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The 700 Club
Gordon Robertson takes us on a journey through time to examine the significance of the Hagia Sophia and the fall of Constantinople and CBN Sports interviews Tim Tebow.
He's a Heisman winner and two-time national champion. Tim Tebow has made it to the pros even though he almost didn't make it out of the womb.
It really was just the grace of God that pulled me through.
Hear the rest of his story on today's 700 Club.
Well, welcome, ladies and gentlemen, to this edition of The 700 Club. It happened in Sacramento, California, a young girl taken away from her mother. Hasn't been heard of again as I understand. They call this modern-day slavery, and every year millions of men, women, and children become the victims of what is known as human trafficking.
Many people think that's just an international problem, but as Pat mentioned, right here in America it's happening. In Sacramento alone, authorities have rescued hundreds of victims. Heather Sells has more.
Vicki Zito's teenage daughter had gone to the grocery store with a friend for a soda when she was kidnapped in the parking lot. Eight days later, she got a call from the FBI.
I learned that within hours of being taken, my daughter had been drugged and raped by her perpetrator. Within 24 hours of my daughter being gone, she was being repeatedly sold for sex.
Like so many other smaller communities, the horrors of trafficking have hit Sacramento, California. But the city is fighting back. In the last five years, authorities have rescued some 200 children. Recently, Congressman Dan Lungren held a field briefing to rally support. Before it began, Lungren showed this 700 Club interview with activist actress Ashley Judd.
What Americans may not realize is that the slave trade right now is far greater than it ever was at its very height in the 19th century.
Sacramento is reaping the benefits of an FBI Trafficking Task Force. It has arrested close to 100 pimps since it started five years ago.
We will win this battle, but we only will win it when local, state, and federal law enforcement organizations combine their efforts.
Local citizens like Jenny Williamson are also making a difference. She will soon open a home to care for victims.
If they pick up a young girl tonight in a sting operation, she will be put in handcuffs and she will be taken to juvenile hall.
Zito says she never thought trafficking would happen to her family.
I would like other parents to know that this is real, and that it is happening probably in a neighborhood near them, if not in their neighborhood.
But she hopes her story will sound the alarm for other young girls and inspire others to take action. Heather Sells, CBN News.
Thanks, Heather. I want to correct the fact that they did find the young lady and found out some of the horror that she'd been through. Some of them are still missing. They don't know where they are. And some of them, they take them and sell them overseas, and then at that moment they're gone.
Well, we've been hearing about this over the last decade or two, more and more. But I think it's happening to younger and younger girls, as she said, in neighborhoods near you.
Terry, there is something inside of me that rises up against these pimps that are profiting on the misery of these girls. And I wouldn't hesitate to put the death penalty on those people. I tell you, we ought to make it really, really tough. And we ought to have all hands on deck. We've looked at it as a quote, "victimless crime." And they say, "Well, the girls really want to do it," and so forth. They don't want to be put into slavery and forced to have sex with 10 or 12 men a night and starved.
It's pure profit. It's just about the money.
Oh, it's hideous. It's hideous. And these people are horrible. And there are gangs from Russia and the old East Bloc countries that are involved. There are gangs in Asia. And, of course, we've got gangs in America. I'm shocked about Sacramento, but apparently that's become a focal point of this kind of trafficking. But just imagine, you take your daughter to the mall. And she wants to go off and look at a pair of shoes someplace. The next thing you know, she's gone.
She's gone. Yes.
And what they do is they can hit them with a drug real fast, knock them out, and then they say, "Well, this is my daughter. She just had a fainting spell, and I've got to take her to a doctor," and out they go.
And I'm so glad to hear that there are people who are doing something about the girls afterwards, because it's very hard for them to come back and just assimilate into normal life after something like that.
Mandatory death penalty, and maybe those guys would start behaving themselves. Well, so much for blood and gore. Lee Webb has the rest of our top stories from the CBN Newsroom. Lee.
Pat, the House of Representatives is voting on America's debt ceiling today. Lawmakers are expected to reject an attempt to raise that ceiling by 2.4 trillion dollars. That's because the plan contains no spending cuts. The president has invited all House Republicans to meet with him at the White House tomorrow. And House Speaker John Boehner wants to prove in advance that the death limit will not be increased without major cuts.
Gas prices are falling, for now. But some major Wall Street firms believe oil prices will start rising again, and that will lead to five dollar a gallon gas. Goldman-Sachs and JP Morgan-Chase are looking for oil to rise as much as 135 dollars a barrel for British oil, and that would also mean a big price increase for American oil. Pat, what do you think about that prediction?
I think it probably is low. Before they're finished, we're going to see gasoline, crude, selling at 300 dollars a barrel. And we've been looking at 10 dollar a gallon . . . .
Ten dollar a gallon?
Yes. Well, in Europe it's almost that now. They get used to it.
It will be a long time before we get used to that.
