Call to Care equipping event scheduled for June 13 in Plano, Texas

>> Haley Scully: Hey, friends, I want to invite you to our Called to Care equipping event on Saturday, June 13th in Plano, Texas. If you're a ministry leader, a pastor, counselor, or someone who feels called to help others, this is the event for you. Our theme this year is From Hurt to Hope. You can join us in person or online. So sign up today at hopefortheheart.org events or text the word event to 70919 to learn more.

Welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network

>>  : Welcome to Today's Issues, offering a Christian response to the issues of the day. Here's your host, Tim Wildmon, president of the American Family Association.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, good morning everybody and welcome to Today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. Thanks for listening to AFR. Today is Tuesday, June 2, 2026, and in studio with me is Wesley Wildmon. Good morning, Wesley.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Good morning.

>> Tim Wildmon: Good morning. Krish Woodward.

>> Chris Woodward: Hello.

>> Tim Wildmon: I like. That's the spirit, Krish, right there.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm getting there.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're getting there. Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: HR Told me to be cheerful.

>> Tim Wildmon: And, we. And you are. And Ray Pritchard. Good morning, Brother Ray.

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, Tim, how you doing this morning?

>> Tim Wildmon: Doing well. How's everything in Kansas City?

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I tell you what, it's it's a beautiful day here. We got a few clouds, but the rain has passed us by and a beautiful early sun, early summer day here in Kansas.

>> Tim Wildmon: You know, we live in obviously the Tupelo, Mississippi, area and we've been spending, getting last two weeks just rain, rain, rain, rain. And that's true across most of the Southeast. Of course, most of the Southeast was also experiencing very dry drought type weather. So, you guys, you guys get a lot of rain or.

>> Tim Wildmon: No, we got a lot of rain last week and it was good.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, you needed it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Marlene, I were flying back into Kansas City over the weekend and you look out the, you look out the plane, the window of the plane as we're coming into the Kansas City airport. It's green for miles and miles around. So thank God for the rain.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

>> Tim Wildmon: Glad for some sunshine.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

Wesley: Don't drift spiritually, do not drift away from Jesus

Well, give us a, good word from the Bible this morning, if you would.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, you know Tim, I've been out and about the last couple of weeks and last week, ah, Marlene and I were in Budapest, Hungary, teaching the book of Hebrews at Word of Life Bible Institute and had a wonderful time over there. Taught about 37 students. These are college age students from. There were 37 students there from 15 different countries, a whole bunch from South America and Central America and some from Africa and all Over Europe. So it's very cosmopolitan group of students. Well, you know, Tim, the book of Hebrews is all about. It's on one hand, it's about the greatness of who Jesus is. But there's a warning there in the book of Hebrews. Don't drift. Don't drift spiritually. You have these famous warning passages in the book of Hebrews. So as part of my teaching last week, all this is just introduction to the verse I'm going to read here. one of the most famous verses in the book of Hebrews is Hebrews 2, verse 1, where the writer says, we must pay the most careful attention, therefore, to what we have heard. He's talking about the truth of who Jesus is. Pay attention to it so that we do not drift away. Do not drift away. In a sense, that's the whole book of Hebrews right there. It's a warning. Don't drift. and the argument of the book of Hebrews is, what starts with drifting turns into unbelief, and unbelief turns into apostasy, and apostasy turns into falling away, turns into despising the Lord, and finally lose all interest in who Jesus is. It's a really scary thing because, you know, I can't speak for anybody else, but I know it's easy for myself to realize, well, I'm starting to drift a little bit, and it doesn't feel very serious. But my friends, what starts with drifting? It just.

>> Tim Wildmon: You.

>> Tim Wildmon: You just kind of get in the wrong pattern and you drift away from Jesus. And one day you wake up and you're a long way away. Well, I had finished my teaching over in Hungary. It was. It was the last day, and we finished on a very high note. And one of the students from France, beautiful young girl, I guess 18, 19 years old, came up and asked me the most sincere question. Can you tell me? She said, I've heard you teach. Can you tell me what should I do so that I do not drift away from Jesus? What a marvelous question that is. And I told her, well, there are three things, and they're all in the book of Hebrews. And we all got to do all three of them. Number one, we got to fix our eyes on Jesus. That's Hebrews 12. Fix your eyes on Jesus. Jesus. Lift your eyes away from your problems, from m. Your struggles. Get a good gaze. Get a good grasp of who Jesus is. The mighty exalted son of God. As long as you keep your eyes focused on Jesus, friends, you'll be able to survive the Problems and trials of life, and you won't drift away. So that's number one, keep your eyes on Jesus. Number two, watch your life. Watch your life. Hebrews 3 says be careful. It's a Greek word that means keep your eyes open spiritually. Because drifting and unbelief can happen almost, almost while we're, we're not even paying attention to things. So keep your eyes on Jesus. Number two, watch your life, watch your heart. And number three, take time to encourage other people. And Hebrews three says we should encourage one another. Krish, what that means is you and I got to encourage each other. And Wes, you and I, we got to encourage each other. And Tim, you and I, we got to encourage each other. And when you see that I'm down, you got to come around and may either pat me on the back or give me a good kick somewhere to get me going back in the right direction. And Wesley, it's the same way. If I see you struggling a little bit, I could just come along and say, hey, Wesley, hang in there, brother. We are going to make it. So friends, let's stay close to Jesus. Let's not drift away. Number one, let's focus our eyes on Jesus. Number two, let's keep our heart in the right place. Number three, let's be sure to encourage each other. Friends, the Christian life is not a sprint, it's a marathon. And we need to help each other to keep running so we can cross the finish line for the glory of God.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

>> Wesley Wildmon: You know what he also just did there? He fulfilled Hebrews 3, 13, that says encourage each other day after day, as long as it's still called a day, so that we're not hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. And that's the next chapter over.

