(upbeat music)

- Hi and welcome to the program,

thanks for being with us today.

Chaos in Afghanistan,

the Taliban has announcedamnesty for all Afghans

and are urging womento join its government.

This, as we see thoseheartbreaking images,

thousands of Afghansso desperate to escape.

- That's right, and meanwhilepresident Biden says

he stands by his decisionto withdraw US troops.

CBN's Jenna Browder hasmore from Washington.

- [Jenna] After a fullday of dramatic images

of Afghans trying to fleethe Taliban takeover of Kabul

president Biden addressedthe nation Monday.

While he stuck by hisdecision to leave Afghanistan,

he offered no explanation for why the US

wasn't prepared for the rapid collapse.

Chaos and desperationat the Kabul airport,

thousands of Afghans crowding the runway

surrounding this massive military jet,

clinging to the outside of the fuselage,

some of them falling to their deaths.

Inside 640 of the lucky,

the Taliban announcing they're now

in full control of Afghanistan.

The outcry over the scenes,

forcing president Biden tocome down from Camp David

and talk to the American people.

- I stand squarely behind my decision.

- [Jenna] The president blaming

the rapid fall of Afghanistan

on the Afghan government and military.

- The truth is thisdid unfold more quickly

than we had anticipated.

So what's happened?

Afghanistan political leadersgave up and fled the country,

the Afghan military collapsed,

sometime without trying to fight.

- [Jenna] And his predecessor.

- When I came intooffice, I inherited a deal

that president Trumpnegotiated with the Taliban.

- [Jenna] On Capitol Hill, few lawmakers,

Republican or Democratare defending Biden.

- What we have seen isan unmitigated disaster,

a stain on the reputation ofthe United States of America.

- [Jenna] Senate minorityleader, Mitch McConnell,

adding that the country could once again

become a safe harbor for terrorists.

- Every terrorist around the world,

in Syria, in Iraq, in Yemen,in Africa are cheering

the defeat of the United States military

by a terrorist organization.

- [Jenna] Even top Democrats are critical.

Senate Intelligence Committeechairman, Mark Warner,

issuing a statement callingfor an investigation

into the collapse.

I hope to work with the othercommittees of jurisdiction

to ask tough but necessary questions

about why we weren't better prepared

for a worst case scenario

involving such as swift and total collapse

of the Afghan governmentand security forces.

There are also growingconcerns over human rights,

especially for women and girls.

Biden says he'll continueto speak up for them,

but many worry that won't be enough.

In an effort to calm the population,

the Taliban is offeringamnesty and inviting women

to join their government.

However, in parts of the country,there are growing reports

of girls as young as 15

being forced to marry Taliban fighters.

Jenna Browder, CBN News.

- Well CBN contributor ChuckHolton joins us now with more

on this crisis in Afghanistan.

Chuck you've covered Afghanistanfor more than two decades,

you have vast militaryexperience yourself.

You've been there embeddedwith US troops many times,

what are your insights today

as you see the Taliban retake the country?

- Well, it didn't take aprophet to see this coming.

As a matter of fact,

US troops that I was embedded with

on my last deployment overthere in 2019, told me as much.

They said that, look, this thing is done.

When the US military was so hobbled

that they weren't allowed togo out and defeat the enemy

and this has been for the last years,

probably since about 2012,

we've been essentiallytaking our finest warriors,

sending them over there

and having them guardconcrete blocks on the base

because it was too politically costly

for any of them to get hurt.

And when the US leadershipis so risk averse,

that they wouldn't allow

the soldiers to do their job over there,

then a loss is all but assured,

and not only that,

the money that we spent

on all of these nation building projects

from micro-hydro to bridges,to dams, to you name it,

about 15% of that money,according to some accounts

got siphoned off to the Taliban,

and so this is a recipe for losing a war

when you are funding both sides

and doing it on a Chinese credit card.

So it's no big surprise,

but I have to say the USmilitary did not lose this war.

The US military was neverdefeated by the Taliban.

What was defeated,

we were defeated by our own politicians

who are so good and have proven

look, you gotta be good at something

and the one thing they're good at

is snatching defeat fromthe jaws of victory.

