: Welcome, to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. Now, here's Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good Tuesday morning, and welcome to Real Truth for today. I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. Debbie and I sure did. It is very, very hot here in Texarkana, Texas. And I couldn't believe it when I came to church Sunday, morning, I got out of my car, it was probably 8:30, and, man, I was like, good night. At 8:30 in the morning, it is so, so hot. But we praise the Lord. Anyway, we had a great Sunday and a, wonderful long, weekend. And so, it's back to the salt mine, so to speak. And for most, we're back to work. I appreciate you tuning in, to Real Truth for today here on American Family Radio. I want to talk to you today about this subject. Your vote matters. Your vote matters. Matthew 22, beginning in verse 15. Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap him in what he said. And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth and defer to no one, for you are not partial to any. Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their malice and said, why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the poll tax. And they brought to him a denarius. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? They said to him, caesar's. Then he said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And hearing this, they were amazed. And leaving him, they went away. They wanted a yes, no answer to their question. here's their question. Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not? Yes or no? You know, you see these guys in congressional hearings and they try and box somebody in, you see Lawyers, do that. You answer this question yes or no. Well, Jesus didn't answer it that way. He answered their question with the question, whose likeness and inscription is on this coin? And they said, Caesar's. And then the answer followed, well, okay, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God's the things that are God's. Your image, God's image and likeness is on you. And render yourself to God. Well, I say all that to say this. years ago I heard a sermon and Adrian Rogers made this point. I thought it was a very, solid, valid point. He said, caesar represents the government, and render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Has to do with our involvement in government. Now, America, as we talked Friday with Bishop E.W. jackson, America is not a democracy. It's a constitutional republic. And your vote matters. In a constitutional republic, you vote for people to represent you. And, if they don't represent you in the way you want to be represented, you either run for office, get somebody else to run for office that holds your values, and you vote that person in to represent you in government. If, as I've said before, if we just say, well, we're Christians and all we do is we're just going to care about, the church, well, that's a very short sighted way to look at things because we live here in America, this is our home, and we need to be just like you would in your own home. What are the rules of the house? Well, we want the rules to honor God. Well, what are the rules and the parameters that we have for America? What are we doing in America? And, what decisions are we making? Are those decisions honoring to God or dishonoring to God? And I refer back to the scripture verse in Jeremiah, when the Lord tells the captives in, Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 29, in verse 7, well, he backing up, so he says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Yahweh, Sabaoth, the Lord of angel armies, the God of Israel. To all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, they're sojourning there. They're exiles there. They're not going to be there forever, but they're going to be there for about 70 years. And he tells them, listen, you're not coming home anytime soon. Build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare, the shalom of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its shalom you will have shalom. In its welfare, you will have welfare. In its peace and wholeness, you will have peace and wholeness. So that verse, what God told the exiles to do, really applies to us today. As Christians, we're strangers in a strange land. this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. As Paul said in Philippians chapter three, our citizenship is in heaven. That's where our real home is. And so we're here for such a time as this. And what are we supposed to do, with our time on this earth? We are, Bill Federer says we are number one, to share the good news of Jesus, to share the gospel. That is our main job. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses. Jesus said in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth, our number one job is to tell people about Jesus, who is mighty to save, because this world is a sinking ship. And so we want people to, come to the ark of safety, so to speak, if you use the terminology of Noah, and be saved from this perverse generation, as Peter said in Acts 2. But the second most important thing, according to Bill Federer, is to ensure that we can freely share the good news of Jesus Christ and to keep those freedoms that our forefathers, suffered and bled and died for us to have. We don't want to let those slip away. I played the clip from Ronald Reagan, and he was talking about, America. This was when he was really in his prime, and he was talking about the threat of, socialism and communism. He said, listen, we, as Americans, and I'm paraphrasing, we have the most to lose. We don't want to lose our freedoms. And so that requires that we get involved, that we know the issues, that we look at life from a biblical perspective and look at candidates, political candidates, from, a biblical perspective. So politics and religion. We've said before that, there are those who get mad at pastors if they start talking about things they deem political. Just stick to the Bible, pastor. Don't talk about, political things. But the problem is that political, things have become moral, and they have encroached into the realm of the biblical morality. And the Bible has a lot to say about the issues of the day, that people are Arguing, issues concerning abortion, issues concerning, the murder of born children and born people and euthanasia. The Bible has a lot to say about that. the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. the Bible has a lot to say in the first chapter about, the LGBTQIA agenda. God made them male and female. the Bible has a lot to say in Romans 1 about what happens when you reject God. He gives you over to sexual immorality, gives you over to homosexual immorality. He gives you over to a reprobate mind. And so we have to look at these issues and say, okay, what does the Bible say and how am I to vote? Because, number one, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. We are to get involved. We can't bury our head in the sand. That's not being faithful. That is not seeking the welfare of the city. Because if you back off and all the Christians follow your lead and say, okay, well, you back off, I guess I should back off, too. Well, then, who's voting and who's, running for office? Well, the unbelievers. They're doing it because Christians have abdicated their position. That is not what the Lord wants us to do. And so we talked about that, on Friday. And so I just want to piggyback on that, that your vote does matter. And, the upcoming election, is important. You know, every election is important. We always talk about the most important election in our lifetime. Well, every election is important. Who are you going to put into office? Who are you going to say, I want this in a constitutional republic? I want this person to represent me? You need to know what that person believes. You need to know how that person is going to vote on key issues. Where do they stand when we look at a candidate from a biblical perspective? Where do they stand on issues of life? Where do they stand with the unborn? because the Bible makes it clear. Proverbs. Let me find it here. Proverbs, chapter 31. The, the word to the king, says, open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate, open your mouth, judge righteously and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy. Now, there are, are as far as a classification of people, no one is more afflicted and needy than the unborn. And, we are to defend them. We're to open our mouths for those who cannot speak and the unborn cannot speak. Do you think if you could talk to the unborn and say, hey, are you pro life or pro abortion? I think they would all agree 100%. I'm pro life. there was a song that James Dobson used to play. I heard it on Focus on the Family years ago and it just said, let me live, let me live. Let me walk into the sunshine. Let me live. Feel my mother's, arms around me. Be a part of God's creation. Let me live. And that's the cry of every unborn child. Abortion is murder. It's murder in the worst degree. It's the brutal dismemberment of the unborn. And we are to protect them. And, ah, listen, if you have, if you have one candidate who says abortion should have no restrictions, and when a governor, like the governor of Massachusetts, signed that bill into law for that state and you had all those women cheering, that would be a gigantic red flag that says, don't vote for that. That is sick, that is twisted, that is wicked, that is evil, that is satanic, as it relates to sexuality, you know. What does a candidate believe about, transgenderism, though? That's a good question, because that's a question concerning reality. It is impossible to change one's gender. It's impossible. You can't change your sex. You can't change your gender. Gender and sex are inseparably linked and God is the one who decides that. He made them male and female. And, sex is binary. You know, it's James Tallarico that says there are six, six genders. I don't know where in the world he gets that, doesn't get it from the Bible. but to say something like that is. You're out of touc with reality. So you're either male XY or you're female xx. Those that want to say intersex, well, there's intersex. that's not a gender. That's a, that's a problem. That's, you know, that's somebody being born that, instead of having, 10 fingers and 10 toes, they have five fingers and five toes, you say, oh, well, that's a, that's another kind of human being. we got those that just have the, the five fingers and the five toes. No, that's an abnormality. That's something that was not formed correctly. So we're looking at these issues because your vote matters and you need to be an informed voter. And as a Christian, you and I need to vote biblical values and vote for candidates. The apostle Paul is typically not on the ballot, but, but we vote for candidates who more closely align with those key biblical issues. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here on American Family Radio. I'm the pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas, and the founder of From His Heart Ministries. From His Heart is heard every weeknight at 6pm Central Time right here on American Family Radio. We'll be right back.