This waterway off Yemen, Bab al-Mandab, where it's very highly exposed to gunfire. A silkworm missile blows out a tanker, because they're not armed. And they're slow, and they move up into this tightly congested waterway off the coast of Yemen. Yemen is in chaos right now. If al Qaeda takes that over, all it takes is a silkworm missile, and you've shut that down, three million barrels a day. Then they close up the Straits of Hormuz coming up the other way or they shut down the Saudi pipelines, which is what the goal has been of al Qaeda a long time is to stop the flow of Saudi crude into the west. If that happens, it wouldn't be any stretch to figure that three, four, five, seven, eight, ten million barrels a day is taken off the market. And when that happens, 300 dollars a barrel. It will happen if this chaos continues. Okay. Hey, I'm not very happy.
Really.
It's a happy time.
Come back tomorrow. Let's redo this.
It's a happy time. All right. Okay. Forgive me for telling the truth. Lee.
Pat, Egypt has opened its borders with Gaza, that move seen as a gesture by the new Egyptian government towards Hamas. And it heralds closer ties with the terrorist organization. Israel fears the new opening will let more terrorists and weapons get into Gaza. For years, Hamas has used an elaborate tunnel system like this one to smuggle weapons. And that has allowed them and other terrorist groups to fire thousands of rockets and mortars into Israel.
A Houston pastor won the right to use Jesus' name in a Memorial Day ceremony. A federal judge issued an order preventing officials at Houston's National Cemetery from censoring his prayer. Charlene Israel has that story.
The Reverend Scott Rainey has given the invocation at a Memorial Day service at the Houston National Cemetery the last two years. But this year, the Veteran's Administration ordered him to remove the name of Jesus from his prayer. Rainey and the Liberty Institute went to court. They argued the government couldn't restrict private speech even on public land.
I have never said a prayer in my life where I didn't end it by saying, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I pray. Amen." And so it was an unrealistic expectation.
US District Judge Lynn Hughes agreed. Hughes said the Constitution does not give the government the authority to compel emptiness in a prayer, where a prayer belongs. After the ruling, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs changed their position on the case.
Clearly, Judge Hughes is following the law. It is very clear that a pastor has a right as a private citizen to speak his mind freely and not have the government censor or edit the content of his speech.
A private group asked Pastor Rainey to give the invocation, something he has done for the past two years using the words "Jesus Christ" both times. Cemetery officials have issued a statement on the case, saying national cemeteries cannot be exclusive but must be inclusive for all veterans. Charlene Israel, CBN News.
One Houston TV station reports clergy have offered prayers during that Memorial Day ceremony at that cemetery for about 30 years.
The number of people unaccounted for after last week's tornado in Joplin, Missouri, is down to 29. Officials are not certain, though, of the death toll; but the number of remains they found is 146. The twister destroyed nearly a third of that city. About 20,000 residents are still without homes. Operation Blessing, though, is there helping them clean up.
We have coordinated over 400 volunteers just this Memorial Day weekend. And we've been sending them out doing chainsaw work, using our loader and our heavy equipment to help people remove debris from their house that would cost them thousands of dollars to do. And most importantly, we've been going and talking to residents, sharing the love of Christ, putting arms around them, hugging them, and we have seen time and time again how they have gone from feeling hopeless and down to feeling hope, joy, and like they can rebuild their lives.
One Joplin resident says Operation Blessing has reminded her of God's love in the face of tragedy. And, Pat, as you know, they've been in Tuscaloosa for several weeks. Now, they've gone to Joplin to just love on the people there.
Lee, this may be one of the worst. As far as I can tell, there were more tornadoes during the month of May than any other month I believe in American history. I don't want to overstate that, but certainly in recent memory. And the devastation has been unbelievable. What's happening in the weather, we're not sure. But Operation Blessing is there to help.
Here's what's been going on. They've been having a distribution center at the Bridge Youth Center in Joplin. They're giving out food, bedding, diapers, hygiene items. And they're assisting residents with debris removal. So if you want to help, Operation Blessing Disaster Relief Fund, CBN Center. When you see disasters of this nature, it tears your heart. And you ask the Lord, "What can I do?" Well, in order to enjoy the blessing we have in this land, I think we've got to help those less fortunate, whether it's here in this country or overseas, and to reach out a hand of compassion in places like Joplin or what's happening in Tuscaloosa and other parts of this country. People are very generous. And from the bounty that is in our hands, we need to make sure we help those less fortunate.
That debris removal is so important. When you watch that on TV, you just think how do you ever get rid of all of that? It's unbelievable. So for the people even to see the hope of a new beginning, a new tomorrow, we need to get rid of that.
Assume you're a widow, and you have two or three children, and you live in a small house, and a big tree falls on your house. What do you do? What do you do? Well, Operation Blessing comes in and says, "We'll take the tree off." We've got machinery. We've got chainsaws. We've got the front end loaders and things. We'll lift that tree, and we'll fix you, and then we'll give you something to help repair the roof." We're not doing full scale, but we're helping people get back to their lives. There's a great guy in college sports. He won the Heisman trophy. He was a role model, and everybody just thought he was the greatest. A great big guy, a big quarterback, but a massive heart.
