August 1, 2022 Show with Jerry Johnson on “Valuable Lessons I Learned from God After a Stroke”

Live from the historic parsonage of the 19th century gospel minister George Norcross in downtown,

Carlisle, Pennsylvania 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

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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 who are listening the live streaming at iron sharpens iron

Radio .com. This is Chris Arnzen your host of iron sharpens iron radio wishing you all a happy Monday on this very first day of August 2022 and I am so thrilled after a seven -year absence

We have as a returning guest today. My old friend Jerry Johnson who is a renowned reformed

Christian apologist a Documentarian and producer of the very successful DVD series

Amazing grace the history and theology of Calvinism today. We are going to be addressing valuable lessons

Jerry Johnson learned from God after a stroke and It's my honor and privilege and joy to welcome you back to iron sharpens iron radio

Jerry Johnson Thank You brother Chris good to be here Well, Jerry, I have been receiving a lot of emails

And Facebook messenger questions from listeners who heard that you were going to be on the show today

And pretty much they're all saying the same thing what happened to Jerry he disappeared off the face of the earth

We used to love against the world that recurring Documentary style

YouTube Production that you had it was a video production nonetheless. I don't know if it was on YouTube but and your books and other things that were coming from your mind heart and soul and pen and voice so the last time as I mentioned that you were on this program was seven years ago,

I had the Honor and privilege to discuss with you a very important issue

It was your documentary before beware of false prophets the case against Charles G Finney Which is a mind -blowing eye -opening documentary about the

The serious heresies of Charles Finney, which really put him well outside of the authentically

Christian camp and even knowing this to be true there are

Amazingly many fundamentalists to this day Who tout Charles G Finney as one of the greatest?

Christian heroes of the faith for the last 2 ,000 years

But that was the last time we were on seven years ago. So exactly September 9th 2015 which is the same year iron chirping

Zion radio Relaunched after we moved from New York to Pennsylvania. So give us a update on all the things that have

Transpired since that date in 2015 until now All right.

Well, let me say this. I'm gonna start off with that video Beware of false prophets.

I read a review a while ago and It was quite evident the guy never watched a documentary and Let me just pause here real quick and make a statement since my stroke

I do get tired talking and I Swear my words.

I start slurring my words and if I do that and you have to ask me to repeat myself It doesn't hurt my feelings.

So I just want to let you know that and let your listeners know that I've had a couple of people tell me

I sound the same but It's slowly coming back. But anyway, that's one thing.

Let me talk about the Charles Finney video Like I said,

I read this review a couple of years ago and it was quite evident The guy had not watched the documentary

Because this was not our reformed Calvinist versus our

Arminian video Um, John Wesley was an Arminian.

I do believe as long as he was John Wesley was still my brother in Christ.

I Would say that about any evangelical Arminian. I believe they're wrong But I'm the gospel itself.

They don't understand what they're saying, but they still believe it Charles Finney did not believe the gospel and that was the sharp district distinction

He was actually a Pelagian and he really believed that you made yourself righteous

By obedience to the law of God. We both know that the law does not provide

Salvation it points the way to salvation you can never measure up and that's what the law does

It exposes your sin and points you to Christ and if you are not pointed to Christ Quoting again,

John Wesley if you deny total depravity or original sin, which

Finney did You are still a heathen. That is not me talking. Although I agree with it.

That is John Wesley Yeah, and that that actually came up and your documentary actually came up very recently

When I was interviewing a man, dr. David Lawrence who was for many years most of his life in fact a member of the

Church of Christ a minister in the Church of Christ and a professor at one of their most prominent universities

Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee and and we brought up the fact that many that not all we have to be careful not to brush the

Church of Christ because Each congregation is independent and autonomous.

So they're not a cookie cutter but many within The Church of Christ are just as Pelagian as Charles Finney.

Yes, they are. That is true and We'll let you know. I'll let you know this

Chris. I was an Evangelical Arminian and I was actually debating a

Church of Christ Representative on TV over baptism and I was one that believed

That although you should be baptized it's not a

Part of saving faith you if you will If you're not baptized, you know, you're not baptized

And The guy looked at me and so I'm sorry I looked at the guy and I said if you stood before God's throne basically question

If you stood before God's throne, and he asked you why should I let you into my heaven?

What would you say and the Church of Christ apologists said?

Well, I was baptized. I did this I did that I joined the right church that had the right name blah blah blah and I looked at him

I said, you know what? Your problem is you said hi And that's right.

That's pretty much what David Lawrence said as well when in his description of his Question to many in the

Church of Christ as well Yeah What would you say

I would say I believed and he looked at me and he said well, that's the thing And I realized he was right

Why in the reformed faith we emphasize either the grace of God by faith in Christ and I think

I think Yes, and I think a good answer would be to Repeat exactly what the tax collector said in the temple after the

Pharisee was bragging about himself in prayer That God be merciful to me a sinner

And that's it. God be merciful To me. I'm sorry. God be merciful to me a sinner.

You're right. Amen So anyway, I just wanted to say that Let me go into as most of your listeners probably know by now.

I had a stroke and I can honestly say that was the worst day of my life

They actually did not think I would live I mean I had a massive

Brainstorm stroke and and how long ago was this? Three years ago now

Okay And it was February 7th 2019 and tell us all the sit and tell us all the symptoms and everything that led to that All right.

What what happened was about 10 days before my eyes started getting really

Blurry and double vision, but only for about two or three minutes and that only happened three times

The last time it happened I thought you know, I better call my doctor there's a friend of mine and I called him and he was in one of the patient and one of his

Nurses said can you tell me what the problem is and in my own stupidity?

I said no And I said, I'll call back later and I never did and come to find out

Um He probably would have sent me to the hospital right away Now all of this

Happened because six week or six weeks earlier My wife and I have been going down 81 and a thin like truck slammed in the back of our car and totaled it

Praise the Lord. Neither of us were hurt But of course I threw myself in front of her because I didn't want her to hit the dashboard and when

I did I hit the windshield and Although we can't prove it because it was six weeks later.

