Troy Miller, President and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters organization, returns to “The Corner.”

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

1. 0:00Darkness is not an affirmative force.
2. 0:03It simply reoccupies the space vacated by the light.
3. 0:06This is the Hamilton Corner on American Family Radio.
4. 0:11It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
5. 0:15Delivery people out of the bondage of mainstream media.
6. 0:18And the philosophies of this world.
7. 0:20God has called you and me to be his ambassador.
8. 0:24Even in this dark moment.
9. 0:26Let's not miss our moment.
10. 0:28And now, the Hamilton Corner.
11. 0:33Good evening, everyone.
12. 0:34Welcome to the Hamilton Corner.
13. 0:36Abraham Hamilton III is my name, joined by a produce
14. 0:38extraordinaire, often imitated, never duplicated the real J.
15. 0:43Mac.
16. 0:44We're ready to rock and roll with today's edition of the program
17. 0:48on this good Friday.
18. 0:52It's an honor for you to welcome me into your homes,
19. 0:57or your vehicles or your televisions,
20. 1:00however you are partaking of the program today,
21. 1:04we are grateful for you doing so.
22. 1:08At this very moment, many of you, if not most of you,
23. 1:10are making your transition from your part time jobs
24. 1:12where you generate an income to your full time jobs
25. 1:15where you cultivate an outcome.
26. 1:16And as you do so, I want to remind you to do so
27. 1:19with intentionality, understanding the primacy
28. 1:22that God places on family and allowing that
29. 1:27to govern, guide, and guard your engagement
30. 1:30starting in your own homes.
31. 1:33There's so many things happening in the world.
32. 1:36President Trump spoke last night
33. 1:40about wanting to wrap up Operation Epic Theory
34. 1:43in about two to three weeks.
35. 1:45I pray that we're able to execute that,
36. 1:50to accomplish our nation's objectives,
37. 1:53and to do so without any further loss of American lives
38. 1:57in the process.
39. 2:02There are the things like the birthright citizenship issue
40. 2:05that the Supreme Court is considering.
41. 2:08You have the Artemis II launch,
42. 2:10with the Moon mission, the Lunar mission,
43. 2:14but with all of those things that are happening, guys,
44. 2:16none of those things are more important
45. 2:19than the Gospel of Jesus Christ being proclaimed
46. 2:21and disciples being made in our nation.
47. 2:23And if we are, if we do all of those other things,
48. 2:29but the gospel is not being proclaimed,
49. 2:32we will continue to see the erosion of our nation
50. 2:35from the inside.
51. 2:37And certainly I don't want that.
52. 2:41I love this country.
53. 2:42I'm grateful to God that He has made me
54. 2:47and allowed me to be born as an American citizen.
55. 2:52But my heart is heavy for my countrymen
56. 2:57because in many ways we're making much of everything but Christ.
57. 3:01It's like discussing the reality of the necessity to place our faith in Jesus Christ.
58. 3:10It's like a conversational no-go in many places.
59. 3:13You can talk about everything else under the sun, but don't talk about that.
60. 3:16The old adage, don't discuss religion in politics.
61. 3:20It's like that's religion informs politics.
62. 3:25Politics touches every aspect of our lives.
63. 3:29If you make an idol out of politics and you sever it from, I would say, a mooring in the
64. 3:35scriptures, then you very well can make an idol out of politics.
65. 3:41An improper understanding of the scripture will cause one to embrace the oxymoronic axiom.
66. 3:51You're so heavenly minded that you're so no earthly good.
67. 3:55For those who are properly heavenly minded, they'll be maximally earthly good because
68. 3:59we understand that our temporal station is ordained by the King of Glory for this time.
69. 4:05And we also will understand that what we get to do on this side of eternity is not but a
70. 4:10snapshot in comparison to what eternity is.
71. 4:15So as you're making your transition, I just want to remind you as I do daily, what goes
72. 4:19on in your house is more important than what's going on in the White House.
73. 4:22Not because the White House offerings are unimportant, but because you and I have no direct capacity
74. 4:27to impact what goes on there.
75. 4:30But we do have the direct capacity and opportunity
76. 4:34to impact what goes on in our house.
77. 4:38And as the scripture discusses that the Lord has made his people
78. 4:40to be living epistles, what story are we a part of being written
79. 4:47through our lives?
80. 4:48That's a question that we need to consider.
81. 4:52To the Word of God we go Hebrews chapter 12 is where I want
82. 4:54to go today. Hebrews chapter 12 and I'll share a little bit how I arrived here for today's program.
83. 5:06Hebrews chapter 12 verses 1 and 2. Scripture says this, therefore, since we have so great a cloud
84. 5:14of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily
85. 5:23entangles us and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.
86. 5:30Fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and the perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before
87. 5:41him endured the cross, despising its shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
88. 5:53This week we were doing devotions with my family and we were talking about the
89. 6:02Holy Week, the Palm Sunday to Resurrection Sunday and my youngest daughter said,
90. 6:12Daddy, they call it Good Friday. Why do they call it Good Friday? Because that's
91. 6:18when Jesus went to the cross, right? I said, yes, baby. That's why. And as we were
92. 6:26talking and I explained to her, you could see her eyes opening and she says, Oh, I
93. 6:33I see.
94. 6:35It's not called good Friday
95. 6:37because people are happy about all of Jesus' sufferings.
96. 6:44It's called good Friday
97. 6:46because the crucifixion had to take place
98. 6:50so that we can have the benefit of the resurrection.
99. 6:53That's what my daughter said.
100. 6:56I said, yes, sweetie.
101. 6:57That's exactly right.
