1 00:00:00,040 --> 00:00:02,480 S1: Hi friends. Thanks so much for downloading this podcast, and 2 00:00:02,480 --> 00:00:05,520 S1: I hope truly that you will hear something that will encourage, edify, 3 00:00:05,559 --> 00:00:08,200 S1: equip and enlighten you to get out there and influence 4 00:00:08,200 --> 00:00:10,879 S1: and occupy until he comes. And on that note, may 5 00:00:10,880 --> 00:00:12,760 S1: I take just a few moments here to describe this 6 00:00:12,760 --> 00:00:15,800 S1: month's truth tool? It's by pastor Jack Hibbs. He's written 7 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,599 S1: the book called Called to Take a Bold Stand. I 8 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,079 S1: absolutely love this book because it reminds us that in 9 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:24,200 S1: Christ all things pass away. All things become new, that 10 00:00:24,200 --> 00:00:26,760 S1: we are standing for his truth, that we have a 11 00:00:26,760 --> 00:00:29,640 S1: new nature. Because of him, we should be living boldly. 12 00:00:29,640 --> 00:00:32,080 S1: But far too often we retreat out of fear from 13 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:35,080 S1: cultural blowback. So I want to encourage all of us 14 00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:37,519 S1: to just stand up for Christ, to be unashamed of 15 00:00:37,560 --> 00:00:39,479 S1: who we are in him, and to go into a 16 00:00:39,479 --> 00:00:42,599 S1: culture that's telling us in no uncertain terms. They're lost 17 00:00:42,600 --> 00:00:44,720 S1: and they're hurting. So if you'd like a copy of 18 00:00:44,720 --> 00:00:47,880 S1: Pastor Hibbs new book called Call to Take a Bold Stand, 19 00:00:48,000 --> 00:00:50,720 S1: just give a gift of any amount by calling eight, seven, seven. 20 00:00:50,720 --> 00:00:53,680 S1: Janet 58. We are listener supported radio, and this is 21 00:00:53,680 --> 00:00:55,640 S1: my way of saying thank you. So that number again 22 00:00:55,680 --> 00:00:59,200 S1: is 877 Janet 58. Or you can go online in 23 00:00:59,280 --> 00:01:02,110 S1: the market with Janet dot o r g. Go to 24 00:01:02,150 --> 00:01:04,190 S1: the bottom of the page. There's the cover of Pastor 25 00:01:04,190 --> 00:01:06,830 S1: Jack's book. Clicking on Give a Gift and you'll be 26 00:01:06,830 --> 00:01:08,350 S1: good to go. And we'll send you a copy as 27 00:01:08,350 --> 00:01:10,190 S1: a way of saying thank you. Don't forget, you can 28 00:01:10,190 --> 00:01:12,750 S1: also become a partial partner. Those are people who give 29 00:01:12,750 --> 00:01:15,190 S1: every single month at a level of their own choosing. 30 00:01:15,230 --> 00:01:17,190 S1: My way of saying thank you to the partial partners 31 00:01:17,190 --> 00:01:18,790 S1: is to make sure you get a copy of each 32 00:01:18,830 --> 00:01:21,630 S1: month's truth tool, and you get our weekly newsletter, which 33 00:01:21,670 --> 00:01:24,270 S1: includes some of my writing and an audio piece only 34 00:01:24,270 --> 00:01:26,789 S1: for my partial partners. So whether it's a one time 35 00:01:26,790 --> 00:01:28,590 S1: gift or you want to be an ongoing giver and 36 00:01:28,590 --> 00:01:30,910 S1: become a partial partner, that's your call. But I want 37 00:01:30,950 --> 00:01:34,070 S1: to thank you in advance. Eight seven, seven Janet 58. 38 00:01:34,069 --> 00:01:37,310 S1: Or online at In the Market with Janet Parshall. Now 39 00:01:37,310 --> 00:01:39,150 S1: please enjoy the broadcast. 40 00:01:40,270 --> 00:01:41,790 S2: Here are some of the news headlines we're watching. 41 00:01:42,110 --> 00:01:44,390 S3: The conference was over. The president won a pledge. 42 00:01:44,470 --> 00:01:46,589 S4: Americans worshiping government over God. 43 00:01:46,870 --> 00:01:50,270 S5: Extremely rare safety move by MH 17 years. 44 00:01:50,270 --> 00:01:52,310 S6: The Palestinians and Israelis negotiated. 45 00:02:08,060 --> 00:02:10,660 S1: Hi friends. Welcome to In the market with Janet Partial. 46 00:02:10,700 --> 00:02:13,660 S1: Happy Friday to you. I hope you've had a wonderful week. 47 00:02:13,860 --> 00:02:16,299 S1: I hope you have a great weekend planned and I 48 00:02:16,300 --> 00:02:18,299 S1: thank you so much for choosing to spend the hour 49 00:02:18,300 --> 00:02:20,380 S1: with us. Wish I could pull you through the microphone 50 00:02:20,380 --> 00:02:23,180 S1: and bring you into our capital city here. Those cherry 51 00:02:23,180 --> 00:02:26,100 S1: blossoms are just poking their nose out of their little shells, 52 00:02:26,100 --> 00:02:29,780 S1: and it's starting to get beautiful along the Potomac. It's 53 00:02:29,820 --> 00:02:31,980 S1: absolutely spectacular. And by the way, God's timing is so 54 00:02:31,980 --> 00:02:35,500 S1: perfect because the Prime Minister of Japan was making a 55 00:02:35,500 --> 00:02:38,139 S1: white House visit yesterday. How neat is that? Because the 56 00:02:38,139 --> 00:02:42,500 S1: original set of cherry blossom trees along the Potomac, right 57 00:02:42,500 --> 00:02:45,100 S1: across from the Jefferson Memorial, if you can picture this, 58 00:02:45,100 --> 00:02:46,940 S1: and right next to one of the many bridges we 59 00:02:46,940 --> 00:02:49,340 S1: have in DC. I thought she gets to see what 60 00:02:49,340 --> 00:02:51,820 S1: her country gave us years ago, but she also is 61 00:02:51,820 --> 00:02:54,899 S1: fully aware and they've just now planted them, that we 62 00:02:54,900 --> 00:02:58,930 S1: are in receipt of 250. Number done on purpose. Brand 63 00:02:58,970 --> 00:03:03,610 S1: new cherry blossom trees in honor of America's 250th birthday. 64 00:03:03,770 --> 00:03:06,010 S1: So I thought, let's talk about a convergence of all 65 00:03:06,010 --> 00:03:08,130 S1: those things at the same time. So the new prime minister, 66 00:03:08,130 --> 00:03:10,490 S1: who's a wonderful woman, by the way, comes here to 67 00:03:10,490 --> 00:03:12,410 S1: the United States. They shook hands on a great big 68 00:03:12,410 --> 00:03:16,090 S1: nuclear energy deal, multi billion dollar deal. It's going to 69 00:03:16,090 --> 00:03:18,210 S1: bring jobs. It's going to shore up the relationships between 70 00:03:18,210 --> 00:03:20,250 S1: the U.S. and Japan. And it's going to deal with 71 00:03:20,250 --> 00:03:22,970 S1: energy independence, which is very important. But to know that 72 00:03:22,970 --> 00:03:25,370 S1: she was there just as those cherry blossoms going back 73 00:03:25,370 --> 00:03:28,250 S1: to her country were blossoming. I think it was perfect timing. Mr. 74 00:03:28,250 --> 00:03:30,250 S1: Craig Partial is with me as he is on Fridays. 75 00:03:30,250 --> 00:03:32,210 S1: I like being with him any time, but it's especially 76 00:03:32,210 --> 00:03:34,450 S1: fun on Friday because what we do is we take 77 00:03:34,450 --> 00:03:36,770 S1: a look at the headlines of the day and, you know, 78 00:03:36,810 --> 00:03:39,770 S1: we start every program with that cacophony, that noise that 79 00:03:39,810 --> 00:03:42,930 S1: represents the hurly burly of what's going on inside the 80 00:03:42,930 --> 00:03:45,650 S1: marketplace of ideas, all kinds of things being bought and sold. 81 00:03:45,650 --> 00:03:48,010 S1: Not all true, not all good, not all right. But 82 00:03:48,010 --> 00:03:50,730 S1: that's okay. That mess is exactly where God called us 83 00:03:50,730 --> 00:03:52,330 S1: to go. And so you and I need to learn 84 00:03:52,330 --> 00:03:54,890 S1: how to discern. We need to have that straight stick 85 00:03:54,890 --> 00:03:57,200 S1: of truth in our toolbox so we can decide what 86 00:03:57,240 --> 00:03:59,680 S1: ideas are right and true and good and what are 87 00:03:59,680 --> 00:04:03,400 S1: false and deceptive and evil. And that takes some spiritual maturity. 88 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:05,480 S1: It takes some discernment. But boy, oh boy, oh boy, 89 00:04:05,480 --> 00:04:07,760 S1: it takes knowing the word. You've got to have a 90 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:09,800 S1: plumb line to measure. Let me see. Oh, that's a 91 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,400 S1: pretty crooked idea. Doesn't come into alignment with the Word 92 00:04:12,400 --> 00:04:14,440 S1: of God. So that's what we do on Fridays. We 93 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:16,479 S1: take out our toolbox, and we take a look at 94 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:18,200 S1: a lot of the things that are being discussed, and 95 00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:21,080 S1: take a look at them from a biblical perspective. Find 96 00:04:21,080 --> 00:04:23,400 S1: out if there's a biblical issue at stake. If the 97 00:04:23,400 --> 00:04:26,160 S1: scriptures have spoken directly to this kind of an issue, 98 00:04:26,320 --> 00:04:28,400 S1: and really and truly understanding that you don't ever want 99 00:04:28,400 --> 00:04:31,000 S1: to compartmentalize your faith, I understand that a lot of 100 00:04:31,000 --> 00:04:33,440 S1: people think, yeah, that's my Sunday way of thinking. I've 101 00:04:33,440 --> 00:04:35,440 S1: got my Bible, I've got my magic markers, I write 102 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:37,479 S1: in the margins. I do all of that. Monday comes boom, 103 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:39,279 S1: deer in the headlights. No no no no no no no. 104 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,600 S1: It's all truth. All times to all people everywhere. That's 105 00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,440 S1: the wonderful thing about God's Word. It applies to all 106 00:04:45,440 --> 00:04:47,760 S1: people in all times and all places. And so you 107 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:49,839 S1: want to make sure that you bridge that gap between 108 00:04:49,839 --> 00:04:53,080 S1: Sunday and Monday, and you don't compartmentalize your faith. You 109 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:55,310 S1: want to breathe in and breathe out and know that 110 00:04:55,310 --> 00:04:57,630 S1: you are in the center of his will. And just 111 00:04:57,630 --> 00:05:00,710 S1: like Paul said, in him we live and move and 112 00:05:00,710 --> 00:05:04,070 S1: have our being. So this is about expanding breathing in 113 00:05:04,070 --> 00:05:06,830 S1: your relationship with Jesus Christ. And so we go round Robin, 114 00:05:06,830 --> 00:05:08,750 S1: talk about a lot of topics. And we're going to 115 00:05:08,750 --> 00:05:11,150 S1: start out with one that I think is pretty interesting. 