From Arcadia, California the Carter Report Presents, 00:00:08.21\00:00:11.25 "The Living Word" around the world. 00:00:11.26\00:00:13.63 Hello, I'm Dave Deno. Welcome to the Carter Report. 00:00:18.31\00:00:21.53 Today, we're going to turn the tables 00:00:21.54\00:00:24.81 on Pastor John Carter. 00:00:24.82\00:00:26.87 You may be used to seeing him being the interviewer. 00:00:26.88\00:00:31.39 Well, today we're going to make him the interviewee. 00:00:31.40\00:00:34.32 We're going to talk with him 00:00:34.33\00:00:35.34 about 50 years of uninterrupted ministry. 00:00:35.35\00:00:40.45 Fifty years of evangelizing of preaching the gospel. 00:00:40.46\00:00:45.22 We're going to learn more about Pastor Carter. 00:00:45.23\00:00:47.60 We're going to learn more about his family. 00:00:47.61\00:00:49.97 We're going to learn more 00:00:49.98\00:00:51.05 about the highlights of his ministry 00:00:51.06\00:00:53.64 and yes some of the struggles as well. 00:00:53.65\00:00:56.38 Stay tuned. 00:00:56.39\00:00:57.88 Jesus said, "Go into all the world 00:00:59.91\00:01:02.27 and make disciples of all nations, 00:01:02.28\00:01:04.60 baptizing them in the name of the Father, 00:01:04.61\00:01:06.50 Son, and Holy Spirit." 00:01:06.51\00:01:08.62 The Carter Report team has therefore accepted 00:01:08.63\00:01:11.59 the challenge of Worldwide Evangelism. 00:01:11.60\00:01:14.12 Million in Russia, Ukraine, the Philippines, Africa, 00:01:14.13\00:01:17.94 India, Australia, the United States, 00:01:17.95\00:01:21.24 and the Isles of the Sea have heard 00:01:21.25\00:01:23.53 the good news of Christ. 00:01:23.54\00:01:25.19 As John Carter has proclaimed God's Living Word. 00:01:25.20\00:01:28.93 You are invited to be a part of the Carter team by praying 00:01:28.94\00:01:32.97 and by giving and when God calls by going. 00:01:32.98\00:01:36.33 Write a note now to Pastor John Carter. 00:01:36.34\00:01:39.44 PO Box 1900, Thousand Oaks, California 91358. 00:01:39.45\00:01:45.41 Or to PO Box 861, Terrigal, NSW 2260, Australia. 00:01:45.42\00:01:52.99 Jesus said, "With God all things are possible." 00:01:53.53\00:01:58.12 Welcome back to the Carter Report. 00:02:01.02\00:02:02.33 I'm Dave Deno. 00:02:02.34\00:02:03.64 Today, we're talking with Pastor John Carter 00:02:03.65\00:02:05.51 and we're talking about 50 years of uninterrupted ministry, 00:02:05.52\00:02:10.27 50 years of evangelism. 00:02:10.28\00:02:13.18 And we're gonna find out more about Pastor Carter 00:02:13.19\00:02:16.40 about what drives him, 00:02:16.41\00:02:18.58 about what he sees in the future. 00:02:18.59\00:02:21.20 We're gonna talk with him also 00:02:21.21\00:02:22.60 about his faith in a very personal way. 00:02:22.61\00:02:25.53 Pastor Carter, this is I think 00:02:25.54\00:02:27.87 a rare privilege not just for me, 00:02:27.88\00:02:29.87 but for those who are watching as well. 00:02:29.88\00:02:31.35 It's a privilege to have you with you today, Dave. 00:02:31.36\00:02:34.00 Thank you for coming. 00:02:34.01\00:02:35.13 I'd like to begin by asking you 00:02:35.14\00:02:37.23 perhaps a description of the most amazing 00:02:37.24\00:02:42.01 spiritual experience that has ever happened to you? 00:02:42.02\00:02:45.36 Uh, goodness. 00:02:45.67\00:02:48.64 I would say that the most amazing 00:02:48.65\00:02:51.99 spiritual experience happened to me 00:02:52.00\00:02:54.14 when I was 17 years of age. 00:02:54.15\00:02:58.05 I was a boy going to Avondale College in Australia. 