"Engaging Culture with Faith and Resolve"

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We're recording. Sweet. I want to introduce my

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guest today, Pastor Brian Mandel. And I think

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for the podcast conversation, how about PB and

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PJ? I like it. I do too. The pastor just gets

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too long. It's cumbersome. So PB, PJ. PB and

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J. Yeah. I thought about that as a title. That

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might be a good title. PB and J. I never ate

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that as a kid, though. I was like the one sandwich

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I couldn't eat. I hated peanut butter. Do you

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remember when they came out with that jelly that

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was peanut butter and jelly mixed? Mixed together.

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You probably never even tried that. Yeah, that

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made me sick to my stomach to look at. Oh, man.

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It was okay, but I liked adding more jelly, personally.

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So, you know, it just didn't work for me. But,

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hey, I want to welcome you to Living Up in a

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Down World Special Edition. We call this Conversations,

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and we're hanging out with folks. And Annette

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has had another insane week. Yeah. And may get

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her in here later today for a podcast, but we'll

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see. But in the meantime, and you're not the

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third date to the prom, so don't feel bad. So

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Pastor Brian, it's been a while since we've had

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PB in. So super excited to have you with us as

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we kick off. How about a quick word of prayer?

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Yeah, let's do it. Why don't you do it? All right.

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Father, thank you, God, for the privilege it

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is to discuss what you're up to in this world.

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we have to do and be a part of in, in what's

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happening in our communities and our churches

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and our families and how we can be better stewards

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of what you've given us. So Lord, be in this

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conversation today. We pray that you'd be pleased

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and honored and that people would be helped in

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Jesus name. Amen. Amen. This is Jimmy, and Annette

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is not on this podcast again. I've got another

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conversation today, so I want to welcome you

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to our podcast, Living Up in a Down World, which

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it is our joy to do that. As I often say, we

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get to do this. Welcome, PB. Hey, great to be

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here again. Thanks for having me. Absolutely.

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Thanks for leading us in with that great word

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of prayer. And, you know, we were kicking some

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things around before, you know, hot topics right

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now. But something that's kind of hot on our

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heart because it just happened last night is

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we're doing a, we're sort of the guinea pig,

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a .k .a. beta test group. I call it guinea pig.

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For a new curriculum that the Patriot Academy,

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Rick and Kara Green, have produced called Rebuilding

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Liberty. Tell us a little bit about it. We're

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into weeks. We did week three out of four. Just

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kind of bring everybody up to speed on that.

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Yeah, this is sort of a condensed, just really

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accessible version of what they had done previously

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called biblical citizenship, which that was a

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longer eight -week course, videos that were more

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like an hour and a half long, where this has

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been condensed down to four weeks. Each video

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is only about 45 or 50 minutes. And it's really,

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it's like a highlight reel. about the founding

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of our nation, the biblical roots by which the

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documents and compacts and declarations and constitution

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and everything about the formation of our nation

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was rooted in scripture and was constructed by

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men who were committed to the gospel and committed

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to Jesus Christ. History that's been lost is

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being restored in the minds of a new generation

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because of what the Patriot Academy is doing.

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And this just brings it all to the forefront

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and makes it so clear, so accessible and so mind

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blowing. Honestly, you know, when you realize

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the truth of what happened, of who these guys

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were that formed our nation and what their priorities

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were, it really it'll kind of make you upset

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a little bit about what you were taught in school

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growing up, wouldn't you say? Yeah, there was

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a lot I wasn't taught in school. And two, there's

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a flip side to that coin. Even if they had taught

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it probably at my age and station of life, I

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would have been, when's lunch? I'm ready for

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football practice. I mean, so not to excuse it

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all, but it's called revisionist history. And

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we hear this term thrown around a lot. But what

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we're doing, what's interesting is we had dinner

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last night with Doyle and Susan Jennings, one

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of our elders and just long -term couple with

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us. And we just sat down. We just had such a

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great talk. They were so excited. This is the

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first time they've really engaged in any of our

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curriculum that we've offered. They weren't here

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for biblical citizenship because they live in

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Bernie, so they have to drive over. from there

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to be with us on Wednesday night, which ends

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up being a sacrifice. They're in the car all

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the time getting over here for things, and they

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were blown away. They were blown away by this

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idea of rebuilding liberty that even though Trump

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won and conservatives and Republicans alike and

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a lot of independents are cheering because he's

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doing some amazing things, but there's also this

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sense of there's something for us to do. What

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is our role? And if we don't understand that,

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we can easily rest on our laurels. We can just

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take it easy, kick our feet up. We won, yay,

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and all that. But that's not good enough. And

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that's not the heart that brought liberty into

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being at the beginning of our nation through

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the colonies and the leaders, the pastors, those

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early, you call them governors, that were actually

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over the colonies. the heart of it was we have

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major problems in the world. We believe that

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God has ordered our stance. So we're here by

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providence, by God's will. And we're here to

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change our world, not the world, our world. We're

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starting and we're here to make a new start.

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So we don't want to repeat the mistakes that

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drove us over here. So when you begin to learn

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the background of that and you realize that their

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textbook, Their go -to book for all of this,

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where all the principles were unearthed, and

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I have a point on that about just even the signers

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of the Declaration and the construction of the

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Constitution, all that. But the spirit that drove

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all of that and what was behind it. It's such,

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it was such a fight for truth. Yeah. Such a fight

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for righteousness or rightness and justice. You

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know, I think one of the things that struck me

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last night was a quote from John Winthrop, who

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in 1630 is coming over on a ship and he preaches

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a sermon. to the men on the ship. And it's a

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famous sermon where we get that idea of a city

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set on a hill and that message that came out

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of that. But one of the quotes in his sermon,

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he says, for we must consider that we shall be

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as a city upon a hill. The eyes of all people

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are upon us. So that if we shall deal falsely

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with our God in this work we have undertaken

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and so cause him to withdraw his present help

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from us, we shall be made a story and a byword

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throughout the world. And this goes on and on.

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And he's basically establishing almost like a

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mosaic covenant by which all of this work began.

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He was one of the pilgrims who came over with

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the express purpose of saying, all right. We

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want to do something God's way. We want to build

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based on a biblical precedent. We want to establish

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a government, family, society, civics based on

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the principles laid out in scripture. And we

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want to covenant with God at the beginning of

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this thing that, you know, if we honor him, we

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know he's going to show up and do things that

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are going to be told around the world. But if

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we deal falsely with him, if we forget how we

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started this thing, he said, then we'll be made

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a byword. And that's sort of where we're at now

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and why this. curriculum even is called Rebuilding

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Liberty because we're coming up on the 250th

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birthday of our nation. And this is typically

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in the cycle of nations in the world. This is

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where things, you know, fall apart, the wheels

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come off and it all just goes permanently south.

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And so the proposition is we have an opportunity

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now to either become a byword or to rebuild.

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And one of the scriptures they talked about last

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night was from Nehemiah chapter two, verse 17.

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And that scripture says, come, let us rebuild.

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so that we will no longer be a disgrace. And

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I think that's such a word for our generation.

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It's an invitation to say, all right, we can

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reclaim how this thing began and start a whole

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new season of blessing and the Lord's blessing,

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or we can just keep letting it go. You know,

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that's a great passage, and you were right on

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with that. Good night. All of that. Amen, 100%.

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I think about Nehemiah going to Artaxerxes, the

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king. You know, he was the cupbearer to the king.

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And he had to favor the king because basically

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he's the guy who stands in the way of the king

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being killed, you know, through something nefarious,

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through poison, whether it's through food. So

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he would drink the cup and he would eat the food

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before anybody. He was the beta test guy, right?

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And if it was a failed test, he's dead, right?

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So who's next in line? So just by nature of what

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he does, they became very close. Nehemiah felt

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this call to come back and rebuild his hometown,

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Jerusalem, because the city walls had been destroyed.

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The king showed him great favor, basically gave

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him a blank check. He had carte blanche to go

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back, and he said, whatever you need, you have.

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I mean, that was the heart of that king towards

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Nehemiah in terms of favor. And sometimes we

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have a tendency to think that government is just...

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completely antithetical to faith. I've never

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believed that. Even back in Abilene, back when

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we were there, I was meeting with the mayors

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and hanging, I was going to city council meetings

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and my attitude was, no, if you think about it,

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and the way I used to tell the mayor this, I

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remember talking to Grady Barr, I said, you carry

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the weight of civil government on your shoulders.

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I carry the weight of spiritual government on

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mine. We need to be partners. If we're going

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to move the needle in this world, we need to

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be partners, not adversaries. And that started

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a friendship with him. Well, they mentioned that

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last night. You know, I mean, just the observation

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that God created government. That was his idea.

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Absolutely. He created the church. He created

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government. He created family. And his intent

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is to be central to all three of those things

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and for those things to overlap. And what overlaps

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those three things is him. And so when God is

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removed from any one or all of those things,

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that's when we begin to have problems in society.

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You know, we've debunked the lie of separation

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of church and state, which is nowhere in the

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Constitution ever. It's not in the Constitution.

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It's not in the Declaration of Independence.

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It came out of a letter from Thomas Jefferson

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to the Danbury Baptist Association where he was

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assuring them that we're not here as the state

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or government. to impose upon your freedom of

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religion. And he was assuring them it wasn't

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the opposite. It wasn't him telling the Danbury

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Baptist Association, hey, don't try to put your

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stuff on us. It was actually the opposite. It

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was a protection for the church from the state

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or the government, not the opposite. It wasn't

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the protection of the state from the church or

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from religion. That's the lie that has been perpetrated

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for hundreds of years. One of many, but that

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is a critical one because people who bought that

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narrative as truth, they quote it as truth. You

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hear politicians quoting it. It's like they think

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they're quoting the Constitution or law, and

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it's not. Now, if you listen to what the men

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who built this thing had to say back then, I

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mean, their perspective was that the church,

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that Christianity was designed to be the conscience

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of the state, that it was in a sense. intended

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to keep government on the rails and be the guardrails

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for everything that government did. Yeah, their

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words were religion and more religious people,

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religious and moral people. Right. That was a

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phrase. It's actually, you know, I've got this

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statue over here in my office. Every couple of

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days I walk over there and I read through all

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the different foundations. Of course, the lady

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standing there, her name, her area's faith. You

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have morality, you have law, you have education,

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and morality, law, education, and liberty, freedom.

