Sponsor Thanks and Introduction to Pro-Life Values and Constitutional Rights
Jenna Ellis We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time, she will choose life. But she can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside her. One ultrasound is just $28, and to donate, dial £250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com afr
Jenna Ellis Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Rad
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.
Midterm Elections, Christmas Season, and Christian Voting Resources
Jenna Ellis This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna Ellis Good morning. It is Friday, October 30th, and so the midterms are, of course, next week on Tuesday. And that's all that pretty much anyone is talking about other than decorating for Christmas. If you are like me, November 1st, which is my birthday, is the official start of the Christmas season. And the season includes the holiday of Thanksgiving. It includes, you know, everything from November, first all the way, to, January 6th, which I think is epiphany. So, you know, I love to celebrate the entire, Christmas season and get as much out of my tree and twinkling lights as possible. But, that's going to be my weekend. But then Tuesday, we're going to have, of course, the midterm elections, a lot of response to that. And AFR is going to, be hosting that live. I will join in the, in the evening as well for our live coverage of the election results. So definitely tune in to AFR for that. but we also want to talk about why it's so important for Christians to get out and vote and some of the resources that you may have, if you're still wondering, you know, what's exactly on your specific ballot, how you can navigate, you know, some of the ballot questions, some of those things. So let's welcome in Frank Pavone, who's the founder of Priests for Life.
Pro-Life Vote.com: Contrasting Conservative Achievements with Democratic Agendas
And Frank, we've talked, previously recently about pro life vote.com, which is a great election information website, voter resources, education materials. But you've done some upgrades recently for this.
Frank Pavone Yes, Jenna, well, thanks for having me. may I say, first of all, we're very much alike. November 1st, Christmas season starting. And by the way, happy birthday in advance.
Jenna Ellis Thank you.
Frank Pavone But I think it feels a very same way. I get so excited about the Christmas season. And, you know, it's ultimately because, I mean, this is a. This is a great truth of our faith. God became one of us, and, boy, that should be celebrated with every resource we have. So, so Merry Christmas in advance. M. But, yes, happy election season as well. We have, yes, Pro Life Vote dot com. This is one of the newest, C4 organizations that I'm proud to be president of. And, we have a comparison piece there. One side, downloadable printable flyer that I really want to urge our friends who are listening to get and to use in these final days before the voting concludes. what does the flyer do, Janet? It's based on a very simple conviction that we can win these midterms if we carefully, simply, factually based, educate the voters that we have a contrast.
Highlighting Conservative Accomplishments and Democratic Agendas on Pro-Life Vote.com
We have a contrast between the best record that we've ever had of conservative accomplishments, accomplishments for people of faith, accomplishments for freedom and family in America, versus the craziest agenda that the Democrats have ever put forth, the craziest, the most, destructive, and the craziest slate of candidates ever. This is a contrast that we need to make. And the flyer boils down a whole bunch of issues into very short sound bites that are completely accurate. Now, what we also do on the page is we provide an online version of the flyer where each of these assertions, for example, the largest tax cuts in American history right now, more Americans working than ever in our history, the highest median income, in our history, various facts like that, the most secure border. And each of these phrases is a hyperlink that goes to original sources, documented statistics, you know, verifiable sources, government, statistics, news stories, et cetera, that show people, hey, you can back this up. It's not just slogans. The beautiful thing is here, you know, in so many elections, we talk about, you know, what are the promises and beliefs of the Republicans, what are the promises and beliefs of the Democrats. But no, this contrast is not between what promises of one, promises of the other. It's not that it's a record of actual achievements on the one hand, and then the plan of the other side to destroy them or to stop the progress, stop the momentum. That's the comparison piece.
Encouraging Voter Engagement and Highlighting the Importance of Informed Voting
we could talk more about what's on it, but it'[email protected] and, besides the downloadable Flyer. There is also a video that people can share, a one minute video showing these contrasts and then a longer one including more facts out of two and a half minute video. I want to urge our listeners in these final days, just lay it all out on the field. Do everything you can, push, you know, as hard as you can. Look at what the President is doing. I mean, if we all worked as hard as he's working, to show America these contrasts, to sound the alarm and to get people out, if we show up, we win. And I think that's the message going into these final days.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, it's so incredibly important. And I agree. I mean regardless of the policy points that, you know, we can debate later, we need to make sure that we have the best possible people in office, so that we can appeal to them to do the right thing when they have votes that come up.
Focusing on Candidate Track Records and the Importance of Conservative Values
And one of the things that you mentioned that I love about this resource is that it isn't just about campaign promises. And you know, Trump has made that clear right? When, when he said promises made, promises kept as a campaign slogan. That's what ultimately matters. Because anyone can make any sort of prom promise and say, oh, this is what I'm going to do when I'm in office. But what is their actual track record? Have they been a consistent conservative? If they've held another office or even maybe one that's not necessarily political, what has their primary motivation and involvement, been previously? Can we trust, and this is part of due diligence, can we trust what these candidates are saying? And on the flip side as well, what are the candidates who aren't promoting biblical values who are making these promises? like I, ah, mean I always go back to this example of the policy distinctions and the legacy distinctions between James Talarico and Akin Paxton. Right. I mean James Talarico is making promises and you can pretty much bet that he'll, he'll stay true to those promises. And those are things that ah, are policy things that we as Christians would not want, to be voted on and not want to be advanced if he were to be in office. And so it is so important to know the record and and, and be informed as a voter.
Addressing Voter Apathy and the Strategy to Increase Turnout in Midterm Elections
And so why do you think it is, Frank, that you know so many people when they say, and I, I've even you know, talked to neighbors, friends of mine, who not only don't even know when election day is, I was having a conversation yesterday with a friend who is, when, when are we Voting again. And I was thinking, wow, that's, you know, amazing that people still don't know that. But then they say, well, you know what? I just. I don't know where to go for information. I'm just not that informed. I don't know. So I, I just don't feel comfortable voting. There are so many more resources in 2026 than probably even ever before. I mean, it doesn't take much to know what's on your ballot and where the candidates stand, what the issues are. So why aren't more people taking advantage of these resources?
Frank Pavone Well, that's a good question. I mean, it's. Some of it is just plain distraction. You know, we get so much stuff thrown at us all the time. some of it is, is. Is. Is a, is a, is a form of laziness. but some of it also is, I think a, we've gotten into this mindset about politics that, that, you know, none of it really matters. You know, people break, and it's all just, I think, to a lot of people, just a lot of noise. And they don't see how it is affecting them personally. I think this is where we really see the difference between, you know, high voter turnout and low turnout. And of course, what's. One of the things we're battling in every midterm election is much lower turnout than in the presidential years. and that's why President Trump is doing what he's doing, by the way, having these rallies. Then some people say, why is he going to all these red states? You know, well, it's not. It's not out of, some kind of idea that, oh, you know, the Democrats are so far ahead, they're even making inroads into the red states. No, that's not the idea. The idea is we get lower turnout in the midterms. That's just a fact of American political life. You go to the place where your base is. You go and you get the, of course, the high propensity voters urging them to come out. The medium, propensity, voters, moderates and, even the low propensity voters. If we get turnout, we win. It's as simple as that. And in a lot of these red states, you know, we got Senate races, we got a lot of House races. It's a great strategy. Go to the people who trust you, who love you already, and urge them to come out. Why don't many people do that?
Connecting Political Issues to Everyday Life and Personal Security
Why don't they even sometimes know when the voting is or where the information can be found because we haven't made the connection for them. This is going to impact your life. for example, this is why on that comparison, resource that we're talking, talking about@, ah, pro lifevote.com one of the things I point out is, hey, we've got the most, we've got the most safe country that we've ever had. Crime, murder rates, violent crime rates are lower than they've ever been and some of them lower, lower than in our, ever in our history. Isn't that a good thing? And doesn't that affect you in your community? You want to go back under the Democrats to a party that's going to defund the police, abolish ice. they have these radical proposals about how to deal with criminals, get rid of prisons. These people aren't kidding when they say these things. This is what they're going to do. And that impacts us in our communities. and I think, Jenna, that's the reason. I mean people have to say my security and my family's security is on the ballot here. And this is real. And that's why we, like I say we want to emphasize factually based contrasts that connect with people's everyday experience.
Christian Resources for Voters and Discussion on Catholic Bishops' Apology to Trump
Jenna Ellis Yeah. And, and it's so great that you're doing this. And again, the website is prolifevote.com and also AFA Action, has I voter guide dot com. I mean these are Christian resources that you can take advantage of that you know, are going to be put out by people who share your same values and so you can have confidence in the information that's presented. And we do want to encourage everyone get out and vote. Make a plan to vote. Don't wait until you get you know, the the ballot, area to wonder, okay, is this language that's describing this particular proposition? do I, do I know whether I vote yes or no or, do I retain judges? If you're a judicial retention state or, you know, all kinds of things that you may not, necessarily know yet are on your ballot. It's not just about the top line. if you are voting for a governor in your state or a congress member or a senator, you know, those are obviously the races most, of the media pay attention to the most closely. But state and local absolutely matter and also all of the questions on the ballot and if you are in a judicial retention state as well. but I also want to transition here, Frank Pavone, to another topic that I want your commentary, ah, on because we Were talking a little before the show this morning about, this story where a Catholic bishops, or I guess a group of them were apologizing for what they called an exploited Trump meeting. So apparently two Catholic bishops in the United States have said they regret meeting from President Trump at the White House. This is coming from BBC.
