Guest Host, Alex McFarland, is live from the America Reads the Bible, in Washington D.C. with friends

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. 0:10It should be uncomfortable for a believer to live as a hypocrite.
5. 0:15Delivering 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. 0:33Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord
12. 0:36and the people he has chosen for his inheritance.
13. 0:39That's Psalm 33 12 and with that very famous verse,
14. 0:43we welcome you to this program,
15. 0:45Alex McFarland here coming to you from
16. 0:47the Museum of the Bible in Washington, DC.
17. 0:50This is very exciting, no doubt you've seen in the news.
18. 0:53America reads the Bible.
19. 0:56And it's really a historic time
20. 0:58and I got to the Bible Museum earlier this morning.
21. 1:01I've got the privilege of reading tomorrow.
22. 1:04And the building is full of people,
23. 1:07just beloved Christian leaders.
24. 1:09The organizers of the visionary behind this bunny pounce
25. 1:12is nearby.
26. 1:13And there's a lot we can say,
27. 1:15it's gonna be very exciting because tonight,
28. 1:18and this is Tuesday, April 21,
29. 1:22President Donald Trump is going to read
30. 1:24from 2 Chronicles 714, very, very historic.
31. 1:29And at any given moment, there are hundreds of thousands
32. 1:32of people watching the live stream, hearing the Word of God.
33. 1:36But without further ado, I was in the media suite,
34. 1:39and I saw a longtime friend and colleague,
35. 1:41really a hero of mine.
36. 1:43When I was a youth pastor, he came to Greensboro in the 1990s.
37. 1:48And from the moment I heard this man speak,
38. 1:51I just wanted to read every book he wrote.
39. 1:53I wanted to follow his ministry.
40. 1:54He and his son, Tim, are here to read the Bible,
41. 1:58but it's David Barton of Wall Builders,
42. 2:00graciously given us a few moments on the mic here.
43. 2:03But David Barton, welcome to the program.
44. 2:06Thanks, Alex.
45. 2:07Great to be with you.
46. 2:08Appreciate all you do, brother.
47. 2:09Well, you know, we got a lot to be excited about.
48. 2:12God is at work, but you're here.
49. 2:15Have you read your scripture portion yet?
50. 2:17No, I get to read tomorrow.
51. 2:19So that'll be tomorrow after President Trump's night,
52. 2:22which is going to be really fun.
53. 2:23Amen. Well, what does this mean to you?
54. 2:26For one thing, the Dead Sea Scrolls are here.
55. 2:28Right.
56. 2:28This is amazing. The artifacts, the manuscripts,
57. 2:32this testament to the Holy Word of God.
58. 2:36And now the world is listening as the Bible is read
59. 2:39in its entirety. David Barton, what does this mean to you, brother?
60. 2:43You know, historically, it means several important things
61. 2:46because you don't understand American history
62. 2:48if you don't understand the Bible.
63. 2:50Political scientists documented that among the founding fathers the single most cited source in the fountain air was the Bible about
64. 2:5630 40% of all political quotes came out of the Bible
65. 2:59So if you don't know the Bible you do not understand American history
66. 3:03But the other thing I think is so significant is that at a time when a nation was trying to get its act together Israel under King Josiah
67. 3:11They rediscovered the scriptures and they read the scriptures and it led to a national revival
68. 3:16And so I think that that time of reading the scriptures is where we are now that we're on the verge and I think we're already in a revival
69. 3:23And that's not necessarily a good thing
70. 3:26The last hundred and fifty years of revivals haven't changed the nation it takes an awakening to change the nation and that means the disciples ship
71. 3:33So making converts in what changes the nation making disciples is and that's where we are now
72. 3:38We've got a lot of converts a lot of a lot of young people. It's cool now that in church
73. 3:43the largest demographic at any church is no longer wide-haired people, it's young people, it's
74. 3:48Gen Y Gen Z. But unless they get the cycle that won't change anything because they've gone through an
75. 3:53educational system and a culture that is very non-biblical. And the fact that they've accepted
76. 3:58Jesus as you just wrap what you do around Jesus instead of changing the way you think it won't
77. 4:03make a difference. And that's why going back to the word is so important and getting back in the
78. 4:08word. So it's happening that this week with America reads the Bible with that being broadcast
79. 4:13across the world but across the nation with it's being in major media outlets. That's all good
80. 4:19stuff for helping us get back to the discipleship concept that will turn this into a great awakening
81. 4:24which is really what we need not just a revival.
82. 4:27David Barton, what did the role of not only God's word but preachers and the proclamation
83. 4:34of the gospel. What role did that play during the time of the American Revolution?
84. 4:39You know, our view of preachers back then is very different from what it is now because
85. 4:44preachers are counted outside the group, outside the system in many areas, outside the educational
86. 4:49system, outside the political system, outside the economic system. And that's not the way
87. 4:53it was back in the founding. President Trump is in the middle of, and this will happen in
88. 4:59the next four to six weeks, there will be a lot of statues that will be erected over the
89. 5:03National Mall that have never been there before. Some of these statues were
90. 5:07authorized back in 1926. They're going to put a National Memorial Arch up which
91. 5:12will be half the size, half the height of the Washington Monument twice as big as
92. 5:16Lincoln Memorial. And with that will be a number of statues. And among those statues
93. 5:21are going to be a number of ministers of the gospel. And they're there because
94. 5:25they were great military heroes, they were great educational heroes, they were
95. 5:29great political heroes. And that's not what we would have if we chose ministers today. They
96. 5:34wouldn't be in that vein. So as you look back in the American founding, there were 12 military
97. 5:39heroes going up and three of them were clergymen who led their congregations out to fight for
98. 5:44their rights. That's rare today. It would be very rare even to get ministers engaged in
99. 5:50something as simple as talking about voting or government is very rare. So I think that
100. 5:55But one of the things that's happening is with the recovering of our history and heritage
101. 6:00and these new statues coming out and by the way half of those statues will be a black
102. 6:04heroes that most Americans never heard about.
