Latest / Challenges of Faith Radio Program / The Third Watch with Gary & Sara: # 8: The Thief in the night.

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The Third Watch with Gary & Sara: # 8: The Thief in the night. · Challenges of Faith Radio Program

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Speaker 1: And once again it's Sarah Jewell co host with our
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Speaker 1: host Gary McCants of the Third Watch for Challenges of
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Speaker 1: Faith Radio. Yes, listeners, Gary and I are on the
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Speaker 1: tower as lookouts to encourage and inform you of what
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Speaker 1: we are seeing and hearing. We want you to join
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Speaker 1: us on the towers lookouts too, for possible challenges to
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Speaker 1: our faith, challenges to ourselves, our families, friends, community and
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Speaker 1: even countries. Well why are we watchers Because watchers on
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Speaker 1: the tower had a specific job, and that was to
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Speaker 1: be looking out to the horizon for any possible threats
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Speaker 1: or even news that it could affect the community. It
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Speaker 1: was the watcher's duty, especially during night watches, to alert
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Speaker 1: their community for any threats that appeared while the people
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Speaker 1: were sleeping. The Third Watch was from midnight to three
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Speaker 1: in the morning, and in ancient times that was a
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Speaker 1: time when evil activity ramped up. It was a dangerous
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Speaker 1: time of night, and so Gary and I chose that
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Speaker 1: watch to keep you alert to spiritual warfare and human aggression. Listen,
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Speaker 1: we are all responsible for the welfare of not only ourselves,
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Speaker 1: but of others, and we know we can always lean
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Speaker 1: on the strength and guidance of our God, if we
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Speaker 1: keep them in prayer and faith. Jesus is coming soon.
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Speaker 1: We need to be alert and not caught sleeping. It's
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Speaker 1: about spiritual preparation, and so, Father God, we pray to
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Speaker 1: you that you give us faith and wisdom as we
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Speaker 1: live out our daily lives. Help us understand your word
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Speaker 1: and line it up against what we see and hear
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Speaker 1: from the world. We know that your sovereign, you are
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Speaker 1: right and you're faithful, and we ask that you grant
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Speaker 1: us understanding of your signs and activity. And we also
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Speaker 1: ask for recognition of the demonic spiritual warfare that entices
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Speaker 1: the ungodly to attack the godly. We know you'll come
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Speaker 1: unexpectedly and we want to be prepared. Help us to
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Speaker 1: pay attention and be allured. And we ask this in
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Speaker 1: Jesus' name. Yes, listeners, the day of the Lord will
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Speaker 1: come unexpectedly, and this is from First Thessalonians five verse two.
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Speaker 1: For you yourselves are fully aware that the day of
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Speaker 1: the Lord will come like a thief in the night. Listeners,
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Speaker 1: I want to draw your attention to the increasing severity
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Speaker 1: of natural occurrences. Some of us are in the midst
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Speaker 1: of them, and many people, though far away have been
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Speaker 1: affected too on an emotional and even economic level. Many
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Speaker 1: of us have watched these devastations unfold on social media,
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Speaker 1: video and on the TV news. Some of these natural
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Speaker 1: disasters have taken place in areas few would think whatever
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Speaker 1: happen there, And so I google natural disasters of twenty
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Speaker 1: twenty four, and I'm only going to name some of them,
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Speaker 1: but i want you to know that these events are
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Speaker 1: happening around the world and they are extraordinary in scope.
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Speaker 1: So according to Atlas magazine that's an insurance publication, economic
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Speaker 1: losses caused by natural disasters in the first nine months
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Speaker 1: of twenty twenty four amounted to two hundred and eighty
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Speaker 1: billion United States dollars. Unbelievable, and here's a portion of
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Speaker 1: the list. Taiwan was hit by a super typhoon. Floods
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Speaker 1: occurred in Spain and this was so highly unexpected and
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Speaker 1: many many died. Devastating flooding happened in Thailand, Nepal, and
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Speaker 1: Central Japan. Here's an astounding one, Atlas Magazine writes. From
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Speaker 1: Mali to Sudan, the floods turned the Sahara into an ocean.
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Speaker 1: The publication also states that they were unprecedented floods in Dubai, Oman,
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Speaker 1: Bahrain and cutter. Unprecedented. That's the publications language. It's absolutely extraordinary.
