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October 16, 2020 7:30 am

God & Politics

If Not For God / Mike Zwick

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October 16, 2020 7:30 am

Christians are encouraged to vote informed by their faith, not based on the words of politicians, but on the unchanging word of God, and what God says about life, marriage, and other issues.

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Hello, this is Matt Slick from the Matt Slick Live Podcast, where I defend the Christian faith and lay out our foundations of the truth of God's Word. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to If Not For God, stories of hopelessness that turn to hope. Here is your host, Mike Zwick. The following interview was paid for by Mike Zwick.

Today, If Not For God treads into some turbulent waters. Who would have ever thought that we'd be talking about politics? I'm not your normal introducer guy.

I'm Stu Epperson. I'm not the Christian car guy, but I am with your host, Michael Zwick, the man of the hour. Michael's sitting next to a guy who says that God led him to run for political office. How could that be? Can you mix God and politics?

How does your faith inform your vote? All those things are on the table. Michael Zwick, we got a Zinger here, don't we? We do. We've got Zinger and Zwick. Zinger and Zwick. Jeff Zinger is actually running.

He's for the US. It's actually for the North Carolina House. If you're in Forsyth County, you probably want to remember the name Jeff Zinger. Jeff, what got you involved in politics? Honestly, I originally got in politics because I was a paperboy when I was about 12 years old. The first thing I did was read it. I read it from cover to cover. I got hooked.

It was the Carter Ford election. I'm sorry to say that I'm that old, but it got me hooked, and I've been involved with it ever since. About eight or nine years ago, I had some folks ask me to consider running for the town council in Louisville. I went ahead and did that. I just saw God use me in some big ways there.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. I thought that I was probably done with that when my term ended in December. Lo and behold, about six weeks before my term ended, some folks called me and said, hey, we would like you to run for State House. I started to think about it. The Lord has used me in all different ways throughout my life. I just said, well, here's another venue, right? Let's go.

Let's see what I can do for you or how you can use me in Raleigh. There have been a lot of issues that have come up this fall, but one of the issues that a lot of people are talking about is abortion. I saw last year, it was kind of a big deal where Governor Roy Cooper actually vetoed the Born Alive Bill. Can you tell us a little bit about that? Abortion is heinous.

I did 13 years of urban ministry in Baltimore City. What you realize pretty quickly is the abortion industry was designed, it's like the ultimate racist industry that there is. It's designed to go into communities. Margaret Sanger said it herself, to go into these communities and to stop minority people from reproducing. It's absolutely heinous. Over the years, it's what is it, we're up to about 65 million people that have been aborted. It's just disgusting. Now, we're getting to the point where they're talking about not abortion, but then for a long time, we talked about the last trimester.

Now, we're talking about after they're born. I mean, the governor of Virginia is talking about that. It's absolutely, absolutely heinous. If we, who have conviction, do not stand up, how can we stand up and not say something when this kind of stuff is going on? We're at a point where what we really need is we all need to have courage, encourage a conviction, and we need people in positions of power that have character, they know who they are, they know what they stand for, and they know why they stand for it. And I believe I do. That's why I want to be there.

That's awesome. And there is a lot of stuff that's going on in this country right now. And I think it was Franklin Delano Roosevelt who said, the only thing that we have to fear is fear itself. Well, right now in this country, there are a lot of people who are fearful.

What would you say to them right now? Well, two things. First of all, remember that there are some people that when you're fearful, somebody is gaining power because of that. And so there are people out there that want you to be fearful. They want you to be fearful of the virus, they want you to be fearful of the rioting, they want you to be fearful of, you know, X, Y, and Z. They want you to be fearful because it gives them power. And so the, you know, the scripture says, fear not 365 times, one for every day of the year. That's so that you don't give power to the people that you're going to fear.

That's so that you don't give power to someone else. So first thing I would say is, as Christians, let's be courageous. Now, does that mean be reckless, like in the in terms of the virus? No, we don't want to be reckless. But let's be fearless. Okay, and let's be, we can be smart, and be fearless. And so I would tell folks, if you're fearful, there are plenty of things to be fearful of. But you have a big God.

