Guest Host, Alex McFarland, is joined by Pastor Paul Blair of Liberty Church in Orlando and Troy Miller, President & CEO of National Religious Broadcasters

Transcribed with OpenAI Whisper (base.en). Timestamps are approximate. Lightly cleaned for readability; quotations from on-air callers may include filler words. Use the audio player above for the authoritative recording.

1. 0:00Darkness is not an affirmative force.
2. 0:02It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
3. 0:06This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
4. 0:10It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
5. 0:15Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
6. 0:18And the philosophies of this world.
7. 0:20God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
8. 0:24Even in this dark moment.
9. 0:26Let's not miss our moment.
10. 0:28and now, the Hamilton Corner.
11. 0:33What should be the role of the pastor, the pulpit, and the church when it comes to politics and
12. 0:40the culture?
13. 0:41Hi, Alex McFarland here.
14. 0:42Very honored that you're listening.
15. 0:44You are listening to the American Family Radio Network, and I'm honored to be sitting in for
16. 0:49Attorney, Pastor, and journalist Abe Hamilton III.
17. 0:53I have the privilege of being the frequent guest host here on the Hamilton Corner, and
18. 0:57We have a lot of guests and great opinion makers and leaders of our day and we've got just
19. 1:03such a person with us right now.
20. 1:06When it comes to the issue of the pastorate and the pulpit, should ministers speak about
21. 1:13moral social political issues to their congregants?
22. 1:18I was just on a show with Fox News and I was debating a more left-leaning pastor who was
23. 1:24really reprimanding me as a Christian and as a minister speaking about political issues.
24. 1:30But I can think of no better voice to solicit their opinion on this than Pastor Paul Blair.
25. 1:35He is the longtime pastor of Fairview Baptist Church in Oklahoma. He's been a leader, an author,
26. 1:41and a voice, I would say, from moral and spiritual truth in our culture for many years. And to really
27. 1:49way in on this question about should Christians and even ministers insert themselves into the
28. 1:55political discourse, Pastor Paul Blair is our guest right now. Pastor Blair, thank you
29. 2:01for being with us and I would say even more importantly, thank you for what you do for
30. 2:04our country. Well, Alex, it's always enjoyed here from you and it's my privilege to be
31. 2:10on with you today. I mean, I'm happy to have this conversation because it's not even a
32. 2:15complicated question to be honest with you.
33. 2:19Yeah.
34. 2:20You and I are both ministers.
35. 2:22I have been a pastor.
36. 2:24You are a pastor.
37. 2:25And I know our first most primary call is to the Lord Jesus in his word.
38. 2:31But you and I both, we speak and write and make our voice heard about political issues.
39. 2:38Some say that's not only inappropriate, it's a bad thing.
40. 2:43What do you say to the person that asks why you as a pastor care about politics?
41. 2:52Well this is the question.
42. 2:53Of course Alex, we have done 20 in what we call Liberty Pastors Training Camps and we have
43. 2:58trained over 2,000 pastors across America because quite frankly we have been taught
44. 3:05wrong and we start with this question with pastors.
45. 3:09We say, what part of your life is Jesus not the Lord over?
46. 3:13And all of us know instinctively, and all of us answer out of habit, Jesus is Lord of
47. 3:19all.
48. 3:20Well, yes, he is.
49. 3:21So where in the world did we get this idea that we are supposed to compartmentalize our
50. 3:27lives and that certain subjects are not allowed to be talked about in church?
51. 3:32The reality is, as pastors, we are commissioned to make disciples.
52. 3:37And when we look back at the history of Christianity, the reality is we have to recognize that
53. 3:42Christianity was birthed out of Judaism.
54. 3:45And we had a very Jewish worldview.
55. 3:48And of course, to the Jew, there was no distinction between the material world and the spiritual
56. 3:53world.
57. 3:54God created it all.
58. 3:56And as the apostle Paul said, we're supposed to glorify God in all that we do.
59. 4:02However, after the death of John the beloved,
60. 4:04who was the last living apostle,
61. 4:06and as we got into that next century,
62. 4:08and as the Gentile Greek culture began,
63. 4:14of course the church was predominantly Gentile,
64. 4:17rather than Jewish, as we had been for much
65. 4:19of the first 100 years,
66. 4:21well, the Greek thinking, platonic thought,
67. 4:25of Gnostic thought entered into Christianity.
68. 4:28The idea of compartmentalizing your life
69. 4:30in the material world and the spiritual world
70. 4:33and of course that has infiltrated and affected christianity even today
71. 4:37the idea that we are to compartmentalize our lives in the certain things that we
72. 4:41can talk about in church
73. 4:43and certain things we can talk about in church
74. 4:45well that's nonsense
75. 4:47you know the bible talks about everything from economics
76. 4:50to sexuality
77. 4:52to family government to church government to civil government
78. 4:57so as a as a
79. 4:59Apologists, you know, of course we look to Scripture, we look to the facts for the basis of our faith.
80. 5:04The fact of the empty tomb is the reason that I'm a Christian.
81. 5:08But likewise, as a Christ follower, I want to look to the Word of God for instruction on how I should live my life in every area of life.
82. 5:19So the reality is there's nothing off limits.
83. 5:22And pastors should be making 24-7 disciples, not just Sunday morning disciples.
84. 5:28and how we handle money should be different.
85. 5:31Our home lives should look different.
86. 5:34How we raise our children should be different.
