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Pete Sessions, U.S. Representative for the 17th District of Texas, discusses a string of recent failures in the Biden-Harris administration that suggest DEI hiring and promotion policies are inhibiting federal agencies. Dr. Eric Bordenkircher,
From the heart of our nation’s capital in Washington, DC., 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. Washington Watch with Tony Perkins starts now.
Our joint statement was a clear call. It was a call for a temporary ceasefire to open up space, open up space for diplomacy to achieve a deal that allows civilians on both sides of the border to return to their homes safely and securely. And I would add that the statement was indeed coordinated with the Israeli side.
That was White House Press Secretary, Kareen Jean-Pierre, earlier today. Welcome to Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins.
The Biden-Harris administration is now leading international efforts for a ceasefire in the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. Now, this raises the question, why has it taken nearly a year for the administration to take action on this matter? Over the past 12 months, Hezbollah has launched over 10,000 rockets into northern Israel, displacing more than 60,000 Israelis and transforming the region into a war zone.
Only after Israel was in a position to say enough is enough, and they began eliminating Hezbollah’s leadership, did the Biden administration initiate this effort. We are going to discuss the implications of this conflict with Dr. Eric bordenkircher, a research fellow at the UCLA Center for Middle East Development. Former FBI agent Marcus Allen testified before the House Government Weaponization Committee yesterday.
In late 2021, I raised concerns about the FBI director’s testimony about the January 6th Capitol riot, not out of political motivation, but out of a duty to truth and integrity. This act, which I believe to be in the spirit of transparency and accountability, led to unexpected and severe consequences.
Allen, along with over a hundred agents, have been targeted by the FBI for exposing corruption within the department. Now, yesterday’s testimony comes on the heels of an FBI agent, Nicholas Williams, pleading guilty to thefts during raids on January 6th defendants. Additionally, a bipartisan Senate committee sharply criticized the Secret Service this week, raising concerns about the agency’s competence.
Could it be that character and qualifications have taken a backseat to diversity, equity and inclusion under the Biden-Harris government? We’ll dive deeper into this with Texas Congressman Pete Sessions, a member of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee. The Wall Street Journal recently published a lengthy piece by Alexandra Kritton Safadi, which attempts to link US family advocacy groups with Russian totalitarian government officials by way of Africa’s rejection of the Biden administration’s stance on abortion and LGBT ideology.
Now, at the center of this article is Sharon Slater, president of Family Watch International. Sharon will join us later to respond to these claims and discuss the growing global resistance to these ideological impositions by liberal Western governments. We’re just one week away from the Pray Vote Stand Summit, and I truly believe given what is taking place right here in the United States and around the world, this is going to be one of the most powerful events we’ve hosted in the past two decades.
Pastor Jack Hibbs, senior pastor of Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, and leader of Real Life, will join me later in the program to preview what you can expect if you join us next week for the Pray Vote Stand Summit. To find out more about the summit and how you can join us, go to prayvotestand.org.
In testimony before Congress yesterday, Marcus Allen, a former FBI staff operation specialist, shared the retaliatory tactics the Bureau directed toward him once he stepped forward and blew the whistle against FBI director Christopher Wray’s congressional testimony regarding the Bureau’s activity on January 6, 2021. This comes as the Secret Service remains under scrutiny following two assassination attempts targeting former President Donald Trump. More recently, a Secret Service agent in the security detail for Vice President Kamala Harris has been placed on administrative leave for allegations of groping a staffer for the Vice President.
Are these institutional failures the result of the Biden-Harris administration’s relentless push for DEI and hirings and promotions? Join me now to discuss this and more Congressman Pete Sessions. He serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability and the House Financial Services Committee.
He represents the 17th Congressional District of Texas. Congressman Sessions, welcome back to Washington Watch.
Tony, thank you very much. It’s an exciting time as we move the nation, not just to voting, but the issues that will decide our future. And I cannot think of any time, and I’ve known you for 30 years, I cannot think of any time that would be more important for your voice, your message, and for people who believe in the same things we talk about on your show to come and be prepared, because it’s about not just our future now, it’s about our grandchildren.
Right, we’ve got to be praying, we’ve got to vote, we’ve got to stand for truth in our government. And in one story after another involving federal agencies, which you’ve been around all your life, this isn’t a lone bad apple. This appears to be a systemic problem now in our government.
Well, in fact, it is, and it’s a philosophy that is rooted in the idea that not only are white people racist, but that they need to make sure that the level, that the playing field is not only level, but includes people. And during a hearing that we had, I asked a simple question. Does that mean that a person needs to be qualified?
