Bishop E.W. Jackson wishes everyone a happy New Year
Bishop EW Jackson: Welcome to another edition of the Awakening, here on American Family Radio, the podcast. Glad to be with you again today. Happy NewSong Year, everybody. Hope that you are having a wonderful year. my prayer for you, for the AFR audience, for afr, American Family association and all the related projects, ministries and organizations that we will have the very best year yet, with many, many more to come. You know, the word of God says that the path of the righteous is like the shining sun that shines ever brighter unto the perfect day. And that means we should expect, now, of course there's going to be bumps in the road. They're going to be cloudy days, of course they're going to be storms. But we should expect that the overall trajectory of our lives. That's Proverbs 4:18, by the way. The overall trajectory of our lives should be upward, brighter, brighter, higher, higher, moving toward God's best constantly. And of course, I don't think there's any limit in God. And therefore you just. It just keeps getting better. That's what it's saying. It's like the shining sun that shines ever brighter until the perfect unto the perfect day. it just keeps getting better until you reach the point of perfection. Now, not that you reach it, we reach it, but that God brings us to that point. Because after all, we can't perfect ourselves. We can improve, right, by making good decisions, wise choices. But, we can't perfect ourselves because it is not in our power to do that, but it is in God's power to do that. And I hope that 2025 is a gigantic leap in that direction for every single one of you. That you do better on every level, that your health gets better, better, that your finances get better, that your relationships get better, your marriage gets better, your career gets better, everything gets better. Praise God. I'm convinced of this. That's what God wants for us. It is. That is what God wants for us. You know, I think it's First Corinthians rather than second. Sometimes it gets. Can be first, a second, but first, Corinthians, I think it's First Corinthians 10:13 says, There is no temptation which has befallen you, but such as is common to man. But God is faithful. That's First Corinthians 10:13. But God is faithful with the temptation. He will make a way of escape that you may be able to bear it. Praise God.
The Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast is scheduled for January 20th
Before I get into some issues today, let me just mention, on January 20th, of course, something pretty big is happening on January 20th. I think you probably know what that is, right? Right. Yeah, something pretty big, something pretty historic is happening on January 20. We will be swearing in and inaugurating the 47th President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, who is both. Who is both number 45 and number 47. Who was number 46? I don't know. I don't think he knows. But I know who number 45 was. I know who number 47 is going to be. So, pretty big day. I will not be at the inauguration, because I've got something else to do, and it doesn't begin to compete with that. But for those of you who might be in our local area, might be visiting during that time or something like that, we are hosting the 25th annual Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast, and that's going to be at the, at the Marriott Hotel in Chesapeake, The Delta Marriott, 725 Woodlake Drive in Chesapeake, Virginia. Now, why am m I telling you that? I'm telling you that because I know that there are people who will listen to the podcast who are from the area. And who knows, some of you might be passing through, some of you might decide, you know what, let's go. It'll be an easier trip than the inauguration, let me tell you. we have been doing this 25 years. And from time to time, of course, in fact, in 2016, I did go to some inaugural inauguration activities because the breakfast didn't fall on the day of the inauguration. So. Because I really gave some bad information at one point because I said, sometimes our breakfast is on the second Monday, sometimes on the third. But that's not true. It's always on the third Monday. But sometimes the third Monday falls earlier in the month. Sometimes the third Monday might be on the 15th, and then sometimes it's later in the month, as in this case, it's the 20th. so when it's on the 20th, obviously it's in conflict with the inauguration. When Barack Obama was inaugurated, it didn't matter because I wasn't going anyway. But I suppose if I did not have this, event to do, I would probably deal with the DC Traffic and the crowds and all of that, to be there, that historic moment. So if you're going. God bless you. Hope you have a safe trip and hope you enjoy every moment of it. We have prayed and worked, many of us a long time to see this happen.
The Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast celebrates 25 years this year
but now I've gone all around to get back to my point, which is, but I am mostly the Martin Luther King Leadership Breakfast. 25 years of hosting it. We've seen a lot of presidents come and go during that time, but 25 years on the 20th. And I just want to invite you to come. If you want to learn more about that or you want to come, just go to thecalled.org thecalled.org just like it sounds. The name of our church is the called T H E C A L L E D dot org. Go to that website and just click on the Martin Luther King event and it'll tell you how to buy tickets, it'll tell you how to sponsor, it'll tell you how to get a reserve table, anything that you want to do, to be a part of it. So, and we would, we would love to have you attend. It would be great. I just want to say about that because those of you who've listened to me know this already, but some, you, some may be listening right now, they've never heard me. God gave me the vision for this breakfast 25 years ago. not in the sort of the, what has become the traditional leftist, civil rights, so called civil rights nonsense, which is racial division and racial quotas and affirmative action and victimization and oh, woe is me and oh, it's so bad and oh, you know, all that nonsense. You know, the spirit of our breakfast, first of all, first and foremost is Christian. Christian because I remind people that Dr. King was a preacher of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And I heard him preach. And Dr. King could preach. I mean he could give a speech, but he could also preach. And the spirit of this breakfast is a spirit of love and unity in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now it is nonpartisan, it's non political, it's not a Republican thing. You know, we don't cater based on party or anything like that. And it's also not racial in the sense that we honor people from all walks of life and all backgrounds based upon the kind of leadership they're providing to the community. Because I really believe that that was the vision of Dr. King. It was not a vision of, well, it's us against them. He talked about sitting down at the table of brotherhood. He talked about judging one another not by the color of our skin, but by the content of our character, which is really a statement about dealing with each other as individuals, not on the basis of some group identity. And that's what we celebrate. So, we give awards. And by the way, we include our police, we include our firefighters, we include our sheriffs, we include our law enforcement in this. Because after 91 1, which was, of course, 26 years ago, 25. Well, actually, 911 was 25 years ago, wasn't it? Because. Yes, that's right. It was. Because, we had our first breakfast just before 911 happened, in January of 2001. Then, of course, September 911 happened. And from that point on, every single year, we've honored our first responders. And, you know, we don't pick them on the basis of the color of their skin. We pick people on the basis of their contribution. Now, of course, we're a diverse country and a diverse community, and so people from all kinds of backgrounds are chosen. We give two scholarships to young people. and again, you know, we don't. We just don't play that. That sort of civil rights game that, you know, some people are victims and some people are oppressors, and we gotta honor. I mean, I just. I cannot stand that. I just really have an abhorrence to that. Because Jesus said, a house divided against itself cannot stand. I want our country to stand. And in order to stand, that means we've got to, unify around shared common principles, ideas, ideals, values, morals, that kind of thing. Rather than dividing on the basis of racial identity or any other kind of identity the left can come up with. You know, whether now it's gender or who knows what they're going to come up with next. I had no idea. I know one thing they're great at slicing and dicing and dividing people. That is their stock in trade. That is what they do. This breakfast is different. And so people come and they walk away uplifted and encouraged and. And just blessed and patriotic. They walk away encouraged about the future of America. So I said all that to say, if you want to come, come. If you want to support it, you can go to thecall.org to support it. Pray for us anyway, because I really believe that if it had been done right, if Dr. King had lived and kept his head on straight and not been influenced by these leftists and communists and socialists who like to get. Who would love to have gotten a hold of him. I mean, he could have been a tremendous leader for healing us of the past and getting us to be focused on the future rather than obsessing over the past. So, that's the legacy that I honor. You know, I remember he famously said one time, you may not have heard this because they're certainly not quoted much today, but Dr. King said, if you're going to be a street sweeper, you ought to sweep streets like Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel. Wow. So that, that's not about oh, woe is me or why am I, it is about I'm going to be the very best I can be at whatever I am doing at that moment.
