Participants:
Series Code: CR
Program Code: CR002102S
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00:02 I'm John Carter in Moscow.
00:04 In Havana, Cuba. 00:07 Now in Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. 00:10 I'm John Carter in Petra. 00:13 Right here in Communist China. 00:16 Reporting from India. 00:18 Hi, I'm John Carter in the Solomon Islands. 00:21 I'm John Carter in Soweto. 00:24 From El Salvador. 00:26 I'm John Carter in Sydney, Australia. 00:29 Join us with questions and answers 00:32 with Pastor John Carter. 00:37 Paul from New York says, 00:40 "Christians in the US get divorced 00:42 as much as anyone else. 00:44 His pastor is divorced and remarried. 00:47 He wants to know how many wives have you had? 00:51 What does the Bible say about divorce?" 00:57 How many wives have, have I had? 01:01 I wonder if I should confess this 01:03 publicly on television. 01:05 Oh, dear. 01:07 I'm going to tell you, folk, something Beverley 01:08 will probably get mad with me. 01:10 We're coming up soon. 01:12 Very soon, we will have been married for, 01:16 I don't know, I don't know if I should tell you this, 01:18 because Beverley's going to say to me, 01:19 why would you tell him that? 01:21 Why didn't you? 01:23 I said, because I'm just trying to get people on this truth. 01:24 That's why, 01:26 that's what we're calling this program honest truth. 01:28 Well, I'm proud to say 01:31 Beverley and I were married in 1962. 01:36 That is 59 years ago 01:39 before most of you folks were even born, 01:42 but you know, I think we're doing well. 01:46 This is my birthday today, 01:48 and I'm not 20 years of age 01:50 and I'm feeling great. 01:51 And some people even tell me I don't look bad 01:53 and Beverley looks better than I do. 01:55 So there you've got it. 01:57 What do I think about divorce? 01:59 Well, it's not what I think about divorce at all, 02:03 and I don't like to go around criticizing people 02:05 who are divorced. 02:08 I think today in the world, we've got too much of this, 02:11 you know, negativism towards people 02:15 who've made mistakes. 02:17 Now, I think we've got to preach the truth. 02:19 We've got to preach the whole truth 02:20 and nothing but the truth, 02:22 but I think we've got to do it with love. 02:25 And we've got to be kind to people. 02:28 Is there anybody out there who believes in kindness? 02:31 Yes, of course you do. Okay. 02:33 Here's a text I'm going to read it to you 02:35 on divorce. 02:37 I'm going to read it to you because Jesus said it. 02:39 Matthew 19:3, 02:43 "Some Pharisees came to him to test him. 02:45 They asked, 02:46 'Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife 02:50 for any and every reason?' " 02:52 like she burnt the toast, 02:54 or she was ironing your clothes and she burnt your shirt? 02:58 So you can get a divorce, 03:00 or even worse 03:02 you just bought her a brand new car 03:04 and she... 03:06 What did she do? 03:07 Well, she ran it into a fence, a stone fence? 03:11 You get a divorce for those things. 03:13 Well, now want to see what Jesus said. 03:15 Verse 4, 03:16 "Haven't you read,' 03:18 Jesus said, 03:19 'That at the beginning, 03:20 the Creator made them male and female.'" 03:24 He made Adam and Eve. 03:27 You see this, okay. 03:30 "He made them male and female 03:35 and said, for this reason, 03:39 a man will leave his father and mother, " 03:41 don't stay with them, leave them, 03:45 "and be united to his wife, and the two will become one." 03:52 One man, one woman. 03:56 Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve. 04:00 That's a good one, isn't it? 04:01 "The two shall become one flesh. 04:03 So they are no longer two but one. 04:06 Therefore what God has joined together, 04:09 let man not separate." 04:11 Jesus seemed to talk about marriage lasting. 04:16 "Why then,' they asked, 04:17 'did Moses command 04:19 that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce 04:23 and send her away?' " 04:24 That's what they used to do, you see. 04:26 They had multiple marriages, had multiple wives. 04:31 "Jesus replied, 04:33 'Moses permitted you to divorce your wives 04:35 because your hearts were hard. 04:38 Wow. 04:40 But it was not this way from the beginning. 04:42 I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife 04:45 except for marital unfaithfulness 04:48 and marries another woman commits adultery." 04:56 What can I say to you? 04:59 You say well, don't tell me this stuff. 05:01 Well you see, I've got a bit of a problem. 05:03 I believe in honest truth. 05:06 I believe in following the Bible. 05:08 I believe in Jesus. 