116 00:05:11,150 --> 00:05:13,310 S1: Jonathan Turley is a brilliant attorney, by the way, and 117 00:05:13,310 --> 00:05:15,830 S1: he's also a great writer, and he writes very often 118 00:05:15,830 --> 00:05:19,070 S1: about constitutional law. And he wrote a piece entitled and 119 00:05:19,070 --> 00:05:20,630 S1: this was just a couple of days. In fact, it 120 00:05:20,630 --> 00:05:22,750 S1: came out on Saint Pat's Day. He said how a 121 00:05:22,750 --> 00:05:25,270 S1: first grader taught her school district and a federal judge 122 00:05:25,270 --> 00:05:28,670 S1: about free speech. And so this piece originally appeared in 123 00:05:28,710 --> 00:05:31,270 S1: The Hill, which is a significant publication that comes out 124 00:05:31,270 --> 00:05:33,510 S1: of Capitol Hill. And it has to do with the 125 00:05:33,510 --> 00:05:35,950 S1: free speech victory that came out of the US Court 126 00:05:35,990 --> 00:05:38,789 S1: of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. And it's the story 127 00:05:38,790 --> 00:05:42,110 S1: of how a little first grade girl schooled her principal 128 00:05:42,110 --> 00:05:43,909 S1: and a federal judge on the essence of free speech. 129 00:05:43,910 --> 00:05:46,029 S1: So here's the story. And I'm going to borrow from 130 00:05:46,070 --> 00:05:49,830 S1: Curley's comment column here. So in March of 2021, California 131 00:05:49,830 --> 00:05:53,549 S1: Principal Jesus Becerra was confronted by a clear and present 132 00:05:53,550 --> 00:05:56,550 S1: threat to his school. Standing before him was the culprit, 133 00:05:56,589 --> 00:05:59,230 S1: a student apparently so dangerous that Becerra had to act 134 00:05:59,230 --> 00:06:02,229 S1: without delay to protect the entire Viejo Elementary School in 135 00:06:02,230 --> 00:06:05,270 S1: the Capistrano Unified School District. The little girl is known 136 00:06:05,270 --> 00:06:08,029 S1: only as BB because she's a minor in federal filings, 137 00:06:08,029 --> 00:06:10,750 S1: but her actions were so heinous that a parent alerted 138 00:06:10,750 --> 00:06:14,470 S1: Becerra to take whatever action was necessary. Becerra showed BB 139 00:06:14,510 --> 00:06:18,030 S1: the incriminating evidence, a picture of children with the words 140 00:06:18,029 --> 00:06:23,550 S1: any life written under Black Lives Matter. Well, confronting the 141 00:06:23,550 --> 00:06:27,229 S1: little girl, Becerra allegedly called the paper racist. He told 142 00:06:27,230 --> 00:06:30,349 S1: her that she would need to apologize for the outrageous statement. 143 00:06:30,390 --> 00:06:33,990 S1: Becerra denies using the word racist. Her family alleges that 144 00:06:33,990 --> 00:06:37,430 S1: she was also suspended from recess for two weeks, apparently 145 00:06:37,430 --> 00:06:40,550 S1: to consider her failures as a human being. That single 146 00:06:40,550 --> 00:06:44,070 S1: piece of paper has since prompted years of litigation, in 147 00:06:44,070 --> 00:06:46,909 S1: which California educators fought for the right to punish this 148 00:06:46,910 --> 00:06:49,350 S1: child for a picture given to a friend. And if 149 00:06:49,350 --> 00:06:51,979 S1: that seems outrageous, you don't even know the worst of it. 150 00:06:52,020 --> 00:06:54,940 S1: Bibi had just sat through a book reading about Martin 151 00:06:54,940 --> 00:06:57,820 S1: Luther King. It ended with Black Lives Matter, an expression 152 00:06:57,820 --> 00:06:59,940 S1: that she had never previously heard. She felt bad that 153 00:06:59,940 --> 00:07:02,140 S1: black people in the book were shown as being treated 154 00:07:02,140 --> 00:07:04,540 S1: differently and unfairly. She decided to draw a picture of 155 00:07:04,540 --> 00:07:07,380 S1: her friends holding hands under those words with the addition 156 00:07:07,580 --> 00:07:10,100 S1: any life. And she gave the picture to one of 157 00:07:10,100 --> 00:07:13,300 S1: her friends, a girl known in the litigation as MC. Again, 158 00:07:13,300 --> 00:07:16,140 S1: a minor. Throughout history, friends have given each other such 159 00:07:16,140 --> 00:07:18,620 S1: notes and pictures without incident. But in these times, an 160 00:07:18,620 --> 00:07:20,660 S1: array of adults felt the need to intervene to make 161 00:07:20,700 --> 00:07:24,100 S1: sure the girls understood that this innocent act was actually 162 00:07:24,100 --> 00:07:27,740 S1: a despicable act of blatant racism. When MC brought the 163 00:07:27,740 --> 00:07:31,140 S1: picture home, her mother was upset. MC is the only 164 00:07:31,140 --> 00:07:34,660 S1: black student in the class and Bibi is white. She 165 00:07:34,660 --> 00:07:37,140 S1: wrote to Becerra to object that quote. While we can 166 00:07:37,140 --> 00:07:39,500 S1: appreciate the sentiment of Black Lives Matter, my husband and 167 00:07:39,500 --> 00:07:42,380 S1: I do not trust the place any life. Do not 168 00:07:42,380 --> 00:07:45,220 S1: trust the place any life is coming from. She did 169 00:07:45,220 --> 00:07:47,660 S1: not want this to become a larger issue, but asked 170 00:07:47,660 --> 00:07:49,540 S1: Becerra to take the actions that needed to be taken 171 00:07:49,540 --> 00:07:53,530 S1: to address the issue. Becerra allegedly demanded that Bebe apologize 172 00:07:53,530 --> 00:07:56,090 S1: and then suspended her from recess. Bebe didn't tell her 173 00:07:56,090 --> 00:07:59,690 S1: mom about the incident or the alleged punishment for 11 months. 174 00:07:59,690 --> 00:08:01,930 S1: That poor little girl. But then the family moved to 175 00:08:01,970 --> 00:08:04,370 S1: address the matter. They face an array of administrators and 176 00:08:04,370 --> 00:08:06,770 S1: lawyers who fought them at every stage. The school denied 177 00:08:06,770 --> 00:08:09,490 S1: that the punishment had even happened, asserting that the weight 178 00:08:09,490 --> 00:08:11,530 S1: of evidence did not support the claim that the little 179 00:08:11,530 --> 00:08:14,650 S1: girl had been punished in any way. Ultimately, the case 180 00:08:14,650 --> 00:08:16,890 S1: made its way before the district court judge, a fellow 181 00:08:16,890 --> 00:08:20,370 S1: by the name of David Carter. The school demanded summary judgment, 182 00:08:20,410 --> 00:08:22,730 S1: even though a court at that stage must assume all 183 00:08:22,730 --> 00:08:26,210 S1: disputed facts in the most favorable way for the non-moving party. Bebe. 184 00:08:26,210 --> 00:08:28,850 S1: In this case, Carter held that she could indeed be 185 00:08:28,850 --> 00:08:33,210 S1: a punishment punished for writing those two words any life. Well, 186 00:08:33,210 --> 00:08:36,610 S1: Judge Carter declared that Bebe's drawing was, quote, not protected 187 00:08:36,610 --> 00:08:39,610 S1: under the First Amendment and that teachers like Becerra, quote, 188 00:08:39,610 --> 00:08:42,610 S1: are far more equipped than federal courts at identifying when 189 00:08:42,610 --> 00:08:47,210 S1: speech crosses the line from harmless banter to impermissible harassment. Besides, 190 00:08:47,210 --> 00:08:50,800 S1: Carter added, the downsides of regulating speech there is not 191 00:08:50,800 --> 00:08:53,160 S1: as significant as it is in high schools, where students 192 00:08:53,160 --> 00:08:58,559 S1: are approaching voting age, and controversial speech could spark conducive conversation. 193 00:08:58,800 --> 00:09:01,640 S1: In Judge Carter's world, there is little danger that elementary 194 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:03,920 S1: students are likely to develop a taste for free speech, 195 00:09:03,920 --> 00:09:06,720 S1: let alone contemplate its use. So I'm going to pause 196 00:09:06,720 --> 00:09:08,080 S1: it there. And when we come back, I'm going to 197 00:09:08,080 --> 00:09:09,560 S1: read the rest of the article. And then, Craig, I 198 00:09:09,559 --> 00:09:12,160 S1: want you to break this down. I love Turley's tongue 199 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:14,600 S1: in cheek approach to this. Again, this is a first 200 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:17,160 S1: grader who simply couldn't understand that. Wouldn't you say that 201 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:19,600 S1: every life matters, not just black lives matter, but that 202 00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:22,160 S1: every life matter? And immediately this little girl who didn't 203 00:09:22,160 --> 00:09:24,760 S1: even know what the word racist was, is being called 204 00:09:24,760 --> 00:09:55,910 S1: one back after this. As culture continues to stumble into darkness, 205 00:09:55,910 --> 00:09:58,350 S1: it's easy to lose heart and grow weary in your faith. 206 00:09:58,350 --> 00:10:00,310 S1: And that's why I've chosen Called to Take a bold 207 00:10:00,309 --> 00:10:03,110 S1: stand by pastor Jack Hibbs as this month's truth tool. 208 00:10:03,150 --> 00:10:06,069 S1: Learn how to represent Christ courageously in a hurting world. 209 00:10:06,190 --> 00:10:08,030 S1: As for your copy of call to take a bold 210 00:10:08,030 --> 00:10:09,670 S1: stand when you give a gift of any amount to 211 00:10:09,710 --> 00:10:14,390 S1: in the market, call 877. Janet 58. That's 877. Janet 58. 