A Force To Be Reckoned With
A Force To Be Reckoned With
213. United We Stand, Divided We Fall
Is the growing polarization of today’s political climate a reflection of a deeper spiritual struggle?
In this episode, we dig into how faith and politics intersect, especially during election season. We share our journey of moving from loyalty to political parties toward a focus on biblical principles, urging listeners to keep Christ at the center. As Christians, we’re called to engage thoughtfully in politics, ensuring no party or leader becomes an idol.
We discuss the importance of voting in line with biblical values, recognizing that while no politician is perfect, some align more closely with teachings on issues like the sanctity of life. Inspired by Reagan's vision of America as a "shining city on a hill," we close with a call for unity and peace, reminding our listeners to trust in God's sovereign plan.
We invite you to listen with an open mind as we dive into this important conversation. Join us as we journey through these complex times together, finding strength and renewed faith along the way!
Episode Highlights:
- Today’s political climate.
- We have a real enemy at play.
- Where our loyalty lies.
- Corruption in politics.
- Voting with Christian values.
- God is on the throne.
- United we stand, divided we fall.
Links Mentioned in Episode/Find More on A Force to Be Reckoned With:
- Jointheforce.us
- Follow us on Instagram @bethanyadkins
- Find us on Youtube!
This show has been produced by Adkins Media Co.
We are at war and it's not against our neighbors, spouses, children, politicians or whatever else we feel like we're battling against.
Speaker 2:So the questions are who's the fight against, and are we winning or losing? We're the Adkins, and we are a force to be reckoned with.
Speaker 1:Are you ready to? Join the force all right, hi everybody, it is. If you're listening to this, on the day that it came out, it is election day.
Speaker 2:If you're wow, if you're not, listening to this on the day that it came out. It is election day.
Speaker 1:If you're not listening to this on the day it came out, then election day is over, yeah, yeah. So today's a little disclaimer, today's topic is shouldn't be, but is you know, just in the climate that we live, in, the culture that we currently live in, you know we're going to talk about election day, we're going to talk about politics and Christianity and unity and our country, and just know that these are our opinions and thoughts that have, for me, have been weighing on me for a little while now. I've wanted to do this episode and I don't have an outline, so it's all going to come from just thoughts and things that I've had weighing on my heart. But I think it's important to talk about this as well Because, honestly, if you think about it, and what do they tell you? They tell you don't talk about religion and not don't talk about politics and or finances. And we've talked about finances, we've talked about religion on our podcast. So we're going to we're going to just dive into a little bit of politics and how that plays into our lives.
Speaker 1:So yeah bear with me, because I'm the shoot from the hip guy and I'm the one running this one.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and not to mention, we took an unintentional break. We had that amazing series with julia, which, um, the response that we got from it you guys listening. First of all, thank you for listening. It was a lot to listen to, it was a heavy story, but just your feedback and all of that um was awesome and we've had a lot of outpouring for her and so thank you for that. But then we had planned to come back and just get back to our regularly scheduled programming.
Speaker 2:But life has been crazy. So we will jump in with you know, life update, kid count, all of those things, fun stuff next week, and that is if you still want to listen to us after this week. So it's a little bit random to hop in and just come back with this bold punchy. You know, united we stand, divided we fall. But it's timely, it's election week and so I just don't think it's coincidence that, like we have tried and tried and tried every week let's record, let's record, let's record and it just hasn't happened because of life and sickness and everything we've had going on, and then we were finally able to make this happen and so we're just going to see how this goes. Yeah, should be interesting.
Speaker 1:All right, buckle up, okay. So the first just distinction that I want to make and I make this with my kids too, because I think this is critical is that when you're looking at I think this is critical is that when you're looking at politics and you're looking at politicians, there is a difference between the politicians, the people running and the people voting. That's a huge distinction. So sometimes we use a broad brush, I think, when we say Democrat, we say Republican and we group the politician in with the voters themselves. So when I say that is anything critical that I'm going to say or that Bethany may say is not aimed at citizens, is not aimed at voters, because there's a whole slew of voters. There's voters that are very well-in voters, there's voters that are very well informed, there are voters that are not well informed, there are voters that have different values and there are voters that are Christians, voters that are non-Christians, and one of the things is you just I feel like in today's climate, really over the past man, I don't know how long has it been, was it 2008? So maybe, like the past 16 years or so, things have gotten a lot more divided and divisive and, in my viewpoint, I think that that was intentional. And there is an enemy at play here. As a Christian, we have an enemy at play that wants to hurt our families, that wants to hurt our churches, that wants to fight back on anything good that God is doing, and he definitely uses politicians. He uses regular people, business people, governments. So that's the first thing that I want to say. And so, in looking at that, even my own political journey has evolved over time. My history has been, you know, I was a Republican, my family wasn't overly political, I just had those beliefs starting in high school and I just linked myself to Republicans and thought all Republicans were good and all Democrats were bad. And I have evolved a lot on that, and, especially as a Christian, I've had conversations with some pastors and different people and friends Christian friends on topics on.
