February 20, 2025 Show with Ken Barber on “Being an Ambassador for Christ to Men Behind Bars”

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe.

It's Iron Sharpens Iron. This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today. Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

Matthew Henry said that in this passage we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better. It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours and we hope to hear from you the listener with your own.

Questions. And now here's your host, Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon Cumberland.

County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet Earth. We're listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Thursday on this 20th day of February 2025.

Prayer Request for Andrew Arnzen

Before I introduce my guest and our theme, I have another prayer request for continued prayer for my brother Andrew. My brother Andrew, as many of you know who listen to this program regularly and follow me in social media, he was taken from his nursing home several days ago to the hospital.

He was originally in critical condition with dangerously low oxygen levels and was sedated and unconscious and on a ventilator. He was taken off the ventilator, I believe it was the day before yesterday, and has been off it ever since and is improving.

He is still in the ICU of the hospital. Please pray not only for his complete physical healing but also, much more importantly, his spiritual healing and that I would receive unquestionably convincing evidence that he is truly saved by the mercy and grace of Christ.

And I will continue to give you updates on my dear brother Andrew Arnzen, who is 78 years old, and I hope to give you praise reports, continued praise reports, in the days and weeks and months to come.

Ken Barber’s Conversion and Prison Ministry

Today I am thrilled to have a first-time guest on the program who comes with the highest recommendations of Pastor Greg Van Court of Dayspring Fellowship, a Reformed Baptist congregation in Austin, Texas.

His name is Ken Barber, a former prison inmate incarcerated for a total of approximately 10 years, who was saved by the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ in a county jail on the way back to prison, now evangelizing and ministering to men currently incarcerated in a Belize prison through Grace Outreach, which has a website, GoMinistries .com.

And today we're going to be addressing being an ambassador for Christ to men behind bars, a former inmate story. It's my honor and privilege to welcome you for the very first time to Iron Trip and Zion Radio, Ken Barber.

Yeah, well, thank you, Chris, for having me on. I appreciate the opportunity. We're always looking for opportunities to share our testimony and reach others for Christ. Well, since you are a first-time guest on the program, one tradition we have whenever we have a first-time guest is that guests will give a summary of their own salvation testimony, which would include any kind of religious atmosphere in which they were raised and what kind of providential circumstances our Lord raised up in their lives that drew them to himself and saved them.

And of course, I'd love to hear your story, including how you actually originally became a prison inmate yourself. Okay, well, thank you, Chris. I seldom, you know, every time I give my testimony, it's hard to pick a place to start.

Well, start where you were raised in the kind of religious atmosphere. Right. I was not raised in a religious atmosphere. Actually, I was raised in a poor family. My daddy was a drunkard, an alcoholic.

Seldom did we ever go to church. My dad had an uncle that was a pastor. And the few times we went, I could tell he would call on my dad to pray. And so my dad would be very embarrassed because he didn't live for the Lord.

He drank all the time. So I heard him often complain that that's why he didn't go to church, because he always got embarrassed when he went. So to me, I knew that was an excuse. But dad was a bricklayer.

I wasn't abusive to us or anything, but he didn't raise me in church. And he always told me he thought that the Bible contradicted itself. He could never figure out where Cain got his, I mean, where Cain got his wife and things of that nature.

So that's the atmosphere I was raised in. You know, daddy worked hard, but he drank up all our money with alcohol and from time to time would hit my mother. But over the years, people would come to my house and pick me up.

I recall one particular instance, and I was like in the second grade. Someone came from a little Methodist church and picked us up for a vacation Bible school. I'll never forget it. I was the only part kid in the class, a little town called Sweeney, Texas.

The lady sat me down under a tree at a little table and put a picture in front of me of a camel going through the eye of a needle and told me to color it. And she left, said she'd be back in a minute.

So I colored the picture. It was very confusing to me because I couldn't understand what it meant. And she came back after I finished coloring the picture. She came back, read the scripture. And that was the extent of my class that day.

So I think it was the next week. I remember riding my little stick horse through town one day and passing by the barbershop. And I stopped and looked in. There were always some World War II vets sitting in there chewing tobacco and talking about old times.

But they had a TV up there. And as I rode up there, I remember the announcement coming on that Marilyn Monroe had just killed herself. And so I remember that verse, you know, how hardly shall a rich man enter the kingdom of heaven.

