August 1, 2025 · 49:19

Guest Host, Alex McFarland, is joined by Troy Miller, President & CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters Association

Politics & Policy

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Guest Host, Alex McFarland, is joined by Troy Miller, President & CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters Association | 1-800-326-4543 ext. 345 To donate call : 877-616-2396

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1-800-326-4543 ext. 345
877-616-2396

Full transcript Auto-generated · 8,462 words

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.

0:00Darkness is not an affirmative force.
0:02It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
0:06This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
0:10It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
0:15Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
0:18And the philosophies of this world.
0:20God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
0:24Even in this dark moment.
0:26Let's not miss our moment.
0:28and now the Hamilton Corner.
0:33In the Gospel of Mark, Mark 16, verse 15,
0:36the Word of God says this,
0:38Jesus said unto them,
0:39go ye into all the world
0:41and preach the gospel to every creature,
0:44the command to preach the good news
0:46to the whole wide world.
0:47We often call that the Great Commission.
0:49And you know, by doing radio and television
0:53and publishing and events,
0:54the Church of Every Generation
0:57has the privilege of participating in Christ's
1:00Great Commission. Well, hi, Alex McFarland here. I'm so excited because folks have a very
1:05rare opportunity in the next few moments. We're going to visit here on the American Family Radio
1:10Network with someone I'm not sure if you've heard of this person before but they are a key part of
1:19the church's ability to live out the Great Commission in the western world today and really all around
1:26the world. His name is Troy Miller and Troy is just a valued friend and colleague. He is
1:31the president of NRB. Now you've heard us many times on AFR. We talk about every spring we
1:38go to national religious broadcasters. It's been my joy for almost 20 years I suppose to
1:44go to the NRB convention. Frequently it's in Nashville, it's in Dallas sometimes, sometimes
1:50Anaheim, California, but the leader of NRB, which is ministries, all the beloved programming
1:57you hear like David Jeremiah and Charles Stanley and of course the American Family Association.
2:04We are a part of NRB and I am a member myself even though I'm there with the American Family
2:11Radio Network.
2:13But Troy Miller, I've watched the Lord use this man in so many ways and we are here at
2:18the Cove. We'll talk about that. But it's a rare privilege and it is a privilege indeed
2:23to have Troy Miller making time to be with us on the show today. So, sir, welcome to
2:28the program. Thank you for making time and we just look forward to hearing all that God
2:33is doing through your life and work within RB.
2:35Well, Alex, thank you for having me. It's great to be here with you, as you said, you and
2:40I've been, I think friends for almost 20 years as well since around in RB. And of course,
2:45And of course, as you said, American Family Association,
2:48American Family Radio have been longtime members of NRB.
2:52So it's just a privilege and an honor to be with you.
2:54Well, it's great to have you.
2:55And folks, we're on the road.
2:58We're traveling.
2:59And we're coming to you from a very special place,
3:02also a member of National Religious Broadcasters,
3:06probably one of the legacy members for many years,
3:09the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association,
3:12Just a few, a short space from where Troy,
3:15you and I are is our long time friend, Jim Kirkland,
3:19106.9 the light, BRB, Blue Ridge Broadcasting.
3:23But we're at the Cove.
3:26We're in the middle of a seminar this week
3:28on apologetics, biblical worldview.
3:31So Troy, thank you for being with us.
3:34For those that may be unaware, what is NRB?
3:38Yeah, so NRB as you said, goes back a long time.
3:42This is actually our 82nd year for the NRB Convention.
3:48So, NRB started back in 1944,
3:50when radio was the new medium out there
3:53and there was a group of pastors said,
3:55this is a great way to communicate the gospel.
3:57This is a great way to disciple the church
4:00and so they wanted to get on radio.
4:03Well, like everything else,
4:04there was a group that decided
4:05they were gonna be the gatekeepers
4:07and the main radio entities at the time,
4:12They were like, yeah, this religious stuff's cool,
4:14but we only wanted to be this long
4:16and we don't want it to take up all of our programming.
4:20And so to counter that, to make sure
4:22that the gospel could be in the marketplace,
4:25they got together in 1944 at Moody Church
4:28and formed the National Religious Broadcasters Association.
4:31And so for the last 80 plus years,
4:34we have been fighting for, advocating for the rights
4:39of Christian communicators of all kinds, of course, started at radio, radio to television
4:44and now all things digital. And we have publishers and authors and filmmakers, podcasters, bloggers,
4:52youtubers, you name it, Tiktakers. And we work really hard so that they can stay in that
5:00public square, in that public marketplace. And it's been a lot of work, especially recently
5:05with a lot of the censorship and weaponization of the government.
5:10Well, and there's a lot of exciting news to talk about.
5:13A lot of exciting victories in Troy.
5:15You've been absolutely at the forefront of that.
5:18And I want to talk about this.
5:20And maybe there are even people listening and you might want to pray about someday attending
5:26an NRB convention or joining NRB.
5:30A little bit of history.
5:31Because I do love history.
5:34And Troy, let me commend you in all honesty.
5:37I've been a part of a lot of things.
5:39And I remember when I first became aware of you, I was working for James Dobson at Focus
5:44on the Family and began to go to these conventions.
