{"id":302437,"date":"2012-01-06T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-01-06T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/making-a-difference\/"},"modified":"2012-01-06T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-01-06T17:00:00","slug":"making-a-difference","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/making-a-difference\/","title":{"rendered":"Making a Difference"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Marvin Olasky shares about the twists and turns of his life since embracing Christianity as a college student.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2012-01-06.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"23.99M","filesize_raw":"25153190","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2906],"tags":[4133,4134,4679],"podcast_series":[7849],"cwp_profile":[9254],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-302437","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-becoming-a-christian","tag-coming-to-christ","tag-life-change","tag-salvation","podcast_series-an-unmerited-mercy","cwp_profile-marvin-olasky","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/302437\/making-a-difference","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/302437\/making-a-difference","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"o8Tgac5c7W\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/making-a-difference\/\">Making a Difference<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/making-a-difference\/embed\/#?secret=o8Tgac5c7W\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Making a Difference&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"o8Tgac5c7W\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var 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student.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2012-01-06.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 How can we help care for the needs of the poor and the homeless?\u00a0 Marvin Olasky, the editor of <em>WORLD Magazine<\/em>, remembers a day when he decided to assume the persona of a homeless man and went to a shelter for breakfast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 On a Saturday morning, I actually went to a free-breakfast place in downtown Washington\u2014actually, in the basement of a very theologically-liberal church, where there were sweet, young volunteers passing out food\u2014putting food in front of me.\u00a0 One sweet, young lady kept coming to me and saying, \u201cWell, do you want more?\u00a0 Do you want more?\u00a0 Do you want more?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt one point, just for fun, I asked her with my homeless mumble, \u201cCan you give me a Bible?\u201d\u2014just curious as to whether they would do this in a church.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t understand me at first, and she asked, \u201cDo you want a bag?\u00a0 Do you want a bagel?\u201d\u00a0 They had both of those, but they didn\u2019t have any Bibles to give out to homeless guys because they didn\u2019t think of homeless guys in those ways.\u00a0 They thought of them as stray animals to be fed and watered.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This is <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> for Friday, January 6<sup>th<\/sup>.\u00a0 Our host is the President of FamilyLife\u00ae Dennis Rainey, and I\u2019m Bob Lepine.\u00a0 What can Christians do?\u00a0 What should we be doing to help the poor, the homeless?\u00a0 Marvin Olasky has some thoughts about that, and he\u2019ll share them with us today.\u00a0 Stay tuned.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd welcome to <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Thanks for joining us.\u00a0 I have, at home, on my bookshelf, an original, first-edition copy of a classic work of American non-fiction.\u00a0 It\u2019s called <em>The Tragedy of American Compassion<\/em>, which I got when it first came out in\u2014I think, it was 1987 or -8.\u00a0 Is that when that was?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u201892 but who\u2019s counting?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 I knew it was back late 80\u2019s\/early 90\u2019s when I got my copy.\u00a0 I should have brought it in to get it autographed today.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You should have.\u00a0 You should have.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, that voice is Dr. Marvin Olasky, who joins us again on <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 Marvin, welcome back.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 We\u2019ve enjoyed hearing your story this week.\u00a0 A great story of\u2014really the God of heaven, the Hound of Heaven, chased you down as a young man who was very liberal.\u00a0 It could be said radical\u2014a Communist attending Yale University, University of Michigan\u2014and how He chased you down, and how the grace of God got you\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 The grace of God\u2014entirely, yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014how you met Susan during that same period of time, and how you together were baptized at a little western, conservative Baptist church in San Diego, California.\u00a0 You write in your memoirs that your lives began to change.\u00a0 How did your life first begin to change then?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 One thing, right away, was that I was able to be a fairly decent husband.\u00a0 Susan and I have been married for 35 years now.