Guest Host, Alex McFarland, is joined by Sheri Few, President & Founder of USPIE as well as Christian Artist, Natasha Owens

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. 0:01Darkness is not an affirmative force.
2. 0:03It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
3. 0:07This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
4. 0:12It 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. 0:21God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
8. 0:24Even in this dark moment.
9. 0:27Let's not miss our moment.
10. 0:29and now the Hamilton Corner.
11. 0:33Welcome to the program.
12. 0:35Alex McFarland here on the Hamilton Corner,
13. 0:37sitting in for attorney, pastor, and broadcaster,
14. 0:40Abe Hamilton the third.
15. 0:41It's a great honor to be here.
16. 0:43We have a great show.
17. 0:44And in just a moment, we're going to talk about one of
18. 0:47President-elect Donald Trump's cabinet picks regarding
19. 0:51education.
20. 0:52We've got an expert guest to help us weigh in on that.
21. 0:55But I want to welcome everybody to the American Family
22. 0:57Radio Network.
23. 0:58It's a privilege to have you listening.
24. 1:00And I want to say Merry Christmas, and that I agree with Andy Williams.
25. 1:05It's the most wonderful time of the year.
26. 1:07You know, just Sunday I had the privilege of preaching at a church.
27. 1:10I was preaching from Luke chapter 1, where Gabriel appeared to Mary and said,
28. 1:16Mary, you're highly favored and you're going to give birth to a child,
29. 1:20Emmanuel, God with us.
30. 1:22And Mary asked the question, how can this be seeing I know not a man?
31. 1:28And Gabriel said two things from,
32. 1:31and you can read this in Luke one and two and Matthew,
33. 1:34but Gabriel says, for with God, nothing shall be impossible.
34. 1:40Aren't you glad of that?
35. 1:41The other thing is this, that in Luke chapter one,
36. 1:44Gabriel says, not one word of God will fail.
37. 1:49That is a great promise.
38. 1:50And you know what?
39. 1:51We were reporting a couple of days ago on the statistic
40. 1:54that Bible sales are up 22%,
41. 1:57and the number one demographic buying these Bibles that are flying off the shelves.
42. 2:03I mean literally there was B-roll on the news of bookstore shelves
43. 2:08where the Bibles have been sold.
44. 2:10Young people, 20-somethings and high schoolers,
45. 2:14and a lot of those Bible purchasers, first-time Bible purchasers are young males.
46. 2:19Do you know here's another statistic that's not quite as well reported on?
47. 2:24And I will segue this to our guest as we talk about education, but Bible sales overall, since
48. 2:31COVID, are up 41%.
49. 2:35People want answers.
50. 2:37I really do think people are hungry for truth.
51. 2:40And among those that they not only search for truth, they certainly need truth are young
52. 2:46people.
53. 2:47And so God is at work being encouraged in that regard.
54. 2:51I want to change gears and we're going to visit with a guest that we've had on a number
55. 2:55of times, Sherry Few.
56. 2:58She is with USPIE, United States parents involved in education.
57. 3:05And first of all, Sherry, thanks for being with us and thank you for all the work you're
58. 3:11doing to help people have truth and wisdom regarding the education of our young people.
59. 3:18But before we get into Linda McMahon as a potential pick for Education Secretary, bring
60. 3:27people up to speed on the work you're doing, we welcome you back to AFR and tell us about
61. 3:33your organization.
62. 3:34Okay.
63. 3:36Thank you, Alex.
64. 3:37It's my pleasure to join you this evening.
65. 3:40I was really pleased when I got the call because we haven't talked in quite a while.
66. 3:45So it was good to hear from the agency that you were interested in having me on the show.
67. 3:50So I appreciate it.
68. 3:52And so I'm the president and founder of United States Parents Involved in Education.
69. 3:59We call it USPIE for short.
70. 4:03We always think of the fact that parents are the most important piece of the pie just to
71. 4:07help your listeners remember how we talk about our acronyms, USPIE.
72. 4:12So it started out as South Carolina parents involved in education in the state where I
73. 4:16live and when my kids were in government schools I was concerned about their curriculum and I
74. 4:23got heavily involved with policy and worked across my state and collaborated with other
75. 4:30parents to make some very positive changes in the policies that were being implemented
76. 4:36when my kids were in school, and this was 25 years ago,
77. 4:41I'm dating myself, but that's how I got started.
78. 4:44And I led the fight against Common Core in our state
79. 4:48back around 2010.
80. 4:50And that ended in, unfortunately, after two or three years,
81. 4:56working with the legislature to repeal the Common Core
82. 4:59standards, we ended up with Common Core rebranded,
83. 5:03just simply the same standards under a different name.
84. 5:06And I talked with colleagues around the country
85. 5:08and learned that they had had similar experiences.
86. 5:11So that's when we expanded into the national organization,
87. 5:15USPI, and we adopted as our mission
88. 5:18to close the US Department of Education
89. 5:21and end all federal education mandates.
90. 5:24Because we understood as education policy advocates
91. 5:29that that's where the majority of the nefarious pedagogies
92. 5:33originate and they're incentivized with federal dollars.
93. 5:37You know what, Sherry?
94. 5:39I, forgive me, I gotta throw something in.
95. 5:41I'll bet you and I were at a meeting maybe around 2012
96. 5:45in Greenville, South Carolina.
97. 5:48There was a meeting about pushing back against Common Core.
98. 5:53And at that time I was on faculty
99. 5:56at North Greenville University, I was there for eight years.
