Transcript

Today's Issues continues on AFR because tomorrow is Good Friday

>> Steve Jordahl: Today's Issues continues on AFR with your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome back, everybody, to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to afr. Remember, tomorrow, we normally have Trivia Friday, AKA Learning University, but because it's Good Friday and it's extremely important day on the Christian calendar, we're not going to yuck it up, so to speak, tomorrow. I don't know if that's the right expression to use. But anyway, we're, we're going to be more, respectful of the day, and we're going to have an Easter special, right, Brent? Brent Creely stuck. Step to the microphone. Our producer, Brent Creely, everybody. Come on, give it up for Brent. He never gets a round of applause. Please, please. No, you deserve it most of the time. You really, you really deserve it most time. tomorrow at from 10 to 11am Central Time, you'll hear a message from Pastor, Jim Scudder Jr. And Grace, his Easter special. And then this time tomorrow, 11 to 11:30am Central Time, you'll brother Ray Pritchard's, Easter Special. Okay, so that's tomorrow. Yes, during this hour and a half, Today's Issues, programming time.

Steve Paisley Jordan toured the world with the Continental Singers

All right, Steve Paisley Jordan joins us now.

>> Steve Jordahl: Hey, good morning, everybody.

>> Tim Wildmon: So Fred's still here and raised, in Kansas City.

>> Steve Jordahl: Hey, Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Steve.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey. We played Don Francisco's He's Alive song.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah,

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred, first time you'd heard that, right?

>> Fred Jackson: That's right. It is a great song. What a great song.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, it's great. So you sang that.

>> Steve Jordahl: I've sung that many, many times, actually. when? 1978. I toured the world actually with the Continental Singers. And, that was one of the songs we performed. and we, went all the way to Yugoslavia back. It was back when there was a Yugoslavia behind the Iron Curtain. And, then for years my church in California would. We would do that song every Easter. And I sang the solo on that many times. I was singing along.

>> Fred Jackson: Wow.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, that's a minute. Wait a minute. Yes, sir. Continentals. I haven't. I haven't heard that name in. It feels like a hundred years.

>> Steve Jordahl: I know.

>> Tim Wildmon: Tell us, Tell us about.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah, well, it is a auditioned singing group. And, it, every summer they would take multiple tours to different, places in the world. My daughter actually went on Continental Singers where she met her husband years, ago. But, I went in 1978 and we went, from Southern California down we did like 90 some concerts in 80 some days. It was. It was a. A lot.

>> Tim Wildmon: You did all of them with enthusiasm and vigor.

>> Steve Jordahl: Absolutely. It does get. It does. You. You do kind of get to the point where you have to, maybe kind of bring up that emotion. It doesn't happen naturally.

>> Tim Wildmon: Doesn't that wear your voice out?

>> Steve Jordahl: Well, you get in shape. It's like any other athletic pursuit. You know, marathon runners can run.

>> Tim Wildmon: I mean, how many concerts in how many days?

>> Steve Jordahl: 90 some. And, it was. We were gone for three full months.

>> Tim Wildmon: So basically singing every day.

>> Steve Jordahl: So just about. Just about. Yeah, we. I remember we. This is how I know how big Texas is. Because we had a concert in El Paso. And after the concert we broke down, we got on the bus and we drove and we drove and we drove and the next afternoon we landed in Eagle Lake, Texas, which is on the east side of Texas, about the time to get off the bus and set up for that night's concert. So that's a lot. Texas is a big state. That's how I know. It was all night and all day. We drove across and never left the state.

>> Tim Wildmon: The money you guys made.

>> Steve Jordahl: No.

>> Tim Wildmon: It's probably incredible.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Use that today.

>> Steve Jordahl: This was.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Steve Jordahl: This is. I had to pay, They. They do offer scholarships, but I had to pay, the To. For the privilege of going. If you met the musical standards, then, It costs.

>> Tim Wildmon: Wait a minute.

>> Tim Wildmon: You.

>> Tim Wildmon: You had to pay?

>> Steve Jordahl: I had to pay, yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: To do this?

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah, a little bit.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right.

>> Steve Jordahl: But it's a good experience. Good musical experience.

>> Tim Wildmon: Being suckered right there.

