Rick Beggs: Welcome back to the Compass. Hey everybody
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Welcome to the Compass.
>> Rick Beggs: Navigating the public square together with faith, truth and conviction. Well we're so glad you've joined us once again to be a part of the Compass. my name is Rick Beggs and as always my co is Debbie Wuthnow, now president of I Voter Guy Debbie, say hey.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Hey everybody. Good to be back with you.
Jethro gave Moses some great advice on how to govern in Exodus
>> Rick Beggs: Well the last two weeks we did some scripture hunting in, in Exodus and we were talking about the conversation that Jethro was having with his son in law Moses. And as Jethro really gave him some great suggestions which father in laws
>> Debbie Wuthnow: have a lot of wisdom.
>> Rick Beggs: They do. I have some family members that I try to talk to. I think Jethro's a little smarter than I am. M on how to approach him. But needless, to say, we always hope that those relationships work as well. But in this case Jethro gave some awesome advice to Moses about how to break up the people and then how to make good judgments based on God's laws and statutes. Remember talking about that, Debbie?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: I do. We were amazed that they found each other. And then Jethro was like Moses, you can't keep doing it like this. You need to get some help. So very wise father in law and, and really passing down to us the wisdom on how to rule large groups of people which America has been, has taken use of.
>> Rick Beggs: And and we talked that you could very easily see where our founding fathers had really used some of the structure that we found not on the Old Testament but the NewSong Testament. As we're going to talk a little bit about today where the Bible's very particular about how to govern and how to help break up large groups of people to make this system work. And our system works like that as well.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Very true. And I know, I think we're going to look at an article that was written by a friend of ours with Christians Engaged called A Biblical Perspective on Voting. Because Rick and I were starting to look at that and we just had so much to talk about. We thought we'd share that discussion with you guys today.
Debbie: Exodus 18 talks about qualifications for leaders
>> Rick Beggs: And before we do that, Debbie, I want to go back and talk a little bit about what we learned. We were looking at the. passage that we saw in Exodus 18. So I'm going to go ahead and, and just talk about some of those characteristics that Jethro was telling
>> Debbie Wuthnow: qualifications for those leaders.
>> Rick Beggs: Yeah. And so we start in that furthermore passage and it talks really about four things it talks about, men and women, in this case today, the idea of them being able. And we really kind of labeled that as being capable, you know, having the practical ability and wisdom and strength to lead. And then we talked about, if you remember, fear, God.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Because it's able men of God.
>> Rick Beggs: Right. And you described it as what, Debbie?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: As being believers and having a biblical worldview.
>> Rick Beggs: Right. And that the fear of God wasn't something to be afraid of. It was really reverence and awe. Yes, an ah, awe. Right. And that, that kind of puts us in a, in a humble position because we know that there's somebody far greater than us.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Amen.
>> Rick Beggs: The next one was about trustworthiness, you know, being reliable, truthful, men of truth, people, people of integrity. And then the last one was really hating dishonest gain. And that was being incorruptible,
>> Debbie Wuthnow: lacking covetousness. Was one of the translations.
>> Rick Beggs: That's good for you to say, because that's one of those tough words that I can't, I don't know, I struggle when I try to say this.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Don't make me say again.
>> Rick Beggs: It's like aluminum.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Aluminum, yes. Got it.
>> Rick Beggs: Yeah. It's just some things we're just not going to bring up on the show.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: That's why we have translations with different words so that we can say at least one of them.
>> Rick Beggs: That's right. And that becomes your favorite translation. When it's a word you can't express, you go to one that you can't.
If Christians do not get involved, things go awry, says Debbie
So today we're going to talk about,
>> Rick Beggs: really the idea, that, when good men and women don't get involved in this process, things go awry.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yes. And God kind of told us that, that if they don't get involved, that there, it's a lack of stewardship. And you know, if you. Yeah, it just shatters his plan. If, if, if Christians do not get involved.