5:49The first one I went to would have been maybe 05 in Dallas or something like that.
5:57God bless you, sir.
5:58I've seen a lot of leaders in a lot of contexts.
6:01And when you're at NRB, there are thousands of people, hundreds and hundreds of ministries.
6:07Like nobody I've ever seen, you deliver the content, you unify many different people and
6:15organizations and camps and groups.
6:20And for one thing, I commend you, your leadership of NRB is just exceptional to God be the glory
6:28and you're gifted and you're godly.
6:30The other thing, I've got to ask, what is it like
6:33help people understand a day in the life of Troy Miller,
6:37if you would?
6:38Oh, that's a pretty interesting one.
6:40If you like change, then you would like a day in the life
6:45of Troy Miller, because about every hour
6:47is something different.
6:48Because we, as you said, and look, God does get the glory,
6:51and I'll say this real quickly, I grew up
6:55in a bad home environment, but was mostly raised
6:59my grandparents and and thought I was going to follow my grandfather's footsteps be a part-time
7:04farmer and a policeman and such but then ended up in the Navy and then ended up in the tech industry
7:10and so on and I can tell you this I never thought I'd ever be anywhere near an organization like this
7:17little and running one and but God orders our steps he trains you wherever you're at today
7:24God is I guarantee God is training you for something you don't even know is coming down the road
7:29But my days are full of change because our organization,
7:33you said, we deal with radio and television
7:36and radio and television program producers
7:39and podcasters and all these different kind
7:41of industries including churches out there,
7:44because every church is a Christian communicator today.
7:47And so I could be at one point talking about a radio issue,
7:52and another point I could be on television talking
7:56about some issue in the culture and then turn around
7:59and be talking about foreign missions.
8:02And so that's how my day usually goes,
8:04my days on a variety of topics that are going around
8:07because we do kind of three major things in R.B.
8:10Like you said, we advocate for Christian communicators
8:15and then we work on equipping them for excellence
8:19in the ministry that they call them do.
8:20Those are kind of our two main,
8:22as I call our two main pillars.
8:24our third pillar is we advocate or we not advocate sorry, we amplify the messages that a lot of
8:30our folks are doing. So we amplify the pro-life fight, we're amplifying Christian persecution,
8:36or we're amplifying the relations between Christians and Israel. And so a lot of work like that.
8:43Well, and I want to say one of the things that excites me has been NRB's just very consistent
8:50stance for and with Israel.
8:53And one of the highlights for me personally,
8:56the breakfast every year with folks like Joel Rosenberg
9:00and frequently members of the Knesset.
9:04Troy, where I grew up near Greensboro, North Carolina,
9:07there's a large Jewish population, wonderful people.
9:11The hospital in Greensboro was built by a Jewish family.
9:15Many of the schools around.
9:17And so all my life, I've been around precious, precious Jewish people.
9:22And I'll never forget the first NRB that I ever had the privilege of attending.
9:26I went with a number of my colleagues from focus to the Israel breakfast.
9:33And there were some members of the Knesset.
9:36And it was very emotional and they said, we want to thank you in Israel.
9:40We know the best friends we have in this world are the evangelical Christians of America.
9:47And it was just all I could do to hold back the tears.
9:51And it was very moving, wasn't it?
9:53Yes, it's very moving.
9:55And Alex, that is even more prevalent today
9:58since the October 7th massacre that happened in Israel
10:03because it's been Christians who have constantly come to the aid
10:09of our Jewish friends and Israel itself.
10:14I was there just two months after that event,
10:18and then there was there about six months after that,
10:22and then another year.
10:23And there was a constant theme amongst the Jewish people.
10:27And we know that in America, there are a lot
10:29of liberal Jewish people, but they have said to me,
10:33over and over again, look, my liberal friends have abandoned me,
10:37but often the Christians who I stand on opposite ground with
10:42have been here praying for me.
10:44They have been supporting us.
10:46They have been champion in our causes,
10:49and they have been boots on the ground to help us.
10:51And that's, I think, Alex is making a huge impact
10:54in the Jewish community today.
10:56And look, and I'm hoping and looking for,
10:59we all know there's gonna be a revival
11:01someday in the Jewish community,
11:03but maybe that'll be in our lifetime.
11:04Amen, amen.
11:06And, you know, when NRB was in Dallas, not this year,
11:11But I'm thinking it might have been about 21 or 22.
11:16There's an Emmy and Telly award-winning documentary filmmaker that is a dear friend from Atlanta.
11:24She's done work for Fox News.
11:26She's done work for many networks.
11:29And she's a renowned cinematographer.
11:31She's Jewish.
11:33And we paid and took her to NRB to cut some film for us.
11:39And she went to the Israel breakfast and she had grandparents that died in the Holocaust.
11:44And I looked, lights were down and Joel Rosenberg and a number were speaking and she was just
11:49weeping.
11:51And of course, we've, in addition to being a professional colleague, we've been trying
11:55to share Jesus with this person.
11:57And so that's just one example of how NRB is proclaiming the gospel.
12:02You're at the absolute forefront of that.
