Should Christians Care About what is Happening in the Ukraine?

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Enjoy it and share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Hello, everybody. Today we're going to do something a little bit different.

We're going to talk about a world event that's going on, specifically the Ukraine. I'm Chris Hughes and welcome to The Christian Perspective, where we look in God's Word in order to develop a Christian worldview in modern culture. This show has been brought to you today by the Citizens for America Foundation on the campus of Mid-America Baptist College and Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in beautiful Memphis, Tennessee. And I'm so grateful that we get to record from Mid-America each and every day.

It's a great campus. If you're looking for a school to go to, we would sure love to have you go online and check out what's happening at Mid-America. So what I want to do today, we have a guest coming in the second half of the show. But first, I want to talk about an issue that's going on in the country right now and really around the world. That's the issue between Russia and the Ukraine. And now the United States is a big part of what's happening there. I know a lot of Christians are asking, well, why should I care about what has happened in the Ukraine? Does it really matter to the United States?

And you know what it really does. So I'm going to give you a little bit of history of the nation. We're going to talk about the history of the conflict. We're going to talk specifically about why is it an issue between President Putin and President Biden?

What could happen in this scenario? And then we're going to talk about why Christians should care. So stick around. We've got a lot to cover here. And we're going to start with the history. If you're like me, you know, I started hearing Ukraine in the news. And to be honest, it's been a long time since I took a high school geography class.

I didn't really know where the place was or the history of the nation and really didn't think much about it. But now we're hearing more and more about it on the news each and every day. And I figured it's time for me to find out a little bit more.

So I'm going to share with you some of the things I learned and maybe give you something you can talk about at the water cooler office today or school or wherever you may be. We're going to start with the history. So Ukraine became a nation in 1922 and ended as a nation in 1991. But not as the Ukraine we know today. It was the Ukrainian Socialist Republic. It was part of the old Soviet Union. So for some of our younger listeners, if you've studied history, you know that there was once an evil empire, if you will, that was kind of at odds with the United States for many, many years and what was called the Cold War. And they were known as the Soviet Union. It was basically a collection of independent countries that made up this mass organization called the Soviet Union. And they broke up under the leadership of President Reagan.

You might remember the famous quote. He said, Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall. And that was really the beginning of the dismantling of the Soviet Union. So after that time, the Ukrainian Socialist Republic became what we know today as the Ukraine. It's not just a small country either by landmass. Ukraine is the second largest country in Europe, second only to Russia.

So now you will begin to see why some of the countries, particularly in Europe, are concerned what's going on. It's not just some little tiny little dot on a map. No, Ukraine is big, second largest country in Europe. And so for geography wise, so you'll know on your map, Ukraine shares borders with Belarus. So to the north of Ukraine is the country of Belarus and then Poland, Slovakia and Hungary are to the west of Ukraine.

Romania and Moldova are to the south. And then Ukraine shares a coastline with the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Now, the Black Sea was always something that was a body of water that was at contention during the Cold War because the Soviet Union always wanted to try to get warm water ports. In other words, it's so cold where they were and most of their ports were in areas where water was not warm and it was difficult to navigate and other problems associated with extremely cold temperatures. So you might have heard of the Black Sea or maybe if you've seen the movie The Hunt for Red October or other movies, you've heard of the Black Sea.

That'll give you an idea. The coastline for the Ukraine is along the Black Sea. It's the second largest landmass. It's also the eighth most populous country in Europe and a city that you hear referred to a lot of the news if you're watching the news every day or you hear him talk about it is Kiev. Kiev is the capital city. It's also the largest city in the Ukraine. So now, you know, it's the second largest landmass is the eighth most populous, but it's also the third poorest country in Europe. And a lot of times you'll find, you know, in extremely poor countries, there's a lot of corruption. And that is the same case here in the Ukraine.

There's an extreme amount of political corruption in the Ukraine. And to make matters worse, not only are there people that are struggling, it's a poor country, it's a very corrupt country, but they also have the third largest military in Europe. The second largest is France. The third largest is the Ukraine. So you see, it's very important on a worldwide scale what's going on in the Ukraine because this is a large country. They've got a big military. And if there is an escalation of a military conflict, it really could not only affect just Europe, but really affect the entire world.

