Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the issues of the day.
Ed: Good morning, everybody. Ed Vitagliano is sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I am joined in the studio by Tony Vitagliano.
Tony: Good morning.
Ed: Wesley is also out, so we're empty on the bench today. Speaking of emptying the bench, Dr. Ray Pritchard is with us. Good morning, Ray.
Ray: I've been riding the pine here on the bench. Now I get to get in the game.
Ed: Where have you been?
Ray: I've been well. The last couple of weeks I've been here in Florida. My traveling for the year is mostly done. I'm gone next week to Chicago, and then I'm going to be in Tupelo in December, but that's about it until the end of the year.
Ed: Florida got hit pretty hard by the hurricane. Did you guys get hit, or was that mostly up in the Panhandle?
Ray: That was mostly in the Pensacola and Destin region. We're on the west side, a little bit north of Tampa. We got eight inches of rain in three days last week, which is a lot.
Ed: Wow.
Ray: We had a little bit of wind, but nothing destructive.
Ed: Welcome back. This is the first time I've been on with you since you started your travels for the summer, preaching and teaching. Is this the first time you've been back on Today's Issues?
Ray: Starting about three weeks ago, I've been on most of the time. We don't have a home in Kansas City anymore. We are full-time here in Florida. For about six months, life was crazy. We were gone more than we were anywhere, whether Kansas City or here. I was talking to Marlene last night, and I told her I was more exhausted when we finished the summer than I thought I was. It took about three weeks just to start to feel normal again.
Ed: There's a difference between 35 and 74, and a big difference. I'm feeling it.
Ed: We're glad you're back with us. You do plenty of good for the kingdom, serving the Lord as you go and preach and teach God's Word. It does take a toll, but God will reward you for that. We're just glad you're with us, Ray.
Ray: Thank you. It's good to be here.
Ed: Chris, what have you been doing with your time while Ray has been out preaching and teaching?
Chris: The last couple of days I've been filling in for Rusty Pugh. Rusty is out enjoying some paid time off, and I have been doing the morning shift. Steve is on tap for that tomorrow, so we sometimes break up that weeklong shift. Every time Rusty is away, we appreciate him even more because it is a grind to get up at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning and get over here.
Ed: And he's been doing that for 30 years?
Chris: Yes, since 1996, maybe.
Ed: He sleeps about four hours a night.
Chris: I guess he has for 30 years. I was in bed at about eight o'clock last night.
Ed: What time did you get to the studio this morning?
Chris: I got here a little earlier today because I was trying to finish up some stories, but I normally make it a point to be here by four because our first newscast is at five.
Ed: What's happening at AFR at four in the morning?
Chris: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The first time I ever did this was years ago, in 2011 or something like that. This was in the old layout of the building we're currently in, before it was remodeled. I walked in, and it is creepy when you're the only person in the building.
Ed: Yeah.
Chris: I heard somebody talking, and I stopped. I thought, “Who is in this building?” I was walking around trying to figure out who it was. I heard a man's voice, and then I realized it was a studio where somebody had the volume turned way up. We had programming going, and it was a replay of some show. I felt relieved, but I was going to take one for AFA if I had to.
Ed: We appreciate you guys getting up. The people at AFN are doing the same thing. They're getting up, getting the stories ready for you, and bringing you the news from a biblical perspective.
Chris: Absolutely.
Ed: When folks wake up, drink their coffee, and turn on AFR, they're hearing stories because people have gotten up early to prepare them.
Chris: That's what I meant.
Ed: We don't make our ladies get up that early, though, do we?
Chris: No.
Ed: The guys have to suck it up.
Chris: That's how God made guys. I am blessed to have a wife and two daughters, and I'm tiptoeing around the house at three o'clock in the morning, trying not to make any noise. I even try to have my clothes ready and make as little sound as possible, although I sometimes find out when I return home that I was noisy.
Ed: That's why, when we introduce Chris Woodward, you sometimes go, “Hello!”
Chris: Because I've been quiet for so long. I'm trying to taper it down a little bit today because I've had an extra pot of coffee for this morning's shift.
Ed: You've been up early. Let's see what you came up with. What's your first story?
Chris: President Trump is continuing his nationwide tour to try to get out the vote in various states. The president is going to be in Wasilla, Alaska, today to boost the reelection campaign of Representative Nick Begich, alongside U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan.
Chris: Trump was in Ohio yesterday. He's going to be in Arizona and Montana later this week, and possibly Georgia as well. Much as he has said at various stops so far, President Trump is telling voters, “I'm not on the ballot, but my agenda is. Pretend as if I am on the ballot and vote for me, in a way, by showing up to support these individuals.”
Chris: Here's a portion of his speech yesterday in Ohio.
Donald Trump: In a way, I am on the ballot because they will try and destroy everything we've done and the country has never done. I had to take a little bit of a veer toward the Islamic Republic of Iran because we could not let them have a nuclear weapon. I'm sorry.
Ed: A little bit of a veer.
Ray: Yeah.
Ed: Tony, and then Ray, we'll get to you. This is going to be the argument that the voters will probably settle. I think the president's right. He is President Trump because of the force of his personality and his ideas. He is always on the ballot, at least until he's gone from the White House.
Ed: This is what voters are going to decide: Was going to war in Iran worth the economic trouble that I think most voters will lay at the feet of the White House, and perhaps the Republican Party, in the midterms? What's your take? How do you think most voters are going to come down on that?
Ray: That's a hard question to ask. You obviously don't have a crystal ball, but what's your sense?
Chris: I think it is telling that he is going out and stumping on the campaign trail for a lot of these close races. The race in Alaska is close, one to three points, if you believe the current polling. Based on the general feel of the public right now across the entire country, not just in states that have races coming up, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the direction the economy is going. Cost of living is a phrase you will hear in every race.
Chris: I've seen political ads in Mississippi, and I'm sure they're the same ones in Alaska and wherever they have upcoming races. Cost of living is the name of the game. It is telling to me that Trump is going out and presenting himself as the person people are voting for because he is trying to help Republicans make up some lost ground.
Chris: The problem is that I don't know whether it is counterproductive for Trump to be out there. More and more people are laying some of the blame for elevated gas prices and inflation at the feet of the White House because it was all done during the Iran war. There was no congressional approval, right? It was all done at the behest of executive powers.
Chris: I'm not sure whether it is counterproductive to a degree, but we'll see. Trump has done a lot of good things, and he's presenting a compelling case that things would be worse under a Democratic Congress. We'll find out in three weeks.
Ed: Ray, I think President Trump still has a lot of drawing power.
Ray: It is unfair, and I think it is typically unfair, at the midterm point, for the party in power to automatically get all the blame because usually people are not satisfied. That's just a typical reaction for the American voter. Things aren't as good as they could be, and whoever was in power at the presidential election becomes the standard-bearer for the party.
Ray: If things aren't going well by the midterms, that president is blamed. The same thing happened with Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator. President Clinton also had a rough couple of midterm elections, which led to the Contract with America in 1994. It is sometimes unfair to come to the midterms and have the president get blamed, but it is typically the way American politics works.
Ed: Midterm elections tend to be base elections. Whose base is going to come out? Mr. Trump's base is extremely loyal to him.
Ray: But Tony, it is exactly like you said. We go to the gas pump, and here in Florida it was down to $3.75, going toward $3.50. It has now backed up to $4. I saw that yesterday, and in some places it is a little over $4.
Ray: That really doesn't matter. You take your family out to McDonald's, and you better bring your gold bar with you to pay for it. Things have really changed. Who was it who said, “It's the economy, stupid”?
Ed: That was during the 1992 election, Clinton versus the first President Bush.
Ray: All the elections since then have proven the truth of that. Look at the Senate race in Texas. It's closer than it should be. The one in Kansas is closer than it should be. Tony, as you said, it's one to three points all over the country.
