Save America Ministries

Chuck Crismier: It was a life jacket worn by a woman who survived the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. It sold for $143,000 at an auction in London.

The woman's name: Laura Mabel Francatelli, who was traveling first class on the ship as secretary to society designer, dress designer Lady Lucy Duff-Gordon. She left the life jacket to her nephew when she died in 1967. It was sold on his behalf at Christie's in London to an anonymous telephone bidder as part of a lot which also included a copy of a letter written by her detailing her rescue.

She said, "We were dropped into this boat. Then they let it down to the water." She said, "We rode away from the ship, which was sinking fast, so as to get away from swell or suction." Then she said, "All the rest is too terrible for me to write."

Today on Viewpoint, we go back to the sinking of the Titanic that happened on this very day, April 15th. April 15th may be known as Tax Day in the United States, but it's known as the day of the sinking of the Titanic in the UK where the boat began. And so today on, today on Viewpoint, we take a look at some of the secrets of the Titanic and also the truths that emanate from the Titanic. And now, guess what? A life jacket is now on the auction block.

On the auction block to be sold this Saturday. It is believed that it will bring somewhere between $340 and $475,000. It's the same life jacket that was sold earlier that we reported from Miss Francatelli. And she wore the life jacket as she boarded lifeboat number one after the Titanic struck an iceberg just before midnight on April 14th, 1912. She later signed the item along with seven other survivors from the same lifeboat.

It's believed to be one of only a handful of Titanic life jackets still in existence, the only one ever offered at auction.

Today, what would you auction your life off for? And what if you had a life jacket on board the Titanic that was never used? That's what we're talking about, a life jacket that apparently was never used. Again, I welcome you to Viewpoint. I'm Chuck Crismier. It's conversation, as always, with ever-increasing conviction, talk that transforms, and I trust that today will be no exception.

So glad that you've joined us. Every year at this time, we do a program, or attempt to do a program, causing us to remember about that fateful day. It was called "A Night to Remember" said Lord Walter Lord in his classic 1955 best-seller. But Titanic, Titanic was no means the largest disaster in modern history. Unlike the Lusitania and Hindenburg, it had virtually no political import. Yet it remains the only disaster, the only disaster that people generally care about.

Why? Well, there's something about the Titanic story that keeps us coming back to it, said author Stephen Cox in his book, The Titanic Story. "What's the significance of the story anyway? You can have a real story without risks, but the best stories are those that ask the riskiest questions," he said about good and bad. And when we try to answer them, we recover our sense of dignity of human life. And that's why we keep coming back to the Titanic story, because it makes us think about the things that matter.

Well, I suppose it's little wonder then that the historian Stephen Biel, in his reminiscing cultural history of the disaster "Down with the Old Canoe," speculated that the three most written about subjects of all time may be Jesus, the Civil War, and the Titanic.

Buried 12,000 feet beneath the sea in total darkness, gone from a world it momentarily defined, the Titanic refuses to die. According to Newsweek, it's a morality play. A biblical warning to those who would dare to challenge the Almighty. Wow. What a statement coming from Newsmax, excuse me, Newsweek, a biblical warning to those who would dare to challenge the Almighty. So, in effect, we're all on the Titanic together.

We're all on the Titanic together. In fact, it's a metaphor for life, observed James Cameron, director of the extravaganza film production in 1996. He said, in a very real sense, we're all on the Titanic. Well, what would that mean? How could we all be on the Titanic? What does it have in store for us individually, collectively, as families, as congregations, even as nations? That's what we want to look at here today on the program, and it's so good to have you join us.

It's conversation as always with ever-increasing conviction, talk that transforms, and I trust that today will be no exception. Well, let's take a look at a few Titanic truths, that is, some facts concerning the Titanic. The RMS Titanic sank on April 15th, 1912, after striking an iceberg in the northern Atlantic during its maiden voyage. It killed over 1500 people due to insufficient lifeboats and chaotic evacuation procedures.