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: This is real truth for today. Podcasts of the program are available on the podcast [email protected] now back to Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program, Pastor Jeff. Here we're talking about the subject. Your vote matters. Are you registered to vote? Are you planning to vote in November? Your vote matters. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Caesar is our government. Caesar wants your vote. the way the political system is set up, the way the Constitution set things up, a constitutional republic requires us to vote and to be involved and to know what our representatives are, believe in, to know how they're going to vote on issues. And if we don't like the way someone is doing things, we vote them out and put somebody else in there. And it's important for Christians, if we're going to, be salt and light in our world and especially in our country, we need to be involved and we need to know what's going on. We need to know what the issues are. And I mean, you don't have to study it to death, but you need to know enough to know, hey, this person would represent me well and would represent, biblical positions well. And this person would not and don't vote for a person who wouldn't represent you well. Now, I contend that, in our country, two party system. You have, you know, independence and things like that, but they never win. So it's either, you're either going to win on the Democratic side or on the Republican side. And, that's the way it has been, that's the way it continues to be. Now you have one lone Democrat who has some common sense. He's more along the lines of, a Bill Maher or maybe a Bill Clinton from the 90s. And that is Jon Fetterman. And Jon Fetterman is, ah, getting people upset in his party because he hasn't drunk the Kool Aid and he's not on board with the socialist agenda for the Democrats. This is what he had to say recently. Let's see here. Here it is.
Caroline: It's 11 to 1.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Just say not responsible. No, that wasn't it. It's somewhere here. Maybe it was. Oh, here. Here it is.
Don Wildmon: We are electing some of these the worst people in the political spectrum. And I've been the one guy to say, like, look, have your own party. You can run on. The crazy stuff about abolishing all of the things that you're showing on your screen. It's indefensible. And they're often living in very expensive homes and they come from a very wealthy backgrounds too. It's absolutely a scam. We should divorce us from them. And I'll run as real Democrats the way we've always been.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So the way they've always been. But they're not that way anymore because the Democrats are getting taken over by the fringe left. And Bill Maher, will tell you that he said he hasn't moved in his positions, but, he sounds more and more like a Republican. I was going back and forth with Grok today on issues, related to the upcoming election. And I said, name for me one Democrat who would be, a proponent of 2 Thessalonians 3:10, where Paul says, we have given you this, order. If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either. If a man will not work, neither shall he eat. Because it seems like the Democrats just want to give away, give away, give away. But that doesn't help people. You should never. Jon Wooden. This is such a truism. You should never do for someone else what they should be doing for themselves because you're not helping them by doing that. People need to accept personal responsibility. We are to help biblically. We are to help people who cannot help themselves, not people who will not help themselves. And so I asked Rock the question, name One Democrat who would be a proponent of 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 10. And they said, bill Clinton. And I said, okay, Bill Clinton was in power in the 90s. So that's 25, 26 years ago. name one today. And Grok had to come back and say, well, there is not one Democrat in power. Maybe Jon Fetterman, but not one that Grok could mention. That would actually be, for sanity when it comes to giveaway programs. Because giveaway programs, if there are no, stipulations with those things, they don't help people. We want to pull people out of poverty, not, fund them in poverty so they can stay in poverty. And from my perspective, that's what we're doing. Thomas Sowell, he argues for that. the, tremendous thinker, one of the smartest guys I believe, economists, political, pundit and socioeconomic, issues. He weighs in on those things. Written many, many books. He's shunned by the left because they don't like his common sense approach to things. but he is somebody that we need to be listening to because he is very wise and what he says is rooted in truth. So your vote matters now how somebody, responds to biblical things. Now remember this? I played this last week. Jeremy Boreing, he said, the second president of the United States of America and one of the key founding fathers, Jon Adams, he was the first vice president, president to George Washington, and then he became the second president of the United States of America. Jon Adams, he said, our Constitution was written, was framed, was designed for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other. And that is so true. If there is not a fear of God, if there is not some internal thing that says, hey, don't do this, this is wrong. If there's, a golden rule in force. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you lose that, well, then the Constitution doesn't work, right? Because it was written to give freedoms to a, moral and religious people. And so as Jeremy Boring said, well, whose job is it to ensure a moral and religious people? Is that the job of the politician? No. Is that the job of a political party? No. It's the job of the pastor. It's the job of the church. We need to preach the truth and speak the truth in love. And we need to continue to be salt and light in this culture in which we live to make an impact. And just know this, Pastor, if you are, fulfilling that mandate to be salt and light. You are the salt of the earth. Jesus said, not you will become. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Salt and light make a difference. Unless. And he added this caveat. Unless you get polluted. If the salt becomes tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. If you get polluted with the world and you compromise yourself to the point of tastelessness, and, then you're not going to make a difference. You are the light of the world. City set on a hill cannot be hidden. But if you take the light and put it under a bushel basket, well, people don't see it. And that's what we have had happen in America. And we need to reverse that. We need to preach the truth and speak the truth in love and let, the chips fall. And if people get mad, well, they get mad. That's okay. You know, you can be controversial. The Bible. That's one of the greatest, things that could be said about you. It was said about Paul that he had upset the world with his teaching. And, that's not a bad thing. Now, we're not to be obnoxious in how we share the truth, but we are to be bold in how we share the truth. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said this. blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. That's okay if, people hate you. Jesus said, now they have to hate you for the right reasons. If they hate you because you're a jerk, well, that's different. But, Jesus said, if the world hates you, Jon, chapter 15. You know that it has hated me before. It hated you, who would hate Jesus? Jesus is love in the flesh. Why would anyone hate the God of the universe? Who loves them enough to tell them the truth? Who died on the cross for their sins and rose again from the dead? God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Why would anyone hate the God of redemption? Well, Jesus explained why they hate him. Jon, chapter three, verse 19. This is the judgment that light has come into the world. And men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil for Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. Jesus said in Jon 7 to his, brothers, they were asking him about going to the feast. He said, my time is not yet here. But your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you. But it hates me. Why? Because I testify of it. That its deeds are evil. One of the jobs of a pastor. One of the jobs of a Christian. We're not the Holy Spirit, but we do shine the light. We're the light of the world because the Lord lives inside, and the light of the world lives inside. And so he wants to shine through us as we do that. And, the Spirit convicts, the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. And as we start calling people out because of sin and we start telling people they need to repent, well, some will respond, but others will get mad. How dare you, call me out on this. How dare you say I'm a sinner. Who are you to say anything to me? You know, judge not, lest you be judged. Well, I'm not the judge. The Lord is the judge. But I can tell you what the judge has said. I can tell you Hebrews 13:4. Let the marriage bed be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers. God will judge. Now, that's not me judging you. That's me telling you. Hey, this is what the judge has said. You know, Psalm 50 is a favorite Psalm of mine. And Psalm 50, is an indictment that God brings against his people. And he says, but to the wicked, God says, what right have you to tell of my statutes and to take my covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline. And you cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you're pleased with him, and you associate with adulterers. You let your mouth loose in evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. These things you have done. And I kept silence. You thought that I was just like you. I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. God is not like us. God is holy. Holy, holy. God does not wink at sin. the conclusion. As Solomon said In Ecclesiastes chapter 12, the conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments. Because this applies to every person. For the Lord will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. And so that's our job, to share the truth with people and our job is to seek for the welfare of the city and to get involved with what's going on and how things, are set up. Because we live in a society, I believe, Romans 1, where God has given over many people to a reprobate mind, a mind that no longer functions, a depraved mind. And, the moral elevator doesn't go to the top. It's reversed. It's inverted. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. We live in that time, that time of woe, where people don't know the difference between good and evil. And women celebrate Lindsay Clancy killing her children, brutally murdering her children. We're all Lindsay Clancy. You've seen that. And these women have. They put up the heart sign for Lindsay Clancy. They give money to support Lindsay Clancy. Well, good night. You say, well, that person has mental problems. They have. Definitely have mental problems. And there's demonic problems in there because the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. She killed and destroyed her three children. you know what should happen to her? Well, she needs to be locked up for the rest of her life. she doesn't need to be acquitted. She doesn't need to be back on the streets, as one person said. Well, I wonder these women that are also pro. Lindsay Clancy. Let Lindsay Clancy babysit your kids. Of course, you wouldn't do that. But that's how upside down we've become. And listen, Christians, it is time for us to wake up. We're the church in Sardis, Revelation, chapter three. And we need to wake up, and we need to step up, and we need to get involved, and we need to participate, and we need to know what's going on. American family association has ivoterguide.com if you're not sure about where, the people on your ballot, in your city, in your state stand, go to ivoterguide.com and find out. Do the research and pray. We can do more than pray after, but we can't do more than pray before we pray. And so we need to pray. And we need to call upon the Lord to send revival to our land. That is what we need more than anything else. Revival to come to America to change the hearts of the people. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here. We're talking about your vote matters when we come back from the break. We'll be taking your calls. 888-589-884. That's 885-89840. If you have a question, a Comment? I'd love to hear from you, especially if you've never called in before. So give me a call and let's talk.
: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhisheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schroeder.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program. Pastor Jeff here we like to open up the phone lines in this last segment to hear from our listeners. 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8840. If you have a question, comment, a brief testimony, I'd love to hear from you. If you've been listening to the program and you've never called in. Love to hear from you. It's always fun to hear from first time listeners. and so, you know, I played that clip from Jon Fetterman and he was talking about the socialists that have, are trying to overrun the Democratic Party. And what does the Bible have to say about socialism? Well, it's written in the Ten commandments, you shall not steal. Commandment number eight, you shall not steal. Socialism is the government taking from you without your consent. It's stealing. It's different from m taxes. It's just, they take your stuff, they take the means of production. And that is wrong. The Bible in Acts 2 talks about those who freely gave. Nobody took anything from them. They freely gave. And so, the Lord loves a cheerful giver. The Bible teaches that, we have what is ours and then we are to give that away. In Acts 5 you have the death of Ananias and Sapphira. And you know, they lied about a piece of property they sold. And this is what Peter said to Ananias when he said, did you sell that for such and such a price? And he said, yes. And he said, ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land while it remained unsold. Did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? So what was the sin? The sin was, well, he lied about the price. He said he gave it all, but he didn't. And here was the issue. He could have kept it. I mean there was nothing that said you had to give that. But he lied because he was looking for attaboys and pats on the back. And oh, look at Ananias and Sapphira. They are such wonderful givers. That was the sin. He lied to the Holy Spirit and Satan filled his heart to do that. But the point I was making was Peter made it clear, hey, this was yours after it was sold. It was under your control. You could have done anything you wanted with it because no one was taking it. No one was forcing you to give it all. Now, if we think about the government wanting more and more taxes and wanting more and more money, to do what with? To waste it? You know, we don't have much choice when they increase taxes. But, you know, if you are taking more money from me and doing good with it, okay, that can soften the blow. But if you're taking more money from me, to waste it on the bullet train in California going nowhere, that's billions and billions and billions of dollars. Gavin Newsom's boondoggle, of a project that's probably never going to be built, and it's just wasting tens of billions of dollars. Good night. The proof is in the pudding. Why would I want to give you another dime? Because you are not trustworthy with that. And this idea that, you know, the government should, take over grocery stores, the government should take over health care. The government should take over, industry. Anything the government touches, they ruin. They can't do anything as well as private industry. And so, Ronald Reagan made that clear. The private industry does better, in really every facet, because maybe the military would be a caveat. But, you know, the more that we can have private business that runs off of profit and loss, the better. Well, we're going to the phone lines, and we'd love to hear from you. And we have our friend Linda on the line from Texas. Linda, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Oh, good morning, sir. bless you. I'm calling in to encourage you. I have written down here real news, not fake news. That's what I call your program. And, a habit becomes a lifestyle. This has become my lifestyle. So the word I have for you is out of Ephesians 6, and it's, verses 19 and 20. Pray also for me that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should. And I just. I had to call you and say to me, that's exactly what you're doing.