Participants:
Series Code: TDYL
Program Code: TDYL200023B
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00:11 Welcome back to the second hour
00:13 of this Preparation for Independence Day program. 00:17 As you know, Liberty and Liberty Insider 00:20 and religious liberty is something 00:21 that we treasure very much here in America. 00:24 And you should too, 00:25 but so many of our audience members 00:27 really don't think about liberty 00:29 on a day by day basis. 00:30 We kind of go to work, go to church, 00:33 if we can do that, 00:34 and participate in life in the altered way 00:37 that COVID-19 has brought it to our platform. 00:40 However, when we don't think of how important liberty is, 00:45 life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. 00:48 Life and happiness has cradled liberty 00:50 in the center. 00:51 This is something that's so significant, 00:53 and every one of us on one way, either socially, 00:55 economically, politically or religiously 00:59 are going to be impacted by the topic of liberty. 01:02 Once again, if you're just joining us, 01:03 I have Lincoln Steed. 01:05 Good to have you here, Lincoln. Always good. 01:06 You know, your mom must have known 01:08 Abraham Lincoln somewhere along or heard about him, 01:10 because what a name you have to be involved 01:12 in this kind of environment. 01:13 Can I dispel that name? 01:17 I was named after a silver spoon they had 01:19 that was a Lincoln brand and they liked it was written. 01:21 But Lincoln is a very, you know, there's Lincolnshire, 01:24 the town of Lincoln in England, 01:25 and Lincoln green for Robin Hood. 01:27 So you do have some... 01:28 But that said, 01:29 I've always admired the US history 01:31 and the best things of the United States. 01:33 And, you know, the best in the US 01:35 is the best in the world, 01:36 it doesn't mean it's a perfect country 01:38 or the only free country, 01:40 but the aspirations of the US are inspiring. 01:42 Wow. 01:44 Well, before we dive into the second hour, 01:46 we always like good music 01:48 and right now, Yvonne Shelton is going to sing 01:52 this wonderful song called "America." 01:55 And what an appropriate song for this time of the year. 01:59 As you hear the song, as you listen to the lyrics, 02:02 think about the role that you can play 02:03 as an American citizen 02:05 to reflect the character and the place 02:08 that Jesus Christ would have us to stand. 02:29 America! 02:32 America! 02:35 We are one 02:37 Yes, we are one 02:40 United under God and flag 02:46 We are one 02:50 We stand for right 02:56 And we will fight 02:59 To protect this land of ours 03:04 America. 03:11 We the people of the United States 03:13 in order to form a more perfect union, 03:15 establish justice, 03:17 ensure domestic tranquility, 03:19 provide for the common defense, 03:21 promote the general welfare 03:23 and secure the blessings of liberty 03:25 to ourselves and our posterity, 03:27 do ordain and establish this Constitution 03:31 for the United States of America. 03:34 America! 03:37 America! 03:40 We are one 03:42 Yes, we are one 03:45 United under God and flag 03:51 We are one 03:56 We stand for right 04:01 And we will fight 04:05 To protect this land of ours 04:10 America. 04:16 We hold these truths to be self-evident, 04:18 that all men are created equal, 04:21 that they are endowed by their creator 04:23 with certain inalienable rights, 04:25 that among these are life, liberty, 04:29 and the pursuit of happiness. 04:34 America! 04:37 America! 04:40 We are one 04:42 Yes, we are one 04:45 United under God and flag 04:51 We are one 04:56 We stand for right 05:01 And we will fight 05:05 To protect this land of ours 05:10 America. 05:14 Please join me. 05:16 I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America 05:21 and to the republic for which it stands, 05:24 one nation, under God, indivisible, 05:27 with liberty and justice for all. 05:34 America! 05:37 America! 05:40 We are one 05:42 Yes, we are one 05:45 United under God and flag 05:51 We are one 05:56 We stand for right 06:01 And we will fight 06:05 To protect this land of ours 06:10 America 06:17 America 06:21 America 06:23 God shed His grace on thee 06:29 And crown thy good With brotherhood 06:35 From sea to shining sea 06:41 And crown thy good 06:47 With brotherhood 06:54 From sea 06:56 To 06:57 Shining sea 07:04 Oh, America, 07:09 America 07:14 God bless America! 07:29 Amen. 07:32 That's a Fourth of July song. 07:34 Thank you so much, Yvonne. 07:36 America, we are one. 07:38 Now that is a prayer that we're praying 07:39 because right now that's what we need in America, 07:43 we are one, 07:44 and how is that going to be accomplished? 07:46 Whose oneness agenda are we going to follow? 07:49 We'll talk about that briefly. 07:51 And as a Christian, 07:52 as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian, 07:53 we know that the agenda of the Bible, 07:55 the agenda of Jesus 07:57 in the understanding of Bible prophecy 07:59 should serve to keep us in the connection as being one. 08:04 But, Lincoln, you know that America has a... 08:08 We have a checkered history. 08:10 But we have a valid beginning. 08:12 Let's talk about that briefly. 08:13 Why did the Lord raise up America? 08:16 Well, that's terminology, 08:19 I wouldn't directly say the Lord raised it up, 08:22 but the Lord used the formation of this new land, 08:28 separate from the old, old world to be a shelter 08:32 for many dissidents of different types. 08:35 Some of them were just freebooters, 08:36 political dissidents, 08:37 but there was a pattern of people. 08:40 In the post Reformation era 08:43 where there was still persecution, 08:44 there was a pattern of different dissidents, 08:46 usually, Protestants, 08:48 but even some Catholic groups that came across to get away 08:51 from the persecutions of the old world. 08:53 So it became a shelter. 08:55 And it was more of a blank sheet 08:57 not demographically the Indians... 09:00 Right, the Indians were here. 09:02 But it was a blank sheet. 09:04 You know, there was no overall government. 09:06 They had to form as an ancillary 09:09 at first to the British system. 09:10 But eventually it became a uniquely American way 09:13 of looking at the future of mankind. 09:16 It's a very aspirational country 09:19 and constitution. 09:21 You know, it's not by accident 09:23 that it talks about a new world order. 09:25 Matter of fact, 09:26 I want to just share this 09:28 the preamble to the Constitution, 09:29 we the people of the United States, 09:31 and this would, Danny just said that, 09:33 but I think that in the context of the music, 09:35 in order to form a more perfect union, 09:38 establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, 09:42 provide the common defense, promote the general welfare 09:45 and secure the blessings of liberty 09:47 to ourselves and our posterity, 09:49 do ordain and establish this Constitution 09:52 for the United States of America. 09:53 That's the ideal. 09:55 That's the ideal. 09:56 How are we doing? 09:57 Give us a report card. 09:59 Well, we're not doing 10:00 nearly as good as we would like, 10:02 and that's, that's the human condition. 10:04 Right. 10:05 You know, we damned correctly Communism 10:08 for not living up to its ideal. 10:10 You know, if you read the Communist manifestos, 10:12 and I'm hardly a Communist. 10:13 Right. 10:14 But you know, there's some fine aspirations, 10:16 you know, the brotherhood of mankind and so on. 10:18 It fell down on human greed 10:20 and the dictatorship of the people 10:23 and so, you know, just collapsed. 