Transcript

Hamilton: God has called us to be ambassadors even in this dark moment

>> Alex McFarland: Darkness is not an affirmative force.

>> Bunny Pounds: It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.

>> Alex McFarland: This is the, Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite, delivering people out of the bondage of mainstream media and the philosophies of this world. God has called you and me to be his ambassadors, even in this dark moment. Let's not miss our moment.

Alex McFarland hosts the Hamilton Corner with Abe Hamilton

And now, the Hamilton Corner. Well, hello everybody. Alex McFarland here. So honored that you're listening to the Hamilton Corner. And I'm very honored that you, that I have the privilege of sitting in for attorney, pastor and broadcaster Abe Hamilton iii, many times when he's traveling. I, have the great privilege of being on, and today is one of those days. We have a great show. and as we are doing this program, there's a couple of things in the news that are, ah, really important.

The Supreme Court is hearing arguments on transgenderism this week

And I want to talk about the root, the subject. For one, as I'm sure you're aware, the U.S. supreme Court this week is hearing, arguments in a case that will very much decide, whether or not biological males will play in women's sports. And, the transgender activists have done so much to get into not only the national conversation, media, entertainment, but in, to the law. And this is very, troubling because I would say this, transgenderism and really the idea that there is no such thing as objective, maleness or femaleness, even though, all humans, women, are XX chromosome, human beings, men, xy, I mean, gender is a biological reality. There are males and there are females. but yet transgenderism wants to erase those categories. And you can be a biological, genetic male could, be viewed legally as a female if they identify as such. Now there are many problems with this, but this week the Supreme Court, yesterday, Gorsuch and Alita were asking, you know, the attorney for, arguing for transgenderism. They said, what is a woman? And this attorney just danced all around the issue, could not define what a woman is.

Senator Josh Hawley asks 11 questions about whether a man can get pregnant

Well, the other thing that I want to bring to your attention, then we'll weigh in on this topic a bit. Senator, from Missouri, Josh Hawley, who I just. Oh, my goodness, I respect so much. maybe you've seen the video because it has really, really gone viral. But Josh Hawley is interviewing a medical doctor from Vanderbilt School of medicine. And 11 times Senator Hawley asks a medical doctor, can a man get pregnant? And he asks 11 times, yes or no. Can a man get pregnant. And, this medical doctor, this Dr. Verma, is just stammering and stuttering and says, you know, that's an unanswerable question. And prior to Josh Hawley, asking can a man get pregnant? The doctor had said, that medical science and health care should be carried out according to science, not according to politics or any sort of narrative. And so Josh Hawley, says, great science. Let's be scientific here. That being the case, let me ask you a scientific question. He says, can a male become pregnant? And 11 times. The doctor, will not answer. and she says, I treat patients with many different identities. Now, we're on dangerous ground when we believe that merely by thinking it, we can create our own reality. now, of course, I'm not saying that, you know, we can't have ideas and goals and dreams and we get a vision for something. You know, maybe, you know, at age 50, you decide to learn a musical instrument. maybe you decide to start a business. I mean, there. There are plenty, plenty of things in life where we can envision something and we can take steps to cause things to happen. Maybe you want to save up money and pay cash for your next automobile, but the, there are some things about reality that are just objective, not subjective. Now think about it, folks. Our nation, and I would submit to you, as dangerous as globalism, Marxism is communism. That's dangerous. As dangerous as Sharia law and the influx of Islam into our culture, it's dangerous. Our constitution, is threatened by lawlessness. just, people not obeying, the rules, people not, yielding to authority. That. That's dangerous. Sharia coming in and, my goodness, in places like Indiana and Texas and Dearborn, Michigan, and the Somalis in Minnesota, Islam and Islamic culture and Sharia, that's a great danger to our Constitution. But I would submit to you folks that the most serious threat to the preservation of America is our attempted erasure of truth and moral boundaries. I mean, you know, you can't change when you were born, you can't change where you were born, and you can't change your gender. I mean, people can all day long say, I identify as this or that, but it doesn't make it so. And it's one thing for people to believe things that are false. I mean, many people believe many delusional things, but, when our government is really having to decide if truth exists or doesn't, and merely because somebody believes something, whether it's, delusional or mental illness, frankly, I think transgenderism is demonic. And I think some of the most, entrenched believers in transgenderism are probably demon possessed. Really.