William Jackson was a third class welder in a shipyard
You know, I didn't really plan to get into this, but I, but, but let me, let me do that because you all have heard me talk about my beloved father, William Jackson. you know, my father taught me that, that, that ethic of excellence because my father was a third class welder in Sonship Building and Dry Dock Company. And remember now, he worked there in the 40s and 50s and 60s. And the racial climate of our country was much different then of course, than it is now. and it was just a lot of that racial ideology that the slave master class propagated on the country and perpetrated on the country. It's kind of like all ideological poison, seeps its way in and affects people. But nevertheless, my father worked there for I think about 33, 34 years. And, and my father was ambidextrous. he could well with both hands because he was probably naturally left handed. But the old superstitions, some of you will know about this, the old superstitions were being left handed was bad luck and all that. And if you had a child who showed proclivities to be left handed, you kind of tried to force him to be right handed. Well, that's how my father was raised by my grandfather. And it really made my father ambidextrous. So he could do things equally well with both hands. So he could weld with both hands equally well. And if you know anything about welding, particularly if you're welding on a ship, which is what he was doing, you got spots and places where you need to weld that are not easy to get to. In some cases you really need a left handed welder because a, right handed welder simply can't get to the spot. Well, my father could well with both hands. So when they needed a left handed welder, they say, yeah, Bill Jackson can do it. And he would say to me, he said, I'll go in there and do a weld. And I guess the supervisor come and hit that weld to knock what he called the slag off. So once the slag was knocked off, you could see the precision of the weld. And my father said they would come and that slag would fall off. He said. He said. And I knew when they looked at it, they would just say, I've never seen a better job. So I didn't always get credit for. From anybody else, he said, But I knew. I knew that I did a job as well, if not better than anybody else, welding in that shipyard. Because that job is a reflection on me. Now, that's the way my father thought. He didn't think, oh, I'm a black man and, oh, they won't give me a break. And I don't care how it, I mean, I just never. I wasn't raised that way because, after all, ultimate satisfaction comes from within, doesn't it? I mean, knowing who you are on the inside, rather than having your life defined by what anybody else thinks about you, good or bad, you know, and look, I'm happy to have people love me and encourage me and compliment me. Believe me, I'm not always that comfortable with it, but I'd certainly rather have that than being attacked. But I also know, you know, don't, don't, don't get caught up with your own press clippings. Because the reality is we're probably not nearly as good as some people might think we are. That's us in general. But we certainly aren't as bad as our critics, would necessarily say we are. Ultimately, it's how God views us in trying to please him that really should be the mark of how we view ourselves, you know, So I, say our chief ambition ought to not be to get awards or make money or be famous or have power. And some of those things can be the byproduct of what we do and legitimately so. But our chief ambition ought to be to please him, you know, and when you focus on that, all this other stuff that people get all hung up on race and this. That it becomes irrelevant so you don't see yourself. I am, My name is. And I am oppressed. Well, you know, maybe. Maybe we need something like Alcoholics Anonymous to deliver people from this stuff. Maybe oppress. Maybe. Maybe victimization. Anonymous. My name is E.W. jackson, and it has been 17 days since I thought of myself as a victim. Lord have mercy on us. It just. Folks, I didn't. I didn't intend to go into all that, but I guess that's just of the Holy Spirit. It just needs to be said. We need to see each other as individuals, see ourselves in sober minded ways. The Bible says we ought not think more of ourselves than we ought. and you know what? I would say there's a corollary to that. We also ought not think less of others than we ought. You know what I mean? This whole notion of, of classing people, they're oppressors, white men, white women are Karens. That stuff is so, it's so ungodly, it's so wicked, it's twisted, it's sinful. But neither should we, pat me on the back because I'm, I'm proud to be in a, you know, whatever, whatever that racial characteristic is. You know, I'm black and I'm m proud. Well, you know, okay. I mean, I don't know, I don't know how pride comes into it when you've got an immutable characteristic that you didn't get or earn. God gave it to you. I can say I'm grateful to be who I am because God made me who I am. Praise God. I don't want to be anybody else. And by the way, that goes for gender too. God made me a man. I'm grateful to God for making me a man because that's who he intended me to be. And I don't intend to be anything or anybody else. God happened to make me a man of African ancestry, praise God. That was his intention. For me, I don't want to be anything or anybody else. But that's a notion of gratitude, right? And a notion of groundedness, being comfortable in your own skin because of who God made you to be rather than being proud. And I understand some of that stuff because it was really a reaction to the put down and the ascribing inferiority to people. So I understand it. But you know, there comes a point when you have to grow up and realize that your life should not be a compilation of reactions to what other people have said to you about you, against you, whatever. Like I said, your true fulfillment, your true satisfaction, your true sense of identity should come from within. I identify with Jesus Christ. He is my identity. He is my maker. He is my savior. He is my Lord.
The most important thing in my life is my relationship with Jesus Christ
He is my king. He is my boss. He is my God. I identify with him. I am a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. That is who I am first and foremost. And everything else is at best secondary, if it's on the list at all. Obviously I'm a, I'm a Father, I'm a husband. I'm a minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I, you know, I speak, I write. Yeah. A number of things I am. That are sort of part of my. My character, part of my life. And there are a number of things that I do. And those things, some of them are very important. all of them have significance of some kind. But the most important thing, the top priority, is my relationship with Jesus Christ. And I owe my first loyalty to him. And when we do that, folks, guess what? Everything else tends to fall into place. So I said I. I didn't intend to get into all of that. but I. I really believe that the Holy Spirit wanted me to. And so there you go.
