Explore the intersections of faith, policy, and current events in this episode of Washington Watch hosted by Jody Heiss. Delve into the ongoing struggle for religious freedoms both locally and globally. Discover the pivotal role of the National Day of Prayer with insights from Kathy Branzell, reminding us of the power of prayer in nurturing hope and unity. The episode also confronts challenging issues around gender ideology and the health policies affecting children, backed by recent findings against gender-affirming procedures. Listen to significant interviews with administration officials and experts who speak out against previous policy failures, and learn how
SPEAKER 12 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and soundbites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
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As we bow our heads in this beautiful day, once again, we have to trust our God because our God knows exactly where we’re going what we’re doing, knows every inch of our life. And may he continue to hear our prayers to guide our steps and build up our beloved nation to even greater heights
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Powerful and moving words. That, of course, was President Trump marking today’s National Day of Prayer. Welcome to this Thursday edition of Washington Watch. I am your host, Jody Heiss, filling in today for Tony. Coming up on today’s program, I’ll be joined by the president. The National Day of Prayer’s task force, Kathy Branzell, will be talking about today’s observance and the broadcast that will be taking place later tonight. I’ll also get her take on President Trump’s participation at the White House event earlier today. And as the U.S. was observing the National Day of Prayer, Israel was celebrating its Independence Day. We’ll get some updates later in the program from Israel, where Tony has been leading a delegation of Christian leaders. So you want to be sure to catch that. Meanwhile, the celebrations at the White House continue as the Trump administration looks back on the first hundred days of this second term. Today, the White House celebrated the return to common sense. This includes hiring based on qualifications and not by race or sex.
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When a citizen goes to, say, a hospital in a medical emergency, they don’t care what race or sex their doctor or their nurse is. They want the best treatment they can get in that emergency. When they are flying a plane or when they are on an aircraft, they want that pilot to be the best pilot, the safest pilot, not caring what that pilot’s race or sex is. This applies across the whole government.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, that was White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller earlier this morning, and I’ll be discussing this and more here in just a couple of moments when I’m joined by Congressman Glenn Grothman, who’s a member of the House Education and Workforce Committee. Another area where this administration is bringing back common sense is the gender mutilation of children who are being told that they are in the wrong body. Well, a new report from the Department of Health and Human Services is pushing back against that false narrative of the radical left, which claims that so-called gender-affirming care is effective for treating gender dysphoria and improving mental health.
SPEAKER 06 :
HHS has systematically updated, eliminated all of the junk, fake science. that was produced under the Biden administration promoting sex changes on children, promoting the idea of sterilizing children. That’s been cleaned out, that’s been removed, and new guidance is being issued.
SPEAKER 08 :
That again was White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, and I’ll be discussing this again here in just a few moments with Dr. Jennifer Bowens. And in more local news, the government leaders in Portsmouth, Ohio, are considering making their city an LGBT sanctuary city. Well, interestingly, they’re not the only ones doing that kind of thing, and we’ll be discussing this when I’m joined by a member of the Portsmouth City Council who also happens to be a pastor. So as always, we’ve got a lot coming your way, and I promise you, you don’t want to miss any of it, but if by chance you do, it’s always available on our website, TonyPerkins.com, so keep that Handy, because you’ll want to refer to it, and also a lot of resources there. All right, the Trump administration continued its celebration of President Trump’s first 100 days with another early morning press briefing. And whereas all the other press briefings this week have focused on things like border security and the economy, today the highlight was more on policy changes, specifically fighting DEI and predatory transgenderism and that sort of stuff. You just saw some comments from White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. He lauded all of these as common sense efforts coming from the Trump administration, and Quite frankly, based on surveys polling all across the country, more than half of the nation agrees with all of this. So is President Trump talking common sense? Well, a lot of people think so. I want to bring in right now Dr. Jennifer Bowen. She, of course, is the director of the Center for Family Studies here at FRC. She, as much as anyone, knows the answers to these type of questions and the issue at large. She has worked extensively with as a clinician providing trauma-focused treatment to children in foster care and behavioral health settings, and also to adults who have experienced interpersonal traumas like sexual abuse and assault and the like. Dr. Bowens, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you for joining us.
SPEAKER 05 :
Hey, it’s good to be with you, Jody.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, first of all, let me get your overall reactions to the statements that came out of the White House today with regard to the whole fight against this radical gender ideology. Isn’t it indeed a return? It seems at least a common sense.
