- [Announcer] The followingprogram is sponsored by CBN.

- [Gordon] Coming up, is atheism dead?

- [Eric] Tremendous irony when you think

of this secular narrative

we've been dealing withroughly since Darwin.

- [Gordon] Eric Metaxas outlinesthe evidence for a creator.

- I keep bumping intooutrageous evidence for God.

- [Gordon] The best selling author

and radio host busts the myth

of the science and faith divide.

- [Eric] In fact, it was Christian faith

that led to modern science.

What is incompatiblewith science is atheism.

- On today's "700 Club."

(dramatic music)

Welcome to "The 700 Club"and thanks for joining us.

There's an alleged sexual assault

by a transgender students innow two Loudoun County schools.

And that has parents up in arms.

Amid accusations of a coverup,

they're calling for theschool superintendent

and several board members to step down.

- Parents are also fedup with the teaching

of Critical Race theory and

with explicit sexual contentin school library books.

So what impact will this turmoil have

on the Virginia governor'srace and beyond?

Tara Mergener has the latest.

- After months of turmoilover COVID restrictions,

Critical Race theory,and transgender policies,

there are now reportsof two sexual assaults

by a gender fluid boy.

The county's new bathroompolicy and a recent change

to state law are back in the spotlight.

Superintendent Scott Ziegler apologizing

after two girls reportedthe sexual assault

on school grounds.

- I am sorry that we failed toprovide the safe, welcoming,

and affirming environmentthat we aspire to provide.

- [Tara] According to theCommonwealth's attorney,

the same teenager isaccused in both incidents

that happened months apart

at different Loudoun County high schools.

In one, the attack tookplace in a girl's restroom.

The alleged attacker allowed access

by the school's transgender policy.

Scott Smith, the father of that victim,

is suing the school systemafter being arrested

while trying to confront theboard at a recent meeting.

- The whole thing was handled poorly.

- [Tara] The superintendentand the school board members

insist they were not awareof the specific details

of this incident until it wasreported in media outlets.

- Mr. Ziegler, how couldhave you lied to all

of these parents about whathad happened to my daughter?

- [Tara] This all brings renewed criticism

on two controversial measures.

The county's recentlyadopted rule allowing

transgender students to use restrooms

that match their gender identity,

a policy supported byVirginia's Board of Education,

and HB257, a bill passedin the legislature

by the democrat majority that ended

mandatory school reportingof certain crimes,

including sexual battery.

- So that parents aren't aware,

so that law enforcement isn't aware,

and I think that had a direct impact

on how they handled both of these rapes.

- [Tara] Amid the latest fallout,

one school board member abruptly resigned

and there are new calls for thesuperintendent to step down.

- His false statement on June 22nd

and his failure to keepan alleged assailant

out of school are far worse andmerit immediate termination.

- And the school board policieswill no doubt have a big

impact on the Virginia governor's race.

And by the way, Loudoun is ground zero

for protests all around the country.

And now Attorney General Merrick Garland

is ordering the fedsto investigate threats

of harassment and violence against

school officials clearlydirected at parents, Gordon,

and also certainly isgoing to be a huge issue

in the midterms as well.

- Tara, what can youtell us about this case?

It just seems to be incredible

that school officialswould allow a predator

back into school to repeat the crime.

How in the world did that happen?

- You know, that's a great question.

And in fact, Glenn Youngkin,

the Republican candidate for governor,

actually just called for an investigation

into the Loudoun County School Board

because there's a lot ofconflicting information.

The school board saysthere's misinformation

that's floating around.

The superintendent saysthere's misinformation.

But yeah, there's bigquestions into this timeline

and who knew what and when,

and if anybody is hiding anything,

I know the father, SteveSmith, has come out

and said that he was silenced.

They told them not tosay anything for so long

and now he's finallyspeaking out months later.

So definitely we'll seeif Youngkin gets that

investigation into the school board.

I think a lot of people wouldagree that needs to be done.

- All right, well, Terry McAuliffe,

one of the candidates for governor,

has come out and said parentsshould have no influence

on what's being taught in schools.

How is that statementresonating in the race?

- Well, I'll tell you Youngkinseized on that immediately

after McAuliffe had saidthat not so long ago,

but then just last nightMcAuliffe or recently was starting

to backpedal and Youngkin seized on that

and now has a new ad out there

basically playing McAuliffe'swords over and over

that essentially he doesnot want parents involved

in their kids' education.

So you have to believe sinceMcAuliffe was backpedaling

a little bit, essentiallysaying they twisted my words,

that it's not gone over very well.

So definitely a lot ofpeople are very concerned

about education.

I think you're going to be hard pressed

to find any parent,conservative, liberal, whatever,

who's not going to be involvedor want to be involved

in their kids' education.

So this has proven tobe a very huge point.

And the fact that Youngkin hasnow got another ad out there,

I really believe theybelieve they're going

to have big success on this point.

- How is this going toplay out in the midterms

and the national elections next year?

It seems like this is areal hot button issue.

Explicit sexual materialin school libraries,

the teaching of genderidentity, all of these things.

