Sid: My guest by way of telephone is Joel Rosenberg. Now Joel is the best-selling author of “The Last Jihad.” And his latest book is called “The Last Days” he is an evangelical Christian from a Jewish heritage. He’s been involved with some of the top people in the world and God did this, you see God’s hand on him. He was a Senior Advisor in Israel to Netanyahu and he was Chief Speech Writer for Steve Forbes when he was running for President of the United States. He worked for Rush Limbaugh for a couple of years doing research. He was doing the Heritage Foundation and it goes on and on. But Joel where the rubber hits the road you’re just a man that loves God and you’ve got your family and you have 3 sons, how old are they?
Joel: Caleb is 9, Jacob is 7 and Jonah my little feisty one he’s 5.
Sid: And so your whole family starts praying about this book, the first thing that you needed as you were telling us is an agent and they’re praying what happened?
Joel: Right, right well after we prayed Jeremiah 33:3 for a story and God gave us an incredible story of “The Last Jihad.” Then we started praying we said “Kids we need to pray for an agent.” And they say “Okay, what’s an agent?” (Laughing)
Sid: (Laughing) Child like faith.
Joel: Every night before we went to bed, the kids went to bed we would pray for an agent. Well, God brought along the guy who discovered Tom Clancey “Robert Gotleab the head of the number 1 thriller literary agency in America and then he assigned his Deputy Scot Miller. Both Jewish men, wonderful Jewish men and they got excited about “The Last Jihad” and so we told the kids “We got an agent, so now we need to pray for a publisher. And they said “Great, what is a publisher?” (Laughing)
Sid: (Laughing)
Joel: So we started (Laughing) we explained what that was and we started praying. And the Lord brought in a publisher, Forbes Publisher, which is part of the family of St. Martin and Holdsbrink is the third largest publisher in the world a German conglomerate and we said “Kids the Lord has given us a publisher.” And then so we were just praying through the whole process because we wanted to write a book that would draw people in and share the gospel with them through a political thriller and we wanted the kids to be involved in that. Sid, we’re trying to teach our kids that we serve a prayer hearing and a prayer answering God, a wondering working God, a supernatural God, a God who does miracles and we want them to experience him the way that Lynn and I have experienced Him personally. And that’s what we’re trying to do and there’s nothing like the power of answered prayer to meet God. Well, they’ve just become little prayer warriors. Along the way Jacob our middle one, I don’t know maybe he’d been in the household of an author too long because he’s gotten too interested in the Amazon.com rankings and you know how every hour your book watch weight space on sale. So about 2 months before the book came out in November 02 “The Last Jihad” my first novel Jacob one day in the middle of prayer said “And Lord Jesus we pray that Daddy’s book would become #1 on Amazon.” Which we thought was sweet and humorous well, he just kept praying this and then his brothers got involved and they kept praying. So one day the book comes out and I’m on Sean Hannity’s Radio and TV Show and I sent him a copy to Rush Limbaugh, as you mentioned I worked for. Well Rush calls me about a week later and he said “Rosenberg I didn’t know that you could write.” (Laughing) I’m like “Thanks a lot you know.”
Sid: (Laughing)
Joel: “No, no I mean fiction this is really good I want you on my show tomorrow.” Now Rush you know has the President on sometimes and major leaders occasionally but certainly not former staff members. But long story short he was just so enthusiastic about “The Last Jihad.” And that night as we sat down for dinner as a family after that interview we checked the rankings and “The Last Jihad was at # 7 on Amazon. And Jacob prayed at dinner “Lord Jesus thank you so much that we’re at #7 but we just pray for #1 that’s what we’ve been praying for. So I thought “Okay, whatever.” At 9:00 it was time to put the kids into bed and we checked Amazon and “The Last Jihad” was at #4. Well, all three of them “Lord Jesus we’re so grateful that it’s number 4 but remember we’re just praying that it’d be #1 so lots of people would hear about Jesus. So I have to tell you Sid I thought that I needed to teach my kids you know “Let’s be grateful for what we have and not over reach.” But I honestly couldn’t think of a theology to tell my kids not to pray that the book whose purpose of which was to share the gospel shouldn’t be #1 so I didn’t think it was going to be.