Ray: I agree with what President Trump is doing. I don't think he's too worried about the middle. I don't even know how many people are left in the middle. He's making a direct appeal to his own base because if his base gets out and votes, the Republicans are probably going to hold both houses.
Ray: I think we've got to hold the Senate because you've got Justice Alito on the Supreme Court, who talked a little bit last week about how he's not going to retire during this term, but nobody knows what is going to happen next year. We've got to keep the Senate in the hands of the Republicans, if for nothing else because there are a lot of judges who are going to need to be replaced.
Ray: What happens in the judiciary is going to impact America a whole lot longer, many years after President Trump is out of office.
Ed: At the bottom of the hour, Dr. Alex McFarland will be on. We will be discussing the role of Christians, and especially pastors, in getting people involved in the political process. Traditionally, a sizable chunk of the Christian populace in this country does not vote.
Ed: Getting those people out to the polls, assuming they would vote along the lines of biblical values, might be something that could carry the day here. It would probably escape some of the polling results because I am guessing a lot of those people do not get questioned when polls are being conducted.
Ed: We will have Alex McFarland on at the bottom of the hour to talk about that, and who knows where we might go with Alex.
Chris: We were talking about judicial issues at the recent Pray Vote Stand Summit, which AFA Action sponsors with Family Research Council and FRC Action.
Ed: Yes, thank you.
Chris: Philip DeReggi of AFA Action's Center for Judicial Renewal gave a speech there. I monitored it, and we did some stories on it for AFN. DeReggi talked about how important it is that the Senate stays under its current majority control. According to Philip, he predicted that we're going to have four Supreme Court vacancies in the next six years.
Chris: This election would determine who is going to be in a position to appoint those people.
Ed: That is a very important stretch if you're going to have four vacancies.
Chris: The tough thing for Republicans is that cost of living is always at the forefront of everybody's mind. Those are very important issues, and the Democrats are doing a decent job of hiding their radical social policies. They're not out there stumping for surgeries for minors or trans issues. They're stumping for cost of living.
Chris: The uphill battle is that even issues we know are very important, such as potential Supreme Court nominations and getting Trump's federal judge nominations pushed through, are difficult issues on which to get the base out to vote. Those issues have to be put at the forefront as well.
Ed: Something I would like to see between now and Election Day, although I don't know that it will happen, is for a Democrat and a Republican debating in various races about affordability to address the facts behind the issue.
Ed: Democrats have made it a point to talk about how, for example, in a debate last week in Arizona, a Democrat said gas prices have gotten so bad that people are looking at a box of cereal and having to decide to put it back on the shelf because it's too expensive. That's a really good sound bite and a good point to make if you're debating the issues.
Ed: Where news outlets and some Republican candidates have failed is in saying, “Where were you during the Inflation Reduction Act, when prices shot up under Biden? You didn't say boo back then, and you're part of the reason why prices have gone up.” Trump reentered office to try to bring prices down.
Ed: Moderators and news outlets would do well to bring those things up. Unfortunately, they don't. Republican candidates need to have that talking point ready. Whether or not they can make a difference between now and Election Day, I don't know, but it would be nice to see that.
Ed: Three weeks from today is Election Day. We will be here starting at 6 p.m. Central Time on American Family Radio, covering election night again from a Christian perspective. We will have many of the people on our staff, especially the AFN staff at American Family News, along with guests from outside the ministry who will help us understand what the election results mean for the next couple of years.
Ed: Perhaps it will have some effect on who decides to run for president in 2028. As soon as the midterms are over, it is election season for 2028.
Ed: All right, next story.
Chris: White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariah had her first press briefing this morning. She broke some news when she delivered her opening remarks and entered her first question-and-answer session with reporters.
Chris: The White House has apparently asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as U.S. ambassador to Greece amid mounting allegations involving Guilfoyle's financial dealings, treatment of embassy staff, and relationships with foreign business interests. I have some audio here of new White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariah.
Reporter: Hi, congrats on the job.
Katie Zachariah: Thank you.
Reporter: First of all, I have two questions for you. On Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Daily Mail has been reporting on her since last year. The president said yesterday to reporters that he is considering firing her. Do you know a timeline for that? Also, potentially, who could be on the short list to replace her if he does?
Katie Zachariah: We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.
Ed: That was all she said.
Ray: Welcome to the job, by the way.
Ed: Ray?
Ray: First of all, I am shocked that the new press spokesperson is blonde. I'm just stunned.
Ed: Purely by chance.
Ray: Purely by chance. They just spun the wheel, and it came up blonde about six times in a row.
Ray: Folks, my wife is blonde. I have no problem with blond ladies, and I'm sure Katie Zachariah will do a great job. The people the president has selected, no matter the color of their hair, have been spectacular. They have always been well-prepared, with a little bit of feistiness, because the press corps is fairly difficult.
Ed: Not a lot of circling back.
Ray: Not a lot of circling back. If my wife is listening, I may hear about that comment.
Ed: Kimberly Guilfoyle apparently has faced accusations from the administration involving improper spending. None of us here knows what it's like to be in a position where you have credit cards and all kinds of opportunities to spend and travel. Whether or not Kimberly Guilfoyle has done something illegal or unethical, or something the White House does not like, people in those positions have to navigate a difficult situation. That has to be a temptation when the world is at your feet.
Ed: Let's set Kimberly Guilfoyle aside. I have no idea what she has or has not done. But it is a tough call to be up in the stratosphere with wealth and power.
Chris: I'm not surprised this has happened because the last thing the White House needs is an accusation against one of its ambassadors that funds were misused. Again, we don't know the facts yet. They are still to be determined, but we're three weeks out from the election.
Chris: Once this information came out, it was almost certain they were going to ask for her resignation. With any White House, these decisions are political. It is a political calculation before the midterms to take Kimberly Guilfoyle off the table as an issue leading into the midterms.
Chris: There is a story about this on American Family News, AFN.net. The Associated Press reported over the weekend that President Trump was not happy with reports about Guilfoyle's alleged conduct. He told reporters, “We're looking at it. We're not happy.”
Ed: This is the season when political operatives on both sides, political candidates, and those in charge, such as President Trump, who is the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, have to make quick decisions about whether somebody is a liability going forward. Sometimes there is not enough patience. There is no time to be patient. You have to decide whether this person is going to hurt Republicans' chances and be one more stone on the scale voters are weighing.
Tony: From my limited experience, a lot of these ambassador positions seem to be token positions. I don't know how else to describe them. I am available to be the new ambassador to Greece.
Ed: You are part Greek.
Tony: I am part Greek, so I am qualified. Some of these ambassador positions seem a little cushy.
Ed: What is there to do as an ambassador to Greece?
Tony: If you don't have any experience in that arena to begin with, this is not surprising to me. I think it is a smart move by the Trump administration to get this out of the way, and we will see what they do going forward.
Tony: I am available to go to Greece.
Ed: You're already in Florida. We can't.
Narrator: I stood again last summer in the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. As I did, my mind wandered back to what the Colosseum represented in its day.
Narrator: There, people, 50,000 of them, would gather to watch man against man or man against beast, going against each other to the death. It was a national pastime, officially endorsed and encouraged by the powers that were. The crowd went there to see blood, and they were not often disappointed.
Narrator: After two humans, considered as nothing more than animals by the Romans, fought until one had conquered the other, the conqueror waited while Caesar or the crowd made the decision: life or death. More times than not, it was death. Blood, gushing red, real blood, spilled on the earth, rushing over the body. The crowd delighted in that. Cheers went up as the blood came out. It was a thrilling and exciting sight to behold in ancient Rome.