How is this going to play out next year?

- You've got to believe theDemocrats are very concerned

because this has been a long time coming.

So first, you had all theissues about the mask mandates,

reopening schools, now vaccinations,

Critical Race theory,and now porn in textbooks

and sexual assaults now in Loudoun County.

But these issues are not playing out

just in Loudoun County, thoughthat's the eye of the storm.

They're playing out all over the country.

And as time has gone on,

the crowds are gettingbetter, or bigger rather.

More parents are speakingup for their children.

More people are showing up atthese school board meetings.

And certainly, this is goingto play out at the local level,

the state level, and quite possibly

in the presidential election as well.

It's a growing issue,all of these combined,

and it clearly is not goingaway anytime soon, Gordon.

- Well, Tara, thanks for the report.

For you at home, I justthink that this is going

to be such an incredibleissue going forward.

You have on top of the protests,

you have the sitting AttorneyGeneral Merrick Garland

instructing the FBI tostart creating a database

called domestic terrorism because

concerned parents want their voices heard.

If you could imagine being arrested

because you protestyour daughter was raped

in a school bathroom.

That's the extent of this.

And then on top of it, you're now going

to be labeled some kindof domestic terrorist.

This makes no sense to me.

There's a very definitereason the homeschool

movement is booming right now because

people are taking theirchildren out of public schools.

Well, voters in Virginia and New Jersey,

there's an election comingup, isn't that wonderful?

They're going to the pollsTuesday, November 2nd

to elect their governors,

representatives in the state capitals.

You can watch our specialelection night coverage

on the CBN News Channel.

And this certainly will havenational implications for 2022.

Just how mad people are about

where we're going as a country.

Well, here's another hot button issue.

The highest number of migrants

in 35 years have been arrested

at our southern border in July and August.

And still, the president'snominee, this administration

won't admit the situationis a crisis on our border.

John Jessup has more on that story

from our CBN News Bureau in Washington.

John.

- That is right, Gordon.

Officials stopped morethan 1.7 million migrants

on the Southern borderduring the 2021 fiscal year,

which ended in September.

The CBP also rested the highest number

of migrants since 1986 taking into custody

more than 200,000 inJuly and August alone.

On Tuesday, lawmakers pressedPresident Biden's nominee

to head Customs and Border Protection

to call the situation a crisis.

Tucson Police Chief ChrisMagnus admitted it's a quote,

"significant challenge" and pledged

to humanely enforce immigrationlaws if he's approved.

He also said he's open to completing parts

of the border wall still unfinished

after President Biden halted construction.

Meanwhile, one TexasCongressman is warning

terrorists could passthrough our poorest defenses.

Republican Representative Tony Gonzalez

of San Antonio recentlytelling GOP Chairwoman

Ronna McDaniel about a conversation he had

with Panama's foreign minister.

- But I asked her one specific question.

Have you caught anybody onthe terrorist watchlist?

And she goes, "Funny you ask that, Tony,

because in Panama we do biometrics

and we have apprehended 52 people

that are associated with Al-Qaeda."

- A record number of Haitian migrants

also entered the UnitedStates over the summer trying

to escape the ongoing poverty, crime,

and political instabilityin the island nation.

Well, the FBI and Haitianauthorities are still negotiating

with the kidnappers whoabducted 17 missionaries

over the weekend with a demand

of $17 million for their release.

Meanwhile, frustratedHaitians are going on strike

over the continuing violenceand political instability.

CBN's Operation Blessing director

in Haiti told our Abigail Robertson

the situation is theworst she's ever seen.

- Among the 17 missionaries abducted

in Haiti are five children

with the youngest beingjust eight months old.

- This is somethingthat we have treated as

with the utmost priority since Saturday.

- [Abigail] State department officials

on the ground in Haiti are working

to secure the safe release of the hostages

who were abducted atgunpoint in Port-au-Prince

while on their way home from an orphanage.

The group is there onbehalf of the Ohio based

Christian Aid Ministries,

which describes itself as achannel for Amish, Mennonite,

and other conservativeAnabaptist groups to minister

to physical and spiritualneeds around the world.

(gunshot banging)

Since the assassinationof Haiti's president

earlier this year, criminalgangs now rule the streets

and kidnappings are on the rise.

- I think that is the worstmoment for me in Haiti.

- [Abigail] Emmanuela Delsoin,

director of Operation Blessing Haiti,

tells CBN News the gangs used to

leave American citizens alone,

but that's not the case anymore.

- It used to be targeted,

but now the whole population is targeted.

Everyone is a target and no one is safe.

- [Abigail] With gangs growing in strength

and now controlling abouthalf the capital city

of Port-au-Prince where themissionaries were abducted,

aid groups like OperationBlessing are finding it difficult

to get their relief suppliesto those who need it most.

- Everything has been alreadypaid so we are just waiting.

Everyone is waiting to see where

there will be a kind of calm

so we could make the distributions.

- In addition to asking for prayers

for the safe release of their aid workers,

Christian Aid Ministriesis also asking believers

to pray for the kidnappers

to be transformed by the love of Jesus.