>> Rick Beggs: There's a, there's a phrase or saying that we talk about, you and I talk about and talked about even earlier today. I don't know if it's attributed to Bonhoeffer or, or somebody else, but Edmund Burke.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, some people it's. But it's more of a concept of, you know, one of the quotes is all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing. Some people say Bonhoeffer said it, some people say Burke said it. But the concept, is similar to what Charlie Kirk would say with silence is consent. You know, if, if good men do nothing, we're giving Approval to other people that aren't good men. Right. And what is their goal, going to be? It's not going to be good. So that's. That's what we need to do for evil to triumph. And there's so many little layers of that. That. That we're going to talk about today.
>> Rick Beggs: Yeah. And I do think that, it's pretty self, explanatory in scripture. You can find it all over the place that if we really if good, if good men and women don't get involved, we are not holding back evil.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: We're here to hold back evil.
>> Rick Beggs: Yeah. And I think a lot of people will say, I'm just going to sit on the sidelines, because I know what the end looks like. Jesus is returning. he's. We're going to be, moved quickly to eternity with Him. And so, I remember a T shirt my. My cousin used to wear when he was young. He wouldn't wear it today. But I'm, trying to think of exactly what the phrase was. and it was all around the product of, hair shampoo. And it said, I don't know if you remember this shampoo.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Now.
>> Rick Beggs: I'm struggling to remember it myself. And this is what I do. Debbie, you know, I'll go off on a tangent. This is from the 70s someplace. Yes. Do you remember that there was a shampoo?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Shampoo? I don't know. What was the. What was the concept? What was the concept?
>> Rick Beggs: Well, now that you brought up Breck, I can't even think of what I was going to think of to tell you. But anyway, it was. You were. It was, so heavenly minded. You're no earthly good.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Oh, yes. Yeah.
>> Rick Beggs: And it had a bottle of shampoo, but I can't remember what the shampoo was. And somebody should write to us if you know the name of that shampoo,
>> Debbie Wuthnow: write to us compassvoterguide.com and let us know the answer to that question.
>> Rick Beggs: What was the shampoo? But that's what the T shirt said. You're so heavenly minded. You're no earthly good.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and that's.
>> Rick Beggs: I think there are Christians who live in this.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Oh, they live either with their heads in the clouds or the. The other images. Ostriches stuck in the sand. So, you know, we're just in our little bubble. We're in our families and our churches. But, you know, God put us here for a purpose. Not just relationship with him, but to be salt and light. So that's part of, you know, what we're here to talk about is how do we get engaged in all aspects of the levels of government God created because he did self government, family government and church and, and the physical government that that we have in America, that we're blessed, the type that we're blessed to have in America and we need to participate in all of it. Can't keep our head in the sand. Can't keep our head in the clouds. But how do we get it out of the clouds and out of the sand and doing what God would want us to do. So.
Debbie: The silent church should be held accountable for its inaction
>> Rick Beggs: Well, I think this will be a theme that we talk about a lot, Debbie, and that is the silent, the silent church. And, and are we supposed to be held accountable to our inactivity or our activity? And, and I do think God actually gave us some plans which our forefathers, put into practice and that is how to set up government and then how to look for good people to rule over us. To make decisions based on a worldview that is not commonly popular today. But we as Christians would call it a biblical worldview.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yes.
>> Rick Beggs: And sometimes I think the church, which would be the body, the people will say, well, I'm just not going to get involved in that because, I don't like politics. This isn't about politics. This is truly about watching over what God has asked us to steward.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yep.
>> Rick Beggs: And, and so, you know, here we are.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, you know, as we, as we get into that, do we need to start and kind of lay the groundwork of what government is for?
The Bible gives us very specific blueprints for the purpose of government
Start at the beginning.