Narrator: There were those who spoke against the ritual, but they were a small vocal minority in the eyes of those who controlled the event and gained financially from it. After all, it was what the people wanted to see. No one was forced to attend the event. It was just entertainment, nothing more and nothing less. Those who put on the show had done nothing they were ashamed of. Their job was to give the people what they wanted, and that was violent, gory, sadistic, cruel violence.
Narrator: Not far from the Colosseum was Caesar's palace, the glory of Rome. There they had their sexual orgies, with no holds barred. The people were only animals, and sex was a part of life. There was no morality attached to sex: adultery, homosexuality, fornication, bestiality, sodomy. You take your choice. In Rome, it was all accepted.
Narrator: Rome had no hang-ups, no narrow-minded prudes trying to force their values on others. Rome was sexually liberated. The glory of Rome was freedom without restraint, freedom without responsibility, pure, complete, absolute freedom, total and complete acceptance.
Narrator: Today the glory of Rome is gone, more than a dot in the history books of time. The glory of Rome faded, replaced by memories and destruction. We do not have the Caesars, such as Nero, Tiberius, and Titus, today. Today we have ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.
Narrator: Instead of the blood in the dust of the Colosseum, now we have it in our living rooms in full living color. Our sex is not relegated only to the palaces. Today it comes with increasing visibility into our homes and our minds.
Narrator: Some speak out today, but they are prudes, a small vocal minority who would force their values on others. Our violence and sex, just as it was in ancient Rome, is a real moneymaking proposition. After all, someone has to give the people what they want to satiate their desires.
Narrator: The glory of Rome. It can never happen again, can it? The unbridled use of freedom. Humans being what they are, they learn from past experiences. They know what lies ahead if a certain path is followed, so they follow other paths. We have learned from history, right?
Narrator: Culture is taught, and I am told that it also sells at a handsome profit. America will never fall again. That does not bother me. What does bother me is that perhaps 2,000 years down the road, a writer might sit at his typewriter and write a story about the glory of America. It will probably begin, “I stood again last summer in the ruins of the studios of CBS.”
Ed: Welcome back. Ed Vitagliano is sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I am joined in the studio by Tony Vitagliano and Chris Woodward, and from Florida, Dr. Ray Pritchard.
Ed: We were just listening to the “Footsteps of Paul” tour spot. The background music was Greek because they are going to Greece. I was thinking as I listened to that music that I grew up listening to that kind of music. My mother was Greek. I'm half Greek.
Ed: Tony, this is why we're going to push for you to be the new ambassador to Greece. You've got Greek blood in you.
Tony: I'm as qualified as anyone. I promise you.
Ed: I'm sure that's true.
Tony: It is.
Ed: It took me back in time, listening to the music my mom would play on our big stereo, one of those big upright ones. She would play one of the radio stations just across the state line in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is a heavily Greek community, and the Greek radio station there. Nobody else cares, but thank you, Tony.
Ed: We want to welcome to the program Dr. Alex McFarland, co-Ed of Exploring the Word, heard weekdays at 3 p.m. Central Time on AFR. Good morning to you, Alex.
Alex: Good morning, everybody. How are we doing?
Ed: We're doing great. I was informed that you're on your phone because you've got a dental appointment coming up in less than half an hour. Sometimes that can be tough duty. Our prayers are with you as you prepare to go in.
Alex: Sometimes you go in, and then it says, “That wallet's going to have to come out.”
Ed: I know it. Before we get into the story we're having you on to discuss, let our folks know where you're going to be in the next week or two and how they can find out about your schedule. Maybe they can be close enough to attend, or find out how they can get you to come speak at their event.
Alex: God bless you. Thank you very much. On behalf of Bert Harper and myself and Exploring the Word, I want to say a big thank you to all the wonderful AFR people who supported the ministry last week. Even in these tough times, the faithfulness of the American Family constituents is real. We appreciate everybody praying for and supporting this ministry.
Alex: I went to Pittsburgh, outside of Pittsburgh, and Pastor Roy Burkett at Living Hope Church Eded me. I give God the glory. So many people came from all over Pennsylvania. I spoke on biblical worldview and why it is important that we defend the biblical worldview. I also talked about why it is important that we vote and vote in a godly way.
Alex: People drove for hours to attend. One group of ladies drove about four and a half hours, got lodging, and stayed at our conference all weekend. I really do believe the Lord is beginning to fan the flames of revival because everywhere I go I see this happening.
Alex: Before I was at AFR last week, I was in Huntsville, Alabama. We're working on a big citywide crusade for the fall of next year at the Florence Lauderdale Coliseum. I'll be down there in August of next year for an event we're going to call Revive US.
Alex: If you are in the Huntsville or Florence, Alabama, area, email me. We've got a big area-wide event planned. I met with a lot of pastors. My email is [email protected].
Alex: In October I'll be speaking in Florence, South Carolina, for Child Evangelism Fellowship. My tour schedule is on my website, AlexMcFarland.com. One of the next big things on my calendar is going to Israel with Brother Tim Wildmon. We leave November 10 and return November 18. God willing, we'll be in Israel.
Alex: Given the Middle East right now, it may be a little iffy. I'm not sure.
Ed: One of the most encouraging things you just said, Alex, was that you met with pastors, plural. That's a good sign if you are meeting with multiple pastors who are willing to work together to reach their city for Jesus. If we are going to have a revival or awakening, the pastors have to be all in, right?
Alex: Amen. Let me say this. I have been on the road as an evangelist for 28 years, and we've done 51 citywide crusades. I've done apologetics-based evangelism.
Alex: We were in Baton Rouge, and there was myself, Abe Hamilton III, Sandy Rios, Frank Turek, and Lauren Green. There have been many times when I was the evangelist preaching. Other times we bring in colleagues such as Bert Harper and me.
Alex: We've done 51 multichurch, multidenominational, citywide evangelistic crusades. Thousands of people have walked the aisle to come to Christ.
Alex: Let me tell you the secret, folks. If you want to see revival in your town, obviously we have to pray. We have to share the gospel, and we have to invite lost people to get under the sound of the gospel. But here is the X factor, the secret sauce: unity in the body of Christ.
Alex: In John 17:21, Jesus was on his way to the cross and prayed, speaking of the church, “Father, that they all may be one.” He prayed that they would be unified so the world may believe that the Father sent him.
Alex: I know, look, I'm a Baptist. I've got an opinion on everything. But if we all agree that the Son of God died on the cross, rose from the dead, and by faith in Jesus alone, faith in Christ alone, we are born again and saved, we have to unify.
Alex: I know we all have our denominational distinctives, but I truly believe that when the body of followers of Jesus links arms and prays, there will be a tsunami of revival sweeping across our nation.
Ed: Amen. We have said on this show many times, and I want our listeners to understand that we believe what I'm about to say: only God can save America.
Ed: We are not deceived or deluded into thinking that politics can save the country, or that Washington, D.C., of all places, is going to lead this country into better times or a better future. God can bless a people who are willing to humble themselves before Him, and He will get the glory for whatever is done.
Ed: This dovetails pretty nicely, I think, Alex, because there are some pastors and a lot of Christians who will say, “I agree with everything you said, but stop telling people to go to the polls because you just said politics isn't going to save us.” Chris, set up the clip and the story we're going to talk to Alex about.
Chris: Pastor Willie Rice, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has been saying for days on various news outlets that Southern Baptist pastors should be more involved in the political process. They should not just urge their congregants to register to vote and vote in the election. He is also encouraging Southern Baptist pastors to speak out about the cultural issues affecting all of us today.
Chris: Rice was on Washington Watch last night, and I cut some of that audio for a story AFN is airing today. Here is a portion of the story.
Willie Rice: Pastors and Christians have been a voice at critical moments because, as you already said, so many of the cultural and political issues that we face are inherently theological and moral.
Narrator: Rice pointed out that from the American Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement, religious leaders have historically led on key public policy issues. He pushed back against efforts within evangelical ranks to silence or de-emphasize controversial topics.