\u00a0 When I look back to my pre-Christian days, I see myself as a totally selfish person, and that\u2019s not a good recipe for a happy marriage.\u00a0 God actually was changing me to be a person who could be married for 35 years.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 The length of time from when you said, \u201cI do,\u201d until the day you were baptized\u2014just as marker points\u2014how long was that?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Four or five months.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Okay, so, you didn\u2019t have a whole lot of time in there where you were expressing that selfishness; but I\u2019m sure it didn\u2019t get cured when you came out of the baptismal font that day, either.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 No, that\u2019s been a\u2014been a lifelong struggle.\u00a0 (Laughter)\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, you\u2019re around a familiar table here; we all share the struggle.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Right.\u00a0 Yes, and being a parent.\u00a0 Susan and I are blessed with four sons.\u00a0 Again, as dads, at a certain point, once your kids are grown, you think back, \u201cWell, I did some things right. I did some things wrong, but anything I did right was a gift from God,\u201d because my natural tendency is very different.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe one thing that changed right away was that my class envy, my materialist envy, was gone.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t think since the time I was able to think about things as a small child\u2014from then until into my mid-20s\u2014I don\u2019t think there was a day that went by when in some ways I wasn\u2019t resentful of and antagonistic toward the rich and so forth.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOnce I became a Christian, that\u2019s the one thing that totally disappeared.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been\u2014I was asking my wife about this last week\u2014I don\u2019t think there\u2019s been a day that\u2019s gone by that I\u2019ve had any class envy.\u00a0 I think, as Christians, we should spend more time thinking about our own sins rather than resenting or being envious of others\u2014somehow, that whole envy stuff\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, quite to the contrary, back to Bob\u2019s point about the book that he dusted off\u2014the first edition of your book about being compassionate to the needs of the poor.\u00a0 You, not only no longer envy the rich\u2014you\u2019ve stepped into the lives of those who are suffering greatly.\u00a0 I found one story particularly fascinating, just to show how much you wanted to understand how the poor struggle.\u00a0 When you were in Washington, D.C., you actually spent a couple of days visiting the homeless.\u00a0 Explain what you did.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Visiting the homeless\u2014I\u2019ve done a lot at various times.\u00a0 This was actually being\u2014looking like a homeless guy.\u00a0 My very kind wife allowed me not to shower for several days.\u00a0 I was able to put on some smelly t-shirts and a sweatshirt and walk around Washington, D.C., just for a couple of days and asking\u2014I wasn\u2019t trying to get into the conscious of a homeless person\u2014not going to be able to do that in a day\u2014but just seeing what kind of services were offered to homeless people.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI went around from place to place, just as directed from people who said, \u201cWell, yes.\u00a0 You can go there and get some food.\u00a0 You can go there and get this.\u201d\u00a0 It was a revealing experience in that there were lots of material things offered to me.\u00a0 There was food that was decent enough.\u00a0 It may not have been five-star stuff, but it was okay.\u00a0 Clothing was offered to me.\u00a0 Medicine\u2014I mean, some\u2014I was having some back problems, stuff for that.\u00a0 There were places to sleep, not particularly safe; but there were beds available all over the place.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat I found interesting is that no one at these many helping places I went to took any interest in me as a person\u2014what\u2019s going on in me\u2014are there any spiritual needs?\u00a0 It was all material, much as if I were a mutt, walking around and being treated very kindly.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThey put some food in my bowl, scratched behind my ears maybe\u2014behind my ears, but never any personal\u2014never asking, \u201cWhere\u2019ve I come from?\u00a0 What have I done?\u00a0 Why am I in this situation?\u00a0 How can we be of help in a person-to-person way as opposed to just passing out material?\u201d\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>\u00a0<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOn a Saturday morning, I actually went to a free-breakfast place in downtown Washington\u2014actually, in the basement of a very theologically-liberal church, where there were sweet, young thingsfrom the suburbs who were volunteers, passing out food, putting food in front of me.\u00a0 Again, the food was pretty decent.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere was a guy across from me who had a beeper, he was drug dealer.\u00a0 He came for the free breakfast; why not?\u2014because the food was decent.\u00a0 One sweet young lady kept coming to me and saying, \u201cWell, do you want more?\u00a0 Do you want more?\u00a0 Do you want more?