I believe in equal opportunity for African Americans, Hispanics, whoever the class, quote, class may be. But the question is, do they need to be qualified in the job that they would be performing? And the answer soundly came back, no, that doesn’t matter.
And that is the downfall of not only of government, but of anybody that falls victim, private industry, you know, anyone else to move their business along. And this is where we are in 2024.
So, Congressman Sessions, then what we’re seeing playing out, the failed protection efforts of the president, the FBI agents stealing from those that they’re going in to raid their homes, is this the fruit of that philosophy?
Well, it probably could be in several instances, perhaps the Department of Justice. There’s no real character standard that is important anymore. That character standard, when my father was FBI director, he proudly said that we would put those that were Eagle Scouts and people who served in the military, in essence, in a basket of their own, knowing that they have distinguished themselves in understanding, not just character, but love of country would be a part of it.
And now country has nothing to do with it, the color of your skin or the social class that you may belong to. And that is going to downgrade not only the citizenship, but also the kind of service.
And this is, it’s not just a philosophy for those running the government. They’re making sure that those that are holding positions become indoctrinated with it. This administration has spent thus far $16 million that we’re able to track on DEI education just within several of the departments we’ve mentioned.
I want to go to this whistleblower for just a moment because he’s not alone. We’ve had about 100, about 105, 106 whistleblowers just in the Department of Justice, who have had retaliatory actions taken against them. In particular, Mr. Allen, what happened to him is that his allegiance to the United States was questioned when he raised these issues of the potential corruption, potential misinformation coming out of the FBI.
His security clearance was suspended. His pay was suspended. He was refused to allow, he was refused outside employment or even to accept charity for paying his home mortgage.
What kind of stuff is this?
Well, it in fact is not new within the administration. It’s something that we have seen for quite some time where they will withhold someone’s not only security clearance, but suspend them and not allowing them to do any work and in essence hang like and dangle. It takes these agencies too long to perform their, not only their background information, but to develop any case against someone.
And then all of a sudden out of the clear blue, someone is let go. This is a problem. It’s something that we saw in the Secret Service a number of years ago.
I engaged the Secret Service in 16 and 17 about an agent, where they, he was trying to move to another agency, and they did not like that. So they used that against his own security clearance against him and brought up issues that he clearly had not only reported, but the agency did not even write down from his prior supervisor. And this is the kind of punitive action that they take.
If you wish to leave their agency or if you do anything that might not be within what they want, they become very hostile against you and use your own circumstances against yourself. It’s punitive and wrong.
But it would also be signaling to others in the agencies that if you dare blow the whistle or step forward and give out information, and look what will happen to you, we will ruin you. We will ruin your family. We will ruin your career.
We’ll destroy you.
Well, and that and even more, Tony, because you know that within the government, and it’s in particular within the United States military, the people that they want to promote will be promoted. And so it becomes, in essence, a class of an individual that seemingly meets what any administration would like. In this case, it has been, in particular, those that would affect and allow change, rapid change within the military without speaking up.
And those people were kept, they were promoted, and they promoted others who were like them. Rather than the traditional American military values of duty, honor, country and service. And so that’s why we have so many people that are willing to leave the military, not want to come to the military because of the things that happen well within the established ranks of who will make it and who will not be successful.
So Congressman Sessions, there are protections supposedly for whistleblowers. Do we need to re-evaluate the protections that are there? If someone has said, look, we’re going to protect you if you come forth as a whistleblower to reveal information about illegal or corrupt activity within an agency, but then we allow the agency to strangle them and destroy them.
I mean, how are we going to keep this chain of information coming forward?
Well, we’ve received reports on a regular basis, not just in the Committee on Government Reform and Oversight, but individual members receive information about, they have provided pertinent critical information about things, about the operations, or about things that are taking place. And it is not unusual within the military for those people to be disciplined, for those people to be ignored, for those people to be treated differently. The same thing happened from law enforcement and across the government.
So, of course, this is a distressing fact. Now, the question is, how do we turn that corner? And that is your question.
How do we turn the corner on someone who legitimately provides information, and then how does that agency deal with them? This is the role of what would be human relations. It’s HR people agencies.
And I think they need a new set of circumstances. I took on the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman just two days ago, and told him that they need to look every day when they get up and on the wall of the agency, what their mission statement is.
Congressman Sessions, we’re up against the brave. We’re going to continue talking about this in the days ahead. Don’t go away.
Folks, stick with us. We’re back after this.
The news reflects the world we live in, but it also shapes it. Like it or not, what we learn about the world on a daily basis impacts our thinking, our worldview and ultimately our action. So much of today’s media is built on a shaky foundation that could send us hurling toward harmful ideas and hopeless solutions.