00:02:58.06\00:03:01.55 And an Englishmen came and he preached on the topic, 00:03:02.23\00:03:05.82 "God filled blank." 00:03:05.83\00:03:08.08 He said, "Inside every person there is a blank, 00:03:08.09\00:03:11.05 there is an emptiness, only God can fill it." 00:03:11.06\00:03:14.79 When he said this, I thought to myself 00:03:14.80\00:03:17.17 he's talking about me 00:03:17.18\00:03:18.46 because I felt empty and lonely inside. 00:03:18.47\00:03:23.93 And then he gave a series of meetings 00:03:23.94\00:03:25.49 all on the gospel of Christ that God loved people 00:03:25.50\00:03:28.45 and Jesus, the son of God came to this earth 00:03:28.46\00:03:31.39 and died for our sins on the cross. 00:03:31.40\00:03:34.29 And I was overwhelmed, I was dazed and amazed 00:03:34.30\00:03:38.33 by the revelation of the love of God. 00:03:38.34\00:03:40.21 I gave my life to Christ. 00:03:40.22\00:03:42.57 I was overwhelmed back there by the love of God. 00:03:42.58\00:03:48.32 I'm overwhelmed today. 00:03:48.33\00:03:50.53 You know I've heard many, many people talk about the fact 00:03:50.54\00:03:53.22 that there is a place in their life 00:03:53.23\00:03:56.38 that seems unfilled. Yeah. 00:03:56.39\00:03:58.56 And we hear that from people in all walks of life. 00:03:58.57\00:04:01.83 People who have achieved, 00:04:01.84\00:04:03.32 what to our way of thinking is everything. 00:04:03.33\00:04:05.98 And people who are struggling just to get by 00:04:05.99\00:04:09.29 and yet there is that same feeling 00:04:09.30\00:04:11.94 that something is missing. Why do you think that is? 00:04:11.95\00:04:15.46 Well, the great theologian, Santa Gustin said, 00:04:15.47\00:04:19.41 "Our souls were made for God, 00:04:19.42\00:04:21.43 and they cannot rest until they rest in him." 00:04:21.44\00:04:25.78 Without God, we are completely incomplete. 00:04:25.79\00:04:30.81 I was a teenager growing up in Australia. 00:04:30.82\00:04:33.25 I was in a home that was full of religion, 00:04:33.26\00:04:37.04 but I hadn't found God. 00:04:37.05\00:04:38.60 There is a big difference state between finding God 00:04:38.61\00:04:42.35 and being stuck in religion. 00:04:42.36\00:04:44.00 Most people seem to be stuck in religion. 00:04:44.01\00:04:46.36 But I believe that God revealed Himself to me. 00:04:48.09\00:04:51.08 It wasn't a case of my finding, 00:04:51.09\00:04:52.81 God was the case, I felt that God found me. 00:04:52.82\00:04:57.32 There is a great poem where God is described 00:04:57.33\00:05:00.74 as the "hound of heaven." That He pursues us. Yeah. 00:05:00.75\00:05:05.38 Isn't it great to know- 00:05:05.39\00:05:06.36 Down the labyrinthine ways of their own mind. 00:05:06.37\00:05:12.30 We talk about this need in every human being. Yeah. 00:05:12.31\00:05:18.40 And yet there are those who discounted. 00:05:18.41\00:05:22.32 There are those who are actually evangelists for atheism. 00:05:22.33\00:05:27.89 They want to not only discount God, 00:05:27.90\00:05:31.44 but they really want others as well 00:05:31.45\00:05:34.44 is to have in their mind, 00:05:34.45\00:05:37.24 the realization that there is no God. 00:05:37.25\00:05:39.40 Let me give you an example. 00:05:39.41\00:05:41.07 There is a gentleman by the name of Dr. Richard Dawkins, 00:05:41.08\00:05:43.56 he is a- an evolutionary biologist. 00:05:43.57\00:05:46.36 He is an avowed atheist. 00:05:46.37\00:05:48.55 He has written several books attacking Christianity. 00:05:48.56\00:05:53.78 He derides those who believe in God. 00:05:53.79\00:05:59.33 First of all, why do you believe in God? 00:05:59.34\00:06:02.65 I believe in God for a number of reasons. 