A big talented quarterback. Well, coming up, NFL quarterback Tim Tebow is playing the toughest position in sports.
When you're in the huddle, all of those 10 guys are looking at you. And it's your responsibility. And if you fail, it's on you, not on anyone else.
And I just kind of love that pressure about it.
Find out how he handles that pressure, later on today's show. Plus, our chat room is open, and we want to hear from you. We're going to Bring It Online with your questions and comments, so don't go away. Go to the chat room.
Coming up, an ancient prediction . . . .
There will be the attack on the two great Christian capitals.
. . . . and the man who tried to make it a reality.
He was a follower of Sharia law, very definitely.
How Muslims are still trying to fulfill this prophecy more than 500 years later.
Islam will conquer the universe. That is their goal.
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Tomorrow . . . .
. . . . Have you ever felt defeated? You're not alone. Now find out how to fight back, using the laws of The Secret Kingdom.
Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. And if you do, you will win.
Plus, they call him Mr. Pure Energy. Filipino pop sensation Gary Valenciano joins us live tomorrow on The 700 Club.
Well, recent protests in the Arab world have been fueled by a radical Islamic cleric named Yusuf al-Qaradawi, Qaradawi, a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. One thing he preaches is the conquest of Europe through conversion. He bases that message on a prophecy given by Mohammed who said that Islam will capture the world's two Christian capitals. First Constantinople and then Rome.
The first part of that prophecy was fulfilled more than 500 years ago this week. In May 1453 the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire. Gordon Robertson looks at the events that led to that city's fall and the prophecy that still inspires Muslims today.
In AD 330, the Roman emperor Constantine did the unthinkable: He moved the capital of the empire from Rome to Asia Minor, now modern-day Turkey. There, Constantine built a new Rome: the city of Constantinople. For more than a thousand years, the city was the capital of the Byzantine Empire and the center of Eastern Orthodox Christianity. (Istanbul, Turkey): In Constantinople, Christianity permeated every aspect of life. Even the chariot races held here in the Hippodrome began with the singing of hymns. The center of worship was here in the Hagia Sophia, the Church of Holy Wisdom. The emperor Justinian commissioned the current building in AD 532, making sure it was the largest in the world.
On dedication day, Justinian made the remark, "O Solomon, I have outdone thee." And in many ways, he certainly had. He provided a structure which is a major landmark in the history of architecture ever since.
The Byzantine Empire reached its height in the 11th century; then, like Rome before it, the empire collapsed slowly from within. In 1204, Crusaders from Western Europe invaded and left Constantinople in ruins. Then in 1347, the Black Death killed a third of the population. By 1453, the city was in debt and disrepair, and the Byzantines overlooked the growing threat rising in the East. For more than a century, the Ottoman Turks had been gaining power and taking land from the Byzantines. In 1451, a new sultan took the Ottoman throne. Mehmet II was only 19 years old, a devout Muslim determined to prove himself. His goal was to conquer the strategic bridge between Europe and Asia and make Constantinople his new capital.
He was a follower of Sharia law, very definitely. It was ultimately a religious drive which urged him on to conquer the city.
In the spring of 1453, Mehmet wrote to his rival, the Byzantine emperor, Constantine XI, and offered him a chance to surrender the city. Constantine refused.
As it is clear that you desire war more than peace, I turn now and look alone to God. Closing the gates of my capital, I will defend my people to the last drop of blood."
On April 6, the Ottomans began to bombard the city walls. The Byzantine army was outnumbered ten to one, and with each passing day, panic grew in the city. The siege of Constantinople had begun. In spite of the constant attacks, the Byzantines still believed they would win until they saw a series of bad omens. An old Byzantine prophecy said that as long as the moon was in the sky, the city would not fall. But on the night of May 22, a lunar eclipse darkened the moon over Constantinople. The next night brought a furious storm with thunder and lightning; and then, a strange, ghostly light surrounded the dome of the Hagia Sophia. Some witnesses said it was a sign of the Holy Spirit departing from the cathedral. As the Turks closed in on the city, hundreds of refugees fled to the church for safety. On May 28, priests began the last Christian service that would ever be held there. Just before midnight, Emperor Constantine arrived. He said his final prayer and returned to his post. While the emperor prayed, the sultan ordered the final attack. By sunrise, the city's famous double walls had been breached. Advisors urged the emperor to escape, but Constantine refused, "I cannot leave the great churches in such a plight. What would the world say about me? I am resolved to die here with you."
Constantine led his men in a final charge against the Turks, and he was never seen again. By the end of the day, the Ottomans had taken Constantinople. As a reward, Mehmet gave his soldiers the run of the city.
Mehmet, as a matter of fact, chivalrously limited the looting of his men to only three days. So they really had to work hard in terms of their pillage. And they did.