Rest in the arms of God, and trust his word. He said, fear not. And we're living in a time where he also has asked us to be courageous, be strong, and be courageous. If there was ever a time that we need to do that, it's right now in this country right now.

Yeah, that's good. And I actually heard Dr. David Jeremiah on the radio in the past week. And one of the things that he said was that in the last election of 2016, there were millions and millions and millions of evangelical voters who did not vote. That's one thing not to be fearful and to trust God and stuff like that. It's another thing to take the voice that we have and to stand up. Why do you think it's important that Christians vote this year? Well, I think and it comes down to this, this was really comes down to about why I ran, you know, God opened the door for me to run. And it's just like he gives us the opportunity to vote.

When we don't do that, when we don't run through those opportunities, we're effectively saying, well, whoever it is, whoever it is, well, think about who that whoever it is could be. And so you know, I think it's our obligation as Christians in a holy race, as God calls us in Peter, a holy race and a holy nation to go out and exercise our rights. And for us as Christians, you know, I'll just tell you to run for this for the North Carolina House is a lot of hard work for this district. You certainly don't do it for the money because it pays.

Nothing pays about 13,000. And you know, I have a business. I mean, I can do a whole lot better by not going but God has opened the door for me. And so I feel obligated as a as a Christian to go there and to and to have someone of sound mind in there making decisions. So the when when when you say somebody in sound mind making decisions, I we were actually talking about this earlier.

I was talking to somebody the other day and the middle part of North Carolina. And he told me he said, Mike, he said, there, this country got in trouble when we took the prayer out of schools. He said, they want to take in God we trust off of the off of off of all of our money. And he said they they want to take away the Pledge of Allegiance. And he said, these are problems.

And he said, Oh, and by the way, I'm voting straight ticket Democrat. Is there some sort of a contradiction there? Or is it just me?

Or? Well, I think that that's a place where people's worldview and their and their politics have not collided. And so we run into that a lot. I will say though, that I have seen a huge switch, where where people are saying, Hey, wait a minute.

And they're starting to do it. We had a great conversation. We've knocked a lot of doors, okay. And we were in a neighborhood. And we were two people of color were there. And we had a great conversation with him.

One was wearing a BLM mask. By the time we were done, he was praying with us. Yeah.

And you know, it was actually my wife, I'm taking a little bit of credit. But you know, we are one flash, right? So but anyway, and but the point is, is, is, is we, when we've talked to folks, we make the the point where you're supposed to be, we are not divided as races any longer. Once we come to know Christ, we are a new race. And that race is a holy race.

And we're supposed to be a holy nation. And so if you if you go out with that approach and start to understand we have way more in common, then we don't. And so from that premise, that's where we need to get busy and start to do some work.

That's awesome. And so there are some people who are saying, Yeah, you're telling me to vote, tell me to vote, I'm gonna vote. Um, what else can they do to get involved, whether it be knocking on doors or phone? I mean, what would you tell them? Yeah, I would say, Listen, get involved in a campaign. If you call any campaign, there's tons of things you can do. We have we do phone calls, which sounds intimidating.

But the software is fantastic. It dials them, most of them go to voicemail, it automatically sends a voicemail, a few, you'll get to talk and generally the people are very, very kind. knocking on doors also sounds intimidating. I find it to be exhilarating.

It is great. You get to talk if you're extroverted, in particular, you get to talk with people. And if you go and you make that personal touch, and we're knocking on doors, then there's poll watchers, we are desperate for poll watchers, we're also need folks to work the polls on the day of the polls or during early voting. And all the candidates need that. So there's a lot of ways to get involved.

And it's a lot of fun, you'll make some great new friends, and you'll have impact, I guarantee it, you will have impact. That's awesome. And so how did you become a Christian? Well, it was a long time ago, 3035 or more years ago, and I had really just tried everything. I was successful, very young.

And I had moved out, I bought my first house when I was 21. And I was doing all the right things. I was going to a dead church. And I was helping with a youth group at a dead church. And I was just trying to be a super good guy.

But you know what, it wasn't filling me. And so they asked me to help with this other youth group. And so I did. And I met this young lady named Julie Glaser. And she was 17.