>> Tim Wildmon: And then where is that what you just quoted?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Hebrews, chapter 3, verse 13. And then also at the end of Hebrews, it reminds us part of this is the southern way of saying, go to church. But the Bible says, don't forsake the gathering of believers. And that comes from the book of Hebrews.

>> Wesley Wildmon: The Hebrews. Like just like Ray said it is constantly telling you, you've got to have accountability. You got to as a Christian, in this case, in chapter 10, verse 25, don't quit going to church. You got to go to church. Because while driving to church, often will ask Bennett, who knows the answer to it. I'll say, my son Bennett, and he's 10 years old, I'll say, hey now, why is it we're going to church today and there's a lot of reasons we go, but the two reasons that I'm looking for is one, so that we can learn and know about God, worship God, all one answer two, so that we can fellowship with other Christians is what we talk about.

Ray: Who wrote Hebrews? Chris: God is the author

And so the importance of being around other Christians. And so we all know church doesn't save you. And we know that we are the church as Christians and we live that out in our daily lives every day. but there is something to be said about going to church and fellowshipping with other Christians. And the Bible tells us to do that so that we can, adhere to the message there that Ray was encouraging us to.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. So you talk about, all this teaching, obviously can be found in other places in the Bible, but the emphasis in the Book of Hebrews is on what you discussed there.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, this is the whole message. If Jesus is who he said he is, if he is the Son of God, if he's the one who is there for us in the time of need, just keep your eyes open, friends. Don't drift away. Stay close to Jesus. And as Wesley said, stay close to your brothers and sisters. We're all in this together. And friends, you ought to read the Book of Hebrews. It's a marvelous challenge here for the 21st century.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen. Krish, anything to add to that? you want to break Hebrews down in Hebrew?

>> Chris Woodward: I am curious. Who do you think wrote Hebrews? Ray?

>> Tim Wildmon: They are. There are three main answers to the question. If you have older version of the Bible, maybe it'll say the Epistle of Paul to the Hebrews. And that's been probably the number one answer over 2000 years. However, Paul's name is nowhere mentioned in the Book of Hebrews. So it's not, you know, with Ephesians it says Paul, Galatians, it says Paul. We don't have that in Hebrews. So Paul is a good possibility. The other two best known possibilities are Barnabas. You know, Paul and Barnabas were buddies. Barnabas was a Levite. And whoever wrote Hebrews had a real knowledge of the Levitical priesthood of the Old Testament. So it could be Paul. Luther said it was Apollos, remember Apollos, who was mighty in the Scriptures and was instructed by Priscilla and Aquila. I think the best answer. This is one of the answers on M, my final exam. Who wrote, who wrote Hebrews? The kids had to. A was Paul, B was Barnabas, C was Apollos, and D was the famous quote from Origen, the Early church father who said, as to who wrote Hebrews, only God knows.

>> Chris Woodward: I was going to say, well, yeah, I mean, and you know, God inspired whoever it was to write.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

>> Chris Woodward: Ultimately, God is the author.

>> Tim Wildmon: Amen.

Reports say President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu exchanged words

All right, you're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network. Tim Wesley, Krish and Ray, what's your first?

>> Chris Woodward: Well, you know, one of the other things the Bible tells us is to pray for those in authority so that society may remain peaceful. That's first Timothy 2. and I say we should pray for those in authority because it would appear from various news accounts that President Trump, our president, and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might have exchanged some words, during a phone conversation.

>> Tim Wildmon: Encouraging words?

>> Chris Woodward: No, things I can't say on the radio because I value my job.

>> Tim Wildmon: Tim, here's the story that was reported. Am I undercutting? you here. You got more.

>> Chris Woodward: You go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, the, you know, the United States and Israel, went to war with Iran. All right, we know that three months ago or so. How long has that been?

>> Chris Woodward: It's February 28th.

>> Tim Wildmon: Wow. Has it been that long? and so it was a partnership, basically. as both countries, said, we cannot allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. It will be dangerous for Israel. It will be dangerous for the world, be dangerous for the United States. And so we decided to try to stop that. Well, the. Now, what we all know that's happened now, the situation, it's being reported is that the United States and Israel are at odds over this point. Iran insists that a part of the, quote, negotiations that are, I guess, eternal. They, the negotiations are that Israel stop fighting Hezbollah in Lebanon.

>> Chris Woodward: Correct.

>> Tim Wildmon: And so the report seems is that, you know, that Israel, that the present Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, are at odds with one another over how to proceed going forward. Now, what was it that President Trump wrote on his social media platform, Truth Social, about this? Krish, you get just quote from him.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Tim Wildmon: So give us a Trump voice. Can you do that?