Family Research Council created the Washington Stand to be a news outlet that speaks from a firm foundation. Bringing you news, commentary and analysis of what’s happening in America and around the world, the Washington Stand is unapologetically biblical and uncompromisingly committed to truth. Equip yourself for the world we live in with a biblical worldview found daily at the Washington Stand.
Find us at washingtonstand.com. That’s washingtonstand.com.
Research has found that there are 59 million American adults who are a lot like you. There are millions of people around the country who are born again, deeply committed to practicing their faith, and believe the Bible is the reliable word of God. But that’s not all.
They’re also engaged in our government. They’re voters. They’re more likely to be involved in their community, and they’re making a difference in elections.
The problem is that a lot of them feel alone too. We want to change that. FRC wants to connect these 59 million Americans to speak the truth together, no matter the cost.
If you want to learn more about this group and what it means to be a spiritually active, governance-engaged conservative, or if you want to find out if you are one of these sage-cons yourself, join us. Go to frc.org/s-a-g-e-c-o-n, sage-con, to learn more.
Hi, I’m Georgina, an intern here at Family Research Council, and I wanted to take a moment to tell you about FRC’s incredible internship program. This three-month program is both a discipleship and a development opportunity where you get to take part in truly meaningful work and help advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and our culture. This program features hands-on professional experience here in Washington, DC.
Weekly biblical worldview training, tours around the district, opportunities to meet some of the country’s most prominent policy experts, and more. The program also includes free housing, a meal stipend, and is available in spring, summer, and fall. If you’re a young adult passionate about seeing biblical values championed in our country, as a current intern, I cannot recommend this program enough.
For more information or to apply, please go to frc.org/internships. Again, that’s frc.org/internships. Apply today!
Welcome back to Washington Watch. I’m your host, Tony Perkins. The website is tonyperkins.com, resources there for you.
Also, you can find links to the Pray Vote Stand Summit coming up next week, one week away. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, arrived in New York City today in preparation for an address he will deliver at the United Nations tomorrow. Now, despite intense pressure from the Biden-Harris administration and other nations for Israel to submit to a ceasefire with Hezbollah on its northern front, Prime Minister Netanyahu has instructed his military to keep fighting with full force.
Hezbollah began launching airstrikes at northern Israel shortly after Hamas’s October 7th attack last year, firing over 10,000 projectiles into the country, driving thousands of Israelis from their homes. Now, why is this international effort only happening now? Why are they calling for a ceasefire now that Israel is fighting back?
Joining me now to discuss this is Dr. Eric bordenkircher. He is a research fellow at UCLA, their Center for Middle East Development. He publishes extensively on Middle East politics and US foreign policy in the Middle East.
Eric, welcome back to Washington Watch.
My pleasure.
Now, you have lived actually in Lebanon. Your doctoral dissertation has a subtitle Deciphering Lebanon’s Political Chessboard. Now, based on this background, tell us your assessment of this most recent situation and where it’s headed.
Well, the situation is a product of a weak or almost non-existent Lebanese state. Hezbollah operates as a state within the Lebanese state and basically does what it wants. So this conflict that they started on October 8th when they decided to act in solidarity with the Hamas was done without the green light or even conferring with the Lebanese.
So you have an organization, you have a militia terrorist group that operates according to its wishes and desires.
So Dr. bordenkircher, the Hezbollah no official connection with the Lebanese government. They’re kind of basically a parasite on the country, if you will.
I wouldn’t say no official connection. You have members of the Hezbollah in the government, parliament, and then also elements within the government. Although the government currently is illegitimate, it’s a caretaker government.
The Lebanese had elections, but they haven’t been able to form this recent manifestation of the government. So they’re not entirely distinct from the Lebanese state, and they have this ability to often block developments, political developments, but their militia, which is distinct from the political party, operates independently of the Lebanese state.
So why now do we see the Biden administration, this international effort to step forward, saying, hey, wait a minute, we need to cease fire, when this has actually been going on for nearly a year, where Hezbollah has been firing missiles and rockets into northern Israel, why now?
Well, the Biden administration has been conducting shuttle diplomacy since October, November of last year, but it has been unsuccessful. It’s been unsuccessful because one of the combatants in this conflict is a non-state actor, and you’re not going to interact. You’re not going to negotiate with them.
And the Lebanese state has does not have the ability to kind of enforce any settlement or any agreement. Now, kind of when, you know, Hezbollah’s feet are kind of put to the fire here, then the situation has somewhat changed. The situation has intensified.
And I think it’s a lot to do with this Biden diplomatic initiative, this, I should say, this Biden foreign policy initiative of kind of defending and then diplomacy. So they give Israel this opportunity to defend itself, but then they expect, you know, a diplomatic resolution. There’s no resolution with groups like this.