00:06:02.66\00:06:05.56 Firstly, God met me there back in the 1950s, 00:06:05.57\00:06:09.82 goodness me. 00:06:09.83\00:06:11.77 Fifty Five, fifty six years ago, 00:06:11.78\00:06:13.88 God met me. 00:06:13.89\00:06:16.00 I believe in God because of personal experience. 00:06:16.01\00:06:19.96 Number two, I believe in God 00:06:19.97\00:06:21.53 because of the overwhelming evidence 00:06:21.54\00:06:24.84 that I get out of this book, this book this called the Bible. 00:06:24.85\00:06:28.68 I believe in the evidence of Bible prophesy, 00:06:28.69\00:06:31.02 I've studied the Bible prophesies Dave, 00:06:31.03\00:06:33.45 for many, many years. I'm forced to believe 00:06:33.46\00:06:37.10 that these prophesies must have been inspired 00:06:37.11\00:06:40.60 by someone bigger than you and I. 00:06:40.61\00:06:43.66 And the next reason I believe in God 00:06:43.67\00:06:46.05 as I think through this question. 00:06:46.06\00:06:49.75 It'll be the person of Christ. 00:06:49.76\00:06:53.02 He is completely distinct and unique. 00:06:53.03\00:06:56.53 He meets the needs of the human heart. 00:06:56.54\00:07:00.35 He is so marvelous and so wonderful 00:07:00.36\00:07:03.56 and so ugly extraordinary 00:07:03.57\00:07:06.57 that He could not be the figment of human imagination. 00:07:06.58\00:07:10.76 He could not have been just created by people. 00:07:10.77\00:07:15.14 He meets the need of the human heart, 00:07:15.15\00:07:18.23 that He is the strongest reason I have Christ Himself. 00:07:18.24\00:07:22.03 But there would be another reason, 00:07:22.04\00:07:24.54 that is the reason today of astronomy, 00:07:24.55\00:07:28.04 I was talking just a few months ago 00:07:28.05\00:07:30.09 to Dr. Hugh Ross, who was a famous astronomer, 00:07:30.10\00:07:33.41 a friend of yours and a friend of mine. 00:07:33.42\00:07:35.73 When he tells me that a millisecond 00:07:35.74\00:07:38.63 after the point of creation, 00:07:38.64\00:07:40.58 that scientist called the big bang, 00:07:40.59\00:07:42.53 you can call it what you like, a big noise or whatever. 00:07:42.54\00:07:46.41 But a millisecond after that he said, 00:07:46.42\00:07:48.22 there were four forces that held the universe together. 00:07:48.23\00:07:54.39 Gravity, strong nuclear force, the weak nuclear force, 00:07:54.40\00:08:00.49 and electromagnetism, I hope. 00:08:00.50\00:08:04.95 But he pointed out if those forces, 00:08:04.96\00:08:07.62 Dave, had been out of sync by one quadrillionth, 00:08:07.63\00:08:12.48 of one quadrillionth, of one quadrillionth, 00:08:12.49\00:08:15.74 of one quadrillionth, of one quadrillionth, 00:08:15.75\00:08:18.46 of one percent, there could be no life on the planet. 00:08:18.47\00:08:23.47 I'm forced to believe 00:08:23.48\00:08:24.88 that there must be a great designer 00:08:24.89\00:08:29.33 to the whole universe. 00:08:29.34\00:08:31.93 And when I think of this is the, 00:08:31.94\00:08:34.07 the greatness of this great designer, 00:08:34.08\00:08:36.50 this great creator. 00:08:36.51\00:08:37.91 And then I read the Bible story 00:08:37.92\00:08:40.13 that He came down in the person of Christ. 00:08:40.14\00:08:45.31 I must believe in Him. 00:08:45.32\00:08:47.52 I'm forced by the way of evidence to believe in Him. 00:08:47.53\00:08:50.73 And Richard Dawkins, I don't doubt his sincerity 00:08:50.74\00:08:53.42 or anything like this. He is a complete atheist. 