The American people overwhelmingly voted for Donald Trump
So now let's get into a couple of issues in the time that we have remaining. you know, the first thing I want to comment on is, you know, you've heard me say many times that these leftist politicians, particularly. But this is also true of some conservatives who, you know, they're Republicans, maybe they call themselves conservatives. This can be true of some of them, too, but it seems to be more broadly true in the Democrat Party and among leftists because of the ideology to which they subscribe. And it is this. They don't care about you. They don't care about me. They don't care about this country. They care about their agenda. They care about their power. They care about their influence. And when you watch them, it becomes quite apparent that that is their chief and only aim, to satisfy themselves. And the way Joe Biden is exiting the presidency is absolutely conclusive proof, at least in his case. And since they chose him to lead their party believing that he represented their values and their views, in his case, he is the proof that that proposition is accurate. Because we just went through an election in which his chosen successor lost badly. Lost the popular vote, which Democrats have been winning, lost the electoral, college vote in a landslide, because the American people voted for Donald Trump. And they weren't only voting for Donald Trump, they were voting for Trump's policies. They were voting for a change of direction. Now, he and his cohorts are always pointing the finger at Donald Trump, saying he's a dictator and he's. He wants to be Hitler. And, you know, all this complete and utter nonsense, which you and I know is just. Just a bunch of lies and fabrication. And I think some. Many of them knew. Knew they were lies, because now that he's gotten elected again, they're. They're basically all too happy to go and kiss the ring. And say, oh, I'm, I'm, I'm going to work with Donald Trump. So, yeah, obviously they didn't really believe he was Adol Hitler, but they said it. You know, they said this kind of this really sick stuff. But the fact of the matter is, the fact of the matter is that Donald Trump has policies that the American people overwhelmingly like, and they voted for him for that reason. Joe Biden, if he were the true, I'm, protecting our democracy Democrat that he purports to be, would say, you know what? I have certain approaches to things, but the American people, obviously the majority don't agree with me. They've chosen a different direction. I respect that. I'm not going to do anything to try to undermine that, because, after all, I am not the sovereign of this nation. The American people are. And, and they are the ones who choose leaders to serve them. They've chosen a different leader with a different set of policies to serve them. And while I don't agree with it, don't even like it, I respect it. Now, you would expect that from a person who really has the nation at heart and who really cares about the American people and cares about our constitutional republic and understands that we are a constitutional republic, and the sovereignty of that republic is not in politicians, it's in the people. And the people then delegate authority to the government to serve them, to serve us with the consent of the governed. I mean, I assume he understands that. I don't know whether he does or not. I don't think he cares, because his real aim is to satisfy himself, to satisfy his family, to satisfy his ideology, and to satisfy the elites that are pulling his strings. And so we've got a major crime problem in our country, and he's busy giving en masse pardons and sentence commutations. We've got a major crime problem because he doesn't care about what you go through. I mean, you heard the way, Hochul and this guy who's head of the MTA in NewSong York talked about. I mean, we just had a woman set on fire, burned alive in the NewSong York subway, murdered by burning her alive. And this guy comes on and says, well, you know, certain incidents get in your head, but things are really much better in subway. Now. You think, are you that stupid? But see, this is where this comes from. It's not just stupidity, it's personal arrogance. And the arrogance is, well, I know better than you do, and I'm telling you, here's how you ought to read the statistics. The fact of the matter is major crimes. Murders, rapes, assaults are up in the subways. But he's taking the overall picture and saying, well, see, it's really, it's really down. So don't believe your lying eyes and don't believe the horrific events you see happening, believe me, because I really know what's best. That's their attitude, folks. That is their attitude. You voted for Donald Trump. You're deplorable. You're, you're as, as Biden. You're human garbage. you're black. And you don't vote for me. You're not black. Because you see, they're not interested in serving people. They're interested in lording it over people. So we just had a horrific incident in NewSong Orleans. Horrific. 14 people murdered, over 30 people injured. I mean, just basically set the city aflame with fear. And Joe Biden is busy releasing Islamic terrorists from Guantanamo Bay. I mean, just think about that right after an incident of Islamic terror. Because, because he doesn't care what you think. He didn't care what I think. He doesn't care what the American people think. And he certainly doesn't care about the well being or national security of our country. To tell you, I don't know whether somebody paid him off. I don't know. I don't know who's greasing the wheels there. I don't know whether George Soros slipped him some money to release some bad people because they're, they're both, as far as I'm concerned, severely wicked men. I don't know. I don't know what's going on there. I know one thing. He released funds to Iran. He okayed the Russian pipeline. but on the other hand, he, he stopped the Keystone pipeline and he stopped an ally of ours, Japan, from buying U.S. steel. So now you tell me what motivates him. It's not love for our country. I don't care how much he stands up and says, you know, we're Americans and we can do anything. that's a bunch of Pablo that, please give me a break. Because every time he has a chance, he does what satisfies his ideological predispositions or that of the puppets who are pulling his strings, or he does what's going to line his own pockets. I mean, we just had those pictures released showing that he was meeting with these Chinese business people with Hunter Biden there. I don't know anything about my son's business.