212 00:10:14,390 --> 00:10:16,790 S1: Or go to in the market with Janet Parshall. Oh, 213 00:10:18,710 --> 00:10:20,990 S1: great book, by the way. That is this month's truth tool. 214 00:10:20,990 --> 00:10:23,870 S1: We are listener supported radio. And when you financially give. 215 00:10:23,870 --> 00:10:25,710 S1: I want to find a tangible way to help you 216 00:10:25,750 --> 00:10:29,150 S1: grow in your relationship with Jesus Christ. So this month, 217 00:10:29,150 --> 00:10:31,949 S1: it's pastor Jack Hibbs book called to Take a Bold Stand. 218 00:10:32,110 --> 00:10:34,630 S1: He really reminds us of the need in a wicked 219 00:10:34,630 --> 00:10:38,470 S1: and perverse generation to shine as lights, as the Scripture says, 220 00:10:38,590 --> 00:10:40,670 S1: and he wants us to take captive every moment that 221 00:10:40,670 --> 00:10:42,910 S1: we've got and use it to really and truly be 222 00:10:42,910 --> 00:10:45,310 S1: the ambassadors for Christ that we've been called to be. 223 00:10:45,420 --> 00:10:47,380 S1: It's a fabulous book. It's yours for a gift of 224 00:10:47,380 --> 00:10:50,579 S1: any amount. Eight. Seven. Seven. Janet. 58. Eight. Seven. Seven. 225 00:10:50,580 --> 00:10:52,900 S1: Janet 58. Or online at in the market with Janet. 226 00:10:52,900 --> 00:10:55,940 S1: Partial dot o r g. So this is I'm reading 227 00:10:55,940 --> 00:10:58,300 S1: from a column written by Jonathan Turley, who's a brilliant 228 00:10:58,300 --> 00:11:00,740 S1: constitutional attorney, but he's also a great writer as well. 229 00:11:00,740 --> 00:11:02,260 S1: And he's talking about a case that came out of 230 00:11:02,260 --> 00:11:04,300 S1: the ninth Circuit that had to do with a little 231 00:11:04,300 --> 00:11:07,980 S1: girl at a grade school in, uh, California that really 232 00:11:08,020 --> 00:11:11,140 S1: kind of gave a principal and the judge's a lesson 233 00:11:11,140 --> 00:11:13,700 S1: in First Amendment speech. So picking up where I left off, 234 00:11:14,100 --> 00:11:17,300 S1: there's this BB, this little girl, um, who had written 235 00:11:17,300 --> 00:11:20,300 S1: All lives under the saying Black Lives Matter in a 236 00:11:20,300 --> 00:11:24,500 S1: drawing that she had made. And apparently that got someone upset. 237 00:11:24,500 --> 00:11:26,740 S1: And the principal said that she couldn't have recess for 238 00:11:26,740 --> 00:11:29,220 S1: a couple of weeks and she had to issue an apology. 239 00:11:29,220 --> 00:11:32,580 S1: And BB, according to Jonathan Turley, picking up where I 240 00:11:32,620 --> 00:11:34,660 S1: left off, apparently got what she deserved is a little 241 00:11:34,660 --> 00:11:37,260 S1: harasser roaming the halls of Viejo Elementary School with her 242 00:11:37,260 --> 00:11:40,500 S1: hateful box of crayons. Fortunately, however, with the help of 243 00:11:40,500 --> 00:11:44,330 S1: Pacific Legal Foundation, the parents appealed Judge Carter's chilling opinion, 244 00:11:44,330 --> 00:11:45,890 S1: who said, by the way, that she didn't have free 245 00:11:45,890 --> 00:11:49,010 S1: speech rights, that the school knew better. Last week, however, 246 00:11:49,010 --> 00:11:51,450 S1: they won a major free speech victory before the U.S. 247 00:11:51,450 --> 00:11:54,929 S1: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. In 1969, the 248 00:11:54,929 --> 00:11:57,970 S1: Supreme Court famously declared that students do not shed their 249 00:11:57,970 --> 00:12:01,010 S1: constitutional rights to freedom of speech or expression at the 250 00:12:01,010 --> 00:12:04,130 S1: schoolhouse gate. Great phrase, by the way. However, since that 251 00:12:04,130 --> 00:12:07,130 S1: iconic case, federal courts have often given short shrift to 252 00:12:07,170 --> 00:12:10,250 S1: the free speech rights of students. Teachers across the country 253 00:12:10,250 --> 00:12:14,290 S1: have become notorious as speech commissars who bar expressions deemed 254 00:12:14,290 --> 00:12:18,890 S1: divisive or intolerant. That often includes anything conservative or religious 255 00:12:18,890 --> 00:12:21,930 S1: in nature. An elementary school in Kansas came under fire 256 00:12:21,970 --> 00:12:27,090 S1: recently after Arbor Creek Elementary principal Melissa Snell stopped the 257 00:12:27,090 --> 00:12:31,650 S1: wearing of shirts reading freedom, which became popular after the 258 00:12:31,650 --> 00:12:34,770 S1: assassination of Charlie Kirk. In another case, a U.S. District 259 00:12:34,770 --> 00:12:37,290 S1: Court ruled in Ohio that students could be barred from 260 00:12:37,290 --> 00:12:41,290 S1: wearing lets Go Brandon shirts, a coded political expression criticizing 261 00:12:41,290 --> 00:12:44,400 S1: the media and former President Joe Biden. Other courts have 262 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,120 S1: also upheld such censorship by t shirts who claim that expression. 263 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:51,480 S1: That expression is a substitute for a vulgar expression. But 264 00:12:51,480 --> 00:12:54,760 S1: these shirts do not contain vulgarity. Rather, the expression is 265 00:12:54,760 --> 00:12:57,440 S1: used as a defiant reference to the media bias that 266 00:12:57,440 --> 00:13:00,320 S1: led to the original substitution of the words allegedly to 267 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:04,000 S1: protect Biden. It is a Yankee doodling of the political 268 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:07,400 S1: and media establishment. So in these cases, Turley writes, judges 269 00:13:07,400 --> 00:13:11,200 S1: also have written opinions upholding the arbitrary censorship of words 270 00:13:11,200 --> 00:13:14,360 S1: by school administrators, who often show greater tolerance for progressive 271 00:13:14,360 --> 00:13:18,320 S1: political expression. However, in this case, the Ninth Circuit broke 272 00:13:18,320 --> 00:13:22,280 S1: from these ranks in defending this little girl. The panel 273 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,160 S1: ruled that just being in elementary school doesn't mean that 274 00:13:25,160 --> 00:13:28,160 S1: Bibi has no meaningful free speech rights. A school, they found, 275 00:13:28,200 --> 00:13:31,520 S1: may restrict students speech only when the restriction is reasonably 276 00:13:31,520 --> 00:13:34,440 S1: necessary to protect the safety and well-being of the students. Now, 277 00:13:34,679 --> 00:13:37,320 S1: Bibi will have the opportunity denied by Judge Carter to 278 00:13:37,360 --> 00:13:40,960 S1: prove that giving a friend a picture celebrating all lives 279 00:13:41,270 --> 00:13:44,070 S1: is not a threat. To quote the safety and well-being, 280 00:13:44,110 --> 00:13:47,310 S1: end quote of the entire Viejo Elementary School. Ironically, the 281 00:13:47,309 --> 00:13:49,990 S1: school has taught its students an invaluable lesson. They have 282 00:13:49,990 --> 00:13:52,670 S1: the right to speak and should never allow others to 283 00:13:52,710 --> 00:13:57,350 S1: silence them arbitrarily. This first grader prevailed over administrators, teachers, 284 00:13:57,350 --> 00:14:00,310 S1: lawyers and a federal judge who saw little downsize in 285 00:14:00,309 --> 00:14:02,910 S1: censoring her. I doubt it's a lesson that will take. 286 00:14:02,950 --> 00:14:05,710 S1: Perhaps the girl and by now, probably a middle schooler, 287 00:14:05,910 --> 00:14:08,790 S1: should draw a picture of Principal Becerra, Judge Carter and 288 00:14:08,790 --> 00:14:11,990 S1: others holding hands with the expression we can all speak 289 00:14:12,550 --> 00:14:16,150 S1: as only truly can, right? Craig, this is brilliant. And 290 00:14:16,190 --> 00:14:18,950 S1: you know, there's so much ambiguity. Well, they're minors, it's 291 00:14:18,950 --> 00:14:21,910 S1: a school, it's different. And so there's really kind of a, 292 00:14:21,910 --> 00:14:24,550 S1: a seven layer salad, if you will, about rulings dealing 293 00:14:24,550 --> 00:14:26,630 S1: about student and speech. Talk to me about your take 294 00:14:26,630 --> 00:14:27,030 S1: on this. 295 00:14:27,070 --> 00:14:30,550 S7: Yeah. The age issue is very important. The Supreme Court 296 00:14:30,550 --> 00:14:33,630 S7: has dealt with in the famous case of Tinker versus 297 00:14:33,630 --> 00:14:39,310 S7: Des Moines high school students, uh, with protest armbands. And, uh, 298 00:14:39,310 --> 00:14:42,820 S7: the Supreme Court said that famous line that students going 299 00:14:42,860 --> 00:14:45,140 S7: to public school don't shed their First Amendment rights at 300 00:14:45,140 --> 00:14:50,580 S7: the front door of that schoolhouse. So really, the, uh, 301 00:14:50,860 --> 00:14:56,540 S7: the detail is in what else they said. In other words, 302 00:14:56,540 --> 00:15:00,140 S7: it has to be a disruptive of the educational process 303 00:15:00,420 --> 00:15:03,300 S7: of the school for it to be an exception to 304 00:15:03,340 --> 00:15:05,660 S7: free speech. So the general rule, and that's the way 305 00:15:05,700 --> 00:15:09,700 S7: constitutional guarantees like free speech and free exercise of religion 306 00:15:09,700 --> 00:15:13,140 S7: and others work. There's the black letter rule, as we 307 00:15:13,140 --> 00:15:15,700 S7: used to say in law school. And then there are 308 00:15:15,700 --> 00:15:19,460 S7: the exceptions, but the exceptions are small, narrow and far 309 00:15:19,460 --> 00:15:24,100 S7: and few between. General rules are generally applied in most situations. 310 00:15:24,100 --> 00:15:27,860 S7: So when in when in doubt, you defer to the 311 00:15:27,860 --> 00:15:31,140 S7: free speech rights. What is the. What is the exception? 