Lathan Watts First Liberty God is Our True freedom 082721

I'm hungry.

What's this? Beans again. Did somebody say hungry? Pistol Peaches Jerky at PistolPeachesJerky.com. A herd of delicious flavors.

Break bronco-busting hunger. Lasso up your order at PistolPeachesJerky.com. Thanks Pistol Pete. I made it myself. PistolPeachesJerky.com. Tell them Pete sent you. Stop.

It doesn't have to be that way. That's why Mike Lindell started MyPillow. And after his success helping people sleep better with the pillow, Mike decided to go all in.

He found Giza Cotton for the best sheets and created the ultimate mattress stopper. And since stores won't carry his product, he's passing that savings on to you. Use the code PastorGreg for incredible discounts and help feed starving children. Call today. 800-544-8939. 800-544-8939.

Nowhere else are you going to be able to sleep well and know that you have fed starving kids. Use the code PastorGreg. Call MyPillow today. 800-544-8939.

For the best night's sleep in the whole wide world, visit MyPillow.com. Did you know you can do your tithing and love offering right from your computer? Visit www.chosengenerationradio.com to support Chosen Generation and make a tax deductible donation. Now back to Chosen Generation with Pastor Greg. And welcome back to Chosen Generation Radio. I'm your host Pastor Greg.

Thanks so much for being here. Man, I hope you got some freedom in that first half hour. Seriously.

Put your hands on your head. Claim Galatians 2-20 and get free. I know. I don't do a lot of preaching on this show per se. This is a mix of bringing, well it's bringing God into a realm that the left wants to tell us He doesn't belong. And I mean that would be like you breaking into somebody's bedroom window and locking the bedroom door and camping out in that bedroom and then telling the owner of the house, you can't come over here.

I'm sorry I'm taking possession of your house in this bedroom. Seriously? Seriously? My Bible says the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. And yet we have a whole, we have churches that seem to think that God is, oh there are certain things that we don't, God, we don't talk about. What does God not have an opinion? Okay.

Well, my next guest fully understands God's opinion and they fight for that First Amendment right to share God's opinion. And it's my pleasure to welcome the Director of Public Relations and Communications for First Liberty, Lathan Watts. Lathan, welcome. Good to have you. Thank you, sir. Thanks for having me back. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Well, you know, I was telling folks as I was introducing this segment last half hour, I introduced all four of my guests to give people an idea of what's coming up. And I said, you know, we've got a Congress, a legislative branch, and it's kind of like having an illness where the virus attacks the body's own DNA.

I'm familiar with that because my wife suffered with that for a number of years. And that's literally what we're watching. We're watching a legislative body. The Constitution of the United States, folks, should be viewed as the DNA of America. It is the DNA of America. The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution are American DNA.

And we have a Congress, Lathan, that is attacking the DNA of the very country that they were elected to represent. Talk to me about these threats specifically to the very First Amendment, the very first thing written in the First Amendment, the free exercise of religion. So just as you said, I mean, first Liberty Institute, this is the only kind of case that we litigate around the country. It's protecting religious liberty. We defend people of all faiths anywhere in the country. So long as people are just trying to live according to what they believe in a way that's in keeping with the law and the Constitution, we will protect their right to do so. And that's what free exercise is about. The folks on the other side of this have sort of coined the phrase, you know, you're free to believe whatever you want, which implies then that your religious freedom really only exists between the ears of the believer. Because if you're free to believe whatever you want, you may not necessarily be free to act on those beliefs. And the free exercise of religion is about acting on those beliefs. And your religious liberty is protected by those causes in the First Amendment to protect your right to live according to your beliefs in all aspects of your life, not just about choosing where you go to church or if you go to church is about acting on those beliefs. Jefferson called it the right of conscience. So even people that aren't necessarily religious should actually still care about religious liberty, because that's what it is. That's what it protects for them, the right to live their life according to what they believe. And we are seeing, you know, we're very, very busy in our office these days with cases all around the country. But the good news is, you know, always want to try to give people some hope.

