A View from the Wall
With Founder Scott Townsend of I Am A Watchman Ministries
Click here to listen to this episode
Nov. 11, 2018, with co-host Dillon Burroughs.
An interview with Chad Thomas, founder of Watchman on the Wall 88, on best practices for Watchmen.
(CT= Chad Thomas, WM= Watchman Interviewer)
WM: Join founder of I Am A Watchman Ministries, Scott Townsend, with co-host, Dillon Burroughs, bringing you a fascinating discussion regarding the importance of Bible prophecy in Christian living today as it relates to our responsibility as believers to be Watchmen. This is A View From the Wall.
WM: Welcome to A View from the Wall. I’m Dillon Burroughs here with host Scott Townsend, founder of I Am a Watchman Ministries.
Today we have the special privilege of talking with Chad Thomas, better known as “Watchman on the Wall 88” on YouTube. Let me share a bit of his story as we begin.
Chad was adopted and brought up in a loving but non-believing family. In college, he played hockey, and as a jock, lived a typical college life. In 2011, Chad had several dreams that awoke him to the reality of Jesus and the soon Rapture of the Church.
This generated a huge desire to research and understand Bible prophecy. Chad started his YouTube ministry in 2011 where he has consistently shared his faith and the urgency of our times through the lens of current events and Bible prophecy. He is typically seen delivering passionate pleas from his car to his followers worldwide to help others understand the state of their sinful condition and need for Christ. We consider him a great example of a Watchman who serves the Lord day in and day out with great focus and passion.
We’re honored to have Chad, founder of Watchman on the Wall 88 with us on the program today.
Scott, get us started in our discussion with Chad this morning.
WM: Chad, welcome to A View From the Wall.
CT: Thank you. It’s good to be with both you guys here.
WM: Many of our listeners sense the need to be ALL-IN for Jesus in these last days but lack the know-how on how to start. Can you share how you got started as a Watchman?
CT: Absolutely. Well, it started for me, as Dillon had mentioned, back in 2011. I was living kind of a jockish life in college, playing college ice hockey. What happened to me one night, I came home from hockey practice and had three Rapture dreams, the same exact one, back to back to back in one night. I didn’t grow up in a Bible-believing church or seeking the Lord or spending time in fellowship, but He woke me up that night. It was ever since then, when I had those dreams that I woke up the next morning, and I gave my life to the Lord Jesus Christ.
I started studying End Times Bible prophecy and eschatology and started growing in Him. It was really impressed upon my heart that my calling was as a Watchman on the wall. He took me, somebody that didn’t know him—He took me in the state I was in—and I immediately knew that He chose me “for such a time as this” to preach that He is coming back. He is coming back one day soon, and He’s woken a lot of us up in these times, the times that we’re living in, to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to a world that needs Him, but also that He is coming back soon.
WM: I really enjoy the passion that you have in your videos. The interesting thing is that some people don’t like this though. There is this attitude among many people that they don’t like a message of warning. We want to talk a little bit about that. How should a Watchman react to a world that doesn’t want to hear a message of warning about the End Times?
CT: You know, the Bible tells us exactly what it’s going to be like in the Last Days, how people are going to receive the message. 1 Thessalonians 5 tells us [that] we’re children of the light. We’re children of the day. We’re to watch and be sober, but we also know that the children of darkness, those that are not awake, those that don’t want to hear the message, look to a world that doesn’t want to hear our message. It’s our job to plant the seeds; God provides the increase.
We do our job warning in terms of warning people, in preaching the Good News to them, but we have to love them. We have to warn them, but we also have to love our neighbors as ourselves. We have to encourage one another, but also, the most important thing, I think, is a message of love. Right now, people may not listen to the message, but once that trumpet sounds, we know that, in the Tribulation period, millions come to Christ. It’s from the messages; I believe, that we’re saying now. How should we react? Well, we need to react with love. Also, remember that all we do right now is we plant the seed, and we let God provide the increase.
WM: Right. I love on your channel—you have over 2.2 million views already on the videos I’ve seen on your channel, by the way. Sometimes, you have people with these negative comments. How do you deal with these negative comments, these hateful things that people will say on some of your videos?