It was considered the largest, most luxurious liner of its time. It was deemed practically unsinkable. Yet now, the unsinkable lies 12,000 feet below the surface of the Atlantic Ocean. It struck an iceberg at about 11:40 PM on April 14th, sank at 2:20 AM on April 15th, 1912. Didn't take long for it to sink, just about two and a half hours.

The ship carried only 16 boats, plus four collapsible boats, holding 1178 people. Only one-third of its maximum capacity of over 3300, and only enough for roughly half the people actually on board. Talk about preparing for eventualities. Apparently not. Why would you prepare for eventualities when you're boarding the unsinkable?

Its 16 watertight compartments, which could be sealed if the hull was damaged, earned it the unsinkable reputation. The iceberg that it hit is estimated to have originated from Greenland, with a visible portion over 100 feet above the water. Imagine what there was below the water. The ship received multiple ice warnings but was traveling at high speed when the iceberg was spotted. In fact, full speed ahead.

Why full speed ahead? Well, because they wanted to set a new speed record. There was a certain amount of pride, chutzpah, on the seas in construction, in technology. Chutzpah brought the Titanic to the bottom of Davy Jones' Locker. Lookouts didn't have binoculars in the crow's nest. They were locked away and the key holder had been transferred off the ship before it sailed.

The rest is history. And we take a look at it here on the program today. We'll be right back.

Chuck Crismier: Once upon a time, children could pray and read their Bibles in school. Divorces were practically unknown, as was child abuse. In our once great America, virginity and chastity were popular virtues, and homosexuality was an abomination. So what happened in just one generation? Hi, I'm Chuck Crismier, and I urge you to join me daily on Viewpoint, where we discuss the most challenging issues touching our hearts and homes. Could America's moral slide relate to the Fourth Commandment? Listen to Viewpoint on this radio station, or anytime at saveus.org.

Chuck Crismier: Today we take a look at the Titanic. Titanic truths for these troubled times in which we live. Indeed, they are troubled times. Those times then were troubled, but nothing like we see today. It's a tale of haunting deception, hovering over history's most remembered disaster. The most remembered disaster, the Titanic.

Well, the lights flickered out, and in a thunderous roar, everything on the super ship seemed to break loose. Beds and boilers lurched as the black hole of the RMS Titanic tilted perpendicularly. Its three great propellers reared against the heavens, and then it was gone, along with the 1522 souls with it. There'd been no sense of urgency, when the Titanic first struck an iceberg in the North Atlantic at about 11:40 PM on April 14th, 1912.

And when Edith Brown Haisman last saw her daddy, he was standing on deck smoking a cigar and smiling as his wife and daughter said, "I'll see you in New York." He said confidently, as his family was bundled into lifeboat number 14. Everyone kept saying, "She's unsinkable," recalled Haisman. But the unthinkable happened to the unsinkable.

An emergency from the depths of the sea and lifeboat survivors is a tale of haunting deception and undisclosed secrets hovering over history's most remembered disaster. And we're all on the Titanic together. It remains a night to forget for those who were on board, but a night to remember for the rest of the world, including you and me. It's an irresistible tale of tragedy and truth.

17 movies, 18 documentaries, and at least 130 books have attempted to reveal the moral and spiritual mysteries played out in the drama of deception played out before the world, on the decks of the Titanic. It's a moment in time that encapsulates what life is all about, said a fellow by the name of Tulloch of RMS Titanic Inc. The Titanic wasn't annihilated in an instant. It took two hours and 40 minutes to sink, during which people, rich and poor, young and old, had to make choices.

It's an interesting fact that newspaper reports, magazines, articles, and books published shortly after Titanic's sinking referred to eternal truths, wrote Bob Garner, senior producer for Focus on the Family. Yet, most of these were secular publications. Garner had been working associate of Dr. Robert Ballard, who first discovered the remains of the great ship in 1985, resting two miles down on the ocean floor in the cold, pitch blackness of the North Atlantic.

He said there are pivotal points in our lives when we're brought face to face with the things in life that matter most. At those junctures are choices that have to be made. Choices that inevitably determine the course of destiny. Deception and undisclosed secrets deliver us to the brink of destiny, as James Cameron, director of that extravaganza film in 1996, said, "It's a metaphor for life." In a very real sense, we're all on the Titanic together.