312 00:15:31,260 --> 00:15:34,380 S7: Only if there is a material disruption of the process 313 00:15:34,380 --> 00:15:38,260 S7: of the school and the harmony of the classroom and. 314 00:15:38,260 --> 00:15:42,170 S7: And the educational mission and so forth. And this was, 315 00:15:42,370 --> 00:15:45,930 S7: by the way, procedurally. Let me finish up on the 316 00:15:45,970 --> 00:15:48,690 S7: age business. So most of the in fact, there have 317 00:15:48,690 --> 00:15:53,610 S7: been several cases involving high school students. This is a 318 00:15:53,610 --> 00:15:58,930 S7: first grader. This is elementary school. So, um, it's, it's 319 00:15:58,930 --> 00:16:01,810 S7: significant that the ninth circuit said, you know what, there's 320 00:16:01,850 --> 00:16:05,690 S7: enough law that would apply to a even a first 321 00:16:05,690 --> 00:16:10,330 S7: graders right to free speech that the granting of summary judgment, 322 00:16:10,330 --> 00:16:15,890 S7: meaning case dismissed, uh, in favor of the school district parents. Child, 323 00:16:16,050 --> 00:16:19,290 S7: you're out of here. Uh, that's been reversed. Now there's 324 00:16:19,290 --> 00:16:22,730 S7: going to be a trial or on the steps of the, 325 00:16:22,770 --> 00:16:25,930 S7: of the day of trial, perhaps a settlement. And very 326 00:16:25,930 --> 00:16:29,650 S7: often that happens when they start seeing the handwriting on 327 00:16:29,650 --> 00:16:30,970 S7: the wall. And by the way, in the ninth Circuit 328 00:16:31,010 --> 00:16:34,410 S7: wrote on the wall and said, not so fast. There 329 00:16:34,410 --> 00:16:38,360 S7: are First Amendment rights that may well apply here. So 330 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,520 S7: the district has the burden now. It's been remanded back 331 00:16:41,520 --> 00:16:43,640 S7: to the trial court who made the bad decision in 332 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:49,320 S7: the first place. Uh, to run the course. And if 333 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:52,520 S7: it isn't settled, go to trial and at trial. Uh, 334 00:16:52,560 --> 00:16:54,560 S7: then the school district would have to show that there's 335 00:16:54,560 --> 00:16:58,440 S7: a material disruption. Not just hurt feelings, but the actual 336 00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:03,960 S7: educational mission would be substantially burdened if this little child's 337 00:17:04,040 --> 00:17:08,760 S7: little statement that all lives matter would upset the entire 338 00:17:08,760 --> 00:17:09,840 S7: mission of the school district. 339 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:12,800 S1: Yeah. Well, well, it's an interesting case, and I thought 340 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:15,639 S1: that Jonathan Turley did an excellent job of summarizing the 341 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:18,440 S1: fact that this little girl who now I see notes, 342 00:17:18,440 --> 00:17:20,280 S1: is probably in middle school because this has gone on 343 00:17:20,280 --> 00:17:22,639 S1: for years that she won. And it's a protection for 344 00:17:22,640 --> 00:17:25,040 S1: students speech, which is wonderful. And Christian should care about 345 00:17:25,040 --> 00:17:27,760 S1: free speech cases because when you start to see the 346 00:17:27,760 --> 00:17:31,199 S1: mission creep around us around this nation, especially when it 347 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,320 S1: comes to the proclamation of the gospel of Jesus Christ, 348 00:17:33,320 --> 00:17:35,520 S1: I watched a man get arrested this morning on video 349 00:17:35,520 --> 00:17:38,200 S1: in England for preaching the gospel on a street corner. 350 00:17:38,200 --> 00:17:40,560 S1: We have free speech in this country and it's the 351 00:17:40,560 --> 00:17:41,600 S1: right we need to protect. 352 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:45,239 S7: Well, and that child was suspended from recess at be 353 00:17:45,240 --> 00:17:46,920 S7: a war crime for me as a kid. 354 00:17:46,960 --> 00:17:57,440 S1: We'll be back. So the Media Research Center, we call 355 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:00,240 S1: it MRC here in DC has released a study examining 356 00:18:00,240 --> 00:18:04,240 S1: Google News's top 20 morning stories throughout the month of February, 357 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:10,359 S1: revealing the platform displayed 314 left leaning articles while only 358 00:18:10,359 --> 00:18:14,560 S1: featuring 11 right leaning stories. According to the research organization, 359 00:18:14,560 --> 00:18:18,240 S1: this represents just 2.2% of coverage from right leaning outlets 360 00:18:18,240 --> 00:18:21,800 S1: during the month. The. According to the findings, Google News 361 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:25,960 S1: featured zero right leaning articles for 17 days during the month, 362 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:28,879 S1: on days when right leaning outlets did appear, only one 363 00:18:28,880 --> 00:18:32,720 S1: such article article was included, and in 45% of those instances, 364 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,150 S1: the articles appeared near the bottom of the list of 365 00:18:35,150 --> 00:18:39,190 S1: the top 20, and the president of MRC, David Brent, 366 00:18:39,190 --> 00:18:41,030 S1: used to be his dad used to be the head. 367 00:18:41,030 --> 00:18:43,469 S1: Now it's his son. David commented on the findings, stating 368 00:18:43,470 --> 00:18:46,190 S1: Google can pretend to hide behind its algorithms all at once. 369 00:18:46,510 --> 00:18:49,510 S1: The fact that is that the fact that it followed 370 00:18:49,510 --> 00:18:53,110 S1: Apple News's lead in suppressing right leaning outlets tells you 371 00:18:53,109 --> 00:18:55,350 S1: all that you need to know about this. The research 372 00:18:55,350 --> 00:18:59,870 S1: giant the search giant's rampant anti-conservative bias. Google must come 373 00:18:59,910 --> 00:19:03,070 S1: clean and start operating fairly. It can do so by 374 00:19:03,109 --> 00:19:06,830 S1: not discriminating against right leaning outlets. Now let's. Why is 375 00:19:06,830 --> 00:19:10,310 S1: this important? Okay, well, first of all, because information is power. 376 00:19:10,310 --> 00:19:13,710 S1: And when you have these tech giants controlling the flow 377 00:19:13,710 --> 00:19:18,830 S1: of information, you can control the consummation of information and 378 00:19:18,830 --> 00:19:21,310 S1: hopefully you can control the outcome, be it a vote, 379 00:19:21,310 --> 00:19:25,470 S1: an opinion, whatever. And so it's interesting because it's not 380 00:19:25,470 --> 00:19:27,909 S1: like Apple and Google have been called to test before 381 00:19:27,950 --> 00:19:29,949 S1: saying you're biased, you're biased and biased. They've had how 382 00:19:29,950 --> 00:19:33,300 S1: many hearings up on Capitol Hill. But you've pointed out, Craig, 383 00:19:33,300 --> 00:19:37,020 S1: that if you use Google as your search engine, for example, 92% 384 00:19:37,020 --> 00:19:38,859 S1: of people who use that search engine don't ever go 385 00:19:38,859 --> 00:19:41,260 S1: to the second page. I will do this sometimes just 386 00:19:41,260 --> 00:19:43,300 S1: to test the site where I'll pick a story, a 387 00:19:43,300 --> 00:19:46,020 S1: headline of the day, and there'll be every listing comes 388 00:19:46,020 --> 00:19:48,219 S1: from a left leaning site. Sometimes they'll have to go 389 00:19:48,220 --> 00:19:50,580 S1: to page two, page three, page four, and on page 390 00:19:50,580 --> 00:19:53,780 S1: five you'll get the first right leaning source on that 391 00:19:53,780 --> 00:19:56,060 S1: same exact kind of story. So talk to me about 392 00:19:56,060 --> 00:19:58,820 S1: why this is a significant finding and what, if any, 393 00:19:58,820 --> 00:20:00,060 S1: rectification can be done. 394 00:20:00,100 --> 00:20:02,820 S7: Well, first of all, the vast majority of people now 395 00:20:02,859 --> 00:20:09,060 S7: are going online for information, not just the banal kinds 396 00:20:09,060 --> 00:20:12,020 S7: of things, day to day things like an address for 397 00:20:12,020 --> 00:20:15,340 S7: a restaurant that you're going to go to, uh, or, uh, 398 00:20:15,340 --> 00:20:18,060 S7: you know, what available public schools are there in the 399 00:20:18,060 --> 00:20:22,060 S7: school district that you're moving to, um, or your GPS 400 00:20:22,100 --> 00:20:29,620 S7: information about traveling. Um, but, uh, information dealing with how 401 00:20:29,619 --> 00:20:33,330 S7: I ought to vote And the voting process is so 402 00:20:33,330 --> 00:20:37,650 S7: important because, um, how you get your news will shape 403 00:20:38,050 --> 00:20:41,090 S7: your opinions on who are the best candidates and who 404 00:20:41,130 --> 00:20:44,290 S7: are the candidates that you do not want to vote for. Um, 405 00:20:44,290 --> 00:20:48,889 S7: and because, uh, we are citizens of two kingdoms, the 406 00:20:48,890 --> 00:20:52,490 S7: kingdom of heaven and the kingdoms of earth and government 407 00:20:52,490 --> 00:20:57,129 S7: was created by government or government was created by God because, um, 408 00:20:57,490 --> 00:21:02,610 S7: after the family, uh, and marriage, uh, governments were necessary 409 00:21:02,609 --> 00:21:06,850 S7: as an institution because in the words of our founders, uh, 410 00:21:06,850 --> 00:21:10,530 S7: if men were all angels, we wouldn't need government, right? 411 00:21:10,570 --> 00:21:13,970 S7: But there ain't no angels in Washington, DC or in 412 00:21:13,970 --> 00:21:18,170 S7: London or Moscow or anywhere else. Uh, we are flawed. 