It's easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Of course, in my family, my mama always complained about how poor we were. And, you know, she kind of made it clear that if we would, if, you know, rich people, famous people were obviously happy.

So we weren't happy because we weren't rich and famous. So I just remember thinking that day, just wondering why Marilyn Monroe would, if since she was rich and famous, why she would kill herself. So but that verse came to my mind.

And that was the last time I even thought about it till a few years later. I guess I was 19 years old sitting in the Missouri County Jail. This was between my first and second time in prison. An old man came through, Mr. Webb, and I was a trustee.

So I was sitting in a cell that we had made into a library. And a friend of mine and I was sitting there just killing time or organizing books. And Mr. Webb, who was a volunteer chaplain, came walking through and asked us, you know, they call it the catwalk.

It's just a catwalk, an area that goes around the cells. The visitors would come through. But anyway, he stopped and asked us if we'd mind if he talked to us for a moment. And he pulled his Bible out.

Of course, I said, we're not going anywhere. So, sure. So he opened up the Bible to that passage of scripture. After all those years, a camel go in the eye of a needle. I remember sitting there and Mr. Webb explaining that passage of scripture, explaining salvation and then giving a little invitation to us and asking us if we wanted to give our lives to Christ.

So as I sat there, I knew I needed to be saved. I knew what he said about the gospel applied to me. But when he asked us if we wanted to come to Christ, I just remember thinking, you know, if I do this, what will my homeboy think?

You know, what will my friend think? So I looked up at Mr. Webb and told him, no, I'm not ready. So he just said, OK, didn't play just as I am 10 times or try to beg me to come. He just said, OK, well, whenever you get ready, you'll get saved.

So so that was one of my encounters. I mean, I knew providentially that that was God, because after all those years of that vacation Bible school and this older guy coming through there and opening up scripture to that passage, I knew God was speaking to me, but I wasn't ready.

You know, I've heard the gospel many, many times and I'd already, you know, prayed the little sinner's prayer many times. Every time I get locked up, I'd hear the gospel and, you know, preachers that come through and say, you know, if you here's what the Bible says and if you admit this and agree to this and pray this prayer, then Christ will come into your life.

But all the times that I heard that actually, you know, I'd read the little gospel tracts and they would give an invitation and, you know, I'd tell you to sign your name on the line and, you know, I'd sign them and go right on and nothing would ever change.

Nothing would ever happen. So that was, you know, pretty much my early experience with with the gospel was just kind of hit and miss, right? Things like that. But April 18th, 1981, I was sitting in a county jail there in Gonzales, Texas, having tried to change many times.

This was my this was between my second and third time I tried to change. When I got out of jail, I moved to Gonzales, actually, to go try to change. My guy I met in the jails had a family there. So I said, well, maybe if I moved to a little country town, I could change.

Now, can you back up a little bit and explain why did you wind up in prison to begin with? OK, well, I started out, of course, as a kid. First time I ever got caught stealing, I was in the third grade.

I went to a hitchhike to a swimming pool with the older man. I was in the third grade, but I always hung out with older guys. And so I remember we hitchhiked to this pool, swimming pool in Normandy, Texas, Hilltop Lakes.

And we snuck in and went into the locker room and I stole some money out of a man's pants in the locker room and then went back around to the gate, paid my way in. And so that was my first encounter with stealing.

And so I got caught, you know, they somebody saw us in there and I got caught. So that was my first encounter. Of course, my punishment for that was that I began to get an allowance from my daddy so I could pay the man back.

You know, so that's that that was the extent of my punishment, just having to pay him back. And I never got allowance from my dad, but I began to get an allowance that time. So I thought, well, you know, maybe crime does pay, you know.

But that was I was I was in the third grade when that happened. And we moved from there to another town. And I kind of, you know, everywhere I went, just for some reason, I would always end up with a reputation about being a fighter and a bad dude.

And it's just something people put on to me. Right. But by the time I was in the, I guess, seventh grade, I began to steal. I went to work for a guy at a gas station and he hired me for five dollars a week.

And I'm telling you all this just kind of lead up to show you how my life began. But they paid me five dollars a week to pump gas, to help pump gas at this gas station on the weekends. But I'd pump the gas and take the money and put half of it in the register, put the other half in my pocket.

So I ended up accumulating quite a bit of money. By the time I was in the seventh grade, I began to go into people's houses at night, burglarize. Seldom got caught, but almost got killed a few times. But I had the first time and I ended up actually went into a man's house one night, took his wallet out from under his pillow.