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Speaker 1: Now living in Florida, I experienced Hurricane Milton, where twenty
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Speaker 1: to sixty billion United States dollars of insured losses were
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Speaker 1: reported in Hurricane Helene stormed along the west coast, and
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Speaker 1: I'll admit I prayed hard to God to spare my husband,
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Speaker 1: my dogs, my chickens and goats in their little houses,
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Speaker 1: and me, thank God, we were okay. But elsewhere in
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Speaker 1: Florida they were not okay because of tidal surge and flooding.
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Speaker 1: In one of the states, North Carolina, that was hit
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Speaker 1: by Hurricane Milton, and it was a place no one
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Speaker 1: would have expected such devastation, and it was ravaged by intense,
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Speaker 1: violent flooding. This is all in mountainous areas because rivers overflowed,
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Speaker 1: broke through dams and swamped houses, farmlands and towns in
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Speaker 1: its path. Oh people died and some are still missing.
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Speaker 1: And then of course there were the fires, always the fires,
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Speaker 1: particularly in California, this uite's US state continually is targeted
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Speaker 1: by massive, decimating wildfires. But other states experienced fires including
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Speaker 1: a catastrophic one in the state of Texas, and also
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Speaker 1: landslides and cold lava flowed in Indonesia. Earthquakes occurred in
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Speaker 1: Taiwan and Turkey. And I'll end the list by telling
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Speaker 1: you that more than two thousand people were buried alive
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Speaker 1: in Papua New Guinea and landslides. Friends, there's a lot
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Speaker 1: more to this list, but I wanted you to see
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Speaker 1: the scope of disasters in their breads. So many were killed,
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Speaker 1: so many losing their homes, their families, their friends, their communities,
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Speaker 1: their farms, their animals, you name it. They lost it.
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Speaker 1: But what's amazing to me, and I can only speak
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Speaker 1: for the United States because I haven't heard from people
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Speaker 1: in other countries that have gone through such catastrophic weather,
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Speaker 1: is that people who lost everything, they were interviewed and
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Speaker 1: they were still grateful and resilient. Oh, they mourned, their
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Speaker 1: hearts are broken, but so many thank God that they
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Speaker 1: and their loved ones are still alive. And the key
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Speaker 1: here is they have hope and faith in the Lord.
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Speaker 1: And it's those people who, although they were surprised by devastation,
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Speaker 1: are spiritually prepared. They were spiritually prepared in the face
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Speaker 1: of disaster, and they'll also be prepared should Jesus come
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Speaker 1: unexpectedly like a thief in the night. I want to
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Speaker 1: share a story with you. We were living in Everglade
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Speaker 1: City in Florida when Hurricane Wilma hit in two thousand
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Speaker 1: and five. The island experienced ninety five mile per hour
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Speaker 1: winds now Everglade City is an island and visualizes this
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Speaker 1: very small island one point two square miles. Days before
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Speaker 1: we knew about the ferocity of the hurricane, I happened
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Speaker 1: to be two thousand miles away visiting my mother, leaving
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Speaker 1: my husband, Steve, and dog Chico behind. We lived upstairs
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Speaker 1: in a still home and on the ground level we
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Speaker 1: had a workshop and a small apartment that was empty.
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Speaker 1: When the storm hit. I was so frightened for my
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Speaker 1: husband and dog, and we didn't realize how bad it
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Speaker 1: was going to be. And I was so frightened because
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Speaker 1: they were alone. I flew back the next night after
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Speaker 1: the storm, but couldn't fly back into Fort Lauderdale Airport
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Speaker 1: because it was closed due to the hurricane damage. The
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Speaker 1: plane was diverted to an airport that was about two
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Speaker 1: hours away to the north. When we landed and disembarked.
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Speaker 1: I didn't know how I was going to get home
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Speaker 1: because I flew out of Fort Lauderdale, which was about
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Speaker 1: an hour away from Everglade City, and my car was
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Speaker 1: in one of the open parking areas in the airport.
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Speaker 2: Well.
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Speaker 1: I decided I'd try to find someone who would want
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Speaker 1: to get a rental car with me to get to
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Speaker 1: Fort Lauderdale Airport and I could get to the parking area.
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Speaker 1: A man who I didn't know said he was trying
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Speaker 1: to get to Fort Lauderdale too, so we agreed to
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Speaker 1: go together. Now, mind you, we didn't know each other,
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Speaker 1: but we took the chance, and God was with us.