- Wow, well Chuck, theTaliban is declaring it,

the Islamic emirate of Afghanistan.

What exactly does thatmean for its people,

especially women and otherreligious minorities,

including Christians?

- Well, before this happened,

it was called the IslamicRepublic of Afghanistan

and now it's called theIslamic Emirate of Afghanistan.

That just means that

their leadership is not elected anymore.

Is it a danger for thepeople in that area?

Absolutely.

I mean, now they are going to live under

a brutal dictatorship.

It's the seventh century culture.

This is, I mean, we have spent two decades

touching the culture ofAfghanistan and changing it,

I mean, what you touch touches you,

and so we've been hangingaround those people

and they have different expectations now

than they did 20 years ago asfor what life should be like.

And so it's gonna be very difficult,

what we're gonna see is a lot of violence,

a lot of bloodshed, Afghanslike to fight each other

when there's not a foreign enemy to fight.

So you're gonna see themjockeying for position

and throw on top of thatIran and China and Russia

power plays in there with their politics.

It's gonna be a bloody place to be

for the next foreseeable future.

- Chuck what about national security,

not only in that region, butis the United States itself

less safe as a result of this event?

- Well, I would say that inthe short run, probably not.

I mean, we can still go inthere and bomb these people.

So, you know, if you look backat the history of this war,

the war actually endedon December 9th, 2001.

That's when the Talibangovernment collapsed,

and we did that with about

two platoons of special forces operators,

a couple of CIA guys and asuitcase or two full of cash.

That's all it took to defeat the Taliban

and we could go in there and do it again.

Probably the right thing to have done

would have been to have leftafter December 7th, 2001,

and have said, we justrebooted your country for you,

you can now make it whatever you want,

but the minute you become a threat to us,

we will come back in thereand reboot you again.

And that should be the threat

the United States givesto Afghanistan now.

It's obvious that the men of Afghanistan

are not willing to stand up andfight for their own freedom,

and so why should my sons andthe sons of other Americans

go shed their blood for them anyway?

- All right, everyone, Chuck Holton,

Chuck, thank you so much for joining us

always appreciate your insight.

You can get all the latest news and more

when you download theCBN News channel app,

I encourage you to do that today, Ashley.

- Well, coming up, how canyou be free to thrive in life?

Well, up next author and speakerBen Bennett joins us live

to share how your strugglescan lead to a fulfilling life,

that's right after this.

(upbeat music)

Well, Ben Bennett was barely surviving,

he struggled with anxiety,rejection and shame.

Even with all of that though,

Ben's heartfelt desirewas for a thriving life.

So how was he able to achieve that?

Take a look.

- [Narrator] Ben Bennettstruggled with anxiety and shame.

With hurt from his past,

he struggled to live a positive life.

He discovered a simple truth

that the way we seeourselves in circumstances

can lead to either depression and sin

or to harmony andflourishing relationships.

Now an author and speaker,

Ben co-writes his newbook with Josh McDowell.

In "Free to Thrive",

they reveal how God designed the longings

in the heart of humansto be satisfied in him.

(soft music)

- Well, Ben Bennettjoins us now via Skype.

Ben, welcome to the show,

we're so glad to have you this morning.

- Hey Ashley, so good to be with you,

thanks for having me.

- Of course, all right,well, let's get back to

the start of it all.

What inspired you to writethe book "Free to Thrive"?

- Well you know, I had beenin ministry for about 15 years

and Josh McDowell of course, 60 years.

And we had just, as we traveled and spoke,

we had seen so muchbrokenness around the world,

mental health issues,

suicide being the secondleading cause of death

among young people, just wildaddiction stuff in the church,

all around the world and really

a lack of holistic solutions.

What does brain science,what does psychology,

what does the Bible sayabout all of these things?

How we can be set freeto thrive and you know,

Josh and I, and ourstories went through it,

dealing with hurt,trauma, abuse, addictions,

and found hope and healing

through Jesus and these proven principles,

and we wanted to make themavailable to the world.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Well, in your book,

you talk about listening to your longings.

What exactly do you mean by that?

- You know, we talk about how,

what we found in scripture is God

has wired every singlehuman being with these

seven heart longings, thingslike the need to be accepted,

to be loved, to be safe, tohave our feelings affirmed.