Joe Biden is doing things that are contrary to what the American people voted for
The man is a liar, because that's what he's all about. That's what they're all, all about. Because look, folks, the ideological left, the Marxist influenced left, the communists with a small C, really believe that human beings are too ill equipped and lacking in intelligence to make decisions for society. And they need the elites to do that for them. Now, they'll call it the dictatorship of the proletariat, but it's really the dictatorship of the elites who want to rule over the proletariat. That's really what it boils down to. And you see that in Joe Biden, in his behavior and the way he's conducting himself, particularly as he prepares to leave office doing things that are directly contrary to what he knows the American people have voted for. I mean, folks, banning, oh my goodness, how many acres, 625 million acres of US coastal territory from oil and gas drilling, knowing that the American people reelected Donald Trump because they wanted to come back to energy independence once again. They liked it. Low energy costs, net exporters of energy, rather than depleting our oil reserves, trying to make Iran happy so maybe we can get some oil from them. Or having to go to the Saudis and OPEC hat in hand, so we can get some oil from them. I mean, he took some of the oil from our oil reserves and sold it to Communist China. This is, this is where they're coming from, folks. This is who they are. You know, there's, there's an old saying about. It's not really applied in this context, but it does apply to this context. Context, when people tell you who they are, believe them. It's really in the context. Somebody tells you they want to hurt you, believe them. But in this case, Biden is telling you, I don't give 2 cents for you Americans, for this country. I'm going to do my thing. I'm going to do what feathers my nest. I'm going to do what my family needs. I'm going to do what my leftist masters want me to do, and the American people can just go take a flying leap into the nearest lake. Now, that's really the attitude. And you see it. It's sad. It's sad that we have allowed ourselves, to elect somebody like that. I didn't vote for him, obviously, but I say we allowed ourselves. The American people voted for him mainly because the left's propaganda machine went into overtime. They pulled many, many shenanigans in the 2020 election and it would get elected. And some because they don't like the way Donald Trump talks. Prime me a river Cry me a river yeah, I don't. I don't like everything Donald Trump says, but I think Donald Trump talks just fine. I heard his press conference yesterday in Mar a Lago in which he absolutely slammed Joe Biden for the things that he's doing and also slammed the environmental industry. Talked about something I haven't heard really any public officials talk about. Which is. Which is these gigantic, monstrous, ugly windmills that they want to put all over the landscape. And these people supposed to be environmentalists. And he talked about making these things with fiberglass so that once they're no longer operable, you can't get rid of them. They don't degrade, he says, so they believe them sitting there. I've thought many times that people who claim they love the environment to want to spot the environment with these big, old, ugly things. Some of these things he said, are 80 stories high. And he just absolutely went after them. and a bunch of other things. I like the way Donald Trump talks. Don't agree with everything he says, but I like the way he talks because he doesn't talk like a politician with all this mealy mouth, measuring every word and parsing every phrase and trying to figure out how to say a whole lot of nothing, but sound like you're saying something. I mean, he just doesn't do that. And people didn't vote for him, though, because I don't. I don't like the way Donald Trump talks. I mean, get over it. Focus on the man's policies. And I, I've said this before. I will say it again. Say what you will about Donald Trump. I mean, for the people who don't like him, for the people who weren't willing to vote for him. Say what you will. I am convinced in my own heart about this. Donald Trump loves America, and Donald Trump cares about the American people. And I really believe that that is profound and deep in him. I don't know whether you heard any of this, but he. He repeated several times if. If the American hostages are not released by Hamas. Now, I wouldn't say it quite this way, but he said it this way. And so, forgive me, I'm simply quoting him. He said, there's going to be hell to pay. I always say my perspective, there's going to be heaven to pay. You say, well, that. That doesn't sound very threatening. Well, that's because you don't understand that the Bible says it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. and I mean, you. You start talking about unleashing the wrath of God on people when they, when they think they're going to get away with wickedness and evil and mistreat Americans. But anyway, see, so that's what I mean. But that's not how Donald Trump's not me. So he wouldn't talk the way I talk. But I tell you what, it was crystal