The good news is we're winning. And there are people out there who need to know that you don't have to fight these fights on your own. If you feel like your religious liberty is under threat, then you need to contact First Liberty Institute.

It's very simple to do so. You just go to our website, firstliberty.org, and at the top of the page, there's a button that says get legal help. If you click that, it will take you to a real short, simple form, just contact information and a place for you to tell us in general what's going on.

And then we'll be in touch with you to get more of the details. But just as you said, you know, people that either misunderstand what the First Amendment is about or they intentionally twist it into something that it is not. Because, frankly, you know, their political beliefs conflict with some of those people of faith who are just trying to live their lives as devoutly as they can. But that right is not limited to the four inside the four walls of your church or between your own ears just to believe what you want to believe. It is about how you go about living daily life and you have a right to do that. And that's what First Liberty exists to protect. And in this instance, what we're looking at is three specific bills that Congress is trying to pass to push through. You know, the House of Representatives in the first one has already passed it. But now they're waiting for the U.S. Senate to approve it and they call it the Equality Act. Can you talk to me about why the Equality Act is so deadly dangerous to religious freedom? Well, the short answer is because it guts the Religious Freedom Restoration Act. The Religious Freedom Restoration Act was passed nearly unanimously. It was carried in the House by then Congressman Chuck Schumer, sponsored in the Senate by Ted Kennedy, signed into law by Bill Clinton.

So that tells you just how far we've come since the early 90s. But it passed, I think it only had two votes against the total in the House and Senate, if I remember correctly. And it was passed because of the Supreme Court decision, Employment Division v. Smith, which drastically lowered the level of scrutiny by courts on government action that impacts religious freedom. And so the Congress did what Congress should do when you when you get a Supreme Court decision that you don't like. They took action. They passed this bill, which created protections for greater protections for people of faith who find themselves under some sort of penalty or in some sort of legal situation because of their religious beliefs.

And that's the proper response to a Supreme Court decision, not to say, well, we're just going to pack the court with more judges that think the way we do so that we can get the decisions we want. That's not Congress's role. But the Equality Act takes sexual orientation and gender identity and makes it a part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protected class. And it specifically says that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act cannot be used as a defense to any violation of the Equality Act.

So it is a serious threat to religious liberty. And as you said, it's already passed the House. It is currently bottled up in the Senate because it's 50-50 and Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema are still holding their ground and saying they will not abolish the filibuster. So as long as the filibuster is in place, I don't think that bill will see the light of day in the Senate. But I'm sure those two senators are under immense pressure to change the rule so that this law could be passed.

So people need to be very vigilant and I would pray for Senator Manchin and Senator Sinema that they stand firm on their position currently that is keeping this bill and others from becoming law because this president will sign it if it gets to his desk. Well, and you make an interesting point, you know, that just 30 years ago, folks, just 30 years ago, we're not talking about, you know, we don't have to go back to the founders. We can just go back 30 years to the 1990s where America united around Christian faith. Were there differences then? There were differences then. There's differences now. There's been differences.

Certainly we can see a very dark shade when it comes to the Democratic Party and some of the things that they have been engaged in for many years and what was the purpose of the founding of the Republican Party. But the point is that America had a commonality in Christian faith. In fact, when Bill Clinton and the Monica Lewinsky situation happened, and I do believe that was a significant turning point in our nation in a lot of different ways, especially morality-wise, but Bill Clinton sought out Billy Graham, Lathan. He went and he sought out Billy Graham and he invited Billy Graham to come to the White House to counsel and to pray with him and to ask God for forgiveness.

Now, you know, I know that he has done other things and there's other things that have been exposed about that and so on since, but he was seeking what all of us understood back then, where do you go? And people still saw the church and the Bible as the moral absolutes, as the glue that held us together and as the moral foundation upon which we based all of our legal system, and now that is what is under assault in the bill that you just described. Yeah, you know, John Adams said that our Constitution was written for a moral and religious people and it is wholly inadequate to the government of any other. What the founders sought to do with the First Amendment was protect the proper role of religion in a free civil society. That common understanding of morality, some people refer to like Judeo-Christian ethics or Judeo-Christian principles, but that common source of morality, it starts first in the home and then in the church.