I think of Romans 15:7

accept one another thenjust as Christ accepted you.

And so these are wired within us,

and so that's what'smotivating us every single day

to have these needs and longings met,

but you know, often they don't go met,

and so we need to listen to the longings,

figure out what's going on in our heart,

what are we truly desiring this leading us

to either positive choicesor negative choices?

- Yeah, that's so good.

Well you also talk about healing

and how Christians experiencehealing from unresolved hurts.

Why is that so importantfor individuals today

and especially the church today?

- Yeah, I think it's so important because

in many places or cases,

our lives as Christians don'tlook that much different than

non-Christians unfortunatelywhen it comes to addiction,

when it comes to the thingsthat we're struggling with.

Yet, if I look at theGreek word for salvation

in the New Testament,yes, it means to be saved

and we need forgiveness andsalvation through Jesus Christ,

but it also means tomake whole or to heal.

And Jesus said, thekingdom is here and now,

he wants to heal us, hewants to set us free.

He wants to bind up ourwounds, and he can do that

we just have to know how to ask him that,

and what the Bible says aboutbringing other people in,

and that, you know, it reallybecomes part of our testimony,

you know, a life change andwe can help other people,

so many of the felt needs ofthe day are people that are,

you know, anxious,worried, hurting, addicted,

marriage problems,

and we can say, hey, this iswhat Jesus did in my life,

let me tell you about the one who did that

and who designed you to thrive.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Well, why do you say in the book,

unhealthy behavioralpatterns are not the problem,

but the solution?

Talk a little bit about that.

- Yeah you know what we realized

with all of these different longings,

ultimately our problem is not the behavior

that we're struggling with,that's our attempted solution.

For example if werelonging for acceptance,

and we're experiencing rejection,

we're gonna do something with that,

we're gonna go to pornography,

we're gonna go to alcohol,

we're gonna try and performto be accepted by others,

and that's an attempt at a solution,

but Jesus invites usinto a better solution

to trade that for real acceptance

that we can have throughhim and through safe people.

- Yeah, why do you think so many of us

ignore the signs of theemotional hurts and issues

that we have?

A lot of people just ignore it

and don't choose to go after healing.

Why do you think that is?

- One is that it's justextremely difficult,

you know, to a lot ofus and myself included

wanted to leave my hurts in the past

and keep moving forward.

But what I realized was Iwasn't leaving in the past,

I was just burying it alive

because if we don't deal with our stuff,

other people have to,

it's gonna come out in some kind of way,

in some kind of anger orunhealthy relationship dynamic.

And we really just need to face it.

- Yeah, absolutely.

Well, what tools does thebook offer to help readers

finally heal and overcome obstacles

to be free to thrive in their lives?

- Oh, it's packed withtools and resources,

that's one of the things wewanted to do with this book

is make all of these healingprinciples accessible

to the world.

So we have so many charts and diagrams.

One of the things is, you know,

a problem identified isa problem half solved.

And I think,

and this relates to yourformer question as well,

that so many of us don't actually know

what's driving our problems?

What's driving that habitual sin?

What's driving that unhealthyrelationship dynamic?

And once we identify that,

we can begin to move towards freedom.

So the book helps us realizeand understand our longings,

how they've gone unmetand what the problems are

behind our attempted solutionsor, you know our problems.

So that would be one.

Another is we really getinto what the Bible says

about our minds and our brains,

you know, over 580 times, boththe Old Testament and the new

mentions the words mind, think, believe

and variations of those,

and throughout those times,there's a huge emphasis

on what we're supposed to putour mental energy towards.

We're told to think about things

that are true, noble, right and pure.

We're told to take our thoughts captive,

and you know what we do with our minds,

what we do, the hair impacts everything.

You know, behavior follows our beliefs.

And one astounding thing weget into is the fact that

when we repeat thoughts andactions that are negative,

We're actually being conformedto the image of the world.

And neuroscience shows that,

that the neurons in our brain

that fire together wire together,

they create these fixedpatterns in our brain

kind of like muscle memory.

So we end up getting stuck physically,

but the beauty of Romans 12:2

is that we can be transformedby the renewing of our minds.

