they can simply go to your website, igniteamerica.com. We have the link up there. If they scroll down, there's a whole section there for why, how, and tools.
[00:29:32] But most importantly, all sorts of resources. And a minute ago, you just said something about, am I not prepared? Whenever we are encouraging people to maybe go to even a short-term missions outreach, Barry, we oftentimes make the statement that if you've been listening to Point of View or you've been in church for a while, you're better prepared than most of the people that you're going to be talking to in another country, right? Oh, it's so true. And one of the great fears, though, I can't answer a question.
[00:30:01] You know the question they answered, they have so little knowledge, folks, that their questions are easily answered. But better than that, the Holy Spirit gave you the word to say when you don't know the words to say. So you have total backstab. You have the Holy Spirit back in your head. And there's nothing better than when you're telling somebody, all of a sudden, a scripture comes out of your mouth you haven't heard for 10 years. Yes. And all of a sudden, you're quoting it verbatim. That's the Holy Spirit speaking to you, folks. That's intimacy with God.
[00:30:31] And when you have intimacy with God, I mean, you walk through walls. I mean, nothing can stop you. It's not only the end of fear. It is just, you're just going for it. Live life to the fullest. It'll ignite your life. What can I say? Let me also say that some of the resources, again, almost all of our listeners, I'm sure, have a cell phone. So you actually have an app that you can download. And that's a resource that you can find there as well.
[00:31:00] And a lot of the tools, I mentioned the book, the Bible study, you have all sorts of resources. So the bottom line is if you say, well, I don't feel real adequate here, you have provided enough tools. So it's really almost plug and play, isn't it? Well, it is because we don't train. There's no training required. We just allow you with scriptures to back you up doing that. You don't just do it. What's the old phrase? Just do it.
[00:31:30] Just start loving on people. You turn from this moment, folks. If you want to have the time of your life for the rest of your life, just start right now saying, from here forward, I'm going to move everybody every day close to Jesus just by loving on them. Letting people know I'm a Christian perhaps by saying something non-offensive like, oh, that must break God's heart. Or you want to put a smile on God's face. Or boy, God saved your bacon on that. But there's fun ways to mention about God. That lets them know you're a Christian. And then they open up.
[00:31:59] You know, everybody is anxious, wondering where is God? Where are you right now? Because of Charlie Kirk in particular, the world has come to the point where it's never been easier to love one people. They're desperate. Think about it. We have the greatest product in the world. And we have the whole world that's desperate for you. And we're going to sit quiet? God help us.
[00:32:23] And we're missing out on all the fun and knowing that, you know, we're making a difference for eternity. You think of the only thing you can do today for eternity is get people into heaven. And when you get to heaven, the only question that you're going to be asked once you're in heaven is how many other people are in heaven because of your influence? Good question. You have influence, folks. Everybody. Street people have influence. You have influence. The question is, what are you doing with your influence? Are you using it to bring glory to yourself?
[00:32:50] Are you using it to bring everybody you know, everybody you're with, even this person who meets casually on the street, closer to Jesus? Then you're living for his purpose. I'm just living for his purpose. Forget your purpose. I've built a whole business for nothing to the number one global brand. You know how I did it? By living for his purpose, I use my business for his purpose. My focus might do that. They're living for his purpose. And then, oh, by the way, he just built this huge company behind me. And he opened up doors.
[00:33:19] I could go on all day, tell you the miracles he did. Why did he do that? Because I was living for his purpose. And when we do that, he makes everything good. Very good. Let's take a break and we'll come back. We'll continue with Barry McGuire. Let me just mention, too, maybe you have a comment or a question about evangelism. I'd love to give you a chance to join the conversation or ask a question. 1-800-351-1212. 1-800-351-1212. We'll come back.
[00:33:44] We'll talk about some of these very helpful resources that will get you off the bench and in the game. 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 Barry McGuire. Again, if you would like to know more, you can go to igniteamerica.com.
[00:34:11] And, Barry, let's see if we can talk about some of these resources because some people hearing this right now might say, Well, okay, I'm motivated or I feel guilty or I would like to do that, but I don't know what my next step is. And, of course, I mentioned a couple of things that they could find. First of all, of course, your Ignite Your Life book. You have your Ignite Your Life Bible study. You also have Live Ignited, a 12-month devotional. You have a social media guide from scroll to soul.
[00:34:40] So help us out. If somebody says, okay, I want to get involved, what are some resources we could put in their hands that they could get available and then see how they could seek and save the lost? Well, they're all there. That scroll to soul is a wonderful thing because, you know, I'm unconvinced. I really am that Gen Zers are the only hope for America. I preach this same message, share this message with groups of 1,000, 2,000 people,
[00:35:07] and 10 people come up afterwards broken and wanting to get in on it. I do it with Gen Zers. They're not on their phones. They're all listening. And they come up to us and they say, You mean God is the source of truth? You mean I can actually have meaning in my life? I can make a difference? Gen Zers, yes. Thank God for your hunger for the truth and being tired as we all are of the hypocrisy and the money and the failures and the emphasis on all the wrong things.
[00:35:34] The only thing that matters is how many people can we get into heaven between now until we see them face to face and we're running out of time. That's why we have to move everybody every day close to Jesus. So Ignite America doesn't ask for money. You can't give us money. There's no sign-ins. It's just pull out and give you every kind of opportunity. There's TV shows. There's every kind of thing, but they're all just to inspire you. And it's not training, understand?
[00:36:00] Our book, Ignite Your Life, is yes, it's 50 years of doing it, but really it's the scriptures that point to clarity. This is what life is all about. When they asked him what's the most important thing, what did he say? He said, Love me and love your neighbor as yourself. If you really love God and you love your neighbors yourself, you can consider that their salvation as important as yours. And that changes your life. That changes everything. You're not indulging.
