Standing For Freedom!

Woodrow Crowell here. When you train one pastor in Ecuador, some donor friends are standing by to train a second pastor. Call 833-443-5467 or go online at trainaposter.com.

Every gift counts and now every gift is doubled. trainaposter.com. This podcast is starting in just a few minutes. Enjoy it.

Share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. Who do you turn to? What are the voices that you listen to, to guide you? Should Christians just withdraw and go to a monastery and leave the country? Or should we engage?

And how do you do that? Do you become a Democrat? Do you become a Republican? What is one to do if they love Jesus but also want to engage the culture? And I'm so glad those topics are on the table today and I'm so glad because Ryan and Scott are in the house. They are here from the Standing for Freedom Center on the campus of Liberty University. Two men of God, two oaks of righteousness to answer these tough questions. Scott, aren't you glad I just dropped these easy little questions in your lap for you there?

Absolutely. You set me up with some big softball questions there, Stu. But if there's one thing we love about what you do here in your ministry and glad to be here in the studio with you today, it's that you do stand for truth built right into the name of your network. And so we're here from Liberty University, the Standing for Freedom Center, and we're hoping to engage in the political arena while we absolutely, with one hand, have our hand on the Bible, have our mind wrapped around the Bible. But we actually understand what's going on in the newspapers and engage people with the pressing issues of the day. I'm here with my compadre, Ryan Heflenbein.

It's great to be here. Stu, hey, thanks for having Scott and I on just to talk a little bit about what's happening in culture. And one of the things, just to piggyback off of what Scott said, is that we have to go back to the basics of biblical truth. What I'm seeing more and more in this younger generation is while there is an appreciation for the deep things and deep meanings and deep purposes of life, they're not in touch. They're not adept to biblical knowledge. There's a large growing gap of biblical knowledge and a biblical basis for understanding reality.

And so oftentimes, parents and even grandparents are worried about the politics, the political landscape. And what I'm saying is, wait, wait, wait. We've got to go back to a biblical worldview.

That's an endgame. We've got to go north of that, north of even culture, and that's where the church should live, is north of culture. Well, I'm honored to have you guys on for this full show of Truth Talk, and we're also going to make this a podcast.

I want everyone to share this with everyone. You're going to be introduced to just a massive, just a load of great resources that will talk you through such issues as H.R. 5, where you may go to jail just because you're a Christian, because you've verbalized, you've shared the good news of Jesus in such a way that you've assaulted people, according to the current administration's legislation they're trying to force through the Senate right now. H.R.

1, another piece of dangerous legislation, the court packing, the filibusters. What does it mean to be woke? Are you a woke Christian? This is a danger that's infiltrating the church today, and these two men are standing up against it, but they're doing it in a gracious way. The apostle Paul compelled the Ephesian believers to speak the truth and love Ryan.

And I love the way you do that. I was just with you guys on the campus of Liberty University not too long ago. You had Mike Pompeo, you had all these fellows. Will you tell everyone kind of how this came about? I want to kind of get a little biography on you guys. Who's Ryan, who's Scott in this standing for freedom center, the freedom center at Liberty University? What was the genesis of this great movement?

Because people are going to be hearing a lot, because there's a program in the works that we're kind of quietly announcing, like a soft announcement here on Truth Talk, that's going to be going national, which is going to be you two teaming up to tackle these tough issues on a radio format, and a podcast format we're pumped about. But tell us a little bit about why the start of the freedom center, or the standing for freedom center. Yeah, so let me start first of all with what the freedom center is.

I'll do that, and then I'll just give you a brief background of myself and then Scott as well. But the standing for freedom center really exists right now as you see this cultural gap. Life, liberty, truth is under attack in an increasingly secular, hostile, antagonistic age. Literally, the standing for freedom center exists to promote life, liberty, and truth to ensure that the foundations of freedom exist for the next generation. It is really about the next generation. We want to be able to hand on to a new generation these truths. I mean, one of the things that Reagan used to say over and over again, that freedom is just one generation away from extinction, we have to remember that.

And it's not just a political principle. The reality is that if you go back to the Old Testament, the covenant of Israel, God warned the Israelites again and again to teach your children this so that they would not forget it. I mean, write it on their foreheads. Inscribe it everywhere.