Reporting from Virginia,Abigail Robertson, CBN News.

- Thanks, Abigail.

Gordon, such a devastatingsituation there.

- It's a horrible situationwhere you have lawlessness

where that which restrains is taken away

and what you have coming up in place

of it is these armed gangs.

And they're definitely in it for the money

and in it for themselves,

but they don't understand exactly

what they're doing because they're tearing

down the very fabric of their society.

When relief workers question,

"Well, is it safe for meto go out and provide aid,"

that tells you how far gone it is.

Let's please pray for these 17 brave souls

that they would be released unharmed,

that the kidnappers wouldbe brought to justice.

We need God to intervene on this one

because it doesn't looklike there's any government

in place that can act.

Ashley.

- Well, up next, doesscience disprove faith?

No way says best-sellingauthor Eric Metaxas.

Instead, science is actuallyat odds with atheism.

See why, coming up.

Plus, the viral star behind the hit video

"Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus."

Jefferson Bethke takes on consumer culture

and tells you why to take back

your family later on today's show.

(upbeat music)

- Is atheism dead?

Well, that's the questionbest-selling author

and radio host Eric Metaxas asks

and answers in his newest book.

CBN's Jenna Browder talked with Eric

about the book and thesurprising conclusion it reveals.

- Is atheism dead?

Yes says Eric Metaxas.

And not only that, hesays science, archeology,

and history all point to acreator now more than ever.

- I have literally neverbeen as excited about a book.

- From "Bonhoeffer" and "Amazing Grace,"

the story of WilliamWilberforce, to "Martin Luther,"

best-selling author and radiohost Eric Metaxas is out

with his newest book "Is Atheism Dead?"

- I'm not really particularlytaking on atheism.

That's a part of the book.

But I'm framing it in the way that I do

with the title "Is Atheism Dead?"

particularly because in 1966,

"Time" magazine had thisinfamous cover article

that said "Is God Dead?"

- [Jenna] And that got him thinking.

- I thought I keep bumping intooutrageous evidence for God

like really outrageous, thekind that I've never bumped

into in my life before.

- [Jenna] He points totwo specific examples.

One has to do with the discovery

of biblical Sodom which is astonishing.

- [Jenna] In roughly 1650 BC,the city east of the Jordan

called Tall el-Hammamwas destroyed by a meteor

and scientists now believethe city could be the site

of Sodom, the ancientbiblical city destroyed

for its wickedness.

- The other is having to do with the idea

of where did life cometo begin with, right?

We always talk about evolution,

but we never talk about4 billion years ago,

you scientists say lifeemerged on planet Earth

as single cells, butnobody really can explain

how did that happen?

So these things kicked it off.

And I thought, you know,there is so much evidence

from science besides theone that I just mentioned.

There's so much evidence from archeology

besides biblical Sodom.

I thought maybe I need to write a book

where I present a lot of the evidence

that I've had theprivilege of bumping into

that other people might not know about,

including most believers.

I thought it has piled up over the years

and the decades like snowovernight, you don't hear it,

and suddenly you wake up in the morning,

you think, where did this come from,

and it's drifts againstthe door three feet high.

- [Jenna] Eric addresses it all laying

out the evidence for God.

- We come to a place inscience and in history

where we can now know.

Before, maybe we couldn't.

But we can now know thatscience is compatible

with Christian faith and that in fact,

it was Christian faiththat led to modern science.

Tremendous irony when you think

of this secular narrativewe've been dealing

with roughly since Darwin.

- [Jenna] On the contrary,he says any more science,

archeology, and history simply

do not support a godless creation.

- So we we've been livingwith this kind of myth,

this lie that science andscientists are at odds

with faith that's profoundly untrue.

And I would even go a step farther

and quote my friend John Lennox,

the great mathematician who'swritten on this subject,

and I quote him a lot in the book,

but he says that it'snot just that science

and faith are compatible.

What is incompatiblewith science is atheism.

That's a shock.

That's a headline.

That's the man bites dog kind of headline.

- [Jenna] He says today in 2021,

the question isn't is Goddead, but is atheism dead?

- Science at leastpoints to a creator God,

a tremendous intelligence.

The greatest atheists in the 20th century,

Anthony Flew, Jean PaulSartre, Albert Camus,

all of them, the ones who tookatheism the most seriously

eventually realized thatit was more rational

to believe in a God than in no God.

- Eric says his bookisn't just for Christians.

He says it's for anyone wrestling

with life's biggest questions.

In Washington, Jenna Browder, CBN News.

- It's amazing what thescience is now telling us

and you get into the extremes

of modern physics and quantum theory,

you kind of leave it scratching your head

'cause it points to a designer.

It points to a consciousnessand philosophers

and scientists are now asking,

"Why do we have informationin the universe?

Why do we even have reason?

Why do biology?

If that supposedly is random,

why does it obey mathematical rules?"

All of these things are questions

that we're asking yet again.

But here's the basis for modern science.