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. Who knew that we’d have to have a big return to common sense? But, you know, I love how the president always talks about we’re going to be winning, winning, winning. And this is one issue where it is the battle is worth fighting for and we are winning. And this is such a refreshing change of speech coming from the White House after all of us enduring the last four years.
SPEAKER 08 :
Boy, isn’t that the truth? Yeah, I wanted to get your comments yesterday. I’m sure you’re all over this, but the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services released a very significant report backing what many of us, yourself included, have been holding to, that there’s no strong or plausible evidence at all that supports the effectiveness of so-called gender-affirming care. Can you kind of take that report, and first of all, Jennifer, tell us the importance of it, but then just kind of unpack it for us. What did this report say?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, so this report, like many of the other systematic reviews that have come out of Europe from our counterparts over there who’ve been doing just so-called gender-affirming care for years. So they have a lot more data to work with. And they’ve all kind of backed away based on the research and also from clinical experience. And so while during the Biden years, while we were moving full steam ahead, despite these reviews coming out of Europe, you know, a lot of us were raising red flags saying, you know, the studies have major methodological errors to them. They don’t show that there’s a good strong connection between doing these surgeries and physiological interventions. which if you’re not familiar, that includes use of puberty blockers, so you’re blocking normal puberty. It includes using the opposite sex’s hormones in much larger doses that you don’t find in a biological male or female. And then in many cases, removing healthy body parts. So This was all purported to reduce psychological distress by engaging in this so-called gender-affirming care. And our government under the Biden administration was – falsely using research to scaffold around gender affirming care. And really what this report showed in the bottom line is basically everything that has come from Europe and what we have been talking about that the science is just not there to support it. And in fact, it’s quite the opposite. It says run from these procedures. and we need to protect children. And I just so appreciated the clarity of speech from Stephen Miller today, just to call out exactly what these procedures are, that it’s not healthcare. A man cannot become a woman and a woman cannot become a man and any procedures to do so is really only cosmetic. You’ll never be a man, a woman will never be a man and a man will never be a woman.
SPEAKER 08 :
Yeah, it just seems so scandalous, quite frankly. Dr. Bowens, how this previous administration, as you referenced, misused science to cram this political ideology down the throats of Americans. And it is indeed so refreshing to see this return, not only to common sense, but just plain old truth. And the clarity that you bring to the table as well matches that, that we’ve heard from the White House and Stephen Miller. So thank you for that. You referenced Europe in all of this. The Cass Review is what a lot of this, as I understand, is based on. Can you kind of remind us what the Cass Review is and what that found?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah. So in the UK, there’s a clinic called the Tavistock Clinic, which was used to offer or perform the gender-affirming care that I was talking about just a minute ago. And so what happened is just a lot of voices coming out and saying that they regret these procedures, that harm has come from these procedures. And that essentially initiated a review of the literature and really to understand, what is the risk benefit of engaging in gender-affirming care? So what this report found, although it was, as you can imagine, widely criticized by opponents of transgender ideology, but what it found was, and it was basically looking at the science, just the methods. So if we strip away the topic and we’re just looking at the methods used to cause a reduction in distress, it’s no question you have to scrap this so-called intervention because it’s not making a difference in what it purports to do. It’s not causing psychological distress to be reduced. In some cases, as other reports have found in Sweden, the rate of suicide was much higher. So HHS looked at the CAS review but also found that the whole suicide myth that has again been scaffolding around gender affirming care to say this must happen, there’s urgency, you must transition. It’s false. It’s a falsehood. And by the way, it’s not good psychological practice. When I was going to school to be a clinician, if I had a professor who told me, You know, you should tell your client that if they don’t do XYZ of your recommendation, then they’re going to commit suicide. I would say bolster your malpractice insurance because the chances are likely that you’re going to be sued.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. That in itself is so abusive. So we’ve only got less than a minute. Were you at all surprised that this report came out, especially in light of how just how powerful the woke mob seems to be, especially in academia and the medical community?
SPEAKER 05 :
Yeah, and I’m so grateful that we are living during an administration that has courage and is doing what they said they would do and looking at all of the science, but also looking at the ideology and saying, like, this is… How can just someone suddenly claim to be a furry or the opposite sex? And they’re looking at it with common sense. And that’s really the heart behind this administration is common sense. I think we can get a lot done by just adhering to those basic principles.
SPEAKER 08 :
How refreshing.