10:25 But similarly, you know, 10:27 our find experiment is fallen on the rocks now 10:30 and then because of... 10:32 If you study US history, big business, 10:34 robber barons and so on, 10:36 because of rapacious attitudes out west 10:40 and, you know, the blood thirst to get the land, 10:43 the gravitas of the Indians and so. 10:45 You know, there's a lot of down things 10:46 on the US, 10:47 but what's redeemed that to this point 10:50 is these enduring words that were well thought out, 10:53 they were not perfect men, 10:55 but they'd seen the problems with the old world. 10:58 They were severing their ties with England, 11:02 and the claims of the monarchy. 11:04 And I have a great burden of history. 11:06 You can't understand 11:07 unless you know the English Civil War, 11:09 the Puritan role in it, John Milton's, 11:13 he wrote many books but he wrote one book 11:15 on The Tenure of Kings and Magistrates 11:18 explaining why they killed the king. 11:20 Jefferson quotes directly from it 11:22 in the Declaration of Independence, 11:25 which put a theological cast to it, 11:27 because in England they had rejected the king 11:29 who claimed that he was ordained by God. 11:31 They were challenging God himself 11:34 to put the king down. 11:36 So it was necessary 11:37 in the Declaration of Independence 11:39 to invoke a higher power in their separation. 11:43 And that's fine 11:45 because I do think God wants us to, 11:48 you know, not to be ruled by other men, 11:50 as Senator Ashcroft 11:55 once attorney general used to sing, 11:57 you know, there's no king but Jesus. 12:00 That's right. 12:02 You know, the America can embrace that. 12:04 We didn't put George Washington in as king. 12:07 The power resided with the people, 12:09 but the people's power came from a creator God, 12:11 that's very plainly enunciated. 12:13 So that, that's a high aspiration 12:16 falls down over and over again. 12:18 But as of this point, 12:19 we have not repudiated 12:21 the word that Ellen White uses, 12:23 but not repudiated these principles yet. 12:25 That's right. 12:26 Probably never burned the document but we may, 12:29 I hope, not soon, 12:31 come to a point where we go another direction 12:33 and just sort of wave a sensor over that and say, holy words, 12:36 but you know, this is what we do now. 12:38 Because you know that in the context of, 12:40 I don't want to think of this as being near, 12:42 our near future. 12:44 But when martial law is instituted, 12:46 when any kind of domestic control is instituted, 12:50 well, I can't yell, 12:52 well this is my right or that's my right. 12:53 You put your finger. 12:55 Martial law is not so much that the military is around 12:57 and it's dangerous times. 12:58 But constitutional guarantees disappear. 13:01 You have less rights and are gone, 13:03 and to some degree 13:05 that's always implicit in western law. 13:08 I've really been bothered over the years 13:10 as we've pushed different religious legislation 13:13 to protect our rights. 13:16 Like 13:17 the Workplace Religious Freedom Restoration Act 13:23 was a good one. 13:24 But like all that legislation at the end, it has, 13:27 this is your right in the law and so on 13:29 unless there's a compelling governmental interest. 13:32 When there's a pressure, 13:34 all the chips are in the government will say, 13:37 "Well, this is we have to do this, " 13:39 and it's gone, 13:40 but that should be kept a variant. 13:43 And we shouldn't acknowledge that that resides there, 13:46 but be aware. 13:47 Right, it shouldn't be the first, 13:48 it shouldn't be the first, 13:50 it should be the last on the possible options 13:51 till we know it. 13:53 That by appealing to a higher power, 13:56 the amendments which are add-ons 13:59 to the Constitution 14:00 and the condition of its passage. 14:02 They're not immaterial, I mean, they are central, 14:03 but they are amendments. 14:06 You know, those things are important 14:08 not because the government gave them, 14:10 it recognized them. 14:12 Kennedy said that, he made a statement 14:14 and people were very concerned 14:16 when John F. Kennedy was becoming president 14:17 because he was Catholic. 14:19 You know, I was just old enough to remember the panic, 14:21 even at the distance shore in Australia, 14:23 I think I was about 12 at the time. 14:25 I want to just say for the record, 14:26 I was very, very young, 14:27 I wasn't in the double digits yet, 14:29 but I remember, I mean, I have a great sense of memory. 14:32 I don't remember the speech then, 14:33 but I went back 14:35 because my mom bought the 33 LP 14:38 of all of John Kennedy's speeches, 14:41 and I still have it to this very day 14:42 when he has a very studious picture 14:44 that looks very presidential, 14:45 very solemn and humble on the cover. 14:47 And I was listening and he talked about he said, 14:50 "How freedom is not something that is offered by the state, 14:53 but it's our right given to us by God." 14:56 And he said, "I vow not to allow 14:58 my religious convictions to interfere with my..." 15:01 I think he said "aspirations." 15:03 I think he said, "I will not allow 15:04 a priest or prelate to tell me what to do." 15:05 And right exactly. 15:07 And I must tell you a little ominously 15:09 without naming names, because I don't remember them. 15:11 But there was a statement from the US Catholic bishops 15:14 a couple of election cycles ago, 15:16 that they said 15:17 they'd made a mistake with Kennedy 15:19 and not holding him to account on, 15:20 that they would not make that mistake again. 15:22 Right. 15:23 And you know, 15:25 and let's go ahead and point this out. 15:26 We all know, when we look at the biblical scenario, 15:29 that's the thing that really makes 15:30 liberty important. 15:31 Now, let me put this, this way. 15:34 We may stop in many restaurants on our way 15:37 to our destination by car, 15:38 but we never forget our destination. 15:40 And as Seventh-day Adventists, 15:42 we understand the biblical narrative 15:43 as best as God described it to us 15:44 and praise the Lord for Ellen White's inspiration 15:46 and understanding for behind the curtain. 15:48 But if we forget that, we can be distracted. 15:51 Let's talk about some of those distractions 15:53 that could somehow sidetrack the purpose for the church. 15:57 Because right now we're living in the, 15:58 you know, the COVID-19 environment, 16:00 whether to wear a mask or not to wear a mask, 16:01 and then we have the political unrest 16:03 on the other side, 16:04 and the social injustices and pull down the statues 16:06 or leave them up, 16:08 or change all the laws or leave them in place. 16:10 There's a very hot stove sensitivity today. 16:14 And what's the danger for the church 16:16 in getting involved in a lot of these issues? 16:18 You asked the question, 16:19 you know what was said to early Adventists 16:22 in regard to this type of thing 16:24 that we need to keep our eyes fixed 16:25 to Seventh-day Adventist, 16:27 a movement brought into being prophetically 16:29 to proclaim the nearness of Christ's return 16:31 but more importantly, 16:32 to prepare ourselves and others, 16:34 that's the solidarity, 16:35 that's the group think on this. 16:38 It's not just for us to get there, 16:40 it's against many others to just share the good news. 16:44 And Ellen White warned on this and she says that, you know, 16:50 that we really cannot forget present truth, 16:55 that was the term she used. 16:57 Things that relate 16:58 to what we're called to proclaim. 