Remember it. Grab these stones of remembrance, but remind them about what God did in delivering Israel and saving Israel. So we have to remind people of the foundations of freedom and what really made America free. The first free institution is the church. The Church of the Lord Jesus Christ is because that's where the gospel is. That's where the gospel is preached.

It's about spiritual salvation, and then ultimately that trickles down and transforms society. About me, I'm Ryan Helfenbein. I'm a Texas native. It takes me a little while to get that out.

Usually within the first 30 seconds of meeting me, you find that out. If you've ever met a humble Texan, I don't believe you. But I'll just say that I came to faith in Christ at an early age under the preaching of Jack Graham at Prestwood, Dallas. I grew up there, went to school K through 12 at a little place called First Baptist Dallas back in the days of W.A. Criswell when he was alive.

And so, fast forward. I went to seminary. I went to seminary in Louisville, Kentucky with Al Mohler and learned a lot about worldview and apologetics from Al. He had a Salem radio show, by the way, and spent some time just printing off papers and documents for research. And a very small library, too.

Yeah, very small. Just a novel library, about 200,000 volumes. And the scary thing is that some say that he's read almost every book in there.

And with almost a photographic memory. So, I ended up while in seminary working towards a Ph.D., ended up spending some time in politics, worked on a congressional campaign, a Senate campaign, and then ultimately a gubernatorial. Ended up working for the governor of Kentucky, Matt Bevin.

And then about two years ago, came over to Liberty University as the VP of Comms. And I've really enjoyed my time. And so, I see this as something where I have a burden for the next generation, a burden for young people. And I want to teach them in a way that they can understand biblical truth.

And you're a young guy. It's awesome to see a young guy out there communicating, articulating truth to a bunch of other young folks, not just on the campus of Liberty, but now through a national platform with Standing for Freedom. The upcoming radio show, God willing, as that's all being launched, and also through these symposiums, these gatherings you guys are on the trail with Pastor Jonathan doing things at churches all over the place, and speaking out, and through writing, through articles. There's an amazing video. What is the website? I want to give it early and often here. Because the video you did on H.R.

5 is critical. Everyone needs to watch this. standingforfreedom.com No clever way of spelling it, just standing, and then the word for, and then freedom.com.

I really hope everyone will watch that. We're coming up on a break, but not there yet. Scott Lamb. Who is Scott Lamb, and how did you get involved in this? You have quite a story too, just like Ryan does. Well, I've known Ryan for about a decade, and going back to Louisville, but our shared love is things related to the Scripture, things related to the Gospel, the local church. Honestly, it's just a lot of fun to be around. For 12 years, we've pretty much been talking nearly every single day for 12 years about things that are important. We share a love of pastors like John MacArthur, and great preachers like that, and Charles Spurgeon, guys that have been dead for a century.

We share those things in common, and it's going to be a joy to get to actually get on the radio airwaves, and talk about things that matter, talk about things that are grounded in truth. The name of the center has the word standing in it, and it really comes from Scripture. There's lots of Scripture, dozens of Scripture talking about standing firm against the devil, against the world, against our own flesh, and making a stand. Sometimes the most courageous thing you can do is to not retreat, to not turn around and run away from the battle. So, we built that right in the name for a reason.

Okay, and we want to get into that next. What's going on in the church today? What has happened? What is all this woke Christianity? Why are all these Christians wimping out? They're putting the culture's agenda ahead of the Scripture's agenda. No longer are we consulting God and his word about gender, but we're going into what feels good, or what is anecdotal, or what's PC politically correct. You guys are speaking of that, but you're not just speaking of that in an angry, knee-jerk, fundamentalist Christian kind of way.

You're putting the fun back in fundamentalism, and you're speaking of that in a gracious way, and the Word of God speaks to that, and that's what I love most about your connection with Scripture. Life, liberty, and truth passing it on to the next generation. The Standing for Freedom Center, Standing for Freedom, the upcoming radio show. You're going to hear more about wokeism and H.R.

5, arguably one of the most dangerous pieces of legislation that's ever been proposed in the United States Congress and Senate. When we come back, right here on Truth Talk. So, are you woke? You're like, what does that mean, Stu? I'm out here driving around. I hope I'm woke or I'm going to crash this car. No, I don't mean that.