SPEAKER 05 :
So refreshing. How refreshing.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you, Dr. Jennifer Bowens, Director of the Center for Family Studies here at FRC. Your expertise and insights, deeply appreciated. Thanks, Jody. All right, coming up, Portsmouth, Ohio. They are now among the latest cities to consider becoming a sanctuary for LGBT individuals. I’ll speak to a councilman as well as a pastor about that right after the break.
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At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. That’s why FRC President Tony Perkins went to Capitol Hill to testify on behalf of persecuted Christians in Nigeria. Islamist terror groups target Christians and other religious minorities in Nigeria with brutal violence. Representative Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said 55,000 people have been killed and 21,000 abducted in the last five years alone. The congressman also stressed that 89% of Christians in the world who are martyred are from Nigeria.
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Yet the government of Nigeria has failed to make progress against religiously motivated persecution of Christians despite religious freedom being enshrined as an essential human right in their constitution.
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Tony Perkins called for the United States to send an unmistakable message.
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This is systematic religious violence. Nigeria must be redesignated a country of particular concern. The Biden administration’s removal of this designation was a reckless mistake that emboldened the very terrorists who are slaughtering Christians.
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Redesignating Nigeria will enable the U.S. government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians.
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These are not just numbers. These are fathers, their mothers, their children, their families.
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Bishop Wilfred Anagabe risked his life to speak out, sharing firsthand accounts of the danger faced in his church district in central Nigeria.
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We live in fear because at any point it can be our turn to be killed. But to remain silent is to die twice. So I have chosen to speak.
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FRC is calling on President Trump to act now to promote religious freedom around the globe and speak up on behalf of Christians in Nigeria.
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Looking for a trusted source of news that shares your Christian values? Turn to The Washington Stand, your ultimate destination for informed, faith-centered reporting. Our dedicated team goes beyond the headlines, delivering stories that matter most to believers. From breaking events to cultural insights, we provide clear, compassionate coverage through a biblical lens. Discover news you can trust at The Washington Stand, where faith and facts meet every day.
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Download the new Stand Firm app for Apple and Android phones today and join a wonderful community of fellow believers. We’ve created a special place for you to access news from a biblical perspective, read and listen to daily devotionals, pray for current events and more. Share the Stand Firm app with your friends, family and church members and stand firm everywhere you go.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. I am your host, Jody Heiss, sitting in for Tony, who is leading a delegation of Christian leaders in Israel. We’ll be talking a little bit more about that later in the program. But while President Trump and his administration are pushing back effectively against the radical gender ideology, on the federal level at least, there are still those who continue to bow down to it. One example, the city of Portsmouth, Ohio. It’s become the latest city, catch this, to adopt a sanctuary status specifically for members of the LGBT community. Now, when we think of sanctuaries, we’re thinking generally for illegal immigrants. I really don’t even understand what a sanctuary city is for the LGBT community. But nonetheless, this resolution was put forth by one of the city council members. It was heavily debated and ultimately was tabled on Monday of this week. But it seems that the city’s not done with that resolution yet. So again, why is the LGBT sanctuary city idea continuing to spread? And what are the issues behind all of this? Well, here to discuss this is Joey Sandlin, who is a city council member of Portsmouth, but he’s also the pastor of the Faith Life Church in West Union, Ohio. Pastor Sandlin, welcome to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us.
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Thank you, Mr. Heiss, for having me on today. Yeah, the fight is still going on, and some of us are still fighting. It’s an honor to be here with you today. We are fighting and trying to stop this resolution from being passed in the city. And we’re trying our best to hold it back. It was put forth a proposal by the young Democrats in a local university here. And one of the professors who happens to be one of the council members on council presented this resolution. And we have listened over five hours of testimony, both for and against it. And the community is beginning to push back, thank God. And we’ve been pushing back. I come out immediately on it and said, no, this was wrong for the city of Portsmouth. And we’ve been fighting the good fight.
SPEAKER 08 :
So what does this resolution exactly do? What’s it provide?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, it’s just simply that. It’s an opinion of the First Ward City Council member. And the opinion is built on a false narrative, as you’ve been talking about here on the program. And it basically is affirming that Portsmouth is an open and welcoming community to the LGBTQIA community. plus community as well as affirming for gender health care, gender affirming health care like you’ve already talked about. The problem with this being is that a lot of the community, including myself, don’t feel like there needs to be a special resolution towards any one group that Portsmouth is a very welcoming and You know, our motto is our slogan for the city is where Southern hospitality begins. Welcome to Portsmouth, Ohio, where Southern hospitality begins because we’re right along the banks of the Ohio. And it is a very loving and giving and welcoming town. to all people of goodwill. And so this resolution is just a farce. It’s just not necessary at all. And then along the lines of the gender affirming health care, it flies in the face with a lot of laws that the state of Ohio has just recently passed in the SAFE Act, as well as a couple other laws that passed the Saving Women’s Sports Act. as well as a Parental Notification Act for teachers that they have to report to the parents should their child be talking about, either through a guidance counselor or a school teacher or whoever, talking about transitioning or being trans. They have to report that to the parent because we think it’s vital that we protect our children. And so we are resisting all this on all fronts. Absolutely.