Willie Rice: As leaders have said, we needed somehow to de-emphasize or decouple ourselves from what are perceived as sometimes controversial cultural issues, that we can be more effective and more gospel-oriented in our mission and message if we just didn't talk about those things. But that is not accurate, and it has not worked.
Chris: Alex, does what Willie Rice is talking about contradict what you're saying about praying for revival? What does politics have to do with our country's future?
Alex: I applaud him for saying what he said. A few months ago, when he was elected president of the SBC, he gave a message about how the church needs to be salt and light. It was really good, and I would encourage people to watch it. I've never met this gentleman, but I'm very blessed by what he has been saying.
Alex: Obviously, government can't save America, but it can surely hurt America. I believe that if you're a Christian, yes, of course, our home is heaven and our Savior is Jesus. But until we get to heaven, we have an obligation to be salt and light in the culture.
Alex: The American Revolution was really led by pastors, and it was very much a theological moment in world history. America was birthed. You guys know me. I love America. I am patriotic. I get choked up when I go to a baseball game and they play the national anthem.
Alex: Until we get to heaven, every one of us has an obligation to be salt and light in the culture. Every pastor, and I am a pastor, should be explicit about candidates, issues, where candidates stand, and how Christians ought to vote. The IRS has never bothered me a bit.
Alex: Even if they did, I want to say to my fellow pastors, you don't do the right thing only if it's safe. You do the right thing, period. The right thing includes marriage, gender, parents' rights, and religious freedom.
Alex: I don't know if you guys saw this, but at the end of last week in California, Gavin Newsom put forth a piece of legislation that would force churches to do LGBTQ and transgender diversity training for any church with five or more staff members.
Alex: Forcing churches to be LGBTQ compliant means it is time for godly civil disobedience. We are to obey the law. We are not insurrectionists. But when the government is engaged in compulsion and forcing Christians to do something contrary to God's Word, we cannot go along with that.
Alex: Benjamin Franklin said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let me apply that to the midterms coming up. Every church and every pulpit needs to be voicing that it is time to vote, and it is time to fast and pray.
Alex: People in Texas need to pray that James Talarico does not get elected. Three times he and I were supposed to be on Fox News, and three times, about an hour before, he canceled. Fox News had invited me to have a dialogue with him about his theology. I said, “Sure, absolutely.” Three times he was supposed to show up, and three times he backed out.
Alex: Bible Belt Texans, if you allow Talarico to get elected, may God have mercy on you. Michigan people, get on your face and pray that Abdul El-Sayed does not get elected in Michigan.
Alex: We need to pray that Republicans can retain the houses of Congress so that we can live in a godly way, share the gospel, have religious freedom, tell sinners how to be redeemed, and be the force for the Great Commission and American benevolence that we have been for two centuries.
Alex: Let me say one last thing. One pastor might say, “I'm a Christian.” The apostle Paul was the greatest Christian who ever lived, and when necessary he would quickly invoke his Roman citizenship. Our first loyalty is to Jesus, but we are also citizens. If we are not voting and encouraging others to do the same, especially clergy, we are being derelict in our duty as Christian citizens.
Ed: Alex, that is well said. Three weeks out, Christians have to do both. We have to pray, preach, be salt and light, and that means voting and being active in the political process.
Ed: Government cannot save us, but it can hurt America. It can become an obstacle to the preaching of the gospel and the freedom to do so that we have enjoyed in this country for 250 years.
Ed: Before we let you go, what are you and Brother Bert talking about on Exploring the Word this afternoon?
Alex: God bless you. We're in Matthew 25. This is directly related to what we're talking about because the first part of Matthew 25 is a parable about talents: five talents, two talents, and burying the one talent in the ground, which Jesus says is wickedness.
Alex: One of the things we've been entrusted with is a vote, and every vote is a voice. It matters. We're going to pick it up with Matthew 25 at 3 p.m. Central, 4 p.m. Eastern, and in the time zone of your choice.
Ed: Amen. Thank you so much, Alex. God bless you. I hope all goes well at the dentist today.
Alex: Thank you, guys.
Ed: That's Dr. Alex McFarland, co-Ed of Exploring the Word, heard weekdays at 3 p.m. Central Time on American Family Radio with Brother Bert Harper.
Ed: Ray, you're a preacher. What's your sense of what Alex was talking about, especially Willie Rice, who is leading the Southern Baptist Convention this year as its president? What do you think about this idea of Christians being active? You go and preach and teach God's Word to edify believers in their walk with Jesus. Is there a contradiction between being involved in that world, so to speak, and being involved in this world when it comes to political activism?
Ray: Alex made the case eloquently that Christians need to be united. He's right. We need to pray, and he's right that revival comes down from God.
Ray: Here we are, three weeks out from a very vital midterm election. You know who understands this better than we do, Ed? Everybody on the other side. The left-leaning people understand it. The progressives understand it. Talarico understands it, and Hamilton up in Kansas understands it. The people with the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America, understand it.
Ray: Sometimes, what didn't Jesus say? Luke explained that the children of this world are wiser in their own generation than the children of light. The people who walk in moral and spiritual darkness understand the value of elections more than we do.
Ray: If Christians, evangelical Christians, actually organized, prayed together, went to the polls, and voted, we would see America turned around very quickly.
Ray: I don't think there is any contradiction between praying, teaching the Word of God, equipping the saints, doing the work of discipleship and evangelism, which we must be doing, and also saying, “Go to the polls, and when you go to the polls, take your godly convictions with you.”
Ray: Don't go and vote and leave your Christianity at the door. Take your Christianity with you. Take your evangelical beliefs with you into the voting booth. America would be a better place if evangelical Christians would vote like evangelical Christians.
Ed: On AFN.net, American Family News, you can find much of what you heard at the top of the hour in our news programs, along with a wealth of additional articles and videos.
Ed: On our website this morning there is an opinion piece by Tyler O'Neil, an investigative reporter at the Daily Signal and an author. The title is “How the DSA, Democratic Socialists of America, Grew So Quickly: Grassroots Work by the Bolsheviks.”
Ed: O'Neil is talking about the fact that although the DSA has a number of well-known leaders out in front, it also has a grassroots operation. You may wonder how, at almost a moment's notice, hundreds of protesters can show up to protest something about Israel, all with identical signs talking about “from the river to the sea,” or matching signs and matching clothing. They are coalescing quickly because these are people who know exactly how to win elections and change culture, turn colleges and universities into propaganda centers, and move DEI and woke ideology into our school systems.
Ed: One out of every five young people in this country thinks America got what it deserved on 9/11. How does that happen? It is because there is a side in this political fight that hates God, hates America, and is going to do everything it can to turn this country into a socialist paradise. We all know what that really means.
Ed: Christians have to become active and informed, and they have to pull the lever when it comes to voting. They need to run for political office. It does not matter how low on the totem pole the office may seem. If you do not do that, the Democratic Socialists of America and of the world are going to make this country into what they want.
Ray: That's right.
Ed: If you want your kids and grandkids to live under that, then do nothing.
Ray: They always come after the church after they take power.
Ed: That's right, every single time.
Welcome to Today's Issues. Join us for the next hour as we offer a Christian response to the issues of the day.
Ed: Good morning, everybody. Ed Vitagliano is sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I am joined in the studio by Tony Vitagliano.
Tony: Good morning.
Ed: Wesley is also out, so we're empty on the bench today. Speaking of emptying the bench, Dr. Ray Pritchard is with us. Good morning, Ray.
Ray: I've been riding the pine here on the bench. Now I get to get in the game.
Ed: Where have you been?
Ray: I've been well. The last couple of weeks I've been here in Florida. My traveling for the year is mostly done. I'm gone next week to Chicago, and then I'm going to be in Tupelo in December, but that's about it until the end of the year.