Now, they didn't want there to be an official church in the United States. That's why we have the first clause in the First Amendment. But they understood that morality and liberty are inextricably linked, that you can't just be free to do whatever you want, that you have to have a common sense of morality because that common sense of morality restrains the individual from doing things he shouldn't do. You know, self-government as a country begins with self-government by the individual. And I think that you can look throughout history when our nation has sort of engaged in what some call nation building, when we have tried to take our form of government and plan it in other parts of the world, if you think of our constitutional republic as the seed, the reason that it worked here, because it was planted in soil that was hospitable to it, there was a common sense of morality here, the Judeo-Christian ideas of men being created in the image of God. And because we are, we have rights from God, exactly, and therefore the purpose of government is to protect those rights. If you take that seed, that constitutional republic, and try to plant it in soil where that doesn't exist, it doesn't work. And that's why we've seen that throughout history.

So those things are inextricably linked. That's what the First Amendment is about, preserving the role of religion in a free civil society. That's why it's got to be protected. That's why we do what we do at the First Liberty Institute. Well, just as a contrast to that, you look at portions of the Middle East where that has been attempted and failed, but you look at a place like Poland, which broke free from the USSR. Well, it broke free because there was a Great Awakening. There was a religious revival, actually, that took place in Poland that led to Walensky's ability to build a party that could then break off the shackles of communism so that they could experience a level of freedom in that country. Oh, absolutely. And you had aided greatly by Pope John Paul II, who was Polish.

100 percent. And again, because why? Because there was a Christian biblical undercurrent foundation that took place with regards to that. And bringing that forward to where we are right now, that is one of the reasons why it's so important for First Liberty to fight these fights. Because literally the very soul of this nation is at risk if religious liberty falls, if they are able to do what they're trying to do with the equality bill, with the quote unquote for the people bill, with the quote unquote misinformation act.

They give them nice little, you know, fancy feel good names, but they are deception at their roots in their attempts to destroy the one thing that makes America, America. And that is that foundation, that Christian foundation with God holding us in the palm of his hands. Lathan, thanks for all that you do. FirstLiberty.org. FirstLiberty.org. Get over there today. Get read up and fight the good fight.

We'll be back with more Children's Generation Radio right after this. Hi, this is Michael, creator of Michael's MNP Supplements. Let's talk energy. Do you wake up tired even after a full night's sleep? Does keeping up with your family and or your job leave you exhausted by noon?

Do you find yourself turning way too early in the day and too often to caffeine loaded drinks just to get you through it all? Why not turn to Michael's MNP's energy factors instead? Our energy factors are safe, healthy and a natural way to keep your body energized and without that caffeine crash that you get from those laden drinks. Visit us today at Michael's health dot com. That's Pastor Greg and I use energy factors.

They're great. Order yours today at Michael's health dot com. That's Michael's health dot com and use Pastor Greg for your special discount.

That's Pastor Greg and get your special discount today. In the defense of our freedom, there's no better way to do so than by joining the Association of Mature American Citizens. AMAC. AMAC is one of the fastest growing conservative organizations in America. Well, over two million people have joined and now carry the AMAC membership guard. AMAC was built by regular folks who feel the same way you do.

You're not alone. AMAC believes in and stands up for the values that made America so great. We're fighting the good fight against reckless government spending and the ever expanding scope of federal government.

We believe in the sanctity of our Constitution. So if you're 50 or over and hold to traditional American values, you no longer have to feel alone. Call the Association for Mature American Citizens AMAC and get great discounts and support your values. Call today. 855-696-7930 855-696-7930. Use the code Pastor Greg.

Get your first year absolutely free. If cancel culture and censorship continue at their current pace, there will soon be nothing left of the truth. The Epoch Times was founded to keep truth alive. We ask the questions we think you'd ask. We check facts without regards to any political agenda.

No one tells us what to cover or how to cover it. We're not influenced by big corporations or political parties. Our great passion is to expose the spread of socialism and communism. We cover the Chinese Communist Party and how it works to subvert American education and politics. We cover big issues like election integrity, the exploding national debt, the fight against coronavirus and the truth about its origins.