00:08:53.43\00:08:57.65 But Dawkins, one of his main arguments is this he says, 00:08:57.66\00:09:01.38 "I can't believe in God 00:09:01.39\00:09:02.63 because of the way Christians have acted. 00:09:02.64\00:09:05.98 It's not a very good argument. 00:09:05.99\00:09:07.82 Because some Christians have acted abominably. 00:09:07.83\00:09:10.70 But that's not reason not to believe in the Christ. 00:09:10.71\00:09:13.05 I could say to him Dr. Dawkins, 00:09:13.06\00:09:15.07 look how the atheists acted 00:09:15.08\00:09:16.60 who believe what you believe in the Soviet Union. 00:09:16.61\00:09:19.73 They've murdered 70 million people. 00:09:19.74\00:09:22.70 And so I don't think his arguments are valid. 00:09:22.71\00:09:28.68 But I believe in God because God believes in me. 00:09:28.69\00:09:33.72 You're watching the Carter Report. 00:09:35.36\00:09:36.75 We're talking with Dr. John Carter. 00:09:36.76\00:09:39.79 A question that I've always had 00:09:39.80\00:09:41.61 when I come up against a person who is an avowed atheist, 00:09:41.62\00:09:46.74 who is really as I describe before 00:09:46.75\00:09:48.88 almost evangelistic about it. Militant. 00:09:48.89\00:09:51.62 Why? What drives a person like that? 00:09:51.63\00:09:55.10 Dave, it's very difficult for me to answer that, 00:09:56.65\00:10:00.63 because I don't know what drives Dr. Dawkins possibly 00:10:00.64\00:10:04.83 he had some very bad experiences with religious people. 00:10:04.84\00:10:08.97 And he possibly, he's owed an apology 00:10:08.98\00:10:14.19 perhaps for something that has happened to him. 00:10:14.20\00:10:16.98 But I think in the human heart 00:10:16.99\00:10:20.73 I think in the human heart there is in with many people 00:10:20.74\00:10:25.77 or some people there is a desire to get away 00:10:25.78\00:10:29.21 from the responsibility that comes 00:10:29.22\00:10:32.73 when you believe in God. 00:10:32.74\00:10:34.85 You see if there is no God, 00:10:34.86\00:10:36.17 there is no law, and there is no sin. 00:10:36.18\00:10:38.30 And there is really no morality 00:10:38.31\00:10:40.35 and there's no purpose and there is no meaning. 00:10:40.36\00:10:42.45 And some people would rather be cast out 00:10:42.46\00:10:44.91 on the sea of unbelief than submit 00:10:44.92\00:10:48.19 to the Lordship of Christ. 00:10:48.20\00:10:51.12 It's a very bad choice I believe. 00:10:51.13\00:10:53.60 It is difficult to talk about 00:10:53.61\00:10:55.32 what's in the heart of other people. 00:10:55.33\00:10:57.05 Let's get back to talking about what's in your heart, 00:10:57.06\00:10:59.64 50 years of uninterrupted ministry and evangelism. 00:10:59.65\00:11:04.15 Where did it all begin? 00:11:04.16\00:11:05.63 I guess it began. 00:11:05.64\00:11:06.90 Now you're making me really think, 00:11:06.91\00:11:08.51 it began when I was a tiny little baby. 00:11:08.52\00:11:12.26 My mother told me the story. 00:11:12.27\00:11:13.69 She was not going to a church. 00:11:13.70\00:11:15.84 She believed in God. 00:11:15.85\00:11:17.61 Officially I think she belong to the Church of England 00:11:17.62\00:11:20.21 and Australia, the Anglican Church, 00:11:20.22\00:11:22.80 or the Episcopal Churches. 00:11:22.81\00:11:24.01 It's called here the United States. 00:11:24.02\00:11:26.98 And after I was born my mother had a conviction 00:11:26.99\00:11:32.05 that I was called to be a minister 00:11:32.06\00:11:34.64 and the preacher of the gospel. 00:11:34.65\00:11:37.75 And she got down on her knee, 00:11:37.76\00:11:39.42 she told me this 00:11:39.43\00:11:44.63