My doctor thinks that's what led to the stroke, but we can't prove it so Speed up to February 7th

My wife I had parked behind her and we had a you know a single car driveway and What I did was

I usually went out and moved her my car and scraped the ice from our windshield before she left for work and All of a sudden this day

I started not feeling good I started getting sick to my stomach and So I went the room that my

Middle son Jacob had occupied. I wouldn't lay down in the bed.

No, he was no longer there He had moved out with him and a friend while living together. And so I laid down in the bed and I did regurgitate at one point and But it wasn't much

But I could remember laying down in the bed and I guess I fell asleep and my wife

Tracy came down and said Are you okay? And I said, yeah,

I'm just feeling a little bit under the weather She goes over here. Are you gonna move my car?

And I said, you know, I just take mine. I don't want to move and She said are you gonna be okay?

And I said, yeah, I think so and she said I'll stay at home if you want me to And I said, yeah, that'll be all right and so she left and I tried to go back to work and I still didn't feel right and I decided just to log off and Do it tomorrow or whatever?

And I went upstairs and I thought yeah, I'll turn on the TV and I'll fall asleep on the couch maybe

I'll feel better when I wake up and My youngest son was home and I Could tell all of a sudden my right side

Started getting paralyzed My voice box started to go and I thought

I'd better say something before I can't talk anymore and My youngest son.

He usually has or I had his earbuds and I don't know if he does it more So I I called out to him.

I said by the way, he's named after Benjamin Breckenridge Warfield great name, so I said

Ben come here for a second, please and he comes upstairs and he goes what's the matter? And I said you better call an ambulance and he looked at me and he goes, are you joking?

And I said no and He called the ambulance and may of course

I walked downstairs. I walked down the stairs But I had to hold on to make sure

I wouldn't fall Because I'm a big guy, I'm like six foot four and I weighed 250 pounds

And I didn't want those ambulance drivers to have to carry me downstairs. So The ambulance got there pretty quick and the guy started checking me out and he goes

I don't know I think you're having a stroke and They put me in the ambulance and I heard one of them say should we go to New River Hospital, or should we go to Pulaski Hospital?

Pulaski Hospital is actually it's very small and the New River Hospital is bigger

But it's about 20 miles away and the Pulaski Hospital was about Seven miles away and I heard the guy go

This guy's having a stroke. We better go to the Pulaski Hospital and about halfway

There I realized I didn't want to talk anymore they took me off the ambulance and That's the last thing

I remember really And I was out for two or three days

Wow, you were unconscious for two or three days Yeah, and I was in the hospital for 45 days

Wow, they did they did not think I would make it through the night Praise Lord I did now.

I want to get back to that in a second Then they said I would never walk or talk again all

I would have in is Locked -in syndrome and all I could do is move my eyes and I proved them wrong on that They said

I would never walk or talk again, and I proved them wrong on that. I work out now three to four times a day and I mean,

I'm even walking Up and down our street with ankle weights on and weights in my hand without holding on to anything

So praise the Lord. I've come a long way We'll get into that in just a minute, but I wanted to go back and say this

Like remember my Yeah, I have those moments every single day many times a day

Yeah, in fact, I just read a meme on Facebook recently that said, you know

You're getting old when you can remember the lyrics to 1980s songs Far better than you know, why you walked into the kitchen

Well, you were talking about how you were on in the hospital for 45 days this is after being unconscious for three after your stroke and So what

Come back So do you have any questions

Well, I would like to know what was going on in your mind as a believer

Not all believers react The same way when they are experiencing a frightening crisis

The strongest of believers can react differently some Might remain very calm

And be a perfect guy That was me. I remain very calm. Although I would tell you

I didn't like it. Of course I mean, that's obvious I've had some people they say hey brother.

Why do you think God let you go through this? and You know,

I produced I've written Documentaries I pretty are written numerous articles.

I published numerous books I've written a couple so Why would

God let this happen to me and I'll give you a short answer. Why not me?

Because the only thing I deserve is the wrath and curse of God. I am in continual

Manifest Rebellion against his glory and his majesty Every breath

I take and all I could do is God all I could do is cry out God have mercy on a poor pitiful sinner like me.

That's all I could do Just like the tax collector Yeah, just like the tax collector

I believe in total depravity and when people ask me why do you think

God let this happen to you? That is my answer Really what

I deserve is hell for all eternity. It's pure grace that God saved me

It's pure grace that God let me live. Now. I know what I wanted to say ain't up, you know, it's kind of a 50 -50 if you will people say to me aren't you glad you didn't die?

The Bible tells us to be absent from the body is to be with the Lord Do you think being with the

Lord would have been a bad thing? No, I Mean, I'm glad you let me live.

But at the same time, I'm kind of disappointed That doesn't that doesn't mean

I wouldn't strike me dead right now That that is the thing

I think about sometimes how close was I to be in with Jesus, you know

So really Death doesn't scare me anymore, especially when you come that close to it

I mean it really never did before I always hated the idea of how

I was gonna die But I know I am gonna die because the wages of sin is death

How do I know I'm a sinner because the wages of sin is death. I'm going to die

Everybody will because all men are sinners and we're saved by the grace of God and We owe everything to him amen and You have had a very

Accomplished life as a Christian your Works that you've produced not only what we were just discussing the documentary exposing the heresies of Charles Finney, but the amazing no pun intended

Documentary series called amazing grace the history and theology of Calvinism Every time

I speak to somebody who is aware of that series they say that is the very best

Tool available to teach the doctrines of sovereign grace aka reform theology aka

Calvinism What was going through your mind during those?

periods of your life that needed changing that perhaps this stroke has been used of God to get you to change some attitudes or Beliefs or practices in your life.

You may have been Dealing with pride for all I know The thing that's amazing

About Calvinism is that the doctrines themselves if rightly understood humble the sinner even after they are saved and yet There is an abuse of them where people who claim to be reformed in Calvinist are very often exalted to a pride a proud full state

In contradiction of what the the doctrines teach us I'm just guessing here.