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, thank you, Linda. That's so sweet. I appreciate that. And, yeah, I appreciate the fact that, you know, when Apostle Paul was talking about the armor of God, put On the armor of God. One of the, pieces of armor that sometimes gets overlooked is that armor of prayer, because prayer holds it all together. Prayer gives power to all of it. And so he says, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. And then he asked people to pray for him so that he would be bold. And so I appreciate you, Linda. I appreciate you praying for me. and other pastors. We want other pastors to be bold, bold, to speak the truth in love, to, you know, you just let it rip. Thus says the Lord. We're not apologizing for anything as far as what God says in his word. Thus says the Lord. I, had mentioned Sunday, I said, you know, God is not the God that you want him to be. He's the God who is. And I, am who I am. And we need to present to the congregation, present to the world the God who is not. The God who is not. Not the God of your imagination, as it says in Psalm 50. You thought I was just like you. Well, I'm not. I am the God who is holy, holy, holy. I am the God who does not overlook sin. He does not leave the guilty unpunished. So I appreciate you, Linda, greatly. Thank you for listening, and thank you for all your encouragement and kind words and your prayers for. We have, Thom on the line from Arkansas. Thom, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Good morning, sir. How are you and doing? Well, Thom, I might add, you started off your comments this morning, more or less, with the, render under Caesar. what is Caesar? So, I did a little AI search, to help you out there, and I asked the AI if that meant we're just supposed to give all. Anything the government asks us for, for anything they want to do. And it said no. So just. Just to clarify that, because I know a lot of people hold that particular scripture up, you know, and it's not. Doesn't say that at all, you know. Right, right. but, you know, I. Scripture needs to be kind of underwritten at church with real life application. And. And what, you were just voting about selling the land there, in that. In that Bible. I, hate to use the word Bible story because it makes it sound like their stories, but Bible record, you know exactly what it is. Yes, sir. Well, thank you so much for the program this morning. And, we pray for you, too. Thanks.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, Thom. God bless you. Brother. Yeah, it really matters. So as we. As we think about voting, we say, okay, I had a roommate in college, and he would just say, well, Jeff, I'm apolitical. I don't get involved in any of that. I was like, okay, well, how does it work if everybody's like you? You know, Paul said, follow me. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. So we need to live a life that says, hey, do what I do. And if you do what I do, the country is going to be much, much better. Because I'm seeking the welfare of the city. I'm seeking what is good for all people. And, you know, an economy that's strong helps everybody. A nation that's strong helps everybody. A nation that's weak, militarily weak, morally weak, that hurts everybody. You know, if evil is on the rise, well, that's not a good thing. That's not a good thing for the vulnerable, for women and children. And, when we don't have a country that is run by, laws or Romans 13, where you. What are you supposed to do? Well, the government bears, the sword, and it does not bear this in vain. It is there to, reward those who are doing, good things and helping society, and it punishes those who are doing bad things and hurting society. And we've gotten so twisted. But our nation has. And it goes back to the churches and pastors. We've allowed people to not be moral and religious. We've allowed people to come up with their own rules. We can't, do that. We have to go back. What. What does God say? Blessed is the nation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. And cursed, as we read between the lines, cursed is the nation whose God is not. We have Dennis on the line from Missouri. Dennis, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Good morning, Pastor. How are you?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Good, Dennis. Good to hear from you.
Caroline: Well, I just wanted to. To thank you, Pastor, for your program, all that you. Your wisdom. From the messages that you are putting out regularly, I'd almost like to consider you my pastor because as I've told you before, I'm on parole and I can't attend church. And, I recently. My parole officer got changed, but I don't have a new one, so I don't know what's going to happen. But. But I just wanted to thank you because I appreciate your program. I've got your videos. I gotta get more of them, but because my dementia. My dementia's kicking in. And, Everything makes it kind of hard to remember things. But I love you as a friend and a brother.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, Dennis.
Caroline: May the Lord bless your family and your ministry. So thank you for all that you do.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, brother. Means a lot to me. Thank you, Dennis. And, just great encouragement to my heart. So may God, hold off that dementia and fill, your mind, with the truth, with joy and peace and believing, as the Bible says. Romans 15:13. You know, we have life verses. I, was introduced as a young Christian to a life verse. My pastor, Harold Ochester, had a life verse. Isaiah 40, 31. But they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not get weary. They shall walk and not faint. Well, one of my life verses is Romans 15:13. Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope, overflow in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I think that, when we encounter people, because lots of people are carrying burdens, really, everybody you meet, they have troublesome problems in life. Man is full of trouble. Man, is born for trouble as sparks fly upward. Job, chapter five, verse seven. And so everybody's got an amount of trouble. Jesus said, in the world you have tribulation, but be of good courage. I have overcome the world and sharing that verse of Scripture, Romans 15:13, with folks that God is the God of hope. in one of the books I wrote Runaway Emotions, I talk about depression. And I said, you know, what happens in depression is you lose hope. And, when you get to the place where you just say, I don't want to live anymore, why do people get there? Because they've lost all hope. And so, I always think about Psalm 27, 13, 14. David says, I would have despaired unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. And so we need to wait for him. We don't know what is going to happen. You know, God is the God who can snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. He's the God who shows up right at the precise time. And just when you think everything is over and done, I'm going to lose everything that I have. I'm going to lose my house, my finances, my marriage, my children, this, that, and the other God, if you keep your eyes fixed on him, he's the God of hope, and he can fill you with joy and fill you with peace in the midst of terrible circumstances. As you believe and as you trust him. As Jesus told Jairus, they said, don't bother the teacher anymore. Your little girl is dead. And Jesus said to him, fear not, only believe. And what did he do? He did a miracle and raised that little girl from the dead. God is the God who can do that in your life and in my life. And so nothing is over. We used to have this phrase in sport. It ain't over till the fat lady sings. And, you know, not trying to throw any fat ladies under the bus, but that was the phrase. It ain't over till the fat lady sings. Well, it ain't over until God says it's over. So what is your job? What is my job? Revelation, chapter 2, verse 10. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Second Corinthians, chapter one. the apostle Paul said this. but if we are afflicted. Wait a minute. Let me get to this. where is that part? He says, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. He says this, for we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us. He on whom we have set our hope, and he will yet deliver us. He will deliver you, no matter what's going on in life. Keep trusting him. God bless you.