>> Steve Jordahl: I got a trip.

Kim: You were with a missionary organization called the Continental Sound

I got a trip around the world for, I don't know. Back then it was like fifteen hundred dollars.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's a life changing.

>> Steve Jordahl: It was. Let me tell you. It really was.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm kidding. Folks. Don't, don't email me. this. That. That was a missionary effort. Much like. You know, you have a lot of missions, Christian, mission organizations. And you have to raise your own money. Yep. To go on the field or do whatever it is you're called to do. In the same way with, with this, It is with this organization, the Continental Sound. Looking them up. Are they.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Are they still around?

>> Steve Jordahl: I think they're not. I think they, They ended well. my daughter, like I say, went, on. And she would have been on somewhere in the early 2000s. Yeah, in 2000s.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I did a stint with, up with People.

>> Steve Jordahl: Did you?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, yeah.

>> Steve Jordahl: That we were compared with up with People a lot.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, were You.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: You've never mentioned this before, Kim.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, you know, it sound like I'm bragging. You know, it was, it was, it was, it wasn't a long time. But, anyway, I was. Yeah, we made an appearance at the Super Bowl.

>> Steve Jordahl: You may remember, of course. Sure.

>> Tim Wildmon: Do you remember that?

>> Tim Wildmon: It was back in the 70s. anyway, that's great to know. You were with the continental continent called the Continental.

>> Steve Jordahl: I am. I am an ex con.

Ray Graham: We encourage people to pray for President Trump

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, you're listening to today's issues. All right, Steve, what's your first news story you bring to us here?

>> Steve Jordahl: We do, public service here. We like to do public service on this show. And I wanted to bring a public service to anybody who might have missed the President's speech last night. I just found this. But he previewed his speech at an Easter lunch at the White House before the speech. And if you missed the speech, he gave us everything you needed to know about this speech here in this preview. Let's listen to cut 12.

>> Donald Trump: Tonight, I'm making a little speech at 9 o', clock, and basically I'm gonna. I'm gonna tell everybody how great I am, what a great job I've done, What a phenomenal job. What a phenomenal job I've done.

>> Steve Jordahl: There you go. If you missed it now, you know.

>> Tim Wildmon: Was that Donald Trump impersonating?

>> Steve Jordahl: That was Donald Trump being.

>> Tim Wildmon: That was a real Donald Trump.

>> Steve Jordahl: That was a real Donald Trump, yes. He was at this Easter lunch. And to be serious for a second, he also, he gave a little bit of the gospel message there, and I'm sure that someone wrote it for him that, you know, you can tell when he's off the cuff and when he's reading off the teleprompter. But, this is what he had to say about Eastercut 13.

>> Donald Trump: On Good Friday, the son of God was nailed to the cross, crucified, and he died for all of us. It was a day of darkness, but it wasn't the end, by any means. It was not the end. On Easter Sunday, the stone was rolled away and the grave was empty. Christians everywhere rejoiced, and we continue to rejoice. Easter is one of the incredible days. It was a miracle in all of history, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It was one of the great. It was the great miracle, I guess.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. We encourage people to pray for President Trump. on a serious note, he, he seems. Pray, for him not only, you know, as our national leader, obviously, as we're told in the Bible, we're to pray for our leaders, right?

>> Fred Jackson: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Those in authority to quote from the scripture, we're to pray for them, good, bad or indifferent, that we're supposed to pray for them. I prayed for President Obama. I didn't agree with his politics, but I prayed for the man. I mean, we only had one president at a time, so his decisions impact us all, whether we're a Democrat, Republican, liberal or conservative or in between. So the Bible says Christians are to rise above politics and pray for our, leaders. Right. But the second thing is, and I don't know this, as the expression goes, Ray, in Christian circles, only God knows a man's heart. Right?

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: But I do know from the comments that President Trump has made and the people he's made them to, that he is a. He seems to be searching. Now, you would, some would say, well, why would a man be searching when he's heard the good news over and over and over and over again from some of the best Christian teachers in America? And so I know some of you are saying, well, how do you know he's not born again? I don't know. I don't know. I don't know he is and I don't know he isn't. I just know that his language doesn't lead me to believe that he is, fully understanding of what the gospel message is. That's my interpretation. I'm not judge, I'm not. I only bring that up to say we need to pray for him and his relationship with God. Is that fair enough, Ray?