Speaker 1:This is that number one. Our loyalty is not to a political party. So, no matter who you are as a Christian, your loyalty should not be to a political party. It doesn't mean you have to agree with everything that that political party stands for. And so, that being said, I no longer consider myself linked to a political party, because neither political party should have my loyalty my loyalty at the end of the day, is to Christ and to the principles of the Bible.
Speaker 1:And one of the issues that I see I've seen in older, maybe in older generations and in the past a lot of Christians do just blindly give their loyalty to a political party and they get caught up in it to where they get caught up into it so much where that voting for a president or a senator or a governor or a congressman becomes an idol, when our hope really is in Christ. And at the same time, we can't use that as a cop-out either, to not be involved in voting, to not be involved in be involved in voting, to not be involved in politics at all. You know, sometimes you have Christians running for political positions, and my viewpoint on politics in general, in our country especially, is that it impacts our life. It impacts the freedoms that we have the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, the freedom to make a living, the freedom to provide for our families. And that's not the case in every country. There's countries that have dictators, there's countries that are more communistic, that are in socialism, that have monarchies, to where they don't have the freedoms that we had. And if you go back to the founding of our country. Our country was founded on Judeo-Christian principles. That doesn't mean the founding of our country was perfect. It was men writing these laws, but they used the Bible to guide our laws and our freedoms, and there's lots of mentions of our Creator and God in our founding documents and in letters from our presidents.
Speaker 1:Of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, the vast majority of them were Christians. They were either sons of clergymen, so pastors, or elders within the church. There were some that were pastors in the church and even before the writing of the Declaration of Independence, if you go back and study history, we had the Great Awakening, so we had Pastor John Edwards, we had George Whitefield, and it was in the early 1700s that they led this Great Awakening and were preaching about freedom of speech, freedom and these freedoms that we were given from our Creator. And it's really what set the foundation for a movement for the American Revolution was pastors. So we had bold Christians speaking out and I think you know there's statistics out there that talk a lot about how there's a lot of Christians today that just aren't voting or that, you know, don't want to vote or don't want to speak out on politics.
Speaker 1:There are some pastors that don't want to speak out on politics. There are some pastors that don't want to speak out on politics at all, and I think that that is in our country is wrong. It's our duty to vote. We have that freedom and we get to vote on politicians that then get to go and make laws to protect our freedoms, to protect the freedoms that we have in the Constitution, that make new laws that give us freedoms that are tied to biblical principles, and I believe it's our duty to speak out. And there's a whole like, there's the, the saying that um, uh, the, the silent majority, right, and I believe even that phrase is used to keep the majority quiet and to keep christians quiet, and I believe that us saying it's taboo to talk about politics or taboo to talk about religion is to keep us quiet yeah, well, so you and I are very different, different personalities.
Speaker 2:You're more of like a type 8 on the enneagram. You post stuff in your stories that I never would. I die. When I see your stories I just want to delete your entire social media account.
Speaker 2:Um, we have same foundation, same values, obviously both believers, and so this topic is super hard for me to talk about, not because I'm ashamed of what I believe or I'm firm in my convictions, but we're in just such a polarizing culture right now that just simply being a Christian is offensive, and so this entire podcast is like such a loaded topic. We could do an entire podcast with many, many, many episodes just talking about all the different avenues. So we're kind of like setting ourselves up for failure with this one because there's just so much here, especially because we want to do, you know, a 20 to 30 minute episode. But the bottom line is, I think what you're getting at is, when it comes to politics, we've gotten so swept up in the politics and in the left versus right, and in the right versus wrong and in the manipulation of being permissive is being loving that as Christians, we have gotten confused, because the Bible calls us to love.