Ed: Florida got hit pretty hard by the hurricane. Did you guys get hit, or was that mostly up in the Panhandle?
Ray: That was mostly in the Pensacola and Destin region. We're on the west side, a little bit north of Tampa. We got eight inches of rain in three days last week, which is a lot.
Ed: Wow.
Ray: We had a little bit of wind, but nothing destructive.
Ed: Welcome back. This is the first time I've been on with you since you started your travels for the summer, preaching and teaching. Is this the first time you've been back on Today's Issues?
Ray: Starting about three weeks ago, I've been on most of the time. We don't have a home in Kansas City anymore. We are full-time here in Florida. For about six months, life was crazy. We were gone more than we were anywhere, whether Kansas City or here. I was talking to Marlene last night, and I told her I was more exhausted when we finished the summer than I thought I was. It took about three weeks just to start to feel normal again.
Ed: There's a difference between 35 and 74, and a big difference. I'm feeling it.
Ed: We're glad you're back with us. You do plenty of good for the kingdom, serving the Lord as you go and preach and teach God's Word. It does take a toll, but God will reward you for that. We're just glad you're with us, Ray.
Ray: Thank you. It's good to be here.
Ed: Chris, what have you been doing with your time while Ray has been out preaching and teaching?
Chris: The last couple of days I've been filling in for Rusty Pugh. Rusty is out enjoying some paid time off, and I have been doing the morning shift. Steve is on tap for that tomorrow, so we sometimes break up that weeklong shift. Every time Rusty is away, we appreciate him even more because it is a grind to get up at 2:30 or 3:00 in the morning and get over here.
Ed: And he's been doing that for 30 years?
Chris: Yes, since 1996, maybe.
Ed: He sleeps about four hours a night.
Chris: I guess he has for 30 years. I was in bed at about eight o'clock last night.
Ed: What time did you get to the studio this morning?
Chris: I got here a little earlier today because I was trying to finish up some stories, but I normally make it a point to be here by four because our first newscast is at five.
Ed: What's happening at AFR at four in the morning?
Chris: Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The first time I ever did this was years ago, in 2011 or something like that. This was in the old layout of the building we're currently in, before it was remodeled. I walked in, and it is creepy when you're the only person in the building.
Ed: Yeah.
Chris: I heard somebody talking, and I stopped. I thought, “Who is in this building?” I was walking around trying to figure out who it was. I heard a man's voice, and then I realized it was a studio where somebody had the volume turned way up. We had programming going, and it was a replay of some show. I felt relieved, but I was going to take one for AFA if I had to.
Ed: We appreciate you guys getting up. The people at AFN are doing the same thing. They're getting up, getting the stories ready for you, and bringing you the news from a biblical perspective.
Chris: Absolutely.
Ed: When folks wake up, drink their coffee, and turn on AFR, they're hearing stories because people have gotten up early to prepare them.
Chris: That's what I meant.
Ed: We don't make our ladies get up that early, though, do we?
Chris: No.
Ed: The guys have to suck it up.
Chris: That's how God made guys. I am blessed to have a wife and two daughters, and I'm tiptoeing around the house at three o'clock in the morning, trying not to make any noise. I even try to have my clothes ready and make as little sound as possible, although I sometimes find out when I return home that I was noisy.
Ed: That's why, when we introduce Chris Woodward, you sometimes go, “Hello!”
Chris: Because I've been quiet for so long. I'm trying to taper it down a little bit today because I've had an extra pot of coffee for this morning's shift.
Ed: You've been up early. Let's see what you came up with. What's your first story?
Chris: President Trump is continuing his nationwide tour to try to get out the vote in various states. The president is going to be in Wasilla, Alaska, today to boost the reelection campaign of Representative Nick Begich, alongside U.S. Senator Dan Sullivan.
Chris: Trump was in Ohio yesterday. He's going to be in Arizona and Montana later this week, and possibly Georgia as well. Much as he has said at various stops so far, President Trump is telling voters, “I'm not on the ballot, but my agenda is. Pretend as if I am on the ballot and vote for me, in a way, by showing up to support these individuals.”
Chris: Here's a portion of his speech yesterday in Ohio.
Donald Trump: In a way, I am on the ballot because they will try and destroy everything we've done and the country has never done. I had to take a little bit of a veer toward the Islamic Republic of Iran because we could not let them have a nuclear weapon. I'm sorry.
Ed: A little bit of a veer.
Ray: Yeah.
Ed: Tony, and then Ray, we'll get to you. This is going to be the argument that the voters will probably settle. I think the president's right. He is President Trump because of the force of his personality and his ideas. He is always on the ballot, at least until he's gone from the White House.
Ed: This is what voters are going to decide: Was going to war in Iran worth the economic trouble that I think most voters will lay at the feet of the White House, and perhaps the Republican Party, in the midterms? What's your take? How do you think most voters are going to come down on that?
Ray: That's a hard question to ask. You obviously don't have a crystal ball, but what's your sense?
Chris: I think it is telling that he is going out and stumping on the campaign trail for a lot of these close races. The race in Alaska is close, one to three points, if you believe the current polling. Based on the general feel of the public right now across the entire country, not just in states that have races coming up, there is a lot of dissatisfaction with the direction the economy is going. Cost of living is a phrase you will hear in every race.
Chris: I've seen political ads in Mississippi, and I'm sure they're the same ones in Alaska and wherever they have upcoming races. Cost of living is the name of the game. It is telling to me that Trump is going out and presenting himself as the person people are voting for because he is trying to help Republicans make up some lost ground.
Chris: The problem is that I don't know whether it is counterproductive for Trump to be out there. More and more people are laying some of the blame for elevated gas prices and inflation at the feet of the White House because it was all done during the Iran war. There was no congressional approval, right? It was all done at the behest of executive powers.
Chris: I'm not sure whether it is counterproductive to a degree, but we'll see. Trump has done a lot of good things, and he's presenting a compelling case that things would be worse under a Democratic Congress. We'll find out in three weeks.
Ed: Ray, I think President Trump still has a lot of drawing power.
Ray: It is unfair, and I think it is typically unfair, at the midterm point, for the party in power to automatically get all the blame because usually people are not satisfied. That's just a typical reaction for the American voter. Things aren't as good as they could be, and whoever was in power at the presidential election becomes the standard-bearer for the party.
Ray: If things aren't going well by the midterms, that president is blamed. The same thing happened with Ronald Reagan, the Great Communicator. President Clinton also had a rough couple of midterm elections, which led to the Contract with America in 1994. It is sometimes unfair to come to the midterms and have the president get blamed, but it is typically the way American politics works.
Ed: Midterm elections tend to be base elections. Whose base is going to come out? Mr. Trump's base is extremely loyal to him.
Ray: But Tony, it is exactly like you said. We go to the gas pump, and here in Florida it was down to $3.75, going toward $3.50. It has now backed up to $4. I saw that yesterday, and in some places it is a little over $4.
Ray: That really doesn't matter. You take your family out to McDonald's, and you better bring your gold bar with you to pay for it. Things have really changed. Who was it who said, “It's the economy, stupid”?
Ed: That was during the 1992 election, Clinton versus the first President Bush.
Ray: All the elections since then have proven the truth of that. Look at the Senate race in Texas. It's closer than it should be. The one in Kansas is closer than it should be. Tony, as you said, it's one to three points all over the country.
Ray: I agree with what President Trump is doing. I don't think he's too worried about the middle. I don't even know how many people are left in the middle. He's making a direct appeal to his own base because if his base gets out and votes, the Republicans are probably going to hold both houses.
Ray: I think we've got to hold the Senate because you've got Justice Alito on the Supreme Court, who talked a little bit last week about how he's not going to retire during this term, but nobody knows what is going to happen next year. We've got to keep the Senate in the hands of the Republicans, if for nothing else because there are a lot of judges who are going to need to be replaced.
