Join us for an enlightening episode where Jody Heiss fills in and shares insightful content from the 2025 Pray, Vote, Stand Summit held in California. Hear from Pastor Amado Huizar as he passionately speaks about the crisis of truth in America, emphasizing the need for the church to stand firm in biblical principles. Delve into the significance of religious truths guiding our nation’s governance. Pastor Huizar challenges listeners to pick up the truth that has fallen and to be actively engaged in civic duties, all anchored in faith.
SPEAKER 11 :
from the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, D.C., bringing compelling interviews, insightful analysis, taking you beyond the headlines and sound bites into conversations with our nation’s leaders and newsmakers, all from a biblical worldview. Sitting in for Tony is today’s host, Jody Heiss.
SPEAKER 03 :
Good afternoon and welcome to this special edition of Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heist, senior fellow here at the Family Research Council. An honor today to be filling in for Tony and so glad sincerely to have you joining us today. All right, well, 2026 is literally just hours away now. So today we want to bring you some special content from our most recent PrayVoteStand Summit. It was held in Chino, California. If you’re not aware, the Pray, Vote, Stand Summit is our annual event that draws Christian voters from all across America. It’s a time of prayer and inspiration and action. We deal with some powerful and very important issues like religious freedom, the call for the church to engage our culture, the need to stand for Israel, parental rights, chemical abortion, just a host of issues. It’s really an outstanding event, and we’re so happy to be able to share some of that great content with you today that came out of that summit. Also, with tomorrow being January 1st, we’re going to encourage you to join with us for 2026 and 2027 to join our two-year Bible reading plan. Tony unpacked this on last Friday’s program, which you can find on the website, by the way, TonyPerkins.com. But if you missed it, we’ll share part of his discussion with two FRC team members later in the program today. But I do want to encourage you even now to sign up for that Bible reading plan. Just 10 or 15 minutes a day literally can transform your life. And we’d love for you to join us if you’d like to. To get more information, just text the word Bible to 67742. And if you’ve already been taking this journey with us, then I encourage you to bring somebody along with you and help someone else join us in reading God’s word. And if you’d like to do so, you can send them an invitation with an e-card. And you can do that. Just simply text INVITE to 67742 and bring someone along with you into God’s Word next year. We’ve got a great show lined up for you today. If you happen to miss any portion of it, again, TonyPerkins.com is a place where you can go find this as well as most of other archives and resource material. So you want to be sure to bookmark that webpage, tonyperkins.com. And real quickly, you’re just hours away from being able to double your impact with those of us here at FRC and the ministry of FRC, especially with the 250th anniversary of America. Family Resource Council is standing for faith, family, and freedom now more than ever, and you have a few hours to double your impact thanks to a challenge match. Double your gift. Text the word AMERICA to 67742 to find out how you can double your impact with us here at FRC. Well, as I mentioned, this past October, we had our fifth annual Pray, Vote, Stand Summit, drawing thousands of Christians from all across America to Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California this year. It was a powerful event. And among the speakers at the event was Amado Huizar. He’s executive pastor at South Bay United Pentecostal Church in California. In his address, Pastor Amado talked about the truth crisis and the need for the church to pick up the truth, which is being trampled in the streets. So here’s how Pastor Amato started his address.
SPEAKER 04 :
I give glory to God for all of his goodness and all that he’s done. Thank you for that warm welcome, and it’s an honor to be here at PrayVote. Stan and the president of Family Research Council, my dear friend, amen, Pastor Tony Perkins. We honor him and our dear friend, the host pastor of this church, Jack Hibbs. Thank you for opening up your doors. And I think it’s good to give honor to whom honor is due. those who have spoken already who have imparted already and those that will impart the men and women at this great event i know it’s going to be a great great time the frc what a great organization and that has never been afraid to speak truth into our culture thank you all the staff that makes this possible I thank my church, amen, and I’m blessed to pastor the South Bay Pentecostal Church, a church that God has led my wife and I. My wife is here today, and we are blessed to… be part of a church that’s so diverse, growing congregation that reflects the beauty and the tapestry of our community. I give honor to my bishop, Bishop Art Hodges, who stood there in the gap and helped with many others, amen, and defeated the tyranny that tried to close the church doors. But the doors stay open so that we can worship freely without shame, without fear, without wrath, lifting up holy hands. And we’re thankful that we can do that. And so we stand here. I stand here not only as a pastor, but I wear many hats in our community. I stand here serving in our South Bay Clergy Alliance. I stand here as a city commissioner, an active member in my community. And why do I mention this? I mention this because I’ve learned something critical. That the gospel isn’t just… something that happens Sunday morning. It doesn’t happen just in your midweek service. It doesn’t happen just at your men’s or women’s fellowship or at your youth group event. But it’s an