100. 5:59And there was a meeting, and I'm thinking it might have been,
101. 6:05actually, at a Presbyterian Church.
102. 6:07And I went representing North Greenville, and I remember,
103. 6:12and just to talk about, because I want to hear an update
104. 6:15on the state of Common Core, what shocked me as one who
105. 6:21periodically, frequently, teaches political science
106. 6:24at the college level, we were told that the Common Core
107. 6:27curriculum didn't even include anything on Thomas Jefferson.
108. 6:32And I'm thinking how can you teach kids about America without teaching about the one that
109. 6:37is sometimes called the author of America, Thomas Jefferson.
110. 6:40But do you remember that meeting where would you have been a part of that meeting easily
111. 6:44like 12 years ago in South Carolina raising awareness about and really against Common Core?
112. 6:53Oh, absolutely.
113. 6:55I'm sure I was in that meeting.
114. 6:57I was one of the lead activists in the state and we had a lot of supportive help from a
115. 7:05national organization and I remember a meeting in a church and it was well attended.
116. 7:12All the elected officials were there and we did a presentation and then I, you know, there
117. 7:17were some events where we even debated the South Carolina Education Association.
118. 7:22There were several events like that, so I'm sure I was there.
119. 7:28And I didn't realize she was at North Greenville University.
120. 7:30I had a son who went to school there, and I'm trying to think of Lisa's last name that
121. 7:37worked on it.
122. 7:38Lisa Van Riper, yes, I haven't spoken so many years.
123. 7:44We've had her on the show, Dr. Lisa Van Riper, a phenomenal Christian leader, pro-life leader
124. 7:49in South Carolina, great colleague and friend.
125. 7:53But, you know, let me just say this, and I want you to talk about President-elect Trump.
126. 8:00Trump on the campaign trail repeatedly said that he wanted to shut down the U.S. Department
127. 8:07of Education, and which I think would be a good thing.
128. 8:12Sherry, you would have loved my mother.
129. 8:15She's in heaven, rest her soul.
130. 8:17My mother was a public school teacher for 28 years.
131. 8:21My mom was the most concerned, she was a Christian, but she was a conservative Christian at one
132. 8:26point president of North Carolina Young Republicans.
133. 8:29My mom was to the right of everybody.
134. 8:32And my mom, this is 25 years ago, used to talk about how the Department of Education should
135. 8:39be shut down.
136. 8:41Now, all of that to ask this, how viable of an idea even is that?
137. 8:50Well, it's an idea that time has come.
138. 8:53There are lots of conversations happening around the country about the dismal failure
139. 8:59of the U.S. Department of Education.
140. 9:01You know, it was only started in 1979.
141. 9:04It was a payback to the teachers unions from Jimmy Carter for having supported his campaign.
142. 9:12And so the idea behind it was to try to close the achievement gap between minority and white
143. 9:18students, which has not happened.
144. 9:21The achievement gap all these many years later is still wide as it can be.
145. 9:25And we spent billions upon billions, hundreds of billions of dollars in this failed federal
146. 9:32agency.
147. 9:34And all we've seen is declining academic achievement.
148. 9:38And then there's the horrible mandate that I talked about that they use to control classrooms.
149. 9:45You know, Alex, on average, each state only receives about 10% of their education budget
150. 9:52from the federal government.
151. 9:53And yet they control 100% of what's happening in the classroom.
152. 9:57The most recent things we've seen, the policies that they've forced on state, and if they
153. 10:03They don't comply, they'll lose federal funding,
154. 10:07is allowing biological boys to use girls' bathrooms
155. 10:10and locker rooms, allowing biological boys
156. 10:13to compete in girls' sports, requiring diversity
157. 10:16and equity practices that undermine merit and achievement,
158. 10:20and requiring critical race theory be used in school,
159. 10:24receiving federal education grants.
160. 10:26So this is the way the federal government puts down
161. 10:30hammer on the state and forces states to implement things that may not align with their state's
162. 10:37values.
163. 10:38And, you know, everybody's so scared that they're going to lose the money, but we put a plan
164. 10:44together to show states that are tired of being controlled by the federal government.
165. 10:49They're tired of the woke indoctrination.
166. 10:53We've developed a blueprint that can show states how they can wean themselves off the
167. 10:57federal government.
168. 10:58might actually be an easier task than closing the Department of Ed, but we absolutely believe
169. 11:04the department can be closed and we are first blueprint that we developed in 2017 shows how
170. 11:12that can be done.
171. 11:13And so we're really hopeful, Alex.
172. 11:15We've got a few connections.
173. 11:17I'm doing a lot of interviews about this, you know, about his pick for Education Secretary
174. 11:21Linda McMahon.
175. 11:23really love to get a meeting with her or with Trump and some of his lead staff in this area
176. 11:30so that we can show them the research and the work that we've done that demonstrates how
177. 11:35it can happen.
178. 11:37And I believe Trump has the political will.
179. 11:40He certainly has the mandate of the American people.
180. 11:45He made these promises.
181. 11:46He was going to end all this work indoctrination in schools, all the things I just mentioned.
182. 11:52I believe it can happen.
183. 11:54Yeah.
184. 11:55Bottom line, we've got a break in a couple of minutes, but let's start with conversation.
185. 12:01Linda McMahon, good pick, not so good, thumbs up, what do you think?
186. 12:08Well, we think her background is impressive for the task at hand.
187. 12:13The task at hand, in my opinion, if he's going to make good on this promises, would be for
188. 12:18her to go in and take an analysis of the department.