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And so I read these, and these foundations became

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pillars that held up. And I love what Rick Green

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and Kirk Kammer both use the same words. It's

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the secret sauce for how our nation was built,

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and it's also the secret sauce for how we will

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come back through those pillars. And it's just

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critical for us to understand. that God's original

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intent, and that's the name of a book that David,

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in fact, David Barton's first book was called

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Original Intent. And it was this idea that God

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had an original intent and he never deviated

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it. He never deviated from that. Methods, technology,

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things come and go, but the actual blueprint

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is still the same. Just like in the scriptures,

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the blueprint's still the same. I mean, it's

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pretty dire warnings. In the Bible, if you mess

00:13:50.299 --> 00:13:55.059
with this, you know, perdition, all that. But

00:13:55.059 --> 00:13:56.899
it's the same way with the government. This was

00:13:56.899 --> 00:13:59.120
his idea. And I've said it this way, you've heard

00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:02.059
me say it a dozen times, that America is not

00:14:02.059 --> 00:14:06.019
a good idea that God blessed. America is a God

00:14:06.019 --> 00:14:10.279
idea that we're here as steward. And to me, that's

00:14:10.279 --> 00:14:13.480
a critical distinction. It is. And so anyway,

00:14:13.700 --> 00:14:16.059
back to this separation of church and state.

00:14:16.100 --> 00:14:17.860
Once we get that out of the way, we realize.

00:14:18.559 --> 00:14:20.639
We're not supposed to be separate. What's that

00:14:20.639 --> 00:14:22.259
quote? I don't know if it's George Washington.

00:14:22.320 --> 00:14:23.899
It might be somebody else. But it says that he

00:14:23.899 --> 00:14:26.000
was talking about the Constitution, how it's

00:14:26.000 --> 00:14:30.039
wholly inadequate to govern anybody except for

00:14:30.039 --> 00:14:32.279
a moral and a religious people. It might have

00:14:32.279 --> 00:14:34.139
been Adams. It might have been John Adams, yeah.

00:14:34.279 --> 00:14:37.259
And the clarification that when they spoke of

00:14:37.259 --> 00:14:39.759
religion, they weren't speaking of some ambiguous

00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:42.100
idea of religion. They were always speaking of

00:14:42.100 --> 00:14:44.080
Jesus. They were always speaking of the gospel.

00:14:44.830 --> 00:14:47.230
They were always speaking of Christianity. And

00:14:47.230 --> 00:14:49.509
they didn't come back and have to clarify that

00:14:49.509 --> 00:14:51.690
because it was such a known— It was thoroughly

00:14:51.690 --> 00:14:55.429
known. And so I just saw where a judge in San

00:14:55.429 --> 00:14:57.970
Antonio, a federal judge in San Antonio, Texas,

00:14:58.090 --> 00:15:02.889
just this week struck down the law that has been

00:15:02.889 --> 00:15:07.590
passed through the state of Texas, through our

00:15:07.590 --> 00:15:11.610
Governor Abbott in the House and Senate, that—

00:15:11.929 --> 00:15:14.529
Every classroom, every public school classroom

00:15:14.529 --> 00:15:19.809
in Texas is to post a copy of the Ten Commandments.

00:15:19.889 --> 00:15:24.149
And this federal judge, we're still trying to

00:15:24.149 --> 00:15:26.570
figure out why a federal judge got involved in

00:15:26.570 --> 00:15:30.450
a state situation, how that's even his jurisdiction.

00:15:31.070 --> 00:15:36.350
Somehow in San Antonio is struck that law down

00:15:36.350 --> 00:15:43.880
in 11 school districts. It's ridiculous. the

00:15:43.880 --> 00:15:45.980
audacity to say, well, if you're going to have

00:15:45.980 --> 00:15:47.500
something up, you might as well put the five

00:15:47.500 --> 00:15:51.039
tenets of Buddhism. It just is a sock in the

00:15:51.039 --> 00:15:54.480
eye. And so obviously there'll be war over that.

00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:58.460
There'll be drama. Well, it highlights one of

00:15:58.460 --> 00:16:00.980
the tenets of rebuilding liberty that they're

00:16:00.980 --> 00:16:02.700
mentioning in this course, which I think it was

00:16:02.700 --> 00:16:04.279
the eighth one or something, but it's talking

00:16:04.279 --> 00:16:06.720
about restoring limited government. You know,

00:16:06.740 --> 00:16:09.360
one of the things that. haven't been taught as

00:16:09.360 --> 00:16:12.419
Americans is the proper role of government, particularly

00:16:12.419 --> 00:16:14.980
the federal government. It's intended, it was

00:16:14.980 --> 00:16:17.460
originally intended only to exist to protect

00:16:17.460 --> 00:16:21.460
the God -given rights and freedoms that we all

00:16:21.460 --> 00:16:24.220
already have. You know, God gives us those rights

00:16:24.220 --> 00:16:28.059
to us as people, and then the people sort of

00:16:28.059 --> 00:16:30.879
hire the government in a sense to protect those

00:16:30.879 --> 00:16:34.190
rights. but not to tell us what they are or to

00:16:34.190 --> 00:16:37.149
try to change them or to even, you know, get

00:16:37.149 --> 00:16:39.230
more involved in anything other than protection.

00:16:39.529 --> 00:16:41.889
The Bill of Rights, the Constitution all talk

00:16:41.889 --> 00:16:44.590
about limited government. Right. And what's happened

00:16:44.590 --> 00:16:48.210
is through the years, elitists, Marxists, various

00:16:48.210 --> 00:16:51.190
influences have come in to say, wait, you're

00:16:51.190 --> 00:16:54.070
just stupid people. We know more than you. Right.

00:16:54.090 --> 00:16:56.990
And we know better than you. We know how to run

00:16:56.990 --> 00:16:59.169
your life better than you do. Of course, that

00:16:59.169 --> 00:17:02.220
means encroachment upon. ownership of property,

00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:05.480
freedom of religion, freedom of speech, all these

00:17:05.480 --> 00:17:08.500
things start getting violated one after another.

00:17:08.619 --> 00:17:11.380
And once that starts to pick up momentum, it's

00:17:11.380 --> 00:17:13.539
like a snowball going down a hill. Well, and

00:17:13.539 --> 00:17:16.279
people get duped into accepting it or even welcoming

00:17:16.279 --> 00:17:18.779
it. Through the guise of, hey, we're going to

00:17:18.779 --> 00:17:20.720
give you free stuff. We're going to take care

00:17:20.720 --> 00:17:23.619
of you. We're going to provide for you. We're

00:17:23.619 --> 00:17:25.000
going to make it so you don't have to worry about

00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:27.200
anything. Here's a compensation check, you know,

00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.400
$1 ,200. Like, that's going to fix all of this.

00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:32.019
Nothing's free, though. Nothing's free. You accept

00:17:32.019 --> 00:17:34.140
that, and then the next thing you know, you've

00:17:34.140 --> 00:17:36.319
given away things that are far more important.

00:17:36.460 --> 00:17:38.720
Which we obviously saw during the COVID debacle.

00:17:38.799 --> 00:17:41.119
I mean, it was like, you know, we're going to

00:17:41.119 --> 00:17:44.460
give you these shots. You don't have to pay for

00:17:44.460 --> 00:17:46.539
them. Yeah. And we're going to give you a series

00:17:46.539 --> 00:17:48.859
of shots. Well, they gave people something. Fortunately,

00:17:49.000 --> 00:17:51.599
not us. They gave people something. We're now

00:17:51.599 --> 00:17:55.299
seeing the horrific, you know, the debacle that

00:17:55.299 --> 00:17:58.000
was medically and otherwise as psychologically

00:17:58.000 --> 00:18:01.079
as well. But again, it was like, this is free.

00:18:01.180 --> 00:18:03.759
Well, you become a test subject, you know, for

00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:05.599
something that's never been tested, never been.

00:18:05.900 --> 00:18:09.500
They broke every rule, every law in terms of

00:18:09.500 --> 00:18:12.259
producing, you know, a vaccine that's viable

00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:15.779
and helpful. uh just to rush something through

00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:19.339
and they made trillions of dollars off of it

00:18:19.339 --> 00:18:22.200
so it came it turned into and now now that all

00:18:22.200 --> 00:18:24.119
the info is out about it they're like oops sorry

00:18:24.119 --> 00:18:26.920
oh sorry yeah yeah i thought wait what about

00:18:26.920 --> 00:18:29.819
accountability bad yeah hey y 'all wanted us

00:18:29.819 --> 00:18:31.980
to make this you know and we gave it to you for

00:18:31.980 --> 00:18:34.460
free so why are you complaining you know well

00:18:34.460 --> 00:18:36.789
because of my trillion dollar doctor bill is

00:18:36.789 --> 00:18:39.009
because of this so anyway now there's gonna be

00:18:39.009 --> 00:18:41.089
a lot of stuff continuing to come out on this

00:18:41.089 --> 00:18:44.529
but again you're right nothing's for free and

00:18:44.529 --> 00:18:48.009
freedom isn't free freedom must be contended

00:18:48.009 --> 00:18:50.470
for and maintained freedom is not something that

00:18:50.470 --> 00:18:53.319
the government gives to people freedom only comes

00:18:53.319 --> 00:18:57.500
from God. Rights come from God. Freedom comes

00:18:57.500 --> 00:19:00.000
from God. And when you begin to remove God from

00:19:00.000 --> 00:19:02.259
the national equation, what you're actually removing

00:19:02.259 --> 00:19:04.359
is freedom from the national equation because

00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:06.400
you can't have it without him. Exactly. And that

00:19:06.400 --> 00:19:08.460
spills right over to our spiritual life too.