05:09 Jesus is my Lord and my Savior. 05:11 I'm not going to be deceiving you. 05:14 I won't be lying to you. 05:18 One of the big problems today in the Western world, 05:20 in the United States of America, 05:22 Australia and other places, 05:23 heaps of people who call themselves Christians 05:26 haven't got a clue what is in the Bible. 05:30 They never read it. 05:32 Just don't read it. 05:35 Some people thought, they did a survey 05:37 and some people thought 05:38 that Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers. 05:42 Sodom and Gomorrah were lovers? 05:44 Goodness, me. 05:45 So we got terrible ignorance 05:46 about what's taught in the Bible. 05:50 The Bible teaches 05:51 that marriage is for keeps 05:55 till death do us part, 05:59 so help us God. 06:03 But having said that, 06:04 I want you to know that 06:06 God loves us, God cares for us. 06:08 Jesus died for us 06:10 and there's forgiveness for every sin. 06:13 And we need to love people 06:15 irrespective of what they have done. 06:20 We should not love the sin, 06:23 but we should love the sinner. 06:28 Don't you think? 06:30 This is the honest truth, my friend. 06:34 "Francis 06:36 who attends a university in Berlin wrote that 06:38 all of her professors believe in evolution 06:41 and say that the Bible is a crazy book 06:44 because it teaches unscientific ideas. 06:47 Do you believe in evolution? 06:49 Do you believe in science?" 06:52 I believe in science, true science. 06:57 I don't believe in stuff 07:01 that is just manufactured in the name of science. 07:04 I don't believe in that stuff. 07:07 There are many wonderful scientists. 07:09 We owe our lives to many scientific inventions. 07:12 I believe in true science, 07:16 but I don't believe in hocus-pocus. 07:19 Hocus-pocus, what's this? 07:21 I don't believe in hocus-pocus. 07:24 I don't believe in science 07:25 being used to cover a multitude of sins. 07:30 I don't believe in that nonsense. 07:33 Do I believe in evolution? 07:35 Well, I don't want to start confusing 07:37 some of my great friends, 07:38 but you know, 07:40 there's microevolution and there's macroevolution. 07:43 Microevolution is what we're seeing 07:45 with the Coronavirus thing. 07:49 It changes a tiny little bit, but it is still a Coronavirus. 07:55 And that's why the vaccine 07:57 has got to be tweaked a little bit. 07:58 You understand this. 08:00 Scientists call this microevolution. 08:02 Everybody believes in this, 08:04 but I do not believe in macroevolution. 08:08 Macroevolution teaches that we came from, 08:11 and I'm not criticizing people who believe this, 08:14 because there are some great people 08:15 who believe some ideas that I don't believe. 08:18 I believe in loving people. 08:20 I don't believe in this bitterness 08:21 that if a person belongs to that party 08:24 and it's not your party, you got to hate him. 08:26 And here is another person 08:27 who doesn't think the same way as you do. 08:29 He's in another church. You got to hate him too. 08:30 I don't believe in this stuff. 08:32 I think this is so much opposed to the Gospel of Christ, 08:38 but some scientists, 08:39 many of them teach, not all of them. 08:42 They teach that we came from a common source, 08:46 a single cell creature in some primordial swamp. 08:52 And that man has over billions of years, 08:56 evolved through the animals 08:59 until he's become what we are today. 09:02 I don't believe this. 09:05 I believe that the human race was created a brand new 09:08 and distinct and a marvelous species. 09:13 I don't believe that 09:14 I am related to the monkeys or the apes 09:17 or the trees or the worms or any of those things. 09:21 And I believe I've got good evidence for it. 09:23 I can give you, 09:25 I think I don't have time today 09:26 but I've studied this for years. 09:28 And I believe there is tons of evidence 09:30 to believe in the Creator God. 09:34 The Bible says in the beginning was the Word, 09:36 The word was with God. 09:37 In the beginning was the Word, the logos. 09:39 The Bible says that 09:41 everything started with the logos, 09:43 which is the Word. 09:46 That means information. 09:47 This is truth. 09:49 Of course, that was Christ. 09:51 But the atheist says, 09:53 no, everything started with complete chaos. 09:55 It was all chaos 09:57 and then from the chaos came information. 10:00 That is ballyhoo. 10:04 Information came first, 10:07 you are just a remarkable being 10:13 that is filled with trillions of bits 10:16 of information. 10:18 That is why I believe in a Creator God. 10:22 And that is why I do not believe 10:25 that I happened as a cosmic accident. 