12:05You know, whether it be Samaritan's Purse, Billy Graham,
12:10answers and Genesis, David Jeremiah, my friends
12:13that focus on the family, Jim Daly, we all talk about Troy Miller.
12:18No.
12:19And brother, before we take our first break,
12:22any websites that you would direct people to
12:26or do you have a book out, anyway,
12:28that we can help promote Troy Miller?
12:31I have been pushed to write a book, so I may be starting one.
12:34But look, you can track us at NRB.org.
12:38That's again, NRB at ORG.
12:41And you can track all the issues that we're doing there.
12:44And you can go to our other websites, NRB Convention.
12:47As you said, to find out what's going on
12:50at the annual convention there.
12:52And you can track a lot of the legislative and cultural
12:55issues that we're dealing with as well.
12:57Or follow us on Twitter at NRB Association, or NRBCEO.
13:02and you can follow me personally.
13:04And when we come back, we do have a break in a few moments,
13:07but I wanna talk about some of the issues
13:09and some of the legislative victories
13:12that you've been at the forefront of,
13:14but there is also NRBTV.
13:17And what is that?
13:19So NRBTV was started 20 years ago, 2005,
13:23to give a place for independent television producers
13:29to have an outlet because,
13:31and we'll probably talk about this later
13:32because at the time PBS was moving away
13:35from Christian programming.
13:37And so this was a great time.
13:39So we call it a Christian worldview PBS
13:42because we do lots of apologetics.
13:44We do lots of Christian worldview programming conferences.
13:47But we also do cooking and arts and entertainment music.
13:50And we have a gentleman out of Atlanta that does painting.
13:54We all remember Bob Ross on PBS.
13:56We have a gentleman like that that does it.
13:58And he interweaves his faith into that as well.
14:01So NRBTV.org is a great place to find out.
14:05All of our programming, like Alex,
14:07you can find him there every week.
14:09Well, and we're deeply grateful for that.
14:11Well folks, this is the American Family Radio Network,
14:14Alex McFarland, sitting in tonight for Abe Hamilton.
14:18Trust you've had a good day.
14:19Trust your planning to be in the House of the Lord on Sunday.
14:22But we've got a brief break, stay tuned.
14:23We're gonna come back and talk with Troy Miller,
14:26the leader of National Religious Broadcasters.
14:29By the way, you can listen again at AFR.net.
14:33This show will be archived at AFR.net.
14:35And if you like what you hear, pray for AFR,
14:39share this with a friend, say tune a brief break,
14:42and more about the gospel in the 21st century world on AFR.
14:47We're back after this brief break.
15:01A discipleship minute with Joseph Parker.
15:04Our words are powerful, much more so than we as human beings
15:07typically understand.
15:09saying that used to be popular years ago,
15:11stated,
15:12Sticks and stones may break my bones,
15:14but words will never harm me.
15:17This is possibly one of the biggest lies you will ever hear.
15:21Words can hurt to an extreme degree,
15:24and people use them to hurt others every single day.
15:28Yet for us as believers, followers of Christ,
15:31our goal is to use our words every day to bless others
15:35and point them to Christ.
15:38Our words should bless others,
15:39promote healing in people's lives,
15:42grace and encouragement in the lives of those around us.
15:45We should habitually lift others up by our words.
15:49It is in fact relatively easy to bless others
15:52and encourage people with our words
15:54if we wisely and very deliberately seek to do so.
16:05Shiting light into the darkness,
16:07this is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
16:12Welcome back to the program.
16:14Alex MacFarlane here will resume our conversation with Troy Miller as we record and broadcast
16:20the show the 104th gathering of the Cedar Falls Bible Conferences underway right near Cedar Rapids,
16:27Iowa, Cedar Falls. It's been my joy to be there several years and tomorrow August 2nd I have
16:35the privilege of being the keynote speaker. I'll be speaking at 9.30, 11 and 7 p.m. And
16:41And every time we go to Iowa, I mean we just meet the greatest people in the world.
16:46So if you're listening to this and you happen to be within driving distance of Cedar Falls,
16:50Iowa, I would love to meet you.
16:52And I want to thank Matt Reisner and all of his great staff for allowing us to be a part
16:57of the Cedar Falls Bible Conference going on now for over 100 years, glory to God.
17:05And also glory to God for the work of Troy Miller.
17:09First of all, Troy, thanks for making time to be with us.
17:12Oh, no, it's great to be with you.
17:14Thanks for having me.
17:15Yeah, and one of the things that was a great thrill
17:20all my life, all my Christian life,
17:22I've heard of George Barna and the Barna research group.
17:25And I mean, just one of the most respected
17:28pollsters, trend watchers.
17:31And now every time I go to your annual convention,
17:34I get to interview him.
17:36But there was a recent Barna report that says a lot about
17:41really the state of the church and our culture.
17:44And I wondered if you'd care to comment,
17:47one of the headlines says,
17:48most Americans engage with Christian media.
17:52Yeah, and that was one of the, to be honest,
17:56that number was beyond what we anticipated was going to be.
18:01So we reached out to Barna around the fall of last year,
18:05and we asked them to help us with a survey
18:08to look at what's Christian media having an impact?
18:12That's really the premise behind this.