What what were things? And these lessons in fact that was the very theme that you wanted to address

Valuable lessons God taught you After a stroke so tell us about at least a couple of these before we go to our first station break

One thing I would tell you I want to go back and say this Ended video amazing grace.

And by the way, just so you know, I know I not only produced it. I was the Senior producer or the executive producer.

I also wrote it now Eric Holmberg, he's a much better writer.

I'd write like a technical journal Eric did a good job on writing it as a journey and And One of the things when

I interviewed dr. Gene D. James Kennedy, he said to me why does

God choose some people and He said quite honestly, I don't know

I could tell you why he doesn't choose us And he went into a litany of total poverty so he didn't choose us because we were wealthy or because we're good -looking or because We were righteous or anything like that.

In fact, Jerry, we're gonna have to go To a station break because we have been kicked off the air somehow

I don't know. It's a technical issue and I'm going to go to a commercial break until we figure out what's happening

Yes, just hold on and we'll be right with you and We'll be right back after these messages

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We are now back with Jerry Johnson that appears that even though there was a temporary Glitch in our broadcast that Apparently the recording never stopped.

So we still have all that content before the break you were talking about your magnificent Series DVD series

Amazing grace the history and theology of Calvinism Calvinism. How many CDs? I'm sorry

DVDs comes in that How many DVDs comes in the

Okay And I think that it is important that we inform our listeners

That unfortunately the host of that documentary, I don't know why

I'm pronouncing it that way documentary The host of that documentary Eric Holmberg has converted to Eastern Orthodoxy That and I do not say this as a as an attempt to insult

Eric or to be mean -spirited, but that is a very serious and grievous departure and I would ask everybody who?

believes in the doctrines of sovereign grace to pray for Eric's Theological restoration and his return to the truth because Eastern Orthodoxy is a is a pretty

Very seriously Dangerous departure from biblical faith.

Am I saying anything out of step here? brother You know,

I would say if somebody asked me about ether Easter Orthodoxy a real short answer would be

They have epitomized the Galatian heresy and they didn't have a reformation to correct it

There you go So let's pray And the only reason

I thought the doctor any kind of orthodoxy like that The Orthodox Church, I don't mean

Right, right. I Mean the Orthodox Church. They're not Orthodox at all, right?

And this is one thing that has always bothered me They put a lot of stock

Supposedly into what the Apostolic fathers and the post -apostolic father said

About a passage or something And I was talking with a guy.

Oh, man, it's got to be about five six years ago And He was telling

I asked him I said would you go to a two -week -old Christian for advice?

And he said no I said would you go to a baby for advice and he said no

And I said, so why would you go to the early church? They they had they were making tons of mistakes

Why would you do that? Just because it's closer to the original source. I mean look at Peter How many times was he wrong?

Yes, and in fact Paul warned Timothy To be on the lookout for wolves rising up within the church, so The the age of a theological system is not a litmus test for biblical accuracy

And and of course there are many reformed people who uh

Enjoy Let me stop you're ignoring how many people believe it

That's not a test either Right and we know We know broad is the way

That leads to destruction narrow is the gate that leads to eternal life.

We know that So and of course The study of patristics is something that we should not throw out the window

But you cannot or should not have a disproportionate Uh value of what the fathers had to say

Right, I would agree Let me quote something here if I can do it, right? I'm, probably going to flatter it was an amazing grace dvd

But uh, I read it when I was still an evangelical arminian and it was from the pen of r .c.

Sproul And I worked it into the amazing grace documentary and Rc said this he said

Church history Is never the rule. It's only a guide

If you come across a certain passage and you have an interpretation That has escaped the every notice of every other christian for 2 000 years or has been championed

By a universally recognized heretics that you ought to abandon your interpretation

Amen, and by the way, I would like to at this point plug very enthusiastically An interview

I had on april 13th 2018 With dr.

Jack D. Kinnear that spelled k -i -n -n -e -e -r He is a presbyterian pastor and a professor

At the reformed presbyterian theological seminary in pittsburgh, pennsylvania We discussed eastern orthodoxy what separates it from rome and the reformation

And that was an extraordinary interview a fascinating and edifying an educational

Interview on a subject that is rarely very rarely addressed amongst evangelicals

And I would strongly advise anybody to look that up in the iron sharpens iron radio archive iron sharpens iron radio .com

And you could type k -i -n -n -e -e -r -r in the search engine and that will come up but uh

Going on. You know what brother? Let me say these two things. Sure one. I am gonna listen to that document or that uh, interview uh podcast so Thank you for that.

Great. Let me say this about eric holmberg. Now. I have not talked to eric

I don't know if he's gone into eastern orthodoxy. Oh, I read it from his own words.

I read it from his own words Oh you did yes All right, where did you see that if you don't mind me asking it was uh a

Discussion he was having with people who were wondering why he was so silent For so long and not being engaged in public discourse

And he had said that he had converted to eastern orthodoxy And thought it was the wisest thing to do to not immediately start uh publicly

Identifying himself that way and getting involved in debate and discussion He wanted it to sink in for a while and i'm putting

Words in his mouth. He basically he in that Area of life. He was actually doing the wise thing

Uh, not that his conversion was wise in my opinion being a reformed christian But he was he was not rushing out into the arena of debate with this new faith of his

So but I saw it coming from his own Uh his own source, so, you know, these were words coming right from him

All right. Well, let me say this. I have known eric. I think the first time I met him was in 1989

So i've known him 30 something years And I will tell you this, um,

I love eric um He and I have been friends for a long time, but I will let you know

I will let your listeners know um He was blown around by every wind of doctrine and you would not believe how many times

I had to snatch him back I mean when I first met him, he was a charismatic.