So that's a little bit about the geography, the population, and a little bit about the history. And it's important as we have our discussion today to remember, okay, it was once part of the Soviet Union, which is a mighty, mighty empire in the world for many, many years. And some people believe, now I don't know if it's true, but there are a lot of people that theorize that President Putin, who's over Russia, would like to restore the old Soviet Union and bring it back to its former glory.

Again, I don't know if that's what he's up to, but it's certainly something that some people think that he would like to do. I think it's definitely clear when we start to look now at the issues going on over there that Putin has a desire to somehow reconstitute the power of the Soviet Union. And whether he plans to bring it all back again, I don't know, but he has made no secret that he would like to reunite some of those former countries, and that would give him an even greater base of power as his power grew throughout the region. And the Ukraine is probably the next logical step for him to do that, because the Ukraine has made a lot of friends in the Western democracies of the world. And so by having relationships with the United States and NATO and other friendly countries to the United States, with Ukraine being so close to Russia's border, it presents a problem for Russia because, I mean, really, we are their enemy. And as we gain influence in the Ukraine, it becomes a threat both militarily and politically to Russia.

So Mr. Putin, you know, wants Kiev to abandon his Western course and turn back to his friendship with Moscow. But we have a problem in modern history because you may not know this, but in 2014, Russia began a military seizure of an area of the Ukraine called Crimea. And Russia basically seized a huge amount of land in 2014.

It's probably the biggest land grab by any country since World War II. And it violated many of the commitments that Russia made with respect to Ukraine's territorial integrity when the Soviet Union broke up and Ukraine became an independent nation. So remember, they became independent in 1991, and then after that time here, years later in 2014, Russia goes in with their military and they seize this huge landmass called the Crimea, which really created a lot of tension between them and between the Ukrainians. It was a conflict in the area of Donbass, and more than 13,000 lives were lost during that time.

So now you have a situation where there's a lot of bad blood and a lot of animosity. So the Ukrainians began to look to organizations like the European Union and NATO as necessary for their security because they were afraid if something didn't happen, then Russia would invade them again, which is what we're seeing the possibility of right now. So they began, instead of moving closer to Russia, they began to reach out to the United States and its allies, the European Union and NATO, to offer protection for them. In recent months, what's happening is the Russian military has been building up a military presence along the border of Ukraine, which is what's getting the world's attention right now.

So why are they doing that? Well, some think that President Putin just wants to take over the Ukraine and, as I said, begin rebuilding the former Soviet Union, but there are some other things at play as well. He's watched NATO, which is a North Atlantic Treaty organization, get friendly with the Ukraine, and he does not see NATO as his friend.

So he wants NATO to back away and stay away from Ukraine and also stay away from Russia. Because what NATO has been doing is, our military and our allies, you may not know this, carry on military exercises all over the world. Sometimes it's just like playing war and practicing different scenarios and learning how to work with other nations that are allies and communicate through our military systems or how to work together in case there ever was a World War or somebody we needed to unite against to fight. Also, sometimes we send in what's called battle groups. So it might be a group of ships that we would send to different areas of the world just as a deterrent, just to say, hey, mister, you better pay attention.

We're here. And if you do something wrong, we're going to get your, we could get your attention either further by shooting missiles or deploying troops or whatever it may be. So NATO has done that a little bit. They've sent small battle groups, the territory of Poland and the Baltic states, and that's causing concern for Russia. So there's a lot going on here politically and military of what's coming up in NATO and in Russia and in Europe and in the Ukraine.

It's like a powder keg that's about to explode to see what's going to happen there because Moscow wants to increase their sphere of influence in a post-Soviet space. And the Ukraine at the same time is wanting to chart its own course, consolidate its democracy and enact reforms that will help them realize their full potential. I mean, they're a big country. They've got a big army.

They've got a lot of people. They're poor, so there's an opportunity for their economy to really grow. Now what's going to happen is that scares politically the leadership in the Kremlin and Putin's administration because the people of Russia don't have those freedoms. They're not friends with the United States and other European powers, and their economy is not going to be able to grow on the scale that Ukraine's could if Ukraine's relationship begins to grow. So the people in the Soviet Union being right there next to Ukraine are going to get very concerned about what's going on. And they're going to say, hey, if the Ukraine can have these kind of freedoms, if they can elect democratically elected leaders and have a president that's truly elected by the people and other representatives in their country, then we want the same thing. And that would cause a great threat to the power of Vladimir Putin and his other allies.

