Ed: Welcome back, everybody. I’m sitting in for Tim Wildmon this week. Dr. Ray Pritchard is joining us from Florida. Ray, tell folks a little bit about Keep Believing Ministries, your website, what people can find there, and what you have going on. We are coming up on the Christmas season. Do you have anything special that people can participate in?

Ray Pritchard: Do you know how many days until Christmas?

Ed: I don’t. I looked it up. Well, I asked my best friend, Claude.

Ray Pritchard: Claude knew the answer.

Ed: Seventy-three days until Christmas.

Ray Pritchard: I’m going to mention something that you can’t find on our website just yet. Every year, I do a new Advent e-book, 25 days from December 1 through December 25. We make the e-book available free on our website. Two years ago, we did Great Joy Advent from the Gospel of Luke, and last year, Behold the Lamb Advent from the Gospel of John.

Just this morning, I turned in the text to our web guys for this year’s Advent devotional, called The King Is Near, an Advent devotional from the Gospel of Mark.

Ed: Oh, wow.

Ray Pritchard: It’s amazing because, you know, in the Gospel of Mark, the Christmas devotion from Mark does not include the angels, the manger, or the magi. But it does include the story of Christ coming.

Ed: The King is there.

Ray Pritchard: The King. The King has come near. That’s the whole theme of Mark’s Gospel. The King is not just here. He’s near. He’s close at hand.

Coming up in about three weeks, near the end of October, we’re going to put that out on our website. It’s KeepBelieving.com, and I want to invite all of our AFR listeners. Come to KeepBelieving.com. There’s a lot of good stuff there, but you won’t see The King Is Near just yet. In about three weeks, it’s going to be available for a free download. We’re going to have a blast going through the Gospel of Mark in the month of December, leading up to Christmas.

Ed: I’ll give you the title of my December 25 devotional.

Ray Pritchard: It’s called “From Stone to Stone.”

Ed: From stone to stone. Oh, so we’re going to think this is interesting, so you’re going to leave us in suspense a little bit. I like that.

Ray Pritchard: I’m not going to give you the answer.

Ed: A little bit of a tease.

I want to say, folks, Ray doesn’t pay me to do this, and he didn’t even ask me to do it, but Dr. Ray Pritchard is a gift to the body of Christ. He really is, and he is a superb Bible teacher. That’s why he stays so busy for much of the year, traveling, because people want him back.

This material that he puts out at Christmas time is going to deepen the meaning of Advent and the Christmas season. So check it out. I’m just thinking about what “From Stone to Stone” means. I’ll bet it’s going to be great. KeepBelieving.com.

Ray Pritchard: KeepBelieving.com. That’s it.

Ed: All right. I’m in the studio with Tony, and we just dragged Steve Jordan off from down the hall and brought him in here.

Steve Jordan: Here I am.

Ed: Earth, Wind & Fire has a song called “In the Stone.” Does it have anything to do with that? Are you an Earth, Wind & Fire fan, Ray?

Ray Pritchard: Ray called it “In the Stone.”

Ed: “In the Stone.”

Ray Pritchard: I’m sure there’s a very spiritual meaning behind that song.

Ed: No. If you don’t like it, it’s actually true about much of what we used to listen to.

Steve Jordan: It’s true.

Ed: All right. What’s your first story?

Ed: We are three weeks out from our midterms, and you hear what they say: when you’re in the primaries, your candidates will speak to the fringes. If you’re a Republican or a conservative, you go more conservative to try to get to your base. If you’re liberal, you go more liberal to try to get to your base. Then, during the election season, when you’re appealing to both sides, you come to the middle.

That’s why you have people who go back and change their minds on things. Frankly, folks, I’m here to tell you this is probably not going to be news to anybody: if you’re listening to a politician anywhere within about six months of an election, take what you get with a grain of salt.

