On today's show, Marco Rubio praised for his Munich Security Conference speech. as eyes begin to turn to 2028. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever. This is Sekulow. We want to hear from you.
Share and post your comments or call 1-800-684-3110. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow. Welcome to Sekulow. It is Monday. We got a packed show today.
A lot of guests are going to be joining us. I'm alone in the studio right now, but that won't be for too long. Later on in the broadcast, I'm going to be joined by Nathan, one of our ACLJ attorneys. Got an update on a case you're not going to want to miss. Another one of those, I can't believe it's real and happening in the United States moments, where, of course, someone is being persecuted for their faith in sometimes what you consider to be a minor way.
But of course it's also because we're talking about this being a fifth grader. And this is happening in our own country. We're going to discuss that coming up. And then later on, we're going to be joined by Steve Wiggins from Big Tent Revival and so many other projects he's worked on over the years. He's a great ministry now and also leads tours to Israel.
He always talks a great biblical perspective on the support of Israel, what it looks like, and of course, the rising tide of anti-Semitism, including a gotcha moment that I think was handled pretty well by LeBron James, who is now under extreme criticism online for very, very simple comments. About Israel, a place he's never been to. and seemingly never really thought about visiting. But of course for not condemning it first handing the first thing he says He is under attack when you have the first Israeli player to ever be in the NBA and be an all-star. that of course these questions would start to come up.
My brother Jordan Sekulow is going to be joining us a little bit later as well in the second half of the show. And I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-30110. One of the breaking news items out of the day was sort of this, what they're calling a diplomatic miracle. From Marco Rubio, who delivered a speech That has been widely praised, kind of bringing the room together at the Munich Security Conference, talking about the importance of a safe America and a safe Europe, and how Europe and America have to always be working together. Of course, that's one of the major reasons we even have something like the European Center for Law and Justice.
I want you to hear from Marco Rubiel, then I want to set up a call because what everyone's saying is this is not only a great speech, which I think he did a phenomenal job. I watched it just a few minutes ago in its entirety. But also, all the eyes are starting to turn to 2028. And who will be that Republican frontrunner? Who will be the Democrat frontrunner?
I think we already know Gavin Newsom is probably right now considered to be the Democrat frontrunner, but the Republicans bit. Up in the air. Let's hear from Marco Rubio though, byte 13. For We in America have no interests. And being polite and orderly caretakers of the West's managed decline.
We do not seek to separate. but to revitalize an old friendship. and renew the greatest civilization in human history. What we want is a reinvigorated alliance that recognizes that what has ailed our societies is not just a set of bad policies. but a malaise of hopelessness and complacency.
Yes, and that again is a Marko Rubio. We got a lot more to play from that coming up in the next segments. I want you to be a part of it. What do you think? What is 2028?
Is your mind even going there yet? Knowing you only have a few years left of President Trump, what does it look like in 2028, which is only now? I mean, we'll start seeing really everything heat up in the next. Really get through the midterms? It's only ten months away?
Nine months away, get through the midterms, then what happens? And all of a sudden, everyone starts talking about President Trump announced historically early. For his return in the last election 2024.
So what would it look like? This time around, as we know, it's going to get a bit fragmented. I want to hear from you at 1-800-68-4-31-10. And again, you're going to hear from a lot of different voices today. The ACLJ voices, some of our attorneys coming up, because again, whether we're talking about the big global stage or we are talking about a student, a fifth grader, Who just needs some help, some legal help and legal guidance.
You're gonna know why. Coming up here shortly, it's gonna be joined by one of our ACLJ attorneys. And, like I said, later on, my brother Jordan's gonna be joining us. And Steve Wiggins, his incredible ministry, and they'll be leading. A trip to Israel, you're always looking for different places.
to go to Israel, to visit Israel and people that we trust. Steve's one of those people that we trust, so we'd like to recommend him and as long as a few others who are always going to give you not only a biblical perspective of Israel, but the modern state of Israel as well. Phone lines are open for you at 1-800-684-30-110. What do you think about Marco Rubio? What do you think about 2028?
I want to hear from you at 1-800-684-3110. We'll be right back with more. On Sekulow, stay tuned. All of it available, by the way, at aclj.org. Welcome back to Sekulow.
We are taking your phone calls at 1-800-684-3110. Just open up the lines at 1-800-684-3110. Talking about quite a few different topics today. We're gonna be bouncing around. Of course, the weekend happens.
You never know what's gonna pop over the weekend. One of the ones that was the most surprising. Not necessarily was what we are mostly going to be talking about today. Is that Marco Rubio went to the Munich Security Conference, made his speech in a speech that is being really applauded? Even from a bipartisan way, again, people are calling it historic.
They're calling it a diplomatic miracle as he really brought the room together. As I start to look to whether he is eyeing a Presidential run in 2028, of course, he has run many times before. I've seen his name on the ballot. I'm sure many of you have voted for Marco Rubio. Maybe if you've voted for a Ted Cruz, maybe these are names that are not unfamiliar to you.
Now, we do have to be honest and look at the facts that when you start becoming a frontrunner, Multiple years out. Historically You don't end up being the guy.
So of course I think we've got to be a little careful going in.