: Welcome, to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas. Now, here's Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good Tuesday morning, and welcome to Real Truth for today. I hope you had a great Labor Day weekend. Debbie and I sure did. It is very, very hot here in Texarkana, Texas. And I couldn't believe it when I came to church Sunday, morning, I got out of my car, it was probably 8:30, and, man, I was like, good night. At 8:30 in the morning, it is so, so hot. But we praise the Lord. Anyway, we had a great Sunday and a, wonderful long, weekend. And so, it's back to the salt mine, so to speak. And for most, we're back to work. I appreciate you tuning in, to Real Truth for today here on American Family Radio. I want to talk to you today about this subject. Your vote matters. Your vote matters. Matthew 22, beginning in verse 15. Then the Pharisees went and plotted together how they might trap him in what he said. And they sent their disciples to him along with the Herodians, saying, teacher, we know that you are truthful and teach the way of God in truth and defer to no one, for you are not partial to any. Tell us then, what do you think? Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not? But Jesus perceived their malice and said, why are you testing me, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the poll tax. And they brought to him a denarius. And he said to them, whose likeness and inscription is this? They said to him, caesar's. Then he said to them, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God the things that are God's. And hearing this, they were amazed. And leaving him, they went away. They wanted a yes, no answer to their question. here's their question. Is it lawful to give a poll tax to Caesar or not? Yes or no? You know, you see these guys in congressional hearings and they try and box somebody in, you see Lawyers, do that. You answer this question yes or no. Well, Jesus didn't answer it that way. He answered their question with the question, whose likeness and inscription is on this coin? And they said, Caesar's. And then the answer followed, well, okay, then render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's and to God's the things that are God's. Your image, God's image and likeness is on you. And render yourself to God. Well, I say all that to say this. years ago I heard a sermon and Adrian Rogers made this point. I thought it was a very, solid, valid point. He said, caesar represents the government, and render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Has to do with our involvement in government. Now, America, as we talked Friday with Bishop E.W. jackson, America is not a democracy. It's a constitutional republic. And your vote matters. In a constitutional republic, you vote for people to represent you. And, if they don't represent you in the way you want to be represented, you either run for office, get somebody else to run for office that holds your values, and you vote that person in to represent you in government. If, as I've said before, if we just say, well, we're Christians and all we do is we're just going to care about, the church, well, that's a very short sighted way to look at things because we live here in America, this is our home, and we need to be just like you would in your own home. What are the rules of the house? Well, we want the rules to honor God. Well, what are the rules and the parameters that we have for America? What are we doing in America? And, what decisions are we making? Are those decisions honoring to God or dishonoring to God? And I refer back to the scripture verse in Jeremiah, when the Lord tells the captives in, Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter 29, in verse 7, well, he backing up, so he says, Thus says the Lord of hosts, Yahweh, Sabaoth, the Lord of angel armies, the God of Israel. To all the exiles whom I have sent into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon, they're sojourning there. They're exiles there. They're not going to be there forever, but they're going to be there for about 70 years. And he tells them, listen, you're not coming home anytime soon. Build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce. Take wives and become the fathers of sons and daughters, and take wives for your sons and give your daughters to husbands that they may bear sons and daughters and multiply there and do not decrease. Seek the welfare, the shalom of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the Lord on its behalf. For in its shalom you will have shalom. In its welfare, you will have welfare. In its peace and wholeness, you will have peace and wholeness. So that verse, what God told the exiles to do, really applies to us today. As Christians, we're strangers in a strange land. this world is not my home. I'm just passing through. My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue. As Paul said in Philippians chapter three, our citizenship is in heaven. That's where our real home is. And so we're here for such a time as this. And what are we supposed to do, with our time on this earth? We are, Bill Federer says we are number one, to share the good news of Jesus, to share the gospel. That is our main job. But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be my witnesses. Jesus said in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the remotest parts of the earth, our number one job is to tell people about Jesus, who is mighty to save, because this world is a sinking ship. And so we want people to, come to the ark of safety, so to speak, if you use the terminology of Noah, and be saved from this perverse generation, as Peter said in Acts 2. But the second most important thing, according to Bill Federer, is to ensure that we can freely share the good news of Jesus Christ and to keep those freedoms that our forefathers, suffered and bled and died for us to have. We don't want to let those slip away. I played the clip from Ronald Reagan, and he was talking about, America. This was when he was really in his prime, and he was talking about the threat of, socialism and communism. He said, listen, we, as Americans, and I'm paraphrasing, we have the most to lose. We don't want to lose our freedoms. And so that requires that we get involved, that we know the issues, that we look at life from a biblical perspective and look at candidates, political candidates, from, a biblical perspective. So politics and religion. We've said before that, there are those who get mad at pastors if they start talking about things they deem political. Just stick to the Bible, pastor. Don't talk about, political things. But the problem is that political, things have become moral, and they have encroached into the realm of the biblical morality. And the Bible has a lot to say about the issues of the day, that people are Arguing, issues concerning abortion, issues concerning, the murder of born children and born people and euthanasia. The Bible has a lot to say about that. the sixth commandment, you shall not murder. the Bible has a lot to say in the first chapter about, the LGBTQIA agenda. God made them male and female. the Bible has a lot to say in Romans 1 about what happens when you reject God. He gives you over to sexual immorality, gives you over to homosexual immorality. He gives you over to a reprobate mind. And so we have to look at these issues and say, okay, what does the Bible say and how am I to vote? Because, number one, render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. We are to get involved. We can't bury our head in the sand. That's not being faithful. That is not seeking the welfare of the city. Because if you back off and all the Christians follow your lead and say, okay, well, you back off, I guess I should back off, too. Well, then, who's voting and who's, running for office? Well, the unbelievers. They're doing it because Christians have abdicated their position. That is not what the Lord wants us to do. And so we talked about that, on Friday. And so I just want to piggyback on that, that your vote does matter. And, the upcoming election, is important. You know, every election is important. We always talk about the most important election in our lifetime. Well, every election is important. Who are you going to put into office? Who are you going to say, I want this in a constitutional republic? I want this person to represent me? You need to know what that person believes. You need to know how that person is going to vote on key issues. Where do they stand when we look at a candidate from a biblical perspective? Where do they stand on issues of life? Where do they stand with the unborn? because the Bible makes it clear. Proverbs. Let me find it here. Proverbs, chapter 31. The, the word to the king, says, open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all the unfortunate, open your mouth, judge righteously and defend the rights of the afflicted and needy. Now, there are, are as far as a classification of people, no one is more afflicted and needy than the unborn. And, we are to defend them. We're to open our mouths for those who cannot speak and the unborn cannot speak. Do you think if you could talk to the unborn and say, hey, are you pro life or pro abortion? I think they would all agree 100%. I'm pro life. there was a song that James Dobson used to play. I heard it on Focus on the Family years ago and it just said, let me live, let me live. Let me walk into the sunshine. Let me live. Feel my mother's, arms around me. Be a part of God's creation. Let me live. And that's the cry of every unborn child. Abortion is murder. It's murder in the worst degree. It's the brutal dismemberment of the unborn. And we are to protect them. And, ah, listen, if you have, if you have one candidate who says abortion should have no restrictions, and when a governor, like the governor of Massachusetts, signed that bill into law for that state and you had all those women cheering, that would be a gigantic red flag that says, don't vote for that. That is sick, that is twisted, that is wicked, that is evil, that is satanic, as it relates to sexuality, you know. What does a candidate believe about, transgenderism, though? That's a good question, because that's a question concerning reality. It is impossible to change one's gender. It's impossible. You can't change your sex. You can't change your gender. Gender and sex are inseparably linked and God is the one who decides that. He made them male and female. And, sex is binary. You know, it's James Tallarico that says there are six, six genders. I don't know where in the world he gets that, doesn't get it from the Bible. but to say something like that is. You're out of touc with reality. So you're either male XY or you're female xx. Those that want to say intersex, well, there's intersex. that's not a gender. That's a, that's a problem. That's, you know, that's somebody being born that, instead of having, 10 fingers and 10 toes, they have five fingers and five toes, you say, oh, well, that's a, that's another kind of human being. we got those that just have the, the five fingers and the five toes. No, that's an abnormality. That's something that was not formed correctly. So we're looking at these issues because your vote matters and you need to be an informed voter. And as a Christian, you and I need to vote biblical values and vote for candidates. The apostle Paul is typically not on the ballot, but, but we vote for candidates who more closely align with those key biblical issues. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here on American Family Radio. I'm the pastor of First Baptist Church in Texarkana, Texas, and the founder of From His Heart Ministries. From His Heart is heard every weeknight at 6pm Central Time right here on American Family Radio. We'll be right back.