So we're talking about what's happening in Ukraine today. We're going to take a quick commercial break. When we come back, we're going to talk about the art of the issue.

Why is there really a problem between Putin and President Biden? So stick around. We're going to take a break. We'll be right back for more The Christian Perspective.

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This is Chris Hughes. I'm talking a little bit today about the situation in the Ukraine and then Obama, where I've got a great friend, Mike Mears, who's a Christian political strategist. He's going to come on and talk about the impact that Christians are having in elections across the country today and why Christians should be involved in the political process. But first, I wanted to take the first part of this show to really talk about what's happening in the Ukraine. So I've given you a little bit about the geography of the area, where it's located, and the history of how Ukraine was formerly a part of the old Soviet Union and how now Russia attacked the area and seized a great amount of land in Crimea in 2014. And took over the Donbas portion of the country that same year, and there were all kinds of clashes and sniper attacks that even continue to this day.

But back then, more than 13,000 lives were lost during that initial conflict. So the people of Ukraine are scared of what Russia and President Putin might do. We also talked about the last segment, how President Putin feels threatened by NATO because he feels that NATO support for the Ukraine is really like a red line for him. He does not want NATO giving more support to the Ukraine because he sees not only as a military threat, but an economic threat and a political threat for him in Russia as well. And then Ukraine has a fear of a pre-planned coup to topple its government, which could be part of an invasion plan.

So a lot is going on right now, and because of that, the Biden administration, not just the United States, but other nations around the world have prepared different responses for, you know, if this happens, we're going to do this, that, or the other. So the Biden administration responded to the crisis with really a lot of talk at first, but it's spelled out the costs that would happen to Russia if Russia did attract the Ukraine. And one thing that the United States holds as a heavy hammer is sanctions, economic sanctions against Russia.

Russia really needs supplies that come from the free world because we can produce things that they're not able to produce because our economy's different, our weather's different, so many other reasons. He also has, President Biden's also threatened military assistance to Kiev, and specifically through the NATO Alliance, the North American Treaty Organization is a military presence in that part of the world. And one thing President Putin does not want is NATO's strength growing inside the Ukraine, particularly in an area that's so close to his own borders. And there's also another thing is the threat of casualties.

You know, if there is a war, not only would the Ukrainians, if they're invaded, lose a lot of lives, but the Russians are going to lose lives too, because NATO probably would end up getting involved. Another issue that is involved is a pipeline. There's an oil pipeline that has been built under the Black Sea to provide oil to Germany and other areas of Europe. Russia really wants to have control of that oil, because if they can be the main supplier of oil to Germany and other nations throughout Europe, it's going to give them a lot of control over that region. And not just that region, but really a lot of leverage and control over the world. That's why so many people were upset when the Biden administration started shutting down pipelines and oil exploration in the United States, because we were energy independent at the end of the Trump administration.

And now we're not anymore, and we certainly don't want to be relying on oil from Russia. Mr. Putin has also demanded security guarantees for Russia. You know, they're the world's largest nuclear arsenal, and they have the most powerful conventional military in all of Europe.

So they can't just be brushed aside. Not only do they have a lot of troops, but they are probably, you know, we don't necessarily truly know the situation with China, but they probably have the largest arsenal of nuclear weapons in the entire world. And he may, you know, Mr. Putin may not be afraid to use those weapons if necessary. So there's a lot at risk with this little skirmish that some people aren't paying attention to. There's also a lot going on because there is a history of tension between President Biden and President Putin. Putin, Mr. Biden said that Moscow has fabricated its pretext to invite its neighbor and has warned them of a Russian incursion into the Ukraine is very possible.

But we need to look back at the history of what happened when President Biden was then Vice President under President Obama. Remember, I told you that Russia invaded the Crimea area and had a huge land grab. And as a result of that, there was a change of leadership within the Ukraine. And many felt like, at least in the former Soviet Union area, particularly in Russia, that President Obama may have assisted or using United States CIA and other intelligence agencies to basically create a coup to put a leader in place.

