Guest Host, Alex McFarland, is joined by Author & former Army Ranger, Kris Paronto, and Frank Figueroa, with Reasons for Hope.

Transcribed with OpenAI Whisper (base.en). Timestamps are approximate. Lightly cleaned for readability; quotations from on-air callers may include filler words. Use the audio player above for the authoritative recording.

1. 0:01Darkness is not an affirmative force.
2. 0:03It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
3. 0:07This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
4. 0:11It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
5. 0:16Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
6. 0:19And the philosophies of this world.
7. 0:21God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
8. 0:24Even in this dark moment.
9. 0:27Let's not miss our moment.
10. 0:29and now, the Hamilton Corner.
11. 0:33Well, good evening, everybody.
12. 0:34Alex McFarland here honored to be sitting in for a Hamilton
13. 0:38the third.
14. 0:39And this is a very special edition of the Hamilton Corner.
15. 0:43And I'm going to get right to it in just a minute.
16. 0:45I want to say what an honor it is to be
17. 0:48on the American Family Radio Network.
18. 0:50And if I sound a little bit hoarse, I am a little bit hoarse.
19. 0:54I've been on the road speaking, and I was
20. 0:56at a fantastic event in Oklahoma City.
21. 1:00And a lot of people came.
22. 1:01I mean, there was even a couple that
23. 1:03came from Amarillo, Texas as a very long drive.
24. 1:07And I was talking to everybody and praying with people that
25. 1:11came and kind of got a little bit hoarse.
26. 1:14So if I sound scratchy, that's what it is.
27. 1:17But today, we've got the privilege.
28. 1:20We're going to talk to a true American hero.
29. 1:23And if you listen to me much, you
30. 1:25know how I love our veterans.
31. 1:27My dad was a veteran come from a long line of you know service in our armed forces and today
32. 1:35We're gonna visit with Chris Peranta now. Listen to this guy's resume. He's a former Ranger second battalion 75th Regiment
33. 1:44He responded to the Benghazi attack in 2012
34. 1:49He's written a number of books the Ranger way the Patriots Creed
35. 1:53read co-author of a blockbuster, 13 hours, the inside account of what really happened in Benghazi.
36. 2:02He's just a renowned public speaker.
37. 2:05He co-hosts the Battleline podcast.
38. 2:08I mean, this guy, I'm just very honored to have him on.
39. 2:12I want you to hear his story.
40. 2:15He's a patriot.
41. 2:16He's a citizen and he's a man of God.
42. 2:20His name is Chris Peronto.
43. 2:22Here's thanks for being with us on the American Family Radio Network.
44. 2:38I have such a respect for you.
45. 2:40I don't know you well because we just met, but when my staff ran your bio across my desk,
46. 2:48I was like, I want to hear this guy's story
47. 2:50because I meet so many people, so many young people.
48. 2:54And then I see someone like yourself,
49. 2:58a family man, a man of God, a patriot,
50. 3:02a courageous servant of our country.
51. 3:06And I want to hear your story.
52. 3:08Well, I used to ask, and my wife tell you though,
53. 3:11just I'm a pretty honest guy, whatever you ask me,
54. 3:14I'm going to tell you.
55. 3:15So I always say, you know what do you want to hear?
56. 3:18but just be ready for an answer.
57. 3:19But I do want to talk about,
58. 3:22and it is cathartic for me to talk,
59. 3:25as long as I don't overdo it,
60. 3:27because I've had that on the other end.
61. 3:28I've been on the speaking tour, same as you, bro.
62. 3:30I know that works and it can wear on you,
63. 3:33but there are times, and it needs to be said,
64. 3:36especially today's day and days,
65. 3:37that it's okay to believe in God,
66. 3:39and it's okay to have faith.
67. 3:40And it doesn't make you weak and stronger.
68. 3:43And I think the story, especially Benghazi,
69. 3:47really does this portray that. So I'm honored just to be able to still talk about all these years
70. 3:52after. I mean, years have been 13 years old. Well, and let me say this, as I travel and speak,
71. 3:58and I do a lot of open mic Q&A, and I'll tell you something on the minds of many Americans.
72. 4:05There's a lot of concern, maybe not in this administration, but in the previous four years,
73. 4:11under Biden. I mean, there was a lot of concern about military preparedness, readiness. And so
74. 4:19talk to people about the state of our military and what's good, what concerns you, because this
75. 4:30is on the minds of a lot of people. Why it should be, you know, the military
76. 4:35Dickit weaker. I'm sorry. My daughter, my neighbor, she's not weak. She's always getting my her nose in
77. 4:42the business, making sure I'm okay. But, you know, it has. And people saw Afghanistan, the withdrawal
78. 4:49from Afghanistan was a is a perfect example. I mean, really was as far as showing just the leadership
79. 4:58the leadership and also the failure of leadership and that all the way the top and what that does
80. 5:04and it cost lives. You know, it's not even with us when Obama was the president, we were in Libya.
81. 5:11So, you know, over the years in seeing it progressing from 2012, even beyond that,
82. 5:17when I was in the military and joined in 1995, it does, I believe, get weaker every year.
83. 5:22And that's nothing due to really standards of what the military wants to do. It is the public.
84. 5:28It's the person. It's, oh, we can't, you know, hearts and minds. We gotta be, we gotta, we gotta,
85. 5:33that we can't be as mean, we can't mold these soldiers
86. 5:38because it might offend somebody or the PC culture
87. 5:41in fringes and that happens every year and it continued
88. 5:45and it did magnify over the previous administration.
89. 5:49Again, we all saw that.
90. 5:52But that being said, is there a way to turn the corners,
91. 5:55a way to get back?