He was involved in the word faith movement Uh love bitty hen

Uh all sorts of stuff then He was a just a normal pentecostal

Then he became a southern baptist. I think for a while Then he gave overtures to the roman catholic church and when

I wrote amazing grace and I sent him the script He became reformed.

I was thinking. Oh good finally And so that doesn't surprise me, but it does disappoint me

Yes, as it should any believer in the doctrines of sovereign grace And as I said,

I want our listeners to pray For eric and I repeat that i'm not trying to be mean -spirited here at all

But I just I just take these things Very very seriously. I was raised in roman catholicism and uh it wounds me greatly to Even think of the anguish of experiencing uh observing beloved family members still enslaved to superstition idolatry and works righteousness

And so therefore when I write now Now I will tell you this he was involved with operation rescue

He and randall terry were good buddies, right? And he would go and he would get arrested at these rescues

And he would be in jail and one thing I could say about the roman catholic church is they are

Pro -life they're not pro -abortion Right, although although their current pope

Gave the mass to nancy pelosi knowing that she is a believer in child murder

I saw that and uh Eric would go to jail with these guys

Roman catholics a lot of them would be there They would start crying and praying together and eric said are these people really not christians?

And I would tell him if they do not follow what jesus christ and the apostle paul and the rest of the apostles

Said about the gospel then no if they're putting their faith in their system

Then they are not Now have I ever met roman catholics that I believe were saved

Oh martin luther was a roman catholic. John calvin was a more uh, roman catholic

So you gotta say yes but at some point they come out of the church or God calls them home.

I don't know That's up to god, but I can say this with confidence if they do not believe the justification

Is by grace through faith in christ alone. They are not christians.

I don't care who they are Yes, we uh have ted in moundville

Alabama who's listening and just chimed in Say it ain't so mr. Holmberg was instrumental in my understanding the biblical gospel for the first time

Dating back to my early college years. So there's another person lamenting over this news

Yeah And you know what you never know in five years eric could change his mind again, right?

And let's pray that he does Yeah, he could and That is what i've come to expect

Right now. I do know he was very good friends with. Dr. George grant

Yes So i'd be interested How george is dealing with us? Yeah, in fact i'll ask him and i'd like to get george back on the show

Because he's such a brilliant brother And uh, i'm going to be heading to tennessee in the fall and hopefully i'll be able to share some fellowship with him before I attend the

Uh conference, uh that i'm that I am going to be where i'm going to be manning an exhibitors booth in knoxville

I know that that's about two hours away or so from franklin where george is but hopefully i'll be able to make a pit stop in franklin and And what are you doing there brother i'm manning an exhibitors booth at A conference in knoxville, tennessee.

I travel all over the country to different conferences and I set up an exhibitors booth where I Conduct on -air interviews.

I give out literature promoting iron sharpens iron radio. I have a banner hung Behind me and all of that And it has become a powerful powerful tool to spread the word about Iron sharpens iron radio over the years right now brother

The reason i'm asking is we're about three hours from knoxville. Oh, great. Well, I hope you come too and uh,

You know email me the details I will maybe i'll try I will I will tell you

Since my stroke, I am not driving. Uh -huh Well, maybe somebody has to get somebody else to drive.

Yeah. Well bring I am bring a uh, A whole contingency from you're in virginia, right?

Yes, sir. Yeah, bring a whole group of folks if you if you want In fact

In fact, I would love to see you at my pastor's luncheon as well with dr. James r white on september 22nd here in uh, pennsylvania at church of the living christ in loisville

Yeah, james and I did a conference together Back in 2012.

Yeah, I remember that wasn't it a cruise. It was a wasn't it? Yes. It was a cruise. Yes Uh, well,

I would conference cruise. I would love to see you again. In fact, wait a minute I don't think believe it or not you and I have never met face to face have we

No, sir, but I would love to have that occur for the first time uh, even though we've had

Like I said email me the details that email address

I gave you earlier And just email me there all the details and i'll try to make it now.

I did want to tell you this I even though I don't drive right now. I am taking a driver's course

My mom goes well, how'd you do and I said I only ran over three people Well, I hope they were all armenians just kidding just kidding

I I won't tell your listeners this they were all on bikes so they hadn't come

Um, we are going to our midway break right now and when we return

We're going to be trying to focus more predominantly on the theme of our discussion, uh lessons

That my guest jerry johnson learned from god after a stroke If you'd like to join us,

I got a really important one Great, and if anybody wants to join us on the air, our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com

Chris ar n z e n at gmail .com. We do have a number of folks waiting to have their questions

Asked on air and answered and please be patient with us But if you want to get in line send in your question to chrisarnson at gmail .com

Give us your first name at least your city and state and your country of residence Keep in mind folks.

The middle break is always longer than the other breaks in the show because grace life radio 90 .1

fm in lake city florida who airs this program every day They require uh us to give them uh the

The midway break so that they can localize geographically this program to lake city florida, which is a requirement of the fcc and while they do that we

Simultaneously air our globally heard commercials so please use this time wisely write down as many of the

As much of the contact information as you possibly can for as many of our advertisers as you can

So that you can more frequently and successfully respond to our advertisers And if you can't purchase their products

Use their services visit their churches, please at the very least Respond to our advertisers by thanking them for sponsoring the show if indeed you love the show and are grateful that there are people and organizations who are

Enthusiastic to share some of the money that god has given them with us so that we can stay in the air so please thank our

Advertisers and send in your questions to jerry johnson the chris arntzen at gmail .com Don't go away.

