Watchman on the Wall

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Thank you, friends, for tuning into your Watchman on the Wall broadcast of Southwest Radio Ministries. We are back with Troy Anderson. We are featuring Troy's new book, *Designated Disruptor: Trump and Other Unlikely Agents of Revival*. Troy, thank you so much for doing this follow-up interview.

Troy Anderson: It's great to be on your show, Pastor. Thank you.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Troy, I know there are those who question whether or not revival is really happening. Some people say it was just a lot of excitement, it was just skin deep, and so on. But I found it encouraging to read a recent Barna report that you cite on page 14. The report was titled "New Research: Belief in Jesus Rises Fueled by Younger Adults." The Jesus resurgence is largely driven by Generation Z and Millennials who have shown dramatic increases in commitment to Jesus since the pandemic. So, it seems like the same thing is happening even in Iran. In fact, you and I well know probably the fastest-growing church in the world is in Iran. That's why the devil is so unhappy there. Young adults are on the cutting edge. The Shiite government is machine-gunning hundreds of thousands of people, but the youth is getting involved. Tell us a little bit more about that Barna report and about the significance of it.

Troy Anderson: For years now, we've heard about the rise of the nones, people that have no religion or atheists or agnostics. We've seen those numbers rise and the percentage of Christians drop. But now this new Barna research found that 66% of American adults say they’ve made a personal commitment to Jesus. It remains important to them, which is a 12-point increase since 2021.

On top of that, they found that from 2019 to 2025, Generation Z men saw a 15-point increase in professions of faith in Christ, while Millennial men saw a 19-point jump. This is just one survey that we cite in the book. There’s been this resurgence, mostly among young people, in professions of faith in Christ. Bible reading, I think, is up like 25%.

Lucas Miles, who’s with Turning Point, was on Newsmax not too long ago. They have a network of like 9,000 churches nationwide. He said pastors are letting him know they're seeing 25, 35, up to 50% increases in attendance at churches across the nation. As you pointed out, in Iran, you’ve got this big revival breaking out. I think it's a great spiritual battle that’s happening. Young people are getting saved not just in Iran, but all around the world. There’s a global awakening occurring, and Barna, this very highly respected polster, released reports tracking some of this. While people are very skeptical about it and have long been skeptical about revival, I think we are seeing early signs of this. It’s very encouraging.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: That is so true. In fact, you write, "All signs from the 2024 election give good reason to hope that America's Jesus resurgence may spill over into the government." Then you quote journalist Eric Mack: "Throughout the presidential election, Trump made an appeal to American voters to listen to God's word even if for the first time and voters of faith to get to the ballot box. Donald Trump said vote, get back to the ballot box, and follow the word of God." I think that's very significant.

Troy Anderson: I think his attempted assassination in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024, was a turning point. Afterward, he just barely turned his head a little bit and the bullet hit his ear. He could have been assassinated on live TV, as all the media was there. I think he made statements afterward saying, "I think God saved me for a reason."

A lot of people agreed. Most people that watched that go, "It seems like God intervened and saved him." I think since that time he's drawn closer to God. Of course, he's always been a bombastic billionaire kind of guy, but I think as he's gotten older, and especially since that happened, he's made a lot of statements that revival is an answer for America.

We need to turn back to faith. He's taken all these actions to protect religious liberty in America. If you watch all the things he's doing, it's like he's being guided by the Holy Spirit in these different actions. In the situation in Iran, the revival breaking out there, and pushing back against communism in the Western Hemisphere with taking out Maduro down there in Venezuela. There are all kinds of questions about what role they might have had in election shenanigans around the world. I don't know if he's conscious of it, but I think God's using him in very strategic ways to help move this revival forward.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Amen. And of course, I know there are people who are skeptical about Trump's transformation, but we need to remember that God often used flawed people to accomplish his purposes. David comes to mind, and of course even a ruler like Cyrus of Persia was called the Lord's anointed in Isaiah 45:1. Of course, you point out that Jehu was not chosen because he was flawless. What about Jehu? How does he fit into this picture?

Troy Anderson: Jehu is a very interesting ancient king in Israel. The Bible talks about him riding furiously, opposing Jezebel and Ahab and all these different things, and overturning the idolatry that was at the time. He's like President Trump. President Trump doesn't really have a filter on what he says on social media, and a lot of people look at that and go, "He doesn't seem very presidential at times."