And you look at all the great ones,

whether it Pascal orNewton or even Galileo,

they were all believersand what inspired them

to look for the laws of the universe

was a firm understandingthat God had created it.

And He established laws for human behavior

in a book called the Bible.

Wouldn't He also establishlaws for the universe?

And let's go out anddiscover what those laws are.

So the very basis ofthe scientific method,

the scientific community wasall based on there is a reason.

And if we go looking forthe reason, we will find it.

Well, Eric Metaxas' new bookis called "Is Atheism Dead?"

and you can find itwherever books are sold.

Ashley.

- Well, still ahead, the nuclear family.

A failed experiment?

Well, that's whatJefferson Bethke believes.

So what's his problem withAmerica's family model?

And why does he say it's time to opt out?

Well, he'll tell you himself later on.

And coming up next,sapped of her strength.

This woman went from being a caregiver

to needing round the clock care herself.

And how did an urgent voiceget her back on her feet?

Find out, plus, we'll be praying for you

and your needs so stay with us.

(upbeat music)

- Cathy Duncan was deathly ill.

She was so weak she couldn't walk.

She could barely even stand

and she was getting worse by the day.

So how was Cathy suddenlycured in an instant?

Well, see for yourself.

- I started not feeling my strength

as I'm so used to it being there.

A little fatigued and Ididn't know really what it was

and then I noticed thatI was coughing a lot.

- [Narrator] 700 Club Partner

Cathy Duncan had beenthe sole care provider

for her ailing mother for fiveyears before she passed away.

That's when Cathy noticed her

own health starting to decline.

- It was about the 14th of July

that I had to lay down on mybed because when I stood up,

I had to hold onto thewall or I would fall down.

- [Narrator] Her husband Daniel

also noticed the differencein his wife's stamina.

- I just saw her energy levels just drop

and she was very, very weak.

I was believing in faith thatGod was going to heal Cathy.

- [Narrator] Cathy met withher primary care physician

through a virtual visit

and none of the meds heprescribed her helped.

Instead, her condition grew worse.

- I said, "Lord, I have tobe at my mother's funeral."

It was the 23rd and I said,"Lord, You are my strength.

I believe that, my unyielding strength

and I need Your help."

- [Narrator] Cathy, who wasnow confined to her bed,

needed help around the clock.

Daniel did whatever hecould to ease her suffering.

Her daughter Katie also providedconstant support for her.

- I was making sureshe was having vitamins

and brought some soup over for her.

And seeing her not evenbe able to get out of bed

without assistance was heartbreaking.

- [Narrator] In spite of everything,

Cathy continued to trust God to heal her.

Then on July 19th, Cathy was at home alone

when she says she heard an urgent voice.

- To me it was like it was audible,

"Get up and turn on 'The 700 Club.'"

- [Narrator] Then sheheard the hosts praying.

- And then Wendy came on andshe said, "There's somebody."

- You have like this chronic fatigue.

You normally have lots of energy,

but you cannot even get out of bed.

- She said, "You're usually active

and you're wondering whyyou're feeling this way."

Oh, my gosh, she said-

- And you've been askingyourself what's wrong.

The Lord's touching you right now

and it's been just almost like a spirit.

So, we just bind thatspirit in Jesus' name

and command it to leave andyou are healed in Jesus' name."

- I jumped up from my recliner and I said,

"It's me, Lord, You've healed me.

You healed me.

I receive it, Lord."

- [Narrator] When Katie heard the news

that her mom was totally healed,

the first thing theydid was to start packing

Cathy's bags for the trip toattend her mother's funeral.

- And it was just this obviousmanifestation of her healing,

just through her energy she was back

to her normal, energetic self.

I was so thankful that the Lord saw us

in our greatest time of need.

- [Narrator] When Danielgot home from work-

- I noticed right away Cathy'scountenance had changed.

Her energy level was upand God had healed her.

- [Narrator] Three days later,Cathy and Daniel flew out

to honor her mother's life and legacy.

- I was on the plane goingto my mother's funeral

and so thankful that I wasable to honor my mother.

- [Narrator] Today,Cathy is full of energy

and loves playing withher grandchildren again.

She wants to encourageeveryone to never give up

on the promises of God to heal you.

- I feel so strong and so good

and at times even betterthan I did before.

He will watch over HisWord and perform it.

God will show up in your life.

- That's a wonderful promise.

It's a promise in thefirst chapter of Jeremiah,

"I will perform my word."

He watches over it to perform it.

He sends His Word to accomplish,

and it won't return to Himuntil it's accomplished.

Now, I'd like to add to that.

Who is the Word?

And then you get a bigger picture.

The Word is Jesus.

"In the beginning was the Word,

the Word was with God,and the Word was God.

And the Word became fleshand dwelt among us."

It's wonderful.

Jesus said that His words were life

and they were spirit, that they last,

that they endure and they accomplish

what He intends when He speaks them.

Isn't that incredible that the words

that Jesus spoke 2000years ago are still living?

They still are spirit.

They don't go away andthey still accomplish

what He intended.

When you speak the Wordof God over yourself,

realize how powerful that is.