God willing. We're going to be right back after these messages Attention all men in ministry leadership

You're all invited to my friend chris arntzen's iron sharpens iron radio free pastor's luncheon thursday, september 22nd 11 a .m

to 2 p .m at church of the living christ in loisville, pennsylvania Featuring me james white of alphanamaga ministries your keynote speaker

Not only will you enjoy a wonderful time of fellowship with your colleagues in ministry over a delicious meal

But you'll also receive dozens of free brand new books Donated by christian publishers all over the united states and the united kingdom

Personally selected by chris arntzen host of iron sharpens iron radio So if you're a pastor an elder a deacon a parachurch leader or any other man in ministry leadership

Please register for the iron sharpens iron radio free pastor's luncheon today by calling 631 -291 -7002 631 -291 -7002

Or by visiting iron sharpens iron radio .com iron sharpens iron radio .com

This is james white of alphanamaga ministries hoping to see you thursday, september 22nd 11 a .m

to 2 p .m at church of the living christ in loisville, pennsylvania For chris arntzen's iron sharpens iron radio free pastor's luncheon

This is pastor bill saso grace church at franklin here in the beautiful state of tennessee

Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support iron sharpens iron radio

Financially grace church at franklin is an independent Autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of god as revealed in scripture

Through the person and work of our lord. Jesus christ And of course the end for which we strive

Is the glory of god If you live near franklin, tennessee and franklin is just south of nashville, maybe 10 minutes

Or you are visiting this area or you have friends and loved ones nearby We hope you will join us some lord's day in worshiping our god and savior

Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about grace church Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org

That's gracechurchatfranklin .org This is pastor bill sasa wishing you all the richest blessings of our sovereign lord god savior and king jesus christ today and always

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That's liyfc .org James white of alphanamega ministries here if you've watched my dividing line webcast often enough

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Hi, i'm pastor bob waldeman And I invite you to come and join us here at linbrook baptist church and see all that a church can be call linbrook baptist at five one six five nine nine nine four zero two

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Joseph piper of greenville presbyterian theological seminary sent you When iron sharpens iron radio first launched in 2005 the publishers of the new american standard bible were among my very first sponsors

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Before I return to my interview with jerry Johnson who is discussing valuable lessons

He learned from god after a stroke. We just have a couple of very important announcements to make first of all

If you love this show folks, you don't want it to disappear. I'm urging you. Please Go to iron sharpens iron radio .com

Click support then click click to donate now You could donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion

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But if you do love this show you have extra money collecting interest in the bank. You have extra money for benevolent reasons for Recreational reasons for frivolous reasons, please share some of that money with us

If you don't want us to disappear and you have the financial resources to help us Please go to irontreppantdesignradio .com

click support Then click click to donate now last but not least if you are not a member of a christ -honoring biblically faithful church

No matter where you live on the planet earth I may be able to help you find a church As I have done with many listeners all over the world in the irontreppantdesignradio audience

If it's for you or a loved one that you know does not have a biblically faithful church home Send me an email to chrisarnson at gmail .com

And put I need a church in the subject line. That's also the email address where you can send in a question to jerry johnson chrisarnson at gmail .com

chrisarnson at gmail .com Before we go into some of the specific lessons that you learn from god

Jerry I do have a question for you from david in albuquerque, new mexico He says i'm

I'm, very sorry to hear you were ill. I hope your recovery is going. Well, my question is

Will the ministry or website nysian council ever return? And his other question is there is a volume one of late great planet church.

Will there be a volume two? Well, you know we were actually working on a volume two

I will tell you this, uh, brother, um in 2012 Um We had a hard time people were putting amazing grace the first volume all over youtube and We would uh complain about it

And they would pull it down and then the next day Somebody would put it back up there.

Now. We were a small ministry and My son, I said something my son and he said, you know, you can go to join .org.

I'm, sorry What was it? I want to watch this and watch hollywood movies even before they've been released in the u .s

and I was like really and We were gonna go see the avengers

I think it was on a friday and it was a tuesday And I went to I want to watch this and there was the avengers

Before it had been released in the u .s. I don't know if they're still around And I said, uh, you know if hollywood can't stop this pirating

Or how am I gonna do it with their big legal steps they can't stop it and I noticed sales started going down now

Actually, I did that a conference with james white

Oh, I think it was in january of 2012 And we actually had the best five months that we had ever had

You know in 2012 in june We really hit a kind of a summer summer low

But it hit really hard And I was hoping that we would come out of it and uh,

September october, which we normally did Uh, you know, I didn't ever try to raise money.

I just sold products And uh, but we didn't come out of it by 2013

We had cars stacked down so much there were only three of us left and I knew right then

Uh, everything was going to streaming Uh amazing grace is on youtube

Or i'm, sorry on amazon Uh, it wasn't on netflix But uh, we had started working on amazing grace 2 the foundations for reform theology

And what we were going to do is we were going to go in to the five solas of the reformation

You know, why did the reformers say all of this? and uh Unfortunately, we we just didn't have the money.

I eventually sold the email list To a guy that had wanted it for a long time.

We were able to pay off all our bills We had a little money left over praise the lord and uh

But I I don't ever see nasian council coming back To make a long story short.

Sure. Well, thanks david and albuquerque, new mexico Please keep listening to iron trump and zion and spreading the word about the program in albuquerque and beyond well, let's start to Go through some of these very valuable lessons you've learned from god as a result of your stroke

All right. Now one thing I do I want your listeners to listen very carefully

Because this is something even though I knew it I didn't really understand the impact of it.

Now. I said I was in the hospital for 45 days I was in a uh in Inpatient therapy

And I had a hospital room and all of that the doctors came in every day

They did their stuff I couldn't really move that much. I was in a wheelchair

And I all I wanted to do was go home I want you to think about it.

All I wanted to do was go home And I could remember one day they wheeled me into the therapy room

And right in front of me was a calendar and it said like february 27th

And I knew I got to go home on march 22nd And I could remember looking at that thinking that will never happen

March 22nd is never going to happen. It's so far out there. I don't want to be here.

I want to go home I kept begging my wife. Please. Let me go home and she said no

I want you to get therapy. I want you to get better and I could just remember looking at that thinking man.

All hope is lost I'm never going home. I'm going to be here my whole life the rest of it.