92. 5:56Yes, there is and I know the sect F,
93. 6:01I mean, we're not good buddies or anything.
94. 6:04I think we've ever been good buddies.
95. 6:05And when he was on Fox News and I used to do interviews with him, but I do like his mindset
96. 6:11of first of all, the biggest thing was just the standards.
97. 6:14They were going to equalize those standards across the board for particular jobs, which
98. 6:18is how it should be regardless of your age, regardless of your gender, regardless of your
99. 6:22race, regardless of your religious views.
100. 6:25Here's the standards.
101. 6:26If you want to be a ranger, this is what you got to make.
102. 6:29is a good step forward. Excellent step forward. So, but do we have a lot of ground and come back
103. 6:36from after falling down that hill for so many years? Yeah, is it going to happen overnight? No.
104. 6:41But are we moving in the right direction again? Yes, we are. And all now I can say is time is going
105. 6:48to tell. But in the meantime, readiness, well, it we're even when we're even when we're not
106. 6:56not 100% we're still better than every military out there.
107. 7:02Yeah, we are.
108. 7:03Especially in the special operations community.
109. 7:05That's one thing you never have to worry about.
110. 7:08And I'll tell people that,
111. 7:09and maybe I'll meet my words later,
112. 7:12but you never have to worry about special operations.
113. 7:14You never have to worry about the toughness of rangers
114. 7:16and seals and Delta, special forces,
115. 7:19the long-tappers, pararesque, combat controllers,
116. 7:23the nice stoppers, the special operations aviation regiment,
117. 7:26they will always be held to a high standard.
118. 7:29And there's always going to be those that can't make it
119. 7:32and that have to, because they can't handle the pressure,
120. 7:34they can't handle the training.
121. 7:36But that's what it's supposed to be like.
122. 7:37That's how the military should be like,
123. 7:39even outside of special operations,
124. 7:41it just hasn't been that way.
125. 7:43So, are we as strong as we have been?
126. 7:47No, but every year, again, we would get weaker.
127. 7:50The greatest generation was a lot stronger
128. 7:52than my generation.
129. 7:53It's just how it is.
130. 7:56But are we still going down that path under that Biden administration of continually getting weaker and
131. 8:05weak fast? No, I think we are. And if you have any comfort, this represents special operations is
132. 8:13always going to be top tier. And that's our plus. That's our ace in the hole. Pete,
133. 8:21Hegg Seth, what do you think maybe the average citizen needs to know about him?
134. 8:29And, you know, let me start with this.
135. 8:33What type of, when he became Secretary of Defense just a month ago, what did he inherit?
136. 8:41Oh, he inherited a man.
137. 8:44A man.
138. 8:45You had generals or I don't know if it was a gentleman.
139. 8:48Or was I remember saw a picture when was wearing a dress going to a,
140. 8:53Oh, I mean, that's not leadership. I, yeah.
141. 8:55And that's where the D.I. and the political correctness,
142. 8:58when it creeps in to where it's affecting gay to the operations,
143. 9:01it's affecting troop morale. Yes.
144. 9:03And that is where the military just, it takes a nose die.
145. 9:07And so to be honest with, he inherited a mess, but it's,
146. 9:12he's got nowhere to go but up. So can you make it any worse?
147. 9:16No, I know, I know, and he won't.
148. 9:18He's not that type of person, at least in my opinion.
149. 9:22Again, we're not best buddies or nothing, but just having a little bit of relationship
150. 9:26with him when he was at Fox and then watching him from afar in my little hole here in Candace.
151. 9:31No, he's a commander, a soldier's commander.
152. 9:36He's one that is going to take care of the guys.
153. 9:38This is what I get from him.
154. 9:39Never served him, guys.
155. 9:41This is just my opinion.
156. 9:42this is somebody that's going to take care of the troops first and worry about the politics
157. 9:48up top, even though he's got to find a way to work in that because of where he's at. Now
158. 9:51Secretary of State, you have to play both, you have to wear both hats. But he inherited
159. 9:57something that he has nowhere to go but up and I think he will do that. It's still early,
160. 10:03like you just said, it's still very early. We got a lot of years left, but seeing how
161. 10:08he was just as a person, he's a believer of course, and that's a positive.
162. 10:17Sure, sure.
163. 10:19And then also, he's not the standard cookie cutter general admiral, former officer, no
164. 10:28offense against him, they've earned their rank, but he's not a politician now.
165. 10:32As a lot of those sect FSR, once they leave the military or if they stay in and they've
166. 10:36come three stars or four stars, I've seen it happen as a Benghazi, even with some of the
167. 10:41generals that could have helped us. It turns into no longer taking the troops that say we're
168. 10:45politicians now. He's not like that. And that's a plus. But that's Trump. Trump's not hiring
169. 10:51people that are the standard cookie cutter that we've had over the years. He's doing something
170. 10:57different out of the mold. And I believe we need that. And the military especially needs
171. 11:01that and yeah, and time will tell but I think I think we're on the right foot but off on the right foot
172. 11:07but that big said he didn't have much lower to go after what he inherited so he's got nowhere to go
173. 11:14but up. You know I loved Trump's inauguration speech back on January 20th I watched it live and then
174. 11:23watched it again on YouTube and Trump he said a lot of great things in fact I personally think it
175. 11:30It was just one of the greatest speeches in American history.
176. 11:33I really do, but he said that this government is going to be a meritocracy.
177. 11:40In other words, not DEI punch lists, but merit.
178. 11:46And of all places, it should be way in the military, shouldn't it, Chris?