That those words are just as powerful

in your mouth as they were in His.

Why?

Because He is the Word.

The Word is near you.

It's in your mouth.

You don't have to goup to heaven to get it.

That's what the apostle Paul says.

It's in you.

All you have to do is proclaim it.

Proclaim His death that byHis stripes you are healed

that His blood shed for youforgives you of all sin.

You can stand in His presence blameless.

When you stand in His presence,

you realize the kingdom ofheaven has drawn near to you.

So God's will would be donein you as it is in heaven.

Now in heaven, does anybody lack energy?

Is there anybody sick?

Is there anybody lame?

Is there anybody blind?

Is there anybody deaf?

Is there anyone with pain,racking pain in their body?

Well, the answer is no.

No, that's not allowed in heaven.

Doesn't happen there.

So let's pray together thatGod's kingdom would come,

that His will would be done in you.

Let's announce it together.

Let's speak the Word of faithover you and do it out loud.

Speak it out, speak out your faith,

speak out the Word and realizewonderful things happen.

The gospel is the powerof God unto salvation.

It's the proclamation thatbrings the breakthrough.

Now, before we pray,here's some other miracles.

Here's Samuel.

He had intense pain in his neck and back.

And then he was watching this show.

And Ashley read a testimony from someone

who was healed of pain like his.

In the testimony, theperson placed his left hand

on his neck and spine.

As the host prayed,Samuel did the same thing

and believed God for healing.

And he then called theprayer line rejoicing.

He is pain-free, super excited.

- [Ashley] Praise God.

This is somebody from Kansas.

She's 87 years old.

She suffered with chronic shoulder pain.

At her age, she did not wantthe recommended surgery.

While watching "The 700Club," she heard Gordon say,

"As people are stretching forth their hand

to lay it on that area ofthe body that needs healing,

we ask You to stretch forth Your hand

to do miracles today, to heal shoulders,

anything that has inflammation,anything that has pain."

Be healed."

By faith, she put herhands on her shoulders.

When she woke up the next day,the pain was totally gone.

Amen and amen.

- Okay, here's a concept for you.

The Greek word and the Hebrewword for faith can be a noun.

It can also be a verb soyou can act your faith.

So in an act of faith, lay your hand on

that area of the body that needs healing.

If you've got pain in your neck,lay your hand on your neck.

If you have pain in yourback, if you can reach it,

lay your hand on your back,your knees, your shoulder.

If you're having heart trouble,

lay your hand over your heart.

If you're having trouble breathing,

lay both hands on your lungs.

Let's believe God andlet's announce to ourselves

the kingdom of heaven has drawn nigh,

the will of God is breakingthrough in my body.

He wants to heal.

Jesus died for my healing.

He carried away my infirmity.

He's carried away all my pain.

I believe it now.

I announce it now.

Let's pray.

Lord God almighty, we come to You.

We come boldly to Your throne of grace.

The access that the bloodof Jesus has given us,

we stand before You justified just as if

we've never done anything wrong.

You cleanse us from all iniquity.

You carried it all away.

You separated our iniquity from us

as far as the east is from the west.

We stand before you justified.

It's amazing.

And in Your presence, there is healing.

And we bless You for that.

We bless You for all thebenefits that You've given us

for we are Your children,the sheep of Your pasture.

You have forgiven all our iniquities

and You have healed all our diseases.

So we proclaim Your healing,Your salvation over our bodies.

And we say out loud, be healed now.

In Jesus' name, I claim all the benefits,

all the promises of Godare yes and amen for me.

Jesus died so that I would not have

to bear pain, disease, infirmity.

I receive it now in Jesus' name.

Ashley, God's given you something.

- I believe someone's watching,

you're having intense chest pains.

It almost feels like a ton

of bricks is laying on your chest.

The Lord is healingthat for you right now.

Just begin to take deepbreaths in, exhale out.

The Lord is healingthat for you right now.

Just receive it and begin to praise God

for the breath in your lungs.

In Jesus' name.

- There's someone with chronicinflammation in both elbows,

but it's particularly in the right elbow

and it's from some kind ofrepetitive sports injury.

God's healed that and He's restoring that.

You just felt a jolt gothrough your right elbow,

but both your elbows are being restored.

Everything is being healed.

All of those tendons are relaxing.

All that inflammation is going away

now in Jesus' name, be healed.

- I believe someone's watching.

It's the left side,

you've got arthritis in your left hand,

and you've got really badarthritis in your left knee.

The Lord is healingthat for you right now.

You're going to be able to move

like you were able to before.

Your hand and your knee will not be stiff.

It won't be inflamed.

You'll feel the warmth of the Holy Spirit

right now healing that for you.

Just receive it, proclaimit in Jesus' name.

- There's someone with a growth

on the bottom of your right foot

and it's a tremendouslypainful, painful to walk.

God's taking away thatgrowth for you right now.

And you just felt tinglinggoing into that right foot.

God's healing you, restoring you.

You're able to dance again.

Just receive it now in Jesus' name.

Lord, we thank You.

You are the healer.