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Speaker 1: Although it was dark when we arrived because all the
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Speaker 1: electricity was down, we got to the lot all my
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Speaker 1: fear was so strong because I was afraid the electric
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Speaker 1: gate wouldn't have gone up and we wouldn't have been
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Speaker 1: able to get in to get my car. But it
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Speaker 1: was a miracle. The electric gate was already up, and
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Speaker 1: I found my car surrounded by many down trees, but
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Speaker 1: praised God, my car was not hit. The man waited
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Speaker 1: until I got to my car and started it because
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Speaker 1: the city was effectively shut down because there were no
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Speaker 1: street or traffic lights. I only saw a police vehicles
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Speaker 1: cruising about. I cautiously made my way to my daughter's
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Speaker 1: house that was near the airport to spend the night.
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Speaker 1: It was scary driving dark, empty streets, I'll tell you that,
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Speaker 1: and driving around trees not to the ground. But when
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Speaker 1: I got to her house, she and my grandson were fined.
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Speaker 1: The next morning, I headed off to Evergreat City. When
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Speaker 1: I got to the bridge, the first responders and police
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Speaker 1: were there checking IDs. I got across the bridge and
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Speaker 1: I witnessed such devastation. Hurricane Wilma created a storm surge
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Speaker 1: of up to ten feet across the entire island. When
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Speaker 1: I got there, the surge had receded, but the damage
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Speaker 1: was done. Homes on ground level were just destroyed. When
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Speaker 1: I reached our home, I saw we still had a
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Speaker 1: roof and the second level was fine. The debris was everywhere,
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Speaker 1: mud covered the entire island. The workshop was destroyed, the
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Speaker 1: small apartment was destroyed. Me who knew refrigerators floated? I
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Speaker 1: certainly didn't. And my husband was in the driveway shoveling
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Speaker 1: nearly five inches of mud from our driveway. But how
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Speaker 1: do we view this? I can only say that God
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Speaker 1: was with us. It was frightening and the destruction just
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Speaker 1: so surprising, But I only knew of one death due
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Speaker 1: to the storm on our island. I'm telling you all
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Speaker 1: this because these events can happen to any one of
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Speaker 1: us quickly, and while there might be warning, we can
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Speaker 1: never gage the severity I knew then as I know now,
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Speaker 1: it was life altering for every one. But I'll be
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Speaker 1: honest with you now. I was and am grateful to
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Speaker 1: God's mercy. But one thing I didn't think of then,
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Speaker 1: but I'm aware of it now, is that we should
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Speaker 1: all be ready for either our last day on earth
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Speaker 1: or Jesus's return. We don't know when he's taking us
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Speaker 1: or when he's coming, but we're getting warnings because we're
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Speaker 1: certainly seeing signs that the world as we know it
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Speaker 1: is getting more and more bruised and battered, and not
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Speaker 1: only from ungodly people with their own wrongful agendas that
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Speaker 1: fly in the face of God's words, but also from
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Speaker 1: overwhelming natural catastrophes that cause upheaval and ruin and even death.
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Speaker 1: And here is where I now understand how important it
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Speaker 1: is to be spiritually prepared in our faith and in
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Speaker 1: our trust in God, no question. We're always thankful for
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Speaker 1: our blessings. We have a triune God, but these aren't idle,
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Speaker 1: feel good blessings. They have importance, and his relationship with
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Speaker 1: us goes deeper once we begin to understand that he
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Speaker 1: is sovereign, He is in control, and he will implement
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Speaker 1: his plans. Now, let's flash back to antiquity. You all
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Speaker 1: remember the story of Job. Well, God allowed a blameless
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Speaker 1: and upright man to suffer, and to suffer at the
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Speaker 1: hands of Satan. Satan was allowed to test Job, but
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Speaker 1: even in the extreme test, and God knew all along,
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Speaker 1: Job would maintain his integrity, but Satan was betting that
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Speaker 1: he wouldn't. So here we have a man who one
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Speaker 1: moment was safe, happy, wealthy, and blessed, and the next
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Speaker 1: moment Satan struck him with colossal disaster. Here is the story. Now.
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Speaker 1: Job had a large family of sons and daughters, huge
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Speaker 1: flocks of sheep and herds of oxen, donkeys and camels,
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Speaker 1: along with servants who tended to them. He was well
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Speaker 1: thought of and very well off. One day, a messenger
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Speaker 1: raised to tell him that his servants were plowing the
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Speaker 1: land raiders came and took the animals and killed the servants.