Critique of Catholic Bishops' Apology and the Politicization of Faith
After images of them praying with him were released and prompted many to ask if they were making a political statement. So photos and video of the Oct. 22 meeting show a group of bishops standing around Trump at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. And, and, you know, in this statement that was posted online, these two bishops said the meeting was arranged by officials with the White House Faith Office to discuss issues including immigration visas for international clergy and the exploitation of vulnerable poor persons. So they said, you know, it would in no way did any of us intend, by our involvement, to endorse any political party or individual candidate. And, and he's. This bishop says, I wish we, I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple like those who explo at our meeting for partisan political purposes. Okay, so, first of all, it, this is ridiculous that they're even apologizing for this instead of saying, you know what, Whether this was a Republican or a Democrat in the White House, I am grateful to a world leader like a president of the United States, having, members of the Christian community come in, actually pray with him, listen to the issues that we address, and we, we, plan on continuing to come to the White House anytime we're invited. I mean, why couldn't it have been that simple?
Frank Pavone That's right. Well, I have been dealing with decades, for decades, with these, Catholic bishops in the United States that don't know their right hand from their left when it comes to politics. What do I mean? My ministry is. I mean, I've been involved in the crosshairs with these, these men, numerous times because we try to do the basic things that we've been discussing on this program. Educate the voters in your parish. Is better, for example, to vote for a President Trump whose administration, just recently, through the Department of Education, issued new guidance for the rights of students to pray in school. I mean, you saw that. We all saw that. A lot of people don't know about that, but students, thanks to this administration, have more freedom to pray in public schools than they did before. Now, a religious leader ought to be looking at that and saying, wow, isn't that the direction that we should be moving in and should maybe express, you know, a little Bit of gratitude to the president for something like that. instead of, apologizing for, oh, this appears to be partisan. Well, guess what? You know what? Everything is political. Ultimately, you know, you don't want to be involved in politics, but guess what? Politics is going to be involved with you.
The Pervasiveness of Politics and Church Leaders' Misguided Legal Advice
It's going to affect your health care, it's going to affect your safety when you walk down the street. It's going to affect your taxes, it's going to affect your bank account, it's going to affect the way you pray and whether you're free to pray. What is wrong with these men? I don't know. I don't know. it's good that they were. I mean, I've always been pushing for more direct dialogue. I don't want to see these bishops, you know, criticizing ICE like some of them have done, without sitting down with someone like Thom Homan, you know, or anyone in the administration who can explain to them, this is not an indiscriminate or disrespectful, action in the deportations. The deportations are something the American people voted for. That's why it's President Trump. We voted him in, and this is what we wanted to happen. And if you have a disagreement with the policy, then engage in disagreement. But what some of these bishops do, and not all, most of them that were in the meeting did not have these objections. There were basically two of them, the archbishop of, Milwaukee and of Des Moines, Iowa. And it's like, guys, you know, stop it already. Grow up. You know, of course, first of all, of course this is going to be public. You go to the Oval Office with. You voted with the president, it's going to be public. You should know that already. Secondly, you should be proud to be standing with the most pro life, the most pro religious freedom, the most pro family, the most pro parental rights president that we've ever had. I don't know. You know, I think some of these guys are just a. Some of them are. Some of them are Democrats and babies. Some of them are just. They're so weak. Need when someone will complain to them or. Jenna, what else? The other thing that happens is they're attorneys. They've got the worst attorneys in the country when it comes to elections and politics. Again, I've dealt with them for decades. I wrote a book about this, and it's these attorneys say to the bishops, oh, well, you know, if you men, or your priests in the churches do the slightest thing to signal support or lack of support for a particular political party or its positions, you know, you could lose your tax exemption from the irs. And that's total nonsense. That's. You know, attorneys who are experts in these matters, laugh out loud when they read some of these memos that the bishops send out. So I just had a comment on this story, and if people want to see my full comments on it, they're also at that website, prolifevote, dot com.
Jenna Ellis And I'm grateful that you're speaking out to this because, you know, obviously, just because. Because of the timing of, of two weeks before an election, there's not some kind of, you know, cut off that says you can't go and, petition your government for redress of grievances and be in the Oval Office with a president who's not even on the ballot, by the way. but, you know, you can't be associated in any event with an elected official, you know, ahead of an election, or have your photos in the office of the president published online.
Distinguishing Campaigning from Petitioning Government and Encouraging Engagement
I mean, this is just so ridiculous. there's a huge difference between going to your elected official also and versus if these bishops had, for example, you know, gotten up at a congressional campaign rally and were there literally just to promote that specific candidate. I mean, there's a difference between campaigning versus petitioning your government. I mean, it's so clear. And this is just one of those things that it makes me mad as well, Frank, because, you know, when, when the. These people who are in high positions and church leaders are taking such extreme measures and actually counseling, the wrong legal advice, but they're counseling people to be afraid of a. Of government intervention or getting in trouble or things like losing their IRS status. And they're wanting people to be so careful that they're actually, having a chilling effect on our ability as Christians to engage in our civil government and to be active participants in our civil society, that I believe is actually wrong. And it's something that they need to repent for, and they need to say we should be encouraging more Christians to engage with our government, not less.
Frank Pavone Yes, exactly. You said it so well. And like I mentioned, I wrote a whole book about this problem. It's called Abolishing Abortion, was published by Thomas Nelson back in 2015. And, the problem, is exactly that they're chilling. Something that really.
The Intersection of Gospel Issues with Political Choices and Socialist Dangers
On the other hand, they should be encouraging. And, you know, let's listen. We're all involved in the process. Issues are debated every day by politicians in churches. These Things intersect with the gospel. And again, especially this year, you know, I mean, like I say, this problem has been going on with the Catholic bishop for decades. But especially this year when the Democrat Party has gone full blown socialist, communist. The Catholic Church, these men should know full well, has had such a long and clear denunciation of socialism and communism. And now you've got a major political party just promoting it and unapologetically. And then you've got, just again, going back to the contrast, this contrast, message that I and so many others are trumpeting, is a contrast on things that are basic to the gospel. I mentioned about the prayer in schools. I mean fundamentally, so many Christian issues. Look at the uncovering of fraud, abuse, corruption and waste in government. No administration has done it better than this one. Look at the cutting, cutting, into crime and violence by the, you know, it goes down to how is the DOJ run, how is the FBI being run? It's being run in ways that are making absolutely historic progress. And these are things that religious leaders need to be concerned about. and not to mention all the ideologies, the transgender stuff, religious freedom, school choice. The Republicans, gave the president a bill that he signed that gave the greatest funding to school choice that has ever in our history been given. And so now, you know, these Catholic bishops, they run Catholic schools. They're not going to thank the president for making it easier for parents to go to the very schools that these men operate. I mean the whole thing is just so crazy. But let's let this story sharpen for us. The contrast that we're talking about here. The choice in this election is a no brainer.
Highlighting Victories for Faith and the Clear Choice in the Election
It is so crystal clear, especially for people of, faith. and the faith office published, you know, 250 victories for people of Faith recently. A beautiful document that again, I urge folks to go easy. You know, we have all the information at our fingertips on our smartphones. Look it up, read through it. 250 victories for people of Faith. The choice is clear.
Jenna Ellis Amen. Well, we got to take a break here. Frank Pavone, I so appreciate your time and your dedication and staying in the fight.
Appreciation for Frank Pavone's Dedication and Pro-Life Resources
And you're always such a happy warrior. And you, even with everything that you've personally been through and you know, all of the ups and downs of the last, for me it's, you know, it's been, it's been a little over a decade being in this particular fight, but you've been even more decades than that. And yet you have just such a wonderful countenance, about you and that's one of the things that I love and respect about you. So thank you for always staying engaged in the fight, for coming on so frequently and for this resource. So it's prolifevote.com and of course the AFA action one as well is I voterguide.com and we will be right back with more.
Encouraging Christian Women to Vote and the She Prays She Votes Initiative
Hi, I'm Jenna Ellis. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netforward/give. That's afr.netgive.