You are the deliverer.

You are our rescuer, oursavior, our provider.

We thank You for everythingthat You do for us.

We receive all the promisesthat you have in Jesus name.

Amen.

If you have been healed, let us know,

let us share your good report.

1-800-700-7000.

And if you need prayer,we're here for you.

And I like to tell people,

we believe in that prevailing prayer,

the prayer that doesn't stopuntil you get the answer.

You keep knocking.

You keep seeking.

You keep asking until the answer comes.

So we're here for you, allyou have to do is call.

1-800-700-7000.

Ashley.

- Well up next,

a completely new and yetancient way to look at family.

What did our ancestors get right

and what are we getting wrong?

Jefferson Bethke takes a look

at the original blueprintright after this.

(upbeat music)

(dramatic music)

- Welcome back to Washingtonfor this CBN Newsbreak.

Democrats may be getting closer to a deal

on President Biden'smassive social spending

and climate change plan.

The president reportedlydropping the one-time

$3.5 trillion plan to about $2 trillion,

cutting among other items,free community college tuition.

Another controversial measurethat could be scaled back,

the administration's plan that's supposed

to crack down on tax cheating.

Democrats proposed havingthe IRS collect info

on certain bank accounts.

They now are looking at raising the limit

of reportable annualdeposits and withdrawals

from $600 up to $10,000.

Republicans blasting itas an invasion of privacy.

Even with the changes,

Democrats are skepticalthe measure will be

in the final version of the spending plan.

Well, the Food and DrugAdministration is expected

to approve the mixing and matching

of COVID-19 booster shots this week.

A US health official alsosays the agency will likely

recommend using the same booster brand.

The announcement comes as vaccinations

lower the number ofCOVID cases nationwide.

The CDC analysis released Tuesday

showed the Pfizer vaccine is 93% effective

at preventing hospitalizationsof 12 to 18 year olds.

Meanwhile, experts wantmore intense research

on new COVID strains likeAY.2, a descendant of Delta.

Tuesday, the United StatesSupreme Court declined

to stand in the way ofa vaccine requirement

for healthcare workersin the state of Maine.

Also, Homeland Security Director

Alejandro Mayorkas hastested positive for COVID.

Well, you can always getthe latest from CBN News

by going to our website at cbnnews.com.

Gordon and Ashley will be back

with more of "The 700Club" right after this.

(dramatic music)Q

- Well CBN's newest podcast"The Lesson" will help you

experience God on a whole new level.

Every week, Gordon andI will share Scriptures,

inspiring testimonies andstories, and spiritual truths.

New episodes are released every Wednesday.

So our latest episode iscoming out today at 4:00 p.m.

You can find "The Lesson"on CBN's YouTube channel

or your favorite podcast provider,

whether that's Apple Podcasts or Spotify,

whatever you choose.

You can also watch everyepisode on cbn.com/the lesson.

I really encourage everyone

to check out this week's episode,

powerful testimony that Gordon shared.

And if you're a fan ofpodcasts and YouTube,

our next guest is no stranger to you.

Jefferson Bethke rocketedto fame when his video

"Why I Hate Religion, ButLove Jesus" went viral.

It has been viewed morethan 30 million times

and still counting.

Since then, Jefferson has become a husband

and a father to three.

Recently, he told Wendy Griffith

about God's design for the family.

- In 2020, researchers askedwhat are the best countries

to raise a family?

They looked at 35 developed nations.

Two countries receivefailing grades, Mexico,

and you guessed it, the US of A.

The land of opportunity has become a land

where it's becoming harderand harder to raise children.

And as bestselling authorJefferson Bethke points out,

it doesn't have to be this way.

- [Narrator] Jefferson Bethke is a pastor,

author, and YouTube sensation.

With his wife Alyssa, heco-founded Family Teams,

a ministry that equips familiesto build up a team dynamic.

As he began to raise his own family,

he saw how the me cultureapproach drives many of us

towards ragged, stressed,and unfulfilling lives.

In his new book "Take Back Your Family,"

Jefferson shares how to counter the stress

and emptiness the me culture can bring.

- And Jefferson Bethkejoins us now via Skype.

And we welcome you back to "The 700 Club."

Good to see you.

- Yes, good to see you.

It feels good to be back.

- All right, well,Jefferson, your new book is

about finding a completely new,

yet really an ancient way, to do family.

What is the original family blueprint?

- Yeah, one of the things Idive into in the book earliest

first of all, how the Western vision

for parenting and family, eventhough that's our default,

meaning hyper-individualistic,hyper-nuclear,

so it's a lot smallerthan more ancient cultures

who have, family to them is 20 people,

30 people, aunts, uncles, et cetera.

Over and against that,we see in the Scripture

that actually God's design was what

I just kind of alluded to,this web of relationships

that's multi-generationaland then also has a mission.

Because again, in theWest, it's very easy for us

to turn our families consumption-based,

meaning it's all about how wecan just entertain ourselves,

feel good about ourselves,and get a lot of things.