Now a lot of that changed with President Trump. But he went out there and made a very diplomatic speech, a speech that spoke to the hearts of the Europeans, probably spoke to the hearts of a lot of Americans. It was what you'd say is quote unquote Presidential in the traditional sense, maybe taking us back in time quite a bit. You know, there was last night the NBA All-Star game. I know many of you probably tuned in.
I know many of you probably didn't. You had Barack Obama, President Obama, on the front row. He's been making some headlines as well over the weekend with some of the podcast interviews he's been doing. He caught a ball that went rogue in the crowd, and it was a good moment. And it did kind of harken you back to years of old when maybe that was more of the tone of the President of the United States.
And Marco Rubio kind of sent a similar tone. A hopeful tone, a tone that looked to a future where we could be a little bit more united around the world. Not something that really, I mean, though he definitely represents the Trump administration, doesn't necessarily reflect always the tone of the Trump administration. And at the ACLJ, for the last 25 years, we have had, plus now, it's 26 years, 27 years, we've had the ECLJ, the European Center for Law and Justice, because we know that intrinsically we are linked together as Western civilizations, if you will, that have had a lot of the same issues over the decades and decades and decades of religious freedom. We've actually seen more.
push in the last five years towards this You have a successful mission at the ECLJ.
Now, of course, there's always going to be some step backs, especially in France. You never know where France is going to go.
Sometimes they lean very conservative, sometimes they don't. But let's hear from Marco Rubio once again as you start to think about what a 2028 looks like. I want to hear from you. It's a very stellar performance. I think you did a very good job.
But even the words that we're talking about here, because I try to talk to you all all the time. About the European Center for Law and Justice. And I'll be honest, that I can always look at the numbers and go: a lot of you do not seem to care or really connect. with why it's important that we're there. I know why it's important.
It has been a part of our story the entire time. Really, the entire ACLJ, none of it happens without European immigrants coming over to this country. We know how important that our role is in being connected with Europe. But we get a little lost sometimes on that. Marco Rubio?
Seems to correct the course a bit. Let's hear byte seven. And so, this is why we Americans may sometimes come off as a a little direct and urgent. in our council. This is why President Trump demands seriousness and reciprocity from our friends here in Europe.
The reason why, my friends. is because we care deeply. We care deeply about your future. And ours. And if at times we disagree, Our disagreements come from our profound sense of concern about a Europe with which we are connected.
not just economically, not just militarily. We are connected spiritually. and we are connected culturally. We want Europe to be strong. We believe that Europe must survive.
Because the two great wars of the last century Serve for us. as history's constant reminder. that ultimately Our destiny is and will always be. intertwined With yours. Because we know Getting a applause break in that crowd, not that common.
It's something like the uh Munich Security Conference. where he's speaking about the sort of intrinsic nature of the connection between Europe How our destiny is ultimately intertwined with yours. This was an excellent speech for those of us who also strive for a better Europe. And I found it to be very moving and and very important. And a bit hopeful to where even the Republican Party can look in just a few years.
I think that there was times with the President Trump's administration, we needed that course correction. where things were getting out of hand. But there are also times where maybe you have someone like Marco Rubio, again, representing the Trump administration, who can. Pivot. A bit more.
And bring the world a little bit back together. Let's hear from Michael in Florida, who's calling on line one, watching on our YouTube stream. Michael, go ahead. Gentlemen. I just couldn't be more proud of Marco and that speech.
It was so inviting. It was it was Unity Incarnate. The other thing that I want to say is Marco is one of many All Stars. that we have top to bottom. in the Trump administration.
I couldn't be more proud of it. Michael, there is a deep bench, maybe, as you'd say, but. I agree with you. It was A breath of fresh air. to hear this kind of speech coming from the United States of America.
In a world that sometimes does feel like it's chaotic and everything is so divided, and the politics of the current culture is at the point where it feels sometimes irrecoverable. To hear someone like Marco Rubio go and make this speech to Europe and have it be lauded so, so big from European people, from the American people, it did give me that glimmer, that hope of what could a future look like. Because right now, it is not hard to turn on the news and to feel like things are very chaotic in this world. And we try our best to give you that good balance, to tell you what's going on, what it actually means. And it's, Michael, it's why one of the main reasons, like I said, we even have the ECLJ, the European Center for Law and Justice.
It is nice to know that there are like-minded people all over the planet. Not just in the United States of America, all over the planet, speaking all different languages, all with similar points of view and references.
Now is a cons a conservative Christian the same in America as it is in France? Maybe not exactly. They may have different beliefs slightly. And politically, maybe even different. But that is why we don't run that.
We do run it. That's why we have an office in Europe being run by Europeans. by French people. who are there speaking the language literally and figuratively. It is why the ACLJ has ACLJ Jerusalem.
We are there for a reason. We are in Israel for a reason. And look, later on the show, we're going to have on Steve Wiggins from Groundworks Ministries, who leads tours throughout Israel, who, again, is a great resource if you're looking for sort of the biblical version of why we support Israel, but also. He agrees with a lot of us, I believe, on the same side of why politically we should be supportive of the State of Israel.