CT: Jesus said, “If they persecuted Me, they’re going to persecute you.” He told us ahead of time that we’re going to get attacked; we’re going to have people say nasty things about us, but we have to “turn the other cheek.” We have to love them still. Jesus is our perfect example. As He was being nailed to the cross at Calvary, He said, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.”
Comments—there are so many of them that I get on the videos, and a lot of them—I don’t allow some of them because they are just too blasphemous. But there are those that are not believers that are coming to these videos. So when I mention planting the seeds, again, people are interested. They see what’s happening around the world, and they’re coming to these videos. And you engage in conversation. You get to know them, not shoving stuff down their throat saying, “Repent, or perish.” Show them love. Show them how Jesus Christ changed your life.
We have to be lights in the world and draw them in. Those that are looking for answers may not be very nice on comments, but you’ve got a get to know them. Show love to them to draw them in.
WM: That’s a great way to put it. I love what you said: “Jesus said, ‘If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you.’” We should expect that, but also your attitude to try to befriend those who attack and are hostile and build into their lives.
When we come back, we’re going to talk more about this as we continue our discussion with Chad Thomas, Watchman on the Wall 88 on YouTube. We’ll be right back.
[break]
WM: We’re back at A View From the Wall with Chad Thomas, Watchman on the Wall 88 on YouTube. And we’re talking about the in’s and out’s of being a Watchman. Scott, let’s continue our discussion with Chad today as we talk about how you present the Gospel through social media today.
WM: Well, one of the things our team admires about you, Chad, is the best-practice formula for your videos. You typically start with current events, and you add Bible prophecy context which smoothly leads to, what we call, the warning. What stands out about your ministry is [that] you never stop with the warning. You always end with a clear Gospel presentation. J. D. Farrag, for example, at Aloha Bible Prophecy famously uses the ABC’s of salvation. You and others present the Romans Road to salvation. And because I was saved from a Four Spiritual Laws, that’s what I know best. So, if I were to give you the floor, Chad, would you be willing to present the Gospel the way you do on your videos?
CT: Absolutely. I mean, that’s the most important thing, guys, above all else, is the Gospel message. There are a lot of people that do videos, whether it’s on YouTube or on other social media outlets. They’re great with eschatology. They know the signs of the times. But the one thing a lot of people don’t dig into is the most important part which is the Gospel message, leading people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. I know Pastor J. D. I love Pastor J. D. and Amir and all of them out there. They use different formulas, but it’s the same goal: leading people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The Romans Road to salvation—I love using that. I was teaching 6th to 8th graders at Calvary Chapel. There’s one right by my house. I was teaching the 6th to 8th grade group. The reason I use it on my videos is that it is childlike simple. Like Pastor J. D. Farag says on his videos, “God hasn’t made it hard; mankind has through religion.” He uses the ABC plan of salvation.
The Romans Road—the first thing that I love sharing with people, guys, is to show people [that] we are all sinners in need of a Savior. That’s why I always start with Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” People need to understand that sentence first. They have to understand why we need the Lord Jesus Christ. You can’t just go out to them and say, “Repent. Repent, or perish,” because they are going to look at you like you have ten heads. So, “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
Understanding then that we have the death sentence first, we need the cure. Romans 6:23 again tells us the death sentence: “For the wages of our sin is death.” That’s eternal separation from God that leads straight to Hell. But then the remedy or the cure is next: “but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.”
Now, there’s a direct connection between Romans 6:23 and 1 Corinthians 15:22. If you go to 1 Corinthians 15:22, it says, “For as in Adam, all die, even so, in Christ shall all be made alive.” So there again, you have the death sentence and then the cure. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 6:23) And then again, 1 Corinthians 15:22: “For as in Adam, all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive.” [It’s] absolutely amazing. The death sentence—the bad news—[is] followed right by the good news. [It] doesn’t get much simpler than that.
Romans 5:8: “But God commendeth His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” So again, the problem is a lot of people don’t understand why they need Jesus Christ, right? It’s His blood that He shed for us on the cross at Calvary. There is no remission without blood. We see that very clearly in Scripture. Jesus is our Passover Lamb. John the Baptist, when he saw Jesus, said, “Behold the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world.” So people have to understand, guys, why we need Jesus Christ. We need to give them the formula of the bad news—that we’re all doomed, the death sentence—followed by the cure for that death sentence, Jesus Christ dying for us on the cross at Calvary.