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: This is real truth for today. Podcasts of the program are available on the podcast [email protected] now back to Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program, Pastor Jeff. Here we're talking about the subject. Your vote matters. Are you registered to vote? Are you planning to vote in November? Your vote matters. Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's. Caesar is our government. Caesar wants your vote. the way the political system is set up, the way the Constitution set things up, a constitutional republic requires us to vote and to be involved and to know what our representatives are, believe in, to know how they're going to vote on issues. And if we don't like the way someone is doing things, we vote them out and put somebody else in there. And it's important for Christians, if we're going to, be salt and light in our world and especially in our country, we need to be involved and we need to know what's going on. We need to know what the issues are. And I mean, you don't have to study it to death, but you need to know enough to know, hey, this person would represent me well and would represent, biblical positions well. And this person would not and don't vote for a person who wouldn't represent you well. Now, I contend that, in our country, two party system. You have, you know, independence and things like that, but they never win. So it's either, you're either going to win on the Democratic side or on the Republican side. And, that's the way it has been, that's the way it continues to be. Now you have one lone Democrat who has some common sense. He's more along the lines of, a Bill Maher or maybe a Bill Clinton from the 90s. And that is Jon Fetterman. And Jon Fetterman is, ah, getting people upset in his party because he hasn't drunk the Kool Aid and he's not on board with the socialist agenda for the Democrats. This is what he had to say recently. Let's see here. Here it is.
Caroline: It's 11 to 1.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Just say not responsible. No, that wasn't it. It's somewhere here. Maybe it was. Oh, here. Here it is.
Don Wildmon: We are electing some of these the worst people in the political spectrum. And I've been the one guy to say, like, look, have your own party. You can run on. The crazy stuff about abolishing all of the things that you're showing on your screen. It's indefensible. And they're often living in very expensive homes and they come from a very wealthy backgrounds too. It's absolutely a scam. We should divorce us from them. And I'll run as real Democrats the way we've always been.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: So the way they've always been. But they're not that way anymore because the Democrats are getting taken over by the fringe left. And Bill Maher, will tell you that he said he hasn't moved in his positions, but, he sounds more and more like a Republican. I was going back and forth with Grok today on issues, related to the upcoming election. And I said, name for me one Democrat who would be, a proponent of 2 Thessalonians 3:10, where Paul says, we have given you this, order. If anyone is not willing to work, then he is not to eat either. If a man will not work, neither shall he eat. Because it seems like the Democrats just want to give away, give away, give away. But that doesn't help people. You should never. Jon Wooden. This is such a truism. You should never do for someone else what they should be doing for themselves because you're not helping them by doing that. People need to accept personal responsibility. We are to help biblically. We are to help people who cannot help themselves, not people who will not help themselves. And so I asked Rock the question, name One Democrat who would be a proponent of 2nd Thessalonians, chapter 3, verse 10. And they said, bill Clinton. And I said, okay, Bill Clinton was in power in the 90s. So that's 25, 26 years ago. name one today. And Grok had to come back and say, well, there is not one Democrat in power. Maybe Jon Fetterman, but not one that Grok could mention. That would actually be, for sanity when it comes to giveaway programs. Because giveaway programs, if there are no, stipulations with those things, they don't help people. We want to pull people out of poverty, not, fund them in poverty so they can stay in poverty. And from my perspective, that's what we're doing. Thomas Sowell, he argues for that. the, tremendous thinker, one of the smartest guys I believe, economists, political, pundit and socioeconomic, issues. He weighs in on those things. Written many, many books. He's shunned by the left because they don't like his common sense approach to things. but he is somebody that we need to be listening to because he is very wise and what he says is rooted in truth. So your vote matters now how somebody, responds to biblical things. Now remember this? I played this last week. Jeremy Boreing, he said, the second president of the United States of America and one of the key founding fathers, Jon Adams, he was the first vice president, president to George Washington, and then he became the second president of the United States of America. Jon Adams, he said, our Constitution was written, was framed, was designed for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the governance of any other. And that is so true. If there is not a fear of God, if there is not some internal thing that says, hey, don't do this, this is wrong. If there's, a golden rule in force. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. If you lose that, well, then the Constitution doesn't work, right? Because it was written to give freedoms to a, moral and religious people. And so as Jeremy Boring said, well, whose job is it to ensure a moral and religious people? Is that the job of the politician? No. Is that the job of a political party? No. It's the job of the pastor. It's the job of the church. We need to preach the truth and speak the truth in love. And we need to continue to be salt and light in this culture in which we live to make an impact. And just know this, Pastor, if you are, fulfilling that mandate to be salt and light. You are the salt of the earth. Jesus said, not you will become. You are the salt of the earth. You are the light of the world. Salt and light make a difference. Unless. And he added this caveat. Unless you get polluted. If the salt becomes tasteless, how will it be made salty again? It is good for nothing except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. If you get polluted with the world and you compromise yourself to the point of tastelessness, and, then you're not going to make a difference. You are the light of the world. City set on a hill cannot be hidden. But if you take the light and put it under a bushel basket, well, people don't see it. And that's what we have had happen in America. And we need to reverse that. We need to preach the truth and speak the truth in love and let, the chips fall. And if people get mad, well, they get mad. That's okay. You know, you can be controversial. The Bible. That's one of the greatest, things that could be said about you. It was said about Paul that he had upset the world with his teaching. And, that's not a bad thing. Now, we're not to be obnoxious in how we share the truth, but we are to be bold in how we share the truth. In the Beatitudes, Jesus said this. blessed are those who have been persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad for your reward in heaven is great. For in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you. That's okay if, people hate you. Jesus said, now they have to hate you for the right reasons. If they hate you because you're a jerk, well, that's different. But, Jesus said, if the world hates you, Jon, chapter 15. You know that it has hated me before. It hated you, who would hate Jesus? Jesus is love in the flesh. Why would anyone hate the God of the universe? Who loves them enough to tell them the truth? Who died on the cross for their sins and rose again from the dead? God demonstrates his own love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Why would anyone hate the God of redemption? Well, Jesus explained why they hate him. Jon, chapter three, verse 19. This is the judgment that light has come into the world. And men love the darkness rather than the light, for their deeds were evil for Everyone who does evil hates the light and does not come to the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. Jesus said in Jon 7 to his, brothers, they were asking him about going to the feast. He said, my time is not yet here. But your time is always opportune. The world cannot hate you. But it hates me. Why? Because I testify of it. That its deeds are evil. One of the jobs of a pastor. One of the jobs of a Christian. We're not the Holy Spirit, but we do shine the light. We're the light of the world because the Lord lives inside, and the light of the world lives inside. And so he wants to shine through us as we do that. And, the Spirit convicts, the world of sin and righteousness and judgment. And as we start calling people out because of sin and we start telling