Hezbollah doesn’t want to coexist with an Israeli state. It’s not looking to compromise or at least not looking to compromise in the long term. And what these attempts at negotiations and settlements have been is basically appeasement, just very temporary.
So, for example, two years ago, there was a heightened tension along the Lebanese-Israeli border in regards to dispute over the maritime boundary and the gas fields in the Mediterranean. And Hezbollah threatened to provoke a war, attack Israeli infrastructure, and the Biden administration kind of rushed in and tried to resolve the discrepancy or tensions. And they made a settlement, but the settlement has lasted, what, a year or two, and we’re back to kind of square one here, where Hezbollah is deciding to act in its own interests.
So is Israel on the path to actually preserve peace and tranquility for the region by the elimination of Hamas’ leadership and their capacity?
I mean, it’s a path to peace that’s going to require, I think, a great deal of destruction and fighting, at least in the short term. Having spent time in Lebanon, a lot of my colleagues, a lot of my friends are not fans of the organization, so they will be happy to see this organization go. Whether that’s the case and how that’s going to happen, I think is kind of the million dollar question or the very challenging policy or agenda to pursue there.
Do you see another way to have a managed peace in that region?
Unless the Lebanese step up, no. I think the Israelis have to take matters into their own hands here and degrade the organization considerably in order to be able to have a semblance of security of peace along their northern border. But the Lebanese state is incapable of enforcing any agreement.
So we could have a ceasefire here and then three months, six months from now, the problem will spring back up. The one thing I think often gets overlooked in this recent development or developments is that Hezbollah is trying to be able to leverage the Palestinian conflict here. And if Israel doesn’t keep these two conflicts, the conflict in Gaza and the conflict in Lebanon separate, then Hezbollah going forward will have this ability to kind of attack Israel when they feel that the Israelis are not dealing with the Palestinians properly.
The United States is actually helping try to combine those two, are they not?
Yes, I think this is the wrong policy here. I think the Biden administration should allow the Israelis to do what they’re doing here for the moment.
All right, Dr. Eric bordenkircher, I want to thank you for joining us. I always appreciate your insights, and I’m sure given where we are on this issue, we’re going to be talking about it a lot more in the days ahead.
My pleasure.
Thanks for having me.
Well, folks, another reason to pray, and we’re going to be talking about the situation in Israel next week. We’re going to have a panel discussion on that. We’re going to talk more about that next.
So don’t go away. More Washington Watch coming up.
America was a bright light until the culture gave into darkness. But we won’t. We’re in a battle for the soul of our nation between right and wrong, between truth and lies.
At a time when the mainstream media is blocking Americans from truth, millions are searching for a source of trustworthy news that shines a light in the darkness. At this time of great need, FRC is lighting the way forward. For 40 years, Family Research Council and its partners have stood together to advance and defend Biblical truth in government and culture.
Between our flagship broadcast program, Washington Watch with Tony Perkins, to our news outlet, The Washington Stand, FRC is providing believers across the country with news they can trust from a Biblical worldview. When you stand with FRC, you help light the way forward for America and the next generation. Go to frc.org/give.
If you’re a young adult passionate about seeing Biblical values champion in our country, check out Family Research Council’s internship program. This three-month program is both a discipleship and development opportunity where you get to take part in truly meaningful work and help advance faith, family, and freedom in public policy and our culture. Featuring hands-on experience, Biblical worldview training, free housing, and more, this internship is a great opportunity for spiritual and professional development.
Check out frc.org/internships to apply today.
As a congressman, Jody Heiss witnessed firsthand how the gradual erosion of congressional integrity has crippled America’s faith in its most essential institutions. His newly released book, Sacred Trust, Election Integrity, and the Will of the People, sounds the alarm on the attempts of career bureaucrats to subvert our elections and provide solutions to make every vote count. Help preserve election integrity and order Sacred Trust today wherever books are sold.
This is Washington Watch, I’m Tony Perkins. Good to have you with us. The website, tonyperkins.com.
Be sure and check it out. Also, we’re gonna, in just a few moments, we’re gonna be talking with Pastor Jack Hibbs. Calvary-Champlet-Chino Hills are gonna be talking about next week’s PreVote Stand Summit.
He’s gonna be a part of that. I hope you will as well. You can go to prevotestand.org to find out more about that topic.
By the way, let me just, we’re waiting to connect with our next guest. Let me give you a rundown of some of the topics we’re gonna be talking about. I just mentioned in this last segment, Israel.
We’re gonna have a panel on Israel, Daniel Cohen. You may know him. He’s been with Newsmax over the Middle East.
He’s gonna be at the summit. Dr. AJ. Nolte, who is a frequent guest on the program, as well as Michelle Bachman.