Speaker 2:We're called to love your neighbor as yourself. We're called to forgive over and over and over, and we're called to love the sinner, but we're also still told to abide by the rules that God has given us, and not in a restrictive way, but to protect us in God's kindness, like he gives us structure and order, and we're to follow those things. And so much of the world is moving away from those things, and so it's become such a polarizing, confusing time to raise kids in, to be a parent in, to socialize with people in, because you could pretty much say anything these days and it becomes offensive when really we, as families, what we need to do and this is the entire basis of our podcast is to get back to the roots, know our foundation, know our beliefs and, instead of choosing a political party or a political candidate, figure it out. Figure out what is it that God calls us to in this life and what candidate is closest to that.
Speaker 1:Right, and you know I don't know the verses, you guys know this by now but there's there's verses where God talks about how to follow the laws of the country that you're in unless it goes against His. You know the biblical principles and so, as part of those laws and really, freedom and privilege, we get the privilege to vote in this country and not everybody gets that opportunity in other countries. Country and not everybody gets that opportunity in other countries and they can be attacked, persecuted that's the word I was looking for for their faith in other countries. And we have the freedom of religion here and we need to protect that. And this constitutional republic that we live in, based in biblical values, is the closest thing that we've ever had in world history to living in a way that God would want us to live in a political structure. Right. So, and it was, if you look through history. So it was the Christians that started the American Revolution. It was the Christians that spoke out and ended slavery. It is the Christians that spoke out and gave women the right to vote, and on and on and on, because those were all linked back to biblical principles and virtues and, if you go back, even 50 years ago, the difference between, you know, the Democrat party and the Republican party, and I'm just saying that because unfortunately, in my opinion, we live in a two-party system, so you don't get a lot of nuance, you know, and a lot of different options in what you're voting for, but the difference between the Democrat and the Republican Party honestly didn't.
Speaker 1:There were things that we still had in common. There were things that those two parties had in common with each other. You know, they loved our country, they were patriotic. They did. You know there was a lot of still holding close to those biblical principles and values, even within their platforms and the politicians, and 50 years or so. So, all of that being said, too, the enemy will use corruption and, if you look, one of the things that's been exposed really over the past eight years is there's so much evil and corruption in our country from unnamed powers that be controlling into the culture of Hollywood, controlling the pharmaceutical industry, controlling the you know, the Fortune 500 companies, controlling the FDA and controlling our politics.
Speaker 2:Yeah, like off of what you're saying, you're talking about the corruption and the evil. And it goes back to again the Bible and Isaiah 520. It says woe unto them that call evil good and good evil. That put darkness for light and light for darkness. That put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. And that's in Isaiah. And then again in Revelation it says there will be a day, toward the end, when good is called evil and evil is called good. And it talks all about those things. And I mean I'm studying Revelation right now and if you read through it's pretty crazy. It kind of describes the world that we're living in.
Speaker 2:I'm not saying that we're in the end times, but again, it's just so very validating. I think back to the baby Christian that I was 15 years ago and where I just doubted my faith and I was like is God even real? Does the Bible even matter? When really? I mean the Bible, it truly is the roadmap to our lives, the foundation to our families. And yeah, just going back to you talking about the political parties and the arguments, it's just like the left isn't going to fix it, the right isn't going to fix it. What's truly going to fix it is the family and when we can build our family on the solid rock, on a firm foundation, and raise up leaders and trailblazers who believe what's right.
Speaker 2:I feel like so many of the older generations have written our generation and our kids off like, oh, the end times are coming, the world is ending, when I just don't believe that. I feel like there's so much work to be done, but there's so much good that we can do, there's so much potential that we have. We can totally have a revival and it doesn't. We can't just put all this weight in. I mean, even till, today is election day and regardless of, regardless of what happens, god is on the throne. One, we have to remember that. And two, it doesn't change the fact that we still have so much power in our family.
Speaker 1:Yeah, 100%. So in that there's two things. One, it is up to you as an individual to pursue God in your life, pursue that relationship, and then to teach that to your family, and then that should expand to your church and then to your community, to your state and then to the country. It starts with you and starts within your home. At the same time, it's also not an excuse to not vote in a way that embraces biblical principles.