It was more friendly to the United States than it was to Russia. You had a leadership change going on. And then President Obama appointed then Vice President Biden to be the person to oversee all the issues that were going on in the Ukraine at that time. There was the Euromaidan revolution in 2013 and a protest ended in February of 2014 when the leader of Kiev fled and went to Moscow. And then the U.S. played a significant role in the change of leadership, as I said, that looked like a coup. John Brennan, who was the head of CIA at that time in the second week of April, went over and visited the area and basically claimed responsibility for what happened in the change of leadership in the Ukraine.

That's something we probably shouldn't have done. But the Obama administration got involved over there and they did it in a very public way. Two weeks after John Brennan goes, who's the head of CIA, Vice President Joe Biden shows up there and begins to oversee the U.S. policy within the Ukraine. And by destabilizing Ukraine, President Obama used Ukraine as an instrument to destabilize Russia. Now, I'm not saying whether it was right or wrong, but I just want you to understand why Russia is upset now because Joe Biden was the very man involved in 2014 and basically what destabilized his own country and his political power in Russia. A month after then Vice President Joe Biden visits the Ukraine, Hunter Biden, Joe Biden's son, is named to the board of a Ukrainian energy company.

And many suspect that they hired Joe Biden's son, Hunter Biden, as a way to protect their company from whatever sanctions might come through Joe Biden and the Obama administration. So there's a lot going on here. You know, sure, Russia is the aggressor today. They're regressing into an area that's a former Soviet Union, and we have to really look at it through the lens of the Cold War.

And that's what's happening with a lot of people in D.C. that are left over because, you know, people get in the, your elected officials change, but a lot of the staff people stay for many, many years in Washington, D.C. A lot of people still afraid or remember what happened during the Cold War that was going on. But then the matter is complicated even more, because if you remember, President Trump was accused by the Democrat Party, which is really tied to the Ukraine and to Joe Biden and to Hunter Biden, of all kinds of problems. You remember the phone call when Lieutenant Colonel Veneman was on the phone call and claimed that President Trump was trying to pressure Ukraine to get involved in the presidential election? Did you know that Lieutenant Colonel Veneman, who was the key person to provide testimony of that, is from the Ukraine?

Did you know that? What was happening is President Trump was trying to find out of the Biden's involvement in the Brisbane investigation. And then Joe Biden later came out and bragged that he told the Ukrainian officials that if they didn't fire the prosecutor paying fifty thousand dollars a month, excuse me, the prosecutor who was looking into the payment of fifty thousand dollars a month to his son, Hunter, that Vice President Biden will use his power to withhold a billion dollars of money that was scheduled to go to the Ukraine, all because he was trying to protect his son and the fifty thousand dollars a month that his son was getting with his contract with that company. President Biden admitted that publicly and it's been played on television in 2018. So some could argue that what's going on right now in the Ukraine is all a consequence of Joe Biden's involvement back in 2014.

So there's so much going on here. OK, one, you've got President Putin in Russia who might want to be reassembling the former Soviet Union. You got President Putin who is threatened by a president of the United States who is directly involved, possibly in a coup and a change of leadership in the Ukraine in 2014 and whose family may have even received huge financial gain through the policies of Joe Biden and President Barack Obama at the time. And you have a President Putin who does not want NATO increasing in their strength in the area of the Ukraine.

So a lot is going on. There's political turmoil, there's economic turmoil and there's the possibility of military conflict. So quickly, how does this affect our economy? Well, one thing oil prices have already gone up and are probably going to go up more and some predict that the oil prices will weigh exceed nearly a hundred dollars a barrel. Both sides of the conflict fear that there could be actual lives lost because there will be a possible war between Russia and Ukraine and NATO may have to get involved. You remember Russia is one of the world's top natural producers of oil and natural gas and they supply nearly a third of the gas to all of Europe. So depending what happens, this could have a huge effect on the European economy. I don't want to tell you that will eventually have a huge effect on our economy here in the United States as well.

Fears are melting right now that the Russian President Vladimir Putin could weaponize his country's oil and gas exports, put pressure on Europe and he could also possibly invade the Ukraine. Now, many doubt that that's going to happen, but who knows? He's got over a hundred thousand troops on the border right now.

And a lot of this is going to depend on the comments and reactions of the Biden administration right here in the United States. So why should we care as Christians? Well, we should care any time there's a threat of loss of life. We have many missionaries and Christians in the Ukraine who are leaving right now. Our United States government has asked all Americans to leave the Ukraine, but also a lot of Christians are fleeing. I know missionaries over there who are running and fleeing for their lives because the former Soviet Union policies that are still in place in Russia are a great threat to Christianity.