evangelism culture that happens every day of your life. It’s not just something that happens during your worship set, but it should be an overflow in our life and every sphere of our society, including in the public square, as it was mentioned in our talk earlier tonight. And so as we… Look at the pitiful moment that has happened just in the past month, in the past years. And if we look back at our nation’s history, we can look back at the summer of 1787, where the delegates gathered in Philadelphia to draft what would become the United States Constitution. They drafted that constitution and they stood there for four exhausting months and it was hot and they stood in a warm room without air conditioning. Can you imagine that? Meeting for six hours a day with tempers flaring and flying in that room so intensely that they wanted to meet each other in the back. and give each other a piece of their mind. And there was clear and present danger happening in that room. See the convention might dissolve and the project was soon to be abandoned. And the convention was at the brink of collapse and the delegates were at each other’s throats and the entire project was about to fall apart. But an elder stood up, thank God for elders, 81-year-old elder Benjamin Franklin stood up and this is what he said. He said, I have lived, sir, a long time. And the longer I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth, that God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice, it is probable that an empire can rise without his aid. And Benjamin Franklin moved that they begin every session with prayer. And church, our nation was born when its founders recognized that they needed divine truth to guide them. And today we gather in a nation. that has torn the foundation apart, and we have separated our governing documents from our divine source, Jesus Christ. We need truth now more than ever to guide us. We need Jesus today. because without god on our side the results can be catastrophic and evangelism as we just heard by these great men isn’t just about individual souls it’s about restoring truth into our communities into our cities and into our nation and with truth falls into the streets the church must Pick it up. Who will pick up the truth tonight? Who will pick up the truth tomorrow? Who will pick up the truth in the days to come? You see, it’s America’s divine design for us to have a foundation of truth. The founders understood something profound. They didn’t just create a system of government. They anchored it in divine truth. And if we look at the Declaration of Independence today, It says that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights. Notice they didn’t call these opinions or preferences. They weren’t just novel ideas that they threw on Facebook, but they were truths. self-evident truths from a creator, not from a king, not from a parliament, not from a human conscience, from God himself, the Lord God Almighty, the King of kings, the Lord of lords, the great I am, the El Shaddai, the Alpha and the Omega, the great I am, Jesus Almighty, God himself. And the Constitution was never meant to be divorced from the Declaration, but together they formed America’s mission statement. As one historian put it, the laws by which we are governed have basis and foundation. It is by His Word, the Bible. And we’ve done something tragic in this nation. We’ve torn the wing of the Constitution clear off the eagle to which it’s attached. and we’re holding it aloft trying to interpret it apart from its companion the declaration of independence while the bird lies bleeding unable to heal let alone fly and we’ve created such a bitter divide a more perfect union but yet it’s anything but perfect today we’re wielding our opinions uninformed of the foundations from which they came. And so I bring to you this devastating reality found in Isaiah chapter 59 verse 14, where it says, “…and judgment is turned away backward, and justice sendeth afar off, for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter.” And truth has fallen in the street. And when truth falls, everything else collapses with it. And so there are symptoms in this truth crisis. And so we’ll look at these symptoms together. And so first and foremost, no one pleads for truth as Isaiah 59 verse four tells us. We need people to plead for the truth. The Bible says, none calleth for justice nor pleadeth for truth. They trust in vanity and speak lies. They conceive mischief, bring forth iniquity. The Hebrew word for pleadeth means to contend, to argue, a case, to stand, an advocate. And when truth falls, no one defends it anymore. And so we look around at some certain professions where we have godless lawyers who manipulate truth rather than seek it. We have godless politicians who spin truth rather than speak it. We have godless media who shape truth rather than report it. And tragically, even some godless pulpits who avoid truth rather than proclaim it. And so we need to be an example here tonight. Can someone say amen? Amen. And so voices that dare to plead for truth are silenced and they’re canceled and they’re destroyed. Why? Because in a society where truth has fallen, those who try to pick it up become enemies of the state and the church must become truth’s fiercest advocate. And we must plead for truth in our schools, in our city councils, in our state legislators, and we can’t be silent anymore.
SPEAKER 03 :
That was Pastor Abato Huizar of South Bay United Pentecostal Church. He was speaking at our 2025 Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. You tuned in to Washington Watch in this special edition. Thank you so much for joining us. All right, if you, by the way, would like to see more of the conference, you can get it, watch it at the Stand Firm app. Simply text the word app to 67742. All right. After the break, we’ll continue more with Pastor Armato’s address. It is powerful. So stay with us. We’ll be back in just a moment.
