Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI200475B
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00:01 Welcome back to the Liberty Insider.
00:02 And before the break as you remember with my son, 00:05 Christopher, young man of 22, with the world ahead of him. 00:10 We were talking about the world, 00:13 and some of the experiences that you've had, 00:15 and some of them I've been with you to see on religion 00:19 and the implications for the practice of religion 00:22 and the sharing of religion 00:24 and the history of religion all around the world. 00:26 And I was trying to jog your memory 00:28 about worshiping in Thailand. 00:32 That's a, an overwhelmingly Buddhist country. 00:35 And Buddhism 00:37 is as much a philosophy as a religion. 00:39 In fact, Buddha didn't try to start a religion, 00:43 but along the way as Christianity 00:45 in the Roman Catholic aspect, 00:47 it picked up a lot of superstition 00:49 and Spiritism and so on, 00:51 but at root it's really philosophical, 00:54 and it tends to make the society quite passive. 00:57 So there hasn't been open persecution 01:00 much in Buddhism, 01:02 it's just community resistance to Christianity, 01:06 but do you remember what your sister repeated 01:09 the other day about going to church there? 01:13 She was one of her teachers, we won't say 01:15 where or which teacher 01:17 because we don't want to make them look bad, 01:19 but they gave the idea 01:21 that you couldn't worship freely in Thailand. 01:23 And she said, "Well, I went to church there, 01:25 no problem." 01:27 And don't you think there's a danger 01:30 to sort of make difficulties where there're none, 01:33 to presume that 01:35 they're against you automatically. 01:37 Absolutely, 100%. 01:38 If you automatically presume, but for example, 01:41 when we went to Thailand, 01:42 I had no preemptive ideas that they were gonna be 01:47 that we wouldn't be going to church. 01:49 You know, I was thinking, you know, 01:50 I thought that, you know, 01:51 it's a majority Buddhist country. 01:53 I thought, you know, 01:54 maybe they wouldn't have a fully established church. 01:56 I thought it would be meeting in like 01:58 someone's basement or meeting in the front yard 02:02 of someone's house. 02:04 I didn't think they would have 02:05 a full on Adventist church there, 02:08 but there was absolutely no problem going to church. 02:13 We found the church. It was well advertised. 02:15 I wouldn't say advertise, it was well signed. 02:18 Yeah, it wasn't hidden. Yeah, no, absolutely not. 02:20 The only thing was it had a wall around it. 02:24 Well, there's different security 02:26 necessities in different societies. 02:30 Maybe we don't need some more before we're done. 02:34 Not everybody has electronic alarm 02:37 on the window openings and so on, 02:38 but what I see in other countries 02:43 doesn't necessarily mean they have higher crime, 02:44 but, you know, the statement says 02:46 good fences make good neighbors. 02:48 You just stop the problem before it begins. 02:52 But yeah, I remember myself on a visit. 02:57 You weren't there. 02:59 I was on Liberty work, visiting Thailand 03:02 and I had a wonderful discussion 03:04 maybe for 20 minutes 03:05 or more with the Buddhist priest 03:08 at the Reclining Buddha statue there in Thailand. 03:12 And the best discussions in my mind of freewheeling ones 03:17 where they're sort of open, 03:19 but that I find out something maybe I partly knew, 03:22 but I get confirmation. 03:24 It wasn't that he told me things I didn't know, 03:25 but it was great to hear from a Buddhist priest, 03:27 what I just said that it was largely philosophy 03:31 at the beginning, 03:32 but I asked him, you know, given what the Buddha intended, 03:36 and, you know, Buddha's views per se by 03:39 and large are not incompatible with Christianity, 03:42 but they more and more headed that way 03:44 as the religion developed, but I said, you know, 03:48 how come there's the spirit worship 03:50 and all the rest, and he said, 03:52 this was just added, these are superstitions 03:55 for the common people, 03:56 but we Buddhist priests, by and large, 03:59 know that it's philosophical at base. 04:00 Very interesting, 04:02 which reminded me of a conversations 04:04 I've had with some Catholic priests 04:09 and theologians. 