102. 6:59The goodness is not saying it was
103. 7:01that it felt good to Messiah as he suffered and was mocked and was brutalized and was beaten and was
104. 7:11scorned and him being a hundred percent God and a hundred percent man having the capacity to dispatch
105. 7:20with humanity should he wanted to do so. But this verse tells us that even our Messiah looked to
106. 7:28the finished work of the cross with joy.
107. 7:31For the joy set before him, he endured the cross.
108. 7:35So the description of Friday as good as nothing to do
109. 7:39with an assessment of Jesus' sufferings,
110. 7:43but it has everything to do with the connection
111. 7:47between Friday and Resurrection Sunday.
112. 7:52The Apostle Paul explained that if Jesus has not
113. 7:58raised from the dead, then we are still in our sins,
114. 8:01and our faith is futile, that the goodness of Friday
115. 8:06is encapsulated in the fullness of the resurrection.
116. 8:11But we don't get to a resurrection without the crucifixion.
117. 8:18You and I have the express privilege and opportunity
118. 8:21to live our lives in the scope of the finished work of Jesus.
119. 8:35I was talking to the men in our men's meeting
120. 8:38at our local church earlier this week.
121. 8:40We meet on Wednesdays and explaining that work for us should have the imprimatur of the presence of Christ because the opportunity to work is an opportunity to reflect our Creator and work is assigned to mankind prior to sin ever being on the radar and the human experience.
122. 9:11The pre-rebellion prescription of work was not confined to our modern understanding of employment,
123. 9:20because the laborious engagement, or should I say the industrious engagement of Adam prior to the rebellion,
124. 9:27wasn't for the purposes of provision.
125. 9:30If he was hungry, he just had to go to a tree.
126. 9:33But the assignment to work, to cultivate and to keep the garden,
127. 9:40name animals, exercise, jurisdiction,
128. 9:43operate within the delegation of authority
129. 9:47received from the Creator.
130. 9:49All that is prior to the rebellion.
131. 9:55The Apostle Paul said to the Thessalonians, he even warns,
132. 9:59if there's a brother walking in the idleness,
133. 10:05man you use mark him, identify him, and stay away from him.
134. 10:10Don't treat him as an enemy, but as a brother,
135. 10:14because of the gravity of what it means
136. 10:16to work, and dust-dewing engagements are clearly a part of it.
137. 10:22The pinnacle of the kavashing, if you will,
138. 10:25the fruitfulness that leads to multiplication,
139. 10:27the multiplication that leads to filling the earth,
140. 10:29the filling the earth that leads to subduing the earth,
141. 10:31the subduing the earth that leads to man's rule,
142. 10:38operating in such a fashion to invest ourselves
143. 10:42and creating an environment for maximize human flourishing.
144. 10:46The pinnacle of human flourishing is being born again.
145. 10:52Our work includes our industrious,
146. 10:55vocational engagements.
147. 10:57Just as the Lord says,
148. 10:58He filled that a holy ab and bezel-el
149. 11:01were filled with God's spirit for craftsmanship
150. 11:04and stone-cutting.
151. 11:10If we as members of the Lord's family are involved,
152. 11:14the involvement is a holy involvement
153. 11:19because of whose we are.
154. 11:23That holy involvement is only possible
155. 11:28because of what Jesus fulfilled for us on the cross.
156. 11:36The lamb slain from the foundation of the earth.
157. 11:41The once and for all sacrifice for our sins.
158. 11:46Friday is good because Friday points us to Sunday.
159. 11:55So as we are making adjustments in all over our country,
160. 11:59different people are doing different things.
161. 12:00Some people having some sunrise services, various services.
162. 12:06My encouragement for this audience
163. 12:09is to refuse to allow a resurrection Sunday
164. 12:12to be a once a year celebration.
165. 12:17But that our lives are a celebration
166. 12:19of our Lord's resurrection every day.
167. 12:24When Paul wrote to the Thessalonians,
168. 12:26he was discussing this within the context of working.
169. 12:30And he said, don't become weary in doing good.
170. 12:36Because there are things, the press of the world around us,
171. 12:38all of these things seek to turn
172. 12:43which should be glorious engagement
173. 12:44into monotony and drudgery.
174. 12:48But a part of being peculiar is that we have peculiar insights
175. 12:52and perspectives because of who we are.
176. 12:58The verses in Hebrews chapter 12, verses one and two,
177. 13:03you guys know every time you see there,
178. 13:04for I tell you, you should see what it's there for.
179. 13:06It follows articulation in the hall of faith,
180. 13:10and it goes through the heroes of our faith
181. 13:14and patriarchs in the faith.
182. 13:16And then when you get to verse one, in Hebrews 12,
183. 13:17it says, therefore, since we have so great,
184. 13:21a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also,
185. 13:27let us also, in light of their example,
186. 13:30in light of what got recorded for us,
187. 13:31in light of what has been preserved miraculously for us,
188. 13:38In light of that, let us lay aside every weight,
189. 13:40every encumbrance, which so easily entangles,
190. 13:46and let us run with endurance the race
191. 13:47that is set before us, fixing our eyes,
192. 13:51fashioning our eyes on Jesus,
193. 13:53who is the author and the perfecter of our faith,
194. 13:56who for the joy set before him endured the cross.
195. 14:02As believers, we have the glorious privilege
196. 14:05to do life on this side of eternity
197. 14:07from that vaunted perspective,
198. 14:11Because heaven is our home,
199. 14:14that we look at life entirely different
200. 14:16from those who do not have the blessed eternal hope.
201. 14:22Friday is good because we know
202. 14:26the grave could not hold our Lord.