The soldiers started in the Hagia Sophia where hundreds of Christians were still hiding; and the church which had once been a place of refuge was now a scene of unimaginable horror. The sick and elderly were killed on the spot. Most of the others were tied or chained together while soldiers raped the young women and men. Some of the nuns ran away and jumped down well shafts, preferring martyrdom to rape. Then without warning, Mehmet called an early end to the looting and entered the city. The sultan rode into Constantinople through this Gate and proclaimed himself the new Caesar. He changed the name of the city to Istanbul, the new capital of the Ottoman Empire.
The first thing he did, by the way, after conquering Constantinople, was to go to Hagia Sophia and take an ax and break down the Christian altar there to prove that another faith had now taken over.
Mehmet declared that the building was now a mosque, and his imam recited an Islamic oath called the Shahada: "There is no god but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet." The Muslims added four minarets to the church and covered the priceless mosaics with plaster, erasing nearly a thousand years of Christian history. The Hagia Sophia remained the religious center of Istanbul until the Ottoman Empire was replaced by the new Republic of Turkey. In 1935, the mosque was turned into a museum, an order from Turkey's first president, Mustafa Kemal Atatürk.
He wanted to bring Turkey kicking and screaming into the 20th century, and for that, he wanted to secularize the state.
New renovations revealed the hidden mosaics under the plaster: the Virgin and Child, the archangel Gabriel, and the famous image of Christ designed to show His compassion for humanity. In 2009, the face of one of the cathedral's four seraphim was unveiled to the public for the first time in hundreds of years. But dozens of Christian mosaics are still hidden by Islamic calligraphy, a symbol of the city's struggle between Christianity and Islam.
Look what happened when Constantinople fell. This was the cork in the bottle of Islamic expansion. They wanted to remove the cork, because, hey, they're after conquering Europe.
Five hundred years later, the Islamic goal of conquering Europe is still alive thanks to a well-known Muslim prophecy.
There is a passage in the Holy Koran which has Mohammed claiming that indeed there will be the attack on the two great Christian capitals. Constantinople will fall first, and then he hopes that Rome and the West will also fall.
Constantinople fell in 1453, and today, some Muslims say it's time to fulfill the second half of the prophecy and conquer Rome, not with the sword, but with conversion.
Expansionism has always been a part of Islam. They want to conquer the world also, as witnessed in so many of their flags, not just the Turkish flag with the crescent moon and the star symbolizing the universe meaning Islam will conquer the universe. There you have it advertised. That is their goal.
Well, incredible story, and I appreciate our staff for putting that together. That gives you a little feeling of what's happening. The Muslim conquest of Constantinople was only the first part of Mohammed's prophecy. The next step was to conquer Rome. While the idea of Muslims taking over the city may seem far-fetched, Rome, get this, is now the site of the largest mosque in Europe. And as Dale Hurd reports, it's one of many mega mosques being built across the European continent.
Moschea di Roma, the Great Mosque of Rome, shown in this video by the architect Paolo Portoghesi. It is the largest mosque in Europe with room for 12,000 worshippers, and it is a powerful symbol for Italy's fast-growing Muslim population shown here praying illegally in the streets of Rome. Large mosques have been built or are on the drawing board in virtually every major city in Europe. The skyline of Cologne, Germany, has been dominated for centuries by its famous cathedral, the largest Gothic church in northern Europe. But soon this church will share the skyline with the 150-foot tall minarets of this mosque, now under construction. The Cologne mosque, which is being funded by the government of Turkey, is opposed by groups who see it as a piece of Turkish territory in the heart of Germany.
This mosque is a symbol of political power. It's a symbol of Islamization in the center of Europe, and especially this mosque in Cologne-Ehrenfeld.
In fact, many of the large mosque projects in Europe are funded by the Turkish government. Some by the Saudis. This one planned for Copenhagen is being built with money from Iran's Revolutionary Guard.
It's not really a mosque; it's more like a barracks. It's going to be an institution that will terrorize not only Danes but primarily non-obedient Iranians.
In London, a plan to build a megga mosque, the largest in Europe, ran into strong public opposition and has been downsized. But in Cologne and other cities, the left-wing has shown itself to be very pro-Mosque and sometimes demonstrates violently against mosque opponents. The Great Mosque of Rome and the growing number of giant mosques across Europe are changing not only the physical landscape; experts say they are likely to change the political landscape, as well. Dale Hurd, CBN News.
Incredible isn't it, ladies and gentlemen. It's happening before your eyes. I was thinking today, why don't we make an offer to the Saudi's that "we want to build a really big church in the heart of Riyadh, and there is a group of American and European Christians that would like to build a Christian center that would hold 10,000 people right in the center of Riyadh." See how far that baby gets. Then you begin to see what we're dealing with. Yes, they will come into Europe and build their mosque. Yes they will come into America and set up their schools and madrasahs, but try to do something in their part of the world and see what happens. They want expansion. Anybody who thinks this is some kind of a civil right—I was thinking if you oppose Muslims, what is said? Well you're a bigot, right?