Martin Luther King Jr says natural law is truth about basic reality

but let's talk about this thing that really nobody much talks about, which is natural law. Now, the founders used some terms. Jefferson used the term self evident truth. In other words, it's obvious and undeniable self evident truth. George Washington used the term natural law. They would also talk about moral absolutes, objective truth, and basic reality is what this is, natural law. I'm not talking about scientific, laws like water at sea level, boils at 212 degrees. That's a law of nature. But in terms of our government and morals, natural law. It refers to truths about reality that, that are instinctively known by all rational people. And, and laws, natural law, laws that are not based on opinion or preference, but which are binding on all people. That's, that's what natural law is. And here in America and really the Western world, For the past 2000 years, natural law has been part of culture and practice. But natural law is something more than mere, social mores or cultural preferences. Natural law is truth about basic reality. Now, in Romans chapter one and chapter two, the word of God says that there are certain things that are known to all people because it is written on the heart. In Romans it says that when the Gentiles instinctively do the things prescribed by the ten Commandments, it shows that God's law is written on the heart, and therefore we are without excuse according to Romans 2:22. so we have no excuse. God's law is written on the heart and we really, really do know it. Now let me say where a lot of people are, first Timothy 4:2 says this people speak lies in hypocrisy, their conscience being seared with a hot iron. Now, you know what if your skin is seared, maybe you got burned and there's a callus and your skin, you don't really feel pain in this part where your skin has been seared. Well, do you know the conscience can be seared? And if people reject truth long enough, I mean, there's a state where, where they no longer can discern truth. And the Greek word in the Original language in 1 Timothy 4:2 is the word cauterized. maybe you've had a doctor that, you've heard they would cauterize a wound and they would basically, you know, intentionally burn a spot of skin to stop bleeding. And, that tissue is hardened and dead, the nerve endings are dead. And you know, it doesn't hurt there anymore. well, the conscience can be seared or cauterized where people can no longer discern truth. And so, you know, I often tell people I used to be a, ah, one issue voter and that issue was the sanctity of human life where I would never intentionally, I would never knowingly vote for a pro abortion candidate. But I'm a two issue voter now and I've asked a number of candidates running for office, what do you believe about natural law? And I have to be honest, I've yet to meet a political candidate that even knew what natural law was. And yet when Jefferson and some of our founders, like Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, James Madison, George Mason, Peyton Randolph, Patrick Henry, these were signers of the Declaration and they understood that there are some things that are objectively true. and this idea that a man is a male and a female is a woman, only females can be impregnated. And the beautiful thing about our Constitution is when it says in the Declaration, and by the way, the Declaration, preamble, Constitution, Bill of Rights, they, they form a cohesive whole. And the idea of human rights came from America, because Jefferson wrote that all people, all men, the masculine pronoun used in the generic sense there, all men are endowed by their creator, capital C, that's God, endowed with certain inalienable rights. In other words, rights that can't be taken away. Now your rights can certainly be taken away, but not legitimately. So, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. he lived 1929 to 1968. His famous Pulitzer Prize winning book, why We Can't Wait, which I would urge you to read, it was published in 1963 and it, not only was it Dr. King's, manifesto, if you will, of the civil rights movement, it really is a crash course on the US government and how our Constitution is to work. And Dr. King wrote in that book, and I quote, to put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, wrote Dr. King, an unjust law is a human law, not rooted in eternal law and natural law. See, he understood what most politicians and virtually all secular college professors don't understand is that our government, all rights, male and female, every ethnicity, Caucasian, Latino, Asian, black, white, white, all people have equal protection and equal rights, in the shadow of the U.S. constitution, Dr. King understood that. Now why, why do all people have rights? Because truth exists and is applicable to all people. And the abolition of natural law is something that the transgenders are after, but it jeopardizes the future of the country. It really does. We've got a great show. Stay tuned. We're going to come back and talk with Bunny Pounds of Christians engaged. And, we'll continue in our pursuit of truth on this edition of the hamilton corner. Alex McFarlane, thank you for listening. By the way, you can listen to this show again. afr.net and the, shows are archived. Tell somebody about Hamilton Corner and the great programming of afr. Most of all, tell everybody about Jesus.