SPEAKER 08 :
It seems to me like it’s not going to be long before we’re going to need sanctuary cities for common sense and for Christian beliefs and values that just we all hold to. But has this resolution been in the works for a long time, or was there something recently that spurred this kind of action to just pop up?
SPEAKER 21 :
Like I said, it was we have a local university here and the first floor city council member, Sean Dunn, is a professor at the local university. And they have a club over there, the Young Democrats Club, and they put it together and they presented it to council. And it’s still in the discussion phase. We have we have a discussion phase and it moves up to legislation where the council would vote to make it a resolution. And we’re working very diligently and praying that this thing just dies on the discussion floor and it’s not moved up to legislation to be passed as a resolution. Okay, so where does that go?
SPEAKER 08 :
Where does it go from here? What do you see? You’re getting into that right now. What do you anticipate is going to happen?
SPEAKER 21 :
Well, it’s tabled right now and it’s supposed to come up to the next meeting, which will be May the 12th on Monday night. At that next meeting, we will be discussing it again. And the city council, which is made up of six members, has to vote whether or not to move it up to legislation. And we’re We’re working very diligently. We’ve had an outpouring of support from Scioto County and the City of Portsmouth to say, you know, please stop this here, not to move it up to where it would even have a chance of becoming a resolution. And like I said, we’re praying and fighting the good fight, trying to keep it. Because, you know, personally, not only is it common sense, but it also flies in the face of the ORC, the Ohio Revised Code, because they’ve already established laws of parental notification. They’ve already established laws of… that gender, you know, the SAFE Act, which is protecting children from, you know, it’s against the law, basically, to provide gender-affirming health care in the state of Ohio for a child, that we believe in Ohio that a child should be protected from these things until they’re old enough. You know, they’re not old enough to drive. They’re not old enough to buy, you know, habitual things such as cigarettes or whatever or alcohol or whatever. And yet we want to give them the option of making decisions, lifelong decisions about the mutilation of their body. I think not. And so, like you said, it’s just common sense. It’s just common sense. And we’re doing our best to hold it back.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, stand your ground, fight the fight, and Pastor Joey Sandlin, we appreciate so much you taking that stand, both as a pastor and spiritual leader, but also as a city councilman there in Portsmouth. We are grateful for you doing so, and thank you for joining us today on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 21 :
Thank you for having me today. It’s an honor.
SPEAKER 08 :
All right, friends, coming up next, we’ll be speaking with Kathy Branzell. She’s the president of the National Day of Prayer, which, of course, today is. We want to reflect upon this day’s significance and its necessity. We’ll do all of that right after the break, so stay tuned.
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Everything we do begins as an idea. Before there can be acts of courage, there must be the belief that some things are worth sacrificing for. Before there can be marriage, there is the idea that man should not be alone. Before there was freedom, there was the idea that individuals are created equal. It’s true that all ideas have consequences, but we’re less aware that all consequences are the fruit of ideas. Before there was murder, there was hate. Before there was a Holocaust, there was the belief by some people that other people are undesirable. Our beliefs determine our behavior, and our beliefs about life’s biggest questions determine our world view. Where did I come from? Who decides what is right and wrong? What happens when I die? Our answers to these questions explain why people see the world so differently. Debates about abortion are really disagreements about where life gets its value. Debates over sexuality and gender and marriage are really disagreements about whether the rules are made by us or for us. What we think of as political debates are often much more than that. They’re disagreements about the purpose of our lives and the source of truth. As Christians, our goal must be to think biblically about everything. Our goal is to help you see beyond red and blue, left and right, to see the battle of ideas at the root of it all. Our goal is to equip Christians with a biblical worldview and help them advance and defend the faith in their families, communities, and the public square. Cultural renewal doesn’t begin with campaigns and elections. It begins with individuals turning from lies to truth. But that won’t happen if people can’t recognize a lie and don’t believe truth exists. We want to help you see the spiritual war behind the political war, the truth claims behind the press release, and the forest from the trees.