SPEAKER 07 :
Hello, I’m Tony Perkins, and I want to invite you to join me for Stand on the Word, a daily journey through the Bible, 10 to 15 minutes a day. That’s all it takes. And in no time, you’ll have finished the entire Bible. And along the way, we’ll learn how to apply God’s truths to the world in which we live. As we’re about to start a new year and as our nation is about to celebrate 250 years, there’s never been a better time for a fresh start in the Word of God. To join us, text Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742.
SPEAKER 01 :
At Family Research Council, we believe religious freedom is a fundamental human right that all governments must protect. For years, Islamist militants in Nigeria have targeted Christians and other religious minority groups with brutal violence. Since 2009, 52,000 Christians have been slaughtered. A staggering 89% of Christian martyrs in the world today are from Nigeria. The first Trump administration declared Nigeria a country of particular concern, a designation reserved for countries whose governments engage in or tolerate religious freedom violations. However, this designation of Nigeria was quickly reversed by the Biden administration. Following consistent calls from FRC President Tony Perkins and other religious leaders across the US, President Donald Trump has responded.
SPEAKER 12 :
Christianity is facing an existential threat in Nigeria. Thousands and thousands of Christians are being killed. I am hereby making Nigeria a country of particular concern.
SPEAKER 01 :
This is a huge step forward for the protection of Christians in Nigeria, as well as religious freedom across the world. While this opens the door for the US government to pressure Nigerian leaders to protect vulnerable Christians, it is only the beginning. We must continue to pray diligently, work strategically, and stand firm for the protection of religious liberty across the globe.
SPEAKER 02 :
What is God’s role in government? What does the separation of church and state really mean? And how does morality shape a nation? President John Adams said our Constitution was made only for moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. Join Family Research Council for God and Government, a powerful series that explores the connection between biblical principles and the American government, equipping you with truth to engage in today’s most pressing debates. We’ll uncover the foundations of our nation’s history and why it’s relevant for today. Join us to defend God’s plan for government because faith and freedom were never meant to be separate. You can view the course at prayvotestand.org slash God and government or on the Stand Firm app.
SPEAKER 03 :
thank you so much for joining us today good afternoon and welcome back to washington watch i am jody heist filling in today for tony and thanks for joining us all right today we’re broadcasting some special content that took place at our 2025 pray vote stand summit at the conclusion of the last segment Pastor Amado Huizar of the South Bay United Pentecostal Church was unpacking the symptoms we can see in today’s truth crisis. He was comparing it to what’s recorded in Isaiah chapter 59. Well, we want to continue with Pastor Amado, and in this next part, he’ll discuss the second symptom that we need to be aware of in this truth crisis. So here’s Pastor Amado.
SPEAKER 04 :
The next symptom is the way of peace that’s unknown. Isaiah 59 verse eight says, the way of peace they know not. There is no judgment in their goings. They have made them crooked paths and whosoever go in therein shall not know peace. And there’s this divine principle that no truth, no peace. And peace is built on the foundation of truth. And if we look at our nation today, cities are burning while leaders call it peaceful protests. Families are being destroyed. And each other over social media lies. And churches are splitting over cultural narratives instead of biblical truths. And mental health crisis. As people can’t find solid ground in the days that we’re living in. And they have made themselves crooked paths instead of the narrow paths. And when you abandon the straight and narrow, every crooked path. becomes one that people follow. And the culture of evangelism must offer more than just fire insurance for us in the afterlife, amen. We must offer the peace that comes through truth, and peace in families, peace in communities, peace that transforms our cities, our homes, our lives. That’s the symptoms that we’re facing. The next symptoms is salvation that seems far off in Isaiah 59 verse 11. It says, “‘We war like bears and mourn like soar like doves. “‘We look for judgment, but there is none, “‘for salvation is far off from us.'” When truth falls, people oscillate between rage and despair, roaring like bears, angry and dangerous and destructive. They’re searching. They’re hungry. They want it. They’re searching. They’re mourning like doves, depressed and hopeless. And today, people are looking for this salvation. They’re looking for things, but they’re looking in the wrong places. They’re looking in government programs and social movements and technology and self-help philosophies and everything except the truth that can actually save. The Bible says that he is the way, the truth. And the life. No one cometh but by him. Hallelujah. And so as we engage civically, we must never forget our ultimate message. That political engagement is important, but it’s not our salvation. We’re pointing people to Jesus, the author and the finisher of our faith. The one who was and is and is to come. The healer. The deliverer. The Messiah. The one who can give me hope when there is no hope. The light in the middle of darkness. Amen. He’s my healer. He’s the living water. The next symptom are sins that testify against us. Isaiah 59 verse 12. For our transgressions are multiplied before thee, and our sins testify against us. For our transgressions are with us, and our iniquities, we know them. This is America today. We know killing babies is wrong, but we call it health care. We know marriage is between a man and a woman, but we begin to redefine it. We know children need protection, but we still sexualize them. We know lies destroy, but we embrace them anyway. That’s the America we know today. And our sins are testifying against us. But we’ve silenced the truth so long that we can’t hear the testimony of truth anymore. And the prophetic voice of the church is needed now more than ever. We need men… We need men. We need men.