You can listen to American Family Radio through the AFR app

we're back after this brief break. The AFR app is a powerful tool, but it does have limitations. You can't use it to change the oil in your vehicle or get rid of carpet stains. It won't walk the dog, won't pick up the dry cleaning or take the kids to practice. But while you're doing those things, you can listen to your favorite AFR content through the app on your phone, smart device or Roku. Just go to your app store or visit afr.net listen to AFR wherever you go with the AFR app. Shining light into the darkness. This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio. Welcome back to the program. Alex McFarland here, and very honored to bring on a colleague and friend. Bunny Pounds of Christians engaged. She's an author and she's also the driving force behind something very special this year. You know, this is America's 250th birthday. Very, very significant. you think about it, folks. A quarter millennia our nation has existed. And, it's based on the Bible and we can prove that. But, Bunny Pounds is leading, an event in our nation's capital this year that the Bible will be read through in its entirety. And, I've got the great privilege of being one of the readers. It's, actually one of the greatest honors of my life. But she's with us now. Bunny Pounds, thank you for making time to be with us on the American Family Radio Network.

>> Bunny Pounds: Well, honored to be with you, Alex, and honored to have your partnership on this and also American Family association, to be a major partner with us on this initiative, America Reads the Bible. It's going to be an amazing, amazing time.

>> Alex McFarland: so tell us about that and, just, ah, all the work you do. Give us a website because we do want people engaged. And folks, as the date draws closer, you're going to hear me talking about it, ad infinitum, because we want people to know about it.

America Reads the Bible aims to unify Christians around biblical texts

But tell, us about America Reads The Bible and just all the work you do, if you would, please.

>> Bunny Pounds: Well, America Reads the Bible started out as kind of a moment I had with the Lord about Ezra in the Museum of the Bible a couple years ago. I've been studying Nehemiah and the leadership of Nehemiah for a couple decades and I've written a book on that we'll get into. But it hit me that we really need an Ezra moment. that the American church has lost our identity in a lot of ways. We're not focused. As we know Alex, many Christians do not have a biblical worldview, do not go to the scripture every day for their wisdom and discernment. And so I had this random thought. I thought wouldn't it be awesome if our national leaders from all spheres of influence and demographics and denomination would get unified around scripture? And what if we read the whole Bible from Genesis to Revelation and you know, in front of the American people around the 250th birthday of our country since the Bible truly is, I believe our founding document of our country and the foundation of law, liberty and justice in this country. So it started out as a dream. we took a step of faith and signed an extremely large contract with the Museum of the Bible for April 18 through 25. and now where we are after about a year and a half of work on this is we have over a hundred national ministries partnering with us. Everyone from Samaritan's Purse to you know, Prison Fellowship to Pastor Allen Jackson to American Family Association Wall Builders. So many ministries around the country from different even aspects of you know, Reformed with charismatics, Pentecostals and Protestants and Catholics and Lutherans and Presbyterians. It's been awes awesome to watch what God's done. but now about a 450 of our leaders from Hollywood or government or ministry or business reading the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. It'll be live streamed through great American pure flicks. We'll have an opening celebration on April 18 that every church in the country frankly should stream from their theater, from their sanctuary and inspire the American people. you know, as leaders humble themselves and tell the importance of the Bible in their life. and then we go into reading the Bible 9:00am to 9:00pm Eastern Standard Time for seven full days. It's going to be epic.

>> Alex McFarland: It is going to be epic. And one of the passages that I am to read, actually our staff filmed me reading it a few weeks ago so we have a backup. But I applaud you and I'll tell you why. For a lot of reasons, but bringing together all strata of Christendom, one of the keys to revival is unity in the body of Christ. And listen, I'm a Baptist preacher. I have an opinion on everything. But here's the thing. First John 5:1 says, whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. I mean that. I mean, think about it, folks. First John 5:1, you can look it up. Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. That being the case, God's family is a really big family, and we, need unity. Protestant, Catholic, Orthodox. If you believe in Jesus Christ, ah, we're family. And Bunny, I just applaud you, doing what it's pretty challenging to do, which is to get Christians to unify together.