203. 14:29So in light of his resurrection,
204. 14:30we live in view of his resurrection power
205. 14:34empowered by his grace,
206. 14:35indwelred by his spirit to execute what he has ordained for us
207. 14:40for the time that he's planted us in.
208. 14:43And then, once this time is up on this side of eternity, we get to look forward to basking
209. 14:51in the tangible presence of our Lord with all of the saints throughout human history.
210. 14:56Glory to the name of Jesus.
211. 15:00Satan wants to destroy God's sacred design for marriage and family.
212. 15:04How do we defend them in this hostile culture?
213. 15:06Activate Summit 2026 as July 16th through the 18th at the Cadence Bank Arena in Tupelo,
214. 15:12Mississippi, and the focus this year is on God's plan for marriage and family.
215. 15:17Speakers include Laura Petherbridge,
216. 15:19When we set boundaries when we're an anger, they usually come out as unhealthy boundaries.
217. 15:25Josh Wood,
218. 15:26It's getting you to think about planting a tree in the shade of which you'll never sit.
219. 15:30Katie Faust,
220. 15:31It is very hard for a child to answer the question, who am I?
221. 15:35And more.
222. 15:36There's also activate kids, a separate track for children ages 6 to 12, and something new
223. 15:41this year, yet separate tickets for an exclusive meet and greet reception at AFA with the conference
224. 15:47speakers on the evening of July 17th.
225. 15:49Register now for Roots to Fruit, Grounded in Truth, Growing in Grace.
226. 15:54Visit AFA.NET slash Summit.
227. 15:57AFA.NET slash Summit.
228. 16:00Shiting light into the darkness, this is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
229. 16:11Welcome back to the Hamilton Corner, Abraham Hamilton III, and I am honored to have on
230. 16:15the program with me, the president and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters Organization,
231. 16:20also known as NRB, a man who I admire, I respect who has been able to lead NRB in such a direction
232. 16:29to where the Lord is blessing the work of NRB in expanding the witness of the gospel in
233. 16:34our nation and around the world.
234. 16:37I'm speaking of none other than Troy Miller, as I mentioned, president and CEO of NRB, who
235. 16:41who was also, by the way, a veteran of our US Navy.
236. 16:46Troy, thank you so much for joining me here
237. 16:48on the Hamilton Corner.
238. 16:50Well, thanks for having me, it's great to be with you.
239. 16:52And well, the honor certainly is mine,
240. 16:55and then I mentioned to you before we came on
241. 16:57that a longtime no-see,
242. 17:00because we were just together in Florida,
243. 17:03just last week at the Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church's Institute
244. 17:08for Faith in Cultures Kingdom Come Conference,
245. 17:11and being able to learn from amazing people
246. 17:15like Oz Guinness and David Bonson
247. 17:18and Rosaria Butterfield and so many more.
248. 17:22What just, I guess I'll start there.
249. 17:24What was your overall takeaway from that event last week?
250. 17:30Yeah, no, you're right.
251. 17:31It was such a great event and such great speakers
252. 17:34that they had on their Lucas Miles was there
253. 17:38and Eric Metaxas and of course we had Senator Josh
254. 17:41Holly came in and talked about. And you know, look, I would hope that more churches would do that,
255. 17:47those kinds of events to help their congregations. You know, look, grow in Christ. I mean, at the
256. 17:53end of the day, that was all about growing in Christ. And for us to be encouraged as Christians,
257. 17:59for us as leaders to encourage Christians and congregations and keep them aware. And also,
258. 18:05Look, Abraham, we know that we've got a culture that is, let me say it's complicated and dicey
259. 18:13to navigate today. And so having those kinds of teachers in to help move and help us work
260. 18:19through that, I thought it was an outstanding event. And again, I would wish churches across the
261. 18:24country would hold something like that. Yeah, I mean, I agree. And I was blessed to be a part of that
262. 18:32and contribute to that, you know, but as you mentioned,
263. 18:36this is the culture that we're in,
264. 18:37we're in a precarious position to say the least.
265. 18:43Now, I wanted to have you on,
266. 18:45for many of our audience,
267. 18:47much of our audience is familiar with NRB,
268. 18:49but some may not be.
269. 18:51For those who, this might be their initial introduction
270. 18:54to the NRB, what is NRB?
271. 18:58So, NRB, we're the oldest advocacy group
272. 19:00for basically Christian communicators.
273. 19:03We started off in 1944
274. 19:06as the National Religious Broadcasters Association,
275. 19:10defending pastors' rights to be on radio.
276. 19:12Back then, radio wanted to be gatekeepers.
277. 19:15Sound familiar?
278. 19:16We have gatekeepers today.
279. 19:18And so we work up on Capitol Hill.
280. 19:21We work in the regulatory environments.
281. 19:22We work in the courts.
282. 19:24We work sometimes across state capitals.
283. 19:28And we really keep an eye on what's going on
284. 19:31so that Christian communicators like yourself,
285. 19:33whether you're radio, television, film, publishers,
286. 19:37podcasters today, all things digital,
287. 19:39they have a right to be in the marketplace.
288. 19:41They have a right to have their voice on the airways
289. 19:45and the communication streams.
290. 19:46And so we're the ones that are out there battling
291. 19:48for that every day.
292. 19:49And then we hold a big annual conference
293. 19:52where we help communicators learn about technology,
294. 19:55new trends, new equipment, new methodologies,
295. 19:58and then do a lot of iron, sharpening iron there too,
296. 20:01talking about culture or theological issues
297. 20:04and such, that's what NRB is really all about.