I have some examples here. These are four well-known Democrats. I think you’ll recognize every one of them by voice. These are all Democrats talking about immigration. All of these examples come from some time before 2000. Let’s listen to the clip.

Speaker: What is going on in our country? That’s a couple of his proposals. The argument, of course, is that’s a right-wing proposal, which says essentially there is no United States. You’re doing away with the concept of the nation-state. I don’t think there’s any country in the world which believes in that.

Speaker: When we use phrases like “undocumented workers,” we convey a message to the American people that their government is not serious about combating illegal immigration. I think we’ve got to have tough conditions. Tell people to come out of the shadows. If they’ve committed a crime, deport them. No questions asked. They’re gone.

Speaker: They all agree on the need to better secure the border and to punish employers who choose to hire illegal immigrants.

Speaker: We are a generous and welcoming people here in the United States, but those who enter the country illegally, and those who employ them, disrespect the rule of law and are showing disregard for those who are following the law.

Ed: That was Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Hillary Clinton, and then-Senator Barack Obama, all saying we need to have strong borders and we need to get rid of illegal immigrants.

Tony: Yeah, well, this is shocking. It almost makes it appear as if these heavy hitters in the Democratic Party over the last 30 years aren’t politically serious, that they just go with whatever wind happens to be blowing at the time.

It makes me feel like they have changed their tune simply because Donald Trump got elected in 2016, in large part running on the issue of immigration. They so despise him that they have actually changed their minds when it comes to immigration.

Ed: Yeah, well, I guess we’re wrong on all those.

Tony: Steve, I’ve got Curly, Moe, and Larry. Anyway, that’s why I wrote it down.

Ed: Sorry about that, folks.

Tony: It’s almost as if politicians as a whole have no foundational principles or morals themselves. That’s the way it would appear to me.

Sadly, to be fair, that does go across both aisles. But some of the more egregious examples are found among Democrats, who have every once in a while flipped their own script to go along with what even their constituents push for.

A lot of their base wasn’t a fan of all the footage that would come out, when the mainstream media would actually show it, of hundreds of immigrants and caravans passing over the border uninhibited. You would also hear about horrific cases in these cities involving an illegal immigrant who had been caught, released, caught, and released, then committed heinous crimes.

It’s almost as if they have no worldview of their own. It’s just whatever gets them elected, reelected, and then reelected again.

Ray Pritchard: I think this is why, and Tony’s right, a lot of this goes on on both sides. You will always see politicians spin their answers to try to avoid what the interviewer is trying to get to.

I think this explains why Congress, especially, but politicians in general, are so low on people’s scale for trustworthiness. People’s confidence in Congress is probably under 10 percent. At least part of the reason for that is exactly what Tony’s talking about. You can’t trust either political party to do what’s right for the country. They’re going to do what’s right for their party and for themselves in terms of their political careers.

Ed: I think that’s fair to say in terms of what most people think about, certainly federal offices.

Are you saying we can’t trust everything politicians say? When did that start?

I have a question for you, Ray. If you are a Christian running for statewide or national office, and you know that you need to get the votes of the more radical people in your party to win the primary and get on the general ballot, you have to appeal to those people. Then you have to appeal to the center of your party or the nation. How do you do this? If you’re a Christian, how do you run with integrity?

Ray Pritchard: I think this is the point Richard Nixon made: you go conservative in the primaries and move toward the middle in the general election.

I don’t have any problem with that. From a Christian point of view, you say the things that your strongest followers need to hear so you get them out to vote in the primary, and then you make an appeal to a broader constituency, as long as you are always saying what you actually believe.

Look, I can say what I believe. I don’t have to say everything I believe, right? I think that may be the distinction. You say what you need to say, as long as it’s your true conviction in the primary. Then you add to it in the general election to build a broader coalition.

Ed: Am I waffling here on my theology?

Ray Pritchard: No, I think that’s exactly right. In the primary, you’re appealing to a different segment of the voting population. If you’re in the Democratic Party, you’re appealing to the furthest to the left. In the Republican Party, you’re appealing further to the right. You’re talking to true-blue leftists and conservatives.