00:19:08.900 --> 00:19:11.619
Freedom isn't free. We say it's a free gift,

00:19:11.720 --> 00:19:15.140
but really it has to be contended for in our

00:19:15.140 --> 00:19:17.480
spiritual life, just like it is in our natural

00:19:17.480 --> 00:19:20.000
life. There's a lot of parallels there. And we

00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:22.859
understand freedom comes from God. Whom the Son

00:19:22.859 --> 00:19:26.900
sets free is free indeed. But yet it has to be

00:19:26.900 --> 00:19:29.240
maintained. How many people have you known through

00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:33.019
the years that have gone through a freedom session

00:19:33.019 --> 00:19:35.180
of some kind? There's all kinds of different

00:19:35.180 --> 00:19:39.700
things out there, whether it's sozo or retooling

00:19:39.700 --> 00:19:42.119
prayer. The apostics. The apostics. There's all

00:19:42.119 --> 00:19:45.099
these various approaches to it. And you see a

00:19:45.099 --> 00:19:49.250
breakthrough. You see they get freedom. Instead

00:19:49.250 --> 00:19:52.569
of taking a vigilant stance, say, now I have

00:19:52.569 --> 00:19:56.049
to defend and contend for this and maintain it.

00:19:56.210 --> 00:20:01.470
They drop their guard and the enemy just re -encroaches.

00:20:01.849 --> 00:20:04.289
Well, the scripture talks about walking in that

00:20:04.289 --> 00:20:08.930
freedom and that verb walking describes somebody

00:20:08.930 --> 00:20:13.569
who lives into it fully, who apprehends it and

00:20:13.569 --> 00:20:16.509
makes use of it. Yeah. There's a vigilant attitude

00:20:16.509 --> 00:20:19.259
that you have to have. to maintain it well that's

00:20:19.259 --> 00:20:22.319
in the natural too so like i said you know we

00:20:22.319 --> 00:20:25.720
had this this election things moved our way donald

00:20:25.720 --> 00:20:28.940
trump has just been full steam ahead pedal to

00:20:28.940 --> 00:20:31.299
the metal i mean the only breaks he takes right

00:20:31.299 --> 00:20:32.859
now is to go to the bathroom and play a round

00:20:32.859 --> 00:20:36.000
of golf other than that i mean he's like unbelievable

00:20:36.000 --> 00:20:39.140
yeah a dynamo and he's doing it because he knows

00:20:39.140 --> 00:20:42.960
his age and his time and his season of life and

00:20:42.960 --> 00:20:44.980
he knows he's only got so much time to get things

00:20:44.980 --> 00:20:47.990
done and so he is like Literally giving his life

00:20:47.990 --> 00:20:51.509
away for us. And that's the spirit that we saw

00:20:51.509 --> 00:20:55.769
in early America and the colonies in 1774, 5,

00:20:55.930 --> 00:20:59.690
and 6, leading up to the war, where pastors were

00:20:59.690 --> 00:21:02.829
teaching on liberty, teaching on family and freedom

00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:07.190
and faith and holding it down, but also fueling

00:21:07.190 --> 00:21:10.329
the fire of liberty. And now we see we have a

00:21:10.329 --> 00:21:12.609
president doing that, but we can't coast on him.

00:21:14.029 --> 00:21:16.369
I feel the need even just to take a second and

00:21:16.369 --> 00:21:19.730
just speak to those who maybe have some sort

00:21:19.730 --> 00:21:22.150
of a personal problem with a guy like Donald

00:21:22.150 --> 00:21:25.410
Trump. You don't like his character or his personality

00:21:25.410 --> 00:21:27.950
or things he says or the way he does certain

00:21:27.950 --> 00:21:33.349
things. And he's not the pastor of America. He's

00:21:33.349 --> 00:21:36.849
not Jesus. And we don't look to him for any of

00:21:36.849 --> 00:21:40.630
those things. The real question is, is God working

00:21:40.630 --> 00:21:43.690
in and through him to accomplish? Things right

00:21:43.690 --> 00:21:47.890
now that are right. Is righteousness in various

00:21:47.890 --> 00:21:50.609
areas of our nation being restored right now?

00:21:50.630 --> 00:21:52.390
Are we moving in the right direction or the wrong

00:21:52.390 --> 00:21:55.170
direction? Are things that need to happen happening

00:21:55.170 --> 00:21:58.970
through an imperfect leader? And if they are,

00:21:59.029 --> 00:22:01.390
we need to celebrate it. Are people trying to

00:22:01.390 --> 00:22:04.609
get into America or out of America? Definitely

00:22:04.609 --> 00:22:08.630
in. There it is. Yeah. So people want to be here

00:22:08.630 --> 00:22:11.450
because what's happening here, what has happened

00:22:11.450 --> 00:22:14.759
here. is the miracle of the world. And that's

00:22:14.759 --> 00:22:17.920
not to brag or anything. It's just the truth.

00:22:18.200 --> 00:22:21.000
Yeah. And so what makes somebody like Donald

00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:23.200
Trump different from Joe Biden, right? Because,

00:22:23.299 --> 00:22:25.539
you know, if we wanted to, we could rip on either

00:22:25.539 --> 00:22:27.720
one of those guys. They're both flawed human

00:22:27.720 --> 00:22:30.759
beings. They're both sinful men, right? You know,

00:22:30.759 --> 00:22:32.519
we could rip them to shreds if that was our intent.

00:22:32.799 --> 00:22:35.779
But the difference between a Joe Biden and a

00:22:35.779 --> 00:22:38.140
Donald Trump is in one case, you have somebody

00:22:38.140 --> 00:22:41.279
who was dismantling the fabric of the nation.

00:22:42.630 --> 00:22:45.250
objectively. And then on the other case, you

00:22:45.250 --> 00:22:48.170
have a guy who is attempting to bring together

00:22:48.170 --> 00:22:52.289
people and coalitions and, and groups to reassemble

00:22:52.289 --> 00:22:55.910
the fabric of the foundations of America, whether

00:22:55.910 --> 00:22:58.849
imperfectly or not, it's the right direction,

00:22:58.930 --> 00:23:01.690
not the wrong direction. Yeah. I so agree there.

00:23:02.130 --> 00:23:05.529
And I love what you said. These are, these are

00:23:05.529 --> 00:23:09.220
imperfect people as are we. It's amazing how

00:23:09.220 --> 00:23:11.660
quick we are to release judgment on somebody.

00:23:11.700 --> 00:23:14.099
Quick to judge. I think, you know, Donald Trump

00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:16.240
made a, our president made a comment about, you

00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:17.799
know, I'm hoping to get to heaven, you know,

00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:20.559
because, and people just jumped all over him.

00:23:20.619 --> 00:23:24.279
Like, you know, he was born again this last year,

00:23:24.299 --> 00:23:26.579
according to Pastor Leon Benjamin, who's part

00:23:26.579 --> 00:23:30.339
of the Office of Faith and meets and prays with

00:23:30.339 --> 00:23:33.640
him often in the Oval Office. He's the one who

00:23:33.640 --> 00:23:35.980
said the Holy Ghost is back in the Oval Office.

00:23:36.509 --> 00:23:39.690
And he said unequivocally that Donald Trump is

00:23:39.690 --> 00:23:42.190
born again. I mean, there's no doubt about it.

00:23:42.349 --> 00:23:46.569
He said, however, at his age and station of life,

00:23:46.750 --> 00:23:48.829
he's a New Yorker, straight out of New York.

00:23:48.890 --> 00:23:54.029
He's been a gruff, hardcore businessman his entire

00:23:54.029 --> 00:23:57.890
life. And for us to put some different level

00:23:57.890 --> 00:24:00.349
of expectation on him than we would anybody else

00:24:00.349 --> 00:24:03.849
is unfair. This idea that, you know, he's going

00:24:03.849 --> 00:24:06.650
to talk like us, walk like us, whatever that

00:24:06.650 --> 00:24:09.609
means, who's us. You know, even Christians can't

00:24:09.609 --> 00:24:12.470
figure out what us is. You know, what's the ideal?

00:24:13.230 --> 00:24:14.990
But already, you know, there's these judgments

00:24:14.990 --> 00:24:17.329
leveled against him because he didn't say it

00:24:17.329 --> 00:24:19.589
just right. Right. And he didn't have the right

00:24:19.589 --> 00:24:21.990
verbiage. Yeah. And people, this is where people

00:24:21.990 --> 00:24:23.710
have got to get over this and say, you know what,

00:24:23.730 --> 00:24:26.000
we need to be praying for him. not getting upset

00:24:26.000 --> 00:24:28.900
with him and trying to correct him. He's a man

00:24:28.900 --> 00:24:31.519
on a journey, first spiritual journey. He's in

00:24:31.519 --> 00:24:34.579
that, but he's also a man trying to correct and

00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:36.759
get our country back on the rails. And he's already

00:24:36.759 --> 00:24:39.640
doing it. It's happening. He reminds me of certain

00:24:39.640 --> 00:24:43.519
people in the Bible, like even the centurion

00:24:43.519 --> 00:24:48.420
that Peter got sent to in the book of Acts, who

00:24:48.420 --> 00:24:52.299
was a God -fearer to a degree, but he wasn't.