When the scriptural blueprint is this

multi-generational teamwho's trying to actually

kind of go out and accomplishsomething for God's purposes.

- In ancient cultures, or even, gosh,

not even that long ago,we didn't have iPhones.

You're not sitting around the dinner table

and your kids are glued to their iPhones.

How does that affect thefamily dynamic today?

- It's partly just theway my brain thinks,

but I really enjoy fun research

and kind of researchinghow things have changed it,

changed sociologically.

And it wasn't just the phone,

but it was actually theintroduction of screens in general.

So you go back to the televisionand it's fascinating how

when you begin looking at architecture

and blueprints of homes around that time,

they started to morph the centering place,

being the place with the fireplace,

the room with the fireplace,to a room with a screen,

a room with a television.

So I don't think we realizedhow much little things

like that affect us, right?

When you're around a fire,you're usually playing games,

you're usually singing songs

usually kind of facing each other.

But yet when you shape an entire room,

all the couches and all thechairs to face the screen,

well, that's going to createa different type of culture.

Now, of course, I love screens,I love films, I love movies.

I'm not saying let's all justgo back to fireplace world,

which I love a good fireplace too.

But what I would saywith that is that just

we need to be conscious of the actions

we are taking as a family,

the culture we're shaping as a family

and the direction we'regoing as a family and saying

do we want this or do we wantto try to live an alternative?

- I'm giggling because Ihave a great fireplace,

but all of my chairs andthe couch are facing the TV.

- That's true of all of us.

- Jefferson, you say stableis where horses live.

That wasn't the home that you grew up in.

What was your childhood like?

- I have an amazing mom.

I love my mom, but she was a single mom.

And we were kind of always on the edge

of very serious, low poverty,

which almost put us on the edge of kind

of homelessness at any given point.

So that's going to comewith its challenges,

its trauma, its difficulties.

Now my mom's amazing.

She's a hero, she did her best.

But again, you do see glaring things

in your childhood or feel glaring things,

lack of a father, lackof stability emotionally

because we're havingto always kind of patch

all these holes, but thatcertainly affects us.

Now I'm not saying that

we need all just have comfortable lives.

But I do think there'ssomething to wrestle in there

and I talk about that in that chapter

that you referenced specifically about,

again, God's design is bigger, larger.

And on top of that, not justthe, the husband/wife dynamic,

which obviously we know is God's design,

but again, the multi-generational dynamic.

David Brooks in this famous Atlantic

article a couple of years ago,

critiquing the nuclearfamily, and by the way,

this would be a conservative Christian,

brilliant thinking man, what he talks

about is actually anuclear family can kind of

only be had by the rich because anyone

who's in a little bitlower economic class,

that's actually where they

need the multi-generational living more.

And you see that by the way,

when you go to the poorercultures you go to globally,

the more they actuallylive multi-generationally

because they need each other.

But we've created sucha culture in the West

where we don't need each otherbecause we're so wealthy.

And I mean that globally speaking,

the creation of themiddle-class, 1950s, et cetera.

So these are just things thatI think we need to wrestle.

- Jefferson, in your book"Take Back Your Family,"

you talk about how familiesshould have a mission statement.

And I thought that was fascinating.

Why is that?

And what is your family'smission statement?

If you don't mind sharing.

- It changes and it evolves,which I say it should.

But I start with this place of like,

look at any healthy team, a sports team,

a healthy business that'sreally thriving and successful.

None of those, like none of them,

you cannot go up to one of them and say,

"Hey, what are you here for?

What are you trying to accomplish?

What are you guys doing?

Why do you guys practice?

Why do you guys train?

Why do you guys work so hard?"

They'll all have answersto those questions.

You ask any of thosequestions to a family,

and they'll say either,"We don't do that,"

or just, "I don't know.

I have no idea why we're here.

Aren't we just kind of here to hang out

and belong and just kind of have a safe,

secure, cute, friendly environment?"

Well, no, God wants you toliterally go on mission.

That's what it said.

Like Genesis is like, go create, subdue,

bring order out of chaos,beauty out of the disorder.

And so thinking about that andreally, it's really simple.

And again, ours changes,

but our season of lifehas been really stuck

on this Jesus' prayer inthe last couple of years

in the Lord's prayer, where it says,

"Your kingdom come, your will be done

on earth as it is in heaven."

So we live in Maui, Hawaii so I just put

in there on Maui as it is in heaven.

So that's a really just small but easy way

for our kids and us tolatch, put teeth into,

okay, our job, our jobeveryday when we wake up is

to work as a team and tomake this place a little bit

more like heaven in our specific location

with our neighbors using our wirings

and our giftings and our talents.

And we have what we call pillars

where it goes into this a lot more detail.

They can find those on the website.

But it's stuff like that.

Just give your family a direction.

And it's crazy specificallywith little kids,

how much they rise to that and want that.

- Wow, I'm still thinkingabout Maui, Hawaii.

(Wendy and Jefferson laughing)

- It's a hard place to live.

Hard place to live.- What a great place to live

and raise a family and hopefully surf

and all those other things.