We’re gonna be talking about Israel. We’re gonna be doing a panel discussion on that. And also, we’re gonna be talking about how to understand the times and what is taking place today from a biblical perspective.
That’s gonna be, I think, a fascinating panel. Andrew Brunson, who most of you know, he was the pastor held in Turkey. He’s now working on the staff at the Family Research Council.
Pastor Jack Hibbs will be on that panel, as well as Vodi Bachman will be on that panel as we discuss. Understanding the times and looking at world events through a biblical lens. We’re gonna have Dr. Ben Carson, Mike Huckabee, Pastor Carter Conlon from Times Square Church is going to be with us, as well as Bishop Vincent Matthews.
Now, we’ll talk more about that in the next segment when Jack Hibbs, my battle buddy, joins me. But I want to talk about something else alarming, a story that was in the Wall Street Journal today. So, for 25 years, Family Watch International has promoted the family as the fundamental unit of society by working to preserve traditional marriage, safeguard parental rights, uphold religious liberty, and protect the health and innocence of children.
Sounds like Family Research Council. Yeah, well, there are some other organizations out there doing it as well. But for FWI’s work, they’ve been focused internationally.
And that’s a really important place to focus. They’ve worked in Africa in particular, where the Biden-Harris administration has made the LGBTQ agenda a central plank of its African policy. Even withholding foreign aid to nations that resist this ideological push.
Now, many of these nations are very religious, believe it or not, and they don’t want this. In fact, well, I don’t want to go there, but there is a strong religious revival taking place in many of these countries. And they’re resistant to this even when the carrot was being put out there with US funding.
Now, they’re using a stick. So, the Wall Street Journal ran a hit piece on the Family Watch International, suggesting the organization is to blame for laws passed by sovereign African nations, while also drawing connections for guilt by association. Joining out to discuss this is Sharon Slater, president of Family Watch International.
Sharon, welcome to Washington Watch.
Oh, thank you, Tony. It’s such an honor to be with you.
Well, first off, let me say thank you for the outstanding work you’ve done for a quarter of a century, promoting the family, promoting these core values that we know that it’s what made America, enabled America to be great, and other nations are pursuing the same path, but we now have policy coming out of this administration, it was in the Obama administration, penalizing these countries. So I’m puzzled by the Wall Street Journal. Many people think that’s a conservative publication, but I have to say what I read, it sounded and read like a hit piece.
It definitely was a hit piece and it’s part of an orchestrated hit pieces on me that are coming through multiple media sources. What they’re doing is they’re trying to silence me. They want to censor our message because we have been helping these governments at the United Nations and in their own countries in the developing world to identify the radical comprehensive sexuality education agenda that’s on the ground and they’re going after their children.
We have so much evidence and we’ve been so successful in rallying nations of the United Nations to oppose comprehensive sexuality education and rallying religious leaders and parliamentarians and senators and congressmen in developing countries to root out these programs that they’re targeting me to try to silence me. I’d love to take a minute if you want later to tell you how bad these programs are. They’re unreal.
Well, we’ve just got a couple of minutes left. We had some technical issues there. But talk about that.
But then also let people know how they can find out more about your organization.
Thank you. I appreciate that. So comprehensive sexuality education, you can go to our website at stopcse.org.
That’s comprehensivesexualityeducation.org.
There you’ll find all the evidence of what they’re trying to teach children all across the world and even here in the United States. It’s not just abroad. And we are the number one organization exposing these programs.
I’ll just tell you about one specifically. This is an example. One that has the logo of UNFPA, the United Nations Fund for Population and Activity.
The European Union, multiple different governments in Europe have their logos on this manual. It actually separates children from their parents’ values and then teaches them that they need to learn about bestiality, necrophilia. That’s sexual pleasure with dead people, urophilia, with feces, with you.
I mean, this agenda is so insidious that we are not going to stop. It doesn’t matter how many articles are written to attack us, to try to silence us. And now they’re even trying to tie us into the Russians.
Right.
I don’t know. Even the FBI came to my house last year to try to find some connection with the Russians. It’s ridiculous.
It’s really absurd.
Sharon, unfortunately, we’re out of time, but we’re going to continue this conversation another time because I appreciate the work you’re doing and I want people to know how vicious those on the left are to try to protect what they’re doing to our children. Thanks for joining us and we’ll be back in touch. Folks, don’t go away.
We’re back after this.
The news reflects the world we live in, but it also shapes it. Like it or not, what we learn about the world on a daily basis impacts our thinking, our worldview, and ultimately our action. So much of today’s media is built on a shaky foundation that could send us hurling toward harmful ideas and hopeless solutions.