So, we're going to get into that with Steve coming on a little bit later. He's actually going to be leading a tour later this year. The deadline's coming up. You're going to have him talk about that. But if you're looking for a way to get to Israel, there's a handful of great organizations I believe in and I trust.
Steve is one of those people who I know you're going to be led properly. Through the state of Israel, led through it, whether that's from a biblical perspective, like I said, even from a cultural and political perspective. And a great, great musician, a great friend.
So we're going to have him on a little bit later. We're also going to be joined next segment by one of our ACLJ attorneys, Nathan. You've seen him on this show many times. But again, the ACLJ is hard at work. And not just hard at work on the global stage.
Sometimes we have to take the fight. Two. Individual areas. And individual states and individual schools where a fifth grader is in need. It's one of my favorite things we do here.
Not only do we have an office in Europe, the European Center for Law and Justice, not only do we represent. Yeah, former current Presidents of the United States are dignitaries and leaders. We also get to support a fifth grader. In their local school. who just wants to practice their faith.
but is being told they can't. It has been the nature of the ACLJ since its very beginning, and I want to make sure we don't lose sight of it. Though we'll talk about the big picture, what's going on in the world, I know you tune in because you want to hear what's happening in the world, on the world stage, and on American news and politics. We got it covered. But it's always important to at least take one segment, just take a few minutes with me to hear the stories of what's going on on the local level for the ACLJ.
And if you ever need help, like our next guest is going to tell you about. If you ever need help like this or you think you may need legal help, Remember none of it. is paid for by you as a client of the ACLJ. There are no legal fees in that way. All of it is funded by people who listen and support this show, this organization, financially, because they want us to be there with the best of the best when you need it also.
So, I encourage you to go to aclj.org. Go to aclj.org slash help if you feel like you could need legal help. You'll get an answer very quick, by the way, if it's within our scope. It's a great way to just, you know, maybe you feel like there's something. Again, it has to be sort of in the ACLJ's workload.
Don't, you know, there's not a lot of family law, that kind of thing happening at the ACLJ. But, you know, religious freedom, First Amendment work. But fill out the form you get connected with an ACLJ attorney immediately, not a call center. And they will let you know what the future could look like. And of course, we do that at no cost to you.
Because other people may be also like you. Support the work of the ACLJ either financially monthly, as an ACLJ champion, as a one-time gift, whatever it may be. Maybe you're just one of those people that go to aclj.org and you sign one of our petitions. And we have a petition up on this at aclj.org/slash sign. You can do that today as well.
It's a great free way to get involved. You can also join us on our email list on all social media platforms. We are there at the ACLJ. We get back, one of our attorneys, Nathan, is going to be joining us. And then later on, Steve Wiggins and my brother Jordan Sekilla will be on.
We'll be right back. Welcome back to Sekulow. I like to always have an ACLJ attorney on weekends, specifically when there are moments like this. Where you may be watching the show again and you see the global scale of the ACLJ and the ECLJ and ACLJ Jerusalem and think, wow, I have a legal matter that I could use, or maybe there's some issues going on in my school for my student, my son or daughter. And I don't know what to do.
But the ACLJ is too busy. That's not true. We have incredible attorneys. that are ready to help you out. And all you have to do is go to aclj.org slash help.
Nathan's joining us right now, one of our incredible ACLJ attorneys. Nathan, I think it's important to back up because I feel like if you were watching during the break, maybe you saw a clip out of Chicago. It does seem like Illinois. Seems to always be one of those places that we end up, you know, one of those states where there is something interesting brewing, of course, when it comes to Christians and their beliefs and the support of their beliefs. But now we are turning to a fifth grader.
A fifth grader. You know, an 11-year-old, if you will, 11, 12-year-old who is dealing with a situation at their school, and the ACLJ is getting involved how we can for now. But let's back it up a little bit. And tell me this story. Sure.
So, as you said, Illinois has become a hotbed for a lot of problems lately. In this particular situation, our contact. Are the parents of a fifth grade student?
So she's there in a public elementary school. and her teacher has a reading time for this student.
So a brief period like 15 to 20 minutes where students just read books from the library or books they brought from home, just whatever book they may happen to be reading as part of part of their day.
So our client, she wanted to read her Bible.
So when she got out her Bible to read it while other students were reading whatever book they wanted, her teacher told her, no, you're not allowed to read your Bible. In fact, you can't even bring your Bible to school because Technically, we can't even talk about the Bible because people might get offended. And so that's what our contact, a fifth-grade student, that's what she was told about her faith and about Jesus there at that Illinois public school. I mean, this sounds like it's straight out of the early 90s. It feels like you could be replaying one of our shows from 25 years ago.
And our friends at Salem are here right now who have been with us the whole time. And you know, These feel like the bread and butter ACLJ work that we've been doing for 25 years, but it feels like this should be very settled law. There should not even be a problem with this. Of course, you have your own quiet time, student quiet time. This isn't even a led Bible club, nothing like that, even though we know that is totally fine as well.
This is just a student bringing their Bible to school. I mean, this is as again, I feel like I've been talking about this my entire life and my dad's entire life and my brother's entire life. This is what the ACLJ does.