>> Rick Beggs: Sure, Rick.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: So, you know, I, will get us started which is, you know, if you ask the common, the everyday person, if you went, you know, you're at your kids soccer game and you ask your neighbor what's the purpose of government, they'll probably tell you, fix the roads, keep the parks running. maybe they argue or they post on social media and they just, or they might say to get nothing done. But the Bible does give us very specific blueprints for the purpose of government. And we've talked about it. the, the article that we read, you know, points to Proverbs 14:34, which says righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a disgrace to any people. And I notice that it doesn't say person or man or woman. It says nation in that verse. What does that mean to you?
>> Rick Beggs: Yeah, well, I, I think a lot of times people. Well, in this, the obvious thing is it didn't say the church. Oh, that is, it didn't say Certain people, it said, the nation. And so what does that, what would that make you think of? Well, it makes the word nation.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: It makes me think of, of a nation like it could be Israel. It could have been, Egypt, it could be America. I know that there's, there's levels of, of discussion or application in the verbs that are used in the. And I'm not a biblical scholar, I am not a theologian, I'm a mom, but I'm a Christian disciple. And there's times where God talks to individuals, makes promises to individuals, and there's times where he does very corporate promises. It could be to the land of Israel. Sometimes we extrapolate those to mean, you know, to, to us in later generations. But it's it includes believers and unbelievers when, when it's speaking to a nation because you don't know the, the individual makeup of each person. because God doesn't just judge individual hearts. There's, there's a corporate responsibility to righteousness and an accountability to sin.
>> Rick Beggs: So when we go to the ballot box, that's why it's important that we look at character and look at the people that we're going to vote in to really, legislate over us for us, on our behalf. Because if we don't regulate that and we don't watch it and we don't vote correctly, what we have done is allowed the gates of evil to come closer or to open wider. And we can see that through our, through our nation today.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, because God did create government In Romans, Romans 13. And its description is. Or its purpose is to praise what's good and to punish what is evil. So if we have people that we choose to elect to represent us that are actually punishing, good and perpetuating evil, then those are not. God will judge that. God will hold that nation, our nation, any nation that does that accountable. But when government is functioning properly as our founders believed, the purpose of government is to protect the rights of the people for learning the Declaration, you know, we have our inalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that to protect the. These rights, governments are instituted among men. So government is there to protect our rights to, to support what, praise what is good and to punish what is evil. and, and to restrain the depravity that mankind tends toward with our sinful natures. So that families can thrive and communities can sprout, prosper and honestly that we can share the gospel that's really. I. Voter guide's Purpose is, is summed up in Bill Federer's quote, and you'll hear me say this quite a bit, that, you know, the most important thing is to lead people to Christ. But the second most important thing is to preserve that freedom. And that is what I voter guide is here for. To protect our ability to share the gospel, our ability and our freedom to speak our minds and to have open discussion. We are seeing that both of those freedoms being attacked and it's coming from people that we've elected. so that's our responsibility is to elect people who will protect those rights and maintain those freedoms.
>> Rick Beggs: Well, and we're given the right in this country that we can actually vote for people that we believe follow biblical standards or at least get close to it, or at least, have a moral compass in their life. You mentioned, the scripture in Romans 13. If you don't mind, I'd like to read it. Sure. And I'm going to start at verse one because I think it's really important that you sort of get the whole concept here. Paul, of course, writing to the church at Rome, says this, starting at verse one. Every person is to be, in subjection to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God. And those, which. And those which exist are established by God. That's pretty strong right there. Therefore, whoever resists authority has opposed the ordinance of God. And they who have opposed will receive condemnation upon themselves. For rulers are not a cause of fear for good behavior, but for evil. Do you want to have no fear of authority? Do what is good and you will have praise from the same. It is a minister of God to you for good. But if you do what is evil, be afraid, for it does not bear the sword for nothing. For it is a minister of God, an avenger who brings wrath on the one who practices evil. M and now you have an understanding of why it's important to put people in who have good moral character who may have a biblical worldview. We don't get to pick everybody has a biblical worldview, but we can pick people with good moral character and help push the goodness, what is good for our, our nation, upon the nation rather than allowing those to just step in and do as they feel that have no regard for God for any Christian moral. M Compass.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Right. Well, and our goal is not, I mean people throw around. Christians want a theocracy which is, you know, Israel had that for a while where God really was on the throne. That's, that's not our model it's, we have people that rule us. We submit to God. And when we submit to God, when the governing authorities submit to God, the people flourish. And that's when America is successful and growing. And and that's honestly what makes us, unique in this, in this form of government. That's why our 250th birthday of the Declaration is so important.