179. 11:51What you'd always say, and that's why I love being a ranger, because you moved up based
180. 11:56off how well you did, whether it was in PT, whether it was in firearms, whether it was
181. 12:01drilling ceremony, you were moving up and ranked based off of how your performance was.
182. 12:07It's shit. Oh, everything should be performed. Hey, she'd just be in the military. You do well,
183. 12:12you move up. I came in and here's an example of what I believe is why it's become easier,
184. 12:21is because it's not like that anymore. I was in a 95. When I joined in 95, the physical training
185. 12:27standards were very, very difficult. I actually in that road about in Ranger way, I had made a
186. 12:33huge mistake, got thrown on the military in 9, and the 96, and I had to wait and made a mistake.
187. 12:40We all make mistakes, went back in and 99 did basic training airborne Ranger, did it all over again.
188. 12:46And just then those four years I saw the physical standards because of I had to obtain those physical standards they had dropped.
189. 12:53And for no reason of other that we couldn't get guys to pass the old PT standards so instead of.
190. 12:59Trending them harder raising them up we dropped the standards and that was a ninety nine so you've seen that that's happened every year now I'm not saying this week.
191. 13:07person people in there. But the standards have a little bit. So
192. 13:11instead of making people more accountable and making it merit
193. 13:14based where you're going to move up based off, you have to make
194. 13:16these standards so you force people you do to work harder. We
195. 13:21just went and said, No, I went, you know, we'll just lower it
196. 13:23to make it easier. Now, for a person like me, I loved it. Because
197. 13:27I could excel and excel even even more. Yeah, that wasn't how it
198. 13:32was raised. I was never raised. Let's just sell. You exceed the
199. 13:35standard and that's the standard. And then that's, to me, that's a that's a head set mentality. And
200. 13:41I think the military will get back to that where it is, Merritt based, where it is, you want to make
201. 13:47this rank, you've got to meet these standards and going back to what we first talked about,
202. 13:50setting standards the same across the board and the military is that step in that direction.
203. 13:55So I completely agree with it. And that's how I raised, that's how this is around our family,
204. 14:00This is how I was raised.
205. 14:02You're nothing's given to you.
206. 14:03You work so hard that somebody can't not not pick you.
207. 14:07Even if they don't like you, they have to pick you
208. 14:10because you are so far above everybody else.
209. 14:12Buy your performance and that takes hard work.
210. 14:15And that is something that military,
211. 14:17especially over the last four years
212. 14:19when the Biden had lost, at least from my perspective,
213. 14:22from the outside looking.
214. 14:24We got to take a quick break.
215. 14:26Give us your website.
216. 14:28it's just christono poronto.com.
217. 14:31Really easy.
218. 14:32Chris Tonto, poronto.
219. 14:35I like that.
220. 14:36Hey, Alex McFarland here, a somewhat horse, Alex McFarland.
221. 14:40Sorry.
222. 14:41We're going to come back more with Chris Poronto, Frank Figueroa
223. 14:45of Reasons for Hope, and more on this edition
224. 14:49of the Hamilton Corner.
225. 14:50Don't go away.
226. 14:51We're back after this.
227. 14:52Their mission statement says,
228. 15:03the global Methodist Church exists to make disciples of Jesus
229. 15:06Christ and spread scriptural holiness across the globe.
230. 15:10Dr. Andy Miller III says those two words, scriptural,
231. 15:13and holiness kept Wesley biblical seminary out
232. 15:16of the United Methodist Church.
233. 15:18Now they are the exact things that have set us up
234. 15:21to serve the global Methodist Church.
235. 15:23You can read the article, No Compromise, by Matthew White,
236. 15:27on thestand.net.
237. 15:35Shiding light into the darkness, this
238. 15:37is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
239. 15:41Welcome back to the program, Alex McFarland here talking with Chris Peronto.
240. 15:46And hey, he's got this podcast, the battle line podcast.
241. 15:50And Chris, how often do you do it?
242. 15:53Where can people hear your podcast?
243. 15:56Once a week, and you can hear all the streaming services, we're on Spotify.
244. 16:01We're on Apple podcast.
245. 16:02We're on Sirius.
246. 16:04So anywhere you can download podcasts that's where we're at.
247. 16:07And we just discuss honestly, we don't get too political unless the guests
248. 16:11in there, but a lot of us, again, military and law enforcement heavy. So their stories and their
249. 16:18stories of trials and tribulations that they've gone through. So I like it. I enjoyed it. And it's
250. 16:23what the partner of mine, he used to work with software, a radio, and then he was also a producer
251. 16:27with Andrew Wilkow, as Nancy and Scott. Once a week, it's good to have. It's good therapy for me as
252. 16:33well. You know, Chris, I love your insights on the military. And I always want to hear more of that.
253. 16:41but I want to hear your story. It's an incredible story of how you met God on the battlefield.
254. 16:50And tell that if you would. Share that testimony.
255. 16:53Yeah, and just full disclosure guys, I've always said God in my life. I was raised that way.
256. 16:59My mother's Mexican. I'm a Garcia. So of course, we were raised in and around the Catholic Church
257. 17:05for many, many years. And so kicking his scream in, God's always been in my life even as a young
258. 17:11sure when I didn't want to go to church. So God was always there. But as far as being a knower
259. 17:18instead of just a believer, yeah, you know, this was over 9, 11, 2012, I remember the incident quite
260. 17:27well. We had just fought our way on to the US consulate, the US consulate was wearing Master
261. 17:33of Chris Stevens was about 11 30 that evening, Benghazi time. And we were getting counter attack.