It's what he's learned in business and the crucible of reality TV and life at the top of the business world. This is how you get things done. He wrote that great book, *The Art of the Deal*. It's all about negotiations. A lot of this is 4D chess that he plays, and we're watching successes come out of this. You need to take a 30,000-foot level look at what President Trump's doing and how God uses him. The Bible talks about how God raises up leaders and he deposes leaders. There are many different flawed individuals in the Bible that God used in miraculous ways. I think we're witnessing a bit of that today.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: I believe the Bible. I believe what the Bible says about Israel. Israel certainly has been in the past in disobedience, but God speaks about the New Covenant. He speaks about the Holy Spirit coming to their hearts and so forth. Who is the major protector of Israel, God's covenant people, at the present time? No doubt Donald Trump. Just think of that. You may not like the man, but think of who's saying, "No, we're not going to invade Israel, we're not going to bomb Israel. That's God's land, that doesn't belong to you."

Boy, there are so many things we could talk about. You've got a section on page 39 and following about great spiritual awakenings and how they have shaped America. I love that section. I'm a history buff and you've got a lot of good history there. Tell us how great spiritual awakenings have shaped America.

Troy Anderson: One of the most significant books I read as a boy was called *The Light and the Glory*. I think I read that when I was like 12 years old or something like that. It talked about how Christopher Columbus wrote a book called *The Book of Prophecies*. This is a forgotten, unknown book. In there, he talked about how he believed that the Holy Spirit had guided him to America to help use America to spread the gospel around the world.

That's exactly what God did with America. With the Pilgrims and the Puritans and our founding fathers, God has used this country to spread the good news around the world for over four centuries. Christopher Columbus said he was guided by the Holy Spirit to come here. Then you had the Pilgrims who helped found this country. In the Mayflower Compact, they dedicated America to the advancement of the Christian faith and dedicated America to God, sort of like the ancient Hebrews had done in the Old Testament.

Then you had the First Great Awakening in the early 1700s, largely led by Jonathan Edwards. He was an amazing preacher famous for the sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God," where he just openly talks about the reality of hell. People were very impacted by that, and that helped to spark the First Great Awakening. Out of that First Great Awakening, that helped inspire what became the American independence movement and the Revolutionary War.

You had the Black Robe Preachers who inspired the congregations to fight against the British Empire. There were many different examples. The Pilgrims and George Washington would often call for these national days of prayer, fasting, and humiliation. Essentially, those were national days of repentance modeled after what the ancient Israelites would do at times of national crisis. George Washington called for several of those and later credited God with the birth of America and in the American Revolution beating the British Empire. There's this long history of awakenings and revival in America and how God's used us in different ways to spread the good news around the world.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: You spoke about Christopher Columbus and *The Book of Prophecies*. On page 53, you've got it quoted. I can't read the whole thing, but I want to just share a little bit. I've never been aware of this, and exactly it's here in what Columbus wrote, what you've just shared. He says, "Through these writings that he studied, the hand of our Lord opened my mind to the possibility of sailing to the Indies and gave me the will to attempt the voyage. With this burning ambition, I came to your Highnesses. The Holy Spirit illuminated His Holy and Sacred Scripture, encouraging me in a very strong and clear voice from the 44 books of the Old Testament." He goes on and he says, "I offer the Holy Gospel in which Jesus Christ said that all things would pass away, but not His miraculous word. He also said that everything that had been said by Him and written by the prophets must be fulfilled." Christopher Columbus. What an amazing statement.

Now, there are a lot of things we could say, but I love the Fourth Great Awakening, the 1960s and 70s, that had a surprise beginning. A pastor opens his church doors. Tell us about Chuck Smith, Greg Laurie, and Lonnie Frisbee.

Troy Anderson: I became a believer at the tail end of the Jesus Movement. All these Jesus people from Southern California invaded my little hometown in Oregon in a VW van. One of them had trained under Hal Lindsey at the Light and Power House Seminary at UCLA. He gave me *The Late Great Planet Earth*, and that planted the seed of interest in prophecy when I was a boy. He led me to the Lord and I became a believer at age 11, in 1979.

Prior to that, here in Southern California, you had Pastor Chuck Smith. He had befriended Lonnie Frisbee, this unusual young man, and he was a very inspirational preacher. Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa was sort of the epicenter. This is all shown in the great movie that Pastor Greg Laurie did, *Jesus Revolution*, starring Jonathan Roumie. You had this Jesus Movement break out, starting here in Southern California, kids getting baptized down there at Pirate's Cove in the beaches along California.