clear from the way he said it, he meant that. And I sensed that in his heart. What he was saying was, how dare you mess with my fellow Americans? How dare you take an American hostage, huh? How dare you kidnap an American? I will not stand for it. I will not stand for it. You don't, you don't take a member of my family and think you're going to get away with it. I like that kind of talk because that's what the way all, we all ought to think. You mess with Americans, you mess with all of us. And Donald Trump, I mean, he could have said it, because I was thinking it as he was talking. What he's saying is, I take it personally. When you mess with one of my fellow Americans. I take it personally. And I said, amen. Praise God. My daddy used to have a phrase, he would say, I, like that kind of carrying on, and I really do. I like it.
One of the things I'm going to focus on in 2026 is restoring the American family
So praise God. I am so glad that this administration is ending and a new one is coming in. I would, I would remind you folks, we've got some big issues to solve and Donald Trump can be a big help, but he's not, he's not the answer. Because remember the answer, America doesn't work without God. And I tell you, Elon Musk, an atheist, I think Elon Musk can help, but he's certainly not the answer. And Vivek Ramaswamy is a Hindu. He's certainly not the Hindu. He's certainly not the answer. You, know, use these people. Let them serve. They're, they're, they're our fellow Americans. If they can serve in some capacity, and that helps the American people, praise God. I give God the glory for it. God can take a crooked stick and hit a straight lick, so no problem there with me. But you and I have a responsibility because we've got to redeem this culture, and Donald Trump can't do that. Now, one of the things I'm going to be working on very hard in 2025 and going forward is restoring the American family. Folks, I am convinced. I don't think anybody is really doing hard, focused work on that, because to me, in order to do it, here's what you Got to do. You've got to focus on helping people who are already adults, maybe already have children, maybe already living together without the benefit of marriage, maybe already have children and not living together at all. You got to help them figure out what it is to be a decent parent in those very difficult and disadvantageous circumstances. But you've also got to raise up a new generation of people who understand what it means to have a healthy, wholesome, loving, nurturing family. Look, think about this. How do you do that when the child's never had it modeled? How do you do that? I just had a circumstance arise not too long ago. And I want to be careful because I don't want to. I don't want to reveal any confidences. And I'm not saying this to try to embarrass anybody. You all wouldn't know who I'm talking about anyway. But I had a situation in which, somebody that I know, was murdered, while pursuing a woman who was seeing someone else. The person got into a confrontation with the other person the woman was seeing and the individual killed him, shot him dead. Now, this person, the dead person, has got multiple children. None of those children, none of those children has ever lived in a stable, two parent, monogamous home with a married mother and father. Their background is that their father wasn't with their mother. Their father ends up getting killed by another guy over his interest in another woman, not their mother. How do children from those circumstances learn that sex is for marriage, that you get married before you have sex and have children, that it is the role of the father to love and nurture and discipline children. It is a role of the mother to. To do the same, to support the father's leadership in the home and for them to love one another and show their children that their mother and their father love each other, are committed to each other, are faithful to each other, put each other first, that they do whatever they need to do to provide for the reasonable needs of their children, while at the same time giving them guidance, giving them direction, teaching them moral vision. But, and most importantly, I can't leave this out, although I know not every family is going to be a Christian family. But I can't leave this out, bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. How do you teach a child who's never experienced that how to live that? That's what we're grappling with is something called the Family Restoration Institute. I'll be telling you more about it as time goes on. Also, Going to be talking about some constitutional amendments. Because I'll tell you something, folks, I am tired of being on the defense. I really am. And we Christians and conservatives generally are. I got a notice from somebody not too long ago telling me that the, leftists in the Virginia legislature are proposing a, pro abortion bill and will you help us stop it? And blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And yes, look, I'm happy to do that, okay? And, and thank God that there are people who are doing that. It needs to be done. I understand that, but why don't we come up with our own approach and make