And in recent decades,

neuroscience has affirmed this

by showing somethingcalled neuroplasticity,

that our brains aremoldable and changeable.

So we get into in the book,what does that look like?

How do I renew my mindbased on the word of God

and his principles andin healthy relationships,

as I deal with these longings

and find them satisfied in healthier ways?

- Absolutely, well look,

there are so many tools in this book.

Ben's book called "Free To Thrive".

It's called "Free To Thrive"

and you can get itwherever books are sold,

I highly encourage you to get you a copy.

Ben, thanks so much for joining us today.

- Hey Ashley, thanks so much.

Great to be with you.

- Andrew.

- Thank you, Ashley, we'll up next,

like a transformer exploding in my head.

That's the sensation one man felt

the moment he was having a stroke.

So how was he able towalk out of a hospital

just a day and a half later?

Get that answer when we come back

and we're gonna be prayingfor you, please stay with us.

(upbeat music)

Maurice Hilliard stumbledon his way back to bed

and his head felt like it had exploded.

His speech was slurred, his balance shot.

Maurice had just suffered a stroke

and what followed next wasnothing short of supernatural.

- I put my hand on thecounter to steady myself,

and that's when it felt like

something was happening in my head,

like a transformer explodes,

it felt like somethingexploded in my head.

- [Narrator] May 3rd, 2019,

Maurice Hilliard was going back to bed

after using the bathroom, but then.

- Felt sparks coming all through my head

and I was totally out of control.

I screamed and I fell to the floor.

- I woke up and I looked at the bathroom,

there was my husband Maurice on the floor

and I noticed he couldn'tspeak, he couldn't move.

Immediately, I started to pray and

I prayed the word of God for healing.

- [Narrator] Losing his ability to speak,

Maurice knew he was in trouble.

- I said, call 911.

- [Narrator] Paramedicsrushed Maurice and Earlene

to nearby Chesapeake GeneralHospital in Virginia.

Maurice was disoriented, hadslurred speech and chest pains.

- The main concern that they doctors had

when they first bought mein, they thought I was,

had had a stroke.

- I prayed that he be completely healed

from the top of his headto the soles of his feet

and that he would have no

side effects or anything like that.

- I was beginning to just tosay, God, you got to help me.

- [Narrator] Maurice waswheeled back immediately

for a CT scan.

Then as the technician was injecting

an imaging dye into his brain,

Maurice felt something change.

- I began as that dye went in

to feel like, hey, I'm coming back again.

The dye is working,

and I felt myself getting whole again.

- [Narrator] Of course he knewit wasn't the dye at work.

- I just said, Lord, you've done this

whatever happened to my body, I'm healed.

- [Narrator] The preliminaryCT scan was inconclusive

so doctors kept Maurice atthe hospital for observation

and ordered an MRI for that afternoon.

Meanwhile, Maurice's speechand mind continued to clear

as he began tellingeveryone about his miracle.

You know, the nurses

and people who came in to clean the room,

all I got to say, what a good God I served

and how he'd healed me so.

- [Narrator] The next day,the MRI results confirmed

Maurice had had a stroke.

- It was on the left side of his brain,

so that will affect the rightside of your body typically.

when he came for his MRI,

he really didn't have anydeficits, so it all subsided.

- When I got the results,I just rejoiced so much.

I was so thankful that God had healed me,

I even told the doctor,that God has healed me.

- [Narrator] Then someoneelse found healing,

but not in the physical sense.

As Maurice talked about God's goodness,

Ashley began to share her pain,

the pain of a troubled heart.

- She began to say,

I'm angry with God.

I lost my father.

God took my father.

- I was really unhappy withmy relationship with God,

because I didn't understandwhy my dad got taken from me.

I almost was so angry likeI could feel it every day,

like I was carrying it with me.

- Then I said oh, Ashley,your father is still alive.

He's still in you.

I just told her how muchlove God had for her.

- [Narrator] After monthsof anger and resentment.

- Like it just all washed away.

This man is here, this is your angel,

he's been sent to you to letyou know that God is all around

and everything has happened theway it's supposed to happen.

It was amazing.

- She says, I'm not angry anymore.

She said, God, must'vesent you here for me.