\u201d\u00a0 It\u2019s not even\u2014you didn\u2019t have to go get food.\u00a0 You just sat there, and people would put food in front of you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt one point, just for fun, I asked her, \u201cCan you give me a Bible?\u201d\u2014just curious as to whether they would do this in a church.\u00a0 She didn\u2019t understand me at first; and she asked, \u201cWell, do you want a bag?\u00a0 Do you want a bagel?\u201d\u00a0 They had both of those, but they didn\u2019t have any Bibles to give out to homeless guys because they didn\u2019t think of homeless guys in those way.\u00a0 They thought of them as stray animals to be fed and watered.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 This goes to the thesis of the book that I mentioned, <em>The Tragedy of American Compassion<\/em>, which you wrote in the early \u201890\u2019s.\u00a0 Let me see if I can summarize that thesis, and you correct me if I am wrong.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou make the case that in the 1800\u2019s, and before that, in America, the church took the responsibility for caring for the physical needs of oppressed people, of those who were sick, those who needed help.\u00a0 We cared for those people as the body of Christ; and you point to the fact that if you look at a lot of hospitals today, you see Baptist, Methodist, or Catholic in those hospital names because the church saw it as its mission to care for the sick and injured.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYet, it seems like it was about the time of the Depression when it became harder to do that\u2014that the church said, \u201cOh, the government is going to take care of this for us now,\u201d and abrogated that responsibility.\u00a0 Since then, we\u2019ve had a bigger problem than we used to have.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 Churches and Christians, generally, offered help that was challenging, personal, and spiritual.\u00a0 Today, we tend to offer help that\u2019s not challenging; it\u2019s just enabling and entitling.\u00a0 It\u2019s not personal; it\u2019s bureaucratic.\u00a0 Spiritual\u2014basically, there\u2019s the attempt to dismiss God from any government or even a lot of private facilities.\u00a0 So, this help doesn\u2019t work.\u00a0 I mean, it\u2019s often enough to keep people in poverty; and sometimes, that\u2019s very essential.\u00a0 It\u2019s needed to have some basic material help.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe problems tend to be a lot more spiritual than material.\u00a0 Again, there are people who, through no fault of their own, have been thrown out of work, or they have been injured, or something along those lines.\u00a0 Sometimes, just being able to get some temporary, material help is very important\u2014I\u2019m not knocking that at all.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFor people who have been in difficulty for a long time, there are some basic underlying problems.\u00a0 You have to deal with those, or else you\u2019re just putting some Band-Aids\u00ae on\u2014and that we don\u2019t tend to do in any of our governmental programs.\u00a0 We just tend to create more problems.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 I visited a place, here, locally, that deals with homeless families.\u00a0 They really hit on the core of what you\u2019re talking about here.\u00a0 If you\u2019re going to stay there, you have a responsibility to get a job within\u2014it is like 15 days.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You have to turn your paycheck over.\u00a0 You have to save; it\u2019s something like 70, 80 percent of your paycheck and all of it is high-degree of accountability.\u00a0 It\u2019s also moving them toward becoming responsible.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOne of the things you talked about when you were a homeless person for those two days is\u2014you weren\u2019t asked to anything. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right, not even to bus my tray the way we might do at McDonald\u2019s\u00ae or Burger King\u00ae.\u00a0 I was treated as a person who was completely unable to do anything at all.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBack in\u2014when we lived in Texas for many years, we had a couple of dogs.\u00a0 I felt very good as the dog owner.\u00a0 I\u2019d get up in the morning.\u00a0 I\u2019d put some food in their bowls\u2014put some water in their bowls.\u00a0 I\u2019d scratch them on their stomachs.\u00a0 They weren\u2019t working dogs or show dogs.\u00a0 They were pets, and they could lie around all day.\u00a0 They would go out for a walk occasionally and so forth.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, that\u2019s the way a lot of homeless people are treated.\u00a0 They are treated like animals\u2014not as people created in God\u2019s image, but as dogs.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you were to address a mom or a dad who is listening right now, who\u2019s saying, \u201cYou know, I want our family to be more compassionate,\u201d as Bob was talking about, reaching out in all facets of our society today\u2014how would you practically encourage them to engage in issues people are facing today?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, you mentioned a place, I gather right here in Little Rock, that does things right.\u00a0 All over the country, there are these places.\u00a0 At <em>WORLD<\/em>, we\u2019ve had a contest for the past six years where readers send in nominations of groups in their community that they see are doing things right.