I mean, are you a woke Christian? Maybe my buddy Ryan Helfenbein will explain to us what that means. He's with the Standing for Freedom Center that's on the campus of Liberty University. I happen to have him in the studio today on Truth Talk. I'm Stu Epperson, your host.

Also, Scott Lamb is here. These guys are about to embark on an awesome, awesome, brand new nationwide radio show, podcast, digital everything. They have an amazing social media presence. You've got to follow. I love your quotes and clips.

I forward them to people all the time. Great, great stuff. Funny stuff that Ryan puts out there.

Make sure you follow him on Instagram. And the Freedom Center also, the Standing for Freedom Center on Instagram. Just this idea of wokeism.

It's almost sad. It's like, what has happened to the church's backbone? Do churches have to compromise the truth amid all the politically correct stuff? Do churches have to withdraw from the political process?

Can you be a Christian and be active in public policy? Ryan, some hot questions for you, some hot potatoes. Can you handle them and can you tell us what it means to be woke?

Where does this come from? I'll tell you this. I never agree, and this is something parents, you know, you need to teach your young people.

Never agree to a definition if you don't know what it actually means. I think the first thing that the social justice movement attempts to do is bring a whole bunch of people into the fold. Make new disciples, so to speak, of young people. But do it through hype, a lot of hype, a lot of emotionalism, and a lot of propaganda campaigns and marketing.

They are great at marketing. The first thing I would say as a Christian, we are awake in Christ, but we are not woke. And the social justice movement is a new form of the therapeutic moral, therapeutic gospel for a new age of cynicism and fear. And how I define that is this. The whole idea behind the social justice movement is what I call a hermeneutic of suspicion. And what that means, Stu, is that everyone out there is looking for somebody who is an oppressor, someone who has done something wrong. These are like ambulance chasing activists that are constantly trying to find the injustice under every rock. And so, yes, there are inequities everywhere. But what the social justice movement wants to do is, through this fear, this suspicion, and even this cynicism, are trying to find ways to bring about a new order, a new way of equity or recompense, and trying to really turn things around, so to speak. And that's what they're doing. So it's actually a form of Marxism, but you can't go around and say, I'm a Marxist.

You can't go around and say, that's what I'm trying to do. And no Christian in their right mind is against the concept or the words social justice. Technically, no Christian is against the words pro-choice. Doesn't that sound nice? I mean, we're about, you know, you choose, I'm going to choose to serve you today.

I'm going to choose to share the gospel with you today. I'm pro-choice. But those words, pro-choice, social justice, woke, wokeism, all that, they've been kind of hijacked by folks that are enemies of righteousness, that are putting on this grandstand and shaming people. And a police officer goes, and a lady's about to be knifed to death.

He shoots the lady who's knifing her. And all of a sudden, everyone, before anything's said, before any investigation, everyone's saying, every cop is racist, and these guys are horrible, and we've got to get rid of them, and we've got to defund them. But when the church buys into that narrative and doesn't speak out biblically, Scott Lamb, that's a problem.

So at Liberty University, we have 15,000 students there residentially, and most of those are between the age of 18 and 22. Look, if there's one thing they are afraid of, it's the cataclysmic canceling that can happen to them, because they're on social media, and you say, well, just stay off social media. You really can't stay off social media.

Cancel culture's big. But if you're a young person, that's how you make contacts. That's how you build a network.

That's how you eventually land a job. So they're on these social media networks, but they've seen their generation make one mistake, or perceived to be making one mistake, and all of a sudden, their entire life is destroyed. And so they try to get these radars. Well, what are the kinds of things I shouldn't even talk about? Not even one word. And so there's some of these really crucial issues of the day. They don't say one word about those things, and I'm not calling them cowards.

They're just trying to be careful, because they know that you say one nuanced, you say one thing that just didn't have exactly the right nuance, and all of a sudden, you're not getting a job in your chosen field, or you're going to be publicly shamed. And so that's what we're talking about. And I'm not talking about covering up for kids that are really actually, or adults who are actually doing wrong things. That's not what I'm talking about.

