Suspect in White House Correspondent's dinner shooting faces three charges
: Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis: I love talking about the things of God because of truth and the biblical worldview, the U.S. constitution obligates our government to preserve and protect. The rights that our founders recognize come from God, our creator, not our government. I believe that scripture in the Bible is very clear that God is the one that raised up each of you, and God has allowed us to be brought here to this specific moment in time.
: This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna Ellis: Good morning. It is Tuesday, April 28, and the suspect in the White House Correspondent's dinner shooting faces three charges in his first court appearance. So he was charged with attempting to assassinate the President of the United States, as well as for transporting and discharging a firearm. So he made that first appearance yesterday, and it was a really good thing, in my opinion, that the DOJ didn't waste any time and just, went ahead with those full charges. So we'll continue to talk about that as we get more information and of course, talking about, the nature of political violence.
The Supreme Court struck down a lower court block on Texas redistricting
But first, in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis unveils new congressional map that would give the GOP an extra four seats. And so, of course, the Democrats are suggesting that this is gerrymandering, this is stacking the deck, but really, this isn't a response to Virginia. This is a response to Biden's 2020 census and actually looking at what the map should look like, especially after so many Floridians moved, to Florida in, in 2020 because of, Covid and, you know, so many other things. And of course, Governor DeSantis leadership. And meanwhile, the Supreme Court hands the GOP a redistricting win by striking down a lower court block on the Texas map. So three liberal justices, of course, dissented after criticizing the majority in December for its, quote, eagerness to play act a district court in, Texas. This coming from Fox News. So the Supreme Court handed down a victory for the Republican Party yesterday, striking down a lower courts ruling that had blocked Texas's plan for redrawing its congressional districts. The court hung its order on a reasoning from a previous ruling, but, did not elaborate. So, of course Sotomayor, Kagan and Jackson dissented. not surprising because unfortunately, the court, at least to the liberal justices, looks at this like playing politics instead of actually drawing district maps according to actual representation and having Congress reflect, the electorate. So let's welcome in Beau French, who is from Texas and is in fact the Texas, railroad commissioner candidate. And, Bo, this is a great win for Texas, I think, overall. And, especially with what the Democrats are trying to do, which is a power grab in Virginia for sure.
Ryan Helenbein: Jenna, good morning. Great to be here. Thank you so much for having me. Yeah, this is really. I mean, this is a huge deal, really, not just for Texas, but for the nation. Right. I mean, Democrats have been gerrymandering their states, you know, the blue states, for decades. And this is why, you know, Republicans, frankly, have had trouble maintaining or even winning, a majority in Congress, because so many of these blue states who have, you know, 30 or 40% of their citizens are Republicans, but yet have zero Republican congressional districts. And so, you know, they have clearly violated what they hold up as the reason for, you know, trying to fight Texas on, you know, calling it racial gerrymandering or whatever. But the reality is, it's just always been about power for them. And so Texas has decided it's time we, redo our districts to more reflect the red state that we are. We still actually. We could have gotten rid of all of the Democrat districts if we had wanted to, of course. but we didn't. We still have a few. And so, but, you know, that. That's not good for the left, because, of course, it's all about power. so thank goodness Texas has done this. Thank goodness the Supreme Court ruled properly on this. And now, other states could follow suit, like Florida, as you mentioned. So this is a win for the entire country because hopefully we'll get to a point where, you know, we can. The Republican conservative majority in this country can get back to controlling Congress on a regular basis.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And so why did it take red states like Texas and even Florida this long to recognize that the district's maps in the red states needed to be redrawn and we needed to answer the left's, actual gerrymandering.
Ryan Helenbein: Well, I mean, I probably have an unpopular take among Republicans, but it's because Republicans are just weak and spineless most of the time they are given power. They don't wield their power. They don't wield their power when they are in office the way that Democrats wield their power. And, you know, that doesn't mean we should violate the law, obviously, but it does mean when we have power, we should exercise it and do things that protect, protect our position in office, protect our majorities. this is what Democrats do when they're in office. So, I think it's about time that someone took the lead on this. I'm very very happy with Governor Abbott on this, taking the lead and pushing for this. I know the Trump White House was also very much for it. And so this is again, just a great win for the United States.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, absolutely. And so, with this win at the Supreme Court, how did this, how does this actually change Texas's map then? And how can this potentially, regardless of, you know, the controversy still going on in Florida, Virginia and a couple of other states, how does this change the congressional map for the 2026 midterm?