SPEAKER 05 :
We need men to stand. We need men. Do I need to say it again? We need men. We need men to stand and proclaim the truth. We need men to be men. We need men to be men to teach young men to be men.
SPEAKER 04 :
And we can’t let others teach our boys how to be men. We can’t let Facebook and X and Instagram and TikTok and all these other things teach them. We can’t let the women do that job. We need the men to be men.
SPEAKER 05 :
And we need the women to eat women.
SPEAKER 04 :
You thought I let you off the hook. Can someone say amen? Because our sins are testifying against us. We got young men wanting to play girls sports. We’ve got sins testifying against us. Truth has fallen in the streets, Isaiah 59, 14. And judgment is turned away backwards and justice is standing far off. And truth has fallen in the street and equity cannot enter. This is the climactic statement. Truth hasn’t just been questioned or doubted. It’s fallen in the street and the image is powerful. And truth lies wounded in the public square and people are stepping over it. They’re ignoring it. They’re kicking it. They’re pretending like they don’t see it. They’re acting like it’s not even there. It’s there, but I don’t even see it. I’m not even looking at it. No one wants to help bring it up. And when truth falls in the street, Judgment is reversed. Justice can’t get close. Equity is locked out. And this is the cancel culture we live in. Truth hasn’t just fallen. It’s being trampled on by those who benefit from its absence. And someone has to stop stepping over truth. Someone has to pick it up today. Someone has to dust it off and hold it high. Someone has to say, I’m going to pick up the truth. Will it be your church? Will it be your youth group? Will it be your men’s ministry? Will it be your women’s ministry? Will it be this movement? Who will pick up the truth tonight?
SPEAKER 03 :
That was Pastor Amado Huizar of the South Bay United Pentecostal Church. He was speaking at our 2025 Pray, Vote, Stand Summit. You’re tuning in to Washington Watch. Today we’re broadcasting some very special content from that summit, which took place back in October at the Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California. All right, after the break, we’ll share the conclusion of Pastor Amado’s address. So don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back.
SPEAKER 07 :
For over 4,000 years, the Jewish people have had legal, historical, and biblical ties to the land of Israel, especially the heartland of Israel, Judea and Samaria, which much of the world still calls the West Bank. To Israelis, Judea and Samaria is far more than a name. It’s the center of their ancestral homeland, where nearly 80% of the Bible’s events took place. Abraham purchased property in Hebron, Jacob in Shechem. Joshua made an altar on Mount Ebal and led the Israelites into a covenant before God. On Mount Gerizim, overlooking Shechem, Jesus talked to the Samaritan woman at the well about worshiping neither on Mount Gerizim nor in Jerusalem, but in spirit and in truth. Judea and Samaria is nearly a quarter of Israel’s current land mass, not a small strip of land on the Jordan River, but a vital and strategic part of the nation’s identity. The October 7th massacre, launched from Gaza, shattered the illusion that giving away territory brings peace. Gaza, which was once seen as the cornerstone of a two-state solution, became a launchpad for terror. Today, only 21% of Israelis support a Palestinian state. Trust in a two-state solution has all but collapsed. The Middle East is changing. Iran’s grip is weakening. New alliances are forming. But Western countries and some US officials still chase the mirage of a two-state solution. History speaks clearly. The 2005 Gaza withdrawal, backed by the US, led not to peace, but to a terrorist regime. Judea and Samaria are 24 times larger than Gaza. deeply woven into Israel’s geographic and spiritual fabric. To surrender them would not bring peace. It would invite conflict and existential danger. Family Research Council stands with Israel’s rightful claim to sovereignty. It’s time for America to do the same for history, for justice, and for lasting security in the Middle East.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hope you’re having a great day. Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m Jody Heist filling in today for Tony. Thanks for joining us. Glad to have you. All right, today we’re broadcasting some content from our Pray, Vote, Stand Summit that took place in October of last year. And in this segment, we’re going to go to the conclusion of the address delivered by Pastor Amado Huizar of the South Bay United Pentecostal Church in California.