Jenna Ellis welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. Well, as we are encouraging Christians to get out and vote, one of my very dear friends, Penny Nance, who is the CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, is encouraging women in particular to get out and vote through the she prays she votes efforts. And I was actually very privileged to be part of the bus tour back. Penny and I were talking right before the segment in the break, back in 2022 and it was just such a wonderful time to go around, in this big pink bus and go and talk to, all of the people who came at each of these stops, Pray for the country, pray for some of our elected leaders who came and showed up. Steve Scalise came out, I remember there are a few others, along our tour. And CWA has just done such a phenomenal job at basically being the Christian contrast to all of these ridiculous leftist organizations that suggest that somehow women's issues mean, mean that you need to be pro abortion, you need to be feminist, you need to be, you know, have the, the little pink hats at rallies and all this, but actually pushing what real women's issues actually are, which is to preserve and protect, the rights that God our Creator gave us, which is also to protect innocent life, in the womb as well. So many other issues. But Penny Nance joins me and good, morning and thank you so much for all of your morning.
Penny Nance Oh, it's always an honor to be with you, Jenna. And we missed you this time on the bus tour. It's been absolutely wonderful and a lot of energy around the country, but we've got to remind Christian women they have to vote.
Jenna Ellis Absolutely. And, I'll get back on the bus tour next time. This would be so much fun. And you know, when, when you have, said, and CWA has said, that you've made more than 10 million voter contacts throughout the she prays she votes efforts. I mean, this is really incredible and I think is one of the best examples of how talking face to face with people can really make a difference.
Penny Nance Well, and that's exactly right A lot of times, and you know this, and you have an extremely informed audience. So this is probably not your audience, but what we know is true is about 40 million, Christians do not vote. And for some reason they feel content in their pew, like it doesn't touch them, it doesn't matter matter. Like their vote doesn't matter. And nothing can be further from the truth. I mean, we, we get the government that we support and that we vote for.
Addressing Discrimination and Parental Rights in the Current Political Climate
And you know, do I have to remind people what it was like a few years ago when Christians were being discriminated against in the workplace? And maybe, you know, a, particular person hasn't felt that, but they should be aware that their brothers and sisters in Christ are facing discrimination. and the idea that parental rights to one group of people is diminished, you know, the fact that today, even after President Trump's, executive orders, there's schools that are ignoring the law and are socially transitioning kids behind their parents backs, calling them a different name, calling them a different gender. And if you want that to be widespread, then, you know, feel free to give the gavel to someone else. we have been really blessed in the last, you know, three years to have, or two years to have a conservative, president and conservative leaders in the House and Senate. So we've changed a lot. But it's still just a matter of whether or not the President's agenda is going to continue or whether we're going to flip back to a much more leftist view of parenthood and what the schools should and should not be able to do and teach. And in order to preserve that and protect kids around the country, we all need to vote.
Jenna Ellis Absolutely. And you know, a lot of the conversation around the midterms this time has been socialism, you know, economic policies, including affordability.
Affordability as a Key Issue for Conservative Women and Economic Concerns
we've seen a little bit, not as much as in 2024, but a little bit on, you know, ice and border control, some of those things. But for women in particular, as you've gone around the country, what for the conservative woman, is really the, the main voting issue that you've heard?
Penny Nance Well, we actually did a poll about a month ago and discovered that, you know, even no matter what your party is, affordability is a big issue. And, you know, we've seen some changes and people hoped that President Trump had a, you know, a magic wand and immediately, you know, numbers would go down and food would go down. So we have seen some of that. But we are in war with Iran right now. And of course, oil prices are, have not come back down immediately. I believe they will, I think, once this is settled. But, you know, the gas, the price of gas impacts other things as well, because it's kind of built into, the transportation to get your food to market and all those things. So that, that is a concern for conservative women because we love our families and we want to be able to afford more and afford a vacation and be able to, you know, pay for the fees for our kids to be involved in soccer or whatever the things they are.
Life, Social Policy, Parental Rights, and School Choice on State Ballots
and that is a very real conversation and important thing. And I would say that every single member of Congress that I've ever spoken to in the last year is very much aware of that and very much wants those prices to come down, and I believe they will. But there's other things that are, at stake. For instance, in Virginia, there is an amendment to the Constitution that allows the Virginia Constitution that George Mason wrote, similar to our own constitution in the U.S. that would allow abortion up until birth. You know, we have these state referendas. Once that's in the Constitution, if we're not able to take that down, then it's going to be very difficult to ever get it out. It's very difficult to get a constitutional amendment in and it's even harder to get it out. So there's a lot at stake on life, there's a lot at stake on social policy, on parents rights, on, you know, school choice around the country. Whether or not you should be able to, your school should have, your Christian school should be able to be, available and have the same kind of support that a state school has. Whether the cost that the state is paying for your kid to attend a public school, would that be able to be transferable to a Christian school? Like those kind of questions are national policy. And we've really got to make sure that we, that see our view on those issues.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, and so where, where for some of the states, because obviously we have listeners from, you know, all over the country, where are some of the particular issues, located that you're really paying attention to and wanting, the, these conservative voters to make sure they know, are on their ballots.
Penny Nance Well, that is a great question. I'm sorry I don't have a list in front of me, but just about every state has, including the election, has some sort of a ballot initiative.
Understanding Ballot Initiatives and the Distinction Between Political Parties
And so, if you want to [email protected] that will all be. You can see what's on your ballot. I know at least in Louisiana there's like 10 of them that are, you know, are very important. And so in different states it's different. But you can talk about even, you know, I know you have a lot of listeners in Mississippi because of afa, which we love, American Family association, even Sandy Hyde Smith is having a tough reelect there. So it's really going to be important that conservatives over perform in order to get out and support these conservative members of Congress. It's a very, there's a big difference these days in the Democrat and the Republican. And I'm not going to tell your viewers, your listeners how to vote, but there is a huge distinction between the two. You have about 47 democratic socialists of America members who are on the ballot this time, and that's local and state and federal. And so it's not just a matter of being a little bit having different policy on, you know, the social welfare state versus, you know, you know, different thoughts on economics. It's a lot about social policy and even capitalism, whether or not we are going to continue to be a democratic capitalist country or whether we're going to move over into socialism and go into the regressive era that we so fortunately have been blessed to miss here in the United States. But anyone else that's dipped into that pool has drowned from it. You think about Cuba, you think about Venezuela, you think about the way that people have experienced socialism has not been helpful to them. They have just. Everyone becomes poor. No one becomes rich.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And all of these issues do impact, affect, every person. And I think that, you know, when, when the left tries to make some things, you know, just specifically women's issues, they're really not recognizing that we all live in civil society and we all pay attention to these things and even,
Penny Nance even women raise sons. Right. We by the way, that love men, as you well know. And you know, many of our members are single, but many of them are married. And the ones that are single someday hope to be, hope to be married in some cases. Ah, in most cases. And you know, we raise sons and we recognize that we. It's not, it's not about the government becoming, the nanny state or becoming your husband, you want to be able to thrive on your own, have. Be able to, profit from your own labor, be able to keep more of your own money through your taxes. Is that those, the issues that they say are men's issues are also women's issues issues?
Young Women's Priorities: Pro-Life Stance, Workforce, and Support for Israel
Jenna Ellis Absolutely. And you know, and even things like abortion, that's not just a woman's issue. I mean, to create a child, to conceive a child, it also takes a man. And and these are absolutely moral policy issues that everyone has an obligation to weigh in on and speak the truth on. And so, when we're talking about specifically though, engaging women to get out and vote, there have been a lot of polls. And and I had Rich Barris on the, the, the pollster, who was. His new book, I think it's called Burn it down. And talking about how young people are just kind of tired of everything and that's why they're gravitating towards socialism. As you are traversing the country and you're talking to so many young women, a lot of whom are, most of whom are Christians. what are you seeing from their level of engagement and what their priorities are, are.
Penny Nance Well, first off, they're completely annoyed by the fake narrative that women want abortion. You know, they're part of that 50% of women who are pro life. And and so I would say that, you know, they're very strong on the social. They don't want their tax dollars to pay for medically, transitioning children taking, you know, cutting off healthy body parts. and, and they would also say that they, they're eager to enter the workforce. They're grateful that they can compete on an equal footing with men and they're prepared for the future. They're not expecting the government to be their bailout and to be their, you know, their nanny. They're expecting to work hard and to profit from their labors. And I just think that there's this fake narrative about what women think and what women want. And I'm seeing actually the very opposite on college campuses around the country.
Engaging Young Voters, Understanding Church Demographics, and Voting as an Evangelist
The other thing is they're very strong, strong and strongly in favor of Israel and the US Israel relationship. And they are disgusted by the anti Semitism that they're seeing just run amok on their college campuses.
Jenna Ellis And you know, that shows that, they are faithful Christians then, because they understand and they're recognizing these issues. They're rejecting, you know, some of the pressure from the mainstream to Say, well if you're a woman and you support women, then you must support abortion. Which obviously I know is false, but it's great that the younger generation is stepping up with courage and saying no, we reject that false premise and we are going to advocate for the biblical worldview and to make sure that we get involved. And so maybe for the young person who's listening right now, or the parents, grandparents who have young people who this their first election, you, maybe they want to engage in the process. How would you encourage young people to engage and also to talk, talk to maybe their friends or family about these issues?