That is what I was thinking And uh Now I remember the day

I got to go home. I was very excited. Although I started getting somewhat comfortable with With being in the hospital because i've been there for you know, three four weeks five weeks, whatever

And I went home And a month passed by and then two months passed by and then three months passed by And then a year passed by and then two years passed by and three years i'm looking at that now

Thinking I know as I was at therapy In the hospital all those days

But it doesn't seem like it And it was like the lord opened her eyes and said this is how eternity's gonna be

Now i'm not saying he spoke to me. I just got that impression And uh

So I started thinking about it really hard Because I looked back on it and it was like I was never at the hospital, but I know

I was there And this earth is the same way. We're looking at it.

It seems long But compared to eternity, it's very very short and a lot of people

Will prepare themselves, I mean imagine if you will a ladder and the ladder

Is really tall. I mean it's so tall it reaches out into outer space All right

And The first five rungs they're all painted Red or blue or whatever color you want

And that is your life here on earth And the rest of the ladder which extends beyond the heavens,

I mean we're talking about a real tall ladder And it just goes on and on and on that is your eternal life

And we have all sorts of people and you you had mentioned earlier about Money, and i'm sorry to bring this up.

I know you probably don't like to talk about it But i'm gonna let your listeners know this is just a side note when

I heard your appeal for money I pledge to give one thousand dollars.

I want every listener to do that Or give what they can But i'm gonna give you one thousand dollars right when we get off the line.

Oh, praise god. Thank you I want you to keep going brother and uh but uh

I looked at that ladder And you can barely see the bottom part that's painted and and it can be red yellow green

I don't care what color But but that is what? Your eternal life is like people prepare for retirement, which is only about 20 years

Maybe 15 years. I don't know Whenever the lord calls you home, but they don't prepare for eternity

And that's really what we need to be doing we need to prepare for eternity

And that is probably the most important thing that the lord showed me during all of this

Hopefully that makes sense. Yes. Yes Uh, let's see here we have

An anonymous listener who says How do you combat?

The lack of trust that may enter into your mind while you are experiencing and recovering from such a frightening trial,

I believe As far as the number of christians whom I have spoken with who are very solid in their faith and beliefs who nonetheless

Have had doubts flood their minds that god is being merciful to them and kind to them

Uh, have you experienced that at all? And how do you overcome it? Yeah, I would say

I have not really experienced that because I did a documentary four hours long on the sovereignty of god

So my stroke didn't catch god off guard secondly, I said um

You know god Our people asked me. Why would god let this happen to you?

And the crazy thing that you need to understand is why not me

That you know i'm in continual rebellion against his glory and his majesty

I sin every day I think about sin every day.

I will let you know what my sin is. I Man, even after having the stoop

I think girls are great And i've been married coming up in march 35 years, why do

I still have these thoughts? Because i'm a sinner And i'm gonna sin

And i'm you can you can uh know it because not only but you know, i'm gonna die one day so really

Me It's more than I deserve life is more than I deserve heist is definitely more than I deserve salvation is more than I deserve

Everything is more than I deserve and yet god chose to save me. Why I don't know

For his own goodwill and pleasure You know And that's all it is that's the only answer

I have I don't know, but I have never despaired. Remember when daniel and his friends were going to be thrown into the fire daniel said

To nebuchadnezzar Even if you do this, we're still going to praise the lord

And we have to have that attitude no matter what this life throws at us

Remember we're only here for a short time. I don't care if you get eaten by a tiger

We're only here for a short time And christ himself said don't fear

Him who could kill the body but fear him who could kill both body and soul

We don't want our soul destroyed. I'm still canceling my safari next year.

So There you go I don't know where eating by a tiger came from that just came out of the blue Um, one of the things that I know is that Going through trials in my life and I know full well that there are countless millions of people on this planet who have suffered infinitely more seriously than I have

But the the biggest ways that I have suffered is Experiencing the death of loved ones such as my parents and my precious late wife

And my and my oldest brother john So that's the the greatest connection

I have with suffering but all I know is my faith in God's sovereignty over all things and that he has

Orchestrated everything that occurs in heaven and on earth And it's for the good of his people who love him and are called according to his purpose that Gives me a peace

That I would never find elsewhere now, obviously People who know me know that there are times

I can get extremely anxious And fearful and worried about certain things that are infinitely less important In the grand scheme of things.

So i'm not trying to claim that I have this uh, perpetual uninterrupted rock -solid faith uh,

I do fall and Go into a reverse mode and act like an arminian sometimes

But when I remember those precious truths of god's sovereignty of all things It really gives me a peace.

I could not have received otherwise And I am amazed when discussing

Trials and tribulations with my arminian friends On paper or in their rehearsed answers they uh, really believe in a horrible

Concept of purposeless Suffering that things happen Happenstance that things happen for no reason at all and to think that god

Right and to think that god has been behind the orchestration Of these things is abominable to them

But it's the thing that's amazing is when the rubber meets the road and these same people

Are seen in funeral parlors and at the bedsides of their loved ones.

They unconsciously Behave like calvinists and think like calvinists and find and find peace and god being sovereign over all things right

I am going to look up a passage and while you do that, I will announce our email address again

While you're looking up a passage Our email address if you'd like to ask a question

And we do have a couple of people already waiting that we have to get to but send in your email to chris arnson at gmail .com

Chris arnson at gmail .com Give us your first name city and state and country of residence only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter

Did you find the verse you're looking for? Um, i'm at the uh chapter

In fact, if you want I will go to our final break And this way you'll have more time to look for it

All right, go ahead brother and this will be a lot more brief than the other breaks that we had Uh, if you'd like to ask jerry johnson a question

Send in an email to chris arnson at gmail .com chris arnson at gmail .com Give us your first name at least city and state and country of residence.