Ray: What happens in the judiciary is going to impact America a whole lot longer, many years after President Trump is out of office.
Ed: At the bottom of the hour, Dr. Alex McFarland will be on. We will be discussing the role of Christians, and especially pastors, in getting people involved in the political process. Traditionally, a sizable chunk of the Christian populace in this country does not vote.
Ed: Getting those people out to the polls, assuming they would vote along the lines of biblical values, might be something that could carry the day here. It would probably escape some of the polling results because I am guessing a lot of those people do not get questioned when polls are being conducted.
Ed: We will have Alex McFarland on at the bottom of the hour to talk about that, and who knows where we might go with Alex.
Chris: We were talking about judicial issues at the recent Pray Vote Stand Summit, which AFA Action sponsors with Family Research Council and FRC Action.
Ed: Yes, thank you.
Chris: Philip DeReggi of AFA Action's Center for Judicial Renewal gave a speech there. I monitored it, and we did some stories on it for AFN. DeReggi talked about how important it is that the Senate stays under its current majority control. According to Philip, he predicted that we're going to have four Supreme Court vacancies in the next six years.
Chris: This election would determine who is going to be in a position to appoint those people.
Ed: That is a very important stretch if you're going to have four vacancies.
Chris: The tough thing for Republicans is that cost of living is always at the forefront of everybody's mind. Those are very important issues, and the Democrats are doing a decent job of hiding their radical social policies. They're not out there stumping for surgeries for minors or trans issues. They're stumping for cost of living.
Chris: The uphill battle is that even issues we know are very important, such as potential Supreme Court nominations and getting Trump's federal judge nominations pushed through, are difficult issues on which to get the base out to vote. Those issues have to be put at the forefront as well.
Ed: Something I would like to see between now and Election Day, although I don't know that it will happen, is for a Democrat and a Republican debating in various races about affordability to address the facts behind the issue.
Ed: Democrats have made it a point to talk about how, for example, in a debate last week in Arizona, a Democrat said gas prices have gotten so bad that people are looking at a box of cereal and having to decide to put it back on the shelf because it's too expensive. That's a really good sound bite and a good point to make if you're debating the issues.
Ed: Where news outlets and some Republican candidates have failed is in saying, “Where were you during the Inflation Reduction Act, when prices shot up under Biden? You didn't say boo back then, and you're part of the reason why prices have gone up.” Trump reentered office to try to bring prices down.
Ed: Moderators and news outlets would do well to bring those things up. Unfortunately, they don't. Republican candidates need to have that talking point ready. Whether or not they can make a difference between now and Election Day, I don't know, but it would be nice to see that.
Ed: Three weeks from today is Election Day. We will be here starting at 6 p.m. Central Time on American Family Radio, covering election night again from a Christian perspective. We will have many of the people on our staff, especially the AFN staff at American Family News, along with guests from outside the ministry who will help us understand what the election results mean for the next couple of years.
Ed: Perhaps it will have some effect on who decides to run for president in 2028. As soon as the midterms are over, it is election season for 2028.
Ed: All right, next story.
Chris: White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariah had her first press briefing this morning. She broke some news when she delivered her opening remarks and entered her first question-and-answer session with reporters.
Chris: The White House has apparently asked Kimberly Guilfoyle to resign as U.S. ambassador to Greece amid mounting allegations involving Guilfoyle's financial dealings, treatment of embassy staff, and relationships with foreign business interests. I have some audio here of new White House Press Secretary Katie Zachariah.
Reporter: Hi, congrats on the job.
Katie Zachariah: Thank you.
Reporter: First of all, I have two questions for you. On Kimberly Guilfoyle, the Daily Mail has been reporting on her since last year. The president said yesterday to reporters that he is considering firing her. Do you know a timeline for that? Also, potentially, who could be on the short list to replace her if he does?
Katie Zachariah: We have asked Ambassador Guilfoyle to resign. She has been a wonderful asset to the team, and we wish her well.
Ed: That was all she said.
Ray: Welcome to the job, by the way.
Ed: Ray?
Ray: First of all, I am shocked that the new press spokesperson is blonde. I'm just stunned.
Ed: Purely by chance.
Ray: Purely by chance. They just spun the wheel, and it came up blonde about six times in a row.
Ray: Folks, my wife is blonde. I have no problem with blond ladies, and I'm sure Katie Zachariah will do a great job. The people the president has selected, no matter the color of their hair, have been spectacular. They have always been well-prepared, with a little bit of feistiness, because the press corps is fairly difficult.
Ed: Not a lot of circling back.
Ray: Not a lot of circling back. If my wife is listening, I may hear about that comment.
Ed: Kimberly Guilfoyle apparently has faced accusations from the administration involving improper spending. None of us here knows what it's like to be in a position where you have credit cards and all kinds of opportunities to spend and travel. Whether or not Kimberly Guilfoyle has done something illegal or unethical, or something the White House does not like, people in those positions have to navigate a difficult situation. That has to be a temptation when the world is at your feet.
Ed: Let's set Kimberly Guilfoyle aside. I have no idea what she has or has not done. But it is a tough call to be up in the stratosphere with wealth and power.
Chris: I'm not surprised this has happened because the last thing the White House needs is an accusation against one of its ambassadors that funds were misused. Again, we don't know the facts yet. They are still to be determined, but we're three weeks out from the election.
Chris: Once this information came out, it was almost certain they were going to ask for her resignation. With any White House, these decisions are political. It is a political calculation before the midterms to take Kimberly Guilfoyle off the table as an issue leading into the midterms.
Chris: There is a story about this on American Family News, AFN.net. The Associated Press reported over the weekend that President Trump was not happy with reports about Guilfoyle's alleged conduct. He told reporters, “We're looking at it. We're not happy.”
Ed: This is the season when political operatives on both sides, political candidates, and those in charge, such as President Trump, who is the standard-bearer for the Republican Party, have to make quick decisions about whether somebody is a liability going forward. Sometimes there is not enough patience. There is no time to be patient. You have to decide whether this person is going to hurt Republicans' chances and be one more stone on the scale voters are weighing.
Tony: From my limited experience, a lot of these ambassador positions seem to be token positions. I don't know how else to describe them. I am available to be the new ambassador to Greece.
Ed: You are part Greek.
Tony: I am part Greek, so I am qualified. Some of these ambassador positions seem a little cushy.
Ed: What is there to do as an ambassador to Greece?
Tony: If you don't have any experience in that arena to begin with, this is not surprising to me. I think it is a smart move by the Trump administration to get this out of the way, and we will see what they do going forward.
Tony: I am available to go to Greece.
Ed: You're already in Florida. We can't.
Narrator: I stood again last summer in the ruins of the Colosseum in Rome. As I did, my mind wandered back to what the Colosseum represented in its day.
Narrator: There, people, 50,000 of them, would gather to watch man against man or man against beast, going against each other to the death. It was a national pastime, officially endorsed and encouraged by the powers that were. The crowd went there to see blood, and they were not often disappointed.
Narrator: After two humans, considered as nothing more than animals by the Romans, fought until one had conquered the other, the conqueror waited while Caesar or the crowd made the decision: life or death. More times than not, it was death. Blood, gushing red, real blood, spilled on the earth, rushing over the body. The crowd delighted in that. Cheers went up as the blood came out. It was a thrilling and exciting sight to behold in ancient Rome.
Narrator: There were those who spoke against the ritual, but they were a small vocal minority in the eyes of those who controlled the event and gained financially from it. After all, it was what the people wanted to see. No one was forced to attend the event. It was just entertainment, nothing more and nothing less. Those who put on the show had done nothing they were ashamed of. Their job was to give the people what they wanted, and that was violent, gory, sadistic, cruel violence.