00:24:52.799 --> 00:24:55.039
inculcated into the religious system. And, you

00:24:55.039 --> 00:24:57.440
know, I'm sure he had various pagan elements

00:24:57.440 --> 00:25:00.079
of the way he lived, but something was drawing

00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:02.339
him, you know, and what did God do? God sent

00:25:02.339 --> 00:25:05.039
him a messenger to help bring the rest of the

00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:07.380
message to him, you know, rather than to just,

00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:10.660
you know, proclaim, you know, judgment against

00:25:10.660 --> 00:25:12.720
him. Right. Stamp Ichabod on him. Right. And,

00:25:12.759 --> 00:25:15.220
you know, you're no good. You're not doing it

00:25:15.220 --> 00:25:18.039
just right. No, God has a heart for people. And

00:25:18.039 --> 00:25:21.589
so we've got to give. give our president the

00:25:21.589 --> 00:25:24.549
same grace we need ourselves, that we ourselves

00:25:24.549 --> 00:25:29.089
require. And sometimes Christian folks are not

00:25:29.089 --> 00:25:33.309
good about that. We tend to judge harshly. And

00:25:33.309 --> 00:25:36.009
so anyway, I love what he's doing. I'm so thankful,

00:25:36.130 --> 00:25:41.190
but definitely need to do our part because that's

00:25:41.190 --> 00:25:42.910
kind of what started this part of this conversation

00:25:42.910 --> 00:25:45.549
is our role in this. And that's what rebuilding

00:25:45.549 --> 00:25:48.450
liberty is about is like, what can we do? What

00:25:48.450 --> 00:25:51.900
can we do to... be a part of the solution, not

00:25:51.900 --> 00:25:54.500
just resting and kicking back and expecting someone

00:25:54.500 --> 00:25:57.359
else to do it. So we ourselves have to be willing

00:25:57.359 --> 00:26:00.380
to jump in the fray at whatever level God calls

00:26:00.380 --> 00:26:04.920
us to. Yeah, absolutely. You know, I think the

00:26:04.920 --> 00:26:07.000
other thing that came out last night was just

00:26:07.000 --> 00:26:10.319
what's happening in this next generation of young

00:26:10.319 --> 00:26:13.180
people, particularly Gen Z. We had a... a couple

00:26:13.180 --> 00:26:15.220
of representatives from the Patriot Academy join

00:26:15.220 --> 00:26:18.220
us. We had Reagan Green, who's Rick Green's son,

00:26:18.380 --> 00:26:21.259
who's kind of taking over some of the operations

00:26:21.259 --> 00:26:23.940
of what's happening there, as well as one of

00:26:23.940 --> 00:26:28.579
their staff, Ben Greisinger. And, you know, Ben's

00:26:28.579 --> 00:26:32.799
22, I think Reagan's 26. And then we had Jonathan

00:26:32.799 --> 00:26:34.900
Edwards, who had been hosting the event. He's

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:38.039
37, so kind of representing. The up -and -coming

00:26:38.039 --> 00:26:40.640
generation and getting to hear their perspective

00:26:40.640 --> 00:26:44.500
on what God's doing in the earth right now and

00:26:44.500 --> 00:26:47.240
amongst them was pretty cool. What was your takeaway

00:26:47.240 --> 00:26:49.079
from all that? Well, first of all, it gave me

00:26:49.079 --> 00:26:52.160
great hope that the next generation is in good

00:26:52.160 --> 00:26:55.319
hands. There's strong leadership rising. We know

00:26:55.319 --> 00:26:57.180
it statistically. People have been reporting

00:26:57.180 --> 00:27:01.740
this. Various schools have done research. Organizations

00:27:01.740 --> 00:27:05.109
have done research. Wall Street Journal did research

00:27:05.109 --> 00:27:07.730
on this. And they're finding that Gen Z right

00:27:07.730 --> 00:27:10.569
now is one of the most conservative generations

00:27:10.569 --> 00:27:15.190
to come along in decades. And what our young

00:27:15.190 --> 00:27:18.329
men last night attributed that to was the fact

00:27:18.329 --> 00:27:20.529
that what they're seeing is so fake, whether

00:27:20.529 --> 00:27:23.670
it's AI producing this fake life, it's social

00:27:23.670 --> 00:27:26.410
media producing a fake world. You know, everything

00:27:26.410 --> 00:27:28.990
is so fake. We used to just call Hollywood fake.

00:27:29.069 --> 00:27:31.529
Now everything's fake. It's not just Hollywood

00:27:31.529 --> 00:27:35.910
anymore. It's everything. And so this pendulum

00:27:35.910 --> 00:27:39.150
swing back the other way now to the right is

00:27:39.150 --> 00:27:43.289
that generation's rebellion is to run towards

00:27:43.289 --> 00:27:46.269
conservatism, run towards what's traditional,

00:27:46.950 --> 00:27:50.230
what's substantial. They want to see a cross

00:27:50.230 --> 00:27:53.849
in the church. They want to see what a hymn book

00:27:53.849 --> 00:27:57.430
is that people talk. And conservative in terms

00:27:57.430 --> 00:28:01.250
of in general, kindness and gentleness is the

00:28:01.250 --> 00:28:04.180
new rebellion. It's the new revolution. Pretty

00:28:04.180 --> 00:28:05.900
awesome. Isn't that amazing? Pretty amazing.

00:28:06.039 --> 00:28:07.759
And these guys were saying that last night. I

00:28:07.759 --> 00:28:09.859
love hearing that generation talk about that.

00:28:09.940 --> 00:28:13.779
We just want what's real. Yeah, I just read this

00:28:13.779 --> 00:28:17.319
morning that church attendance in Gen Z has quadrupled

00:28:17.319 --> 00:28:20.680
in the last two years. Quadrupled. And now for

00:28:20.680 --> 00:28:23.299
the first time, children are more religious than

00:28:23.299 --> 00:28:26.549
their parents. Wow. That's like an unheard of

00:28:26.549 --> 00:28:28.329
thing. You know, things are happening all over.

00:28:28.390 --> 00:28:31.710
I know that Calvary Chapels did another baptism

00:28:31.710 --> 00:28:34.730
at Pirate's Cove last week. Another 2 ,000 people.

00:28:35.069 --> 00:28:38.569
They've baptized in the last two years over 10

00:28:38.569 --> 00:28:42.309
,000 people. I think Unite Us has now baptized

00:28:42.309 --> 00:28:45.690
20 ,000 college students in the last couple of

00:28:45.690 --> 00:28:47.789
years. Maybe more than that. I think it's more

00:28:47.789 --> 00:28:49.569
than that. Is it more? Yeah. That's a higher

00:28:49.569 --> 00:28:54.309
number. I mean, yay God, but yay what's going

00:28:54.309 --> 00:28:57.930
on with the next gen. I heard a pastor, I'm going

00:28:57.930 --> 00:29:03.410
to withhold his name to protect the guilty on

00:29:03.410 --> 00:29:06.029
this, but he's somebody that kind of surprised

00:29:06.029 --> 00:29:10.670
me who said, this is not revival. We're not seeing

00:29:10.670 --> 00:29:14.789
revival. He said, everybody thinks the next generation's

00:29:14.789 --> 00:29:16.769
in revival. They're all going to Catholic churches

00:29:16.769 --> 00:29:21.299
and Presbyterian. And I just was like, uh. dude,

00:29:21.299 --> 00:29:23.920
really? You know, open your eyes. This is somebody

00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:26.359
I respect too. And so if I ever had a personal

00:29:26.359 --> 00:29:28.160
conversation with him, I might say something.

00:29:28.180 --> 00:29:29.920
You said it a minute ago. It breaks my heart.

00:29:30.019 --> 00:29:33.380
One of the characteristics of this return of

00:29:33.380 --> 00:29:37.240
Gen Z to faith is they really are seeking history

00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:40.720
and tradition, things that are deep rooted and

00:29:40.720 --> 00:29:44.490
have cultural, historical significance. They're

00:29:44.490 --> 00:29:46.349
after good apologetics. That's why you're seeing

00:29:46.349 --> 00:29:48.609
guys like Wes Huff come on the scene and blow

00:29:48.609 --> 00:29:51.430
up on YouTube with, you know, he's an amazing

00:29:51.430 --> 00:29:55.690
apologist. Or young men like Josh Howerton up

00:29:55.690 --> 00:29:58.509
in the Dallas -Fort Worth area, Rockwall, who's

00:29:58.509 --> 00:30:01.250
grown a church that's now running over 25 ,000

00:30:01.250 --> 00:30:05.890
on a weekend. And he's, what, 40s, 30s? I'm not

00:30:05.890 --> 00:30:09.529
even sure. He's 43 or something. But there's

00:30:09.529 --> 00:30:13.069
this next gen. passion that's coming where they're

00:30:13.069 --> 00:30:16.089
marrying passion with traditional thinking yeah

00:30:16.089 --> 00:30:20.789
and it's fire right now it's on fire well i have

00:30:20.789 --> 00:30:23.549
a theory a part of what's happening here because

00:30:23.549 --> 00:30:25.670
you know it wasn't long ago two three years ago

00:30:25.670 --> 00:30:28.450
what was being said about gen z was the exact

00:30:28.450 --> 00:30:30.369
opposite of what we're hearing right now that

00:30:30.369 --> 00:30:33.849
they were the most debaucherous worst furthest

00:30:33.849 --> 00:30:36.730
from god generation in the history of america

00:30:36.730 --> 00:30:39.410
and it was true just a just a couple of years

00:30:39.410 --> 00:30:45.119
ago And it reminded me of Revelation 3 when Jesus

00:30:45.119 --> 00:30:48.779
is speaking this message to the church in Laodicea.