10:31 I believe that I came from God 10:33 and one day I will go to Him. 10:38 This is, my friend, the honest truth. 10:44 "Catherine from the Ukraine wrote, 10:46 please explain to me the post-truth era. 10:50 Can everyone have his own truth? 10:53 Would you vote for a liar?" 10:56 That's a super good question, post truth. 11:00 This is sort of a new idea 11:02 that's dawned upon the consciousness of millions, 11:06 even billions of people 11:09 because I know many, many people in America are now, 11:12 and in Australia and in Britain, other places, 11:15 they're talking about post truth. 11:17 We've come to an era beyond truth. 11:22 And this is entered into politics. 11:24 It is in, it's got into our political institutions 11:30 because people now are talking stuff 11:32 that is not the truth. 11:36 Once upon a time we used to say, 11:37 they were telling lies. 11:39 But now we say no, no, 11:40 they're not telling lies 11:42 because everybody can have his own truth. 11:46 Truth is now a private matter. 11:50 Now when people have asked me about this 11:52 and I've endeavored to give an honest answer, 11:55 I've taken them back to Germany a couple of hundred years ago 11:59 where the philosophers were leading the world 12:03 in their speculation and in their conclusions, 12:10 this is hypothetical. 12:12 But I want you to think sitting around the table, 12:14 there are a group of great German philosophers. 12:17 And one of them says, 12:19 "You know, Germany's in a mess." 12:21 Another one says, 12:22 "Yes, it's true, 12:24 but the whole world is in a mess. 12:25 Well maybe we're the philosophers, 12:27 we're to blame for the world being in a mess." 12:31 And then one of the great philosophers says, 12:33 "Have you ever thought that maybe the way we have thought 12:37 and reasoned 12:39 has been the problem?" 12:41 Yeah. What do you mean? 12:44 Well, we have always reasoned for thousands of years 12:48 on the basis of antithesis. 12:52 Now, you getting heavy. 12:54 Antithesis, what do you mean? 12:56 Well, antithesis says 12:59 that if this is A, then it's not B. 13:03 And if this is one, it's not seven. 13:07 If this is right, then this is wrong. 13:12 You got contrast, you have absolutes. 13:17 And for thousands of years, 13:18 we've reasoned on the basis of there being 13:21 things that are right and things that are wrong. 13:26 Well said another German philosopher, 13:29 maybe he, we were on the wrong track. 13:35 Maybe we ought to reason on the basis of synthesis. 13:42 Then one can be seven. 13:45 That black can be white. 13:48 Then a man can be a woman. 13:53 And they said, 13:54 "Let's give it a go." 13:57 And this idea of synthesis 14:02 permeated the thinking of the German philosophers. 14:08 And soon it spread across the continent 14:12 and it went to England 14:15 and people started to think one can be seven. 14:18 Black can be white. 14:21 There's no such thing as an absolute. 14:23 And after another a hundred years, 14:25 it jumped across the pond 14:27 and it went to the United States of America. 14:29 And it got inside the universities 14:35 where it is taught today. 14:39 I find, I don't find what to tell him, 14:41 John Carter could be true. 14:43 I'm telling you the truth, my friend, 14:45 it's the honest truth. 14:47 We've come to a brave new world, 14:51 where for millions and even billions of people, 14:54 there are no longer absolutes 14:59 that wrong can be right, and right can be wrong. 15:02 And you can have your own truth. 15:06 And some people say today, 15:08 and they're saying this in America 15:09 and the great universities and in Australia 15:12 and especially in Great Britain, 15:14 and certainly in Germany, 15:17 they are saying this, 15:19 you got your beliefs, 15:21 you got your truths. 15:23 We've got our truths. 15:26 And there's no such thing as absolute truth. 15:30 And there's no such thing as absolute wrong. 15:35 Jesus and the Bible plainly teach not post truth, 15:40 but the truth of objectivity. 15:43 Here are the words of Jesus again, 15:45 you will know the truth 15:47 and the truth will make you free. 15:51 That, my friend, is the honest truth. 15:56 "Vanessa from Melbourne wonders, 15:59 what happens when we die? 16:01 She's afraid of death. 16:03 Can you tell her if life has meaning? 16:06 She has friends who have tried to kill themselves. 16:08 Is there an answer?" 16:12 This is a terrific question. 16:15 And I hope that I can be a help to you, 16:18 but that's a tremendous question. 16:22 There are a number of questions we've got to answer 16:24 before we get answered this question. 