Narrator: Not far from the Colosseum was Caesar's palace, the glory of Rome. There they had their sexual orgies, with no holds barred. The people were only animals, and sex was a part of life. There was no morality attached to sex: adultery, homosexuality, fornication, bestiality, sodomy. You take your choice. In Rome, it was all accepted.
Narrator: Rome had no hang-ups, no narrow-minded prudes trying to force their values on others. Rome was sexually liberated. The glory of Rome was freedom without restraint, freedom without responsibility, pure, complete, absolute freedom, total and complete acceptance.
Narrator: Today the glory of Rome is gone, more than a dot in the history books of time. The glory of Rome faded, replaced by memories and destruction. We do not have the Caesars, such as Nero, Tiberius, and Titus, today. Today we have ABC, CBS, NBC, and Fox.
Narrator: Instead of the blood in the dust of the Colosseum, now we have it in our living rooms in full living color. Our sex is not relegated only to the palaces. Today it comes with increasing visibility into our homes and our minds.
Narrator: Some speak out today, but they are prudes, a small vocal minority who would force their values on others. Our violence and sex, just as it was in ancient Rome, is a real moneymaking proposition. After all, someone has to give the people what they want to satiate their desires.
Narrator: The glory of Rome. It can never happen again, can it? The unbridled use of freedom. Humans being what they are, they learn from past experiences. They know what lies ahead if a certain path is followed, so they follow other paths. We have learned from history, right?
Narrator: Culture is taught, and I am told that it also sells at a handsome profit. America will never fall again. That does not bother me. What does bother me is that perhaps 2,000 years down the road, a writer might sit at his typewriter and write a story about the glory of America. It will probably begin, “I stood again last summer in the ruins of the studios of CBS.”
Ed: Welcome back. Ed Vitagliano is sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. I am joined in the studio by Tony Vitagliano and Chris Woodward, and from Florida, Dr. Ray Pritchard.
Ed: We were just listening to the “Footsteps of Paul” tour spot. The background music was Greek because they are going to Greece. I was thinking as I listened to that music that I grew up listening to that kind of music. My mother was Greek. I'm half Greek.
Ed: Tony, this is why we're going to push for you to be the new ambassador to Greece. You've got Greek blood in you.
Tony: I'm as qualified as anyone. I promise you.
Ed: I'm sure that's true.
Tony: It is.
Ed: It took me back in time, listening to the music my mom would play on our big stereo, one of those big upright ones. She would play one of the radio stations just across the state line in Lowell, Massachusetts, which is a heavily Greek community, and the Greek radio station there. Nobody else cares, but thank you, Tony.
Ed: We want to welcome to the program Dr. Alex McFarland, co-Ed of Exploring the Word, heard weekdays at 3 p.m. Central Time on AFR. Good morning to you, Alex.
Alex: Good morning, everybody. How are we doing?
Ed: We're doing great. I was informed that you're on your phone because you've got a dental appointment coming up in less than half an hour. Sometimes that can be tough duty. Our prayers are with you as you prepare to go in.
Alex: Sometimes you go in, and then it says, “That wallet's going to have to come out.”
Ed: I know it. Before we get into the story we're having you on to discuss, let our folks know where you're going to be in the next week or two and how they can find out about your schedule. Maybe they can be close enough to attend, or find out how they can get you to come speak at their event.
Alex: God bless you. Thank you very much. On behalf of Bert Harper and myself and Exploring the Word, I want to say a big thank you to all the wonderful AFR people who supported the ministry last week. Even in these tough times, the faithfulness of the American Family constituents is real. We appreciate everybody praying for and supporting this ministry.
Alex: I went to Pittsburgh, outside of Pittsburgh, and Pastor Roy Burkett at Living Hope Church Eded me. I give God the glory. So many people came from all over Pennsylvania. I spoke on biblical worldview and why it is important that we defend the biblical worldview. I also talked about why it is important that we vote and vote in a godly way.
Alex: People drove for hours to attend. One group of ladies drove about four and a half hours, got lodging, and stayed at our conference all weekend. I really do believe the Lord is beginning to fan the flames of revival because everywhere I go I see this happening.
Alex: Before I was at AFR last week, I was in Huntsville, Alabama. We're working on a big citywide crusade for the fall of next year at the Florence Lauderdale Coliseum. I'll be down there in August of next year for an event we're going to call Revive US.
Alex: If you are in the Huntsville or Florence, Alabama, area, email me. We've got a big area-wide event planned. I met with a lot of pastors. My email is [email protected].
Alex: In October I'll be speaking in Florence, South Carolina, for Child Evangelism Fellowship. My tour schedule is on my website, AlexMcFarland.com. One of the next big things on my calendar is going to Israel with Brother Tim Wildmon. We leave November 10 and return November 18. God willing, we'll be in Israel.
Alex: Given the Middle East right now, it may be a little iffy. I'm not sure.
Ed: One of the most encouraging things you just said, Alex, was that you met with pastors, plural. That's a good sign if you are meeting with multiple pastors who are willing to work together to reach their city for Jesus. If we are going to have a revival or awakening, the pastors have to be all in, right?
Alex: Amen. Let me say this. I have been on the road as an evangelist for 28 years, and we've done 51 citywide crusades. I've done apologetics-based evangelism.
Alex: We were in Baton Rouge, and there was myself, Abe Hamilton III, Sandy Rios, Frank Turek, and Lauren Green. There have been many times when I was the evangelist preaching. Other times we bring in colleagues such as Bert Harper and me.
Alex: We've done 51 multichurch, multidenominational, citywide evangelistic crusades. Thousands of people have walked the aisle to come to Christ.
Alex: Let me tell you the secret, folks. If you want to see revival in your town, obviously we have to pray. We have to share the gospel, and we have to invite lost people to get under the sound of the gospel. But here is the X factor, the secret sauce: unity in the body of Christ.
Alex: In John 17:21, Jesus was on his way to the cross and prayed, speaking of the church, “Father, that they all may be one.” He prayed that they would be unified so the world may believe that the Father sent him.
Alex: I know, look, I'm a Baptist. I've got an opinion on everything. But if we all agree that the Son of God died on the cross, rose from the dead, and by faith in Jesus alone, faith in Christ alone, we are born again and saved, we have to unify.
Alex: I know we all have our denominational distinctives, but I truly believe that when the body of followers of Jesus links arms and prays, there will be a tsunami of revival sweeping across our nation.
Ed: Amen. We have said on this show many times, and I want our listeners to understand that we believe what I'm about to say: only God can save America.
Ed: We are not deceived or deluded into thinking that politics can save the country, or that Washington, D.C., of all places, is going to lead this country into better times or a better future. God can bless a people who are willing to humble themselves before Him, and He will get the glory for whatever is done.
Ed: This dovetails pretty nicely, I think, Alex, because there are some pastors and a lot of Christians who will say, “I agree with everything you said, but stop telling people to go to the polls because you just said politics isn't going to save us.” Chris, set up the clip and the story we're going to talk to Alex about.
Chris: Pastor Willie Rice, president of the Southern Baptist Convention, has been saying for days on various news outlets that Southern Baptist pastors should be more involved in the political process. They should not just urge their congregants to register to vote and vote in the election. He is also encouraging Southern Baptist pastors to speak out about the cultural issues affecting all of us today.
Chris: Rice was on Washington Watch last night, and I cut some of that audio for a story AFN is airing today. Here is a portion of the story.
Willie Rice: Pastors and Christians have been a voice at critical moments because, as you already said, so many of the cultural and political issues that we face are inherently theological and moral.
Narrator: Rice pointed out that from the American Revolution to the Civil Rights Movement, religious leaders have historically led on key public policy issues. He pushed back against efforts within evangelical ranks to silence or de-emphasize controversial topics.
