Participants: Lincoln Steed (Host), Alan Reinach
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI000137
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00:22 Welcome to the "Liberty Insider."
00:24 My name is Lincoln Steed, Editor of Liberty Magazine. 00:28 And this program for those of you that have listened to 00:32 our program before deals with religious liberty issues, 00:35 news updates and discussion on some of the principles 00:38 that are behind these developments. 00:39 My guest on the program Alan Reinach. 00:41 Attorney Alan Reinach, from the Church State Council. 00:45 I want to talk about something that 00:47 you and I are much engaged with but probably 00:50 most of our viewers haven't heard of before, 00:52 I will use an acronym 00:54 The NARLA. 00:55 The North American Religious Liberty Association. 01:00 I've been with Liberty Magazine 01:01 best part of 13 years now. 01:03 When I came, it effectively did not exist, 01:05 not Liberty but NARLA. 01:07 It was on paper only. On paper. 01:09 We've done a lot to bring it into some activity. 01:14 What are we trying to do with NARLA? 01:15 Well, first of all we need to understand 01:18 that the Seventh-day Adventist church 01:20 really started the first organized religious 01:24 liberty work in the United States 01:26 in the later part of the 19, 1800s. 01:30 So going back more than a century, 01:32 we founded the American Religious Liberty Association 01:36 going back to about 1887 and it has had various forms, 01:42 the International Religious Liberty Association 01:44 and since the really in the post Cold War era. 01:49 IRLA, the International Group has fund literally 01:52 something like three dozen national and regional 01:56 religious liberty associations working 01:59 for religious freedom all over the world. 02:01 And here in the United States and Canada, 02:03 we have reenergized and reactivated NARLA, 02:07 the North American Religious Liberty Association 02:10 as the vehicle for people in all communities 02:14 to participate in the work of religious liberty. 02:18 Now you explain the IRLA, 02:20 the International Religious Liberty Association and to, 02:24 not to give away, the reason to have NARLA. 02:28 We should recognize that for many years, 02:30 the Seventh-day Adventist Church headquarters, 02:32 of course, based in North America 02:34 and the United States. 02:35 The IRLA effectively was active within this country 02:39 and some ways treating it as a national entity. 02:42 But we know that there is a need with some of these 02:45 fast moving developments of late, to really have 02:48 an active clearly define 02:50 North American Religious Liberty Association 02:53 that will work with IRLA. 02:55 We have unique traditions and laws 02:58 in the United States and Canada 03:00 also dealing with religious freedom. 03:03 And it's so urgent 03:07 that church members that all Americans 03:10 step up to the play and participate. 03:12 You know, I do my I do my radio show 03:14 which you've been on many times 03:16 I am on you television show. 03:18 we have a radio program too. 03:19 on freedom's ring when we interview 03:23 experts on international religious freedom issues. 03:26 The one thing that they always tell us is that 03:28 when the American people speak up 03:31 and care about persecution overseas. 03:35 Our ability to get our own government to intervene 03:39 and to care the state department congress etc. 03:43 This is critical in combating persecution worldwide. 03:47 Not to the mention the influence 03:49 we can have on our own government 03:51 and our own laws in these countries 03:54 for the American people and church members 03:56 American Christians in particular to care 03:59 and to participate in an organization like NARLA 04:02 is absolutely critical. 04:04 If we don't, we might as well give away our freedom. 04:08 Absolutely, from two angles because 04:10 the Seventh-day Adventist Church 04:11 has a theological and historic basis 04:14 what it does on religious liberty, 04:15 and we've done from the earliest days. 04:18 But if our own membership are not involved 04:21 by definition forget about that. 04:23 Yes, we might as well give that away. 04:25 And I believe in the logic context, I've said it 04:27 on this program for I fervently believe 04:29 in the social contract and so if the people 04:33 and founders of the American Republic said 04:35 equivalent statements many times. 04:37 If the people loose sight of these principles 04:40 that might still be in law, doesn't matter. 04:43 It's their practice and support and advocacy 04:47 for these overwriting principles such as 04:49 religious freedom that keeps them alive, 04:50 not the fact that it's, you know, it's on the glass, 04:53 in the capital there somewhere. 