298. 20:07And it's amazing and I know you're not a,
299. 20:09you're not a patch yourself on a bat kind of guy,
300. 20:11but it's worth acknowledging that under your leadership,
301. 20:15the NRB's annual convention has grown tremendously.
302. 20:20Would you just speak to that a little bit?
303. 20:21And again, I know I'm putting you in an awkward position
304. 20:23because I know you wouldn't do this yourself,
305. 20:26but I'm asking you to do it
306. 20:27so the audience can be aware of what's available.
307. 20:30Well, look, we know behind us God gets all the glory
308. 20:32and he's really, I mean, he really helped us.
309. 20:35I mean, because we went through COVID,
310. 20:37and didn't miss a conference,
311. 20:38and like a lot of other associations that really,
312. 20:41you know, got set back because they missed that.
313. 20:43But we've spent a lot concentrating
314. 20:46on what I was talking about,
315. 20:48really kind of helping people
316. 20:49within the Christian communication community,
317. 20:52you don't know about these new trends.
318. 20:54This last year, we had a whole stage dedicated to AI,
319. 20:57You know, what's going on with AI?
320. 20:59How do you use it?
321. 21:00How do you apply it?
322. 21:02We had a round table on the ethical and moral discussions
323. 21:06around AI.
324. 21:07So I think one of the things that's really helped us grow
325. 21:09is we're really hitting the issues that are core
326. 21:13to Christian communicators and getting them in.
327. 21:16And this is a place you can come in.
328. 21:17We had almost, I think we had 56, 100 people there,
329. 21:21a little over.
330. 21:22It was the largest group we've ever had in our Nashville venue
331. 21:26and under one roof to really come in
332. 21:28and talk about these issues, work together as a church,
333. 21:32and we're all about seeing the gospel
334. 21:34go forward in this culture.
335. 21:36And I want to get to that in a moment,
336. 21:38but I don't, sometimes I get carried away talking,
337. 21:40so I don't want to be remiss in doing this now.
338. 21:42How can people keep up with NRB and the work
339. 21:45that you're doing through NRB
340. 21:46and to learn about the annual conference,
341. 21:49like the one that just was held
342. 21:50at the Grand Ole Opry in Asheville?
343. 21:53Yeah, well, the best place is go to NRB.org,
344. 21:56that's NRB.org.
345. 21:58You can see all the things that we're working on there,
346. 22:01whether they're legislative or legal, regulatory,
347. 22:05all of those things are there.
348. 22:07You can also, on there, you can sign up for our newsletter.
349. 22:10That'll keep you informed.
350. 22:12And then as the conference comes around,
351. 22:14you'll see that there in the slider
352. 22:15and you can get all the information on that.
353. 22:18So NRB.org is the best place to do it.
354. 22:21Of course, you can follow us on social media
355. 22:23and all of those links are there as well.
356. 22:26Now, in full disclosure, you know this, Troy,
357. 22:28but I want the audience to know that I am a member
358. 22:30of the Board of Directors for NRB,
359. 22:32but AFR was a member of NRB long before I was anywhere
360. 22:36remotely approaching the Board, and I've had the privilege
361. 22:39of working behind the scenes with NRB staff on things
362. 22:42like regulations at the FCC and collaborating on language
363. 22:47to make a representation of the FCC,
364. 22:50because sometimes the engagement requires a firmatively
365. 22:54advocating for good policy, but sometimes you have to kind of slap down bad stuff that
366. 23:01could be coming down the pike.
367. 23:03Would you just speak to that a little bit about the regulatory regime and how in our views on
368. 23:07the front lines in terms of being a presence there to make sure that the Christian witness
369. 23:12is being presented in terms of broadcast regulation?
370. 23:17Yeah, and you hit it well.
371. 23:19A lot of it is just making sure the voice is there.
372. 23:22these politicians, they'll have a great idea. They think it's a great idea. They don't mean
373. 23:28anything, sometimes nefarious by it, but they don't really hear all the voices. So part of
374. 23:33it is just having our voice there. So when a new piece of legislation comes up, we get
375. 23:38up on the Hill right away and say, yeah, but did you think about how this is going to affect,
376. 23:43you know, Christian broadcasters or independent radio and television folks or these folks?
377. 23:48And they're like, oh, the light will dawn and they'll be like, okay, we'll change that,
378. 23:51move that. Sometimes it's real easy to do. Other times not so easy. There is
379. 23:55nefarious behind it. They do that you find very quickly. No, there was a
380. 23:59purpose here. They wanted to silence the voice. You know, we had an issue last
381. 24:05year. I think the NRB and American Family Association, American Family Radio, took
382. 24:10on together where the FCC wanted to put these DEI kinds of reporting regulations
383. 24:16on, you know, on communicators in general, but really targeting Christian
384. 24:21communicators and such. And we took them to court together and we won that case.
385. 24:26The judge agreed with us. No, you can't do that. We have religious organizations.
386. 24:31They are exempt. They have complete rights into who they employ, how they
387. 24:36employ, and what they do. So those are the kinds, as you said, the situations you
388. 24:40have to keep your eye on in the legislation today.
389. 24:44And look, that's what we are.
390. 24:46We're up on the Hill all the time.
391. 24:47Our voice is there and our ears are listening
392. 24:50for those things as they come through.
393. 24:53I know the core conviction at NRB,
394. 24:57and we do those things, and we did collaborate,
395. 25:00work together on litigation even in that instance,
396. 25:04because the focal point is we understand
397. 25:07what Jesus required of the Church to execute a great commission.
398. 25:10How would you explain to people who may not be aware of the relationship between
399. 25:16Christian broadcasting and the church's responsibility to execute the Great Commission?