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 You\u2019re speaking of <em>WORLD Magazine<\/em>.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes, <em>WORLD Magazine<\/em>.\u00a0 Again, for people who don\u2019t know, it\u2019s a Christian news magazine that covers all kinds of things, including lots of problems of poverty.\u00a0 This has been one of the things we\u2019ve emphasized the most, for at least 15 years now.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019ve gone around personally to several hundred anti-poverty programs in communities across the United States.\u00a0 Our reporters have gone to a lot more. We write about these.\u00a0 We write about the Christian ones that offer help that\u2019s challenging, personal, and spiritual.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tPeople can go to the <em>WORLD<\/em> website and see if we\u2019ve covered something in their community.\u00a0 If not, just start looking around, asking around in churches and so forth.\u00a0 \u201cWho\u2019s doing this right?\u00a0 Who understands that we are not just material beings; we\u2019re also spiritual beings?\u00a0 Who understands that the only thing that really changes the poor is Jesus Christ?\u00a0 Who does that?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThen, go to that place and ask them, \u201cWell, how can I help?\u201d\u2014not just help in the sense of contributing, which is fine\u2014or licking stamps, or things like that\u2014but, \u201cHow can I actually be involved?\u201d and, \u201cHow can my kids be involved?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThere are a lot of\u2014good groups have counselors.\u00a0 Sometimes, with people with very serious problems, they are professional counselors; but a lot of other people, who are on their way to recovery, need some help.\u00a0 Sometimes, if they are single moms and they are trying to make it on their own.\u00a0 They have no back-up of someone who can care for a child, if the child is sick\u2014someone, who can, if their car breaks down, can fix their car.\u00a0 People have very practical problems.\u00a0 If you can come alongside a person, become a friend to that person\u2014help in material ways, but help also be a supporter spiritually\u2014this, I think, is the most important thing that any of us as Christians can do.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Marvin, you mentioned in your memoirs that there is a larger story taking place in your life that has come as a result of what you\u2019ve learned about Jesus Christ since you became a believer.\u00a0 Would you say the subject of poverty\u2014is this one of the major stories of your life?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 That\u2019s a major story, for sure.\u00a0 The way God changed me so that I wasn\u2019t just emphasizing anger, and hatred, and spewing out nasty things about the rich, but actually, trying to help some people who were poor.\u00a0 Yes, that\u2019s been a change.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tProbably, the most consistent thing over the years has been <em>WORLD\u2014<\/em>and <em>WORLD <\/em>Magazine\u2014and trying to operate as a Christian journalist, which means trying\u00a0 to look at things as best we can\u2014in our sinful, fallen ways\u2014as followers of God and followers of what the Bible teaches us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<br><strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 What\u2019s the difference between a mainstream journalist and a Christian journalist?\u00a0 I mean, there\u2019s a high degree of journalistic ethic and integrity that\u2019s taught in journalism schools.\u00a0 There are rules of what you do and what you don\u2019t do; and you don\u2019t cut corners.\u00a0 You have the right number of sources, and you document your sources, and all of that you\u2019re supposed to do.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo, what\u2019s the difference between somebody who is a follower of Christ who says, \u201cI want to be a journalist,\u201d and somebody who is just a garden-variety pagan?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, mainstream, secular journalists still talk about objectivity; but it generally means a balancing of subjectivities.\u00a0 There\u2019s not this sense that there\u2019s actually truth out there.\u00a0 So, you talk to Person X, and you report what that person says.\u00a0 You talk to Person Y, and you report what that person says.\u00a0 Then, you\u2019re being objective.\u00a0 You\u2019ve had two different viewpoints.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhat if they are both materialists?\u00a0 Then, you\u2019re not really coming close to reality.\u00a0 So, objectivity, in terms of this balancing of subjectivities, even in theory, doesn\u2019t work all that well.\u00a0 In practice, most journalists tend to be politically liberal\u2014at least at major newspapers and magazines.\u00a0 They report with a great degree of bias.\u00a0 So, they are not being accurate in what they are doing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAt <em>WORLD<\/em>, we believe in biblical objectivity.\u00a0 We know that God created the world.\u00a0 The Bible is God\u2019s message to us, God\u2019s story of what\u2019s important in the world.\u00a0 So, we read that, and we try to apply that.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIt\u2019s like back when we lived in Texas, the builder of our house lived next door.\u00a0 If we wanted to know something about the house, we asked the builder.