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Speaker 1: Shortly after this news, another servant came running to tell
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Speaker 1: him that fire fell down from heaven burned up his
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Speaker 1: flocks of sheep, along with even more servants. As at
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Speaker 1: Me was telling him the dreadful news, yet another servant
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Speaker 1: came running to tell him that more raiders came and
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Speaker 1: stole the camels and killed the servants tending them. And
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Speaker 1: while that servant was still speaking, yet another one came
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Speaker 1: to tell him that all his children were dead. They
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Speaker 1: were all at his eldest son's house, eating together when
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Speaker 1: a devastating wind came and collapsed the house down on
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Speaker 1: top of all his children, killing them. How would we
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Speaker 1: react personally, I don't know yet. In all this, stunned
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Speaker 1: and crushed as Job was, he didn't blame or accuse God.
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Speaker 1: He didn't commit any sin against God. No cursing, no swearing,
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Speaker 1: no name calling. Now, seeing Job didn't turn against God,
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Speaker 1: Satan continued his attack and struck Job with gruesome and
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Speaker 1: painful sores. His wife, who was in anguish herself and
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Speaker 1: in anger, said to Job, and you'll find us in
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Speaker 1: the Book of Job, chapter two, verses nine through ten,
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Speaker 1: She said to Job, do you still hold on to
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Speaker 1: your integrity? Curse God and die. Job's response was, shall
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Speaker 1: receive good from God, but not evil. Then three of
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Speaker 1: his friends arrived. One would think they came to comfort him,
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Speaker 1: but they didn't. In fact, they found fault with them
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Speaker 1: and insistent he must have done something wrong to have
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Speaker 1: God allow all these tragedies to happen. But Job defended himself.
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Speaker 1: He asserted that he had kept up fright before God.
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Speaker 1: But in all these disasters, including a wife who was
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Speaker 1: hateful to him and friends who thought he was in
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Speaker 1: the wrong, Job never lost his faith in God, and
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Speaker 1: he continued to worship God. But I wanted to add
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Speaker 1: Job was human. He was confused, and he was angry.
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Speaker 1: He didn't understand why all of this happened to him,
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Speaker 1: and he had no idea that Satan wanted to prove
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Speaker 1: to God that he Job would cave against and turn
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Speaker 1: from God because of all the calamities that happened to him.
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Speaker 1: But Job never turned against God. He maintained his trust
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Speaker 1: and faith in God in the face of all that
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Speaker 1: horrible adversity. Now no Job did have forceful questions of God,
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Speaker 1: and God answered him and After a beautifully detailed conversation
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Speaker 1: God had with him about his power and creation, Job
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Speaker 1: realized that he was in no position the question God,
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Speaker 1: and in all this God had sovereignty over his life.
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Speaker 1: Job responds to God in Chapter forty two, verses two
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Speaker 1: and three. He says, to God, I know that you
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Speaker 1: can do all things. No purpose of yours can be thwarted.
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Speaker 1: You asked, who is this that obscures my plans without knowledge?
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Speaker 1: Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things
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Speaker 1: too wonderful for me to know. Well. Satan lost the wager.
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Speaker 1: He thought for certain Job would turn against God, and
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Speaker 1: but Job didn't. He held on to his faith and
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Speaker 1: trust and God. And as the story ends, God blest
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Speaker 1: Job with twice as much as he had before with daughters, sons, herds,
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Speaker 1: and flocks in a very long life. Listen as God
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Speaker 1: allows things to happen to all of us. And yes,
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Speaker 1: it is testing and a warning. The question is how
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Speaker 1: do we react in light of our challenges? Do we
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Speaker 1: stick with God or abandon him? Is he alerting us
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Speaker 1: of more trials that are coming? And so we should
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Speaker 1: be prepared. And these things might not be earthly challenges,
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Speaker 1: but spiritual challenges, but it is all part of God's plan,
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Speaker 1: and he is sovereign. He wants to shake us, get
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Speaker 1: us focused on him and him alone, because we're headed
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Speaker 1: to a new way of life. In the Book of Jeremiah,
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Speaker 1: chapter twenty nine, verse eleven, God says, for I know
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Speaker 1: the plans I have for you, declares the Lord plans
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Speaker 1: to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to
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Speaker 1: give you hope in a future. And in that hope,
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Speaker 1: my friends, we can hold on to what the Psalmis
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Speaker 1: says in Psalm twenty seven, verse one, the Lord is
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Speaker 1: my light and my salvation. Whom shall I see? The
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Speaker 1: Lord is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall
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Speaker 1: I be afraid? And in the Book of Isaiah chapter
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Speaker 1: forty one, verse ten, God says, fear not, for I
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Speaker 1: am with you. Be not dismayed, for I am your God.