SPEAKER 08 :
Good afternoon. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host today, Jody Heiss, filling in for Tony. We’ve mentioned it a couple of times today already, but today is the National Day of Prayer. And the theme this year is Pour Out to the God of Hope. and be filled. And FYI, there is a special broadcast that will be taking place tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern Time, so I encourage you to tune in to that as well. But ahead of that virtual prayer gathering, we here at FRC wanted to highlight the importance of this day and what we all can be praying about. And here to discuss this is Kathy Branzell. She’s the president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force, Kathy, welcome back to Washington Watch. Thank you so much for joining us.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much for the invitation. What a great day this day has been so far.
SPEAKER 08 :
You know, I think this, Kathy, very likely could be the most important day in America when people cry out to God and go to Him. And I thank you for your leadership. You’ve been involved with this day for many years now. What, in your opinion, kind of sets this theme and this day apart from maybe other years?
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, I’m so grateful for the theme that God gave us this year. I think that many people were, I know they were, walking around hopeless. Instead of having a list of our reasons to share for our hope, as we’re told to do at First Peter, instead, we had a long list of reasons that we were losing hope. And God said, remember, I’m on the throne and remember, I’m the God of hope. And I have seen this renewal of hope coming. I have seen this renewal of people standing up for their biblical values here in America and also around the world. And so we are very excited that there is this renewal, this awakening that I see happening all across America. And people are hungry to pray and to be filled by the God of hope.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. That is so beautiful to be reminded by the Lord himself that I am the God of hope. So just come to me. That’s powerful. I started the program today, Kathy, with a clip of President Trump from the Rose Garden talking about this special day. And it was powerful. It was moving, the words that he shared. How does this presidential participation. How much does this mean to you as the president of this organization? What does it mean to have President Trump come on board?
SPEAKER 04 :
We are incredibly, incredibly grateful, especially that he had a prayer observance there at the White House today. You know, this is a law. A lot of people don’t know that the National Day of Prayer is a law since 1952, and every president must proclaim today, the first Thursday of May, as a day of prayer for our nation. But then to go beyond that and participate in that prayer is And to honor the Lord in prayer, not just in a law, but right there on the lawn, right, in the Rose Garden, we are incredibly grateful.
SPEAKER 08 :
What are some of the main things that you are calling on people to be praying for our nation, for our government?
SPEAKER 04 :
You know, so many things, you know, the government being one of our seven spheres of influence that we pray over. But we also encourage people to pray for your pastor as often as you pray for our president. Our pastors need our prayers. We’re praying for families, so many of them splintered and scattered. And we’re praying for business with lots going on in the business world right now, right? And so praying for our church, praying for the military, lots going on in the world. And so we are calling people back to the God of hope, the one who is our hope, right? We just celebrated Resurrection Sunday. And so we remember that the one who is our hope, our anchor of hope, has risen. He reigns. We’re redeemed. And he’s returning. And so with that, we start walking in this joyful, confident expectation, which is the definition, the biblical definition of hope, and getting people to live that out, to live what we say we believe and take that into every sphere of influence as we’re praying.
SPEAKER 08 :
Amen. What great words and guidance and hope and confidence. I mean, if you could just shower this on the people across the country, that would be it. If I can, real quickly, Kathy, let me get you a preview on the broadcast tonight and be sure to include where can people go to watch it.
SPEAKER 04 :
Well, right there, right here at FRC, we are so grateful that you will be broadcasting for us. So just as you just said, we’re going to get to keep hope around the world. They often say that prayer is caught, not taught. There will be a lot of prayer this evening. We have a lot of friends who have joined us, many people that influence you, that encourage you. And so we are so grateful. So join us tonight at 8 p.m. Eastern time. as we pour out to the God of hope and be filled.
SPEAKER 08 :
It’s going to be an awesome time. And again, I do encourage each of you to tune in tonight. It’s going to be a fantastic time of encouragement. And you’ll be praying right along with other prayers for our country and our national leaders tonight. Kathy Brunzella, I want to thank you personally again for your involvement in this. I sincerely believe this is one of, if not the most important day of the year for our country. It seems like every year I feel more that way, but just seems like now more than ever. And you touched on it. I wish we’d had time to get more specifics. There just seems to be outbreaks of God’s spirit in different places across the country from universities and so forth. So we want to continue praying for that. Kathy, thank you so much leading the National Day of Prayer, the task force. And thank you for joining us again on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 04 :
Thank you so much. We look forward to praying with you tonight.