189. 12:22at all the different program areas and devise a reasonable plan that she can promote to the
190. 12:29president of how it can be done.
191. 12:32And we believe it can be done programmatically.
192. 12:35She can look at which program they can send back to the states first because that's what
193. 12:40they need to do.
194. 12:41Most of the programs that are in the federal department, states already have programs like
195. 12:48that.
196. 12:49background, she led the Small Business Administration, so she's got experience leading a large federal
197. 12:56agency. She was on the board of trustees for a university in Connecticut for many years.
198. 13:01And then she led some of Trump's organizations, the American First Policy Institute and America
199. 13:08First Action Super PAC. And she and her husband gave millions of dollars to his campaign. And
200. 13:15And I think Trump believes in loyalty and he expects loyalty in return.
201. 13:20So I think that's why she is a good pick.
202. 13:23And we're very hopeful that we can, again, get a meeting with her and show her our plans
203. 13:29and work alongside them to devise the best plan for how we can get the federal government
204. 13:36out of education.
205. 13:38Well said and you know the federal money for states not only for schools but other projects
206. 13:46that's kind of this cudgel or this bargaining chip that they get states to and school systems
207. 13:54to go along and quietly complies.
208. 13:57Oh absolutely. I mean that's how they get them to comply. You know the Biden administration
209. 14:05was really aggressive in this area when they made new regulations for the Title IX law that
210. 14:13was a good law that was enacted 50 years ago.
211. 14:17Hey forgive me.
212. 14:18We've got a break.
213. 14:19I am so sorry Sherry.
214. 14:21Shari quickly before this first break, give us your website.
215. 14:26Our website is USPIE.
216. 14:28That's uspi.org.
217. 14:30Okay.
218. 14:31Stay tuned folks.
219. 14:32We're talking about education.
220. 14:33We're talking about Trump's administration coming up.
221. 14:36On the Hamilton Corner, Alex McFarland
222. 14:38sitting in for Abe Hamilton.
223. 14:40So honored that you're listening.
224. 14:41Stay tuned, folks.
225. 14:42Hey, Merry Christmas, may God bless you.
226. 14:45We're back in just a brief moment.
227. 14:46Don't go away.
228. 15:01A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.
229. 15:04Lord, thank you for every parent listening right now.
230. 15:08Annoyant every dad, every mom.
231. 15:10Annoyant every granddad, every grandmom
232. 15:12with the wisdom to know that there's so much we can do
233. 15:15to bless and encourage and minister to our children
234. 15:18as we have them to read the word of God out loud daily,
235. 15:21but also as we teach and train them
236. 15:24with the wisdom that draws straight from your word.
237. 15:27Help us to be wise enough to turn off all the electronic gadgets
238. 15:31and all the things, the cell phones and everything else,
239. 15:33and help us to be wise enough to open your word
240. 15:37with our children and allow them to read the word
241. 15:40and talk about the wisdom and the counsel,
242. 15:43the grace that's found there, that they can learn to walk in the light of the wisdom and
243. 15:47the power of your word.
244. 15:50There's nothing our children need more than your precious power forward.
245. 15:55In Jesus' name we do pray, Amen.
246. 15:58Shiting light into the darkness, this is the Hamilton Quarter, an American family radio.
247. 16:13How much does education matter?
248. 16:16Well, you know, in colonial America, there was mandates to teach children to read so
249. 16:20so that they could read the word of God.
250. 16:22Right now I just read a statistic that of juveniles
251. 16:26in the court systems, young people
252. 16:28that get in trouble with the law, 85% of juveniles
253. 16:33in the U.S. court system can't read.
254. 16:36Alex McFarland here, that's a tragedy.
255. 16:39Our educational system needs work.
256. 16:42Somebody who God has been using for a lot of years
257. 16:44to help achieve good things when it comes
258. 16:47to educating children is Sherry Few.
259. 16:51We've been on a number of media, radio,
260. 16:53and a couple of television programs.
261. 16:55Sherry, welcome back.
262. 16:57We had a break there, and I want you to resume.
263. 16:59We're talking about Linda McMahon.
264. 17:02I'm excited because like myself, she's a North Carolinian.
265. 17:06You know, she grew up in North Carolina,
266. 17:08but she is Trump's pick nominee for Secretary of Education.
267. 17:13But anyway, I want you to resume your thoughts about this.
268. 17:19Generally positive, right, Sherry?
269. 17:22Your colleagues and yourself have good impressions of her?
270. 17:29Yeah.
271. 17:30I think that, again, I think she's a good fit because
272. 17:34of her background and experience.
273. 17:36Her, I mean, Trump said himself, her leadership experience
274. 17:40and her deep understanding of both education and business
275. 17:44will really help her in her role to guide the dismantling of the U.S. Department of Education.
276. 17:51And you know, she has education background, having served on a university board for several
277. 17:57years and actually on a state board for a short time.
278. 18:01But really that's not nearly as important as I think her business and administrative experiences
279. 18:08that are going to help guide this plan to shut down the Department of Education?
280. 18:14You know, Sherry, I've spent, I don't know, 25 years at least of my adult life in Christian
281. 18:22higher education, but I've also spoken at many, many, many secular schools.
282. 18:29And I got to tell you, and I look, I have a great respect for education.
283. 18:33And I'm a professor adjunct at several colleges.
284. 18:38However, let me tell you, academics that just live in this ivory tower of theory and they
285. 18:45don't know what it is to make a budget.
286. 18:49They don't know what it is to make a payroll.