>> Tim Wildmon: It is. And you know, just the other day, I mean, not long ago, on his Truth Social account, he posted a letter that Franklin Graham had written to him. Ah, first paragraph, congratulating the president, working for peace in the Middle east and so on. But then the second paragraph, Franklin Graham laid out the gospel about as clear as I've ever heard it or seen it laid out. And it's not just that Franklin Graham wrote it or that the President read it, he posted it on Truth Social. That means something, doesn't it?

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: he seems to say, oftentimes things about God. Does President Trump that that leads you to believe? He believes it's a works oriented, message. In other words, I've got to do all these things in order to get into heaven.

>> Steve Jordahl: He said that was the occasion of the Franklin Graham letter. I think the second paragraph, correct me if I'm wrong, began somewhere around, I heard you say something about you making it to heaven. Or didn't think you were going to. Whatever. now I have spoken to some of the people that know him, and I spoke to one person that I won't divulge who it was, but someone that I speak to fairly regularly who said they actually prayed the prayer with President Trump last in 2016, the Sinner's Prayer, that they prayed with him for salvation. Now, so, if you talk to this person, they'll say he's saved. and everything now is kind of growing in grace and maturing as a believer. I don't know. again, even with that kind of a testimony, this is between God and Donald Trump.

Fred: A lot of people believe that good works get you into heaven

>> Tim Wildmon: Fred, a lot of people believe that in order to be, to go to heaven, okay, I put it that way. I think everybody understands what that expression means, that you've got to do, a certain amount of good works in order to get your score up, so to speak. And that gets you, that gets you into heaven. And, you know, that makes sense to people because that's the way we operate here on planet Earth. I mean, that's the way humans operate. We, we work to achieve, and when we achieve, we're rewarded. So that, that, that, that, makes sense in a worldly, way of thinking. But, but that's what a lot of people miss, isn't it? That our relationship to God is not based, at least our salvation is not based on, how many. The scoreboard of our good bads and good deeds. And bad deeds.

>> Fred Jackson: The Bible says when it comes to obtaining salvation, our works are as filthy rags in God's sight. And I think it goes back to what we've been talking about coming m up on this Easter weekend is that if our good works could save us, why did God the Father send His Son to die on Calvary's cross to pay the price for our sins? If we could work our way to heaven, why was it necessary for Jesus to die on the cross? Because the wages of sin is death, the Bible tells us. And so we, could work and work and work good works, but that would never be enough. So that's why Jesus came to die on Calvary's cross, to pay the price for our sins. And then what makes his death? I mean, lots of good people die for a good cause. But he rose. And that's what we celebrate on Sunday. He rose. And that puts that stamp of absolute authority on that salvation. You know, the Book of James talks about works, but it's works that's based on the fact that we are, we work good works because we want to reflect God's character.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So Ray and then Steve. So good works do count, do matter in the eyes of God.

>> Fred Jackson: Right?

>> Tim Wildmon: Look, Ephesians 2 says, we were created if we know Jesus Christ. We were created for good works. God has made us to glorify him by the way in which we live. But as Fred said so eloquently, good works show to the world our faith. They prove that it's genuine. It's a way that others conclude, that person really does believe in Jesus. But good works are not meritorious. The they cannot forgive a single sin. And I think the tricky part is saying this the right way. You want to go to heaven, you got to give up. You got to give up trying to get there. You've got to say, jesus, if you can't take me to heaven, I'm not going to go there. By the way, that's my definition of believing for salvation. It's believing in him so much that if he can't take you there, you're not going to go there. So that's one side of it. But once you put your trust in Jesus, your heart is changed, and out of gratitude and love for the Lord, live in such a way that, well, you become a saint. What's a saint? A person who makes it easy for others to believe in Jesus.