Well, if we're all on the Titanic together, what does that mean? What could that possibly mean for you and for me? Well, in my book, "The Secrets of the Lord, the Hidden Truth that Defines Your Destiny," the very first chapter is called "Titanic Secrets." In fact, I'm actually reading from that chapter because it grabs so many people's minds and hearts. "The Secret of the Lord." Might it have something to do also with Titanic Secrets?

Maybe you can decide. To get a copy of the hardbound book, it's on the website, I think, for $18. Might be $15, we'll see. Take a look at the website saveus.org, "The Secrets of the Lord." I think you'll be fascinated. Absolutely fascinated. It's on the website saveus.org. Give us a call 1-800-SAVE-USA. Write to us at Save America Ministries, PO Box 70879, Richmond, Virginia, 23255. We're looking at the cover story of National Geographic.

This came out a few years ago. In fact, in April of 2012. "The Titanic, What Really Happened?" What really happened? Well, what did really happen? We want to take a little bit more look at what really happened. But even more than that, we're interested in what were the implications for what happened in those final moments. So, on Viewpoint today, we continue with a look at the Titanic. Titanic truths for these troubled times. And to help us get inside that, I am going to share with you the words, the recording from one of the most, I think, one of the best films ever done.

It was one of the earlier films done concerning the Titanic. And the soundtrack, however difficult it might be to discern because of the commotion and chaos that was taking place on the Titanic, it's worth listening to. Listen with your heart.

Audio Clip: There's ice ahead!

Audio Clip: Ice ahead!

Audio Clip: Right where we see.

Audio Clip: Ice ahead! Less than a mile away.

Audio Clip: Thank you.

Audio Clip: Iceberg right ahead.

Audio Clip: Hard to starboard, mister!

Audio Clip: Hard to starboard.

Audio Clip: Helm hard over, sir.

Audio Clip: Full speed astern!

Audio Clip: Turn!

Audio Clip: Iceberg ahead!

Audio Clip: Come on!

Audio Clip: What's taking her so long?

Audio Clip: Turn!

Audio Clip: What have you done to the ship?

Audio Clip: Turn!

Audio Clip: We hit it hard!

Audio Clip: Hey! What's happening?

Audio Clip: We're going to the bottom!

Audio Clip: Move quickly!

Audio Clip: Close the watertight doors.

Audio Clip: Turn!

Audio Clip: I think we hit something.

Audio Clip: Turn!

Audio Clip: We struck something, sir. An iceberg.

Audio Clip: An iceberg.

Audio Clip: I asked her if it ran, the engines full astern, but it's too close.

Audio Clip: I'm afraid she is, sir.

Audio Clip: Dearest God.

Audio Clip: Close the watertight doors.

Audio Clip: Rang the warning bell.

Audio Clip: Do you hear me?

Audio Clip: Impossible.

Audio Clip: It's getting out of hand.

Chuck Crismier: "Dearest God. Impossible," said the captain. Impossible. The unsinkable was sinking. All of the technological protections of the day, which were considered immense, were not successful in saving the Titanic. The Titanic was large even by today's standards. This was the grandest of the grand, representing all the power, wealth, luxury, and arrogance of its age.

The Titanic was built at the height of the industrial age, a time when technology ruled as a god. She was promoted as unsinkable, with her 16 watertight compartments. Several passengers wrote in their diaries, they overheard people claim even God couldn't sink this ship. Just like a lot of people say about America, "Even God couldn't sink this country."

So what's wrong? Have we hit an iceberg? Have we hit several icebergs? Could the unthinkable happen to the unsinkable? One deception led to another. Yet the unthinkable happened to the unsinkable. Undisclosed secrets obscured what might otherwise have seemed obvious. Passengers boarded brashly confident in their safety. The ill-fated Captain Edward J. Smith was also boldly confident, cracking up the speed to set a new transatlantic speed record.