>> Bunny Pounds: It has been an amazing journey, Alex. I literally started last February at the National Religious Broadcasters, going up to people with my secret memo about this. I didn't even have a name for this event, right? And I'm just like, hey, guys, we gotta read the Bible together. We all need to come around Scripture and unify around that. just the text, right? And, my favorite chapter in the entire Bible, my whole team can tell you. I preach on it to nauseam is John, 17. That's what I'm going to be reading at the theater. And I have dreamed of what I'm seeing right now. I have dreamed about it for 20 years. And again, nobody knows my name. Yes, I lead a national ministry, Christians Engaged. And we inspire people. People to pray, vote, and engage. But I'm still a newbie on the block when it comes to these ministry leaders that everybody knows. but, you know, I think I looked on my calendar. I did about 200 Zoom meetings or. Or phone calls this year just on trying to get people onboarded for this event. And they're going, you know, why wouldn't I not be a part of it? Right? Like, yeah, that sounds like a great idea.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, sure.

>> Bunny Pounds: Just being able to cast the vision and God blowing on it, really. It's been his Holy Spirit, and I think it's in his heart. Because, you know, as we approach the second coming of the Lord, you know, we're all praying, Maranatha, come, Lord Jesus. Quickly.

>> Alex McFarland: The.

>> Bunny Pounds: The things that separate us don't seem as big as what we think they are. And, you know, those of us that, you know, I've been kind of in the social conservative movement or been on the front lines of the battle of many of the things that we're dealing with in culture, we know how little these things are that separate us. We know what unifies us. And being able to lead that effort and pull the rest of the body of Christ into that space of unity is, I think, just been an amazing moment for my life, for sure.

Bunny: Genuine revival and awakening come to communities when churches partner

>> Alex McFarland: You know, you mentioned John, chapter 17. I love verse 21. And this is, I'll let you comment if you would. But folks, Jesus is on his way to the cross. Very often commentators call it the high priestly prayer of Jesus, but in verse 21 he prays, Father, that they all may be one o n e, in other words, unified, that the world may believe Thou hast sent me. And I truly believe. and I'm going to throw another question to you here in a moment, but Bunny, in all of my travels I have seen the Holy Spirit move. Genuine revival and awakening come to communities when churches partner together. And yes, I'm going to say it again, Protestant, Catholic, and there are many born again Catholics, and there are some Protestants I'm worried about. But listen, Catholic, Protestant, Orthodox, we need each other, don't we, Bunny?

>> Bunny Pounds: We do. You know, oneness is not sameness. We kind of confuse that. We think oneness is we have to all be the same or, we have to believe everything about, you know, the gifts of the Spirit or the second coming of Christ in eschatology or women in ministry or whatever. That. That's not what the criteria is. The criteria is that we are, we are unified around the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus and that evangelism, sharing the gospel is preeminent, that discipleship is preeminent, and what we're believing for. Alex, as you know, we don't want this to be. Yes, this is going to be an epic event. I pray every American Christian shares these social media clips, logs into the live stream and you know, centers their, their world around scripture for eight days. But it goes beyond that. We want to inspire people to, to go into Bible reading and discipleship programs. And we have about 14 ministries that are giving away free everything, you know, that people can log in and experience. You know, Tony Perkins, system on Reading the Word or Allen Jackson's or Jack Graham's or whatever. But we want to help you go, you know, find your center around scripture every day. Know you need God for wisdom, and be the leader you've called to be. And, and truly that's my calling, is to raise up leaders for the next generation of America. But we cannot have leaders that if they're not grounded in Scripture, if they're not grounded with a biblical worldview, and if we don't know, we don't. We need God every day. We can't make it on our own strengths, our own gifts and talents. So I, I believe God's going to use this in a lot of people's lives. And that's why I've been laying down my life to make all this possible.

>> Alex McFarland: Now, what's a website that people can, go to to learn more about this? And folks, again, the Bible is going to be read in our nation's capital in its entirety. Genesis 1 to Revelation 22. And I've got the great privilege, I'm one of the readers. But, where can people learn more about this?