287. 18:51These theoreticians, which I think is so much of the woke government, we've had progressive,
288. 18:58liberal, woke, socialist, Marxist, open borders.
289. 19:03I mean, these are not people that know how reality works.
290. 19:08And so to get people like Donald Trump,
291. 19:11like Linda McMahon, people with a business background,
292. 19:15and sure, they've got competency in the area
293. 19:18of their appointment, but look, I mean, folks,
294. 19:21you can't spend money you don't have.
295. 19:25You can't get something out of thin air.
296. 19:27And frankly, I'm thrilled that it appears
297. 19:31if Trump's picks are ratified,
298. 19:34that we're gonna get some common sense people
299. 19:37in positions of leadership.
300. 19:43What do you say, Sherry?
301. 19:47Sherry, are you there?
302. 19:48We've got a, Bobby, she texted me, she said she can't hear me.
303. 19:52Let me tell you what I was saying there though.
304. 19:56Sherry, are you back?
305. 19:59Okay, our guests, we might have lost somehow.
306. 20:02But my point is that, you know, I think about people like AOC that, well, even let me go
307. 20:10farther back than that, you know, Al Gore flying all over in petroleum powered jets,
308. 20:16riding in leather upholstered limousines, talking about reducing carbon footprint.
309. 20:25By the way, let me just say this regarding theoritians and the ivory tower.
310. 20:30I've spent a lot of time in the southwestern US
311. 20:34and the windmill farms, not only in Texas and New Mexico,
312. 20:39California.
313. 20:41All right, do you realize?
314. 20:44I just read some statistics yesterday.
315. 20:47And by the way, these 120 foot tall windmills
316. 20:51that are made of fiberglass blades,
317. 20:54they are such a net negative for the environment.
318. 20:58And this green energy like AOC has been promoting.
319. 21:02And the lithium batteries, folks, the green energy,
320. 21:09which is drilled into the heads of public school students,
321. 21:13is just one example of how, I mean,
322. 21:16these people might be well-intentioned,
323. 21:18but their ideas and their philosophies are just not real.
324. 21:22They're just not.
325. 21:24Sherry, have we got you back?
326. 21:27I am back. I always said I couldn't hear you anymore. Sorry about that.
327. 21:31Well, hey, no problem. Thanks for your diligence in coming back. I was talking about, you know,
328. 21:36Linda McMahon seems like somebody that will, in her respective position as Secretary of
329. 21:42Education, a common sense business person, not an ivory tower theoretician. And I'm glad
330. 21:51for common sense real world people.
331. 21:54She has that in common with President-elect Trump.
332. 22:01I think that's what America wants.
333. 22:04I think it was very obvious in the mandate that President Trump was handed with the overwhelming
334. 22:11support in this election.
335. 22:13You were talking about statistics earlier.
336. 22:15One of the things, one of the statistics I read recently was about the overwhelming number
337. 22:21of parents of school-aged children who voted for Trump.
338. 22:25The percentage was about 15% higher than it was when he was elected the first time.
339. 22:34So they moved from supporting the liberal candidate over to Trump in that four-year period because
340. 22:41of everything that's been happening.
341. 22:44Parents despite their political affiliation have understood that what the government schools
342. 22:51are doing to their children is unimaginable.
343. 22:55You know, with the explicit material and the pornography and things that are in the libraries
344. 23:02and reading materials for assigned courses, the critical marks of theories.
345. 23:08When we saw parents pushing back on critical race theory, on social media there were all
346. 23:15of these videos where they're speaking out their school boards and it wasn't just white
347. 23:20suburban moms which is what we got accused of during the Common Core battles. No, it was
348. 23:26black parents and Hispanic parents and Asian parents and they knew it was wrong and they
349. 23:32said we can't tolerate this. This is not your role. Your role is to teach academics not
350. 23:39to be brainwashing our children, fitting groups against one another which is, you know, that's
351. 23:44the critical marks to speed up it
352. 23:47and i think you and i both know out
353. 23:50that it's an intentional agenda
354. 23:52the the uh...
355. 23:53the liberal elite that have
356. 23:56taken over every major institution in this country
357. 23:59have done it intentionally
358. 24:01because they know they can control the minds of the children
359. 24:04they can direct the future of this country
360. 24:08well i i agree and here's the thing you know uh...
361. 24:13education
362. 24:14just assumes learning, right? And which I love and we all, I mean, if you understand that really
363. 24:25your mind, your intellect is a stewardship issue from God. But I don't want to get us
364. 24:32to out in the weeds, Sherry, but you know, I've studied a lot of the philosophers and the philosophies
365. 24:39that were building for 150 years. And one of which was John Dewey, who was an educational
366. 24:46theorist. And he was a secular humanist and John Dewey rejected Christianity. He believed
367. 24:53in Darwinian evolution. And I'm sure there were others, but really, in, you know, around
368. 25:01the turn of the century, the 1900, I mean, and into the 20s, as John Dewey became influential
369. 25:09in American educational philosophy, Dewey didn't even want kids to be literate because
370. 25:16he didn't feel like every human being is a soul to be redeemed and to flourish for the
371. 25:25glory of God.
372. 25:26I mean, John Dewey believed he was a progressive secularist who believed that we needed illiterate
373. 25:33worker bees.
374. 25:34I mean, isn't that so demoralizing, so demeaning, so dehumanizing?
375. 25:39John Dewey and other secularists were more brazen about it, but he believed that a certain
376. 25:46class of the population should really be moderately to illiterate.