18:15And we asked specifically,
18:18was media having an impact beyond your church media?
18:22Okay, so one of the things we asked people
18:24when we asked them all these questions was
18:26set aside your pastor for a second.
18:28We're not talking about you oxygen,
18:30your pastor, sermons or any of that.
18:32So we asked folks just the general population out there,
18:38do you engage with Christian media?
18:41In 60% of Americans, that's 60% of Americans,
18:45not evangelical Americans, just Americans,
18:48said that they engage with Christian media
18:51on a regular basis.
18:53And that number was just a phenomenon.
18:55I really, to be honest, thought it was gonna be
18:57maybe in the high 40s, I think I would have been really happy
19:01and so great with, but 60%, and I think it really shows
19:08that there's still a real hunger and desire in America
19:13to know about the Bible, to know about God,
19:17and to know about the gospel in their lives.
19:21Absolutely, you know, some good news
19:23because I suppose for 25 years, we've talked about,
19:26you know, people falling away in the church plateaued
19:29or declining, and I mean, to be sure, folks,
19:31be in prayer for an awakening and be a part of a church and we need to you know
19:36ardently do what we can to bring people under the sound of the gospel but some
19:42good news. USA Today Troy this Easter had a big feature story about how Gen Z and
19:50younger are coming back to church and it said and it's not just at Christmas and
19:55Easter and I was on Fox with our mutual friend Lauren Green back in I don't know
20:01maybe March with a gentleman from Barnes and Noble booksellers.
20:06And he was, and they showed some b-roll of Bibles being sold
20:10that the major book retailers are selling Bibles
20:15just about as quickly as they can get them in.
20:17And a lot of, among the people buying a copy of God's word
20:22are young adult males, ages 18 to 30.
20:26Well, this is good news.
20:28and helping move the needle, I believe,
20:31making an impact positively for the gospel in our culture
20:36or yourself and the Christian ministries that you represent.
20:41Well, absolutely that Christian ministries
20:44are making an impact here,
20:46and we can help quantify that data as well
20:49because one of the things that came out for us,
20:51now you might have thought if I ask most people
20:54who listens to Christian radio watches,
20:57Christian television consumes Christian media.
21:00They would have probably said the older generations,
21:02the baby boomers, the X generations,
21:04but that wasn't the case.
21:06The two largest consumers of Christian media
21:10were the Gen-Ys, that's the millennials, and the Gen-Zs.
21:14They were the two largest groups.
21:16And over, now most of their media consumption,
21:19of course, is on social media digitally,
21:22but they were consuming Gen-Z, for example,
21:25was consumed over 60% of them were interacting
21:29in some form of Christian media on a weekly basis
21:33and over 50% of the millennials.
21:36They were the two largest groups.
21:38And that, as you said, that is really encouraging
21:41when we look at some of the other data
21:43about them buying more Bibles, purchasing Bibles,
21:47purchasing study materials, and the young males,
21:52both millennials and Gen Zers who are going back to church at a record rate.
21:58Amen. Amen. Well, yes, so Christian media does have an impact. You know, there is a
22:05fairly well-known atheist that I've debated a number of times and I'm trying to
22:11win him to the Lord. But he is somewhat well-known, but he asked me one time. He said,
22:17Hey, have you ever heard of Charles Stanley?
22:20I said, absolutely.
22:22He said, do you like him?
22:24Is he good?
22:25I said, yeah, he's awesome.
22:26He's right on the money.
22:28Now, he's in heaven now, but this was a couple of years ago,
22:30Dr. Stanley was still with us.
22:32And I said, how do you know about Charles Stanley?
22:34He said, well, you know, I see him sometimes.
22:39Now, this is a big published atheist.
22:42And in my heart, I said, well, praise God.
22:46If you're watching Charles Stanley, that's a good sign.
22:50It's a great sign that they're watching Charles Stanley.
22:54Let me say this, I think, about what this says
22:57about the culture today.
22:58Another question we asked was, why do you tune into Christian
23:03media?
23:04What's the reason behind it, trying to figure out
23:07what's the driver's first?
23:08And the number one answer, and I really
23:11think this talks about the culture today, number one answer
23:15was I'm looking for hope and encouragement.
23:18I'm looking for hope and encouragement.
23:22The culture is so full of negativity and despair,
23:27and we're constantly pushing all of the problems.
23:33That's what bubbles up into the mainstream of the news today.
23:36And yet we have a large group,
23:3860% of the country out there saying,
23:40you know what, I'm really looking for hope.
23:43I'm looking for encouragement.
23:44I get enough of this other stuff.
23:46And I thought, you know, isn't that what the gospel's all about?
23:50Isn't that the whole idea that there's something inside of us that we know life should be better than this?
23:57Life should be different from it.
23:59I should feel like I have a purpose and a meaning.
24:01I should feel like there's hope in there.
24:04And then Alex, you'll like this one for all that you do.
24:07The number two reason right behind that wasn't, it was this.
24:12Let me just say it this way.
24:14I want to know more about my Bible and how to love God better in people.
24:22Amen.
24:23So they were, it was like I'm looking for hope and encouragement, but I have a real active
24:28purpose for that.