SPEAKER 08 :
Absolutely. All right, coming up, we’re going to get some updates from Israel. That’s where Tony has been leading a delegation of U.S. Christian leaders. You don’t want to miss what’s next, so stick around.
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SPEAKER 19 :
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SPEAKER 18 :
How should Christians think about the thorny issues shaping our culture? How should Christians address deceitful ideas like transgenderism, critical theory, or assisted suicide? How can Christians navigate raising children in a broken culture, the war on gender roles, or rebuilding our once great nation? Outstanding is a podcast from The Washington Stand dedicated to these critical conversations. outstanding seeks to tear down what our corrupt culture lifts up with an aim to take every thought and every idea captive to the obedience of christ whether policies or partisan politics whether conflict in america or conflict abroad join us and our guests as we examine the headlines through the lens of scripture and explore how christians can faithfully exalt christ in all of life follow outstanding on your favorite podcast app and look for new episodes each week
SPEAKER 08 :
Good afternoon. Hope you are having a fantastic Thursday. Thank you so much for joining us today on Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heiss filling in for Tony. And before we wrap up today’s show with my last guest, I want to share with you a brief video that highlights what’s been taking place in Israel this week. From Tuesday evening until yesterday, Israel has been observing their Memorial Day, which was followed immediately by their Independence Day. And as I’ve mentioned, Tony has been in Israel. He’s leading a delegation of U.S. Christian leaders. It’s been a powerful week. And to give you a glimpse, just a glimpse into their visit, here’s a video that’s been produced by our friends at Real Life Network. They actually reported on the delegation’s trip. And so now I want to turn to their news director, Daniel Cohen.
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Israel’s Memorial Day, Yom Hazikaron, a solemn day when the entire nation grieves heroic fallen soldiers and terror victims. This year, prominent evangelical leaders came to stand in solidarity. Sirens wail across Israel. At exactly 11 a.m., every city, town, highway, and school pauses. The piercing sound of the siren brings life to a halt. Drivers exit vehicles, pedestrians stand still, and conversations cease. Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, has been marching shoulder to shoulder in support of Israel for decades. Today, he’s leading a delegation of Christian leaders.
SPEAKER 07 :
We need to stand against this rise of anti-Semitism and call it out for what it is. It’s dark. It’s demonic. It is running counter to God’s plan. We need to know the Word of God, and then we need to stand upon the Word of God. And that’s why, frankly, we’re so grateful for Real Life Network.
SPEAKER 15 :
Memorial Day, which began at sundown Tuesday, is an emotional day of remembrance. It commemorates over 24,000 soldiers who died defending Israel since its rebirth in 1948 along with thousands of civilians killed in terror attacks. In Israel, a nation the size of New Jersey, everyone knows someone affected. Each loss ripples through entire communities, including Kibbutz Berri, where former presidential candidate, congresswoman, and Regent University Dean Michelle Bachman volunteered as a teenager and lost friends in the October 7th massacre.
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Israel needs a clear, unequivocal victory in this war. They will get it. And Israel’s enemies need to have a clear, unequivocal defeat, because that brings more peace to the region. My prayer is that Israel will declare, make a statement of sovereignty, that they have authority, but they have complete control over Judea, Samaria. My prayer is that the United States supports Israel in that effort.
SPEAKER 15 :
This Judea and Samaria delegation includes Pastor Gary Hamrick of Cornerstone Chapel in Virginia, a powerful champion for Israel.
SPEAKER 20 :
Judea and Samaria, 80% of the Bible stories happen in that region of Judea and Samaria. that the world calls the West Bank. It’s a false narrative. We need to get back to biblical terms. So that’s the thing that really moved me while we were here was just that remembrance that this is the heartland of the Bible. We’ve been avoiding it because it’s the West Bank. We need to get back into that community.
SPEAKER 15 :
For those of you praying for Israel, we want you to know your prayers are touching hearts here deeper than you may even realize. Watch this unscripted moment when a woman who was listening to my conversation with Pastor Hamrick approached us right after the interview. Hi.
SPEAKER 10 :
American-born Israeli, I don’t get it, how you understand the nuances of this conflict when most people do not.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you so much.
SPEAKER 10 :
Thank you for your support. Thank you for being so eloquent and articulate and the hard work that you’re doing to support us.
SPEAKER 20 :
Thank you very much. The secret is the Bible. Yeah, that’s right. He knows the Word. Yeah.