So of course, when you have a student being told that they cannot bring their Bible to school and they cannot read it during quiet time, again, you may be watching right now and go, how could this possibly still be the case? But unfortunately, you often have, especially in the public school system, administrations, faculty members who just simply don't understand the law. And the ACLJ can often get this taken care of quickly. But there are times, especially like you said, in states like Illinois, where it takes a little bit more than just pressure. Exactly.
And so we're prepared to really dive in here, take action, and really take this school district to court if it at any. Place or way tries to suggest that this is any way justified. Because, as you said, the law is well established. This is a classic ACLJ case for sure. And the kind of issues that we've been dealing with since our beginning.
And because the ACLJ has been dealing with it so long, the law is very, very clear about this. In fact, the Trump administration just issued guidance on these kinds of issues, like prayer in schools and Bible reading in schools, just a couple of weeks ago. I think there's a blog on the website about that, too, right? The students have a constitutionally protected right to engage in personal, private, religious activity. This is as well established as it gets.
And so we're prepared to hold this school district accountable if it does not immediately correct what this teacher said.
So, first step, what? We got a demand letter coming. Is that what's next? That is indeed the first step. We anticipate sending a demand letter as soon as today if we can, and demanding, giving the school district approximately a week in order to make sure that this is fixed as soon as possible, and we'll be ready to go from there.
Fantastic. And of course, if that doesn't happen, then we go to court. This is what the ACLJ does.
Look, there are multiple steps in these journeys. If it can be handled very quickly without a bunch of going to court and legal costs and all the things the ACLJ will have to take on, if it can be handled with a letter. And sometimes it can. Look, often it can. Because as Nathan said, a lot of this is settled law.
This is law that we have been helping construct, but also support for the last 35 plus years. that we've had the organization.
So this is nothing new for the ACLJ.
So there's multiple step processes. But as we've learned, as we learned with our students that wanted, you know, who are your heroes or any of the things that have happened in the recent years with students' rights being violated, The ACLJ is there, and we'll take it as far as necessary to see our clients win, to see people actually make sure that their rights are upheld.
Sometimes that process can take years.
So of course if it can be handled with a letter, for the sake of that student. and their parents and their families. We want to make sure we do it as quickly and efficiently as possible. That's why, when you support the work of the ACLJ, you do so financially, and we appreciate it. We are not trying to like stretch this out intentionally.
We're not trying to make these cases go two years, three years, five years. There are other organizations, and maybe that's what they want to do. They want to talk to you about these things forever. They'll go and if we don't think we can win, we'll let you know. We think we not only couldn't win, we will win this one.
But we need your help right now. And I encourage you to go to aclj.org because, uh, Nathan. It People go to aclj.org/slash help. They fill out that form. They get attached with an attorney like you.
This is not that uncommon. That we hear from people that are still dealing with what feels like, again, basic religious freedom First Amendment rules. Exactly. And I think one of the things that happened is so many government officials, especially at like these local levels, school boards, library boards, cities, those kinds of things, they just don't realize what the First Amendment means. They think that they're obligated to stifle all religion because they're scared about separation of church and state or some other nonsense like that.
So that's why the ACLJ stamp steps in. In fact, this particular situation, we only got all these details this past Thursday. But as soon as we heard what happened, we immediately jumped on it. And likewise, I encourage people, if we hear about your situation, we may be able to move very, very quickly to try to hold governments accountable. And that's what we're here to do is defend religious freedom.
Fantastic, Nathan. Thanks for joining us. And of course, that's at aclj.org. It's a very easy way to engage with our legal team. And of course, keep updated on everything that we're doing is at aclj.org.
All of it, again, without a paywall, it's all there absolutely free for you. If you'd like to support, of course, we encourage you to support and donate. Through ACLJ.org. It's a great way to do it. If you want to support people like our legal team, like this media team that provides this broadcast, you could do that at aclj.org.
Again, we're prepared to defend that student, that Illinois student, as far as it needs to go.
So, you start with that demand letter and you hope that takes care of it, but you know what?
Sometimes it doesn't, especially in states that are maybe less friendly or areas that are less friendly to people with deeply held religious views.
So I encourage you to go to aclj.org and support the work and the team.
Now, look, we have a second half hour of our broadcast coming up. It's available on a lot of different sources.
Some of you still get it on your terrestrial radio.
Some don't get it for the full hour of the terrestrial radio. If you don't get it, we are live every day. You can be a part of that full live broadcast. It's available on aclj.org on the Salem News channel, which is available on Pluto and some of the other free TV options. You can find that.
It's available on YouTube, on Rumble. on X, wherever there's social media, the ACLJ is there and this broadcast is there. It's also available however you get your podcast later on.
So if you want to find us later on at archived, greatest way, just go to aclj.org. All the sources are there. You can find it. But of course, we are broadcasting live. And of course, we are taking your calls.
And I'd love to hear from you at 1-800-68-430-110. Diving into the second half of the show. We're going to go back, talk a little bit more about that Marco Rubio speech. We are going to talk about the support of Israel, and now people like LeBron James. who are simply being essentially canceled.
For not Really anything. What did he say about Israel? Not much, but that was too much. For a lot of people last night the all-star game And we're going to be joined by Steve Wiggins from Groundworks Ministries. Great ministry.