>> Steve Jordahl: I think one of the reasons that, the works message is kind of popular with people, two things, I think. One, it's a heresy from Satan that will keep you. If you think, if he can convince you that your works are going to do it, then you don't have to investigate the faith aspect. But also, some people have a problem with what I guess we could call the thief on the cross conundrum, that someone could be evil their whole life and at the last minute, without any works, make heaven, which demonstrates the great grace of God, but that there's also justice, because at the same time that the thief was forgiven, he was forgiven because the man in the middle, Jesus was paying the literal price for him at that moment. So it's hard for people to kind of grasp the fact that, justice says that you want to be with people who tried hard to get there. I tried hard to get there. I did a lot of good work. So how is he getting in? So I think that there's a little bit of that. I don't know. Does that make sense?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yep.

A federal judge has ruled that Donald Trump can be sued over January 6 speech

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, what's the next story you got there in your stack of stuff?

>> Steve Jordahl: All right. A federal judge has delivered a decision. His name is Judge Amit Mehta. And there is a, civil suit being brought against Donald Trump by Democrat lawmakers and Capitol Police officers who were in or around the Capitol on January 6th. And basically what this judge said is that the speech that Donald Trump gave at The Ellipse on January 6 was not part of his official duties as president, and therefore he does not, gain the advantage of presidential immunity from the speech. He can be sued. Now, this is a civil case, not a criminal case. He can be sued and, would have to be liable or pay damages when the suit makes its way through the whole, court process. But this judge ruled that the evidence produced so far in litigation, and I'm reading from Politico, brought by police officers and the Democrat lawmakers indicate that Trump's speech at the Ellipsis that day was political in nature, not subject to the immunity that the Supreme Court has found for a president's official acts.

>> Tim Wildmon: Is this breaking news?

>> Steve Jordahl: This was, delivered, yesterday.

>> Tim Wildmon: I think January 6th is still a thing.

>> Steve Jordahl: It is. And, yeah. So the Supreme Court, Oh, I don't know. When was it? In 2024, they delivered their decision on the criminal liability. In other words, remember when you did the Supreme Court on presidential immun. And they said they defined what the president could do as official acts and what he couldn't do because he's not responsible, not legally responsible for the official acts, they fall under his unity.

>> Tim Wildmon: What does it mean?

>> Steve Jordahl: Well, what it means is that he's a step closer to being found liable, civilly liable for the damage that caused on January 6, the emotional stress the police officers and the Democrat lawmakers made. So he's a step closer to being found guilty on that. And, a lot of Democrats are just, it's a poke at the President at this point.

Dean Roy is a freshman at Vermont high school and running for governor

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, next story.

>> Steve Jordahl: All right, there is a, young man. His name is Dean Roy. He is a freshman at high school and, in Vermont, and he is running for governor. In fact, he has made the ballot for the general election for governor in Vermont.

>> Tim Wildmon: He's how.

>> Steve Jordahl: He's 14.

>> Tim Wildmon: What's his name?

>> Steve Jordahl: Dean Roy. D A N Roy. R O Y.

>> Tim Wildmon: So he's not running for class president? No, but I'm not good enough.

>> Steve Jordahl: No, he's, he's doing the whole thing going.

>> Tim Wildmon: He's going to shoot for governor.

>> Steve Jordahl: Although I have heard that, one of his campaign promises is free, Cokes from the machines at lunch for everybody. I don't know if that's true or not. But he is, the first person under 18 years old to actually make the ballot.

>> Tim Wildmon: But I would think you have to be 18 to even run.

>> Steve Jordahl: Vermont's constitution is no minimum age requirement for the governor, is it? They overlooked it or didn't think anybody would want to. You just have to have lived in the state for four years. He's created his own third party, Freedom and United Party. that's what he calls a unity party. Freedom and Unity Party. He gathered the necessary signatures, and now he's got a spot on the ballot.

>> Tim Wildmon: Have you heard him speak yet?

>> Steve Jordahl: No, I have not.

>> Tim Wildmon: His name is Dean Roy. He's running for governor.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's right.

>> Tim Wildmon: I appreciate your support.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's right. Governor of Vermont.

>> Tim Wildmon: I mean.

>> Fred Jackson: Hey, mom, can you pick me up and take me to the rally?

>> Steve Jordahl: Take me to the governor's mansion.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, you know, in four years from now, I'll be able to vote for myself, right? Oh, my word. Well, we'll be hearing from him again, probably, I guess.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah. A little ambitious there.