SPEAKER 15 :
When the sun sets, something remarkable happens. In the span of just a few minutes, this grieving nation transitions from deep sorrow to great joy as Independence Day begins. The contrast isn’t coincidence. It’s by design. The message is clear. The price of independence is painfully high, but the cost of freedom is worth the sacrifice. From Jerusalem, the eternal capital of Israel, for The Real Life Network, I’m Daniel Cohen.
SPEAKER 08 :
Wow. Love that video. And again, I just want to give a shout out and a huge thank you to our friends at Real Life Network for that update from Israel, where again, Tony has been leading a delegation of U.S. Christian leaders. And as we here in America observe our National Day of Prayer, I encourage you to also be praying for Israel. As Daniel Cohen noted in that video, now, Our prayers are touching more hearts there than we can even imagine. So please do keep Israel in your prayers today while you’re praying for America. Well, I’m pleased also to have a member from that delegation in Israel joining us right now live with more about the trip. Travis Weber, he’s FRC’s Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs. Travis, thank you for staying up late and joining us now on Washington Watch.
SPEAKER 09 :
Jody, it’s my pleasure to do so.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, we thank you. I know you’re probably going to sleep like a rock after this, but tell me what has been the experience of this Christian leader delegation while visiting, as Gary Hamrick just said, Judea and Samaria and other places?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, no, it’s been an absolutely amazing week here in Israel. You’ll see the lights of Jerusalem, the night lights of Jerusalem, Israel behind me as we near the end of our week here. The way I would describe this is a fusion of a biblical tour of the heartland of Judea and Samaria combined with analysis and understanding of the present day state, the nation of Israel. And so we visited sites that we read about in our scriptures. going to places like the ancient city of Shechem, where we stood on Mount Gerizim. Jodi, this is the site that Jesus, at the base of that mountain, had a conversation with the woman at the well and talked to her about true worship being taken place in spirit and truth, not on Mount Gerizim, not in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth. We visited sites like Joshua’s altar, where Joshua sacrificed before the Lord when the Israelites entered Jerusalem. the Promised Land, a spot called Elam Moreh, where Abraham first settled when entering the Promised Land, Shiloh, Hebron, and of course, Jerusalem, where we visited the Temple Mount and the City of David. Seeing spots that we read about in our scriptures, but walking the ground thousands of years ago, the people we read about in our Bibles also walk. So that was one part of the trip. Then we combine that with meetings with government leaders and other religious leaders in Israel to understand what’s happening in the present day. Having meetings with the foreign minister, and others that we’ve met with the speaker of the Knesset to understand what was happening and to let them know that Christians in the United States are standing with desire to continue to stand with the Jewish people. So, you know, what is all that? So what is all this coming together for? What’s the point of all this? Well, Jodi, as we know, since Hamas attacked in October of 2023, the Jewish state has been under siege globally with, anti-Semitic, anti-Jewish protests spring up around the world, and they’ve been under siege here in their home as well. So we want to stand with them and also affirm their right to declare sovereignty over the biblical lands of Judea and Samaria. These are the hill country of… Israel that we read about in our scriptures, where the lives of the Israelites played out in the Old and New Testaments. And yet these lands are not currently having sovereignty exercised over them by the modern state of Israel. So we want to affirm Israel’s right to declare sovereignty over these lands. and proceed to live in accordance with that. That’s what we came here to do. And these lands are still behind the armistice lines of the 1948 war. We’ve got to recognize the biblical right and what God says about the land, that it belongs to Israel.
SPEAKER 08 :
Well, Travis, I tell you, you can hear it in your voice. You can see it in your face for those who are viewing or listening audience can’t see the passion that’s coming through and you make it come alive for us just hearing the experience of this week. I want to ask you because Gary brought it up in the video and you have referenced it as well. The importance of rejecting the name West Bank, right? for this area. That is so other than reality of what this actually is. How important is it that we somehow reject that phraseology, that term for this area?