Family Research Council created the Washington Stand to be a news outlet that speaks from a firm foundation. Bringing you news, commentary, and analysis of what’s happening in America and around the world, the Washington Stand is unapologetically biblical and uncompromisingly committed to truth. Equip yourself for the world we live in with a biblical worldview found daily at the Washington Stand.
Find us at washingtonstand.com. That’s washingtonstand.com.
America was a bright light, until the culture gave into darkness. But we won’t. We’re in a battle for the soul of our nation, between right and wrong, between truth and lies.
At a time when the mainstream media is blocking Americans from truth, millions are searching for a source of trustworthy news that shines a light in the darkness. At this time of great need, FRC is lighting the way forward. For 40 years, Family Research Council and its partners have stood together to advance and defend biblical truth in government and culture.
Between our flagship broadcast program Washington Watch with Tony Perkins to our news outlet, The Washington Stand, FRC is providing believers across the country with news they can trust from a biblical worldview. When you stand with FRC, you help light the way forward for America and the next generation. Go to frc.org/give.
If you’re a young adult passionate about seeing biblical values champion in our country, check out Family Research Council’s internship program. This three-month program is both a discipleship and development opportunity where you get to take part in truly meaningful work and help advance faith, family and freedom in public policy and our culture. Featuring hands-on experience, biblical worldview training, free housing and more, this internship is a great opportunity for spiritual and professional development.
Check out frc.org/internships to apply today.
As a congressman, Jody Heiss witnessed firsthand how the gradual erosion of congressional integrity has crippled America’s faith in its most essential institutions. His newly released book, Sacred Trust, Election Integrity and the Will of the People, sounds the alarm on the attempts of career bureaucrats to subvert our elections and provide solutions to make every vote count. Help preserve election integrity and order Sacred Trust today wherever books are sold.
All right, folks, welcome back. You can find the website that Sharon made reference to at tonyperkins.com. We had some technical issues getting her audio connected, so our interview there was a little bit short.
We’re going to get her back on to talk about this. I think it’s very important to understand and hear. You know, the proverb says that we should hear both sides of a matter before we make a decision.
And the media is out there, and they’re running these attacks, and sometimes from what we would consider legitimate sources. I mean, the Wall Street Journal is one that I have a fair amount of trust in, not total, but some. And this was a vicious attack, linking her, she made reference to it, linking her to Russia.
And just because Russia is involved, what’s happening is that as the United States pushes this LGBTQ abortion agenda on these very religious countries in Africa. And by the way, the Methodist Church would have been a long been gone a lot sooner had it not been for the bishops in Africa that held to biblical positions. So I don’t want you to get the wrong idea about Africa.
There is a strong, strong spiritual foundation there in many parts of that continent and there is spiritual revival taking place in many of those countries. And so they’re upholding biblical truth in government policy. I don’t agree with everything that they do, but probably agree with more of what they’re doing than what our own government is doing.
So these attacks, you need to get both sides and understand what’s going on. So I’m going to get Sharon back on. We’re going to talk about that.
All right. Our word for today comes from 1 Kings chapter 8. So the Lord has fulfilled his word, which he spoke, and I have fulfilled the position of my father, David, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and I have built a temple for the name of the Lord God of Israel.
See, God had fulfilled the word he had given David. God’s promises are not fulfilled according to our timeline and often, not even in our lifetimes. David did not see the temple that God promised to have built, but David was committed to doing his part by gathering the plans and materials that his son would need.
As followers of Jesus and servants in his kingdom, we will not see the kingdom of God fully established in this life, but we are helping to build it, one soul at a time. We will eventually see it, but for now, like David, we need to be eager, working for what we cannot see. To find out more about our journey through the Bible, go to frc.org/bible or text Bible to 67742.
As I was talking about, we are just one week away from the Pray Vote Stand Summit here in Washington DC. I would tell you it’s an opportunity to pray for our nation, and I think one of the most critical junctures in our nation’s history. We can engage, we can prepare for the election, but as I have said repeatedly, you’re mistaken if you think an election is going to solve America’s problems.
It could make it worse if the election doesn’t go the right way, but it’s not going to solve our problems. Our problems are spiritual, therefore we have to have a continual presence in influencing our government, our community, and we do that by standing firm on our faith. Joining me now to discuss this, Pastor Jack Hibbs, Senior Pastor Calvary Chapel, Chino Hills, and he is going to be with us next week at the Pray Vote Stand Summit.
He is the author of Living in Days of Deception, How to Discern Truth from Culture’s Lies published earlier this year. Pastor Jack, welcome back to the program.
Tony, it’s great to be with you. God bless you. I can’t wait to see you next week.