>> Bunny Pounds: Go to americareadsthebible.com and plan. Are you gonna come to DC and come to the Museum of the Bible? Be a part of this? You can buy a ticket that gets you access to the whole museum, plus the Bible reading, plus our private art gallery that we're facilitating of, my friend Mindy Oden's amazing 66 paintings of the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. The, interactive. There'll be an interactive experience in the room. So when we're reading Genesis, it's going to look different than Proverbs or Matthew. so, yeah, plan your trip to D.C. the Dead Sea Scrolls are there at the museum. So this is a beautiful time to take your family, your grandkids, like, come to D.C. for the 2 50th and come during April 18 through 25. But if you can't come, log on, get your live stream link. Register for the live stream right now through Great American Pure Flix. but plan on. Are you gathering people in your family room? Are you playing it in your office for all your employees all week? Are you getting your pastor to host it in their sanctuary? I was just gonna say think outside of just your life and carrying around your phone with the Bible going on all week. I, want you to do that. But think about how you can use it in your community to reach people with the power of scripture and the gospel.

>> Alex McFarland: You know what would be really cool? if churches and I think about all over this nation, you know, from Maine to California, East, West, Midwest, north and south, rural, urban. I just think it would be fantastic if churches pervasively throughout this nation would stream it in their sanctuary. And so it's going to be like 9A to 9P, right?

>> Bunny Pounds: Yeah. I mean, Colorado Christian University here in Colorado is going to stream it from their chapel building the entire week for their whole university. So students can come in and worship and pray and get under the Bible reading. So I want to see churches. And you can go ahead. Churches can sign. Sign up on the website that they're willing to incorporate this into their church culture in some way. But we have sermon notes for pastors to preach around the importance of the Bible and use it. Use the opening ceremony and use the Bible reading in your church, please.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah, and, folks, this would be a good thing, like. So let's say you're streaming it in your church and tell people to come on their lunch hour and, you know, get their spiritual batteries charged, come. And as the word of God is read, be in prayer and intercede for our nation. I just. This is a fantastic opportunity.

The Museum of the Bible opened in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month

And, if you're just tuning in, our guest is Bunny Pounds, and she's the driving force behind America reads the Bible. hey, you know, before the Bible museum existed in Washington, it traveled around in a display called Passages. Did you, Were you aware of that, Bunny?

>> Bunny Pounds: I was, yes. I met the man who kind of helped lead Passages, and, you know, kind of helped them set all that up. Yeah. Amazing.

>> Alex McFarland: You know, this is 16, 17 years ago, but, I was, leading a small Christian college in Charlotte, North Carolina, and I got a call from Mart Greene, Steve Greene, the Greene family with Hobby Lobby, and they called me up and they said, we're coming to Charlotte. Would you have lunch with us? Which I. And they told me about Passages and their idea for the Bible museum. And so, at that time, one of my colleagues, Norm Geisler, he's in heaven now. He was a great apologist. And, you know, Geisler had seen it all. and yet we went and we had a private showing of some of the artifacts that they had that would ultimately be in the Bible Museum. Now, folks, get this. There's a fragment of the book of Genesis that is the oldest known copy from Genesis. And Norm Geisler, when he saw this, he literally swooned. I mean, like, his knees almost buckled because he had heard about this particular fragment, but he'd never seen it in person. And so, among other things, folks, this. The oldest known portion of the book of Genesis in the world is there at the Bible Museum. Also, you've heard about how William Tyndale translated the NewSong Testament from Greek to English. And, Tyndale famously said, I will not rest until there is a NewSong Testament in the back Pocket of every plowboy in Britain. Well, Tyndale's notes are there. I've seen them many times. And, Bunny, for those that have never been, just try to convey how epic and awesome this Bible museum is.

>> Bunny Pounds: Yeah, the Museum of the Bible is such an amazing space. I mean, like, four stories, five stories, with restaurants, you know, focused around Israel. they have a whole Old Testament section where you're pretty much going through the Old Testament that's interactive. A NewSong Testament section that looks like where Jesus walked. Right. And then you've got how the Bible's impacted culture. You have every translation of the Bible around the world you have goes all the way through the Dead Sea Scrolls and everything, so. And I've been to that Dead Sea scroll since it just opened a couple months ago. It's unbelievable, guys. Like, 70, five years since the Dead Sea Scrolls were on the East Coast. It's only been in the country, in America a couple times, and it's there while we're doing this. So, again, I can't emphasize enough what an epic day it would be for you to spend at the Museum of the Bible with us during this national moment, but also all the other festivities that are going to be around. you know, people. There's no hotel rooms during July 4th in Washington, D.C. left for the 250th. They've been gone, like, a year and a half. So let's make this the week for the body of Christ to come to Washington.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen.