17:00 Now as Christians, if you have the, 17:02 I think the Bible says 17:04 have the bowels of Christ did you, 17:05 in other words, deep seated sentiment 17:07 as Christ said, 17:08 when He wept over Jerusalem and helped them. 17:10 We have to be responsive to the poor, 17:13 to the maligned, 17:15 and we're not pushing a gay agenda, but it shouldn't. 17:20 It should trouble us deeply to see a few years ago 17:23 and Matthew Shepard strung up 17:25 on a wire fence there in Colorado. 17:28 Right. 17:29 I mean, that's an inhuman act. 17:31 We should argue for the protection of people 17:33 regardless of what they're doing. 17:35 That's right. 17:36 It's a spiritual matter to bear with them 17:38 to change their lives, 17:40 and anyone that's doing something 17:42 that's outside of biblical norm, 17:43 but you can't force them, but we should defend them. 17:46 We should defend even the criminal, 17:49 you know, these police killings can easily morph into, 17:54 you know, bad cops, good person. 17:56 Right. It's a bit vague. 17:59 You know, there's criminality 18:01 that the police as law agents are responding to, 18:04 but are they allowed, 18:06 are they called to use deadly force to drop ahead? 18:09 Of course, no. 18:10 So we need to... 18:12 Balance it or try to... 18:13 I think speak and defend the powerless, 18:16 the Bible says at the widows and the orphans. 18:18 Of course, we should be sensible 18:19 in those things. 18:21 But as a movement, we can't major in that, 18:24 as Jesus didn't major 18:26 in the abuses of the Roman occupation. 18:28 It was horrific. 18:29 If you know anything 18:31 about how Rome kept law and order. 18:32 Yes, they had Pax Romana peace, 18:34 was a peace of the dead a lot of the times 18:36 and inflexible laws and you know, 18:38 they would make things work, 18:39 the roads went down, 18:41 you know, the freeways were branching out over. 18:44 But it was an unjust system. 18:46 Jesus said very little other than, 18:48 you know, here's a fox. 18:49 You know, He was aware of the situation 18:51 but He was for the kingdom. 18:53 And present truth means that Seventh-day Adventists 18:56 and all other Christians 18:57 that will pick up this movement 19:00 because we're a movement, not a structure. 19:02 A structure is to protect this movement now 19:04 in a time of relative peace, 19:06 but we should be focused on the kingdom, 19:08 present truth. 19:10 That's the message of the moment. 19:12 Right, if we lose our focus 19:13 and put all of our finances and energies 19:17 into areas that are not unjust, 19:19 these are just issues that need to be addressed. 19:22 But we should not allow it to be the major focus, yeah. 19:24 Well, the proof of the pudding... 19:25 You're right, 19:26 for the proof of the pudding for Adventist. 19:28 If you examine our history, 19:30 the Adventist Church as an organization 19:31 was formed exactly at the time of the Civil War. 19:35 And Ellen White writing 19:37 to this relatively small membership there. 19:41 She was unequivocal. 19:42 She said that God's punishment is resting on the south 19:46 for its embrace of slavery. 19:47 That's right. She made a direct moral issue. 19:50 But as they formed up, 19:52 that's exactly when they decided 19:54 they would be non-combatants. 19:56 Because they were not formed, 19:57 they were not called to fight that war. 20:00 Right. 20:01 They could decry that injustice, 20:03 but they were on the kingdom road. 20:07 And present truth demanded a major focus 20:11 about returning Christ's return and preparing for them. 20:13 That's right. 20:14 And while we address issues 20:15 that are unjust on racial sense, 20:18 the social sense, 20:19 these issues that are bringing inequality, 20:21 we should be supportive of equality. 20:24 We're not called to be silent. 20:25 I think that we should be touched. 20:27 As it says 20:29 touched by a feeling of the infirmity. 20:31 And Jesus as He did 20:33 in the story of the Good Samaritan. 20:36 We cannot be the religious leader 20:38 on our way to church 20:39 that sees the injustices across the street. 20:42 We cannot be the Levi the priest of Caesars. 20:45 And we have to be the Samaritan that says, okay, 20:47 what can we do to relieve the suffering and do our part, 20:50 but then we have to as He did, 20:52 notice the part of the story that we often forget. 20:54 He said, "Okay, I'm going to pay 20:56 whatever his bill is required, 20:59 but I'm going to leave him here, 21:00 you take care of him." 21:01 And we don't know 21:03 what the Samaritans did after he left, 21:05 but he didn't stay at the hotel with the guy. 21:08 So I'm making this point here. 21:09 We don't stay at the hotel. 21:11 We don't even know if it really happened. 21:13 It's an allegorical parable. 21:17 But the whole point of it brings out this idea that... 21:19 But there's any number of possibilities, 21:21 but it's a wonderfully engaging model 21:25 of how we should treat other people, of course. 21:28 And Jesus speaking to the religious. 21:30 So in other words, as you are religious, 21:32 don't ignore these, 21:33 take care of the world of the fatherless, 21:35 deal with the issues that are unjust, 21:36 but don't allow that because here's the challenge. 21:40 We could become a distraction 21:42 and almost create a wall between other people 21:44 even listening to us by lengthening... 21:47 And we also can inadvertently stumble 21:49 into political, partisan political action. 21:53 And the warning was early on, 21:54 given to Seventh-day Adventist 21:56 to avoid partisan political activity. 21:59 That's the key word, partisan. 22:01 I've said it on this program before. 22:03 I listen to stuff out of Washington 22:04 all the time I hear a politician 22:06 saying on some issue. 22:08 I'm not being political on this. 22:09 Well, you can't help being, it's a political issue. 22:12 What he means is I'm not being partisan. 22:15 And in the church and church members, 22:17 at least acting for the church, the body of believers, 22:21 you can't afford to be partisan. 22:23 If nothing else, I've seen it in some countries, 22:25 you tilt toward one party or one regime, 22:28 then they leave 22:30 and the others treat you as the enemy. 22:31 You've unduly polarized the situation field so... 22:34 That's why it's important. 22:35 I want to bring this out right now, 22:37 to Christians in general, 22:38 but specifically 22:39 to Seventh-day Adventist Christians. 22:41 It's very important that as church members 22:43 we come to church on Sabbath 22:44 or even whatever day during the week 22:46 when we meet on Wednesday nights, 22:47 or we have social gatherings, 22:48 that we do not take that opportunity to decry 22:53 and to push 22:54 any particular political opponent 22:56 or proponent 22:58 because as you just made a point, 22:59 very significant. 23:00 When the person we favor leaves office, 23:03 what other bandwagon are we going to get on now? 23:05 And how relevant are we going to be seen 23:07 by the people that we ostracized 23:09 when our favorite political leave from the office. 23:12 Now in a country in Africa, our church has a huge problem 23:16 because there's a leadership challenge. 23:18 One group of leadership belong to one tribe 23:20 and one run with the government 23:22 and they're enemies from another tribe 23:25 and they're using 23:27 all of the power of the government 23:29 against the church, 23:31 but it's really for a factional personal interest, 23:32 nothing to do with theology, 23:34 but you can destroy an hamstring 23:38 permanently a church operation with this partisan thinking. 