00:30:48.779 --> 00:30:51.140
And he talks about how he says, I wish you were

00:30:51.140 --> 00:30:54.819
hot or cold. He says, but because you're lukewarm,

00:30:55.000 --> 00:30:58.039
I'm going to spit you out of my mouth. And it

00:30:58.039 --> 00:31:01.220
dawned on me that, you know. That generation

00:31:01.220 --> 00:31:05.299
was the coldest generation probably in the history

00:31:05.299 --> 00:31:08.180
of America when it came to a sensitivity to the

00:31:08.180 --> 00:31:11.039
gospel. And now they're having the greatest.

00:31:11.740 --> 00:31:15.019
like wave of revival hitting them in that coldness,

00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:17.380
because sometimes it's when you're the furthest

00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:20.200
away that you have the most profound encounter

00:31:20.200 --> 00:31:22.720
with a need for God. And the most dangerous place

00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:26.460
to be is not on the far extreme end of coldness.

00:31:26.500 --> 00:31:28.859
The dangerous place is to be just somewhere in

00:31:28.859 --> 00:31:31.579
the middle where I have, I got just enough faith,

00:31:31.660 --> 00:31:34.920
just enough Jesus to be inoculated to the real

00:31:34.920 --> 00:31:38.259
power of it all, which is where America existed

00:31:38.259 --> 00:31:41.769
for. probably a large majority of the last 80

00:31:41.769 --> 00:31:44.609
to 100 years is, you know, we weren't extreme

00:31:44.609 --> 00:31:48.410
debauchery, but we also weren't in that deep

00:31:48.410 --> 00:31:50.230
-rooted faith in which we began. We were more

00:31:50.230 --> 00:31:52.890
in that middle zone, and that was the real dangerous

00:31:52.890 --> 00:31:54.789
place to be because it's like, oh, we're still

00:31:54.789 --> 00:31:57.890
religious, we're still Christian, but we'd lost

00:31:57.890 --> 00:32:00.269
all the presence and the power of God that actually

00:32:00.269 --> 00:32:03.539
gives life to it. which produced a generation

00:32:03.539 --> 00:32:06.160
like Gen Z, but then they took it to its extreme

00:32:06.160 --> 00:32:08.880
and it ended in its logical conclusion, which

00:32:08.880 --> 00:32:11.180
is this is completely empty. This is completely

00:32:11.180 --> 00:32:15.000
void. There's nothing here. We need God. And

00:32:15.000 --> 00:32:17.400
now it's all coming back. You know, out of Revelation

00:32:17.400 --> 00:32:19.980
and then over to the book of Acts, and it was

00:32:19.980 --> 00:32:23.140
the Joel prophecy that says, in the last days,

00:32:23.220 --> 00:32:25.759
it shall be, God declares that I will pour out

00:32:25.759 --> 00:32:28.819
my spirit on all flesh. and your sons and your

00:32:28.819 --> 00:32:31.539
daughters shall prophesy. And your young men

00:32:31.539 --> 00:32:33.680
shall see visions, and your old men shall dream

00:32:33.680 --> 00:32:36.720
dreams. Even on my male servants and female servants,

00:32:36.799 --> 00:32:38.779
and in those days I will pour out my Spirit,

00:32:38.920 --> 00:32:42.380
and they shall prophesy. I will show wonders

00:32:42.380 --> 00:32:44.700
in the heavens above and signs on the earth below,

00:32:44.779 --> 00:32:49.079
blood and fire and vapor and smoke. Man, you

00:32:49.079 --> 00:32:51.539
talk about a world that's groaning right now

00:32:51.539 --> 00:32:54.970
under weather patterns and the earth. I mean,

00:32:55.029 --> 00:32:59.170
plate tectonics, earthquakes, tsunamis. I mean,

00:32:59.190 --> 00:33:02.250
you start to add it and begin to look at things.

00:33:02.349 --> 00:33:05.549
You're like, this is that. We're seeing this.

00:33:05.650 --> 00:33:08.470
And now you've got a new generation where God

00:33:08.470 --> 00:33:10.470
promises that he's going to pour out his spirit

00:33:10.470 --> 00:33:13.190
upon them, and they will prophesy. And the word

00:33:13.190 --> 00:33:17.769
prophesy, it's two meanings. It means to foretell.

00:33:17.789 --> 00:33:21.190
That means to preach. And it means to foretell,

00:33:21.230 --> 00:33:24.359
which means to declare into the future. that

00:33:24.359 --> 00:33:26.980
which has not happened yet, to reveal that which

00:33:26.980 --> 00:33:29.920
has not been revealed. And so the prophesying

00:33:29.920 --> 00:33:33.940
is a declaration of what is and what is to come,

00:33:33.960 --> 00:33:35.839
what was, what is, and what is to come. That's

00:33:35.839 --> 00:33:38.440
prophecy. So it's not just they're all just sitting

00:33:38.440 --> 00:33:40.079
around telling the future, you know, like a bunch

00:33:40.079 --> 00:33:45.920
of, you know, what do they call those? Psychics.

00:33:45.920 --> 00:33:47.900
Psychics. Yeah. They're, they're not doing, playing

00:33:47.900 --> 00:33:50.160
that game, tarot reading and all those things.

00:33:50.359 --> 00:33:53.819
No, this is, this is the word of God, the message

00:33:53.819 --> 00:33:56.319
of God coming down through another generation.

00:33:56.400 --> 00:33:58.640
Yeah. And I believe we're beginning to see this

00:33:58.640 --> 00:34:01.579
right now. And I'm excited. I actually went up

00:34:01.579 --> 00:34:03.339
to Reagan last night and I said, you're going

00:34:03.339 --> 00:34:06.240
to be preaching in this pulpit. Yeah. Just, he's

00:34:06.240 --> 00:34:11.320
like, thank you, man. Whoa, man. You know, he's

00:34:11.320 --> 00:34:14.909
like, whoa, you know, he's because there's, It's

00:34:14.909 --> 00:34:18.449
time to let some of this next generation rise

00:34:18.449 --> 00:34:22.530
up. Well, and I think we need it. Absolutely.

00:34:22.570 --> 00:34:25.389
On the other end, as those who are a little older,

00:34:25.750 --> 00:34:29.230
we need what they're bringing right now, and

00:34:29.230 --> 00:34:31.510
then they need us. Exactly. That's one question

00:34:31.510 --> 00:34:34.389
I have for you is, what do you think our responsibility

00:34:34.389 --> 00:34:40.550
to this new sensitive Gen Z generation is as

00:34:40.550 --> 00:34:43.429
the church? How do we steward them? and their

00:34:43.429 --> 00:34:46.550
hunger well as the generation that's gone before

00:34:46.550 --> 00:34:49.230
them. I think there's two pieces to that. One

00:34:49.230 --> 00:34:53.349
is tremendous grace. Tremendous grace that we

00:34:53.349 --> 00:34:56.929
have. We make room for their mistakes. We make

00:34:56.929 --> 00:34:59.610
room for maybe them not doing it exactly like

00:34:59.610 --> 00:35:02.550
we think they should do it. Because there is,

00:35:02.630 --> 00:35:04.329
even when we talk about Trump, there's these

00:35:04.329 --> 00:35:07.210
expectations we put on new Christians that's

00:35:07.210 --> 00:35:09.750
just completely unreasonable. And we forget how

00:35:09.750 --> 00:35:13.570
we were when we were young and dumb. And so I

00:35:13.570 --> 00:35:17.210
was, I'll speak for myself on that one, but there

00:35:17.210 --> 00:35:19.650
were people that were tremendously gracious with

00:35:19.650 --> 00:35:23.250
me through my foibles and my mistakes, my missteps

00:35:23.250 --> 00:35:28.090
and my slips, you know. And so they graced me

00:35:28.090 --> 00:35:30.510
along, helped me along. That's good. On the flip

00:35:30.510 --> 00:35:32.530
side of that coin, and it has to happen at the

00:35:32.530 --> 00:35:36.150
same time, I needed coaches. I needed mentors.

00:35:36.449 --> 00:35:39.750
I needed commanding officers. People willing

00:35:39.750 --> 00:35:42.230
to speak into you. I needed drill sergeants who

00:35:42.230 --> 00:35:45.349
would speak into me to try to draw out the best

00:35:45.349 --> 00:35:47.809
in me. Those need to happen at the same time.

00:35:48.050 --> 00:35:51.130
There needs to be great grace with great demand.

00:35:51.389 --> 00:35:53.989
In other words, we need to be okay with putting

00:35:53.989 --> 00:35:56.630
weight on them. They want what's real, then they

00:35:56.630 --> 00:35:58.909
need to feel the real weight of what they're

00:35:58.909 --> 00:36:01.449
carrying. And we can do that for them. I asked

00:36:01.449 --> 00:36:04.280
that question out loud last night. What do you,

00:36:04.280 --> 00:36:05.639
what do you need? What can we give you? And the

00:36:05.639 --> 00:36:08.159
first answer was money, you know, which is hilarious.

00:36:08.360 --> 00:36:11.280
It was a great answer. I was like, there's an

00:36:11.280 --> 00:36:13.639
honest answer, but, but they said, seriously

00:36:13.639 --> 00:36:16.800
though, we need you speaking wisdom into our

00:36:16.800 --> 00:36:19.619
lives and just bring in what's real, not avoiding

00:36:19.619 --> 00:36:24.099
us. Yeah. You know, engaging. I think we, I think

00:36:24.099 --> 00:36:27.619
we owe them authenticity and transparency in

00:36:27.619 --> 00:36:29.599
our faith too. Absolutely. I think they're not

00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:32.869
going to. It's not going to go well if we give

00:36:32.869 --> 00:36:38.670
them pat answers and shallow solutions. Or a

00:36:38.670 --> 00:36:40.309
Bible verse prescription. And religious veneer.