Yeah, you are going to be over here on the East Coast for about a whole week. So, why do you… Let me just talk…
Let me just jump right into it. As a pastor, you’ve got… And you’ve got a large church, you’ve got a lot of responsibilities.
Why involve yourself in cultural and political matters?
Oh, because I’m alive, because I’m an American, because I have grandchildren, because I have a congregation, but most of all, because I’m a Christian. Tony, I do not see any separation of what is sacred from what is secular. It’s all sacred to God.
Wherever the soles of our feet go, Tony, we are to be bearers of light. And brother, I’m telling you that we got into the mess that we’re in, not because we’re trying to build a kingdom on earth. We are not what we’re being labeled as these Christian nationalists, whatever that means.
But we are to shine the light of the gospel and the gospel truth. And according to 2 Corinthians 10 verse six, we are supposed to actually, by our obedience to Christ, punish disobedience. And so when we shine that light, it causes disobedience to recoil.
Well, we are to be of that salt and that light to the culture. So I see no separation when it comes to where should the Christian be a Christian? The answer is everywhere at all times.
I mean, we contend with the lawlessness by our righteousness. We adhere to the truth of God’s word as the lawlessness. When I talk about lawlessness, I’m not just talking about breaking the speed limit.
I’m talking about rejecting the truth of God, which we see happening at every level of government today.
It’s exactly correct. Isaiah chapter 10 verse 1 says, woe unto those who write misfortune and for those who prescribe bad laws for the people. You think about that right now as though Isaiah lived in Sacramento when he wrote that, you know.
We have to call these things out. We represent the kingdom of heaven. Our politics is heaven.
But until we get to heaven, we are supposed to be, as CS. Lewis put it, we are actually the ones that are occupying enemy territory. CS.
Lewis talked about how this world has been commandeered by Satan, but God’s got a plan. And you and I are in that plan of redeeming and rescuing people. And all the while, we are commanded to do righteousness.
So where did this idea come from that we’re supposed to be timid and quiet and just to kind of, you know, don’t create any conflict, just go along and get along?
You know, from the same spirit that said, Jesus, we command you. Tell these people to be quiet. And Jesus said, I tell you right now, if I were to tell them to be quiet, these very stones would cry out.
That intimidation came from Satan himself and those who worked for him. Think about it. It’s Christian, be silent.
By all means, pay your taxes. But you can’t say anything. Be good citizens, as long as you do what we say.
Listen, our own governor, preach the gospel, but don’t let it go beyond the four walls of your church. No, we must obey God rather than man, when it comes to these areas where God is being challenged by the deification of man. I mean, we’ve got government schools now that think they rule and reign.
I mean, Tony, you know, 26 members of Congress sanctioned or rebuked my prayer, condemned my prayer when I was praying to the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of America. They must have thought I was praying to them.
So we see this, as you’ve just described, there is a spirit behind this. It comes from the father of lies. There is a epic battle that is raging over our country and literally around the globe.
We’re seeing this playing out in the Middle East and we’re going to talk about that next week. One of our panel discussions is going to be understanding what’s happening in Israel, past, present and future. We’re going to be talking about understanding the times.
How do we see what is happening today in light of scripture? I think we’re way past the idea that somehow we can figure all this out on our own. We’ve got to go to the word of God.
If there was ever a time that we need to be in the word, on the word, promoting the word, standing on the word, proclaiming the word, it is now. It is the… I’m going to say this, and I believe you’ll agree, because you and I have had this conversation many times.
It’s the only hope for our nation.
Oh, yeah. There’s no doubt about it. In fact, no matter how this election goes, God is still in control.
He’s not in any way swayed or influenced by the election results. In fact, he knows the results before they even happened. The point is that it’s coming down to this tone, and you see it, where people need to be biblically based with a foundation that cannot crumble, or they are going to completely implode with a sense of hopelessness.
Things are getting… there’s no more gray zone. Have you noticed there’s no more gray?
I tell you, in California, the gray is gone. You are either a follower of Messiah, Christ, Jesus, or you’re not. There’s no place to hide in California, which I love, by the way.
But the answer is going to be the church. The church filled with the Word of God and the Holy spirit is the only answer, because let’s be honest, it doesn’t matter if Trump gets elected and does all of his promises, it doesn’t change the human heart. Now, do we hope that he gets elected?
Sure, of course. I want to see less babies die. But Trump’s not going to change the human heart.
The human heart can only be changed by the power of God, and the power of God, Jesus said, is the Holy spirit using the Word of God.
Right. But the policies of one administration versus the other, increasingly we’re seeing this, will either hinder, stop, or allow that word to go forth in our society. And we see this in red states, where we have states now that are reposting after about 40 years, the Ten Commandments in classrooms.