24:29I want to know how to understand my Bible better, how to understand and love God better
24:35and how to love people.
24:36Amen.
24:37Well, and also really to, I don't know how to phrase it better than this, to know what's
24:42going on. Wednesday night, two days ago, we had Jay Warner Wallace on and he's part of
24:49the conference that we're in right now. And Jim Wallace, who was a renowned detective,
24:54became a Christian in his 50s, he said part of the reason that he ultimately came to Christ
25:01was because this is true. Jesus is the risen Son of God. But the Bible, God's Word, tells
25:08us where we came from, where we are, why we're here, and where we're going. And I would be
25:15remiss if I didn't say this, if you're listening to the program right now, Troy Miller, Alex McFarland,
25:20maybe you're one of the people like we all were at one time, you're wondering just what is all this
25:26about. Friend, the purpose of life is to know Jesus Christ the Savior, and he died for you,
25:33He rose again. We often say this Troy that Jesus is as close by as a prayer. Isn't it one of the perks
25:43of a biblical worldview? That's life reality as informed by God's holy word. I think one of the
25:50great the benefits package shall we say. We know what's going on. Yeah, that's right. Not only do we
25:58we know what's going on, we kind of know how the story ends as well, so we know what the
26:03future is. And then because of that and because we know we have a purpose, we know we're not
26:12just random, a random act of nature, and we know that there's a purpose in our lives and
26:19a purpose in our relationships with other people and especially with God. And it's why people
26:27say all the time, all this stuff goes out, you Christians, but you still have so much
26:33peace and joy. Well, that's because we live in peace and joy because we know the answers
26:40that everybody's searching for. And we have hope, which we were talking about, humans need
26:47food and water, but humans need hope. And there is hope in Jesus. And I'll say this,
26:54There's so much I want to ask Troy Miller, but folks, no matter what you've done, Christ
27:00will forgive me.
27:01No matter what has been done to you, he can heal you.
27:05In fact, Joel 2.25 is in the Old Testament, it says, God restores the years, the locus
27:12teseces.
27:13And you mentioned growing up on a farm, I did too, my family.
27:18I live within about two miles of where my family's been for 200 years.
27:25And you know, if the crop, if you've got a drought or if the deer eat all the corn, you're out
27:30of luck till next year.
27:32God restores the years the locust has eaten.
27:36That's really kind of a farming analogy.
27:38And folks, no matter where you are in the journey, no matter what your age, what the past might
27:44have been, a new day can begin now.
27:48today with Jesus. Call on Jesus. Oh, let me just say this. On my website is a little tab.
27:54What does God say about my relationship with him? AlexMcFarlane.com. Now there's a book
27:59that we've given out to a quarter million people and you can have this book. It's on
28:06my website and if you need to come to Christ, if you need to come back to Christ, you could
28:12do that today. And if the Spirit of God is stirring within you and you think, you know,
28:17I need that hope.
28:18I surely would love to have a fresh start with God.
28:23It can begin today.
28:24Jesus loves you so much.
28:26Call on Him.
28:28Well, Troy, one of the things that you've done within RB,
28:31and I know recently there's a victory in process,
28:35even as we speak, related to something,
28:39some legislation from 1954 that you've been addressing.
28:44And I want you to talk about the free open door legally
28:50for the proclamation of the gospel.
28:52Well, the case is still under review by the judge right now,
28:57so it's still an active case.
28:58So it's the plaintiff, I can't talk much about the case
29:01in particular, but what you're referring to
29:04is what's commonly known as the Johnson Amendment,
29:07and I can talk about the history of that.
29:08Linda B. Johnson, when he was running for Senate in Texas
29:12back in the early 50s,
29:13He was actually opposed by a number of churches,
29:16number of African American churches,
29:18that kind of looked at him as a racist.
29:21So he made it into Congress, he got into the Senate,
29:24he becomes one of the Senate leaders,
29:28and he attaches to a bill, this amendment,
29:31this Johnson amendment, and what it did
29:34was silence nonprofit organizations,
29:36typically known in the IRS code as a 501c3.
29:40And this bill did three things,
29:42at one it said non-profits can't donate to campaigns.
29:47Two, the leaders of that non-profit,
29:50in particular in this case,
29:52all churches are considered 501c3s,
29:56can't oppose or endorse candidates
30:00or issues that would oppose or endorse a candidate.
30:04And then third, they can only do so much lobbying.
30:06So our case goes after number two there.
30:09this idea that you can't endorse or oppose candidates,
30:14or in particular talk about issues that are
30:17around the campaign.
30:18That's what our case is going after.
30:20That's what we're looking to get turned over
30:23or tossed out as we believe it's a violation
30:27of the First Amendment, both the freedom of speech
30:30and of course for pastors, the freedom of religion,
30:33free exercise thereof,
30:34because you think about it this way.
30:36up until then to be Johnson for 175 plus years in this country,
30:41the pulpits were one of the chief voices
30:44into the culture and into elections.
30:46So that case we're hoping very soon we'll get a ruling
30:50from the judge and we'll be able to announce that ruling.
30:53But that's the history behind the case and what the case is.