Give you a great biblical perspective of Israel, great political perspective of Israel, and they lead great trips as well. And my brother Jordan's going to be joining us in the back half an hour as well. Find us at ACLJ.org, broadcasting live. It's a great time to get on hold: 1-800-684-3110. Give us a call.
Yeah. Mm. Keeping you informed and engaged, now more than ever. This is Sekulow. And now, your host, Logan Sekulow.
Welcome to the second half hour of Sekulow coming up. We got a lot of content to cover today, and we have a packed second half hour. My brother Jordan is going to be joining us. Steve Wiggins is joining us from Groundworks Ministries. We're going to talk a little about Israel.
We're going to talk a little about the international stage. And we're going to take your calls as well: the 1-800-68-430-110. The big topic of the day was Marco Rubio delivering what they're calling a diplomatic miracle. And this happened at the Munich Security Conference. And it was an incredible speech.
If you didn't watch the first half hour of the show, you can go back later on and watch it or find his speech in its entirety. Certainly, I would say this was a primer. To what a 2028 Presidential run could look like from Secretary Rubio, I think it's kind of exciting because it is a totally different tone that you have from President Trump.
So, it means we're not going to get necessarily exactly the same, but maybe some of the things you really like about the Trump administration, that maybe through a different filter. And Yeah, a lot of people, like I said, who probably listened to this show and watched this show, many of you probably have voted. For Marco Rubio in some kind of primary or election before. Maybe you voted for Ted Cruz, maybe you voted for President Trump. A lot of you voted for a lot of different people in those days as he's run multiple times.
What's it going to look like headed forward? And who else do you see? 1-800-684-3110 at the same time as Marco Rubio was delivering what I think is a landmark speech. Again, really pushing and signifying why it's important for us to have a great relationship with Europe and why, you know, the real big connections between Europe and America. And of course, whether that was in war or whether that is in culture, so many things we share and so many values we share.
It's why the ECLJ exists, the European Center. On the other hand, you had other people there who are also eyeing that Presidential run at some point. Of course, you had AOC there who was asked a fairly simple question. Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S.
troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?
Now, it's a big political question. It is not one that is. You sh that it's one you should have an answer to, but I understand you gotta Uh be careful with it. Because you're talking about China. But you know what?
If you're going to want to run for President of the United States at some point, if you want to be on this global stage, if you are at The security conference, the Munich Security Conference, and you are at these big events. Have some answers. Let's take a listen. Would and should the U.S. actually commit U.S.
troops to defend Taiwan if China were to move?
Um you know I think that this is such a, you know, I think that. This is a um This is of course a very longstanding Policy of the United States. And I think what we are hoping for is that we want to make sure that we never. Get to that point, and we want to make sure that we are moving in all of our economic research and our global positions to avoid any such confrontation and for that question to even arise. Yeah, again, I think I read the transcript of that.
I'd not seen the clip. The transcript reads a lot clearer, even than the performance that happened there. Again, when you're coming off of Marco Rubio having a very succinct, very great message to them, turn to the other leaders of a political party in the United States of America and to have this. Come up. It's really unfortunate that this is where we're at, heading into what could be a crazy 2028, which is only now, and Jordan's joining us now as we only have a minute in this segment left.
But 2028 is a few months away in many ways. Yeah, right after the midterm elections, you'll have campaigns begin, and they'll start with exploratory committees. This was AOC's attempt to show that she's got. foreign policy knowledge now that she's been in Congress multiple terms. And I think what we saw there is she's not ready for that on prime time, absolutely not.
She might be good about getting protesters together and being the party of dissent. But that's a lot different than being the party of governing. And what she failed on was showing that she's not just a protester. She's not just a protest vote, that she actually knows what's going on in the world. Yeah, on the global stage.
When we get back, we're going to continue talking about the global stage and put our eyes a little bit on Israel. Like I said, our friend Steve Wiggins from Groundworks Ministry is going to be joining us. Jordan is in the studio. And then, of course, we're going to wrap up the day talking about all the different topics we've discussed. And if you have a phone call or question or comment, give me a call at 1-800-684-3110.
Something we knew would be a packed show. And we're bouncing all over the place, so I know we've hit a lot of topics, but all are open for your calls at 1-800-684-3110. Support the work of the ACLJ if you can. We got a new petition available right now, also, aclj.org/slash sign. If you really connected with that last segment we had with Nathan about Our case is involving students' rights.
Welcome back to Secular. We'll be taking your calls in the next segment at 1-800-68-430-110. Jordan's in studio. And now we are also joined by our friend Steve Wiggins from Groundworks Ministries. Steve, before we ask you or set up something for you, because I really always enjoy your commentary on not only the support of Israel and the biblical support of Israel, but also the current climate that's going on in the world.
I do want to flash a bit to what happened. This is just over the weekend was the NBA All-Star Game.
Okay, not something that is highly politicized typically. You have the first ever Israeli all-star who plays for the Portland Trailblazers making his appearance. And of course, that brought a lot of Israeli press there as well. You had someone like Spike Lee and some of the others wearing their sort of more Palestinian support gear, court side. But then you had LeBron James, again, someone who has not necessarily been someone who weighs in that heavily to politics.