Ryan Helenbein: Yeah, so, I mean, it's going to shift at five seats in favor of, Republicans. We went from 25 Republicans and 13 Democrat seats to now 30 Republicans and eight Democrat seats. so again, we still, we're still going to have eight seats, you know, potentially nine. I mean, depending on how these midterms go. It's not, you know, it doesn't make it impossible for a Democrat to win one of these seats, one of these new seats, but they are Republican majorities based on, you know, the last election cycle. And so, you know, it's not written in stone that they're going to be that way forever. And as, you know, with demographic change, with, you know, populations moving around the country and, you know, people m. Moving to Texas. I mean, Texas is one of the best places to live in the country. And so people are moving here in droves. so that's going to alter these, these maps at some point. So, you know, for this midterm election, it looks like, we're going to have 30 Republicans and eight Democrats.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And you know, that's a really good point that even though this is redrawn and these districts reflect, over the electorate that is, more Republican, which is reflective, of Texas. And that's the same thing that we're trying to do here in Florida. That's not a guarantee necessarily that a Republican will win all of those seats. And so I could, of course see the, the Democrats kind of, ah, rallying and trying of course, to invest a lot of money in these new seats, to flip at least a couple of them Democrat, at least with the map, how it's drawn currently in Texas and these, these five new seats, how likely do you think that is that Democrats, may take, one or more of those seats? Or, you know, are they pretty solidly, hopefully Republican?
Ryan Helenbein: Well, again, it depends on two things really. One is just sort of where are we in November? You know, what, what. Where are we as a As a country, what does the Trump administration accomplished? you know, are some of the things that have happened that, you know, some people on the right are upset about, have those been resolved? you know, like high gas prices, for instance, or, you know, this, Iranian war that some people are upset about. So, you know, it depends on really where we are. And of course, those two things are related, by the way. But, if we're, if those things have been resolved and, you know, the economy continues to improve and more people have been, deported from our country, and crime continues to, you know, continue on a downward trajectory, I think for, you know, a lot of the reasons that Donald Trump was elected will excite Republicans. They'll get out to the polls. but also here in Texas, we have a contested. We'll have a contested Senate race. prediction markets suggest that Ken Paxton is going to win the Republican nomination, and then he'll go against James Talarico, and the Democrats will do with him what they did in 2018 when Beto O' Rourke was running for Senate, and they will pour, you know, at least $100 million, maybe some. Some estimates as high as $200 million in trying to, you know, organize and activate Democrats in Texas. So that also could play a role in these congressional seats, these new congressional seats, because there'll be so much money spent by Democrats trying to flip the entire state that it could also affect some of these new congressional districts. but I personally, I feel pretty good about where we are, and the trajectory we're on. I think we're headed in the right direction, and I think, you know, nationally will be in good shape, and, we have some very strong candidates on the Republican side running in these congressional districts. So I feel very good about. About where we are and our chances of picking up all five of those seats.
Jenna Ellis: That's good. And that's encouraging to hear, especially, when we look at, you know, what the Democrat response will be. And it's, I mean, when people actually look at the numbers of how much money is spent in these races, I mean, this isn't just, you know, kind of the days of old where, the, you know, the local person decided he wanted, you know, wants to run for office and become a statesman, actually serve their country. I mean, you know, there's so much that is spent politically in terms of capital on all of these races just, to attain power, really. And, it's. It's. It's almost come to a point, I think Beau French, that We really need to, recalculate whether, politics in this country and the nature of what the founders envisioned for citizen representation. I mean, we elect among ourselves if the system now accurately reflects the intention of a representative government. Because in so many ways, with how professional politics has become m. and how much money goes into this, it's not, in my opinion, it's not at all what the Founders designed.