Speaker 2:So when we look at politicians, and this is where we're just going to get blunt and call it as it is.
Speaker 1:And so yeah, so when we look at politicians, it's not about the politician in and of themselves, it's about what do they stand for, what policies do they stand for? And I do want to say this and I hear a lot of people say this too that no politician is perfect, and so, like the two presidential candidates that we have currently, neither one is perfect, and that's been true throughout all of time. There's never been a human being that has ever been perfect, except for Jesus Christ, and so keep that in mind. So I hear some people use an excuse to say, oh well, neither one is perfect, so I'm not voting. Well, that's a cop-out you need to vote for. As a Christian, we need to vote for the candidate the issues, the candidate, ranging from the presidency all the way down to your city council member that stands closest to the biblical principles. So we need to vote for the candidate that you know when we go to the Bible, who stands for life right, that stands to support life, and that means you know, as Christians, the Bible's very clear that life begins at conception, and right now do we have?
Speaker 1:We have one political party that is for abortion all the way up until the ninth month and some extreme cases, even after the baby has been born. And then the other political party is mixed. I mean, there's been movement towards allowing for up to 15 weeks and I don't agree with that. But which one is more pro-life? Which political party stands for men and women as God designed them in their image? One political party is for children being able to change their sex without the parents even knowing, and for women or men being able to say that they're women and then play in women's sports, endangering our women and putting them in physical harm. And as men, it's our job to protect women, not compete against them in some sports competition and potentially injure or hurt them and take away from what they fought for and for women's rights. There is a political party that stands for more corruption in our pharmaceutical industry, for more corruption in our food industry, that stands for allowing for open borders, bringing people in to then give them, to take advantage of our tax dollars, take our tax dollars for services.
Speaker 1:When the Bible is there's from Nehemiah to different things. The Bible is very clear on political or on countries being able to have their own boundaries as well. So there's a lot of things there. So when we look at and then even to say too, like we live in a country that some people call it a democracy. It's really not a democracy, because democracy is majority rules, and so the majority could just say, hey, it's okay to murder people, and we got 51% of the votes, and now we can murder people. The founders set it up so that we had checks and balances through the executive branch, legislative branch and judicial branch and then allows us to then vote, for politicians to then go and vote on our behalf, and they did that to create some, some checks and balances.
Speaker 2:Yeah and okay. So just to wrap what you're saying in a nutshell you know life, we stand for life. We stand for the unborn because that is what the Bible calls us to do. The Bible blatantly says that abortion is wrong, that we're to stand up for the unborn. Same thing with same-sex marriage. It talks about that very clearly in the Bible and these are really hard topics. And that doesn't mean that we don't love women who have had abortions. That doesn't mean that we don't love. We are very close to and have relationships with people who have and potentially still will, and we. That doesn't mean that we hate those people. That just means that we stand up for what the Bible tells us to stand for.
Speaker 2:Same thing with same sex marriage and gay. Again, this is a hard topic for me because I have gay friends. I have gay people who I love. That doesn't mean you don't love that person, but it's just a hard reality that you stand up for what God calls us to stand up for. And then, because it's also, this is a slippery slope.
Speaker 2:I guess what I would say is, if you're trying to figure out where to start, start with the Ten Commandments, Figure out what the Bible says there and you can do some research and figure out what the Bible says about each of these topics that are so controversial and so polarizing, and it's a slippery slope. I do believe that God gives us these strict guidelines because then that's where we get into all right. Same-sex marriage, transgenderism it's just like I remember being a kid when I was 10, 12 years old, and to think of a transgender person at that age it just seemed so taboo. And now it's being taught in the schools and we're clearly taught in the Bible that we were made in God's image and God doesn't make mistakes.
Speaker 2:And so if you're born a male, you're a male. You're not supposed to change to be a female, and these are just such loaded topics. Again, there's mental health and there's just so many different reasons why these things are. Again, that doesn't mean that we can't love these people or that we shun these people as believers, but it does mean that we are called to stand firm on the word of God.