They're atheistic in their tendencies and they don't allow the free expression of religion and being able to worship our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. And we need to pray, praying for our missionaries. We need to also care about the effects of oil price around the world and in our own nation. And it will affect us here. We need to care about the lives of those who could potentially die in this conflict. And we need to especially care about American lives that could be lost. If our military goes in or if we go in through NATO or the United Nations goes in, the United States military will play a crucial role in what happens over there. And many of our own young men and women and people from other countries, their lives could be lost. We also need to be concerned about the stability of NATO and the region because there's a great danger of what could happen both politically and economically and to the stability of the entire world.

So I rushed through that in a hurry. Maybe we need to do a whole show on it some other time, but I wanted to give you just a feel and understand the history and so much is going on behind the scenes, what's happening with the Ukraine today. So we're going to have to take a quick break. When we come back, can't wait to introduce you to my dear friend, Mike Meers, who's a political strategist. He just came off the heels of a great victory in the governor's race in Virginia, and he's working across the nation to help Christians engage in the arena of public policy and politics.

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I'm Chris Hughes. Welcome to The Christian Perspective where we look in God's word in order to develop a Christian worldview and modern culture. As you know, folks, if you listen to the show at the Citizens for America Foundation, we work to educate and train Christians to develop a biblical worldview and then encourage them to take that biblical worldview into the arena of public policy and politics. And I know to some of you that's a dirty word, but it's important. Many people that think Christians can't be faithful to the word of God to be in politics.

But I want to tell you, folks, that's simply not true. And our guest today has walked the corridors of politics and power all of his adult life, and he is a man firmly committed to Jesus Christ. You can be committed to Jesus and be involved in public policy and politics. Mike Mears, really a fascinating guy. We're going to let him tell us more about it. But Mike Mears has served in various capacities with a lot of national organizations. I didn't realize some of the great organizations he had worked for until I started looking at having him on the show. He was one of the first he was the first ever director of strategic partnerships at the Republican National Committee. And then when I met him, he was serving the role as a national faith engagement director at the Republican National Committee. More recently, if those of you were following the Virginia race, you know, we talked about that race a lot on the show here of the governor's race in Virginia in 2021.

He served as face advisor to Youngkin for governor in Virginia. And today, Mike Mears is the president of Mordecai Strategies, which is a political consulting firm. So, Mike Mears, welcome to The Christian Perspective.

Hello, brother Hughes. Thank you so much for having me. It's kind of great to be on, you know, having been at the RNC for the last eight years up until August.

I didn't do a whole lot of media hits because the red cape involved and the vetting and all that good stuff just made it, you know, cost prohibitive, if you will. So I'm excited to be able to do this. And I'm kind of kind of finding my voice as I go along. Well, you know, now is your I know that you're a guy who likes to work behind the scenes, but as you advertise and push your new company, Mordecai Strategies, you're going to have to bite the bullet here and do more of this. So, Mike, people may not know you by seeing you or know the name, but your work has been working behind the scenes for many, many years. Share with our listeners kind of who you are, where you're from and your background, that kind of thing.

Sure. Well, first and foremost, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. I came to know him as my personal savior back at the age of 17 through a ministry at my high school called Campus Life. I was in another tradition at that point and was actually headed towards maybe being professional clergy in that tradition. Started kicking the tires, started reading my Bible, had a lot of questions. Eventually all the Christians next door were happy to answer the questions that others were not. And at age 17, they also had pizza and Dr. Pepper, which I was not allowed to have when I was growing up.

There were probably some girls around, too, were there? There was actually a pastor's daughter, but that's, you know, as I joke with her because they're still good friends, you know, the girl didn't take, but I think Christ certainly did. And so from there, God involved with a great evangelical church in Southern California. I grew up in the city of Orange and always felt that God had something for me, and not necessarily in the traditional sense of being a pastor or going out and being a missionary. Back when I was coming of age in, gosh, mid 80s and 90s, there was this new kind of wave of members of Congress and representatives who were believers, Christians, who were getting elected.