I'm talking about what you said, the police officer is doing his job. Next thing you know, he loses his job. And people that have put, you know, I'm praying for police officers, and then they get canceled by big Hollywood contracts or by big social media companies. That's the cancel. I mean, this show, I might get canceled from all of my affiliates by having you two guys on.

I might be in trouble here. AFR, Wilkins, God bless you guys for standing with Truth Talk, Truth Network, all the Life FM, the people that carry Truth Talk. We're grateful, because I've got these two heavy hitters on. You guys are going to get… Heavy hitters.

You guys are… You guys are going to hook everybody up. Speaking of heavy hitters, some of the biggest ones that do this are the corporations, and then groups like the NCAA. I like the ludicrous stuff that happened in Georgia. Yeah, exactly. Somebody said you've got to show your ID to get on an airplane. But if you show your ID to vote, it's immoral. Yeah, here in North Carolina, I know the NCAA has such powerful sway over the hearts of you guys. If you said, well, we're never going to come here for a basketball championship, I mean, all of a sudden your corporations will be saying, well, let's change our policies. And it doesn't even have to go through the legislation. It doesn't even have to go through the courts. It really just has to go through corporate America that says, you know, we're going to shame an entire state into changing something.

So the Major League Baseball world headquarters is in New York City, which has twice as strict voting rules, regulations, as the state of Georgia has incorporated. It's just so that dead people aren't voting, and it's just to make sure you show your ID. You have to have your ID to get some kind of allergy medicine.

My wife's like, I couldn't go pick my Allegrodia up one day because I'm over my limit. I have to show an ID on this. Yet, Colorado, so they moved the All-Star game to Colorado, but they have stricter voting laws there. But no one talks about this. It has to be racist. Everything has to be racist. They're playing the race card everywhere. Christians, what's sad is Christians, instead of leveraging that to share the gospel, they cower back in fear like, oh, I'm afraid that they won't like my church.

I'm afraid that if I speak the truth, I'm afraid that I won't be politically correct. And so often is the case when they make these big moves. It's actually full of hypocrisy and full of illogic. So they moved the All-Star game from Atlanta, 50% African American, to Denver, 9% African American.

It makes no sense. And of course, the African American community is greatly hindered when they do that. The business pullout was worth several millions of dollars for that one event. Now, the other ironic thing is Hank Aaron, of course, Atlanta, the Braves baseball, died in the offseason. They were going to make the biggest deal of him at the All-Star game, which is one of the defining moments of the 1970s, was Hank Aaron going against Babe Ruth and receiving all that racist mail.

You shouldn't be doing that. And him prevailing. It was a great story coming out of the 1970s. And now you yank it and you send the baseball game to Denver. So the point is, it doesn't even make sense. If you really wanted to further racial reconciliation, you would have kept it in Atlanta and you would have done what they were planning on doing. So it actually is destructive to the very thing that they were hoping to accomplish. And people just run along like little sheep. And the government tells you, because they said it, I'm going to jump in there and post all my pictures and don't even realize that I'm jumping into a communist socialist narrative that is eroding the values and rights of our faith. We've got to take a break quickly. And I'd just say the last thing, just to piggyback off of that. Wokeism unmasked is this pernicious evil that is actually more racially charged, more racist.

It actually does the opposite of what it claims to do. Tell us more about that, Ryan. Heffelbein, Scott Lamb, when we come back and we'll talk about what Christians are to do in engaging the culture. What Christians are to do with these immoral bills coming up. And who are some of the fellows?

You won't believe the cool names that they've added to their fellows list at the Standing for Freedom Center from Liberty University and a little upcoming teaser about their show right here next on Truth Talk. Two men of God taking a stand, using their voices to address the culture, to lift up Jesus. Let's not forget, we are not here to push and prop up a political party or a political agenda.

We're here to be salt and light for Jesus Christ. Yet Scott and Ryan, with the Standing for Freedom Center at Liberty University, so often the faith in Christ gets conflated with Trumpism, or gets conflated with a certain political candidate, and people are like, well, you can't support that party and be a Christian, or they go the other way. Well, this party, because they said that they're helping minorities, because they said they're for social justice, because they said they're woke, well, I've got to help them. Well, the fact is, that is an evil position.