Speaker 1:And we're called to stand against sin in general, and we all are sinners and we all have sin in our own lives too. So it's not our job to condemn people that have sinned or are in sin. It is our job to love them. If they're Christians, hold them accountable, because I would expect them to hold me accountable as well for anything that I have done or am doing. So it doesn't mean that you don't have love, but you have kind of some extremes too, even within Christianity, where some people completely off-put people that are openly sinning and make them feel like they're not approachable, right, and that they're not welcome. And then you have the other side where they're so quote unquote tolerant that they permit the sin openly. And yes, so we need to find a middle ground there where we can stand against the sin but we can love the sinner just as God does for us on a daily basis, right? I?
Speaker 2:think that goes into the political candidates because, let's be honest, if we're talking about either side, neither one of the political candidates are perfect.
Speaker 1:You know, even though we believe that there's when we say this I'm not saying this because I don't even like the political candidate that I'm voting for, and I'm just going to come out and say it From the presidential perspective the candidate that most aligns with biblical values and principles is Donald Trump and his campaign, and we've talked about all the reasons why. And it's not that I'm holding my nose in voting. Even In the past I may have, and this is my opinion but the Republican Party of Mitt Romney, the Republican Party of John McCain and George Bush, I felt like even those were inauthentic and they were part of the problem. And you know, you may not hold that, you know think that, but I didn't think that they were part of the problem. I thought that they were the political answer. But now, looking back and with my eyes, I feel like being more open, they were the problem of what we would call the uniparty, and so we have.
Speaker 1:And the thing with Donald Trump is that some people don't like his approach. Some people don't like the things that he says at times or how he says it, and that's fine, and you know sometimes the things that the way that he approaches things and says things is wrong. However, I would rather somebody be authentic and me know truly where they stand and that's where I feel a lot of people are waking up to is that Donald Trump is authentic If he says something. That's what he believes, and we haven't had that in my voting history. We didn't have that with previous Republican Republicans. You know they would say one thing and then get an office and do another thing or not even do anything on it. Perspective is, I think, one of the things that I've, and I wasn't even for Trump in the primaries back in 2016 because I thought I thought he was lying, just like I felt like every other politician had lied to us in both parties for years. But I feel like the the thing that I do like about Trump whether I agree with certain things of him or not is that that he is authentic and that is what he truly believes, and I feel like this is the time that we need a candidate like him that will fight and push back. I mean, look at everything that they've thrown at the guy, right From the Russia hoax stuff to the court cases to assassination attempts. I mean they've thrown all these things at the guy and he keeps standing and, you know, maybe God has had a hand in that, maybe God is going to use him, maybe not.
Speaker 1:I guess we'll find out if we have the results tonight or in a couple of weeks or whatever it is, but I think it is our duty. We are called to be the salt of the earth, and a way in salt is a preservative. So our job is to preserve biblical principles and we get to do that one way. That's not the way, it's not the only way, it's not even the most influential way, I would say. But a way to do that is to vote for candidates and platforms that hold more closely to biblical principles and to not vote. I'm just going to say it. My opinion is that that is a cop-out. It's soft, it's weak in a sense.
Speaker 1:And I pulled up a quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Speaker 1:I'm in the process of reading his biography right now. It's a very thick and long book, so I'm only like a third of the way through. But he was a pastor in Germany during World War II and I'm not making any connections to a political party and Nazism or Hitler at all, not doing that. But what Dietrich Bonhoeffer said, his quote was Silence in the face of evil is evil itself. God will not hold us guiltless. Not to speak is to speak, not to act is to act. So just being a pacifist, in a sense, and saying I'm not going to vote and I'm going to stand by is, if a political party wins because you sat by, you're going to be held accountable for that, and I believe that that is wrong. To not take the freedoms that you're given, the right that you're given to be salt of the earth and put laws into place that protect life, protect the family, that give us the freedom of religion, give us the freedom of speech and many other biblical principles, is wrong to not to not do that yeah, I'm gonna go now.
Speaker 2:I I get your perspective, I get what you're saying. I tread more lightly, as you know, with sharing who we're voting for and things like that, although I'm sure most people know by now, not because I'm ashamed, but you know, even with like a sign in our yard, I'm more hesitant because I want people to get to know us first and love us first and like know who we are, whereas right now it's just such a polarizing time, as I said before, where if, if somebody who is from the opposing party sees Trump or Harris, you immediately have a guard up and have like preconceived notions about that person. So it's just so hard and it's such a struggle. And I know even like I hesitate with this episode because you know people from our church might listen and I know for a fact not every single person in our church is voting the same way as us and everybody has their convictions. So I think you know obviously we've shared our piece on why we feel strongly.