Now, we have to explain to people what they need to do because once you tell them the bad news and why they need Jesus Christ, you have to give them what they need to do. We find that in Romans 10:9-10: “That if you shall confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10 –I know Pastor J. D. loves going into this one—it gives you the formula right there, telling you what you need to do. In Romans 10:13, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” God has not made it hard; He’s given us all a choice—a free will—to choose Heaven [or] Hell, to choose eternity with Him or to choose eternity separated from Him in Hell.
The sinner’s prayer for forgiveness [is] on the Romans Road to salvation as well. (You can get the tract on teenmissions.org, I believe it is.) People ask me all the time where to find the formula or find the Romans Road tract. It’s right on there. A sinner’s prayer for forgiveness—now, people say, “Well, a sinner’s prayer can’t save you.” That’s absolutely correct. Simply saying a sinner’s prayer is not going to save you. You have to mean it; you have to believe it with all of your heart. But I always include a sample prayer because people ask me, “Can you give me an idea of what I can say and believe?” “Dear God, I know that I am a sinner. I know that my sin deserves to be punished. I believe Christ is the Son of God who died for me and rose from the grave. I want to turn from my sin and trust Jesus Christ alone as my Savior. Thank you for the forgiveness and the everlasting life I can now have through faith in Jesus. In Jesus’ name, amen.”
So brothers and sisters, again, if you go to my videos, I give this Romans Road to salvation. Usually, it’s half of my message because that’s the most important part. But I go a little bit more in detail there, but I wanted to share it with you guys here how you can present the Gospel to people using the Romans Road to salvation. [It] is an incredible tool.
WM: Yes, that’s such a powerful and simple way to communicate the Gospel. I think, for people listening now, they could take the exact words you used and share it with someone who doesn’t know Christ, and they could come to faith in Christ right there on the spot. So thank you for modeling that example for us. It’s just such a refreshing thing for people who get complicated with the details of Bible prophecy, and yet, as you said, leave out what is the most important part: a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.
We’re going to come back in just a moment with Chad Thomas at Watchman on the Wall 88 from YouTube and have one more segment to talk about how we can be better as believers in Jesus Christ, sharing our faith more effectively and being better Watchmen today. Stick with us.
[break]
WM: We’re back at A View From the Wall with Chad Thomas of Watchman on the Wall 88 from YouTube. We’re talking about various aspects of how to be a Watchman in these last days.
As we continue our discussion in this final segment, Chad, we want to take a moment to ask you about your top recommendations. What are, you say, your two or three top recommendations you can give to people in our Watchmen audience to how to live out their faith and be better Watchmen today?
CT: Well, one of the first things I wanted to bring up was, when you’re a child of God, and you’re preaching the Gospel to people live, we know that there’s an enemy that wants to destroy you, that wants to bring you down, [and] that wants to make you less effective. So one of my top things that I tell people is to make sure, each and every day, that you are putting on the full armor of God which you can find in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10 to 18.
If you allow a little crack in your armor, if there’s something in your life that you know is wrong, and you’re doing it, the enemy can come in like a cancer. He can come into those cracks and consume you. You don’t want to go on that path. But anyways, we’ve got to make sure we’re putting on the full armor God which you can find in the book of Ephesians, chapter 6, verses 10 to 18 because we have an enemy that wants to destroy you. Especially if you’re presenting the Gospel message to people who are impacted by your messages, he is going to hit you the hardest. He’ll use people around you; he’ll use your job, he’ll use anything he can to suck you down.
Then, 1 Peter 5:8 tells us, “Be sober. Be vigilant, because your adversary, the Devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour.” So, first and foremost, make sure you guys are putting on the full armor of God.
The second thing I would say to you is the Scriptures tell us to, “Rejoice evermore,” and “Pray without ceasing.” Prayer is, brothers and sisters, the most important thing. We need to set aside time in our day—morning, night, whenever—we need to pray without ceasing. We make sure in our schedule… I know many of you out there have jobs and are all over the place, but we need to make sure that we’re setting aside time each day for this—whether it’s 15, 20, or 30 minutes—when you wake up, when you go to bed, and in between there, make sure you’re spending time in prayer. You know the Scriptures say, again, “Pray without ceasing.” But also, a prayer that I like to use each day is, “Father God, use me today as a vessel for your purpose and for your glory.” Let Him know that you want to be used, and He will use you. He’ll give you opportunities each and every day. You run into people that are down, whatever’s going on, and He’s going to use you to impact them and their lives. I’m seeing it. I believe it’s because of prayer.