And she, she'd gone to Young Life. And she loved the Lord. In fact, the pastor said, you know, this is the most godly kid I've ever met. And so I went with her and I started doing this youth group where she started telling me about Jesus. And so before very long, I met the Lord through that interaction. And then a couple years later, I married her. And so, and we've been married now for 31 years, we've raised four incredible kids, and we just became empty nesters like three weeks ago.

And, and so far, the sheriff has not been to our house. So anyway, it's been a great ride. But, you know, if I could sum my life up in one verse, it's Ephesians where it says, God can do immeasurably more than you can ask or imagine. I came from a very, very difficult, very hard, personal background, single parent family, it was terrible. I could never have thought when I met the Lord 35 years ago to pray for the life for the life that I have now. And so it is, I tell people, I'm going to start to cry if I think about it too much, because it is absolutely unbelievable. I never would have thought to pray for a woman like my wife, who's amazing. I never would have prayed for four great kids.

I never would have, I mean, just the list goes on and on. So God does big things. And now I'm at a point in my life where I know, look at what God has done. So now I look forward and say, okay, well, maybe it's politics.

What am I going to look back on 30 years from now? Yeah, amen. Michael Zwick might be a good time to remind people the name of this program based on what he just said. If not for God. If not for God.

Yeah. And to close it out, there's a quote where the people are kind of on the fence and maybe you say, I want to get involved, but I don't really feel like it, or I'm busy or this or that. It's by Roosevelt. And it says, it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how strong, how the strong man stumbles or where they're doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who airs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming, but who does actually strive to do the deeds, who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions, who spends himself in a worthy cause, who at the best knows in the end of the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat. Jeff Zinger.

Thank you so much. Jeff Zinger with Michael's Wick. Jeff's website is Jeff Zinger, Z-E-N-G-E-R.com to learn more about him and be sure you download the If Not For God podcast and share it with all your friends. If Not For God with Michael's Wick. The interview you just heard was paid for by Mike's Wick. Political ads.

By now, you may be absolutely tired. You may be ready to punch a fist through the TV or change that radio dial only to find another political ad at another station, but I'm honored to be in the seat next to Michael's Wick, the awesome host of If Not For God. I'm Stu Epperson and it's put us here at The Truth Network in an interesting spot this political season, but Michael's Wick, it's your show.

I'm going to throw it to you. It is good to see you, my friend. Love your program. Love listening every week. Hey, thanks a lot for coming on, Stu. I appreciate it and yeah, if you haven't heard a political ad advertisement on television this year, then you probably don't have a television and there is a lot of back and forth and it was actually, I was curious because before my show, I think it was last week or something like that, but I actually heard a Joe Biden ad right before my show and I was like, well, that wasn't for me, but I'm sure you've had some people, Stu, who've asked you, well, what are you guys playing Joe Biden ads for or maybe even why are you playing political ads in the first place?

So what's going on with that? I just got an email, a voicemail from a listener who said, we listen to The Truth Network and why are you supporting Joe Biden? Why are you supporting the Joe Biden campaign? So I had to call her back and say, we are not supporting Joe Biden.

We're not endorsing any candidate, but we would never support a candidate who's not pro-life, who's not pro-marriage, who stands against God on all the issues. But I had to explain to the lady that by federal law, radio's regulated by the FCC and by federal law, we can't just take ads from one party. So if a conservative, family-friendly, solid candidate runs an ad, we have to run the ad by law for his opponent. It's extremely regulated. So we're calling a lot of listeners to say, this is the law. We, unfortunately, that's out of our hands, but we're also able to put some disclaimers on and use shows like this. And so thanks so much for the opportunity to be a guest on If Not For God Today, Michael, to explain to people, hey, we haven't changed our values.

The Truth Network is still The Truth Network, but it is a turbulent time we're in and we're having to maintain our legal integrity, but also explain through my true commentaries, through shows like this, where we really are, really view on things and explain to people how this whole thing works. Yeah, that's right. And so the election is actually November 3rd. But I know in North Carolina, especially in my district, we can start voting on October the 15th. I'm going to get out and vote October 15th. But why do you think it is important that people do vote this year? I heard an estimate, and I hope this is wrong, but as many as 40 percent of evangelical Christians don't vote, will not vote in an average election cycle. That is absolutely heartbreaking.