262. 17:38And the movie show did a great job. Seen 13 hours. Well, we got counter attack. The gentleman who
263. 17:43played me, Pablo Schreiber, who's still a very good friend to this day, did an excellent job showing
264. 17:48that it was a massive counter attack. And I remember hearing the bullets crack because when they do go
265. 17:55by your head, they break the sound barrier. And so it sounds like a whip cracking. And you hear
266. 17:59these cracks going by your head and then it'll hit a block wall behind you. It sounds like somebody
267. 18:03smack it with a 2x4 when you have that 762 that AK-47 around and it's pretty invigorating. I'll
268. 18:11tell you for the least but I remember there was a bad gate open in our page.
269. 18:17Forgive me. I'm not sure invigorating is the word that I would use terrifying maybe.
270. 18:23But it's perspective like anything else's perspective. That's the hints and going back to the military training
271. 18:30When you go through all that that so calm military training, and I've been 10 years overseas at that point
272. 18:35So I've been to a lot of places that was the job. So it was to be it was awesome
273. 18:41but I remember there was a back gate open and you go back to your training at a ranger
274. 18:47and they tell you when you're getting shot at what do you do and this is from the same for the ranger regime
275. 18:51this is what I was taught from a little we-high army private is that you shoot back. You don't run
276. 18:57for cover, you shoot back. Real hottopanamos where they use that example when they jumped on and they
277. 19:02were getting Noriega just caused. And so all I thought was shoot back. They look for cover,
278. 19:07took a knee and I just started shooting through this gate that they were the Esau Shuri and Al-Qaeda
279. 19:12in the Magareb were trying to come through. And I do really believe that my guardian angel was
280. 19:17sitting next to God looking at me, looking at God. And here's God. Here's my guardian angel. Here's
281. 19:22me down here and there in my guardian angel is looking up at God and going, see look at this idiot
282. 19:27that you put me. You put me to take care of it because I'm getting shot up not letting it anywhere.
283. 19:33And I really do believe we all get one, at least one in life. And I think God did feel pity on me.
284. 19:39And he goes, okay, you're not taking cover. You're going to get shot here. Everybody gets one. And
285. 19:44I used to be chill thinking about it.
286. 19:46I like a golden egg, a golden cocoon,
287. 19:49come over the top, it's like I got you.
288. 19:51And I remember feeling it and it just felt warm
289. 19:54and it felt like I had golden egg,
290. 19:56I'd been put on the top of me
291. 19:58and I knew I wasn't gonna get shot.
292. 19:59I sat there and I continued to shoot and fight him off.
293. 20:01And then I do remember my right ear drum blew out.
294. 20:05I said, huge, huge, like a gunfire right by my right ear.
295. 20:09I looked and there was this little Libyan
296. 20:11that had just taken a knee right next to me.
297. 20:13I don't know where.
298. 20:13saw him again that night, never saw him before. And in my mind, all I'm thinking, as this little
299. 20:18Libyan, he has a button down shirt slacks on AK-47 as AK mother's right next to my ear,
300. 20:24my ears are ringing. I'm looking, I go in my head, I think, ain't this the bang to send
301. 20:29God just gave me a live Libyan angel and put him right next to him. And we kept fighting
302. 20:33and then boom, got into the fight, then take that into the fight, the movie did a great
303. 20:36job showing that and we fought him off and I was unscathed. And to me, that's where I
304. 20:43became a knower and I say I was always a believer. You know, I've had my times in
305. 20:49tribute. We always have our falls where we doubt and we have that but we always
306. 20:54believe believers continue to believe but that was where it switched from okay I
307. 20:58don't believe anymore I know and I still love talking about that. I do
308. 21:05Aubrey because I always get chills and it's a good chill. It's like a warm feeling
309. 21:08talking about because you know there's something bigger in the out there. I know
310. 21:12I know there is, and I know God's out there.
311. 21:14I know God's God, man's God on my path,
312. 21:16and he's going to do what he needs to do to take care of me.
313. 21:19And I don't question it anymore, like I used to.
314. 21:22Do you know I've interviewed law enforcement officers,
315. 21:27I've interviewed many military figures,
316. 21:31and they've shared a similar story,
317. 21:34how there was a time or times where they knew
318. 21:40had God not been protecting them.
319. 21:42they would have died.
320. 21:45And that was one of the moments where I felt it was God there the whole night because we
321. 21:50had three more firefights that we got in that night.
322. 21:53That was just the first two.
323. 21:55Yes, he was.
324. 21:57Did I feel the pre…
325. 21:59I knew God was there.
326. 22:00I didn't even worry about it.
327. 22:02After that moment right there in time, he's here.
328. 22:05All right, he's got it.
329. 22:07Whatever.
330. 22:08There does come times that when you know you're out manned and you're outgunned and you
331. 22:11You just have to let yourself go over to God.
332. 22:13And I was towards that fifth firefight where it was about three in the morning where we
333. 22:18were getting hit again.
334. 22:19And it was, you know, God, you got this.
335. 22:22I'm here with you.
336. 22:23Whatever you're going to do, I'm going to continue to fight hard and I'm not going to
337. 22:26lose, but I'm a realist.
338. 22:29So here you go.
339. 22:30Do what you need to do.
340. 22:31And, but he did.
341. 22:32And he did that with all of us.
342. 22:34And we ended up, you know, we did lose Tyrone and Glenn.
343. 22:37We got hit with mortars later that evening.
344. 22:39And that's tough to fight through.
345. 22:42That is tough to fight through.
346. 22:43And I remember watching them get hit with mortars.
347. 22:45I was shooting over their heads
348. 22:47and the mortars exploded about 40 meters from me.
349. 22:49And my night vision was on and you watch the explosion
350. 22:52and everything gets, you know, the light goes white
351. 22:56because of the overbunch of light.