And, I don't know, I say God gave it to me, but the thought was, who's advising these guys? I mean, there's all these Bible studies for members of Congress and elected officials, and that's great, but I was concerned about, you know, the staff and things like that. Well, rather than go that discipleship route, I got involved in politics, I got involved in campaigns, and I found myself in the DC area in about 97. And ended up, I worked at Concern Women for America, I was one of the token guys, as I say, and I ran the path for Beverly and Kim LaHaye for many years. And once I got tired of introducing myself as a concerned woman, I decided to go over to Family Research Council Action. I'm much more of an action kind of a guy, 501c4, if you listeners aren't familiar with that, you've got the 501c3, which is kind of like your church, or kind of like a homeless ministry. And then your 501c4 is a little bit more of, okay, we see a problem, and we know that there is a solution, possibly, legislatively.

We all know that the ultimate solution is not going to come from government, but we do have a role as American citizens. So, anyway, I did that, and lo and behold, in, gosh, 2013, well, let's get back, 2012, we had lost, or the Republican Party had lost their second presidential race in a row. And the folks that should be rallying behind the Republican Party, conservatives and people of faith, Christians especially, just were really angry. And the party wasn't really quite sure what to do about it. That's where the strategic partnerships, directorship came and got involved, because, frankly, I've worked for so many people in town, who better than me to maybe kind of build relationships with the party and the RNC members and folks like that.

And that has reverberated even to this day. There are some relationships that have been started with guys like Tony Perkins and Penny Nance and, gosh, Ken Blackwell, who's been around for such a long time, who now know who to call within the party. And probably a lot of your listeners are like me, and I don't like to identify myself with one party or another. It's kind of hard for me to do that now, since I worked for the Republican Party for eight years. But I still say, if our party ever backs away from that platform, I could very well be gone. However, what I'm very concerned about is what comes out of the fight.

And, you know, go ahead. Let me jump in with the questions, because our listeners might not know what you mean when you say platform. Folks, the Democrat Party and the Republican Party both have what's called a platform, which is basically, and Mike might correct me, but basically a statement of beliefs. And the average person, it only takes about 15 minutes to read it, but the average person has probably, even people that are involved in politics, have never read the full platform of their parties. So, you know, I know in the Christian world, sometimes people are critical. Well, you know, why are you always pushing, Chris, the Republican Party?

Well, read the platforms. You mentioned you worked for Family Research Council, Mike, in 2016, as President Trump was taking office, or really at the convention where he became president, Tony Perkins, who runs a Family Research Council, was very, very involved and a lot of others, too, in writing the platform, which is basically the statement of what we believe for the Republican Party. And, folks, it was, and still is today, the most conservative and most pro-Christian, pro-God platform in the history of the Republican Party.

And if you look, would you agree with that, Mike? Oh, yeah, I got to jump in because it gets me excited. That was a privilege I had to be on the staff side. I was assigned to the platform in 2016. Oh, I didn't know that. And I still remember the late Phyllis Schlafly, who was the founder of Eagle Forum, and if your listeners know anything about the Equal Rights Amendment, she fought that for many, many years, a very strong traditional woman, and she comes up to me, grabs me by my tie, and says the 2012 platform was really conservative.

Don't you mess it up. I just kind of laughed, and then after it was all done, she came to me, she goes, I don't know how you did it or how you guys pulled it off, but this is actually more conservative. And nobody thought that would be the case with President Trump being there. And I know what you mean for the listeners. Phyllis Schlafly, I was with her just a few weeks before she died, and she was a frail old woman. But, boy, I want to tell you, when you set statue up, if she could put you in your place in a hurry, she was a fireball and did not back down.

She was a woman of courage. Yeah, I like to think that I don't get intimidated by much, but Phyllis Schlafly was one of those where if she was calling me, there was a good reason for it, and so I, you know, yes, ma'am, how high, that kind of stuff. So, yeah, so back to the platform. The platform is kind of this vessel for both parties. It's an opportunity for them to tell voters and activists, especially, hey, this is what we're about. Now, some would argue I'm actually on this side. I think that both platforms and the Republican Party is probably a little too long because I'd actually like people to read it.

Frankly, and I just think it's much too long. However, when you start talking like that, and after the Trump administration in 2020 tried to do that, if it wasn't for the pandemic, the platform might have looked a little different. And the one great thing about the platform, and this is for your listeners, because I hope we're going to talk about people getting involved, but that's something you can get involved with, is that it is delegates who write the platform.