Even as the regal vessel approached the well-known North Atlantic icefields, unbeknownst to unsuspecting passengers, no safety drills had been conducted. After all, she was unsinkable, and this is the great technological age. The wireless operators ignored or made light of repeated warnings of icebergs ahead. Even the captain seemed complacent. At about 11:00 PM, when the ship's crew spotted iceberg ahead, frantic orders were given to turn the massive liner.

There are few more dramatic or spine-tingling lines in the history of cinema than those of the Titanic captain. In the earlier film, when he cried upon the news of "Iceberg dead ahead!" he cried pleadingly to his ship, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" And then in unprecedented lament, cries, "Dearest God. Impossible!" You heard it. Again, there's a sense in which we're all on the Titanic together.

Yet the deception actually continued. Even though a 300-foot slice of little over a quarter inch wide was scraped by the ice through the hull, nothing was detectable by anybody on board. But the unsinkable ship had been mortally wounded. Yet even that fact remained a virtual secret. Could not be admitted, could not be revealed. No. Were America, excuse me, where Titanic, the unsinkable?

Still nothing was detected by them on board. Even the watertight compartments filled with water, still nothing was detected. Few had any clue at what was happening. Many even joked when ordered to begin boarding lifeboats. And not until the unsinkable began listing and tilting, did the passengers realize they were in trouble. That which long seems secret, inevitably surfaces to the surprise of the unsuspecting, leaving little time to take stock of reality.

Well, there was a little girl, Eva Hart. She was on board, seven years old, a survivor. Who with her mother was put on a lifeboat, and her father was left behind. She said looking back, "It was dreadful." She could hear the screams echoing across the freezing waters as the huge ship rose and suddenly slipped below, and all was darkness.

It was absolutely dreadful, she said. And so it will be, when the consequences of creeping spiritual deception become manifested in our lives here in this seemingly unsinkable country, as we approach the end of the age. Pomp, pride, power, perks, position keep our spirits falsely afloat, while this great unsinkable ship of Earth takes on water, ready to plunge into the abyss where time and eternity meet.

The overwhelming majority will be deceived. Secrets that seduced will surface too late. Their destiny will be determined. Their mournful cries will be deafening. And the unthinkable will happen to the unsinkable. It will be dreadful. Absolutely dreadful. But there's a missing key. A missing key, you say? Yes, a missing key.

We'll be right back after this, friends. Titanic secrets for these troubled times. It's worth remembering, a metaphor for life. We'll be right back.

Chuck Crismier: There is so much more about Chuck Crismier and Save America Ministries on our website, saveus.org. For example, under the Marriage section, God has marriage on his mind. Chuck has some great resources to strengthen your marriage. First off, a fact sheet on the state of the marital union, a fact sheet on the state of ministry, marriage, and morals. saveus.org. Marriage, divorce, and remarriage. What does the Bible really teach about this? Find all of this at saveus.org. Also, a letter to pastors, the Hosea project. saveus.org. And many more resources to strengthen your marriage. It's all on Chuck's website, saveus.org. Again, you can listen to Chuck's Viewpoint broadcast live and archived, Save America Ministries' website at saveus.org.

Chuck Crismier: Welcome back to Viewpoint. Today we're dealing with Titanic truths for these troubled times as we remember. It was a night to remember. The night when the Titanic went below the ocean, and into Davy Jones' Locker, two miles into the depths, carrying 1522 passengers totally unsuspecting with them. Today, a cutting-edge design, the cutting-edge designs of the unsinkable ship are to be made public for the first time.

According to the British Broadcasting System, Harland and Wolff began operations in 1861 and was once one of the world's largest shipyards. Its archive contains hundreds of thousands of plans, drawings, and documents dealing how ships were designed and built. A major project to catalog the archive, called "From Drawing Board to Slipway," is underway with funding from the Archives Revealed Grant Program.

In a statement, Project Archivist Siobhan McLaughlin said it would unlock the hidden histories of Belfast's heritage in shipbuilding. And so it will be. But we need to take a deeper look. Perhaps we can take a look not only at the construction, but at what was missing on board. What was missing on board could have saved the Titanic, and it was something so small and so seemingly insignificant that one can hardly believe what was discovered.