413 00:21:18,290 --> 00:21:21,130 S7: We are flawed because we are sinners, all of us. 414 00:21:21,130 --> 00:21:24,010 S7: And that is the DNA of who we are as 415 00:21:24,010 --> 00:21:28,610 S7: a human race. That's the reality. So, um, in light 416 00:21:28,609 --> 00:21:32,400 S7: of that fact, um, you need government and you need 417 00:21:32,440 --> 00:21:35,800 S7: to exercise your citizenry, which is a privilege. And by 418 00:21:35,800 --> 00:21:38,200 S7: the way, if you compare the freedoms that we have here, 419 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,600 S7: it's no accident. I believe it's a providential blessing that 420 00:21:41,600 --> 00:21:43,440 S7: we were given. And if you go back to the 421 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:45,639 S7: founders and the things that they were thinking and the 422 00:21:45,640 --> 00:21:48,080 S7: things they were reading and the things they were saying 423 00:21:48,119 --> 00:21:52,600 S7: at the time of the founding, it's real clear that, um, 424 00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,160 S7: and I don't know, their personal, spiritual life of many 425 00:21:55,160 --> 00:21:57,720 S7: of them. I do of some of them. Um, but 426 00:21:57,720 --> 00:22:02,400 S7: there was, there was absolutely a Christian consensus biblically at 427 00:22:02,400 --> 00:22:08,280 S7: the time. Um, that man was fallen, that God is 428 00:22:08,280 --> 00:22:12,680 S7: on the throne, that certain liberties and freedoms are God's 429 00:22:12,680 --> 00:22:17,040 S7: gift for us if we are wise enough to establish 430 00:22:17,040 --> 00:22:21,280 S7: governments to protect those rights. But because people are flawed 431 00:22:21,280 --> 00:22:24,840 S7: and politicians among them, we need things like a balance 432 00:22:24,840 --> 00:22:27,600 S7: of powers. We can't just have a king and all 433 00:22:27,600 --> 00:22:31,389 S7: of us, being ruled because that King is ultimately going 434 00:22:31,390 --> 00:22:34,790 S7: to be a fallen person. Therefore, we have three branches 435 00:22:34,790 --> 00:22:37,629 S7: of government. The founders believed. And so those kinds of 436 00:22:37,630 --> 00:22:43,030 S7: things were important at the time, the founding. Um, so, uh, 437 00:22:43,030 --> 00:22:47,630 S7: those rights, if we ignore them, there's an old principle 438 00:22:47,630 --> 00:22:49,750 S7: that I learned in law school. He who sits on 439 00:22:49,750 --> 00:22:52,670 S7: his rights will soon lose them. You need to exercise them. 440 00:22:52,670 --> 00:22:55,630 S7: Don't put them in a closet or a shoebox. Exercise them, 441 00:22:55,630 --> 00:22:57,750 S7: which means voting. But if you vote, you have to 442 00:22:57,790 --> 00:23:02,510 S7: vote intelligently also. We have access to government. First amendment 443 00:23:02,510 --> 00:23:05,550 S7: says that we can go to our government and make 444 00:23:05,590 --> 00:23:08,909 S7: our views known to our legislative people. How do we 445 00:23:08,910 --> 00:23:12,990 S7: do that? Well, first, know your facts and inform yourself. 446 00:23:12,990 --> 00:23:16,590 S7: And that means that because 90% of the people on 447 00:23:16,590 --> 00:23:19,870 S7: this planet and that is true, go to Google as 448 00:23:19,869 --> 00:23:25,030 S7: their search engine and nobody else that first page, because 90% 449 00:23:25,030 --> 00:23:26,669 S7: of that 90% are only going to go to the 450 00:23:26,670 --> 00:23:30,100 S7: first page. They're going to get what what Google spins 451 00:23:30,100 --> 00:23:32,340 S7: for them. By the way, I did an experiment after 452 00:23:32,340 --> 00:23:35,020 S7: one of the elections myself. I was in the process 453 00:23:35,020 --> 00:23:37,699 S7: of writing a policy paper with an organization about the 454 00:23:37,700 --> 00:23:41,899 S7: power of Google and other organizations to shape opinion. And 455 00:23:41,900 --> 00:23:45,500 S7: so I, I put in a search term and I 456 00:23:45,540 --> 00:23:49,620 S7: compared it between yahoo, which is a very small search engine, 457 00:23:49,619 --> 00:23:54,500 S7: and Google on the exact same search topic. And Google 458 00:23:54,540 --> 00:23:58,540 S7: had no conservative views at all for the first five pages, 459 00:23:58,540 --> 00:24:03,300 S7: and yahoo had several in the first page. So it's no, 460 00:24:03,580 --> 00:24:08,139 S7: it's no, not a stretch of imagination that a vast 461 00:24:08,140 --> 00:24:11,060 S7: number of people are only going to get one story, 462 00:24:11,619 --> 00:24:15,500 S7: one political line of thought from Google on the first page, 463 00:24:15,500 --> 00:24:17,860 S7: or even the second or third page when it comes 464 00:24:17,859 --> 00:24:20,580 S7: to election time. In particular, know your facts, know the 465 00:24:20,580 --> 00:24:23,740 S7: policies of each of the politicians you're voting for or against, 466 00:24:23,740 --> 00:24:25,179 S7: and where are you going to get that? Well, if 467 00:24:25,180 --> 00:24:29,490 S7: it's online right now, Google is a place where you 468 00:24:29,490 --> 00:24:32,930 S7: better dig or find another search engine, or maybe find 469 00:24:32,970 --> 00:24:34,010 S7: multiple sources. 470 00:24:34,010 --> 00:24:36,250 S1: Five seconds before the break. The only way this is 471 00:24:36,250 --> 00:24:38,250 S1: going to get rectified is Congress has to step in, 472 00:24:38,250 --> 00:24:40,490 S1: and there has to be some kind of regulation and 473 00:24:40,490 --> 00:24:41,970 S1: demonize these centers. 474 00:24:41,970 --> 00:24:44,210 S7: Right? Right. And we're talking about the giant ones. 475 00:24:44,250 --> 00:24:46,410 S1: Yep. Let's take a break. We'll be right back after this. 476 00:25:01,609 --> 00:25:03,970 S1: We live in complicated times and in the market. We're 477 00:25:03,970 --> 00:25:07,650 S1: helping you interpret complex cultural issues through the lens of scripture. 478 00:25:07,690 --> 00:25:09,890 S1: Our team of partial partners is growing. And to say 479 00:25:09,890 --> 00:25:13,090 S1: thank you, they receive exclusive information from me. In fact, 480 00:25:13,090 --> 00:25:15,729 S1: I talked to you directly from my personal computer to 481 00:25:15,770 --> 00:25:18,410 S1: yours by email. Become a partial partner today and you'll 482 00:25:18,410 --> 00:25:22,410 S1: receive these exclusive benefits. Call 877 Janet five eight or 483 00:25:22,450 --> 00:25:27,920 S1: go online to In the Market with Janet Parshall. This 484 00:25:27,920 --> 00:25:30,719 S1: is in the market with Janet Partial. Partial is with me. 485 00:25:30,720 --> 00:25:32,840 S1: It's Friday. We do things a little differently here. We 486 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:34,760 S1: put on our glasses, we take a look at the 487 00:25:34,760 --> 00:25:36,760 S1: stories making headlines, and then we look at them from 488 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:40,600 S1: a biblical perspective. It is don't tell anybody applied Christianity. 489 00:25:40,880 --> 00:25:43,080 S1: And one of the things we do under that umbrella 490 00:25:43,080 --> 00:25:46,359 S1: of applied Christianity is we learn to discern, boy, if 491 00:25:46,359 --> 00:25:48,239 S1: there's anything we need in these latter days is to 492 00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:50,520 S1: get into the word. And you know what? One of 493 00:25:50,520 --> 00:25:52,440 S1: the takeaways is when you get into the Word of God, 494 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:54,760 S1: you become a person who's able to discern. First of all, 495 00:25:54,760 --> 00:25:56,280 S1: I don't know about you, but I have been in 496 00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,240 S1: the habit of late of thanking the Lord every single 497 00:25:59,240 --> 00:26:02,199 S1: day for the indwelling power of the person of the 498 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:04,359 S1: Holy Spirit. I should have been doing that since the 499 00:26:04,359 --> 00:26:06,240 S1: day I was saved, but I, I keep thinking, what 500 00:26:06,240 --> 00:26:09,120 S1: would my life be like if I didn't have that comfort, 501 00:26:09,119 --> 00:26:14,200 S1: that discernment, that direction, that conviction of the living person, 502 00:26:14,200 --> 00:26:16,919 S1: the entity of the Holy Spirit in me as a 503 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,040 S1: result of coming to faith in Jesus Christ as my 504 00:26:19,040 --> 00:26:21,640 S1: Lord and Savior. So I'm so grateful for the Holy Spirit. 505 00:26:21,640 --> 00:26:24,590 S1: But that that relationship with the Holy Spirit is fed 506 00:26:24,590 --> 00:26:26,790 S1: by being in the word on a regular basis, so 507 00:26:26,790 --> 00:26:28,670 S1: that when you hear something that's wrong, ding ding ding 508 00:26:28,670 --> 00:26:30,669 S1: ding ding ding, your spiritual Geiger counter goes off and 509 00:26:30,670 --> 00:26:32,830 S1: you go, whoa, whoa, wait. That doesn't come into alignment 510 00:26:32,830 --> 00:26:34,230 S1: with the word. And by the way, that's not unique 511 00:26:34,230 --> 00:26:36,670 S1: to you or me. The book of acts talks about 512 00:26:36,670 --> 00:26:38,869 S1: the Bereans. I tell you, I don't know about you, 513 00:26:38,869 --> 00:26:40,310 S1: but I would love to be a part of a 514 00:26:40,310 --> 00:26:43,310 S1: group that was known as people of noble character. That's 515 00:26:43,310 --> 00:26:46,429 S1: so it's so transcendent. It's so inspiring. And why were 516 00:26:46,430 --> 00:26:49,389 S1: they called noble? Because they tested all things and they 517 00:26:49,390 --> 00:26:52,710 S1: weren't testing the Epicureans or the Stoics or the pagans or, 518 00:26:52,950 --> 00:26:54,629 S1: you know, the people who were the great thinkers of 519 00:26:54,630 --> 00:26:58,190 S1: the day. They were fact checking. Paul, before fact checking 520 00:26:58,190 --> 00:27:01,270 S1: was a thing. And so the Bereans said that they 521 00:27:01,270 --> 00:27:03,190 S1: would fact checks you. And I need to do that, 522 00:27:03,190 --> 00:27:05,270 S1: by the way. And there's nothing ungodly or unchristian or 523 00:27:05,270 --> 00:27:08,670 S1: unbiblical or unspiritual about fact checking. Craig and I were 524 00:27:08,670 --> 00:27:11,350 S1: listening to a sermon last weekend and we had our 525 00:27:11,350 --> 00:27:13,629 S1: Bibles open. We were following along and something was said 526 00:27:13,630 --> 00:27:15,109 S1: and we looked at each other and said, no, I 527 00:27:15,109 --> 00:27:17,310 S1: don't think that's right. And then we went back and 528 00:27:17,310 --> 00:27:19,429 