So prayer, making sure you’re putting on the full armor of God, and, you guys will agree with me on this one, I think something that is very important is making sure that you’re spending time in the Word each and every day. A lot of people think they can show up in church on Sundays and do their singing and spending time in the Word on the Sundays, but our relationship is daily, guys. It is not showing up in the church on Sundays and then, living a life separated from God the rest of the week. It’s in the Word daily.
Scripture says one of the things in the armor of God, by the way, is talking about the Word. “The sword of the Spirit” is talking about the Word of God. That’s what Jesus used against the enemy when He was tempted in the wilderness—the Word. We need to make sure we’re in the Word each and every day. The Scripture also tells us, guys, we have to be equipped with an answer to those who are around us for the hope we have in us. How else are we going to be equipped? It comes from the Word of God. It comes from knowing the Word of God in and out, spending time in it, but also by prayer.
Prayer, rejoice without ceasing because we’re told in John 16:33, “In this world, we will have tribulation, but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” We’re going to have trials, [and] we’re going to have tribulations. Just because we’re believers in Jesus Christ doesn’t mean we’re exempt from those things. God says he makes his sun to rise on the just and on the unjust. We’re not exempt from trials and tribulation, but we can be an example to those around us. When those trials and tribulations come, how we deal with those things is going to be evident to those around us, how we’re living out those things. So, being in the Word, prayer, and making sure you’re putting on the whole armor of God each and every day—I would say that’s my three top recommendations to give to the Watchmen audience.
WM: Well, that’s excellent, Chad, and we would agree with you wholeheartedly that those are top priorities for us as Watchmen. That’s just beautifully articulated.
My next question is, we hear from many believers and Watchmen from all over social media. You know, many are tired and discouraged. What would you like to say to our audience to encourage and inspire them today?
CT: You know, one of the Scriptures I recently found and put in the video is Esther 4:14 where Mordecai was telling Esther, “Who knows if you’ve been brought to the kingdom for such a time as this.” Guys, the reason this Scripture speaks volumes to me (I know it does to many of you as well) is because we have been born “for such a time as this.”
We could have been born at any other time in human history, but you’ve been born “for such a time as this” to witness Israel become a nation in 1948. And here we are, 70 years later, the generational mark, 70 years—2018. We’re seeing everything converge. I mean, I don’t know about you guys, but this is an incredible time to be alive. Many have wanted to see these signs, and they haven’t.
So to encourage you today, I wanted to remind you that you’ve been born. That’s an encouragement in itself that God has chosen you to be born “for such a time as this,” to preach the Good News of Jesus Christ to a world that is being overrun with darkness. He’s chosen you to shine your light. What an honor that the King of Kings and Lord of Lords has chosen you to be born “for such a time as this,” to witness to those around you Jesus Christ!
He is coming back. That’s the bottom line. We don’t know exactly when that is. We don’t know. But we know, He told us that we’re children of the light. If you want to be encouraged, go read through 1 Corinthians 5 several times. He says, “We’re children of the light; we’re children of the day. We’re not of night nor of darkness.” Therefore, watch and be sober so that no matter when that trumpet sounds, brothers and sisters, just remember that you have been born “for such a time as this.” You make a difference.
WM: Amen. Chad, we’ve had such a wonderful time with you here today. Remember, go to Chad Thomas’ YouTube channel, Watchmen on the Wall 88. Find out more about his latest videos and content. It’s been a blessing to be here on A View From the Wall. Join us next time.
WM: A View From the Wall, in association with I Am A Watchman Ministries, exists to equip a worldwide audience with biblical truth, sharing it with others, and being prepared for Christ’s imminent return. The team seeks to encourage, inspire, and equip Watchmen for such a time as this. For information about the ministry and upcoming events, visit IAmAWatchman.com. A View From the Wall is made possible by the team of dedicated pastors, editors, and the many contributors of I am A Watchman Ministries.
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