Participants:
Series Code: LI
Program Code: LI210514B
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00:06 Welcome back .to the Liberty Insider
00:08 Before the break, I was getting a bit nostalgic 00:12 by sharing my last editorial in Liberty magazine. 00:17 I put myself up for retirement a few months ago 00:19 and they've since replaced me 00:20 with a recent guest on our program, Bettina Krause. 00:25 But given that this is likely 00:27 the last episode of this long running series 00:31 that I've been privileged to be part of over 20 years. 00:34 I haven't even looked closely at it, 00:35 but I know it's over the 20 years. 00:40 You know I thought that was a good way 00:41 to segue into summarizing 00:44 and capstoning the contribution 00:49 that I've been able to make 00:50 and the communications I've made on this program. 00:54 I could jump in so many different places. 00:58 But when I look back on it, 00:59 the world has changed in massive ways, 01:02 even in just a couple of decades. 01:05 When I began editing the magazine, 01:08 of course, there were issues. 01:10 The main issue of the time was with vouchers, 01:15 a tricky way people thought at the time 01:18 to put government money in the... 01:22 against church, schools to publicly fund 01:26 religious activity. 01:28 And some of our own people were quite enthused by this 01:30 because government money seemed useful to do a good thing. 01:33 But it was part of a blurring of the line of distinction 01:36 between church and state. 01:37 But when I looked back on it, 01:39 that was kid's play that what we're in now, 01:41 then 9/11 intervened, 01:42 and we saw a whole religious community 01:45 is inherently dangerous toward Western democracy. 01:48 Whether that's true, I think, probably not, 01:51 but there was an element of radicalism in Islam 01:54 and always has been 01:56 that's antithetical to Western democratic ideals. 02:01 And that I'm certain now 02:02 there's not a misinterpretation as one Islamic leader 02:06 said in the meeting I was at. 02:08 They said, "There's no such thing 02:09 as separation of church and state in Islam. 02:12 Very true but the United States 02:15 depends upon separation of church and state 02:17 to give teeth to its protection of religion 02:21 by restraining the government and the churches on both sides. 02:26 The government given 02:27 half a chance would control and orchestrate those churches 02:31 that had funds and churches, 02:34 as we saw during the Middle Ages 02:36 with the Roman Catholic Church 02:37 would love to have a chance to dictate to the state, 02:40 how to uphold its form of orthodoxy 02:43 and to punish those that finds heretical. 02:48 So we've been interesting places, 02:51 but we've moved on. 02:52 Within the space of that 20 years, 02:55 a developing skepticism by the religious right 02:59 to the separation of church and state 03:01 has turned into outright enmity, 03:04 where they claim boldly and un-factually that 03:09 there's no such thing 03:10 in the Constitution, and no term. 03:13 But as many judges and public figures 03:15 have admitted through the years 03:17 and starting with Jefferson himself, 03:19 who had a lot to do 03:21 with through his Virginia statute, 03:24 with the concept of the separation 03:26 of church and state. 03:28 Many people have upheld, yes, 03:29 there's a separation of church and state. 03:31 But it's hated now by, at least, 03:34 a significant fraction of the religious right. 03:38 I'm making discoveries all the time 03:40 and I've long ago read a book by Hal Lindsey, 03:43 Late Great Planet Earth, which had a lot to do 03:46 with the rise of dispensationalism, 03:49 which is a curious, 03:51 largely unbiblical doctrine of God's people being 03:55 plucked out of this earth 03:56 before the real trouble descends. 03:59 It'd be nice but it's not the promised thing. 04:01 We're here to help finish it. 04:04 But I read that book, but only the other day 04:07 that I discovered another book that 04:08 Hal Lindsey wrote, Warning of Coming Genocide, 04:13 by people that hold this 04:14 extreme view of the place of Israel 04:17 in prophecy and a theocratic aspiration 04:20 in this country. 04:22 People, in other words, 04:23 that bought into his first book, 04:25 and he pointed out that, the same dynamic that 04:28 led the Lutheran and then 04:29 the Catholic Churches in Germany, 04:31 to turn on the Jews in a genocidal move, 04:33 he said could easily produce 04:35 that same genocide in the US. 04:38 And the way he outlined that 04:40 it would not just be the Jews, all that don't share 04:43 their particular triumphalist view of a promised nation 04:49 and the theocratic role of the United States. 