04:55 So NARLA has a fantastic role 04:57 to revitalize within our church, 05:00 our religious liberty commitment and then 05:02 then on behalf of the church as individual activist 05:06 they can communicate these values to legislatures. 05:08 You had a legislative visitation day 05:13 there in Sacramento just a few days ago. 05:16 With some of the NARLA members. 05:17 And this is fantastic and I am sure 05:19 a legislative pays a lot more attention 05:22 to citizens from their area or a group of citizens 05:25 that turn up on their doorstep 05:27 than some pronouncement even a Liberty Magazine 05:29 or official pronouncement from a church 05:32 or some agency that has probably 05:34 from their perspective another agenda. 05:36 They pay more attention than the actual constituency. 05:40 You know, Lincoln, I gotta to, I got to tell 05:42 my favorite lobby story here since you talk 05:44 about the importance of the individual. 05:47 Actually two stories before we are done I hope. 05:50 Back in the 90s, we were working 05:52 on a religious liberty bill in California, 05:55 state of 35 million people. 05:57 And the staff member that we were working with, 06:02 at one point he calls my associates he says, 06:04 we are getting a flood of mail 06:06 in support of the bills, he is very excited. 06:09 And so my associate who is now 06:12 our Pacific Union Conference 06:13 Vice-President Arnold Trujillo. 06:15 He says to him, Ben, what does that mean? 06:18 You know, how many letters is a flood? 06:21 You know, while you are waiting 06:23 for the punch line listeners, 06:24 how many do you think is the flood. 06:27 He said, a dozen, a dozen letters. 06:32 And I think about even, you know, 06:34 the little churches we go to and preach at. 06:38 And if you think about the 20 percent of the church 06:42 that allegedly is responsible for 80 percent 06:45 of the work even that 20 percent 06:47 in the smallest churches is a flood in a state 06:51 like California, 06:53 so if you are in Indiana or Ohio or Kansas 06:56 or Alabama, you know, when the state 06:58 that doesn't have 35 million people. 07:00 How much more is, if you can generate 10 letters 07:04 and phones calls, 12 letters and phone calls on an issue. 07:08 Legislatures will sit up and take notice. 07:11 Yes, now we found that over and over, 07:13 you know, it's true on the simplest level of voting, 07:15 you know, you are one among the 300 million, 07:18 but we've seen in many areas of Endeavour. 07:20 A few motivated individuals can have an influence 07:24 way out of proportion to their numbers. 07:26 Okay, story number two, do you count? 07:29 Does your vote count? Does your voice count? 07:33 A Very close friend of mine who serves, 07:35 we have a chapter of NARLA 07:38 in California in the West Coast. 07:41 And one of our board members 07:43 is a high school history teacher 07:45 who ran for city council and his city 07:47 in the city of Colton, California 07:48 near Loma Linda, California. 07:51 He's been a life long member, grew up 07:53 in the Spanish church in his town. 07:56 And of course, in that community 07:58 there was great reluctance to vote. 08:00 And so his own church members did not register 08:04 and go out and vote for him even though 08:06 they knew him from when he was, you know, 08:08 a baby and knew his character etc. 08:11 I should interject this Seventh-day Adventist 08:13 have some questions about voting because 08:16 they became aware early on that you share 08:18 some culpability when your candidate does things. 08:20 But I don't think it's correct 08:23 that Seventh-day Adventist have been told not to vote. 08:25 We have not really called not to vote. 08:27 In fact, the reverse, we to responsible citizens. 08:30 We should use the power of the vote to influence 08:34 policy in directions to our poll freedom values. 08:38 The reality is, that as a citizen 08:42 you are responsible morally 08:46 either for your vote or for not voting 08:48 is just as much a moral responsibility. 08:51 You are accountable for who got in, 08:53 if you didn't vote, okay. 08:56 Anyway, So my friend ran for city council. 08:59 He lost by three votes. 09:03 If his own church members had simply gone 09:06 to the ballot box and voted for him, 09:08 he would have won. 09:10 Yeah, yeah, and in that case, 09:12 one or two votes are everything. 09:14 You never know. 09:16 Yeah, but the point I was trying to make 09:19 Those three votes would have been pivotal 09:21 but the influence of a motivated individual 09:25 can be way out of proportion to that individual. 09:28 And the impact to Seventh-day Adventist churches 09:31 when we go very often they are little churches 09:34 and I have told them. 09:35 Here is a church, maybe of 100 people, 09:37 and you know, I said, don't worry about 09:38 the million other Adventists in North America. 09:41 If this church came on fire, you could make an influence 09:45 just that everyone would notice. 