Penny Nance Well, I think it's really important for them to be aware of what the candidates positions are. So again go to go to ChristianVotes.org but also I would say recognize that just because people attend a church doesn't mean that they understand the issues at all. If you walk into the average church, I, would say to your listener, walk into your church on Sunday in your mind, cut that group in half. Recognize half of them are not registered to vote. Now look at the group that's registered to vote and cut that in half. And that's how many will vote. So 25% of your church congregation, if they're, you know, on a normal Sunday, that's how that breaks down. And so I would ask them to make sure that they encourage everybody in their, in their Sunday school to get the candidate surveys. I know Faith and Freedom puts out candidate surveys that will put the positions back to back next to each candidate so they could, people can see what the positions are and then they can choose based on their own values. And so just being an evangelist for the idea of voting and standing up for your values and understanding that government comes looking for you, it's not as if you can hide out on your pew and it won't touch you, it will touch you. Whether it's foreign policy, whether it's tax policy, policy, whether it's social policy. It's going to impact everyone.
Jenna Ellis Yeah.
Final Encouragement for Bus Tour and Farewell
Well, we've got to take a break here in Penny Nance. I'm so grateful that you could join
Penny Nance us this morning. Love you Jenna. Thank you for having me.
Jenna Ellis Absolutely love you too. And good luck on the last day of your bus tour
Penny Nance and Liberty University, today on Friday. So I hope people should come out. We'll be with Danny Gokey at the bus on campus and he's going to leave some praise and worship. Would love to see any of your listeners.
Jenna Ellis Amazing, Amazing. Well, thanks so much. We'll have you on again soon. We'll be praying for the turnout for these elections and we will be right back with more.
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Listener Question on Secular Music in Church and the Mission of the Church
Jenna Ellis Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. Well, as we're talking about the church engaging the civil government and, the difference between the church's mission and obviously the mission of the institution of civil government, there was a really great question that deals with the church's mission from a listener. And I always love, by the way, hearing from all of you on any topics, on any questions or things that we've discussed on air or not, from you and generally I respond, just directly, privately. But this particular question from Joe in Oklahoma I thought was so good that I wanted to address it on air because probably, more people than just Joe are, concerned about this particular issue. So he says this. Good morning, Ms. Jenna. Yesterday was family day at church and in the parking lot were games and food trucks. When I walked in, inside the auditorium, they, the music leaders were singing secular music and it just didn't sit well with me. So I made my way to the restroom and thought, God, this just doesn't seem right. So I left and said a little prayer about it. May I ask your thoughts about this, please? Thank you. thanking God for who you are in Christ, Joe from Oklahoma. Well, thank you, Joe, so much for writing in with this Question.
The Biblical Mission of the Church: Glorifying God, Proclaiming the Gospel, Making Disciples
And I want to commend your discernment on this issue because the fact that this didn't sit well with you. As a Christian who is wanting to be at a church that glorifies Christ, understands its mission and the Great Commission, you knew that something was wrong. And that's where discernment begins. And when we are consistently in the Word, when we are, communing with the Lord and we are wanting to live righteously, then when those kinds of situations make us feel uncomfortable, we should ask why. And so I want to, say first of all, about the biblical mission of the church. The church was not established to entertain people or compete with the culture or simply gather the largest possible audience. Its mission is to glorify God, proclaim the gospel, make disciples of all men, teach sound doctrine and equip believers. And we see this consistently throughout Scripture, particularly in the NewSong Testament when, Jesus is talking to his followers, and also when the Apostle Paul is admonishing churches of what their role and responsibility is, when he's teaching Timothy, and when he's teaching what the elders of the church should, should do and what they, behave the way that they should behave. So nowhere in the NewSong Testament do we see Jesus commissioning the church to become the most entertaining institution in the community. The church is not supposed to compete with a concert venue, a nightclub, or the entertainment industry, or just provide a more wholes alternative to, you know, your neighborhood bar. That's not the purpose of the church. So this doesn't mean Christians can't have fun. You can't have, you know, family night, or you can't have, you know, a fall festival instead of going Halloween trick or treating. It doesn't mean that church events have to be solemn or particularly, serious of having a Bible teacher at every single moment. But everything the church does do should be consistent with its identity and its mission. So the church does not need to become more like the world to reach the world. It needs to be faithful to Christ. So this is where the history of all of this and why so many evangelical churches and, big churches, and I don't know what specific denomination, Joe, you are attending, but where a lot of churches have gone the secular route and why this is happening has come in through Willow Creek Church and its founder, Bill hybels. So in 1975, Willow Creek began pioneering what became known as the seeker sensitive church movement. Its approach emphasized making church attractive and accessible to people who weren't Christians.
The Seeker Sensitive Movement and its Impact on Church Mission
Using contemporary music, multimedia, presentations that invoked Hollywood Movies, sophisticated programming, all of these things. And the model influenced thousands of churches because they basically pulled people and said, you're not going to church. What would make you come to church? So let's think about that question though. Why should we be asking the non Christian why aren't you coming to church? And then tailor our message to what makes them feel comfortable? I mean it would be like asking me, Jenna, you know, what would make you go to a nightclub? I would basically say, well, if the entire event was completely not a nightclub atmosphere, I don't want anything to do with anything that usually goes on there. Right. So the nightclub would have to completely transform to make it attractive to someone like me who doesn't participate in that. Right now a nightclub doesn't have the same mission obviously that church does, but it does have a goal, it has a purpose of why it exists. The church specifically has a biblical mandate and a mission as an institution that is ordained by God specifically to teach the Word. The point is not to attract people to come in and to so water down these events that it's basically like a bait and switch. We'll come in, you know, we're not going to pressure, we're not even going to say that we love Jesus here. We're going to play secular music. We're going to not even look like a church. You're going to have fun and somehow think that's going to translate to these people then coming Sunday morning and suddenly being hit over the head with you know, sound teaching and they're thinking, wow, you know, hearing the secular music is really going to make me want to come to a Bible study. No. So while it's probably not actually sinful to play secular music, it's, you know, it's certainly not sinful to invoke a movie clip or an analogy. We have to ask the question, is it wise? Does it fulfill the church's mission? And I think the answer to that is an obvious no. And even the seeker sensitive movement has ah, has apologized for this and saying that this was actually a, a really bad advice and was really bad advice for the church. And Bill Hybels even basically said in a shocking confession, this is what he stated, we made a mistake. What we should have done.
The Importance of Discipleship and Faithful Stewardship in the Church
When people cross the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people they have to take responsibility to become self feeders. We should have gotten people taught people how to read their Bible between services, how to do spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own. And so, even Hybels now, decades later, is saying that this was the wrong advice to have this sort of seeker sensitive movement to water down the church's mission and actually reject, the Great Commission and reject the identity and the core mission of the church in, in favor of these watered down practices. And so the church has an obligation to teach believers how to study Scripture, practice spiritual disciplines and take responsibility for their growth. The institution of the church is for Christians. Now. Part of that is evangelizing. But evangelizing isn't going out and pretending basically to not even be Christians and to be attractive to a secular environment. It's going and communicating the truth of the gospel to the unsaved and then bringing them into a church where the church can help them grow spiritually. And so we need to understand this line of what's permissible versus what is wise. And so if it makes you feel uncomfortable, Jo, I think you are spot on on that because I would be uncomfortable as well. And we need to ask and answer the question, what is the central mission of the church? And is everything we are doing in the church being done to the glory of God? What is the purpose of this particular church event? Is this furthering the church's mission? Does the music support that purpose? Or is it just an attempt to appear culturally relevant? Why do we need to be relevant? I mean the truth is truth and it's timeless. It's forever.
Biblical Discernment Versus Audience Appeal in Church Leadership Decisions
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. What message does the church communicate through its choices? Are church leaders making decisions based on biblical discernment or audience appeal? And the metrics and the, you know, what's big? And do we have, you know, the biggest play place for kids? Or are you discipling children, teaching them obedience to their parents? Are you teaching their parents how to properly raise children? Are we distinguishing between genuine hospitality toward unbelievers and compromising the church's distinct identity? So I think that we can say that because the success of the church isn't measured by how many people we can attract, we should measure everything we do by our faithfulness to the one who established it. So thank you so much Joe for your question and as always I everyone else you can reach me and my team as well.
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Sponsor Thanks and Introduction to Pro-Life Values and Constitutional Rights
Jenna Ellis We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time, she will choose life. But she can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside her. One ultrasound is just $28, and to donate, dial £250 and say the keyword baby or visit preborn.com afr
Jenna Ellis Jenna Ellis in the morning on American Family Rad
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.
Midterm Elections, Christmas Season, and Christian Voting Resources
Jenna Ellis This is Jenna Ellis in the Morning.