23:42 You can. 23:43 Let's talk about the Johnson Amendment. 23:45 This is something that's come up often. 23:47 It's very relevant. 23:48 Yeah, with COVID we've heard a little about it, 23:50 but it's still percolating on. 23:52 Early on in his administration, the President, 23:55 anxious to please and placate his religious right births, 24:00 showed everyone 24:01 that they would work immediately 24:03 for the repeal of the Johnson Amendment. 24:06 And I think outside religious liberty circles, 24:09 not many people are aware of it, 24:10 but it dates back to Lyndon Johnson's time 24:13 in Congress. 24:15 And he had a difficult reelection campaign 24:18 at one point. 24:19 And a number of groups 24:20 including some church groups opposed him. 24:23 And like a lot of political leaders, 24:25 he kept the list of enemies. 24:27 So after the battle was over, 24:28 he decided and followed through 24:32 on putting an amendment on a bill, 24:34 which is how a lot of stuff gets through, 24:36 you tack it on 24:38 almost in the middle of the night. 24:41 And the Johnson Amendment got through 24:42 which forbids churches and other nonprofits or so on 24:47 from engaging in overt political activity, 24:49 which is consistent with the Constitution anyway, 24:51 but it's spelled out very plain. 24:53 And there's a catch 22 on this. 24:56 Because we've said before the churches 24:58 by the separation of church and state, 25:00 the First Amendment shouldn't be involved 25:02 in political activity. 25:04 It's really wrong anyway. 25:05 But it's also not great 25:08 to have the government mandating church activity, 25:11 restricting them consciously. 25:13 So this administration are determined to undo it, 25:17 and undoing it this way 25:19 will mean that they are giving a green light, 25:21 in fact, overt encouragement 25:23 in the most blatant form for the churches 25:26 to become political action groups. 25:28 That's the sad part of it. 25:30 Unambiguous 25:32 to bring in candidates into the church 25:33 to promote their agenda from the pulpit for the church 25:36 to raise money 25:38 for that party or that candidate. 25:39 Now they've tried this before. 25:42 Some years ago, there was a move 25:43 pushed by D. James Kennedy 25:45 and a few others for the Jones Bill, 25:47 they called it. 25:49 And their view was unbind the churches, 25:52 they felt the churches were being bound 25:53 by not being able to enter the political fray, you know. 25:56 And the irony was that in the interim, 25:59 there was the... 26:01 I'm forgetting the sponsors, 26:03 but there was the campaign reform act 26:06 that limited the ability 26:07 to give money to political parties. 26:10 And that's been short circuited now 26:12 with these PAGs, 26:13 Political Action Groups 26:15 where they can get unlimited money, 26:17 but the Jones Bill failed, 26:19 and now this is the end run 26:21 with the repudiation of the Johnson Amendment. 26:24 But amazingly, with this open intention, 26:27 and the President, you got to give him his dues. 26:30 He gets one way or another what he wants by and large, 26:33 but somehow he hasn't pushed this through. 26:36 A year or two ago, it was put on a bill, 26:41 where it would have repudiated 26:42 and they never made an announcement, 26:43 but I listened late the night before, 26:46 there was a little announcement that had been pulled. 26:48 I don't know why, 26:50 but they pulled it at the last minute. 26:51 So as far as I know, 26:52 it still hasn't actually been formally repudiated. 26:56 But probably the intention is more input, 27:00 whether or not it gets through. 27:02 Right, the indicator is... 27:03 It shows what's really going on. 27:05 There's the hungering for political power, 27:08 and also the government money which come with it. 27:11 Which goes back to the phrase as a man thinketh, so is he. 27:14 I may not follow through on the act, 27:16 but this is what I really want to do. 27:18 And I'm gonna push the edge of that envelope. 27:20 I'm not saying that I'm doing this 27:22 because I repeal the amendment. 27:24 But my activities are saying, I stand firmly against it. 27:28 You know, when we, 27:29 I travel quite a bit on the road, 27:30 and I was in different churches, 27:32 so many different denominations 27:33 when I was with the Heritage Singers 27:35 and to travel was still something 27:36 that we've done. 27:37 But usually when, whenever a church leader 27:39 and this is something that I can't do 27:40 even as a pastor. 27:42 I can't tell my church members as citizens of America, 27:46 this is what you need to vote for, 27:48 this is who you need to vote for, 27:50 this is why you need to vote. 27:52 When I do that, 27:53 I am literally infringing on their religious, 27:56 I can't say not to vote or to vote 27:58 or don't support or to support but... 28:01 And you're breaking your trust. 28:02 I'm breaking my trust. 28:03 The churches is given certain... 28:07 Got to be careful, 28:08 I would say concessions from the State 28:09 because of its independent status, 28:11 its higher role. 28:14 But if you use that to pursue a political agenda, 28:18 you're thoroughly compromising the church leadership role. 28:22 That's why the First Amendment 28:23 and I'll read this briefly here, 28:25 somebody inevitably be watching the program, 28:27 I'd say, I don't even know what the First Amendment is. 28:30 Well, here it is. 28:31 The Congress shall make no law 28:33 respecting an establishment of religion, 28:36 or prohibiting the free exercise thereof 28:40 or abridging the freedom of speech 28:44 or of the press. 28:46 I was going to say, read the second half. 28:48 You know, this is amazing. 28:49 We're seeing these things chisel away. 28:51 Right now, as anyone knows that's been trod now. 28:54 It's not being chiseled away. 28:56 It's being sledge hammered away. 28:58 The freedom of speech or of the press, 29:02 or the right of the people to peaceably to assemble, 29:07 and to petition the government for a redress of grievances. 29:11 This First... 29:12 You've got on the, how we responded COVID 29:14 and the demonstrations, they're all wrong. 29:16 It's all right here. 29:17 This, the First Amendment, not the 15th. 29:20 This is not way down there tucked away in the back drawer. 29:23 This is, let's start up with the amendments, 29:24 that's the first one. 29:25 And I repeat 29:27 if people don't know the history. 29:28 These amendments were a condition 29:30 of most of the states of the 13 colonies together. 29:33 They made it a condition of signing the Constitution 29:36 of this beatitude. 29:37 Right, every one of the states. 29:38 They weren't material, 29:40 this was central to the whole of it. 29:41 That's why it's number one. 29:42 You know, we always say 29:44 keep the main thing the main thing. 29:45 When the main thing is in place, 29:47 and the other things don't fall off the line. 29:49 It's like saying, well, it's beautiful car 29:51 but it has no engine in it. 29:52 This is the engine of the way 29:54 that our society should be framed. 29:57 So watch this, Congress. Let's break it up. 29:59 Congress shall make no law 30:01 respecting an establishment of religion. 30:02 No law. 30:04 Thank you. No law. 30:05 Okay, talk about that 30:06 because you're in that particularly. 