Yes, there's an editor, and yes, he kind of weaves it all together, but it's these groups of people from all over the country and the territories who get elected through their party process, and they are selected to craft the latest version of the platform. It's been a fight. I mean, every year there's a pro-life plank, a pro-family plank, and you're at risk.

So it's really important that folks who care about a conservative platform get involved. You've got to take a quick break. Folks, stick around.

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About the faith of the founding fathers and how Christian principles were used to establish this form of government. Visit CitizensForAmericaFoundation.com today and secure your spot to join Chris Hughes in Washington, D.C. this June. Folks, welcome back to The Christian Perspective with Chris Hughes. Mike, thank you so much for being with us today. Well, now, if you are sitting here listening to this and you're a Democrat and you're a believer in the Lord Jesus, and so I really want you to be on the Democrat Party.

If that's your home, your choice, we really need some people who are going to help reform this. I kind of fell into the director of faith engagement, the RNC. I'll tell you, there's angst in my heart sometimes when I think about the church being so closely aligned with one party over another. But hang on.

The problem is with my reasoning and my angst is that it's not like this is a vacuum. The Democrat Party has every opportunity to speak to faith voters, to Christians, and they kind of ignore it. They go to some of the more liberal progressive churches around the country. They ignore a good independent Baptist and a Southern Baptist and a lot of our evangelicals.

And so that angst has gone away. I really don't want people becoming Republicans first and Christians second. And sometimes the conversations I have with folks, it's not hard to slip into that. Remember, you've got to be grounded in God's word.

And remember, salvation comes from God alone, from Christ. And so if you want to get involved, I will tell you that the first thing you want to do is you want to go to your county party. That's your first step.

You can probably go online and kind of check it out. And, you know, there's going to be an email from somebody that you can talk to. And I'm going to just tell you, you will be a fresh fragrance to that person because they're always looking for new people. I mean, it's not like people are knocking on the door. There's an intimidation factor. There's I really want to be involved.

You know, the last thing I want to do is take up another two or three nights of my week and I could be with my family. I mean, there's a lot of obstacles. When you, like, take that step, you're going to find somebody who's probably going to be very open-minded and with open arms. And from there, you can start getting involved. Yeah, they'll probably give you a job.

Maybe it's as simple as holding a clipboard at the next meeting. Maybe you have a skill and you help market some things. There's a lot of things that you can do and it's good for you to kind of see the inside workings.

It doesn't take that much time, although I think sometimes we all got to get stuck into it. But it's a great way to serve your community. And what I always ask my fellow believers to do is to bring Christ with you wherever you go. You are a witness wherever you go. And even when you're working with the Republican Party, you shouldn't assume that everybody knows Jesus.

That is such a, if I can jump in with you, Mike, that is so important. I worked on a national level in the Pat Robertson campaign in 1988. And Christians who had never been involved before did what you said and went into these county parties. But they didn't do it in a godly fashion. In many cases they were nasty about it and it left a very bad taste in the mouth of people who had been working in the party for years. And it really took years for Christian candidates to dig out of that hole because people claimed to be Christians and did not conduct themselves in a Christian manner in these meetings.

And it really hurt. So I didn't mean to interrupt you, but you were bringing out a good point. You're representing Jesus and you need to remember that. It's probably not going to be the first book on this subject, but I feel like if there is a book inside of me, it's going to be on what is godly anger and what does it look like and how should we manifest it.

And then also just stability in general. How should we present ourselves? I mean, look, I don't want to, I'm cranking on my fellow believers because I feel like we're in a family setting. But I can't tell you how many times when I was working for the Trump campaign and I'd be at church and Tony would grab me and they'd want to talk to me and they'd want to complain about something. And their demeanor is just not good and I'm looking at them going, I just want to go into church and worship my Lord. And so it's out there and I think it's a knock on us as believers that when we enter the public square, we need to continually bring Jesus Christ with us. And am I perfect?

Nope. No, I mean, there are some things that could set me off. And, you know, that's what God's gracious for. And we just try to keep at it.

Yeah, such great advice. Well, before we run out of time, I want to talk a little bit about what you're doing now. So you've started a new consulting business, is that correct?