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Speaker 1: I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will
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Speaker 1: uphold you with my righteous right hand. The days we're
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Speaker 1: living in whole beauty and destruction, joy and sadness. This
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Speaker 1: is our world. We're surrounded by the work of ungodly
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Speaker 1: as we struggle in the midst of increasing natural disasters.
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Speaker 1: We have the hope of our Lord. He is in control.
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Speaker 1: He's not surprised, but he's giving us ample warning that
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Speaker 1: things will continue to turn ugly, and now is the
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Speaker 1: time to turn to him. Now, I'll read you from
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Speaker 1: the Book of Joel chapter two, verse one and three.
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Speaker 1: Blow the tr but found the alarm, for the day
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Speaker 1: of the Lord is coming. It's close at hand. Rend
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Speaker 1: your heart and not your garments. Return to the Lord.
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Speaker 1: Listen as Gary and I are on the tower. Our
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Speaker 1: job is to blow the trumpet and found the alarm.
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Speaker 1: We'll keep proud of you what's going on around us books,
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Speaker 1: physically and spiritually, we see so much of what Jesus
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Speaker 1: and the prophets have prophesied. At the same time, we
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Speaker 1: want to give you hope. So listen to this. This
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Speaker 1: is what the apostle John wrote in the Book of Revelation,
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Speaker 1: which is the last book of the Bible, in chapter nineteen,
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Speaker 1: verses eleven, twelve, and sixteen. This is beautiful visualizes. And
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Speaker 1: I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse. And
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Speaker 1: he that sat upon him was called faithful and true,
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Speaker 1: and in righteousness he doth judge and make war. His
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Speaker 1: eyes were the flame of fire, and on his head
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Speaker 1: were many crowns, and he had a name written that
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Speaker 1: no man knew, but he himself. On his robe and
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Speaker 1: on his thigh he has this name written, King of
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Speaker 1: Kings and Lord of Lords. God is our stronghold in
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Speaker 1: the face of calamity. He is offering himself to us.
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Speaker 1: He wants us to be prepared. He's waiting for you
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Speaker 1: because he will come like a thief in the night,
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Speaker 1: and he doesn't want you to be surprised. Well, listeners,
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Speaker 1: I thank you for taking the time to listen. I
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Speaker 1: hope you gained from our discussion. And Gary, my dear friend,
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Speaker 1: I thank you for allowing me to be a part
21:47
Speaker 1: of Challenges of Faith and I thank God for joining
21:51
Speaker 1: us as well. So, my friends, this is Sarah and
21:55
Speaker 1: I can be reached a Team of God at earthlink
21:58
Speaker 1: dot net. And I'm signing off for the third Watch,
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Speaker 1: Catch you next podcast.
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Speaker 2: Thank you, my sister Sarah for returning and lending your
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Speaker 2: voice on the third Watch number eight. Welcome back to
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Speaker 2: Challenges of Faith radio program. I'm Gary McCants like Technowledge
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Speaker 2: God and our listeners. You know, there's never been a
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Speaker 2: time in history that we know when so many storms
22:34
Speaker 2: that you're looking at have come together as they have
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Speaker 2: in our lifetime. You know, when you look at all
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Speaker 2: the constant news, you see how people are becoming more
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Speaker 2: aware of the global turmoil that's going on. Look at
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Speaker 2: what's going on over in Israel. But even though that
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Speaker 2: may be the case, no matter what's going on around
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Speaker 2: the planet, it doesn't change the fact that the continent
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Speaker 2: of a Oa, it's still devastated by famine and all
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Speaker 2: types of disease. And you got Central and South America,
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Speaker 2: you know, political and social chaos, and you got Europe
23:14
Speaker 2: you know that goes through an enormous change and uncertainty.
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Speaker 2: And again coming back to the Middle East. But here
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Speaker 2: in the United States, you just saw all that continued
23:27
Speaker 2: racial division, homelessness, crime, physical and sexual abuse, and the
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Speaker 2: disintegration of the traditional family. You know, it's true dorms.