S1: we checked it again. And it was just wonderful to 529 00:27:19,470 --> 00:27:22,340 S1: be instructed one way or another, used by the Word 530 00:27:22,340 --> 00:27:24,900 S1: of God. And that's okay. There's nothing arrogant about that. 531 00:27:24,940 --> 00:27:27,540 S1: If you want to make sure that it's the whole gospel, 532 00:27:27,540 --> 00:27:30,100 S1: you don't add two, you don't subtract from. But that 533 00:27:30,100 --> 00:27:32,060 S1: comes through muscle memory. You have to be in the 534 00:27:32,060 --> 00:27:33,780 S1: word on a regular basis and you have to learn 535 00:27:33,780 --> 00:27:35,580 S1: to discern. So one of the things we do here 536 00:27:35,900 --> 00:27:38,659 S1: is we are reminded that Jesus said that we had 537 00:27:38,660 --> 00:27:41,420 S1: to be very aware of false prophets, people who come 538 00:27:41,420 --> 00:27:45,100 S1: to us in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves. 539 00:27:45,300 --> 00:27:47,899 S1: I don't know about you, but that sound, that ravenous 540 00:27:47,940 --> 00:27:50,859 S1: wolf sound, what a wolves do they devour. They jump 541 00:27:50,859 --> 00:27:53,700 S1: on their prey, they destroy their prey. But they sneak 542 00:27:53,740 --> 00:27:55,460 S1: up on you. They don't come with a brass band 543 00:27:55,460 --> 00:27:57,460 S1: and say, here we come. With our heretical teaching. They 544 00:27:57,460 --> 00:27:59,780 S1: tend to sneak up on you. And in this case, 545 00:27:59,780 --> 00:28:02,939 S1: the false prophets come to you in sheep's clothing. Jesus said, 546 00:28:03,140 --> 00:28:05,899 S1: so what we do is we play wolf audio so 547 00:28:05,900 --> 00:28:08,139 S1: that you will understand that they don't howl just like that, 548 00:28:08,140 --> 00:28:10,419 S1: but they howl in a different way. But nonetheless, they 549 00:28:10,460 --> 00:28:14,660 S1: are ravenous wolves wearing sheep's clothing. So we played this 550 00:28:14,660 --> 00:28:17,260 S1: audio for you. I don't say the denomination. We get 551 00:28:17,260 --> 00:28:21,580 S1: sometimes two favorite associated with our particular denomination, like it's 552 00:28:21,580 --> 00:28:24,260 S1: the home team and everybody else is wrong rather than 553 00:28:24,260 --> 00:28:26,700 S1: the transcendent truth of the scriptures. So I don't say 554 00:28:26,700 --> 00:28:29,139 S1: what the denomination is because it's immaterial. It's out of 555 00:28:29,140 --> 00:28:30,980 S1: the overflow of the heart that the mouth speaks that 556 00:28:30,980 --> 00:28:33,179 S1: we are listening to. And I don't say the person's 557 00:28:33,180 --> 00:28:35,220 S1: name because they don't need free publicity by any stretch 558 00:28:35,220 --> 00:28:36,940 S1: of the imagination. So I want you to just listen 559 00:28:36,940 --> 00:28:39,740 S1: to this, and then we'll unpack what this individual says 560 00:28:39,780 --> 00:28:42,300 S1: and see whether or not as good Bereans, what this 561 00:28:42,340 --> 00:28:45,100 S1: individual is saying comes into alignment with the Word of God. 562 00:28:45,100 --> 00:28:45,820 S1: Have a listen. 563 00:28:46,140 --> 00:28:50,500 S8: I have had times when people told me that the 564 00:28:50,500 --> 00:28:54,219 S8: law of God, as interpreted by men, did not include me. 565 00:28:56,060 --> 00:29:00,020 S8: I was told that because I was married to a woman, 566 00:29:00,020 --> 00:29:04,980 S8: I didn't get to be ordained, and I stood upon 567 00:29:04,980 --> 00:29:09,540 S8: the shoulders of many giants who said that law is 568 00:29:09,540 --> 00:29:14,540 S8: not just ordain the people of God, regardless of who 569 00:29:14,580 --> 00:29:19,090 S8: they love. And I wonder if anyone else in here 570 00:29:19,530 --> 00:29:22,650 S8: has ever been told there is a blessing from God 571 00:29:22,650 --> 00:29:25,690 S8: that is not for you, because you are too female, 572 00:29:26,570 --> 00:29:29,610 S8: because you are too young, because you are too old, 573 00:29:29,850 --> 00:29:32,850 S8: because you are too black or brown. Because you are 574 00:29:32,850 --> 00:29:36,490 S8: too disabled. Because you are too trans. Because you are 575 00:29:36,490 --> 00:29:39,130 S8: too queer. Because you are too poor. Because you are. 576 00:29:39,170 --> 00:29:44,010 S8: Because you are. Because you are the law of God 577 00:29:45,050 --> 00:29:51,410 S8: as interpreted by men. And I'm intentionally not using the 578 00:29:51,410 --> 00:29:59,090 S8: most inclusive language for humanity there. Occasionally tells people that 579 00:29:59,090 --> 00:30:02,570 S8: the blessing from God is not for them, and it 580 00:30:02,570 --> 00:30:05,930 S8: is just and right and orthodox to stand up with 581 00:30:05,930 --> 00:30:12,090 S8: your siblings and say, give us that blessing from God. Now, 582 00:30:12,490 --> 00:30:15,130 S8: two caveats. One of them is very large, but won't 583 00:30:15,170 --> 00:30:18,000 S8: take a lot of time. When you are standing up 584 00:30:18,000 --> 00:30:20,800 S8: with others to claim the blessing that is yours. If 585 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,080 S8: you are white like me, or you are male, or 586 00:30:23,080 --> 00:30:25,200 S8: you live in the United States, you have to be 587 00:30:25,200 --> 00:30:27,719 S8: very careful to make sure that the blessing you claim 588 00:30:27,720 --> 00:30:30,080 S8: is a gift from God and not a lie from 589 00:30:30,080 --> 00:30:36,480 S8: white supremacy or patriarchy or capitalism, because those have given 590 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,040 S8: us lies about things. We deserve to feel like we're 591 00:30:39,040 --> 00:30:42,680 S8: better than other people, to feel like we believe we 592 00:30:42,720 --> 00:30:46,560 S8: deserve other people's labor or other people's belongings. And those 593 00:30:46,560 --> 00:30:48,640 S8: are lies. Those are not blessings from God. 594 00:30:50,280 --> 00:30:51,640 S1: Well, first of all, I think she has a problem 595 00:30:51,640 --> 00:30:54,080 S1: with men, number one and number two. Let's talk about 596 00:30:54,080 --> 00:30:58,680 S1: the blessing. Um, first of all, she talks about your 597 00:30:58,720 --> 00:31:02,120 S1: blessings from God that are not for people like you 598 00:31:02,120 --> 00:31:05,160 S1: because you are fill in the blank. And then she cunningly, 599 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,880 S1: I don't know whether this is done surreptitiously or whether 600 00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:09,960 S1: or not she just is not aware of the fact 601 00:31:09,960 --> 00:31:12,640 S1: that she's amalgamating a whole panoply of people groups in 602 00:31:12,640 --> 00:31:15,040 S1: there at one time. But you can't ask God to 603 00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:19,350 S1: bless something that God has called sin. Sorry. You're married 604 00:31:19,390 --> 00:31:22,230 S1: to another woman. Sorry. That is not something that the 605 00:31:22,230 --> 00:31:24,350 S1: Lord is going to bless. When the Lord makes it 606 00:31:24,350 --> 00:31:26,550 S1: very clear that marriage is defined as one man and 607 00:31:26,550 --> 00:31:29,950 S1: one woman, the author of marriage himself has the right 608 00:31:29,950 --> 00:31:33,590 S1: to say whether or not marriages that are artificial constructs 609 00:31:33,590 --> 00:31:37,350 S1: can be blessed. So to make a demand that quote, man. 610 00:31:37,390 --> 00:31:40,830 S1: By the way, man in the gender sex sense is 611 00:31:40,830 --> 00:31:43,190 S1: how she was using that word have caused her not 612 00:31:43,190 --> 00:31:45,630 S1: to receive blessings. So you stand up and you demand 613 00:31:45,630 --> 00:31:48,390 S1: your blessing. You know, I had a fabulous conversation with 614 00:31:48,390 --> 00:31:51,270 S1: Anne Graham Lotz and Rachel Ruth Lotz, right? Yesterday we 615 00:31:51,270 --> 00:31:52,910 S1: were going through the life of Joseph in her book 616 00:31:52,910 --> 00:31:55,350 S1: called God Won't Leave You There. And toward the end 617 00:31:55,350 --> 00:31:57,590 S1: of the book, they talk about Jacob, who puts his 618 00:31:57,590 --> 00:32:00,550 S1: hand on the head of every one of his multiple sons, 619 00:32:00,550 --> 00:32:02,510 S1: and all of them wanted a blessing. I got to 620 00:32:02,510 --> 00:32:05,550 S1: tell you, they don't all get a blessing. Okay. I mean, 621 00:32:05,550 --> 00:32:08,390 S1: they got some indictments, and, you know, that's the legacy 622 00:32:08,390 --> 00:32:10,270 S1: that you were left because of the life that you 623 00:32:10,270 --> 00:32:13,630 S1: had lived. One of the sons sleeps with one of 624 00:32:13,630 --> 00:32:16,740 S1: Jacob's wives. Jacob had four wives. He ends up sleeping 625 00:32:16,740 --> 00:32:20,300 S1: with one. And so he didn't get blessed. Sorry. God 626 00:32:20,300 --> 00:32:23,300 S1: can't bless that which is perverted or that which does 627 00:32:23,300 --> 00:32:26,700 S1: not come into alignment with God's Word. So this female 628 00:32:26,700 --> 00:32:29,620 S1: and I'm not giving any secrets away, dressed literally with 629 00:32:29,620 --> 00:32:31,860 S1: a scarf around the neck and all the accoutrements of 630 00:32:31,860 --> 00:32:35,060 S1: religiosity is sitting there telling the people who are listening 631 00:32:35,100 --> 00:32:37,780 S1: to her speak from the pulpit in her role as 632 00:32:37,780 --> 00:32:40,660 S1: the pastor, that you have a right, basically to demand 633 00:32:40,660 --> 00:32:44,700 S1: your blessings. Well, what is man that thou art mindful 634 00:32:44,700 --> 00:32:47,140 S1: of him? We pipsqueak human beings have a right to 635 00:32:47,180 --> 00:32:50,260 S1: demand of God that you will bless us in our sin. 636 00:32:50,420 --> 00:32:52,340 S1: What does that say about the character of God, Craig? 