Sid: Isn’t it amazing that here the devil is kicking up about the 10 Commandments and everyone is fighting there and while the devils doing all that kicking up God just slips a book like this in and makes it the best seller. It gets the gospel in a fashion that non-believers rave about.
Joel: It’s cool it’s really cool I’m just so grateful to be a part of it. What happened at 10:00 the book hit #2 but it was the top novel, the top book #1 was a financial book. So I said to Lynn my wife I said “Look this is a moment I really need to wake up the kids. So it hit #1, #1 novel and so we wake up the kids like “Kids your prayer has been answered “The Last Jihad” is the #1 novel and so they decided to come into my little home office to see it and they all pile on to my lap and they look at the computer screen and there like “Dad that’s not #1 that’s number 2 it’s the #1 novel, they drop down to their knees simultaneously and they say Lord we’re really grateful for 2 but we’re praying that you move the book up 1 and the financial book down.” (Laughing) And I thought “Alright, whatever boys this is really good let’s just be grateful. We pile them back into the bed and at midnight Sid the book hit #1.
Sid: Did you wake them up.
Joel: We woke them up, how could we not.
Sid: (Laughing)
Joel: I have to tell you felt convicted because I felt like it was selfish to pray that it would be #1 but the kids had believed what I had taught them which is we serve a prayer hearing and prayer….
Sid: Say Joel do you think you could hire your 3 sons out to pray for “It’s Supernatural Television, our television show?
Joel: Right, if we teach them that that we have not because we ask not, or we ask with impure motives that’s what we read in James and these kids have gotten it. And as a Dad that makes me more proud than the books success itself. That they see their God will hear them and answer their prayers.
Sid: Joel this book that we’ve been talking about you’re latest book “The Last Days” I understand how important it is for you to see your sons to grow up to be men of God, men that have a heart after God. But I really believe that your able to get the gospels in areas to people that will never walk into a church, that will never watch a Christian television show, never listen to a Christian radio show. I’m so excited about the potential of your books, have you actually started writing the next book?
Joel: I have I’m actually working on it right now in between the book tour here. And what I should mention with the last Jihad I ended up being on 160 radio and TV show between last year and Christmas. And had a chance to talk about my faith in Jesus with 20 million people in less than 60 days in about 45 days actually. And with this book already “The Last Days” 4 weeks on the New York Times Best Seller List, I’ve been on over 70 radio and TV shows, I guess by tomorrow it’ll be 85 shows will be added including your own. And we’ve reached over 10 million people and talked about Jesus on every single show. It’s been, it’s just been extraordinary when you ask God to use what little talent that you have that He can multiply it just the way the Lord multiplied those little fish and loaves of bread to be a blessing to so many people. We’re just astounded and very humbled and very grateful that the Lord would use us a little family, the little Rosenberg family who escaped out of Russia and God drew to the Messiah his heart and he’s using us to lift up His name and it’s just extraordinary and we’re also having a lot of fun. Let me kid you not to be involved in this…
Sid: I remember that 17 year old boy that was wrestling with God and was saying “God, it’s no joy, it’s no fun.” Look how God answered that prayer.
Joel: Well, that’s you know when we cry to the Lord and say “Lord show us that you’re real that he answers us that’s what he wants to ask. And He’s a prayer hearing and prayer answering God and He starts with that personal relationship with Him. Not in love with ministry, in love with Jesus. And I think that Jesus is jealous for His name. There’s a lot of cultural controversy right now, the Di Vinci Code is on the best selling list. That attacks…
Sid: All the New Age books.
Joel: Absolutely, got Mel Gibson’s movie about Jesus coming out next year, you got my book “The Last Days” on the New York Times List. There’s something going on, I think Jesus is jealous for His name and He’s drawing Jewish and non-Jewish people to Himself as you say into the Mishpochah family of God.
Sid: Joel we’re slipping out of time I thank you so much for being my guest.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth