***News Release***

American Pastors Network’s New TV Show Addresses Opioid Crisis from a Biblical Perspective

Hosts and Expert Guest Explore How Addiction Destroys Families and Futures in Two-Part Series of New Weekly Television Program

PHILADELPHIA—The goal of the new television program from the American Pastors Network (APN, http://www.americanpastorsnetwork.net) aims to not only address today’s news from a biblical and constitutional perspective, but also to help pastors, church leaders and engaged members of congregations see how these matters impact the Christian church.

On two recent programs, the “Stand in the Gap” TV show did just that, by exploring the topic of the opioid crisis and how it is destroying families and futures.

 “On the program, we explore the issues affecting real families, the American governmental system and the American church,” said APN President and “Stand in the Gap” TV host Sam Rohrer. “We don’t just talk around the issues or spend time listing symptoms. We try to go to the root problem, looking at cultural issues from a biblical and constitutional perspective. This is also true of the most recent issue touched upon on ‘Stand in the Gap’ TV—the opioid crisis, which is destroying families and futures in every corner of the nation. While the issue of opioid addiction is dominating the news and impacting families, including those in the Christian community, we define it as not just a problem of addiction, but as broad-based physical and spiritual bondage, resulting from a misdirected natural pursuit for peace or as an escape from pain.”

 For two parts of the program on opioid addiction, Rohrer and co-host pastor Isaac Crockett welcomed Joel Jakubowski, vice president of business development for the Pennsylvania Adult & Teen Challenge in Rehrersburg. Each half-hour show discussed the scope of the problem, defined the crisis, addressed the root causes versus the symptoms, explored how addictions cause physical and spiritual bondage, and included personal testimonies.

“The issue of the opioid epidemic is one of the most broad-based concerns affecting nearly every level of society, every income strata and equally entrapping people from every ethnic background,” Rohrer said.

Opioid use, Rohrer notes, kills more than 60,000 people each year, and billions of dollars are spent trying to fix the obvious crisis, including a commitment from the Trump administration, but he added that it’s necessary to diagnose the root program and ask the right questions. Jakubowksi also noted that death tolls from the opioid crisis are surpassing numbers from the Vietnam War and the height of the AIDS epidemic.

 Part I of “The Opioid Crisis” program aired the week of May 13, and Part II of the show aired yesterday and will be rebroadcast at 8 p.m. tomorrow {Tuesday} and 7:30 p.m. Thursday.

View Part I of “The Opioid Crisis” here.

View Part II of “The Opioid Crisis” here.

Rohrer added that the goal of the program is not to be sensational or entertaining, but rather, the commitment is to the truth and integrity and to the healing that comes only through the love of Jesus Christ and obedience to the Word of God.

 “We won’t be unnecessarily complicated, but we will deal with profound ideas,” Rohrer added. “We won’t be dogmatic either, expect where the Bible or the Constitution is unchanging. And we won’t tell you what to think, but we’ll share what and how God thinks.”

Rohrer is also the host of APN’s popular radio program, “Stand in the Gap Today,” heard daily on 425 stations around the country. The show can be heard live online from noon to 1 p.m. EST at American Pastors Network.com at the orange “Listen Live” button on the right-hand side of the webpage, or find a station here.

“Stand in the Gap” TV airs weekly on WBPH-TV60, a station in the Philadelphia market that reaches a potential of 7 million viewers by cable, DirecTV, Dish Network, off-air antenna and online. Programs air at 3 p.m. ET Sundays and will be rebroadcast Tuesdays at 8 p.m. and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. Check the WBPH listings for more information on how to watch. Learn more about the program here or view a promo for the show here.

View the media page for APN here, which also details information about “Stand in the Gap.” For more information on APN, visit www.AmericanPastorsNetwork.net, its Facebook page or follow APN’s Twitter feed, @AmericanPastors. To form a state chapter of APN, contact amy@americanpastors.net.

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