400. 25:22Well, look, we're called to be a witness, right? In the public square, we're not called to be a
401. 25:27silent witness. The left would always like to take and isolate the church to either the four walls of
402. 25:33the church or just your home. Keep that in your home, keep that in your church, don't put it in
403. 25:37anywhere. We're not called to be light and we're called to be salt and we're called to be in the
404. 25:42public square. I mean the church for for two thousand years the church is the public square all the
405. 25:48way up back to Paul. Remember Paul you know he's he's in Greece and he's in Athens. Where does he go?
406. 25:54He goes to where the thinkers and the and the influencers are. He goes to the arena. He starts
407. 26:00talking about the gospel and so that's what NRB is all about. We're about keeping the gospel
408. 26:07in the channels of communications that people are at today. You used to be the public squared,
409. 26:13that it was radio and television, and of course now it's the big part of it is all digital.
410. 26:19It's all online. It's all the social areas that a lot of people would love to cut the Christian
411. 26:25message out of, but we're fighting to keep our rights, but not only our rights, our responsibility
412. 26:32in the Great Commission to be able to be fulfilled.
413. 26:35One of the major things that I know
414. 26:37NRB is working on, and even because I get the insider emails,
415. 26:42was the litigation concerning the Johnson Amendment,
416. 26:45and something that was really unprecedented,
417. 26:48that our friend and colleague Mike Ferris,
418. 26:50his general counsel for NRB, is kind of leading the effort
419. 26:55that led to having a consent agreement
420. 26:57from the Trump administration concerning
421. 27:01allowing pastors to speak freely, and I would argue this way, to speak freely about the scriptures
422. 27:07requirement as applied to public and civic engagement. Others would call that political
423. 27:14endorsements, but it's really not. It's articulating what the scripture requires in terms of civic
424. 27:18engagement. Would you just share a little bit about that and even kind of a short window into
425. 27:23where things stand with that litigation? Yeah, and for any audience here that doesn't know what the
426. 27:29the Johnson Amendment is,
427. 27:31Lyndon B. Johnson running for Senate gets opposed
428. 27:33by a number of churches during that candidacy.
429. 27:36He ends up winning that when he gets into the Congress
430. 27:41and he attaches this bill.
431. 27:42That's why it's called the Johnson Amendment.
432. 27:44It's Lyndon B. Johnson.
433. 27:45He attaches this to an appropriations,
434. 27:48this amendment that says 501c3s,
435. 27:51which churches are falling under that
436. 27:53internal revenue service category.
437. 27:55They can't give financially to a campaign.
438. 27:58They can't endorse or oppose a candidate, and they limit the amount of lobbying they can
439. 28:02do.
440. 28:03And so he basically does this as a vengeance to silence the opposition, to his candidacy.
441. 28:10Prior to that, 180 years of this country, pastors had always been speaking out about governance
442. 28:16issues.
443. 28:17We like to use the word political today, but it's really about how our country is governed
444. 28:22and the civics responsibility of people that set in the Pew
445. 28:27pastors always talked about that.
446. 28:28And so he silenced that and really is an intimidation tool to
447. 28:33pastors. So we took that case up a year, a year and a half ago,
448. 28:37fought through the Biden administration, trying to get it
449. 28:40dismissed, and then came to an understanding, that's what a
450. 28:45consent degree is, an understanding with the Justice
451. 28:48department that in fact, this law amendment does not supersede the Constitution and that
452. 28:57pastors have a right, the freedom of religion means they have a right if they feel it's their
453. 29:04conscious and religious responsibility to speak up on issues, they have a right to do that.
454. 29:09That's all the Justice Department said.
455. 29:10It didn't affect anybody else but pastors in the pulpit having that right to do.
456. 29:16So we fought that, we got that decree,
457. 29:19it was setting with the judge for a while,
458. 29:20and then we just found out this week
459. 29:22the judge dismissed the case on a technicality
460. 29:26that he cleared a year and a half ago.
461. 29:29And so, who knows what goes through their minds here,
462. 29:34but that's okay, God didn't say that our fight was easy.
463. 29:39He said our fight was that, it's a fight,
464. 29:41we're gonna have to be there.
465. 29:42So we're appealing this, we're going to the Fifth Circuit.
466. 29:45We think we have a very strong case here.
467. 29:47We think the Fifth Circuit's gonna reverse the judge,
468. 29:51and then he really doesn't have a choice,
469. 29:53but then to sign off when two parties agree.
470. 29:56And so that's where the case is at.
471. 29:58That's where we're going,
472. 30:00but we're working hard, so the pastors, again,
473. 30:03don't have to feel like the government is stepping
474. 30:07into their religious conscience.
475. 30:09That's what this is all about.
476. 30:11Now it is important to note that the Fifth Circuit
477. 30:13that also the exact same court where we were before when
478. 30:17AFR and AFA were working together with NRB challenging the
479. 30:20Biden administration's regulatory overreach through the FCC.
480. 30:24And so the likelihood of a favorable outcome at the F
481. 30:28at the Fifth Circuit is a significantly good likelihood
482. 30:32of prevailing there.
483. 30:33So it is noteworthy on on that front that people may
484. 30:39but I just want to run a highlighter over this because when
485. 30:41people think about NRB, they may not connect that, wait a
486. 30:45minute, NRB is leading the fight to unshackle pastors and
487. 30:49their in pulpit to convey the full counsel of the Lord's word
488. 30:55to people and the answer that is simply yes, the answer
489. 30:59that is yes. And again, because I know you, it's not about any
490. 31:02chest pounding, but it's simply you leading the fight to man the
491. 31:06lane that God has called NRB demand for the glorious purposes
492. 31:11overbaying the Lord.