87. 5:36Our sexual proclivity should be different.
88. 5:39And how we engage the world of civil government
89. 5:41should be different.
90. 5:43And as you look through the Bible
91. 5:44and you go all the way back into ancient Israel,
92. 5:47obviously the intention of civil government
93. 5:50was to punish evil and to protect the good
94. 5:53that we may live peaceably in all godliness.
95. 5:56That was always the intention.
96. 5:58And even in the days of King David and King Solomon,
97. 6:01everything, the government justice was supposed to be blind.
98. 6:05No favoritism to the rich or to the poor.
99. 6:09No conviction without two or three witnesses.
100. 6:11I mean, the purpose and intention of civil government
101. 6:16from a biblical worldview is well thought through
102. 6:19and well taught in the scripture.
103. 6:21And quite frankly, we have just been the beneficiaries
104. 6:26of enjoying the blessings of liberty in America.
105. 6:30So these last hundred, hundred and fifty years,
106. 6:33we have gotten more and more lazy
107. 6:35when it comes to this area.
108. 6:37But you go and look at the foundation.
109. 6:39Yeah, go ahead with that.
110. 6:41You were talking about the really the kind of sacred secular
111. 6:45divide that Greek philosophy brought in.
112. 6:48Maybe in church on Sunday, that's my sacred space,
113. 6:52but Monday through Saturday, I live in the secular world.
114. 6:55We know that's false.
115. 6:57Do you think here in America, and look, I love America,
116. 7:00I love the church, but have we been taught
117. 7:05a less than complete gospel?
118. 7:08This idea that we pray a prayer,
119. 7:11and then the rest of our life we just live,
120. 7:14like we wanna live, I mean, Jesus is to be Lord of all.
121. 7:18I think about in Matthew 28, 20, the Great Commission
122. 7:22where he says, teaching them to observe all things, what sort of off-command.
123. 7:29A more robust, more fully-orbed gospel shouldn't it tell us that we are his representatives in
124. 7:36the fight of light over darkness here in this fallen world.
125. 7:40The complete gospel really should engage our whole life for the cause of truth and ultimately
126. 7:46the cause of the gospel.
127. 7:49doubt Alex and as we look at it, Colossians tells us that we are created by him and for
128. 7:56him. Revelation 4 tells us that we are created by him and for his glory. The reality is the
129. 8:03church in America think that God was created to serve us. And I too am concerned with what
130. 8:10you said. We have no holiness in the Christian life anymore. And you look back at the followers
131. 8:17of the Most High God, from Genesis all the way through revelation.
132. 8:22Holiness was supposed to be something that permeated our lives and certainly was demonstrated
133. 8:29in every facet of our life.
134. 8:31And I'm with you.
135. 8:33Salvation truly is just a heart-scry away.
136. 8:37It truly is just as the thief on the cross cried out and said, Lord, remember me when you
137. 8:41enter into your kingdom.
138. 8:43However, I think we've systematized it and made it so simple in America that we think all we have to do is pray that quote unquote
139. 8:50Sinners prayer and we're going to heaven well
140. 8:53I got to tell you if someone has no evidence of growth in them if there's no
141. 8:59Lordship of Jesus in their life if there's no no evidence that they are followers of Christ
142. 9:05But I doubt very seriously they are in fact followers of Christ
143. 9:09So I think that that is an error that we have made in the American church.
144. 9:14We have systematized what it means to be sold out for Jesus.
145. 9:19When Jesus said, be willing to lose your own life for mine,
146. 9:23or you're willing to deny your own parents even for the sake of me.
147. 9:26We've made it so simple.
148. 9:28You just pray the center's prayer, and then you can live life how you want to.
149. 9:32Don't have to worry about it, because once they've always saved.
150. 9:35say. Well the reality is that once you come face to face with the resurrected
151. 9:41glorified Christ just like the Apostle Paul, just like Thomas, it's going to
152. 9:47transform your life. And if you are a follower of Jesus, there should be evidence
153. 9:52that you are a follower of Jesus. Amen. Pastor Paul, you played professional
154. 9:58football and America right now. I mean we're just weeks away from the 2024 election. Compare
155. 10:08this to a football game. Final moments of the fourth quarter, third or fourth down. I mean
156. 10:16if the football game championship analogy were applied to America, describe that for
157. 10:22for us. Could you? Well, I played in several games. I played a game in Gator Bowl against
158. 10:30South Carolina in college in 1984 and then played a division championship game against
159. 10:36Minnesota in 1987. Both times we had to drive the field and win the game on the last series
160. 10:43as time was running out. And I would say that's where we're at right now. I mean, we have been
161. 10:48behind because we've become well, when there's no holiness, there's no fear of God in America
162. 10:53anymore. We've got 350,000 churches, but the churches have no impact on the culture. We have a lot of
163. 11:01Sunday morning Christians. And frankly, we are about to lose what we have enjoyed for these last
164. 11:09248 years. And you know, Alex, think about it, we're the only Christians in history that haven't been
165. 11:15persecuted because of our faith. And the fact is that goes back to the influence of the pilgrims and
166. 11:21and the role that Christianity played in the formation
167. 11:25of what were originally the colonies that became the states.
168. 11:29But I would say there's about a minute left on the clock
169. 11:33and we're behind by six,
170. 11:35and we are driving the football right now
171. 11:38and we're at about midfield.
172. 11:40And we have a chance to save the country.