They're not helping any babies be born, and there's a whole thing with pro-life. So how does a Christian, Ryan, Scott, how does a Christian navigate through this minefield of politically correctness and wokeness? Pick up where you left off in our last segment. So good to have you guys on Truth Talk. Yeah, so, I mean, I would just say that one of the things that you understand about woke as really a religion, not just as a political movement, is that unmasked, it's a pernicious evil that is actually far more racist and what it's ultimately attempting to do is to divide every single person, including households, and it's father against son, mother against daughter, and that's what it's ultimately trying to do. And I would just say in terms of how we navigate this, we've got to get our own story straight as Christians. I think that's the most important thing. As Christians, you have to be rooted in biblical truth. Turn off the TV, unplug it for a while. That's okay.

Turn off the phone. You know, one of the things in the digital world, we talk about this a lot over at the Standing for Freedom Center, but this analog versus digital conversion, the reality is, digital is not just a medium, it's a way in which young people think. It's how they relate truth. It's how they ultimately, it becomes concrete in their thinking, right?

And the problem, and I think one of the reasons why the social justice movement has been so effective, and I think part of the reason why the younger generation has become far more agnostic about certain political positions is largely because they can't make it concrete in their mind. So they're dealing with things, just like it's difficult for Johnny to do math, right? Because he hasn't been taught. He hasn't been taught the analytical skills.

He doesn't, Johnny doesn't know actually how to evaluate hard ethical positions because he doesn't even know the basics. So this goes back to the basics of a biblical worldview and establishing truth, laws of non-contradiction, and all these other things. They are absolutely necessary building blocks to making people think clearly. And, go ahead, Scott, to attach on that and also the importance of apologetics, the Christian worldview, but biblical exposition, how you're encouraging pastors to teach the Word of God.

That's the framework that we're missing, this famine in the land. Well, the Greeks had, they sought in three different ways, logos, ethos, and pathos. The pathos is the feeling, your passions, your affections, how you feel about things. The logos is the thinking, the logic, and actually the rationality. And then the ethos is how we live, how we live that out. So we always like to think, we always like to talk about it, especially with the younger generation.

Look, you're leading with your heart, and the heart is an important part, but it's not the only part. So let's put some content in the brain, some solid content in the brain. And that's where you get into Romans 12.1.2, the renewing of your mind. You've got to think scriptural, you've got to have that grid of a Christian worldview so you think about things correctly. And then, of course, it doesn't stop with just the head and the heart. You've got to put your feet in your hands and let that truth go out into actual action. So that's the ethos of actually living out the Christian truth claims that you're so passionate about.

So you put all three of those together, that's where the sweet spot is. Look, we're not just trying to appeal to the 18 to 20 year olds, so my generation, 40-something year olds, they can be led wrongly as well. And every generation, we need to hear this. What do people believe?

Why do they believe it? And fundamentally, the Church has given way, they've given ground, they've given up all this valuable ground. If anyone should be leading the charge on racial equity and connecting and unifying in Christ, only the Gospel can bring people together that hate each other racially. If I start liking you because you're black and you start liking me because I'm white, you might find out that I'm a Yankees fan, you're a Red Sox fan. Now you're going to hate me for that because we're sinners. Well personally, I'd hate anybody that's a Yankees or Red Sox fan. I'm a Cardinals fan, but you know I won't be. You know you've got one in every crowd, right there.

Texas Rangers over here. But think about without Jesus, is there any hope? And so Christians should be leading the charge in social justice.

In a sense, we are rightfully critics of the woke culture and the mishandling of social justice and the abuse and the hate that's really charging this racial police officer hating thing. But the fact is, where's the Church been? We should be the leaders, we should be feeding the poor, the Salvation Army, all the William Booth, all the slavery issue that so many believers have died for so that people could be free.

So now the Church is at a key point, it's at a key spot, Ryan. How does she step up and be the Church militant to lift up Jesus, the only solution? Well I think you always make the Gospel first.

I think the idea, by the way, these ideas have been around for a long time. The social Gospel movement a hundred years ago and churches divided, denominations divided over biblical truth. They gave up the Bible, it became less about salvation, it became more about soup and soap and doing good. And by the way, orphanages, hospitals and all these other missionary organizations were started by churches and they gave up the Gospel, they gave up the Holy Spirit, they gave up the power of God. And so no longer can it be transformational. So the messages lost their power, churches boarded up, right?