That right there should wake us up. If everyone listened to my voice would vote, but don't just vote, vote informed by your faith. Don't vote based on the word of a politician.

These politicians by your time, and they'll say anything that they can say to get elected. This is their job. This is their pension.

This is their future. This is their 401k. You know, during the pandemic, when everyone's laying everyone off, people are out of work. You didn't see one politician take a pay hit, right? You didn't see one Congressman or Senator say, you know what, no one's getting paid in my district. I'm not getting paid.

No. And I'm not advocating for that, but I'm just saying that they're trying to advance their name. So they'll say whatever it takes. So you'll have people that have nothing to do with God, nothing to do with life, that while they were glad that their mom was pro-life and didn't let didn't murder them as a baby, they're glad about that. They'll come on a Christian radio station and they'll say whatever it takes and act like a nice or whatever to get elected.

And so what we're trying to communicate and what I want everyone listening to really think about is step way back. So don't think about the who you're voting for. Think about the why. Why would you vote? First of all, legally, biblically, it's a stewardship.

We live in a republic that allows the citizenry to vote by the people, for the people, right? So if you're a believer, then you have a privilege. It's a stewardship. Just like God gives you money.

What do you do with your money? You better be giving it to the Lord. Less than 10% of believers give 10% to Christ. Did you know that?

It's terrible. We would have to have all these missionaries begging for money all the time if we just gave, you know? Less than 5% of believers have ever led someone to Christ. Well, the Bible says that all of you are to go be my witnesses, Jesus said, Acts 1-8, Matthew 28. We're ministers of reconciliation, 2 Corinthians 5.

So there's a lot of disconnects. One of them is with voting. You know, the parable of the just steward, the unjust steward, he just hit it under a rock, right?

Did nothing with it. And the master came home and called him on the carpet. Christians are accountable for their vote because they're legally allowed to participate. And they have the ability to vote someone. We're not electing a pastor, by the way.

You're not going to find one candidate, no matter how clean and wishfully clean they are, they smell or they look, they sound, who's going to be perfect. But you have an opportunity to vote for people who are closer to the biblical worldview, not based on the words of a smooth, slick politician, but based on the word of God, the unchanging word of God, and what God says about life, what God says about marriage. So the question is, am I a vote?

Not just yes, you should vote, but is your vote informed by your faith? And that's where you've got to look at those parties that are running and they both have platforms. Go look, do a little homework and look at the platforms and ask yourself, is this really lined up with God's word? And I don't like this guy's well, you've got to look at what, you know, you've got to ask God to show you that.

And it's, and it's, it becomes more and more black and white than where you study it. Yeah. I met a guy on an airplane and it was probably about eight years ago, nine years ago, 10 years ago, and he was pro-life. He was Christian.

He, you know, he, we believed in a lot of the same things. And he, but he said, he said, I haven't voted in about 10 or 12 years because all of these candidates, they don't line up a hundred percent with what I want. And what I was trying to explain to him is that if you don't vote, then the lesser of two evils is going to get in.

Yeah. Like you just said, nobody's going to vote. Nobody's perfect, but I mean, the worst thing you can do is just not to vote. And so we, we had, we had had Jeff Zenger on. He's a guy who's actually in Forsyth County.

He's running for the North Carolina house. And we were talking a little bit about that as well. And it's like, you know, whether it's with president Trump where people say, well, I don't like some of the things that he says or whoever it is, then it's like, well, we have to, you have to make up your mind. And I think you have to choose one way or the other.

Who is the best candidate, who best supports you and what you believe in your faith and your values. But we were also talking about this as well is that we, you know, it's, it says in scripture that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. And Stu, it seems like right now in the United States, there, there has been a lot of division.

What do you think? There's a ton of division. There's a ton of, in this, this political stuff, just throws it wide open, you know, and it's, there's a whole lot of acrimony. And first of all, we've got to step back and ask ourselves who's on the throne. We talk about the Supreme court, but let me tell you something. There's a Supreme court in heaven and God almighty is sitting on his throne. Isaiah 66, one, two, heaven is my throne.

And the earth is my footstool. That's God almighty talking. And the one he looks to is the one who trembles at his word, who's humble. And so God is on his throne. God is in control, not these politicians.