I heard him talking to people that he slept with his wallet under his pillow. So I went into his house at night and took his wallet out from under his pillow and slipped back out to the bedroom. And I came back again another time to try and do that.

And the next morning after I did, and I did do it, but his wallet wasn't under his pillow. But the next day, my dad confronted me and it was a friend of his. And he told him that, you know, the only reason you're alive right now is because I told my dad the only reason he's alive right now is because he's your son.

And so he must have seen you. Yeah, yeah, he did. But he slept. Well, he saw me that night the second time and he slept with a shotgun that night. He just figured he started sleeping with a shotgun after that.

But I could have been killed then, right? I think I was like in the seventh grade at that time, but I began to burglarize. That's how I just began to break into houses. And in September or December of 1973, a friend of mine and I went to my hometown and burglarized on Christmas Eve night, burglarized every business in town.

I was charged with 24 felony burglaries at that time. Actually, the Texas Rangers came after me. They hid and ran from them for a couple of months. And when they confronted my dad and told him, you know, if you don't, you need to tell him to turn himself in because if he tries to resist us, we're going to we'll end up shooting him.

Right. So I waited a month or so, finally turned myself in, got a seven year sentence out of that. I actually got probation and got out and lasted two weeks on probation. And burglarized some more businesses and ended up locked back up again.

So that's my first prison time was for burglary. I think it was 24 felony counts of burglary. And, you know, I dealt drugs, took drugs myself, but never got caught doing that. Burglarized some drugs, drug stores and places that, you know, kept drugs.

But in between my second, my first and second time, I began to shoot speed and methamphetamines and I got became very violent. I beat my family up one night, but I had a lot of encounters, but never ended up getting busted.

I cracked a man's head one day for just saying something to me I didn't like. They had to life flight him to Houston to save his life. But, but those were, you know, that was my early encounters. When I, between my, my second and third time in prison, this is the time that I was telling you I decided I wanted to change.

I'm, you know, typically when I give my testimony, I got a little timeline there, but it usually takes me 45 minutes or an hour to give my testimony. But I ended up deciding that I was going to change, met a guy in jail, actually got busted for several misdemeanors and a felony, nighttime burglary of a habitation.

And I met the guy, became a friend. He was from Houston. He was in there for stealing a car. So he and I got, became good friends and had a chaplain that was coming in, bringing books and Christian books.

And there were several gangsters that he had interviewed them and taken their testimonies. And so I began to read their books. And God began dealing with me just through that, just through the books. One of them, Happy Jack Burbridge was his name.

He just died last year. But God used his testimony to, you know, plant seed in me. But that's my early, you know, my early life was burglary and things of that nature. After I tried to change there in that little country town, Gonzales.

Oh, I don't know how to even tell the story at this point, but I ended up in Gonzales, had no money. My mother wired me $20 and, you know, Ray and I decided we were going to try to get a job. So I went to a bar and gave my name out.

They told me, if you go into this bar, it's where all the oil field workers are. So if you go in there, probably find you a job. So I went in there and gave everybody, we gave everybody our name, our phone number, address, where we live, you know, call us if you got a job open for us.

But Ray told me, let's drink a beer. So I drank one beer. And then after one beer, I said, well, Ray, let's drink another one. And after the second beer, I decided I can't do this. I can't change. Tired of trying, right.

So I planned a little, you know, I don't mean to say this, you know, in a way that sounds like we're glorying in our sin or anything. But, you know, there was an old man sitting there and he drinking alone.

So I walked over and asked him if he had mind taking us home. We had Ray's grandmother's truck. So I asked him if he didn't mind taking us to Ray's house, drop off the truck and come back and party. So, but my intention was if he agreed that once he did, we'd take his car from him and go, which I did.

And he was a fire marshal there in Gonzales, World War II hero. So I took my little pocket knife and stuck it to his throat, made him get out on the side of the road. And that began our crime spree. And from then for the next two months, we just went from Texas to New Mexico to Salt Lake City, Utah, and, you know, robbing people on the way.

I had, you know, planned to, you know, if they caught me, just throw down on the police and let them shoot me, kill me. Right. So you obviously weren't enjoying this if you had that in your mind. Were you ever feeling guilt or was this very easy for you?

Did you have a completely? Well, you know, I'm kind of like I said, you know, usually when I give my testimony, there's a starting point and an ending point. But I mean, my life seemed like it was a very long process.