173. 11:43We have a chance to score a touchdown and save the country.
174. 11:46And understand that Donald Trump
175. 11:48is not the permanent answer.
176. 11:50Donald Trump will just be a stay against communism.
177. 11:54He will be a temporary reprieve
178. 11:57from where we are currently heading.
179. 11:59But if the church doesn't awaken,
180. 12:02if we don't have a genuine fire from heaven,
181. 12:05Spirit-filled revival where Christians fear God once again.
182. 12:11And then we impact the culture around us.
183. 12:15Unless we see that kind of revival,
184. 12:17we're gonna lose the country.
185. 12:19As John Adams said as our first president, he said,
186. 12:22our Constitution, we're different from others.
187. 12:25Our Constitution is made only for a moral and religious people.
188. 12:30It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other.
189. 12:33And I would say to you, Alex, we are neither moral nor are we
190. 12:37religious.
191. 12:38So why we think our Constitution can hold even now
192. 12:44should be with great question and great concern for all of us.
193. 12:48but it's not too late.
194. 12:50God always does his greatest work
195. 12:52when the Hebrews are backed up against the Red Sea.
196. 12:54That's when God shows up.
197. 12:56We've got a chance right now.
198. 12:58We've got a chance right now.
199. 12:59So hopefully the church will awaken, vote right,
200. 13:02and then start acting right.
201. 13:04Amen.
202. 13:05Amen.
203. 13:06For those just tuning in,
204. 13:07we're talking with Pastor Paul K. Blair,
205. 13:09who was named Oklahoma Pastor of the Year,
206. 13:12not too many years ago.
207. 13:13And he's the founder and leader
208. 13:15of the Liberty Pastors Network.
209. 13:16there's also Liberty Church in Florida. Hey, I've got a lot to ask you, but give us website
210. 13:24or websites where where can people find you online, Pastor Paul?
211. 13:27We invite people to go to LibertyNetwork.live. If you go to LibertyNetwork.live, you've got access
212. 13:36there to our church in Edmonton, to our church in Orlando, and then also our Liberty Pastures
213. 13:43training camp. In fact, we've got Liberty Pastors University. We've got free education there for
214. 13:49anyone that wants to go through what we teach pastors. As we teach pastors to think biblically
215. 13:56about the realm of civil government and what the Bible has to say about economics,
216. 14:00that's there free online for anybody to go through that certificate training. So we invite them to
217. 14:06visit the website libertynetwork.live and have access to all that information.
218. 14:11We've got a brief break.
219. 14:13Alex McFarland here, you're listening to the American Family Radio Network.
220. 14:16I would also refer people on my own website, AlexMcFarland.com.
221. 14:21We're just coming off seven summer youth camps, 1,200 teenagers, and we have written
222. 14:27a first time voters guide for a lot of teens, college kids that are reaching voting age,
223. 14:34AlexMcFarland.com.
224. 14:36If you haven't voted in a while, I would urge you to read it as well.
225. 14:40Stay tuned.
226. 14:41and more with Pastor Paul Blair after this on the American Family Radio Network.
227. 14:46Deuteronomy 6 verses 4 through 8 direct us to display scripture in our homes and other places.
228. 15:06It says you should decorate with the Word of God and that you are to fill your hearts and minds with these words.
229. 15:12There's no greater cause than for those of us who know Christ to share Him and God's Word.
230. 15:17God's Word.
231. 15:18Get the full article, God's Word on Display by Joseph Parker on thestand.net and join
232. 15:24the movement to put God's Word on Display at 10laws.us.
233. 15:29Shiting Light into the Darkness, this is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
234. 15:42Welcome back to the program, Alex McFarland.
235. 15:44So honored to be with you and always just a privilege to be speaking with Pastor Paul
236. 15:49Blair.
237. 15:50is one of these guys that you want to listen to everything he has to say. By the way, he
238. 15:55is an author. He wrote, not blind faith, the verifiable evidence that God exists and Jesus
239. 16:01rose from the dead. And also where the church went wrong that speaks about the compartmentalization
240. 16:08of the Christian faith. And Paul, thank you for being with us on the program. More importantly,
241. 16:13thank you for what you're doing for our country. You know, just an hour ago before you and I
242. 16:18were on the radio, I was talking with a pastor from Minnesota who basically would stand against
243. 16:28about 99% of everything you and I would stand for. Now, George Barna says there are like 500,000
244. 16:37ordained ministers in America. Over the last 25 years, here's my question. You call it
245. 16:43liberal work whatever have the clergy
246. 16:47hurt america over the last quarter century
247. 16:50uh... i mean have all these pastors
248. 16:53really almost been a net negative paul
249. 16:58i would say absolutely i mean we've we've gone into the secret chintz
250. 17:02church movement
251. 17:03uh... we've gone into the mega church movement
252. 17:06and you know clap if you look at the united states you know i survey of the
253. 17:11united states back in two thousand
254. 17:13and we had over eighty percent of the respondents
255. 17:17that would identify as being christian now whether they were not we don't know
256. 17:22however over eighty percent identified as being christian they you go back even
257. 17:26further
258. 17:27in seventeen seventy six
259. 17:29uh... for christian but no me who was a
260. 17:31professor at new york university that did research on the influence of the
261. 17:35clergy during the war for independence
262. 17:38uh... her research so that
263. 17:40at the time of our declaration ninety eight percent of the colonists
264. 17:46were protestant not just christian but identified as protestant christian
265. 17:50so in seventeen seventy six we were ninety eight percent by the way the other two
266. 17:54percent were you or catholic so we were one hundred percent judo christian
267. 18:00uh... you you go almost almost two hundred years to uh... to well actually
268. 18:05you get you go but you know i look over two hundred years to two thousand
269. 18:09and we still had over eighty percent that identified as christian
270. 18:13and now we have plummeted
271. 18:15and these last uh... twenty years to where we now are only about sixty three
272. 18:20percent
273. 18:21uh... that identify as christian
274. 18:23and and quite frankly i think that's because of the we are willing to sacrifice
275. 18:29anything for nickels and noses and numbers we just want people in seats
276. 18:34uh... and we have you know skinny jeans and fog machines and we we no longer
277. 18:39Make disciples we no longer preach the gospel. We're more of a self-help therapeutic weekly
278. 18:4620-minute exercise rather than
279. 18:49falling in love with Jesus
280. 18:52recognizing the facts of our faith and
281. 18:55Then making disciples making followers of Jesus. You know that's what's so interesting when you go back and you look at the
282. 19:03the Jewish culture, the idea of following your rabbi.