Unless they had an endowment, right? You see this all over, especially in the northern mainline Protestant denominations, that's what happened. We have to go back to preaching the word yes.

We also have to give people a clear reason. I think one of the things that Scott put so well is it's head, heart, and then it's hands and feet. And you can't be the hands and feet of Jesus if you don't have them in your mind and in your heart. And that's, you always have to start there first.

Dude, did you catch that soup and soap? I really do. I mean, 12 years I've known this guy, he just comes up with these things. He's something else, I tell you what. You're hearing the voice of Scott Lamb. Ryan Helfenbein, I love his name, and these guys are heading up the Freedom Center, also known as the Standing for Freedom Center. And the Standing for Freedom words are important because that could very well be the name of their new national radio program, which is going to do what, Scott? What is your vision for this program? It's really kind of a retail version for the Standing for Freedom Center on the campus of Liberty University, equipping the next generation of champions for Christ. But what is the show going to do?

Well, that's great. Thanks for the question. We hope to take Bible-saturated minds that the two of us bring to the table, bring to the microphone booth, and then basically be absolutely immersed in the daily newspaper, what is happening in the world today, in the current today, and then basically put those two together. Of course, the truth of Scripture trumps the newspaper, but to take the truth of the Scripture and interpret how we should understand what we're seeing, both the good and the bad. And that's why it goes across political lines.

It doesn't matter if it's a GOP or DNC, I don't care if somebody's doing right, if somebody's doing wrong, let's talk about it through the lens of Scripture. And I know that a lot of people do that, and hopefully we're going to add an important voice. Hopefully we're going to speak across the generations, both to the young people that are right there at Liberty University, that they'll listen in, and other university students across the nation.

But then also, even in our parents' and grandparents' generation, maybe they can hear a fresh voice of speaking truth into the issues of the day. And you've got some fellows that are coming along. Can you tell us about those guys? We do. First, we've got Mike Huckabee, former governor of Arkansas, and ran for president twice.

Just a great guy, and I love him, and I asked him if he would join up with us. And then the David and Jason Benham, right down the road here in Charlotte. The Benham brothers. The Benham brothers, the Liberty University alum, former baseball players for Liberty University, business entrepreneurs, and basically just a gasoline can of energy.

One spark of talking to them, and boom, the whole room is blown up in a great conversation about truth. Ryan, who else do we have? Well, and I just add to that, we also have the former secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, is also an advisor to the center, and all things about national and foreign policy. And then, of course, no stranger to the pro-life movement. Somebody's leading in a very, very big way, and that is Abby Johnson. She's the founder of And Then There Were None. And Abby and I have become fast friends.

She's great. She understands what's at stake in this next generation. And one of the arguments that I'm seeing marginalized in evangelical circles, too, and this is really almost alarming, is how the pro-life message and really the pro-life vote, especially in the last election, you had those who were so-called evangelicals who were supporting a very pro-choice, radically pro-choice president, and you saw that slipping away.

And I thought, wait, no, no, no, no. We have got to reclaim the center of that. We're killing our own young in our country.

That's right. And Christian pastors are supporting candidates doing that, and how can you reconcile those things? You really can't, and it's one of them going back to the justice issue, the justice question. Abortion is the most racialized thing in terms of how it targets minorities, how many abortion centers are located in minority communities, and how many people have been ravaged by this industry. But then they say, you just care about getting them born, and you don't give a flip about them when they're born and how they grow up. 95% of resources that have been offered by pro-life crisis pregnancy centers are targeted towards the mother, the mother of the child. They exist for that mother, to minister to that mother, and to make sure that that mother is in a good place so she can have opportunities for her child.

There's a little thing, a little institution called the church, which Christ shed His blood for, that's there for that, too. What a blessing. The Standing for Freedom Center on the campus of Liberty University, Ryan Scott, we're so encouraged. This program is going to be on every day, pumping people up, pointing people to Jesus, and engaging the tough issues of our culture. And for the bonus coverage here, I've got to ask you about H.R.