377. 25:54And I mean, that's ungodly, but I'm glad that there are people like yourself that believe,
378. 26:03like I do, that, you know, well, you know, it's like William J. Bennett said, education
379. 26:10is to expand your mind and save your soul because as we learn truth, hopefully that truth
380. 26:17will lead us to the ultimate truth, which is the reality of Jesus Christ.
381. 26:22But what would you like to see happen, Sherry, over the next, so let's say Linda McMahon is,
382. 26:31you know, affirmed in that position, you know, over the next one to four years, what would
383. 26:37you like to see happen in terms of, well, I hate to say government education because that's
384. 26:45what public schools are?
385. 26:47Well, yes, and we started using the term government schools instead of public schools
386. 26:55a few years ago because we wanted people to hear the difference.
387. 27:00I mean, if you think about it, all schools are public, right, because they're open to
388. 27:04the public in most cases.
389. 27:07But government schools helps us to understand that we may have made a mistake all of these
390. 27:15years thinking it was a good idea for us to trust the government to the education of
391. 27:20our children.
392. 27:21And so, you know, maybe back when you and I were in school it was different.
393. 27:26Your mother was an excellent school teacher and there were, you know, lots of good teachers
394. 27:30and the curriculum wasn't so bad.
395. 27:32But you talked about John Dewey, that was one of the earliest or the earlier influences.
396. 27:38And you know, one of the things he said is that we should separate kids from their prejudices
397. 27:44of their parents. So he was an atheist and signed the humanist manifesto and he influenced education
398. 27:52in a great way and he wanted to separate children from their parents because he didn't want their
399. 28:01Christian values, their family values, you know, to be a part of who they were so that they could
400. 28:09control them like he said earlier. But another big influence was Alfred Kenzie. I don't know
401. 28:17if you remember as he wrote two books in the 40s that prompted the sexual revolution and
402. 28:25he was a very sick man. But that's when things really began to evolve and change. He also
403. 28:33wrote a textbook that introduced evolution as back in the classrooms.
404. 28:39So in the early 60s we had all of this happening, the change in education toward this ACS viewpoint.
405. 28:49Secular humanism of course was later determined as the religion and that's what they replaced
406. 28:54it with.
407. 28:55And you know what's so sad, and I know you know this history too Alex but your listeners
408. 28:59may not know, that originally our Ivy League schools and the schools in this country were
409. 29:06created for children and adults to be able to read their scriptures.
410. 29:13So when the printing press came out and people had their own copies of scriptures, they wanted
411. 29:18them educated so that they could read them.
412. 29:20And the Ivy League schools were instituted to train pastors in their calling.
413. 29:26And so to think that we started that way and evolved to where we are today, you know, it's
414. 29:32been an incremental thing over time.
415. 29:35There's many nefarious characters like John Dewey that we've talked about, but it's been,
416. 29:40they've been very patient.
417. 29:42It's been the frog in the water scenario.
418. 29:44And right now the water is boiling and we've got to save our kids.
419. 29:50Amen.
420. 29:51You know, folks, whether you have school-aged children or not, it is so important to be educated
421. 29:59and to know what's going on.
422. 30:01One of the really seminal books in my own life was written by a guy named David Noble, Dr.
423. 30:06David Noble, founder of Summit Ministries, and it's called Understanding the Times.
424. 30:13There's a book by R.C.
425. 30:14role call the consequences of ideas. And we, by the way, American Family Association has
426. 30:23a big conference in June called activate and I'll be one of the speakers there. And I'm
427. 30:29just encourage everybody look, just as a citizen and I hope as a Christian citizen and if you,
428. 30:36whether or not you're a parent, but look, whoever you are, you have influence, get up
429. 30:40to speed to understand where we really ought to go. I really think it's helpful to understand
430. 30:48how we got where we are. And Sherri, you hit the nail on the head that the left, the secular,
431. 30:54godless, Marxist, progressive, woke, you know, fill in the descriptors of your choice left.
432. 31:02They've been very patient. They did what Gromski said. They made the long march through the institutions.
433. 31:10the Marxists, they've gone through the institutions of education, even into the churches.
434. 31:17But we've almost got a break coming up. I want you to give your website again,
435. 31:22and then what your goals and your organization is doing and how people might get involved.
436. 31:27But Sherry, if you give us your website.
437. 31:30Sherry So our website is USPIE. That's uspi.org.
438. 31:36And we hope that your listeners will go to the website and click the button at the top that says join the movement.
439. 31:43And once they've done that, then we'll get them connected with the things that we're doing, the resources we're providing.
440. 31:51We're on the front lines of this battle to stop the indoctrination of children in government schools.
441. 31:57And we'd love for them to get involved. It's going to take a grassroots army allux for us to accomplish our goals.
442. 32:04We need people in every state that are pushing back and contacting their legislators so that
443. 32:10we can achieve these goals.
444. 32:12President Trump has the will to do this to make the changes that are needed, but we have
445. 32:17to have the support of Congress, which means we need a grassroots army pressuring their
446. 32:24elected officials.
447. 32:25Well, sure, if you're thanks for being with us.
448. 32:27We've got a brief break.
449. 32:28I'm going to be with you folks.
450. 32:30Twenty more minutes.
451. 32:31We've got some good content.
452. 32:32a couple of little surprises, but this is the American Family Radio Network, Alex
453. 32:38McFarland sitting in for Abi Hamilton III. Stay tuned, Merry Christmas, and may God bless
454. 32:44you and together we can stand for truth. Don't go away, we're back after this.