Speaker 2:Do I think Trump is perfect? No. Do I think he's obnoxious sometimes? Yes. Do I think that he has made mistakes and he has a track record that people can pull up and say all of these horrible things about him. Of course people can pull up and say all of these horrible things about him, of course, but do I think that he will stand for Christian values more than the other party at this point? Absolutely so. I think that's kind of why we are where we are, and at the end of the day, I just want to say you had said we'll be held accountable for how we vote, and while I agree with that to some degree, I think that what we do is we need to fervently take this to God, pray about it and stay true to our Christian values and convictions, and we do take it to the poll booth, and then, at the end of the day, we remember that we still have so much power in what we do in our families and in our homes and, regardless of the outcome, god is still on the throne.
Speaker 2:Yeah, no, I agree with that we we need to respond and love like the most. The thing that turns me off the most about it is and it's so shameful is, as Christians, we are called to stand firm in what we believe and stay true to what God calls us. But again, I've repeated this 10 times in this episode we're also called to love, and so it's not loving to shame people you know who have different values than you.
Speaker 1:Right, let's have a conversation, and that's the thing is, we should be approachable, we should have be willing to have the conversation, not shout each other down. And I will say I feel like most Christians are more the Christians that I know and people truly following Christ are more that way. They're more open to having a conversation. They'll support your right to your viewpoint more than others. You know some of them, people that are more associated with the other, with that, are non Christian or more people that vote, you know, for Democrats there. You know, then that's, I think, that that's, I mean, that's a good thing. Um, and the last thing I do want to say, too, is that if we don't like, if Trump doesn't get in office right now, the way that things are trending with the Democrat Party and have even were pushed through the Republican Party for years, trending us towards a bad place, I fear that we will not have a country with the freedoms to vote for life, with the freedoms to for the parents to be head over their kids and to have these rights, because the country will fall off into a place where we no longer have those freedoms. Now, that doesn't mean God isn't on the throne, because God is on the throne in countries that already exist that have that type of government. But why would we let that happen? Why would we let that happen on our watch?
Speaker 1:This country was founded by bold, strong Christians, and everything good that we fought for in this country were fought for by a majority of Christians, no matter what political party. Any good political movement in this country was fought by Christians. We have to get Trump in office for that reason alone. We won't have the opportunity to even vote and have conversations about freedom of speech, freedom of life and freedom of our family, freedom of religion, all these things. I mean, look at all the things that they tried to do to us during COVID. I mean, we're just living in really crazy times and I think, as Christians, we need to be bold but loving in how we approach this, and we need to get to the ballot box and we need to take the next step to preserve this country and bring this country back. This country and bring this country back, but at the same time, guys, it's not just through politics.
Speaker 1:And I think the other thing I was just going to say is that, because you said it a little bit earlier, with the younger generation, I'm very encouraged by the younger generation right now, honestly, because I see a lot of movement. One a lot of the young generation are turning to Christ. You see a lot of these movements on college campuses, with college athletes, all of these things that are, but they're moving towards churches that aren't just about checking the box. They're moving towards churches that are the hands and feet of Jesus and acting and they're looking for purpose. So I see a lot of encouragement in that and I think, also because of that, that's why you see a movement of young people in this particular election that are voting for Trump and Trump's campaign, because they see the authenticity in Trump and they see what he's standing for in those values. So for the first time, we're seeing that movement and so the united we stand.
Speaker 1:Divided we fall within the political parties. I do see Trump's campaign reaching out. He's bringing in former Democrats. He's bringing in Robert F Kennedy Jr, tulsi Gabbard. He's bringing in young people. He's pulling higher than any Republican candidate in the ways that they want to divide us in different minority groups and ethnic groups. So all the ways they divide us, whether it's young versus old, whether it's black and Hispanic and women, and you see all of these different things. Trump is starting to pull more of a coalition of those people together and unifying them under his party, where the other side is saying oh well, we don't want you to certain people, we don't want you, and now we're just going to bring people in from across the border because we're losing all of you. That's what we see. So we're just living in a very crazy time.