>> Chris Woodward: I can't do.

>> Tim Wildmon: I can't do a Trump voice in Southern English.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Krish, there's so many good ones out there now that anything short of the. I know the good ones.

>> Tim Wildmon: There are some, there's some impersonations of President Trump that are more sound more like Trump than Trump. That's right. Yeah, go ahead.

>> Chris Woodward: I'm not one of those people.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: I can't even impersonate myself. After. After the reportedly expletive Laden phone call between President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Trump. Trump gets on Truth Social and says this. I had a conversation with Bibi today asking him not to go into a major raid of Beirut, Lebanon. He turned his troops around. Thank you, B.B. exclamation point. I also had a conversation with representatives of the leaders of Hezbollah, and they agreed to stop shooting at Israel and its soldiers. Likewise, Israel agreed to stop shooting at them. Let's see how long that lasts. Hopefully it will be for eternity. All caps. And he ends it with President Donald J. Trump.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. So what do you think about all that, Ray?

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, I hope he's right. I hope it works out. It's never as simple as the President makes it in a statement like that. I think that this is a case where the interest of the US and the interest of Israel may be going in not opposite directions, but somewhat different directions. After all, if you are Benjamin Netanyahu and you are next door to Hezbollah

>> Tim Wildmon: in Lebanon, they're firing into your country,

>> Tim Wildmon: they're firing into your country. You cannot sit there and just take it. You have to answer back. Right? You have to go up to Lebanon and do what needs to be done to get rid of them. And I am sure the President, President, Trump is very frustrated by that because there's a close connection between Iran and Hezbollah. No, let's say that another way. Hezbollah essentially is a. As a client organization of the Iranians. So their proxy. That's a better word. Okay, so I, I am sure. Do I believe the reports that President Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu had some words. Yeah, I'm sure they had some words. I think. I think Mr. Netanyahu basically said, okay, I go along with you, but if they keep shooting at us.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right.

>> Tim Wildmon: We are going to fight back, as

>> Tim Wildmon: they should right now. I agree. that's probably what happened. Here's the part of it I don't, question here. What's going on? Well, it appears to me that Iran is setting, Is dictating the terms of the, quote, negotiations, to me, despite what the President may say, if in fact Iran can say to the United States, hey, you tell Israel to stop, fighting back against Hezbollah. And President Trump gets on the phone and leans on Benjamin Netanyahu to stop fighting against Hezbollah, then tells me that Iran is running the show here. Wesley. that. That's what it appears to me.

Wesley Morris: President Trump should tell Iran what he thinks

one other thought, and then you can comment on this. What seems to me President Trump should do in this case, again, I don't know, all the backdrop, and I Mean, I don't know all the. We don't know everything that the president has, to deal with in this, but President Trump should tell Iran. I'm not talking to you about Israel and Hezbollah. I'm talking about us here.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yep.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. Go ahead, Wesley.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, that's exactly what should happen. Oh, and I'm about to, All right. I'm also frustrated on this same topic that we're still negotiating with terrorists. I mean, at the end of the day, you open up the straight, or you don't open up the straight and you tell them what we're going to do and you do it. Or option two, which is not likely, and I understand why. And, there is an alternative. You could just say we don't. Well, this. The straight is a straight until everyone else wants to help open the straight, meaning you get other countries involved. or as America, you go in and you open it up. So, we're past the mark that I was personally, in my commentary, not wanting to get to and us still be over there. So we're there. And so my criticism now is that

>> Tim Wildmon: our

>> Wesley Wildmon: military M leaders and Trump did not calculate for the Strait of Hormuz being an issue. And that's a problem for me because now I don't foresee.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're stuck.

>> Wesley Wildmon: We're stuck. We're stuck. And. And it's a problem because, what. Up until this point, any time that they were accusing him of military actions or starting another war, it was done. And it was done and out before you could. Before you criticize it. Now we're still there, going on months. Months. And there's no sign. And if I see another report of breaking news, that we have an update. There's been negotiation.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: And there have discussion.

>> Chris Woodward: I can do you one better.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I'm not clicking on it. I went to lunch last week for religious reasons.

>> Chris Woodward: I went to lunch last week and I come back and I walk. I'm walking through the newsroom. We've got a big TV on the wall, and Fox News is on, and it says news Alert, and it quotes Trump as saying Iran can't have a nuclear weapon.

>> Jenna Ellis: Really?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Really.

>> Tim Wildmon: That was from two months ago, right?

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: No, really, it should be. Yeah.

>> Chris Woodward: Label sun comes up in the east.

Ray Ellis: The root cause of this war is Iran's hatred for Jews

>> Tim Wildmon: Let me ask you this real quick. Ray, we talked about this yesterday as it relates to a, spiritual aspect of this, and that is, I said yesterday the root cause of this war is Iran's, hatred for the Jews.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, that's true.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yes.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. So. Because it's irrational. and when. And I went over this yesterday, I laid it out. You know, traditionally, wars are fought over land. Well, this isn't being. Yes, this is being fought over land, but not between Iran and Israel directly. Okay, Iran and Israel, 12 to 1500 miles apart, I think something like that. They're not. There's no historical, you know, war between these two.

>> Tim Wildmon: right.