It looked for all the world like an ordinary key, but this remarkable piece of metal could have saved the Titanic from disaster. Those were the opening words in a heart-rending report of remorse in the Telegraph online paper published in the United Kingdom, August 30th, 2007. Catastrophically for the Titanic and her 1522 passengers that lost their lives, the key's owner, second officer David Blair, was removed from the crew at the last minute, and in his haste, he forgot to hand the key to his replacement.

And the key is thought to have fitted the locker that contained the crow's nest binoculars that were vital to detecting lurking threats to the liner in pre-sonar days. Without the glasses, lookouts in the crow's nest had to rely on their own eyes, which were unable to perceive the disaster lying ahead until it was too late. A survivor, Fred Fleet, was called by Congress to testify about this. When asked by the chairing US senator, how much sooner the binoculars would have made the looming iceberg visible, he answered, "Enough to get out of the way."

Then 95 years later, the key and its significance had truly come to light and was put up for auction. Allan Aldridge, the auctioneer, said, "We think this key is one of the most important artifacts from Titanic to come to light. It is the key that had the potential to save the Titanic." Wow. For lack of a key. For want of a key, the Titanic sank. For lack of a seemingly insignificant piece of metal, the world's greatest luxury liner and most of those trusted in her safety met their demise.

Dreadful. The unthinkable happened to the unsinkable. And so it will be as the great ship of this world plunges at breakneck speed, setting new global and economic technological records into the freezing and darkening waters of end-time deception. We boast, it's not what we know, but what we don't know. What remains secret that will define a destiny of destruction both temporally and eternally.

Yet we plunge proudly ahead, thinking we're unsinkable. And this is true for both professing believers and unbelievers because both went down with the Titanic for lack of the same key. The key was not truly seen as significant until after the disaster. Yet it was this seemingly insignificant key that would have provided the clarity of vision and depth of understanding to avoid the deceptively dangerous iceberg that lay ahead.

At this remarkable and unprecedented moment in human history, right now, the greatest and most significant key to avoid personal and collective shipwreck is almost ignored or deemed relatively insignificant. It's called the Bible. The very inspired word of God himself. It's become either disregarded or disdained. Yet it alone signifies, and as insignificant as it may seem in light of man's Titanic achievements, it provides a little key to life, revealing the dangers lurking not only in the swirling waters around us, but in the dark and turbulent waters that are ahead.

But now, the world remembers. Again, it's been a century, over a century now since the Titanic met its moment of truth in 1912. The tale of terror never ceases to grip our moral and spiritual imagination, does it? Those memories are embellished with a thousand "what if's?" Yet another account has now surfaced probing deeply below the surface discussions and the usually repeated observations that haunt us to this very day.

Might there have been a more fundamental secret laying undisclosed at the door of Titanic's demise? Well, that enters the Titanic's last secret that was published in 2008. That riveting book weaves new evidence from the depths of historical accounts to reveal dark hidden truths about the deadly voyage. The shocking conclusion: what happened aboard the Titanic that night was far worse than anyone ever guessed.

It was a fresh, moving, and irresistible portrait of the doomed ship, combining secret archives and forensic engineering. So the author, Brad Marsden, offered haunting new conclusions about Titanic. It didn't have to be this way. They didn't have to die. But why? "The true story of Titanic has never been told," wrote Tom McCluskey. "I know things nobody else knows." Indeed, he did. He had worked at the great shipyard, Harland and Wolff, where Titanic was built, from 1965 to 1997.

He ended his career as the company archivist, was the author of four books on Olympic class ships. He said, "The Titanic had been flawed from its foundation." The same flaw in its sister ships had become well apparent, and major effort was made to retrofit them in order to structurally remedy their deadly effects. Corners had been cut in construction, just as the corners are being cut in our presentation of the Gospel today.

To try to lure more people on board. When what we're luring them to is not accurately being presented. Pursuit of profit, compromised architectural and engineering principles. And the rest is a wake of horror defining a century of history. Are we actually luring untold thousands, maybe millions of people on board a spiritual Titanic that we have not properly presented because we are more interested in building a big ship, or a big church, than we were in allowing Jesus to build his church while we made disciples?