SPEAKER 04 :
So now it’s time to get practical. I can get preachy, but I can also get practical. We can talk about the culture of evangelism beyond over the church walls into the culture at large. I learned this lesson personally for years. I was content to preach just on Sundays to do hospital visits during the week and to stay in my lane, but God began to put a burden in my heart to go answer to the drag queens and say, not in my city, not in my house. Not in my library. And I was appointed by my mayor as a city commissioner, as the only pastor. Thank you, Jesus. So I wasn’t just preaching about policy, but now I’m helping to make it. in the city of Chula Vista. And you know what I discovered? The table was set, but the righteous people weren’t sitting in it. Decisions are being made about our schools, our streets, our families, and followers of Jesus are absent from the conversation. You gotta get involved. Let me break it down to you. You gotta get involved. You need personal engagement. You got to live the truth where you are. Every one of you have influence. I know some of you don’t think you do because you only have a few friends on Facebook. But if you want, I can be your friend. You have influence at your workplace, your neighborhood. Everyone has a neighborhood watch program because I see you. Every one of my neighbors sees me. They’re all part of the neighborhood watch. At your school, your social circles, you don’t need a title to be salt and light. You are salt and light. You don’t need a pulpit, a platform. You are salt and light. You just need courage. And when conversations happen around the water cooler or in the break room, When issues come up at the HOA or the PTA, don’t be silent, but speak the truth in love as it was mentioned. The Bible says in Proverbs 23, 23, buy the truth and sell it not. In a market where lies are free and truth costs everything, buy the truth anyway. It might cost you popularity. It might cost you comfort, but buy it anyway. Mobilize your congregation. Pastors, I encourage you to mobilize your congregation. We need to move beyond don’t mix church and state. That phrase isn’t even in the Constitution. What the First Amendment guarantees is that the state won’t establish a religion. It says nothing about keeping religion out of the state. So what we should be doing is helping people get involved in the community. And so we need to love our neighbors tangibly And when we love our neighbors tangibly, they will listen to our message credibly. And so when we have our seat at the table, we can have a message in the school boards, the city councils, the county commissions, the planning boards, and be part of every level of government. And so it’s not… just our civic duty it’s not just patriotism it’s kingdom assignment and Romans 13 tells us that the governing authorities are established by God and Matthew 5 tells us that we’re salt and light and 2nd Chronicles 7 14 tells us if my people which are called by my name shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways then I will hear from heaven And forgive their sin and heal their land. Notice he says my people. Not the government. Not the unbelievers. Not the culture. But my people must take action. And the land will be healed. And we need repentance to take over. But the answer is found here. And it’s promised to us, and it’s found in Acts 1, verse 8, that he will send a comforter. And you shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost comes upon you. And the answer is given to us in Acts 2 when he says, repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins. And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. He gives us that comfort, and he gives us that power. What is that power? to get up and do something. And that’s the response. So what is my challenge for you today is to pick up the truth, to stop being silent, to stop hiding in the church. Y’all are hiding right now. And to buy the truth and sell it not. Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. I want to thank you, FRC. You’ve been buying the truth for decades. You’ve paid the price when others wouldn’t. Keep buying. Keep holding. Keep proclaiming. And to everyone here, the culture of evangelism must extend beyond the walls of the church halls into the city halls. be on the altar calls into the town halls. And when truth has fallen in the street, it’s time for the church to pick it up.
SPEAKER 03 :
That was Pastor Amado Huizar of the South Bay United Pentecostal Church. He was speaking at our 2025 Pray, Vote, Stand Summit that took place in California. You’re tuning in to this special edition of Washington Watch. Now, after the break, we’re going to close with FRC’s President Tony Perkins and two members of the FRC staff who are going to be talking about our Stand on the Word Bible reading program. We encourage you to come on board and join us for this new year, new two years that begins on the first of January. So don’t go anywhere. We’ll be back with Tony right after this.
SPEAKER 06 :
Should a Christian support Israel? That question has become one of the most emotionally charged issues of our time, both in the world and within the church. Family Research Council President Tony Perkins offers a clear biblical and prophetic answer in his latest book, He examines Israel’s past, present, and future through the lens of Scripture, revealing why support for Israel is not rooted in politics, partisanship, or cultural sentiment, but in the unchanging promises of God. Drawing from Genesis to Revelation, Tony Perkins demonstrates that the ultimate rationale for a Christian’s support for Israel is spiritual. Should a Christian support Israel invites believers to see beyond headlines and ideologies returning to the foundation of God’s Word to understand His heart for His chosen people and the blessings that flow when we stand with what He has established forever. Text the word Israel to 67742 for more information.
SPEAKER 09 :
The Family Research Council Internship Program educates and inspires students who are passionate about public service and who believe that a biblical worldview is fundamental to the reformation of government and culture.
SPEAKER 08 :
I really wanted to do policy work in Washington, DC. And I saw Family Research Council as a Christian organization that had very conservative values, values that I supported and that I really wanted to do work on.
SPEAKER 14 :
I really love my department. I love working with the stand. I love writing. I love talking to all the different writers and all the great advice they’ve given me about how to improve my writing and what I already am doing well and how to harness those skills to do a better job.