Exactly.
Terrible bigotry. I wonder about people who opposed the Nazis. Were they bigots?
Well, in that day, I think they were looked down upon and frowned upon. You know, when you see that street in Rome, people bowing towards Mecca, and it's illegal and nothing is being done about it?
Why can't we speak out against an institution that is intent on dominating us and imposing Sharia law and making us all part of a universal caliphate? That's the goal of some of these people. Why is that bigoted? Why is it bigoted to resist Adolf Hitler and the Nazis and to say we don't want to live under Nazi Germany? We didn't hesitate to say tell the truth about the Nazis; tell the truth about Hitler; tell the truth about fascism; tell the truth, if you will, about communism. But, oh, it's bigoted if we speak out against a force that is slowly but surely trying to exercise domination over the world. Read the book, the Koran. That's what it says.
Exactly right. Well, for more information on the spread of Islam in Europe in the fall of Constantinople, log onto our website, CBN.com.
And while you're there you can see more stories about church history and biblical archaeology that I think you'll find fascinating. Well, up next, as a championship winning quarterback, Tim Tebow is a leader on the field and off it.
I had that opportunity to go into hospitals and talk to kids and see a kid, and make him smile. Why? Because I'm a special person? No, it has everything to do with me being a quarterback at the University of Florida. And do not take advantage of that is a shame.
Our exclusive interview with the former Heisman winner is next, so don't go away.
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To see this week's top on-demand videos go to CBN.com.
He had a fabulous career at the University of Florida. Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow has started in just three games in the NFL, and yet he's one of the biggest stars in the sport. Recently he sat down with sports reporter Sean Brown to talk about his career, his faith, and the platform it gives him.
Denver broncos quarterback Tim Tebow made his mark in college football as a University of Florida Gator with his strong arm and gritty play. He also turned heads by his unwavering and bold Christian faith. The son of Christian missionaries, he's become one of the most influential athletes in college and professional sports. Tim's journey began with a life-threatening decision his mom made before he was born. (Interviewing): Your mother is pregnant with you . . . .
Yes.
. . . there are some complications. Can you tell me a little bit about those complications?
I have a very courageous mother, a lot of doctors telling her that she needs to have a an abortion with me, saying that it's not wise to keep this baby/tumor. That's what they thought I was, and come to find out after I was born that they found out that it was just a tiny bit of placenta was attached for the whole pregnancy. So it really was just the grace of God that pulled me through.
Your mom, she had a choice to make.
But at the end of the day, it wasn't a choice for her. It wasn't a choice. She was never going to choose not to give me a chance. She was always determined no matter what the outcome was that she that she was going to give me a chance, because it was already predetermined in her mind the grace and the amazingness of God and how He can do anything, and she was going to trust Him with it.
He was born Timothy Richard Tebow. When Tim was three, his parents moved the family to Duvall County in Florida. While his dad continued in ministry, his mom homeschooled Tim and his four siblings. And he says growing up in a full house was fun, but also challenging. (Interviewing): Talk about the homeschooling experience and what it has meant to you and your family.
Well, homeschooling was wonderful for us. Mom was amazing keeping all the kids, especially when you had five kids in the house at one time. She just did an amazing job with that just keeping everybody focused and doing their schoolwork. And sometimes there were things that were more important than learning math or writing another essay. And that was learning character, learning strength, learning honor, learning to do the right thing, learning to treat others the way you wanted to be treated. And implementing those character qualities first and foremost before school even started, and that was something huge for us. It was huge to read the Proverbs of the day every morning. It was huge to read the Psalm of the day every morning and get that in us to get our day going before anything else started.
Tim accepted Christ when he was 7 years old.
I had been going to church and talking to my mom and dad, and I wanted to trust Christ with my life. And I was thinking if I get in a car the next day, and we get in a crash and I die, I don't think I'm going to Heaven. And I was scared. And so the next morning I woke up, and I grabbed my mom, because my dad would ask too many questions and everything. So I grabbed my mom and I went to the couch and I said mom, "I want to ask Jesus to come into my heart." And I got on my knee, and I asked Jesus to come into my heart and forgive me of my sins and make me a child of God. And from that instant I know that I went from darkness to light, and my eternity was sealed. And I knew that instantly, even as a little boy, that changed my life. It was the best decision that I've ever made.
As Tim grew up, he says he became extremely competitive. He played baseball, basketball, and football. But it was something about playing football that he says he couldn't get anywhere else.
I knew I loved football before I even played it. From the first time I stepped on the field playing for the Lakesore Redskins, I knew that I loved this game. I knew that this was something I wanted to do. And I was only 6 years old, but I loved it. I knew this was something that I want to do, and I love this more than anything else; and it wasn't because it was easy or it was fun or it came easy to me, but it was just something about the position, about when you're in the huddle, all of those ten guys are looking at you. And when you go to that line of scrimmage, everybody's depending on you, and it's your responsibility. And if you fail, it's on you, not anyone else. And I just kind of love that pressure about it.