\u00a0 That\u2019s what we do in connection with the Bible.\u00a0 We want to know something about this world we live and who we are, we ask God, we read the Bible, and we learn.\u00a0 So, that\u2019s the big difference, in a sense.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEven in theory, objectivity for secular journalists; in practice, bias and often propaganda.\u00a0 On our side, in theory, biblical objectivity\u2014trying to report things from the biblical perspective; and in practice, we mess up a lot; but we, I think, honestly admit when we\u2019ve goofed\u2014and we try to follow God in what we do, and we try to present all the news through a biblical perspective.\u00a0 That\u2019s the only true objectivity there is because only God knows who we really are.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Would we all be better off if\u2014well, we\u2019ve talked about <em>Newsweek<\/em>\u2014if <em>The New York Times<\/em> came out, instead of all the news that\u2019s fit, they said, \u201cA daily chronicle of pragmatic, relativistic, empiricism?\u201d\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Sure.\u00a0 That would be more honest.\u00a0 <em>Newsweek<\/em>, I will say to its credit, has gotten honest to a certain extent.\u00a0 It no longer claims to be neutral.\u00a0 It\u2019s very much, definitely, on the liberal side and doesn\u2019t hide it.\u00a0 So, that\u2019s very useful actually\u2014to have people being honest.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI mean, we\u2014at <em>WORLD<\/em>\u2014we say that we know that the earth is the Lord\u2019s, and we are trying to report everything\u2014to quote the famous Dutch Prime Minister, editor, theologian, Abraham Kuyper\u2014\u201cEvery square inch belongs to God.\u201d\u00a0 That means that we report on politics, economics, movies, and everything else from that perspective.\u00a0 That makes it very different than any of the other news magazines that are around.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 What if there was a young listener who is tuning into <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> and that young lady or young man really likes words, they really like to write; or perhaps it\u2019s the young mom who is raising the child who loves words.\u00a0 What would you encourage them to do to, to ultimately, someday\u2014become a journalist, like you\u2019re talking about?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, first, depending on the age of the child, read a lot.\u00a0 Read good stuff, and then, write.\u00a0 Now, at a certain age, we, at <em>WORLD<\/em>, get particularly interested.\u00a0 Then, we have <em>WORLD Magazine<\/em> now; we have a new web publication called <em>WORLD on campus<\/em>, which I hope college students will be reading.\u00a0 We have a website.\u00a0 We have an App now for iPad\u00ae.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThese are things for people who want to write, but I\u2019m hoping that there are a lot of listeners who want to read.\u00a0 I hope they\u2019ll subscribe to <em>WORLD<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Well, Barbara is a big subscriber to <em>WORLD<\/em>.\u00a0 One question I\u2019ve been wanting to ask you, and Bob\u2019s going to say this is an unfair question.\u00a0 What\u2019s one of your favorite stories in\u2014how long has <em>WORLD<\/em> been around\u2014over 20 years?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 25 years.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 25 years; what\u2019s one of your favorites over those 25 years?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 Lots and lots.\u00a0 One that comes to mind, right now, is a few years ago, my wife and I went to China.\u00a0 We talked with lots of Chinese Christians, including CEO\u2019s of some companies, including people starting schools there.\u00a0 This is incredibly important, I mean, for the lives of millions of people in China and for the whole future of the world as China becomes more and more of a great power.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf it remains Communist, as it is, with some little addendums and things like that, this is going to be trouble.\u00a0 There could very much be huge problems between the United States and China.\u00a0 If, on the other hand, in God\u2019s grace, the hundred million Chinese who are Christians now\u2014if that expands and Christianity becomes crucial throughout the country and has a huge effect on public life\u2014then, I think, there is a lot of hope for China and the United States to coexist very well and for, perhaps, Chinese Christians to teach American Christians a lot about what it means to be a devoted servant of Jesus Christ.\u00a0 In a way, my interaction there and my hope to go back to China and do more\u2014reporting on the situation of Chinese Christians, that\u2019s what comes to mind right now.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tJournalism is just such a fun job because there are dozens and perhaps even hundreds of stories that I can think of that have been favorite stories at one time or another.\u00a0 It\u2019s an exciting occupation to be in.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 Marvin, I want to thank you for the work you do at <em>WORLD Magazine<\/em>.\u00a0 I\u2019m sorry Barbara\u2019s not here to give you some kudos.\u00a0 As you know, she is a cover-to-cover reader of your magazine.\u00a0 It is a great magazine.\u00a0 Appreciate your using your talents.\u00a0 I was thinking, Bob, God made some people very beautiful.