352. 22:57And then you see the pixie dust raining down from the explosion
353. 23:00because all those particles, the dust is charged.
354. 23:03And seeing my whole team just basically get turned to dust
355. 23:06before my eyes is what it looked like.
356. 23:07And I do remember putting my head down and,
357. 23:11and that was the one time where I did feel like we were gonna,
358. 23:14we were gonna lose, it was like, we, we,
359. 23:16how can we beat this?
360. 23:17We have been aware, support, we have no way to fight against us.
361. 23:20And I did put my head down.
362. 23:21And I remember God kicking me in the back of the head,
363. 23:23going get you gun up Ranger.
364. 23:25And I can hear my mom's voice in there too, get your gun up.
365. 23:28And just we continue to fight.
366. 23:30Last question.
367. 23:33We're almost out of time for the segment, you and I.
368. 23:36But watching that on screen, I mean, was it traumatic to watch the film edition of it?
369. 23:43Every time, but I have to.
370. 23:47I do.
371. 23:48I still want to remember and feel.
372. 23:49I think I would dishonor the memory of Tyrone and Glenn and Chris and Sean if I didn't.
373. 23:55And I do want to feel that it's not sadistic.
374. 23:58It's not, you know, where I want to feel the pain because it's something terrible.
375. 24:05I want to feel that because I was there and I want to honor them and by honoring them,
376. 24:11sometimes I've got to feel pain.
377. 24:12And so I'd be watching it once or twice a year just for that fact.
378. 24:16But yes, it's very hurtful and I cry every time, every time.
379. 24:20Listen, I want to visit more when we have more time.
380. 24:24So I got to pull away right now, but I want to thank you for this brief conversation.
381. 24:29And of course, thank you for serving our Lord and our country.
382. 24:34It's my honor.
383. 24:34Alex, thanks for having me on anytime.
384. 24:36You just ask and I'll be here, brother.
385. 24:39God bless you, Chris.
386. 24:40I bless you too.
387. 24:41Alex, thanks, man.
388. 24:42Alex McFarland here, this is the Hamilton Corner.
389. 24:46And we're going to change gears.
390. 24:47In just a moment, I'm going to bring on a friend and a colleague, Frank Figueroa, of
391. 24:51Reasons for a Hope.
392. 24:52I do want to mention we've got a speaker series.
393. 24:55If you're watching on video, you can see conversations that matter.
394. 25:01And coming up really soon, May 4th, we've got Dinesh D'Souza in Myrtle Beach, just one
395. 25:07of the greatest, I've known him 17 years, a great Christian brother.
396. 25:12He debated atheists like Christopher Hitchens.
397. 25:15D'Souza is just one of the great apologists of our time, but he's also one of the most
398. 25:21astute political analysts.
399. 25:23And you can hear him May 4th, Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
400. 25:28And a lot going on in our speaker series.
401. 25:32Please pray that if you're in this end of the world, please plan to attend.
402. 25:36The website for that is AlexMcFarlane.com slash conversations.
403. 25:42But also going on this summer are camps.
404. 25:46Our equip retreat camps for youth.
405. 25:49One of the speakers he's honestly, and I'm not exaggerating at all.
406. 25:53Figaro, a great apologetic speaker, probably the best creation versus evolution speaker
407. 26:00that I've heard like ever.
408. 26:03And I've heard a lot.
409. 26:04And he's with us now, Frank.
410. 26:06I want to say thanks for being on hold and joining us on the American Family Radio Network
411. 26:11today.
412. 26:13Aloha, and thank you for having me, Alex.
413. 26:16That's right.
414. 26:17You're, I should say, you're my favorite Hawaiian, but you're like the only Hawaiian I know.
415. 26:23But are you really good or really sad?
416. 26:27Yeah, I know because now I've been to Hawaii, I preached over there and fantastic people.
417. 26:33I mean, but why are Hawaiians so friendly?
418. 26:38I think because you're locked on an island with everyone and so you have to learn to get along.
419. 26:44If you're part of a family, that's kind of what you do.
420. 26:47You learn to make adjustments and be accepting and once again, not compromise.
421. 26:53I don't think in that in the way people think but you are on an island with all these people and there's no way off
422. 26:59So you learn to love one another and get along and the Aloha Spirit thrives there
423. 27:04Yeah, yeah
424. 27:05And Hawaii has a rich history of Christianity too, doesn't it? Yes, it does
425. 27:12starting back from when Captain Cook came to the islands and
426. 27:16other people but the idea is that we definitely have a rich heritage of
427. 27:21of people who share the gospel.
428. 27:24And in fact, it's kind of interesting,
429. 27:27the Hawaiian language, the word yessu,
430. 27:31which is Jesus' name in Hawaiian,
431. 27:34is the only word that they allow an S-end,
432. 27:37because S is not part of the Hawaiian's alphabet.
433. 27:42Alphabet, yeah.
434. 27:43Yeah, and yet yessu to not demean the name
435. 27:47of the Son of God in any way,
436. 27:49they allow it to be there?
437. 27:52Wow, I did not know that.
438. 27:54Now growing up was a Hawaiian dialect
439. 27:58or English or predominant language?
440. 28:01Well, it was kind of a mix, meaning we spoke something
441. 28:05when I was young called pijin,
442. 28:07which was a English words used with Hawaiian syntax.
443. 28:13So instead of you saying the subject before the predicate,
444. 28:17you would reverse it.
445. 28:18So in other words, like you would say,
446. 28:20kaloha y oke ke ke ke or crazy that child,
447. 28:23rather than that child is crazy.
448. 28:25So you would reverse the syntax order,
449. 28:28but you would use English words.