I mean, from the time I was a little boy, stealing here and there and then beginning, you know, to burglarize homes. And, you know, I didn't, you know, it wasn't until I got locked up, I guess. I went to a boy's home when I was 15.

And while I was locked up, I knew something was missing, right, in my life. And that's as a young boy. I didn't have any, like I said, any Christian upbringing. So I got charged for burglary. And of course, being a juvenile, they don't charge you with the crime.

They, you know, they charge you as being a delinquent, right? So they took me to court and tried me. I was the first juvenile to have a jury trial in Brazoria County in the last 30 years. But they're not finding you guilty of a crime.

They're declaring you a delinquent child, somebody whom your parents can't control. So I had a jury trial. And it was kind of funny because a lady that was a Pentecostal lady, who was one of my friend's mother, told me she was going to be praying for me.

And I remember when they sent the jury into the jury room, I walked over. It was the middle of July and it started thundering. And I mean, the clouds rolled in and this huge storm rolled in. I looked out the window and there was my friend's mother driving by with her hand out the window praying.

It started sleeting. And I mean, it was a huge storm. But the jury came back out of the jury room and deadlocked. And so, which means they couldn't reach a verdict. So they deadlocked and I was released.

Of course, they tried again, tried me again, and finally declared me delinquent the second time. But I knew, again, there was a seed sown there with Miss Brown, because she was always trying to witness to me.

I was the town thug, you know, so she would always witness to me. One of her daughters was my girlfriend at the time. But again, not too much later, they finally found me delinquent, took me away from my parents and put me in a youth prison.

That was my first time. While I was there in the diagnostics unit in my first cell, I remember sitting there and thinking, something's got to change. Because I've been in trouble since I was 10 years old.

But there was a little Gideon Bible there. On the desk that they, somebody put there. So I remember just sitting there thinking how terrible my life was and knowing something needed to change. And I picked up that little Gideon Bible.

And I never read the Bible, but I remember thinking, well, Matthew's my favorite book in the Bible. So I flipped it open to Matthew and it fell open to the Beatitudes. And as I read the Beatitudes, you know, I guess the first time God really convicted me.

I just realized that I needed to change. But when I read the Beatitudes, blessed are the poor in spirit, blessed are those that hunger and thirst after righteousness. You know, as a young boy, I didn't really understand all of that.

But I knew that if I was going to be a Christian and if I was going to have a different life with God, that that's the kind of person I would need to be, right? I understood that just reading the Beatitudes, but I didn't want to be that, right?

I wanted to have a change, but I didn't want what it took to have the change, in other words. So I just, you know, I set that aside and they sent me on to my next building, their next, they call it a school, but kind of a prison farm for youth.

And my bunk partner's name was Matthew and he was a Christian. So I spent the next eight months every morning with Matthew witnessing to me, quoting scripture to me. I got out of that about eight months later.

Within four months, I went on a little burglary spree I just told you all about. And I ended up with 24 felony counts of burglary, made a deal for probation, got out on probation for, I think it was five days, within five days, I was locked back up for probation violation and sentenced to seven years.

I remember when the Texas Rangers stopped my dad, my dad came and told me, son, the Texas Rangers stopped me and told me that if you don't give yourself up, if you don't stop right now, then you, well, actually they told him at that time, if you don't stop right now, you're going to end up in prison.

But I remember telling my dad, my dad was a drinker. He just said, if you don't stop, you're going to end up in prison. So that stayed in my mind. But that day when I got the seven-year sentence and they took me in there and threw me in the cell and turned that key and shut that big metal door, as soon as I heard it clang, I could hear my dad just telling me, son, if you don't stop, you're going to end up in prison.

So I did the seven-year sentence. I did four years and eight months on that, made parole. Actually, while I was in there, I had somebody bring marijuana into the prison for me. I was a trustee. So I had an opportunity to have kind of a conjugal visit.

While I was in there, I had marijuana brought in, planted marijuana seeds and got busted while I was in prison. Now, what does a trustee in prison mean? What does a trustee mean? Well, number one, and the reason most men want to be a trustee is because you get what they call good time.

As a trustee, when you do a year, you get a year. They give you a year off your sentence for every year you do. Typically, for every year they give you, at that time, they would give you two-thirds of a year.