283. 19:08You didn't just enroll in seminary or enroll in the Bible
284. 19:13college, you would follow your rabbi.
285. 19:16I mean, you'd find your teacher and you would literally pick up
286. 19:19and follow him.
287. 19:20In fact, there was an old saying that you can tell the maturity
288. 19:23of a student by evaluating the amount of dust he had picked up
289. 19:27on his clothing from following his rabbi so closely.
290. 19:30So the idea when Jesus told the 12 to follow him, that's the idea.
291. 19:36And as Christians, when we identify as being Christian, we know that that word was first
292. 19:42of pejorajim that had been labeled as Christians were labeled as followers of Christ.
293. 19:48Well, that's what we are and we wear that proudly.
294. 19:52And as we said in the first segment, sadly in America, we have redefined Christianity
295. 19:58in the praying of magic prayer that doesn't do anything to a person, doesn't
296. 20:02transform a life. And then we make great Sunday morning Christians. Boy, we are
297. 20:07phenomenal for an hour. We can love my neighbor and do all that for an hour. But
298. 20:12we don't teach people, we don't make disciples anymore. And the reality is
299. 20:17we should be 24-7 Christ followers. Everything we should do should bring glory
300. 20:23to God.
301. 20:25What were your thoughts, Pastor Paul, the opening ceremonies of the Olympics that was, I mean,
302. 20:31clearly, even the Olympic organizers admitted that it was a parody, a mockery of Jesus Christ,
303. 20:39the Apostles, the Last Supper, and it was carried out in an unspeakably blasphemous way.
304. 20:46What was your reaction to that?
305. 20:48Well, Alex, I personally believe, you know, as contologenically, I think we're in the
306. 20:53fourth quarter
307. 20:54you know course whether jesus is that she comes to tonight or whether the
308. 20:58rapture comes in twenty five years
309. 21:00i mean i can't discern that
310. 21:03but you'll call told him at the but
311. 21:05people would uh... would reject sound doctrine is times through more perilous
312. 21:10and i think we are certainly seeing that
313. 21:13uh... and and sadly
314. 21:15you know there's been persecution of christians throughout history
315. 21:19and there's been persecution
316. 21:21of christians around the world even today you know you go to afghanistan or
317. 21:25you go to around or you go to china
318. 21:27and as a christian in two thousand twenty four year in a face persecution
319. 21:30but we in america
320. 21:32we've enjoyed we've been enjoyed the exception
321. 21:35uh... to the rule
322. 21:37and the reality is uh... if our of our popular star christian pop this our
323. 21:42passes with just recognize that
324. 21:44you know for six thousand years the the dominant form the default form of
325. 21:48civil government
326. 21:49has been tyranny we have a strong man
327. 21:52ruling over subjects
328. 21:54but for the last two hundred forty eight years we have enjoyed the exception
329. 21:58where we have citizens
330. 22:00being served by public servants
331. 22:03who are there to secure their unable god given rights
332. 22:07you know there's a tremendous
333. 22:08contrast between being ruled as a subject
334. 22:11and being served at a citizen
335. 22:14but when you look back to the foundation of america you look back at the
336. 22:17pilgrim forefathers that landed in Plymouth.
337. 22:20All of Massachusetts was settled by Puritans.
338. 22:24The term election came from the Biblical foundation.
339. 22:29Once a year, these members of a particular community
340. 22:33would elect their governor, and they would vote for the
341. 22:37most godly representative, hence the elect that they
342. 22:41can entrust to serve them over the next year.
343. 22:44you know and and
344. 22:45not being part of the Anglican Church having come out of the Anglican Church
345. 22:49When then being a top-down rule, you know those local congregations
346. 22:55constituted their own churches and elected their own church government so that was that model in mass
347. 23:02It was a representative government in the church that became our form of government in America
348. 23:09I've got to ask you this and forgive me for interjecting but time fleets away
349. 23:12Okay. How are you encouraging your parishioners to pray, be informed, influence others regarding
350. 23:22this election coming up less than a hundred days away? How are you as a citizen minister,
351. 23:30your churches advising people to approach this upcoming election?
352. 23:34Well, of course, our people are certainly well informed. But, you know, we have been
353. 23:38on top of this. Alex, what we've seen over the last three years and hopefully people are now aware of it.