Afterward, a lot of these people became missionaries. They went around the world and Christianity really did explode after the Jesus Movement. I think it's underappreciated how big an impact this has had and all the ministries that have grown out of this over the last several decades. It was really quite an exciting time. Everyone was wearing "Jesus is coming" t-shirts and there was a lot of evangelism going on. I had a Bible study at school. About half the school got saved. It's sort of like what's going on with kids today. They're very excited about the Lord. They love the Lord, they want to tell people about Jesus, and that's an exciting thing to see happening again.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Friends, *Designated Disruptor: Trump and Other Unlikely Agents of Revival* is our featured offering for these two broadcasts. In this volume, you'll find out why God is using unconventional leaders for revival at this time, and the surprising role of Hollywood and the media in sparking revival. Our toll-free number is 1-800-652-1144. Like I say, this will be a challenging book, and I really believe we need to be challenged. We need to see that there are outbreaks of revival taking place in America and certainly in other parts of the world, in some of the Middle Eastern countries, certainly in Africa. It is absolutely amazing at how people's lives are being changed. Men and women and families, it's so exciting, it's so wonderful. You'll have all of this in this wonderful book, *Designated Disruptor: Trump and Other Unlikely Agents of Revival*, 1-800-652-1144.

Troy, I want to quote you again on page 103. You speak about cultural influencers including actors, producers, rock stars, tech titans, athletes, and media personalities are sharing their faith in Jesus, pointing millions toward God. Now, you talk about an experience you had when you were writing a 2015 cover story for *Charisma Magazine* titled "When Jesus Goes to Hollywood." Maybe you could share some of that with our audience.

Troy Anderson: A decade ago, when I was editor of *Charisma*, Steve Strang sent my wife and I back here to California, and we got to meet with Mark Burnett and Roma Downey at their home in Malibu overlooking the ocean. We had this wonderful meeting with them. Roma really loved my wife, and they walked arm-in-arm through the backyard like they were old friends chatting.

We interviewed them and we did this article about their *A.D. The Bible Continues* TV series. The cover of the magazine was "Jesus Goes to Hollywood" and it showed this picture of Jesus's sandal-clad foot about to step onto a Hollywood star sign. They won some awards and people loved the article. I'd sort of forgotten about it.

Then here just a few years ago, Dr. Ted Baehr's special assistant, Jerry Moses, who’s a friend of mine, calls me every day at 8:00 AM and prays with me and does a devotion. He said, "Troy, Newsweek just released a magazine cover called 'Jesus Takes Hollywood.'" I go, "What?" So I got a copy of the magazine and it shows this picture of Jesus with the action sign in Hollywood and the cover is "Jesus Takes Hollywood."

I thought it was sort of God's sense of humor. We had the "Jesus Goes to Hollywood" Charisma cover a decade ago, and then Newsweek says, "Jesus Takes Hollywood." We've seen this amazing thing happening, especially since Trump's election. All these major Hollywood stars who have millions and millions of followers are openly talking about Jesus. Sylvester Stallone, Mel Gibson's working on the sequel to the *Passion of the Christ*. We’ve got all these great movies now coming out. *House of David* was just on Netflix, *The Chosen* series, and *Reagan*. There's all kinds of different movies. People sort of think of Hollywood as having spread a lot of bad things over the years, but God's also used it. You had *The Ten Commandments*, *The Greatest Story Ever Told*, *Jesus of Nazareth*, and *The Jesus Film*. I think that's now been seen like 11 billion times around the world and led to 650 million professions of faith in Christ. So there's sort of this untold story of faith in Hollywood. I have a whole chapter called "The Hollywood Revival."

Dr. Larry Spargimino: On page 104, you mention Mel Gibson's sequel to *The Passion of the Christ*, *The Resurrection of the Christ*. That's a two-part series of films slated for release in March and May of 2027. Then you speak about *The Way of the Wind*, *Among the Outlaws*, *Jesus*, the animated remake of *The Jesus Film*, scheduled for release in 2026. Then I want to read your statement on top of 105. It's absolutely amazing. "Meanwhile, shortly before his inauguration, President Trump named legendary actors Mel Gibson, Sylvester Stallone, and Jon Voight as his special ambassadors to Hollywood to help rejuvenate the struggling entertainment industry." Then Trump posted this on Truth Social. I won't read it, but that's an amazing statement and just more proof of what's happening right now in our country through the leadership of Donald Trump.

Troy Anderson: As I mentioned earlier, Paul McGuire and I, we called for this national day of repentance in our book, *Trumpocalypse*. Then, just by this huge miracle, the Holy Spirit made that big event on the National Mall actually happen. I was just blown away that it actually occurred. So I've got another idea now. The idea is to have some event called the "Hollywood Revival" at the Hollywood Bowl, the iconic place where the Beatles have played and the Beach Boys and all the biggest bands in the world.