>> Bunny Pounds: And to experience all the things in the city, but also gather around Scripture.

>> Alex McFarland: Amen. we've got to take a brief break. can you stay with us, Bunny, for another second? Okay, stay tuned, folks. We're back in a moment.

American Family Race Radio is raising funds to help save thousands of unborn babies

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: Friends, every day in America, thousands of babies lose their chance at life. Yet in the middle of this darkness, you can be the light. While the abortion giants are busy ending lives, preborns clinics are on the front lines, saving babies and leading mothers to Christ. When a mother sees her baby in an ultrasound and hears that tiny heartbeat, something holy happens. Her heart softens. And most of the of the time, she chooses life. This is Jessica Peck asking you to give. Outrageously, AFR is believing God to help save 5,000 babies this week. $28 provides one ultrasound session. And if you have the means, $15,000 sponsors an ultrasound machine so a whole community can be reached for years to come. All gifts are tax deductible. Go now to AF or call 877-6-16-2396. That's 8776-16-2396.

>> Alex McFarland: The Hamilton quarter podcast and one minute commentaries are available at afr.net back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Race Radio. We're going to resume our conversation with Bunny Pounds.

America Reads the Bible has seven summer camps coming up this summer

Let me, ah, just throw a couple of things out there and ask you to pray for it. We, have our summer camps coming up. Seven camps and the website is equipretreat.org and for 20. This will be our 28th year of doing youth camps. Last, summer we had over 1300 teenagers in seven camps plus one big conference. We had 604 kids make a salvation decision last year and we teach them biblical worldview, the truths about God and country. Many of our youth come three and four consecutive years. So please pray for our summer camps. The website if you. And we're in Montana, we're in Indiana, we're in upstate NewSong Jersey, and Georgia. And so we're all over the country and it could be ah, week that just changes the life of a young person. So pray about our summer camps also. We haven't forgotten the grownups. I will be at the COVID the Billy Graham Training center in western North Carolina, July 17 through 19. I'll be teaching on my brand new book about Bible prophecy. We'll look at Daniel and revelation. And then July 27 through 31, I'll be there with Gary Habermas, the world renowned expert on the resurrection of Christ. And so if you've never been to the COVID oh, it is amazing. it is so beautiful and the presence of God is so, tangible there. So I would be very honored. I've been there for 20 consecutive years. And this summer again, I'll be there twice in July. So the website is thecove.org, t h e c o v e thecove.org and as we were talking about in the previous segment, another big happening this year in our nation's capital at the Bible Museum. The Bible will be read in its entirety. And the person that had the vision and my goodness, she's worked a lot to make this happen. Bunny Pounds, she's with us now. Bunny, I just want to say thank you for, not only getting it, you know, what our nation needs, but you've worked and you've put a lot of time into this, only God knows how many hours. But thank you for being a, carrier of revival in America, Bunny. Thank you.

>> Bunny Pounds: Well, thank you, Alex. Yeah. My husband would tell you nobody understands what my last year has been like. But it has been really an honor and a privilege to, take what I felt like the Lord gave me and spearhead it. And our team, it has been hard for our team of 20. we have 20 between Christians engaged in Family Policy alliance, our parent ministry. But we've all touched this at some level. And our director of America Reads the Bible, Jamie Thompson, who's a contractor and just great American Pure Flix team, has just been amazing, our production and distribution team. And it's going to be a really amazing moment. And I just want to say we do have, Candace Cameron Bure as our national spokesperson and Cameron and BJ Arnett from the Forge movie. and our opening celebration on April 18, which anybody can donate and be a part of this. Ah, America Reads the Bible. And come to that, Patricia Heaton from Everyone Loves Raymond will be there, speaking about her love for the Bible and so many others. you know, from all spheres of influence. I can't mention the cabinet member yet, but we'll have a cabinet member and Congressman Micah Cloud and many others. So just check out everything at America Reads the Bible. We would love to have you be there for the opening celebration as we start. And come to the first day of the Bible reading as we start. Genesis is one. It's going to be an amazing time.

>> Alex McFarland: indeed.

