Ralph Reed Speaks

Hey this is Mike Zwick from if not for God podcast our show stories of hopelessness turned and I hope your chosen Truth Network podcast is starting in just seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing The Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. The election year is upon us Christians in voting what you do you sit it out.

Your so disgusted by the stuff like I'm in a move to another country or as a believer or just price what is your role as a mansion with me.

That is one of really the leaders and the founders of a lot of ministries helping Christians think through how you deal with politics and all that. Ralph read when I say that name you conjures up all kinds of cool stuff. You also please write Ralph so I been very privileged and honored to be a part of a lot of great things from the Christian Coalition. The Bush campaign sin LOL for now helping Pres. Trump and I'm also had a faith and freedom. So I've had a lot of great opportunities and III don't think that as believers we have the option biblically, at least in my understanding and reading of the full counsel of the Scriptures to check out of citizenship in a we essentially as believers in Jesus Christ. We carry two passports one is for a heavenly kingdom that is both here today and is yet to be fully realized and that is our ultimate home in our ultimate citizenship by while Jesus carries. We carry another passport which is our earthly citizenship and we are called upon as believers to exercise that citizenship in a muscular and a robust fashion.

And lest anybody think that I'm saying that just because I'm a political activist, I would point them to acts 22 where Paul was arrested for inciting a riot while preaching the gospel in Jerusalem.

He's about to be flogged by Roman soldiers and examined by scorching and he turns around to the Roman centurion and he says, is it legal for you to do this to us, Roman citizen and they immediately untie him. They immediately treat them with deference and respect in the Bible says that the Roman soldiers were afraid because they had violated his rights. Now, did Paul do that because he was afraid to suffer for Christ. No look and read in his epistles where he says I've been shipwrecked at night and see I was stone nearly to the point of death, he ultimately was martyred for the gospel. Isn't it interesting that he was not willing to surrender his rights as a citizen of wrong if he wouldn't do that and we surely shouldn't surrender our rights as citizens of the United States because they're not ultimately given by the constitution or by the founders or by Congress or president there given by Almighty God, their human rights.

Alienable rights. There are inherent to our very humanity.

They come from the very throne of God and he is simply establish civil authority to safeguard so one of our most controversial episodes of truth talk.

I'm Stu Epperson less the voice of Ralph Reed.

Wow, that's a heavy stuff won't have to listen as myself to unpack all that for max 22 to Steinberg backs right now. I love having gotten that far yet. One of our most onerous always was question was is it a sin for Christians not to vote only that one on your right now. I'm glad you're here itself as that tough question is this in for Christian apartment in America not to cast their vote not devote I'm not sure that I would say it was a sin and less you define sin is falling short of the mark and as I said, I think that the Bible makes clear in both the old and the New Testament that we have a responsibility as earthly citizens in whatever domain or whatever kingdom were in which for us means the United States of America to defend our rights to assert the full exercise of our citizenship that were granted under the laws of that country and to do everything that we can to resist evil and to establish the common good. While we're here in our capacity as citizens know why do we do that we do it for two reasons.

Number one because we resist evil in advance. Good and were called upon as Christians to do that while we're here in our physical bodies in whatever form it takes, including in the civic arena so that means combating human trafficking or combating abortion on demand or combating racism or combating discrimination in the criminal justice system were doing everything we can to establish justice for the poor for the left behind for the marginalized and resist evil. The second reason why we do it is to carry the gospel to the very highest levels of our government. The Bible records in the New Testament that as a result of Paul appealing his case to Caesar, which was the most sacred right of a citizen of Rome. Many members of Caesar's household came to Christ, so if we are not effective citizens. Think how many people of influence in our society won't get exposed to the gospel and that's the ultimate reason why we do about this fellow here. We interviewed just a little bit ago Gov. Mike Huckabee how he's even loves the Lord a Southern Baptist pastor turned politician but he never took his heart for Christ out of that. In fact, he's been alike a lot of politicians is venue the gospel to and is also when you're voting for someone. There's this misnomer. Maybe I think that if if this guy is and have it all together and I vote form but were not voting for a pastor were voting for a you know for a politician just so that I think there's also people that maybe over over venerate the know the person is running as a wealth are not a Christian or not vote, form SS. The other extreme, I guess it yeah I think that is the other extreme, and again, that is an inaccurate reading of Scripture.

I think if you if you look at the Caesar that Paul was appealing to it was Nero who was a bloodthirsty tyrant. If you look at the Caesar to whom Jesus paid taxes when they came to him in the famous question of is it lawful for us to pay taxes to Caesar, remember that the Jews were in occupied people were under the subjugation of the brutal regime and the Caesar whose inscription was on that coin was Caesar Tiberius, who was a bloodthirsty tyrant a sexual deviant and a child molester so just because a person who's in civil authority is not necessarily a moral person themselves does not any way abrogate us of our responsibility as citizens to advance the greater good. Know what I get.

Sometimes his. I had people say we're just advocating the people vote for the lesser of two evils. You know Donald Trump is not a pious man.

You know they don't like the way he insults his opponents. They don't like some of his tweets. I couldn't disagree more strongly when I vote for a candidate who is defending the sacred right to life of the unborn, the elderly and the infirm. That is not a lesser evil. That's a moral good. When I vote for a candidate who's pro-Israel. In the case of Donald Trump kept his promise to move the embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and recognize Jerusalem is the sacred and eternal capital of the Jewish people. That's not a lesser evil.

That's a moral and biblical good when I vote for a candidate who promises to appoint pro-life and pro-religious freedom judges.

That's not a lesser evil. That's a greater good. So that's what we should be doing as Christians that's real free know what is your website how you find out more about you and in your ministry you're speaking you're zigzagging this country metal that you get a breakneck schedule. I got tired of listening to your schedule does you don't have it fly. A chart of your getting over here. I get to do here but what, what, what's the Wesley find out more about well they can go to my organization's website, which is Faith and Freedom coalition they can Google veterans FF coalition.com.

I also have a new book out called for God and country. The Christian case for Donald Trump which is on Amazon wherever books are sold.

That's a controversial topic unless aggressive. Wow it is but I every question you asked me in this interview I directly address in the book and I talk about why Christians not only did the right thing politically. They did the right thing morally in 2016 by supporting Don you have a change of position, you're still know when I think about. I think that a vote for them and even bigger numbers in 2020, and I lay out the reasons why that is the case in the book while okay that's that's heavy right here okay Ralph retakes to be known as your untrue thought folks you listen you make up your own mind you know we don't come out endorsing teddies on the show but you're here and his passion and if he's using the word but think through it, discuss it, but I think it's good to have conversations like this. I mean I think it's good sir, I met with Pastor who hates Trump will never vote for million years.

But we had a conversation we didn't beat each other up within because each of the route we need to have more where you're coming from. When you have more diplomacy in our country. What happened was, where people throwing bricks of people as opposed to just having good conversations well because there's a lot on the line you know if Donald Trump is reelected and he's able to appoint one, two or three more Supreme Court justices, and if he's able to change the direction of public policy in a way that that protects innocent human life safeguards religious freedom puts America first and gets rid of some of these bad trade agreements that cost so many manufacturing jobs and hollowed out our manufacturing base and outsource jobs to China and Indonesia and Mexico.

There are a lot of special interests that lose in every one of those so there's a lot on the line.

It's a very intense time, but I'm an optimist. I believe that as Winston Churchill said democracy is the worst form of government ever conceived, except for all the rest you know so we're imperfect, so democracies imperfect, but this is the best single system that is ever been devised and we should celebrate that all right.

Ralph Reed is spoken. Thank you for being uncovered at midnight.

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