04:54 These are real dangers. We've moved on to... 04:58 On January 6, 04:59 there were many things going on but in my view, 05:02 judging by the joyful prayer made at the speaker's podium 05:07 there by some of the invaders, 05:10 where they thanked the Lord for what they were doing. 05:11 And there's a certain Christian triumphalism at work 05:16 that really it sees no contradiction 05:18 in beating down the walls and beating people into line, 05:21 to establish God's Kingdom on earth. 05:23 That is not God's way and it is certainly 05:26 not the way to religious freedom. 05:31 And as I've often said in Liberty magazine, 05:33 what we've seen lately 05:35 under the guise of religious liberty 05:36 because it's... 05:37 No one's against religious liberty. 05:39 I never met anyone opposed to it 05:41 but everybody defines it differently. 05:44 And under the guise of religious liberty, 05:46 in the Christian West, 05:47 and particularly the United States, 05:49 we're seeing religious entitlement, 05:51 special privilege for a type of religionist, 05:55 who has one hand on the reins of power 05:58 and the other ready to invoke 06:00 that power to whip 06:02 with those that disagree with them. 06:04 We're seeing that rather than true religious liberty. 06:07 We are not heading into liberal times 06:10 and none of us know how long we will live. 06:12 None of us know how long that the earth 06:15 will circle the sun. 06:16 We don't know how long God is allowed 06:19 this whole order that we live under. 06:22 But it's obvious to me that sooner rather than later, 06:24 perhaps in our lifetime, we're going to see 06:27 the results of a liberal attempts 06:31 to subvert true freedom into compulsion. 06:34 I believe things like property values, 06:37 things like respect for other people, 06:40 things like monetary stability, 06:42 they are all going out 06:43 the window at the speed of light. 06:46 And it's very likely that 06:47 we'll be into some of the sort of dysfunction 06:50 that the science fiction writers 06:52 and the more fantastical movies, 06:54 most recently the purge are imagining. 06:59 It's reached the point 07:01 where the worst imaginations of man's heart 07:03 are really becoming realized 07:06 because as the Bible says, "Every imagination is evil." 07:10 We're not living in a godly generation. 07:12 We're living in an evil time. 07:14 Again, it's been a great privilege 07:16 to be associated with this program. 07:19 And I know 3ABN has many programs 07:21 and many ways of 07:22 spreading the word for this day, 07:25 and the Seventh-day Adventist spreading 07:26 the three angels' messages. 07:28 The message doesn't cease but this program will. 07:31 And so I want to thank those 07:33 that have watched regularly. 07:35 It's been a great journey, and stay faithful. 07:40 Stay clear on 07:41 what religious liberty truly is. 07:44 Don't be one of those that believe 07:45 and practice a lie. 07:47 Be one of those that stand for the truth, 07:49 stand for ultimate freedom, 07:51 stand for the Lord Jesus Christ, 07:52 because no matter 07:54 what your theological view is, 07:55 no matter what your do good sensibilities, 07:58 if you don't represent Jesus accurately, 08:01 He will likely say, "I never knew you." 08:03 We want the reverse. 08:04 We want to hear Him say, 08:06 "Well done, good and faithful servant, 08:09 enter thou into the joy of the Lord." 08:16 The ones famous author Charles Dickens in writing 08:19 one of his semi-autobiographical stories 08:22 began by saying, 08:24 "Whether I am the hero of my own life 08:27 remains to be seen." 08:29 For most of us, that's really very much the story. 08:32 We can't clearly judge on 08:34 how successful we've been 08:36 or what we're trying to do, 08:37 or indeed how others see us. 08:39 And when I think of what I've been able to do 08:41 with Liberty magazine 08:43 and on this program, it's harder to judge. 08:46 All I know is that 08:48 it's a great privilege to pick up 08:50 from what others have done and carry forward 08:52 a proclamation of religious liberty, 08:55 which I see is inseparable from the Gospel Commission. 08:59 Others will follow it to be sure, 09:01 but like those faithful 09:04 mentioned in Hebrews Chapter 11, 09:07 some of whom were cut into song, 09:09 consumed by the flames, all of them and hopefully, 09:13 many of us, including myself will hear one day, 09:16 "Well done, good and faithful servant." |
Revised 2021-12-16