Yeah, that's correct. It's called Mordecai Strategies and it's kind of come out of, you know, my work with the RMC and all these other groups I've worked for. You know, when I started, I'll be honest with you, I wasn't sure exactly where I was going to go with it. My very first client was Glenn Youngkin. That's a good client to have.

You did pretty good coming out of the gate. You know, and I got to tell you, for your listeners who don't even follow this very, very closely. There's a man, young man, younger than I am, Jeff Rowe, who ran that campaign as a consultant. And yes, he is reaping the benefits of winning that campaign. But he really had a very flawless and disciplined campaign plan. And frankly, Glenn Youngkin was a very disciplined candidate.

The other great thing about Glenn Youngkin is that he is a believer. And so I came on to help bolster up their faith engagement efforts. You know, somebody said, you know, well, you know everybody. And I don't know everybody, but I honestly feel like if I picked up the phone, there's probably somebody else I can get to.

Just probably one or two phone calls, if that makes sense. So we get that and it's now kind of a model around the country. And I'm talking to candidates all over the country who kind of want the so-called Glenn Youngkin magic, if you will.

It's not magic. It's hard work. And when it comes to the faith engagement part, you know, some of the candidates that I'm talking to may or may not be very comfortable in their faith. And so I'm actually seeing this as an opportunity to do some missionary work, if you will.

And, you know, convey to them what faith voters are like and what's going to appeal to them. Obviously, Glenn Youngkin found Jeannie in the bottle when he took up the mantle of the Loudoun County parents who were very, very outraged at what was happening in their public schools. For your listeners who don't know, there had been an assault by a young man who was dressed up as a woman who went into a bathroom. I believe I'm characterizing this legally and correctly. Well, the young lady, yourself and the young lady, in the meantime, the school district kind of quietly, quote, unquote, quietly investigated this. And in the meantime, he went to another school district where he did it again.

Yes. And so they kind of tried to cover it up. That may not have been their intention, but it sure does smell like a cover up. And so what happened as a result were these parents were just outraged and Glenn Youngkin kind of gave voice to those folks. And, you know, they kind of spawned the Parents for Youngkin campaign. And so all these kids are looking around the country for this. And they're looking at our issues.

Right. And, oh, my gosh, if if I'm pro life, if I'm pro family, if if I'm pro education and that means also, you know, parents being being responsible for their children and their education. Well, man, I'm not asking it to be a U.S. senator or a governor of my state. And it's refreshing to see it because as you have worked in the trenches as well, you know how hard it is to get candidates to talk about issues. Well, there seems to be a willingness to do that. Well, and Governor Youngkin did a good job because he stuck to the issues.

We're almost out of time. But, Mike, for the faith community that's listening and they think that their vote doesn't make a difference. It did in this race, didn't it?

Oh, absolutely. I mean, the evangelical vote actually increased for Youngkin than it did for President Trump. You have some disaffected Trump voters, folks who didn't like probably his tweets and his rhetoric and things like that. So they just either stayed home or they they left it blank.

There's no indication that they actually came out for President Biden. But those folks came home to Glenn Youngkin and it was a different two points. I thought maybe we would have to wait until Wednesday before we would know the outcome. And we were very thankful that it was Wednesday at like one o'clock in the morning that we found out. But we were very, very thankful that we had been able to find out the results early on. But it's still very, very close.

Well, it was and the Christian vote makes a difference. Mike, we're going to have to cut it off here. But for a candidate out there, a potential candidate that might want to hire you, how do they find you and learn more about the process? Sure. So my email is pretty sort of easy.

If you're reading your Bible, you know it. It's Mike at Mordecai strategies dot com m o r d e c a i s t r a t i g e s. And I think I got that. I think I got that right.

I always spell Mordecai correctly, which is which is the tough part for most people. Well, folks, I hope you've enjoyed the show as much as I have today, learning a little bit about the Ukraine and then talking to my dear friend Mike Mears. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Chris Hughes and this is The Christian Perspective. Be sure to tune in here on your favorite radio station each and every day to learn how you can develop a Christian perspective. And please subscribe and like our podcast and share it with your friends on social media. Now let's go change the culture for Jesus. Thank you for listening. The Christian Perspective with Chris Hughes. Learn more about impacting the culture for Jesus. Visit Citizens for America Foundation dot com. This is the Truth Network.