them respond to us? Because, you see, when we're responding to them, they're controlling the debate. They're saying we're going to protect a woman's reproductive rights. And we're saying, well, can you give us 15 weeks? Can you give us 21 weeks? Well, what about pain? And what about heartbeat? And again, folks, please don't get me wrong. I am not ridiculing any of those approaches per se, but what I'm saying is they are all defensive and it is time to get on the offense. And so I really think it's time to propose a constitutional amendment that establishes life and personhood at conception. And my argument boils down to this simple question. Were you conceived? And the answer for every one of you is yes. Then my question is that, if you were conceived, at what point was it not you? At what point from the moment of conception, was it not you? Well, of course it was you. From the moment of conception, it was just you. In earlier stages of development, it was you at one day, it was you at one week, it was you at one month, it was you at three months, it was you at six months, it was you at nine months, it was you just before you were born. It was you immediately after you were born. Though immediately after you were born, you couldn't focus your eyes. You couldn't, you couldn't discern a sound or language. You couldn't, you couldn't control your body movements. you had no ability to take care of yourself. You were completely and totally helpless, but it was you. Now you're not now, but you're still the same person. Why is that any different than from the moment you were conceived? It's not. We've got to make them answer that. We know what the answer is. The answer is that you were made in the image and likeness of God, and you are fearfully and wonderfully made. And God knew you when he formed you in Your mother's womb. That's the answer. You were a person before you were born and at every moment of your development. I mean, I don't know how old exactly. My, my guess is that John the Baptist was, probably about, he was three to six months old. I think probably about six months. If I, if my, if I'm remembering the, the timeline biblically, probably about six months old when Mary appeared to Elizabeth. And at that, by that point Mary was pregnant. And Elizabeth said, the moment you appeared, and I, ah, think she said, I heard your voice, the babe leaped in my womb. That means John the Baptist, while in his mother's womb, was already spiritually alive. Now, he's physically and biologically, of course he's alive, but spiritually sensitive to the presence of the Messiah of whom he would prophesy. Behold the Lamb of God who comes to take away the sins of the world. Whoo.
StandAmerica US is an organization dedicated to fighting for constitutional government
Folks, I could preach right about now, but, but my time is up. So look, you, and I have work to do as well because this, administration that's in office right now, they're going to do everything they can to make it more difficult for President Trump to do what he's got to do, but he's going to do it anyway because he's that kind of person, he's that resilient, he's that dependent, determined. But you and I have some things to do and we need to be just as resilient and just as determined to do them. I'm not going anywhere, believe me, I'm staying in the fight. And I encourage you to do exactly the same. By the way, we're setting up stand, chapters and as a matter of fact, we've got one in, in Tucson. That's, that's a going concern. I'll be out there with them at the end of January. We've got another one that just, that is, is just forming. you know what, I'd have to go back and review exactly where that is. But we have not really given a lot of attention to this because we've been caught up with so many other things and for the last year we've been caught up with the election. but I invite you if you just say, well, I, I want to get involved. And remember, STAND is not a one issue organization. So we are pro life, we are pro family, we are pro educational choice, we are pro law enforcement. So we got a number of moving parts. And if you're looking for something that gives you a platform to deal with whatever might come up in your local community, including constitutional governance. We might be the right fit for you. And it's really easy to do. Of course, everything requires time and energy, but it's really easy to do. So get in touch with us. You can email [email protected] and, or you can go to our website, StandAmerica US and there are directions on there for getting started. But either way, we will help you. We're going to save the United States of America. The mission of our church, for example, is save souls, save families, and save the nation. Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord. And we're committed to making sure that America is a nation whose God is the Lord. Okay, I gotta go. God bless each and every one of you again. Happy NewSong Year. May be this. May this be the very best year of your life, with many, many more to come. In the meantime, stand up, step up. speak up. Refuse to back up. Because we cannot be defeated if we will not quit because we are, on God's side. God bless everybod.