103. 6:06You go to this DEI stuff about how racist America is, you go, wait a minute.
104. 6:12America had a thousand black elected officials by 1876.
105. 6:15Great Britain didn't have their first elected official until 1987.
106. 6:19Repeat that again.
107. 6:21That's mind-boggling.
108. 6:22Second, please.
109. 6:23By 18th America had its first black elected officials in 1641.
110. 6:27Methosasua, DeSusa, in Maryland, a black man of white community elected, you have
111. 6:32black founding fathers, went with Chezua, served 49 years.
112. 6:38So you have by the time you get to 1876 you have a thousand black elected officials in America.
113. 6:46And Great Britain had their first one in 1987.
114. 6:50Russia had their first one in 2010, Italy had their first in 2013, and we're being taught
115. 6:56that we're the racist nation in the world, and we had, now we weren't perfect for sure,
116. 7:02but we're way ahead everybody else, and that never gets taught.
117. 7:06And so that's what's so cool about even these new statues are coming out.
118. 7:10Half of them are black heroes that people have never heard about.
119. 7:12And I mean special forces, black heroes in the revolution like Jack says and who led such
120. 7:16an awesome military operation.
121. 7:19We used to know these guys and so our education system is so bad now that we believe we are
122. 7:24what we never were because we don't know who we are.
123. 7:28And that's what I hope really comes out of this revival that we're seeing and it's that
124. 7:33differently.
125. 7:34I don't mean a spiritual revival, this is a revival of patriotism that we're seeing in
126. 7:37America right now around the 250th.
127. 7:40Hopefully, we're going to recover a bunch of our history and heroes.
128. 7:43Last summer, Charlie Kirk was at Caris Bible College, well, right before the election,
129. 7:50Fall of 24, and then he and I did a couple of events in 25.
130. 7:56And two weeks after he spoke for us, tragically, he was shot in Utah.
131. 8:02And then instantly, we just began to see hundreds and hundreds of youth.
132. 8:06We had a citywide crusade turned away people every night, 1200 salvation decisions, mostly
133. 8:12teenagers, just four days after Trolicirk was shot.
134. 8:18I'm seeing a real spiritual hunger among all age groups, especially young people.
135. 8:23But how do we maximize on this or with God's help, make sure it's not a momentary just emotional
136. 8:30response, but really something strong, substantive and lasting, really for the salvation of our
137. 8:37nation?
138. 8:38This is where discipleship becomes so important.
139. 8:41One of the things that I do a lot of now is speak at
140. 8:44ministers conferences.
141. 8:45So I'll probably speak at 150 ministers conferences a year.
142. 8:49And what I do now is I generally just pull, and let me back up,
143. 8:53we own about 160,000 items from American history.
144. 8:58Thanks from Columbus all the way through the Bible,
145. 9:00landed on the moon of the Apollo 14.
146. 9:02So among that we have thousands of sermons
147. 9:06from the American founding era.
148. 9:08And what I will do is I'll pull out sermons
149. 9:10to the first, second, and third grade awakenings.
150. 9:13And I will cover those sermons,
151. 9:15and they're sermons that deal with economics,
152. 9:18they deal with government, education and policy, et cetera.
153. 9:22And as you look, the thing about awakening was,
154. 9:27it shaped the way you think about every aspect of life.
155. 9:31There are very few preachers a day who could tell me
156. 9:34from the Bible whether property tax
157. 9:36is a biblical or an anti-biblical tax.
158. 9:40Very few could point me to Jesus' parables,
159. 9:42where he clearly teaches the progressive income tax is wrong.
160. 9:47Capitation taxes is what is right.
161. 9:49But the Bible lays out systems of taxation,
162. 9:52the Bible lays out economic systems,
163. 9:54the Bible lays out governmental systems,
164. 9:56and that's what we have to know today.
165. 9:59We have only 4% of Christians who have a biblical worldview.
166. 10:04So whether and even going further, one of the favorite things I like to point to right now
167. 10:10is out of Matthew 19.
168. 10:11Well, actually Matthew 28, where Jesus says, go teach them everything I've taught you, the
169. 10:16Great Commission.
170. 10:17Well, in Matthew 19 and the first 15 verses, he spent a long time talking about the definition
171. 10:24of marriage, how many genders there were, but also no fault divorce.
172. 10:29And when he raised the issue of no fault divorce is absolutely wrong.
173. 10:32They said, wait a minute, most of us allowed us no fault divorce.
174. 10:34They said, but that wasn't the way the father wanted it.
175. 10:37And I have not until the last year I've gone my entire life of 72 years and never heard
176. 10:42of a sermon on no fault divorce.
177. 10:44Now if Jesus taught on that, why aren't we teaching on that?
178. 10:47And see that's what I think is missing now is the discipleship aspect of how to do it.
179. 10:53But I will tell you in the last 12 months I've seen two major national preachers hit head-on
180. 10:58no fault divorce and how wrong it is.
181. 11:01And that to me is a really good sign that we're becoming more biblical than we've been in a
182. 11:06long time.
183. 11:07Amen.
184. 11:08Amen.
185. 11:09Well, when there's a true move of God's Holy Spirit, I mean, there is a return to biblical
186. 11:13authority, isn't there?
187. 11:15And I've often said, and I believe it, you'll know it's a true awakening when Christians,
188. 11:22families, churches, denominations get serious about the authority of God's Holy Word.
189. 11:28Yeah.