30:08 Well, to be hands off, 30:09 they're not in the religion business. 30:11 The best you can come up with is the religious right do, 30:16 as that was passed by the Congress, 30:20 individual states still were doing the contrary. 30:24 They had established churches and so on, 30:25 but it soon sorted itself out 30:28 and after the Civil War irrevocably so. 30:32 So this is the default setting for the Republic. 30:36 Now law on religion. 30:39 So I can't say Congress favors Protestant evangelicalism, 30:43 I can't say favors a Baptist or Seventh-day Adventists 30:46 or Catholicism. 30:47 Congress can't make any law in favor of... 30:50 And the backup to that, 30:51 because it's challenged as I said 30:53 by some of the religious activists. 30:55 The backup is the other religion clause. 30:57 And I should remember the article number. 31:00 But it says there shall be 31:01 no religious test for public office. 31:04 So religion's off the table. 31:05 Right. 31:07 But we have seen, oh, I think maybe over the last, 31:11 I would say, in my recollection, 31:14 Jimmy Carter on forward, because Jimmy Carter, 31:17 he was hailed for his Christian stance. 31:21 But then it really became prominent 31:22 when Reagan came into office. 31:24 It was very much prominent, 31:25 but we know back then 31:27 that was when the religious right 31:28 and the Moral Majority were very, 31:30 you know, hands on in America. 31:32 And it took a number of presidents 31:34 to get to where we are today. 31:35 But the other thing apart by this prohibited... 31:37 Where are we today? Tell me where we? 31:39 Well, the whole thing 31:40 about prohibiting the freedom... 31:41 Now the freedom characterizes it. 31:43 Well, let me okay, 31:44 since I'm a guest on the program. 31:47 Yes, the other day, did we, he was asking me. 31:49 Let me give you... 31:51 I was on a TV program once 31:52 and I asked 31:54 one of the other guests the question. 31:55 And the compeer said, 31:56 "I'm the one that asks the question." 31:58 Okay, well, let me give... But I'm really. 31:59 Okay, but he watches. You're right. 32:00 Someone asked me, 32:02 who's the king of the north and I said, 32:03 I'm not going to answer that, you say. 32:04 Right. 32:06 So here's the point, 32:07 I should not 32:09 as a Seventh-day Adventist Christian 32:10 say to a Muslim, 32:11 you don't have the right to practice 32:13 your religion in America. 32:14 I shouldn't say to the Buddhists, 32:15 I don't agree with you, 32:17 and I'm going to do everything I can 32:18 to prevent you from practicing your religion. 32:20 I can't do that. 32:21 And I cannot appeal to the Congress to say, 32:22 I don't like what he believe, 32:24 so stop him from teaching that. 32:25 But the hidden or not the hidden, 32:26 the unspoken agenda at the moment, 32:28 is that after 9/11 32:29 particularly America has developed an aversion 32:32 to Islam in the order it represents, 32:34 it's not particularly religious, 32:36 but they've got this vague inkling 32:38 that it's a threatening religion. 32:39 Extremely. 32:40 So that I believe has given impetus 32:44 to this exclusive empowerment 32:47 of a certain part of Christianity, 32:50 not even all Christianity. 32:51 Right. 32:52 And then now, what about freedom 32:54 or abridging the freedom of speech, 32:56 or of the press? 32:59 And we're the logo that, I'm telling you, 33:02 back in the Bush administration, 33:05 people have forgotten, I think already. 33:07 Because, you know, we were a new cycle people 33:10 and, you know, whatever we see on TV, 33:11 and then it's gone. 33:13 But when President Bush was inaugurated, 33:15 remember, it was in the context of a very disputed election. 33:18 And he wanted to do the walk along Pennsylvania Avenue. 33:21 And they started throwing things on him. 33:22 So he got in the car and sped to the White House. 33:24 It was very nasty situation. 33:27 Hanging chad and pumpkin. 33:28 And I can't endorse, it was horrible. 33:30 He was the leader and he needed respect. 33:33 But as a consequence of that, 33:34 progressively, they restricted speech. 33:36 And it came to the point 33:38 where you were not allowed to demonstrate 33:40 anywhere near the president. 33:41 They would rope off an area as a mile or two away sometimes 33:45 from where the president was. 33:46 And they would call it the free speech zone. 33:49 Or the freedom from speech zone. 33:51 Well, that's what it was, but free speech zone. 33:53 I mean, the perversion of language 33:55 and that's where you could say whatever you want 33:57 and howl against the government policy. 33:59 But not near. 34:00 Well, you know, we were already crossed 34:02 a few barriers in nullifying that right. 34:08 I call it erosion. 34:10 You know, things don't, 34:11 you know, rocks don't fall off of mountains 34:13 because it just big set, all of a sudden became loose. 34:17 He was a problem on the Supreme Court 34:18 but Scalia who is dead now. 34:21 I heard him speak a few times 34:22 and he spoke truth now and then, 34:24 and he said that he had voted 34:25 for the right of the individual to burn the flag. 34:29 And I don't think 34:30 the Supreme Court passed such a thing now. 34:31 No. 34:33 But he made that comment 34:34 that just because you find it distasteful 34:36 doesn't mean you should restrict it. 34:37 That's really the proof of free speech particularly. 34:40 You have to allow people to say something 34:43 that you find grossly objectionable. 34:45 That's when the free speech is proven, 34:47 not when they're murmuring on irrelevancies. 34:50 And I don't say that, no, 34:52 it's when it's in your face and you're hated. 34:54 But we're already to the point 34:55 where that's not acceptable in this. 34:57 I think in the pre-discussions, 34:59 we were talking about how sometimes of late, 35:02 that sort of speech will quickly get the idea 35:04 that we say that you're not an American, 35:06 you're an enemy. 35:08 That's sort of language ends badly in my view. 35:11 A few years ago, I wrote an editorial 35:14 where I put a Turner phrase and I still like, 35:16 and I had even Michael Moore, the filmmaker emailed me. 35:20 He says, "I think 35:21 you've got a little bit too far on that. 35:23 But I stick with it." 35:25 I said the difference 35:26 between the hate radio, hate talk 35:29 on often Right Wing Radio in the US 35:32 and the hate talk on the radio in Rwanda 35:35 that preceded the killing is one of degree, not of kind. 35:42 'Cause I hear, it's usually Right Wing, 35:43 but it's, I can't say that it's one or the other. 35:46 But they'll portray their political enemies 35:48 as non-Americans, as enemies of the country, 35:51 as sympathizes with whoever enemy we've got. 35:54 And, you and I might understand that it's rhetoric, 35:57 but there's an element of any country 35:59 that they take that to heart, oh, enemies. 36:02 And you know, we had it in, 36:03 we're talking about the origins of this country, 36:05 something that's not known very well. 36:08 Benjamin Franklin, one of the icons, 36:10 he had his home burned down 36:12 because the mob believed 36:13 he was against the American Revolution. 36:17 And he escaped with his life. 36:18 But later he was rehabilitated. 36:20 That's not a good thing to be cast as an enemy 36:23 of the wonderful ideals 36:25 that should characterize the United States. 36:27 America is not a nationality, a particular ethnic group, 36:32 America is a melting pot. 36:34 It should be a dream. 36:35 It should... 36:37 right, not a nightmare. 