One of the things that would be very unpopular would be returning to state senators
I mean, it's not necessarily, unpredictable, obviously, of how things naturally evolve. But I wonder if there are some, ways that the law should potentially look at this. I mean, you know, everyone talks about, you know, campaign finance reforms, you know, some of these other things. And are those things, you think necessarily the solutions, or is this just, you know, kind of politics as it is in 2026?
Ryan Helenbein: Well, I mean, you're right. I think many things in our country don't reflect what the Founders envisioned. and as a conservative, I would argue most things don't. But, specifically to this issue, I think one of the things that we could actually do that would be very unpopular would be go back to state legislatures selecting their senators. And, you know, that is something that really shifted the balance of power from the states. Really, the electorate in those states really being in charge of selecting who goes to Washington, D.C. to represent the state and made it where, those elections, you know, so much national attention can be focused on those races and so much money can come in and influence those races. I mean, we've seen, you know, just the. Just the Senate primary here in Texas, which was March 3, now headed to a runoff because there were three candidates in that race. But, you know, Senator Jon Cornyn and his camp spent over $100 million just in that primary, when, of course, they could have been spending money in states like Virginia and doing things like that to help Republicans elsewhere. they really, So much of this money is directed by, you know, a Washington, D.C. focused, group of, folks which is really, I think, hurting the country. And so if we could get back to the states legislatures, selecting our senators, I think that would be one of the single best things we could do for our country.
Jenna Ellis: I absolutely agree. And of course you're talking about, repealing the 17th Amendment. And that's one of the biggest, things that I've also been advocating for. I would love to see the 16th, you know, lumped there in terms of repealing as well, so that we don't give the federal government the power to just spend at will and ad nauseam. but there are a lot of ways historically that we have modified our Constitution, in ways that obviously the founders didn't intend. They intended to allow us to amend the Constitution, but we needed to be a little more careful in terms of not just undermining the whole system through the amendments process. So this is why I've been, a big advocate for the Convention of States project. Governor DeSantis also has toured the country over the last several years, wanting to, also have, you know, some of these constitutional, amendments that would, likewise, you know, kind of bring, a better balance back and give and return power back to the state states. as you know, the 9th and 10th amendment, clearly show.
Beau French says the national Republican National Committee is wasting money on contested races
And so one last question before I let you go, Beau. French and I really appreciate your commentary this morning. So when we look at, you know, the state of, where funds are being, expended, you mentioned how much money, you know, Cornyn is spending, and all of this that could have been spent elsewhere, like in Virginia. What about the national rnc? Because, of course, you know, when I was working for, for Trump and Ronna McDaniel was the head of the RNC, everybody was so frustrated at the expenditures of the national rnc. I don't think it's gotten much better, with now Joe Gerders in charge of the rnc. personally, I've, I've never liked him. He's from Florida. He's not well liked among conservatives in Florida. But how do you think that the national RNC is doing in terms of its priorities for expenditures?
Ryan Helenbein: Yeah, I think I kind of fall in the same camp as most of just your average Republican voter who really see the RNC as, just in a way, kind of useless. I mean, what do they really do? What do they even really spend their money on? Because no one really seems to see any measurable difference in what they're doing. I mean, I've said for a long time the Democrats appear so much more organized than Republicans because they, of course, as we have discovered, have, you know, utilized taxpayer dollars to their benefit, you know, funding themselves essentially through, you know, all kinds of NGO fraud, and funding people all the way down to, you know, their street soldiers and their door knockers. and so Republicans, obviously, we don't lie, cheat and steal like that. So we don't do that. And so therefore, Republicans, I think, are just viewed because we don't have that kind of organization, albeit illegal, that what the Democrats do, because we don't have that kind of organization. We're just. The Republican Party is viewed as almost an enemy to conservatives. And so I don't know how we change that. I think, you know, just getting actual conservatives elected into all these positions and then, you know, it just, that's the only way we're going to save this country.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. So well said. And we got to take a break here, but, Beau French, I couldn't agree more because it seems, really frustrating that for a lot of conservatives it always seems like we're voting for the lesser of two evils and we'll turn out because, you know, we don't want the Democrats to get back in power or turn out because, you know, look at how bad James Talarico is, you know, comparatively. and I personally hope that Ken, ah, Paxton, wins the contested race because if I was a Texan, I'd much rather vote for Ken Paxton and then Jon Cornyn. But, you know, but a lot of these races, it's really frustrating and I completely agree with you that the national RNC has so much money, but isn't really spending it on the priorities that actually make a difference and raising up truly conservative candidates instead of people that will just literally toe the party line, which seems like doing nothing and getting no business done in Washington and elsewhere. So, it's, it's a long term project, but, hopefully we can get some things done. And we'll be right back with more.
: welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jen Standing: Question about rhetoric and political violence following White House shooting
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. Well, in light of, the White House correspondents dinner, shooting and the third that we know of, assassination attempt on President Trump's life and apparently the shooter, according to his manifestation manifesto, was intending to target other members of the Trump administration and others that were attending that dinner. the question now naturally, arises yet again the question about rhetoric in this country and political violence. And we talked about this quite extensively after Charlie Kirk's assassination and it seems like, really the left has not, has intentionally not learned their lesson because, and here's the bottom line. I don't think that the left actually intends to stop their rhetoric because while they claim, and people like Hakeem Jeffries and Chuck Schumer and you know, the leaders of the Democrat Party, I'm not talking about, you know, the random commenters on social media who, you know, clearly need to have their worldview influenced by biblical values and truth, but the leaders and the influencers of the left, they will say in the immediate aftermath, oh, we condemn all Political violence. And they say, you know, the talking points that they're supposed to, but they don't change anything. And I think it's because they actually want political violence to escalate. Now, they're not allowed to admit that in public. They're not allowed to say that, but they're basically saying it as openly as they can without directly saying it. Because Hakeem Jeffries was even asked about, some of his other statements. And, and one of his statements saying that maximum warfare, quote, unquote, should be, should be targeted against Republicans and we need to take this to the streets and whether, he wanted to walk that back. And he basically said, I don't give a blank about your criticism. And in fact, we have that cut. This is cut, too, as it
Ryan Helenbein: relates to anything that has been said, certainly as it relates to the comment related to maximum warfare everywhere, all the time, in connection with the redistricting battle that Republicans launched. I stand by it. You can continue to criticize me for it. I don't give a. About your criticism.
Jenna Ellis: So, I mean, he's literally saying, I'm going to continue making these types of comments. I don't care how people take them. I don't care about the fact that, people who are following this and who hear the comments about how, you know, Trump is a threat to democracy. He's a, you know, people calling him the racist pedophile, I mean, all of these, you know, ridiculous terms, but that have meaning and shape the view of people who are listening, especially people who are listening to the media, this is intentional. And as political violence is escalating, I mean, we've seen the response to this assassination attempt against President Trump with a lot of people on social media, you know, and elsewhere, suggesting that, well, you know, he is a threat to democracy, so why should we care whether he's safe or not? And in this country, to be at the level that the leaders of this party are suggesting that they're not going to tone down this rhetoric. They don't care how it influences their base or the, these individuals, like this shooter, who clearly was influenced by this rhetoric, because he basically said similar things in his manifesto that we hear, you know, on the leftist media all the time. They want the political violence to escalate. And that is a facet of their worldview that does not care about the sanctity of human life, does not care about a, a, well ordered, moral, upright republic. They are just concerned about power. And they have told us that very clearly that they're going to do whatever it takes and basically take out anyone who's in their way. So what does this mean for the conservative and the Christian response? Well, let's welcome in Rhyen Helfenbein, who is the Vice President of Communications and Public engagement at Liberty University and the founding executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center. And Rhyen, I know that you, like, like I do, address these questions all the time about not just the political rhetoric, but the underlying worldview that gets people to the point that they're willing to openly suggest really that political violence is okay if it justifies their position. And that's what I see the, the the Democrat party doing in a way that is really, really dangerous for the future of civil society.
Ryan Helfenbein: Jen, I could not have framed this any better. I mean the way you just stated that was perfect.