And when they do, they're certainly not weighing in on a more, what you would say, I guess, conservative side that often when you hear from LeBron. But At this moment, an Israeli journalist asked him a very, very simple question, nothing crazy. And it was essentially just, what do you have do you have a message for your fans in Israel? Let's take a listen to what he had to say.
So that's that. And then, I mean, if I have fans over there, I've never been there. If I have fans over there, then, you know, I hope you. I've been following my career. I hope I inspired people over there to not only want to be great in sports, but want to just be better in general in life.
Hopefully, someday I can make it over there. And like I said, I've never been over there, but I've heard nothing but great things. I appreciate the question. That was it. Just the answer there.
And before that, by the way, he was just discussing the player. And just said the player, he's a good player. I'm excited to share the court with him. But he ended it with, I've not heard nothing but great things. And that was enough for a firestorm to come upon LeBron James.
Steve, it's not necessarily just this. This is obviously just a very small version of this issue that has come up. And it's one that we have been dealing with for a very long time. Yeah, I mean, 100%. I mean, it's funny how somebody can say something just so benign.
It's like, man, I've heard a lot of great things about it. I'd like to go see it sometime. And then they get jumped on by people who have believed into a false narrative about Israel. And of course, that moves beyond the nation of Israel or the military of Israel, the government of Israel, and it moves into every Jewish person. And it just, what happens is there's so much pressure for people to not only to, obviously on one side, there's pressure to hate Israel and to hate Jewish people, but even people that seem to be kind of neutral.
Yeah, I've never been, like to go someday, heard a lot of great things about it. I mean, you know, how could people come against that? I mean, I thought I hadn't seen that clip and I literally was ready for you to say something like he was going to support the Palestinian thing just like Spike Lee did. And we were going to call him Hebron James, you know. And, but that's just not what happened as I'm watching that clip.
I was just like, hey man, I can't believe that that guy of all people. Would uh would really, I don't think that was a negative in any way. And yet to hear from you that people were jumping on his back, though, I mean, this is this is how fickle that the left can be. Yeah, and it's where the culture seems to be, Jordan, where it seems like it's first by polite. He's trying to be polite and divert.
First, Israeli all-star. He talked about him before as a great player. And when you're still talking about him and Israel comes up, what do you think about Israel? I've never been there, so he admits that he doesn't know that much about what he's what they just asked. He's a professional basketball player.
But second, you know, he's heard nothing but great things, probably from the few people that he does interact with who may be Israeli basketball or Jewish basketball. He's realized a big basketball community. They do. And I think he also, too, LeBron is a worldwide brand. And that's why I think he's very careful about stepping into things.
But I don't think when he said that, he thought he was stepping into anything because still, Christians, Jews, Muslims make their pilgrimages to Israel every single year. Yeah. And look, Steve, that's something you've been leading also for a long time with your ministry and with groundworks. And also, I always try to tell people and give you the opportunity to talk about this because a lot of people come to me now, and specifically now, when it's the. The tide has turned, and you aren't sure who you can trust when you're even planning your trip to Israel.
Who do you know that you can go after and talk to and go, Okay, I trust this? And I always give you, and there's a handful of others who are people who I know that are going to give you, not just from a political point of view, but from a scriptural point of view, that give you a biblical support of Israel. And of course, it's going to lead you through a great journey that everyone needs to take. But because It has become so fragmented even within what you put the quote-unquote church at this point. Yeah, 100%.
I mean, and that's something that Israel is dealing with, that all Jewish people are dealing with. There was a time, really, leading up to just the last few years, and really since October 7th, that it became revealed that there was this. Uh, that there was a very real anti-Semitic Semitic mindset that had been growing among many Christians. And then, when October 7th happened, and Israel, of course, justified in their response to what had happened to them, all of a sudden the veil was pulled back from that anti-Semitism. And so, You know, the Bible says faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
And I think the best way to combat narrative, which is uh, You know, just flat out, not truthful narrative about Israel, about the church. About God's plan for all of it together. The only way to combat that is with the truth of God's word. And what's happening now is there's a division within the church, not just over Israel, really at the core of it is a division over what is the word of God. Is it the opinions of men about God or is it?
God's word to us. And to me, the way I fight that is I try to get people into the word of God and let the Lord tell them, you know, for himself. It's the only way to fight it. Yeah, now I think we'll wrap up with that. We're not done with it yet, but at the end, I want to tell people about groundworks.
But, Jordan, yeah, I think there's also a battle here on the ground that I wanted to talk to you about, which is young people. We see it in the church. We see it on Capitol Hill with younger staff who are. Again, kind of taking on and listening to these anti-Semites that have got their YouTube shows, they've got their followers, and it is a growing threat. to Israel, but it's also a huge change in what could be the next leaders of the conservative movement that they somehow want to cast Israel aside, even dabble in anti Semitism.
And I think the way that you end up fighting that, I mean, Chase Hughes, I was just telling Logan in a text earlier, you know, Chase Hughes on the Sean Ryan show was talking about the way that they use, the way that cults use indoctrinization, and it's an acronym called FATE. And first they gain your focus, F-A-T-E. Then they present an authority figure, the person who's in authority. Or a group of people who have authority, like what do you call influencers. Uh so you've got um Focus, authority, tribe.