354. 23:44You know, the whole COVID thing was something that was planned. As a matter of fact, if your audience
355. 23:49would look up event 201 online, you can find that the Gates Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation,
356. 23:55the World Economic Forum actually had a meeting at the Pier Hotel in New York to discuss what their
357. 24:01global response should be if a bats to human novel coronavirus and sweep the world.
358. 24:07and coincidentally a month later the first case of one was announced in Wuhan. So recognize
359. 24:14that this whole thing was orchestrated to get people to through fear and wanting to save their lives,
360. 24:21be willing to give away their liberty. And the whole push has been basically a return to Babel.
361. 24:27You know, they're pushing for global governance. And I would invite people to check out the world
362. 24:32economic forum and see what they're all about.
363. 24:35So many in our own deep state inside the Beltway have sold out.
364. 24:40I mean, whether they've been bribed or blackmailed or whatever.
365. 24:43So, but Donald Trump did not.
366. 24:46I mean, regardless of what you say about him, I've got videos of Trump at the United Nations
367. 24:51and at the World Economic Forum, both rejecting their invitation and saying the future doesn't
368. 24:57rest in hands and globalists, it rests in the hands of patriots.
369. 25:01So there's a reason that Trump had to be removed.
370. 25:03So as far as me, he is not a perfect man, but he is easily the only choice that I can make
371. 25:09in this upcoming vote in 2024.
372. 25:11He will be a temporary reprieve while we get our act together.
373. 25:16Yeah.
374. 25:17Yeah.
375. 25:18And you mentioned that event to a one pandemic exercise.
376. 25:21This was October 18th of 2019.
377. 25:24And I will remember, we don't have time to discuss it now, but I remember February, March
378. 25:29of 2020, how just within about two to three weeks, the world went from barely knowing the
379. 25:38word quarantine to a global shutdown police state.
380. 25:43It was frightening.
381. 25:44Paul Blair, we got to pull away right now, but I appreciate you and one more time, give
382. 25:50your website.
383. 25:51LibertyNetwork.live. All that information is there. Reach out to us. If you have a question,
384. 25:58we'd be happy to help in any way. And Alex, my friend, thank you for having me on. It's
385. 26:02always a joy.
386. 26:03God bless you. Thank you, Paul Blair. Well, this is the American Family Radio Network,
387. 26:07Alex McFarland here. And going to change gears, very, very honored. Somebody I've wanted to
388. 26:12have on for a long time, Troy Miller. He is the president of NRB, the National Religious
389. 26:19broadcasters, which is an organization of which I am a member. American Family Association
390. 26:25is a member as well. It's really the largest gathering of Christian communicators and member
391. 26:33organizations that daily speak into the lives of millions of listeners. And Troy Miller is
392. 26:39also the CEO of NRB Television, which you can find on cable and television systems no matter
393. 26:46where you live in RBTV. Great, great programming. But so much I would love to
394. 26:53converse with him about. I want to get right to it. NRB President Troy Miller,
395. 26:57thank you for holding and welcome to the American Family Radio Network. Thanks Alex
396. 27:03for having me today. It's great to be with you. Dido, I know you're a busy man.
397. 27:09Before we get too much into some conversation, I've got to ask, where have
398. 27:13Have you been, what have the last few weeks, when I look up Troy Miller, you may be in Israel,
399. 27:20you may be somewhere in the world, tell us what you've been up to in the most recent days?
400. 27:27Well, but I'm not traveling around the world.
401. 27:30I'm usually on the phone with somebody around the world.
402. 27:32But yeah, I was in Israel back in May.
403. 27:35We did a solidarity trip to Israel in a fact finding mission.
404. 27:39We had a number of meetings with both government officials and non-government entities and religious
405. 27:46leaders across the country.
406. 27:48Just to really communicate and show our support for Israel and let them know that the church
407. 27:53here is praying for the peace of Jerusalem and peace across Israel and praying for the
408. 27:58Jewish people.
409. 27:59So that was a great trip, a great visit.
410. 28:02We've been working a lot, of course, this summer.
411. 28:05There's quite a few things going into through Congress on legislation and rural changes that
412. 28:11will affect Christian broadcasters and Christian communicators and people who produce programming
413. 28:17for television and radio.
414. 28:19Those are a couple of things that have been really high on our list.
415. 28:22And then we're just working with a lot of churches right now on various issues that are
416. 28:27going on throughout the country.
417. 28:29And of course, as you know, we have a major tropical storm hurricane came across Florida
418. 28:35and now going up the East Coast.
419. 28:37And so we're reminding people of how important during times like this AM radio is, as well
420. 28:43as the local church, the people that really are the first responders to help provide help
421. 28:49and aid in those kinds of natural disasters.
422. 28:54Were you there when Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress about, well, now
423. 29:01about two and a half weeks ago?
424. 29:02Were you there, Troy?
425. 29:03No, I was not actually in BC that week.
426. 29:07I was traveling elsewhere, but I did watch his address and communicated with several people
427. 29:14in the office there.
428. 29:17And I thought he did a fabulous job of really articulating the issues that were at hand that
429. 29:24facing Israel and particularly also the issues with the U.S. and Israeli relationships?
430. 29:30Yeah, what Well said. You know, I guess over the last 20 years I've been to the NRB annual
431. 29:39meeting probably 17 or 18 times, National Religious Broadcasters. It's always, I mean,
432. 29:45hands down the most well organized, most excellent conference of any that I have the privilege
433. 29:52of attending, but for those that may be unaware of the toy, tell us what is NRB?