God must've sent you here for me.

- [Narrator] That afternoonafter several more tests,

Maurice was discharged witha clean bill of health.

- And the doctor says you got to go.

I walked out of the hospital

that I had gone in 35 hours earlier.

- [Narrator] Today Maurice is symptom free

and healthier than ever.

He thinks back to histime in the hospital,

as he continues to try and bean encouragement to others.

- He's still here, he'sstill able to walk,

he's still able to talk.

And that's what's so great about God,

that you can give yourtestimony and encourage others.

- I know that God is with me every day

and you just never know when

something's gonna happento you to change your life.

By me talking to Mr. Hilliardfor a half hour maybe,

you know, I helped him, buthe changed my life forever.

- If Ashley could say, Godsent you by here from me,

and I had a miracle.

And if it took that, God,

for You to get the glory,

God it was worth it all.

It was worth it all.

(soft music)

- Maurice, what an inspiration you are.

I was sitting therewatching that story saying,

I want Maurice to pray for me

and then the next thing that happens is

he's praying for Ashley in the hospital

and boy, Maurice got a lot donein two days in the hospital,

didn't he?

Having an impact on people like that

and he has the light of Jesus in his eyes.

And it's an amazing storyas far as a miracle really,

a physical recovery.

We wanna pray for younow and before we do,

we wanna share more wonderfulreports we have received.

Here's one from YouTube,Eliana has told us

the Lord, Jesus healedme from a heart condition

that could only berepaired through surgery.

He touched me and made me whole

no surgery needed, gloryto God, amen Ashley?

- Amen and amen.

This is also a vieweron YouTube and she says,

God restored my mom'seyesight from legally blind

to being able to see again.

Now he has reversed her diabetes

and she is no longer onany medication for it.

He also healed me from severe migraines,

asthma, severe panic attacks,

and just keeps showingmore and more and miracles,

God is good all of the time,

even through storms, he trulyindeed is with us all amen.

Awesome, amen.

- Well, let's pray.

Will you lead us Ashley?

- Absolutely, yes.

Father God, we just thankyou so much for who you are.

And Lord we just lift up

all of the needs of those people

who are watching right now God.

I feel like there are alot of people watching

who are having also dealing with grief

from the loss of their father,

but also people who aredealing with grief from just a,

a bad relationship with their father

or no relationship with their father.

Their father is still here on earth,

but there's no connection.

You are the good, good father, God,

Abba, we're able to cometo you and say Abba,

and I just believe right now that the Lord

is touching those people who are grieving,

their relationships with their fathers,

are grieving the physicalloss of their father.

And God, I just pray that yourestore their hearts Lord,

to trust you again.

Lord, I pray that thatbitterness leaves their hearts

and their heart becomesa heart of flesh again.

Lord tear down those walls.

Thank you, Jesus.

Thank you Lord.

- I feel this overwhelmingword from the Holy Spirit

that there is a mom who hasraised her daughter by herself

and she is about to sendher daughter off to college

many states away and sheis so anxious and fearful

and the Holy Spirit justsays, I have her, I have her,

you are to abide with meand rest in the Holy Spirit.

Someone else is experiencingreally, really bad leg cramps

and Jesus is healingthat now in Jesus name,

we thank you Lord for what you're doing.

- Yes God and I believesomeone is watching with a,

there's actually a mass onyour left side of your face,

it's kind of under youreye and by your nose,

you believe it's cancerous,

you're not really sure exactly what it is,

but it's very uncomfortable,it's impacting your vision.

There's pain, the Lord ishealing that for you right now

in Jesus' name receive that,

that mass will be gone,

just believe it and receive it right now.

- As Ashley has mentioned cancer,

we know certainly there aremany viewers watching right now

and praying for lovedones or even themselves

because of a cancer diagnosis.

Right now in the name ofJesus we rebuke cancer.

You have no room in people'slives in the name of Jesus.

We rebuke cancer and we lift up

those loved ones to you oh God,

in Jesus' name, we pray.

We leave you with thisscripture from Isaiah 41:13

for I am the Lord your God,

who takes hold of yourright hand and says to you

do not fear, I will help you.

God bless you.

(upbeat music)