190. 11:29And I totally agree.
191. 11:31And that's something that's interesting right now because I've got to be careful how to say
192. 11:36this.
193. 11:37But in the first three great awakens like with George Woodfield, Woodfield preached 32,000
194. 11:42sermons in 34 years.
195. 11:43That is three sermons a day for 34 years.
196. 11:46The dude, Burt America, founding fathers, particularly three founding fathers, John Adams and Thomas
197. 11:53Jefferson and Ben Franklin pointed to Woodfield as the reason that they were able to cooperate
198. 11:58in the first Congress because they didn't, the different states didn't like each other.
199. 12:05Whitfield, the great awakening preacher, never knew he was in a revival, never knew it at
200. 12:11all.
201. 12:12He died not knowing he had started a revival.
202. 12:14And that's because it was so hard and so difficult.
203. 12:18And he got so much opposition.
204. 12:20We have records that evangelical preachers of the day told their people to go attend Whitfield
205. 12:25sermons and get in a tree over him and pee on him and defecate on him and throw rocks
206. 12:31at it and throw cabbages and potatoes and onions at him. He had so much opposition from
207. 12:36the Christian community and that's a characteristic, the first grade awakening, the second grade
208. 12:41awakening, third grade awakening. It's not a unifying time, it's a dividing time where
209. 12:46you separate the sheep from the goats. And so as a result, biblical authority rose and
210. 12:53And eventually in the last four to five years, the Great Awakening, all those who were fighting
211. 12:56in Whitfield said, hey, isn't it great that we're all united with Whitfield?
212. 13:01Wait a minute, you fought him for the first of the time, but they finally got on board.
213. 13:05And that's what I hope happens now is all the opposition, all the craziness where we've
214. 13:10had so many evangelicals attacking others for being involved in politics or government
215. 13:15or whatever, that's going to turn around.
216. 13:18And eventually they're going to say, no, this is what we should be doing.
217. 13:21And again, if this is a revival or an awakening, it takes decades, decades to manifest itself.
218. 13:28But I think we're in one.
219. 13:29Amen.
220. 13:30And we can all pray for that.
221. 13:31Hey, if I may want to tell you something about a church in my home state of North Carolina,
222. 13:36Buffalo Presbyterian Church on the Buffalo Creek, it's 272 years old.
223. 13:41My family's been in that church for two centuries.
224. 13:44I'm the black sheep of the family.
225. 13:46I became a Baptist.
226. 13:48But I was in a run pastor there.
227. 13:51Okay, during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, and I've been to the Capitol when you show
228. 13:55the trumbull pictures in Cornwallis, right off of Cornwallis Boulevard in Greensboro.
229. 14:02Buffalo Pres, the British took over the sanctuary momentarily during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse,
230. 14:08but the pastor's house was burned down.
231. 14:11Pastor David Caldwell, E. Like her others, one sermon survived that fire, and it was an
232. 14:17abolitionist sermon from the 1770s. Isn't that amazing? Well, so we're not the racist
233. 14:25nation the woke people would like us to believe. We got to take a break. David
234. 14:29Barton of Wall Builders, thank you sir. Stay tuned folks a brief break and we're
235. 14:34back after this. When dad passed away in 07, he left an inheritance and they had
236. 15:06saved and saved through the years.
237. 15:09I was just wondering what I could do with that money,
238. 15:12invest it or whatever.
239. 15:14I knew that I would like to help the Lord somehow in his work.
240. 15:19And then I kept hearing about the charitable gift
241. 15:22and knew it, and I thought, well, that really sounds good.
242. 15:25And I knew that AFR would just be the best,
243. 15:28because they're in my home all day, all day long.
244. 15:33and I kind of wanted to partner with the law through AFR and AFA and give back.
245. 15:39And I just felt like I knew that's what I wanted to do.
246. 15:43Like I say, it's just so easy.
247. 15:47I would just highly recommend the foundation.
248. 16:04Shining light into the darkness, this is the Hamilton Corner, an American family radio.
249. 16:12Welcome back.
250. 16:13The ambient noise you might hear in the background is the sound of the media suite in the music
251. 16:18of the Bible at this historic gathering called America Reads the Bible.
252. 16:23Alex McFarland here and with me, the voice you just heard in that first segment by the
253. 16:28way is David Barton of Wall Builders. And by the way this will air, it'll be archived at
254. 16:33AFR.net as an American family radio. So you might want to share this with people, but one of the
255. 16:41real sponsors or partners in America Reads the Bible is PureFlix. And with me from PureFlix is
256. 16:47Bill Abbott. And I want to say Mr. Abbott, thanks for being with us on American Family Radio.
257. 16:53But even more importantly, thanks for helping make this possible for millions and millions
258. 16:58to hear an experience. Thank you.
259. 17:01It is a privilege to be here and to be doing this and broadcasting it live every day from
260. 17:069 a.m. to 9 p.m. through Saturday.
261. 17:09Indeed. Hey, for those that may be unaware, tell us about PureFlicks and all that you
262. 17:14do with them.
263. 17:15So Pure Flix is part of Great American Media.
264. 17:18We are a streaming platform that is focused on faith family country and being uplifting
265. 17:24for three categories, quite frankly, in the overall entertainment and media landscape are
266. 17:31mostly degraded.
267. 17:32Whenever you see somebody that's a dad or portrayed as a person of faith, generally they
268. 17:38are not treated all that fairly.
269. 17:41So we are all about telling positive stories that are always family friendly, always have
270. 17:47elements where faith and country are uplifted and everything from rom-coms to mysteries
271. 17:53to dramas to kids programming in the non-worped world.
272. 17:58How long has PureFlex existed?
273. 18:01So PureFlex has gone through a few iterations.