Please try to send us your question Soon because they're rapidly running out of time and there are other people waiting to have their questions asked

Chris arnson at gmail .com don't go away. We'll be right back with jerry johnson on lessons. He's learned from god after the stroke

James white of alpha and omega ministries here excited to announce that my longtime friend chris arnson of iron sharpens iron radio and I Are heading to washington dc for the g3 ministries regional conference on the theme just thinking about the bible

The conference will be held thursday september 15th through saturday september 17th

And i'll be speaking along with stephen lawson Josh vice founder of g3 ministries and daryl bernard harrison and virgil walker co -hosts of the just thinking podcast

To register visit g3min .org. That's g3min .org and click on events

Your registration will include a ticket to the museum of the bible nearby the conference venue in washington dc

So join me and chris arnson september 15th through the 17th in washington dc to the g3 ministries regional conference

Register now before they run out of seats at g3min .org That's g3min .org

Stop by the iron sharpens iron radio exhibitor booth and say hi to chris arnson while you're there

Anchored in truth ministries is the mission arm of grace life church of the shoals Based in alabama, it supports missionaries in over 13 countries around the world

Anchored in truth is in partnership with 36 church plants as well as radio stations

Theological seminaries and various programs for unreached people groups With an aim to glorify god and reach the nations with the gospel

It is a blessing to see how god has used anchored in truth in so many different contexts globally as well as locally

To find out more about this vital work worldwide visit anchoredintruth .org

As host of iron sharpens iron radio,

I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations A church i've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s

Is grace covenant baptist church in flemington, new jersey pastored by alan dunn

Grace covenant baptist church believes. It's god's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshiped and how he shall be represented in the world

They believe churches need to turn to the bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship god in spirit and truth

Grace covenant baptist church endeavors to maintain a god -centered focus Reading preaching and hearing the word of god singing psalms hymns and spiritual songs

Baptism and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship performed with faith joy and sobriety discover more about grace covenant baptist church in flemington, new jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace

.com That's gcbcnj .squarespace

.com Or call them at 908 -996 -7654

That's 908 -996 -7654 Tell pastor dunn that you heard about grace covenant baptist church on iron sharpens iron radio

Hello, my name is anthony uvinio and i'm one of the pastors at hope reform baptist church in quorum, new york

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And we are now back with jerry johnson And we have been discussing lessons.

He has learned from god after a stroke and jerry, uh Have you found that scripture verse you were looking for?

Yes, sir. I did Great. Well, let's hear it All right. First off It's in the king james version

All right, my attitude has always been if it's good enough for paul, it's good enough

Well, the reason I prefer the nasb is because if it's good enough for jesus it's good enough for me

Anyway, here it is. It's ash chapter two Now, uh

You you and I were talking about what's god called guard Did he uh know what was happening even the hairs of our head are numbered so god knows everything

But in verse 22, he says ye men of israel hear these words and this is peter

Addressing the crowd jesus of nazareth a man approved by god among you

With miracles and wonders and signs which god did by him in the midst of you as you yourselves know

Him that's jesus being delivered by the determined counsel and foreknowledge of god

So right there even christ crucifixion Was determined by his counsel in the foreknowledge of himself.

Amen So so the thing I really want that one lister he said have you ever been depressed no

Or i'm not depressed. I understand That that you know the mere fact that I have a breath right now.

I owe glory to god The mere fact that i'm not thrown into the lake of fire.

I give glory to god And uh, so even his determined counsel

Knew about this stroke before I was born and For that I take a lot of comfort in that Now people may ask me.

Do you wish this didn't happen? Yeah But god didn't ask me to Trust him

And that's what i'm doing. I'm trusting him So, all right, um,

I also wanted to make this other declaration A girl that I had grown up with we went to church together when we were both little or younger

Her name is uh, nancy hardy She had a massive stroke last night

Her brother was actually in mine and tracy's wedding 35 years ago

And I would like it if your listeners would keep nancy in her prayer I don't I don't know if she's gonna make it but uh

I knew her dad real well. I knew her mom real well I mean they used to run a restaurant and I used to go in there and Dusty and I would joke around and talk it up and I mean a lot of other things

Actually dusty and I were not believers back then Uh, but praise the lord we both are now so just uh keep nancy in your prayers

Amen, you have another question brother Yes, uh, we have uh joseph in south central pennsylvania

Is the one suffering that is very difficult to overcome

Is the suffering of losing a loved one in death? who Rejected christ to our knowledge up to the moment of taking their last breath

How on earth can we even comprehend? Of getting over such a tragedy

You know, I don't know I don't know. I will I will tell you this Nobody is going to be in heaven

That doesn't deserve to be there or that deserves to be there and nobody is going to be in hell

That doesn't deserve to be there so I really don't know that's a good question my dad died in 2014

And uh I mean periodically I will read something or watch something and I think oh my dad would really enjoy this

And I go to pick up the phone and realize he's calling now. My dad was a believer

You know, I I But somebody that's an unbeliever I have an uncle died about two

Years ago, and I love my uncle But I would call him up. Uh, he was going in for like heart surgery triple bypass or something

I would call him up. I'd say uncle one. I just want to let you know I'm going to be praying for you and he would say something obscene and then say don't bother

I don't know up until his last step Uh If we hung around with faith on the cross,

I don't know either Uh other than scripture says that he made a very valid profession of faith just before he died so the thing is

I put that in god's hands And like I said, uh What was his name?

Oh, man He was our state sproles teacher, oh, uh, that would be uh, john gershner

Right. John gershner said one time um That even if I see my mother in hell

And i'm in heaven. I will rejoice that the righteousness of god is done the justice is served and I don't know

I thought that was a good answer, but I know for a lot of people that's not condolence.

In fact Go ahead they need to do is keep their eyes on christ.