16:28 Number one, who am I? 16:31 Or what am I? 16:32 Am I just a thing? 16:34 Am I a cosmic accident? 16:36 Who am I? 16:37 The Bible teaches that I'm a child of God. 16:41 The Bible teaches that God made me in His own image. 16:44 That's what the Bible says in Genesis Chapter 1, 16:47 I am not a son of the slime. 16:50 I'm not related to the beast. 16:52 I didn't come down from the trees. 16:56 I was made by the very hand of God. 16:58 So I want you to know today 17:00 that you are tremendously important. 17:04 The Bible starts with these amazing words 17:07 in the beginning 17:09 God created the heavens and the earth. 17:13 In the beginning God, 17:15 in the beginning was the Word, 17:17 the Word was with God, and the Word was God, 17:20 and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. 17:23 This is talking about Jesus becoming a man. 17:26 You are made in the very, very image of this God. 17:29 And therefore you are tremendously important. 17:33 Where did I come from? 17:34 I came from the hand of God. 17:35 Why am I here? 17:37 I'm here for a purpose. 17:40 There's a purpose in my life. 17:41 I'm not simply a cosmic accident. 17:44 I am here because God has a purpose for me. 17:47 The Bible says that all work together for good 17:50 to those who love God. 17:51 There is a divine providence. 17:54 I want you to know something. 17:56 You are important. 17:58 When I used to preach in Russia 17:59 to a hundreds of thousands of people, 18:02 even to millions of people, 18:04 I would tell those people 18:05 who'd been brainwashed by the awful doctrines 18:08 of Marxism and communism and atheism 18:12 and who would come into the meetings 18:13 with their heads down like this. 18:15 So discouraged, so depressed, I would tell them, 18:19 you are a child of God. 18:21 You are a beautiful person. 18:23 You are made in the image of God. 18:26 You are distinct. 18:28 You are glorious in God's sight. 18:30 I say this to you today. 18:32 This is the honest truth, you are important. 18:36 What about the future? Where did I come from? 18:38 Why am I here? Where am I going? 18:40 The Bible teaches that Christ is going to come. 18:43 And the Bible teaches that 18:45 we are going to have everlasting life. 18:47 The Bible teaches that death is a sleep. 18:50 Jesus said of Lazarus. 18:52 Lazarus is sleeping. Lazarus is dead. 18:57 I'm now an old man. 19:01 Today is my birthday. 19:04 But one day soon, 19:05 I'm going to be a young man again. 19:10 The bloom of eternal youth 19:11 is going to be upon my forehead. 19:14 I'm going to have a new body. 19:16 I'm going to run. 19:18 I'm going to jump like a deer. 19:21 I will never, never, never get tired. 19:23 I will never ever get sick. 19:27 I will live for eternity in the kingdom of God, 19:30 with Jesus Christ who died for me. 19:33 Listen, the future is glorious. 19:36 The future is tremendous. 19:38 The future is great 19:41 and you are special, and God loves you. 19:46 And God has a very wonderful future for you. 19:50 My dear friend, this is the truth. 19:55 "Laura from Florida has a very personal question. 20:00 What do you tell a young woman who has just had an abortion?" 20:06 Well, I'm a dad 20:08 and I'm a grandpa also. 20:14 I've seen a lot of things. 20:15 I've seen a lot of suffering. 20:18 I know the world is completely mixed up. 20:21 We've got this post truth garbage. 20:26 This stuff that is destroying the minds of people 20:29 and destroying their bodies and their souls. 20:32 And you turn on television and you get, 20:34 pardon my saying this, you get this garbage, 20:38 you get all of this. 20:39 So often you get filth and immorality, 20:43 wherever you go from country to country, 20:45 it's just, it's pouring out 20:47 and people are being brainwashed. 20:52 Firstly, I wanna say this, 20:53 that every person is important. 20:57 Every little baby is precious in the sight of God. 21:03 Every boy, every girl, 21:06 every man, every woman, 21:08 whatever their color, 21:10 whether they're black, whether they're brown, 21:12 whether they're white, like I am. 21:15 Every person is important in the sight of God. 21:18 And every little baby in the womb 21:23 is important. 21:27 One of the Bible prophet says, 21:29 "Before I was born, 21:32 you saw me in the womb 21:36 and called me by my name." 21:39 But what would I say as a grandfather 21:43 or as an old pastor? 