434. 29:57NRB, the National Religious Broadcasters Association, has been around now.
435. 30:04We just celebrated 80 years.
436. 30:06NRB was started back in 1944 when radio became this new medium for people to communicate and
437. 30:14get messaging out on, and pastors wanted to be on radio.
438. 30:19There was a group that wanted to control, not unlike today,
439. 30:23who gives a chance to be on those airwaves.
440. 30:25And NRV was formed to make sure that the public airwaves
441. 30:29and public communication was open to all of those
442. 30:32who is God's call to proclaim the gospel
443. 30:34or to do work of the church.
444. 30:37And so for 80 years, that's the core of what NRV has done.
445. 30:40We advocate for Christian broadcasters,
446. 30:43Christian communicators and for today.
447. 30:44That means podcasters and bloggers, filmmakers,
448. 30:48publishers, anybody who's out there, churches are doing that.
449. 30:52And then as you talked about that,
450. 30:53we have an annual conference.
451. 30:55The NRB conference is held annually.
452. 30:58We'll be in Dallas, Texas area next year,
453. 31:01February 24th through the 27th.
454. 31:04It's the largest gathering of Christian communicators,
455. 31:08people that work in and are called to ministry
456. 31:11in the Christian media arena.
457. 31:14And we'll get together.
458. 31:16We'll hear some great speakers.
459. 31:17We'll talk about the key topics that are facing communicators.
460. 31:21And the church today, we'll talk about new technologies.
461. 31:25We'll pray for one another.
462. 31:27There's quite a bit of iron sharpening iron there.
463. 31:30And really help to educate and encourage people
464. 31:35who God has called to be the proclamations
465. 31:38of the proclaimers of the gospel throughout the airwaves today.
466. 31:42And look, today we have the internet.
467. 31:44People are consuming more media than ever.
468. 31:46So it's just more important than ever that people get involved in this kind of communication
469. 31:52and don't give this up to the enemy.
470. 31:54Sure.
471. 31:55Hey, can you hold on to another segment?
472. 31:57Can you stay through the break there, Troy?
473. 31:59Oh, yeah, absolutely.
474. 32:01I'm here for you.
475. 32:02And what is your website before we pull away briefly?
476. 32:07NRB.org.
477. 32:09If you want to know more about our work and the conference, you can go to NRB.org.
478. 32:15Then RB.org as in National Religious Broadcasters, Alex McFarland with our very special guest
479. 32:21Troy Miller on the American Family Radio Network.
480. 32:24Stay tuned a brief break and then we're back.
481. 32:29You can't set this election out.
482. 32:31I know a lot of Christians do.
483. 32:33This is true that God is sovereign.
484. 32:34I tell you that all the time.
485. 32:37But they fancy that somehow that is separate from their personal responsibility.
486. 32:41We are His hands and feet.
487. 32:43And so that's why we have to do what's right.
488. 32:46Bible says to him that Noah to do good and just doesn't do it. To him it is sin.
489. 32:51Sandy Rios 24-7 with your host Sandy Rios. Listen on the podcast page at
490. 32:58AFR.net. Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Bitted Common Terrets are
491. 33:08available at AFR.net. Back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
492. 33:14Welcome back to the program Alex McFarland here before we resume our
493. 33:19conversation with Troy Miller of NRB. I want to remind you of two things. One, the website
494. 33:26AlexMcFarland.com. We've written what I call a first time voters guide and we just came
495. 33:33off of seven summer camps that we organized and two others that I spoke at, more than
496. 33:401200 teenagers, college kids, and a lot of them are looking this November. They're going
497. 33:46to be voting for the first time.
498. 33:47So if you go to AlexMcFarlane.com, slash vote,
499. 33:50there are a lot of content about what
500. 33:53should be the criteria by which I cast a ballot for a candidate.
501. 33:58There's a PDF, a downloadable.
502. 34:00It's really kind of a bulletin insert for churches.
503. 34:03And let me encourage churches, leaders, clergy, really
504. 34:08pray for this nation and urge your people
505. 34:11to be informed and to vote.
506. 34:12And then finally, my book that I wrote four years ago, and it was number one in three categories
507. 34:18on Amazon, I give God the glory.
508. 34:20But my book, The Assault on America, How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late, The
509. 34:25Forward by Will Graham, published by Harrison House.
510. 34:28These issues still matter.
511. 34:30Morality, religious freedom, really free assembly, free religious expression.
512. 34:37Folks, our ability to live out the Great Commission as not only Christians, but citizens, my book,
513. 34:43The Assault on America, it's available everywhere. Books are sold, and I thank you for your consideration.
514. 34:50Well, our conversation with Troy Miller, president of NRB, CEO of NRB TV. Troy, thank you for making
515. 34:58time to be with us, but I would say even more importantly, thank you for what you do for the
516. 35:04broadcast of Christ's gospel. You're a busy person. I'm always kind of in awe of the pace
517. 35:12that you keep. So thanks for doing what you do, my friend.
518. 35:20Well, thanks. I mean, as you just said, we're all called for the work of the gospel, and it's just a
519. 35:26pleasure to be working on behalf of our members and all of those who are God has called their
520. 35:32ministries for a purpose in the Kingdom. And so our job is to clear the pathway so they
521. 35:39can do what God's called them to do.