00:36:40.369 --> 00:36:42.550
Yeah, here's your prescription. Here's a Bible

00:36:42.550 --> 00:36:45.190
verse. Yeah, so I think it puts the weight on

00:36:45.190 --> 00:36:49.969
the older generation to re -dig the wells of

00:36:49.969 --> 00:36:53.030
their own roots of faith and make sure that they're

00:36:53.030 --> 00:36:56.340
standing. in real deal relationship with Jesus.

00:36:56.460 --> 00:36:58.880
Because otherwise, Gen Z will sniff that out

00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:01.179
in five seconds and go somewhere else. Agreed.

00:37:01.179 --> 00:37:04.639
They need to see us alive in Christ. Not just

00:37:04.639 --> 00:37:07.699
coasting, not just having a little bit better

00:37:07.699 --> 00:37:10.320
life. Jesus isn't an addendum. He's not a self

00:37:10.320 --> 00:37:14.539
-help guru. He's not a life coach. He's my Lord.

00:37:14.619 --> 00:37:17.719
He's my master. He's my savior. And if we don't

00:37:17.719 --> 00:37:19.880
live like that, you're right. They'll sniff it

00:37:19.880 --> 00:37:24.300
out and they'll look other places. I think this

00:37:24.300 --> 00:37:28.460
is a two -edged sword. Man, I'm excited about

00:37:28.460 --> 00:37:31.039
it. One edge of this sword is they're hungry.

00:37:31.420 --> 00:37:34.079
They're ready. They want to be led. They want

00:37:34.079 --> 00:37:36.960
to be coached and mentored and fathered and mothered.

00:37:37.380 --> 00:37:40.460
The flip side of that coin, the other side of

00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:42.659
the very sharp sword, is that they're going to

00:37:42.659 --> 00:37:45.739
be very susceptible to what comes down the line

00:37:45.739 --> 00:37:49.280
in terms of with technology, AI, and all that.

00:37:49.340 --> 00:37:51.460
I'm not like an anti -AI. I'm just cautious.

00:37:52.099 --> 00:37:54.679
It's not a green or a red light with me. It's

00:37:54.679 --> 00:37:57.539
a caution light with me. So that's how I'm viewing

00:37:57.539 --> 00:38:01.480
it. I use it as a tool for various things, but

00:38:01.480 --> 00:38:03.920
I don't, it's a tool. I'm not the tool. It's

00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:08.139
a tool. But I also see susceptibility when there's

00:38:08.139 --> 00:38:13.519
great hunger, great error can come in. So we

00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:15.739
need to guard the deposit. The threat is always

00:38:15.739 --> 00:38:19.309
of potential deception, right? If you don't have

00:38:19.309 --> 00:38:21.989
wisdom. I talked about the books of 1 and 2 Peter.

00:38:22.170 --> 00:38:24.889
The whole reason Peter had to write those books

00:38:24.889 --> 00:38:29.489
is because these new churches, they were in pagan

00:38:29.489 --> 00:38:32.769
lands in Asia Minor, Ephesus, Troas, all those

00:38:32.769 --> 00:38:36.769
places, Colossae, all those, and they were surrounded

00:38:36.769 --> 00:38:39.489
by paganism. And the people they were winning

00:38:39.489 --> 00:38:42.610
to Christ were all coming out of pagan culture.

00:38:43.480 --> 00:38:46.760
And you don't just drop that immediately. I mean,

00:38:46.780 --> 00:38:48.940
sometimes miraculously that happens, but more

00:38:48.940 --> 00:38:51.699
often than not, these things come off layer by

00:38:51.699 --> 00:38:54.340
layer. You have to be careful to avoid the wrong

00:38:54.340 --> 00:38:57.139
mixture. Exactly. So that's why I say it takes

00:38:57.139 --> 00:38:59.900
both. It takes great grace, but it also takes

00:38:59.900 --> 00:39:03.199
clear teaching, clear doctrine, clear focus.

00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:05.579
We need to be clear about doctrine and teaching

00:39:05.579 --> 00:39:09.079
so that this hunger doesn't go off in another

00:39:09.079 --> 00:39:11.920
direction. To me, like I said, it's a two -edged

00:39:11.920 --> 00:39:16.119
sword. We need to live aware, but we also need,

00:39:16.260 --> 00:39:19.460
you said it, we need to demonstrate what holiness

00:39:19.460 --> 00:39:23.380
looks like, what passion looks like. I don't

00:39:23.380 --> 00:39:26.219
want to be a model at 63 years of age to say,

00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:29.340
yeah, you need to be broken and torn down. You

00:39:29.340 --> 00:39:31.800
need to let your body go. You need to just. Just

00:39:31.800 --> 00:39:34.619
coast through, buy an RV and tour the country.

00:39:34.900 --> 00:39:36.880
Not that I'm opposed to that, but I'm just saying

00:39:36.880 --> 00:39:39.119
there's more to life. It can't be just about

00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:41.420
that. For me, I'm just saying for me, this is

00:39:41.420 --> 00:39:45.739
me. The drive in me is we're here to show them

00:39:45.739 --> 00:39:48.380
the way of what a life that's been redeemed looks

00:39:48.380 --> 00:39:51.039
like. And we do it by example. We do it by living

00:39:51.039 --> 00:39:53.739
it out, not by faking it until we make it, but

00:39:53.739 --> 00:39:56.099
walking this life out by faith. And when we make

00:39:56.099 --> 00:39:58.909
mistakes. We're quick to repent, quick to apologize.

00:39:59.469 --> 00:40:02.730
We've got to be real, but we owe them a demonstration

00:40:02.730 --> 00:40:05.289
of the grace and the power of God. Absolutely.

00:40:05.869 --> 00:40:08.210
Absolutely. That is what our generation owes

00:40:08.210 --> 00:40:11.650
them. Man, anything else on last night? Because

00:40:11.650 --> 00:40:13.690
we could talk about a million things, but we're

00:40:13.690 --> 00:40:16.030
going to land the plane. I think this is an important

00:40:16.030 --> 00:40:18.690
conversation, rebuilding America, rebuilding

00:40:18.690 --> 00:40:21.449
liberty. What's your part as you're listening?

00:40:21.610 --> 00:40:22.949
And there are a lot of people that will listen

00:40:22.949 --> 00:40:25.889
to this and go, oh, I'm not into politics. Well,

00:40:25.969 --> 00:40:27.909
if you're breathing and have a pulse, you're

00:40:27.909 --> 00:40:30.750
already there. Yeah. Let me throw in one other

00:40:30.750 --> 00:40:32.929
thing that just hit me hard last night. They

00:40:32.929 --> 00:40:36.269
mentioned the phrase that gets often repeated

00:40:36.269 --> 00:40:40.230
in our culture by power centers that, well, you

00:40:40.230 --> 00:40:43.909
can't legislate morality. And Tim Barton made

00:40:43.909 --> 00:40:47.349
the astute observation that. All legislation

00:40:47.349 --> 00:40:50.190
is rooted in somebody's morality. That was so

00:40:50.190 --> 00:40:52.610
good. The question is, what is the source of

00:40:52.610 --> 00:40:55.409
that morality? Is it God? Is it an objective

00:40:55.409 --> 00:40:58.409
source of morality? Or is it something that we're

00:40:58.409 --> 00:41:01.590
making up on the fly that's ever -changing and

00:41:01.590 --> 00:41:03.949
shifting? That's it. Because if it's not built

00:41:03.949 --> 00:41:06.230
on something objective, it will be built on that

00:41:06.230 --> 00:41:09.949
which is subjective, which is shifting sand and

00:41:09.949 --> 00:41:12.489
blowing waves. It's just you'll never have a

00:41:12.489 --> 00:41:14.989
firm foot in anything, which takes us back to

00:41:14.989 --> 00:41:18.190
where we started. This began, this nation began

00:41:18.190 --> 00:41:22.269
based on the teachings of pastors out of scripture

00:41:22.269 --> 00:41:27.230
about faith, these pillars, faith, family, freedom.

00:41:27.329 --> 00:41:29.389
It's amazing. And that's where I'll be preaching

00:41:29.389 --> 00:41:31.889
this Sunday. So we're already working out my

00:41:31.889 --> 00:41:32.949
Sunday message. Didn't they say that everything

00:41:32.949 --> 00:41:35.969
that the founders wrote was found in sermons

00:41:35.969 --> 00:41:37.610
from the decades prior? Absolutely. Isn't that

00:41:37.610 --> 00:41:39.809
what they said last night? Oh, well, the entire,

00:41:40.150 --> 00:41:43.050
the arguments, what they wrote, in fact, the

00:41:43.050 --> 00:41:44.610
way Tim Barton put it, which I really appreciate,

00:41:44.670 --> 00:41:47.159
he said, They didn't have a single new idea.

00:41:47.380 --> 00:41:50.260
This had been preached in hundreds of sermons

00:41:50.260 --> 00:41:52.780
through the colonies. In churches. In churches

00:41:52.780 --> 00:41:56.079
by pastors. So when you say, when people say

00:41:56.079 --> 00:41:57.900
something, well, as a pastor, you shouldn't be

00:41:57.900 --> 00:42:00.340
involved in politics. By the way, I'm speaking

00:42:00.340 --> 00:42:03.320
at a PAC in McKinney, and the topic is why should

00:42:03.320 --> 00:42:05.920
we be involved in politics? Why should Christians

00:42:05.920 --> 00:42:08.360
be involved in politics? And I can't wait to

00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:12.920
talk to that group and talk about why should

00:42:12.920 --> 00:42:16.679
we even think they shouldn't be? who told you

00:42:16.679 --> 00:42:18.440
that? Yeah, who told you that? Where did this

00:42:18.440 --> 00:42:21.039
come down the line where somebody decided, you

00:42:21.039 --> 00:42:22.900
know, we just need to have our little Bible studies.