30:56And it would bring restore back to what we originally
31:00had in this country, the freedom for pastors in the pulpits
31:04to talk based on their conscience, their interpretation of the Bible, and their shepherding of their
31:13flocks, of their congregations not restricted by the government.
31:17You know, I mentioned George Barna a couple of moments ago.
31:21Barna and I a year ago were at NRB and he had some very recent data that roughly 80 to 80
31:31plus of parishioners want their clergy to speak about moral social political issues from
31:39a biblical perspective. What thus saith the Lord? So listen up church leaders. But Barnas
31:46said like 3 to 9 percent ever did. And at most, even the highest number, 12 percent in
31:55the pulpit Sunday morning speak about moral social political issues from a Christian perspective.
32:01And I think there are a lot of reasons for the habitual silence of the pulpit, but ministers,
32:08fellow pastors, 80% or more of your members, they want to hear from the pulpit what does
32:16God's word say and praise the Lord because of this impending ruling.
32:20We're praying it across the finish line.
32:24There'll be more, well, the freedom that we once had restored.
32:28We've got to take a brief break.
32:30Troy Miller of National Religious Broadcasters, Alex McFarlane, here you're listening to the
32:34Hamilton Corner on the NRB, no, I'm sorry.
32:40On the AFR Network, American Family Radio, stay tuned, we've got a break and we'll come
32:46right back more with Troy Miller.
33:02In a recent survey of 1,200 left of Central American adults, 55% responded that assassinating
33:08Donald Trump could be justified.
33:10We're swimming in shark infested cultural waters.
33:13Some are suffering from Christianophobia.
33:15Jesus said, if they persecuted me, they'll also persecute you.
33:19Please give today to help AFA keep equipping you and others to stand for Christ.
33:25Help us shine his light into our dark culture.
33:28Visit afa.net.
33:29Welcome back to the program, Alex McFarland here.
33:49By the way, if you would, my website, AlexMcFarland.com slash conversations.
33:56We have a summer speaker series in August 21, Charlie Kirk.
34:01Charlie Kirk and I will be at the Alabama Theater in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
34:06And I know we've got a lot of listeners around the Mid-Atlantic region, but we would love
34:10to see you.
34:11And yes, there will be open mic Q&A.
34:14So if you've ever wanted to ask a question of Charlie Kirk, you just might get your chance.
34:19Try to join us.
34:20August, Thursday night, August 21, myself and Charlie Kirk together in Myrtle Beach.
34:26You can learn more about that at alexmucfarlane.com.
34:29Well, the time just fleets away and again, Troy Miller, I'm so grateful for you being
34:34with us.
34:35But again, I know I speak for millions of Christians and many ministries.
34:40Thank you for giving your life to keep the airwaves open for the proclamation of the gospel,
34:46all that you do to advocate for the church.
34:49Well, of course in America, but really throughout the world, and we'll talk about that.
34:53But thank you.
34:54Well, look, like I said, it's not anything I ever thought I was going to do.
34:59going to be a part of our doing.
35:01But you know, if we're just obedient to God
35:04and let him open the doors for us,
35:07he trains us up and then he puts us in the right place.
35:10So it's a privilege, I counted as a privilege and a joy
35:14to be doing what I'm doing right now.
35:16I know.
35:17And I'm like you, I never knew growing up,
35:20even going to college never knew what I'd be doing.
35:24And folks, God wants to use you.
35:26Hey, don't forget 1 Corinthians 1558,
35:29that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.
35:32But Troy, I grew up all my life on PBS, public broadcasting.
35:39President Trump has really advocated for the cutting,
35:43if not the eliminating of funding for public broadcasting.
35:48I like, I'm glad of that because I've observed for decades
35:52that it seems like PBS has just been a megaphone
35:56for the left.
35:59Can you give us any update on where that stands
36:01on the possible reduction of funding for that?
36:04Yeah, actually Congress just passed a bill
36:08for the defunding of PBS.
36:10So both PBS and NPR National Public Radio.
36:14So public broadcasting system is television,
36:17national public radio is radio.
36:19And then what's known as the Corporation
36:21for Public Broadcasting, which funds,
36:25most of the funds go through, and it funds a lot of the programming.
36:30And look, I'm like you, Alex.
36:31I grew up on PBS, OK?
36:34I watched Sesame Street and the Electric Company, and Zoom.
36:39Some of you guys might remember.
36:41I remember when Morgan Freeman was the janitor, you know,
36:47on the electric company.
36:48I'm pretty sure it was the electric company, you know?
36:50When he became famous in Hollywood, I was like, wait,
36:53I saw this guy as a kid, you know, on there.
36:55And look, PBS has a carve out,
36:58there's what's called the public interest obligation,
37:01public interest carve out, that Congress set right away
37:05when radio came around, when broadcasting mass communication
37:09came around, Congress understood there's a public interest,
37:12and the business itself won't do all of that.
37:15So they created this public interest,
37:16which is where a lot of our programmers, like AFR,
37:21they get their non-commercial, nonprofit stations
37:24and do that same rules.
37:26But PBS over the last, as you said,
37:28especially over the last couple decades,
37:30I do think that there was a time
37:32where they really focused on education,
37:35they focused on training kids and teaching kids
37:39and doing those, they had a lot of great arts
37:41and entertainment programming on there,
37:43but over the last two decades,
37:45they have really moved to a single ideology
37:49that they move forward.