450. 28:29And a lot of us children in Hawaii,
451. 28:31we grew up speaking pigeon and that was kind of our way.
452. 28:34You know, when I preached over there in Honolulu,
453. 28:37they gave me a pigeon New Testament that I cherish.
454. 28:43That's one of the mementos that was given to me.
455. 28:46But I want to talk a little bit about our equip camps and reasons for hope.
456. 28:51And I apologize earlier, I'm a little bit of a horse from an event that I was in.
457. 28:57I kind of overused my voice, but tell us about your role in this great ministry,
458. 29:04Reasons for Hope.
459. 29:06I am one of the speakers for Reasons for Hope.
460. 29:09I was a pastor in Hawaii for 25 years.
461. 29:11and for the past almost three years,
462. 29:13I've been a speaker with a great ministry called Reasons for Hope
463. 29:19in which we share basic Christian apologetics
464. 29:22to the next generation to be able to teach them
465. 29:24that they can stand boldly on the word of God.
466. 29:26And part of what we do during our summers
467. 29:30is dedicate the majority of our time
468. 29:32to exactly that, reaching that next generation
469. 29:35by means of camps and being able to share
470. 29:39with those kids who attend that not only is Jesus the Savior, but there are reasons to believe
471. 29:46that He is the Savior.
472. 29:47There are reasons to believe why we believe what we believe is really real.
473. 29:52According to 1 Peter 3.15, that we should be prepared to share those reasons.
474. 29:57And so our goal is to be able to equip them with reasons so that they can share with other
475. 30:02people as well as be confident in their own beliefs in Jesus as Lord and Savior and the
476. 30:08Bible as authoritative and true? I always love to hear how people got into apologetics.
477. 30:15And so I want to hear that of your journey, Frank. When did you become a believer? And then
478. 30:23how did you discover the wonderful discipline we call apologetics?
479. 30:29I became a believer at about, well, sometime between 16 and 17, about 16 and a half.
480. 30:35I remember the month, October, I remember where I was at,
481. 30:41a little town called Iaya, and a lady, my friend's mom,
482. 30:44her name is Peggy Migliaro.
483. 30:47She was the first person I remember sharing the gospel
484. 30:50with me, just, well, was sharing scripture with me.
485. 30:54And then into the gospel.
486. 30:56And I remember one of the verses that she shared was
487. 31:00in 1 Corinthians, chapter six,
488. 31:03that these people will not inherit the kingdom of God.
489. 31:05and it was kind of a list.
490. 31:07And then I gave her the who are you to judge me speech.
491. 31:10And then her words were, I didn't judge you.
492. 31:13I just asked you to read it.
493. 31:14If you feel judged, that's between you and the Lord,
494. 31:16and you should take it up with him.
495. 31:18And so at that point,
496. 31:21shortly thereafter, within a couple of days,
497. 31:23I borrowed a Bible and went home
498. 31:25and started to read in John.
499. 31:26And I got saved.
500. 31:27Jesus found me and rescued me.
501. 31:30And shortly after that,
502. 31:32I was trying to find a church to attend
503. 31:34Bible studies to go to and there were many that weren't legit as far as solid theology.
504. 31:41And so I remember being kind of discouraged thinking, wow, this thing that I just discovered,
505. 31:47there's a lot of flaws in it. So why am I believing it? And then I don't know how it happened or who
506. 31:54gave it to me, but somebody gave me a copy of Josh McDowell's book, Evidence that Demands of Verde.
507. 31:58And that was the turning point for me because-
508. 32:03Hold that thought.
509. 32:04Forgive me, Frank.
510. 32:05Hold that thought.
511. 32:06We've got a break.
512. 32:07Alex McPorle in here, folks, with Frank Figueroa of Reasons for Hope.
513. 32:12And we're going to hear about apologetics and some of the topics Frank speaks on.
514. 32:17But like he said, and I agree, there are reasons why we believe what we believe.
515. 32:23When we say, Jesus is real, that's true.
516. 32:26We'll talk more after this.
517. 33:05and one-minute commentaries are available at aFR.net back to the Hamilton
518. 33:11Corner on American Family Radio. Welcome back to the program always a privilege to
519. 33:18speak with my friend and colleague Frank Figueroa. He's with Reasons for Hope and
520. 33:23you know he mentioned apologetics and the next generation. Regarding the summer
521. 33:30camps that we collaborate on I tell parents I'll say you know invest a week
522. 33:35that will count for a lifetime in the life of your your teenager. The website
523. 33:40is equipretreat.org. We've got so much going on there's a new camp we've added
524. 33:48in the Virginia area. About an hour from Richmond, Virginia. It's beautiful and
525. 33:56anyway we want that one to start off strong. Maybe you've got teens, middle
526. 34:01school high schoolers. We're in places like upstate New Jersey, the Hudson River Valley,
527. 34:08incredibly beautiful Temple, Georgia, Montana. Oh my goodness, the camp in Montana is amazing.
528. 34:15Biblical worldview, the gospel. We do all the fun camp stuff. The zip lines, yes, I do the
529. 34:22zip line at 61 years old and down in South Carolina there's a camp we rent and we zip
530. 34:29line and drop into the lake, it's a blast. But the best part of all, the gospel. And seeing
531. 34:36kids get saved and seeing kids get secure in defending their Christian beliefs. And somebody
532. 34:42that God uses just amazingly to this end. It's Frank Figueroa. And Frank, I want to resume
533. 34:49our conversation, but any website, where can people find you online?
534. 34:55for H.com. So that's R-F-O-R-H.com. That's reasons for hope.