455. 33:01The American Family Association, informing, equipping, and activating to transform American
456. 33:08culture.
457. 33:09After the resurrection, when Jesus was given all authority and heaven and on earth, he
458. 33:14Commissions his disciples to make disciples of all nations,
459. 33:18baptizing them in the name of the Father
460. 33:20and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,
461. 33:22and teaching them to obey everything Jesus commanded them.
462. 33:26We at the American Family Association
463. 33:28seek to aid the church in our great commission.
464. 33:31Hello, I'm Don Hawkins here to tell you
465. 33:33about encouragement live.
466. 33:3555 minutes of industrial strength
467. 33:38ratingo encouragement featuring resourceful guests,
468. 33:42plus practical biblical insights to help you face life's challenges.
469. 33:46We'll be taking your phone calls.
470. 33:49So plan to join us for encouragement live.
471. 33:52Saturdays at 7.05 PM Central 8.05 PM Eastern here on American Family Radio.
472. 34:06The Hamilton Quarter Podcast and One-Minute Common Terrets are available at AFR.net.
473. 34:12Back to the Hamilton Quarter on American Family Radio.
474. 34:16Hey, welcome back to the program, you know, and our conversation was Sherry few a few moments ago about education
475. 34:22I mentioned the activate summit and that's going to be June 12th through 14th in Tupelo
476. 34:28The American Family Association has a worldview
477. 34:32Curriculum out biblical worldview, but it's also really understanding the culture in which we live and it's called activate
478. 34:40And there's a big conference coming up in June. I know right now
479. 34:43Now the last thing on your mind is the summer of 2025.
480. 34:48But if you would, let me brazen shameless self-promotion here on my own website, which is AlexMcFarland.com.
481. 34:58My tour schedule is on there.
482. 35:00I'm speaking all over the country.
483. 35:01We've got three citywide evangelistic crusades next year, Berry, Alabama, Carthage, Mississippi,
484. 35:09February 20 and following I'm in Wichita, Kansas.
485. 35:13It's going to be amazing.
486. 35:15I'm going to be at the Billy Graham Training Center,
487. 35:17the Cove twice next summer,
488. 35:19and of course the Activate Summit.
489. 35:21So if you would, check out my website.
490. 35:23There's a lot there.
491. 35:24I've got some Christmas articles that are out
492. 35:26on places like townhall.com and Epoch Times.
493. 35:30And God bless you and thanks for your stand for truth
494. 35:34here at this time.
495. 35:35Now, let me change gears here.
496. 35:38And I was youth pastor for 11 years,
497. 35:41been a professor for 20 years plus.
498. 35:44I've always said if there are two ways to reach young people.
499. 35:48One is sports and the other is music.
500. 35:52I love music.
501. 35:53I always love to learn about people
502. 35:56that are making great music.
503. 35:57And somebody you're gonna meet right now
504. 35:59is doing just that.
505. 36:00And a lot of people talking about the work of Natasha Owens.
506. 36:04She's got a brand new CD out, That America.
507. 36:07And she's, well, I'm gonna let her tell her own story.
508. 36:11She's got a Christmas song out,
509. 36:14a song with political overtones that we'll talk about.
510. 36:18But she's with us now and she is a musician
511. 36:21that you might be able to catch on tour this month
512. 36:25or maybe in the new year.
513. 36:27Her website is Natasha Owens Music.
514. 36:31And hey, thanks for being with us
515. 36:33and thanks for blessing the lives of people
516. 36:36with your music, Natasha.
517. 36:37Oh, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate it.
518. 36:41Yeah. Yeah. So, um, your website, Natasha Owens music, right?
519. 36:47Correct. Yes. I wish we could play some of your stuff on air, but we put this together.
520. 36:54Kind of spur the moment, maybe at a future date, but tell us your story.
521. 36:59And how's, how's the career and the music going?
522. 37:04I have had a wild ride, especially the past few years.
523. 37:07My story started back in 2010.
524. 37:11I came from a musical family, but I struggled from anxiety,
525. 37:16stage anxiety.
526. 37:17So I was always a part of music in church,
527. 37:19but always in the background.
528. 37:21The back of the choir praised him,
529. 37:23but never the leader didn't want a solo type thing.
530. 37:26And it was a journey that,
531. 37:29you know, having anxiety just about crippled me,
532. 37:32to some degree, but I learned to live with it
533. 37:34and tried to work through it.
534. 37:37It's a beast if anybody's ever dealt with anxiety.
535. 37:39Well, in 2010, my dad is sitting at the table,
536. 37:42the epitome of gun safety.
537. 37:45He missed a step.
538. 37:46He had a dangerous gun in the tan.
539. 37:49And he was cleaning it.
540. 37:50And a bullet came out and hit him in the heart.
541. 37:53And he died within 60 seconds.
542. 37:56My god.
543. 37:58My world, that was the first time
544. 38:00that my world had really been shook.
545. 38:02That I went through something really
546. 38:03just fake shaking to the core.
547. 38:05I was strong for my entire family.
548. 38:07I'm the oldest child.
549. 38:09I'm the only one that had grandkids.
550. 38:12And I held everything together, but I did not give it to God.
551. 38:17And so on the year mark, I downspiled into a deep depression
552. 38:23and was going so fast into that.
553. 38:26During my depression, about six months into it,
554. 38:29my pastor called and said,
555. 38:32I know you've taken a break from the praise team,
556. 38:34but I need you to stand up and be our music minister.
557. 38:37We've lost ours.
558. 38:38And I said, I can't do that.