On the Titanic drawings, you can see lots of changes made by Thomas Andrews, the architect, after he discovered design flaws during Olympic sea trials. Olympic must have been right on the edge of coming apart, he said. Yet Titanic was given only one day of sea trial before such troubling discoveries. What about the British Board of Trade inquiry? It was a whitewash to assure, reassure the world that British ships were safe.

However, from private documentation within the company, they determined that it was very likely that the ship had broken in half on the surface, but it was never made public. Perrie and Ismay, the owner and principal of the Titanic project, whose decisions had determined the destiny of so many, must have been terrified when they'd figured that out. That the known weak joints had caused the unsinkable to collapse.

They had no choice but to keep the information secret. And right now, we're on a collision course with destiny. Destruction for most lies ahead. The Bible says so. Our vision is clouded, our perspective is limited to our personal or collective Earthbound thoughts. Yet the Creator, the Lord of history, knows what lies ahead. He sees what is secret to us.

The Bible is our binoculars, it's the key that opens our vision, our hearts, our understanding to see beyond our naked human visual limitations. Yet we must value the key enough to get out the binocular that will enable us to see the dastardly deceptions ahead that lurk below life's surface like a deadly iceberg waiting to destroy the unwary.

Pastors and people, presidents, potentates, and the poor are all on board man's prideful ship, churning headlong into the darkness of deception. And never in human history have the forces of deception combined with the devil's demonic host into such a formidable agent of destruction to lead you and those you love into perdition.

The greatest warnings to you and me come from the Lord himself and from his disciples. The Telegraph warnings are principally to the church, to those who profess to be followers of Christ. They're the ones that think they're on board the unsinkable. Most will not heed the warnings. In fact, the Apostle Paul warned, they will be gripped by strong delusion, that they will believe a lie.

Some pastors through pride and ineffectual delay, will like the captain of the Titanic in a last desperate moment, cry, "Turn! Turn! Turn!" But it will be too late. And they'll wail silently in eternal remorse. "Dearest God. Impossible." The Titanic, Titanic secrets for these troubled times. And indeed, it's worth remembering. It was a night to remember then.

And it's a night to remember now. Because the day is coming, a night is coming very rapidly upon planet Earth, as the Lord said himself. It's time to prepare the way of the Lord. To get serious about things and not trust technology to be our Savior. We'll be right back.

Chuck Crismier: Have you ever considered what the early church was like? Many people are developing a heart, longing for a greater fulfillment in our practices as Christians. A recent study showed 53,000 people a week are leaving the back door of America's churches in frustration. What is going on? Why has there not been even a 1% gain among followers of Christ in the last 25 years? Could it be that God is seeking to restore first-century Christianity for the 21st century? Jesus said, "I'll build my church." Is Christ by His Spirit stirring to prepare the church for the 21st century? The early church prayed together and broke bread from house to house. They were family, and it was said by all who observed, "Behold how they loved one another." Incredible, but the same can be found right now. Go to saveus.org and click "Sell Church." We can revive first-century Christianity for the 21st century. It's about people, not programs. It's about a body, not a building. That's saveus.org. Click "Sell Church."

Chuck Crismier: Again, I welcome you back to Viewpoint. Today we're looking at Titanic truths for these troubled times. And indeed, in front of me is the picture of a cane. Titanic survivor Ella White used this cane's electric light to signal from a lifeboat on the night of April 14th, 1912, and the light still works. Wow. It's amazing the relics that have been found coming from the Titanic.

A watch owned by a Jewish Titanic victim, uh, victim sold to a collector for $57,000. I'm looking at the picture of the watch right now. It asked me the question. The watch actually asked me the question, "What time is it?" Another one, a gold pocket watch recovered from Titanic's wealthiest passenger, sold for nearly $1.5 million. In other words, after the fact, things suddenly become valuable.