493. 31:13Am I overstating that in any way?
494. 31:16No, you're not, you're not.
495. 31:17That's exactly what we do here.
496. 31:19That's exactly what God called us for.
497. 31:22I kind of liken it sometimes, you know,
498. 31:24to when in Acts, you know, when the issue arose
499. 31:28with the widows, you know, not getting fed, you know,
500. 31:31and they said, look, we need to stay pastors, you know,
501. 31:34the disciples, we need to stay focused on God's word.
502. 31:38You guys go out and take care of this other work
503. 31:40of these ago, we're the guys out taking care of that work.
504. 31:43So pastors can focus on what God's called to do.
505. 31:46And that's proclaim the gospel and the scriptures
506. 31:51to their flocks that God has given to them.
507. 31:53Mm.
508. 31:54That is powerful.
509. 31:55That's powerful.
510. 31:56And glory to God for that work.
511. 31:59I know we have about a minute or so, yep,
512. 32:02there's a disrespectful music.
513. 32:04So we're about to head into this break,
514. 32:06but where I was gonna go next is that before we came on,
515. 32:09you were mentioning having the opportunity this week to be present at the White House during
516. 32:16the White House's resurrection celebration.
517. 32:20And you were able to witness President Trump read from the scripture the story of the resurrection.
518. 32:27I want to get into that a little bit.
519. 32:28When we come back from this break, you are listening to or watching the Hamilton Corner,
520. 32:32my guest is Troy Miller, president and CEO of the National Religious Broadcasters.
521. 32:38don't want to miss the remainder of this interview because I strongly believe it will
522. 32:43be an it will continue to be an encouragement to you on this good Friday because Friday is
523. 32:51good because we know Sunday is coming.
524. 33:00Okay here's an assignment for you if you will.
525. 33:02I want you to take some time and think about a getaway that gives you a chance to get together
526. 33:07with other people of faith, deepen your walk with God and make new friends all while enjoying
527. 33:12the Creation Museum and the Ark Encounter in Kentucky.
528. 33:15I'm talking about joining AFA at the Ark, October 29th and 30th.
529. 33:21This is a great opportunity to break away from the grind of everyday life and draw closer
530. 33:26to God through special presentations from Patricia Inglor and Brian Osborn of Answers in Genesis.
531. 33:32It also includes entrance to the Creation Museum on Thursday and the Ark Encounter on Friday.
532. 33:37Of course, meals are provided and Friday's dinner includes a panel discussion with Tony
533. 34:16Hamilton III here. My guest is president and CEO of NRB, Troy Miller. And we're
534. 34:21having just a great conversation about all things NRB and some of you might have
535. 34:26just learned something about NRB's contributions really to the church's
536. 34:32responsibility of executing the Great Commission among those things is as Troy
537. 34:37wonderfully laid it out you know as the Gospels were proclaimed by pastors and
538. 34:42shepherds and he used the Act 6 reference to the need to provide widows with food and service.
539. 34:50And the diaconos, the deaconate was pretty much established.
540. 34:56And for the express purpose is allowing the apostles to attend to the proclaiming of God's word
541. 35:01and these others, men filled with the Spirit of God is what the scripture says,
542. 35:06were able to attend to this other ecclesiastical work.
543. 35:09And Troy said, that's what we're doing at NRB.
544. 35:11We're making way for the gospel to continue to be proclaimed.
545. 35:13And I alluded to in the previous segment, Troy, you had the privilege of being at the White
546. 35:18House as the president read from the scriptures concerning the resurrection.
547. 35:24Would you just share a little bit of that, your experience there?
548. 35:27And what are some of the things that you, I would say perceived and discerned as a result
549. 35:32of being there while the president of the United States is acknowledging?
550. 35:36Now I'm not going beyond anything.
551. 35:38I'm not saying I know his heart.
552. 35:39But at a minimum, we have a president who acknowledges the resurrection.
553. 35:44Yeah, that's exactly right.
554. 35:46A couple of days ago on Wednesday, they held an Easter lunch for faith leaders at the White
555. 35:52House, which I was honored to attend and represent Christian communicators and a number
556. 35:59of our good friends you would know were all there as well.
557. 36:03And it was, you know, it was a real difference from, I think, two years ago when the White
558. 36:08House was celebrating, you know, transition day leading into Easter.
559. 36:14Now we get a president that gets up and gives an address and talks about some nice things.
560. 36:19But he read the whole Easter story.
561. 36:23He went back and talked about Christ God giving his son, Christ being born, went through his
562. 36:30ministry went through the triumphant entry, talked about Palm Sunday, talked about the cross.
563. 36:38I made a funny comment about, you know, he said, you know, there's a big no Kings March,
564. 36:43but he said this, we have a true King of Kings out there, he said, and it's not me.
565. 36:50And so that was, it was just powerful talking about the resurrection. And also Abraham in the
566. 36:56The room was several of the cabinet members, Vice President Vance was there, Pam Bondi
567. 37:03was there, just a number of them were there, all strong believers there supporting our
568. 37:12Christian heritage and foundation of this country.
569. 37:16And so for me it was a very moving kind of time and just a great event to be at.
570. 37:23And you contrasted that appropriately, so, because I'm sure it was all just a coincidence
571. 37:30that as Christians around the world are basking in the glory of our Lord's resurrection, that
572. 37:38the Biden administration has, you know, these confused people who need help, who need the
573. 37:44gospel, you know, celebrating transgenderism on the White House lawn.
574. 37:50I mean, it's, what a stark contrast, presented there.
575. 37:57But what a blessing of us as our country, you know,
576. 38:00what a, you know, God, what the enemy meant for evil,
577. 38:04you know, it says that God turns to good.