559. 38:39I'm depressed, I don't have anything to give.
560. 38:42I'm so angry at God.
561. 38:44And I get out of bed every day.
562. 38:46If I had something left over,
563. 38:47I would give it to my kids, my family, my husband.
564. 38:51And he just said, well, think about it.
565. 38:53And I thought, I don't know how more clean I can be.
566. 38:55So he called a few more times.
567. 38:58And he called on a particular day
568. 38:59where I thought it would become the words to say.
569. 39:03And I was so tired mentally, physically,
570. 39:07just exhausted of dealing with this anxiety
571. 39:10and this depression.
572. 39:12And he said the right things to me.
573. 39:14And he said, I feel like God's given you a lifeline.
574. 39:17And he always does that.
575. 39:21And I feel like you need to take it
576. 39:22because this is your last lifeline.
577. 39:24And he did not know this,
578. 39:25but I was already going down around of suicide.
579. 39:30The devil had already convinced me
580. 39:31that the world would be a better place without me, right?
581. 39:34which is such a lie at the devil.
582. 39:36Yes.
583. 39:36But we serve a guy of God of second chances
584. 39:39and God that crosses paths and says the exact things
585. 39:44that we need to hear.
586. 39:46So I remember saying yes to a position
587. 39:49that I wasn't qualified for,
588. 39:51that I had severe anxiety,
589. 39:53that I didn't know how I was gonna do it.
590. 39:55He wanted me to pour into people when I have nothing.
591. 39:58I didn't feel like I had anything.
592. 39:59I was just dead inside.
593. 40:01And I remember asking him,
594. 40:03I can't read my Bible and I can't pray.
595. 40:06Is that the type of music ministry that you want?
596. 40:08And he said it's the type God wants.
597. 40:10He's throwing you a lifeline, it's a process.
598. 40:13We just gotta work with his process.
599. 40:16And so I said yes to the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.
600. 40:19I wasn't qualified.
601. 40:20I could hear by ear but I can't play
602. 40:22and I can't read notes but I can hear it.
603. 40:26So I began a journey where I didn't get further away from him.
604. 40:30I continued to get closer to him
605. 40:32it took years to dig out of that hole.
606. 40:35And it was a training ground for what I started doing professionally.
607. 40:40You know, someone that doesn't want the spotlight doesn't want to talk in front of people or really,
608. 40:45you know, perform in front of people.
609. 40:48That's what God called me out to do.
610. 40:49And it's so funny that I didn't want it, right?
611. 40:53And Natasha, you might appreciate this.
612. 40:56Listen, at least in North Carolina where I grew up, to graduate high school,
613. 41:01you have to pass 12th grade English. Well, I went to summer school to pass English so I
614. 41:09could graduate high school rather than get up and give a speech. And I was not a Christian.
615. 41:16So I went to six weeks of summer school so I could graduate, get my high school diploma,
616. 41:22rather than get up and give a speech. And I never dreamed that I would be a preacher for
617. 41:27you know, 30 years of my adult life, five nights a week,
618. 41:30I'm up in front of total strangers,
619. 41:32and I went to my high school reunion,
620. 41:34and a lot of my friends from high school,
621. 41:38they said, hey, who are you,
622. 41:39and what have you done with Alex McFarland,
623. 41:41because you're not the same person?
624. 41:43I said, yeah, I know.
625. 41:44What happened to you?
626. 41:45I said, Jesus happened to me.
627. 41:46But my point is, and hammer on this
628. 41:50for somebody who might be listening, look, folks,
629. 41:54God doesn't use you just in your comfort zone.
630. 41:57In fact, the place God might use you most is way outside of the comfort zone because that
631. 42:03way we lean on him.
632. 42:05Am I right, Natasha?
633. 42:07Oh, that's exactly right.
634. 42:09And I felt so out of my comfort zone, my story, getting into music kind of happened backwards
635. 42:16and then there's a story to that.
636. 42:18But it started backwards on a massive stage and I was on a tour with Grammy winners and
637. 42:23I was very overwhelmed.
638. 42:25And I remember telling one of them, he stopped me one day and he said, I've been watching
639. 42:30you on this tour and you struggle with severe anxiety, don't you?
640. 42:33And I said, I'm trying to overcome it.
641. 42:35God has brought me a long way.
642. 42:36I just feel like I'm a kindergartner running with a bunch of college professors.
643. 42:41And I don't know what I'm doing.
644. 42:42And but I'm held to the same level according to the audience.
645. 42:46I'm in the professional world.
646. 42:48And he said something to me that helped me and changed me.
647. 42:52He said God never calls the equipped, but he will equip to he calls.
648. 42:57And a lot of times his calling is outside of your comfort zone and just rest in that and
649. 43:01know that each step that he brings you to, he's going to be with you and he's going to equip
650. 43:05you with what you need.
651. 43:08And it's amazing the story that you just told because it's identical to mine.
652. 43:15God has plans for ourselves.
653. 43:19ourselves. That's right. What is your most recent album? Now you did a Christmas record
654. 43:25too didn't you? Oh, well. Hey Natasha I think you're breaking up a little bit. I don't know
655. 43:34if the signal, I don't know if it's hard to hear but you've got a Christmas song or an
656. 43:42entire Christmas album out which is it? We have a new single that we put out called Don't
657. 43:48late for Christmas. And we have a deluxe Christmas album out that has 14 songs. So I have a total
658. 43:55now of 15 Christmas songs. Oh, that's wonderful. Is that the one Christmas memories? Christmas
659. 44:02memories, yes. I have a regular version of 10 songs of deluxe version that we added for
660. 44:06more last year. So yeah, we just keep producing music. But I have a total of seven albums out
661. 44:14out so far.