00:42:23.079 --> 00:42:25.519
I love what Alan Jackson says. He says, we've

00:42:25.519 --> 00:42:28.699
capitulated. We've given over and stepped away

00:42:28.699 --> 00:42:31.239
from the public square, but it's time to get

00:42:31.239 --> 00:42:33.079
back in and let our voice be heard. And that

00:42:33.079 --> 00:42:35.219
would be my encouragement to anyone. You may

00:42:35.219 --> 00:42:36.880
think, well, what can I do? Let me tell you the

00:42:36.880 --> 00:42:38.699
first thing you can do. You can pray. You can

00:42:38.699 --> 00:42:40.880
pray for our nation. You can pray for your community.

00:42:41.239 --> 00:42:44.400
Pray for community leaders. It's easy enough

00:42:44.400 --> 00:42:47.119
to get online and find out who your representatives

00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:51.940
are in your state, in your local, in the nation,

00:42:52.159 --> 00:42:55.519
senators, governors, leaders. It's so easy to

00:42:55.519 --> 00:42:57.800
find that. You can just go to almost anything

00:42:57.800 --> 00:43:00.840
.gov, but you can Google that and find out who

00:43:00.840 --> 00:43:02.539
they are and pray for them by name, your school

00:43:02.539 --> 00:43:04.480
board. Find out who your school board and just

00:43:04.480 --> 00:43:07.159
pray for them by name. And I always pray these

00:43:07.159 --> 00:43:10.559
things. This is my go -to. We pray for truth.

00:43:11.079 --> 00:43:14.599
We pray for justice. And we pray for godly righteousness.

00:43:14.880 --> 00:43:17.880
I like that. Just simple. Keep it simple. And

00:43:17.880 --> 00:43:20.820
that's where you can start in getting back to

00:43:20.820 --> 00:43:23.280
and rebuilding liberty when we begin to pray

00:43:23.280 --> 00:43:26.659
for our nation again and seek God. And if somebody

00:43:26.659 --> 00:43:29.139
thinks that's being political, they have not

00:43:29.139 --> 00:43:32.699
read their Bible. Every prayer in the Old Testament

00:43:32.699 --> 00:43:35.079
had to do with nations. It had to do with leaders.

00:43:35.219 --> 00:43:38.179
It had to do with God's will on the earth. Jesus

00:43:38.179 --> 00:43:40.219
himself in the Lord's Prayer, we call it the

00:43:40.219 --> 00:43:43.829
Lord's Model Prayer, said, Your kingdom come,

00:43:44.030 --> 00:43:48.010
your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

00:43:48.110 --> 00:43:50.369
I feel like the word political has just hijacked

00:43:50.369 --> 00:43:52.889
the word culture. And that's why I say engaging

00:43:52.889 --> 00:43:55.429
culture. I don't even use politics anymore. It's

00:43:55.429 --> 00:43:57.929
we're engaging culture. Culture is unavoidable.

00:43:58.030 --> 00:44:00.570
And it captures more than just politics. Right.

00:44:00.690 --> 00:44:03.849
Culture is the entire milieu in which we live.

00:44:03.949 --> 00:44:07.369
And so we're engaging culture. And so anyway,

00:44:07.429 --> 00:44:08.929
I'm looking forward to that. Anything you have

00:44:08.929 --> 00:44:11.460
to land the plane with? I think you're right

00:44:11.460 --> 00:44:14.519
on in praying. And I think, you know, beyond

00:44:14.519 --> 00:44:18.860
praying, reach out to and get to know local leaders

00:44:18.860 --> 00:44:23.099
and school board members and principals and these

00:44:23.099 --> 00:44:27.199
people and do it with grace and peace. And be

00:44:27.199 --> 00:44:30.659
an ally to them. Even if they're not doing what

00:44:30.659 --> 00:44:33.000
you want them to do right now, you're going to,

00:44:33.000 --> 00:44:34.500
we were talking about this earlier, you're going

00:44:34.500 --> 00:44:38.039
to get a lot more bees with honey. And sometimes

00:44:38.039 --> 00:44:41.079
you need to let the Lord open the door by being,

00:44:41.119 --> 00:44:44.260
coming in the opposite spirit of what they expect

00:44:44.260 --> 00:44:47.699
and then waiting for that opportunity to bring

00:44:47.699 --> 00:44:50.719
truth. We are to be their allies, not their adversaries,

00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:54.780
unless evil. Right. Is ruling unless, you know,

00:44:54.860 --> 00:44:57.719
I mean, the scripture says, you know, a nation

00:44:57.719 --> 00:45:00.280
groans. The people groan when there's unrighteous

00:45:00.280 --> 00:45:03.559
leadership. And so we understand that. But you

00:45:03.559 --> 00:45:06.719
always lead with grace. I always say, and it's

00:45:06.719 --> 00:45:08.659
an old line from a Rich Mullins song, let mercy

00:45:08.659 --> 00:45:13.400
lead. Let mercy lead. So be led by mercy. But

00:45:13.400 --> 00:45:15.480
then when it comes time to stand, you stand.

00:45:15.739 --> 00:45:17.539
And you do that on the shoulders of giants. And

00:45:17.539 --> 00:45:19.019
we're not standing so much against. People, as

00:45:19.019 --> 00:45:22.000
we are, we're standing for righteousness. We're

00:45:22.000 --> 00:45:24.820
standing against wrong principles. And we're

00:45:24.820 --> 00:45:26.699
warring not against flesh and blood, but against

00:45:26.699 --> 00:45:28.539
principalities. We understand there's a deeper

00:45:28.539 --> 00:45:32.380
thing happening here that's not the person that

00:45:32.380 --> 00:45:34.460
you're fighting. I have a great example of that.

00:45:34.519 --> 00:45:37.800
Joy Lynn Marsaros over in New Braunfels, she

00:45:37.800 --> 00:45:42.840
is going into city council meetings, and she's

00:45:42.840 --> 00:45:46.389
calling out leaders. who have been operating

00:45:46.389 --> 00:45:49.730
in unrighteous, ungodly, and unfair ways. And

00:45:49.730 --> 00:45:52.369
she's not going in there to be abrasive, but

00:45:52.369 --> 00:45:56.489
she's having to take a stand. And she's taking

00:45:56.489 --> 00:45:59.829
a stand under her rights as a citizen of the

00:45:59.829 --> 00:46:03.929
community, of the state, of the nation. But she's

00:46:03.929 --> 00:46:06.010
not going in there to fight. Sometimes it looks

00:46:06.010 --> 00:46:09.469
contentious because if they fight back and they're

00:46:09.469 --> 00:46:12.849
violating the Constitution, violating our rights.

00:46:13.230 --> 00:46:16.389
Then you have to hold them to hold the line on

00:46:16.389 --> 00:46:19.610
that. And I love her example of just doing her

00:46:19.610 --> 00:46:22.309
research, seeing where the issues are, and then

00:46:22.309 --> 00:46:25.289
speaking to them. But you don't go in to fight.

00:46:25.429 --> 00:46:28.489
You go in to change and shift and influence.

00:46:28.829 --> 00:46:31.469
Or just to restore truth. But it may be a fight.

00:46:31.630 --> 00:46:33.530
It might be a fight. But nine times out of ten,

00:46:33.530 --> 00:46:36.010
I would say more often than not, it doesn't have

00:46:36.010 --> 00:46:38.610
to be. But that's just me. That was my approach

00:46:38.610 --> 00:46:40.269
when I was in Abilene. I was meeting with the

00:46:40.269 --> 00:46:43.019
mayor and going to city council meetings. sitting

00:46:43.019 --> 00:46:45.800
in on flood, flood zoning meetings and stuff.

00:46:46.099 --> 00:46:48.139
I wasn't there to be contentious. I was there

00:46:48.139 --> 00:46:50.679
to be a blessing. Well, I think that leads to

00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:52.420
the last thing, right, which is you need to educate

00:46:52.420 --> 00:46:55.139
yourself. And it's easier than ever to do that.

00:46:55.199 --> 00:46:58.960
Go to patriotacademy .com. You can take the biblical

00:46:58.960 --> 00:47:03.480
citizenship class. You can do that online. You'll

00:47:03.480 --> 00:47:05.420
be able to access Rebuilding Liberty here pretty

00:47:05.420 --> 00:47:08.000
soon, probably in the next month or so. And you

00:47:08.000 --> 00:47:10.420
can lead a class. You can make a small group

00:47:10.420 --> 00:47:13.340
out of it. And I'm telling you, once you taste...

00:47:13.550 --> 00:47:15.750
This stuff, it's pretty amazing. Like, you're

00:47:15.750 --> 00:47:17.969
going to love it. And then there's books and

00:47:17.969 --> 00:47:20.510
other resources that Dale points you to. There's

00:47:20.510 --> 00:47:22.670
no reason to be ignorant at this point. If you

00:47:22.670 --> 00:47:24.530
had ever told me that I would be excited about

00:47:24.530 --> 00:47:27.710
studying history, American history, I would have

00:47:27.710 --> 00:47:29.829
told you you're nuts. Man, I'm all about the

00:47:29.829 --> 00:47:32.050
kingdom of God, man. I'm here to advance the

00:47:32.050 --> 00:47:34.690
kingdom. And when it finally dropped for me that

00:47:34.690 --> 00:47:37.230
in order to advance the kingdom, I need to live

00:47:37.230 --> 00:47:40.329
strategically. And I can only live strategically

00:47:40.329 --> 00:47:43.559
if I know the lay of the land. You've got to

00:47:43.559 --> 00:47:44.940
know your history. You've got to know what's

00:47:44.940 --> 00:47:48.219
going on. And you want to stay current. And it

00:47:48.219 --> 00:47:51.300
means, I said this from the pulpit, we have to

00:47:51.300 --> 00:47:55.019
have amazing discernment. In every news piece

00:47:55.019 --> 00:47:58.599
we read, filter it through a filter of this may

00:47:58.599 --> 00:48:01.159
or may not be true. There's a good starting place.