When governing authorities ignore God, the people will suffer, author says
But there's also the reminder as you read in there, but when the people ignore God, when the governing authorities ignore God and go in ungodly ways, the people will suffer. And I, think that's what usher,
>> Rick Beggs: it ushers in depravity. Just our own human nature will rush into pravity.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, that's why if we do nothing, that's what rushes in.
>> Rick Beggs: That's right. There's, there's the evil that comes in. So we're actually trying to restrain depravity or human movement towards that.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah.
>> Rick Beggs: So families can actually thrive and then communities can prosper. And then of course the gospel can be moved freely, through our nation.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and you know, we saw examples of some of that, what happens when there's an evil ruler in the Old Testament in the Book of Judges, when you know, there were some godly rulers and there were some ungodly rulers who did what was right in their own eyes. That's the phrase they keep repeating. And they would, you know, keep the Asher polls and the bell, whatever it was that was going on. And then God would bring judgment. That was why we had the whole cycle of judges. The people would get away from God. God would judge them in a way and send persecution, be it through the, what, the Philistines, the Amalekites. Whoever would, would, you know, take their would, would hold them down. That's why Samson was hiding in the threshing floor because he couldn't thresh his, his wheat in public because of all of the persecution going on until the people know. So they'd be crushed until they cried out and God would bring a judge. So, it was the, it was the, the process that was going on, but it showed us God will, the people will suffer. When the nation is following is not following God.
>> Rick Beggs: So when, let's sort of go to the founding of our, really our constitutional republic because that's really what our founding fathers did. A lot of the men there were, ah, Christians. They professed their faith openly, to actually some demise to some of them long term, even after this, document was written. But that is what we Became, and now it is the framework that gives us our leadership today for our country. but the reason it says we the people, it's in our hands. That's why we vote. That's why we created I Voter Guide was to give everybody the opportunity to learn as much as they could about the people they were looking at putting in office.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and there's. Because there is such a responsibility, you know, that we the people, if you were to draw an org chart of America, at the top of that org chart is we the People. It's the voters. Government gets its power from the consent of the governed. And so if we the people are not doing their job, that's when we are not, you know, restraining good and that's when evil will flourish. We need to get more of the we the people doing their job and electing people who will perpetuate, the freedoms the founders desired so that God can bless America. and, and how do you find out who to vote for? And that's why I Voter Guide exists is really to assist we the People in doing that research to identify the people on their ballot that are worthy, capable, truthful, uncorruptible men, that are worth giving that power to.
>> Rick Beggs: So this is a great place to plug us, which is I voter guide.com that if you want to know more about your candidates in the places that you are voting, your particular state, you can just put your address in ivoterguide.com and your ballot will come up. And right now we'll talk at the end of the show about, some of the primaries that are coming up this coming week. But that's why it's important, especially in primaries, to go select the right people.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: If you're. I would challenge you if you're not voting in the primary and those people in your circle of influence are not. Now is the time. The primary election is the time to choose those, able men of God, men of truth. it's. We see people in the republic. I mean, the Republican Party is the party that is more. The platform is more godly aligned. So I will frequently talk about the Republican Party, party, but they, even Democrats, you know, we, we'd love for them to follow God, but they took the word God out of their platform. But we want to. There's so much power in the party primary because so few people vote. We're seeing on average right now only about 20% of registered voters participating in the primary. And we know that even the people who attend churches regularly is more than 20% of registered voters. So that, that indicates to me that the church is being silent at a time when they should be making their voice heard. and that. So that's our goal. That's why we exist.