637 00:32:52,620 --> 00:32:59,300 S7: Um, when I hear preaching like this, if this is preaching, um, 638 00:33:00,900 --> 00:33:06,340 S7: I always think, number one, why have you not defined 639 00:33:06,340 --> 00:33:10,300 S7: your terms biblically? Because the word blessing here is key, right? 640 00:33:10,700 --> 00:33:13,050 S7: In fact, you did a wonderful job of, of of 641 00:33:13,090 --> 00:33:17,650 S7: digging into the whole idea of, of God giving a blessing, 642 00:33:17,650 --> 00:33:23,010 S7: the blessing being given. Um, Jesus talked about the blessing. 643 00:33:23,290 --> 00:33:27,530 S7: Matthew chapter 11, verse six, he says, blessed is the 644 00:33:27,530 --> 00:33:31,850 S7: one who is not ashamed by me. In other words, 645 00:33:32,530 --> 00:33:36,050 S7: blessed is the one who, who doesn't go, oh gosh, 646 00:33:36,090 --> 00:33:39,370 S7: I can't really hang around Jesus because boy, those are 647 00:33:39,370 --> 00:33:44,770 S7: hard work. Those are hard things he's saying. Um, but 648 00:33:44,770 --> 00:33:48,570 S7: somebody who preaches what we just heard is ashamed of 649 00:33:48,570 --> 00:33:52,210 S7: what Jesus said. Because what Jesus said about, oh, let's 650 00:33:52,210 --> 00:33:55,650 S7: say marriage can be found in the Gospels as well. 651 00:33:55,650 --> 00:33:59,010 S7: And he, he harkened back. He said, don't you remember 652 00:33:59,490 --> 00:34:03,290 S7: in the beginning, God created them, man and woman. In 653 00:34:03,290 --> 00:34:05,890 S7: other words, this is his picture of marriage. It's right 654 00:34:05,890 --> 00:34:09,930 S7: there in the same gospel that also shares with Jesus. 655 00:34:09,930 --> 00:34:13,120 S7: So that was his word. So if you're ashamed of 656 00:34:13,120 --> 00:34:18,160 S7: what Jesus said, which this pastor apparently is, because she's 657 00:34:18,160 --> 00:34:21,960 S7: totally avoiding what Jesus said on the subject of marriage, 658 00:34:22,800 --> 00:34:27,440 S7: then she cannot be blessed in that alternative lifestyle. We 659 00:34:27,440 --> 00:34:30,200 S7: didn't make that up. You didn't make that up, Janet. 660 00:34:30,239 --> 00:34:35,000 S7: God's economy for how we should live together is in 661 00:34:35,000 --> 00:34:37,920 S7: His word. And when it comes to marriage, he's already 662 00:34:37,920 --> 00:34:42,120 S7: defined it. He's made it easy. But what happens in heresy? 663 00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:45,880 S7: In fact, the more I studied the early Church fathers 664 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:50,560 S7: after the apostles had all gone to heaven and their 665 00:34:51,239 --> 00:34:55,080 S7: acolytes and their disciples then took over and were preaching 666 00:34:55,080 --> 00:34:58,040 S7: what they had been taught by the disciples of Christ. 667 00:34:58,800 --> 00:35:03,600 S7: They said, oh, we're seeing heresy being raised among among us. 668 00:35:03,600 --> 00:35:06,719 S7: And what they're doing is taking a word and then 669 00:35:06,760 --> 00:35:10,630 S7: not attaching it to the biblical meaning, but inventing their own. 670 00:35:10,670 --> 00:35:11,070 S1: Exactly. 671 00:35:11,110 --> 00:35:13,790 S7: Definition. And I think we just heard an example of that. 672 00:35:13,830 --> 00:35:15,830 S1: So here's what she said again. You have to make 673 00:35:15,870 --> 00:35:17,830 S1: sure she said the blessing you claim is a gift 674 00:35:17,830 --> 00:35:20,350 S1: from God and not a lie from white supremacy or 675 00:35:20,350 --> 00:35:23,390 S1: patriarchy or capitalism. That tells me a boatload of information 676 00:35:23,390 --> 00:35:25,629 S1: about her political worldview. All right, so if you want 677 00:35:25,630 --> 00:35:26,109 S1: to get this. 678 00:35:26,550 --> 00:35:28,469 S7: Not the theology of what you're going to read my point. 679 00:35:28,469 --> 00:35:31,070 S1: Exactly. So if you want to claim a gift from God, 680 00:35:31,070 --> 00:35:33,589 S1: don't you have to know what God blesses and what 681 00:35:33,590 --> 00:35:37,350 S1: he doesn't? So this white female pastor who's married to 682 00:35:37,390 --> 00:35:41,430 S1: another woman is demanding a blessing that God's Word says 683 00:35:41,430 --> 00:35:43,629 S1: is not something that will ever be blessed. It has 684 00:35:43,630 --> 00:35:47,270 S1: nothing to do with all due respect to white supremacy, patriarchy, 685 00:35:47,270 --> 00:35:50,109 S1: or capitalism. Those are buzzwords to try to get a 686 00:35:50,110 --> 00:35:52,029 S1: reaction from the audience, but they don't have anything to 687 00:35:52,030 --> 00:35:53,149 S1: do with a blessing from God. 688 00:35:53,150 --> 00:35:57,549 S7: And there's no excuse now for an inquiring heart of 689 00:35:57,550 --> 00:36:04,150 S7: anybody who questions this. Get yourself a good Bible concordance, a. 690 00:36:04,790 --> 00:36:05,509 S1: Concordance. 691 00:36:05,510 --> 00:36:06,750 S7: Concordance. Excuse me? 692 00:36:07,070 --> 00:36:08,029 S1: That's why you have a wife? 693 00:36:08,070 --> 00:36:13,779 S7: Yeah. Thank you. I'm concerned about, um. And look up 694 00:36:13,780 --> 00:36:17,419 S7: the word blessing. And you will find nowhere in Scripture 695 00:36:18,260 --> 00:36:22,060 S7: where there's any verse or any chapter or any book 696 00:36:22,060 --> 00:36:25,299 S7: of the Bible where God has blessed what he has 697 00:36:25,300 --> 00:36:27,379 S7: also said is sin elsewhere. 698 00:36:27,540 --> 00:36:30,660 S1: Exactly right. So that's what it means to be a Berean, 699 00:36:30,660 --> 00:36:33,420 S1: how you test all things. So she has the physical 700 00:36:33,739 --> 00:36:37,740 S1: costuming on of religiosity. Bunyan talks about this in Pilgrim's Progress. 701 00:36:37,739 --> 00:36:40,220 S1: By the way, that phrase came out of Bunyan, not me. 702 00:36:40,500 --> 00:36:43,380 S1: And then out of her mouth, she's directing these sheep. 703 00:36:43,380 --> 00:36:45,940 S1: But what you really heard was the howl of a 704 00:36:45,940 --> 00:36:48,020 S1: ravenous wolf. You and I need to learn to discern 705 00:36:48,020 --> 00:37:02,219 S1: and recognize that sound from afar. Back after this. So 706 00:37:02,260 --> 00:37:06,060 S1: lingering in this vein of being a discerning, maturing Christian, 707 00:37:06,060 --> 00:37:08,569 S1: which is what the times called for right now that 708 00:37:08,570 --> 00:37:10,209 S1: we grow up in him, that you and I start 709 00:37:10,210 --> 00:37:12,250 S1: getting some spiritual heft on our bones. And the only 710 00:37:12,250 --> 00:37:14,690 S1: way that happens is through some disciplines. You're in the 711 00:37:14,690 --> 00:37:16,930 S1: word every day. You're faithful in your attendance to church. 712 00:37:16,930 --> 00:37:20,250 S1: You've got a vibrant prayer life. You're doing scripture memorization. 713 00:37:20,250 --> 00:37:21,730 S1: I know, I know, I know, you say, I've heard 714 00:37:21,730 --> 00:37:24,609 S1: this 10,000 times. You know, it gets repeated because it works. 715 00:37:24,610 --> 00:37:26,370 S1: And that's the only way we grow up in him, 716 00:37:26,370 --> 00:37:27,810 S1: the only way we get muscle. You know, if you 717 00:37:27,810 --> 00:37:29,529 S1: want to build out your frame and get some tone, 718 00:37:29,530 --> 00:37:31,410 S1: what do you do? You go to the gym, right? Well, 719 00:37:31,410 --> 00:37:34,170 S1: there are disciplines in the believer's life as well. Anybody 720 00:37:34,170 --> 00:37:36,370 S1: who thinks that coming to faith in Christ Jesus means 721 00:37:36,370 --> 00:37:38,570 S1: you sit back and lollygag the rest of your life, 722 00:37:38,570 --> 00:37:41,810 S1: doesn't understand what Christianity is receiving by faith with Christ 723 00:37:41,850 --> 00:37:44,330 S1: has done for us, is in fact the simplest part 724 00:37:44,330 --> 00:37:46,930 S1: of the journey. After that, it's the Lordship of Christ. 725 00:37:46,930 --> 00:37:50,410 S1: And that takes some work surrendering, understanding what it means 726 00:37:50,410 --> 00:37:53,610 S1: to be sanctified on a regular basis, to deny ourselves, 727 00:37:53,610 --> 00:37:55,810 S1: to take up our cross, to follow him, to be obedient, 728 00:37:55,810 --> 00:37:57,690 S1: to submit, to have the right attitude, to bear the 729 00:37:57,690 --> 00:37:59,650 S1: fruit of the spirit. The list goes on and on 730 00:37:59,650 --> 00:38:02,410 S1: and on. And part of that means maturing in our thinking. 731 00:38:02,570 --> 00:38:04,330 S1: Because after all, when you came to faith in Christ, 732 00:38:04,330 --> 00:38:06,960 S1: your heart wasn't just transformed, your mind was renewed. So 733 00:38:06,960 --> 00:38:10,600 S1: I want to give you an example of this amalgamation. 734 00:38:10,600 --> 00:38:16,680 S1: Second Corinthians 614 says, for what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? 735 00:38:16,880 --> 00:38:20,160 S1: Or what communion has light with darkness. Can you hang 736 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:21,719 S1: on to that? As I tell you this story, because 737 00:38:21,719 --> 00:38:25,080 S1: I think the verse applies. So in California, Governor Newsom 738 00:38:25,080 --> 00:38:28,160 S1: there is sponsoring some billboards promoting abortion. Yes, we are 739 00:38:28,160 --> 00:38:30,839 S1: praying for our friends in the state of California. But 740 00:38:30,840 --> 00:38:36,320 S1: what is particularly repugnant in these billboards is the inclusion 741 00:38:36,320 --> 00:38:40,280 S1: of a Bible verse. You heard me right. Need an abortion. 