37:50And it's really a secular ideology.
37:53It was, I think, back in 2008, 2007, sometime around then,
37:58they came out with new rules.
37:59They called a non-sectarian,
38:02that they wouldn't carry any programming
38:05that had a sectarian message, a specific sectarian message,
38:09which really turned out not to be true,
38:10because they carried a number of programs on Islam.
38:13They carried a number of programs on Eastern religions.
38:16They actually carried a number of programs
38:18that either showed the negative side of Christianity
38:22or was always questioning Christianity that was out there.
38:26And of course, then they carried all of the liberal causes
38:30that were out there.
38:31So I think because of that shift,
38:34we have been saying for a long time,
38:35and we said this to the White House back in Trump's
38:39first administration, that PBS should not be getting
38:43public funding to do that, because they,
38:45if they're not gonna represent all of the taxpayers,
38:48then they shouldn't get money from any of the taxpayers.
38:51plus do endless fundraisers.
38:55NPR does, I mean PBS does all of these fundraisers
38:59in addition to getting taxed out of this.
39:02Well, and it puts them,
39:03they've always had an advantage over the rest of us
39:06who are public interest non-commercial,
39:08non-profit programmers as well,
39:10because not only have they gotten this money
39:13from the government to produce programming,
39:15but a lot of this money has helped them
39:17with their infrastructure,
39:18things that they didn't have to pay for,
39:20so they could take all of their,
39:22and look, I don't mind them doing their fundraising,
39:25that's how they should do that.
39:26If you wanna watch this programming,
39:28then support that programming.
39:30I think what they're afraid of is they know
39:33that they've been reaching a very small segment
39:36and they've seen their fundraising reduced
39:39and they've really leaned more heavily
39:41on this government funding than they've really said to be.
39:45And so I think that's what their worry is out there,
39:47but we wanna see it as a level playing field.
39:50Okay, that's the whole thing.
39:51Be on a level playing field and look, again,
39:54if you're gonna get government funds,
39:56then represent all of the people
39:59in your public interest programming,
40:01not just one small ideology, one small set
40:05of philosophies or opinions in this country.
40:08You know, last December, I was at a board meeting
40:11for BRB, the Radio Arm of the Billy Graham Ministry,
40:16the growing Radio Arm.
40:18And one of the reports that was given dealt with how much people
40:23listen to radio in the car.
40:25Now, folks, this is really going to surprise you, I think,
40:30because every now and then people will say,
40:33Alex, you're on the radio, actually seven days a week.
40:36Do you get much traction out of that?
40:38And we do.
40:39We get volumes and volumes and volumes of correspondence
40:43from people impacted.
40:45But as of December last year, some data that I heard
40:49at this board meeting, 93% of people in America
40:55hear a car radio at some point during the week.
40:59That's right.
41:00That is amazing, isn't it?
41:02It is amazing, but radio is still, you know,
41:05a key tool that people use.
41:08It's so much easier in your car to tune in your favorite radio.
41:12And especially because radio gives you that immediate information.
41:17You know, what's the weather?
41:18What's the traffic?
41:18What's going on?
41:19Is there anything I missed on the news?
41:21And then you can get your favorite programming.
41:23And Christian Radio has seen tremendous growth
41:26over the last decade.
41:28We've seen out of just out of a secular magazine,
41:31inside radio, Christian Radio is always in the top two,
41:35top three genres of radio-listed Christian music
41:39and talk and teach.
41:40And on the AM dial, look, 80 million Americans still listen to AM radio and depend on it.
41:47It's the number one source for informational radio, for informational programming.
41:52And the top John Rose on radio on AM radio are Christian talk and teach, conservative
41:57talk, sports talk, and a lot of Spanish language and other language programming turned into
42:04radio.
42:05And as you know, and I grew up in the kid, you grew up in a farm, you listen to those, my
42:09My grandfather listened to those farm reports on AM radio.
42:12He listened to those weather reports, the crop reports,
42:14and what's going on?
42:15We had a very large hog farm, and he was like,
42:19what are pork bellies?
42:20I never learned about that growing up.
42:22What are the pork belly prices?
42:23Yes, exactly.
42:25And also, we just said this.
42:27And the Lord is so good.
42:29I do it, Troy.
42:30I do so many interviews.
42:32Literally, five days a week, I could
42:34be on interviews all across America.
42:37And so many of the shows that I'm on being interviewed
42:41about various issues, there is such a beautiful
42:46American local flavor.
42:48That's right.
42:49I listened.
42:50I was on just yesterday morning at 7.30.
42:53We were here at the Billy Graham Conference Center
42:55but I was on this Detroit News that was an AM
42:59throughout parts of Michigan.
43:01And so I'm, and it's not just sentimentality.
43:05I mean, this is legitimate serving the needs
43:08of the American people.
43:09I love AM radio.
43:10I love FM as well.
43:12But talk to me.
43:13There is some legislation that you have spoken about
43:17and advocated for about keeping AM radio present
43:22in automobiles.
43:24That's right.
43:25And there's a couple of issues behind this.