522. 35:42How concerned are you about our free ability? I mean, it's one thing to come to a mic and
523. 35:49say, you know, God loves you, which is true. God does love the world. But yeah, I think
524. 35:55about myself and people like Robert Jeffers and David Jeremiah and many of our colleagues
525. 36:02within NRB. And we preach about sin and we call sinners to repentance. And we try to give
526. 36:12the fully-orbed message of the gospel, Troy. How concerned are you that the gospel might
527. 36:20someday be contraband and we are not free to proclaim the full counsel of God? Does
528. 36:27that worry you?
529. 36:28Well, absolutely Alex. I think if you look at around the world today, and we know there's
530. 36:36always been opposition to the gospel, particularly in countries that maybe have other religions
531. 36:41as their dominant religion or in communist countries, but just look at the Western countries
532. 36:47today that were predominantly, you know, Christian countries for, you know, hundreds and hundreds
533. 36:53of years. Look to the north of us in Canada. We have members of NRB that are in Canada.
534. 36:59They cannot get on the television there or do a sermon that's going to talk about sexuality
535. 37:05or talk about two genders being male and female or talk about the core family as Mary's
536. 37:11between a man and a woman.
537. 37:12They will get censored off of Canadian television and radio if they do that.
538. 37:18And so there are many today who would like to bring those same rules and regulations to
539. 37:23the U.S. airways as well.
540. 37:25I think the weaponization of government that's happened
541. 37:30over the last four years in particular
542. 37:33should be concerning to all Christians
543. 37:36in the cross this country,
544. 37:37not just Christian broadcasters or major pastors in pulpits,
545. 37:42but even Christians who are just trying to communicate
546. 37:44within their own social media networks,
547. 37:47whether they're on Facebook or they're on Instagram
548. 37:51or they're on X or whatever it is today.
549. 37:54There are a lot of Christians who can't simply proclaim the truth of the gospel, the truth
550. 37:58that we find in scripture without the social media organizations either taking those posts
551. 38:04down or in some cases locking them out of their accounts altogether.
552. 38:09So that's a major concern of where we're at today and how we're moving forward.
553. 38:13I think the left would just love to completely silence the message of the gospel.
554. 38:20American church. And when I was at NRB in Nashville back in February, I guess it was of this year,
555. 38:28I had the privilege of being with George Barna and you know George Barna, incredibly respected
556. 38:36researcher. But we were talking about, you know, the 345, 350,000 American churches.
557. 38:44There may be as many as 100 to 120 million adult born-again Americans.
558. 38:52And yet, Barna was lamenting the fact that maybe one-third of born-again adults are even registered
559. 39:01to vote.
560. 39:02And of that number, less than that actually gets out and votes.
561. 39:07I guess here's my question, Troy.
562. 39:10the Christian voting bloc still an influence? We're so numerous and yet I fear not very influential.
563. 39:22Does the Christian voice still carry weight and clout in American politics?
564. 39:29Yeah, I do think that the Christian voice still carries a lot of weight in clout with that,
565. 39:37as you said, but it could carry,
566. 39:39the point is it could carry a lot more
567. 39:42if Christians were more active in the political process
568. 39:48or at least in the electoral process
569. 39:50that goes on in the country that God's given us.
570. 39:53That's the democratic part of our constitutional
571. 39:57republic here and Christians haven't really had a history
572. 40:01of exercising that, especially in the last, let's say,
573. 40:0550 to 75 years have exercised that as much as they've done
574. 40:09in the previous decades of this country.
575. 40:12Christians had a greater influence
576. 40:15on the country, the direction, the country,
577. 40:17and more concerned.
578. 40:17And there's a number of, I think, reasons behind that.
579. 40:20We've particularly seen in my lifetime since the 1980s,
580. 40:25a real push on the left, and even some of those
581. 40:30in within the Christian community
582. 40:31to kind of push Christians away from politics
583. 40:35in the political process,
584. 40:38saying that it was, you know,
585. 40:39that the process itself is toxic
586. 40:41or that Christians shouldn't be involved in this,
587. 40:45these kinds of things.
588. 40:46And then of course, today we see in both the mainstream media
589. 40:50and on social media,
590. 40:52we see a lot of Christians who are afraid to engage
591. 40:54in the politics because they're going to be, you know,
592. 40:57or isolated or badgered by folks in the culture, again, trying to keep you out.
593. 41:08But think about that for a second. One of the biggest scriptures that's often misused
594. 41:13is the command that we should love our neighbors as ourselves.
595. 41:17And I think we forget when Jesus was teaching the apostles in John,
596. 41:24in the chapters of John 13 14 15.
597. 41:27I think he said to them, he said,
598. 41:28I give you a new command.
599. 41:30It's to love your neighbor as I have loved you.
600. 41:33And Jesus's life was a life of sacrifice for others.
601. 41:38And in the church, we have to think about in the side,
602. 41:42who do we want to be governed by?
603. 41:44Who do we want and who are the best people
604. 41:47to govern and administrate this country
605. 41:51in this government, this land that we've been given,
606. 41:54this blessing by God, who are the people
607. 41:57that want to do that?
608. 41:58Are we just going to abandon and give that over
609. 42:01to non-Christians, to atheists, to secularists,
610. 42:06to people who are going to push their agenda
611. 42:10because the left does not push their agenda,
612. 42:13or are we gonna be governed by people that do,
613. 42:16that really hold the values and hold the morals
614. 42:19and hold to the ideas that we find that we hold in scripture
615. 42:23because that's the end of the game.