274. 18:04It was founded in 2015 and was one of the first streaming services.
275. 18:10those guys are way ahead of the game in terms of understanding what the ecosystem would look
276. 18:14like. In 2021, Sony purchased PureFlux and in 2023, Sony invested in great American media
277. 18:22and rolled PureFlux up underneath great American media. And what is your title and your role
278. 18:29there, Bill?
279. 18:30So I'm president and CEO and it's a privilege to bring family-friendly faith content into the
280. 18:36marketplace and to the ecosystem and we believe contributing in a positive way that's very
281. 18:42different than anything you get anywhere else because of our really relentless focus on not
282. 18:48only that type of content that you can feel comfortable watching with your family but also
283. 18:54that is high quality, has a lot of talent attached and is very, very enjoyable.
284. 19:02Well, I commend you and I wish Hollywood would get the message that family, friendly,
285. 19:09faith-affirming content succeeds.
286. 19:15It was my privilege to work for James Dobson, a focus on the family, and for quite a number
287. 19:18of years I wrote for Plug-In Magazine, which was there helping parents make God honoring
288. 19:25entertainment choices.
289. 19:27But really the more graphic, the more negative, the more explicit films and products were,
290. 19:34they would lose money.
291. 19:36About a year ago this time I was doing reviews for the very woke Snow White movie, which Disney
292. 19:44worldwide lost over $40 million.
293. 19:47And so for one thing, on behalf of millions and millions of families throughout the Western
294. 19:52Hemisphere, I want to say thank you.
295. 19:55you for providing not just an alternative but a very excellent one. Much appreciation.
296. 20:00Well that's why we're here because of the vast majority of content out there goes in
297. 20:08that direction. And I think it's not that they don't know that the content won't make
298. 20:14money, won't be successful, but it's just a lack of desire to produce content that way.
299. 20:21and then second, because you're not going to be cool
300. 20:23at the cocktail party if you do.
301. 20:24And then secondly, you are,
302. 20:27most of Hollywood has their own agenda and their own opinion,
303. 20:31and they believe that agenda is one that they're going to
304. 20:35convert others within, well I believe it's a vast majority
305. 20:38of Americans and convert them into thinking their way.
306. 20:42So it's a challenging dynamic where family and faith content
307. 20:47content don't get created at the same level as so much of the other noise that's out there.
308. 20:54And that's why it's so important that our ecosystem and business continues to grow and
309. 21:01be successful.
310. 21:02Yeah, I was at a writer's conference and I heard someone say, I love this quote.
311. 21:08Somebody said, if you want a person to know the truth, tell them the truth.
312. 21:12But if you want a person to love the truth, tell them a story.
313. 21:17And good stories and just compelling films.
314. 21:23There's always world view present and a message.
315. 21:27But when that message is positive and done with excellence and artistry, it really, it
316. 21:33lands and it sticks, doesn't it?
317. 21:36It sure does.
318. 21:37And the more we can create of that and the more we can populate the environment with those
319. 21:42types of stories we believe the better the world is. I think unfortunately the
320. 21:46opposite is true that entertainment does influence culture and entertainment is
321. 21:50a big piece of what people do and consume and when they consume dark
322. 21:54stories that have the enemy left and right throughout and root for the enemy
323. 21:59it becomes certainly a very challenging world for most people to navigate and
324. 22:07you know that I think is one of the unfortunate things that so many people
325. 22:11in the faith area, the family area, have given up on finding content that they're
326. 22:17going to be able to enjoy with their families and it's our mission to bring
327. 22:22them back into the entertainment world and to show them that you can enjoy great
328. 22:27content without assaulting the senses or using any one of the different devices
329. 22:33that are so prevalent in entertainment today. And it gives the website please.
330. 22:38So it's www.purflicks.com and not only will you be able to enjoy a lot of great content
331. 22:46when you subscribe but you can watch America Reads the Bible which we're here to talk about.
332. 22:51Indeed, indeed.
333. 22:52And let me say to churches everywhere you can stream this at purflicks.com, right?
334. 22:59America Reads the Bible.
335. 23:00I've got the privilege on Wednesday, April 22nd.
336. 23:03I'll be reading.
337. 23:04We were just with David Barton.
338. 23:07reading tomorrow as well. Today, as you're hearing this on April 21, President Donald
339. 23:13Trump will be on screen. This really is historic. And Bill, I've got to ask, how did you get
340. 23:21involved in this project?
341. 23:23Well, our chairman, Doug Deeson, is very involved with Christians engaged and a woman, Bunny
342. 23:30pounds who runs Christians engaged is a force to be recognized. She has developed this incredible
343. 23:397-day, 12-hour day experience of reading the Bible and having 475 different people from
344. 23:50all walks of life come in and read scripture. And it's done, as I mentioned over a 12-hour
345. 23:57period, I didn't believe that she could keep those times in the matter in which she has.
346. 24:03It's really remarkable what she's not only bringing all these people together, but then
347. 24:07doing it in a way where things don't run over and it's managed meticulously and just beautifully
348. 24:14orchestrated.
349. 24:15And in addition to the countless numbers of people here in the building, we are in the
350. 24:21the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC.
351. 24:25Many, many people, you know,
352. 24:27a bill I was going around and I've met people already
353. 24:30from all over America and internationally.
354. 24:34But streaming, do you know how many churches or entities
355. 24:39or homes will be watching online?
356. 24:42Well, we'll find out soon enough.
357. 24:45It's impossible to project.
358. 24:47We know that so many people are deeply engaged,
359. 24:51but we don't have the figure certainly from the whole seven days or even from accurate from three,
360. 24:57but we know it will be millions at the end of this week that have been enjoying and exposed to scripture
361. 25:07in a very different way. The Bible, when you read a cover to cover, is an experience that, you know,
362. 25:14it's like no other when you talk to people who have done it. It really changes their lives.