36:38 Unfortunately, and we are living in a very, 36:40 you know, volatile social climate 36:42 that has reconstruction of the social, 36:45 economic, political, and eventually, 36:47 everything that comes before religion 36:49 definitely affects religion. 36:51 When I was growing up as a Seventh-day Adventist, 36:54 I'm a fourth generation and studying the prophecies 36:56 we're talking about or having them given to me 36:58 when I was studying. 37:00 I remember a lot of talk times almost paranoid about, 37:03 watch out 37:05 when the United States has constitutional conventions 37:08 and rethinks the Constitution. 37:10 That's when a Sunday law. I heard that, yeah. 37:12 I don't really believe that anymore. 37:14 We don't need a change in the Constitution 37:17 to bring about such a thing. 37:18 The word is repudiate. 37:20 But I have never before read and heard 37:24 as much active discussion 37:26 and bending about the need for a new Constitution. 37:31 There are many top magazines, 37:34 and for in the United States now 37:36 that are actively discussing, 37:37 maybe we need to redo the document. 37:41 And so the danger there 37:42 is not so much narrowly Sunday law. 37:45 I think the danger 37:46 is just the whole experiment going off the rails. 37:49 It is because you're not talking 37:50 about just a day of worship, 37:51 you're talking 37:53 about the framework of a society. 37:54 Like think about, what's our society? 37:56 I mean, I'm generalizing, there's wonderful people, 37:58 wonderfully balanced, knowledgeable, 38:00 but in the main we're a society 38:02 that are bred on television sitcoms, 38:06 TV games, almost an alternate reality. 38:12 Gross ignorance on history, 38:15 gross ignorance on all that serve, 38:18 I doubted so now, 38:19 but in the past only I think it was 6% 38:22 can name the sitting president. 38:25 So it is not a greatly informed populace 38:28 and you only have to read the founding fathers 38:30 at some length to know that they believe 38:32 that an educated moral community 38:35 were the only ones that were safe 38:36 to address this experiment to. 38:40 So if we were to come up with a new Constitution, 38:43 what would they come up with? 38:44 This is the Hunger Games mentality, 38:46 the latest film 38:47 which is ominous to the extreme, 38:49 which is widely circulated is the... 38:53 What is it called? 38:55 The... 38:56 Anyhow the idea... 38:58 I'll come to you in a moment. 38:59 It's a film that once a year, there's a period of time. 39:04 I think it's one day 39:06 where you get to kill whoever you want, 39:09 take care of business, 39:10 it's not illegal to kill someone. 39:12 Yeah, I saw the commercial for that. 39:13 It's kind of like a Purge. 39:15 The Purge. Purge. 39:17 Yeah. The Purge. Yeah. 39:18 Now, I don't believe 39:19 that just because it's the film it's going to happen. 39:21 Even the idea... 39:22 But at the best of times, 39:25 Jules Verne 39:26 and other science fiction writers 39:27 have incorporated 39:29 what they see is developing trends. 39:30 They've written it down and then in a feedback loop, 39:32 it sort of feeds the development, right? 39:36 It's long since in a rearview mirror 39:38 that that the book 1984, 39:41 written in 1948, 39:43 which spoke of a dystopian big brother future, 39:46 we've passed that. 39:47 It was very insightful, 39:49 so I don't dismiss Hunger Games and the Purge. 39:52 I think... 39:54 The massaging of the mindset... 39:55 They're reading sort of a debauch process 39:59 come from all these horror movies 40:01 and so on. 40:02 It appeals to people more than before. 40:05 You know, the strange thing about that if somebody who, 40:07 and we have this irrational mindset 40:10 that's accompanying a lot of the political dogma 40:12 that's infiltrating the church. 40:14 That's why I need to make this point very clearly 40:17 for those watching and listening to the program. 40:19 It is very relatively important for a Christian 40:22 to maintain connection with the Bible, 40:25 because the only book that can maintain sanity 40:27 about how a person's life should be. 40:29 You know, for example, love your neighbor as yourself. 40:32 You don't hear that being a spouse today. 40:35 If we had people that are, 40:37 "religious in their framework of their politics," 40:41 say, you know what? 40:42 We may not agree with our neighbor, 40:43 but love your neighbor as yourself. 40:45 By this shall all men know 40:47 that you're My disciples by your love for one another. 40:49 If we begin to espouse these principles, 40:51 then people will begin to say, you know, you're right. 40:53 I cannot treat my brother or my neighbor that way 40:56 regardless of his convictions religiously, 40:58 his race, his ethnic background, 41:00 his country of origin or his financial status. 41:03 These are the principles of Christianity 41:04 that makes liberty a significant important. 41:07 It's the foundation of it. 41:08 And I tried to incorporate that earlier too. 41:10 What we aiming at is not to get ourselves to heaven, 41:14 in going to heaven, take other people with us. 41:16 Take other people with us. 41:17 And the Bible's plain, 41:18 you know, it's loving your neighbor as yourself. 41:20 And if we ostracize people 41:22 because we disagree with the ideology, 41:24 I have good friends 41:25 that don't agree with me politically. 41:26 They don't agree with me doctrinally, 41:28 but we meet every week. 41:29 And we've talked together, we pray together, 41:30 we read the Bible together. 41:32 And in this way I'm able to 41:34 and they are able to express in their own lives. 41:37 You know, I say, okay, you pray today, 41:38 or you pray today? 41:40 And my good friends don't believe what I believe 41:42 and don't necessarily stand on the same political platform. 41:45 But we say 41:46 this was really moving statement 41:48 that the good friend of mine, 41:50 Senator, he's a Republican Senator. 41:52 He said, 41:54 "You know, it feels so good 41:55 to have a person like you in my corner 41:57 that I could turn to and have pray for, 41:58 pray with me." 42:00 We, this is the ideal of America. 42:02 We should disagree on things 42:04 that don't make us disagreeable. 42:06 But we should maintain 42:07 a condition of Christianity in that. 42:10 Something that we've already test 42:11 on this worth restating. 42:13 I believe it's long been true. 42:15 But now it's almost overwhelmingly true, 42:18 that as Christians, 42:20 perhaps closer 42:21 to the time of trouble than before 42:23 and with the kingdom beyond, 42:25 we need to have our minds fixed, 42:28 knowledgeable about God, 42:29 emotionally connected to God 42:31 and where the reality is not always clear. 42:38 This disinformation, ad nauseum floating around us. 42:42 There is, it's not just lying. 42:45 There's another reality being pushed on people 42:48 on YouTube and the other things, 42:49 you can even see a video. 42:51 It can be manufactured almost from nothing. 42:53 I can say what you didn't say. 42:55 And I believe sooner rather than later, 42:59 we're even going to see things like, for example, 43:03 this is a rough version of what's coming, 43:06 but they've been youth concerts 43:07 where Michael Jackson did, has danced on stage. 43:11 And from a distance, 43:13 they can't tell because it's a projection. 43:14 Hologram. 43:16 But I believe those things are increasing 43:18 so rapidly, 43:20 they'll be believable 43:21 unless you come literally detach it. 43:24 And so the deceptions are on every hand, 43:26 every hand 43:28 and then as well as that group psychology is being practiced. 