Now you build a tribe around that focus and that authority. And in the end, you use emotions. And emotions override logic. And that's exactly what we see happening within the church. But it all comes down to the fact that people are speaking, using the Bible as a resource, and yet they personally don't seek it as the source.
I've been leading people for years through the Bible day by day, chapter by chapter, through the entire Bible. I've never had a single person in the literally thousands of people that I've led through the Bible, never had a single person close the Bible after having read it chapter by chapter, sought the Lord, sought his word, the Holy Spirit's revelation, and said, I know one thing, God hates the Jewish people. They never say that. They only say, wow, this is amazing. And they understand God's heart for the Jewish people and God's heart for the world, quite frankly.
But right now, what we're talking about is a targeted hatred against Jews. Steve, I wanted to give you that opportunity here. We got a couple minutes left. Two minutes almost exactly. Tell us about Groundworks, how people can get involved.
Because, look, I think when you're in or out of the word, you know about it. You can feel it in yourself when you have gotten out of your routine. I know kids are getting back to school after Christmas and ice storms. You get kind of disconnected and you feel it. And I can say that for myself as well.
No one's perfect here. But, Steve, what is it that you guys are offering? And I'll just give you a minute here to plug because I think you do great work. Thank you. Yeah, groundworksministries.com.
If you check it out, groundworksministries.com. We literally just finished and haven't even promoted it, but we've recently launched a brand new group strategy where people can go to groundworksministries.com. Hey, I want to read the Bible, they say, and I want to choose a track that I want to go. I want to invite my friends, choose a location, a day, and a time. On the day that they launch, Um We will start supporting them day by day.
And the focus is being the word every day, chapter by chapter, verse by verse, walking through the Bible. And like I said, faith comes by hearing, hearing by the word of God. One of the things that we're talking to people about, and I know that you guys will be interested in this, is developing a group strategy through this software, which we've just released. It's proprietary. We're the people that own it.
Now, you can't find this anywhere else, this ability to do this, to start these groups and have them facilitate it on a daily basis. We want to develop a 90-day program, which is literally, what does the Bible say about God's opinion and what is God's word about Israel, the church, and our generation? And how does that all fit together? And people would be in the word of God every day, learning. And then once a week, they would gather with other people, friends, and family that are going through the same thing independently and then come together so that you have community and accountability all based on the truth of the word of God.
Adrian Rogers said years ago this, I would rather be divided by truth than united in error. And we want to be people of the truth. Absolutely. Always great to hear from you, Steve. Look forward to having you more and more either in studio or remote.
Go to groundworksministries.com. Again, it's not an ad read. This is just someone who we really believe in and support his work. And he always has great insights. We'll be right back with more on Sekulow.
Welcome back to Sekulow. Going to wrap up today's show. My brother Jordan Sekulow is in the studio to discuss a lot of the different topics we hit today. Still time to call in if you'd like to at 1-800-68-431-10. But we want to make sure on a Monday you're packed in with a lot of different things that you could take throughout the week and think about and pray about, especially when supporting the work of the ACLJ.
You heard from our attorney Nathan again about that fifth grader who just wants to take her Bible to school, read it during their quiet, private time. But no, that's too much for an Illinois school district. We flash over to Europe where you have Marco Rubio speaking at the Munich Security Conference and blowing it out of the water, doing a great job, really. Standing ovation. Standing, as I say, you get these moments where the Trump administration, the Secretary of State gets a standing ovation from Europe, and I think that's because Europe is finally waking up to the reality one of what it would be like without having the U.S.
backing them. And they all started saying, you know what? It's true. We've been leaning on the United States of America to be the leader when it comes to our security in Europe. And these battles that are being that could be fought, like in Ukraine and Russia, these are in their backyard.
It's not our backyard, it's their backyard, and they don't have the capabilities to even really choose a side without us. Yeah, when that happens, too, words, but not actual action. I brought up in the earlier parts of the show, also, is we've been at the ECLJ, the European Center of Line Justice, for 25 plus years at this point. And it was all leading to moments like this where you have a Marco Rubio going on saying, We understand why we need a strong Europe and we need partners, and Europe needs us. You don't understand now why it's the paradigm shifted, and we need you to pay your fair share into NATO, pay your fair share into these alliances, beef up your military, invest in the military.
Not that the U.S. won't be the leader. but that we're going to have a better team. And a more intimidating team for the bad actors around the world. And you saw European leader after European leader who have not had great relationships with this administration agreeing with a Secretary of State War.
I mean, it was really to me a shining moment of what you can do diplomatically. We talked about that with Rick Rinnell a lot, how powerful diplomatic actions can be. Yeah, just a simple change of tone can change a room. I think we should hear more. Let's go to Byte Five.
I believe we have a poll. We got that. Byte five, this is Marco Rubio. Under President Trump, The United States of America will once again take on the task of renewal and restoration. Driven by a vision of a future as proud, as sovereign, and as vital as our civilization's past.
And while we are prepared, If necessary. To do this alone. It is our preference. And it is our hope. to do this together with you.
our friends here in Europe. For the United States and Europe, We belong together. America was founded 250 years ago. But the roots began here on this continent long before. The man who settled and built the nation of my birth.