They call that good time. But a trustee is someone who gets a status where they can go outside and walk around by themselves without a guard over them. So I became a trustee. They put me in the chicken house.

They're raising chickens. But I could go in and out, trusted by the warden. Now, were you married at the time? Because it's interesting. No, no, at that time, yeah, I was 17 years old when they locked me up.

And they gave you conjugal visits, even though you weren't married? No, no, not conjugal. I said, you know, kind of conjugal. In other words, I could, maybe that's not the right word. Let me back up. Contact visits, I should have said.

I'm sorry about that. So they gave me contact visits. And of course, you know, this prison that I was at was right there in my hometown in Brazoria, Texas. So, you know, I became kind of an anomaly there.

Here, I'm from this town. And the warden lives not far from there himself. And all the guards and all the ranking officers, they all, they didn't know me personally, but they were all right there from that town.

So when they made me a trustee, of course, you know what that means, they're trusting you, right? So after about six months of being a trustee, I brought marijuana in and planted it in the chicken house, you know, took the seeds out, planted it in the chicken house and started smoking it.

A guy in the, you know, the work with me snitched on me, right? He didn't want to, he'd been here for long years and he didn't want to get in trouble. So he snitched on me. Long story short, I got busted, lost my trustee job.

They took all of my good time that I had earned. And put me back to square one and then shipped me to a maximum security unit in Rochere in Texas. So I finished out my time there at that maximum security prison, gained a reputation.

I began, you know, instead of getting in trouble, I started working hard and guards liked me and I became the lead row in my squad. And so after, I guess it was like a year and eight months, they gave me my trustee time back.

They gave me my good time back and I actually made parole. I got out, stayed out about eight months, I think, and ended up getting my parole violated for methamphetamines for taking drugs. Yeah. So. In fact, let's pick up right where you left off about being arrested for methamphetamines because we have to go to our first commercial break right now.

Okay, well, actually, go ahead. I'm sorry. Yeah, we'll pick up on your story when we come back because we have to go to a commercial break. And by the way, I was just informed that you were completely correct in using the term conjugal visits the way you used it.

I, for some reason, wrongly thought that that always meant permission to have sexual relations with your spouse. But that's just one way that conjugal visits can take place. It could be just anybody that's a friend or a family member and no sex involved.

So I didn't know that and I learned something. Okay. By the way, we are going to our first commercial break and here is our newest sponsor, Lebanon Federal Credit Union in Lebanon, Pennsylvania. We do thank God for Lebanon Federal Credit Union.

I'm Daniel Wolford, CEO and President of Lebanon Federal Credit Union. And we're excited to be part of the Iron Sharpens Iron radio family. At Lebanon Federal Credit Union, we're proud to serve the community with six convenient locations across Lebanon County, Pennsylvania, and we're growing.

We offer competitive rates on everything from loans to savings and we're dedicated to providing top-notch member service. We pride ourselves on the credit union movement of people helping people. We are deeply involved in our community, supporting local events and organizations that help make a difference.

When you join Lebanon Federal Credit Union, you'll immediately notice the difference. Our focus on meeting your financial needs with personal care and a friendly touch. LFCU can also offer you better rates and lower fees than our competitors.

To find out more, please visit us online at LebanonFCU .org. Membership eligibility is required, federally insured by the National Credit Union Administration. Terms and conditions apply.

Armored Republic exists to equip free men with tools of liberty to defend God-given rights against the twin threats of tyranny and chaos. If you own a rifle to resist tyrants and criminals, then you should own body armor and a med kit for the same reasons.

A rifle stops evil, body armor and a med kit keep you in the fight and preserve your life. Armored Republic is a body of free craftsmen united to create tools of liberty. We are honored to be your armorsmith of choice.

Civilian ownership of body armor is about increasing decentralized power and by comparison, reducing the advantages of centralized power. The danger of centralized power is often represented by the word king.

As Americans, we hate the word king applied to any mere man. We are Armored Republic and in a republic, there is no king but Christ. Arm yourself with tools of liberty at ArmoredRepublic .com.

I'm Simon O'Mahony, pastor of Trinity Reformed Baptist Church in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. Originally from Cork, Ireland, the Lord in his sovereign providence has called me to shepherd this new and growing congregation here in Cumberland County.

At TRBC, we joyfully uphold the Second London Baptist Confession. We embrace congregational church government and we are committed to preaching the full counsel of God's word for the edification of believers, the salvation of the lost and the glory of our triune God.