43:27This bill, it's called the AM Radio and Every Dash Act.
43:31It has a very wide bipartisan support almost 5050 across the house
43:38One of the field bills in Congress today that has that much support to keep in AM radio in the dash and two things behind that
43:45So one the auto manufacturers came out and said ah, oh we can't do AM radios anymore
43:51They're gonna interfere with electric cars
43:52This is sort of around when the EV mandate was at its height and that's gonna interfere
43:57Well, I came from a naval engineering kind of background in electronics and even the government
44:03budget office came out and said no, that's not true, it's a $35 part and on a $20,000 car,
44:11that's nothing.
44:12Yeah, yeah, sure.
44:13To do this, what was really behind it, Alex, was who's going to control the information
44:18in the dash?
44:19Who's going to control, if you go out to the consumer electronics show, if you, excuse
44:25we go out to the big broadcast show, you're going to hear what's called the connected dash,
44:31the connected car.
44:32And anybody who has bought a new car today knows that your car comes with an internet service
44:36that you can sign up for.
44:38And that's what the car manufacturers are really looking for is who's going to control
44:42that and really over the air, free over the air broadcasting is a threat to that.
44:48And it's uncontrolled?
44:49Well, it's uncontrolled and it's free and it's up to the consumer.
44:52the consumer can just pick the dial and they can listen to what they want to and it gives
44:57the consumer the choice. And so we have been really working hard for the passage of this
45:03bill. We're pretty sure when Congress comes out of their recess, their August recess in
45:09September, this bill is already out of committee in the Senate. We just need the bill to come
45:16out of committee in the house, make it to the floor. It is as of this morning, I got an
45:21an alert is 261 sponsors in the house.
45:24So there's no really worry about it.
45:27It's going to pass through.
45:29But it's about that.
45:30And then I just want to touch on this last issue that you said,
45:33localization.
45:34Because AM radio and FM radio, radio in particular,
45:39they are very local.
45:41They carry local advertisers.
45:43They carry local churches.
45:45They carry the local community calendar.
45:47They carry the local advertising and traffic.
45:50and all of those reports.
45:52And I think a lot of America today doesn't want us to see
45:55to go to 100% national networks.
45:59Exactly.
45:59They don't want 100%, they want localization.
46:03What's going on in my community and what's important?
46:06And I'll say this because we're here in Asheville.
46:08It's also these radio stations, and I know Blue Ridge Broadcasting
46:12was a big part of this in Samaritan's Purse.
46:14They're the first on site to help during disasters.
46:18Exactly.
46:19And they're communicating that information out.
46:21That's not a national, you can't do that
46:24when you're a national broadcaster.
46:25You can't get on the local and say,
46:27hey, people, if you've lost your house,
46:30here's where you get housing,
46:31here's where you can get temporary lodging,
46:33here's where you can get water,
46:34here's where you can get a meal.
46:35That happens at the local level.
46:38And we don't wanna lose that,
46:39and we shouldn't lose that across America,
46:42and we shouldn't have another gatekeeper come in,
46:45tell us what we can and can't listen to.
46:48Amen, amen.
46:50You know, we've only got a couple of minutes,
46:52but I've got to try and get this in.
46:54You recently were in, is it Nigeria?
46:56Nigeria.
46:57We've got to do a whole nother show
46:59about the persecution of the church around the world,
47:01but that too is something NRB addresses.
47:04And if you would, and I'm so sorry that we're short on time,
47:07but talk to us about the state,
47:09the safety of the church elsewhere in the world.
47:12Right now it is not very safe
47:14to be a Christian elsewhere in the world.
47:16Nigeria just recently was named the top country for the most Christian persecution there in northern Nigeria
47:24Muslims are just slaughtering Christians right now. We have a heightened Christian persecution across India
47:30Most Muslim states and look right now in Europe we have a lot of Christian persecution
47:37And look you can't even put your faith on your own
47:41social media page today and you could end up in jail in England. So it is a cause
47:46we're working on. We are very very pleased that this State Department and
47:50this administration has pushed it to the highest levels but please please keep us
47:54in prayer there. We need a lot of doors to open up and to protect Christians
48:01around the world. We think we have it here in America. We don't know recently
48:05there were it was in Uganda. There were over 40 Christians who were just
48:09slaughtered, brutally, machete's, for one thing and one thing only, they believed in Jesus Christ.
48:18I know as I hear the music taking us out, but congratulations, National Religious
48:23Broadcasters has a building in our nation's capital now and what day will you dedicate that building?
48:29Yeah, I think it's September 17th will be in capital, but just look on NRB.org and you'll find
48:36you'll find that exact date.
48:38But God has blessed us with a permanent home in D.C.
48:42as you said to work on behalf of all Christian communicators,
48:46including you on your own social media pages.
48:49Amen.
48:50Well, as we started with Mark 1615,
48:53that we've been commanded to tell the whole wide world
48:55about Jesus, Troy Miller, you're doing that,
48:58and the many broadcasters you represent, ourselves included.
49:02Folks, thanks for listening.
49:03be in church on Sunday and tell somebody about Jesus.
49:11The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those of the American
49:16Family Association or American Family Radio.

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