The plan is to invite all these unlikely people that God's using to inspire this revival: ministers, musicians, and sort of weave through this whole event the untold story of faith in Hollywood that we've been talking about. I've now put together a team of people and we want to try to pull this off. If you could ask your audience to pray for this, we want to try to time it for the release of *The Resurrection of the Christ*. My literary agent, he represents Mel Gibson, and so we might invite Mel to come and premiere the movie at this event. If you could keep that in prayer, that'd be greatly appreciated.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Well, we're just about the end of our time, but I do want to have you speak to us about page 179, "A Personal Invitation from the Author." You start with and say, "God loves you deeply. His word is filled with promises," and so on and so forth. Share with our listening audience your personal invitation to all who hear our voices.

Troy Anderson: If you've never invited Jesus into your life, you can do so right now. It's not about religion. It's about a relationship with the one who knows you completely and loves you unconditionally. If you're ready to take that step, simply pray this prayer with a sincere heart: Lord Jesus, I want to know you as my Savior and Lord. I confess and believe that you are the Son of God and that you died for my sins. I believe you rose from the dead and are alive today. Please forgive me for my sins. I invite you into my heart and my life. Make me new. Help me to walk with you, grow in your love, and live for you every day. In Jesus' name, Amen.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: Beautiful. Well, Troy, thank you so much for a couple of great shows and another book focusing on the work of the Lord in our times. Friends, Psalm 85:6 says, "Wilt thou not revive us again: that thy people may rejoice in thee?" Wow, that is a question that we should all be asking. Once again, Troy Anderson, thank you so much for these two programs and for your literary endeavors to lift up the Lord Jesus Christ throughout the whole world.

Troy Anderson: Thank you, Pastor. God bless you.

Dr. Larry Spargimino: What is the glory of God and what does it mean for us? The glory of God refers to the magnificence and majesty of His character displayed in His creative, redemptive, and judicial acts. Because of the combined intensity of His attributes, no one could look at His face. To do so would mean death. In Exodus 33:18-23, Moses asked God, "Show me Your glory." And the Lord said, "Thou canst not see my face, for there shall no man see me and live."

When a solar eclipse is announced, many would like to see it. A solar eclipse occurs when the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, which casts a shadow on the Earth. But in order to look up to the sky and view this, you need special glasses to protect your eyes from serious damage. 1 Timothy 6:16 says God dwells in the light which no man can approach unto. God is indeed unapproachable. One of the reasons the Lord Jesus came to Earth was to make it possible for men to approach God without being consumed. The Lord Jesus is the mediator between God and men according to 1 Timothy 2:5. We can approach Jesus. The glory of God is hidden and we are shielded.

How great is God? Well, much greater than we could ever imagine. Whatever image or idol man can make to mimic God, God is greater. We cannot imagine anything greater than God or even equal to God. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the golden calf, but a golden calf is not an equal to God. That's why people are not permitted by God to make images or statues to show what God is like. Why? Because God is far more glorious than any image or statue. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the sun, but God is more glorious than the sun. He created the sun. The ancient Egyptians worshiped the Nile River, but God is more glorious than the Nile River.

The 10 Commandments are found in Exodus 20. In verse 4, we read the second commandment: "Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth." Isaiah 40:25 tells us the words of the Lord: "To whom then will ye liken me, or shall I be equal? saith the Holy One."

Now friend, have you ever heard of existentialism? Most people today are existentialists. They never have heard the word, but that's exactly what they are, they are existentialists. Existentialism is the view that we create our own reality and our own values. They say, "My destiny is by me and for me." Now, does that sound Christian? Of course not. Does that sound like a description of our culture today? Absolutely, yes. So a boy says, "I have the idea that even though I am a boy, I want to be a girl. My destiny is by me and for me. My biology, my birth gender does not matter. My destiny is by me and for me." That's the kind of way that people are thinking.

The existentialist believes his choice is the most important thing about a person. If he decides to divorce his wife, okay, let's do it. If he decides to take his own life and commit suicide, okay, that is the supreme expression of human autonomy. Now, isn't that kind of thinking extremely dangerous? You bet it is. So what ultimate question shall we ask? Do not ask, "What is your destiny by you and for you?" Instead, ask, "What is my destiny by God and for God?"

Humanity has been created by God for God. God's purposes and destiny for each person is to reflect God's glory at all times and in everything we do. 1 Corinthians 10:31 says, "Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." Historically and poetically, the most romantic time for lovers is being together under a full moon. The sky is dark, but the moon is shining brightly. God's children are to be like the moon, shining brightly and reflecting the glory of God to all around.