\u00a0 He made others very athletic\u2014just gave them above and beyond gifts\u2014you just kind of marvel at the glory of God.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWell, I think Marvin and Susan Olasky are a pair of people who He just gave great minds; and they are using their minds to honor God, glorify Him, and to equip the body of Christ.\u00a0 I think that\u2019s really a cool thing.\u00a0 Thanks, Marvin.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Thank you.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 I hope you\u2019ll keep on the treadmill, too, and reporting to us about what you read while\u2014you do about 45 minutes a day on the treadmill?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Just about, yes.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Read a book while you\u2019re doing it\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 \u2014and, then, report to us regularly in <em>WORLD<\/em> what you\u2019ve been reading\u2014\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Right.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong>\u00a0 So, what\u2019s the best book you\u2019ve read recently?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Marvin:<\/strong>\u00a0 Well, there are lots of books by established authors, and I could talk about those, but there\u2019s one\u2014actually a trilogy, three books, by an author who I doubt if anyone outside of this own immediate circle has heard about\u2014hasn\u2019t been a big publish or anything like that.\u00a0 The author\u2019s name is John Reed.\u00a0 He lives in the South, and he\u2019s written a trilogy about Noah, both before, during, and after the flood.\u00a0 The first of the trilogy is called <em>The Coming Wrath<\/em>, w-r-a-t-h.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI\u2019m recommending it because there are parts that are wonderfully written.\u00a0 There are other parts that need a little work.\u00a0 These are his first novels, but I hope to encourage him to do more because there\u2019s some great stuff here.\u00a0 I think it teaches us a lot about what life may, indeed, have been like during Noah\u2019s time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob:<\/strong>\u00a0 Tell you what\u2014we\u2019ll put a link on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com to where people can find out more about John Reed\u2019s books; and we\u2019ll have a link on our website, as well, for folks who want to find out more about <em>WORLD Magazine <\/em>and want to become subscribers to <em>WORLD Magazine<\/em>.\u00a0 Go to FamilyLifeToday.com, and both of those links are available to you there.\u00a0 FamilyLifeToday.com is our website.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tOf course, we\u2019ve got information there as well about Marvin\u2019s memoir, <em>Unmerited Mercy: A Memoir from card-carrying Communist to Bible-carrying Christian<\/em>.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve heard Marvin share any of his story this week, you know it\u2019s a compelling testimony.\u00a0 It\u2019s well-told in the book, <em>Unmerited Mercy<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain, find out more about how you can order a copy of the book online at FamilyLifeToday.com; or call toll-free 1-800-358-6329, which is probably more easily remembered as 1-800- \u201cF\u201d as in family, \u201cL\u201d as in life, and then, the word, \u201cTODAY\u201d.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe want to close the week, by saying, \u201cThanks,\u201d once again to those of you who help support the ministry of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> with your donations at the end of the year.\u00a0 We heard from a lot <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> listeners who made a year-end contribution in 2011.\u00a0 We are so very grateful for that, but we are also grateful for those of you who are Legacy Partners.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tEach month you help support this ministry with a regular monthly donation to make sure that our production and syndication costs are covered and that we can remain on this station\u2014on our network of stations all around the country\u2014and, of course, online at FamilyLifeToday.com.\u00a0 So, thanks for your financial support in helping to sustain this ministry.\u00a0 We appreciate your generosity and always look forward to hearing from you.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe hope you have a great weekend.\u00a0 Hope you and your family are able to worship together this weekend, and I hope you can join us back on Monday.\u00a0 We\u2019re going to talk to a young woman who, when she was 18, headed off to New York to become a fashion model\u2014only to find that her career was not moving her closer to God.\u00a0 It was moving her farther and farther away from Him.\u00a0 Rachel Lee Carter is here to share her story with us on Monday.\u00a0 Hope you can be back for that as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today\u2014his name is Keith Lynch\u2014and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We will see you back Monday for another edition of <em>FamilyLife Today<\/em>.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<em>FamilyLife Today<\/em> is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHelp for today.\u00a0 Hope for tomorrow.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 2011 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/\">www.FamilyLife.com<\/a>\u00a0 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