Ryan Swift: The political system in America is fundamentally broken
And so on point, you know what we're dealing today, of course there is a political problem in America. The political system seems fundamentally broken, but really it cannot be fixed politically. I think as much as we are going to try and engage politically, we're not going to give up politically. we're not going to lose all hope politically. but we know that the first and foremost, our biggest problem, is spiritual. It's a spiritual problem. And we've been at war against nature and we've been at war with God since Genesis chapter three. Fundamentally all of human. The human problem is contained within the question of what's wrong with us. And what's wrong with us is sin. and it's sin we chose. God didn't do this to us, we did this to ourselves. and when you look at the political problem today, where you see this violence, violence largely on the left, this, this kind of idea of, you know, equivocation, that both sides have their problems, so on and so forth. Well, yes, there is a universal problem, but no, there's no proportionality here. It's very asymmetrical. It is very one sided. If we were to put a scale together of violence and violent rhetoric and people trying to carry out violent actions, assassinating and murdering, and even using forms of intimidation, it's overwhelmingly stacked on the left. The left controls those machines when it comes to political influence in the media and so on and so forth. But start with what you just said earlier. Anyone who begins with this idea politically that their fundamental right is the right to murder their own baby, if you can start there, if you can dehumanize the womb, if you can Take what is your child and kill that child. You can justify the killing of anyone, especially anyone you hate, anyone you have opposition of, anyone you might fear, even if that fear is irrational. It doesn't matter. the fear can be totally irrational. But if you look at a person and you've already dehumanized the womb, the babies, ah, those that are most vulnerable among us, certainly you can kill and justify the killing of anyone. And that is exactly what the left has done. I'll add to that the war on nature and the war on the self. The transgender movement is this idea that we can have split identities even though we are in our own bodies, and that God has made us in his image, male and female. There are no mistakes with God. Biologically, if you're male, then God has intended you to be male. If, biologically you're a female, God has intended you to be female. There are people at war with nature. They're at war with self. And if they're willing to cut up and split up the self, just imagine what kind of violence they would do to someone else. I remember what Paul said, for no one hated his own body. a rational person that can be said of that is true, that we certainly want to safeguard and protect our bodies. But the evil we see perpetrated in the world today, especially in the west, is this idea that you can commit war on your own self and come up with your own self identity. And, that is why we're seeing such violence today. that is why it is so easy, I think, for violence to be perpetrated on the left because it's so unhinged, untethered from reality. So this is a spiritual condition. It's manifesting itself politically. and we know that what America needs more than anything is revival. America needs faith. America needs to repent, to call upon the name of the Lord and to put their faith and trust in Jesus Christ. That's what's needed for this moment.
Jenna Ellis: Amen and amen. Preach it, Rhyen. Because, you know, most of what I've seen, and the natural commentary, of course, from the godless populace in response to this is, you know, how, of course they're condemning the political violence on the right, but their solution is, well, what about more security? And what about, you know, the Presidential ballroom, which, by the way, I'm all for. I think that's a great solution, you know, but they're looking more at the outside restraints. They're looking more at, well, you know, our justice system. If there were more Swift, you know, executions of people who committed, these, these heinous, murders. You know, we're not, we're talking about the violence across the country that's just so senseless, or the swift justice for people who carry out assassination attempts against, ah, presidents, then, you know, that would provide a measure of deterrence. And yes, that's, that's true, but it's not getting to the heart of the issue. I mean, just like how the conservative movement for so long has rightly been trying to, outlaw abortions and say, yes, our civil government should not, permit this atrocity. The law itself was never intended to be the only type of moral restraint because it doesn't do. The civil government can't possibly do the thing that the church and the family are actually vested with, which is to teach the underlying worldview and to address the spiritual condition of the nation. And so when we turn as a country from God and when the Republican Party becomes kind of godless populace and we make politics a religion, we expect politics then and law and civil government and those leaders to address the spiritual issues that they're frankly just not capable of. But the church has largely abdicated that because the church is no longer willing to not only engage in politics, but engage in the very thing that it's required to do biblically, which is to call out sin and to, and to say this is the measurable difference between right and wrong, good and evil. And if you are at the moral state that you don't recognize that all life is sacred and made in the image of God and every human being has inherent dignity and worth, then the church is not doing its job. And no wonder society is looking at the outward restraint instead of the spiritual condition. And so where is the church in all of this? And the solution to the moral problem and the moral decay has to come from truth and from getting back to being an actually moral and upright society. And when our founders talked about that, they weren't talking just about civil law. They were talking about the state of the human heart.