How about the Titanic violin that auctioned for a world record $1.45 million? It was played by the bandmaster of the Titanic to calm the passengers as it sank. It was a world record for memorabilia from the doomed liner. The instrument carries an inscription from the 33-year-old fiancée, Maria Robinson, to mark their engagement. It was on sale with its leather luggage case.

For decades, the violin was believed lost, but it was found in the attic of a house in northwest England in 2006. It prompted a debate. The bidding started at an equivalent of $81. But within a few minutes, it had passed the previous world record of $355,000. And between four telephone bidders, it went up to $1.5 million. There were gasps for the 200 people at the auction house.

It took just 10 minutes to sell it for its final price. Apparently, what was valuable before the ship went down was immensely more valuable after due to the memories. Hartley's band played the hymn "Nearer, My God, to Thee" to try to calm the passengers while they climbed into lifeboats as the Titanic sank into the icy waves.

Hartley and his seven fellow band members all died after choosing to play on. Well, the world will continue to play on. And were the people really "Nearer, My God, to Thee" or nearer something else that they prefer not to talk about? I'm looking now at a picture of the key that could have saved the Titanic. It's amazing, utterly amazing that such a small and ordinary thing, unremarkable, such as this or a Bible, could have saved a person from ultimate destruction.

And then, we find yet another gold watch at the Titanic, going on the auction block again, in the celebration now, this weekend, of the going down of the Titanic in 1912 on April 15th. One said, "It's spine-tingling to know the watch's connection to one of the most famous and tragic events of the 20th century." It was due to the grueling efforts of Richardson and his below-deck colleagues, who owned the watch, who battled intense heat to keep the Carpathia's coal-fired boilers fully stoked that it reached the scene as quickly as it did to protect and save those who were remaining, 700 of the stricken ocean liner passengers in April of 1912.

Lessons. Truths. Terrifying truths. Troubling truths for the Titanic in these troubled times. It's worth us seriously considering. It's not just a story, as even James Cameron mentioned, who produced that amazing blockbuster film in 1996, 1997. It's a metaphor for life. It causes every single one of us to have to look back, to look inwardly, to realize that somehow, in a sense, we're all on the Titanic together.

What do we trust? As men are going to the moon, and now have just gone farther than anyone else into space, what do we trust? We thank the Lord that one of those astronauts that was on board gave much credit to the God of creation, so grateful for his words. But how about the rest of us on planet Earth, as things are going on, troubles in Iran, troubles in Russia, troubles in Ukraine, troubles all over the world, troubles in Israel, troubles in America, troubles everywhere?

Where is our trust? Really, where is our trust? Is our trust in technology, as AI continues to advance with threatenings and slaughterings coming even from the founders, from the, those who have begun the launch of AI, saying, "This is so dangerous." Where is it going? Have we just launched the unsinkable into the space of our lives that will actually turn to be our destroyer? We don't know.

Where is our trust? That's what God is after and has always been after, friends. But most are going to simply plunge blindly ahead, deceptively convinced of the unsinkability of their ship, in which they have idolatrously placed their trust. Hoards will trust the counterfeit Christ for a last great fling on the Titanic of Earth, spurning the hope and direction promised by Christ, the captain of their salvation.

And his seemingly insignificant key. And the carnage will be dreadful, absolutely dreadful. Don't let it happen to you. The secret of the Lord may well become your salvation, and I urge you to get a copy of the book, by the way. "The Secret of the Lord, the Hidden Truth that Defines Your Destiny." It's one of the most important books I have ever written. It's a hardbound book, beautiful cover, "The Secret of the Lord."

And did you know, it was based upon a simple, small, little scripture in the Psalms, Psalm 25:14. "The secret of the Lord is with them who fear Him, and to them, them only, will He manifest His covenant." It's like that little key that was missing on the Titanic. We've abandoned the fear of the Lord in our land. We just have. From the church house to the White House to the church schoolhouse, perhaps to your house.

The fear of the Lord has fallen on very, very hard times. And yet, the Bible says that the fear of the Lord is not only the beginning of wisdom, but it's the foundation for every promise of God. Every promise, including salvation itself. When that little key is missing, the foundation of faith is missing, the fear of the Lord. Do you know that the Bible says that even Jesus had to make a quick understanding of the fear of the Lord? Yes, it does.