But when the general election comes, you have to appeal not only to those constituents, but also to the people in the middle. These are broad categories, of course. You have to tell them what you’re going to do for them.

I think what you need to do is something. I don’t see much happening up in Washington in terms of laws being passed because neither political party wants to work with the other political party to do anything unless they can get the whole loaf, so to speak. No one wants to get part of a loaf, and I think that’s why people are disgusted.

Ed: That’s a great montage of sound bites.

You probably can find some of that on the conservative or Republican side too, but I have to say, I think the Democrats are a little bit more egregious when it comes to this since Donald Trump got elected. Donald Trump just broke their brains, and they see nothing but “Orange man bad.” That’s all they see.

All right, next story.

Ed: I have a bit of wisdom. If you are somebody who wants to run for office, put the bottle down before you go on television.

Tony: The bottle? You mean that firewater?

Ed: Firewater. Steve sent this to me, and we had to listen to it.

Tony: You’ve heard her name, man. This is out there.

Ed: A candidate named Jamie West, a Democrat running for county council in Fayette County District 4 in Connersville, Indiana. By the way, this is a pretty low-level race. This is not statewide office or anything. It’s a county-level office, like city council or county commissioner.

There may be different views among our listening audience about whether or not Christians can drink alcohol. We’re talking about alcohol, folks, not Diet Coke. That’s good for you. This is going to prove why you ought to be very careful.

Ray Pritchard: The Bible is pretty clear that if you’re going to drink, you shouldn’t be drunk.

Ed: This was a debate on television. The candidate sat around a table, and it was kind of like community television. This is Jamie West and her five minutes of fame.

Speaker: Our emergency services are the ones that we really need to worry about. I spoke to the Connersville fire chief today, Scott Jones, and he is also very worried about what will happen to the fire stations. It makes me sad, but the Republicans in the state house have done this to our rural communities. He told me that if we don’t do something different, which to me means voting for Democrats, we will lose one of our firehouses. He doesn’t know which one yet. By 2029, we’re going to lose it. Are you okay with that? I’m not.

Ed: That isn’t even the clip I sent you.

Tony: I know.

Ed: Folks, I hear some of what you’re saying out there. I can hear you saying that this person should not be mocked and that this person should be prayed for. Yes, she should. What’s her name again?

Tony: Jamie West.

Ed: Jamie West. She clearly has a problem.

But I also know that when we played the South Carolina girl who was in the beauty pageant, the maps girl, people laughed at her too.

This is why you shouldn’t drink. You certainly shouldn’t be drunk. Alcohol will do bad things to you, and the internet lasts forever.

I’m sorry. I could be wrong, Tony. I’m just saying to you, as your father, I could be wrong in wanting to play this, but I think this is a lesson for all of us.

Tony: Yes, I agree. I think it’s a lesson to be learned. Let this be a lesson to all our listeners.

Still, though, it was more coherent than a Biden debate.

Ed: That’s true. Or word salad.

Tony: We need to pray for this lady, but this serves as a warning. All I’m allowed to say is that all elections are important, even your local elections.

Ed: Yes, they are. Be mindful of who you’re voting for.

We have a great resource to help you decide who you would like to vote for.

Tony: What is that?

Ed: iVoterGuide.

Tony: iVoterGuide.

Ed: iVoterGuide.com. That is a division of American Family Association. It is, in my opinion, the best voter guide out there. Check it out.

Some of you probably can still register to vote in your state. You say, “I don’t know. How do I find that out?” Go to iVoterGuide.com and type in your ZIP code. You will get your state information. You can find out where to go vote, who’s running in your state, and which elections are taking place, all the way down in many states to school board elections.