Arrived on our shores carrying the memories and the traditions and the Christian faith of their ancestors as a sacred inheritance. An unbreakable length. between the old world and the new. And, Jordan, we've talked about this so much here at the ACLJ. And I always say, and I said it earlier, and maybe you can even expand upon it, when we do talk about our work in Europe.
It We've experienced it. We've lived it. We've lived there off and on for our entire lives. It's very easy to see that intrinsic link when you are visiting. Sure, they are their own cultures, their own identities, but we have a lot of shared beliefs and a lot of shared values.
And of course, they have a lot of the same struggles and a lot of struggles for religious freedom.
However, they've also had a lot of issues with the immigration issues. Yeah. So many of the same issues that we're dealing with. And I think it's hard for us often to put into it to put to our audience for them to understand the importance of us being in Europe. Yeah, I think the main importance is Europe matters.
So with the EU, you've got the largest economy in the world.
So when they come together collectively, that's even after England left, remember all that with Brexit. And so, on the one hand, you've got, again, a unbelievable powerful economy. But their military strength has to be built up. It's how you prevent. a Russia from invading Ukraine.
Is that you have many more weapons pointed directly at Moscow and other military targets so that any leader of Russia knows if you take this kind of aggression, we have the capabilities to fight back. Not just with the United States. I'm talking about them being able to do it on their own. If you're the largest economy in the world, you should have the strongest military as well.
Now, it's going to be piecemeal to some point, but I think they're finally waking up. I mean, we've seen that in elections. More and more conservative candidates doing better and better in elections all over the world. And I think this is the leading factor is you can't rely on one country to defend the entire world. And you'll have a pendulum shift like it does in America as well.
But you can feel an underlining, very changing, different tone over the last five, 10 years. You know what it helps? It helps with those who have that more isolationist view of, you know, I don't want the U.S. fighting in everybody's battle or war. And I think a lot of people have now agree with that.
It's kind of President Trump's. And we do a lot through special forces and drone attacks and things like that. The reason why we've had to take the actions so aggressively is there's been no one else there.
Sometimes they'll partner with us. They send 25 trips. You know, it's not, so we can't rely. Right now, on European nations to do the defense that's necessary also to keep us safe. Because if those, if the if they can't fight their own battles, those battles end up right here in the United States of America.
Yeah, and those battles, like I said, we're there at the European Union and at the ECLJ that we are involved there in the UN as well. A lot of people may say, Why are you at the UN? They always say that, you know, why are we even there?
Well, someone's got to be representing what you believe. Yeah, that's right. Because I will tell you, last time I was in Geneva, the United States pulled out of the Human Rights Council. They pulled out a lot of different committees there because of its anti-Semitism, its anti-Israel position. But we, as the ECLJ, can intervene still at the Human Rights Council and talk about those issues.
And those ambassadors can't just run off. They're all hearing you talk about the U.S. perspective or the Israeli perspective.
So we're actually there. Those kind of things. We're standing in the gap. For nations who can't be there in good conscience because you have to pay in to be a part of that, they're gonna pay in to be into an anti-Semitic organization. But we are there to highlight the hypocrisy that the UN Human Rights Council will praise a Sharia-heavy state that still uses decapitation.
As a way of capital punishment, praises them for their human rights, won't even acknowledge the Christian genocide in the Congo. but at the same time would spend all of their time With take Gaza out of it even before the war, there was always all the time was anti-Israel. How could they, how could they pass a resolution out of their committee to condemn Israel? And it was one after another after another. That's excluding what happened in Gaza.
So I think, again, we stand there for our U.S. troops. For our U.S. diplomats around the world who can't be there in those rooms for political and also geopolitical reasons, we also stand there with our allies in Israel.
So, once again, you heard. about the ACLJ work on the very biggest global stages. and then down to a fifth grader in Illinois who wants to bring their Bible to school. That is the scope of this organization. And that only exists because people like you support the work financially, or support the work in your prayers, or you subscribe on YouTube.
However, it is that you feel like you can engage right now. We know that financially pressures can be tough.
So we ask you: if you're brand new, you've never seen us before, and we know if you're watching on a platform like YouTube. There is a 40 to 60% chance each and every day you have never seen me, you have never seen Jordan before. With that, I ask you to hit that subscribe button. It's a great way. We do this show each and every day, noon to 1 p.m.
Eastern Time. Be a part of it. Maybe you're a regular, maybe you've been listening on the radio for 25 years. The Salem Broadcasting, or any of the others? Maybe.
You've been someone who joined us on Rumble. Or on X, or you find our Instagram clips, whatever it may be. Maybe you've been with us for a while though, and you've always wanted us to think about how you could support the work of the ACLJ. Great time to do it. What I'm gonna ask you to do is you can go to ACLJ.org.
We wanna make sure all of our content is always available to you with as little, if not no, paywall. There's no content currently paywalled at the ACLJ. You go to aclj.org, all of it's available for free. But that only exists, the only way we have these incredible commentators, and all the shows that we produce, and all the legal work we do is because people like you give. And there's a group we call ACLJ Champions, people that give on a monthly basis, reoccurring like a membership.
We're going to ask you to become an ACLJ champion at any level you can ataclj.org. Talk to you tomorrow.