Yeah, my friend susan, uh who led me to christ in the 1980s

She has told me That in pleading with her children who still do not know christ as their lord and savior

She pleads uh to them to cry out to god for salvation to read the scripture to attend services of a biblically solid church

And she has warned them You see your mom Weeping over you now, but there will come a day when i'm in heaven

If I know you're in hell, I will shed no tear for it because I know christ's will has been done

If you continue to reject christ till the moment you died And that that's that's a that's a gutsy thing to say

Yep, it is now now do let me say this. I I want to share my testimony with your listeners

And this might help somebody out Um I was 25 years old my wife and I neither of us were christians

And my first son was born and I was upstairs, you know playing with him

He was like a month old and my wife was downstairs making dinner

And uh I I looked at this newborn baby about a month old and I could remember saying

Lord, I cannot be a father to this child. I don't know how i'm a child myself you know and uh

So I prayed lord. Help me Help me do what's right. Help me live what's right

If I need to receive christ, I because I had heard that I will go ahead and do that And I went downstairs and I told my wife now my wife was uh,

I guess uh kind of a debutante type she had all the uh fixings of a

A worldly person. She never gave god a thought or anything like that and she said oh how nice White picking fans going to church pta

You know, we're going to be the perfect nuclear family But the first three weeks

I was saved I had read the whole new testament And about a third of the old and I couldn't get enough of it and my wife realized real quick That my goal in life was not to be a millionaire

That's not my goal in life my goal in life is to honor christ in all that I do

And my priorities changed and uh That stupid prayer and i'm calling it stupid for my end because I didn't know what

I was doing. I was stupid You know and uh, but just lord help me be a dad

Help me be a a good christian help me teach him the right things lord if I need to receive christ,

I will do that And god saved me And even though I had grown up in church man, it's like my eyes were finally open

And all of a sudden I could say I wasn't any great sinner. I was just a run -of -the -mill

Joe six -pack sinner. All I cared about was drinking beer and chasing girls

That's all I cared about But all of a sudden my priorities changed

And I hope one of your investors Can take that and either share it with somebody or maybe it'll help them

Praise god praise god Uh, we have uh, bobby in hartsdale, new york who says

Would you not agree it is very dangerous when trying to comfort those who are going through a trial

To say I know how you feel Even if we've experienced certain elements of that person's trial

People are different and they react differently to different trials. Therefore.

Nobody can truly say I know how you feel But we can say let me tell you what i've experienced and how similar it is and so on That is true now,

I will tell you this it took me a long time to learn this A lot of times the best thing you could do is just be there for them be a shoulder to cry on and You know hug them and love them and you know, whatever you have to do.

Sometimes you do have to say words And I you're right I don't know how they feel

You know, I always used to say why does one person like anchovies and then another one does it

I don't know. I hate the anchovies, but there are other people that love them

Hey buzz, are you listening? That's my friend buzz in In massachusetts, he used to co -host the show with me and he loves you by the way uh, he we would share a pizza and he would get anchovies all over his half and that Disgusting taste would bleed over into my half

And i'd always be upset about it. But anyway, I would I would tell you this Uh one time eric holmberg was at my house

And he loved sardines raw sardines And he would eat them sitting there on crackers.

I would Gross, how can you eat those? But he loved sardines.

I didn't love sardines I'm, sorry You know, I don't love them but you know,

I I was even thinking about this whole And I don't like to use the term but but for uh, uh popular

Vernacular sake I will go ahead and use it I was listening to this, uh guy the other day and he was saying

Oh, I don't feel like a man. I feel like a woman And my question was how do you know what a woman feels like You're not a woman

That's a great answer I never thought of that How do you know what a woman feels like well,

I had a woman tell me well, how does she know what she feels like? She's a woman, you know

Even if somebody explains it to you, how can you identify as that?

If you're a man, you can't you don't know you might not feel like I don't even know

If you want to say you don't you might not feel like a man. You might not feel like Anything.

I don't know But you don't know either so You know, it's it's kind of a elementary if you will um

But that is one thing I would say I don't know how somebody feels now when my dad died

Again, I was sad because I was going to miss my dad But I also knew he was in heaven

So I didn't have to worry about that and i'm not saying that have you ever noticed? that on a

Facebook nobody's dad is an l I said that to my wife the other day.

Have you ever noticed that nobody is in hell? They're all in heaven Because they hear that from the priests or the ministers at the funerals

Yeah, and you know I don't know. I don't know billy joe jim bob.

I don't know his mind But I do know if he did not receive christ as his lord

That I I don't have much hope for him. Amen But I don't know until last minute what happened.

So the thing is, I don't know how anybody feels I am called to preach the gospel

And declare that christ is the only way and the rest of it is up to the lord

Amen, and I would like you to have a minute To just summarize what you most want etched in the hearts and minds of our listeners today

Uh, the thing the thing I want etched into their hearts and minds Is that god is sovereign?

Nothing catches him off guard when you are born how you are knit together when you will die

You know the lord knows everything So put your faith in that It is appointed unto all men wants to die we're gonna die there's nothing you can do about it

But god is sovereign and we need to trust in him amen and uh, jerry,

I know that you have uh Retired from ministry and you're not operating nice scene council anymore.

But is there any Contact information you care to share unless you want our listeners to contact me and i'll pass on You know what?

Just just have them contact you that would be the best. Okay Well, that would be chris arnson at gmail .com

folks if you want to ask jerry, uh a question I gotta make one more.

Uh, sure So I I was gonna give y 'all a thousand dollars, which i'm gonna do but I cannot find my wallet

So it might not be tomorrow So don't think I forgot. Yeah, I can't find it

I was furiously looking for it and I don't know what I did with it Well remind me never to go to an expensive restaurant with you

Well, uh, I also want to let our listeners know that grace baptist church of woodhaven queens, new york and soul fishing ministries

Are going to be involved in evangelism this saturday at yankee stadium when joel osteen

Will be speaking there. Joel osteen is a notorious false teacher And is tragically leading countless thousands of lives through or to the pits of hell with his false gospel and there will be uh sovereign grace believing

Christians there and if you would like to join them at yankee stadium this saturday august 6th

Go to soul fishing ministries dot org soul fishing ministries dot org and click on events

And all the details will be there For their outreach at the joel osteen crusade at yankee stadium this saturday.

I want to thank you so much Jerry for being such a superb guest and we cannot wait seven years before you return.

I want you to come back very soon I want to thank everybody who listened today and I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives

That jesus christ is a far far greater savior Than you are a sinner