>> Tim Wildmon: So. So. And they're not fighting over, assets. They're not fighting over, you know, mineral rights or the right to drill, drill oil or gas or something. Something like that. That you would say, okay, this. This is normally what people war over in this situation, like with Iran, with, Ukraine and Russia, they're fighting over land. Okay. Basically, in this case, the Iranians, the, mullahs, the religious leaders, they're fighting because they hate Jews and they hate Christians, because they want to see Israel, the land of the Jews, annihilated. That's why they send money to Hezbollah. That's why they send money to Hamas to try to kill all the Jews and take back that land. Now, is that, is that a correct analysis in terms of the spiritual dynamic here?

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, remember where we started with that chant? From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free. They want to wipe Israel from the face of the earth. The notion of a Jewish homeland is anathema to the mullahs there in Iran. So, yeah, at the heart of it is a hatred for the Jewish people and a desire to see them wiped from the face of the earth. So you can understand why Mr. Netanyahu and the Israelis, they. It's different for them than for us here in America.

>> Tim Wildmon: We're an ocean away.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. We're a. Of miles away. Iran is not going to. I don't believe they have the capability to threaten the US Directly, but they can push the buttons. And there. Well, we saw during the hot part of the war what they could do in Israel. And in looking at this, How do you make peace, Tim, with people? I mean, we understand there are people who hate us. Okay, People. People. Hatred's involved in so many facets of the human experience. That's not the question. How do you make peace with people who deny your right to exist and want to wipe you off the face of the earth? What's the foundation for peace with people who are bent on your total destruction?

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And if you're in the seat of the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin, or whoever it is, you look at this and you go, you know, you see what happened in, in the, you know, with the Holocaust, you see the historical, attacks on Jews and you go, never again. This is never, this is never going to happen again. If it. And so that, that's what bothers me some when I hear President Trump is leaning on Benjamin Netanyahu, to stop fighting back against Hezbollah, who is attacking them. Because I'm going like, well, what if they were attacking Washington, D.C. yeah. Would you like the prime minister of Israel calling and telling you to stop fighting back, against those who were firing on you and killing your citizens? Yeah, I just don't, I don't like this report. Maybe, you know, the bond between Israel and America has always been strong. and, but, Barack Obama changed that. Barack Obama, he did not like Israel. And, he showed it. And, so things change right there. President Trump's, friendship with Benjamin Israel has been strong, but now it's barely being tested right now. So let's take our break a little early here. And we get back. Jenna Ellis, will join us.

American Family Radio is celebrating America's 250th birthday with two tours

Yes, that Jenna Ellis from Jenna Ellis in the Morning Radio show here on American Family Radio. Coming up, you're listening to today's issues on the American Family Radio Network.

>> Ed Vitagliano: We would like to take a moment to thank our sponsor, PreBorn. When a mother meets her baby on ultrasound and hears their heartbeat, it's a divine connection. And the majority of the time, she will choose life. But they can't do it without our help. Preborn needs us, the pro life community, to come alongside them. One ultrasound is just $28. To donate, dial 250 and say the key word baby or visit preborn.com afr America's 250th birthday.

>>  : It's a great excuse to have some extra cake and ice cream, but we can help your celebration go well beyond that. Show your patriotism with America. 250 apparel that will become a memento of this special year. We also have special episodes on AFA Stream to help underscore that America is a Christian nation and help you find God in the Constitution. Find all of this and more in one place. Afa.net topics250 hello, everyone.

>> Tim Wildmon: I'm Tim Wildmon, president of American Family association and American Family Radio. Hey. We are announcing two tours coming up in 2027. March of 2027. We're going to Greece and we're going to Italy. The Greece tour we call the Footsteps of, Paul. And you're going to follow the footsteps of St. Paul in the, country of Greece. And then the Italian, tour. The tour of Italy. Venice, Florence, Pisa, Rome. We're calling the Make Lasagna Great Again tour. And these are coming up in March of 2027. And if you want to read all about them, the itinerary, the cost, everything you need to know about these tours coming up in March of, Greece and Italy, go to tours.afa.net that's t o u r s.afa.net we're going to have a lot of fun, a lot of good fellowship, and see some of the most historic and iconic sites in the world.

>> Haley Scully: Lord, you are my God. I will exalt you and praise your name, for in perfect faithfulness you have done wonderful things, things planned long ago. Isaiah 25:1.

>>  : This is today's issues. Email your comments to commentsfr.net Past broadcasts of today's issues are available for listening and viewing in the [email protected] now back to more of today's issues.

A couple of couples stopped by to see American Family Radio this morning

>> Tim Wildmon: Hey, welcome. Welcome back, everybody, to today's Issues on the American Family Radio Network. I'm Tim with Wesley and Krish and Ray. hey, we want a couple. A couple of couples stopped by to see us here. who listen, James and Jamie from Shady Point, Oklahoma, just met them. They stopped by. And, Tim and Leslie from Mount Calm. That's right, Mount Calm. Not Mount Chaos, Mount Calm, Texas, which is near Waco. I think they are traveling and stop by to see us here at American Family Radio. And Wesley, we do, if folks who listen around the country are traveling this summer, well, it doesn't matter what time of the year, but, a lot of people travel in the summer and they want to say, they want to stop by and see our studios and meet us if we're here. then how can they do that?