578. 38:06Almost a year to the date of that celebration,
579. 38:10we get the Supreme Court overturning the conversion therapy
580. 38:15ruling out of Colorado.
581. 38:17Come on.
582. 38:18No, no, Christians, you do have a right to speak truth
583. 38:21into these young adults' lives.
584. 38:24You have that right.
585. 38:26The state can't do it.
586. 38:27And it was an eight to one ruling.
587. 38:29Wasn't it, wasn't it?
588. 38:30Was it five to four, six to three?
589. 38:32It was eight to one ruling out there.
590. 38:35And I thought, man, how appropriate is that
591. 38:37for us going into this Easter with the events
592. 38:40of two years ago of God allowing that decision
593. 38:43to come down at the same time?
594. 38:46And again, it shows you the switch
595. 38:48that we've really seen in this country.
596. 38:50And the other thing that the president talked about,
597. 38:52and several others got up and talked about again,
598. 38:55was the May 17th event of rededicating our country.
599. 39:00And it's that rededication back to that original American spirit,
600. 39:05that original freedoms that we all enjoy today,
601. 39:09and how those freedoms are founded
602. 39:12on our Christian doctrines, principles,
603. 39:15morality and ethics and beliefs.
604. 39:18So to hear that again from an administration
605. 39:21that is certainly, like I said, I can't judge his heart
606. 39:23or other hearts, but I can certainly judge the fruit
607. 39:27that was going on in that room.
608. 39:29And that was a room that was honoring God as the creator
609. 39:33and Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.
610. 39:35And thank you for that observation,
611. 39:37because it's easy to be just bogged down
612. 39:40in the morass of the darkness,
613. 39:42but being redirected toward the light is so profound.
614. 39:46And as you mentioned, the ruling affecting,
615. 39:50what should say coming out of the lawsuit filed
616. 39:53in the state of Colorado,
617. 39:55but it would have implications
618. 39:56because there's 23 other states
619. 39:57that had similar laws just like Colorado.
620. 40:00And it's interesting that Kaylee,
621. 40:03the child's in Colorado,
622. 40:05serve young adults as you mentioned,
623. 40:06but also children, children, children.
624. 40:08And the facts were that she doesn't dictate the course
625. 40:13of treatment.
626. 40:16She responds to the expressed goals of the clients to patients.
627. 40:19So they are children who would say
628. 40:21that I'm suffering from these unwanted same sex attractions.
629. 40:24I might have been abused at this stage.
630. 40:25I'm a little confused here,
631. 40:27but I don't want to embrace these crazy ideologies.
632. 40:30And she as a believer would say, well,
633. 40:32well here will help you.
634. 40:34The state says, no, you can't help,
635. 40:36but the state at the exact same time says,
636. 40:38The only thing you can do is help them further their confusion,
637. 40:41you know, but to have that ruling to come down on that day
638. 40:45is just a profound observation, a profound reality.
639. 40:48And thank you for bringing that observation to us.
640. 40:50Now, I know one of the major projects
641. 40:52that has been undertaken again,
642. 40:55God's glorious hand has been upon it,
643. 40:57was NRB establishing a permanent home on Capitol Hill
644. 41:03and building, working and moving toward being a hub really,
645. 41:08for broadcasting in the middle of the swamp.
646. 41:13Would you just share a little bit about that
647. 41:14and just really just to celebrate our Lord
648. 41:16and his profound grace and goodness
649. 41:20in making all of that come to fruition.
650. 41:23Well, absolutely.
651. 41:23God is so good.
652. 41:24You know, we all know the saying out there,
653. 41:28not one square inch, not one square inch
654. 41:31doesn't belong to God.
655. 41:32Even the swamp belongs to God.
656. 41:34And he can establish a foothold in it.
657. 41:37We're told that the gates of hell won't prevail against the gospel.
658. 41:40And so by his blessing, we were able to purchase a building in DC this last September to have
659. 41:47a permanent home for our public policy, communication, and legal teams doing their work there in Washington,
660. 41:53DC.
661. 41:54It's also a place where all of our members, Christian communicators come in.
662. 41:58We'll have studios there, radio studios, a video studio, podcast studio for them to come in and do their work,
663. 42:05have their meanings, a place to, they could call home when they're up on Capitol Hill.
664. 42:10But it really plants a flag along with some other great organizations that are up there.
665. 42:16You know, Christianity is not going away.
666. 42:19We're up here, we're a part of this group.
667. 42:23Pew Research just did a study.
668. 42:25I don't know if you saw that, that we went out.
669. 42:27That one in four radio stations across this country, air Christian content, 25%.
670. 42:34You know, nearly 60% of the country listens to some form of Christian media on a regular
671. 42:42basis.
672. 42:43It's just, even 39% of non-Christians listen to Christian radio and 18% of people who are
673. 42:52just purely unbelievers, the nuns, I don't believe in anything, listen.
674. 42:57And so it's an important part of our history, but it's also an important part of our culture
675. 43:03today. And the American audience has said that over and over again, and we're up there
676. 43:09to make sure through this facility that we say that to Congress over and over again, that
677. 43:15America wants to hear the gospel message and we should be out there everywhere we can be.
678. 43:25Now, we had the address last night from President Trump concerning Operation Epic Fearing in Iran,
679. 43:32And one of the things that I've been pointing out here on the show that I think it's important
680. 43:36for us to remember in this really to the point that you made that all of the ideas and our
681. 43:40Declaration of Independence, there's documented studies that show that all of those ideas have
682. 43:45been proclaimed at least for a decade prior to America's pulpit.