Willie Rice: As leaders have said, we needed somehow to de-emphasize or decouple ourselves from what are perceived as sometimes controversial cultural issues, that we can be more effective and more gospel-oriented in our mission and message if we just didn't talk about those things. But that is not accurate, and it has not worked.
Chris: Alex, does what Willie Rice is talking about contradict what you're saying about praying for revival? What does politics have to do with our country's future?
Alex: I applaud him for saying what he said. A few months ago, when he was elected president of the SBC, he gave a message about how the church needs to be salt and light. It was really good, and I would encourage people to watch it. I've never met this gentleman, but I'm very blessed by what he has been saying.
Alex: Obviously, government can't save America, but it can surely hurt America. I believe that if you're a Christian, yes, of course, our home is heaven and our Savior is Jesus. But until we get to heaven, we have an obligation to be salt and light in the culture.
Alex: The American Revolution was really led by pastors, and it was very much a theological moment in world history. America was birthed. You guys know me. I love America. I am patriotic. I get choked up when I go to a baseball game and they play the national anthem.
Alex: Until we get to heaven, every one of us has an obligation to be salt and light in the culture. Every pastor, and I am a pastor, should be explicit about candidates, issues, where candidates stand, and how Christians ought to vote. The IRS has never bothered me a bit.
Alex: Even if they did, I want to say to my fellow pastors, you don't do the right thing only if it's safe. You do the right thing, period. The right thing includes marriage, gender, parents' rights, and religious freedom.
Alex: I don't know if you guys saw this, but at the end of last week in California, Gavin Newsom put forth a piece of legislation that would force churches to do LGBTQ and transgender diversity training for any church with five or more staff members.
Alex: Forcing churches to be LGBTQ compliant means it is time for godly civil disobedience. We are to obey the law. We are not insurrectionists. But when the government is engaged in compulsion and forcing Christians to do something contrary to God's Word, we cannot go along with that.
Alex: Benjamin Franklin said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Let me apply that to the midterms coming up. Every church and every pulpit needs to be voicing that it is time to vote, and it is time to fast and pray.
Alex: People in Texas need to pray that James Talarico does not get elected. Three times he and I were supposed to be on Fox News, and three times, about an hour before, he canceled. Fox News had invited me to have a dialogue with him about his theology. I said, “Sure, absolutely.” Three times he was supposed to show up, and three times he backed out.
Alex: Bible Belt Texans, if you allow Talarico to get elected, may God have mercy on you. Michigan people, get on your face and pray that Abdul El-Sayed does not get elected in Michigan.
Alex: We need to pray that Republicans can retain the houses of Congress so that we can live in a godly way, share the gospel, have religious freedom, tell sinners how to be redeemed, and be the force for the Great Commission and American benevolence that we have been for two centuries.
Alex: Let me say one last thing. One pastor might say, “I'm a Christian.” The apostle Paul was the greatest Christian who ever lived, and when necessary he would quickly invoke his Roman citizenship. Our first loyalty is to Jesus, but we are also citizens. If we are not voting and encouraging others to do the same, especially clergy, we are being derelict in our duty as Christian citizens.
Ed: Alex, that is well said. Three weeks out, Christians have to do both. We have to pray, preach, be salt and light, and that means voting and being active in the political process.
Ed: Government cannot save us, but it can hurt America. It can become an obstacle to the preaching of the gospel and the freedom to do so that we have enjoyed in this country for 250 years.
Ed: Before we let you go, what are you and Brother Bert talking about on Exploring the Word this afternoon?
Alex: God bless you. We're in Matthew 25. This is directly related to what we're talking about because the first part of Matthew 25 is a parable about talents: five talents, two talents, and burying the one talent in the ground, which Jesus says is wickedness.
Alex: One of the things we've been entrusted with is a vote, and every vote is a voice. It matters. We're going to pick it up with Matthew 25 at 3 p.m. Central, 4 p.m. Eastern, and in the time zone of your choice.
Ed: Amen. Thank you so much, Alex. God bless you. I hope all goes well at the dentist today.
Alex: Thank you, guys.
Ed: That's Dr. Alex McFarland, co-Ed of Exploring the Word, heard weekdays at 3 p.m. Central Time on American Family Radio with Brother Bert Harper.
Ed: Ray, you're a preacher. What's your sense of what Alex was talking about, especially Willie Rice, who is leading the Southern Baptist Convention this year as its president? What do you think about this idea of Christians being active? You go and preach and teach God's Word to edify believers in their walk with Jesus. Is there a contradiction between being involved in that world, so to speak, and being involved in this world when it comes to political activism?
Ray: Alex made the case eloquently that Christians need to be united. He's right. We need to pray, and he's right that revival comes down from God.
Ray: Here we are, three weeks out from a very vital midterm election. You know who understands this better than we do, Ed? Everybody on the other side. The left-leaning people understand it. The progressives understand it. Talarico understands it, and Hamilton up in Kansas understands it. The people with the DSA, the Democratic Socialists of America, understand it.
Ray: Sometimes, what didn't Jesus say? Luke explained that the children of this world are wiser in their own generation than the children of light. The people who walk in moral and spiritual darkness understand the value of elections more than we do.
Ray: If Christians, evangelical Christians, actually organized, prayed together, went to the polls, and voted, we would see America turned around very quickly.
Ray: I don't think there is any contradiction between praying, teaching the Word of God, equipping the saints, doing the work of discipleship and evangelism, which we must be doing, and also saying, “Go to the polls, and when you go to the polls, take your godly convictions with you.”
Ray: Don't go and vote and leave your Christianity at the door. Take your Christianity with you. Take your evangelical beliefs with you into the voting booth. America would be a better place if evangelical Christians would vote like evangelical Christians.
Ed: On AFN.net, American Family News, you can find much of what you heard at the top of the hour in our news programs, along with a wealth of additional articles and videos.
Ed: On our website this morning there is an opinion piece by Tyler O'Neil, an investigative reporter at the Daily Signal and an author. The title is “How the DSA, Democratic Socialists of America, Grew So Quickly: Grassroots Work by the Bolsheviks.”
Ed: O'Neil is talking about the fact that although the DSA has a number of well-known leaders out in front, it also has a grassroots operation. You may wonder how, at almost a moment's notice, hundreds of protesters can show up to protest something about Israel, all with identical signs talking about “from the river to the sea,” or matching signs and matching clothing. They are coalescing quickly because these are people who know exactly how to win elections and change culture, turn colleges and universities into propaganda centers, and move DEI and woke ideology into our school systems.
Ed: One out of every five young people in this country thinks America got what it deserved on 9/11. How does that happen? It is because there is a side in this political fight that hates God, hates America, and is going to do everything it can to turn this country into a socialist paradise. We all know what that really means.
Ed: Christians have to become active and informed, and they have to pull the lever when it comes to voting. They need to run for political office. It does not matter how low on the totem pole the office may seem. If you do not do that, the Democratic Socialists of America and of the world are going to make this country into what they want.
Ray: That's right.
Ed: If you want your kids and grandkids to live under that, then do nothing.
Ray: They always come after the church after they take power.
Ed: That's right, every single time.
Ed Vitagliano fills in for Tim Wildmon with Tony Vitagliano, Chris Woodward, and Dr. Ray Pritchard to examine President Trump's campaign appearances ahead of the midterm elections. The panel discusses cost-of-living concerns, Republican control of Congress, possible Supreme Court vacancies, and the political impact of the war in Iran. The program also covers the White House request for Ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle's resignation amid allegations concerning her conduct and financial dealings. The hosts emphasize that those allegations remain unresolved while considering the political implications of the decision. Dr. Alex McFarland joins the program to discuss revival, church unity, biblical worldview, and the responsibility of pastors and Christians to participate in the political process. He responds to Southern Baptist Convention President Willie Rice's call for pastors to address cultural and political issues, urging Christians to pray, vote, and stand for biblical truth.
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