people they need to repent, well, some will respond, but others will get mad. How dare you, call me out on this. How dare you say I'm a sinner. Who are you to say anything to me? You know, judge not, lest you be judged. Well, I'm not the judge. The Lord is the judge. But I can tell you what the judge has said. I can tell you Hebrews 13:4. Let the marriage bed be undefiled for fornicators and adulterers. God will judge. Now, that's not me judging you. That's me telling you. Hey, this is what the judge has said. You know, Psalm 50 is a favorite Psalm of mine. And Psalm 50, is an indictment that God brings against his people. And he says, but to the wicked, God says, what right have you to tell of my statutes and to take my covenant in your mouth? For you hate discipline. And you cast my words behind you. When you see a thief, you're pleased with him, and you associate with adulterers. You let your mouth loose in evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother. You slander your own mother's son. These things you have done. And I kept silence. You thought that I was just like you. I will reprove you and state the case in order before your eyes. God is not like us. God is holy. Holy, holy. God does not wink at sin. the conclusion. As Solomon said In Ecclesiastes chapter 12, the conclusion, when all has been heard, is fear God and keep his commandments. Because this applies to every person. For the Lord will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. And so that's our job, to share the truth with people and our job is to seek for the welfare of the city and to get involved with what's going on and how things, are set up. Because we live in a society, I believe, Romans 1, where God has given over many people to a reprobate mind, a mind that no longer functions, a depraved mind. And, the moral elevator doesn't go to the top. It's reversed. It's inverted. Woe to those who call evil good and good evil. We live in that time, that time of woe, where people don't know the difference between good and evil. And women celebrate Lindsay Clancy killing her children, brutally murdering her children. We're all Lindsay Clancy. You've seen that. And these women have. They put up the heart sign for Lindsay Clancy. They give money to support Lindsay Clancy. Well, good night. You say, well, that person has mental problems. They have. Definitely have mental problems. And there's demonic problems in there because the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. She killed and destroyed her three children. you know what should happen to her? Well, she needs to be locked up for the rest of her life. she doesn't need to be acquitted. She doesn't need to be back on the streets, as one person said. Well, I wonder these women that are also pro. Lindsay Clancy. Let Lindsay Clancy babysit your kids. Of course, you wouldn't do that. But that's how upside down we've become. And listen, Christians, it is time for us to wake up. We're the church in Sardis, Revelation, chapter three. And we need to wake up, and we need to step up, and we need to get involved, and we need to participate, and we need to know what's going on. American family association has ivoterguide.com if you're not sure about where, the people on your ballot, in your city, in your state stand, go to ivoterguide.com and find out. Do the research and pray. We can do more than pray after, but we can't do more than pray before we pray. And so we need to pray. And we need to call upon the Lord to send revival to our land. That is what we need more than anything else. Revival to come to America to change the hearts of the people. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here. We're talking about your vote matters when we come back from the break. We'll be taking your calls. 888-589-884. That's 885-89840. If you have a question, a Comment? I'd love to hear from you, especially if you've never called in before. So give me a call and let's talk.
: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhisheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schroeder.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to the program. Pastor Jeff here we like to open up the phone lines in this last segment to hear from our listeners. 888-589-8840. That's 888-589-8840. If you have a question, comment, a brief testimony, I'd love to hear from you. If you've been listening to the program and you've never called in. Love to hear from you. It's always fun to hear from first time listeners. and so, you know, I played that clip from Jon Fetterman and he was talking about the socialists that have, are trying to overrun the Democratic Party. And what does the Bible have to say about socialism? Well, it's written in the Ten commandments, you shall not steal. Commandment number eight, you shall not steal. Socialism is the government taking from you without your consent. It's stealing. It's different from m taxes. It's just, they take your stuff, they take the means of production. And that is wrong. The Bible in Acts 2 talks about those who freely gave. Nobody took anything from them. They freely gave. And so, the Lord loves a cheerful giver. The Bible teaches that, we have what is ours and then we are to give that away. In Acts 5 you have the death of Ananias and Sapphira. And you know, they lied about a piece of property they sold. And this is what Peter said to Ananias when he said, did you sell that for such and such a price? And he said, yes. And he said, ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back some of the price of the land while it remained unsold. Did it not remain your own? And after it was sold, was it not under your control? So what was the sin? The sin was, well, he lied about the price. He said he gave it all, but he didn't. And here was the issue. He could have kept it. I mean there was nothing that said you had to give that. But he lied because he was looking for attaboys and pats on the back. And oh, look at Ananias and Sapphira. They are such wonderful givers. That was the sin. He lied to the Holy Spirit and Satan filled his heart to do that. But the point I was making was Peter made it clear, hey, this was yours after it was sold. It was under your control. You could have done anything you wanted with it because no one was taking it. No one was forcing you to give it all. Now, if we think about the government wanting more and more taxes and wanting more and more money, to do what with? To waste it? You know, we don't have much choice when they increase taxes. But, you know, if you are taking more money from me and doing good with it, okay, that can soften the blow. But if you're taking more money from me, to waste it on the bullet train in California going nowhere, that's billions and billions and billions of dollars. Gavin Newsom's boondoggle, of a project that's probably never going to be built, and it's just wasting tens of billions of dollars. Good night. The proof is in the pudding. Why would I want to give you another dime? Because you are not trustworthy with that. And this idea that, you know, the government should, take over grocery stores, the government should take over health care. The government should take over, industry. Anything the government touches, they ruin. They can't do anything as well as private industry. And so, Ronald Reagan made that clear. The private industry does better, in really every facet, because maybe the military would be a caveat. But, you know, the more that we can have private business that runs off of profit and loss, the better. Well, we're going to the phone lines, and we'd love to hear from you. And we have our friend Linda on the line from Texas. Linda, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Oh, good morning, sir. bless you. I'm calling in to encourage you. I have written down here real news, not fake news. That's what I call your program. And, a habit becomes a lifestyle. This has become my lifestyle. So the word I have for you is out of Ephesians 6, and it's, verses 19 and 20. Pray also for me that the message may be given to me when I open my mouth to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel. For this I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I might be bold enough to speak about it as I should. And I just. I had to call you and say to me, that's exactly what you're doing.