Jenna Ellis Good morning. It is Friday, October 30th, and so the midterms are, of course, next week on Tuesday. And that's all that pretty much anyone is talking about other than decorating for Christmas. If you are like me, November 1st, which is my birthday, is the official start of the Christmas season. And the season includes the holiday of Thanksgiving. It includes, you know, everything from November, first all the way, to, January 6th, which I think is epiphany. So, you know, I love to celebrate the entire, Christmas season and get as much out of my tree and twinkling lights as possible. But, that's going to be my weekend. But then Tuesday, we're going to have, of course, the midterm elections, a lot of response to that. And AFR is going to, be hosting that live. I will join in the, in the evening as well for our live coverage of the election results. So definitely tune in to AFR for that. but we also want to talk about why it's so important for Christians to get out and vote and some of the resources that you may have, if you're still wondering, you know, what's exactly on your specific ballot, how you can navigate, you know, some of the ballot questions, some of those things. So let's welcome in Frank Pavone, who's the founder of Priests for Life.
Pro-Life Vote.com: Contrasting Conservative Achievements with Democratic Agendas
And Frank, we've talked, previously recently about pro life vote.com, which is a great election information website, voter resources, education materials. But you've done some upgrades recently for this.
Frank Pavone Yes, Jenna, well, thanks for having me. may I say, first of all, we're very much alike. November 1st, Christmas season starting. And by the way, happy birthday in advance.
Jenna Ellis Thank you.
Frank Pavone But I think it feels a very same way. I get so excited about the Christmas season. And, you know, it's ultimately because, I mean, this is a. This is a great truth of our faith. God became one of us, and, boy, that should be celebrated with every resource we have. So, so Merry Christmas in advance. M. But, yes, happy election season as well. We have, yes, Pro Life Vote dot com. This is one of the newest, C4 organizations that I'm proud to be president of. And, we have a comparison piece there. One side, downloadable printable flyer that I really want to urge our friends who are listening to get and to use in these final days before the voting concludes. what does the flyer do, Janet? It's based on a very simple conviction that we can win these midterms if we carefully, simply, factually based, educate the voters that we have a contrast.
Highlighting Conservative Accomplishments and Democratic Agendas on Pro-Life Vote.com
We have a contrast between the best record that we've ever had of conservative accomplishments, accomplishments for people of faith, accomplishments for freedom and family in America, versus the craziest agenda that the Democrats have ever put forth, the craziest, the most, destructive, and the craziest slate of candidates ever. This is a contrast that we need to make. And the flyer boils down a whole bunch of issues into very short sound bites that are completely accurate. Now, what we also do on the page is we provide an online version of the flyer where each of these assertions, for example, the largest tax cuts in American history right now, more Americans working than ever in our history, the highest median income, in our history, various facts like that, the most secure border. And each of these phrases is a hyperlink that goes to original sources, documented statistics, you know, verifiable sources, government, statistics, news stories, et cetera, that show people, hey, you can back this up. It's not just slogans. The beautiful thing is here, you know, in so many elections, we talk about, you know, what are the promises and beliefs of the Republicans, what are the promises and beliefs of the Democrats. But no, this contrast is not between what promises of one, promises of the other. It's not that it's a record of actual achievements on the one hand, and then the plan of the other side to destroy them or to stop the progress, stop the momentum. That's the comparison piece.
Encouraging Voter Engagement and Highlighting the Importance of Informed Voting
we could talk more about what's on it, but it'[email protected] and, besides the downloadable Flyer. There is also a video that people can share, a one minute video showing these contrasts and then a longer one including more facts out of two and a half minute video. I want to urge our listeners in these final days, just lay it all out on the field. Do everything you can, push, you know, as hard as you can. Look at what the President is doing. I mean, if we all worked as hard as he's working, to show America these contrasts, to sound the alarm and to get people out, if we show up, we win. And I think that's the message going into these final days.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, it's so incredibly important. And I agree. I mean regardless of the policy points that, you know, we can debate later, we need to make sure that we have the best possible people in office, so that we can appeal to them to do the right thing when they have votes that come up.
Focusing on Candidate Track Records and the Importance of Conservative Values
And one of the things that you mentioned that I love about this resource is that it isn't just about campaign promises. And you know, Trump has made that clear right? When, when he said promises made, promises kept as a campaign slogan. That's what ultimately matters. Because anyone can make any sort of prom promise and say, oh, this is what I'm going to do when I'm in office. But what is their actual track record? Have they been a consistent conservative? If they've held another office or even maybe one that's not necessarily political, what has their primary motivation and involvement, been previously? Can we trust, and this is part of due diligence, can we trust what these candidates are saying? And on the flip side as well, what are the candidates who aren't promoting biblical values who are making these promises? like I, ah, mean I always go back to this example of the policy distinctions and the legacy distinctions between James Talarico and Akin Paxton. Right. I mean James Talarico is making promises and you can pretty much bet that he'll, he'll stay true to those promises. And those are things that ah, are policy things that we as Christians would not want, to be voted on and not want to be advanced if he were to be in office. And so it is so important to know the record and and, and be informed as a voter.
Addressing Voter Apathy and the Strategy to Increase Turnout in Midterm Elections
And so why do you think it is, Frank, that you know so many people when they say, and I, I've even you know, talked to neighbors, friends of mine, who not only don't even know when election day is, I was having a conversation yesterday with a friend who is, when, when are we Voting again. And I was thinking, wow, that's, you know, amazing that people still don't know that. But then they say, well, you know what? I just. I don't know where to go for information. I'm just not that informed. I don't know. So I, I just don't feel comfortable voting. There are so many more resources in 2026 than probably even ever before. I mean, it doesn't take much to know what's on your ballot and where the candidates stand, what the issues are. So why aren't more people taking advantage of these resources?
Frank Pavone Well, that's a good question. I mean, it's. Some of it is just plain distraction. You know, we get so much stuff thrown at us all the time. some of it is, is. Is. Is a, is a, is a form of laziness. but some of it also is, I think a, we've gotten into this mindset about politics that, that, you know, none of it really matters. You know, people break, and it's all just, I think, to a lot of people, just a lot of noise. And they don't see how it is affecting them personally. I think this is where we really see the difference between, you know, high voter turnout and low turnout. And of course, what's. One of the things we're battling in every midterm election is much lower turnout than in the presidential years. and that's why President Trump is doing what he's doing, by the way, having these rallies. Then some people say, why is he going to all these red states? You know, well, it's not. It's not out of, some kind of idea that, oh, you know, the Democrats are so far ahead, they're even making inroads into the red states. No, that's not the idea. The idea is we get lower turnout in the midterms. That's just a fact of American political life. You go to the place where your base is. You go and you get the, of course, the high propensity voters urging them to come out. The medium, propensity, voters, moderates and, even the low propensity voters. If we get turnout, we win. It's as simple as that. And in a lot of these red states, you know, we got Senate races, we got a lot of House races. It's a great strategy. Go to the people who trust you, who love you already, and urge them to come out. Why don't many people do that?
Connecting Political Issues to Everyday Life and Personal Security
Why don't they even sometimes know when the voting is or where the information can be found because we haven't made the connection for them. This is going to impact your life. for example, this is why on that comparison, resource that we're talking, talking about@, ah, pro lifevote.com one of the things I point out is, hey, we've got the most, we've got the most safe country that we've ever had. Crime, murder rates, violent crime rates are lower than they've ever been and some of them lower, lower than in our, ever in our history. Isn't that a good thing? And doesn't that affect you in your community? You want to go back under the Democrats to a party that's going to defund the police, abolish ice. they have these radical proposals about how to deal with criminals, get rid of prisons. These people aren't kidding when they say these things. This is what they're going to do. And that impacts us in our communities. and I think, Jenna, that's the reason. I mean people have to say my security and my family's security is on the ballot here. And this is real. And that's why we, like I say we want to emphasize factually based contrasts that connect with people's everyday experience.
Christian Resources for Voters and Discussion on Catholic Bishops' Apology to Trump
Jenna Ellis Yeah. And, and it's so great that you're doing this. And again, the website is prolifevote.com and also AFA Action, has I voter guide dot com. I mean these are Christian resources that you can take advantage of that you know, are going to be put out by people who share your same values and so you can have confidence in the information that's presented. And we do want to encourage everyone get out and vote. Make a plan to vote. Don't wait until you get you know, the the ballot, area to wonder, okay, is this language that's describing this particular proposition? do I, do I know whether I vote yes or no or, do I retain judges? If you're a judicial retention state or, you know, all kinds of things that you may not, necessarily know yet are on your ballot. It's not just about the top line. if you are voting for a governor in your state or a congress member or a senator, you know, those are obviously the races most, of the media pay attention to the most closely. But state and local absolutely matter and also all of the questions on the ballot and if you are in a judicial retention state as well. but I also want to transition here, Frank Pavone, to another topic that I want your commentary, ah, on because we Were talking a little before the show this morning about, this story where a Catholic bishops, or I guess a group of them were apologizing for what they called an exploited Trump meeting. So apparently two Catholic bishops in the United States have said they regret meeting from President Trump at the White House. This is coming from BBC.