5 real quick, Ryan. Tell us the downside, the scary parts of that, so people are informed that this is what their senators are about to vote on, either for or against. I would just say, just in summary of the Equality Act, nothing could be further from the truth, okay? It is anti-equality, it is anti-life, it is anti-family, it is anti-faith, it is anti-freedom. It's against women. Women won't have any protection when it comes to public restrooms, women's shelters, all of those things. When it comes to being a radically pro-abortion bill, it strips away RFRA, the Hyde Amendment, all of those things. The scariest thing for parents, okay?

It's not just where you send your kids to school. The Equality Act would actually get between you and the way you counsel and raise your kids. You think about parents, you think about conversion therapy, okay?

What in the world does that even mean? Well, everybody has a different definition, but are you proselytizing your kids to the gospel? Are you sharing the gospel with your children?

I hope that you are. The Equality Act would have something to say about how you raise your kids and talk about those very issues with your children. You could be written up for a hate crime in your own home.

In your own home. And that's what they're trying to legislate right now. That's what they're trying to legislate. That is what you have to understand as a parent.

This is no laughing matter, it is a very serious issue. So pray for Joe Biden, pray for Kamala, pray for the House and the Congress, but their agenda, the President and the Vice President, their express agenda is to turn the Bible into hate speech. That Bible you hold as hate speech. So when you simply say to someone, you know what?

God loves you, but your lifestyle is outside of God's Word, and I want to call you to trust Jesus to save you, just like I'm a wretched sinner that He saved. You have assaulted them according to the, quote, Equality Act, which is really the Inequality Act, which is really desperately evil. And it's past Congress, and now it's about, this is why voting matters. This is why the process matters. This is why being involved matters, because it's about to go and make everything that we're talking about, everything we stand for, illegal. Yeah, it's free speech then becomes violence, and the Gospel requires us to have some kind of freedom. We'll continue to speak the truth and go to jail for it, but the way the Gospel flourishes in this country is the freedom to tell the truth and not lies.

That's where we have to live. Wow, and that's why we need the program, Standing for Freedom, hosted by Scott and Ryan. It's interesting, it's going to be just basically eavesdropping on a conversation. You guys have been having for over a decade, except now we get to open the mics, and we're going to try to work it out so people can call in and participate and that sort of thing.

Scott, give your thoughts on this, and what's your kind of parting challenge as we wrap up today? Well, the parting challenge would be to say that the things that we're talking about even today in this conversation, so much of what we're talking about would have been basic 101 Christian sexual ethics, basic 101 Christian theology for 2,000 years, even before the time of Christ, but certainly from the time of Jesus and the apostle Paul. So, it's amazing that we would have to talk about things that 2,000 years of Christian scholars, Christian pastors, Christian moms and dads would have been passing down as the faith once delivered to the saints. And yet, here we are, and so that is the calling. We don't need to whine about it that this is, well, why do we have to talk about these things?

These are so basic, everybody has always believed this. Well, this is what Jesus has called us to. And so, there's a thousand things we could talk about that wouldn't be controversial, but Jesus has called us to talk about actually the things that our culture is chipping away and blasting away. So, that's where we have to be found faithful. So, pastor, parent, Sunday school teacher, public school teacher, educator, wherever you are, you have a friend in the Standing for Freedom Center. You guys are here to be a resource. Now, at your website, give the website one more time. Standingforfreedom.com All these people are there, these fellows.

Fellows are there, articles are there, videos are there, and we also have some podcasts loaded up as well. Yeah, some of these hot topics of dealing with sexuality, homosexuality, all this transgenderism. In fact, tucked away, I didn't know this, one of your speakers pointed out that tucked away in the LGBTQ, under the Q, is a license for pedophilia.

How dare you make that illegal? That's right. It's just how someone feels. Ryan, it opens up a whole deal that could, and then all of a sudden everyone's like, well, I didn't realize that they're going to allow that, and well, that's why we're here talking about it.

That's right, that's right. But everyone needs Jesus. The pedophilia needs Christ, just like I need Jesus.