Speaker 2:Yeah. So I want to share just two more things before we go. And then I'm actually going to pray, which I don't know. I'm sure we've done it before, but we don't regularly pray on the podcast. But this actually was scripture that I just found in my camera roll that I took this morning during my Bible study. Like I said, I'm reading Revelation and it's actually really fitting, so I'm going to share it.
Speaker 2:It's Psalm 37, 7 through 9. And it says Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. Do not fret over those who prosper in their way, over those who carry out evil devices. Refrain from anger and forsake wrath. Do not fret. It leads only to evil, for the wicked shall be cut off, but those who wait for the Lord shall inherit the land, and I just think that's a great reminder. Obviously, we hope for a great outcome that encourages us and renews our faith in the country and restores us and helps us know that there's a lot of hope moving forward. But we also have to remember that, over and over, the Lord just asks us to come to him, to surrender, to be still, and we've talked about this before. Where we don't find him in the earthquake or the storm. We find him in that still small whisper, and so we just need to be reminded that, regardless of the outcome, that he's on the throne and he has a plan and at the end of the day, his plan will prevail and so, no matter what, he is in control. So that's the first one.
Speaker 2:And then I just like the song a lot from by for King and Country. I think the proof of your love is what it's called. But he has a little monologue where he talks in the middle of the song and it says if I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God's word with power, revealing all of his mysteries and making everything as plain as day, and if I have faith to say to a mountain, jump, and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. And if I have faith to say to a mountain, jump, and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. If I give all I own to the poor, or even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, no matter what I believe, no matter what I do, I'm bankrupt without love.
Speaker 2:And so again, super encouraging. Encouraging. Regardless of where you guys stand, we still love you and as believers, we're called to love and I truly believe that attacking people and coming at people with hate and malice it's not getting anywhere. We just have to go back to the basics of believers and have grace and love for these people. And so, whatever happens I'm sure it's already happening on social media and the polls are coming and everybody's getting all worked up and ramped up and freaked out and just don't get caught up in it. Turn off the news, go be with your family, make yourself dinner, make your kids dinner, sit down and play a board game tonight, because if you get up, you show up at the polls, you cast your vote, you've done what you can do and the rest?
Speaker 1:you just have to trust and you have to love. Yep. So united we stand, divided we fall. Let's unite everybody, christians and non-Christians. We are seeing unity take place and coalesce around Trump. We've seen it leading up to this election and to today, and we just it's kind of neat to see that people of many different walks of life, even people of different religions, all coming together to preserve what this country was founded on and our country, you know, our country's never been not always been perfect either, but we, you know what Reagan said let's be a shining city on a hill. Our country has been a lot of a beacon of hope throughout our nation's history for people to have freedoms, to have prosperity, and it's why we also are able to have so many charities that go around the world and spread the gospel and spread love is because of the freedoms that we have and the economics that we have to allow us to do that. So unite, let's unite today, and no matter what happens, god is King.
Speaker 2:All right, lord, I just want to thank you for this podcast. I want to thank you for the privilege that we have to speak on it. Thank you just for giving us a voice, even though we're so far from perfect and we're just so flawed. But just thank you for giving us grace and showing up with us and giving us a passion to do this. Thank you for our listeners and those who have shown up today to listen. If they're listening, especially on election day, I just hope that you give them peace throughout the day and the coming days and just remind them that they didn't stumble upon this podcast by happenstance, that you have them here for a reason. I just want to pray for your protection over our entire nation and things are just so crazy right now and it's honestly really scary sometimes, especially as a parent raising little ones and I just want to pray for your peace and your hedge of protection over our families and our marriages and our nation and our just all of it. Lord, just help us to show up in exactly the ways that you want us to show up. Just have your hands all over the the votes that are cast today. I just pray that no evil wins today and that you will shine through. And I also just want you to remind us that, no matter the outcome, that you are still on the throne.
Speaker 2:It's so easy to say that, it's so easy to get up in the stillness of the morning and be reminded of that, but then, as the chaos of the day goes on and the headlines start hitting and just everything starts to take place, it is so easy for us to get frazzled and worried and feel so out of control. But the truth is that you have a plan, that you're sovereign. The truth is that you have a plan that you're sovereign, that you love us, you love our kids and um. Ultimately, you reign above it all. So thank you, lord, for all that you do for us. Uh, just be with us through this week, and I just want to pray for the people in charge of our country and um. In your name, we pray Amen.