363. 25:18And so we're excited about playing a small part in that.
364. 25:23So did you have any bandwidth issues?
365. 25:26You know, that's one thing I was thinking about.
366. 25:29How is the grid handling all this traffic?
367. 25:32Yeah, we've taken a lot of precaution
368. 25:35and left no stone unturned in terms of making sure
369. 25:39our technology and that the bandwidth would be able
370. 25:42to handle whatever volume came in.
371. 25:45So certainly tonight will be a pressure point,
372. 25:47but we believe that we are well-equipped.
373. 25:51Indeed, indeed.
374. 25:52Well, if we're going to max out the servers,
375. 25:55what better topic than this?
376. 25:57This is the best one.
377. 25:59Well, I want to say thank you.
378. 26:01Do we have with us here also Mr. Deason?
379. 26:11Trying to work his schedule, also from Great American Media.
380. 26:14And if you're just tuning in, Alex McFarland here
381. 26:18from the Museum of the Bible. America reads the Bible. Let me just encourage people, very
382. 26:23historic as if this weren't historic enough. The Dead Sea Scrolls are here, folks. And I
383. 26:31saw them in Jerusalem about a decade ago. Probably, folks, the last opportunity in our
384. 26:38lifetime that the Dead Sea Scrolls will be in America. They're here at the Bible along
385. 26:42with just countless artifacts, not the least of which is historical documentation about
386. 26:48the role that the Bible has played in America, in our founding, and how the concept of human
387. 26:55rights comes from the Bible, an equal representation before the law, and just so many of the cornerstones
388. 27:02of our constitutional republic. Mr. Abbott, I want to say thank you for making people aware
389. 27:08of this. But also tell us what's next for PureFlicks. I know you're on a growth track.
390. 27:18PureFlicks is a growth industry. Thank God. But what's in the future for your company?
391. 27:25So we will just continue to produce high quality content that is distinguished by a talent
392. 27:33involved by the storytelling, by everything from the wardrobe to the set and the way a movie
393. 27:41or series are constructed.
394. 27:44The quality of the content is just the most important part because it needs to be entertaining.
395. 27:49It needs to be positive.
396. 27:51It needs to be uplifting.
397. 27:53All of the things that you don't find that in common in entertainment is what we are
398. 27:58all about. So it is our first mission is to produce content that honors and uplifts and
399. 28:05that is always top of our agenda.
400. 28:11Has the response surprised you? I know you all anticipated success and certainly God has given
401. 28:18that but has the enthusiasm and response really surprised you for this?
402. 28:24Oh yeah, yeah, well, it hasn't, actually.
403. 28:27We knew that there is a deep desire for this type of event.
404. 28:34And so, you know, it really doesn't, I think it's surprised a lot in the media and surprised a lot of people in this town.
405. 28:42But I think for us, we know that, again, I think it's a vast majority.
406. 28:48People really enjoy and want and deeply desire this type of content.
407. 28:53And so it really hasn't.
408. 28:56Now, are you reading or just,
409. 28:59I know you're broadcasting,
410. 29:01but are you one of the readers as well?
411. 29:03Yes, this evening as well, yes.
412. 29:08Well, congratulations, that's great.
413. 29:09You mentioned our mutual friend,
414. 29:11Bunny Pounds of Christians engaged.
415. 29:13We've interviewed her a number of times,
416. 29:15and you mentioned she's a force of nature.
417. 29:19And folks, you need to look at her impact because you might be listening to this and you say,
418. 29:26gee, that's good, but what can I do?
419. 29:28I'm just one person.
420. 29:29Well, you know, the Bible, one of the verses, 1 Corinthians 1558, says that our labor in the
421. 29:35Lord is not in vain.
422. 29:37And I just want to say to everybody listening, your influence and the role model that you
423. 29:43You are for God and country and family and your prayers and just your influence on people.
424. 29:50It makes a difference.
425. 29:53When I think of an individual being used by God to the maximal degree, I think of Bunny
426. 29:59Pounds, I'm curious to know how did you meet Bunny and Christians engaged?
427. 30:05Yeah, so that association was through Doug.
428. 30:09Diesin, who's a very good friend of Bunnies,
429. 30:11and has been a big sponsor of this entire event,
430. 30:15and really has led a path here on a lot of different cultural
431. 30:21items from prison reform to really focus
432. 30:24on great American media and our pillars of faith family
433. 30:27country.
434. 30:28And Douglas of Patre, who's changed the country in many ways,
435. 30:31just by being relentlessly focused on what is good in the
436. 30:37environment.
437. 30:37And he's done just a terrific job of helping Bonnie really establish this and make this the event of this today.
438. 30:44Indeed. Let me ask you this because our ministry interacts with thousands of teenagers a year who are very spiritually hungry.
439. 30:56Many that they write stories, they're very, very creative as every parent would know,
440. 31:03has Hollywood's dominance over the arts shifted and if it has, will that shift be permanent?
441. 31:16You know, there have been groups that have made inroads, which is great to see.
442. 31:21I think it's, in my view anyway, I think it's hard to imagine a world where Hollywood shifts its focus
443. 31:27its focus and changes substantially. So, you know, I'm not, I don't think I'm being a pessimist,
444. 31:34I think I'm being a realist and just looking at the way, you know, it's controlled and I
445. 31:39think it's very hard to see how that changes. But the one-off companies that are working
446. 31:45very hard to make a difference are critical to, you know, the overall sanity of where we
447. 31:54where we are as a culture.
448. 31:56Well Bill Abbott of PureFlicks, I want to say thanks.