09:48 And even one or two individuals money wise, 09:51 have the capability to influence an entire project 09:54 like Liberty Magazine. 09:55 So we shouldn't sale the individual 09:57 or the small groups so. 09:59 And this is the message of NARLA to mobilize 10:02 that inherent power probably we will have, 10:05 never have the majority of our membership party 10:07 but just a few thousand highly motivated individuals 10:11 could make a radical difference on the promotion of 10:13 religious freedom and human individual 10:16 conscience in this country. 10:18 And I am convinced that by energizing 10:21 the way people to get involved in NARLA, 10:23 we're going to be able to increase the influence 10:26 of Liberty Magazine. We hope so. 10:28 Because, you know, we send you to a church 10:30 just this past Sabbath, it's a little country 10:32 church out in Weimar, California. 10:34 And they raised almost $2000 for Liberty Magazine. 10:38 They have been energized, active with NARLA, 10:40 active in religious liberty and you know, 10:44 raise a lot more money for Liberty Magazine 10:47 than your typical church. 10:49 Now what are the some of the things that the NARLA 10:51 either has done or will be doing in your area? 10:55 Well, in our area as you've mentioned 10:59 one of the things that we do is we participate 11:02 in an Annual Government Relations Day 11:04 and we advocate on religious liberty issues in Sacramento. 11:10 We also do a National Lobby Day in Congress, 11:15 and we invite people to come 11:17 to our nation's capital and to meet with... 11:21 Like them many NARLA members come to 11:22 our liberty dinner where we invite political leaders 11:25 as well as diplomatic core and other 11:29 religious liberty groups from different religions. 11:32 It's a wonderful time for NARLA members to connect 11:35 on the national level 11:36 with other activists and influence. 11:38 Influential people like politician. 11:40 From day-to-day, month-to-month, 11:42 year-to-year, we don't know what critical religious 11:45 liberty issues may come up that we want to speak to. 11:49 And you are not going to know unless 11:52 you are a member of NARLA and you are on our email list 11:56 and getting our alerts, unless you are informed, 11:59 you won't be able to get involved 12:01 and be ready to make, to send that email 12:05 or make that phone call or send that letter 12:08 or go visit your legislature. 12:10 Most of us would be totally intimated 12:13 to go visit our legislative office. 12:16 And NARLA would provide training 12:18 to make this context. 12:19 And it's easy. 12:21 And NARLA gives the knowledge, you know, 12:22 they say, we are not without some course, 12:23 knowledge is power. 12:25 We had a group of students come from 12:26 Pacific Union College to participate in our lobby. 12:30 And this is very good NARLA. 12:31 I know these plans to involve younger people. 12:34 They had, they were to show. 12:36 Old age hath yet his honor says the poet but 12:38 we want young people. 12:40 They had such a good time. 12:41 Teenagers in early 20s to get involve, right? 12:44 They have never done this before. 12:45 We gave an orientation and you know, they were, 12:50 maybe a little bit intimated but they had so much fun 12:53 they could see, yes, 12:54 we can do this they will listen to us. 12:56 Hold that thought, Alan. 12:57 We will be right back after the break. 12:59 Stay with us and we will be talking more about 13:01 the North American Religious Liberty Association. 13:12 One-hundred years, a long time to do anything 13:16 much less publish a magazine, 13:18 but this year Liberty, 13:20 the Seventh-day Adventist voice of religious freedom, 13:23 celebrates one hundred years of doing 13:25 what it does best, collecting, analyzing, 13:28 and reporting the ebb and flow of religious expression 13:31 around the world. 13:33 Issue after issue, Liberty has taken on the 13:36 tough assignments, tracking down threats 13:38 to religious freedom and exposing the 13:40 work of the devil in every corner of the globe. 13:43 Governmental interference, personal attacks, 13:45 corporate assaults, even religious freedom issues 13:48 sequestered within the church community itself 13:51 have been clearly and honestly exposed. 13:53 Liberty exists for one purpose to help God's people 13:57 maintain that all the important separation of 14:00 Church and State, while recognizing the 14:02 dangers inherent in such a struggle. 14:05 During the past century, Liberty has experienced 14:07 challenges of its own, but it remains on the job. 14:11 Thanks to the inspired leadership of a long line 14:13 of dedicated Adventist Editors, 14:15 three of whom represent almost half of the 14:17 publications existence and the foresight 14:20 of a little woman from New England. 14:22 One hundred years of struggle, 14:24 one hundred years of victories, 14:27 religious freedom isn't just about political machines 14:29 and cultural prejudices. 