>> Rick Beggs: So the silent church. If we don't get out there and do that, then. Then we sort of have made the bed. We're sleeping in silence. Because if the church ignores it. Yeah, we have, We've. We've allowed evil, to come to our front door. I, I like the idea that people know and understand just how little the church has played an effective role in today's society in really swaying, Bodie. we. We have so little effect because the church doesn't go vote. And I know that's a general, saying, but on a whole, it's very correct.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Well, and I would be interested in. In people's individual experiences with that as well. In their church, does their pastor get up and say, there's an election and you need to vote and vote on biblical principles.
>> Rick Beggs: because I know you and Iowa, if we've been around the country, we've had a hard time with, pastors with churches who will say, I'm not going to get involved in politics, or they won't even show up to hear the opportunity to use a free, accessible tool not to tell them who to vote for, just to tell their people, go vote. And, oh, by the way, there's a tool here that can help you.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Yeah. Well, I think even in. I've heard that even in seminaries, they, you know, kind of say, politics is dirty. Don't get involved in that. Don't tell Pete your people about that. You just preach Jesus. Just tell them about Jesus. But if you're. If you're preaching the NewSong Testament, it's in there. If you're preaching the Old Testament, it's in there that, you know, God created government and we need to be salt and light. So even if your pastor's not saying it, you need to talk to your pastor. You need to talk to your elders. You need to. Need to do your part to spread the word of that full counsel of God, of being, a good citizen in the public square. And don't be the person with your head in the clouds and your head in the sand. but get out there and vote.
>> Rick Beggs: Well, Debbie, you know what that sound is?
>> Debbie Wuthnow: I do.
On Tuesday, June 23, there are four states with primary elections
>> Rick Beggs: It's time to give us some updates on what, what primaries are coming up, which is, by the way, is a, Even a lesser amount of people go out for the special elections after your primary.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: That's true.
>> Rick Beggs: So tell us what's going on.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Let's start with the primary. So here are your opportunities for those of you listening to get out and vote this week. So on Tuesday, June 23, there are going to be four states with primary elections. If you live in Maryland, you'll have an election. Your polls are going to be open from 7:00am to 8:00pm if you, if you live in NewSong York state, your primary is happening on the 23rd and your polls are open from 6am to 9pm no excuse. Get out there and vote. in South Carolina you have a runoff election which not even 20% show up for those great opportunity to have a big impact. in South Carolina and your polls are open from 7am to 7pm in Utah you have both a primary and a special election for state board of education seat. So get out there and vote between 7am and 8pm and there's also early voting going on in Louisiana, your early voting ends today on Saturday for your Republican primary runoff. And then early voting will begin on the 20th in Colorado for your election on June 30th. If you live in Virginia, your election's not till August 4th, but early voting is beginning this coming week. I would suggest that if you mail in your ballot or, if you're tempted to go vote now to get it done, wait till I Voter Guide releases your voter guide. Go sign up for our email list and we will let you know when we've released your voter guide so that you can vote educated and informed. That's it.
We're close to finding out in November what the end results are going to be
>> Rick Beggs: Once again, there's a lot of stuff going on. Debbie. I just can't, believe that, we're this close to finding out in November what the end results are going to be.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: We're going to blink our eyes so fast.
>> Rick Beggs: Yeah, yeah. I want to remind our people, as you're listening here, go check us out. If you missed some of our broadcasts, go to afr.netamerican familyradio, afr.net, better yet, get the app. Download it. You can listen to us anytime. Just look us up at the Compass. If you have questions or you have answers, especially the shampoo answer, go to compassboater.com and you can tell us what you think of, what we're doing. I want you to know we are grounded in God, and rooted in research. It's a free opportunity for you to find out everything you need to do. We want to thank our producer, Brent Austin, Willie B. As we call him. But always know on the compass true north is Jesus.
>> Debbie Wuthnow: Thanks for joining.