Tim's desire to be the hero was what eventually led him to the University of Florida, and he says that's where football became his mission field.
What's so amazing is in today's society people look up to football players. And as football player, you have a platform. And it's so much more important than any touchdown or trophy or anything you could win with football. It's taking that platform to be able to influence people. And my dad told me at an early age, he said, "You know, Brett Favre can go into any school and share any message he wants around the country, around the world." He said, "When you're in that position, you can go and you can share your message anywhere." And that was something that really hit me, and it's something he shared with me a lot.
Do you hear your father's voice saying, "Son, that's going to be you one day going into the high schools and places speaking?" Do you hear your dad's voice?
Yes, without a doubt, absolutely. And it's something we still talk about. He would always share with me about the platform I have to make a difference. And I had that opportunity to go into hospitals and talk to kids and see a kid and make him smile. Why? Because I'm a special person? No, it has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with me being a quarterback at the University of Florida. And to not take advantage of that is a shame.
From 2006-2009, Tim had a stellar college football career. Within those four seasons he helped lead the Gators to 2 SEC Championships and 2 BCS Championships. Then in 2010 he entered the NFL draft and was selected 25th overall by the Denver Broncos. By the end of the season, Tim was named the starting quarterback. As now as he approaches his sophomore season in the NFL, you'll probably find in him the gym or working for his charity, The Tim Tebow Foundation. He's also written a book entitled, Through My Eyes. He says that while fans may see him as the quarterback for the Denver Broncos, he hopes they also see a reflection of God's love.
I hope that they say this is a guy who, number one, loves the Lord, but he also loves people, and he wants to make a difference in people's life. And he wants to help everyone he comes in contact with; and he is genuine, he is real, and he cares about people. And it's not all about the scoring touchdowns, or being famous, or anything like that. But it's about relationships; it's about making a difference in people's lives; and at the end of the day it's about glorifying God.
What a great guy. What incredible athlete! But more than anything, he loves Jesus. He was so motivated. That's the thing. You can start life when you're young. Six years old, you make a decision, stays with you all your life. Then you get the love of a particular sport, and it stays with you all your life. It's amazing. But a great man. He's written a book.
He has written a book. You can check it out, it's called Through My Eyes, and you're going to love it. It's available in stores nationwide. We also have an extended interview with him on our website which you can watch by going to CBN.com. So you don't want to miss out on that. Well, still ahead, it's a rare sight at a public school, a Bible club on campus.
Teen Girl: Forty-three kids in high school accepting Christ in front of all of their peers during the school day, that doesn't happen anywhere else.
Find out what makes this club the most popular one on campus, when we return.
Got a question for Pat? Send us yours now on CBN.com. We'll Bring it OnLine with your questions from our live chat room, later on today's 700 Club.
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Welcome to Washington for this CBN Newsbreak. Planned Parenthood has filed a lawsuit to stop a South Dakota law. The law would require women seeking an abortions to wait three days and undergo counseling at pregnancy help centers. The law goes into effect July 1st. Meanwhile some Democratic senators want to prevent states from cutting Planned Parenthood's funding. They say that states that try to cut the funding should face federal penalties.
A Korean American has been set free after six months in a North Korean prison. Eddie Jun joins U.S. convoy Robert King at the Pyongyang Airport for the flight home. North Korean authorities say Jun committed a serious crime against North Korea but never gave specifics. South Korean newspapers reported the California businessman was accused of spreading Christianity. Well you can always get the latest from CBN news by going to our website at CBNNews.com. Pat and Terry will be back with more of The 700 Club right after this.
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Well, school Bible clubs face many challenges these days from student apathy to questions over its legality. But that's not the case at one Pennsylvania school. Two thirds of the student body there is lining up for the weekly meetings. Paul Strand has the story.
So many kids come to Red Bank Valley high school's Bible club. They're claiming it's the world's largest at any public school. Five years ago when they started, club leaders hit on a wildly winning formula.
Being a Christian is fun; it's the best way to go, so, let's bring some fun into the community.
They spend hours making sure the Monday meetings entertain and appeal to kids.
It's not like going to church and just sitting there listening to a lesson. We get games and activities and videos.
Here's one skit where Jesus tries to get to Christian kids to stop acting so hyper religious.
Love thy neighbor as thyself for your love is (Singing): "Deep and wide, deep and wide. There's a fountain flowing deep and wide, hey!"
And they present a loving message.
Obviously God is the best person to cling to. And so I think when they're looking for something to cling to, and hey there's somebody that loves you and somebody who cares for you, that's the whole deal right there.
We've actually had some salvation lessons, and people have come to Christ through what we're teaching them.
Between third period and fourth period, this is what goes on.
Maggie McCauley told us about the day paramedics staged a rescue by rushing in the school to save a student, at which point then 15-year-old Maggie gave a lesson saying:
There are different ways that we can save lives physically, but the only way we can really save your life spiritually is by bringing you to God.