535. 35:01The best way that we tell people to check us out is to download our app. Type in
536. 35:06reasons for hope. You will see the black background with the blue asterisk.
537. 35:10We use the asterisk because it represents something that's left out of the conversation usually
538. 35:15or pointing to something with greater clarification. And we believe that God and his word and his
539. 35:21son, Jesus, often bring the greatest clarification to any situation we can face.
540. 35:27So yeah, r4h.com or check out the app.
541. 35:32You know, before that commercial you mentioned Josh McDowell, that's how I literally the week
542. 35:39that I got saved at age 21, I discovered Josh McDowell books.
543. 35:45So resume if you would, tell us how, so you're looking for a church with good theology and
544. 35:51you get into apologetics, resume that part of your story if you would please.
545. 35:57Yeah, so as I was searching for a place that would teach solid theology and it's kind of incredible
546. 36:04because I had not been a believer more than a few months and I think God just allowed me to
547. 36:09have some discernment as I read that certain things added up and certain things didn't but the works
548. 36:15of apologetic writers really help get me on focus. Especially, like I said, Josh McDowell's
549. 36:22evidence that demands a verdict, I would argue there's no greater thing that we should know
550. 36:29or be able to defend than the resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You take away that
551. 36:34and everything crumbles. And so that book helps solidify me. And it helped me to see that not
552. 36:41everybody's going to see things the same way, because even within his works, he said that he asked
553. 36:49people if he could prove biblical things beyond a shadow of a doubt, how many of them would believe.
554. 36:54And the vast majority still said no. So it's not a matter of us making people believe with our facts.
555. 37:01The Lord has to draw them, but it's really important that we have the facts for people
556. 37:07who are the Lord is leading to believe so that we're able to answer the questions that may arise
557. 37:13in a way that makes sense and is biblical and accurate.
558. 37:18Over the years, do you think the objections have changed any?
559. 37:26The non-Christian of today, is there a reason for not being a believer, different, say, than
560. 37:34people that were
561. 37:36you know, pushing the gospel away say 30 years ago.
562. 37:41I would say half yes and half no.
563. 37:43What I mean by that is scoffers are scoffers
564. 37:46not because of a lack of facts,
565. 37:48but because they desire to be scoffers.
566. 37:50They're, they're, they haven't yielded their heart
567. 37:53to the Holy Spirit.
568. 37:54And so that's the primary foundation.
569. 37:56The Bible says clearly that as the Lord draws,
570. 38:00He leads someone to understanding.
571. 38:02and therefore it's not a lack of evidence that we have.
572. 38:08And so part of it is the same,
573. 38:11but I would argue that some things are a little different.
574. 38:13Like let's take the pro-life stance
575. 38:17that we have as believers.
576. 38:19There is such a vast wealth of evidence nowadays
577. 38:24with sonograms and ultrasounds and all kinds of different things
578. 38:29to show that there is actual life happening in the womb,
579. 38:32that there's certain scientific arguments
580. 38:35that may have been on the table,
581. 38:37maybe 40, 50 years ago that aren't any longer,
582. 38:41because we can actually see what's going on.
583. 38:44In fact, Bill Maher came out,
584. 38:46and this was several months ago,
585. 38:49but he said, we have to acknowledge that abortion is murder,
586. 38:54and he was dis-okay with that.
587. 38:57And because he said that the facts no longer lead us
588. 38:59to believe that it's not.
589. 39:01And so although it's sad that he still holds
590. 39:04the same position, his point being what people
591. 39:09were in the dark about 40, 50 years ago,
592. 39:12a lot of the scientific community has lifted the veil
593. 39:16in some regards and so people are no longer there
594. 39:20for the same reasons.
595. 39:21who sadly died in 2012 and I debated Hitchens and then moderated a couple of his debates,
596. 39:34had him on the radio actually, but he became very pro-life based on the science.
597. 39:41And much to the consternation of many of his atheist buddies, that's why we were always
598. 39:49hopeful that he might become a Christian. There's no evidence that he ever did, sadly. But he
599. 39:55did become very vocal and pro-life and he said, look, it's undeniable. Life begins at
600. 40:00conception and whether it's a day or nine months, that is a human being.
601. 40:08And so, at least in that regard, science is not the enemy of belief. I mean, the scientific
602. 40:16evidence. I'll ask it this way, Frank. Christians are not anti-science necessarily, and we don't
603. 40:24have to be, do we? No. And I think, well, God is the creator of science. He's the one who
604. 40:30establishes all laws. And therefore, the scientific laws that we have are because of him. So you
605. 40:38would want to think, and I would say have to think, that ultimately, science and God being
606. 40:46the Creator go hand in hand, that we actually see it for what it is.
607. 40:51And God has allowed us to not only recognize Him through His Word, but through the creative
608. 40:56world.
609. 40:57Jesus, when He spoke, He said, consider the lilies of the field, consider the birds of
610. 41:02the air.
611. 41:03In other words, look at these natural phenomenon things that you can experience and see that
612. 41:09what I'm saying and what you see, go hand in hand together.
613. 41:15And so I think it's a great thing to see what both sides have to offer, but if we're truly
614. 41:21honest, we will see that both sides will lead us to the same conclusion, like it says in
615. 41:26Isaiah 45, that he is God and besides him, there is no other.
616. 41:32Fred, when you were pastoring for a quarter century, did you incorporate a lot of apologetics
617. 41:39into the evangelism and discipleship of your church?
618. 41:44Yes, it was a big thing for me and it was a big thing for the youth pastor that was working
619. 41:49with me.
620. 41:50And so because he was actually a science teacher and one of the best that Hawaii has ever had,
621. 41:55his name is Dave Help, and he's now the lead pastor of that church.