Why? Because as a human being on this planet, even though he has shed the perquisites of the Godhead at that point. Even though he was sinless, he had to make a quick understanding of the fear of the Lord so that he would walk in righteousness and in holiness and in obedience. And that's what qualified him ultimately to be our Savior. The little key, the fear of the Lord. The scriptures known as the Bible or God's word provide the key to avoid end-time deception.

And it's not just a general key. Well, yeah, I have the Bible. Yeah, I believe the Bible from cover to cover, to cover to and so on. No, it's not that. It's the application of the Bible. It's understanding the key that opens the rest of it. Our problem is not that we don't have the key, but that we do not truly and seriously seek its significance, so as to properly put it to use in order that we could be guided in our lives to avoid the icebergs of life and the massive deception that now threatens to destroy us.

I'm thinking of people who contact us periodically and said, "You know what? I, I, I just need more wisdom. I just need more wisdom. I just need more wisdom." They're not interested in wisdom. They just want to have a quick answer that they want to hear. They don't want to hear what God has to say. They not not really. They just want to feel good. They want to be delivered from the consequences of what they didn't do to obey God in the first place.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding. So, in this book that I made available, "The Secret of the Lord," it provides amazing answers, friends, to some of the most difficult things that we all say we want. We all say that we yearn for the direction of the Lord. But maybe not so much.

It's necessary to take out the binocular of God's Word so as to give more distant and distinct view of the deception now surrounding us. And of the profound danger that lies ahead if we do not make timely course correction. Destiny is going to be determined by the value we place upon God's key so as to discover the true secret of the Lord. So remember, as we wrap up here today on Viewpoint, the Titanic is a metaphor for life.

In a significant sense, we're all on the Titanic together. We may just want to replace the earthly captains in whom we trust with Yeshua the Messiah, the Christ, who alone is the true captain, who had to learn the fear of the Lord, make a quick understanding of the fear of the Lord, so that he could live a sinless life on this planet, notwithstanding being tempted and tested in all manner like you and I, yet without sin.

He alone can guide us in this particularly desperate moment of history through the multiplied icebergs of deception that threaten shipwreck to our lives. In these choppy waters, my friend, "The Secret of the Lord" lies ahead. It just lies ahead. Bon voyage. Get a copy of the book. Ultimately, if you're serious and sincere, and you don't want to see yourself as part of the Titanic going down in our time, which is going to be very, very dismaying.

Dreadful. Just as the one Titanic observer noted. Dreadful. Jesus tried to tell us about it. Paul the Apostles all tried to warn us about it. The prophets tried to warn us about it. But we still haven't gotten the message. Not really. This is a $20 hardbound book, yours for $15, I believe, on our website saveus.org, "The Secret of the Lord." I hope you will not miss out on it. I really do. I hope you will not miss out on it because if you read it and take it to heart, it'll change your life and that of your family. And pastors, even that of your church.

The people that God has given you charge over. It's on the website saveus.org. Call us 1-800-SAVE-USA. Write to us at Save America Ministries, PO Box 70879, Richmond, Virginia, 23255. What time is it? Well, when I discovered this gold watch that was going to be auctioned again, I thought about that French term, "Quelle heure est-il?" What time is it? It's time, friends, to seek the Lord with a whole heart. It's time to prepare the way of the Lord for history's final hour. That's why we're on the air.

Pleading the cause of a lifetime to a jury of our peers, the church in America. Professing believers, who maybe are not walking with the Lord as they should. Time to get ready. Thanks for joining us. Become a partner. Send your gifts by faith, friends, to Save America Ministries. Give us a call 1-800-SAVE-USA. Write to us. You know, when we invest in that which is eternal, God will bless us accordingly. God bless you. You've been listening to Viewpoint with Chuck Crismier. Viewpoint is supported by the faithful gifts of our listeners. Let me urge you to become a partner with Chuck as a voice to the church, declaring vision for the nation. Join us again next time on Viewpoint as we confront the issues of America's heart and home.