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yes, please go to afa.netvisits with an S afa.netvisits that's V I S T V I S I T S visits. And there you can fill out. It's just a couple of things. Name what day you want.

>> Tim Wildmon: We need to know you're coming.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, little heads up.

>> Tim Wildmon: You're bringing a cake that will go

>> Wesley Wildmon: to our front desk. And Deanna and, those at the front, Carmen, they will receive that. They will contact you quickly and they will say, hey, what day? And they'll pick a day and we'll come by and we'll let you know. And as, as the couples that are here today, they did the same thing. And so we knew they were here. So they had. They were given a proper tour. They got to come through today's issues and in between the break that to come in the studio. And so I didn't ask them where

>> Tim Wildmon: Shady Point, Oklahoma is. Brady, you know where Shady Point?

>> Tim Wildmon: I've never. I've never heard of it.

>> Tim Wildmon: yeah, type it in. Type. See where Shady. I forgot to ask him where Shady Point was. They look shady. James and Jamie. I just wonder about them, you know, from that town and everything.

>> Tim Wildmon: We got questions.

>> Tim Wildmon: We got questions. you're listening to today's issues on the American Family radio Network. Well, joint. Did you find out where. Where that is? Do you know? Right, yeah. Shady Point, Oklahoma. Surely it's on the map.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I was sitting here processing a joke for Shady Oklahoma. Oh, I'm trying to find a good one. And I couldn't.

>> Tim Wildmon: I said, james and Jamie look shady when I saw. But, But I shouldn't have said that because I don't know him that well. I was going. And they don't.

>> Tim Wildmon: Shady Point is just south of Panama, Oklahoma.

>> Tim Wildmon: Where is that?

>> Wesley Wildmon: There's a Panama.

>> Tim Wildmon: There's a Panama, Oklahoma. And it's not too far from Spiro.

>> Tim Wildmon: Come on, Ray. Give me something everybody recognizes. Norman or Oklahoma City or Tulsa or.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, not far from Fort Smith. Okay.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, okay. Over on the Arkansas line.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Which still we can.

>> Tim Wildmon: I know.

>> Wesley Wildmon: I know where to Smith.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Stop signs.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. Fort Smith. That's 100,000 people or so. That's pretty big. They got more than $1 General.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Yeah, right there.

>> Tim Wildmon: There. There you go.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah. He got to be more specific. They have more than $1 General.

>> Tim Wildmon: Really? It tells you all you need to know.

>> Chris Woodward: It's across the street from a family dollar dollar tree.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's right.

Christian: Jenna Ellis hosts American Family Radio's Jenna in the Morning

>> Tim Wildmon: all right. We want to welcome to our show our colleague and friend Jenna Ellis, who is the host of Jenna Ellis in the Morning on American Family Radio, a live current events, what's happening show that's aired, Monday through Friday, 7:00am to 8:00 clock Central time, right here on American Family Radio. Good morning, Jenna.

>> Jenna Ellis: Good morning. And yes, if you were listening this morning, you can tell it was indeed live because we had some tech issues that were resolving. And, you also heard a little bit from, my dog Todd, who said hi in the back segment. So, you know, we're. We're getting those.

>> Tim Wildmon: Todd's just an attention hog. You know, he. So he just wants.

>> Jenna Ellis: That would be copper.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, that would be copper than that.

>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah. Usually. Usually Todd only weighs in if it's something really serious. I took the Squirrel in the backyard, as you know.

>> Tim Wildmon: Right? Yeah. You know, my little dog is a Maltese. Well, I only have one. Jenna has two. and your dogs are what?

>> Jenna Ellis: They are goldendoodles.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. So we sit on our back patio a lot, ah, at night. And, so the dogs can see that what humans can't, evidently. Because our little 11 year, 11 pound, Maltese champ, he. He will dart off the, you know, the chair that I'm sitting. He's usually sitting up there with me. But then when he feels like we're threatened by multiple squirrels, m. In the backyard, I'm talking not more than one.

>> Wesley Wildmon: If he feels like there's an ability,

>> Tim Wildmon: but there's more than one Squirre, he's gonna let.

>> Jenna Ellis: But this is why all dogs are conservatives, because they recognize that there's borders that need protecting. They're willing to go in and fight for their homeland. They value the family, where cats are Democrats, because they just sit there, they take welfare, they don't contribute. And so, you know, when you, if you have a dog. As a conservative, I, applaud you. If you have a cat. We might need to, you know, question. Question your politics a little bit.

>> Tim Wildmon: Well, we have a fence between our rot iron between, our patio and the actual backyard, which backs up to some woods. So we get a lot of critters come through in the nighttime that he can see and he lets us know and he just. It just. But it. I, appreciate the warnings, but every once in a while you just get annoyed by it. Okay, we know the squirrels are there. You can quit barking now and come back to the chair so that you don't. The neighbors wake up the neighbors.

>> Wesley Wildmon: Your point's made.

>> Jenna Ellis: Yeah, but, you know, our trainer for, my two dogs, told me something that I found really fascinating, which is that all dogs actually love having jobs. And so, you know, we know that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Really. Again, another conservative idea, right.