683. 43:49So that the reality is that the American revolutionary press and spirit was really cultivated through
684. 43:57gospel preaching, you know, for the years that led up to it.
685. 44:02And for the previous years, prior to the protests in Iran that led to the Ayatollahs' regime,
686. 44:10the slaughter, tens of thousands of their own citizens, that, I mean, I've had missionaries
687. 44:16to convey to me personally how the place where the gospel was advancing the most fervently over
688. 44:23over the last recent years has been in Iran.
689. 44:26And so I don't think we can underestimate the impact
690. 44:29on the gospel's advance in Iran
691. 44:31to the Iranian people's pursuit of freedom,
692. 44:33similar to what we've experienced
693. 44:34in our own nation's history.
694. 44:36With that, President Trump made his address
695. 44:39a Wednesday evening concerning Operation Epic Fury,
696. 44:43hoping for it to be saying that it'll be wrapped up
697. 44:46in the next two to three years
698. 44:47and you not only as the president and CEO of NRB,
699. 44:50but also as a Navy veteran.
700. 44:52What is your reaction?
701. 44:54What do you see in terms of the president's response?
702. 44:56And then what is something that you're hopeful for?
703. 44:58That will be an outcome for the Iranians,
704. 45:01but also for the American people in light of what's going on there.
705. 45:04Yeah, not only as a Navy veteran,
706. 45:05but a Navy veteran who served in the Persian Gulf in 1987.
707. 45:09Our task group did those tanker escorts.
708. 45:12I know the Straits of Hormos well.
709. 45:14I have tons of pictures of it here.
710. 45:16And I also had a whole group when I was in the tech world
711. 45:19of Iranian folks that worked for me in the programming area
712. 45:23and talked about what that regime was like over in the country,
713. 45:27what their family was going through.
714. 45:29You know, people don't understand,
715. 45:31this is a really deeply rooted religious fanaticism of Islam.
716. 45:38It is the most extreme fanaticism of Islam.
717. 45:42You can get most extreme approach to it there,
718. 45:45to the point where, as you said, they slaughtered tens of thousands
719. 45:48their own people, you know, for simply standing up for rights in the culture.
720. 45:54So I'm thankful for what the president's doing and what he said.
721. 45:57I think the most key thing he said last night was that he was doing this so that our kids,
722. 46:06grandkids, and great-grandkids didn't have to do this fight or live in a world where that
723. 46:13regime had nuclear weapons that they would not hesitate to use.
724. 46:18And that's a principle I think we as a church need to grasp day again.
725. 46:22We're so much in this immediate consumer culture where we want everything right now.
726. 46:28We're short-sighted.
727. 46:29All we look at is our own needs.
728. 46:31But look, you look at the scriptures and we are constantly told that we are looking forward.
729. 46:37The American dream was all about that our kids and grandkids would have a better life
730. 46:43than we would have today.
731. 46:45And so I'm thankful for a president that's not just kicking the can down the road because
732. 46:49he's worried about his election or his ratings today, but he's actually thinking about the
733. 46:55future of a safe world here in America and hopefully a safe world there in Iran.
734. 47:01As you said, we have several ministries that are in our B members that are working in Iran
735. 47:06probably by every estimate.
736. 47:08There could be as many as 3 million Christians in the underground church there.
737. 47:13So we're praying that God's hand not only would he protect the world from this evil regime,
738. 47:19getting weapons of mass destruction, but also by his hand, he would free the people of that
739. 47:26country to rise up and really to live in the freedoms that we all around the world enjoy
740. 47:34here.
741. 47:35So that's our prayers.
742. 47:37Man, and it's amazing that as you mentioned, there are several NRB member ministries that
743. 47:45are working in Iran.
744. 47:47That again, the Christian communicators and broadcasters are helping to undergird the gospel
745. 47:56work that is happening in that country.
746. 47:57Now, these are the types of things that you won't find on major news networks.
747. 48:01And that's going to be talking about the Gospels advance in Iran.
748. 48:04and then not gonna be talking about the gospel's advances
749. 48:07connection to the people's willingness
750. 48:11to stand up in that particular nation.
751. 48:15So it is vitally important.
752. 48:18Now we understand that, but for you to highlight that,
753. 48:21it's something that I hope our audience really resonates
754. 48:24with them and they take heart to that.
755. 48:26And to pray for our president, to pray for our nation,
756. 48:30and also to pray for our brothers and sisters
757. 48:33who are standing literally down the barrel of the proverbial gun
758. 48:36in order to place their faith in Christ and the nation like Iran.
759. 48:39The disrespectful music is started,
760. 48:40but I wanna toss it to you the last 30 seconds or so.
761. 48:44What is one of the most important things you think is important
762. 48:46for people to take home as we are wrapping up today
763. 48:48on this good Friday?
764. 48:50Look, as you said, we're celebrating good Friday,
765. 48:53Easter is on the horizon.
766. 48:55Let's make Easter not just an event,
767. 48:58but let's make this Easter a kickoff
768. 49:00to celebrate the gospel all year.
769. 49:02Amen. Resurrection Sunday is a lifestyle to be celebrated. Troy, thank you so much for
770. 49:07joining me here. Look forward to having you again later on. Look forward to NRB next year
771. 49:13will be in DC. So you won't have to travel too far. Folks, thank you all for tuning in
772. 49:19to the program. Stay connected to all of the vital work that NRB is doing. If you are a
773. 49:23broadcaster and you are not yet an MRNRB member, what are you waiting for? Go to NRB.org, sign
774. 49:30up register and do not miss the NRB convention in 2027. Thank you Troy. Thank you.
775. 49:39The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those
776. 49:44of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.