The Museum of the Bible is bringing the Dead Sea Scrolls to the United States

You know, you mentioned the Dead Sea Scrolls and folks, I'm sure, you know, all your life you've heard people reference the Dead Sea Scrolls. I cannot overstate how significant that discovery was. And to see these in person. I've seen some of the scrolls at the Shrine of the Book in Jerusalem. but for them to be in the USA and at the Bible Museum, this is a rarity. It's really, and I don't say this lightly, but it's a once in a lifetime opportunity. And, Bunny, if you would speak to how. I mean, there are 5,000 things you'll see and experience at the Bible Museum, but it would be worth the trip alone just to be in the same room with the Dead Sea Scrolls. That's huge, isn't it?

>> Bunny Pounds: Yeah, there's about six or eight fragments. Okay, I want to put this in perspective, from the Dead Sea Scrolls. And they're in these like, you know, airtight cases, right? And they're going to trade these out about four times while the Dead Sea Scrolls are here in the United States. And when they come out and they get transported back to Israel, they have to be put away for 10 years from that one exposure okay. So it is a massive undertaking that the Museum of the Bible has brought in the donors that have supported that effort to bring the scrolls there. And the exhibit goes way into the history. It's interactive. I mean, it's amazing in this limited, exhibit. So again, you could spend four or five hours at the Museum of the Bible by itself, and then you got three hours of the Bible reading that you can sit under the word of God, come to our private art gallery with our ministry partners, everything that we're providing there as well. And it's. You can get a ticket through America Reads the bible, and it's 50 bucks. You're going to pay 50 bucks just to get into the museum. So you might as well just buy a ticket for the, for the Bible reading and come to all of it. And it's, it is a moment in time. And I just want to encourage anybody around the country that's never been to the Museum of the Bible. This is the moment to come, and you'll never forget it. We're never going to have the 250th birthday of America again. And, to center it around the word of God for us as the body of Christ is going to be a moment we'll never forget.

>> Alex McFarland: Yeah. Yeah. do you know, the nonprofit that I lead that we started almost 30 years ago is called Project 2026. Now we do, DBA, doing business as Truth for a new generation, doing business as Alex McFarland ministries, doing business as, the Equip Youth Camps, but our incorporated name. And 30 years ago, people said Project 2026. Why are you calling your ministry that? That's our legal name. because we wanted to do our utmost to see a national revival by America's 250th birthday. And here we are in 2026.

Alex Martin: One of the great miracles of the Bible is its preservation

But, so let me talk just a minute, folks, about the Dead Sea Scrolls. And Bunny, you feel free to, ah, elaborate too. folks, one of the great miracles has been not only the inspiration of God's word, but the preservation. And, liberals, 200 years after the Protestant Reformation, Germany, 1517, Luther and the Reformation. But by the late 1700s, coming out of Germany was something called theological liberalism. And the father of German liberalism was a man named Friedrich Schleiermacher. And one of the things they did, they really attacked the book of Isaiah. I think Satan hates the book of Isaiah because among other things, I mean, it's very Christocentric, like Isaiah 53 especially. You read about how the Messiah would die for our sins. Well, anyway, when the Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered, in the mid-1940s, at that point, the copies of the Old Testament that we had were several centuries removed from the time of the writing. And suddenly they found these copies of the Old Testament that were from about 200 BC. So, suddenly we had copies of the Old Testament and especially the Book of isaiah that were 900 years older than any of the other known copies. And, Bunny, I've read how that. It was with a bit of trepidation when they began to compare our copies from several centuries AD to the Dead Sea Scrolls, 200 BC. And much to scholars, relief. Not only were the words identical, preserved identical, but even the punctuation there are what are called diacritical marks. And so the Dead Sea Scrolls are an incredibly ironclad, powerful, persuasive proof that Genesis, through Malachi, the Old Testament has been preserved. And the Book of Isaiah that critics had vehemently attacked, the Isaiah that we have is the identical wording that was originally given. And to see that in person, you'll never have this opportunity again. and it is exciting, isn't it, Bunny?