Then Maggie then led a prayer for salvation, and dozens of hands went up.
Forty-three kids in a high school accepting Christ in front of all their peers during the school day. That doesn't happen anywhere else.
Jesus calls us to go everywhere and to spread His Word. And I know that public school is the best place; because you're with all your friends, and there's different cliques going on. And if we can all come together as one and be the Body of Christ, that's an amazing thing.
Many Christian students probably feel they couldn't do something like this in their school. But the kids here at Red Bank Valley point out this is your constitutional right. You have the freedom to talk about God and enjoy Him every day no matter where you are, and that includes school. The Club kids are careful. They make sure no teacher or school official runs these religious gatherings.
It's totally student-led, and we do the lessons all ourselves and the prayers and everything like that.
And now they're taking all of this outside Red Bank to help other neighboring schools get Bible clubs going.
It's nice to see the other schools that didn't think they could do it to begin with, now they are.
And back in their own school:
We have some Bibles to hand out. Does anybody want a Bible?
The clubs work with the community to buy thousands of dollars worth of Bibles and pass them out for free in the school.
We've given out 300 Bibles to the students in the past couple of years.
You're walking down the hall, and you see all these orange Bibles everywhere. It's a great thing to see in a public school. (On stage): I pray that we can be a light to others and we can be a good witness.
That witness has led to tremendous growth.
Now we're filling up over half the auditorium.
Of the school's 600 students, 393 showed up at this meeting. It's become so big it can attract outside talent to come to tiny New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, like, The Skit Guys, featured stars at a Bible club open house that recently brought 1000 people to Red Bank High.
We're so loving. We're so accepting, and again, it's a small town; so we're all friends, we're all family. And once you're talking to somebody, and you're saying "God's really doing some things in my life," that's an interest thing, and it just starts spreading. It's the ripple effect. We know that it is the Spirit leading us, and it's amazing what He's doing here at Red Bank.
One thing that kids in Bible club have realized is that this isn't church; it's a club. You join a club because it centers in on things that are of interest to you, that you enjoy. In this case, that just happens to be God. Paul Strand, CBN News reporting from Red Bank Valley High school in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
How appropriate that it would be in New Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.
Bethlehem! That's great.
That's awesome, a great move of God. Well, the girl in our next story had to grow up fast. She had to find a way to provide for herself and her family, and she was just 10 years old.
After their parents died, 10-year-old Sok and her sisters were forced to make it on their own. They lived in this old abandoned grass hut in Cambodia. Every day became a struggle to survive.
Life was so hard. We never had enough to eat. I also had to stop going to school. I felt hopeless. We had no relatives who could help us.
A member of a Christian church there tried to find a place for Sok and her siblings to live. But the local orphanage was already too full with no room for even one more child. The local pastor is the director there.
We had no money to build a bigger place. We prayed for a new house every day.
That's when CBN's Orphans Promise offered to help. We built a new dormitory with one floor for the girls and another for boys. We also built a dining hall where the children get three meals every day. The best news of all? The sisters were all able to come and live here after the buildings were finished.
My life is so different now. They take very good care of us here.
Without the help of CBN's Orphans Promise, we would not have been able to take in the 80 children who now live here.
I'm glad that my sisters have enough food to eat and go to school. Most of all, I'm very happy that we're all able to live together as a family.
Being able to stay together, being in a safe place with the provisions that you simply need to live and then being given an education so that you have hope and the future.
When you join the 700 Club you're helping Orphans Promise provide that for kids all around the world. Will you stand with us in that? 700 Club membership is 65 cents day; that's $20 a month that you can change the world. We can all change the world when we link arms together. We're asking you to go to your phone right now and call. If so simple. Our number is toll free. It's 1-800-759-0700. Just say I want to join the 700 Club. You will have such satisfaction in knowing that you're making a difference in the lives of people who are in desperate situations. And so our way of saying thank you when you join the 700 Club is to send you this latest gift. It's called Life Beyond the Grave.
These are real-life accounts of people who have died. Some have gone on to Heaven and someone onto Hell. They came back. They came back into their bodies and have all collected those stories. We've collected them here to tell you what they experienced. It is startling. It is encouraging. It will bless you. It will also make you think clearly about how you're living today.
During last week's telethon, Gordon offered five of those for everybody who pledged a thousand dollars, and the response was just tremendous.
Well, it's a great opportunity. Sometimes you don't know how to share these things with people close to you. So, when you join the Thousand Club—I should mention that five copies of this will go out, one for you, four for your friends. And I think it's 700 Club Gold which is $40 a month, three.
So you have one for you and two to give to people that you care about. But it's a great opportunity to give them pause for thought.
There isn't one person who doesn't wonder what happens after he dies.
That's exactly right.
Some think, "Okay, I'm going to go and have soul sleep. I'm going to go into the ground and that's the end of it." But most of them think there's life after death: am I going to Heaven? Am I going to Hell?" They know that, and they want to know what is the secret? And so we've got real-life people in dramatic form.