Well, you can read even morein Jefferson's brand new book,

it's called "Take Back Your Family."

Wow, what a right now book.

It's available in stores nationwide.

Jefferson, thanks so much forbeing with us, God bless you.

- Thank you.

- And Gordon and Ashley will be right back

with more of "The 700 Club" after this.

(upbeat music)

- A bad luck child.

That's what Miss Liu'sfather-in-law called her newborn

right before he kickedthem both out of his house

all because her baby hada cleft lip and palate.

Miss Liu had no way forthe surgery to be paid

to get that surgery that her baby needed.

And before long, she started thinking

that suicide was her only option.

- [Terry] Mrs. Liu could hardlywait to meet baby Feiyun.

- [Translator] I woke up andkept asking, "Where's my baby?"

until my mother cried, "Yourbaby's mouth is broken.

He has a cleft lip and palate."

- [Terry] Meanwhile, Mr.Liu died of a heart attack

and never met their son.

They'd been living with his father,

but after her husband died,

Mrs. Liu's father-in-law didn't welcome

his son's widow home.

- [Translator] He saidFeiyun was a bad luck child

and the reason his son died.

So when I took Feiyunhome, I kept knocking,

but he ordered us to leave for good.

- [Terry] She and Feiyun hadto move in with her mother.

- [Translator] I couldn'tface the double tragedy.

I thought death was the only way out

and I was going to kill myself.

As I was getting some pesticide to drink,

Feiyun looked at mewith his eyes wide open

and I felt like he was saying,

"Mom, please don't give up.

Dad is dead, but you still have me.

Please be strong and live for me."

- [Terry] That moment, shedecided to go on living

so she could help her son.

And she started working 14 hour days

in a factory to savemoney for his surgery.

Meanwhile, Feiyun didn't eat much.

- [Translator] His immunity weakened.

Every time he got sick,I had to use the money

I'd saved to pay for his medical bills.

So, I couldn't follow through

with my promise to get him surgery.

- [Terry] And when Mrs.Liu took Feiyun out,

people laughed at him andtalked behind his back.

- I was afraid that as he grew up,

he would feel inferior,excluded from life.

I wished more than anything that

someone would help us get his lip fixed.

- [Terry] Then Mrs. Liu was introduced

to CBN at a health clinic.

We quickly arranged and completely paid

for Feiyun's cleft lip surgery.

We later helped make his cleftpalate surgery possible too.

- [Translator] Now, he can eat normally.

He's put on weight.

His grandfather accepts himand he digs like his father.

You've given our baby a happychildhood and a bright future.

- Wow, praise God.

We thank God every dayfor our CBN partners.

And if you aren't a CBN partner,

I encourage you to become one today.

Because like you just sawin that amazing story,

you are literally changing the trajectory

of children's lives all around the world.

You're providing life-changing surgery

so they can live and not die.

And most of all,

you're giving people hopein the name of Jesus.

You're doing it in the name of Christ.

You're literally being thehands and feet of Jesus

when you partner with us.

So partner with us today.

All you have to do is give us a call,

that number on your screen, 1-800-700-7000

or you can also go to cbn.com

or you can also text CBN to 71777.

When you do, there's going to be a page

that pops up that brings you

to the different levels that you can give.

You can join at $20 a month,you can go up then from there.

whatever the Lord isputting on your heart to do,

be obedient to that becauseHe is going to bless you

abundantly when you chooseto be a blessing unto others.

So give us a call today.

Join with us, 1-800-700=7000.

I think we have sometime for email questions.

So we're going to take this one.

This is from Jahlisa.

She says, "I want to know ifit is okay to eat the foods

that we were not allowedto eat in Leviticus.

Does that count for us now?

Can I change my beliefs ifit doesn't pertain to us?

And is that still a sin?"

- Jahlisa, it's up to you on your beliefs.

But here's what the Bible says.

There was a great visiongiven to the apostle Peter,

where he saw a tablecloth, if you will,

lowered down from heaven.

And in that, all manner of animals,

and he heard these words,"Arise, kill, and eat."

So and along with that,

"What I have created letno one call unclean."

So with that, there wasin the early church,

a tremendous liberty proclaimed

that the Levitical laws didnot apply to the new believers.

At the same time, the apostle Peter,

when he would gather with Jewish brothers

would become kosher again.

And the apostle Paul had to rebuke him

and say, "What are you doing?

You're you're conformingto the people around you,

as opposed to standingfast in the liberty."

There's a overarching versethat the apostle Paul wrote,

"Whatsoever is not of faith is sin."

So if what you eat offends you,by all means, don't eat it.

At the same time, if you feel the liberty

and it can stand fast in thatliberty, by all means do that.

And it's literally up to you.

John Wesley, who founded the Methodists,

he decided to become a vegetarian

and abstained from allmeat, because that's what

Adam and Eve had in the Garden of Eden.

There wasn't hunting.

He didn't have meat on thediet so he adopted that diet.

You have that freedom.

You have that liberty.

Here's a word from Proverbs.

"If you help the poor,

you are lending to the Lordand He will repay you."

(uplifting music)