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Speaker 2: You know, they're further complicated by plagues of many kinds.
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Speaker 2: You know, I think about all that people are addicted from.
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Speaker 2: Have you been paying attention across the United States? So
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Speaker 2: maybe in your country and you got all of these
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Speaker 2: that are combined with just like they're just alluded to,
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Speaker 2: whether they're hurricanes, earthquakes, physical storms, you know, natural disasters
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Speaker 2: of a lot of times, you know, across the United
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Speaker 2: States and in your country. And even though that which
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Speaker 2: is shared that appear and it is real to be negative,
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Speaker 2: our Savior said that these are merely warnings of things
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Speaker 2: yet to come, the beginning of sorrows. Jesus said in
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Speaker 2: Matthew chapter twenty twenty four, verse twelve. I know you
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Speaker 2: wrote it down, because loneliness will abound, the love of
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Speaker 2: many will grow cold. And I know you listened to
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Speaker 2: Sarah's closing words, But do not let your heart grow
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Speaker 2: cold today, my better of the household of faith, because
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Speaker 2: every person have a responsibility to respond to the Gospel
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Speaker 2: of our Savior on earth before death closes the door
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Speaker 2: to life. And if one's eyes and ears are open,
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Speaker 2: like with Sarah and I are talking about, you know,
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Speaker 2: as relates to what we watch out for globally, there's
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Speaker 2: still a door to heaven, and there's a door to hell,
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Speaker 2: and our loving, merciful God and his compassionate mercy has
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Speaker 2: provided that door to heaven for us. That includes you
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Speaker 2: if you want it. Through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection
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Speaker 2: and all He's asking you to do is to accept
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Speaker 2: this gracious gift of salvation and don't delay. But sometimes,
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Speaker 2: you know, we wonder where God is during these challenging
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Speaker 2: storms of life, especially when you look around and all
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Speaker 2: the troubles of the world. Where's God? Why don't they
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Speaker 2: stop the evil? Well, you know, when you look at
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Speaker 2: the Word of God, you notice how it assures us
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Speaker 2: that God will do away with evil when Christ returns.
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Speaker 2: So no wonder Scripture is letting you and I know
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Speaker 2: that at that time open philipping chapter two, verse ten
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Speaker 2: through eleven, every knee should vow and that every tongue
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Speaker 2: should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Do you notice
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Speaker 2: that Jesus didn't tell us when the end of the
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Speaker 2: world as we know it will end, and he let
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Speaker 2: it be known that we're not to speculate. Our Savior
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Speaker 2: said that there would be certain signs to watch for.
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Speaker 2: And these signs of the times are described throughout the scripture,
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Speaker 2: and taken together, what you see is a striking picture
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Speaker 2: of the end times. And our savors spoke of the
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Speaker 2: coming of a godless secular society. Look around in the
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Speaker 2: United States and in your country. And he also spoke
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Speaker 2: of the dangers of heresies, of those who try to
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Speaker 2: pervert the message of the Living Christ, his truth that
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Speaker 2: he came to deliver. Remember how he spoke of disease, famine,
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Speaker 2: and war. Look at the real picture across the globe today.
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Speaker 2: But even though you're looking, there's a wonderful assurance in
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Speaker 2: the person of Jesus Christ. With the question you got
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Speaker 2: to ask is where are you going to be at
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Speaker 2: when the n time comes? Where are you going to be?
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Speaker 2: Are you going to be with those of us who
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Speaker 2: are going to be able to sing that song? How
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Speaker 2: great are William? Will you be a part of a
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Speaker 2: joyous reunion of all those who have trusted in him,
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Speaker 2: loved ones, family, friends, and even those who may have
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Speaker 2: been your enemies that came to know Him who died
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Speaker 2: for them. Remember the two thieves on the cross. So
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Speaker 2: you already know his time for you to prepare yourself
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Speaker 2: for that moment of all moments that's going to count
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Speaker 2: for eternity. In Revelations, Chapter sixteen, verse fifteenth, I know
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Speaker 2: you're over to town. The word not gary behold, I
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Speaker 2: come as a thief? Blessed is he or is she
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Speaker 2: that watcheth and keeping his garments? Unless he walk naked
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Speaker 2: and they see his shame. I can Gary me cance
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Speaker 2: along with my co host, author sa Jewel on the
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Speaker 2: third watch until the next time. Some challenges of a
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Speaker 2: radio program