SPEAKER 15 :
This internship really helped clarify my career goals. I would love to go into higher education and help our culture think more critically about the issues that we’re active about. And so this internship has given me more clarity on how to pursue that goal.
SPEAKER 14 :
To come here and to really see my work matter and to see people value it and to value me and what I do and what I can bring to the table has been a great opportunity.
SPEAKER 15 :
To a future intern, I would say take advantage of the moment. There are so many opportunities that FRC provides that can grow you personally and professionally and spiritually. I would 100% recommend this internship to any peer or classmate.
SPEAKER 08 :
This internship has definitely helped me grow spiritually. The fellowship and the discipleship here just sets FRC apart from any other place I’ve worked at before.
SPEAKER 09 :
To apply, visit frc.org slash internships.
SPEAKER 07 :
In times like these, we need something solid to stand on. That’s why I’m inviting you to join me on January the 1st for Stand on the Word, a daily journey through the entire Bible. Each day, we’ll read God’s Word together, discuss how to apply His truths to our lives. 15 minutes that can transform your year. Join me and thousands of others as we stand strong by standing on the Word of God. Text BIBLE to 67742. That’s BIBLE to 67742. Welcome back to this special Friday edition of Washington Watch as we talk about Stand on the Word. So I made reference to this with Pastor Paul many years ago when our children were young and I’ve got a kind of a We have a wide age spread, typically, it’s relatively speaking, 16 or so years between the oldest and the youngest. Anyway, I was looking for a devotional that we could do together as a family, and hosting a national program, I got a lot of people sending me books, I can get devotionals, and so I went through a few of them, and you know, it’s just not that they weren’t good, it’s just they were fine for an individual, but not so much so for a family, especially with children. And I guess, I don’t know if it was in my quiet time one day, I think the Holy Spirit said, why don’t you just try the Bible? And, you know, pretty novel idea, Bible devotional, use the Bible. So I took and began kind of breaking the Bible into chunks. And so as a family, we started doing this. And then as a church, when I was pastoring, I did it with my church. We first took books of the New Testament and did those and breaking them into daily reading plans. Then we took the entire Bible and took it into a two-year reading plan, six days a week, Monday through Saturday. And then on Sunday… Actually, I was in Israel one time and had Shabbat dinner with a family, and I said, you know, this is so fascinating, just sitting around as a family, having a conversation about, you know, they were talking about the Torah, they were talking about the Old Testament. And so… incorporated in this plan on Sundays. No reading. It’s just a discussion. We have discussion questions where you can sit and talk with your family. And so I just started pastoring my family, my own children, and then worked in the church. And then, I don’t know, probably seven years ago, we brought it here to the Family Research Council and then we’ve been going through it. And then probably four years ago, we had partners and then For the last two years, we’ve had probably almost 24,000 people that have joined us on this journey. And it’s very easy to do. You heard from Dr. Curitan earlier some of the comments that we’ve gotten from those who have been on the journey. It’s just very doable. It’s not a speed reading course. It is designed for us to abide in Christ, in His Word. And we’re gonna start again, we just finished Revelation, and we’re gonna start with Genesis. Now it’s a chronological plan, so it helps to actually have the reading plan in front of you. And you can get that reading plan. All you need to do is text BIBLE to 67742, BIBLE to 67742. And I want to invite you to join us starting January the 1st for the Stand on the Word Bible reading plan. And be thinking about, maybe you’ve been on it already. You can invite someone else to join you. In fact, about 70% of the people who were on this journey with us in the last two years said that they had invited someone. They wanted to share it with other people. So you can do that as well. And I’ve got a special digital Invite, a e-card that you can send to your friends to invite them to join you on this journey. Text the word invite, I-N-V-I-T-E, invite to 67742. And then I’ll send you a link and you can send that to family and friends. Well, to go further into this, I want to bring in two guests who are no strangers to Washington Watch. If you’ve been following FRC for any length of time, you’ve seen them, heard them, or read some of their articles. With me now are Washington Stand senior writer Joshua Arnold and Washington Stand reporter Sarah Holliday. Joshua, Sarah, thanks for joining me.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thanks for having me here.
SPEAKER 07 :
All right. So let’s start this with a new year just around the corner. We’re about to start another journey through the Bible. And I know this is true for you, Sarah, but you have been going through the study for as long as you’ve been on staff. Joshua, you you frequently chime in in the morning conversations on our morning call, as I talked about earlier in the program. Every morning we start as a team in the word of God. What would you say, Joshua, is a significant takeaway for you in this systematic reading of the Word?