00:48:01.380 --> 00:48:04.519
But let it inform. And you'll hear enough voices

00:48:04.519 --> 00:48:06.789
when you begin to swim in these waters. You get

00:48:06.789 --> 00:48:09.690
to see patterns. Okay, that's probably true.

00:48:10.090 --> 00:48:12.949
And two, knowing people who have already walked

00:48:12.949 --> 00:48:16.030
this walk. I've got several people, I call them

00:48:16.030 --> 00:48:17.869
boots on the ground, that I can reach out to

00:48:17.869 --> 00:48:20.909
and go, hey, I did this with Trey Blocker. I

00:48:20.909 --> 00:48:22.190
reached out and said, what are the top three

00:48:22.190 --> 00:48:24.590
issues that Texas is dealing with right now in

00:48:24.590 --> 00:48:26.449
this session? And he gave them to me. I said,

00:48:26.530 --> 00:48:28.130
I'm glad you said that because those are the

00:48:28.130 --> 00:48:29.710
top three. I thought they were. I'm just glad

00:48:29.710 --> 00:48:32.250
to know I was right for once. So I've got guys

00:48:32.250 --> 00:48:36.199
in those places. Annette and I had. lunch with

00:48:36.199 --> 00:48:37.880
a precious couple. I'm not going to say their

00:48:37.880 --> 00:48:40.679
names or anything, but they sit very high in

00:48:40.679 --> 00:48:43.420
government in our state. And he shared things

00:48:43.420 --> 00:48:45.360
with me that helped me have a better understanding.

00:48:45.579 --> 00:48:48.940
So if you want it, God will lead you to it. And

00:48:48.940 --> 00:48:51.960
if you're open to it, you'll find it. But you've

00:48:51.960 --> 00:48:54.260
got to take the step. It's amazing the people

00:48:54.260 --> 00:48:56.500
that God will bring into your path when you've

00:48:56.500 --> 00:48:59.219
prepared yourself to. Absolutely. When you say

00:48:59.219 --> 00:49:02.239
yes to Jesus, I'm willing to engage at whatever

00:49:02.239 --> 00:49:05.719
level you call me to. And it may not, he's probably

00:49:05.719 --> 00:49:07.599
not going to tell you to run for mayor or tell

00:49:07.599 --> 00:49:09.940
you to run for school board, but he might, but

00:49:09.940 --> 00:49:12.719
maybe not, probably not. But at whatever level

00:49:12.719 --> 00:49:15.420
he calls you, just be obedient. Just say, yes,

00:49:15.420 --> 00:49:17.639
Lord. Okay. I'm going to show up at a school

00:49:17.639 --> 00:49:19.780
board meeting. I'm not supposed to say anything,

00:49:19.880 --> 00:49:22.380
but I can certainly pray and change the atmosphere.

00:49:22.420 --> 00:49:25.280
Come on. Do spiritual warfare, change the atmosphere.

00:49:25.639 --> 00:49:29.219
It's bigger than anybody thinks. When, if Benjamin

00:49:29.219 --> 00:49:31.900
Franklin. Oh, come on, go there. I want you to

00:49:31.900 --> 00:49:33.480
use the quote, but I'm going to set it up for

00:49:33.480 --> 00:49:35.059
you. I'm going to tee it up, and then we'll end

00:49:35.059 --> 00:49:37.639
with this. If Benjamin Franklin, who's considered

00:49:37.639 --> 00:49:41.139
the most irreligious of our founding fathers,

00:49:41.420 --> 00:49:44.440
not anti -religious. The least religious. The

00:49:44.440 --> 00:49:47.539
least religious. He was not a deist. He was not

00:49:47.539 --> 00:49:49.659
an atheist. He was not an agnostic. He was a

00:49:49.659 --> 00:49:53.320
Christian. And we have the original receipts,

00:49:53.320 --> 00:50:01.030
and that's how we know. congregational conference

00:50:01.030 --> 00:50:04.989
came back together, they were having massive

00:50:04.989 --> 00:50:08.949
issues of division. And some had even felt like

00:50:08.949 --> 00:50:12.090
we may not be able to get past this. And Benjamin

00:50:12.090 --> 00:50:15.550
Franklin, getting older in age, called them back

00:50:15.550 --> 00:50:17.789
to something that they started with. So why don't

00:50:17.789 --> 00:50:19.570
you read that? And I don't have the whole quote

00:50:19.570 --> 00:50:21.650
here, but essentially what Benjamin Franklin

00:50:21.650 --> 00:50:25.289
said is he says, He wrote and he was essentially

00:50:25.289 --> 00:50:28.150
praying. He says, we need to appeal to the father

00:50:28.150 --> 00:50:30.889
of lights to illuminate our understanding is

00:50:30.889 --> 00:50:32.710
what he was instructing. He was saying, guys,

00:50:32.769 --> 00:50:36.409
we need to pray. And this is what the least religious

00:50:36.409 --> 00:50:40.429
of all the founding fathers go to move was when

00:50:40.429 --> 00:50:42.170
they were at an impasse, when they didn't know

00:50:42.170 --> 00:50:45.760
what to do. He says, guys. pause. We need to

00:50:45.760 --> 00:50:47.900
go to the father of lights and ask him to illuminate

00:50:47.900 --> 00:50:49.539
our understanding, to get wisdom from the only

00:50:49.539 --> 00:50:52.699
source of wisdom. And if that is the least religious

00:50:52.699 --> 00:50:55.679
person at that time, I mean, that's more religious

00:50:55.679 --> 00:50:57.760
than a lot of pastors these days, right? Exactly.

00:50:58.239 --> 00:51:01.900
Calling them to pray and seek God for wisdom.

00:51:02.699 --> 00:51:06.199
The action point to that was they heard there

00:51:06.199 --> 00:51:09.800
was a Lutheran pastor in town sent for him. That

00:51:09.800 --> 00:51:12.670
Lutheran pastor came to that meeting. And they

00:51:12.670 --> 00:51:17.510
went into two hours of prayer before God and

00:51:17.510 --> 00:51:19.170
pouring their hearts out to God. Two -hour prayer

00:51:19.170 --> 00:51:21.750
meeting before making government decisions. A

00:51:21.750 --> 00:51:23.809
two -hour prayer meeting and Bible study. Two

00:51:23.809 --> 00:51:26.130
hours before they ever stepped in. They were

00:51:26.130 --> 00:51:28.489
able to resolve those issues and move past it.

00:51:28.530 --> 00:51:32.030
So that call back to prayer, if it comes from

00:51:32.030 --> 00:51:34.409
our founding fathers who were the least religious

00:51:34.409 --> 00:51:36.849
saying, we've got to get back to prayer, what

00:51:36.849 --> 00:51:39.150
would we say to our people today? Here's something

00:51:39.150 --> 00:51:42.389
you probably didn't know. By 1815, so what, roughly

00:51:42.389 --> 00:51:45.510
40 -ish years into this American experiment,

00:51:45.670 --> 00:51:49.969
there had already been 1 ,400 prayer proclamations

00:51:49.969 --> 00:51:53.670
by presidents, congressmen, and governors throughout

00:51:53.670 --> 00:51:56.630
the nation. 1 ,400. Repeat that. That is so important.

00:51:56.710 --> 00:51:59.050
That went off in a bomb like me last night. In

00:51:59.050 --> 00:52:00.869
the first 40 years of the nation, there were

00:52:00.869 --> 00:52:05.170
1 ,400. proclamations of prayer nationally by

00:52:05.170 --> 00:52:08.309
presidents and congressmen and governors across

00:52:08.309 --> 00:52:12.570
the nation. This was the most frequent move of

00:52:12.570 --> 00:52:16.090
government in any time of need or crisis. And

00:52:16.090 --> 00:52:18.750
not to be offensive, but factual. These were

00:52:18.750 --> 00:52:21.250
not prayers to a Hindu god. They were not prayers

00:52:21.250 --> 00:52:23.170
to Muhammad. To Jesus. They were not prayers

00:52:23.170 --> 00:52:25.590
to Buddha. They were prayers to Jesus Christ

00:52:25.590 --> 00:52:28.800
and God. the creator who is named in the Declaration

00:52:28.800 --> 00:52:31.599
of Independence. And that's not something that

00:52:31.599 --> 00:52:34.500
atheists or agnostics or deists would ever do.

00:52:34.599 --> 00:52:36.699
Because if you don't believe in God or you don't

00:52:36.699 --> 00:52:38.599
believe God's involved in the affairs of men,

00:52:38.699 --> 00:52:40.400
or you're not sure if there's a God, you're certainly

00:52:40.400 --> 00:52:42.820
not praying to him as your go -to move. Yeah.

00:52:42.940 --> 00:52:45.079
So that shows you who these guys really were.

00:52:45.239 --> 00:52:47.739
So there's your starting place. Get back on your

00:52:47.739 --> 00:52:50.219
knees and fight like a man. That's good. Thanks,

00:52:50.360 --> 00:52:52.599
Brian, for being with me. Man, it is always so

00:52:52.599 --> 00:52:56.760
fun for us to get together. It would be easy

00:52:56.760 --> 00:52:58.380
to go for about three hours. You probably would.

00:52:58.500 --> 00:53:00.480
Because there's so much. Go do your research.

00:53:00.539 --> 00:53:04.099
Have a great week. Be blessed. Live up in a down

00:53:04.099 --> 00:53:04.380
world.