622. 41:59But because both of us believed in bringing biblical authority as well as scientific validity
623. 42:09into the same realm.
624. 42:12We spoke a lot on Christian apologetics.
625. 42:14And in fact, I used to run an archery program
626. 42:16called Center Shot Hawaii in which many of the kids,
627. 42:20that's what we would do.
628. 42:21We would do Bible studies and we would learn basic
629. 42:22Christian apologetics.
630. 42:24And you would see that it would help them to understand,
631. 42:27wow, there is a reason to believe what the scriptures say.
632. 42:31And yes, we believe it because God said it.
633. 42:34But when we look at the outside world,
634. 42:37we will see that it is true in that realm as well. So yes, there was a tie-in for sure,
635. 42:44and it was a big thing for me, and it's kind of interesting because almost every one of my
636. 42:49presentations that I have now with reasons for hope, my church was the guinea pig for the ideas
637. 42:56as I was getting them organized in my mind and laying out how to present them. And so I
638. 43:02I owe YPO Grace, Brother in Church, and Calvary Chapel Pearl Harbor both a lot of credit to
639. 43:07helping me be the person that I am, both biblically as well as apologetically because they allowed
640. 43:14me to work in a way that formulated the ideas and solidified it in my own mind so that I'm
641. 43:19able to share it with other people.
642. 43:21Frank, what advice do you have for pastors, church leaders, youth ministers that want to
643. 43:30integrate worldview and apologetics content. Do you have any steps you recommend for people to get
644. 43:37started? I would say start with the Bible, because the Bible is authoritative and it is true.
645. 43:44And I am a biblical presuppositionalist, meaning I believe that if I had no other evidence,
646. 43:50I still believe God's word because he's the one who said it and spoke. And so,
647. 43:55or that's what I trust. But I would encourage them to not be afraid of scientific things
648. 44:01or apologetic things and to be able to share it in such a way that is honest because when they do
649. 44:08that, they bring reality and a connection point to the people that they are with. And once again,
650. 44:15Jesus did that on a regular basis. He talked about storms. He talked about the agriculture. He talked
651. 44:23about these different things that people could observe and brought them to a point where you
652. 44:29compared that to what he said and it made it make sense to the people. And the last thing I would
653. 44:35say in regards to why they should do it is because the young people are hungry for a reason to believe.
654. 44:42They are wanting it badly and they are being inundated with social media and a bunch of other
655. 44:50the platforms that teach contrary things.
656. 44:53And so if we are able to answer those things that are contrary,
657. 44:57in a way that is, I use the acronym CAB,
658. 45:00Compassionate, Accurate, and Biblical.
659. 45:04And if we can do it in that way and reach the next generation,
660. 45:08then we're not only reaching souls,
661. 45:11but we're building a foundation into the future
662. 45:14that will be solid and have longevity to it.
663. 45:18This is great.
664. 45:20One final area that I want to bring up is you travel and speak. I know you're on the circuit,
665. 45:28the summer in the camps. And by the way, the youth apologetics camps equip retreat.org.
666. 45:35And I'll be there and Carl Kirby and Dave Glander. It's just a great team of people.
667. 45:41But are you available to come to churches and teach apologetics?
668. 45:45Absolutely. In fact, April and I, my wife, and I, because we drive everywhere we go to make things
669. 45:53cost-effective, we are constantly looking for schools, churches, youth groups. And sometimes people
670. 46:02say, well, we can't afford to get an apologetic speaker, but if we're in the area, it really doesn't
671. 46:08cost much at all. We tell people just make it a love offering to the Lord. And if we're there,
672. 46:13we'd love to do it because we're already in areas speaking at the camps in different things. In fact,
673. 46:18we'll be at seven different camps. Like you mentioned, Montana, Cedar Falls, Georgia, South Carolina,
674. 46:25Elgin, Illinois, Virginia, and New Jersey this year. And so if any churches or anybody around
675. 46:31the area, schools, whatever that start early, would be interested in having us, just let us
676. 46:36know reach out to us at rfohr.com and if I'm available I would be glad to come and share to
677. 46:44whomever the Lord would allow. So you and April you drive all over the continental US?
678. 46:50Yes so far in two years and nine months I just did the numbers today. I've spoken to
679. 46:56this under 50,000 people and spoken, sorry, 550 different messages and driven a hundred thousand
680. 47:06miles. And it's just incredible what the Lord has allowed us to do. And so we are just beyond
681. 47:15grateful that he would count us worthy to be able to do this.
682. 47:20The Lord is good. Sometimes we'll have to get together and share evangelist stories because
683. 47:26I've done my share of traveling too and still am.
684. 47:29But hey, I always love to ask people the books
685. 47:34other than God's Word, the Bible.
686. 47:37If you had three books on a desert island quickly,
687. 47:41what three books besides the Bible
688. 47:44are must-haves for Frank Figueroa?
689. 47:48Wow, there's so many.
690. 47:50I would say mere Christianity was one
691. 47:56that really helped me the cost of discipleship by Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
692. 48:02Yes.
693. 48:03And I would probably say the third one.
694. 48:13Yeah, I don't know.
695. 48:14I'm kind of stuck on that.
696. 48:16Well, next time we'll resume and we hear that third book.
697. 48:20Alex McFarland here, the American Family Radio Network, our guest, Frank
698. 48:24Figaroa and Chris Peronto tell somebody about exploring the word and Hamilton corner and
699. 48:31AFA.
700. 48:32Most of all tell everybody about Jesus.
701. 48:34Thanks for listening.
702. 48:40The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
703. 48:44Family Association or American Family Radio.