449. 31:59We've got a break coming up. One more time, give your website please.
450. 32:03Sure, www.pureflicks.com.
451. 32:06You can go there for all the family-friendly, faith-based entertainment,
452. 32:10as well as America Reads the Bible, and have a great experience with high-quality content,
453. 32:15with talent and storytelling that really is positive and uplifting, and we'll move you.
454. 32:21God bless you. Thank you for what you're doing, folks.
455. 32:24you have time to show this at your church.
456. 32:27You can go to PureFlicks.com.
457. 32:29And I was upstairs where they were reading the Bible,
458. 32:33even as we speak.
459. 32:35And they're in the first half of the Old Testament.
460. 32:38So there's a lot of scripture left to go
461. 32:41and very familiar passages.
462. 32:44And so tell people, spread the word, put it on your social media,
463. 32:48and let people know about America reads the Bible,
464. 32:51brought to you in part by PureFlicks.com.
465. 32:53Stay tuned folks, American Family Radio Network is back after this.
466. 32:57God bless you.
467. 33:00Presenting AFA Stream, an online platform that hosts all AFA-produced video content, including
468. 33:07documentaries, church curriculum, American Family Radio shows, and our Cultural Institute series.
469. 33:14I would submit that we are a Christian nation, and the proof of that is in our founding documents
470. 33:20and in the U.S. Constitution itself.
471. 33:24our founders recognized for the first time in world history, that our rights come from
472. 33:31God our Creator, not our government.
473. 33:33AFA Stream is a vital step that we are taking to fulfill our vision to be a leading organization
474. 33:40in Biblical worldview training for cultural transformation.
475. 33:44You'll find top-notch resources that address the issues of our day related to marriage,
476. 33:49family, the sanctity of life, and many others.
477. 33:53streaming today stream dot a f a dot net
478. 33:57Hamilton Quarter podcast and one-minute commentaries are available at a far dot
479. 34:09net back to the Hamilton Quarter on American family radio
480. 34:14welcome back to the program Alex McFarland here we're we've got a great
481. 34:19guest as we come to you from our nation's capital the Museum of the Bible it's
482. 34:24America reads the Bible and we're gonna talk to the visionary founder of this in
483. 34:29just a moment, but I want to ask people to keep some prayer.
484. 34:33AlexMcFarlane.com, I'm traveling the country,
485. 34:36preaching the revive US citywide campaigns.
486. 34:41We're gonna be in Colorado, in Texas, in Florida.
487. 34:44A lot going on, because our nation needs
488. 34:47a move of God's Holy Spirit.
489. 34:48We're committed to that.
490. 34:50And also our summer camps are coming up.
491. 34:52If you go to the website, equipretreat.org.
492. 34:55where in Montana, Iowa, upstate New Jersey, the Hudson River Valley.
493. 35:02Last year I give God the glory.
494. 35:04We had 624 teenagers make a salvation decision for Christ,
495. 35:10and then over 1,000 that are multiple years coming back to our camps.
496. 35:15So this is the hope of America, the gospel and young lives being built on Jesus Christ
497. 35:21and His Word.
498. 35:22Well, hey, let me segue to the guest before me now.
499. 35:26Over the last few years, whether I was on American Family
500. 35:29Radio, the Hamilton Corner, Truth in Liberty,
501. 35:32when I needed a really good guest,
502. 35:35frequently I would call an individual named
503. 35:38Bunny Pound's of Christians engaged.
504. 35:41And she was getting people registered to vote
505. 35:45in forming churches and voters and really commenting
506. 35:49on law and culture.
507. 35:52I came to respect Bunny Pound so much.
508. 35:55She's a fantastic guest, always at the ready to talk about the issues that matter.
509. 36:00And some time ago, she shared a vision that she had that in our nation's capital, the
510. 36:05Bible would be read in its entirety.
511. 36:08And that sounded rather ambitious, but, you know, I'd knew she's going to do it.
512. 36:14God is with this woman.
513. 36:16And here we are.
514. 36:17And in the middle of America reads the Bible.
515. 36:20with us now and without further ado, Bunny Palms, welcome and congratulations for a vision
516. 36:27realized.
517. 36:29It's really by the grace of God, Alex, I mean, it's been amazing to see this come together.
518. 36:34We, our team started working on it about 14 months ago, about two years ago.
519. 36:39I had this idea here at the Museum of the Bible that we needed an Ezra moment.
520. 36:44We needed to realize who we really were as American citizens, but specifically the body
521. 36:48of Christ, kind of an awakening, a return to the Word of God in simplicity.
522. 36:55And I'm telling you, Alex, we're at almost 500 readers, 122 ministries, reading the entire
523. 37:03Bible, the whole Council of God.
524. 37:07I'm just blown away by the power of God in this museum and the presence of God and the
525. 37:13unity that we're feeling and the effects that it's having to people around the country.
526. 37:18amazing. Well, it really is historic for one thing, the Dead Sea Scrolls are here. That
527. 37:24in itself is just monumental what they signify. And by the way, on exploring the word, Bert
528. 37:32Harper and I are going to be talking about the Dead Sea Scrolls and just how monumental
529. 37:37that is. I was going through some of the exhibits, the role of the Bible in American history,
530. 37:42American Revolution, even the Civil Rights Movement.
531. 37:46And as has been said, this book is the rock on which our republic rests.
532. 37:52So I want to say thank you.
533. 37:54Thank you for having the vision that God's holy word would be read, Genesis to Revelation,
534. 38:02and you have gotten just the A list of people to read.
535. 38:07Tell us about it.
536. 38:08How did you do that, including our president?
537. 38:12It's a God moment, isn't it?
538. 38:14Yeah, a lot of sweat equity.
539. 38:17I think I counted.