662. 44:17Well congratulations.
663. 44:18And you know it's got to be very gratifying that you know feelings of insecurity, years
664. 44:25of hard work but God has blessed it and God has raised you up.
665. 44:30You've been on my Cuckabees show, Lindel TV.
666. 44:35Did I read correctly you shared the stage with Toby Keith?
667. 44:39Correct.
668. 44:40a veteran. I did a patriotic album called American Patriot and I did, um, uh, uh, uh,
669. 44:47shared the stage with him with 53,000 Vietnam vets at Daytona and it, it was a day that changed
670. 44:53my life. Absolutely. Now, was that intimidating to walk out to a microphone in front of 53,000
671. 44:59people? You know, I've come such a long way. That is Lee's, that, that doesn't intimidate me as much
672. 45:05now as singing to a room of 50 people that I know. Okay.
673. 45:11All right. Yes. So I've come a long way.
674. 45:14So I know it's not your most recent, but I got to ask this
675. 45:17before Time Fleet's way. Tell me about the song Trump won.
676. 45:23Well, back in 2020, we did an American Patriot album and we put a
677. 45:29pro-life song on it. I was in contemporary Christian.
678. 45:32That industry is very progressive in Nashville.
679. 45:35and they didn't like but I did a patriotic album or a pro-life song.
680. 45:40And so I say I got fired out of contemporary Christian because I'm two pro-life promoters were
681. 45:46firing me off of events, radio stations were boycotting me. And that's where I turned. My husband had been
682. 45:53saying since 2020 I needed to do a Trump One song from the 2020 election. Trump One and you know it.
683. 46:00And I said, if I do that, Nashville is going to ostracize me.
684. 46:05Yeah.
685. 46:05But when they did that to me on the pro life song, I thought, do I want to really
686. 46:08be a part of an industry that doesn't stand up for life?
687. 46:11Hey, you know what?
688. 46:12Not to pro life.
689. 46:13Listen, there was a big festival on the West Coast that 125,000 people not at
690. 46:21once, but over a four day period, this festival doesn't exist anymore.
691. 46:27but I was there for four straight years and Natasha I was shocked and maybe this is another subject for another day at
692. 46:35the wokeness within contemporary Christian music because I was a speaker
693. 46:41Every I assure you folks everybody when I did the Christian
694. 46:46festival circuit every band you've ever heard of ever was out there and
695. 46:52I was backstage. I was at the hotels and just
696. 46:57the wokeness within the contemporary Christian music industry
697. 47:01kind of blew my mind and sounds like you had a similar reaction.
698. 47:05Oh yes, a very anti-Trump, very anti- that they're
699. 47:09pro-choice, they are LGBTQ, you've got
700. 47:13some trans movement that has kind of hijacked the
701. 47:17radio industry a little bit, not as much with country but for
702. 47:21sure with Christian. And so I decided to turn into a
703. 47:25to a Trump one song. And that did put a ticadine into my career in Nashville because of the industry.
704. 47:34But it got me to a different level in a different place. It went number one. It not Taylor Swift out of first.
705. 47:40Number one on iTunes, number two on the board. Yeah, for pop and country for an entire month.
706. 47:48And President Trump of course loved it and kept sharing it. It's the first song that I've gotten death threats to.
707. 47:54Well, that's a badge of honor, isn't it?
708. 47:59Badge of honor.
709. 48:00And so we, the song platinum and just went out of control.
710. 48:05So for this election, we decided to rewrite the verses
711. 48:10and do a dance remix and add kind of a rapper,
712. 48:13collaboration with a rapper, and do something just really fun.
713. 48:17And we dropped it on election night.
714. 48:19And so, of course, President Trump loves Trump one.
715. 48:23He plays it all the time.
716. 48:24And even on Air Force One or his Trump plane,
717. 48:28and every time he shares it charts again.
718. 48:32So both of those versions charted again,
719. 48:34not I think to number 15 right after the election,
720. 48:36it just keeps having kind of a resurgence.
721. 48:38And it's become an anthem all over the world.
722. 48:41I cannot tell you how successful that song was
723. 48:44and how many people loved it.
724. 48:46In fact, worldwide, in fact, President Bukelli of El Salvador
725. 48:52is a big fan of the Trump one song.
726. 48:53and when I met him earlier the year, he invited me to his inauguration, second inauguration,
727. 48:59which we went to.
728. 49:00Well, congratulations.
729. 49:01Thank you.
730. 49:02Hey, forgive me.
731. 49:03We're almost out of time.
732. 49:04I got to ask you a question.
733. 49:05Are you going to be at the inauguration?
734. 49:09I am singing all throughout that week at All Kind.
735. 49:11We have put in a request to sing at the official inauguration, so say a prayer for that.
736. 49:16You got it.
737. 49:17Natasha Owens, hey, thanks for being with us.
738. 49:19This is our first visit.
739. 49:20Hope we can have another conversation on the radio again really soon.
740. 49:24Have a Merry Christmas.
741. 49:26Thank you, too.
742. 49:27Hey, folks. Thanks for listening. I want to thank Bobby Rose, Jeff McIntosh,
743. 49:30all the great crew, Marty Sparks, who help us do the radio at American Family Radio.
744. 49:36We wish you all a joyous Merry Christmas and thanks for listening.
745. 49:41The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those
746. 49:45of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.