616. 42:25Loving your neighbor is not backing away
617. 42:30and turning them over to something
618. 42:32that would put them into eternity in separation from God.
619. 42:39We want to love our neighbors so that we can put them
620. 42:41in eternity in the presence of God and with God.
621. 42:45And so I really hope that we're working hard
622. 42:48others a lot of organizations working hard to help the church understand not to be ashamed
623. 42:54to be involved in this political process as a matter of fact we should be called as a church
624. 43:00to be involved in this process because we should want people that oversee us, that govern
625. 43:05us, to be the people that hold the same ideas, hold the same values and those same morals
626. 43:09that we do.
627. 43:10Indeed.
628. 43:11And you know there are implications far beyond the borders of our own country.
629. 43:15I mean, I think about the people that we send to Washington influence foreign policy and foreign
630. 43:21policy touches on things like our relationship with the nation of Israel, peace in the Middle
631. 43:27East.
632. 43:28I mean, I really think the parishioners of America's churches need to know that our vote
633. 43:36is a stewardship issue and our vote really carries a lot of ramifications and implications,
634. 43:44doesn't it?
635. 43:45Well, it does, and you hit a great point there.
636. 43:48America, for the first 150 years, 200 years of our country here, America has one of our
637. 43:58biggest exports has been the American values and their primarily Christian values built
638. 44:05on the foundation of the scriptures, of the foundations of the teaching of God and the teaching
639. 44:11of Christ and America exported, if you might say it that way, around the world those values
640. 44:18and Christianity, we set more missionaries out from the West than have been sent out
641. 44:23anywhere and now look at where the ramifications that are, Alex, today are exports out of this
642. 44:29country and the ramifications of those policies are exporting things like transgenderism and
643. 44:37the rest of the LGBTQ agenda,
644. 44:41we're sending those things out.
645. 44:43We're now supporting abortion around the world.
646. 44:49We're supporting communism and socialism kinds of economic
647. 44:54ideas that are really hurting people.
648. 44:57I mean, they're hurting some of these economic policies
649. 45:01that have come out of America have gone
650. 45:04into third world countries that had started to make a real change and started to make an
651. 45:10impact in some of these globalists with their whole environmental movement have pushed those
652. 45:16countries back by decades.
653. 45:18And so that's a real immorality that we have to look at.
654. 45:21And that's an impact of us not being involved here in the United States because those are
655. 45:26direct exports out of this country.
656. 45:29Well said.
657. 45:30Well said.
658. 45:31And you know, and I think about this too, as well, Troy, that, well, about two months ago
659. 45:37I was in Atlanta, Georgia, and I was on a show, and I was debating a skeptic that was griping
660. 45:44about the fact that churches have tax-free status.
661. 45:48But we all know that churches do so much benevolence and so much good that when Congress gave churches
662. 45:55nonprofit status, you know, more than a century ago, they understood the benevolent charitable
663. 46:00work churches give back. But I did some study. The bottom line, about 2.1 trillion a year,
664. 46:09is given to non-profit and charitable work. Well, 85% of that, I'll be brief, Troy. 85%
665. 46:16is given by conservatives, if not Christians. And so, this thing of the Christian residue
666. 46:23or the evangelical voice.
667. 46:27Not only do we publish the salvation message, but 85 cents out of every benevolent charitable
668. 46:33dollar, the food kitchens and the closed closets.
669. 46:39As Matthew 25 would say, giving a cup of cold water in Jesus' name.
670. 46:43It's not coming from the pockets of atheists or secularists or people united for the separation
671. 46:48of church and state.
672. 46:50It is the Christians and the conservatives that are not only broadcasting Christ, but we're
673. 46:56giving the money that puts food into hungry bellies 85%.
674. 47:01I mean, it's very important what we have been and who we are as, yes, a nation founded on
675. 47:09biblical principles.
676. 47:10Yeah, Alex, the vast majority of charity that goes on around this country and around the
677. 47:18world. First of all, has its roots in Christianity, some of the largest charitable organizations
678. 47:24in the world, have their roots in Christianity. They started off, even if they're not today,
679. 47:30they started off and the reason they exist was because of the work of Christ, the Gospel
680. 47:35of Christ, and what God has called us to do and be as individuals. Even my own church this
681. 47:40weekend, we were just talking about with schools starting back here in Tennessee. Our church
682. 47:45has a backpack program so that underprivileged kids can be able to have all the school supplies
683. 47:51that they need throughout the school year. And we also do a program that helps kids that
684. 47:57have food insecurities who are not going to get full meals every day so that kids can have
685. 48:03lunch programs throughout the whole year. Those are the back bones of Christian charities.
686. 48:08And those are the things that is this hurricane, tropical storm moves up the coast. You'll have
687. 48:13of organizations like Operation Blessing Convoyo.
688. 48:16Troy, almost out of time.
689. 48:17And these guys will be the ones there.
690. 48:21Amen, amen.
691. 48:23We're almost out of time, my dear friend, your website, please.
692. 48:27In the RB.org to find out all the work we're doing
693. 48:30in Washington, DC and around the country
694. 48:33and to come see us at our next convention in Dallas.
695. 48:36God bless you, thanks for listening.
696. 48:39The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast
697. 48:42may not necessarily reflect those
698. 48:44of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.