They're going to come and go with the wind, but God's word lasts forever. I was just thinking about this, who won the second presidential debate in the 1984 election. And what was the question from the moderator? See, no one remembers that. And if you do good, good for you, but no one does, but let me tell you what I can remember. I can remember what John three 16 says. I can remember what Psalm 84 11 says. I can remember what Isaiah 66 verses one and two say. I can remember John 15 five, where Jesus says, abide in the vine, apart from me, you can do nothing because that's God's word.

And that lasts forever. These politicians will say anything. They'll they'll, they'll mouth whatever they need to mouth to get you to fall in line. So you got to look closely at what they're saying, but you got to step back as believers and realize, Hey, I've got a great, my, my fallback, my backup plan is actually my primary plan.

And that's the Lord Jesus Christ coming back. So things could get a lot worse. We could be like the rest of the world, chunks and chunks, multitudes and multitudes of Christians are being, are being persecuted in prison, beaten, murdered for their faith in Jesus Christ.

We got it made here in America. We don't share our faith. We're not persecuted for our faith. We're not giving to the faith by and large.

So things could go really bad politically where, you know, certain parties get in power. They want to take away. I mean, they want to take away the, you know, uh, the absolute right for Christians to speech. They're calling hate speech. When you just read Ephesians five marriage between a man and woman, like God made it, they're calling it hate speech. If you say anything different, they call it hate speech. If you, if you don't endorse, you know, the radical homosexual agenda, they're calling it hate speech.

If you it's really, and that's where the, that whole party wants to take the legality pastor, you will marry two men in your church, or you will go to jail. That's where that's going. And they would say, Oh, it's not going that way. That's what they said 20 years ago. Oh, it would never be that way.

Well, guess what? It's now the law of the land. 20 years ago, they called me a lunatic on my show, truth talk for saying that, well, this is going to bring back polygamy and a man's going to want to marry his, his daughter.

And four couples are going to want to get married and be one, one family unit poly polyamory. I said that 20 years ago on my radio show and I got laughed at by my opponents. I debated a, uh, a lesbian minister on my radio show, national radio show, and she thought I was crazy.

And I said, what about the slippery slope? She said, we'll never do that. She said, this country will never, this country will never legalize same-sex marriage.

It'll never happen. And no one will ever be persecuted for expressing disagreement with that. But the law based on the Supreme court's last ruling just a month or two ago, basically they left it open that it could be contrived as hate speech, which is a crime. If you disagree with, or in any way openly say, this is wrong based on God's word, I still love you, but this is wrong. Those even saying that could be a hate crime.

And that's where that's the direction that a lot of forces went. So does your vote matter? Well, God's given you that vote.

He's given you an opportunity to vote. The question is, well, Christians wake up like Metaxas' book, which I'm loaning you. I always loan books because I'm not sure the person I loan them to is going to read them.

I know you'll read it and it may turn into a gift. Eric Metaxas' book, If You Can Keep It, The Forgotten Promise of American Liberty, Words of Jefferson, all these framers of the Constitution, they said, this is an unbelievable experiment. No, they weren't perfect.

Yeah, there were all kinds of problems. Yeah, we got issues and sin and every one of those guys, but we are a free country. But the question is, can we keep it? And can we honor the God who gave us this land of the free and the home of the brave? What are we doing with it? Why aren't we sending out more missionaries? Why aren't we going in? And if we love black lives, if black lives matter, why aren't we leading black lives to Christ?

I haven't heard anyone say that yet. If you say, if you're a Christian and you say black lives matter and you're not actively reaching out, loving, discipling black lives, then guess what? I wonder if you really like black lives. Total hypocrisy. So that means Christians, the world is looking for Christians who are authentic.

The world is wondering, why are these people fakes? So if you don't vote in the election, you have no right to complain. You have no right on November the 10th, oh, it's so bad. Well, no, you didn't vote.

Forget about it because you have your vote is your voice and it's a chance to practice that stewardship. It's God given. I agree with you. And I want to thank you for your support. I agree with you, and so just to finish it out, if not for God. If not for God. And that's really the ultimate prerogative. God is on His throne. This is the Truth Network.
Whisper: medium.en / 2024-02-04 07:06:40 / 2024-02-04 07:19:18 / 13

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