04:11 I believe that at a certain level 04:13 even in Roman Catholicism, 04:15 they know the biblical basics of what they're about 04:19 and they recognize that paganism that tradition 04:24 and some rather abhorrent things have crept in. 04:27 And, you know, that's for the masses. 04:30 I can't agree with that as a Protestant Christian, 04:32 but it's refreshing to hear someone admit that. 04:37 Where else in the world 04:39 have you seen religious practice 04:41 that have sort of opened your eyes? 04:46 Here in the US, in some states here in the US. 04:51 Driving around with you or just driving around, 04:55 I worked for a moving company. 04:57 And one day, it was fall, so it was kind of cold outside. 05:00 So I was wearing 05:02 one of my long sleeve shirts that I had, 05:04 and on the sleeve it had 05:06 on the lower part of the sleeve down here 05:09 and had Philippians 4:13, 05:11 just the Bible verse on it. 05:12 And I'm unloading a box going into the house 05:14 and the lady walking her dog goes past. 05:17 And she goes, "You're a Christian, aren't you?" 05:19 I said, "Yeah. How could you tell?" 05:21 Your shirt. 05:23 I'm like, "Oh, Philippians 4:13." 05:25 She's like, "Do you know what that Bible verse is?" 05:27 I was like, "Absolutely. It's my favorite Bible verse. 05:28 It's for I can do all things 05:30 through Christ who strengthens me." 05:31 And she's like, "Wow, 05:35 I've never heard that verse before. 05:37 I was raised in the Christian church, 05:39 but I left due to extenuating situation." 05:44 And she's like, "You know, 05:46 I always thought the Christian people 05:47 would be so judgmental and put me down." 05:52 She had a lot of body modifications. 05:56 We'll call them tattoos, piercings, and, you know, 06:00 she's had experiences with Christian in the past 06:03 where they looked at her and judged her for that, 06:07 but from reading the Bible and studying it, 06:13 Jesus says, "Come as you are." 06:16 And if she comes to church, 06:19 you know, she can be wearing jeans and a T-shirt 06:21 with all her piercings and tattoos. 06:22 We can't judge her 'cause that looks bad on us. 06:26 But with Christ on her heart, very likely she'll change. 06:30 Absolutely. And that happens a lot. 06:32 Remember the story of the demoniac? 06:36 Once the devils were gone, 06:37 he was clothed and in his right mind 06:38 and calm and peaceful and respectable 06:41 and so everything changed because of the inner change. 06:44 And sometimes we get it little mixed up, 06:45 don't we? 06:47 Can I tell you? 06:48 You're gonna have to listen a bit. 06:50 For the viewers, I wanna tell a story. 06:51 I don't think I've ever told, 06:52 but when I was roughly your age, 06:56 I went to Andrews University 06:58 and I had a car, you know, you've lost your car, 07:02 that's another story, but I had a car 07:04 that was a little car like the one you had, 07:08 not too reliable. 07:10 And I headed off after a massive snowstorm 07:12 to drive from Maryland to Andrews. 07:16 And I didn't wanna pay the toll 07:18 so I headed straight cross-country 07:19 through Indiana up the underbelly of Indiana 07:21 and I was gonna cross the freeway there 07:25 and go up to Berrien Springs, Michigan. 07:28 And as I headed off, I had great troubles 07:30 because my heater wasn't working in the car, 07:32 it was minus 10 degrees and lot of snow everywhere 07:36 and so I had a blanket on my knees freezing, 07:40 but my thermostat in the car was broken 07:42 and it was overheating and I had to stop 07:44 and put water in regularly so I had a hot and cold crisis. 07:49 And I remember and I left very late in the day 07:51 and it was a slow going. 07:52 And like 2, 3 o'clock in the morning, 07:55 I was near Goshen, Indiana. 07:59 Remember, you know what Goshen is in the Bible? 08:03 That was the land 08:04 that the children of Israel lived in, in their slavery. 08:08 That was actually good land given to them initially 08:10 by the pharaoh, but... 08:11 Land of milk and honey. 