43:31 And I hate to say it, but I'm not making this up. 43:34 I've read a number of times, 43:36 that some public figures not just at the moment, 43:39 in the last couple of decades. 43:40 They're studying the writings 43:43 of some of the master manipulators 43:44 of the 20th century. 43:46 You know, Goring, as stated, 43:48 is quoted quite a lot 43:50 about how you can deceive the masses and so on. 43:52 So this manipulation where you create an emergency, 43:56 disorient people, 43:57 then throw in something they would otherwise reject. 44:00 Right, it's called the Hegelian dialectic... 44:03 I didn't want to use the term... 44:04 Okay. 44:06 George Hegel, that's it. 44:08 I've used, I've told people about that before. 44:11 It's the ability to create three options. 44:16 You have the thesis, you have the antithesis, 44:20 and then you have the synthesis. 44:21 Try to say those words 10 times. 44:23 So here's my particular view, my thesis, 44:26 here's my antithesis opposed to my thesis. 44:29 And here's my synthesis. 44:30 I have your vote and I got your vote. 44:32 And we are, I mean, honestly, 44:35 if we think that any politician sits 44:36 in that powerful a seat, 44:38 and doesn't use some form of manipulation, 44:40 that's why it's important and I want to reiterate this, 44:43 it's important for Christians to hold a Bible 44:46 as the higher book of esteem above any political agenda. 44:50 Not that we should be silent 44:51 about issues that we don't support. 44:52 And we can pray, in fact, not can, 44:54 should pray for all the leaders. 44:56 We should be morally and spiritually supportive 45:01 of their potential to help the situation. 45:06 And now we have, 45:08 let's talk about briefly dominionism? 45:09 We talked about that briefly, 45:10 because this is something that's direct... 45:12 Well, it's an interesting. 45:13 Well, I mean, if people think 45:16 that the rise of Islamic fundamentalism 45:19 because of the stresses of modernization 45:21 in the Middle East is unique to that area, 45:23 they've missed something 45:24 because we've seen the same thing in the US. 45:27 You know, modernization is advancing 45:29 as quickly here as anywhere. 45:32 And so back, I'm not sure if it's the 60s or 70s... 45:35 In the 60s, yeah. 45:37 Yes, Rushdoony came up 45:40 and, of course, he was not in a vacuum 45:41 that was also the period 45:42 of Francis Schaffer and the L'Abri retreat 45:49 and the big formation of activism 45:52 against abortion and so on. 45:53 But Rushdoony developed a whimsical idea, 45:57 but turned to toxic 45:59 that maybe in this land of promise, this, 46:02 and this is the toxic thing in America, 46:04 in exceptional America 46:05 that sort of not bound by the norms, 46:07 because it's God's own country, 46:09 that here to really live up to the promise 46:11 we need to establish in this country 46:14 an Old Testament economy, 46:16 regulated and ruled by the norms and instructions 46:20 given under a theocracy in the Old Testament. 46:25 But he never made it clear who would speak for God. 46:29 But, you know, it's laid out very rigorous. 46:33 For example, they would be a little transitional period 46:38 I think was six months, but after that, 46:40 there would be mandatory death 46:41 for immoral behavior like adultery, 46:46 mandatory death for homosexuality, 46:49 and ominously for Adventist 46:51 mandatory death for Sabbath breaking, 46:54 in other words, not keeping Sunday worship. 46:57 And at first, 46:59 when a few non-believers or a cynics read that, 47:02 they're sort of crazy. 47:04 But he's plugged away and linked in 47:06 to this developing political stream 47:09 at first Protestantism, 47:11 and then a linkage with elements of Catholicism. 47:14 And I've noticed over the years, 47:17 his brother and his son-in-law rather Gary North 47:20 who's carried on the movement, 47:21 he's very often with the groups 47:23 that meet with the different presidents 47:24 in Washington. 47:26 So he has a voice, as some variant people say, 47:28 he has a seat at the table. 47:31 And it's developed that dominionism 47:33 is a pretty rigorous far out thing 47:35 for most people. 47:36 But it's morphed into not dominionism, 47:38 Christian reconstructionism. 47:40 It's morphed into dominionism, 47:42 which is sort of a light version. 47:44 That's right. 47:46 But it's a heavy application, as we said earlier, 47:49 of what is in the Bible 47:50 that God gave Adam custody of the animals. 47:55 He was to name them, used to tilt the garden. 47:57 He was the one 47:59 who was given the trust of this new creation. 48:01 But dominionism takes it to a more authoritarian level 48:06 where it's the direct ownership of the faithful, 48:10 and it just hit me in some ways 48:11 that sort of like John Calvin's privileged chosen. 48:17 But these people then have the right to order 48:20 the resources God gave it to them. 48:23 They will decide, 48:24 you know, what's mine and what's done here 48:26 that they're not so much caring for it, 48:28 as is the one that farms it out. 48:31 So it's the control of this country 48:34 by the elect, a Protestant view. 48:38 And this ideology, 48:40 now a lot of times 48:41 there may be those watching the program that said, 48:43 I've never heard that term before, dominionism. 48:45 Well, it actually pops up a lot in Christianity today, 48:48 for example, just any magazine like. 48:50 So when you hear religious leaders say, 48:52 it is our right to control the government, 48:54 the church should be the voice of America. 48:57 That is the aftermath. 48:59 That is the clarion call of dominionism. 49:02 And dominionists believe, 49:04 we could just do your homework. 49:06 Dominionists believe 49:07 that the only reason 49:08 for the existence of the Constitution 49:10 is to give the church complete control of the state. 49:12 And that's a reality, 49:14 that's an ideology that if you look at history, 49:15 and you know, and I know and if you've been watching, 49:18 when the church was in charge of the state, 49:20 take me back to the Dark Ages. 49:22 That's just a... That's a sample. 49:23 Well, where it falls down, 49:24 you know, the theocracy wasn't the democratic system. 49:28 God ruled directly in the sense 49:31 that He spoke transparently through Moses at first, 49:37 and then prophetic leaders, and it was clear, 49:40 but you know, under a modern day dominionism 49:42 I have to take on faith 49:44 that that leader now speaks for God 49:46 that they have any connection at all. 49:48 In fact, the chances are overwhelming, 49:50 that is someone 49:52 in their private view of religion and human nature 49:55 being what it is, 49:56 it morphs instantly 49:57 toward a religious dictatorship. 49:59 That's right. 50:01 So Revelation 13, 50:02 you know, astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson said, 50:04 and this is a term I... 50:06 When I heard this, I couldn't let it get by. 50:07 He says, "One of the dangers we face 50:09 is to know enough about a subject 50:11 to think you were right, 50:12 but not enough of that subject to know we're wrong." 50:15 I thought that was an amazing topic 50:16 because you have a lot of people 50:17 that are in that paradigm of religious thinking. 50:19 And they say, well, 50:21 this is what's best for you as a citizen. 50:22 Where do you see this all headed? 50:24 In the context of Revelation 13, 50:26 we know where the Bible told us, 50:27 but where do you see this great country headed? 