But let's make sure our eyes are wide open that we've elected a majority in Congress and in the White House that is pushing this legislation, and it's dangerous. What's your final warning, Ryan? To people about how they can be involved and how we can pray for all, because Christ is coming back. Are we active, occupying till he comes, and are we active spreading the gospel? Because only the gospel can cure the deepest sin in my heart. I don't have a pessimistic view.

I have an optimistic view. And I want to challenge Christians, stop thinking in terms of it's only going to get worse, it's only going to get worse. The moment that we stand up for the gospel, we have something far more powerful to charge the gates of hell with. We have to remember that. And if you want to be persecuted and you want to allow persecution to come and let it come, then honestly, woe to you who do nothing, sit on your hands. I look at this age, this generation, woe to you who call good evil and evil good. We have to be reminded that in this time we have to speak up, we have to stand for truth, and we have to go on the offense and not allow things just to come to us. It is not about living in a foxhole. You know, Martin Luther said, if Jesus Christ were to come tomorrow, I'd plant a tree. Meaning, I'd invest in the things that matter for the long term.

So stop waiting around, get busy, there's a lot of things to do. And you guys have actually interviewed some Canadian pastors who have been to jail themselves for standing up for Christ, for speaking the truth in love. And that could come to a neighborhood near you, and are we ready to stand for him? If you were put in jail for holding to the truth of the gospel, would you go? Would you continue to preach that gospel? And that's the real question, and we may be in those times. Our Chinese brothers and sisters are in those times. But more people are persecuted, executed, tortured, beaten for the gospel right now than have ever been in history.

And the question is, is he worth it? Yeah, amen. I'm so thankful for the courage of those Canadian pastors that knew loving their neighbor meant not shutting down the church, not being sequestered or in their hidey hole, but loving their neighbor actually meant proclaiming the gospel unapologetically.

They were open every Sunday. God bless them for that. So Ryan Helfenbein, Scott Lamb, two leaders of the Freedom Center, the Standing for Freedom Center, and the two hosts of Standing for Freedom coming to a radio outlet near you, make some noise wherever you're listening to Truth Talk right now, to tell them to carry this program. We're so excited. It's not out yet, but hopefully sometime soon. And that same Bat Channel, same Bat Station, right?

Same Bat Network, like they say. But Scott, congratulations, and thank you guys for Standing for Truth. What's your challenge out there to the importance of just fundamentally walking with God, walking in His Word, and Christ being at the center of all of this? I think the New Testament, as they wrote the pages of the New Testament, they wanted the believers to understand, look, Nero and his sword and the Roman Empire, it sure does look scary.

I mean, it really does. But let's give you a little taste of what it's going to be like in the end, because in the end, Jesus Christ is the only victor. It's not even a close call. So the apostle John wrote the book of Revelation to those believers and said, don't think that there's going to be two winners at the end.

There's just one. So get on His side. If you haven't become a believer yet, get on His side. If you are a believer, just wear those white robes, be active, believe the right things, live the right things, and stand for Him.

And very soon, very shortly, we will see Him face to face, and you want to be on His side. Amen. Well, thank you guys for making the Word of God central. Thank you for what you're doing. The Standing for Freedom Center on the campus of Liberty University. The website, one more time, I know we've hit it a bunch, but with all your videos and all your interviews and articles, very big resource.

Get to know this site and go there and send your young people there. These are the next generation. They're going to be running the show when we're gone.

So they've got to plug into this. StandingForFreedom.com Fantastic. God bless you guys. Truth Talk. Google the podcast.

Get it to all your friends and family. Four of them will make this a podcast and follow me on Instagram. I'll put a picture of these guys up and some stuff there on Instagram. Both of them made a slam dunk on the rim in my office. They were not standing for freedom. They were slamming for freedom in my office.

Here at the Truth Network World Headquarters. I'm going to put that up on Instagram. That's big time, guys. I mean, you're about to get famous. That's going to get ten likes.

I mean, you have no idea. That's awesome. God bless you guys. Hey, everyone, follow Jesus. And yes, when you go in the voting booth, He's right there with you. So remember to put Him first, seek ye first to Him in all these areas.

You know, even voting, even in policy. Stand up for what's right and follow Him. And let's lead our families to Him while we still have time. And let's lead other folks to Him. He's the only one that can fix anyone. Amen. This is the Truth Network.