We are also devoted to living out the one another commands of scripture, loving, encouraging and serving each other as the body of Christ. In our worship, we sing psalms and the great hymns of the faith and we gather around the Lord's table every Sunday.

We would love for you to visit and worship with us. You can find our details at trbccarlisle .org. That's trbccarlisle .org. God willing, we'll see you soon. I'm Dr. Tony Costa, professor of apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary.

I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love, Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Corham, Long Island, New York, pastored by Rich Jensen and Christopher McDowell.

It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God like the dear saints at Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Corham, who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of Christ in his holy word and to enthusiastically proclaim Christ Jesus the King and his doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island, and beyond.

I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love as I have. For more information on Hope Reformed Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.

That's hopereformedli .net or call 631 -696 -5711. That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reformed Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island, New York that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.

Greetings.

Greetings. This is Brian McLaughlin, president of the SecureComm Group and supporter of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron radio program. SecureComm provides the highest level of security systems for residential buildings, municipalities, churches, commercial properties, and much more.

We can be reached at securecommgroup .com. That's securecommgroup .com. But today, I want to introduce you to my senior pastor, Doug McMasters of New High Park Baptist Church on Long Island.

Doug McMasters here, former director of pastoral correspondence at Grace to You, the radio ministry of John MacArthur. In the film, Chariots of Fire, the Olympic gold medalist runner Eric Liddell remarked that he felt God's pleasure when he ran.

He knew his efforts sprang from the gifts and calling of God. I sense that same God-given pleasure when ministering the word and helping others gain a deeper knowledge and love for God. That love starts with the wonderful news that the Lord Jesus Christ is a savior who died for sinners and that God forgives all who come to him in repentance, trusting solely in Christ to deliver them.

I would be delighted to have the honor and privilege of ministering to you if you live in the Long Island area or Queens or Brooklyn or the Bronx in New York City. For details on New High Park Baptist Church, visit nhpbc .com.

That's nhpbc .com. You can also call us at 516 -352 -9672. That's 516 -352 -9672. That's New High Park Baptist Church. A congregation in love with each other, passionate for Christ, committed to learning and being shaped by God's word and delighting in the gospel of God's sovereign grace.

Hi, this is John Sampson, pastor of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona. Taking a moment of your day to talk about Chris Arnzen and the Iron Sharpens Iron podcast. I consider Chris a true friend and a man of high integrity.

He's a skilled interviewer who's not afraid to ask the big penetrating questions while always defending the key doctrines of the Christian faith. I've always been happy to point people to this podcast, knowing it's one of the very few safe places on the internet where folk won't be led astray.

I believe this podcast needs to be heard far and wide. This is a day of great spiritual compromise, and yet God has raised Chris up for just such a time. And knowing this, it's up to us as members of the body of Christ to stand with such a ministry, in prayer and in finances.

I'm pleased to do so and would like to ask you to prayerfully consider joining me in supporting Iron Sharpens Iron financially. Would you consider sending either a one-time gift or even becoming a regular monthly partner with this ministry?

I know it would be a huge encouragement to Chris if you would. All the details can be found at ironsharpensironradio .com where you can click support. That's ironsharpensironradio .com.

I'm Pastor Bill Shishko of The Haven, an Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Comac, Long Island. I hold the Iron Sharpens Iron radio program hosted by my long-time friend and brother, Chris Arnzen, in the highest esteem, and I'm thrilled that you're listening today.

I'm also delighted that Iron Sharpens Iron is partnering with one of my favorite resources for Reformed Christian literature for decades now, Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service. Well, with the economic nightmare that we're all currently enduring, cvbbs .com, I want to enable you to build a wonderful personal library of the best literature that the Reformers, the Puritans, and the great Christian minds of today have to offer and at affordable prices.

Not only does cvbbs .com offer up to 50 off retail prices, but you'll get an added 5 off orders of $50 or more by using promo code IRON, I-R-O-N, an added 5 off all of your orders of $50 or more from Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service.

That's cvbbs .com, making the joy of reading the finest in Christian literature more affordable. Oh, and make sure that you tell them you heard about them on Iron Sharpens Iron radio.

I'm Pastor Keith Allen of Linbrook Baptist Church, a Christ-centered, gospel-driven church looking to spread the gospel in the southwest portion of Long Island, New York, and play our role in fulfilling the great commission, supporting, and sending for the spread of the gospel to the ends of the earth.