540. 38:18I did 200 Zoom meetings last year just to recruit
541. 38:22national ministries onto it.
542. 38:24But a lot of yeses, Alex.
543. 38:26I just, I want to say thank you to all of these ministries,
544. 38:30whether it's Andrew Womack or CBN or Dr. Jack Graham
545. 38:36or Samaritan's Purse or Prison Fellowship,
546. 38:39Colson Center, you guys, Alex McFarland Ministries,
547. 38:43I mean, everybody that said yes to this,
548. 38:46to not only help us financially get here,
549. 38:48but also to market it, to push it out,
550. 38:51to be a part, and readers.
551. 38:53We had so many of our family policy councils
552. 38:56around the country that put up readers
553. 38:57from Iowa and Florida and Pennsylvania and Idaho and Alabama.
554. 39:03I think we've got almost 50 states represented.
555. 39:06We have some young people from Hawaii,
556. 39:08We have people flying in from Alaska to read the Bible.
557. 39:13Really a monumental moment.
558. 39:15Yeah, very, very difficult.
559. 39:17If you can imagine hosting a conference with 500 leaders
560. 39:21that don't read their emails and don't fall instructions.
561. 39:25You've followed instructions now.
562. 39:27I'm under conviction now.
563. 39:29You've followed instructions.
564. 39:31But yeah, I just wanna say thank you to our team
565. 39:34at Christians Engaged and Fairly Policy Alliance
566. 39:36champion this, are contractors that have come alongside to work 60, 80 hours a week, my director
567. 39:43of America is the Bible, Jamie Thompson, and her entire family that's been working as a volunteer.
568. 39:50It's really been an unbelievable thing, but it's worth it because the seed of the Word of
569. 39:56God is spreading across this country.
570. 39:58We're seeing hundreds of thousands of people on the live stream at any one time.
571. 40:03coming just really getting wrecked by God in the auditorium. And 16 worship leaders that
572. 40:09flew here on their own dime. You know, we're not paying anybody anything and they're just
573. 40:13coming and sitting in a green room, Ken Walker Smith, Leland, Danny Gokey, Meredith Andrews,
574. 40:21all of these worship leaders just coming to fill in like prayer and worship one song at
575. 40:26the end of each hour just so we can have a kind of a pause, break and reflect on what
576. 40:31we've just read, and the humility, Alex, the humility is blowing me away of whether it's
577. 40:38ministry leaders or these worship leaders and the expert readers.
578. 40:43Let me just say thank you to our 50, 60 expert readers, which you are one of those, these passages
579. 40:49that humanly are as impossible to read except for you beautiful people that can read them.
580. 40:55It's really amazing and God anoints his whole word, his whole word speaks.
581. 41:00And that's what I've been blown away with, even the genealogies and even the hard passages and
582. 41:04the Tamar passage that Nathan Winters read from Wyoming, all of it speaks.
583. 41:10It really does.
584. 41:11I say 55 says God's word does not return void, but it accomplishes the purpose to which God
585. 41:18sent it.
586. 41:19And Bunny, I was upstairs in the auditorium and a gentleman was reading from the first Kings
587. 41:2515 and I was looking around the room and and no kidding. I mean the the room was
588. 41:32thick with the presence of the Holy Spirit and there were people weeping and
589. 41:37folks we need the Lord to touch our nation and it's happening. It was so
590. 41:43powerful and everybody was just listening. I was watching people wipe
591. 41:48tears away. It myself included and but in my heart I was rejoicing and I want to say
592. 41:53folks just if you could step back from the noise of life and the unrelenting
593. 41:58barrage of headlines I want to say this Jesus Christ is King Jesus Christ is
594. 42:05still the name above all names acts for twelve Jesus is still the one and only
595. 42:11name given under heaven among men whereby we must be safe perhaps you're
596. 42:16listening to this and you need to call out to the to the name of Jesus we always
597. 42:21say this, listen folks, if you need to come to Christ, or maybe you need to come back to
598. 42:28Jesus Christ. He's as close by as a prayer. Jesus loves you. Folks, if I could put it on
599. 42:33a billboard at every intersection, on every street corner. Jesus loves you. He's not mad
600. 42:40at you. His arms are open. And, Bunny, I just think, yes, the Bible is being read. Yes,
601. 42:46of all strata, ministers, actors, musicians, elected officials, educators, just farmers
602. 42:55like myself from North Carolina, people are reading the Bible, but here is the message
603. 43:00that Jesus' arms are open, and to this world, Jesus says, whosoever will may come.
604. 43:09That's the good news, isn't it?
605. 43:10It is.
606. 43:11I said Saturday night at our opening celebration, I got to preach the Gospel.
607. 43:15It was one of the greatest moments in my life.
608. 43:18Why would our team spend 14 months trying to create something
609. 43:23that just looks like humanly impossible?
610. 43:26And the reason is Alex, God is calling people.
611. 43:30He's reaching into this nation, and he's calling us to himself.
612. 43:35And I preached out of John 17, 24.
613. 43:39I get to read John 17 on Saturday morning.
614. 43:43Father, I desire that those who you've given me would be with me where I am, that they would
615. 43:47be hold my glory.
616. 43:48And the call of Jesus before he went to the cross was that he would have you, he would have
617. 43:54your heart, he would have your life.
618. 43:57And the beauty of this, I was just wrecked today in the green room.
619. 44:01I've been praying over every single one of our readers.
620. 44:05And it's kind of like the Acts church.
621. 44:09We have the basicness of Christianity is three things, worship, prayer and meditation on the
622. 44:15word.
623. 44:16That's really what it looks like to just walk with God, right?
624. 44:20And we are literally sitting in an auditorium listening to the word of God being read.