>> Jenna Ellis: That work is a good thing. And so, you know, obviously dogs are the biggest, the best animal for service animals, which, you know, my two dogs are for me. And so they are trained specifically for, certain tasks. But our trainer was saying that all dogs, if you don't give them a job, they will appoint themselves different jobs because they know they're the home protector. They know that they have to keep, things on schedule. You know, they are very work oriented. And that's something, that's part of their implicit design and part of what makes them man's best friend. And I love that.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, absolutely. Allison says I Can tell. Even if I can't hear the Amazon man, I know he's coming down the driveway. Because, you know, the dog lets you know, because the dog can hear things again that humans can't hear. All right, what about your dog, right? We didn't talk about your dog. Got to get your dog in there.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, Sadie's the same way. Yeah, Sadie understands everything that Jenna just said. She understands that she is in charge. She's been appointed God to protect us.

>> Tim Wildmon: Oh, it's divine appointment.

>> Tim Wildmon: divine appointment. Right. And so if anybody is coming, especially at night, Tim. Yeah, especially at night. If anybody is walking, just, you know, the sidewalk outside, she said he will raise the dead from inside the house.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's an interesting way to put it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Let the people know. Don't come any closer.

>> Tim Wildmon: So we got divine appointment, we got the raising of the dead.

>> Jenna Ellis: This is a Christian radio program. I think we need to throw in, you know, maybe, you know, something else, the Garden of Eden. And, we'll be good.

>> Tim Wildmon: We are going to talk about the Garden of Eden.

>> Chris Woodward: Stick around.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Jenna Bennett: I think President Trump should have ended Iran controversy sooner

All right. So, Jenna, let me ask, by the way, what, before we talk about the topic that we have here that you've written on, wanted to get your thoughts. I get to listen to your show for about 15 minutes each, morning, 18 minutes. So I miss a lot of it.

>> Jenna Ellis: I need to know which. So I make sure those are the best.

>> Tim Wildmon: 7:30-7:45 When I'm in the car coming to work, usually, but other than that, I'm kind of occupied. But let me ask you this. what do you make of the situation that we're in? President Trump is in, dealing with Iran. Now there seems to be tension growing between Israel and the U.S. i mean, what do you. What do you make of where we are with this here?

>> Jenna Ellis: Well, yeah, we covered this this morning, with my guest, my main go to guest, Scott Ehlinger, who's a former intelligence officer. And I really value his insights on all this. And one of the perspectives, though, that he has is more of a complete trust of Trump than I personally necessarily do. I do think, that Trump is very wise strategically on foreign policy. I think he has a bigger picture than just kind of the war hawk that, you know, a lot of past Republican presidents have. He was right initially to engage Iran because no one thinks, unless you're a totally crazy Democrat, that Iran should have nuclear capabilities. But I do think he should have ended this sooner and there should have been a de escalation plan to not let it continue this far because I don't see necessarily what our America, our strategic objectives are in terms of perpetuating this longer and basically intervening between Israel and Iran. I know Israel is our close ally, but at the same time there are some things that we don't have a, an interest in, nationally. And this is where I think it's too easy that Trump is giving more ground to the anti Israel voices that are, raising stronger within the base of the party the longer that this persists. So I would like to see him, you know, not go for regime change and you know, kind of all this long term stuff. I think this will go kind of the way of, George W. Bush in, in some of the, you know, post, Iraqi War, you know, all of that stuff that he was, ultimately criticized for. I think that, that Trump needs to conclude this and return his focus to American policy because there are so many things that Americans are frustrated right now, especially with Congress. I would love to see Trump over there every day saying, I'm meeting with Jon Thune, a meeting with Speaker Johnson. We've got to pass the SAVE act, we've got to get, our border under control. We've got to do the things that Americans actually are concerned about on the home front.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, I, I agree, I think all of us agree here. We're at that point, I think we were at that point prior to Memorial Day. I said if this went past Memorial Day by this being. We're not, we're not, we're not getting out of this situation, that it's going to really hurt, President Trump's numbers and it's going to hurt the Republicans in the fall. and I believe that, the dies, if the dies not cast, it's almost cast.

Jen: What would be wrong with President Trump saying that peace negotiations are boring

But let me ask you, let me ask you this and right. Want you to comment here too. well, any of you guys. But Jen, let me ask you the question first. What would be wrong with President Trump saying, look, our objective was to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon. We can't achieve that. It's impossible.

>> Wesley Wildmon: But we can set them back. And we did.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah. And so we're coming home, we'll be watching. And if they, if they do anything, if they, you know, I don't know what you say exactly. you can just say, you know, we'll, in our words of Arnold Schwarzenegger, we'll be back, you know, if necessary. I don't know what you could leave unnecessary undefined. Anyway, what's wrong with Admitting that we can't, we can't carry out our objective.

>> Jenna Ellis: Well, you're dealing with Trump. I mean, in all reality that's never going to happen. He's never going to admit that there's something he can't do. I, mean, I think this is somebody who asked him, you know. Well, yes, but he's never going to admit that. Right. And so, I mean even if, because he's Donald Trump and that's just not right. So, so it would need to be something like a, you know, Pete Hegseth, coming out and saying, you know, listen here. They would need to frame it in a way and couch the, the withdraw as saying, you know, listen, we recognize that this was a short term, conflict. It wasn't a war because Congress, Constitution has to declare war. And we recognize and we follow the U.S. constitution. And so we have achieved our objectives, which was to topple the regime and first and foremost make sure that they don't get nuclear capabilities. Then, you know, we have successfully taken out the key players of the regime that were for nuclear capabilities. And so we have successfully stopped it to this point. There is no long term now strategic objective for the United States to stay involved. However, we will be watching and waiting and the second that they try to do that again, we will be right there in America's prepared.