Critique of Catholic Bishops' Apology and the Politicization of Faith
After images of them praying with him were released and prompted many to ask if they were making a political statement. So photos and video of the Oct. 22 meeting show a group of bishops standing around Trump at the Resolute desk in the Oval Office. And, and, you know, in this statement that was posted online, these two bishops said the meeting was arranged by officials with the White House Faith Office to discuss issues including immigration visas for international clergy and the exploitation of vulnerable poor persons. So they said, you know, it would in no way did any of us intend, by our involvement, to endorse any political party or individual candidate. And, and he's. This bishop says, I wish we, I wish I had been more shrewd and less simple like those who explo at our meeting for partisan political purposes. Okay, so, first of all, it, this is ridiculous that they're even apologizing for this instead of saying, you know what, Whether this was a Republican or a Democrat in the White House, I am grateful to a world leader like a president of the United States, having, members of the Christian community come in, actually pray with him, listen to the issues that we address, and we, we, plan on continuing to come to the White House anytime we're invited. I mean, why couldn't it have been that simple?
Frank Pavone That's right. Well, I have been dealing with decades, for decades, with these, Catholic bishops in the United States that don't know their right hand from their left when it comes to politics. What do I mean? My ministry is. I mean, I've been involved in the crosshairs with these, these men, numerous times because we try to do the basic things that we've been discussing on this program. Educate the voters in your parish. Is better, for example, to vote for a President Trump whose administration, just recently, through the Department of Education, issued new guidance for the rights of students to pray in school. I mean, you saw that. We all saw that. A lot of people don't know about that, but students, thanks to this administration, have more freedom to pray in public schools than they did before. Now, a religious leader ought to be looking at that and saying, wow, isn't that the direction that we should be moving in and should maybe express, you know, a little Bit of gratitude to the president for something like that. instead of, apologizing for, oh, this appears to be partisan. Well, guess what? You know what? Everything is political. Ultimately, you know, you don't want to be involved in politics, but guess what? Politics is going to be involved with you.
The Pervasiveness of Politics and Church Leaders' Misguided Legal Advice
It's going to affect your health care, it's going to affect your safety when you walk down the street. It's going to affect your taxes, it's going to affect your bank account, it's going to affect the way you pray and whether you're free to pray. What is wrong with these men? I don't know. I don't know. it's good that they were. I mean, I've always been pushing for more direct dialogue. I don't want to see these bishops, you know, criticizing ICE like some of them have done, without sitting down with someone like Thom Homan, you know, or anyone in the administration who can explain to them, this is not an indiscriminate or disrespectful, action in the deportations. The deportations are something the American people voted for. That's why it's President Trump. We voted him in, and this is what we wanted to happen. And if you have a disagreement with the policy, then engage in disagreement. But what some of these bishops do, and not all, most of them that were in the meeting did not have these objections. There were basically two of them, the archbishop of, Milwaukee and of Des Moines, Iowa. And it's like, guys, you know, stop it already. Grow up. You know, of course, first of all, of course this is going to be public. You go to the Oval Office with. You voted with the president, it's going to be public. You should know that already. Secondly, you should be proud to be standing with the most pro life, the most pro religious freedom, the most pro family, the most pro parental rights president that we've ever had. I don't know. You know, I think some of these guys are just a. Some of them are. Some of them are Democrats and babies. Some of them are just. They're so weak. Need when someone will complain to them or. Jenna, what else? The other thing that happens is they're attorneys. They've got the worst attorneys in the country when it comes to elections and politics. Again, I've dealt with them for decades. I wrote a book about this, and it's these attorneys say to the bishops, oh, well, you know, if you men, or your priests in the churches do the slightest thing to signal support or lack of support for a particular political party or its positions, you know, you could lose your tax exemption from the irs. And that's total nonsense. That's. You know, attorneys who are experts in these matters, laugh out loud when they read some of these memos that the bishops send out. So I just had a comment on this story, and if people want to see my full comments on it, they're also at that website, prolifevote, dot com.
Jenna Ellis And I'm grateful that you're speaking out to this because, you know, obviously, just because. Because of the timing of, of two weeks before an election, there's not some kind of, you know, cut off that says you can't go and, petition your government for redress of grievances and be in the Oval Office with a president who's not even on the ballot, by the way. but, you know, you can't be associated in any event with an elected official, you know, ahead of an election, or have your photos in the office of the president published online.
Distinguishing Campaigning from Petitioning Government and Encouraging Engagement
I mean, this is just so ridiculous. there's a huge difference between going to your elected official also and versus if these bishops had, for example, you know, gotten up at a congressional campaign rally and were there literally just to promote that specific candidate. I mean, there's a difference between campaigning versus petitioning your government. I mean, it's so clear. And this is just one of those things that it makes me mad as well, Frank, because, you know, when, when the. These people who are in high positions and church leaders are taking such extreme measures and actually counseling, the wrong legal advice, but they're counseling people to be afraid of a. Of government intervention or getting in trouble or things like losing their IRS status. And they're wanting people to be so careful that they're actually, having a chilling effect on our ability as Christians to engage in our civil government and to be active participants in our civil society, that I believe is actually wrong. And it's something that they need to repent for, and they need to say we should be encouraging more Christians to engage with our government, not less.
Frank Pavone Yes, exactly. You said it so well. And like I mentioned, I wrote a whole book about this problem. It's called Abolishing Abortion, was published by Thomas Nelson back in 2015. And, the problem, is exactly that they're chilling. Something that really.
The Intersection of Gospel Issues with Political Choices and Socialist Dangers
On the other hand, they should be encouraging. And, you know, let's listen. We're all involved in the process. Issues are debated every day by politicians in churches. These Things intersect with the gospel. And again, especially this year, you know, I mean, like I say, this problem has been going on with the Catholic bishop for decades. But especially this year when the Democrat Party has gone full blown socialist, communist. The Catholic Church, these men should know full well, has had such a long and clear denunciation of socialism and communism. And now you've got a major political party just promoting it and unapologetically. And then you've got, just again, going back to the contrast, this contrast, message that I and so many others are trumpeting, is a contrast on things that are basic to the gospel. I mentioned about the prayer in schools. I mean fundamentally, so many Christian issues. Look at the uncovering of fraud, abuse, corruption and waste in government. No administration has done it better than this one. Look at the cutting, cutting, into crime and violence by the, you know, it goes down to how is the DOJ run, how is the FBI being run? It's being run in ways that are making absolutely historic progress. And these are things that religious leaders need to be concerned about. and not to mention all the ideologies, the transgender stuff, religious freedom, school choice. The Republicans, gave the president a bill that he signed that gave the greatest funding to school choice that has ever in our history been given. And so now, you know, these Catholic bishops, they run Catholic schools. They're not going to thank the president for making it easier for parents to go to the very schools that these men operate. I mean the whole thing is just so crazy. But let's let this story sharpen for us. The contrast that we're talking about here. The choice in this election is a no brainer.
Highlighting Victories for Faith and the Clear Choice in the Election
It is so crystal clear, especially for people of, faith. and the faith office published, you know, 250 victories for people of Faith recently. A beautiful document that again, I urge folks to go easy. You know, we have all the information at our fingertips on our smartphones. Look it up, read through it. 250 victories for people of Faith. The choice is clear.
Jenna Ellis Amen. Well, we got to take a break here. Frank Pavone, I so appreciate your time and your dedication and staying in the fight.
Appreciation for Frank Pavone's Dedication and Pro-Life Resources
And you're always such a happy warrior. And you, even with everything that you've personally been through and you know, all of the ups and downs of the last, for me it's, you know, it's been, it's been a little over a decade being in this particular fight, but you've been even more decades than that. And yet you have just such a wonderful countenance, about you and that's one of the things that I love and respect about you. So thank you for always staying engaged in the fight, for coming on so frequently and for this resource. So it's prolifevote.com and of course the AFA action one as well is I voterguide.com and we will be right back with more.
Encouraging Christian Women to Vote and the She Prays She Votes Initiative
Hi, I'm Jenna Ellis. Did you know that this content is listener supported? Without people like you, this podcast would not exist. And that's why we need you. A generous monthly gift of any amount will help sustain American Family Radio and specifically this podcast. Please consider becoming a monthly financial partner today by visiting afr.netforward/give. That's afr.netgive.