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Oh, thank you, Linda. That's so sweet. I appreciate that. And, yeah, I appreciate the fact that, you know, when Apostle Paul was talking about the armor of God, put On the armor of God. One of the, pieces of armor that sometimes gets overlooked is that armor of prayer, because prayer holds it all together. Prayer gives power to all of it. And so he says, with all prayer and petition, pray at all times in the spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints. And then he asked people to pray for him so that he would be bold. And so I appreciate you, Linda. I appreciate you praying for me. and other pastors. We want other pastors to be bold, bold, to speak the truth in love, to, you know, you just let it rip. Thus says the Lord. We're not apologizing for anything as far as what God says in his word. Thus says the Lord. I, had mentioned Sunday, I said, you know, God is not the God that you want him to be. He's the God who is. And I, am who I am. And we need to present to the congregation, present to the world the God who is not. The God who is not. Not the God of your imagination, as it says in Psalm 50. You thought I was just like you. Well, I'm not. I am the God who is holy, holy, holy. I am the God who does not overlook sin. He does not leave the guilty unpunished. So I appreciate you, Linda, greatly. Thank you for listening, and thank you for all your encouragement and kind words and your prayers for. We have, Thom on the line from Arkansas. Thom, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Good morning, sir. How are you and doing? Well, Thom, I might add, you started off your comments this morning, more or less, with the, render under Caesar. what is Caesar? So, I did a little AI search, to help you out there, and I asked the AI if that meant we're just supposed to give all. Anything the government asks us for, for anything they want to do. And it said no. So just. Just to clarify that, because I know a lot of people hold that particular scripture up, you know, and it's not. Doesn't say that at all, you know. Right, right. but, you know, I. Scripture needs to be kind of underwritten at church with real life application. And. And what, you were just voting about selling the land there, in that. In that Bible. I, hate to use the word Bible story because it makes it sound like their stories, but Bible record, you know exactly what it is. Yes, sir. Well, thank you so much for the program this morning. And, we pray for you, too. Thanks.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, Thom. God bless you. Brother. Yeah, it really matters. So as we. As we think about voting, we say, okay, I had a roommate in college, and he would just say, well, Jeff, I'm apolitical. I don't get involved in any of that. I was like, okay, well, how does it work if everybody's like you? You know, Paul said, follow me. Be imitators of me as I am of Christ. So we need to live a life that says, hey, do what I do. And if you do what I do, the country is going to be much, much better. Because I'm seeking the welfare of the city. I'm seeking what is good for all people. And, you know, an economy that's strong helps everybody. A nation that's strong helps everybody. A nation that's weak, militarily weak, morally weak, that hurts everybody. You know, if evil is on the rise, well, that's not a good thing. That's not a good thing for the vulnerable, for women and children. And, when we don't have a country that is run by, laws or Romans 13, where you. What are you supposed to do? Well, the government bears, the sword, and it does not bear this in vain. It is there to, reward those who are doing, good things and helping society, and it punishes those who are doing bad things and hurting society. And we've gotten so twisted. But our nation has. And it goes back to the churches and pastors. We've allowed people to not be moral and religious. We've allowed people to come up with their own rules. We can't, do that. We have to go back. What. What does God say? Blessed is the nation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. And cursed, as we read between the lines, cursed is the nation whose God is not. We have Dennis on the line from Missouri. Dennis, welcome to Real Truth for today.
Caroline: Good morning, Pastor. How are you?
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Good, Dennis. Good to hear from you.
Caroline: Well, I just wanted to. To thank you, Pastor, for your program, all that you. Your wisdom. From the messages that you are putting out regularly, I'd almost like to consider you my pastor because as I've told you before, I'm on parole and I can't attend church. And, I recently. My parole officer got changed, but I don't have a new one, so I don't know what's going to happen. But. But I just wanted to thank you because I appreciate your program. I've got your videos. I gotta get more of them, but because my dementia. My dementia's kicking in. And, Everything makes it kind of hard to remember things. But I love you as a friend and a brother.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, Dennis.
Caroline: May the Lord bless your family and your ministry. So thank you for all that you do.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Thank you, brother. Means a lot to me. Thank you, Dennis. And, just great encouragement to my heart. So may God, hold off that dementia and fill, your mind, with the truth, with joy and peace and believing, as the Bible says. Romans 15:13. You know, we have life verses. I, was introduced as a young Christian to a life verse. My pastor, Harold Ochester, had a life verse. Isaiah 40, 31. But they who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength. They shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not get weary. They shall walk and not faint. Well, one of my life verses is Romans 15:13. Now, may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing that you may abound in hope, overflow in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. I think that, when we encounter people, because lots of people are carrying burdens, really, everybody you meet, they have troublesome problems in life. Man is full of trouble. Man, is born for trouble as sparks fly upward. Job, chapter five, verse seven. And so everybody's got an amount of trouble. Jesus said, in the world you have tribulation, but be of good courage. I have overcome the world and sharing that verse of Scripture, Romans 15:13, with folks that God is the God of hope. in one of the books I wrote Runaway Emotions, I talk about depression. And I said, you know, what happens in depression is you lose hope. And, when you get to the place where you just say, I don't want to live anymore, why do people get there? Because they've lost all hope. And so, I always think about Psalm 27, 13, 14. David says, I would have despaired unless I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. Wait for the Lord. Be strong and let your heart take courage. Yes, wait for the Lord. And so we need to wait for him. We don't know what is going to happen. You know, God is the God who can snatch victory out of the jaws of defeat. He's the God who shows up right at the precise time. And just when you think everything is over and done, I'm going to lose everything that I have. I'm going to lose my house, my finances, my marriage, my children, this, that, and the other God, if you keep your eyes fixed on him, he's the God of hope, and he can fill you with joy and fill you with peace in the midst of terrible circumstances. As you believe and as you trust him. As Jesus told Jairus, they said, don't bother the teacher anymore. Your little girl is dead. And Jesus said to him, fear not, only believe. And what did he do? He did a miracle and raised that little girl from the dead. God is the God who can do that in your life and in my life. And so nothing is over. We used to have this phrase in sport. It ain't over till the fat lady sings. And, you know, not trying to throw any fat ladies under the bus, but that was the phrase. It ain't over till the fat lady sings. Well, it ain't over until God says it's over. So what is your job? What is my job? Revelation, chapter 2, verse 10. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Second Corinthians, chapter one. the apostle Paul said this. but if we are afflicted. Wait a minute. Let me get to this. where is that part? He says, if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation, or if we are comforted, it is for your comfort which is effective in the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer. And our hope for you is firmly grounded, knowing that as you are sharers of our sufferings, so also you are sharers of our comfort. He says this, for we do not want you to be unaware, brethren, of our affliction which came to us in Asia, that we were burdened excessively beyond our strength, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, we had the sentence of death within ourselves, so that we would not trust in ourselves, but in God, who raises the dead, who delivered us from so great a peril of death and will deliver us. He on whom we have set our hope, and he will yet deliver us. He will deliver you, no matter what's going on in life. Keep trusting him. God bless you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve examines the importance of Christian involvement in government and why “Your Vote Matters.” Drawing from Jesus’ command to “render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s,” Pastor Jeff challenges Christians to be informed voters who consider biblical values when choosing their representatives. He discusses issues including the sanctity of life, gender, government spending, personal responsibility, and the role of the church in standing for truth. He also reminds listeners that our ultimate hope is not found in politics, but in God, who can bring joy, peace, strength, and hope even in the midst of difficult circumstances.
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