SPEAKER 10 :
Well, I think now that FRC has done it three whole times through the whole Bible, the six years, so slightly after I started here, one thing that I’ve been surprised by is how I think it’s fostered unity among our staff. We’ve got a diverse group, Catholics, Reformed, Charismatics, Baptists. But when you sit down and you look at God’s Word, you’re all looking at the same Bible. And when you’re asking what God is saying through these words that he has inspired on the page, you know, you end up a lot closer, at least on any particular passage, than you would have thought. You end up saying, you know, this passage is clearly about God’s sovereignty over the nations or about humility or the endurance of the saints. And so that’s been really encouraging to see that unity fostered among people from different theological positions.
SPEAKER 07 :
Brilliant. And I’ve had a little longer period of time to view the team here in over 20 years. And I would agree with that assessment. But it shouldn’t surprise us because we’re challenged to be one with Christ, to abide in Christ. And when we’re in unity with him, we’re in unity with others. And so by abiding in the word, which is Christ, it would foster that environment. And it certainly has. And it’s been it’s been encouraged. Doesn’t mean we don’t have disagreements. We do. But we’re just we’re on the same page, literally the same page. We start every morning. Now, Sarah, you and I have talked about this recently. You were on the program talking about this. There are many people tuning in today who may not have heard what you shared then. Why should someone consider this one? Especially, all right, I’m going to say this, young people. You know, why, you know, busy, you got all these things going on. Why prioritize being in the Word of God every day?
SPEAKER 13 :
Yeah, well, whether you’re young or old, you need wisdom, you need truth, you need encouragement, you need a guide to life. And that is what we have in the Word of God. And so, one thing I love about, well, there’s a few things I love about our Stand on the Word program. It’s that you go through the whole Bible, but I love that it’s not speeding through it, as you mentioned. It’s a two year bite size. You have so much time to intentionally slow down because the riches of scripture are unsearchable. We’ll never reach the depths of what the word of God has to offer. And so we really are doing ourselves a disservice by just blazing through it so i love that this this devotional this reading plan it has you go through it slowly intentionally and it’s also very interactive and i know especially for young people myself being one of them it’s a lot easier to remember something or write it on your heart or live it out in your day-to-day when you don’t just read it passively but you actively engage in it and so i love that this especially if you go to the webpage you have these questions that it asks you And what better way to force yourself to think than to have to answer a question? And we have prayer, and we have videos that we can go to where people are giving insight. We go through it as an organization, as we’ve already talked about. And you learn so much from hearing the way the Lord may be working through that passage with someone that might have a different background than you, as Joshua mentioned. And so this Bible reading plan, I think, is great in general because it has some of these more unique aspects that, you know, some… Plan somewhere else probably maybe does two years. Maybe they do more. But ours for sure does the two years. It does the questions. It’s interactive. And more than anything else, we’re going through the Word of God. And every single person in the world, I would say, needs to go through the Word of God, but Christians especially. It is the lamp to our feet and the light to our path.
SPEAKER 07 :
So both of you write for the Washington Stand. And we are not in any form or fashion hiding the fact that the Washington Stand is news and commentary from a biblical perspective. I mean, that’s how we look at the world, through the lenses of Scripture. And we’re trying to help other Christians develop that biblical worldview. With that said, I’m going to ask both of you this question. I’ll start with you, Joshua. How has or has this Bible reading plan impacted the way you view events and write about them?
SPEAKER 10 :
I was actually looking that up this morning, some of the times where I’ve referenced the stand on the word Bible reading for the day or the week in articles that I wrote. So a couple of examples. In September, there was a murder in Charlotte of someone on public transit, tragic murder. But the mayor of Charlotte tried to deflect from the city’s policing policies and say, well, we need to get to the root of the problem. Well, that very week we had read in James where it says, what causes fights and quarrels among you? Are they not the passions that war within you? Right there, the Bible tells you what the root of the problem is. It speaks directly to the issues going on in our world today or all the things that are happening with Israel. You know, there was a time when the ceasefire was violated in Gaza. And that very week we had read Romans 9 through 11, which talk about how Paul agonizes over his kinsmen according to the flesh and desires to see them won over to become part of the new covenant people of God as well.
SPEAKER 07 :
You know, Sarah, one of the responses, or many of the responses we’ve gotten back in the survey, people were saying, you know, this helps me understand a little bit better what’s happening in the world and takes away some of the anxiety because I have a better understanding of it. Has that been the case as you’ve worked through the news issues and the things happening globally, domestically, by having that context of the word?