Jenna Ellis welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. Well, as we are encouraging Christians to get out and vote, one of my very dear friends, Penny Nance, who is the CEO and president of Concerned Women for America, is encouraging women in particular to get out and vote through the she prays she votes efforts. And I was actually very privileged to be part of the bus tour back. Penny and I were talking right before the segment in the break, back in 2022 and it was just such a wonderful time to go around, in this big pink bus and go and talk to, all of the people who came at each of these stops, Pray for the country, pray for some of our elected leaders who came and showed up. Steve Scalise came out, I remember there are a few others, along our tour. And CWA has just done such a phenomenal job at basically being the Christian contrast to all of these ridiculous leftist organizations that suggest that somehow women's issues mean, mean that you need to be pro abortion, you need to be feminist, you need to be, you know, have the, the little pink hats at rallies and all this, but actually pushing what real women's issues actually are, which is to preserve and protect, the rights that God our Creator gave us, which is also to protect innocent life, in the womb as well. So many other issues. But Penny Nance joins me and good, morning and thank you so much for all of your morning.
Penny Nance Oh, it's always an honor to be with you, Jenna. And we missed you this time on the bus tour. It's been absolutely wonderful and a lot of energy around the country, but we've got to remind Christian women they have to vote.
Jenna Ellis Absolutely. And, I'll get back on the bus tour next time. This would be so much fun. And you know, when, when you have, said, and CWA has said, that you've made more than 10 million voter contacts throughout the she prays she votes efforts. I mean, this is really incredible and I think is one of the best examples of how talking face to face with people can really make a difference.
Penny Nance Well, and that's exactly right A lot of times, and you know this, and you have an extremely informed audience. So this is probably not your audience, but what we know is true is about 40 million, Christians do not vote. And for some reason they feel content in their pew, like it doesn't touch them, it doesn't matter matter. Like their vote doesn't matter. And nothing can be further from the truth. I mean, we, we get the government that we support and that we vote for.
Addressing Discrimination and Parental Rights in the Current Political Climate
And you know, do I have to remind people what it was like a few years ago when Christians were being discriminated against in the workplace? And maybe, you know, a, particular person hasn't felt that, but they should be aware that their brothers and sisters in Christ are facing discrimination. and the idea that parental rights to one group of people is diminished, you know, the fact that today, even after President Trump's, executive orders, there's schools that are ignoring the law and are socially transitioning kids behind their parents backs, calling them a different name, calling them a different gender. And if you want that to be widespread, then, you know, feel free to give the gavel to someone else. we have been really blessed in the last, you know, three years to have, or two years to have a conservative, president and conservative leaders in the House and Senate. So we've changed a lot. But it's still just a matter of whether or not the President's agenda is going to continue or whether we're going to flip back to a much more leftist view of parenthood and what the schools should and should not be able to do and teach. And in order to preserve that and protect kids around the country, we all need to vote.
Jenna Ellis Absolutely. And you know, a lot of the conversation around the midterms this time has been socialism, you know, economic policies, including affordability.
Affordability as a Key Issue for Conservative Women and Economic Concerns
we've seen a little bit, not as much as in 2024, but a little bit on, you know, ice and border control, some of those things. But for women in particular, as you've gone around the country, what for the conservative woman, is really the, the main voting issue that you've heard?
Penny Nance Well, we actually did a poll about a month ago and discovered that, you know, even no matter what your party is, affordability is a big issue. And, you know, we've seen some changes and people hoped that President Trump had a, you know, a magic wand and immediately, you know, numbers would go down and food would go down. So we have seen some of that. But we are in war with Iran right now. And of course, oil prices are, have not come back down immediately. I believe they will, I think, once this is settled. But, you know, the gas, the price of gas impacts other things as well, because it's kind of built into, the transportation to get your food to market and all those things. So that, that is a concern for conservative women because we love our families and we want to be able to afford more and afford a vacation and be able to, you know, pay for the fees for our kids to be involved in soccer or whatever the things they are.
Life, Social Policy, Parental Rights, and School Choice on State Ballots
and that is a very real conversation and important thing. And I would say that every single member of Congress that I've ever spoken to in the last year is very much aware of that and very much wants those prices to come down, and I believe they will. But there's other things that are, at stake. For instance, in Virginia, there is an amendment to the Constitution that allows the Virginia Constitution that George Mason wrote, similar to our own constitution in the U.S. that would allow abortion up until birth. You know, we have these state referendas. Once that's in the Constitution, if we're not able to take that down, then it's going to be very difficult to ever get it out. It's very difficult to get a constitutional amendment in and it's even harder to get it out. So there's a lot at stake on life, there's a lot at stake on social policy, on parents rights, on, you know, school choice around the country. Whether or not you should be able to, your school should have, your Christian school should be able to be, available and have the same kind of support that a state school has. Whether the cost that the state is paying for your kid to attend a public school, would that be able to be transferable to a Christian school? Like those kind of questions are national policy. And we've really got to make sure that we, that see our view on those issues.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, and so where, where for some of the states, because obviously we have listeners from, you know, all over the country, where are some of the particular issues, located that you're really paying attention to and wanting, the, these conservative voters to make sure they know, are on their ballots.
Penny Nance Well, that is a great question. I'm sorry I don't have a list in front of me, but just about every state has, including the election, has some sort of a ballot initiative.
Understanding Ballot Initiatives and the Distinction Between Political Parties
And so, if you want to [email protected] that will all be. You can see what's on your ballot. I know at least in Louisiana there's like 10 of them that are, you know, are very important. And so in different states it's different. But you can talk about even, you know, I know you have a lot of listeners in Mississippi because of afa, which we love, American Family association, even Sandy Hyde Smith is having a tough reelect there. So it's really going to be important that conservatives over perform in order to get out and support these conservative members of Congress. It's a very, there's a big difference these days in the Democrat and the Republican. And I'm not going to tell your viewers, your listeners how to vote, but there is a huge distinction between the two. You have about 47 democratic socialists of America members who are on the ballot this time, and that's local and state and federal. And so it's not just a matter of being a little bit having different policy on, you know, the social welfare state versus, you know, you know, different thoughts on economics. It's a lot about social policy and even capitalism, whether or not we are going to continue to be a democratic capitalist country or whether we're going to move over into socialism and go into the regressive era that we so fortunately have been blessed to miss here in the United States. But anyone else that's dipped into that pool has drowned from it. You think about Cuba, you think about Venezuela, you think about the way that people have experienced socialism has not been helpful to them. They have just. Everyone becomes poor. No one becomes rich.
Jenna Ellis Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And all of these issues do impact, affect, every person. And I think that, you know, when, when the left tries to make some things, you know, just specifically women's issues, they're really not recognizing that we all live in civil society and we all pay attention to these things and even,
Penny Nance even women raise sons. Right. We by the way, that love men, as you well know. And you know, many of our members are single, but many of them are married. And the ones that are single someday hope to be, hope to be married in some cases. Ah, in most cases. And you know, we raise sons and we recognize that we. It's not, it's not about the government becoming, the nanny state or becoming your husband, you want to be able to thrive on your own, have. Be able to, profit from your own labor, be able to keep more of your own money through your taxes. Is that those, the issues that they say are men's issues are also women's issues issues?
Young Women's Priorities: Pro-Life Stance, Workforce, and Support for Israel
Jenna Ellis Absolutely. And you know, and even things like abortion, that's not just a woman's issue. I mean, to create a child, to conceive a child, it also takes a man. And and these are absolutely moral policy issues that everyone has an obligation to weigh in on and speak the truth on. And so, when we're talking about specifically though, engaging women to get out and vote, there have been a lot of polls. And and I had Rich Barris on the, the, the pollster, who was. His new book, I think it's called Burn it down. And talking about how young people are just kind of tired of everything and that's why they're gravitating towards socialism. As you are traversing the country and you're talking to so many young women, a lot of whom are, most of whom are Christians. what are you seeing from their level of engagement and what their priorities are, are.
Penny Nance Well, first off, they're completely annoyed by the fake narrative that women want abortion. You know, they're part of that 50% of women who are pro life. And and so I would say that, you know, they're very strong on the social. They don't want their tax dollars to pay for medically, transitioning children taking, you know, cutting off healthy body parts. and, and they would also say that they, they're eager to enter the workforce. They're grateful that they can compete on an equal footing with men and they're prepared for the future. They're not expecting the government to be their bailout and to be their, you know, their nanny. They're expecting to work hard and to profit from their labors. And I just think that there's this fake narrative about what women think and what women want. And I'm seeing actually the very opposite on college campuses around the country.
Engaging Young Voters, Understanding Church Demographics, and Voting as an Evangelist
The other thing is they're very strong, strong and strongly in favor of Israel and the US Israel relationship. And they are disgusted by the anti Semitism that they're seeing just run amok on their college campuses.
Jenna Ellis And you know, that shows that, they are faithful Christians then, because they understand and they're recognizing these issues. They're rejecting, you know, some of the pressure from the mainstream to Say, well if you're a woman and you support women, then you must support abortion. Which obviously I know is false, but it's great that the younger generation is stepping up with courage and saying no, we reject that false premise and we are going to advocate for the biblical worldview and to make sure that we get involved. And so maybe for the young person who's listening right now, or the parents, grandparents who have young people who this their first election, you, maybe they want to engage in the process. How would you encourage young people to engage and also to talk, talk to maybe their friends or family about these issues?