14:31 It's about people fighting for the right 14:34 to serve the God they love as their hearts 14:37 and the Holy Spirit dictate. 14:40 Thanks to the prayers and generous support 14:42 of Seventh-day Adventists everywhere. 14:44 Liberty will continue to accomplish its work 14:46 of providing timely information, 14:48 spirit filled inspiration, 14:50 and heaven sent encouragement 14:51 to all who long to live and work in a world 14:55 bound together by the God ordained bonds 14:58 of religious freedom. 15:10 Welcome back to "Liberty Insider." 15:12 Before the break, I was talking with guest 15:14 Alan Reinach about 15:15 North American Religious Liberty Association. 15:19 And how you've been involving young people. 15:21 You tell us your story. 15:23 Well, we've been inviting the students from 15:26 Pacific Union College to come, 15:28 join us with our Lobby Day. 15:31 But we've also intentionally reached out 15:34 and we are planning to plant local chapters 15:37 of NARLA on the college campuses 15:40 because really we have to pass the values 15:43 of religious freedom on to the next generation. 15:46 I agree with you, absolutely, 15:47 now you are NARLA west? Yes. 15:51 NARLA has had an interesting leadership of late. 15:55 I won't explain too much for our readers 15:58 but the long and short of that is that because 16:01 of some recent decisions in organization by leadership. 16:04 NARLA will be run in some ways 16:06 out of our liberty office in Washington. 16:08 And The Associate editor of Liberty Magazine 16:12 to take the executive role with NARLA. 16:15 I am the Vice-President of NARLA, 16:16 so we're very much linked into NARLA operations, 16:21 and we see this is a natural extension to the magazine 16:24 which goes out mostly to non-church people 16:27 to government and civic leaders, 16:29 that's fine that, that continues. 16:31 But we think we can only empower that by them 16:34 working with the young people, 16:35 with church membership to become the foot soldiers 16:38 of the etiology that we are sending 16:39 out through the magazine. 16:41 Let's put this in perspective Lincoln 16:42 because yet you know, as we've said 16:44 the Adventist church has had a ministry, 16:46 an emphasis on preserving and promoting 16:49 religious freedom for more than a century 16:51 and how do we do that. 16:53 Well, you can see we have television ministry 16:55 like we are doing here, liberty magazine, 16:58 we use print media, we use radio, 17:00 so we are using the internet, all of the 17:03 available media to communicate. 17:05 We get involved in court cases 17:07 and Supreme Court cases, you know, litigation. 17:10 We are monitoring legislation. 17:11 We are going out and giving 17:12 the lectures and sermons and so on. 17:13 But it's also critical that we reach out to the public 17:17 and involve the general public 17:19 in a grassroots membership based way. 17:23 And so yes, NARLA is sponsored by, 17:27 and led by the Seventh-day Adventist leadership 17:30 closely as you've said with Liberty Magazine, 17:33 but its membership is open to anyone who wants to join 17:36 with us to promote religious freedom. 17:38 Yes, the minister said 17:40 they are going to turn nobody away. 17:41 Organizationally it is structured very consciously 17:44 to enlist Seventh-day Adventist who have this 17:48 bedrock principle of religious freedom 17:49 to enlist them in this grand endeavor. 17:52 And part of the strategy has to be simply 17:54 this in my view and that is 17:57 at the denominational level, at the leadership level, 18:00 we can reach out to Congress. 18:02 We can, you know, produce radio, 18:05 television, magazines etc. 18:07 But we cannot build the relationships 18:10 in the local community and influence 18:13 the values of religious freedom in our cities 18:16 and towns around the nation 18:17 through our personal influence. 18:19 And that's where I would like to see 18:22 the people coming together, 18:25 working together in local chapters, 18:27 in all of our communities and building bridges 18:30 with elected officials, with the journalist, 18:32 with the other churches and ministers in the community. 18:35 There is world of possibilities, aren't they? 18:36 There is everything that needs to be done 18:38 at the grassroots level to build the consensus 18:41 and support for the values of religious freedom. 18:45 Now these two things that I've a great 18:47 burden on with NARLA. 18:49 Within our own church which is major funding base 18:53 for the liberty operation which is overwhelmingly 18:56 going outside the church of the nearly 200,000, 18:59 only about 10,000 of those go to Seventh-day Adventist. 19:03 We try to raise the monies initially 19:05 within our own churches about 5000 of them. 19:08 We need at least one NARLA member in each church. 