21:45 What would I say to a young woman 21:47 who's had an abortion 21:52 and probably is going through a very traumatic time 21:56 with a million thoughts raging in her head. 22:01 I would tell her this. 22:02 And some of you may disagree with me. 22:04 Some of you may say, 22:06 well, you ought to really tell her off, 22:10 lambasted, tell her off. 22:12 I would tell her, 22:15 my dear, God loves you. 22:20 Jesus loves you. 22:23 Jesus loves you so much that He died for you. 22:31 And then when I had the opportunity, 22:33 maybe I could help her 22:36 to find a better way, 22:41 but I want you to know something. 22:45 You will never win a person to Christ 22:48 by being harsh and cold and hard. 22:54 I asked the question as an old pastor, 22:57 how many people have left the church 23:01 because of the harshness 23:04 they found with some people inside the church. 23:08 Not all by any means, but with some, 23:10 you know what I'm talking about, 23:11 don't you? 23:16 A friend of mine told me that 23:17 he hadn't been in a church for many, many years. 23:20 This was in the United States 23:22 and he decided with a friend to go along to a church. 23:26 He was scared to go 23:27 because he thought, you know, 23:29 am I going to find some people who are going to condemn me 23:32 and sensor me and blast me? 23:35 He said, there was an old lady at the front door. 23:40 She was a deaconess. 23:44 She came to him and she welcomed him 23:46 and she hugged him. 23:50 She said, "I'm so glad that you've joined us today." 23:53 She said, "What are you doing?" 23:56 She said for lunch, 23:57 "We have a lunch here. 23:59 And we would be so honored 24:00 if you would stay and eat with us. 24:02 We're not wealthy folks, 24:04 but we'd like you to share what we've got." 24:06 He said, 24:11 it broke his heart, 24:13 the kindness he found in that church 24:17 from that old deaconess, 24:20 that lady who was standing, 24:22 looking for lost sheep. 24:25 I think we've got to start treating people 24:26 like our sheep. 24:29 And when Jesus found the lost sheep, 24:31 He didn't kick the lost sheep. 24:34 He picked it up and He kissed it. 24:38 I think we should be trying to help people 24:40 and lift people up and love people. 24:42 I think we've all been to pharisaical in the past. 24:48 We should speak out against that 24:50 which is wrong. 24:52 Don't misunderstand me. 24:56 I believe in the sanctity of life. 25:02 But I believe in winning 25:07 and not repulsing, 25:10 I believe we can learn a lot from that old deaconess 25:15 in a church in the deep South, 25:18 somewhere in Georgia who said, 25:22 God loves you and so do I. 25:25 And that's my message to you on my birthday. 25:31 Not in my television studio because of COVID-19, 25:37 but sensing the presence of God, 25:40 thanking God for another birthday 25:43 and saying to you, 25:47 God loves you and so do I. 25:52 And thank you for joining me today. 25:55 Honest questions, 25:58 honest answers, 26:00 the honest truth. 26:05 You can now stay in touch with the Carter Report 26:07 by using the mobile app. 26:09 The latest Carter Report programs 26:11 will be at the top. 26:12 Select one and press watch. 26:16 Scroll up through the topics, 26:19 find a topic you like, 26:20 and then scroll to the left to select a program to play, 26:24 tap on that program to watch. 26:27 Now you can enjoy hundreds of Carter Report programs 26:30 on your phone or tablet. 26:34 In each program 26:36 Pastor Carter will teach you more 26:37 about your walk with Christ. 26:40 We have six channels. 26:41 Our most recent is Focus on prophecy. 26:44 We also have Carter Classics, 26:47 Ask John Carter A Question, 26:49 The Carter Report In Action, 26:51 The Living Word, 26:53 and Carter Report Espanol. 26:56 You may wanna search for something specific. 26:58 On the top of the screen is a magnifying glass icon, 27:01 tap it and type the subject you're looking for. 27:05 Then tap on the lesson. 27:09 You'll see three menu bars in the upper left-hand corner. 27:12 Tap the bars to open a menu of additional items to select. 27:16 If you'd like to partner with us, 27:18 you can find our donation page. 27:24 An arrow in the upper left-hand screen 27:27 will take you back 27:28 to the screen you were at before. 27:31 Like anything new worth finding, 27:33 it takes a bit of exploration. 27:35 You'll tap and swipe your finger across, 27:37 above and below topics, 27:39 programs, arrows, and icons. 27:42 Eventually, you'll be very familiar 27:45 with the Carter Report mobile app. 27:47 All from your favorite chair, 27:49 enjoy the Carter Report anytime, anywhere 27:54 on the Carter Report mobile app. 28:07 For a copy of today's program, 28:09 please contact us 28:10 at P.O. 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Revised 2021-04-12