>> Tim Wildmon: That's how you could have said that two months ago.

>> Jenna Ellis: He could have and I think he should have.

>> Tim Wildmon: Ray, go ahead.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay. So yesterday, Mr. Trump unbelievably says this to some reporter he was talking to, you know, about the negotiations. I don't care if they're over. Honestly, I'm quoting Mr. Trump. I really don't care. I couldn't care less if they're over, they're over if they're not. You know, I think they took too much time, frankly. I thought they started to get very boring. That's a remarkable thing for an American president to say. on one hand, Jenna, it seems to me the very definition of peace negotiations is they are boring. You get down into the, you get down to the weeds and the details. You can't just seems to me that's going to happen. Anytime you have negotiations, you got to have people with a lot of.

>> Tim Wildmon: But he's talking like he's watching a TV show.

>> Jenna Ellis: Well, and that's, I mean like, Secret Service agents used to say to me when I was, you know, around the White House a lot, if our day is boring, we've done our job. I mean, that's the point they don't want their day to be exciting. And so it's in the same way, yes, peace talks are more boring probably than going and bombing countries, but you should want the boring, ah, process of peace instead. So. Yeah. And I mean, I think it's just a way. Again, it's just kind of Trump's bombastic nature to say things like that.

Chris: I think Donald Trump makes decisions in the moment

>> Chris Woodward: Hey, it's, it's Krish here. I have a question for Jenna.

>> Tim Wildmon: So be bombastic, Chris.

>> Chris Woodward: This operation began on February, 28th.

>> Jenna Ellis: One man, right?

>> Chris Woodward: In a world so nobody, nobody can get into the head of Donald Trump, except for maybe, I mean, God certainly can. But Melania probably knows a little bit of what he's thinking, maybe some of his kids. So let's go back to February 28th and the days initially following the initial airstrikes. Do you think he thought this stuff would be over by the end of March and people would have taken over?

>> Jenna Ellis: I. Okay. Knowing Donald Trump for about how long? Eight years now? Personally, I don't think he thought that far.

>> Chris Woodward: Okay.

>> Jenna Ellis: And I don't think that that was even remotely down the road. It's just more, let's do the next thing now and we'll deal with the consequences. And so I don't think that strategically in anything that I've observed that there's kind of this long term scaffolded strategy. It's more of a response. And I know that people talk about, you know, the whole 40 chess thing and all of that, but I think he makes the decisions in the moment and he also gathers as much information and as many people's opinions as possible and delays until the last second to make a decision, which is why I also do genuinely believe the administration that making that action was necessary to keep Iran from having nuclear capabilities. Otherwise, I don't believe that Donald Trump, with his, his personality and, and the way that he makes decisions, I don't think he would have pulled that trigger.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah, well, we'll see what happens here. But I, it's, it's, to me, it's becoming apparent that, that, Iran giving up their nuclear weapon goals, if that's a condition for us leaving, and stopping on the war, I don't see how you're going to get there short of just turning, Iran into glass, basically.

>> Jenna Ellis: Well, and that was Scott Ewlinger's point, if you heard it this morning. He said that he thinks that Trump shouldn't have stopped the bombing and the only way to actually force them to come to the table is to just Take it back up and say, fine, then if you're stopping negotiations, we'll continue to bomb you. Which is really aggressive, honestly, even for a commentator to say. I was surprised.

>> Tim Wildmon: Yeah.

Jenna Ellis: We need to define the family first

All right, you're listening to Today's Issues on American Family Radio. What about you wrote a column called, ah, the Christian Post, news site called, adult Desire versus God's Design, the True Battle over Defining what is a family. What's this about?

>> Jenna Ellis: Yes, I would love everyone to read this and you can go to Christian Post and, read this piece. And because especially as we're entering what the left would love to project as Pride Month, which we know June is actually, yet just another month and day, that God has created and ordained for our good, and he has confined us to the truth of natural law and implicit morality. And so while we have been arguing, we as Christians have been arguing and debating individual issues separately, such as the LGBTQ issues, same sex marriage, commercial surrogacy, donor conception, parental rights, adoption policy. All of those individual issues, all of those controversies actually depend on answering one question. What is a family? And if we never define family correctly, we'll continue losing the downstream debate because we're arguing consequences instead of first principles. And so what I argue in the piece is that family, according to modern culture is whatever adults choose to identify as a family. I mean, it's no different than the trans agenda, right? Like, these are the people I'm emotionally attached to. These are my roommates, these are my friends. These are, you know, there's three guys who want to say they're married. That constitutes a family according to them. But the biblical worldview says family isn't created by preference, emotion, or desire. Family arises from the covenant of marriage between one husband and one wife and naturally extends to children of that union, whether birthed of the union or adopted in and grafted in as a picture of the gospel and future generations. And so the key distinction here is that the modern view, the secular view, asks, what do adults want? The biblical worldview says, what has God ordained? And I think as we continue to fight for biblical policy, for the overturning of Obergefell, against Pride Month, I mean, all of these things, we have to stop arguing the issues only and go back to defining what natural law requires. Because there is no way in nature that two men can create a baby. They have to. That is unnatural. They have to borrow from the natural in order to have a child. And we need to say clearly and definitively no. And that is here in the United States, that's actually what our Constitution requires. Because when we talk about the laws of nature and of nature's God and saying that God is our authority and that the rights that we as human beings have come from God and from the laws that he has written into nature, that necessarily means that two men can't get married, and two men shouldn't have a baby, nor should just one single adult, borrow from the natural and try to conceive as a single parent. So we need to define the family first.