625. 44:25We are having worship leaders just open up 90 seconds or three minutes or six minutes
626. 44:31of worship for us to just say, God, we love you.
627. 44:35we magnify your name and then we're just having a constant prayer room and prayer meeting in
628. 44:41the back of this with leaders that are just literally just going, God, I want to hunger
629. 44:47and thirst after righteousness.
630. 44:49I want to be dependent on you as a leader.
631. 44:52Sometimes Alex, we just try to survive.
632. 44:55We're all multifaceted and talented, but our talents and our gifts alone is not going to
633. 45:01save anybody.
634. 45:03Our words by themselves are not going to save anybody.
635. 45:05The only thing that saves people is the word of God.
636. 45:09And so it is incumbent upon us as leaders to say, God, I'm going to show up every day.
637. 45:14I'm going to open your word and you're going to speak to me.
638. 45:16And I'm going to hear your voice.
639. 45:18And then I'm going to take what you've given me and I'm going to invest in other people
640. 45:21and I'm going to speak that out.
641. 45:23And that's what changes people.
642. 45:25And that's what raises up disciples.
643. 45:28And I think we lose sight.
644. 45:30I mean, just kind of get in this revelation again this week.
645. 45:33We lose sight that the ultimate goal of our lives
646. 45:36and the ultimate goal of the church
647. 45:38is for us to be Christ-like.
648. 45:41You know, and that means we've got to be simpler.
649. 45:44We've got to kind of be almost minimalistic in a sense,
650. 45:47you know, cut out everything else that doesn't exalt Christ.
651. 45:50And I think we're seeing the power of that
652. 45:53as people just watch the Word just being read, nothing else.
653. 45:57You know, I've been really meditating on 1 John chapter 3, and it says,
654. 46:04everyone who has this hope in themselves purifies themselves, even as they now are pure.
655. 46:12And I was thinking about is and are present tense reality.
656. 46:16When you're a born-again believer, folks, you've put your faith in Jesus.
657. 46:20You are a son or daughter of the king now.
658. 46:24It's not like you know decades from now that I can go to heaven
659. 46:27That's true if you're a believer but now and we are sanctified we want to walk with the Lord
660. 46:33We want to be more and more like Jesus because that's our true identity now, isn't it buddy?
661. 46:40Yeah, it is and he is literally calling us every day for a closer relationship, right and
662. 46:48I just hope what our prayer has been Alex for this is
663. 46:52is a couple things.
664. 46:54We're praying for the body of Christ for complacency
665. 46:57and apathy to be broken off our hearts.
666. 46:59You know, so often in the modern American church,
667. 47:01we're depending on a 20 minute message
668. 47:03from our local pastor to make it every week.
669. 47:05And we're literally trying to survive
670. 47:08with no water, no food, right?
671. 47:10And then we wonder why our families are falling apart
672. 47:13and why we're addicted to gaming or TV
673. 47:16or pornography or whatever it is.
674. 47:19It's like we're not really feeding our souls.
675. 47:22So we're praying for awakening, we're praying for a Bible
676. 47:26when it comes to the simplicity of walking with God
677. 47:28in the body of Christ in America.
678. 47:31Just like Saturday night we held our Bibles
679. 47:34and knelt down on the ground.
680. 47:36And I said, let's think about the Chinese church.
681. 47:38Let's think about the Iranian church.
682. 47:40Let's think about the gift that we get to own a Bible,
683. 47:44that we get to download a Bible app,
684. 47:47that we get to read the Bible in this country.
685. 47:49What an amazing gift.
686. 47:51But we're praying for the American people over all that,
687. 47:54as they see these news stories,
688. 47:55as they see these social media clips,
689. 47:57as they see the President of the United States
690. 47:59do a historic thing of reading two and a half minutes
691. 48:02of scripture that they maybe wake up and go,
692. 48:05maybe there's some wisdom in there,
693. 48:07maybe there's something that can heal my marriage,
694. 48:09maybe there's something that can break
695. 48:10the depression off my life,
696. 48:12maybe there's something I should look into
697. 48:14and there's this curiosity that's formed that we know,
698. 48:18because Romans 10, 17 says,
699. 48:20faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word,
700. 48:23that if you start digging into that,
701. 48:25ooh, something's gonna happen.
702. 48:27And it's a miracle that we can't even describe
703. 48:30because John 1 talks about the word became flesh
704. 48:34and dwelt among us.
705. 48:35We held this glory, right?
706. 48:37That we have this opportunity to receive him
707. 48:41and we have the right to become the child of God
708. 48:44because he called us.
709. 48:46And what he's doing right now, Alex,
710. 48:48is calling people through the simple words,
711. 48:52whether it's the story of David,
712. 48:54whether it's the story of Ruth,
713. 48:56whether it's Esther, whether it's Joe,
714. 48:58I love the turning point,
715. 49:00I love the read,
716. 49:00read Joe, I love when Marty Grettes is gonna read
717. 49:05Romans 9, 10, and 11,
718. 49:07when the speaker of the house, Mike Johnson,
719. 49:09read Genesis 24, I mean, how powerful is that?
720. 49:13You're listing a lot of great friends.
721. 49:15We're almost out of town,
722. 49:1620 pounds on behalf of millions of Americans.
723. 49:19Thank you for America Reads the Bible.
724. 49:21Thank you, Alex. We love you guys so much.
725. 49:23God is good. Hey, folks. Thanks for listening.
726. 49:25Share this program with somebody,
727. 49:27aFR.net, and tell people about AmericaReadsTheBible.com.
728. 49:32Blessings to you all.
729. 49:39The views and opinions expressed in this broadcast may not necessarily reflect those
730. 49:43of the American Family Association or American Family Radio.