[00:36:29] You're not using those languages of not doing anything. You're doing everything you can to get everybody around you closer to Jesus. That's oneness with God. It's unbelievable when you know that you're living the life that God wants you to live in these opium conversations everywhere you go. And in the process, folks, it's not like I'm a space cadet. I've done this for 50 years. I've taken the Maguire's from zero market share.
[00:36:55] We're doing $600,000 literally, bucking cars and body shops. And God inspired me to go retail. And I said to him, I don't know anything about retail. I don't know how to do that, God. So I tell you what, I'm going to trust you in my whole heart because I don't have any understanding. I don't have a clue what I'm doing. And I've done that. And then I started to leave and go into ministry because I was sharing so often, having so much success. And I prayed the most forever of my life. He said, God, I think you want me to go to a full-time ministry.
[00:37:24] If you do, you almost have to speak to me with an audible voice. And not 20 minutes later, a layman came into my office that I'd never met before, only knew him from church at a distance. He asked me how it's going. I started telling him my faith-sharing experience. He looks at me and he says, God's given you a wonderful ministry here, hasn't he? I said, what? I mean, they overlap, but now he's telling me my business is my ministry. I said, well, what do you mean by that? He said, the pastor can't reach the people you're reaching, but as a businessman you can.
[00:37:53] And in 1976, folks, 1976, he said to me, it's obvious that your business, your business is your pulpit. Wow. From then on, I realized I'm shining for Jesus. I'm shining cars, but it's only hell that I'll be shining for Jesus. Folks, this is what God's called us to do. Love conquers all. Perfect love casts out fear. Would you have perfect love for God and for those around you? He casts out fear.
[00:38:22] He directs your steps. He hears and answers your prayer. He gives you joy every day. That parable of the fig tree where he says, would you bear fruit? My joy remain with you and your joy remain full. I'm 83 years old. I'm living proof of the scriptures work. I mean, Gary and I are having so much fun. We keep saying every day. Every day is an adventure. And we're so thankful to God. And we just want to share that joy, that fun. It's not my story. It's nothing unique to me.
[00:38:50] I'm just doing one of the very simple things that God told us to do. That's why he called us a great commission, right? It's so much fun. Folks, you've got to get in on it. Join us. Would you please, right now, when America is being called to confront with God and our roots, it's a moment in time where we have their attention. Right now, right this very moment, don't miss it.
[00:39:15] Don't miss this opportunity to talk to America and to everybody that's around you when this is up most in their mind already. They're starving. You have the information they're starving for. You've got a great opportunity. You've been convinced that the opposite of Christian love is not hate, it's apathy. We just don't care, folks. We've got to start caring and loving them like we love ourselves. If we do that, we can ignite America in revival. One of the things you talk about is the idea of love on everyone.
[00:39:44] You know, you talk about starts with prayer, love on everyone, be generous, always be ready. It does seem to me that sometimes it doesn't require more than just making a statement or showing some kind of love to open the door. Because a lot of people, Barry, say, well, I don't know how to get from a conversation about the weather or sports to the gospel. But just loving on people sometimes opens the door instantaneously, doesn't it? It's so easy, folks. You'll be amazed how easy it is.
[00:40:14] Stop worrying trying to ask certain questions or say this. Just love on them and let them know you're a Christian in some non-confrontational way. And they will always, always, always open up to you. And God will always give you the word to say it will be a spiritual moment. Many of you have never had one time like that. You can have it several times, four or five times a day, every day. It's incredible. And let me add one quick thing, one more website. You asked, speakinggod.org. We have cards.
[00:40:43] You can get those free of charge. Go to igniteamerica.com and order these. We'll send you a pack of them free of charge. We have thousands of Christians all over America reordering and reordering and reordering and using these. At the end of those five-minute conversations saying, sound like you'd like to know more about God. And they always say yes. And so you say, I have a website for you that would just blow you away. Tell you how much God loves you, has a plan for your life. It will actually lead them from zero to the sinner's prayer. It's called seekinggod.org.
[00:41:13] And by the way, for those of you listening to us right now, there's a lot of you who have not made that decision. If you'll go to seekinggod.org, you'll answer every question. And literally, without curbing myself or a pastor in the quiet of your own home, the Holy Spirit speaks to you through that website and through his word and his scriptures, and he'll bring you into a saving knowledge. He'll ignite your life and he'll take that fear. Very good.
[00:41:43] Well, again, let me give that one more time because we're just about out of time. Seekinggod.org. And you can watch a little video there. Of course, we have a link to igniteamerica.com. Of course, we have links to all of those other resources. And, Barry, I appreciate the fact that, of course, people can hear you on a lot of radio stations. Of course, they can read your book. They can follow your social media resources, the app, and all the rest. And so thank you for being with us today here on Point of View. Greatly honored. Thank you, Kirby.
[00:42:13] God bless. Going to take a break. When we come back in the next hour, we're going to get into some issues in the news. But, again, Barry McGuire, you can find everything you need right there on the website. We have a link to his website if you click on that. If you scroll down in just a few minutes when we come back from the break, we, of course, have some information about Trump in China. We also have our Pray for America. Normally, we encourage you to sign up.
[00:42:37] But even if you have not signed up, it is our first article up there today which has our suggestions on what you might want to consider, how you could pray, and then how you could act. And so that is the Pray for America today, Trump's summit in China. We'll have some more to say about that and a variety of other issues. But as you probably have noticed, we've focused a lot of time and attention on the church this first hour. We'll come back and talk about what's going on in our culture right after these important messages.
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