>> Tim Wildmon: And that article you wrote on this, and the family being redefined by pop culture, and in some cases, in some states, the laws. So, where can folks read this again?

>> Jenna Ellis: Yes, this is in the Christian Post, and the title is Adult Desire versus God's Design. The True Battle over Defining what is a Family. So if you just Google my name, Jenna Ellis and what is a Family? This will pop right up.

>> Chris Woodward: Yeah, it's also on our, Facebook page. I shared it for you.

>> Tim Wildmon: Just today's issues. Facebook page.

>> Chris Woodward: Yes, sir.

>> Tim Wildmon: okay, wonderful. Ray, any thoughts on what Janice just shared?

>> Tim Wildmon: She makes the argument that. That Christians need to be making in the public square, that as long as we define the family on the basis of, quote, as she said, adult desires what you want, what you think, what I want, then family is going to have no meaning at all. And that's basically what's happened in our society, Jenna, that the word family has been stretched so broadly that family means whatever you want it to mean, instead of what natural law says and what God intends.

>> Jenna Ellis: Absolutely. And this we can argue for, and we should argue from a biblical worldview premise as Christians, obviously. But we can make the very same argument from just the laws of nature and empirical reality. And so for people who are saying, well, you know, I'm not a Christian, so why should I borrow your worldview? That's just the truth of reality, that in no circumstance can two men or just a single woman create a child. You can't have a family unit naturally, unless you have one man and one woman. And so that's what nature requires. And so we can argue this from a simply a rational worldview as well as, obviously the biblical worldview and morality as well.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right. well, Jenna, thanks for joining us. We didn't hear anything from Todd or Copper during this day.

>> Jenna Ellis: They're laying at my feet.

>> Chris Woodward: They've put a lid on it.

>> Tim Wildmon: Are they doing a siesta or what? Are they just.

>> Jenna Ellis: Yes. So, yes, they had a good time this morning barking at all of the squirrels. And so they are, they're now good.

>> Tim Wildmon: They're resting because they know the afternoon, squirrels. While the wild kingdom awaits.

>> Jenna Ellis: They will get very excited when we go to the park later. And I do have to spell, like, their problems because they know words.

>> Tim Wildmon: All right, thank you, Jenna. Appreciate it very much.

Are your grandkids with your kids when you've been spelling

>> Jenna Ellis: Thank you, guys.

>> Tim Wildmon: Okay, that's Jenna Ellis joining us from Florida. that's where she lives. You see what I did there?

>> Wesley Wildmon: I did.

>> Tim Wildmon: I had to spell it because y' all know what that means.

>> Wesley Wildmon: That's funny.

>> Tim Wildmon: It is. You know what's funny is when you. When your kids start. Are your grandkids with your kids, especially, when you've been spelling. Yeah. Avoid. And then they. Then they tell you, I have a

>> Chris Woodward: case study for that. So I have two girls, they're about four years apart, and we were spelling things to avoid the oldest one from being able to understand stuff. Then the second one comes along, and by that point, the oldest one knows how to spell a few things. And so, my wife and I were having a conversation about there being C A K, E after supper. but my wife's like, well, you know, the youngest can't have this C A K, E unless she eats all of her supper. And my oldest goes, why can't she have cake? And, ah, we were outed right there.

>> Tim Wildmon: So you learned you'd reached the point where spelling didn't work anymore.

>> Chris Woodward: I.D.

>> Tim Wildmon: yeah. Okay, well, we're gonna take a B, R, E, a K right here. And, Krish, want to thank you for your outstanding, contributions to this show this hour. We wish you the best.

>> Chris Woodward: You made it, Mom.

>> Tim Wildmon: Wish you the best the rest of your day.

David Kellum will provide color commentary on Sunday's American Family Radio broadcast

Which of our, wiffle ball teams are you on this after afternoon?

>> Chris Woodward: I am not playing. I have been, selected to help, do some color commentary with our parish alford of afn.net okay, he's the analyst. We're going to be David Kellum.

>> Tim Wildmon: we got a little friendly competition among our staff this afternoon. And so the anticipation bills for a wiffle ball game that will be heard around the world.

>> Chris Woodward: Sponsored by Advil and ibuprofen.

>> Tim Wildmon: We'll be back momentarily. Stay with us.

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

Tim, Wesley and Ray talk with Chris on top news headlines of the day including a discussion on how the U.S. and Israel are at odds over Hezbollah and Iran. Also, Jenna Ellis joins the program to discuss her thoughts on Iran.