19:11 If we had that lead person they could facilitated 19:15 that promotion that gathering of energy 19:18 for liberty as well as personal activities. 19:20 But see what I've found, Lincoln. 19:22 The Adventist church has a structure 19:25 where we have an office in the local church 19:27 for religious liberty, but too often... 19:30 There is nobody holding it. 19:31 Well, even if there is... 19:32 Or if they do, they don't do anything. 19:33 They don't do very much. Yeah. 19:35 And that's what I think NARLA comes in. 19:37 If you give, if you put together several people 19:42 from churches in a given community 19:45 and they come together in small group ministry 19:48 and they meet together, study together, 19:50 pray together, set some goals. 19:53 Then they will start to work. 19:55 Then they will really empower 19:57 the religious liberty ministry, 19:59 not only in the church raising funds for Liberty Magazine. 20:02 But in the community doing programs 20:05 bringing in guest speakers, doing addressing topics 20:09 of interest for that community. 20:11 Absolutely, and the second thing 20:13 that I wanted to mention that I think, 20:15 at some point now we should take a lead in, 20:17 is we're not alone, the Seventh-day Adventist church 20:20 is not the only church group 20:21 that have religious liberty concerns, 20:22 the Baptists very much so. 20:25 With the history further back than Seventh-day Adventism. 20:27 Another church groups have concerns on this, 20:31 if not an understanding like we do. 20:33 I believe that, that NARLA members 20:35 could very profitably move out into the religious community 20:39 and take meetings, lectures and communicate 20:43 to this church groups what we are trying to do. 20:46 And they are not going to be turned down on that. 20:48 They might have to have explain that 20:49 this is not projecting our Adventist doctrine per say. 20:53 There might be some resistance as there would be 20:56 in any church groups someone else 20:57 is coming proselytizing directly. 20:59 But this is sharing the very best 21:01 element of our shared faith. 21:03 When we can go there and explain how another 21:06 church group defending their own interest 21:09 in defending religious liberty. 21:10 And how it's, a Christian or duty under a creator God 21:16 to explain these to the powers that be. 21:18 You know, there is two misconceptions 21:20 that I find especially among Seventh-day Adventist 21:23 about religious liberty ministry. 21:25 One of them is that, oh, well, we work 21:27 for religious liberty simply to give us 21:30 more opportunity for evangelism. 21:33 No, religious liberty is itself 21:36 an expression of the identity, 21:38 the character of the creator. 21:40 It's the gospel. It's the gospel. 21:41 It's the story of God that He does not compel to obedience, 21:44 that He created man as a free agent. 21:46 Man felt but its liberation from sin 21:48 that's even I give these sermons all the time. 21:50 We do. And you know one of my favorite clips 21:53 up until my step son turned 20 recently. 21:56 I would boast that I had four teenagers 21:59 and I would say, you know, sometimes I would pray 22:03 that God would just reach down 22:04 and rearrange their brain chemistry 22:06 and fix them from the inside out and make them 22:09 perfectly healthy happy, holy and obedient. 22:11 But he doesn't work that way. 22:13 You know, He gives us freedom. 22:15 Love has to be free, it would be easy. 22:19 I wouldn't have all these grey hair 22:21 if He just fixed up my teenagers. 22:23 I have a teenager now so I'm empathizing what you say. 22:26 You know, that's not the gospel. 22:29 We have to respond, love has to be free. 22:32 It's not gonna twist any arms, 22:34 we're not going to be dragged. 22:35 Religious freedom has nothing 22:37 to do with compulsion, doesn't it? 22:38 We're not gonna be drag kicking 22:39 and screaming with the kingdom. 22:40 If you go to heaven, it's because you've chosen 22:43 to respond the love of God. 22:44 Or even if you are not going to heavens 22:45 because you made a choice not to. 22:47 Have relationship with God. 22:50 That's right, that's right. 22:51 So I think NARLA... I think it's the gospel. 22:53 NARLA is not just busy activity. 22:56 It's not just legal connections, is it? 22:58 This is very much a spiritual journey 23:01 that the individual members will undergo 23:05 and then they will help others in that journey 23:07 toward understanding God and His principles. 23:09 The preachers use to talk about 23:11 the gospel and shoes. 23:13 You know, the practical living out of the gospel. 23:16 Our religious liberty ministry is very much 23:18 the gospel and shoes. 23:20 We're living the golden rule. 23:21 We're living the love of Christ, 23:24 the identity of our creator 23:26 who doesn't coerce the conscience. 