Well, you always say one man's experience trumps another man's opinion, and this is chock full of real-life experiences.
The argument, that's right. Exactly. All right, what's next?
Okay, we've got some questions from our online folks. Craig says, "Is it wrong for me to pray that God gives me a million-dollar idea?"
Why don't you pray, "God give me something that will help the world?" And if you have something that will help the world, you might also make a million dollars or maybe 10 million or maybe 50 million.
You're talking about the focus being right on that.
Yes. "God I want serve. I want to serve the world. Give me the concepts." You know, I was reading about Solomon today in the world. Nations came to him to hear the wisdom that God had put in his heart. So you're asking, "God give me wisdom." God is pleased with people who say give me wisdom. Open the treasures of wisdom to me, not give me a million-dollar idea. You got it wrong. Ask for something that will be good for the people. All right, what else?
Okay, this is an anonymous person who says, "My bosses are lying to our clients, and they want us to lie to make it seem like we are busy. We are all Christians, but they don't seem to care that they lie. What do I do?"
I think first of all, you should maybe get several of your people and go to the bosses and say look, we can make it if were honest and if we have a reputation for honesty; and if we're lying, we're going to find out sooner or later and ruin our business. If they won't hear you, if they keep on doing it, then you ought to look for a job someplace else. "What fellowship has Christ with Belial?" the Bible says. How can two walk together unless they be agreed? You can't do it.
This is Marge who asks, "Can Christians be possessed by demons?"
There's been a lot of discussion about that. I think if you have within you the Holy Spirit, if you've truly been born again, and the Spirit of God is living within you, then a demon can't possess you. But can a demon oppress you? Attack you? The answers yes. It's like saying, I'm a Christian, but I went to sleep out in the woods and an ant climbed into my ear. Well, it climbed in. It's just one of those things. So if you open yourself up to negative thoughts, the answer is you can be oppressed; but I don't think you can be possessed if you are truly born again.
Okay this person says, "My husband drinks especially on Saturday nights, and it really bothers me. I'm concerned that he may stop attending church if I mention it to the pastor. What should I do?"
I tell you what, if he is having a few drinks on a Saturday night—does he know the Lord or doesn't he? The Bible says that if he's not condemned in his heart, the fact that he's taking a glass of wine or beer or something like that, I just don't see you bringing that up to the pastor.
Well, also it's a wonderful opportunity to see God solve this problem.
Well, but I mean, he's not an alcoholic. He's having a couple of drinks. The Bible says, "Wine to gladden the heart of man." It's in the Bible. Jesus turned water into wine. So alcoholic beverages, per say, are not necessarily evil; but the Bible says that wine is a mocker. Strong drink is raging." It can hurt you terribly. It can cause you all kinds of problems. But I don't think he ought to make that big of a deal of it, unless he's tending to alcoholism, unless he's overdoing it, unless he's slobbering drunk and doing silly things. If he has a drink or two, rejoice that's the worst he's doing but pray.
This is Henry who says, "I go to church and love God. I was thinking of joining a Masonic lodge. Is it okay to be a Mason?
No it's not. If you look at the rituals of the Masonic order, they are not Christian. There was a guy named Pike, and some people have disavowed Pike, but he wrote about what the Masonic order believes; and according to Pike, Lucifer is God. They reversed it entirely, and " Jehovah, God, is the devil."
Sometimes, I don't think that shows up in the lower echelons. But it's more the inner circle at the top that seems to . . . .
No. While the question is was Pike really speaking for all the Masons? And many, many—I mean, good grief, George Washington was a Mason. Franklin was a Mason. Many of the leaders of our country were Masons. But the rituals are not Christian. They're not godly. You say is it okay? I think no, it's not.
This is Annett who says, "My son continues to get tattoos. Does the New Testament say anything about this? I'm not sure what I should tell him."
Well, the Old Testament says a great deal about marking your body. This was a sign of heathenism. To mark your body and to cut yourself into leave scars and marks of that nature, then Satanic. It's heathen practice. Why would your son do this? You ought to say no. Besides, later on they're embarrassed and suddenly they've got all this stuff coming out their shirts with all these funny looking things, and then they want to get them burned off. Oh, dear. It's disgusting. Were we leave you with these words . . . .
How you really feel about that?
I just want to lay it on the line. Proverbs 4:28 . . . .
. . . . "Above all else guard your heart rate is the wellspring of life." Thanks so much for being with us and we will see you tomorrow. Bye-bye.
Tomorrow . . . .
. . . . have you ever felt defeated? You're not alone. Now find out how to fight back using the laws of The Secret Kingdom.
Keep on asking. Keep on seeking. Keep on knocking. And if you do, you will win.
Plus . . . .
. . . . they call him Mr. Pure Energy. Filipino pop sensation Gary Valenciano joins us live. Tomorrow on The 700 Club.
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