SPEAKER 13 :
The short answer is yes. The longer answer is, when I was younger growing up, leading even all the way up to my employment here, I wanted nothing to do with politics, specifically, because that realm, from my understanding, was just too much. It was too dark, too chaotic, too dreary. I mean, the news is almost predominantly bad, it feels, because otherwise it wouldn’t be news, right? It was actually coming here, despite my disinterest in politics, so the Lord orchestrated all of that, that I saw not just FRC and everybody who works here, but everybody in, let’s just say, the conservative Christian movement in the political sphere. It was seeing them in action and being a part of that that made me realize the Bible has something to say about practically everything, either directly or indirectly. And when that hit me, I realized that, yes, the political sphere is chaotic. messy, but just like any other aspect of this fallen world, and just like any other aspect of this fallen world, we need to be a part of it, shining light, spreading truth, standing firm in what is good, true, and beautiful according to Christ and God’s word. And so the Bible has actually been a pivotal aspect of not just bringing me here and wanting me to be a part of this fight, but navigating some of these really tough issues. There are times where I’ll be writing an article and it takes energy almost out of me to write it because it’s just so awful. I’ll never forget early on, I was writing, it was somewhat of a news article, somewhat commentary, but I was kind of dissecting, do Democrats draw the line on abortion? Is there actually a limit for them? We know that they in general support, you know, giving women any access to abortion, but they’ll often deny that, you know, they won’t do it up to birth or they won’t do it post birth. But when you really dig into it, it’s so disheartening to see how so many of them will speak about it so flippantly. And we’re talking about human life, precious human life, not to mention the mothers and the fathers and everybody else who is affected by such a terrible act of evil. And all of that to say, there are definitely articles that are hard to write. But you turn to the Word of God, and not only does it give you guidance to write about it from a biblical angle, but it gives you hope. And it gives you something to lean on when everything else seems to be crumbling around you. And so I need the Word of God as a journalist. I need it as a human being. I need it to get through this life because it’s the only source that will continually point you to the fact that Sin doesn’t have the final say. Death doesn’t have the final say. Hostility doesn’t have the final say. God, his word, his truth, his gospel has the final say. And that is a truth that became a reality far before the foundation of the world because, you know, God and his omnipotence and everything. But we saw it reach its fulfillment on the cross. And that truth is still just as alive and active and beautiful today.
SPEAKER 07 :
And folks, you can join us on this journey by texting the word Bible to 67742. That’s Bible to 67742. Sign up. We’ll send you a link to all of the resources that you can be a part of this journey. Sarah, you mentioned the word hope. There are four really defining characteristics that we have here at Family Research Council. Truth, we want to tell the truth. Courage, we want to do it with courage, even when no one else is willing to speak the truth. And we want to do it with excellence, everything we do with excellence. But we want everything shaped by hope. And, you know, as you were pointing out, you know, we deal here in our nation’s capital with some disappointing, discouraging, dark things. But we have hope. And we find that hope in the word of God. What would you say, Joshua, to those that maybe say, I don’t have time for that. I just you know, that’s fine. I’m a believer. I’m a Christian, but I still have time for the word of God.
SPEAKER 10 :
That’s that’s a good question. There’s. The flat answer is that you do have time, somewhere in your schedule. If you don’t have time, make time, because nothing will be more rewarding than reading God’s Word. There’s a lot of quick fix programs in this world, and reading the Bible is not one of those. The kingdom of God grows like planting a seed in the ground that then takes time to sprout and then slowly grows and grows and grows. Reading the Word of God is like that. It starts small. But over the years, as you continue to read and reread, it will change and shape your lives in profound ways that you never expected, that you never thought possible. And there’s no time better than now to start. You’ve got to start now or, you know, 50 years from now, you’ll have missed 50 years of reading God’s word.
SPEAKER 07 :
Good point. And we just have about a minute left. But Sarah, we had one of the recipients of the one of the One of those on our journey, she wrote this. She said, I’ve never read the Bible through. I’m 69 years old, and I’ve now read the Bible through. Praise God. But all that time missed. I mean, we need the word of God each and every day, especially the times in which we’re living that are becoming more intense, more challenging. more, you know, more and more people are desperate. I mean, we see this crisis of drugs. You know, the word of God is the solution for that vacuum that’s in the heart of man. Sarah and Joshua, I want to thank you for for joining me today and thank you for the work you do in the Washington stand. And thanks for being on this journey.
SPEAKER 13 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 07 :
Thank you, Tony. And folks, again, I do want to invite you to join us on this journey. Don’t wait. Don’t wait to read the Word of God. Do it now. Make that commitment. Text the word Bible to 67742 and join me and thousands of others as we journey through the Word of God together. Until next time, keep standing on the Word.
SPEAKER 11 :
Washington Watch with Tony Perkins is brought to you by Family Research Council. To support our efforts to advance faith, family, and freedom, please text GIVE to 67742. That’s GIVE to 67742. Portions of the show discussing candidates are brought to you by Family Research Council Action. For more information, please visit TonyPerkins.com.