>> Bunny Pounds: It's amazing. And again, to see how God has preserved Scripture, I mean, your faith is. You're going to walk away from this experience going like, how can I live without the Bible? When you see the reality of what God has done to reveal Himself to His people. And one thing I'm hoping, Alex, is so often, especially in the modern American church, we are so focused on us. We're focused on our life, our needs, our business, our families, right? And even when we go to Scripture, sometimes it's like, God, give me a word for my life to make. Help me live right now, you know, and. And I'm really believing that this moment, as, people see people like, you know, that they might not think Job is cool, right? Or Proverbs is cool, or some of these parts of Scripture, but when we see the whole of the story of God and we see that we get to be a part of this grand story, like, you're saying the preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls is one section of God's grand story that we get to be a part of. And he calls us to Himself and he says, you get to be a part of this. And that just raises our vision of who he is, who we are, and what we can accomplish for his kingdom. And I hope that people have that kind of vision as they see the Dead Sea Scrolls as they walk through the museum and come to this public declaration of scripture.

>> Alex McFarland: And, you know, again, I want to say churches, you should stream this on your screen in your sanctuary. It would be a great thing to do. and, Bunny, give the website again.

Alex says Christians Engaged focuses on biblical worldview and civic engagement

Then I want to ask you about Christians Engaged. But, for the Bible reading that will take place in April, where can people learn more?

>> Bunny Pounds: Yeah, americareadsthebible.com. we got almost 300 readers up. All of our ministries, check out everything, hang out with our mobilization groups, our prayer meetings. I mean, we got a lot going on. Go to americareadsthebible.com and get involved in the movement.

>> Alex McFarland: so what is Christians Engaged?

>> Bunny Pounds: Christians Engage is a national ministry that, came out of my heart. We started December 2019. I spent 16 years in political consulting working for members of Congress, and really, had really a burden that believers in Christ, were not praying for our nation strong enough. We were not voting in every election, and we weren't engaging in culture. and how to shift that. How can we bring biblical worldview and civic engagement together? So we started tracking every election in the country and building out a nonprofit, nonpartisan ministry where if a Christian says, bunny, I want to be involved in the country. I don't want to sit on the sidelines any longer. Well, what can you do? You can make a commitment to pray for five minutes a week for your leaders, for our country. You can commit to vote in every election and start engaging. So we built, what I believe is one of the only national voting communication systems in the country where we track every election and we remind people to vote through, text and email. and we've got almost. Well, we're over a million Christians in that system now, Alex. God has been so good. But we've also built eight national curriculum projects on ramp to civic engagement. Biblical worldview, biblical economics. My awesome vice president, Ben Quines, helped me build, you know, the leadership of Nehemiah, all these different classes. We even have a full campaign school for any Christian that wants to run for office. and then we just released, in the fall. I believe is one of the largest resource libraries in the country. Over 100 products for pastors and ministry leaders called our faith and civic engagement Library. That's free on our website, Sermon notes, you know, white papers on issues from a biblical perspective, all of it. and then we have a church outreach program and a young adult program that's just blowing up. So God's been so faithful. we just keep pressing forward. But we have a place for every Christian that wants to go on the front lines of the battle and make a difference. They can start with Christians Engage, and we'll help them.

Bunny Hamilton believes pastors should refrain from taking positions on political issues

>> Alex McFarland: Bunny, do you believe that pastors should, preach sermons and take positions on political issues?

>> Bunny Pounds: Well, I think half the things we. We say are political issues, Alex, are biblical issues. And I do think we have to start preaching on what the Bible says on topics, especially Gen Z is tired of the fluff. They don't want another sermon on what their destiny is. They want to know, how do I overcome pornography addictions? How do I deal with all this gender ideology issues in my school? what do I do with the Israel issue? What do I do with, you know, this or that? I mean, we've got to start giving substantive messages. And we're seeing pastors around the country, frankly, that are doing that, you know, in my community. Josh Howerton at Lake Point, Dr. Jack Graham, Dr. Robert Jefferson, others that are not afraid to take on the topic.

>> Alex McFarland: Bunny, forgive me, we're almost out of time. You're doing a great work, Bunny, pounds. Christians Engaged in America reads the Bible. I'll be there, and I encourage you to pray and attend if at all possible. Thanks for listening to the Hamilton Corner. May God bless you and may God bless America.

>> Bunny Pounds: M.

>> Dr. Jessica Peck: The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American Family association or American Family Radio.