23:29 Yeah. Now, talking about principles like that. 23:32 I know, NARLA-West has spend sometime 23:36 putting down in on hard writing, 23:38 what you are trying to do 23:39 and maybe you can share that 23:40 with our viewers because I like 23:41 the way you expressed it there. 23:43 Well, we've been working very hard 23:45 as you know to put together a purpose vision 23:48 and mission's statement to help guide us 23:52 and the purpose I will just read it to you. 23:54 An underscores what we were saying 23:55 about the gospel course. 23:56 The North American Religious Liberty Association West 24:01 is a member driven Seventh-day Adventist 24:04 organization dedicated to promoting 24:06 liberty of conscience and freedom of religion 24:09 and combating religious and tolerance at the local state 24:12 and national levels. 24:14 So that's, that's really, you know, 24:16 who are we, what are we here for to get members, 24:20 to get individuals working together. 24:23 And you know, there is a reason why 24:25 we put liberty of conscience ahead of freedom 24:28 of religion because that's beyond religion. 24:32 Absolutely, because it's the freedom 24:34 they just believe, so it's not religion per say. 24:36 The freedom to believe, you know, 24:38 the freedom of thought and speech goes 24:41 beyond religious content. 24:44 It's really respect for you as an individual created 24:47 in the image of God to live according 24:50 to your own values and beliefs 24:52 to formulate your own values 24:53 and beliefs and live by them. 24:55 Absolutely, absolutely. 24:56 It's much broader than simply 24:58 religious beliefs and values. 25:00 And what else do we got there? I see three brackets. 25:03 Well, we've already really talked about our vision. 25:07 Yes. The vision is founded on... 25:09 NARLA-West is as founded on concepts 25:11 of the character of God, 25:13 the gospel of Jesus Christ and the nature of man. 25:16 God is love and doesn't coerce the human conscience. 25:19 And religious freedom I believe sits easily 25:22 with the most humanistic understanding, amen. 25:25 We are not humanist but a truly humanist should 25:27 understand liberty of conscience, 25:29 freedom of conscience, freedom to believe 25:31 or disbelieve what you what. 25:32 I was raised as a secular humanist 25:35 and I felt that my embracing of Jesus Christ 25:39 was consistent with true humanism that, 25:43 you know, our true value as human beings 25:47 is found as we reflect on the love 25:49 that Christ has demonstrated for each one of us. 25:52 That's true, and in the basic sense, 25:54 I think religious liberty has some things 25:57 in common at least with libertarianism. 25:59 It should not in the formal sense but, I mean, 26:02 we are free of the shackles of sin, 26:06 we are free for self determination. 26:08 This is the most liberating concept to the human mind 26:11 and human person that I think is possible. 26:14 Well, I can see we are running out of time but the mission 26:17 of the North American Religious Liberty Association 26:20 is really to promote religious liberty 26:23 both here in the United States and around the world. 26:26 And I can't stress strongly enough 26:28 that freedom is not free folks. 26:31 If we are going to enjoy our freedom 26:34 before going to content it to preserve it. 26:36 We need you, everybody has to play their part, 26:39 everybody needs to step up to the plate, 26:42 join, participate, be active 26:45 in promoting religious freedom. 26:48 Some years ago, I remember reading about 26:50 a group therapy session with the group 26:53 we discussing many problems and how to solve them, 26:56 and one timid young woman kept saying, 26:59 but Jesus said, I tended to ignore her 27:03 but she was giving the right answer. 27:05 When I first started with Liberty Magazine nearly 12, 27:09 13 years ago, we used to meet regularly 27:12 in a religious liberty circle, the directors 27:14 from all over North America. 27:16 And one of them Dr. Adrium Westney, 27:19 would keep saying but we need to start NARLA up. 27:21 We need to do something about this organization 27:24 and for a long time nobody paid any attention to it. 27:28 It's taken a dozen years or more, but NARLA, 27:31 the North American Religious Liberty Association 27:34 is fulfilling not just the dream of Adrium Westney 27:37 but for many pioneers who have gone before 27:40 because it's imperative when we talk about 27:42 religious liberty that is not just theoretical 27:45 that there are people who are involved, 27:48 they will speak to the issue to their friends, 27:51 to their contacts to reach out as Jesus, 27:54 advised all of us with the gospel commission 27:56 to go out and tell the whole world. 27:58 This gospel of the kingdom, 28:00 this message of freedom, and then the end will come. 28:04 For "Liberty Insider" this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2014-12-17