742 00:38:40,280 --> 00:38:43,560 S1: California is ready to help. And then on the billboard 743 00:38:43,560 --> 00:38:46,359 S1: it says, love your neighbor as yourself. There is no 744 00:38:46,360 --> 00:38:51,839 S1: greater commandment than these. Mark 1231. Darkness and light on 745 00:38:51,840 --> 00:38:55,319 S1: a billboard. Apparently the governor of California. And then there's 746 00:38:55,320 --> 00:38:57,560 S1: a website which I have no intentions of giving over 747 00:38:57,560 --> 00:38:59,799 S1: the air. I'm not leading people down the path of darkness, 748 00:39:00,120 --> 00:39:02,200 S1: I would say to myself, but apparently forgot the verse 749 00:39:02,200 --> 00:39:05,270 S1: that said thou shalt not kill. So people who love 750 00:39:05,270 --> 00:39:07,669 S1: to take verses out of context and use them as 751 00:39:07,670 --> 00:39:11,710 S1: a bludgeoning tool are really kind of an embarrassment. So 752 00:39:11,710 --> 00:39:14,670 S1: you're promoting the killing of a child, the damaging of 753 00:39:14,670 --> 00:39:18,109 S1: a woman physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually. And then you 754 00:39:18,150 --> 00:39:21,390 S1: dare to say that somehow this is, quote, loving your neighbor. 755 00:39:21,590 --> 00:39:23,950 S1: If that isn't a perfect picture of second Corinthians of 756 00:39:23,950 --> 00:39:26,590 S1: an amalgamation between light and darkness, I don't know what is. 757 00:39:27,310 --> 00:39:36,110 S7: Um. It's it's mind boggling. And yet there's the simplicity 758 00:39:36,110 --> 00:39:39,910 S7: of truth in scripture. And if we can just shine 759 00:39:39,910 --> 00:39:42,350 S7: a light on it and show it to people, maybe 760 00:39:42,350 --> 00:39:48,390 S7: people will get the idea. Um, let's take the word neighbor. Um, 761 00:39:49,110 --> 00:39:51,470 S7: love your neighbor. Now, how many times have we heard 762 00:39:51,469 --> 00:39:57,870 S7: that not as a blessing or an education from certain groups, 763 00:39:58,270 --> 00:40:02,510 S7: but a sledgehammer to make a political point and pound 764 00:40:02,510 --> 00:40:05,790 S7: it and pound it and pound it. Love your neighbor. 765 00:40:05,790 --> 00:40:08,750 S7: Who is your neighbor? Well, Jesus actually had a story 766 00:40:08,750 --> 00:40:12,270 S7: about that. It was the parable of the Good Samaritan 767 00:40:13,110 --> 00:40:18,190 S7: and who the neighbor was, was a person who was 768 00:40:18,190 --> 00:40:22,910 S7: vulnerable because they had been attacked. And the person who 769 00:40:22,910 --> 00:40:25,509 S7: did the right thing was the person who aided the 770 00:40:25,510 --> 00:40:30,310 S7: vulnerable person, rather than allow him to die on the 771 00:40:30,310 --> 00:40:35,029 S7: road after having been assaulted and robbed. Who was the 772 00:40:35,030 --> 00:40:39,310 S7: vulnerable person in the abortion picture? Well, the pro-abortion forces 773 00:40:39,310 --> 00:40:42,590 S7: would say there's only one vulnerable person. That's the pregnant 774 00:40:42,590 --> 00:40:46,109 S7: woman who doesn't want to go through with the pregnancy. 775 00:40:46,790 --> 00:40:50,830 S7: But there's another vulnerable person. In fact, the real vulnerable 776 00:40:50,830 --> 00:40:54,270 S7: person is the person in the womb. Now, how about 777 00:40:54,270 --> 00:40:58,069 S7: that neighbor? If you love that neighbor, I think you 778 00:40:58,110 --> 00:40:59,630 S7: come out with a different decision. 779 00:40:59,670 --> 00:41:01,270 S1: Excellent point. So let me look at it from a 780 00:41:01,270 --> 00:41:03,580 S1: different direction and lead it the same and land at 781 00:41:03,580 --> 00:41:05,379 S1: the same spot. You do. And that is, I think 782 00:41:05,380 --> 00:41:07,900 S1: we have a postmodern problem with the definition of the 783 00:41:07,900 --> 00:41:11,339 S1: word love. Yeah. What does love mean to me? Love 784 00:41:11,380 --> 00:41:14,540 S1: means loving somebody enough to tell them the truth. It 785 00:41:14,540 --> 00:41:17,460 S1: means not telling somebody. I love that the solution to 786 00:41:17,460 --> 00:41:20,259 S1: their problem is death. When is death ever a solution 787 00:41:20,260 --> 00:41:22,900 S1: for anything? Honey, I love you so much that I 788 00:41:22,940 --> 00:41:24,939 S1: guarantee you that if you kill your child, your life 789 00:41:24,940 --> 00:41:27,180 S1: will be better for it. I mean that that's a 790 00:41:27,219 --> 00:41:29,300 S1: lie from the pit of hell. It is not comforting. 791 00:41:29,300 --> 00:41:31,820 S1: It is not right. It is not good, as you say. Obviously, 792 00:41:31,820 --> 00:41:34,020 S1: we know each and every time the baby dies, but 793 00:41:34,020 --> 00:41:36,219 S1: there's a kind of a death to the mother as well. 794 00:41:36,219 --> 00:41:38,740 S1: She loses a part of herself. She can never get back. 795 00:41:39,020 --> 00:41:40,180 S1: It is an irreconcilable. 796 00:41:40,180 --> 00:41:42,580 S7: Not helping the hurt, that vulnerable person. 797 00:41:42,620 --> 00:41:46,380 S1: It's irreconcilable and it's irreversible. And you can't do anything 798 00:41:46,380 --> 00:41:49,140 S1: to turn the decision around. So for the government of 799 00:41:49,140 --> 00:41:51,219 S1: California now, by the way, this would be the same entity, 800 00:41:51,219 --> 00:41:53,500 S1: I would presume, that would scream up and down, separation 801 00:41:53,500 --> 00:41:55,259 S1: of church and state. Can't do it. Can't. We don't 802 00:41:55,260 --> 00:41:57,219 S1: like having prayers in the Congress. We don't like having 803 00:41:57,219 --> 00:41:59,020 S1: prayers in the Senate. But we're going to put a 804 00:41:59,020 --> 00:42:03,050 S1: Bible verse on a state sponsored billboard for abortion and 805 00:42:03,050 --> 00:42:05,410 S1: see no church state separation. So that that just tells 806 00:42:05,410 --> 00:42:07,890 S1: you the fallacious nature of that complaint. But what a 807 00:42:07,890 --> 00:42:11,730 S1: grotesquely out of context application of that verse. 808 00:42:11,930 --> 00:42:14,890 S7: But it's a great learning lesson. The learning lesson is 809 00:42:14,890 --> 00:42:20,410 S7: this that don't just assume words in communications that have 810 00:42:20,410 --> 00:42:23,730 S7: a political bent like this. Stop and think. Wait a minute. 811 00:42:23,730 --> 00:42:25,890 S7: What do you mean by love? What do you mean 812 00:42:25,890 --> 00:42:29,530 S7: by neighbor? We just talked about Jesus definition of a neighbor, 813 00:42:29,530 --> 00:42:36,370 S7: somebody who's truly vulnerable. And as Paul talked about love, 814 00:42:36,650 --> 00:42:40,530 S7: it has to be also joined by truth. Love without 815 00:42:40,570 --> 00:42:47,330 S7: truth is brutal because it really leads people to, uh, tragedy. Um, 816 00:42:47,690 --> 00:42:52,250 S7: truth without love is equally brutal. So you need both 817 00:42:52,250 --> 00:42:57,250 S7: love and grace and truth when you communicate. And so 818 00:42:57,290 --> 00:43:00,640 S7: it gets to the, the, the war of words that's 819 00:43:00,640 --> 00:43:04,880 S7: going on in the political context and the sociological arguments 820 00:43:05,040 --> 00:43:09,280 S7: pro and against the issue of abortion, among other things 821 00:43:09,280 --> 00:43:13,719 S7: you and I just talked about. Um, somebody using taglines and, and, 822 00:43:13,719 --> 00:43:18,800 S7: and terms as a pastor, um, about, uh, you know, 823 00:43:18,840 --> 00:43:23,359 S7: anti-capitalism and stop and think about the words that are 824 00:43:23,360 --> 00:43:26,839 S7: being used. And how did those words get used in 825 00:43:26,840 --> 00:43:30,600 S7: a biblical context and how are they being twisted now? 826 00:43:30,640 --> 00:43:33,320 S1: Did Jesus not love the woman caught in the act 827 00:43:33,320 --> 00:43:37,279 S1: of sexual activity and love her when he said, go 828 00:43:37,280 --> 00:43:40,320 S1: and sin no more? I mean, he loved her enough 829 00:43:40,320 --> 00:43:43,759 S1: to tell her the truth. He said, where are your users? 830 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:45,480 S1: I know not, my lord. Neither do I accuse you. 831 00:43:45,520 --> 00:43:47,880 S1: Now go and sin no more, right? He could have said, 832 00:43:47,920 --> 00:43:50,600 S1: I don't see any of your accusers. Have a nice day. Yes, exactly. 833 00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:52,960 S1: He gave her out of love the direction that would 834 00:43:52,960 --> 00:43:57,870 S1: protect her going forward. Go and sin no more. Jesus 835 00:43:57,910 --> 00:44:00,509 S1: is the embodiment of truth and love. So when you 836 00:44:00,510 --> 00:44:03,390 S1: see a verse like this, somehow California and its twisted way, 837 00:44:03,390 --> 00:44:06,390 S1: and quite honestly, this is when the Satan is behind 838 00:44:06,390 --> 00:44:08,310 S1: this kind of stuff, you take the Word of God. Remember, 839 00:44:08,310 --> 00:44:10,950 S1: even the demons could quote scripture. So I'm not impressed. 840 00:44:10,950 --> 00:44:13,469 S1: When the state of California slaps a Bible verse on 841 00:44:13,469 --> 00:44:16,790 S1: a billboard promoting abortion. I mean, that sounds very demonic 842 00:44:16,790 --> 00:44:18,790 S1: to me from where I'm sitting, but I think it's 843 00:44:18,790 --> 00:44:21,109 S1: time for us, as followers of Christ to understand the 844 00:44:21,110 --> 00:44:24,149 S1: deeper meaning of the word love. God loved us so 845 00:44:24,150 --> 00:44:27,469 S1: much that Christ became sin for us and paid the 846 00:44:27,469 --> 00:44:31,390 S1: penalty for our sins. The truth is, you either accept 847 00:44:31,390 --> 00:44:33,710 S1: or reject that. If you reject it, you will be 848 00:44:33,710 --> 00:44:37,109 S1: eternally separated from God. If you accept it, you are 849 00:44:37,110 --> 00:44:39,830 S1: eternally written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and nothing 850 00:44:39,830 --> 00:44:41,989 S1: and no one can separate you from the love of God. 851 00:44:41,989 --> 00:44:45,350 S1: That's truth and love. It's not a multiple choice test. 852 00:44:45,350 --> 00:44:47,270 S1: It has to be one in the same. I hope 853 00:44:47,270 --> 00:44:48,989 S1: you have a great weekend. We do this for another hour. 854 00:44:48,989 --> 00:44:51,310 S1: If you can't listen out, download the podcast at In 855 00:44:51,350 --> 00:44:54,590 S1: the Market with Janet Parshall wherever you listen to podcasts. 856 00:44:54,630 --> 00:44:55,750 S1: See you next time, friends.