Ryan Helfenbein: Yeah. So well said. Truth is there. The truth is undeniable. when you think about the truth of God's word, the grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of God stands forever. But truth requires courage. It requires someone to say it. Faith comes from hearing and hearing, hearing by the word of God. It means that we have a responsibility to tell the truth, to say the truth.
Jen: I think the biggest problem that defines the church today is luxury beliefs
I think the biggest problem that defines the church today, and honestly, Jen, I think it defines the left Today is the idea of luxury beliefs. And when I say luxury beliefs, I don't necessarily think that the church has wacky do, luxury beliefs. But I do believe that there are many in the church today, the evangelical church today, that want to stand apart from what's happening in the world. And rather than talking and leaning into it, would rather create safe distance from these issues. And so they're afraid to talk about, for example, the LGBT movement or afraid to talk about the social justice movement, or afraid to talk about radical feminism, largely because it calls them to a certain measure of accountability for those words. And they don't want to do it. That is completely unhinged. Their distance, their luxury beliefs, is, you can do exactly what you want to do. There is no accountability. You can abort your child, you can cut up your own body and destroy it. You can pursue socialism, with unlimited access to government money. It will never run out. There's no responsibility or accountability whatsoever. The left has luxury beliefs, but I think, too, that the church does today. It wants to create a safe distance from the world of politics, largely because. Largely because they don't want the mess or the fight. But the church is the only thing that's going to fix this broken political system because it's going to call this nation to repentance.
Jenna Ellis: Oh, so well said. And we have to take a break here, but this is the perfect pivot point to what I want to talk about next. Rhyen Helfenbein, he's going to stay with us through the break, because when you're talking about luxury beliefs and kind of this distance and this maybe cognitive dissonance that the church justifies not speaking on issues that are controversial, that may offend some people, may, you know, not, have their membership up to, you know, the big mega church that they want to be, that's what the church is also doing when it comes to sin. And that's what we're going to talk about when we come back with Rhyen Helfenbein. such a good conversation. And follow him in the break on X at RL Helfenbein. And you can also follow Liberty University and the Standing for Freedom Center. But we will be right back. Foreign
Ryan Helenbein: welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Ryan Helfenbein discusses cognitive dissonance over political violence
Jenna Ellis: Welcome back. I'm still here with my special guest this morning, Rhyen Helfenbein, who is the vice president of communications at Liberty University and the founding executive director of the Standing for Freedom Center. And we've been talking about the Rise of political violence, the rhetoric that the left uses. But the overall problem m being the fundamental worldview of the left and even those on the right who are godless and who are not viewing the world through the lens of truth and do not have as their firm foundation the God of the Bible and morality that is rooted in the truth of the person of God, of Jesus Christ. And so then, if that is not your worldview and how you see reality, therefore, that informs your understanding of the world around you, your understanding of a legitimate civil government, how we are supposed to operate and interact with each other, then your worldview will be off. And you will ultimately then end up justifying sin. You will end up justifying evil. And so Rhyen, made a really excellent point right before the break that the church, often, for many reasons, mainly just being spineless and not actually doing the work that they are called to do, which is teach the truth of the word of God. and all scripture, as we know, is given by inspiration of God. It's profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Why? So the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. We can't just love God, but not have a knowledge of God and a knowledge of how we are to live. If the church isn't teaching that, and the church is not engaging in the issues of our day and telling us how God says that we ought to live and think, then we will inevitably not live and think according to how God wants. And one of the, the contests or, arguments that, arose on social media, was over the last week. And this was, you know, well before the, the latest assassination attempt of President Trump was from Wriley Gaines, who is a Christian. And, I've had her on the program. you know, I think she does a great job in representing, why women should be the only ones in women's sports. she posted God hates sin, not the sinner. Okay, we heard. We hear this cliche all the time. But you want to talk about cognitive dissonance? This has become such a cliche where, the, the church and even the Christian can separate and have distance between the person, the evildoer, and the action of the sin itself. And so I responded, and this is what everybody, you know, kind of, couldn't believe, you know. And it was like this. This, prompted maybe, hopefully a change in their thinking. But I said, this