They’re allowing the Bible back in school. And so there are good things that are happening in pockets around the country. But it’s only because Christians are stepping out, number one, voting.
And I just have some polling data I just got that shows what you and I have talked about. The enthusiasm for this election is lower than usual. There’s a lot of frustration on both sides with the candidates, with their lack of embracing some of the issues that we care about.
But our responsibility is, I mean, first off, as Americans, we have a right to vote, all right? We’ve been given that. It’s unique.
We should cherish it. But as Christians, we have a responsibility to vote because it’s a part of being salt and light. So it really doesn’t matter if we like who’s on the ballot, we agree with them.
We have to do the hard work of discerning who most closely aligns with biblical truth. And then we need to go vote regardless.
Tony, I don’t know if I’ll upset any of your viewers right now, but I would love to be corrected on this. As believers, if God’s going to hold me responsible for every idle word that comes from my mouth, that God is concerned about how I spend my money, that the same would be true regarding the incredible liberty and freedom that has been given to me by God in a constitutional republic to cast my vote. I have, and every believer has, the responsibility to vote.
It’s not even an option. We must vote. Why?
Because it is an opportunity that God gave us in this republic to make a difference. Will we vote for less babies being killed or not? That’s what it comes down to for me.
And somebody might say, well, there’s some candidates in my particular county or district that neither one of them are believers. We’re not even talking about believers. We’re not, and by the way, we’re not voting for a messiah or a pastor.
We’re voting for those that are called politicians, meaning, will this person represent my world view? Which one will come closest to that? Maybe you’ve only got a fraction of a difference between the two.
That’s enough. Take your biblical, God-given responsibility to vote and vote. Whatever you do, do not bury it or put it under a basket.
It won’t turn out well for you.
Right. If whether we eat or drink, do all to the glory of God, I believe we will give an account. Because when you look at the policies that we’ve seen, and I’m not going to say just this administration, although this administration is horrible, but we had Barack Obama, we had Bill Clinton, and it’s got increasingly worse.
And I think that in part is because of a complacent church. But we can’t say, well, you know what? I’m not paying my taxes anymore because this government supports abortion.
Well, did you vote? Did you run for office? Did you support candidates who ran for office?
See, we want to take the easy way out, the exit. We can’t take the exit. We’re to occupy.
We’ve got to be involved. We’ve got to do the hard work. And that means we’ve got to study the candidates and we’ve got resources available at frcaction.org, voter guides that show you where the candidates stand on the issue.
They may not be perfect, and they probably won’t be. I mean, there’s no perfect. There’s only one perfect person, it’s Jesus, and he’s not going to stand for election.
He’s going to be king, but he’s not going to stand for election. But it’s time for Christians to give up their apathy and put on the whole armor of God and assume the position that God has told us to take, and that is to stand for truth, for his truth, and not back down.
Wow. Tony, you mentioned something earlier about apathy that’s causing people to have a low voter enthusiasm at this time. I want to say something that you’ve never heard on your program before, and it is this.
I have a very low enthusiasm level regarding our nation nationally as the vote goes, but my enthusiasm has never been stronger and higher than for California. It’s unbelievable what’s happening in California. We have an incredible level of energy up and down the state of California, and we’ve hit rock bottom and the believers are waking up, people are registering to vote.
We have people registering to vote every week, 52 weeks a year here at church, and it is just going fantastic. I don’t know what’s going to happen nationally, but locally and statewide, I wouldn’t be surprised if California shocks the nation.
Well, let’s pray that that happens. Pastor Jack Hibbs, my battle buddy, only got about 30 seconds left. RealLife Network is going to be carrying the summit next week, so folks can download the real life app and watch.
What are you going to be sharing next week?
I’m going to be sharing whatever you tell me to share, Tony. No, I’m kidding. I’m going to be sharing about how our Biblical response should be in all areas of our life.
It shouldn’t come with the anomaly of an election. It should be a constant. Our Biblical response based on a point, a Biblical worldview knowledge should be consistent in the world in which we live in day after day, year after year.
Exactly what we need to hear, because as you and I both said, this election is not going to solve our problems. We have a lot of work to do. And leaving the field is not an option.
Pastor Jack Hibbs, thanks for joining us. Look forward to being with you next week.
Amen, Tony.
All right. And folks, there’s still time to register and come and be a part of it. You’re not going to be a spectator.
You’re going to be a participant. We’re going to be praying for our nation. We’re going to have some fantastic, encouraging, inspiring and challenging conversations.
So come join us. All right. Until next time, I leave you with the words of the Apostle Paul who says, when you’ve done everything you could do, when you prayed, prepared and taken your stand.
By all means, keep standing.
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.