>> Tim Wildmon: Aspirations like that.

They fixed the toilet on the spacecraft Artemis 2, Steve says

All right.

>> Steve Jordahl: All right.

>> Tim Wildmon: They fixed the toilet up there on the spacecraft.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yes, they did. They did fix the toilet on the spacecraft.

>> Tim Wildmon: we're serious folks.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: The Artemis 2, they lifted off last night from Cape Canaveral in Florida. And they went to. And they're circling the Earth now, getting ready, as Fred described it last hour, to, just leave the Earth, area.

>> Fred Jackson: Orbit.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Orbit and head to the moon.

>> Fred Jackson: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: And go on the dark side of the moon. Yeah. Circle around and come back. And they, got up there soon after. Blast off, lift off. And somebody had to find the plunger, evidently. Is that what happened?

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah. Well, I, don't. I think there was something with the fan that was reported to be jammed. I guess that'd be important. Be careful. The, I know the, This is the message from, ground control to the astronauts telling them that the thing was fixed. They said, happy to report the toilet is good for use. We do recommend letting the system get up to speed before donating fluid.

>> Tim Wildmon: Too much information, Steve.

>> Steve Jordahl: TMI there.

>> Tim Wildmon: So let me. Let me ask you this. They control the, restroom or the toilet from. From the ground?

>> Steve Jordahl: Well, no, like everything else, they can fix the toilet in the restroom from the ground. I have a feeling in order to.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's what I'm saying. They control, Say control. Control it enough to repair it from the ground.

>> Steve Jordahl: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: Who thinks. Whose job is that? What does your daddy do for a living? Well, he controls the toilet on the. On the spaceship. He worked for NASA, and that's his job.

>> Fred Jackson: Yeah, probably the plumber.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're serious?

>> Steve Jordahl: I'm very serious.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. But they fixed it.

>> Steve Jordahl: Right. $2.4 billion spacecraft, but, you know, that's not.

>> Tim Wildmon: For those four astronauts. It's got to be a little concerning.

>> Steve Jordahl: We're. Well, that's an important.

>> Tim Wildmon: Within the first few hours, we got toilet problems.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's an important feature.

>> Tim Wildmon: The first guy to use it is going to be a little.

Houston, we have a problem. Who's gonna tell NASA to fix this problem

>> Tim Wildmon: Going to come back to the. You guys are not going to believe this.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: Here we go.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, man. Who's gonna. Who's gonna tell NASA to fix this?

>> Steve Jordahl: That's right. Houston, we have a problem.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, so they got it fixed.

>> Steve Jordahl: It is working now. Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right.

>> Fred Jackson: We can go to the moon.

>> Tim Wildmon: Go to the moon. We're about out of time here. so, what now? But we're, told. I was told by Krish earlier, you could follow this on.

>> Fred Jackson: Live on NASA has its own channel, and you can dial that in and, you can watch this.

>> Tim Wildmon: By the way, does the. Does the moon rotate?

>> Steve Jordahl: It does. Well, it's a stationary rotation around the Earth, So it's always. The same side of the moon is always facing us.

>> Tim Wildmon: But the Earth turns the Earth physically turns the Earth. Does the moon.

>> Steve Jordahl: No, not in relation to the Earth, but in relation. So.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes. Yeah, but. But it doesn't rotate as a, Not a planet, but whatever. As a moon, it doesn't rotate itself. Right.

>> Steve Jordahl: No, it's always. The same side is always facing us.

>> Fred Jackson: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's why they call it the dark side of the moon.

>> Steve Jordahl: That's why you have a new moon and. Yeah, okay. All right.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're out of time. It's probably a good thing.

>> Steve Jordahl: By the way, if you want to look at the math and the difficulty of this, go look up how I saw an illustration somebody. How far the actual moon is from the actual Earth with regard to the size. It is a long ways away, and they're hitting a moving target when they're getting to the moon, so. Wow. A lot of engineering going on.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. Thanks to Steve and Fred and Ray and Krish and Brent and Cole, our videographer, and Alex, McFarland. And we thank you for your time today. Have a good one. Remember, we won't be here for Trivia Friday. Tomorrow we'll have Easter specials, and we'll see you back here on Monday.