SPEAKER 09 :
Jody, yeah, when dealing with this term, I think it’s important just to pause and ask the question, what is the West Bank? With a charged topic like this, it’s always good to stop and just say, what’s the truth underlying this contested matter today? So the name West Bank literally means West Bank of the Jordan River. There’s also an East Bank, but we don’t refer to any quasi-nation state by that term today. the land west of the Jordan, but behind the 1948 armistice lines. After the War of Independence, an armistice line was arrived at where the Jordanians, still occupying that land behind the armistice line, came to occupy what’s called the West Bank, Israel, the rest of the state of Israel. The 1967 war, Israel took all that land. And the line, the border of Israel and Jordan now lies roughly along the Jordan River. But the name West Bank has persisted. So it’s a disconnect with reality. In reality, the hill country of Judea and Samaria is the historic land, the name that’s associated with the historic land of Israel and the Jewish people. So we want to recognize terms that are in accordance with what God’s word says and also with what international law says and so really this is a time to to recognize that along with recognizing that after the october 7th attacks there’s no denying that hamas and those affiliated align with that ideology have no desire to live peacefully side by side with the jewish people so that notion which was always been in doubt i think is largely now put to rest it’s hard for anyone to really claim that Hamas and those aligned with them want to live in peace. You can’t have two states. You can’t have a state that would occupy land called the West Bank next to the Jewish state in light of how Hamas wants to proceed. So all we’re doing is we’re saying, let’s look at what the Bible says about this land and with what history says about it belonging to the Jewish people and recognize the right to exercise sovereignty over it.
SPEAKER 08 :
Excellent explanation, Travis. Thank you for that. Now, I wish we had more time to just go on and on. Sounds like an incredible trip. But the team there also has commemorated Israel’s Memorial Day and Independence Days. That had to be quite an experience in itself.
SPEAKER 09 :
It really was. It was so special to be here on their Memorial Day. And this is a day they remember their fallen soldiers in battle as a people have struggled over thousands of years and more recently since the modern state in 1948. So it’s a somber moment, but one in which we recognize the sacrifice of those fallen, followed by Independence Day, which is a celebration of the nation’s independence. as the day says. And so that’s a moment to remember the triumph of the establishment of the modern state and the history of the Jewish people. So being here is celebrating with them during that time, in addition to visiting the ancient biblical lands, which we as Christians share with the Jewish people. These are lands in which Jesus, a Jewish rabbi, walked before going up to that mountain that we visited today, Mount Moriah, where the Temple Mount was, and offering himself in the city of Jerusalem as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, following on the heels many years before of Abraham on that same mountain, being willing to offer his son Isaac as a sacrifice before God saw that he could trust Abraham. Jodi, this is an incredible time to be here in light of our own faith, in light of what’s happening in Israel. And so it’s a moment that we need to recall our biblical roots, recognize our common religious lineage with the Jewish people, and celebrate the calls that God has on all of our lives for us in the world today.
SPEAKER 08 :
I recall so vividly the unbelievable honor and privilege to be in Israel when the embassy was moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv. And the celebration of the Israeli people on special occasions is phenomenal. I can only imagine what you all experienced with Independence Day and so forth. Travis, let me wrap up by asking you this. I guess… Probably just the easiest way of asking it, the takeaways that you have from this trip. How would you bring it home for us, what you’re coming home with from this trip?
SPEAKER 09 :
Yeah, Jody, I mean, there’s so much, you know, in that answering that question, but I would say where does this boil down to? The truth of the scriptures, the truth of God’s word, the truth of what God says, which is the truth as we pursue truth as human beings, recognizing our common pursuit of truth with the Jewish people who adhere to the Old Testament scriptures. We have a common basis to work with them in the project of creating beauty, and bring out beauty and truth and civilization for the world. The things that are good for humanity have come from God, have come from our faith, and so this is a project that we must enter into with them to bring these things out for our own countries, those of us in the U.S., those in Israel for Israel, but one that will benefit all people, mankind, as our own scriptures tell us. about the Jewish people and the nation of Israel. They’re supposed to be a blessing to all mankind. And so I think that’s really the story of the moment. What is God revealing in the ground as archaeological digs are taking place here? These are ongoing digs as they find more evidence of history in the ground in these places like City of David and elsewhere. So this is something we need to pay attention to, continue to pray about, so that God would be revealed to all mankind.
SPEAKER 08 :
Thank you so much, Travis Weber, FRC’s Vice President for Policy and Government Affairs. And I might also add one great reporter as well. Thank you for joining us live from Israel. I hope you go get a little rest right now. I know tomorrow’s a full day for you as well. Thank you, Travis. Thank you. All right, friends, that wraps up another edition of Washington Watch. amazing information we’re able to bring your way and all of us glean together from a biblical worldview. Have a great evening. See you tomorrow.
SPEAKER 12 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council and is entirely listener supported. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information on anything you heard today or to find out how you can partner with us in our ongoing efforts to promote faith, family and freedom, visit TonyPerkins.com.