08:13 No, well in a way, 08:15 but it wasn't the promised land of milk and honey. 08:17 And so in Goshen, Indiana and in the middle of the night, 08:22 no lights around that I can see my, 08:24 this is before electronic ignition, 08:27 my carburetor flew apart, 08:29 it was a violent whirring and sort of an explosion 08:33 and it just shattered 08:34 so I coast to a stop and I look around, 08:38 couldn't see any lights at first 08:40 and I thought I'm gonna die here 08:42 and finally I saw a light. 08:46 I went over to the farm house knock, knock, knock, knock 08:48 finally a guy with the nightcap come like 08:51 literally winky comes out, what do you want? 08:54 And I said, "You know, 08:56 I need help quickly and I thought I'm gonna die." 08:57 And finally he let me in. 09:01 He says, "I'll help you, 09:02 but you can't stay here tonight." 09:04 So he took me to a hotel. 09:05 In the morning, he picked me up. 09:07 He was a conservative Christian, 09:10 it was obvious. 09:11 And I said, "I have it like at home, 09:13 I have no money and all the rest." 09:14 He says, "Are you a Christian?" 09:16 I said, "Absolutely. I'm a Christian." 09:18 He says, "Don't worry, you will get home." 09:20 And he then gave me a little book called 09:22 From Life to Life, Toldhau is a young guy 09:26 in another state. 09:27 He wanted to be an outlaw, rough, tough guy 09:29 and ended up over a family feud, 09:32 killing his wife and his father-in-law. 09:35 And he was sent to prison, death penalty at first, 09:38 but it was commuted to life. 09:40 And in prison, he discovered God. 09:44 And so he kept telling me, he says, 09:46 "You can turn your life around. 09:48 If you believe in God, you will be safe." 09:51 And amazingly after it all and cutting it short 09:54 with very little time, it was exactly the money 09:57 I had in my pocket to fix my car 09:59 after half a day in the repair place, 10:01 and I went on my way, encouraged by this guy saying, 10:04 "Why are you worried you're a Christian?" 10:07 And that's the message all around the world 10:09 with persecution, difficulties. 10:12 God's with us, isn't He? 10:13 And is it impressed you that wherever we go in the world 10:17 you can find fellow Christians, fellow travelers 10:20 and that you can relate to them. 10:21 They're sort of like friends, aren't they? 10:22 Absolutely. 10:24 So, you know, just give a little cap 10:27 on how that's affected you? 10:29 For me, being a young guy and loving to travel, 10:33 going to different places around the world 10:35 and meeting fellow Christians, 10:37 especially fellow Christians youth. 10:39 It's impressed on me that no matter where you go, 10:41 no matter who you're with, 10:44 no matter what situation we're in, 10:46 no matter how rich, how poor, 10:49 that the political system you're in, 10:51 there always is a light and that light is Jesus. 10:56 The world does indeed turn at about 1,000 miles an hour, 11:01 not to mention the million miles a day 11:03 or so through space, but it's spinning. 11:06 And I think in spite of the spin 11:08 and that speed and distance that separates countries. 11:12 With the COVID emergency, 11:13 we realize that we are one, one people 11:16 because we're sharing the one malaise at the moment. 11:20 Religious Liberty also is that singular concern 11:24 because there's one God, one Creator, 11:26 as Thomas Jefferson 11:28 acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence. 11:31 You know, nature and nature's God created us 11:33 with these inalienable rights. 11:35 Well, he didn't quite identify God correctly, 11:39 but as the discussion with my son pointed out, 11:42 you can go from country to country, 11:43 see varying challenges. 11:45 And we need to recognize that through all these challenges, 11:49 God can work powerfully to project truth, 11:52 to give a response to the answering questions 11:55 of spiritually minded people all around the world 11:58 to find that one true God, 12:00 even in the time of COVID distress, 12:03 it says, "Seek ye the Lord and He may be found." 12:07 For Liberty Insider, this is Lincoln Steed. |
Revised 2020-09-04