Penny Nance Well, I think it's really important for them to be aware of what the candidates positions are. So again go to go to ChristianVotes.org but also I would say recognize that just because people attend a church doesn't mean that they understand the issues at all. If you walk into the average church, I, would say to your listener, walk into your church on Sunday in your mind, cut that group in half. Recognize half of them are not registered to vote. Now look at the group that's registered to vote and cut that in half. And that's how many will vote. So 25% of your church congregation, if they're, you know, on a normal Sunday, that's how that breaks down. And so I would ask them to make sure that they encourage everybody in their, in their Sunday school to get the candidate surveys. I know Faith and Freedom puts out candidate surveys that will put the positions back to back next to each candidate so they could, people can see what the positions are and then they can choose based on their own values. And so just being an evangelist for the idea of voting and standing up for your values and understanding that government comes looking for you, it's not as if you can hide out on your pew and it won't touch you, it will touch you. Whether it's foreign policy, whether it's tax policy, policy, whether it's social policy. It's going to impact everyone.
Jenna Ellis Yeah.
Final Encouragement for Bus Tour and Farewell
Well, we've got to take a break here in Penny Nance. I'm so grateful that you could join
Penny Nance us this morning. Love you Jenna. Thank you for having me.
Jenna Ellis Absolutely love you too. And good luck on the last day of your bus tour
Penny Nance and Liberty University, today on Friday. So I hope people should come out. We'll be with Danny Gokey at the bus on campus and he's going to leave some praise and worship. Would love to see any of your listeners.
Jenna Ellis Amazing, Amazing. Well, thanks so much. We'll have you on again soon. We'll be praying for the turnout for these elections and we will be right back with more.
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Listener Question on Secular Music in Church and the Mission of the Church
Jenna Ellis Welcome back to Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio.
Jenna Ellis Welcome back. Well, as we're talking about the church engaging the civil government and, the difference between the church's mission and obviously the mission of the institution of civil government, there was a really great question that deals with the church's mission from a listener. And I always love, by the way, hearing from all of you on any topics, on any questions or things that we've discussed on air or not, from you and generally I respond, just directly, privately. But this particular question from Joe in Oklahoma I thought was so good that I wanted to address it on air because probably, more people than just Joe are, concerned about this particular issue. So he says this. Good morning, Ms. Jenna. Yesterday was family day at church and in the parking lot were games and food trucks. When I walked in, inside the auditorium, they, the music leaders were singing secular music and it just didn't sit well with me. So I made my way to the restroom and thought, God, this just doesn't seem right. So I left and said a little prayer about it. May I ask your thoughts about this, please? Thank you. thanking God for who you are in Christ, Joe from Oklahoma. Well, thank you, Joe, so much for writing in with this Question.
The Biblical Mission of the Church: Glorifying God, Proclaiming the Gospel, Making Disciples
And I want to commend your discernment on this issue because the fact that this didn't sit well with you. As a Christian who is wanting to be at a church that glorifies Christ, understands its mission and the Great Commission, you knew that something was wrong. And that's where discernment begins. And when we are consistently in the Word, when we are, communing with the Lord and we are wanting to live righteously, then when those kinds of situations make us feel uncomfortable, we should ask why. And so I want to, say first of all, about the biblical mission of the church. The church was not established to entertain people or compete with the culture or simply gather the largest possible audience. Its mission is to glorify God, proclaim the gospel, make disciples of all men, teach sound doctrine and equip believers. And we see this consistently throughout Scripture, particularly in the NewSong Testament when, Jesus is talking to his followers, and also when the Apostle Paul is admonishing churches of what their role and responsibility is, when he's teaching Timothy, and when he's teaching what the elders of the church should, should do and what they, behave the way that they should behave. So nowhere in the NewSong Testament do we see Jesus commissioning the church to become the most entertaining institution in the community. The church is not supposed to compete with a concert venue, a nightclub, or the entertainment industry, or just provide a more wholes alternative to, you know, your neighborhood bar. That's not the purpose of the church. So this doesn't mean Christians can't have fun. You can't have, you know, family night, or you can't have, you know, a fall festival instead of going Halloween trick or treating. It doesn't mean that church events have to be solemn or particularly, serious of having a Bible teacher at every single moment. But everything the church does do should be consistent with its identity and its mission. So the church does not need to become more like the world to reach the world. It needs to be faithful to Christ. So this is where the history of all of this and why so many evangelical churches and, big churches, and I don't know what specific denomination, Joe, you are attending, but where a lot of churches have gone the secular route and why this is happening has come in through Willow Creek Church and its founder, Bill hybels. So in 1975, Willow Creek began pioneering what became known as the seeker sensitive church movement. Its approach emphasized making church attractive and accessible to people who weren't Christians.
The Seeker Sensitive Movement and its Impact on Church Mission
Using contemporary music, multimedia, presentations that invoked Hollywood Movies, sophisticated programming, all of these things. And the model influenced thousands of churches because they basically pulled people and said, you're not going to church. What would make you come to church? So let's think about that question though. Why should we be asking the non Christian why aren't you coming to church? And then tailor our message to what makes them feel comfortable? I mean it would be like asking me, Jenna, you know, what would make you go to a nightclub? I would basically say, well, if the entire event was completely not a nightclub atmosphere, I don't want anything to do with anything that usually goes on there. Right. So the nightclub would have to completely transform to make it attractive to someone like me who doesn't participate in that. Right now a nightclub doesn't have the same mission obviously that church does, but it does have a goal, it has a purpose of why it exists. The church specifically has a biblical mandate and a mission as an institution that is ordained by God specifically to teach the Word. The point is not to attract people to come in and to so water down these events that it's basically like a bait and switch. We'll come in, you know, we're not going to pressure, we're not even going to say that we love Jesus here. We're going to play secular music. We're going to not even look like a church. You're going to have fun and somehow think that's going to translate to these people then coming Sunday morning and suddenly being hit over the head with you know, sound teaching and they're thinking, wow, you know, hearing the secular music is really going to make me want to come to a Bible study. No. So while it's probably not actually sinful to play secular music, it's, you know, it's certainly not sinful to invoke a movie clip or an analogy. We have to ask the question, is it wise? Does it fulfill the church's mission? And I think the answer to that is an obvious no. And even the seeker sensitive movement has ah, has apologized for this and saying that this was actually a, a really bad advice and was really bad advice for the church. And Bill Hybels even basically said in a shocking confession, this is what he stated, we made a mistake. What we should have done.
The Importance of Discipleship and Faithful Stewardship in the Church
When people cross the line of faith and become Christians, we should have started telling people and teaching people they have to take responsibility to become self feeders. We should have gotten people taught people how to read their Bible between services, how to do spiritual practices much more aggressively on their own. And so, even Hybels now, decades later, is saying that this was the wrong advice to have this sort of seeker sensitive movement to water down the church's mission and actually reject, the Great Commission and reject the identity and the core mission of the church in, in favor of these watered down practices. And so the church has an obligation to teach believers how to study Scripture, practice spiritual disciplines and take responsibility for their growth. The institution of the church is for Christians. Now. Part of that is evangelizing. But evangelizing isn't going out and pretending basically to not even be Christians and to be attractive to a secular environment. It's going and communicating the truth of the gospel to the unsaved and then bringing them into a church where the church can help them grow spiritually. And so we need to understand this line of what's permissible versus what is wise. And so if it makes you feel uncomfortable, Jo, I think you are spot on on that because I would be uncomfortable as well. And we need to ask and answer the question, what is the central mission of the church? And is everything we are doing in the church being done to the glory of God? What is the purpose of this particular church event? Is this furthering the church's mission? Does the music support that purpose? Or is it just an attempt to appear culturally relevant? Why do we need to be relevant? I mean the truth is truth and it's timeless. It's forever.
Biblical Discernment Versus Audience Appeal in Church Leadership Decisions
Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever. What message does the church communicate through its choices? Are church leaders making decisions based on biblical discernment or audience appeal? And the metrics and the, you know, what's big? And do we have, you know, the biggest play place for kids? Or are you discipling children, teaching them obedience to their parents? Are you teaching their parents how to properly raise children? Are we distinguishing between genuine hospitality toward unbelievers and compromising the church's distinct identity? So I think that we can say that because the success of the church isn't measured by how many people we can attract, we should measure everything we do by our faithfulness to the one who established it. So thank you so much Joe for your question and as always I everyone else you can reach me and my team as well.
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With midterm election day approaching, Jenna Ellis talks with Priests for Life founder Frank Pavone and Concerned Women for America president Penny Nance about Christian voter engagement, candidate research, and resources for understanding what’s on the ballot. They discuss the importance of turnout, state and local races and ballot initiatives.The conversation also turns to religious leaders’ engagement with public officials and the role of the church in public life.
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