Our iVoterGuide team and their volunteers spend countless hours sifting through voting records, public statements, who gives money to the candidates, who they give money to, and all those things to come up with a very detailed rating. In many cases, they also have candidates fill out a questionnaire to determine whether a candidate is very liberal or very conservative. You want to check that out.

Ed: Enough laughter at this lady’s expense. Ray, how many times have you heard your friends say, “I wish I had more to drink last night”?

Ray Pritchard: No, I don’t think I’ve ever heard that.

Ed: All right. Let’s move on.

Tony: The internet lasts forever, and that will last for the rest of her life. Folks, make wise choices.

Ed: Last week we celebrated, or maybe you did, Columbus Day.

Tony: It was yesterday.

Ed: I absolutely celebrated. I had an elders meeting last night. When I got home at 10 o’clock at night, my wife had made pasta, and the house was asleep. I went into my office, watched the end of the Rams and Bills game, and ate pasta out of a Ziploc bag. That’s how I celebrated it.

Tony: Just like Christopher Columbus.

Ed: Did you say you ate pasta out of a Ziploc bag?

Tony: My wife makes pretty good-sized portions when she makes pasta and puts it in a Ziploc bag. We just get it out of there.

Ed: I’ll take sad statements for five hundred.

Tony: Speaking of the internet lasting forever, that comment did not need to be recorded.

Ed: I didn’t want to put it in a bowl because the game was in overtime. I didn’t have time to heat it up, so I just got a plastic fork and took the bag into my office.

Tony: You ate cold pasta out of plastic?

Ed: It was cold.

Tony: Stop. The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Ed: I turned the lights off. I was by myself.

Tony: All I want to say is, I can quit anytime.

Ed: The reason I bring this up is because one of the teams you’re watching, and every other NFL team, none of them celebrated Columbus Day. Not one of them. Did the Rams wish you a happy Columbus Day?

Tony: At least they didn’t go on the other side.

Ed: They didn’t, did they? Three of our NFL teams, including your Rams, the Kansas City Chiefs, and, strangely enough, the Minnesota Vikings, all put out a tweet celebrating Indigenous Peoples Day.

Tony: Wait a second. The Minnesota Vikings? First of all, the Kansas City Chiefs are using the name, and some Native Americans find that offensive, so they’ve got to be careful. But the Minnesota Vikings are named after the most pillaging people group ever.

Ed: The most colonizing of colonizers.

Tony: The Vikings went everywhere taking people’s stuff.

Ed: The Minnesota Vikings decided to put out a tweet that said, “Today we celebrate Indigenous Peoples Day and honor the rich histories, cultures, traditions, and contributions of Indigenous people. We are grateful for the opportunity to learn from and engage with Indigenous leaders, organizations, and community members who help strengthen...”

Tony: Yes, we want to celebrate the Indigenous peoples we robbed blind as Vikings. Our heritage is one of taking lands, people, money, whatever. We took their dogs.

Ed: I know the Vikings wish that someone would call and ice the end zone.

Tony: That’s cold.

Ed: That’s cold.

Tony: It’s sad that we can’t take a balanced approach to every issue.

Ed: We can acknowledge that the Chiefs were on the list here.

Tony: I know.

Ed: I mean, that great Indigenous leader, Taylor Swift.

Tony: Right.

Ed: We’ll take a lesson from Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce.

Look, folks, we don’t have to like these people. We do have to love them in Jesus and pray for Jamie West.

Tony: And pray for me. I’ve suddenly realized maybe I do have a problem. I’m going to eat pasta out of a whole pasta out of a Ziploc bag. It wasn’t in the dark, though.

Ed: I want to say that was due to your oppressive Italian heritage.

Tony: The oppressors came over here and brought things like the wheel.

Ed: Let’s not get started on what the Europeans brought over here.

Tony: They did bring some smallpox.

Ed: Nobody’s perfect. All right, folks. Happy Columbus Day to you, and more great programming directly ahead on American Family Radio, Lord willing. We’ll see you tomorrow.