is a cute cliche that is not found anywhere in Scripture. God pours out his wrath upon sinners and the Bible says in Psalm 55, and of course elsewhere in the NewSong Testament as well, the boastful shall not stand before your eyes. You hate all evildoers. God doesn't just hate the evil, he hates the evildoer because they have rejected him in truth. I mean, even Jesus himself in the Olivet discourse in Matthew 24:25, talks about the eternal judgment and, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire. He declares that evildoers, not just the act and separating the act from the actor, evildoers, are separated from God and condemned, not merely just a condemnation of their actions. And this is important, I think, Rhyen, because we are seeing that same sort of cognitive dissonance in our approach to our judicial system, where even in the example of, you know, everyone getting off for, for mental health issues and, you know, other things, it's like, we don't want to say this person is evil because of their evil action. They are an evildoer because they have committed atrocities, they've committed murder. like the. The man who, killed that young woman on the train for absolutely no reason in North Carolina, he is an evildoer. But it's like there is this cognitive, cognitive dissonance and separation from the evil act and the evildoer. And Christians don't want to say that people are evildoers when they have not been regenerated and come into a saving knowledge of the truth and been forgiven of their sins. And, and this, I think, is a pivotal theological point, because if we just say sort of flippantly, well, God hates sin, but not the sinner, then we're missing a huge critical point of addressing evil in our society
Ryan Helfenbein: that is so well said and it is absolutely on point. And just looking at where we are as a just society, in determining the distance, you know, the difference between right and wrong, good and evil, today, when you look at culture today, largely, Hollywood likes to depict now the tragic, the fallen hero, the transgressor. And in fact, oftentimes what is depicted in Hollywood is the transgressor is the one, you know, the unhinged, broken, sort of fallen man or woman, the one who, in winning in many ways, is the personification of evil. It requires evil to combat evil. You need a transgressor. You need somebody like that to go out there and to fight the battle and ultimately to win. Because good people lose, nice people lose. Good is ultimately a loser ideology. It is a losing ideology. And so that manifests itself too, in the way that, Evil is not held accountable. The Carlos Brown, completely unhinged, of course, and cannot. Is deemed by the court not being able to stand trial in the murder of Irina Zyrutska, I believe a Ukrainian immigrant to the United States. But this poor girl, her life was taken before our eyes. We saw it on camera. And he walked away, blood on his hands, said some kind of epithet, racial epithet, against her as he walked away. He clearly knew what he was doing. But we have so conditioned, our society to call evil a mental health condition. Well, certainly it manifests itself in the most outrageous, the most vile, the most insane forms of violence. But isn't that what evil is? And so evil can't even stand trial because, it's deemed to not have the capacity to do so. we need to get back to a Christian understanding of the moral order, a Christian understanding of justice, A, justice that actually is not blind, even though in our judicial system, lady justice has a blindfold. God's not blind to justice. He sees all. He knows the thoughts and intentions of our heart. In Genesis 6, it's very clear that God regrettably knew that the thoughts and the intentions, what was on the heart of man was evil all day long. That's why he brought about judgment. And so, no, he wasn't just bringing the floodwaters to judge the sin and not the sinner. No, he judged both. And in the end, and Jesus warns us of this, he's going to return and he's going to judge the earth then by fire. In Matthew chapter 7, the same passage where many people misquote or take out a context. Judge not, lest ye be judge. He talks to the very prophets that invoke God's name and doing good works, casting out demons. And he says, depart from me, you workers of iniquity. I never knew you. And that is a terrifying passage, but it's sobering and it's so needed today. We need a justice system that mirrors God's justice. We need a justice system that mirrors God's goodness when it comes to evil. And I think that what is ironic too, Jenna, is that as we have a society that tries to oftentimes rehabilitate, you know, and coddle evil. If we had the kind of system that would judge it and make it definitive and obvious and honestly, would have more capital crimes for murder. Capital capital punishment, I should say, for capital crimes of murder. If we had more of that, I think you would see a society that, exhibited the kind of morality, exhibited the kind of goodness, the kind of fair, and equal treatment of all men and women, born and unborn, made in God's image, we would see that exhibited and modeled in society because we had justice. I think that's what's needed. and so this violence we're seeing on the left, this, this trend is again, it's a society that's unhinged and untethered from truth, from justice and moral accountability. Words matter, actions matter. God will not hold us guiltless. And I think we need to get back to that kind of message both in the church and in our political system.