We cover Democrats and Republicans in exactly the same way. We have a special trial subscription offer right now, one month of our printed paper and total access to our amazing online content for just $1. You'll find it at trusted newspaper.com. One month, $1.

Trusted newspaper.com. Help the Epoch Times keep truth alive. Look, I am for marriage between a man and a woman. I am for life from conception. I am for following the Bible and I believe that our founders started this nation on biblical principles.

I am in support of our military and believe that America should play a role in world security. I believe our constitution was intended for a moral people and that the Bible contains the only true moral code. I believe we are all born sinners and that God in His grace and mercy sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins and that if we will confess our sins, He is just and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. I believe salvation is not just accomplished in a little prayer, but that it is found in how that transformation is lived out. Jesus is to be the Lord of our lives and we should follow biblical precepts. This is not legalism or works, but a life lived out in love and honor towards the one who died for my sins. Faith without works is dead and is no faith at all. I believe that we will fall and that we need to have a repentant heart and that God will ultimately bring us into perfect action through Jesus Christ.

We are a man perfected and soulish man in progress. I believe that we are not to live in guilt and shame when we fall, but we repent and get up and move closer to Jesus. I believe that if our nation will repent and turn from wickedness, that God will heal our land.

I believe that as a Christian, I must occupy until He comes and that to call evil wicked and to warn about those evil acts is a part of the mandated Christianity. That to love also means to be willing to take the risk necessary to confront a friend with the truth in hopes that their heart will be turned because their life matters, even if it means in that moment they will possibly hate me. It means that I must risk scorn to stand for truth and that I can never sit silently by while evil attempts to conquer the world. God is my everything and Jesus is the love of my life. That does not make me weak but strong, not silent but bold and not fearful but courageous. Therefore, if you are my friend, while we may not fully agree, know that I share what I share because I care.

If you strongly disagree with these beliefs, they are not debatable for me and you can, if you choose, unfriend me. I do not say this in anger but in love, I wish for you eyes to see and ears to hear that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation and that God, not man, gets to decide what is truth, life and the way. God bless you. And welcome back to the show. God bless you.

God bless you. And as I said earlier in this program, the earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. This is all God's property, all of it. And Jesus didn't say I'm bringing the kingdom of heaven when I come back. In fact, he said I'm bringing judgment is going to come upon the world when it comes back. In total, he's going to act on the judgment. He goes back just to John chapter three. The Word of God says, For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him would not perish but have everlasting life. And then he goes on to talk about, I didn't come to condemn the world. That's great.

Oh, he's here for love. No, he says the world's already condemned. Read the rest of it.

3.18, 3.19, 3.20. The world is already condemned and the light came into the world and man rejected the light because man would rather live in the darkness. Let's talk about that. The church, ladies and gentlemen, today we're living in darkness. We want the pastor to tell us what we want the pastor to tell us, not what's in the Word of God, not challenge us with the Bible. And yet when we walk outside of the church, we say to the government, OK, now you tell us what we're supposed to do. So God in the church doesn't get to tell you what to do because you want to tell God what you're going to do in the church.

It's not out of the church. It's the government telling you what to do. Can you see how upside down we are, folks? This is America's problem. This is our dilemma. We've lost our soul.

Let's get it back. This is Adam Mundall with State Air and we are sponsors of Chosen Generation and Pastor Greg. Sponsoring this program has been a real blessing to our business, and I want to encourage you to join me in sponsoring Chosen Generation and Pastor Greg. Call him today at 830-446-3624. Once again, that's 830-446-3624. I know your business will be blessed as ours is and I challenge you to this blessing.

Thank you. Ask yourself, what do you pay for health care? Are you single? Do you pay more than $199 a month? Are you a couple? Do you pay more than $299 a month?

Do you have a family? Do you pay more than $399 a month? Yes, you can serve the entire family with health care for only $399 a month. Sign up at any time of the year. Pick your own doctor and hospital. For more information, go to LibertyHealthShare.org. That's LibertyHealthShare.org.