50:32 Well, there's so many angles, 50:33 but I do believe there's going to be 50:35 a religious revival 50:38 that of a mixed type. 50:42 COVID, yet, it's amazing. 50:44 I haven't heard much of a call by any group, 50:48 to sort of prayer and fasting and repentance as a nation 50:52 and a move toward godliness. 50:54 But this type of thing, 50:57 in the degree that the Middle Ages saw, 50:59 were a sizable percentage of the population 51:01 is at risk of imminent death leads to huge introspection, 51:05 huge fanatical religious activity, 51:09 and many people going back to basics 51:11 and seeking the Lord. 51:13 So I think when that develops, 51:14 we will see people 51:17 rediscovering their true faith in God, 51:19 others being pulled toward recognizing 51:22 that God alone can save them. 51:24 And then also those who have a religious agenda 51:28 but not a true faith 51:29 trying to seize control and push their faith and other, 51:32 so it's a great dividing time 51:34 which, of course, the Bible speaks about, 51:35 but I think it's sociologically inevitable. 51:38 As, you know, as I say, in the Islamic world, 51:42 that's what's happening. 51:43 Islam has been reasserted in a way. 51:47 Remember, Islam has been like Catholicism, 51:49 they are born a Muslim, 51:51 they haven't all read the Quran 51:52 and mastered them 51:54 but you know, they've not internalized it. 51:56 So when the society comes under some stress, 52:00 people will turn back to their religion 52:01 and they find it in different ways. 52:03 And someone is fanatical 52:04 can quote the worst things to them 52:06 and rally the activists 52:08 and other people are going 52:11 to a more spiritual type of Islam. 52:14 And there's a war within the Islamic world, 52:15 I can tell you, 52:17 between those who are of personal faith 52:19 and those that want to use this as a fist 52:21 against society and against their enemies. 52:23 That will happen here in the Christian West. 52:27 But we've got a little further to go 52:29 to be reawakened 52:30 because we've been desensitized 52:31 by the whole secular movement, I think. 52:33 That's why I'm so glad for certain phrases. 52:36 And this is more than a phrase, Jesus said this word Himself. 52:40 In Matthew 24:14, 52:42 "In the midst of all of this quagmire, 52:43 in the midst of all this dust storm 52:45 of political, secular, social, economic, 52:50 protests, religious uncertainty, 52:52 financial instability. " 52:53 Jesus said, 52:54 "And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached 52:56 in all the world as a witness 52:57 to all nations and then the end will come." 53:00 If that text wasn't there, 53:01 I would say how is this going to wind up? 53:03 Is it going to happen? 53:05 Are we going to get to the point 53:06 of being able to do this? 53:07 Well, yes, 53:09 I think there's some moments of opportunity yet to come. 53:13 But, you know, I personally don't buy the idea 53:16 that some mythical moment when everybody will know. 53:18 People are coming and going now. 53:20 And I think 53:21 in the satisfactory sense already, 53:24 the knowledge of Christ has gone to the known world 53:27 several times over went in one lifetime, 53:30 and with the media now, 53:32 you know, there could be a moment of test 53:34 when true call could sort of flesh out. 53:38 And I hope that will happen. 53:39 But basically, 53:41 we have to work out our own salvation and witness. 53:43 And Jesus said, remember, He said, 53:45 you know, it's not given to you that know these seasons, 53:47 not given, you know, feel survived. 53:49 How it all works out, the dynamics of it. 53:53 It says, God's not willing that any should perish. 53:56 But I think it's abundantly obvious 53:58 that we're at the end point. 54:00 That's the real point. 54:02 And the US founded on great principles 54:04 also is arriving at its endpoint 54:06 for this experiment. 54:08 It could morph into a second promise, 54:10 but very likely like Rome, 54:13 when you're financially, and morally, 54:16 and societally dissipated, 54:17 then, you know, the dragon comes at that point. 54:21 You know, I want to make sure 54:22 that our listening and viewing audience 54:24 has information that they need to get in touch 54:26 with Lincoln Steed. 54:27 You know, Liberty Magazine is something 54:29 that you can make available to your local thought leaders, 54:32 whether congressional, whether political, 54:35 if somebody in your community 54:36 or in the broader effect of your influence 54:40 needs to make decisions about your tomorrow, 54:43 Liberty Magazine, 54:45 Liberty Insider is one that you should have. 54:47 And LibertyMagazine.org 54:49 is where you can go to find out more information, 54:51 you can find out older editions 54:55 and many of the issues that we just touched on today. 54:57 Back into the 70s even. 54:58 Way back into the 70s, Liberty magazine... 55:00 That's when we started electronic type. 55:02 We can't go further back than that. 55:03 You can't go back further than that. 55:04 But I think that's... 55:06 If there's ever a time 55:07 that political leaders need to read this magazine, 55:10 you can do your part 55:11 and you don't have to say to them, 55:12 well, here's what you need to pay for it. 55:14 Make it a gift to your local congressman, 55:16 to your local senator, to your local mayor, 55:18 and educate those who are in the position 55:21 to impact your future. 55:23 Few thoughts as we wind up this hour, 55:24 these two hours. 55:26 What an hour, we covered quite a bit of things. 55:27 I know it goes quick. 55:28 Yes, it goes very quickly. 55:30 What can you say 55:31 to those who are listening and watching this program? 55:32 Well, I used to listen to HMS Richards, 55:36 a great radio ministry 55:38 of the Seventh-day Adventist Church 55:40 and at the end in a mellifluous voice 55:41 which neither you nor I know. 55:43 Now, you have more than me. 55:45 He would say, "Have faith in God, 55:46 dear friend, have faith." 55:48 We do need to see that amid the storms 55:51 God is protecting and in a limited way 55:54 because He's trying to prove a point 55:56 that evil is working its way up, 55:57 but God is guiding events. 55:59 And I was speaking to D. James Kennedy, 56:02 as I mentioned earlier, 56:04 and we spoke at great length in his office and he told me, 56:06 he says, "I used to believe in the secret rapture." 56:09 But he says, "I don't anymore, 56:10 he says, because under that God does not clearly win." 56:13 And God needs to be clearly seen to win. 56:17 And out of this chaos, 56:18 I believe God will be seen to be victorious, 56:22 goodness will triumph 56:24 and a new eternal kingdom, 56:25 not a reborn America, 56:27 but a reborn mankind and an Eden will appear. 56:30 Well, I'll end the program with this thought. 56:32 Isaiah 46:9-10, 56:34 "Remember the former things of old, 56:36 for I am God and there is no other, 56:38 I am God and there is none like me, 56:40 declaring the end from the beginning 56:42 and from ancient times, 56:44 things that are not yet done, 56:46 saying, I will do all my counsel." 56:48 You know, thank you so much, Lincoln. 56:50 It's always good to have you here. 56:51 Always great to have you here. 56:53 And, friends, we're praying that this time of the year, 56:55 this July 4th will bring you a liberty in Christ 56:58 that you have never known before. 57:00 Continue praying for us, 57:02 and we look forward to seeing you again. 57:04 God bless you. |
Revised 2020-07-23