Jenna Ellis: Absolutely.
The wrath of God remains on every human being unless and until redemption occurs
And because this is such a sobering thought, that we positionally, when we are born and unless and until, we become saved and enter into, and receive the redemptive work of Christ, that is, the covering, and is ultimately the propitiation is the theological term for sin and that Christ took it upon himself. So now we are blameless. Unless and until that happens, the wrath of God remains on every human being unless and until removed by redemption through the finished work of Christ. And this is where the urgency of the gospel, ah, really needs. The church has to focus and reclaim that urgency. Because this isn't just about a moral and upright society. This is about the, the very nature of God's wrath on humanity and on the individual who will be judged according to their evil and not just, not just the sin being judged. Sinners themselves are judged and assigned a fate. We see that you mentioned when Jesus says, depart from me, you cursed into the eternal fire in the final judgment. And in Revelation 20 it says, the dead are judged according to what they have done, anyone not in the book of life. So anyone who has not received the redemptive work of Christ are thrown into the lake of fire in Revelation 21. But as for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable, their portion will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death. I mean this, this is real. And in Jon 3:36, whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. And this is what so many Christians want to admit when they just say, well, God loves everyone, you know, for God so loved the world. And they forget that, yes, God loves us enough, that even while we were yet dead in our trespasses, while his wrath is still on us, he gave us a way out, but the wrath still remains unless and until removed by the redemptive work of Christ. And so this is where, if we don't understand the urgency of the gospel and the transformative work of the truth, then the wrath of God is still today remains on, those who do not claim Christ as Lord and Savior. And that is the. The essence of the problem with the violence that we see in this country. And I think we're going to try to get Rhyen back. but that's the essence of why the urgency of the gospel is so important for Christians and for the church to understand. Because this isn't just about saying, well, let's restrain and let's, you know, have justice and let's try to understand why people commit these atrocities. I mean, people, humanity. We are born into sin, into Adam. We have. We cannot do any good in and of ourselves now can we, can we, have some good in terms of, you know, the Bible acknowledges that a loving father gives his child a loaf of bread, not a snake. Right? I mean, obviously people can do objectively good things, but they themselves are objectively evil doers. And the wrath remains unless and until removed by redemption through the finished work of Christ. And Rhyen, you're back. So, real quickly before, we have to end the program.
You say there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ
Your thoughts?
Ryan Helfenbein: You know, I love what you said, and it's so important people remember there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ. And so we have the promise in Scripture that for those of us who are found in Christ, Christ has died and paid for our sins already. We are reconciled as sinners to a holy God who loves us. So when Christ pays for our sins, he ultimately makes those sins atoned for that we have ultimately been justified, and we receive the ultimate reward of our justification. We become sons and daughters of God. We can call him Father. And the promise of scripture is I will remember their sins no more. And, so I want to give that affirmation even as we close and just affirm what you said. It is so important that we know the gospel and the truth that sets us free.
Jenna Ellis: Amen. And this is the call for every Christian. This is the urgency of the gospel, that those who are still dead in Christ, the only, without Christ, the only, only solution is to come into a saving knowledge of the Lord. That is the solution to evil. It is the solution to sin. It's the only solution, really, to save this country. And as always, you can reach me and my team jennafr.net.
